Emily Merrell  00:00

Hey, my name is Emily Merrell. I’m a taco loving people connector. And I’m obsessed with playing the name game and all things networking. I’m the founder of secondary society, a female focused networking community, as well as a business coach for female business owners passionate about bringing their business to the next level with the help of events, community and connections. I crave deep conversations, and I’m continuously curious to see what makes people tick. And I’m invested in uncovering their stories with some life lessons along the way. This podcast is aimed to inspire and educate as you tackle your busy day. So join the conversation and tune in for the second degree podcast. Welcome back, everyone. I am so excited to have my friend Tia Meyers. Great. Oh, I’m gonna you know, it’s funny when you see names like you getting nervous now. She’s okay. It’s so bad. But she is. She’s such a badass, y’all. She is the founder of freelancing females, the most incredible community out there for freelancers, in my opinion, to welcome to the show.

 

Tia Grado  01:11

Thanks so much for having me. I’m excited to be here and just catch up with you guys. The truth be it is I have a podcast just to force my friends to actually get on the phone with me. So sometimes we need that though. We have busy lives all of us. It makes it feel a little bit more important that there’s a podcast be recorded. But really I buffer so much time in so we can just have a proper catch up.

 

Emily Merrell  01:37

So before we jump into Tia and her incredible story to creating this robust community of freelancing females, I want to share with the audience members we were connected to I don’t know if you remember this by a woman who operated like community management in San Francisco at a co working space. I just moved to San Francisco from New York. And this woman had suggested you should do an event. Mattia, bless your sweet, sweet angel heart. She was like yeah, no problem. Let’s do it. flew to San Francisco, y’all. And I lived in a 725 square foot apartment with my husband and dog. And I was like, TF, you are staying with us. And she slept on our couch in our kitchen.

 

Tia Grado  02:24

It was great. And we had burritos. And I think you introduced me to like, chili, Chris. Did I? Oh, oh my god, the chili. The something you

 

Emily Merrell  02:35

put on top? Yes. It’s amazing, most important part. I have to say like some of the most beautiful friendships. And I think like the most deep, loyal friendships, even though we don’t see each other often are the ones that I invited strangers to come stay at either in my bed or on my couch. Yeah, I mean, once you’ve been so close. founders, they’re just like us. Well, so Tia now you’re calling I’m talking to you from Austin. The last time I saw you was in your Brooklyn apartment. Was 20 Those 2019 Because right after I saw you I took myself out to Alamo Drafthouse to see crazy rich, rich Asians. And I love Alamo Drafthouse and that like we’re in Austin out where it all started. Wow, most certainly. Really. Huh. Have you been to torchy tacos yet? I have, but there’s just so many taco places now. It’s crazy. I feel like breakfast lunch and dinner tacos, as you probably should, actually quite important. But I think this is the case with both Colorado with Denver and Austin. That makes some kind of Sister Cities in a way. They both have torches and In and Out Burger. That’s

 

Tia Grado  04:01

crazy. Yeah, there’s so many similarities. I mean, we have a lot of people who move from Denver to Austin and I feel like vice versa to 1,000% a half of my friends are like either San Francisco, New York or Austin by way of San Francisco or New York. It’s just like, switching cities. I mean, it was nice going to Austin because we’re like halfway to La halfway to New York. Very close to Denver. It’s like a good in between. Do you ski? I do not. I never learned only child here didn’t have anybody to teach.

