Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gina Boedeker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Gina , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

They showed us that we were the priority — always. They always showed up.

For example, when I was growing up, I played 3 sports for my high school for 4 years. I was a gymnast and played on a competitive club volleyball team. I always had some event that I had to attend, always a crazy schedule, I had older brothers with schedules equally as crazy as mine.

And I can count on one hand the number of games they missed. Same with concerts, recitals. They just didn’t miss. Ever.

It has been one of the most profound realizations as I’ve gotten older, started a family, and built a business. They didn’t sacrifice time with their kids (or each other) for their careers.

Granted, they lived at a different time. They didn’t have their phones readily available to reply back to work emails while I was in a concert performance, or playing a game. They were 100% present. It’s different now but I think back to how that made me feel and the impact that it had on my life.

It had a profound impact on why I started my company — one that’s built on the premise that you can surpass client expectations WHILE living a full life outside of work. I prioritize drop offs and pickups. I build my schedule around that time. I no longer feel stressed because I have to take a kid to a soccer practice; I create my schedule around my priorities and wrote a book about how to do that called Hard Stop: Live with Intention and without Regret. The first dedication in the book was to my parents for teaching me about the importance of balance before it was even ‘a thing’.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I got into the publishing business as a sales representative at 25 because I wanted a light summer schedule so I could travel :) That’s the trust, but also the truth is that I quickly fell in love with the industry.

After a couple of years in sales, I moved into an Editor/Portfolio Manager position. I took every advancement opportunity offered to me over my 14 year career at a global publishing company. I moved from my home town to New York City to grow personally and professionally. And then, while the Managing Director of a large imprint where I had everything I could possibly want professionally, I realized that it was everything I could possibly want – on paper. I got to where I wanted to be, and then realize it really wasn’t where I wanted to be. The reality was, I had a 1 and 3 year old and I always felt pulled. I was leaving them too early, getting home too late. I wasn’t the mom I wanted to be, the partner I wanted to be, and not the leader that I wanted to be. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough in any area of my life — at least not enough for me. Not for how I wanted to show up to all areas of my life.

I left the company, the team, the boss, that I loved to be able to live my life more on my terms.

I started The Boedeker Group with the premise that you can build a successful business while living the life that you want to be living. We went from $0.00 and simply an idea to a 7 figure business within 5 years and have grown YOY since we started (COVID aside). We built a team that surpasses client expectations while also having the flexibility to fit their work around their lives. We prioritize experiences, family, and results. And I’ve never been happier.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve pivoted many times in my life.

I went to college, played volleyball there, graduated early with honors, and found that I had absolutely no plan for what I would do after college. I majored in Communications because I thought it could benefit me in any area I went into, but I had no idea what that area would be. So, I did what I was “supposed” to do when I graduated. I went back home, got a job, married the guy I dated in college, and started my life in my hometown.

That’s when the first pivot happened. I found myself at twenty five years old not fulfilled, but I couldn’t explain in detail why exactly.

This is when my intentionality journey started.

I bought a 5 subject notebook and started asking myself all the questions I was too scared to ask myself previously.
– Am I living where I want to be living?
– Am I in the job I want to be in?
– Am I married to the person I want to be with?

Ultimately I asked myself “Are you living the life you want to be living?”

And I knew in that moment the answer was no. I also knew I needed to change that – immediately.

Shortly thereafter I had a massive pivot. I left that relationship and made the decision to take an advancement opportunity in my company and moved to New York City where I lived the next fifteen years.

But, it wasn’t the last time I had to pivot.

When I had everything in my life that I thought I could possibly want, I had that feeling again. Something was off. I asked myself questions I hadn’t asked in a while because I had a big job, big responsibilities, and two kids under 3 years old.

“Are you living the life you want to be living?”

And I knew that I could answer yes for many things; great partner, loved my kids, happy with where we were living, etc., But, I realized through journaling that if I allowed myself to admit it (and I was finally admitting it), I no longer wanted what was next in my career journey. I had taken every advancement opportunity offered. I planned to continue to move up and move up until I was running the company. And as a Managing Director of a large, global publisher it hit me: I don’t want this anymore.

I wasn’t able to “mom” on my terms. I wasn’t the leader I wanted to be. I wasn’t the partner I wanted to be. I wasn’t the *me* I wanted to be because I felt so pulled by wanting to be more present for my family and having this big job that was well before COVID when working from home wasn’t a ‘thing’.

So, I pivoted. Again. I left the security of a position I had for 14 years. I left colleagues that felt more like family than friends, and a place I really loved to start my own business.

That was 8 years ago. I built a company on the premise that you can deliver exceptional results while living a full life outside of work. You can focus on performance and balance. It’s been the most fulfilling professional role I’ve ever had.

With COVID we pivoted again and moved from the east coast to the west where we now live in Colorado.

I am always open to pivot, but now I’m much more focused on staying on top of what’s important to me, asking every week this question “Am I living the life I want to be living?” Check in on myself. Every week. No more surprises.

Pivoting and being open to the pivots is just a part of life. One that I embrace as our lives evolve.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I used to question how to “position” myself on LinkedIn; the major social channel for my business.

I own a market insights business. I found that when I wrote about qualitative and quantitative research methods, the importance of data-driven decisions, how to conduct effective focus groups, etc., that I would get very little engagement.

How many times will people engage with “Here’s how to make sure you don’t have double-barrel questions in your survey!”? Answer: Not a lot.

So, I started writing what felt the most authentic to me: being a mom, a business owner, and trying to juggle very real, very difficult, at times, responsibilities. I wanted to grow my business and be present the way I wanted to be for my family.

I wanted to deliver exceptional results, but didn’t want to work 80 hours a week to do so.

And I found when I became authentic in what was most important to me, the engagement happened organically.

I would frequently get on introductory calls with potential new clients who would start by saying that they follow me on LinkedIn and appreciate the candor about the challenges we face finding balance in growing personally, professionally, and creating time in our schedules for what’s most important to us.

This led to creating the Hard Stop newsletter.

This led to writing the Hard Stop: Live with Intention and without Regret book.

It’s not a book about market insights which is my business. It’s a book about knowing what your priorities are, building boundaries to protect that time, and creating the life that you want to be living.

It’s part my story of figuring this all out; how to be intentional with what’s most important to me personally while building a successful business. But more, it offers practical tips and activities to get to the root of what’s most important to *you* and how to create time for those priorities.

I continue to run The Boedeker Group. I love what I do. I have fantastic clients and an amazing team. And, I am now running workshops and speaking on the important topic of work/life balance to organizations and associations that are seeing record-level burnout and stress.

I don’t see them as mutually exclusive. My insights clients just have a deeper understanding of what’s important in my life and they can see me a full human – with varied interests.

My greatest takeaway on my social media journey? Be authentic. That’s what people respond the most to (and it’s what I most enjoy sharing). Win, win.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ginaboedeker.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gina_boedeker/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginaboedeker/