Nicola Harris (00:03.362)
Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of the Economy of Seoul. I am here with Tacey Talitsky today from Tacey Joy Creative, who just happens to be my content. Well, she has a whole team. It's not just Tacey. She has an entire team of incredible people that we're gonna talk a little bit about today, but she's really responsible for helping me with my own content and obviously many, many others.
So welcome, Tacey. I'm so excited to have you here today because I think content is such a massive, it's such a massive opportunity for people and it's also a massive pain point for a lot of entrepreneurs, especially if they're rolling on their own or have a small team. So I think this topic, it just couldn't be more important right now in the world. And so I'm so excited to talk to you today. So thank you so much for joining me.
Tacye Tilitzky (00:57.573)
so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
Nicola Harris (01:00.874)
Of course. So Tacey has been in my world since the fall of last year. And I think we went out for coffee and I was like, I just got to hire her. I think this was like in November. I was like, done. I, she is just, I just knew right away that this was a relationship that obviously I wanted to help elevate my brand. And I think that's something that
is that you do so effortlessly with all of your clients is really pull out so much of the magic that we often just can't see from our own perspective. So I want you to just start off by telling us a little bit about who you are and like how you even began to create Tasty Joy Creative because it's turned into a really beautiful thing.
Tacye Tilitzky (01:56.807)
Yeah, it's kind of actually wild to look back on it.
So I'm coming up on about four years now. So it actually was born when I was on mat lead with my son. So I came from like corporate jobs, but always kind of ended up like in the social media world or the marketing world of all the businesses that I worked for. So I really wanted something that like filled my mic up when I was going to be leaving my son in daycare and things like that. So and then I just had a friend reach out and was like, Hey, do you want to help me?
with this. And then that's kind of where it all started. And it's really snowballed into now I have seven team members with me. We had a team call last week and I was like, who was here last summer? And only two of them were there. So it was crazy to see the growth of the team too. But yeah, I just love working with entrepreneurs and helping them find that like little nugget that makes them special and confident.
want to show up online because I feel like a lot of times we doubt ourselves and we let ourselves get in the way of actually showing up how we need to for our audience for our clients however you're working with your social media.
Nicola Harris (03:19.086)
I love that. let's talk a little bit about the importance of social media at this day and age. And I mean, I think that anyone who owns a business, whether that is like a brick and mortar business, whether it is an online business, feel like content plays like such a massive role in how we find clients, how we obviously showcase our brand. So like from your perspective,
What does social media really mean for businesses at this point?
Tacye Tilitzky (03:51.643)
I think it's a non-negotiable. Regardless of how you choose to show up online, you have to be showing up online. So we work with clients who they're like, I'm fully booked. Do I really need social media? Well, yeah, you do, because it's almost like your business card now. Like if you go to a networking event or anything like that, people aren't like, where's your business card? They're like, are you on Instagram? And they add you there. Even in terms of like marketing as a whole, like I've built
my whole business off of Instagram. Like now we do other marketing things obviously but in the beginning it was just straight Instagram and just how much that can drive clients for people being brick and mortar, being realtor, being anything. It's just visibility for your business online so why wouldn't you take the opportunity to invest in that and show up the way that you are in person online.
Nicola Harris (04:49.198)
Yeah, so important and it's completely true. I have not had business cards in a very, very long time. Like honestly, I'm not sure the last time I had a business card or handed one out and because it's very true, it's like we automatically just follow each other and I also love obviously following other people as well because it really does give you...
a sort of sneak peek into who they are, what they're about, their values, the work that they do in the world. So how do you, when you begin to work with a client, how do you broach that with them in terms of like understanding who they are and what to really showcase as part of their social media strategy?
Tacye Tilitzky (05:33.091)
actually my favorite part is bringing on new clients. We do something called the strategy reset which is really just me like kind of deep diving into what you're doing online now. I ask you some questions but I have
this way of like reading people too when I meet them in person and just starting to understand who you are and what you stand for. A lot of times people think that they need somebody else to find this like secret piece or like what makes them unique but they most of the time they already know they just need somebody to actually like outline it for them and tell them like what you're doing is amazing like what you're doing is great like nobody else is doing what you're doing and you just need to show up and talk about it.
and then the people will come. I think we over complicate trying to find like what we should post or how we should post when really when we just stick back into like our business values or our brand values and what we want to stand for. That's actually what you should be talking about online.
