Together Digital Power Lounge, Women in Digital with Power to Share

How Working Moms Get Sh*t Done

• Chief Empowerment Officer, Amy Vaughan

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Welcome back to The Power Lounge. Today, host Amy Vaughn welcomes Kate Reed, partner at Project 300 and a dedicated advocate for working mothers. Kate’s career journey spans from an English major at the University of Cincinnati to roles in nonprofit arts, commercial printing, leadership development, and pediatric healthcare—all while raising three children, including surprise twins.

Amy and Kate explore the challenges of balancing a successful career with family responsibilities, addressing how the term "stay-at-home mom" often overlooks the significant contributions and workload involved in parenting. Kate shares her experiences managing the logistical and emotional demands of motherhood, the financial strain of childcare, and how she redefined success on her own terms. From fitting work into nap times to leading an agency built on flexibility and trust, Kate demonstrates how working moms can achieve both personal fulfillment and professional ambition.

Kate Reed's story proves that women can define success without compromising their family life, offering valuable insights for those looking to integrate business and motherhood effectively.

Bonus: Kate is a two-time Eras Tour attendee and can name nearly any Taylor Swift song in five notes or less.

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:58 - "Empowering Working Moms Discussion"
04:00 - "Valuing Stay-at-Home Parents' Work"
07:44 - Prioritizing Family Over Career
11:30 - Gender Roles and Housework Disparity
15:26 - Juggling Work and Parenting Joyfully
17:24 - Parenting: Balancing Work and Family
19:41 - Project 300: Expanding Creative Support
22:41 - Rising Gig Economy Trends
27:10 - Daycare Costs Stun Working Parents
30:47 - Hedonic Adaptation and Life's Pressures
35:06 - "Early Career Pivot to Leadership"
38:15 - Embracing Reinvention and Skills Confidence
39:01 - "Cumulative, Transferable Skills Recognition"
44:09 - "It Takes a Village"
48:20 - Community Support for Working Parents
49:04 - "Titles Are Overrated"
55:07 - Finding Personal Space Working Home
56:37 - Prioritizing Self-Care for Parenthood
01:00:01 - Join, Listen, and Grow
01:00:24 - Outro

Quotes:
"Being a mom doesn't define you. Embrace change, redefine success, and continually reinvent to discover what truly fulfills you."- Kate Reed

"Prioritize presence and your values over titles. Your time and authenticity are your greatest gifts."- Amy Vaughn

Key Takeaways:
There’s No “Just” About Stay-at-Home Moms
Career Ambitions Can Evolve (and That’s Okay!)
Success Begins with Redefining Growth
The Power of a Nonagency Agency
Math Matters: Childcare Isn’t Cheap
Reinvention and Transferable Skills
Your Community is Your Superpower
Letting Go of the Guilt (and the Judgment)
Take the Leap—Nothing Is Permanent
Modeling Possibility for the Next Generation

Connect with Kate Reed
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katereedpm/
Website: https://www.project300.co/

Check out PROJECT 300:
PROJECT 300 Website: https://www.project300.co/
PROJECT 300 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/project-300-llc
PROJECT 300 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/project300llc/
The Motherload, by Sarah Hoover: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Motherload/Sarah-Hoover/9781668010136

Connect with the host Amy Vaughan:

Support the show

Speaker 2:

Hello everyone and welcome to our weekly Power Lounge. This is your place to hear authentic conversations from those who have power to share. My name is Amy Vaughn and I am the owner and chief empowerment officer of Together Digital, a diverse and collaborative community of women who choose to share their knowledge, their power and connections. You can join the movement at togetherindigitalcom, and today we are tackling one of the most real conversations that we have within our community, which we have a lot of them, but with working moms and how they navigate the brutal chaos of building careers while raising families. And I am really thrilled to welcome Kate Reed. She's a partner at Project 300 who refuses to let anyone say I am just a stay-at-home mom ever again.

Speaker 2:

Kate's journey from the University of Cincinnati English major to a nonprofit dreamer, to marketing powerhouse and agency partner is anything but traditional. After becoming the mom of three, including surprise twins, she faced the challenge so many of us know how do you balance career ambition with the reality of childcare costs and family needs? What makes Kate's story so compelling isn't just that she figured it out, but she is redefining what having it all actually means. Starting with just a few spare hours contracting with Project 300, means Starting with just a few spare hours contracting with Project 300, she is now a full-time partner helping lead what they call a non-agency agency, which I'm excited to get into and learn more about, one built on flexibility, trust and the courage to do business differently.

Speaker 2:

Kate proves that women don't have to choose between personal growth and professional ambition and yes, she is also a two times eras tour attendee. In fact, we already talked about T Swift, already done check that box, who can also name almost any Taylor Swift song in five notes or less. That sounds like a fun game we can play later, because working moms contain multitudes. Welcome to the Power Lounge, kate. We're thrilled to have you here.

Speaker 1:

Hi, thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely All right. Let's start with that curious phrase I had within your intro and bio, which is never wanting to hear again I am just a stay-at-home mom. What's behind your passion for changing this narrative?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So I don't have a problem with the phrase stay-at-home mom. It is the phrase just a stay-at-home mom. I think that that qualifier totally and completely diminishes the immense responsibility that comes with being a stay-at-home mom. There's the physical load of caring for the kids, managing the household, running the errands, doing the yard work. If you're taking care of your kids 24-7, you're in charge of educating them and making sure that they're socialized. And then there's the mental load that is invisible but equally, if not more, heavy. There's the doctor's appointments and the dentist visits and the school schedule and the restocking of the necessities because you can't run out of diapers.

Speaker 1:

And you know, I watched my mom be a stay at home mom my entire life. She was the one that got us on the school bus, the one that was there when we got off the bus, the one that got us on the school bus, the one that was there when we got off the bus. She was the one cooking dinner while quizzing us over spelling words, and I never realized how hard of a job all of that is until I did it, like she was the sole provider for the kids during the working hours of nine to five. And that is a job, so to say just a stay at home, mom is. It's insulting and it's something that I think needs to change, because it is a career. It just doesn't take place within the walls of a company. It takes place within the walls of the household.

Speaker 2:

I love it. I agree, yeah, you're the CEO, you're the CFO, you're the CMO, but you're also the admin you know, and you're the janitor.

Speaker 2:

It is. It is a lot and it is a huge load and I love that you know again. It is one of those things, those modifying words, only just to feel. I think there used to be and it probably is still around a plugin that when you were writing emails it, it would identify all of the modifiers that you would place into your language, and it's so surprising at how little credit we give that kind of language. But it really does begin to minimize and marginalize the work that stay at home parents do.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Right, absolutely Love it, and kudos to your mama. She did a good job. All right, take us back to the moment when you became the mom of three, including those little delightful surprise twins. How did that shift your perspective on what your career could look like?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So I forgot to ask if we can curse on this. So I'll tell you the minute that I found out we were having twins. Um, first of all I joke um, I wanted one kid, my husband wanted two, so we compromised and had three. Um ended up here, but it was total disbelief. Um, my husband was grinning ear to ear and I looked at the ultrasound tech and said, shut the fuck up. And I didn't say a word.

Speaker 1:

The rest of the appointment, my training as a project manager immediately kicked in. I don't think I ever truly emotionally processed that I was having twins, because I went straight to the logistics. How do you fit three car seats across the back of a Honda Pilot that we bought when we had our first kid Because it was going to be big enough? Do they share a room? Oh, my God, we have to get another crib. I immediately started trying to project plan this life. That was suddenly different from everything I had been thinking of, and twins, kids in general. But twins quickly showed me that you can't plan everything with tiny humans. Um, yeah, I mean like you're at their mercy. It's not a project. The twins came five weeks early. Um, they were creamies. We had a 10-day nick. You stay that, everything was fine, they were just early. But when you're in it that's a lot to think about.

Speaker 1:

We have new logistics to figure out of who's going to get Mason from daycare and Carter. He is one minute older than Sadie and he just had some health problems in his early year. He had a heart murmur, he had plagiocephaly, which just means that his head was shaped a little strange, because I'm one person and there were two humans in me. He caught strep at age three months and it developed into mastoiditis, which is an infection of the mastoid bone, and so he had a hospital stay that then resulted in physical and occupational therapy and ear tubes, and there was just so much that happened. That was absolutely doable, like we were able to do it.

Speaker 1:

But the things that we had prioritized when we had just one kid, which was we're still going to be career oriented, we're just going to be parents doing it that kind of had to shift.

Speaker 1:

I didn't want to have to figure out how to handle all of the appointments, all of the care and somehow make up my missed hours, you know, regardless of whether or not you get your job done when you are working. A nine to five, the expectation is that they have you for eight hours a day minimum. Yeah, and so I didn't want to have to try to figure out. I'm going to be gone three, four hours for doctor's appointments, which means at night, my time is no longer mine, it belongs to the company. So, in terms of how it shifted my perspective, I realized that the things that I had once valued and thought were really important titles, promotions, happy hours, being the first one in and the last one out, making a name for myself inside this community, outside of my home those didn't really matter, like at the end of the day, it was my family that was going to matter, and it was a hard realization, but as soon as I made it, it was obvious that it was the right one.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, now that makes a lot of sense. I often joke and say there's no way I could go back to who I was before I had my kids and really kind of explain what you just shared, which I mean you still did beautifully. But it is really hard to get. It's like the mental load. I think that's what's the hardest to explain. You can definitely explain like the physical work, labor, sleepless nights to some degree, although we're not usually super transparent about them. We all kind of mask it.

Speaker 2:

When we get to the office we don't say you know, it's good morning, how are you? It's not. Oh my God, I literally got an hour of sleep last night, right, and my nipples hurt because I was feeding and nursing all night, yeah, and now they're swollen and hurting because I'm not nursing, because my kid just won't get off me. Like there's just so much we don't talk about in the realm of parenthood in the workplace, and so I think it is really hard, when we don't do that, to help those who are maybe not parents or parents yet really truly understand sort of like that fundamental shift. And it's funny. I mean you got it twice as hard with, you know, twins coming, but you know we, we have two, and so my daughter was born first. And then, you know, we decided, oh, a second kid.

Speaker 2:

And I remember thinking after one, I'm like, what's two? After we got one kid, what's a second kid? Right, we got this. Oh, twice the work. It's twice the work Now. It's twice the diapers, it's twice the daycare costs, it's twice the cars everything that you said. But you got it. You got a doubly so. So I can really imagine and empathize with how that, you know, really hurt. And then you know, we'll get into this more too. But you know you already touched a little bit on it of that idea of, like, the ideal worker and oftentimes it's those who are not in caretaker roles right, we know that, like, there is wage discrimination for women specifically, it's, I think, somewhere between four and 7% per child in the US for women when they have children. However, when it's a guy getting having kids, we got to give him a raise. He's got a family to support.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's suddenly like somehow makes you less than, whereas I feel like if you really knew what went into it, it should make you more than my gosh.

Speaker 2:

I'm so much more efficient with my time, my energy. I can get shit done Like the whole title of this, this conversation today, like I never could before. Sometimes I look back and I think what did I do?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I look back and I'm like God, I feel like I should have saved my screen time reports from before kids, because I had to have just lived on my phone or I know that I was reading a lot, I know that I was going to the gym more, but like, and there are women who are still able to do that, and I look at them and I'm just like you guys are incredible people because I just like, for me, like those are things that kind of had to go to the wayside and I have so much respect for moms you know we talked about respect for the stay at home mom I have so much respect for moms you know we talked about respect for the stay-at-home mom I have so much respect for the working mom who is in a typical nine to five making it happen because like it's way harder than it needs to be for them. Just it is.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. And then there's obviously still a ton of stats and reporting out there that shows that, while like the balance is coming into play right of like households that have like parity in the sense of like parenting skills, caretaking, housework, but still women predominantly I think it's like 70% still of like the housework and childcare is still on us, you know, not kudos and shout out to the households and to the guys that show up in that, and then actually actually you know a few stay athome dads that have recently made that choice to be like I don't want the career, I want to stay at home and I'm like I want to see more men modeling that for other men to make that okay as well, because really either should be good.

