Influencer Entrepreneurs: Marketing Tips to Make You More Visible
Surviving in the entrepreneur world is not an easy task. Jenny teaches you how to build a stronger business with blogging and social media tips that are up to date and proven. No more trading time for money! She teaches content and email marketing strategies that helped her build her audience and sell her lifestyle blog for over six figures in 2019. As a former inner city school district teacher she understands the importance of breaking strategies into bite size pieces of information all with the master plan of giving you homework so that you can implement the strategies in your business immediately. Get ready to be able to put her strategies into practice after just one listen!
Influencer Entrepreneurs: Marketing Tips to Make You More Visible
Take the Leap of Faith with Melanie O’Reilly-Rogers
What happens when you decide to chase a dream despite overwhelming self-doubt? Melanie O'Reilly-Ralictors faced this exact question when planning her first-ever motherhood summit. Her powerful story demonstrates that courage isn't the absence of fear—it's moving forward despite it.
Melanie, founder of Mostly Under Control, describes herself as "not a risk-taker at all," yet found herself planning an ambitious in-person event for mothers seeking deeper connection. With a background in early childhood education and having pivoted her business multiple times as her family grew (including the surprise of twins!), she realized her expertise could create something truly meaningful for women beyond standard parenting advice.
The journey wasn't smooth. Fears of financial loss, disappointing speakers, poor attendance, and potential embarrassment plagued her planning process. What pushed her through? A combination of mindset shifts, unwavering support from her husband, business coaching, and a simple yet powerful mantra: "Even Amazon started in someone's garage." This perspective transformed her thinking from "I've only sold four tickets" to "I've already sold four tickets!"
Most valuable is Melanie's practical advice for anyone contemplating their own leap of faith. She emphasizes surrounding yourself with the right people—those who see possibilities rather than obstacles. Her strategy of finding different types of supporters (cheerleaders, challengers, and implementers) creates a balanced network that propels you forward. As she discovered, "Nobody really knows what they're doing" in business—we're all figuring it out as we go.
Ready to take your own leap? Join Insiders with a special 40% discount to access weekly trainings and monthly coaching calls that provide both accountability and practical strategies for growing your online business.
Read more HERE.
This is the Influencer Entrepreneur's Podcast with Jenny Melrose, where I strategize with business owners on how to grow and scale their businesses to hit their income goals. This is episode 435 of the Influencer Entrepreneurs Podcast with Jenny Melrose. Today we're talking about take the leap of faith with Melanie O'Reilly-Ralictors from Mostly Under Control. Melanie is a longtime client. You will hear her talk about all the different ways that we have worked together, but most recently and still always a part of, I think she said she's been an insider member since for over six years now. So if you are one that wants to take advantage of a podcast listeners discount for insiders, it is linked in the show notes, so make sure that you definitely join in there. You'll hear her talk a little bit about it, but we are really giving you the accountability and strategies that are working right now to grow your online business, with weekly trainings as well as a monthly group coaching call and you can find that right in the show notes to be able to get 40% off your lifetime of your membership each month. All right, let's dive in. Hi Melanie, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1:How are you? I'm doing well, jenny. How are you Good? Thank you. I am super excited about our conversation about Take the Leap of Faith, but before we do that, will you introduce yourself and your business to our listeners?
Speaker 2:Of course, my name is Melanie and I own Mostly Under Control. I'm a married mom of four kids, a dog and a cat. We live in the suburbs of Chicago. My husband works full-time outside of the house. I started mostly under control when I was pregnant with my daughter, who is now almost nine and a half, which I cannot believe. I lost my job when I was pregnant with her and at first it was kind of like a catch-all blog, like recipes and home design and all the things, because I wanted to reach all the people. I thought that's what I had to do. Then I transitioned it into an early childhood blog because I had a sensory bin post that like blew up on Pinterest and my degree is in early childhood.
