Episode 91: From Celebrity Instagram to Boutique Agency Success | Allison Norton Rolfes | Founder & CCO, ANR Creative Group
Allison Norton Rolfes is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of ANR Creative Group, a boutique social media agency in Costa Mesa, CA. She’s one of the best in the industry, launching the first celebrity Instagram accounts, including laurenconrad.com, and helping businesses double in size through smart, strategic social media. Allison shares how she transitioned from journalism to digital marketing, what makes a boutique agency uniquely powerful, and why social media is about more than pretty pictures. We talk about balancing CEO life with motherhood, how to hire the right social media team, and the systems that allow her to take real vacations as a business owner. Her story is proof that you can design a business around your dream life, build a thriving agency, and still have time for family, travel, and personal passions.
“Find clients for whom you’re a fan of their work. Our interests dictate who our clients are and who we seek out.”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters
00:00 Meet Allison Norton Rolfes
03:10 From Print Journalism to Digital Storytelling
07:30 Launching Celebrity Instagram Accounts
12:00 Founding ANR Creative Group
16:40 Why Boutique Agencies Deliver Bigger Impact
21:15 Balancing Motherhood and CEO Life
26:00 How to Choose the Right Social Media Partner
30:20 Building a Business Around Your Dream Life
34:50 Social Media Strategies That Drive Growth
39:10 Creating Systems to Take Time Off
43:20 Advice for Entrepreneurs in Creative Industries
47:40 What’s Next for ANR Creative Group
I had a couple clients come to me saying, Hey, I heard you do social media. I heard you had these awesome clients before, like, could you do mine? So I kind of took that as a sign from the universe that this is just what I should be doing and it's where my experience was lying and it, it helped me to realize it was a great idea.
And I think when you're asking the universe for questions and then something falls into your lap, I think it's a really big sign to go. Just run with it and see what happens.
That's Alison Norton Rawles and this is The Powerful Ladies podcast.
Hey guys, I'm your host, Kara Duffy, and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast where I invite my favorite humans, the awesome, the up to something, and the extraordinary to come and share their story. I hope that you'll be left, entertained, inspired, and moved to take action towards living your most powerful life.
Alison Norton Roels is the founder and chief creative officer at a and r Creative Group, a marketing and social media agency based in Costa Mesa, California. She's one of the best in the industry, having launched successful celebrity Instagrams, such as Lauren conrad.com, and helping businesses to double in size thanks to her oversight of their social channels.
On this episode, we discuss the power of social media for your business and why it's more than a pretty Instagram feed. We talk about how you can actually take maternity leave and vacations as a business owner, and how Allison created a successful business that's 100% built around her dream life, all that, and so much more coming up.
But first, if you're interested in discovering what possibilities and businesses are available for you to create and to live your most fulfilling life. Please visit the powerful ladies.com/coaching and sign up for a free coaching consultation with me. There is no reason to wait another day to not be living your best life when you instead could be running at full speed towards your wildest dreams today.
Well, welcome to the Powerful Ladies Podcast. Thank you. I'm excited to be here. I am very excited to have you. Um, you are such an integral person into my life and my business, so I can't wait for everyone to meet you. Um, so let's begin. Um, would you please introduce yourself and your business and what you're up to?
Sure. And thanks for
having me. Um, I am Alison Norton Rol. I am the founder and owner of a and r Creative Group. Um, I've worked in the digital media space since the beginning of my career, since graduating college. Um, and this is my. Third, um, position in a digital media company. And, um, yeah, I live here in Costa Mesa, so I get to work with Kara one-on-one in person.
Um, and, and yeah, and I'm really, my role within my company is really, um, like a chief creative director. So, um, seeing all of our clients, brands and businesses from the visual side and from the creative side of things, um. And yeah, I'll save the rest if we wanna keep diving into more details.
Well, for people who don't know, um, you know, what the whole world of marketing is that you touch, what specifically do you help businesses, uh, achieve or overcome?
Yeah. Okay. So I'll
just go through my whole story. So in college I went to USC, Southern California up in LA for college. And I think what I did was unique was in that I studied what I actually wanted to do and what I've ended up doing. So I studied
mm-hmm. Print
journalism and halfway through my time in college, um, they actually changed it to digital journalism.
So one of my professors was at LA Times, you know, the print publication. And halfway through that semester with her, um, she went to la times.com and that was really, um, indicative of like what was happening in the journalism industry at the time. Mm-hmm. I knew I always wanted to be. A features writer and I, I wanted to write, um, you know, for lifestyle editorials, like a Vogue or even like a Rolling Stone, just anything, music, travel, fashion, like anything really lifestyle focused.
Um, and that was really what I wanted to do for a print publication. Um, and so it was interesting seeing how our curriculum shifted, everything shifted to digital right when I was in college. And that was, um, 2008 to 2012. So really when everything was shifting, um, and even, you know, print journalism was, was kind of concerned at that time.
Like our professors were telling us, you know, this is gonna be a dinosaur industry. So the cool thing about that was that. In those, those courses through my major, we were, um, we were like creating blogs and we were creating websites where our articles would live, and we were, um, we were learning about Twitter as a journalism, um, tool and resource, um, which was really amazing.
And I just, I liked that digital space. I liked how, um, you know, it was the kind of work you could do from wherever and, um, even reporting, you could go out in the field and do it and then, you know, submit your, your, your work digitally. I thought that was really neat. Um, and my minor was graphic design, so, um, I've always, you know, loved fine arts.
I, you know, I was in like ap fine arts studio classes in high school and really wanted to pursue that, that visual, fine arts element. I thought it was really cool to be able to take journalism and then maybe like photography or graphic design or something and meld them together to be able to do those skills together to create like the whole, the whole piece, the whole project.
Um. So anyway, so my first job right outta college, um, I, I took it for the position, the title of it, more than even for the, I didn't even know what the company was. I didn't know what they did, but the title was, um, associate editor and I was like, editor, oh my gosh. Like as a journalism major, you're like, reporter or like bottom of the barrel, you know, B roll camera person.
So, um, having that title editor, I was like, okay, I don't even know like what I'll be doing, but I just wanna be an associate editor. That's the position I wanna do. It turns out it was a company that, you know, after I interviewed there and, and got to know more about the company, it was a company called Equal.
They were based in the valley in LA and Burbank, and they specialized in running, um, YouTube and celebrity websites. And they also had a branded side of the company that did like Walmarts, um, content for their website. And like random brands like Philadelphia, cream cheeses, content, so blogs for those, those big mm-hmm.
Big, um, brands. Um, and I was hired on the, the celebrity side of things and actually hired to work on. Specifically Lauren Conrad's website. So to write her blog content. And during that, um, time in equal Instagram was becoming popular. You know, it was kind of shifting from like, oh, is this just an app where we filter photos on all these different filters to like, oh wait, people can see these photos.
People are liking these photos and engaging. So we actually for, for several of the celebrities there, you know, for, for Lauren's brand, we started the lauren connor.com Instagram at that company, which was really cool to, to visualize these, um, big names, you know, some these A-list and Blist and C list celebrities visualize their social media from the ground up when it was just gaining traction in the social media world.
So, you know, managing blog roles, managing all forms of social, so Twitter, Facebook, and then really that Instagram piece and doing kind of some small like gorilla style photo shoots for these celebrities. Um, so long story short, equal got acquired by a big, um, really corporate company that just didn't, it wasn't a good fit.
They, they didn't care about those lifestyle brands. They didn't care about doing that editorial. They cared more about this big corporate, um, more like the Walmarts of that company. So myself and two, um, two of my colleagues there, two other women there, took some of our, our clients, one of them including Lauren Conrad and took 'em off on our own and created a company called polka.media.
