Ep.58/ Building a Business Between School Drop Off and Pickup: Hustle Like a Mom’s Pamela Pekerman
SHOW NOTES:
Want the Top 10 Tips to Be a Less Stressed, Happier & More Successful Parent, from the expert guests of Mom’s Exit Interview? Grab it here
Please leave a rating and review for the show!
++++++++++++++++++
Katie Love shares how sexism forced her to leave TV news, the conversation that went into having her husband be a stay-at-home dad, and how she launched her own (now 7-figure) social media business. Plus she offers tips on how to grow your business and build an engaged community through social media.
LISTEN BELOW! And don’t forget to ‘follow’ and leave a rating & review!
Click below to Follow, Review & Give a 5-star rating to Mom’s Exit Interview Podcast.
In this episode you will learn:
How concrete planning can help hit biz goals
How to use value driven planning to grow
What it means to “Edit to Expand”
Top 3 Tips from Pamela:
Master your messaging.
Let that {No} fuel you.
Don't get distracted by darling ideas.Show Takeaways:
Can you really build a business between the hours of school drop off and pick up? Is it possible to work less hours and make more money?
Our guest, Pamela Pekerman says, absolutely! The founder of Hustle like a Mom and creator of the Exit to Expand Planner joins us today with some great tips on how to do just that. Plus we discuss the importance of how to use value driven planning to grow your business and finding a balance that aligns with your values.
Throughout the conversation, Pamela candidly discusses the challenges she encountered in the competitive online space and how she navigated through them. But her story doesn't stop there. She also opens up about her transition into motherhood, which became a catalyst for her to start the empowering organization "Hustle Like a Mom."
"Your words have to resonate in such a way that they make an emotional pull to somebody."
"Today's no could be tomorrow's yes."
“You have to understand what are you really selling.”
Follow host Kim Rittberg on Instagram!
FREE DOWNLOAD: Improve Your Video Quality to Increase Your Revenue - 10 Tips to Take Your Videos from Mediocre to Magnetic Click here!
How To Be A Happier, Less Stressed & More Successful Parent: Click here!
EPISODE LINKS:
Follow Pamela on Instagram!
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Kim (00:02):
Can you really build a business between the hours of school? Drop off and pick up our guest. Pamela Kerman says, absolutely the founder of Hustle. Like a mom joins us today with some great tips on how to do just that.
(00:17):
This is Mom's exit interview, the show for moms who want to craft the career and life they want. Each episode, you'll meet inspirational moms across various industries and levels who are working and living life on their own terms, and they'll bring you actionable tips from finance to business development to happiness, to crushing that imposter syndrome. I'm Kim rit. I was a burnt out media executive at Netflix, US Weekly and in TV news. I wanted a career where I was fulfilled at work but present at home with my kids. So I started working for myself and I love it, but not every day was easy or is easy. I wanted to explore with all of you how other moms were creating careers on their own terms. They're carving out flex jobs, starting their own businesses. They're taking back control. Join me and make work work for you instead of the other way around.
(01:20):
Super exciting news for your summer. We all want to chill, but realize September is nearly here and I am offering a way to change your business in just four short sessions, over four short days straight. It is my video bootcamp, summer intensive. You are going to come and really get your branding and messaging cleaned up, I think you know what I mean. Make people realize why you're awesome and why they need to work with you. I'm going to also show you how to get a high quality video setup. Give you my scripts. Yep. I gave you all of my secrets and I've worked at Netflix. I launched the video unit for US Weekly. I was a TV news producer for 10 years, so I know how to turn you into a thought leader through video. It is going to be extremely fun. And here are some of the positive words my past students have to say.
(02:10):
If you want to change your life, if you want to learn something you didn't know yesterday that will help you, no matter what you do in the future, take this class. Oh and ps it will also help you grow your business and make money. Thanks Martha. Kim's class gave me the confidence to stop hiding and start showing up. Thank you Juanita, for the kind words. You should just do it because it's going to change your business and your content and it's going to be amazing. So do it. That's from Crystal. And Crystal actually found a referral for a home directly from Instagram because she got her strategy straightened up and kept showing up. Another one of my past students went from 100 views on her reels to 13,000 views and she says she's now getting more opens on her newsletters and she's getting leads cause of how she's showing up online.
