From Teacher to Branding and Website Designer with Kelsey Romine
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Episode Summary
Welcome to today's episode of the Project Mom Podcast.
Today I'm chatting with Kelsey Romine. She's a mom of three kids and a custom branding and website designer. She made a choice to transition from teacher to entrepreneur in order to be the mom she ultimately wanted to be. Her journey probably looks similar to one that you may be imagining for yourself or currently working on.
I hope this episode reminds you that you’re not alone in wanting to create a profitable online business to afford you the ability to be present in your kids' lives. Enjoy!
Topics Discussed:
Kelsey’s journey of teacher to entrepreneur and how motherhood impacted this
Overcoming the skepticism that you can’t have a profitable job in the online space
Allowing your body to lead you and let you know what is or isn’t in alignment with your goals
How to find a course that’s right for you when you’re ready to take the plunge into done-for-you online services
Creating a balance when you work from home while still having your children home with you and what Kelsey’s day to day looks like
Finding clients who are aligned for you as a mom and business owner
When Kelsey believes you should hire a website designer
Kelsey’s advice for those who want to DIY their website at the start
About Kelsey:
Kelsey is a mom of 3 kids – an almost 5 year old, 2 year old, and 5 month old. She started her business after she had my first son. Kelsey used to be a teacher but it didn't allow her to be the mom she wanted to be, so she made a change and hasn't looked back. Every day is a fun little challenge working around her kids, but she absolutely loves being able to be flexible.
Connect with Kelsey:
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Emily Gorrie:
Welcome to today's episode of the Project Mom Podcast. Today I'm chatting with Kelsey Romine. She's a mom of three kids and a custom branding and website designer. She made a choice to transition from teacher to entrepreneur in order to be the mom she ultimately wanted to be. So Kelsey, welcome. Thank you so much for being here and chatting with me today.
Kelsey Romine:
Thank you for having me. Gosh,
Emily Gorrie:
I am.
Kelsey Romine:
I even got emotional at that intro.
Emily Gorrie:
Ah
Kelsey Romine:
To be the mom I wanna be, you know. It's exactly
Emily Gorrie:
I
Kelsey Romine:
right,
Emily Gorrie:
mean, it's something
Kelsey Romine:
but.
Emily Gorrie:
we all strive for. And I think
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
that's why these conversations are so valuable because I don't think we, and maybe this is where we start too, like I don't think we, oh, we ever, maybe I might shoot myself in the foot here.
Kelsey Romine:
Ha
Emily Gorrie:
I'm not
Kelsey Romine:
ha.
Emily Gorrie:
sure we ever get to the part like where we are a hundred percent the mom we wanna be because we're always striving a little bit more for balance or navigation or harmony or whatever it is that you kind of believe that narrative to be. I think we're always not quite where we want to be. But when we think about it in terms of our kids, they just want us present. They just want
Kelsey Romine:
I know.
Emily Gorrie:
us there. And I am thrilled that we're having this conversation and hearing your journey because there's something in each and every one of us that I think can resonate with somebody else. Maybe just a little bit reminds
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
us of our own personal journey. So. Maybe let's start with your journey of teacher to entrepreneur. When did motherhood come into the play for you? How did you kind of navigate that transition and give yourself that permission to change things up?
Kelsey Romine:
Oh man, okay. So I was pregnant with my first. And he was born in September. So I was pregnant over the summer when teachers are off. And I was just like, you know, this isn't feeling right to be going back to teaching. Like how can I do something different to be home? And he wasn't even born yet.
Emily Gorrie:
Mm.
Kelsey Romine:
So I kind
Emily Gorrie:
Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
of like looked at options of like, what can moms do at home to make some money, right? Like I didn't wanna. not do anything. I wanted to contribute in more than just, you know, taking care of my kids. I wanted to contribute financially too. And I found a program for somebody that actually lived here, like in the same city that I'm in. And so I was like, okay, this is like a real person. Like, it's not just, you know, I don't know, some random person that's trying to sell me something. Like, she seemed like a real person. And I asked my husband, but I was like, what do you think about doing this? And it was basically, she taught you how to start freelancing. She taught you how to start your own business and to do things online at home. And he was like, well, I don't know if this seems like, this is something that you could do. Not that I couldn't do, but he was just like, it seems fake. Like who would pay you to do virtual work online? And so I kind of let it go. And then he was born and I had maternity leave and I went back to work in January. And... I was a mess. I was crying every day. A daycare drop off. He got RSV the first week he was there. And I was just like, I couldn't be home
Emily Gorrie:
angel.
Kelsey Romine:
because I had used every ounce of sick day personal day to be off for maternity leave. So I wasn't even the one that got to be home with him and he was sick. I had to be at work. And you know, your brain is just in two different places then. Like I felt like I wasn't doing either job well. And so I was just like this, this can't, this can't be what I continue to do. So I brought it up into him again and over spring break, so kind of in March, I started this program. And I was a little slow getting it going. I wasn't like one of those, like some of them, some people who take this program, you know, can do a whole bunch within like a couple of weeks. It took me a few months to get going. So I had already signed on for a contract for another year and this was gonna be my eighth year teaching.
Emily Gorrie:
Mm-hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
So I signed on and over the summer, things were doing really well all of a sudden. And I was like, could I, could I, back out of my contract to teach, sure. But that just felt icky to me. I felt like I wanted to
Emily Gorrie:
Mm-hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
be there, not even just for my students, but for my colleagues. I had a lot of good relationships there. So I stuck it out and taught another year while running this business in the evenings,
Emily Gorrie:
Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
all while trying to get pregnant with another one, and then COVID happened, and it was a year.
Emily Gorrie:
Yep, yep.
Kelsey Romine:
But I made it. I told them in January I wasn't coming back for the next year. And so I just kind of cruised on through the spring semester. And I actually started as kind of like a virtual assistant, social media manager, kind of switched to Pinterest management. And then when I built my own website, I loved it so much. I was like, this is where I belong. This is exactly what I need to be doing.
Emily Gorrie:
Mmm.
Kelsey Romine:
And so then I had another baby. You know, everything just started blossoming from there. Like I found what I wanted to be really doing. You know, my kids were at home with me full time, which was really a really strong blessing when I wasn't super comfortable with COVID and being in a school teaching and then having my kids in daycare, it just sounded, I was very thankful that everything hit at the right time. And it was just, it was really great. And so then my second one, he's been home with me. every day until today when he started preschool. And then I had another
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
baby
Emily Gorrie:
but
Kelsey Romine:
and
Emily Gorrie:
a milestone.
Kelsey Romine:
you know,
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
it's just, it's been kind of a wild ride, but I really just wanted more flexibility in my schedule. I knew that teaching was not gonna let me be at his school for like Mystery Reader Day or I wasn't gonna be
Emily Gorrie:
Right.
Kelsey Romine:
able to volunteer to, you know, go on field trips someday. or to his Christmas program. I got to go to his first Christmas program last year and I was like, I would never have been able to do this because it was at like 1 p.m. Like that's not a time that a teacher gets out right before finals or right at finals time. So it's just been, it's been really good and very healthy for our family, healthy for me mentally. It's been a really good change. And teaching is there if I want it in the future.
Emily Gorrie:
Yes.
Kelsey Romine:
But right now I feel in a very good position for our family and for myself really.
Emily Gorrie:
That's amazing. And I think a lot of what we don't realize until we're going through it ourselves is just how inflexible the thing we thought we wanted would be when we add in another priority in our lives. And maybe we just touch a little bit on, there's a couple of things I wrote down that I want to touch on as first one being just kind of the poor reality of teachers who have children. I mean, I have a girlfriend
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
of mine who had a baby in January. And it's the same scenario almost of having one in September. It's like teachers do their best to plan their births around major
Kelsey Romine:
Yup
Emily Gorrie:
holiday breaks, summer breaks. Can we try and get pregnant and have a baby in June so I can have these three months and I don't have to use sick days? Because the maternity leave is really quite poor. You actually
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
have to use second personal days, right? As a teacher, at least
Kelsey Romine:
So
Emily Gorrie:
from
Kelsey Romine:
yeah,
Emily Gorrie:
the experience that I've had.
Kelsey Romine:
it really depends on the school you work for, really, I think.
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
I did teach at a private school, so very different style
Emily Gorrie:
Okay.
Kelsey Romine:
of things like that. But, and you talk about planning when you would have a baby. I was really aiming for spring break, so then I had my students through spring break, we had a good system, and then I would just cruise through until summer.
Emily Gorrie:
Ah,
Kelsey Romine:
Life
Emily Gorrie:
yep.
Kelsey Romine:
has its ways of deciding that that's not what's going to happen. And it took
Emily Gorrie:
Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
us longer to have a kid than we than we thought. So I ended up being like right at the beginning of this. It was supposed to be October. He was three weeks early. So that was also like a stress in life.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah, yep.
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah, it isn't not expected. I was not even packed. But
Emily Gorrie:
Hahaha
Kelsey Romine:
it's not great. We my school did not have. any maternity leave, like any paid maternity leave when we were there. They have now changed that a little bit since I've been there, but there was no paid maternity leave. So any paid leave you wanted to have was either personal days or sick days. And then you could have short-term disability, but you were not given that, you had to pay extra for that. Like that wasn't one of the benefits that was like given to you by
Emily Gorrie:
part
Kelsey Romine:
the
Emily Gorrie:
of
Kelsey Romine:
school
Emily Gorrie:
it.
Kelsey Romine:
or by,
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
yeah, part of it. So again, they've changed things since then, which is great, but it was not true for me when I was there. So I was like, and you could only save up so many sick days. And so like, even though I had been there for seven years when I had my first, I couldn't save all of those sick days from the past years. They didn't roll
Emily Gorrie:
Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
into, you know, like I could save a few from each year, but I couldn't save all of them. So could I have had like a full paid maternity leave from being there for seven years if I could roll all those days? Probably. but
Emily Gorrie:
Right,
Kelsey Romine:
it didn't
Emily Gorrie:
right.
Kelsey Romine:
end up working out that way. So it's a messy situation in it. And
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
then you think about like how many kids you're gonna have and the daycare costs offsetting your salary.
Emily Gorrie:
Yes.
Kelsey Romine:
And it's just, it's not super supportive of moms
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
trying to teach too, yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
Absolutely. And this isn't, I mean, this is the first conversation I'm having with somebody who was in the teaching profession.
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
And it's not an unsimilar story to other
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-mm.
Emily Gorrie:
women that I've talked to around just how unsupportive, traditional career paths are for women. And it's so interesting because. I mean, I feel like growing up, I was always like, really supported by my parents to like, be independent, build a career, do your own thing, make your money, find what brings you joy, and you do it in these traditional ways. And then you're then asked by those same parents, like, when are you starting a family? Are you having kids? And you want that and you wanna do that, but you have no real support in balancing the two identities that you've been faced with. And it's
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
hard to be able to do that. So I am grateful that we're talking about these stories because I think so many of us face that and not all of us have the, or have had the courage yet or the support in place to make this transition. So I wanna talk a little bit about this desire you had to do something different, but also this like drive to still... financially contribute because I think money is a huge narrative for a lot of us, especially in our generation of wanting to still contribute. It's not just enough for a lot of us to be caregivers or stay at home moms. And for some of us it is, and for some of us like myself, it's not 100% fulfilling and I lose my mind when I don't have anything else in place for myself. So maybe talk to us a little bit about... that drive, that desire to do something financially, and how you maybe supported yourself in that. Or I mean, you mentioned your husband's skepticism a little bit. I'm like,
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
oh, well, the virtual space, how real is that at this point? How many people are really going to be paying you in that space? Talk to us a little bit about how those narratives wove itself into this decision. And how did you? ultimately get to a point where you were like, I just know this is what I have to do.