So there's three of us founders. Um, and that was cool to have the opportunity to be that entrepreneur. And I was 20. 4 25 around the time that we did that. So that was a really amazing experience. I was, um, younger than my two co-founders. Um, just, you know, really like big eyes were big opening, um, eyes were big, learning everything that there was to learn about the business side versus just like maintaining those tasks for work.
Um, so, uh, polka.media was awesome. We ran Lauren Conrad site, um, and a handful of other, um, celebrity clients site and really focused on that celebrity client space and some, some brands as well. Um, fast forward to 2017 and, um, my now husband and I were engaged. He has a dental practice down here in Costa Mesa, and, and we knew we were gonna live down here.
We knew we were gonna move to Orange County from LA and it was interesting in Orange County, I saw a big need for. Those services for those social media services, those creative services, you know, creating photo shoots for awesome businesses that might not even like know they need them. Um, and I was doing this drive on the 4 0 5, you know, hours and hours and as a drive home back to Orange County from la.
Um, I would kinda like look around and, and see that there are so many, you know, cool brands and businesses and, um. Really amazing founders who had that business vision, but might not even have a presence on Instagram or, um, they might post, you know, once every, every two months. And it's just, it was totally an afterthought.
And, um, ask someone, you know, who had experience then in the social media industry, I know how powerful it is to drag brands and businesses, whether it's to drive sales or to drive, um, new client leads or even just brand awareness. You know, some, some clients have really service-based, um, businesses where it's not selling a product on Instagram, it's helping their audience learn about them and learn about their brand and have that brand recognition.
So there's so much, there was so much need for that. And so few social media agencies down here, and so few creative agencies that, um, in like October, November of 2018, I, um, did a formal buyout from polka.media. And kind of sat on the idea for a while. And after a couple months, I actually had, I was like, okay, is this what I wanna do?
And is this really gonna work? And I had a couple clients come to me just from, you know, from family and friends, from, from word of mouth recommendations saying, Hey, I heard you do social media. I heard you had these awesome clients before, like, could you do mine? So I kind of took that as a sign from the universe that this is just what I should be doing.
And it's where my experience was lying. And it was, I, I, it helped me to realize it was a great idea. And I think, um, those little moments when you're asking the universe for questions and then something falls into your lap, I think it's a really big sign to go, just run with it and see what happens. Um, so January of 2019, officially a and r Creative Group was founded, established, had that LLC mark on it.
And I started running, um, social media for a lot of clients and, um, brands, you know, service-based clients, product-based clients, but really in that lifestyle space here in Orange County. Um, and that lifestyle space. What I have found works really well for like, the clients that I've targeted to work with, or even the ones when they come to me.
And I think with my team, I think like, is this client right for you in our creative group? Is this right for us? Um, what I've learned in the, in the past and what I've learned through working with celebrities who I admire and who's, you know, I would, my voice was the same as theirs. It would be easy to write for them.
It would be easy to write captions for them. Um, take photos, you know, for their platforms. The best, the best tip is to find clients who you're a fan of their work. So, um, you know, we love clients in the lifestyle space of well, health and wellness and fitness. We love that interior design. Interior to core gardening, landscaping, that's an awesome area.
Fashion, beauty. Um, we're a woman owned, woman run, you know, female team company. Not saying there's not room for a man there, but right now our, our interests really dictate like who our clients are and who the best client would be for us. So I think, um, one of the biggest little nuggets of wisdom I've taken through my experience is find, you know, work with people who you're fans of their product or fans of their services, because you'll be able to do the best job at creating content for them and writing for them because you love what they do.
Mm-hmm.
I'll pause there for a moment.
No, it's, it's such a great story because so often, you know, people hear about the entrepreneurial, um, business, but they don't hear about the whole journey behind it. Right? Right. Like the fact that this is your second business that you've started and. That it kind of, it all happened organically where you kept seeing like this opportunity or an opening or as you said, the universe kept just sending people your way.
Mm-hmm. You're like, I guess I have to do this. Mm-hmm. Um, and there's so many people who work in the social media space today. Mm-hmm. Um, and something that I think is really unique about what a and r delivers is you guys offer a whole level of a brand experience mm-hmm. That I think a lot of people doing social media don't do.
Mm-hmm. Like, you can provide the content, you have a whole branding exercise mm-hmm. You do with people. Um, you really are committed to every brand looking like it's bets self mm-hmm. Digitally to a, a place where I don't think people realize how valuable that is. Mm-hmm. Right. Like. Often when I'm working with clients about like, what do I do about my social media?
It's like, how quickly can I get someone else to do it? Mm-hmm. Versus how do I really. Find a partner who's going to like, love on your whole social, digital space mm-hmm. The way that you would as a founder. And I think that's something that you and your team do so well.
Thank you. That's so nice to hear.
And yeah, so we have a team of, um, it's myself and I have a, um, social media director. Um, and she is ama her, her name is Tori. Um, I'll ask her after this if she wants her name on there. Um, yeah, that's fine. So yeah, so my team, I have a social media director, um, who is amazing at helping with execute all of those.
There's so much that goes into social, so stories.
Mm-hmm.
Like I said, um, and maybe I should start from the beginning. So just like you said, when we work with a client and we find these clients where we're a mutual match, um, where, and another big thing is we have to really love and, and really get along with the person who we're gonna be communicating with.
So whether. A lot of times with these small businesses, it's the founder directly, and the founder is like, I've been running my social, I don't have time to do that. I am making products, or I'm running this brick and mortar location, or I'm doing these, these amazing things and I just, social media is an afterthought.
So we, you know, for us as experts, we're like, okay, well it's not an afterthought for us. It's a forethought. So let's, let's come together and, um, you know, we'll take this off your hands and we'll do it. You know, we'll, we'll, we'll do it better than you've ever even imagined, so it won't even be a point of stress for you.
So, um. That's really, we, we see that that's a relief for a lot of founders and clients when it's something where they're like, okay, I'm just outsourcing this. Um, so yeah, we, we, we, we really wanna have that synchronicity and that that harmonious relationship with the person we're gonna be speaking with.
'cause there's a lot of marketing goals and initiatives and if it's launches or sales or there's a lot of things going on with the business that social media has to reflect. It has to be that megaphone that's telling the audience, this is what's happening, this is what's gonna push forward all of those business initiatives.
So. So it's important for us to really, you know, get along with and communicate openly with that person. Um, but when we start working with a client, we just, like you said, we visualize their brand and how we would do it with that and or touch, we visualize it from the ground up. So we've had clients come to us who they recently had a rebrand and we're, and they're like, okay, we just need the social now.
And we take everything that they've done and we go running forward with it. We've had clients come to us where they wanna start a business, um, and they like don't even have logos. And so we'll work in tangent. We'll either have, you know, use our graphic designer and our web designer, help create those things for them.
Or we'll work in tangent with someone else that they have. But we wanna make sure that everything we're doing is super intentional. Mm-hmm. Um, and even with clients who we, we, you know, they're like, I wanna work with you guys. And maybe they haven't had a logo refresh in, in years, or they, or they just need one because it's just what we'll do, perform the best for.
This day and age that we're in where things are moving so fast and if you don't capture someone on that scroll, you're gonna lose them. So that brand part is like step one that is so important. We wanna make sure that everything from the branding and the logo and even the colors and like their patterns and everything that goes into, like even their keywords, you know, are you girl or feminine?
Those are really different. There, it seems similar, but there's a lot of difference between those words. Um, all those things go into that brand identity phase of our onboarding process. And, um, and we're really intentional with making sure that there's social media, um, elements woven into everything with their branding.
So, you know, like for example, if they're, if they have certain colors, like are those colors gonna look really good in social media? They might look good in a logo or a billboard, but like, how can we make everything that's about this company's. Perform its best on social and be beautiful and stop people in their scroll.
