084: Office Hours | From NICU Nurse to PPC Pro: A Career Pivot Story with Sara Strickland - The Digital Marketing Mentor

Episode Transcript
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Danny Gavin (00:05):
Welcome to the Digital Marketing Mentor.
I'm your host, danny Gavin, andtogether with industry leaders
and marketing experts, we'llexplore the meeting point of
mentorship and marketing.
We'll discover how theseconnections have affected
careers, marketing strategiesand lives.
Now get ready to get human.
This episode is brought to youby Odeo Academy.

(00:39):
Now get ready to get human.
Forward slash podcast and claim$250 off Odeo's Digital
Fundamentals career course byentering the code mentor at
checkout.
Check it out at OdeoAcademycom.
That's O-D-E-O Academycom.
Forward slash podcast and get$250 off with code mentor.
Hello, I'm Danny Gavin, founderof Optage, marketing professor

(01:00):
and the host of the DigitalMarketing Mentor.
Today we have Sarah Strickland,who is a paid search
coordinator at Optage, whojoined the team back in March of
2024.
Prior to joining Optage, sarahworked as a staff NICU nurse and
then a travel NICU nurse atseveral hospitals around the
country.
Today, we're going to talkabout career transitions,
specifically nursing to digitalmarketing, which is a big jump,

(01:22):
and how beginners can getstarted in PPC.
How are you doing, sarah?

Sara Srickland (01:27):
I'm good.
Thanks for having me.
I'm excited.

Yeah, me too.
So, sarah, let's start off.
Where did you go to school andwhat did you study?

So I went to the University of Texas at Austin,
Hookham, and I got a bachelor'sof science in nursing.

So was nursing something that you knew you
wanted to do early on, like whenyou were a kid or in high
school.

It actually wasn't.
I didn't really know what Iwanted to do in high school.
I was a vet tech forever and Ithought I wanted to be a vet and
decided I didn't want to dothat.
So when I went to college Ikind of just did the basic
studies program and I thought Iwas going to choose engineering,
because I've always been reallyinto numbers and math.

(02:07):
I love math.
But I basically went to onecareer fair and after talking to
some different booths andwhatnot companies, I decided
that was not ultimately going tobe for me.
I love to talk to people,interact and not to say that
engineering couldn't be that.
But I figured it would be a lotof sitting behind a desk with
just numbers.
So I kind of took a leap offaith and I applied to the

(02:29):
nursing program at UT, justknowing that I would like the
idea of it, and then if I likedthe clinicals I was just going
to fully commit.
So I got into it and I loved it.
I loved my classes, I loved myclinicals and then when I was
graduating I applied to aneonatal ICU program in Houston
and I got accepted and just kindof again trusted the process

(02:53):
and went into it.
I loved it, so that's kind ofhow I got into it.

Wow.
So knowing you for a prettylong time now, I had no clue
that you wanted to go intoengineering and that makes so
much sense about where you aretoday and I think we'll get to
it.
Just curious, like other nursesthat you've met, do you feel
like naturally, a lot of themalso kind of lean towards
numbers or analytics, or wasthis I don't want to use the
term fluke?
Obviously that's a very bigpart of you, but also like your

(03:20):
people is a big part of you.
So obviously that pushed you inthat direction.
But do you see like your peopleis a big part of you.
So obviously that pushed you inthat direction.
But do you see?

did you see any other like theme there, of like
there's some analytical peoplehere.
You know it's hard to say, butI what I will say is that these
people are really good at trends, whether it's trends in health.
You know vital signs with theirpatients.
So I guess, if you want torelate it that way to numbers, I
would say nurses are keenlyaware of changes, trends, and

(03:49):
that's how we get so good at ourjob.
Um, you know, we get thebaseline of a patient or some
vital signs or whatever it is,and changes from that.
You know any deviations we'repretty good at finding.
So I would say that is more thecommon trend rather than
numbers.
I will say a lot of my nursingfriends are more into English
literature writing than they aremath.

(04:10):
I wouldn't say a lot of themlove math, but it is definitely
a huge part of the job, justwith medications and whatnot.

So yeah, Although one of the degrees that.
If someone says, hey, danny, Ishould go to college for digital
, you know, and I want to get todigital marketing, what
undergrad should I get?
I often tell people that, like,english is a really good idea,
so that that doesn't shock meeither.
That's, that's amazing.
After working as a staff nurse,you decided to do travel
nursing.
Tell me about that change.

So that change came during COVID because I was
in Houston at the time and, tobe honest, I did not have a
great experience in Houstonbecause a lot of the things that
you can do going to museums, alot of indoor activities there's
not too much that you can do,especially during the summers,
outside, and I really wanted tomove to another state and

(04:58):
experience a state other thanTexas.
So I moved to North Carolina towork at the university, or Duke
University, rather the hospitalassociated with it.
I really loved North Carolina.
I didn't love working at thathospital and I just think again
it was the trenches of COVID.
I wasn't quite sure what Iwanted, where I wanted to work.

(05:18):
I've told myself you know whatI can't keep hopping hospitals,
you know committing to them andthen hopping from them.
So naturally, travel nursingwas like well, I made for you.
So I committed to that and I itgave me the opportunity to
basically try out all thehospitals I wanted to.
You know, generally thecontracts are around three

(05:40):
months and so I yeah, I jumpedinto it about a year after
working at Duke.

So, skipping to today, what motivated you to
transition from nursing todigital marketing?
Were there any specificexperiences or moments?
And obviously, I think what theaudience will see like oh my
gosh, sarah, like you wentthrough all the training and the
education and everything andsuddenly you're like, okay, this
is not for me anymore and Iwant to move on to something

(06:04):
else.
So yeah, tell us.
How did that transpire?

Well, I first want to say I still, I still
really do love nursing, I loveworking in the NICU.
I wouldn't say it wasnecessarily a burnout from the
actual career itself.
A huge reason I made the shiftis the work-life balance, and I
know that sounds crazy becauseyou only work three days as a
nurse and get four off.
But I will say that does getold because it doesn't really

(06:31):
align with society's schedule,I'd say, especially now that I'm
older and I've been able toreally take advantage of that
schedule, especially when Itravel nursed.
But the schedule didn't alignwith a lot of my friends and my
family at the end of the day.
And then I got married and thatrealization that sometimes we'd
be on opposite schedules reallyhelped push me in the direction

(06:52):
of a change as well.
And I love having a dailyschedule, knowing I can go to
the grocery store or the gymafter work, having time to cook
dinner those are all really bigthings to me.
And it helped that I had gottensome exposure to digital
marketing through my sister andshe is very passionate about it.
So therefore it looked reallyappealing to me and, like I said

(07:13):
, I love the analyzing side ofnursing and I've always really
liked numbers so I knew I couldget into the strategy of it and
I liked a little bit of work Ihad done, which we can get into
later.
But I had heard amazing thingsabout the environment of the
company and I wanted in.
So I wanted to learn more and Iwanted to be part of Optage

(07:33):
specifically.
But I think it really helpedknowing how amazing the company
was and treated their employees.
That made the jump a little biteasier and more appealing.

So you kind of had a little bit of a cheat code
because you had this amazingschedule for some right Not for
everyone, but you had free timeand therefore at Optage we were
looking for a writer or someoneto help us with some digital
marketing tasks.
And Rachel's like, hey, why notmy sister, she's got extra time
and she'd love to do it.
So you did that and then,obviously later on, you also had

(08:03):
an internship at Optage, sohaving that schedule allowed you
to kind of do things at once.
Yes, I wonder, like for ouraudience, for people who might
not have that schedule, is itgood to try to be able to do
like both at one time?
Because maybe to like let go ofwhat you're doing completely
and try the next thing might betoo difficult.

(08:23):
Can you talk to that a bit?

I would say, if you're considering a career
change specifically to digitalmarketing and you're already in
another full-time position, thatis definitely very tough, but I
think it's doable and Iwouldn't necessarily completely
jump ship from your currentcareer, because I think it's
really important to testsomething out before you fully
commit to it.

(08:45):
So I was really lucky withOptage because, like you said, I
had been able to do a littlebit of tasks with you guys
before, especially during COVID,and I liked the tasks that I
did, no matter how small, nomatter how big.
And if I hadn't had the time tofully jump into it like I did, I

(09:05):
think I still would have youknow outside of a full-time job,
whether it's on the weekends, Ithink it's really important to
do your research, whether it's,you know, starting an online
class on the side, that you cando a little bit at a time when
you have that free time.
I think that's really importantto do, because you don't want
to jump into something beforeyou know that you can commit to

(09:25):
it with your mind, body and soul.
Right, that was big for me as anurse, coming out of college
and realizing, hey, I'm notreally sure what I want to do
where I want to work, and Idon't want to keep making these
commitments without knowing fullwell that I'm going to stay in
them.
So I think that is somethingyou really need to consider
before jumping ship completely.

So can you describe any challenges that you have
faced during your transition andhow you overcame them?

Yeah, I'd say my biggest challenge I've had, and
this one has been reallysurprising to me.
But when I moved out of nursingI was excited for the relief,
the relief from the type ofstress I was experiencing at
work as a nurse.
When you're new you're probablystressed.
Going into work for the firstyear or so You're working some

(10:13):
longer, some shorter.
You know it depends on thespecialty too, but I'd say it
never fully goes away and itkind of just gets dulled.
I think that's why some people,including myself, at times get
burnout.
Because you feel that intensityof stress, or to go away, or at
least you think it is, butreally it's just old, and
because it's not as severe asyou felt it at first, you think

(10:36):
it's gone.
But one bad day can make yourealize, man, it's never gone
away and I think that's fair andnormal.
Because you're dealing withpeople's lives, you should feel
a level of stress.
So, making the decision tochange careers, I was looking
forward to not having that typeof stress you feel when trying
to keep someone alive or healthy, and what I found is it's a

(11:00):
whole different kind of stressnow.
Granted, I'm back in my newphase, so I know I'm feeling the
stress to a higher degree, butI worry still.
It's just different.
I stress about doing my best.
I stress about my clients andtheir accounts because I care I
really do care about them.
I don't want to waste theirmoney.

(11:22):
I want to do the absolute bestthat I can.
I want them to succeed.
It's their business, theirlivelihood, you know, their
family.
It's more than just makingmoney, so it matters and so I
carry that stress and it'sdefinitely gotten better.
But I've had to sit backsometimes and be like okay,
sarah, you're not trying to keepsomeone alive.

(11:42):
It's important, yes, but youdon't have to feel this level of
stress and I think you canstill have drive without being
stressed, if that makes sense.

So I think, with certain individuals who are real
go-getters, naturally they'regoing to want to do their best.
So there is that level ofstress that's always going to be
there and the key is how can webalance it.
And maybe I'm obviously nottelling you how to think or what
to do, but naturally, if youfound it in one place and in

(12:15):
another place, I imagine if youwould go to a third place, you
still would want to do your bestand therefore that would always
exist.
So I think the good news is andobviously it's different, right
, it's different stresses indifferent locations but knowing
that there is this part of youthat you have to deal with, the
trick is how to manage it andstill be motivated to help
people, but also realize thatthere is a certain amount that's

(12:38):
out of our control andtherefore I got to let go a
little bit as well.

Yeah, and just the fact that if you're doing
your best, then that's all thatmatters, right?
You're putting your fullpotential somewhere, and then
good things will come from thattoo.

So, on a positive note, how has your understanding
of patient care helped you inunderstanding customer needs and
behavior in digital marketing?

As a nurse, I sometimes feel like a
professional people reader, ifyou will.
Yeah, I pride myself in beingable to read people and how
they're feeling, and if I can't,I'm comfortable asking.
So, yeah, it's taught me tovalidate people's feelings and
situations.
It's taught me to benonjudgmental to the way people

(13:21):
choose to live their life or thedecisions they make, and it's
taught me to look at all peoplein a way that's more than just a
patient or, in this situation,a client.
You know, people typicallydon't get upset for just any
reason.
It might be something you can'trelate to, but there's always
something you can do to help orat least validate how they're
feeling, and I think that goes along way in professional

(13:43):
relationships too.
I hope that all of my clientssee that I care for their
business and that they feel likethey're my only client, even
though I have multiple, and I'llalways try to make them feel
important to me because they areand their well-being matters.
But the interpersonal skillsand let me immediately tell you
this is something I'm definitelynot perfect at, but I do

(14:05):
consider it a stronger suit, andI've taken care of a lot of
people in a lot of differentplaces and you meet many
different personalities.
I've had some good experiences.
I've had bad experiences.
I've had patients, theirfamilies yell at me, you know,
but both have shaped me to beable to communicate and have
discussions with just aboutanyone.

(14:27):
And every now and then I stillget a challenge and I'm not
going to say that I'm always atthe top of my game here, but
it's definitely helped supportme move into a role where I
speak with clients.

So, outside of what you've already covered, any
other advice you'd give toothers considering a career
shift, especially those comingfrom a non-traditional
background?

I think you can always make a career shift, so I
say, go for it.
My advice is that if you do gofor it, make sure you find an
environment that's nurturing andfosters growth.
Find a company that reallycares about their employees and
their work-life balance.
A career shift will never feelgood if they don't respect what
goes on in your life too, evenif it's a field you love.

(15:09):
I think that's why nursing canburden people out, because a lot
of hospitals don't really givetwo hoots about your life
outside of work and the factthat you're a whole other person
than what you just do for work.
So I think that's important.
And then, just taking your timeto do the research, talk to the
people in the field, take acourse on the subject you're
interested in Before committingto Optage.

(15:30):
I actually took the beginningsof an online coding class and I
quickly realized that was notgonna be for me, but it helped
confirm that digital marketingwas closer to what I liked.
So that's probably what I wouldsay.

Although we won't tell everyone that in your job
yourself, you're doing a littlebit of coding here and there,
and you're doing a great job atit.

So you're good.
Anyhow, it's been a learningcurve, but yes.

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You're good with words andyou're fearless when it comes to
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All right, sarah.
So who have been some of yourmost influential colleagues who
have mentored you?

Rachel, my sister was a huge beginning
influencer and Rachel worked atOptage before I did and she had
been.
She's been with you guys forseven, eight years, I can't
quite remember, but I've beenhearing her strategize for years
.
But the more I got involved themore it started to make sense,
kind of like learning a newlanguage.
It seems so foreign at firstbut it's really fun when you

(17:12):
realize that you're starting tounderstand it and becoming
fluent in certain areas.
I got the unfiltered thoughtsof Rachel and the trust was
obviously there from the startbecause she's my sister.
So it was really easy to beable to ask kind of like the
dumb questions, if you will,because she's my sister, you

(17:33):
know she might.
You know, growing up shealready thought that I was the
dumb little sister.
No, I'm just kidding, but inall honesty it does take the
pressure off because I knew shewouldn't judge my questions.
So that was really helpful.
And then my second mentor hasbeen Brianna.
For sure she's the head of paidsearch for Optage currently.

(17:53):
She made me feel the same wayRachel did and I found that I
could ask her as many questionsas I needed without judgment or
annoyance.
I was really worried to loseRachel when she went on
maternity leave, but even beforeshe left, I found great
leadership from Rihanna andfound myself just as gravitated

(18:13):
to her as I was Rachel.
Their minds were both sointeresting to listen to and the
best part was when you knowthey had completely opposite
perspectives sometimes in how tolook at something.
In areas like an SQR, forexample, I use two different
ways to analyze and it's workedreally great.
But yeah, I could go on abouthow great they both are, but

(18:36):
they've been the mostinfluential for sure.

Yeah, for those who don't know what an SQR is,
that's a search query report andthat's a report that you pull
in a Google Ads campaign orMicrosoft ads.
That shows what are the actualterms that people typed in and
some of those are going to makesense for your campaigns and
others are not, and therefore,by analyzing that report, you
can make changes to optimize sothat you get better performance.
You know what I find amazing.
Sarah is often like.

(18:59):
When someone's found somethingthat they really like, it's kind
of like it's mine, and it'ssometimes hard to share, I know
with my siblings.
I find it remarkable thatRachel Optage and digital
marketing was kind of her thing,but she opened up a space to be
like hey, no, I want you tocome in also.
I want you to feel what I'mfeeling, do what you do.
I find that really specialbecause I don't think that's a

(19:21):
given all the time.

Yeah, I think it's been really fun our
relationship as sisters, becausenaturally, in most sibling
relationships when you'reyounger I think that's true you
know you want especially theolder sibling.
I'm sure and I can't speak tothat because I'm the baby but
I'm sure it's nice having yourown thing, and I do feel like I
was always wanting to do whatshe did.
Right, she's the you know,cooler, older sister that I want

(19:47):
to be just like.
But as we've gotten older, bothof us have realized that it's
really nice to be able to relateto each other and so I think
when I started getting involvedin Optage, it was really quite
fun being able to havediscussions with each other.
And still now, you know, I canbring up issues to her and we'll
talk for like an hour about it,right, and it's been so awesome

(20:09):
just to have that type ofconversation with her because,
yeah, going growing up, I didband.
When she did band, I did colorguard.
When she did color guard, Iwent to the same college as her.
She was briefly interested innursing and then I was
interested in nursing.
It's always just kind of beenaligned with each other but yeah

(20:31):
, she's always been just so opento sharing.

Yeah, I'm trying to think about all the different
marketers that I know.
Do they have a sister orsibling?
A lot of them don't, so I feellike it's a really unique
situation and really special.
Yeah, it's so cool.
Yes, let's talk a little bitabout you've got these two
mentors in your professionallife currently.
How has that translated in youbecoming a mentor to others?
I know you're still like at thecoordinator position, but you

(20:56):
have had the opportunity toteach others and show.
That's a big part of Opt-Edge,right, we're always like we're
learning, but we're alwaysgiving as well and teaching.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour mentorship style currently.

I wouldn't say that I mentor a specific person,
but it's been really fun takingon the responsibility of
reviewing things for otherpeople who are starting to train
in paid search.
And I think it's a very neededchallenge to be able to teach or
mentor someone else, because itchallenges the current

(21:29):
knowledge that you have about it.
So for an SQR, for example, Iwill be reviewing someone's work
in it and I'm realizing, oh mygosh, I need to be able to
explain this strategy to them orthis mindset.
So it's been super helpful forme because it forces me to talk
about or explain topics that youthink you know but you've never

(21:49):
really had to describe.
And then I would say it's kindof moving into my clients as
well.
For example, with one of myclients, the point of contact
didn't know too much about PPCand he asked a lot of questions
and it's been really fun to walkthem through things and be
challenged by their questions,because it gives me a better
understanding of what I do anddon't know.

(22:11):
It brings a certain humility,right.
So mentorship kind of shines alight on you and exposes any
holes that you might have.
But those are just areas youcan use for improvement, right.
You know, no one knowseverything, and just because you
may be a mentor doesn't meanyou can't keep learning or
change your mindset on something.
And it's been cool because, likewith Rachel and Brianna, they

(22:32):
both have passion, right, youhave to be able to like what
you're talking about and beexcited about sharing it with
someone else, and then there's acertain amount of candor.
I would say.
I love how unfiltered and realBrianna and Rachel are with me.
You know, it builds that trust,it creates a really open
environment for discussion, andso I want to use that in all

(22:54):
those different methods or keys,if you will, and I want to
apply them to my clients too,because I think mentoring your
clients is huge, and being onthe same team, if that makes
sense.

Yeah, totally, and I'm so excited that you align
with my sort of vision about thebest way to learn is by
teaching right.
To me, that's like the biggestthing ever and that's so cool
that you see the value in that.
Not just you know you have todo it sometimes, but you're
actually embracing that and it'slike, ooh, that's how I really
understand what I'm talkingabout.

Yes, for sure, or you know, someone will ask me
a question.
I'm like I don't.
I don't know the answer to that.

