Freelancing & Upskilling with Emily A. Hay

January 31, 2024
Season 4
Episode 133
 Career Pauses, Career Pivots, Featured, Job Search, Podcast 0:55:11

January 25, 2024 / Mom &… Podcast Episode 133 / Guest: Emily A.  Hay

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Show Summary:

In this episode of the Mom &… Podcast, hosts Susanne Kerns and Missy Stevens discuss various aspects of motherhood, juggling work and family, and high school parenting with their guest, Emily A. Hay, a passionate advocate for flexible work opportunities for women. Emily, a relentless creator of flexible job opportunities for women shares her vision behind her business Hay There Social Media, her journey towards being self-employed, and her insight on how freelancing and upskilling can be empowering. The discussion also emphasizes the importance of regular health check-ups, narrating a personal experience of a timely diagnosed health issue.

Looking for the link to 20% off and Free Shipping on Upskilling in a Box? Click here and use the code: haytheremomand

Topics From This Episode:

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast

00:03 Meet the Hosts: Susanne and Missy

00:58 Introducing the Guest: Emily Hay

02:21 Emily’s Journey into Freelancing

04:55 The Benefits and Challenges of Freelancing

05:18 Understanding the Freelancing Terminology

09:49 The Importance of Upskilling

14:12 Exploring Social Media Management as a Freelance Career

30:45 Exploring Social Media Courses

31:13 The Importance of Training in Social Media

32:08 Exploring Job Opportunities in Social Media

34:16 The Value of Upskilling and Building Relationships

35:07 Look, Listen, Learn Segment

35:37 Sharing Personal Stories and Experiences

47:54 The Importance of Regular Health Check-ups

52:42 The Impact of Freelancing and Upskilling

53:43 Wrapping Up the Conversation

Look, Listen, Learns

Susanne:

Emily

Missy

More About Emily A. Hay:

Emily A. Hay is a relentless creator of flexible work opportunities for women since 2010. She lives smack dab in what she has dubbed “Work+Life Integration Nation.”™

After the early part of her sales career in corporate America, she paved her own way by using social media as her vehicle. For nine years, Emily has led Hay There Social Media, a business she founded that delivers social media marketing services. 

Like most women, Emily was challenged by early motherhood. By staying organized and proactive, she began to revel in the small daily victories all moms celebrate to get the fulfillment we all crave. 

Connect with Emily Hay:

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Musical Notes

Our delightfully happy intro and outro theme music, “We Will Get Through This” is performed by Young Presidents, and used under license from Shutterstock.

Transcript is auto-generated by a robot. Apologies in advance for misspellings or errors.

