June 23, 2021 • 43 mins
Being a working mom is very demanding, some have partners some of \ do not which can make things difficult, but if you find your community and resources you'll be on the way to being a #mompreneur ? This week I speak with Odalys Quevedo the founding Mother of Virtual Mom Collective, Board Member of the Women for Success Nonprofit, Co-Owner of Art Spark Design, and Mom Boss!
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About Odalys
Odalys Quevedo is a wife and mother of 2, living in Miami, FL. As one of the Founding Mothers of Virtual Mom Collective (VMC), she empowers moms and women at home, in business, and beyond during #thisnewnormal. She also sits on the Board of the Women for Success Nonprofit working to create generational change and helping women define success on their own terms. She's also a branded copywriter and online written content expert. As Co-Owner of Art Spark Design, she has helped ignite countless small businesses for online success. Connect with her on Instagram at @odalysqwriter!
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For more information
https://www.odalysqwriter.com/
https://www.instagram.com/odalysqwriter/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/odalys-quevedo
https://www.facebook.com/odalysqwriter/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Miss Pinup Miami (00:04):
Good day and welcome back to the pimp podcast
where we talk about moderntopics with vintage fullier. I'm
your host, Pinup Miami. And Iwant to say if it is your first
time listening, I hope you stickaround. And if you're a
returning listener, I reallywant to say thank you. Thank you
so much. If you heard my lastepisode, you truly you guys mean
(00:25):
the world to me. And Iappreciate the support and
everything. And as the worldkeeps opening up, I'm hoping to
have more events to travel tomeet some of you more Zoo
locations for pennants at thezoo. I'm just so excited for
what the future holds. And youknow, nothing can be as worse as
last year. So and I know a lotof us have like different
(00:49):
lifestyles. So today. Oh, beforeI get started, make sure to
follow the pin podcast onInstagram at the pin podcast
official. And if you ever haveany questions or ideas for the
show, make sure to text me at183348 pin up. It goes directly
to me. I can answer anyquestions podcast related pinup
related life related. I'm not apsychic. So no psychics. But
(01:15):
today I have a very specialguest. She was actually the
reason why I started my YouTube,I had the courage to start my
YouTube channel. She is abeautiful person inside and out.
I met her through the bloggerunion here in South Florida. If
you guys are following me, I wasreally happy that I went beauty
blogger of 2019 there was donefor 2020. So I'm gonna
(01:38):
officially say that I am alsothe blogger of 2020. Just cuz
and so it is my pleasure tointroduce a Dallas she is the
founding mother of the virtualmom collective. She's a board
member of the women for successnonprofit, and co owner of art
(01:58):
spark design and a mom boss. SoOh, Dad, it's it's such a
pleasure to have you. Welcome.
Odalys (02:06):
Thank you. I'm so happy to be here. I want to say since
we're starting recording, I dohave the two kids at home. My
husband's watching them. So Iapologize for any background
noise you may hear at any point.
Miss Pinup Miami (02:20):
Well, that's the point. This conversation
even this episode is calledhashtag mom. I can't even
pronounce it. But mypartnership, because I'm not a
mom. I mean, I'm a dog, Mom, buthaving children is different,
and you're raising another life.
So that's why I wanted to I'm soexcited to have you because
you're bringing a differentaspect to like being an
entrepreneur, but also a mom hasa big duty. I mean, big job. So,
(02:43):
you know. So tell us a littlebit about you. Before we
Odalys (02:51):
Okay, so I Gosh, hold on anybody take a deep breath.
Okay, so I do a lot. Um, I amOh, Dallas gevey though, and I
have been blogging for a while.
As a Dallas q writer, I amcurrently on a hiatus, a two
year hiatus actually, from theblog life, but I will be
(03:14):
restarting it soon. But that'show we met. I want to start
there, right where you and Imet, right? Because that's where
my blogging journey actuallybegan. That was probably my
like, third or fourth, um,blogger event that I went to.
And I was like, I lost a littlepuppy at that point. Not really
(03:34):
sure what I was gonna do with mylife. I had finished my master's
degree. I'm pretty pretty soonbefore that meetup and so I
realized that psychology eventhough I love doing therapy with
my clients was not going to be avery good option for me, in
(03:55):
terms of a career because when Istarted working would be when
kids would be out of school.
Because I was working a lot withchildren. Um, I would see adults
as well for psychotherapy, butit was, it was mostly kids and I
(04:16):
would see them from three tosometimes six or seven in the
evening, I would see clients.
Um, so I thought to myself, wow,seven o'clock is usually a
child's bedtime. So I'm notgoing to be able to see my
daughter. Um, so I was thinking,what could I do? What could I
do? I spent a couple yearsblogging thinking, um, what
what's a good career that Iwould love and also, I would set
(04:42):
a good example for my daughter,um, that I pursued a career that
I love, but I wasn't reallysure. And then at a blogger
event, I remember Joanna, shewas amazing. She saw how I was
like, kind of lost and she said,You You have to take your skills
and your talents. And you haveto use that to kind of create a
(05:03):
job that you love. And Ithought, well, I love writing.
I've loved it since I was inthird grade, I won like a
writing competition in my class,I got best essays. So I was
like, you know, I never reallywant anything after that. But
that was like my big, yourhighlight. That was my big win,
(05:25):
right? In terms of writing. So,um, I have put it aside for a
long time because I was doingpsychology and I even got the
master. So, um, yeah, I am like,you know what, let me go back to
that love that I had back inthird grade for writing. And I
always wrote like, essays thatand I love them, like, I put my
(05:48):
everything into writing. Sothat's when I decided, Okay, let
me try writing for clients. Andthat's how I started my career
as a copywriter. I yeah, I waslike, you know, what, I haven't
written for myself all thistime. Let me try writing for
other people. And I found thatit is so much easier to, to talk
(06:12):
about other people and make themsound amazing. But it's hard for
us to do it for ourselves,right? Yes. Yeah. So. So now
I've been building up theconfidence slowly, and I'm going
to be writing a book soon. Ialready started interviewing
boss moms. And yeah, I'minterviewing boss, moms, I only
(06:38):
have one interview up, but Ihave another one I'm working on.
And I'm gonna like, you know,reintroduce the mom boss series
on my blog, which is Oh, Dallas,q writer calm. So that's
something big that I'm workingon this year that I find that no
matter how much experience Iget, and how much of a badass I
(06:59):
actually am, I still getimposter syndrome. Right? So
that is, right, right. Like, Iknow, you, Jennifer. I know. So
you're like the most modestperson. And that's part of what
I love about you. So I know thatimposter syndrome hits hard
because we're very similar withthat. We're just very humble. So
(07:21):
yeah, um, so yeah, so I strugglewith that. But I've gotten to
the point where like, Hey, I'mowning that I'm a badass, and
I'm gonna write this book, andit's gonna happen. And part of
what motivates me is my kids.
Um, yeah, they. When my daughterwas born, I was like, man, I
(07:43):
have to be, like, set an exampleof what a strong woman is like.
And so that's why I'm helpingother women also succeed in
business. with women forsuccess, give me one second.
Sorry. So um, so yeah, withwomen for success, nonprofit,
(08:05):
we, we basically provideworkshops, ie mentorship,
Miss Pinup Miami (08:12):
grants, things like that for women in business
to succeed. And I know you, weinvited you to an event and
amazing group of women there.
And it's all types of women indifferent industries. And
they're really all about like,they don't stay to themselves.
Like they really are talking toeach other up. I felt so
welcome, like people weretalking to me. Or maybe they see
(08:35):
me what somebody there, listenedto my podcast and knew who I was
from my podcast, that I forgother name, but that was pretty
cool.
Odalys (08:44):
Yeah, yeah. See, they're all and just surrounding
yourself with these strongbadass women. Yeah, that was
like one of the first steps forme to get into my whole career
phase was to surround myselfwith people that are as
motivated to succeed, whetherit's in blogging, or business or
(09:06):
whatever it is, just surroundingyourself with those people that
have that same drive and thesame passion. And so that's what
women for successes. We're,we're not just a nonprofit, or a
community as well. So we're onInstagram, we have events,
monthly webinars, we have a hugeconference always in May. So you
(09:29):
know, I hope I helped put allthat together. I do their
website, because that's what Ido with my husband at artsmark
design. My husband's the webdesigner,
Miss Pinup Miami (09:37):
together,
Odalys (09:38):
right, it all just like comes full circle. So he does
the websites and I do the copy.
And we work as a team. And thenthe pandemic hit. What was the
pen? Sorry, I know it's yourpodcast, but what was the
pandemic like for you when ithit?
Miss Pinup Miami (09:57):
It just stopped everything that I ever
did. Was it events, so I had noevents, um, it was just
devastating personally, um, alot of things changed in my
life, I ended up getting a newjob, I ended up having to change
the way I saw things. So like,since I was always in in live
events, I had to go morevirtual, which led me to this
(10:20):
podcast. And so it's just tryingto adapt.
Odalys (10:25):
Exactly. Oh, my gosh, that is exactly the experience
that I had when we started theVMC. My friends in East Castro,
we had we had connected a fewmonths before because I had
interviewed her for my mom bossseries on my blog. And so we
(10:45):
were texting back and forthtalking. Sorry, not texting,
Facebook messaging,
Miss Pinup Miami (10:51):
texts anymore.
Right Facebook messaging,because that's like the thing
now. So fading into DMS onInstagram.
Odalys (11:00):
Exactly. So, um, she slid into my DMS and was like,
hey, I want to talk to you. Sowe got on a phone call. And
she's like, Look, Ihave this awesome idea about a
mom community, we're gonna beisolated, we're not going to be
able to get together with ourfriends for playdates or for
brunches, mom's love to brunch.
(11:20):
So she was feeling thatisolation. Um, and I was too, we
were all scared. We didn't knowwhat was going to happen. People
were getting sick. It was it wasjust an awful time of
uncertainty. And like you said,we had to adapt. Somehow we had
to get that mommy time, and thatinteraction with other moms in
(11:43):
some way. So that's why westarted we got together, we
started the virtual momcollective. And it's a community
that was started during thepandemic. But it extends beyond
that. Our mission is to empowerand uplift the working and stay
at home mom during hashtag thisnew normal, because no matter
(12:08):
how back to normal things get westill have been impacted right
by 2020. And everything thathappened. So we know how
important creating a communityis, but also having virtual
access to that socialinteraction.
Miss Pinup Miami (12:24):
You saw because people like even myself,
when you go somewhere, it'slike, yes, I'm vaccinated. Do I
wear a mask? If people are notwearing? It's like that
confusion state. I feel likewe're all in that. It's like,
what is the right thing to do?
Odalys (12:38):
Some, huh? And it also helps to get to know people
outside of your immediatecircle, right? Yes, a lot of
times we we like meet someoneand they're like, Oh, yeah, I
know. so and so. And there'slike three degrees of
separation, right? That thedegrees of separation that they
talk about. But with virtualmonk collective, we've made
(13:00):
connections with women inLondon, England, we've made
connections with Africa. Someonelives in Africa. I think it was
Morocco. Um, yeah. So we've hadmoms from all over the world
that have met us throughInstagram, social media
(13:20):
channels, we talk on a Facebookgroup that we have for virtual
non collective so
Miss Pinup Miami (13:27):
there's no way to say yeah, no, I know, that is
the virtual mom collective. Butone of the first questions I
asked was like, Can I come up?
I'm not a mom. And it was yes.
And I was very welcomed. Ihaven't gone yet. attended. But
I, every time I see your events,and I was like, I want to go and
then I know that I just wantedto put that out there because of
the sounds so interesting. Youcould always learn and, you
(13:51):
know, that was my firstquestion. I asked whoever DM me
the first time I was like, can Igo? I'm not a mom.
Odalys (13:56):
Yeah, of course, our events are open to everybody.
It's open to we have a thingthat we say Denise and I it's
open to moms moms to be andsupporters of moms. So yeah, so
anyone who wants to come um, andjust like me, other women that
are just badass cuz we have a wehave a really big supporter
(14:21):
Lauren Marcano of women forsuccess. She's the founder.
She's one of our biggestsupporters of virtual mom
collective. She's not thetraditional mom. She's a
business mom. So she has Oh,what's the difference? Okay, the
differences no dirty diapers.
The hours are about the same.
(14:45):
Because I know that starting outmy business I spent a lot of
late nights so I imagine I'm mybusiness moms also have to put
in those long hours. So um,yeah. It's, it's still I feel
like it's just as rewardingthough and in different ways.
(15:06):
But yeah, anyone, anyone who's amom is welcome and supporters of
moms and just anyone who wantsto come and hang out with some
cool women is welcome at theVMC.
Miss Pinup Miami (15:19):
So what would you consider like the hashtag
mompreneur? Like,
Odalys (15:25):
what does being a mompreneur mean? Yeah, that is a
great question. Okay. So itmeans wearing a lot of hats to
me. Um, you wear the mom hatwhen you're with the kids. And
(15:46):
sometimes you wear the businesshat when you're in business. And
then there are times where youhave to wear the business and
mom hat at the same time. Whatdoes that mean? Like, I'll be
working on something for aclient. And then all of a
sudden, my, my husband calls meHey, where's the this or that?
Because he watches the kidswhile I work. We're super like,
(16:07):
lucky that we were able to takeshifts during the pandemic
working. But anyway, he'll callme Hey, where's this? Oh, yeah,
it's over here. Oh, I can't findit. Okay, give me a sec. I
finish up what I'm doing on thecomputer. I go, I look for the
thing. I hand it to him. Andlike that, that's that's
mompreneur life. It's, it's allabout balancing and also being
(16:31):
able to merge those two roleswhen necessary. So yeah, the the
job of a mompreneur is just thismix of every, every single time
that
Miss Pinup Miami (16:44):
I see a few people like a job that I've had
that leg, they scheduleeverything around their child as
well. So they make sure thatwhen they get a new job, or they
talk to their job, that theyhave to drop off their kids at
daycare, if they're not lucky towork at home, and then like
during their lunch break, theylike go and do something with
their child, and then they comeback and they do their you know,
(17:06):
they work a schedule out. Andhow does it make you feel about
like, jobs being, you know,lenient towards that? Is that
something because I don't know,I'm, I've never been a mom, and
I've never had that situation.
But have you ever come into asituation where like, jobs are
not like, respectful of like themom roll, if that makes sense.
You know,
Odalys (17:27):
I'm very lucky that I started my mom her newer
journey, right when I had mydaughter's, so I didn't have to
balance a regular nine to fiveand having the kids. But I will
tell you from Denise'sperspective, from the speakers
that we've had at our monthlywebinars, in the virtual mom
(17:48):
collective, it is very tough, itis very tough, having to
schedule, um, for example, adoctor's appointment for your
child, you have to schedule itahead of time, if they get sick,
you have to miss a day at work,you have no other choice, right.
So, um, some employers, someemployers are more understanding
(18:11):
than others. But a lot of momshave, have had a very, very
difficult time at work and havehad to leave their jobs. I was
reading an article the other daythat said that, um, the
percentage of women that havehad to leave the workforce,
since like, in 2020, has beenlike 70%, I could be misquoting
(18:35):
I'm really bad with percentages.
But an extremely high amount ofwomen have had to leave their
job to take care of their kidsduring the pandemic. And it is,
they believe it's going to setwomen back in the workforce,
especially like, moms, also,it's gonna set us back like 10
(18:55):
years. So we're not going to getour numbers back for 10, whole
years, because women had toleave their jobs. And sometimes
employers weren't understandingof situations. So, you know,
it's different reasons, butmostly, it's childcare that
women have had to leave. And mendon't see that same. Um, we're
(19:18):
not seeing those numbers withmen. So a lot of responsibility
falls on the moms for childcare.
And a lot of them have had toleave the workforce to take care
of their kids during thepandemic, and it's, it's not
foreseen that they're going tocome back anytime soon, because
(19:39):
we're still not back to, quoteunquote, normal, right? And we
don't know when everything'sgonna get back to normal. The
other big issue is in the UnitedStates, women don't get as much
as much maternity leave as theydo in other countries, where the
(20:00):
lowest amount of maternityleave. So all these issues are
what moms have
Miss Pinup Miami (20:06):
to deal with.
What's the average maternityleave?
Odalys (20:09):
I believe it's about three months. But in other
countries, even fathers geteight months. So like, even
fathers, yes, even fathers andwe don't have any paternity
leave at all. In our country.
Some companies are moreprogressive, and they do give
time to fathers for paternityleave. But yeah, our country
doesn't, does not accustomed tohaving that. So I can say from
(20:35):
personal experience from havingmy daughter, if I hadn't had my
husband home, those first two orthree months. And in my
daughter's case, I think we werefive months he had, that he was
like working from home andhelping with the baby. I don't
know what I would have done, itwould have been so much harder.
(20:56):
So imagine moms who do it ontheir own. Without partners,
they need especially flexiblework schedules. And that's not
taken into consideration whenyou first apply for a job. Like
you could say, Hey, I have akid. And that's my priority. And
these are my hours, a lot oftimes it ends up that employers
(21:19):
don't like it. So they eitherlet you go, or they make the
work conditions so difficultthat you have to leave.
Miss Pinup Miami (21:28):
And I think they do the second one because I
think it's illegal to just firesomeone because you're pregnant.
