Summer 2024 Bonus Season: Jacqui Ooi Transcript

00:00:04:14 - 00:00:18:09

Jacqui

So I ran a career change course for women, which is one of the most rewarding things that I've ever done. I think for me, it's the joy of connecting with women, hearing their stories and supporting them to make changes that they really want to make.

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00:00:18:11 - 00:00:31:15

Jacqui

I think change is inevitable in our lives and careers, and so knowing how to navigate that with confidence and make decisions that are right for you, I think is critical to our well-being. And it's also the key to building a fulfilling career.

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Lucy

Hi there. Today we're chatting with Jackie Hui. She's the founder and host of the What She Did Next podcast and the career Change. Kickstart a course, an experience. Career mentor Jackie loves helping women,

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00:00:45:16 - 00:01:04:07

Lucy

navigate their career changes. And she's a two time career changer herself. After returning to university to study career development and counseling. Jackie's pouring her professional expertise and personal experience into helping women confidently navigate career transitions and build meaningful careers.

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Lucy

Jacqui. So excited to finally get you on our podcast. We've been talking about it for a while, so welcome to my ambition. We are delighted to have you here.

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Jacqui

for having me.

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Lucy

So we're going to get stuck into all the wonderful work you do and your own podcast. So you're a podcast guru yourself. But, in the spirit of a mums and co interview, we absolutely love making business connections between women in our community. So in that vein, could you please share with us your 32nd elevator pitch so we can share your business with our network?

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Jacqui

Sure. So, yes, I'm Jackie, and I'm the founder of what she did next. And these days, I provide career education and mentoring women who want to make a career change. So you're right. It did start out as a podcast, but over time, it's evolved. And so now I teach an online course for women about career change, and it's all about giving women the tools and the strategies to help them gain clarity on what they want in the next chapter and the confidence to move forward.

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00:02:05:04 - 00:02:25:21

Jacqui

So I believe that career change skills are essential in a fast changing world. But most of us didn't have really very good career education back in school in any. And so it can be really challenging to reach this point in our lives and want to do something different, but really not necessarily have the skills or the knowledge to know how to do that.

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Jacqui

So yeah, I love helping women with that process and really teaching people how to make the most of all the opportunities that are available to us now.

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Lucy

So exciting. And I was just reflecting then on. I remember in high school seeing the careers counselor.

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Lucy

I think maybe once or twice I got to be at 18 or 17 or whatever old I was. I mean, how much do you really know then? Not much.

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Jacqui

It's such a common story. And even today, because I've been studying career development and career counseling over the past year, you know, I was kind of surprised to learn that even today, for young people in school, there's still no

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Speaker 2

Start.

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Jacqui

curriculum. Like it really depends on the school you go to as to what the quality of career education is like.

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Jacqui

But yeah, like it's such a common story for women our age.

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Jacqui

you know, 40s, 50s, even your 30s, that. Yeah, most people maybe had one encounter with the careers advisor. It probably wasn't very satisfying. You know, so many people talk about just being told to do something that was so far beyond,

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Jacqui

all, which really put them off.

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Jacqui

And so I think, you know, people at this age wouldn't even necessarily think to go to a careers counselor or

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Lucy

No.

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Jacqui

because you might have had a pretty poor experience in the past with someone supposedly giving you career advice. And yeah, so I think that's a bit of a challenge for me. And my business now is helping people understand how far, you know, career education has come and sort of what the contemporary practices look like.

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Jacqui

And yet for people who are qualified and doing it in a way that's based on research and career theory and all of that, it can actually be a very helpful

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Lucy

It's so true. And what's fascinating about so our communities obviously business owning women or women probably more commonly considering a business too. And what I think is interesting is so many women in our community have stopped. I think it's 50% start their business on maternity leave because of being in a job. And that life change of having a child has triggered feelings of, oh, I'm not even sure I like my job anymore or what is it that I want to do?

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Lucy

And so creating a business comes from that space. But what's really interesting is that is a career change. So having your. Yeah, because most also start in a, in a business that if they don't have previous skills in. So it's a completely new industry a lot a lot of the time as well.

