From Stranger to Support System: How I Created My Local Network

What do you do when you don’t know a single person—but you desperately need community?

In this episode of Raising Hustle, I share how I went from having zero local connections to building a real support system that now fuels my life as both a mom and an entrepreneur. This isn’t about awkward networking or collecting contacts—it’s about finding your people and creating genuine, aligned relationships.

We talk about:

• Starting from scratch in a new place
• Defining the support you actually need
• Turning online connections into real-life community
• Building relationships that grow both personally and professionally
• Letting go of connections that no longer fit

If you’ve ever felt alone in business or motherhood, this episode is your reminder: You don’t have to do this by yourself.

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This episode is sponsored by FM Bookkeeping 💛

FM Bookkeeping exists to empower business owners and give them peace of mind around their finances. We believe you deserve clarity, confidence, and support—without shame, judgment, or overwhelm.

Whether you’re behind, confused, or just tired of carrying the mental load of your numbers, FM Bookkeeping is here to help you feel grounded and in control again.

If you’re ready to stop stressing about your books and start feeling supported, visit:

👉 https://www.fmbookkeeping.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to Raising Hustle, the unfiltered podcast for the moms who are building empires with babies on their hips and grits in their hearts. I'm your host, Mariel Fry, bookkeeper by trade, hustler by nature, and mama by choice. Around here we're raising kids, raising hell, and raising the bar. If you're tired of choosing between nap time and next-level dreams, this is your space. Let's redefine what it means to have it all on our own damn terms. Hey hustlers and mamas, welcome back to Raising Hustle, where we talk about building businesses, raising babies, and creating lives that feel good from the inside out. Today I'm sharing something that has made a huge, huge difference and impact on my life, both as a mom and an entrepreneur. How I went from knowing absolutely no one to creating a local network of real, genuine support and community. This isn't just about exchanging business cards at awkward networking events. I'm talking about finding your people, the ones who show up for you when you need childcare, the ones who send you referrals without hesitation, the ones who cheer you on your wins and pick you up on your lows. If you've ever felt like you're on an island trying to do business in motherhood alone, this episode's for you. So I really want to get into talking about being somewhere completely out of your comfort zone, literally starting with zero connections. And that is what I did moving from the New York area to living in Charleston, South Carolina. My husband and I moved here virtually not knowing many people. We knew our realtor, but we also knew two friends who moved to the area. Other than that, that was it. The two friends we had lived 45 minutes away, and our realtor was busy. So we really didn't know anybody here. Now, we kind of started moving here with the intention of meeting new people and being open-minded to connections. But it's really intimidating. It's really intimidating to move somewhere where you don't know anyone. You don't have support or friends or family or anybody. The only family I had was my husband. And we didn't have any distant cousin or relative. So it really was starting from scratch. And to anyone who is doing that move, I hear you, I've been there and it's really hard. But I'm hoping this episode will give you a little bit of clarity to how to put yourself out there because it's so intimidating and it's so scary. I know when I started my business, I was so nervous to talk about it and myself. And it was just really so scary. Imposter syndrome was real. I didn't feel worthy to talk about my business. I didn't feel confident to talk about my business. But what I've realized is just one step at a time. I really tried to say, I'm going to find my people instead of feeling like, well, I don't know anyone. This is weird. I'm going to decide to be open-minded and I'm going to say, you know what? I'm going to do this thing and I'm going to meet these people. And doing this from an entrepreneur to meeting people and going to events and exchanging business cards with maybe a drink in hand, to even going to now with my son, to the library or swim class, or meeting people at the gym who are moms, or just going on a walk, whatever it is. I really just tried to have the mentality of being open-minded, being inclusive, and just trying our best. Because the reality is you need support. You need support as a business owner, but you also need support as a new mom. I know I talk so much synergy in this because it really is true. I had a conversation with a client of mine who's in the artist world. And I remember her telling me, I love my family, I love my friends, I love my support, but they don't 100% get me. And I said, that's okay. You can love those people, adore those people, cherish those people as you should. But when you talk to someone who's in the same season of life as you, that is everything. And I encouraged her to find community in her business and in her space. And she has thrived from meeting other artists in her community who are in the same level of business, but also developing art as well. And so when I talk about support, there's different levels to this. There's emotional, practical, business, personal. And it depends where you're at, right? I think for me and my business right now, I love connecting with other bookkeepers, but bookkeepers who are moms, they get that we don't work conventional hours and maybe we're not 24-7, but we care about our kids and we do the best we can for our clients. And it is finding that balance, which is really hard to even have that word. I think the first year is survival, but balance is important too. And I know for my business mindset, I was really before a child, I wanted other entrepreneurs like me. Having another bookkeeper like me was great too. But there was something to be said about just meeting other entrepreneurs who had different businesses and thinking outside the box creatively. I kind of have a think tank group of incredible women. We all do different businesses, whether one's a web designer, a photographer, one owns a mobile bar cart, one is a branding, marketing agency, another one owns a dog business. And the reality is we're all different and we all have different brains and we come together to talk about our goals, our dreams, our aspirations, but really challenges and problems that we're having. And it feels so good to talk to other people about other things that you're going through that maybe your parents don't understand or your W-2 friends who work a job don't get. And I will tell you this in the mom community, I have really shifted my mindset with mothers. First of all, the tremendous respect, but we all need each other. I've had friends come to me last minute, hey, I need a babysitter, or can you watch my kid for a few hours? And absolutely I will, right? I know to be in a panic, and especially where you live without community or your people, you don't have your mom or your dad, or you don't have aunts or uncles or close, close friends, or any of these other people that you would normally call and say, Hey, I really need help. When you no longer live near people that you knew and are comfortable with, you're starting over and you're having to meet new people to trust. And that can feel really daunting, especially with a child. I get it. And what I've tried to do is just be there as much as I can. When I have babysitters and I'm always shifting babysitters because it's always challenging. But I always say, hey, let's split a babysitting cost. Or if I need to watch them a few hours, I can figure it out. So I really think it's this idea of really being there for each other. I really believe in this idea of a quilt for community. We are all blended together. Whether you're an entrepreneur or whether you're a mom, having community and other people in the same season of life that you're in, I'm not kidding you, is everything. But the question is, where do you find those people? Like, where are these circles? And I can tell you this, as an entrepreneur, I've had to dig deep to create my own circles, find my own community. And it has been stressful sometimes. It's hard to connect with people on a deeper level, especially being an entrepreneur. I think we have the mentality of talking to someone and hoping to get a sale. And I never think that's the right way to go. It's never how I built my business. And I would only hope if you're starting your own, you also give back as much as you receive. I really believe when I meet somebody, I always go into it of how can I help you or who can I connect you with or reach out in my network. Let me know who you want to talk to. Because when you give so much more, people will want to reciprocate back. It's just the energy and the flow of it. And I will tell you that being a mom, that is a little bit different. It is not so clean cut, but I think it's like I say my first year of business, spaghetti on the wall. The reality is, is you have to try a million and five things to see what sticks. I know for me, I love mom's club of Charleston. What she's built is incredible as an empire. I think she's going to build something amazing. And I would like to go to more of the events. It may just not work with the timing of my schedule because, right, as a mom Panor, we are home, but we also run businesses. So it can be challenging to figure out when we can do things. And I found that those people were great, but they weren't 100% my people. But I joined the library. Every Monday I do kind of a library story time for my son. And he loves it. And I've met some moms that have been really great. I've also done swim lessons with my son. That's been wonderful. And he loves it. And I've met some of the moms there. I'm fortunate enough to live in a neighborhood where there's a lot of young kids. And that has really helped me