How to Build a Career as a Social Media Influencer

Advice for aspiring content creators

• Put yourself out there. Don’t hesitate or wait; don’t try to be perfect or great early. You have to evolve and put in the time. Figure out how to turn your passions into a career.
• Your age is not a limit, but experience, confidence, and knowledge are. You have to earn your credibility, it’s not handed to you. Get out there and explore what you like and what you’re passionate about. 
• Be willing to put yourself out there publicly. Don’t be afraid and avoid creating content for other people, put it out there because it’s for you. If you’re interested in it, whatever that thing is, there’s probably a pretty big audience out there. Someone may learn something. 
• You have to grind. Put content out there for yourself because you like it, not because someone else did it. Don’t try to emulate what someone else has done. It takes a lot of time and effort and is not as glamorous as it looks. 
• Be open to change and evolution because you never know where it could take you. You’re creating your own path and essentially entering a new career in this world.

Additional resources

• How to become a social media manager
• Best marketing courses and resources to grow your career
• How to strengthen your professional presence on social media
• Hottest jobs in digital media marketing

Transcript

Pete Newsome  00:00
You’re listening to The Finding Career Zen Podcast. I’m Pete Newsome. And I’m joined today by someone who I’ve wanted to have on for a long time now. Margaret McAfee, McAfee home designs, how in the world are you?

Margaret McAfee  00:12
I am so good. Thank you so much for thinking of me and having me.

Pete Newsome  00:15
I’ve been really excited for you to join because I’ve watched your journey since you left us here and in Orlando, and went up north to go out on your own. And it’s been really cool to watch. 

Pete Newsome  00:29
And part of what we’re doing with zengig. And of course, what we talked about on the Finding Careers Zen podcast is that a career is a winding journey. It doesn’t follow a straight line and yours has been winding my friend. 

Pete Newsome  00:42
That’s so let’s go back before we get the current, you and I worked together for how many years? 6-7 years? And this was pre-Mrs. McAfee. 

Pete Newsome  01:00
It was pre-for girls. Yeah, it was the pretty first home that you bought, right? So this was I guess you were probably engaged. Right? 

Margaret McAfee  01:11
When I was recently engaged. I got engaged at Christmas. And then I think I started with you guys and like about summer-ish time.

Pete Newsome  01:20
Okay, so you came to work for 4 Corner Resources, our recruiting firm, and you starting off you’re not long at a school right? Was this your first or second?

Margaret McAfee  01:29
I had worked previously in management and retail. And that was hard, very hard. And this was more of one of my previous sorority sisters. 

Margaret McAfee  01:43
And also who worked in retail had reached out to me about 4 Corners and I’m like, the worst thing that can happen is I interview and learn interview skills.

Pete Newsome  01:52
It took off from there. So you guys, you had a hospitality degree, right?

Margaret McAfee  01:56
I actually go figure have a marketing degree. 

Pete Newsome  02:00
Okay, yeah.

Margaret McAfee  02:01
Yeah. which I had never quite used until now. Here we are.

Pete Newsome  02:05
So you but you would work really hard. And that was something we had identified. In those days people from retail, especially retail management, and college grads, had to work really long hours. 

Pete Newsome  02:18
And so that work ethic was instilled, you know, for young professionals, which is hard to come by. But you of course had that. And, you know, that was obvious from the day you walked in our doors. 

Margaret McAfee  02:31
Yeah, I also had during college worked in the hospitality industry, which I think lends really well to the recruiting industry as well, again, long hours, you’re talking to people you don’t know all the time. So there was there were quite a few transitions, and that what worked well.

Pete Newsome  02:46
So you recruited it for a while, and we knew you earn a promotion because you showed that you were driven and motivated. 

Pete Newsome  02:55
And really all the traits that anyone wants to see in a sales professional. So when you moved into that sales role, now that that wasn’t quite as it didn’t have immediate success, and that and it’s a story. 

Pete Newsome  03:08
I’ve told this story a lot over the years, if your ears are ever ringing, it may be because I’ve told the story, you start off in sales. And then you had baby number one, right Millie was born. 

Pete Newsome  03:21
And at that time, you hadn’t really had much sales success. And I remember when you came back the whole time you were gone out on maternity leave, I was thinking, and I got I’m gonna have to talk to Margaret and go offer the opportunity to go back and recruiting for a while. 

Pete Newsome  03:35
I don’t want her to get frustrated with sales. And I remember I’m sure you do, too, that that conversation the day you came back, and I brought this up. 

Pete Newsome  03:42
And you’re you were like, Absolutely not, I am not going backward. I am going to be successful in this. And if you were so just confident and committed to success or that, right? 

Pete Newsome  03:56
But dammit, you absolutely delivered on that to a significant degree. And it’s one of my favorite stories. Because you just knew you were going to figure it out. 

Pete Newsome  04:07
And that was such a cool thing. And I think that’s so important in sales. So do you remember that as vividly as I do?

Margaret McAfee  04:12
Oh, yes, I can remember that massive office of yours and your very old ugly furniture, which I would remember of all the designers of all things. 

Margaret McAfee  04:23
But yes, I remember and I remember another employee sitting there as well. I totally remember the conversation. But for me, I’m also an incredibly competitive person. 

Margaret McAfee  04:33
And for someone to tell you, maybe this wasn’t the right time we could look at it again. It was never You were never told me like you have to do this or you’re fired. It was never an ultimatum type of conversation. 

Margaret McAfee  04:44
It was more of we want to see you succeed and you were successful in the recruiter role. So maybe we should go back there for a minute. 

Margaret McAfee  04:51
And then maybe consider sales and to me, that was like no like your past. I can do this. I will do this and I will prove you wrong and so that’s kind of the motivation it took. 

Margaret McAfee  05:02
And I also think Once it clicks, it clicks in that role, or maybe even any sales role. And it took a couple of wins for it to click. So once you get those wins, I think that also helps.

Pete Newsome  05:14
So why do you think? Let’s talk about that just for me. Why do you think that? 

Pete Newsome  05:20
How did that become instilled in you that you have, whether it’s competitiveness, drive, whatever that it factor is where, you know, you say stubborn, I mean, I don’t, you could come up with lots of different phrases, but it was it to me it was just steadfast commitment that no, you are going to make this happen and figure it out. 

Pete Newsome  05:39
And I think that is such a hard thing to find in people. What do you think about that, and know why and how that was implanted?

Margaret McAfee  05:48
I think, and I could be completely off, but I think a lot of it is with how I was raised. I
saw my mom and dad work incredibly hard. 

Margaret McAfee  06:01
When we were in sports, it was your part of a team, you will not let your team down. So you will practice you will, you know all of these things that as a kid, you know, you could say not that my parents pushed us into like, you will be a scholarship winning student and go to college and professional sports. 

