She Took Care of Everyone Until She Finally Chose Herself: Roxy Couse on Building Half a Million Followers and Finding Freedom

If you’ve ever felt the weight of holding everything together—at work, at home, and in your relationships—this episode is for you.

This week on Female Fridays, I sit down with Roxy Couse, the creator known as The Millennial Manager. Roxy has built a community of nearly half a million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn by telling the truth about corporate life, burnout, and what it really means to choose yourself.

Together, Roxy and I unpack what it looks like to:

• Build a personal brand that feels silly until it works—and embarrassing until it creates freedom
• Let go of being “superhuman” as a defense mechanism
• Redefine success outside of your 9-to-5
• Choose joy that isn’t tied to productivity
• Trust that what’s meant for you won’t miss you

Roxy shares her journey from Senior Director in tech to full-time creator, her viral Love Letters to My 30s series, and the brave decision to walk away from a corporate job that no longer aligned with her peace.

This episode is for the high achievers, the eldest daughters, and the corporate superwomen who feel like everyone else has permission to crumble—just not them. If you’ve ever wondered whether choosing yourself is too risky, Roxy’s story will feel like permission to breathe again.

Key Themes:

• Personal branding for professionals
• Burnout and boundaries in corporate culture
• Eldest daughter syndrome & perfectionism
• Millennial career transitions
• Mental health and therapy for high achievers
• Female empowerment and leadership

Guest:
Roxy Couse (@roxycouse)
Creator, storyteller, and founder of The Millennial Manager brand. Follow Roxy on TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn for honest insights on career, creativity, and choosing joy in your 30s.

Transcript

Rachel Keller (00:01.516)
You ready? Okay, awesome. I'm going to start with your intro here then. If you consider yourself a high achiever, I would be willing to bet that you know what it means to hold everything together. At work, at home, in your friendships, everyone else gets to crumble, just not you. You carry the comfort of others like it's your job. But what happens when you finally ask, what about me?

Roxy Couse (00:03.049)
Ready.

Rachel Keller (00:31.126)
That's a story today with Roxy Krause. Roxy is known as the millennial manager, a nine to fiver wife, dog mom, and storyteller who has built a community of nearly half a million people online. That is so cool. Her content is relatable and packed with wisdom, but behind every coffee and TikTok reel is a woman who recently made a brave choice.

to stop prioritizing everyone else's comfort and start choosing herself. In this conversation, we talk about the lesson she's been writing in her Love Letters to My 30 series, friendship, fear, and trusting that what's meant for you won't miss you. We dig into what it means to walk away from doing it all and let go of being superhuman as a defense mechanism.

and to finally believe that it is all going to work out in the end. This episode is for the eldest daughters, the corporate superwoman, the one who feels like everyone else has permission to crumble, just not you. If you've ever wondered whether choosing yourself is too risky, Roxy's story is going to feel like your permission to breathe again. Welcome to the show, Roxy.

Roxy Couse (01:51.07)
Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Rachel Keller (01:53.262)
I am so excited to have you on the show. I have been following you probably for a few years now, just as a personal fan. So I can't wait to talk to you and kind of hear the stories behind the clips that we all get to see. But I would love to start by just asking you what made you decide to start putting yourself out there on social media.

Roxy Couse (02:15.306)
So I've always loved sort of creating content. I, in 2020, I was furloughed from work and that week that I was furloughed, I created an Instagram for my home decor, because I love home decor. And I dabbled in it a little bit and then just kind of lost interest as work picked back up. But I always wanted to get back to it. And even when I started to TikTok,

Back in 2021, I started just posting about my home decor. then when I started to get serious about it, I started talking about being a homebody. And I started to grow this following because I talked about being a homebody and it just took off from there. But I've always loved creating. I'm a creative at heart. In my corporate career, I'm sure we'll get there, but I led product design. So I'm all about creating and using that.

creative energy to create something that you love.

Rachel Keller (03:14.296)
That's so cool. And what was it that made you go from talking about home decor and being a homebody to talking about corporate life and what it's like to be a millennial manager working in corporate.

Roxy Couse (03:28.264)
So as I started to really get into content, I started to think about this idea of building a personal brand. And when I first started creating content, I literally was like, I'm not going to talk about work. I work all the time. I need something outside of my job to do. But then one day, just, I don't know, I just had this random thought about how performance alone will not get you promoted. And I decided to make a TikTok about it. And it was like, boom.

