Cultivating creativity and confidence with Natashia McLean of Canary Jane - 002

Welcome to Law and Wit: Creative Counsel for Entrepreneurs. I'm your host, Brittany Ratelle, mother of 4, entrepreneur, and naptime attorney. Thanks for joining me. Hi and welcome. Today I am so excited to introduce Natasha McLean of Canary Jane. And Natasha I've known for a few years and she's super talented. She's a fitness instructor and illustrator a graphic designer, event planner, and influencer. Pretty much does all the things, all the things really well. She's the mom of 4 soon-to-be 5 littles and pregnant with a really, really special rainbow baby. And she's published her own coloring book. She does social media consulting, has been an instructor and a speaker at Aalt, at Pinterest Conference, at Snap, and spoken to a lot of audiences great and small about all things being beautiful online and crafting and just designing a beautiful life. I'm really happy to have her here and I know that she's going to share some great wisdom and hopefully inspire you in your own creative entrepreneurial journey. Welcome Natasha.

Hey, you make me sound really good. I need you in my house in the mornings and be like, hey Natasha, you're pretty awesome. Because seriously, I just think you You made me feel really good right now.

You're welcome. I mean, that's what we all need. We all need someone to kind of follow us around and give us that little boost, whatnot. So I think that that's, you know, that's really helpful.

No, thanks. Thanks. You made— yeah, thanks. Yeah.

Well, so I want to give you kind of a chance to kind of give a bird's eye view of your origin story of kind of how you started. Kind of on your creative entrepreneurial journey. So I kind of gave, you know, the highlights of where you are now, but we all know that most of us start out in a very different place. So why don't you tell us a little bit about that, kind of where you started and how you came to be what you're doing today.

Sure. First of all, I just want to say like where I'm at right now, it's funny because you make me sound super good, but I feel like I'm still at the beginning of my journey. I feel like there's still so much more And I feel like our journeys just developed so much. So if you're like listening and you're thinking, man, she's done all of this, it can go really fast or slow. And we all have our own different paces. And just know that what I say today will hopefully give you some inspiration so you can get there too. But for me, I, I've always been very creative. There's pictures of me as a kid just drawing and crafting. My mom said she would just give me Scotch tape and pencils and paper and I would just be good for like hours. And so that's kind of been always my identity to a degree. During high school, I kind of lost that. My mom had put me in art classes and kind of tried to cultivate that creativity. But in high school, I really focused on the violin and I tried to get back into art. I went to a, what was called a magnet school in Nevada, or kind of like a specialty school. And I went there for the violin, and I tried to double major in art, and I was declined. And that kind of set me back for a while. I didn't cultivate, I didn't draw, I didn't— I was creating in my own ways. I was redecorating my bedroom as a teenager. That should have been kind of a hint. And then once I had kids, I still really wasn't doing much in the forefront to cultivate my creativity. But this it was still there. I was redecorating my house now and doing Pinterest parties before Pinterest was even a big thing and just scrapbooking. I was part of the scrapbooking movement and all that jazz. So anything I could get my hands on, I didn't realize it at the time, but it was such a big part of me that it was manifesting even if I didn't try. And that's kind of the beauty of my journey is I was doing all this and And a friend came up to me and said, hey, I'm going to start a blog. You do a lot of really fun things. We should