 

Emily Merrell  04:44

I will go down the bunny slope. So when I come to I was gonna say I just started after years of like Valley and I would never ski like why would anyone throw themselves on chopsticks down to a cold Hill sound? is terrible, but it’s my life there. Yeah, but it’s fun. I’m getting on board. That is fun. And I like the very, very flat hills. Yes. And there’s Andre ski, and which means that you can drink while you’re skiing and love that. Yeah. So you guys, you guys are overdue for a visit to your friendly to your trip. Yeah, when it gets to be very hot here is like the time to go to Denver to Yeah, I like it, we can just pretend we have two houses, one in Austin, and in Denver. Well, Tia, so I want to start with your journey. I mean, you already said that you are an only child. But how did you end up as an entrepreneur? Oh, wow. Um, it was seven years ago now. And I was driven by a personal experience that I quickly realized was far from unique, which was the challenge of not getting paid for my work. And when that happened, I had been at a very corporate company in New York, and I was owed over a month’s salary. There were other freelancers there too, which I got connected to when I was seeking my payment, and just felt so lost in what to do. And so I started a Facebook group, and I was meeting up with a lot of coffee dates at the time, I was in my early 20s, I had just started freelancing. And others were asking me how to freelance and I was like, I can share what I’ve learned and learn from other freelancers, but honestly, I have some of the same questions. So I started a Facebook group with fellow freelancers, just some women that I knew my immediate group of friends. And what began as a very small gathering of women sharing their experiences with on payment issues, and asking what to charge on projects, turned into a pretty big community of women on Facebook, and you know, Facebook was much more popular back then. Back in the olden days, gonna make 20s. Um, so it quickly grew. And I realized that it was something that I should do, you know, more full time. So I was still freelancing. I was a social media consultant, I was mainly working with hospitality companies that had been a dream of mine. I previously worked for JetBlue, and our corporate doing event planning, and then I went to community and partnerships at a tech startup called 53. And, you know, I really learned a lot of lessons there with community and social media. So taking those lessons, I started planning events, and I started building more of a community on Facebook group. And we started a crowdfunding campaign and raise $31,000 To make our website $31,000. And I had a crazy idea, like, three weeks before the crowdfunding campaign hit that I was going past this like, opening, like little area and go on us, Brooklyn. And I was like, maybe I’ll create a crowdfunding pop up shop. And we had people donate different goods that they created, like artists and everything else. And all the proceeds from that pop up shop also went to our crowdfunding campaign. So it’s a lot of fun. And from that journey, we created our website, and it was very bare bones. I also, you know, made the mistake of thinking that I needed much more branding than I ever needed, as we all do in our journey of starting our businesses. And after building out the web, say we really work creating a company from a community of people versus having a product and finding our community. So we’re building it with what we were learning from our freelancers and their needs. So about a year and half, two years after that, we then launched a directory of freelancers. And today, we now have our newsletter, our talent, directory of freelancers, our job board, and our resources. So it’s changed and evolved a lot. I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way. I’ve made a lot of wins along the way. I thought it wasn’t without like leveraging the skills that I have for my previous work. And just, you know, starting something that I never even thought would become a company how freelancing pMOS became. Its that is I love the backflipping of it, like you had your own personal problem, you were never paid. Did you get paid, paid by these people, by the way? I did after I walked myself into their office and was like, I am not leaving without my check. And I will tell every single person who works at this corporate office, that you are not paying your freelancers. Then they gave me a check. I walked out, I got probably 10 blocks away, received an email from the company saying don’t cash the check. There’s no funds. And then I emailed them saying, Okay, now you just told me you had a fraudulent check. That’s illegal. I will take legal action, if you do not be mean finally got paid. Wow. Is the company still around? Yes, they are. Wow, you’ll have to message me afterwards. But that is, that is awful. And oh, what a badass to do that. A TIA. I love that you took your own experience and your own frustration. And rather than just falling on your sword not getting paid, you turned it turn to your peers to ask them for help and for advice in this situation. And who knew that in 2017, this would evolve into what it is now. Me? Like, unsure? Now, I have so many questions about freelancing as as it is. So Well, first and foremost. Do you believe that freelancers are business owners? Yes, wholeheartedly.

 

Tia Grado  11:53

I mean, you have to run an entire business to freelance for yourself. You are your own financial officer, your own lawyer, your own marketing, you are running an entire business. And I think oftentimes, a lot of freelancers don’t see themselves as business owners.

