292: The School Hours CEO: How One Mom Built a Thriving Creator Agency

Chelsea Clark is the founder and CEO of Momfluence, a leading influencer marketing agency specializing in mom creator-led campaigns for family, lifestyle, and consumer brands.

With a deep understanding of the modern mom consumer, Chelsea helps brands build trust, relevance, and measurable growth through authentic partnerships with top mom creators across North America.

A former hospitality entrepreneur, Chelsea built Momfluence to bridge the gap between brands and real-life storytellers who influence purchasing decisions every day. Under her leadership, the agency has managed thousands of creator campaigns across Instagram and TikTok.

Chelsea is passionate about helping brands move beyond traditional advertising and into culture through the power of creator communities.

Connect with Chelsea

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/momfluence.co

Website:
https://www.momfluence.co

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-clark-momfluence/

Work With Camille:

If you’re a mother building a business and feeling overwhelmed by all the roles you’re juggling, you don’t have to do it alone.

Camille Walker offers private coaching and mastermind programs for women entrepreneurs who want clearer systems, stronger teams, and more white space in their lives.

Her work helps mothers step confidently into their role as CEO—without sacrificing their family or their well-being.

Follow Camille on Instagram: www.instagram.com/CamilleWalker.co

Follow Call Me CEO on Instagram: www.instagram.com/callmeceopodcast

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Transcript

Welcome And Guest Preview

Camille 0:00

For today's episode, we have Chelsea Clark, who is the founder of Mom Fluence, which is a marketing agency connecting brands with mom creators. Chelsea started her business while newly postpartum and scaled it to six figures per month and all while prioritizing being a present mom. We're going to be talking about imposter syndrome, how to scale without burnout, and creating a culture for women that is sustainable. As mothers, we need to do things a little bit differently. So I'm so excited to have her here and to have all of this knowledge with you. We are going to have a lot to share here because I have been in this industry on the other side as an influencer. So I'm excited to have this conversation with you. Let's get started. So you want to make an impact. You're thinking about starting a business, sharing your voice. How do women do it? That handle motherhood, family, and still chase after those dreams. Listen each week as we dive into the stories of women who know. This is Call Me CEO. Hey everyone, we are so, so thrilled to have Chelsea Clark with us today. I did a little mini intro already, but now I actually have Chelsea here with us. And Chelsea, you are a Canadian girl. You were just telling me how funny it is that the soda in Salt Lake is a real thing. And it listen, it is like there's soda shops everywhere in Utah. So tell us a little bit more about you and what's unique about Toronto. How many kids do you have? And then how did you get into the business of momfluence?

Chelsea 1:47

Yeah, um, I have two kids. I have two boys, they're 10 and 7. And for Americans, I live in Toronto. But if you are from Ontario or Canada, I live in a place called Collingwood and it is utopia. There's a ski hill for skiing. We're on the bay, so we can swim, and it's really, really like it's the longest clear water beach in Canada or something. So it's pretty amazing. It's like the best place you could live in Ontario because really a lot of it is just urban and suburban sprawl. So, yes, Collingwood is my home. I used to live in actual Toronto for a long time. I used to own restaurants. That was my career at right out of university for 11 years. Um, they were raw vegan restaurants, so like super health food back when that wasn't very normal. Um, whenever I told anyone I owned a raw vegan restaurant, they thought I owned a sushi restaurant. And I was like, no, that's not what it was.

Camille 2:34

Yeah, and can we talk about that for a second? Because what I'm guessing you're vegan?

Chelsea 2:39

I was I was vegan-ish for a long time. I probably went through phases where I'm not good at being anything strictly. Okay, but I mean I was mostly vegan and I still eat like tons of plant-based food. Yeah.

Camille 2:49

And then what brought you into the restaurant business? That's a being a restaurant owner is intense. Yeah. The fact that you were running so many restaurants, I'm like, talk about that for a minute, because that's that's insane. Like, how did you even do that?

Chelsea 3:02

I actually was going to naturopathy school and I wanted to volunteer at a local Toronto raw vegan restaurant, and I ended up buying out his partner because I was like, I love this, I hate school, I don't want to do school, I want to do this. And yeah, owning a restaurant is a real crash course in a lot of things in life. It is it is wild. It is so psychologically hard, it's crazy.

Camille 3:24

That's like so how old were you then?

Chelsea 3:26

I was 23 when I started.

Camille 3:28

Wow. And you had money that you could just put in. I did have money I could put in. That's impressive.

Chelsea 3:34

Yeah.

unknown 3:35

Okay.

Chelsea 3:36

We had franchises, we had a location in New York. We um, I think that at one point we had 13. That was the most locations we had. And so that was super full on, but really fun and like really social, right? Very different from what I do now, where I'm on a computer. I was never on a computer really. I was physically in restaurants with people that were my age. It was so much fun, and I'm still friends with a lot of the girls that were my employees. Um, so it was a really fun time. But once you have kids, that's life's just as very stressful and not conducive hour-wise, and the amount that you need to be present. Like a restaurant is like a newborn baby forever.

Camille 4:10

So yeah, that's true. Because it's you have a lot of employee turnover, I would guess. And there's always food to be ordered and customers to serve. And what do you think about it taught you the most in terms of starting this new venture? What was it that you took with you from one to the other?