So they it's like with workman'scomp, because they don't want
the employee anymore. They maketheir life difficult. They
either give them a task day orHey, and get annoyed and then
leave on their own. Because, youknow, people try to cheat the
system instead of doing theright thing.
Odalys (21:51):
So sad. Yeah, yeah, it said the way they work around,
it's true. Like, before I had mykids, I had a situation at a job
like that, where, um, thingswere a little tougher at the
company, something big happened.
So then they switched me to adifferent position that I just
did not like. So I ended upleaving. And yeah, it happens.
(22:12):
It happens with with people whodon't have children, and people
will do and it stinks because Ifeel like I think that's another
thing like the VMC advocates foris inclusivity in business and
just like Ethical Treatment of,of women and moms in in the
(22:33):
business, we have a lot ofpartners that the virtual mom
collective, who are minority,female business owners, and
we're, we're so happy to see,and we support it. 100% Um, we
have just such a diversecommunity. And that's what we
want to see in the workforce.
(22:56):
And we're one of the biggestadvocates like we advocate so
much, especially Denise is sopassionate. She is so passionate
about moms getting maternityleave and us getting more, more
visibility and the equaltreatment in the workforce for
moms. So that's, that's anotherthing that we really stand for.
Miss Pinup Miami (23:20):
So you talked a lot about the virtual mom
collective. But how did you getstarted in the women? Um, oh my
gosh. No women for success, notwomen for success nonprofit,
okay. Well, if you're a brainfart down like
Odalys (23:37):
it's okay. here's here's the dish, right? Oh, no, I was
part of an awesome communitycalled Lesko. malladus and I met
a friend list. I love that name.
Lascaux Yes, it's awesome. It'sa good community. I recommend
people look into it. Um, it'scalled Lesko monitors, and it's
(23:58):
all just women usually in thecreative field, but they welcome
anyone into the community. Andso, I had recently left the
community, um, you know,financial reasons. So, uh, I
left and so I was looking forsomething to like, keep
interacting with women andhelping them and so Liz, she she
(24:18):
told me about Lauren Marsa Canoand said, Hey, Lauren is
starting a nonprofit and thiswas back before women for
success had been I
Miss Pinup Miami (24:29):
don't know who Lauren is. Can you just give a
little bio?
Odalys (24:32):
Oh my gosh, okay. Yeah, of course. Laura and Martha
Cano. She is a business attorneyin Miami and she is one of the
partners. Yes, one of thepartners of the law firm, Martha
Cano, and Leyva. Her and herfriend from graduate school, got
together and made a law firm andshe is also Lauren is also
(24:57):
called called the networkingmap. Because she is amazing at
networking and she has all thebest tips for networking. So she
wears those two hats is likebusiness coach, a networking
coach and also lawyer oh andnonprofit founder now. So she
(25:19):
she wears those three hats ifwe're talking about the hats,
right? She is so yeah, she wasstarting it and having an event
close to my house. So I waslike, Alright, fine, I'll I'll
walk over there, see what allthis is about. And she told, she
told me like, you know, we'rejust trying to encourage women
and we get together once amonth, and we do this and that.
(25:40):
And, and the main, the heartbehind it was to help women in
business define success on theirown terms. So that, right, and
that's something that reallyresonated with me because I had
started copywriting I would say,probably a year prior to really,
(26:03):
I had heard of her through theLesko managers community, but
never really interacted withLauren. Um, so I feel like I met
her at just the right time in mybusiness where I was ready to
start helping other women alsoenter the entrepreneur field.
And so we I was I thought aboutit for about a few days,
(26:28):
because, you know, I was I wasjust like grieving the loss of
not being part of Lesko modiseanymore. And, um, I was kind of
like, in this weird phase like,with, with my kids, and I don't
know, I just wasn't reallydigging it at first, like, I
(26:49):
don't know if this is for me.
But then, um, Lauren would like,she texted me and she's like,
come on queen. Like, I reallywant you to be part of this
community. And so I was like, Idon't know, if I have enough to
offer and she's like, youwouldn't, I wouldn't have
invited you. If you didn't haveenough to offer. So I was like,
(27:13):
Okay, I like her attitude. Ilike her positivity. And that's
what women in business need islike, a leg up. So ever since
then, I I've just been helpingwomen kind of see the potential
they have, and helping them. Um,like, help bring them up and see
how much value they can actuallybring, and that their business
(27:35):
can bring to the world. So it's,it's really like changed my
perspective, a lot. Beingbecoming part of women for
success, helping other womenrise with me, right? It's not,
you don't have to do it alone.
And that's part of what I loveabout women for success is that
we're just a big community andwe help bring each other up.
Miss Pinup Miami (27:56):
Well, even when I was like, Oh, my gosh, I
know that for my last job. Myviewers have been following a
little bit of my journey slowlyopening up. I'm like, I even
tried to get you a copy like gigat my pillow job. But, I mean,
just because I know that theypay and they're good. But I was
(28:17):
then I was like, I know that youhave connections and stuff. I
was like, I need I asked you foradvice about getting a new job.
And I took everything you saidinto heart because, you know,
you are successful in my eyes,you know, so I was like, I need
to listen to this girl. So youhelped me like figure out like
things that had to dodifferently to like, get jobs
(28:38):
and look other places, you know.
So I really appreciate that. AndI just want you to know, because
that's important to like myjourney.
Odalys (28:47):
Oh my god, that means so much to me. And I have to say
you've really influenced myfashion sense. Like, I love the
retro looks now you reallyinfluenced my eyeliner, and, and
just just your confidence, likeit really impacted me as well.
And that's something I love thatI love that we've both like
(29:09):
rubbed off on each other in suchawesome ways. And I feel like
that's what we really need as afriendship. I remember a few
years ago, I did an Instagrampost where I posted a picture of
you and I and I was likesurround yourself with people
who feel like sunshine. Andthat's you. Oh, that is you? So
I'm so happy The feeling ismutual? Yes. Um, yeah. And I'm
(29:32):
so happy you were able to get ajob and what you love because a
lot of times when we're startingout in a new career field or we
start out a new business, wethink oh, I don't have the
qualifications. I don't have thedegree that I need. But you know
what, you have the lifeexperience. You have the life
experience, you have the driveand you you have to have had
(29:55):
some form of knowledge to evenconsider like I could maybe Do
this. And yes, you can. I wantto just tell everybody listening
today. Yes, you can,
Miss Pinup Miami (30:06):
you could do it and if you're not happy
somewhere, okay, one thing, I'mjust gonna put it out there to
everyone to know, I know a lotof us now just scroll on tik
tok. And we see people on theresaying, I hate my job, I'm
disrespected, I'm just gonnaleave and go, well, the reality
is, I can't just like leave myjob because I need to pay bills,
(30:26):
I need to pay things, you know,and I, and there's people that
come up to me, and they're like,I hate my job. I'm like, What
are you doing something aboutit, because that's what I wasn't
doing. And then I did do it. AndI said, oh, I've been here for
so long, I'm not going to leaveit. Like I'm already
comfortable. Like, I could taketime off when I want, I could do
whatever. But emotionally, I wasjust not there because of the
(30:47):
whole, like, mental issuemental, like, harassment I was
getting. So I said to myself,you know, I want to take my own
advice, and I'm gonna apply,like, if I find something, I
find something. Luckily, I havea job. So I mean, I'm not happy
in it. But I'm not gonna jump atsomething that's like, below
everything I do or not with mylifestyle, or what I want to do.
(31:10):
So it's just like I told I said,in my last episode, I applied to
198 jobs. So, you know, and itwas mutually either they wanted
me and I didn't, or Yes or No,it didn't work out, or, you
know, you never know. And I knowthat this job is not gonna be my
life goal. But it's on to thenext journey that I have. And,
(31:30):
you know, I've mentioned it, Iwould love to have my own
boutique one day and my ownbusiness, but it all takes time.
And I'm learning things alongthe way and meeting incredible
women like Dallas, being able togo to networking events, um, the
blogging events. That's where Imet. I've met Lauren once at a
blogger event, not with theblogger union, another can't
(31:52):
remember now. But yes. And, um,and then when I saw you were
doing that, and she was incharge, she's very charismatic.
She's, yes, yeah. So yeah, it'sjust amazing that, you know, if
you get out of your comfortzone, and I'm sure you would
agree with Dallas, like going todifferent things, um, you get to
(32:13):
explore who you are yourself andlearn things you never knew.
Odalys (32:17):
100%, like, all you have to do is think I want to do
this, and surround yourself withthe people who want similar
things. And it's going tohappen, it's going to happen for
you, of course, you have to putin the time, and the effort to
make it happen. But you justhave to think like shift that
(32:38):
mindset and say, Yes, I can doit. And, and get yourself out
there, surround yourself withnew people, people that think
the same as you, or who aredriven by the same things as
you. Um, I encourage everyone togo back to the Pinup Miami
podcast, the previous episode,and listen to Jennifer's
(33:00):
experience at her previous job,and just see how far she's come.
