It’s time to kick Monday’s ass…

That’s when I decided I’d grow some plants. Just try my hand at being farmer Angie.

I’ve always been interested in homesteading in that way, but this persistent little thought kept nagging me… that I was a plant killer. Sure I had the best of intentions, but mostly plants in my care wound up dead or eaten by the cat.

Or both.

Fast forward a few months and I’ve had to repot my plants a few times because my back yard is rapidly becoming a jungle… even in the heat of a south Texas summer.

It’s been 3 months and I haven’t killed a single plant.

Came pretty damn close with my baby bell pepper plant after a leafminer infestation, but that little badass of a plant is slowly fighting its way back to full health.

Heh. Leafminer. That’s not even a word I knew three months ago.

And that’s my point… sometimes it’s overwhelming to jump into something. Especially when the anxiety kicks in and starts rattling off all the reasons why you suck at this and are very clearly destined to a life of inadvertently killing plants.

Three months ain’t 30 years of master gardening… but every day (thanks to Google and some really helpful gardeners), I learn a little more and get a little better.

That brings us to this week’s..

Kick Monday’s Ass Video

Over the weekend I found myself giving some advice that threw me for a loop…

Your clients aren’t stupid. Stop treating them like they are (and if you don’t treat them like they’re big dum-dums, kudos are in order – keep that shit up. Respect is powerful, yo).

I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that this even NEEDS to be said.

Back when I was first starting out, I joined a community that took that kind of machismo to the extreme. I thought bragging, bravado, and ballsiness was the way people did business… and you just had to fake it until you make it.

Turns out most of the folks I know who are out there being dicks to clients? They don’t know what they’re doing and it’s their insecurity talking.

So here’s what I think about all those folks out there advocating for freelancers to be big ol’ jerks:

(here’s a link to the video in case you don’t see it embedded below)

Been there, done that, got the participation trophy.

I sure as hell won’t be treating people that way, especially if they’re paying me good money for my expertise.

Don’t be a dick. This is a good rule of thumb in business AND in life.

Badass of the Week

My badass of the week is Julia Cheek, founder and CEO of Everlywell.

Her company already made at-home test kits for a variety of ailments and illnesses, and when the pandemic hit she had no intentions of jumping into the fray. Especially as a startup… with the magnitude of the crisis compared to her fledgling company, what impact could she really have?

Well… as it turns out, a lot.

She wound up mobilizing labs around the country with grants to help them accelerate testing… literally putting her company’s financial future on the line in order to step in and help out.

You can get the full story here.

On Repeat This Week
Continuing with my feistiness over folks who are jerks to their clients… I give you “Roses” by Outkast.

You’re welcome.

It’s Monday y’all… get out there and kick some ass.

Rock on,
Angie