Speaker 2:

Let's talk a little bit about Project 300. So you started contracting with them, just a few kind of hours here and there. I'm guessing that was because it's what fit your schedule and what you felt like capacity-wise you could do. What gave you that confidence? Because your kids are still young, what gave you that confidence to make the leap? And how did you make the hours that you had count when you are dealing with two newborns and another little one?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, with two newborns and another little one, yeah, so when this came to be, mason was two and a half and the twins were four months, five months, I think, like very young, and I just I couldn't do it. I couldn't go back to work Again. It was that fear of I would literally only be working when I wasn't taking care of the kids. Um, to be clear, let's get this out of the way right away. I was not confident that this would work. It was just something that my husband and I sat down and said is this possible? And he was, like, we'll figure it out, take a chance. Like, let's do it. Um, you know, part of it was and we'll get into this, you know, I think a little bit later dealing with childcare costs, but that was a big part of it. Um, so I realized, during the extended mat leave um, you know, first of all there. So the conversation was could we do this, you know, first of all. So the conversation was could we do this During extended mat leave? I also realized that I am not a mom who can spend 24-7 with my kids and feel fulfilled and happy. That's okay. People who love like being their kids, people and amazing. I love that I am a better mom when I have something of my own to focus on. So I needed professional responsibilities.

Speaker 1:

Um, I remembered, um, a friend, anthony Sama tacos, who started, who started Project 300 during the pandemic, and when he started it he had said to me like hey, if you ever want to side hustle, like, give me a call. So I reached out to him and I said you know, years ago you asked me if I, you know, ever needed help to reach out to you. So how's that going? He was like, listen, I can give you maybe 10 hours a week right now. My husband and I calculated what that would be and we were like well, we'll try it, we'll see.

Speaker 1:

So that's where it started. It really started as a fun side thing for me. That was meant to be mental stimulation while I was home with my kids and while I was prioritizing Carter's healthcare. That's really what it was, um, so how did I do it Worked before the babies um got up while they napped after everyone went to bed at night? Um, if I had things to do while the babies were up, uh, I probably should have set up a camera and just like recorded it, because I would set them up on their like play gym or you know, because at that point they were adorable little potatoes who couldn't really move like they were great time, put them somewhere and they can't go, they can't.

Speaker 1:

I would sit on the floor and I would send emails. Um, if I had a call while they were awake, I would go off camera, on mute, and I would literally dance, do exercise moves, make faces, anything to keep them quiet enough that I could listen and then jot down notes after the call. And it was fun, like not only was I spending time with my kids, but I was also doing something. But I was also doing something as they got older. They would sit on my lap and I would put my laptop on an ottoman and just go to town. But the thing that made it work the best was Anthony made it clear that I was in charge of my own schedule. As long as the work was done, clients were happy. It didn't matter what I did, and that's what made it doable and that's what made me want to keep doing it and keep building this thing that we were working on together.

Speaker 2:

I love it so much. Yeah, I think there's so much more currency than just cash, right? Like you said it like, wait, you're a better mom because of it, and I very much feel the same way. Love, love, love my kids. They are of it and I very much feel the same way. Love, love, love my kids. They are my two favorite humans in the whole wide world and it's just an honor to be able to call them, you know them mine, and that I'm their mom, but at the same time, like yeah, I couldn't, I would, I would.

Speaker 2:

I have a lot of stay at home friends and I'm like I so appreciate what you do because I would absolutely lose my damn mind. But I also think that you know, I know your kids are still young and mine are eight and 11, soon to be 12. What's going to be so cool for you, kate, is that you're going to bring them along with you on this and you're modeling something so special for them as like that next generation of what it means to be a mom, and it's going to be so rewarding. I promise you it really. Like it's cool to see now that my kids are older, even though I've been working all this time, like you, when you do the daycare drop-offs and they're crying and screaming, you feel so much guilt, right, when you miss a little daycare thing or you miss an email or a message from the school, it's like, oh, you feel terrible. But then start the moments of where they see what you do and they recognize it and then they're proud of it and then they call it out or you get to bring them along.

Speaker 2:

So, like last year, we did a little photo shoot thing and I got to bring the kids it was in the middle of summer and I didn't have anywhere to leave them and I'm like, just come with me and for them to be able to experience like being on a set and meeting the photographer and learning about like creative and art direction and things like that. Honestly, I've been doing that stuff with my daughter, clara, since I was still working for agencies. So she's been in sound booths and studios and she's been on sets for commercials. It's such a cool experience and I think really because of it too, I see her creativity. She's so entrepreneurial. I have no doubt she's going to have her own business. So what you're modeling for them, even though it feels like chaos right now it's just, it's really going to be. It's going to come back to you. You're going to get all those rewards of hearing and seeing them, like looking up to you, for all that you're doing so.

Speaker 1:

I love that. I love that and it's interesting how quickly kids pick up on how things are different. So I'm lucky my husband does the daycare pickup and drop off because he works right next door to the daycare. So you know I get them out the door in the morning and then he handles that. But our four-year-old he already like recognizes that like, what mommy and daddy do are different. Like daddy goes into an office and he'll come home and he'll be like mom, how was your day? Did you leave the house today or were you in the room? And it's like he gets it to some extent and you know he'll be like what did you work on? And I'm like emails and calls, kid, and he's like that's cool, like you know. So he's already so curious about how mommy and daddy do things differently and I love the idea that, like, the two of us are showing them there are different ways to have a career and look, we're both here for the family as well.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, I love it. It's so great. All right, let's dig into a little bit of Project 300, a little bit more as well. So you guys call yourself a non-agency agency. I'm curious how is this a different approach to business working parents to thrive, compared to maybe traditional agency practices? And is that why you guys call yourself a non-agency agency? Or is there some other things behind that?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So, um, you know, first of all, project 300 started as just project management support. Um, one man show, um, anthony, handled everything. But he found out kind of as he was becoming ingrained with these other organizations. They would be like, hey, do you have a copywriter? Like, can you recommend a designer? So he realized that there was really a need for additional support, the ability to provide services where an agency who is in the throes of getting things done I mean, you know agency life they didn't have to go out and vet these people. So he started to really build a roster. And what's cool is this roster is made up of people that he and I have both worked with for years throughout our career. So we've vetted them. Because we've worked with them, we know their working styles and because of that, we're able to trust them.

