Latest / Crafted Connections / EP 51: Building Community Like a Human with Caitlin Wuethrich

Transcript

EP 51: Building Community Like a Human with Caitlin Wuethrich · Crafted Connections

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: Hello! Welcome to Crafted Connections.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Kayla Calhoun, and this is a podcast all about storytelling and building genuine community.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: Here we'll dive into the art of storytelling, unpack strategies for making meaningful connections, and hear from incredible humans who are using their story to create impact.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_02: So grab your favorite beverage, settle in, and let's craft some connections.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, hey, this is Caitlin Calhoun of Crafted Connections.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so, so glad you're here.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: Crafted Connections is all about conversations with people and connecting in a way that really builds your community and network.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_02: I have been doing business for myself about 10 years now, and I built my business based on interactions and connections and telling stories and then making friends, making colleagues, what have you, out of frankly thin air.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: And when I say thin air, I mean like I met a person, I built a relationship with them, they recommended me for something, or they hired me for something.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: And it it just kind of has created the life that I want for myself.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: And so with that, I wanted to connect with the people in my network who are so freaking freaking cool, which is honestly most of them slash all of them, because I truly believe that we all have something interesting about us, we all have something fun going down, going on, and and I like to capture that in these interviews.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you for being here.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so excited to share today's guest with you.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: I love her name, Caitlin Weitrick.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: She is a mama, she is a business owner, and she is awesome as can be.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: We talked a lot about working for yourself, we talked a lot about her path to that.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: We also talked a lot about her journey into motherhood and and what that looked like and and how it's not always as easy as like people talk about.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_02: Bringing attention to those things is also part of what I'm trying to do here.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: She is so freaking fantastic.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: I've been I've been floating at the the 900-ish mark on my on my Instagram.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: And off recording, she she broke down like uh a March plan of attack for me is is getting into my Instagram and really starting to like build community there.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: And the funny thing about it is like when we are connecting people, whether it be, you know, me talking to you from my mic to your earbuds or one-on-one with someone, or in the case of Instagram, right?
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's it is literally like treating people like they're freaking human beings, which seems so self-explanatory, but but it's so hard to remember and it's so hard to execute.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm leaning into that.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: Thank goodness for Caitlin.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: I really, really enjoyed interviewing her, chatting with her, and uh, and then re-listening to the episode so I could really break down like what we actually discussed.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: Something very fantastic about her is she was an open book.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: I love an open book guest where they are willing to break it down like it is.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: There's no topic off topic, and uh, we just had so much fun.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: So I hope you hear that in our conversation.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: I hope you enjoy.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: As always, please follow and subscribe to Crafted Connections.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: Your support means the flipping world, and I'm grateful you're here.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, this is so silly.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: I talked to my mom so much.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_02: I was telling my mom this morning that this will be the first Crafted Connections podcast episode where it's not, it's it's a Caitlin talking to a Caitlin, but it's not a solo episode.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: So excited about that.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: So with that, Caitlin Weitrick, you are on the pod today.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: Can you do me a favor and tell our audience a little bit about yourself?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I'm Caitlin Weatrick.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: I am a wife and a mom, and I am a business owner.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I own Caitlin Weitrick Media.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so I do social media management for purpose-driven entrepreneurs and nonprofits.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: So the people who, of course, they're working because they need to earn a paycheck and the money and all the good things, but there's also this burning thing inside them of I do this because I love it.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: I love I work with those people and I do the social media side of things for them and their businesses.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: And very, yeah, very mission-driven stuff.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: And we love that.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: So very cool.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so you started your business, and you'll have to give the actual story on this, but like a lot of your business and motherhood are like, you know, just all like very like it's all entangled because that that has been such a journey for you.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: So can you kind of, I suppose, give the backstory of like the snapshot of your life in this moment of time, how you got to this point.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm also like super hella impressed that I didn't realize you were part-time with this.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_02: And like you did share being a six-figure entrepreneur, being part-time.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like, that's, you know, like who does that?
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: So, anyways, bring me to this snapshot in time.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: How did we get here?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: So, okay, I my background's nonprofit.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: I worked in nonprofits in Indy, Indy's a non-hop nonprofit hub.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: Got so much experience in four short years of nonprofit life in Indianapolis and had jobs where I was sleeping at the office.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: It was my entire life, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars, tapping into like everybody I knew, making it happen, all the things.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that was great.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: But then when my husband and I talked about having kids, it just, I was like, how are we going to do this and sustain this lifestyle and of me working all the time and be the mother that I wanted to be?
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: And so we went through a super traumatic miscarriage.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: I was far long enough where we were told we were in the clear.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: And there wasn't really explanation of why.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I knew, okay, there's a lot here.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: I need to listen to my body, I need to listen to like just my heart and my mind.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I knew that I couldn't continue the work pace that I was working at.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I went through all do I get a part-time job in nonprofit?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Do I just slow down at work?
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: All the things.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: And then I got pregnant with my daughter.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: And it seriously was like a night and day shift of one day I was so dedicated to my job, knew that's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: And like the next day after that, I got that pregnancy test.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: It was like, oh my gosh, I know that I can't continue in this job at this pace.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I was working with children who are survivors of trafficking.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: So, two, I was going into work every day and it was very heavy, very meaningful work.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Love what they're doing, but it wasn't for me in the season of life that I was in.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: So, what I was doing in that though was all of the development.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: So, social media, newsletters, all of that, raising tons of money.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, I just need to take what I love about this, which is the social media side of things, and go freelance and start my own business.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's what I did.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: And that was four and a half years ago now.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: Hot diggity dog.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: That means you're coming up on five, which is like, you know, like that.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: They say that's such a significant uh threshold for business owners, right?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: But to to back up, I do want to acknowledge and like I just very much appreciate how transparent and open you are about, you know, your miscarriage, about your about just like getting yourself where you needed to be.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'm a big proponent of because I've been in conversations with, you know, a handful of women and one, you know, one woman is like, it was so easy, we got pregnant right away, it was so simple, yay.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: And like, no, nothing wrong with that, right?
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's an experience.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: But then I've been aware of like the behind the scenes story of the other woman in that conversation, and like they're not there, you know, like the heartbreak and the and then so just you know, if you have the capacity, sharing that story is just so important.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, absolutely.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a huge, I mean, it changed my life.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so for me, you know, there was a time where I could not talk about it without breaking down.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, everyone experiences it differently, but to my husband and I, that was our first child.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so we every year on their birthday, we celebrate them and we remember them and we light a candle.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, he and I just do something private.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: Our kids are too little where like they wouldn't really understand.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: But between him and I, we do talk about it and do something.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, it changed my life.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so now I'm at the part of life where it's so part of my story that not sharing it almost feels weird.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: For me.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: And but everyone's different too.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like some people that I would never want anyone to feel that because I share in a certain way, they would have to do the same.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: And and so, as you know, like I'm all about like approaching story and like where does your story fit into like how you connect with people?
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: And with that, like it is like you get to decide what parts of your story are shared and not and not shared, right?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm a big, like, I love the phrase, show your scars, not your wounds, right?
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_02: So if like something is healed and available to be presented and you're up for it, yes, by all means, because it it might help someone else.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: But in the case of like, if if it's ouchy, if you can't like function, you know, talking about it, don't there's no need, you know?
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: It's absolutely not a thing.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: So I love that.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: Because even if somebody is not up and available for sharing something, you sharing gives so much permission.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I just say this across the board for so many reasons.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you for letting us go right there, right away.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: But you called it out.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like you were like, I want like when you were expecting like sharing that with me ahead of time.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: I I was you said it exactly you don't know what people are going through behind the scenes, right?
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_02: And and now even hearing like what you were working on in nonprofit backgrounds, right?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like life can be heavy and it can also be fun and beautiful, right?
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: And and just to find the balance between the two is definitely, definitely a moment.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: So appreciate you.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: Where to next, right?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so with that, with that, you found yourself, you're like, okay, baby on the way, a change needs to be made.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: You dove into this, and what did that look like?
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: So just like stepping away from like you're like, this is the whole career that I built and making that transition.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: What did what did the transition look like?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: And and especially if you're up for it, like sharing like doubts and experiences you've had, you know, in case somebody listening is like maybe in their first year, maybe about to step away from their nine to five.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what does that look like?
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so absolutely.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: I quit my job with one client on my mind who I wanted to book, and no one actually booked.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so Okay, so you didn't actually have this client booked yet?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, okay, yeah.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: But I will say I had the safety net of my husband.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: That is a big yes.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we had this.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: If it doesn't work out, I could stay home.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I never, you know, this is something I actually really struggled with last year in my motherhood, is all my friends around me are stay-at-home moms.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I just don't, I didn't feel like that was was what I was called to.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like I did not feel like that was for me.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm home with my kids twice a week, and like even after those two days, we all like look at each other and we're like, okay, like we kind of need to get out of the house, and you know, and so me being you and the two littles.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, me and the two littles.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so I just knew that was not what was best for our family.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like me working really is what's best for so many reasons.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, I felt a lot of internal pressure.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: My husband was not putting that on me, but I felt a lot of pressure if I want this to succeed.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I also had though, the I want to say it's a luxury, I don't know what the right word for it is, is I since I worked in nonprofit, that salary was so low that like now I kind of laugh, being like, I had to make so much in a month to make it make sense, and it wasn't difficult to get that.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, to share my own experience of going out on my own, right?
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, I was getting paid 30k.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: When I'm like I'm almost 10 years into it, but like I was getting paid 30k in a newspaper, right?
