We All Rise Together with Kim Rittberg

*This transcript was auto-generated*

Kim Gravel: I'll take my earrings off and back a girl up my heartbeat though, Kim. I got you back.

Hey y'all, and welcome to LOL with Kim Gravel. This is a comedy podcast for women where we laugh about the messiness of life and turn that mess into a message of confidence and hope. You know, my mission is to encourage and lift women up, and this show is just about how we can embrace like the real. Us our real selves and laugh about all the stuff that life throws our way.

So if you're ready, let's live out loud. Laugh out loud and love out loud together.

Today we have got Kim Rittberg on the show, and she's the host of Mom's Exit Interview podcast, which I listen to and absolutely love. She, she's like this media unicorn. She's done so much in, in terms of media. She's an award-winning producer. She was the head of video at US Weekly and launched that video.

 For US Weekly. She's been a Netflix executive, a producer at People, but she's a mom of two and she quit the corporate world to start her own media empire and was able to work from home. And that is what I wanna talk to her about today. Now she does media training, video strategy, and producing. I can't wait to have her on the show, but, but first,

Zac, do you have another? Ask Kim anything? I swear, girl. Honey, I'm always afraid of what you gonna ask me.

Zac Miller: I love that you were about to call me girl. I swear girl.

Kim Gravel: Did I just call you girl?

Zac Miller: Almost. You stopped yourself.

Kim Gravel: I did. Okay, good.

Zac Miller: I have another ask Kim anything. I really like this one.

This is a listener voicemail that we got a few days ago and let's just, let's listen to it. I'm, I'm curious to hear what you. "Hey Kim.

 I just wanted to let you know how much you inspire me and how much you've been a part of my life throughout. Since 2014 when I started watching Kim of Queens with my sister, she went to Miss Oklahoma in 2012, and we found your show two years later and just loved it.

And when it ended, we were, we always said, Hey, I could really use a pep talk by Kim Gravel. And so I just wanted to let you know that we just have loved you since 2014, and then as a stay-at-home mom of three, at age 32, I found you on qvc. and have loved you, uh, on that as well. And so I just wanted to let you know , just what a, what a part of my life you have been.

And I wanted to ask a question. My sister and I have asked to mc our local pageant and, she's super talented and so is my older sister and my brother and I just kind of feel lost in the middle and your confidence episodes have totally inspired me. But anyway, I just wanted to ask how can I bring something to the m to MCing the pageant?

 She's kind of a blonde bombshell and I'm a brunette with a booty, so, you know, , you know.

I just need some help with how to build confidence in that aspect. Thank you."

Kim Gravel: Oh, what a great question. Thank you so much. So I just wanted to tell you, brunette with the booty, honey, you're my kind of girl. First of all, that was a fantastic question.

I love it because, so many people who are more reserved, always kind of put their personality on default or kind of just stay, stay a little bit in the background. I mean, the prime example of this is myself and Amy. You know, I'm an extrovert. Amy's an introvert, Amy's my bff. She, she does so much with me behind the scenes with our businesses, but also she's on, on camera with me, with QVC every Saturday night on our static show.

So, you know, she's often had this question and had this identity. Where do I fit in the land full, but I'm an introvert and a land full of extroverts. So how you can bring something different to this MCing is that if your sister is an extrovert, you probably are an amazing observer. So, Let me challenge you to let your sister take the lead, and then you interject with those witty jokes, comments, and observations that I know you probably already do in your life as it is.

The thing about confidence is confidence is not always on display, meaning we have a tendency to look at confidence. As this boisterous peacock parade type thing, because that seems to get noticed in media, on tv, and even in your friend groups. Confidence really is a quiet, still small voice within you.

Okay? Confidence is not an outward expression of your talent. It's an inward knowing of your purpose. Did y'all hear that? No. Confidence, love. That is not an outward expression of gifts and talents. It's an inward knowing of purpose. True confidence is knowing who you are and why you're here. , boom. All other confidence is just based around circumstantial things that you might get noticed on the exterior.

Zac Miller: So does that mean she doesn't need to go up on the stage and do a whole big thing? Is that

Kim Gravel: I think she's definitely needs to go up on the stage. I think she needs to do her, I think she needs to bring to the table what is her natural purpose and giftings, most extroverts, and I'm including myself in that, we don't take the time to shut up and.

Nine times outta 10 is the introverted people that are the observers that really have that quick wit and that that comedic moment where you can just kind of drop a little one liner and entertain the crowd. Not to mention Amy is my stability. She is that rock that I, you know, kind of just bump up against when I need that little stability.

I need that grounding. I need that, you know, organizational moment. Go up there and be yourself. You have something to offer, or they wouldn't have asked you to mc the pageant, but more importantly, really take some time to think about are you not confident because you're looking at your sister and comparing.

or are you really confident and you need to move from that? Still small voice inside yourself. Remember, confidence is not comparing. It is just acting out what you're made to do in here. People who know what, who they are and why they are here are truly confident people. I hope that makes sense. I know I got a little bit deeper than what the question was, but we're always worried about performance and we should be worried about purpose in anything if.

