Evolving Focus For The Marketing Moms Podcast | MM#134

In this podcast episode, Angela and Jessie reveal a slight shift in the focus of their discussions. They emphasize a more intentional approach to their content, aiming to cater to mothers with established businesses rather than those in the initial growth phase. Jessie and Angela discuss the importance of balancing business growth with family time and the notion that it's acceptable to be satisfied with a business's current state, rather than constantly striving for expansion. They express a desire to connect with other mothers in similar situations, sharing experiences and advice for maintaining a business while enjoying family life. This change reflects their personal journeys and the stage they are at in their own businesses, advocating for a healthy balance between professional aspirations and family commitments.

**ANNOUNCEMENT** After nearly 3 years, the Marketing Moms podcast is sunsetting. Thank you so much for the unwavering support, well-wishes, and memories. This has been the experience of a lifetime <3
It's coffee time!
Jessie & Angela

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Transcript

00:00.00
jessievalle
Hey, everyone today we are going in a little bit of a different direction both literally and figuratively. We are going to be talking about some adjustments coming to the podcast as Angela and I grow and. Hone in on our messaging.

00:52.52
jessievalle
Hey so I feel like this episode has been a long time coming Angela and I had to sit down recently and think about separately. Actually what we really felt like our calling was to. To help other moms with businesses out there and we realized that we've been chatting about things that range so many things and do not fear. This podcast is not going anywhere. However, we are.

01:20.55
Angela
Yes, a wide variety of things.

01:31.27
jessievalle
Wanting to just have a chat about kind of the direction of our episodes and while it's still going to be about motherhood and marketing why we felt we needed to truly define.

01:46.63
Angela
Are.

01:49.62
jessievalle
Where we were headed I guess.

01:51.72
Angela
Yeah, it's weird you and I have both had businesses for a long time. We're far Beyond the like initial get started grow your business. Do the thing in our personal businesses. But this.

02:08.65
jessievalle
Who.

02:11.61
Angela
Is new for us the podcast um basing a business or basing any kind of monetization around a podcast. Um and all of that it's new for us and we've over the last few weeks found ourselves. Giving ourselves the advice that we would give our clients if if you know ah if we were from the outside looking in and a lot of that kind of revolves around really dialing down on who we want to talk to maybe we want to talk to everybody. But.

02:32.11
jessievalle
The.

02:50.46
Angela
Who were really focused on helping on helping and what we want to talk about and what we want to focus on and as Jesse said we sat down separately to kind of talk about or think about it and then came together to talk about it and miracle of miracles we were on the same page.

03:09.41
jessievalle
Um, yeah, and the crazy thing is is you kept saying the word new. But I mean we've been at this for two and a half years it's not really new. But.

03:10.29
Angela
So.

03:18.98
Angela
Yes, I really knew.

03:25.84
jessievalle
I will say that I feel like Angela and I have just kind of used this podcast kind of as a verbal diary right? So we just kind of share our thoughts and hoping someone out there in the universe might find use in it.

03:34.20
Angela
Um, yeah.

03:42.57
jessievalle
But we decided that maybe now is the time especially as we turn here into the new year to truly hone in on what just be more so more intentional about what we're talking about and again we are not changing much.

03:47.90
Angela
A.

03:56.76
Angela
Yes, no, no yes.

04:02.26
jessievalle
We're still going to be talking to moms with businesses and we're still marketing moms that is not changing. However I think a lot of our content is going to be geared more towards someone like us who's been in business a while who.

04:16.52
Angela
Her.

04:21.74
jessievalle
Isn't necessarily in that initial grow grow grow stage but is kind of in maintenance mode maybe slow growth just maintaining their business because now they've built it up enough to where they can.

04:29.26
Angela
Yeah.

04:40.23
jessievalle
Truly finally start to enjoy their family and I think that's one of the big issues I have with other influencers online is they talk about where they're at in their business into it.

04:41.67
Angela
Right.

04:49.11
Angela
Yes.

04:56.15
Angela
Yeah.

04:57.69
jessievalle
Not at the very beginning the work a few hours a week and enjoy your kids comes later. It's not the initial part.

05:05.75
Angela
Yes, right? And we we definitely wanted to make a point to to say that a lot like we we say that a lot and probably will continue to say that a lot. Um, so we love we love all of you. We love our listeners.