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just like, and so like the first year of working for myself, I was like, wow, I did more.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like, okay.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: But it felt so that was that was really nice too.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: Of like it felt huge when I started hitting certain months, and now I am at a whole different level of business.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I have multiple people on the team and we're traveling and speaking different places, and you know, it's turned into something that's much bigger.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: But in the beginning, I I couldn't even imagine replacing my nonprofit salary.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like that was insane to me.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I think too, I was on a call this morning and it was a bunch of other moms, we're all in business, we're all doing the like building our own businesses, trying to take care of the kids, like trying to make it all work thing.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the business coaches in wisdom, she was like, Money is money.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: And there's this idea that every single client is going to be the ideal client.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: And yes, you chase after that ideal client, but it's okay if sometimes you take the client that you know you just know might have a little bit more headache because you're it's getting you where you want to go, or it's paying the soccer bill, or it's you know, allowing you that one extra thing.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I just felt like so much freedom because sometimes when I get a client that's not the perfect fit, I'm like, what am I doing wrong?
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: But you know what?
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's okay to give myself that permission.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like in the beginning it was so much trial and error of like, oh, okay, learned that lesson.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: And then also just like noticing the patterns over the years, and you're like, okay, sometimes because sometimes you'll take a like a relationship or an engagement too far, you know, in my experience, right?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: Where you're like, okay, that maybe should have been like we both should have stepped away from each other at this point, especially when you're like, you know, whether it be, you know, uh offer by offer basis, like, you know, you know, certain scope timeline by timeline basis.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's but even for me, like my most of my freelancing in the early days was just like you just go until like they people just hit you up.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: There was never like a we are signing a an agreement and it's gonna be for three to six months, and and here's the deliverables, right?
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_02: It was just like Caitlin, come in, edit for us, and I and I would.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: And then and then it was hard to like say no when like you know the getting was good.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: So it is a journey.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: You used to work with no contract.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: Well, no, well, and because also because like freelance, right?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like freelance video is um, and that's so that's the thing too, to go back to like being in like business groups, right?
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like it was very, you know, like the freelance video world versus like all the online business folks and online business women that I met, right?
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's just a completely different approach.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: And gotcha.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: And so there was a a time in like 2020 where I was like trying to be like, how do I fit these two pieces together?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: It was curious for sure.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: And and then eventually I've gotten to the point where I'm like, oh, it just gets to be exactly how I want to build it out, and also it may change and this, that, and the other.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, but with that, that goes back to I loved how we met because you literally via like the the grow contact.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I I do uh I help Grow We Well, which is a women's conference in Indiana, with their with their marketing and their social media and whatnot.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: And so you you slid into those DMs and you're like, yo, can I bring my baby?
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I was just like, Yes, let's go.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: This is what we're talking about.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: This is what we're trying to build.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like, let's go to events, let's like have permission to have these little guys around.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: And he he rocked it, you know?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like, don't worry, I'm sure he had his moments, but I, you know, and and also if he does, uh, I'm just I was just so excited about it.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so all to say it was like really cool to to meet you in that way and to see that and goes back to like giving permission by sharing, like, you know, the good, the bad, the ugly, whatever it is.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: Can you speak to that and how you how you fit all these pieces together?
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it's never perfect.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm figuring it out every single day.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: I tried for the first two, okay.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I have a two and a half year old, her name is Carter, and then I have a six-month-old, and his name is JJ.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: So John Joshua We trick.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: So we man, it was a journey.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: So in my mind, when I had my daughter, because I own my own business and I work from home, that meant I don't need childcare because I'm my own boss.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I I have friends who do it.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like my friend Sydney, who lives in Houston, she and I share referral partners all the time.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: She has three kids under five.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: She has no child care and she has a six-figure business.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: I don't, I talk to her all the time and I have no clue how she's doing it, but she'll tell you, like, I don't sleep.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: I am not someone who needs sleep.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: I don't sleep.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm up with the baby.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: When I'm up with the baby, I'm working and I drink like four energy drinks a day.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I can't live like that.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: I need sleep.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: So people do it.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not one of those people.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so I for two years modge podged, like, here's my friend from Jazzer Size who's watching the kid.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Here's my mom's in town.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: Now here's the neighbor.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Here's my friend from church group.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like we modge podged for two years.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then when I we got pregnant with JJ, I was like, we have to send them to daycare.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: Ain't gonna happen.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: And then I do want to like emphasize like that's two under two.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like, or you had two under two at one point.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like, and that is like another thing, right?
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: Two under two, like when your business is like at that point two years old, right?
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like, if that's the math that's mathing.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: But but so it's like but then that goes back to like you were you were rigorously doing things in the nonprofit world too.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's not like you were like, you know, shy to like getting the systems and like hitting up the people who might potentially be clients or might potentially bring in the money to the nonprofit.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: So yes, speak to me about that because I'm I'm also on this journey too of like, what does it look like to not put all my time, like every single minute of my day, every single minute of my life, like to actually potentially have a life, whether that be have a life with you know, kiddos or have a life where like girl relaxes, like what does that look like?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: And what would you say to people who just like need to maybe you know find a little bit more balance and how and again, balance is a strong word.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_02: So go ahead.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, I wish I had like all of the answers.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's so hard.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_02: But you have to have answers for you, right?