Kelsey Romine:
Oh gosh. So I, originally when he was like, I don't know about, you know, and I kind of let it go. But I was, as soon as he was born, man, I just, I was obsessed with him. I was obsessed with this baby. And I was just like, I have to do, I have to do something. I was just not happy with what I was doing. There was, there's a lot of, there's a lot of politics that go into the schools and teaching and things like that.
Emily Gorrie:
Mm-hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
That I was just like, this isn't even. right for me in the right mindset. Even if I didn't even have a child yet, I felt like I was mentally struggling. There was just so much work all the time. There was a lot of mental load. And then you try and care for another human being. And I also was pumping through all this. And it was just like, nothing felt good. The stress levels were just not good. So he was like, okay, if you want to try this. That's fine, I want you to do what you want, I want you to be fulfilled in life. He's very supportive, he is a very supportive husband. But he's like, we either have to cut costs somehow, maybe we don't go on a trip every year or something like that, because we like to travel, we have to try and get out and things. Or we have to find ways to cut back, or you have to find a way to help where you can't. It's obviously not gonna be. super highly expected or whatever, but contribute in some way. So that's when I re-brought up this course and he was like, okay, let's try it. And I was like, worst case, I'll make my money back. I'll work it up. And then it started really doing
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
well and he was just like, I can't believe still that people want
Emily Gorrie:
I love
Kelsey Romine:
to
Emily Gorrie:
it.
Kelsey Romine:
pay you to run their social media or whatever. I think he likes what I do now better with websites because I think he sees the balance better for me. because being on social media all the time is hard with kids. So I think he, and he thinks that, I think he sees me thriving with it and really loving
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm
Kelsey Romine:
it. And so that's really all healthy and good for me. So I now have bigger goals for myself than other people have set for me. My parents were really supportive too. They're still supportive. They're always asking me how I'm doing, how's work and things like that. And they were always the ones, especially my mom, who's also a teacher, was always telling me, like, you're not stuck as a teacher. You're so smart, you can do whatever you wanna do. She was really supportive in like, go find something else. If this isn't right for you, then go find
Emily Gorrie:
Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
something else. Which she stayed home with us for a little while too. So she gets it, you know? She's like, they're only little this one time. So. Everyone was really supportive, but now I have the strong drive. I want to be like this great business that puts out really good stuff. I want to be self-fulfilled. And I get that with every client that I meet that I get to build their website for or impress them with some strategy and some design and things like that. So I have income goals, absolutely. But it's more so... I just really love what I'm doing now. And I just want to
Emily Gorrie:
Mm-hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
do more of it. I just wanna continue
Emily Gorrie:
Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
doing more of it because it's not even just creative, it's tech-based. I love all of the pieces behind it. And I know not everybody likes that. Not everybody likes to build a website because they feel overwhelming.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
But it is
Emily Gorrie:
And
Kelsey Romine:
truly
Emily Gorrie:
that's why you
Kelsey Romine:
what
Emily Gorrie:
have clients.
Kelsey Romine:
I love. Yeah, exactly, exactly. It's really what
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
I love doing. Like it is the right spot for where... I am in life and what I enjoy doing. So
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
I don't know if I answered your question with
Emily Gorrie:
I love that.
Kelsey Romine:
that, but.
Emily Gorrie:
You did. Absolutely. And I think there's like a lot to be said for like trusting yourself and the timeline
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
on all of this and kind of really just being in tune. And I feel like a lot of the conversations I've been having lately are around getting quiet and listening to your own body. Because I think a lot of times our
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
minds can get us all tangled up in what should be or what could be or what's expected of us or, you know, we have to support in other ways financially or whatever, right? Our minds can get us all like looped up in that. But if we can get quiet enough and listen to our bodies, our bodies will tell us what really is aligned with our
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
values and where we want to be in this stage of life. And I really love the evolution that you had of. kind of going from just no teaching's not it, right? It wasn't
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
really aligning for you anymore to moving into virtual assistant work to the social media management, kind of seeing like you're sort of there, you're not really there. And instead of giving up and being like, oh, this was a terrible idea, you just continued to evolve. So maybe talk to us a little bit about the timeline of that. So. You gave us kind of the preview. You had your first son. You were teaching for another year and change, probably maybe two years at that point, if I'm following correctly. You decided to move in. At what point did you start the online world work to where you are now? What's the timeline on that?
Kelsey Romine:
Let's see, I started trying to build things back in March of 2019. Didn't even land my first client until June, I think. So it took me a while. I was still teaching, but you know, it still took me a while. And then that wasn't really enough yet to say, okay, I can do this. dead of teaching it. I still needed time to grow. But then come August, then I was doing even better and I was like, well, now I don't know how to balance teaching for another year
Emily Gorrie:
Mmm.
Kelsey Romine:
and all this. So I kind of like, was like, okay, this is enough client load for now. Let's just hold off on taking on more. And then in January of 2020 was when I told them I wasn't coming back. And then I was actually pregnant at the time, but that wasn't the That was a whole other year.
Emily Gorrie:
Hehehehe
Kelsey Romine:
Another reason to be very thankful for this lifestyle is I actually ended up having three miscarriages that year.
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm
Kelsey Romine:
Very early ones, but I actually
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
had miscarried that baby and I was just, you know, I had two more while I was at home and it was like, well, thank goodness I didn't have to teach through more than one, you know, like it was,
Emily Gorrie:
Mm-hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
anyways, because you know, you can't
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
take off
Emily Gorrie:
you
Kelsey Romine:
work,
Emily Gorrie:
could support
Kelsey Romine:
you
Emily Gorrie:
yourself
Kelsey Romine:
know,
Emily Gorrie:
through
Kelsey Romine:
to
Emily Gorrie:
that
Kelsey Romine:
grief.
