We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Selena Conmackie. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Selena below.

Selena, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I can honestly say this was not a thought on my mind 5 years ago. But recently as my accidentally born business keeps hitting milestones that word has been asked of me by mentors and other entrepreneurs. I hope that my small part in helping others with their business is impactful for them and for my daughter to know that doing scary things (like running your own business) is achievable with hard work and belief in yourself. =)

Selena, 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?

Aloha! Selena Conmackie is a WordPress website designer and also helps small and medium-sized businesses with digital strategy — including social media management, email marketing, and paid ads.

On top of the Aloha spirit, Selena’s clients love her hands-on approach so they get clarity and direction with their digital marketing, while maintaining a consistent presence across all social media channels and their website.

Selena also hosts workshops in-person and online workshops on digital marketing and is the co-host of 15{ish} Minute Coffee Chat where she chats all things business and online marketing.

When Selena isn’t hosting a workshop, learning the newest Instagram trend, or adding a plug-in to her client’s websites, you can find her spending time with her “ohana” (family), drinking coffee out of one of her many Starbucks mugs, watching Real Housewives, or having therapy sessions with her rescue dog, Coco.

As a military spouse, Selena is a Chapter Ambassador for the Association of Military Spouse Entrepreneurs and a regular blog contributor for Spouselink.Org.

Additionally, Hauoli-Socially Inspired LLC is proudly celebrating its achievement in becoming an officially recognized Military Spouse Owned Enterprise.

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

At 40, I married an Army soldier that was stationed in Oahu, Hawaiʻi. I had built a 20+ year career in the corporate restaurant industry, had a daughter, and never thought I would make a decision that would take us away from the home and family we had.

We moved from bustling Honolulu to a very small town in the middle of Louisiana. My husband and I discussed that I didnʻt need to work and could focus on my daughter and getting us accustomed to living off our island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I jumped into learning about military life and how to navigate a new role as a military spouse.

Within 6 months, the professional in me was itching to come back to life and I started a small comeback by reigniting my mommy blog which led to writing for a military blog. I learned that since my absence in blogging (think Blogger in the early 2000ʻs), social media was needed to market our posts and a refreshed website was essential. Building my first WordPress website and learning what tweets were and being on the gram created the biggest pivot in business Iʻd ever had. Running my own business and helping others marketing theirs.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Being a manager in the restaurant industry for many years and handling big teams and running events, I had a lot of practice in being an effective leader. Hereʻs some tips.

-Communicate and set the goals of the project and ask for any clarity needed from the team.
-Listen to the team when they have questions, thoughts, and suggestions.
-Be open to those suggestions if they can actually help the project reach its end goal.
-Celebrate the project when completed and recognize the team in a job well done (or the opportunities to improve on for the next project)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thehauoli.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thehauoli
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thehauoli
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/selena-conmackie/
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/thehauoli_
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChrSiQPmYm80nJQxgSP7HTQ