Audrey McClelland: Creating the Life You Want (and Deserve)

Welcome to the unforgettable conversations podcast, where you'll meet people from all walks of life. Everyone from experts in their fields to ordinary folks leading extraordinary lives. We're pulling back the curtain every week on sometimes difficult, often hilarious, but always engaging conversations that promise to be unforgettable. I'm your host, Sandy McKenna. Today's guest wears many hats and has navigated her life and career with vision and trust. Following her heart and gut. She began her career in New York city, working in the fashion industry for designer Donna Karan, her personal life mirror is a hallmark movie leaving the big city for small town life. Meeting the love of her life in a chance encounter on the campus, green raising five children while creating a thriving online business, and ultimately becoming an inspiration and role model for women and moms everywhere. She's an author, an entrepreneur, a business woman, a brand spokesperson, and a thought leader. She has been featured on everything from the today show and Nightline to the New York times and parenting magazine. Her social media numbers are staggering with an engaged online community. In today's unforgettable conversation. I talk with digital powerhouse, Audrey McClelland about how it all began, the juggling act to get it all done in a day. And how you can create the life that you want. Now let's get this conversation started.

Good morning, Audrey. How are you today?

I'm great. Thank you so much for having me.

I am so excited to talk to you. You have truly been an inspiration for not only myself, but for moms around the world. I found you, over a decade ago online, you have had a very successful online career, but that's not really where you started

when I graduated from college, you know, I always say, I live in Rhode Island now. I was brought up in Rhode Island. I went to college in Rhode Island. And so I feel like as many, probably like hometown girls and boys know when they're out of college or high school, sometimes you just want to see the world. And to me, New York city always seems like the place to be. It was just that city sex and the city was around that time of just beginning. It wasn't at its height yet, but I remember watching. Thinking New York city had to be the place I went next. So that's where I went. You at the time were with your college sweetheart, who you met your husband in college. Is that when you decided to have your family at that point and you left New York, Yeah. You know, we lived, we moved to New York city. Um, we got engaged while we were living in New York city. And then we were married while I was still living in New York city. And we, we knew we definitely wanted to have a family. my husband and I are both from, larger families. I'm one of four he's one of three, but his mom also had a daycare in their home. And so we always knew we wanted to have a big family. We had talked about that pretty much immediately, almost kind of like a deal breaker. Like, Hey, listen, this is what my dream is and I was lucky enough to meet, another person who felt the same way. And we just realized very quickly Sandi to be honest with you, our salaries and in New York city and really wanting to have a family, it really probably wasn't going to be possible for us. And on top of that, we were both raised in small towns. And so even though New York city, we were there for about seven years. We got our New York city fix and all that. But when it came to it for us personally, we wanted to raise our kids, where they took a little yellow school bus and we know where they could bike to school with their buddies. And that for us was what we knew. So we wanted to give that to our children. So we moved from New York city to Rhode Island after we had my second son.

And at this point, you had given up your big career in New York city. How do you start with your online. How did that all come about? Because now you're, you're a mom, you're raising a family, you're in the suburbs, so to speak. And how do you transition from this really big job in a big city to a small town girl with a family.

You know right around that time. And it's so funny because when, even my kids hear this today, you know, 17 years ago, the internet was just not at all, what it is today. Social media was just not in existence. Really the only way to connect with other women. And, I always say women and moms, because those are the women that I, I was connected with. Was through, chats online. So I would just go on BabyCenter and I would be in chat rooms and forums with different women. And it was probably around 2006 when I realized there's something to this online world. I actually had experienced a miscarriage. And believe it or not, you know, and again, I know that I talked to other moms now that are going through these things. There was no social media. So unless you had a girlfriend that had gone through it, a family member that had gone through it, the only way that I was able to connect with other women and talk about my feelings and how you move on. And what do you do was through these chat rooms and forums. And that's when I really started to see the power of connection online with women and really being fascinated by it. And on top of that, right around the same time, there was a website called the daily candy. And I remember they had little pop-ups in different cities of this particular website. And it would just kind of give what was going on that particular day or that weekend. And it was like the daily candy, the scoop on what was going on. And I remember reading an article that she had sold that website for, a ton of money. And really at that time with those two things in my head going on. WOW! There is this connection online that's happening that's real and authentic. And women are really bonding and communicating and sharing. And then at the same time, seeing that this other woman had created this really neat website and was able to monetize it. I remember thinking, I wonder what could happen if maybe I just started sharing my own story online. Could I potentially work with companies and brands? Are companies and brands going to maybe go online? And it was all very traditional media back then. So really, I feel like, a lot of people say, well, how did it happen? I'm like the grandma, I feel like a mom bloggers. And it's crazy to say that, but there was a bunch of us that started together and we did not know that this new frontier was about to really explode.

you make it sound like very easy and very simple. Because you took it to the next level, you were not just a mom blogger, you were a brand ambassador or you spoke, you held conferences. I mean, this really evolved.