Zac Miller: Do you want Kim to answer your question on the air. Then you can also call and leave Kim a voicemail. You can call 4 0 4 9 1 3 6 4 6 0 or you can email us at lolwithkimgravel@gmail.com. And when we get back we'll be chatting with our guest, Kim Rittberg.

Kim Gravel: Okay, we have got a guest. I have been excited about this taping.

Zac Miller: is it because you are easily excitable?

Kim Gravel: No. Well, that's not true either you know me well enough. No, I don't get excited about anything hardly. You got to really get up and go to impress me.

Zac Miller: It's true. It's true. Kim, why are you excited about the guest?

Kim Gravel: I'm excited because our guest has done so much.

I really feel like she is busier than the one armed paper hanger. I mean, she has done everything in her life. She, was a Netflix executive. , she led the video department at US Weekly. She actually started that department at US Weekly. You know, and I'm a big fan of US Weekly. She's executive producer at People.

 And she decided to, she started a jewelry line, she's an entrepreneur. You can find her jewelry at Bloomingdale's. Like I'm telling you, this girl is like, A bad mamma jama, but right now I, how I fell in love with her was on her podcast. She has a podcast called Mom's Exit Interview, and I listened to it and I thought, oh my God, this girl is a sister from another mister, everybody, please welcome the amazing Kim Rittberg. Kim, thank you for coming on LOL.

Kim Rittberg: I'm just gonna put a quote on my website that calls me a bad mama jamma. That is literally the best compliment I've ever gotten.

Kim Gravel: But that, I mean, that's like the, when I, when I listened to the podcast and, and I, I heard you for the first time and just talking to you right now, you just have this presence of empowerment that I think all of us women, Are looking for, and hungry for right now.

And I, and, and I want you to tell us a little bit about how you got to where you are, because you have done so you have interviewed celebrities, you have seen everything behind the scenes in Hollywood and in this business that we call media. Tell me some of the highlights, and some of the things that you learned through your, you know, journey from that area that that's brought you to today.

Kim Rittberg: Sure. And thank you so much for the kind words. I really, I really appreciate it. So I've kind of, first of all, I've been working for a long time, so when we're like, oh, I've done a lot, it's like, it's been over, you know, over a long time. Few decades. Yeah. Right. So, yeah, I used to do interviewing and producing and writing for inside edition, like bread carpets, but also news. And as a part of news, some of. Was News magazine, so some of that was red carpet interviews. I was like the hand, so you see the hand . My, also, I'm a nail biter, so it's actually really ironic that my hand is famous. Right. Because I think you're doing this number.

Like I'm, I'm one of those women, I rarely have a manicure. I'm a nail biter. I also have small hands. So it's very funny. I've sort of like an unintentional. Entertainment, hand model interviewer.

Kim Gravel: Yeah. But better small hands than man hands, right?

Kim Rittberg: That's true.

And then from there, I wanted to work on longer stories like lifestyle. So I was a writer and producer for Travel and True Crime. So I wrote and produced, the Fabulous Life of Justin Bieber.

Kim Gravel: Oh my gosh. I'm a such a Bieber Fever person. Oh, I love Justin Bieber.

Kim Rittberg: It was a really fun show to work on. I'm not gonna lie. And then I also did True Crime Investigation Discovery. You never believe what this neighbor did next.

Kim Gravel: Growing up, my grandmother would watch True crime in like Dateline and all these true crime stories. Like to the point it was, it was a little bit traumatizing for me as a child. Like as I was go to sleep, I'd be sitting with a, she stabbed her neighbor 72 times . But why am I now Kim into true crime as a middle-aged woman?

Is there something about that the It is,

Kim Rittberg: I have thought about this so many times, but the the truth is stranger than fiction. I think the reality is reading or hearing a story of a person who is your neighbor or could be your neighbor or is like you do something totally horrendous. It really attracts people's attention because it, it feels relatable, right?

And so I think that is what gets people,

Kim Gravel: if you produce true crime, again, call me. I'm, I'm your back up. I'll, I'm your side hustle girl. Okay, go ahead.

Zac Miller: Because Kim's looking to commit some crimes. .

Kim Gravel: No, no I'm not. Yo, that's horrible. Zac ,

Kim Rittberg: My very last tangent about true crime is that the shows I worked on, the budget was really small and they always needed extras.

And so, like me and my brother, we all paid these weird extra parts.

Kim Gravel: Call me. I'll be a extra Great. I'll be a extra Kim. You're in. No, but so you've had such a, a, a diverse lust illustrious career. I mean, what a blessing to be able to work in this industry. What caused you to, to leave? Why did you say I'm out?

Kim Rittberg: So as I was working in tv, like doing true crime and all. I was pregnant. And I had sort of broadly thought about like, oh, what sort of life do I want when I'm a parent? But until you're a parent, it doesn't really, it doesn't come into focus. That's true. Like you don't really know how you're gonna be prioritizing your life until you have a child.

So at that point, I switched from tv to digital. So pretty much at that point, all of these websites and magazines were starting to get into video and I just love like building and learning something new and I was ready to like really create something and lead a team and I could feel it, you know when you just feel right.