 

Emily Merrell  12:13

mindset at least starting at least starting they’re like, Oh, you put me in coach where I’m needed. But to your point, like you’re running all of those elements of a business. So if you are considering being a freelancer, remember, you are also entering into being a business owner.

 

Tia Grado  12:31

Yes. Which comes with some beautiful things like health care, and, and it’s daunting, and it’s definitely daunting. I have a friend who’s been in corporate and sales for her entire life up until 35. And she’s becoming a freelancer. And she’s asking questions like, oh, I need my own health insurance. So I need this. And I’m like, yes, these are the, you know, the not so fun things of what happens when you become a freelancer is you’re running your own business, you’re now doing your own taxes, you’re making sure that your bookkeeping is up to date, you’re you’re paying for all of your bills, you know, sometimes the company will help you with your computer and everything that is on you now all of your software, it’s on you now. There’s incredible things about freelancing you can make your own hours, you can charge what you’re worth, you can say no to the wrong clients, and yes to projects that light you up. But of course there is those nuances of its entire business that you’re now running. You can also be a freelancer and subcontract to a lot of those things, which is great. And a lot of people don’t think that either 1,000% So what what you mean by that is like you can get a bookkeeper or you. You can have an accountant, or you can have an accountant, you can have a social media manager for yourself, you know, you can run it as

 

Emily Merrell  14:06

a whole business. And I think there’s something really daunting with that idea that I’m not worthy to have someone do my social media, like I can do social media, back to your social media manager by trade, like, shouldn’t you just do this social media and save money for the company and do it all.

 

Tia Grado  14:27

But that doesn’t leave you anytime to be actually running your business and finding new clients and making money. So I can do my own social media. And to this day, I still will work on some of our social media, but I have a wonderful social media manager who takes that off my plate so I can worry about the bigger picture stuff.

 

Emily Merrell  14:48

Exactly. And I think that that’s the lesson I hope everyone takes away in this episode. So if you’re considering starting a business or freelancing in Some capacity that like you are worthy of outsourcing things and delegating things off your plate.

 

Tia Grado  15:08

And the energy of that is so positive to like you’re putting money into the universe to make more money back for yourself. Exactly. And it isn’t without help that you won’t grow, you’ll become burnt out. If you keep going and doing it on your own, there will be a certain point that you just are going to want to reach out for help. And for me, it was a bookkeeper first and foremost, like me, and taxes are not friends. Um, so getting that off of my plate just made my life 10 times easier. And then it was working on, you know, hiring people who helped us bring in more money to the business.

 

Emily Merrell  15:50

So like, it’s different for everyone. I think that is such a beautiful point. What What advice do you have for people who are navigating the healthcare side of things? Do you have any resources off the top of your head that you’d like to point people to? Yeah, we actually have a wonderful freelancing female, Dr. Nora Alia, who is great at navigating insurance and private insurance and health care. So I would highly recommend looking her up. I’m also seeing what’s available in your state or country because it really depends on where you’re living. In New York, I was on Oscar but it’s different being in Texas. Sometimes you can gain insurance from your significant other. If you’re in a long term partnership, you can have a domestic partnership and gain insurance. That’s how I was able to go on to my husband’s insurance before we were married. But on your own, you do have a lot of options and is a big daunting area to navigate. And you can be spending upwards of $500 a month if not more. It is easier if you’re under 30 insurance is a lot more affordable when you hit 30 The prices go up. So having an expert who can ask you what your needs are, what your goals are with health care and everything is highly important. So you look at Dr. Nora Alia. What do you recommend? It’s it’s so funny you bring up Oscar because that’s exactly what I did. Those that are like, What the hell is Oscar? It was? Is it still around? Is it still a thing? Yes, I am. So if I don’t file are going to do Google right now, guys. So Oscar, I had like catastrophe insurance when I was 2829. I think I was paying like 150 bucks a month for it. And I did the sunrise. My deductible was like it was like 140 for me. Yeah, yeah. And your deductible is like 70 508,000 something where you’re gonna need to go fund me? Probably. Yeah, if you’re

 

Tia Grado  18:13

younger, and you’re just starting freelancing, it’s a great option when you are typically very healthy. Nowadays, I’m in my 30s, I’ve learned there’s things that I need to be working on with the doctor, and I needed better health insurance.