It really did know. When I tell this story, I always say, you know, I think that many times you become an entrepreneur either because it's just in your blood and you need to do it, or because of survival. And I feel like for me, it was really the, the meeting of the two. Not everybody can be an entrepreneur, not everybody has the mindset to be able to not know where an income is going to come in six months from now or a year from now. But at the same time, I also was married to a man that needed me to provide an income to our family. I wasn't able to be a stay at home mother. I knew that I needed to provide for our family. And so at that time, I actually remember saying to my husband, when we moved back to Rhode Island, just give me nine months, I will work my hardest. I will, I will hustle. I will reach out to brands. I will connect with them. I'll do whatever I have to do to try to make this work. And to your point, that's exactly what I did. you know, The New York city working for Donna Karan. I understood that world, but I didn't know how to write proposals. I didn't know where to come in with certain price points. I didn't know how, you know, what these companies wanted. I kind of felt sometimes silly thinking that they saw me as this cute little mom at home reaching out to them, but really I needed to make this work as a business or which was fine. I just needed to do something else, but I gave myself nine months to see if I could potentially make at least an income, like a part-time income and to see how quickly I can make it work. And thankfully within nine months I was able to provide, when I say like a part-time I mean, I was maybe making 30,000 at that time. Which for me, not knowing you could even make money at that time was like making a million dollars, just being very candid.

And back then, that was very unusual to be able to make an income of any kind online.

It really was. And I always say this story, and it's a funny one. I remember reaching out TJ. Maxx was one of the first companies I remember reaching out to because I was all about coming from the world of fashion. I said to my husband, you know, let me talk about what I know online. And that was fashion for mothers, either. Great deals, affordability, making different styles work. So I started really honing in on that particular niche when I first, first started. And I remember reaching out to TJ Maxx and what I love about them is they were one of the companies on the forefront that really saw. This explosion of social media going someplace. And they were very open to ideas and, pitches and proposals. And I remember I pitched this gigantic proposal. I was going to do mom make-overs on three different women. They were going to get this amount of money to do it and it was a whole thing. And then at the very end, I remember I submitted it and the woman I was chatting with got back to me and she said, so did you not want to get paid to do this? Like you were going to just for free. And I never put what my fee would be. So I always say to people truly when I started out, I didn't know. It was truly just kind of throwing things at the wall, seeing what would stick and then making mistakes along the way. But having other women, which I always love look out for you and say, Hey, listen, you didn't work your fee and you really don't want to do all this work for free. So those are the kinds of things that, you know, at the beginning were, were, fun, difficult. So to really kind of come across

and it's still in existence now. I mean, it has endured.

It really has, I always gauge it on how old my sons are. So I started with my oldest son was one years old. He's 17 now. So the evolution of social media, you know, I actually remember meeting a girl very early on and she did videos and she used to do her weight loss transformation online. And she was very big on YouTube back then, I want to say, gosh, when YouTube first started and I remember saying to her, how are you doing so well, you get so many views. And she said, oh, I know the email of the guy who puts videos on the homepage of YouTube. I mean, that doesn't exist anymore. I can't imagine it does, but if you could get a video of yourself on the homepage of YouTube, as we all know, we see this happen over night with people, you would, you would go viral in a second. Your life could potentially change overnight. You could go from being completely anonymous to a a social media celebrity overnight. So this, truly the evolution of social media. It's been really cool to be in the front seat and watching everything unfold along the way,

Permission to hustle came after that.

