Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Kelly Schuknecht: From Behind the Scenes to Centre Stage Without Burning Out
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Kelly Schuknecht: From Behind the Scenes to Centre Stage Without Burning Out
EPISODE OVERVIEW
Duration: Approximately 25 minutes
Best For: Trapped entrepreneurs who know they need more visibility and thought leadership but feel too busy running the day to day
Key Outcome: A clear framework for building your authority and visibility without adding more to your already overflowing plate
She spent 20 years making male CEOs famous. Then she lost her job and realised she had been secretly dreaming of her own company the entire time.
THE BOTTOM LINE
You built something from nothing. Fifteen years of grinding, of showing up when no one else would. And now you have the expertise, the track record, the results. The thing is, nobody knows about it because you are too busy answering emails at 5am to tell anyone. Kelly Schuknecht spent two decades as the person behind the person, making other leaders shine while staying invisible herself. When she was pushed out in an acquisition, she stopped applying for jobs by Monday morning and went all in on her own company. Fifteen months later, she has a team of ten people and a thriving thought leadership agency. This episode reveals how trapped entrepreneurs can build visibility and authority without adding more complexity to their already overwhelming lives. Kelly shares the exact framework she uses to help business owners step into the spotlight while systems handle the heavy lifting. Because your expertise is worthless if it stays trapped inside your head.
WHY THIS EPISODE MATTERS TO YOU
Your competitors are becoming the recognised experts in your industry while you remain the best kept secret, which means clients choose them instead of you
You know LinkedIn matters and speaking matters and visibility matters, and you have precisely zero hours to make any of it happen
Every hour you spend on marketing is an hour away from delivery, so you stay invisible and the cycle continues
The longer you wait to build your authority platform, the harder it becomes to escape the trap of trading time for money
KEY INSIGHTS YOU CAN IMPLEMENT TODAY
Your Authority X Factor already exists. Kelly discovered that combining her publishing background with her marketing expertise created a unique positioning that attracted clients immediately. What two or three skills make you different? Name them and own them, because clarity attracts clients while vagueness repels them.
You can be visible without being everywhere. Kelly's speaker elevation plan focuses on strategic visibility rather than constant content creation. This means you can build authority through podcast interviews, speaking events, and targeted LinkedIn presence without becoming a full time content creator.
Outsource the execution, keep the expertise. Kelly's team handles LinkedIn management, speaking applications, and content ghostwriting for clients. The result is that busy founders show up as thought leaders without the time drain. Your job is to have the ideas. Someone else can turn them into content.
The first year will surprise you. Kelly grew quickly and then faced the reality that nobody makes buying decisions in November and December. She adapted by planning for seasonal slowdowns and hitting January hard. Knowing the rhythm of your market protects you from panic.
Self care is not optional when you are building. Kelly admits she did not take care of herself well in year one. She read only 16 books instead of her usual 50 to 60. She has now committed to walking four miles daily and reading again because she cannot pour from an empty cup. Neither can you.
GOLDEN QUOTES WORTH REMEMBERING
"I call myself an accidental entrepreneur. I never felt driven to start a company. I say that, and then I'm going to tell you my story, and it's not true. It was in me. I just didn't know it." - Kelly Schuknecht
"By Monday morning I was like, screw this, I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not applying for jobs. I am going all in on this company." - Kelly Schuknecht
"Being very clear and specific about how I can help was a key factor in our growth that first year. Because I wasn't just saying I'm a marketing person and I can do anything." - Kelly Schuknecht
"We use AI on my team to be efficient. My feeling about AI is that it's making us more efficient, making us better at what we do and saving us some steps. You still need people adapting the output and thinking a little bit." - Kelly Schuknecht
"I wasn't prepared for the ups and downs. Things were growing so I hired a bunch of people and then learned that certain people don't work like I do. Nobody's going to work like I do." - Kelly Schuknecht
QUICK NAVIGATION FOR BUSY LEADERS
00:00 - Introduction: From Cancun to Colorado, meeting an accidental entrepreneur
02:15 - The 20 Year Setup: Why Kelly spent two decades making other people famous
04:45 - The Secret Dream: How she was building a company website while still employed
06:30 - The Push: Losing her job and going all in by Monday morning
08:20 - Authority X Factor: Finding what makes you uniquely valuable in the market
11:00 - First Year Reality: Growing to a team of ten and the surprises that came with it
14:15 - Health and Business: Why Kelly stopped reading 50 books and what she is doing about it
17:30 - AI and Marketing: How her agency uses AI without losing the human element
21:00 - The Future: Book launch, course creation, and what is coming next
24:30 - Connect with Kelly: Resources and how to find your own thought leadership score
GUEST SPOTLIGHT
Name: Kelly Schuknecht
Bio: Kelly is the CEO of Two Mile High Marketing, a strategic marketing agency helping founders, CEOs, and professional service providers build visibility through thought leadership. With over 15 years in publishing and executive marketing, she has helped high achievers turn their expertise into powerful personal brands. She speaks nationally on visibility, content strategy, and the mindset shift required to go from behind the scenes to centre stage.
