From a young age, Christina loved reading and writing, so she thought she would someday become an author. As she grew up, theater became another love in her life, and she was encouraged by her voice teacher to pursue singing. When looking at colleges, Christina wanted to find a school where she could pursue both English and Music. Join us as Christina describes her experience double majoring in undergrad, what graduate school taught her, her first career as an active opera singer and her life in New York City, followed by a new chapter starting a family and launching a business. As a business owner in a different city, Christina explains why it was important to her to dive into community engagement and leadership opportunities. In the marketing strategy work she does now, she goes full circle back to her love of storytelling, using the skills from her English degree every single day.
From a young age, Christina loved reading and writing, so she thought she would someday become an author. As she grew up, theater became another love in her life, and she was encouraged by her voice teacher to pursue singing. When looking at colleges, Christina wanted to find a school where she could pursue both English and Music. Join us as Christina describes her experience double majoring in undergrad, what graduate school taught her, her first career as an active opera singer and her life in New York City, followed by a new chapter starting a family and launching a business. As a business owner in a different city, Christina explains why it was important to her to dive into community engagement and leadership opportunities. In the marketing strategy work she does now, she goes full circle back to her love of storytelling, using the skills from her English degree every single day.
Thank you for joining us today on Paths in Progress. I'm your host, Carrie Young. On this podcast, people in a variety of career fields, talk about their journey from choosing their college, deciding which majors and minors to pursue, their first jobs out of college, and all of the hurdles, detours and victories along their path through today. Our goal is to help students hear about a variety of exciting opportunities out there and understand what day-to-day life is like in these careers. I hope you enjoy and learn from our story today. Thanks for listening.
Carrie:Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. We are here today with Christina, who is a marketing strategist who specializes in social media and digital. She's been an entrepreneur. She's been an opera singer. She's on the Forbes Communication Council. She's very involved in her community, both charitably As a volunteer, and she just graduated from a leadership program in Kansas City called Centurions, which we'll get into as well. She has her undergraduate degree in literature and music, and she has a Master of Music degree as well in vocal performance. Christina, thanks so much for joining us today.
Christina:Thanks, Carrie.. Thanks so much for having me.
Carrie:I'm so glad you're here. I know you've had a very interesting journey, and you've gotten an opportunity to do a lot of really different types of things, and I'm just excited to dive in. So, can you take us back to high school, and tell us about what you were thinking regarding kind of what you envisioned for yourself as a career, and how you went about looking for colleges?
Christina:Absolutely. So I think that I will say my path is definitely not a traditional one. It has lots of traditional pieces to it, but it really shows that when two paths sort of diverge in the woods, you can go a lot of different ways. Yeah. So I actually spent probably my whole childhood wanting to be a writer. I love to read. I always thought that I would go to college and study English and literature and be an author. And that would be such a great life for me. My parents really are just wonderful and encourage both my brother and I to do a lot of different things, sports, debate, music, all sorts of different activities. And the more that I was engaged in theater and performing, I really enjoyed it. And I played the cello for years. I played the piano. And so when I got to high school, I had been doing those things for years and years and years, and I still loved writing. I wasn't sure how someone becomes a writer. I didn't know any writers. I knew journalists. But that's not what I wanted to do. So I wasn't exactly sure I thought about law school. I think a lot of people who love writing and reading and who don't mind arguing a little bit, uh, think that that's a good path too. And so I really wasn't sure I had a really great voice teacher. Cathy Gamble here in Kansas City, who became a mentor to me, and as I started taking voice when I was 15 years old, she suggested that maybe I might want to study music in college, and that I had an innate gift for singing and for music, and that really appealed to me. It appealed to that idea of connecting with audiences and singing and performing. Which is really very like a social activity. There's groups and collaboration. And a lot of times being a writer and envisioning my life as a writer, felt a little lonely, isolating, a lot of time by myself. And so I think getting to do both, sort of was my plan. And so I went to college and I pursued a lot of different opportunities as to where I would go to college and I settled in Texas Christian University in Fort Worth and I really loved it because it had a great atmosphere and the people that I met in the English department and the music department were very encouraging to me that I could do both. Both. And so as I was exploring colleges, that was important to me, not only to find a place that felt like home and that felt good to me, but that would let me explore both of the things that I loved without sort of putting me in a box at an early age.
Carrie:Yeah, I think that's such a great point to make because I think students sometimes, for whatever reason, it could be the person who's guiding them, or they're just making an assumption, but they feel like they have to only choose one thing. And a lot of times, that's just not true, whether you're, you know, double majoring in college or doing like some kind of major minor combination, or you're actually pursuing two different kinds of work, that you're doing either simultaneously or in different seasons of your life. But a lot of times we can pursue more than one thing. And college is a great place to start doing that, you know, without feeling like you absolutely have to just narrow it down to one thing, because for a lot of us, that's really hard to do.
Christina:Absolutely. And I think so many people, we don't know at 16, what we want to do. Literally double the years of our life when we're 32, it's really hard to imagine. And I had a lot of good friends who started off as music majors who very quickly realized that wasn't the life for them. And they took a class and something they really enjoyed. And now they are amazing in their careers as social workers, as teachers, as things totally different than what they started in college or what they envisioned themselves doing in high school. There's a few people that. They were, eye on the prize. They knew what they wanted. They went out and did it. But honestly, most people, it's just not our journey.
Carrie:Yeah, absolutely. Did you have any insights or anything in particular as you were looking for colleges that would allow you to do more than one thing? Was there something that you felt like was really helpful in your college search?
Christina:I think when looking for colleges for anybody, or if you're considering something like a double major, I think it's really important to try to connect with students who go to those colleges in any way you can. You know, now we have Facebook and Instagram, and there are so many ways that you can potentially find a student at the university. And connect with them and to see what it's like to be a music major, what it's like to try and get your engineering degree. We didn't really have the internet in the same way. I know that's how old I am. We didn't have Facebook when I was in high school. And so I could have, I guess, chatted someone up on AOL, but that was really the only way. And so I just really reached out to people in my network. I asked my, Parents to ask your friends, do they have kids who go to TCU or go to NYU or go to these other schools like Northwestern that I was looking at and, or I would ask some of the professors there or people in admissions. Is there anyone I can talk to, especially in programs that are more competitive, or if you're thinking about something like pre med or something where you're really on a track, trying to understand what a daily life there is great. It's just not plausible for us to tour every college. All the time that we want to go to. So I think sort of narrowing down and then going on those tours going into the buildings. I was very quickly able to see. Gosh, I feel like I belong on this campus, which is how I felt at TCU versus I don't feel good here. This feels really weird to me. And I had a couple campuses and colleges that I thought on paper would be perfect for me. And once I got into the cities or even on the campuses, something really felt off. Listen to your gut. Your gut instinct is usually right. And so I would say do the research up front and then try to get your body on campus if you can. Really helpful. Yeah,
Carrie:absolutely. So your experience as someone who was double majoring, did you find that that was challenging for you or because the things that you were studying were both things that you were so interested in and enjoyed so much that it just, it felt like a normal experience to you? What was that like for you to have two different majors and kind of two different populations that you were part of, right?