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Jacqui

Yeah. Well, I think motherhood is such a big transition point for so many women. And I know certainly among the women I've worked with, I mean, I think when I ran the pilot round of the course, you know, more than half of the participants were, on a fairly new mums or still had very young kids. And you're right, like I and this for a whole range of reasons.

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Jacqui

Like sometimes it's purely for practical reasons in that they're not able to go back to their

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Lucy

Manage the hours.

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Speaker 2

Yeah.

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Jacqui

might be. But also it can be a real shift in values for people around that time. And, you know, you've maybe you're a little bit unsatisfied in your career before that kind of really comes to a head when suddenly you're taking care of a little one and your priorities have shifted.

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00:05:37:07 - 00:05:53:23

Jacqui

And so, yeah, I think it's a really common time. And yes, partly, again, because of the practicalities, often women will look at starting a business because they want that flexibility or, you know, or maybe they've just got a big idea they want to share with the world. But it's certainly yeah, a big transition point for a lot of people.

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Lucy

So exciting. So I know you've. I know you touched on this in your wonderful pitch. But how? If we asked you. Jackie, how does your business help women? How would you answer that question?

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Jacqui

So I really it's about helping women understand the world of work, understand themselves and also to help them take the first steps towards the next chapter. So I think people are often really confused about the process.

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Jacqui

You know, they can really get stuck in their own heads thinking that they just gonna if they think about it long enough and hard enough, the answers will come.

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00:06:27:03 - 00:06:29:07

Jacqui

But there is a process behind it.

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00:06:29:07 - 00:06:45:15

Jacqui

And so that's what I teach now. But yeah, the first part is really helping women understand themselves at this point in their life and reconnect with who they are. And, you know, so many of us are so busy in our lives where the mums were just, you know, getting on with the daily chat and

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Speaker 2

Yeah.

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Jacqui

don't have that space to really reflect on the things that are important to you and what your interests are now.

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Jacqui

And so yeah, I think that's what I really enjoy helping women with, is that Self-refer section pace initially, but then also teaching the process and the knowledge and the skills that they need to put all of that into action.

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Lucy

Sounds terrific. Now, you started this business. How long ago?

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Jacqui

started the podcast about five years ago, actually. We were just planning our social content and the fifth

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Lucy

Oh, wow.

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Jacqui

a creative project for myself initially when I quit my last full time job. You know, it's one of the things I'd been really interested to do for a while.

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Jacqui

I was a big consumer of podcasts. But yeah, just hadn't had the space or opportunity to do it. So yes, the podcast is in its fifth season now, although I had to pause it a little bit this year because I was studying again and building up the course. Something had to give, but

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Speaker 2

Yeah.

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00:07:48:23 - 00:07:51:04

Jacqui

really love it and I love doing it.

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00:07:51:04 - 00:08:09:00

Jacqui

It's all sharing women's stories, who've made inspiring career changes and what they've learned along the way. So that was, you know, really the catalyst for me starting the course because I, you know, I've interviewed more than 40, close to 50. I think women at this stage for both the podcast and the

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Speaker 2

Wow.

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Jacqui

So I was sort of privy to all these unique insights, you know, because career changes are always a really unique story.

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Lucy

100%.

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00:08:18:13 - 00:08:42:09

Jacqui

the process for each person can be slightly different, but I think I started to say over time, you know, certain patterns or insights that I knew were going to be really helpful to distill for people and present in, you know, the course fashion that I'm doing now. But I sort of combine I became so fascinated with the process, and I'd made two career changes myself, so I knew how stressful it could be.

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00:08:42:11 - 00:08:57:18

Jacqui

So I really, in addition to the stories that I had, I really dive deep into the career change research, and sort of married those two things together. As I said, I went back to uni and I studied career development and career counseling. So kind of gone all in

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Speaker 2

Yes.

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Lucy

Wow.

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00:09:00:08 - 00:09:08:14

Jacqui

And yeah, then I started out just with some workshops to test out the content and then over time, it's now a six week online course.

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00:09:08:16 - 00:09:14:17

Jacqui

And you get six months of ongoing mentoring support beyond that. So it's pretty comprehensive at this stage of the game.

