January 24, 2022 • 26 mins
Career switching to becoming a social media manager can feel daunting and isolating if you're trying to go it alone. Which is why I was excited to interview Emily. A. Hay who created the INsiders program, a social media manager training program specifically for busy moms!
Even if you're not looking to get into social media management, this interview is well worth the listen as Emily has great tips for entrepreneurs and shares two habits that have helped her be successful as a business owner.
Emily's Links:
Check out Emily's website where you can learn more about the INsiders training program to become a social media manager!
https://haytheresocialmedia.com/
And if you're a business looking for someone to manage your social media, follow this link to connect with a great social media manager from Emily's INsiders program!
https://haytheresocialmedia.com/find-a-social-media-manager/
You can also follow her socials here:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/HayThereSocialMedia
IG: https://www.instagram.com/haytheresocialmedia
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/haytheresm
YT: https://www.youtube.com/user/haytheresocialmedia
My Links
Thinking about making a career shift yourself? Visit my website to learn more about my career coaching packages, what services they include, and their prices.
https://www.evergrowthcoach.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Welcome to go find outthe career switch podcast.
I'm Jennifer Jelliff-Russell,author,career, coach, and speaker bringing you
actionable ideas from knowledgeable guestson how to successfully kickyour fears to
the curb to go after your career goals,you can find more episodes by visiting.
Go find out podcast.com.
Enjoy the show and go find out.
(00:27):
Welcome back to go find outthe career switch podcast.
I'm your host, Jennifer, Jelliff-Russell.
And this is episode number 67.
On today's show.
I'll be interviewing Emily A.
Hay about her journey of foundingHay There, Social Media and
how she created a social mediatraining program for busy moms.
But first let's jumpto my personal update.
(00:50):
Hello, career switchers.
I don't know if it's like been the fullmoon or what, but I have felt pulled
in a million different directions withtech related creative projects lately.
I've really had to make an effortto write my creative ideas down
in order to get back to focusingon the projects that I still have.
I am still working on completing bookfour in the Artemis necklace series,
(01:12):
but I am almost finished with that.
Part of the problem is thatafter NaNoWriMo ended, I actually
stopped tracking my dailyword count on that project.
And that led me to skipping out onwriting completely on some days.
And then I just stopped writing at allover the holidays, which is not great.
So to get myself refocused, I havecreated a daily word count goal and
jumped back onto NaNoWriMo where Ican track my word count and track my.
(01:35):
For some reason doing that really seemsto help me hold myself accountable.
And that way actuallyhit my writing goals.
So hopefully I finish soon.
I've also been trying outa new audio editing tool.
That's specifically for podcasts.
It's called Descript.
And so far I'm kind of in love with it.
I need to watch a few tutorials onhow to like maximize its potential.
(01:56):
But so far I have reallyimpressed by what it can.
And this is not a promofor anything like that.
Don't worry.
listen I'm not an affiliateor anything with them.
Um, so when you uploadthe audio toDescript, it
automatically transcribes it.
And then, and this isthe really cool part.
You can literally go through thattranscription and delete the filler words
or places where you flubbed the line.
(02:18):
And by deleting the actual wordfrom the transcription, it deletes
the audio associated with that.
It's kind of crazy.
It's really neat.
Um, I know I am totally nerding out overit, but if I can get better at using
it, then it could save me so much timeon the editing side and even better.
If I can learn to use it for editingvideo, then maybe I could add video to
(02:39):
this podcast, but I will try not to gettoo far ahead of myself here and the
career switch side of my personal updates.
I completed a LinkedInlearning certification for
learning and development.
It took about eight hours.
So it wasn't terrible.
I also completed a few otherLinkedIn learning courses just to
see what I might be interested inpursuing on sort of the tech side.
And once I did that, I had a muchbetter idea of what I'm actually really
(03:02):
interested in and what I want to pursuemore official education and training.
So because I was able to complete somuch in that free one month time period,
I ended up actually going ahead andcanceling my premium subscription to
LinkedIn since I don't think that I'lldo any more unofficial courses on there.
So really I completed about 20 courses,including the eight hour course during my
(03:22):
one month free trial of LinkedIn learning.
In my estimation, I thought thatwas really useful for giving me an
opportunity to check out what I like.
And that way I can take alittle bit deeper into the
topics that really intrigued me.
And while a LinkedIn learning course ortwo can be really helpful on my resume,
the courses aren't going to providethat hands-on training that will help
me actually land a role in a new field.
(03:45):
So next will be either a MicroMastersfrom the university of Maryland
via EdX or I'll pursue UX UI designthrough the Avocademy bootcamp.
I'm honestly really leaning towardsthe Avocademy bootcamp at this point,
because it seems really interesting.
I'll keep you guys posted, butfor now, let's go ahead and jump
into the interview with Emily A.
(04:06):
Hay.
Today, I'm speaking with Emily A.
Hay , who founded Hay There socialmedia, a company that delivers
social media marketing servicesto local and national business.
She also started a six week socialmedia training program for busy moms
who need more flexible employment.
And that's kind of whatwe'll be focusing on today.
So welcome to the show today, Emily.
(04:28):
Thank you, Jen.
I'm so excited to be here.
Yeah, I'm super stokedto be chatting with you.
And before we kind of dive into the socialmedia training program, I would love to
hear like what led you to actually startyour company, Hay There Social Meda
. Gosh, thank you for the question.
And again, just so excited to talkto your career switchers today.
This will be so fun.
When I think about what led me tostart, Hay There, I, I go back to a
(04:50):
story that starts with a girl, a girlthat had an entrepreneurial spirit
and a desire to always be a mom.
So I grew up with two parents thatworked 9 to 5, and my mom worked
because she had to, it was, it wasjust part of our family's economics.
So my, my parents alwaysencouraged me to find my talents
that I could use professional.
(05:12):
But they didn't have anyentrepreneurial experience to expose
me to, or even helped me develop.
So I went to marketing, Iwent to college for marketing
marketing was my field of study.
And I worked in sales.
