Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Hey, so let's go ahead and welcome Kelly. She is a marketer and a book coach with a passion for empowering professional women and entrepreneurs to share their stories and grow their brands. A little bit about Kelly. She originally created her blog to help authors navigate the world of social media for book promotion. Today it's a resource hub for nonfiction authors and business professionals looking to make a meaningful impact through their books. So Kelly shares practical advice on book marketing, book reviews, typically nonfiction and women's fiction. Love that. Inspiring author interviews and strategies to help authors connect with readers and amplify their message. So, Kelly, welcome to the Women who Work from Home podcast.
[00:00:45] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much for having me. I have been a woman who works from home for 18 years. So glad to be a part of your podcast.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: It is so funny you say that actually, because I've gotten a few requests on Pod Match from people and they're like, hey, I think I'd be a great fit for your podcast. And I'll kind of look at their background.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: And I was like, don't work from home.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: Well, not only that, but like, they're not a woman.
There's really two requirements for this podcast. I don't think we're going to be a good fit. So that's so funny you say that.
So the first thing is tell me a little bit about your family and your business.
[00:01:25] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, okay, great.
So my family. So that's. I love that you start with that question because that is the reason that I work from home. So my daughter is 20. 20. She's 20 years old. I was gonna say 21. She's not 21 yet. She is a sophomore in college. And gosh, I just found a picture of me walking with her when she was a baby. Last night I just found this picture and I sent it. When she was born, I used to commute to work. I had a 45 minute commute.
And I was so miserable and sad because I wanted to spend time with her. And I had a lot of pressure from family members going like, you shouldn't be working during this time.
But I had to. I had to work. I didn't have an option. So I am answering your question about my family. So my second question, or my second child is two and a half years years later. I had him. So he is now 17.
And it was when I was pregnant with him that I was desperate to find an option to stay home. So I, at the time, 17. Well, now 18 years ago, it wasn't. That wasn't a thing. Like People didn't work from home. If you were working from home, like people didn't think you really worked. You know, it was, it was very rare to find a work from home opportunity. So my, my son, when he, when I was like five months pregnant with him, I started, I found a work from home job just very part time, just kind of doing this thing on the side.
By the time he was born, I then was able to quit my job and was working from home full time.
So with two kids at home, working from home, then I had a third. So I have three kids total. My. I had three kids within four years, which I don't know how moms do it when they have to like go to an office every day. I was really fortunate to be able to be home with them and juggle all the things back then my business. To answer your second question, I didn't start my business until just the end of 2024. So all of that career before that was working within. I was working in small companies. My second small company that I was working in where I was a marketing director, we were acquired and then I lost my job as part of the acquisition. And so I decided at that point to start my own thing. So I started, you know, I'd always dabbled in working with authors on the side because that was my first job was in publishing. And I always just kind of kept my foot in that door of, you know, I built a tick tock presence. Talking about book marketing.
I have a blog that I've had for 15 years. I just did for fun. I, I jokingly call it, it wasn't a side hustle, it was a side hobby because I didn't make any money doing it. But it was, you know, something I was just doing for, for like fun creative on the side.
So when it came time to decide what to do after I lost my job, I decided to start a company, kind of merging the worlds that I had been a part of. Right. So the book side of it, I had worked with authors for a long time and decided to continue on with that, but in the sense of working with nonfiction authors with professional books who wanted to develop a thought leadership platform. So that was kind of how I ended up in the, the space that I'm in now, which is working with those thought leaders and then also kind of doing a little bit of marketing strategy as well. So yeah, that is all of it in a nutshell, but that's been about the last 20 years of my life.
[00:05:08] Speaker A: That is so cool. And I love how it Was like a step by step, sort of gradual process to get there where you were just like, you were feeling it at first, and then it was like, okay, I need to do this. And then, you know, you're working at home remotely, but then really kind of branching into doing your own thing.
I love that. My husband and I are in the exact same place. He lost his job last year and we were just like, why don't we have a company? Like, it was just like, it's just so accessible now. It doesn't make any sense not to. And I love. So I did go through your blog. I found it to be a great resource. I was kind of.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:05:46] Speaker A: I was kind of laughing too, because I remember. So I read a lot of book. I'm a big book talk nerd. And so I've read a lot of, like, books from independent authors.
