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The Secret Weapon to Hiring Smart for Your Growing Business · Serious Lady Business

• Leslie Youngblood (00:05.666) Welcome to Serious Lady Business, the podcast where we discuss the serious and sometimes not so serious ins and outs of being a female business owner. From the hard lessons no one tells you about to the unexpected joys of entrepreneurship, we uncover the realities of building and leading a business in today's world. And today we have an incredible guest, you guys. I'm so excited to have her here chat with. We recently connected and hit off and I know it's going to be a juicy, honest, fun, important conversation. Please welcome Amanda Samoyloff to Serious Lady Business. Hi, Amanda. Welcome. Hi. Yes. Yes. I'm so excited. Now, Amanda is, you know, you are the founder and principal of Samoyloff PR, SPR, a Los Angeles based full service public relations and branding agency that champions the personal and professional reputations of diverse clients and brands pioneering change in and across industries and society. Amanda Samoyloff (00:36.873) Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited. This is going to be a very fun chat for sure. Leslie Youngblood (01:04.971) I love that she is also a published poet and filmmaker as well as a former collegiate speech and debate national champion, which I was telling her before we started rolling. am so in awe of you, Amanda, and to have that skill. I think that expressing ourselves and being heard, not trying away from conflict or discussion is such an important skill for any business owner, let alone especially females. And so. I feel you were meant to be an entrepreneur and maybe that is the case or maybe not, but I would love to have you tell us how you came to launch Samoyloff PR Amanda Samoyloff (01:42.441) Yeah, sure. I guess going back into the world of speech and debate and all that stuff, that kind of fell into my lap of sophomore year in college. I was looking for a place to kind of land in a community because I was just feeling the very freshman year, I just didn't, it didn't stick and I wasn't really a sorority girl. And although some people were like, they looked like maybe I'd be a sorority girl, but I'm like, and yeah, like, okay. Leslie Youngblood (01:52.718) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (02:00.371) Mm. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (02:06.03) I love that though. Yeah, I'm not, but you could be. Of course not. Amanda Samoyloff (02:12.049) Nothing against sorority girls at all. But yeah, I fell into speech and debate through a communications class and loved it. And I took to it really quickly. There was like a form of like acting that's part of the same theme, right? There's a lot of interpretation of poetry and prose with an argument or a thesis. so... Leslie Youngblood (02:18.51) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (02:24.76) Mmm. Amanda Samoyloff (02:34.407) That was kind of the beginning of me trying to take stories and concepts of stories and trying to prove a point or trying to prove like there's a social critique to it or something that's important for the news and things like that. I did not know that that would inform my career today, but I thought I was gonna be this filmmaker actress and I did it. I dabbled in it. I did the short films, spent a lot of time with my poetry Leslie Youngblood (02:39.768) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (02:48.556) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (02:58.382) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (03:04.331) and recreating that into short films and relatively successful, but I like on the side didn't want to be a bartender and I didn't want to be this late night cocktail server in Hollywood because it didn't serve me well into auditioning and looking, you know, well rested. You're like, oh, you're not even going to bed until like four in the morning as a bartender. So. Leslie Youngblood (03:07.789) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (03:14.638) Mmm. Leslie Youngblood (03:22.434) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (03:26.966) Right. Sure. Sure. right? Amanda Samoyloff (03:33.161) I was supporting a boyfriend at the time. He was a rock star guy on the Sunset Strip. So I was like, yeah, I was like getting... Leslie Youngblood (03:39.626) Mmm, love that. Amanda Samoyloff (03:42.985) the gigs and creating flyers and started this kind of like event type of situation where I was like, wow, I'm actually pretty good, which started as a form of love and just, you know, trying to help somebody that I cared about out by getting people that I realized, hey, this is a side gig that's really rad. So then at Flash Forward, I started doing the Guns N' Roses after party at Coachella, did the A2IM Awards at the Manhattan Ballroom in New York. And I was working for Leslie Youngblood (03:48.526) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (03:58.221) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (04:01.72) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (04:11.726) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (04:12.939) you know, spirits brand. And then eventually it just, I, you one day I was like, I need to do this for myself and not work for other people. I had a lot of people take credit for my stuff. And so about seven and a half years ago, I started Samoyloff PR. I did not know what I was doing. I grassroots most of it. I Googled the shit out of everything. I would guess. Leslie Youngblood (04:20.558) Mmm. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (04:29.646) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (04:33.838) Yeah, as one does. Thank God for Google. And she GPT now. I know. Can you imagine? Right? We thought we had it made with Google. Amanda Samoyloff (04:40.585) I wish I had chat GPT back then. My God. The way that my life would have been significantly easier. I mean, I was doing like 16 hour days, like just searching for people's emails. So, you know, I'm gonna be getting some like big like, you know, like people that are firms that have like scission that they have access to everything I had to find it all. So. Leslie Youngblood (04:52.034) Totally. Right. Right. Wow. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (05:03.116) Hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (05:05.801) know, flash forward till today. All of those things I realize now is like, I needed to go through that journey and that path. And it's why I care so much about storytelling. If you really look at my past, you'll see that all of the things that I love, which is music and storytelling and poetry and all these things that inform people about what's important about a message is all in the... Leslie Youngblood (05:17.229) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (05:24.802) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (05:29.342) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I love it. Yeah. I love that. that's so cool. Who doesn't want to be a rock star, right? And it's kind of like what makes a rock star successful is that branding and that image, right? It's that, like I always will say, was it, Law Roach, he was that image architect because it's like, you need the whole package and those are the type of people that really can connect. Amanda Samoyloff (05:31.433) And so that's what we do. We really make everyone a rock star in their own business. So yeah. Leslie Youngblood (05:56.098) when you're telling a story that others connect with. So to be able to do that for wonderful agencies, brands, people, through the business has to be a really wonderful thing. Amanda Samoyloff (06:06.713) Yeah, and just one last point to that. Rock stars make you feel an experience, right? They're not going up on stage and telling you, this is my set list. They're playing the music and taking you through a journey. So when you leave, you're like, whoa, and you'll never forget it. And that's our point is we're telling you stories so that people feel something and go, I'm never going to forget it. You don't have to tell them things. We're going to make feel it. Leslie Youngblood (06:08.973) Yeah. Mmm. Leslie Youngblood (06:18.369) Damn. Leslie Youngblood (06:23.128) Yes. Leslie Youngblood (06:28.024) Right. Right. You're your own rock star. I love that. I love it. I love that perspective. So you started seven years ago and when we talked previously, you mentioned, mean, you started to really get business and like pop off. And I think, you know, when our businesses start to pop off and we need help, we immediately look to hire. So what is the first step that you took and how does that compare to what you suggest somebody should take when you hit this milestone? Is it a job description on Indeed? Is it networking, LinkedIn? I would just love to hear your perspective on that. Amanda Samoyloff (07:04.175) Yeah, sure. When we were going to hire and stuff, like for real, like positions, we definitely went to LinkedIn and put a job description out, like these are the things that we need. I would say that was good. And then reaching out to our network was a little bit. Leslie Youngblood (07:11.438) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (07:19.416) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (07:25.358) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (07:26.823) better and I think because you have so much more faith in the people there that they're like, I've learned this person, you know, was great. But when it came down to it, we had some friends that were, had a company that does employment, that like teaches you how to get employees and stuff. And we were at like some women's conference and we were just, had a cocktail and we were like talking like about it and they had told us, The best thing that you can do, especially in the field that you are, which is PR, is within those applications, have them send you a one-minute video introducing themselves in their space. Leslie Youngblood (08:07.054) Mmm. Amanda Samoyloff (08:07.633) saying this is the reason why I want the position. One, because you'll see their dialect and see if they can actually speak on a Zoom, because you're going to need them to be front-facing with clients. You'll be able to see their environment behind them and see if they're in something that... One of the people that sent me the video had a poster falling down. It was a naked woman. I was like... Leslie Youngblood (08:16.162) Right. Leslie Youngblood (08:22.744) Sure. Leslie Youngblood (08:28.152) Well, blerg, click. Amanda Samoyloff (08:28.841) What? Yes, yeah, you're like, no. And then also just to see if they care enough to put a video and put it together or they're just going down LinkedIn, hitting every single thing because they just want any kind of job, right? Leslie Youngblood (08:37.934) you Right. Right. Amanda Samoyloff (08:43.017) And that helped so much. We didn't do that in beginning. It helped out later because then we were like, one, everybody that sent a video will definitely take in consideration. And then you get to go, okay, this is not a person that knows how to speak the way that we want. And it made it so much easier. And then the next thing you know, we got a really great. Leslie Youngblood (08:47.822) Wow. Leslie Youngblood (08:53.422) Mm-hmm. Right. Amanda Samoyloff (09:02.153) we got a really great person. So I would say for whatever position you're hiring for, whatever works, right? Like if you're hiring a tech person, that's not gonna be front-facing. Maybe there's some kind of tech quiz or something you do that there's a process that goes forward first. That would be really helpful because you get so many. We had like 380 within like 10 minutes. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (09:08.546) Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (09:18.996) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right. Wow. Wow. Right. I can't even imagine. And it's true, because looking at a resume or even a LinkedIn profile, it's like, look great. And even recommendations. But how do you find that spark or that connection or somebody that knows how to tell a story and is excited about telling stories for others if they can't tell their own story? And so I think that a quick video like that is so brilliant. Amanda Samoyloff (09:41.043) Huh? Leslie Youngblood (09:47.5) because you get to see how that person reacts to that. you also, you you're giving them just a tiny bit of like a, it's not an in-depth, you know, essay, 10 page essay or five minute thing. It's just a quick little video to see, just to put it out there. And so I think that's so smart. Amanda Samoyloff (10:04.681) Yeah, and the thing is, I don't know, I feel like because there's so many people on LinkedIn that can just push 10 years of experience. Like there's a lot of, I'll tell you this right now, like probably 90 % of the resumes are lies, like, or like exaggerated truth. And so you're like, you do not know any of the links. So those are things to help. Leslie Youngblood (10:13.92) Mm-hmm. Right. Right. Leslie Youngblood (10:22.862) Sure. Right. Right. Sure. Yeah. Right. Yeah. No, that's so great. And I, cause I do also think when you're starting to make those first hires as a new business owner, you feel like, this is real. And and I got to find somebody good. And I don't want somebody that's not going to like bring me down, but that's going to keep, you know, going to be able to start running alongside because it's really a sprint for. Amanda Samoyloff (10:52.409) yeah forever it's a free forever Leslie Youngblood (10:52.71) long for forever of being a business owner. It's just what it is. But you want somebody that can keep up with that. so just to kind of, you know, so it's a big task and you want to make that right hire. I feel like I've heard a lot of horror stories about that first hire didn't work out or you hired your friend's nephew when you didn't. And I was like, yeah, Gotcha. Yeah. Amanda Samoyloff (11:12.413) Let me get started now. Let me get you started there. Never hire your friends or a member if you want to have peace and okay. you want to have that budget, family member is still part of your life after. Leslie Youngblood (11:23.596) Mmm. Mm-hmm. I feel is there a story you want to share there Amanda or? Amanda Samoyloff (11:30.441) Well, I'm just saying in general, I've seen it through clients hiring friends. I, and it's always been, it's just a bad choice. And I know this is on a tangent because friends will think that they get certain type of treatment, you know, because you're the friend, they'll call you at the wrong times of the hours. They'll, they'll message you at different times. They won't get work done and they'll be like, Leslie Youngblood (11:42.734) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (11:48.078) Right. Right. Mmm. Amanda Samoyloff (11:56.739) you know, well, because you're like my really good friend or my family, there is just not good. And so it's really hard to reprimand. It's just really hard to that space and then continue to have this like dual relationship is what I would. Leslie Youngblood (11:57.804) Right. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Sure. Right. Yeah. No, that's, that's a really good point. Did you, when you started with the first hire, was that a full-time employee? And how did you decide that that was it part-time? Was it a couple hours a week where you're like, no, we need this full-time help. Tell us a little bit how you figured that out. Amanda Samoyloff (12:21.074) Yeah. Amanda Samoyloff (12:28.617) Well, yeah, like I always was working with a woman named Vanessa that works with me. You know, she helped me like relaunch because I left for like a year and then came back. I got like coached by another company, but then came back and relaunched she came with me in 2019. So she was always on like we were very dual operational creative and I was, you know, PR branding. Leslie Youngblood (12:40.28) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (12:45.496) Okay. Leslie Youngblood (12:51.938) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (12:53.307) And so then I was getting bottlenecked like crazy. And so I was like, I need some help here, right? And so I did bring somebody on where it started as, okay, you're gonna be like at these many hours, yada, yada, yada. And then it became and turned into a full-time employment. It was fine. I mean, I didn't need a full-time employee and I wish I would have had a little