An Agency Story

Why Stepping Away is a Power Move - Digital HQ

• Russel Dubree / Hillary Applegate • Episode 168

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Company: Digital HQ

Guest: Hillary Applegate

Year Started: 2020

Employees: 11-25

What if the key to improving your agency is stepping away from your business? In this conversation, Hillary Applegate, founder of Digital HQ, shares how distance reshaped her leadership, clarified what actually matters, and strengthened the way her team operates. Listeners will walk away with a fresh perspective on agency ownership, boundaries, and letting go.

Key Takeaways

  • Why stepping away can reveal blind spots you’ll never see inside the day-to-day
  • The mindset shift required to lead with more clarity and less stress
  • Why flexible work it creates stronger teams

Want a more clarity and control for your agency in 2026? An Agency Story has three coaching spots available for 2026. Let’s see if one of those spots is right for you. Visit AnAgencyStory.com and click “Let’s Talk.”

Russel:

Welcome to An Agency Story podcast where owners and experts share the real journey, the early struggles, the breakthrough moments, and everything in between. I'm your host Russel Dubree, former eight figure agency owner, turn Business coach. Sold my agency and now helps agency leaders create their ideal business. Every agency has a story, and this is your front row seat. This is an agency story. Welcome to the show today, everyone. I have Hillary Applegate with Digital HQ with us here today. Thank you so much for joining us today, Hillary.

Hillary:

Thanks for having me.

Russel:

Well, I'm excited to, let's get right to it. Start us off. Tell us what Digital HQ does and who you do it for.

Hillary:

Yeah, so Digital HQ is a modern marketing and communications agency. We are entirely remote based. We work with contractors and employees all over the country in the United States, and we service clients across the globe. So, um, I've been doing this with Digital HQ since. Pre pandemic 2020.

Russel:

Awesome. Well, I want to hear more about the vision and everything else you're doing, and I imagine we'll have some pretty cool things to talk about. But before we get all into all things agency today, I want to hear about Young Hillary's story. Who was she and how was she coming up in the world?

Hillary:

Oh man. Well. Born and raised in Silicon Valley. I used to drive past all of the tech giants that you know today on my way to elementary school and middle school and high school and friends' houses. I used to pass by eBay. Nearly every day of my life, which to me, at that time when you're a kid, you don't realize how crazy that is to be in the mecca of all of that. So I was always surrounded by entrepreneurs and visionaries and innovators, and it never, never crossed my mind. You know, I talk about the school that I went to, which was a public school in the Bay Area, but we had. Super cool new Apple computers and we were learning on that and we were, you know, really just embracing technology as quickly as it came because it was really being built in our back door. So that was the start of it. We were talking a little bit earlier. I wasn't the best student by any means. I was the gal who was talking to friends in classes and, wanting to do the walk-a-thons and the school bakery things and all that. I loved the social community aspect of school a lot more than I liked the science and the math and whatnot. Even though don't be, don't be hating. I was a chemistry ta. Okay. Yeah. Still had it in me, but, um,

Russel:

I mean they say that that entrepreneurs typically aren't the best students that, um, you know, you probably think about it too. Schools a very structured environment. Entrepreneurs are not very structured, and that just seems to be ill-fitting. But I don't know how you look or think about that. You're like, yeah, that's, that makes total sense.

Hillary:

Oh, it's very on brand. Yeah. I think that the start of Digital HQ and this vision that I had was it kicked off when I was getting ready to graduate from college. I had read an article in Forbes from a guy who wrote a, you know, 20 things that 20 year olds should know. And I was like, that's me. What should I know? And number six, seven, or eight was. Social media is not a job. It is not going to be a career. Do not pursue it. It's not gonna exist in 10 years. And that was the moment. What year was this,

Russel:

by the way? Sorry. Not to age or date ourselves. 2013. Okay. That's a, that's an interesting statement from 2013, I feel like, isn't

Hillary:

it

Russel:

though?

Hillary:

Isn't it though? Because I saw that and I said, well. I guess I know which field I'm gonna get into if this guy in Forbes can say that, uh, because social media was a very not very respected field for a very long time. I think that it's still, I think social media managers and leaders are still, carving out as much budget as they possibly can and fighting for every dollar. But it was something that was. So permeable in everyone's lives. Everybody had a smartphone. Everyone had a social media platform. And to think that was not gonna be an avenue that was mission critical was just silly to me.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. And

Hillary:

so that behavior of. Going against the grain or not trying to conform, I think really put me into that category of, yeah, no, like the best way to get me to do something is to tell me that it can't be done.