Kim Gravel: Oh, yeah. Oh yeah.

Kim Rittberg: So I went to US weekly and I pretty much said to the boss, I'm like, you are not really doing video. And I've done entertainment and I've done news. I'm like, I can build you a video unit. I look back, I'm like, that's so bold. A little delusional, but like bravo to younger me, and I know,

Kim Gravel: but you know, ignorance is bled sometimes Kim.

You know what I'm saying? Like, it, it, I truly believe that statement, like what you don't know, you don't know and you ha and so you have no fear.

Kim Rittberg: And it's funny cuz I do feel like insecurity held me back in many other work situations. Like I had wanted to try on camera reporting since I was like 21.

I didn't try it until I was 30, so, wow. I think insecurity and fear had held me back for sure. In other pieces, of course it, but yeah, in this situation I had total clarity. A, I could do this job. B, I wanted it, like, I just wanted to build something from scratch. It's like being, building a business but within a business.

So it was their, it was their money, obviously. Right. But I had a lot of autonomy, so,

Kim Gravel: but what made you wanna do that, Kim? Because I think, like everybody listening right now is saying, oh, but Kim is great. She speaks so well. She's so pretty. She's so this, she's that. What made you have the confidence to do that? Where does confidence come from?

Like, cuz I think a lot of people are at that point where they're bored or they're, you know, know there's more in them to do. Even, even at our age and women even older, I think, I think, you know, we get good as we get older as women. What made you at that age and at that stage in your life say I'm gonna go for it.

Kim Rittberg: That's such a great question. First of all, thank you for the compliments. I think no matter what your resume looks like, what you look like, how many friends you have, everyone feels insecurity. I do on camera coaching for executives and, and like entrepreneurs and people who you'd say, how can this person right, not want to be on camera?

They're good looking and they're well-spoken and they're super smart and everyone has. Nagging doubt, negativity, self-consciousness, a different version of it. But everyone feels that. So thank you for the compliments, but like we all feel this, and it doesn't matter if you went to Harvard and are like a c e o or if, if you, you know, you're, you're, you know, working at your stationary store.

If everyone has like the things they feel awesome about and the things that they, that nag at them

Kim Gravel: because you said there was a point where you knew I wanted to work for myself. , it's the time to do that. We're coming out of like being stuck at home in this whole covid thing. And so everybody's like reevaluating like, what do I really wanna do with my life?

And that came to you in a very real way, did it not?

Kim Rittberg: Yeah. So I was, when I, when I launched the video unit for US weekly, I was five months pregnant. So when I got back from Matt leave, I'm pumping in my office. I had two, two people on my team. Then I had 10 people on my team. Yeah. Then I had 17 people on my team.

Yeah. And I'm in my office. Yeah. Blinds drawn, like pumping going, what am I doing with my life?

I actually, you know, it's funny with one child and my husband's like a great, great participant in the household and we had a nanny. It wasn't that crazy, but I did already feel like it was like 5:30 and I was racings to go down the subway to get to my house, to like get an hour with my baby.

I did feel that. . Minimal amount of time that I had but then when I had my second, I was still at US Weekly. There was a big merger. All these people were getting fired. My boss was getting fired. My peers who I really built up these great working relationships with were getting fired. And I and my team were not fired, but many people started quitting and just the whole place that I worked at looked totally different and was in the hospital bed looking at resume.

And I had an IV in my arm. I'm on my iPhone. I shouldn't be in work mode. My phone should have been down. I should have been totally disconnected, and I should have said like, someone else can handle this. And I think in that moment I just was like, I work so hard. I've had every job, every job I've given 110% of myself.

So can I create some sort of career and life situation that I have more control over? Where I'm not gonna be in the. On my phone on a holistic level, just like a metaphysical level of like, why are we here on Earth? It is not for that

Kim Gravel: drop mic done, like, but that, that's what I'm saying. Kim, so many women listening to this right now feel exactly how you feel.

So how did you, so that was the catalyst, that was the change laying there with the IV going, why am I sitting here? Doing this when I should be enjoying the birth of my child. What made you say bump? That I'm going to do media and do what I'm good at in a different way for myself.

Kim Rittberg: I love to say, and then I started my business and made a million dollars.

But that is not how it works. I knew I wanted to figure a way in which I could work for myself and make money and feel fulfilled. But like, what is that? Like? I didn't know what that was and I

Kim Gravel: So you had no clue even how to, what to do? Much less how to even go about it.

Kim Rittberg: I mean, I had never read a book about being an entrepreneur. I had never read a book about , about finding clients. I had never taken a course. So I was like, now what? So honestly, I still took two more full-time jobs, short-lived. short-lived jobs that cemented my idea of digital media as an industry is volatile.

I need to have control. I now have two kids. I wanna be in charge of my time and where I put my effort. So after I took like two more short-lived jobs, it was two years later. Yeah, it took me two years from being in that hospital bed to really launching my business.

Kim Gravel: Have you worked harder now working for yourself than you ever did working for other people?