You know, didn't know what marketingmeant, so first job out of college
got into sales and it was inthat chapter of working in sales
that I entered corporate America.
(05:34):
So it was through that job that.
I was exposed to whatworking mom life was like.
I was not a mom at the time.
Um, but again, seeing, seeing colleagues,seeing people that had climbed the
ranks in sales, Women that became moms.
And so I just really saw that therewas such minimal accommodation
(05:56):
for women who had a baby.
Um, I mean, we we're in the, in thethroes of that right now, but six weeks
off daycare, 40 hours a week, rinseand repeat with each child you had.
And so that just wasn't afit with my entrepreneurial
spirit or desire to be a mom.
So I knew I needed tofind a way to work from.
Nice.
So fast forward to 2009 and social mediabecame my opportunity to freelance.
(06:22):
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
So I started doing social media marketingfor small to medium sized businesses.
I started with a brick andmortar business that was spending
money on yellow page ads.
Yes.
They said, okay, wellhere's what we're spending.
What can you do to get us onthis thing called Facebook?
And we'll just pay youinstead.
(06:42):
Um, they were my first client and I slowlytook on more clients and built a team of
moms who worked flexibly on their terms.
And we've been helping businesses buildtheir digital footprint on social media.
That's so cool.
And there's so many things about that.
Like 2009, you know, like you weresaying, like social media was kind of
just burgeoning and really taking off.
(07:04):
And now there are so many different socialmedia platforms that one could potentially
market their services on that theycould use somebody to assist them with.
And I can only see that growingto be honest, you know, with.
You know, companies likeFacebook Meta, right.
Um, starting their own metaverse Ican only imagine the opportunities
that are going to kind of come fromthat for more, you know, social
(07:27):
media, marketing, uh, positions.
Absolutely.
I feel like you and I do not evenneed to convince any listeners that
social media is here, is growingand evolving and it changes fast.
Absolutely.
And so to kind of shift backto starting your company, did
you, did you have any like fearswhen you first went to start it?
Yes.
I mean, tons.
(07:48):
Um, I, you know, when I talk aboutstarting as a freelancer, I mean, I look
at that as almost a, uh, a chapter right.
Fast forwarding to 2019.
I really just before thepandemic, it just got clarity that
there was even a next chapter.
So, um, with the training program.
So I guess fears when starting thecompany, I don't know about you, Jenny,
but I'm someone who likes to haveall the answers before I get going.
(08:11):
Yes, yes, yes.
Which doesn't really jivewith an entrepreneur.
So that always held me back as a fear.
And I had constantly askedmyself, was I doing it right?
You know, air quotes, wasn't doing this.
Right, right.
And professionally from, um, you know,seeing my parents to being a child of the
eighties, growing up college, everything,hearing work-life balance, I felt like
(08:34):
that was the litmus test for doing your,your career or your profession correctly.
And it was through, um, starting mycompany that work-life integration
at least freed me from those spheres.
So yes, tons of fears.
Yeah.
And do you feel like that you have anyspecific habits that have helped you
to be successful with your business orjust in social media management overall?
(08:57):
That's such a great question, becauseagain, you go from fear as, and you
think, well, what if you really hadto distill down what makes you know,
your path easier or more successful?
I feel like I have.
And I weave these into, youknow, what we teach women today.
But the first thing I would justsay is never assume a prospective
(09:17):
client knows how you can help them.
So whatever business you do, whetheryou're a writer, whether you're a
social media marketer, whether you're anaccountant, you are the expert, right.
And it's not your prospective clients jobto understand what you do as well as you,
as well as you know, and I think so manyexperts and again, thinking of freelancers
(09:38):
in particular, you're out there and you'relike, I'm confident I know what I'm doing.
And anyone should bethrilled to work with me.
I find sometimes the first hurdle andwhat can get you to success is just
bringing it back to not assuming thatthat business knows how you can help them.
And I'll tell you, Jen, one ofthe, one of the documents that I
have literally used since 2009 is agood old fashioned menu of service.
(10:02):
Hmm.
Okay.
Yeah, because again, it just breaks itdown into you have a prospective client
and they, you know, you can help them.
They're interested in hearing how you canhelp them, but now you need to have this
knowledge transfer and generally a menuof services could just get a conversation
going and it can go from there.
That's one of the things I would sayhas been really helpful to success.
(10:24):
Um, the other thing I would add isbeing an extra miler and you can, you
can file this under your value system.
You can file this under, youknow, your personality, but.
Being an extra miler is somethingthat to me is pivotal with success
because it's so much easier to keepa current client than find a new one.
That's true.
Yeah.
That's, that's a sales adage.
(10:44):
That's that's, you know, tried andtrue in business, but there's literally
dollars and cents attached to that.
It's cheaper to keep a current clientthan go out and find a new one.
So if you are the extra miler and again,thinking of a freelancer, you have
a project, you have a scope of work.
You have quoted a fee.
It's very easy to force yourselfto always stay in those bounds.
(11:07):
Um, and I'm not suggesting that you shouldabuse those boundaries or just do whatever
is needed at any time all the time.
But when you're an extra miler and youjust do what's needed at the moment that
client is going to come back to you overand over and over again, and they're
going to give you more of their share ofwallet and they're going to refer you.
(11:27):
And I look back over 10 yearsof business and saying, huh, I
never really had to source leads.
And I would just casuallysay, we're a word of mouth.
What's because we were extra milers.
That's awesome.
And you're totally right, because I havefound that with, you know, I have a career
coaching and resume writing service.
And even when I wasworking for atraditional employer, when I left
there, some of my clients followed meand were willing to pay for services
(11:50):
that had been previously free becausethey knew what I brought to the table.
So you're totally right about that.
Hearing that story.
I mean that, that's also hingedon the relationship you built with
them, you know, the quality of yourwork and that they kept you in.
Um, w we'll often joke that if aclient, depending on your field of
business, you know, if they ask youto do something that's outside of
your expertise at first, you shouldpat yourself on the back because they
(12:13):
thought of you and then it comes downto figuring out if it's the right fit.
