Alysha: [00:00:00] it's important because real life is happening as we're building businesses and raising babies, and you can't plan for so much of it and it will absolutely blindside you and shake you to your core. And it changes things just like motherhood shook up a lot of stuff for me.

Alishia: Hey, friend. Welcome back to In The EllaMents. I'm Alishia Egenhoff digital ad strategist, mentor, and the heart behind Social EllaMents Marketing. Around here we talk about marketing motherhood and what it really looks like to build a business while also being a human with limited time, energy, and capacity.

Alishia: Today's episode is one I'm super excited about I have been planning for this episode since starting my podcast. We are going to pull back the curtain on what it actually looks like to build a business in different seasons of motherhood. From the toddler years to the teens and tweens, our days look completely different, but [00:01:00] we are both making it work.

Alishia: We're gonna get into the real stuff, our actual schedules, the tools we use, what productivity advice is, complete BS, and how we're both fitting business into the chaos of motherhood. If you've ever wondered. How does she actually do it? This conversation is going to show you, so without further ado, let's jump in.

Alishia: I'm so excited to have Alysha Sanford here today. Alysha and I actually met a couple years ago when she invited me to be a guest on her podcast, the Messy Mompreneur, and we've stayed connected as kind of business besties ever since. So, Alysha, welcome for the first time to In The EllaMents.

Alysha: Thank you. I'm so excited and I wanna say congrats again because I'm super excited that you, took the leap and jumped into a project that you were sharing about.

Alishia: Thank you. [00:02:00] Yeah, thank you for encouraging me. I wouldn't have been here without you, so thank you for that. I'm excited to jump in and talk about all the mom things with you. But for, to get us started, for anyone who doesn't know you, tell us what you do and who you serve.

Alysha: All right, so I am a mom to a 4-year-old, and I'm saying that first because it kind of dictates everything else as far as my capacity goes and schedule. My background is in photography. I've been a photographer, well, I started portfolio building in 2009 and, uh, 2012 ish, somewhere in there. I should know the exact date, but my brain is busy.

Alysha: So, um, I started the actual small business side of being a photographer. I photographed many genres and eventually focused on mostly baby and family because I've been obsessed with [00:03:00] babies since I was little, like playing with dolls way too long. And, I did also photograph small businesses back then. I just didn't promote them so much. At one point I was calling them, maker stories, which I still think is cute, but I found that I just kind of needed to be a bit more available for newborns because due dates and babies being born happen when it happens. Random side note, I remember finishing up photographing weddings because I was coming out of a wedding area where I didn't have cell reception and then discovered that I had a mom in labor and I was due to photograph the birth.

Alysha: So that put things into perspective as far as what I needed to niche down on. I focused on baby and family for a while and I work with a lot of those clients still because, you know, after so long you build relationships with them. And I love my families. I love them so much, and they continue to have babies and have milestones that they invite me into. So I work with them a bit still, [00:04:00] which we'll talk about, but I could not ignore my love of brand photography and working with small businesses. And during a lot of those sessions, I found myself kind of nerding out, like I couldn't shut up about the marketing side of it, which plays a big part in your brand photo shot list, you know, like what you're shooting for and how to use those photos later.

Alysha: And so, I just started to listen to that desire a bit more. And, this was all happening about the time that I was having our daughter, four years ago. So from maternity leave on, I was binging podcasts on all things marketing, small business, eventually motherhood too, and homemaking like, yeah, a little crazy on podcasts.

Alysha: But, I just started chasing the passion and now I'm trying to find a way to blend the brand photography with marketing support for small businesses and doing that all around having a toddler or 4-year-old, home with me, basically 24/7, so,[00:05:00] 

Alishia: Yeah. So to give some context here, like you have, you're in the toddler phase, I am in the like tween, teen phase

Alysha: mm-hmm.

Alishia: building businesses in a very different stage of motherhood, which I think will make this conversation interesting for anybody listening. But what's also funny is we both, for anybody that doesn't know this about us, we both live in Oregon.

Alishia: We're both named Alicia and we both work in marketing. So we basically, have, a lot of similarities, but our day-to-day look absolutely different because of where we're at with our kids. So, you kind of already shared your story and I love that, and that's, you know, kind of how it shaped you building your business.

Alysha: Mm-hmm.

Alishia: and I know you've been in business for a while, which is such an inspiration to anybody listening that you go through those growth and changes. But I wanna give a little bit of context why, and we're gonna kind of get into the background. So you've been in business since like 2009 ish, but you recently pivoted from that [00:06:00] family to newborn photography.

Alishia: Can you share a little bit more about what actually led to that shift for you? I know you shared a little bit before, but can you get a little bit more into that?

Alysha: Yeah. So, let's see. At the same time that I was feeling that nudge, we were going through a crazy amount of loss in our family, which I'm going to talk about as lightly as possible, because I don't wanna sit here sobbing on your podcast, but it's important because real life is happening as we're building businesses and raising babies, and you can't plan for so much of it and it will absolutely blindside you and shake you to your core. And it changes things just like motherhood shook up a lot of stuff for me. So did heavy amount of loss in our family. We're coming up on almost two years since losing my dad. And prior to that, we experienced an entire year of what I've learned they call anticipatory grief he [00:07:00] received a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2023. um, yeah, you, you just

Alishia: Okay.

Alysha: navigate a year like that because you're trying to remain hopeful and you're, you're definitely trying to soak up so much time with that person while still kind of being in denial and going through the five stages of grief before you even lose that person. And then on top of all of that, I've lost three grandparents since then as well. Um, which it's all. It's very devastating. Um, my dad's loss was traumatic for my brothers and I, and of course more of our family because he was younger. That kind of wakes you up to your capacity and what you maybe aren't spending your time in the most wise way. I don't know how to word that, sorry. But it just wakes you up.

Alishia: Like I have goosebumps right now because your story's so, I think a lot of people can relate to it [00:08:00] no matter where they're at in life. They've had either gone through a loss of some sort, whether it's somebody super close to them or another reason, and it does change your perspective on what you want in life.

