Taking Advantage of Tiny Brave Moments: This Week in My Business

Oh my lanta. I wanted to write this big long blog about what I’ve been up to, and my computer only has 7% battery. I have my charger, it’s plugged in, AND IT’S NOT WORKING.

I won’t lie - I’m panicking a bit. I’m also committed to posting on the blog. So here we go.

This week, I took advantage of a couple of brave moments, and put myself out there. In ways that felt terrifying and and brave and all of the things. It involved sending one email, and one Instagram message. (AH THE LOW BATTERY NOTIFICATION SHOWED UP)

The things I did: I made a pitch to a podcast I’ve been listening to, and I contacted someone I came across who does the exact same thing as me, except (cue imposter syndrome) — she is much more polished than I am. Like, I am almost always flying by the seat of my pants in my own life. Also, this woman is doing some really awesome work in maternal health advocacy. I’m a fan.

My initial reaction to coming across this woman was oh shit, this is the exact same as me. Exact same. I panicked, and then had to remind myself that I had never come across her before this so I hadn’t copied anything — it’s a good sign when someone else is doing what you do because it validates that there’s a market for it. And, I expect we will see a huge surge around supporting those of us on the self-employed spectrum through prenatal and parenthood — we all graduated around the same time, hit the freelance world, and now are having babies. The timing checks out.

3%. I’m starting to sweat a bit.

So. I tracked this woman down on Instagram and sent her a message that said hey, so stoked/shocked to find another business babyproofer, love the work you’re up to, I used to work in healthcare too, it’s a v necessary conversation. And send. This was terrifying. This woman is very smart, and I’m a little intimidated. But I only needed one tiny moment of bravery to hit send.

2%.

The other move I made was pitching a podcast. After freaking out about my imposter syndrome, I reminded myself of my integrity and decided to stick to the plan, which is working with writers. I love those crazies, and I know our work aligns. So I pitched a certain podcast for copywriters, results TBD. Cough, cough. I submitted the query through a form on their site and forgot to save what I wrote, but I can tell you it involved notes about taxidermic guinea pigs and fun facts about genetic mutations. I will keep you posted.

Before I hit 1% my last act of bravery will be publishing this now. To come: a post about marketing as an introvert, and another about my favourite 3 emails lately.

J