So that brand part is huge and it's something where once we, we finish that part of the onboarding process and we all are well versed into like, why are we caring about this brand? What is it looking like on social? It's really nice because that lays the foundation for the strategy and the photos and the captions and everything visual that comes after that.
And I really am talking about INS Instagram when I say like the photos and the captions. 'cause it's the, it's the bread and butter, it's the biggest driver of all of these platforms for social. But um, that's not to say that we shouldn't forget about Facebook and the type of audience that's there and the type of age group that's on Facebook.
Pinterest is huge. That visual driver, if there's, you know, if there's really viral photos where people are like, you know, hundreds, thousands of people are gonna click through that photo and go directly to that website, there's so much value there. So. Mm-hmm. Um, same thing with, with the design of the website, like, is it, what's the user experience on that website?
What is the first impression someone gets, once we've captured their attention and they're, they're taking such a big action to go to the website, that's really important. So branding goes into all of that and there's, there's, there's so much important on that, on that first branding step of, of the process.
Yeah. So many people, so many people that have businesses or are doing any project that needs to call attention to other people, I can guarantee no one's spending enough time talking about branding. Right? It comes up with every, every client and, um, it's, it's just one of the foundational items. Just like so often when I start with why, right?
Like, why, who and what do you wanna be delivering? It's those things that seem like they're not moving the ball forward fast enough. Mm-hmm. That actually will be the accelerators later. Right. You know, a lot of people who come, who come to me as clients or who are listening have social. They, they think they might be able to do it themselves.
They think that they, you know, there's so much miscommunication about what you need from social media. Um, and usually I tell people to like, pause and like just have the basics until you have a strategy and know why you're doing it. Uh, but how quickly should a business really create a robust social strategy?
And what's the pros and cons? Like, what's the impact if they don't? So I actually think we,
we restructured our packages a million times. Mm-hmm. And actually for the listeners out there, Kara is my business coach. So there's like all this meta, meta meta stuff happening here where she's my business coach, and then I give her social strategy help, and then we're doing this podcast.
So there's so much alignment here. It's, it's just, it's exciting. Um, but so we, Karen knows we've restructured our packages so many times. Um, and with something as personal and as specific as social media, like we, we have these core packages and then we, we customize them from there. Like, uh, we're, it's never a one size fits all with social media.
We have to make things bespoke. We have to make things based on someone's business goals based on where they're at now and where they wanna get. So it's really important for us as a social agency to have these core offerings and then be able to have some flexibility to customize them for a client's needs from there.
Um, that said, we did use to offer, um, a really beginner package that was just, I think it was called like the beginner or just something super elementary, where a client might come to us and say, I just want social off my hands. I have these photos. I have a small budget, like I don't have enough budget for strategy.
Um, the issue with that we are finding is that strategy is what drives those results. So that that's fine to, to take that off someone's hands. But then what happens with anything like this, with anything client services based is a client comes back and says, Hey, I've been working with you guys, and like.
It's, it's not growing as fast. I'm not seeing the numbers. I, I understand what you guys are doing now and like, what, we're not going where we wanna be as fast. So what, what ends up happening is that they should have had a strategy in the first place. It's just where it starts. So it starts with that branding and then after that it's like, what's the social strategy?
What's the strategy that's gonna drive new eyes, new, you know, authentic users who are gonna stick around and keep repinning, keep liking on Instagram, and then eventually buying the product, signing up for the service, you know, whatever, whatever that end action is, that's where we wanna get every client's target customer.
Mm-hmm. And if there's no strategy, we're just, you're just posting things into the void and hoping someone notices and hoping someone sticks around. So that's the issue. I think the strategy is that, um. I think not having a strategy is an issue. I think having a strategy is just in line with like our core value of having intentionality when we work with clients.
So, um, that strategy part's really important. When are we posting? Why are we posting? What kind of content? Who are we, who are we partnering with? Like, who are we engaging with outwardly on the Instagram platform or the Facebook platform? Um, community management is a big part of it, is kind of that, you know, that strategy piece.
Like how are we engaging with the people who are here? Like those are important. Mm-hmm. Important. Um. You know, members of our audience, we wanna have them stick around and be return customers or return viewers or, you know, whatever that action is. So, um, I do think so, so long story, you know, the moral of the stories that we've actually made, sure that strategy is woven into every single package we offer.
Even our, even our lowest most foundational package there is strategy woven into it. And that's just what
mm-hmm.
You know, that's just what has to happen for clients to see results. And if our clients see results, then we're happy. They're happy. And that's, that makes everything really awesome for moving forward with them.
Well, and and it speaks to, um, what's so fundamental about especially providing a service based business mm-hmm. Is that you have to know, you have to know what is required to deliver the results that you're committed to. And so often the clients that you're working with, they don't know what they really want.
They don't really know where they're trying to go. So there's a, there's a responsibility for those of us who are in the service business to say like, I know you think you only need this. And I like, trust me in the as as the expert. Mm-hmm. You really need to do all of this. Right. 'cause if you see where they wanna go, you know, all the steps.
Yeah. Like there's no way for somebody who is not a social media expert, not to know all the details. 'cause there's so many, there's so much overlapping alignment and, um, every part of the social media experience is so inter integrated. Mm-hmm. That if you skip one to your point, like you're not gonna see the results that you want.
Right. Um, and for me, you know, when I look at the types of companies that I not just take on as clients, but really wanna work with for my own businesses. It's people who are thinking as if it's their business, right? Like I know that trusting you with powerful lady social media, which has been a few months now, I do not wanna, you do not need to take credit for the horrible job I was doing before.
Uh, so all the stuff that looks good is Allison. Um, that's when you can tell when she started or her a and r started working on it. But, um, I know I have so much trust that you are going to take care of, uh, powerful ladies in the social media space in that way and fulfill on our vision. Um, because I know that you, you really care.
You're such a heart led business and entrepreneur. Um, it matters to me that you care so much and that you're dedicated and that you really look at it like, no, no, no, no, no. We have to do it this way. Like you're, you're. You're not just doing it to get a client and to make your business work, like as you said, you're so selective at who you work with because once you're in, like you're in, right.
And that's,
thank you, Kara, that's, that's awesome to hear. And I'm, I'm glad you're glad with our product and there's so much heart in it, like I'm talking about these packages. And the truth is that if someone chooses a package, like we're gonna go outside of that package if someone says they want.
Mm-hmm.
You
know, they really wanna have that external community outreach where we're engaging with people who might be fans, but they're not followers yet, and they, they're like, I can't afford that. Like, we're probably gonna add that on because it's gonna get results for our clients and we're. We're a team who we're happy to, you know, put in that extra time because we love the clients we work with.
Um, but going back to what you said about, you know, knowing all the tips and knowing the strategy and knowing even just with social media, keeping up, like reading, reading articles in Tech Crunch and keeping up with what's going on, um, that educational aspect. And I'm sure for you in the business coach industry, that's a huge part of
mm-hmm.
Signing a client or, or even just those, those steps of talking to a potential client, like educating them on. And, and it depends on the age group too. I mean, I think like millennials and even these elder millennials, like totally understand it. Like we're on social media a lot. We are, we're shopping through it.
We're discovering people through, I mean, I've met like friends who have gone to like, local people who have gone to coffee with like blind coffee dates through social media. So it's powerful. We totally get that. I think it's a little bit of that. Older generation who are successful business owners. 'cause they run several businesses and they totally get the business side of it, but they're like, I don't get it.
What's social media? What's investing in social media gonna do for my business? Like, I just don't understand. So that's a huge ed educational element. And for anyone out there who's interested in like working in social media or starting a social media company, one of the big pieces of advice I would give you, and I've learned this from experience, is having something.