Alishia: And so I'm really thankful for you sharing that because I know it's a hard, hard thing to talk about. Um, like I, I get it as, as a mom, as a friend, as a daughter, you know, just going through that. But on the outside and where you're at now, I think that experience probably changed a lot for you on how you approach your time and your business and your structure.

Alishia: Do you wanna talk about that?

Alysha: Yes. And I will also say real quick, I'm realizing in this moment right now that I don't really talk about this a whole lot outside of my, um, twice a month usually grief counseling, well in general counseling. And that [00:09:00] has been amazing, which I'll say that again at the end, like anyone that needs counseling, it's just such a godsend. But yeah, I, I mean, some of the stuff that's come up through that grief counseling is the realization that I have so much, I guess passion for small business. Um, my grandpa who we lost right before my dad, which was his dad, so same side of the family, double whammy within the same half year. My grandpa, since before I was born, he, or I guess a little after I was born, was a later in life entrepreneur.

Alysha: Um, and he, he was a dreamer and I resonate with him in that so much because, I dunno, I just see a lot of similarities now that I'm older. And he pursued that small business out on their property where I grew up because it was a multi-generation, property out there. And my dad worked for that small business and my grandma ran the admin [00:10:00] side of it and probably some of the sales and marketing from the home.

Alysha: And she was, she was also watching us kids as we were growing up. So I was raised seeing a family. Small business and it was in the medical industry. Something I'm totally not interested in, but it was important and I just, it was inspiring and it's even more inspiring to think about it now, how they all just kinda found their roles within that and still raised kids around it.

Alysha: And it was just what we did. We just, I mean, I remember even helping them with some of the production and shipping, um, 

Alishia: Such a beautiful, yeah.

Alysha: yeah. So yeah, know that's, that's where I'm learning to talk about these things a bit more because it does play such a big part into my background. I just need to find a way to, share that more.

Alysha: But, um, I don't know. So I feel close to both of them in a weird way, just pursuing this [00:11:00] dreamer, entrepreneur type stuff that lights me up already because it just kinda was familiar with them. And then. We kind of came through that rebrand moment after, or about the same time that I lost him and I was focusing more on, small business and, brand photo and marketing.

Alysha: And I just kind of decided to find other ways to, I guess, tie in the memory of my dad. Um, which this, this is the story you recently do know of. I chose a color, from an image of a family trip with my dad. I just took a color picker in, um, Photoshop and chose the color. Landed on kind of a baked terracotta, and now I see it everywhere because it's all over my branding and even some of my office supply. And it reminds me of him and that trip and all of our as a family. Anyway, uh, yeah, it [00:12:00] just, it changed a lot as far as what I'm trying to prioritize and build towards. And um, it made it very clear on what I can't not do. That's like a double negative, but like, yeah, just, I just, whatever. I can't shake off.

Alysha: I just need to be doing that.

Alishia: Yeah, it just kind of opens your eyes to, I think, where you want to spend your time most too. I kinda, I mean, I absolutely not the same thing, but I think a lot of business owners go through that moment where things get really crystal clear of like what you actually want to get out of this life.

Alishia: And for me it was, you know, corporate stuff. But it also helped me realize that I wanted my life to fit around my work and not the other way around. And so just finding that [00:13:00] rhythm and, and being blessed, you know, I feel, I feel super blessed and you probably do too, to be able to be a work from home mom that is still able to help out income wise, but can be home with my children and get them to all their activities and stuff.

Alishia: I wish I could have done it when my kids were younger, but yeah, it, it's shaped everything that I now do as far as load of clients and boundaries and how I price my services. And so let's talk about what that actually like for you, what your day to day actually looks like. I know you. You are a photographer obviously, but, um, and I run an agency so they don't, our, our worlds are very different.

Alishia: But what does an actual week kind of look like for you with a young one at home and trying to navigate those kinds of schedules and things?

Alysha: Uh, okay. So I said, she's [00:14:00] four and every year and every season it has shifted. And I have had, I've been humbled by that because never forget being pregnant. And I was working a day job alongside full-time photography while pregnant. And I remember, telling someone that I was so excited to get back into full-time photography and I had no awareness of the fact that no, I'm actually about to have a newborn.

Alysha: I'm gonna go through those postpartum years. It's going to be all based around this child our schedules and the lack of sleep and whatever else. And she's a Velcro baby, turned Velcro child, so

Alishia: I love that term, Velcro baby.

Alysha: Yes. And I say it lovingly 'cause of course I adore her. But yes, she very much is attached to me.

Alysha: We have a small house, it doesn't even matter 'cause she's under my feet. Um, but anyway, so currently our schedule, I mean, she's with me almost 24/7. Right now we're recording this on a day where I have one [00:15:00] day a week of, childcare. She's with a family member. And when I say one day, it's really like six or seven hours, you know, and that is usually filled up by the errands or the appointments or meetings that I can't have her with me, um, for those or like focus work that I just need to get done without distraction or interruption or recordings like this. So I'm very grateful for that one day a week. And when any of us are sick to where it cancels that day, it's sometimes devastating because you just, you really need that day. Um, so the, yeah, the one day a week of childcare, and there are three days a week where we're tied up with her play school, which is fun because she gets, I mean, she enjoys it and I do too, but, everything else fits around that.

Alysha: And I, I really struggled, uh, shortly after having her with the realization that, I wasn't as able to schedule family sessions and newborn sessions and [00:16:00] things like that in the evenings and on weekends. She, I mean, I don't know TMI, but she was exclusively nursing. And so that alone on top of difficulties with getting her to sleep without me there, it just made it difficult and being away from bedtime and it just wasn't as feasible.