Connect with Kelly:
Website: https://twomilehighmarketing.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyschuknecht/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KellySchuknecht
YOUR NEXT ACTIONS
This Week: Take Kelly's free Thought Leader Scorecard quiz at her website. Three minutes will show you exactly where you stand and what to prioritise first. Clarity creates momentum.
This Month: Identify your Authority X Factor by listing the two or three experiences or skills that make you uniquely positioned in your market. Write one LinkedIn post about it and see what resonates.
This Quarter: Commit to one visibility activity you can delegate, whether that is podcast appearances, speaking applications, or LinkedIn management. Your expertise deserves an audience without you doing all the work.
EPISODE RESOURCES
Book mentioned: Personality Isn't Permanent by Benjamin Hardy
Book mentioned: The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
Book mentioned: Getting Things Done by David Allen
Book mentioned: Who Not How by Dan Sullivan
Book mentioned: Traction by Gino Wickman
Quiz: Thought Leader Scorecard at twomilehighmarketing.com
Upcoming: The Authority X Factor book and course launching April 2025
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
READY TO ESCAPE THE TRAP?
Take the Freedom Score Quiz: https://scoreapp.atpbos.com/
Discover how trapped you are in your business and get your personalised roadmap to freedom in under 5 minutes.
Book a Free Strategy Session: https://www.atpbos.com/contact
Let's discuss how to build a business that works WITHOUT you.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
CONNECT WITH YOUR HOST, ROY CASTLEMAN
Roy is the founder of All The Power Limited and creator of Elevate360, a business coaching system for entrepreneurs ready to scale without burnout. As a certified Wim Hof Method Instructor and the UK's first certified BOS UP coach, Roy combines AI automation, wellness practices, and business operating systems to help trapped entrepreneurs reclaim their freedom.
Website: www.atpbos.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roycastleman/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@allthepowerltd
View all episodes
By Roy CastlemanEPISODE OVERVIEW
Duration: Approximately 25 minutes
Best For: Trapped entrepreneurs who know they need more visibility and thought leadership but feel too busy running the day to day
Key Outcome: A clear framework for building your authority and visibility without adding more to your already overflowing plate
She spent 20 years making male CEOs famous. Then she lost her job and realised she had been secretly dreaming of her own company the entire time.
THE BOTTOM LINE
You built something from nothing. Fifteen years of grinding, of showing up when no one else would. And now you have the expertise, the track record, the results. The thing is, nobody knows about it because you are too busy answering emails at 5am to tell anyone. Kelly Schuknecht spent two decades as the person behind the person, making other leaders shine while staying invisible herself. When she was pushed out in an acquisition, she stopped applying for jobs by Monday morning and went all in on her own company. Fifteen months later, she has a team of ten people and a thriving thought leadership agency. This episode reveals how trapped entrepreneurs can build visibility and authority without adding more complexity to their already overwhelming lives. Kelly shares the exact framework she uses to help business owners step into the spotlight while systems handle the heavy lifting. Because your expertise is worthless if it stays trapped inside your head.
WHY THIS EPISODE MATTERS TO YOU
Your competitors are becoming the recognised experts in your industry while you remain the best kept secret, which means clients choose them instead of you
You know LinkedIn matters and speaking matters and visibility matters, and you have precisely zero hours to make any of it happen
Every hour you spend on marketing is an hour away from delivery, so you stay invisible and the cycle continues
The longer you wait to build your authority platform, the harder it becomes to escape the trap of trading time for money
KEY INSIGHTS YOU CAN IMPLEMENT TODAY
Your Authority X Factor already exists. Kelly discovered that combining her publishing background with her marketing expertise created a unique positioning that attracted clients immediately. What two or three skills make you different? Name them and own them, because clarity attracts clients while vagueness repels them.
You can be visible without being everywhere. Kelly's speaker elevation plan focuses on strategic visibility rather than constant content creation. This means you can build authority through podcast interviews, speaking events, and targeted LinkedIn presence without becoming a full time content creator.