See how far she's come? Becausea couple of months? Yes. And
it's such a journey, right? Somepeople, it takes them years, and
it's fine. It's just a seeingthat there's an opportunity
somewhere else that you can growas a person. And it takes some
(33:24):
big steps. It takes really bigsteps. And you have to just
gather all your courage, get allyour ducks in a row, and go for
it. Because Yeah,
Miss Pinup Miami (33:35):
it's for me, for example, like with this new
job, again, like I said, like Ihad a very lenient schedule,
because I was there for so long.
And I do host a lot of events,and I'm out of town. So I have
to make some sacrifices. Andit's all about, like you said,
mentality now. So now I have toreally take care of my time. So
I have to schedule everything, Ihave to make sure that I have
(33:55):
time because in my head, I wantto do so much. But the only way
that I'll do a lot is if I'morganized. So it took me a
couple. That's why I said and Ikeep saying that I'm still
crawling out because I'mfiguring it out. Like this is
all new. And everything thatI've done from the zoo, to the
pinup meetups, to my blog, to myYouTube to this podcast, to the
(34:18):
workshops that I do that I usedto travel that I hope they'll be
up by hosting events. I want todo it all because that is really
my passion, but I need somethingto fuel it, which is my job. But
now I have a job that I enjoythat intertwines with everything
that will help me for my nextgoal. So it's just it's just the
I guess it's just the motivationthat you have and that ambition
(34:43):
and fire and keeping it youknow, in the and that's with
everything in life and Iencourage people not to get
discouraged. It's hard. I mean,there's some moments I'm sure
you've had that you're like, Iwant to do this up but how can I
I can't do it and then you know,then reached out to you. And
then that gave you the boost tolike, for me, it's the people
that listen, the people thatcomments or people that come to
(35:05):
my events like, you guys are theones that really motivate me and
have kept me above because itmeans that I'm doing that what I
do mean something for people,and I'm motivating, like, even
though Dallas right now you'retelling me about your eye
makeup. I know it's something sosimple that some people might
think, oh, shoot, it's justmakeup. But that little boost of
confidence will help you likewalk down the street a little
(35:27):
higher, you know, things likethat, that I really want to
impact in people's lives.
Odalys (35:34):
Yeah, for sure. I mean, you did it for me to like, these
earrings a friend of mine madefor me. We are m Massey. She,
um, she's one of the people Iinterviewed when I first started
on my mompreneur journey. Andshe was the one who told me
organization is like 90% of myjob as a mom. And as a
(35:57):
mompreneur making her jewelry.
And you're absolutely 100%right, one of the hardest parts
of being an entrepreneur isbalancing everything, right? You
the way you sound like the wayyou said that, that I have to
like organize my schedule a lotbetter now that I have a job.
(36:18):
It's like, that's exactly whatbeing a mom is. It's like you
have the kids, you have thework. And then you have like,
like me, I have a lot of sidehustles to write, I have my
blog, I have copywriting I haveBMC. And I have women for
success. So when you're jugglingall those things, you need to
put that into perspective.
(36:39):
Another huge thing that helpedme when I was starting out was
those mom boss series interviewsthat I was doing. I thought to
myself, how can I learn fromother mob bosses while also
giving back to them in the bestway that I could. And at that
time, I was like, You know what,I'm going to interview them, put
them on my blog, they getexposure for their business. And
(37:01):
I learned from them at the sametime. It's all about giving, and
taking, but making it equal.
That's the thing. It's like it'snot all tick, tick, tick. It's
all just a huge back and forth.
And like you said, Your, youraudience fuels you, the people
who listen, the people who comeout to your events. They're such
(37:25):
huge, huge support. Because whenI first started blogging, I had
like this little Instagramaccount, I remember I had maybe
20. And then I started gettingconnections with people that I
didn't know in person. And theystarted commenting on my stuff
and getting interested and it'sif you will you it really does
(37:45):
just any any kind of support,whether it's a like on an
Instagram photo, whether it's acomment on your blog, or whether
it's a review on Apple podcasts,all that. Right, and he kind of
help it fuels you and being ableto give back in a way like, um,
(38:07):
is just amazing. Like we did, wedid that YouTube episode where
you gave me the makeover, amommy, mommy makeover, and I
loved it. I loved it, it reallydid a lot for my confidence. And
it helped me It helped put me ina place where like, I could
present myself more confidentlyand more uniquely me. Because I
(38:33):
don't know, my fashion sense hasalways been like more
traditional. But now like thatyou inspired me with the retro
flair on like, Oh my gosh, Icould do like modern traditional
kind of Milan, like a mix. And Ijust love it so much. And so
yeah, you had a huge impact onmy fashion sense. resin earrings
are like my favorite thing inthe world now. So anyway, it's
(38:56):
just when you surround yourselfwith the right people, and you
get the right kind of audienceand supporters. It just all
comes together and you yousucceed. Obviously you have to
put in the work in the effort.
But yeah, you it all just comestogether so so perfectly. And
I'm so like, I have to say I'mso happy that you went and you
(39:16):
like apply for that job andyou're doing what you love and
so being each other'scheerleaders, that's another big
thing.
Miss Pinup Miami (39:25):
Yes. Oh god.
And I have a question. Um, whatif somebody listening knows a
mompreneur or is a mompreneurand they are interested in
reaching out to you? Can theythey dm you on Instagram? or How
can they get in contact withyou?
Odalys (39:43):
That's a great question.
Um, you we are on Instagram atvirtual mom collective calm. I'm
sorry, Instagram, we don't havethe.com and Instagram. We do
have the website which isvirtual mock collective calm and
we have Have the Instagramvirtual mom collective. So just
yeah DMS at us, whatever. Wehave a we have a raw motherhood
(40:06):
series where we talk about thenot so pretty side of being a
mom and sometimes the Joyce,just like the raw feelings that
come with being a mom. So if youwant to post for raw motherhood,
we have that hashtag. But yeah,Instagram is probably the best
way to get in touch with us.
Miss Pinup Miami (40:29):
I will Dallas I want to say big thank you for
being on the pig podcast becauseyou're definitely a modern woman
with a vintage flair. Thank you.
And before we go, do you haveany questions you want to ask me
I always ask every guest if theyhave a question. Question.
Odalys (40:47):
Oh my gosh, I don't know if you've shared this on your
podcast or if you're willing tobut I asked you. I asked you
when I was getting my pinupmakeover, what inspired you to
get into pinup fashion and life?
Miss Pinup Miami (41:03):
For me, I said it. I'm with you. I think it was
the same answer. But it was mygrandmother. Um, I used to love
watching her getting dressed.
Um, just to go to the market.
She always had her rollers onher hair was orange. I mean, I
think that's normal for likeolder Cuban, they had like that
orangey red hair. And she alwayshad her nails long and orange.
(41:27):
And she was always like, shedidn't care what anybody had to
say. And she just had thatconfidence. You know, even until
like her last day, she couldn'tbe at the hospital without her
nails done or something. So it'sit was really, it was really
inspiring to just be yourself.
You know, in the last I know,I'm not like old, but in my
short life so far. I've learned,you know, that, like, life is
(41:50):
too short. And I used to be shy.
I mean, I'm still shy about somethings like not gonna lie when I
went to the the, the meetup, thewomen for success, um, I was
nervous. I'm now looking back. Iwas like, I wish I wasn't so
nervous. I wish I had talked tomore people. And I'm slowly
(42:11):
learning that, like, if I don'tdo it, now, I'm never gonna do
it. So I'm trying to keep thatin mind whenever I'm nervous or
a little, you know, like, evenwith this new job, I'm taking it
with a new perspective of like,you know, if I don't, if I
release, try, then I won't know.
And then I'm going to live inregrets. And then it's like,
because I know that a lot ofpeople say I have confidence.
But there are certain things inmy life that I'm just like, not
(42:31):
confident about, like in thesense of like that I'm just
nervous to do. And I'm justtrying to think Yo, yo, for
real. Like, like, if I don't tryit, I'm never going to know and
then next week, I'm going to belike, Oh, if I would have done
that, then maybe this or evenwith my podcast guests. Like
there's certain guests on herethat I never thought I would
(42:52):
have like besame Cosmetics, Ihad the founder. And I was like,
I was nervous even reach out.
But it It worked that like itwas you never know if you don't
try. That's the thing. Yeah,somebody told me once. What's
the worst they can say? No.
Yeah, right. nobody's doing it.
(43:13):
Hopefully, nobody's gonna doanything worse than that. So
yeah, that's just one thing. Ialways try to tell people, you
know, and I and we all sufferfrom it, too. So that's why I
remind myself to and I say itout loud to remind myself. Well,
Dallas, thank you so much forbeing on today's episode. It
(43:33):
means so much to me. And youguys listening. Thank you again.
And like Dallas mentioned in themiddle of this podcast. If you
want to leave an apple review,any review, I would really
appreciate it. And staybeautiful. Stay safe. And I hope
to see you all real soon. Andlisten to you and come in. Come
(43:54):
in. Listen in next week. Bye.
Good day and welcome back to the pimp podcast
where we talk about moderntopics with vintage fullier. I'm
your host, Pinup Miami. And Iwant to say if it is your first
time listening, I hope you stickaround. And if you're a
returning listener, I reallywant to say thank you. Thank you
so much. If you heard my lastepisode, you truly you guys mean
(00:25):
the world to me. And Iappreciate the support and
everything. And as the worldkeeps opening up, I'm hoping to
have more events to travel tomeet some of you more Zoo
locations for pennants at thezoo. I'm just so excited for
what the future holds. And youknow, nothing can be as worse as
last year. So and I know a lotof us have like different
(00:49):
lifestyles. So today. Oh, beforeI get started, make sure to
follow the pin podcast onInstagram at the pin podcast
official. And if you ever haveany questions or ideas for the
show, make sure to text me at183348 pin up. It goes directly
to me. I can answer anyquestions podcast related pinup
related life related. I'm not apsychic. So no psychics. But
(01:15):
today I have a very specialguest. She was actually the
reason why I started my YouTube,I had the courage to start my
YouTube channel. She is abeautiful person inside and out.
I met her through the bloggerunion here in South Florida. If
you guys are following me, I wasreally happy that I went beauty
blogger of 2019 there was donefor 2020. So I'm gonna
(01:38):
officially say that I am alsothe blogger of 2020. Just cuz
and so it is my pleasure tointroduce a Dallas she is the
founding mother of the virtualmom collective. She's a board
member of the women for successnonprofit, and co owner of art
(01:58):
spark design and a mom boss. SoOh, Dad, it's it's such a
pleasure to have you. Welcome.
Odalys (02:06):
Thank you. I'm so happy to be here. I want to say since
we're starting recording, I dohave the two kids at home. My
husband's watching them. So Iapologize for any background
noise you may hear at any point.
Miss Pinup Miami (02:20):
Well, that's the point. This conversation
even this episode is calledhashtag mom. I can't even
pronounce it. But mypartnership, because I'm not a
mom. I mean, I'm a dog, Mom, buthaving children is different,
and you're raising another life.
So that's why I wanted to I'm soexcited to have you because
you're bringing a differentaspect to like being an
entrepreneur, but also a mom hasa big duty. I mean, big job. So,
(02:43):
you know. So tell us a littlebit about you. Before we
Odalys (02:51):
Okay, so I Gosh, hold on anybody take a deep breath.
Okay, so I do a lot. Um, I amOh, Dallas gevey though, and I
have been blogging for a while.
As a Dallas q writer, I amcurrently on a hiatus, a two
year hiatus actually, from theblog life, but I will be
(03:14):
restarting it soon. But that'show we met. I want to start
there, right where you and Imet, right? Because that's where
my blogging journey actuallybegan. That was probably my
like, third or fourth, um,blogger event that I went to.
And I was like, I lost a littlepuppy at that point. Not really
(03:34):
sure what I was gonna do with mylife. I had finished my master's
degree. I'm pretty pretty soonbefore that meetup and so I
realized that psychology eventhough I love doing therapy with
my clients was not going to be avery good option for me, in
(03:55):
terms of a career because when Istarted working would be when
kids would be out of school.
Because I was working a lot withchildren. Um, I would see adults
as well for psychotherapy, butit was, it was mostly kids and I
(04:16):
would see them from three tosometimes six or seven in the
evening, I would see clients.
Um, so I thought to myself, wow,seven o'clock is usually a
child's bedtime. So I'm notgoing to be able to see my
daughter. Um, so I was thinking,what could I do? What could I
do? I spent a couple yearsblogging thinking, um, what
what's a good career that Iwould love and also, I would set
(04:42):
a good example for my daughter,um, that I pursued a career that
I love, but I wasn't reallysure. And then at a blogger
event, I remember Joanna, shewas amazing. She saw how I was
like, kind of lost and she said,You You have to take your skills
and your talents. And you haveto use that to kind of create a
(05:03):
job that you love. And Ithought, well, I love writing.
I've loved it since I was inthird grade, I won like a
writing competition in my class,I got best essays. So I was
like, you know, I never reallywant anything after that. But
that was like my big, yourhighlight. That was my big win,
(05:25):
right? In terms of writing. So,um, I have put it aside for a
long time because I was doingpsychology and I even got the
master. So, um, yeah, I am like,you know what, let me go back to
that love that I had back inthird grade for writing. And I
always wrote like, essays thatand I love them, like, I put my
(05:48):
everything into writing. Sothat's when I decided, Okay, let
me try writing for clients. Andthat's how I started my career
as a copywriter. I yeah, I waslike, you know, what, I haven't
written for myself all thistime. Let me try writing for
other people. And I found thatit is so much easier to, to talk
(06:12):
about other people and make themsound amazing. But it's hard for
us to do it for ourselves,right? Yes. Yeah. So. So now
I've been building up theconfidence slowly, and I'm going
to be writing a book soon. Ialready started interviewing
boss moms. And yeah, I'minterviewing boss, moms, I only
(06:38):
have one interview up, but Ihave another one I'm working on.
And I'm gonna like, you know,reintroduce the mom boss series
on my blog, which is Oh, Dallas,q writer calm. So that's
something big that I'm workingon this year that I find that no
matter how much experience Iget, and how much of a badass I
(06:59):
actually am, I still getimposter syndrome. Right? So
that is, right, right. Like, Iknow, you, Jennifer. I know. So
you're like the most modestperson. And that's part of what
I love about you. So I know thatimposter syndrome hits hard
because we're very similar withthat. We're just very humble. So
(07:21):
yeah, um, so yeah, so I strugglewith that. But I've gotten to
the point where like, Hey, I'mowning that I'm a badass, and
I'm gonna write this book, andit's gonna happen. And part of
what motivates me is my kids.
Um, yeah, they. When my daughterwas born, I was like, man, I
(07:43):
have to be, like, set an exampleof what a strong woman is like.
And so that's why I'm helpingother women also succeed in
business. with women forsuccess, give me one second.
Sorry. So um, so yeah, withwomen for success, nonprofit,
(08:05):
we, we basically provideworkshops, ie mentorship,
Miss Pinup Miami (08:12):
grants, things like that for women in business
to succeed. And I know you, weinvited you to an event and
amazing group of women there.
And it's all types of women indifferent industries. And
they're really all about like,they don't stay to themselves.
Like they really are talking toeach other up. I felt so
welcome, like people weretalking to me. Or maybe they see
(08:35):
me what somebody there, listenedto my podcast and knew who I was
from my podcast, that I forgother name, but that was pretty
cool.
Odalys (08:44):
Yeah, yeah. See, they're all and just surrounding
yourself with these strongbadass women. Yeah, that was
like one of the first steps forme to get into my whole career
phase was to surround myselfwith people that are as
motivated to succeed, whetherit's in blogging, or business or
(09:06):
whatever it is, just surroundingyourself with those people that
have that same drive and thesame passion. And so that's what
women for successes. We're,we're not just a nonprofit, or a
community as well. So we're onInstagram, we have events,
monthly webinars, we have a hugeconference always in May. So you
(09:29):
know, I hope I helped put allthat together. I do their
website, because that's what Ido with my husband at artsmark
design. My husband's the webdesigner,
Miss Pinup Miami (09:37):
together,
Odalys (09:38):
right, it all just like comes full circle. So he does
the websites and I do the copy.
And we work as a team. And thenthe pandemic hit. What was the
pen? Sorry, I know it's yourpodcast, but what was the
pandemic like for you when ithit?
Miss Pinup Miami (09:57):
It just stopped everything that I ever
did. Was it events, so I had noevents, um, it was just
devastating personally, um, alot of things changed in my
life, I ended up getting a newjob, I ended up having to change
the way I saw things. So like,since I was always in in live
events, I had to go morevirtual, which led me to this
(10:20):
podcast. And so it's just tryingto adapt.
Odalys (10:25):
Exactly. Oh, my gosh, that is exactly the experience
that I had when we started theVMC. My friends in East Castro,
we had we had connected a fewmonths before because I had
interviewed her for my mom bossseries on my blog. And so we
(10:45):
were texting back and forthtalking. Sorry, not texting,
Facebook messaging,
Miss Pinup Miami (10:51):
texts anymore.