Chelsea 4:28

I think I learned the most about having a lot of employees, you know, employee management and how to really get people that are at that time were doing a minimum wage job to really try to do a good job. And it's a like a fine balance between being someone that they just want to do good for, right? Like you have to treat them really well. We would say thank you when people left their shift. It wasn't like I didn't feel like I owed them something or they owed me anything. I just tried to act. I mean, I also was the age where I was friends with a lot of them, but I just wanted to be a normal human boss. And lots of people have said that I was a really good boss. I was just a normal person. Like, oh, you're sick. Like, don't worry, but I'm not gonna be. I mean, restaurants have a notoriously bad rap for being like awful places to work and people yell at you and nobody cares if you're sick or what whatever. And I just that was never really how I operated. Wow. That's really cool. That in marketing, right? When you have restaurants and you have locations and you open a new location, or I mean, social media wasn't even really a thing back then. It like it started. And if I was to look at our restaurant pages now, I'd be so embarrassed by the the qu the content. Like I am absolutely not a content producer in any capacity. So, but social media wasn't back, wasn't around back then, and just like marketing in general and finding out new ways to make money. I mean, in the restaurant, like seasons change, you have new holidays all the time. We tried, we had like juice cleanse programs, we sold food and um grocery stores, like we had so many little branches of things that that you know, it's like a mini launch every two months when you're like a new menu, a new this, we're doing this now. So there's it's a lot of um, you have to have a lot of energy, which I had because I didn't have kids. And I was like, I can dedicate all my time to this.

Camille 6:06

Okay, so this is really interesting because I know from reading your story a little bit that you ended up in Costa Rica and started your business newly postpartum. So, how did we get from 13 restaurants now to Costa Rica pregnant baby now doing this new business?

Chelsea 6:24

So I had one son who was two, I think, and I got pregnant with my second son. And I was like, I am not having two kids living in Toronto running restaurants. That's just not happening, that's just too much. And I was like, I think that we need like to rejuvenate ourselves in a warm place, maybe indefinitely. I mean, like we sold everything thinking we'd live there forever. I was like, once I have a beach, I'll never need to leave. And that was not the case. I mean, there's lots of like Costa Rica's great, but I'm not meant to live somewhere like that full time. Um, and so I had my second baby, and I was like, well, I should probably figure out like a job. I have no idea what I'm gonna do now. I'm not doing restaurants ever again. Uh, so I have no idea what I'm gonna do. But at the very end of owning restaurants, as I said, we sold our like pre-packaged foods like salads and wraps in grocers. And I was like, okay, that was really easy to do. I could get things into stores and I can do that from Costa Rica. And so I found a bunch of small businesses, um, literally found them on Instagram. I'd probably message or email, I don't know, maybe 20 or 30 a day. Like I get obsessed with things, so I got obsessed with pitching. So I made made up a distribution company and I was like, I'm gonna distribute you. I'll get you in stores, I'll go to trade shows for you, like I can do this. And from doing that, I realized lots of those businesses didn't have any way of working with influencers, right? And social media was getting more and more popular. It was like what year is this? I think that was it was 2019 or maybe 2018. Um, and and so those brand, those all those brands, they're mostly mom-owned, like they might have two or three employees, but they had a really cute product, whatever it was. And I was like, this could be something. We need people to see this and know about it. And I tried to help them find other companies and they were just really expensive. Like you know, a lot from being on the influencer side, lots of agencies, like the minimum spend is like 30k. Well, very few brands, period, actually, have 30k to drop on one campaign. And so by some weird, I don't actually, you know, like I've had so many business ideas over the years where we've ordered samples, got mock-ups, made websites, bought domains, all the things you do, and they never take off. Yes. And this is the one I spent the least time thinking about. Oh, like overnight, I was like, Yeah, I'm gonna do that. And I had a friend, I knew nothing about social media. I didn't have an Instagram. I had we had a work Instagram that I was terrible at and hated posting on. Um, but my friend at the time and graphic designer was an influencer and still is a like a fashion influencer. And so I basically just peppered her with questions. I was like, would this work? Is this a good idea? Is this how this works? And she helped me basically start Monfluence or at least like form the concept of it.

Camille 8:57

Wow. That is not what I was expecting. I was thinking that you would have had more background experience with it to have any interest to be like, now I'm going to run an agency for influencers and businesses. That is so interesting.

Costa Rica Pivot And Momfluence Origins

Chelsea 9:12

I will say that I never wanted to run an agency. I never even, that word was never part of my dream in any way. I built software. So at the time Charlie, my youngest, was three months. I think I started when he was three months. It took me a year, 18 months, and I built software and I knew nothing about that. I hired a company that made me a WordPress web like platform. I didn't even know it was WordPress. I didn't even know to ask. But I had this thing when I launched, and it was software. I wanted to be a tech business. So I was like, I can do this anywhere. I don't want to talk to people. I was like tapped out, right? Restaurants, you talk to people all day long, you deal with annoying people, people, you know, and some great people. But if you worked in restaurants, you understand the public can be tiring. So it's like, I want to talk to nobody and just have a tech thing and be able to like circle around the globe with my two kids. And so I didn't want to be an agency. But then after I launched, I realized that most people wanted, like, just like you listen to any customers, they were like, we want you to manage our campaign. And that was why I turned into an agency, which I'm transitioning out of back into software. But that's a whole other interesting.

Camille 10:19

Okay, so let's talk about that a little bit during those bootstrapping years of getting into it and figuring it out from the ground up. What did that look like in terms of managing your two young children, building this business, figuring it out as you go? How did that work out for you?

Chelsea 10:37

I mean, luckily, the first like the first two years of my youngest being young, um, we weren't, we hadn't launched right yet. So I was like writing blogs, QAing the platform. Like my developers would build things. I would go through and give them the errors. And so I didn't have a lot to do, honestly. I didn't have a maybe work two hours a day, maybe three. It's hard to remember now. So I spent a lot of time with my kids when they were little, and that was so important to me. Um I did have a nanny with Charlie actually at age at age one, but I, you know, he might have been with her like three hours a day because I was still wanted to be around him. Um, but then once we launched, then I really did have a lot to do. I mean, because it was sort of this weird thing where people we got brands pretty quickly and like big brands. I remember we launched in October officially, I think, or maybe September. And that Christmas, I, you know, I was always really good at building lead lists. Like I can get data. I'm I should have been like a PI or something because I love finding things. Like, if I need to find someone's email, I will find it. And so I remember I put together like a pretty big lead list of like dream companies, like Sage, the aromatherapy company, and I sent out this promotion. And I think I had like 12 brands that wanted to work with me that Christmas, including Sage, which at the time was like, how did I get an actual company that has, you know, real locations? And so kind of from the get-go, it's I mean, not that it was an overnight success, but I always had business, right? It was never, there was never a time where I was like, this is scary, no one wants it. Um, but I mean, yeah, I didn't make money for two years, of course, like anybody when they start anything, and like four years actually, because I didn't work for two years really, and then the first two years mom fluids. Um, but you know, the power of moms, most brands, like my email tag when I do outreach is like nothing is more um, nothing's more powerful than the than mom stamp of approval. And so many brands now, I mean, maybe it's always been this way, but if you say, hey, I can get you in front of moms, every brand's like, oh yeah, I never respond to these emails, but yes, how do I do this? Everyone knows that we are so powerful in our decision making, and they know if they get like the mom group on board, their company will do well. A hundred percent.

