Made for Mothers
11. Girl, Just Wash Your Face + Other Hacks about Showing Up Online w/ The Skin Clique Co-Founder Claire O'Bryan
Meet Claire O'Bryan, one of my fave IG accounts to follow (trust me, she's hilarious) and the real deal when it comes to showing up online authentically. Claire is an Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner and Co-Founder of Skin Clique; she's also the brains behind the Dabble Co Podcast.
Claire's all about keeping it real, embracing her voice without apology (which hello, makes her 1000% more relatable). We're on the same page about creating content that's authentic, not just following trends. In this episode, we're digging into the messy stuff—career shifts, motherhood chaos, husbands who travel, support systems, meals for new mamas, washing your face, you name it. It's real talk about identity crises and the never-ending juggle of motherhood and entrepreneurship.
We're also chatting about simple skincare, why SPF is your BFF, and taking bold leaps in life and business. Claire's dropping wisdom left and right, and I guarantee you'll walk away feeling inspired and maybe a little more confident in creating video content!
My favorite tinted SPF that everyone needs
Connect with Claire on Instagram @claireobryannp and theskinclique
Learn more about Claire and her company by visiting her website
Check out Claire’s podcast: The Dabble Co Podcast
Connect with me on Instagram
Learn more about booking a Biz Therapy session and working together by visiting my website
Meet Claire O'Bryan, one of my fave IG accounts to follow (trust me, she's hilarious) and the real deal when it comes to showing up online authentically. Claire is an Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner and Co-Founder of Skin Clique; she's also the brains behind the Dabble Co Podcast.
Claire's all about keeping it real, embracing her voice without apology (which hello, makes her 1000% more relatable). We're on the same page about creating content that's authentic, not just following trends. In this episode, we're digging into the messy stuff—career shifts, motherhood chaos, husbands who travel, support systems, meals for new mamas, washing your face, you name it. It's real talk about identity crises and the never-ending juggle of motherhood and entrepreneurship.
We're also chatting about simple skincare, why SPF is your BFF, and taking bold leaps in life and business. Claire's dropping wisdom left and right, and I guarantee you'll walk away feeling inspired and maybe a little more confident in creating video content!
My favorite tinted SPF that everyone needs
Connect with Claire on Instagram @claireobryannp and theskinclique
Learn more about Claire and her company by visiting her website
Check out Claire’s podcast: The Dabble Co Podcast
Connect with me on Instagram
Learn more about booking a Biz Therapy session and working together by visiting my website
Hello and welcome to the Made for Mothers podcast, your one stop shop for candid and relatable conversations about motherhood and entrepreneurship. Think of the show as your new mom friend, where we dive into all things marketing, branding, mindset, money, child care and growing your business. While we all navigate our roles as both CEO and mom. I'm your host, mariah Stockman, and I wear a bunch of hats. I'm a boy mama, I'm serving as a marketing mentor for mothers, I'm running a six figure marketing agency and, on top of that, I'm the proud founder of the Made for Mothers community. This show is about sharing the real stories and the practical strategies from fellow mother run businesses. So dive in, grab your headphones, reheat that coffee and let's go.
Speaker 1:Hello, hello and welcome to another episode of the Made for Mothers podcast. I have to be a little bit honest. I'm having a full fan girl moment. This is a part of having a podcast that I didn't really see coming, which was, oh my gosh. Now I have this platform and I can just ruthlessly DM all these women in the world who I've been following and loving their content and be like hi, please come on my podcast. And that is definitely Claire O'Brien, who I have right in front of me. She's a nurse practitioner, she's the co-founder of the SkinClick and she's also the host of the Double Co podcast, which you have to stop what you're doing, go subscribe and check that out, because that's a very revolutionary podcast for a lot of reasons. I want to talk about that in a little bit, but, hi, claire.
Speaker 2:Hey, well gosh, thanks for the intro. I hope I can live up to that. I love doing podcasts, so happy to be here. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, totally. I love your content. I love everything you do. We talked about this before we pushed record, but you're so funny and it's interesting because I'm not even someone who I don't follow like a statistician accounts or Botox or that, but I don't even know how I came across to you like such a long time ago. I literally will stop and turn the volume up on your videos and actually listen to your videos, which does a lot because I'm a toddler mom.
