How to Empower Yourself at Work & Have a Side Hustle with Alanah Joseph

[00:00:00] Emily Thompson: Welcome to Being Boss! A podcast for creatives, business owners and entrepreneurs who want to take control over their work and live life on their own terms. I'm your host, Emily Thompson. And in this episode, I'm talking to Alanah Joseph, Head of creator partnerships at HubSpot and content creator herself on Being Boss with a day job, pursuing passion projects and side hustles, and how to advocate for yourself to create more flexibility.

[00:00:28] You can find all the tools, books, and links. We referenced on the show notes at www.beingboss.club. And if you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe to the show and share us with a friend.

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[00:01:37] Alanah is a results-driven award-winning digital marketer and content strategists. With a love for storytelling. She enjoys spending time helping brands inspire and engage consumers, producing compelling stories and driving brand awareness or revenue and audience engagement. [00:02:00]

[00:02:01] Alanah welcome to Being Boss.

[00:02:04] Alanah Joseph: Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. I have listened to the show for so long and listen to all of your fabulous guest and I'm honored that I get to be one of them today.

[00:02:15] Emily Thompson: I'm excited about this chat. You were just mentioning that we could just talk for hours. We have, we've had many, a one hour meeting that took us to

[00:02:23] Alanah Joseph: yeah, very true.

[00:02:25] Yeah.

[00:02:27] Emily Thompson: Right. And I love it. I love, I love being able to chat about all things, sort of creative and talk strategy and all of that stuff and the work that we do together, but I'm also really excited because today we're talking about you and what you do and how it is that you do it. Because not only are you sort of heading up the HubSpot podcast network, which Being Boss is a part of.

[00:02:49] But you're doing all kinds of fun things and you're doing them in conjunction with having a day job at a company that really gives you the freedom and flexibility to do your own thing. And I think that is, I think that is the future quite often when I'm working with you and HubSpot, I think this is how things are supposed to be done and I love it.

[00:03:10] Do you feel that way?

[00:03:11] Alanah Joseph: I totally feel that way. I feel well, first of all, I have had many of the day job. Like this is not my first day job. And so in comparison, I feel so comfortable where I am. I love the flexibility over my time. I work remotely. So that allows me a certain flexibility that I love. So yeah, I.

[00:03:34] I feel like I'm pretty lucky to have a day job that allows me to work with incredible shows and creators. So yeah. You know, of course it is still a job. Right. But right. But relatively it is, I'm very, grateful to be where I am. Yeah.

[00:03:57] Emily Thompson: Okay. Then let's hear about all those day jobs I would love to, and mostly your story.

[00:04:04] What have you been doing? How did you get to where you are today?

[00:04:09] Alanah Joseph: Hmm. Okay. Well, my day jobs, I have had for longer than I've had a career, right? So like in college I worked in retail and whew, that is, that is quite the hustle. But after college I started off as a journalist and I was writing for cool publications, like huffing 10.

[00:04:31] And I was writing for e-news as a lifestyle editor. And I loved that, but that was certainly a nine to six job in a corporate office. And so it was different from there. I, well, while I was a writer, I realized that my favorite stories were stories about entrepreneurs, stories about businesses. I felt like entrepreneurs, business owners had the most incredible journeys that made it really exciting to create stories around them.

[00:05:01] And so I thought, well, if I love. Talking to brands and their owners so much, maybe I should actually write for a brand. And I started in the world of content marketing. So from there I joined HubSpot in October, 2020, and I was the marketing arm of the podcast team. And the business decided, Hey, you know, we want to start a network.

[00:05:30] And I took on this really exciting project that became the HubSpot podcast network we launched in may of 2021. And while the incredible growth that we've had over the past year, I think we started off with five or six shows, Being Boss, being one of them. And now we are at about 25 shows. So incredible.

[00:05:58] And it has been such a joy it's had its challenges, but even in those challenges, I have personally grown so much that I welcomed them and I'm glad I have.

[00:06:10] Emily Thompson: Oh, I think I know the answer to this, but I'm wondering, sort of like what that common thread is for you. Like, what is the, what is the piece of passion that you can sort of trace through all of those jobs?

[00:06:22] Like what do you like to do?

[00:06:23] Alanah Joseph: Storytelling. The art form of storytelling has always been at the root of my career. So whether I'm telling the story itself, I'm working with people that tell great stories. I love the art form and so. Makes my job a lot easier. Cause it's, it's based off of a passion. And even when I was a kid, I was an avid reader.

[00:06:47] Like I read way more books than now, but I've always been fascinated and just in love with, with hearing stories, learning stories, and even telling my own stories, maybe even at brunch with my friends.

[00:07:02] Emily Thompson: Yeah. Right. I do love, I do look for good along the story. I feel like I've heard a couple of them.

[00:07:09] They're fantastic. I, I love this because I love that you, you know, you recognize that sort of point of passion and that you can sort of weave through all of those things. And you've been able to show up in different spaces to do that and have landed, you know, at HubSpot, but HubSpot is also not the, or your job at HubSpot is, is not the only thing that you're doing right now.