Christina:Absolutely. At times it was a struggle. I really. Loved being a student. I loved going to class. So that part wasn't hard. I think that being an English major and maybe being another major on top of that, that was more traditional would have been a little bit easier in terms of time and balance, but things like being a music major, there are so many extras you pile on top of that, that aren't a lot of credit hours. For example, being in my choir, I think we met three days a week for an hour and a half. And that was one credit hour. So it was an apples to oranges type of thing. And then I was involved in the opera and in the musical. And those are things you just don't get credit for or credit hours for. So I think I spent probably a lot more time in the music building and by extension, a lot more time with my friends who were music majors than I spent time in the English department. But I also think having mentors or professors you can lean on in the music building. Both majors, or even if you only have one major is really helpful because they can help you with that. People in admissions can help you and registration help you set up your schedules so that, you know, you're giving everything a little bit of love every semester. And then you have all of your other classes, your basics, your math, your, you know, I had to take a physical fitness class, things like that, that you have to fit in on top of that double major. So I actually ended up going to school for four and a half years. But I had, a double degree and I had a minor in history and honestly, I had enough hours in Italian that I probably could have had a minor. Please don't ask me to speak any Italian on this call, Carrie. And so I had a lot of hours. I graduated with a lot of hours and that meant a couple of summers. I would take a class online or I would take an extra class. I always had a really full load of hourly classes, but that worked for me. I wouldn't advise that for everybody.
Carrie:Yeah. So as you were going through the different programs you were in. Did you start to envision something in particular that you wanted to do after graduation? Or did pieces start falling together for you? Or were you just kind of taking the subjects that you enjoyed and learning as much as you could and putting off, you know, figuring it out later? Like what were things starting to come together for you or not?
Christina:They were, I think the more classes that you take in school, You might enjoy the class, you might not enjoy it, but you at some point say, this is for me or this isn't for me. For example, I took a world literature class, I loved it, but I couldn't ever envision myself studying that or writing about that or having that be my area of expertise. So I just knew that wasn't for me. I took a British lit class that kind of felt the same way. I took an early American literature class or rather early 20th century and I really loved that. So I was like, Oh, I feel that I could, that's something maybe I could teach or write about or learn. And so I put myself and I would encourage any student in high school or college, put yourself in a lot of different situations and see how you feel and see how much you like it. Just say yes to a lot of different things, and I think the pieces will start falling into place. So I loved my music classes. I loved my performing classes. I loved my voice lessons. I loved anything surrounded by studying, learning music and getting to perform it and tell a story. And this storytelling arc, I think is an arc that has been my whole career as a performer. As a writer, as what I do now in marketing, just being able to tell a story, whether it's a story that I wrote that someone else wrote, or I'm singing somebody else's story, that was my through line. And so I really enjoyed working at a literary journal. I enjoyed performing. I did a lot of editing and helping people tell their stories. And so that became the through line. I don't know that I realized it. At the time, but that connection and that storytelling became the through line.
Carrie:Which that can apply to so many different things. So if somebody is listening and they feel like that is something that they love as well, that can show up in a lot of different areas and can be used in a lot of different ways.
Christina:Absolutely.
Carrie:So as you were nearing graduation from your undergrad, what were your plans after that?
Christina:So as I was nearing graduation, I had actually a very similar situation that I did in high school. My mentor, Dr. Charlotte Hogue, my English teacher and my mentor in the English department was phenomenal. And honestly, 20 years later, we are still in touch. I say, now we're friends. We text each other. We send each other like Starbucks cards on our birthdays. She was a great mentor for me. I did my honors thesis in English with her as my advisor. And she was thinking, wow, do you want to go get your master's in English? I think you could do this. I think you'd enjoy it. I think you have a good skill set for it. I'll help you do that. If that's what you want to do. And then I had my voice teacher and my opera professor saying, Hey, if you want to go pursue opera performance, there are some avenues to do that. Here are the next steps. And they really clearly identified a next step would be to get my master's in opera performance. And so I have these two sort of distinctive paths facing me at the time. And what I really established was, Being a performer, being a singer, being a musician is much like being an athlete. It takes hours and hours of dedication and practice and honing your craft and your skills. When you are out of practice in that, it is very hard to get back in, not just emotionally, but literally, logistically and physically because of how you use those muscles. And so I thought, you know, writing feels like something I might be able to come back to when I'm older. But I don't know that I'll ever come back to performing. And so that's the route I decided to go. And so very similar to my college applications, I started researching places to get my master's in opera performance. I also tried to get myself on campus. You have to do auditions for your master's programs. And so I went many places, one in Texas, many on the East coast in New York and Boston. And I really found a home at the University of Houston, the Moore School of Music. I really liked my teacher there. I liked the program. Although I wasn't ready for Houston traffic, I said, here we go. That feels like the next step for me.
Carrie:No one's ready for Houston traffic. No one. So in your master's program, if you want to describe that to us a little bit about what your experience was and particularly how you felt like you took advantage of your graduate experience because you were more focused on one thing as opposed to the multiple things you were focused on in undergrad. Kind of how you took advantage of that time and also, how was that helping you envision what you were going to do long term or at least right after graduate school?
Christina:Absolutely. So getting a master's degree is much more focused. It's much more defined. And so in undergrad, I was on a lot of different buildings on the campus. I was involved in campus life and activities, and it kind of felt like the whole world of campus was mine. And in grad school, it like whooshed down to this tiny little sector of campus. I went to one building on campus every day. I had less classes than I did in undergraduate, but. More work in a lot of ways there was a lot of studying on your own It was a smaller group of people and I really went all in and I would advise you no matter what you're doing if you're going to trade school if you're going to be an athlete if you're going to study to be a teacher: Go all in and give a hundred percent to whatever you're doing. And that's what I really did in grad school. I attended a lot of performances and extra opportunities. I put my name in for anything extra that I could do. And I think that's really helpful in every situation in life really is to try to get the biggest bang for your buck, so to speak. It was a very different experience than undergrad. It was more serious in some ways. I did have a lot of fun. I met great friends. In fact, I met one of my best friends in the entire world. We talked five days a week. She also went to University of Houston, even though we do different things now, because we were really on this very specific journey together. And there aren't very many people who can say: we're preparing to be professional opera singers. That's a small group of people. And so I think because we were on that journey together, we took it really seriously and we really bonded. So that was one thing I take away from grad school are these great friendships, relationships, and developing a work ethic that it's really self led and self driven because much like being an athlete, I always make that comparison because it's something I think we all kind of understand. I'm here in Kansas city and we know that Patrick Mahomes didn't become Patrick Mahomes by just hanging out and watching TV. That man threw a football, he did drills, he watched himself like our one of the hardest working guys in football and that's why he's so great. Innate ability for sure. Same thing with being a musician. You have to have some kind of innate ability, but you really have to hone your craft and no one's telling you and no one's making you say, go to a practice room and practice this aria or this song over and over and over and over and over again. That's you. And again, anything in life that's driven by you. And so I think I developed a really serious work ethic in my graduate degree. And that would really help me later when I had to be more autonomous, meaning I had to really lead myself as a business owner or an entrepreneur. I wasn't scared of identifying the steps that I would have to do sometimes by myself to sort of get to my next goal. And so I think those are my greatest takeaways from my graduate degree.
Carrie:Yeah, first of all, I love how we fit Patrick Mahomes into this.
Christina:Always. Always and forever. And everything.
Carrie:And then, you said a lot in there, but I think, you know, pulling out the kind of idea of getting the best bang for your buck is one way to put it. Obviously that has a lot to do with your work ethic and your experience, but I think it's so important for students to hear that, You are paying for your college in some way, right? Whether you're doing it now or later, or you earned your scholarship or whatever it is that's paying for your education. And can you just go through and do the minimum and get a degree? Sure, but Why? Why would you not take advantage of building a strong network for yourself, learning as much as you can, seeking out a mentor, utilizing resources that you're already paying for? And those resources are all over the map, whether we're talking about like working out at a rec center, or we're talking about student discounts or opportunities to go to places that are free to you, or whether that's talking about really discounted like mental health services, whether that's, I mean, there's so many different things on any campus that you're on that you're not going to have available to you in that way again. And just opportunities, whether it's being part of student organizations or taking leadership positions or trying something out in a safe space where a lot of people are trying that thing out at that time. Right. So just being able to really take advantage of it. And if you approach it in the way that you described, like this is a short period of time, you were in this very specific space with these particular people, you know, how are you going to get the best bang for your buck? How are you going to take advantage of that time? So when that time is over and you're moving on to the next thing, you really feel like you got what you wanted out of that experience.
Christina:So well said. So well said. And it's okay. I would say in that for. You know, the people who are listening who are a little harder on themselves, it's okay to make mistakes. You won't be good at everything, and that's okay too. That's definitely part of the learning opportunities of going to college and going on extended education in general is you're not just learning what you're supposed to be learning and what you're supposed to do. You're also learning what you're not supposed to do. And I think that's actually really, really helpful, probably just as helpful. And that's learning from a book, that's learning from your professors, that's learning from the people around you. And that's learning. How to fit in society in a different way, because so far, you've been in high school, you've been in these little ecosystems, and you're about to hatch out into the great big world, and you can take a lot of lessons from all those resources, Carrie just mentioned, about how you want to be out in the world.
Carrie:Absolutely. I mean, yeah, trying something out. I've had a lot of students over the years, You either go through a class or even decide they want to switch majors or they want to drop a minor or whatever it is and be so frustrated and say, you know, I wasted this time. And I just constantly was finding myself saying, it's not a waste of time because you learned that about yourself, right? Now, you know, that thing isn't for you or now, you know, that what that's not what you thought it was going to be. And how much better is that to learn that at 19, 20, 21 years old? Then at like. 35 years old or later, right? Those are safer spaces to take those chances, try something new. If it doesn't work out, it's okay. We'll figure something else out.
Christina:Absolutely.
Carrie:So, as you were approaching graduation from your master's degree, what were you thinking about for your future from there and how did you start taking steps toward that?
Christina:I was thinking, Oh, holy heck, because now I was getting into a world in which I didn't know anyone growing up who had done this. I had known people who had, you know, maybe there's that story of this one person from your school who went on to be in a band, or there's this one person who went on to tour with another famous person. But that they are like the rarity, the urban legend almost. And so I started doing some training programs for opera singing, which are basically places that you go in the summer and you study music, you study opera, you put on full productions, you have voice lessons, you're just getting more training. So it's like school. But during the summer. And so Those were really valuable because it connected me with people. Number one, all over the country who were doing the same thing as me. Number two, people who are doing the same thing, but were a few steps ahead or a few steps behind me. So that was really good education on both sides, as well as mentors who were the teachers, the directors, the choreographers, the people involved in the production side, the people that design the sets, the people that create everything, the people that conduct the orchestra. And also I got an opportunity to do a lot of those things myself as well. Paint a set, make a set, take it down, learn about lighting. That gave me really a full education of what I had in store for me. And then the next thing I did, and I made a connection. Again, through, going to school at TCU, starting early, I was in the chorus of the Fort Worth Opera there. Many people who were associated with the Fort Worth Opera were associated with one of the training programs I went to, Segal Music Colony. Through that, they recommended me for another job at the Shreveport Opera, that's Shreveport, Louisiana. In the world of music, opera singers were the opposite of dancers in terms of how long it takes us to get physically ready and hone our craft. The little muscles that work in your throat and in your voice, they aren't really ready to go in the optimum way until you're like in your thirties, that's the time dancers are like, get me out of here. My ankles are tired. My knees are done. That's the time, you know, our professional football players are saying, Oh, my body's beat up. So we're sort of the opposite in a lot of ways. So what a lot of us do is we do something. That's like a paid internship. So you go with an opera company, a regional opera company in a city, and you study and understudy the main roles on the operatic stage. The lead roles. And sometimes you play the smaller roles. You do opera outreach where you might go into schools and teach kids voice lessons or teach them about opera. You do your own operas with the company. And so I spent two years with the Shreveport opera, two seasons. They're like school years. I lived in Louisiana and I toured opera with several other people who were in the same stage of life as me. I had a remarkable time, such a cool life lesson, a great area of the country I didn't know anything about, and I kept learning and studying. And then on my breaks, I would go to New York and do auditions for different opera companies and different opportunities and got cast in some of those as well. And so when that was done, like many singers, I say, well. It's time to go to New York. That's where a lot of the singers and performers gravitate. And with reason, that's where a lot of art is made in general. It's a great place to be. And it's where all of, at that time, all the opera companies came pretty much in the whole United States to have auditions. And so if you live there, you had the opportunity to go to all those additions. And so that's what I did. So I took two suitcases and I moved into a fifth floor walk up apartment in Inwood, New York. Which is in Manhattan, the tippy, tippy top of the island.
Carrie:So, I'm sure there's a lot of students out there, regardless of where they are in the arts, whether they are a dancer, like you mentioned, they're in theater, they're a musician, they're a visual artist, there's a lot of people who have that dream of going to New York someday, right, and living there as a young professional, or even maybe they're in finance or something, maybe it's something totally different. But, can you talk a little bit about what that is? that experience was like moving there, you know, as a newcomer to New York City to live and what kind of impact that had on you long term, like having that experience of living there and how you were able to foster your community there and what that life was like for you?
Christina:So I loved New York City from the first time I went when I was 16, a theater director took I think a group of 20 of us to New York, I saw four Broadway musicals in three days. I walked central park. I went to museums. I went to the village. I was hooked. I was like, New York is a place for me one day. I would have been really way too scared to go there for my undergraduate degree. It was overwhelming thinking about being on a campus. In New York felt too big, too scary, too, too far away to all the things I applied there to one of the schools in New York for my master's, but even then, I don't know that I would have been ready. So I think for me, it was a timing issue. A lot of people dream of getting out of their towns and going at 18. Great. If that's your personality and you have an adventurous spirit and you're not afraid, do it. It's also okay to be more cautious or to say, that's not for me right now. A city like that, it's not what I'm ready for. And so I think I had to have those steps in community building and moving from Kansas City to Fort Worth and then Fort Worth to Houston, which is a much bigger city than Houston to Shreveport, which is smaller, but I didn't know a soul when I moved there. To then saying, now I'm ready to go to New York. So the first year I was living in New York, I lived with strangers. I met them on Craigslist. That's how we used to meet roommates back in the day. And it was really fun, but they, we weren't great friends. And that's kind of typical sometimes for New York roommates, you just meet. And really the only thing you have in common is you have to share a place and you're sharing the rent. They were really nice. They were very welcoming, but we didn't hang out a lot. And I think that's because I was traveling a lot for work. I was thinking a lot out of town. So really my first year in New York, I didn't really have a great time in New York and my friend Kisa, my best friend from grad school said, well, let's think about it. The only times you're in New York are when you're packing and unpacking and repacking, and you're kind of stressed because you're going from gig to gig to gig, and you're not really living there. You're not really enjoying it. You're not getting to take advantage of the city. And so I think once my gigs, Slow down or change so that I had more time in between a really more time. I got my own place. I had time to enjoy the city. I started making more friendships. I started having, my little spots, my bar, my restaurant, the things that I love to go to taking more advantage of Broadway shows and discounts and matinees. That's when I really felt like the city became mine. Also just navigating a city that you don't know. It can be hard. It's challenging. And so I think, you know, no matter where you're moving for school or for career, getting to know the city takes a little bit of time. So if you don't love it straight out of the gate, that's okay. Don't give up on it. Get to know the city, like put yourself in the city and go around it. Same with your campus, because there's a lot to learn. And I felt trepidatious sort of any city I've gone to. But I think one lesson that I've learned is I'm really not fearful of new cities. Now I'm not really fearful of travel. It doesn't scare me. We have so many resources on our phones and maps and guides and things like that to figure out what's going on. And it also taught me a lot about human nature. In New York city, you're surrounded by like, what, 12 million people who are trying to get the same place or the absolute opposite place that you're trying to get in this teeny tiny little piece of Island. And so it teaches you patience and planning and also to see the best in people because sometimes people will help you. I had a situation in New York where I had a pretty crazy accident and I had to walk with a cane for a long period of time. People were so kind, gave up their seat for me, would help me carry things up the stairs, like. You think of New York as this big, scary place where everyone's out to get you. Not that you shouldn't keep your head on a swivel, but sometimes, the people that, you know, looked really kind of frightening to me were the same people to get up on the subway and say, you should sit here. You look like you need to sit down today. So I think it was a lot of good life lessons, a lot of good life lessons in tenacity and in just keeping going because sometimes the city. We'll break you down. You know, literally the subway breaks, you're late, you miss something, you miss an audition. You've done your best planning to try to get where you need to be, and just, it feels like the fates are conspiring against you, but you have to still keep going. And that's definitely a lesson that I've taken in life for sure, is you just have to keep going. Even when it seems like the universe is really spitting on you.
Carrie:Yeah, and you touched on it a little bit that you traveled a lot for a period of time, and I think that's something else that people either, especially young professionals, some people really want to have work that allows them to travel a lot, and some people avoid it because there's, you know, pros and cons there. So can you talk a little bit about what you enjoyed about traveling a lot, and then perhaps what you didn't enjoy so much that students should maybe consider if they're thinking about pursuing a position, or a job, or a field that does require a lot of travel?
Christina:Think when you are thinking about a job that might require a lot of traveling, you should think about your ability to adapt, your ability to meet new people, and to be in challenging situation. And again, there's no right or wrong answer. Some people are very adaptable. They're very able to roll with the punches and go with the flow. If that's you, a job that requires you to travel might be really great. If you don't need to know exactly where you're going to be every weekend, then maybe a job of traveling would be really exciting for you. I really liked getting to meet people in all the new cities I went to. I liked the fact that when I would go on a gig or a new show, there was entirely new group of people that I got to meet and get to know and talk to and make relationships with. I really love that. That's something I've loved my whole life, but I didn't really realize until I was an adult how much I like that and how much that feeds me. For some people, that's their idea of a worst nightmare. So if that's you, then you know that a job where you're continuously being put in front of new people and new groups, Maybe that's not for you. Right? And I think the travel aspect, do you mind that you're not sure where you're going to be? You're not sure if you're going to celebrate the Super Bowl in your house or a hotel. You're not sure if on your birthday you're going to be in Philadelphia or San Francisco. Is that okay? Does that make you really, really sad? Sometimes it is sad to be away from your people on special occasions. I found that I have a group of friends and certainly family that made me feel special no matter where I was. So I was okay with that for a short term. I knew I would be okay. At one point I realized I didn't want to live my whole life that way. We'll probably get to that later, but for this point in my life, that was great. And so I loved it. And I think just that versatility in different cities and finding what you like in each city is really great too. Yeah,
Carrie:so you just mentioned it a bit. At some point, you know, a lot of people have different types of lifestyles and different types of jobs and different types of things that they want to do in one season of their life. And then perhaps they get to a new season of life and decide that that's not necessarily what they want anymore, or it doesn't necessarily work with new goals that they have or just a different way that they want to live, perhaps. So can you walk us through, I mean, we don't need to get into the deep personal stuff with that, but, could you walk us through what your experience was? Cause I think you mentioned it before as well. There are a lot of musicians, particularly opera singers, who do get to a point where either the travel has become too much or they just want to have a home base where they're present more, they want to start a family, they want to teach, they want to do something, whatever it is for people. So can you tell us What that was for you, just deciding that you wanted to make a change?