do it together. And we ended up— a few of us did it. And I didn't realize it, but at the time it gave me my identity back. Now that I'm at where I'm at, it was probably about— so this was 4 years ago and it was about a year into blogging. And this was— We had no idea what we were doing. We had, I really, I hadn't followed a ton of blogs, so the blogging world was new to me. Instagram was new to me. I didn't have an Instagram account before this. And all, all of this world was new to me, even the creative world. And about a year in, I realized that it was awakening this part of me that had always been there. And it just almost seemed silly that I hadn't been doing anything beforehand. And so I— sorry, I'm going on a long time. I guess I can talk really good about myself. But really what happened is I got to a point where I said I want to focus on my drawings, which has always been a passion of mine, something I've done a long time. And I want to focus more on art, but also want to keep the blogging lifestyle aspect that I had already built and come to be comfortable with. So I created my own brand, the Canary Jane brand, which is my blog, my Etsy shop, my business name Canary Jane. And so I created that brand and at the beginning really didn't know exactly what it would look like and what it would grow into. But I started with an Etsy shop and I started with a blog. And at first the blog was to give the background between, behind each piece of art. And that went okay, but I really didn't know, I still didn't have a lot of tools under my belt. I didn't have a lot of experience. I mean, I was only like a year into blogging. And for some people that can be, you can be awesome. It depends on what, how your paths go and what you do and where you learn. But for me, I was still very fresh and The really cool thing that happened was I just put in a lot of work, and when I did that and I started networking, I started trying to learn everything I could, reading articles, Googling, becoming part of groups, really just anything I could get my hands on, I did. And I can talk more about that later, but I really just tried to to make this work because I liked it and it was a really awesome creative outlet for me. And at the time, that's what it really was. It wasn't really bringing me much money or anything. It was just something that I could do and I felt validated and there was documentation. And within the first year of my brand, launching my brand, some really exciting things happened. I had a publisher reach out to me, which I, It was just a crazy experience for me because there are amazing artists out there who don't have this experience, and somehow I got lucky. And a publisher reached out to me and said, hey, we like your illustrations, would you publish a coloring book under our name? And at the time, like I said, I was super fresh, didn't even know how to go about that. I think that was one of my first contracts I ever signed, if not, I think that was maybe my second or third. Anyway, it was just very exciting. Very new for me. Um, a brand new world when, you know, yeah, yeah, no, and it was like, wait, what? Um, and that was super exciting. And, um, I also got to do a lot of fun freelance projects during that time. Um, I wasn't looking around at so many different people that were kind of getting inspired by them, so I started doing some stop animations and time-lapse drawings. And somehow I, I really feel— I mean, I, I worked but there are people who work just as hard and don't have these opportunities. So I really feel like a lot of it was, was luck, or, or I, you know, for me, I believe that there's some divine inspiration there. But you can call it whatever it is depending on your view. But whatever, I, I had clients come to me who wanted me to do these stop animations and time-lapse drawings, and some of them were bigger, like famous footwear emailed me, which was like Okay, okay, like you're a real client, but okay, yeah, let's, let's work together for sure.

Yeah, yeah. So the answer for whatever it is you're asking is yes, uh, yes, I can do it.

Yeah. And some of them, I mean, they weren't all national, but I did some for like Children's Miracle Network, which is, um, multinational. Um, I did some for, uh, Costa Vida. Um, and then it just like I have these small businesses hitting me up and And it really was quick for me. In that first year, I went from a blog and an Etsy shop that barely was selling anything and not making any money to I'm making money, I'm having contracts, I'm a professional now, you know?

Right, you are, you are a business owner, you are doing it. Yeah, you're an entrepreneur.

Yeah, and at this time it was very exciting and there was a lot of really exciting things happened, but it wasn't consistent and I wasn't in a groove per se. So this was kind of an interesting time for me. It was a very transition time for me. And I'll shorten it up. Sorry, I'm expounding way too much.

No, no, no, you're, you're good. But I think that's helpful because I think people skim over that part of the story, and I think it's, it's too bad because I think that's really where, you know, a lot of people will find themselves and sometimes lingering for a while. And so I think it's really helpful, you know, to really— to don't, don't feel too, too much in a rush to skip over into You know, till you get to the Emerald City, you need to talk a little bit about being on the Yellow Brick Road.

Yeah, well, I mean, this is part of my journey, and it really, uh, that year was really exciting for me because it gave me confidence, um, or helped me learn where I could find my confidence, um, to be able to say, okay, I am a businesswoman. And that was really, I think, at the end of that first year or into the second year that I actually sat back and went, I'm a business owner. What? Like, that wasn't anything I had thought was gonna happen, especially that fast. Um, this was my creative outlet, this was my passion, this was something that I've always dreamed of doing, was having a business or a profession in a creative industry. And I found myself suddenly having work. Um, and then last year was kind of a crazy transition as well. It really— it's just been a— we all have different journeys that lead up to different things, and it's interesting when we look back and see how it shaped us and what it did for for us. This last year, my husband had been really struggling emotionally. I'm pretty open on my blog for those who don't know me or haven't read my blog before. I'm pretty open about things because I feel like transparency connects us to each other. So I will say my husband's having a lot of emotional problems. We had been going to marriage counseling for about 3 years. We couldn't figure out what to do and we got to a point that we felt he should quit his job. And this was actually about 2 years ago. And it took us, it took us about 4 or 5 months to figure out how that would, what we could do with that. Was he gonna go back to school? Was he gonna work part-time and go back to school? What were we gonna do? And I, like I said, at this time I had some money coming in, but it wasn't consistent enough to be considered income. It was nice, but—

Right, it's nice, but you know, you're also a family of 6.

So yeah, yeah, we had a mortgage because my husband had a good job before this, um, and he— we had two car payments, um, and yeah, we had four children. So really kind of kicked everything into gear last year was we, we felt like I could take over the income if I started doing social media, um, consulting pretty consistently because I at this point had also had that kind of happening in the background. I had all these other small kind of opportunities coming to me in between all these big projects. And I had had some businesses reach out and say, hey, you know Instagram, or you know what you're doing here on this platform, can you help us? And at first I wasn't soliciting it in any way. In fact, some of the— most of the first ones were just people who had worked with me as a blogger and then felt that I was professional enough to translate over. And they asked me and approached me and said, hey, You knew what you were doing when you talked about this. Can you help us? And that was a new journey because this was a whole other area that I was not educated in, in marketing. I didn't go to school for marketing. And so for me to learn the terminology, to learn what's standard, to learn what, how to consult was another fun adventure as well. So at this point, when my husband did quit his job, I, thankfully it had some long-term clients kind of booked and I became a long-term consultant for multiple businesses. So it would make up my income and the good thing about this is I didn't necessarily make more money with them consulting, but I made consistent money, which I needed. I needed consistent money to pay my mortgage, my bills and everything. So this last year, I did that, I blogged, I did social media consulting and took on freelance projects as they came. And it was a lot of work. I worked more this last year than I've probably ever worked in my life. In fact, I can probably guarantee that. I hustled my butt off. And I had to, I had to feed my family. And it's a crazy experience to have, responsibility. And so I have a lot more respect for men and husbands who are in that traditional role, and for the women who do that.

Yeah, that hunger, you know, that's— that there's something to be said, you know, for— you know, there's hustling, and— but yeah, there's something to be said for that hunger, that primal need of like, this has to happen, you gotta figure out a way.

Yeah, we have to pay our bills. So it was, it was pretty intense this last year without going into it more, but it helped me grow and it immensely brought me comfort. I ran multiple focus groups. I had to sit in rooms of owners of businesses and tell them, give them reports thoroughly. I mean, it really stepped up my professionalism because it took me from, I'm this at-home blogger doing these projects on my own leisure time when I can, to I have schedules, I have deadlines that are very pretty hard and fast, and also I have to go in and be professional face-to-face in front of people, which there's a difference. And so, um, a lot's gone into where I'm at right now, what I've done, um, and who— where my business has led me, um, this last year now. So my husband ended up going to a coding boot camp, um, and is now— he didn't He did some kind of part-time work afterward and now has a full-time job doing some entry-level kind of work. And so I've scaled back. In fact, I at the moment have no social media clients, which is like crazy compared to last year. I did end up getting an assistant last year because it was just so crazy, and I realized that if I didn't, I was going to lose money because I couldn't keep up with the work. So if I hired help, I would make more money, if that makes any sense.

Right. No, there's something to be said for, you know, you, you have to grow a team to be able to keep them, you know, the work that you have. Yeah.