Rachel Keller (03:35.138)
Mm-hmm.

Rachel Keller (03:55.086)
Hmm.

Roxy Couse (03:57.94)
people just started to flock to my account. And I thought, okay, I have something here. what I think about content is like, you can shy away from who you are and like try to, you know, not talk about those things or you can embrace it. And it was when I decided to actually embrace all of the things that make up who I am and being working in corporate is a big part of that.

I just started to grow this following, which is why now I'm known as the millennial manager, because I talk about these real things that we're facing in the workplace.

Rachel Keller (04:32.385)
Yeah, there's such great lessons in what you just said. The first is that you completely went from one place to a new zone in a matter of a few years of different topics. And I know when people talk to me about building a personal brand, there's this fear to get started. And I love your story that you just started talking about things that you loved.

and continue to put more of yourself into it. And the more that you did that, your strategy changed, your content changed, but it all added up to where you needed to go. And I think that's so important, because a lot of times we, as perfectionists, may get stuck in this thought process that I have to have it all figured out before I launch.

Roxy Couse (05:21.674)
Absolutely. And the thing that I've learned about creating content is that where you start is not where you end up. I had no idea that I would end up in this place where I'd be talking about the things that we're embracing, we face in corporate, from where I started just talking about home decor and showing my house. But it's so important to test what works and iterate on it and just optimize and continue to show up.

differently to figure out what's going to work best for you.

Rachel Keller (05:54.902)
Yeah, I think that is amazing. The second part of what you said that really stuck out to me was you wanted to bring more of yourself into conversations. So this is another tough one, I think, for women and high achieving women because we want to put the version of ourselves out there that's going to be the most liked or that we know based off of the boxes that we have genuinely been put in will reward us.

So was that scary for you to decide to take that leap and start talking about things that maybe made you nervous to speak on?

Roxy Couse (06:33.982)
You know, I'll be honest, I, the last few years of working in, I always thought I knew who I was, but the last couple of years of working in corporate, I was sort of second guessing myself. I was just had some, just going through some experiences where I'm like, okay, I don't really know who I am, who I want to show up as, you know, even like getting feedback about like, performance review feedback about like,

Rachel Keller (06:45.079)
Really?

Roxy Couse (07:02.754)
not being a team player and things that kind of went against everything that I had ever thought about myself. And what I've learned is that, you know, some of that feedback was not necessarily a reflection on me. was in some environments that just did it not where I couldn't thrive. And so I was second guessing everything. And so one of the things that I have prided myself on is

I try to be as authentic as possible. And so I want to share real experiences and the highs and the lows. Yes, I have been a high performer in corporate for a very long time, but I've also gotten some really critical feedback about me. And it causes me to reflect and how can I show up differently? Not everything is rainbows and butterflies.

I just think that people should understand that. Like if you see someone who's this high performer or maybe they like, they're working in tech, everybody wanted to work in tech during the pandemic. Like you see people doing these day in the lives, but like for everything you see, there's so much that you don't see. And I just chose to show the real, not try to cover it up with like only showing you the good side, but I wanted people to see.

Rachel Keller (08:16.226)
you

Roxy Couse (08:27.358)
the inner thoughts as well. And I feel like that's why I've been able to build a platform because people value authenticity and that's how they can relate to your experiences.

Rachel Keller (08:38.259)
I agree completely. And that's part of the goal of this show as well as to share the true authentic stories behind what it takes to be successful. Because even for myself as someone who has been following you for years, you don't know who I am until right now. Now you know who I am, but I would have thought like, I'm shocked hearing you ever got negative feedback. So I'm like, look at this rock star who I'm interviewing right now. And it takes you being vulnerable and saying, I got negative feedback that

Roxy Couse (08:52.586)
me.

Rachel Keller (09:07.211)
gives permission that you can be a high achiever and still not be perfect at the same time. one of the things that you said in a video that really stuck out to me was building a personal brand feels silly until it works. It's embarrassing until it creates freedom. I'd love to unpack that a little bit more for maybe advice that you would give anyone who is listening to this and

wants to maybe start building a personal brand but feels that cringe factor that we talked about.

