Obstacles to Opportunities
When faced with life's obstacles, let's channel that negative energy into positivity and forge opportunities. Throughout the nation, business owners will share their experiences of triumphing over daunting challenges in their careers and lives, illustrating how they've harnessed these experiences for growth opportunities.
Obstacles to Opportunities
From Mompreneur to Property Mogul: Dara Whitaker's Journey on the Obstacles to Opportunities Podcast
Get ready for an inspiring episode on the "Obstacles to Opportunities Podcast" as Heather and Jess sit down with the dynamic Dara Whitaker, owner of Navigate Naples—a rental management and concierge service company. Join us as Dara shares the incredible story of her life as a mother of two and a successful businesswoman, turning obstacles into opportunities every step of the way.
Dara provides a glimpse into her upbringing in a household of entrepreneurs, painting a vivid picture of how her roots influenced her vision for life. Discover how her background laid the foundation for creating something truly needed in the Naples market—a thriving property management business that is now an integral part of the community.
In this candid conversation, Dara opens up about the challenges of juggling multiple roles, from being a dedicated mom to steering the ship of a growing business. Learn how she embraced the obstacles, turning them into stepping stones for success.
But that's not all—Dara shares an extraordinary chapter of her life during the birth of her daughter. Instead of seeing it as downtime, she used the precious moments to launch a thriving podcast, connecting with other moms in the community. Hear firsthand how she transformed what could have been perceived as an obstacle into a powerful platform for building connections and supporting fellow mothers.
This episode is a testament to the strength of a determined woman who has not only built a successful business but has also created a community of support and inspiration. Tune in and discover the strategies, mindset shifts, and resilience that have allowed Dara Whitaker to turn every obstacle into an opportunity for growth and connection.
Subscribe to the "Obstacles to Opportunities Podcast" for more empowering stories of individuals who have navigated life's challenges and emerged stronger on the other side. Join us on this journey from obstacles to opportunities!
Welcome to the Obscoles to Opportunities podcast. I'm Jess. Powell, your host, and I'm Heather Kane, your co-host, and today we have Dara Whitaker in the house, hello, hello, we're so excited to have you. She is the owner of Navigate Naples, which is a rental management company in Concierge service here in Naples, florida.
Speaker 2:She's so needed.
Speaker 1:Oh, 100%, and I always. So Dara and I met online and had coffee. We hit it off and we just started kind of collaborating together and figuring out ways we could kind of help each other out. And it's been great to watch Dara because you know she moved to Naples probably around the same time that I did and it's really great to see her.
Speaker 3:Business has just taken off, so where are you from Dara, so I'm originally from the Northeast, but most recently we moved from Minnesota.
Speaker 2:Oh, so a huge change. So you're like loving the fact that you're not piled in snow right now?
Speaker 3:Yes, oh for sure. I mean, it's so funny. It's been kind of cold here lately and you know I'll post some things and my friends from the Northeast and from Minnesota will be like, oh my gosh, like how are you so lucky you're wearing shorts and a t-shirt, or a dress.
Speaker 2:It's actually kind of cold. It's amazing how fast you adjust, doesn't it Like you're like, wait a minute, this is not cold, this is actually like summer in Minnesota, and I'm saying I'm cold right now.
Speaker 1:But everyone that doesn't live here does not feel bad for us. No, they do not, no. But but we had met and had coffee and she was kind of explained to me the concept of you know what she was doing and the idea of the concierge side and I said, if you ever need to try out what you're going to recommend to people, I will be your girl, I will go in the boat with you.
Speaker 2:She's such a giver. I'm going to branch with you. I will see that for you. You're such a team player I know.
Speaker 1:I know I'm just I'm available. She hasn't taken me up on a yet, but I am available. Okay, you're next on the list, I'm waiting. So no, so, I'm just so excited that you're here and so, gosh, take it. Take us back a little bit. What really kind of inspired you to start a business and you have two young kids?