So yes. Yeah. Yep. So, um, so I hired an assistant. So it's funny because she's kind of been with me for the last year, and she's now been over a year with me, and, um, she's seen such a huge transition. At the beginning, we were dealing with all these multiple clients, and now it's all about my blog. And so this last year, I just stopped working with my last client about 2 months ago, but through the beginning, through basically since he's been done with his boot camp, I've been slowly like tapering my work. And so I've been focusing more and more on my brand, which has been really fun. Sad because I built these relationships even for a year with a brand, um, and so it's kind of sad to not have those. But I— it's nice to be running my own business and focusing on that, which allowed me this year to do more with my business, right? Um, that was the downside of last year is it did— it helped me gain a lot of skills and a lot of confidence in a lot of ways, but, um, it, it didn't leave enough time for me to grow my brand as what I wanted. And we— I still grew, but I didn't get to do any huge projects or anything. So this year I've done 2 events, as you mentioned, um, and then that were awesome. It's, it's a fun thing to be able to throw a party and get paid to do it and not be paying for it, right? Um, especially a— yeah. And then, um, I've done several other projects this year that have just been really, really fun. So kind of brings me up to speed in between all the things you mentioned, the coloring book, speaking, consulting, that kind of all just fits within the last couple years. And really my brand, I launched it in April of 2015, so it's not even 3 years old per se. So there is a little, you know, some time that goes behind there with the experience. I'm not going to say I started brand new blogging, in 2015. But, right, but my— there's still so much. Like I said, I feel like there's—

I'm still at the beginning, just getting going, and there's so much to do still, which is, you know, good, good news and bad news for being in this industry, you know, that there is still— if you're a person who likes to learn, there's still always something to learn and to grow. And, and in that respect, as you were telling your story, it kind of made me think about, you know, the balance between sometimes We're given the advice to, you know, fake it until you make it and to, you know, be confident. Sometimes you have to step out into the dark even if you don't feel that you're perfectly qualified to do something. And yet also there's, you know, advice about, you know, knowing yourself and knowing when to say no. And considering those two pieces of advice, you know, how, how have you managed to walk, you know, to walk a good path for you, you know, in your growth this last year?

Um, everything you're saying is, is like advice I would give to people. So yeah, you're spot on on that. Um, I think just knowing your brand and knowing you— luckily for me, it's, it's, it's hard and easy because it's me. My brand is me. And I may— that may expand later in the future. That, that means I have to consider, do I want to bring this into a team or contributors? Do I want to turn it into something— like I said, I'm still very much at the beginning. There's still so much to go and I'm excited. But I think for me, just knowing myself and my brand was probably the thing that helped me keep that balance. Being able to know what's too much, too little, what fits for my brand, what doesn't. What, what is good for my brand and what isn't, right? And just considering all those factors.

So when you— when someone reaches out with some sort of opportunity, do you have, um, a list or something, even if it's just internal in your head, of something, some questions or factors that you kind of consider in knowing whether it's a good fit or not?

Well, without getting too technical, I really— I do pay attention quite a bit to analytics, and I know that that isn't maybe as, um, passionate or sensitive feeling, or I hope people aren't turned off by that, but I do—

but it's not all about, you know, peonies and rose gold office supplies.

Like, I pay attention to numbers, as in who, what age group is following me, what, what, obviously what gender— that's probably a given there— and, and even cities. Even there are a lot of tools online that can teach you about your followers, even according to where they live and their interests and such. And I do pay attention to that a bit. And I feel, I feel like once your business gets to a certain point, you have to. I know some people say that they don't know any of that and they have hundreds of thousands of followers. Maybe that's the case, but most of us, if we're going to grow a business, we have to know the background kind of stuff. Stuff that isn't necessarily the passion cutesy stuff. It's just business stuff. And I know that that maybe hopefully takes away— I want all my— anybody who follows me to know that I still love you and you're not just a number or a demographic.

No, but, but you need to know the numbers and know, you know, where you're at and where you maybe want to be going and where you've been and, you know, why people are drawn to you and what that person is, you know. You know, you should absolutely— like, like we talk about, know your avatar, know who that client is, and if you were gonna take them out to lunch, you know, what would they look like?

