Savvy Entrepreneur Spotlight with Dr. Karla Scott, Entrepreneur + Author

The Savvy Entrepreneur Spotlight featured the versatile American soprano, Dr. Karla Scott. Her voice has been described by the Washington Post as “a vividly expressive soprano”, and she has performed around the world both as a soloist and as the Choir Director for the United States Naval Academy.

Combined, Karla’s performances have included the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC and in a film about the life of African-American composer, Jester Hairston. Dr. Scott’s choirs have appeared at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, DC, on a goodwill tour of South Korea, at the 2008 Inauguration concert for President Barack Obama, in Zimbabwe, Africa with President Mugabe in attendance, and in Washington, D.C. for a United Negro College Fund celebration with former President Bill Clinton.

During her ten years of performing and traveling around the world, Dr. Scott intersected with leaders from various industries both in and out of music. Karla was able to make connections with people that ultimately lead to business opportunities she would later explore.

“Your gift will make room for you, and bring you before great men & women” 

– Proverbs 18:16

Karla believes that entrepreneurs possess the ability to use their creative gifts to change the world and that failure to do so out of fear is selfish. She has worked hard to help entrepreneurs tap into their “creative genius”, and encouraged creative individuals to step into their “leadership genius”. When speaking to creative people, Karla wants them to embrace their innate leadership qualities. When she speaks with leaders, Karla helps them realize the creativity that made them leaders in the first place.

It’s 2 sides of a single coin…Everyone has something that they do that is quite different from what someone else does”, said Karla. Often, it is the thing you ignore the most because it is so normal for you. It just flows out of you without you having to think about it. This might be your “creative genius”.

Whether Karla was teaching at the military, schools, and universities, or performing with her choirs, she always had the foresight to cultivate a business of her own. It should be obvious that Karla doesn’t settle for doing one thing at a time. In fact, she has always had multiple things happening, from workshops to coaching services, to help propel her business. Karla brings her unique background to her projects and clients in order to help differentiate herself from others in the industry. “Differentiating yourself is everything…if you don’t, people do not know what you do at your highest”, said Karla.

For anyone interested in turning their passion into a business, Karla recommends watching people at the highest level of what you want to do. Immerse and educate yourself in the field, and take away the components that can be incorporated into what you do that is special. For example, Motivational Speaker and CNN Correspondent Mel Robbins, has taken the common problem of procrastination to an entirely new level with her 5 Second Rule.

Steady Faith

Recently, Karla released her first book Steady Faith: navigate the detours, live your purpose, make a difference. The book supports leaders, influencers and creatives in a healthy examination of the state of their souls as they continue to lead others. She has also developed an accompanying program, The Power of Leadership, designed to show leaders the power plays necessary to serve others in alignment with their soul’s purpose.

Surprisingly, Karla turned down initial suggestions that she write a book. She had just completed her doctoral dissertation, which talked about the unique intersessions of music, leadership and the military culture she had experienced after 10 years of being at the Naval Academy. A publicist approached her about writing a lessons learned/memoir book, Karla’s immediate response was no. However, after weeks of reviewing old letters and emails, and remembering the tours she’d been on, a story emerged. Karla also believed the suggestion was a message from God because it simply would not escape her mind. Natural fear crept in, but she knew this was a project meant for a larger calling.

Facing Fear Leads to Growth

When asked how she deals with the fear that comes with trying something new, Karla mentioned that having a mentor can be helpful. “And you do not have the know the mentor personally”, said Karla. You can read someone’s book, or watch a video and feel as if the person mentored you. Karla also believes her faith in God helps her tremendously when dealing with fear. Finally, while you should be doing something every day to grow your business, realize that Rome was not built in a day. Stay in action, but give yourself a chance to enjoy the process along the way.

While writing Steady Faith, Karla kept to a strict 4-6 hour schedule each day and treated the process as if she were in class. She would write for 50 minutes, take a 10-minute break, then repeat the process. Having a clear schedule is key for anyone who is interested in writing a book. It is also crucial to set an end date. Karla also suggests that budding authors consider their potential market, and ask themselves, who is this book going to benefit?

Karla hopes that the key take away or experience from reading her book is that every leader, business person, or creative understands the idea that every challenge you face is not meant to be a stumbling block or a means to stop you. Instead, it is meant to grow you. “You will not be effective if you do not learn how to navigate things that you can not see your way out of at first”, said Karla.

When describing her book, Karla stated that “all 12 chapters of Karla’s book are about 12 different ways that life may come at you that seems like its trying to stop you from hitting your goals, but really it’s there so you can build a muscle to move forward as a leader who can serve at your highest”. The book serves as encouragement.

What Will the Future Bring

Karla has been approached by several leaders to get insight and implementation strategies, so she is developing coaching services to fill the need. Karla has been creating 1 on 1 and group coaching sessions. She is also able to provide step by step guidance on how to implement strategies to her clients. It comes naturally to her. Now she plans to monetize it and serving as many people as she can. Karla is excited that she now has the knowledge and tools to help others through the process.

Karla said her biggest obstacle was giving her permission to do something other than work. She realized that she had lost her joy due to all of the things she was doing for other people and not her own personal development. Karla has learned to find the balance between giving and receiving and urges people to do the same as early as possible. “We often race towards the wall of burnout, rest for a moment, and restart the race”, said Karla. “Eventually you’ll be serving people from an empty cup, and we should be serving people from a full cup”. It’s okay to take time out for yourself.

Watch the complete Savvy Entrepreneur Spotlight with Dr. Karla Scott here: