That Solo Life Returns with New Episodes

0:10 Thank you for joining us for this episode of That's Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros, marketers, and communicators who work for themselves. People like me, Michelle Kane with Voice Matters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hey there, Karen. Great to see you. Hello, Michelle. It's so good to see you. Hang on. You're back. We're back. If you thought we left you stranded, we are sorry. We did not. We took a little bit of a pause, which, you know, after however many episodes we've done, we had a pretty good stretch without taking a break. And we kind of decided to walk our talk a little bit, right?

0:53 We did. I think you're at episode somewhere around 314, 15, somewhere in there. So, yeah, we have not really ever taken a break other than maybe a week. Yeah, here and there. Yeah, not very often. So we took some time off, and we are back with a brand new season. And we wanted to say hello to our audience. And we've really missed you, but the break was much needed. And we are so excited for what's happening. Yes, yes, we are. We are lining up some great guests and really just, you know, the pause not only gave us a moment to pause, but also just really rethink of, you know, what do we as solos in this landscape need to hear or need to tell ourselves and really, in a way, need to coach ourselves?

1:53 Because in the end, of course, we have resources and things, but it's still us in the driver's seat. So at this point of 2026, what does it mean to be a solo business owner? How can we best equip ourselves and keep on keeping on in a way that's best for us? Because that's really what it's all about. It's not to fit anyone else's mold, but your own and what works for you and gives you the life that lights you up. And I think what I was reminded of during this break is that fundamentally being a solo, even if you, you know, many of us do work with teams. So even if you do have a team, it really helps to have that anchor point, that center of community.

2:41 Because you're doing all the things and you're out there, but it helps to check in to hear from people who work like you do and understand what your day-to-day looks like, and to hear things that just make you go, oh, thank God it's not just me. So we want to make sure in this upcoming season that we're not just about the tactical or the strategy of running your business or doing certain things, but that we also address who we are holistically, because we're not just, We find ourselves in just a weird place in our history right now with the tension of technology rising and, you know, some of the things that are impacting the landscape, that division among people that directly impacts our job, redefining our work.

3:34 But also many of us are at stages of our career where we are looking ahead over the horizon, over the horizon, I'm sorry, to figure out what's next. And then some are dealing with, you know, what I'm now calling super adult issues, like we've entered that super adult phase. We're dealing with things like, you know, raising kids, but also dealing with aging parents or relatives and, you know, those kinds of issues. And so all of that impacts who we are holistically and how we show up for our jobs. And so we want to tackle all of those things because that's how we roll.

4:19 Yeah definitely definitely and and pretty sure i'm i'm not alone i know in present company i'm not with the inclination to think well it's again it comes back to how we're wired as communicators of all right i've got to cover all the bases got to be super ready got to be always on. And you know you really have to find a way to stay replenished especially in this era of caring for others because it takes a lot, out of you. And I don't know, I was, as I was scrolling over the weekend, there was a reel about something and I don't know if I qualify, but you know, they're like, if you're a highly sensitive person, I'm like, oh, that sounds like a PR practitioner.

5:07 You know, you always, you're always kind of at the ready, taking on everyone else's issues. Think, think, think, think, think. And you know, how, how do you protect yourself or at least save some of your, some of yourself aside in the midst of that because, you know, we don't have the luxury of checking out entirely and, But there is room. I know for me, sometimes I just get in the rhythm and you don't make the room and you don't do what you should do. And eventually, you might bump into a wall here and there. So it's really about taking that time to say, I'm no good to anybody else if I don't just take a few hours.

5:55 And I think not just for solos, for anybody that has a job that works, we all hit, you know, we can hit burnout. And sometimes that comes with just a bunch of changes, you know, and we have been assaulted with change over the past few years. And so I know for me, there've been different points in my career where you just are like, I just don't have the capacity to learn anything else. I'm just over it. I'm sick of it. Like, ugh, you know, here we go again. And sometimes I've been like that lately too. Like, oh God, I just don't want to, you know, I'm tired. And you start to think about like your job, like, do I even want to do this stupid job?

6:43 And I know it's not just me because I've had those moments and I've had those moments recently where like, oh God, another media change. Are you kidding? How much longer can I be doing this? But that's natural because we do something for a very long time. It's normal to hit those spots where you question if you can keep going, if you want to keep going. And I think in those moments, we either, you know, we take some time off realizing that we just, we need a break. Or we really start to think about pivoting to something different. And a lot of our solos definitely pivoted to something a little bit different.

7:24 Or we figure out how to reinvent what we do that fits who we are today. So, you know, we want to address those issues, too. Like, you are not locked into who you used to be just because you used to do it that way, just because you used to serve these people, Just because this has been your brand forever does not mean that you cannot change because we evolve. We change the things that we like to do. They change our capacity for doing work changes. And I know so many people right now are in this era where they're realizing I've got to shift my perspective around what productivity really means to me.

8:08 It may not be, hey, I'm that person that I was five years ago, even a year ago, that could do 10 things in a day. Maybe it could do two. And the rest of my death needs to be on family or something else. Yeah. Yeah. Because, I mean, as an ever-recovering people pleaser, and I think with the loss of certain filters of being at a certain phase of life—, you realize, well, shoot, it wasn't a healthy motivator, but that was a motivator. Uh-oh. You know, I still want to do good work, but sometimes you're like, that desire to be like, I did. I'm like, but I still want to do the good thing.

8:52 And I'm thinking, okay, we got to figure this out. And that's okay. And honestly, let's face it. We've talked about this a lot are most people that we talk to in our families or friends, you know, they don't understand what we do anyway. So they've been away. If they didn't understand before, it really doesn't. I'm also learned that we're not the only people who have jobs that our friends and family don't understand. You know, I, there are people who are accountants and their family thinks they're attorneys. And, you know, so I think the moral of the story is families just, you know, sometimes really don't know what your job is.

9:35 I think there's a song. Oh, there was a song. Parents just don't understand. We can have the new one. Families. They don't just, they just don't understand. They don't get it. They don't know what we do. And that's okay. And of course, Michelle and I, we always, you know, we love to lead with laughter and, you know, optimism. So you'll still get plenty of that. But Michelle, I'm really excited because we are talking to some great people and we've got, we've got a special crossover coming up this season. Some really smart people that we're talking to and, you know, a wide range of voices and a wide range of expertise. So that's kind of fun.

10:16 And people that are really different than us so that our audience gets the breath and death of these expert voices. So I'm really excited. And those pitches coming, the ones that are relevant, please and thank you. We get some other quite funny ones because we love having guests and we're so thankful for all the people who are reaching out and really want to do this show. That's a beautiful thing. Yep. Agree. Yeah. Yeah. So we're excited. We're glad to be back. We've missed all of you. I know that sounds weird since we're just a voice coming out of your speaker, but, you know, you do catch a vibe. But we hope you're ready for some great new episodes because we are.

11:01 And, yeah. We will see you next week. And until then, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.