Nicola Harris (06:39.712)
It's so true and also incredibly tricky. So I and I feel like again, and a lot of my clients like same thing. It's like obviously I work on the other side of it with the nervous system and really helping people anchor into some of those edges that they have. Visibility is a massive edge for a lot of women particular.
Tacye Tilitzky (06:44.722)
Thanks.
Nicola Harris (07:03.394)
Right? And so it's like, yeah, we know we're supposed to do the things. We know that we're supposed to show up online. We know we should be doing talking heads. We know we should be doing all of the things and we stop ourselves. So how do you help your clients through that? Because I've been on the receiving end of it and like even someone who does this work, could work with my own nervous system, obviously all the time, it was still really hard to show up in that way. So what's some advice
Tacye Tilitzky (07:19.282)
you
Nicola Harris (07:30.296)
for people who are maybe just struggling a little bit with really standing in, it's kind of like you needing to stand in your own authority about who you are and your brand and the values that you carry. How do you help your clients through some of those moments?
Tacye Tilitzky (07:47.975)
Yeah, so.
Obviously, we've done this with you where our content shoots are always included in our packages with our clients so we can help work through some of those things. But obviously, when you're sitting by yourself, maybe not working with someone like us to try and find things that you want to talk about or things that you think are important, I always kind of go back to what do your clients ask you? Or like when you've had a review, what did somebody say about you? Or like what are the results that you're giving?
to your client that you can talk about because people want to like view you as an authority and put you in a place where like they want to work with you and they see the value in you. So a lot of times that results piece or like even feedback from a client can actually be turned into like a little nugget of content, right? So and also not being afraid to repeat yourself. I feel like people will be like, well, we already talked about that. But if it's something that you
are unique for and you stand for. We are all about collaboration with our clients. I probably talk about collaboration once a week on our page. Don't be afraid to repeat what you say and why you're awesome. That's basically what you're doing is just saying this is why you want to work with me and this is what we bring to the table and these are all the people that already believe in what we do.
Nicola Harris (09:15.597)
Hmm. Yeah, I mean, it's such a good reminder because I think a lot of us, we think that we've said it once and so everyone must have heard and understand that. Right. And I can't remember where it is, but I remember for a long time when I was working in the agency that we used to say that it would take like 13 times, 13 interactions of someone. But apparently now that's like it's like doubled and
Tacye Tilitzky (09:39.922)
It's about 60 to 70.
Nicola Harris (09:41.783)
That's insane. mean, when you put that into context of we're all on our phones, we're scrolling, we're very quickly moving through content, what does it actually require for someone to know and understand what it is that you do? So that repeatable process, it's like, I think we think we have to reinvent the wheel all the time.
Tacye Tilitzky (10:06.546)
No.
And definitely not. And the same piece of content or topic of content can be turned into multiple different pieces of content. You can do a talking head on something and then turn the same thing into a carousel and then do a story on it and then do a static post and have all the juicy bits in the caption because you also don't know how someone's scrolling. So generations scroll differently and live on different platforms. But then you also have within, say, Instagram, some of my
really love just watching reels all day long. The other person might really love carousels so you never know what they're going to resonate with. Maybe you have a reader that just loves to read really juicy captions so you want to make sure you're like hitting all of those different styles of content viewers at the same time. So like just say it on repeat.
Nicola Harris (10:59.926)
Yeah, so good. I need to take that advice sometimes for my own self. So thank you for that. I mean, when it comes to content, I feel like there's so much noise out there, especially in Instagram land. It's like, use these five viral hooks, and you're going to have hundreds of thousands of followers. And it's like you see it everywhere. Use this trending audio, and your views are going to go up.
Tacye Tilitzky (11:03.25)
you
Nicola Harris (11:30.914)
First of all, how do you feel about some of that? is it actually moving the dial forward for people?
