← What Are You Made Of?
What Are You Made Of?
Visibility Pays: How Katelyn Rhoades Turned Social Media Into Multiple Revenue Streams
00:30:51
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- [00:00]
A
Back to the Woody made up show. It's your boy C Rock here. I'm back in the studio. Just got back from Dallas. Board of advisors has me come down and host their podcast. And always a good time. But we're back in the studio today with a great guest, and we're gonna find out what she's made of. And. Yeah. Well, let's welcome Caitlin Rhodes. What's up, Caitlin?
- [00:18]
B
What is up? I'm so excited.
- [00:20]
A
Yeah. Well, I love. We were talking offline about the hat, and I'm a big guy. Like, why am I gonna wear somebody else's hat? I want to wear my own. And I see you have influence on the. On your.
- [00:31]
B
Oh, yeah.
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A
Hat.
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B
And you gotta wear company, right? You gotta. You gotta be about it.
- [00:36]
A
Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. So. And she said she had her hair pulled back in a bun, but then she just. For some reason, it just came to her that she should wear her hat. And I'm like, yep, absolutely. On this show, you wear your hat. So.
- [00:48]
B
So we're both hot. Twins.
- [00:50]
A
Yeah. Let's go, let's go. All right, so let's start with the question we start with every time. What are you made of, Caitlin?
- [00:56]
B
Yeah. So this is gonna sound generic when I say it, but I'm truly made of resilience. Okay. And let me give you my reason why. So I grew up in a situation where nothing was ever guaranteed for me. It was very chaotic. My mom had me when she was 17, so she did the best that she could, but she was still a kid herself, so there was a lot of uncertainty. And I learned early on, like, if I want a different life than this, I'm going to have to build it myself. Nobody else is going to build it for me. So started working when I was 14. I was on my hands and knees cleaning popcorn machines at the movie theater. As soon as I turned 18 and graduated, I left town, moved to Gainesville to go to college. My grandpa, luckily, had set up a college fund for me because otherwise I would have never got out of the small town that I was from. But there was times up there where I was struggling to make it work. Up there, I was selling my clothes just to make grocery money. I was juggling two jobs, going to school. I knew I had to get into internships, too, if I wanted to do anything. So I was doing all of this stuff, right? And that's just where my core belief really came from, is like, no one's going to come save you. If you want a different life, you've got to do something different. Right. So I knew I didn't want to repeat the life that I had grew up in. And money had just always been a struggle for me. And I just saw how much pain it had caused my family. So I just became obsessed with learning things, building skills, creating opportunities for myself. And that mindset really carried on to what I have now, which I built my own business. I've built my career through that consistency and that tenacity. No shortcuts. So what I'm made of is that resilience, that reinvention, that belief that ordinary people, they can build extraordinary lives if they're willing to show up and do the work.
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A
Yeah, yeah. And persistence. I mean, it's like, you know, so many people quit right when they're about to break through.
- [02:55]
B
Oh, and he knows. I've been told, and you're not good enough. And you. You gotta ignore that stuff.
- [03:02]
A
Yeah. Not take it personal. It's just that one crazy, you know, Like, I. I work with, you know, people all the time and with different. Different things, but with our agency, and people sometimes say they're gonna do something and then they ghost you. Sometimes they don't. They just say no. And. And then some people sign up right away, and then you just. You just keep going and do it. It's a numbers game. Keep the pipeline full and invite people, Invite people in. And if they don't want to take the invitation, then you move on to the next person. You know, it's just. But, you know, I think the problem most people have is they. They have to take each one personally because they don't have enough people, you know? And so my philosophy is like, I just want to build. I want to build to create an attraction model and have so many people around me that it doesn't matter if somebody says no, it. For whatever it is, you know, it's just a matter of, okay, well, who's the next person? Next person up, you know, and you got to create a great, great experience for people with whatever you're trying to get a yes for. Right. You know, for sure.
- [04:04]
B
And. And I always, too, like, people will whine about, oh, my life's so bad. I was like, what are you doing to fix it? Are you going after those leads? If someone's telling you no, what are you doing next? Like, are you just sitting there and sulking? Are you continuing on? And it. I mean, it sounds like you.
