Cash, Conciousness and Capitalism: Kelly Cutrone at TEDxOxford
Summary
TLDRThe speaker shares her journey from a small-town girl to a successful entrepreneur, emphasizing the importance of intuition and self-discovery. She discusses her struggles with societal expectations, her transition from nursing to PR, and her eventual spiritual awakening. The talk concludes with a call to action for entrepreneurs to integrate compassion and social responsibility into their business models, advocating for a world built on love and community.
Takeaways
- 🎓 The speaker grew up in a small town and pursued higher education in nursing, which was influenced by her mother's wishes rather than her own interests.
- 🏥 She had a profound experience in nursing school where her first patient passed away, which led her to realize nursing was not her calling.
- 💡 The speaker changed her career path to psychiatric nursing and later found her way into public relations in the music industry, which was more aligned with her interests.
- 🗝️ She emphasizes the importance of intuition and following one's own path rather than living up to others' expectations or societal norms.
- 🚀 The speaker highlights the value of entrepreneurship and creating a personal brand, which she believes is essential for success and fulfillment.
- 🧘♀️ After a period of personal dissatisfaction, she moved to LA, studied Eastern philosophy, and became a tarot card reader, which helped her find a deeper connection with herself.
- 🌟 She believes in the uniqueness of each individual, likening the human fingerprint and retinal scan to a divine blueprint for individual expression.
- 🤝 The speaker encourages compassion and community involvement, suggesting that businesses should have a charitable component to contribute positively to society.
- 🌱 She stresses the importance of love and compassion for the continuation and betterment of the world, suggesting that these values are currently at risk of becoming extinct.
- 🌍 The speaker criticizes the current state of politics and clergy for not adequately fostering a healthy and happy world, and instead calls for businesses and individuals to take on this responsibility.
- 💼 She concludes by urging the audience, particularly those in a position of privilege and education, to consider how they can use their resources to create a positive impact on their communities and the world.
Q & A
What was the speaker's initial career aspiration?
-The speaker initially wanted to become a poetry major and go surfing at the University of Oahu.
Why did the speaker end up as a nursing major instead of pursuing poetry?
-The speaker's mother wanted her to be a nursing major because she believed it offered job security, which was the highest aspiration from her perspective.
How did the speaker's experience in nursing school influence her career path?
-The speaker's experience with her first patient dying on the first day of nursing school confirmed her belief that nursing was not the right career for her.
What was the turning point that led the speaker to change her career direction to public relations?
-The speaker was advised by Anthony Haden-Guest, a famous British journalist, to become a publicist after she was rescued by him when she got evicted.
What significant event in the speaker's life led her to study Eastern philosophy?
-The speaker had a breakdown due to unhappiness in her life and marriage, which led her to move to LA, shave her head, and start studying Eastern philosophy.
How did the speaker's interest in tarot card reading develop?
-After moving to LA and immersing herself in Eastern philosophy, the speaker became a tarot card reader on Venice Beach, which eventually led to her becoming well-known in that field.
What was the speaker's perspective on the importance of self-discovery and self-connection?
-The speaker believes that developing a deep relationship with oneself is the most important thing she has ever done, more significant than any professional success.
What role does the speaker believe businesses should play in society?
-The speaker believes businesses should incorporate charity and give back to the community, whether through time, money, or creating business models that contribute positively to society.
What advice does the speaker have for the audience regarding their future endeavors?
-The speaker urges the audience to consider creating businesses that give back to the community, retrain local workers, and contribute to a healthy, happy, and abundant society.
How did the speaker's early life in a small town influence her sense of belonging?
-Growing up in a small town, the speaker felt unrepresented and without peers until she discovered MTV, which made her feel part of a tribe and motivated her to move to New York City.
What was the speaker's experience with her first patient in nursing school?
-The speaker's first patient, Donald, was severely ill with multiple conditions. She pretended to take his vital signs and made up the results. Shortly after, she noticed him 'picking at air,' a sign she learned in class that can precede death, and he passed away.