Tacye Tilitzky (11:39.365)
Yeah, so this is a topic I love to talk on. with the rise of AI and all the noise of everyone trying to tell you what to do, what I stand in and what I believe in is authenticity and showing up as a human, as you. I don't believe there's like a quick fix or
going viral isn't the answer, especially in like a business space. It's staying true into like what you stand for and who you are, because that's going to attract the right people. a hook might grab someone's attention and call to actions are great and all of those things. But what really matters is like, what is your message and what are you bringing to your audience or to your clients or if you're a brick and mortar to your customers?
to be not just selling to them. I feel like it's so noisy online where it's like everyone has this quick fix of how you're going to go viral or how you're going to get all these leads where I've actually found the most success for our clients is when they actually start to stand in who they are and what they believe in and get out of their own way to just say the dang thing. Like just say what you want to say because a lot of times
people like it when you're a little bit spicy. They don't like it when you're always so nice to them. So it's kind of just like standing up and saying what you want to say.
I think drowning out some of the quick fixes and things like that online is important because you can go viral and we have clients that have gone viral and have huge followings, but that doesn't mean that they're all converting for their business. So they can have 14, 15,000 followers, but they're really slow where then we can have someone who has 500 and they're like, I'm fully booked. But it's because the right people are showing up on
Tacye Tilitzky (13:47.589)
online. We've even worked with clients where we've shifted this in their audience where they're like, well, I'm dropping followers and I'll look at their stats and they're dropping male followers and gaining female followers. Well, that made sense because they're launching a female program that's geared towards females. So that's us adjusting their audience to what they're actually offering. So not fixating so much on the number and making sure that they're like actually
aligned people that are coming into your world. And when you stand in who you are and what you believe in with your business, I think it kind of just happens and the people find you.
Nicola Harris (14:29.23)
Hmm. I mean, I love that obviously because alignment is like so incredibly important to the work that I do with people. And it is fascinating how, and I mean, culturally, I think we do this all the time. We want the quick fix. We want the quick win. We want overnight success. And it's like, I'm not sure where along the line we thought that that's what was normal, but really the consistency, the growth.
Tacye Tilitzky (14:36.124)
Yes.
Nicola Harris (14:56.822)
in alignment is really what ends up getting you the results that you truly want. And those vanity metrics have been pushed at us so hard, it's sometimes hard to detach from that, right?
Tacye Tilitzky (15:11.502)
It is, and we have so many people that will come to us too and say like, how many times should I post? Should I be posting every day? I, like clients will never push like you need to do our biggest package. That's the only way you're going to be successful because I think if you put out aligned marketing pieces,
it's going to work that you don't need to always be so loud. We have one client that we work with and we post once a week, but he doesn't drop followers. He has bookings like no tomorrow, but it's just him having a presence online. But each post is so aligned with what he does that it attracts the right people that once they come, they don't leave. Like he's not having a drop off of followers because they want to be there and they value what he's doing.
that it just goes to show that you don't have to necessarily be so loud or noisy in order to get your your views across. like, even for the TJC page, I think we kind of will show up three, four times a week kind of thing. And we've never been busier. So it's not always about having to be the loudest person in room. It just has to be saying the right thing to the right people.
Nicola Harris (16:32.984)
that's so good. That's so good because I think we've lost that somewhere along the line, right? It's like it's become a bit of a machine that we feel like we have to feed constantly. So that's just really incredibly refreshing to hear.
Tacye Tilitzky (16:47.428)
And I think, yeah, I think bringing it back to like social media is supposed to be social too. So like taking your in-person interactions and bringing them into your online world. Like I think a lot of times you've forgotten about in-person things and connecting with people in person. And the beauty of social media is like taking that in-person and bringing them online so you can continue to touch point them. So from a business standpoint, you meet someone at a networking event, but now
coming into your Instagram and then every time you post something or send them a DM or check in on them or say happy birthday to them they feel that connection with you and that's more than likely going to make them feel more comfortable with you and then eventually want to work with you. So really like fostering both of those pieces and letting them work together is where the success really happens.