Roxy Couse (09:41.802)
Yeah, I almost finished your sentence because I love that line. It's embarrassing. So when I was starting to figure out what works and I started on TikTok, it is embarrassing to be trying to do something. Like, you know, everybody starts at zero, but we don't realize that like even the biggest creators we know are like people like with these huge podcasts and like any anyone.

Rachel Keller (09:46.253)
I should have let you say it.

Roxy Couse (10:11.53)
who has ever started anything, they started like at zero, zero followers, zero like impact. And then you just start to build off of that. But starting out is very difficult because you're trying to figure out like, okay, how do I want to show up? Like, do I just latch onto trends? Do I find somebody online that I want to mimic and be more like? So starting out, was very, it was cringy. I didn't know how I wanted to show up.

talking to the camera did not come natural to me. And I look at some of my earlier videos and I'm like, who is that person? But you have to go through that to get to, you know, where, like your North Star, where you want to be. And I just kept showing up. And when I first started, the reason why I said it is Cringetilla Works, because when I first started, you know, people, I didn't know if my colleagues could see like my TikTok or anything, nobody had mentioned it. So I'm like, okay, I have this freedom to just go.

do this thing and it was kind of just my just side passion project. The first time someone mentioned it at work, I probably had like a hundred thousand followers on TikTok, which that is a lot of people. So if anybody had saw me before that, they didn't say anything. So, and by that time I started to create some opportunities. Like I started to get some brand deals. Like the first year that I...

Rachel Keller (11:22.583)
Wow.

Roxy Couse (11:39.434)
after I started to grow a following on TikTok, I probably made like $15,000, like this side hustle thing. I'm like, which is, yeah, yeah. I've thought about like over the years, I've tried so many different things. Like I had an Etsy shop and me and my husband joke about it. like, I had an Etsy shop one year I made like $11,000, but I probably spent like 10,900 in supplies.

Rachel Keller (11:46.519)
Which is amazing still. Yeah.

Rachel Keller (12:02.317)
I'm going to

Roxy Couse (12:06.068)
So like to do this thing and for it to like work and it was amazing. And then the next year, so I've been really doing this, like making money doing this for like, this is my third year. So first year was $15,000, the second year was six figures. So then I was like, my gosh, like this, it creates freedom because you realize you have a choice. Like before we're like, a lot of us are in our nine to fives and we're working in corporate.

This is our job. This is our livelihood. But when you have something else, it just creates a freedom that I'd never experienced before. So yeah, that's kind of what I meant. And the opportunities too. For example, when you build your personal brand, there are things that...

There's so much freedom that it opens up. Like, for example, I created a video last year because I wanted to go to Afro Tech. I had never been to this conference and I'm like, I want to go to here. I just created a video. was like, I want to be invited to Afro Tech. Next thing you know, Afro Tech reaches out. They're like, we want you to be at Afro Tech. Here's a ticket. We're going to pay for you to be there. So like those opportunities would not have existed had I not just bet on myself and started to build this personal brand.

Rachel Keller (13:19.497)
It is so scary to take that leap of faith, but looking back, you will be so glad that you did. It's just like that one moment of deciding to put yourself out of your comfort zone and keep building, even if it's not working out. I love what you use about the Etsy shop. That ultimately helps you get where you are today, but you may look back and be like, I maybe made a hundred dollars of what I invested, but if you wouldn't have done that, I bet.

that wisdom during that time helps you build millennial manager. It all goes together. One of the things, one of the series that you have on your TikTok is love letters to my thirties. So some of the specific ones that I loved was talking about friendship and what's meant for you won't miss you being stuck between your dreams and destiny. And maybe we can go into a few of those, but tell me what inspired you to start that series and

Roxy Couse (13:54.632)
Absolutely, I agree.

Rachel Keller (14:18.773)
a little bit more about what that series is.

Roxy Couse (14:21.39)
so that series, feel like I wouldn't say put me on the map because I don't know if I'm on the map or anything, but that series was, I don't know. I was just thinking about just all the things that I've experienced and how I could connect all the dots, like from the corporate career to, this, the, aspect of storytelling, just everything. And I just.

Rachel Keller (14:27.396)
you're on the map. You're on the map, girl. It's fine. I'll say it.

