2024 Top Guest Replay - How Kat Norton (Miss Excel) Started a 7-Figure Business Before Creating Funnels
Jan 03, 2025In this week's episode of "Keep What You Earn," Shannon and Kat Norton, better known as Miss Excel, discuss the creation of Kat's successful seven-figure business. Kat's journey from IT consulting to digital fame on TikTok began during the pandemic, a period that offered her time to explore new opportunities. She describes the day she quit her corporate job as liberating, comparing it to a "Hannah Montana moment." While some colleagues were aware of her growing TikTok presence, others were surprised. Importantly, her former company later rehired her as a vendor, underscoring mutual respect and acknowledgment of her expertise.
Kat’s innovative leap into TikTok is at the heart of her story. She recognized a gap in the market—no one was teaching Excel in an engaging way. By combining her interests in Excel, dancing, and helping others, she created unique and entertaining educational content. Her initial videos featured her dancing with Excel displays, quickly gaining traction and a substantial following. As she evolved, Kat incorporated speaking elements, further engaging her audience.
Shannon and Kat emphasize the significance of authenticity and creativity in content creation. Kat's genuine passion and quirky style resonated with viewers, propelling her from a hobbyist to a business mogul. Her first viral video rapidly garnered 100,000 followers. Aware of social media’s volatility, Kat diversified her presence to Instagram, continuing her audience growth.
Initially, Kat lacked business infrastructure. She had no products, lead magnets, or mailing lists until a business coach advised her to develop these essential components. This led to her first Excel course, which launched on Black Friday 2020, earning more than her day job salary by January 2021. This pivotal success prompted her to leave her corporate job and focus entirely on her online business.
Kat's approach underscores "messy action"—making bold moves without waiting for perfection. This strategy allowed her to harness creativity without financial pressure. Her content-driven focus, supported by intuition, spurred organic growth and engagement.
The business's rapid growth included her first webinar in April 2021, generating $50,000 in an hour. Eventually, she began tracking business metrics and expanded her team, including a marketing agency for better data analysis, especially for paid advertising. Her team grew to 18 members, with roles in corporate training and sales. Her partner, Mike, developed the corporate branch, landing deals with major companies and expanding their sales capabilities.
Looking ahead, Kat plans to transition more into a CEO role, focusing on strategic partnerships and high-level business vision. She emphasizes personal growth and intuition in aligning energy with business opportunities. Kat remains involved in course creation, exploring new training avenues and certifications.
Kat Norton's journey from corporate employee to seven-figure entrepreneur offers valuable lessons. Her story showcases the power of authenticity, creativity, and taking "messy action" in pursuit of one's passions. As Shannon noted, Kat's unique and energetic approach has transformed mundane subjects into engaging content, proving that innovation has no bounds.
For aspiring entrepreneurs, Kat Norton's experiences provide a roadmap to success, starting with identifying what you love and finding creative ways to share it with the world. Don't forget to leave a rating and review for "Keep What You Earn" on your podcast platform to help us reach more business owners with insightful and motivating content. Join us next time for more discussions on financial strategies and entrepreneurial journeys.
Since launching Miss Excel in June of 2020, Kat Norton has grown a 7-figure course sales business and a community of over 2 million people across her social media platforms through viral Excel trick videos infused with creativity, music and dance. Her trainings are known to make Excel fun and have been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Entrepreneur Magazine, CNBC and 50+ global news outlets.
Website: www.miss-excel.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miss.excel/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@miss.excel
What you'll hear in this episode:
05:28 Overcame doubts, started posting Excel tips online.
07:54 CEO hires me to create G Suite tutorials.
11:04 Create without expectation; many overthink ideas.
14:49 Content first, business idea follows, leverage strengths.
18:09 Started teaching Excel on TikTok through dance.
20:02 Authentic, fun dance content captures attention effortlessly.
23:33 Unpredicted success: intuited origins confirmed by data.
27:01 Scaling up operations boosts business efficiency significantly.
If you like this episode, check out:
Boosting Business with Better Client Care
Acquire Cheaper and Better Customers (Financial Priority Formula Part 3)
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The information contained in this podcast is intended for educational purposes only and is not individual tax advice. Please consult a qualified professional before implementing anything you learn.
