Dads & gallery co-curators Quajay Donnell & Richard Colon are building community & leading by example

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Dads & gallery co-curators Quajay Donnell & Richard Colon are building community & leading by example

Years ago, I interviewed both Quajay Donnell and Richard Colon for my passion project, I Heart ROC. We’ve all experienced a lot of life changes since then, and our friendships have grown too, so I was excited to check in five years later for a podcast interview! We talk about how photography has helped them better get to know Rochester, their journey to founding Behind the Glass Gallery, and their experiences as dads. At the end of the day, sometimes you’ve just gotta jump in the bounce house, even if you’re in your 40s and you know your legs will hurt the next day!

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Jon-Stephen Stansel on creativity & humor as a social media pro and dad

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Jon-Stephen Stansel on creativity & humor as a social media pro and dad

I’ve followed the work of social media consultant Jon-Stephen Stansel for years, so I was thrilled when he agreed to chat with me for the It’s a Lot podcast. After getting his start doing social media at higher ed institutions and government agencies, his online connections led to him working with brands like Invincible, Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, Hazbin Hotel, Sausage Party: Foodtopia, and Avatar: The Way of Water. In this conversation, we talk about the joys of being creative and funny on social media, how AI lacks taste that’s necessary to succeed as a social media manager, the dark pits of the internet, and more. In the second half of the show, we also explore Jon-Stephen’s life as a dad and the joys he’s finding on his parenthood journey.

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Editor & dad Brendan Dabkowski shares about screentime shame & parent guilt

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Editor & dad Brendan Dabkowski shares about screentime shame & parent guilt

I met my friend Brendan Dabkowski through Instagram years ago and now we’re both adjunct professor at Nazareth University. We’re also both parents of little ones and know the struggles of finding enough childcare, needing mental health support to navigate parenthood, and more! It was fun to dive deeper on these topics with a friend. My favorite parts were hearing about some of the joyful experiences of his life as a dad so far, like taking his son on long bike rides and watching his daughter light up around their new kitten!

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LinkedIn influencer Jayde Powell is ditching outdated notions of 'professionalism'

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LinkedIn influencer Jayde Powell is ditching outdated notions of 'professionalism'

Five years ago, I interviewed Jayde Powell here on the Serve Me the Sky blog, long before she became a sought after LinkedIn influencer! Jayde has been building her personal brand for a long time; now, she’s getting $20,000 brand deals for her LinkedIn content and earning over $200k per year from her influencer work. I was stoked to catch up with her for the It’s a Lot podcast. In this episode, we got into the nitty gritty of brand deals (including red flags she’s learned to suss out ASAP), her plans for retiring from social media by 40, what her different income streams look like, how she’s breaking free from the limiting box of ‘professionalism,’ and more. I find Jayde super inspiring, and I hope you will too.

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Illustrator Anoosha Syed says you have to know your "why" when it comes to social media

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Illustrator Anoosha Syed says you have to know your "why" when it comes to social media

This week, I was thrilled to chat with children’s book author/illustrator Anoosha Syed. She’s had a fascinating career path so far and she’s an incredibly talented artist, and she’s a new mom as well! We had a great conversation about content creation, building a brand online, letting go of dreams you once had for your career, and how damn hard it is to balance freelance work and motherhood.

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