(02:55):
That's ez. So you should join the crew. Message me. The link is in the show notes to check it out and apply. And the video bootcamp is starting July 24th. So do not wait. Apply today and boost your business. And now I am super excited to tell you about our next guest. Pamela Beckerman is the author of the edit to expand planner and creator of Hustle like a mom, an educational platform and community, focusing on empowering and educating moms to build a successful bridge from mom life to entrepreneur life hustle like a mom is on a mission to empower between drop dropoff and pick up mompreneur with business and marketing, education, strategic goal setting and community support. Pamela's also a sought after speaker in the areas of goal setting, branding and mom entrepreneurship. She's spoken at Mom 2.0, summit Female founder Collective. Hey mama. Mother. Honestly, summit Ann has been featured in Entrepreneur magazine, Forbes, the Product Boss podcast and morning TV shows from coast to coast.
(04:00):
As a mom of two, Pamela understands the need for community and authentic connections with other like-minded women that are doing creating and redefining what it means to be a working mom. She's got over 15 years in media marketing events and she founded Hustle Like a Mom in 2017 to ensure that every mom can live a life that allows her to align her personal and professional aspirations. Perfect for this via virtual and in-person events, business coaching, social media sharing and year-long mentorship programs including Hustle like a mom round table, which is in person and catered to local entrepreneurs. Hustle like a mom, speaks to the between dropoff and pick up mompreneurs emphasizing media manageable strategies for you to hustle your own special way. Pamela Kerman has been an entrepreneur in different ways. In her early twenties, she started a website called bag trends.com.
Pam (04:52):
It was 2005. Within a few months the online fashion content boom really came out. And so I found myself with a domain that people were going to and I'm like, why? What is going on here? And so that was really my first entrepreneurial venture. We were actually the first destination for contemporary handbags online. I didn't feel comfortable in the space of online. I'm very much a hands person. It didn't register with me, especially 20 years ago. I love the online party in-person parties and all that kind of stuff. Putting together events was much more interesting to me. And so at some point during that timeframe I TV found me and so I started doing content about celebrities and their handbags and trends. And then I went on HSN and QVC with handbags and that I loved. And so when I folded that business, I really went into a space I know very well as well, which is TV and going on as an on-air brand spokesperson.
(05:51):
And that's really where I found myself still in 2016 when Hustle a Mom became a little nugget in my head of what could be the next version of me, if you will, in our industry as in many, it's not nine to five, it's more like eight to 10 because between getting somebody's stuff in the morning and then going to the events at night that are part of your job, which seemed glamorous, but anybody who's listening let Meza tell you. So I really feel like I came into a different level of owning my entrepreneurial journey and my voice after I became a mother. So that was my big shift. You're young and 20 and hungry and you're just doing it. So we were featured and some of these magazines don't exist anymore, but Lucky got into the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, I think it was 20 writers around the world covering trends for us. So it was a thing as the years went on for me, it didn't speak to me again. I didn't feel like a digital native. And so I felt like an imposter, which is so funny because now I try to coax myself out of those thoughts. But that's what I felt like
Kim (07:03):
I totally agree with you about. In some ways when you're younger, you're, it's not that you're naive, but you don't have those set in your ways. You haven't seen as much. So you might not be as cynical. When I was in my early twenties, I was working a TV job, I was going to Bloomingdale's on the weekends and selling my jewelry, and I basically never stopped working, but I liked it. To me it was fun and then I still partied. It's not like I didn't have a social life. I totally did. I think that the idea of work-life balance just didn't exist to me as a whole concept until later in my life. But I know what you mean. I look back and I'm like, wow. I sold my jewelry in Henry Bele, R I p and and it was featured in Women's Wear Daily.
(07:45):
I look back, I'm like, wow. And it's good though. Cause I do think you take with you, I teach people for on-camera media training and how to be more confident on camera. I teach people to think about those moments in your life objectively and think about how amazing they were and then take that confidence to something else because sometimes we all get caught up in our own head and I'll be like, oh, I don't know if I could do this thing. And I'm like, actually, I've done a lot of hard things. And once you just decide you're going to do it, you make it happen. And a lot of us get caught up in the tiny little details or the nuances or the larger picture. I just can't because I don't feel like I can. But yeah, a lot of us get caught up in the nuances. All right, talk to me about hustle like a mom and I would love to understand hustle like a mom and edit to expand. So tell me about the organization and tell me about your planner and all of that.
Pam (08:35):
So Hustle a Mom really came about, I think I mentioned 2016 was a big moment. I had just came back for a media tour. I had roughly if she was two and a half, two and a half year old and a one and a half year old. And I came back from multiple cities traveling the country talking about brands that I loved and I realized what is going on and why am I not happy? And it took a while to realize the ambitions of my twenties were no longer serving me in my early thirties. And I was shocked by that revelation to myself because I thought, but I was an active participant in this. You asked me before, have I ever been in a corporate setting? I wasn't in certain environments where I was like, oh my God, that boss is such a who. I didn't really have a lot.
(09:19):
I mean, I had people who were not the best around me sometimes, but I didn't have a lot of these trigger moments. But here was my own trigger moment arriving from something that I had always enjoyed doing. I was on tv, I was talking about brands I love, and here I was at home now and I'm like, this just isn't working anymore. And so ultimately Hustle a Mom evolved over the next year as a concept and an interview series. And so I hosted the first event on the Hustle like a mom brand, and I did it in the city because that's all I remembered. And I did it in Manhattan. And so when it was all done and there were about, I think it was about 35 or so ladies that came, I looked at where they came from because now I'm like, I'm older, I'm smarter.
(09:58):
I'm going to start doing the data, doing the homework. Ladies, I remember I didn't do much of that in my twenties to be perfectly honest with you. I looked at where they came from and I'm like, wait a minute. And by that point we had moved to Westchester, which is where I live right now, and I'm like, these ladies are coming from Westchester, they're coming from certain towns of Connecticut, they're coming from certain towns in New Jersey. And there were three that were from Manhattan. And so it occurred to me, and this is when I sat down and did a deep dive into who's really the hustle like a mom woman. And I realized she's me now. Makes sense. She's a between drop off and pick up mompreneur a suburban mom with an urban mindset, which means that she did the urban thing and she's not that far away, but she's not living in Manhattan anymore.
(10:39):
She's like 20, 30 minutes out, 40 minutes out at most. She can pop into her Atlanta, her Manhattan, her whatever is her hub, her Miami, but she's not in it, right? We were talking before what we were doing at night. And so that homework in 2019 was a huge blessing into the evolution of what became hustle like a mom. Now, whether it was the launch of the edit to expand planner or how we survived and thrived during Covid, a lot of it had to do with the realization of who is my person and how am I speaking to her? And you know, talked before about expertise, I began to realize, wait a minute. At that moment I was an entrepreneur already for 15 years. I didn't even stop in my twenties to realize that I was a business woman. Does that make sense? You don't stop.
Kim (11:24):
Yes. Are you kidding me? It took me so many years to be like, oh, I'm a business owner. Wait, I work for myself. I have clients, I have expenses. I hire freelancer, I'm a business owner. But yeah, it takes a long
Pam (11:34):
Time, Kim, you probably didn't stop and think I'm freaking brilliant. Kim has a lot in the third person. Kim has a lot to offer. And so that's what happened to me. And I realized, okay, how can I take the experience of being on HSN and selling ICE to Eskimos and running the business that I had before and being in all booking Wall Street Journal and all the things. And so that's how has a mom evolved is how can I take what I know and help women master their messaging and decode who their customer is. And then ultimately during Covid, because we had so much closure of everything else and we were all on like IG lives and launching our podcast, and then there was the clubhouse, all the things that we were doing, I got to know my women like you, I got to know so well.
(12:20):
And I realized what else do we need? Well, we need a planning system. And I started hearing things over and over again about problems and too many goals and all the things. And I'm like after repeating certain things over and over again, you need to edit to expand. You need to simplify in order to amplify your business. Are you really planning with the reality of your kids are still homeschooling or whatever the next season is, whatever. And so I began to come up with a system originally for my one-on-one clients and then later on with the planner that we published for the first time in 2023, this system added to expand because I wanted women to have their business. I was not the person that's that. I don't believe you could have it all. That phrase to me is, you know, can't have it all the time in the exact way you want it. And so what does your version of having it your way look like? What does hustling your own special way look like? And so that's how the really the planner evolved was these one-on-one conversations. And then my own turmoil, if you will, as a mother of two and now almost three soon this fall is how do I come up with a system that prevents the overwhelm that takes into the account not only the personal aspiration, the professional aspirations, but the personal as well, and marries them into a planning system that works.