Kim Rittberg: No. Oh, I asked that question to a lot of my guests on the podcast. Mom's exit interview. I always say, how many hours are you working and compare it to before? So part of my epiphany was I want to work either the same or less. and I definitely wanna work differently. So I don't stick to this, but I try, depends on the year to do Fridays to myself or with my kids.

Like they're in school generally, so even being with them, it's only after school. But I try to keep Fridays either personal day or building brand day or not work, work, work. I try to keep one afternoon a week open to take my kids to class or to the playground or something. And then my goal is summers less work. Less.

Kim Gravel: So, so you get more accomplished working for yourself with this new schedule as opposed to doing the nine to five or really the nine to whatever.

Kim Rittberg: I'm a person who can overdo, and so I have to be, I have to monitor myself like it's on me and I have to say. , even though I'm in the middle of a script for a podcast I'm super excited about, or even though I'm like in the middle of writing a script for this video that I'm super passionate about, it's five 30 and I realigned my entire life to see the kids more and it's dinnertime.

Get out of the office and go to dinner, and that's on me. So I think that there's some of those things where I can, you know, it's easy to pin it on this other boogeyman of the working world. Some of it is on. , but a lot of it's on them.

Kim Gravel: Well, and this is the thing too, I think never is it a better time in I think our society to be an entrepreneur, a female entrepreneur out there.

There's so many different ways to, to make money and, and be successful in business. What would you say to that woman who's saying, you know what, Kim? , I wanna do, you know, I wanna start baking cupcakes, or I wanna open up this, or I wanna start making a jewelry like, like you did. I wanna, how would you tell her to get started?

Kim Rittberg: First step I always recommend to everyone is get your pump up crew. Like get those people mm-hmm. Who are gonna like text you. You're doing amazing. Keep going. You can do it. Because I think the number one hurdle is just confidence support. Yeah. The belief that we can do it, because you can do all the right steps, but if inside your body True.

You don't see yourself as being successful in this new role in life. It's not gonna. , then start to do the thing you wanna do. So if you're making cupcakes, start to make and sell cupcakes, you could do it anywhere in the smallest local level. Until then you're building up and then you're shipping to other areas, then you're shipping to other states.

But always start locally and really say like, is there a market for this? Mm-hmm. , how, how is my price? You know, is this the right price for this product? So test it out. And then as you keep grow, , then you should figure out how you're gonna delegate and how you're gonna learn to do those other things.

So at some point you can't make all the cupcakes yourself. You probably are not good at the accounting or at the administrative. I mean, most people are good in one good of the other. Oh gosh,

Kim Gravel: yes, yes. Right. But find your tribe. Find people that are good. Yeah. Yeah.

Kim Rittberg: At the beginning you kind of have to do everything yourself, but as soon as you can, I like to.

A few months before you need to, you should delegate. Absolutely. Oh, a few months before you're gonna like tear your hair out. You should delegate. Women have

Kim Gravel: a lot to offer , you know, even a stay-at-home moms. Even women who have, you know, who've been in the corporate world and kind of stepped back. There's other ways to do business than just go working the 9, 2, 5.

You know,

Kim Rittberg: that is my whole, what you just said is my whole like reason. Mm-hmm. . So the podcast mom's exit interview, the whole. Is first of all, showing people yeah, there exists this huge landscape Yes. Between quote unquote stay-at-home mom. Cuz if you're a stay at home mom, you're not staying at home like you're doing a lot of stuff.

You're working your bun off, you're working, you're, you're unpaid working from the home, killing yourself. You're killing yourself in a different way. Yes. But from quote unquote stay at home mom up to grinding a corporate ladder, that landscape is so plentiful. It's huge. I am meeting women. Stay-at-home moms who are doing side businesses.

Yeah. 10 hours a week, 20 hours a week. Some are making more than they ever made. I've spoken to women who are like, yeah, I work 20 hours a week. I make three time my old teaching salary. Right. And there's also, think about the digital world. People are all these jobs virtu? You could, so many people are virtual assistants?

Yes, virtual social media managers. I,

Kim Gravel: our whole team is that my, my virtual assistant. She is her, her husband is in the military, and they're moving all the time. I would die without Emily, Zac will tell you, and she basically, she's part-time working virtually for me, raising two beautiful children and supporting her husband in the military.

And I just wanna say like y'all, what Kim is doing and what she's saying, is available to us like never before. Right Kim?

Kim Rittberg: A hundred percent. And I think that sometimes like it, it seems like, oh well I have this resume and I was this executive and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm in the same exec pool of people as a million other moms who are like, what's out there?

How do I do it? How do I build a life where I can go get my, watch my kids soccer game and not ask for permission? Like that's what we all want. Yes. And earn some money and have some sense of accomplishment or, yes. Just like that's the thing, like we all have experience. Education, talents, experience, talents, yes.

And we wanna use them. Yes. But it doesn't have to be in a 50 hour rigid week where you're like, may I leave my seat? Please, sir. You know? Yeah. It's just different now. And so, like you were just saying about all, there's all of these people, like I think sometimes it's hard for people to get their heads around, what am I gonna sell?