Speaker 1:

I think trust is a big thing because even in an agency or a corporation, there is always a matter of are you going to get it done? Are you going to juggle it with your other priorities? I know everything that's on your plate. Like, can I trust that you're going to do this? So for us, like, trust is a huge thing. We do not micromanage whatsoever. Deadlines are set. We trust that they'll be met. You know the established professionals that we work with. They know that we expect autonomous productivity and high quality output and in exchange for that we offer extremely competitive pay, true flexibility, no parameters around when the work gets done.

Speaker 1:

I think you can probably attest to in an agency setting, it can kind of feel like meetings are life, like you've got the kickoff meeting, the internal review meeting, the client meeting, the oh my gosh, this is blowing up meeting.

Speaker 1:

And so for us like we're understanding that a ton of the people we work with they either have a day job you know they are freelancing as a side hustle or they freelance because they do have families and they want to have that flexibility. So meetings are really only as needed. We try to solve everything via Slack because time is valuable and we don't want to occupy more of it than absolutely necessary. And then you know, the other part is we are a hundred percent remote. I think Anthony realized that how and where work gets done really changed with the pandemic and we changed along with it. Like we're not going to go back. There is no return to office because, if you do it right, the office is just a place where people are corralled to get it done. But you absolutely, with technology today, have the ability to make things 100% remote and deliver high quality stuff.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I agree, I agree. I mean the gig economy has grown. I think by the end of this year it's said to be close to like 40% of the workforce whether it's like full-time, part-time, side hustle are doing some type of freelance contract work, especially in this industry specifically. And it's kind of been going that way.

Speaker 2:

And yeah, absolutely, having been an agency kid for so many years and just seeing that cyclical, you know, pendulum of like agency work is like our creative work is out of house, then it's in house, then it's out of house, and then we're going to offshore and then we're going to downsize and so, like it always kind of felt like we were just off on our own anyways, and the people that I remember working alongside that really seemed to thrive the most were those like, very like organized and talented at their craft freelancer contractors that could come and go as they damn well please, so like if they wanted to take the opportunity, they could.

Speaker 2:

If the timing wasn't good for them because of life, because of family, because of other projects, they didn't have to take it. Whereas, you're right, like there's that sense of like we have a, I think we have a very unhealthy relationship with work in America, and I think too many of us do put our identities as like the company we work for, and so I think you know there's just a lot to even. That's a whole nother rabbit hole.

Speaker 2:

But I feel like you know this sense of I love what you said it was. I think you said um, autonomous productivity. Yeah, I love it. It's so true, like let treat people like adults and then watch what they can actually do. Now, I know it's not going to be for everybody, for every job, in every situation, but I do think agency models have been broken for a very, very long time and not necessarily moving along with the times, but I mean, clearly you guys are, and it's working out really well, yeah.

Speaker 1:

I think that, like for me when I was in an agency, I one of the things that, like Anthony and I say when we're talking to people about hiring Project 300 or hiring me specifically, you know I do project management, support on projects, but I also do operational support.

Speaker 1:

You know strategy around how to work.

Speaker 1:

And when we're talking to them and they say, like you know well what makes you different than another agency part of what I do so not just a project manager, but me is I am super efficient, I am very, very quick, I am very, very good at what I do.

Speaker 1:

And I struggled in an agency environment because you had timesheets and you had to have eight hours a day and you were encouraged to have more than eight hours a day because you are dedicated to this company and it's just like but if I can get what I'm doing done in six, then why isn't that timeline? So you know we're also different in that there is no overhead. You are not paying for me to sit there eight hours a day. You are paying for the hours that I am working and the work that you're going to get is really, really good. And I know that sounds awful, like I'm sitting here and I'm like, let me brag about myself, but like I know what I'm good at, so let me do it and you know will serve you better in the long run than paying for someone's week of work.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, I agree, I think you know I've, I've gone. I've worked for a large conglomerate owned agency, small, independently owned and operated agencies and I had gone back. I went to a small independent Um, and then we ended up consulting with my previous agency, which was larger and conglomerate owned, and I remember laughing cause we were coming in to basically be a vendor for them, for the agency, and we had a kickoff meeting and it was like a big deal. So like we took me, my sales guy and my art director and me, so the three of us, so it was because it was a big deal, it was a big meeting. We walk into that room. The agency had 10 people in there to just give us a break for kickoff. And my first thought was like and I'm pretty sure I probably said outside out loud I'm like this is an expensive meeting.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and we're all programmed to think that way. Where you're like that's your rate, that's your rate, that's your rate, we're all in here for an hour, and you're just like, oh my gosh, because, like we, one, we don't want meetings if we don't have to have them, but two, like you know, let's get the team that we need in place and nothing more. Absolutely yeah.

Speaker 2:

Work smarter, not harder folks. I'm definitely with you. I'm absolutely aligned to the Project 300 model and mentality. All right, let's talk about child care costs, because we mentioned that earlier. Many of our listeners struggle with the cost of child care versus career growth equation. I think, unfortunately, a lot of us listening right now have done that math. How did you navigate that calculation and what advice do you have for those who are kind of in that mapping moment? Oh, God.

Speaker 1:

So when we were before I made the decision to join, to step away from the agency and join P300, my husband and I did the math on three kids in daycare five days a week and with our salaries which were not paltry like they are good salaries Having three kids in daycare, we would clear, after all expenses, $100 a month. We would have $100 a month of fun money outside of groceries, car payments, mortgage, and that was a huge gut punch, like the realization that we would be paying someone else to watch our children so that we could work to make money. To pay someone else to watch our children was just like no, no, so I, I, I don't have an answer because no matter how you look at it, the math ain't mathing Like it's. It's not fair, it's not right, childcare is way too expensive, cost of living is too expensive and pay raises don't keep up. But you know I don't have a solution, so that's all the negative.