bit more gall and a little bit more... Leslie Youngblood (12:58.36) There. Leslie Youngblood (13:09.752) Mmm. Leslie Youngblood (13:14.318) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (13:18.889) I don't know, confidence, I would say, that time to be able to say, I only need you for this amount of time, but it just happened that way. was a mistake that ended up, in hindsight, became a mistake. But then after that, it was another employee and that hiring was great. I mean, everybody that I've hired, I've been really happy with. It's just the stretch of where your money's going, how much... Leslie Youngblood (13:20.674) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (13:26.307) Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (13:42.03) Mm-hmm. Right. Amanda Samoyloff (13:47.047) you know, employment, there's so much that goes into and actually having employee benefits, all this stuff you don't know about until you're actually looking at how much time is going out for this person to be on your team. And Leslie Youngblood (13:47.768) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (13:53.612) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (13:57.71) Right. Leslie Youngblood (14:01.294) Yeah, tell us a little bit about that because I feel like that's a lot of the things that people don't talk about where it's you need to hire somebody, bring on this employee. then there's healthcare and benefits and vacation and I don't know taxes and and all the things that you just feels like you want to just crawl into a ball in the corner. And you're like, Oh no, I started this. What am I doing? Amanda Samoyloff (14:12.445) Yeah. Amanda Samoyloff (14:21.577) Yeah, yeah. mean, that's, yeah, you're like, you know, you're looking at, say like you're hiring somebody for 75,000 salary, right? Leslie Youngblood (14:30.029) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (14:30.569) Then all of sudden you're like, oh, well, I'm hiring them on, now there's employment tax. And you're looking at with all of this stuff like healthcare and everything that you're matching, that's a 15 % increase of even like that on top of it. And then you're looking at is there bonuses that you, you're like this person did a really good job and you want to be a good boss. You know, like, is there an employment bonus? So, you know, Leslie Youngblood (14:39.426) Hmm. Wow. Leslie Youngblood (14:46.879) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (14:50.526) Mm-hmm. Mmm. Amanda Samoyloff (14:54.449) The craziest thing is my accountant and my tax person both said, I wouldn't bring an employee on unless you're really sure because this is what you're looking at. And this is going to be really expensive. And I was like, okay. I was so confident ego. Like I have all these new clients. Like it's fine. Like they're going to be so much help that I'm going to get all these other clients. But what I didn't realize is that Leslie Youngblood (15:02.062) you Leslie Youngblood (15:06.336) Hmm. Hmm. Leslie Youngblood (15:19.619) Yeah. Amanda Samoyloff (15:22.665) I didn't hire, I hired somebody that was really good at one thing and all the rest of the stuff they had to learn. So they had to learn from me, which means it didn't become easier. It became more work for me because I had to walk them through processes because I didn't have a middleman. I should have had, I think what I was doing was like hiring associates and people that were really great. But I should have started with, if I'm going to hire. Leslie Youngblood (15:26.403) Mm-hmm. And, mm. Right. Leslie Youngblood (15:40.408) Right. Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (15:48.841) One, just get contractors, specialists, and certain things to come on project base. And if and when I can hire, if I have triple the salary that I have and I can have another person on the executive team that can't. Leslie Youngblood (15:53.528) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (16:01.194) Mmm. Mmm. Amanda Samoyloff (16:05.289) coach the contractors and all that, actually free up my time, then that's the hire that you want. You want someone that is in the E-suite with you. So head of operations, know, like CFO, you want somebody that's going to be, or even take your CEO spot because you want to be the business. You want to start, you know, being on podcasts and stuff like that. want to be more... Leslie Youngblood (16:09.644) Right. Mmm. Leslie Youngblood (16:18.188) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (16:24.994) Mm-hmm. Right. Right. Sure. Amanda Samoyloff (16:31.987) brand yourself, then that's fine. It to be else operating everything. So it really comes down to sitting there and going, Leslie Youngblood (16:36.162) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (16:39.817) What do we need? And if it's in PR, I need help with someone pitching. Just hire a contractor that's good at pitching. If you're like, I need help with operations, I cannot get around to getting all these contracts out, all that stuff. Hire somebody that can do operational stuff, which would be an executive assistant or a PA on freelance terms. So that means they have five other people that they're PA-ing for. Leslie Youngblood (16:46.904) Mm-hmm. Mmm. Leslie Youngblood (17:00.632) Right. right. Amanda Samoyloff (17:07.785) So they're still making good money. I'm not trying to like skimp on people, but you know, but like, how's that person be like, I need these things done and that's it. I don't need all the rest of it. So that's kind of where you kind of have to figure out, you have to just be so clear, be like, sit down and brainstorm, be like, what would make my life easier if this person took that from me? And that would give me more time to build the business. Leslie Youngblood (17:10.636) Right, sure. Mm-hmm, yeah. Leslie Youngblood (17:17.645) Right. Leslie Youngblood (17:25.994) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right, yeah. Dan Martell has a really great book called Buy Back Your Time, where he talks about you, sometimes people make a mistake when they hire out the person or the first person they bring on is somebody that does what you love doing the most. And then you still are stuck doing all the things that you don't like to do, like the operations and stuff. And you're like, wait, what have I done? And I think so it's very much relating to what you're saying here. It's like. You got to write down all those things and get really clear about what you don't want to do, what you need help with. So then you can find somebody that has those capabilities and to have that person be a contractor specifically over potentially full time. Amanda Samoyloff (18:05.705) Yeah. I love that too. I think that's fantastic. And so if you even look at it as kind of like a puzzle piece, right? Say you brought in a salary employee at 75, right? And they're really good at pitching, but all the rest, they're okay at social media and they're like, okay, at like, uh, creative design campus. They're okay. You're like, okay, I guess they're doing all right. And they, only needed them pitch a little bit. Leslie Youngblood (18:12.78) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (18:21.196) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (18:25.134) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (18:32.777) What if you do this, you get three contractors, excellent, one fantastic social media, one fantastic at creative design, and one perfect at pitching, and they all accumulate to 60,000, so you're less, and they have other clients they're working with, so they're constantly getting accumulation of new knowledge and new cool things. Leslie Youngblood (18:44.759) Right? Leslie Youngblood (18:51.317) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (18:52.411) on top of working with you. So now you have boom, boom, boom. Those three things are getting done and perfectly, because they're incredible. That's what you want. I think as far as when you're at the level of a boutique, you're just starting to hire, that's really what you're looking for. Leslie Youngblood (18:59.478) Yeah, right. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (19:06.03) Okay. Yeah, I feel like that just makes so much sense. It's just so much more optimized because who doesn't want the best at that and the best at this and the best at that and to find that unicorn right that knows how to do all those things well that you're going to pay a full time salary to on top of all the other pieces that go along with that. It would be miraculous truly like what a gift but like the but in the meantime you can still really get your business where you want to go and move it forward by utilizing the contractor model. Amanda Samoyloff (19:15.304) What? Amanda Samoyloff (19:28.265) you Amanda Samoyloff (19:38.749) Yeah, and there might be somebody that is great at all three when you break, that could be a contractor and you just find those things out as it goes. you what, I do want you as an employee now after we've worked together for six months and you're like, I love it, you're perfect. But at least you get that scrimmage. At least you get to see if you vibe because you need a vibe. Leslie Youngblood (19:39.086) So I love that, yeah. Leslie Youngblood (19:46.519) Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Yes. Right. Right. Oh yeah. It's what it's all about. I feel like, you know, in the creative space, I mean, in any business, but really when you're doing creative work and PR and communications, and there's just something so special about that intangible connection where everybody kind of like, you know, is like vibes off of each other and works really well together. So tell me, Amanda, how... Amanda Samoyloff (20:08.638) Nah. Amanda Samoyloff (20:19.465) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (20:22.486) What's the biggest misconception about hiring contractors do you think people have? And how do you kind of like advise them to kind of put those aside? Amanda Samoyloff (20:31.689) I mean, would say like maybe like what people would say is like a con or like, you know, like not a pro or the misconception. And it's not necessarily misconception is that there's no loyalty to you. So they could potentially get an employment job somewhere like where now you don't have them. could like immediately be like, they don't have to give you any two weeks to notice. They don't even have to give you a notice at all, unless you've like paid for whatever they're, you know. Leslie Youngblood (20:38.616) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (20:45.422) Mmm. Leslie Youngblood (20:51.352) Mm-hmm. Right, yeah. Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (21:00.497) is, but that's something that people get a little bit worried about, which is why they have employees because they're like, okay, well, I have you whenever I need you and yada yada. Another one is intellectual property and trade secrets of your company and how you protect all of the things that they're going to have access to, which is how you pick. Leslie Youngblood (21:09.964) Right, right. Leslie Youngblood (21:14.35) sure. Leslie Youngblood (21:22.168) Mm-hmm. Right. Amanda Samoyloff (21:23.365) you know, all of your, processes of, you know, this is how we do our press releases. There's so many things, or even your contact list for PR. That's a huge thing. Like that's our goal. That's our money pot, right? Leslie Youngblood (21:32.59) Sure. The Rolodex! The Rolodex! Leslie Youngblood (21:42.574) Don't touch it, like super glue it. Yes. Yes. Yes. Amanda Samoyloff (21:45.961) like a Sex and the City episode where Samantha, who's PR, she has that young blonde and she's like, she stole all my contacts. And then she made a huge party and then did a terrible job at it. that's, mean, it's a real fear and it has happened. Something like that has happened with me. I see people on LinkedIn writing about it all the time. Leslie Youngblood (21:54.06) Yes. Yep. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (22:09.198) Wow. Amanda Samoyloff (22:09.679) My solution is this on, if you're going to bring people in as far as contractors, I would say give them a work email that they have to use. So they have to use your thing. So I have their name at somewhere. Laf PR because at the admin on in Google, I can see, can one, I can limit them from being able to share any documents with outsiders. So, okay, perfect. They can't do that. Or print. You can also. Leslie Youngblood (22:15.768) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (22:19.894) Mmm. Leslie Youngblood (22:24.568) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (22:28.334) Right. Leslie Youngblood (22:33.282) Mm-hmm. Right. Amanda Samoyloff (22:39.377) They can't share a print. And also you can have access to what they're allowed to have access to. So there's one step. And then you also have their email. So if anything were to go weird, you're like, I'm going to change your password and I'm to boom, bye, get out of here. And then also having them sign an NDA. Leslie Youngblood (22:46.158) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (22:51.438) Right. Amanda Samoyloff (23:00.649) that also has in, so there's two points to this. Having an idea where it says one, know, obviously intellectual property and all that stuff, like you can't share with anybody else, but two, any of the clients that you work with while serving our company, you are not allowed to work with for two to three years. If you need this corporation, so they can't go. And also something that you should have in your contracts with clients is, Leslie Youngblood (23:04.11) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (23:14.542) Mm-hmm. Mmm. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (23:25.4) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (23:26.909) They're under the understanding that anybody that they work with within this Samoyloff PR team, they cannot work with independently for two to three years, whatever you decide, if we terminate our contract. So that person that worked with you can't go to another firm and then you guys are done and then they go there. there's two sides to that coin, but just protect yourself and then be like, sorry, you can't do it. Leslie Youngblood (23:31.662) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (23:41.002) Right. Leslie Youngblood (23:47.298) Right. Right. Right. And you would be doing that even if you brought in a full-time employee too, right? Like they would still sign the NDA. They would still have like a non-compete. so, yeah. Amanda Samoyloff (23:57.181) Yeah. It's the same exact process. And I know that it's like, oh, that's like freelances and contractors. I'm like, I don't care. I am putting that if they want to come in and make some good money and work with a great team and learn from us and have the option to be able to work with a bunch of other people, they should be okay with not stealing your client. Leslie Youngblood (24:11.789) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (24:20.466) Right. feel like that's pretty, you know, baseline good human behavior. Amanda Samoyloff (24:25.257) You're like, but you would be surprised by how shady people can be. Not that I have any totally shady people, I really haven't. I've been very lucky with the people I've worked with, but I've seen some really shady stuff go down with clients and people. I have some really awesome PR brows that I know. And the horror stories that they have shared with me at times, I am like, that's awful. Leslie Youngblood (24:29.116) I mean... I can't Leslie Youngblood (24:45.582) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (24:51.116) Yeah, you're like, it's knocking on every piece of wood. Like, my God. Like, gosh. Right? Yeah, no. We follow, there's horror stories, sure. But, you know, to do your best to be as proactive and on top of things and CYA, cover your ass, like as best as you can. And that's the most you can do. And to not take those steps is... Amanda Samoyloff (24:55.977) Oh my god, I'm like, what am I doing now? Do not do that to me! Leslie Youngblood (25:17.526) It's like negligent, but you're also doing yourself and that person a disservice because by doing those things, one, you're covering your butt to you're demonstrating to that contractor that like, you're not a pushover, like, you know, your shit. So they're probably not going to even, if they are thinking, I'm going to take advantage of this person. Hopefully that even just like nips that in the bud, like for them