Right Facebook messaging,because that's like the thing
now. So fading into DMS onInstagram.
Odalys (11:00):
Exactly. So, um, she slid into my DMS and was like,
hey, I want to talk to you. Sowe got on a phone call. And
she's like, Look, Ihave this awesome idea about a
mom community, we're gonna beisolated, we're not going to be
able to get together with ourfriends for playdates or for
brunches, mom's love to brunch.
(11:20):
So she was feeling thatisolation. Um, and I was too, we
were all scared. We didn't knowwhat was going to happen. People
were getting sick. It was it wasjust an awful time of
uncertainty. And like you said,we had to adapt. Somehow we had
to get that mommy time, and thatinteraction with other moms in
(11:43):
some way. So that's why westarted we got together, we
started the virtual momcollective. And it's a community
that was started during thepandemic. But it extends beyond
that. Our mission is to empowerand uplift the working and stay
at home mom during hashtag thisnew normal, because no matter
(12:08):
how back to normal things get westill have been impacted right
by 2020. And everything thathappened. So we know how
important creating a communityis, but also having virtual
access to that socialinteraction.
Miss Pinup Miami (12:24):
You saw because people like even myself,
when you go somewhere, it'slike, yes, I'm vaccinated. Do I
wear a mask? If people are notwearing? It's like that
confusion state. I feel likewe're all in that. It's like,
what is the right thing to do?
Odalys (12:38):
Some, huh? And it also helps to get to know people
outside of your immediatecircle, right? Yes, a lot of
times we we like meet someoneand they're like, Oh, yeah, I
know. so and so. And there'slike three degrees of
separation, right? That thedegrees of separation that they
talk about. But with virtualmonk collective, we've made
(13:00):
connections with women inLondon, England, we've made
connections with Africa. Someonelives in Africa. I think it was
Morocco. Um, yeah. So we've hadmoms from all over the world
that have met us throughInstagram, social media
(13:20):
channels, we talk on a Facebookgroup that we have for virtual
non collective so
Miss Pinup Miami (13:27):
there's no way to say yeah, no, I know, that is
the virtual mom collective. Butone of the first questions I
asked was like, Can I come up?
I'm not a mom. And it was yes.
And I was very welcomed. Ihaven't gone yet. attended. But
I, every time I see your events,and I was like, I want to go and
then I know that I just wantedto put that out there because of
the sounds so interesting. Youcould always learn and, you
(13:51):
know, that was my firstquestion. I asked whoever DM me
the first time I was like, can Igo? I'm not a mom.
Odalys (13:56):
Yeah, of course, our events are open to everybody.
It's open to we have a thingthat we say Denise and I it's
open to moms moms to be andsupporters of moms. So yeah, so
anyone who wants to come um, andjust like me, other women that
are just badass cuz we have a wehave a really big supporter
(14:21):
Lauren Marcano of women forsuccess. She's the founder.
She's one of our biggestsupporters of virtual mom
collective. She's not thetraditional mom. She's a
business mom. So she has Oh,what's the difference? Okay, the
differences no dirty diapers.
The hours are about the same.
(14:45):
Because I know that starting outmy business I spent a lot of
late nights so I imagine I'm mybusiness moms also have to put
in those long hours. So um,yeah. It's, it's still I feel
like it's just as rewardingthough and in different ways.
(15:06):
But yeah, anyone, anyone who's amom is welcome and supporters of
moms and just anyone who wantsto come and hang out with some
cool women is welcome at theVMC.
Miss Pinup Miami (15:19):
So what would you consider like the hashtag
mompreneur? Like,
Odalys (15:25):
what does being a mompreneur mean? Yeah, that is a
great question. Okay. So itmeans wearing a lot of hats to
me. Um, you wear the mom hatwhen you're with the kids. And
(15:46):
sometimes you wear the businesshat when you're in business. And
then there are times where youhave to wear the business and
mom hat at the same time. Whatdoes that mean? Like, I'll be
working on something for aclient. And then all of a
sudden, my, my husband calls meHey, where's the this or that?
Because he watches the kidswhile I work. We're super like,
(16:07):
lucky that we were able to takeshifts during the pandemic
working. But anyway, he'll callme Hey, where's this? Oh, yeah,
it's over here. Oh, I can't findit. Okay, give me a sec. I
finish up what I'm doing on thecomputer. I go, I look for the
thing. I hand it to him. Andlike that, that's that's
mompreneur life. It's, it's allabout balancing and also being
(16:31):
able to merge those two roleswhen necessary. So yeah, the the
job of a mompreneur is just thismix of every, every single time
that
Miss Pinup Miami (16:44):
I see a few people like a job that I've had
that leg, they scheduleeverything around their child as
well. So they make sure thatwhen they get a new job, or they
talk to their job, that theyhave to drop off their kids at
daycare, if they're not lucky towork at home, and then like
during their lunch break, theylike go and do something with
their child, and then they comeback and they do their you know,
(17:06):
they work a schedule out. Andhow does it make you feel about
like, jobs being, you know,lenient towards that? Is that
something because I don't know,I'm, I've never been a mom, and
I've never had that situation.
But have you ever come into asituation where like, jobs are
not like, respectful of like themom roll, if that makes sense.
You know,
Odalys (17:27):
I'm very lucky that I started my mom her newer
journey, right when I had mydaughter's, so I didn't have to
balance a regular nine to fiveand having the kids. But I will
tell you from Denise'sperspective, from the speakers
that we've had at our monthlywebinars, in the virtual mom
(17:48):
collective, it is very tough, itis very tough, having to
schedule, um, for example, adoctor's appointment for your
child, you have to schedule itahead of time, if they get sick,
you have to miss a day at work,you have no other choice, right.
So, um, some employers, someemployers are more understanding
(18:11):
than others. But a lot of momshave, have had a very, very
difficult time at work and havehad to leave their jobs. I was
reading an article the other daythat said that, um, the
percentage of women that havehad to leave the workforce,
since like, in 2020, has beenlike 70%, I could be misquoting
(18:35):
I'm really bad with percentages.
But an extremely high amount ofwomen have had to leave their
job to take care of their kidsduring the pandemic. And it is,
they believe it's going to setwomen back in the workforce,
especially like, moms, also,it's gonna set us back like 10
(18:55):
years. So we're not going to getour numbers back for 10, whole
years, because women had toleave their jobs. And sometimes
employers weren't understandingof situations. So, you know,
it's different reasons, butmostly, it's childcare that
women have had to leave. And mendon't see that same. Um, we're
(19:18):
not seeing those numbers withmen. So a lot of responsibility
falls on the moms for childcare.
And a lot of them have had toleave the workforce to take care
of their kids during thepandemic, and it's, it's not
foreseen that they're going tocome back anytime soon, because
(19:39):
we're still not back to, quoteunquote, normal, right? And we
don't know when everything'sgonna get back to normal. The
other big issue is in the UnitedStates, women don't get as much
as much maternity leave as theydo in other countries, where the
(20:00):
lowest amount of maternityleave. So all these issues are
what moms have
Miss Pinup Miami (20:06):
to deal with.
What's the average maternityleave?
Odalys (20:09):
I believe it's about three months. But in other
countries, even fathers geteight months. So like, even
fathers, yes, even fathers andwe don't have any paternity
leave at all. In our country.
Some companies are moreprogressive, and they do give
time to fathers for paternityleave. But yeah, our country
doesn't, does not accustomed tohaving that. So I can say from
(20:35):
personal experience from havingmy daughter, if I hadn't had my
husband home, those first two orthree months. And in my
daughter's case, I think we werefive months he had, that he was
like working from home andhelping with the baby. I don't
know what I would have done, itwould have been so much harder.
(20:56):
So imagine moms who do it ontheir own. Without partners,
they need especially flexiblework schedules. And that's not
taken into consideration whenyou first apply for a job. Like
you could say, Hey, I have akid. And that's my priority. And
these are my hours, a lot oftimes it ends up that employers
(21:19):
don't like it. So they eitherlet you go, or they make the
work conditions so difficultthat you have to leave.
Miss Pinup Miami (21:28):
And I think they do the second one because I
think it's illegal to just firesomeone because you're pregnant.
So they it's like with workman'scomp, because they don't want
the employee anymore. They maketheir life difficult. They
either give them a task day orHey, and get annoyed and then
leave on their own. Because, youknow, people try to cheat the
system instead of doing theright thing.
Odalys (21:51):
So sad. Yeah, yeah, it said the way they work around,
it's true. Like, before I had mykids, I had a situation at a job
like that, where, um, thingswere a little tougher at the
company, something big happened.
So then they switched me to adifferent position that I just
did not like. So I ended upleaving. And yeah, it happens.