Emily Gorrie:
differently. Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
Um,
Emily Gorrie:
yep.
Kelsey Romine:
so I was, I was able to be home for that stuff, but besides the point. Um, so then March of 2020 hit obviously. And so then my husband's working
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
from home. I'm trying to teach online from home with our one and a half
Emily Gorrie:
Ugh.
Kelsey Romine:
year old crawling all over us and it was just
Emily Gorrie:
Oh gosh,
Kelsey Romine:
like,
Emily Gorrie:
yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
Whoa, you know, there was a lot of like figuring out how we can make this work. Um, and then on top of that, I'm still, you know, working on client work too. So didn't go back for the 2020, 2021 year. I was done in May. And so then I started picking up clients and things. But I think I built my first, my own first website that December. So I did social media and Pinterest stuff all the way through until December. I think it wasn't quite December. Cause I think it took my first website client in December. But I was like, I loved it. Maybe it was in the fall sometime. And I loved it so much. I was like, this is what I have to do. This is what I have to do.
Emily Gorrie:
Mm-hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
So I took on my first client in December of 2020 and was like, yup, this is right. So I started moving that direction. And as time kind of went on, I started, I still had social media or Pinterest clients and things that I was kind of doing things for until they all kind of dwindled off on their own. You know, like everyone was at
Emily Gorrie:
Mmm.
Kelsey Romine:
some point was like, oh, you know, I have my sister joining the team for such and such reason. You know, she's going to take over the Pinterest. Like, OK, and I kind of just let those go as
Emily Gorrie:
Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
they went. Even I
Emily Gorrie:
Mm.
Kelsey Romine:
even had a Pinterest client all the way until, you know, like the end of last year, even though I was that was my only Pinterest client left, but I was just like, time will tell when it's when it's time, you know, and there
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
was
Emily Gorrie:
yep.
Kelsey Romine:
there was a moment that we were both like, OK, this is the time.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
So I kind of just
Emily Gorrie:
Okay.
Kelsey Romine:
slowly transitioned into web design, but those became the only
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
new clients I was taking on, if that makes sense.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah, totally.
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
So when you first, so you had said you had really figured out your love of this, like creative tech blending opportunity with doing web design when you built one for yourself. Did you take any like additional courses or education on web design before you took on more clients or were you kind of leveraging your just personal experience as you. transitioned into like the more like paying space.
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah, took numerous courses. So
Emily Gorrie:
Okay.
Kelsey Romine:
when I built my first course, or first website, that was actually from like a course. They had
Emily Gorrie:
Okay.
Kelsey Romine:
kind of started a course and they were like, we're gonna show you how to build this website. And it was kind of template-based, like everyone's kind of looked the same, but you added your own stuff, but it was still like enough of an intro that I was like, yep, this feels good. And it was
Emily Gorrie:
Okay.
Kelsey Romine:
built in the same way that I build websites now. Like we used Elementor and like the host, all the process is very similar. I just now build it instead of importing pages.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
And so then after that somebody I knew was creating a course on how to like get all your systems in place for being a web designer. And I was like, okay, this seems good, this seems great. And she also... build websites. So I took her course to get kind of all those systems in place. I also took one that was more heavily code based. So I could learn
Emily Gorrie:
Mmm.
Kelsey Romine:
some of kind of like the back end types of you know, the deeper stuff. And then I think maybe about a year after all of that, that got me through a lot that got me to the point where I had like a good flow of how I wanted to build websites, what was the process for me, you know, things like that. And then I was like, okay, now I wanna up level a little bit more. And so then I took another course that was more so, it had all the system stuff on it too, but I already had that figured out. I didn't necessarily need too much of that. It's helpful to have, but I didn't need too much more of it. But
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
she also then taught you how to offer branding. And so I was like, okay, that could be something that I could offer. So I learned from that and she's also an amazing designer. And I was like, any way to learn from her, even if it's the smallest little bit that I could learn from her is amazing. But she goes into more of the design pieces. So I learned a lot from her too. And then I think even now two years later, now I'm in.
Emily Gorrie:
I love that. Oh, Haley, we just lost her. Okay, well, she's coming back in. We'll just edit this back in. You're good. I don't know what happened.
Kelsey Romine:
Okay.
Emily Gorrie:
We'll just keep going.
Kelsey Romine:
I don't know if that's a teacher in me or if I just have always loved learning. Like even now, if I could go and take like a college class just for fun, I would do it.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
Like I just, I love to learn new stuff. I don't really necessarily want to do like all the tests in
Emily Gorrie:
Hahaha
Kelsey Romine:
the studying, but I would just love to go and sit and listen to something,
Emily Gorrie:
and absorb.
Kelsey Romine:
you know,
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
and absorb.
Emily Gorrie:
totally.
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah. And like in person, like it's, I love doing things online, obviously. But there's something to just sit there and listen to someone talk about something passionately.
Emily Gorrie:
Absolutely. I feel like there's, side note, there's a whole bunch of podcasts out there these days that are actually academic lectures just repurposed onto podcasts, which I find so cool. And I haven't dipped my toe in that, but I feel
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
like there's so much opportunity now to also do that on your own time. So there's really
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
no. reason why we shouldn't just start to see what peaks our curiosities. And I
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
am curious, from your perspective, somebody who's feeling this desire, maybe this was, picture somebody that was in your shoes when you were first starting to feel the frustrations of teaching and having your first kid and not being able to have the flexibility and the fulfillment that you expected to have. They want to start something new. How do they find? from your experience, a course that's right for them, I guess? Like one that, I mean, you said their first course was somebody who was in the same town as you or a nearby town that you recognize. So it gave this person a little bit more, not validity, but real existence. It's actually
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
a real person teaching something and not just ads you're seeing on Instagram. So what's your advice to somebody who's looking to start and not really sure where to, like, dip their toe first.