Outlines
🎓 From Small Town to Big Dreams
The speaker begins by sharing their journey from a small, middle-class town in upstate New York to aspiring to be part of the vibrant world of MTV, which they discovered through cable television. Despite initial resistance from their father, who left them by the roadside in a heated argument about moving to New York City, they negotiated their way back into the car, showcasing early negotiation skills. The speaker emphasizes the importance of finding one's tribe and the influence of societal and parental expectations on career choices, as they transitioned from wanting to study poetry to becoming a nursing major at their mother's behest.
🚑 A Pivotal Moment in Nursing School
The narrative continues with the speaker's experience in nursing school, where they were assigned to care for a patient named Donald, who had multiple severe health conditions. The speaker admits to fabricating Donald's vital signs due to discomfort with sick patients, leading to a humorous yet cautionary tale about the responsibilities of healthcare professionals. The situation takes a dramatic turn when Donald, exhibiting signs of impending death known as 'picking at air,' passes away, which the speaker interprets as a clear sign that nursing is not their calling. This event prompts a change in direction towards psychiatric nursing and eventually leads to a career in public relations after an unexpected encounter with a British journalist.
🔮 Spiritual Transformation and Entrepreneurial Success
The speaker recounts their transformation from a successful but unfulfilled publicist to a spiritual seeker and tarot card reader on Venice Beach. After a breakdown and a divorce, they moved to Los Angeles, sold their possessions, and immersed themselves in Eastern philosophy. This period of introspection and self-discovery led to a deep understanding of individual uniqueness and a connection to the divine. The speaker highlights the importance of self-awareness and authenticity, which they consider more significant achievements than their entrepreneurial successes or media recognition.
🌏 A Call for Compassionate Entrepreneurship
In the final paragraph, the speaker, now a seasoned entrepreneur, criticizes the current state of politics and religion for failing to foster a healthy and happy world. They advocate for businesses to integrate charity and community support into their models, suggesting that entrepreneurs have a role to play in creating a better world. The speaker shares their personal commitment to giving back through their 'Kelly from the block' initiative and encourages the audience to consider how they can contribute positively to society, emphasizing the importance of love and compassion in ensuring the planet's future.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Intuition
💡Entrepreneurialism
💡Authenticity
💡Nursing
💡Public Relations
💡Self-Discovery
💡Eastern Philosophy
💡Tarot Reading
💡Charitable Link
💡Compassion
Highlights
Speaker's intention to tweet about the event to keep the audience informed.
Speaker's admission of not being a scientist but an expert on Twitter, emphasizing the accessibility of social media.
Discussion on growing up in a small town and the feeling of not being represented, highlighting the importance of finding one's tribe.
The transformative experience of watching MTV and the decision to move to New York City, showcasing the power of media influence.
Anecdote about a confrontation with the speaker's father about moving to New York, illustrating early negotiation skills.
The speaker's journey from nursing to psychiatric nursing, reflecting the process of finding the right career path.
Experience in nursing school with a patient's death, leading to a realization about not being suited for nursing.
Transition from nursing to becoming a publicist, showing adaptability in career choices.
The impact of societal and parental expectations on career choices, and the struggle to break free from them.
The story of working for Nutrisystem and the subsequent entry into New York City's social scene.
The decision to leave a stable job and the challenges faced afterward, including eviction and finding new opportunities.
The journey from being a music publicist to building a successful PR company, demonstrating entrepreneurial spirit.
Personal struggles with happiness and fulfillment despite external success, leading to a life-changing breakdown.
The transformative experience of moving to LA, shaving her head, and studying Eastern philosophy.
Becoming a tarot card reader and the lessons learned about individuality and the divine blueprint.
The importance of self-discovery and building a deep relationship with oneself as a key to success.
The role of businesses in creating a charitable link and giving back to the community for a healthier, happier world.
The call to action for the audience to consider the impact of their actions and businesses on society and the world.
Transcripts
I'm just gonna tweet you guys out okay
what's going on here
keep everybody in the loop y'all like
Twitter follow me at people's Rev join
the revolution here we go through tweet
this right out
is everybody else tweeting too or now
I'm 45 just humor me for a minute I only
have about 30 more years of this before
I'll probably give it up my talk today
is going to be probably different
because I'm not a scientist I barely
graduated college well done but I'm an
expert on Twitter easy you don't have to
be smart to use social media that's the
good news
okay so I've done my little PR part now
for the event my talk today is really
about intuition and creating your own
brand and entrepreneurial ism and it was
titled originally cash consciousness and
capitalism but at the end of the day
I've been really thinking about what do
I have to offer you that you haven't
heard before or that might be a good
reminder as you go out in the world and
you continue with your studies and so I
think it's fair to start to say that I
grew up in a really really small town to
a very middle-class family in upstate
New York which looks a lot like the
English countryside except we don't have
castles we have trailers and cow cow
tipping is a favorite sport that's what
we do go rollerskating and then go
cow-tipping so that was a while other
kids were playing rugby I was cow
tipping and I never felt represented
anywhere in my immediate surroundings I
felt loved at home and it was nice but I
didn't have any peers and I never saw
myself represented in my community
there was nothing that was happening
outside of me where I said oh that's for
me that's where I belong and when I was
16 years old cable television I know
this is like the old days we got cable
TV and there was something called MTV
and the first time I saw MTV I was like
oh my god that's where I have to go and
I quickly made a statement to my parents
that I wanted to move to New York City
it was in the car we were driving down
the expressway my father pulled over and
told me to get out of the car and he
left me which is child abuse now um in
2011 he left me on the side of the road
and said no no child of mine is ever
gonna live in New York City my mother
was screaming Lele you can't leave her
he's like we're driving away and he left
me on the side of the road he came back
about 10 minutes later and asked if I
would make a deal with him that I would
promise never to move to New York and
he'd let me back in the car so I learned
how to negotiate at a very early age and
I said fine and I will never move to New
York City and I got back in the car and
I got dinner which is what you need when
you're that age so um I that was the
first time that I ever really felt you
know like this is who I am and this is
my tribe in my world I also just want to
put in here that I believe that we are
tribal people and that we have genetic
memory living in our DNA and we're
hungry for tribes and I certainly was
when I was younger so I was going to be
the first person to go to college in my
family and I wanted to become a poetry
major and go surfing at the University
of Oahu
that was kiboshed and I ended up
becoming a nursing major because that's
what my mom wanted me to be and you know
I talked about this because a lot of
times regardless of whether you have
financial and economic privilege or not
a parents influence on their kids and
society's influence on us from a place
of gender and expectation is so powerful
and what I found is that there are so
many people that are living other
people's dreams or demands and I was one
of those people so I had to do the right
thing I had to be the one to go to
college and I was going to major in
nursing because my mom said you know if
you ever get fired you could always get
another job like this was the highest
place of thought that from where they
came from that they could offer to me
this was the top of their mountain and
and I respect and love that I don't feel
like chipped off about it or anything so
my first week of nursing school I had a
an asymmetrical kind of at a net like
shaved head with a Dorothy Hamill swing
with a long braid and I refused to wear
the dresses and I got these big white
wide gaucho pants and a little
stethoscope and I would pretend that I
was a doctor and kind of walk around the
campus and they're nursing instructors
hated me and they were like we don't
like punk rock kids in this school and
you know you're not going to make it
through nursing school and they just
started to threaten me so the first day
I went to the hospital you get to have
patients that they have a lot of things
wrong with them so my patients name was
Donald and he was basically blind had
glaucoma diabetes COPD constructive
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
heart failure catheters down my bag and
basically was on his way out and so when
you're in nursing school they give you
people that have all these diseases so
you can study how all the systems of
anatomy and physiology and illness and
treatment work together so I walked into
his room in my Gauchos with my
stethoscope and I'm supposed to take his
vital signs and he was like and I was
like oh my god like I cannot help you
like I am NOT into sick people this is
not gonna be for me this is not my job
and um and so I just kind of like inched
over to rob you know the clipboard and I
looked at him and I just made up his
vital signs which is why I really urge
you guys if you're sick not to go to a
