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P.S. You're a Genius: An Unconventional Guide to Finding Your Innate Gifts
Do you feel like you're doing it all and it's still not enough?
Discover your shortcut to success in P.S. You're A Genius.
After a lifetime of overachieving, aiming to be excellent at everything, and three failed tech startups in Silicon Valley, Kelly Trach was stirred by a simple question: What if I just did what I'm good at?
Now a six-figure business coach, Kelly poses the same question to you: What if you just did what you're good at? Despite conventional wisdom, the gifts and experience you need are already innate. Having that "it factor" or "special ingredient" isn't as elusive as you may think.
P.S. You're a Genius takes you on a self-reflective journey to find your own gifts (especially when you don't feel "gifted" at all), asking questions like:
- How are your idols a reflection of your own genius?
- What are you great at that nobody taught you how to do?
- How is your darkest shadow your greatest gift?
- What have you been unexpectedly criticized for?
Through these questions and more, you'll uncover the ways you naturally excel, relinquish the lie that you're not "good enough," and discover how to convincingly convey your value to anyone. In the process, you'll unlock the gumption to go after what you really want and ditch the mindset blocks holding you back--because YOU have an inherent genius. You just have to find it.
Discover your shortcut to success in P.S. You're A Genius.
After a lifetime of overachieving, aiming to be excellent at everything, and three failed tech startups in Silicon Valley, Kelly Trach was stirred by a simple question: What if I just did what I'm good at?
Now a six-figure business coach, Kelly poses the same question to you: What if you just did what you're good at? Despite conventional wisdom, the gifts and experience you need are already innate. Having that "it factor" or "special ingredient" isn't as elusive as you may think.
P.S. You're a Genius takes you on a self-reflective journey to find your own gifts (especially when you don't feel "gifted" at all), asking questions like:
- How are your idols a reflection of your own genius?
- What are you great at that nobody taught you how to do?
- How is your darkest shadow your greatest gift?
- What have you been unexpectedly criticized for?
Through these questions and more, you'll uncover the ways you naturally excel, relinquish the lie that you're not "good enough," and discover how to convincingly convey your value to anyone. In the process, you'll unlock the gumption to go after what you really want and ditch the mindset blocks holding you back--because YOU have an inherent genius. You just have to find it.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published November 30, 2021
12 people are currently reading
1466 people want to read
About the author
Kelly Trach
3 books13 followersKelly Trach is a business consultant, the published author of P.S. You’re A Genius. (BenBella Books, 2021) and Love Letters I Can’t Send (Sunny Side Books, 2025), and a founder with a decade of entrepreneurial experience. She is the person you call when you have an idea and want to turn it into a business.
Kelly has a bachelor of commerce honors degree from the University of British Columbia where she studied on scholarship. Kelly previously worked at Tesla Motors, studied at Sciences Po in Paris France, and was accepted in a pre-accelerator program taught by a billionaire venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. After her first three tech start-ups failed in San Francisco, Kelly built a business centered around her genius. It worked. Generating traction by doing work that came most naturally to her made her rethink her approach to finding meaningful work.
Now she teaches others how to find their genius and turn that into a business, career, or side hustle. She's spoken at places like Uber and NASDAQ, plus her podcast had 100,000+ downloads. Her work has been featured in RBC’s The Intelligent Investor and mindbodygreen.
Kelly is now the founder of Sunny Side Up Ventures, a creative house that produces books and start-ups.
Kelly has a bachelor of commerce honors degree from the University of British Columbia where she studied on scholarship. Kelly previously worked at Tesla Motors, studied at Sciences Po in Paris France, and was accepted in a pre-accelerator program taught by a billionaire venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. After her first three tech start-ups failed in San Francisco, Kelly built a business centered around her genius. It worked. Generating traction by doing work that came most naturally to her made her rethink her approach to finding meaningful work.
Now she teaches others how to find their genius and turn that into a business, career, or side hustle. She's spoken at places like Uber and NASDAQ, plus her podcast had 100,000+ downloads. Her work has been featured in RBC’s The Intelligent Investor and mindbodygreen.
Kelly is now the founder of Sunny Side Up Ventures, a creative house that produces books and start-ups.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 13, 2022
This book is about discovering your dreams, finding what your gifts and talents are. This book gives you so many tips and tricks about finding out who you are. You should read this book if you want to find out many things about yourself. 100% recommend this book.