Speaker 2:I came from preschool, so I focused on, you know, early childhood activities at home. Then I found out I was pregnant with twins in January of 2018. And I was like nope, continuing these sensory activities at home is just not. It's not realistic for me and my lifestyle anymore and I felt like I was faking it. Realistic for me and my lifestyle anymore. And I felt like I was faking it. So I kind of this was the time of like Instagram and it was before TikTok, but it was like kind of when the whole motherhood realm like you're supposed to like, not like your husband, and he's supposed to feel like an extra child, and your only break is supposed to be to go to the bathroom in the morning and your coffee is supposed to be cold, and I was like it did not. I wasn't okay with that, it did not feel sustainable to me, and so I knew that there had to be another way to go about it. So I shifted from the early childhood activities to more of like a realistic motherhood life view.
Speaker 1:Yes, excellent, and I remember that pivot all too well throughout the year, one of many pivots I've had. Yeah, no, all right. So can you share a defining moment when you decided to take a leap of faith?
Speaker 2:So once I started to, you know, kind of get into like the motherhood realm of things I knew that I always wanted to do like a big motherhood event like Mom 2.0 or MommyCon. I wanted to bring moms together and give them a sense of community, build resources for them and let them learn mostly about themselves, like I was tired of hearing about, you know places to come together to learn about potty training and which bottles we should use and which car seats we should use, like I wanted deeper, I wanted people to cry, I wanted people to really find themselves. But this it just always seemed like such a huge undertaking and I am not a risk taker at all, except for trying for a third kid I'm kidding, I'm not a risk taker at all, you know and but what I didn't realize with all of that is that the women who started all of these events, they all had to take a leap of faith. No one started this thousand people event and sold out the first year that they did it. Nobody knew who they were, nobody knew their names. They had to put themselves out there and take risks to make it happen.
Speaker 2:So I just kind of was like, right, we're just, I'm just going to do it. And so once I was okay with that and once I realized that it's not like if you build it, they will come. They will, but it's going to take a really long time. They're not going to come the first year. So I started looking around at venues and speakers. I started planning in April of 2024 for an event in January of 2025. I hit the ground running, reached out to Jenny and asked her to help me. Jenny was already my. She's been my business coach since I found out that I was pregnant with my twins, which I guess also was a leap of faith, yes, and when they?
Speaker 1:just to clarify when she's saying Jenny, she does mean just the word Claire.
Speaker 2:So, you know, signing up with Jenny was a leap of faith. I was putting money into a business that I had no idea where it was going. So, anyway, I started hit the ground running, planning this event, reach out to local businesses and asked if they wanted to sponsor, add things to the swag bags. It was just risk after risk after risk and I kind of was like let's build it together. Like I had a local printing company that was like yeah, I'll give you your banner for free if you let me put my logo on it. I'm like sweet, and it was. You know, I risked people telling me no, I risked people laughing in my face, but that actually didn't happen. Everybody was so excited to be a part of it because they could tell in my energy and in my approach how passionate I was about it and that's what I had behind it.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I think you were really clear on your vision and it came from that energy and just overall excitement of being able to make an impact on all of the women that would attend.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I also really like wanted it to be an impact for the speakers too, because I had some speakers that they had nothing to sell. They just desperately wanted to tell their story to a group of women and there was a handful of them that had never spoke in front of people before about their topics like generational and they're not light topics like generational trauma and, you know, finding your one thing for being, you know that helps you keep your cool as a mom and they, you know. So they, like I said, they didn't have anything to sell, they just jumped in it and had just wanted to talk about their passionate things, which I loved also.
Speaker 1:Yes, because it came from that place of wanting to impact, for sure. So what fears or doubts did you face before making that decision to take the leap and have the summit?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, I was so afraid that I was going to lose money, obviously. But once I had had that conversation with my husband where we were just kind of like you know, this is a dream of mine. I've wanted to do this forever Just do it, you can get money back. I really didn't want the speakers to feel like they were wasting their time because they were all volunteering. I wasn't paying anyone and I was very upfront about that in the beginning that I didn't know how many tickets I was going to sell and I just wasn't going to be able to afford to pay them. I was.
Speaker 2:I was genuinely scared that they were going to walk in and they were going to be like oh, there's only 10 people here, I'm not going to do this, or I'm never talking to this crazy lady again because she doesn't know what she's doing. Which fun fact I learned in the planning of all this nobody knows what they're doing. We are all learning this as we go in life and in business, and I was scared that nobody would show up. I was scared that I wouldn't sell any tickets. I was scared that people would have a miserable time.
