Ep. 88 with Melissa McGath | Founder, Voom Creative

Moms, Markets, And Meaning

What if the real growth move isn’t more hustle, but better alignment? Kelly sits down with Melissa McGath—designer turned agency owner—to unpack how she built Voom Creative from a rushed brand contract into a focused, faith-forward branding and marketing studio. Entrepreneurship came first, motherhood followed, and the two have been in conversation ever since. Melissa shares the early days of hiring out of necessity, why strategy must lead design, and how niching by service (and eventually by faith) helped her find clients who felt like partners instead of friction.

The most surprising lever in her journey might be the simplest: a protected Friday. By guarding one day each week for presence at home, she discovered that boundaries sharpen business. With a team she trusts, a morning routine that fills her cup, and no-meeting Mondays for deep work, Melissa shows how systems create space for creativity and calm. We get candid about the messy parts too—school calendars gone sideways, the art of delegating at home, and the moment she nearly walked away before prayer redirected her to realign rather than quit.

We also dig into partnership lessons, values fit, and the courage it takes to do scary things: hiring your first employee, changing your positioning, and saying no to misaligned work. Melissa is writing a book for mompreneurs to demystify the practicals—hiring, payroll, advisors, process mapping—while honoring the reality of family life. If you’re a founder, a mom, or both, you’ll walk away with clear steps to buy back your time, build a brand with a backbone, and choose a pace that sustains your purpose.

If this conversation sparked something, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s building while raising kids, and leave a review to help more listeners find us.

Connect with Melissa:

• LinkedIn: Melissa McGath
• Email: melissa@voomcreative.com

Contact the Host, Kelly Kirk:

• Email: info.ryh7@gmail.com

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Credits:

• Editor: Joseph Kirk
• Music: Kristofer Tanke 

Thanks for listening & cheers to Reclaiming Your Hue! 

Transcript

Meet-Cute And Networking Web

Kelly 0:00

Good morning, Melissa. Good morning. How are you? Doing gr well. How are you? I'm doing very well. Even better now that you're here and I get to meet you in person.

Melissa McGath 0:11

I know.

Kelly 0:12

It does feel like it was so long ago when we my listeners probably get sick of hearing this, but I will typically always have a connection point, right? And then I'll be like, let's hop on a Zoom or a phone call, just get to know one another a little bit better, hear your story. You can hear a little bit more about the podcast. And that feels like it was a remarkable amount of time.

Melissa McGath 0:34

I know. Okay.

Kelly 0:36

Do you remember when that was?

Melissa McGath 0:37

Well, I remember it was had to have been last summer, right? Was it? And then I remember when we scheduled this. I'm like, January, that's never gonna get here. And then boom, it's like Christmas and January, just like that.

Kelly 0:50

I know. It it is interesting that you make that comment too, because that's how I had felt also planning that far out in advance. I'm like, really, really am I doing this right now? Yes, I am. And you're you're right. It all of a sudden it was like, yep, and we're here. I know it. And we're sitting in person. I know it. I love it. Well, I would love for you to share with the listeners how it is that the two of us got connected. I always think it's fun, and this is just the power of people and amazing people at that too.

Melissa McGath 1:24

Yeah, I always love this question because I always have to like jog my memory on all the connections. But I'm pretty sure it was Judy Praska.

Kelly 1:31

Shout out to Judy.

Melissa McGath 1:33

And Judy and I have known each other probably for a couple years now. Um, just have our plat pads have intersected at different networking events. And I think I connected with her probably last summer before you and I connected, obviously. And she was just like, you know, you really need to meet Kelly Kirk. Yeah, yeah. And I was actually sharing with Judy at the time. This is why she wanted to connect us. Um, sharing with Judy, I'm like, I am actually starting to write a book, and it's uh it's my audience is mompreneurs, and I just want to share the journey of being an entrepreneur and being a mom. And she's like, Yep, this is a connection I need to make.

Entrepreneurship Before Motherhood

Kelly 2:12

Yes, and I do recollect that as well, and I'm very excited to um talk a little bit more about that so long as you feel comfortable. I mean, you brought it up, Melissa. Yeah. So now, now it's a little bit of a teaser for our listeners. Um, but let's put a pin in that. We'll come back to it. I'll jot a note down. I would love to know though, let's get into the meat and potatoes. What came first for you? Was it motherhood or was it entrepreneurship?

Melissa McGath 2:41

It was entrepreneurship. Okay. And it came about two years before I became a mom. Um, I started my business boom creative in 2014, and my daughter was born in 2016. Okay. So I got I got kind of got my sea legs under me a little bit, but it was always like you just never know what to expect, right? Yes, yes.

Kelly 3:02

Now refresh my memory. Do you have just one child? Two.

Melissa McGath 3:07

So I got my daughter, who is now 10, who has turned 10, which is unbelievable. Yeah. And then an eight and a half-year-old boy.

Kelly 3:15

Okay. Awesome. And wow. So something that's coming to mind. I just have to make this comment. And then I want to talk about your business and what your business is. What's the statistic on like the like five years and under for businesses and whether they thrive, survive, or they crash and burn? And it's under five years.

Melissa McGath 3:43

Exactly, but majority definitely fail in five years.

Kelly 3:46

And what you did was start a business. Yeah. And that two-year mark is typically where things start to get a little hairy. Not in a negative way per se, but just like you start to reach a precipice on what is the business going to do? Where is it gonna go? Am I ready to start scaling? And then we throw in motherhood. Totally. Totally.

Launching Voom And Early Scaling

Melissa McGath 4:12

Yeah, it was crazy because I I started, I was actually a co-owner in another business before starting Voom for about two years and just got out of the partnership. I realized partnership wasn't for me, but when I started Voom, it was like I just hit the ground running. I ended up getting a contract with a client out of actually New York City, and they needed a brand. They needed a brand build, they were an international company, and it was like before I even started Voom, I was having these conversations with this client or potential client. And it was just like I either when I landed the client, I'm like, I'm either gonna have to just do this or like back out, you know? Yeah. So it was January of 2014, and I like just I had to hit the ground running. Like, I can't do this on my own. I had to bring in a contract partner right away. I hired my first employee almost instantly, which was so scary. Like, oh my word.

Kelly 5:19

Yeah, it was crazy. Well, let's share with the listeners what Voom is so that they have any contact.

Melissa McGath 5:26

So we are a branding and marketing um agency in downtown Minneapolis.

Kelly 5:31

Love it. And where where did that come from from you background wise?

Melissa McGath 5:37

Yep, my background is in graffiti design. So I've always been a creative seems fitting by thinking so? Yeah. Um so I've always loved art, always loved design, I love beautiful things, I love the aesthetics of everything. Like it was just a natural fit. So um yeah, I've had that background. So when I started Voom, it was just like I wanted to do make things beautiful, like help companies like identify themselves through the logo creation, like the brand voice, like all the fun things that you need to get started. Yeah. So that's what really um kind of kicked it off, and then it's just evolved over time, you know, it's not what it was 10 12 years ago already.

Kelly 6:16

Yeah, so it's crazy. That's so wild. We we can sit here for a moment too and just talk about the evolution in entrepreneurship, right? And how you I love this word, pivot. You need to make pivots in them, and it's truly no different. There's so many parallels to that and motherhood, yeah, and how much evolution of self happens while there's this evolution of your child or children as well. Let's talk about this, let's talk about it.

What Voom Does And Design Roots

Melissa McGath 6:54

Oh, yeah. So many things um overlap in motherhood and entrepreneurship. And I would say, like, one of the main things, like, I feel like being a person of faith, like God creates women, He creates women and men very different. He creates women, I think, to just be natural managers. Like we just know all the details of everything all the time, and we store them and we uh like organize and we run our homes. We're like house managers, and then we're you know, throw entrepreneurship on top of it. So we're always on, yeah, like there's just never a time where you can disconnect, truly. For sure. Um, you know, in motherhood, you're like navigating, you know, with with the babies when they're infants, and that's a whole thing, and then trying to navigate the business. And I will say, like, one of the best things I did when my daughter was born, I just made an intentional decision that I'm gonna take one day off a week from the office, and like, because you do you hear and you don't realize it until you become a parent, but you hear like, oh, it goes so fast, like just cherish every moment with your kids, you know, and then you're in it and you're like, whoa. And I just mentioned my daughter just turned 10. I'm like, where did that go? Like, how did that happen, you know? And so I took that, I would take I took every Friday off, and I was just intentional with this is the day that I'm gonna watch my kids grow up, spend time with them, and just kind of disconnect from from the office for a day. And it was really like it, like I said, it was one of the best things I've I have ever done. And I I was able to take the time, and it's just for a season, you know, now they're in school and you can kind of power through. Um, and having a team too. Like I had a great team at the time there to support me. Um, they could kind of I trusted them to run the business, you know, with me out for one day. It's not like they couldn't reach me, but um yeah, having a support system. It isn't life or death, right?

Kelly 8:56

I had um somebody else on the podcast. Matter of fact, her episode just dropped this week. She's also in real estate, too. Okay. And we were having this kind of hash out moment of that very thing. This is not life or death. If we if we step away for a couple of hours, or we take time to take a meaningful trip with our family, or in your circumstance, take a day off. I mean, God did not put us on this planet. Um, and I love that you are also a faithful woman too, so we can speak openly and candidly about what that means in our lives. But he didn't put us on this planet to grind all the time, and there are seasons of what that needs to look like, right? And you know, we could take the farmer's uh terminology of like harvesting and all of this stuff, planting the seeds and having it being harvested and sowing that and all that stuff, right?

Melissa McGath 10:01

Right.

Kelly 10:02

But something that I picked up, and maybe you knew this at the time or maybe not, but it almost was like a built-in Sabbath for you.

Melissa McGath 10:13

Yeah, yeah, it totally was. And like I said, that time just goes so fast, and looking back, it's like you know, you you don't want to miss those moments with your kids, and being a full-time you know entrepreneur and running a business is like it's so time consuming and it can just overtake you. Yeah, and I really wanted to make sure that I was intentional about not letting that happen, not working the crazy hours, and I would just kind of, you know, put my stake in the ground, say this is this is when I'm stopping working and this is when I'm gonna kind of pivot to motherhood and you know being there for my kiddos.

Pivots In Business And Motherhood

Kelly 10:49

So yes, oh I love it, I love it so much. Speaking in the vein of intentionality, what else were there other things at that given moment when your daughter was born that you sort of put down as like this is I'm I'm gonna keep moving forward with this? Um and that could look like self-care, or that could look like um what you were just talking about too, with like taking those Fridays off. Was there anything in conjunction to that?

Melissa McGath 11:22

Um, yeah, definitely the self-care piece of it too, just being more structured with my calendar. Like, what does my morning look like before the kids are even up? And what does it look like before I'm running into school and just things are happening during the day? So that was definitely a piece of it. Um, now that they're in school, and I'll just kind of share the story, like being a school mom and you're not there yet, right?

Kelly 11:44

I am actually because I have two, I have two bonus boys that are 11 and 9. Oh, okay. And and then Maddie to where you know it's like we have a day like today's, the listeners can can understand where I'm coming from, where it's like 30 minutes before the end of the school day yesterday, and she had a loose number two. Oh no. Right. And they're like, she's she seems fine. I mean, she was happy as a clam picking her up. She was fine all last night, she was fine this morning, but policy states that she needs to be out 24 hours or uh not have a loose number two for 24 hours. And I was like, you know, it's it's fun navigating those waters. But yes, the being in school, and I'd be curious to hear a little bit more, but like on our end, it's different starts to the day and the end of the day, and how you navigate that with your business too. Yeah.

Intentional Fridays And Boundaries

Melissa McGath 12:53

So all the things, yeah. Where is going with that? So like our um with my with my daughter and and just being being new to being a school mom was like a whole different animal. Like it's another calendar to manage, right? And a whole nother system to navigate that you're not used to. Like, I for the most part, um, we were really fortunate with both of our kids. My mother-in-law was our nanny, so we didn't have to do the running, and which which was just really like so so nice to have that. Um, but then transitioning from that into like a school mom, I'm like, oh my gosh, this is like next level. In fact, I'll share a quick story. So, first time, so I didn't grow up with spring break, that just was like wasn't part of our school. Like, we were in a small town, and it's just like you get done in May instead of June. So we didn't have spring break. Uh so I'm like navigating the schedule, like these new things, you know. Well, spring break comes, and I'm or actually didn't even get there yet. I was like looking through my daughter's take-home folder, and you're trying to like you know, manage all these things, and then a school folder, and like what is she supposed to be doing and when and all that, all those things. So I'm scanning through, I'm like, okay, I got spring break coming up, cool mental note, right? Yeah, and so the the week comes, I'm like, okay, spring break. My tell my husband, I got it, like I'll stay home with her, like I'll I'll check out this time, you know, and not all week. I'll just we're gonna just hang out and it'll be fun. And so, and my son at the time too, he was three and a half, so my daughter's five. Um, so I take the whole week off. I'm like, this is great, this is fun, or I'm just spending time with the kids, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing as a mom. I feel a butt coming. Uh yeah. So we get through the week, and like something inside of me, I'm like, I gotta like really be more intentional with like figuring out calendars and all this stuff. So I'm like going through and I'm like, where is the school calendar? You're navigating that whole system, find the school calendar, and I look at it. Spring break is next week. No, not the week I took up.

Kelly 15:02

No, so my were they not like, where is she?

Melissa McGath 15:07

No, what? So I'm like totally epic fail mom moment, you know? And so my daughter, who's just like a peach, she is totally making me feel good about it. And I'm like, well, bonus for you, you get another week off. And two spring breaks. No kidding. It was like the reality check, and like I have too much going on, I'm not like you know, asking for help. Yes, my husband had no idea what was going on, you know. So that was when I'm like, okay, now I really need to like figure out how to delegate. Um, and the it was kind of a pivotal moment in the house front. Um, yeah, working that out with my husband. I'm like, I can't be the only one managing everything, I just can't do it anymore. It's tough.

Kelly 15:53

It it is really tough. And I will say that um because we are in a a co-parenting circumstance, uh mom navigates those calendars very well. And it's it's awesome. We have a shared calendar, which is life-giving and life-saving, and like like strips the life away all at the same time, right? It's like we live, die, breathe by our calendars. And so it's like if there's any any sort of shift from that, it's well so on top of it, Kelly, my husband is so technologically not savvy.

Melissa McGath 16:37

Oh so having a family calendar just like out not not even a question. Like, we can't do that.

Kelly 16:42

Like something would break, and so yeah. I have a dear friend of mine. Matter of fact, she was my first ever guest on the podcast, Deidre Wigman, who's just so I mean, she's just a a whip when it comes to like navigating how to be a mom. And I mean, she's very vulnerable about her fails too and her failures. And she's like, I want other women to be able to learn from from this, and so she's created a lot of different tools and resources for moms. And one of the the tools that she talks a lot about is the sky calendar.

Speaker 17:19

Yes, and I have you heard of it? Yes.