Yeah. So I had started yet my mom generation's website in 2007 and then permission to hustle. I met my best friends and business partner Vera Sweeney. She was just another mom blogger. We happened to meet at a blogging conference. 12 years ago. We were sitting next to each. And I, you know, I, I remember like just talking to her and thinking, wow, this is a wonderful woman who really understands the business of mom blogging and is also just as hungry to really be able to make this a full-time job for herself and also balance your family at the same time. I often kind of equate it to finding your, your work friends and just you hang onto them for dear life because you're going through the same things. And that's what Vera was to me. And around that time Always trying to look at the landscape and figure out, Hey, what's missing. What could we add in. What could potentially enhance this space. And we were very, very, very passionate about helping other women create jobs online that afforded them to be at home and still make an income. And so we obviously, because we are influencers, that's what we understood. So we really wanted to create conferences and a community that we called Permission to Hustle to really help other women out there who needed to hustle and give themselves permission to do so. Cause sometimes I feel people sometimes I have like such a bad connotation to the word hustle. Where, you know, oh, you got to hustle. It's a lot. But at the same time, a lot of people don't understand that millions of women have to hustle. Many of us have to provide an income. Many of us have to figure out a way to provide for our families. And with that comes grit and determination, dedication, and also that hustle. And so we just wanted to make it an open space, giving women permission to hustle because everybody else in here is doing the same.

And all during this time, you started with your two boys, and then you added two more. And, and so you're, you have a growing family. And I remember when you had your fifth child after the boys, which was a girl who's now she's a growing little girl. And so you had this whole family. You have a husband, how do you balance all of that? And you have all these other obligations that I know are very time consuming.

Yeah. You know, it was very difficult and it really, it still is. I always say to my husband, some days I'm a great mom. Some days I'm a great business woman. Some days I'm a great daughter. And on the days that I'm great at all three, it's like a unicorn type of day. It really is just one of those things that doesn't always happen, but really my children grew up, fortunately being part of my business, which to be honest with, you made it just a little bit easier because you know, mommy didn't have to actually maybe go to our corporate job. I was actually not only doing what I do, but they were part of it. So I kind of always joke with them is that my job was actually being mom. It was providing content around our lifestyle. But, you know? Yeah. I mean, there, there are those days. I remember missing my son's 13th birthday cause I had a work trip that I could not get out of. I tried to, but it wasn't possible. And I just remember thinking, everything I do is for them. I don't have to live in the biggest house. I don't have to drive the fanciest cars. I've never been that person. And my husband's the same way. We just want to provide a comfortable life for our family. And so that's what I always say to my kids. I'm like, everything I do is for you. And hopefully they understand that, but the balance is, um, I almost feel like it's, non-existent, it's very difficult to keep up with.

So now you've always had this dream of being a writer. You've got all these other things. You have five children, like you said, you're a daughter. You're a wife. How can you fit this into your life with all these other things? And you have a very active family life. You have kids that are involved in, outside programs, outside the house, and you're very busy with that. How do you find time to write?

For me, I think, when the pandemic, 60% of my business before the pandemic was really events and conferences. it was something that I just love to do. Um, I didn't only do like permission to hustle conferences, but I had done local events as well. So, you know, I did have my hands in a bunch of different pots when it came to events and conferences and working with different brands and doing pop-up events. So when those stopped during the pandemic, To be honest with you. It was a really difficult hit to take because like so many small business owners we saw, this revenue that was coming in overnight be stopped. There was no warning. There was no trickling out, it just stopped. And that was really difficult. And I remember. being so very nervous, filled with anxiety. I I'm the breadwinner in our family. So, you know, the stakes I felt with even just that much higher for myself. I remember thinking like what constantly calms me down and brings me joy. And the one thing that always did growing up was creative writing. And I used to write in high school and in college and I have notebooks in my office of stuff that I just kind of like, you know, just throughout the years had written. But, my life with five kids and being busy and working full time and trying to make every, everybody happy and keep everything managed to the best of my ability, the things that sometimes you really love to do always have to take a back seat because you just can't fit it in the day. So the one thing that the pandemic did was in an odd way, give me the gift of time. Something that I had never had before. I was traveling every week for work and it was something that I was like, wow, I have this time to finally fill what, what does bring me joy and happiness. And, I kind of joke about this, but it's straight up serious. Hallmark brings me happiness, hallmark channel. I watched my movies 365 days a year. I have the app where I have access to them at all times. I have it on downstairs right now. I mean, It is on all day, every day. And so I've always known the formula of hallmark movies and romances, and I've always just loved love. I've always thought that love stories. The one thing that connects us all, you know, you ask anybody their love story, they light up, they get excited. It's just that universal thing that if you're in love, you love to share your story. And so I, you know, just kinda a unit about a year and a half ago, I thought to myself, okay, I'm going to start writing again. Like I love romances. It has to calm me a bit. This is a really crazy time. I had five kids doing virtual school, you know, trying to manage everything. My husband's home. You're worried about your family getting sick. I mean, it was just so many things as you know, everybody was going through.. So I started to write. And I have a dear friend who's my mentor. As a, as an author. Her name is Cecilia Mecca. She also used to be a blogger and she's a very successful author now. And I remember calling her up right before the pandemic hit and, and say, you know, what's your secret? How do you, how do you write? And she said my secret my butt in a seat and I write Audrey, that's the secret. And I started laughing and I'm like, you know what? I'm finally have the time to sit my butt in a seat and write. And to be honest with you, Sandy, that's how it started. I just had stories in my head that I wanted to get out. And I finally just had the time to sit and to write.