Camille 12:44

A hundred percent. It's so interesting here hearing it from the other side of this because we talked about this before. I started my blog in 2011. It's called my mommy style.com. I still run and operate that as well, and it is so interesting because the influencer marketing industry, especially with moms and that demographic, is not going anywhere. It is only getting bigger and bigger. So I think that's I love that your skill set and your interests were so removed from the vanity of that world. Yeah. You know what I mean? Where it's like had I built something like that, I would come in it and be like, oh well, I know that this person can produce these numbers, or I've seen her do this, or I've seen them work with this person. I think I would have such a skew, I would have a lot of connections, but maybe it wouldn't, I would be too emotionally close to it. Where I love that you're like, I knew analytics, I could build the website, I could do the data, I could do, and I think sometimes to our own detriment, we can be so close to something that we get in our own way. And possibly, I mean, very much so, where it's it's such a successful business. I think that was to your benefit, where you're like, hey, this looks interesting. I have skill set around this, I can build this website and this data and be, I don't know. I just think that's so cool the way that you built that where it would be you have the skill set, but you're not like attached to the everyday where you're like, Yeah, I didn't make money for a few years, and that's how it goes. And I think so often entrepreneurs, when they're first going into it, they think, Oh, I'm gonna make money after six months. And it's just not the case generally. Generally, it's not, it can be, uh-huh, but more often it's that three to five year mark where you're like, oh, okay, now we're in a flow.

Chelsea 14:42

Yeah. I think I, you know, what I probably think I made money after 12. I always made some money, but I would I outsource things, right? Like anybody. You talk about you have a virtual assistant course, and you like from the very beginning, before I even launched, I had people from Upwork. I used Upwork, and I still do from time to time, but I had so many things, I was like, need to hire someone for this, right? I came from uh the restaurant background where I couldn't be every employee. So I was very used to hiring people. So I was very comfortable with that. I wasn't trying to do everything. In fact, I was trying to do as little as possible. I had like small children, I had you know very few hours a day that I could work. So I was like, I'm not wasting my time doing this. I someone else can do this.

Camille 15:19

I love this so much. I wish, I wish there's so many women that I coach that get stuck in this where they're like, but I could do it faster. I don't want to train someone, but I could, but uh, I don't have that money to put aside. I'm like, but listen, just like you're saying, I love that so much. Yeah, keep going.

Chelsea 15:36

I would they're really menial tasks that like for $8 an hour or something, someone else could do it and do a way. And and you know what? Yeah, I do struggle with that. I'm a Virgo perfectionist, so there are lots of things that you could coach me on releasing, right? But I think that if you if a task can be done by someone else and it can be done like 70 to 80 percent as well, you should get rid of it. And if, and if it's not like a make or break, like I do all my own sales calls still. And I actually had a call with a big brand uh this earlier today, and she was so surprised that I took the calls and I was like, I just feel like it's so important. Like I'm selling. That's pretty, pretty like um to my business right now is that I actually sell and convert. So that I wouldn't trust. But I mean lots of small things. Yeah, someone else will make mistakes, but all the time you free up to then grow, so sure, you'll make a hundred more mistakes as a business, but you'll grow a thousand times faster because you're not doing all those things.

Speaker 1 16:31

Right. Right.

Chelsea 16:32

Especially as women and moms, even if you work full-time hours, like you know, throughout the day, I'm filling out doctor's appointment referrals, and we're not like it's impossible to do everything. Absolutely.

Camille 16:44

Now, as your your kids are at an older age now, they're seeing you work out of your home, you're running the show. What would you say has been your most impactful hire where you're like, oh, could not live without this?

Chelsea 16:58

That's a really good question. I tend to look for software solutions more than employees. A cost-wise B, I don't want to manage anybody really. So aside from freelancers, I really software is the biggest thing for me. And so I have like LinkedIn outreach um software, I have email outreach software. Um, because really the only employees I've hired from Onfluence have been campaign managers. So a brand onboards and they have like a lead contact that they that runs their campaign. Um so sure, maybe the first time I hired a campaign manager, that was a pretty big deal. And I was like, oh, I have all this time now. Someone else can respond to the influencer emails. This is great.

Outsourcing Early To Scale Faster

Camille 17:37

What are the what is the software that you like for LinkedIn and email? I'd love to know.

Chelsea 17:41

So yeah, LinkedIn is duck soup. It's amazing for B2B. You basically can set up campaigns and it will automate your connection requests and your emails. So it's like set it and forget it, like load it up with a bunch of contacts and don't think about it. I've used it from day one. It's been so helpful. Um, an email outreach I use instantly right now and sales handy and some similar kind of things. I buy leads. I mean, I I've come a long way from you learn. I mean, I do everything wrong in the beginning, right? Let's face it. I look things up, I research, and then I pick something that's usually the least um, the least costly. Cause I'm like, I don't know how this is gonna work. I and I tread lightly with spending. I don't like to spend a ton of money on things. Once I see that it works, then I figure out, okay, how do I do this like properly? So in the beginning, I I used to spend a lot on leads, but that's a whole other other conversation.

Camille 18:29

But now the software makes it so you don't have to use that.

