Transcript of Episode #54:
The Podcast Editing Business That Gave This Mom a 12-Week Maternity Leave

Cristina:  Hello, and welcome back to the Blissful Mompreneur podcast. I’m your host, Cristina Hall, and I am so grateful you’re tuning in today. I am so thrilled to welcome the amazing Krystle Frey to the show today. Krystle is a Wisconsin-born creator and the founder of Pivot Ball Change, a podcast editing service-based business designed specifically for busy entrepreneurial moms.

What began as Krystle’s own podcast for creative moms has evolved into a full-service business where she helps fellow moms streamline their podcast editing so they can focus on what truly matters. With a background as a professional dancer and choreographer, Krystle brings a unique perspective to podcast editing. She trained her team to apply the precision and rhythm she used while editing thousands of hours of performance music to the world of podcast audio. At Pivot Ball Change, the mission is simple to eliminate podcasting stress and make life easier for their clients.

Krystle holds a degree in dental hygiene from Madison College and studied dance at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Outside of work, she enjoys life with her husband of eight years, their two sons, and their rescue dog, Ace. As a passionate creative and a secondary infertility warrior, Krystle is committed to finding ways to nourish her creative soul, even amidst the busy life of motherhood. A self-identified recovering perfectionist, Enneagram 3W4 and proud Type A mama. She loves connecting with others to share her journey.

Krystle, welcome to the Blissful Mompreneur podcast. I’m so excited to chat with you today.

Krystle: Well, thank you so much for having me, Cristina. And thank you for that wonderful introduction.

Cristina: So now take us beyond your bio. What inspired you to start Pivot Ball Change?

Krystle: So I think like many moms, I was working a dead end job. I was practicing dental hygiene, because I felt like I had to. And I think so many people go to school, they get a degree, and they follow that traditional route of I spent so much time and money in getting this degree, I feel like I need to use it. And so that’s what I was doing. And I was miserable in the job, to be honest. I loved my patients. That was my favorite part. I’m a, I’m a people person, although I’m an introvert, I call myself an introverted extrovert. Like I can be extroverted when I, when I have to be. So in that situation, I loved my patients. I loved catching up with them. But the actual job itself, I was just, I was absolutely miserable.

I was coming back from my first maternity leave. I was trying to pump in between patients. I would have less than 30 minutes. And all of us moms know that it takes like, I mean, by the time you get in there and you get changed, you get everything, you know, it takes more than 30 minutes. And then I would run behind and I just, I was having so much anxiety. I was driving to and from work and I would have panic attacks about, you know, like leaving my baby and not being able to, to feed him the way that I wanted to feed him. And so it took me years. I was, I spent probably two years, like looking for other opportunities, applying for other jobs. And I just couldn’t land what I wanted, my dream job. And as all of us moms know, the farther along we get into motherhood, I think the more niche our needs get as far as a job goes. So not only was I not landing anything, but there wasn’t anything out there that was fitting the lifestyle that I wanted to live.

So it was when our son was around probably one and a half where I was craving that creative outlet because dental hygiene, there was no creativity in that, unfortunately. And as you said, in my introduction, I have a background as a professional dancer. So that was a huge part of my life since the age of three. And I just, I had no outlet. I wasn’t taking class anymore. I felt like, you know, I had to be home all the time with our son. So I finally said to myself, like something, something needs to change. I’m really, really unhappy in every area of my life right now. There’s no aspect of it that I’m enjoying. And the only one that can do anything about it is me.

And so I read the book “Be” by Jessica Zweig, I believe is how I might be butchering her last name. But But it, she kind of walks you through finding what you’re really good at, what the world needs more of and what you can get paid for, right? Because that’s, as we all like to hide sometimes the money part of things, but we have to get paid, we have to make money to make a living and to support a family. So after reading that book, I came upon starting my own podcast. I thought, why not me? I was a huge fan of podcasts. I listened to several podcasts, mom podcasts specifically. And there were women out there just like me that were hosting their own shows. And so I thought, why not me? So I’m self taught. I spent hours watching YouTube videos and listening to podcasts on how to start a podcast. And I taught myself from the ground up how to do everything. And I launched my podcast in December of 2021. And it was for creative moms where I interviewed moms that were able to find themselves in a creative aspect after becoming a mom. And then I quickly realized that my skill set, my editing skill set and the production side of things was a highly sought after skill, especially at the level that I was doing it.

And so I reached out to a dream client. I was their number one fan on their podcast. I listened to every episode since episode one. And And just said, Hey, you know, here’s who I am. I’m a huge fan. If you ever need an editor, would you keep me in mind? And I sent them a sample of my work, my own podcast. And although at the time they said no, eventually, like I did land that client. And they’ve been a huge resource for me from the beginning, like they’re my number one fan. They refer me all the time still to this day when I get most of my new podcast clients, they’ll say that they heard about me through this podcast. And And names are Amy and Abby, and they’re the hosts of the Herself Podcast. So if you’re listening and you’re looking for a podcast to listen to, it’s all about motherhood and finding yourself in motherhood. So I’ll forever be grateful for them. They’re my number one fans.

Cristina: Oh, what a nice story. And And can really empathize with you when you were sharing, when you were going through that really difficult time, not having the job that was fulfilling and creative for you. And I mean, it’s it’s so great that you didn’t settle and you just explored what other options were out there and essentially created that for yourself, created the job that’s ideal for you, which is wonderful. And now I’m sure it gives you more flexibility to spend the time with your children that you want and to be there. And our children’s needs are constantly evolving. So being able to adapt to that has to be really beneficial.

Krystle: Mm-hmm, definitely.

Cristina: I’m sure that your story is not unique in the sense that some women might be feeling stuck in their careers. So what advice would you give to someone who’s afraid to pivot and try something new?

Krystle: Yeah, I think this is a great question. That’s where I was for so long. I was so scared to leave a secure job, if you will, right? Like I had PTO, I had benefits if I wanted them. And going into entrepreneurship, I would have to let all of that go. So I think if there’s women that are listening that are afraid to pivot, I would say first and foremost, you’re not alone. Like we’ve all had those thoughts of like the what if, the what if I fail, the what if I don’t have that security. But I always tell myself and I would tell listeners this as well, what if you don’t do it? What if you never try it? That voice inside your head is only going to get louder. And something that I think about is, you know, when I’m 80 or 90 years old and towards the end of my life, what am I going to regret more? Am I going to regret staying in a job that I basically hated? Or am I going to regret more not trying that business? And I’ve learned more from starting my own business than I have at all the other jobs in my career. I’ve had to teach myself skills that I never thought I would ever end up on this path. I consider podcasting to be part of the tech world and never in a million years would I call myself a techie. But yeah, I’m grateful to be here. So I would just say, you know, don’t be afraid to take the leap. The worst that’s going to happen is that it doesn’t work. You have to trust yourself. You have to know that you’re going to learn more from any of your failures than you will from just continually to succeed and to climb the ladder in a job that you feel stuck in.

Cristina: Absolutely. Now earlier, you mentioned that in the beginning when you started Pivot Ball Change, you were getting a lot of no’s, right? Like Like reached out to your dream client and they said no right away. How did you stay motivated through that period of time where you were getting a lot of rejection?

Krystle: Yeah, I think this goes back to my background. And before we started recording, Cristina, you and I were talking about how we have similar backgrounds in the performing world. So for those of you that are listening, if you’re not familiar with live performances, if you are a singer or a dancer or an actress of any kind, you spend a lot of your life in the audition room. And when you’re in the audition room, there are literally hundreds of people that are in that room with you and you’re told no every single day. And I think that’s what built my strength up when it came to hearing the word no with anything. It comes with practice, right? I lived in New York City for a short stint of my life where I basically spent about a year going to auditions every single day, sometimes two, three a day. And I would go and I would do the dance audition combo and I would look in the room and I would say, you know, I’m just as talented, I’m just as right, I’m just as great as everyone else in this room, but I would get caught in the first round. And I would be told no and I would never get any feedback. And I’m sure Cristina, you’re probably familiar with that as well. You not only are you told no, but you don’t get told why. And I think from doing that at such a young age, I was a professional dancer from age 17 to 24, it just really built that skill up. And as funny as that sounds, but being able to handle being told no is a skill that takes developing. So if anyone’s listening, if you’re starting out in entrepreneurship, or you know, you’ve been told no and you haven’t gotten your first yes, I would just say that persistency is key. And don’t take no as a final answer. Like I said, with my first client, they told me no twice. The first time they had just signed a contract with another editor that was for a certain length of time. And I think the second time I don’t even remember why they told me no at this point. But finally, you know, I was persistent, I stayed in contact with them. I created a genuine authentic relationship with them. You know, I listened to their podcast every single week, I knew the type of guests that they had on, I knew what type of hosts they were, so that I made it a really easy yes for them when they were ready to say yes to me.

