In May of 2021, we interviewed Candice Elliott to learn what it’s like to be an HR Consultant. At the time, she was pregnant with her first son and shared with us all of the plans she’d made to prepare for maternity leave.

More than two years later, we catch up with Candice to hear how those plans actually panned out (hint: it didn't quite go as expected...), what it’s like transitioning into motherhood as a business owner, and what she’s doing differently the second time around. Candice’s candor and words of wisdom will be helpful for anyone navigating maternity or paternity leave as solopreneurs.

But wait, there’s more!

Candice has been in business for more than 5 years, so I couldn’t let her go without hearing more about that journey. We dive into her personal and professional growth, the various mentors and training programs that have helped her evolution, how she's incorporating AI into her biz, and invaluable advice on keeping clients satisfied.

Tune in for a deep dive into Candice's journey and gain invaluable insights that are sure to inspire and educate you!

You can check out her first interview right here (episode 41). All of the other resources we mention are linked below. Enjoy!


Connect with Candice:
Website
The My First Hire course
The Hearth Podcast
Instagram

Other:

All So ya wanna be a… Episodes
Resources on Kenza site
Nadine Zumot: Money Coach
Kat Lee - Business Alchemist Mentorship
Mama Collaborative: Maternity leave planning and coaching
Join the Kenza Slack
At Scale Newsletter by Ylva Predan

In this episode, Tiffany sits down with Kenza community member, mama of 3, and freelance Digital Business Manager, Ylva Predan, to talk all things new-tech.

For the first 20 minutes of the conversation, you’ll learn why Ylva decided to quit her career in the nonprofit sector to pursue freelance copywriting. We talk about how she found her first few clients and how she transitioned into being a Digital Business Manager.

We then dive into her new side hustle—At Scale, which is a newsletter about tech - in simple terms. The newsletter focuses less on “how it works”, and more on “what it means” – for entrepreneurs, businesses, and entire industries.

In this episode, you’ll learn simple, digestible definitions for Web3, NFTs, Blockchain technology, Smart Contracts, AI, and ChatGPT.

We discuss why it’s critical to stay up to date on new tech, not only for our businesses and our clients, but also for us to understand the world in which our kids are growing up in.

You’ll discover how she uses ChatGPT to stay in her zone of genius, why Ylva says “Web3 and AI will definitely impact anyone who is making a living online; it’s only a matter of when…”, and much more.

Be sure to follow Ylva on LinkedIn and Twitter, subscribe to her newsletter At Scale, and chat her up in the Kenza Collective Slack channel! Links below.

Enjoy!

✌🏼Tiff

Links from the episode:

• Sign up for Ylva’s newsletter right here.
• Read past articles from At Scale right here.
• Follow At Scale on LinkedIn.
• Follow Ylva on LinkedIn and Twitter
• Check out Ylva's website for her services as a Digital Business Manager.
• Connect with Ylva and other freelancing parents in the Kenza Slack
• Check out our Digital Business Manager episode
• Enjoy what you heard? Consider supporting Kenza each month :)

Additional Resources to Dive Deeper into New Tech:

Web3

• Podcast episode - Bankless -The Ownership Economy - with Li Jin
• Podcast episode - Women in Influencer Marketing - NFTs and the creator economy

AI

• Elements of AI, a free online course created by MinnaLearn and the University of Helsinki This is a great place to start if you are a complete beginner and want to learn more about the basic concepts in AI.
• Podcast episode - Marketing Against the Grain - “6 marketing opportunities that AI unlocks for businesses”

I had a stark realization the other day.

I’ve been stuck in a hypervigilant, fear-based way of living, thinking, and acting ever since March of 2020.

I also recognized that I never used to be like this, and I don’t like it.

Sure, there are other reasons why I’m in this place: the transformation of becoming a parent for the first time, starting and running a business, getting older, etc.

But regardless of how I got here, I don’t like it.

I feel like I've gone from being a pretty easygoing, laid back, and excited-for-the-future type of person, to a hypervigilant and always-on-guard individual, mother, wife, and business owner.

I've been constantly looking ahead to what bad things might happen and trying to plan and strategize my way out of it. It's not a fun way to live!

So, I invited Kat Lee for her third appearance on The Kenza Pod to share her wisdom around fear. I wanted her to not only help us understand how we got here, but also offer practical tools and strategies to get ourselves out.

Originally, Kat and I had a private 1:1 coaching session scheduled where I had planned to talk through all of this with her. But we decided to hit record so that you can get an inside look at how we worked through this, and how I walked away feeling empowered with wisdom and tools to help me move through (and out of) this way of thinking.

If you're feeling anything like what I've described, then this episode is a must-listen.

• We will challenge you to look at who you are on the other side of the global pandemic and make sure you recognize and like that person.
• We share practical strategies to help you get through moments of panic and overwhelm, and help you loosen the grip that fear can hold us back.
• We’ll help you to recognize when you’re being hypervigiliant, and then understand not only why that’s happening but how to alleviate that stressful and all-consuming feeling.

I can’t wait to hear how this episode impacts you!

Hit me up on instagram @kenzacollective, or join our free Slack community to talk even more: kenzacollective.com/slack.

Links from the episode

• Learn more about Kat Lee and her podcast, Empowered Curiosity
• Other episodes with Kat: How to Harness the Power of Our Emotions to Make Smarter Business Decisions and How to Create an Abundant Business & Life by Listening to Your Body
• The Mel Robbins podcast episode mentioned “You’ll never be truly happy until you start doing this”