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: You just like you have to like do what you can that day sometimes, you know.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm really trying to get get away from working at night because that's me and husband time, and you know, I'm not gonna lie, there's been like a few weeks, the last few weeks where I was up at like 6 a.m.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: working until eight when the kids get up, help them get off to school, get back at it around like 8 45, and then I work until five when I pick them up, and then we do kid things, and then I'm working until seven when they go to bed, until two in the morning.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just not healthy, but I'm getting kid time and we're sitting down for family family dinner every night is non-negotiable.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: We will do that until they graduate.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's those non-negotiables.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: What I have found is there's non-negotiables, and we build our lives around those.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: Our non-negotiables, we will sit down as a family every single night.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: My husband and I will sit down for 10 minutes a day and we will have a conversation that is not about our kids, non-negotiable.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: I have to have time.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm we're Christian family, so I have to have time every day in the Bible and very and I have to eat lunch because that's a non-negotiable because sometimes I forget to eat lunch.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: Because you're a human.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: And those are like the things that I are my non-negotiables, and everything else is built around that.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then also for me, the game changer, I just have realized I have to hire a team.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: I can't do it alone because I also only send my kids to school Tuesday through Thursday.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: I non-negotiable Mondays, I am with them and I am not reachable.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: That people know it's better to reach out to me on a Sunday afternoon than it is a Monday.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because that is my time with them.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then Fridays, my husband works from home.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: So if I have to hop on a call or something, I'm kind of available.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm doing like three and a half days and then maybe like two nights.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: So we're working on it, we're building the team in the back end so I can be working on the business and not in the business, you know.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, like doing these things, like being the being the face.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like it, it this stuff does matter, right?
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: But it's like if you were like, yeah, yeah, Caitlin, like I would love to be on your podcast, but also like I've got all these client deliverables and this is how we're gonna pay the bills.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like that, it is, it's such a dance, the back and forth between the in versus on the business.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: I am curious because this, you know, we didn't discuss this too much, but like I am curious about what is like the actual like client experience, what kind of clients do you, you know, you you described like your clients in, you know, the the broad, like mission-driven terms, but like when it comes to like the engagements, how you work with your clients, like, and also like what do you what is your take on like the social media landscape, you know, versus like because there's so much like I feel like you probably have seen this where people will jump in, they'll be like, I'm a social media person now, right?
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like right, okay, yes, you have a social media account, but like that's not the same as what you're doing.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I would love to hear all your thoughts.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, 50% of my business is my own clients.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: 50% of my business, I do white labeling.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: So white labeling, I find people that I align with who are freelancers agencies, and they have clients and I do the work for them on those clients, but they're client facing, which makes so much sense to me because I have to find like a few freelancers, a few agencies where we really vibe.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: We have the same, we have like the same thing going.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: They're getting profit from it.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then I'm also doing work for them.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that model because I love.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Working with good people.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like my friend Sydney, who never sleeps and has three kids, and you know, I do her social media for her because she's a web designer and it's so fun.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so that kind of lights me up and I love the white eight labeling aspect of things.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then I also have my own clients, which mostly are nonprofits or they are purpose-driven entrepreneurs.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: I have a few people who own small businesses and I have people really all over the country.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: It was really funny.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: For a while, 50% of my workload was in North Carolina.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: I've never been to North Carolina.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's what's up.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: And and C's out here for Caitlin.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I love that.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, I did I did see that you do white labeling, and I do think that is such a cool like thing to plug into your model, basically, right?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: Because you just find people that you vibe with and they are like, yeah, I don't really want to do social media for my clients, but their clients might want that service.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it makes so much sense because if someone's built copy for a website and done all of the branding and the storytelling, and then from there, you they have to go find a new social media person.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: I then have that partnership with my people, my freelancers, my agencies.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: We work well together, and they can just tell me, like, here's exactly what you need to do to give them exactly what they're looking at.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then they do edits, they do a round of edits too.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: So it only makes sense for the client.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: The client wins in every single way.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, totally.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: So do we.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and especially too, because like a business that doesn't have a to have like three different vendors to like just get their marketing done.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_02: Because that's something too.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm a big, oh gosh, I've been saying I'm a big proponent this entire conversation, but you know, she's out here.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I love it because I'm a big proponent of a lot of like wonderful things, right?
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_02: So that's the Caitlin Calhoun stamp.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_02: You better watch out.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I've been talking to a lot of people, you know, as I've leaned more and more into the storytelling aspect of things, because I was never like a marketer.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_02: I I've I've got that video background and like have like studied and done the the deep storytelling work.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: And but I, you know, have touched marketing enough that I've like seen how the way I look at it, there's so many pieces and parts and moving things.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: And like frankly, like one person cannot do all of those like marketing expertise, right?