Kim (13:40):
And I think a lot of people are wondering this and can you really make more money working less hours? So let's say you drop your kid off in the morning and you pick them up sometime in the afternoon depending on their age, can you make more money working less hours? And if so,
Pam (13:58):
So I love this question because I think there's a lot of voices out there that are saying this now, especially in this post covid environment that we live in, right? Work less, make more, all the things like sleep during the summer. I think a lot of it comes down to, and I will say that I predominantly do most of my work between, I say between drop off and pickup. So that nine to three o'clock window is my happy space as is for most of the women through who are part of hustle like aam. I believe that when you are intentional about your goal setting, when you start the year by almost reverse engineering, so I always say there's first part we can get into any part you want, but we do value setting, which is very important because then why you're going to pick a goal, there's a strong purpose behind it.
(14:42):
So we have the value setting as the the first layer, and then you go and you look at your year at a glance. So if I'm sitting, whenever you're listening to this and you have six months left in the year, I always say the best time to do it is in December, but the next best time to do it is today because the worst time to do it's tomorrow. So if you're hearing this now, now it's a perfect time to reverse engineer the next four months or six months of the year. Because big picture wise, like Kim, if I asked you, let's say we were talking in December of 2023 and you're looking at 2024, you probably on some higher level have some concept of what are the big ticket items that are going to happen. For example, myself, I know my daughter is into ballet, so there's a two week period where there's a nonstop rehearsal that I want to be a part of, right?
(15:31):
Because it goes back to my values. You have to set yours, I have mine, so I want to be part of that. Do I want to be part of, she's graduating fifth grade in 2020 4th of June, do I want to be part of the graduation committee? Not really. It doesn't align. I'm going to be, it doesn't align with my personal values. I'm not going to be dedicating to that. So I go in and I big picture plan the year, and this is how I work with clients when they're part of, we have this thing called H L A M Inner Circle. So I do this with them in a very small environment. And so we do that at the beginning of the year and then as each quarter approaches you have more color, you now know, oh, it's not somewhere in the end of January that this thing is happening.
(16:13):
I know it's January 15th or what. I know that we're not going to go on our February, whatever skiing trip, we're only going to go away for three days. So you start to begin to plan. And so you plan your personal aspirations, you plan also your professional aspirations. I'm sure Kim, most people you know mentioned before that you had a jewelry brand you probably knew back then when are the buyers going to be looking at collections? When is there a go see whatever industry you're in? What is the peak season? If you're an athletic business, athletic wear that January is your hot season, when your trade shows are et cetera, pop those in and as each quarter approaches add more color. So that's a big part of edit to expand is planning around your reality. So personal aspirations, professional aspirations. And then I always say we charge our cell phones and all our devices, I believe in the power of the pause.
(17:06):
And so oftentimes, at least in many service-based businesses, for example, my own summer tends to be a much more of a pause season. I like it because I'm not somebody that necessarily wants to send our kids away for the entire season for camp. I like having the opportunity to take a pause professionally and do whatever they want. My kids are now into Shakespeare. We're going to do the Shakespeare in the park in New York City and a bunch of other things. I want to be there for that. I have to plan for that. That means that there's certain things I'm going to do in May and June so that July can be much less work than even nine to three. So to answer your other question, is it possible to make more doing less? I wouldn't morally be able to advocate for that. If my own revenue and I should say profit, because they're actually two separate, we won't go into the finances. If you're running a business, you understand my own revenue and my personal profit from the business is much greater than when I was working like Wacka doodle do 60 hours a week-ish and still as an entrepreneur, but to a much nastier boss, I'm much nicer now and much nicer boss now to myself. To myself.
Kim (18:23):
I agree with that. I agree with that. My mom asked me something recently about something happened and did I feel bad about it? And I was like, I mean, I feel bad about things to a normal extent, but I don't try not to beat myself up over them as much as I used to. Just totally different mindset versus 10 years ago where you're chewing over the same thing in your head for ages.
Pam (18:41):
So funny because just right before our interview I went on Instagram and I'm like, we can talk up the wazoo about Instagram. It's a whole separate conversation. And I realized that I'm actually exhausted and I couldn't figure out, it's only 11 o'clock when we just started this interview. And I'm like, why am I so tired? And I had to remind myself of this one quote from the four principles and I reminded myself, I'm like, self, you are six months pregnant right now and this is the hardest pregnancy you've ever had. And so this quote came to my mind, which is from that book, which is that if you give too much today, more than you should of yourself, you will have less to give tomorrow. And what is the point of that? To echo what you just said about 10 years ago versus today, I'm a completely different entrepreneur than I ever was, and I don't think that the one who was working 60 hours a week versus now, I'm usually at a 25 ish give or take, depending, obviously right now I'm kinder to myself, I'm more focused with more purpose.
