Pauly Guglielmo gets honest about paternity leave struggles & his inability to resist buying his kid a toy at TJ Maxx

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Pauly Guglielmo gets honest about paternity leave struggles & his inability to resist buying his kid a toy at TJ Maxx

I had a blast chatting with Pauly Guglielmo, a food entrepreneur, radio/podcasting legend, and dad of two, about everything from our childhood traumas to the fun parts of parenthood in a special two-part episode. In part one, Pauly interviews me in his style of his podcast about entrepreneurship, The Pauly Guglielmo Show. In part two, I interview Pauly in my It’s a Lot style about the many aspects of his life that are just a lot.

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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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Celebrating 4 Years of Serve Me the Sky Digital

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Celebrating 4 Years of Serve Me the Sky Digital

This May marks four years of running my own business full-time. A four year anniversary may not be a big deal to some, but it feels important to me. Four years of successfully running my business, even through an unprecedented global pandemic and economic turmoil? It is a big deal!

As I said in my newsletter this week, running Serve Me the Sky Digital is the most satisfied I’ve ever felt in my work life. I spent four years in higher education and earned a master’s degree in educational administration, then pivoted to nonprofits and worked in marketing at a startup incubator. I learned a lot at those jobs, but both were not a great fit for me.

Since diving into self-employment full-time, I’ve had opportunities I never would’ve guessed would come my way and have been happier all around. Glowing testimonials from clients I love working with make me proud of how far I’ve come and thankful to be where I am in my career right now. 

Let’s get into some of my favorite projects, lessons I’ve learned, and a glimpse ahead!

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Reflections on Instagram: Its Evolution & Mine

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Reflections on Instagram: Its Evolution & Mine

There’s no denying that Instagram has been through quite an evolution. All apps need to adapt to keep up with what consumers want, but as a social media professional, I fear that Instagram is losing sight of itself in its efforts to keep up with competitors. Today on the blog, I’m sharing reflections on the changes we’ve seen with Instagram so far and how I’m shifting my approach to the platform.

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Celebrating 3 Years of Serve Me the Sky Digital

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Celebrating 3 Years of Serve Me the Sky Digital

It’s hard to believe that this month marks three years of running my own business. Strangely enough, this is the third business anniversary I’ve celebrated during the COVID pandemic. My first business anniversary was a few months after the pandemic started, in May 2020, and the second was in May 2021, just as we were all starting to get vaccinated. It’s certainly been a challenging time to start and sustain a business! I’m grateful to all the amazing clients I’ve worked with along the way who have made it possible for me to continue on this fulfilling journey of self-employment.

Without further ado, I’ll share with you some of my favorite projects from the past year, lessons learned along the way, and what I’m looking forward to in the future.

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The TikTok Experiments, Vol. 1: I Posted on TikTok 3 Times per Day for 3 Months. Here's What I Learned.

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The TikTok Experiments, Vol. 1: I Posted on TikTok 3 Times per Day for 3 Months. Here's What I Learned.

After being an avid consumer of TikTok content for a few years, last December I started feeling the impulse to experiment with creating my own TikToks. I started making a handful here and there, and by January I felt ready to ramp things up. I challenged myself to post three times a day on TikTok for three months.

Many TikTokkers were claiming that posting three times a day would help you grow quickly–some even advocated for five times a day! I knew five wouldn’t be realistic for me, but thought I could manage three, so I dove in. I started on January 23rd and finished the experiment on April 23rd. I had about 140 followers when I started, and thrillingly, had 1,533 by the end. 580 of those followers I gained in the very last week of the experiment! Here’s what I learned along the way.

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How ADHD Impacts Me as a Business Owner–For Better & For Worse

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How ADHD Impacts Me as a Business Owner–For Better & For Worse

In October, I got diagnosed with ADHD. Learning about my ADHD has helped me understand how I function as a human and as a business owner. This learning process all started thanks to TikTok. I saw a video about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, a condition commonly comorbid with ADHD. "I don't have ADHD, but I definitely have Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria!" I told my therapist excitedly.

"Oh Emily...you definitely DO have ADHD. I've been trying to tell you that, but I guess you weren't paying attention," she said.

Consider me roasted! I had to laugh. Once I started doing my research, it was shocking how many things suddenly made sense. ADHD has a huge impact on how I show up as a business owner–for better and for worse. If you have ADHD and are considering starting a business, but worry that your ADHD may be a barrier: this blog post is for you! For as much of a hassle as ADHD can be in some ways, it can also be a superpower.

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