Speaker 2:I was basically just listing all of the bad things that could possibly happen. I didn't want this to be like another failed business for me, because there are a lot, and the reality of it is people are not paying that close attention to the little old me to know that I've had X amount of failed businesses, and so I definitely doubted myself. There definitely were times where I thought, oh my gosh, I'm not going to sell any tickets, or the only people that bought tickets are my friends and they're just doing it to be nice to me. No-transcript.
Speaker 1:Now. Was there a specific turning point or realization that pushed you forward and got past all those fears?
Speaker 2:A lot of mindset shifts, which Jenny can attest to. I hate mindset crap. I find it annoying and I find it like you're just trying to convince yourself of something that's not true. So there's a lot of mindset. I wouldn't say there was like a specific turning point, it was a lot of little things. I also, when I decided to do it, I was participating in one of your masterminds and that was. I think that was one of the big things that really kind of pushed me over was being in the mastermind and hearing from you and hearing from the other women in the mastermind that like, yes, you can do this. Like if you think you can't, then that's what's going to make you crazy. You know all these negative things can happen, but no one has a 100% success rate at their first event and success doesn't necessarily mean sell out. That was another mindset I had to get into. Like success doesn't mean you sell out at your.
Speaker 2:You could sell out of an event and the event could be terrible, that's not successful Um, right no, the 15 or so women that were there learned so much Um, and, like I said, there said they're still reaching out to me about things that they're discovering about themselves.
Speaker 1:Now, what steps would you recommend for someone who wants to take a leap but feels stuck?
Speaker 2:You just have to do it. You have to get unstuck. I wish there was like some secret formula, but it's that annoying mindset, crap, right. Like you, everyone has felt this way. Something that I kept saying during the process was even Amazon started in someone's garage, like I. Anytime someone would ask like, oh, how, how are ticket sales going? I would immediately freeze up and be like, oh, I've only sold four. But even Amazon started in someone's garage, and then I would have people say, oh my God, you sold four tickets. That's awesome, instead of thinking I've only sold four tickets. It was it.
Speaker 2:You have, and you have to surround yourself with people that are going to have the same positive, the same positive outlook on the event as you as well. If you have people that are typically negative, well, if you have people that are typically negative, or if you have people that are giving you all the reasons why it could fail, those are not people that you want to be around at all, especially not while planning something as huge as this. If you don't take risks, then you're going to be stuck in your comfort zone forever, and while that may lead to a comfortable life, you don't. Nobody grows in their comfort zone the most growth we do is outside of that comfort zone. And so to get out of that comfort zone, that is when you take the risks and that is when you take the leaps of faith.
Speaker 2:You got to get into the mindset that it might bruise your ego, people might tell you no, but it's not going to be like that every year, and before the event was even over, I knew that I was going to be doing another one next year. It wouldn't be at the same time of year, but I already knew that. And all the speakers kept asking me like or do you think you'll do this again? I'm like heck, yeah, why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't I? And you know what it's not going to be a sellout either. When I do it in 2026, it's not going to sell out either. I don't expect it to.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's that uncomfortable feeling that you get. It's normally when you're making that growth. So I love that you said it was just pushing through that and finding a direction that you felt comfortable with in your mind and by surrounding yourself with the right people. So now, how important do you think it is to having a plan, versus jumping in and figuring it out along the way?
Speaker 2:I had no idea what I was doing and, like I said before, um, I quickly learned that, like nobody really knows what they're doing, um, I tried to plan as much as I could but ultimately I ended between a little bit of both, but ultimately it ended up being mostly figuring it out as I went along using my resources, people that I'd met, you know asking you for advice because you've been my business coach and you planned a summit before. So a lot of it was learning along the way, and these are not things that you can just like quickly Google either. Like it's on a case-by-case basis. It depends on your state, it depends on capacity, it depends on so many things.