Speaker 2:Stay humble, I'm honored, yeah, seriously.
Speaker 1:I'm a toddler mom, so the volume situation on videos is not always that accessible. I just love how authentic and real and I just feel like I don't even want to say like you're not shameless I don't know what the word is, you're just you like you can say that, but it's fine, I'm a little shameless.
Speaker 1:I love it. You just like put it all out there and people love it and they are attracted to what you're doing because you show up as you, and I think that that's something that is really hard to come across, I think, in this sort of very manufactured online space that we live in right now. Yeah, for sure, but with all that wild introduction, I'll let you actually introduce yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I'm a nurse practitioner and I started an Instagram account probably five or six years ago really, because and it's wild, because Instagram is so different now than it was Reels did not exist, stories did not exist when I started posting and I was seeing some medical accounts, but not really what I wanted to see. So I started with the intention of creating almost like I wanted to create, almost like a digital magazine where, like other women in medicine can contribute, because having your own platform and creating your own content daily or whatever that looks like it's a ton of work, right. And I was working in an academic cancer center and I thought I bet there are other women like me who want to be out there in some way but don't want to run their own platform. So I kind of started in that way and then things, so many things shifted. My job shifted, my family shifted, my focus shifted. I started a podcast which I was pouring more effort into there. I mean so many things shifted to.
Speaker 2:Instagram shifted, yeah, but that's where I started kind of my online presence. And now I mean, like you said in my intro, I ended up I left my academic cancer center job and ended up kind of accidentally co-founding what's now a very large company with my colleague and friend. I'm Dr Sarah Allen, and so my content's different and Instagram's changed dramatically and now we have TikTok and X and threads and all these other platforms that you have to kind of juggle those as well. But I do feel pretty strongly about like it really just doesn't benefit anyone anymore and I think the jig is kind of up to see like this artificial creation of content that's not real, not personal.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, not connected or honest or vulnerable or behind the curtain of the day to day. I mean, I feel like everyone can produce artificial content, manufactured content, but not everyone can be the person behind it, right? And I think that that's like at the cliche of all clichés, it's like you are your own content. But it's true, it's totally true, like you bring like a certain level of like wit and humor and like Southern charm and all of it. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Well, it's like medical sort of space right, there's a place for manufactured or artificial-ish, like that's. There's a word also I feel like have a negative connotation, but like there's also a place for that and I follow those people too Like. I'll use like an example so Julia Barrel-Sheimer is an influencer and she lives in Charleston and I don't think I've ever heard her like speak on her account. It's all very like professional photography, styled outfits, all the stuff. But it's beautiful and I just I love like seeing her. You know her home is beautiful, the outfits are the style. It's so like there is all that to say, like there's, there is a place for that and I want some of that in certain facets of my feed and my life as well.
Speaker 2:But I do think we got to a place of where it was making people feel like I have to live this way. So I try to just like separate the two you know what I mean Like there's different people that you should follow for different types of things that you want to see in your life. So, and like I mean we have a cool house but like it's unlikely that you're going to see me posting many outfits or things in my house, I just like I don't. I don't feel like that's what people are coming to me for. I don't know. It's just, I don't know.
Speaker 1:No, I totally understand what you're saying.
Speaker 1:I just think that there needs to be a balance of it.
Speaker 1:But I think you know the listeners of this podcast and the people who you know sort of low in and out of the made from others space.
Speaker 1:They are moms who run their own space, they run businesses and I think that one of their biggest sort of hurdles to marketing and getting on video is because they do think it has to be perfect, and so I love that if you know we could have more content like the content you're putting out. It does, I think, help women who moms, who feel really nervous about stepping into that space and getting on video. It does help them be like, oh, you know, like look look at what she's doing over there that's working for her. I could do that. I could show you know all sides of me and let people in and let them get to know me in like a real way, and I do think it just creates this sort of like ease of access to even starting videos. But tell me a little bit more about you said you worked, you know, in cancer research, all that, but then eventually you became a mom, right, and what was that like for you. You have two kids right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I had been working for probably about five years as a nurse practitioner before I had my first baby and yeah, I mean, I don't think there's really. This is a mom's podcast, so probably no one's listening. That's never had a baby. Maybe you are, but like if you haven't if you haven't had a baby, there's really not much anyone can say. To like actually Properly prepare you, right?
