Sydney O’Brien, So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My mission is to help moms build businesses that support their real lives—not ones that add to the overwhelm. I know what it’s like to feel like you’re doing everything and still somehow falling behind. I started my business during my husband’s deployment, while caring for three young kids and navigating postpartum depression. I was exhausted, constantly needed, and craving something that felt like mine.

What began as a distraction grew into something life-changing—not just for me, but for the moms I now support. I teach simple, strategic ways to use Instagram to grow a business without being online all day, chasing trends, or pretending you have it all together.

Traditional work was never built with moms in mind, especially when you’re a military spouse. Sick days, school meetings, last-minute appointments, and the mental load we carry don’t fit neatly into a 9-to-5. Just because moms can do it all doesn’t mean we should—or should have to. We can have it all without doing it all. And that’s what I help moms build: flexible, sustainable businesses that honor their time, capacity, and the life they’re actually living.

Sydney, 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’m Sydney O’Brien, Certified Instagram Strategist, homeschooling mom of three, military spouse, podcast host of Mompreneur Mastery, and founder of Socially, Yours. I help moms build sustainable, flexible businesses using Instagram in a way that fits their life, not the other way around.

I started my business during my husband’s deployment. I was home with three young kids, working through postpartum depression, and craving something that gave me purpose outside of motherhood. When my sister asked if I could help manage social media for her new business, I said yes. I didn’t have formal training, but I had spent years on Instagram already—using it to connect with other moms during long stretches of isolation, after constant moves, and in seasons that felt heavy. What started as a distraction quickly became a real business.

As I worked with more clients, I realized I wasn’t just passionate about marketing. I was passionate about helping moms. I saw how much pressure we’re under to do everything ourselves, often without real support or systems. I knew how it felt to be trying to grow a business while navigating sick days, deployments, school drop-offs, and everything else that falls on a mom’s plate. I wanted to offer a better way to show up online that didn’t demand more time or more hustle—just a better strategy.

That’s what led me to create my 5 Steps to Sales framework. It walks business owners through the key stages of building connection, trust, and conversions on Instagram. It’s built to work even if you’re posting during naptime or squeezing it in between meetings. That framework is the foundation of everything I offer, whether it’s done-for-you content services or DIY support through my membership, Post With Purpose.

Inside Post With Purpose, members get access to weekly post prompts, fill-in-the-blank captions, plug-and-play templates, and monthly trainings—all mapped to that same 5-step strategy. I want moms to have real support and tools that make content feel simple and effective, even when time is limited. Everything I create is designed to help them show up strategically and sell, without needing to be online all day or figure it all out alone.

What sets my work apart is that it’s built specifically for moms. I know what it means to work during the cracks of your day. I don’t teach quick wins or trendy hacks. I teach strategy that works with your capacity and your life, not against it.

What I’m most proud of is seeing moms feel confident again. Seeing them sign clients from a post they wrote at midnight. Seeing them stop spinning their wheels and start building momentum. That’s the power of having a plan—and having support from someone who gets it.

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

One of my biggest pivots in business was shifting from offering only one-on-one services to creating a membership model. At the time, I was fully booked with social media management clients. On paper, it looked like success. But behind the scenes, I was working during every naptime and late-night stretch I could find, constantly juggling deadlines, and still feeling like I couldn’t help as many moms as I wanted to. It wasn’t sustainable for me, and it wasn’t scalable either.

That’s when I decided to take everything I had learned from supporting clients one-on-one and turn it into a framework other moms could use for themselves. I created my membership, Post With Purpose, as a way to give moms access to strategic content support without the cost of hiring someone to do it for them. It allowed me to help more people while also reclaiming some margin in my own life.

It was a big shift, and like any pivot, it came with a learning curve. But it gave me more freedom, more impact, and more alignment with the kind of business I wanted to build.

It reminded me a lot of parenting. Just when you think you’ve figured something out, your kid stops napping, or starts school, or suddenly needs something totally different from you. You have to adjust. You pivot. Not because you did something wrong, but because the situation changed—and you’re growing right along with it.

This pivot wasn’t just about changing my offers. It was about choosing a model that worked better for me, gave me the ability to serve more moms, and supported the kind of life I want to build around my business.

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

One of the biggest lessons I had to unlearn was that doing more automatically means doing better. I used to think success meant more content, more hours, more followers, more hustle. It felt productive, but it wasn’t actually getting me where I wanted to go.

At one point, I was fully booked with fewer than 300 followers. That’s when it really clicked—likes and follower counts might look good, but they don’t guarantee sales. It’s easy to get caught up in what looks successful, especially on Instagram. Big numbers feel validating. A packed schedule feels like progress. But if none of it is helping you make money or build the life you want, what’s the point?

I had to stop chasing busy and start focusing on what actually works. That’s what led me to create my 5-step Instagram strategy and shift my entire approach to content. Now I teach other moms how to show up in a way that feels aligned and effective, not overwhelming.

Because just because we can do it all doesn’t mean we should. You don’t need to do more. You need the right plan—and permission to stop performing for numbers that don’t reflect your actual goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sociallyyours.biz
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/socially.yours.strategist
• Other: Podcast: https://sociallyyours.biz/podcast

 

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