In your educ, in your, like, you know, your discovery meeting process where you're giving them, whether it's like a one sheet of statistics about like, here's how social media grows your business, or whether it's just knowing those facts and being able to write 'em down and spit 'em off when you're on a call.
I think that's super, super important just to know how powerful it is and to have statistics that back it. Um, it shows people, first of all, that you know your industry, and this applies for any industry, you know, if you're, yeah. Just for you, if you're a business coach and people are like, oh, I don't know if I should invest in coaching.
Do I really need it? Like, spit off all those facts like, you know, business owners who have mentors or business coaches like their bound to do 80% better than businesses that don't. Mm-hmm. And that was a fake fact. But there's something out there like that that's powerful to those potential clients, and that can be the difference of them seeing that there's real growth and real benefit and results they can get.
Um, well, I think the, the quote you're thinking of, which I've shared with you is that if you have a business coach, you're 80% more likely mm-hmm. To exist next year. Exactly. Yeah. That's the stat, which is like, when you say like, how do I get an 80% chance of survival? Like, you just need to have a coach.
Right. Like, why does everyone not have one? Yeah. Like, sorry, that's my own put coaching plug. But like, it's having, having stats to give people something tangible because there's so much unknown when they're, when you're working with a service provider, right? Whether it's a graphic designer or social media, or a web designer or a business coach.
Like you, you're hiring someone either because you wanna level up in that space or it's not your area of expertise and you know, you're outsourcing it. So like. How do you, how do you know that they're legit? How do you know it's worth the investment? Exactly.
The other thing that's interesting is about that trust element.
So with any service space, like once again, Kara, you're in the same boat with a business coach with social media. Social media is so personal, um, especially if the founder was the one who was doing it and they're, you know, debating whether they wanna hand it off to this team or this person, or this freelancer, whatever it is.
Mm-hmm. It's so personal, and especially if, you know, if your, if your own name is involved with your social media. Um, yeah, so, so that trust that you brought up is a huge part of it. And I would, I think that working with celebrities and, and running social media in my previous company was an area where I learned a lot about trust and learned a lot about like, you know, this is, this is really delicate work we're doing.
We are, we're acting as somebody's name. Sometimes we're at, we're, you know, ghostwriting for people's businesses. Like these are situations where we really have to gain the trust of the client and gain the trust of even the audience. Mm-hmm. And almost have it be this like seamless handoff and then have things look and feel better than they ever have before.
So not trust element is really big, um, really big. Um, you know, because it's so personal and because it's such a extension of a brand's image, image or a business's voice or image. So trust is huge and trust is huge with so many client service based businesses.
Yeah. Yeah. And, and there's so much work that is done to the whole onboarding process you do and continue to do with a client is really to make sure that you are representing them in their most powerful way, in the most authentic way.
Um, I know a lot of people are always asking, should I hire someone to do social media internally or should I go within an outside agency? My opinion or my recommendation to everyone listening would be that, um, go for a boutique type agency like a and r because you really have the personal touch and the intimate relationships with the people who are working on it, where it almost becomes like they're part of your team and you're able to, at a very valuable exchange, get all of the expertise you would get at this huge agency.
And it's, um. It's a trade. Like yes, you can hire someone, um, you know, and potentially save money by having someone on your team do it. But I know as in the role of entrepreneur and and owner, you then have to do so much of the strategic, uh, weightlifting by yourself. And, you know, having someone who has marketing expertise to do things and think ahead of it and be a partner in, in that in the social media space, to me, is so much more worth the investment than hiring someone just to do the tasks because then you're really just having someone do uploading and like very few things.
You're not having someone level it up and think big picture Exactly. And be able to move it outta your brain space like. Why hire someone if you can't almost forget that that part of your business exists, right? Like, except when you're meeting weekly or whatever your, your recurring engagement is with, with that team.
But, um, that's also something I think is really powerful about a and r is that, um, you guys are, have all of the know-how from these huge, um, businesses and clients and companies that, um, have been in your portfolio and you know how to take people to these levels that are totally crazy and insane that people wish they could hit.
And to access to all that knowledge, they just need to hire like a and r. Totally. It's like
if you're speaking our language, you're like speaking social media, speaking like a social media strategist and like a boutique social media company. Um. I mean, I think one of the biggest things with working with a, a boutique social media agency that's so hands-on, and we always say this to clients because they ask the same question you just asked.
You're getting multiple experts. You know, you're getting an agency of multiple experts putting their, their eyes on certain things. You know, you're getting multiple sets of eyes on your content. You're getting different brainstorm, you know, ideas. You're getting all these different, um, opinions and voices coming in, you know, reading articles, staying up on the latest, consuming social media and then coming to the table and saying, Hey, by the way, I saw this story the other day from this brand.
It was awesome. It worked really well. Um, you know, or even bringing that experience of working with multiple clients, you know, I think, I think some, we've had conversations with potential clients where it just makes sense for them to bring someone in house and just like you said, it will it, if their budget is low, it has to be an entry level person who doesn't have that experience.
But working with an agency, um, we're working with different clients and seeing different things happen and seeing different results and you know, we, we even, we offer influencer partnership services because it's super powerful to have an influencer, um, to have them talk about a brand or business on their platform and level up that client's social media.
Um, so even things like that, there's so much trial and error that we're doing with other clients. Mm-hmm. Um, or trial and success we're doing with other clients and we can bring that knowledge to a current client that we're working with. Um, having someone in-house, you know, I think, I think it definitely satisfies that need.
If you need like hour by hour content, you just need like volume of content at the headquarters every day. Um, but I do think for, you know, if you want someone who, we want a team of experts who they've, they've been in the industry for a long time. They've, you know, they've worked on different platforms.
They are trying things. They have the, the manpower, the woman power to just be doing amazing things with all these different clients. Um, it adds a lot of value and it just adds that expert touch versus
mm-hmm.
Um, a little bit more of like a greener junior kind of touch to things. And it's just all about what, what your needs are.
But, um, with, with, with our business, um, since we are a small boutique business, we will never grow to be such a large business that I don't know what's happening with every client. Like, that's really important to me. And we've structured it so that different members of the team can, um, work on different accounts and work with different clients or be the communicators with different clients.
Um, and that's important. Like one person can't be everything to every client. If you're, if you're doing. A multi-client business, but at the end of the day, if there's big picture things happening, if you know, if the client's content calendar is ready for review, if, you know there's a shot list for a photo shoot and we've had the team help put it together, there is nothing that goes to a client or that goes out in the internet world that I haven't seen or looked at or approved.
And I do the same with my team. If there's a project that I'm spearheading and I'm like, okay, it's perfect. I think it's finished, like I'm gonna run it by my team because there's things we don't catch. There's ideas that other people have, there's mm-hmm. Um, you know, it's, it's, it's a missed opportunity not to give your team the 2 cents and the opportunity to brainstorm with you and to be that second set of expert eyes.
Mm-hmm. Well, one of the things that I am super proud at what a and r has accomplished is creating a team, right? Like that was one of the things that we took on together. And, um. What I think you have done so phenomenally with is being a now mompreneur and how you made the adjustment from being, you know, CEO and then having a baby and all the steps of like trust and strategy that you put in place to seamlessly transition your business through you actually getting a maternity leave.
Like there are so many people who run a small business who think I can't take maternity leave. Like everything would fall apart. Like it wouldn't work. That's how I used to think. Right. Well you're a success story, right? Like you, you really did phenomenally with that process and you're now, you know, back and kind of running in full speed again.
And so what was that process like for you and. How did it change your confidence about yourself as CEO?