Chelsea 18:32

Like I used to pay a dollar fifty. If I broke it down, I'd pay a dollar fifty per email. I had three employees full-time finding emails on LinkedIn. I would pay a dollar fifty per email. Now I pay a penny. So that tells you the difference. Yeah.

Camille 18:45

Wow, that's a huge difference. Okay, you guys, that advice right there was worth so much money. Thank you for sharing that. Those are the things where sharing tips like that is huge because that is comes from time and sweat and all the things.

Chelsea 19:00

And again, like when when someone told me about that, and I mean, I I think I heard it on podcasts, like you can buy leads, you should be paying a penny. And I worked out how many hours and all the math, what I was paying. I was like, but they're not gonna be as targeted. Like, we really target our outreach and only email people that we want to work with. And I and I do with getting giant lead lists, I email gun manufacturers and random things, then they write back. You obviously have no idea who you emailed. Like I get like the nasty messages back, and I'm like, I'm sorry, I use an automated service. Like, I'm not gonna, everyone should know that most people do that now, which I understand can be annoying. But but yeah, you know, it's funny. When I was younger and I had restaurants, oh, it was always a growth strategy. We were a franchise, we wanted to have thousands of locations, right? It was like a numbers game, um, like most businesses, but now I am the total opposite. I want no employees, and I love my employees that I have, no offense to them, but I want nobody to manage because I just find it drains me. And so that's really why I like software. You know, I don't, it's just it's hard. It's it's hard when you have kids than to also have employees who have emotional needs and need coaching and need time, and I'm just not at the place where I have that right now. Yeah. So I'm a long way off from having full software. But yeah, I'm not, I'm not like looking to be a hundred employee company that has a giant headquarters. Like I'm in my office, I come and work by myself because I can't work at home. I want like a quiet life where I make really good money, but live like simply and don't work a lot. That's my goal.

Camille 20:30

Oh, sing it, preach it. I'm like, don't we all like that? Sounds like the dream, especially as moms, because we have like you're saying, they our kids need us emotionally, and that's our number one. We're like, okay, if I'm going to give of the well of what I have, it's going there first. And if it's not, then you get really it, it's really hard. And then they become teenagers. I hate to say it to you, but it the emotional needs become even more intense. I have a a senior in high school, a 15-year-old, an almost 13-year-old, and I'm like, and also a nine-year-old. And I'm like, oh my gosh, you're busy. The teen yeah, just just what they need from you emotionally is different. So the fact that you're building it that way now is brilliant because you need that capacity for sure.

Chelsea 21:19

Yeah, even now I've seen a difference. I was thinking this morning at drop off. My youngest son doesn't says he has no friends at school, which I know is a you know a bit of a he's really feeling it. He's like, and that I would wait. I used to love dropping them off at school because they were happy. They had their little lunch bag. It was like so much easier. And now, yeah, the emotional problems are really, really hard because you carry them throughout the whole day. People always ask me what hours I work. I work from 10 until three, so school hours. And it takes me an hour to recalibrate after dropping them off at school. You know, because most days there's some emotional thing, or it's been hard to get them to school. It's just I, you know, and maybe I feel things more deeply, or I just I don't know how people rebound and just go right to work. I I have to like c center myself and put my legs up the wall of my office and do some deep breathing.

Systems That Run 500 Campaigns

Camille 22:05

Yeah, some grounding for sure. The fact that you're doing that though is huge because then it gives yourself that chance to transition into a new mind space of you know, going from we play it's just like those different hats where it's like, okay, I'm taking that one off. I need to resettle and then put this new one on because it's a different part of our brain. So that's awesome that you do that. That's really cool. Would you say with it says now I'm looking at the notes here? You've done over 500 plus brand campaigns and worked with over 10,000 influencers.

Chelsea 22:41

Yes.

Camille 22:42

What systems have you put in place that have made that possible? We talked about your acquisition, but what is that that you do to help manage the all of that? That's a lot of things.

Chelsea 22:55

Yeah, the actual campaigns is a good, yeah. Once I um I do have a pretty rigid system, and there's lots of times where sparkly things come along, and you're like, oh, we could do this outside of our system for you. And I have been burned so many times from doing that, that there's lots of brands that want to do something that's outside of our normal system. And I'm like, sorry, we wouldn't be able to do it that way, right? Which is like a privilege of being six years into business. But yeah, and I mean our systems are changing because we're going to be software. But basically, once I get a campaign, I hand it off to a campaign manager and she follows steps. I mean, I used to have a spreadsheet, we would follow column to column. I'm at this step, I'm at this step, I'm at this step, right? Like I managed my whole uh agency for five years on a spreadsheet. I mean, multiple for every brand, but literally our like dashboard was a spreadsheet and it was very detailed and had lots of notes, and um, and I still I, you know, I need to get off of that at some point, but it was very organized. And so we just would take brands through the same steps over and over. And that's why, you know, some months we would do 20 or 30 new campaigns, and it didn't, doesn't feel like a lot, you know. But we have templates for all of our emails, you know, like people always ask, how does the campaign work for like this niche versus this niche, like mortgages versus baby food? It's really the same process, right? Like an influencer is sharing about your brand, and it's the same steps for every campaign. There might be some nuance with like in-store visits, or we did Disney, that was a really big deal. That campaign. So that was like unique because they're going and plan it. But we I really did have a lot of email templates. Oh man, the workarounds I've used. Uh, there's a thing called YAM, uh, yet another mail merge. I use this from the beginning. For anyone that needs to do lead generation, I would find emails, they'd all be on a spreadsheet. I'd write a template on Gmail, save it, and you run a yam through the lead list of emails and it sends them one at a time. So it doesn't seem like a BCC. And so we would, and you can um include mail merge tags, right? So when we we used it nonstop for all of our campaigns, it'd be like you've been hired for the Love Child campaign. Your rate is $500 for these deliverables. All those things were custom tags that our spreadsheet would pull. Wow. Right. And it was I felt like I think it's I think I paid $30 a month for this workaround. Right. So I found lots of things like that over the years that are cheap and just simple and help us do things in an automated way.