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: And so, but as a client who needs marketing, to not have to talk to all the different experts is right perfection.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_02: Perfection.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: I love it for sure.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I just like I haven't seen as much white labeling like like around as much as I think people could be doing it, but that's a whole nother I I think it's because you get booked out so quick.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like as soon, you know, I also do coaching, and that's really what I want to go to towards is white labeling and coaching.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: White labeling, I'm booked out like yeah, yeah, pretty far in advance.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: Coaching, people are like, no, I want a done for you service.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: What do you mean you're just gonna hand me the roadmap?
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: No, you do it for me.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: I get that, I get that for sure.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, I can be the same way, so I get it.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_02: No, totally, totally.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and I'm curious actually, because this is something, you know, as I've I've been doing lots of consulting.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what how do you speak to someone who might might have that objection, right?
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like, no, I I and maybe, maybe not necessarily someone who's like, no, no, no, I'm looking for done for you, but someone who's like, I'm not sure.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: Do I done for you?
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: Do I roadmap?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what do you kind of say when when folks are taking a look at that?
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like, who's a good fit for like the uh the consulting, the coaching side of of of their social media?
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that this is like my whole thing for myself too.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Social media should be fun.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: And if you are just dreading going on social media and it's exhausting to you and it drains you, and you play the comparison game and it's bad for your mental health and you're doom scrolling every night, and therefore you're looking up things for your business, so you're not actually turning your brain off at night.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: So you're actually working, but you're doom scrolling and it's just toxic, then you should probably turn it over to someone for a little bit if you have the budget.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: But if you are someone who is like, okay, no, I could get really excited about social media and I think I could do this well, you might just need the roadmap.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so I would say, you know, it's it honestly most of the time comes down to budget.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: But other than that, if it's something that, you know, the budget isn't the problem.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: The it's more of, you know, what should I decide to do?
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think that if you start with the coaching, if you start with the roadmap and you you try it and it doesn't work, then you can always go to done for you.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I even found because I I had a wonderful done for you social media person, like for gosh, like three or four years, loved, loved, loved her.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: I definitely, when I first hired her, felt very like, this is so draining, but I know I need it.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_02: And she did such an amazing job, but to the point too where her enthusiasm was infectious.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: And now I like love to play with it.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: I also have like, I've been up and down the mountain.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm to the point where I just don't care what people think about it anymore because I cared about what people think for so long.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_02: And the caring about what people think made me crash.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I was just like, I can't, I can't with you.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_02: And and now it's just fun and finding like people who are like just out here playing around and who like also get it.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_02: Like you and I have, you know, had social media conversations via social media about like, oh, try this, try that, you know.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just it can be fun when you like also are like building a community of people who also find it fun.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: And my thing too is social media, okay.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're doing this as like a business for me, I don't need a hundred thousand people to buy something from me a year.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: I really need the right people to come to me and buy from me.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so I love using social media for that because I used to be someone who's going to all these networking events every week and I still love to go to them, but I don't have the same availability.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so social media has been the best, especially Instagram for me, has been the best way to network.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I can slide into someone DMs in a genuine way and say, Hey, it's great to meet you.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: I see that you are doing XYZ.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me more about it.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: Now, you don't want to be like a robot and not like a real person, but if you can actually connect with people in a real way, I get almost 100% of my leads off of just Instagram.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm working with my clients on how to do the same.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I love it because you get, I always say around like month three with the clients, it's like when the magic really starts happening and they get really excited and you start seeing the revenue.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just, oh, it's so fun.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_02: Very cool.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_02: And and I, yeah, my mindset around that, because I've been thinking a lot, and I actually just posted on LinkedIn about this, like a few, like maybe last week sometime, about the 1000 true fans.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: And so early last year, I was reading something about like, what if you like what if the number of your like, let's say your Instagram, like what if the followers you have on Instagram were to never go up and that's all you had?
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: What would you do differently?
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like, how would you curate and spend time with and connect with those people?
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: And like, you know, at the time that I read that, I had about like 800 connections on Instagram.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, yeah, I could be fine financially if I just like spend time with these people, connect with these people, work with these people, right?
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like these are great people who I have been connected with for for, you know, years now, to the point where it's like, oh, that's the that's the connection, that's the relationship building.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_02: And then uh, and then so then I've been like leaning into like looking at like, okay, what is it like to really curate like 1,000 true fans, 1000 true relationships in in this space, in in what I'm curious about and what I do.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_02: So I love, love, love it.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: Love that.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: I need to read that.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: You know how like, I mean, I did the same thing with have you heard of the book Atomic Habits?
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_02: So there's like books like that, right?
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_02: That I used to like eat for for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my my reading, but I'm kind of getting to the point where I'm like, oh, that's the concept.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: Cool, applied.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like it's like so I don't I haven't actually read a thousand true fans, but like the concept is, you know, like once you're like, oh yeah, that makes sense.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: And then you, yeah.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_02: So I want to know this along the vein that we're going down, this podcast is called Crafted Connections.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: Tell me about like what is like what is important about connection in both like you know, your pursuit as like a mother, a business owner, and also like with with what you do with your clients.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like, why is connection important?