And I always wondered, like, how did they do this without, like, a big publishing house behind them? And I'm sitting there kind of going through your blog and I was like, wow, like this, this is so accessible now to authors. So thank you so much for sharing about your family, though, because I definitely want to talk to women who are in business, but I also want to talk to women who, like, decided they were going to do both. You know what I mean? And it's never too late. It's never too late to get in there. Like, even with, you know, your oldest being in college. Like, I just think that's so fantastic. So thank you so much for sharing all of that.
So let's go ahead and go into.
Let me see.
So it looks like you already kind of talked a little bit about your transition.
So what would you say is your biggest surprise for doing remote work or from now having your own company at home? Like, did anything surprise you about that process or you just. Is it just an easy transition over?
[00:07:00] Speaker B: Well, man, I don't even. I don't even remember going to work in an office. Like, I did it for a few years. I mean, I remember, but I'm like, it is so far from my mind.
I.
It has been such a gradual process for me, you know, like where. Or I shouldn't say gradual. It's been a really long process for me of working remotely. And I. I now, I guess I would say, like, what stood out to me or what stands out to me now is that. So I started working. Really. I was living in the city, and when we decided to move to a more remote location, I had the ability to do that. Right? Like, so we moved to this place where we're 30 miles from town. Like, to go to a restaurant is 30 miles away. To go to a grocery store is 30 miles away. Right.
And when we made the choice to move here, it never crossed my mind that, like, it might be hard to find another remote job, you know, 12 years ago when we moved here. But the industry has changed. Or not the industry, just the state of the world. Right. Has changed so much that when, when it was time for me to find another job, it was so much more accessible than it used to be. You know, Internet is better. Like, people are used to meeting on zoom. Like, I don't even think about where people are hardly unless they're outside the United States. And it's hard to find a time to meet with them, whatever. But for the most part, you know, I have just been so fortunate to have that lifestyle of being able to work from home. And then, you know, with my kids, like, I always had that flexibility because I was working from home that I could. I mean, not to say that it's easy. Flexible schedules as a working mom doesn't mean easy, but. Yeah, but, you know, I sometimes now I sit and I look at like, women who are, you know, like, we'll be at a kids game or whatever, and I just think, like, how do, how do moms do it when they have to go to a physical place and work set hours? Like, you know, you're a nurse or a doctor or whatever, and it's like, you have to be there from this time to this time. I'm like, I don't know how in the world women do it. Like, I was lucky to have had the career path that I did. And. Yeah. And I think that for anyone who's not there yet, who wants to work remotely, that there are so many options out there now and it's so much easier than it used to be. So, you know, it's. Don't give up if you haven't found that right fit for you yet. It's out there.
[00:09:30] Speaker A: Absolutely. And speaking of flexibility, I love that you. Yeah. Not always a gift, but also the greatest gift ever. Right.
How did you establish those boundaries between your work and your personal life? Do you use a planner? Do you use like block scheduling? Like, how. How do you make that work for you, having all that flexibility?
[00:09:55] Speaker B: All of, all of the above. I. I think for me, just my own work style, it has always worked really well for me where, like, in my brain, when I'm working, I'm working, when I'm not, I'm you know, like, I just. I probably struggle more with shutting it off and you know, focusing on my family like that. I. I tend to overwork at times, but I do all of the block schedule. Like if you look at my calendar right now, it looks insane, but it's partly because, you know, everything. So everything's color coded. So I have. If I have meetings or if it's something personal or, you know, everything is like color coded on my calendar. But I have every hour of the day blocked off so I know exactly when I'm going to fit in the work that I need to do. Or. Uh, right now my youngest son is ha. Is having to go through physical therapy. He had an injury playing football and so I, you know, have all of that blocked off, like his appointments, but also my travel to get him to those appointments because like I said, we live 30 miles from town. Um, and you know, making sure that I have those cushions around it so that, you know, people can schedule with me around things, but that I have the time blocked off. And I learned that, that it's really, really important to make sure that you have.