Well, I should answer this question by actually explaining how we met. So, so I had one or two clients, like two and a half kind of clients, two clients, one in the pipeline, and one client who's actually a business owned by a friend of a friend.
And we, we met in college and she, um, she had come to me when I had just left polka.media and she was like, I heard you're on your own. I want you to run our social. And I was like, oh my gosh. Okay. I have a couple things happening, like, let me talk to you and I have a little bit more bandwidth and more time you'll be like the first on my list once I have time to onboard a new client.
So months went by and she was, this founder is so awesome because she, um, and she's actually a member of the powerful ladies community, the online community. Mm-hmm. So she's a super awesome entrepreneur. Um, she, she knows her business, knows it all, and knows the value of outsourcing that social. Um, so she is a client of care.
As I told you, this gets meta, meta, meta. This is like everyone knows everyone. Um, she was a client of cares and I told her at one point, I was like, okay, I think I'm ready. You know, I, these clients, I'm, I'm feeling really good about these clients that I was onboarding when we spoke to last time. I think I'm ready to, to take you guys on, but I need, you know, a part-time person on my team.
I need a little help just because of the package that you want. You want a ton of social, you want a ton of content, you want photo shoots. Like, I, I need help. Um, and so she said, okay, you need an employee. Like you need someone full part-time or full-time, like you should work with my business coach Kara.
So Kara and I were introduced. Um, we headed off the first session and Kara you actually helped me find my first employee, which was, which was such an interesting, um, search. I mean, I was interviewing all these people and it turned out there was someone right under my nose, the full time who was looking for a job in social media.
And that's, that's, um, you know, that same woman who's, um, my, one of my main roles in this company. She's been with me since that first part-time position. So you helped me hire a, a part-time employee, you know, do it legally, which was really important to me. Do it the right way. Do it with, you know.
Following all the rules, doing the benefits, getting her on payroll. Like everything felt so neat with the way I did it, that it took that pressure off of me. Um, it took that stress off of me for thinking like, oh my gosh, it's such a daunting task to hire an employee. Like, I wanna do it. Right. I just, I don't wanna be like paying them cash under the table.
Like, I want this to be legit. Um, mm-hmm. Um, so you helped me hire my first employee. I took on the next client, and honestly it was, it was like mutually beneficial for everyone. I was working with you, I had a new client, had this awesome employee, and that was step one with you and I working together. That helped me to see like the things that I thought were daunting, especially as a creative, the things that are so, mm-hmm.
Um, you know, so business savvy or so, like financial or accounting savvy, like those things that are really daunting to someone who, whose brain works really creatively and really visually, you helped me to not be so intimidated by those things anymore. Um. And then if we, you know, if we speed things up, like fast forward for a year later, that's about the time that, that was the time of my due date.
So, um, yeah. Yeah. So I hired my first employee and, and got pregnant with our, our first baby, our son, um, a few months later. And I came to care and I was like, oh my gosh, we have a new goal to work on in our business coaching. Like, how do I take that on maternity leave? How do I bring on this awesome part-time employee full-time?
'cause someone has to keep the client workup. Um, so Karen and I mapped out this whole plan and I had a goal and I had a date for that goal. And we met that goal and it was awesome. And it, it, it was really liberating. Um, come to you and have you say, like, you as a business owner can have a maternity leave.
Like there's ways, there's solutions, um mm-hmm. And it's interesting because I think we all, as you know, entrepreneurs or wanna be entrepreneurs or freelancers or even. Even employees at companies, if, if, you know, however we feel best in the way that we work, we all have solutions that someone needs. So, you know, for our, in a and R's case, like we have this social media, so we have these custom social media solutions that work and are customized for each client, and we're constantly working on them to make sure that that solution works for someone like you care, you have these business solutions.
And that was so valuable to me as someone who is a creative, who wants to have flexibility and wants to have, you know, employees and have people to brainstorm with and help take on work at times. And, you know, I and I, I, I remember even coming to you, um, when I was like, okay, I'm gonna take my first like, legit vacation since starting this business.
Like I'm really stressed about it. How does that work? And we even talked through all that and I've taken vacations at, you know, companies I've owned before, but it's just, it's just a matter of really. Um, having a mentor, having a coach, or having someone on your side who you can talk through every step and look at it really, really small, like what do these steps look like to get to this goal though the maternity leave goal was like that too.
Like step one was how do we get, you know, my team member on from part-time to full-time? Um, how do we get in a place with clients where we can see where we'll be at maternity leave time? How do we, and even the emotional aspect, how do we get to a place where I feel good about taking a maternity leave and know that the work keep going and know that it'll keep going with quality and know that I can trust, you know, team members.
Mm-hmm. So I think once we checked all those boxes, it felt good. I was like, okay, this, there's, first of all, no way I could be working right now. When you're like in the weeds with a new baby and you're just, the mental capacity is just not there. You're learning too many new things as it is with your first Yeah.
Um. And then that, like I said, that emotional aspect, just knowing I had a team I could trust knowing things were handled. Um mm-hmm. That was so, it was like such a gift to be able to take that and it, I really owe the confidence in being able and the steps that we set up. I owe all that to you for helping me get there.
My pleasure. It was like, honestly, those are those, um, challenges are so fun to work on as a business coach because like you said, there really is always a solution. And all the clients that I work with, I'm not choosing, I'm not saying yes to clients who aren't interested in finding, um, something that really works for the whole life they want.
Mm-hmm. Not just the business success. So even why you started this company was about the life you wanted to create. Exactly. You know, getting to live in Orange County, be near your husband's, um, uh, practice and just be able to enjoy it because. There are the entrepreneurs who are, who are just in it to 10 times or a million times the money that they can make, and they're not as, that's not as fun for me to be creating strategies for because it's only about the money, right?
And so knowing that you can have abundance in every area of your life. Like, that's the game that I'm playing. Like, how do you be, feel the most boss and be so successful and be the mom you wanna be, and be the wife and the friend and like all the things. Because a balanced life, I think is really what we're all chasing after, whether, whether we admit it or not, it totally is.
And it's
almost like
mm-hmm.
You know, so we have these, these love languages that we use in our relationships, whether, you know, romantic relationships. Mm-hmm. Even like, you know, friendship relationships. The, there's the love language test. And I think it's good to know what your love language is, but I also think there's like this, I mean, it would be interesting if they came out with like, what's your business like, love language.
What's your business currency for what will make you the happiest business owner? Um, I think profitability is important. It, it, it all businesses have to have that at the forefront because it takes away stress. Um. You know, at least, at least wanting your business to thrive is a big part of it. Mm-hmm. So that's where that profitability comes in.
But I think a lot of business owners wanna have a successful business because they wanna have the life they want, they wanna have mm-hmm. Freedom. Or they wanna have, maybe they wanna have nice houses or cars, they, or maybe they just, maybe they just wanna spend time with their family and know that like the bills are paid.
So there's so many things that we want as business owners, um, but they're all unique to us. So for me, coming to you, we, we did so many exercises and like, okay, what's, what are these values behind my business? What are the values behind a and r creative group? What are the goals? Like, what is our business built on?
What should I be coming back to? Mm-hmm. If I ever am evaluating my business and thinking like, oh, is this like, is it, is it still the business I want? Like, we always would come back to these certain pillars and I think flexibility and freedom is a big one. Um. I think just like having, you know, having living able to live the life we want and also like hiring people and hiring team members and working with clients who that's aligned.
Like we don't, yeah. You know, it, it probably wouldn't be a match to work with a client who's like, I don't care what it looks like. I just wanna make a ton of money. We'd probably come back to them and say like, then maybe you shouldn't care about, like, you know, we, we'd probably come back to them and say like, we really value aesthetics, we really value our work.
Having that in our stamp of approval on it.
Mm-hmm.