But yes, it's a win for any,any freelance professional.
If the client comes toyou and asks for more.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, this, I, I love your, your two likerecommendations for being successful.
I think those are really great.
When you, when you actually started,Hay There, social media, did you have
(12:33):
plans to start the social media trainingprogram for moms or was that kind of
something that actually came about later?
That's a fun question that,that allows me to, to go back
into the subconscious right.
And say like, well, I don't know, youknow, did I, and I guess, um, since,
since we started our conversationabout, you know, Everything shapes us
when we're younger, I've always beensomeone who was willing to invent
(12:56):
the wheel, but not reinvent it.
I get very frustrated at timeswhen it comes to wait a minute,
I've already thought this through.
I've already put this together.
Why am I reinventing the wheel?
So when I started, Hay There,I thought about how it would
be amazing to create systems.
That could someday be leveragedin ways that I couldn't quite see.
And I think that's something alot of freelance professionals
(13:17):
resonate with of getting, youknow, your businesses in your head.
And if you can, if you can systematize.
Um, yes, we have tools today thatliterally allow you to automate things,
but I remember thinking, okay, I willput in the work and I will invent the
wheel, but I will not reinvent it.
So mixing that with really at my core,my motivation to help women who want
to work flexibly, but don't know how.
(13:38):
I suppose the training has alwaysbeen subconsciously driving my
work so that maybe we consider, Heythere, social media, the agency is
inventing the wheel and now I feelthat I'm doing my life's work by
teaching others how to do what we do.
So they don't have to reinvent it.
Yeah, no,
that makes total sense.
And I keep just calling it in general,the social media training program
(13:59):
for moms, but it's actually calledINsider social media training, right?
Yes.
Yes.
In fact, um, I should, I shouldprobably just say that INsiders, you
know, we go around with, wait a minute
why, why are these people called insiders?
Well, when people enrolled in ourprogram, we felt like trainees, my
air quotes, you know, trainees felt solimited and Grads it felt too final.
(14:19):
So that's where we came up with insidersbecause we are work-life integrators.
We are Intrepid.
We are insightful, inspired, innovative.
You're a writer, Jen, you getwhere I'm going with my I N words.
Right, right.
That makes sense.
So, um, so that's the origin ofthe name and this training program.
We look at it as a premierprogram that offers the content.
(14:40):
Um, of a skillset, but we also havethe ongoing support that we feel is so
pivotal to making this something thatisn't just a one and done learn something
and never do anything with the training.
So I guess the, the way I woulddescribe it, it's a six week
program and it really focuses onthe services that a social media
manager can offer and how to deliver.
(15:01):
Because again, we do this work everyday, ourselves going back to the
client piece, how to get them withhow to keep them and with the ongoing
support that is the insider program.
This, um, this is somethingphilosophically I'm not, I didn't
want to create something that wastrained and release, like have a
nice life, good luck with everything.
Right.
(15:21):
So maybe grads felt so final, but Ialso didn't want to fill the world.
Lonely freelancers that can besuch an isolating existence.
So the goal with the insiders program,the ongoing support, having professional
development sessions, having eachother, you know, having that lifeline
for each other, but also for clients,you know, clients get pretty excited
(15:43):
to think, well, I have a social mediamanager she has a, a group that she can
go back to and get new ideas if needed.
That's a good point.
Yeah.
And now is the insider social mediatraining program, is it something
that women can do, like whilestill, maybe working somewhere else?
I love that about the career switchpodcast that you're so mindful of
that because it's unrealistic tosay, just stop your life as you know
(16:04):
it today and start something new.
Right.
And when you talk to meabout that economic's of it.
So, so my answer is definitely.
Definitely.
This is something that womencan do while working elsewhere.
We actually say this is forany mom anytime, anywhere.
And yeah, we teach live sessions eachweek, but sessions are recorded for that
whole on-demand access so that you can ofcourse go through them anytime at your.
(16:28):
That's awesome.
So if your only time is when you'regetting up in the middle of the
night to like nurse your baby, thenyou can actually complete some, some
training that has been recorded.
We can be productive anytime of day.
Don't we?
We can bethat way.
That's so cool.
And how does your program like helpwomen - and you kind of mentioned this
earlier, does your program help womenconnect with like potential social
media prospects or train them and howto like source their own client leads
(16:52):
so that, yes, Jennifer, thatwas something that, again,
philosophically I wanted to look at.
Ourselves as, as business owners,training, future business owners, and
you need to be able to find , close, andkeep their own portfolio of business.
So we, we have modules, we havesessions that are completely dedicated
(17:12):
to prospecting and to help ourinsiders, to be able to do that.
In fact of all of our sessions, weonly have one that is a two-parter and
it's prospecting and closing business.
Oh, okay.
So yeah.
It's, it's just one of the ways thatwe put our money, where our mouth
is, and we say, you know, we need to,of course train you to be able to do
this, but as a social media business,organically, Leads come our way and we
(17:37):
filter them off to our pool of INsiders.
Oh, nice.
Right now it's a veryhigh touch experience.
When I talk to a prospective client,I let them know I'm going to put my
matchmaker hat on and head to our pool ofinsiders and source the right candidate
or candidates based on a number of things.
So yeah, in short, ourprogram does provide.
Leads, you know, to the womenthat, that we so deeply believe
(18:00):
in because we trained them.
Right, right.
Yes.
And, um, and I look at, I look atour business, Jen as an ecosystem.
We need to train the women to becomesocial media managers, but then
connect them with the businessesthat are looking for their help.
So there's that, I don't knowif you're a visual person.
I think of those, those rotatingarrows showing us insiders and
the businesses that need them.
(18:20):
And I think it's so interesting becauseI mean, technically your students
could be competition to each other.
Right.
Cause they're all looking for social mediamanagement opportunities to freelance.
Do you find that that is an issue at all?
Or is it a pretty positive ecosystem?
So maybe instead of competition,it's more of a co-opetition
oh my gosh.