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00:09:14:20 - 00:09:27:20

Lucy

Sounds so wonderful. I'm really tempted to do it. I'm really tempted to do it. Yes, yes. And we're going to. Yes. Give us a plug for that now, because we will mention it. But give us a plug for that when, when that kicks off again.

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00:09:27:20 - 00:09:44:13

Jacqui

So yeah, we're going to run a summer intake. So the course will start on the 20th of Jan. But we'll be opening enrollments just after me. So yeah, if people want to follow, our Instagram or, you know, connect with me, you'll be able to get the course dates. But, yeah, I'd love to see people in the course in January.

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00:09:44:15 - 00:10:03:08

Jacqui

We do limit it to 15 participants, because it's really important to me to be able to give people really tailored support. And because we do include there's a lot of self-paced learning. So you do sort of the six modules in your own time, and there's a lot of video content and workbooks, but there's an opportunity to come together in the live zoom sessions as well.

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00:10:03:15 - 00:10:04:07

Lucy

Amazing.

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00:10:04:07 - 00:10:08:12

Jacqui

with other women and hear their stories, because that's such an important piece of the learning.

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00:10:09:10 - 00:10:20:18

Jacqui

some people, you know, find that a bit daunting, but once they in it, they love it. The feedback is always really positive. So yeah, and I love doing the zoom sessions too, because I get to see people

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00:10:20:18 - 00:10:25:06

Lucy

Absolutely fascinating. So you mentioned you started the podcast.

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Lucy

After, you know, your your previous full time job. If you take us back to that time, like, five years ago when you started this transition for yourself, what do you wish that you had known then that may have helped?

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00:10:40:10 - 00:11:01:19

Jacqui

there's been so many learnings along the way. I mean, I think it's part one of the lessons is what I teach now, but it's actually just okay to start by exploring an interest like, you know, I think when people are in that transition point, there's so much they put so much pressure on themselves that they go to figure out what this next thing is going to be, and it's just often doesn't happen that way.

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00:11:01:19 - 00:11:14:13

Jacqui

Like for so many women I've spoken to in the podcast, and in my own experience, it really just did start by exploring an interest and not necessarily attaching it to a particular outcome or expecting it to have a career endpoint. And

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Speaker 2

Yeah.

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00:11:22:15 - 00:11:37:02

Jacqui

a stepping stone to one. So yeah, I suppose that was one learning that developed along the way. Is that just starting by exploring an interest that might seem even quite insignificant in the moment can be more transformative than you might realize,

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00:11:38:14 - 00:11:56:02

Jacqui

surrounding yourself with people who are on that same journey as you, or certainly since I've moved into the business space, you know, I have just found it so valuable being around other business owners, even if they're doing things at a different to me because it's a shift in identity.

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00:11:56:02 - 00:12:08:15

Jacqui

Right? Like if you've been employed, I've done periods of freelance and stuff before, so I wasn't completely new to working for myself. But I think, you know, there is that shift in identity that comes from being someone employed by an organization

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00:12:11:17 - 00:12:15:01

Lucy

But seeing I.

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Jacqui

so, yeah, I think I would have maybe surrounded myself by people like that a bit earlier in the piece.

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Jacqui

I think I came to that later and realized that then how supportive it was. But, yeah, I think you really need to find your, your people and have that support as early as possible.

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00:12:32:01 - 00:12:39:05

Lucy

Will said something we absolutely believe into here at mom's. Okay? Which is basically why we exist, so. Absolutely. It's it's lovely to hear that.

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00:12:39:05 - 00:12:49:16

Lucy

How would you describe your first business milestone, or. It doesn't have to be your first one, maybe just your most significant milestone? And why did it feel like such a great achievement?

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Jacqui

Yeah. It's funny. I mean, there were lots of great milestones with the podcast, but I think the one that really stood out for me for the business was running my first career change workshop, because it was the first time for me to really shift into that space of career change. Educator.

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Speaker 2

Yeah.

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00:13:07:04 - 00:13:10:00

Jacqui

You know, so that was really exciting for me.

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Jacqui

But I think what was most, well, most exciting was just seeing the response from women like I could see even as I was delivering the content, how engaged they were that asked them any questions. I got really positive feedback at the end. But, you know, I just felt so energized by the whole thing. I remember like just being ridiculously excited and posting excited social media.