Speaker 2:No, I mean you just, you just can't Understand it until you've actually had a baby and and not that's just not knocking people to have one haven't, haven't had a baby. You, it's just inexplicable. You know so many things, yeah. So the biggest thing that changed, I think, for me is you know just obviously, the priorities in your life Completely shift and, and so I did go a little bit more part-time, like in academia, you're on a hundred percent like percentage of your job. So you're either clinic, like you can, you all your the, the hours that you work are a percentage of a hundred percent. So I dropped to point eight. Sorry, that was like too long. I'm a nice nation.
Speaker 1:What's a very academic answer.
Speaker 2:I'm a very nerd answer for, like, I dropped a few hours a week, so that's a lot of part-time. Yeah, my god, yes, just get to the point. I went a little bit more part-time, but, but not I mean point. I went from a hundred percent to eighty percent, you know. So, just a little bit, and and I would be having a little air. Thank you, 20% so I dropped 20%.
Speaker 2:Okay, great, got it, okay so. So you know, that was helpful and it just gave me a little bit more freedom to. I can't even remember. I don't remember how I was structuring my days at that point, whether I was like leaving a little bit earlier, maybe I dropped like one day a week. I honestly don't, I don't even remember.
Speaker 2:And then when I had my second baby, my husband's job was changing dramatically too. He stepped into a more of a business development role within medicine and then he's he's a physician and started traveling a lot. And you know, it just became very clear that you know, you, we had a nanny and all that stuff, but it, that's just different, I mean, for us. I also needed to be able to support him and sometimes travel with him and Different different things where I was like I just this isn't, I don't think this is gonna work, and part of that reason Was that so in a cancer practice, most of my patients had cancer, right, it's so different, I can't am I my boss, who I just I adored working with him and it was so fulfilling, it was more of my identity than I wanted to realize at the point. I think we all really want to say like, oh, work is not my identity, but it was. I mean, no one tells you like great job at your house at the end of the day, you know, no one tell is like right, no one's clapping like when you're bringing in the groceries or whatever and we're at work. I'm I mean, I was critical, critically important, you know, and like saving lives, all the stuff like that becomes a part of your identity and what, whatever your work is, it really does.
Speaker 2:And but it was very clear that this it Just wasn't gonna work anymore. My boss was like, hey, let you know, go more part-time, it's, it's okay. But I knew like I can't take off. You know, if it's Friday and I'm getting an email that like, oh, my pet scan Isn't covered for Monday or whatever, I can't be like oh sorry, I don't, I don't work on Fridays, like deal with it. You know, I just knew that wasn't what the job needed, that wasn't what those patients needed and it just wasn't gonna work for me. I also am not capable of turning off like my brain in that way, like even on a day if I wasn't working, I can't not check those emails because I know that stuff is there. Thankfully my business partner was at the time, was approaching me to you know, help. Now what is become this large business? But I mean, it was the hardest thing I've ever done. You know, I know we talked a little bit about this, but I cried every single day For like two months because I gave them, I, I was able to give them plenty of notice, which, in medicine, is a little different, like if you work in in retail or mark me anywhere else, like it's.
Speaker 2:It's different. You're not like handing off yes, you're handing off, you know, clients or Customers or whatever, but you're not handing off, like someone's life, medicine. It is courteous to give like 90 days if you can, and so I was, you know, able to give them a really long notice. But that also like drew out the emotional part of me, leaving the grief. Yeah, I was grieving this my life, my identity, my, you know, my patient something that I just I loved. I mean, I love that that job.