What a great word that is.
(18:41):
I have stolen that from somebody else.
So,
so, so Jenny when I explained ourtraining program to someone I had
known for years, they said, soyou're training your competitors.
So you hit the nail on the head.
These, these people are going to dowhat you do, the way you do it for
those same people, you do it for.
And the answer is yes.
(19:02):
There's enough of them out there.
Like there is enough business out therefor everybody, and again, it's moving
so fast and there's so many differentways that businesses need social
media marketing help that, that, yes.
I mean, we train a skill set that wealso deliver, but have not seen any sort
of whatever the opposite of abundances.
Right, right.
Yeah.
(19:23):
There's no limitation to the number ofbusinesses out there that need them.
And I'll tell you.
That with the, as I said,as the matchmaker heading
over to our pool of insight.
There is definitely acollaborative spirit.
There is no we'll wait, whoevergets it first because it's, Hey,
who has bandwidth right now?
(19:43):
Who genuinely vibes with this business?
There are also key criteria.
Like any client would havelike some clients care, what
time zone the person is on.
That makes sense.
Yeah.
And some, and some might say, you know, Iprefer someone with experience in X, Y, Z.
So it's, it's actually shaking outto, to be able to find the right fit
(20:04):
without any sort of competitive vibe.
That's so cool.
And what advice would you give tosomeone who's interested in building
a career in social media management?
The advice I would give any personinterested in building a career
in social media management wouldbe, do not disqualify yourself.
Hmm.
I think that resonates with us women inparticular, again, you're a career coach.
(20:27):
How many times do we see that?
If there's a job listed and there's 10criteria women feel we need to have 11
of the 10 criteria before you even apply.
Right?
So I would say that in general, this,this is such a learnable skill set,
and I know you are a big proponentof just getting going, like being
scrappy, just learn what you need to.
(20:48):
So I look at there's three qualities.
For anyone interested in this, in asocial media management job career,
you know, freelance opportunity.
And so I sum those up as.
One (20:59):
Are you creative?
You don't have to be, you know,some crazy illustrator, but someone
who is creative enough in spirit tobe able to think outside the box.
And that might mean visually,that might be in copyright.
That can be in a number ofdifferent avenues, but just
having a creative energy is a hugequality that can make you succeed.
(21:20):
Um, another quality would bebeing a clear communicator,
particularly in written form.
You blow me away, Jenny,, when youtalk about your, your three to four
books a year goal, I mean, I can, Ican crank out a blog post, but being
a writer is a, is a massive skills.
But you don't have to be a fullblown, you know, published author,
(21:40):
as long as you can write socialmedia posts, blog posts, again, a
business is hiring you to representthem in written form on social media.
So being a clear communicator in writtenform is a strong quality to have.
And the last thing I would sayis being social media sales.
So maybe having a working knowledge ofsocial media, I often say that the women
(22:02):
we train are not brand new to socialmedia, and that can be personally, you
know, the program is not for someonewho may not know the difference between
a Facebook page and a Facebook profile.
Yeah, you don't have to know how to doInstagram ads, but maybe you're someone
who purchased from an Instagram ad.
So just being social mediasavvy and having that working
(22:24):
knowledge, um, you know, oh yeah.
You know, I used to say, I use Pinterest.
You know, inspiration for house projectsor something, but I don't really know how
to make all the pin boards that's okay.
That's the working knowledge.
So those are the three qualitiesI'd say you need to be successful.
And my assumption too is you don't needto be familiar with every form of social
(22:44):
media, every social media platform.
I need to add that to the list.
You're exactly right to thedon't disqualify yourself.
If you say, oh, I know allof these networks except.
Tik TOK, like never been on Tik TOK.
Well, if you've watched anInstagram reel, you'll be able to
pick up tick tock pretty quickly.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And again, just the nature of itchanges so quickly and you know,
(23:05):
there'll be another network nextweek, next month, next year.
And that, that's kind of me that to workin an industry where that is not something
you have to hide or feel subpar over.
If you don't know every single networkwe like any professional, you know,
just, just being candid with a clientsaying that's not something I've
done, but I'm happy to look into it.
(23:26):
Get back with my team, you know, loopback and see what might be an option.
So yeah.
So thank you for bringing that up.
Yeah, of course.
And not every platform works for.
Client or for their client's customers,if that makes sense, like you may not find
those specific customers on that platform.
So even, you know, a discussion to behaving with them, but yeah, that's cool.
Yeah.
And if you, if you find yourselfas a social media professional
(23:47):
gravitating towards a coupleof networks, It's your call.
If you decide to maybe only offerservices on those networks, you
know, the sky's the limit withwhat you choose to specialize in.
Um, there's plenty of social mediaprofessionals that, um, may specialize
in more of the video creation andgravitate towards Insta or TikTok but
to know LinkedIn inside and out.
(24:07):
I mean, if that's something thatyou gravitate towards as well.
You could certainly go down that path.
Yeah.
That makes total sense.Now, wherecan we learn more about, Hay
There Social Media and the INsidersocial media training program
. Thank you for asking.
So our main website it's Hay ThereSocial Media.com and it's H-A-Y
like my last name, our main website.
We'll have any informationabout the program.
(24:29):
Iwould suggest anyone that wantsto know more than what the website
tells you is just contact us.
There's myself.
I'm happy to schedule a call a zoom.
Um, I do have a team there's othergals that have been through the
program that you could speak with.
So whether you shoot me a quick emailor head to the site and scour around,
please do not hesitate to reachout and I would be happy to speak.
(24:50):
That's great.
Well, thank you so muchfor coming on the show.
Oh, well, thank you, Jenny.
I'm so excited to have the opportunity.
What a great interview.
I really appreciated learningmore about Emily's insider social
media training program and howit's tailored towards business.
Well, I'm sure there are alot of programs out there.
I think the thing that stands outto me from this program is the
(25:11):
continuation of a community evenafter you complete the training
program, that's a really big deal.
Trust me as somebody who owns a businesswhere I'm the only employee, it can be
difficult to find a supportive network.
So the fact that Emily's programprovides that is really great.
All right.
That's our show for today.
I hope you enjoyed today'sinterview with Emily.
(25:31):
Join me next time for a soloshow on how to avoid burnout
as a multi-passionate creator.
Until then go find out.
Thanks for listening to the show.
I hope the information helps youtackle your own career switch goals.
You can let me know what you saw of theshow by messaging me on Instagram at go
(25:53):
find out career switch or commenting onone of my TikToks at ever growth coach.
That's it for today now go find out.
Welcome to go find outthe career switch podcast.
I'm Jennifer Jelliff-Russell,author,career, coach, and speaker bringing you
actionable ideas from knowledgeable guestson how to successfully kickyour fears to
the curb to go after your career goals,you can find more episodes by visiting.
Go find out podcast.com.
Enjoy the show and go find out.
(00:27):
Welcome back to go find outthe career switch podcast.
I'm your host, Jennifer, Jelliff-Russell.
And this is episode number 67.
On today's show.
I'll be interviewing Emily A.
Hay about her journey of foundingHay There, Social Media and
how she created a social mediatraining program for busy moms.
But first let's jumpto my personal update.
(00:50):
Hello, career switchers.
I don't know if it's like been the fullmoon or what, but I have felt pulled
in a million different directions withtech related creative projects lately.
I've really had to make an effortto write my creative ideas down
in order to get back to focusingon the projects that I still have.
I am still working on completing bookfour in the Artemis necklace series,
(01:12):
but I am almost finished with that.
Part of the problem is thatafter NaNoWriMo ended, I actually
stopped tracking my dailyword count on that project.
And that led me to skipping out onwriting completely on some days.
And then I just stopped writing at allover the holidays, which is not great.
So to get myself refocused, I havecreated a daily word count goal and
jumped back onto NaNoWriMo where Ican track my word count and track my.
(01:35):
For some reason doing that really seemsto help me hold myself accountable.
And that way actuallyhit my writing goals.
So hopefully I finish soon.
I've also been trying outa new audio editing tool.
That's specifically for podcasts.
It's called Descript.
And so far I'm kind of in love with it.
I need to watch a few tutorials onhow to like maximize its potential.
(01:56):
But so far I have reallyimpressed by what it can.
And this is not a promofor anything like that.
Don't worry.
listen I'm not an affiliateor anything with them.
Um, so when you uploadthe audio toDescript, it
automatically transcribes it.
And then, and this isthe really cool part.
You can literally go through thattranscription and delete the filler words
or places where you flubbed the line.
(02:18):
And by deleting the actual wordfrom the transcription, it deletes
the audio associated with that.
It's kind of crazy.
It's really neat.
Um, I know I am totally nerding out overit, but if I can get better at using
it, then it could save me so much timeon the editing side and even better.
If I can learn to use it for editingvideo, then maybe I could add video to
(02:39):
this podcast, but I will try not to gettoo far ahead of myself here and the
career switch side of my personal updates.
I completed a LinkedInlearning certification for
learning and development.
It took about eight hours.
So it wasn't terrible.
I also completed a few otherLinkedIn learning courses just to
see what I might be interested inpursuing on sort of the tech side.
And once I did that, I had a muchbetter idea of what I'm actually really
(03:02):
interested in and what I want to pursuemore official education and training.
So because I was able to complete somuch in that free one month time period,
I ended up actually going ahead andcanceling my premium subscription to
LinkedIn since I don't think that I'lldo any more unofficial courses on there.
So really I completed about 20 courses,including the eight hour course during my
(03:22):
one month free trial of LinkedIn learning.
In my estimation, I thought thatwas really useful for giving me an
opportunity to check out what I like.
And that way I can take alittle bit deeper into the
topics that really intrigued me.
And while a LinkedIn learning course ortwo can be really helpful on my resume,
the courses aren't going to providethat hands-on training that will help
me actually land a role in a new field.
(03:45):
So next will be either a MicroMastersfrom the university of Maryland
via EdX or I'll pursue UX UI designthrough the Avocademy bootcamp.
I'm honestly really leaning towardsthe Avocademy bootcamp at this point,
because it seems really interesting.
I'll keep you guys posted, butfor now, let's go ahead and jump
into the interview with Emily A.
(04:06):
Hay.
Today, I'm speaking with Emily A.
Hay , who founded Hay There socialmedia, a company that delivers
social media marketing servicesto local and national business.
She also started a six week socialmedia training program for busy moms
who need more flexible employment.
And that's kind of whatwe'll be focusing on today.
So welcome to the show today, Emily.
(04:28):
Thank you, Jen.
I'm so excited to be here.
Yeah, I'm super stokedto be chatting with you.
And before we kind of dive into the socialmedia training program, I would love to
hear like what led you to actually startyour company, Hay There Social Meda
. Gosh, thank you for the question.
And again, just so excited to talkto your career switchers today.
This will be so fun.
When I think about what led me tostart, Hay There, I, I go back to a
(04:50):
story that starts with a girl, a girlthat had an entrepreneurial spirit
and a desire to always be a mom.
So I grew up with two parents thatworked 9 to 5, and my mom worked
because she had to, it was, it wasjust part of our family's economics.
So my, my parents alwaysencouraged me to find my talents
that I could use professional.
(05:12):
But they didn't have anyentrepreneurial experience to expose
me to, or even helped me develop.
So I went to marketing, Iwent to college for marketing
marketing was my field of study.
And I worked in sales.
You know, didn't know what marketingmeant, so first job out of college
got into sales and it was inthat chapter of working in sales
that I entered corporate America.
(05:34):
So it was through that job that.
I was exposed to whatworking mom life was like.
I was not a mom at the time.
Um, but again, seeing, seeing colleagues,seeing people that had climbed the
ranks in sales, Women that became moms.
And so I just really saw that therewas such minimal accommodation
(05:56):
for women who had a baby.
Um, I mean, we we're in the, in thethroes of that right now, but six weeks
off daycare, 40 hours a week, rinseand repeat with each child you had.