Alysha: And I really fought that for a good couple of years. Um, and I am currently at a point where I want to work with my families. Like I said, I don't, I don't wanna discontinue that, but I've had to really find a way to, I guess, blend it with our needs as a family and her needs. So I kind of try to compartmentalize a lot of those sessions into mini sessions in the fall and before the holidays and just kind of consolidate because I can consolidate the sessions and all of the client emailing and everything, get it into a bit more of a workflow, and then consolidate that editing and the print order fulfillment and delivery. So that's, [00:17:00] that's kind of a little hack is to just put those into a, a bit more of a mini session flow. But for brand sessions currently, it's very, very, very part-time and they have to basically be on Tuesdays unless I can pull a miracle off and get childcare on a different day. And then occasional weekends, but a lot of brands, you know, they're not necessarily wanting to do weekends either, which is just the nature of it.

Alishia: Yeah,

Alishia: So for me, like my week obviously looks completely different than yours, or like months and days because my kids are older now. But I remember being at the stage, of course, I wasn't running a business from home at that stage, but I remember being at that stage where when I was home they were glued to you or it was like bedtime and it's, you know, it's such a like beautiful time in life with your kids, but it's also exhausting in some ways too. So I get that part of it. [00:18:00] But now that my kids are older, like it theoretically, and they go to school during the day, so I get like, work time during school hours is my work time. But I'm also responsible for driving them to and from school to their activities, the, their various activities that they like to do, and running the errands, you know, the grocery shopping, the doctor's appointments and trying to fit client work and, and my own admin work, all of that behind the scenes stuff into the schedule every day.

Alishia: So I've had to get really intentional also about when I fit that kind of work in. So like Mondays and Tuesdays, I usually do things like this where we're recording or I'm working on my own thing or we're, I am maybe meeting with clients. Um, and I try to batch those meetings into one day, kind of like you do on your Tuesdays because it's like, just get it done and then the rest of the week is open for all the other chaos that happens.

Alishia: And then I, you actually suggested to [00:19:00] me, and I love this idea of CEO days, and so I try, I try really hard to schedule CEO days for myself where I get to do my admin work and my marketing for my own business. And then whatever else, finances and stuff that needs to be done for that week. And then after that is, you know, just trying to dive into client work while the kids are at school.

Alishia: But summers and spring break and, you know, school days off, always throw things around. So, you know, I was just trying to find that, and I've talked about it before, finding that rhythm around everybody else's schedule to fit work in. And some weeks it goes a lot smoother than other weeks and, but I do my best to plan around it and my family's schedule same as you.

Alishia: And make sure that you're there for all the things. So I have a question for you. I know you mentioned you try to schedule those photoshoots for Tuesdays, like I know you do [00:20:00] your, all your own marketing and stuff like that. Do you batch your work?

Alysha: Okay. So sometimes I'm great about doing that and I literally, I preach batching anything possible, especially as a mom and business owner combo. Uh, I, it's so vital when you can do it. I lately because it seems like we're in that season of coming out of always being sick or other people being sick and just not having consistency in that focus work time. I'm not so great about batching, but I definitely try. But, batching in the home also has played a huge role, which I wanna just mention real quick because it's a game

Alishia: Yes. Yes.

Alysha: If you can, if you can batch cook your meals or if you can plan, I literally have like. Not that I do this all the time or use it, but I have a four week rotation of meals that if you cook them in the specific order, they give you leftovers for the next couple of meals in line. And it's just, it can be amazing if you like cook a, cook a ton of [00:21:00] rice one night and use it in two more meals the next few nights.

Alysha: If you cook a ton of meat one night and then switch up the, you know, the, the carb or whatever and veggies. Just you, if you get creative and you batch it and you put a bunch of precooked meals in the freezer, like to, um, I dunno. Sometime this week we're gonna thaw out my last remaining spaghetti sauce that's prepped. I just have to boil noodles. It's, gamechanging. 

Alishia: Oh my gosh.

Alysha: breakfast burritos. That's, I'm telling you, it makes

Alishia: I need your, I need your batching schedule now. I'm sure anybody listening to is gonna be like, can I get that, um, batch schedule for meals? 'cause that would be really helpful.

Alysha: Yeah, I need to be better about using it and it can, you know, there's like leftover nights plugged in there and then every

Alishia: Yeah.

Alysha: we take pizza home from a pizza shop and whatever. So like there's room for that and you can shuffle stuff around. But there are a certain, a few certain things that just go in a specific order so that you're of hacking your time.

Alishia: And avoiding the drive [00:22:00] through. 'cause that's what ends up happening for us. Like days that, yeah, my kids are like, they have this activity, that activity and I'm like, you know what? We're going through a drive through today 'cause I just don't have the capacity to think about what to cook.

Alysha: Yeah. And you can start to kind of batch your grocery orders and or lists and conserve on dishes. There's a lot benefits

Alishia: Yes.

Alysha: I.

Alishia: Yeah.

Alishia: So in terms of work though, 'cause I'm a huge believer in batching my client work and to stay on top of things, and I am not always the best at it. But when do you try to schedule that in, if you can?

Alysha: So she does not nap. I used to try my best to do a lot of that during nap time. Um, and it got to the point where I was spending an hour trying to get her down for a nap and then she'd wake up 20 minutes later and I was just finding myself angrier than I should be so I was like, why am I fighting this?

Alysha: Let's just let her not nap and we'll do earlier bedtime. [00:23:00] I don't do any work after bedtime either because my brain is just needing, my brain is busy all day long and my ears are sometimes ringing by the end of the day

Alishia: Mm-hmm.

Alysha: I don't have the energy to focus or be creative. So my, I feel like I get the most creative work done and focus work done in the mornings when she's freshly woken up having a morning snack or, you know, casual breakfast and she gets a little bit of screen time watching a show or something. Um, that's what I'm most creative also. And so I'll sit there right next to her on the laptop and just crank out some stuff before she even realizes that I'm not, that I don't know that I'm working.

Alishia: I love that.

Alysha: yeah, like that's the best time, but our mornings are busy right now, so I don't get as much of that. So it's just in pockets of time when she and I agree on this is her project, or I set her up with, um, an independent play situation or a craft where I'm right next to her. Yeah.