School Calendars, Delegation, And Tools

Kelly 17:22

I'm like obsessed, and I think what's interesting about the Sky Calendar is yes, it's a technology component and it's a tool, but it the way that they sell this product is like it it does everything. So like you could take a picture of a of like a calendar and all of the events that are on the calendar. So, right, we're we're being sent, children are being sent home with these folders with all these pieces of paper in it, and you're like, where is it? Where did it go? Or oh my gosh, like, how do I where do I put all of this? And you can snap a picture of it because there's an app that's tied with the Sky Calendar that you have up in your house. You can get a big one, medium-sized one, small size one, and it automatically integrates everything from that picture into the calendar, and then you can share the calendar with grandmas and grandpas and nanna's and papas. And I am for the life of me, like trying my best to convince my husband. If you're listening right now, Joe, it's probably time.

Melissa McGath 18:28

Right. Drop a hint at my husband, too, if he's listening. I was sure of hey, Amazon, you know.

Kelly 18:34

Maybe, maybe this is the time. So yeah, I empathize with you in terms of the the school calendars, and then what does it look like for your children for activities?

Melissa McGath 18:51

You know, actually that is manageable because they're they're not quite at the age where they're in a lot of stuff. So my daughter's in dance, my son has dabbled in karate and wrestling and all the things, but they for the most part, they're summer activities, which I feel like are a little bit easier to manage. Yeah. Um, just more capacity, but yeah, right now I'm managing that pretty well.

Kelly 19:13

Melissa dance. So our oldest I mean did we talk about this? No, our oldest is very talented when it comes to like just creativity, arts, dance, movement. And he's been in dance now, and now he's kind of taken it to the next level for competition. So I love that. It's yeah, it's a lot, that's a lot and it's also very expensive.

Melissa McGath 19:43

Yeah, yeah. My my daughter is actually, I'm kind of thankful for this, um, does a non-competitive dance club. And so I think that helps because it's not as intense. Oh yes. But I have I have family, I have a niece that's in dance and has been forever, and it's like the travel and the scheduling and all of it. So I get you. It takes a village for a lot of that stuff, especially dance.

Kelly 20:10

So well, let's uh let's talk a little bit more about Voom Creative. And um I understand there's so many different branding businesses agencies out there, and each one is kind of tailored to a specific niche as well. And there's probably a lot of overlap, you know it better than I do. But I'd love to hear a little bit more and have you share with the listeners what your niche is for Vom Creative and how that works and operates.

Niching By Service And By Faith

Melissa McGath 20:44

Yeah, yeah. I would say, you know, starting out, I was always told I should niche. And I always resisted niching just because like I kind of came from a corporate background where I was in healthcare, and like I don't want to do healthcare, it's not that exciting. You know, so it was like always a question, well, if I did niche, what would it be? And so I I kind of resisted it for a long time. In fact, I did resist it for a long time. And I I ended up like along the way, and I've worked with a variety of coaches and all have been just helpful in different ways, but um decided to not niche by industry, which is why a lot of people will tell you, even coaches will tell you to niche by industry. Well, I didn't want to do that, and I'm one coach that said niche by service and our services even. Um and so I I did that, like that resonated with me because I didn't have to be specific on an industry, and then you kind of run into non compete stuff, and I didn't want to deal with that. But um, so I we actually were more of a full service branding and marketing shop. Now we just say branding and marketing. We were doing media planning and buying and websites and like everything, and that got Crazy. So narrowing it down to just a couple services, and like where I would say we differentiate is really the strategy side of like how do you bring um branding and marketing together, identify those gaps and what those opportunities are when they intersect because they always intersect. You have to have a solid brand before you can market it effectively. So that's kind of our sweet spot. And that's where you know we've just been like really focusing. And it was really through some changes um on my team a couple years ago, just kind of a lot of things happening, even personally. Um, we decided to niche in terms of who we're targeting. And um by doing that, we became a proclaimed Christian branding and marketing company. And so um that was pivotal really for me because I was honestly, I was getting kind of burnt out. We were working with clients that I just felt there was not alignment, like values, and just the way we worked wasn't easy. And it's like, do I really want to do this anymore? And it was just kind of that check. And so there was just challenges with clients going on, my team was changing. I had a uh employee leave who had been with me for a long time. So there's just like all these things going on, and it was at that point where I've just like had to really evaluate like what am I doing? Do I want to do this anymore? Or is this just like God's way of saying stop, do something else, you know? And so, but I um it really came down to all these things happening where I'm like, what do I want to do and who do I want to serve? And it just came back to my faith, and it always had been coming back to that, you know. And I like prior starting, you know, I I I couldn't with the team that I had, like I I just couldn't push that, you know. Um you just have different variety of employees and personalities and different faiths and all that. Um, but with the kind of change in in my team, I was able to make that decision. And my employee that's still with me, and I should just the best, love her to death. She I I brought it to her because I respected her opinion. I said, What do you think if we just go all in? Like, let's be a Christian branding and marketing agency.

Speaker 24:27

Yeah.

Melissa McGath 24:28

And she's like, Oh my gosh, I love that. And so having her there and the support was again like another pivotal moment. It was just, I all of a sudden I just felt like all this relief and this burden that I had been carrying unknowingly about what we were doing, who we were, and then now to who are we who we were becoming.

Evaluation, Burnout, And Prayer

Kelly 24:50

I just love this story so much. And I remember you sharing that when we were on our Zoom call together, too, and just going, hmm. It makes you wonder because that alignment piece is really kind of an important component. Yeah. And you can testify to this when it comes to the branding and marketing strategy for a business, right? Like there has to be buy-in and alignment for what that looks like. And that means that there has to, there have to be conversations. Absolutely. Yep. To your point, evaluation. Okay, so I I want to hang here in this evaluation aspect for just a minute because undoubtedly there are women who are listening right now, and perhaps maybe some men who are husbands that are listening right now, too, that empathize and parallel to what you're speaking to, where you have this moment where you're like, something doesn't feel right. What is it? And having to sit in that space of evaluation while also running a business and also being a mom and a parent, too. Let's step back to that time frame for you. If you can remember and recollect, like what did it look like for you in actually taking that time and and sitting in that space to evaluate?

Melissa McGath 26:22

Yeah, yeah. It was hard because it was it was something that I had struggled with for just the thought of do I walk away? Or, you know, do I find something else? Like, I have so many other interests too. Like, what would it look like if I did something completely different? Um, and it really came down to just talking. My husband and I sat down and talked, and like, I I I'm not enjoying this, you know. Like, what would it look like if I did step away? Like, just from a financial perspective, you know? And and he was he was great, super supportive. He's like, Whatever you want to do, I'm I'll support you. Like, we can make it work financially, we'll figure it out, you know, like we'll just get through this. And that was kind of as I was battling through it and just like being prayerful about it too, you know, um, asking for wisdom. And I I just remember thinking too, like, never never has the Lord not given me peace about a decision, right? So I just remember praying about it and praying about it, and like the Lord just said to me, Don't don't, you're not ready to leave, you're not ready to let it go yet. And I just took that from him and just you know move forward, and that's when it kind of came to me like I'm not happy because we don't have this alignment, and how do I create something where there is alignment? So yeah.

Kelly 27:49

Has faith always been foundational for you?

Melissa McGath 27:54

Yeah, totally. Okay, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, I grew up in a Christian home. Um, I became a believer at a small or young age, probably around five or six, and I just remember like we I grew up in a very poor home, so we didn't have we didn't have much, and I just remember like kind of clinging to my faith, I think, through that, because that was something I knew I had.

Speaker 28:20

Yeah.

Melissa McGath 28:20

And so times were hard growing up, but but I like always went back to I know the Bible's true, I know the Lord loves me. Like going back to even that peace and rest, like I knew there were times, even just growing up and what ended up being a broken home. Like there were times there where it was just difficult and challenging in in a time where you know, not not a lot of families were in broken homes. I didn't go to school with other, you know, kids, friends that were in broken homes. So I really really kept it close to me.