Not just that your calendar is open. Like if people are booking time with you or you're, you know, you're scheduling work that you need to get done. You also have to factor in those times. Like I need a break between back to back meetings or I need time to get to this thing or that thing and you know, making sure that you're always putting in those cushions in your schedule. So, yeah, so I do all of that. But it's been years and years of practice and refining my approach to what works the best for me.
It's obviously a lot easier now that my kids are 15, 17 and 20 than it was back when they were, you know, 5, 7 and 10.
And you know, somebody would be sick or you know, it's a non school day or whatever, all of those things. But I think the planning is what's so important and knowing. It took me a few years when my kids were in school to get to remind myself or to get in my head that like when they don't have school, I need to block it on my calendar so that I remember there is no school that day. And don't plan meetings or don't. Don't plan things that I cannot realistically do with three kids running around the house, you know, but all of those kinds of things I just learned from, well, from failing, right from having those experiences where things didn't go well and then learning how to apply the fix in the future.
[00:12:25] Speaker A: Yeah. No, that's awesome. And that's. Yeah, it's like, you figure it out, right? Like, you're like, oh, I do need to block off this time. Yeah.
[00:12:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:34] Speaker A: I mean, so that's kind of like, goes into my next question, which is like, can you share a challenge with your home life and your career growth and how you overcame it when you. Either when you first started or when you first started your business?
Like, what was the challenge for you that you feel like you overcame?
[00:12:53] Speaker B: So I would say, you know, I mentioned that I do tend to be a bit of a workaholic. So in my first job, I was in Publishing for 10 years, and that was actually the job that I was in when I first started working remotely with the kids when they were young. And I had a lot of responsibility and I had a lot. I just had a lot on my plate. And I would find that I could work, you know, if there was 26 hours in a day, I could have worked every one of them. Right. Like, I was always.
It's like I. It was really hard to shut it down because there's always more to do and there's always work. Um, I didn't. And I'll say during that time period, I didn't do it well, but I got better at it during kind of my next transition, my next job where I learned how to delegate really well. And that was really important, was not seeing everything as something I needed to tackle, but delegating where I could or prioritizing the work so that.
That, you know, I could be more realistic about what I could actually handle in the day.
And. Yeah, and then I built my team over the last seven years in my previous job, where I really entrusted people to. To get work done and to be able to handle, you know, to. To oversee different areas. And I. I think a lot of people struggle with that delegation piece. But the more you can get work off of your plate and have somebody else do it, where you can oversee that it's getting done, but it's not all on you, just the more sane you can be.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that.
So kind of walk me through what a daily routine would look like for you. Like, are you a nine to five person? Are you. I get work done better at 1am person. Like, what does that look like for you?
[00:14:46] Speaker B: Usually I am Definitely a 9 to 5 person. I think that that. Well, that happened for a couple reasons. For one, my. My job when I was in publishing, my kids were.
They were, you know, school age or like getting into school age and then they were all school age at that, during that 10 year period.
And at, during that time it was like the best time to work was like 8 to 3 when they were in school. Right. Like, it was like I could get them off to school and then focus on work for the day. Well then after that I was in a corporate job where basically the expectations are you're available for meetings and working during the day. So it just kind of, you know, it was just kind of what was natural, I'll say. Now I basically work that like kind of 8 to 5 kind of time on my schedule. But then because it's because I'm running my own business, that will also creep into the evenings and the weekends when, when I, when I'm able. Right. Like, there's just certain tasks that are just easier to do late at night when nobody's on, you're not bothering anyone, but you want to like catch up on whatever your podcast production or, you know, organizing your, your list of things to do, whatever. There's just those, those kind of admin type tasks that are easier to handle outside of business hours.
So I try to do most of my work during that time. I wish I had more of a free spirit where I could be like, you know what, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna go for a hike on a Wednesday and then work later in the evening or whatever. But I just, my mind doesn't work that way. So it's just, just, it's easier for me to just work during normal business hours and then play outside of those hours.