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00:13:30:20 - 00:13:47:01

Jacqui

I just did my first workshop and it went really well. So yeah, I think that also just really cemented to me that I was on the right track, and then I had something of value for people. And then I enjoyed doing it. So yeah, that definitely sticks out in my mind.

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00:13:47:13 - 00:14:06:16

Lucy

I love that you've mentioned there that energy rush that you get. And I think we overlook that sometimes as actually an indicator of where on the right track, like, because it feels so good and we're like, oh. And sometimes that comes with relief too, because often that comes after, you know, as you've said, you pull together this course, it was the first time you did it.

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00:14:06:16 - 00:14:23:23

Lucy

So it's a lot of planning that goes into that in anticipation. It's finally done. And I think sometimes we go, oh, that was really exciting because I'm relieved because it went well. But actually the thing that's lighting you up in that moment is such a great indicator of what you should be pointing yourself towards for that. You know what I mean?

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00:14:23:23 - 00:14:30:11

Lucy

Like emulating that feeling for yourself is actually how we're supposed to feel about work, I think.

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Speaker 2

Yeah, yeah.

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Jacqui

It might sound a bit we way, but it's not. It's not because that sense of excitement, as you say, is often a sign. And that energy that you're using, your strengths, which is one of the pillars of having a meaningful career. And I felt it a couple of times, like I remember the first time I went into a podcast studio because I sat and

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Speaker 2

Yes.

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Jacqui

a day, and I'd done a course to teach me how to do it.

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00:14:56:13 - 00:15:05:18

Jacqui

But really, until I took that step of putting myself in the shoes of being a podcaster and I again, I came out so excited. Like I

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00:15:06:21 - 00:15:07:18

Jacqui

words. I went into this

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Jacqui

little podcast studio and they showed me how to press all the

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00:15:11:01 - 00:15:12:17

Jacqui

I think I recorded like

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Jacqui

less than a minute, but I listened to it.

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Jacqui

But because, you know, everyone hates the sound of their own voice, all that sort of thing, but I listened. I was like, oh, that was quite

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Jacqui

And so, yeah, I think it is really such a good indicator. And, you know, I hear women say, you

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00:15:28:10 - 00:15:28:21

Lucy

Yeah.

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00:15:28:21 - 00:15:34:08

Jacqui

interviewed or that I've worked with that they didn't know what it feels like to love your career like they were.

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Jacqui

They didn't even realize that they were unhappy, or maybe they weren't unhappy, but it was sort of just more a medium,

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Jacqui

a medium feeling. And then they find the thing that really lights them up. It just does take it to that next level where you do actually love what you do, and it brings you that joy and fulfillment.

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00:15:52:13 - 00:16:14:09

Lucy

staying sort of in the nuts and bolts of of business creation, we're really fascinated about the idea of risk and the relationship as us, as individuals and our relationship with risk in terms of running a business. So how would you describe your relationship to risk? And also what are the types of processes you've put in place to, to protect yourself,

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Lucy

and the business?

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Jacqui

Yeah. I mean, it's funny. I always thought of myself as a fairly risk averse person,

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Jacqui

would say I'm not very brave in certain instances. You know, but I have taken big risks in my career. I've taken big risks in, you know, places I've traveled to. And yes, I guess in starting a business, there's an element of risk in that.

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00:16:37:19 - 00:16:56:17

Jacqui

you know, I think what feels risky to one person doesn't necessarily feel risky to another. And I think it comes back to that piece we just talked about. You know, you're using your strengths. You know, like for me, if I'm doing something that others might perceive as risky to me, it might just be following my curiosity to be curiosity about something

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Speaker 2

Yeah.

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00:16:59:07 - 00:17:28:21

Jacqui

So I think there's that part of it. In terms of the practical side of the business. I mean, I do have insurances. I, you know, a lot of the information that I work with, especially when I do 1 to 1 sessions with women who are in the course as well, you know, you've got to just be careful about protecting people's information, consent processes, all of that sort of stuff, which, you know, I'm very familiar with a lot of that side because I have a background in journalism and not for profits where I've worked in comms.