Time Freedom And Mom Life Reality

Camille 25:17

That is so cool. I'm impressed by that. I'm like, this is why I didn't build this business because my brain doesn't, I don't even know how to do that. I'd be like, oh, a spreadsheet. Yeah. That's amazing. So, what would you say your most rewarding part about this business has been for you personally?

Chelsea 25:33

Um, yeah, that's a there's really two things that come to mind. First of all, after the restaurants, the end of our restaurants were sort of a failure. We moved locations, the new location that we had personally did not work out, which is so hard when you think so, like you're so optimistic. Like this location is gonna be busy. And we had franchisees close. Like it was kind of the cusp of vegan food getting into more restaurants as in their normal menu, right? So it, you know, in a long way, really our restaurants were sort of failing, which is why moving to Costa Rica was made sense. It wasn't like it was thriving at that point, it was probably the lowest it had been. And that was like insanely stressful, of course. And after that, I really felt like I didn't trust my own intuition, like because I, you know, I left school, naturopathy school, to do restaurants against basically everyone's advice, right? I didn't even tell some people what I was doing because I knew they would say that's a dumb idea. Who goes into restaurants? It's not a good idea. Um, but intuitively I felt so strongly about it and I did it, and we had a long run, and it was successful and fun, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But after that bad location debacle, I I really didn't know if I had the intuition to do another business. And I've and I feel like with Momfluence being successful, and only really last year were we very successful. Like we've now got to a really good point. But as I said in the beginning, it was slower and I didn't make like tons of money. But this past year I felt like, okay, I did it again. Like I this is I'm not like flawed. I have the intuition and like the wherewithal to build another company. So I think once something fails, you are worried that, like, oh, that's just what I am. Like I'm a failure because that failed. And so now I feel a little redeemed in that way. So that's like the most personal one for me as like a human, because I'm unemployable. I cannot have a job. I don't want someone to tell me what to do. I'm not gonna stick to your hours. I'm not gonna ask permission to go to the beach when it's nice. That's just not happening. Yeah. So if I don't build my own business, I am homeless. Like I have to. Um, but then the other part is really the flexibility. Like every, you know, I I deal with lots of stress in some ways with, you know, being a client-focused business. There's lots of little problems often, but the time flexibility is just there's nothing I value more than that. You know, even on like the day before my period, if I'm like, I literally cannot work, I'm just not gonna work that day. And that is gold for me. I love that for you.

Camille 27:55

I love that for me too, with what I do. It's so, it's so nice to have that, be able to pay attention to how you're feeling and respecting that and being able to make adjustments. That's a that is a huge win.

Chelsea 28:07

Yeah, and it wasn't always the way. Oh, go ahead. Sorry, it wasn't always this way. Back in the restaurants, I mean, I would if I was sick or whatever, I was like, no, I gotta be there. Um but no, it and I always gotta feel bad and guilty saying that, like being happy about having time freedom, because I know how hard it would be if you really wanted that and didn't have it. But I actually think it's possible for anyone, it might just take some time, right? Like there's so many creative businesses now, and I mean the world is like a freelance world, it's totally possible to tap into like what your genius is and have a flexible life, even though you know you might not have it now. So it's all very possible.

Imposter Syndrome And Staying Grounded

Camille 28:48

Yeah, yeah, I agree with that. And you've talked about imposter syndrome. So I'm curious to how that's shown up for you in building this business and what tools you've used or mindset, mindset shifts you've used to help with that.

Chelsea 29:04

Yeah, it's because I'm not, I'm not a social media trained person. I'm not, I didn't go to school for marketing. It's not like I'm marketing obsessed. I like it. I like selling. I've always been fascinated by how a business, especially online, like how do you get customers? It's like it's a wild story for anybody, right? And I always find that interesting, which is why I got into this. But, you know, even as my employee Elizabeth is pitching me on podcasts, so many respond that want me to talk about like ROI of certain campaigns and those things. I'm like, I have no business talking about that. Like, yes, I can run, and which seems weird, right? I've run over 500 campaigns. I could probably give most brands a pretty good strategy. But do I love the weeds of the data and the things that like a true marketer wants to talk about? Really, no. And I think that's where the imposter syndrome comes. Like, I don't feel qualified to talk to do what I do. Um so I do I think that it is valid, and in some way it there's a reason for it. At the same time, we do good work for brands and they work with us month to month. So I try to asage that feeling by like, no, people really like working with us.

Camille 30:10

If they keep returning, I mean, that's I think that that's what makes you so successful because you're not attached to, oh, we have to hit this certain number every single time. It's more about that relationship and result-driven evidence, you know. So I think that makes a lot of sense.

Chelsea 30:27

I think in general, like, and this is more influencer-specific, but people got really like most a lot of brands see influencers as magicians, right? And they boil it down to like a very like a science. This creator is gonna post, and I'm gonna get this many views and this much. And I just think holistically, like you're building a brand. Like, I like the art of it more. Like, what is this brand gonna feel like? What are people gonna like? I like that side of it, right? Like more of the creative advertising. And so that's where I don't fall in line with the typical influencer manager where I want to talk all about the data. I just like brand building and like, hey, you you know, and some brands have no idea, their website is like awful, their social media is all over the place. And I think that I just like to come up with some way of like developing a brand for them, like their personality, which you can do really well through creators. Um, but uh, you know what? The only thing that helps me with the imposter syndrome thing is hearing other people that are successful saying they also feel that way. And that's why I like I don't know if some people are not transparent about feeling like an imposter, but like most days I have meetings where there's like five people from a giant company, and I'm like, I have no idea what I'm gonna say right now. Like, why did they book a meeting with me? Uh you know, but to know that other women, also other people, maybe more women, um, feel this way, I think it just is part of just being a human.

TikTok Shop And Affiliate Strategy

Camille 31:45

Yeah. Yeah, I love that. I think that's so great because really we're all just playing a role where we're doing the best we can. So I love that so much. And I I'm curious for people who are building creator businesses now. I mean, we can talk about the business side, but also the creator side. What trends do you see that are working really well in terms of marketing online?

Chelsea 32:08

Yeah. Um, I mean, I'll I think if anyone listens to the podcast I've been on so far this year, they're gonna say that I'm like a parrot saying the same thing. But I if I was a creator and I was starting and I had nothing, I would completely ignore Instagram and I would go to TikTok and pick like five to ten brands that had a good affiliate program that I actually liked and used already and that I could make simple content for. And I would TikTok shop the hell out of my account because I have seen from other agencies the performance of small creators on TikTok, that TikTok that use, you know, three to five brands that they post lots and lots of content about every month. They make a lot of money.

Camille 32:46

Gosh, it's like I should do this again. I knew it. I knew after talking to you, I'm like, this is gonna re-ignite it. So give me an example of someone who is talking three to five. You don't need to give me names, but like, are we talking makeup? I know it could be like the full gimmick, but like, what's a good example?

Chelsea 33:01

I keep giving this example. So um, she this woman had 8,000 followers on TikTok. She worked with an electrolyte supplement company, a sweatsuit type thing. I don't even know the company, but like a matching sweatsuit thing, a water bottle. So it must be like a Stanley competitor. Um, oh, a bone broth company. I think those are the four that she posts the most about. Most of her feed on TikTok is her holding a glass, swirling this electrolyte drink, or her wearing the sweatsuit, or same thing, like blending the bone broth. She never shows her face, she never talks. It's just like 10 or 20 seconds. I'll send it to you after. I because I don't want to like public it out her, but um yeah, she never shows her face. She never talks.

Camille 33:42

Incredible.

Chelsea 33:42

And she, the brand showed me her like TikTok shop back end. She sells like 60k a month for these companies. So at 10% affiliate, you do the math.

Camille 33:51

Holy, I know. Holy isn't that?

Chelsea 33:54

I am trying way too hard.

Camille 33:56

I think I've done I've been in the business for so long that I'm like, those are the things where it's like consistent and the same thing over and over and over and over and over again. You're going to attach to someone who wants to see that over and over and over again, and they'll want to buy it.

Chelsea 34:10

And TikTok shop. I mean, I'm in Canada. We don't even have TikTok shop, but I can imagine the number of times I mean, I love TikTok. I didn't used to, I'm a consumer on social media, not a creator. I don't ever go on Instagram anymore because it just gives me like that icky feeling of like, oh, I'm not doing enough. Right. I do not need that. On TikTok, I learn so much. My feed is all like right now, it's home renovation and personal development and mindset, like all the things that, and it's just so perfectly curated. You know, it's just such a better user experience. And I the number of things I buy from looking it up on TikTok because they they feel really custom to you. Um and you should do it even for your blogs, though. I mean, you just you would sign up to be an affiliate, get a link, and do both. But yeah, TikTok shop is and you know, the number of brands that are really switching away from paying influencers flat fees to product to getting affiliates that are on TikTok shop, but it's a completely different um way of thinking for a creator. And when I had this call with this agency who run TikTok shop accounts for their brands, they were like, hey, we could use like 300 creators for this, you know, electrolyte company. And I'm like, but we send out paid campaigns that are paid regardless of performance. How would I ever get people to take product for free and just like commit to making 30 videos in a month in the hope of making money? Right? Those are two very separate business models for a creator. And you have to think, all these most of these women are stay-at-home moms who have multiple kids who are the primary breadwinners. They might have retired their husband, very common. You know, like the whole family is in on their her account. And so I don't know how I have no idea how that switch will happen, but it's been in the back of my mind for a long time. Because for a brand, it makes way more sense. Paying flat fees for influencers, other than for brand building, really rarely works to sell something. Like it just doesn't. Because we have so many, we get so many ads, right? Even if I buy one thing a day.

Camille 36:04

Yeah, and I do feel like TikTok has kind of just become an a big ad. That is one thing that I'm like, that's a bummer that there it that's feels like that's what it is.

Chelsea 36:12

Because everything has TikTok shop attached to it, right? So I don't see any of that, right? Because I we don't even have it, which is weird.

Camille 36:19

Oh, that's true. Yeah, so it's yeah, I feel like every time I scroll, I'm just like, oh, they're trying to sell me something. They're trying to sell me something.

Chelsea 36:27

Well, maybe that's the downfall of it. Maybe that people should run to the TikTok shop fad right now before people are like, I don't want to do TikTok anymore. Too many ads. That's how I feel about Pinterest. I hate Pinterest now. I know I don't want ads. That's the last thing I want.

Camille 36:40

It's it's a big bummer. That's like one of the number one sources of traffic for my website still is Pinterest. But because it's so inundated with ads, and now they make it so that your images are shoppable. So say that I'm sharing a post about elf on the shelf. Rather than them clicking the link and going to my website, it now is pulling up a link of buying elf on the shelf. Right.

Chelsea 37:04

Or you're basically a lean magnet for Pinterest to make their own affiliate revenue of anything.

Camille 37:09

You could scale like if I had a picture of me or a random clip art on the front and someone is clicking on that picture, it could pull up the image of what that girl is wearing and be like, buy this shirt, instead of like learn how to run your whatever. Like it's just it's really interesting how that's changed.

Chelsea 37:34

I can see TikTok that happening.

Camille 37:36

Yeah. I don't know. It just it's editing. But what is the next wording thing?

Chelsea 37:41

I know.

Camille 37:42

Because they're really I mean, maybe I'm behind on something, but I've heard of one, but it's the name of it isn't coming straight to mind. So I feel like Substack is a big thing a lot of people are talking about. Threads is is becoming its own animal in a way. Um, but nothing that's really front. I feel like TikTok for sure is the leader right now.

Chelsea 38:04

Yeah.

Camille 38:05

Yeah.

Chelsea 38:06

But yeah, you should hop on it. You should you're lucky you're lucky. Go after this, my homework to you is to pick three things that you already use in your house that you can make easy content and you will see. And once, like anybody, imagine just randomly making $500 in the first some number of months in, and you're like, whoa, this actually really works, right? Yeah.

Camille 38:24

Amazon affiliate too. I have a friend who never had a social account and decided she wanted to make videos for Amazon, just doing like product-led reviews, and she's making a lot of money. But she was like, Okay, I'm gonna make 30 videos a week. Like she took it really seriously and just built it, built it, built it, built it. And now she has the passive income that's just coming in from these videos that she's recorded and posted to Amazon. And same thing, it's affiliate there as well.

Chelsea 38:55

And Amazon will pay her. Oh wow.

Camille 38:59

Yeah. That's why they will there's like a cookie that will be attached to the video that you put in the reviews, and then that's where it can be a little confusing. I don't know entirely how that breakdown works, like based on if someone watched three videos, which one is going to get paid. It could be the first, it could be the last. I'm not totally sure. Yeah, but yeah, it's it's a it's a it's its own business, you know, right there.

Chelsea 39:25

Yeah. Oh my god, I didn't even know about that.

Shifting From Agency To Software

Camille 39:27

Yeah. Yeah. So I'm curious, you mentioned wanting to transition out of what you're doing. What does that look like and why now?

Chelsea 39:38

Um, I've always wanted to. Um, my partner is a software developer. So if I I was never gonna take VC money, right? I again, I can't have a boss, I can't have the pressure of anyone asking anything of me. I have to do it all myself, especially at this time, right? So it was never, you know, most tech companies get outside money. That's how they grow. But I was like, not doing that. So if we're not doing that, it's gonna take a long time to build on our own in his free time. So that is what has been happening. And so it we launched our platform in January, I believe. Um, and I know there'll be a long transition of still doing managed campaigns and having employees and all those things. And who knows, maybe I'll always, I'm sure I'll always have to have some employees, but I don't want to manage campaigns for brands for sure. I'm burnt out of that. It's again a lot of pressure, right? Like the campaign doesn't go well, or they want something different, or like it's a really weird ask. I mean, it all comes down to basically me, even if I have employees, right? And I take things pretty seriously. I don't, I'm a people pleaser like most women, and but so it really bothers me if I can't deliver something. And I think I take that there's a lot of weight to that. Um, so the why now is really just about like we've had the time to do it, and um, and also I have the resources to pay graphic designers and all those things that I was like, I probably shouldn't spend money on that before.

Camille 40:53

Yeah, and this is still in development, so you're not saying what it is yet, or do you want to- Oh no, no, I I've launched.

Chelsea 40:58

We've so it's just software for Montfluence. So instead of all those spreadsheets I talked about, there will be no spreadsheet.

Camille 41:03

Oh, I see. So you're not transitioning to a different business.

Chelsea 41:06

No, no, no.

Camille 41:07

You're just saying I'm not an agency anymore. I'm more a software where you can use this and utilize it. Awesome. Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, that sounds great.

Chelsea 41:17

And for me, it's like, you know, I've done this now for six years, maybe let's say four years of operating. I feel like I I feel like there's not a lot of growth for me personally in what I'm learning. Like I'm sure there is, but I'm just over this growth. Like I'm good with what I've got. And now having software and all those different things, like how do you market software? What kind of explainer videos? It's a feels like a new business and it's like perfect timing for me. I'm just like so reignited. Whereas before I was like really, admittedly, doing the least I could possibly do for many months, right? Because I was like, I'm not super inspired, it's great, but I don't have like where now I'm like, I would work like 13 hour days if I didn't have kids. I'd be all in doing all this stuff. And so that that is a fun feeling, right? Being obsessed with what you're doing on like a project is what I live for. I love that.

Camille 42:06

Yeah, yeah. Evolving it and keeping it going where it feels fresh and new.

Chelsea 42:10

And yeah, that makes a lot of not knowing something, right? Like when I have no idea how to do something, it's scary, and then I'm so excited to figure it out because I know I'm gonna feel really good when I figure out some part of it.

Camille 42:22

Oh, I love that about you. You have such a healthy mindset of growth. Like, I see this challenge, I'm I'm going for it, and this is why, and this is how I'm gonna do it. Is that something that you were that you would say, oh, I was born with this, or is that something you developed?

Chelsea 42:36

Or um, no, actually, I think that anybody's my friends' parents when I was younger would say that about me. Like, I think I was just always really determined and I was independent, and I I really people say, like, if someone else can do it, you can do it too. I actually think that. I tell myself that I'm like, if someone else figured it out, there's I'm actually able to figure it out. Yeah. Um, so as much as I have imposter syndrome, I also have like anything is possible for anybody. Nobody's a genius. Like Mark Cuban is incredibly smart, but lots of people could also emulate and replicate what he's done too. Like, we all are really human and we all can be very smart and very stupid at the same time, right? Like I've made tons and tons and tons of mistakes.

Rapid Fire Habits And Hustle Myth

Camille 43:17

Yeah. Oh, I love it. I love it so much. Okay, I'm gonna give you some rapid fire questions as we're wrapping it up here. What is your freight at favorite productivity tool? We've talked about a number so far, but in terms of productivity, is there one go-to that you're like, oh, this is I love this?

Chelsea 43:35

Okay, I don't really I don't I don't think about productivity, but my one productivity tool is that I start work and I try not to stop until I'm actually stopping. I don't try not to take lunch break. I just don't take breaks. That's how I'm productive. That's not only a tool or a hack, but just like I get into focus and I just power through until I'm done.

Camille 43:52

Yeah. Do you have to like set an alarm, a countdown, or anything? Are you just like, nope, this is start and end and done? Is it hard for you to stop? Or

Chelsea 44:00

Is it easy? No, because I have to pick up first do school pickup, but I would rather keep working. Like I want to see my kids, of course, but I'm like, oh, I'm into this. I could keep going. Yeah. Yeah.