[00:16:31] Speaker A: I totally get that. I. So I would be what was called, what would be called a free spirit. And even I, I'm turning 40 this year and I cannot, I laugh at how much I've kind of assimilated to that 9 to 5 schedule because I don't know if it's a productivity thing, if it's just like our brains naturally want to be alert at those times. I mean, I would probably, if I didn't have kids, I would probably pare it back a little bit and make it like I'd work from like 7am to like 4pm like that seems to be like. But no, I totally get it. Like, and if it works, it works. But yeah, I'm not even sure if it's like a free spirit thing or if it's just like our body's natural clocks for production. I don't know.
But I totally get. And that makes sense too because if you're transitioning from remote and you know, you have to like be available at certain times that even if you're running your own business, it's like there's probably more people available during certain times. So yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
So what, like, I hope I this makes sense.
What systems would you say that you like? Support systems have you put in place for your business?
What do you like for. Well, you said your kids are older, so I'm guessing you don't need a lot of childcare.
But like, how do you feel?
I know one of the biggest fears that people have about moms have about working at home is kind of to have that support system because we just can't do everything on our own. So how would, like, what would you tell somebody, a woman who's considering working from home to kind of like have in place when you get all this going?
[00:18:14] Speaker B: Yeah. So I think one of the things I've seen from working from home and hiring people who want to work from home is that they tend to think, oh, like I'm just going to work from home. And I can do that with, you know, like, basically like I want to be home with my kids and work from home. And then I think they're shocked when they find out that like, oh, it's really hard to have a toddler running around the house and also try to be productive and think during the day.
Um, no.
[00:18:42] Speaker A: Good. Yeah.
[00:18:43] Speaker B: So, yeah, so I think it's really important, you know, I, you know, I mentioned starting to work from home. My kids were little, little, so they weren't in school yet. Uh, but I, at that time, you know, you asked me about my schedule. Now at that time, I remember specifically I would get up in the morning, I'd. I could do a little bit of like light work when kids were eating breakfast or you know, watching TV in the morning or whatever, you know, like they're kind of running around. I could do a little bit of like email type work, but then I would go to the gym and I would have, you know, my, as a lot of moms know, like there's, there's times where you can drop your kids off at the gym daycare and you get like a two hour window, right. So you could do your workout and then after that, like squeeze in an hour or so of work. Right. And then, and then we'd go home and it would be nap time and I could put them down for a nap and then I would work. So my schedule back then when they were little, little was very choppy. Like chunks of time throughout the day where I, where it made sense, right? And then a lot of times I put them down to bed. My husband had a weird schedule. So at the time, like he would be gone at night, so I would put them down to bed and then I could work from 7 until 11 o'clock at night.
Not the healthiest mentally for moms, you know, like when you're like basically working from the time you wake up till the time you go to bed, but like in these like weird chunks throughout the day. But it worked really well for me to be able to do that. So.
So all of that to say. I think it's really important to recognize that working from home isn't just the ability to be home with your kids and like, not really work. Like, you have to find ways to make it work for you. So whether that's, you know, you get a sitter certain days of the week or you use that gym, childcare to the max every day, or you work seven days a week. I mean, I did that also for, for many years where I was working seven days a week but not eight hours a day. It was, you know, squeezing it in on the weekends also to be able to be caught up for the week so, you know, making sure that you have the schedule in place that works for you to be able to get work done. The support systems, like you mentioned, just having some of those, it's for your own sanity, but also for your productivity. I mean, if you're, you're working for somebody else or you're trying to build a business, you have to spend dedicated time on that activity in order to be successful. And successful, I just mean, like to be productive to, you know, to produce while you're working or if you're growing your business to be able to, you know, really spend time on the things that are going to help your business grow.
[00:21:17] Speaker A: I love that and I love that you're being realistic about that because a lot of the times I see people, you know, who are like, build your business from home, it's super easy with kids and it's just like, well, it's not impossible, but I wouldn't call it easy. You do have to be realistic, especially if you have little ones about, like, you do have to have dedicated time. You do have to have time when people don't need you. And so I love that you're saying that because it's just realistic. But I love that you're also telling women it can be done in these small chunks. It doesn't Necessarily have to be this 6 to 8 hour to 10 hour block in order to still accomplish big things and really build up. So I absolutely love that.
So. And that's so funny too that you brought up the gym thing.
