Ep.44 Life Update, Rebrand and Welcome to Season 2! ✨

What do you do when you create a podcast called Breaking Up with Corporate and then you find yourself back in corporate? 

Join me in this first episode of Perfection Not Required as I bring you up to speed with what life has looked like since wrapping up season one and pivoting back into corporate.  We'll chat life updates, rebranding the show and what you can expect from the upcoming season.   Let's get into it! 

Transcript

Jamie Stephens: 0:03

When I launched my podcast breaking up with corporate I was a few months into his severance. I was trying to figure out what's next, how to make money and how to show up on social media. On top of learning how to actually do all the things, I was pushing my comfort zone and expanding my boundaries. And I spent a lot of the time examining the way my brain and nervous system responded to the stress of building an online business. Even though I was totally in love with the process of undoing all that was holding me back, I wasn't actually making any money. Let's just get into it. So the last time we talked, I had run out of money. And I was going back into corporate and I just wanted to like, peel back that time period for you, because I am going to get into it in a future podcast episode about reframing. But let me just tell you that I had the best experience about going back into corporate after I had like a little mini breakdown and felt all the fields and all that good stuff, it applied for a whole bunch of jobs that I really would just couldn't find it within myself to be interested in. And I was a little I guess, embarrassed at the time, whenever I was going back, you know, like having to go through this job hunt. And it was just a really kind of icky time, because I was still doing everything to move forward in my business, and the podcasts and all of those things. And I didn't want to stop. But also like, there's reality where I had to actually go get a job and bring in some money because our situation had changed and the runway was gone, the money was out like, Okay, time to go find a job, find some health insurance, all of those things. So, after I had applied to like several different positions within supply chain, because that's where my expertise is, my husband and I were actually like going on vacation. And like if we wouldn't have lost all of our deposit money and all of the things for the vacation, we would not have gone because we just didn't have the money. And I didn't want to stress about it. So like we just agreed that like, hey, the money's coming. Like I don't want to go on this vacation and like nickel and dimed to death because that's that will just make me feel really gross. So we just agreed to go and like have a good time. And we just really enjoyed ourselves. We traveled from our home in Northwest Arkansas went to flew into Savannah and stayed a couple of days and then went to Charleston and stayed a couple of days and then went to Folly Beach. Just kidding. Folly Beach was before Charleston. But anyway, we went up the East Coast, saw my brother in law and nephew, all those good things. So that was a good time. Meanwhile, in the background of all this, I'm just like, half heartedly applying to jobs that indeed is recommending me. And I ended up having one interview while we were on vacation with this recruiter, and I told her how much money I was wanting to make. And she's like, well, that's not an option. And I said, Well, I'm not really flexible on that. My whole thing is, if I'm going back then I'm going back for more money. And I'm going to use the extra money to really kind of fund my dreams and fund my projects that I've got going on. So making less money or you know, that just wasn't an option. So I then had an interview with Etsy, which I was like so stinking excited about it was a remote position. It was in transportation, which like that's a big chunk of my experience. I thought I was a perfect fit for the job, especially since I've had like, not only at the experience as a shop owner, but as a consumer and all of this transportation knowledge and multiple modes and all the things. The one thing I didn't have was small parcel, which is like the UPS stuff, which you know, I guess it's pretty important whenever it comes to Etsy, but like my whole thing was, I've got all every single other transportation skill that there is like this is just a transferable skill. It was ridiculous money, probably because it was based out of Brooklyn and I'm in Northwest Arkansas. So like there's a big difference anyway. So I had like three, two interviews with that see, and then didn't move forward. And I was kind of heartbroken but what it did allow me was that like, notion that there was something out there that I could get excited about, like the first interview that I had, I was just it was for some like some company that makes fans and sells them into Walmart like I had zero interest in this fan business but like, Etsy got me excited. And what that allowed even Though I ended up not getting the job with ESEA allow me to dream like a little bit like, okay, maybe this is something that I can get excited about, like, what was it that excited me about this opportunity, and kind of just let myself dream a little bit. Anyway. So I ended up at a company called Acosta. They are the third company that I interviewed with the only company that I made it past the recruiting type conversations. Even with Etsy, I still never got to actually talk to Etsy, I had two different interviews with their screening people. And then finally, I had my first like, in person interview, probably about a month after I really started my job search, I sat down with these gentlemen. And they're like, Okay, if you could do anything within the supply chain, like, what would you do? And I sat there, and I thought about it for a minute. And it didn't actually take long because this was a job that I kind of dreamed up while I was still at Sam's Club. And I said, Honestly, I would just like to sit with people and see what they're doing. And then go away and tinker and figure out all the ways to take it apart and make it better and make it more efficient, and basically, tear it all down and put it back together and make it better, which I realize now is kind of like a really cocky answer, because that assumes that I know how to make it better. But I mean, honestly, like, I have those skills that's in my wheelhouse to do. And so we're before, I probably would have like, played that down a little, I really just kind of went off for it. I was 100%. Me in the interview, I said what