(19:41):
I do edit my goals in order to expand my revenue stream. And with that I have immense joy and clarity and fin, this is the thing, it's it's not just a lifestyle choice. It is financially more lucrative because I'm aware of exactly why I'm doing things and I don't get distracted by darling ideas of like, oh, I love that you have a podcast and I can't tell you how many people told me to have a podcast. And I'm like, that's not going to work for me right now. I don't have the bandwidth. I have lovely ideas, but right now that's all it is a lovely idea that cannot be executed so I can poo poo and do a really bad podcast for what I'd rather be a semi-decent guest on somebody else's really good podcast.
Kim (20:30):
Well, thank you for that compliment. So okay, you are saying you can make more money in fewer hours you personally are making, how much more money are you making now working for yourself in new iteration of Pamela Beckerman hustle, like a mom entrepreneur versus when you were an entrepreneur for yourself and you didn't have the intentionality that you have now
Pam (20:52):
This year, three times more.
Kim (20:54):
Wow.
Pam (20:55):
2024 with conservative projections. And I am mindful that I am giving birth at the end of this year. Even that goes into account when I became pregnant, the first two people who had to find out were the ones that work on team hustle like a mom, because I'm like, we need to make changes. And so I needed to get even smarter. I was like, Lord, my brain cells may or may not be functioning. We need to figure this out. I had to adjust a lot of things and even taking out, I do master messaging, which I used to do three times a year, and now I do once a year, this group coaching program, and I planned it for October. I'm due in October, so that's not happening and that's a huge revenue stream. So I'm like, okay, what adjustments can we make? And the pocket that I ended up filling is God willing, if it continues to go the way it's been going is going to generate even more than master messaging, which is the launch of this hustle, like a mom round table, which is a mastermind in person that we're launching for 2024.
(21:54):
So yeah, right now I make the business, I say because that's the revenue of the business, not my personal profit. The business makes threefold more than it used to before Covid. And in 2024, it seems like it will be five times more wow than previous. So even more than 2022 and 2023
Kim (22:13):
Compared to Pamela Beckerman who was an on camera fashion expert and had a website about bags, how compare that to now
Pam (22:22):
I feel more emotionally. I mean obviously money's great. This is of course a wonderful thing that wonderfulness aside, I feel more emotionally fulfilled from my business and I don't operate with guilt. So my kids are very aware of my business and also because they were home for 18 months with me full on lockdown covid for a year and a half of homeschooling. So they saw the growth of hustle like a mom. I started off with a five-year-old and a six year old. So they really spent a lot of chunk of time behind the camera. I was on TV and I'm like, mommy's going to go on TV for three minutes. You just do your homework. And I'm live with our local Pix 11 or what or whatever, a, B, C, C, whatever it was, doing a business segment talking about things or mom, entrepreneur products.
(23:11):
And my kids are literally on the floor while I'm zooming live with studio. So they saw this all. So it is definitely a completely different experience and my head and my heart are in the game. For example, we're done, it's summertime when we're recording this right now. My kids are home and my father-in-law came over, he's swimming with them and they know that in about a half an hour I'm going to be with them. I still have my chunks of time. It's just a more mindful entrepreneurial experience. I don't know what took me so long to get here. That's kind of how I feel about it is why did it take me 39 years to get here?
Kim (23:53):
It's funny because I feel like this year has been really, really, really busy for me. This spring particularly, I started doing paid speaking engagements across the country and I wasn't expecting all three of them to be in the same quarter. So it was a lot of travel. But I said to my husband and I said, yeah, so the spring is going to be really busy, but my goal is to not work much in the summer. And overall I feel like happier and I feel like I'm choosing where I spend my time. And right before we got on, I played tennis and I get to take my kids to the beach a lot in the summer. And sometimes it's easy to see little quotes online and you're like, Ooh, I'm doing it wrong, or I'm not making enough money or I'm working too much or whatever.