[00:07:33] I want to get to that in a second. But I do want to talk about HubSpot, what you're doing there, because you talked about the network. And even your role with the network has changed when we started, you were, you were like, you know, queen of the network. No, it was podcast princess.

[00:07:52] Alanah Joseph: That's the name?

[00:07:53] My coworker gave me. I thought I was so funny.

[00:07:57] Emily Thompson: Right.

[00:07:57] And you took that. We, you started this with [00:08:00] just a couple of shows. Now it has 25. It was your baby. And now you have people who are working under you for the purpose of the network. So it's not just you anymore. There's like a little team of people because 25 shows now, what are you doing?

[00:08:20] Well, what are you doing now? I don't even know. Can you just tell me what you're doing? What are your duties and responsibilities in your role currently?

[00:08:28] Alanah Joseph: Sure.

[00:08:28] So I'm the head of creator management, which means that as soon as the creator, signs a deal with HubSpot, that my team manages that relationship.

[00:08:39] So what that looks like is I have. Amazing meetings with creators to support the growth of their show. I also, we deliver ads, so that's included as well. And overall, my, my goal is just to create a community that drives growth for everyone. So I'm really leaning into my marketing skills here to, be able to consult with my creators and help support them in whatever way that we can.

[00:09:10] And so, yeah, we have, we have a little team and an all female power team of, of soon to be three. So not a very large one, but, yeah, I love my team. They do great work. So I'm just, I'm so glad that we've been able to build not only the podcast network, but also now we're building new programs that I'm super excited about.

[00:09:37] Yeah, very excited about the work that I'm doing at HubSpot. Does that answer sometimes I'm so in the weeds with it, I'm like, what is it that I do? Because I just feel like I'm working nonstop. So I don't, I don't stop to always take a breath in and take inventory of all the things that I've done, which I need to be better at.[00:10:00]

[00:10:00] Emily Thompson: Yeah. I mean, and I can see why that would be a little difficult for where you are at the moment, because I also see how quickly things have grown and changed, right? Where, like, I imagine week to week, your roles and duties are probably changing and can be kind of hard to settle into, into the thing because so much is happening so quickly.

[00:10:20] So. I think that's just the nature of the growth that you guys are experiencing.

[00:10:25] Alanah Joseph: Yeah. Yeah. I would say so. And we are launching, or we just launched a incredible program called HubSpot creators for new shows for emerging shows, for great concepts. We at HubSpot and, and especially me, we believe in creators and we want to help them in whatever way that we can.

[00:10:48] And so we, because of all of the success that we've had with shows like Being Boss, we are now able to support shows that are much, much smaller. So if you know, if you're listening to this and you have a podcast that maybe you just started and it's related to business, definitely check out HubSpot creators.

[00:11:11] Yeah.

[00:11:11] Emily Thompson: Oh, I love all the little programs that you guys are putting together, both like for the network and bringing people into the network. I think. It's so fantastic. And also for me, I love having our, I love watching what you guys are able to do with, with access to the kind of resources that comes from working with HubSpot.

[00:11:31] I think that's a really big thing here is, you know, I think of, you know, entrepreneurs who are starting podcast networks or literally any business, and there is this like hardcore struggle. To do the thing, but whenever you do have a position at a company, as large as HubSpot, it's so much easier to make big and really relatively immediate impact because of all of the resources behind you to support you in doing it.

[00:11:59] [00:12:00] That's one of the reasons why I've enjoyed being in it as well and where I've seen the sort of interesting, it's not interesting. Obvious. I think it was really, the answer is obvious difference between between, you know, what most business owners are able to do and what you're able to do whenever you do position yourself within a company to do what you want to do, but do it with resources behind you to do it.

[00:12:21] Alanah Joseph: Yeah, for sure. And I would say one of the most incredible resources is the people that I work with, the people that I work with, one, it, we have such a large team on the HubSpot media team, but everyone is so incredibly talented and skilled. And so, of course, as a human, I have strengths and weaknesses, but because I have such an incredible team, it's a lot easier to get really cool things done because there's a lot of people to ask questions and get your questions answered.

[00:12:56] And then of course there's also, we have a lot of support from leadership to really be able to, Put some monetary investments behind these programs that we know will have a large impact in. So, I, I, yeah, it's been great. I think. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:13:16] Emily Thompson: It's been fun to watch for sure. Okay. Then I want to talk about this other side of what you're doing too, because in a meeting that we were having a couple of months ago, you were like, I think I want to launch a thing and he told me about it and I was like, yes, absolutely do it.

[00:13:32] And I haven't talked to you much about it since then. So this is also kind of my first, my friend, she started telling me before he started and I was like, stop. We will talk about, cause I want to hear it. I want to hear what you're doing. And then I want to dive into what it looks like for you to do that with someone in a full-time job who is still prioritizing your own creativity and content production, and really just continuing that thread of storytelling.

[00:14:02] What are you doing these days? A lot of what is coming out of your sleeve?

[00:14:07] Alanah Joseph: What am I doing? I asked that question a few times. I recently launched a YouTube channel. So I have a YouTube channel called Ambitious Black Woman. And I'll tell you a little bit about why I launched this YouTube channel, because it goes back to the first question you asked me about my career.

[00:14:26] So I have worked for a number of corporations, large media corporations, and in every team that I have been on throughout my career, I have been the only black woman and what that looks like is from a day to day, it's fine. But there are instances in which my identities, as both a woman and, and as a black person impact my, my career, in one way or another.

[00:14:58] And it can feel very lonely when you are the only black woman on a zoom call or, in the conference room, especially when we have, you know, things like black lives matter happening a lot of sad news, and it can feel just like a really lonely experience. And so I had a thought, I was, I was actually a brunch with a bunch of my friends that also work for large companies and also are the only black women on their team.

[00:15:31] And we were sharing all of our stories, which there are common threads through. And I thought, you know, it's actually not that lonely of an experience because there is that one black woman on every team or on every call. And so what inherently is like feels really lonely. You're actually a part of a really large community, but is there support for that community?

[00:15:56] And is there support for black women professional women that are ambitious and aiming for more and achieving their goals? Is there a support for them? And when I needed that support, I could only find it in my immediate circle. So my mentors and my friends and allies that I could talk to. I couldn't find it online.

[00:16:20] I went, I went to YouTube to see like, is there someone else who taught? I mean, YouTube should have every voice, every community representative. And when I went to Youtube, I really, I really did find that, a lot of like career coaches, which is great, but what I was looking for with someone who was in the situation that I was in.

[00:16:44] And so I thought I'll be that person. Sure. I can, I think I can do this. I think I can create some great content for black women that are achieving their goals and allies that want to learn more about our experiences. And so, yeah, I did it and it has been quite the journey I launched in February.

[00:17:09] So I'm only a few weeks in, I think I have six or seven. And it has, I, I, I bet off a lot. I didn't know.

[00:17:27] I would love to say that it has been all the roses, but I actually, I actually admit to this in a video I have about perfectionism. I created a video based off of things that I was going through. And one of those things is being a perfectionist. And what I found is that because, I grew up in a household with parents that were, you know, starting their careers right after segregation.

[00:17:54] And there's a lot of anxiety around job security. There's a lot of language given to black women about, you have to be twice as good. You can't have, you don't have excuses, you don't have room for error. And all of those things kind of breed perfectionism, which is like an anxiety around your output and an anxiety around what you're able to do.

[00:18:17] And just an inability to give yourself grace. And I found that. I found that I was experiencing this through my YouTube channel now, because I work with such talented creators. Like you, Emily, who have been creating content for years, for me to compare my first piece of content to your one 1500 is just simply not fair to me.

[00:18:44] And so that has been a journey. So there's like a journey of, of having a learning curve and trying my hardest to expedite that in whatever way I can, but also learning how to balance my time between my day job and my YouTube channel. I was like, oh, like, let's just do this evenings and weekends. No big deal.

[00:19:12] Yeah. Yes and no. One, there are many days after my day job that I just don't have the energy for creative output. And then also like my weekends, I went to go outside and play like,

[00:19:32] want to be working. So I'm, I'm figuring that out for sure as, as to how to balance that. So yes, work in progress, but I will say that another reason that I started the YouTube channel is as much as my job is very fun and satisfying in, especially with the growth that we've seen. I needed something [00:20:00] that was emotionally fulfilling for me.

[00:20:03] And I wanted something that I felt like I had a certain skill set now that I had talents that I could tap into and actually be a value to other people and be a value to my community. And so as a marketer and especially a content marketer, right. I try so hard not to dive really deep into those analytics because at the end of the day, this is really about resonating and being a value to a group of people that may not have the support that they need.

[00:20:39] And that's what this is about. So for me, I will get someone will watch my video and then send me the longest text message or send me the longest DM on Instagram. Their perfectionism or the things that they went through at their job. And that is so satisfying for me. And that makes me feel like it is worth giving up a Saturday.

[00:21:06] It is worth, you know, working a couple extra hours, even though I'm tired. Those things push me to continue doing it and, and pull me through. So I just keep doing it, even though my audience is not super big right now. It's, that's not what matters. If there's five people that watch my video and it touches them and it makes them feel inspired and makes them feel like they have the momentum that they need to achieve their goals.

[00:21:37] Then boy, like I'm successful.

[00:21:41] Emily Thompson: Such a joy you are.

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[00:23:13] Emily Thompson: Alanah, congratulations. Congratulations on launching this thing. I loved hearing all of it, and I had heard like pieces of that before, but the one thing I hadn't, I don't know, I guess I hadn't quite gathered from this before, because I think I was more focused on the storytelling piece is really that emotional fulfillment piece because I find, and this is a conversation I've had

[00:23:36] many times with people in day jobs, is, you know, whenever you are your own boss, so all the business owners listening to this and you know, all the entrepreneurs like we are here because that emotional piece, I don't want to say sort of outweighs everything, but that is like this fierce driver that sort of keeps us in this space.

[00:24:02] Oftentimes whenever I'm talking to people with day jobs, they love what they do. They love their teams. The team piece is something I hear constantly being able to work with people and, you know, have the resource of being able to ask questions and move quickly and learn and grow in a speed that you can't do when you're working by yourself.

[00:24:21] You literally, you just cannot. But usually this emotional fulfillment piece, and not missing, I don't think but not fully fulfilled and that you have created this thing that gives you that, and you're not forgetting that that is your why. So whenever things are getting difficult or, you know, producing content is insane.

[00:24:51] Alanah Joseph: Yeah. I know that now.

[00:24:54] Emily Thompson: It's a big load actually. As you were saying that about two weeks, I went there two weeks ago, I went through some SOP standard operating procedures that was being created for updating what we do here at Being Boss. And I went through our SOP for podcast production and it was 17 pages long.

[00:25:16] Yep. For a single podcast episode and like. No, what's a lie in theory, like, I know I've been producing this book, but seeing it in a doc at 17 pages, I was like, well, what are we doing?

[00:25:31] Alanah Joseph: Yeah, yeah. It's a lot. And then, it's not just the creating the content, so pre production, right? What are you going to do?

[00:25:40] Scripting it, sitting down to record it, making sure your eyelash isn't falling off or like not some weird branch sticking out behind your head, random things that go wrong during recording then, then the editing part, yeah. Editing part is pretty, can be pretty time consuming. And also because I'm doing all these things for the first time, it also takes me so much longer.

[00:26:11] And because I also work with creators, the people remind me all the time online of this is going to get better. Like this. You will maybe hire a freelancer or you'll just be way faster at editing and a month or so. And so that is always good feedback. Always good to know, because it is, it is a lot.

[00:26:35] Emily Thompson: Yeah.

[00:26:36] And you were even saying earlier that, you know, you were planning on working on this, you know, in the evenings or on the weekends, but what you find is you're like working on it while you're eating breakfast and you're in the shower and you're driving down the road, like all of those, like ideas and just all of the things that happen, it really sort of infuses itself into everything that you do when you pick up like a creative project.

[00:26:59] I'm going to say just for yourself, because you're doing it to fulfill like your, you know, emotional needs. But how worth it, it is when you get that feedback from even a single person. I was recently having a conversation with someone. For this thing that I wanted to do, and it was, it's not like a internet thing.

[00:27:20] Like I want to talk to some people locally. And I said that like, if I change one mindset, I succeeded. And I think whenever you can go at any sort of big project or like tough conversation or whatever it may be with that idea of like, just one month, if I can just like, and maybe not even change it, but have someone question their own mindset one time, I win.

[00:27:46] Alanah Joseph: Yeah, for sure. For sure. And especially for me, it's all about helping people achieve their dreams. So I close every episode by saying, I want you to win and I love to see you shine. And that that's what it's all about is like helping us at least shift our energy so that we can be excited and ready to go after our dreams.

[00:28:12] Yeah. So, yeah, I agree.

[00:28:15] Emily Thompson: Yes. And they win to a little bit as well.

[00:28:19] Alanah Joseph: Because they win.

[00:28:21] Emily Thompson: Absolutely. Okay. So of the pieces of content that you've already created, what, what's your favorite?

[00:28:32] Alanah Joseph: I would say, man, it's hard to pick. I have cabin babies. It is one. I have a series called dear diary where I read my diary entries from my early twenties and then give myself advice that, that I love not more so for the content, but I've never read my diary entries before. Like after I write it, I never go back and read it.[00:29:00]

[00:29:00] And so it reminds me of where I was in my early twenties and shows me just how much growth I've had to be able to give my own self advice. So, in creating that content. It is a very humbling experience and I have to pat myself on the back and I think it's so important for bosses to take some time to just pat yourself on the back, like where you are now in comparison to five years ago, 10 years ago, like let's just have a moment of applause for ourselves.

[00:29:37] So I liked that series for that. I really liked the video on perfectionism because I was just sharing, what, what I was going through. I, I heard a voice memo that I took in my bed when I was like this YouTube channel. This video is awful and I don't know how to fix it, and I don't know what to do and I can't launch this thing.[00:30:00]

[00:30:00] So it was just very real. All of it is, is very, very real, but I'm actually working on. The video right now, that's taking you a really long time that I'm really excited about. Can you tell you about it?

[00:30:11] Emily Thompson: Yes. I wanted to ask you next way, which one you're most excited about coming up?

[00:30:16] Alanah Joseph: Okay. So I, I think when we talk about women and we talk about periods, right?

[00:30:24] We always talk about this like really crappy time that we have, right. There's like a week where it's not, it's not my favorite either, but did you know that you also have like a superhero week, your hormones are optimized at one point for like where you have the most energy where you get the most sleep, where you are,

[00:30:47] I don't know, can lift a car, like, and I wanted to know. What is that week for me? And how do we figure out what the week are those days are for you? And then how can we optimize for that and put our projects, our presentations, our big interviews during the week where we have our like superhero week. Because I think that all too often, when we talk about hormones, we're always talking about how they negatively affect us.

[00:31:18] And I'm really interested in how they positively affect us and how can we, optimize our hormones for success. And like, where would you ever find that information? Like, I do not know anywhere besides maybe my YouTube channel, where we talk about women achieving success, where you would find how to use your hormones for success.

[00:31:43] So, that includes every day for the past four months, I have been rating my emotional state so that I can average it out and build the calendar to figure out what my best days are. So I'm very excited to reveal that to my audience and to hopefully have other people do the same. I'm still a couple of, I still, I want a lot of data, so I'm a little ways away from being able to come to some conclusions.

[00:32:13] But because I do it every day, it makes me excited. It's like the first video that I've had that is required like six months of research.

[00:32:21] Emily Thompson: Yeah.

[00:32:22] What a fun, like personal project to think about doing something. So long-term like that, especially in the world of just like quick video let's launch it. You're like you're doing a long form project for yourself.

[00:32:35] Alanah Joseph: Yeah. And, you know, I've found out so many other incredible things about myself in this project. Like, for example, if I have like, let's say two glasses, three glasses of wine, maybe I go out to brunch. I'm actually exhausted 48 hours after like, not the day after for like two days after is when [00:33:00] I'm actually exhausted.

[00:33:01] Never, never would have known that. Had I not done this?

[00:33:04] Emily Thompson: Yeah. So wonderful.

[00:33:07] Alanah Joseph: Yeah. I think it's really helped my self awareness. And even when I'm, when it's my bad week, right. I give myself so much grace because I know it's my bad week. And I know when it's my superhero week and then I'm like off to the races ready to achieve my dreams.

[00:33:25] We're ready to get going. And so those are the things I like exploring, and I'm looking forward to creating content around that.

[00:33:33] Emily Thompson: This brings up a question for me around, do you feel like you are afforded more sort of fun and flexibility because you have a day job like in this project?

[00:33:49] Alanah Joseph: Yes, absolutely. I think that I, this project is not about like monetization for me, at least right now, this is about like reaching my community, building a community, a safe space, for support.

[00:34:07] And so I'm not really looking to, I mean, whatever comes will come, but I'm not rushing it. And if I needed, if I needed to use this content to like pay my bills, then I would be trying to expedite it. And Exide this PR this process, which also is, is fine. I think not having pressure on it also allows me to experiment because there, every video that I've had thus far is very different.

[00:34:40] And the reason being is because I want to know what people like, I want to know what I enjoy creating and continue iterating. Whereas if this was about monetization, then I would be very much what do people like, okay, I'm going to do that a thousand times in a row. And, and I'm not quite there. Yeah. I think that my day job gives me the flexibility to kind of play with my content experiment.

[00:35:12] And also I just started in I'm on such a learning curve. So my goal right now is just to like, be good at it. And that is, that has that it's a learning curve.

[00:35:24] Emily Thompson: And then, and there's a difference though, if your goal is to like, be good at it, but also pay your mortgage. There's a different energy. There's a different product that comes out of it.

[00:35:33] In an upcoming episode, I actually talked to Kathleen, my previous cohost sort of around this topic and how we kind of mused on this idea that one of the things that sort of made the internet, I'm going to say gross. I feel like that gross over exaggeration, but for simplicity sake, one of the things that's made the internet gross is that everyone is monetizing everything.

[00:35:59] [00:36:00] Yeah. Right. I mean, like Instagram's news, like literally everything is being in like guilty as I raise my hand. But I feel like there's not enough creativity happening on the internet anymore. That pure creativity and exploration of a medium. And that's exactly what you're doing.

[00:36:22] Alanah Joseph: Yes. But I would also say to that, well, couple things as a marketer, right?

[00:36:28] I'm, I'm actually pretty excited about brand partnerships, but I think that I will be very, my brand partnerships will most likely be outbound, meaning that I will go after brands based off of the content that I have that I believe in. And that like I like, so it feels like, organic, and it's just like, Hey, I use your product.

[00:36:51] I love your product. I have an audience. I like to share your product with my audience. Here's my media kit. That will most likely be the process that I go about this with. So that I can ensure that there's. So it doesn't feel as gross. But yeah, I, you know, Monica, there's nothing wrong with monetization.

[00:37:18] I will also say that one of the cons of having a day job is that I don't have the energy to necessarily devote all of my attention to this. Meaning that by the time I write the video recorded, edit it and publish it. Do I have the energy to make Instagram and LinkedIn promotions and pour into like pour into it the way that I would, if it were the only thing that I was working on?

[00:37:51] No. So it's, there is a con there, which is like the pro. Is that like, yes, I have. I'm not, I don't need to rush the monetization, but the con is that it's probably going to take me longer to even get to the monetization because I don't have the time or energy to devote all of my focus to it. And so, you know, you got to weigh out the pros and cons.

[00:38:14] Emily Thompson: For sure.

[00:38:15] And I feel like it's probably going to be honestly somewhere in the middle, because one of the things that I love, the way you're doing this, because, and like backing up to my gross comment, that was a gross over exaggeration.

[00:38:31] Alanah Joseph: Can be gross for sure.

[00:38:33] Emily Thompson: Yeah. I mean, when everything that you're looking at, but what I love about this though, is that you are starting and creating this thing for the, for like, Emotional fulfillment and for creative exploration.

[00:38:46] Alanah Joseph: Yeah.

[00:38:46] Emily Thompson: Right. And monetization is a cherry on top or a long-term strategy. If it were an immediate strategy, the content you're creating would be different. And so I think because you're infusing and I'm, and again, I don't, I'm having a hard time with good words today. But because you sort of start with this quote unquote pure purpose, that will be a theme throughout the content, even after monetization.

[00:39:18] Right. As opposed to you just jumping out of the gate thinking, well, how am I going to get clicks immediately? You're here for impact for personal and sort of outward impact. And I think whenever you can start that way. It just, it ends up being a different product. And I think that's, that's wonderful.

[00:39:35] I love, I love that you're doing this and I hope that anyone can take some inspiration from this. If you are thinking about a passion project or a side hustle, even if you are your own boss, these are the kinds of mindsets that I love seeing in these kinds of projects. Because this tells me that you are following the creativity and the passion and usually good money follows.

[00:39:59] Alanah Joseph: [00:40:00] For sure.

[00:40:00] For sure. I would definitely say so. I remember my, my mother growing up was a florist and she owned a flower shop and I think it just started off for her. Very artistic. My mom is very artistic and just loved flowers so much. And to see that grow into her, being her, you know, being a boss and being her own boss, I think is also a journey that I admire.

[00:40:28] And, I've also infused a lot of that into, into the work I do today. So shout out to my mom.

[00:40:34] Emily Thompson: Yeah, for sure.

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[00:41:36] Okay. Then I have a question of like bringing these two pieces together. You talked a little bit about time management between the day job and passion project.

[00:41:46] Alanah Joseph: And I've perfected it.

[00:41:49] Emily Thompson: We brought up that it's a struggle. And I think that, I think it'll potentially always be that sort of the nature of passion projects though.

[00:41:56] Right? Like very rarely do they just like fall out of you. Right? There's like, there's this like creative drive that like pushes it out. But I do want to talk about what that relationship is like sort of within your company or within your role at HubSpot. And really thinking if someone here is thinking about going back and getting a day job, because I hear that from bosses all the time, and there's this idea that like, Ooh, I'm going.

[00:42:19] But like, I love that. I feel like. Bosses should go get day jobs. I feel like you're going to be way better at your business potentially. So if like this is bringing up feelings for you honestly consider it no shame in it, literally at all. But I'm wondering, what question am I trying to ask here when it comes to choosing a job?

[00:42:41] Yeah. That lets you be boss, right? To pursue your passion projects, have side hustles. What sort of things should people be looking for when searching for a company to work for? What is it about your job that makes this easy for you?

[00:42:59] Alanah Joseph: Yeah. I think in, in this case with this question, it's a lot about company culture.

[00:43:06] Yeah. It's about, are you in an environment that why do you have flexibility where you have some ownership over your time where you can decide, you know, how to work when, when working is best for you, all of those things. And I think that now that our world is shifting more towards remote work, that it's kind of easier to find a job like that, but also just being in an environment that kind of fosters growth and support.

[00:43:36] I think the coolest thing for me was that whenever I've shared my YouTube channel, I didn't want it to be a secret clearly between for my company, you know, my, my team, my teammates. So whenever I have shared my YouTube channel with my teammates, whether that's like. My VP or my direct boss, they are so supportive.

[00:43:59] They watch my videos, they watch my videos and they tell me what they like about them. And then our producer will tell me that my, I need to fix my sound.

[00:44:11] Emily Thompson: That's what producers do.

[00:44:15] Alanah Joseph: And so that is like so super helpful. And so clearly, I mean, how would, you know, in interviewing that you are going to have that kind of team?

[00:44:25] I think that that's pretty hard because everyone claims that we have a great company culture. We like every, I feel like everyone claims that. So you kind of have to cross your fingers on that one, take a gamble, go with your gut and your intuition in terms of figuring out if your team and the environment that you're going to be in is going to be supportive of your personal endeavors.

[00:44:48] But also, yeah, I think just having. Ownership over your time is the, is the largest. For me, I'm like, can you decide, Hey, I'm going to actually wake up and do my day job, like early in the morning. And then I'm going to try to finish like afternoon. And then I'm going to try, I'm going to take a break and then go work out or eat a nice meal.

[00:45:14] And then I'm going to devote three to four hours to my side hustle. Something along those lines. It is a lot harder if I were in a previous role, like one of my previous roles where I was working long hours in an office with a commute. By the time I get home, there's just, I be too exhausted. And, So, yeah, I would say, try to look for a remote job that allows you flexibility over your time and use your intuition to ensure that your team is, is like good people that they like support you and support the work that you're doing.

[00:45:55] So, yeah.

[00:45:57] Emily Thompson: Yeah. I think, I think you're probably spot on there with time. And I would say too, like I knew several bosses who do hide their side hustles from their day jobs. I think that's one, I think you were talking about sort of crossing your fingers and hoping like, even if your gut check was incorrect and they actually would not be supportive, it's fine.

[00:46:15] Don't tell them.

[00:46:16] Alanah Joseph: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, as long as you're not doing exactly what you're doing in your day job, it should be fine. Like if you're not competing with the company that you work for. So I would say if you are like, if you have a side hustle, And you're looking for a day job, just make sure that your day job is just very different from your side hustle, because you just don't want to, even, you don't even want to go there and to like some sort of sticky mess.

[00:46:46] But I think that that's, you know, that's where it can get sticky. And then also, I think I understand not sharing your side hustle in many cases because people assume that you are using all of your time on your side hustle instead of doing your job. And that's not a fair assumption. I don't think, but I think people can think that, so I get it.

[00:47:10] Emily Thompson: Yeah, same. I mean in mostly. We're living in a changing world. Right. I think that there are definitely leaders within companies and just, you know, team members and companies who totally get it. But unfortunately, I don't think that is the norm just yet. Yeah.

[00:47:26] But I think the more that we, the more we have these conversations and share experiences of how this is working, we begin normalizing it and sort of encouraging and, and influencing people to build that within their companies.

[00:47:40] And I also really encourage this for any bosses here who are working on building their own company cultures for their teams. And so one of the things that we do here at Being Boss, I think everyone on my team has a side hustle. Yeah, for sure. And like I'm buying their stuff. I'm, you know, we're like we're doing the HubSpot thing of like being incredibly supportive and excited and all of the things it's part of our culture.

[00:48:07] I would be sad if I found out that someone was hiding something from me, but also if they explained it, I would get it. You do what you want to do. But it really creates, I have found a team that is both like excited to show up and otherwise emotionally fulfilled and in exactly the way that they want to be.

[00:48:26] And they makes everyone more happy and productive. And not that productive is the goal, but isn't it. I mean their team members.

[00:48:33] Alanah Joseph: Yeah. I would say for me, the reason that I kind of figured out that I even needed emotional fulfillment because I listened, I don't remember what podcast it was in this too. A lot of podcasts, but it wasn't, I can tell you that, I listened to a show, an episode in which.

[00:48:53] They're talking about how for especially millennials, we've been kind of taught that there's a difference between a job and a career and that your career is supposed to emotionally fulfill you, but you are not in control of much in terms of when you work for like a corporation. And so it can be really frustrating.

[00:49:14] There's a lot of like tension there between trying to find emotional fulfillment in a day job that is really hard. And it hasn't always been like that. Like people that, you know, have jobs like your job is not necessarily supposed to be emotionally fulfilling. And so when I recognize that I was like, I

[00:49:41] I rather go outside of my job, figure out what I love, what I'm passionate about and be fulfilled. And then I will show up better in my role because I will have all the fulfillment that I need. So I feel like I'm actually better at my job [00:50:00] now because I, I don't know. It kind of feels like church and state and, and, and the little way, like, like my day job is fun.

[00:50:08] I get to work with great people. And then at nighttime, I get to do something that I feel like is adding value to my community. And so I feel like now I'm like even better than I was.

[00:50:21] Emily Thompson: Perfect. Oh yes. I love that. I love this element of personal growth. And you even touched upon this like really early on, because you're just getting started, right.

[00:50:33] So much more to go. Then I think sort of, I guess my last ish question for you is, do you have any tips for someone who is looking or who may need to be more assertive within their day job to afford them, whatever flexibilities they need to do that. And even like pulling from maybe some, some upcoming topics or something from, an ambitious black woman, like what it [00:51:00] would look like to take charge of the role that you're in to give you the time and space to do what is going to fulfill you.

[00:51:08] Alanah Joseph: Yeah, this is a hard question because where I think talking about boundaries and placing boundaries and being assertive about your boundaries is yeah. Like I can say like, be assertive about your boundaries have, but that is harder than a notion just saying. And especially when it has to do with like your job that pays your bills, that, you know, ensures that, you know, you can pay your mortgage or pay for your kids

[00:51:38] tuition or there's like so much there that it's like, there's a lot of risk. There can be a lot of risk here that I just want to acknowledge and understand why it may be hard to place boundaries with your job, in terms of like your time. But I think that it's certainly a conversation worth having, well, one it's kind of a two-step process.

[00:52:04] I think one, you have to figure out what actually works best for you. Are you a morning person? Do you like working in, in the wee hours of the morning? I can tell you that. That is not me. That is so wonderful. Or are you a night owl that likes to work at night? Do you have meetings? Is there a way that you can like block your schedule for meetings?

[00:52:29] So, like for example, my typical day is I usually work on east coast time. So I typically have a lot of meetings in the morning, but by, because I am on Pacific standard time, I'm in Los Angeles. By the afternoon, it's like pretty much crickets. So if I get all my work done in the morning, and then I do like some computer work around in the afternoon, I can take a break and then I can work on my personal stuff because no one is really, no one needs me anymore.

[00:53:02] I've done all my meetings. I've done all my work. So that's what works for me. And so I would say the first thing is figuring out. What actually works for you so that you can try to do that. Maybe you don't need to have a conversation with anyone. Maybe this is about you blocking off your calendar and saying, this is, you know, asked before booking for this block.

[00:53:24] This block is for meetings and just being very, intentional about your time on your calendar. That could just be something that is pretty easy for you to do. And then there's like a larger conversation. If you do need to like talk to your manager, talk to your boss about, you know, another working in another time, a different shift or whatever the case may be.

[00:53:49] But by the time you have that conversation, you should be really confident in exactly what works for you and what is going to keep you energized. Keep you, keep you going because if you have a day job and a side hustle, you need energy. And I just realized that I have to work out if I don't work out my energy really, really dips.

[00:54:10] I'm learning all these things about myself and it is a journey of self discovery and figuring out how to manage my time. Be the best Ilana I can be. All of that is like, it takes time for me to figure out. So I just think that the first is to have a conversation with yourself and experiment, see what works for you and then, and then try to your best to do that without having to go to anyone else.

[00:54:37] But if you need to go to someone, then have a conversation in which you are like, I like to do it this way. How can I do it this way and still work here. And I think that if you have a good manager, they should understand and help you help optimize for your, for your success. And also, right. I think it's a fair argument.

[00:55:00] If you say, Hey, my brain functions way better at 8:00 PM. So if you want the best work for me, then like allowing me to work during this time is going to be the best for everyone involved. I think that's a really fair argument in you're welcome to use that argument.

[00:55:19] Emily Thompson: Yeah. And I love too that everything you just laid out here, like it is Being Boss, right?

[00:55:25] It's knowing yourself, it's, it's understanding your boundaries and what it is that you need to succeed. Asking for what it is that what making it happen in whatever way you need to do it. That is all very great tips. And I would encourage anyone who's, you know, hearing these things and thinking like, oh, I hadn't thought of it that way.

[00:55:45] Or I guess I could have some conversations with people who have day jobs and, you know, different industries, different companies, and see how it is that they are working. Because again, we are just in a world right now where we can continue sort of reinventing what's working and not work or what will work best for us because everything like the world's kind of starting to put itself back together and we have more opportunities than ever to advocate for ourselves and what it is that we need, because remote work and weird hours and flex days, and all of these sorts of things are, this is normal conversation now in a way that it never has been before.

[00:56:24] Alanah Joseph: Yeah, I don't take meetings on Fridays, which is wonderful for me. But the reason being is that I have so many meetings on the other days. So like I actually need a day to actually sit and work. And so that is what works for me. And you know, everyone at my job has totally understood that and respected that.

[00:56:48] And, I think that, you know, that could be something to ask for. It's been, it's been really helpful FYI, so right.

[00:56:55] Emily Thompson: Whatever, whatever works for you. Perfect. Alanah, this has been an absolute treat. Thank you so much for coming and having this chat with me. Where can people, we're going to be, we'll find your YouTube channel.

[00:57:08] Alanah Joseph: Yeah, it's called ambitious black woman. So you can find me on YouTube and my handle on other social channels. Like Instagram is at Alanah Jo, A L A N A H J O.

[00:57:22] Emily Thompson: Perfect. And we will add links to all of those things in the show notes of this episode. And final, final question. What's making you feel most boss?

[00:57:31] Alanah Joseph: Ooh, that is such a good question. You know what? Taking care of myself it is. I have to tell myself, Hey, you're not in imbalance right now. Go do X. And that makes me feel like, okay, I got this because I feel like my self-awareness is what really allows me to be a boss because when I am tired, I sleep when I don't feel well, I don't do anything when I am energized, I go for it.

[00:58:07] And I really have been figuring out how to listen to my body, listen to my brain and make really great decisions for me. So like being the boss of my life and of my body is about taking inventory of the energy that I have, the, where I am in the day, how I feel and making really intentional decisions about how I treat myself.

[00:58:30] And so that makes me feel like a boss.

[00:58:34] Emily Thompson: Amen to all of that. Thanks so much for coming and hanging out with me, Alanah. This has been a treat.

[00:58:39] Alanah Joseph: This has been such a treat. I love this is the first recorded conversation that we've had, but I have thoroughly enjoyed every conversation that we've had.

[00:58:48] Emily Thompson: Me to. There's some of my faves.

[00:58:54] All right boss, because you're here. I know you want to be a better creative at business owner, which means I've got something for you. Each week the team at Being Boss is scouring the news, the best entrepreneurial publications and updates and releases of the apps and tools that run our businesses and is curating it all into a weekly email that delivers the must know tips and tactics in the realms of mindset, money and productivity.

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