Kelly 28:55

Yeah.

Melissa McGath 28:56

Um, so there were challenges with that, but I always came back to the Lord and I always just depended on him. And just, you know, not that I've been like some prayer warrior or anything like that, but I always knew he was there for me.

Identity, Resilience, And Perspective

Kelly 29:09

Yeah, you know, so yeah, instinctually, yeah. It's just like that gut feeling once you once you have the buy-in, so to speak, i.e. like you you commit yourself to the Lord, right? And you you do your baptism or whatever that needs to look like per your decision. Yeah, and um it's interesting how you can have dynamic shifts, and it's in God's timing, right? Yeah, it's always in his timing. And and for some of us who might not be so patient sometimes, myself, I'm like, but when? When? And then all of a sudden you can you can start to feel and sense shifts that are happening, and you're like, wow.

Melissa McGath 29:54

It's like, yeah, what like Lord, you're stretching me. What does this mean? You know, like what is this new feeling? And yeah, it's always always there. And I just I don't know what I would do without my faith, honestly. Like it'd be so easy to just kind of get tossed to and fro and just you know, make irrational decisions, but having that to come back to is definitely what's grounded me.

Twelve-Year Anniversary Realization

Kelly 30:18

Interestingly enough, earlier this morning I was watching a video on Instagram, and it was um a pastor who has a podcast too, pretty well known. Um, but he was he was he is not here locally, but he was commenting on the the environmental landscape of our town, our city right now, Minneapolis, and with the ice fists and stuff. And I promise listeners, we're not gonna go down this pathway right now. I promise you, because that's not what the purpose of this podcast is. But he was just making a comment about how as Christians that it's it's our duty to be reflective, not necessarily sit in our feelings and be responsive right out the gate. There's three different truths, right? It's your truth, my truth, and the truth. And the truth is God's truth. It's so He only knows in any given circumstance. Let's just set everything else aside what's happening in Minneapolis right now. Um, but I think it's very much in line with what you're speaking to. Yeah. Very much in line.

Melissa McGath 31:41

Yeah. So yeah, I mean, I I think there is, I was actually at this networking event last week and talking about this very topic, and again, not to like get political, but as Christians and especially women and women of faith, like um, a woman had made a comment, like, it's easy to get in the mindset of like kind of kind of just feeling that weight and almost like anger about it, this heaviness, yeah. Yes, and she just made such a great point. She's like, We are called to love and to pray for those that are in opposition, you know. And it was just like a good reset for me too, because it it is easy to like kind of, you know, you're listening to the news or reading it and and getting that mindset of like this is not good, like it's not. Oh but when you can like reframe it, like, no, we need to we need to love and we need to do what we can to make it better, you know.

Hiring Fears And Doing Scary Things

Kelly 32:40

Well, I'm a such a truth seeker, you know what I mean? So I'm like, what is the truth? You know what I mean? And then it's this is where faith is ultimately tested as well. It's like you have faith in me. God's saying, you have faith in me. Are you gonna have faith in this situation that it uh it all is gonna work itself out? Things have to be tough in order, it it's like a diamond, right? Like you gotta, it's gotta go through a lot in order to get to the place that it's at. And I'm not saying that we're gonna get to this shiny, sparkly place by any stretch of the imagination, even in you know, years time frame, but like that's just how life is.

Melissa McGath 33:26

Yeah. And it's historically speaking, too. Like, yeah, I mean, it's good for us in all aspects of life. Like, I think when we get too comfortable, it's it's easy to just get complacent, right? Like, we have to, there has to be like something to kind of fight against a little bit sometimes because it sharpens us, it makes us better, it makes us think differently, it makes us do different things. For sure. Yeah.

Kelly 33:50

For sure. Okay, so Vom has been around since 2014, January.

Melissa McGath 33:57

Yeah.

Kelly 33:57

So you did you just are we coming up on your anniversary?

Melissa McGath 34:00

What's the date today?

Kelly 34:02

Oh my god. It's the anniversary today. Stop it, Melissa. I am getting butterflies. I'm promising you listeners right now. We did not. I'm gonna be not planning. I'm gonna be getting teary-eyed. We did not plan this. So far. Oh cool. Um happy 12th anniversary.

Melissa McGath 34:28

12 years. Get out. What are you gonna do to celebrate? I'm I don't know now. I'm gonna have to come up with something. You have to celebrate. I mean the podcast, right? That's so true. Oh my gosh, Melissa.

Kelly 34:43

It's a monumental moment happening right here. This is very this is this is monumental. How cool. I feel so honored. I feel honored to like have you here and speak about everything and also on your anniversary, nonetheless. Okay, where was it going?

Melissa McGath 35:05

This is exactly how close I pay attention to the calendar.

The Book For Mompreneurs

Kelly 35:10

Full circle moment right there. That's the that's the tangible like exactitude right there. So, so you have been in business now 12 years to the day, January 15th. And um let's talk about the the evolution of VOOM and as you became a mom too, how did that play into the evolution of VOM as well? Oh gosh. Um well, you know what? Let me let me just back up. We have talked a lot about what the evolution has looked like and how you are now you are niche, yeah, and you're incredibly niche, which is so cool. And I do recollect from our Zoom conversation just how that has, I mean, it you're like, yes, this is this is it. But I think more in the vein of when you knew that you needed to scale. It happened pretty, it happened almost instantaneously that you had to get employees hired hired on. And for some of the listeners right now, they are solopreneurs, right? Yeah, you are not a solopreneur, you you have a a business with employees as well, or people who are contracted as well. Right. Um, so I do think that there's there's space to be able to talk about that sort of evolution with VOM.

Melissa McGath 36:41

Yeah. Yeah, like hiring, making that decision to hire, like it was out of necessity, but it was also so scary because all of a sudden you're irresponsible for another person, you know?

Kelly 36:52

Right.

Melissa McGath 36:52

And um, like just kind of keying off of doing scary things, like that was one of them for sure. Probably the scariest thing in business that I've ever done. And then like you you do it, and it's just like speaking of evolution, even like you do it and it all of a sudden it's easier, you know. Like you keep doing it, and like there's always these like points in time and business, even in motherhood, where you're like, How am I gonna do this? And I don't think I can. And then you're like, oh, you kind of shrink down, and like you get that imposter syndrome thing going. Like, ah, but yeah, like that's actually one of my kind of mottos for this year, it's like do scary things, like it's okay. Like, that's what's gonna make you you're starting the year off with a bang.

Kelly 37:39

You're you're sitting here on a podcast, and for the listeners, I said, Have you done a podcast before? And I mean, I think most of the people who have been on the podcast have not. Um, but I was surprised when you said that you had not been on a podcast. So look at you. Here we go. January 15th. On your anniversary. This is incredible. It's so incredible. Okay, so keep going. Sorry.

Melissa McGath 38:07

So I guess like just um it the I guess the points that kind of make make the business evolve, make you evolve as a person. It's just like being willing to step out and do those things. And for me, like even transitioning into a Christian faith-based business, like that was scary. Like, I don't when I made the decision, I kind of made it blindly, and I in retrospect, I'm glad I did because I I may have like gotten scared and not done it, sure, you know, because I didn't know, like in my mind, I'm thinking, there are no Christian businesses here, you know? And where are they? I have no idea. I don't even know how to network with that. I mean, outside of like church and kind of you know those things. Um, but it was just amazing, like the people that I met, even like talking about Judy, and and you meet one person, they're like, Oh, you need to meet so and so, you need to meet all these other people. Yeah, and it's like, okay, this world just got a lot bigger than I thought it was, you know.

