Join us on the Communal Podcast as we hear from three working moms that are also SOCO members.
Imagine juggling tasks as fragile as glass and as resilient as a rubber ball—Whitney Ballish, Eva Foussat, and Kim Andrews share their candid insights on prioritizing and adapting in the whirlwind life of a working mom. Through heartfelt stories and practical advice, they reveal the art of balancing professional and personal duties, emphasizing the crucial need for flexibility and realistic planning. The conversation digs deep into the division of household responsibilities and the unique pressures faced by moms, offering strategies to navigate these challenges without losing one’s sanity.
Building a business from scratch while managing family life is no small feat. We hear from these inspiring professionals who transitioned from traditional jobs to self-employment, sharing their triumphs and trials along the way. Their stories are a testament to the rewards of flexibility and the importance of professional support in legal and financial matters. Wrapping up the episode, we dive into the impact of modern technology on parenting and mental well-being, discussing ways to manage the overwhelming influx of information that defines today’s digital age. Tune in for an engaging mix of practical tips, heartfelt stories, and valuable insights into the multifaceted life of modern motherhood.
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Episode Chapters:
(0:00:00) – Balancing Work and Family Responsibilities (0:13:19) – Navigating Social Media and Parenting (0:18:13) – Finding Balance (0:25:10) – Building a Business From Scratch (0:37:10) – Managing Technology and Parenting
Cofounder Greg Hilton shares his take on the 6 kinds of people you need on your entrepreneurial (or professional journey).
Go It Alone, At Your Peril!
Building something awesome can be a super lonely road.
But, that’s your own fault because it doesn’t have to be. You can go it alone, but that’s a: stupid 👎 and b: unlikely to get you where you want to go 🙃. It’s all about your support tribe, your inspirations, your accountability partners and the people you learn from. For years, I was enamored by the idea that I was a rogue agent pushing against a machine that I didn’t believe in working against the grain to create something different. This led me to think I could do it on my own and I didn’t need help (it also resulted in underperformance if I’m being honest). I’m thankful to have “evolved” from that state of mind with the help of some coaching and some social support.
Who’s In Your Village?
I think there are 5 kinds of people you need to have on your journey to do big things and make an impact. We’ll go through each of them and hit us up on the socials or in the blog comments if we’ve missed anyone major?
#1: The mama (figure)
She (or he) doesn’t even know what you do, but supports you 100%. We all need someone who NEVER gives up on us and supports even our wildest ideas and ambitions, regardless of what they are.
Advice: Check in regularly with them…especially when you’re having a bad day. They are that dose of sunlight you need on the dark days.
#2: The (Keepin’ It Real) Life Partner
They believe in you, but have to live with you every day. They might not understand what you’re sacrificing or going through, but a lot of times you’re doing it for them. They’re a litmus test for your mental and emotional well-being. Let’s face it, if you’re stressed at work, you’re not checking that sh*t at the door as well as you think you are.
Advice: Keep them informed and don’t forget to share the wins too (because your daily updates can get a little negative sometimes).
#3: The Peer(s)
They’re on the path you’re walking, maybe a little ahead, maybe a little behind…but they understand the journey. And that’s the key. They’ve been in the trenches and your struggles are theirs. There is incredible comfort in knowing you’re not alone. Hat tip to Benjamin Culbreth for noting that this group can be super casual and social and that that’s important to the fabric of your entire journey.
Advice: If you’re not meeting and talking regularly with a group of professional peers, get you some. It can be informal for moral or social support, or it can get more formalized (here’s how we do it at SOCO).
#4: The Mentors
These are the folks that are way down that road. They’ve found success, they’ve made all the mistakes and they understand what’s at stake. They have the attitude of “paying it forward” and can love you enough to give you the brutal feedback you need. They open doors, they speak into you. These folks, for me, have really helped to push me forward.
Advice: Pop your head up, check on your linkedin network and find a handful of people that you’re connected to that you respect. Chances are, whether they’re in your industry or not, they have some insights to share with you. Start with coffee (you buy) and see where it goes. A formal mentoring experience is a larger investment, so test the waters first. 😎
#5: The Inspirations
These are the folks shining their light on the entire world, doing inspired or incredible things or at the very top of their games. You probably don’t know them, but you can still learn from them. They’ve found a way to set aside the small details to focus on a 10X vision (and they’ve probably chronicled that approach somewhere). They give us something to aspire towards, even if we’ll never actually meet them in person.
Advice: Find the best and the brightest out there in our planet of 8 billion souls and follow their journeys and commentary. They probably have a blog, podcast or books that can help keep you engaged and inspired.
#6: The Cheerleader (Honorable Mention)
He/she knows what you do, knows how much you pour in to it, and is always ready to encourage you to keep going.
Contributor: Naomi Sargent – Chief Operating Officer, One Spartanburg, inc
Looking For Your Village? 🏕️ 🤝🏽 🙌
Listen. Making friends or building a network as an adult can be hard. We’ve got you covered at SOCO. From workspace, to social/professional networking and peer mentoring groups…we’re building a community purpose built to support ambitious working professionals like you. Hope you’ll join us today!
SOCO Members Share Tools, Tactics and Topics They’re Exploring To Make Life and Work Improvements.
What Is “1% Every Day”?
Around here, we’re passionate about growth, development and being your best self. Whether that’s personal growth or professional growth, we really subscribe to the 1% Every Day concept. That idea simply states that if you continue to invest in yourself and improving every day (or week or month, you get the idea), that over time, you can achieve transformative change and astonishing growth.
But getting started can be scary. At first, the changes will seem insignificant. But when repeated over a long period of time, these small daily improvements add up to a significant change in just a year.
But, how do you get there? And how do you keep yourself accountable for that level of commitment? We talked with some of our members in the SOCO community about the tools, tactics and growth opportunities they’re interested in right now. There’s great wisdom in the collective, so we asked members three questions around what their learning, what their focused on and what tools they’re using to push forward and keep growing. We hope you enjoy!
#1: What book, podcast, or video has given you an “aha” moment, and why? 🔥
Too many to count! Most of my recs are entrepreneurial-focused.
1. Profit First (Mike Michalowicz)- There’s already a cult-following for this book at SOCO. Great lesson or reminder that the point of owning a company is to serve YOU.
2. I Will Teach You to Be Rich (Ramit Sethi)- a good personal finance book. Sethi is a newer Dave Ramsey, but his ideas on automating personal finances is crucial. This is my go-to gift for HS and College graduates.
3. How to Get Rich (Felix Dennis)-Ignore the cheesy title again, but you notice a trend. An entertaining read with snippets that are geared towards entrepreneurs that are building something great.
I really enjoy reading Monocle magazine and frequently have “aha moments” while reading their reporting on quality of life innovations in cities around the world — not just world capitals but other cities of note. I believe they also have podcasts.
I am always inspired by makers who share their creative process online whether they work in pottery, smithing, or leatherwork, it inspires me to do my own projects when I see other folk being creative.
#2: What’s a life-changing tool you’d recommend to fellow SOCO members?
Witt:
A thorough calendar. This rec is for the younger, disorganized crowd like me. Life and business is too busy to not write stuff down. I use Google Calendar because my whole life is essentially on G-Suite, but I like that I can look at my work and personal calendar simultaneously. My goal is to be able to block out my work calendar for the benefit of my personal calendar, and not the other way around.
Elissa:
Take naps, sometimes your brain/body just really need to shut down and reset and that’s OK!
Ernest:
Actually, I have found watching the YouTube channel Primitive Technology hugely transformative. A man working in the Australian Outback builds shelters and tools with nothing but the material found in the area. The only modern instrument is the camera he uses to record his activities. The videos are not narrated — except with captions — and they are fascinating and grew my appreciation for individual resourcefulness and commitment to salvaging and recycling material.
Jared:
Prioritizing relaxation in your daily schedule. We all need to unwind.
Christina:
I’ve been really loving brain.fm. It’s an app that uses audio frequencies to help increase focus-especially for neurodivergent folk. It’s almost annoying that it works so well. 🙂
#3: What is one area of growth you are focusing on this year, and what are you doing about it?