And if you just want profitability, you should probably find like an ads manager and just run a ton of Facebook ads and Instagram ads and just go from there. But it's, I think that intentionality and that that authentic aspect are really important for the longevity of your business because those are the things that's gonna keep you loving what you do and you loving your business.
At least that's what it is for me. I totally agree with you. It's, it's, um. We're not creating businesses to like flip, right? We're now that could be your end goal, but along that way, how do you really set up the strong foundation that your business is based on? Because that's actually going to add the most value to your business in the long run.
Right? Um, so you know, whether you're building a business to keep it for yourself and to have it really be part of your family legacy, or if you're creating one to do great with and, and sell it and you have an exit strategy, um, the same needs a apply to both of them for at least the foundational elements they totally do.
Mm-hmm. Um, when you look at. Where you are now, would eight year olds, you have imagined that this is what your life looks like? That's such a
great question. So funny enough, at my elementary school, it was a K through eight. And in eighth grade, we, the whole eighth grade class, I hope they still do this there, but the whole eighth grade class was encouraged to write letters to their future 18-year-old selves.
Um, and then we address, we were supposed to address it to, you know, our, our family home, our parents' house at the time, and we stamped it and then the school somehow kept these letters and mailed them out to our parents every 10 years later. Um, that's wild. So when I was 18, I got to read what I had written to, um, it might have even been like 10 years old, or it, it must have been 13 years old in eighth grade.
To my 23-year-old self, so right when you're graduating college. Um, I wrote down several colleges, one of which I ended up going to. Um, I wrote down that I wanted to keep certain core friendships, and I'm still best friends with all those. And only those people really from grade school. You separate with a lot of mm-hmm.
You know, you lose touch with a lot of people and those core friendships, I'm still friends with those people. Um, the things I was interested in, I'm still interested in, and I just think it's really interesting to, um, I think it's a good practice to speak to our future selves. I think it, it helps encourage, you know, goal making and, and really like centering on like, why am I doing all this stuff?
Why am I mm-hmm working? Uh, why am I like working so hard? Why am I working so hard? Whether it's at your business or even like, why am I working so hard at maintaining this family and maintaining these relationships or all these things? I think it's important to see why are we working for things. Um, my 8-year-old self was.
Um, definitely creative. I've always loved, as I said, I've always loved art. I think I would be totally proud of myself for continuing to focus on a job and in a career and things in life that are creative. So these photo shoots that we run for our clients at a and r Creative group, it's probably my favorite service of what we do.
Mm-hmm. Um, it's one of the biggest parts of running social media and visualizing that, that client's brand like we were talking about. So, you know, we will, we'll visualize this photo shoot from the ground up. We'll talk to the client. We'll ask them what are your goals for the photo shoot? Or we'll come to a client and say, you need photos, like you have products, or you have services, or you have a team, or you have a personality and we need to promote it.
Like we need to get it out there so that it can, your social can be a reflection of your business. So we will find location, we'll find models if need be. We'll find props. And then we'll source all this inspiration. Um, and on Pinterest a lot, I even go through like coffee table books and magazines, and Instagram itself can be a big source of inspiration.
And we basically consolidate all of this inspiration and it's unique to that client. And then it's what we see that clients' brand becoming through this photo shoot. Um, and on those photo shoot days, they're long days. They're either, you know, half days or full days or I, we've even done two or three day photo shoots.
Um, they are long days, like my feet are up on the arm of the couch at the end of the day. Um, but I love it. I'm running around, um, you know, either like setting up scenes and doing like styling of props, doing styling of the models, making sure like the product or the story is told really well through those photo shoots.
And I love that aspect of our work. When, when one of our photographers, we have amazing photographer partners with our. Agency and they all totally, besides their skillset being amazing, they just totally get, you know, what it looks like to do a brand photo shoot. And when those photos are presented to us, like after a week or two, it's literally like Christmas morning.
I mean, it's so fun to see our work and our prep and our styling and the whole brand story come together in these visual photos that I know people will love. I know that their audience will engage with them and comment on those photos and rein them and, you know, clients like print them on their brochures and, um, I have a client who they were like, loved one of their photos so much.
It's their iPhone background. So those are the moments where I think my, my younger self, my 8-year-old self would say it's super cool to see older me creating things and creating something where, um, it's like a moment and a memory for brands and businesses. So that's like where I'm so passionate with that side of the work.
Mm.
Well, I also knowing so much about, you know, that your sister's also an entrepreneur, what do you think it was about how you guys were raised that, um, entrepreneurship is like an easy yes for both of you?
My sister, who's one of Kara's clients as well, was just here and she left a couple hours ago, so it would've been fun for her to have a little cameo in here.
Um, my, my family's really creative, but we, my sister and I are such a reflection of the mix of creative and business from our family. So, to give you guys a little background, my dad is, is in his sixties now, so he is retired, but he was a commercial photographer his whole life. So we were born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona.
Um, and it was an amazing place to grow up. And my dad was a commercial photographer there, and he did a lot of, um, I mean, he's just a perfect example of the work that needs to drive the business and then the creative work, it has to be a mix of both. So he did a lot of mm-hmm. Commercial architecture, photography.
He did a lot of brochure work. He did a lot of, you know, he did some billboard work. Of course he was doing this work when social media wasn't, you know, an industry. So really liked that, that old school advertising, you know, ads in magazines, um, and specifically local in Phoenix. Mm-hmm. Um, so that's what really drove his business.
But then he would go on trips to Cuba to, you know, Havana and go sofar as in Africa with groups of photographers, you know, every couple years. And those were his creative times and those are the photos that he would, um. You know, display in galleries at gallery showings. Those are the photos we have framed in our home.
They're, they're black and white, they're out of focus. They're totally funky and artistic.
Mm-hmm. And
they're not the photos that, you know, drove the business and, and made the sales, but they drove him to keep doing the business. Um, mm-hmm. I think it's so important to have a, if, if you, if creativity drives you, you have to look at what's driving you creatively and then what's driving your business and whether you can meld them together or whether that you need to keep maintaining those two avenues.
That's super important because if we don't do that, then that's where burnout happens. Or that's where your business isn't profitable if you're just doing that. Mm-hmm. The creative, the hobby side. So you have to have a mixture of both. Um, my mom was creative in the form of expression, so she was actually a dance major, um, in college, and she did all this funky, modern dance and still like, you know, if we have the music on and we're cooking dinner as a family, like the dance moves still come out.
But she was a, then she went on to get her master's and she was a sales exec, um, for actually a contracting company. So she went super, super businessy and she's, she's a sales woman to her core. Like she could sell you on. I mean, she could sell you on anything pretty much. Um, so, so we were really, you know, there was a lot of fostering of like, art, the creative visual side of things and the creative expression side of things.
Um, my sister's a chef, so she has this beautiful business. Um, and she, you know, she creates beautiful images of her food. She creates beautiful food and she has at the heart of her business, like keeping that creative side and that hobby side of it flowing with the business side still moving forward.
Mm-hmm. And I think, um, I think our business is the same. I think social media is the same, um, especially if you are, you know, if you're like us, where, where those photo shoots and that creative direction is such an integral part and the branding is such an integral part of the business. Um. You know, I think like designing things for fun, like doing some graphic design for fun, doing photo shoots for fun.
One of, um, our photographers who we work with, um, and she's actually in the powerful Ladies community. Her name is Marika, um, Marika Creative. She is one of our photographer partners, and we set up recurring calendar invites and they're called Artist Dates. So we play around, um, sometimes I'll bring the baby in and we'll take some photos, like, so just this fun lifestyle, photos, moments, and, and we'll, we'll style things with backdrops.