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A
Yeah.
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B
You know how to take it and just. Okay, on to the next one.
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A
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I Always. Always like that. Now, the other thing, too, us coming from tough backgrounds, brokenness, you know, I think a lot of times people don't. They'll go through something later in life and they forget about what they've made it through already. You know, like the stuff you just explained, which you didn't get into a ton of detail, but I'm sure there was some, you know, really tough stuff. Right.
- [04:47]
B
There's some Jerry Springer stuff up in there, but we'll.
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A
Yeah, me too, man. I mean, and when we do it, we think it's normal. Right. Like, you're like. Because you don't know any different. It's like, oh, this is the way it is. You know, and then since you've been successful and. And getting married and everything and. And having a husband that's successful in real estate and. And then you start to realize, like, wait a minute. This is. This is what normal should be.
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B
Right. Do you have kids? I didn't even ask.
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A
Yeah. Too.
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B
Okay. Do you not live to make sure that they have that normal stability? Like, that's my whole life and my plan in life and why I work so hard, too, is so that they can have a little bit of that normalcy. And, like, it's not supposed to be chaotic and crazy, right?
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A
Yeah. Yeah. But I. I cause constructive chaos.
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B
Okay.
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A
Let me tell you why.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Because I. I think if they have it too easy and too comfortable, that they're not going to be built for what's about, you know, the world's not easy.
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B
Right, Right.
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A
And when you send them out there, like, I, you know, I'm not. I'm okay. My son hating me. He's 19. I'm okay with him hating me for a season.
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B
Okay.
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A
Right. Because I'm hard on him and I expect different things. I have certain standards, and he gets tired of hearing it, but at the end of the day, like, when he goes out to the world, he's going to be prepared. I can't have him have everything as perfect as possible at home.
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B
Right.
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A
They should have a place that's safe, supportive, encouraging. But I do cause. I do cause a little bit of constructive chaos.
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B
I do like that. I like where you're coming from. And you do help me to remember, too. Like, if we're too soft, we don't want to raise little babies or people that think that life's handed to them because they will get a rude awakening when they do grow up and find out, like, it's not like that. So.
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A
Yeah. Yeah. How many kids do you Have, I have two.
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B
I have a five year old and a ten year old. So I'm like right in the middle of that chaos, you know?
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A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. My daughter's 13 and so, yeah, we're, we're a little further along, but it's.
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B
But she's a girl and she's a teenager, so. Bless you.
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A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's, she's great. She's great. Yeah. You know, we all have our moments, but, you know, it's, it goes fast. You know, Um, I look back, you know, I have this little Lexa thing here with a screen and it shows pictures as I'm sitting here. Sometimes they'll show baby pictures and things and I'm like, damn, man, where did those days go?
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B
Oh, it hits me in the heart. Yeah. And that's something too. Like, you know, talking about careers and all that stuff. At the end of last year, it kind of hit me. I can work, work, work my butt off and, you know, build the things I've built and, you know, have this agency and this podcast. But at the end of the day, like, I have to remember who I'm doing it for, which is my kids. And if I'm hustling all the time and missing out on those really important times with them, like, it's. What is, what am I building all this for? So I've had that rude awakening of the balance between building but also being a really good mom and parent too.
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A
Yeah. Do you work from home or do you have a office?
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B
I have an office now. I'm a woman, so of course, like half the time I'm like, I don't want to go into the office, so I'll work at home. But me and my husband are actually building a house right now, so we're in an itty bitty rental. And so when I stay home, me and him are in the dining room table together, like shoulder to shoulder. So I've been coming to the office more. More so lately.
- [08:02]
A
Yeah, I get it, I get it. I work from home now. I did years and years in the office and I work from home now, so. But I travel once a month at least, so I get out because I think environment change is so important for creativity.
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B
Yeah.
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A
You know, especially for what you do.
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B
Exactly. And that's why I have an office, because I do a lot of. So I own a social media agency and then I also do the influencer side too. Like, I've built a following on Instagram. I've got 204,000 followers now. Nothing Compared to your following, you're a God over there. I love that. But I felt like I too, I felt like I had to have a little bit of an office so I can be more creative over here versus just being at home all the time. Like, you need, like you said, you need that creative outlet. Also, I can make it look really good and professional here at the studio versus being at home where, you know, know laundry's not always done and things are crazy in the background with kids and a dog and a husband. So.
- [08:57]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. We just had to power out for two days because of this blizzard on the east coast. Oh, and. And dishes weren't getting washed because we had no hot water and it was piling up and laundry was piling up. And I said, you know what, let's get out of here. So we just went down the street, 10 minutes away to a Hilton on the ocean. And it pays to have a network. A friend of mine gave us a room, two rooms, actually, for free, and it was nice to get away. And then we came back this morning and, like, had a knockout laundry. You're mentioning laundry? Knockout dishes, hand wash, a bunch of stuff because not everything fit in the dishwasher. I get all that. I get all of it. You know, you got to separate some time for that away from the business. So. But you know what I think? I think if you structure and control your calendar, you can fit everything in. You know, I think you're home sometimes.
- [09:45]
B
Oh, I totally. Like, on Mondays, I'll freak out and tell my husband I'm burning it all down. I can't handle this. It's too stressful. But then by, like, Wednesday, I'm like, oh, crap, I've already done 50% of the work. Like, I'm good.
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A
Yeah.
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B
But the only way I get through that is I do literally put everything on my Google calendar. So even if it's like I do these things called money walks. So it's like where I go on a walk in the morning and I listen to a podcast that, like, will help me learn some kind of activity or a mindset change or something. I'll block that off on my calendar every morning at 8am and then, you know, I'll do my work. But. But you got to remember to not just block off the work times, but block off that self care, whatever it is times too. Especially when you have, you know, children or other things going on, that I live by the calendar.
- [10:32]
A
Yeah. I can't believe when I first started podcasting Caitlin, I missed When I was guesting, I guess, yeah. Started guesting, I would, I missed a couple episodes because I wasn't living off my calendar. Even though I was running a successful company because I was always at the office. It was just like, go to the office and do it ever comes your way. And I, I don't know, like, I think right, right when I missed a couple, I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I did that. And then I realized calendar, calendar. And I lived off of it. Changed everything, changed my life. Like, I control my time now and if it's not on the calendar, I don't do it.
- [11:05]
B
You know, my mother in law, she invited us to lunch the other day. I said, send a calendar invite. She's like, you're so psychotic. And I'm like, no, seriously, like you're retired woman. We're in the thick of it. Like, at least just send it over. It'll block out my time and I won't forget about you, you know?
- [11:23]
A
Yeah, I mean I, I do that all the time. And somebody, I get text intros like 10 to 15 a week for my network and I just say, hey, great to be connected. Here's a link. Let's grab a time and hop on a call for 15 minutes and explore synergy. And it makes it so easy, you know, after that you're done. If they, they book a time, they book a time. If they don't, then they, they don't get time. That's the way it is.
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B
So how many hours a week are you working?
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A
You know, since I've done this and controlled my time, I literally, I really start my day as far as taking calls or podcasts at 11.
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B
Okay.
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A
And I'm done by 4:30.
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B
Okay.
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A
But there's gaps in between. Of course. I give buffers. But the thing is, is, you know, and then of course, like in the morning I'm checking some emails and doing some things. And then after that, 4:30, I might do some calls that are like unexpected. And on the weekends I'll be dming people and talking to people. I'm always networking and connecting. I have no idea how much I really work time wise, but I know like that or on the calendar, 11 to 4:30.
- [12:18]
B
Okay. You know, Monday through Friday about what you do. So I think that helps too. It's like you don't feel like you're working all the time because you're doing what you like to do.
- [12:27]
A
Right, Exactly. So, all right, take us through starting your agency and how you started to get clients.