Roxy Couse (14:50.91)
brought it together in this series. And one of the things that everyone talks about on social media is like, you need like a signature series. So like thinking about how you can create that. And I've had series before, like I had like things I wish I knew in my 20s that did pretty well, like no regret purchases, like, is, yeah, I stopped doing that because I didn't want to push capitalism. You know, as a creator, like that's just part of what do.

Rachel Keller (14:59.243)
Hmm.

Rachel Keller (15:16.534)
Yeah.

Roxy Couse (15:18.57)
But so things I wish I knew are love letters to a girl in her 30s. I was looking at the data because I'm a very data-driven person from my corporate career. That's what I did. But most of my audience, like 80%, 85 % are in the 30s range, and they're millennials. And so I was like, oh, I should do this. And when I talk to people about content strategy, always say that like,

Rachel Keller (15:27.137)
Mm-hmm.

Roxy Couse (15:47.088)
you know, you have to be talking to someone because if you're talking to everyone, you're talking to no one. And so I started the series Love Letters to a Girl in Her 30s. And it just did really well. Like it was 30 episodes. It took me three months to create it. A lot of people don't know. And I was asked this by someone else. They were like, you still worked in corporate at that time? I'm like, yes, I was still working full time. I was creating this series. And there were times where I'm like, OK, I need to film and I'm on a work trip.

Rachel Keller (15:49.601)
Mm-hmm.

Roxy Couse (16:15.786)
I needed to go on a work trip. And so like one episode might've been like shots in an airport because it just, when you realize you want to do something, there is nothing that can stop you from making it happen. And yeah, that series has just been absolutely phenomenal. I probably gained like, I mean, at the beginning of this year on Instagram, I probably had like 120, 130 followers. I now have like over 300,000.

Rachel Keller (16:21.581)
Yeah.

Rachel Keller (16:27.341)
Mm-hmm.

Roxy Couse (16:43.742)
followers and I know that that series was like the biggest part of that.

Rachel Keller (16:47.969)
That's amazing. Well, first of all, congratulations on all of that growth from that series. What was the video that you think resonated the most? I'd love to dive into that topic.

Roxy Couse (16:58.578)
So I think the one I love the most and I think it's also performed the best was like the one where I said, one day I woke up and decided I want to work to enjoy life outside of work instead of work being my life. And so I started to do some hobbies and I talked about the different hobbies. Like in my 30s, I learned how to swim, which is like, it feels like nothing, but I'm like, that's amazing. That's like a huge achievement.

Rachel Keller (17:13.419)
Hmm.

Rachel Keller (17:27.639)
No.

Roxy Couse (17:28.362)
I'm learning how to manage, like finding something to like make money. like content creation helped in that way. And just like, just different aspects of like hobby and hobbies, because I don't know, I felt like work was my hobby for so long. Like I didn't have anything outside of that. So yeah, that one was probably the best.

Rachel Keller (17:48.664)
Do you feel like millennials listening to this may resonate with that? Like work does become all consuming. And maybe even if you're not at work, you're thinking about work or feeling like you need to be on all the time.

Roxy Couse (18:01.45)
Oh, 100%. I get messages all the time like, I'm tired. How did you, because I went, I also went part time at the beginning of this year in my corporate career. Like in March, I went part time and then eventually I, a month ago I left, but people were exhausted. And what I have found is that early in my career, I didn't know how to set boundaries. And it says millennials, we've just been told like, keep your head down, do your job, don't complain.

no one take time off, like just all the things. And so we just, we did was, all we do is work. And so I think now we are realizing that we have to establish boundaries. Like our health is the most important thing that we have. And if we don't have it, then there's nothing else matters. So yeah.

Rachel Keller (18:45.345)
Yeah, well, and that's a perfect segue into this big leap. You did make this decision to go from part-time to fully leaving that corporate life. What was it that finally made you decide now is the time I need to put myself first?

Roxy Couse (19:02.218)
I think it was, so I surpassed my corporate income creating content this year. And it wasn't like, I mean, my salary is really good. My last role was I was Senior Director of Customer Marketing for a tech company. I had a team and it was great, but there's so many things, like work has changed. It's not the same as it was. There's, know, people are afraid of being laid off.

Everybody's so scared. I just feel like the corporate culture is so different. And I was thinking to myself, why do you have two jobs? You've replaced your corporate income. You can take a step back. I've never taken longer than a week of vacation in the last, I've almost been in corporate 15 years.