Alishia: That [00:24:00] sounds like my, um, summer, spring break. School days off schedule when I, I tr try not always, 'cause it's also a day for me to maybe get a sleep in, but I'll try and get up early and I'll do work before my kids are up. 'cause they're the, at that stage where they wanna sleep in as teens. So I'll get in some work until like nine o'clock and then they wake up and, um, but I'm able to like, get a bunch done without interruption, you know, that comes along when they are awake, even though they're, they're older and they can take care of themselves.

Alishia: They, they still, you know, have 1,000,001 questions and stuff. So I get that part of it. Let's go into, um, unless you have anything else you wanna say about your schedules, but I wanna dive into the tools that you use to run your business. Like what is your tech stack?

Alysha: Okay, so I had to write myself notes, and I swear I'm still missing [00:25:00] something that I'll remember after we record, and I'm sorry. I primarily use Squarespace and Acuity, which I believe is owned by Squarespace, is just kind of, they brought it in. So I use, those for my website and blog that's attached.

Alysha: Um, and my email service, I added that on through them. And, scheduling for booking sessions or eventually, like consultations and things like that, it's all bundled together it makes it smooth for me because the more tools I have, the messier I am, I think that's probably anybody, but especially if you have ADHD inattentive, ADHD, so Squarespace and Acuity for all of that.

Alysha: Um, oh, and also for forms and invoicing, to an extent their acuity is a bit more limited. It's not a full CRM, but they keep adding features, which I feel like they're gonna head that way.

Alishia: Sounds like it.

Alysha: I use a lot of the Google. I don't use it [00:26:00] to the best of, its ability yet. I'm still discovering a bit more, but I'm going back to the basics.

Alysha: I, I love a lot of Google apps, whatever you call 'em, web apps. Google Sheets is great. I use that a lot for, content and marketing planning, which is what I'm building my workbooks slash mini course type thing in 'cause I want it to be a bit more user friendly and familiar for all different abilities.

Alysha: And that's just where I landed was Google Sheets, um, Google Business Profile, Google Search Console, if I'm saying that right, for tracking, like indexing and everything. And I'm missing some. But yeah, Google's a great thing. Um, Canva for graphics, of course,

Alishia: Oh yeah.

Alysha: that. And then Metricool for scheduling, which you know about.

Alysha: I love Metricool and I'm actually still on the free plan ready to upgrade to the next one because they dropped how many you can post free per month.

Alishia: Really?

Alysha: But I know

Alishia: That's crazy.

Alysha: all the cool, uh, reporting that you.

Alishia: Yes.[00:27:00] 

Alysha: so I'm

Alishia: I love Metricool. Yeah.

Alysha: Yeah. But if you can get your stuff scheduled out with Metricool and then like stuff is dropping online on your platforms or wherever, or your email is scheduled out and you're out, I'm at play school, like

Alishia: Mm-hmm.

Alysha: while I'm at play school.

Alysha: And then when I have time, I'm logging back in and engaging and resharing or adding it to stories or whatever. But it, almost like an assistant built in. So, um, super handy. And then, uh, yeah, I'm not using a CRM right now. I

Alishia: Okay.

Alysha: and I cycled through a couple of them, HoneyBook and Dubsado, but I found out very quickly that I'm just too, I don't know, I'm not focused enough to build that whole thing out to be a smooth flow.

Alysha: And so I was fighting it more than it was helping me.

Alishia: Mm-hmm.

Alysha: I'm, I'm during, I'm, I'm finding myself in this pivot, so I just decided to step away from A CRM until I'm clear on what I need out of A CRM, and then I, I might [00:28:00] get back into one, but, um, if anyone is considering a CRM, I would also highly recommend finding a CRM specialist who can help you build out your pipeline, your workflows, all of that, the back end of it, because it can be daunting.

Alysha: And if you don't have a ton of focus time, it may not run as smoothly as it's meant to. So

Alishia: Yeah, it's definitely a process to set that stuff up and get it going. Like it's not something that happens overnight. Yeah.

Alysha: Yeah.

Alishia: And it's an investment, so you wanna like protect that investment too and like get it working. So yeah, that makes sense. For me I also use Metricool and absolutely love it for scheduling. I do a little bit of scheduling and stuff for other clients as well. It's not like a service that I promote. Um, but it's helpful because I can not only be in there for my own accounts, but also client accounts and [00:29:00] then. The reporting

Alysha: Mm-hmm.

Alishia: super nice for somebody who like wants to provide data to, not only for myself but to my clients.

Alishia: I love it for that. I specifically use it for Google Ads reporting and then just social media insights to be able to see what's working, what's not working, and there's so much more with it. I don't wanna like do an ad here for Metricool, but there's so much more with it that is in there that I don't even utilize, that I know I could be utilizing, but I just haven't had the time to get into it and really like fully grasp everything that it can do.

Alishia: So. Love that. But I also use, a lot of times I'm in the Meta Business Suite for stuff and obviously Google Ads, but I use FloDesk for my, my email marketing and that's kind of like my CRM. Um, and I really like it because it's pretty, um, [00:30:00] but they also have a free version, that you can start with, which is nice.

Alishia: So I like that. And then I use Microsoft Office 365. So you use Google? I use Microsoft. 'cause that's like my corporate background for everything. That's my calendar, my email, my documents, like that's everything else. Um, but that's it for me. Pretty simple. But one area that I am interested in talking to you a little bit about, and I didn't.

Alishia: I didn't preview you to this, but I use AI a lot, like a lot, a lot. And I know you and I have some differences in this area. I specifically have switched over to Claude, um, to help me generate new ideas, review, copy, like brainstorm, that kind of stuff. I'm curious, um, it, I know it does so much more than that.

Alishia: I'm curious your thoughts on AI and using it.

