March 24, 2025 • 27 mins
Overnight success is a myth. The real path to impact is resilience and community.
Entrepreneurship is often glamorized, but the truth is that building a business that truly matters is hard. It takes resilience, community, and a willingness to keep going, even when life throws everything it has at you.
In the fourth epsiode of our 2024 Powerful Women Rising Award winners series, you'll hear from two extraordinary women who know this journey firsthand:
🔥 Kim Munsch (2024 Resilience Award Winner) – An event planner and single mother of five, Kim shares how she built a successful business while navigating divorce, job loss, and even stalking.
💡 Aleta Wagner (2024 Impact Award Winner) – As the founder of Mountain Mama Pelvic Health, she turned her expertise as an OT into a thriving wellness practice while homeschooling three kids.
Their stories shatter the myth of overnight success and highlight the real, raw, and often messy parts of entrepreneurship that no one talks about.
We Discuss:
✅ The truth about balancing business, family, and personal challenges
✅ How to cultivate resilience when business (and life) gets tough
✅ How having a mentor (someone ahead of you), peers (at your level) and helping those behind you creates a balanced support network
Building something meaningful isn’t easy—but you don’t have to do it alone. Tune in to learn what it really takes to create a business with lasting impact.
This episode is part of our 2024 PWR Impact Awards Winner Series, featuring women who are making a difference in the business world. Want more inspiration, strategies, and real talk from award winning women? Subscribe now so you don’t miss the next episode!
Links & References:
- Join us at our next PWR Virtual Speed Networking Event!
- For even deeper connections, check out the Powerful Women Rising Community!
- Learn more about Aleta Wagner:
https://mountain-mama-pelvic-health.kit.com/82b398ca93
https://www.instagram.com/mountainmamapelvichealth
- Learn more about Kim Munsch:
https://www.facebook.com/kimlouisexp
https://www.instagram.com/kimlouisexp/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimmunsch/
Connect with Your Host!
Melissa Snow is a Business Relationship Strategist dedicated to empowering women in entrepreneurship. She founded the Powerful Women Rising Community, which provides female business owners with essential support and resources for business growth.
Melissa's other mission is to revolutionize networking, promoting authenticity and genuine connections over sleazy sales tactics. She runs an incredible monthly Virtual Speed Networking Event which you can attend once at no cost using the code FIRSTTIME
She lives in Colorado Springs with two girl dogs, two boy cats and any number of foster kittens. She loves iced coffee, Taylor Swift, and Threads.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Melissa Snow (00:02):
Good morning ladies.
Welcome to the Powerful WomenRising podcast.
Good morning.
So excited to have two more ofthe winners of the 2024 Powerful
Women Rising Impact Awards hereon the podcast.
I have Kim, who is the winnerof the Resilience Award, and I
have Alita, who is the winner ofthe Active Impact Awards.
(00:22):
We're going to talk a littlebit about what those awards mean
, but first, why don't you guysjust tell everybody a little bit
about you and what you do andwho you are?
Kim, do you want to go first?
Sure.
Kim Munsch (00:34):
So, Kim Munch, I live in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
I am a single mom of five.
My kids' age ranges are 24 downto 10.
And then I also have twograndsons.
So stay very, very busy.
I have a business getting to domy passion and what I love, and
that is events.
I like to not even like to, butI love to create experiences
(00:58):
for people at those events.
That's awesome.
Melissa Snow (01:01):
And how did you get into event planning?
Kim Munsch (01:04):
So I've been in the administrative field for, oh my
goodness, probably 27 years,like since high school and part
of my job had always been doingevents.
I lost a job back in 2016.
And I remember I was completelydevastated and one day, like it
was just this light bulb of Ifigured out why, and it was
(01:25):
because 90% of my job there wasdoing events.
So I started it was Kim Louiseevents and designs at the time
and just a few months ago,rebranded to the Kim Louise
experience.
Melissa Snow (01:38):
I love that.
That's so awesome.
Okay, I'm going to come back toyou in a little bit, but first,
alita, tell us a little bitabout you and who you are.
Aleta Wagner (01:44):
Yeah, my name is Alita Wagner and I live in
Monument, colorado.
I own Mountain Mama PelvicHealth.
I'm a pelvic floor occupationaltherapist.
I worked for about 17 years andstarted doing pelvic floor kind
of dabbling in it about eightyears ago for my own pelvic
floor dysfunction and thenreally dove in and started my
own company in 2023.
So two years in love what I do.
(02:05):
I love serving the women in ourcommunity and educating the
women in our community.
It's a fun job.
I get to work with pregnantwomen.
I get to work with postpartumwomen.
I get to work with teenagers.
I get to work withperimenopause and menopausal
women.
It's just a fun, fun job to beable to support women.
Melissa Snow (02:31):
That's awesome, yeah, and you've only been in
business for a couple of years,but you are all over the place.
I think everyone I meet here Iwe live sort of close to each
other 20, 30 minutes and I meetso many people who also know you
, which is so fun.
And one of the things that Ilove about being an entrepreneur
and especially about likenetworking and being in
entrepreneurial spaces withother women is hearing about all
these different types ofbusinesses.
Women start right Like youthink I'm going to go into
business, but for myself.
So am I going to be a doctor?
(02:51):
Am I going to open a law firm?
But it's like there are so manydifferent.
I didn't even know that pelvicfloor was a thing until I became
an entrepreneur, and it's coolto be able to then go talk to
all the non-entrepreneurs whoare like can't jump on the
trampoline without peeing theirpants and be like you know who
you need to talk to.
Yes, all right.
(03:13):
So let's talk a little bit aboutthese awards that you won.
So, Kim, you were the winner ofthe Resilience Award, and that
award was given to someone whohad overcome significant
challenges in their journey, whoshowed exceptional resilience
and who was inspiring otherpeople through their
determination.
So obviously you've made a bigimpact on some people because
(03:35):
you were nominated by your peersand then you were chosen as the
winner by a panel of judges.
Tell us a little bit about youalluded to the fact that you
some some job loss.
That was devastating.
You have a lot of kids.