And you have now with total, is it five or six in your romance series?

Uh, six. So my love on air was the one I know you said you had just read it and that one just came out. So that's my sixth book. So I went a little crazy. I know. I mean, you don't normally, I guess, put out six books in a year, but, you know, I often tell people, because I have been a blogger for 16 years, I'm used to writing. I put out maybe like 40 to 50 pieces of content out a day, through all the different social media channels. But, in my head, I know I can write like 3000 words of a blog post pretty quickly. So, you know, maybe that helped a little bit just in terms of programming my brain. I knew I could get the words out. It was just a matter of telling the stories to be honest with you. So that's really kinda how it started.

I read your most recent book, love on air, which I loved. And there were so many nods to so many things that I knew I live in Tampa and I was like, oh yes. And I've worked off and on, producing in the Tampa market. So I could really relate to that. So I was very invested in the story once I started reading it. I loved your characters. When they were in the green room at the, at the telethon, I started crying. I was like, oh my God. Because I love hallmark and I love a good story and a good love story. And I don't think there's enough of that out there. I just loved the way you develop the characters. And I feel like I knew them right away. I mean like early on in the book, and I said, I've got to sit and finish this thing tonight because I don't want to wait and find out what happens because I know something's got to give here something's going to happen. So I loved it. And it's an easy read for a busy person, but it takes you away. I made a cup of tea and I felt like I was treating myself to something really special because like you, I don't have a lot of time to do things for myself. And I felt like it was just a little daycation, you know, it was just, you're giving me

goosebumps

know, it was a lovely way to treat myself to some time. I highly recommend it and I can't wait to read the rest. of your books. Life has not always been so easy for you. I know there have been bumps in this road along the way, in your love story. So maybe start from the beginning, meeting your husband in college, and then how it progressed as a, as a family and how you finally got to this wonderful place today.