Speaker 1:

But I think it's worth sitting down and kind of reevaluating what career growth means to you. Is it a promotion, is it a bonus, is it additional responsibilities at work, and will those things really help your quality of life, your family's quality of life, I mean, let's be clear, we all love accolades, we all love being able to say like I was recognized and this is my new title, and this is my new title. But my advice would be take a step back and think about what you want. What does growth mean to you? Because there's definitely more than one way to get it. You know you can stay in the job, you can clear $100 a month, you can be banking on that promotion and you can be waiting three, four, five years for it and you can feel like you're not getting anything. Or you can say what do I actually want to do? How do I actually want to grow as a professional, as a person, as a mom? And you can kind of change the definition of what it means.

Speaker 2:

I love it. That's a great way to look at it because, yeah, and again, nothing is really truly forever. I mean, I remember the day, the last day, the last check we paid to daycare. I'm like we just got a huge promotion right, saving so much money every year. We could buy a whole car now if we wanted, because, I agree with you, the child care cost is a lot, but then, like we said earlier too, you know, yeah, raising kids is expensive, yes, inflation's out of control, and at the same time, it's like, okay, well, what are some of the things like for us?

Speaker 2:

When I made the shift from agency to business ownership, I took a knock, you know, having a small, mission-based business and, um, you know, for us it's really been a matter of looking at how, when and where we spend our time and money and just being more intentional.

Speaker 2:

And I've actually just found that, you know, actually kind of dialing back. I mean, I grew up in a household where it was my dad who worked and he didn't make a whole lot of money for a long time, and my mom was pretty much stay at home. I lived in a trailer park. We barely got by, but I'll tell you we were so happy and it wasn't actually until my dad made more money and got a big promotion that everything kind of started falling apart and things shifted and changed.

Speaker 2:

We moved into a bigger house but then there was more responsibilities and it's just like not to get like too personal or into it, but it's like one of those things that I think too often. What you said before is so true. We always think it's that hedonic adaptation, right. We always think that that next step up, that that pay increase, that promotion, all of that stuff is going to change everything for us and what you realize is you get there and then you're like it feels good at the time, but it's that little boost of serotonin and it doesn't actually like continue right.

Speaker 2:

Then you're always like what's the next thing? And that's just exhausting, constantly trying to achieve, achieve, achieve, achieve, achieve, whereas being more present, being more in line with, like, your values as a person. I think that's what's so great about you and your story right Is that you are working for a company, in a business, that you are very much values aligned and that allows you flexibility and autonomy and all the things that you respect, and I think that's what I want to encourage all of our listeners to do is like it might not show up tomorrow, it might not show up in a month or a year, but you just have to be open to it, and you can't be open to it if you're not aware of it, right. So I think your advice there of saying be aware of what your values are, what truly matters to you, then that allows that that door to kind of open even when you least expect it. At least, that's been my experience as well.

Speaker 1:

No, I agree, and I agree with you that, like free kids don't know what things cost. You know, like, so I'm with you. My kids have so much fun when we find a new park and we just go to a park. Like they are so happy to be with mom and dad at a park and it's like holy cow, like we don't need to. I mean, we'll eventually plan a trip to Disney because, let's be real, like hopefully we'll be able to do that in the future. But like they are so excited to just be with us and so like the investment for us right now is time. Yep, it's what time.

Speaker 2:

That's what the kids want really, yeah, deep down, that's what they want, cause they have that whole head on adaptation to adaptation too. Right, they get I've seen it a million times and you're going to get there, don't worry. I'm sure you are with your four-year old where it's like I want, I want, I want, and then they get that new pair of Nikes, and then it's like they've already just kind of like yeah, and then it's the next thing. So, yes, time is something that you just can't. It's not replaceable and you can't get it back. It is our most precious currency. Love it All right.

Speaker 2:

So your background spans nonprofit arts, commercial printing, leadership, development and pediatric healthcare. So you've done a couple of different things. I love that you have a diverse past and career path, because I think that's important for others to hear and know that, like, no career path is like linear, because I think that's important for others to hear and know that, like, no career path is like linear. I'm curious how has this diverse experience shaped your approach and how has it helped you kind of work through reinvention when you, you know, get things like surprise twins?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so, basically, upon graduation, I pretty much reinvented myself every year or every 18 months. I had no idea what I wanted to do. Upon graduating high school, both of my parents went to college for things that they thought other people wanted them to do, um, and then change their degrees. So it was very important to them that I do something that I love Like that was their statement was if you're going to go to college, do something you love. And I was like, well, you know, I really love to read. And my dad was like, ooh, maybe you took this a step too far. What? What do you mean by that? And I said I'm going to study English lit. And he was like okay, but what are you going to do with that? Upon graduation, I was like I don't know. I'll figure it out. I got four years to figure it out, right.

Speaker 1:

So I went to college and I read books and I wrote papers and loved it. And you know, it came time to find a job and I applied to anything and everything in Cincinnati and I landed at Cincinnati opera. So that is the nonprofit arts um in public relations and marketing. Because I thought I'm good at writing, I bet I can do that you know. So that was my start and I loved it, um, but I felt like it wasn't really my calling. So I stayed there for a year and I took a job with um, consolidated graphics in commercial printing. Um, because I come from a group, a family of graphic designers and printers, so figured I could lean on them when I needed it. Um, otherwise I would figure it out. That job had a huge project management, account management portion to it. So I definitely kind of found my first blush with project management there and it actually led me to make an impromptu move to their corporate headquarters in Houston in my early 20s where I was placed in charge of their leadership development program. In that case I was, like you know, I'm pretty good at figuring out how to get from point A to point B. I love listening to people. I'm an empath, I love helping people. I bet I can help people reach their goals, you know.

Speaker 1:

So this whole time I'm making this career journey that I didn't plan. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was smart enough to figure it out and I was gathering the tools that I would need later on in life that I didn't even realize I would need Pediatric healthcare. I stepped back into marketing for pediatric urgent care and they thought I had a design background as well and I was like I know graphic designers, they can help me. And I ended up designing all of their marketing materials and I made a car wrap, like you know design to wrap a car. And so then it came time I realized I was ready to leave Houston and I was like project management kind of feels like it takes in all of this. I can now take the knowledge that I've gathered over these past God.