really meet some of my better, and I want to say stronger mom friends. I think a lot of it truly comes to proximity. If you live in a neighborhood with young kids, you're going to meet more people, especially you're going to be outside. You're going to be walking around, you're going to be in a stroller, you're going to just bump into more of those people, especially if you're in the same season of life, if they're the same age, you're probably doing things around the same time. And so I would say a playground, like any cheaper free activity, I always recommend, especially because money's tight nowadays. But I like to involve my son in other things too. So I really think it's trying to find the balance of what works for you. I would say the biggest thing is go on social media groups. I would say go. I found a postpartum group locally here called Charleston Postpartum Support, and they're wonderful where I've met and done like garden classes of making bouquets to donate and I've done the walks and I've tried to just be involved. It's just trying to find your people and your seasonal life and being open-minded to meeting new people. You really, truly never know where you'll find them. But I will say, people don't knock at your door. You're not going to get Prince Charming knocking on your door. You're going to find that creepy. So I really think part of it is showing up. You cannot think as a stay-at-home mom, you're going to meet moms. Maybe you'll be on Facebook groups talking to other moms, but you still need to meet moms in person. There is something about craving an in-person connection. And that is how I started my business. I started my business with no paid advertising, no paid marketing. I couldn't afford it. But what I could afford was my time. And if you have a partner while you're in seasonal life of kids starting a business, you need time, especially if money is not of the essence. It can be really hard and really daunting. And so I really encourage you, anyone who's shy or afraid or nervous, to get out of the house, anything to get out of the house. And I will tell you from an entrepreneurial perspective, the reality is, is business does not come knocking on your door. As much as I wish and I prayed it did, it did not. I had to go out in my community and network and grind and meet people. And when I say hustle, I want to talk about this for one second too. I hustled for a chunk of my business. And I think there has to be some hustle in the beginning. And I don't want to tell you hustle the rest of your life because that's not a life worth living. But there is a point you may have to hustle in the beginning, just as much as you might have to hustle a little bit to meet mom friends. And I say hustle in a kind way toward moms because I want you to go out and do things authentically to you. If you really want to meet up with people and you want to get out there, I think you should do that for yourself. But don't kill yourself doing it, right? If you have a goal to go out one day a week with your child, make that a goal. And if you feel you could exceed that, exceed it. Do the thing that makes you feel good and feel right. Because I really believe in stepping outside of my comfort zone more than anything else. I love to go to the mom groups personally. I love to go to them. I think you might meet people, you might not. You have to take that chance. But you have to be open-minded to it. Because if you're not open-minded to it, it's really going to be hard for you to meet moms and to be open-minded to other people. But the biggest thing I'd say is proximity too, from a mom perspective. I do think from a mom perspective, you want proximity and you want convenience. It makes things a lot easier. But from an entrepreneurial entrepreneurial perspective, meeting people in person is great. And if you can get out in your community and you have that option for you, that's great. Because that's how I built my business. And I'm not saying it's the right way or the wrong way. It's just the way that worked for me. And so I think regardless whether you're an entrepreneur or a mother, getting out there and getting involved in the community and meeting people is how you're going to thrive, excel, and achieve anything you want, whether it's growing a business or whether it's getting outside your comfort zone and meeting other moms. It's so refreshing to meet another mom. I will tell you, it feels like the best thing in the world because I love meeting moms where I feel I can be seen and heard. And I have a few that I can really vent and talk to and feel so not judged, so not disrespected. I feel so happy about it. And so when you meet these moms at communities or other groups or even in your neighborhood, create play dates. Like put things on a calendar. I encourage this for being an entrepreneur too. Like if it's not on the calendar, it doesn't count. I truly believe things need to be on a calendar. And maybe that's neurotic of me. Maybe that's crazy of me. Maybe you're listening to this and thinking, I can't do the calendar thing. You need to do something. I know that sounds crazy. I know you're listening to