Let me go look it up, let me go ask my colleagues
you know people who know betterthan I do and get Because,
although you're not a beginner,but you were there recently, so
let's talk about it.
So you talked abouttransferable skills.
Are there any foundationalknowledge or skills that a

(23:52):
beginner should have beforediving into the world of Google,
ads or PPC?

Yeah, so I kind of have two answers to this.
The skill of asking questionsis so important, you know you
need to be comfortable askingpeople for help and for insight.
That was the main skill I hadcoming in and it's also been the
most useful, I'd say.
I would also say that I thinkit's helpful to become familiar

(24:18):
with the digital marketingecosystem as well, and you can
do this really before diving in.
You'll obviously know it muchbetter once you're in it, but it
helped knowing how SEO, socialmedia and Google all work
together in supporting themarketing of a business before I
really got into it.
So those are my two pieces ofadvice.

(24:40):
I'd say.

It is so true and why is it true Is because when
we don't see people askingquestions, we're actually
worried that there's somethingwrong, and we've actually said
people.
You know you're not the rightfit because you don't ask
questions and like to add it ontop.
I'm not sure if you knew thisstory, sarah, but the whole
reason that I hired your sisterin the first place was because

(25:03):
she used to come after class.
She was my student at U of Hand she'd come after class and
ask me questions and because ofthat she actually elevated
herself in front of everyoneelse and I was like oh, she's
got it.
So it's cool that that themeright, it's kind of like it's in
the Strickland DNA, but it'salso it's in the theme.
It's really that's how you canbecome a good digital marketer

(25:24):
and good at PPC.

And I definitely got that ingrained in me from
nursing as well.
You can definitely getcomfortable in nursing, but
you're never, and should not be,in a spot where you're like,
okay, I know everything, I don'thave to worry or care about
messing up, I don't need tolearn anymore.
No, because if that is yourmindset, chances are you're
actually not that good of anurse, and the most amazing

(25:46):
nurses I've met have been themost humble people you'll ever
meet and they're always open tolearning.
They love to teach new nurses,patients, families, whatever it
is.
They're confident, but they'renot overly confident and they
ask why, which is huge.
During rounds they ask thedoctors questions why are we

(26:06):
doing this?
Hey, I don't understand thereasoning behind an order.
Can you explain it to me?
Why are we giving them thismedicine?
So, yeah, that behavior hasbeen instilled in me and has
really prepped me well to moveinto a career where, essentially
, I knew close to nothing andhad to be okay, going from a
career where I had thatconfidence and years of
knowledge and experience to aplace of having to start over.

(26:29):
And yeah, as you said, I feellike it's just been ingrained in
our family also to ask a lot ofquestions.

So I wonder back, like thinking back at college or
high school, or even like gradeschool, elementary school.
Were you the type of person whowould ask questions and raise
your hand?

Oh yeah oh yeah, I mean it makes me laugh
hearing the story about Rachelin office hours, because I
actually remember my first yearat UT I took an astronomy class.
It was just a requiredextracurricular class you had to
take and it was a hard stinkingclass.
I don't know what it was, butit was so difficult because our

(27:04):
professor he was like this hugeastronomer, studied black holes
was just really nerdy and wouldget into it and I was so lost so
I think I spent hours with thatman outside of class in his
office hours asking questions.
So I'm kind of upset that hedidn't offer me a job in
astronomy like he did withRachel.

(27:26):
But that just cracks me upbecause I can relate deeply to
it.

That's awesome.
So what are some commonmisconceptions about PPC that
beginners should be aware of?

The biggest one is that the small things don't
matter.
Because they do, they matter somuch.
And being a beginner and goingslower is not bad, and I've had
to tell myself this over thelast couple of months because
when you go slow I almost likewould feel bad, that I'm going
slower through certain tasks orwhatever.

(27:57):
But I've ended up catchingsmall mistakes before because I
was moving slowly and goingthrough the details and asking
questions, and sometimes it'sreally good to have green eyes
in the account to ask questionsof why something is set up a
certain way, because you knowyou never know what you're going
to find.
So I would say that's the firstthing.
And then another one that I getfrom, you know, my friends who

(28:21):
don't necessarily know anythingabout digital marketing, is that
it can be done entirely by AIor automation.
No, there has to be astrategist to have their hands
in it and in fact, if you letautomation take a lead, you'll
miss out on great opportunitywithin the account.
You know you can have thegreatest AI machine Google but
it has to have a strategist tohelp mold and direct the account

(28:43):
to.
You know best, optimizeperformance.