Witt:
My year follows the school year, so this is a great time to reflect and “manifest” those growth goals. It’s morbid, but if I died tomorrow, BrainSTEM Tutoring would die with me and come to a screeching halt. A less morbid case, if I wanted to travel to Italy next year for my best friend’s destination wedding, would I be glued to my phone/laptop the whole time, or would I be able to unplug and business things keep chugging along? My goal for growth will be to continue to expand BrainSTEM Tutoring to be the go-to STEM tutors at more colleges in the southeast while pulling myself out of the day to day.
Elissa:
Get outside A LOT more! (When it’s not a million degrees out) and just move.
Ernest:
I am slowly working on building my understanding of data science and its applications.
Jared:
Professional growth. Just became certified as an educator for personal Finance, and just learning more areas of the space in general.
Christina Goodman:
I am pushing past fear and imposter syndrome to submit my own short fiction stories to magazines for publication. I celebrate every rejection (got four in July) as a win-along-the-way.
Speaking of Growth ✨
While we’re on the subject of growth, doing your best work and generally being a bad-assed human…we think you should come find your happy (work) place with us at SOCO. We work really hard to create great workspaces filled with excellent, kind humans, chock-full of amenities like blazing wifi, bottomless coffee/tea and well appointed meeting rooms. We have coworking, fixed desk and private office options. We also have an incredible community of like-minded professionals to lean on, leverage and contribute to (that’s the fun part). Join us whydontcha?
6 SOCO Members Share What They’ve Learned On Their Paths To Growth & Success
How Do YOU Learn and Grow?
Growth is such an interesting thing. We all want it, but few of us are willing to put in the work to achieve it. Sometimes it goes according to plan. Sometimes that “growth” smacks you upside the face because life drops a bomb on you. And on (rare) occasions, we’re fortunate enough to learn something from the people around us. So, we sat down with some SOCO members get to know them, learn what makes them tick and tease out some of the lessons they’ve learned along the way.
6 Members, 6 Paths, 6 Lessons Learned 🔥
We talked to 6 SOCO members, explore their paths to growth and asked them all the same questions:
Tell Us What You Do: I help nonprofit leaders to be great managers. This is typically a mix of one-on-one coaching, facilitating group learning experiences, and helping teams have hard conversations in ways that build trust and understanding.
Tell Us Some of Your Extracurriculars: Pool days with my three young kiddos and husband Brook, running and playing tennis with friends, watching bad reality TV, and reading overdue books I’ve squirreled away on my Kindle.
Tell Us Your Super Power: Showing a genuine interest in other people. I credit my wise father, who made me read How to Win Friends and Influence People in my early teens.
What’s The Biggest Lesson You’ve Learned That Has Helped You Along The Way: Clarity and motivation follow (imperfect) action. I have to relearn this daily. I never imagined starting a business because I thought that was for people who had it ALL FIGURED OUT. Not true! As I take action and experiment, I get clearer about what works, what I enjoy, and how I’m best suited to help clients.
Tell Us What You Do: We tutor college-level STEM courses. I build relationships and connections with students and parents.
Tell Us Some of Your Extracurriculars: I cook anything from bread to smoking BBQ. I attend USC football, basketball and baseball games. I spend time with my lovely wife, Kate.
Tell Us Your Super Power: The combination of tutoring ability, emotional intelligence, and desire to help people. All together, it leads to successful tutoring and happy stakeholders. Also optimism.
What’s The Biggest Lesson You’ve Learned That Has Helped You Along The Way:
Ignore those that look down on your entrepreneurial path from ignorance, but listen to criticism from those with experience and knowledge.
Go find a customer. Paying customer = proof of need and is the start to your growth journey.
Start the journey early. The more personal obligations and people that depend on you, the scarier each leap will be.
#3: Andrew Rabuck – SVP – Community Development Division Manager, Woodforest National Bank
Tell Us What You Do: I deploy capital for Community Development purposes in the southeast: Economic Development, Affordable Housing, Small Business Loan Funds, and Community Services.
Tell Us Some of Your Extracurriculars: My most favorite thing is traveling and adventuring with Michele and the family. In between trips you can find me gardening, fermenting things from the garden, baking, hiking, doing things outdoors when it is not 1000 degrees, and spending time with friends and church family.
Tell Us Your Super Power: “Everything will be okay.” I’m super positive almost all the time.