this and you're thinking, Mary, I'm terrible at this. You have to put it on a calendar. Whether you write in that calendar, you do the digital calendar, you have a shared calendar. I don't care what it is. Putting it in a calendar so you remember is imperative. I could not live my life or my business without writing it down in some capacity. Because when you are a mom and entrepreneur, I have blocked days of like babysitting. So I book those meetings with my clients, I meet it with referral partners, I meet with vendors, whoever I need to meet with on one or two days a week, and I book those days. But then the days I'm a mom, I try to book time to like go to the pool with a mom friend or do coffee with a mom friend. It really is important to put that on real paper or digitally. So then you remember, I think as a mom and an entrepreneur, whether you're either one or both, your life is very chaotic. It is very busy, and you do not have the time to really think about or remember all the things you have going on. I think as we get busier, busier in today's time, it could be really challenging to book time with people. As much as we say we want to see friends and go out and do stuff. Like if it's not on the calendar, it doesn't count. And so I think you have to create the opportunities that you want to see the people you want to see. And that's really hard. It's so hard. It's so, so hard. But that's why it's good to at least start going to meetups, planning play dates locally, being part of support groups, anything to create the opportunity for you to meet other moms in the same season of life is going to save you and not make you feel as crazy as you think. And I would say this in entrepreneurial too, world too. If you schedule like coffee meetups or if you schedule follow-ups after a networking event, that helps you too. And that is truly how I grew my business, where I would network, I'd get business cards, I'd follow up the next day via LinkedIn or email. And I would say, Hey, it was so great to meet you at X event. Thank you so much for the opportunity. If depending on the alignment of this particular referral partner or vendor, I'd say, I'd love to meet with you for a coffee. Let's catch up. I'd love to know your business. And that is how I've won business with one of my referral partners. I remember I was six weeks postpartum. I connected with him, or maybe four weeks. I was really early after I had my son. And I connected with him. I said, Hey, do you file taxes as a bookkeeper? I am looking for a CPA. He goes, Yes, I do. I'm always looking for a bookkeeper. We had a lunch meetup and it went really well. He's a great guy. I respect him a lot. A month later, he sent me three clients in a week. And so I challenge you, right, to meet with people. You really never know what you're gonna get from it. And I think when you start to follow up, right? And with moms too, I follow up. I want to get together, I want our babies to play, and I want us to talk and like feel like normal people and have adult conversations. There is nothing wrong with that. And don't allow yourself to feel that way. Because I really believe in the power of connection, no matter if it's mom business, or entrepreneur or mom or both. I really believe we can grow with each other. I've truly gained clients as friends. And it's been one of the most rewarding things in the world. I have gained referral partners as friends. I have gained referral partners connecting with each other. I have gained mom friends as potential clients. I have gained moms as just mom friends. I think in the space that I'm in, whether you're an entrepreneur or a mom, you can kind of have it all. Right. And I say this loosely because I had a conversation with a referral partner who does some of my marketing. And I met with her in person, and she is incredible. I'm so excited to be working with her. And she's been helping me through some stuff, which has been greatly appreciated. And we had a conversation about her starting a family. And I said, you are going to be so good because you can create your own schedule. You can have time with your baby without sacrificing your business, which was your first baby. And you're able to grow both, right? And you're able to have real authentic conversations and vulnerability in a way that it's very hard to do otherwise. Because I know with one of my clients, she's a dear friend now. And I talk to her about anything personal. And we, I'm just there for her. She's there for me. It's an extra level of respect because not only are we entrepreneurs, but we're moms and we get it. And we just adore each other and respect the hell out of each other. We refer, I refer tons of clients to her. And we hang out and we just have this authentic relationship that is unmatched and unbeatable. And I do think when you, as a mom, meet with other referral partners and they have kids, there's something to connect there. And I'll tell you a story that I find very fascinating, but I do think there's a reason I remember this. I went to a conference a couple of years ago in Charleston, and one of the conversations talked about authenticity and