I'm gonna give you an example of all the people that I hired in the last year. Get real with it. I'm gonna get

Kim Gravel: real. Get down. People want some, some, yeah. Go. I hired this amazing mom of three, I think she lives in California. She did my logo. She designed my social media assets and stuff. So she's a mom working from home.

Kim Rittberg: She, I paid her money, so she's a freelancer, so she built her own business for he. Totally independent, has flexibility. I also hired a woman in my neighborhood to do head shots for me. She's a photographer. She has lots of clients like that. I have a social media manager. She has two kids. She lives in another state and we meet on Zoom every week.

And I pay her to help me with social media because it's too much.

Kim Gravel: If you get a bunch of moms together, we get crap done, girl. .

Kim Rittberg: I mean, there's no one more effective than moms period in the story.

Kim Gravel: Drop, mic, done.

Kim Rittberg: The biggest thing I've gotten out of this is how much, once you start asking people what they're doing, how they're doing it, what they're charging, whatever people will answer in a way that the corporate world is like, everyone's like sneaky.

Like sneaky. Don't ask so and so . I think he's earning more than me, but do you not really allowed to ask? HR is gonna The big secrets. Yeah. It's a big secret. Yeah. But in the, in the real world of like real humans finding their own. . I've been asking people, I've been telling people and I'm like, this is so helpful.

Thank you.

Kim Gravel: This is so pro-woman. There's so much opportunity. It's not limited out there. For us, I think as women we, we think, oh, there's only a couple of jobs that we can fill in the corporate world, or there's only a couple businesses. I call it God's economy, where it's, it's. not looking for perfection or not looking for that opportunity, but we're looking for fulfillment.

And when we are filled up, it's overflowing. And I think when women are truly living their life on purpose for a purpose, you know, and that is being a wife and a mother and whatever, you know, your situation is personally, but when we fulfill our purpose, like what you do in media, I think it overflows to other people, don't.

Kim Rittberg: I, I 100 percent agree. And I think that what you're saying about sisterhood is so, so true. It is like that old mentality of there's only room for one woman, no. Or three women. So the rest of these seven we're gonna hit them in the shins and injure them. That's. . That's not, that's not how it works.

And I just actually, it's funny, I just, uh, interviewed another woman who's in media who does on camera coaching. So one of the things I, I offer as a service through my, my, my company is I train people to be better on camera, right? And she was telling me how she's building her business. And I said, oh, you work with so-and-so and maybe I'll reach out to them.

But I said, I don't wanna step on your toes. She said, there's room for all of us. There's room for everyone. And that was Lynn Smith by the way. I'm gonna give her a shout out. Lynn Smith, who is an amazing on camera anchor for H C N N H L N, and she was right. Yeah, you think there's one person media training every executive in America, and I think the reality is, number one, we don't think big enough.

I never think big enough, right? I feel like I always think too small.

Kim Gravel: Ooh, girl. Say that again. Louder.

Kim Rittberg: No, I always think too small and I need to think bigger because when you can, when you believe you can do it, that's when it happens.

Kim Gravel: We all rise together and that is the big lie, yes. That we tell each other as women is that we're in competition.

We are not. We are in community.

Kim Rittberg: The other big lie is that you can only be with your children or you can only grind on a corporate ladder. Come on, girl and boss. That's the other lie. That's what I've realized in this moment in time. When I started decided to work for myself, I started trying to find other women.

and the women in my neighborhood. I started like asking deeper questions. Not just how's work, but how do you work? How many days a week do you work? Do you like it? What are the frustrations? I met all these people. I met a three day a week solar power executive, so she didn't even really have to leave her field, but she's doing three days a week instead of five.

Another teacher had negotiated to do five days a week, but shorter hours or shifted hours, so she negotiated that. Once I started having those honest conversations with other moms, I was like, oh. , this is a thing. All these moms are out there. They want something else. They, they, some people don't know what's out there and other people just need to realize like, you can do it.

Yes. And there are so many opportunities out there. You can be a consultant, you could be a freelancer, you could do three days a week. You could be a stay-home mom with a side hustle. There's like a million ways to live your life and we are sort of tricked into believing there's only two.

Kim Gravel: But also I wanna say too, there's different seasons of your life.

Kim Rittberg: How am I living my life? , am I being intentional? And what is this season I'm in? Because there's a season where you can grind and you can build a company and try to get funding and a venture capital and try to make a billion dollar company. There are seasons where you wanna work 10 hours a week and feel fulfilled and earn some money and that's fine.

And get your new tennis shoes. Great. Perfect. And then there are other times where you know you're at a job and you're just coasting. And that's also fine, I think. There doesn't need to be stigma around any of this stuff. There doesn't need to be, like, if you're not on the cover of Forbes, you're a failure.

Who believes that one person makes the cover of Forbes every month?

Zac Miller: Kim's, I'm gonna break in with a Zac

Kim Gravel: Attack.

Oh, I knew he was gonna do it.

Zac Miller: This has been a great conversation. I know, and it's been very nice and I think some of the reason why it's been such a great conversation and that you two are on the same page is because you're both named Kim Kim's

Kim Rittberg: Aright, it's a great name.