I wanted to say, and I told them what I wanted, and it was just one of those things like, okay, they're either gonna love me, or they're gonna hate me. And that's okay, because I want to find a good fit. At that point, it had been, like, almost three years since I had set foot in an office. So I was like, it really needs to be a good fit. Anyway, long story short, I got that job. It didn't start for a few weeks, which was even better. And let me kind of wrap some things up, put the podcasts in place and close out the season all of those good things. And so that's what I've been doing. I am working in supply chain, I have to say, I have shocked myself, but I actually love it. And it's because I'm basically getting to do exactly what I said I wanted to do. Like I'm taking apart the processes, I'm putting everything back together, I'm automating stuff that kind of efficiency does kind of makes my little geeky brain and heart just like swell. I love it. Anyway, so that's been really, really good. Okay, so there's all of that that's happening in the background since Season One came to a close. So really, as I started thinking about season two, I'm like, well, obviously, it can't be breaking up with corporate because hearing him back at corporate. And so that kind of led to the name change, which led to a deep dive of learning around like how to make the podcast better, and how to really grow a podcast, because last year was really just about learning to do the thing. I have learned to make peace with this messy everything. And it's so true that you just have to have something to edit. Because had I not started this podcast, I wouldn't even begin to be able to have the bandwidth to not only learn how to do the podcast, but also how to make it really good. So I think there's something in that too, because that's feels like something that I'm maturing around in my business journey is allowing the space to learn and create and build in the appropriate phases. Like sometimes I just want to get it all done, because I'm really excited and I want to be really good. And then I want to do this and I want to do that. And what it does is it just kind of keeps me stuck. Because I want it to be such this perfect version whenever I put it out that it's just not really realistic. And then anyway, I'm off on a tangent. So when I was in my like, deep dive of how to grow a show and make things better, what I began to learn was about having clarity around what you're talking about, which you know, I did to a point, but there was this exercise I heard I cannot think of the guy's name. I can link it in the show notes, but he's an NPR Podcast Producer. And he's produced all kinds of shows. Really, really smart dude. And he was talking about the best way to get clarity around your show and who you're talking to. And all of those things is you have a 10 word description. So like, how can you describe in 10 words, your podcast where it's nobody else's in the world? Okay, so like nobody else's in the world. I don't know about all that. But I did manage to get down to 11 words, and I think it's really specific. So my 11 words are exploring conversations between inner healing and building an online business. Oh, 10. Look how good I am. Anyway, so I've got my 10 word description, it has brought clarity. But also with that, it's kind of made me go back and redo a bunch of things that like email sequences, and Calendly, invites, and all that sort of thing to where it didn't do them in the right order. So I've learned some things, and I've got some clarity, and I'm excited about what's coming for the future for season two. I'm excited about the direction and I really think that I'm gonna have some really great, I've already had some great conversations. So we're gonna get into mindset, obviously, I mean, that's kind of been my jam this whole time. But we are going to do it around more of the mindset of actually taking action and moving beyond just kind of spinning out and getting stuck, that sort of thing. We're going to talk about strategy, like, what are people doing to grow their shows, their podcasts, their content, their YouTube channels, like whatever it is that they have their thing? How are they growing it? What are kind of the hiccups? What can they share that they've learned, that we can really benefit from? So it's something that I've changed in my guest. Kind of survey, whenever people reach out to me to be a guest on the show, I am now asking, like, on your behalf, like what can you teach my audience? This is this is who I'm talking to? What can you teach them? So I'm getting a lot of clarity around that. And it's exciting to have that direction in the conversation. I know, I've been very kind of off the cuff in the past. And I still am, to a degree because I really do want it to be more of a conversation. But having that direction of how it relates back to you guys like how it relates back to the audience, and how like what kind of value I'm providing through this interview. And like, kind of what's the point. That's where I'm getting to in this season. So I'm excited about that. And then we're also going to do behind the scenes, primarily with my business, I'm going to just, like bear it all with the things that I'm doing as far as this is what I'm doing in my podcasts. And this is how I've changed my strategy for email. And this is what I'm automating so that you can too, because I know that as a content creator, somebody who's putting content out and somebody who is a coach, or an educator or somebody who's building an online business, having the curtain pulled back so that you can see what is happening between other people's systems and kind of how they do things can be very eye opening. So I'm excited about that. And with that there will be an announcement coming up for second quarter that leads into that because I am also Yeah, I guess it's not an announcement if I tell you right now. So anyway, just know that there's something big coming second quarter. And all of this is really exciting. Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. I'm excited to be back. I've got a solo episode again next week about the patterns holding you back. We're going to talk about my fun patterns that I have recognized and how I'm doing things differently this year and for the next couple of years, like how that translates. And so I'm excited about that. I'm excited about the interviews that I've done, I think that you're going to love them. There's some great value coming and I'm excited about that the new direction of the show. So thank you so much. I will talk to you next week. Bye bye