(24:34):
It's like you may or may not be working less than before, but most people are like, I'm definitely working less than I did in corporate America in media where I worked for 15 years always for a boss at a desk traveling sometimes for work, but at a desk answering to a boss. And it is about that intentionality is I'm like, great, I'm only doing client meetings two days a week in the summer. I'm not saying I'm not working at all that third day, I'm not checking my email at all. That's not true, but it's a totally different life than when I used to be online all day long and then my phone buzzing on the weekend. And so I think it depends on what you're comparing it to, but there's also that realization of most people, I'm not saying to work but want to work.
(25:19):
Many people want to work even if it's 10 hours a week, even if it's 20 hours a week, and they want that. And so to figure out a way that is balanced is really important. And I have found that that's been such an important part is saying is every single week exactly as I want it. No, how would I want every single week I work Monday through Wednesday nine to two 30 and then my computer's down and the other days are just for me. And that's totally not realistic for the business that I lead, but I do feel like my life has been more intentional. My new Year's resolutions for the past two years has been intentional. Don't say yes to anything that doesn't align with your goals, anything. And I mean literally if someone asks me to be a guest on a podcast, I have to look at my calendar for the next eight weeks and say, do I have that hour? And that seems crazy, but my calendar really is scheduled to the hour of the working hours so that I can go get ice cream with my kid after school if we decide to. And so yeah, I believe in it. So I hustle a mom, anyone who's known me since I was like 13 has known that I'm the biggest hustler. My dad was an immigrant. It's totally genetic
Pam (26:24):
Immigrant thing is. So I grew up with the mindset of they didn't come here for nothing. There was that whole feeling. This is so true. It's so funny because I realize I do connect a lot with immigrants from different countries mostly because I also, I am a hustler. And it's interesting because the name of the company is Hustle like a Mom, although I do feel like the last two years there's sort of this moment where I have to explain it's hustle your own way. My version is going to be different than yours. You may take even the edit to expand planner and be part of the hustle like a mom community on Instagram. Or maybe you join our hustle mom inner circle for 2024, whatever it is, you are still going to apply the principles to figure out what is your version. Like Kim, you said ice cream, but what is your version of ice cream, right?
(27:13):
I always use the same example and I believe in value driven planning. That's literally step one. And because I say that when your values, that's your compass for saying yes versus no. And ultimately if we have to boil down the last, what has it been like five plus years of hus like aam, everything has to come down to that. And so one of the first things I do when we open up the hus, like a mom inner circle is I say, we're doing value driven planning. And everybody's like, well, I value my family and that you come up with the obvious ones. And I'm like, really? So every single thing that you do, every single decision is based on your family. And they're like, so people start to fumble and then I give them a shock and I say, I want you to know that of my three values, neither of them are family.
(28:01):
And everybody's like, aren't you the head of this thing called hustle like a mom? And so there's this moment of shock and I'm like, yes, but every single decision I make is not based on my family. And so then I explain value driven planning. And what it means for me is that this is a way to give you direction on where to say yes and where to say no. And so I say, okay, here's an example. My values are flexibility, impact and gatherings. And so in lieu of family, my true and always has been, it just took me so long. That's why I said before I'm like, why did it take me so long to get here is flexibility is what I want. So I want to know that you mentioned Monday may not always look like the same Monday, but I want to be in control.
(28:46):
Flexibility is extremely important for me. So I'll give you a little scenario. Years ago I had a non so pleasant experience with a magazine editor who told me I couldn't run around the way I used to, which is by that point I had two kids. And so I would not be getting a certain job that I really wanted that I knew I was qualified for, but I couldn't run around the way I used to is what I was told. And I had a moment, this was an aha in like 2015 or early 2016, I made a scenario in my head. I said, self, what if they gave you a full-time salary and I roughly knew what the numbers were in our industry and offered you that full-time salary and you'd be in the office nine to whatever, but you'd have that six figure low, six figure best.
(29:32):
This was best case scenario, like low six figure salary rate and you'd be great, all the perks and blah, blah, blah. And it occurred to me in that moment and I remember laughing, I'm like, it's not worth it. And that was another moment that brought me closer to being part of the creation of hustle like a mall. And so when I say value, I mean flexibility, impact, it doesn't create impact. I'm not doing it really well-To-do podcast or influencer or magazine may ask you to do something, but if you really don't feel that that aligns with your values, gosh, that's such a waste of your precious time. I mean ultimately that's our gift to ourselves is time. I want to spend time with you, Kim. Do you know what I mean? I don't want to spend time with the people that I don't want to spend time with anymore. And then I want to have my ice cream
Kim (30:22):
Soft serve and sprinkles, or actually min chocolate chip, to be fair, I actually am a min chocolate chip person always and forever
Pam (30:29):
Coffee.