05:12.76
jessievalle
Who.

05:21.97
Angela
Um, and if you are new to business. Please feel free to keep listening. Hopefully we will have some good insights for you and some help for you but moving forward. We. We really want to focus more on you've done all the work you've built your business. For a lot of moms if you talk to them and you ask them? Why did you start your business. The answer is usually something to do with kids I wanted to be able to pay for my kids' soccer lesson I wanted to be a home for my kids that was one of the reasons I started my business so that I could be home for my kids I could.

05:47.63
jessievalle
Who.

05:56.50
Angela
2 hour delays sick kid. Whatever wasn't going to be a big deal I was relatively free and you spend the first few years really really building that up but then what happens once you've built it and that was sort of the question that Jessie and I kept coming back to of.

06:08.90
jessievalle
Yeah.

06:16.90
Angela
We're very big on the the balance of having your business and having your family but that balance doesn't exist as well in those first few years you have to focus on business and growth and getting to a stage where you can enjoy both and. There are a lot of marketers out there like Jesse said that talk about where they're at in their business now working 3 hours a day but they don't really tell you how they got there and they don't really tell you how to maintain that it's like if you do x y z. Then you can grow grow grow and you know make 6 figures that's like what if I don't want to make 6 figures what if I just want to make a little bit and then also be able to take my kids to swim class like and there's not as much about that out. There.

07:03.26
jessievalle
Um, and yeah and I feel like there are different things that have hit me at different times I remember is actually a cup probably at this point like three four years ago like these things happened years ago where I reached that point in my business where I had hit my initial goals and then you talk about the now what because there's a lot of people out there saying well if you you know.

07:31.10
Angela
Um, yeah.

07:39.95
jessievalle
Hit 5 figures go for 6 if you hit 6 go for 7 if you hit 7 go for 8 like they just talk about go go go grow grow grow and I realized that once I hit my personal goal I was like but I don't want to keep growing. How do i.

07:40.94
Angela
Yeah, yeah.

07:54.15
Angela
Yeah.

07:57.70
jessievalle
How do I slow down after pushing so fast for so long and is there anybody out there to tell me it's okay to not want more and I actually remember hopping on a phone call with a friend. Um.

08:00.82
Angela
Yeah.

08:08.65
Angela
Um, yeah.

08:16.48
jessievalle
It was actually ah, another online friend but we had met each other in person a few times and so we hopped on the phone and we talked about it because she was at the same point like but I don't want to keep growing I'm I'm happy where I'm at and so those are the people we want to talk to like it's okay. To not want the moon and the sun and the stars and the heavens. It's okay to just want enough so that you can put some of your focus elsewhere.

08:38.40
Angela
Oh.

08:47.85
Angela
Yeah, yeah, it's especially as like online service providers which is where Jesse and I live um you get to this point where you start.

09:00.98
jessievalle
Um.

09:04.75
Angela
You grow and you're doing okay and then you start hearing those messaging of stop trading your dollars for hours start using passive Income grow your business with agencies add courses and it's kind of like what if I don't want to do that. Like what if I just want to do the thing that I enjoy doing and I have enough you know that I'm I'm happy and I'm taken care of and I I want to have that time with my like the whole point of this was for me to be able to spend time with my family like I want to be able to slow down.

09:23.46
jessievalle
Ah.

09:40.14
jessievalle
Um.

09:42.26
Angela
And spend time with my family and so that's kind of who we're talking to because there's there's not a lot of that like Jesse said it's kind of like if you get 5 figures go for 6 if you get 6 figures go for 7 and it's like I don't I mean don't get me wrong if someone were to offer me 7 figures tomorrow I'm not gonna turn it down.

10:00.10
jessievalle
Who.

10:02.19
Angela
But like I don't want to work 80 hours a week to get 7 figures so that in 5 years when all my kids are too old I can have time to spend with my family of teenagers that don't want to talk to me like so.

10:07.26
jessievalle
Even. Exactly and I've actually seen that happen to people where they work so hard and they miss things and I.

10:19.13
Angela
Um e.

10:27.24
jessievalle
I've just heard from so many different people about. Childhood struggles and I want to be able to see the signs if my child is struggling I Want to be there for my kids and part of that means putting on the brakes.

10:35.10
Angela
Oh.

10:43.18
Angela
Yeah.

10:52.74
jessievalle
On a business I've grown.