Cristina: It’s so funny how you bring up, you know, the rejection from auditioning and whatnot. I mean, I used to remember, like waking up at like four in the morning, getting on the train, right, to wait in line for hours to finally get in the room where they decided, Oh, we’re just going to line you up, look at your headshots and resumes and say yes or no, where I didn’t even get to open my mouth and sing. It was just like, yeah, and you just did that every day, you know? I mean, I didn’t stick with it. So I guess in some ways, maybe I wasn’t handling the rejection all that well, but no, it was more just the way life went. But you start to become numb to it after a while, that often, you know, a lot of times in those cases, it was just like, Oh, you’re too short, or you’re too tall, or you have dark hair, you know? So yeah, it’s an interesting industry that performance world. Well, good for you though, for being resilient and, you know, it worked out. So that’s great. And you brought up a really good point about creating that really authentic relationship, you know, with them. And I think that really goes a long way because business is, it’s really about that human connection, you know, so often we’re focused on like, you know, the marketing or the sales or the billing or whatever. But at the end of the day, you know, we’re in business to help people. And if we can start with forming those genuine relationships, it can go a really long way. What are the most common mistakes that you see podcasters make, especially when they’re starting out?

Krystle: Yeah, this is a great question. And that’s when that’s when it hits home for me, because I myself went through this and I see so many podcasters go through it too. I think in the beginning, everybody’s gung-ho, right? There’s so much charisma, so much enthusiasm, everybody’s so excited, they have their launch, they have their first three episodes, they have these huge guests on right at first, and then I see the same trajectory, they have their guests, and then they kind of go towards like family and friends, and then they start to lose momentum. They run out of topics to talk about, or they run out of guests and they can’t find any other guests. And so I would say the biggest mistake that I see first time podcasters make is going into it without a longevity plan. So I always recommend when I meet with clients for the first time, I do, you know, a one on one conference call where we meet over video, and I say to them, part of working with Pivot Ball Change is me helping you come up with a long-term plan. So that can look like, are you going to have seasons? If you are going to have seasons, when are your seasons going to be? I recommend that people think about the summer, especially because we work with all moms at Pivot Ball Change. And so Cristina, as as know, summers are just different when you’re a mom. It seems like for some reason there’s just way less childcare, you you school is out of session. There’s more vacations, there’s just more going on, especially I live in Wisconsin. And so we have to savor our summers here right now. I’m looking out the window and we’re a snowstorm right now. So it’s just a precious time. So I always tell moms, do you need to take time off in the summertime? That’s something to think about. Holidays can be stressful for us moms. What is your plan around the holidays? And I think my clients oftentimes haven’t thought about these things. And so they’re really, really grateful whether or not they say yes or no to working with Pivot Ball Change. They’re just so thankful that I’ve put these questions into their minds because they haven’t thought about a longevity plan. So I would say that’s probably the number one mistake that I see new podcasters make. And I think something that can help avoid that mistake is having an accountability partner in some capacity. So whether or not that means maybe you have a co-host where you can rely on each other to hold each other accountable, or they’re going to take half the episodes and you take the other half of the episodes, or you hire out some aspect of the podcast, whether that be you hire out the editing part, or you hire out the management part. There’s some other person beyond yourself that’s going to hold you accountable, and that can really be the make or break for staying together. consistent.

Cristina: Absolutely. And, you know, so it’s funny. This is, I’m just about coming up on the one year marks and starting this podcast. And so I had one summer so far, you know, doing the podcast and that first summer was really challenging. And at the end of the summer, I actually did a podcast episode all about my plans for prepping for next summer. So I already kind of have a plan in place for this upcoming summer, but that first summer with the podcast definitely took me by surprise. And I was like scrambling some weeks, like when my kids would go to sleep, I’d tell my husband, don’t come in the basement. I have to record and turn off the AC and, you know, and then just try to like quickly record, you know, before he came back down or whatever. But, um, yeah, no, it’s so true. You have to account for those difficult periods, you know, throughout the year. And now I’m just, I’m all about batching. I’m always just trying to stay like weeks and weeks ahead that way I’m never in that position where I’m stressed to get an episode out. So yeah, thank you for the advice. Now you recently had your second child. So congratulations. And I know you struggled with secondary infertility, which I’m sure was very challenging for you. So I admire your resilience. But the reason I bring this up is because you recently had to set up your business for a maternity leave. That is precisely what we do here. So how long were you able to take off and how did you set up your business for maternity leave?