Nicola Harris (17:41.103)
I mean, that feels so different when you think about it in terms of it being a relationship platform, like a place where you get to build relationships instead of it just being this thing we have to constantly feed that we're, you know, like, what am I supposed to post today? Or, you you can't possibly think of something. But when you think about it in that way of like, I get to come here, I get to open this up and I get to
Tacye Tilitzky (17:56.327)
Thank
Nicola Harris (18:09.4)
build relationships with people, it changes the energy of your investment of time, of your creativity, of like so many different aspects of it, right?
Tacye Tilitzky (18:20.338)
Yeah.
And I like to say to people too, like if you're struggling with content to think about like the people that are watching you and the people that are following you, like if you were in person with them, what would they ask you and what would you say to them? And then make a piece of content about that. Like you're here to build those relationships and give that value that you would if you had that, that client or that customer, like right in front of you. Like that's, it's a tool that you can use to continue your relationship.
So that's why I say it's a no-brainer for people because it's giving you a pool of people that you can talk to about your business whenever you want to.
Nicola Harris (19:02.39)
Yeah, I think that's so important. And just a refreshing reframe, think, when you're sort of stuck in the rut of feeling like you can't keep up to creating content on the regular, right? So yeah, I think that that's really refreshing. I want to ask you what your favorite kind of content is to make.
Tacye Tilitzky (19:29.244)
good talking head.
Nicola Harris (19:30.67)
Hmm.
Tacye Tilitzky (19:32.531)
So talking head for context is just like how Nicola and I are sitting here talking, talking to the camera. It's a little scary for people, but I do think it is a huge driver for.
building authority and getting people to trust you. So right now in Instagram land, they're saying carousels are the way to win. sure, carousels are what's getting the most reach right now. So reach is great for bringing in new clients, but talking heads and information is what actually will help like convert people for you. So I always like to think of a talking head like you're just talking to a client and give
them value and sharing your expertise with them. I think it just allows people to connect with you a bit more when they hear your voice and they see you moving how you move. I just think it's a huge like connector for people and they'll like people will reference talking heads that I've done and when I've been a little bit sassy in them or something like that. So I think it just helps show your personality more that when they meet you in person it feels like they've already met
Nicola Harris (20:49.516)
Yeah, I love that. I mean, I certainly like that was one of the things that you've helped me tremendously with because it wasn't something I was really doing very often before. But it's kind of vulnerable. Like it can feel vulnerable to stand in front of the camera in that way and declare whatever it is, whatever your talking point is to really interact in that way. But I can say that I have had
So many people reach out to me and just say like, oh my gosh, I love these. It has really shifted, I think, the way that people understand my work and I'm sure all of your clients work. So it's something definitely to lean into that edge can feel a little nerve wracking at times, but certainly has paid off, I think, in a huge way.
Tacye Tilitzky (21:20.358)
Yes.
Tacye Tilitzky (21:40.145)
Yeah, I think it just, like I said, lets people understand what you do more, right? Because as much as you write it and people can read it, sometimes they need to read it, but they also need to hear it out loud. And that's where I spoke on before, like how people learn differently, people scroll differently. So you need to make sure that you're giving them, everybody a way to like connect with you in what makes the most sense for them.
Nicola Harris (22:09.034)
Mm, yeah, I love that. also sometimes we kind of forget about that. You're like, just because I like to scroll this way doesn't mean that my entire audience does, right? So that's a great reminder.
Tacye Tilitzky (22:21.368)
And the generations too, like who is your ideal client and where are they living? Are they living on LinkedIn? Are they living on Facebook? Like Facebook's making a comeback with the Gen Z's where they like to live on there because it's a bit more personal. So really thinking about who you're trying to reach and how you can reach them and what platforms make the most sense for you and your business.
Nicola Harris (22:44.056)
So if a client comes to you and they don't necessarily know that yet, like they haven't really sat down to think about that, what sort of journey do you take them on to begin to really connect the dots around who that person really is for them?