Rachel Keller (19:54.839)
Wow.

Roxy Couse (19:56.116)
I don't know, I was just thinking to myself, like, you should practice what you preach. You can take a step back. It's not like you lose your corporate career. You can always go back. you can just take a sabbatical, like, focus on yourself for a little bit. And so I just did. I just decided to just take some time off. And it feels really good to be able to take a step back.

Rachel Keller (20:17.783)
Yeah, well, congratulations. How is it feel so far? It feels good. heard you say, but is there like any part of you that's like, my gosh, what's next? Or do you feel really at peace with that decision?

Roxy Couse (20:30.356)
feel good. mean, it's not like I, like I, I have a business. it's like Roxy Kals LLC. That's what my content business runs through. So I'm on payroll. Like I still like, I still have a job and I have a real, it's a lot of really great partnerships that I've been working on. So it still feels good. I still act like I have like a nine to five. I wake up at the same time. I get dressed, I sit at my desk, I'm doing work.

But it does feel really nice to just not always have to be on. Like I'm not on calls all day long, which is a huge change that I am absolutely enjoying. I can go like run errands during the day and just do things that I haven't been able to do. And I don't know, I'm enjoying it for now.

Rachel Keller (21:20.621)
More freedom. Well, and I heard you say too that this is the thing that millennials are constantly DMing you. They're like, my gosh, I feel so much pressure. I'm burnt out. And so many women who are listening to this are carrying their companies, their families. They feel like they're carrying all of that on their back. So have you ever experienced that yourself, a feeling like you needed to prioritize everyone else's comfort before your own?

Roxy Couse (21:51.464)
yeah, absolutely. I'm an eldest daughter. So I'm like mom number two. People have always depended on me. Like I just, I have two brothers, one older, one younger, and then I have a younger sister. And so even with my older brother, I just feel like as the eldest daughter, you kind of take this role of just taking care of everyone and everyone is reaching out to you.

Rachel Keller (21:58.006)
Yeah.

Roxy Couse (22:19.836)
Yeah, it's exhausting. then when it comes to work, I get a lot of questions about, I always wanted to be a manager. When I was in college, I worked at Sears full time. I was going to school full time and I was working full time because I didn't have a backup plan or anything. And I was being prepped to be a manager. And when I graduated, I became a manager at Sears before I left to go work at a corporate.

Rachel Keller (22:26.924)
Mm-hmm.

Roxy Couse (22:49.098)
office, but like even being a manager, you're, I said in one of my videos, I was like, I think the eldest daughters make the best managers. Like we've been being prepped to be managers our whole life. And so many people responded like, leave us out of it. We are tired. So true. But like as a manager, even you, you're, if you do it right, you're responsible for people's careers. And like that should mean.

Rachel Keller (23:05.517)
Roxy Couse (23:16.83)
That's a weight that lets a lot of pressure on you to make sure that those people have what they need to thrive. And even that just, you know, over time I'm like, I just need to step back. Like everybody's like looking at you, everybody is expecting something from you. And it's a lot to carry.

Rachel Keller (23:18.071)
Mm-hmm.

Rachel Keller (23:36.405)
Yeah, well, you've said that doing it all and being super superhuman can actually be a defense mechanism. So tell me more about that.

Roxy Couse (23:43.774)
Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly what. I, one of the love letters that I put in that series was like, girl, we need to go to therapy. And I started going to therapy because I like, and I talked about this in one of my videos, but like people have no idea what anyone is experiencing or what you're going through. And when I was really struggling at work, I would like, I would have my therapy session.

Rachel Keller (23:56.865)
Good.

Roxy Couse (24:13.61)
booked and I'd like leave a call, go to therapy, go back to the you know another word call and I've always been like my my me trying to do it all like I never want anyone to think that like Roxy dropped the ball, Roxy didn't deliver and so I would try to overcompensate by doing more and that just causes you to burn out and so that my defense mechanism was like

Rachel Keller (24:30.721)
Yeah.

Rachel Keller (24:36.524)
I'm done.

Roxy Couse (24:40.914)
I never want anyone to think that I don't have it all together or that like, I can't get it done. And it creates this, it's toxic. as you think about like how you navigate.