(22:12):
It happens with with people whodon't have children, and people
will do and it stinks because Ifeel like I think that's another
thing like the VMC advocates foris inclusivity in business and
just like Ethical Treatment of,of women and moms in in the
(22:33):
business, we have a lot ofpartners that the virtual mom
collective, who are minority,female business owners, and
we're, we're so happy to see,and we support it. 100% Um, we
have just such a diversecommunity. And that's what we
want to see in the workforce.
(22:56):
And we're one of the biggestadvocates like we advocate so
much, especially Denise is sopassionate. She is so passionate
about moms getting maternityleave and us getting more, more
visibility and the equaltreatment in the workforce for
moms. So that's, that's anotherthing that we really stand for.
Miss Pinup Miami (23:20):
So you talked a lot about the virtual mom
collective. But how did you getstarted in the women? Um, oh my
gosh. No women for success, notwomen for success nonprofit,
okay. Well, if you're a brainfart down like
Odalys (23:37):
it's okay. here's here's the dish, right? Oh, no, I was
part of an awesome communitycalled Lesko. malladus and I met
a friend list. I love that name.
Lascaux Yes, it's awesome. It'sa good community. I recommend
people look into it. Um, it'scalled Lesko monitors, and it's
(23:58):
all just women usually in thecreative field, but they welcome
anyone into the community. Andso, I had recently left the
community, um, you know,financial reasons. So, uh, I
left and so I was looking forsomething to like, keep
interacting with women andhelping them and so Liz, she she
(24:18):
told me about Lauren Marsa Canoand said, Hey, Lauren is
starting a nonprofit and thiswas back before women for
success had been I
Miss Pinup Miami (24:29):
don't know who Lauren is. Can you just give a
little bio?
Odalys (24:32):
Oh my gosh, okay. Yeah, of course. Laura and Martha
Cano. She is a business attorneyin Miami and she is one of the
partners. Yes, one of thepartners of the law firm, Martha
Cano, and Leyva. Her and herfriend from graduate school, got
together and made a law firm andshe is also Lauren is also
(24:57):
called called the networkingmap. Because she is amazing at
networking and she has all thebest tips for networking. So she
wears those two hats is likebusiness coach, a networking
coach and also lawyer oh andnonprofit founder now. So she
(25:19):
she wears those three hats ifwe're talking about the hats,
right? She is so yeah, she wasstarting it and having an event
close to my house. So I waslike, Alright, fine, I'll I'll
walk over there, see what allthis is about. And she told, she
told me like, you know, we'rejust trying to encourage women
and we get together once amonth, and we do this and that.
(25:40):
And, and the main, the heartbehind it was to help women in
business define success on theirown terms. So that, right, and
that's something that reallyresonated with me because I had
started copywriting I would say,probably a year prior to really,
(26:03):
I had heard of her through theLesko managers community, but
never really interacted withLauren. Um, so I feel like I met
her at just the right time in mybusiness where I was ready to
start helping other women alsoenter the entrepreneur field.
And so we I was I thought aboutit for about a few days,
(26:28):
because, you know, I was I wasjust like grieving the loss of
not being part of Lesko modiseanymore. And, um, I was kind of
like, in this weird phase like,with, with my kids, and I don't
know, I just wasn't reallydigging it at first, like, I
(26:49):
don't know if this is for me.
But then, um, Lauren would like,she texted me and she's like,
come on queen. Like, I reallywant you to be part of this
community. And so I was like, Idon't know, if I have enough to
offer and she's like, youwouldn't, I wouldn't have
invited you. If you didn't haveenough to offer. So I was like,
(27:13):
Okay, I like her attitude. Ilike her positivity. And that's
what women in business need islike, a leg up. So ever since
then, I I've just been helpingwomen kind of see the potential
they have, and helping them. Um,like, help bring them up and see
how much value they can actuallybring, and that their business
(27:35):
can bring to the world. So it's,it's really like changed my
perspective, a lot. Beingbecoming part of women for
success, helping other womenrise with me, right? It's not,
you don't have to do it alone.
And that's part of what I loveabout women for success is that
we're just a big community andwe help bring each other up.
Miss Pinup Miami (27:56):
Well, even when I was like, Oh, my gosh, I
know that for my last job. Myviewers have been following a
little bit of my journey slowlyopening up. I'm like, I even
tried to get you a copy like gigat my pillow job. But, I mean,
just because I know that theypay and they're good. But I was
(28:17):
then I was like, I know that youhave connections and stuff. I
was like, I need I asked you foradvice about getting a new job.
And I took everything you saidinto heart because, you know,
you are successful in my eyes,you know, so I was like, I need
to listen to this girl. So youhelped me like figure out like
things that had to dodifferently to like, get jobs
(28:38):
and look other places, you know.
So I really appreciate that. AndI just want you to know, because
that's important to like myjourney.
Odalys (28:47):
Oh my god, that means so much to me. And I have to say
you've really influenced myfashion sense. Like, I love the
retro looks now you reallyinfluenced my eyeliner, and, and
just just your confidence, likeit really impacted me as well.
And that's something I love thatI love that we've both like
(29:09):
rubbed off on each other in suchawesome ways. And I feel like
that's what we really need as afriendship. I remember a few
years ago, I did an Instagrampost where I posted a picture of
you and I and I was likesurround yourself with people
who feel like sunshine. Andthat's you. Oh, that is you? So
I'm so happy The feeling ismutual? Yes. Um, yeah. And I'm
(29:32):
so happy you were able to get ajob and what you love because a
lot of times when we're startingout in a new career field or we
start out a new business, wethink oh, I don't have the
qualifications. I don't have thedegree that I need. But you know
what, you have the lifeexperience. You have the life
experience, you have the driveand you you have to have had
(29:55):
some form of knowledge to evenconsider like I could maybe Do
this. And yes, you can. I wantto just tell everybody listening
today. Yes, you can,
Miss Pinup Miami (30:06):
you could do it and if you're not happy
somewhere, okay, one thing, I'mjust gonna put it out there to
everyone to know, I know a lotof us now just scroll on tik
tok. And we see people on theresaying, I hate my job, I'm
disrespected, I'm just gonnaleave and go, well, the reality
is, I can't just like leave myjob because I need to pay bills,
(30:26):
I need to pay things, you know,and I, and there's people that
come up to me, and they're like,I hate my job. I'm like, What
are you doing something aboutit, because that's what I wasn't
doing. And then I did do it. AndI said, oh, I've been here for
so long, I'm not going to leaveit. Like I'm already
comfortable. Like, I could taketime off when I want, I could do
whatever. But emotionally, I wasjust not there because of the
(30:47):
whole, like, mental issuemental, like, harassment I was
getting. So I said to myself,you know, I want to take my own
advice, and I'm gonna apply,like, if I find something, I
find something. Luckily, I havea job. So I mean, I'm not happy
in it. But I'm not gonna jump atsomething that's like, below
everything I do or not with mylifestyle, or what I want to do.
(31:10):
So it's just like I told I said,in my last episode, I applied to
198 jobs. So, you know, and itwas mutually either they wanted
me and I didn't, or Yes or No,it didn't work out, or, you
know, you never know. And I knowthat this job is not gonna be my
life goal. But it's on to thenext journey that I have. And,
(31:30):
you know, I've mentioned it, Iwould love to have my own
boutique one day and my ownbusiness, but it all takes time.
And I'm learning things alongthe way and meeting incredible
women like Dallas, being able togo to networking events, um, the
blogging events. That's where Imet. I've met Lauren once at a
blogger event, not with theblogger union, another can't
(31:52):
remember now. But yes. And, um,and then when I saw you were
doing that, and she was incharge, she's very charismatic.
She's, yes, yeah. So yeah, it'sjust amazing that, you know, if
you get out of your comfortzone, and I'm sure you would
agree with Dallas, like going todifferent things, um, you get to
(32:13):
explore who you are yourself andlearn things you never knew.
Odalys (32:17):
100%, like, all you have to do is think I want to do
this, and surround yourself withthe people who want similar
things. And it's going tohappen, it's going to happen for
you, of course, you have to putin the time, and the effort to
make it happen. But you justhave to think like shift that
(32:38):
mindset and say, Yes, I can doit. And, and get yourself out
there, surround yourself withnew people, people that think
the same as you, or who aredriven by the same things as
you. Um, I encourage everyone togo back to the Pinup Miami
podcast, the previous episode,and listen to Jennifer's
(33:00):
experience at her previous job,and just see how far she's come.
See how far she's come? Becausea couple of months? Yes. And
it's such a journey, right? Somepeople, it takes them years, and
it's fine. It's just a seeingthat there's an opportunity
somewhere else that you can growas a person. And it takes some
(33:24):
big steps. It takes really bigsteps. And you have to just
gather all your courage, get allyour ducks in a row, and go for
it. Because Yeah,
Miss Pinup Miami (33:35):
it's for me, for example, like with this new
job, again, like I said, like Ihad a very lenient schedule,
because I was there for so long.