too. Right. So there's just so many like good things to doing it, not just because it's a pain in the butt or that it's technicality. There's so many reasons why that is so essential. Whether again, whether it's a contractor or a full-time person. So why would you not do that? Mm-hmm. Yeah, cover that ass. Just cover it up. Come on. Right, right. Exactly. And what I also love too, we talked about this a little bit before is that I don't think people realize, so the contractors, they're the best of the best. They still have their freedom to go and work and make their money. Amanda Samoyloff (25:51.123) Absolutely. Yeah, just can't cover your ass. It really does. it's just covering. It doesn't matter. Just do it. Leslie Youngblood (26:12.514) but then they can also be your brand advocate and also like refer business to you. So I'd love for you to talk a little bit about that and how you've seen that really benefit the business as well by working with contractors. Amanda Samoyloff (26:25.811) Absolutely. mean, I think it goes both ways. Contractors, one, they're like by themselves and they're freelancing. They might get something that comes across their desk that they're like, I would love this. I can't do this by myself. I know who it is and they can bring it to you. You can also create a, which I think is just in general, great integrity to do is say if there's a finder's fee, be like, hey, listen, I'll give you 20 % of the first month retainer if you come in. And even if it's like, they're not going to work on that, just say it. Leslie Youngblood (26:31.202) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (26:37.517) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (26:50.414) So smart, so smart. Amanda Samoyloff (26:55.755) I just be like, hey, I got 20 % what goes to you if you find your skin. So, but either way, they're out there and if they like working with you, they're gonna say, hey, I have a team that I think we would do really well with. Or your contractor has a ton of clients and they're in social media land. There's a that helps you with social media and that client needs PR really bad. They're like, oh, I've got one for you. Leslie Youngblood (26:59.348) Mm-hmm. Right. Leslie Youngblood (27:09.592) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (27:17.398) Hmm. Sure. Right, right, yeah. Amanda Samoyloff (27:25.029) because then, I like working with them. They're not going to bring in some outside PR person that I know that might do terrible. rather that. they become your advocate, especially if you have a good working relationship. And also like I've seen clients do that too. A lot of my clients who work with freelancers, they opt them up. They're like, I have this really great newsletter person. That's an excellent product. You should hire them. Leslie Youngblood (27:30.412) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (27:37.88) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (27:45.346) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (27:49.58) Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (27:53.597) This becomes this kind of free trade, back and forth. it's really nice. I just think that if you give a win to with a contractor, say, you'll get 20%, it's helpful for them too. Leslie Youngblood (27:56.066) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (28:05.25) Yeah. Right. A thousand percent. mean, they want to work and they love what they do and they will surely love working with you. And, I'm sure they'll find me other people they love working with. it's, it's so much about the power of the network, right? Like we say, your network is your net worth. But I mean, really in this case, like the opportunity is just compounded just by those networks. And you, know, you never know. You can have, you know, your your own specific sales acquisition system, but then you also have this really great and powerful referral arm, you know, through the contractors and this collective that you've built. I mean, it just changes the game and just gives you so much more opportunity and outcomes you never would have even expected and that you wouldn't even get from hiring somebody in-house that's maybe more, I don't know how it is. It's just, you're more loyal. It's hard for me to even like, what was that like when you're working for one company, right? Or, you know what I mean? It's like, Amanda Samoyloff (28:58.697) you Yeah. You're like, well, unless they're the sales team, mean, they become a sales person to you. If you give them the incentive of, if you find somebody for us, we'll do 20%. And then you're also going to be hired onto this. If that's, they also need that. You'll just go through us. And, you know, as far as like getting new clients, it's great. It's a great networking experience. And also they like, if they work with you they like it, they know that their reputation is going to be great because they know that they're saying this person's awesome and you are awesome. And then those clients Leslie Youngblood (29:02.858) Right. Leslie Youngblood (29:13.069) Right. Leslie Youngblood (29:19.957) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (29:24.781) Right. Leslie Youngblood (29:28.898) Right. Amanda Samoyloff (29:29.515) You're like, wow, thank you. It always feels good. People win everywhere. Leslie Youngblood (29:31.336) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I love that. Would you, do you have any other advice or insights for female entrepreneurs that are looking to hire in today's economy, Amanda? Amanda Samoyloff (29:43.317) I think the best thing I could say, again, I would say if you're a boutique, if you're kind of like in that place where you're starting to grow, check your ego because Leslie Youngblood (29:56.238) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (29:59.721) I think we all think, wow, we're going so fast and so awesome. We need all these employees. Don't do that. Don't jump the gun. I would say to sit down and go, certain things that are that what are certain things I need that would help my time free up to do more. And don't be under the misconception that because you hire people, it'll be less work. It's actually more work even with contractors because Leslie Youngblood (30:07.084) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (30:18.531) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (30:24.3) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (30:29.609) you have to do something else. You're going to start doing something else to grow your business. Like, so you're just filling the holes of the day to day. know, okay, what's in my day to day as a con like, where are these contractors that can do this, right? If you need a sales team, then go, okay, who do I need there? If you need somebody to be writing stuff like emails, if you're going to do an email newsletter, find somebody who's really good at that gets your tone and it's just on autopilot. They're just doing the things that you need while you're doing the other things to grow your Leslie Youngblood (30:32.972) Yeah. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (30:37.368) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (30:43.224) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (30:51.374) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (30:57.592) Yeah. Amanda Samoyloff (30:59.583) business and I think if you really sit there and go, all right, this is where I'm at, things are getting really exciting, but to just stay at baseline, don't go high, don't go low, don't get stressed, try to go, okay, how do I just stay here even? Leslie Youngblood (31:16.427) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (31:17.351) And then don't be afraid to say no, if there's new clients trying to come on and you're not there yet, it's okay to say, even if it's really exciting, just say, what, right now we're bottlenecked and I can't do that. Because you bringing somebody on and you're bottlenecked, and then you force a new hire that you didn't vet and they weren't good, you're going to buckle because it could be a bad hire. Leslie Youngblood (31:23.554) Mm. Mm. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (31:31.341) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (31:42.946) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (31:44.137) You don't have your foundation and it's just, just take it easy. Take it easy as you're growing. It's a climb and it's a long climb and it shouldn't be up and down and crazy. It really is. Leslie Youngblood (31:48.664) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (31:52.492) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (31:56.674) Yeah. I It shouldn't? it. Amanda Samoyloff (31:59.113) It really shouldn't. It will feel that way. Well, I think that's what I'm trying to say is try to keep the ups and downs. Even if there's like, okay, big ups, big downs, try to keep yourself at baseline. So how you continue to have a very calm workplace. How many clients can you really take on? How many employees or contractors can you really take on? Leslie Youngblood (32:02.368) That's true. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (32:12.556) Hmm. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (32:19.284) Mm-hmm. Right. Leslie Youngblood (32:25.686) Right, right, right. Amanda Samoyloff (32:26.621) financially and then just go from there and then just be like, okay, now we'll get one new client, not five. So I really think it's just trying to stay in your center and breathe and realize it's supposed to be fun and you're exciting and you're this like really great throne of I'm an entrepreneur and I'm doing something big and it's really hard. Leslie Youngblood (32:32.142) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (32:38.432) Mm-hmm. Yeah, so true. Leslie Youngblood (32:45.591) Yeah. Amanda Samoyloff (32:50.217) And it's exciting. It's my life. It's this wonderful thing that I have purpose-driven work. And so just to have fun and enjoy life still in that moment, think, is something that's really important to me because I did lose into burnout at one point. myself into stress and anxiety. Leslie Youngblood (32:53.218) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (33:07.362) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (33:14.946) Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (33:16.553) And then I was like, burnt out for months where I didn't want to do anything anymore. And I don't want ever get there again. So however I can help other people is just find your joy in other things and not just only work. And yeah, I know that's long winded. these things that, you know, again, we live this one great, beautiful life, that's what you believe, right? Unless you believe in incarnation, know, reincarnation. Leslie Youngblood (33:28.888) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (33:33.74) No, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. It's so true. Amanda Samoyloff (33:46.185) Enjoy the process of this. And every bump in the road again is your lesson. You do not learn lessons from your wins. You don't. I never grew when we was winning. When we win, we just win and be like, wow, see, I learned so much. I won and I learned so much. Leslie Youngblood (33:48.504) Right. Right. Leslie Youngblood (33:57.612) Why is that? It would just be so much easier, Amanda, if we could just learn. Leslie Youngblood (34:06.254) I I would make it worth my wins while if I could just... It's true. Yeah. So true. Amanda Samoyloff (34:11.429) You're like, yeah, it's like every lesson I look back on, right? Every time, right? Every time you look back, you're like, whoa, that happened and it sucked. But I am so much smarter now and I got this other client or this other job because now I know better and I wouldn't have known how to get this client had I not learned that lesson. Leslie Youngblood (34:23.88) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (34:30.839) ready. right. Leslie Youngblood (34:37.408) Right. Yeah. It really is so true. And it was funny because I was laughing a little bit back there because you were saying like, when you hire all the people, whether it's a contractor or in-house, it's not going to get easier. It's still going to be just as chaotic or you're still going to be just as busy. It's just going to be different. that is like, but we can't do anything else. Right? Like we just, this is, this is what we chose. And this is where like our heart and like our, know, we're being led to and called for. And so. Amanda Samoyloff (34:51.049) Leslie Youngblood (35:06.412) You have to realize it's going to be hard no matter what kind of right. Like pick your heart a little bit, but hiring, whether it's contractor or full time, it's not going to just, well, poof, like I'm just going to go eat bonbons by like the pool now. Right? Like you're still going to have like to do every other thing that you still want to do and need to do for your business. And you just, you know, it's just one of the blessings and the curses a little bit too, right. Of like being that entrepreneur. Amanda Samoyloff (35:32.229) Yeah, well, yeah, and also back to your point, like you did say something earlier, hire people for the things you don't want to do. If you're going to give money to someone, there are people out there like in PR that hate pit pitching they hate pitching right? And so, know, hire Leslie Youngblood (35:43.918) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (35:51.212) Mmm. Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (35:53.281) that love it. Some people love it. They love the pitch. They love being in that like, who are the, am I going get it landing those, those placements? They love it. So go find the people who love the things that you don't like. If you hate, you know, doing operational stuff, find somebody that loves Excel, that loves like doing on the sheets. Leslie Youngblood (35:56.568) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (35:59.885) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (36:04.653) Yeah. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (36:16.312) I know they're out there. They're out there somewhere. Amanda Samoyloff (36:18.729) out there and they live off of it I've seen it and I'm like, Whoa, you they're like, I love it. I love organization. I'm like, okay, that's fantastic. I don't want to do that. So like to make your life joy, like full of joy, find out what you love to do in your business the most what bring gets you up in the morning like, whoo, stick with that. Don't hire anybody that can do that. Hire the stuff that makes you go, Oh my God, I have to do this today. You know, Leslie Youngblood (36:39.939) right. Leslie Youngblood (36:43.34) Right. Right. Yeah. I love that. I love that. Any other final thoughts on hiring and winning for your business, Amanda? Amanda Samoyloff (36:51.433) I mean, I just say make sure it's fun and have a good time and make sure that the people around you are your people. They are the same kinds of individuals as you. They feel good to be on your team. There's a vibe because you're going to have a long relationship with them, whether they're contractors or employees. So make sure they're your people and have a really good time winning and losing. Leslie Youngblood (36:55.256) I love that. Leslie Youngblood (36:59.254) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (37:03.618) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (37:14.99) Yes, having fun. That's what it is like, right? Like it's too short to not be fun and you can find fun in the everyday and you should be, you we should be looking for those moments and focusing on that because that really is, agree what it's all about. So I love that. Well, thank you so much. Tell everybody where they can find you and some Samoyloff PR. Would love that. Amanda Samoyloff (37:31.826) Yeah. Amanda Samoyloff (37:38.021) Yes, Samoyloff PR, Samoyloff S-A-M-O-Y-L-O-F-F PR. And you can find at Samoyloff PR on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, mean any social media platform. And you can find Amanda Samoyloff on LinkedIn. Leslie Youngblood (37:58.382) Perfect. We'll also drop those links at the show notes too. Thank you so much, Amanda. It was such a pleasure to speak with you today. I'm so excited to share the secret weapon that everybody needs to know about hiring so they can scale and grow their business. was always a pleasure to speak with you. Thank you so much for joining us today. Thanks. Amanda Samoyloff (38:01.597) it. Amanda Samoyloff (38:16.211) Thank you so