Speaker 1:

I think at that point it was five years. It was only five years that I did all of that and I was like this is definitely doable and an agency is where I ended up for that which I was like this is definitely doable and an agency is where I ended up for that which I loved because I had the commercial printing background, I had the graphics background, I had the marketing background, and the point of all of this is I didn't say no, I didn't say I can't do that. I followed what interested me at the time and those things were the answer to what I needed right then. They weren't what I needed down the road or now, but doing those things allowed me to grow in my career.

Speaker 1:

You know there is no wrong answer. When you're reinventing yourself you can always change your mind and say, ooh, that was a step in the wrong direction. But I'm just going to turn here and see what happens. Houston for me wrong direction, that was way to go Early twenties, kate you. But I got out and I figured out. It led me to realize I want to be in Cincinnati, I want my home to be here. So I think the real key to reinvention is the ability to say I'm going to try it on If it fits. Wow, look what I did. If it doesn't fit, I gathered all these tools that are going to help me later.

Speaker 2:

Yep, I love it. It reminds me of my favorite Nelson Mandela quote, which is I never lose, I only win, or I learn something. Oh, I love that.

Speaker 1:

I've never heard that.

Speaker 2:

Isn't that good All the time with my kids and to myself, and I love it. You're right, it's like reinvention is like that practice of trying on new things that maybe feel uncomfortable at first and seeing if it is a fit. And I love how you are unashamed and unabashed about like your cumulative and transferable skills, Because I think so many women you know we always hear the stats of like women don't apply for jobs unless they're like a hundred percent qualified or 110% qualified, versus like men who are more likely to apply when they're 60% qualified. And it's because there's so many skills about like everything you kind of just said communications, leadership, project management, organization, operations, like that we kind of I think women in general is by nature are kind of conditioned to do and to be. You know that we don't really give ourselves credit to think about those as being skills that are cumulative and or transferable. And I just love that you're like well, I know people that that know how to do this, so if I don't know, I can at least lean on them. I love that as well. I think that's a great way to like borrow that sense of feeling knowledgeable.

Speaker 2:

And I also love your go with the flow mentality, with your career path and I will 100% agree with you Like I wouldn't be sitting and doing what I'm doing today if it wasn't for kind of just going with the flow of what was my like, what your parents said. So, again, kudos to your parents. I know it's already like saying like I think they're so, they sound like they're so amazing. So, hi, mom and dad, but like the fact that you know they were encouraging you guys to just explore and try it on and, you know, do that, I think, probably helped you have the right mindset going into the career world, because when we're having conversations like we have the last couple episodes talking about AI and the shifting and changing of digital marketing and advertising, you have to have a go with the flow mindset when it comes to all these things. Otherwise it can get very daunting very fast yeah.

Speaker 1:

And you know, to kind of apply the phrase, it takes a village from motherhood like is there any reason why it can't take a village for your career, like I? I think that's part of the reason we've had such success with project 300 is we are so open to being like. You know, anthony, and I always say we, we are so open to being like, we are experts in this. I understand the words that you're saying. I'm not sure I understand what they mean. Have you met? You know, and we bring in an expert because we know what we know and we know what we don't know. And building that community, building that village in every aspect of your life is only going to make your life and your experiences so much richer for you and the people you surround yourself with.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, absolutely agree. I love it. And would you say that that's kind of how you guys you know? If there's other examples you have, I'd love to hear them. Like how you're doing business differently, like what does the day to day look like and how does that flexibility show up in your work and then even in your life?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So I mean in terms of flexibility, have you heard of Maycember Because this was the first year that I have heard of May-cember where you know, basically for people who aren't parents, the month of May is December. Without all the gifts, all of the events, all of the happenings are happening, and you know so. For example, for the first three weeks of May, I had a mother's day breakfast. I had a pre-K prom, which was adorable. I had parent teacher conferences for two-year-olds and four-year-olds. Um, we had an end of year party that parents were invited to attend, which you don't want to be the parent that doesn't show up to that. We had the Spring Fling concert. We had a tumbling ceremony. That was just my schedule. You know.

Speaker 1:

Anthony had field day for his kids, he had his son's birthday and because we're able to work differently and because we are really a family comes first and everything that we do is for the family, we were able to say I'm going to be out from two to five today and I need you to cover or check emails. I'm going to be out for this. And we were able to not only rely on each other, but there's that trust that we have in the other people. There's the trust that we have in our village and our community where I was able to say if you need something, text me, but I'm not going to be online. And you know what? No one texted me because they all have-.

Speaker 1:

Can't save in lives, right, as long as everybody's competent, it's fine, right? Everybody knew what they needed to do and everybody knew how to do it and it was. It's just amazing. It is such a shift from that corporate mindset where you would be like I'll be taking calls in the car up until I get there and then I'm going to be offline for an hour and then I'll be back online and I'll be online tonight if you need me, and you know, just having that ability, um, you know, friday afternoons everybody knows that, like, likely not working, it's when I run my errands, so that weekends can be dedicated to the kids, right?

Speaker 1:

Um, you know, a really cool thing that Anthony is able to do with this is he takes his whole family to Greece every summer for like a month. Like his parents are from Greece, um, and so he packs up the entire family and they go and see their extended family. That's wonderful, that's huge to be able to do that and to have that flexibility, and that's something that, like, is irreplaceable and you can't put a dollar sign on that. Oh, I agree, I agree, I love it, I love it so much and we are so going to borrow your headline for Together Digital your career takes a.

Speaker 2:

Agree, I agree, I love it. I love it so much and we are so going to borrow your headline for Together Digital. Your career takes a village. I think that's what the community in general can do for you and you know, and it can transcend like any job. Although it's so good to have a company that has those again, values, alignments and all that, it's just such a dream. You're probably going to get a lot of people reaching out to you after this to talk to you guys about project 300. So just be ready. We have a lot of freelancers, contractors, things like that within together digital.

Speaker 2:

But it is so true, and I think you know, between both motherhood and being a working parent, we often think we have to do it all and we have to do it all alone, and that's just so not the case Like we're.