- [12:33]
B
Yeah. So I actually started my agency. I was still working full time. I had an amazing corporate job, great benefits, great pay, all the things. But I had my second baby and I knew I just wanted to have more flexibility. So I started just talking to friends, that network that you're talking about. Hey guys, like, I'm really good at social media marketing. Like, if you want me to help you promote your business, like, let me do it. So I got a couple clients freelancing, right? And it was mostly just friends or family. I would do some work for them on the side, they'd pay me, yada yada. But then Instagram started getting really big and it was like the, it was right after the pandemic. So I wish, I tell myself all the time, I wish I would have started like one year earlier because I could have. Well, no, like I would have been dancing on there, I don't care. But. But I started a year later, right? So I was a little. It was already kind of in the game. But reels were a really big thing back then. So I'm a, I'm an entertainer, I'm a video girly. I've been making videos since I was little. Little. So I'm like, reels, Love is. Let me do it. So I started posting reels on Instagram and was consistent with it, made it happen. Like, you know, I was still working corporate, still mom and freelancing on the side. Okay, let me add one more thing to my plate. I'm going to make this work. Start posting reels and they start going off and I start getting a couple viral reels and this starts bringing in followers. And then from there I just started getting DMs, like, hey, will you help me blow up my account? Hey, will you help me manage my social media? And it got to the point where I couldn't handle my corporate work anymore and freelancing. So I kind of was at that crossroad like, okay, are you ready to do this full time? And I went to my husband, I'm like, hey, I think I can make this work. And he's like, all right, you know what? Go for it. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. So that point I knew like, okay, it's either go heavy, go hard, or this is never, I'm never going to get this opportunity again. So I went into it like, this is it. And, you know, from there I now have an agency. We've got three full time employees and a contractor, and we've got about 30 to 35 clients at a time. And we're doing really, really well. And I've also built a podcast on that. I've got the influencer marketing that I was telling you. And then I do like a membership and digital products too. So I've got a couple different revenue streams now.
- [14:54]
A
Awesome. Yeah. How about when you were started by yourself and then when did you realize that you needed some other people to come on a team?
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B
Right. That was, let's see. So I remember exactly. I gave my two weeks on my grandmother's birthday. She had passed away. She's my person for life. So it was in March and I think March, April, May, June, I think about three months in, I'm like, oh my God, I can't handle all of this. And I was making enough money. Gosh, it had been three, it had been 90 days of consistent income to where I'm like, okay, we're good, I think it's time to hire someone. So I made sure that it was still consistent income coming in before I ever pulled someone in to help me. And I kind of went balls to the walls like I'm going to hire a full time employee. I didn't even contract someone out. I kind of suggest when you first start, maybe start by contracting a few hours out. But I knew for me if I wanted to build this business, I couldn't be working in the business all the time. Right. I had to be working on it. So I was ready for her. I pulled in that full time employee over the summer by then.
- [15:57]
A
And what, what did like she do? Like what tasks did she take off your plate?
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B
Oh man, she took off the social media management. Like I basically for those, for those couple of months that I was working by myself, I had made, I'm a very processes kind of person. So I had SOPs in place. Here's how you make a content calendar, here's what you say on your check in calls, here's what the email looks like. So I was able to kind of pass that to her like um, like a blueprint basically and say, hey, here you go, I'm gonna give you your own four clients. And so maybe she took on like one client a week. And then I slowly started putting all of the clients on her and I went to full CEO mode. And then a couple months in, I think it was another six months later, we ended up hiring another girl to help her. Cause she couldn't handle it all on her own.
- [16:47]
A
Gotcha, gotcha. And then as far as consistently bringing in new clients, you know when you first started, you were talking to people in your network and then people were starting to reach out to you, but you're kind of still at that point dependent upon people reaching out. Like, you know, and, and so you got to be proactive. So what did you start to do to be more proactive and, and, you know, have consistent deal flow?
