Welcome to She Leads Podcast Season 5, Episode 14! This episode of She Leads Podcast features Allysen Kerr founder of Prymel Elements. Allysen Kerr is a Brand Developer, Graphic Designer, and Storyteller who leads her life like the Boss she is. To hear Allysen’s take on leadership, listen to her interview as she discusses the importance of setting boundaries, leading with compassion, and the necessity of self-awarenes.
Allysen Kerr Bio
Allysen enjoys working with people and organizations making a difference in the world. A true renaissance woman, Allysen’s expertise lies in a variety of areas including business and brand development, strategy, and marketing. Originally from New York, this brand strategist, multidisciplinary designer, and entrepreneur launched her first venture at the age of 20, learning how to take a vision and turn it into a reality at a young age. During a rough season in her life, God revealed to Allysen that strong identity and a clear vision were essential to her foundation but also essential to the success and growth of an organization or business.
Out of that rough season, she launched what would become Prymel Elements (formerly the Antebellum Design Co.). As its CEO and creative director, Allysen works to develop brands, plan impactful marketing strategies, and create unique designs for start-ups, nonprofits, and small businesses. To date, the Tampa-based agency has served 100-plus clients and brands. Allysen received her bachelor’s from the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications. She currently serves as President-Elect of the Tampa Gator Club and is an advisory board member to the Mentoring with Purpose Charity.
Nicole Walker’s Interview Commentary
I really enjoyed this interview with Allysen and I hope you did as well.
I agree with Allysen’s viewpoint on the importance of setting proper boundaries with ourselves, as a tool for better decision making. Setting boundaries requires self-awareness and self-reflection. When we know who we are and how we operate we have the power to choose more wisely. As Allysen shared, boundaries give us the ability to avoid burnout, when necessary, by providing the confidence to say No and the understanding to Slow Down. A quote by Anna Taylor reads, “Love yourself enough to set boundaries. Your time and energy are precious. You get to choose how you use it. You teach people how to treat you by deciding what you will and won’t accept.”
I admire Allysen’s ability to self-reflect and accept her role in situations that do not turn out the way she envisioned. As an effective leader, we must examine ourselves to figure out how we can course correct for the future. Allysen’s realization of herself as a laissez-faire leader helped her to see where she could’ve done better and avoided some unnecessary issues amongst her team. Allysen’s ability to process at this level is wonderful, and is definitely what successful leaders do. A quote by Stephen R. Covey reads, “Don’t argue for other people’s weaknesses. Don’t argue for your own. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and learn from it immediately.”
I can relate Allysen’s issues with getting distracted easily and procrastinating, as I experience the same. Learning to accept our weaknesses is not easy, yet it is absolutely necessary if we want to get pass them. Because Allysen knows herself, she has figured out a way to…as she says “trick herself” into getting the job done in spite of her flaws. When we know better, we have the opportunity to do better! Unfortunately, many people do not know better and are stuck; don’t be those people! A quote by Baltasar Gracián reads, “Self-reflection is the school of wisdom.”
Nicole Walker’s Takeaway of the Week
Allysen mentioned that we should “always give people the benefit of the doubt”, and “never assume the worse” because we never know what people are going through. Allysen gave great advice to, look beneath the surface and try to find the root cause of people’s actions and behaviors so we can have a larger view of the picture.
I will make it my business to continue to dip deeper into occurrences, and not take things at surface level so I am a more compassionate leader. I understand that shallow observations provide shallow findings, so I will dig deeper as I want a deeper understanding.
A quote by Jill Bolte Taylor reads, “When we are being compassionate, we consider another’s circumstance with love rather than judgement…To be compassionate is to move into the right here, right now with an open heart consciousness and a willingness to be supportive.”
Nicole Walker’s Leadership Challenge
My leadership challenge for you would be to think about the one thing you can take away from this episode and adopt into your life. I know it’s hard to absorb too much information at one time and it’s even harder to try and implement too many changes at once. When I attend a training or listen to podcasts I aim to walk away with a least one thing that stuck out to me and one way that I can change as a result. I challenge you to do the same!
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Thanks and until next time “Be Empowered and Empower On”!