Consistency Without Constant Hustle: Showing Up Authentically in Hard Seasons

In this heartfelt conversation, Ruthie Sterrett shares how to stay consistent in your business without the constant hustle. Joined by web designer and founder Dana Watkins, Ruthie explores what it really looks like to balance life, work, and marketing—especially when you’re in a hard season.

From choosing which platforms to focus on, to deciding what to share personally, this episode offers a gentle reminder that consistency isn’t about doing it all—it’s about finding a rhythm that fits your life right now.

You’ll hear how Dana navigates growing her business while managing IVF and a full-time job, and Ruthie offers practical, compassionate insight into maintaining visibility, setting boundaries, and letting go of the “shoulds.”

Whether you’re in a busy season or simply craving a slower, more aligned pace, this episode will remind you that you can show up for your audience without showing up everywhere.

Looking for a networking event that actually feels good? The Social Media Mixer is a virtual space where founders who support moms can connect, collaborate, and get actionable social media insights—without the awkward Zoom rooms or salesy pitches. Join us every six weeks for fun, structured conversations and strategies you can actually use. Grab a seat or get the All-Access Pass here: theconsistencycorner.com/mixer

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@ruthie.sterrett
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Transcript

Ruthie Sterrett (00:01.451)
Hey friends, welcome back to the Consistency Corner podcast. I'm so grateful to have you here today. And we're diving into a topic that came up in the DMs, but also comes up with a lot of my clients in terms of what are we focusing on, personal or professional? What do we share personally that maybe we don't know how to share? And balancing all of that with growing a business. And so I'm chatting with Dana Watkins, who is the founder of Snafley Sites.

and she helps business owners get modern professional websites without the overwhelm of big upfront investment. But we're not just talking about websites today, which we'll consider that. We'll talk about what Snapply does. But Dana and I are going to have a conversation about showing up as the face of your brand while managing other things behind the scenes. She's navigating IVF while growing her business and has a job on the side of growing her business.

And so I'm honored that she's open to sharing her story with us. And I know that just by our conversation, you might have some takeaways yourself for how you manage some of those things or similar situations. And we'll also talk a little bit about Instagram versus LinkedIn, business brand versus personal brand, and how to do things in a way that feels aligned while building trust online and consistency while you juggle all the things. So.

Dana, thank you so much for being here. Can you tell us a little bit more about your business journey, how you got into founding Snapley Sites and where you are today with your business?

Dana (01:32.687)
Yeah, well thank you for having me. I'm very excited to be here. So I started Snappley Sites about a year and a half ago. In my past life, I like to say my past life, my first act, I was a high school math teacher for seven years. And I just, I got really burned out. I was putting my all into it. I'd always kind of just been dipping my toes into things on the side. I don't know if you've heard of Teachers Pay Teachers.

Ruthie Sterrett (01:58.422)
Mm-hmm.

Dana (01:58.499)
I had a store on there for a while and then I got a job at a really large branding and web design agency where they hired me as an account manager. They interviewed me. had some great transferable skills. So I came on and then I started doing, they had me start doing website updates and then I started handling project management and just kind of taking over these bigger projects and.

was also handling the sales side. I was handling support, just doing a little bit of everything. And we'd have potential customers call in and say, hey, like I'm starting a business. I want a website. And we were a big agency. Our prices were starting at 10, 15, $20,000. And I'd have to turn them away and say, hey, try Fiverr or Upwork, something out there. So I started to think, what's the solution for?

for these businesses, these smaller businesses that need a professional website but don't have these large funds to invest upfront. And so that's when I started Snappley Sites on the side. So I started designing websites with no upfront costs, just a flat monthly hosting and maintenance fee and started becoming a partner with my clients and got that rolling. I'm still working a different full-time job.

I work at the Boyd Innovation Center, we're a co-working space that supports startups in Columbia, South Carolina, but I'm still growing my web design business on the side. And like you said in the intro, I am still going through IVF, which is pretty intense. This is my first time kinda talking about it publicly. like you said, we were talking in the DMs about it, but it's something that I've been

wanting to share for a while and just kind of be a resource for people. So I'm happy to be here.

Ruthie Sterrett (03:57.417)
Yeah. Well, the first thing I want to dive into is LinkedIn. And I think this is something that comes up for a lot of people who are maybe having a career while building a business is who am I on LinkedIn? Am I an employee for that company? Am I a founder? Am I both? How do I balance both? How have you managed that?

Dana (04:21.195)
Yeah, that was a question that I struggled with for a long time, especially when I was working at this large branding agency and also trying to start this web design smaller agency on the side. And what I found that really works is just helping promote more of my story and what I learned along the way.

that kind of became my strategy is sharing podcasts. Like when I found your podcast a while back, sharing like takeaways, like, hey, I listened to this great podcast or promoting other people, sharing resources and kind of building out loud. When I left that bigger web design agency and got the job that I have now, which did allow me, it made it easier to talk about what I was doing on the side, because I definitely understand that.

that struggle of when you're building, but you have your full-time job, like your full-time job is your priority. But at the end of the day, your LinkedIn is, that's your professional, that's your voice, your personal brand. And so I started just really investing and telling more of my story and doing that by making connections and helping kind of share what I was learning along the way.

Ruthie Sterrett (05:43.455)
Yeah, for sure. I think a lot of people when they're in the corporate space, they look at LinkedIn as like this old school mentality of I'm using it to hire people or I'm using it to if I'm looking for a job. And so like the only posting that often happens if you've been in a corporate environment for a long time is posting about your company. Like we did this or maybe I did this for my company. But that personal like opinions or sharing an article or sharing a resource or a lesson.

That's something that takes a while to just even get used to. And so I would say for anybody, if you're like curious about how to leverage LinkedIn, start there. Start with what you did of sharing resources, sharing something that you thought was interesting or helpful in your work journey, whether it's career, corporate career or business, and other people will resonate.

And a big, big piece of LinkedIn is that community piece of commenting on other people's content, right? Have you found success or any traction in just having conversations through comments on LinkedIn?

Dana (06:47.65)
Yes, yeah. one of the things that I do too is when I was going through the feed, I think about what makes me pause, what are the pieces of content that I like to read? And there's a feature on LinkedIn where you can just like on Instagram where you can save the post. And so I'll kind of go through and see, what were the things that made me stop and that were interesting to me? And how can I share that to people who may stumble across my account?

and be interested. Yeah, definitely the comments.

Ruthie Sterrett (07:16.0)
Yeah.

Yeah. And I'm sure you've probably seen what a lot of people see over time with LinkedIn. Your personal profile, your name is going to get way more reach than your business page, than Snapley's next page, right?

Dana (07:30.775)
Yes. Yeah. Yes, yeah. People because people want to follow people and connect with people, not not a faceless brand. So even though Snappley Sites is active on LinkedIn, like I'll repost things that I post on Instagram, my effort on LinkedIn definitely goes into Dana Watkins, the founder of Snappley Sites, and connecting with real business owners with people with with storytelling.

Ruthie Sterrett (07:52.587)
Thank you.

Dana (07:59.607)
and other founders.

Ruthie Sterrett (08:01.151)
Yeah. So would you say that if we think about your social media strategy as a founder of a company, a brand, that you're LinkedIn first and Instagram second, or do you look at both of them equally?

Dana (08:15.054)
I'm still figuring out my strategy of like where I will say one of the when I first started my business I picked a niche of working working with construction I had a home builder client that was really successful and so I was like I'm gonna go down this path, but then I start I was going going heavily on Instagram, but then realizing these guys are out working They're not they're not looking at my my videos that I'm making on Instagram. So then I

I made the shift towards connecting with a changing, changing my niche, not, industry specific, but kind of business stage of like smaller mid growth businesses, but those, those founders who are active on LinkedIn. And so that's when I, when I made the switch of putting more effort into LinkedIn. So I use Instagram as kind of the story, the storytelling piece for Snappily, like showing clients success, showing

our process and the fun stuff. then LinkedIn is kind of more me as a builder explaining kind of some of the behind the scenes, also getting more vulnerable to on LinkedIn because relating to other, what other business owners are going through.

Ruthie Sterrett (09:29.983)
Yeah, and I think it's important when you are a business owner who is juggling a lot of things, choosing one platform or what your message is on each platform is super important so that you don't feel like you have to be everywhere all the time talking about all the things, right?

Dana (09:47.277)
Yes. Yes. I, it's just a lot. balancing, trying to build your business and run social media. So I did end up having somebody to help me with my, my social media content. I kept, I kept saying, okay, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. And I just, kept getting pushed off the LinkedIn piece because it's me storytelling. It's easier for me to create that content, but

Instagram and Facebook creating the graphics and the videos that just take so much so much time so I had to learn to say what's important to offload for the business to hire a professional to do and what are things that I can handle.

Ruthie Sterrett (10:28.447)
Yeah, and I think how you thought about your client and their business journey and what they're going to each platform for can help you prioritize, well, which one is going to resonate most. And then as your capacity opens up or your opportunity to outsource more opens up, maybe then you can go down the funnel of adding more to each platform, but starting in phases. And I think this is something that I teach clients a lot too, is getting consistent at one.

Dana (10:36.429)
Yeah.

Dana (10:50.158)
Thank you.

Dana (10:56.972)
Yes.

Ruthie Sterrett (10:57.095)
before we tried to do all.

Dana (10:59.744)
Yes, yes, absolutely. Yeah.

Ruthie Sterrett (11:02.195)
Yeah, for sure. So let's talk a little bit more about your IVF journey. And I appreciate that and I'm grateful for you to share that. You know, it is a personal thing to talk about and maybe even talk a little bit about your decision to why you haven't talked about it publicly or has there ever been times that you felt like I should talk about this, but I don't really know how and how you deal with that.

Dana (11:10.126)
Yeah

Dana (11:23.756)
Yeah, yeah, so I've kind of been, I've been talking about it more with my circle around me, but I heard a quote recently, Brene Brown, your story could be someone else's survival guide. And I really think about that, because when I first started my IVF journey, I was really into content about what other women were going through.

But I myself just, I don't, I just wasn't feeling ready to talk about that openly. But I, so my first job that I had, oops, sorry. Can we, I'm sorry. I might need to restart that one. I'm in a phone booth and somebody just, I'm in a club.

Ruthie Sterrett (12:07.061)
Yeah, no, that's okay. That's okay.

Ruthie Sterrett (12:13.66)
Oh yeah, yeah, that's really funny. That's fine. Do want me to ask the question again?

Dana (12:19.246)
No, yes, I'm sorry.

Ruthie Sterrett (12:23.105)
Okay, so let's talk a little bit about how you've decided what to share and what not to share in terms of your IVF journey, knowing that this is the first time you've talked about it publicly on the podcast, and I appreciate your vulnerability in having this conversation, but how did you kind of make that decision? And were there moments that maybe you felt like, should talk about this, but I don't really know what to say, or should I? And how you've worked through those questions.

Dana (12:50.486)
Yeah, it's definitely been something that I've been wanting to talk about and share, but yeah, so that I struggle with. So I heard a quote from Brene Brown that your story is someone else's survival guide. And when I was early on in my journey, I was really following a lot of women who were going through IVF and that's what was consuming me on social media. And some of those accounts really gave me a lot of hope and

than when I started kind of talking about it with my circle. And even people kind of on the outside of my circle, like just kind of bringing it up. I was surprised at how many women or people would, or even men too would say, hey, know some, like we had a neighbor who had to go through that. Or even somebody saying, I went through that. And so the more, for me personally, the more I just started to kind of share it of like, hey, this is something that I'm going through.

the more I was surprised at how open people were about it. It is something though that I try to, you kind of want to protect yourself too, because you don't know how people feel about it. But I know that sharing more of my journey and what I'm going through will help. It just helps people understand if I'm...

If I'm having a hard time with something, they know like, hey, this is this thing that she's going through. Yeah.

Ruthie Sterrett (14:24.312)
Yeah. Well, I think too, you know, we look at other people on the internet, whether they're full-time content creators or they're other business owners. And I think often we have to remind ourselves that we're seeing like 1 % of their lives and we see 100 % of our own lives. And so it feels like, oh my gosh, it's so messy over here and I have all these things and like, nobody knows and should I share and should I not?

But I think the idea, and I think you take this approach with your LinkedIn as well, is that it's about relationships, it's about humans, it's about being social first. And if that means sharing a story that could help someone else, that's great. Or if it means keeping it to yourself and protecting your own energy and your own boundaries so that you can show up in other ways, that's okay too. We all need to make those decisions for what's right for us.

Dana (15:18.069)
Yes, yeah.

Ruthie Sterrett (15:22.107)
in our season of business and of life. know, it could be for some people, could be maternity leave. For other people, it could be a child who is sick or struggling with something or, you know, struggling with school things, which happens to a lot of moms in different seasons. And while, yes, the decision to share can absolutely help someone and it can absolutely humanize you and your brand.

Dana (15:28.376)
Okay.

Dana (15:37.678)
Yeah.

Ruthie Sterrett (15:49.811)
It's a deeply personal decision. And I do love what you said too about you were having more conversations within your circle. And that's something that I guide people a lot of if you're not talking about it offline, we don't need to go talk about it online.

Dana (16:04.266)
Yes, yes, and yes, yeah, and I don't know if I ever, maybe one day I'll be to the point where I'm ready to online share the journey of like what I went through, but right now what works for me is these kind of smaller one-off conversations where, like you said, the humanizing part, the relationships, sharing it that way is what's working for me right now.

Ruthie Sterrett (16:30.175)
Yeah. Have you found that while juggling the full-time job and building the business and showing up on social media and probably doctor's appointments and all the things that you're managing, have you find it difficult to be consistent with your marketing?

Dana (16:45.484)
Yes, absolutely, finding it, yes. Yeah, and I think that's another reason too that I just was like, I'm just gonna be open about it because of the amount of doctor's appointments that you have to have. And then the really low moments that come with an IVF journey, I was like, it's just gonna be easier for me if I just tell, hey, my boss, like, hey, this is what I'm going through.

Ruthie Sterrett (16:48.405)
Yeah.

Dana (17:13.25)
And then I share it occasionally with clients too. Like my mom clients, like they know what I'm going through and they know though that, you know, I show up for them, I'm consistent for them, but the marketing side, it's definitely, that has been something that's taken a backseat for sure. you can only have so many priorities and that's something that's...

Ruthie Sterrett (17:32.799)
Yeah.

Ruthie Sterrett (17:36.267)
you

Dana (17:39.736)
that's been challenging for me as I'm trying to scale my business.

Ruthie Sterrett (17:43.743)
Yeah, I think so often times we get in our head with all the shoulds. I should be doing this, should be doing that, I should be here, I should be showing up, I should be more consistent. And it's really about being consistent but not constant. And so like, what's the rhythm that we can maintain in this season? And then really trying to let that shame go of like, in this season, I can't be all the places all at once. I can't do all the things.

Dana (17:48.703)
Yeah.

Dana (18:06.978)
Yeah.

Ruthie Sterrett (18:13.537)
So what is the rhythm that I can be consistent with? And for some clients, it might mean a nine grid or a three grid on Instagram, and we're not posting at all, you know, or it might mean a weekly LinkedIn newsletter, and that's it. Or it might be on LinkedIn, we're not posting at all, but we're spending 10 minutes a day engaging with other people. And finding those rhythms that you can commit to for the season that you're in and letting go.

Dana (18:21.42)
Yeah. Yeah.

Dana (18:34.445)
Anyway.

Ruthie Sterrett (18:42.473)
of all of those shoulds, right?

Dana (18:44.426)
Absolutely, yeah. And that nine grid that worked for me on Instagram, and that's something that I'm probably gonna get back to is just a once a week video or some sort of like, hey, I'm still here, but finding the rhythm and being consistent for sure without trying to be in too many places at once.

Ruthie Sterrett (19:03.913)
Yeah, yeah. So let's talk a little bit more about personal brand and kind of how you've leaned into that as a founder on LinkedIn. You don't have a personal public Instagram presence. Is that an intentional decision?

Dana (19:21.742)
So that's something I've actually been kind of considering because of the success that I've seen in LinkedIn of sharing my founder story. I've almost been wondering maybe my Snapley Instagram is Dana from Snapley because I think about the the the business owners that I follow on Instagram and they'll share just like being able to connect more with that personal side. So it's right now it's just by me not

Ruthie Sterrett (19:29.377)
Mm-hmm.

Ruthie Sterrett (19:46.763)
Hmm.

Dana (19:50.713)
being sure of what direction I want to take. tried. So that's something that I'm definitely considering of shifting Instagram from that view.

Ruthie Sterrett (19:59.221)
Yeah, and the listeners of this podcast have probably heard me talk over the different seasons of like, it is a struggle and managing, I have one? Do I have both? If I have both, how do I show up on both? What content goes where? And I can say me, like I waffle back and forth. Like sometimes I'm leaning into Ruthie Starritt as the founder of the Consistency Corner. And sometimes that profile is real quiet and we're pouring all of our energy over into the Consistency Corner profile.

Dana (20:10.593)
Yeah.

Dana (20:20.024)
Uh-huh.

Ruthie Sterrett (20:28.137)
And then it might flip flop where actually as we record this, I'm have on the to do list, create a nine grid for the consistency corner because the personal content right now for me is feeling a little bit more fun and a little bit more, you know, energizing. And so to lean in to that. And that's one reason that I do really recommend for people that we take a look at your social media strategy quarterly because it is.

Dana (20:29.976)
Okay.

Ruthie Sterrett (20:55.461)
ever evolving and just like your business strategy, your messaging, your offer suite, so many things are always changing that our marketing is too and so taking the time to kind of like revisit that is really important.

Dana (21:08.598)
Yeah, yeah, and to keep it fresh too.

Ruthie Sterrett (21:12.041)
Yeah, for sure. And I think you're right. think what we have found is an important thing to understand when we're creating content or we're making these decisions. People go to their phones and pick up these social media apps for a reason. And typically that reason is they want to be connected to something real. And it was just recently I heard online that like

at least 25 % of the content that's created on the internet is created by bots. And it might even be up to 50%. Right? then it said there was something that was like by 20, I don't know, 2030, 97 % of the content on the internet will be connected like, created by bots. And it's like people are craving human connection. And so to have a, to be a small business owner and have a...

Dana (21:44.354)
Yeah, right going up. Yeah, yeah.

Ruthie Sterrett (22:06.177)
brand and the company. Yes, I think it's important for your brand and your company to have a presence online. But I think in the long term, or at least where we are in 2025, the growth comes from the human, right?

Dana (22:19.47)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think that telling that story of being a small business owner, that's helped me actually get some of my local clients have connected with me just because I posted on a Facebook group and said, hey, I'm a local web designer. Here's some work I've done. I'd love to help because they've connected with that personal story.

Ruthie Sterrett (22:37.825)
Hi.

Ruthie Sterrett (22:41.375)
Yeah, yeah. So on the personal level, I would love to just wrap up here with a few non-business questions, just get to know you a little bit more. My first question is, what is your favorite way to unwind after a long day?

Dana (22:46.519)
Yeah.

Dana (22:57.126)
yeah couch and and some and some wine and Netflix couch with my husband and watching we we will we are some binge watchers whatever's trending we'll usually watch yeah yes yes

Ruthie Sterrett (23:08.277)
Yes.

Yes, the couch with a blanket like my favorite place to be. Yes. And when it comes to content, if you're picking up your phone and you're scrolling while you're chilling on the couch, what content do you enjoy consume?

Dana (23:26.062)
I love, I follow this woman who organizes things and writes in her planner and I just find that so peaceful. Like she'll just arrange her markers and stack her books and I just, I love that kind of content. I don't know why there's something inside of me that likes that.

Ruthie Sterrett (23:45.587)
Yeah, that's so funny. I think that's true for all of us. Like we have something that we like to consume. And again, this goes back to like, what is our audience looking for when they pick up their phones? And how can we figure out a way to deliver that content? But also a reminder for all of us who are business owners that have a service or a product based business. We are competing for attention with people who are creating content full time for a living.

Dana (24:12.6)
Yeah

Ruthie Sterrett (24:13.377)
And it is a different ballgame. It's like, it's not even apples to oranges. It's like apples to salad dressing. Like they're just different things, right? And so we can't get in our head with the shoulds when we're Trey Kennedy and I'm like, can't even think of any, and Mr. Williams pre-K. I'm like thinking of like creators that I follow that are making a business on creating content.

Dana (24:40.428)
Yeah, the comparison, that's.

Ruthie Sterrett (24:41.057)
Yeah, which is definitely an easy, easy rabbit hole to go down to. So, all right. Well, my last question is, what is something totally non-business related that gives you energy?

Dana (24:46.102)
Okay.

Dana (24:56.942)
Oh, I feel like so much of my life is in my business right now. I think spending time with my family, I'm I am so grateful to be in my mind until late 30s. And I've got my 89 year old grandma that I get to that lives 10 minutes from me that I get to spend time with her. And I just I love I've lived far, far from family for a while now. I'm close to family. So that definitely

gives me energy and I just love spending time with them.

Ruthie Sterrett (25:29.247)
Yeah, but hey, here's to working on your business, giving you energy because I get like, and I don't know if that's maybe Enneagram three me, but like you get into this like rhythm of I really want to work on this thing and I'm energized because I'm so interested in it.

Dana (25:33.344)
Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's...

Dana (25:42.414)
There's a wind.

Dana (25:45.996)
Yeah, I mean, like when people say, are your hobbies? I'm like, my business is my hobby right now in this season of life.

Ruthie Sterrett (25:54.057)
Yes. Well, all of this, I think, was helpful for our listeners in terms of the questions to consider as you think about showing up as a founder, showing up as a business owner, showing up as a personal brand versus a company, showing up on LinkedIn versus Instagram, and showing up in maybe a hard season of life. And so I appreciate you sharing more of your story and being vulnerable and having this conversation because I know it's going to help somebody out there who's

struggling with like, what the heck do I even do with my social media? So if you're listening and you're like, I need somebody to help me with a custom strategy, you know where to find me over at the consistency corner. And if you're looking for support with websites, Dana, tell us a little bit more about Snapley sites and ways that you can support clients.

Dana (26:41.014)
Yeah, I always love doing a free audit. So go to snappleysites.com and submit your site and I'll give you some feedback on it. Always happy to help out there. And then also if you're deep in the IVF world and you just need somebody to talk to, I'm on Instagram as SnappleySites. Feel free to send me a message there and I'm happy to connect and help how I can.

Ruthie Sterrett (27:09.589)
Yes. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today and thank you all for listening and we'll see you on the next episode of the Consistency Corner podcast.

Dana (27:17.807)
Thank