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: And how do we like continue to like give it, you know, the nourishment that it that it needs?
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, there's the famous saying, like, it takes a village, and it genuinely does.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: I strongly believe that we were not meant to do this alone, whether it's just life or marriage or kids or you're single and like none of those things.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like you are just not supposed to do life alone because it's hard.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so for me, connections, I mean, they're just absolutely vital.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll talk about it on the business sense of even if tomorrow my social media got shut down, I'd be okay because I have enough people and referrals coming in from connections.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: Huge blessing.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: That being said, my connections are always growing through social media.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then on the friendship side of things, on the relationship side of things, you know, you just can't do it all alone.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure you talk about that all the time.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: You it takes other people to walk alongside you in the mess that is motherhood and marriage and business and all the things.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: You just can't do it alone.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that goes back to exactly what we started with, which is like when when you go through a hard thing and someone being like, Yeah, me too, or or or sharing their story, and you're like, Oh, thank God it's not just me, you know?
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: And and and that I'm just and that's where I mean, this podcast is like stems from that, where it's like storytelling, sharing stories builds that connection because you share a story, maybe it's a little bit vulnerable, maybe it's just like, you know, I've used the example, like I, I I enjoy Diet Coke, you know, and somebody's like, yeah, people like, I mean, people are crazy about Diet Coke when they're crazy about Diet Coke, right?
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_02: But like more like you're like, I enjoy, or like I a dessert you love, you know, people will be like, Me tell, like if they really love it.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: And and you know, that's maybe not like the most like in-depth story, but like, but it is like a shared like arc of like something, you know, a feeling.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I I think, you know, a great story really evokes feeling.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's just a beautiful thing.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's just a beautiful thing.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a big Diet Coke person.
• 32:42
  unknown: Good.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: See, I I always am so hesitant because like there she knows, she knows.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: Caitlin just showed me a Diet Coke canon.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_02: I know you get to it, right?
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_02: Hey y'all, you know I love telling stories, gathering stories, and finding a way to help people connect their story with the people that will get it.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what my story strategy sessions are all about.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_02: So over at Calhoun Creative Consulting, my strategic storytelling firm, we do one-on-one and or facilitated workshops in relation to really honing in the strategy around your story.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's a bit of messaging, meets content creation, meets storytelling, and then how do we put that out in the world?
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_02: How do we show up regularly?
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_02: There's a bit of mindset work around it, right?
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_02: To actually tell your story.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: Whether you're launching something new or trying to rework your brand or just feeling a little foggy on how to communicate with your people, this is how to get clear.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: We'll dig into things like your narrative, how to uncover what matters most, maybe map out a few content pillars while we're at it.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_02: You'll also get a recording of our session so you can revisit the conversation anytime you like.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_02: Let's shape a story that actually feels like you.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_02: So book yours today.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_02: There is a link in the show notes.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_02: And hey, while you're at it, use the code podcast, all caps, P-O-D-C-A-S-T for 25% off your session.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_02: I would be honored to spend time with you and suss out your story.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_02: Let's dive back into the episode, shall we?
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_02: So tell me a little bit more about kind of like what was the path of growing your family, of building, you know, the life you you wanted for yourself.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_01: So before I even had my kids, I went to this doctor who is no longer practicing.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, I know that I have some hormone stuff going on.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: I know I really, really want to be a mom.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: What can we do?
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: And she said, There's absolutely nothing you can do.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: You can probably never have kids.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: I was devastated to say the least.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: And we had a really hard time getting pregnant.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, I I miscarried.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_02: And so like this, yeah, this like long journey of like hard, hard, hard, hard, hard.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_02: For years, for years.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_02: And simultaneously, you're working at a stressful job too.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: And simultaneously, so something that is a part of my story.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: The day that I miscarried was Easter.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: We went to family brunch and two of my sister-in-laws announced that they were pregnant on the same day and they had the same exact due date.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_01: Which at the time I was, I mean, I can't even describe like I still can go back to that place and it was devastating.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_01: But now that I'm where I'm at, life is always to be celebrated.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like I love my nieces and nephews.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: Both of those kids are healthy and happy and great.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: But I felt like, why me?
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, why I felt like I did something wrong.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_01: I felt like, and and you know, I'm looking at, you know, I might never have kids.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it was yeah, because at this point you didn't know five years down the road, right?