Yes, absolutely, no, and so those are some of the big factors for me, is would they like this, but also I am very concerned with sharing products that I personally feel are amazing as well. If I'm going to promote a product, which I think is what you're referencing, if I'm gonna go out there and share something with people that come to me, I wanna know that it's awesome. You know, I occasionally have brands reach out and say, will you share this and we'll send you photos? And I don't do that. I wanna try the product, you know? You can't just, or I even have some brands who are really awesome or wanna pay me a good amount of money and say, hey, we'll pay you and we'll just, we don't need to send you product, but we'll just send you some photos you can post. No, I need to know that this is worthwhile. I need to know this is good because I've had products that were worth a lot of money that didn't work for me and I sent it back. Um, and it— and that's just part of brand integrity in my point, or in my opinion. Um, you need to be able to share things that are worthwhile, and it's not just always about the money. Um, you are creating, if you are a blogger or a business, you are creating a connection with your demographic, your clients, your audience, yeah, your audience, yeah, no matter who they are. You know, you can have something that isn't very passion or sensitive based, and yet you're still creating a connection in some way with those people. And so I think that that really is important is that if you're creating connections, have that integrity.

Yeah, I agree with you there. So, well, I gave you a little heads up that I kind of wanted to ask if you have kind of 3 laws of doing, of how you run your business that you've discovered. You know, and for you, you've had such swings in terms of the intensity and even the nature of your business, but can you think of kind of 3 things or principles or something that you found that have kind of kept you centered or kept you anchored, you know, as you, as you move throughout your business?

Yeah, absolutely. Um, and we've kind of already touched on most of these, and they're probably gonna sound cliché, but you know what, just because things are cliché doesn't mean they're not true. Yeah, exactly. Um, the first one is what we kind of already talked about, is just being ourselves and knowing ourselves. And part of my journey in my own blog is I've come to learn more of myself, and branding myself was kind of interesting to go, okay, wait, I have to understand this whole brand concept. So it really made me look inside and say, okay, who am I? What are my values? What do I want to share and bring to the world? But in part of that, I, I think I learned, and I think we all need to learn, is first of all who we are, but then to be confident with that. There are plenty of days I wake up and I'm like, man, I'm just a normal dorky person. Like, I'm not anything special or worthwhile. Like, not that I put myself down, I just don't feel— for some reason there's like this little voice that sometimes comes, and I'm sure we all have it, that says, yeah, you— why are you doing this? You know?

And yeah, it just has a little, you know, a little gentle hammer that just wants to keep patting you down, you know, in case you think that you can stand up higher.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and sometimes I know that this— I hope this doesn't sound terrible, but sometimes I have to sit back and go, okay, wait, I've done some pretty awesome stuff.

Yes, you have.

And I'm like, wait, I totally deserve where I'm at. I totally deserve what I— what opportunities I get. I totally deserve the respect I have in the creative community. And you need to shut your face.

Yeah, you need to get a little sassy with your negative self-talk. Yeah. And No, it's—

Yeah, I kind of— Yeah, I got to like shove it down a little bit. So yeah, totally getting sassy and get some 'tude in there. And so really, yeah, I try to really just remember to be me. OK, I don't need to be everybody else, even if they're successful. I don't need to do everything they do. I don't need to worry about them. I just need to be me and what I love to do and what I am. And then own it. And sorry, that's like a whole big number one.

No, that's— it's an important number one. Yeah.

But really, it keeps me afloat so much. And yeah, even if you're starting and you don't have whatever behind you, you can say, hey, I got up today, and that is alone worthy enough of sharing my message with the world, or whatever, or creating a brand or a business or whatever you're doing out there. Professionally. Um, and so sometimes I even do that, like, hey, I just took care of a poopy diaper. That was super gross. I'm awesome.

You know, I, I, I killed that. You know what, I, I did it. I got it all wrapped up. Not to get like too graphic for those of you who don't have the pleasure currently of changing diapers for people, but, um, but yeah, there's— that's, that's some real stuff right there. That's, that's real.

You gotta own everything you do. And just because you do something that people might, or you might say is small, you gotta own it. Like you said, those poopy diapers. But my second one is something I really, really strongly believe in, is on top of that number one, is to be able to shoot the moon and you'll land them on the stars. Always try. Like, the worst thing that's gonna happen is somebody's gonna say no or they're not gonna respond. And it happens, and it still happens to me today. But I will tell you, when I spoke at Snap, when I spoke at Pinners, when I spoke at Alt Summit, all of those times were me. They didn't come to me. I had to take the time, I had to pitch them, and there was that little voice that said, oh my gosh, you totally, you just barely started, you've only been doing this a year or less, when I did this. Why are you even doing this? And I was like, you know what, shush, I'm gonna just try.