10:52.94
Angela
Yeah.

10:56.57
jessievalle
Because it's sort of like a high right? like you, you just you hit a milestone and you're like awesome. Let's go for more. Let's go for more. Let's go for more and you get caught up in the whirlwind and forget wait a minute I only wanted to hit that first goal.

10:59.35
Angela
Yeah.

11:07.10
Angela
Yep, this is go for more and more and more.

11:15.53
jessievalle
So that I could spend more time with my family and now I'm not doing it.

11:20.90
Angela
Yeah, yeah, and it's funny. We were talking to my oldest last night because she's had to write an essay about college or something because she's in Freshman year flipping high school. Um.

11:34.97
jessievalle
Um.

11:35.78
Angela
But we were talking to her about like the point of college and the point of degrees and you know what you should focus on in college and different things like that and one of the things we told her was make sure you know what your goal is if your goal is a lot of money. Then you're going to sacrifice in other places you're going to be spending a lot of time to get a lot of money like a lot of jobs, especially college degree jobs if you're making a lot of money you don't really have your schedule to yourself. You're on-call or your salary. So you're working odd hours

11:56.52
jessievalle
Um.

12:12.99
Angela
Different things like that if your goal is to be able to be home with your family. Maybe you're not making 6 figures because you don't have 70 hours a week to spend on the job but the important thing is to know what your priorities are and. For Jesse and I we kind of realized that at this point in our business. Our service business is not our podcast. Um, our priority is spending time with our family and balancing that with the business that we've grown that is stable and you know it's not going to fall apart if we.

12:41.64
jessievalle
Um.

12:49.64
Angela
Take an afternoon off and we would like to be able to talk to other moms in that situation and just kind of commiserate of like yeah, it's really hard to take an afternoon off because then you got to work. You know you still have to do a day's worth work the next day it's tough

12:51.85
jessievalle
Um.

13:08.47
Angela
But it's not oh my gosh I Just really need to get grow and grow and find new clients and do this and do that and and all that like less frantic hustling and more. Have some coffee and sit down and enjoy.

13:26.27
jessievalle
Um, and I feel like part of the reason this podcast has even been possible for us is because we're at that point in our businesses exactly if we were.

13:34.86
Angela
Yeah, because we have time to do something fun.

13:41.95
jessievalle
Struggling and trying to grow grow grow and hunt for the next client to put food on the table. We would not be doing this podcast. This podcast is possible because we've been at a place where.

13:51.48
Angela
Um, no.

14:01.13
jessievalle
Heylet I Want to do something but I don't have to do something what would be something fun and and truly this has just been a hobby for us right? Like we sit down a couple times a week we chat and it's also a really nice social experience for us. But.

14:02.90
Angela
A. Yeah.

14:15.71
Angela
Yes, Yes, exactly.

14:19.33
jessievalle
Because obviously we have a lot more conversations than when we happen to hit record but you know it just yeah, we want to be able to service other moms like us and let you know it's okay to not want to keep growing.

14:23.68
Angela
Um, yes, yeah, and I think.

14:35.50
Angela
Yeah, yeah, and it's okay to so it's okay to still have those frustrations of I really just needed to get some work done and my kid is sick. They um, but yeah, it's not.

14:37.40
jessievalle
It's okay to maintain. Um.

14:44.91
jessievalle
Yes.

14:52.84
Angela
I don't know it. It feels weird to say and I think if I could go back and tell seven eight years ago Angela that was working 16 hour days on a chromebook at our at our kitchen table with a kidner lap that like no in a few years. You're gonna be.

15:04.77
jessievalle
There.

15:12.59
Angela
You know you have your own desk for one with a real computer. Um, and you're going to have time to like not have to get up at five zero in the morning to see Jesse you're going to be able to you know have a podcast that isn't necessarily focused on.

15:12.67
jessievalle
E.

15:30.99
Angela
Making all the money you're going to be able to take an afternoon off like I'm not sure I would have believed me because it felt so overwhelming then but now it feels weird not doing those things.

15:33.10
jessievalle
Um.

15:43.71
jessievalle
Right? I think that it's been really nice being able to truly hone in and build the businesses that we want to have or not just that build the life. We want to have and that's something I've always tried to keep in the back of my mind is.

15:54.00
Angela
Um, yeah.