Margaret McAfee  06:21
But more so like, if you’re dedicating yourself to something, you’re gonna dedicate yourself, and you’re gonna be a good human and a good person at that versus just kind of like, do it when you want to, you know, and it was that way with school, church, sports, everything in our life.

Pete Newsome  06:39
If you’re gonna do it, do it, right? I mean, and so you, you were part of a time where, when we were working, and you did succeed, you succeeded to a very significant degree in your sales role. 

Pete Newsome  06:55
You played a number of roles for us, at 4 Corner in management, and you are willing, to do whatever we needed to do at the time, which is incredibly valuable. That made you a very valuable employee, which I think you probably were conscious of as well. 

Pete Newsome  07:13
But you also were witness to that being really hard to come by and why do you think that is? And it’s a leading question because now you’re a parent, how old is Milly now?

Margaret McAfee  07:26
She’s nine.

Pete Newsome  07:27
So you started having children five years after I stopped. And so my oldest is crazy to say he’s now 23, which is wild. Right? And my youngest is 14. 

Pete Newsome  07:40
And so I think there had been a shift beginning, where parents who are my age realize this shift in the end, hopefully, this will make sense with young professionals who are about your age, right? So when you’re in your age group, did not have that same work ethic instilled? 

Pete Newsome  07:59
And I think parents of my generation kind of started realizing that and reverting back to some old-school ways of parenting. But what do you see? Is that trend now? with parents? Is it? 

Pete Newsome  08:14
Is it still the participation trophy approach? And the kids need to be successful and happy all the time? And? Or is it more of, hey, you know, you got to earn, you got to earn it along the way?

Margaret McAfee  08:25
I think sorry, my screen went really small because someone phone called me. So I was trying to figure out how to make it bigger again. I think, Gosh, it’s an interesting mix. So here, kids, at the schools don’t get to start sports until fifth grade. 

Margaret McAfee  08:46
So it’s definitely different than there were, it’s like preschool, and they’re starting sports. So you see these kids who are in sports now and like, so intense into it. But then you also see the opposite side of it. So I think it’s still a pretty good mix of, and not just sports, like I say sports, because that’s common, you know, easy to understand. 

Margaret McAfee  09:10
But I definitely think it’s a mix. I you know, I see some kids who were, you know, they don’t want to go to school today. So their parents are like me, and that’s all the time. It’s not, you know, I do it every once in a while when my kids are like, very tired or they’re up late, but it’s like an all-the-time thing. 

Margaret McAfee  09:27
It’s like, well, you know, are we really teaching them that it’s okay, just to be like, you know because then you think about it translates into the work world. 

Margaret McAfee  09:35
You know, oh, gosh, I was too hungover. I was out late last night or I’m just sad today, so maybe I shouldn’t go to work. And it’s okay to have those days. I’m not saying it’s not but you can definitely see how it translates from younger kids to adult life.

Pete Newsome  09:54
Yeah, it is well, it’s been an interesting thing to watch and I’m Jerry, I’ll continue to come back to you over the years to hear this because it’s a concern for me. It’s not the some of the parenting changes that have taken place over the last 30 years haven’t necessarily served us well. 

Pete Newsome  10:18
Right, haven’t served those children who became adults, eventually, you have to realize life is hard to realize that someone’s not going to be there to save you and that you’re not always going to win. 

Pete Newsome  10:30
I think that those traits are, the sooner they’re instilled the better. And I know you and I are in alignment on that. And so it’s not surprising for me to hear you say you were raised that way. 

Pete Newsome  10:41
Because you kind of have to have that exposure from somewhere. 

Pete Newsome  10:45
But you did have it so that is one of the reasons why I mean, you had success in our environment where you had to eat what you kill, right? There was nothing to be handed to you, as you well know. 

Pete Newsome  10:59
Did that translate and help you have the confidence to go out on your own when you made that decision?

Margaret McAfee  11:06
So for those, I guess, that probably are listening and don’t know, I’ll kind of give a background of where I’m at in my life. 

Margaret McAfee  11:17
So when my husband and I made the decision to move to Indiana, which is where we live now and where his family lives, it was like a very random conversation that happens when I was on maternity leave at one point with our third daughter. 

Margaret McAfee  11:36
And I always struggled to come back from maternity leave not because you know, I didn’t want to be back in my job. But it was just emotionally hard for me to leave my children. 

Margaret McAfee  11:47
And so it was kind of like, okay, like, let’s consider this. And to me, I thought, well, if I’m going to do it, I’m not going to work. 

Margaret McAfee  11:53
And when we move, I’m gonna stay at home. And I’m gonna go volunteer at my kid’s school all the time, I’m gonna do all these things. 

Margaret McAfee  12:01
So fast forward to us moving here. And we’re six months in and welcome COVID I can’t walk into my kid’s school. I have met no parents, basically, because I can’t volunteer. 

Margaret McAfee  12:17
I can’t when at school pickup, you can’t go out and talk to people. No one is comfortable being around other people. Of course, I had it was really nice to move here because my husband had a lot of friends here. So in turn, I had the ability to meet a bunch of wives and things like that. 

Margaret McAfee  12:35
So I did have friends, and I wasn’t isolated. But from a perspective, in my mind, if I’m going to be the stay-at-home mom that’s always at school and always doing these things. 

Margaret McAfee  12:45
And it was like, completely gone and taken, that ability was taken away from me for almost, what a year and a half. So over half the time that I had lived here. And so I had started journeying, I guess vlogging essentially, my, home we purchased needed to be renovated. 

Margaret McAfee  13:08
And so I received a lot of feedback from people who were friends. This is really cool. You should keep doing this. Like I love seeing this kind of home stuff. 

Margaret McAfee  13:16
So I thought okay, I mean, it’s just stories, I might as well put it up on Instagram. Well, that started to grow. And I’m like, Oh, this is cool. Like, I guess being an influencer. I don’t really enjoy that term. I much would rather say, content creator.

Pete Newsome  13:31
Okay. We had a debate about that at dinner last night, by the way, what is an influencer? We tried to define it with my teenagers.

Margaret McAfee  13:39
I would think they’re both right, you know, you have to create the content, which I’m really horrible at lately, but we’ll get into that. 

Margaret McAfee  13:49
And it just kind of transitioned into something and I started DIY buying in our house because we just weren’t going to spend the money on having tradespeople come in and do the work when I knew I could do it myself. 

Margaret McAfee  14:05
And then it just became something where I was teaching myself how to build furniture how to do major renovations and a house and I really enjoyed it and I just grew my Instagram from there. 

Margaret McAfee  14:20
So I don’t I wouldn’t say that like you said the path was very winding and I wouldn’t say the plan went as planned by any means because this none of this was in the plan.

Pete Newsome  14:29
Well but I have to say though and so I tried to talk you into you were physically moving and I tried to talk you into staying in and continuing to work for us right which is the irony is we are 100% virtual now. Right. 

Pete Newsome  14:46
So but had we offered you that option and you still turn it down a very attractive offer, I will say that those of us who knew you professionally, were very skeptical that you would be satisfied to not work. 

Pete Newsome  15:05
And so COVID may have been the catalyst for that. And there always seems to be a catalyst. Right, I had something that was my catalyst for starting a business and going out on my own. That story always exists. 

Pete Newsome  15:19
But do you think you would have ended up there anyway? I mean, do you think you Yeah, let’s say COVID hadn’t happened? You’d be in the homeroom mom? I mean, it just doesn’t, I don’t, I don’t see that you would be satisfied with that, because you’re so driven, just to do new things. 

Margaret McAfee  15:35
For me, it was always, um, having the ability to have more time with my children. But yes, I think I would have needed some sort of whether it was a project or some sort of goal. I’m very like goal driven, you know, I would have probably needed something there. 

Margaret McAfee  15:54
And I don’t think I ever knew it was going to come in the form of content creating and influencing. And now I’m, as of this year, moving more into the design world. So now, I don’t, I think I would have still needed something. But I don’t think I knew what that was.

Pete Newsome  16:12
Right. Well, that’s such an interesting point. Because one of the reasons why zengig exists. So zengig that in this podcast wouldn’t wasn’t something that was on our radar screen, then when you left. 

Pete Newsome  16:26
But what we have realized being in staffing that people typically end up in a career not because it was their choice, or their dream as a child is my joke is always no one dressed up as a recruiter for Halloween when they were little, we know that. But how you end up where you are is coincidental. 

Pete Newsome  16:49
As much as anything else, unless you have the right catalyst or support, encouragement to step back and really consider these things before you get locked in on a path. And that’s why we thought zengig was so important for young people in particular, who don’t really get that advice. 

Pete Newsome  17:09
I don’t know if you did growing up, but I was told to effectively get a job. That’s what the world kind of tells you get a degree get a job, get a job, how the hell knows what the EU was this ever event? 

Pete Newsome  17:21
I mean, I know you were in the fashion. And you you’re very particular about you’re decorating your house, I remember that. But that seems like a natural.

Margaret McAfee  17:32
I never went to college and was like, wondering if I could be a designer one day, like that was never a thought of mine. It was just always a passion. 

Margaret McAfee  17:43
And I think when you I mean, I listen to a ton of designer podcasts, and when you listen to them, I would say 99% of them never went to school for design. 

Margaret McAfee  17:55
Okay, never where they went for a semester. And then they were like, Yeah, I got this I’m out. And then they just went out and did their thing. I think it’s a very, creative-based career.

Pete Newsome  18:07
It was it’s interesting, you would say it the way you just did because I’ve recently had a thought that I’ve shared a few times shared with my oldest college student, my only college student for right now, as changed his degree a couple of times still not completely locked into what he wants to do. 

Pete Newsome  18:26
And I’ve said do they pursue that thing that you go to bed thinking about it provided it’s not like video games or you know, other stuff that’s specifically college-related?

Pete Newsome  18:39
But what is the thing you spend that consumes your thoughts? When you have nothing else to do you know, free time if you’re out exercising, what is a podcast that you’re listening to? and pursue that? 

Pete Newsome  18:51
And maybe it is video games, right? And we would joke about it. But my son is creative. He’s, you know, he’s currently majoring, in programming, or whatever the degree is actually called. So yes, a path into your games might may be viable, but you listen to design podcasts. 

Pete Newsome  19:10
And that was your passion and interest in you may roll your eyes when you hear me say this, but because it’s it, I’ve evolved in this thinking, Margaret, that I think you should try to combine your passion and your career wherever possible. 

Pete Newsome  19:26
And that’s something that I didn’t use to subscribe to, necessarily, I. I’ve had to grow into that over the years. 

Margaret McAfee  19:34
But yeah, and I think a lot of that too, also is with the times, right?

 
Margaret McAfee  19:39
Because as you said, when you were growing up, it’s you leave high school, you go to college, you’re there for your hopefully for years, and then you’re going straight into your career and you’re on that path for you know, 50 years until you retire, whatever it may be. 

Margaret McAfee  19:55
But I think now there is a lot of promotion.

Margaret McAfee  20:00
And around, maybe take a year off when you graduate college and go get a job and see what it’s like, or don’t go to college go into a trade professional world because good ones are far and few between and they can make a ton of money. 

Margaret McAfee  20:16
We have a place here in Fort Wayne that just opened called amp lab. 

Margaret McAfee  20:22
And it’s all about different ways to do schooling for students about around, they have a podcast studio, they have a studio on, like a music studio for people to create music, they have an act like an indoor agriculture area. 

Margaret McAfee  20:40
And this is all for kids that can go there and learn all this stuff. Wow. It’s exciting to see how education and the way that we parent society, whatever it may be, are enabling children to learn in different ways and have opportunities except for high school and college straight into their career for the next 30 years.

Pete Newsome  21:06
Well, the education system is not ideal. I think we know that. When you look at and you’re experiencing this. 

Pete Newsome  21:14
Now, of course, in real-time, as mi still with my two in high school where it’s not exactly a one size fits all scenario, but it’s pretty darn close, where there aren’t that many kids in any given scenario, they just happen to be born in the same geography or go to the same private school that should be exposed to the same things. 

Pete Newsome  21:32
And I don’t have a solution. 

Pete Newsome  21:34
So I can’t criticize it too much other than to say, programs like the one you’re describing your parents, I would love to see more parents kind of step back and realize this, and it’s hard because there’s just the world’s not set up that way or our society, I should say, I can’t speak to the rest of the world. 

Pete Newsome  21:54
It’s just not set up that way. It’s, you know, at a young age, no one is telling you to go off on your own and explore your true passion.

Margaret McAfee  22:03
Yeah. And I think what’s going to take that changes people to understand and what I love about this podcast in San Diego is that they’re given the opportunity to say it’s okay to not be straight and narrow for your adult career. 

Margaret McAfee  22:19
And to understand what that is, like, it’s okay to have the winding path to get to where you want to be.

Pete Newsome  22:24
So could you so here’s the real test it could you if Millie, your oldest comes to you and Jake, your husband, and says, I’m not going to school, I want to go out and pursue something. Just doesn’t necessarily sound like it would lead to financial success, right? 

Pete Newsome  22:44
And that’s something that I know you’re very conscious of. 

Pete Newsome  22:48
And I’ve always been responsible with that, from the day I met you, I know you were very serious about just being frugal at times, but also just being just responsible for lack of better, you know, older, you know, then then then your age may be in that regard. 

Pete Newsome  23:03
And that’s a big compliment. Coming from someone who sees that that is, you know, that’s a rare thing, too. So, if your daughter came to you with that and said, I’m not going to college, it’s not my path. It’s not my future. Are you okay with that?