Speaker 1:So many, I think so many moms who are most of the moms that you know I Surround myself with and who listen to this podcast they are constantly navigating that duality of I. I love my family and I love that I became a mom and, wow, what a gift, right for sure, transformational that you were. You totally nailed it earlier when you said it's really hard for anyone to properly prepare you for that transformation. That is life altering, and I love what I do and I'm passionate about what I do and I'm purpose-driven and I'm Ambitious too, and I think that a lot of women have guilt for being ambitious when they become sort of navigating. Both of that that mom guilt and the mental load of motherhood and the pressure of work is just ever-present present when totally you're navigating all that.
Speaker 1:I also have a husband who travels 160 days of the year and it is HG double hockey sticks. For me that's brutal, but we have to have we have to have a lot of help too. I mean, I had to shift my whole business and his job is like this. His job is like this oh hey, I have to leave tomorrow at 3 am and I might be gone for eight days and he works in basically ending school shootings. And so here I am, over here feeling like this total, selfish, horrible human being.
Speaker 1:Right like right, need you home because I have to Do, do x-y and z. I'm like, oh, but please go save Las Vegas systems, right. And so there is. There's just this constant tug. But I, when you talked about your husband traveling, I mean that is, besides being like maybe a military spouse for your husbands or your partner, is literally deployed there. It is so hard and I would never say like, oh, I'm yeah, or solo parenting, but it is. I mean, it's a different level of struggle because there is such a high Coordination happening. Right, household, there's so much to coordinate.
Speaker 2:All of a sudden you have happier help and and you hear that I feel like, okay, so this is so interesting, like I. I feel like I made a video one time about Something on my tiktok I can't remember what it was my husband, and it was like a totally a joke. I oh, he was on, he was traveling for work and I made this tiktok. It was like in my own vacation, like what are we? Just because it's like different, you know, anyway, and all these women were like I'm divorced and now, and it's like so much easier. And I was like, oh well, I'm not like, but but I totally get that.
Speaker 2:I think that for some Women it actually is Almost easier when you have a partner who's not present, not because of work, but maybe for other reasons, because you can actually plan for that right, and you're in charge, and you're in charge of the coordination, whereas, so my husband's travel is very similar, where he'll be like oh, hey, yeah, I'm gone tomorrow. No, not for eight days, but probably two or three days. He and he won't know, for you know, until the day or two before right. And so all of a sudden, you know when, I thought, okay, I don't need a babysitter on Saturday morning to go get my haircut or whatever the hell it is Now you just it's a lot of mental gymnastics, which is, you know, the mental load is significant.
Speaker 2:We don't really talk about it as much as we should, but it is significant.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the podcast, where that's literally all we talk about is the mental load amount.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, great Well, I'll tell you about it.
Speaker 1:But, yes, my husband will come home and I will literally tell him every single day how much I miss him and love him and I will get. He will get home and I am so ruthlessly annoyed at him for just like existing in the space that I You're here all of the time.
Speaker 2:You're here.
Speaker 1:Then, you know, I feel bad too, because my son is two, right, so my son's two, so well, he's going to be two in March. He's not two yet. But this thing is happening in his actual little body development, where things are changing every single day for him. They'll say new things, they'll do things. He still sleeps in like you know, like a sleep sack, and my husband comes out and puts him to sleep and, god forbid, he did not turn the sleep sack inside out, because it's no that when he was going to Nine days Nine days that my son now unzips and crawls out and can crawl all the crib. So it's like these big things happen.
Speaker 1:And then I get home and then I feel bad because I'm like, oh yeah, by the way, we do this differently now, and so there is just this like back and forth of it's just this bartering of guilt constantly and Right, and also just joy that he's home and I don't know. We have lots of help too, and so I feel really, really privileged, like really privileged in that regard For sure, and I would not be able to do what I do and I love what I do, and so there is this, just this huge thing, like I wish I could be with my son full time, but also I think I would be thinking about work and all these projects and the businesses that I want to build while I'm playing with him, and I can't separate things Like they don't. I'm not that person. I am someone who loves work too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, which is which is really common, right, and like, I think I have several friends who stay at home and they are meant to stay. They want to be there. That's what they're meant to do. And let me tell you something. First of all, staying at home is 8,000 times harder than going to work 100%.
Speaker 2:So much harder. But also, yeah, I mean, I think I think that battle of the guilt, confusion, identity crisis, you know guilt for it? Oh, who's it? I mean I think she was giving a speech one time and she was like hey, listen, if I'm killing it at home, my work life is suffering. If I'm killing it at work like my home life is suffering, we can't have it all, like you said. I mean we can, you can, I hate to say, like you can't be a mom and a wife and work and do all these things, like sure, of course you can, but you can't have it all at the same time, like it's just something has to give all day, every day.
Speaker 1:And it's going to sacrifice. And typically it's like a mom's like wellbeing or health or mental health, I mean for sure. I always say like, hey, I'm either going to answer those emails or that laundry is going to get folded and guess what? Like my nanny comes in and she goes oh, piles, yeah, yep, thank you, but all the emails are in. I mean, I have to prioritize every day around what matters most, right, and I am very proud, and you are probably very proud too, that your kids get to watch you build, like whatever sort of empire you're building over there. You know, and it's cool, it's totally instilling in all of them to this. This level of, oh, entrepreneurship is totally normal, it's totally normalized.
Speaker 1:Where I didn't really grow up with that, you know, I grew up with go get that job. For 30 years work in non. I have a whole background in nonprofit and when I left my nonprofit life I felt very a total identity crisis of like, oh, I'm not like saving the communities anymore. And then fast forward. I'm like, oh, wait, no, now I'm building a community for moms. It's like, wherever we go, that's where we are, you know. So, right, so anyways, all of that to say I love that you understood that moment in time, even if it was so hard, because what happened on the other side for you when you said no to that job that was no longer going to serve your family, you didn't know at the time, but it opened this door to this whole other work that you're doing now, right. So, yeah, super cool, I love that you're you're still supporting and serving you know so many people and women in into like the masses. Now, right, and you get to build your own, your own business and your own structure around that for your family.
Speaker 1:So you're a ascetician, nurse, nurse practitioner, and so I want to talk a little bit about skin. Is that okay with you? Do you like to? Yeah, so I think that one of the reasons why moms particularly don't want to be a nurse, don't want to get on video, is because they feel totally disheveled and they don't feel like put together, they don't feel camera ready and it's it's just extra work to get camera ready, and I think that there's a lot of self-esteem and confidence in especially early motherhood too, like, let's think about like toddler moms, right, a mess, we're a mess, I'm a mess, we're doing a banana all the time. Do you have anything that you can add to this conversation. For moms that would be like, hey, here's some quick tips or some like routines or some swaps, and I'm not talking like, sure, like Botox and filler, that's great, but things that are maybe like really accessible to them, to like that they can just feel more confident, maybe in their skin, to then step out on video.
Speaker 2:So a few things. First of all, botox is great, but I literally will tell patients no, if they're not taking care of their skin, because you're never going to see the results that you would even want to see, like you can't. There's a saying. It's like you can't clean the canvas with a needle, so you can get all the Botox in the world. And if you're like not washing your face and getting the dead skin off, you know it's doesn't matter how smooth your forehead is. Head is, it's dull and textured and it would be better looking on camera if you would just wash and exfoliate it that day.
Speaker 1:So just to put that on there, I love that though, because I do think sometimes it's pushed, that that is like the quick fix. I mean we think don't get like, don't get libo suction if you just want to eat McDonald's all day, yeah.
Speaker 2:So if you're going to go to the gym, like then don't bother. Yeah, exactly Like you got to take care of what's underneath, exactly. I love that analogy and I think we're all looking for that miracle product, but really so. When I do skincare consults, I tell people whether they're on 15 products or no products at all and like, listen, I would rather you be on a few quality products, a couple steps consistently, than the most expensive, coolest, best product that there is right now. You know what I'm saying, so I think a couple simple steps. So many things that came out there's LED mask. There's the new face, there's Lareo, there's Clarison.
Speaker 2:I mean, people ask me the shit all the time, like just what do you wash your face? And they're like I mean not really. I'm like, well then, don't buy an LED mask. So, honestly, like the simplest of things is just washing your face a little exfoliating with something gentle, like a Zio Polish, I mean DM me. I'm happy to help. Maybe a toning pad a couple times a week is good for you. Sunscreen every day. I mean, there's no ingredient that is more powerful in protecting and preserving the health of your skin than sunscreen Doesn't exist, which I understood that when I was 18.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, I wish I understood that when I had a membership to the tanning bed like an idiot.