 

Emily Merrell  18:29

Well, it’s funny, because when I moved to California from New York, I was on Honestly, I was on United Healthcare. And the marketplace was a lot more approachable. And it was a lot more accessible for like offering a breadth of options at a lower price point, even though it was over 30. So to your point about state by state, like New York, is a notoriously expensive state for health insurance.

 

Tia Grado  18:58

And I would suggest, you know, starting on healthcare.gov, looking up your options, learning about those first and then reaching out to an expert, but also writing down what your goals are. You just need to go into a physical twice a year do you need, you know, your eyes tracked? Do you need dental do you need, et cetera? So there’s just a lot of factors and having somebody on your side who can say like, you don’t need this $1,000 month insurance, I’d suggest you utilize this one instead, you’re going to be saving more in the long run. Yeah,

 

Emily Merrell  19:34

I think that’s a really good point. Dental was funny, back in the day, I would just pay out of pocket once a month or once a year it was like 200 bucks cleaning. And once I got an insurance so I went to it another dentist and they’re like, yeah, you’ve got some cavities that need to be filled. And I just think my other dentist didn’t want to hurt me. Didn’t want to knew how expensive it looked like you Thank you, but not because now I have you. Yeah, exactly. Like maybe you were not the best dentist. But yeah, insurance is a, it’s an interesting. It’s an interesting thing I’ve noticed about our culture as Americans, and I’ve talked about this in other podcast episodes, but my husband’s Canadian, and I’ve met a ton of Canadian entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs who are Canadian, I think have a little bit more of a safety net, a safety net built in for entrepreneurs. Because if they fail, it’s not health insurance, or yeah, there’s some things to fall back on that can be prohibitive, or starting here. So yeah, in terms of people who want to be freelancers, we’re like, what is everything? I know, this is a short episode. But what’s everything that like you wish you had known when you had started Your Freelancing business that probably is offered in the freelancing emails community.

 

Tia Grado  21:02

So many things that I wish I knew, first and foremost, you do not need to spend a ton of money on your branding, that is probably one of the last things that you want to be doing. First thing is, is really figuring out what you want to be offering. When I first started out, I offered so many things, I wasn’t just doing social media, I was also helping you with your photography for your social media. And with your website or your business. I cut that all down into really niche into what I was good at. And it isn’t to say, don’t start with trying a few things because I also offered strategy, and that became my biggest seller and highest price point. So try new things. But also make sure that you’re not offering 10 different things to clients, because they’ll get confused. And you want to be seen as an expert in your field. That get Squarespace is great. If you want to create a website, just make it simple. If you’re starting out, it doesn’t have to be anything crazy. But it does have to look good to clients. There are so many wonderful templates on there. All you need is you know the headline exactly what you do, the services that you offer, how it is to contact you, and set up a Calendly so that people can easily book a call with you. Very simple to get started, like you could start your business with a few $100 and get your first client within a week.

 

Emily Merrell  22:46

don’t either. Yeah, sorry, I was gonna just say like 1,000%. And I think so many people think that they also need the website to be perfect before they can start selling their services. And I don’t think it’s a chicken egg situation

 