Zac Miller: I wanted to see and test both of you on how much you knew about the name Kimberly. Right. Are you both Kimberly's?

Kim Gravel: Yeah, I'm a Kimberly. Mm-hmm. .

Zac Miller: How popular right now do you think? The name Kimberly. , is it the top in the top 100? In the top 1000?

Kim Rittberg: I think Kimberly is in the top 500.

Kim Gravel: I think you're right, Kim.

Zac Miller: She's right in the top 500. What number do you think it is?

Kim Rittberg: I think Kimberly is number 218.

Zac Miller: Kim, what do you think, Kim Gravel.

Kim Gravel: So if it's in the top 500, I think it's like 499. Ain't nobody naming their kids, Kim.

Zac Miller: Honestly, if we were playing prices right, Kim Rutberg, you would have destroyed it cuz it's 220.

Kim Rittberg: I feel like I should win something now.

Zac Miller: I agree. . Yeah. Yeah. There's no prizes in this show? Nope.

Kim Rittberg: 've never guessed so close. Like, you know when they have jelly beans in a can. I've never been close on something. Never. I'm terrible.

Zac Miller: No, you nailed the jellybean can. So Kim, the name Kimberly was like crazy popular for a long time, right?

What do you think was the peak year that it was the most popular? Like at its highest popularity?

Kim Rittberg: 1980.

Kim Gravel: Ooh, 83. I was gonna say 1979.

Zac Miller: Ooh. So in 1983, it was the 15th most popular program. In the us And you said 79? Yeah. Uh, it was the 12th most, so that's better. , but it was at its peak popularity in 1967.

67. Yeah.

Kim Rittberg: I don't feel like I know that many Kims of that. Age bracket.

Kim Gravel: I don't either.

Zac Miller: The second most popular name in 67 and 66, like, do you know what Kim means in Korean?

Kim Rittberg: Is it Jade? Does Kim mean jade?

Zac Miller: Ooh, almost. It means gold.

Kim Gravel: Oh, there you go. That's what I'm trying to say. It means royal.

Kim Rittberg: It's such a good name.

How come I never knew this? I feel cheated. I feel cheated that I'm only learning this now at 27.

Kim Gravel: I'm 28, so I've got a year on you. Girl.

Zac Miller: Let's, let's move away from Kim for a second. What do you think the most popular names right now are? Because names are getting kind of weird

Kim Rittberg: In the top 10.

There's like Mia, Sophia, Emma,

Zac Miller: you are right on. All of those are in the top 10.

Kim Rittberg: I just researched this a few weeks ago.

Kim Gravel: Is Owen some of the guys names?

Zac Miller: Owen is not in the top 10. I bet it's very high though. Oliver is

Kim Gravel: Oliver. I love the name Oliver.

Kim Rittberg: British names are making a comeback. I feel like Oliver, Emma, you know?

Zac Miller: Oh, totally. I mean, I would say the top male name feels very British to

Kim Gravel: me. What is that? Harry, Liam. Liam. Liam.

Kim Rittberg: Liam is the number one male name for babies in America.

Zac Miller: Yes.

Kim Rittberg: That's shocking. That's shocking.

Yeah. I'm shocked. What happened to Mike, Matt, Jason?

Zac Miller: No, I think Mike is gone. Mike's out.

Kim Gravel: Michael's gone.

Zac Miller: I don't know any, I don't know any kid's named Mike at my kid's daycare but I know two Liams. Two Liams. What do you think the top female name is for 2021.

Kim Gravel: Madison?

Zac Miller: Ooh, that's a really great name, but no, that's not even the top.

Kim Gravel: Yeah. Well, you know, I'm from the south. Everything's Madison down here.

Kim Rittberg: What thing, what letter does it start with? Hint.

Kim Gravel: Apple. It's apple.

Kim Rittberg: Cantaloupe.

Zac Miller: It's apple. Yep, it's apple. No.

It starts with O.

Kim Gravel: Olivia.

Zac Miller: Yeah. Olivia. Yeah.

Kim Gravel: I know two Olivia's right now.

Kim Rittberg: I was like, Ophelia,

Ophelia. I was like orange.

Zac Miller: But yeah, Kim is super popular. Kim was in the top 100 names all the way from 1956 all the way until 2012.

Kim Rittberg: Kim. We were so 2012. We are so 2012.

Kim Gravel: I'm so a millennial G.

Kim Rittberg: Were you Kim G growing up or?

Kim Gravel: Well, I, my, my maiden is name Hardy, but I had nicknames. Did you have nicknames?

Were you called Kimmy or Kimbo Or?

Kim Rittberg: Anyone who called me Kimmy. I would like try to slap so

Kim Gravel: Well, you're so not a Kimmy. You are so not a Kimmy.

Kim Rittberg: Were you Kimmy?

Kim Gravel: No, I was Kimbo. Or Kiki.

Kim Rittberg: Do you ever see there was like a wrestler named Kimbo Slice. There was like a boxer, I don't know. Oh, well, like an MMA person.

Anyway, well,

Kim Gravel: we're we're kind of tough kind of girls. Yes. We, we, we, we could hold our own in a ring. Yeah.