Speaker 2:

So many of us are in that same boat and in an age where we're having to combat a lot of perceived isolation that, like, literally has a toll on our physical and mental state, it's so important now than ever to recognize and realize it really truly does take a village for even not just for raising your kids, but for yourself and your career, I love it. All right, we're gonna have a couple more questions and then we'll jump into the fun little power round, but I want to let our listening audience know that they can definitely chime in with a question. I know there's been some nice comments and people agreeing with the conversations and tips and advice you've been sharing, kate, but if you have questions for Kate in particular, pop them in there and I will make sure we get them asked before we wrap things up. All right, let's talk about the thing that all moms feel, which is a sense of guilt and judgment. How do you handle the internal and external voices that question your choices, if there's?

Speaker 1:

anything. Yeah, I haven't had any like direct criticism. Luckily, I've got myself surrounded by my village. You know it's made up of my husband, who you know is one of the good ones that helps split the household requirements. He's the chef. I don't cook, so that's really really nice. I've got my family You've mentioned my mom and my dad Truly incredible.

Speaker 1:

I talk to them every single day and just their support has done wonders for giving me the confidence to do what I do. I surround myself with friends from all different backgrounds. You know, I've got friends with kids, I've got friends without kids, I've got friends who are married, some who are single, and the ability to just hear and share with people from all different family backgrounds is huge because it gives you a different perspective on things and it lets you know that, like, what you're doing matters. Um, you know, anthony and his wife are great. They are huge supporters of me and we are of them, vice versa. And then, you know, for those days when it's really, really hard, I have my therapist because, let's be clear, like I am a huge supporter of prioritizing your mental health yeah and you know couldn't do it without her.

Speaker 1:

So that's amazing I love it, yeah, and you know, I just I tell myself you're doing your best. Nobody has it all figured out, and that's okay. We're not supposed to. It'd be really boring if we did have it all figured out. Um, on days when it feels impossible, or I feel like I'm not doing enough, or those voices are making me doubt the value I bring to the table, um, I repeat the mantra which I read in a book late last year for the first time, which is you do not yield. You know, you do not give in to the demons that make you question your worth. You don't doubt your skillset and your abilities, and sometimes it's all about just getting through today and starting again tomorrow.

Speaker 2:

So I love it. That's fantastic advice and I agree, find that support system, you know, for all those internal and external things. I think. I think that's a great antidote to the mom guilt. We have a Slack channel on our Together Digital Slack that is for parents and actually members. If you're listening, go in and vote, because we're going to have a peer group and it's going to happen in the next week and we want to make sure we have a good time for everybody as best we can. But I think in those moments and being in a room with other working parents, it just it kind of it brings up, it allows for the vulnerability right.

Speaker 2:

So that you have that. You can have with your husband and your friends again all walks of life which is also great and perspectives, but sometimes also just having those peers around you to kind of know that you're not alone and that maybe if they're like a half step ahead of you they can give some advice or if you just need to vent. You know we've got like the all caps screaming social yelling channel where you can just oh, I love that.

Speaker 2:

But it's been really fun to kind of see like all of our working parents, like you know leverage the group to really work through some things that they probably would have had to figure out on their own and even if the group's not giving them the solution, just having that solidarity is like everything. So I think that's such an important aspect and a good piece of advice is to really find your community Like you said, it takes that village and to kind of combat that sense of guilt or judgment. Really just finding other peers around you that are going through the same things is going to help with a lot of that. Yeah, all right. So you have definitely proven that career growth doesn't have to follow traditional timelines, what mindset shifts were critical for you and redefining what success looked like for you and on your own terms.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So I kind of realized that the only people who really care about titles are those who are in your office, those who are in your direct orbit, Because once you step outside those doors, nobody knows the difference between a senior manager and a supervisor and a director, and it may matter in there, but even on your resume it's not going to make that big of a difference. So you know, once you let go of titles, you are able to focus on what you really really love doing. You know I started to question do I enjoy managing other people, Like, do I like taking on extra roles without extra pay? Or, in my case, do I genuinely like doing project management work?

Speaker 1:

Project management work Like do I like doing the timelines and the organization and the operational support and the building of the teams and the check-ins and the working through the issues? These are things that if I had stayed in a typical agency would be considered beneath my level that I would be at. And so once I identified like, no, I love doing this work, and you are able to say I'm not going to let what other people define as success make me strive for things that don't serve me yes, you know, that was the big part of it. I can be successful as a project manager with project manager being my title. Project manager with project manager being my title, without feeling like I'm falling behind because I don't have a senior project manager.

Speaker 2:

I mean they're not going to put your title on your headstone. I mean I guess you could request it, but I'm pretty sure they're not going to all those things we do. We hold on so tight to it. And I was the title chaser at one point, right, we all kind of we all have that phase and moment in life. But then I learned, I think you know, being called mom one of my favorite titles, hearing that. And then I also started coaching soccer for my daughter's team when she was about seven or eight. And so when the girls you know I'm doing school pickup, they see me, they're like, hey, coach, that's my favorite title, Hi coach. And I'm just like, even years after it's been, even years after it's been, it might've not coached them for two or three years and they still see me and they still call, and I'm like that's, that's what I.

Speaker 1:

Those are the kind of feels that I would have liked to have had when I got my creative director title, you know finally, I did it because, like again, it's that boost of serotonin where you're like, yes, I did it, and then you're like, whoa, I'm responsible for what now? And the things that I love doing. That got me here. I no longer get to do like what am I doing?

Speaker 2:

A hundred percent, A hundred percent. I love that perspective, Such good advice, All right For working moms, aspiring um, or for working moms or aspiring working moms in our community and our listener group here. What is the most important permission you want to give them today?

Speaker 1:

Take that chance quit the job that doesn't serve you, you know, do something that you've wanted to do but you're not sure of it because nothing is permanent. If you take the leap and you land on your face, you can kind of take some time to grieve those results and what happened, but then you still keep moving forward. You can always make another shift until you find what works for you. I think the mentality of find a job you love and stay there until you die is no more. I mean, this isn't we don't have pensions anymore Like we're not working for 50 years for the same company and so don't be afraid to say, like this isn't what I want to do anymore.

Speaker 2:

Right, yeah. And then you're modeling something so good for your kids.