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00:17:28:21 - 00:17:40:14

Jacqui

And all of those confidentiality and consent prices are really important. So even though it's slightly different in a career counseling context, you know, I had that foundation there to know that it was an important part of the business,

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00:17:40:14 - 00:17:42:00

Lucy

Yeah, I really like that.

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00:17:42:00 - 00:17:55:08

Lucy

your idea of following your curiosity would be someone else's idea of, you know, a risky thing. And it's so interesting. I think this is one of my most favorite questions we ask people, because I find it really fascinating how people, answer it.

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00:17:55:08 - 00:17:57:13

Lucy

So thank you. Thank you for sharing that.

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00:17:57:13 - 00:17:58:18

Lucy

Tell us a bit about

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00:17:58:18 - 00:18:12:00

Lucy

productivity. So how you're managing all these things. So you've got the podcast, which is correct me if I'm wrong week is it week. Fortnight.

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00:18:12:02 - 00:18:32:21

Lucy

Yeah that's okay. You're allowed to so you've got but in any case you've got a few things going on. It's not it's just you've got the podcast and you've got the course. So a question we like asking is how people have kind of disrupted themselves in order to be more productive. And what I mean by that is like

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00:18:32:21 - 00:18:36:20

Lucy

sometimes we go through, we can be quite reactive in business.

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00:18:36:20 - 00:18:54:11

Lucy

We're just responding to things as they're coming into our inbox. And sometimes that is completely unavoidable. That sometimes has to happen. But this question is more about what have you actually identified in yourself and going, okay, I need to kind of challenge that habit in order to become more productive or my best self in business.

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00:18:54:11 - 00:19:12:17

Jacqui

Yes. I can definitely think of one. And like you're right, it has been a big juggle this year because even though I did have the rest of the podcast to be in order to focus on the course, I was also studying and I do have a bit of a portfolio career in that I still do a couple of days a week consulting with different charities, which was my background.

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00:19:12:17 - 00:19:32:19

Jacqui

So yes, a lot on my plate. But I think one of the things that was a bit of a disruption was so I come to a co-working space a couple of days a week. I'm here now, but I used to think if I needed to have a really productive day, it was better to spend it at home, because then there'd be no interruptions and I could focus on whatever I needed to do.

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00:19:32:21 - 00:19:48:13

Jacqui

But I think over time, you know, coming back to that point I made earlier about surrounding yourself with other business owners, I realized that on the days that I do come in here so often, I'll have a conversation with someone that will solve a problem in an instant.

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00:19:49:14 - 00:19:51:14

Speaker 2

Yes.

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00:19:51:14 - 00:19:54:01

Jacqui

just sat at home mulling over it.

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00:19:54:03 - 00:19:55:14

Jacqui

It's happened so many

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00:19:55:19 - 00:19:57:14

Lucy

That's fascinating.

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00:19:57:14 - 00:20:13:20

Jacqui

yeah. So it has really switched like, yeah, shifted on its head for me how I perceive my time here. You know, I see that as a really important part of my productivity and that, yes, I still need the time at home because often I'm deep in writing or whatever it might be making content.

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00:20:13:20 - 00:20:19:14

Jacqui

But yeah, coming in and having those conversations can just unlock things that would have sucked up hours

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00:20:20:21 - 00:20:23:14

Lucy

100%. Oh, I love that.

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00:20:23:14 - 00:20:30:00

Jacqui

own. Yeah. So that's definitely one. I mean, another one, which is just more of a wellbeing tip.

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00:20:31:10 - 00:20:36:03

Jacqui

a sense, because I wasn't really someone who did meditation on yoga or anything like that.

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00:20:36:03 - 00:20:41:13

Jacqui

But a friend of mine where I live, teaches something called yoga nidra.

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00:20:42:10 - 00:20:46:08

Lucy

I know it very well. Yes. I'm a big fan.

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00:20:46:08 - 00:20:55:12

Jacqui

sure there's a lot of people listening who are like, yeah, we know what that is. I didn't know what it was, but I went along just to be a supportive friend to one of the classes and my lord, it changed

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00:20:56:10 - 00:20:57:03

Speaker 2

Yeah.