[00:00:00] Susanne: Welcome to the mom and dot, dot, dot podcast. The podcast that helps you make your ellipses count.You know, all the little dot, dot, dots that come after I’m a mom and. I’m Suzanne Kearns, mom and dot, dot, dot, writer, LGBTQ, and sex ed advocate. And this week, a mom adjusting to life after college drop off. She’s, she has flown away. My little birdie, she’s in She’s in a much better place where it is not 104 degrees.Are we all so jealous? Well, I’m Missy Stevens, mom and dot, dot, dot, writer, foster child advocate. And this week trying to remember that I have two high schoolers. I literally keep forgetting that the youngest is in high school. We’ll be talking about things. And in my mind, he is mentally still in middle school, but he’s a freshman and it doesn’t seem real, but it’s awesome.Oh my gosh. They’re growing up our [00:01:16] Missy: I know. I know.[00:01:18] Susanne: Oh, and this week we are so excited. Our guest is Emily Hay and Emily is a relentless creator of flexible work opportunities for women since 2010. She lives smack dab in what she has dubbed work plus life integration nation, which as a newly employed woman, I am.Feeling in a very big way. We’re going to be talking [00:01:40] Missy: bet you are. [00:01:41] Susanne: But after the early part of her sales career in corporate America, she paved her own way by using social media as her vehicle. And for nine years, Emily has led, Hey there, social media, a business she founded that delivers social media marketing services.Like most women, Emily was challenged by early motherhood, but by staying organized and proactive, she began to revel in the small daily victories that all moms celebrate to get the fulfillment that we all crave, which leads us to living work plus life integration nation, which we’ll get to you in a minute, but first welcome.We’re so glad you’re here. I[00:02:17] Emily: Thank you. Hey there, ladies. It’s awesome to be here.[00:02:20] Susanne: like, Hey there. Hey there.[00:02:22] Missy: it. I love it. Well, we’re excited. You’re here. We’re excited to see you, even if it’s only virtual. We met you briefly at the mom 2. 0 summit, which so many of our guests we have met that way. It’s an amazing opportunity. If anybody’s thinking about going and we were so fortunate that we just happened to sit down at the same table where you were[00:02:40] Emily: know. That was so great.[00:02:42] Missy: It was fantastic. So we would love if you could share a little more about your bio, kind of an Emily 1 0 1 on snapshot of your career in life and how you got to where you are now.[00:02:53] Emily: Sure. Thank you again, ladies. I’m so excited to be here. I am certainly a mom and dot, dot, dot, uh, wife, entrepreneur, small business owner, as you said, you know, relentless creator of flexible job opportunities for women. That is certainly my thing. uh, in, in a nutshell, I. I grew up with two working parents.I feel like I always understood that, that my household economics relied on my mom’s income. I also knew that my mom never really appreciated that. She had a very rigid work schedule, and so I felt like someday if I could figure out how to have flexibility, then I would be doing better for my family than she felt she did.So it really lit that entrepreneurial fire for me. Um, went to school for marketing, got a job in sales, learned a little bit about corporate America, and then it was really becoming a social media freelancer, you know, social media marketing person, um, around 2009. That was my entry into the entrepreneurial highway.And fast forward a decade after being a mom and a business owner. My company took a pivot just before the pandemic, where we really said, okay, we understand how to do this, this social media marketing thing, you know, for small business owners, they are clients. And what do you know? I got the ability to work flexibly.And so how can I take that and teach it to other women, primarily moms all across the country that are looking for a flexible way to work[00:04:19] Missy: Awesome.[00:04:20] Susanne: it. Yeah. [00:04:21] Emily: that in a nutshell, did that cover it?[00:04:22] Susanne: That really, that really does and social media freelancing is actually how I got back into the workforce a few years ago. it’s so funny to think that I was paid to be a social media expert because now there’s been so many advancements, even in the past 4 years that I feel like I was a pro back then, but now I’m, I’m still catching up.Um, but. But I was able to do that once my second kiddo started school. so I really love that idea that you say that when you freelance you don’t have a resume gap. Because I felt that way as I was applying for my current job that I’m doing. That, you know, I feel like it’s a get because I have not had a job where I’m like going into an office or that is a traditional, you know, nine to five type job, but when I really looked at it on my resume, I was like, Oh, okay.Yeah, this, this doesn’t look so bad. No wonder. I feel like I’m ready to do this. So, for some moms that may have some free time now that are considering, you know, the kids are going back to school right now and they’re thinking, I want to do something, but I don’t quite know what. Can you explain what freelancing means?I think a lot of us think of freelance writers and stuff and don’t know what that means as a day to day job. So what, can you explain that a little bit?[00:05:40] Emily: sure. And that’s, that’s so wild to hear just how personal it is with you, you know, that it resonates personally that term. And I think we are at a point where we all know that words do matter. And, um, you know, I, I did a post on LinkedIn not too long ago where I said, okay, So let’s unpack this. If you are an entrepreneur, you are self employed.If you are a freelance professional, you are self employed. So is an entrepreneur the same as a freelancer? If you are a freelancer, do you call yourself an entrepreneur? Just this whole, like, I was literally asking folks on LinkedIn, like, how would you describe yourself? And even though I have been a self employed professional for over a decade, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a conversation with someone when they say, what do you do that?I said, I’m an entrepreneur. I just felt comfort and well, I, you know, I, I, I do work freelance, you know, I have a freelance agency, but the funny thing is that that Susanne Messy is that for the longest time I never led with freelance. I was, I was scared that it was, you know, inferior, um, or would show that I wasn’t a real, you know, air quote, a real entrepreneur.So I have over the last. I don’t know, six, eight months just enjoyed just doing my own, you know, studying of how people respond to that term. And I do have people say things like, oh, well, I did think freelance was just. Photographers or just writers. I prefer consultant. So and I feel like consultant sits well with a lot of folks that have a strong corporate background.They go out on their own and they might not say I’m an entrepreneur. They certainly won’t say they’re a freelancer, but they’ll say like I’m a consultant. And so I’m just going through these terms because it’s something that for the longest time I really hid and I Always worked from home and as a social media freelance professional, I had a team, but they were contractors.They were also freelancers. And so I really liked the term of boutique agency and that’s how I would describe, Hey there for the longest time. But now it’s. We’ve got this tailwind right of the future of work and freelancing is no longer, just the minority it’s mainstream and businesses are seeing the benefit of freelancing.So I’m really trying to lean into, you know, what it means to freelance and back to your original point when you are freelancing. You are actively working. You are not plagued by that resume gap. I know I’m probably oversimplifying, but freelance work is an active working experience that can really remove that that stigma[00:08:09] Missy: it’s, I love that distinction And I want to talk a little bit also about what are some of the other benefits? So you have this, whatever you call it, if you’re freelancing, what are the benefits this really offers moms who are looking for that flexibility? Like most of us are.