Russel:

Sounds very entrepreneurial as well. This is all making a lot of sense. So how did your path lead up to, or, or what was the inspiration for actually starting your agency?

Hillary:

So I had been working at an agency out of Phoenix for several years, and when I was originally hired there, I was brought into the PR department and I was strictly accost. It was one of those things where social media had been, added on as a freebie. Yeah, we can handle your. Facebook. Yeah, we can do that for you. No problem. And then all of a sudden they're like, well, we need someone to do the work because we have actual jobs that we need to do, so let's go ahead and hire someone. And it took me a couple months to really figure out that I had been hired. As a cost to realize, uh, this is not a good position to be in if I am just an expense. So I need to figure out a way to make this profitable for the agency. And I have very fond memories of that agency. That was where I really got to. Test and learn and grow immensely. The leadership was very complimentary of me expanding my wings and trying new things. So when I said, Hey, I need to go out to the dealership. We had a 10 dealer, uh, group, auto group out in California and I said, I need to go out there for the next quarterly meeting and I need to pitch social media. And so I fly out to California. And it is, you know, an automotive quarterly meeting, which is essentially a large U-shape room in a hotel and there's all these men there. I don't think I saw one woman, all these guys there, and I got in on the lunch break and I was like, this is perfect. This is all I need. Just gimme. 15 minutes of attention and I presented what social media could do for their brands, what it would look like, how it would impact performance and sales, and ultimately what that would cost. And I walked outta that room with a quarter million dollar deal and I said, okay, here we go. This is gonna be the first step and us being able to actually turn a profit and I can save my job from Wow. Any inevitable downfall.

Russel:

I mean, I thought you were, and I, I think I had a guest on a show before that they showed up to something similar like that and, and they made an instant decision. I'm not gonna pitch my business. I'm gonna pitch myself and my own business. But I thought that's what you're going, but. You were saving your job, you're bringing it back to the business.

Hillary:

Yeah, bringing it back to the business. And you know, the agency at the time, my original clients were a Spanish speaking gynecologist and auto. That was pretty much the repertoire of clients that I was working on. And I had come from a background of higher education and nonprofit, so we were already getting into a little bit of an eclectic mix there. And then from there, the agency growth that was able to happen, it was a little bit of alignment of stars. They had great creative, they had great. Strategy, and we were in Phoenix, which is not necessarily like a stellar advertising market that you would think of. So there was a lot of ability to punch above our weight, and we ended up securing some really incredible clients, food and beverage clients, franchise clients, healthcare clients, casino and gaming clients, government clients. So I. We did win was Virgin Hotel and Casino. So the progression of career there was just immense. And I am forever grateful for the agency. But as we got to the, end as the billings for social media were, million plus, I was like, man, I would do this a little bit differently if I could do it myself. And you know, there was a, a little bit of foresight too, looking into the future on, I knew that I wanted to have kids. I knew that I wanted to. Have flexibility in my life. And I knew that if there was ever gonna be a time to give it the good old college try, it was now or never. And that's when I made the leap.

Russel:

Was that a kind of just make a fast decision and the next day you're, you're putting in your two weeks notice, did you spend a lot of time thinking about that? Like, where were you on this kind of, uh, you know, let go and let God philosophy or plan this out a lot more?

Hillary:

So I am a planner, but when I have my mind made, I move quickly. So everything in my life, I would say I have thought through very carefully and I've let time do its thing. And with that, at the time I was dating my now husband and his career was very different from mine. He is in operations and he works in a very niche field. So. I always knew that I wanted to move to Austin. Like I wanted to go to UT when I was in high school. Didn't get in. Damn. But then I, I just always knew I wanted to live in Austin. I loved it. I visited it often as a kid. I spent a lot of time out here. I had family friends out here and it just. I was almost a magnetic pole to Austin my whole life. So once I graduated college and I ended up staying in Arizona, I was like, well, one day I'm gonna make it to Austin. And then, the dating scene in life happens. And eventually I met my now husband and it was like. The second date, I was like, Hey, by the way, I don't love Phoenix. I'm not gonna be here very long. So if you're like really onto Phoenix, that's totally fine, but don't pursue me. And he's like, eh, Austin sounds cool. And so he and I, as you know, we got more serious. Then he was starting to look in. Phoenix and, uh, Austin for a new role. And he got reached out to via LinkedIn Pro Social Media, um, and a recruiter, they brought him on and loved him, and they were like, Hey, we got a role for you out in Austin. And that was the opportunity to say, Hey, this is a good time for me to put in my notice. So, okay, the stars aligned, but it was also planned.