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah, well, I first want to say that any teacher's listening, you're not stuck. Like I felt stuck. I felt like as the degree I earned, that is all I had to do.
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm
Kelsey Romine:
There was nothing else I felt like I could do. That's not true. There are a lot of options out there for us. And I'm seeing tons of teachers do it every day. Like all the time, I see a new teacher that's decided to do something different with their life. To find a course or program or whatever. Um, really, I feel like asking if you can find referrals is the best. Like
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
I even sought out somebody that had taken this, this program. Um, because she was, I think she was like a name on like one of the testimonials or. I'm not sure how I found her. And I would just like reached out to her on, I don't know if it was Facebook or Instagram, social media somehow. And I was like, can you tell me, you know, about this program, like, do you love it? Was it worth it? You know, and she had nothing but great things to say. And I was like, that was the little extra piece that I needed to feel confident in it. Because they're not inexpensive. You know, all these programs, you know, they're not inexpensive, but they are much less than sticking, you know, trying to go find a new degree, you know, like going back to school.
Emily Gorrie:
Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
They're much less than, you know, your mental, you know, if you're struggling mentally, then. you know, that's not doing you any favors either.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
And you can always, like, you can always make back that money. Like, it seems like a lot because we feel nervous,
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
but it's not, in the end, it makes it so much better. So I liked seeking a referral, because yes, the ads on Instagram, they feel authentic, they
Emily Gorrie:
We know
Kelsey Romine:
really
Emily Gorrie:
who's
Kelsey Romine:
do.
Emily Gorrie:
powering them. Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
But it's like, oh, is this gonna actually help me? Is this where I need to be? And it really helped that this person was also a teacher and she was like, I wanted
Emily Gorrie:
Mmm.
Kelsey Romine:
to be home with my kids. So there was that connection too. And I knew the school, there was just a lot of connection-based things. But I don't know that there's necessarily a bad program out there. Everyone's really trying to do their best to help other women and other moms like us. But if you needed like a specific route or if you wanted to know something specifically, seek some names and ask them about it, really. I mean,
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
I think.
Emily Gorrie:
I love
Kelsey Romine:
I
Emily Gorrie:
that.
Kelsey Romine:
even
Emily Gorrie:
I think
Kelsey Romine:
actually
Emily Gorrie:
there's no.
Kelsey Romine:
reached out to the coach too. I like sent her an email and I was like, can
Emily Gorrie:
Amazing.
Kelsey Romine:
you tell me more? And she responded right away and I was like, okay, like this feels real, this feels good, so.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah, yeah, I love that. I think there's a lot to be said for community support, right?
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
If there's somebody that you see. Because I think a lot of nervousness or hesitation comes in because we think whatever we do next has to be the right path because we're spending money on it financially, or we're dedicating time to it, or we're stepping away from something that gives us security, right? So I think there's a lot of nervousness and hesitation. that way. So there's really no harm done with just starting a conversation. Right? If there's somebody that you see on social media, or you come across them in a networking event that you're like, Oh, I'm curious how my life could look if I did what she does, or, you know, implementing some of the things that she does for her clients, like, Oh, I feel like I could really do that. I feel like that's the first indicator of like, just talk to that person. And I think when it comes to business and it comes to motherhood and the delicate harmony between the two, the community support is key. So I love that advice. Just start having conversations around it. You will
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
start to feel what feels icky, what feels really good, and trial and error, right? We don't always have to know exactly what it is that we can do. want to do. And if we can maybe lower the risk a little bit and figure out kind of where we're tolerant of taking some chances,
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
it really could align with moving us in a direction that makes us feel really good. So I'm grateful for that advice. And I think there's like a lot of excitement now, like you can like feel
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
like things can shift in the way that we want them
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
to. We don't have to feel stuck. And it doesn't have to be this like big financial contribution or cut. right on
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
our ends necessarily, and it can be done if we find something that aligns with that. So I love that. That just like feels
Kelsey Romine:
Well,
Emily Gorrie:
really good.
Kelsey Romine:
you know, we're moms, we have pretty good gut instincts, I feel like too. You know, like if something
Emily Gorrie:
It's
Kelsey Romine:
doesn't
Emily Gorrie:
true.
Kelsey Romine:
feel right, you know, you know.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
So I feel
Emily Gorrie:
totally.
Kelsey Romine:
like some of it is related to that too. You know, you just, you feel good about something or you're like, I don't know about this, but
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
not feeling stuck is what I feel like is what's most critical. I don't know, at least in the teacher realm, I felt like, I felt like. I got an education degree, I was stuck in education, but I don't even touch that degree right now and then it's fine. It's totally
Emily Gorrie:
I'm
Kelsey Romine:
fine.
Emily Gorrie:
sure you probably do in some capacity, but maybe, you know, like the skills
Kelsey Romine:
You know.
Emily Gorrie:
you learned while you did it, maybe not like the content, but you know, in some capacity.
Kelsey Romine:
That's true, that's true. I do always try to teach my clients how to work their website after I give it back to them and things like that. So I guess there's some aspect in there. But
Emily Gorrie:
Hehehehe
Kelsey Romine:
I'm definitely not teaching college algebra or anything.
Emily Gorrie:
That's fair.
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
I want to talk a little bit about this kind of balance that you have of working from home with your kids being home. So you have a little one who's under a year, and
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
you have a two-year-old, and then you have your oldest. So two of the three of them just started going to school part time. So talk to us a little bit about how you're able to do both during your days, and what do those days look like?
Kelsey Romine:
Oh, you know, three kids is just chaos.
Emily Gorrie:
It probably changes, yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
It's, every day is a new day. So my oldest is almost five and he, this is his third year at preschool. But again, he's only went two days a week. This year he's doing three, which we're very excited about. Two year old, almost two and a half just started. So today is his very first day of being in anywhere but our home. So, kind of nervous to
Emily Gorrie:
Oh,
Kelsey Romine:
see how that goes, but.