Krystle: Yeah, I was able to take off a full 12 weeks. So I took three months. So our son was born at the beginning of summer. So I basically was able to take an entire summer off, which was just a really beautiful time for our family. My husband works in education. So his schedule is a little bit lighter in the summertime too. So he’s able to help out more with the kids in the summer. But the number one thing that allowed me to be able to take a maternity leave from this business is hiring someone. And let me tell you, I was scared to death to hire someone. I had gotten so much business advice telling me to hire, don’t wait to hire. People wait too long to hire. And I was that person. I just, I thought that no one was going to be able to do it like I did it. And I thought I’m a podcast editor. That’s what I do. That’s what my business is. So therefore no one else can edit podcasts. It has to be me. But that was just a story that I was telling myself. And a lot of times we do that, especially as moms, we’re telling ourselves a story that isn’t actually reality.

So I was coming up on, I think I waited until, of course, I was probably like at least 30 weeks pregnant. I think I was at 30 weeks and I finally just put this little, like teeny tiny story on Instagram and just said, if anybody’s looking, I think I said maybe five hours a week. This is what I’m looking for. You know, I can pay you only $20 an hour at this point. It could lead to more. Let me know if you’re interested. And again, I had someone reach out to me who I had an established relationship with. So I had actually met her at our local story time. Her son and my son are similar ages. She’s a fellow mom, has two children. But she had been my number one fan from the beginning. She listened to my podcast week after week. I knew that she was genuinely listening to them because we would come to story time and she would ask me questions about it. Or she would say, like, that was so cool. Or I really enjoyed this part. And all along on my social media journey, she was really active. I always saw, you know, she would like posts, she would comment on them. And that’s something too, if you’re trying to land a client, don’t think that they don’t see those things. They do see those things. And they, even if it’s, I work with some people that have hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, and they still know who you are, even if they seem like this like superstar in social media world. There’s still a real person behind there, I promise. But so she was actually, she was the first, her name’s Paige, and she’s one of my editors. And she was the first one that reached out to me. And she just said, Hey, Krystle, you know, like I would be interested. And she’s a former nurse and she is a state, was a stay at home mom full time at the time. And I just said, Okay, like here’s, here’s what I do. Do you want to give it a shot? And she took it and ran with it. And she is incredible. She reminds me so much of myself. She is just excellent at what she does. She’s a bit of a perfectionist. So I have to remind her that when she makes mistakes, she has made some mistakes, but they ironically, or maybe not, are the same mistakes that I have made. And so I have to remind her that, you know, I’ve been in your exact shoes. So really hiring Paige was huge. That’s the only reason that I was really able to step back and take a full maternity leave. And she was, she was able to do all of the editing for me. She stayed active on my social media platforms so that I could stay relevant. And that was really what, what allowed me to be able to take a maternity leave. If it weren’t for her, you know, before I had our second child, I told myself, I’m just, and I reached out to my clients. I told my clients this too. I said, can you guys get me everything? You know, by this date, I’m going to have everything done in advance. And the closer it got to it, I was just, I mean, you know how it is when you’re pregnant with your second, third pregnancies, it’s like, you get to the end there. And you’re like, I just can’t, I can’t. Like, I can’t do it anymore. So I’m so, so, so thankful for Paige. She’s been a wonderful hire. She’s still a part of the team. She does a majority of our editing now. And since then, I also learned from that experience because it was such a positive experience. It allowed me to step into a role that I love. And I’m enjoying business more because I’m working in my zone of genius, which is more on the creative side of things. And we’ve also made a second hire since then. Molly is also an editor for us. And it’s just a really, really great team.

Cristina: Oh, that’s such a great story. And what I loved in particular, like that I kind of took from your story was that, you know, a lot of times we think when we’re starting to hire, it has to be so formal and we have to, you know, write this detailed job description and post it in like a million different places, but you just did like a casual, you know, Instagram story. And then you found this perfect hire. So it doesn’t have to be so complicated. It can just be really simple. But getting that help that you need can be the difference between an extremely stressful first couple months with your newborn versus like, okay, someone’s handling everything. I could just spend time cuddling my baby. And so that it’s just so nice to hear the different ways that people kind of set up their businesses. So thank you for sharing that. And now, if you could go back, is there anything that you would do differently in preparing for your maternity leave?

