Today Dannie and Caitlyn are talking with Rianna Hill of Pancake Digital Solutions..

We believe in accessible content and that anyone who wants to learn from this content should be able to. In order to support this, we’ve had every episode of Season 4 transcribed. The transcriptions are available at the bottom of every episode blog post.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:

• The start of the side hustle to the development of a digital marketing agency.

• Trusting yourself and the experience you have.

• The importance of schedules as well as you’re alone time.

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Episode Transcript

Dannie Lynn Fountain: [00:00:21] Hello and welcome back to the side hustle gal podcast.

Caitlyn Allen: [00:00:26] Oh, I'm supposed to go. Oh my goodness. Hi guys. Welcome. I am so excited to be introducing who is joining us today. Rianna of pancake. Digital solutions. Why did I just blank on what your business name is? I'm so excited. Rianna is. Awesome. Like, I just don't even know how to explain her. Um, I met Rianna with, uh, one of my clients, Joey. Um, she worked with us, uh, with a trademark, and then she actually coached me how to work on Facebook ads, um, through indie law. So that was a lot of fun. Mmm. And with that, I created a great relationship with her and she is just the best person to talk to about a lot of digital marketing. Um, I feel like her and Dannie could be like besties because they do a lot of similar things. Um, so yeah, I'm super excited to introduce Rianna Rianna. Can you tell us a little bit about you and about why you identify with being a side hustler? 

Rianna Hill: [00:01:39] Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you so much, Caitlyn. That's a very sweet intro. I'm definitely enjoyed being working with you off and on over the past few years. That's been been wonderful. Um, so yeah, my name is Rianna . Um, yes, like the singer, but without the H, uh, having her coming around was kind of the best thing ever because now everyone can say my name, so that's pretty cool. And I'm currently living on the Washington state peninsula, which is kind of that broken off piece in the top left corner.

Um, lived in seven different States as I am currently a Navy wife and expectant mother to be. So that's kind of the exciting things about me. And why do identify as a side hustler? I mean, honestly, that could really be my whole life is being a side hustler. I remember some of my earliest memories are like walking around and picking up change and finding stuff in the.

A couch cushion seats too, as like my first job. So my parents started giving me various jobs and once I learned like, Oh, I could mow my own lawn, then all of a sudden it was like, Oh, let me mow the neighbor's lawn. Oh, let me pull their weeds and you know, have little invoices and spreadsheets. Um. So when I started my career in 2009 and I was trying to apply to different restaurants, you know, no one's going to hire a teenager with no experience in 2009 it's just not happening.

So, um, I started doing that freelancer stuff online, you know, making logos, learning how to make websites. And now that I'm a Navy wife and we move all the time, it's really become my reality. So that's a. That's definitely my identity in a nutshell. 

Caitlyn Allen: [00:03:24] So you currently run, um, uh,  digital marketing agency, right? So how did you, do you currently identify as a side hustler or have you taken that kind of full time. 

Rianna Hill: [00:03:41] Yeah. You know, that's a great question. So a lot of the work that I started doing originally, um, was very much kind of side hustle work while I was still in school and I did get out and get a a few part time jobs. Um. For my first couple of years out of my undergraduate school. Uh, but even then, even after I went full time, I still kept doing that freelancing stuff on the side, very much a side gig thing. Um. I also bought my first house when I was 19, and I manage that on the side. So that's kind of, I've always got a little projects like that going on.

And so, uh, when we started moving around and I wasn't able to, we weren't living in one place long enough to have kind of that full time job. That's when I turned my agent, like my freelancing into an agency. But I also work for another company that I've been working for, uh, for, gosh, almost. Almost three years now, uh, with a little bit of a break last summer. and so I do have my agency full time, but I still have side hustles as well. Now I write for a couple online magazines and, um, Oh, manage, still manage our properties, pick up random jobs here and there. I did a seasonal job at a liquor store here for fun. Um. You know, to get out and meet people in a new place.

So it's just, it's kind of, it's kind of a lifestyle, really. The whole like, and thought of having just one full time job seems so well, what do I do with the rest of my time? So that's definitely a big part of what I still do. Okay. 

Caitlyn Allen: [00:05:20] Oh my gosh. I feel like Dannie can relate 50 million different levels. Like if she doesn't have 20 projects going on, I'm like Dannie, who are, you no, I am super curious though, because when I hear that, my first, my like initial gut reaction is, Oh, um, G how do you plan your day? Or like, how do you plan for. All of the things. So can you run us through what kind of your goal setting or planning looks like? Um, especially as you transition into different seasons. If you decide to take on some seasonal work or you know, you're launching something in your business, but you also have a big project with the side hustle that you're working on. Um, what does kind of your, so goal setting, and then what does your week look like? 

Rianna Hill: [00:06:14] Sure. So that's definitely something that has changed a lot. Um, a lot of, especially once I left the office space and didn't have, you know, set hours within an office. It was a lot more difficult to set my own schedule because all of a sudden you have all this time freedom, which is amazing, and you think, Oh, now I'm going to be able to do all these things that I needed to.