Rachel Keller (24:54.345)
It's hard because it usually works out. Like if you are overcompensating, you're like, I'm going to do more and you're really good at your job. You don't want anyone to think you're going to drop the balls. You usually don't. But what ends up happening, at least I'll speak from my own experience, is kill it all day, girl boss, get home, anxiety.

Roxy Couse (25:08.137)
Yeah.

Roxy Couse (25:18.25)
Yeah. And it's so funny because one of the things my mama used to always say was like, if you want something done right, you got to do it yourself. And I've carried that. like, yes, if I want something done right, I got to do it myself. I'm going to get it done. And yes, exactly. What I also feel like when you're carrying that weight, like you're doing all this work, you're overcompensating, it leaves nothing. At the end of the day, you have nothing. You have nothing to offer yourself.

Rachel Keller (25:26.785)
Yeah.

Rachel Keller (25:44.887)
Hmm your family. Yeah

Roxy Couse (25:46.642)
It's exhausting at home, like family. Yes, it's that when people talk about work-life balance, like if you've given it all, all day long, sometimes you have nothing else to give by the time the end of the day comes. And I think that that is why work-life balance is so important.

Rachel Keller (26:04.065)
That's so good. And I know I've had conversations with my husband about this too. Like at the end of the day, as much as you care so deeply about your work, I could die tomorrow and they're going to replace me and they'll be like, you know, sad, but they'll find somebody else. My family is going to be devastated and think about me every single day for the rest of their lives. And so I like what you said because it is so true that

Roxy Couse (26:18.804)
Mm-hmm.

Roxy Couse (26:23.754)
They will find some.

Rachel Keller (26:33.781)
Sometimes as high achieving women, give so much to our roles that we get home and we're exhausted, we're anxious, we don't feel like we have anything left to give to our families. And over time that adds up to where if you think about it, like at the end of your life, is that what you want? And just reframing it, it sounds like you did that. So what advice would you give for somebody who's like, okay, mean, call it out.

I am this way, I'm feeling like this, but like, don't really know where to start. What's one thing that they can do to try and re-prioritize a little bit to start feeling like they have to be that superhuman?

Roxy Couse (27:15.338)
I would say start to think about how you can insert more joy outside of work. feel like every time I, in the past where I thought about like, that was a happy moment or, that was fun. It was like I was on a work trip or I was doing something, I achieved something at work and I'm like, everything, all of my joy was tracking back to.

Rachel Keller (27:36.725)
Why?

Roxy Couse (27:42.268)
increasing shareholder value basically. But like, I wanted to like find some things that were fulfilling outside of work. Things that like, I wasn't monetizing, cause that's another thing. Like I am really good at like figuring out how to monetize my hobbies. So like learning how to swim, adopting a dog, like finding joy, like moving back closer to be.

like be closer to families. Now we get to go to my little nephews and nieces soccer games on Saturday. Like I was just trying to think about like, what's gonna fill my cup that has nothing to do with work, but it's me showing up for the people in my life because that matters the most at the end of the day.

Rachel Keller (28:28.865)
I'm just like so cracking up that you're like, yeah, all my joy was increasing shareholder value.

Roxy Couse (28:35.754)
Thank you.

Rachel Keller (28:38.733)
like, yeah, but that's a good reality check. Just be like, okay, let me just think back. Let's just do the last month. Where am I finding my joy and just kind of like putting it into buckets, work outside work and how balanced is that list? Is there one hobby you can pick up to try that isn't something that you gamify? So I'm the same way I love to read and I'm an avid reader. I've, I usually read more than a hundred books each year and

Roxy Couse (28:49.736)
Mm-hmm.

Roxy Couse (29:01.459)
Mm-hmm.

Rachel Keller (29:06.945)
Would I be sad if I didn't get to 100 every year? Yes, but I try not to be like, have to reach this number because as a high achiever, you do gamify your hobbies a little bit where you're like, okay, well, this has to be a successful hobby. have to be good at it or I have to make money from it. taking that aside too, to say, this is something that I can be bad at. Don't need to make money. It can just be for fun. And that is completely okay.