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00:20:57:03 - 00:21:08:19

Jacqui

the reason I'm connecting that back to productivity is that, you know, I now have personalized yoga teachers that I have on my phone that she's made for me so I can go to bed at night and pop my

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00:21:09:12 - 00:21:14:09

Lucy

Wow. Oh.

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00:21:14:09 - 00:21:17:10

Jacqui

wake up just firing

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00:21:17:10 - 00:21:20:17

Lucy

Brains on fire! Yeah.

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00:21:20:17 - 00:21:23:11

Jacqui

noticed a shift in myself since I started doing that.

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00:21:23:11 - 00:21:36:21

Jacqui

So I do that very regularly now, particularly if I've had a busy or stressful day, or I've got something coming up the next day that I need to be really focused for. I will make myself do that the night before. And the benefits are there every time.

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00:21:39:13 - 00:21:42:04

Lucy

Yes.

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00:21:42:04 - 00:21:59:00

Lucy

That's a great tip. I do know yoga teacher. My sister actually introduced that to me when I had my first baby, and she was selling it to me as if you do it for ten minutes. It's like you've slept for three hours. Like that impact on your brain.

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00:22:02:06 - 00:22:04:04

Lucy

Not that.

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00:22:04:04 - 00:22:14:11

Jacqui

Try it. It's not for my body, but yoga nidra. It actually translates, I think, as yogic sleep. So you're literally lying down with blankets on you. There is no movement.

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00:22:14:14 - 00:22:37:06

Jacqui

There is music if you do it in the class and it's someone sort of speaking. It is sort of like a guided meditation. Although I know my friend Anna explains the differences between it. But for the purposes of just painting a picture of what it is, you're basically lying down on the mat with blankets, on an eye mask and a pillow and having someone talk to you and put you into a very deep state of relaxation.

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00:22:37:08 - 00:22:39:06

Jacqui

But yeah, you can do it at home too.

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00:22:39:06 - 00:22:46:12

Lucy

So blissful. I wouldn't do it now. Sounds absolutely delightful. Thank you for sharing that.

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00:22:46:12 - 00:22:57:20

Lucy

Let's talk a bit about AI now, too. Obviously that's come up more and more, particularly in the last two years. What do you feel about AI? How do you use it in your business? If you do?

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00:22:57:20 - 00:22:59:14

Jacqui

have a few feelings.

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00:23:00:02 - 00:23:00:17

Lucy

Yep.

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00:23:00:17 - 00:23:20:09

Jacqui

know that I find the whole thing quite overwhelming, to be honest. Like, I know they would be. I don't really currently use it in my business. I suppose is the first thing to say. I have had people suggest me ways that it could be beneficial. Like, you know, even things like having a chat bot on the website that could answer queries for people, therefore taking the load off me.

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00:23:20:09 - 00:23:20:18

Jacqui

I mean, that's

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00:23:21:11 - 00:23:25:03

Jacqui

but I don't know. I think I just don't know enough about it. So I'm

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00:23:26:00 - 00:23:35:07

Jacqui

it. And it is something that I know can be beneficial. As I said. So yeah, I think it's a learning process for me at this stage.

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00:23:35:16 - 00:23:36:11

Lucy

Yeah.

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00:23:36:11 - 00:23:41:17

Jacqui

change perspective, though, it's something that comes up in a lot of the training that I've been doing.

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00:23:41:17 - 00:23:46:10

Jacqui

You know, it's always a question around, should I use AI to craft my CV, for example?

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00:23:46:12 - 00:23:47:20

Lucy

Oh, yes.

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00:23:47:20 - 00:24:06:01

Jacqui

And it's interesting to hear sort of, you know, hiring experts and their views on that. But, you know, often I've heard people say, yes, it can be a great tool to prompt ideas or, yeah, in a career context, like if you're prepping for an interview, I can give you maybe some keywords that are really pertinent for that industry that you'll definitely want to get

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00:24:09:05 - 00:24:14:18

Jacqui

that, but I think, you know, I am just still wary of it, but I'm conscious because I probably just don't know enough

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00:24:14:18 - 00:24:15:00

Jacqui

about

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00:24:15:06 - 00:24:36:23

Lucy

Yeah. Oh, that's fair enough. I think we all fall into that camp in some way, shape or form. Yeah. It's really interesting. We've got an expert here in mums and co Tracy Schein and she really goes deep diving into AI and how it can you know how it can benefit small business owners. And what I enjoy about reading her post is that she's on top of all the new stuff.

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00:24:36:23 - 00:24:45:04

Lucy

So it's almost like, you know, I don't have to read this. I can just like, read her thoughts, but I'd highly, highly recommend her take on it.

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00:24:45:04 - 00:24:52:17

Lucy

But yes, I have I share your views in in some ways, I have used it a bit lately when I've been really busy to sort of like,

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00:24:52:17 - 00:24:58:01

Lucy

finesse. Certain, you know, bits of, like, tattoos and things like that.

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00:24:58:01 - 00:25:08:01

Lucy

But yeah, it is more about how you can use it. I think knowing how to use it so you can use it with caution. I think that's correct. What you said. Yeah.

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00:25:08:01 - 00:25:14:04

Jacqui

But, like, coming back to the productivity thing, I'm sure there are ways to use it positively. That would,

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00:25:14:20 - 00:25:15:21

Lucy

Boost that.

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00:25:15:21 - 00:25:17:11

Jacqui

a productivity perspective. But

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00:25:17:11 - 00:25:18:04

Lucy

Yeah.

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00:25:18:04 - 00:25:21:07

Jacqui

is. Yeah. The caution. I'm probably fully more on the cautious

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00:25:21:17 - 00:25:24:13

Lucy

Yes. No, I hate that.

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00:25:24:13 - 00:25:31:23

Lucy

And what about visibility? So that's a real core challenge for many of the women in our community. Obviously starting to build a business.

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00:25:31:23 - 00:25:46:13

Lucy

And all of the noise out there. Speaking of noise, in regard to social media and what platforms you should be in on, and you know, how many newsletters you should send out and how many lives you should do.

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00:25:46:15 - 00:25:56:01

Lucy

What can you take us through an example of a real win for you in the visibility, you know, sector of business life. Like, what's something that's really worked for you?

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00:25:56:04 - 00:25:57:09

Speaker 3

I think.

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00:25:57:11 - 00:26:16:09

Jacqui

Early on in the piece, you know, I come from a journalism background, as I said. So I had some successes with things like media coverage, but in terms of a pace that was a bit of, maybe not a game changer, but I did take it to the next level when I still just had the podcast. I secured a partnership with Women's Agenda, the media company.

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00:26:16:09 - 00:26:30:10

Jacqui

So they partnered with me for season three of the podcast, which meant I was kind of a content partnership. So they were promoting my podcast and my content on their site. And so for that whole season, it

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00:26:30:20 - 00:26:32:10

Lucy

Phenomenal.

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00:26:32:10 - 00:26:35:14

Jacqui

I was think they announced it in their newsletter. All of that sort of thing.

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00:26:35:14 - 00:26:55:01

Jacqui

So that really increased my exposure to that whole audience of women, which was tens of thousands of women. So yeah, I think those partnerships where they really make sense and, you know, I kind of had had that in my vision for a while. I knew that they were really well aligned with what I was trying to do. And yeah, I mean, I pushed for it.

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00:26:55:01 - 00:27:24:03

Jacqui

I called, messaged them and it sort of went from there. But yeah, so I think those partnerships definitely can make a big difference if they're well aligned. And otherwise, I think it's probably just coming back to like, you know, being visible in your community, like your local community. So whether that is coming out to your co-working space or coming to local events, you know, so many people that have been referred to my course are people from work life where

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00:27:24:20 - 00:27:37:22

Lucy

Yeah. You can just shout out to Kate, who's actually also a member of Mums and Co. Yes. Yeah. She's. No, I discovered you actually Jacqui. She introduced. Yes. Yeah.

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00:27:37:22 - 00:27:43:20

Jacqui

that's what I mean. So not only is she incredibly supportive as the owner of her co-working space to the businesses that are

‍

00:27:45:09 - 00:27:49:20

Jacqui

people here. The conversations you strike up when you're making a cup of tea

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00:27:50:09 - 00:27:51:14

Speaker 2

Yeah.