February 20, 2023
It felt like it contained more business advice than personal reflection. Would recommend this book to those looking to start their own business/wanting to make additional money using their gifts.
April 9, 2024
DNF.
TLDR- Kelly's advice is uninspiring at best, and some personal anecdotes and logic behind why she shared them really just did not make sense to me. I struggled to get to page 135/205 and just got so annoyed that I couldn't pick this back up. There are definitely better books out there with similar themes of self-help/business advice.
Don't read if you're looking for actual advice. Couldn't even get through it. Kelly's writing style was ok, but the content was lackluster. Some random business advice thrown around - felt more like an autobiography focusing on Kelly's life coaching business than anything with some uninspiring advice that is just so simple it's obvious.
If you want to start your own life coaching business, maybe give it a read? But honestly, there are probably better books out there for this.
Below are two examples of Kelly's logic that made me unable to finish this. Both from Chapter 18: "I need more time, experience, and maybe another certification."
1. At the beginning of this chapter, Kelly talks about her health blog. She states, "I thought it would be a good idea to write down everything I knew and sell it as an e-book. And I kid you not, I titled it: Fuck This Shit I'm Curing Myself: How to Ditch Chronic Illness and Get Yourself a Life." She explains that "the goal of this cleverly titled e-book was to share some stress-relieving tips, some mindset tools, and a plant-based recipe or two." But she began to doubt herself because she had no experience in the medical field, so she began researching med school - "I genuinely believed that if I wanted to write a lil ol' book with some mantras and a nice vegan muffin recipe, I needed to be a freaking doctor. (And don't worry, I wasn't giving medical advice, so there was no reason to be one.)
This really made me question Kelly's logic. Why would she title her book with the promise of curing chronic illness if she wanted to share stress relief techniques and vegan recipes? You don't need to be an MD to share these things, obviously. But the title of her e-book, the contents of it, and her thought to become an MD seriously made me question Kelly and her ability to form thoughts. Curing chronic illness isn't as simple as being vegan and de-stressing. Perhaps a different title for her e-book would have not made her freak out about becoming an MD. She goes on to explain how she had 6 years of experience managing her own chronic illness and monitoring which foods made her condition worse. And how this made her more than qualified to write this e-book. I'm not here to discredit her illness, and I am glad she found something that worked for her, but not everyone struggling with chronic illness has the same symptoms, flare-ups, responses, etc. Chronic illness is a unique, complex thing - it's not something that can be so generalized. I understand her point of just doing the damn thing and not being so caught up with your experience level or qualifications, but I think the way this was communicated was absolutely idiotic. Perhaps if she titled her e-book something like "How I am managing my chronic illness," she wouldn't have had this internal struggle about qualifications. Her e-book title implies medical advice. Not vegan recipes and stress relief.
2. Later on in the same chapter, "Before I was this nonconformist YOLO-er, I was a goody-two-shoes who played dutifully by the unsaid rules of society. I used to believe that I needed ten years of corporate experience before I started a business. I worried that twenty-two was too young to have a start-up in Silicon Valley."
This quote would be really inspirational if her start-ups succeeded. However, she mentions early on in the book how she had two start-ups that both failed. I wonder if they would've succeeded if she did have that corporate experience and/or knowledge of how corporations work? She never mentioned why they had failed, so we'll never know.
TLDR- Kelly's advice is uninspiring at best, and some personal anecdotes and logic behind why she shared them really just did not make sense to me. I struggled to get to page 135/205 and just got so annoyed that I couldn't pick this back up. There are definitely better books out there with similar themes of self-help/business advice.
Don't read if you're looking for actual advice. Couldn't even get through it. Kelly's writing style was ok, but the content was lackluster. Some random business advice thrown around - felt more like an autobiography focusing on Kelly's life coaching business than anything with some uninspiring advice that is just so simple it's obvious.
If you want to start your own life coaching business, maybe give it a read? But honestly, there are probably better books out there for this.
Below are two examples of Kelly's logic that made me unable to finish this. Both from Chapter 18: "I need more time, experience, and maybe another certification."