Russel:

Clearly. Yeah, it's always seemed to be a, a fine mix there of that. Um, all right, so you're jumping into this, you're starting your own business. I mean, what's interesting about your story though, we'll say, is you kind of built a business within a business, so this wasn't all foreign to you. You were just resetting the clock a little bit. Um, but what were just some of the formative, experiences you have when, when you're suddenly now out on your own doing this?

Hillary:

Russell so many, oh, it need a drink. It's humbling. Yeah. We should have done this over cocktails.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's

Hillary:

humbling. Um, you know, I think that working within another agency and with other leaders, I'm, like I said, immensely grateful for that experience because I learned trial by fire. I got to see some of the best in the business. Do. Just in phenomenal work, and to me, that time in office with people is just immeasurable. So I'm a big proponent of getting that experience and really networking. A lot of my success has come from that network that I had built there and the reputation that I had built there. So that was. The first catapult piece of it that was very positive. The hard part though, is that I didn't have the safety net of this incredible group of people around me. I had to make it and really put myself out there as this is the way that I'm going. This is the direction that I am going, and this is what I am building. And in the beginning, that is a lot of hustle. It's a lot of grind. It is self-made. Um, and it's a lot of fumbling. There were a couple of investments that I made early on that I probably could have foregone because I felt like I needed to, you know, get the validation of, you know, like, like what

Russel:

are we talking about here? Because I imagine there's so many people that have done this exact same thing. So

Hillary:

like, I'm like, you know, I really should get a coach. Like that's a great idea right now. And I do love a coach, but I should have gotten a coach in my industry. Later in the career, I did not need a coach that did not work specifically in my industry, just to tell me to get on like more sales calls. That was not something that I needed to do. I also got the advice early on to niche down. You know, they're like, you do too much. You need to really focus in on like just influencer marketing or just social media, or just content creation. And I was like, eh, no, that doesn't sound right. Or industries. So you have to really focus in on your industries. Yeah, I've always served both B2B and B2C, and the principles are the same. So it is one of those things that there's a lot of noise out there. You have to learn how to listen to your own inner voice and combine that with the experience of people who you really respect and you really know that can help push through. And that was my experience. Yeah.

Russel:

You know, it's funny, and I've asked this question before, and I know this is a very telling perspective. I, I feel like from what you're sharing as far as the answer, but this concept of positioning and niching, or if you will is a valid aspect that an agency eventually can or shouldn't need to go through, I think these formative years, these early years, you gotta just like, almost like a teenager going out in the world, you kind of gotta go try a little bit of everything to find your flavor, to find your personality, to find all those little things that when you do land where you land, you know you're there for the right reasons.

Hillary:

Oh yeah, my first brand looked like Tide. I look back, it looks like Tide. It's the same colors. It was horrible. And I had to go out into the world like that and just let it rip and learn and that, you know, I'm grateful to that time.'cause otherwise I wouldn't be where I am. The agency wouldn't be where it is. And you know, if I had let that fear stop me in the beginning or call me, I wouldn't have made progress.

Russel:

It's just crazy all the different paths this can take. I imagine like a lot of owners, you step out into this world and I'm gonna do things a little differently. What was that different for you and maybe how is that different today from how you started out?

Hillary:

So, extended network has always been a part of agency life, but it has. Been used to potential, in my opinion, and when I was working. At the agency that I was at, we had a lot of constraints when it came to talent. So we would hire our internal people, they'd be running the business, and it's classic agency. You sell on opportunity. You don't sell on current stuff. So when you win new business, you. You gotta stretch and you gotta lean on your extended network and you've got to be able to fill these roles. And at the time, extended network was not nearly what it is today. People were generally freelance only when they were laid off or between jobs. It wasn't a career choice necessarily like it is today, and I thought that was just a much better way to operate. I saw how many. High performers and creatives and writers and developers were just craving something other than burning out and agency is burnout. That's like the lifestyle is to really grind. And so I just saw an opportunity to build something different where we would turn the ability for. To choose how they worked and that would be, they get to choose their hours. Yeah. There's a lot of just things that happen naturally with agencies as they scale, as they grow, that just make it tricky. And this model just always spoke to me, and I loved the idea of being able to create something where people could really come energized and excited and not have to. Through some of the bureaucracy that naturally happens as you're growing a company. And it's funny now as we're growing that I am seeing a lot of the benefit of that bureaucracy and I am having to evolve. I'd ha I'm having to evolve how. I can maintain that core truth of great people giving them great work. Our bench is stacked with people who are freelanced by choice, whether that's because they're a parent and they wanna have the flexibility or because they were laid off and they picked up three clients outta nowhere and they're like, Hey, I actually enjoy this. Or because they are caretaking a parent. There's a lot of reasons why people want to be freelance and why they choose to do it. So this is a great way for us to bring that talent together, um, and just really make something special.

Russel:

Yeah. And if I'm hearing that right, like you're saying, evolve and I think you're absolutely right in this trend, and I think I grew up in the agency world where, yes, if you needed work done, you go hire somebody and, and all your work is done. It was this rite of passage to say. We're entirely in-house and Oh, that's the buzzword. Yes. And I go, it's just funny when you think back on some of those statements, you're like, well, that, that seems so silly now to just say that has to be the way, and that you can't be a little more flexible and dynamic by carrying a bench and having a stronger network of contractors and freelancers. And I'm sure some people are also gonna say, yeah, duh, why wouldn't you do that? But,

Hillary:

well, part of that too is that it used to be that you'd hire an agency for the talent. Like you were buying into the talent, you were buying into the leadership, you were buying into the aura, and that's still the case. You still have those agencies that just come with such a legacy that it's absolutely, we are going to hire, the densu and the collective and whoever, but the reality is that. The change is happening where you don't own people. Like people are dynamic, they move in their career, they go to different places. And I think that really comes down to the culture of the agency and how they operate that's gonna produce those predictable results that companies are like. Absolutely. That's who I wanna work with.

Russel:

Well and it just proves, and I think that's a little bit problem challenge probably in a circles, but specifically agency of how of. Cultural business practices are in the industrial age. Like, like you said, this word, own people, control people. And, and that is a very industrial age mindset. And I think we're, we're finally evolving and coming around it. But some folks, some people, some agencies are further along than others.

Hillary:

Yeah, exactly.

Russel:

I know this kind of right, the typical when someone's starting and there's just all that adrenaline and gusto and everything that is you're,'cause you're coming out of the gate, in terms of what you're dreaming and what you're thinking about and what the future holds, but how has that changed for you as you've evolved as a business and what you're trying to achieve and what your goals are?

Hillary:

I think in the beginning I was really focused on getting flexible work, working. I wanted to be able to have predictability in the work that was coming in, the clients that we had, and I wanted to be able. To manage a flexible lifestyle. And a lot of that was rooted because again, I knew I was gonna become a mom and I wanted to get that done before that happened. And so originally, I think my worldview was a little bit smaller on. What's possible here? Mm-hmm. And as time has gone on, we've expanded. We originally were called social HQ because we were exclusively social focused, and in the era of moving against the grain, I expanded instead of niching down. So we evolved into digital hq. Then we brought on Jacqueline Del Martinez as our president and chief communications officer who oversees the communications side of the business, and she has stood that up alongside the marketing division that I oversee. So the agency has grown beyond what I could have envisioned in the beginning, but the root of everything where flexible work is. Middle of mind is that we get to share that with other workers and other contractors and other people. I mean, every time I pay out a monthly payroll, I'm shocked. It's the best feeling in the world to be able to fund this lifestyle for so many people.

Russel:

It sounds like creating the work environment you didn't quite have or polishing what you would've hoped would be better and just go create that for yourself.

Hillary:

I think that's what we all do though. It's always about the experiences that we have that are gonna turn into a. Something you know better next time around and next iteration. And there's a lot too. I know you talk a lot about leadership and agencies and management and being a first time manager of a growing team of a young team was a huge learning curve when I was at my previous agency and we were moving so quickly that I always felt. I was not living up to that potential with management. Mm-hmm. That was something I always was struggling with and wrapping my head with. I was listening to podcasts on Zoom management on the way into work. I was listening on the way out. I was doing it while I was working out and now. With that experience and with those repetitions, I'm much more comfortable with my management style and how I lead the team through example and how I can give that feedback more critically and openly and with a lot of love too. That's a lot of what comes into the management space that I just really could not have done without experience.

Russel:

Well, that's something they, I don't think is always on top of people's minds when they do start their business and even probably deep into running their business, is this idea of once you have a team, like it or not, you're now a manager. You are a caretaker of other human beings trying to get them to perform at their best, and that can be. Tough thing to do. When you think about that aspect of your role, did you feel prepared for that by the time you were doing that on your own? Or, or did you still feel like you had a lot to learn?

Hillary:

It's funny. In the beginning I wasn't managing people. I was managing myself.

Russel:

Yeah.

Hillary:

And it was, which might be the

Russel:

hardest person to manage.

Hillary:

Oh, she's crazy. No, it was a lovely break. I had put so much pressure on myself for. Several years of being a people manager that by the time I could just focus back on myself, it was like a breath of fresh air. Yeah. And then when it came time to hire the first worker and the second worker and the third worker, it became much more, it was so much easier. It was like riding a bike. And I felt much more prepared this time around than I had with a little bit of the trial by fire. Yeah.

Russel:

Well, it's interesting and I feel that a little bit in, in what you're sharing of having that break and how impactful that probably could have been. As you know, even just how you were describing that before of just you're just trying to keep up with everything that's almost being reactive and you listen to podcasts and trying to learn everything you can, real time, real scenarios, but having some time to just reflect and calm the waters per se, and then start back up again. I could see where that would be really, really beneficial. Uh, I, I say that too. I probably skipped a part of. Having now stepped away from my agency previously, uh, I see things just a lot more differently than I think I ever could when I was just in the thick of it.

Hillary:

What do you think is the biggest focus or biggest thing that you're noticing now that you're stepping out?

Russel:

Oh man. How many hours do you have here? Um,

Hillary:

I'll give you my hourly. Right. I'll be like therapy.

Russel:

Yeah. You know, honestly, I think far and away the biggest, and this has really helped inform my work, is once we got to a certain point, we kind of stopped stepping back and really. Rethinking our strategy for how we're growing. And I think we just maybe thought we had cut our teeth enough that we're always just tactical maneuvers away from, improvements to the business and just some slight re-engineering. And that might not have been entirely a false mindset, but I don't think we ever. Continued to try to grow from a core strategy. This is the next biggest obstacle and this is our way to solve that for the growth of this business. I don't think we came to, forced ourselves to think through that and really dig down and focus on that. It was just kind of a lot of, like I said, a lot of tactical maneuvering and I think honestly being transparent of we grew really fast and then we stalled and I think that was a big factor in some of the stall.

Hillary:

Yeah. Makes sense. I think that the distance can really add a lot of clarity.

Russel:

Oh yeah. And that's why someone also

Hillary:

might feel like the end of the world sometimes.

Russel:

Yes, yes. Yes. Uh, like why

Hillary:

does my body think it is being chased by a bear?

Russel:

Yes. Well, yeah. The, the, the stress part is for sure. But it's funny, I mean, just, I hear so many owners say when you pull them away for a minute or a day or something, just how important that time is, and they're like, oh my gosh. You fall into these routines where you show up and you just routinize yourself. And yeah, if anything, just pulling away for whatever time you can, when you can, is really powerful.

Hillary:

Yeah, the saying it's marketing, not brain surgery is, you know, always very relevant in a lot of these cases, but it's definitely one of those areas that the space of it all and being able to come back into it was just such a blessing and do it, you know, the way that I wanted to, in the way that I saw it, it could come to life, was just, you know, such a treat that I didn't have to wait. Till 20 years later.

Russel:

It reminds me too, I'm just sitting here thinking as you're sharing that of the, and I think it's probably a good practice, right? Every year cancel all your recurring meetings. Yes. And, and see. Yes. And see what comes back to life, or what is actually necessary. Better yet,

Hillary:

go on maternity leave. Man. Let me tell you the amount of things that got off my calendar and that I did not pick back up when I got back, like. Holy smokes. I have never been more locked in. Yeah. Than post mat leave,

Russel:

so, that's right. You just had a baby recently, is that right? Or

Hillary:

I did earlier this year. Yes, I did. Okay. Yes.

Russel:

What was that like? Was that your first?

Hillary:

That's my first, yeah. Okay.

Russel:

So what was that like navigating, preparing for having a baby, being away from the business for a little bit? Tell us more about that.

Hillary:

Oh man. Well, like I said, I do plan things pretty far in advance. Yeah. But once I make my mind up, we move. We move on it. So we had always known that we wanted kids, and I had always known that I wanted to be able to have the option to be. More present and more available. Yeah. You know, my mom's generation of women were the first real working women generation where they were really back in the office and really trying to cut their teeth and make their way in. What had historically been a man's world and that included rigid times and not a lot of PTL and a lot of sacrifices to be seen. Uh, and that includes dance recitals and being able to show up for field trips and you know, a lot of other things that come naturally with having kids. And I think you're a dad too. You see it just how much can really go into it. Yeah. And I wanted the choice. I didn't know what kind of mom I would want to be if I wanted to be a working mom or if I wanted to be more of hybrid, but I knew that stepping away entirely from a career was not gonna be an option for me. I love work. Yeah. It's so much fun to me. I love stimulating my brain. I love working with other people, and that just wasn't gonna be the case for me. So. Stepping away and planning for a maternity leave as a business owner was not easy. It took a lot of humility. It took a lot of trust in the team. It took a lot of planning. I think I told my business partner when I was like eight weeks pregnant. I was like, hello? Like, usually you don't tell a work until much further down the road, but man, we had working was a lot of. Planning and working with the team, a lot of process management, um, a lot of introductions really early to clients and bringing more people into the fold. And there were a lot of things that I had been doing just naturally from starting the company that I was used to, whether that was certain client communications, certain management of operations, things that really. Probably could have been punted a lot earlier, but it's just the rhythm. It's hard to get out of it. So that was definitely, you know, the piece of it that was really helpful was that pre-planning.

Russel:

Yeah. I mean right. A, a big life event, but. You know, taking what's, might seem like something that's a detriment to the, not even a detriment to the business, but a difficulty, I should say, to navigate in the business. Turning that into a positive, really knowing what is important, getting rid of what's not, and delegating more, and solving some of those as you're preparing for that when you came back. You know, talk about this concept of stepping away. That's a form of stepping away for a minute. How did your perspective change? Did it change? What was life like coming back?

Hillary:

Oh, hugely. The biggest change was things that felt so big before I left. Really did not feel very big when I got back. I, man, it was a hormonal lobotomy a little bit. Yeah. I was just like, I was not worried at all about anything. Um, mainly because I got to see and step away. I got to see how the team performed in my absence. And there's this like, if you get hit by a bus tomorrow, the company's gonna go down feeling. And that's a lot of pressure to exist in because this was my first baby. This was my blood, sweat and tear and my hustle and all of my time invested. And to. Let it go into the world and see what it did on its own. Just took a lot of energy. And luckily I had a cute little baby to take my mind off of it, but when I got back it was like, man, everything that I had been so worried about. I was not nearly as like for a second,

Russel:

Chris, this thought was gonna be this, this other baby doesn't need me as much as, uh, this new baby does.

Hillary:

No, it's a teenager, it's doing its thing. And you know, now that I get to be back and work on the things that I am currently working on, like I love it. I'm loving the work that we're doing right now. I am loving the clients that we have right now, that we are, you know, growing with and helping to grow. We're having an absolute blast over here. And last year this time we were having a good time, but I was very stressed.

Russel:

Yeah, absolutely. It's funny, and I mean, I feel like this is the theme that's coming out of this conversation is the power of stepping away. And while maybe going and not, the advice is not necessarily go have a child, to force yourself to step away, but, but there are other ways we can go about this, right? Plan a month long vacation plan, a sabbatical, do something. Like that, you'll, you'll get the recuperation benefit, but you'll also get the perspective benefit and the and I'm sure there's many more you can fill in the gaps of what are the other benefits that really come from stepping away.