[00:08:24] Emily: Sure, and that’s another reason why I feel like freelance is just a great term you get that flexibility you get that professional fulfillment, hopefully financial gain is also part of that. So when when you’re doing freelance work, I mean that can. That can give you the flexibility of taking on as many or as few project as you would like.and that can be something where you might tie that to a number of hours per week that you’d like to work. or you could tie it to, you know, Hey, I’m really looking to make at least X per month. And you don’t necessarily say how many clients that equates to or, um, hours. I mean, there are certainly projects out there and I feel like we could have a whole episode about this, but just the whole model of.Billing for a value exchange, not necessarily an hourly sort of exchange. Um, so it can give you that flexibility of just amount of time. you can hit certain revenue thresholds. my, my business partner and I, we did do an article for fast company, um, not too long ago, where as much of a freelance advocate as I am, there are certainly.dangers in telling someone to air quote, you know, just go freelance because it sounds so easy. Like all you need is a laptop and a wifi connection. You should be earning it like that. And it’s, it’s not like that. So the last thing I want to do is just make it sound like it is literally open your laptop and head to, you know, Upwork and you’re.Boom, you’re earning all the money you could possibly make, but it is just such an empowering way to start with the skills that you have and then start to see, well, I have a marketing sales background, but I’m seeing a lot of jobs for social media marketers or people that, you know, are looking for specific business development roles that are flexible.and then you can, you know, get further into those sorts of specialties.[00:10:05] Susanne: Yeah, as someone who recently was going through a lot of, job listings and looking through and seeing what was available out there. I certainly did see a ton of social media, you know, manager type positions out there. So they’re definitely.I think that’s I think that’s a really good point. But what I have just realized in the past month or so is I’m really getting into the groove of working again is that freelancing or contracting or whatever we’re calling it is. Really helping one of my quirky personality work personality traits is that I will just give it all like I will just work.I will work until like I either of my husband drags me away from the computer or whatever. I just, I’ve learned that about me interviewing coaches over the past three years and identifying what are those work traits that I have that I need to be able to build boundaries around or just even understand and be aware of.But I have also discovered that when I have a certain number of hours that I am contracted to work on a client for, if I’m like, okay, I’m going to be working on them for 15 hours. one of my other quirks is that I would never do anything to like waste my client’s money or to not be really good stewards of their resources.And so those two things balance off each other so well because I’m like, okay, I have 15 hours and it keeps me the Suzanne me that wants to like work instead 50 hours for them to be like, no, I can’t do that because that would. Go over their budget or whatever the case or not to be the best use of their money.So it’s been this really great kind of the bookends of the two sides of Suzanne that could go out of control in a regular full time job where I’m not really thinking about things on an hour to hour basis. And I’m just like, Oh, this, this is what, makes sense. Like if I thought about going back full time, I think I would be at that risk of, I can already feel it where I’d be like, I’ll just put one more hour in on this.I could, I could really. You know, I could really button it up if I put one more hour, um, so anyway, if you feel yourself or you recognize that you have similar traits, think about the positive side from that aspect as well. I found it really beneficial.[00:12:30] Emily: Got it. It gives you some guardrails.[00:12:32] Susanne: I, yes, and I need them.[00:12:35] Missy: Yeah,[00:12:36] Emily: I, I think that’s a great point. I also will say, you know, maybe with the caveat of not, Oh, just overextend yourself to the point of, you know, having no boundary, but if as a freelancer, you do go maybe over an hour or you just give it a little extra oomph, I feel like those are the intangibles that keep your clients happy.It just shows you’re an extra miler. It just, I think lends itself to having the same clients for a long time. And that’s something that I’ve always. You know, we really do advocate like it, the old adage, like it’s harder to get a new customer than to just keep your current one. So, you can be rewarded by being, you know, the extra miler even within freelance parameters.[00:13:16] Susanne: Yes.[00:13:16] Missy: Yeah, sure[00:13:18] Susanne: But I, so as I do know personally now that one of the scary parts of freelancing can be that you are giving up benefits. I did not have any benefits to start with because I was just, I was just volunteering my hours away. but especially health insurance. That is a big one. So what. Other things, aside from the obviously health insurance, should people be thinking of if they are coming from a full time job where they have all these benefits, if they’re thinking of streamlining things, going, freelance that.They need to make sure that they’re having those conversations with their partner or with themselves and their bank account and what does that look like?[00:13:56] Emily: Sure. Yeah. So I, I would say one of the pitfalls of being a freelance professional, or again, an entrepreneur, is it can be a lonely sport. I mean, anytime, you know, you maybe work from home, you know, the coffee shop life, all of that, that’s so in vogue and normal right now. Well, that can get tiresome.I mean, to miss the camaraderie, the ability to bounce things off of people, um, where you offset that is, The blessings of 2023 that we live in this virtual world where they’re all there are plenty of online communities. that’s one of the things that we have built into our foundation is, is no lonely freelancers like it just to be able to talk pricing or how you would handle a situation with a client.I think that’s at least worth mentioning because it is so empowering to think, Oh, I just need the knowledge I have and I can just name my price and I can get right to work. Well, yeah. Sometimes it can be quite lonely.[00:14:46] Missy: that is something to think about and another nuts and bolts thing that it’s always hard for me I really stunk at it when I was having to do it on a regular basis is taxes So you have to set part of your paycheck aside and you have to pay them at a certain time. So for other moms who are listening and thinking, I’m going to DIY my way through this part of the financial side of it.What do you recommend? Are there resources, groups, books that can help them so that they don’t make that mistake of like, whoops, I forgot to pay my taxes [00:15:16] Susanne: Yeah, and what percent [00:15:17] Missy: a whole lot. Yeah,[00:15:19] Emily: Yeah. I mean, you, you’re, you are certainly bringing up from benefits to, to taxes. I mean, obviously these are important factors that go into being a, being a freelance professional and enjoying it. and not feeling like it just isn’t worth it to have all of those things. So I am not a tax professional.What I will say is I truly enjoyed learning about fractional CFOs, you know, just the term fractional. I remember going down this rabbit hole on LinkedIn or just looking up. Well, I. I’ve had an accountant before. I’ve even had a bookkeeper before, but I’ve never had someone help my business in a CFO type role.And so here we are in this, you know, air quotes again, gig economy, um, where there are, there are professionals that you could never afford as a freelance professional to be a CFO, um, on your staff, but you can leverage someone that’s a fractional professional in that space. I listened to all kinds of podcasts.by by tax professionals, and then you find out that they have a bookkeeping business. and again, I’m used to charging monthly retainers and working in that capacity. So, it certainly aligns to hire a fellow entrepreneur that can offer some of that advice. So I hate to disappoint Missy and say that I am not your expert, your go to person on the tax side of things.But that is that is certainly a prudent thing to keep in mind.[00:16:33] Missy: Yeah.[00:16:33] Susanne: Oh I[00:16:34] Missy: Yeah, I lovethis term fractional CFO. I’ve never, I’ve never heard it called[00:16:39] Emily: good. Oh, now you’ll see it everywhere.