1. At the beginning of this chapter, Kelly talks about her health blog. She states, "I thought it would be a good idea to write down everything I knew and sell it as an e-book. And I kid you not, I titled it: Fuck This Shit I'm Curing Myself: How to Ditch Chronic Illness and Get Yourself a Life." She explains that "the goal of this cleverly titled e-book was to share some stress-relieving tips, some mindset tools, and a plant-based recipe or two." But she began to doubt herself because she had no experience in the medical field, so she began researching med school - "I genuinely believed that if I wanted to write a lil ol' book with some mantras and a nice vegan muffin recipe, I needed to be a freaking doctor. (And don't worry, I wasn't giving medical advice, so there was no reason to be one.)
This really made me question Kelly's logic. Why would she title her book with the promise of curing chronic illness if she wanted to share stress relief techniques and vegan recipes? You don't need to be an MD to share these things, obviously. But the title of her e-book, the contents of it, and her thought to become an MD seriously made me question Kelly and her ability to form thoughts. Curing chronic illness isn't as simple as being vegan and de-stressing. Perhaps a different title for her e-book would have not made her freak out about becoming an MD. She goes on to explain how she had 6 years of experience managing her own chronic illness and monitoring which foods made her condition worse. And how this made her more than qualified to write this e-book. I'm not here to discredit her illness, and I am glad she found something that worked for her, but not everyone struggling with chronic illness has the same symptoms, flare-ups, responses, etc. Chronic illness is a unique, complex thing - it's not something that can be so generalized. I understand her point of just doing the damn thing and not being so caught up with your experience level or qualifications, but I think the way this was communicated was absolutely idiotic. Perhaps if she titled her e-book something like "How I am managing my chronic illness," she wouldn't have had this internal struggle about qualifications. Her e-book title implies medical advice. Not vegan recipes and stress relief.
2. Later on in the same chapter, "Before I was this nonconformist YOLO-er, I was a goody-two-shoes who played dutifully by the unsaid rules of society. I used to believe that I needed ten years of corporate experience before I started a business. I worried that twenty-two was too young to have a start-up in Silicon Valley."
This quote would be really inspirational if her start-ups succeeded. However, she mentions early on in the book how she had two start-ups that both failed. I wonder if they would've succeeded if she did have that corporate experience and/or knowledge of how corporations work? She never mentioned why they had failed, so we'll never know.
October 16, 2023
Key Take Aways:
- Discovering your gifts can change your career and your life.(“When you know your genius, you instinctively understand the work you should be doing in the world.”)
- Identify your three to five key gifts and combine them into a job tailored for you. (“Your genius is the combination of your top three to five gifts working together to create world-class expertise doing something only you can do.”)
- Discovering your gifts requires deep, honest internal investigation. (“Despite conventional wisdom, what you consider to be ‘too easy’ is actually the no-brainer work you should be pursuing.”)
- Look for threads and themes in your experiences and passions. (“Your gifts are already top-tier traits of yours – you love doing them, and all you have to do is keep focusing on where it feels fun.”)
- When you unleash your unique genius, expect a transformation in your work and financial life. (“When people know that you are the best in your field, they come knocking with projects, requests to be your client, and job opportunities.”)
- Don’t let inner voices undermine you. (“Your soul is silently pulling you in certain directions, so shut up for a second and listen.”)
- As you apply your genius, follow an 11-item playbook.
1. Do what’s simple. Your gifts make things simple and effortless when other people would find the same tasks complex and difficult. Let your genius make things easy.
2. Leverage your uniqueness. Don’t play the copycat. Study the masters in your field, but do your work your way. Trust in your genius and difference.
3. Quit what doesn’t serve you. If something you’re currently doing doesn’t flow, if it drains you, if it takes too much effort, if you hate it, stop doing it. Quitting activities that don’t serve you lets you spend your time doing things that generate flow and give you energy. List the activities that drain you, and commit to quitting them within a definite – and short – timeframe.
4. Double down on your differences. No matter how niche you get, you’ll find people who want what only you can deliver.
5. Don’t try too hard. Throughout your life, people have probably said things like, “Don’t let anyone outwork you” or “If you keep trying and working hard, you’ll succeed.” You will need to work to put your gifts to use, but if you’re doing something that feels like repeatedly running into a brick wall, take the message.