Yet setting that schedule is so difficult. Um, even as we crave it as creatures of habit. , especially when you're not experienced, you'll be going through and looking at, Oh, you know, I'm going to spend a couple of hours on this project. It's a couple of hours on this project. But then one of those projects all of a sudden takes twice as long as you thought it would, and then all of a sudden you get this new project that comes through and it's the end of the day and you haven't even started on the to do list that you started for yourself.

So that was a huge learning curve for me. Um. When, especially when I was living in New York after having moved to South Carolina, not knowing where we were moving. Then we moved to Hawaii, but anyway, and it just was like, how do I plan my day? I don't even know how long I'm going to be here. There's all these uncertainties, which. Honestly, it was a huge benefit, uh, because I had to work through that and figure out, you know, Oh, I can't just take a lunch break and then sit and watch Netflix for three hours, and then my whole afternoon is gone. So as much as I tried to push myself into the schedule, what I realized with this, having all these projects and these different seasons and things changing, I mean, we'll live some more for three months and you know, then have to move again. And so that can really change. Constant, that constant change. I mean, you can't really have that structured rigid. set schedule. So what I've done is been able to switch on being very goal focused and say, okay, you know. This, this client project is needs to be done at this time. I can focus on doing that project at once.

So every morning I set three specific goals and work on those as three specific tasks as opposed to trying to time block. And that has tremendously increased my productivity as well as that feeling at the end of the day. Like, Oh yeah, I did these three tasks, even if I wasn't able to get to anything else.

You feel accomplished, which is really the battle of self-employment. Now, I'm also currently, I'm about to finish up my doctorate. I'm one class away from doing my dissertation, so that has been another interesting a Into my weekly schedule to shift to that next question. And what I have found is I can lump these things together.

So my doctorate is in business administration, and so some of that, like last fall, my class was process. And so while I'm learning about all these process, I'm also writing processes for my business. And so being able to kind of. Yes, it's multiple different projects, but I'm all learning the same thing.

Keeps it from, it's not really multitasking. It keeps it a lot more focused and in line with my overall career goals, um, and allows you to kind of lump those things together. So I read about these processes for homework, do it for my business, and then I'm able to complete my homework, talking about what I just did for my business.

So that's kinda how my week looks. I try to honor weekends, but with homework, that's not always easy. Um, I do have the benefit of being married to somebody who has a very rigid structured, he has to be at work at a specific time and his home, you know, at varying times it has specific calls and meetings. So I've mirrored a lot of my schedule off of his to kind of emulate that structure for myself at home. 

Okay. So gotta ask. Cause I'mDannie Lynn Fountain: [00:10:08] also getting a doctorate in business administration. Um, where are you going? What's your specialty? 

Rianna Hill: [00:10:18] Very cool. Um, that's awesome. That parallel there. So the school is called Tri-Net university international.

Um, I started there about two years ago and not living in Hawaii. They recently just got purchased by American Intercontinental university, both online schools out of California, and actually, I think Americans out of Arizona. so it's kind of an online school that's very military friendly, which with the DBA can be hard to find first of all, online.

Um, and second of all, something that's not outrageously expensive. So this fit the schedule really, really well, and the accreditation has bumped up by being bought by this new university. So that's really cool. Um, to kind of have that added bonus. But it is, it's general, so there's not a specific concentration. Um, it's just kind of general business administration. Although I could say it's probably fair to say, especially with my thesis research, it's a lot more marketing focused. 

Dannie Lynn Fountain: [00:11:22] Love it. I'm getting mine through Capella. And, um, my specialty is in HR. And so my thesis is going to, my hypothesis for my thesis is that, um, professional side hustlers make better corporate employees. So 

love that. That's awesome. 

Love the parallel. Um, so back to broader productivity. You talked about mirroring your schedule off of your partners, and I think that, um, there's a lot of natural. a ability to do that. So like I think about my partner who works a second shift schedule, which means that when I'm done with work at five, until he gets home at 10 during non Corona times, um, I really have from like five to 10:00 PM to do whatever I want, which is usually like business, school work, et cetera. What tips and advice would you give for someone who. Basically has the same schedule as their partner. So your free times are at the same time, but you still need that alone time. It's like what happens on your schedule's mirror too well? 

Rianna Hill: [00:12:37] Sure. Okay. That's a great question. Um, so when we first started living together in South Carolina, that was very true. Um, I still had a, I had a full time job. Um, and he was working, he was doing a training that was a little more than full time, um, day to day.  and then of course, weekends off and evenings off. And so very, very similar. We, the one difference was, is he would usually get up early and go in early and I would stay up late to do my work late.

And so, and, uh, we were, we had bought our house out there and rented out the other rooms. So we basically just had like a one our one bedroom that had our desks and had everything there. And then everything else was shared space. So, you know, he would get up at like four o'clock in the morning and get dressed and, you know, be fumbling around and kind of wake me up and I'd be all irritated.

And then at night he'd go to bed earlier and I would be up a little bit later. I'm trying to be really quiet and not bother him while I was getting my master's degree. And then in the interim periods, like around dinner time and whatnot. Yeah, we both had this free time, but we both had these other things we needed to be working on.