Kim (30:29):
Oh, coffee flavor
Pam (30:31):
Coffee.
Kim (30:32):
But you only started having that as a grownup.
Pam (30:35):
Yeah, obviously Andaz coffee flavor. I don't like coffee. Very interesting.
Kim (30:40):
That is very unusual. I want to dig into that deeper later. This is Dr. Kim Berg's therapy couch. Actually, why do you like coffee now? Even though you don't like coffee, actually. Okay. I want to get before we wrap up your top three tips. So let's say you have a client and they want to grow a business. And by the way, I meant to ask earlier, the women you work with, what sort of businesses do they have as service-based business products? What sort of industries are they in?
Pam (31:10):
Absolutely. So we've actually done a deep dive in several surveys over the last few years, and it's a pretty even split between service and product-based business, which has been interesting because then when we create our own products, we have to figure out how to accommodate. And sometimes I do separate entities, but yeah, we have a split between product and service-based businesses. I would say the one commonality is that for the most part, she's either been in the corporate and done the exit for one reason or another. Either she was unfortunately forced out, left for a myriad of un unpleasantries or she was stay-at-home mom. And for many women, COVID was a big propeller. And so it made her shift and realize, like you mentioned, whether it's the 10 hours and she wants to make whatever, $20,000 a year, $15,000 a year, or it's somebody who wants to grow a six figure business, et cetera, beyond, she wants to align her personal professional aspirations. That's really the commonality is that not so much the balance, every day is different, but that idea that you are going to be in control and can you live that life of the between drop off and pick up mompreneur that nine to three window.
Kim (32:24):
Yeah, no, I love that. I feel like when I first started working for myself, I left media. I was a media executive and digital media for US weekly and Netflix. And then since working for myself, I've shifted from handling more corporate clients to helping more business owners and teaching them how to message and how to grow into thought leaders through video and podcasts. And the process has been readjusting my mindset to most business owners understand that you're not going to be online all day long, and that's okay. And now I realize I structure my plans. I do a lot of one-on-one client work. I also do group coaching of video bootcamp, but I structure it in a way that works for my life but also works for theirs. It's not like most people aren't trying to, I think it's that adjustment of you don't have to be on all the time, you don't have to work 60 hours a week. It's this new sort of mutual realization of that's not necessary. Okay, now I want your top three tips for a woman trying to build her business or her service business, product business in the hours between drop off and pick up, what are your top three tips to her?
Pam (33:27):
So I would say first and foremost, you have to master messaging. I am a former journalist. I, I'll always joke about the H S N Q vvc where you sell ice to Eskimos, which is really a talent. So you have to understand what are you really selling? That's sort of the biggest question and it's never, I'm selling my earrings or I'm selling my coaching services and my Pilates class. You have to dig into the emotional win because ultimately if you put yourself in the shoes of your ideal community of buyers, they don't usually need what you're selling. So your words have to resonate in such a way that they make an emotional pull to somebody. So if you're just talking about earrings, earrings, earrings, figure out a way to dig into the emotional win of how they're being worn, where they're being worn, and make that feeling of, okay, I see those on her, or she sees those earrings on her, they make her life easier, better, more attractive.
(34:24):
What is the emotional win? So that's the first part is mastering. Mastering your messaging with that so that when you go out digitally or you go out to a holiday popup or whatever it is, you're making that connection with people. Rare. When somebody really needs something, you have to make them feel that you are the vehicle of change your product or service from where they are now to where they could possibly be if they join hustle like a mom if they take your video courses, if they wear your earrings, et cetera. So that's the first thing is mastering your messaging and making it emotional connection is foundational. I also feel that it's important for you to realize that no is not a full sentence. It's also not the end of the conversation. As entrepreneurs, if you are not prepared for no, please just stop. Stop what you're doing because you are creating something new.