Tell us a little bit about yourexperience with resilience in
your entrepreneurial journey andhow that has played out for you
in, but as an adult.
Kim Munsch (04:10):
Even before the incident in 2016, my first
husband was an abusive alcoholicthat I one day realized what am
I doing?
And we had three kids togetherlong story, but I managed to
leave and I became a single momof three.
I went back to school,continued to work because it was
just me taking care of them asa single mom.
I got remarried.
We had two more kids and wewere still married in 2016 when
(04:35):
I lost that job.
But shortly after that myhusband at the time decided he
wanted a separation and thatquickly turned into he wanted a
divorce.
So then I found myself a singlemom of five.
I had started that businessbefore that divorce, but it was
shortly after that those otherthings transpired and it had to
(04:56):
just be put on the back burner.
It stayed on the back burnerfor a really long time Because I
was a single mom.
I didn't have the ability tojust build a brand new business.
I had to have what I call myday job or my paycheck job to
make sure that I could surviveand take care of my kids.
A few years after that, I endedup in a relationship and
(05:21):
eventually ended thatrelationship, and that ex-man
became a stalker, and that wenton for two and a half years and
I continued to still go, becauseI was going for two things.
The two things that made me gowere my kids.
My five kids counted on me andI had to keep going on me, and I
(05:49):
had to.
You know, I had to keep going,I had to keep surviving.
I had to show them that you canbe strong and you can do this,
no matter what comes about.
I continued to work the businessin very, very tiny, little,
bite-sized pieces and even youknow, through that stalking
incident, what I found was iseven those baby steps were still
helping and I'm terrible withbaby steps, it's still a work in
(06:09):
progress Like I just I want togo, I want to do it, I want to
have it done, right, and so Ijust I kept going and there were
times where I was like I'm out,I'm done, I can't do this, it's
just too much, it's toooverwhelming.
But yet that still followed me.
I was then suddenly like Itried to stop the business.
(06:31):
But then I was suddenly gettinginquiries and somebody had said
to me once they're like youknow, when you're doing what
you're meant to do, it's notgoing to go away and I knew in
that moment like she is rightand this is my passion and I'm,
even if I do have to do the babysteps along the way.
Melissa Snow (06:50):
Yeah, what I love about that story well, there's a
lot of things I love about thatstory, but I think some of the
key takeaways that I want peoplewho are listening to this to
hear and I think this issomething that is really
important that we talk aboutmore in entrepreneurship is,
first of all, that period oftime that you were like I'd
really love to be working on mybusiness full-time and I need a
(07:11):
J-O-B.
I think for so manyentrepreneurs, getting a job
means you failed.
Right.
There's this like we tie ouridentity to being entrepreneurs
Our community is entrepreneursand then to have a time in our
lives when it's like I can'twork on this right now.
I have to get a job For somereason.
There can be like shame andembarrassment in that, which is
(07:33):
silly, because the rest of theworld also has a job.
Right, like there's probably itshould be more shame and
embarrassment and like I'msitting here not making any
money and I have five children,and so I love that idea of just
like you had to do what you hadto do at the time without
actually letting go of the dream.
(07:53):
And I also love what you saidabout the baby steps too,
because, especially now in thisworld of online businesses and
all of these celebrityinfluencer business coaches.
It's all about like how fastcan you make six figures?
Right?
I went from making $52 a monthto making $52,000 a month
(08:14):
following this blueprint andyour story is very much like
sometimes I moved inches at atime, sometimes I moved miles at
a time, but I kept moving.
It wasn't a race, it wasn't howfast could I get there, it was
just keep moving and I thinkthat's so, so important.
Kim Munsch (08:33):
For sure.
You know and there I'd be lyingif I said there weren't days
when I was forget this, I'm notgetting out of bed, forget this,
I'm going back to bed I didthose things.
I let myself feel what wasgoing on, have the emotions that
I had Maybe not everybody islike that, but for me I had to
(08:56):
in order to work past it andstart moving forward again.
Melissa Snow (09:00):
I think if any entrepreneur tells you they
never had a day and they werelike forget it, I'm done, I'm
going back to bed, they aredefinitely not telling the truth
.
I want to come back to thatidea of like how you keep going
when it's really hard, but Iwant to go to Alita first and
talk a little bit about youraward.
You won the active impact award, and that award is for a person
(09:23):
who is consistently engaged andactive, who shows up in
conversations, events, in onlinespaces with a positive energy,
with enthusiasm and dedicationthat inspires other people.
So tell me what you thoughtwhen you first found out that
you had been nominated or thatyou had won this award.
Aleta Wagner (09:44):
I would say it was a huge surprise to me, but I'm
so thankful and honored.
Like I said, I've been inbusiness for two years.
I've been an OT for 17, butkind of transitioned from
working in orthopedics at theChildren's Hospital and hand
therapy into pelvic floor.
I love what I do, I love beinga part of the wellness community
.
I love being a part of theentrepreneur community and I
(10:04):
never thought of myself as anentrepreneur throughout my
career and it just kind ofhappened one day.
You know, I just decided I needto do something different and I
have a passion for women.
I want to help women.
So being involved, so I alsohomeschool.
I have three kids, I homeschoolthem.
So just being involved in ahomeschool community, talking to
moms, talking to peers and justseeing what the need was in our
(10:25):
community.
There are so many options, Ithink, for pelvic floor
dysfunction and a lot of timesit's recommended to get surgery,
it's recommended to takemedicines and I feel like, no,
we should really start withfunctional movement, getting to
the root cause in the body andthen, if we're really struggling
, then maybe moving on to thoseother alternatives, but just
(10:47):
being being a voice in thepelvic health space, being a
voice in our community, being apart of different groups where I
can encourage and support otherwomen.
I love to just haveconversations, I love to educate
.
So I do workshops in ourcommunity, just educating, and
so many women say why haven't Iheard about this before and how
come I didn't get taught thiswhen I was a kid, or how come my
(11:08):
OB didn't tell me this when Iwas pregnant?
So there's so many women thatjust don't know, like you said,
melissa, like what is pelvicfloor therapy?
What do we do?