And the worst that can happen.

And I'm not gonna say that the nos or the silence doesn't sting. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it's like, oh, super hurts on your ego. But really, if you can just be like, you know what, that's just a no, move on. Don't get your heart all set up on one opportunity. Go for it all. Shoot for everything you want to do and your goals that you wanna go for. And I promise you, you'll get some. And when I got those acceptance emails from people saying, yeah, we'd love for you to do this, and blah, blah, blah, I was like, what? Like, yeah, it was the best. And so even if you get just one, I will tell you, my very first Ticket to Alt Summit was I entered a contest on Instagram where you were supposed to do a craft. And so I did it, and I didn't, I knew there was a lot of people entering, didn't think it would happen. So when it did happen that very first time, I was in an In-N-Out with my siblings over Christmas break, and in the middle of In-N-Out started screaming, and everybody around me was like, what the heck? And my siblings had no idea, 'cause I'm new to this industry, they have no idea what Alt Summit even means. And I'm freaking out and they're like, okay, so you want a ticket to something? And I'm like, no, no, you don't understand.

You don't understand. Like, this is the thing with the capital T. Yeah.

Yeah. I was like, this is an international creative conference and these people know what they're doing and they're going to help me. And, and it was amazing. And so you got to take those wins, but shoot, just, just try. The worst thing that's going to happen is people are gonna say no. And I use— my assistant probably hates that phrase because I say it enough, enough that I'm like, okay, just shoot the moon, you know. Something comes up, yeah, let's shoot the moon, go try for it, pitch it, why not, you know. And don't be afraid to dream big.

Yeah, yeah, amen, amen.

And my third one kind of builds on that too. I guess they all kind of build on each other, but my third one is is hustle, hustle, hustle. Just like work your butt off. You can be super talented, you can have the education, you can have the connections, and those all help, like they really do. But if you don't work, you're not going to go as fast as you could or where you want to go. You have to work for what you want. And I really believe that if you're willing to put in the time, you're going to get somewhere. And it may not be where you originally intended, but you're gonna end up somewhere pretty awesome. And really, that's kind of what's led to where I'm at right now, is I did shoot the moon, I did, I went to, I've gone to as many conferences as I can. And I couldn't always afford it, so I would win tickets, or I would go as a speaker. What do you know? You know? And yeah, so, um, I, and even then there are local conferences. If you're in Utah and even other places around the nation, there are local conferences that you don't have to fly to, or there are local meetups, there's local groups. There's so much support out there. And worst case scenario, if you have the internet, there is online resources all over the place. Invest time. Invest money, hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle. Really, I, I, like I said, I was Googling everything I could. I was talking and networking. Like, the first couple years, I was just like, I probably was a little too aggressive on the networking. I don't know.

I mean, as long as people aren't like, you know, holding up fingers and all seem to go, need to go to the bathroom as soon as they see you, you're probably okay, right?

Yeah, wait, that's what that meant? I'm just kidding.

So when you were kind of in the process of developing your personal brand, is that something that you did all on your own, or did you look for outside resources? Or kind of walk me through a little bit of that process. How did, how did you do that for yourself?

Uh, that one's been really tricky. I probably should have looked at more resources at the beginning. Um, that wasn't something that I even paid a lot of attention to until probably the last year or so that I thought, okay, I'm a brand, how can I brand myself? So I would, I would say in your business, do that sooner than later. It will be beneficial to you. But for me, when I did decide I wanted to do that, a lot of it was just taking step backs and, or step, taking a step back and looking looking at my brand as a whole and deciding what that was going to be. And even now, like I said, there's so much more for me to develop that my brand may evolve a little bit as it goes too. But I did end up getting a little bit of help speaking to a few different professional friends that I had made through the process of networking, like I mentioned. And so yeah, I would say get help if you can. You can get it online, you can pay for it. Be willing if you need to to pay for that. In anything in your business, don't be afraid to invest money and time into it, 'cause it will, you'll get it back. And so for branding, that would be—

So those are some good dividends there, you know, if you're willing to do that. To do the work. So, and it is work, you know, it's not all logos and fonts and picking out fun colors and mood boards, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and then I think the hardest part is going forward once you have kind of those logos and those fun things is going, okay, I have to stick to this brand. And it, and it doesn't necessarily feel confining, but just working within those bounds and making sure you're consistent. Consistency is such a huge portion of business is being consistent.