Tia Grado  23:00

isn’t and I run into this a lot, even with friends who are starting freelancing, they think that everything needs to be perfect before they start. And I’m like, it does not because you are holding yourself back from starting and actually learning what you’d like to do, how you’re offering things you’re going to learn from every single client, what you like, what you don’t like what things you need to add to your contract, because you might have forgotten something. But you can start within a week and gain a client. And the biggest thing is telling people that you’re available for work, because nobody’s going to know that you’re available for work until you tell them you need to shout it from the rooftops, you need to be posting it everywhere. You need to be posting not just everywhere, but multiple times. You can let me say that again, for the people in the back that nobody knows what you’re doing unless you tell them. The first way that I named my clients was after I left my tech startup I reached out to previous people I worked with and soft, they needed social media help if they didn’t need social media help, but they recommend me to somebody who did because they knew my work. Friends and family are a great resource. My friend just started a body work account. She’s looking for people who need physical therapy, and we all know people who need that. So reaching out to people. It doesn’t have to be daunting. You don’t have to become an influencer on the web. You just have to be an influencer to your immediate community of people. Another way that you can do that if you know you might not have people in the right spaces for that and your immediate family and friends reach out to different communities, freelancing females, a lot of women create collectives where, you know, maybe they offer a whole slew of services and recommend each other so A designer, a photographer, a social media person, you could all get together. And a client might come along, and they can recommend each other services. So there’s so many ways to find your first client, we also have a talent directory, it’s a great place to join to advertise your services. tech integration society has the Slack channel, that’s a great way we have a Slack channel. So there’s, you’re not without a lot of resources to get that first client started. And once you do, make sure you have a contract, because that is going to save you a lot of headaches in the future, it’s going to be saving you from the non payment issues that, you know, we’ve all dealt with in the past, it will still happen but you will be safeguarded from it. Freelancing females, we have a $59 contract, you can buy that we worked with a lawyer, it’s very simplified. I, if a client gives me a contract, and it is confusing, and might be, you know, selling your entire business away, I always say no to it, and do not be afraid to not be afraid to push back. It is your contracts. And it is your deciding factor. And if the client doesn’t seem like a good fit, and there’s red flags, you can always say no, and there will be somebody later.

 

Emily Merrell  26:30

And I think that’s a I love all of those tips, and especially the shout it from the rooftop. One is one of my favorites, where you have all these resources in your backyard with your friends and family. And yet sometimes people feel like they needed to go to the ocean to fish when you’ve got a pond right in your backyard to check out analogy, right there on the spot. But Tia, so one of the other things you said about the contract, I think contracts can be so daunting, and everyone feels like I think every single person I’ve talked to that not exaggerating, or like I need a lawyer, I need a lawyer, the first thing I need is a lawyer, and I love that you’re offering this resource of a contract to get started. And millions are

 

Tia Grado  27:16

expensive. And as freelancers we are, you know, functioning very well for ourselves. And also to, to counter that, too. I think there’s like I think an accountant is probably more important to chat with first, then than a lawyer, would you agree, I would agree signing up, you’re separated business bank account, getting an accountant is going to be much more important, especially when it comes to tax time, then making sure you have your own lawyer, most likely you won’t need a lawyer unless you come into some problems. And having a contract in place that a lawyer can then take and say they have this in place we are coming to you asking for payment is going to be the biggest thing that you’ll need. Most of the time they get scared and pay you right after that. So even just the letter of intent with the lawyer is 90% of the time the furthest you’ll have to go. Unfortunately, sometimes there’s that 10% that you will need to find a really good lawyer. But we create safeguards for that. So that most of you don’t have to get there hopefully

 

Emily Merrell  28:35

1,000% agree in terms of freelancing and you are not an accountant. So you can also say, I do not know. But again, a freelancer you are a business. So that also means taking yourself seriously in the eyes of Uncle Sam, and business entities. Do you have any advice on what entity as a freelancer you should be entering into?

 

Tia Grado  29:02

It really depends. I would say first and foremost, creating a tax ID. So you’re not using your social security card is very important. The second would be really an LLC for yourself. It’s only a few $100. And that safeguards you from getting sued and then going after all of your bank accounts, not just your business bank account. And then if you are making over a certain amount of money, which is going to talk to an accountant about an S corp would be the next thing that you would be thinking about.