My friend Katie, her husband is military and she built a business and she was in charge of their finances too. And I remember, I think I met her when my daughter was like one year old. So that was like almost 13 years ago. And I remember her telling me, dude, it's my hack. I go to the ymca, I get two hours five days a week. And I was like, she is brilliant.
And she kind of like puts that in between. And she was like. And they get to be socialized. And like, she was just, she was so excited about it. It was so perfect. And I was like, I thought it was nuts when I first heard it, but like it, it hit me. I was like, genius. Absolute genius, man. If you want something done, ask a mom. Like, we will figure it out.
[00:22:55] Speaker B: That's right. That's right. Yeah. And I don't know if you're paying for it. Yeah, I don't know if it's just like a YMCA thing, but that's funny because that's when I was living where I was living at the time. It was a ymca. And that was, it was like my saving grace, you know, it was, it was just that little bit of time I could have them being taken care of and like you said, being socialized, they made great friends.
But I got a little bit of time to, to work on stuff while they were awake. And then, you know, then we go home and then it would be nap time and they would go to sleep really easily because they had just been playing. And yeah, you find out ways to make it. Make it happen for sure.
[00:23:33] Speaker A: And it's a season. It like that's. I remember Katie telling me, like, it's. She's like, I have two hours in the morning. I have two hours while they're at the Y and I have two hours after they go to bed. And this, that was just my season. That was my six hour day and I was ready for it, you know, And I, I'm like, wow, man, women get stuff done.
So let me see. We have. Okay, so we have about 15 minutes.
So a little quick fire round.
I think you might have already answered this, but just in case, what is your favorite work from home productivity hack?
[00:24:07] Speaker B: Oh, which one do I pick? So I'm kind of a geek when it comes to these things, but I would say probably my favorite Is the tool todoist, which.
So you played around on my blog a little bit. You probably didn't get to this, but there is a blog. I did a few blog posts actually, on using todoist with the getting things done methodology. So if you're not familiar with that, like, there's a book called getting things done by David allen, and it's about systemizing all of your to dos. And I read that book back in 2018. It was. It was like, life changing for me as far as just getting my work. Like, not even just work, but all of the tasks in our life. You know, even, like, you're thinking about, oh, I need to get my oil changed. I need to remember to get groceries. I need to whatever. Like, all those things that, like, are constantly, like, in your head, you know, that you're thinking about getting them out of your head. And then he creates, like, he has, like, a system for how to control all of that and so that you can breathe easy, relax, because, you know, everything is within that system and working. So I actually configured my todoist to be able to help me practice the. The GTD or the getting things done methodology. I know. Sorry, I'm a total geek. You asked me this question.
[00:25:29] Speaker A: That is brilliant. That is brilliant. And I, like, want to read this book now. Yeah, I mean, that's amazing.
[00:25:35] Speaker B: Yeah. So the book, I mean, check out that book. It's a great book. But then also the configuring todoist was. It's not easy, and it's not for the fate of heart when it comes to getting it set up the way that I. That I have mine set up. But I did do some blog posts, like, walking through how to set up the different rules and things so that basically I just have, like, different areas within todoist so that I know what's super important, what needs to happen today. What is like my someday maybe list. You know, everything's in there, though. So whenever anything comes up, if my husband's like, oh, we need to buy this, or whatever, I'm like, okay, I just stick it right in the app. And then I know that it'll come to my attention at the right time and I don't have to think about it again.
[00:26:20] Speaker A: Okay. And you have, like, alarms and stuff. Just like, does todoist have, like, alarms set up? And so I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that.
[00:26:27] Speaker B: Yeah, you can. Yep. Yeah, so you can set up. I mean, so you can set things up where, like, reoccurring tasks, like, every Monday I do this, you know, or every once, once a month on this day I do this whatever. So you can set it up like that. But then also you can say, you know, it's kind of like your phone app. If you say, remind me to get eggs at the store, you know, whatever. Like I know I'm gonna be in town at 3:00, so remind me at 3:00. Same kind of thing. You could set it like certain times you want it to remind you of things. I don't do that too much because that's like, you know, it's more, you know, like a little crazy making like trying to time things specifically. But if I know, like I need to be reminded while I'm in town to do a certain task because I'm in town, I need to do it, then I'll remind, have it remind me at that time. But yeah, it's. Yeah. So I, I don't know if you have the ability to link to one of those posts, but I can share one with you. And if you do. Oh yeah, if somebody's interested and geeky like me.