There's there's so much to itand I'm super excited to have
won this award and to continueto have impact in our community.
Melissa Snow (11:22):
So I want to give you an opportunity to kind of
well, not kind of I want you to,I want you to toot your own
horn, because there are lots ofentrepreneurs out here I mean, I
don't know if there's as manyin other places as there is
where we live but we got a lot.
And there are a lot of peoplethat I meet at networking events
who are out meeting peopledoing the things, connecting
(11:44):
with people.
What do you think it is aboutthe way that you do things, the
way that you show up in thecommunity, that is creating such
an impact for people?
Aleta Wagner (11:52):
Yeah, I don't.
It probably is partly mypersonality.
I just I love people, I love,you know, just that connection
with people and I strive to makethose genuine connections.
For me it's not, yes, it isabout a paycheck, but it's not
about a paycheck if that makessense, like I want to make a
difference, I want to helppeople, and so just my openness
(12:13):
and hearing from people andthere is something to be said
for being an occupationaltherapist we are people that I
think other people open up tomore.
I'm not a counselor, I'm not apsychologist, but I ask
questions, I ask open-endedquestions.
I leave space for people andjust hold that space for people,
and so I think I'm easier totalk to in that instance.
(12:36):
But I also, so I will openlyshare.
I am a believer and I thinkthat light also shines through
to where that helps maybe makeconnections with people though I
don't, you know, that's not thefirst thing I say to people,
but I think just having that inmy history and in my background
it shows, and maybe that thatshows up in in those
(12:58):
conversations that I have withpeople.
Melissa Snow (13:00):
Yeah, I'm hearing several things and they totally
match up with what I've heardfrom other people about you too,
which is authenticity, likestaying true to who you are.
It's very much what I teachwhen I teach people how to
network like a human, and notlike a salesman right.
Going up as a real person,having real conversations,
creating connections, beingcurious, wanting to learn more
(13:23):
about people, without an agendato pitch them or sell to them at
the end.
Right, like you just want toknow who they are and what
they're about, and maybe theynever need a pelvic floor
therapist.
Maybe they know somebody in thefuture who does.
But your desire and yourgenuineness in connecting with
them doesn't depend on that, andI think the other thing, too,
(13:46):
is your willingness to openlyprovide value to other people.
You don't have this like well,I could help you with that if
you want to pay me right.
Like, of course, we all needthat to a certain extent,
because none of us are here tolike hey, can I pick your brain
for the next three hours?
For no money.
But it seems like you have agood handle on that balance
(14:09):
between, like, genuinelyproviding value to people and
also still running your business.
Aleta Wagner (14:16):
Thank you.
Melissa Snow (14:17):
Yeah, I love that and that is absolutely how you
create an impact in thecommunity, in your networking
spaces with your clients.
I mean, that's the kind ofstuff that creates clients who
want to refer you to peoplewhich is you know.
I always say, like your formerclients are probably the most
important part of your network.
Aleta Wagner (14:35):
Absolutely 100%.
Melissa Snow (14:37):
So I want to ask both of you actually, because I
know Kim won the resilienceaward, but I know Alita has got
a lot of resilience in her aswell Super impressed by the fact
that you're homeschoolingchildren.
I mean, I'm impressed by anyonewho keeps a human alive, let
alone five of them, or five ofthem that they're also educating
while they run a business.
(14:58):
But I would love to hear fromyou guys and Kim, you touched on
this a little bit in terms ofjust like, allowing yourself to
feel those feelings and movethrough them.
But when you're struggling withthose days of like, why am I
still doing this?
I'm done.
This is hard.
Everything sucks.
What is it that keeps you going?
Kim Munsch (15:16):
I think of that all the time, when it comes up right
In that moment.
What is it that I need to keepdoing this for?
And it's for me.
It's not only just my kids, butit's for me.
The passion that I have forwhat I do and doing events and
creating those experiences forpeople is so strong that that's
(15:39):
one of the things that makes mewant to keep going.
What about you, alita?
Aleta Wagner (15:42):
I think I mean there are lots of hard days with
, like you said, homeschooling,just dealing with myself and my
kids and our attitudes andbehaviors.
I think for me it is reallygetting to like what.
What is the heart of what I doand and why and I think, kim,
you touched on this too is I.
You know I do this for formyself.
(16:04):
I do this for the women in mycommunity.
I do this because there's notsomeone who does the same thing
exactly the way that I do itthat has the same exact heart
that I do.
There's other pelvic floortherapists, there's other great
pelvic floor therapists, but I'mdifferent and we're all
different.
So, just having that differentheart, I will say I didn't say
(16:27):
this earlier, but I went from amobile practice to having a
small office space that was kindof secluded.
It was on the second floor of abuilding, I did not get any
foot traffic, and now I'm in awellness collaborative and that
was all in the span of a yearand a half.
Well, actually less than that.
It was in the span of A littleover a year actually, because I
(16:47):
kept my mobile practice forabout six months before I was
looking at office spaces.
But just I wanted, I wanted tokeep moving forward.
You know, there's that sayingof just like, take that step,
keep taking that step and whenyou're scared, just do it.
Just jump off the fence and doit.
And I sat on the fence for avery long time doing public for
education, looking at things andnot doing this as a career,
(17:07):
until one day I just went.
I'm not happy where I'm at.
There's something that needs tochange.
My physiology is not doing whatI need it to do to be able to
be there for my family, formyself.
And so I had a friend actually,who called and asked hey, I
heard you got a certification inpelvic floor.
Are you seeing clients?
And I said no, do I need to?
(17:28):
And she said yeah, I want tosee you.
And that was what really mademe jump off the fence and get my
LLC started and just decided toopen my company.
I could have just seen her onthe side and not made a company,
not become an entrepreneur, butsomething I don't know.
There was just that little fireinside me that said do it, you
can do this.
And I think growing up I hadfive brothers and so I always
(17:50):
was having to get my voice outthere Right.
And you know, just like yousaid, melissa, having that
resilience, I think just havingpeople believe in me it wasn't
just me that went.
Okay, I'm just going to do this.
You know, my husband wassupporting me.