So talk about optimization and analysis.
Any tips or tricks,specifically when a beginner is
starting to analyze performanceof an account.
Any things that you founduseful.

Yeah, I would say again, no detail is too
small.
And then setting up remindersand cadences for yourself.
To-do lists are very important,especially as I learned how to
prioritize, so making surenothing gets lost in the sauce.
Essentially, you knoweverything needs to be accounted
for.
There's so many things that youhave to optimize on a schedule
right, and then try to gothrough whatever you're

(29:20):
analyzing yourself first andthen have someone review it and
input their own suggestions, askquestions about how they got
there, a lot of whys and howquestions.
Those are the best.
But I would say, if it's theirfirst time doing something, just
push yourself to go through it,even if it's really, really

(29:40):
uncomfortable and it's gonna bebumpy and you're probably gonna
miss a lot of things.
But I think that first attemptat by yourself is really
important, and then havingsomeone go in and almost being
like, okay, this is what I foundin it, and then you can look at
what they find and askquestions Well, how'd you get
there?
Or maybe I was.
I was closer to getting therethan I thought and it kind of
gives you some more confidencegoing through it, you know.

So I think that brings up two interesting points
.
Number one on your last point,it helps to have someone that
you can ask questions to and toreview your work, right.
Being in a situation where youdon't have someone there, you
could still run the campaignsand do what you need to, but I
guess that learning curve it'sgoing to take a lot longer.
So that's an interesting point.
The second one is somethingthat I remembered is like when

(30:26):
you first start out, you usuallyget like one or two accounts,
right.
So at that point it's reallyeasy to remember what you're
doing and what you're at.
But naturally, as you'regetting better and you get more
on your plate, having thosereminders can be really
important, because it'sdifficult if you're working on 5
, 10, you know some agencies, bythe way, put 70 accounts on one

(30:48):
person.
We don't do that at Optage, butright, when you're working on a
lot of accounts, yeah, you needto have those reminders and
those checklists and to-do lists.
So I'm really glad that youbrought that up.

Yeah, and I have like 10 checklists.
I don't recommend that foreveryone, but I have so many
that I don't even know.
There's no way I can forget,because they're all plastered
around me all the time.

Yeah, you'll have to take a picture of your wall,
and then we can get included inthe episode.
Last question on this topic.
You know, obviously Google'schanging all the time.
Google ads is changing all thetime.
How do you personally keeptrack of the changes and just
being on top of what's happeningin the world of Google Ads?

I feel like I really lean on my colleagues for
this.
I mean, I have recently gottena LinkedIn because I really
didn't need one before withnursing and LinkedIn is amazing.
I don't know if you guys knowthis.
I'm so late to the game, but,man, I have seen some really

(31:43):
cool posts from people, or justyou know my colleagues sending
stuff into our Slack threadsLike, hey, did you guys see this
article that was posted?
Google's doing this in a coupleof months.
I mean that's been really,really cool.
But that's kind of how I do.
It is.
It's LinkedIn, it's through mycolleagues just being open to
reading articles.
That's kind of where the youhave to continue to be able to

(32:04):
learn in the field plays inRight.

Yeah, and honestly it's interesting.
I was just talking to myexecutive assistant about, like,
my email inbox and things likethat and I'm not reading.
Like I've signed up to a coupleof newsletters, I don't read
them anymore.
You know why?
Because LinkedIn is so great.
Like the bottom line is, youknow people are on there,
they're talking.
Just being on there, you kindof know what's going on.
So I'm so glad that you createda LinkedIn account and, yeah,

(32:28):
I'm happy to share people that Ithink you should follow now
that I know you're there andwant to look.
But there's definitely some keyGoogle Ads, ppc players on
there that I follow and I learna lot from.