Krystle: I think so I hired Paige on as an editor primarily. And then I realized after the fact that there was this whole other side of my business that someone needed to run. And that was the marketing side of things, the logistic side of things, the, you know, getting invoices out there on time. And I think I put more on Paige or asked Paige to take on more than I originally intended to. And she was very willing and she did take on social media. But I think if I were to do things different, and I’ve been told this advice since then, but if you’re going to hire, make sure that you’re very specific with what your intentions are for that hire and stick to those intentions. So I think I would have been, even though I don’t know if my business would have been in a place at that time to be able to afford hiring two people, I think ideally I would have split it into two roles, one person focusing on the editing and one person more focusing on a VA role or a virtual assistant role. But again, that’s something that I don’t think I would have learned unless I went through it and had to figure that out after the fact.

Cristina: Yeah, I mean, so much of entrepreneurship is just trying different things, making mistakes, and then just learning from them. It can be very messy. And that’s okay. We’ve all been there, and we all get to where we need to be. What is your secret to balancing a motherhood with entrepreneurship?

Krystle: I think there is no balance really. There’s times where I feel like I am moving 120 miles per hour, and I’m having a lot of success and I’m gaining a lot of momentum, and then all of a sudden, a child will be sick when I have an interview schedule, there’s something like that. And that can be really, really hard, especially for us moms who consider ourselves type A, where we have everything planned and we have everything organized and everything, you know, in my calendar, my paper calendar, and I have it on my calendar on my phone. And so when things like that happen, I have to remember mine to pivot ball change, which is the whole story behind the name of my business. For those of you that aren’t from the dance world, pivot in the world of dance is a step where you’re facing one direction, and you literally do a 180 and you have to face the other direction. And then the ball change is the shift of the weight from one foot to the other foot. So you’re constantly having to be on the balls of your feet, changing your weight from one to the other. And so I found that that directs directly coincided with motherhood. So that’s where I came up with the name. But how do I balance it all? I have so much help, honestly, and that’s the only way I’m able to do it. Full transparency, our oldest son is five, he’s in 4k right now, Monday through Thursday, half days after that, he gets bused to a daycare center and after school daycare center. And then our little guy, he’s eight months old right now, and he goes to daycare full time. So it’s not like I’m trying to do, I’m not the type of person, I can’t do both. Some entrepreneurs, some mom entrepreneurs, they can do both, like they can crush their business while their kids are in the background. And I have two boys and so their energy is just, it’s just different. So maybe that’s part of it. But when I’m focusing on my business, I really, I have to be 110% focused on my business. And then when I’m focused on my kids, same thing, I give them that same amount of attention. So I have a lot of help. My husband is an incredible help. You know, today, we thought it was going to be a snow day. And I said to him last night, I said, I have this podcast interview today, I would, I really want to make it happen. And he said, yep, no problem. If we do have a snow day, like I’ll take the kids, I’ll make sure that they’re out of the house. So he’s really a huge support as well. And I think I’ve learned through this whole process that I have to ask for what I need. I used to kind of hide this side of me, this entrepreneurial side of me. And if something were to come up, I would just shove the business aside and just step into that motherhood role and try to solve all the problems. And now, because of where I’m at, I’ve learned that it’s okay for my business to be at the front of mind at certain times, and it’s okay to ask for help from my little network that I’ve created.

Cristina: What you just said really resonated with me. And I think it’s something that I needed to hear, because I don’t think I’m very good at asking for what I need. I think I very quick to just be like, okay, like what is ever, you know, what does everyone else need? And I’ll just figure it out. You know, I’ll find this tiny little sliver of time for me and for my business. So thank you for bringing that up. I’m going to have to reflect on that. But gosh, I mean, balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship is definitely challenging and beautiful. Krystle, where can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work?

Krystle: I am most active over on Instagram. And my handle over there is @pivotballchange, all one word. And you can also check out our website, which is just www.pivotballchange.com. And we are currently taking on new podcast clients. So if you’re a mom and you’re listening, and maybe you have your own show right now and you’re looking to outsource the editing side of things, definitely send us a message on Instagram. Or if you are thinking about launching your podcast for the first time, we also help with launching. We have a launch package where we walk you through every single step of the way. And I wish it was something that existed when I first started my podcast.

Cristina: That’s wonderful. Thank you. And we will link all of those links in the show notes. Well, Krystle, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your expertise. It was just so lovely connecting with you.

Krystle: Thank you, Cristina.