[00:27:23] Speaker A: I mean that's like a whole other level of like, of like hat like, like how we call that like productivity hacks. Like that's amazing.
I love that. I love. I'm also like super type A and I have an ADHD diagnosis too. And so I have totally had to figure out ways like that that are just. And I've been using my Google Calendar forever. But I'm always, I'm always complaining to my husband that it's not detailed enough and that it doesn't alert me in the right way, which he laughs at because he's like, what's the right way to get alerted? But I was like, I'm just telling you they could do better. Do better Google.
[00:28:09] Speaker B: You can actually integrate your Google with todoist as well. So you can, you can email tasks to yourself in todoist and I think you can view the tasks on the side in Gmail. I'm not 100 sure on that because I don't use it for that. But yeah, but you can integrate it so that you can easily add stuff where you want in todoist as well.
[00:28:31] Speaker A: That is brilliant. That's a great hack. And again it like keeps you focused and keeps you, keeps your mind. Like for me, if I don't have that separation between work and home, I. My mind is like on work, like even when I'm with my kids. And so I have to have like a really clear Line of like, I don't have to think about work. I don't have to think about work because I already have that planned out and I think that's huge. Yeah, super helpful.
So do you. I see you have a home office. Is this like just dedicated to your workspace?
[00:29:08] Speaker B: It is, but. So this is. If I go this way a little. Well, you can't see my bed here. So my. This is actually my daughter's bedroom that she. So I used to. We have a loft upstairs and that was my office, which I don't recommend, but it was not. I didn't really have much of an option. I have three kids. I take up space. Right. So I didn't have like an extra bedroom to have an office. And so we have a. I had a loft office, which was fine most of the time, but if somebody would come home or the kids didn't have school one day, it was just very, very distracting to me. So when she moved out last year for school, I was like, I'm just gonna put a desk in there and make it my office. Well, now I'm. I love it. So this space is great. It's kind of like her bedroom, guest bedroom, but my office. And then I have an office in town that I just rent. So when. Because like I mentioned, I'm 30 miles from town, so if I have an appointment or something at 9:00 in the morning, I can just stay there and work out of my office in town rather than have to drive home or find coffee shops or whatever to work in. So I like having that option, something outside of the house, so that if, you know, we do have guests staying here or something, like, I can get away. But I like having the dedicated space in the house as well. I'm kind of spoiled.
[00:30:24] Speaker A: Awesome. No, I honestly. So we live, I think, like 25 minutes outside of town in Tennessee. And we just live in this like really kind of little college town. And so same like. And ours is like. Ours is so annoying because we don't actually live that far, but like 20, 25 minutes is enough to where it's like, I don't really want to go back up there and back, you know. And so we actually work in the co. Working space here. And then it's funny that you say that you're using your daughter's bedroom because my son, who's six, only sleeps in his bedroom. He doesn't do anything else. He's like the biggest extrovert I've ever met. Hates being not around people. And so like Two weekends ago, my husband was like, michelle, why don't we just, like, put his bed in a corner of the bedroom? And then we'll put, like, a divider up and put, like, a home office, because we work there all the time, and we sit at the kitchen table and are constantly. People are like, hey, can you jump on a podcast? Or, hey, can you do this meeting? And we're like, no, we cannot, because my kids are super. So that's so funny that you're saying that. So are you gonna actually, like, like, redecorate the space, or are you just like, hey, I got a home office. This is awesome.