Yeah. So, you know, I met my husband in college. We were college sweethearts, and I remember, um, it's funny. He, he was not there. One of the semesters. I remember he. Semester. He was not there. And I remember seeing, um, the word McClellan's on a door because I just a plaque and McClellan, and I actually remember asking people, you know, who is this McClellan guy? Where is he? Why, why is this plaque up? You know? And it was just like, kind of like this like random thing. It was actually October 28th, 1998. I know the exact day. I still celebrate it with him. And I saw him walking on, on the main green of campus. And I was sitting, um, on our main green as well, reading our college newspaper. And he had just done something very nice for one of my friends who knew him and it was just very nice. And I didn't know at that time that he had sisters and he kind of thought of my friend as a sister. And so I remember he was walking by and I waved to say, hello and I just thanked him for what he did for my friends. And quite honestly, that was the day we started dating. I remember he sat down next to me and we were chit chatting and he said, Hey, you know, it's, um, Halloweens in a couple of days, we're having a Halloween party. You should come. And so I remember thinking, oh, we're trying to play cool. I'll see if I can make it. And, what I didn't know at that time was that uh, us kinda chatting, he called his buddies up and said, we're having a Halloween party in two days because I just invited Audrey. So, obviously the spark was there for both of us immediately. And, um, you know, that was it. And then he ended up, he graduated before me, he was a midyear student, so right in January of 99, he actually moved back to Pittsburgh. I was still in Providence and we did the distance thing for a full year and a half until I was done with college. And, we moved to New York city together and we just had a lot of commonalities. It was very easy with him. We got married young for the standards of New York city. I was 25 at the time. He was 28. And, at that time I remember people being like, are you sure? You know, you're so young. Cause my boss at that time was 42 and she was just engaged. She was very worried about me getting married so young. And we just kept saying, young love long love. So we got married and we had kids immediately. I had my son William two years later. And just, you know, that's kind of how our, our little bubble had been for a while and moved back to Rhode Island in 2012. My husband has a very high tolerance of pain. Even like if he's sick or has a headache throughout the years. I remember he just always just kind of like plowed through it. I remember like one weekend, um, in January of 2012, he just had complaints for two or three days of, kind of some pain in his stomach. And it's funny because I remember like months before I remember him saying every now and then, oh, I have some sharp pains in my back. And not really thinking anything of it. I mean, he was 36 at the time. So, you know, you're young, you're healthy working out. And then finally, I remember I was at my sister's house. He called me up and he said, I'm on my hands and my knees in the bathroom. I feel like razorblades are going through my stomach. I think I had to go to the hospital. Like, I'm going either going to call the ambulance or if you can come home right now, we just gotta get the boys somewhere. Cause the boys were at that time seven and under. So I raced home thinking he had appendicitis, rushed him to the ER, dropped them off. Um, they did a bunch of cat scans. They told me that was going to be a couple hours until we got the results. So I went back home to check on the boys and remember he called me up and I remember his voice was just different at that time. He called me up and I'm like, Hey, what's going on? He's like tumor in my stomach. And I'm like, oh, he said a big one and I need to go into emergency surgery. Like you have to come back here. So I remember like actually just, kind of like nerves going through your body. Cause I, you know, talk about life kind of changing an instant. So I raced back to the hospital and I remember the nurse took me aside and she said, listen, I'm not trying to scare you. I just want to prepare you. Is that tumors usually of the size do come back as cancerous. So we just want to make sure we get it out, make sure nothing else is in him and just proceed from there. And so coming to light went in fast for emotion at that point, and it ended up being a cancerous tumor and he ended up having to go on a chemo pill at that time. So he was on a chemo pill for five years. Listen, it was a scary time. It was definitely a time you don't prepare for, you have all these, you know, these little kids and, you know, very scared. So I haven't happened that young, but, you know, I always say, I remember at that time thinking now, wow, here we are young. Like, what do we still want to do in this life? You know what, you know, what do we still want to do? And so I remember the one beautiful as amazing thing that came out of everything was Victoria was, I remember like thinking, we're not done yet. There's still one more baby that has to come. And I can't quite explain that exact feeling, but I knew there was one more. You know, it's funny. So when people ask me, oh, I bet you kept trying for the girl you rolled the dice. I always kind of chuckled to myself and say, wow, if you only knew her true story as to how she came to be, it wasn't us just continuously trying. She was truly a gift that we didn't think we needed before that. And then obviously she's just been the best thing that has happened to our family. So thankfully my husband has been in good, health since thank goodness. But it does go to show you very early on the importance of health. You know, it's taking care of yourself and really living every day to its fullest

And he's kind of an entrepreneur too.