Hillary:

Oh, I mean, there's a million, but I do think that, um, the other piece of it is that being a working mom and being a working woman. It can be a decision in a time where you're like, man, I don't know if I'm ready. Like I don't know if I am ready to give up, like the focus on my work. I love my career. I don't wanna have to choose. And that is a huge reason why I built Digital HQ is because I wanted to give that choice. And having gone through it myself and seeing just how incredible it is, like. I feel bad that I had hesitated to have kids for so long because of my career. You know, there's a lot of preparation that came into it that made it possible, but man, like this lifestyle and this kind of work for a certain personality is just like, there's a lot of success that can come out of it. So I do hope that. The remote work lifestyle and the flexible work model will continue to grow. There's been a lot of talk about return to office and you know, getting people back five days a week in person and standard nine to five. I've seen a lot of articles come out about how remote work is like not good for people. Like big RTO is working hard these days, right? But there's just, there's such a place for it. There's a place for both and ultimately it comes back to choice.

Russel:

I think we, hopefully we're starting to learn as humans too much of one thing or not enough of another thing, is probably never, never the right answer in this hybrid world. just as you're talking through this, and I've had similar conversations with other women, but I certainly empathize this maybe tug of war. Career or your role as a parent That I can be honest, is probably typically felt more by women than it is males, But it sounds like, when you're thinking about other young or whatever age women thinking about this tug of war, can you have both? Can you have the career and the business and the way you want it and be the parent that you want?

Hillary:

I think it depends on what you want, but ultimately, yes, my experience is yes, you can. And I think that to me is because of remote work because. This company that that is definitely possible. So I always think it's within the realm of being able to build it. Like this remote work really did not exist pre pandemic? No, no. It was, the vision was there before pandemic, and then the pandemic just kind of. Happened and it made everything transform in a way that businesses said could not be done. It's amazing what happens when money is on the line, Russell. I'm telling you, people adapt. But you can have a great, fulfilling, fabulous career and have a wonderful family. I think it's possible to do both.

Russel:

Maybe just the kind of takeaways might be need a little more intentional. Otherwise you can't just throw time and everything you've got at it. You have to be more selective and opportunity cost. But there is a way that's extremely inspirational and appreciate you sharing that. Well, as much as I don't want to, all good conversations do come to an end. So many great perspectives that you've shared already. Maybe if I could just get one last one from you. Entrepreneurs born or are they made?

Hillary:

They're born.

Russel:

Oh,

Hillary:

they're born. I think every entrepreneur has it in them and has that spark in them. I think that life will deal you cards that will dwindle that light, and it is your job to get it roaring if you're up for the challenge. Mm-hmm. But I think that's already in you.

Russel:

I mean, you're always gonna have me excited at a born answer. Uh, so, uh, I, I'm here for it. Um, well, if people wanna know more about Digital hq, where can they go?

Hillary:

They can go to dgt hq.com. No vs. And you can also follow me on LinkedIn, Hillary Applegate. I'd love to see you over there.

Russel:

Perfect. Perfect. Well. Wonderful conversation today, Hilary. Appreciate you taking the time to share just your thoughts on growing up in Silicon Valley. Uh, the really, the real takeaway, the power of stepping away, how that can improve yourself, your business, so many other aspects of your life. And the always important thing of balancing this role is of motherhood and parenting and a business. And really appreciate you sharing your perspectives on that today.

Hillary:

Thanks for having me, Russell. It was a good time.

Russel:

Good time indeed. Thank you for listening to an agency story podcast where every story helps you write your own, subscribe, share, and join us again for more real stories, lessons learned, and breakthroughs ahead. What's next? You'll want to visit an agency story.com/podcast and follow us on Instagram at an agency story for the latest updates.

Hillary:

When I had first started Digital hq, I was running webinars by, you know, in my living room and running through X, Y, and Z on social media content, whatever it is. And my only audience in the live stream were two of my friends from high school for like weeks. Oh, I was telling that story to my friend today who's considering starting her own thing, and I was like, how do I get over the cringe factor? I'm like, you can't. You just gotta go. It. Then you end up on the other side and it's great.

Russel:

Well, let's talk about how real ones your, your two friends were too as well. Yeah, right. Shout out to Sean

Hillary:

and Devon Dan. Like they're good friends. Good friends.

Russel:

Yeah. If they're not willing to show up for you in your cringe moments, that's not the kind of friendship I want.

Hillary:

I would agree with you. Yeah. There

Russel:

you go.