 

Emily Merrell  29:39

And I think a lot of people, there is this legitimacy. And I’m curious if you experienced this at all, but like once you establish an entity, I do think there’s a psychological shift of like, this isn’t a hobby. This is it’s a business. I have a business And it took me years before I like, created my own LLC. And it was so simple that I kicked myself in the butt for not doing it sooner. It was easy. proprietor before that. Yeah, sole proprietorship with a tax ID with a tax ID. So that’s an option for people who are just starting out. Exactly. And that costs you 50 bucks. Yeah, it’s crazy. I’ve had this conversation recently like, or someone who’s starting a business, she, she said how expensive it is to start a business, which it is, and you have to think about it, like a down payment on a house, you are going to be paying money towards this, this thing that is housing you that is keep bringing, giving you shelter, just like this business is going to be feeding you back. But you do need to put money into it to have money come out of it. Yes, and you’re going to incur costs, there’s always those upfront costs of starting a business. And it is better to be prepared before you take the leap, then taking the leap and finding out that you do have these costs, because I would say you want a couple of $1,000 to start your business, you need your website Bill, you need your tax ID, you need to buy a contract, you want to get an accountant, your software that you’re going to be using your accounting software, everything else adds up kind of quickly. So it’s good to have that set aside. And not only that, it’s good to have a three month buffer for yourself. Because we never know, especially us back on now, through a pandemic, you don’t know what’s about to happen. So it is nice if you know you might lose a client, not by your own doing maybe something in their family happened, you just never know when that could happen and your income could change drastically within a day. That’s why it’s also nice to have, you know, a couple of clients that, you know, if you are working a nine to five, and you lose your job, you lose your entire salary. The one nice thing about working as a freelancer is if you lose client, you’re not losing your entire salary that day, you have plenty to go back on. But it’s nice to have a little bit of a buffer in there just in case those things happen. You incur some costs, or something happens in your business and you need that extra money or in your health. So definitely, I’m a big fan of all of the things that you said Tia you’re marvelous your IV clearly, listeners, you probably know my excitement, you can hear it in my voice talking to her and her community. Freelancing females is so extraordinary and filled with like the top of the top talent. How can people join your community and be a part of your world?

 

Tia Grado  33:08

Yeah, we would love to have you. The easiest way is to go to freelancing. females.com it will lead you to our free Facebook group. All of our resources. We have a blog packed with different resources on starting your freelance business. We have a weekly newsletter that goes out that has tips and observations and job openings. You can also go to jobs dot freelancing females.com to see job openings from different people hiring freelancers, or if you want to advertise your services, we have our talent directory. I love and then people can pay to be a part of the challenge directory.

 

Emily Merrell  33:49

Yes, it’s about $10 a month. That’s my my favorite thing about your community to you. It’s so accessible, and it’s jam packed with so much value. And we didn’t even talk about this. This could be a 2.0 episode but you are you do such a phenomenal job of moderating and managing community. And as a community builder myself, I frickin hate managing community. I love building it. I hate you, you feel Saturday, I mean, this platform is more than just unity. It’s been a support system, a resource hub space for empowerment, and my goal has always remained the same to create a safe space for our members to feel supported and empowered to live their best freelancing life. But as a community builder and a community manager, it does take a lot out of you. You are on social media. I mean for the past seven years I’ve been on social media and our Facebook group and our Slack channel everywhere else. You do have to be on a lot. And I love our community. As we’ve grown I haven’t been able to have as many personal connections as I used to, it’s more of a numbers game now. So I tried to, but it’s also a lot more of the support system to on that side for us now, and I do miss it sometimes. And it was just small. Yeah, it’s grown up, you’ve got like a seven year old baby child business that is like fully functioning on its own and, obviously very much with your support still, but your role is shifted. And I think that’s, that’s a humbling feeling to not be like needed as much in that same capacity as you were, or being able to give in that same capacity. See where? Yeah, it’s nice to grow and evolve and just see how much freelancing and business ownership has changed over these years for both of us. Yeah. Oh, my gosh, I remember when the wing opens, and people were like, Oh, my gosh, that’s gonna I had people say to me, you’re gonna probably have to lose your business because the wings here now. You’re not going to survive. Like, yeah, yeah. Look, you survive. Guys, still fine. Why? Wait? Yeah. I mean, it is an interesting evolution of like, rah rah sisterhood, girl power communities in real life digital pandemic was like a blessing in so many ways and a curse in so many ways. And yeah, it’s,