We'll play with shadows. And they're not for clients, they're just for us, or they're for us to say we played with this. And sometimes we pitch clients with those, those photos. Mm-hmm. Um, but they came from us having no shot list, having no props, just like bringing things we have on hand and just playing.
Um, so having that balance of like, we're doing, you know, a lot of client photo shoots and then having a scheduled day. It's blocked off just to play. Having an artist date. Um, it's important. It's the same way, you know, that my dad went on on trips and was able to photograph just for fun. You just have to have those moments.
Otherwise, it's all for work and not for play.
So true. And I'm so proud of all of you for like, getting that balance in, right? Mm-hmm. It's important to not just blocking your CEO time, but to block in your creative imagination time. Mm-hmm. Um, when you think of the words powerful ladies, what do they mean to you as individual words and what do they mean to you in combination?
I think powerful is obviously in itself a very powerful word, but it's, you know, powerful just gives you this, it gives you this feeling of this like power stance. It gives you a feeling of confidence. It makes you feel like it's, it's a word when used with with a person or with ladies. It's gonna have impact.
So, um. It's just, it's, there's a, there's, there's a lot to unpack with the word powerful. Um, and I think it's really positive. Like, I think, I think powerful and we've, we've shifted a lot of our, um, as a society, a lot of our view of powerful women. And I think that's been really important, um, for female entrepreneurs and for male entrepreneurs.
I think that, you know, it's important for us to have a great relationship with our fellow female entrepreneurs, but also our male entrepreneurs too, to be able to learn from each other. Mm-hmm. But I do think powerful, you know, powerful ladies, I think that there's a lot of positive connotation with that, whereas even 30 or 40 years ago, I mean, that was just a phrase that wasn't even used the same way, um, women in business weren't doing the same things.
They weren't making the same strides and they weren't able to, they weren't, it wasn't, it wasn't just, now it's expected for. Women to own and run businesses in successful businesses. It's expected for women to, you know, a woman to be on the cover of Forbes. Um, so I think that powerful Ladies is, I think it's a term that's really amazing because it's, it's a term that probably wasn't used in the 1950s or, um mm-hmm.
The 1940s and used differently in the 1960s and 1970s. Um mm-hmm. I love the word of it because, and I use the word lady like, Hey lady, and like, Hey ladies, talking to my team. I, I use that word because I think there's, there's, um, there's a bit of like etiquette to it where it's, it's polished and polished is one of, you know, our key, our, our own a and r branding words where I care about that level of polish I care about.
Mm-hmm.
You know, that level of, um. You know, having that, that final package be really beautiful and intentional and presented to a client. So I think a, a powerful lady is somebody who cares about that polish and cares about, um, co uh, confidence and, you know, being herself and, um, coming at her business or her family or her hobbies from a place of confidence and intentionality and, you know, putting that polish on everything.
So, yeah, I think it's, I think powerfully these in and of itself is a very powerful term.
Who are women, um, along your path that have either inspired you or helped you get to where you are today?
Every woman who I've worked with in any capacity, um, has. Helped me get to where I am today. I mean, even just people who, you know, I think we all have to remember that even people who we've had coffee dates with, it's so amazing how the domino effect can be so subtle and we have to look back and like realize, oh my gosh, I went to coffee with that person and while I was there they mentioned this brand.
And when I looked at this brand, I found this new friend and they, they led to a client. Like, I think there's such a subtle domino effect and subtle ripples of, um, of, you know, positive effects we can all have on each other. Um, every one of my clients previous, you know, previous clients, currents clients, um, have helped, have helped me to become like the expert that I feel I am today.
And I'm still learning, you know, in, in any industry, but especially in social media where it's changing so fast. And, you know, it's not just changing, like, you know, journalism used to change or like finance change or accounting. It, it's changing. Like they're literally, you're waking up and there's an update to the app and you have to like.
Pause everything you're doing, learn what's going on, learn about the algorithm, like it's changing fast, so. Mm-hmm. You know, I think, I think any, um, every, every past and current client, um, has helped me, that opportunity to work with them has helped me to learn about the clients I'll be working with in the future.
Same thing with team members, same thing with my previous co-founders. Um, and I think there's even things we can learn from our friends who are in different industries. Like I, you know, when, when work comes up, I think it's really important to, to be a good listener and listen to what, you know, other, other people are doing in their business.
Um, there's so much to learn from that. Uh, and then I have to say my mom, because she's, she's always fostered. Um, she's a powerful lady. She is a total powerful lady, and she has always fostered my, um, desire to own a business. She's always supported and. She, you know, her business and endeavors weren't the same, but she always has sound advice so that, you know, really looking to those who are older and who have different experience and have that wisdom.
I think, you know, wisdom isn't something we can gain and learn in like a day. You have to be talking and listening to people who've gone through different phases of life to gain that wisdom.
Mm-hmm. There have been so many changes this year, like it's endless. You know, you and I have talked about how it's like the year of the never ending level up, like how many times can you level up in one year is seems to be the game.
Mm-hmm. How do you think all that's happened this year changes the expectations on women and mothers and female business owners in, you know, versus what was business as usual a year ago? I think it's, it's
encouraged society. I mean, there's been so many different phases of 2022, so mm-hmm. You know, there's like the, the panic phase and the unknown phase, and then there was almost this like adapting to our new normal and we're still adapting to our new normal, but that new normal has kind of stabilized.
And I think that what society has done, what I, what I like to think that society has done is given each other a lot of grace. Mm-hmm. Um, I think women are giving other women and other mothers grace. I think women are giving men grace. I think men are giving women grace. I think I, I'm hoping it's, um, you know, across all genders, because I think that we're all, the one thing we have to hold onto right now is that we're all in this together and everyone's lives have changed.
Um mm-hmm. Um. It's really amazing for me because we had our son in the beginning of April, so we had our son at the time when they were like not letting husbands or partners into the hospital rooms, the delivery rooms in other parts of the country. So we were like crossing our fingers and toes that, that that wouldn't be the case for us.
And luckily it wasn't, but we had, um, our son right when, like Shelter in place had just started for a week before. So it was a great year to have a baby. I mean, we were at home with him. We were able to really just enjoy things where my husband's dental practice was, was closed. So he got this awesome paternity leave.
He might've had like five days, you know, five business days before he got like a month and a half. So there was so many blessings that came of it. I think it really sets a different precedence to give each other grace. Like if you're on a Zoom call and it's, you know, a super serious, you know, business call and someone's kid runs around in the background, like, we, we all get it now.
And I think for moms that has been such a, there's such, there's such a benefit in that and that we can be moms and we can be entrepreneurs and we can be business owners or we can be employees of companies and we can still fly that mom flag and not feel so embarrassed or so bad about it. I think before this happened there was a lot more of like, oh, let's hide the mom side of my life and be the, the businesswoman when I'm at work, and then be the mom and like, you know, take off the power suit before I get home.
So I'm like the mom for my kids and I can get like, you know, I can feed them and get messy and I can do all the things. And I think that it's. It's come together so that those roles are now intertwined. And I think there's challenges with that. I think, I mean, I, every since becoming a mom, every single day, I'm like, there's not enough hours in the day.
And I used to say that before and I'm like, oh no. Now there's like really not enough hours in the day, but we just have to let ourselves be okay with getting the amount done and, and closing the computer at the end of the day. Spending time with family, you know, reading a book before bed instead of answering emails before bed.
And just being okay with being both a mother and an entrepreneur instead of one, one minute of the day and then the other, the other minute of the day.
Mm-hmm. Um, I think that's so well said. And you know, I think whether for people who are listening, whether you're a mom or not, or a dad or not, um. I think we're all accepting that.