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like it was, it was absolutely devastating, Caitlin.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I just like did not know what to do.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: I was like a shell of a person at that point in my life, I would really say.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so just kept on going, kept on going to the doctor, finally found like a clinic that kind of specialized in what I was going through.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I went and I got all this medication.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_01: So as soon as I got pregnant with my daughter, went there, got some extra hormones and things.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: And that was its own thing.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: So from the beginning of my pregnancy with my now two-year-old, I was going to the doctor two to three times a week, every week, blood work, hormone treatments, all the things.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that played its own mental toll on me.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: And just, you know, every single time you go in, there is this here's the risks of you not surviving and the baby not surviving.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it was so it was just so hard.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even know how to explain it.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so we went through, went through that.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: The day we had my daughter was like the best day of my life.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: Just like seeing her and being like, we did it, we made it through.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: She's alive.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm alive.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like seeing my husband, and like he he tells me he said, I have he was like, it was like you were not even there, Caitlin.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like you were in like a heavenly realm in that moment to just like we did it, she's here, like we made it.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_00: It was just the best.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then getting to experience that again with my son, like I just can't even tell you what that was like, what that is like.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like when you just think, you know, you're never, it's never gonna happen.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then I have two biological kids in two years.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_01: I like just, you know, is insane.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_02: And so and how like how like fast it all came together, right?
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I just I do think that that's something I think we we look at our lives and we're like, when's it ever gonna work out for me?
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, like if you could blink and then like see yourself in three years, like that is right.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and I too, you know, a lot of this brought up a lot of questions, and I still have a lot of questions for God one day about all of this.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I have friends who it it's never happened for them.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and so like because it's why me, and then later it's why me, which is uh two very different tones to the question why me.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, I've never thought of it that way.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: So just like I I have I have friends who my like where I was before I had kids, they almost experience that after they have little kids, like in a short amount of time, where they are it's so hard for them.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_01: And like so much of what they're doing is towards motherhood that they feel like they have lost themselves, they're depressed, they're going through all of these different things.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so walking through a few different friends with that right now of like some really severe postpartum depression, which is not a joke, and I feel incredibly honored that they would allow me to walk alongside them.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_01: But like realizing now what that experience taught me, how I can love on my friends in this season.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_01: But also there's a certain place I started in motherhood, which ended up feeling like a punishment, but has now I realize this almost a gift of like getting to look at my kids and be like, this could have never been.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like sometimes I'm sorry, do people cry on your podcast?
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I've cried too, don't worry.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like, it's fine.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like, it's no, this is very like this is so beautiful in the in the sense too of like continue.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_02: No, yeah, go ahead.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_02: And you're just yeah, you're looking at it.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, and you know, like sometimes my kids will go to bed, like you know, on Mondays, that's mommy and baby days, like, and they know, like my daughter knows, like the day after Sunday, after we go to church on Sunday, like tomorrow, wake up, mommy, like she knows.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: And like at the like last night, I was so exhausted.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I have not slept in months.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: I've had these babies, and like I looked at my living room full of toys, and I just like wept because I remember sitting in our 1,000 square foot home and having like one extra bedroom and being like, God, will that ever be full?
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like it was so quiet, I could not stand it.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_00: And it was devastating for me because I also felt like I was doing something wrong.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: The questions weren't being answered, it was happening for everybody else.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_01: That to like look at a living room full of toys, even on the most stressful days, feels like such a blessing.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I cannot believe this is my my life.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_01: I think that doctor that originally talked to me cannot believe this is my life either.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and I, you know, and I do want to call out when when you first submitted the intake form for this like interview and this chat we were gonna have, you're like, it's so much motherhood.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_02: Is that okay?
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like, is that your audience?
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, my like what I want people to know is like every walk of life and every like human and what they're going through, it's like is interesting and wonderful and beautiful.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_02: And like, and there's people out there that like maybe haven't like had the chance to like explore exactly what you're going through, you know?
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_02: And and then, and so I think like it's like we I just think the world becomes a better place when we we share our stories, no matter who we are or what we do.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I do think there's a little bit of like that stereotype of women in business that I'm moving through, like what it looks like to be a mother and a business owner, and like that it gets to be whatever we flip and want it to be, right?
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_02: And so I don't know, like it just like what you are sharing and talking about, like empowers me to like think more into my own like femininity, femininity and like womanhood and like what it all looks like for me as as as the years go forward, you know?
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_02: And and yeah, and I'm just really grateful for that.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I really think that people will enjoy that, you know.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, thank you.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_02: I also love when because I, you know, folks, I'm very transparent about the fact that I have an intake form, right?
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's just kind of a place for me to start so I can just drive this like you know, beautiful, casual conversation, but also deep conversations.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I love when in the part where I'm like, is there anything that you're like not up for talking about?
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_02: I love when people are like, I'm an open book, let's go.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_02: And and that's what you did, and you did not lie in practice as well.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's not much that I probably wouldn't talk about.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_02: But then, but that does go back to what we were talking about earlier, where it's like, okay, yes, but there was probably a time where this wasn't the conversation, you know what I'm saying?