[00:16:41] Susanne: Oh, my [00:16:41] Missy: see it everywhere and it just brings up a great point and it’s something we talk about a lot. We all need other people, whether it’s a coach to help you get going or a professional who knows something more about whatever it is you’re trying to do.None of us have all the pieces of every puzzle. So there’s no shame in reaching out and getting help. And if it’s, I don’t know how to do the financial side, or I don’t know how to structure benefits or what to do if I don’t have corporate benefits, like go find somebody who does know.[00:17:13] Susanne: Oh, Missy. Actually, I needed to really hear that because we are, I mean, I am getting paid as not our LLC. Missy and I have an LLC together. She’s in my will, but we, uh, but my husband and I have, well, he has a couple of LLCs, but we have one that I’m actually getting paid through. So like when I bill the agency that I am doing freelance work for or contract work for, I am billing them as. Um, and so I’m sure there’s all kinds of other implications for that, that we’re not aware of from a tax standpoint, whatever. So, yes, I’m going to tell my husband. He actually used to be an accountant when I first met him, which [00:17:57] Emily: well,[00:17:58] Susanne: which shocks everybody. He’s what is my husband not done? He’s amazing.Um, but so he knows a little bit of it, but I think maybe we need to, you know, We need to reach out. We need to be vulnerable and ask for help for some of these things.[00:18:10] Emily: sure. And I guess the one thing I will say, again, this is not to be misconstrued as like sweeping this very important topic under the rug, but. As women, I think it’s in our nature to what if ourselves to the point that you never get going. And so I feel like, yeah, so if there is, if you were even interested in taking on one freelance project, do not say to yourself, well, I don’t know the tax implications.I don’t have an LLC. I don’t, what if this nevermind? I just won’t, I won’t nevermind. So there’s my, my little[00:18:42] Susanne: Yes. Because even though I’m doing that for this round, when I was doing freelance work for the social media freelance work several years ago, that was just as Suzanne Kearns, I decided to do it on a Tuesday and I was working on a Wednesday and,[00:18:57] Missy: that[00:18:57] Susanne: and yeah, and, and everything worked out fine. So yeah, just driving home that same point. You don’t necessarily have to. We just happen to have an LLC, so we’re doing it that way. And[00:19:08] Emily: Which is right. Yeah. Me too. Long time LLC holder here. Remember?[00:19:13] Susanne: And also, I am lucky that I happen to be freelancing in a field where I’ve Tons of experience. And so I’m doing advertising, marketing stuff again. but for someone who is interested in doing some freelancing in something that maybe is a new field for them, where do they start dipping their toes into that?Do you have any recommendations?[00:19:34] Emily: Sure. So I, one of the ways that I built my business, was I’m laughing because I’m thinking ahead. I, I looked at a business I wanted to work with and I offered to do their work for free. Like full mic drop where people say, wait, we’re in this era of charging what we’re worth and don’t be taken advantage and don’t give away your skills.You got to get started somewhere and to be able to do the work test what I like test the services. I wanted to do, figure out how the client valued those. Come up with the price point and ultimately be able to walk away with two things out of it. A darn good testimonial, you know, something you can put on your website, something you can put as a LinkedIn recommendation, a willingness to refer other prospective clients back to that person who cares.I’m sorry, I’m probably overcompensating saying who cares if it was a free project like you get a lot of intangibles out of that experience. and then the other part is. That is a portfolio. I mean, people, I think it up in their heads about portfolios being really complicated and needing a lot of time to, to make a portfolio project, but that is simply taking what you did and making it visual, whether you throw it into a PowerPoint or you take some screenshots and a word doc and make it a nice PDF.It’s just something to send to that first perspective client. To justify why you’re billing them or, or proposing a certain fee. So that would be the, the shortest advice I give is do the work you want to do for a duration for the ideal client at no charge in exchange for testimonial.[00:21:08] Susanne: Oh, I love that idea, which I know that is hard because we, especially as writers, like, usually get asked to do things for free or for exposure or that type of thing. But I think if we kind of flip this idea of Like, we encourage moms to do volunteer work to help fill their resume and build those skills.So consider this volunteering for yourself. Like, or, you know, um, so I think that, yeah, as long as you don’t like year after year continue along[00:21:37] Emily: Of[00:21:38] Missy: Right. That’s a, that’s a limited[00:21:39] Susanne: it is, it is a limited engagement.[00:21:41] Missy: Yeah.[00:21:42] Emily: No way. And we’ve seen that happen to Suzanne that And I say, we, you know, the, the women that we train, that we say. If this is a test client, then give a formal proposal, give your price, cross out the fee, say, I am waiving it in exchange for, and this is what I want out of this.And this is what the fee will be after this many weeks or this many months. So having formal parameters around it, no, do not take that as I certainly would never tell someone like, Oh, just do it for free as long as that person’s happy. And yes. So, but I know the advice, trust me, I love empowering women and I never want women to not.Make what they’re worth, but you have to start somewhere, and that can be a good way to do it.[00:22:23] Missy: Right. Well, speaking of building skills, you use the word upskilling a lot. what, what is that? What is that and how do we do it?[00:22:32] Emily: Upskilling, such a fancy, fancy, trendy phrase, right? Well, it’s actually not that trendy. Upskilling is simply acquiring or polishing one’s skills. So whether you work at a company and you are going through an upskilling program, like a formal training program, or if you are heading to free YouTube and watching some videos on the weekends, you know, learning how to do Things on email marketing that you didn’t know before it’s, it’s just acquiring new skills or updating your current skills.And I think that to me, that really makes it less intimidating for a number of reasons. One, not a huge cost or time investment. number two, it isn’t a long term commitment. Like I am now going to study all of these SEO videos with the intent of being an SEO expert forever and ever. Amen. Just[00:23:18] Susanne: it’s funny. You bring up it’s funny. You bring up that topic. Even when I was at an agency, I was like, thank God we have a department that does SEO. I will never.[00:23:26] Missy: SEO does seem like this weird nebulous thing, and just when you think you’ve got it, you find a new video or article that’s like, now this is what you have to do for SEO. And it just, ah,[00:23:38] Susanne: okay, so I digress. Sorry.[00:23:40] Emily: No, no,it’s good. [00:23:41] Susanne: favorite topics to just not [00:23:43] Missy: it’s a hair puller.[00:23:44] Emily: Well, that makes sense. But I mean, think about, I mean, I, I, I study so much, you know, with resume gaps and return to work. And so some of the other prudent advice is if you have a gap in your resume, or you’re looking to change careers or whatever that might be a show that you have done something in the meantime.And if that isn’t freelance work, it can be, I’ve picked up some additional skills. and again, digital era. You can go through LinkedIn learning and get certifications. Like my company offers a certification. There are all kinds of ways to, to show in a formal way, that you have obtained new skills.And it again, speaks to what one has spent doing, with their time. And I don’t know, you know, Suzanne, you talk about being a power volunteer. I mean, I am all for, and love this movement of including all of the. More air quotes soft skills, you know, all of the things that one acquires when they do volunteer work.There’s it’s not like it doesn’t count Just because you were in a volunteer role. So having that on your, on your resume as well, super useful stuff.