What’s The Biggest Lesson You’ve Learned That Has Helped You Along The Way: Say no. It’s one of the hardest lessons to learn and I’m still learning it. You will find so much freedom when you set boundaries. It’s a place where a lot of growth can occur. Also, stop and smell the roses / observe the obvious – when you pause to notice all the small things, you will be astounded by this world that God created for us, and you’ll meet some amazing people along the way.
#4: Dave Maxfield – Attorney, Author, Consultant, Cool Dude
Tell Us What You Do: Represent people in cases against banks, credit reporting agencies, debt collectors and car dealers.
Tell Us Some of Your Extracurriculars: Soccer, music, autocross, AI, Formula 1 (recently), and being a grandparent while deceiving myself into thinking I’m still 25.
Tell Us Your Super Power: Condensing a lot of information into something simple, stealing good ideas from industries that have nothing to do with law, teaching.
What’s The Biggest Lesson You’ve Learned That Has Helped You Along The Way: That the “real goal” of working is more a feeling than any particular result, and the only three reasons to work at all is to earn a living ($), to do something that matters (meaning) and because you like it (engagement). If one of those pieces is missing, you won’t be happy at work. Beyond that, to go imperfectly in the right direction, detached from the result, and flexibly relentless. And how much sleep matters. Also, wear sunscreen kids.
#5: Kaleigh Cox – VP of Business Development and Content Operations, DxTEL
Tell Us What You Do: We help small to midsize internet service providers across North America compete with national brands with our industry-leading marketing solutions and platforms.
Tell Us Some of Your Extracurriculars: I attend and serve at Crossroads Church, am training for my first half marathon, and recently co-authored my first book, which comes out in 2025!
Tell Us Your Super Power: As a Christian, I view my work as a calling, and that compels me to do the best work I can to love others well.
What’s The Biggest Lesson You’ve Learned That Has Helped You Along The Way: I don’t have to be afraid of confrontation. Whether I’m addressing an issue with a vendor or owning up to my own mistakes with an apology, difficult conversations—when handled with humility and honesty—are opportunities to serve everyone well.
#6: Ley Linder – Founder/Owner, Crescent Behavioral Health
Tell Us What You Do (25 words): I am a behavioral gerontologist specializing in the behavior presentations of neurocognitive disorders in people with intellectual disabilities.
Tell Us Some of Your Extracurriculars (25 words): Two years ago, I started an annual goal to spend one month a year in a foreign city/country. So far, the Netherlands is complete and Montevideo is next.
Tell Us Your Super Power (25 words): Through the lens of behavior analysis, I can explain (almost!) every behavior that you exhibit and experience in your life. I am absolutely judging you!
What’s The Biggest Lesson You’ve Learned That Has Helped You Along The Way (50 words) Go to therapy! Prioritizing my mental health has led to a pervasive and massive impact on my life. I have become present in relationships, have less stress and anxiety, and have a better work/life balance. Perhaps most importantly, I have begun to be proud of myself – which, historically, was never a consideration.
Speaking of Growth ✨
While we’re on the subject of growth, doing your best work and generally being a bad-assed human…we think you should come find your happy (work) place with us at SOCO. We work really hard to create great workspaces filled with excellent, kind humans, chock-full of amenities like blazing wifi, bottomless coffee/tea and well appointed meeting rooms. We have coworking, fixed desk and private office options. Our job is to help you do your best work and grow personally and professionally. So, get you some!
Back when I first married my wife Kat, we LOVED to travel and explore the outdoors. We’d go all over the southeast in search of good trails. One fall, we decided to hike from Amicalola Falls (straight) up to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail on Springer Mountain in North Georgia. It’s an epic hike with a memorable visual finish at the start of the storied Appalachian Trail. It’s also a bloody slog and almost all uphill.
Don’t Think. Just Start.
I was anxious to get out there and on the trail and being a confident 30-something, didn’t really do much by way of planning. Kat trusted me, so we got up early, headed to Amicalola and without much fanfare, hit the trail with a small backpack, “enough” water and some snacks to get us through the hike. I wasn’t really worried. It was a pretty straight shot and we had a lot of experience hiking. Also. There’s this wonderful “hike in” hostel up there that is a fantastic mid-way point. They have food, snacks, water and a place to rest should you need it.
When Your Plan Goes To Shit
The “straight” hike was straight alright. Straight up. A brisk pace turned to a snails crawl. We passed the Inn on the way up and stopped in to say hello. We didn’t resupply because we thought we’d do it on the way back down. 5 hours into our hike, we reached the terminus. We celebrated with a few photos and started the trek back down.
That’s when things got worse. We were running low on water and had burned through our provisions. We also took a wrong turn near the top (and our navigation app didn’t work up on the mountain) so by the time we got back on track, our 15 mile hike was looking more like 19.0 miles. Kat was exhausted. I was fatigued.
Then things got a lot worse. We were desperately trying to reach the hike inn hostel and arrived ready to fall over. Trouble was…they had closed up early that day and the placed was locked up. So, we were out of food, running low on water (and light) and still had another terrible 5 miles to go. That was the longest 5 miles of our relationship. Kat was feeling terrible and nearly collapsed a couple of times. The only way we made it down the mountain was by playing word association games to distract ourselves from the hunger, thirst and fatigue.
We laugh about it now, but that 18 miles in 1 day hiking experience tested our relationship and our will/perseverance. And the worst part about it is that it all could have been avoided.
This IS The Entrepreneurial Journey (but, does it have to be?)
I feel like that hike is symbolic of life (and the entrepreneurial journey) in a lot of ways. We’re all scrambling to create opportunities, take risks with social or financial rewards and balance all the elements of our work and lives. Like everything else, we all:
Have lofty, ambitious goals
Feel eternally under-resourced, while being eternally optimistic
Are gritting/willing our way through things
Experience constant obstacles
Have to come up with creative problem solving
Did you have lofty ambitions for this year? Were your sights set on big things? Did you hit the ground running? Charging up the mountain only to run out of water halfway up?
5 Painful Lessons I Learned
If you’re starting a new journey or evaluating the one that you’re on, I humbly submit some suggestions for your consideration based on our “wonderful” experience.
Plan Ahead 🎯 – You can’t ever predict everything that can happen on a journey like this, but you prepare and plan for contingencies. The more you can de-risk a situation, the more likely it is that you’ll achieve success. Where are we going? What’s the journey along the way look like really? What do we need to pack (the right people, enough financial resources, tools that will help make the job easier, etc).
Get a Freaking Map 🗺️ – Listen. It’s just stupid to launch into something big without a good map (read: clear game plan) for where you’re going, what stops along the way you can make along the way (read: milestones) and what alternatives you can take to reach the summit (read: backup plans).
Pack The Essentials 🚰 – Knowing what really matters and focusing on those things can be the difference between achieving your goals and bailing with miles left to go. As Greg McKeown espouses in “Essentialism”, learn to quickly discern the trivial many from the vital few tasks that will help you achieve success.
Check In Often ✅ – Stuff goes wrong. And I’ve never hit a goal that I wasn’t tracking and monitoring. Have some good KPIs that are meaningful. Check in often with those KPIs, your team and yourself.
Correct Your Course 🧭 – Don’t be too proud, confident or stubborn to acknowledge when things are going off course. As Tyson said: “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
About The Author:
Greg Hilton is the cofounder and managing partner for SOCO, SOCO is a thriving platform and community focused on supporting creators, indie workers and entrepreneurs just like you. He’s an avid outdoorsman, creator and storyteller.
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Shannon FranklinKat Swartz + Bre SpauldingKassy Alia RayKaleigh CoxJada WillisHelen JohnsonStarlitt MillerFiona MartinDawn Dawson-HouseBianca SheltonAmy Johnson Ely(Some of) the women of impact in the SOCO Community
Introducing Some Badasses
We’re all surrounded by talented women in our lives. It just so happens that we’re super extra fortunate to be a part of a co-operative work community that is chock full of badass female creators, innovators and community builders. They wear many hats. They take on a bunch of responsibilities. And they do amazing work. So this post is for them.
We want to celebrate their spirit, tell their stories and amplify their voices this month. While we are fortunate to have many, many female members in our community…too many to list here. But these are just some of the folks doing big, cool or interesting things worth noting. Our challenge to you…read their stories, connect with them, follow them. They have causes you can support, skills and knowledge you can hire and stories worth sharing. When women thrive…we all thrive.