Margaret McAfee  23:18
I actually, yes. And we’re probably like, more on the opposite end than you would think. Where if are like, Jake, very much. So he’s a heap. Jake is a consumer he consumes podcasts and information all day long. 

Margaret McAfee  23:35
He’s a huge Gary Vee fan. Okay. He also is a big I don’t know if you know, Jordan Peterson, of course. Yes. And he’s a big Jordan Peterson fan of parenting. And so he is very much in the mind of, definitely doesn’t feel like you need to go to college.

Pete Newsome  23:51
Okay. Is that Yeah. How prevalent is that thought process? Or that way of thinking rather, among your peer group? Would you say?

Margaret McAfee  24:00
I think it’s pretty prevalent. And we’re rather like, you know, we’re not on the far liberal end of the spectrum by any means. 

Margaret McAfee  24:11
But I think it’s, I think it’s pretty prevalent. I just think that it is so many. First of all, the cost of college is just absurd, right? 

Margaret McAfee  24:21
And so you see, these kids that are getting into like, major debt. And like my husband, I was fortunate enough to have my family pay for my college and my husband had to pay for everything on his own. 

Margaret McAfee  24:32
So when we first met, he had just gotten out of college. And he, I mean, he worked all the time so that he could pay all he wanted to do is pay his college loans off. 

Margaret McAfee  24:42
We were rarely going on dates, like you know, it was very much he didn’t want to be in debt. And so I think that for him, he kind of saw that and where that got him and that got him into a job that he didn’t love. 

Margaret McAfee  24:58
And then he left that job. and is now a realtor where you don’t need to go to college and is very successful.

Pete Newsome  25:06
Yeah, and not to make this about finances. But you mentioned Gary Vaynerchuk. And one of the things that if you’ve, if you’ve listened to him at all, I’m sure Jake, at the very least, has shared lots of thoughts over time, but one of his messages is, you know, while you’re young, that’s when you have to grind and to work hard. 

Pete Newsome  25:26
And it’s something that I think, really ties so much of this together, as success doesn’t come early, you have to be able to delay gratification. I mean, it could come early, if you get lucky, right? 

Pete Newsome  25:35
Everyone can hit it, anyone could hit the lottery, but no one should count on it. And instead, put in the work. 

Pete Newsome  25:42
And what I saw you guys doing was you I don’t know, if you’ve held true to this, I’m not putting you on the spot but back then you said, we’re not going to have any debt, we’re going to pay cash for everything we do. 

Pete Newsome  25:53
And that means delaying gratification, to a significant degree, which very few people are willing to do.

Margaret McAfee  25:59
Okay. The only debt we have is our house or mortgage.

Pete Newsome  26:02
I mean, but that gives you so much freedom, right? And that’s why you were able to leave what I think you would agree was a high-income job. 

Margaret McAfee  26:14
I don’t think there were many people that were 30 years old making the money I made.

Pete Newsome  26:18
No, I don’t think there are many people in America, right, percentage-wise, we’re making the money you were making back then. I mean, and so you walked away from it completely. 

Pete Newsome  26:28
And with no income on the other side. Now, you’re in a different place now. But you couldn’t have done that it unless you were frugal and responsible from a young age, right? 

Margaret McAfee  26:43
We were I mean, we still don’t and it could be, you know, the for children for young children. But we don’t really haven’t gone on any lavish vacations or anything like that. And, of course, it’s our dream too. 

Margaret McAfee  26:57
But I think the kids kind of really delayed that quite a bit. Because I don’t know, taking four young kids on vacation doesn’t sound like much of a vacation, quite honestly. 

Margaret McAfee  27:06
But you know, we see the ability to, like you said, grind now and invest while we’re at this age to be able to do those things later in life.

Pete Newsome  27:16
So I’ll jump in just real quickly. This is unsolicited advice, as someone who’s a little ahead of you with the kids I regret vacations we didn’t take, I don’t regret any that we did and that we’ve spent more for years I didn’t until I don’t know that there was a catalyst for that too. 

Pete Newsome  27:34
At first, it was an opportunity to go out west for a ski trip. This was probably 12 years ago, and it was at a great resort. And we just for whatever reason said, You know what, let’s do it. And on paper, it didn’t make a lot of sense, necessarily. And we did. 

Pete Newsome  27:50
And that changed my whole perspective and that is why we were able to take the kids to Europe and after and see other parts of the world. So just for what it’s worth I thought because of you I’ve bought into this mindset of spending on experiences more than material things, and very much so. 

Pete Newsome  28:10
And so, you know, there’s but look, everyone’s got to do what’s right for themselves. And that’s, that’s what you’re doing. So let’s go back to what you’re actually having success with now. 

Pete Newsome  28:21
So you started off putting up content? Just do you follow any? Any? Did you? Did you do? I’m sure he did research. Did you? Did you? How did you kind of evolve in this?

Margaret McAfee  28:34
Yeah, so the content creator community is very helpful if you find the right people. So I think that really helped. I also, Jake has always been very supportive, and very much so like, invest in yourself, invest in yourself, invest in yourself. 

Margaret McAfee  28:54
And so I took a this will shock you probably I took a pitching class, a sales pitching class, okay? for content creators pitching to brands, right? And that at the time was $500, which was so much money. 

Pete Newsome  29:15
To me, it’s a lot. That’s a lot of money to spend on dollars.

Margaret McAfee  29:17
I’m like, ooh, this is so much money. 

Margaret McAfee  29:20
So I did it. And that was definitely a big catalyst for me. 

Margaret McAfee  29:25
Understanding the world that is content creation and working with brands, because there’s a bunch of different you know, you could be an influencer, who works with brands and does a lot there’s so there’s kind of two categories in my three, I guess, in my opinion. 

Margaret McAfee  29:42
You just put links out there and you can make a commission off of links, right? 

Margaret McAfee  29:47
Or you make money by working with brands, you’re promoting their products, whatever it may be, or there are people who do both. For a while, I did both. 

Margaret McAfee  29:57
And then I started when I took that class started working with brands and have the ability to pitch myself, there are a lot of platforms that you can put out your like, resume, so to say, it’s called a media kit. 

Margaret McAfee  30:12
And it shows the brands you’ve worked with, your, like stats of your followers, all these different things. 

Margaret McAfee  30:22
And brands can come to you after seeing that, or you can just sit back and wait for brands to send you a DM or an email or whatever it may be. 

Margaret McAfee  30:31
I found myself not loving working with brands because you’re essentially working for someone else again. And there’s a lot of boundaries that, okay, they don’t like being set. 

Margaret McAfee  30:47
And, you know, they, they, in my opinion, don’t value what it takes for a content creator to create content and all that goes into it and the time. monetarily, it’s not as lucrative as it should be.

Pete Newsome  31:04
Okay? It is super tight. I mean, in the things that you do, don’t you, they’re not quick, right? You’re not just making quick videos of like, Toulon, a dress or something like that, you know, you’re doing projects and putting in work projects.

Margaret McAfee  31:20
You’re having to think of the content, you’re having to shoot the content, you have to edit it, then you have to send it to a brand. And typically they have to approve or deny it. 

Margaret McAfee  31:30
So it means, you are literally, like, if you think of a TV commercial, think of all the things that go into that. And then it’s the same thing as a content creator, you’re still having to do all of those things, but you’re one person. 

Margaret McAfee  31:42
Now there are people who make crazy good money, doing content creation for brands. And that’s, you know, I’m not knocking it by any means. It just wasn’t for me.

Pete Newsome  31:52
Okay, so then, so then what? So where did you just leave that?

Margaret McAfee  31:58
No, I shouldn’t say it’s not for me, I still do work with some brands every once in a while that I have worked with multiple times, and are very good with their expectations. 

Margaret McAfee  32:09
And I feel like respect what we do. Okay. Um, so as of this year, so I started to do a lot of design, and I got asked to do a lot of design work. 

Margaret McAfee  32:20
And I was doing some E design, which is like, you meet with someone via video, and they show you their space, and then you send them back like a virtual design, you never see them in person or anything like that. And it was like, it was okay, got my feet wet, but I didn’t like love it. 

Margaret McAfee  32:36
Well, I got asked last year by an old neighbor in Orlando, actually to design their new build. And they were demolishing their old house and building a new house. 

Margaret McAfee  32:49
And so I thought, Okay, this is a killer opportunity for myself, to learn a lot. The client was the right type of client for me as a first-time designer. And the budget was fantastic. 

Margaret McAfee  33:05
And the style was my style. So I’m like, all the stars were kind of aligning. So let’s give it a go. And so we’re still working on that house, that’ll be done hopefully in June. 

Margaret McAfee  33:18
And so that was a really, that was kind of like that, oh, wow, I really enjoy this, like full-scale design versus just like, I’ve never been there. I don’t, you know, like, just like a quick sketch up online. And then I got asked again, and then I got asked again. 

Margaret McAfee  33:34
And so I’m like, Okay, this is kind of something and I don’t particularly put my services out online. I show you know, I’m doing design for a client, but I’ve never once told anyone, hey, if you’re interested in my design work, let me know. 

Margaret McAfee  33:52
And right now I’m kind of at full capacity with the three projects that I have. So I decided that this year 2023 would be the year to invest in my design business. 

Margaret McAfee  34:03
And so I recently signed on with a company to do branding there so they’re creating this and by recently, I mean like I don’t know two days ago is good timing. 

Margaret McAfee  34:15
Okay, yes, yes. So they’re doing all the branding for me and they’re doing a website for myself. So I should have all of that up and running in the next couple of months and be a little more legit

Pete Newsome  34:28
So the evolution is you started from scratch doing your own projects, putting it out for the world to like criticize commenting on whatever it might be given give you feedback in real-time. 

Pete Newsome  34:41
And through that, opportunities presented themselves to you and in you that evolve to you finding something that combined and I’m and I wish I could think of the actual quote I saw recently that this describes this but effectively If it was what you like doing, what you’re good at doing and what the world sees value in, right? 

Pete Newsome  35:04
And like if you can combine those things well, that’s how success happens in this world. And so you’re able to do that. But you couldn’t have foreseen this, the endpoint, right? 

Pete Newsome  35:16
I mean, it sounds like you were kind of going without this. I mean, I want to put words in your mouth. But it sounds like you kind of knew something was there. And you couldn’t probably wrap a bow around it either.

Margaret McAfee  35:28
Yeah. And I feel like this, this first project that I got really was the main driver of this in my life, like, I always enjoyed doing it in my own home and looking at the things online, and like I said, consuming the podcast, but to really be like, hands-on into this. It’s just been such an experience. 

Margaret McAfee  35:48
And just, I mean, as you said to your son, I think about that at night, I think about it when I wake up like it’s the stuff that’s really the passion side of your career.

Pete Newsome  35:58
Well, we didn’t, we haven’t caught up live with an extended conversation in years. And so we decided to kind of do this without any script or even spending much time catching up. 

Pete Newsome  36:09
We talked for maybe five minutes before we started recording today. But I don’t know that. You know, this. But when you were still with for corner when we hired our first marketing agency, and you can probably remember that our website was five pages, it was awful. 

Pete Newsome  36:26
We didn’t have a clue what we were doing. Remember, there was a point where we started writing blogs and I’m using air quotes with that, because we didn’t know what the hell they were, by the way, we still have those.

Margaret McAfee  36:40
Put these words here, someone will come?

Pete Newsome  36:42
Well, I would say out loud, I should be embarrassed to say but I have to own it that I like what the heck would you put on a staffing company website? 

Pete Newsome  36:51
What content would you even put? 

Pete Newsome  36:53
Well, here we are. Four and a half years later, five years later, really and almost. 

Pete Newsome  36:59
And I’ve it is my obsession and passion that I never would have imagined. And I stumbled into that. 

Pete Newsome  37:08
I still love the recruiting business, of course, but this is the thing that has just brought me energy and enthusiasm, and excitement in a way that I never imagined. 

Pete Newsome  37:21
And we started once we did everything one step at a time. And we made a lot of mistakes, a lot of mistakes along the way. 

Pete Newsome  37:28
But through that, we’ve been able to learn and I think it’s it’s hard to do I mean it at my age it’s hard to do it’s unique to have that opportunity, and even with you I mean you’re quite a bit younger than me of course but as an adult, you got to reinvent yourself which it takes the right circumstances in his heart. 

Pete Newsome  37:49
And to me, that’s why this is your story. And hopefully, to some degree, my story is relevant to young people because you weren’t good at it necessarily out of the gate right? 

Pete Newsome  38:03
You weren’t where you are at the gate, you had to evolve, you had to go through it, you had to put in the time and I’ve watched you put in that time, right? 

Pete Newsome  38:10
I’ve watched you improve the way you communicate online, your comfort with it the way the stuff that you put out, I’m sure you look back at some of your old videos and laugh, right maybe? 

Margaret McAfee  38:24
There was a new feature. I don’t know if it’s a new feature on Instagram or what. But it was like where the story bubbles are and it was a memory bubble. And I clicked it today. 

Margaret McAfee  38:34
I was like, Oh, let’s see. And it was like I guess just the past year. So it’s kind of like what Facebook does. 

Margaret McAfee  38:39
And it was like this video and there was this horrific filter on my face. And I was like, what was I doing? Why did I do that? It was Yeah, so yes, it was that’s a very timely comment.

Pete Newsome  38:53
But like Gary Vaynerchuk would recommend, you know, his whole message is to put yourself out there. Don’t hesitate. Don’t wait, try to be perfect or great early. 

Pete Newsome  39:02
It’s okay not to be and I certainly have come to appreciate that in a way that I couldn’t have without going down the path, right, like from the outside looking at and I of course kick myself every day when I think about marketing that I ignored it for the first 13 years that we were in business. 

Pete Newsome  39:23
And I think and where could I be now if we had done something differently but also you don’t know until you know and you again it when you’re young. 

Pete Newsome  39:36
You have the time and it may not feel like that. But that’s part of such an important part of the message I’m trying to get out with zengig do it while you don’t have four kids. 

Pete Newsome  39:48
You don’t have I mean I quit my job when I had to you quit your job when you’re well three, I guess soon before and it’s in it’s like the time to do Just when you’re young, do you agree with that?

Margaret McAfee  40:02
Yes, 100%. And I also, think it’s important to say that, and I feel a lot of this from Gary Vee, and obviously, my own experience that it’s okay to want to change when you’re older, right? 

Margaret McAfee  40:16
Like, don’t feel like you can only do it when you’re young. 

Margaret McAfee  40:18
But yes, like, get out there and explore and figure out what you like and what you’re passionate about when you’re young don’t feel like you need to go into a job because it makes you 30k. 

Margaret McAfee  40:30
And that’s how you can pay the bills, you know, figure out how you can grind so that you’re able to do your passion.

Pete Newsome  40:36
Yeah, one of the things I tell parents, or tell kids of getting out of school, and I’ll tell the parents to cover their ears is go if you know that thing. 

Pete Newsome  40:45
And it’s a rare gift if you do, right, if you know, but I would think I mean, I this is a little sidetrack. But do you think you could have been prepared to go on your own and do it the way you’ve done it? 

Pete Newsome  41:02
Had you not had the professional experience and success that you had? That’s hard, and the trials and tribulations and you know, frustrated? 

Pete Newsome  41:11
You look good. I mean, you I doubt it, you had experienced a lot of good and bad through that time. As you know, we’ve could talk for days about all those stories. 

Pete Newsome  41:22
And it wasn’t always easy. 

Pete Newsome  41:23
And the success didn’t necessarily come quickly, as we talked about when you went into sales, but you had to deal with management issues and everything that a small business has to deal with. 

Pete Newsome  41:34
But that, you know, you learn from each of those things. And I know that when I thought of starting my first company, I first want to start what has now become my staffing business. 

Pete Newsome  41:45
10 years prior, no way I was prepared, I needed that 10 years in between to gain professional knowledge and experience.

Margaret McAfee  41:52
Yeah, I mean, my time there was, you know, and what I learned, and I even say this about my time in retail, like I was, and I, maybe it’s just me, and I try to take away something from every experience. 

Margaret McAfee  42:04
But I mean, in retail, I was fresh out of college and running a multimillion-dollar store, like the most, the busiest store for this brand. 

Margaret McAfee  42:15
And all of the worlds I was running, and I was employing 100 People like what?

Pete Newsome  42:22
Why would give you that responsibility?

Margaret McAfee  42:25
Like, say that this is okay. Yeah, you’re you know, 21 years old Sure, you can run a multimillion-dollar store and employ 100 people. 

Margaret McAfee  42:33
So I think all of those experiences lead to, you know, how you can deal with your future and whatnot. 

Margaret McAfee  42:41
And same with obviously at for car it was, you know, I was still I would call myself fresh out of college. 

Margaret McAfee  42:48
I mean, what, two years out a year and a half out, and I’m talking to grown adults about how much money they make, which is still a very, to me, it’s a very normal conversation. 

Margaret McAfee  42:59
I’m like, oh, yeah, how much do you make, but then I have to remind myself, okay, that’s not normal. 

Margaret McAfee  43:04
Like it was normal to you because you were in staffing for seven years. But, you know, you get put into those situations where it’s like, you have to be comfortable with it. 

Margaret McAfee  43:14
And I think that a lot of that experience created professional development for me.

Pete Newsome  43:19
I remember the awkwardness because my first job out of school, you know, was it was going to work for a staffing company. 

Pete Newsome  43:25
And the same thing, I remember talking to this guy who was older than my parents. Like when, right when I started, I was having to ask how much he made. 

Pete Newsome  43:34
And I thought it was so awkward, you know, but of course, that is the job. And it’s only awkward if you let it be which you had to learn, I had to learn. And your age is not a limit. 

Pete Newsome  43:46
With that, but experience and confidence and knowledge are and that’s kind of the Gary Vee message too is you’ve got to earn your credibility, you know, it’s not granted to you. 

Pete Newsome  43:57
And I think that’s something that you’ve done publicly, which I think is really cool. And because most people fail quietly, not that you failed, but put, you could have failed, right? 

Pete Newsome  44:09
You could have put yourself out there publicly. 

Pete Newsome  44:13
And that is something that I don’t think existed, you know, the potential other than if you were, you know, a professional athlete or some some kind of performer none of us had that opportunity to do that. 

Pete Newsome  44:23
And you see how I think it’s just so cool because it’s so much more real and I would guess people who follow you and support you have watched your journey and watch your kids get older as they pop in and out of the videos. 

Pete Newsome  44:40
I mean, that’s a really cool thing because they get to know you along the way even though they don’t actually know you.

Margaret McAfee  44:46
Right? Yeah, it’s I mean, the influencer world is a very personal one if you let it be right, my kids aren’t front and center. 

Margaret McAfee  44:55
Often but yes, they are on you know my stories and whatnot. 

Margaret McAfee  44:59
Every here and there, but yes, you do as I’m moving into design more so and I’ve put that out there, you know, telling people I’m investing in business this year. 

Margaret McAfee  45:11
I have received messages that it’s like, it’s very, it’s been so cool to see you on this journey. And I’m so excited to watch your design journey. So yes, I mean, it happens.

Pete Newsome  45:22
I think people value hard work in it when they see that and others, right? 

Pete Newsome  45:27
So yeah, at times, you can be envious of someone who is famous for being famous and just got lucky, because of the family they were born in or whatever. That’s easy to criticize right? 

Pete Newsome  45:38
It’s mainly envy talking, I certainly wish I you know, I would trade places with someone I was, and I wouldn’t mind my family being a new multi-billionaire. 

Pete Newsome  45:46
But it’s different when you see someone earn it and take risks and take chances. And I think that’s what’s really cool about that world. 

Pete Newsome  45:56
And something I can tell you is probably maybe you remember when we talked about this when we first started going into marketing. 

Pete Newsome  46:03
We hired our first agency, they asked me to put out content and author content. And I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, I don’t want to be subjected to that criticism and put that out there. 