16:03.54
jessievalle
But do I want in my life. How do I want my life to look because sometimes I feel like trapped in a 9 to 5 people don't have the luxury of even dreaming that but being our own bosses and having our own businesses has afforded us the.

16:04.62
Angela
Are.

16:15.46
Angela
Yeah.

16:22.89
jessievalle
Ability to craft the life we want and frankly I feel like even if like there are plenty of 9 to five s out there that are more flexible now. Especially after the pandemic.

16:38.37
Angela
Um, yeah.

16:41.45
jessievalle
And so I think a lot of it's just about deciding what you want in your life and making it happen.

16:47.58
Angela
Yeah, and I think we get caught up in this idea of if you're not hustling for the next big milestone Then you're not really working or you don't really have a business like yes, exactly exactly that.

17:01.88
jessievalle
It's like if I don't sweat did I really work out.

17:07.28
Angela
If I'm not sweating did I really work out. Um, and we've been conditioned to kind of almost look down on that maintenance mode of like oh you just gave up then like no I didn't give up I just.

17:08.66
jessievalle
So.

17:18.43
jessievalle
3

17:25.58
Angela
Got to where I wanted to be and now I'm going to enjoy it like.

17:29.66
jessievalle
Um, and the other thing is like if you have younger kids that you want to spend time with it's okay, to to say you know what I do want to keep growing but not now so like.

17:41.75
Angela
Um, yeah.

17:43.48
jessievalle
Do that and then once they're older and more independent or even off in college and out of the house. Whereever you decide. What's right for you then you can ramp things up again or try new endeavors like there's it's it's kind of like those people that you know those.

17:50.69
Angela
Yeah, yeah.

18:03.40
jessievalle
I will say moms just because traditionally it has been a mom who quits her job when she has kids and then tries to go back several years later after her kids are are grown like it's no, it's not going to be a hundred percent easy

18:10.52
Angela
Ah, her.

18:13.16
Angela
Yeah.

18:21.68
Angela
Um.

18:22.43
jessievalle
But we're talking about being able to have both where it's like we have a smaller business that we want to maintain that gives us what we need and then we also have the freedom to enjoy our kids while they're young.

18:38.35
Angela
Right? And if your idea of a small business is a few hundred dollars a month awesome if your idea of a small business is 6 figures because you can maintain that and still get all the things that you want out of.

18:48.60
jessievalle
Um.

18:56.31
Angela
That balance of family and life Awesome. Whatever works for you.

18:59.80
jessievalle
Um, yeah, so I think that's kind of where Angela and I are at it's not that we're not talking to moms or moms with businesses or balance and.

19:12.54
Angela
Um, ah.

19:14.79
jessievalle
Juggling everything we are. We just want to try and shift our focus a little more towards the people who have established businesses who are looking to maintain and talk about what life is like at that stage because that's where we are at.

19:29.72
Angela
Um.

19:32.00
Angela
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

19:33.60
jessievalle
And we want you to know that you're not alone and there are frustrations and struggles and also really great things that come with being at that point in your business and again it's not to say that if you're new. You can't gain some insights and valuable information.

19:52.31
Angela
Yeah, yeah, absolutely yeah, let us know we're happy to do that.

19:53.13
jessievalle
You can and hey we're still here for you. You want us to talk about something right in contact at marketing Moms dot co We're happy to do that. We're happy to talk about whatever you need. You need us to put you on the hot seat.

20:08.20
Angela
Yeah, that's just we will do that.

20:09.59
jessievalle
Messages and we will put you on the hot seat like we will still do the things. However, this is kind of our public declaration that we are going in a new direction that suits us and we're really excited about it.

20:17.43
Angela
Are. Yeah, where we cannot wait to get started in the new year

20:28.28
jessievalle
Yeah, so if there is a topic that you want to make sure that we cover or something that you want us to chat about let us know hit us up even on Instagram at marketing mom's podcast. We are always around. Ah.

20:41.89
Angela
Okay.

20:44.64
jessievalle
Partly because our children are waking up in the middle of the night with bloody noses and not not talking from experience at all all right? Well happy New Year enjoy your family enjoy if you do.

20:46.71
Angela
Yes, and coughs and no not at all.

21:03.22
jessievalle
Get some time off, enjoy the rest time. Do something for yourself have an extra cup of coffee and we will see you in 2024

21:07.73
Angela
Um, yes in the new year