- [17:08]
B
Oh, I never ever missed a day of posting on Instagram about social media marketing. Like, I wanted to be the girl. Like, if they have a question about Instagram marketing or Facebook or reels or LinkedIn, I wanted them to think about Caitlin. So I literally posted every single day. And if I missed a day, then I would have the girls schedule something out in place of it just because I knew, like, if I'm not consistent, if they don't hear from me, top of mind, I'm not there, no one's going to hire me. So it was consistent. Posting every day, talking about the thing and then having a call to action like, hey, you need my help. I know, somebody call us for your social media marketing needs.
- [17:47]
A
Gotcha, gotcha. And then what about this? What about your packages when you first started versus where they are now? Oh, you know, like we don't know what to charge. Right. And then a lot of times we undervalue ourselves and our services, so.
- [17:58]
B
Oh my God. And I'm the poster girl for undervaluing now I'm not. You know, I've had this business for about five years now and I am the first girl that will be like, you're undercharging. Fire that client if they can't raise to the, to where you're supposed to be. But back then, I know my packages started at my first ever package was 600 bucks a month for Facebook, Instagram management, three posts a week. That same package now starts around $2,500 a month. So I mean, think about the difference in pricing there, right?
- [18:31]
A
Yeah, yeah.
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B
But I will say, like, when you're just a one man band, you can start slow because you're just getting your toes in the sand, you know, but once you've got a team, you've got overhead, you got employees to pay, you gotta charge more, and you also have more resources available and you also need to make sure your work's good enough too, right? Yeah.
- [18:48]
A
And you know what, like early on when we were starting our agency, like I had people that were, you know, high end people. I say high end people, they're used to paying money, getting great service, and they don't even question it. And I Had some of them come to me and like, why, why don't. Like, why. Why are you so cheap? And they actually didn't want to do business with us just because we were too cheap. And I was like, wow, I opened my eyes to some things. And then also we. We were really good at marketing at first, right off the bat, and we had a lot of deal flow coming in, and it put a lot of pressure on fulfillment. So what you did with going from 600 to 2500, you know, basically increases revenue, but also reduces pressure on fulfillment, which is huge, you know, and, you know, and I still think we have room to. To optimize even beyond me too. But I just. It's put taking pressure off so much and allowed us to have some time to add team members and train and what have you. So now you mentioned influencer marketing. Like, tell us about what that is and how you help people with that.
- [19:52]
B
Yeah, I'm going to be super transparent with y' all too, on this, because I think there's not enough information out there on all this, and it gets gatekeeped a lot or gate kept, however we want to say that. So with my Instagram growing followers, this means brands start reaching out to you. Hey, will you post about so and so in exchange for xyz or they're really nice and they want to pay you for it. Right. So in the early beginnings, like when I had first started growing my account, maybe like the 10,000, maybe 20,000 followers or less, I was open to, you know, exchanging a post to get something for free. Maybe it's a service. Maybe I get like, oh, we'll unlock slack for you and your team for free if you just post about us every now and then. But now that I've grown my following higher, to 200,000 followers, I'll charge anywhere from, like, I don't know my. It's different for every business, obviously. But, like, I'll say this. I had a partnership with a really nice company last month, and I had to post two reels and two stories, and I got paid $10,000 to do that. Guys like, it is. I would love, in a perfect world, the girls would just run my agency for me and let me do influencer marketing. Like, I will do whatever you want for your. Not whatever you want, but I will. Such fun, easy money, knock on wood. Because you sometimes have to negotiate. Now there are brands out there. Like, you'll see big brands out there too, guys that will be like, nope, sorry, we don't have the budget for it. I'm like, yes, you do. You just don't want to pay me and that's fine. So I've gotten to the point where now I can say yes or no, but in the beginning, I would have taken like a 500 video to share something because it's fun for me. It's easy for me.
- [21:35]
A
Yeah, yeah. And you do it. The influencer marketing. Just yourself or do you help others get people brands?
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B
Just myself. Our social media agency really just focuses on organic social media marketing or paid social media like Facebook ads or something. But we don't really do influencer marketing. There are people out there that are much better for that, that have that network to push you into. So I'd hire somebody else for something like that.