6. Seek big results. When you apply your genius, you should see exponential returns – not slow, steady gains. And the more you narrow down your niche, the bigger and faster the returns. Don’t necessarily aim for impossible feats, but go for the big investor, find an amazing mentor, or even just get out there and attend weekly events to make more connections.
7. Go with your gut. Listen to your instincts and intuition. Tap your own wisdom. Sometimes you’ll need to set aside what you think you know and go with what you feel instead.
8. Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Super-focused people tend to change the world, not well-rounded ones. Well-roundedness will make you average. Aim to do your one thing better than anyone else.
9. Keep it easy. Grow comfortable with ease. Stop thinking that it takes great effort to do anything worthwhile. And make things easy on yourself: Take advantage of delivery services, live near the office, find ways to earn passive income. Again, your genius will make your work easy, so embrace it. Do what excites you, accept help, leverage your work, and don’t reinvent the wheel. Meditate. Breathe.
10. Don’t settle. You might come across opportunities to gain something good – a job or a promotion, for example – but not exactly what you want. Don’t take the bait. Aim big, do your thing and don’t settle.
11. Use your genius to help others. Other people need your genius. Don’t deprive them. Pursue your destiny in service to others.
- Discovering your gifts can change your career and your life.(“When you know your genius, you instinctively understand the work you should be doing in the world.”)
- Identify your three to five key gifts and combine them into a job tailored for you. (“Your genius is the combination of your top three to five gifts working together to create world-class expertise doing something only you can do.”)
- Discovering your gifts requires deep, honest internal investigation. (“Despite conventional wisdom, what you consider to be ‘too easy’ is actually the no-brainer work you should be pursuing.”)
- Look for threads and themes in your experiences and passions. (“Your gifts are already top-tier traits of yours – you love doing them, and all you have to do is keep focusing on where it feels fun.”)
- When you unleash your unique genius, expect a transformation in your work and financial life. (“When people know that you are the best in your field, they come knocking with projects, requests to be your client, and job opportunities.”)
- Don’t let inner voices undermine you. (“Your soul is silently pulling you in certain directions, so shut up for a second and listen.”)
- As you apply your genius, follow an 11-item playbook.
1. Do what’s simple. Your gifts make things simple and effortless when other people would find the same tasks complex and difficult. Let your genius make things easy.
2. Leverage your uniqueness. Don’t play the copycat. Study the masters in your field, but do your work your way. Trust in your genius and difference.
3. Quit what doesn’t serve you. If something you’re currently doing doesn’t flow, if it drains you, if it takes too much effort, if you hate it, stop doing it. Quitting activities that don’t serve you lets you spend your time doing things that generate flow and give you energy. List the activities that drain you, and commit to quitting them within a definite – and short – timeframe.
4. Double down on your differences. No matter how niche you get, you’ll find people who want what only you can deliver.
5. Don’t try too hard. Throughout your life, people have probably said things like, “Don’t let anyone outwork you” or “If you keep trying and working hard, you’ll succeed.” You will need to work to put your gifts to use, but if you’re doing something that feels like repeatedly running into a brick wall, take the message.
6. Seek big results. When you apply your genius, you should see exponential returns – not slow, steady gains. And the more you narrow down your niche, the bigger and faster the returns. Don’t necessarily aim for impossible feats, but go for the big investor, find an amazing mentor, or even just get out there and attend weekly events to make more connections.
7. Go with your gut. Listen to your instincts and intuition. Tap your own wisdom. Sometimes you’ll need to set aside what you think you know and go with what you feel instead.
8. Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Super-focused people tend to change the world, not well-rounded ones. Well-roundedness will make you average. Aim to do your one thing better than anyone else.
9. Keep it easy. Grow comfortable with ease. Stop thinking that it takes great effort to do anything worthwhile. And make things easy on yourself: Take advantage of delivery services, live near the office, find ways to earn passive income. Again, your genius will make your work easy, so embrace it. Do what excites you, accept help, leverage your work, and don’t reinvent the wheel. Meditate. Breathe.
10. Don’t settle. You might come across opportunities to gain something good – a job or a promotion, for example – but not exactly what you want. Don’t take the bait. Aim big, do your thing and don’t settle.
11. Use your genius to help others. Other people need your genius. Don’t deprive them. Pursue your destiny in service to others.
January 9, 2023
Rating: 9/10
I was gifted this book by the Author (thanks Kelly!)