Alysha: Okay, you [00:31:00] are putting me on the spot. I was gonna bring it up a tiny bit later, but I'm glad that you're kinda like setting the, I guess, foundation for talking about it. Um, I did used to actually use ChatGPT a lot as a thought partner or whatever they describe it, but brainstorming and for somebody who is multi-passionate, you could get really lost in ChatGPT and I had, I had so many threads going of just, I mean, I had gardening threads going, I had homeschool planning, gar, uh, just on top of business stuff. And it just got a little outta control. Um, that was then, and I was using it to, I guess, formulate some of my content. And so it was AI generated content. It was with my frameworks, my everything.

Alysha: I was giving, I mean, I was giving it full paragraphs for a prompt, like, so basically writing out the whole thing and just trying to see what it would spit out. And I [00:32:00] cannot tell you how many times I have told it or had told it. Stop with the em dashes, stop with the, it's not

Alishia: the em dashes.

Alysha: The phrases.

Alysha: And, uh, anyway, I'm sorry. This is where I could start ranting and I apologize 'cause I get a bit. Cranky about it. I just, I, everywhere online, I can spot AI instantly. And I know some people might even be just naturally writing more like it because it's just kind of become more familiar and more common. But some of the sentence structures, it's just, it's really hard for me to read through it. And then, sorry, here I go.

Alysha: Um, AI images, the

Alishia: my gosh.

Alysha: the amount of small businesses

Alishia: The extra hand.

Alysha: using AI, the extra limbs, the missing fingers. That was early on.

Alishia: Yeah.

Alysha: Also, early on was the very strange alien gibberish for wording

Alishia: Yes.

Alysha: In any graphics. Um, and then most recently it's [00:33:00] just constant misspellings of, of, I mean, I businesses are posting these photos, not, maybe not proofing them or noticing, but their business name is misspelled in them. There's missing numbers in a phone number. There's fake plastic looking food on restaurant menus. And I just, I know AI is seen as a really helpful tool.

Alysha: So, and I used it. I, you know, I'm, I'm guilty in that sense or whatever. I'm not, I'm not trying to like, criticize or anything, but I'm just, there's a bit of a lack of like proofreading and proofing and, um, there's just a disconnect. And that's what I posted online about recently, and I know you saw the disconnect is where I struggle because I just, people are admitting and they're actually admitting that they're just scrolling past more and more AI stuff.

Alysha: If they see that it's AI, they're like, ugh, move on. Moving on. And I just, it's such a bummer, especially as a brand photographer. I'm like, I, your images should be connecting people to [00:34:00] who you are, your mission, your why, your passion. And that's what I want people to, I don't know, focus on instead. Because I know that AI images are trendy and, and it might feel like you're missing out if you're not doing 'em, but. It's just

Alishia: Yeah, no, I, I for sure see your view on it. And I think that if we use, if you're using AI, use it consciously is kind of my critique with it. Yes, use it, but don't just copy and paste everything that it spits out like. Proofread it, adjust, make it more human, um, as far as copy goes. But the AI images are definitely weird.

Alishia: Um, haven't fully, um, hasn't fully gotten my a hundred percent stamp on it. I don't really love the image creation that [00:35:00] it puts out, but as far as generating ideas and being kind of like a, an assistant when you're, you are a busy entrepreneur and there's only so much that you can output, um, I think that it helps in a capacity sense.

Alishia: But definitely, definitely review everything that it's putting out and make sure that it's how you want to be portrayed as a brand and as a person.

Alysha: For sure if you're trying to use it as a partner for your voice and your message, like,

Alishia: Yeah.

Alysha: iterate, iterate, tweak, tweak, tweak.

Alishia: The em dashes, which is funny because em dashes do have a place in the world, but now everybody that sees an em dash is like, um, did you generate that with AI?

Alysha: Yeah. Totally ruined them.

Alishia: It's a tall, a tall tale giveaway. Yeah. So as far as managing like your client communication, do you have specific times that you're checking your emails or you're responding to messages, and [00:36:00] do you have any barriers around that or do you just kind of, whenever.

Alysha: Um, this is a of a do as I say, not as I do moment because I'm not wonderful about that. I have time blindness. I legitimately have time blindness. I have to set alarms for everything. And I should probably set one for checking email. I was in a really good habit for a while when we had less busy mornings where we have to get out the door. I was in a good habit where my daughter wakes up so early and some of that like focus time, I would just sit there doing emails, um, the send later option in inboxes. And I think Iphones

Alishia: Oh my gosh,

Alysha: is amazing

Alishia: yes. Text messages

Alysha: I think some social media too.

Alishia: Yeah. 

Alysha: So you can, that's my biggest thing is that if I read it when I have time, I don't always have time to respond or I get interrupted or I forget to set it as unread and come back to it.

Alysha: And, um, if you can schedule it to send later when it's more of an appropriate time to be responding, 

Alysha: that is a blessing to be [00:37:00] able 

Alishia: Not nine o'clock at night.

Alysha: to do. Yeah. So I need, that's, that is my biggest bottleneck is my diligence on communication with like a consistent timeframe. And I'm

Alishia: Mm-hmm.

Alysha: on it, I promise.

Alishia: Yeah, no, I get it. I, I generally have my email up throughout the day if I'm at my computer when my kids are at school. Um, and I'll check it on my phone if I get a spare moment and stuff. But I don't use like Slack or anything for client communications. My clients just email me, and so I have to kind of have a little bit of a barrier around it, which is hard when it's so accessible on your phone.

Alishia: And it's always up on my computer, but I always try and respond within 24 hours. That's my rule. Business week 24 hours. And that boundaries kind of saved my sanity, but the scheduling of text messages and emails has been a game changer for [00:38:00] me because I recently learned how to do it as a text message, and I'm like, this is the best thing ever.

Alishia: So I'm not texting my clients at 5:30 in the morning when I

Alysha: right.

Alishia: get up. So love that for us.

Alysha: It, um, not having a CRM currently, I mean, a lot of it is manual. I mean, it's, it's almost all manual. Um, with Acuity, when I have booking scheduled, you can automate the, a handful of follow-up emails, which really takes a lot of that room for error out as far as like, oh, did I drop the ball?