[00:24:44] Susanne: Yeah, especially knowing how to spin it, but I think you bring up a good point because we were going to say that. mom’s, unfortunately, usually think about upscaling, like the week before they’re going to start a job search. It’s like, or even while they’re doing the job search, like, Oh, it would have been nice if I had done this.So, how can moms then be thinking about that? It’s so. Because, you know, we’re coming here, like, Missy’s got the two in high school. My son, even though he’s still in middle school, is pretty self sufficient. So we, we’re looking at things through a little bit of a different lens right now. It’s like, oh, sure, I’ve got this time in my schedule that I could go take this class or, you know, look at the LinkedIn video, that type of thing.But for those ones that still have the littles running around, who are maybe trying to fit stuff in between nap times and that type of thing, do you have any tips of Would it be like those LinkedIn courses? What type of things that they could be doing to start exploring, upskilling, or learning, even learning about what they want to be learning about?[00:25:41] Emily: Sure. I mean, again, I, I go back to just dabbling in what you might already have skills in. So if you, you know, maybe you consider yourself a visual person and, learning Canva, like I’ve seen so many women just Do amazing things with that tool. before you know it, you learn like, oh, I can make videos on Canva.And then before you know it, you’ve made enough videos on Canva that you say, well, I just read a job description that talked about someone being a video creator. Like just create video content for a social media account. Um, but I, I guess I would just encourage moms of littles and my mine are seven and nine, so I certainly.Still feel in the little camp, but I totally understand. It’s not the sleepless night phase. Um, I feel like I have some bandwidth now. Um, just, just follow your curiosity. And I hear so many women, whether it’s. I never thought I had any skills to freelance or I didn’t know social media manager was a thing like I didn’t I didn’t know those were things.I didn’t know that you could get paid to create content for a brand, just like ad hoc like it paid per per video so I think just going down those rabbit holes and seeing what other people are up to and then it’s a good way to just learn what’s out there. To see your, like, your menu options. And then, um, from there, figure out, Okay, well, if I want to be the video creator, what do I need to know how to do?And how can I go teach myself by playing on Canva?[00:26:59] Missy: Right. Yeah. We love Canva.[00:27:01] Susanne: You’re, you’re not the first person who has recommended Canva as something that people should be spending their time with, because we’ve talked about, oh, you can make your Christmas cards with it. You can do birthday invitations with it, but that is how, when I was doing the, what was the role, like the advertising role of our PTA at the elementary school, that’s when I started playing around with Canva, and it is, it was just for this little volunteer role I was doing, but before I knew it, I was You know, whipping up logos and whipping up, other stuff that we’re doing for my informed parents of Austin group.So, yeah, I did not think I had a creative, like, visual bone in my body, but I was like, Oh, okay. But [00:27:37] Missy: Hannah makes it [00:27:38] Susanne: with a little help from Canva, I can do it too.[00:27:41] Missy: Yeah. And I started doing it the same way through like volunteering and now I do it all the time and love it.[00:27:47] Emily: Well, it’s just a huge part of like, it’s a, it’s a main requirement as a social media manager, right? You’re creating content. So to be able to know how to use a tool like Canva, I feel like our episode, our, your episodes should be, it should be sponsored by[00:28:01] Susanne: I know it should. Hey[00:28:03] Missy: Hello, Canva. We talk about you all the time.[00:28:06] Susanne: can you pay for our membership?[00:28:08] Emily: Yes.[00:28:09] Missy: I want to talk a little bit more about social media management. So, hey, there, social media really focuses on freelancing and social media. But what does that even mean if somebody is listening and they’re like, all I know from social media is that sometimes I post a picture of my kids on Instagram. What does this even mean?[00:28:26] Emily: Thanks, Missy. So that, that’s it. Let’s be honest. We all know how to use social media. It’s just. Becoming confident enough with the skills you have to know that a business will pay you to do that for them. So that’s one of the reasons I love social media manager roles, you know, being a freelance social media manager is because you have the opportunity to work with businesses of all sizes.You can work with the smallest business owner. That’s an author that says, I know I need to be on Instagram. I want to get into this book talk thing on tech talk, but I don’t, I don’t know where to. So that could be a really small scope of work for one author where you’re helping that author with her to, you know, social networks.Um, so being a social media manager, you get to work with small businesses. You can subcontract. That I remember was a big, you know, when you think of like, Your growth, your business growth over the years. That was one of those like big, big jumps for my business when I learned about subcontracting and maybe I was too linear with, um, okay, so businesses will hire me contract me directly, but you mean an agency would contract me to help work on their projects.And this is where I feel like you ladies have had plenty of experience,[00:29:30] Susanne: that’s what I’m doing. That [00:29:32] Emily: Yes, it’s such a cool way to work. So you get to work on bigger projects, maybe bigger budget projects. You get to be a member of a team. So, I mean, jump on in with that, but that is something too, that social media managers are needed to, staff, you know, agencies too.[00:29:47] Susanne: Yeah. I’ll do a little pitch for my agency, Creative Noggin in San Antonio, and they, it was founded by a mom. It has even before COVID, like for the past 10 years, it’s all been virtual. And people are located all over the country and everybody, you know, makes it work via zoom and it’s really nice.It’s primarily cautious at all women. I think it is and mostly moms and, you know, we’ll have our little in out Skype when people are coming in and out and everybody will be like, I got to go pick up my kid at the bus stop. I got to do to do. I’ll be right back. And it’s just so nice that there’s just this.That’s. Yeah. The energy that the whole company is built around is this understanding that there’s dentist appointments, there’s pickups, there’s sick kids, and we have the flexibility around that. So, um, so [00:30:33] Emily: that work life integration.[00:30:36] Susanne: Oh my gosh, let’s see, are we getting close to the, we’re getting so close to the end.[00:30:40] Missy: but we have a little bit more time.[00:30:41] Susanne: We do have a little bit more time. Okay.[00:30:44] Emily: I love chatting with you ladies. Thanks.[00:30:45] Susanne: oh, my gosh, it’s been so much fun. Well, okay, so I do want to, um, for listeners who are thinking that this sounds interesting, but they want to just do a little bit more research for themselves, would love any recommendations that you have there.And then the ones who are ready are like, yeah, I want to jump in and learn more about what hey, their media, social media has, what are those 2 things we can help those listeners with?[00:31:07] Emily: thanks Suzanne. So we, our website, heytheresocialmedia. com and it’s H A Y, um, that you’ll see that we offer two courses. We just launched our, our, upskilling in a box. Um, so this is our light version of our training. We have our signature training that we’ve been offering for a few years, and that is, uh, our more in depth six week program.Won’t make it a total, hey there commercial, but I’m excited about the light version that is literally like just hitting, hitting doorsteps after Labor Day. [00:31:34] Missy: Exciting.[00:31:35] Emily: thank you. I mean, training is very intangible, right? And it’s not always that exciting. So we felt like, how can we make it physical and how can we make it something that You know, you can can literally order and have sent your way.Um, so all the details would be there. But I mean, I am happy if more women see the potential in freelance careers, and it doesn’t have to be the rest of your life, you know, use it to get yourself moving out of a certain season of motherhood, use it as a way to Dabble in projects that you were wondering if you would like, and then you find out and not so much, but you can’t go wrong with social media because of it being such an in demand field.And so even if you use it as, you know, a launch pad into something else or into a more more full time or a part time role at a company, I just see, I see it work every day for women. So I’m obviously, uh, I’m very biased. Um, I, I’m a proponent of it from what I see every day.