Speaker 1:I know Like born and raised. So dumb, yeah, like still like such a sun worshiper and I'm just sort of like, oh my gosh, why is that? It's really insane. So we're.
Speaker 2:I'm like mortified that there's so much sun in my office. But wait, here we are.
Speaker 1:Can we actually talk about SPF for just a second, because I feel like I see this come up a lot. Talk to me about SPF if we're in the middle of winter and you sit in front of a window like see how both of our videos have window.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, you're like. You might as well be outside. I mean right, so that I should. I always have, I put it on. You should wear sunscreen every single day, and the sunscreen in your makeup does not count.
Speaker 1:Okay, Top that because, okay, this will put me right in my, my perfect era. I am the. What was it? Oh my gosh. The um. You know swirl, swirl, tap, tap. You know that makeup? What am I? Bare bare minerals. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, talking about that was like the thing right, the swirl, tap, tap.
Speaker 1:Their whole thing was like makeup with sunscreen in it. I mean, that was their, the mineral powder, I mean.
Speaker 2:So it's not nothing, but the amount of like. Let's say, your tinted moisturizer or your foundation or whatever has SPF in it, and it'll say, like it's SPF rating, like the amount that you would have to use to actually get that SPF rating is more than you would ever put on as a normal person putting on makeup, right. So, like now, I will say there's brands like color science who, like they will make a sunscreen and then turn it into makeup instead of having makeup and putting sunscreen in it. Yes, like, they're, exactly so, but even they have that one, that they have the brush. Yes, the powder.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, no. The one that like is so like weird. It feels so good when you do it. It like shakes and it makes that little like, like noise. I don't know it's like. It's like this little. It's obviously the blue bottle. I love it. It's like a little bit of like a tinted SPF. I love it. I forgot it is, but I'm definitely going to link it in the show notes. On from your store they have the best.
Speaker 2:I mean, they have amazing sunscreen and there's like skin better, makes a compact. That's kind of the same consistency as, like that Clinique Crest Foundation that we all had, like you know, 25 years ago. But yeah, so, so you want an actual, dedicated sunscreen and now, like I like to get my patients to the point where they're wearing a tinted sunscreen instead of foundation. Right, you know, I mean because, like you said, I mean, look at your, the sun does not, is not going away just because it's winter. Like it's not, like the sun doesn't exist. When people say they don't want to wear sunscreen every day, they're like, oh, I just wear it when I go outside. I literally give them this example. I'm like do you drive a car? Do you have windows? That's what.
Speaker 1:I was thinking and do you sit in front? I mean like we all are.
Speaker 2:Do you use a phone? You're getting blue light.
Speaker 1:I mean yes, like how bad is sitting at night scrolling on Instagram? Is that blue light for your skin?
Speaker 2:It's blue light. But I mean I don't think we have like good enough data yet to say like X amount of time is causing X amount of damage. But I think it's all like a cumulative effect. But yeah, let me go back.
Speaker 1:I like the dabble podcast, though and this is not to be just the most 80 moment, but this is actually this question I just asked you. This whole line of questions is actually why everyone should stop listening to this episode and go listen to the dabble podcast, because it is really about these trends versus facts, like of this medical, not like overly medical jargon, like you just had like a postpartum depression expert on there, but it is this question of, oh, what you just said. We don't have enough data to know if that blue light is going to hurt our skin at night when we're like aimlessly scrolling, however, how many people on Instagram scare me? Like who are estheticians who scare me? Like stop, you know, that's so bad. Da, da, da, da, da, come in and see me. You need to, like you know, get that fixed. And it's like well, wait, hold on. Is that true? It's so, it's just so.
Speaker 2:Yeah there's certain that we just I just don't think we have a good enough amount yet of specifically about blue light. I mean, like this blue light blocking glasses came out a few years ago and it's one of those things where it's like it's not hurting you to wear them, but we don't really know like there's really no evidence yet to say that not wearing it is a problem.
