What are the “3 Ds” that quietly destroy good businesses, and what can owners actually do about them?
In this episode of Wealth on Main Street, Karyn Kokeny joins Richard Canfield and longtime friend Mike Smela for a wide-ranging conversation about business, mindset, and money. Karyn is a Grant Cardone-certified 10X business coach and Kolbe Certified Consultant who spent 20 years in corporate America at Pepsi before leaving to build her own coaching business, and she’s been using the Infinite Banking Concept since 2018.
From Corporate to Entrepreneur
After two decades climbing the corporate ladder, Karyn leaped into entrepreneurship. It wasn’t a small decision; she describes what she calls “big dumb company syndrome,” the slow erosion of initiative and ownership that can happen inside large corporate structures. Leaving that behind meant rebuilding her identity around a different kind of work: helping other business owners find clarity, direction, and growth through 10X coaching.
The 3 Ds That Destroy Businesses
A central theme of the conversation is what Karyn calls the “3 Ds“, the disruptions that can derail even a thriving business seemingly overnight. These are the kinds of events few owners plan for, yet they’re often the ones that matter most. It’s a theme that ties directly into why Karyn became an advocate for the Infinite Banking Concept: not as an investment product, but as a tool for control and protection.
Surviving COVID With a Policy Loan
Karyn shares candidly how a policy loan from her Infinite Banking policy helped her navigate the uncertainty of COVID as a business owner, a real, lived example of the kind of liquidity and flexibility the concept is designed to provide when conventional lending tightens or dries up.
Control, Multiply, Protect
Karyn teaches her clients a simple framework: control your money, multiply your money, protect your money. It’s a lens she applies both to her coaching practice and to her own financial decisions, and it dovetails naturally with Nelson Nash’s core IBC teaching, as Karyn puts it, paraphrasing Nash, “it’s all about how you think.”
Why Human Potential Doesn’t Show Up on a Balance Sheet
One of the more philosophical threads in the episode is a conversation about business valuation, specifically, how a business’s greatest asset (its people, and their potential) never actually appears as a line item on the balance sheet. It’s a reminder that the numbers only tell part of the story.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the “3 Ds” that destroy businesses, according to Karyn Kokeny?
Karyn refers to the “3 Ds” as major disruptive events that can derail a business, underscoring why proactive financial protection rather than reactive crisis management matters for business owners.
How did Karyn Kokeny use Infinite Banking during COVID?
Karyn used a policy loan from her Infinite Banking policy to access liquidity during the uncertainty of COVID, allowing her to navigate the disruption without relying on traditional bank lending.
What is Karyn Kokeny’s “control, multiply, protect” framework?
It’s a simple three-part approach Karyn teaches her coaching clients: first control your money, then find ways to multiply it, and finally protect it a framework that aligns closely with the principles behind the Infinite Banking Concept.
Why doesn’t human potential show up on a business balance sheet?
Traditional balance sheets capture tangible assets and liabilities but don’t account for the value of people, their potential, and their contributions a gap Karyn and the hosts discuss as an overlooked dimension of business value.
Connect With Karyn Kokeny
- Website: karynkokeny.com
- You Hold the Key to Your Success: karynkokeny.com/you-hold-the-key-to-your-success
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/karynkokeny
Listen & Watch the Full Episode
- Watch on YouTube: Infinite Banking for Business Owners
- Listen on Spotify: Click here
Ready to Learn More About Infinite Banking?
If Karyn’s story resonated with you as a business owner, the Infinite Banking Concept might be worth exploring for your own business. Connect with the team at Ascendant Financial to learn how it could fit into your financial strategy.
Book a call with Ascendant Financial or explore the Wealth on Main Street community at wealthonmainstreet.com/community