connection. We talked about businesses and right and who connected with what business. But then someone mentioned what's a fun fact about them. And this woman said, I have twin boys who are eight. And this other woman said, Oh, I have twin girls who are five. And they talked about the twin thing. And forever that's a connection because they understand each other on a deeper, deeper level than anything else. And so when you're able to be able to mix the two, there's something really beautiful about that. And look, whether you are doing connections just for entrepreneurship or just for momhood, both of them are vital. I could tell you for me, I need my entrepreneurial friends to cry to if I am having a bad day or if I'm feeling really defeated or I have imposter syndrome. Those people pick me up in ways that I've never felt more picked up in my life. But just as much as being a mom, there's days with my son that are so heavy and so hard and so challenging. And I can tell you I have mom friends that are like, you're doing an amazing job. Like, don't ever feel you're not. And I have one mom friend, her and I, we go back and forth where she'll randomly text me and be like, I love you. You're doing a great job. Like, I'm just telling you this. Like, I hope you have a great day. And like, same for her. I'm like, hey, friend, like you're doing so good. Like, I'm so proud of you. Like, keep crushing it. Having those friends to uplift you in times where you feel you have no one and telling you is everything. It just matters. Like the connection of all of it matters more than you've ever known. Which leads me to my next part of this, talking about connections on and off digital platforms. And so I think it really depends where you're at and what you're looking into. I know as an entrepreneur, I really, really aggressively leverage LinkedIn. Now, I know email marketing is the number one and it's something I want to get into more. But LinkedIn for me is where I connect with all my referral partners because those typically lead to clients for me. And so what I mentioned earlier is when I go to an event, I collect business cards, I meet with people. I usually follow up within 24 hours. Some days I'm not as good anymore. But when I was aggressive in my business, I that's what I would do. I'd follow up, I would do a coffee meetup or a lunch or a breakfast or whatever, a happy hour, anything to meet a potential vendor or client. And I would always keep connected because I always consistently post on LinkedIn, even to this day. And I make it very simple, my calendar. I do typically Mondays a quote. Tuesdays were usually a shout-out or like a mom panor kind of quotation. Wednesday, Thursday was with the newsletter, bookkeeping content, et cetera. And then Friday was always a feel-good Friday. Connections, referrals, like what does anybody need? I always feel it's really important. And then with moms, it's a little bit different. I think Facebook groups are where it's at, to be honest. I am not as much in the mom community, maybe as I should be, but I can tell you I have found babysitters through there. I have found other mom friends through there. And I found a lot of support in like mom groups. There's some of like mental health for moms and anxiety group for moms that where I look up something of something maybe someone else has gone through and it's really made me feel a lot better about my situation, whether it's I feel, do I feed my son this or is he crawling or is he this? You know, and the comparison game is never good, but it's always nice to know. And finding those boards or groups has really helped a lot. And then, of course, right, when you're on LinkedIn or posting, a lot of it's in the DM. I explained this to somebody with the entrepreneurial world where she wanted to get involved in LinkedIn. And I said, look, when you post on LinkedIn, you cannot expect your analytics to be good. It's not like Instagram where we're big on analytics, we're big on content, we're big on the comments, we're big on the shares, we're big on the likes, we're big on the repost and all of that. When we're looking at LinkedIn, that's not necessarily the case. It really slide in the DM is so real for this. Sliding in the DM for Instagram, sliding in the DM for LinkedIn, that's where the magic happens of conversation. And those conversations lead to other things. And so I really encourage you to kind of have both. Have both of those local connections, but also like do the digital, right? Because if you meet someone digitally, you want to meet them in person. And I believe if you meet someone with in person, you want to connect with them digitally. Why? Because you want to connect with them in all facets of life. I know when I connect with someone on LinkedIn, that's a good connection, like I mentioned earlier with a referral partner. I met him for lunch. I got to have a deeper one-on-one time without a distraction or a baby or dishes or laundry or anything. It was me and this person having a conversation about business. And that was powerful. And we connected first on LinkedIn. And then since it's phone numbers, right? It's text, it's