Tacye Tilitzky (22:59.92)
Yeah, so obviously in an ideal world, a lot of times people will come to us with like their brand strategy that will have that outlined. But that's kind of why we've created the strategy reset is it's kind of like a quick way for me to get into what you would see it in like full brand assets, where it's like a brief questionnaire where I'll just kind of ask about their business, their competitors, what they like about certain people, what they don't, what their goals are with their social
media. And within that, I can kind of narrow it down to like, what I think is their ideal audience. Sometimes it takes some a little bit more digging and like a one to one call to kind of figure out what makes the most sense for them. But a lot of times, the main platforms that make sense for most people are Instagram and Facebook. So that's kind of like the easy answer to it. But
is most people live there, but doing that strategy reset just helps us like dial in who they really want to speak to and how we can speak to them.
Nicola Harris (24:10.286)
I mean, obviously do a lot of this work as well in terms of like, okay, let's actually just talk to someone instead of talking to everybody because, you know, when you're and often with social media with anything really, you're sort of talking into the void. You don't really know what's going to land what, what, you know, people are really wanting what they're going to see because of the algorithm. never really totally know. So it is so helpful. I think having that
ideal client really carved out so that instead of you creating content that feels generic, you're starting to create content that feels personalized to the person who is meant to really receive it, right?
Tacye Tilitzky (24:55.1)
set.
Before we used to just start socials and I didn't have that strategy reset piece. And that's where I found like those people that we hadn't done that. Like it was hard to create correctly or create in the right way. So I think that piece is so important to understand like what your brand is, who you stand for, like who you're talking to, all of those things. Like it's hands down like number one thing going into social media.
Nicola Harris (25:28.312)
Well, and I think people have this perspective sometimes, like entrepreneurs think like, well, if I'm only talking to one specific person, then I'm leaving all of these other people out. But that's often kind of like a backwards way of thinking about it because, like as you said earlier, like if you don't really sort of stand for something, you're kind of just out there standing for nothing. And that becomes really hard for people to attach to.
the trust factor isn't necessarily there because they're not exactly sure. Like it's so generic that they don't really feel anything, right? And so that approach is really important.
Tacye Tilitzky (26:06.874)
Yeah.
100%. And I think sometimes people get scared like to pick, pick their ideal client where like it can change. Like since I've started TJC, I would say mine has made a big shift even in the last year of where you look at, like who am I calling in? Like what type of people am I attracting? And like maybe my ideal person isn't this. And like for where we stand, it's very much like people that are going to trust and believe in the work
that we do and how we can help them because if they don't trust that then the results aren't going to be there. So like you don't have to marry your ideal client like you are shifting and evolving as a person which means your business is going to shift and evolve which means your ideal client and your whole brand can shift and evolve. Like we just went through a whole rebrand because I was sitting there looking at my own page being like this doesn't feel right anymore because we've changed we've grown we've
evolved so like everything has to keep moving with you so you don't have to if you say that this is what it is now that doesn't mean that's what it has to be forever.
Nicola Harris (27:20.398)
So good, because it can evolve at any point. I think that's a really important thing to remember. Your content can evolve as that ideal client evolves. You can shift and you can change. And I like doing ideal clients often just based on specific offers. It's like what's
what's right for this person, for this offer, is might be totally different than, you know, like my freebies or my meditation downloads or even House of More is for someone who's at this phase, whereas like my deep one-to-one work is a completely different person. It's right, different client. And so it's like, we don't have to be so rigid. And I feel like there's, we also feel that way about our content sometimes too, like,
Tacye Tilitzky (28:03.814)
different. Yeah.
Nicola Harris (28:14.54)
It has to be so rigid in the way that we are showing up. you know, I obviously lead a soul led business, so I evolve with it. It's like as I'm expanding, as I'm deepening my work shifts with it as well, which I'm sure can be somewhat annoying to try and keep up with in terms of content. But there is this
idea of giving ourselves permission to evolve with our brands that I think for a long time was not present. It was not present. It was like, have to be consistent. Here are our content pillars. You you wrap your whole business around that. You don't really touch them until you do a giant rebrand again. So I love that you tap into authenticity as one of the values that you work with with your clients. How do you pull that
out of them month over month? Like how could someone really tap into that for themselves?
Tacye Tilitzky (29:17.84)
Yeah, so.