hospital because there are lots of
jokers that work in hospitals and they
don't do their job especially a teaching
hospital try never to go to one so I
just wrote down the vital signs and I
was like man 120 over 70 that's good
cause 62 and then all of a sudden I saw
him doing this thing like and and I was
like oh my god he's picking it air and
just like the week before in class I
learned that right before people die
they do this inexplicable thing called
picking it air right and I was like oh
my god he's picking it air so I ran to
the nurse
and I said excuse me Donald is picking a
tear you know room 436 like zip it up
and he died my patient died the first
day of nursing school and I took this as
a sign and I was correct to take it as a
sign that I was not meant to be a nurse
so I was sure of it now I mean I knew it
before but it was absolutely confirmed
like my patient was nixed and I went to
the pay phone because we didn't have
cell phones then and I called my mom and
I started crying I said listen I'm not
cut out for this I don't like sick
people my guy died mom my patients dead
okay and um my mom is like now you're
just gonna have to pull yourself
together because you're in a hospital I
guess what people do there Kelly they
die so I was like stuck in nursing
school so I quickly changed fields into
psychiatric nursing which I worked in an
intensive care unit in a psych hospital
which became a great background to
become an entrepreneur because when you
weren't paying back the bank on time you
could be used really good you know psych
terms like I know you appear to be upset
but I just want to comfort you and let
you know that we will be paying you
shortly
so from there I I disengaged with
expectation unknowingly and I had no
plans and I was hired to become
untrained a nurse trainer for
Nutrisystem I was pretty skinny
I think borderline maybe eating disorder
I was into being really thin and um you
know my clients lost more weight than
any other clients in the history of
Nutrisystem so I found myself in New
York City and within two weeks I
basically was on the scene hanging out
with people like Tim Leary and Pink
Floyd and I don't even know who and I
quit my job and I had nowhere to go and
I soon got evicted and I was rescued by
a man by the name of Anthony haden-guest
who's a quite a famous British
journalist he was the art critic for
Vanity Fair for years and he said to me
one day you know darling what are you
going to do with your life and I was
like well I want to be an MTV VJ and he
was like you're far too smart for that
you should be a publicist so that
started the journey of me going to get a
job as an assistant in a PR company and
from there I have to say that that was
the beginning of you know a pretty
amazing career I was a music publicist
for a long time and then one day I just
realized I do not work well with others
like I'm not employable in a corporate
situation I do not like to be told what
to do I do not like the fact that I
could be sitting at my desk and somebody
could just come up to me and tell me
that I don't belong here anymore so I
realized from there I went night I met
Bob Guccione jr. who on Spin Magazine
his dad was a basically a pornographer
who owns husba Penthouse and he had
started this rock magazine and he hired
me to come be the director of PR and I
thought that was going to be an amazing
job but I was the director of myself
there was no one else in the PR
department and we ended up having a
fallout because we had a writer who had
been part of the Tiananmen Square
revolution back in the day our magazine
was coming out three months late and he
wanted to be on every news source so I
quickly wrote him a press report and
printed out 250 outlets and told him
that they all declined coverage and I
was quitting and starting my own company
I was 22 then and I went on to build one
of the
biggest public relations music companies
I did Frank Sinatra Pet Shop Boys
finding cannibals Tammy Wynette Julio
Iglesias going on tour with Frank
Sinatra one year twenty two is really
fun I really recommend that if you guys
ever get a chance Steve and Edie and
Frank rolling on a tour of us with like
ten lap dogs in the Mafia was quite a
good time so what happened was is that
by that point I I believed everything
that we were told like you know be hot
be pretty be cool be smart go to go to
the right school get out you know get a
job find a dude lock it down get married
I married Andy Warhol's protege Ronny
Cutrone very famous pop artist and I
thought that I was supposed to have it
all like I was supposed to have it Oh
like there it was like I was in New York
I was involved blah blah blah blah blah
and I was miserably unhappy miserably
unhappy and the thing that I found that
I was missing in all of this is that one
I was doing what everybody else expected
me to do and to I had no sense of faith
there was just no faith and no belief in
anything greater than myself and there
was no connection at all to society and
my community and any type of caring for
anybody else other than calling Naomi
Campbell up and finding out if we were
going to go to an S&M Club later at
night after we hit the bars you know
which was also really fun back in New
York in those days you guys
um and so what happened from there was I
basically had a breakdown you know I was
making a ton of money and I was
believing in all this stuff and I didn't
like my husband I didn't like my life so
I got divorced and I moved to LA and I
shaved my head
and I sold everything that I owned and I
started studying Eastern philosophy and
I became a tarot card reader on Venice
Beach if you're an entrepreneur it's
like you can take the girl out of
entrepreneurialism but you can't take
entrepreneurial ism out of the girl so
what happened next was I became a really
good tarot card reader and I went at
first I didn't have a car because I sold
everything I believed that things were
really bogging me down and it was a big
hassle so I had two pairs of jeans two
tank tops a pair of flip-flops and a
hoodie and a shaved head later in the
media when Britney Spears would shave
her head people called me as you know
one of the top fashion people in the
world and said what do you think about
this horrible thing that she's done I
said I think it's great man I did it
when I was 24 whatever it's really good
you learned a lot about yourself when
you shave your head as a woman and so I
just studied Eastern philosophy and
became a tarot card reader and I went
from making like a hundred to two
hundred dollars a day on Venice Beach to
really making you know eight hundred a
thousand dollars a day in cash just
reading tarot cards and one thing led to
another and next thing you knew I was
kind of a well-known tarot card reader
sometimes when people like talk about me
now and in one circle and then they go
you mean the tarot card reader and then
my friends guess she's not a tarot card
reader though then they find out that I
was um so at that point uh you know what
I learned was I finally learned who I
was through that period of time and I
think that the point of this whole
conversation in this moment about the
tarot card reading is is that you know a
lot of religions talk about to thine own
self be true but who is the self you
know and I started tripping on these
different concepts of the individual and
the fingerprint and how you know there's
only one fingerprint or one retinal
icecat if each of us that exists in the
whole world and after doing all the
studies in all of those journeys that I
took I found out that I really believe
that that is
a blueprint for the divine that the
divine has given us wanting us to
express it individually and uniquely and
that's why there's only one because
otherwise wouldn't my why wouldn't my
daughter have the same water why
wouldn't I have the same one is
something in my family there's just one
of those and so I really started to
learn at that point in time really
searching for the sense of what are we
really doing here you know what is this
life about and what do we go for and how
do we use our time and so it was through
these type of things that I started to
get a very deep relationship with myself
and that is the most important thing
that I have ever done
more so than writing a New York Times
bestseller or having a company that
people perceive to be successful
sometimes it is sometimes it is and then
that's the truth that's how it is when
you're an entrepreneur but the most
important thing that I've done is I've
become awakened to the divine being and
myself and in the world and one of the
things that I really want to encourage
you all to do which has been very very
powerful I work with a woman named Alma
and Jane Goodall calls her God's love
and a human body and she travels the
world hugging people she's hugged over
40 million people she's an Indian guru
teacher and she's pretty awesome she's
coming to London so you guys should all
go see her
amma org or embracing the world org and
I was with her over the fourth of July
and some people said to her I think it
was a writer from The New Yorker hey
Alma you know what's up with the end of
the world what you think is going to
happen with the end of the world and she
said what do you mean what's going to
happen take a look around look what's
happening in the world today she said
whether or not this planet continues is
going to be rest on the shoulders and in
the hearts of humanity and if you agree
to have love and compassion in your
heart then the world will continue but
this is something that's becoming
extinct so we must keep love and
compassion in our heart so for me I I
really what I'm seeing as a 45 year old
woman who's been in business for a long
time I do not think that our politicians
and I did not think that our clergy are
doing a good job of keeping this world
in a healthy happy place you know we
can't agree on human rights so we
shouldn't talk about God right so I
think that the businesses and the way
that we
forge our businesses today and I can
tell you just as a money-making business
model I see it with brands like Warby
Parker and Tom's to have a charitable
link with everything that you do whether
you can give up five hours of your time
a week to go and do something just I
call myself Kelly from the block but I
spell it the French Way like BL o qu way
so it's my fashion charity title and
whether or not you know we give our time
or we give our money or we set up a
business model where we can give back to
our community or stop outsourcing
everything globally and retrain the
factory workers and the people who need
jobs in our town this is something that
I urge you when you leave this really
gorgeous privileged place that you get
to be in school at that you consider
doing so we can have a place that's
super cool and super happy and super
healthy and full of abundance thank you
you
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