Christina:Absolutely. So transitioning in my career wasn't something that happened overnight. Once I had decided that I was going to pursue opera as my full time profession, that's what I was going to do, and so I was very, very lucky that for a very, very long time, in performer years, let's say, that's all I had to do. That's how I made my money. That's how I paid my rent, was being a singer, and I know how privileged I am. To be able to say that, and that was honestly, my goal is I wanted to make my money singing and it got to a point, in the economy, actually, which was the first thing that sort of moved my direction is that in 2008, the economy took a big hit in the United States. I was living in New York. I was working full time as an opera singer. That's how I was paying the bills. And in 2008, nine and 10, something like. 50 or 60 opera companies in the United States closed. And so I had a lot of gigs that were canceled. I had a lot of upcoming opportunities that never came to fruition. And that was a big deal. And so I found myself like a lot of performers, like a lot of young professionals needing to make money in a different way than how I had planned to. And so I did what a lot of performers do was I took a job and. What I did here was I had my first job was I was working for the public theater in New York. They are great theater. They produced a lot of different things like Shakespeare in the park. You might've heard of, they're also associated with Joe's pub. And I worked with them just part time for fundraising while I was still singing. And it was great. I would go away for gigs. And I could still do that, but then what I did next was I worked at a store in Rockefeller center. And I always share this because this was a huge evolution of my career and really put me to where I was today. So for five years, I worked at a store called Rain Africa, which no one had ever heard of and why no one had ever heard of it is because they were the first store of its kind to come over from South Africa and in South Africa, rain was like a bath and body works. Everyone knew what it was. Everyone knew the products. It didn't need a lot of explanation. It was a terrific kind of household name almost. Well, all of a sudden they came to the United States. Oh, and I should mention they sold soaps and lotions and creams and all sorts of like great home spa you know, body, gifts and things like that, that you could use bath salts and lotions and all sorts of things that make you smell great and feel great. I loved the product. I started working there. And at times we had a lot of traffic because we were right at Rockefeller center. If you ever watch the beginning of Saturday night live, the opening, or you see the ice skating fountain or the big Christmas tree at Rockefeller center, that was my view. That's where I work. So it was this awesome epicenter of New York, certainly have so many stories from that. I was part time between singing gigs, selling soaps and lotions. But what I was also doing was I was posting about them on my own personal social media because I really loved them. I should mention that they're a job creation program in South Africa. They were fair trade. They were paid equitable wages and they were creating a lot of jobs for the people of South Africa who are artisans. So I love the products for a lot of different ways. And so I started posting about them and people started coming into the store. My manager and who was one of the owners of rain who had come from South Africa realized, wow, some people are just coming in just because Christina is posting about it on her Facebook and her Twitter. Well, what would happen if we had you, Christina, take over our social media? I didn't know a lot about it. I had used it for singing, certainly to stay in touch with colleagues and let people know about shows. So I said, sure, let me, yeah, let me try it. So I had a little bit of education. I started in contacting some bloggers. I took over their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, I took over their email marketing. In about three to five months, we had increased 28%. Wow. That was a huge aha moment for me because I saw how I could use my skills of storytelling to tell about these products and to tell about the mission of the company. I could use my writing skills that I had for my English degree and I could combine them all with some new learnings and I could make a business impact. And so I worked for Rainn for several years doing that while I was also singing. I also started taking on a few other little clients here and they're running their social media understanding about strategy, while I was still singing as well. And I think the biggest pivotal moment for me was when my husband and I had our daughter in New York, I knew that I couldn't be the kind of singer and the kind of mom that I wanted to be at the same time. So I was ready to, shall we say retire? Because I really wanted to focus on my family and I wanted to focus on this new chapter of my life, which was marketing and at this time, social media marketing. And so I. In the space of, I think, four months, had a baby. Retired from singing took a new job as the head of social media and then the head of marketing for an app and moved out of New York. Let me tell you what I would not advise doing all of those things at the same time. That is the bad choice. Okay. But you know what? We learn, we learn. And so I would say, just try one of those milestones at a time. Try not to do all this. And so I moved to Kansas city. I had this job. And so for a year of my life, I was the head of marketing for a startup app and we were a hundred percent virtual. And I'm not going to lie. It was really challenging. It was challenging because I felt like I didn't know what I was doing. It was challenging because I had a baby. It was challenging because I felt like a fish out of water. I had a little bit of imposter syndrome, like, well, I've done this for five years, but I've done this part time. Now I'm doing this full time. Do I know what I'm doing? And I had to learn a lot on my feet. And that's okay. That was a year of pain, but it was a year of learning. And so honestly, I wouldn't go back in time and do it any other way, even though. To be honest, I cried a lot. Sometimes there were people in that organization who weren't very nice to me, but you know what? I learned a lot and I persevered. And at the end of the year, I said, I've done this for a year and now I'm ready to do something else. And so I was very, very fortunate in that a woman who was on the board of that company, left the board of that company, I left the company and she reached out to me and said, I thought you did a great job. Neither one of us is working there anymore. Would you come consider working for me and running my social media and my email? She had a small business. And I said, yes. And she became my first client. Little did I know I was starting my own business and she became my first client. Suze O'Donnell. Wonderful woman. She mentored me. She was my client for five years. I never met her. She lived in Chicago. We never met face to face. Oh my gosh. We only worked together on zoom and on the phone. I know it was awesome in some ways because we had this deep working relationship and she became a really great mentor for me, and taught me a lot about being a business owner. And so I started advertising my services for social media and social media strategy, started taking on clients. And I really realized, as I was meeting small business owners that there was something sort of missing out there because there were a lot of business owners that said, well, my business needs to be on social media. And you'd say, why? And they would say, well, just cause of course it has to be. And they're not wrong. Like, yes, of course it has to be, but what do you want to do on social media? What are you hoping to do? Are you hoping to get some brand recognition? Are you hoping to take a bunch of people to click to your website. Are you hoping to sell t shirts? Are you hoping for, for what? And so I realized that the missing piece out there was social media strategy, linking their business's goals with reasons and tactics of why we're going to be on social media. And so that's how my company started, as a social media strategy company. So after a year of sort of doing this, but not having a formal company, I launched my company Ovations Digital, ovation, like standing ovation, pulling in that little piece from my performing life. And started working with lots of different companies and individuals on social media strategy. And I would prepare these really large, robust strategies, like 18 page documents, hand it to them and say, here's your strategy. And then many of them kept coming back saying, Ooh, could you help us? Could you help us do this? And that looked a lot of different ways. Sometimes I helped them in writing the copy for social media and literally making the content in the videos and the pictures and posting it for them in writing blogs in ghost writing for people. And that means where I help them write things and then we publish it under their name. That's what a lot of really famous people do when they write a book, they have a ghost writer. So all of a sudden I was pulling in, Oh, my English degree back in because I was writing all the time. I was using all the things I learned on my own for social media and strategy. And I was learning, honestly, I was using that networking and connection ability. I learned from traveling so much from being an opera singer, from being in new situations. To constantly meet new people, get out there and network and build up my book of clients. And so, that's how I accidentally started my own business.
Carrie:Do you have any particular advice for students who are interested in getting into social media strategy, because that's not something we even thought about graduating from high school because we didn't have social media then, right? And I think that's another point that I try to bring up to students a lot is there are entire industries and massive companies that don't exist yet that you may find yourself plugged into as a major part of your career down the line. Right. And you just can't plan exactly for that or envision it because it's literally not there yet. And
Christina:so that's so cool. Right. I love how you said that.
Carrie:That's, but that's what happened to you. So for students who are really interested in social media strategy, cause it's just, you know, it's just part of our daily life, right? We all see so much content every day. Do you have any particular advice for students who have an interest, at least to get started there?
Christina:I would say if you're interested in social media, you know, usually you're on social media, right? We all are in some way. And so seeing what you like about content and what you like about social media and what people are doing well, and then kind of starting to follow things like Social Media Marketing World, Social Media Today, those are channels, their whole businesses, but they're on all the channels and they give some tidbits about social media. And there are so many different ways you can work in social media. If you love numbers, there's a whole back end to the dashboard and the algorithms. And if you love numbers and analysis, there are plenty of jobs for you on that side. It may be running Facebook or meta ads. It may be analyzing the engagement metrics and proposing new content. If you like creating content and making the videos or the copy, it may be that part of social media. If you like strategy and you like thinking, wow, how can I help a business like really grow, then it may be strategy if you like, you know, I go into a lot of high schools and colleges and do a lot of career days where I talk about what I do. And everyone talks about being an influencer or working with influencers. And certainly that is a piece of social media, but I think that's probably a much smaller piece and smaller jobs Then you would think just from being on social media, there are so many other things. Project managers, if you're really, really organized, if you find that you're good at spreadsheets and social media interests you, there's a job for you. There's a job for you if you like writing and There are just a lot of different ways that you can continue to learn about it being on the platforms is one. And then also, you know, seeking out things like social media marketing or Social Media World and Social Media Today as to other resources, how you can learn about the other pieces of it.
Carrie:So as an entrepreneur, obviously a huge piece that's so important is expanding your network and letting people know that you're there, right? And letting them know what you do and just making sure you're really plugged in to whatever community it is that you're in. So can you talk a little bit about some of the things that you did, particularly as you were getting your business started and growing that network?
Christina:Entrepreneurs wear a lot of hats. And so if you also fit into that adventurous visionary category being an entrepreneur might be for you, but there are a lot of different things besides the work that you have to do as an entrepreneur. So besides, You know, creating social media strategy and content and graphics and starting to hire other people for my business. I had to run the books. I had to do a little bit of accounting, not for me, not my most fun part, but really part of the business. What I loved, as part of the business was getting out and getting to meet new people and new clients. And so I think that anytime you can expand your network of people that you know, and come at it from a genuine way, not I'm trying to get to know you because what can you do for me is not the right way to go about it. Right. But expanding your network of the more people I know, maybe we'll click on something. Maybe one day we'll be able to help each other down the road. Maybe this was just a nice conversation. And there are so many opportunities, I feel, as an adult to do that type of networking or building out of your network that will always help you no matter what. And so I started going to events. And some of the events were those education things that Carrie, we just talked about. Like I joined, there's a social media group of Kansas city. There's an advertising group, there's a small business group, there's a women's business group. So I started joining the groups and then those groups always offer opportunities to network, to get to know each other, but they also offer education. So maybe there would be a luncheon that's all about paid advertising on Facebook. And so I would go to that luncheon, meet some people and I would get to learn more about something that I would do every day. So that was awesome. Like a double win. Some of the opportunities I had were Just going to support other people. There are so many in every city, so many awards or, you know, the great people to know in technology, or there's an AI club here. And so going to just those events, I met so many people who didn't do what I did, but did things somehow related then turned into either friends, associates, colleagues recommended me to other people to hire me or hired me themselves. And so that's one way I started really expanding my network. Another thing I started doing is something called thought leadership. Especially when you have a business, you need to bring some awareness to that business because just when you birth a business, nobody knows about it. Like you and your family and your friends. So that can look a lot of ways that can look like advertising or billboards or ads or radio spots or social media ads. It can also look like appearing on podcasts or webinars, doing things like that. And so one thing I started doing was I had seen my friend and client Suze write articles about the things that she was. Really knowledgeable about and publish them in all sorts of places and she was always getting asked for quote for a variety of industry magazines as well as things that I thought were amazing, like U. S. News and World Report and Forbes and ink.com. And I just thought that was phenomenal. And also it gave her some clout, like when people introduced her, they said, she writes for Forbes. She's been quoted in ink. Like that sounds cool because it is cool. Those are big, reputable organizations. And I was doing that kind of work for my clients. I was doing, we would call that a little bit of PR. Or it's worth sort of PR meets marketing is I was pitching them to industries in where they should be quoted. So I would have a lot of people in the wellness space. And so I was pitching my client and friend, Dr. Michelle Robin for mind, body green people that were in the business. I was pitching them for Forbes that, Hey, you should have this person talk about X, Y, Z, because they're an expert. So I thought, well, I'm doing this for everyone else. I should do this for myself. So I started volunteering to write some articles for different magazines. I just started writing some articles on my LinkedIn. On LinkedIn, you can actually publish your own articles. They're just longer form posts. All you need is a picture and some words and away you go. I started sharing a lot on social media. I had personal channels like Christina Hager channels, but I also had Ovations Digital channels on Twitter, on Instagram, on LinkedIn. So I started sharing social media and marketing insights on those channels with regularity. I planned it. I was really intentional, both from my personal LinkedIn as well as my professional channels. And once I started doing that, I would have more followers. I started speaking at events and sometimes to be honest, I spoke for free. I was like, sure. You want me to come talk to your class? I'll do it. You want me to come talk to your business organization? Yes. Then I started to be paid for my speaking opportunities and I started to become a keynote speaker. Then I started traveling for speaking. So it just evolved, but I don't think that would evolve if I wasn't putting in that effort. And out of that came, what was a really cool personal achievement for me, which I was contacted by Forbes to see if I wanted to be on the Forbes communication council. And that put me in a great group of really, really talented communication specialists. So people that worked in marketing and PR and general comms all over the United States. And it gave me the ability to publish an article monthly in Forbes. That was just me kind of talking about whatever related to marketing I wanted to talk about. And so I think I started that, gosh, I can't even remember what year, 2020, probably. Maybe 2019, and I've been able to stay engaged and be a member of the Forbes communication council ever since. And that's such an honor for me. It's exciting for me to get to, you know, see my name. And honestly, I've gotten some clients from seeing my name in a Forbes article. They have contacted me and said, I saw your article on. You know, XYZ. Can we have a meeting? I'd love to introduce my business to you.
Carrie:Nice. So obviously you have your English and writing background that probably gives you some extra confidence in moving in that kind of direction. Do you have, did you ever find yourself like, I don't know, were you asking other people to read your articles before you posted them or were you really doing that on your own? Cause I know there's kind of probably two different kinds of people listening to this. Probably some who are love writing and are really strong writers and are thinking like, Oh my gosh, I could totally do that. I should really think about that. And then there's some people that might be like. I am excited about that, and I'd love to talk about something, but they have some kind of, we could call it imposter syndrome or some kind of, you know, discomfort with like, do I really just write it and put it out there? Or should I have someone else read it first? Or like, how did you start that? Or have you helped someone else do that? Like, particularly with your clients?
Christina:Yes. So I was really lucky in that I was able to use my English degree and I continue to use it every day of my life, all day, every day. I'm a pretty decent writer. I like to write. So this part of the job is fun for me, but I recognize that there are people that don't. I don't love to write that it's a chore that they're not naturally good at it or want to be good at or know how to be good at it. And some of those people were my clients. And so I suggested lots of different ways that they could still write. Number one, I could interview them and ask them questions and I could write down the answers and we could just talk that felt so much more natural to them. I used to do that with a really busy client of mine used to call me on the way home every Wednesday night. Okay. And we would just chat and I would write down her thoughts and I would turn them into some kind of an article. So you might get with someone, and have them sort of interview you or do something like that. Secondly, I would always say there are lots of other ways besides writing to share your ideas. If you're someone that's a better speaker, record yourself on your phone, on zoom, talking about things like a vlog, and sometimes talking is just so much easier for people, and it's an easier way for them to get their thoughts all together. Other people, that makes really nervous, and so, you might self identify. There are also tons of tools that can help you. Grammarly is a tool that I would say no matter who you are, Download Grammarly and put it on your computer because it catches a lot of those mistakes with grammar or spelling that we just don't see. Even the best writers, just don't see it for sure. And so those are some tools that you can use. You can also hire a writer. Hire a marketing person by the hour. Ask your friends, ask your associates, ask a teacher. If you want someone to read something, there's someone in your life that wants to read that and wants to help you out. So this may be for something like your resume or your college application. Definitely get someone else to look at that because there are just things they are going to catch that your eye won't catch, but there are a lot of other resources. So if you're not the best writer, don't stress. There are so many ways that you can become a better writer and that you can also get help.
Carrie:So we mentioned the leadership program that you recently graduated from. How did you learn about that program and how did you find your way into one of the classes?
Christina:I would say that all of the best things in my life have come from people and relationships. And I've been so lucky from, I mentioned my first voice teacher, Cathy, to my mentor in college, Dr. Hogue, to my first mentor in business, Suze to the, then my mentor, a woman named Aviva Ashmera, who lives in Kansas city. She's also a woman business owner. She's brilliant. I got to meet her because her husband was a client of mine. And then we became friends and we started working together in, teaching social media classes together. And so. That was really, really fun. She's a strategist and marketer and she's become just a great mentor to me. And she suggested, Hey, there's this program called centurions. It's through the Kansas city chamber. You have to apply to get in. It's pretty competitive, but I think you'd love it. I think it would help you to know Kansas city better. And I think it would be great for you. And so I think it's important to remember I was born and raised in Kansas City, but I left for 17 years. I was gone living in Texas, Louisiana, New York, and I was doing something really, really different outside of traditional business. I was in the performing arts. So coming back to Kansas city, I had my family here. Who's amazing. And I had great friends, but I didn't know a lot about the business community and I didn't know a lot about how much Kansas city had evolved and changed. And that's important for me to know. And so I followed her advice. I applied for the program. I was really lucky that I was able to get in and I really had a very transformational journey with the centurions program. I spent two years with a cohort or a group of people, learning and our pillars as century centurions is to learn, Serve and lead. So we had monthly task forces where we would create a day all about a topic. Things like education, criminal justice, philanthropy, arts and entertainment, big topics. And we would discuss, how those things impacted Kansas City and how they looked in the Kansas City landscape. Super cool. We would do things and have panelists and speaker discussions and round tables. We also had that serve component. And so it was a requirement in Centurions to have a certain number of volunteer hours with your fellow Centurions. And I really got into that. I love volunteering. It taught me a lot about other organizations in Kansas City. And I would say if you're ever looking to meet people or to give back to your city or to learn a city better, find a place and go volunteer, no matter what it is. And volunteering looks so many ways. Volunteering is yes. Raking leaves. to ask big brothers, big sisters, how can you volunteer or going to a nonprofit or charity? It's also doing things like there are so many educational programs where you can mentor a student or help a kid read, like read a lead in Kansas city has a great program. So there are a lot of different ways that you can kind of donate your time and talent into helping others and you also always meet people volunteering. So it's a great way to get to know a city and get to know people. So over the course of Centurions, I volunteered over a hundred hours and I got to know a ton of people, a ton of programs, and it really helped me to know the areas that I Gosh, I want to believe in and support everything. Right. But it helped me to define the causes that I really care about. And for me, that's kids, especially kids in literacy makes total sense. Right. English, the fine arts and performing arts, again, that's my performer background, and then entrepreneurship. I started a business. I know how hard it is. And I want to be able to provide help and resources to others doing the same. The other component to the program was lead. So finding yourself in leadership opportunities. And I took that very seriously. And so at the end of my first year centurions of the two years, I said, I want to run for steering chair. And this is a completely really self run program, meaning the people in centurions decide how those days look when we learn about things as task force days, they decide what our graduation looks like. We decide what kind of philanthropic events we're going to do. Like it's very self taught and self led. And so I thought, what better way to try out leadership and learn more about leadership than trying to be the leader of this group of leaders. I'm very privileged that they elected me as their steering chair for my second year. And so that was a great opportunity to learn about leading my peers, who are in all different industries, all different walks of life throughout Kansas city, I should add from nonprofit leaders to leaders in banks, big energy companies, lawyers, health systems, for profit companies, and entrepreneurs themselves. And so I did that for my second year. And that taught me a lot about myself and facing difficult situations, where you have a lot of really strong opinions in the room and listening to everybody and coming to an equitable solution that feels fair to everybody. And that's my most important thing is, I think as a person and as a leader in business, I really want every voice to have a chance to be heard and it's important, I think, to be an equitable person that we need to do that in society, we need to do that in business and we need to do that in our personal lives.
Carrie:Absolutely. Well, speaking of your personal life, so a lot of these things that we've talked through, it just sounds like your plate is so, so full. And obviously you can tell that you're really passionate about a lot of what you do and that you enjoy doing a lot of this, but we did mention you had a daughter when you when you were in New York, you now have two children now. Particularly since the pandemic, I think a lot of people are more mindful of trying to figure out a way to have a career that they enjoy and where they can be successful and feel like they get a certain degree of fulfillment from. But also I think a lot of people now are a lot more, I don't think cautious is the right word necessarily, but they're trying to make sure that they prioritize whatever it is in their personal life, making sure that their life and the time that they have, adequately reflects what they need, they value in their life. Right. And that they're able to really invest time in the things that they want to invest time in. Particularly from an entrepreneur standpoint, I know that can be really challenging because you're not clocking in and out, right? This is not like you have an expectation as an employee necessarily that you're working between this time and this time when you are the founder and you're an entrepreneur and you're attending a lot of after hours events. There's a lot of things that you commit to doing right. Would you mind talking a little bit about what your experience has been to figure that out for yourself and any advice that you would offer for students who want to be mindful of that as they go down their career path?
Christina:Carrie, you said something really that stuck with me earlier in this conversation, which is there is never time wasted. And so whatever you have done in your first career, in your second career, in school, in your first major: you have taken something and learned from that. And so a huge thing I took from being a singer is having a crazy schedule that often impacted my personal life. Right? And the ability to meet a lot of different people and keep a lot of different plates spinning in the air, and keep connected with people that lived everywhere, all over the world, really, because my singer friends live all over the world. And that's something that I liked. But I had to learn how to do that. Finding that balance that works for you is the most important thing. And so whether that's in your career or your career and your family, knowing yourself first will dictate your success in finding balance in life in general. So for myself, I know I would not be happy with a job where I sat in a room all by myself every day and didn't get to just Chat, chat, chat, and collaborate and meet people and be high energy. That, that would deplete me. Whereas I know other people, they need time to think, they need a lot of heads down time. They need time to strategize. It exhausts them to go out and meet other people continuously. So I think knowing that about yourself is the first key to finding the career that you'd like and that you'd be really successful in. I think a lot of people can do a lot of different things they don't like, but only for a short period of time, before it wears on you. Right. And so that's really the thing when we talk about work life balance, I think Carrie, you're right in that there is really no such thing as work life balance. It's a balance for who you are as a person. And what that looks like in all aspects of your life. And so for me, I'm very energized by going out and meeting people. So for me to go out and meet people two, three nights a week, or do those things, I don't come home exhausted and depleted. I come home then ready to share that with my family here about my family's day. And I feel really energized and like excited about it. So that's helpful for me. The second thing is as an entrepreneur or a business owner, you're working a lot. But the great thing is that you're autonomous and that you can decide a lot when you want to be working. And so in the early part of my career at Ovations, I really set boundaries with my clients. I did not want to take meetings at four and five o'clock. I wanted to be with my daughter. That was before my son was born. But then I said, I wanted to be with my daughter and son. I wanted to be with my family after school. A lot of my work colleagues had to work and they didn't get to come home till dinner was done being picked up or on the table and they didn't get a lot of time with their kids or their partners or their dogs even and I didn't want that. And so part of being an entrepreneur that was really helpful was getting to say, nope, at three or at four, I'm done and we're going to the park or we're going to do this thing. Now, that meant the sacrifice of when my kids went to bed and a lot of my friends were binging like Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, I was working again, but that's okay because that's what gave me balance because I got that allotted time with my family and time that felt really special for me. And so I love that. And I'm very, very lucky that where I work now, I work at an agency called Crux, it's a marketing agency. And I do a lot of the same things I was doing before, where I help clients and companies with their marketing strategies, including social, digital, and PR, everything full scale marketing. They are very understanding that we all have lives. And so, there are days in which I do leave work early. Now that I go to an office, we have work from home Wednesdays where the entire organization works from home. That's so awesome. And I think having a strong female founder. Malia McRae, she knows how important this is, having a child of her own. And she also knows that that's what her employees need. We have lives that are not just work. And when you have that ability to balance in a different way, you're able to give a lot of good to your work, but a lot of good to what else is important for you, your friends, your family, your hobbies, philanthropy, your pets, whatever that looks like. And so I feel really, really lucky, that I was able to transition to a company that really values me as a person first and as a worker far second.