And so that just wasn't afit with my entrepreneurial
spirit or desire to be a mom.
So I knew I needed tofind a way to work from.
Nice.
So fast forward to 2009 and social mediabecame my opportunity to freelance.
(06:22):
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
So I started doing social media marketingfor small to medium sized businesses.
I started with a brick andmortar business that was spending
money on yellow page ads.
Yes.
They said, okay, wellhere's what we're spending.
What can you do to get us onthis thing called Facebook?
And we'll just pay youinstead.
(06:42):
Um, they were my first client and I slowlytook on more clients and built a team of
moms who worked flexibly on their terms.
And we've been helping businesses buildtheir digital footprint on social media.
That's so cool.
And there's so many things about that.
Like 2009, you know, like you weresaying, like social media was kind of
just burgeoning and really taking off.
(07:04):
And now there are so many different socialmedia platforms that one could potentially
market their services on that theycould use somebody to assist them with.
And I can only see that growingto be honest, you know, with.
You know, companies likeFacebook Meta, right.
Um, starting their own metaverse Ican only imagine the opportunities
that are going to kind of come fromthat for more, you know, social
(07:27):
media, marketing, uh, positions.
Absolutely.
I feel like you and I do not evenneed to convince any listeners that
social media is here, is growingand evolving and it changes fast.
Absolutely.
And so to kind of shift backto starting your company, did
you, did you have any like fearswhen you first went to start it?
Yes.
I mean, tons.
(07:48):
Um, I, you know, when I talk aboutstarting as a freelancer, I mean, I look
at that as almost a, uh, a chapter right.
Fast forwarding to 2019.
I really just before thepandemic, it just got clarity that
there was even a next chapter.
So, um, with the training program.
So I guess fears when starting thecompany, I don't know about you, Jenny,
but I'm someone who likes to haveall the answers before I get going.
(08:11):
Yes, yes, yes.
Which doesn't really jivewith an entrepreneur.
So that always held me back as a fear.
And I had constantly askedmyself, was I doing it right?
You know, air quotes, wasn't doing this.
Right, right.
And professionally from, um, you know,seeing my parents to being a child of the
eighties, growing up college, everything,hearing work-life balance, I felt like
(08:34):
that was the litmus test for doing your,your career or your profession correctly.
And it was through, um, starting mycompany that work-life integration
at least freed me from those spheres.
So yes, tons of fears.
Yeah.
And do you feel like that you have anyspecific habits that have helped you
to be successful with your business orjust in social media management overall?
(08:57):
That's such a great question, becauseagain, you go from fear as, and you
think, well, what if you really hadto distill down what makes you know,
your path easier or more successful?
I feel like I have.
And I weave these into, youknow, what we teach women today.
But the first thing I would justsay is never assume a prospective
(09:17):
client knows how you can help them.
So whatever business you do, whetheryou're a writer, whether you're a
social media marketer, whether you're anaccountant, you are the expert, right.
And it's not your prospective clients jobto understand what you do as well as you,
as well as you know, and I think so manyexperts and again, thinking of freelancers
(09:38):
in particular, you're out there and you'relike, I'm confident I know what I'm doing.
And anyone should bethrilled to work with me.
I find sometimes the first hurdle andwhat can get you to success is just
bringing it back to not assuming thatthat business knows how you can help them.
And I'll tell you, Jen, one ofthe, one of the documents that I
have literally used since 2009 is agood old fashioned menu of service.
(10:02):
Hmm.
Okay.
Yeah, because again, it just breaks itdown into you have a prospective client
and they, you know, you can help them.
They're interested in hearing how you canhelp them, but now you need to have this
knowledge transfer and generally a menuof services could just get a conversation
going and it can go from there.
That's one of the things I would sayhas been really helpful to success.
(10:24):
Um, the other thing I would add isbeing an extra miler and you can, you
can file this under your value system.
You can file this under, youknow, your personality, but.
Being an extra miler is somethingthat to me is pivotal with success
because it's so much easier to keepa current client than find a new one.
That's true.
Yeah.
That's, that's a sales adage.
(10:44):
That's that's, you know, tried andtrue in business, but there's literally
dollars and cents attached to that.
It's cheaper to keep a current clientthan go out and find a new one.
So if you are the extra miler and again,thinking of a freelancer, you have
a project, you have a scope of work.
You have quoted a fee.
It's very easy to force yourselfto always stay in those bounds.
(11:07):
Um, and I'm not suggesting that you shouldabuse those boundaries or just do whatever
is needed at any time all the time.
But when you're an extra miler and youjust do what's needed at the moment that
client is going to come back to you overand over and over again, and they're
going to give you more of their share ofwallet and they're going to refer you.
(11:27):
And I look back over 10 yearsof business and saying, huh, I
never really had to source leads.
And I would just casuallysay, we're a word of mouth.
What's because we were extra milers.
That's awesome.
And you're totally right, because I havefound that with, you know, I have a career
coaching and resume writing service.
And even when I wasworking for atraditional employer, when I left
there, some of my clients followed meand were willing to pay for services
(11:50):
that had been previously free becausethey knew what I brought to the table.
So you're totally right about that.
Hearing that story.
I mean that, that's also hingedon the relationship you built with
them, you know, the quality of yourwork and that they kept you in.
Um, w we'll often joke that if aclient, depending on your field of
business, you know, if they ask youto do something that's outside of
your expertise at first, you shouldpat yourself on the back because they
(12:13):
thought of you and then it comes downto figuring out if it's the right fit.
But yes, it's a win for any,any freelance professional.
If the client comes toyou and asks for more.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, this, I, I love your, your two likerecommendations for being successful.
I think those are really great.
When you, when you actually started,Hay There, social media, did you have
(12:33):
plans to start the social media trainingprogram for moms or was that kind of
something that actually came about later?
That's a fun question that,that allows me to, to go back
into the subconscious right.