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00:27:51:14 - 00:27:52:09

Jacqui

a career change.

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00:27:52:09 - 00:28:10:05

Jacqui

So yeah, I think that visibility in your local community, even if you're a nationally focused business, I mean, being online, I can work with women across the country. But I've really found, particularly in these early stages, that, yeah, getting, you know, having those face to face interactions with people in the local area is really valuable.

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00:28:10:10 - 00:28:20:21

Lucy

So good. Love that tip. What is a tech tool that you can't live without? It's maybe something from your personal home life and something in the business.

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00:28:22:05 - 00:28:29:05

Jacqui

Okay. Yeah. The business, it was absolutely impossible to think of one because running an online course, it's just TechCentral.

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00:28:29:08 - 00:28:31:14

Lucy

So everything.

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00:28:31:14 - 00:28:42:07

Jacqui

many things. I mean, I know it's raised all the time, but honestly, the thing I get most value out of would be Canva. You know, some of the subscriptions I have, I'm like, I don't know if that feels worthwhile.

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00:28:42:07 - 00:29:06:00

Jacqui

What I'm paying you each month at Canva, I just thresh for all elements of the business. And I use Land Worlds to host my online course now, so I suppose that's become a pretty critical tool. Gosh, a tech tool at home? That's a tricky one. I, I mean, maybe it's just I don't know if it counts as a tech tool, but coming back to yoga nidra,

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00:29:06:14 - 00:29:10:19

Lucy

Yeah 100%.

‍

00:29:10:19 - 00:29:19:17

Jacqui

can access anytime, I honestly feel like they're the biggest, save savior for me in terms of just wellbeing and getting through things.

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00:29:19:21 - 00:29:34:17

Lucy

Absolutely. Love that. And the final question for you Jacqui is in our name. Mums and Co Co denotes the people in our lives including our clients that support us and our business. Who would you say is your biggest supporter?

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00:29:34:17 - 00:29:56:15

Jacqui

my goodness. I mean, I have some incredible girlfriends, some of whom have their own businesses, to have been on this journey with me from the very beginning, who've championed me and said, keep going, even when I'm like, what am I doing? So yeah, it's definitely I'd have to shout out to my girlfriends, but I would have to give Kate from Work Life, the founder of Work Life.

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00:29:56:15 - 00:30:08:21

Jacqui

She's been so incredibly supportive in such a genuine way. And that's really helped me along the way as well. So they'd be they're the ones that come to mind most immediately.

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00:30:08:21 - 00:30:31:17

Lucy

So good, so good. Now, Jacqui, thank you so very much for joining us. Today. So this interview is part of our summit series, and I wanted to give you another opportunity just to spruik the course because it is hitting in January when this podcast will come live. So tell us again about the course and how we can sign up and what we can expect.

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00:30:31:20 - 00:30:51:03

Jacqui

Thank you. So yeah, the course is called Career Change Kickstarter. It's a six week online course. So that you can do the modules in your own time, and then you get six months of ongoing mentoring support through our live zoom sessions. So, yes, we are kicking off again. The course will start on the 20th of Jan. We'll open enrollment just after the new year.

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00:30:51:06 - 00:31:02:06

Jacqui

So if you'd like to get on the list, you can go to the website, which is what she did next. Become a you follow us on our socials and yeah, you'll get all the details there.

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00:31:02:06 - 00:31:06:02

Lucy

Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Jacqui. That was such a pleasure.

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00:31:06:04 - 00:31:07:22

Jacqui

Thank you to.

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00:31:09:21 - 00:31:23:23

Lucy

Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast by Mums and Co. This interview has been part of our wonderful summer series that will continue into early March. Before we kick off into a whole new season of mums season.

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00:31:24:01 - 00:31:41:15

Lucy

You can reach out to any of our guests in this series via our Mums and Co Business directory at WW, UK mums and code.com today you and if you have any questions whatsoever, please don't hesitate to reach out to one of our friendly team or book a member. Chat with one of us today.

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