[00:32:30] Susanne: now I agree. And I do encourage people if you’re like, oh, sure, that sounds nice, but is there really stuff out there? Go, just go to, what are those websites called? I finally got a job now I can’t remember.[00:32:43] Emily: Oh, like in Indeed or, okay, yeah,[00:32:46] Susanne: or go to one[00:32:47] Missy: Yeah. Search the listings and just see what’s out[00:32:49] Susanne: Yeah. And go see.[00:32:51] Emily: I mean, that’s a, that’s a freelance marketplace, you know, The Mom Project, We Are Rosie, um, Opre, there are plenty of places to at least start to just see, you know, like you mentioned Indeed, you know, where these, these opportunities are and how they’re described and what they need you to do.And remember the classic advice of like, don’t sit and not apply just because you don’t meet all the criteria.[00:33:11] Susanne: yes. Or if you really don’t meet, I mean, because, oh, who did we talk to about that?[00:33:17] Missy: Breyer,[00:33:18] Susanne: It was probably Breyer, [00:33:19] Missy: like you needed like 50% of the things or something. Yeah.[00:33:23] Susanne: yeah, but even if you, so if you do look at that, you’re like, I don’t even hit the 50%, you know, I, you’re[00:33:29] Missy: Then think like a man who would be like, I actually don’t know any of this, but I think I should be your CEO.[00:33:34] Susanne: No, but that probably is the point, because you don’t want to go blow, you don’t want to go blow your first shot out there. So, I mean, but that does then drive home the point then, okay, go do some of the additional training. Go see what, hey, their social media has available. If some of those roles sound interesting, but you’re like, I can’t even do the 50%.I’m assuming that, hey, their media, social media is going to get you way past the 50% so that you are ready to actually apply for some of those jobs after not. And this isn’t like a, now I sound like a commercial. This isn’t like a two year program or anything. I mean, how quickly could people really be up and running and applying for some jobs after training?[00:34:11] Emily: we, so with our, with our core training, our signature, we’ve had women, it lasts six weeks, but it’s, um, a very light.we’ve had women start earning before they finished their six weeks. Um, and again, we talk about portfolio projects and maybe a start of a free project and then you start a small paid or you start with a small paid and you move into medium. So, um, it’s it’s certainly something that we see and could talk, talk to various examples if anyone’s interested.[00:34:39] Susanne: Yeah, and I’m thinking about that as we like, we’re talking about volunteering or doing those free jobs. I like, maybe there is, cause I’m, I’m thinking authors, you use an author as an example before those are people who notoriously do not have like tons of money flowing for social media stuff. But if you have a favorite author or a favorite someone that you’re like, you know what?That would be a fun relationship to build and be like, Hey, do you need some help with your social media? I see that you’ve got a new book coming out or whatever. Let me help you or whatever. I think that could be a really fun way to volunteer. You’re volunteering for them, but you’re volunteering for yourself.You’re getting some, you’re upskilling and then probably building a really interesting relationship with someone that you like. So yeah, I think that’s a cool idea. It could be a business, it could be a person, it could be a whatever that go see if they need some help and if they can help you get to that next step.[00:35:26] Emily: Well, I’m glad that resonate. Thanks, Suzanne.[00:35:28] Susanne: Yeah. Okay.[00:35:29] Missy: I hope some of our listeners go out there and look into it, but now it is time for look, listen, learns. We’re getting close to our hour. so anybody who’s new here, we’re really excited you’re here. We hope you will come back next week and the week after that. Uh, then every show we spend a few minutes just talking about our look, listen, learns.It can be really serious stuff. It can be really goofy stuff. It can be a new lipstick, just whatever you’re doing, learning, thinking about this week and we don’t like our guests to be in the hot seat first. So Suzanne is going first.[00:35:59] Susanne: Okay. I think even though we recorded our last episode like a month ago, I think I was still listening to this same book. The Covenant of Water. It’s not short. It’s not a short book.[00:36:12] Missy: Yeah. Wait, how many hours did you say it was?[00:36:14] Susanne: 30?[00:36:15] Missy: Yeah. It made me cry. It’s too much.[00:36:17] Susanne: It’s I mean, it was really funny. Well, this is another thing I’ve been looking at Pretty much the entire country as we drove from Austin to Rochester to go drop her daughter off at college But I was telling my husband I was like even if I listened to this book for every minute of this road trip It would still not be over like[00:36:37] Emily: Way to keep yourself motivated, Suzanne.[00:36:39] Missy: Right. All right.[00:36:41] Susanne: But we did,[00:36:42] Missy: long.[00:36:43] Susanne: no, but I don’t, but I do not want to convey that it was drudgery. I enjoyed this book very much and every minute I was listening to it, I was looking forward. Reading it, Laura Luthman to it, it was really, really good. It was a very, not to play on the water metaphor, but it felt like this nice ride down a river.Like there was never anything that was like too like cliffhanger or dramatic. I mean, there was definitely some, but it was just a nice, beautiful, beautifully written little cruise down a river of, I mean, it was intergenerational, so you get to meet the great grandchildren of the original character that you’re introduced to and just see how people’s lives kind of Mixed together and intertwine.And yeah, it was really beautiful. Although be prepared. Um, as I rolled into the epilogue, is that what’s at the end of the book, the epilogue, the narrator was actually the author, which I was scared of, but it actually ended up not being too bad. and in the epilogue, he talking about how he’s a doctor.So there’s a lot of medical procedures, very, very detailed medical procedures within the book. and it goes, it talks a lot about, um, oh shoot, it’s such a big part of the book. How am I forgetting? The people who lose like parts of their hands and their feet, but leprosy, it covers, yeah, it, it covers a lot of, medical issues around people who have leprosy and procedures around it.And so I was like, how do you know all this stuff? Which I guess he is an actual doctor. And so that was very interesting to hear that perspective. I kind of wish I would have known that before I read it. So, um, let’s see. Look, I looked at the whole country. Learn. I learned as I was going across the country.I did not think that this was that weird of a thing, but if you are coming and listening to this podcast, because this is how you found me, I hope you’re not disappointed. So going to college, you need to get your kids. That’s what you don’t need to. Those of us who get the things for our kids that are excessive for their dorms room.Uh, they have the twin XL beds and I, you know, Dorms are not particularly comfy, I don’t think. So it’s like, and she’s used to a foam mattress at home, and we weren’t about to try to squish it in the car because it would have taken up half of the space in the truck. But in order to ship stuff to the school, I couldn’t like ship it two months in advance or whatever.So you had to wait till the very last minute, which by then… You know, everybody’s going to call it. So every Twin XL mattress pad in the country is gone. But then I did a little bit of math and a king size mattress pad is exactly two Twin XLs. And it’s not necessarily twice the cost. So I wasn’t even trying to cost usually I’m doing it because I’m trying to save money.But this time I was just like, this is the only way[00:39:32] Missy: So what you got to get?