Roxy Couse (29:30.844)
Absolutely. Yeah, I love to read too. I actually noticed that when working in corporate full time, I would only pick up books like around the holidays because I had time off from work or at the beginning of year, I'd read so many books and then it would just like fall off. So I'm reading more. like, I like to play like my Nintendo Switch every now and then, but I would only play around the holidays because that's when I had downtime. But now I'm like, I need to do more things that just like not thinking, just doing things that just

Rachel Keller (29:41.472)
Mm-hmm.

Rachel Keller (29:51.798)
Yeah.

Rachel Keller (30:00.3)
Yeah. Yeah. Just for the heck of it, just for the joy. I absolutely love that. Well, and I would have to ask you to, because you are so successful, I'm sure our listeners do want to know, do you have any tips that you would give for somebody who's looking to make it their own personal brand on TikTok or even LinkedIn? I saw you had a LinkedIn partnership and I was like, that is the coolest thing ever.

Roxy Couse (30:00.65)
Great joy.

Roxy Couse (30:26.888)
Mm-hmm.

Rachel Keller (30:27.533)
Do you have any tips that you would give us before you go?

Roxy Couse (30:32.062)
Yeah, so I would just say, just start showing up. think the thing that kind of stopped me or made me hesitant at first was like, people are going to be watching. So LinkedIn was the last place that I looked to build my personal brand. Actually, the last year I started building on LinkedIn, and it's gone really well. But just start to insert yourself in the conversation and start with a single platform. So I started on TikTok, grew on TikTok.

went to Instagram, grew on Instagram, and then I went to LinkedIn. So yeah, I would just say just start, think about who you wanna talk to, because like I said, if you're talking to everyone, you're talking to no one, and just start putting your perspective out there because it matters, and people need to hear what you have to say.

Rachel Keller (31:16.447)
I love that. Okay, well, let's end with one of your TikTok segments, which is corporate hard truths. So I will say like some examples that you have talked about and you can give a hard truth. And if you can't think of one, we can skip it and edit it. Okay. Does that sound okay? Okay. So what about a hard truth about meetings?

Roxy Couse (31:43.434)
The hard truth about meetings is that most of them are worthless. They're pointless. There's no agenda. talked about what we're doing in corporate is like meeting theater. Like we're just in a meeting. And when we come away from it and we're like, okay, what did I, actually we don't even have time to think about the takeaways and what to do next because like we're off to the next meeting. So yeah.

Rachel Keller (31:48.544)
No.

Rachel Keller (31:57.43)
Yes! my gosh.

Rachel Keller (32:10.509)
gotta go to the next one. Yeah, that's a good one. Okay, what about hard truth about work family?

Roxy Couse (32:18.344)
Work people are not your family. My hard truth is that work people are not your family. you are, you think about like people that, every job that I've had, I've had like one or two people where like I still talk to them regularly. But most of the people that you meet at work, it doesn't matter how close you are, when you leave that organization, they never talk to you again. So like, it's that, it's proximity is why you feel.

Rachel Keller (32:32.173)
Mm-hmm.

Roxy Couse (32:46.332)
like you're more connected in a family when like it's that's not the reality and you don't want to get in a situation where you feel like we're a family they have my back but no like you have to have your own back and I truly believe that work people are not your family.

Rachel Keller (33:01.473)
Always have your own back. That's good advice. Okay, last one. Hard truth about being the youngest or only woman in the room.

Roxy Couse (33:10.154)
I've been both. And if you are the youngest or if you're the only one that looks like you in a room, should share your, you should still share your perspective. One of the best things that we can do in any room that we're a part of, because we have a seat at the table while being in that room, is to be present and let our perspective be heard by others in the

Rachel Keller (33:36.429)
Absolutely. I think that's a great one. Never be afraid to use your voice. Well, Roxy, this has been so much fun and Roxy reminded us today that doing it all isn't always strength. Sometimes it's a defense mechanism. True strength is asking what about me and being brave enough to choose yourself even when it does feel scary. If you've been carrying the comfort of everyone else, your company, your team, your family,

Let this be your reminder, you don't have to be superhuman. What's meant for you won't miss you. I hope this conversation gave you permission to exhale, to release the pressure and to trust that it is really going to work out in the end. Thank you for listening to Female Fridays. If Roxy's story spoke to you, share this episode with a woman in your life who might need the reminder too. And as always,

Keep breaking ceilings, keep choosing yourself, and I'll see you next Friday.