Systems, Support Teams, And Ops

Kelly 39:09

So the power of God, yeah, seriously. But it's been it's been great, it's so cool. One of the things that we talked about, and we we dropped little hints about the book that you're writing too. And it's it's interesting that we're kind of talking through some of what that has looked like, right? And it's there are so many things behind the scenes with building a business and hiring employees and what that looks like behind like in the background, do taxes and filings and all of that stuff. Oh my gosh. It's interesting because we have this structured in our business, my husband and I together, yeah, where I'm like I'm co-owner, but I'm like technically a um like employee of the business. Yeah, and I get a pay stub. It's so funny, it's so funny. But yeah, we had a conversation with our bookkeeper yesterday. I'm like, this is wild, but it's kind of cool to like go through that and and start to understand more clearly what that means. Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about the book, because I think yeah on this topic in the book.

Melissa McGath 40:34

I've always wanted to write a book, and I don't know, through a series of just trying to like, you know, kind of just try to take my business, even my like personally, like kind of just up, like level up um, just been doing a lot of reading, a lot of podcasts, like all the things, and um, I'm truly a believer like what you take in and what you filter out is the outcome, you know, of what you want to see, like yeah, avoid all the distractions, you know, just hone in on the thing that's actually gonna better you. And so I think just through um through doing all of those just kind of self-we call it even a self-improvement, whatever that looks like. Yeah, so I I if the book was something that I always wanted to do, and through just kind of self-reflecting, it's like, you know what, the only thing holding me back from writing this book is a decision to actually do it. So I'm like, I just need to make a decision right now that I'm gonna do it. I need to tell people so they can hold me accountable. I need to put a timeline on this book, and so that's what kind of kicked it off.

Kelly 41:46

So what was the desire behind? Like, what was the genesis of saying I think it's time for me to write a book?

Morning Routines And Time Blocking

Melissa McGath 41:58

Having been in business now for 12 years, exactly to the day, it's like looking back and just there's just so much you just don't know. Like you just kind of muddle through things and figure it out along the way. And now that I'm 12 years in, I just want to share what I know with other mompreneurs, especially like that journey of balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship and all the things that you try to navigate in business, the hiring, the HR, like the payroll, the counting stuff, you know. And you just don't know what you don't know. And so it really came out of the the desire, like, I want to be able to articulate in in one book, just kind of hit the mountaintops on all the things like hiring, um, finding the right people too, like is so huge. Like financial advisor, a bookkeeper, um, accountant, like all those people are so important and surrounding yourself with those people. But just like um on the business side, what does what do your systems look like? And I didn't realize honestly until probably a couple years ago, like how important systems are in a business. And like now I feel like I'm finally figuring it out, you know, after all this time a little bit. But yeah, it just kind of came from the desire of, you know, now that I have, I feel like I've figured stuff out enough to share. And that's where I want to help other people. Like, let's let's help you get from, you know, starting a business, not knowing what to do, and skipping all the stuff that I had to learn and just get you there faster.

Kelly 43:34

Well, we're all running our own races, right? And so I think that it's important. Like you you kind of cracked a little joke there about how you couldn't believe how long it took you to figure out systems and processes and you know, the operations behind it, how important it is. And you you were operating a business successfully up until that point. It was just refining, right? We We in our business talk a lot about how, like, yes, the the system is good.

Melissa McGath 44:06

Yeah.

Kelly 44:07

And it does need some refinement as well. And I think that you're going to continue to refine until it just becomes so much more of a well-oiled machine, which is where your book comes in. Right. And I love it's interesting. I was starting to write down, like, okay, make sure you ask Melissa about some of the like key points of what truly being a monpreneur looks like and building a business. And you hit it. Yeah. Like not on the head. I love it. It's it's amazing. Well, what is like one thing that listeners could um have as like a sneak peek to the book that you think is like a really good gold nugget of information for them? Yeah. So that they have a little taste.

Melissa McGath 44:51

So it's still in an its infancy, but I would say just the, you know, you just don't know what to expect, especially juggling motherhood and entrepreneurship. And how do you do that by having those systems, by having even like the household side figured out? And like, and it's just a constant, like, there's always um, you always have to like align and like figure out where things fit. Um, so I think the biggest thing is just like how do the two come together? And and how do you do? I mean, really, any Montpreneur out there who's started a business, they're passionate about what it is that they're doing and they want it to be successful. So, how can I help them be successful in that journey?

Self-Care, Margin, And Winter Walks

Kelly 45:39

I'm gonna do a little tie-in here. Okay, okay, so I wrote a note down from earlier in our interview about how you have other interests, right? Okay, so yeah, um, the reason I'm bringing this up is because as a mom, this is me personally speaking right now, okay? As a mom, I have found my ultimate purpose on this planet. I really have. Like, I feel like I'm a knock it out of the parking lot. Like, I freaking love it. I love being a mom so much, and it's amazing. I'm also hitting a very challenging point in um being a mom right now with potty training. That's a new picture. Good luck. And I also understand as a mom, and we talk so frequently about this on the podcast with almost every single guest, which is that you have to also have something else. You have to have something else, yeah. Because those kids are eventually not gonna be in the house with you, right? Right. And so, what does that look like with being interested in your spouse? Yeah. And what does that look like outside of it? Because we grow up as kids, right? Like we're doing so many di different things and we have so many different interests, and and then things start to shift, right? You know, as you start to get older and you understand the big kind of like hairiness of the world, uh-huh. And and then we get around other people, and then we start to shrink, and then we start to grow, and then we shrink more, and then we grow more, and then all of a sudden it's like, well, what were my interests? Yeah, you know, like what were the things that sparked joy in me? Right. And I think that there are some, you know, moms that have fallen into this, and to to know that there's like something else that your God-given skills, like you can capitalize on that. Yeah, and you can do them simultaneously as well at your own pace, yeah, which is very important. I'm done with my TED talk.

Melissa McGath 47:50

No, it's it is important to have like an outlet for me, because I'm a creative person, like I love woodworking. I actually love DIY, I love all the creative things with home and garden and like all that stuff. So that's kind of where I decompress at the end of the day. So I it's amazing. Like, it's funny when I connect with high school friends and they learn about what I'm doing. They're like, whoa, so you like sit in an office all day? Like that doesn't seem like you, and it's totally not me because I'm like, I'm a pretty active person.

Kelly 48:23

Yeah.

Melissa McGath 48:24

But I make it work because I have like an outlet. And so I get done sitting at the desk all day, and there's a project waiting for me at the end of the day. And I just dig into the project, whether it's like I said, woodworking or some kind of a craft or building a pavilion outside in our backyard. I was gonna ask if you've done some bigger Twitch. Yes. So I always have like something going or multiple things going, I should say, and then don't finish some of them or come back to them.

Kelly 48:56

Yeah, it's okay. It's like me and books. Yeah. Yeah. I've got so many different books right now. And um, however, I will say if there is a guest that's on the podcast and they have written a book and I'm aware of it, well, you're in the infancy of your book right now, but I make it a a point to have read that book so that we can have a lot to talk about too, in terms of what they've written in there. So yeah. Um, day in the life of Melissa. I'd love to hear what this looks like. You've talked a little bit about the the um one of the bookends, you know, after, but let's kind of give it it in its entirety. Yeah.

Dark Moments And Realignment

Melissa McGath 49:38

Yeah. I I mean my my day starts usually at 5 a.m. And I'm uh naturally, I guess, kind of an early riser, but I just love getting a jump on my day. It's you know, reading the Bible and doesn't happen every day, but pretty much every day. Um, exercise, whether it's just going for a walk, having my coffee, just kind of having that downtime again before things get chaotic. The kids get up. Um, between my husband and I, I drop kids off, he does pickup, so we've kind of got that routine built in. And then it's like I do my like planning and my strategic work, like first thing. So I kind of kick off that. Like I know my brain is gonna be the sharpest in the morning, and then then I try to handle like meetings and networking later in the afternoon if possible. If I can coordinate my schedule, it was like another thing I did um actually late last year is just been really intentional with my calendar and blocking time for certain things. So Imagine that time blocking. Oh gosh, it it you have to like it gets away from you if you don't. So um just setting aside time for like strategic planning, like that's on my calendar every day at or every I think it's Monday at the same day, same time. I have uh no meeting Monday, just so I can do my focus work. Um, so just being intentional with how I calendar um and really being structured and not deviating from it and really being, you know, don't say yes to everything and say say no to things.

Partnership Lessons And Exit

Kelly 51:13

Well, I love that we're hanging in this spot right now because I think that there is something to be said about what you're saying, which is if you're if you're saying yes to something, it means that you're saying no to something else. And frankly, if that no, if that um yes is at the sacrifice of your family, right? And not all the time, right? Like because there is margin for okay, like I'm going to go to this event and it happens to be later on in the evening. What does divide and conquer look like, right? But then how do I come back and capitalize on the time that I have? Yeah, right. I'm sure that you get this. You're shaking your head, yeah. Um, but yeah, and then um I I've I've been God has been speaking to me in terms of this language of margin, building margin in your in your day, in your week, in your month, and um allowing that to provide an opportunity to to like better the health of self, right? So it's like how do you take care of yourself and your self-care and so on and so forth. Um, I interestingly enough had always asked this question of individuals on as guests on the podcast, like what does self-care look like for you? And initially, when I had that as a question, it was like you know, pampering self and like what does that look like? And and then I did some deeper reflection, like actually self-care can look just like going for a walk outside for five minutes or ten minutes, or you know, it doesn't have to be this whole like glorified thing, but to tie this into the word margin, right, um building margin in your day, week, month actually is a form of self-care.

Melissa McGath 53:23

Yeah, absolutely. I love the saying, um, it's like you can't operate from an empty cup. So you have to like keep pouring into it, and that's what self-care is. Like you can't just maximize all your time, all your energy on one thing or a variety of things because you'll be operating from an empty cup, you know.

Kelly 53:45

So and it's gonna look so different for so many different individuals. Ironically, though, Melissa, there's parallels to how you start your day off and how I start my day off too. I am curious, are you very consistent with waking up at 5 a.m.?

Melissa McGath 54:01

I'm pretty consistent. There are times where it's like, you know, my my daughter and I are right now are like binge watching when calls the heart. So I've never heard of it. Oh my gosh, listeners, if you have daughters out there, watch this with your daughters, it's a hallmark show. It's a series and it's so cute. So, so there are times where I'm like, if I'm spending time with my daughter to watch a series and we're binge watching and it's 11 o'clock, I'll sleep in a little bit, you know? Like there are times when I deviate a little bit for things like that.

Kelly 54:31

Sure.

Melissa McGath 54:31

Um, but really I try to be as consistent as possible.

Kelly 54:34

Yeah. Oh, I'm in a season right now where the snooze, it and it's funny, I kind of go through these ebbs and flows of what that looks like for me, but I I do realize and and rely on having that time in the morning for myself. And it's I just doing a quick reflection yesterday, did not get a workout in. Yeah. I was able to, you know, spend my time with God and be in the scripture and listen to a daily reflection, but not the not the exercise. And I got a little squirrely at the end of the day, meaning like it was it was like a little less patient, a little bit more angst, a little bit more of this anxiety kind of builds up quicker. Yeah. And um, we'll see how I am at the end of the day today because I did get my walk-in and I'm very grateful for that. And it always seems to have a just a shift in my overall state of mind if I'm able to get movement in as well in the mornings. Yeah. So for sure, yeah, yeah. Um, anything else that you want to talk about in terms of a day in the life of Melissa?

Melissa McGath 55:52

I think else.

Kelly 55:54

I don't know if we talked about the cap. The cap like a night cap.

Melissa McGath 55:57

Like how you I was actually just gonna go there. Um I heard this on a podcast, and the the key to having that routine was don't set your alarm for the morning, set it for at night. Like set your alarm to go to bed. So for me, I don't set an alarm, but I do go to bed like around nine o'clock.

Speaker 56:17

Yeah.

Melissa McGath 56:18

And so like my night is, you know, sometimes it's like doing a doing a project, you know, even just kind of cleaning up the house, whatever that looks like. But I wind down, I you know, hang out with family. My husband and I will go for a walk, um and then maybe watch a show and go to bed, you know?

Kelly 56:35

So yeah, yeah, there's kind of ease into it. I forgive me for saying this and don't take it personally, but like I feel like our lives are boring, right? To some other people, right? It's it because there's so much routine that's packed in, but we as human beings do actually need to have a little bit of routine, and so it maybe boring isn't the right word. Routine is actually a better word for that for that word. Um and that that routine the routinization of it is really what allow I mean, it allows you to be able to wake up at five o'clock in the morning.

Melissa McGath 57:20

Right.

Kelly 57:21

You can't you can't do that totally if you're going to bed at midnight or one o'clock in the morning.

Melissa McGath 57:26

But having kids, like they have they thrive in routine. Like without it, it's absolute chaos. And then the same goes for us, you know?

Kelly 57:35

Yeah. I mean, our evening is starting to wind down, call it eight o'clock because Maddie's getting put down about eight. The boys are in a in a rhythm right now because they're both still in elementary school where you know their their respective grade levels are um asking them to read at night. I'm like, that's wonderful. Cause it kind of is like almost a built-in thing for us to go, okay. Well, it's time for us to start, you know, winding down as well. Right. And so, yeah, I there's a lot of parallels with our our uh our bookends, yeah, so to speak.

Third Spaces, Cabin Joy, And Rest

Melissa McGath 58:12

It's a season of life with kids and business and yeah, kind of just getting through it and figuring out how to make that work.

Kelly 58:18

I love too, Melissa, that you automatically in that just gave insight into like how you take care of yourself as well. But is there anything else that you'd like to add to what that has looked like for you?

Melissa McGath 58:32

I mean, it's just like overall spiritual, mental, physical health, like balancing those and balancing them well all the time. Yeah, like you're just saying, you know, I didn't I I missed my walk. Like I've been there and I totally feel that, you know. You just need that like mental clarity to step away and be in nature, even, you know. So just balancing, balancing those things.

Kelly 58:58

As a side note, do you do you like to walk outside even when it's like really, really cold?

Melissa McGath 59:02

I I mean I don't like it.

Kelly 59:04

Yeah, I know, I know.

Melissa McGath 59:05

But yeah, I was out this morning at like 5 30 this morning.

Kelly 59:09

So you hear do you wear like snow pants and stuff?

Melissa McGath 59:12

Like that was one of the things I have some lifesaving pants on Amazon this winter that are like they're actually like probably um ski pants or something, but they're fleece line. They're not like a traditional snow pant, you know, so they're lighter, but they are amazing. Like send it to me.

Kelly 59:28

Send it to me.

Melissa McGath 59:29

They actually like I was out with my husband the other night just in my jeans after work and went around the block. I'm like, oh, I need my fleece plank. Yeah, they're not cutting it.

Kelly 59:39

Yeah, it the other day, I think it was last week, I threw on my snow pants and I was wearing a pair of they I think they were like Athleta fleece line, but I've had them forever. So they're they're probably past their prime. And at the last minute, I was like, I should throw my snow pants on, and thankful that I did because it I was even with snow pants and like fully decked out with gear, you know, from waist up. I'm like, I'm cold. Yeah, I'm thankful. And then by the end of it, I was I was warm enough because it kind of felt the heat. But it would be nice to not have to like, you know, this is just the the catch with the winter, is like you want to continue to maintain that that outlet for exercise, and you're like, but I don't really want to do it when it's in the teens.