Yes, definitely.
That would be great because Imean, even now I I kind of like
I will, I'll look at yourLinkedIn, I'll look at optages
and kind of see like what postsare trending related to it.
And that's been.
I mean, that's been working.
But yeah, I would love tofollow more.

Cool.
So before we wrap up, I'd loveto do like a quick top three.
So, for people who don't know,you're a musician, so I'd love
to talk about your love of musiclove of playing an instrument.

What's special about it for you?
Again, with Rachel, she didband in middle school, and so
that was my first exposure to it.
My grandfather was alwaysreally musical, but I would
argue that he is the onlymusical person in our family.
And so when Rachel did band Iwas like, wow, this is so cool.
And I remember being inelementary school and I don't
know if it was like for PE orwhatever it was an assembly they

(33:30):
brought a trumpet player in andhe could play the trumpet.
He could play a song withoutpressing the valves, and I
thought that was so cool.
I can see, I can still pictureit.
And so when I went to middleschool, I knew that I wanted to
do band and I was just prayingthat I could play trumpet.
And I remember walking into theband hall and the band director

(33:52):
took one look at me and he saidyou have the embouchure for a
trumpet player.
And I just feel like theuniverse is like Sarah, this is
it?
So that's kind of how itstarted.
And I played trumpet, for Ithink it's 12 years that I've
played and I don't playregularly now, but it's I could
still pick it up for sure, andit's kind of led into.

(34:14):
You know, now, especiallyduring COVID, I was like I kind
of want to learn another one,and so that's why I picked up
the mandolin and I've startedteaching myself that.
But but it's been difficultbecause a string instrument is
very different from a brass or awind instrument.
So it's been a fun challengebut it's very stress relieving
for me.

(34:34):
So if I've had a stressful dayI'll just pick it up and kind of
tinker on it, and it's just sofun and it brings me such joy.

I love my guitar and I feel the same way.
That's so cool you're learningmandolin.

I'm gonna have to send you some bands that I
think scott that have somepretty cool music, very into
bluegrass with the mandolin, soanything related to that or not,
I mean bring it on.
I know that there's like somegood spanish music with it too,
so and then.

So, finally, with travel, like you're, you've been
a travel, so I'd love to hearyour best place that you lived
or visited, and maybe the onethat's you know the worst place.

Yeah, so my best , my most favorite place in the
whole world is Denver, colorado.
It was, and honestly it was thelocation, yes, but I found
family there, like I had thebest friendships in Denver and
really liked the hospital too,so it was all around just great.
I would say the worst andyou're going to laugh at this
because I'm currently here hasbeen Seattle, because I hate the

(35:34):
rain.
The location is really awesomeand it's beautiful when it's not
raining, but, yeah, I would saySeattle has been my least
favorite and I've been toFlorida, all around North
Carolina.
So, yeah, I definitely like theWest Coast, but the East Coast
has a special place in my heartas well.

My only joke about Seattle is so both my wife and I
our families live in Houston.
So whenever there's some familytrouble I'm like honey, let's
just get up and we'll move toSeattle, because it's the
furthest place away from Houstonas possible.

So yeah, I know it's just so far and Pacific
time.
I don't know what it is, but itfeels just eons behind everyone
else.

So, sarah, where can people find you?

I am now on LinkedIn, so you can find me
there under my married name, andthen I do have an Instagram and
a Facebook, but I am not onwhat is it?
X?
Now?
I'm not on X and I've neverbeen on X and I don't plan on
being on X.

That's fine.
I think LinkedIn and Instagramare good places to be Perfect
Cool.
Well, sarah, this has reallybeen lovely.
Thank you so much for sharingyour perspective, your journey.
I'm sure it's going to help somany people see that the
impossible is possible.
And, yeah, this has been awonderful conversation.

Yeah, thanks for having me.
This is so fun.
My first podcast.

Yes, and hopefully many more.

Yes.

Thank you, listeners, for tuning into the
Digital Marketing Mentor.
We'll speak with you next time.

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084: Office Hours | From NICU Nurse to PPC Pro: A Career Pivot Story with Sara Strickland

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}084: Office Hours | From NICU Nurse to PPC Pro: A Career Pivot Story with Sara Strickland