Camille 44:09

Okay. I like that. One thing you've stopped doing that changed everything.

Chelsea 44:16

Um, this is also really weird, but I and this sounds weirder than it is, but I I try not to eat dinner, which I know is weird, but like I eat my main meal when my kids come home from school because I because I work throughout the day, right? So I don't take a lunch break. I might I have like little snacks, but I don't actually eat. I have a meal at three and I don't really have dinner or try not to because I have so much more energy in the morning. I used to really struggle with being really tired in the morning, right? Like my kids didn't sleep very well. And by not eating like a big meal at night, I have it's I really feel like it's a life hack, at least for me.

Camille 44:50

Interesting. So you have a big liner, like late lunch dinner. Yes. Are you having breakfast too? Yeah. Yeah. Just so two main meals and then kind of snacking. You know what? I think that makes a lot of sense. And my kids are always starving right when they get home from school. And then if they eat a snack, then dinner's like, I'm not even hungry anymore, or they have sports. So we've done an early dinner much more as my kids have gotten busier, especially. Yeah. So that I think that's brilliant. I just wish my husband was home by then.

Chelsea 45:22

Once you start doing it, you I it's kind of a curse. That I actually I also listened to a podcast about insulin in women and how as we age, we're really not supposed to eat after three. And so that's not why I'm doing it, but after I heard that after I had been doing this, and you just start, and then you're like, Whoa, I feel really good in the morning, and I can't. Then what if you do eat a big meal? You feel so tired, right? Because you're digesting all night. Yeah, even if you eat it like six. So it sounds like I have an eating disorder. I don't, I just want to be like, I just want to be energized in the morning and not wake up like, oh, I cannot do this day. Which is that's really interesting.

Camille 45:54

No, my husband, he has he needs to keep his dinner time hours earlier because it affects his digestion a lot too. So I think that's really smart. Okay. Best advice you've received as a mom founder.

Chelsea 46:09

I've no one's really given me advice. Although, you know what? Honestly, the old ladies at the grocery store you see that say they grow up so fast, that's the best advice because I see those women and I'm like, oh my God, they don't have a house of kids, they're by themselves all day. Maybe they have a partner, but that's what drives me to keep, you know, having my own company so that I can spend as much time. Like this summer, I'm planning on taking the summer off of work, other than monitoring things. Like, I'm like, I don't have this many, like many more summers. I'm not wasting my summer working. Like my kids are gonna grow up.

Camille 46:41

So that's that's amazing you can do that, that you've set it up that way to be able to do that. But I totally agree with you, totally agree. It goes so fast, and even when you're in the middle of it and you know it's going so fast, you're still like, this is going so fast. Yeah, I'm feeling all the feels with a senior right now. So I'm like, what's happening? Okay, last one a myth about agency life that needs to die, or what however you want to say that.

Chelsea 47:05

If you want to say definitely like the, I mean, with any company starting and especially agency and marketing and advertising, where the more hours you do, the more of a bragging point it is. I did the opposite. I probably have never worked more than 30 hours in a week since the beginning. And I built a company that earns good money. And, you know, I I don't ever, I don't, I don't subscribe to like the hustle culture of I needed to work 60 hours or work all weekends or miss things. I think that if you work it like if you leverage the most, you know, high impactful point that you have and outsource the rest to things that are cost less than you, right? Like smart outsourcing, you do not need to work 50, 60 hours. So I will never brag about the number of hours I work.

How To Connect With Chelsea

Camille 47:50

Ooh, I love that. This has been so great. I have loved having this conversation with you. Tell our audience where they can connect with you and maybe join your agency or find out about your software.

Chelsea 48:03

We're always looking for creators and brands, of course, brands, but lots of creators. We need lots of new faces. So momfluence.co is my website. Um, LinkedIn is probably the best place to reach me, or just DM our work momfluence.co Instagram, because I don't post pub, like I don't post, period. Um, but yeah, I always respond. I have an open profile on LinkedIn, so you can always message me. I love when people reach out and ask questions. Like, I've had creators say, This is my account, what should I charge? Right? Or I'm this brand. Could I should I work with this person? Like I really love random questions like that. I always respond. I mean, obviously, like I'm not like a celebrity that has too much to do to respond, but I will I will give you my advice for free. I just love helping people with you know any information that I have that they don't.

Share Requests And Final Thanks

Coaching And Community Options

Camille 48:49

That's amazing. You're so cool. This has been so much fun. Thank you so much. And for everyone who's listening, please, if you found this inspiring, share it with a friend. If you have a business that's looking to grow this way or an influencer friend who's looking to grow as a creator online, share this episode. There have been so many amazing nuggets of wisdom in this episode. And Chelsea laid it all out there. That was so much fun. I could talk to you all day long. That was really fun. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Thanks for having me. You are so welcome. Thank you everyone for tuning in, and we will catch you next time. Thank you everyone for tuning in to Call Me CEO. This is your host, Camille Walker, and together we talk about mothers building businesses in a sustainable way without burning out. Every week I'm talking with women about business growth, what is working for them, what is not, how to create mindset shifts. And I am also offering support, clarity, and a plan that actually fits. So if you're listening to this and you're thinking, gosh, I really would love some help with launching that podcast or creating that course or finding more clarity in what balance looks like for me, you are in luck because I offer one-on-one coaching that is available to you. And from 15 years of experience, I love to help women reach that sustainability where they feel like they have the mindset to get things done, but also not lose their minds. So if that sounds good to you, please check out my website at kimonwalker.co. You can check out the link below for free resources. And also if you're looking for groups of women as entrepreneurs because it gets lonely out there, I also offer masterminds of women together. So if you're interested in that, please check out the link below. Hey CEOs, thank you so much for spending your time with me. If you found this episode inspiring or helpful, please let me know in a comment in a five star review. You could have the chance of being a featured review on an upcoming episode. Continue the conversation on Instagram at CallMe CEO Podcast. And remember, you are the boss.