Emily Gorrie:
what a champ. Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
I know, I'm hoping it goes well. And then I have an almost six month old. So every day we figure out what we can do. So I really try to balance not working weekends if I can. I try to spend as much of the day not actually not on my computer if I can, which seems weird as
Emily Gorrie:
Mmm.
Kelsey Romine:
a web designer. So what I do is we get up, we have breakfast, everybody's fed and then Not every day, but every now and then. I come in, I check emails, I kind of do the little easy tasks that might take only a few minutes, or while they're playing cars in the living room, or something like that. And Baby is now sleeping a good solid nap in the mornings, which is really helpful. And then she gets up, and then everybody has lunch. And then the older two... My oldest has never stopped nap time quote unquote, but he hasn't napped since he was like two and a half. We just kind of kept giving him a space to
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
go and be away from me because we
Emily Gorrie:
Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
need we need a break from each other in a day. So he does a rest time. He sits and he reads books or he listens to an audiobook. He started doing that. He has like one of those Tony boxes and he was listening to
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
that for a few years. But mostly now he just sits and reads books or plays with Legos for like two hours. It's magical. While the two-year-old naps. He's still napping. I don't
Emily Gorrie:
Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
know how much longer I'm going to have that and we'll have to like readjust course again. But
Emily Gorrie:
Hehehehe
Kelsey Romine:
baby hangs out with me while I'm working. She's either on my lap or on the floor next to me. And I work those two hours straight. That is my biggest chunk of work time is the one to three o'clock. And that is when I do
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
most of the work. really in a day, because once they're back
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
up, they're all over the place again and loud and...
Emily Gorrie:
They're rested and they're ready to go. Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
They are ready, they are pumped. But they might get a little afternoon screen time if I'm trying to knock out a deadline or finishing up something, something like that. If they're not gonna sit and be quiet, even if they're not quiet, if they can't play by themselves for a little bit longer. then it did get a little screen time or something. We just put on a show for a little bit. And then every now and then I'll work in the evening, but it is not all five days of the week. It might be one, maybe two. I'm not pumping the hours out here. I'm working
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
15 hours a week, maybe.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
And that's the balance that we just have right now. I would actually really love to be working more. But I also,
Emily Gorrie:
Mmm.
Kelsey Romine:
I'm trying to find that balance of... these kids
Emily Gorrie:
Totally.
Kelsey Romine:
are little now, and I wanted to stay home with them, to be with them when they were little. And then I found my own self-fulfilling
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah. Ha ha
Kelsey Romine:
of, I
Emily Gorrie:
ha.
Kelsey Romine:
like doing my own business, I like doing this too. And so I'm
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
still trying to find, it's a continuous thing of me trying to find the balance. Some days I don't do it well. Yesterday, I didn't do it well. I was
Emily Gorrie:
Mm-hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
working way too much. But. It's, you know, most days I think I do a pretty good job trying to be present with them and accomplish the client work that I want to do. So
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
when they're all in school someday, I'll work a lot more. And I'm like,
Emily Gorrie:
Hehehehe
Kelsey Romine:
that's a someday, it'll be fine when I get there. But I don't want to lose the momentum I have now, like the drive that I have going
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
now. So I don't want them to stop and then pick up in a couple of years. So I'm okay with it being, I would almost say it's like my full-time job because it's the only job I'm doing, but I'm not doing it 40 hours a week, you know? So depends
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
on how you classify full-time versus part-time,
Emily Gorrie:
Totally.
Kelsey Romine:
but part-time mom, part-time
Emily Gorrie:
I love
Kelsey Romine:
web
Emily Gorrie:
that.
Kelsey Romine:
designer, I don't know. Full-time both,
Emily Gorrie:
Full-time
Kelsey Romine:
I have no idea.
Emily Gorrie:
both?
Kelsey Romine:
Full-time both,
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
that's where I would
Kelsey Romine:
It definitely
Emily Gorrie:
go, yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
takes up brain capacity all day for both things, you know, but.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah, yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
It's the balance I have
Emily Gorrie:
I wanna.
Kelsey Romine:
now, and so that's where we go with.
Emily Gorrie:
That's perfect. And I want to talk a little bit about and ask you how you take that kind of home life goal, right? Wanting to be present with your kids and balancing kind of that in the work in their naptimes and whatever. How did you align yourself with clients that were supportive of that? Like what does the, knowing you only get to work a certain number of hours, you don't want to work weekends. Ideally, you don't want to work. late into the night to accomplish this. How do you bring on the client load and the right type of clients to, what boundaries do you put in place on the work side to allow for that flexibility on the home side?
Kelsey Romine:
You know, I could be better about that, I'll be honest. But
Emily Gorrie:
We all can. We all can.
Kelsey Romine:
yeah, I could be better about, like I can't do this right now, but instead I'll be like, oh, I'll just pop on for 10 minutes and fix this, you know, whatever.
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
But a lot of it has to do with, they already know that I'm a mom. Like it is,
Emily Gorrie:
Mm-hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
I put it everywhere. Like it's on social, it's on, you know, my website. Like if they're coming to me, they already know that I'm a mom. They might not know that my kids are home with me all the time when they start, like they first come to me. But it seems like almost every potential client call I have, like we always set up a call and talk through their current goals for their website and things like that. Almost every one of those calls, I have a child either come talk to me or be on my lap.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah, yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
I work with mostly moms, but pretty much all women. So.
Emily Gorrie:
Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
I feel like we're all very understanding of each other. And I work with a lot of people in the online space that are kind of doing similar things. You know,
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm
Kelsey Romine:
they're a coach or they're a therapist or they're, you know, they're all doing things that are supporting almost other women and other moms too. So it's like, we're all in this thing together. And so, you know, nobody seems to care when, you know, I have a baby on my lap. You know, one client said in like her, testimonial after we completed the project. She thanked me for that because she said it made me seem human.