PS: There are 12 actually…we couldn’t help ourselves. 😂
Amy Johnson Ely
Amy is the Executive Director for The Palmetto Cycling Coalition whose mission is to make South Carolina bicycle and pedestrian friendly, by improving safety through better access and education, to promote healthy lifestyles and livable and economically viable communities. Amy is a huge advocate for bicycle and pedestrian friendly communities and livable communities; activating stakeholders, citizens and evangelists alike.
Bianca Shelton
Bianca is an entrepreneur, wife, mom and a pizza and Prosecco enthusiast. Her favorite meal is brunch (check out her podcast Books, Brunch and Babes), a lover of all books (she still buys actual books), a branding photoshoot pro (check out her company, the Crawford Austin Agency) and a travel snob.
Dawn Dawson House
Dawn is fighting to preserve, celebrate and elevate African American cultural heritage in South Carolina and beyond. As the Executive Director of the WeGOJA Foundation, Dawn leverages her 20+ years as a tourism professional, storyteller and convener to document, preserve and activate African American heritage in South Carolina. Their wildly popular and award-winning GreenBook of SC provided one of the first of its kind travel guide to SC African American cultural sites. (a co-operative project with SOCO members).
Fiona Martin
Fiona is a competitive triathlete, founder of the worker-owned digital marketing agency FGM Internet Marketing, and an environmental activist. When she’s not designing digital campaigns for companies and causes she believes in, she’s competing at the highest level in triathlons around the world (competing in the ITU World Championships for Team USA). Fiona is a vocal advocate for the environment, sustainable development and equitable access for marginalized persons and cultures.
Helen Johnson
Founder and creative director of digital powerhouse HLJ Creative, Helen Johnson is passionate about combining eye-catching design with data-driven marketing strategies to create brands and websites that make the right impression, accomplish your goals, and lead to long-term growth. She’s an entrepreneur and a super mom. She’s seeing incredible growth and is evolving her team’s capabilities to serve the needs of a new generation of clients.
Jada Willis
A high energy and highly impactful coach, consultant and thought leader in organizational culture, talent attraction & retention and leadership…Jada built and sold her first company in late 2022 and is now working on empowering CEOs to build incredible cultures and companies with several new ventures in the works.
Kaleigh Cox
Freelancer turned creative executive. Kaleigh Cox had a successful career as a freelance copywriter before she met fellow SOCO member Robert Gilbert in the early days of DxTEL. The two joined forces a few years ago and haven’t looked back. DxTEL is a fast growing managed services and platform company serving the rural broadband/telecom industry. Kaleigh has built a reputation as a savvy storyteller and influencer in the space. When she’s not evangelizing for access for everyone, she’s all about faith, family and community.
Kassy Alia Ray
After losing her police officer husband in the line of duty, Kassy was moved to take action and founded Serve & Connect with the mission to help police and citizens work together as one community; Serve & Connect works to heal the relationships between police and the communities they serve and by doing so, creating a future where police and citizens work together as one community.
Katherine Swartz and Bre Spaulding
This dynamic duo is transforming entrepreneurial education and building the next generation of student entrepreneurs at USC through the McNair Institute for Entrepreneurialism and Free Enterprise. Katherine has been transforming nonprofits and shaping the next generation for 20+ years. “Bre” is one of Soda City’s most dynamic young leaders. Working with stakeholders from across the university, the McNair team successfully launched USC’s first ever minor in Entrepreneurship.
Shannon Franklin
Shannon is the Cofounder and COO of Consciously, a creative agency serving the needs of conscious brands including Akimbo (altMBA), B Lab, Black Wealth Data Center, and Planned Parenthood. Consciously builds purpose-driven, inclusive marketing platforms that help companies nourish their business ecosystem. In addition to being a mompreneur and a brand builder, Shannon has launched a life coaching business.
Starlitt Miller
Starlitt Miller is blending a creative background with technology and data with her new startup Transity. In 2022, Starlitt graduated from Visible Hands, a high tech accelerator focused on investing in and lifting up underrepresented founders. She’s a vocal and active member of the Cola startup scene and the most recent Entrepreneur in Residence at the Richland Library.
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