And say like, well, I don't know, youknow, did I, and I guess, um, since,
since we started our conversationabout, you know, Everything shapes us
when we're younger, I've always beensomeone who was willing to invent
(12:56):
the wheel, but not reinvent it.
I get very frustrated at timeswhen it comes to wait a minute,
I've already thought this through.
I've already put this together.
Why am I reinventing the wheel?
So when I started, Hay There,I thought about how it would
be amazing to create systems.
That could someday be leveragedin ways that I couldn't quite see.
And I think that's something alot of freelance professionals
(13:17):
resonate with of getting, youknow, your businesses in your head.
And if you can, if you can systematize.
Um, yes, we have tools today thatliterally allow you to automate things,
but I remember thinking, okay, I willput in the work and I will invent the
wheel, but I will not reinvent it.
So mixing that with really at my core,my motivation to help women who want
to work flexibly, but don't know how.
(13:38):
I suppose the training has alwaysbeen subconsciously driving my
work so that maybe we consider, Heythere, social media, the agency is
inventing the wheel and now I feelthat I'm doing my life's work by
teaching others how to do what we do.
So they don't have to reinvent it.
Yeah, no,
that makes total sense.
And I keep just calling it in general,the social media training program
(13:59):
for moms, but it's actually calledINsider social media training, right?
Yes.
Yes.
In fact, um, I should, I shouldprobably just say that INsiders, you
know, we go around with, wait a minute
why, why are these people called insiders?
Well, when people enrolled in ourprogram, we felt like trainees, my
air quotes, you know, trainees felt solimited and Grads it felt too final.
(14:19):
So that's where we came up with insidersbecause we are work-life integrators.
We are Intrepid.
We are insightful, inspired, innovative.
You're a writer, Jen, you getwhere I'm going with my I N words.
Right, right.
That makes sense.
So, um, so that's the origin ofthe name and this training program.
We look at it as a premierprogram that offers the content.
(14:40):
Um, of a skillset, but we also havethe ongoing support that we feel is so
pivotal to making this something thatisn't just a one and done learn something
and never do anything with the training.
So I guess the, the way I woulddescribe it, it's a six week
program and it really focuses onthe services that a social media
manager can offer and how to deliver.
(15:01):
Because again, we do this work everyday, ourselves going back to the
client piece, how to get them withhow to keep them and with the ongoing
support that is the insider program.
This, um, this is somethingphilosophically I'm not, I didn't
want to create something that wastrained and release, like have a
nice life, good luck with everything.
Right.
(15:21):
So maybe grads felt so final, but Ialso didn't want to fill the world.
Lonely freelancers that can besuch an isolating existence.
So the goal with the insiders program,the ongoing support, having professional
development sessions, having eachother, you know, having that lifeline
for each other, but also for clients,you know, clients get pretty excited
(15:43):
to think, well, I have a social mediamanager she has a, a group that she can
go back to and get new ideas if needed.
That's a good point.
Yeah.
And now is the insider social mediatraining program, is it something
that women can do, like whilestill, maybe working somewhere else?
I love that about the career switchpodcast that you're so mindful of
that because it's unrealistic tosay, just stop your life as you know
(16:04):
it today and start something new.
Right.
And when you talk to meabout that economic's of it.
So, so my answer is definitely.
Definitely.
This is something that womencan do while working elsewhere.
We actually say this is forany mom anytime, anywhere.
And yeah, we teach live sessions eachweek, but sessions are recorded for that
whole on-demand access so that you can ofcourse go through them anytime at your.
(16:28):
That's awesome.
So if your only time is when you'regetting up in the middle of the
night to like nurse your baby, thenyou can actually complete some, some
training that has been recorded.
We can be productive anytime of day.
Don't we?
We can bethat way.
That's so cool.
And how does your program like helpwomen - and you kind of mentioned this
earlier, does your program help womenconnect with like potential social
media prospects or train them and howto like source their own client leads
(16:52):
so that, yes, Jennifer, thatwas something that, again,
philosophically I wanted to look at.
Ourselves as, as business owners,training, future business owners, and
you need to be able to find , close, andkeep their own portfolio of business.
So we, we have modules, we havesessions that are completely dedicated
(17:12):
to prospecting and to help ourinsiders, to be able to do that.
In fact of all of our sessions, weonly have one that is a two-parter and
it's prospecting and closing business.
Oh, okay.
So yeah.
It's, it's just one of the ways thatwe put our money, where our mouth
is, and we say, you know, we need to,of course train you to be able to do
this, but as a social media business,organically, Leads come our way and we
(17:37):
filter them off to our pool of INsiders.
Oh, nice.
Right now it's a veryhigh touch experience.
When I talk to a prospective client,I let them know I'm going to put my
matchmaker hat on and head to our pool ofinsiders and source the right candidate
or candidates based on a number of things.
So yeah, in short, ourprogram does provide.
Leads, you know, to the womenthat, that we so deeply believe
(18:00):
in because we trained them.
Right, right.
Yes.
And, um, and I look at, I look atour business, Jen as an ecosystem.
We need to train the women to becomesocial media managers, but then
connect them with the businessesthat are looking for their help.
So there's that, I don't knowif you're a visual person.
I think of those, those rotatingarrows showing us insiders and
the businesses that need them.
(18:20):
And I think it's so interesting becauseI mean, technically your students
could be competition to each other.
Right.
Cause they're all looking for social mediamanagement opportunities to freelance.
Do you find that that is an issue at all?
Or is it a pretty positive ecosystem?
So maybe instead of competition,it's more of a co-opetition
oh my gosh.
What a great word that is.
(18:41):
I have stolen that from somebody else.
So,
so, so Jenny when I explained ourtraining program to someone I had
known for years, they said, soyou're training your competitors.
So you hit the nail on the head.
These, these people are going to dowhat you do, the way you do it for
those same people, you do it for.
And the answer is yes.
(19:02):
There's enough of them out there.
Like there is enough business out therefor everybody, and again, it's moving
so fast and there's so many differentways that businesses need social
media marketing help that, that, yes.
