So, here’s the thing. If you haven’t noticed, we are hustling pretty hard over here. There are four of us moms here at PlatinumSitters and we all really believe in what we are doing.
We know moms and dads and need reliable childcare and we think that vetting sitters and helping them find great families is such a worthwhile cause.
As with anything worth doing, it comes with it’s challenges. One of the biggest ones? Getting the word out! There are bigger websites out there and so we are saying to parents–give us a shot! But sometimes that voice gets lost. So, I have been brainstorming ways to spread our message.
It occurred to me that appearing on some local television would probably be wise. I wasn’t entirely sure how one goes about getting on television but I have two friends, Miranda and Liz, who do it frequently so I just….asked. This is really outside of my comfort zone. It is hard enough to ask for a favor under normal circumstances but especially hard to say:
“I think I deserve to be on TV, can you make that happen?”
I told them that I needed help and…they helped. It really was that simple. It actually kind of blew my mind how it fell together so easily.
So, I kept asking for help. I asked my husband to help me find something to wear. I asked my boss to review my talking points. I asked Jen (our community manager) to ramp up hiring should there be in influx of requests. I asked for a babysitter for Mae. No one seemed bothered by my requests–dare I say, everyone seemed really HAPPY to help!
And, it went great! You can view that video here. But what really matters? The drive home. My phone was glowing the whole time! So many sweet messages of congratulations and “you rocked it”! It was overwhelming. And it got me thinking that I would have never gotten to that point–to this point–without reaching out for help.
Vulnerability is hard. Admitting that something matters to us does not always come naturally for everyone.
Some of us are taught, and still believe, that what we think or need is secondary. There is a lot of reasons we feel this way–societal expectations, bad relationships, lies we tell ourselves. But none of it is true. There is no greater feeling than prioritizing something important to you. I learned that while sweating on TV.
My plan all along was to publish this today, ending with the paragraph above, but then my friend Miranda published this blog post last night and sine she was already part of the start of this story, I wanted to come add the link to her post and say: THIS IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. She looks amazing but more importantly she is spreading a message that her blog is important to her and loving her body is, too. It’s the ultimate in vulnerability and I am so proud of her.