Yes. He started actually, after he, he was actually, he was diagnosed. He was trying to find things to really, almost like the writing thing was for me, he felt that way with gardening. So he's, he created a garden in our backyard and I, and I kind of joked when he said to me, he's like, you're gonna find, create like a garden, just so I could like touch the earth and plant something and see it grow. And I was all about it. And I thought maybe like a 10 foot by 10 foot cute little area in the backyard. And it ended up being a 30 foot by 60 garden. So I joke I'm like, it wasn't a garden. We had a small farm and he had so much, product tomatoes and onions and everything that he started donating them to like local, food banks and to the church. And I remember one of his buddies at that time had a restaurant and he said, Hey, listen. So much stuff here. And my husband's like, you know what? I've always wanted to create some jams and some jellies, and I have all of this product to your peppers and everything is like, you know, you might've like, I tried some stuff in your kitchen just to see what could happen. And from that entire little seed, like pun intended, so to speak of him planting that garden, he created it, it's called the backyard food company. And now they're in over a thousand stores from a whole foods, you know, stop and shop. He did create a wonderful business for himself. And again, something that, you know, you never know, defining moments in life, like what will come from these hard times and, and knowing that well from years to come, when you look back and you say, wow, from that really tough moments, these beautiful things happened. This was the ripple effect from that. And my husband's company is, is one of those. You really go a hundred miles an hour every day. I mean, there's no way that you can't to achieve the things that you achieve. How do you do that? Like what kind of tips do you give to other people that they could implement. If they have a passion they want to chase or they have a family and they say, well, I don't know. I mean, I don't, I don't have small children. I have a husband and three dogs and a grown grandkids, but I can't, I can't get out of my own way most days. So what tips do give to people that they can implement, especially busy moms. Yeah, that's a great question. I know it sounds hokey, but where there's a will, there's a way. And I did feel, you know, it's funny. Cause even with the writing thing, life is starting to get back to normal a little bit. And now in terms of writing, one tip I always do is listen, you can always wake up a little bit earlier or go to bed a little bit later and as funny as it is, but I know that most women will get this, that one hour, sometimes we can have for ourselves to do something. That one hour for like the average person would, would take, let me six hours, we could get done so much in one hour when we really put our mind to it and become kind of like laser focus. So I always, I always say that, you know, find little pockets of time that really will help. And that was one thing that helped me was waking up an hour earlier. Um, when my daughter would go swimming, I would bring my laptop right on the pool deck. And I do some writing there. For me it was accessible. Cause I was able to bring my laptop. I could do my passion wherever I could, as long as I could sit and I had my laptop, I know it's not always that easy for everybody, depending upon what your passion is. But I do feel like it is one of those things where you have to almost have everybody on board. Even right now with my family, I always say to my husband, listen, I really do need two hours this weekend. We either find people to watch the kids. We have to get, get somewhere where I can just have two hours. And I feel like too, You have to train yourself to also be very organized. And I know that scheduling can be very tough with little kids because something could change in a nanosecond where the whole schedule was out the window. But I know for me, as, as an entrepreneur and a woman, myself, the two things that I've done my entire life from even being a, you know, a young child to present day. Super organized and not listen to any of you came in my house. It's unorganized. It's messy. It is, it is anything. But like, you know, my mom dies, I swear when she comes to my house. Sometimes some things have to just some things I can't always get done. You know, the beds aren't always made the laundry isn't always put away, but happy home, but I am always organized with my time. I mean, I quite literally. Use my time and I, and I block it out to the best of my ability because that's the only way I can get stuff done. You know? And the other thing too is, again, those like those true those pockets of time. I know that it seems so silly to say, but I set that alarm for 5:00 AM and yet it stinks to get up sometimes in the morning, but by 8:00 AM I look back and I'm like, wow. And that two hours I got so much done, whether, it's a business plan for somebody or maybe it's, you know, creating something or whatever it is, manifesting something, giving yourself that gift of time when the house is quiet, that goes such a long way.

Now, do you have a business plan for yourself?

I don't have a business plan for myself. I remember I used to, when I first started blogging, I remember somebody had sat me down and said, create a business plan. And I actually, I hired a guy to come in and help me. I paid him probably way too much money, but he sat down and he helped me craft the plan out. Almost became so overwhelming to me to look at it and to see all the things that I needed to do that I, I silly as it sounds. I tossed the business plan aside, and I just said, you know what, I'm just going to have to go on heart and gut on this one and do what I can do, because I felt like if I was handcuffed to that business plan, I wouldn't feel as creative or go after what it is that like, I really wanted to go after. Because I do think that, as women we're so trained and we're so good at it as, as mothers and business women, so like pivot and to change things on like the drop of a dime. And I feel like many times as an entrepreneur, you have to be able to do that and not be so worried about pivoting or changing along the way.

And you're very inspirational online. Your Instagram is so, beautifully done. And I mean, I loved, I was looking at the you had hair for Valentine's day. I was like, I've never seen anything like that. It was so pretty. First of all, how do you come up with all these ideas? How do you have time to post on Instagram and not go down that rabbit hole? See, I, I get involved in, I'll be like, oh my gosh, I look up and it's an hour and I've done nothing but look at Valentine's hairdos on Instagram that I never knew existed.

That does happen to me. I that's that's me on Tik TOK. All of a sudden I'll look up. I'm like, oh my goodness, 30 minutes ago. Um, you know, for me, and this is one thing too, I did start blogging when the boys were babies. I mean, three of them weren't even born yet when I started blogging. And so older I've realized that I'm story is connected with their story, but. It's not mine to tell anymore. And there really is this privacy piece that as the boys are getting older, I've always known it was going to happen at some point. And right around 13 or 14, they didn't want me talking about certain things. They didn't want pictures being put up without them looking at it to make sure they were okay with. And I understood that. And so I think for me really did kind of look at what I was putting online and sharing and figuring out how can I continue to be obviously authentic and honest and sharing my family's life, but also be protective of what they want out there. And so my daughter, because she's so young and you know, and she just loves to do little videos. During the pandemic, why don't we put some of your hairstyles up on Instagram? Because I know that a lot of other mommies out there, like me, like we're not great at intricate braiding. We kind of need quick, fast hairstyles in the morning to get them out the door. And so it was kind of a bonding thing for us, you know, I never had a little girl to do hair on. So that for me was like a whole different world for me. And it was just kind of us sitting together and really creating cute little hairstyles to pop up. And so that really was, you know, like I always say to my husband, I'm like Victoria hair videos have, have helped because of. It's really taken a lot of the pressure off. I feel myself and also the boys have like, oh my gosh, I don't want to be on your feed all the time. Mom, I have my own feed or, you know, they're high schoolers now, you know, and it's funny as it is, a lot of their high school friends are on social media and they have accounts. But I think because they've been brought up in it and they're so used to doing stuff that the desire for them to create content is just not there. I, I just think it actually has worked, you know, in the opposite, they just, they could care less about content creation on their own. So I really did kind of replace it with doing some stuff of Victoria and really going back to my roots, things that I genuinely love, like the fashion, the hair, the beauty, um, all that stuff. That really was always my love early on has really kind of almost come full circle, to be honest with you. And that's the kind of stuff which allows me time and energy and passion to create it because I really do love doing it.