Melissa McGath 1:00:32

Like that's the other thing, like cold and dark. Like, thanks.

Kelly 1:00:36

I actually really love being up before the rest of the world. Yeah, I love it. So do I it's quiet, it's peaceful, it's you know, you know your terrain, so you're like, I'm good. And then it's like probably by the end, I start to like see some lights coming on. Yeah.

Melissa McGath 1:00:58

But totally, I'm there with you too. Yeah, it's so nice. It's like being in the car by yourself for a while, just like having that downtime is so important.

Kelly 1:01:08

Yep. I'm with you, Melissa. I'm with you. So I know you shared about that pivotal moment with Voom where it was, where am I gonna go with this? You know, and and then you heard from God, it was spoken to you like it's not quite time yet to set this down, sister. And have you considered this? Was that in essence a dark moment for you, or is there another moment that you'd be willing to share with the listeners?

Resources, Coaches, And Next Steps

Melissa McGath 1:01:44

Yeah, I think that probably was like the first time since starting Voom. That was the first time I like had to just take a step back and evaluate what am I doing? So, yeah, I would say that's probably the kind of dark moment in my career where just like, gosh, I I love what I do. And to not do it would kind of be heartbreaking, but at the same time, like there's things not adding up here, yeah, you know?

Kelly 1:02:10

Yeah, yeah. A word that's coming to mind is identity. Um, I I think that we as women and just human beings in general, whether you're a male or you're a female, we identify with our profession. Totally, and get a little too honed in on that, and I'm guilty of it being coming from the mortgage industry. And um, when I found out I was pregnant, I all of a sudden started to have this identity shift at that moment, and it started to grow and grow and grow, and that's you know part of the reason that the podcast is is here. But do you feel like that is something that you had grappled with as well?

Melissa McGath 1:02:55

I yeah, absolutely. I I kind of alluded or mentioned earlier just growing up in a poor home and like knowing from a young age if I wanted to get out of poverty, I had to work, you know, and so it was always like something I knew I wanted to do. And so I actually started my career at 19 because I went to tech school for two years. I was early in my class or graduated early in my class. So started my career early and I just worked, and I always like did something on the side, like a freelance project. So I just worked, worked, worked. So it was very much like just built in me from a young age. Yeah. And then my husband and I actually didn't get married until I was 33, he was 36. So we were like later, yeah, you know, in life to get married. So I had already had all these years of being a professional before getting married, where like a lot of younger couples will make that decision early on, like who's gonna work, or we could both gonna work, whatever that looks like. And for me, it was just like not even a question. I'm like, I want to work, I love working, I love what I do.

Kelly 1:04:02

Yeah, yeah. Do you feel like too just going back to the note you had mentioned about um having been in partnership prior to stepping into Vom yourself? Excuse me, how do you feel like that laid a foundation for you in building your own business?

How To Connect With Melissa

Melissa McGath 1:04:20

Yeah. It was um, it was just a really good learning opportunity. Like things that I because I was, gosh, what was I in my late 20s at the time? Um, and the my partner was gosh, late 60s. I mean, totally like the opposite ends of the spectrum. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so it was just like such a good learning experience, like things that I'd never done being in healthcare marketing. Um, and but I was like a graphic designer. I didn't like do the marketing side of it and later went back to school for marketing, but um just the the all the things that go into almost kind of a different industry, um, tying them together and learning about them. And that's actually through that partnership ended up learning a lot about media planning and buying, which is something that ended up being a huge part of my business um later on that you know I would have like not known what to do or how to manage that otherwise. So I was just using those experiences and those learnings to help grow and to take on work that I probably wouldn't have taken on because I wouldn't know, wouldn't have known how to do it. That's incredible.

Kelly 1:05:32

I also like that you were in partnership with somebody that was like 30, 40 plus years of you. You know, like wow, yeah, that's incredible. Of course. Well, how so I am curious how did that partnership come to fruition?

Melissa McGath 1:05:51

Yeah, it was actually through when I was in healthcare marketing, um, a connection of a connection.

Kelly 1:05:56

Okay.

Melissa McGath 1:05:57

And that introduction happened and we We just kind of hit it off right away. Like we had a lot of the same interests. We were both, you know, kind of in marketing and branding in in that same world, but also like similar hobbies. It just like was a really good friendship. It kind of started off that way. And so, um, and he was a solopreneur, um, had gone through years at different agencies in town, and just kind of that was his career. And this, yeah, this next step for him was like almost like a winding down phase. Yeah, but for me, I'm like, this is cool. Like, I've never worked for an agency before, yeah, never been part of it. And he was open to doing a partnership. I'm like, cool, you know, what a great opportunity. And then as time went on, like it was good. Like I said, we I had learned a ton, um, but then realized too, I'm like, this we because we're at so different, so like our places in life are so different that it just kind of ended up not working, you know.

Kelly 1:06:57

Yeah.

Melissa McGath 1:06:58

Um, like I said, he was kind of on his way out. I'm like ready to ramp up and go.

Kelly 1:07:03

That's tough. That's that's incredibly tough. Curious, how did things go when you made the cut away?

Melissa McGath 1:07:13

It was so hard. That was probably one of the harder decisions too in my career. Um, because I I I respected him, I admired him, and I knew it was gonna be tough, but at the same time, I knew I had to do it. And so, like, how can I make a really tough situation not not just be like uh, you know, like this bad thing. And um it was just, you know, having the conversation, having the hard conversation. And at the time too, and I it was like right around the time I was getting married and just life changes in general, it was it was just a time to move on. Yeah, and um, you know, that was part of the decision, and just explained that to them the best I knew how, and I said this is not personal, like this is just kind of where I'm at in life, and this is my time. And we parted ways, and you know, it's never easy, and it's right, you know, it is what it is, but do what you have to do.

Kelly 1:08:12

Are you open to sharing? Because I I didn't think that I was gonna even like go this direction, but I am curious because there have got to be at least one or two, and and perhaps more listeners that may end up going into partnership, right? And can you explain what that looked like for you and this other business partner and um like ownership interest and stuff, and how that you ended up parting ways successfully for that?

Melissa McGath 1:08:44

Yeah. Oh man, it was hard. I would, you know, like as much as I learned, like, I realized just partnership is not for me. It's not something I would probably ever do again, to be honest. Um it's you know, it's it's like a marriage, like you have to be that close and you have to be that um aligned too. And I think that was probably in retrospect another thing where there were definitely things we didn't align on.

Kelly 1:09:12

Yeah.

Melissa McGath 1:09:12

Um, faith being one of them, which is like who I am at the core, you know. So um I I'm not saying partnerships are bad, but just figure out are you aligned in the things that matter most to you?

Kelly 1:09:25

Yeah.

Melissa McGath 1:09:26

And and if you are great, there's ways, you know, there are many great partnerships out there, and people make it work. Yeah. Um, but yeah, go into it looking like it's gonna be a marriage because it's so there's just so many things that intersect and yeah, even lives, like um you both have your own lives and those things get in the way of work, and how are you gonna compromise and figure that out?

Kelly 1:09:49

Ooh, I like your your um introspectiveness of this, which is like when you are you meaning the listeners in a circumstance where this might come up, yeah, is to uh view it like that. Yeah like you are entering into a business marriage and is this suitable? Do you click? Do you align? And it's not, I actually, and maybe you can speak to this, think that in partnerships you should complement one another and not necessarily be exactly the same kind of person, right? Uh kind of the same thing with marriage, like personal marriage as well. And so, you know, to think about it in that respect and um truly take the time to reflect on, you know, the pros and cons of this decision to move forward and try to evaluate what it can look like on the back end, like what you're speaking to.

Melissa McGath 1:10:56

Yeah.