Pete Newsome  46:13
And I was really worried about it and giving people advice, and like, Who the hell am I to give people advice? 

Pete Newsome  46:21
And then it occurred to me, wait a minute, who am I? Well, I’m the owner of 13 years, I’ve been staffing company for 13 years at back at that time, we’ve placed 1000s and 1000s of employees, we work with Fortune 500 companies, and we recruit on their behalf like, Oh, I’m an expert in this as much as anyone. 

Pete Newsome  46:39
And it was like it clicked in that went from fear to confidence and comfort overnight. And you realize that what I realized is Wow, not only is that not a fearful thing, it’s there’s a lot of help that can be offered through that. 

Pete Newsome  46:54
And you can I mean, it’s really cool to be able to help people and have them come back and say, well, thank you for what you did. I mean, does that resonate with you?

Margaret McAfee  47:02
It does. And I think an important message in this and for hopeful people that will listen, is that it be confident in yourself and what you know, right? 

Margaret McAfee  47:15
Because there’s someone else out there and this massive world who doesn’t know what, you know, whether it’s one little snippet of information, somebody else needs that information or is seeking that information. 

Margaret McAfee  47:27
And that’s what’s so cool about the internet, right? 

Margaret McAfee  47:31
I mean, look at YouTube, YouTube is just a beast that I have not wrapped my head around yet would love to one day, but I mean, you can learn how to do anything on YouTube. Right? 

Margaret McAfee  47:43
And I think that’s what’s so cool. 

Margaret McAfee  47:45
But you have to be willing to put yourself out there as you said, and as I said, I just think, be confident in yourself and what you know, because someone is searching for what you do already know.

Pete Newsome  47:58
Absolutely. I love that you said that. YouTube is I’ve only recently kind of gotten into YouTube. I mean, of course, I’ve been aware of it. 

Pete Newsome  48:08
But only in the last year did I realize the depth and quality of content, and that you can learn on YouTube in a month or two what it would take to learn in college over four years, and maybe better. 

Pete Newsome  48:21
And the vast majority of it’s free, and just out there for consumption if you’re willing to invest the time and that’s the thing that’s always the X Factor. Right, who is willing to put in that time? 

Pete Newsome  48:34
And I think I think that’s the hard part for people, right? Is that it doesn’t happen quickly and you’re still you know, I guess you think you say that you’re growing and improving and you’re not like as great as you can learn. 

Pete Newsome  48:47
Yeah, so that’s but that’s part of it. 

Pete Newsome  48:50
I mean, so what advice what other Is there any other key piece of advice you would give someone who wants to get into that world but is hesitant? 

Pete Newsome  48:56
They’re on the fence? What would you say to them?

Margaret McAfee  48:59
Um, so for the content Corrado, both sides are content creator and designer. 

Margaret McAfee  49:04
So I would love to see content creation become a major or something in college, even if people don’t, you know, we’re kind of shying away from college more so, but I would love to see it because I think it is such an influential world. 

Margaret McAfee  49:21
And I read a lot of statistics on how much brands are planning to spend in the content creation and influencer world and it’s just increasing year after year. 

Margaret McAfee  49:33
So I think don’t be afraid and don’t put content out there. That’s for other people put it out there because it’s for you. 

Margaret McAfee  49:39
And it’s what you liked doing. 

Margaret McAfee  49:42
Yes, someone may learn something like I just said, but don’t put it out there because you feel like you just saw Suzie Q do a dress tie on and so now you feel like you need to go do that or whatever it may be. 

Margaret McAfee  49:59
So that would definitely be my advice on the influencer side. 

Margaret McAfee  50:02
And you have to, I mean, this is any job, but you have to grind. 

Margaret McAfee  50:06
Like, I used to look at these people, and just be like, Oh, would they do today they made, you know, $20,000 Because I sat in front of a fireplace and promoted a coffee mug. And now I’m like, Whoa, who was I to judge that person? 

Margaret McAfee  50:22
And what they do, and think that I know how much work went into that. 

Margaret McAfee  50:27
Because especially now, because I do know how much time and effort goes into that one photo. You know, it’s a lot. 

Margaret McAfee  50:35
So know that it’s not as glamorous as it looks, that’s for darn sure. 

Margaret McAfee  50:40
But it’s, you know, you’re creating your own path and essentially a new career that’s in this world. So definitely, it’s not as glamorous as it looks. 

Margaret McAfee  50:51
You got to grind and put the content out there for yourself because you liked it. And not because someone else did it and you feel like you need to do it.

Margaret McAfee  51:01
That would be that world.

Pete Newsome  51:02
So much wisdom in that. I mean, you said there’s you made a number of great points there. 

Pete Newsome  51:07
One is, it reminded me of a realization that we had when we first started creating, and putting job descriptions on the four corners site, we have about 500 job descriptions there. 

Pete Newsome  51:19
And of course, we analyze the data, to see which pages get the most traffic, and one of our most popular pages was drone pilot. 

Pete Newsome  51:26
And I and I laughed about it first went the drone pilot doesn’t like that’s a no, I haven’t staffed. But that’s not that. I didn’t know that was a job necessarily.

Margaret McAfee  51:37
I had no idea until you just said.

Pete Newsome  51:38
Yeah, well, let me tell you a lot of people search for and are interested in a drone pilot and what that job entails. 

Pete Newsome  51:47
And that was sort of an epiphany moment for me where I realized man, okay, so we’re in finance, it marketing, HR staffing of corporate world, traditional jobs, but the world is so much bigger than that. 

Pete Newsome  51:59
And so for zengig now, what we put up are the most popular job descriptions that we can find. 

Pete Newsome  52:05
And some of them, it doesn’t surprise me anymore, but the list would probably blow you away of some of the jobs that are out there that people are interested in. 

Pete Newsome  52:13
So to your point, what Yeah, I mean, if you’re interested in it, and whatever that thing is, they’re probably there’s probably a really big audience. 

Pete Newsome  52:23
It’s also interesting and don’t try to, you know, emulate what someone else has done. And I think that I see that happening a lot on social media. 

Pete Newsome  52:34
And look, I’m not the I’m not, I’m not an influencer, not expert in that area by any stretch, but what I from my own marketing experience, and in the success, we’ve had with our website, and our content is it took me realizing that for too long.

 
Pete Newsome  52:53
And really almost the entirety of the time you were we work together, we were trying to follow a model that existed that someone else had created a trail that someone else had Blaze. 

Pete Newsome  53:04
And it wasn’t until that moment, probably the year before you left that it occurred to me and to us that wait a minute, we shouldn’t be following anyone we should be the ones doing our own thing. 

Pete Newsome  53:16
And that’s led to an entirely different world for us to have success with our online presence. And yeah, the sooner you realize that the better off you’re going to be, I think

Margaret McAfee  53:26
Yeah. Which is just wild to me, because we were so like when I first started at 
4 Corner, it was you know, not a suit but it was a buttoned-down shirt. 