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
Another client said, oh, you should have your baby on every potential client call that you have because if they care that you have a baby with you, then they're not a client for you. And I was like, you know, you're right.
Emily Gorrie:
Right, right.
Kelsey Romine:
I think better without
Emily Gorrie:
I
Kelsey Romine:
them,
Emily Gorrie:
love that.
Kelsey Romine:
but I was
Emily Gorrie:
Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
like, the right people are out there, you know, in... If that person doesn't want to work with me because the baby's on my lap, then I take that almost as a win. That means it wasn't a good fit for either one of us because
Emily Gorrie:
Totally.
Kelsey Romine:
we're thick in the mom life,
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
so yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
totally, totally. And I think like it also just reminds us that like the mom. I feel like I come from a corporate world, a corporate background, and it was
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
all like market research. How many people are in this market that you want to try and sell this product to? And you're looking at long-term pipelines
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
and things like that. And it's interesting because you think about not wanting to pigeonhole yourself into a certain niche or whatever. business owner space are massive. There are so many of us just
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
trying to do what works for us and what works for our family and still give ourselves that drive and fulfillment. So I just love that reminder of like, you will find clients that work for you. If it's in this space, there are plenty of them. There's no shortage. We can all support
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
one another.
Kelsey Romine:
Yup.
Emily Gorrie:
I love that.
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
I want to talk briefly before we get too lost in the long term, like the time of this, about web design and strategy a little bit because I, from personal experience, never know when to actually bring on somebody who does this for a living and has expertise
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
in this space. When I started this podcast, I... hate my website, I'll tell you. I mean, okay, let me rephrase.
Kelsey Romine:
Hahaha!
Emily Gorrie:
I don't hate my website. I made this website because I wanted to not be a barrier to entry. I didn't want
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
to not start this podcast without a website, but I also didn't want to be lost in perfection and
Kelsey Romine:
and not do
Emily Gorrie:
not
Kelsey Romine:
it.
Emily Gorrie:
start the podcast because
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
I didn't think my website was the best it could be. So there's a lot of things on there that I like, every time I'm on there, I'm like, oh, I gotta make sure I remember to change that. Gotta make sure I remember to change that. Oh, I should optimize this a little bit. And it's not my arena. I don't like to spend time in there. I do it when I have to. But at what point do you find that clients are coming to you? Are they people who are just starting out? Are they people who have built their own and are like, I need to optimize? When should somebody bring in someone like you?
Kelsey Romine:
You know, I'm gonna say it's different for everybody. And it
Emily Gorrie:
Okay.
Kelsey Romine:
really depends on the business too. You know, like if you're a brick and mortar business, I would almost argue most people expect you to have a website or they're just not gonna believe that you're there, versus the online space. I know people who have been running a business for five years that don't have a website and they're doing just fine with like a portfolio that they made. Like you have to weigh... what it's gonna do for you, if that makes sense.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah, totally.
Kelsey Romine:
As a web designer, I need one, I feel like. I feel like I should have a website.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
So it really depends. I get a variety. I get some that are just starting a business. I get some that have been in it for a while. I get... you know, some that have already had a website and just want to like add on certain pieces to it, like they need a new landing page or, you know, or they need some changes made, or they want to add e-commerce now all of a sudden, or they've been selling in like a third-party platform
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm
Kelsey Romine:
and now want to have their own website to sell on. So there's a wide variety and it really depends on that business's goals and where they're
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
at and whether it's time, really. That's not a great answer, I don't think, but you have to kind of think about what are your goals for your website? That's gonna be one of the first questions I ask on a call is what's your goal for your website? Because I don't wanna just sell a website to sell it. I want it to do something for you. So I don't wanna just be like, oh, you want a website, let's make one. Let's make sure you need one and let's make sure it's the right website for you and your business. So I kind of feel like
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
it's different for everyone.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
And just depends. And yes, some people might DIY the first time or even the second time and they're like, I don't like doing this or I don't like how it's, or maybe it's not
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
converting. And then they'll come to me, that type of thing. They come from all wide range of places in
Emily Gorrie:
Okay.
Kelsey Romine:
their business, but
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
it really depends,
Emily Gorrie:
I love
Kelsey Romine:
yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
that. So do you do a lot of like, initial project work? Or do you come on to like optimize websites and then there's like a monthly maintenance package? Like how do clients tend to work with you?
Kelsey Romine:
most are coming for a new fresh, just starting website. Either
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
they didn't
Emily Gorrie:
okay.
Kelsey Romine:
have one or they don't like it and they just wanna start over. Not many, and I'm slightly picky about who I take on for adding things on or editing their
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm.
Kelsey Romine:
current sites. Because websites
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
are all made very differently. There are a lot of ways to make a website. And I, some will take longer than others basically. And so I'm somewhat selective about which types of websites I'll take on. Like I only do WordPress. So if someone comes to me and says, I have a Squarespace or a Showit or whatever, and I'm like, I'm not
Emily Gorrie:
Sure.
Kelsey Romine:
gonna be the right person for you.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
But even within WordPress, there's like a wide variety of what their website backend could look like. So
Emily Gorrie:
Sure.
Kelsey Romine:
sometimes if they're open to, you know, you know, walking me through their back end to show me how their website was built, then maybe I'll be open to working on their current website, depending on what that looks like. If I think, and it has happened before, if I think that all of their current goals for what they want to make changes for aren't going to be very easy, not easy. I don't want to say that I'm not taking on, you know, something that's challenging. But like some things just aren't as possible with
Emily Gorrie:
Hmm
Kelsey Romine:
the way certain websites are built. And it's like really in depth on that. But you know, like they wanna make this change. And I was like, well, I can show you how to do that and it might take some custom coding, but then you're gonna have to custom code that every time you make that, you know, like if you make a new blog post, you're gonna have to custom code that. You know, and so it's not as,
Emily Gorrie:
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Kelsey Romine:
not even necessarily always easy for me, but it's like, I want it to be easy for the client too. And so sometimes I'm like, okay, well, here's all the changes we could make. It's gonna cost this much. This is what you're gonna have to do when I hand it back to you versus if we just wanna build it in a new way and make it easier for you
Emily Gorrie:
Mmm.