Kelly 1:10:56

So um sorry for me probing, but was there like an ownership interest that you had and contract contract?

Melissa McGath 1:11:04

I mean, from that perspective, like it it made it easier. Our our business was very small. Okay. So um, and I was kind of like how how we worked it was about I think I don't know if you have to do 50 or 51, 49 or how that was 50-50 or whatever, but um, we were that and it uh like I was responsible for more like the design, the creative direction, everything. He was more responsible for the sales. Well, we were just were not getting the clients in. And I actually I kind of protected myself in that situation, even that partnership, because I had a client on the side that I was just doing on my own. I didn't bring it into the business because I'm like, well, what if this doesn't work? Then I have nothing, you know? Yeah, and I'm glad I did do that. Um, but yeah, we were just in two different places, like the the business wasn't growing to where I kind of I think had expectations of it growing with the experience that he brought to it and like the stage of things. Yeah. And when that wasn't happening, I'm like, this is my livelihood too. You know, I need I I was just married, I knew like family would be coming at some point. And so trying to position myself for the future. And when I saw that not happening, I'm like, this is I can't.

Kelly 1:12:20

But look what happened, right? You had, I'm assuming this is the client that you were talking about that once you started Voom, you're like, here we go. Yeah, yeah. Okay.

Melissa McGath 1:12:30

And the timing, this is so crazy because the timing of this, Kelly, was like, I got out of this partnership in October of 13. It was, I kid you not, probably two weeks after that, like the partnership was done. I get a call from a printer that I had worked with for years who's like, hey, we've got this client, they need a brand really fast. Like, do you could you have a conversation with them? Could you help? I'm like, Yeah, absolutely, you know. Yeah. Well, then it turns into this huge thing where I'm like, okay, now I gotta start a company. And I wasn't planning on that. I was planning on like getting out of the partnership and just freelancing because I had freelance prior to that.

Speaker 1:13:09

Okay.

Melissa McGath 1:13:09

And just like kind of being on my own and riding off into the sunset.

Kelly 1:13:13

Got had different, got had different plans for he's like, we're not, we're not sunsetting any house sister. Here we go. Here we go. Yeah. Well, I think we have covered so much ground, and we can probably start to land the plane. I have I am just tickled with all that we have already covered right now. Is there anything else that you'd like to add as it pertains to that intersection of motherhood and entrepreneurship that you think that the listeners need to know?

Melissa McGath 1:13:49

Yeah, I think just knowing who you are, um, being like really, I hate the phrase, but true to yourself. Like, um, for me, you know what who I am, I know my identities in Christ, and that's what grounds me. Um, it's what I can use as my compass in business and motherhood and all the things. So whether it's faith or whatever that thing is, like just be really grounded in what it is and who you are.

Kelly 1:14:18

So good. Makes a note about that being quotable because it's just incredible. I love that so much. What's a piece of advice that you would give a younger version of Melissa, knowing all that you've been through and all that you know now?

Melissa McGath 1:14:39

Oh, if I could go back, I would I've I've never been a reader, but I would get my hands on all the books about entrepreneurship and read them way sooner than I did.

Kelly 1:14:51

Um makes me giggle that you are not a reader, but you're writing a book.

Melissa McGath 1:14:55

Yeah. Now I'm like, now I'm becoming more of a reader, but like, well, now it's just like, do I have time? I do a lot of listening. I do a lot of um audiobooks. But yeah, like I wish I would have. I I feel like I had kind of this chip on my shoulder, like almost a prideful chip. Like, I can do it on my own. Like, I'm just gonna prove to everyone who thinks I can't do it that I can do it, but I don't need help with any of it. Like, I I don't need to read a book, I'll just figure it out, you know. Um, but reading, I I wish I would have been um much bigger reader early on. Also, I wish I would have invested in like working with a coach earlier on. Sure. Like, I think that was so, and I'm not currently working with one, but I've worked with several, and there's just so much to learn. Like, find the find the people that have done it and who have done it well and learn from them and just be open to that.

Kelly 1:15:52

That was so good. Is that the same advice you would give a woman listening right now who's nibbling on the edges of entrepreneurship? Like they've got a really cool idea and they're just not sure.

Melissa McGath 1:16:04

Yeah, find yeah, find an entrepreneur, find a good book or several books, like so many resources. There's more resources resources available now than when they're when I than when I started. And um yeah, like again, for me it was pride, like a little bit, like just you know, get out there and realize going back to like know who you are and realize what you don't know and find it. And for me, it's like books, it's people, it's coaches, it's podcasts, all the things, you know.

Kelly 1:16:37

Yeah, I have two final questions for you. What I'm really curious. So two-part question What book are you currently obsessed with and why? Now, this might be a podcast too, or just something that is like you're currently obsessing over because I know that you you have projects as well.

Melissa McGath 1:17:04

So, one of my favorite books is Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell. Also a big fan of his podcast. I try to listen to as many as I can all the time. And it's funny, like so many podcasts like are in some ways like duplicative, but it's like such good reminders, like it needs to be. Um, but I think my biggest takeaway from that book, and this is something we implemented last year as part of our goals, what was like process systems, like really, really honing in on that and how instrumental that is in business. Like, again, I wish I would have done that in 2014, you know? Yeah.

Kelly 1:17:44

So very good. He's good, and I I I've have seen like um little blurbs and blips of his podcast, too. He's funny, he is funny, he is a funny guy. Okay, so as someone who is in real estate, I am always very curious about what the favorite room is in your house and why, or like your favorite happy place, yeah, and why. I'm I'm starting to gather some statistics here, and so I am very curious about this.

Melissa McGath 1:18:21

Funny, it's so hard. Sometimes, like my creative space, I have a home office, which is great, but it's not it's you can never really truly disconnect, you know. So we have a little tiny home cabin up in north of Mora. So that's kind of become like my little happy place, and I don't get there as much as I'd like to, but it's just like surrounded by nature and like quiet, and like I feel like you have to. I actually heard another speaker or slash author say this like you have to have a third space, and it didn't really like sit with me until I'm like, I actually think I have that, you know. Like sometimes it can be in a different room of the house, but if I'm honest, it's like it's gotta be away from my house, it's gotta be like up at the cabin.

Kelly 1:19:12

That is so cool. That's so cool. How long have you had that?

Melissa McGath 1:19:17

Oh gosh, I think we built it in 2018.

Kelly 1:19:21

Okay, yeah, and it's it's not too far away, correct?

Melissa McGath 1:19:26

It's about an hour and a half. Oh yeah, that's perfect. That is drive up, you can come back, you don't have to stay.

Kelly 1:19:31

Yeah, yeah, it's a perfect distance. That's really good. Yeah, I kind of equate that to like if halfway point from where my parents are in lacrosse and where we're at is Rochester. Right. And while I don't personally love making the drive, I'm like, it's tolerable. Right. Yeah, absolutely. And you can do that, like that's a you know, down there and back, and that's half a day, whatever. It's exactly fine. So oh, that's cool. Yeah, I wasn't expecting that, but yeah, I mean, I'm gathering some just data and information about what that looks like for other people, and um, you know, it's that's really neat. I'm listening to this podcast right now, and I am very interested in Melissa. How can I get connected with you?

Melissa McGath 1:20:17

Um, LinkedIn. Okay, Melissa McGath and also email Melissa at boomcreative.com are probably the best ways of reaching out and finding me.

Kelly 1:20:28

Awesome. Melissa, such an honor. I love your story. I love what you're doing, what you're building, how you're building it. So fun. And it was so fun to officially meet you in person. I know. So it was so fun. Thank you so much for having me. You're very welcome. Thank you for carving out the time. And absolutely, I hope you have a great rest of the day. Thanks. You too. Thank you.