 

Tia Grado  36:29

it’s definitely been a wild, wild ride to, to hold on tight to. And I can’t wait to see what the next few years brings us on the next unit change. Exactly. Exactly. Well, before we wrap up to Yeah, I have some ask questions for you today. Yes, ready? My first question is tell us an unknown fun fact about tea? Yeah. I am a huge avid book reader. So last year, I read 108 books, and mostly mostly fun books. I do love a good business book. But this is my like, self care. Yeah, yeah. I love that. No, you were reading for swing. And I have many recommendations after that.

 

Emily Merrell  37:19

I know, I saw your recommendation. And I have a question for it. So yeah, there’s a I’m i I’m going to finish iron flame this weekend. And then I’m ready for my next Series C or series. i Yeah, reading reading. I’m with you. Like, every once in a while

 

Tia Grado  37:37

I joke. I’m like, can I just go on an island by myself. So I can just read a book and ignore humans? Because reading so I know. And I think that was what I was craving with being on social media all the time in work was getting off. And you know, besides just watching TV, I wanted something else. And it’s nice to kind of go into like, I knew a little world. So it’s not very good self care for business

 

Emily Merrell  38:05

owners. That I agree. I’ll add you on Good Reads after this. What? Speaking of you know, dreaming and dreaming up things? Who would be a dream person to be connected with?

 

Tia Grado  38:18

No, I was thinking of this question like me entire podcast. I don’t know. i There are so many people that I look up to. I can’t pinpoint who my dream person is. No to yet. It’s funny. It’s totally a selfish question. Because I struggle with this question to have like, yours. I don’t know. I think it was it recently. Oh, do you know Adam Grant, I think would be really cool to me. Yeah.

 

Emily Merrell  38:54

I think like a nice deep conversation with Adam Grant. About life. But I find that I don’t love pedestal and people.

 

Tia Grado  39:07

So if I met the dream person, I would like automatically just want them to be my best friend. Yeah, and most aren’t. They’re just normal humans. Stars. They’re just like us, whatever they are. Yeah. Were you in New York when I did the event with Sara Blakely? Yes. Yeah, we were in the picture.

 

Emily Merrell  39:27

I think with me too, right? Yeah, I need a post that one that like that would have been one met her. Yeah. Have you met your dreams? My dreams now my dream people are my people. Just weird. Anyhow, um, speak to your reader. But are there any shows that you’re watching? That you can’t stop thinking of

 

Tia Grado  39:48

lately? Not lately, but silo was one of my favorite shows in the past like year on Apple TV plus, okay. It’s really good. And there is a book to go along with it. It’s a whole series. Okay. Ooh. So what book are you reading right now? Missed? Yeah. Um, I am kind of in a book slump right now, but I just loved the seven year slip. That was a really good one. Oh, the seven year slip. I’m gonna add that into the list. It’s an easy read. It’s like, based in New York around food has little magic to it. It’s a good one. And then a biography that I loved. Also kind of based in New York was your table is ready. Went to that in New York City, maitre d going through like the 70s. Like 80s, like French New York, it was a lot of fun to also as an audiobook. That was a good one. Okay, I’ll add that to the list. And then what is your favorite emoji? My husband, a yellow heart? I don’t know. I just feel like it’s a good one to answer back. Especially with work. Just hard hearted everything in yellow. And my final question for you today, Tia is what permission Do you want to give our listeners today? You can start a freelance business today. Without perfection. Mic drop. If I could drop this mic, I would. Well, Tia, thank you so much for joining us on today’s episode of the second degree with Emily Merrell. I’m honored to be here. Thank you for having me. Seven years in the making. Have a great day everyone and we’ll see you the next time. Bye