[00:39:34] Susanne: And so I just went to the parents page for the school and was like, Hey, anybody else want to go in anybody else wait until the last week and they’re out. And another mom was like, yes. My son needs one, whatever. so, drop off, there’s just a lot.There’s a lot going on. A lot of moving pieces. But we ended up going and getting this giant king size thing that we got through Home Depot. Picked it up, but then the whole trip, I was like, How am I going to cut this thing in half? Because you usually have to use a bread knife. And I know this, I’m a pro because I make tons of these beds for my dogs because they eat their beds a lot.So we always use the kids old mattress pads and, you know, cut them up with a bread knife. And I know that’s what you need to use, but I wasn’t going to bring it because I could drive it there, but I couldn’t fly home with it. And I didn’t want to check my bag. So every Applebee’s we hit, which was like a hundred on the way there, Zoe’d be like, does this knife look serrated enough?Or like, it’s like,[00:40:28] Missy: Put this one in my backpack.[00:40:29] Susanne: put this on my backpack, and then every time we go buy a Dollar General, I was like, Does Dollar General just sell knives? But then I was like, how safe is a Dollar General serrated knife? I don’t know. But then, so we happened to be at a Target picking up the 100 things that she needed, and I found that one last knife.It wasn’t even hanging. It was like just laying there on a shelf somewhere. I was like, one knife! It’s meant to be. It’s 8. It’s perfect. At the same time, I’m getting, like, texts from that mom, like, we’re driving into town. We’ve got like a half hour between now and when her son’s appointment to check in was.So I was like, well, I’m at the Target. I got a knife. I got a foam mattress. I guess now’s my moment. And so she’s like, I’ll meet you at the Target parking lot at this time. And it was like 10 minutes away. So. As we were checking out the target, I saw that they had a bunch of cardboard boxes that they were taking out to recycle and I was like, hey, can I take a couple of those and the lady’s like, whatever crazy lady.So I took those out into the parking lot and laid those down. So it wouldn’t get dirty and then unrolled this giant mattress pad and then proceeded to. Well, that was the other thing when you unroll it, it does not look normal. It’s all like mushed in places and whatever. So I was like, which side’s top bottom side?I don’t know. So the lady got there and I’m holding the knife. I’m like, I don’t know where to make the cut. Like it’s like a shrinky dink. I was like, I don’t know which way is the top and the bottom. And she’s like, you know what? My son doesn’t care. So we just were like, fine, we’ll just, we’re just going to cut down the middle of somewhere.And she like handed me 60 bucks and drove off and. And I posted a picture of it, like, squashed into the trunk. I was like, hey kids, Make a good first impression at college by cutting this thing in half and I mean I do a Hundred dumber things every day but for some reason this one Really resonated with people and so it went[00:42:15] Missy: really did.[00:42:17] Susanne: And[00:42:18] Emily: that’s hilarious.[00:42:19] Susanne: still going it’s like a hundred and gosh who knows I’m like, I’m like Cuisinart should sponsor that post.but it was just really fun. It’s funny to see like the things that catch people’s eye or just they’re fancy and that makes them laugh and that they can relate with. And I do think it’s just that there’s just such a crazy energy around drop off. And, you know, what do you remember? What can you pack?What do you forget? What does your kid really need? What is like over the top umbrella parent or helicopter parenting? And I think this kind of probably covered all of those in one. And I[00:42:54] Emily: Over a hundred thousand views though. That’s incredible.[00:42:57] Missy: It’s [00:42:57] Susanne: was a hundred that no, it had millions of views. It had a hundred thousand, like likes, hearts, whatever’s. Like I think it’s [00:43:07] Emily: I love it. [00:43:08] Susanne: whatever, but I mean at first it got up when it got up to a thousand. I was like, that’s it. Like this is so exciting. It’s so fun. But yeah, I did take advantage of that. That was my little learn like be ready for those moments because they do. I mean, I’ve been posting stuff to Facebook for A decade and nothing’s ever caught on like that.So I popped right in there and I was like, I am milking this moment for all it’s worth. I have a podcast and go on over there. If you think I was nuts, cutting something in the parking lot, just wait till you hear what I do when I’m trying to do a job interview. So, so yes, anybody who’s come welcome. We’re excited you’re here.[00:43:45] Emily: That’s right. Pivot this podcast to a mom hacks. Right.[00:43:48] Susanne: Yeah.[00:43:49] Missy: that’s right.[00:43:51] Susanne: Anyway, that’s me. What about you, Emily?[00:43:54] Emily: So yeah, so look, I mean, we’re coming off of summer. I live in Michigan, and we did a lot of lake trips. You know, there’s so much, so much beautiful water around us. So we spent a lot of time near the water. In fact, I feel super spoiled to say you kind of forget about summer. Ocean beaches. You just get used to lake life.[00:44:14] Missy: Mm[00:44:14] Emily: that was, that was something I really enjoyed. And I, we do watch a lot of TV in the winter. So, um, so I feel like this summer we, we kind of dialed back a little bit there. but if I had to choose something I’m watching, I will literally always watch an episode of shark tank. I don’t care if it’s from 2012 or 2023, I will always watch an episode of shark tank.There’s always lessons to be learned. And I’ve enjoyed watching it with my children because trying to explain what’s going on to them. It’s neat to see like where they get interested and where they’re just. Not interested.[00:44:40] Missy: Yeah,[00:44:41] Susanne: true, that would be fun with the kids, we haven’t done that. Or the kid. Oh.[00:44:46] Emily: I know. You’ve[00:44:47] Susanne: The one kid.[00:44:50] Emily: Um, I listen. I would just, I guess I’d give a shout out to whether you do the audio book or read the book, uh, Fair Play. Fair Play by Eve Rodsky. I mean, you know, that was something we connected about at Mom 2, um, when I had the pleasure of meeting you ladies, that, that book really changed, changed my life, um, when I read it, and it’s, it’s something that has touched our life in a personal way with my husband and I sharing our story in the Fair Play documentary, which is not just the movie version of the book, um, but, but something that you can catch on, on all the streamings, um, For for, you know, a very affordable price to check that out.Fair play. and then learning. I mean, thank you for giving me the opportunity to to share with so many women, um, ways that I watch other women learn every single day, really through upskilling and freelance. And just again, not not looking at it so narrow and saying, Well, I don’t have skills to freelance with.It’s We are living the future of work right now. It is unfolding in front of us. And so as cliche as it sounds to, you know, throw away what you knew before. I mean, Anything kind of goes now, like there’s so many different ways to work and it’s exciting.[00:45:54] Susanne: it is.[00:45:54] Missy: Yeah.[00:45:55] Susanne: Oh, love it.[00:45:57] Emily: So thank you for letting me have my turn.[00:45:59] Susanne: Oh, yes. And oh, we should link to the actually the fair play. Yeah, the documentary.[00:46:06] Missy: it’s really interesting for sure. [00:46:09] Susanne: what have you been lookless and learning?[00:46:11] Missy: um, I think that this has already been a look, listen, learn of mine, but I think it was a really pretty long time ago. So maybe we have some new people who don’t remember it. And I can’t remember. I have no idea when it was.I just feel like I’ve talked about it before, but, um, I am rereading devotions by Mary Oliver and it’s a compilation. Poems from all of her books and I just love them so much. I love Mary Oliver. I’m sad that I never met her or knew her like I feel like we would have been good friends. Um, so I love that one.Even if you’re not a poetry person, I think she’s really accessible poetry, and just has a beautiful spirit and a beautiful eye. So if you’re just looking for something lovely to read a little bit every day. I highly recommend it. And then because we were always on the cutting edge of entertainment, we have just started watching Suits, which I guess has been off the air for many years.Like it’s, we’d never watched it. I didn’t know anything about it and it has just been, I guess it’s on Netflix now and when it comes up, like people will start watching things and then it starts just being sort of part of the conversation again. I think that’s what has happened.[00:47:18] Susanne: Well, I think it is because even Chris brought it up just this week. He’s like, Oh, the number one Netflix show right now is The Suits. We should check it out. I was like, is that the one with Meghan Markle in it? He’s like, [00:47:28] Missy: It is! [00:47:29] Susanne: he’s like, I don’t think so. It’s this new show. I was like, no, it’s not a new show.So you [00:47:34] Missy: I couldn’t [00:47:35] Susanne: more cutting edge than Chris this week.