I think you said it completely that we're always shifting and changing. So in the backend with our monthly clients, we do strategy resets or we'll reevaluate their page like every quarter where we're looking at those things. But when someone's doing it for themselves, I feel like it's really like, it sounds slightly woo woo, but like looking within and being like, okay, has something changed here? Like let's, let's about.
evaluate this. Like a lot of times when for myself even I go through these evolutions where like I'll be putting out content on our page and I'm like this doesn't feel right or like something does like something's off. So then that's the moment where you need to kind of like take a step back and be like, okay, who am I talking to? What is my goal with my social media? What is my goal with my business and how do I get there? So really like coming back to doing that like an
Analysis of your business like as business owners. I think we do this with numbers and like our Projection for what we want to make in the year So we need to do the same thing with what we're offering and how we're showing up in the online world, too So like as as things grow they change so you need to be coming back to Like putting your feet back on the ground and being like, okay. This is this is where I'm at It's kind of like when people build a website and then they're like, okay, I've done my website
It's good for like 10 years now. We're like, no, it actually should be updated quarterly and you need to be changing it consistently. Same thing goes for your social media. Like just how you sit down with any part of your business. You need to sit down with your marketing for your business and make sure that it's aligning like quarter to quarter. And I say quarter to quarter because I think it just is a reminder for people to like, okay, as I look at my numbers, I also need to look at how I'm showing that. What am I doing for marketing?
Tacye Tilitzky (31:19.492)
sense for me to kind of move the needle forward. And the strategy reset is what we do for our clients in the back end. A lot of people don't know that we do it quarterly because I kind of quietly do it in the background and just in-person connection. that's why I still show up at content shoots and meet our clients. That's why I'm still like very much involved in it because I can usually see the shifts even before they see them that something's changed.
and then I know I need to like kind of jump back in and like have those conversations and help guide them through to get where they need to go.
Nicola Harris (31:58.563)
Hmm. I love that. I mean, obviously being on the receiving end of it, I love it like tenfold because it's, I mean, when you're an entrepreneur, you're wearing eight million hats. And I mean, you know this obviously, knowing that you have someone on your team and in your corner who is thinking about that ahead of time. It's so incredibly helpful.
Tacye Tilitzky (32:03.858)
Yes.
Tacye Tilitzky (32:13.99)
Yeah.
Nicola Harris (32:27.34)
like so incredibly helpful. And for the longest time, I think I had it in my mind that like, how am I going to get all of this, like all of what's up in my head and like all of the facets of who I am and the experience that I am. Like, how could I even ever hire someone to help me with that? But that process has actually been probably one of the biggest helpful things because it
It helps me organize all of it. And you will pull out things that I never would have even thought about. And having an outside perception, I think, on your brand is invaluable. It's really invaluable in so many ways.
Tacye Tilitzky (32:59.164)
Yeah.
Tacye Tilitzky (33:14.012)
Yeah, and.
That's why always say like we're not just like an outsourced social media management company or marketing company. We really truly come alongside our clients and help them. Like I jump on calls with people where it's just like, need to talk out this offer and how we're gonna execute it. Like sometimes like entrepreneurship can be so lonely that it's just nice to have someone to like bounce ideas off of or like be like, am I losing my mind here? Things like that.
And the outside perspective is a hundred percent. even we just did a rebrand. I didn't do it myself. I wanted an outside perspective to kind of dial it in. It was very collaborative in that sense as well. But sometimes you just need a second set of eyes on it. You know what I mean? Like, and that's even like how we built the team in the backend. Like it's not just me doing everything. Cause I think there's value and perspective from all the girls. And sometimes even in our team call.
like I might have something in my head for you or your page where one of the girls will say something and it's a completely different perspective and I'm like brilliant like that's awesome like so outside perspective and having like a community of people that you can just even like even if it isn't hiring us it's just like other entrepreneurs that you can just like speak with and like talk out loud and be like I feel like things are shifting and I don't feel aligned here like and really
Nicola Harris (34:25.166)
Brilliant. Yeah.