I had friends that weresupporting me.
The person that I'm in theoffice, the wellness
collaborative with Katie bearshe's also an entrepreneur in
the community she was very muchsupportive of me and wanting to
(18:13):
promote my business too, and Ijust feel like if we have people
that can stand by us and giveus that support, it helps on
those hard days.
It helps to be able to justhave somebody to call and say
this day sucks, and havesomebody to encourage you.
And I know, like I said before,I'm a believer, so I do find
encouragement in God's word andthe scriptures, but sometimes
(18:34):
that doesn't help, even thoughit should right, it should be
the one thing that helps you.
But sometimes you just need tohave somebody else to believe in
you and just say you know what?
Hey, you can do this.
And let's look at the next step.
What is the next phase?
What is your next goal?
What is just that one stepfurther that you can take?
Kim Munsch (18:52):
I don't think I could have overcome a lot of the
challenges I've had, but what Ifeel is like the constant
challenges without that support.
You know, I had one of thosechallenges this morning, right
before this, and I reached outto those women that have just
been there rock hard, neversugar coat, but are gentle, that
(19:20):
supports, and give it to mestraight who helped me get my
mind back in the right place.
Melissa Snow (19:22):
Yeah, that's one of the reasons that I am so big
on networking and really I meanI say networking is really just
anything that you're doing thatconnects you with another human,
because having that communityis so important.
Like, our husbands want tounderstand, they want to be
supportive, but sometimes theyjust don't understand in a way
that's supportive you know, likethey don't have a better
response than like well, I hopethat works out for you and
(19:43):
you're like thank you, buttalking to other women, talking
to other business owners,talking to other people who
either have been where we areand now are where we want to be
or are still where we are,there's something about that
that just is so helpful inknowing you're not the only
person having that experience.
(20:03):
You are, there's nothing wrongwith you.
This isn't like a sign from theuniverse that you're doing it
wrong.
It's like this is just youbeing a normal human trying to
build a business, and everybodyelse has gone through this too.
So if there was one piece ofadvice that you would give to a
woman who's listening to thispodcast, who is thinking about
starting a business maybe shejust started one, but she's like
(20:26):
oh my God, I have no idea whatI'm even doing.
Or maybe she's been at it for acouple of years and she's in
that space of like shouldn'tthis be working by now?
Should I think about wrappingit up?
What would your one piece ofadvice be?
Aleta Wagner (20:38):
I would say find that network, find that
supportive group of women.
They don't need to beentrepreneurs.
They could be entrepreneurs butnot in the same field as you,
or they could be in the samefield as you.
I'm an abundance mindset personand so I network with other
pelvic floor therapists as well.
(20:58):
But I think, finding thatsupport network, finding people
that you can bounce ideas off of, and it doesn't have to be in
person, it could be a virtualgroup that meets up and I know
having that in-person connectionfor me I love that in-person
connection, but I've also hadgreat connections with people
virtually who are in the samespace as me, just in a different
state or in a different city,and just doing something.
So I think, just finding thatsupportive group of people, even
if it's just a handful, itdoesn't need to be a hundred
(21:19):
people, it could be five, itcould be three, it could be two,
but just somebody or somepeople that you can call if you
need to ask a question.
Or let's get a group togetherand bounce some ideas off each
other for how to, you know, dosocial media or whatever it is,
but just having, just havingsomething that you can kind of
step back on, especially whenyou're starting out.
(21:40):
I think it's good to have thatsupport.
I know it helped me a ton.
Melissa Snow (21:44):
Yeah, absolutely.
I read something that saidthere are at least three people
that every entrepreneur needs intheir network a mentor, a peer
and a protege, like someone whois ahead of you, someone who is
where you are and someone who iswhere you've been, and I think
there's so much value in allthree of those things.
Kim Munsch (22:01):
For sure it was that support system.
It is so important, not evenjust professionally but
personally.
I remember being in a group, anetworking group, and sharing
that.
I didn't feel like I was goodenough to be there.
I didn't feel like I was on thesame level as everybody else
(22:22):
that was there.
I was totally in the comparisonmode.
In the comparison mode and atthe end of that meeting I found
myself surrounded by a group ofwomen from that meeting wanting
to hug me and just tell me likeyes, you are, you do belong here
and you are enough.
And that was insanely powerful.
Melissa Snow (22:41):
That's when you know you found your people.
Yeah for sure.
Ladies, this is awesome.
You've both done such a greatjob, sharing some really good
wisdom that is going to help anyentrepreneur at any stage, and
also sharing a little bit ofyour story.
I just love hearing otherwomen's stories of
entrepreneurship and whatthey've gone through, how
they've had to be resilient, howthey've kept going when it's
(23:01):
hard.
I think anytime you have anopportunity to share your story,
you should, because it's veryinspiring and motivating for
everyone.
If people are listening to thisand they want to know more
about you, they want to keep intouch with you.
They want to know more aboutwhat you do.
Kim, what is the best way forpeople to get in contact with
you?
Go to my website kimlouisexpcom.
Kim Munsch (23:22):
That would have all the links to find my socials.
You can contact me throughthere and also my email.
Melissa Snow (23:28):
Great, I will put all of those links in the show
notes.
And how about you, alita?
What's the best way for peopleto reach out to you?
Aleta Wagner (23:34):
You can find me at Mountain Mama Pelvic Health on
Instagram.
I also am on Facebook.
You can DM me on eitherFacebook or Instagram and then
the links to my website and Ihave a newsletter, a monthly
newsletter that I put out.
It's just once a month, so it'snot something that's going to
clog your inbox, but a monthlynewsletter just to increase your
(23:54):
body literacy and that pelvichealth knowledge.
That is something that you canfind a link to in my Instagram.
Melissa Snow (24:01):
Awesome.
I will put links for those inthe show notes as well, and
everybody listening to this feelfree to reach out to them and
connect with them, Even if it'sjust to say hey, I heard you on
that podcast and you're awesome.
Everybody loves to get thosemessages.
Kim Munsch (24:14):
Melissa, if I may, I just want to say thank you.
