We recently connected with Emily A. Hay and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, thanks for joining us today. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

Despite enjoying a corporate sales job, I wanted to embrace motherhood without the constraints of corporate America and figured entrepreneurship was my way in. In 2010, about 5 years before becoming a mom, I transitioned into freelance social media marketing and formed my company, Hay There Social Media, which was made up of a team of fellow work-from-home moms.

As the business grew, I faced a crucial decision: continue expanding the agency or empower other mothers to pursue similar paths. Opting for the latter, I wrote a comprehensive online curriculum to train and support women in becoming independent  freelance social media managers, offering them the flexibility to work from home and achieve work life integration.

By a stroke of luck, Hay There Social Media’s shift in focus coincided with the onset of the pandemic in 2019, leading to increased demand for remote work opportunities. Around this time, I encountered “Fair Play,” a transformative book about the mental load that resonated deeply. This connection led me to collaborate with Eve Rodsky, the author of the NY Times Bestselling book, eventually landing my family a prominent role in the accompanying documentary, “Fair Play,” produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, as seen on Apple TV, Prime Video, Hulu, and more.

Today, I integrate the principles of Fair Play both into my personal life and our certified social media manager training program. We emphasize the importance of holistic support systems for women, as we know they are essential for realizing one’s full potential, both personally and professionally.

Emily, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew up in a suburb of Cleveland, went to The Ohio State University to study marketing and I always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but no direct role models to follow.  I took the prudent advice so many parents give and that was to “go to school, study something you can get a job doing and then get a good job with benefits.”  

I didn’t see a clear way to entrepreneurship until the year 2010 and even then, it was murky.  When printed Yellow Pages were still the norm for advertising and social media was just taking off, I saw the potential of online platforms for businesses. Recognizing my slight edge in understanding social media more than so many business owners, I decided to leverage my marketing skills and sales background. This marked a pivotal moment for my career as I began assisting small businesses to navigate the social media realm.

I started with my friend’s bakery as my first client and added on from there. Clients of my agency, Hay There Social Media, included medical practices, franchises, boutique hotels and a robust range of consumer focused product and service based businesses regionally and nationally. 

Hay There Social Media transformed a decade later into a company that empowers social media managers to thrive.  From new, to aspiring, to established – whether freelance, or employed for a business – Hay There gives social media managers a Community of peers (it’s free to join), Credibility (through our certified courses and upskilling programs) and Connection (to real clients and paid work).  While I’m fully in the entrepreneurial lane, it has NOT been easy.

I’m proud that Hay There has helped a diverse range of women across the U.S. including military spouses, single women, women with resume gaps, women with backgrounds in comms, PR, and even former teachers, lawyers and more, find a proven way to work flexibly in a social media manager, while giving them the transferrable skills and support that allows them to thrive as the future of work evolves.

I love public speaking and enjoy giving talks on the future of work and work+life integration and I have contributed to Fast Company, BlogHer, CBS News, Caring. com, Crain’s, Mother Honestly and Entrepreneur. com to name a few sources.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn is that there are multiple ways to do things in your business. For a long time, I thought there was just ONE way to correctly do things and that my job was to crack the code to get it right. It caused me to put blinders on which led to unnecessary pressure and that is a problem as an entrepreneur.

As I get older, I try to use a fresh lens to view opportunities, make decisions and be intentional with my time and energy. I try to keep the big picture in mind while remembering the day to day are simply zoomed-in views.  Keeping the big picture in mind takes the pressure off to have a productive day every day as a business owner. I also believe in work life integration – not balance; integration acknowledges the reality of modern life and we can’t simply be moms OR small business owners. It’s just an “and” job.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Last summer, my business partner, Ali Spitzer, and I evolved our primary online training offering, known as “Core Training,” from an online-only training offering to launching a new training product called “Core Training Lite.”   Core Training Lite is a physical box that delivers a proven curriculum in self-paced programs.  It is less upfront cost and a low-risk way to learn a new freelance specialty, obtain a new professional certification and upskill in social media management. 

I spent some time on CBS News Detroit talking about freelancing and upskilling for women looking for “what’s next,” when kids go back to school and Core Training Lite is an option.  Here’s a link if you want to check it out: https://youtu.be/yAjtYawN1tw

It was a huge learning curve for us to go from service-based-only entrepreneurs to service AND product-based ones. There are so many logistics involved with shipping physical products but it was a direct learning from listening to our clients requests, so we are glad we worked hard to offer our “upskilling in a box.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://haytheresocialmedia.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haytheresocialmedia
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/haytheresocialmedia
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyahay/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/emilyahay
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/haytheresocialmedia
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@emilyahay https://haytheresocialmedia.com/blog/