Tacye Tilitzky (34:45.492)
dialing that back in because that's truly when the magic happens in your marketing and your social media is when you actually like plant your feet on the floor and say like, this is what I am and this is what I stand for. I think that's the piece that people are looking for this magic nugget of like the answer in the online space where it's actually in here. Yeah.
Nicola Harris (35:07.328)
Hmm, mic drop, yes. I mean, obviously that is like the premise of all of my work is like all this noise out here, we just need to turn, we need to turn the dial down and you need to amplify what's in here because once you feel safe enough to do that, once you feel like you can stand in an authority around that, it really shifts.
Tacye Tilitzky (35:15.398)
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Nicola Harris (35:33.519)
It shifts everything. It shifts the entire ecosystem of your business and obviously one facet of that being your content and how you're showing up online. So, I mean, I couldn't agree with that more, really. Just amazing. So I want to just talk really quickly about your journey into entrepreneurship because I have, like, to me, it's like I've been doing this for 20 years. So when I started,
Tacye Tilitzky (35:47.708)
Yes.
Nicola Harris (36:03.242)
There was no social media. That's how long ago it was. Can you even imagine? It wasn't even a thing yet. I think maybe there was MySpace. there was no Instagram. I don't think there was Facebook. And if there was, no one was using it. We went out and we shook hands. And we networked. And that's how we built a business. And so being an entrepreneur, I don't know. It doesn't really seem to matter if I've been in it for 20 years. Or it's like, sometimes I just feel like I'm starting from scratch half the time.
Tacye Tilitzky (36:07.986)
Yeah. Yeah.
Nicola Harris (36:34.006)
I just want to know a little snippet of how that entrepreneurial journey has felt for you and what has been the highest high and maybe one of the lowest lows.
Tacye Tilitzky (36:45.53)
is a big question. Entrepreneurship, I feel like can feel so like lonely in some moments, but I think I've actually found some really great like friendships and like clients turn friends, communities that I'm a part of like why we are creatives, where like the women just like want to lift you up and
we want help each other. So I think like that's been a big high for me is like finding those rooms with the right people that are doing the same thing as you and you can like text them at 10 o'clock at night when you're like maybe slightly spiraling about if you even know what you're doing. So I think that is a big piece. I would say I don't want to call it a low, but a struggle point for me was obviously I have my son.
who is almost four.
but I also had my daughter last July. So learning how to run the business with an infant was probably the hardest piece. I have to say my team has held it together or helped me hold it together through that. But that was probably one of the hardest things I've done, how quick I had to build the team to support so that I can be home with her. But I'm here to say you can do both. Some days it's really hard.
But I like to think I'm like a present mom and a business owner and I like both of those worlds and I think they both fill my cup in so many different ways. But yeah, I just can't like just looking back on like all the people that are in my world now that wouldn't be here if it wasn't for TJC that just like the community and like how much my socials have built my social life where like I think
Tacye Tilitzky (38:46.516)
was the last week or the week before, I'm like, feel so popular. Everyone wants to hang out with me. But those relationships that I've built, they all came through my business. And whether they be clients or just fellow entrepreneurs that we can go for lunch and chat, it's just amazing the community that you can build within entrepreneurship, even though sometimes it does feel so lonely.
Nicola Harris (39:09.582)
Yeah, it's like I would echo that times a thousand and thank you for saying that you know we can do both because I think a lot of women are nervous or afraid of even saying that out loud like can I do both? I want to do both you know and that kind of being like a little bit of a dirty word and I mean I feel like the communities that you and I are both in are not that.
Tacye Tilitzky (39:27.046)
Yeah. Great.
Tacye Tilitzky (39:39.365)
Mm-hmm.
Nicola Harris (39:39.481)
They're very supportive. We, a ton of moms who are going for it in ways that inspire me on the daily and teaching their kids really modeling what it looks like to live a life that, you know, certainly our parents probably never really even dreamt of. And having that work-life balance. And I say all the time, like, I don't even know how I could go back to being an employee. Like,
Tacye Tilitzky (39:59.207)
Mm-hmm.
Tacye Tilitzky (40:06.802)
Right.
Nicola Harris (40:07.456)
My whole life is revolved around my work supporting my life, right?