Whoever was that nominated me,I was completely blown away, and
whoever the panel was thatchose me as resilient, it meant
more than I could even describe.
Melissa Snow (24:29):
Well, it sounds like you're very deserving and
there's many people in yourcommunity who recognize that and
see you and see what you'redoing both of you and so
definitely take that in.
I think we're so quick whenthere's something like we don't
get the client or somebody sayssomething crappy about us or
something like we'll obsessabout that for days.
And then it's like and you wonthis award, and we're like oh
(24:51):
weird, okay, anyway, take it in,let yourself really feel that
and experience and this is foreverybody when you get a win,
like really let yourself takethat in and see like there were
people I don't even know whothey are, but there were people
in the world who saw this awardand were like you know who I
should nominate, like out of allthe people that they know, they
(25:14):
thought I should nominate youand the panel of judges was a
bunch of badass business women.
So the fact that they pickedyou guys is huge.
So let yourself live in that,at least for the rest of the day
.
Kim Munsch (25:28):
Thank you so much, ladies, thank you.
Good morning ladies.
Welcome to the Powerful WomenRising podcast.
Good morning.
So excited to have two more ofthe winners of the 2024 Powerful
Women Rising Impact Awards hereon the podcast.
I have Kim, who is the winnerof the Resilience Award, and I
have Alita, who is the winner ofthe Active Impact Awards.
(00:22):
We're going to talk a littlebit about what those awards mean
, but first, why don't you guysjust tell everybody a little bit
about you and what you do andwho you are?
Kim, do you want to go first?
Sure.
Kim Munsch (00:34):
So, Kim Munch, I live in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
I am a single mom of five.
My kids' age ranges are 24 downto 10.
And then I also have twograndsons.
So stay very, very busy.
I have a business getting to domy passion and what I love, and
that is events.
I like to not even like to, butI love to create experiences
(00:58):
for people at those events.
That's awesome.
Melissa Snow (01:01):
And how did you get into event planning?
Kim Munsch (01:04):
So I've been in the administrative field for, oh my
goodness, probably 27 years,like since high school and part
of my job had always been doingevents.
I lost a job back in 2016.
And I remember I was completelydevastated and one day, like it
was just this light bulb of Ifigured out why, and it was
(01:25):
because 90% of my job there wasdoing events.
So I started it was Kim Louiseevents and designs at the time
and just a few months ago,rebranded to the Kim Louise
experience.
Melissa Snow (01:38):
I love that.
That's so awesome.
Okay, I'm going to come back toyou in a little bit, but first,
alita, tell us a little bitabout you and who you are.
Aleta Wagner (01:44):
Yeah, my name is Alita Wagner and I live in
Monument, colorado.
I own Mountain Mama PelvicHealth.
I'm a pelvic floor occupationaltherapist.
I worked for about 17 years andstarted doing pelvic floor kind
of dabbling in it about eightyears ago for my own pelvic
floor dysfunction and thenreally dove in and started my
own company in 2023.
So two years in love what I do.
(02:05):
I love serving the women in ourcommunity and educating the
women in our community.
It's a fun job.
I get to work with pregnantwomen.
I get to work with postpartumwomen.
I get to work with teenagers.
I get to work withperimenopause and menopausal
women.
It's just a fun, fun job to beable to support women.
Melissa Snow (02:31):
That's awesome, yeah, and you've only been in
business for a couple of years,but you are all over the place.
I think everyone I meet here Iwe live sort of close to each
other 20, 30 minutes and I meetso many people who also know you
, which is so fun.
And one of the things that Ilove about being an entrepreneur
and especially about likenetworking and being in
entrepreneurial spaces withother women is hearing about all
these different types ofbusinesses.
Women start right Like youthink I'm going to go into
business, but for myself.
So am I going to be a doctor?
(02:51):
Am I going to open a law firm?
But it's like there are so manydifferent.
I didn't even know that pelvicfloor was a thing until I became
an entrepreneur, and it's coolto be able to then go talk to
all the non-entrepreneurs whoare like can't jump on the
trampoline without peeing theirpants and be like you know who
you need to talk to.
Yes, all right.
(03:13):
So let's talk a little bit aboutthese awards that you won.
So, Kim, you were the winner ofthe Resilience Award, and that
award was given to someone whohad overcome significant
challenges in their journey, whoshowed exceptional resilience
and who was inspiring otherpeople through their
determination.
So obviously you've made a bigimpact on some people because
(03:35):
you were nominated by your peersand then you were chosen as the
winner by a panel of judges.
Tell us a little bit about youalluded to the fact that you
some some job loss.
That was devastating.
You have a lot of kids.
Tell us a little bit about yourexperience with resilience in
your entrepreneurial journey andhow that has played out for you
in, but as an adult.
Kim Munsch (04:10):
Even before the incident in 2016, my first
husband was an abusive alcoholicthat I one day realized what am
I doing?
And we had three kids togetherlong story, but I managed to
leave and I became a single momof three.
I went back to school,continued to work because it was
just me taking care of them asa single mom.
I got remarried.
We had two more kids and wewere still married in 2016 when
(04:35):
I lost that job.
But shortly after that myhusband at the time decided he
wanted a separation and thatquickly turned into he wanted a
divorce.
So then I found myself a singlemom of five.
I had started that businessbefore that divorce, but it was
shortly after that those otherthings transpired and it had to
(04:56):
just be put on the back burner.
It stayed on the back burnerfor a really long time Because I
was a single mom.
I didn't have the ability tojust build a brand new business.
I had to have what I call myday job or my paycheck job to
make sure that I could surviveand take care of my kids.
A few years after that, I endedup in a relationship and
(05:21):
eventually ended thatrelationship, and that ex-man
became a stalker, and that wenton for two and a half years and
I continued to still go, becauseI was going for two things.
The two things that made me gowere my kids.
My five kids counted on me andI had to keep going on me, and I
(05:49):
had to.
You know, I had to keep going,I had to keep surviving.
I had to show them that you canbe strong and you can do this,
no matter what comes about.