Kim Rittberg: Oh, for, for sure. For show. For sure. Have you? I've never been in like a physical fight with another woman, but I feel like I would win.

Kim Gravel: No, I would. I've never been a fight, but I'll take my earrings off and back a girl up my heartbeat though, Kim. I got you back. I'm so, I'm so feeble now. . I don't, you know, I started working out again. Did I tell y'all about this? I, I started working out. No. Started, I thought I was like, ugh. About the end of the workout. I was just gasping for breath.

Kim Rittberg: I just saw a picture of myself from yesterday that my husband took today.

He sends it to me and I'm like, uh, . I look like one of those people that on Facebook, old high school friends are like, well, I look better than her. At least

It's just like, no bad angle and like,

Kim Gravel: no. That is a true though, Kim, seriously, like my parents are doing that and they're in their mid seventies. I'm like, really? Y'all, you 75. You going to stalk people on Facebook that you look better than? And Daddy goes, well, you gotta get it when you can. . Oh my gosh.

That's a true thing. She's right.

Zac Miller: I will just say that all this information was from the Social Security offices' website.

Kim Rittberg: Just to give a footnote, Zac wants to prove his research skills. .

Zac Miller: I'm, I'm telling you.

Kim Gravel: I got, I've got something though. We close every single podcast out Kim with rapid fire questions.

So great. I've got questions just ran. Don't think about it. Just the first thing. Come out your mouth. Okay, here we go. No pressure. Loosening up. Loosening up. Ready? What celebrity would you kill to work with?

Kim Rittberg: Uh, Tina Fey.

Kim Gravel: Oh, me too. Ooh.

Kim Rittberg: I actually did already work with her, but I love her. Or Amy Pohler, either of them.

Kim Gravel: Is she fabulous? Really is Tina Fey just is

Kim Rittberg: so sharp. I love her so much.

Kim Gravel: What true crime story scares you the most?

Kim Rittberg: The husbands who killed their wives and they can't find them. That's scary. I don't like that.

Kim Gravel: And then, and then they have all these other like, secret lives.

Zac Miller: You know what I'm gonna say?

I'm just gonna say one thing. No body. No murder.

Kim Rittberg: Mm. That's the truth. True. True. Crime fan. No body. No murder.

Kim Gravel: Lord, I'm, I'm gonna have to watch my back now. Where's your dream vacation?

Kim Rittberg: Spain is my favorite place. My dream vacation is. I, I would live there. I would the food, everything. The food, the dancing, the partying, everything.

Kim Gravel: Oh my God, I love you. How do you release stress

Kim Rittberg: Drinking wine,

Is that, is that the Not an acceptable answer.

Kim Gravel: Your celebrity crush is

Kim Rittberg: Gail Garcia Bernal.

Kim Gravel: Yeah. Amazing. What is your favorite junk food?

Kim Rittberg: Chocolate chip cookies.

Kim Gravel: Homemade packaged, like just sliced, frozen. And how, you know, be specific.

Kim Rittberg: Do not try to give me those lyndon's cookies that my mom keeps in her car that are crunchy and like stay edible for five years. No fresh homemade go or crunchy, gooey, yep.

Kim Gravel: All right. What advice would you give to your younger self?

Kim Rittberg: the worst thing that can happen is never that bad. In job, in work, in life. So much of us, so much of the, the things we don't do is us making up stories in our head, right? So what if someone doesn't hire you?

So what if your company fails? You always have, we all have a backup plan, right? We're all trained in something. We all have some skill, we always have some backup plan. But if you don't try that thing, you're gonna regret it. And I have things that I didn't try and. Why didn't

Kim Gravel: I, I regret I have, I have regrets in my life.

When people say, Kim, I don't have any regrets. I'm like, how? How can you not have any regrets? I look back and say, yes, I regret not doing that, and I'll learn from it.

Kim Rittberg: Yeah, and I learned next time. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of people judging you. People are too busy thinking about what they're going to eat for dinner.

Kim Gravel: They don't even care that much.

Kim Rittberg: They do not care about what you're doing. Nope. On Instagram in life, no one's talking about you. People don't care. People don't care. And the people who care are gonna cheer you on.

Kim Gravel: What makes you feel you're most confident?

Kim Rittberg: I love doing something with the kids where they say something back to you and you're like, oh my. I'm doing something right. Oh, right. Like my son was really struggling with swimming, really struggling, like crying before, crying after. And just, he's a generally not like a scared kid in life. And then one day he looks up at me, we're holding hands after swim. He goes, it's okay that it's hard. It means my brain and body are growing.

Kim Gravel: Oh my God. Wow.

Kim Rittberg: I was like, wow, I did one thing. Right. I don't know about the others, but that thing.

Kim Gravel: So profound. You are doing something right, Kim, on so many different levels. Thank you so much for being here. You, you are such a bright light in, uh, there's big things ahead of you. I mean, after listening to the podcast and talking to you, I just know that I'm so glad there's another Kim in the world empowering, motivating and living here on purpose. On purpose. I love you girl. You gotta come back.