And where do you get this discipline from? I mean, you would have to be incredibly disciplined to do everything and not only do you do everything, but you do it really well yeah, you do. How did you become such a disciplined person?

You know, I think that, you know, probably whatever job I probably would have gone into. Probably feel like I was pretty, I was very disciplined in high school, very disciplined in college. sometimes, you know, you say, you know, listen, you're kind of born with it in that way. Um, you know, even like, you know, I know I had mentioned early on like being an entrepreneur isn't for everybody. Cause you really have to have a certain kind of mindset. My sister is my best friend and she's often said to me, throughout the years, Audrey, I could never be an entrepreneur. It would stress me out too much. I need to know I'm getting X amount of money every month from my, she has a full-time job benefits. So I do think that the discipline does come from knowing, you know, and just being very candid that a lot does fall on my shoulders. I know that I need to a hundred percent provide for my family. Um, I know that I, a hundred percent needs to be very determined and dedicated and devoted to it, but I also really love it. So it's. Upset me or, you know, I feel like one of the toughest thing is to see anybody hating what they do and feeling, oh, it's just handcuffed to a job or a boss. If they just can't stand that, I feel like what I do give me that freedom to create and do what I want to do. But you know, it is it's, I think it's a mindset that. That's you're born with and that discipline, you know, I know you can train yourself to be that way. You know, I see it in my oldest son, you know, he's very disciplined. He's like head down studying, and it has this, you know, I feel I was joking. Like you are me and your other brothers are like, you know, just not a hundred percent like that. Like, do you not have homework tonight? Nope. No homework. I'm like, well, how does your brother have two hours of homework? You have no homework. How was that possible? You know, and I, I do think it's just different, um, ways that our minds work. The discipline Sandy has just kind of always been there and, uh, probably do put too much responsibility on myself. You know, obviously my husband has a, has a great job and he, and he provides for our family as well, but I feel like I probably have. Always have that feel on my shoulders. Like a lot is riding on me to do this and I really want to do the best I can, I can do at it. And where do you see yourself going in the next couple of years? I mean, now that hopefully we're slightly coming out of the pandemic and we'll have more freedom. Are you going to go back and do more of your conferences and more speaking? And what are your plans? Yeah, I would love to. I mean, I'm definitely hoping that, you know, now with everything kind of getting back to normal, I would love to do more permission to hustle retreats. I feel like it's something, you know, it's so great to do zoom and virtual courses and things like that. But I, as you know, I think there's something so special about. With people and looking at them and hugging them and really kind of just getting that connection on a whole different level. So, yes, over the next couple of years, I'm actually going to be doing our writer's retreat with a fellow, with my friends to Celia Macca. Who's another author, um, in Newport Rhode Island, um, in may for authors. So really, you know, one thing too is not just the permission to hustle retreats for influencers, but really opening up now to this new passion of writing and meeting other self published authors and independent authors and how, how they're doing it, how their story is unfolding, because you know, writing on your own and being an independent author is really like starting a brand new business it's so I didn't realize it. And so maybe ignorance is bliss. I didn't realize how much work does go into the process of it. But, obviously it's something that you really have to become disciplined at as well. So I feel like those retreats and conferences are definitely on, on the list. And then also too, I really would love to see where this writing goes. You know, I definitely know that it's something that I love to do. And I think in this day and age, I feel like, these feel good, hopefully quick, fast, happily ever after type reads are something that people need right now in our lives. So I really want to continue to do that because I do think that the older I'm getting. I'm kind of seeing like the social media thing. I love it. And I want to keep going with the social media. I will never stop my channels for as long as I can, but I am seeing now with my kids getting older a little bit more time being freed up, you know, I know my son's going to be in college soon and in a year and a half. And then all of them will be right behind. So I am seeing that freedom of time a little bit more than I did when the boys were toddlers, which is a whole different level of parenting that I I'm just becoming used to.