email, it's all the things. Likewise, when you meet somebody in person where I've met moms in person, you then get in the text or you get in the Instagram. That's where you can send the mom memes or you comment or you're in a mom panic or you're frustrated or you want to say I'm proud. You need both those to integrate successfully so you can continue to build a relationship on and offline. So you're able to continue building what you have. And I really think both of those are so important, especially in today's modern world. And so giving, right? Giving and receiving. It's something I mentioned earlier, but really I truly believe being a mom and entrepreneur, you have to give, give, give. You really want to give so much more and share and be helpful. It's something I learned really early on in my business that I'm grateful for, just as much as I'm grateful to help a mom. Like if a mom needs help in any way, I'm happy to help as much as I can. And so I think we're so afraid to ask for help. We're so afraid. And we shouldn't be. And I'm going to challenge you as a mom and an entrepreneur, as your permission slip, ask for help. If you need help, ask for it. I ask my husband all the time: do the dishes, do the laundry, clean, cook, like whatever. I'm not afraid to ask my husband. And that's like step one. I'm not afraid to say, you know what? I don't want to clean. I don't want deep cleaning a bathroom. I'm going to hire a cleaner. And I'm happy to do that, right? So sometimes we need to outsource to pay, but I would also say consider outsourcing, right? And maybe if you don't have the money or the finances, maybe find another mom that you can connect with and you can help each other in some way. I think we can all help a little bit more and share a little bit more resources because we are unsure and we are kind of figuring this out. I know for me, I was with a mom friend who also owns her own business and we got our kids together. And one of the things we talked about was actually personally for my son, he couldn't sip out of a straw. And she goes, Oh my gosh, get these bottles. They'll really help your kids suck out of a straw. So I bought them and literally he figured it out in two days. Like, how cool is that? I can meet another mom who her daughter's a little bit ahead of my son. So she's been through some of these steps kind of recently. And it worked out beautifully. It really did. And I'm really just so happy to have someone trusted to talk to about certain things, whether it's business where I feel, oh, I want to grow my business, how do I do it? To, oh, my son can't step out of a straw. And so I think when you're able to be vulnerable and able to be helpful, you never know what doors will open for you. And so I really encourage that. Because really at the end of the day, what we're craving as a mom and an entrepreneur is connection and long-term relationships. Because truthfully, it's one thing to meet somebody and I've met lots of people. I mean hundreds of people, business and I've met moms. But the biggest thing is if you have the energy, right? And you feel you are aligned, it's following up. Because you can meet a mom and she could be fabulous and wonderful. But if someone isn't willing to send the phone number or the text, how are you going to follow up? How are you going to hang out with them again? Maybe on chance you'll see them. But really, what is what's going to happen? It will fizzle. And so that's why I mentioned earlier about connecting, whether on or offline, because you want to continue to follow up with that person. You want to be able to check in and see them. And you want to be able to celebrate and help with challenges because to be a mom is so freaking hard. To be an entrepreneur is so freaking hard. I will tell you both of them are so freaking hard. But I will tell you both of them are so rewarding in their own way. An entrepreneur is almost like a baby in a crazy way. The way you build it to be this little seed to grow it to be a behemoth is the goal. And I love the fact that I've built my business off true connection and relationships. And to say I'm grateful for that's a freaking understatement. And I know as a mom, when you meet another mom, it's so nice to have the connection of other mothers. And it's so nice to talk to them and not feel like so alone because you just want to celebrate as much as you can. It's really hard some days to be a mom. You feel really frustrated and tired and you feel like life is just not getting easier or better. But when you have someone encouraging you and picking you up, like even if it's one mom friend, that's better than none. So if you are able to be the mom friend that you get along with and you can text and you can feel unapologetically yourself, nurture that shit for as long as you possibly can. And so one of the last things I really want to talk about before we kind of wrap up this episode, I really want to talk about letting go of connections at the same time because we want to foster beautiful relationships. I'm so pro, let's foster every good relationship possible. But there's going to be seasons of life that a relationship isn't