[00:47:38] Missy: well, I can’t even count the number of people who have said recently that they’re watching it. And so finally, just the other day I looked at Mark and I was like, should we, should we try it? Like everyone else and their dog is watching it. So we’ve watched exactly one episode, but we really did enjoy it.So I think we’re going to keep watching it. And it’s got like nine seasons. So well, and since the writers and there’s the strike going on, no new TV is coming.[00:48:00] Susanne: true.[00:48:01] Missy: So go back in there. Yeah, go to the Wayback Machine and find some shows that you missed the first time around and that’s what we’re doing now.[00:48:09] Susanne: This episode brought to you by Suits. Brand[00:48:13] Missy: and Canva and Cuisinart. So, yeah, and I have kind of a serious learn by the time this episode is out, this will be kind of old news and everyone will know, but I want everybody to go get their mammograms because I got my annual mammogram and there was a spot this year that was not there last year. And that’s why you go do them every year.And I am thankful that what I have is DCIS, it’s ductal carcinoma in situ, depending on where you read it. Some people will be like, that’s pre cancer, not real cancer. My oncologist says this is cancer. It’s just cancer that is trapped inside a milk duct and hasn’t gone anywhere else yet. So that’s why you go get your mammograms because if I hadn’t done it, who knows what it would have done.It’s a pretty big spot and it grew that big in a year and eventually it can get out of the ducts. And so I’m glad we found it when we did. And, um, I’m going to have a mastectomy, so I’m sure we’ll have some episodes where we talk about what that is like. Um, and as we record, I haven’t done that yet, but by the time you’re listening to this, that will be in the past.And I bet I’m. Back to business, at least I hope I am. but yeah, go get your mammograms and if you have questions or fears or want to just want to talk about it, just reach out to me, you can find us on social media and I’d be happy to talk to you about my experience or connect you with other people I’ve met through this experience and share what I know and what I don’t know, there’s so much I don’t know, but we’ll, yeah.Every day I’m learning so much.[00:49:47] Susanne: yeah, you’ve had a crash course on it in the past few weeks. So,[00:49:51] Missy: It’s been a really fast process. Again, this is old news by the time you’re listening to it, but it’s been fast. It went from We’re now at about a month from my mammogram, my original mammogram. And then it was a callback and a biopsy. And I was one week from biopsy to oncologist. And it has been a really super fast process and I’m thankful for that because the more time I have, the more I think about it and I just, let’s just get it done.And I am fortunate that I think this mastectomy will be my treatment. That’s not the case for a lot of women, but I think we will go in, have surgery and hopefully be done.[00:50:24] Susanne: yes.[00:50:25] Missy: So go get them squished ladies. Go get themsquished. It’s not fun, but go do it.[00:50:30] Susanne: No, it’s such a good reminder. I know I always it’s frustrating when things are awareness months or whatever, because[00:50:37] Missy: know, when this run, well, maybe will it be October when this is out[00:50:41] Susanne: it might[00:50:42] Missy: or close or close.[00:50:44] Susanne: yes. So become pre aware and. Yeah, no matter what month you’re listening to this, because some new listener may be listening to it in February, make that your awareness month, just whatever. Yeah, make sure you’re on your[00:50:57] Missy: Yeah. And just go talk to your doctor and get it scheduled in some places. Some places I think will allow you to self schedule. don’t know all the laws. I don’t understand all the insurance. I am learning, but I think there you can self schedule and say, I just want my annual mammogram [00:51:14] Susanne: It’s good to know. Yes, and you have inspired me too. Even though I am on schedule with my mammogram, I am way behind on my colonoscopy. Which that is where, that’s where Suzanne has her problems and I’m, I’m supposed to be on a more aggressive schedule of doing that. So[00:51:31] Missy: All right. Get it done.[00:51:32] Susanne: I’m getting it done. You’ve inspired me.[00:51:35] Missy: Talk about not fun. The colonoscopy is not fun, but get that done too.[00:51:39] Susanne: But I always treat myself to a donut afterwards. So that makes it kind of [00:51:43] Missy: Right. And a really rockin nap.[00:51:46] Susanne: Yes. That [00:51:48] Missy: great nap afterwards. Like, I just do nothing that day because I’m in kind of la la.[00:51:52] Susanne: My favorite 10 seconds of life is that. Like when they have you do the countdown, that little twilight, like,[00:51:59] Missy: Yeah, it’s not even 10 seconds because you’re like,[00:52:01] Susanne: no, it’s like two [00:52:02] Missy: goodbye. [00:52:02] Susanne: but it’s, it’s like the best margarita you’ve ever had is like, yeah,[00:52:09] Missy: Yeah, you gotta look for the silver lining.[00:52:11] Susanne: we do, we look for the silver linings where we can find them.Well, I’m so grateful you shared your story so that other people, um, can. Can realize how important it is and that it can impact anybody. So yeah, get,[00:52:24] Missy: Might screw up a month or two of your life, but you’ll be glad you got it done.[00:52:28] Susanne: Hey, get some, get some rest and relaxation and heal and take care of yourself. And so I do think we did have some episodes pre recorded.We might end up with a little bit of a bonus summer gap there sometime in September, October, depending on things roll. But, yeah, so just know that we’re not [00:52:47] Missy: the time you’re listening to this, yeah, we will, we’ll have announced like what it’s going to look like, I think by the time this episode runs.[00:52:54] Emily: Your episodes are very binge friendly, ladies. I feel like I listen to them in batches.[00:52:58] Susanne: Oh good.[00:52:59] Emily: for doing all this work for us listeners. I’m a listener too.[00:53:02] Susanne: Oh,[00:53:03] Missy: for listening.[00:53:04] Susanne: you. And yeah, we’re so excited. Just doing freelance work is what helped fill up my resume so that I could get this, freelancing gig that I have now between doing the work for myself to be able to be in a place where I can do this job.So that is great. Keeping my skills fresh and being ready to do that. But then also doing the work of listening to these episodes and, listening to all the coaches that we’ve talked to over the past three years has gotten me into the place to know exactly what role I was looking for and being really confident that like, yes, this is whether it’s with this agency or another agency or whatever that ends up being in the future.This is a really great mix for me So yeah, learn about yourself and then learn about. how things like, hey there social media and other places can help you get the skills that you need to whatever it is that you want to take on your next chapter.[00:53:59] Emily: Thank you, ladies. Thank you. It’s been so fun.[00:54:01] Susanne: Thank you.So nice to see you again.[00:54:05] Missy: whenever that is. We’ll see what is the[00:54:07] Susanne: Whenever mom [00:54:07] Missy: that, whenever that is.[00:54:08] Emily: I can’t wait to listen. Yes, I’ll be listening to more episodes and we’ll think ahead to next year’s conference, conference meetup.[00:54:14] Susanne: can’t wait. All right. Well, [00:54:16] Missy: All right. Have a great afternoon.[00:54:18] Emily: Thanks, Suzanne. Thanks, Missy.[00:54:20] Susanne: Bye bye.[00:54:21] Emily: Bye. Thank you so much for joining us for the mom and dot, dot, dot podcast. We hope you enjoyed today’s show. And if you know someone else who could benefit from the episode, please be sure and share it with them. And while we’re begging, please subscribe and rate us wherever it is you listen to podcasts. You can find links to all the things we discussed today in our show notes or over at our website, momandpodcast.com with the A N D spelled out in between shows, find us over at the socials, including our private mom and community Facebook group, the links to that group. And all of our socials can be found at momandpodcast. com. Thank you so much for your support. 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