Outsource the execution, keep the expertise. Kelly's team handles LinkedIn management, speaking applications, and content ghostwriting for clients. The result is that busy founders show up as thought leaders without the time drain. Your job is to have the ideas. Someone else can turn them into content.
The first year will surprise you. Kelly grew quickly and then faced the reality that nobody makes buying decisions in November and December. She adapted by planning for seasonal slowdowns and hitting January hard. Knowing the rhythm of your market protects you from panic.
Self care is not optional when you are building. Kelly admits she did not take care of herself well in year one. She read only 16 books instead of her usual 50 to 60. She has now committed to walking four miles daily and reading again because she cannot pour from an empty cup. Neither can you.
GOLDEN QUOTES WORTH REMEMBERING
"I call myself an accidental entrepreneur. I never felt driven to start a company. I say that, and then I'm going to tell you my story, and it's not true. It was in me. I just didn't know it." - Kelly Schuknecht
"By Monday morning I was like, screw this, I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not applying for jobs. I am going all in on this company." - Kelly Schuknecht
"Being very clear and specific about how I can help was a key factor in our growth that first year. Because I wasn't just saying I'm a marketing person and I can do anything." - Kelly Schuknecht
"We use AI on my team to be efficient. My feeling about AI is that it's making us more efficient, making us better at what we do and saving us some steps. You still need people adapting the output and thinking a little bit." - Kelly Schuknecht
"I wasn't prepared for the ups and downs. Things were growing so I hired a bunch of people and then learned that certain people don't work like I do. Nobody's going to work like I do." - Kelly Schuknecht
QUICK NAVIGATION FOR BUSY LEADERS
00:00 - Introduction: From Cancun to Colorado, meeting an accidental entrepreneur
02:15 - The 20 Year Setup: Why Kelly spent two decades making other people famous
04:45 - The Secret Dream: How she was building a company website while still employed
06:30 - The Push: Losing her job and going all in by Monday morning
08:20 - Authority X Factor: Finding what makes you uniquely valuable in the market
11:00 - First Year Reality: Growing to a team of ten and the surprises that came with it
14:15 - Health and Business: Why Kelly stopped reading 50 books and what she is doing about it
17:30 - AI and Marketing: How her agency uses AI without losing the human element
21:00 - The Future: Book launch, course creation, and what is coming next
24:30 - Connect with Kelly: Resources and how to find your own thought leadership score
GUEST SPOTLIGHT
Name: Kelly Schuknecht
Bio: Kelly is the CEO of Two Mile High Marketing, a strategic marketing agency helping founders, CEOs, and professional service providers build visibility through thought leadership. With over 15 years in publishing and executive marketing, she has helped high achievers turn their expertise into powerful personal brands. She speaks nationally on visibility, content strategy, and the mindset shift required to go from behind the scenes to centre stage.
Connect with Kelly:
Website: https://twomilehighmarketing.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyschuknecht/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KellySchuknecht
YOUR NEXT ACTIONS
This Week: Take Kelly's free Thought Leader Scorecard quiz at her website. Three minutes will show you exactly where you stand and what to prioritise first. Clarity creates momentum.
This Month: Identify your Authority X Factor by listing the two or three experiences or skills that make you uniquely positioned in your market. Write one LinkedIn post about it and see what resonates.
This Quarter: Commit to one visibility activity you can delegate, whether that is podcast appearances, speaking applications, or LinkedIn management. Your expertise deserves an audience without you doing all the work.
EPISODE RESOURCES
Book mentioned: Personality Isn't Permanent by Benjamin Hardy
Book mentioned: The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
Book mentioned: Getting Things Done by David Allen
Book mentioned: Who Not How by Dan Sullivan
Book mentioned: Traction by Gino Wickman
Quiz: Thought Leader Scorecard at twomilehighmarketing.com
Upcoming: The Authority X Factor book and course launching April 2025
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
READY TO ESCAPE THE TRAP?
Take the Freedom Score Quiz: https://scoreapp.atpbos.com/
Discover how trapped you are in your business and get your personalised roadmap to freedom in under 5 minutes.
Book a Free Strategy Session: https://www.atpbos.com/contact
Let's discuss how to build a business that works WITHOUT you.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
CONNECT WITH YOUR HOST, ROY CASTLEMAN
Roy is the founder of All The Power Limited and creator of Elevate360, a business coaching system for entrepreneurs ready to scale without burnout. As a certified Wim Hof Method Instructor and the UK's first certified BOS UP coach, Roy combines AI automation, wellness practices, and business operating systems to help trapped entrepreneurs reclaim their freedom.
Website: www.atpbos.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roycastleman/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@allthepowerltd