It's like whoever, whatever we are, whatever like real life actually is, it's okay to blend it more. Um, absolutely. I honest, I think that there is more opportunity to change the structure of what even work was, which I'm, I'm, I'm hopeful in like what a go forward plan looks like for years now. I thought it was so silly that like both you and I went through phases where we were commuting from Orange County to la which is insanity.
Insane. And I remember fighting with the, you know, the team there about like, do we really need to commute? Like what's like all of our jobs, which COVID is proving we can do 99.9% of it remotely. And how can we blend what it means to be part of a team and what it means to just really be effective at our, our jobs.
And also give us more of our life back. Um, as horrible as COVID has been for so many people and so many businesses and everything else that's involved, I do think that there, the pause that it provided, I hope is, has shed some, shed some light on things that. We all value and we would like more of, you know, more maternity, paternity time, more time to take care of family, more time to do the things that we're good at and the things that we love doing.
So, you know how I'm excited to see how they get shaped going forward.
Yeah, and you know, what's interesting is that I think, you know, so we've, like I said, we've been through this rollercoaster where everyone's like, oh my gosh, we don't have to go to work. This is awesome. Kids don't have to school, go to school.
Like, everyone thought it was kind of this like snow day and it was super fun in the beginning. And then what happened with me is our, our work is always remote. You know, my work since I've started working, ever since graduating college has always been work that I can do from anywhere, which is amazing.
But, but um, especially for me after having maternity leave right after, you know, COVID shelter in place happened and then, you know, keeping things really remote, I started to miss my team. So. I think it's just, it's all about balance and it's about, you know, remembering that there are some things where, you know, they, they work well for a reason and like how do we, you know, how do we structure our companies, these companies that we have this opportunity to make them exactly what we want and exactly this company culture that we want for people and we want people to enjoy working and doing.
Mm-hmm. That's so important to me is that my team is having fun with the work that they do and we're, we're having fun, um, team activities or having fun lunches and I missed that. Um, so it was kind of nice once everything started settling down and we'd all just been with, you know, our own families for like weeks upon weeks.
Um, and no one had even been to like a grocery store. We, you know, we, we started doing like distanced team. Um, we do 'em on Fridays usually, and we, we did 'em in like my backyard on picnic blankets and just brainstorming and not having to look at a screen or be on a phone. It was amazing. So. So I think COVID has given us this opportunity to say like, okay, here are the things that we didn't like doing before.
Here are the things that maybe we missed. Like how do we incorporate those into our dream businesses? Mm-hmm. And how do we take this, this weird learning year of like having a lot of remote time, like, like, you know, what do we gain out of this? Do we want more remote businesses? Do we want, you know, some in-person time?
Do we need a business where there's a lot of in-person time? And I think it's given us the opportunity to see, you know, what our, all of our, as entrepreneurs, what our dream businesses should look like.
Mm-hmm. And going full circle to the what is your business love language, because I know you and I have talked about that, um, it makes me realize that.
For some of the my favorite clients that I'm working with. Um, like you and I, we share the passion. Like we love making things in collaboration. Mm-hmm. And so I think that there's something, I know that my love language is, is making things and making things together. Mm-hmm. Because there's so the brainstorming element I like, I like that you can make things delegate, come back together.
Like it's this in and outflow of getting to be in partnership with people where the most beautiful things end up coming out of it. Mm-hmm. And, um, you know, I, I, I hope that that can kind of get taken into, uh, an analogy for like what the opportunities that we have as a country and a world right now of.
When we do collaborate, like things are more beautiful. Like, you know, you mentioned before you don't even finish a project without your team seeing it. So how can we be in the head space of how do we make beautiful things together? 'cause they'll be better that way. Exactly. And like
I said, I think it's a balance.
Like it comes back to, you know, what is, what does your dream company look like? And there might be people who work better and I've, I've worked with people who they just work better as an island. They work better Yeah. In their own room. Um, and it might be like that engineer type of personality or that, um, even like that code or computer code or like, there's some personalities where they're like, this is what works best for me and it works best for me to work up until 2:00 AM and then sleep in.
Like I think we all, we don't have to have a one size fits all business love language. Mm-hmm. Like, we can find what works best for us and if we're given the opportunity to make our own company or to. Or even to, you know, give insight in a company you're working for and say, Hey, can we try this? Um, there can be a lot of good that comes from that and a lot more productivity and a lot more creative ideas.
And, um, and I think that's why a lot of companies are doing, you know, they're going to doing more work from home time and less time in a big office because people need that, that change of senior, they need that alone time productivity, and then that, that group, you know, collaborative brainstorm type of work.
Um, and it can't all be the same all days of the week if you wanna get, you know, results from different types of people and types of personalities.
Yeah. Well, we ask everyone on the podcast where they put themselves in the powerful lady scale, zero being average, everyday human, and 10 being the most powerful lady possible.
Where would you rank yourself today, and where do you think you rank yourself on average?
I mean, right now I'm on the Powerful Ladies podcast, so today I'm gonna give myself a 10 because this is an awesome dream come true and such a cool opportunity to be talking with you, Kara. Um, but on average, I think, you know, and talking to all the mom entrepreneurs, you know, the mom entrepreneurs or even, you know, the working moms who are quote, trying to do it all.
Um, I think I, I think we can all be kind of hard on ourselves and like I said, feel like we don't do it all. And it's, it's such a hard, it's such an impossible, um, bar to set for ourselves to try to do it all as women. We're multitasker taskers and we're multi, and we are doing it all a lot of the time, but it's a really, really hard standard to hit.
So, um. If I, if you ask me that question in the middle of a day where, you know, babies crying, emails are not getting answered, I'm dialing in for calls late and things are just kind of cuckoo, I'd probably rate myself low. But I think it's important when I'm taking a moment of reflection like today to look back and say, you know, us as, as working moms and working women and powerful women, we should rate ourselves a lot higher a lot of the time.
So maybe I'll give that working mom an eight for, for now and still have some room to grow.
I love it. Well, it has been such a pleasure to have you on The Power Ladies podcast. Um, thank you for being a yes and thank you for sharing all of your wisdom with us today. This was a joy, and like I said, a
dream come true.
I've, I've listened to almost every episode and always wanted to be a guest, so thank you for having me and thank you for doing these awesome episodes that, um, give us the opportunity to listen to other women and. Gain wisdom and experience. It's, it's, it kind of comes full circle at the end of the day, so it's pretty cool.
I love it. Thank you. Thank you.
I love that Allison not only discussed what to consider when hiring a social media team, but also how she's creating a life of balance for herself between CEO, mom, wife, and having a social life. Social media done well can change your business for the better. My advice is to pick one platform, start small, be consistent, and use it to talk to your customers.
Then when you're ready, hire a boutique agency like a and r Creative group to take you to the next level. To connect, support, follow and hire Allison and a and r Creative Group. You can find them on Instagram at Allison Raffles and at a r Creative group. You can of course also visit their website, a r creative group.com.
For all of the other ways to connect with Allison and a and r, visit the powerful ladies.com/podcast. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you've enjoyed this episode of The Powerful Ladies Podcast. There are so many ways you can get involved and get supported with fellow powerful ladies. First, subscribe to this podcast anywhere you listen to podcast.
Give us a five star rating and leave a review. On Apple Podcasts, follow us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies, join the Powerful Ladies Thrive Collective. This is the place where powerful ladies connect, level up, and learn how to thrive in business and life. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube page, and of course, visit our website, the powerful ladies.com.
I'd like to thank our producer, composer, and audio engineer Jordan Duffy. Without her, this wouldn't be possible. You can follow her on Instagram at Jordan K. Duffy. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Until then, I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
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Instagram: @allison_rolfes and @anrcreativegroup
Website: www.anrcreativegroup.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/anr-creative-group
Email: allison@anrcreativegroup.com
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