Speaker 1:

Exactly, and you know. The other thing I want to say is just because you're a mom doesn't mean you're no longer you. Yeah, it took me. You know, mason, it will be five in October. I really struggled with the shift from me to mom, but I have since kind of ended up back to where I am now able to focus on who I was before kids and find a way to incorporate that identity into who I am now. Yeah, and that's really, really cool.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I love it. Yeah, that plus, mom, it's just like it's. It's the addition of right, it's the building of your character and refinement of who you are, because I tell you what kids will tell you they'll take, they'll bring it all out the good, the bad, right. They tell all the things and that's I think it's great. It really does shape you into someone, not completely different, but definitely somebody new. And I love your advice of taking the leap.

Speaker 2:

I am always saying confidence comes after the action, right, everything is scary the first time you do it, and then after that, it becomes easier and easier, right? So I often have to remind myself of that too, when either opportunities or decisions come about, and I'm just like you know, analysis, paralysis, it's like no, like I need to just listen to my gut, do the thing, make the jump and then know that confidence will come after I've somehow figured it out Exactly. I love it. Okay, we had one question from the listening audience, so I'm going to pop over into the chat. Kelsey wants to know what has been your proudest moment since becoming partner at P300?

Speaker 1:

Gosh just the fact that, like I did it right, like I'm still doing it, like I don't think I'll ever feel like I arrived, but like I went from having these two itty bitty babies on the floor while I just sat there with them to, and with five hours a week. You know, like you said, it's not overnight success, but all three kids are now in daycare because we are able to afford it which is something we're able to do, and I'm doing it.

Speaker 1:

I'm doing what I love to do, and I think I don't have that dread when I wake up that I have to go to work.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's important yeah. You shouldn't be sitting in the parking lot crying before you go into the office, friends or at lunch or you know, or on the way home, I used to like vent the whole.

Speaker 2:

I call my husband, I'm like I don't, I don't even need you to talk to me, I'm just going to like verbally, like vomit all over you Cause I was so stressed out, yeah. And then I looked back on that days and I was like, oh God, love you for just sitting and listening to all of that. All right, steph wants to know Kate, how do you carve out space for yourself, work from home with your kids? Cause that is a lot like when, uh, when you love your people but also kind of need to hide from them and everyone for a minute, yeah. So question.

Speaker 1:

Matt and I are really good about this, Like we both are really good at just like Matt's, my husband I don't know that, I said his name before but, um, you know we're really good at looking at each other and just being like I'm going to explode if I don't. And you know we the kids know they're getting used to it where, like, we just say I'm going to step outside for a minute. You know it's important to show them that you're allowed to take a step back if you're feeling overstimulated and overwhelmed. And are we perfect at it? God, absolutely not. But, like you know, I try to go outside versus in a closet, because, you know, fresh air, sun, they do wonders for you. But you know we just we take five minutes and it's good. I also am notoriously a bedtime procrastinator where kids are in bed, husband goes to bed and I'm like I'm going to read for an hour because it's my time and nobody's talking, and you know that can be good or bad, but it works.

Speaker 2:

I promise you it's going to get better as I get older, become more self-sufficient and then you can be more deliberate and intentional about those things. But I am super protective of my time, you know, and it's one of those things that it's, like you said earlier, if I'm not at my best, whether it's work affecting me, my own mental health, or like the lack of just being out and exercise the things that I need, like I'm not going to be showing up as the best possible parent for them, and so it's one of those things. Like I know, like dads feel it too right. Like my husband a lot of times will be like I guess I should go to the gym, but I don't want to be away from you guys. So like it's funny we both he goes at like nine o'clock at night Cause he's a night owl and I'm up at 5.00 AM and going. So like that works for us, right, we had the morning and then the night owl and then somebody's home with the kids, but now they're getting to that point where it's like can we leave them a home alone for an hour and go to the gym together's. It's not really in anything big. Honestly, I think the best are those small stolen moments for yourself and like really being intentional about doing those and just getting into the habit of it now, especially even while the kids are little. It's going to be so much easier when they get older and again like you're just, you're modeling something fantastic for them.

Speaker 2:

All right, let's see if we've got a. We got a couple seconds here. Unless we have any other questions, don't be shy, you can definitely pop them in. Um, I'm going to ask you a couple of our power round questions. All right, this is actually this is kind of a nice little dovetail from Steph's question. What is your go-to strategy when you have 20 minutes to get something important done? Um.

Speaker 1:

I uh, I was joking um with my husband before this. I said, uh, can I say that I'm pretty sure I have undiagnosed ADHD and this is the only way I work. No, I honestly, phone has to go in the other room, otherwise I'm just like immediately like huh, what's on my screen? Um, non-important windows on the computer, maximized. Go no distractions. Go no distractions. And it's amazing what you're able to get done in that amount of time.

Speaker 2:

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the Pomodoro method. Yes, yep. So all of our productivity nerds, project manager types, like 25 minutes is a great time to get anything done, turn off all of the distractions. Set a timer ideally like, not digital, like yeah, that's why it's called Pomodoro is like this little tomato. Set one of those and just focus and I tell you what, like you get so much more done. I think that's one thing. I miss the in-office experience and environment and people, but I love my ability to focus more on things and not get interrupted when I'm working from home. So it's definitely a balance. I like my background noise in coffee shops, but Exactly, all right, we can't leave without asking a T-Swift question. Taylor Swift song that best describes your working mom life.

Speaker 1:

You mean besides, look what you made me do I like it? I would say probably Bejeweled. It's a fun bop. It feels empowering. You know I left my old job that wasn't serving me anymore. But that doesn't mean that I can't still command a room and light it up when I walk into it.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I love it. Fantastic, all right, well, we'll go ahead and wrap it there, kate. Thank you so much for coming on, and just being vulnerable and sharing all of your experience. I know it's going to be really helpful and inspiring to a lot of our listeners, so we appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

Oh, thank you for having me. This was really fun.

Speaker 2:

I'm glad Good, good, so much I love it that you all have joined us today. Thank you to all of our live listeners for joining us and asking your questions and making some great comments. We hope to see you guys soon. Check out the podcast. It's on all streaming channels as well as YouTube, so make sure that you check it out and subscribe. If not, we hope to see you soon in the next coming episode. Until then, keep asking, keep giving and keep growing.

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