Kelsey Romine:
forever type of thing. So
Emily Gorrie:
In
Kelsey Romine:
sometimes
Emily Gorrie:
the long
Kelsey Romine:
we have
Emily Gorrie:
run,
Kelsey Romine:
to weigh
Emily Gorrie:
yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
that option to, again, it depends. It depends on how their
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
website was built
Emily Gorrie:
Okay.
Kelsey Romine:
and how deep we have to go.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah, I love that. I mean, I love that too, because it also shares and showcases your boundaries of what,
Kelsey Romine:
Go.
Emily Gorrie:
you can do it, but ultimately, is it the best thing for the client in the long run? Possibly
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
not, right? Because the goal is to hand them off a website that works for them, not
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah, mm-hmm,
Emily Gorrie:
makes them work harder to
Kelsey Romine:
yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
continue to execute it. So,
Kelsey Romine:
I feel very
Emily Gorrie:
I mean,
Kelsey Romine:
passionate
Emily Gorrie:
I can appreciate
Kelsey Romine:
about
Emily Gorrie:
that.
Kelsey Romine:
them being able to do that. I want them to feel confident getting into the back end of their website and knowing where they can make changes. And if that's not an easy thing, then I don't always know if it's worth it. And I'll be the first to say, I do not
Emily Gorrie:
Yes.
Kelsey Romine:
know everything about websites. Like I know how to do certain things, but I did not go to school for four plus years for this.
Emily Gorrie:
Right.
Kelsey Romine:
So I can't, I like to fix things, but there's some things that I'm like, I don't even know how to fix that. So,
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
you know, if I don't know
Emily Gorrie:
I
Kelsey Romine:
how,
Emily Gorrie:
mean,
Kelsey Romine:
are
Emily Gorrie:
I can
Kelsey Romine:
you gonna
Emily Gorrie:
appreciate
Kelsey Romine:
wanna know
Emily Gorrie:
that.
Kelsey Romine:
how? You know, and we're
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
all learning
Emily Gorrie:
yeah,
Kelsey Romine:
and,
Emily Gorrie:
I mean, I can.
Kelsey Romine:
you know, I Google a lot,
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
but there's only, you know, everyone has their limits at some point, I feel like, so.
Emily Gorrie:
Totally, totally.
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
I love that and I appreciate that. I think those listening can also appreciate when they reach out to somebody and somebody's honest with them of it's not the right fit or maybe that's
Kelsey Romine:
Mm-hmm.
Emily Gorrie:
not the best path per my recommendation, right, and they take it or leave it. They can take that guidance or they can go find somebody else who's willing to do it for them and they deal with it in the long run. I wanna get your opinion on somebody who's starting out. and they perhaps don't, they've just decided they want to make a transition into something in the online space. And they want to build a website, but they haven't made any money yet on the business, or they haven't signed their first client, but they feel the need is there for something. What do you recommend to somebody who's just starting out, who's going to kind of DIY a first website? What are the, I don't know, two or three pages every website must have that they should start.
Kelsey Romine:
It depends on what they do. But let's say someone in the online space, right? In
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah.
Kelsey Romine:
some sort of service provider. I would have a homepage because it seems expected. A services page outlining what you do, how you can help them if you want to include pricing, pros and cons to that, but you know, then you can have that on there. What are the next steps to working with you? That type of thing. And... definitely some way to contact you, whether that's a call link, so you know, like book a certain call on a calendar, or if it's just a form that gets sent to you, they need to be able to contact you. And that needs to be in, you know, the next steps to working with you. They need to know what is the next step.
Emily Gorrie:
Yep.
Kelsey Romine:
If you also want to include an about page, that's great too, but you can also include those pieces in a home and in services page if you wanted to. But your about page is, you know, is how people connect with you. You know, that's how you, you know. why did you start your business and what's your story and why do you want to help other people? It's not necessarily like, oh, I'm such and such and I live in such and such. It's more of like building that connection piece with your audience.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah, I love that. And I think probably simple is better, right, I would argue.
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
Don't
Kelsey Romine:
Don't
Emily Gorrie:
go
Kelsey Romine:
overly
Emily Gorrie:
too complicated.
Kelsey Romine:
word it. Yep.
Emily Gorrie:
Yeah, not overly wordy. I feel like maybe I should take my own advice and reevaluate my website at the moment. We're always evaluating and
Kelsey Romine:
Yeah,
Emily Gorrie:
changing.
Kelsey Romine:
always, always changing.
Emily Gorrie:
Always. I love that. Well, thank you so much for. those pieces of advice and sharing your story, I wanna give you just a quick minute or so. How can our listeners find you? How can they engage with you? How can they work with you? How can they just learn more about you?
Kelsey Romine:
Absolutely. So you can find me at kelseyromine.com. That's my website. Everything you want to know about working with me is on there, but I can do branding, I can do WordPress websites from start to finish, built from scratch, like I build out each page uniquely for you. And on Instagram, I'm on there a lot, probably too much. And that is at kelsey.m.romine. and that's linked on my
Emily Gorrie:
Amazing.
Kelsey Romine:
website too, because that's easier. But I'm on there all the time,
Emily Gorrie:
Perfect.
Kelsey Romine:
and I am not super annoying on there. I mostly share like mom life and things like that, but that's the easy way
Emily Gorrie:
And
Kelsey Romine:
to connect
Emily Gorrie:
we love that.
Kelsey Romine:
with me. Yeah.
Emily Gorrie:
Perfect. And we'll make sure to link them to in the show notes of the episode. But Kelsey, thank you again for being here.
Kelsey Romine:
Thank you so much for having me. It was wonderful to talk to you.