- [21:59]
A
Gotcha. Okay. And, and how do you make sure a brand aligns? Like, are there some brands that have reached out that just don't align with you?
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B
Oh my God.
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A
They're willing to pay. They're willing to pay money.
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B
So like the adult intimacy type category, I'm never going to post about that. I'm sorry. I'm a mom. I'm a young mom with young kids and I'm professional. Like, I just, it doesn't align with me. Right, right. They will pay a lot of money, though. I've said no to like a $15,000 partnership because I'm not going to. I just can't do that. So I will say, like, you know, you're going to.
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A
What are we talking about here? Like, what kind of, what kind of products?
- [22:35]
B
Like self pleasurement.
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A
Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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B
You know, like.
- [22:40]
A
Yeah.
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B
And that's $15,000. That's a lot of money for someone. But I couldn't, I can't. So I definitely have to. It aligns with what I'm doing, who I'm. You know, I want to impress business owners, CEOs, leadership. I can't be posting stuff like that.
- [22:56]
A
Yeah. And it's dangerous because it's a trap in a way because it can, you know, you see that kind of money and you're like, oh, wait a minute, I'll just go down this road. And then you really can't get out of it, you know, in a way. And that's, that's basically what they call selling your soul, you know.
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B
Right.
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A
And I will never be one of those. Yeah. The music business does it all the time. We've seen a lot of it. And, and some people really feel like you can't get famous unless you sell your soul and do what they tell you to. Do, and then they own you.
- [23:24]
B
And that makes me sad. And that's where I. That's why I started my podcast, actually, because I think a lot of people think you need to sell your soul or work a terrible job to make good money. Like, growing up, they tell you, go be a doctor, go be a lawyer if you want to make money. No, I love making videos and social media marketing, and I've found a way to make money doing that. And so, like, I tell everyone, like, people who are very upset with their jobs or they're just not happy with where they're at, what are you really, really good at? That you could charge people to pick your brain or you could do it for them. Like, you can probably make money doing that.
- [23:59]
A
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And, you know, I'd rather build slow the right way than really quick and have it come crashing down. Because at the end of the day, it's not a firm foundation, you know, it's, you know, build on sand.
- [24:12]
B
Right.
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A
So now, as you've started your business, what were some of the toughest things you've gone through and overcome in business?
- [24:19]
B
Ooh. First one is not taking it personal. Right. So I'm a very emotional person. And if someone fired us or like, it's not even like, hey, we fire you because we hate you. It's like, hey, we've done a great job, but I'm hiring internal, like, something that's actually better for them. I used to get my feelings really hurt and be like, oh, they hate me. And I would just get my self worth from my work.
- [24:42]
A
Yeah.
- [24:43]
B
So that's my first thing that I've learned is, like, you can't take things personal. The second thing I've learned is you've got to have balance. So last year, I developed an autoimmune disease, Hashimoto's, which is like your thyroid. And a lot of that can come from stress. And I know that I drove myself to this because C Rock. I'm one of those people that like, hustle, hustle, hustle. I'm telling you, I think it's a trauma response from how I grew up. I feel like I have to make money to be safe. So I was just. I was doing it all the time. I'd say yes to everything. Nothing was ever a no. So having that balance and being like, hey, does this align with where I'm going? Do you have time for this? Are you doing this just because you feel bad? So that's been another lesson for me. And then the third lesson, Ooh I don't want to say this, but I do want to say this, but I'm very trusting with people. Right. Whether that be hiring someone and thinking that they're going to treat your brand the way you treat it. That's not always the case. I had someone working for me way longer than they should have just because I trusted them. But then it's like God finally was like, caitlin, you don't fire this person. I'm gonna make you fire this person. Yeah, learning like that, too. Like, sometimes you have to be the bad guy and just say no or do what you got to do, because no one's going to love your brand the way you do.
- [26:16]
A
For sure. For sure. And, you know, there's nothing wrong with. I'm a trusting person, too. Like, giving people the benefit of the doubt.
- [26:21]
B
Yes.