Kim Rittberg: Thank you so much. I'm gonna go cry cuz that was like the nicest thing anyone's ever said. and thank you. Thank you also for being so positive and putting such a positive platform for women out there. I think that that's what we need.

We women are supportive. We are a sisterhood and I promise you ask for help and you will get it. Put out in the world what you want and you will get it. And so I think a. when people are scared or not doing what they want, they're, they're scared of what will happen. But truly, when you start moving, it's like an object in motion stays in motion.

Kim Gravel: I love that. That's true.

Kim Rittberg: So, so thank you and thank you for all that you're doing. It's just, it's such a pleasure to be here.

Kim Gravel: All right. Well come back and be with us girl. And y'all, everywhere that you can find Kim. Kim tell us you're on Instagram, you're on Facebook. Give us all your dets real quick.

We're gonna put it in the show notes, but go ahead and tell everybody where we can get ahold of you.

Kim Rittberg: The podcast is called Mom's Exit Interview, and it's for moms who wanna thrive without the nine to five. And you can find me at Kim Rittberg. My website kimrittberg.com. Instagram at Kim Rittberg. LinkedIn at Kim Rittberg.

I keep it real with the branding.

Kim Gravel: Well, I mean, it is, it's truly Kim helps women get from point A to point B in, in inspirational ways and also really, you know, practical ways in how you can, you know, do your, your thing as a mom or someone who's saying, you know, I wanna start something new in a different way where I can be with my kids more.

And, you know, enjoy life to the fullest. Thanks Kim, so much and come back and be with me, girl. I will. All right. Love you girl. Thank you.

Yeah, Zac, I mean, wasn't Kim great? She's exactly what I wanted to really plant a seed for all women out there listening. She took her experience in the corporate world and you can tell like she's feisty. She, she, got it together.

Zac Miller: Right. She's the real deal. I mean it's no wonder she's teaching like media training, right?

Like cuz she can get on and just like really make. Make her message come alive as you understand. Yeah. Right. And come alive.

Kim Gravel: That's such a gift. Yeah. Well, and I love how she's with her podcast, she's really empowering other women to think about entrepreneurship in a very different way. That's what I wanna say to everybody listening.

Everybody asks me all the time, oh, Kim, how did you build this? How did you do this? It was really one foot in front of the other. It was a lamp into my feet. I never had this. Hello? How she said, I wanna start my. and I woke up and I was a millionaire. You know, like right , no one ever does that. Like, it always starts with this nugget of ideas.

So any of you listening saying, Kim, I have this idea, I wanna do this, I wanna do this. Maybe you're a teacher and you wanna do, your own business. Start thinking about how to teach online or start thinking about how to tutor online or really help people learn how to learn. If you're a baker and you're saying, I want to offer, you know, different.

You know, affordable cakes for my community and kids. Start small, but just take the first step and start. Yep. That's the biggest step you'll ever take in business is just taking that first step. You might be fearful, you might be, unqualified, or you might think you're unqualified. We all unqualified when we start our businesses.

Yeah. You might not even. how it's going to turn out. But you'll never know until you take that first step. And I think Kim is a perfect example of going, you know, I wanna spend more quality time with my kids. How am I gonna do that? I wanna work and add value. And she's a prime example of, of, of a woman doing that in a really excellent way.

Zac Miller: and I totally, I felt such a close connection to her story too, because it literally is like my story. Yeah. I was working, I was the production manager on Big Brother, you know, working 60, 70 weeks killing and it was great. I love that show. That crew is unbelievable. They're so talented. It's such a great show, but.

My kid was gonna be born on our premiere date. And I just, I knew that that wasn't going to work and I wasn't gonna be able to be the person that I wanted to be and the dad I wanted to be. So, you know, I had to figure out a way to leave and create my own path that allowed me to have that family time.

And I remember thinking like, oh, I need to make this big business in order to be successful. Mm-hmm. . And now, you know, five years later, I'm like, I don't need. Like, why do I need that? I just need to have a business where I can support my family and have the lifestyle I want.

Kim Gravel: Well, and Kim mentioned that she was like, you know, if it's 10 hours a week or if you wanna build a, you know, a company and, and try to get, you know, venture capitalists to make it a billion dollar company.

I mean, there is no rules to this thing. There is no, there's no one holding you back except. purpose in, fulfillment does not always come from money in high positions. . Yeah, some. For some it does, but I know doing what makes your soul happy and what gives you joy and being able to earn a living at it is a really big, big, big success.

Get to it, y'all get busy. And listen, reach out to us. Let us know. Call us. We've got that phone number, Zac, e email us. Go to l o kim.com. Reach out, let us know what you want to hear. Got a lot of new things on the horizon, a lot of fresh things coming out down the pike. New people. We've got some great guests coming up.

Great topics, but most importantly, we're gonna live out loud and laugh out loud and love out loud together. Bye y'all.

Zac Miller: Bye y'all.

Kim Gravel: LOL is produced and edited by Zac Miller at Uncommon Audio. Our associate producer is Kathleen Grant, at Brunette Exec. Production help from Emily Bredin. Our cover art is designed by Sara Noto. A special thanks to all the team members at QVC plus, and thank you for listening. I love you.