I continued to work the businessin very, very tiny, little,
bite-sized pieces and even youknow, through that stalking
incident, what I found was iseven those baby steps were still
helping and I'm terrible withbaby steps, it's still a work in
(06:09):
progress Like I just I want togo, I want to do it, I want to
have it done, right, and so Ijust I kept going and there were
times where I was like I'm out,I'm done, I can't do this, it's
just too much, it's toooverwhelming.
But yet that still followed me.
I was then suddenly like Itried to stop the business.
(06:31):
But then I was suddenly gettinginquiries and somebody had said
to me once they're like youknow, when you're doing what
you're meant to do, it's notgoing to go away and I knew in
that moment like she is rightand this is my passion and I'm,
even if I do have to do the babysteps along the way.
Melissa Snow (06:50):
Yeah, what I love about that story well, there's a
lot of things I love about thatstory, but I think some of the
key takeaways that I want peoplewho are listening to this to
hear and I think this issomething that is really
important that we talk aboutmore in entrepreneurship is,
first of all, that period oftime that you were like I'd
really love to be working on mybusiness full-time and I need a
(07:11):
J-O-B.
I think for so manyentrepreneurs, getting a job
means you failed.
Right.
There's this like we tie ouridentity to being entrepreneurs
Our community is entrepreneursand then to have a time in our
lives when it's like I can'twork on this right now.
I have to get a job For somereason.
There can be like shame andembarrassment in that, which is
(07:33):
silly, because the rest of theworld also has a job.
Right, like there's probably itshould be more shame and
embarrassment and like I'msitting here not making any
money and I have five children,and so I love that idea of just
like you had to do what you hadto do at the time without
actually letting go of the dream.
(07:53):
And I also love what you saidabout the baby steps too,
because, especially now in thisworld of online businesses and
all of these celebrityinfluencer business coaches.
It's all about like how fastcan you make six figures?
Right?
I went from making $52 a monthto making $52,000 a month
(08:14):
following this blueprint andyour story is very much like
sometimes I moved inches at atime, sometimes I moved miles at
a time, but I kept moving.
It wasn't a race, it wasn't howfast could I get there, it was
just keep moving and I thinkthat's so, so important.
Kim Munsch (08:33):
For sure.
You know and there I'd be lyingif I said there weren't days
when I was forget this, I'm notgetting out of bed, forget this,
I'm going back to bed I didthose things.
I let myself feel what wasgoing on, have the emotions that
I had Maybe not everybody islike that, but for me I had to
(08:56):
in order to work past it andstart moving forward again.
Melissa Snow (09:00):
I think if any entrepreneur tells you they
never had a day and they werelike forget it, I'm done, I'm
going back to bed, they aredefinitely not telling the truth
.
I want to come back to thatidea of like how you keep going
when it's really hard, but Iwant to go to Alita first and
talk a little bit about youraward.
You won the active impact award, and that award is for a person
(09:23):
who is consistently engaged andactive, who shows up in
conversations, events, in onlinespaces with a positive energy,
with enthusiasm and dedicationthat inspires other people.
So tell me what you thoughtwhen you first found out that
you had been nominated or thatyou had won this award.
Aleta Wagner (09:44):
I would say it was a huge surprise to me, but I'm
so thankful and honored.
Like I said, I've been inbusiness for two years.
I've been an OT for 17, butkind of transitioned from
working in orthopedics at theChildren's Hospital and hand
therapy into pelvic floor.
I love what I do, I love beinga part of the wellness community
.
I love being a part of theentrepreneur community and I
(10:04):
never thought of myself as anentrepreneur throughout my
career and it just kind ofhappened one day.
You know, I just decided I needto do something different and I
have a passion for women.
I want to help women.
So being involved, so I alsohomeschool.
I have three kids, I homeschoolthem.
So just being involved in ahomeschool community, talking to
moms, talking to peers and justseeing what the need was in our
(10:25):
community.
There are so many options, Ithink, for pelvic floor
dysfunction and a lot of timesit's recommended to get surgery,
it's recommended to takemedicines and I feel like, no,
we should really start withfunctional movement, getting to
the root cause in the body andthen, if we're really struggling
, then maybe moving on to thoseother alternatives, but just
(10:47):
being being a voice in thepelvic health space, being a
voice in our community, being apart of different groups where I
can encourage and support otherwomen.
I love to just haveconversations, I love to educate
.
So I do workshops in ourcommunity, just educating, and
so many women say why haven't Iheard about this before and how
come I didn't get taught thiswhen I was a kid, or how come my
(11:08):
OB didn't tell me this when Iwas pregnant?
So there's so many women thatjust don't know, like you said,
melissa, like what is pelvicfloor therapy?
What do we do?
There's there's so much to itand I'm super excited to have
won this award and to continueto have impact in our community.
Melissa Snow (11:22):
So I want to give you an opportunity to kind of
well, not kind of I want you to,I want you to toot your own
horn, because there are lots ofentrepreneurs out here I mean, I
don't know if there's as manyin other places as there is
where we live but we got a lot.
And there are a lot of peoplethat I meet at networking events
who are out meeting peopledoing the things, connecting
(11:44):
with people.
What do you think it is aboutthe way that you do things, the
way that you show up in thecommunity, that is creating such
an impact for people?
Aleta Wagner (11:52):
Yeah, I don't.
It probably is partly mypersonality.
I just I love people, I love,you know, just that connection
with people and I strive to makethose genuine connections.
For me it's not, yes, it isabout a paycheck, but it's not
about a paycheck if that makessense, like I want to make a
difference, I want to helppeople, and so just my openness
(12:13):
and hearing from people andthere is something to be said
for being an occupationaltherapist we are people that I
think other people open up tomore.
I'm not a counselor, I'm not apsychologist, but I ask
questions, I ask open-endedquestions.
I leave space for people andjust hold that space for people,
and so I think I'm easier totalk to in that instance.
(12:36):
But I also, so I will openlyshare.
I am a believer and I thinkthat light also shines through
to where that helps maybe makeconnections with people though I
don't, you know, that's not thefirst thing I say to people,
but I think just having that inmy history and in my background
it shows, and maybe that thatshows up in in those
(12:58):
conversations that I have withpeople.
Melissa Snow (13:00):
Yeah, I'm hearing several things and they totally
match up with what I've heardfrom other people about you too,
which is authenticity, likestaying true to who you are.
It's very much what I teachwhen I teach people how to
network like a human, and notlike a salesman right.
Going up as a real person,having real conversations,
creating connections, beingcurious, wanting to learn more
(13:23):
about people, without an agendato pitch them or sell to them at
the end.
Right, like you just want toknow who they are and what
they're about, and maybe theynever need a pelvic floor
therapist.
Maybe they know somebody in thefuture who does.
But your desire and yourgenuineness in connecting with
them doesn't depend on that, andI think the other thing, too,
(13:46):
is your willingness to openlyprovide value to other people.
You don't have this like well,I could help you with that if
you want to pay me right.
Like, of course, we all needthat to a certain extent,
because none of us are here tolike hey, can I pick your brain
for the next three hours?
For no money.
But it seems like you have agood handle on that balance
(14:09):
between, like, genuinelyproviding value to people and
also still running your business.
Aleta Wagner (14:16):
Thank you.
Melissa Snow (14:17):
Yeah, I love that and that is absolutely how you
create an impact in thecommunity, in your networking
spaces with your clients.
I mean, that's the kind ofstuff that creates clients who
want to refer you to peoplewhich is you know.
I always say, like your formerclients are probably the most
important part of your network.
Aleta Wagner (14:35):
Absolutely 100%.
Melissa Snow (14:37):
So I want to ask both of you actually, because I
know Kim won the resilienceaward, but I know Alita has got
a lot of resilience in her aswell Super impressed by the fact
that you're homeschoolingchildren.
I mean, I'm impressed by anyonewho keeps a human alive, let
alone five of them, or five ofthem that they're also educating
while they run a business.
(14:58):
But I would love to hear fromyou guys and Kim, you touched on
this a little bit in terms ofjust like, allowing yourself to
feel those feelings and movethrough them.
But when you're struggling withthose days of like, why am I
still doing this?
I'm done.
This is hard.
Everything sucks.
What is it that keeps you going?
Kim Munsch (15:16):
I think of that all the time, when it comes up right
In that moment.
What is it that I need to keepdoing this for?
And it's for me.
It's not only just my kids, butit's for me.
The passion that I have forwhat I do and doing events and
creating those experiences forpeople is so strong that that's
(15:39):
one of the things that makes mewant to keep going.
What about you, alita?
Aleta Wagner (15:42):
I think I mean there are lots of hard days with
, like you said, homeschooling,just dealing with myself and my
kids and our attitudes andbehaviors.
I think for me it is reallygetting to like what.
What is the heart of what I doand and why and I think, kim,
you touched on this too is I.
You know I do this for formyself.
(16:04):
I do this for the women in mycommunity.
I do this because there's notsomeone who does the same thing
exactly the way that I do itthat has the same exact heart
that I do.
There's other pelvic floortherapists, there's other great
pelvic floor therapists, but I'mdifferent and we're all
different.
So, just having that differentheart, I will say I didn't say
(16:27):
this earlier, but I went from amobile practice to having a
small office space that was kindof secluded.
It was on the second floor of abuilding, I did not get any
foot traffic, and now I'm in awellness collaborative and that
was all in the span of a yearand a half.
Well, actually less than that.
It was in the span of A littleover a year actually, because I
(16:47):
kept my mobile practice forabout six months before I was
looking at office spaces.
But just I wanted, I wanted tokeep moving forward.
You know, there's that sayingof just like, take that step,
keep taking that step and whenyou're scared, just do it.
Just jump off the fence and doit.
And I sat on the fence for avery long time doing public for
education, looking at things andnot doing this as a career,
(17:07):
until one day I just went.
I'm not happy where I'm at.
There's something that needs tochange.
My physiology is not doing whatI need it to do to be able to
be there for my family, formyself.
And so I had a friend actually,who called and asked hey, I
heard you got a certification inpelvic floor.
Are you seeing clients?
And I said no, do I need to?
(17:28):
And she said yeah, I want tosee you.
And that was what really mademe jump off the fence and get my
LLC started and just decided toopen my company.
I could have just seen her onthe side and not made a company,
not become an entrepreneur, butsomething I don't know.
There was just that little fireinside me that said do it, you
can do this.
And I think growing up I hadfive brothers and so I always
(17:50):
was having to get my voice outthere Right.
And you know, just like yousaid, melissa, having that
resilience, I think just havingpeople believe in me it wasn't
just me that went.
Okay, I'm just going to do this.
You know, my husband wassupporting me.
I had friends that weresupporting me.
The person that I'm in theoffice, the wellness
collaborative with Katie bearshe's also an entrepreneur in
the community she was very muchsupportive of me and wanting to
(18:13):
promote my business too, and Ijust feel like if we have people
that can stand by us and giveus that support, it helps on
those hard days.
It helps to be able to justhave somebody to call and say
this day sucks, and havesomebody to encourage you.
And I know, like I said before,I'm a believer, so I do find
encouragement in God's word andthe scriptures, but sometimes
(18:34):
that doesn't help, even thoughit should right, it should be
the one thing that helps you.
But sometimes you just need tohave somebody else to believe in
you and just say you know what?
Hey, you can do this.
And let's look at the next step.
What is the next phase?
What is your next goal?
What is just that one stepfurther that you can take?
Kim Munsch (18:52):
I don't think I could have overcome a lot of the
challenges I've had, but what Ifeel is like the constant
challenges without that support.
You know, I had one of thosechallenges this morning, right
before this, and I reached outto those women that have just
been there rock hard, neversugar coat, but are gentle, that
(19:20):
supports, and give it to mestraight who helped me get my
mind back in the right place.
Melissa Snow (19:22):
Yeah, that's one of the reasons that I am so big
on networking and really I meanI say networking is really just
anything that you're doing thatconnects you with another human,
because having that communityis so important.
Like, our husbands want tounderstand, they want to be
supportive, but sometimes theyjust don't understand in a way
that's supportive you know, likethey don't have a better
response than like well, I hopethat works out for you and
(19:43):
you're like thank you, buttalking to other women, talking
to other business owners,talking to other people who
either have been where we areand now are where we want to be
or are still where we are,there's something about that
that just is so helpful inknowing you're not the only
person having that experience.
(20:03):
You are, there's nothing wrongwith you.
This isn't like a sign from theuniverse that you're doing it
wrong.
It's like this is just youbeing a normal human trying to
build a business, and everybodyelse has gone through this too.
So if there was one piece ofadvice that you would give to a
woman who's listening to thispodcast, who is thinking about
starting a business maybe shejust started one, but she's like
(20:26):
oh my God, I have no idea whatI'm even doing.
Or maybe she's been at it for acouple of years and she's in
that space of like shouldn'tthis be working by now?
Should I think about wrappingit up?
What would your one piece ofadvice be?
Aleta Wagner (20:38):
I would say find that network, find that
supportive group of women.
They don't need to beentrepreneurs.
They could be entrepreneurs butnot in the same field as you,
or they could be in the samefield as you.
I'm an abundance mindset personand so I network with other
pelvic floor therapists as well.
(20:58):
But I think, finding thatsupport network, finding people
that you can bounce ideas off of, and it doesn't have to be in
person, it could be a virtualgroup that meets up and I know
having that in-person connectionfor me I love that in-person
connection, but I've also hadgreat connections with people
virtually who are in the samespace as me, just in a different
state or in a different city,and just doing something.
So I think, just finding thatsupportive group of people, even
if it's just a handful, itdoesn't need to be a hundred
(21:19):
people, it could be five, itcould be three, it could be two,
but just somebody or somepeople that you can call if you
need to ask a question.
Or let's get a group togetherand bounce some ideas off each
other for how to, you know, dosocial media or whatever it is,
but just having, just havingsomething that you can kind of
step back on, especially whenyou're starting out.
(21:40):
I think it's good to have thatsupport.
I know it helped me a ton.
Melissa Snow (21:44):
Yeah, absolutely.
I read something that saidthere are at least three people
that every entrepreneur needs intheir network a mentor, a peer
and a protege, like someone whois ahead of you, someone who is
where you are and someone who iswhere you've been, and I think
there's so much value in allthree of those things.
Kim Munsch (22:01):
For sure it was that support system.
It is so important, not evenjust professionally but
personally.
I remember being in a group, anetworking group, and sharing
that.
I didn't feel like I was goodenough to be there.
I didn't feel like I was on thesame level as everybody else
(22:22):
that was there.
I was totally in the comparisonmode.
In the comparison mode and atthe end of that meeting I found
myself surrounded by a group ofwomen from that meeting wanting
to hug me and just tell me likeyes, you are, you do belong here
and you are enough.
And that was insanely powerful.
Melissa Snow (22:41):
That's when you know you found your people.
Yeah for sure.
Ladies, this is awesome.
You've both done such a greatjob, sharing some really good
wisdom that is going to help anyentrepreneur at any stage, and
also sharing a little bit ofyour story.
I just love hearing otherwomen's stories of
entrepreneurship and whatthey've gone through, how
they've had to be resilient, howthey've kept going when it's
(23:01):
hard.
I think anytime you have anopportunity to share your story,
you should, because it's veryinspiring and motivating for
everyone.
If people are listening to thisand they want to know more
about you, they want to keep intouch with you.
They want to know more aboutwhat you do.
Kim, what is the best way forpeople to get in contact with
you?
Go to my website kimlouisexpcom.
Kim Munsch (23:22):
That would have all the links to find my socials.
You can contact me throughthere and also my email.
Melissa Snow (23:28):
Great, I will put all of those links in the show
notes.
And how about you, alita?
What's the best way for peopleto reach out to you?
Aleta Wagner (23:34):
You can find me at Mountain Mama Pelvic Health on
Instagram.
I also am on Facebook.
You can DM me on eitherFacebook or Instagram and then
the links to my website and Ihave a newsletter, a monthly
newsletter that I put out.
It's just once a month, so it'snot something that's going to
clog your inbox, but a monthlynewsletter just to increase your
(23:54):
body literacy and that pelvichealth knowledge.
That is something that you canfind a link to in my Instagram.
Melissa Snow (24:01):
Awesome.
I will put links for those inthe show notes as well, and
everybody listening to this feelfree to reach out to them and
connect with them, Even if it'sjust to say hey, I heard you on
that podcast and you're awesome.
Everybody loves to get thosemessages.
Kim Munsch (24:14):
Melissa, if I may, I just want to say thank you.
Whoever was that nominated me,I was completely blown away, and
whoever the panel was thatchose me as resilient, it meant
more than I could even describe.
Melissa Snow (24:29):
Well, it sounds like you're very deserving and
there's many people in yourcommunity who recognize that and
see you and see what you'redoing both of you and so
definitely take that in.
I think we're so quick whenthere's something like we don't
get the client or somebody sayssomething crappy about us or
something like we'll obsessabout that for days.
And then it's like and you wonthis award, and we're like oh
(24:51):
weird, okay, anyway, take it in,let yourself really feel that
and experience and this is foreverybody when you get a win,
like really let yourself takethat in and see like there were
people I don't even know whothey are, but there were people
in the world who saw this awardand were like you know who I
should nominate, like out of allthe people that they know, they
(25:14):
thought I should nominate youand the panel of judges was a
bunch of badass business women.
So the fact that they pickedyou guys is huge.
So let yourself live in that,at least for the rest of the day
.
Kim Munsch (25:28):
Thank you so much, ladies, thank you.
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Decisions, Decisions
Welcome to "Decisions, Decisions," the podcast where boundaries are pushed, and conversations get candid! Join your favorite hosts, Mandii B and WeezyWTF, as they dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often-taboo topics surrounding dating, sex, and love. Every Monday, Mandii and Weezy invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, they share their personal journeys navigating their 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engaging in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations. From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that resonate with your experiences, "Decisions, Decisions" is your go-to source for open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections—tune in and join the conversation!