Alysha: Did I send them the prep email? Did I send them the confirmation email? Did I send them the reminder email or the follow-up email? You can automate so much of that.

Alishia: Mm-hmm.

Alysha: And that is amazing. that's even outside of A CRM, but CRMs are so much more robust with the, you can build out your workflow and the different, the different triggers on when certain things deploy.

Alysha: And that

Alishia: Yes.

Alysha: is like having a full-time assistant, not for free, but you know, you're not paying somebody [00:39:00] to

Alishia: Right.

Alysha: your CRMs doing it. Um, so anyway.

Alishia: that's great. You just answered my next question, which was like, what automations are you using? So yeah, I think utilizing those tools, I use FloDesk for that. Like if somebody downloads a freebie, then they get so many follow up emails and then invited to join like my newsletter or something. I actually need to go in there and, um, probably adjust some of that stuff.

Alishia: But

Alysha: Oh yeah. I know I

Alishia: as time goes,

Alysha: Yeah, I need to work on some of that. But I also wanted to mention on automating, um, we touched a bit on batching, right? Like in the kitchen and

Alishia: yeah,

Alysha: to, 'cause I feel like all of us grew up and realized, oh, I have to cook dinner every single night for the rest of my life.

Alysha: That sucks. I don't have, I'm,

Alishia: it really does.

Alysha: I, I don't have a personal chef. Um, but grocery pickup has been the biggest game changer for me since having my daughter and I felt so bougie or spoiled or whatever using it. But no, when you have a sick baby or an [00:40:00] infant sleeping, or you have multiple kids, or oh, you've tried to batch all your errands into one day per week or two days per week, you've got one afternoon to get it all done.

Alysha: But you've got kids that are potty training, if you can schedule those pickups and then do the one in person grocery store, the one in and out of the car, seriously. Amazing. Anyway,

Alishia: Love it. Yeah, no, I started actually on that note, I started, I tried it for a little bit and it wasn't my favorite, but I started doing like the grocery delivery.

Alysha: Oh

Alishia: Um, yeah. And that on busy weeks when there is literally no time to make it to the grocery store in the fridge is empty. You open it and you're like, what are we gonna eat?

Alishia: Oh, nothing, because there's nothing in here that has changed my life for, so I use it on a rare occasion, but that has been a blessing too, because I can just have somebody, somebody drops it off at my door and then I just put it in the fridge. So, but yeah, I've started utilizing the, the [00:41:00] pickup more also because it's free at most stores over a certain order.

Alishia: So

Alysha: Yeah,

Alishia: yeah,

Alysha: just, it's awesome. Anyway,

Alishia: it really is. So you mentioned that you're using Acuity, right? Is that what you're using for your invoicing and your contracts?

Alysha: Yeah, and it is still a bit limited as far as the contract side of it. Um, so I am in the process of, of moving all my contracts back to Google Forms uh, it's not fancy, but it, it works, you know, it's just something I have to manually send a link to. But the one thing I'm glad that I did was I've got copies of all the verbiage as like word documents or PDFs saved. So no matter where I'm moving this information to like, you know, CRM to CRM to Google, whatever, I can just copy and paste and format. I'm not having to reinvent the wheel every time I move my contract system or my invoicing system

Alishia: [00:42:00] Smart. Mm-hmm.

Alysha: Like I can copy and paste and then it might take me a couple of hours each time, which is annoying, but eventually I'll land in the spot that I'm gonna stay with all of it.

Alishia: Yeah.

Alysha: Mm-hmm.

Alishia: I know we talked a little bit about stuff that doesn't work, but. Right now we're at a point where we've talked about the schedules, we've talked about the tools. Let's dive into the stuff that like doesn't work, the BS advice, like do you have any, um, things as a mom that you tried and they were complete BS and just didn't work for you?

Alysha: Okay, so I have a few, we've kind of touched on 'em. Um, gonna start with the wake up early before your children are awake. I cannot, I, I've been in survival mode because my daughter, you know, we've had some sleep challenges and I want my sleep and I refuse to wake up

Alishia: That's fair.

Alysha: way earlier just to sit on the computer a bit because I want, I would rather be sleeping. So that's one of 'em. [00:43:00] And working after bedtime, I did so many years of being a night owl, working and editing on the computer when I didn't have a child. I burnt myself out on it. I just kind of, before we even had her. I lost interest in doing work in the evenings because I'm, I'm also just feeling less creative or lights are off and I don't wanna stare at a bright screen.

Alysha: It kills my eyes and it's hard to get the colors right when you're editing, if you're tired. Um, at least for me. Uh, so that's one of 'em. I do every now and then work after bedtime. If it is like a lot of deadlines at once, like before holiday order rushes and all of that, you know, I'll crank it

Alishia: Yeah.

Alysha: fine, but it's just kind of a quiet boundary that I've got and I wanna spend that time with my husband and just decompress. And so I kind of protect that a bit. Time blocking does not work for me. I, aim for theme days, and yes, in those theme days there are [00:44:00] chunks of time that you could call time blocking, but strict time blocking for me is a joke. 'cause again, I have time blindness. I would have to set alarms, and every day is a bit different.

Alysha: And so I would cycle through. I get lost in an alarm list. Like

Alishia: Yeah.

Alysha: it's, I just focus on theme days. So, um,

Alishia: Yeah.

Alysha: I, I had another one, but I think that's, that's the

Alishia: The, the time blocking. I like, theoretically it sounds really great. It does, but I'm with you on that because I'm like, if I'm gonna dive into a project, I wanna be able to not be limited on time also. So I, I will even look at the clock and be like, I have an hour left of time to work and I have this and this project like I to get done.

Alishia: There's certain projects that I will not start because I don't want a deadline of an end point because I need more time creatively to think through that. So I, I [00:45:00] can't time block either. But I've started doing the like days kind of like you were saying, like where I have, I have like client meeting day and then I have my CEO day.

