Chik Chat

This week, I am joined by Ellie - an absolute boss, a whizz at building systems, and someone that inspires me so much in the business world. As female entrepreneurs, it’s easy to get caught in the “I need to be doing x” and Ellie is someone I’ve found to be very open and a realist about how businesses should be built and run. From Ellie’s branding to messaging, she is a great example of “The World Is Your Oyster”.

A little more about Ellie:

I’m Ellie McBride, an American expat living in Northern Ireland since 2017. After moving across the world to be with my Northern Irish husband, I struggled to find the flexibility to spend much time back at my other home in Oregon to see my friends and family. In this quest for flexibility, I realized building an online business from the ground up is the way to have everything I’ve ever wanted in life.                 

I started out as a freelancer back in 2018. As a tech Virtual Assistant, I worked online with business owners in areas like social media planning, creating slick systems and automation, and perfecting their email marketing systems. However, I soon realized many of my clients struggled with the same: Having a beautiful and highly functional website to communicate with their community and open up their time for the tasks that truly needed their attention.

Now I use the skills and tools I learned from my days as a VA in my work as a Squarespace website designer to help create a solid backbone for your business with systems that connect to your website and grant you the freedom to let go of repetitive tasks and focus on the work you’re truly excited about.

My goal? To give you a beautiful home on the web for your message and your work all while helping make your work more efficient.

I serve women who own small businesses and are building them from the ground up by creating beautiful, functional websites with built-in time-saving systems. Sounds like you? Book a free 20-minute consultation call.

Social Channels:

https://www.instagram.com/elliemaemcbride/

https://www.facebook.com/CalibratedConcepts/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLOrqreNo5foqE86xA1efVw

In this week's episode, I am joined by Harvey Morton, a Sheffield-based Digital Marketing Specialist, author, journalist and radio enthusiast!

I met Harvey over 10 years ago at an awards evening for The Big Challenge which is an entrepreneurship competition for people up to 18/19. After I was one of the winners, Harvey shot his shot via Twitter looking for some guidance on public speaking. That DM has turned into a long-lasting friendship where we have grown both in business and as individuals.

In this podcast, we talk about Harvey shooting his shot and how that felt, some of the shared experiences we’ve had going to concerts, sharing our love of food, and how he’s become one of the family. We also talk about Harvey coming out, what that looked like in the business world and the exciting ventures Harvey is currently working on.

Everyone in business needs a friend that understands that world and I was lucky enough to meet someone that didn’t end up just being a business friend - we have shared highs, lows, struggles, and ambitions - we have the funniest stories too... This one is definitely a special one for me and I really hope you enjoy hearing about our journey together.

In this week's episode, I’m joined by Dr. Rumbi.

Dr. Rumbi is a Junior Doctor, a qualified midwife, and an author.

Her passions include addressing inequalities in health care and promoting issues relating to the healthcare and rights of women.

We talk about the realities of women's sexual health and wellness, how we as women collectively and culturally have these awkward conversations, and how being multi-passionate has allowed us to meet AND carry on to do the work we do.

These themes can be seen via her social media presence as @RumbiTheMedic.

In this week's episode I talk about the links to my mental health, the pressure we put on ourselves to keep achieving, and how as a mental health advocate, I really struggle. Mental health in the UK has a long way to go but I am lucky enough to have created a community of people that are open, honest, and vulnerable about their mental health journey, and how they deal with depression, anxiety, and trauma.

Although some of the stigmas are still there, I really believe things have changed for the better but we also have a long way to go so I let you into a little snippet of my life as I deal with a depressive episode and the pressures that come with being self-employed during this time.

In this week's episode of the Chik Chat Podcast, I’m joined by G for round two of talking about what it’s like to date after both being in therapy.

We talk about how our mental health journey separately and together, how we’ve approached our mental health needs and how we deal with triggers.

Throughout the podcast, we also talk about the importance of hearing each other, our love for binging movies and series such as Bridgerton in quick-fire round questions.

Ever heard of the quote “Jack of all trades, master of none”? Well, it turns out the actual saying is “a jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”

In this week's episode, I am joined by Sarah-Lou – a Northern Ireland-based digital marketing specialist, make-up artist, blogger and content creator. As multiple business owners, we talk about how myself and Sarah-Lou manage our lives, prioritise our workloads and how we are also working to prioritise a work-life balance with our mental health.

We also talk about the benefits of owning multiple businesses and how as you grow your entrepreneurship network, it’s actually very common to come across entrepreneurs that run multiple businesses successfully and why it’s advised to NOT put all of your eggs in one basket.

I really hope you enjoy this episode as it’s a reminder that most of us in business or with multiple passions often feel guilty for wanting to do many things. There’s no right or wrong answer, each individual just needs to figure out what works best for them.

Sarah-Lou’s links:

Blog - https://sarahlou.life/

Personal Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahloulife/

Digital Marketing Instagram Business page - https://www.instagram.com/slj.digital/

Salon’s Instagram Business Page - https://www.instagram.com/no1.magherafelt/

Personal Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@sarahloulife?_t=8VrsXnDJMgg&_r=1

In this week's episode, I talk about 6 things I’ve learned from interracial dating.

This came about after I had my blog re-done and saw it was still one of my most popular so I thought I’d give you an update 4 years later especially as I’ve entered a new relationship.

Initial blog here: https://bit.ly/3xoi39P

All I can say is having mixed identities/cultures can make things very interesting (my first partner was Asian-American) and even after going from one Irish man to another, there are some clear similarities and differences.

Have you ever met someone from a completely different world, era, and walk of life that you’ve just gelled with instantly? That was Garret for me and in this week's episode, I am beyond excited to introduce you all to Garrett, an Irish property investor with over 25 years of experience, a great sense of humour, and a great view of the world.

We met just over two years ago when I became his content manager and in this podcast, we talk about life mantras, retiring young, and of course, a little bit of content creation.

A huge thank you to Garrett for taking the time to join me on this podcast and I would urge any of you who aren’t already following Garrett to do so - not only has he got a great property portfolio, he has a knack for finding great partnerships AND a wealth of knowledge/advice both in business and in life.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/garrett.peers.9

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/garrett_peers/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/garrett_peers?lang=en

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-peers-55808517a/

In this short episode, I share 5 tips I believe can help anyone in life and/or business and reflect on how the podcast process is going so far.

After being in business for nearly 15 years, I’ve realised that certain things slowed me down both in business and in my personal life. I’m a firm believer in trusting the process but if these tips can help anyone not have to go through some of the things I’ve seen myself and others constantly go through then I’ll be happy!

In this weeks episode of the Chik Chat podcast, I talk about my journey leading to therapy (lost periods, sleep, lack of appetite & the time leading to the first lockdown), the realities of therapy (isolation, depression, trauma uncover & loneliness) and how it ultimately ruined my life before allowing me to re-build in a healthier and happier way.

A huge shout out to my brother Mulenga for normalising therapy and suggesting I try it out – to merely call you my best friend would be an insult, I love you 3000.