The entire premise of the book is built on the concept that we all have a "genius", which as Trach defines it, "is the combination of your top three to five gifts working together to create world-class expertise doing something only you can do."
The book is riddled with thought-provoking questions to help you discover your genius and discard any limiting beliefs that you may have (thanks, imposter syndrome) surrounding your abilities. I thoroughly enjoyed using her end-of-chapter questions/reflections as journal prompts to help me learn more about myself and discover my genius.
I see a lot of myself in Kelly, so naturally, I enjoyed reading the book.
The writing style is really laid-back and casual (almost like she's texting a friend), which isn't my usual go-to. However, I think she purposefully selected the book to be written that way to showcase her authenticity. So for that, I can't entirely hold it against her. Furthermore, in this case, content trumps writing style, and I genuinely think that P.S. You're A Genius has so much to offer in terms of valuable content. Just something to be conscious of if you're not a fan of books written this way (still worth the read IMO)
An overall great read if you're feeling lost or stuck in life.
I was gifted this book by the Author (thanks Kelly!)
The entire premise of the book is built on the concept that we all have a "genius", which as Trach defines it, "is the combination of your top three to five gifts working together to create world-class expertise doing something only you can do."
The book is riddled with thought-provoking questions to help you discover your genius and discard any limiting beliefs that you may have (thanks, imposter syndrome) surrounding your abilities. I thoroughly enjoyed using her end-of-chapter questions/reflections as journal prompts to help me learn more about myself and discover my genius.
I see a lot of myself in Kelly, so naturally, I enjoyed reading the book.
The writing style is really laid-back and casual (almost like she's texting a friend), which isn't my usual go-to. However, I think she purposefully selected the book to be written that way to showcase her authenticity. So for that, I can't entirely hold it against her. Furthermore, in this case, content trumps writing style, and I genuinely think that P.S. You're A Genius has so much to offer in terms of valuable content. Just something to be conscious of if you're not a fan of books written this way (still worth the read IMO)
An overall great read if you're feeling lost or stuck in life.
October 14, 2022
I found this book by listening to a podcast which featured Kelly Trach as a guest. Sometimes the right book (or for me audiobook) comes at the right time and this one was incredibly helpful. Trach explores how to find your own personal genius, which she describes as utilizing a combination of your top three strengths simultaneously.
She leaves a trail of breadcrumbs with her questions, and I found several consistent answers which helped me to draw my own conclusions. I wanted to know if I’m on the right path since I made a career change two years ago and this book not only confirmed I am, but it also provided me with a new opportunity to expand my business.
Trach is engaging with her fun, conversational tone which makes her methods more inviting and inspiring. I really enjoyed her process, and I’m already benefiting from the results!
She leaves a trail of breadcrumbs with her questions, and I found several consistent answers which helped me to draw my own conclusions. I wanted to know if I’m on the right path since I made a career change two years ago and this book not only confirmed I am, but it also provided me with a new opportunity to expand my business.
Trach is engaging with her fun, conversational tone which makes her methods more inviting and inspiring. I really enjoyed her process, and I’m already benefiting from the results!
June 29, 2022
I forgot how I discovered this book and yet the title and book jacket really intrigued me. So I purchased it on Amazon and read it in an afternoon.
The book is easily digestible and is encouraging. I enjoyed the points that were made and the stories that were told. Kelly felt like a friend I just haven’t met yet. We are inspired by the same people (Jen Sincero and Brene Brown) and had dealt with similar feelings of inadequacy and doubt.
So much goodness in this book for anybody needing some simple steps to discovering who they are and what they are made for.
The book is easily digestible and is encouraging. I enjoyed the points that were made and the stories that were told. Kelly felt like a friend I just haven’t met yet. We are inspired by the same people (Jen Sincero and Brene Brown) and had dealt with similar feelings of inadequacy and doubt.
So much goodness in this book for anybody needing some simple steps to discovering who they are and what they are made for.
April 21, 2022
This book is awesome! I found it at the right time in my life. I’m about halfway through and it’s already one of my favorite books. Kelly breaks things down and helps you see the spots where you have been overly critical or have negative self talk. I feel like I’m on my way to finding my genius and building a business that will be successful. I’m thankful for finding Kelly and this book!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews