To kick off 2025, Ceri Otero, a Master Shopkeeper member and former radio personality (cool, right?), asked if she could interview ME, Kathy Cruz. After episode #231, she decided to flip the script and gather questions from the community for this vulnerable conversation.

I didn’t set this interview up for a long time because I had mixed feelings about it. It always feels incredibly vulnerable to share about my journey. And I feel like I already share so much on this podcast. I often joke that no one wants to experience what happens in this brain of mine. But with the community’s encouragement and my focus on creating content that serves YOU, the brick and mortar store owner, here we are.

This interview is definitely longer than I expected so we’ve split it into two episodes because I value your time. 

So here’s more about me, Kathy Cruz, your host and coach here at Savvy Shopkeeper.

Why inclusivity is so important to Kathy in her work

I see such a generous, welcoming presence in your work. Someone who never makes us who are newer in business feel like we don’t know something yet. And at the same time, you keep it high-level for those of us who’ve been at it for a while. I find that to be really inclusive and unusual. How do you do it? Bring everyone in and include us all so well? Have you always been an includer?

There were so many times in my life where I didn’t feel included. From the high school I chose to attend which was predominantly all white females from wealthy communities. Whereas I was an urban girl who listened to rap and R&B and merengue and salsa. 

That was a moment where I realized, “Wow, I don’t always feel included.” I felt really outside of my comfort zone and norm. And there were a lot of socioeconomic reasons and on occasion some racism that contributed to that feeling too.

Then going into adulthood and working in the police force, I was in a career that was mostly male dominated. I was the minority as a Latina woman as well. So there are lots of times I felt un-included. That’s why it means so much to me now as a space holder.

Why being a detective makes for a great coach and strategist

You used to work in law enforcement. Did you know from the get go that you’d go down the detective path? It makes so much sense for all of us who know you now. You’re always asking questions that draw out more in us, connecting dots that maybe we don’t see. Are you just a natural dot connector?

Becoming a detective was the natural path for me. Another natural path could have been becoming a supervisor. I think it’s so telling that I never chose that way.

I feel that what I do really well is listen. Even if it’s for a full hour. Clients always say: “I feel like I just dumped on you.” But the dumping process is my favorite. That’s where I take all my notes and where I really start to connect the dots. So, yes. That just came full circle for me between my natural abilities and my training of 20 years in law enforcement. 

In terms of my law enforcement career, I was good at what I did. Was I great or the best? No, but I also don’t think it was my zone of genius. 

Two key activities that helped Kathy Cruz step into her Zone of Genius

That’s an interesting point too, your zone of genius. Learning that language explains why high achieving people can do well at something but not feel satisfied from it. I started listening to your podcast  in 2021. I’ve since joined your community and watched you step into who you really are.

In these last few years, how have you continued to step into this person that you’re clearly meant to be? What do you do to feel confident in stepping into who you are?

Hiring a Coach

Two things that come to mind are, first, working with a coach myself. That is probably what you’ve witnessed over the past three years. I’ve been unpacking so much of my own programmed and systemic thoughts that I was battling and suppressing. 

I’ve touched on this on the podcast before. The more I suppressed and didn’t deal with it, the more it kept me from becoming who I wanted to be.

I really saw that in the pandemic and I decided to do something about it. In episode 87 I shared, how making that type of investment, especially coming from money scarcity, was terrifying. But I was at a point on my entrepreneurial path that I thought, it’s time to do this now. It’s time to get really uncomfortable, to shed all the tears, to feel the discomfort, to release so many things that were holding me back so that I could not be stuck anymore. 

And that’s exactly what it was like- just getting all of that out and seeing it and addressing it and replacing it with new thoughts and a new path.

And that for sure is the reason I’ve transformed over the past three years. So special shout out to my coach Neil. (Here’s my interview with Master Certified Coach, Neill Williams.) She never takes credit. She always gives me credit, but Neil has been a really important part of that journey.

Taking walks

And then I would say the other thing, which is so simple, is going for walks.

I really unpack my own brain, do some self coaching, have lots of conversations with myself, but my favorite thing that happens while on walks are the ideas and the dots are connected.

If I’m in front of my laptop or I’m somewhere just doing the work and I’m in the work, I don’t see the big picture.

But when I’m walking, I can see the big picture because I don’t have the work in front of me. 

So walking, clears my brain and it lets all of the magic flow in. 

I think it’s a perfect example for shopkeepers too, because our days can be completely filled with tasks. And if we choose to spend all of our time on that, we’re going to miss some really important things that might either make those tasks easier or maybe eliminate some of them entirely, because we would have better focus and better clarity. So I love hearing what you do to get that kind of clarity. That’s really helpful.

How Kathy Cruz handles disappointments

So Kathy, I want to shift gears to talk about disappointment. Would you be willing to share some of the disappointments that have shaped you along this path? To help us understand your resilience and what you’ve gone through to share the advice that you shared today?

Oh- that’s a good one. I never feel disappointment about how I was raised. Mamita’s incredible. She raised us so well. Even as a single parent who barely spoke English. Who had a disease that kept her in and out of the hospital all the time. We didn’t have a lot of money. I mean, we didn’t have any money, really. And I never feel like that kept me from so much. If anything, it probably drove me more.

But being abandoned by my father is a personal disappointment. However, I’m just incredibly grateful that I had this really strong mother who is so wise to raise me.

The other thing I would say in terms of “disappointment,” is infertility.

Sometimes I can look at that as disappointment. And sometimes I can look at that as it’s what was meant to be and who knows why. 

But the question is, how did I overcome that? And the truth is, I haven’t. And I don’t know if I ever will. And I think that’s going to be okay.

Professional, I don’t know, I can’t really think of a disappointment, and maybe it’s my perspective? I recently jotted down a note for a future episode on this topic.

How Kathy Cruz has learned to enjoy the journey over the accomplishment

I’ve learned that what I really want to enjoy is the journey and not the accomplishment. We often set revenue goals or big goals or think that that’s what’s going to define us. And I’ve learned, especially through Master Shopkeepers, is that I really want to work on enjoying the journey.

So how do I make that feel good? 

Yes, I want to set big goals and I want to hit revenue numbers. But what I really want to do is just enjoy the path. 

It takes so much longer than the moment where you reach that accomplishment. The journey is long and reaching the accomplishment comes and goes.

So I want to enjoy that. 

I love that because you’re right. As soon as we hit a goal, it’s been hit. It’s just one tiny moment. I think that’s what people think will make them happy. Hitting the goal. They don’t realize that it’s actually the journey. In who they become, how they evolve and all the things they learn that actually brings people joy.

How Kathy Cruz defines success

That leads us nicely into: how do you define success? I feel like you have just halfway answered that already.

I have learned the defining success for me, means: Am I in alignment?

So that means: 

• Time management. 
• Family time
• Serving my community. 
• Balancing it all and creating the balance that makes me the most happy.

If I go back to my law enforcement years, especially in the homicide unit, that was incredibly challenging. And the funny thing is I just recorded that podcast episode about perimenopause. And when I looked back, I saw that I was vitamin deficient because I was working so much and I was constantly inside, in a car, in a house, in the police headquarters. It became really clear to me that I’m not vitamin deficient now because I’m outside and I go walking and I take vacations.

So for me, it’s about making sure that I am aligned with my values. And maybe a little bit paired with hitting those goals.

How Kathy Cruz sets boundaries

I know you’ve talked a lot about setting boundaries while maintaining or growing a profitable retail business before on the podcast, but a lot of things in your life have changed since then so can you share: How do you not internalize what other people expect or think of you? How do you stay focused not just in life, but in business and life expectations? How do you stay focused on your path when there’s so many other people at play?

That’s probably the core of what I’ve worked on over the past three years. When I say I started working with a coach and I really started learning about myself, I learned two things:

Lesson #1 I learned from setting boundaries

You wouldn’t see this on the surface, but I blamed other people throughout my whole life for where I was and for not feeling in alignment. Until I really took control of that and saw, “No, this is on me. I have control of my whole entire life and control of the boundaries.” 

When I had to learned, I realized I couldn’t continue on this path as a people pleaser. That’s when I really had to start setting boundaries. And sometimes that meant setting boundaries for myself and sometimes that meant setting boundaries for others.

Lesson #2  I paused to see where my systemic thinking came up

Pausing to see where some systemic thinking that I grew up with, like “money was evil,” is another boundary I really had to battle. 

It also explains why I lived in money scarcity for so long. I knew I was capable of so much more but I had to break free from that thinking that was putting a ceiling on myself. I just had to spend a lot of time and a lot of self-coaching, like, “am I doing this to please other people or am I doing this because I really want to do it?” 

And I still have to work on that. I don’t know if that will ever go away. It’s improved, but those are the things that I personally had to work on. 

Tune in next week for part 2 of this Kathy Cruz interview where I reflect on my business journey as we step into the new year.

Before we wrap up this episode, I reached out to Ceri after we recorded and asked if there was anything she wished she would have asked me, because I know when I interview people, there’s always stuff that comes up afterwards that I think “I wish I would have asked that.”

Ceri replied to my email with four questions, so I’m going to answer two of them now, and two more in part two of this episode.

When you were a child and imagined what you wanted for your life, what kinds of things did you picture?

Interesting enough, as far back as I can remember, I pictured entrepreneurship. Whether it was in the form of always wanting to play with a cash register, or in the form of a woman in a business suit running her own business (I chuckle when I think business suit and briefcase, because I’m a much more casual entrepreneur – but at the time that was the image). Since I’ve been working on myself and I reflect back a lot – I now realize that I chose a law enforcement career because of the security and consistent paycheck it provided but DEEP down, I always wanted to be my own boss. Always.

What are some ways Mamita instilled a sense of hope and possibility in you and your siblings?

There’s a reason why this brand is called Savvy Shopkeeper. Because Mamita taught us HOW to be savvy. Seeing what Mamita could do for us on such a fixed income always made me feel like, if she could do that, I could do anything in any situation. I would always be able to figure &$%! out! And when you think that, you are prone to think you can do anything you want. Well, within reason. If you ask my husband and Logan, they would say it doesn’t include sports. Haha 

We’ll be back next week, yep next week with part 2. Until then Be Savvy and Boss Up.

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Resources

• Free resource: Tools of the Retail Trade
• Episode 231: with Ceri Otero
• Episode 87: How One-on-One Coaching and Consulting Helps Retail Business Owners
• Episode 224: The Science Behind Entrepreneurial Emotions with Master Certified Coach, Neill Williams
• Episode 232: The Ugly Truth About (Peri)menopause While Running A Business

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Timestamps

• [00:08:02] Why inclusivity is extremely important to Kathy in her work
• [00:08:39] Why being a detective makes for a great coach and strategist
• [00:11:18] Two key activities that helped Kathy Cruz step into her Zone of Genius
• [00:16:25] How Kathy Cruz handles disappointments
• [00:19:37] How Kathy Cruz has learned to enjoy the journey over the accomplishment
• [00:21:04] How Kathy Cruz defines success
• [00:22:32] How Kathy Cruz sets boundaries

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Connect With Kathy

Kathy Cruz is an Independent Retail Coach who helps store owners work smarter, profit more, and grow their brick and mortar businesses. 

Connect with Kathy and learn more here:

Website: www.savvyshopkeeper.com 
Instagram: @savvyshopkeeper
Mastermind Group: Master Shopkeepers