much. Leslie Youngblood (38:21.078) Okay, and that's why we're all good. Thank you so much. Yay. That was so great. I take my like my blazer. I'm like warm now. Right? Yeah, these are great. should I mean, and you are so wonderful. Amanda Samoyloff (38:22.676) I did! I did! I did Amanda Samoyloff (38:32.451) You're like, you're gonna me on the layer, like, yeah, that's great, it's fun. Leslie Youngblood (38:42.84) camera and I'm sure you're lining up like tons of podcasts and whatnot. And there's another, there's one that I, I think I might've mentioned it too, but it's pay to play. I'm kind of like, well, that kind of stinks, but it's called from want yourpreneur to entrepreneur. And they just, it's like a really lovely guy who does it. And they just launched a, I'm going to say like a nonprofit to help entrepreneurs too. So I think that's really cool, but. Amanda Samoyloff (38:50.619) yeah. Leslie Youngblood (39:06.67) I'll also keep my eyes and ears open for you if any podcast opportunities come up this year, because I think it'd be so fantastic. Amanda Samoyloff (39:11.763) Yeah, that would be awesome. That would be awesome. Yeah. mean, I always forget to like, I obviously I'm down for podcasts. you know, do interviews all the time, but like recently I've just kind of been working on my clients. So it's like when it comes up, I'm like, yeah, like, yeah, let's have a good time. I forget that I have an accumulation of knowledge from all this time. Leslie Youngblood (39:24.078) the Yeah. Yeah. You do so much. It's like, you know, that's what I, you know, I just want to like pick everybody's brains, right? And I'm sure like I've like so many others. Amanda Samoyloff (39:42.769) It's interesting though, having that conversation with you, you realize, I think it just in general, You're like, have, because of all the experiences I have, I do have this knowledge base of a lot of things that people haven't gone through. And you think it's just, everybody kind of gets that or knows that, but they don't. And I think it's really great to, just for your own like peace of mind, be like, wow, I've come a long way. Leslie Youngblood (39:50.519) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (39:59.053) Right. Leslie Youngblood (40:03.563) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (40:08.238) Yeah. Right. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I'm a badass. You're a badass. Yeah, you're a badass. Yeah. Damn right. And like they always say like make a list. You are. I mean, but like every woman is a badass too. You know what I mean? Especially if you're a business owner, because I mean, there's, you know, it's not easy any business owner, right? And like, but you know, women, man, like you can like we do so we're just Amanda Samoyloff (40:09.897) You're like, I'm go with myself. The bad ass, go. You're like, what? You're like, yes! Leslie Youngblood (40:38.274) powerful beings. And so it's like, you know, to, to kind of cultivate that and that, you know, and to remember you do so much and have come so far just in your everyday life. And we do forget like, yeah, I did that. And like, yeah, that's kind of, I, yeah, I know that. And that's kind of crazy that I know that. And so to be able to go out and share all that, you you think, everybody knows this or whatever. It's not a big deal, but it is a big deal. And so I think that's So wonderful, and yeah, shine that light and share those stories, friend. We need them, we need them, you know? More than ever, more than ever, baby. I love it. shine it, shine that light. I love it, I love it. Amanda Samoyloff (41:08.263) You're like, just do it. You really shine it. Here it is. Here's the info. Like, please, just swim. Don't sink. Leslie Youngblood (41:22.222) I know, I know, right? like, that's the thing, you you think it, matter what, it's gonna be hard at times, right? I mean, it's just, that's the thing is I was thinking about that. Yeah. It has to, 100%. Amanda Samoyloff (41:31.049) It has to be hard or you'll get bored to be honest. If it was only winning, think you would be like the struggle is what makes it worth it too. Cause you're like, it's kind of like those dopamine hits in some way. You're like, figured it out. And also just like, I think it informs who you are as a person a lot in like the business world. Leslie Youngblood (41:39.107) Yeah. Yeah, right. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (41:52.118) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (41:55.123) you're like, whoa, okay, you kind of like identify where you are stressed out. Like when you, where's your brink? Where's your cutoff? Where's your burnout? You really start to discover that. I don't think a lot of people would have that unless they like owned a business and stuff. Like there really is like this extreme stress at times that really go, whoa, where is my breaking point? And then you're able to be like, Leslie Youngblood (42:01.324) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (42:05.303) Right. Leslie Youngblood (42:11.469) Right. Leslie Youngblood (42:15.234) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Amanda Samoyloff (42:22.953) But you know what, take off Sunday and go on and check out social media even. Just, I need to get back to me. It's wild. Leslie Youngblood (42:25.504) Right, right. Leslie Youngblood (42:29.58) Yeah, yeah, I know. Yeah, and it's like, there are people that are just like my brother, he's just been in the same job for years and doesn't really want to leave. And I'm like, I don't know, I just, what's wrong with me? Why can't I just be like that? know, like sometimes I'll be like, I'm sorry. Amanda Samoyloff (42:40.219) No! Amanda Samoyloff (42:48.932) I'm the same way. No, I'm the same way. No, there's people that really love that safety, that security. Leslie Youngblood (42:54.669) Yes. Amanda Samoyloff (42:57.321) And I just can't, honestly, I think I worked for like maybe one boss, like, you know, during, for like nine months I like went, and I just told him what to do the whole time. Like I never listened to anything and everything he told me is like, that's not the thing that we're gonna do. We're gonna do it this way. I just couldn't be an employee. I just couldn't. And I couldn't live in this like mundane, like this is what we do every day. And people telling me I'm bad at it. People telling me what to do. I'm really bad at it. I'm like. Leslie Youngblood (42:57.432) Mm-hmm. Leslie Youngblood (43:07.671) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (43:13.646) I love it. Yeah, no. Leslie Youngblood (43:20.814) I know. Yeah, that's good. That's a really good thing. Like, we're here. It's so funny, but it is so true. It's like, yeah, who wants to be told what to do? Like, especially when you know just as much as them or can figure it out, you know, and you can. is. Like, we're done here. I need to, no. Amanda Samoyloff (43:27.472) Amanda Samoyloff (43:40.837) Guys! Frustrating. You're like, you're like, I don't think that that's the way to go. Amanda Samoyloff (43:52.649) You're like, this is not working now. Leslie Youngblood (43:53.324) And it's so funny. I love it, though, because it's like you think, and I don't know, because I was like, I'm weird. Or like you think like, why do I have to be this way? You know? Amanda Samoyloff (44:03.345) Yes. But it's like, honestly, they're it but the thing is, is there there are soldiers and their captains. And that's the thing. It's like there are really and that's you want to hire to as employees, want soldiers that people that are there for the good of the business, not for their own. I've hired captains. That was the problem. I hired people that were captains. And they weren't soldiers. So they were doing stuff because they had bigger ambitions to have their own career. Leslie Youngblood (44:12.95) Yeah, yeah, yeah, right. Mm-hmm. Yeah. interesting. Leslie Youngblood (44:27.854) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Amanda Samoyloff (44:29.285) in this case. So it's like, they weren't sticking around. Whereas like, you want people that are like, I don't care about any glory. I just want the best for the firm. And that's those people. So those are, that's the difference. And I think I didn't cover that in the thing, but like, as an employee, like really, when you're looking, you're like, are they trying to be own their own business? Is that like, their trajectory is for employment? Then they're probably not going to be around for long. So Leslie Youngblood (44:37.46) Right. Yeah. Right. Leslie Youngblood (44:49.774) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right. Leslie Youngblood (44:58.252) Right, right. Good luck. Amanda Samoyloff (44:59.133) they're, they're probably stealing a lot more of your ideas. So walk it up. You're like, no, you know, you don't have any access to any of my clients or my journalist friends. my gosh. That's horrible. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (45:03.054) was going say, good luck and lock the Rolodex. Right, right, right. Leslie Youngblood (45:16.684) I know, my gosh. And like, Amanda, of course I've seen the Sex in the City episode when Samantha's assistant, the Kalau, was raised on Sex in the City. I'm offended. Amanda Samoyloff (45:25.065) You're like, hello. Yeah, she's like, she stole my Rolodex. She stole my Rolodex. She's like, and then the girl's like, the whole party goes like out of control and she's like, I'll look at the other way. Leslie Youngblood (45:38.678) my God, I love it. It's so great. It's so great. show, and Samantha is the best character. Like you like grow up and you're like, she was the baddest bitch of them all. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I love it. I love it. It makes you want to go rewatch it, but, like, edit to the list. Amanda Samoyloff (45:45.705) Yeah, she was just such a badass and she was like also so non-judgmental. She was just cool. Like she was just like, whatever, do your thing, you know? I know I have, like I've definitely put that on a lot. Like where I'm like in the background noise sometimes you're like, okay, cool. So you come to Scottsdale. Yeah. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (46:06.902) I know it's great. Yes. It never gets old. It never gets old. Yeah. I'm flying on, Thursday. was just, everybody's like texting because it's a massive group text and they're like, we get in at this time. We get at this time. I'm like, I need to check my flight. I don't know when I get in. I'll be there. I'll see you guys. Amanda Samoyloff (46:27.429) Awesome. Well, how long are you guys, it's just for your like a bachelorette party, right? Leslie Youngblood (46:33.878) Yeah, it's our friend Anya and she, I'll send you, I think I mentioned her jewelry line. She is the founder and creative director of Saleh and just, I don't have any on now, incredible handmade sustainable jewelry line. It was just picked up in like, I want to say Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. And she and I were old partners in another life in an agency, right? Like she was the designer and I was the writer. Amanda Samoyloff (46:54.309) huh. Leslie Youngblood (47:02.016) love her. is wonderful. She's getting married in Italy this summer to her boyfriend of like, I think they've been together. They were together when we worked together in like 2016. So they've been together a long time. So yeah, so it's like, I want to say 10 girls in a house in Scottsdale. I don't know where the house is, but it's like, you know, I'm just along for the ride. Everybody's like, let's get this for Anya. I'm like, okay. Amanda Samoyloff (47:05.103) wow! Amanda Samoyloff (47:21.929) Yes! Leslie Youngblood (47:27.79) Should we go out on Friday and Saturday? like, sure. Like, I don't care. I'll do whatever. I'm down. Yeah. Right? Right? Amanda Samoyloff (47:30.983) You're like, you're yeah, you're like, I'm running a business over here. You guys can do the business of the bridal party. There's those who are like really into that. Like, I'm like, okay, yeah, what do I have to like, tell me what you know, I mean, but that's cool. How exciting. Leslie Youngblood (47:43.378) yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It'll be fun. yeah, I'll text you when I get so Thursday night. I think I get in the afternoon. I think my flight is at noon out of Detroit, right? So that's really like nine. I'll take about so I think I might get in around three or four and then I fly out early on Sunday. So we'll be there. We're going to, I'm just like, I know there's a, there's a Google spreadsheet thinking, like thinking of spreadsheets of like all the things and I have not checked it because I'm like, I don't. Amanda Samoyloff (47:58.557) Okay. Leslie Youngblood (48:16.078) No, don't sure that looks good if they can like get us in all the things and they're like, what are we all packing? I'm like, I don't know. I mean, I do know like the packing I'm like totally down for. Amanda Samoyloff (48:25.481) I had my cousin, like I was in her bridal shower, we went to like Miami and like, had like out like we had to wear like neon one night, we had to wear like all white. Like I was like, wait, what? Like, I'm like, they were also all 10 years younger than me. So I'm like, okay. I'm like, I'm like, okay. Leslie Youngblood (48:34.221) nice. Leslie Youngblood (48:43.15) Like, this what we do now? Is this the thing? Amanda Samoyloff (48:52.873) I was like, okay, at the time they were all like 22. I was like 32. I'm like, oh my God, you know? Leslie Youngblood (48:53.078) Right? It looks great. Aw. You're like, have fun. Right. And like, that's the thing. It's like, it's just to a good time. And so it's like, okay, sure. You know, but I don't have, and if you want to plan it, just give me the memo. Cause I just. Amanda Samoyloff (49:09.065) Yeah, you're like, give me the itinerary and I will be at each spot. But like also tell me like what I need to pack because if I have to be a I gotta get a neon out. Leslie Youngblood (49:11.853) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (49:15.31) Right. Right. Well, I got my, my Amazon shirt, right? Like everybody was getting the different shirts off at Amazon. And I think we're going out. I've got to say it's like a place called Elephant. Does that sound familiar, Amanda? Elephante. I think we might be doing Elephante one night or we are trying to do Elephante. I got to double check and see, but yeah, like I'll let you off. You should like meet us for a drink. We'll probably shop. My aunt, my aunt and uncle also live out in Scottsdale. Amanda Samoyloff (49:23.101) way. Amanda Samoyloff (49:27.145) Okay, elephant it. Okay. Okay. Leslie Youngblood (49:43.958) and they run a nonprofit, Bridging Arizona. And then they also own a secondhand furniture store called Got Legs as well. So I'm gonna try to meet up with them too while I'm out there, but we definitely need to meet up. We'll make it happen. What's your schedule? What are you up to? Amanda Samoyloff (49:53.725) Cool! Okay. Yeah, we'll make it happen. Just leave it. Um, I think I just, um, well Thursday I'm going to go to the desert botanical garden. have like a light show thing, but that's just at night. Yeah. Yeah. It's like Descanso gardens in LA is like, has it had something similar that I went to during Christmas, but like I was like, Oh, okay. I have that. But other than that, I probably I'm just going to do like hiking during the day or something like that. I don't really have too many plans. Um, so you just keep me posted and then we'll figure it out. I'm, I'm down for whatever. Leslie Youngblood (50:12.078) Amazing. Leslie Youngblood (50:27.149) Okay. Leslie Youngblood (50:31.41) It's a super fun group of girls too. mean, it's a lot of, um, my friend Anya, she's Polish, like grew up in Poland and so her friends are Polish. so I'm like, Oh, the crazy Polish girls are going to have some fun here. yeah. Oh, I'm a Scotia. No, but I love, love it. Love her. I'm part Polish. Yes, I will. I have your number. Amanda Samoyloff (50:33.509) no. Amanda Samoyloff (50:37.725) Bye-bye. Amanda Samoyloff (50:42.758) my god! I know her from Poland too, her name is Skoda, Anya Skoda? No. Yeah. Well, I think that'd be awesome to send me a text and like let me know. Leslie Youngblood (51:01.201) 323-807-0616. Perfect. Perfect. Awesome. Yay. Thank you so much, Amanda. I will talk to you soon. And I can't wait to meet you later this week. Yay. Enjoy your day. Thanks so much. Bye, Amanda. Bye. Amanda Samoyloff (51:01.843) Yep. Okay. What is so gay? Okay, bye.