Alishia: And so that has made it easier for me to get stuff accomplished. And then also using, which you recommended to me was the Capture the Chaos Planner. And that's really helped me stay organized as far as my weeks and getting tasks accomplished. Um,

Alysha: I should have brought that up because that has been a huge, a huge, um. Guide for me the last three years now of using it, which is crazy. I have, I have my old one sitting next to me. I don't know what to do with them, but

Alishia: same.

Alysha: have it open to the weekly spread and I check that thing multiple times a day. And yeah, I use my phone calendar. It's just if I'm on my phone more, I'm gonna get more distracted. And so I, I go for this planner where I can write things down, but the top three priorities per day,[00:46:00] 

Alishia: Mm-hmm.

Alysha: it. That's,

Alishia: Yeah.

Alysha: best.

Alishia: And sometimes those priorities don't happen. Like I think yesterday I, the one thing I got done on there was laundry of my three priorities. So sometimes it just doesn't happen and you just move 'em onto the next day or later on in the week and

Alysha: scoot

Alishia: get it done when you get it done. Yeah.

Alishia: Which sounds, you know, that's what I, we stress so much about getting stuff done, especially as moms and we're navigating everybody's else's schedules on top of ours. So yeah, just. It'll get done when it's, get needs to get done. And I'm telling that to myself as much as I'm telling that to everybody else.

Alishia: 'cause I'm very type A and things, I like things done a certain way. So,

Alishia: I think one of the biggest lessons that I've learned through my much smaller amount of time in entrepreneurship is that what works for somebody else might not always work for me, and that's okay. Same as you have [00:47:00] a younger child right now, and I have older kids, so our, our days and things that we need out of it are gonna be different.

Alishia: And so you kind of just have to experiment and find your own rhythm in that. Um, I wanna talk a little bit about what you're working on, which is, kind of goes along with finding that rhythm and working around things, which is your course. You mentioned that you're building out a marketing course for business owners.

Alishia: Tell us about that and what problem you are solving.

Alysha: Okay, so it started out as, more of a mini course, and then I realized, well, there's a mini course telling 'em what to do, but they need somewhere to do it. And there's a million tools out there. But I wanted to create a workbook that makes sense with the, I guess the framework that I'm trying to help them discover and utilize. Uh, it does not have a fancy name currently. I just want it to be clear. I just titled it [00:48:00] How to plan 12 Months of Content, impactful Content in less than two Hours. 'cause you can literally just map out your whole year. Um, and that doesn't mean create it all in Canva. That just means, hey, I have, I have a North Star on

Alishia: It is like the plan,

Alysha: Yeah, yeah.

Alishia: okay?

Alysha: mapping it out. Um, and I want to empower small business owners to take charge of their own marketing and content efforts, while they're serving their clients in that content. And also just taking charge of their time because you could spend forever creating stuff for social media that doesn't land

Alishia: Mm-hmm.

Alysha: Or try and copy what everybody else is doing, but if you can get back to your why, your passion, your story, um, offerings, and dive into that and pull your content from that, as well as your client experience and frequently asked questions like there's so much value in that, that if you turn that into your content, which [00:49:00] yeah, there's so much gold there, but if you put that into like long form content, so it's, you know, helping out your SEO online, it's also, it's basically an article that you can pull from, or like a podcast or a YouTube video that you can pull information and content from and then cycle that through your short form content efforts.

Alysha: And it all points back to a bigger picture, which would be your offer or your, um, services. You know, things like that. It just sets an important foundation for even your brand photo session which, and I mentioned earlier, it plays such a key role in that because we wanna know why we're photographing a specific thing.

Alysha: Are we photographing your process? Your tools, all of it anyway.

Alishia: And you, your plan is to use it in conjunction with scheduling a, a brand photography session, or is it kind of a Either or. There.

Alysha: it'll be available as its own thing [00:50:00] because I know that I can only help so many people with brand photos if they're local enough to me. I'm not, I'm not a traveling across the country type of human I wish I was, but, but it, because it plays such a, a great role for brand photos, it's gonna be included as part of the prep work, and they don't have to use it.

Alysha: But if I'm telling them, Hey, plan out your content, I'll help you photograph, you know let's, let's, I don't know, create harmony in all of that. I want them to have a place

Alishia: I,

Alysha: to do it.

Alishia: I think that's a great idea I have so, like, so many business owners get the assets done, the photography, the videography and stuff, and then they don't know what to do with it. So I think that that will be very impactful for them

Alysha: Yeah.

Alishia: to have a, a roadmap, I guess, to, to go off of, to plan that content. And then it's a.

Alishia: It's, uh, like you said, very connected to who they are as a [00:51:00] business instead of just, you know, randomness. So I love that. Yeah.

Alysha: And then

Alysha: taking it a step further, I've had people ask me for help with their content and everything, and I just, if it's a Google sheet, which is the, um. foundation for, for the workbook, they can share the link back and I can help them with it and get a bit more like hands-on with them, with their content, their messaging, their, you know, kinda that writer's block.

Alysha: But like content block, if they're just stuck, there's more

Alishia: Yeah.

Alysha: more opportunity to help. So that's the goal.

Alishia: So , how are you fitting building this into your already full schedule? When, when are you finding time to work on it?

Alysha: I've been working on this thing for a year be, but would see that actually as valuable now because I've been trying to also listen and really make sure I'm building it in a way that makes sense because I could build whatever I want that I think [00:52:00] people would maybe want. But if I actually take a bit more time and I pay attention to the questions I'm being asked or the limitations, like I might have a business owner who's maybe I don't know, 60, 70 years old and not necessarily interested in learning a new program like Airtable, because Airtable is great for this too. But I just wanted to bring it back down to more of like a familiar software to do it in. And a lot of people already have, you know, Google Drive and, and if they don't, it's a bit more user friendly. So it's taken a lot of time to actually carve out time to work on it, but it's also taken that time to really figure out what makes sense for this thing, this tool that I wanna create. It's almost done, I promise.