going to work just as much as a business. I think there's clients that I have probably shedded in the past that weren't a fit for me, but that's okay. Not every client's going to be a fit for you. I've had discovery calls where I said, I'm not the bookkeeper for you, but I can send you to someone else that is. And I think you have to recognize that not every client is a good client, not every mom friend is going to be the best mom friend. And that's really hard to swallow. But you energetically need the people who are positive. Because I will tell you, being a mom is draining. It's tiring, it's exhausting, it's physical, it's mental, it's emotional, and it's probably spiritual. And at the end of the day, you love your baby more than anything else in this world. But I will tell you, if anything else outside of that drains you, you need to figure that out. Whether it's having a conversation with your partner to say, hey, I'm unhappy, I need help. Or whether it's a mom friend who's really opinionated and nosy, you kind of need to say, Hey, I appreciate your opinion, but this doesn't work. Because I talked about this with actually a friend of mine where the mother-in-law is very sweet and I think she likes to have opinions. And my friend kind of said, Hey, I don't really know what to do. I said, You know, it's kind of a her problem, not your problem. And you can have your opinion too. You can say, Hey, I love your opinion. I really appreciate everything you're saying. I hear you, I see you, I value you, but that's not the direction I want to go in. And I feel this way for XXX reason. And that's okay. I think as humans, we're allowed to have opinions, we're allowed to raise concerns. We don't need to be around anybody or anyone who makes us feel like shit, who needs to drain our energy, or who makes us feel any less than. Ain't nobody got time for that bullshit. I don't, you don't, we don't. Got it? Permission slip accepted because we cannot deal with any negative energy. Life is too hard. Life is too draining. And I almost think as an entrepreneur, being a bookkeeper, my clients are on retainer. And if I have a client who lets me go, it's okay. I'm like, you know what? Best of luck to you. I can't be angry at you. I can't be mad at you. I can't be angry or upset. Like, if it's not gonna work out, like I wish you well. I'm not going to sit here and whine or get crazy. I had a client tell me a story that she was working with a vendor who, long story short, it just wasn't working out. Financially, she didn't feel there was an ROI. And she politely said, Listen, I would love to maybe work with you one day, but this isn't gonna work for me right now. And the client really kind of pried on her to say, Hey, I don't understand. I'm going through all these personal things. How could you leave me? Blah, blah, blah. And I think it's really hard to let personal get into a real business decision. There's no, if someone can't afford me, I'm not going to get offended. And she was really appalled by that. And I don't think she'll ever work with her again. And you know, the opposite story of this, I had a client leave me. And I almost cried with her. It was just unforeseen circumstances. And I said, listen, client, I'm here for you. If you want to go out to lunch, like, let's go out to lunch. I'm happy to have a conversation. Like, whatever you need, I'm here. If you, whenever you're ready to come back, I'm here. And I never want someone to feel uncomfortable about it. Well, if it doesn't make sense financially, it's one thing. If there's circumstances, it's another. But regardless, I always want to leave that door open, especially for clients that I love and adore. I never want someone to feel alone. And you know what? She might be coming back. And so the moral of the story is like just be kind. You never know someone's situation, especially being a mom. We really don't know what's going on behind closed doors. And all you can do is just be there for them in whatever capacity they need. So just build the connections you love, get rid of the shit you don't, and it's all gonna work out. And so, with that, it's really how I feel from being the new girl with zero connections. And I can tell you, living in Charleston, I really had zero, to building and having support, both personally and professionally. And if this episode gave you any ideas or inspiration to take that first step forward toward building your own network, I would love to hear about it. Share this episode with another mama or entrepreneur who's ready to find her people. And please tag me when you do. I love seeing how these circles grow and thrive and just be successful. But make sure to hit that follow button so you never miss a conversation on raising hustle, where we keep it real, practical, and full of heart. Until next time, keep showing up, keep connecting, and keep raising hustle. This is just the beginning. Subscribe now to Raising Hustle and get ready for raw stories, real talk, and unapologetic ambition. We're showing up messy, loud, and all in because success doesn't wait for quiet. Let's raise our voices, our businesses, and our babies together.