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_02: And and that's also important.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I and and as I like talk to people and share with people like how to share your story and like how to approach it, like you get to like recognize who you are and where you are and and move through accordingly.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_02: But I I just love that too.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_02: The visuals of like just yes, like maybe someone else would be like, This is a messy room, but it's like a room full of toys that you never thought you would have.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, like that's so beautiful.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's it is.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I love it.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_02: I very love it.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yay! Oh my goodness.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, yeah, yeah.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_02: I'm really glad that we we took the time for that.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_02: So, with that, how can people connect with you if they want to talk about all the things or they want to potentially like explore what it looks like to work with you?
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_02: What does that all look like?
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_02: Where where are you at on the internet, girl?
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I want to connect with people.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you are like a rock star on LinkedIn.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_01: I am not on LinkedIn as much.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I try, it's just I've become a little obsessed.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's on my vibe.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe if I like get into it more, I will it will be my vibe.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_02: I want to I want to speak to that because I don't think you would meet me in person and think, wow, she's a LinkedIn girly, you know, but like like I just show.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: Up, like, and I don't do my like you know, my little daily vloggy things I do on Instagram on there because, like, honestly, to the point where I'm like, does she only make cookies with her mom?
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like and like LinkedIn doesn't need to know the how much I go to my parents' house.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_02: But all to say, like, there is something about just like, I've got this one photo of me like in this flower like thing from a shoot I was on like two years ago that I'm so planning on like putting on LinkedIn sometime this week.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, my colleague was like, ah, that's a lot better than like, you know, all those like boring CEO posts, right?
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_02: And so, like, I think there's something about standing out in a very gray place.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_02: And if people aren't vibing, then they're not my people.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_02: But so, and this thing is you are my people, and you're like, you're rocking LinkedIn.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I'm just like out here, you know.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_01: Which is so funny because I manage people's LinkedIns and I can kill it for them.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I have this one client, he is a board coach.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to get on a board, he's your guy.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_01: There's a job for everything, yeah.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like he he's kills it on LinkedIn.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I and I can do it for him.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's just for myself.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_01: But one day it'll be fine.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, and I've you know, and I oh my gosh, I should interrogate you about this.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like stuck at this, like, it's going between like 897, 899 on Instagram right now.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, I just like I kind of it's a vanity metric, but I really do want to hit that thousand.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna tell you exactly how to do it offline because you will need to book my strategy call if you want to know how to get profound.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so good.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'll tell you.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, okay, perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so excited actually because I'm so freaking close.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, did we even talk about where they can connect with you?
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: I think we just got a little distracted.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, sorry.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_01: Instagram is where I hang out.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like that is me.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_01: So Instagram is Caitlin Weatrick Media.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh my name's hard to spell, so I'm sure Caitlin will show notes.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_02: Show notes, and also like if you're clicking on this podcast, it's literally gonna be like with Caitlyn Weitrick.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_02: So beautiful, beautiful.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, Caitlyn Weatrick Media is the name.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_02: You want to work with people who have um who have like uh, you know, what's it called?
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_02: Sense of uh common sense.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_02: So you know if they they can get there.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_02: I trust, I trust these listeners, they can do it.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so Instagram's where I hang out.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_01: I have a website that's Caitlinweatrick Media.com.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_01: You can send me an email, but yeah, I would love to connect.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_01: And if anyone, you know, wants to talk about the motherhood thing and the fertility thing, like that is something that I feel very strongly about that we shouldn't have to walk through alone either.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and you're you know, it's also oh gosh, I could just keep going about that.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_02: About the vulnerability leads to like people feeling safe with you, right?
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_02: And and so it's a it's a beautiful thing.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_02: It leads to connection, it really does.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_02: So good.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, and then did you did you share that people can have 50 50 off with the Caitlyn?
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_01: So strategy calls, like if you're one of those people that's like, I cannot, I'm not gonna hire a social media manager right now, but I know I need to show up online, I know there's revenue there, I know there's people to connect with.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your gal, whether you're wanting to be like TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_01: Strategy session is for you.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_01: They're usually 397, but with code Caitlin, they're 349.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's math, right?
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_01: That's$50 off.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think so.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't know.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_01: You're doing so great.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_02: 47.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_02: Good job.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_02: Code Caitlin spelled like K-A-T-E-L-Y-N, which is my spelling, not your spelling.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we're out here.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_02: We're out here.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, right, because I oh this is my final thing since this is you're the first Caitlin that I'm I've had on the pod.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh at coffee shops, they say, What's your name?
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I say Caitlin, spell it how you want.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's like the best dad joke ever.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_02: I like that.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna start doing that.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_02: You should.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's amazing.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_02: With that being said, thank you so much for your time and your knowledge and your wonderfulness today.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_02: I loved being here.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_02: You're welcome.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_02: Crafted Connections is lovingly produced by Calhoun Creative Consulting, a strategic storytelling firm dedicated to helping people and brands tell their stories in a way that resonates.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_02: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe and connect with us on Instagram at Crafted Connections Bot.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_02: Keep creating, keep connecting, until we meet again.