Alishia: No, I've been saying for years that I wanna build out a course and I've not even near where you are, so I, I get it. Um, and I [00:53:00] also love that you're, you're not waiting for the perfect time to build it, which maybe my problem, um, you're, you're doing it even with, you know, you're already full load. And so I think that's the lesson here is that there's not a perfect moment or condition for anything in business. And so you just kind of have to fit it in where, where it works and you're building it intentionally. So that also is going to make it just even better. So I'm really excited and I, I'm, I'm signing up to be beta client for your trial run. I want to do it, um, before we wrap up, I want to ask you the question I think a lot of moms are wondering, so if there's a mom listening right now who wants to build something, but they feel like they don't have the time or the right setup, what would you, what would be your advice to them? What would you say to her?

Alysha: Okay, well, I have a few things, so I apologize in advance. Uh, the [00:54:00] first one would be to lean on your community or start to build one, um, and loosen up a bit of control or your expectations, because I do have a community of family members, but my personal anxiety and postpartum anxiety kind of took over.

Alysha: And so I was, I don't know, a bit more. I struggled a bit more to accept help. And if you can just find ways to do it in a way that honors your comfort level. Like you could have family come hang out with your kiddo at your house while you're home and you're just in a separate room. They don't have to be somewhere else to where you're watching your phone the entire time. And that's just one example. But definitely lean on your community. Um, and also your, uh. Your small business community, I mean, you can create awesome friendships outta that for sure. But if you're ever stuck or ever needing to refer someone or just overwhelmed, you can [00:55:00] really lean on them for support. Also, figure out what you can accomplish with your kids present, like, you know, if you were to have somebody here watching them. But, my first time ever going to a local economic development meeting a few years back, they were totally fine with me bringing my very quiet, which was lucky, but my quiet 2-year-old and she just sat there.

Alysha: We were flies on the wall and that broke the ice. But if I waited for a time that I would have dedicated childcare, I don't know if I would've had the guts to go because I would have to rearrange our schedule to be able to make it. And anyway, just figure out what they can be present for and work with it.

Alishia: I have found that more and more people on that note, more and more people are more accepting of your kids being around. Like, my clients don't care if my kids show up in the back of our Zoom call and say hi. Like they don't care. Um, and [00:56:00] I, I think maybe I just have really awesome clients, which I think I do, but I think that's the world that we're living in, is that people are realizing that moms have a life outside of just work.

Alishia: So yeah.

Alysha: For sure. And my last one would be, utilize podcasts and counseling if you need to have a bit more you time, but you can't, you don't have childcare. Like the amount of times I've put in one earbud and paced my house while we were sick and cooped up, um, and just listened to an educational podcast or something that just, you know, whatever, whatever I needed in that moment, just listening to it. There's so many different things out there, like even just meditations or, um. Whatever you're needing. There's a lot of podcasts out there that really, helped me to feel a bit more in control of my days, even when they weren't, you know, going as planned. But also, again, counseling, if you're going through anxiety or grief or any of that as a mom [00:57:00] or with anything, it's been a blessing, so I would highly recommend doing that if you're able.

Alishia: I love that. I feel like that's very grounding. So, um, and I just wanna add too, like, you don't, you don't need that perfect schedule, tools, childcare, any of it just to, you know, jump off of what you already said you can start and build anything from anywhere. My business looked different when I started than it does now.

Alishia: It's, I imagine that it's not gonna look the same in five years,

Alysha: Mm-hmm.

Alishia: as my kids get older and things change and everything evolves. Um, and same with yours. It's evolved over the last 10 plus years to fit

Alysha: Oh yeah.

Alishia: Your needs as a mom and a business owner and a wife. So, yeah, I think every, every season of motherhood comes with those new challenges, but there's always those pockets of time that you can use and you know, the right tools and [00:58:00] systems that fit what you need.

Alishia: Uh, you can definitely build something meaningful without sacrificing being present for your family. And that's my goal. I think that's your goal. I think a lot of moms listening, that's probably their goal too. So, thank you so much, Alysha, for pulling back that curtain on your actual life, your business. I feel like this is what our friendship has been like over the past couple years of getting to know each other. Just real, those real conversations about what is actually like takes to do this. And I hope everyone listening walks away with something that they can implement.

Alishia: You know, this week, next week, um. I think what people don't see on Instagram is the behind the scenes reality that we kind of gotta talk a little bit about today. Those crazy schedules, the tools, the systems, the stuff that doesn't work, but people swear does.

Alysha: Yep.

Alishia: And even though we're in [00:59:00] different seasons and have very different approaches to things with our age of our kids, we're both making it work in our own unique ways.

Alishia: So any, for anybody listening, they're going to wanna know where can they find you? And if someone wants to learn more about your brand photography or the marketing course that you're building, where should they go?

Alysha: Okay, so I am big on hosting everything and anything on my website. Um, one link and I will send it to you so you can put it in the show notes. It'll be a link to the favorite resources tab on my website that literally you can, it's kind of your own choose your own adventure type thing. Um, they can find everything in freebies and all that email list. Yeah.

Alishia: Awesome. So I'll link that in the show notes. Alysha, thank you so much for joining me In the EllaMents.

Alysha: Thank you.

Alishia: If this conversation resonated with you and you want to stay connected, [01:00:00] I'd love to have you on my email list. I send two to four emails a month with honest thoughts on marketing, motherhood, and building a business that fits your real life Plus, I always let you know when new episodes drop. The link is in the show notes and for anyone who wants to connect with Alysha, check out her brand photography work or get on her wait list for her marketing course.

Alishia: I'll have all her links in the show notes. She also has a resource page on her website with freebies and tools she recommends, and that will also be included in that link.

Alishia: And last but not least, if you found value in this episode, I would love it if you could share it with another mom who's building something or thinking about starting. You can also find me on Instagram @socialellaments where I continue these conversations.

Alishia: Thank you for spending time with me In the EllaMents. Until next time, keep building with intention and give yourself grace as you grow.