(35:20):
And so you're challenging what is, so it's very important for you to realize that most people just want to say, no, I don't want this. No, I'm not going to sponsor this. No, I don't need this. You can't take it personally. You need to take a step back and realize is my messaging on point? Am I in the place where my product or service is truly needed? Right? Are you in the right community? Did you really decode your customer in such a way that she's at the flower market buying earrings versus at Bloomingdale's? Completely different situations. So be comfortable with no and let that fuel you because today's no could be tomorrow's. Yes, and I have so many examples of that in my personal life when seeking sponsors including one big one that finally came through in 2023, lot of nos, years of nos people.
(36:13):
So be comfortable with no is definitely something and let that fuel you is another almost like a mindset tip, if you will. Third thing I would say is don't get distracted by what I call darling ideas. Like I said before, I love my friends who have podcasts and then I love my girls who did clubhouse during Covid, which I really didn't, and I have friends who are writing books and I realize this is not my season. Don't get distr, not that it's not going to happen later, this season will come. Don't get distracted by darling ideas because if you do, you are ultimately going to be spreading yourself too thin. And that's the reverse of edit to expand the whole point of edit to expand. I talked about value driven planning, but ultimately it's three quarterly goals, very specific. It's a system where you are preventing yourself.
(37:06):
Hopefully if you're following it, you are preventing yourself from overwhelm. You're preventing yourself from getting distracted by what somebody else is doing that is great for them, but may not be the right choice for you. So I always say every quarter we pick a money, move a amplify your brand and a business decreased stressor, which I can go into if anybody's interested. You can find me on Instagram. But when you do those three goals and you build each quarter upon them and you don't get distracted when you stay focused, a very interesting thing happens, which is that you actually accomplish the goals that you intended to accomplish. Goals don't get accomplished miraculously. They get accomplished when you stay the course and you stay focused, committed, and consistent. So that's probably my third tip is literally as the phrase says, edit. Ultimately I'm an editor, right?
(37:58):
Edit. In order to expand, you don't need to do all the things. You just need to do certain things and see them fully through. And I promise when December 31st rolls around, there's a remarkable thing that happens, which is that you actually feel accomplished and fulfilled. It blows my mind when it happens. I'm like, oh my God, it happened. It happened because I didn't get distracted. Although eventually I will write a book, it's just not my season yet. And you have to be OK with that by the way. You can be excited for your friends that they have the podcast if you're a product business that somebody is going wholesale and you're focusing on your D whatever to consumer. But if you focus on all the things, especially because most female owned businesses are solopreneurs, if you do too many things, that's when you don't make the revenue you want. That's when you can't extract the profit. That's when unfortunately two years go by and you fold your business because you ran out of money to support it because you're chasing all the things, don't chase all the things.
Kim (38:56):
I'm really into the value driven planning and planning it all because I really personally for me, it has been ownership and impact. I have said those are the only things I'm going to say yes to, ownership and impact. So I have to feel like I am the reason it's happening. It is my idea or I am really helping it. And then impact, I want to help people. I want to help people learn. I did a big project for a big philanthropy that actually I ended up winning a lot of awards for, but my intent was to have impact, not necessarily to get accolades. And so I think having that really specific direction is super helpful. All right, Pamela, to wrap it up, where can people find you and how can they work with you? Give us all of that.
Pam (39:37):
Absolutely. So if you go to hustle like a mom.com, you can learn more about the Edit Expand Planner, which is part of H L M Inner Circle, which is our intimate and impactful community. So you can find us on Hustle like a mom.com. Obviously we are on Instagram. I'm also personally on Instagram with just my name, Pam Kerman. Or you can follow the business for tips, which is Hustle like a mom. And I wish I can tell you that we're on a bazillion other platforms, but guess what? That's really not part of the edit span way and I just don't have the physical capacity to be on TikTok. I apologize.
Kim (40:13):
Thank you so much.
(40:18):
Thank you so much for listening. Make sure to drop a review and if you want to send in a real mom moment that we'll share on the air, check out moms exit interview.com. And if you're a professional or small business owner looking to grow your brand through amazing content with no silly dances and with no burnout, check out my website kim retford.com and you can hit contact to chat with me. And thanks for listening. Like this is the most amazing community and you guys send in the best feedback, so share it with your friends. Let anyone know who you think would appreciate it. And this is Mom's Exit interview. I'm your host and executive producer, Kim Richberg. The show is produced by Henry Street Media. Jillian Grover edited this episode, and Aliza Friedlander is our editorial producer and publicist. I'll see you next time.