Speaker 2:and being new. I mean to be new to Naples, not knowing anyone, and say you know what I'm? Well, you did know some people.
Speaker 3:So my in-laws have actually lived here for almost 20 years maybe even more, and so we've been coming down here every year for a long time, and during COVID is really when we were like or the beginning of COVID, we were like, okay, we can't be locked in our basement with our two young babies.
Speaker 3:No, it was terrible In the freezing cold. So we were like, okay, we're out of here. And so we decided Naples would be a good choice, just because we did have some family here and I actually went to high school in Florida, so it's a climate that I'm comfortable in.
Speaker 2:We're in Florida.
Speaker 3:In Boca Raton. Okay, so on the other coast, yeah, on the East coast, but I feel like Boca and Naples are kind of similar, yeah, yeah, similar in size, yeah, but we've been in Naples for, I would say, almost three years. And hold on, wait, yeah, word, you can edit it, okay.
Speaker 2:Perfect, yeah, we can edit anything.
Speaker 3:I was just going to talk about, because your question was really about, like, where did it start?
Speaker 1:Yeah, like yes, where did kind of, how did you get inspired to start something like this? And we're like gosh, you just moved here, yeah, you know. So maybe, like you had some, did you have investment properties before you moved?
Speaker 3:here. Okay, perfect, I'll start that. Okay. So we moved here about three years ago and we bought our house right in the height of the market, or what we thought was the height of the market at that point, and right away we saw how much our home had appreciated so quickly and so we thought, okay, maybe this is an opportunity to buy an investment property, right? And so I was a stay at home mom with my kids and I was looking for something to do to kind of like get my creative energy out. And so we decided, okay, we'll buy a property, you'll manage it full time, we'll rent it out on Airbnb and kind of see how that goes.
Speaker 3:And it went incredibly, and it was so much fun. I was so fulfilled by the work that I was doing and meeting the guests and, you know, being kind of like a homemaker. But it also was a business and we were, you know, producing income, so that was really cool. And from there just started talking with friends and family. And a lot of our friends and family also have investment properties and they were looking for somebody to manage them as well, so started taking those on, and then it just started growing organically through word of mouth and and how many properties to manage right now.
Speaker 2:So we're up to 25. Okay, and you must have a team. Yes, so I have a team.
Speaker 3:You know we're really hands on, so it's really a team of people who are in the homes like every single day, putting that personal touch. And just you know, when we, when guest walks into the home, we want them to feel like they're the first people who have ever been there. We don't want it to seem like someone else has been in the home. We want it to be welcoming and just seem like a place where they're going to be comfortable for the duration of their stay and make it worthwhile for them.
Speaker 2:So tell me, what is your number one obstacle you've had with starting a property management company, going from zero into 25 properties in a short amount of time?
Speaker 3:I would say the biggest challenge is human error. So there I mean, no matter how hard you try, no matter how many checklists you make and processes you put into place, there's always something that's going to be overlooked. And I've always found that that one thing is what the guest is most like particular about.
Speaker 1:Oh, my great, so it's so crazy.
Speaker 3:I mean, you know it's. It's funny how that happens and how that works. You know, we were learning every single day and we um it doesn't happen very often that there's something that goes wrong, but I would say that is the biggest learning curve is just like dotting the eyes, crossing the T's, making sure everything is perfect, and I'm a little bit of a perfectionist, I don't know.
Speaker 2:So we have a high standard, so I. So it's funny that you you say that, because I always feel like one of the biggest obstacles as a business owner is managing all the different personalities. Right? So you're managing personalities of staff, but then you're also managing personalities of guests and owners of the home and owners of the houses.
Speaker 2:So as, are you a kill it with kindness kind of person, or are you a matter of a fact, like how is that really, um, how do you I mean you're, you can tell you have such great energy, so it's like you, but how do you manage all of that? Cause that's three different big plays and running a business.
