Cara Terrance went from a career in human resources and talent acquisition to founding Keep It Moving Mindset Strategy, a personal and professional development company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. In this episode of the Encourage Mindset Podcast, Cara sits down with host Ethan Van De Hey to talk about building unbreakable self-confidence, the childhood wounds that hold us back, and why you have to know who you really are before you can move forward.
Watch the Full Episode with Cara Terrance
From HR to Mindset Coaching
Cara’s professional background is in human resources, specifically in recruitment, talent acquisition, and training and development. But over the years, she noticed a pattern — people were coming to her not just for career guidance but for deeper personal work. They were stuck, not because they lacked qualifications, but because something inside was holding them back. That realization led her to launch Keep It Moving Mindset Strategy, where she helps individuals align their mindset with their goals so they can actually move forward.
Originally from Panama City, Florida, Cara now operates out of Charlotte, North Carolina. Her coaching style blends her HR expertise with a deeply personal, whole-person approach that starts long before any career strategy gets discussed.
Who Are You, Really?
Before Cara dives into career planning with any client, she asks a deceptively simple set of questions: Who are you, really? What are your likes? What talents and gifts do you have? Are they actually aligned with where you are today versus where you want to go? These questions, Cara explains, are the foundation of everything else. If someone does not understand who they truly are and what drives them, no amount of resume polishing or interview coaching is going to make a lasting difference.
Cara shares a powerful client story to illustrate this point. A woman came to her wanting to move up in her current career. She was well qualified — on paper, she had everything a promotion would require, and more. Yet she kept getting stuck. She would either not get the interview, or she would get the interview but could not advance past a certain point. Through their coaching sessions, Cara started asking deeper questions about her childhood: Had she experienced rejection? Were there events that shaped how she saw herself?
The breakthrough came when they uncovered that the woman had been dealing with the pain of not knowing her father. That unresolved wound had created a deep-seated belief that she was not enough — a belief so ingrained that it was showing up in how she carried herself during interviews, even though she was unaware of it. Once they addressed that root cause and began replacing the negative internal narrative with positive affirmations, the woman’s confidence shifted dramatically.
Journaling as a Mindset Tool
When Ethan asks Cara about her favorite way to track progress and build better habits, she does not hesitate: writing. Cara describes herself as a natural writer — she journals regularly, has dabbled in poetry, and has even written a couple of books. For her, writing has been therapeutic, and it serves a practical purpose in her coaching as well.
Her journaling process is straightforward. She writes out what her expectations are from a given point in time, identifies what might be causing a hindrance to progress, and then evaluates her current habits to determine whether they are working for her or against her. That simple act of getting things out of your head and onto paper, she says, creates the clarity needed to make intentional changes rather than drifting through life on autopilot.
When Life Takes a Detour
Cara is passionate about what she calls detours — the unexpected events that knock you off course. Whether it is a health crisis, a family issue, or the kind of disruption the pandemic brought into millions of lives, Cara acknowledges that setbacks are real and the feelings that come with them are valid. She tells her clients to sit with what they are feeling rather than suppress it, because unprocessed emotions have a way of resurfacing later at the worst possible times.
But Cara is equally firm about what comes next: you have to be intentional about pulling yourself back up. She encourages clients to replace negative self-talk with language that rebuilds their confidence — moving from statements like I cannot do this to declarations like I am a goal-getter, I can accomplish this, and there is nothing that can stop me. The goal is not to pretend the detour never happened but to make sure it does not become a permanent stop.
Faith as the Foundation
Cara openly credits her faith as the thing that allows her to navigate the unexpected with resilience. When life throws something outside of your control, she says, faith provides the grounding that keeps you from spiraling. She sees too many people beat themselves up over setbacks that were completely out of their hands, and her message is compassionate but clear: give yourself grace, deal with the emotion honestly, and then get back on the path you set for yourself.
Connect with the Encourage Mindset Podcast
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Related Episodes You Might Enjoy
If you enjoyed this conversation, check out these related episodes from the Encourage Mindset Podcast:
- Randi Lynn Quigley: Empowerment and Self-Discovery
- Charlie Connelly: Authenticity and Personal Growth
- Nelson Dickson: You Are Enough: Embrace Your Unique Gifts and Make an Impact
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