And so it was very paralleled and yet a little bit of a struggle. So what I started doing is getting up at the same time he did at 4:00 AM, which we still usually do. Um. It's, it's good. Uh, it's like crying on the inside, but it is good. Um, and then when he goes to work that early, I have that free time in the morning, you know, two, three hours or so where I can work on homework or just have that alone time that I need.

Especially being an only child. I'm used to my alone time with two working parents. I definitely need that alone time. Uh. And so it gave me that morning to myself to be able to have sort of that freedom and whatnot. And then in the afternoons we would come home or evenings, I guess, you know, and have dinner together and that's your free time and you turn your phones off and you have those conversations.

How was your day? You have that hour to where you can really just focus on each other. And then the rest of the time you don't have to feel guilty about working. So we would both then study or work on our other projects after dinner, um, at the same time, you know, with our desks together. And it just made such a huge difference.

And so we've emulated that from place to place. Now. In fact, our living room here is, uh, desks instead of the TV. So, um. Just finding kind of those compromises in those balances is probably the tip that I would find a would recommend, as well as having those specific times where it's just the two of you so that when you're working, you don't feel guilty about not spending time with them and you're spending time with them. You don't feel guilty about not doing work because you know, we have this set time together and I have this set time for work and so it, it helps a lot. 

Caitlyn Allen: [00:15:49] I can definitely relate to that type of structure because I actually get up at 4:00 AM every morning currently. Um, uh, the person that I live with, he, um, gets up at 4:00 AM and goes to work at 6:00 AM, and it's just easiest to wake up that early work and have like that quiet time. Plus, even when I was living in the city that. Like that 4:00 to 6:00 AM Mark is so nice because it's so quiet out like nobody else is out and about. So, um, Oh, that's such a good recommendation. I mean, I think it's a good recommendation to try to work in the morning if you can, or at least take that, that personal time there. Um. What would you say has been one of your biggest business challenges or challenges as a, somebody running a business and also side hustling on the, on the side. 

Rianna Hill: [00:16:47] Okay. Yeah, absolutely. That's a fantastic question. Um. And as somebody who started doing these kinds of things that, you know, 14, 15,16 years old and going to these chamber of commerce meetings and meeting these big business owners as a teenager, I think a huge issue has been not trusting myself because a lot of the, a lot of the stuff I learned.

Just asking people questions and listening and getting this advice and learning as much as possible and saying, you know, I don't know these things. Tell me how to do this. Um, but at this stage, I do know how to do these things. Yet I'm still, you know, in my twenties I'm getting approaching late twenties.

So it's a little bit more, a little bit more defined now, but still, just knowing like, Hey, yeah, I'm only. When I started the officially started the business like I was only 23 years old. Uh, when I incorporated it and going and saying, yeah, I'm 23 year old business owner and have these team members that helped me with this work and yeah, I do know my stuff.

It's really hard to, as much as you're like, yeah, I know my stuff is really hard to sit there and look at that and say, well, yeah, actually I'm a trustworthy person. This is a trustworthy business. This is a real thing. And a lot of the mistakes I've made is because I didn't trust myself. And what I've learned from doing this over the last several years, decades almost, um, Yeah. You know, this might not be the normal thing that people advise. I might not be charging the correct prices or doing the right servicing, or someone might see this, but you know, there's all this contradictory advice and the most important thing is doing what works for your business. And you know, I almost went bankrupt last year because I kept trying to do.

The structure that I thought I was supposed to do. I kept trying to do the things that everyone was telling you to do, including quitting that, that part time job that I have with the other agency because I thought, you know everyone at focus on the one thing only do your one thing. But that's, that's just not me. That's not how I function and it didn't work. And. It showed, you know, I burnt out, I was done. I was toasted and hated what I was doing. And so circling back to, you know, why did I start all this stuff in the first place? And trusting myself and going with my gut, and now my last four months have been profitable. My most profitable in three years. And more than that actually. And so that's. That's so important as any entrepreneur. Mmm. Especially as as a young entrepreneur to trust yourself and know what you're doing with also still having humility that you have a lot of things to learn. And also as an older entrepreneur, maybe you know a lot of things, but there's also still a lot you can learn kind of where ever you are in that boat. Always more to learn. There's always something to be humble about, but at the end of the day, trust yourself.

I fricking love this.Dannie Lynn Fountain: [00:19:50] Gosh, this has been such a good conversation. Um, to the point of learning. I would love to know where people could come hang out with you online and learn from your experience. You have a ton to offer from managing that ever. Moving life, balancing education, all of those things. So where can we hang out with you.

Rianna Hill: [00:20:11] Awesome. Yeah. The best place for me specifically would be the Facebook page, pancake digital solutions, just facebook.com/pancake digital solutions. I go live there quite a bit, share a lot of content, post my blogs there. Uh, that's, that's kinda the fun place to hang out with me online. 

Dannie Lynn Fountain: [00:20:32] Amazing. This has been so great. Thank you for spending time with us today. 

Caitlyn Allen: [00:20:37] Yes. Thank you. 

Rianna Hill: [00:20:38] Thank you so much. I love this.