Tacye Tilitzky (40:13.18)
percent.
And I think it within TJC too, like I came from corporate jobs where it was hard to balance like when your kid was sick and you had to call in sick that you felt that like pit in your chest that they're going to be upset with you. Where like even the team with TJC, a good chunk of them are mothers and they can work from home with flexible hours to support their families, but still have something that kind of fills their cup. Where I think like, I feel like I
I'm a better mom when I also get my outlet of the work that I do and how much I love it. And I love that we can now create that for like my team to also do the same for themselves and their families and have that outlet.
Nicola Harris (41:02.098)
it's beautiful. And thank you for doing that work because a lot of business owners still sort of see it in the old paradigm of like, you come, you do your work and then you go home, right? And I just don't think living in the world that we're living in now that that's really attainable. And when you look at burnout rates, I think so much contributes to that, especially for moms who are trying to like hold it all together and can't do it, right?
Tacye Tilitzky (41:05.831)
Yes.
Tacye Tilitzky (41:15.442)
Yeah.
Nicola Harris (41:31.732)
And I certainly know as a client, I'm like, hell to the yes. Like, let's, I would way rather support a mom who's supporting moms as well, who have flexibility and to have this notion of both, that we get to do beautiful work in the world and we get to show up as present mothers. So I just think that that's so incredible.
Tacye Tilitzky (41:40.71)
Yeah.
Tacye Tilitzky (41:47.186)
Mm-hmm.
Tacye Tilitzky (41:56.177)
I think as creatives too, like there's, I imagine like working in like a
traditional marketing agency and like having to just turn on your creativity from like nine to five and then turning it off like sometimes like my best work comes at 10 p.m. And I know that's how it works for a lot of the girls and what they love about doing the work that we do is because they I don't like dictate when they do the tasks so like when they're the most creative is when they're working which I think in turn gives the best work to our client as they're getting the best
creativity where it's not like just having to turn it on to turn it on kind of thing. So I think even people creating their own content, like giving themselves grace to like when you get an idea or a burst and like, that's when you should lean into and like batch a bunch of content because that's when you're creative, like it's normal for it not to always flow. It happens for us too. It comes in waves.
Nicola Harris (42:58.848)
Absolutely, absolutely. I just love that. Thank you so much, TC, for the work that you're doing. mean, obviously thank you for supporting me, that it has been so amazing and so refreshing and makes me expand also my own idea of possibility around things. just, it's been incredible. But also thank you for the work that you're doing out in the world. I think in the team that you're building, I think it's incredibly important, important, important work.
Tacye Tilitzky (43:08.326)
We love it.
Nicola Harris (43:28.824)
Thank you. So why don't you tell everyone where we can hang out with you?
Tacye Tilitzky (43:34.062)
Obviously Instagram is my favorite place to be. So T.C. Joy Creative on Instagram is where I live the most actually. And I don't always practice what I preach. So like our websites in the middle being updated and things like that. But yeah, I'd love to hang out with everyone on Instagram.
Nicola Harris (43:55.224)
amazing, we will drop those in the show notes as well. Please go give Tacey a follow. She I mean, they they always you always have like great content of snippets of tips and tricks and all of that. So even if you're not at the point where you can hire someone to come in and, you know, help with your socials, definitely plug into someone who is doing that work. And Tacey is definitely someone who you want to know. So and I just I think like
at the end of the day, sometimes you just need a little bit of a push. Like certainly I wouldn't have thought that on my winter bingo card was going to be hiring a content team. But as soon as the opportunity presented itself, I was like, you know what? This is the smartest thing I could possibly be doing for my business at this stage that I'm in. sometimes you just need a little bit of a nudge and it feels a little outside of your...
comfort zone, but you know, I always believe that's where the magic is. yeah, yeah, amazing. Well, thank you so much for hanging out with me and with the crew today. Absolutely. And as I said, I will drop all of Tacey's information down below in the show notes. So go check out our website, go follow her on Instagram and we will see you again next week. Thanks everyone.
Tacye Tilitzky (44:52.998)
I do too.
Tacye Tilitzky (44:59.74)
been a pleasure.