And I do host a lot of events,and I'm out of town. So I have
to make some sacrifices. Andit's all about, like you said,
mentality now. So now I have toreally take care of my time. So
I have to schedule everything, Ihave to make sure that I have
(33:55):
time because in my head, I wantto do so much. But the only way
that I'll do a lot is if I'morganized. So it took me a
couple. That's why I said and Ikeep saying that I'm still
crawling out because I'mfiguring it out. Like this is
all new. And everything thatI've done from the zoo, to the
pinup meetups, to my blog, to myYouTube to this podcast, to the
(34:18):
workshops that I do that I usedto travel that I hope they'll be
up by hosting events. I want todo it all because that is really
my passion, but I need somethingto fuel it, which is my job. But
now I have a job that I enjoythat intertwines with everything
that will help me for my nextgoal. So it's just it's just the
I guess it's just the motivationthat you have and that ambition
(34:43):
and fire and keeping it youknow, in the and that's with
everything in life and Iencourage people not to get
discouraged. It's hard. I mean,there's some moments I'm sure
you've had that you're like, Iwant to do this up but how can I
I can't do it and then you know,then reached out to you. And
then that gave you the boost tolike, for me, it's the people
that listen, the people thatcomments or people that come to
(35:05):
my events like, you guys are theones that really motivate me and
have kept me above because itmeans that I'm doing that what I
do mean something for people,and I'm motivating, like, even
though Dallas right now you'retelling me about your eye
makeup. I know it's something sosimple that some people might
think, oh, shoot, it's justmakeup. But that little boost of
confidence will help you likewalk down the street a little
(35:27):
higher, you know, things likethat, that I really want to
impact in people's lives.
Odalys (35:34):
Yeah, for sure. I mean, you did it for me to like, these
earrings a friend of mine madefor me. We are m Massey. She,
um, she's one of the people Iinterviewed when I first started
on my mompreneur journey. Andshe was the one who told me
organization is like 90% of myjob as a mom. And as a
(35:57):
mompreneur making her jewelry.
And you're absolutely 100%right, one of the hardest parts
of being an entrepreneur isbalancing everything, right? You
the way you sound like the wayyou said that, that I have to
like organize my schedule a lotbetter now that I have a job.
(36:18):
It's like, that's exactly whatbeing a mom is. It's like you
have the kids, you have thework. And then you have like,
like me, I have a lot of sidehustles to write, I have my
blog, I have copywriting I haveBMC. And I have women for
success. So when you're jugglingall those things, you need to
put that into perspective.
(36:39):
Another huge thing that helpedme when I was starting out was
those mom boss series interviewsthat I was doing. I thought to
myself, how can I learn fromother mob bosses while also
giving back to them in the bestway that I could. And at that
time, I was like, You know what,I'm going to interview them, put
them on my blog, they getexposure for their business. And
(37:01):
I learned from them at the sametime. It's all about giving, and
taking, but making it equal.
That's the thing. It's like it'snot all tick, tick, tick. It's
all just a huge back and forth.
And like you said, Your, youraudience fuels you, the people
who listen, the people who comeout to your events. They're such
(37:25):
huge, huge support. Because whenI first started blogging, I had
like this little Instagramaccount, I remember I had maybe
20. And then I started gettingconnections with people that I
didn't know in person. And theystarted commenting on my stuff
and getting interested and it'sif you will you it really does
(37:45):
just any any kind of support,whether it's a like on an
Instagram photo, whether it's acomment on your blog, or whether
it's a review on Apple podcasts,all that. Right, and he kind of
help it fuels you and being ableto give back in a way like, um,
(38:07):
is just amazing. Like we did, wedid that YouTube episode where
you gave me the makeover, amommy, mommy makeover, and I
loved it. I loved it, it reallydid a lot for my confidence. And
it helped me It helped put me ina place where like, I could
present myself more confidentlyand more uniquely me. Because I
(38:33):
don't know, my fashion sense hasalways been like more
traditional. But now like thatyou inspired me with the retro
flair on like, Oh my gosh, Icould do like modern traditional
kind of Milan, like a mix. And Ijust love it so much. And so
yeah, you had a huge impact onmy fashion sense. resin earrings
are like my favorite thing inthe world now. So anyway, it's
(38:56):
just when you surround yourselfwith the right people, and you
get the right kind of audienceand supporters. It just all
comes together and you yousucceed. Obviously you have to
put in the work in the effort.
But yeah, you it all just comestogether so so perfectly. And
I'm so like, I have to say I'mso happy that you went and you
(39:16):
like apply for that job andyou're doing what you love and
so being each other'scheerleaders, that's another big
thing.
Miss Pinup Miami (39:25):
Yes. Oh god.
And I have a question. Um, whatif somebody listening knows a
mompreneur or is a mompreneurand they are interested in
reaching out to you? Can theythey dm you on Instagram? or How
can they get in contact withyou?
Odalys (39:43):
That's a great question.
Um, you we are on Instagram atvirtual mom collective calm. I'm
sorry, Instagram, we don't havethe.com and Instagram. We do
have the website which isvirtual mock collective calm and
we have Have the Instagramvirtual mom collective. So just
yeah DMS at us, whatever. Wehave a we have a raw motherhood
(40:06):
series where we talk about thenot so pretty side of being a
mom and sometimes the Joyce,just like the raw feelings that
come with being a mom. So if youwant to post for raw motherhood,
we have that hashtag. But yeah,Instagram is probably the best
way to get in touch with us.
Miss Pinup Miami (40:29):
I will Dallas I want to say big thank you for
being on the pig podcast becauseyou're definitely a modern woman
with a vintage flair. Thank you.
And before we go, do you haveany questions you want to ask me
I always ask every guest if theyhave a question. Question.
Odalys (40:47):
Oh my gosh, I don't know if you've shared this on your
podcast or if you're willing tobut I asked you. I asked you
when I was getting my pinupmakeover, what inspired you to
get into pinup fashion and life?
Miss Pinup Miami (41:03):
For me, I said it. I'm with you. I think it was
the same answer. But it was mygrandmother. Um, I used to love
watching her getting dressed.
Um, just to go to the market.
She always had her rollers onher hair was orange. I mean, I
think that's normal for likeolder Cuban, they had like that
orangey red hair. And she alwayshad her nails long and orange.
(41:27):
And she was always like, shedidn't care what anybody had to
say. And she just had thatconfidence. You know, even until
like her last day, she couldn'tbe at the hospital without her
nails done or something. So it'sit was really, it was really
inspiring to just be yourself.
You know, in the last I know,I'm not like old, but in my
short life so far. I've learned,you know, that, like, life is
(41:50):
too short. And I used to be shy.
I mean, I'm still shy about somethings like not gonna lie when I
went to the the, the meetup, thewomen for success, um, I was
nervous. I'm now looking back. Iwas like, I wish I wasn't so
nervous. I wish I had talked tomore people. And I'm slowly
(42:11):
learning that, like, if I don'tdo it, now, I'm never gonna do
it. So I'm trying to keep thatin mind whenever I'm nervous or
a little, you know, like, evenwith this new job, I'm taking it
with a new perspective of like,you know, if I don't, if I
release, try, then I won't know.
And then I'm going to live inregrets. And then it's like,
because I know that a lot ofpeople say I have confidence.
But there are certain things inmy life that I'm just like, not
(42:31):
confident about, like in thesense of like that I'm just
nervous to do. And I'm justtrying to think Yo, yo, for
real. Like, like, if I don't tryit, I'm never going to know and
then next week, I'm going to belike, Oh, if I would have done
that, then maybe this or evenwith my podcast guests. Like
there's certain guests on herethat I never thought I would
(42:52):
have like besame Cosmetics, Ihad the founder. And I was like,
I was nervous even reach out.
But it It worked that like itwas you never know if you don't
try. That's the thing. Yeah,somebody told me once. What's
the worst they can say? No.
Yeah, right. nobody's doing it.
(43:13):
Hopefully, nobody's gonna doanything worse than that. So
yeah, that's just one thing. Ialways try to tell people, you
know, and I and we all sufferfrom it, too. So that's why I
remind myself to and I say itout loud to remind myself. Well,
Dallas, thank you so much forbeing on today's episode. It
(43:33):
means so much to me. And youguys listening. Thank you again.
And like Dallas mentioned in themiddle of this podcast. If you
want to leave an apple review,any review, I would really
appreciate it. And staybeautiful. Stay safe. And I hope
to see you all real soon. Andlisten to you and come in. Come
(43:54):
in. Listen in next week. Bye.
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