Now you mentioned influencers, and that was a big focus of what you did for quite some time, is there a formula to becoming an influencer because there are successful influencers, then there are these rogue influencers. And so what is the formula for that to become somebody that's legitimate and that can be taken seriously by brands and, and other people.

That's a great question. I think that, you know, in this day and age too, I feel like the big thing is. You know, not only kind of creating like a brand persona for yourself, you know, what is it that you want to be really known for? Are you a young mom? Are you, a mom of, of a larger family? Are you a fitness mom, a fashion mom, a vegan mom. And again, I'm talking to moms space because that's the space that I know. But again, these categories to work, you know, obviously for anybody, but I also think too, it comes down to the consistency. I think so many people now think that they can be influencers, but it really is. Just like starting a business. We often equate it to, um, almost like a reality show where like, or even a TV show, you tune in every Thursday at eight o'clock because, you know, your show will be on. And I always say to this, to people that want to become influencers is you have to create content every day. Because as soon as people start to see that, oh, she didn't post for a day. Oh, wow. There's three days or four days. There's somebody else that they can move on to. So really it's that consistency. It's really sharing valuable content. Whether it's making somebody laugh, it's educating somebody, it's making somebody just feel good. Maybe it's inspirational. But I often think too, it's important to have something that somebody wants to come back to see every day. And even when I'm creating my own content, you know, like for the hair and it was like, okay, listen, like I love for people that come back to see what else. Or if I'm talking about raising teenagers, I love other moms of teens to come back to see some other tips or advice that I might have. So that in the influencers that I follow, that's exactly what I'm looking for. I've been trying to run a little bit more this year, and so I've been following some great fitness influencers, and I know that every time I go back, they're sharing something that's valuable and a great. So really I do feel like, you know, and that's how brands take you seriously, just like you asked, you know, I think a brand wants to see people that they know is going to post that, that they can have other, there's a trust factor there, and that they're really going to have a great audience that's going to be plugged in. And those are the beginnings of really what you have to keep in mind when you're really wanting to start this world and becoming an influencer. Now

what's next for you? Do you have another book in the works?

Right now. Yeah. So I have, um, I actually ended up meeting a great editor years ago. Um, about two years ago on, uh, reedsy.com, which was a website that I guess independent authors use. I have two slated dates where I have to get her documents by. So the end of March and then the end of June. So I do have to get, get going again with two, two books. I'm going to write a young adult book first. I think that'd be fun to write like, kind of like a hallmark. Type book formula, but for young adults. So I have that in the works actually. I'm about six chapters into that right now. And then yeah. Then I have another romance brewing in my head. So yeah, those are my two big things coming up over the next, at least five to six months.

Well, that's so exciting. You're an inspiration really, for anybody, you don't have to be a mom to be inspired by you because you do achieve so many wonderful things and you make it look effortless. And that's a real gift because I know it's not effortless. I know that it's a lot of hard work and dedication. Continued success with all of this and is your husband still gardening?

He is. Yeah, he actually, yeah, we moved to a new house, our yards a little bit smaller. So the first thing he did was join a community garden. So yeah, it hasn't been community gardens. I'm envious. He loves it. That's his writing in yoga. That's what it is for him. He loves it.

Oh, that's awesome. Well, you have a wonderful family. You have a wonderful career and continued success

so much. Thank you. Thank you.

Wow. Well, Audrey makes it all look so easy. She really has put in the time and effort to make it all work. You can have it all too, but it takes planning drive and organization. What really resonated with me was when she said someday, she's a great mom someday she's a great daughter. And some days she's a great business woman. And on the rare occasion that it's all three it's a unicorn day. Oh, isn't that the truth. We can accomplish many things in a single day, but not always everything at once. And still we can get closer to our goals, purpose, and passion. And when we have those unicorn days, I say, savor and celebrate them. I'll leave all the links in the show notes so that you can find Audrey. If this episode resonated with you and you know, someone who might enjoy it. Please share it. And I thank you and appreciate you for listening each and every Monday. Until next time have an unforgettable week.