Speaker 2:So I had to dig for answers myself and I had to ask other people, and other people had to be willing to help me. So most of it, I had to figure out along the way, especially other people, and other people had to be willing to help me. So most of it, I had to figure out along the way, especially because I was doing the planning all by myself, which I do not recommend, by the way. Definitely, have help. I did the whole thing top to bottom, all by myself until the very end. I needed some friends to run some errands for me and some friends came early to help me set up, but for the most part it was all me.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, I think too, when you can take what you see from others that you like whether it is a networking event, whether it is a big conference or even just a get-together or girls' night what you take away from those in-person experiences and then can apply it to your own is going to be really key. So I would say, like, if you're listening and you want to be able to host some sort of in-person whether it's a retreat, a conference, summit, whatever that looks like for you I would recommend get out there and do that. Get out there and do a networking event and see what the talks are like and see what, how people interact and what the setup is like and how they introduce people and where they take questions. I think all of that goes into it and oftentimes we think, oh, I got to find something exactly like what I'm picturing in order to know that was me and that's not true.
Speaker 1:You can take it from anything and it doesn't even have to be necessarily business related. It can be something that you've got to go and do for the kids. You got to go to a sporting event, you got to go to a banquet, like. You can take bits and pieces that you see working and apply it to how you want to do things, even like a trip away with your family. I know you do a huge family trip every summer with, like your whole extended family. Yes, if you ever wanted to do like a retreat, knowing what works and what doesn't as far as your own personality to you is going to be key when you're planning something in person, cause that definitely definitely pulls in your. The way that you handle certain situations when you're in person is a little different than the way you do it online. So now, did you have any mentors or supporters who encouraged you and how did they help?
Speaker 2:I mean hands down. It was you, Like it was I, and I think I said this to you in one of our mastermind meetings that, like I would have never planned this if I hadn't started business coaching with you, um I. A lot of it was accountability, a lot of it was advice, a lot of it was support and that stupid mindset crap. A lot of it was that it wasn't um, it wasn't tangible things, it was all those things rolled together. You know, um, you were able to answer most of my questions regarding the summit, or you had people that were also in your membership or mastermind that had the answers to my questions, and that has been invaluable being in your. I've done two masterminds, I think, um, but being in your group, coaching, the connections that I've made and the networking that I've made, has by far been the best part of being in your membership. Hands down there's no doubt in my mind, the monthly group calls and then the ability to be in the mastermind.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, insiders is definitely one of my favorite programs for that, because it does not only give you the strategies and tips, but it gives you those collaborations, those partnerships and also the accountability. Now there's another person that you're not mentioning that I think, is a huge difference in your life when it comes to taking this leap and feeling comfortable with it. You have a partner in life that I think is always, has always been your biggest cheerleader, yes, and he deserves a lot of that as well he does.
Speaker 2:He, it's my husband. He he's the first to download my podcast episodes when they go live. He's the first to answer my polls on Instagram. Even if it has nothing to do with him, he has. I mean, I had to have a conversation with him to start this anyway, because we the money is our money and I needed to make sure that he was on board with it. He has been my number one support through all of this. I can come home with the craziest idea for a new moneymaker or product or something and he'll be like all right, cool, go for it, or whatever. Yes, I could not do a podcast interview like this without mentioning him. He's been a huge, huge support for me.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I think you are so fortunate in that. But I think that you also have been really good about all along communicating everything. You have communicated with him from the very beginning of what you expected, how it was going to impact your family, what you needed help with. I think that that's one of the things that I truly admire about your relationship with him is the way that you communicate that and I think that for those listening that feel like, well, my partner isn't as supportive of it, find that person, find that best friend, find that person that's going to be your cheerleader, no matter what, that you can go to with these crazy ideas and they can see where it's going to be successful and give you that cheerleading that you may need.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I've got a group of friends that is always absorbing all of my crazy ideas too, and and they'll come back with. Well, I don't think it'll work because X, y, z and then I'll research it and I'm like you're totally right, okay, so we're putting, we're throwing that one in the trash. They have been really great with helping me bounce ideas off of also. So, just like having that group of friends and I think it's important to have those friends and I mean this in business and in life too that have different perspectives. Like you need one person that's going to always tell you yes, you're so right, you're the best. You need one person that's always going to challenge you. You need one person that is always there to have fun. You need one person that's going to buy that ticket to the basket weaving event that you're going to host and you know nothing about basket weaving. Like everybody needs that group of friends in life and in business.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. How can someone build a support system when taking a big leap, because I think that that's often a challenge in online business. It's funny because I just did the unhinged episodes for my premium podcast and this is actually one of the episodes that I talked a little bit about finding those people to collaborate and partner with. What would you recommend Get?
Speaker 2:out into the community, host networking events.
Speaker 2:You don't really. As far as I know, you don't need anything special to host a networking event. You need a space and you need, you know, get people's emails and find out what everyone's goal is, and if you align with those goals, people want to see people succeed. Women want to see women succeed and those are the women that you want in your lives and those are the people that you want standing behind you. And so to get that is to send out an SOS on a flyer or a Facebook group or something where you're allowed to obviously and find those people.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's what I did. That was when I was looking for speakers. I literally just created a Google Doc asking for their information and I threw it into the group for our neighborhood and our town and the town next to me and I was like, hey, I want to plan the summit, this is my vision. If your vision aligns with this, please fill out this form and I will get back to you. And I had, I think, 26 people fill out the form, so I did say no to some people.
Speaker 2:I ended up having 16 speakers, but I had 26 people fill out that form that were like heck, yeah, I'm in it, you know, and then also find not, it doesn't necessarily have to be local, but also find a business coach like you have. Like I said before, the connections that I've made in working with you in the last six years I think it was I think this January was like six years maybe invaluable and I keep repeating that word, but it really is, it's just been. I haven't. And you don't just do brand deals, which I think is something that some people need to understand too is you don't just work with people on brand deals.
Speaker 2:I think in the six years that I've been with you, I've done maybe three brand deals and I just kind of decided that wasn't for me, but I stuck around because it's not the only thing that you do. You are a cheerleader, you are a I need to knock you down a peg right now, or I need to push you up a peg right now, like, and you know everybody's business inside and out, and so you know this is not something that you can do on your own, and when I say on your own, I mean the physical planning and the encouragement and mindset boost that you are inevitably going to need.
Speaker 1:Yes, no, I cannot agree more, and I think that that is the thing.
Speaker 1:Like you, one of the things we've talked about, your pivot and I think over the years, I've also pivoted because I see that there's too many cracks in online businesses, foundations, and when we look at how are we going to make money. Well, if you don't have certain things set up correctly, it's going to be very difficult, because you don't have to simply make money from one thing, whether it's ads, whether it's sponsorships, whether it's affiliates, whether it's your own products and services. There are so many different ways, especially this day and age, that you can monetize your business and your message I think that that was my big pivot years ago was I wanted women to be able to hear their own voices and how they were impacting those, and then it didn't need to be done the traditional way that we think of as online businesses, making money off ads or whatever else. Whichever route, just diversify and get in front of those people that need to be impacted. The way that you excel, the way that your expertise comes through.
Speaker 2:Yes, and like be creative with how you are getting that information out to. It doesn't have to be the same way as everybody else. You know, one of the biggest. I don't want to give away too much, jenny, but one of the biggest things that I've learned from you is, like, find where your people are. My people are not on Facebook. My people are not on Pinterest anymore. My people are on Instagram and they're listening to podcasts while they're sweeping the floor and changing diapers. So I started a podcast. Um, it's, it's just you. You have you have to cater to your people, um, if you want them to hear you, and you don't have to do it the same way as everybody else. Um, my people consume information through their ears because they have a million other things to do, so that's why I have to get the information to them. Nope.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, melanie. I appreciate you so much for taking the time to speak with me and share your knowledge with my audience. Where are the? Where's the best place to connect with you? I would probably guess it would be Instagram.
Speaker 2:Yes, you can find me melting my brain on Instagram at Mostly Under Control, and then I also have a podcast that you can find on any of your podcast playing apps. That is the Mostly Under Control podcast.
Speaker 1:Absolutely perfect, Melanie. Thank you again. I appreciate you.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, there you have it. I hope that Melanie inspired you to take the leap in your business so that you can really start to make that impact that you have created as part of your vision for your business. As always, I appreciate you so much for listening in. Make sure if you haven't already, join in and grab Insiders at 40% off. We also always are taking applications for our Mastermind, which is a six-month program where you can fill out that application. We would hop on a discovery call to see if it's a good fit for you and your business goals. That is also linked there in the show notes. I appreciate you all so much for listening in and I will see you all next time.