Carrie:What drew you to wanting to be part of that company, as opposed to remaining completely as an entrepreneur with your own business? Was there something in particular that you felt like you wanted to make that type of change or was it more of just like an opportunity presented itself and you wanted to try it?
Christina:When I started my company, I never really had a vision of exactly where it would go, but it came to a point where it started just me, myself and I, and then I started integrating other people as well. Yeah. Either vendors and collaborators or people on the team at Ovations to the point where I had five virtual team members at Ovations, and it was really getting to the point where I had so many clients that I was going to have to hire more of myself and I was going to have to really think about, well, what do I want to do? Do I want to do that? Do I want to expand? And I had talked to and followed Malia McRae and Crux and their tremendous growth and incredible journey. I always thought she was amazing and I had followed that path of crux in their journey. And I was really lucky that, I would get to be in some of the same rooms as Malia as female business owners together in Kansas city, that I knew some of their clients. She knew some of mine. We were very friendly. We had sat down and had coffee or lunch together before. I had even worked with the social media team at Crux and been brought in as a consultant. And so really during that time working with Crux, I saw what a phenomenal organization they were, how much they were growing, how awesome the collaborative, the culture was. And so when Malia approached me and I approached her, it was sort of just that like moment of kismet that she needed someone to come on the team in a certain role. And I was ready to make a new decision and it just felt really great. So I've been at Crux. I joined in August of 2023. So it hasn't even been a full year and I just feel very, very welcomed. I love the clients. We do such great work. We call ourselves fractional marketing, sort of everything a company needs and nothing you don't. And I get to work with small, medium sized businesses. All over Kansas City and the country now that are in the areas of nonprofit that are restaurants for profit companies that are in the B2B side that are like businesses selling to other businesses as well as services to customers. I have such a cool book of clients and I get to work with really cool people and for an extrovert like myself, getting to go into an office and getting to talk to graphic designers and digital experts. That's just really fun for me. And so it was kind of all of those things amalgamating together of right time, right place. Centurions was wrapping down. We've talked about centurions. That was a big, big opportunity in my life. And so I was ready for my next opportunity. So right time, right place, right company.
Carrie:Yeah, well, and that's such a great example, too. I think sometimes from the outside, people can look at somebody who makes a change like that, whether it's a career change or pivoting from your own business to joining another one. There's so many examples of it. But sometimes. Our society makes that feel like a failure, right? Like, Oh, you know, they're not doing that anymore. And now they went to this, like it's some kind of bad thing. But so many times people are making an active life choice. Like they're making a choice to leave one thing and do another or to Pivot in some way or to go to a different type of culture environment or a different type of role and so many times people are doing that intentionally and I think even from our culture with college like, Oh, they got a degree in this and they're not pursuing that they're doing something else. Too bad they're not using their degree. It's like, no, that is not what that means. Just because, yeah, just because somebody is making a different choice. That does not mean they've had a failure. It's not an unfortunate circumstance. Like there are so many times where that is purposeful and it's positive. So I love the way that you just told your story too. And the way that happened for you. That's a great example of that for people to keep in mind.
Christina:I think there are really no wrong opportunities. There are only missed opportunities. So I would. I am never regretful of any of the choices that I made in business. I'm more regretful of the opportunities that I didn't take. And I feel fortunate because I did take a lot of opportunities and some of them are really risky. Some of them didn't pay great. Some of them were, you know, hard, who were really hard, but I don't regret any of them. When I took the opportunities, I always learned from them and I always carry on those lessons for sure. Yeah.
Carrie:Well, looking back on your journey, do you have any big picture life advice for students, perhaps, advice that was given to you or just something that you've learned along the way that you think would be helpful for students to hear?
Christina:Oh, gosh, I've been so lucky to have so many great mentors. Without those mentors. I don't know that I would be where I am today. So I would say number one, don't be scared to ask someone to be your mentor. If you admire someone, it could be a coach or a teacher, another adult. It could even be a colleague who's a little more advanced than you. You know, sometimes people will appear in your life in those roles, or you'll look back and say, wow, that was a mentor. I didn't really know it at the time. Or sometimes you could actively choose a mentor and say, I, Love your mentorship. And what does that look like? It may say, could I take you to coffee a couple times a year and ask you some questions? Or some kind of a relationship building thing, like thing like that is really, really helpful. The second piece of advice I would have is really just saying yes. Saying yes to opportunities, saying yes to things that may be a little scary and really trying to get to know yourself through those experiences and not being hard on yourself. We've talked a lot. I think a through line of this is no thing or time or opportunity is a waste. Nothing is a waste because as long as you've learned from it, something, even if that something is never doing that again, It's been a great opportunity, and so I think there are so many things I did along the way, so many things that I learned from singing and from performing that I honestly take every day into my job as a VP and as a marketing strategist, and those things probably if you just look at them, don't make any sense, as to how that would be. But I translate the skills that I learned, thinking on your feet, being prepared, being a hard worker, self leading, those skills I take with me every day. I take things from my English degree every day into the work that I do. I take the habits I learned as a singer. And so I think. Just embrace all of that in saying yes to opportunities, seeing what you can learn from it, and look forward, don't look back.
Carrie:Yeah, that is great advice. And we've emphasized it a lot, but I just want to do an extra shout out to English degrees, because after talking with so many people, people have used them in so many different ways and obviously writing and being well read in general are so important to success in so many different spaces and English degrees get such a bad rap, right? And it's so frustrating to hear people say something like that, because People find really great success with those skills and there's so many ways to apply it. So if you love English or you love reading and writing and for some reason you're hesitating to get an English degree because of all the stuff that you hear out in society, you don't need to listen to that. Those are highly valuable and highly important skills in so many spaces that you will find a place to use them.
Christina:Absolutely. Shout out to English degree. Yes.
Carrie:Well, Christina, thank you so much for joining us today. I've really enjoyed talking with you and I appreciate you sharing your journey with us and all of this great advice that you have. Thank you so much.
Christina:Thank you so much for having me, Carrie. It was really fun.
Carrie:It was. Thank you.
Do you know someone I should interview? Please DM me on Instagram@pathsinprogresspodcast and let me know who I should talk to. I would love to hear about how these stories are impacting your journey. Please follow Paths in Progress wherever you download your podcasts and leave a review to let me know what you think. You can also follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn at Paths in Progress Podcast. Our music is by John Grimmett and the artwork is by Edgar Alanis. Thanks again for joining me today.