Margaret McAfee  53:38
We were very corporate America, like what you picture in your mind when you say corporate America and see you sitting in a T-shirt.

Margaret McAfee  53:52
Have you ever seen where you post a picture like in sneakers or something one day and I was like, a few sneakers? 

Pete Newsome  54:02
I still have in my closet, you know, the ties the belts, the shoes, and I look at him and go, man, like I’m so much it’s just so much better. 

Pete Newsome  54:13
And there are trade-offs. I mean, we were already sort of evolving towards allowing people to work remotely we were doing that as a reward you remember prior to that? 

Pete Newsome  54:23
Yeah. So it was an easy relatively easy transition in terms of technology and is set up to work but what is a whole new world is culture and there are pros and cons I mean, being remote versus in the office. 

Pete Newsome  54:38
But I think the pros outweigh the cons. I think for young professionals it’s unfortunate that they don’t have the camaraderie and the learning opportunities and all those things are I do worry about that. And it does. 

Pete Newsome  54:52
We do try to find ways to bridge that gap for the young professionals we hire but the benefits are amazing. And I mean, look, I mean, I, you know, a lot happier, I’ll tell you that. That’s awesome.

Margaret McAfee  55:07
So I think that another important point to make right is to be open to change and evolution because you never know where it could take you.

Pete Newsome  55:15
Yeah, and you probably are pretty surprised at what you’ve seen us how.

Margaret McAfee  55:21
I mean, I follow all the social media and I’m still like, that is a different company.

Pete Newsome  55:27
It is a different company. Oh, it’s better. It’s better that oh, God, you were you remember that we at times had to deal with I’ll just say drama. 

Pete Newsome  55:37
You know, that wouldn’t have existed in this doesn’t exist and really has no potential to exist in a situation that more now with people being virtual and I don’t it’s not a criticism at all about companies still wanting people to come on-site, but it is limiting. And in so yeah,  I never NC a coven? 

Pete Newsome  56:01
Well, thank you. It’s great. Well, let me say, let me ask you this. Where do you see like, what’s next? I mean, where are you going? 

Pete Newsome  56:08
I know you have a website coming out. Well, we’ll post that. So follow up with me when it’s going to be ready in a couple of months. But where are you going from here?

Margaret McAfee  56:18
So I never really wanted to have a full-time career while my kids were young I right now, I actually just two weeks ago hired a nanny to come three days a week for three hours. 

Margaret McAfee  56:30
So I usually actually I’m in my bedroom right now, I usually just come to my room and plug away at design work. 

Margaret McAfee  56:38
So that’s been really nice. But I see myself, you know, I actually just answered this question on an application I filled out last night for a scholarship to go to a design camp. 

Margaret McAfee  56:50
But they had what’s your grand plan for three years, if you could, like have a great, anything that you wanted? 

Margaret McAfee  56:57
I would love to be working full-time on design. Because by then my youngest will be in school, and she’ll be in kindergarten, which is wild. 

Margaret McAfee  57:08
And so I’ll be home by myself, which is even wilder to think about. But I would love to be I don’t want to be this huge, amazing, crazy, global design boutique firm by any means I would love to. 

Margaret McAfee  57:22
There’s a famous designer who I actually had the opportunity to speak with wive on Zoom last week, her name is Whitney Parkinson. 

Margaret McAfee  57:30
And she is very well-known in the design world. And she has two young kids and her husband is a college basketball coach. 

Margaret McAfee  57:38
And she said I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to grow my team until maybe one day when my kids are big. 

Margaret McAfee  57:45
And so I had the opportunity to speak with her, which was so cool because she has two young kids and she works three days a week from home. She has someone who comes in watch her children. 

Margaret McAfee  57:56
And she’s like, that’s what I’m going to do. Yes, I still am answering emails on the two days I am, you know, maybe doing a site visit here and there and taking the kids with me. 

Margaret McAfee  58:05
But she’s like, that’s just what I want to do. And so I really respected that. And that’s kind of the world that I look to be in I would love to be doing design full time. 

Margaret McAfee  58:16
And have people coming to me because they like my style, and want to emulate that.

Pete Newsome  58:23
And you get to spend time only doing the things you want. 

Pete Newsome  58:25
And that is so cool. And I’ll put it under the category of freelance and that I’ve become a huge proponent of a better way to work a more healthy way to work where if you don’t your cup, you kind of eliminate all the bad and are just left with the good and the second, it’s no longer good, you no longer do it. 

Pete Newsome  58:49
And it is that simple. And so many examples of that, that that I see in different industries and in environments and so I don’t traditionally think or haven’t typically thought of what you were doing as freelance but 100% it is and I love it.

Pete Newsome  59:09
And man I’m so happy for you and proud of you too and the success that you’ve had no surprise and I guess in some ways that when I told you, Margaret, you’re not gonna be a stay-at-home mom just not gonna do it. 

Pete Newsome  59:22
Now I was said that was self-serving because I was trying to talk you into staying sane with us. 

Pete Newsome  59:27
But but but no surprise that you found something that you can, can do really be very successful with because I think anything you are going to do is would lead to that path. So very, very cool. Very cool to see. Yes,

Margaret McAfee  59:41
I’m very I’m excited. I feel like I’m in kind of this new journey going again into a design where it’s something that I’ve been doing. 

Margaret McAfee  59:48
I’m just kind of in a bit of a different capacity. 

Margaret McAfee  59:52
So again it’s Jake’s like, Are you changing careers? I’m like, I don’t know. Am I changing careers? I’m like, I don’t think so. I think I’m just adding a career. 

Pete Newsome  1:00:00
Love it. Love it. So last question then have you found careers in? Pa? Have you found career zen?

Margaret McAfee  1:00:08
Oh, well, I think so going into this new career, but it’s so I mean, we’re two months in so hit me up in a year. Alright. 

Margaret McAfee  1:00:22
But I think so because I think what it took was me to do some of these design things, and not understand what aspects of the design that I love, and that I am passionate about it.

Margaret McAfee  1:00:35
But also not passionate about certain portions of it and to eliminate that portion and to full-on go in the direction that I am most passionate about.

Pete Newsome  1:00:44
Perfect. All right, check back in a year. We’ll make good on that. 

Margaret McAfee  1:00:47
Hit me up in a year, I will have a different career.

Pete Newsome  1:00:50
Well, Margaret McAfee. McAfee Home Design has been an absolute pleasure to catch up with you. 

Pete Newsome  1:00:54
Thank you so much for your time. And we will talk again live in a year. 

Margaret McAfee  1:01:02
Awesome. 

Margaret McAfee  1:01:02
Thank you. 

Pete Newsome  1:01:03
Thank you.