Speaker 3:So that's a great question. Our motto at navigate Naples is hosting with heart. So we are like everything we do, we have our heart behind it and I think the kill it with kindness is a way of saying that Um, you know everything we do. I hope that people can tell like we're actually coming from a place of like, love and kindness, um, and that usually is people are able to feel that and um, you know. One other thing we do like if, if somebody like last week, for example, this is not a show, not a shiny moment, but, um, but people want to hear the non-shiny moments, cause it isn't always shiny.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I will tell you. I mean my path to success is is messy. Right, it is not. It is not beautiful, it is a freaking huge roller coaster ride, right.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:People want to know about that, because if we just show the shiny objects, then they don't relate. Yeah, yeah, no totally yeah.
Speaker 3:So you know, um, we have checks and balances where the cleaners will go in, clean the home and then we have our team who goes in after to like make sure everything is perfect. And something fell through the cracks last week where a guest checked in and they were making a cup of coffee and they found the old coffee grounds like in the coffee maker still. And my heart like sank when they messaged me that and I was just like, oh my gosh, like my jaw just hit the floor, I'm so sorry. Like we'll get the cleaners over there to clean it replace them. They were like no, it's fine, don't worry about it.
Speaker 3:Like we understand, we can tell the house is meticulous. Otherwise, it was just like something that got overlooked, right. And you know, if you know, maybe if I didn't handle it that way, where I made like a you know it was a big deal and it is a big deal Um, maybe they would have been angry about it, right, but the fact that we like truly, truly care and want to make it right, yeah, I think that speaks volumes, because I feel like if I would have called anyone else, they would have been like you know what we've got?
Speaker 1:Sorry, we're really booked, you know, and we're busy. So, yeah, you're right, things were overlooked. You know that, that that could be the, the, the communication, but the fact that you're like we're devastated over this is not us, and I was devastated. Like, like I mean, I know, but you're hold it. Like you said, you hold yourself to a high standard, which is why you've done so well. But, um, but yeah, like speaking from the heart, guests are tough.
Speaker 2:So I have an Airbnb in North Carolina and you know we always get to see the feedback and one of the feedback was there was watermarks on the cup, like and I'm like, are you kidding me? Like, really, like seriously, I mean thank God I don't manage it because I don't have the personality to manage it Cause I'd be like are you kidding me? Like he came out of the dishwasher and it went into the and I'm sorry that there's watermarks.
Speaker 3:Really. Yeah, like enjoy the view.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. Like you know that sounds terrible to say that, but like that's why I have to have so much patience, so much patience, which is why I don't manage my property, is because I, I couldn't, I be yeah, that wouldn't, that wouldn't yeah.
Speaker 3:And you know what it's kind of um an important point about how I I feel like I've grown so much in my business like and been able to grow so quickly, is because a lot of property managers who have been in the business for a really long time, even in Naples or North Carolina, wherever it is they kind of you know, they're like I'm not sure what I'm doing, north Carolina, wherever it is, they kind of are having those attitudes where the guest isn't always right and it's kind of like okay, you know, just sorry that happened, move on, enjoy your stay. Where I feel like hospitality needs to be brought back to the Airbnb's yes, they're staying at a home and they don't have a full staff, um, like a hotel does. But having that hospitality and and really just making someone feel welcome and, you know, invited to enjoy your home is like a big deal. And that's also where the concierge piece came into play. I love that. Tell us more about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'd love to hear about that, because everybody wants the, the immediate gratification of of everything. So how does that work?
Speaker 3:So our guest, so included in all of our guest stays is full access to our concierge service. So whether, like this morning, I was just helping someone organize bike rentals and um someone to set up umbrellas and chairs at a beach when they're down here over Christmas. So people can, the guests can reach out to us and we will coordinate private chefs um pre-arrival fridge stocking into the home so all their favorite food and um beverages are there before they get there. Um, boat charters, basically right, like restaurant reservations, babysitters, you name it, we can do it. Beach picnics, all the fun stuff that people want to do in Naples. Yeah, and it really act as a resource for people because if it's their first time coming here, or even, you know, if it's not their first time coming here, um, they still want to know. Okay, what are the best things for us to do, what are the new things to do?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And it saves them time and energy because they don't have to spend time Googling and looking up and making calls. We do that for them, so it's a value add for the reservation. So do you have?
Speaker 2:to be a guest of one of your airbibs to use your concierge service Nope.
Speaker 3:Um other. We provide services for other um airbibs and other property managers in Naples and yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that Sher taught us how to look for other people's sayings as a closing gift, let me guess who could that have possibly been?
Speaker 2:Is her name Jess Cowell? No, it wasn't me. No, it was someone else. She told me about it and I'm thinking that I need to do that for the next closing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I love that idea especially someone who didn't Naples, that just came down here.
Speaker 2:So how does that work? Like if someone says I want to hire you, I have a closing for a client and I want to hire, I want to give X amount of concierge services. Like how does that work? Because obviously they still pay for the actual experience.
Speaker 3:Yes, so they buy an annual membership and then for their client, the closing, and then they would give me their information. We would set up a call, talk with them about what they're looking for. Maybe they're a seasonal resident who's coming down, who wants to coordinate a boat tour for their grandchildren or get a chef to come for a night over Christmas, when all their family's coming down for a birthday, yeah, anything. So we would just have a call, sit down, talk about it, and then we'd be happy to pass it off.
Speaker 2:So how much does someone pay for a yearly concierge membership?
Speaker 3:So an annual membership is $500, and that includes unlimited services, ok.
Speaker 2:Now the question is do they get better pricing going through you versus if they were to go directly to you?
Speaker 3:So certain vendors we do have discounts, others we do not, but the fact that they don't have to do any of the legwork and it's all taken care of.
Speaker 2:That's why we hire travel agents. You're like the local travel agent for all things Southwest Florida right, which is kind of cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's super fun and I love to travel myself and I actually. The idea for the concierge came when we were staying at a place in Cabo, this beautiful home, and we had a concierge and he planned private chefs for us. He planned a day party at a pool, just different things.
Speaker 3:Dinner reservations, bridge stocking, the whole thing. So I was like does this exist in Naples, Right? And I couldn't find it because I wanted to offer it at my properties and I couldn't find it. And I was like I'm just going to do it myself, I'll figure it out.
Speaker 2:How did this? I mean, dar, like so many people graduate college and they go get a job right. Like clearly you have an entrepreneurial spirit. Like where did that come from?
Speaker 3:Both of my parents were business owners. My mom was in the mortgage industry she owned a mortgage brokerage for a long time and she still is in the industry and my dad is a builder and I would hear their conversations and I learned so much from them growing up. I mean, every morning we would have the stock tickers running on our TVs and like, because my mom was trying to see the rates, the mortgage rates, because that impacted her day and that's how you got information back in those days. And so I grew up seeing them and I kind of knew all along that I didn't want to go into a corporate environment for a career. But I tried it after graduating from college and it was not for me.
Speaker 3:And so my friend and I started a social media business right after college and from there we moved from New York City, where I went to school, to Minnesota and I ended up going back to corporate just because in Minnesota like that's kind of the main industry. And then after that, when we moved to Naples, we had our two kids. I stayed home for a while and then my husband and I, like I said, we bought our first investment property and then that was when I knew that this was what my career path was going to be, and I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit. So every day I love my job and it doesn't feel like a job, it's like a hobby.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's beautiful when your job is not a job. You're using the gifts that God's given you to create a purpose that is bigger than what you're actually doing day to day right. Because you're impacting people's lives and creating an experience which memories are what life is all about, and you're impacting the memories that they get to build with their families.
Speaker 3:Exactly, and I don't get to meet guests very often because people still after COVID are a little bit weird about having someone like personal face-to-face interaction.
Speaker 2:They prefer to just kind of do their own thing, show up and it be done and leave and yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but when I do get to meet the guests, that's like my favorite part of the whole thing. You're like, can we hug? I actually did have a guest hug me last week and it made my day. I was like this is amazing, it's sweet.
Speaker 1:That's on a seven. So how do you do it all? You have two young kids at the Riving Business Like how do you do it all? Do you have any magic tricks for us that you want to share?
Speaker 3:Or, I think, on the business side of things, finding tools that can save you time and make you more productive are key. I recently found a tool that automates all the cleaning schedules of all the homes and the payments of the cleaners oh nice. And whereas before I was like manually paying on Venmo or Zelle like every single time or every month, and now I found this program that basically like syncs with my property management system and then puts it on my cleaners calendar and then pays them once they finish it, like once they say it's completed, it pays them. And that's like just that small little thing. Yeah, saves so much time. And it's not even time, it's also like the mental mental capability of your brain Right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so if you know, if you can just take one thing away, it makes your life a lot easier. Um, but there are so many different programs that I'm using like that do similar things like that just to free up some time so that we can grow and put, put our energy and focus on areas that can can make the business better and make the business grow. Um, and then, from a personal life standpoint, I think, um, I'm like a huge calendar person, okay, um, so I put quite literally everything into my calendar is, like, you know, kid's snack day or whatever.
Speaker 1:Writing. Are you a writer to like of a calendar or is it electronic, cause there's two different types of people? It's a Google calendar, okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah, I'm a Google calendar kind of gal Cause if you don't invite me to a meeting and I don't accept it, then I'm not showing up. But you know what I mean?
Speaker 3:it's kind of like uh, that has to be. I mean, I'm looking at my, it's like my Bible you know, all day crashes.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:If it's on the calendar I do it.
Speaker 1:Like, if it's not on the calendar, I don't do it.
Speaker 2:Like even to the point where I have to calendar in, I mean working time or something. Yeah, it's got to be there, or else it doesn't get done. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I've heard, I heard someone say and I always think back to this that if you look at your like your day as just like a blank slate and you think about how sometimes you just let things happen to you, right, like you let your calendar get filled up, people are always demanding you know time like your time, you know, and and if you just do that, then you're really. You can't just like, you can't prioritize your life. You have to literally start prioritizing. Okay, what's the most important thing to me? Put it on the calendar. What's the second most important thing? Put it on the calendar. Yeah, because if you don't, then life happens to you. Yeah, and then before you wake up and wonder what the heck happened to my like, my whole week.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, I mean I, I, I schedule, like I'm already scheduling my year out for next year for my time off, so that that way everything's booked out so that people can't because I have three people that book on my calendar, right? So it's like I'm always very, I feel, like any business owner, they, they have to be run by time blocking. I mean that's the key Systems, services and tie block, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:And one thing for me, because I'm driving around all day long, whether it's going to meet with a potential new client or going to check on something at a house, or meeting a vendor or whatever it is, I'm always driving. So it's also about like geographic planning for me. So if I know that I'm going to be in North Naples on Monday morning at nine am I have a meeting, I'm going to try to plan all the rest of my things that are in North Naples on that day to try to cut down on drive time.
Speaker 2:So just trying to like optimize time and and how do you know with two little ones that aren't in school? Well, so they are in school, okay, yeah.
Speaker 3:So three and four.
Speaker 2:Okay, so that was that for you, just because you said you were staying at home, mom, when you first came here. Yeah, right, so how did that? Because I'm sure we have a lot of listeners there in the same boat. How did you mentally prepare yourself for that, or how has that been an obstacle?
Speaker 3:Um, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I was ready. I was so ready. I had been a stay at home mom for three years and I don't want to say stay at home mom, a full-time mom, that's actually a better term for it. Yeah, I agree, um, because I was not staying home.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was like out and about all the time but, um, I was a full-time mom for three years and my kids are only 15 months apart. So it was really hard, like it was two diapers. It was like it was way harder than what I'm doing now and I eased myself into it, though still, because it is hard to take a step back from being the primary, like full-time caretaker of your kids. So we started with just part-time school or like school is really nursery school. We did part-time just maybe two or three days a week, and then we would do half days and then we started into full-time, full days, and they love it, which makes it so much easier. Yeah, because they like ask to go to school when we have off for a break, like we had off for a week for Thanksgiving. By the end of like by that Saturday they were like, are we going to school tomorrow? Like what the heck? Like we wanna go back and see our friends.
Speaker 2:You're so boring. I find I'm a better mom personally when we have better balance in our house. When our kids went to school, it was when we tried to juggle in, because when we first moved here too, I decided I had my brokerage in Dallas but I hadn't started my brokerage in Naples yet. I took two years before I dove into real estate. For those two years I didn't feel like I had balance, and when I'm not balanced, I feel like it's that whole hire someone who's really busy to get a job done right and I don't know. I feel like I showed up as a better mom once I actually went back to work.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and your kids benefit from it. I think, like if they see you being a happy, positive person who's able to be productive and your cup is filled, then I think that resonates with them and they are a more positive, happy child. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I feel like so many times when women decide to be full-time caretakers because staying at home, mom, is not a good term.
Speaker 1:I agree, because I never stayed home either.
Speaker 2:I mean, I was never. I'm not someone who likes to be at home Same but I just feel like so many times and this is gonna be a very unpopular opinion and I'm sure I'm gonna get some slack on this but I feel like a lot of women who don't have something outside of the home they create a little. My gosh, I'm making a lot of trouble for this. You can delete it. Yeah, they create a little bit of and this is just my own personal opinion and the outsider looking in.
Speaker 2:And maybe from your experience too, and maybe from my experience is that the women tend to get resentful and then there's not a healthy balance in the home, and so I feel like the women that I know that have something other than also being a caretaker for their children tend to be more balanced and happier.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've seen some people be totally fulfilled in a mother role and they're like crushing it. Oh yeah, I've seen that. I'm like they look balanced, like they're fulfilling just everything in their life.
Speaker 2:I think it also has to do with a partner.
Speaker 1:So if the partner makes you feel, that way that you're equally contributing.
Speaker 2:I think that the unhealthy balance is if the partner doesn't appreciate.
Speaker 1:Or see the value.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I think it all depends on who you choose in a life partner, cause, if you choose, then yeah, I could see that.
Speaker 3:I can see that too, and it also depends. I guess you could be a full-time mom and be totally fulfilled by that If you have some type of outlet, whether it's working out every morning before your kids are waking up or you love to cook, so you're trying new recipes for dinner, or whatever it is. Finding something that you really are passionate about. That gives you some independence.
Speaker 2:The fulfillment. I think that's where it is. I feel like we all are searching for our purpose, our gifts that God's given us. As long as we're filling that cup, then we're able to equally balance and give. It's when that is not full, when we can't give to others, and without that it's just totally.
Speaker 3:No, no, I mean, I think you can slice it to a point where it sounds great. I say we just keep it.
Speaker 2:I feel like, if someone's listening to this, though, and they're thinking to themselves I don't feel like I have balance in my life because I'm staying home with my children really reflect and say to yourself well, do I need to find something that fulfills my purpose? Well, and I don't know if it doesn't have to be a job, it doesn't have to be going to work. It could be take a cooking class and learn how to cook, or go to the gym and work out.
Speaker 2:You just say you do something for yourself, do something for yourself that makes you feel fulfilled, so that that way your cup is full, so you can continue to give.
Speaker 3:And I don't know if you girls are on the mom's Facebook groups but yeah, it's too overwhelming for me, I shut down. Some of those posts that I see. I see kind of exactly who you're talking about. Their husbands are out at work all day. They're home taking care of the children and their husbands don't appreciate what they're doing or value it.
Speaker 2:It's so sad when I горحت.
Speaker 1:Environment back again soon after school, so sad. Well, I was actually going to hit on something, because I know we are about at time and I'm going to hit on something kind of the same along the same line. So I heard you say like when your kids were younger, it was really hard, and this is a podcast about obstacles. Something that you did, though, during that time, I feel like, is something that people need to hear. You started a podcast. I did so instead of kind of sitting in that hard. I feel like that you created a space to connect with other people and really I think maybe, perhaps it was a therapy, for you slash other people. Can you tell us a little bit about?
Speaker 3:that Definitely. So I think you're right, it was kind of therapeutic for me. So I that's how it started I had my first daughter and it was amazing, like I like I love being a mom, but it was definitely a transition and I really wanted a place where I could connect with other women and like we could share our stories without judgment and just kind of like support each other through becoming a mom, because I was so business minded in general, like becoming a mom was kind of hard because you have to adapt so much and you have to like change your whole Psycho identity.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Basically I'm a winter. I know my first one. I had Postnatal Postpartum depression. I mean, I know I did, I didn't like get diagnosed, but like yeah, yeah, because your whole I was a business woman and then went to a mom and it's like oh my gosh, yeah. And my circle is gone. You know Exactly.
Speaker 3:And so I was really craving somewhere where I could have these conversations with people and, just you know, bounce ideas off of each other. Maybe I'm not feeling that great today. You know what is going on with you. How are you handling this? Yada, yada, and I couldn't find it, and so, once again, I decided I'm like, I'm going to, I'm going to start this thing, I'm just going to do it.
Speaker 1:I love that about you.
Speaker 3:And um, I convinced one of my family friends to be the first guest and I like them. I love that. I like learned how to edit the podcasts on my phone during nap time. And you know, my studio was not as beautiful as this. It was in my closet because we had carpet in there, so it was soundproof. And all the clothes stopped the echoes I love it.
Speaker 1:I'm getting a visual and I love it Totally. Getting a visual sale.
Speaker 3:And you know, the first episode went really well and I also had some social media knowledge and so I started an Instagram and started promoting it on there and people really took to it and I found that so many women were craving something like this and just a place where they could have an outlet or anonymously just listen to somebody else who might be going through something similar that they are too.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And so we went on for almost a year with weekly episodes. We had almost 10,000 listeners and I had advertisers.
Speaker 1:Wow, you had sponsors and everything.
Speaker 3:I love it. So what made you end it? So then, so the whole time that I was doing the podcast, I was pregnant with my second and she was born in October. And I kept trying to do the podcast for a couple of months after that and it just like became way too much to manage and I had a difficult delivery with my second daughter. So it was like I was in physical recovery and you know just, it was just too much and it was so hard to stop doing it because it really was an outlet for me and it was therapeutic and I think it helped a lot of women as well. Yeah, but yeah, you're quite the entrepreneur.
Speaker 3:You are.
Speaker 1:I love it Thanks.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Speaker 1:Yes, thank you, and I hope that the listeners, whoever's listening, would be inspired that maybe, if something doesn't exist, you should create it. You know, maybe if you're, you know it's on your heart, maybe it's on your heart for a reason, you know, maybe to create it, and I love that and find your purpose.
Speaker 2:Yes, Because you said something beautiful. You said you don't this is, you feel like it's a hobby, but yet you're impacting and created an incredible business. So if you have that desire in you, whether it's creating a business, whether it's going to the gem, fill your cup up, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much Thank you.
Speaker 1:And anyone looking for a rental here in Naples. Check out. Navigate Naples and you need concierge services. Yes, you can't figure out what to do you, just you call Dar.
Speaker 2:Yes, right, I'm gonna call Dar, cause I've got some ideas. Yeah, I'd love to help.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Thank you, thank you.