- [26:22]
A
You say give them enough rope to hang themselves, but you have to. You have to fire quick. You have to end things quick. You have to confront quick. If you're like that now, I think that if you're not like that and you're not as trusting, you miss opportunities, you know, for great relationships or great, you know, great opportunity to collab with someone or whatever. So I'd rather take the risk. And I've had to go through the same thing when I was running my company to, like, hire, hire, like, slow, you know, and make sure, you know, check, do your due diligence. But trust people. Give them a chance. And then as soon as you see some signs, man, like, that's. You get clues, patterns, and then choice.
- [27:01]
B
Yep.
- [27:01]
A
Right. And so that's always been huge for me, so. And now I don't. I don't mess around with it. As soon as I see somebody's misaligned. It's nothing personal. It just is what it is. It's not. Everybody takes it. Great.
- [27:13]
B
Yeah. Oh, I feel you on that. And that's my husband. He's such a great mentor for me, too, but he's like, higher, slow, fire, fast. I'm learning that.
- [27:24]
A
Yeah. For sure. Now, what's the podcast, since you started it, what's it done for you personally and what's it done for your business? Ooh,
- [27:36]
B
it's been a really great outlet for me because beyond being a business owner, there's so many personal parts of me that I need to share that I can't exactly share on Instagram because it doesn't align with, like, what my. This audience that I've built over social media, marketing, Instagram growth, you know, what's trending. They don't always want to hear about what I'm going through and stuff like that. Um, so it's been a really great creative outlet for me to reach ambitious people out there or ambitious leaders, women that are going through things outside of business that still make up your life. Right. So being able to talk about those things and connect with people and have these dms like, oh, my God, I finally feel like someone sees me and hears me. Because you spoke on XYZ and I'm going through the same thing. I like to bring up topics that no one likes to say out loud. We're all thinking it, but no one talks about it. So being able to talk about that has really been therapeutic for me. And then with my business too, obviously, you know, there's. There's leadership in there. People trust me more because they can hear me teach. It's brought business to my social media agency. I do something called, like a weekly scroll. So every week I'll talk about all the trends, happening, algorithm changes on social media, whether that's TikTok, Instagram, and then I promote, like, my membership where I teach people what to post each week. So that's brought me in business, too. So there's so many things. And then lastly, I do want to make a point here too. It's connected me to some really amazing people. Like, when you get to interview people, it. There's nothing like it. You learn a lot about someone, and these people become my friends for life. I know that sounds really silly and generic. Like with you, I feel like I really got to learn a lot about you too, and you're going to be my friend for life.
- [29:25]
A
Yeah, it's not silly to me. It's. I know. Listen, I've been on so many shows, right. And in my show as well, but the networking from podcasting, both sides of the mic, has been the most important thing. You know, I can't stress that enough. Most people think about podcasting and they're looking at for vanity or exposure to someone else's audience. And to me, that's icing on the cake, right? The relationships. And then what happens with the relationships? Like, not just the friendships, but what. How it can impact the other people that come into your life because, you know, these other people, you know, your network is truly your net worth, but it's. It's knowing how to use it, you know, so. All right, Caitlin, we're up against the clock. Where can people go deeper with you that want to learn more?
- [30:04]
B
I think the best way to go deeper with me would go to my website InfluenceStudio. That's influence with an E E N F L U E n c e studio.com or find me on call her creator podcast. I'm on Apple, Spotify. Wherever you listen to podcasts, I'd love to connect with you guys. I've got a lot to share that we can't get into a 30 minute, you know, talk session. So come hang out with me.
- [30:27]
A
Awesome. Awesome. I love that name of the podcast. It's awesome as well. Yeah, call her creator. All right, guys, go check out Caitlin Rhodes, caller creator podcast influencestudio.com Caitlin, thank you so much for your time today.
- [30:39]
B
Yes, thank you. C rock. This is awesome.
- [30:42]
A
All right, hang tight while I wrap this up. That's this episode of the what do you Made of Show. Make sure you hit subscribe or follow at the top of your favorite podcast platform and keep coming back. And until next time, be that one.