[00:31:43] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it works. So if you could see this direction, like, it's. I have two big screens on top of my computer. I've got my podcast mic. I've got a ring light up here. I mean, it's a whole thing. Like, it's, like, now it's basically my office that she can sleep in occasionally when she comes home. Right. Like, I think we'll kind of adjust as. As my boys end up leaving the house also, and I'll have plenty of space then to kind of reconfigure. But right now, it works. And, yeah, it's. That's definitely a challenge in working from home, figuring out the space and, you know, how to make space for it. But I think it's really important to have that dedicated space for working. So most of the time, I'm. I should say all of the time I'm here when I'm working, but when I'm not working, I'm. You know, that helps kind of just separate. Like, if I leave here and go start making dinner, like, I am not bringing my computer with me. It stays here. I might work on my iPad or something on the couch, but, like, I get away from, like, the. The work mindset when I do that. So it. It is really helpful if you can do it. One idea for you also is I have seen those, like, almost, like, pods that you can put, like, in your yard. I don't. I don't know if pods is the right word, but they're like those, like.
Like, almost like a tiny home, but, like, it's an office kind of thing that you can put in your yard, in your backyard or something. Like, I've always thought those are really cool and would be really fun to have if you didn't have space in the house. Because, you know, not every house is big enough for home offices, especially for two people. So, yeah, something to check out.
[00:33:24] Speaker A: Totally. And you Know, we actually don't. So my son eventually is going to use room back, like, realistically.
But we have one of those. Our. The house we bought has a prefab shed in the back, and so we've been using that for just, like, gardening tools. And like, a couple of months ago, I was like, we need to get that insulated and get an air unit in there. And, like, why is this not our office? And my husband is podcasting a ton right now, and he's like, we really need to do this. So right now it's freezing, but we are finally getting some quotes on getting that shed fixed up and getting everything put. There's already electricity in it.
[00:34:04] Speaker B: That'd be perfect.
[00:34:05] Speaker A: Like, why are we not in there? I'm constantly just like, dude, we need to make this work. I was thinking of making it a schoolhouse for my home school, homeschool stuff. But, like, that, like, my kids are so. They're such kitchen table homeschool kids. Like, they wouldn't even care. Like, I see all these cute, you know, really, like, aesthetically beautiful, like, homeschool rooms, and I'm just like, my kids, they'd be like, let's get this done.
Yeah, so that kind of segues in. Do you have, like, a must have home office item that you love?
[00:34:42] Speaker B: Okay, this. So I just described my space, but this is like, must have is probably a little too much for this, but I always. Every morning, I have my little Yankee candle on my desk, and I light it every morning when I start working, and then I turn it off or blow it out, whatever, at the end of the day when I'm done. And that's my little, like, I just. It just makes my space feel cozy. And I don't know, it's like my. That's my thing that I turn on and off when I am working.
And to me, it's like, it's maybe not. I could live without it, but, like, I. I just love it. Oh. I'll tell you another thing that I love is. And this is more like actual, could not live without is my remarkable tablet. So this is, like, every notebook that I use all day long, like, is in here. So if I'm talking to a client, I can take notes in there. If I'm, you know, I'm doing the minimalist challenge this month. I have my calendar in there for that. I have my meal plan calendar in that. Like, everything is in that. And yeah, I, like, carry it around with me all day. So that's definitely my must have for work, working from home.
[00:35:58] Speaker A: Okay. Is that, like, good notes or is it, like, just its own thing? Like, it's its own thing.
[00:36:04] Speaker B: It's a digital.
[00:36:05] Speaker A: It's just dedicated to note taking.
[00:36:07] Speaker B: Yep. It's just like a. It's like a little notebook, and then you can create different notebooks in it. So I use GoodNotes on my iPad, so I know what you're talking about. But this is like, it's its own tablet, and it's really no frills. So I used to try on my iPad to, like, use GoodNotes and, like, write stuff in it, but I hated writing on an iPad. And this is like writing on. More like writing on paper, where it's. And it's just black and white. You can highlight things, but it's still just black and white.
Yeah, it's. I love it. And I like. I almost, like, want to have a different one for upstairs. So, like, when I'm at my desk, I have this one. I don't have to carry it around. I have, like, another one. Seems like a little crazy, but, yeah, I love it. I use it all day long.
[00:36:50] Speaker A: No, that's brilliant.
I've pretty much transitioned. In fact, I'm on my tablet right now. I've pretty much transitioned into using my tablet for everything. And as you just witnessed, I just tried to bring up my notes for Riverside and I couldn't. So now they're on my phone right now.
And the frustration with using your tablet for everything is that you are using it, and so you cannot be using your notes on it. And so I'm going to look into that.
[00:37:18] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:37:20] Speaker A: I am also a notorious note taker. My note app is full. I have notebooks everywhere, and I love that you just consolidated it in one place. That's amazing. That's really cool. I will totally put a link to that as well. And if you have an affiliate link, we'll throw that in there.
[00:37:37] Speaker B: Don't. But if they have one, go for it. Sign up and. But I. Yeah, it's totally worth checking out. It's a great tool, and you can even send, like, PDFs to it. So, like, you were mentioning, you're having your notes, you have, like, an outline for your show. You can send that to your remarkable tablet, and then you can duplicate it for each show and, like, hand write any notes in there that you want to add in for the specific person or anything like that. So, yeah, definitely worth checking out.
[00:38:06] Speaker A: That is brilliant. That is so cool. I'm. I'm gonna look into that. That's amazing.
So, last question.
What would you say is your parting advice for women who are looking to get started on this work from home journey? And you kind of already gave some. But, like, what would you say? Just what would be your. Your elevator pitch for it? Your what to work? Like, what to watch out for? Like, what would you give as advice for somebody who's like, I want to dive in?
[00:38:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I think so. I think we did cover a lot of that in. In this. Just, you know, no. Making sure that you are fully committed to the work in addition to the being home part. You know, I also just think, you know, I'm very passionate about women in the workplace. I felt very pressured. I mentioned earlier that when I. When I had kids, I felt a lot of pressure that I had to stay home. And I think working from home for many women is the way that they're able to do both to work and to have a family.
And I just, you know, not to steal the words of Sheryl Sandberg, but, like, if you're going to work from home, I encourage you to still just lean into your career and don't, don't let that go by without really intentionally focusing on it. Because, you know, I've had a very accidental, successful career because I always was dedicated to my work, but I also cared about my kids, and I wanted to be home with them. But I think you, you know, that you. I see too many women drop out of the workplace or put their work way on the back burner and focus, like, solely on their family and their kids. And I think that a lot of women come later in life to realize that, like, that was a big mistake, that they, you know, they didn't put their. Their trust in their own abilities that they relied on, maybe their spouse or, you know, they just didn't focus on their career. So I'm not. I'm not good at the elevator pitch thing. I'm going on and on. But, like, no, no, that's great.
[00:40:23] Speaker A: That's great.
[00:40:23] Speaker B: I just, you know, it's something that I really.
I'm really passionate about. It's why I started my podcast, and I'm gonna plug that really quick. So I do have the beyond, the bestseller podcast, where I feature women who are. Who have written a book that's a professional book, so nonfiction books for other women that are inspiring.
And that's why I started that podcast, because I am just. Just. I want to be supportive of women who are working and choosing to work. And we can choose both our work and our families. So that's my. That's my I love it advice.
[00:40:56] Speaker A: That's amazing. That's the purpose. That's the whole purpose of this podcast. I absolutely love it. So obviously, last thing is where can our guests find and follow you? Yeah, well, I mentioned your blog, which. Yeah, yeah.
[00:41:10] Speaker B: Well, we'll link to that blog post. I'll. I'll find that and share that with you. So you can include that in the notes. Also my podcast. So if you're in interested in books that are related to personal development or professional development, that's a lot of what I have on is women who have written books like that and you get to know the author and kind of their behind the scenes on why they wrote the book. So beyond the bestseller. Check that out. And then also LinkedIn connect with me there.
I might. I do not have an easy to spell last name, so I'll share that link with you in the show notes as well.
[00:41:44] Speaker A: Cool. All right, I'm going to attempt it. You ready?
[00:41:47] Speaker B: Close. So Shooknecht.
[00:41:49] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, Schuchnecht. Awesome. Very cool. Well, Kelly, it was so good talking to you. Thank you so much for all your input. I mean, it's just. That's inspiring. That's perfect. That's exactly what I'm trying to show women what is possible. So thank you. I appreciate you so much and.
Yeah. All right. Thank you so much.
[00:42:08] Speaker B: Yeah, thanks for having me on.
Bye.