I mean, we train a skill set that wealso deliver, but have not seen any sort
of whatever the opposite of abundances.
Right, right.
Yeah.
(19:23):
There's no limitation to the number ofbusinesses out there that need them.
And I'll tell you.
That with the, as I said,as the matchmaker heading
over to our pool of insight.
There is definitely acollaborative spirit.
There is no we'll wait, whoevergets it first because it's, Hey,
who has bandwidth right now?
(19:43):
Who genuinely vibes with this business?
There are also key criteria.
Like any client would havelike some clients care, what
time zone the person is on.
That makes sense.
Yeah.
And some, and some might say, you know, Iprefer someone with experience in X, Y, Z.
So it's, it's actually shaking outto, to be able to find the right fit
(20:04):
without any sort of competitive vibe.
That's so cool.
And what advice would you give tosomeone who's interested in building
a career in social media management?
The advice I would give any personinterested in building a career
in social media management wouldbe, do not disqualify yourself.
Hmm.
I think that resonates with us women inparticular, again, you're a career coach.
(20:27):
How many times do we see that?
If there's a job listed and there's 10criteria women feel we need to have 11
of the 10 criteria before you even apply.
Right?
So I would say that in general, this,this is such a learnable skill set,
and I know you are a big proponentof just getting going, like being
scrappy, just learn what you need to.
(20:48):
So I look at there's three qualities.
For anyone interested in this, in asocial media management job career,
you know, freelance opportunity.
And so I sum those up as.
One (20:59):
Are you creative?
You don't have to be, you know,some crazy illustrator, but someone
who is creative enough in spirit tobe able to think outside the box.
And that might mean visually,that might be in copyright.
That can be in a number ofdifferent avenues, but just
having a creative energy is a hugequality that can make you succeed.
(21:20):
Um, another quality would bebeing a clear communicator,
particularly in written form.
You blow me away, Jenny,, when youtalk about your, your three to four
books a year goal, I mean, I can, Ican crank out a blog post, but being
a writer is a, is a massive skills.
But you don't have to be a fullblown, you know, published author,
(21:40):
as long as you can write socialmedia posts, blog posts, again, a
business is hiring you to representthem in written form on social media.
So being a clear communicator in writtenform is a strong quality to have.
And the last thing I would sayis being social media sales.
So maybe having a working knowledge ofsocial media, I often say that the women
(22:02):
we train are not brand new to socialmedia, and that can be personally, you
know, the program is not for someonewho may not know the difference between
a Facebook page and a Facebook profile.
Yeah, you don't have to know how to doInstagram ads, but maybe you're someone
who purchased from an Instagram ad.
So just being social mediasavvy and having that working
(22:24):
knowledge, um, you know, oh yeah.
You know, I used to say, I use Pinterest.
You know, inspiration for house projectsor something, but I don't really know how
to make all the pin boards that's okay.
That's the working knowledge.
So those are the three qualitiesI'd say you need to be successful.
And my assumption too is you don't needto be familiar with every form of social
(22:44):
media, every social media platform.
I need to add that to the list.
You're exactly right to thedon't disqualify yourself.
If you say, oh, I know allof these networks except.
Tik TOK, like never been on Tik TOK.
Well, if you've watched anInstagram reel, you'll be able to
pick up tick tock pretty quickly.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And again, just the nature of itchanges so quickly and you know,
(23:05):
there'll be another network nextweek, next month, next year.
And that, that's kind of me that to workin an industry where that is not something
you have to hide or feel subpar over.
If you don't know every single networkwe like any professional, you know,
just, just being candid with a clientsaying that's not something I've
done, but I'm happy to look into it.
(23:26):
Get back with my team, you know, loopback and see what might be an option.
So yeah.
So thank you for bringing that up.
Yeah, of course.
And not every platform works for.
Client or for their client's customers,if that makes sense, like you may not find
those specific customers on that platform.
So even, you know, a discussion to behaving with them, but yeah, that's cool.
Yeah.
And if you, if you find yourselfas a social media professional
(23:47):
gravitating towards a coupleof networks, It's your call.
If you decide to maybe only offerservices on those networks, you
know, the sky's the limit withwhat you choose to specialize in.
Um, there's plenty of social mediaprofessionals that, um, may specialize
in more of the video creation andgravitate towards Insta or TikTok but
to know LinkedIn inside and out.
(24:07):
I mean, if that's something thatyou gravitate towards as well.
You could certainly go down that path.
Yeah.
That makes total sense.Now, wherecan we learn more about, Hay
There Social Media and the INsidersocial media training program
. Thank you for asking.
So our main website it's Hay ThereSocial Media.com and it's H-A-Y
like my last name, our main website.
We'll have any informationabout the program.
(24:29):
Iwould suggest anyone that wantsto know more than what the website
tells you is just contact us.
There's myself.
I'm happy to schedule a call a zoom.
Um, I do have a team there's othergals that have been through the
program that you could speak with.
So whether you shoot me a quick emailor head to the site and scour around,
please do not hesitate to reachout and I would be happy to speak.
(24:50):
That's great.
Well, thank you so muchfor coming on the show.
Oh, well, thank you, Jenny.
I'm so excited to have the opportunity.
What a great interview.
I really appreciated learningmore about Emily's insider social
media training program and howit's tailored towards business.
Well, I'm sure there are alot of programs out there.
I think the thing that stands outto me from this program is the
(25:11):
continuation of a community evenafter you complete the training
program, that's a really big deal.
Trust me as somebody who owns a businesswhere I'm the only employee, it can be
difficult to find a supportive network.
So the fact that Emily's programprovides that is really great.
All right.
That's our show for today.
I hope you enjoyed today'sinterview with Emily.
(25:31):
Join me next time for a soloshow on how to avoid burnout
as a multi-passionate creator.
Until then go find out.
Thanks for listening to the show.
I hope the information helps youtackle your own career switch goals.
You can let me know what you saw of theshow by messaging me on Instagram at go
(25:53):
find out career switch or commenting onone of my TikToks at ever growth coach.
That's it for today now go find out.
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