Um, yeah, yeah, for sure. So that you've done in helping people with their social media, what's, uh, what's kind of one takeaway that you would give to people if they're looking towards, you know, how, how am I supposed to be winning at the social media game with the way things have changed, with the way the algorithm has affected everyone who's doing and making money online? Um, you know, what's, what's your advice? Yeah.

Um, be like I said, especially for like, it depends on which channel, every channel has different strategies, but I think being consistent is one, putting in time or money to your, your actual social media platforms. You need to be consistently consistent in the content you're posting, but also consistent in your engagement, and that can take up a lot of time and/or money. I do have help help with my social media channels, managing all my social media channels. I have help with my Pinterest, I have help, um, with my Facebook and my Instagram, and it's become to a point that I just don't have time. And that's okay. I'm still very personal. I'm still on each platform. I haven't disconnected from them. I'm still there. You're talking to me, right?

But the content creation is all up here. I mean, it's all flowing from Natasha, as you know, the mothership down.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I mean, it's, it's me. But when you get to a point that you're overwhelmed, or if you just don't have the time from the start, don't be afraid to get some help. Um, and, and that help can look in a lot of different ways. You can have help just engaging, just posting. You could help with strategy, whatever it is. Um, I am very happy that I was able to help the brands that I did because I look back at them and majority of them are thriving. Right now, and I'm so excited for them now that I'm not a part of them. Even ones that I just gave one-time consults to, consults to, um, it was— it's exciting to look back and be like, okay, I— that's awesome, look at what they're doing. So even if you need a little bit of help, things like that, you can find those resources online. There's Facebook groups out there to help you, and even consultants that you can hire. Occasionally I take on people, but I am focusing a little bit more on my blog right now.

So if it's really, you know, make her an offer she can't refuse, you know, if you really want Natasha to be— you want Canary, the Canary Jane touch on your stuff, yeah, it may be still be available to you.

Yeah, I really am slowing down quite a bit, and it wouldn't be anything long-term, but so that's where I say go and find those resources online, other way, like on groups Groups would be great. There's a lot of blogger or small business groups on Facebook that are awesome support, and you might not even have to pay very much if you, you might not have to pay at all if you just make the right connections or pay attention enough. But yeah, I would, I do your homework to go read forums. Really, like I said, that's what I had to do at the beginning. I didn't have a big budget. I didn't have any budget for my business at the beginning. I just started and I did as much as I could online for free, and it's a lot of time, but if that's what you have, you got to use what resource you have.

Yeah, we all know moms, moms of 4 have so much time. So yeah, oh yeah, you teach fitness classes on the side and everything else, so you're just, you're a zombie. That's, that's the secret here that, that you can't mention, but you just, you don't sleep. So yeah, no, that's Well, it's been so, so amazing talking with you today, Natasha. So if people want to find out more about you, and I'm sure they do because you are so amazing and you've shared such great things about your journey and about how, how real and authentic you are in your space and for what you do and what you're offering people, where can people find you?

So I'm Canary Jane on all social media channels, and really my favorite ones is Instagram. So if you want to quickly come and say hi, that's the easiest place. Um, but of course I have my blog too, and you can always email me as well. My email's on the blog too. It's just hello@canaryjane.com. I love connecting with other moms, or even just other professionals or other women. Um, like I mentioned, we need connection, and connection is just so important. And, um, so yeah, if you want to say hi at all or just check me out, those are places to find me.

Okay, sounds great. Well, thanks so much for coming on today. Really appreciate it and wish you all the best in all of your fun things.

Thanks. Thank you.

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