Speaker 1:So it's like an industry of of now we sell these products and everyone buys them, and I think that that's yeah for sure. So, like, do you need to buy them, you know?
Speaker 2:But going back to the real like heart of the question about like getting on camera and being in front of your audience, I truly believe. Okay, so like, yes, there are days when I am trying to think of a good example, like if I have like an important meeting, or some days like if I have, like if it's like recently I've washed my hair and I'm going to curl it and like fully put on makeup that day, I will batch, create more content that day that I'll keep for later. But that does not stop me from creating content on the days that I don't look like that and I think that my followers now know that. Like I struggle with acne, rosacea, melasma and have for years now, and I've access to the best treatments in the world and there's still going to be days when I break out. I am going to post about that, I'm going to point it out because I do actually think that that is what connects me with people, often 100%.
Speaker 1:And then people, and then people who are struggling with that. I see this all the time. They tag you in their videos about their acne rosacea and it is this community, like sub community building you're doing around it.
Speaker 2:No for sure. And I mean even Alex Earl, who's like one of the biggest influencers in the world. She's probably about to go on Accutane for like the fourth time and you know, I mean she treats her body like a trash can, which is part of it, but that's, you know, not whatever. That's not my cross to bear. But yeah, I think there's days when I have absolutely no makeup on and of course I want to, you know, like get in the best lighting I can and look a little better.
Speaker 2:But sometimes I'm like maybe I'm gonna put eye patches on today and and I or I have eye patches on and I forget. And then I start talking and like, oh yeah, I mean I think that I don't think it matters for your particular industry. I mean I think people like to see both. I think they like to see your real reality and, and some days the reality is you're going to get up and get dressed and fix your hair and put on makeup, and if you're not doing that, I think truly not that you need to for anybody else, but like it just, you feel better. I mean I feel better on the days that I get up and get dressed and maybe I don't put my makeup on. Maybe I just put on my sunscreen, whatever it is, you know.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I think, just not being so self conscious, yeah, and I mean I think that that's just like breaking down, like that sort of that's such a I mean that's such an embedded issue that so many women and men struggle with. Yeah, but I loved what you were saying about just these, like I love all of that and I feel I feel like, in some regards, I love that you have these like products to talk about and like you are such like a thought leader and expert in this one area and we all are and in whatever we're doing, and we find the content that works for us, and so that actually made me think. Do you feel like you already kind of know the answer to this? But do you plan out your content? So do you think in your head oh, my God, no.
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah, not even a little bit. Okay, is there like a strategy? To no, absolutely not, which is probably why I don't have more followers, because I feel like if I would actually have a strategy, I could maybe, but I don't what. My engagement is so high that I'm like I would rather have 20,000 followers and high engagement than you know. Sometimes look at these accounts with like a million followers and I'm like wait, only three people comment on this. That's weird, right.
Speaker 2:And the biggest performing like reels and posts are often not even what's in like my niche, right. Like the biggest one I had recently was when I just kind of jumped on camera I'm super big on after I had my first baby and people brought me meals because you're like, how do I cereal? I don't even know. And I was like I will never again not take someone a meal, never, never. I just kind of like overthink it and they think it has to be a production and all this stuff. And I just kind of learned over the years and also two babies and then brain surgery. So like I've received a lot of meals and it's not. Yes, of course I love a big production, but I'm like you know what Also, this person ordered, you know, a meal from I don't know do you have tzatziki's wherever everybody is the Greek place down the street, and like that was great too. Or they brought me a rotisserie chicken and a bag salad, you know, and it's like just to take talk about mental load and you know a pack of Hawaiian rolls, whatever it is, it's just like this is what we're eating tonight and it's just it is what it is. So, all that to say, I've kind of gotten down to a science, like the way that I take people meals.
Speaker 2:So I always keep like disposable pans at my house, which they're like, you know, a $5, like a 10 packet Costco and I, if I make a big meal for there's just four of us, so like if I make a big meal that I'm like, oh, this would freeze really well, I'll freeze half of it and I'm like I'm going to need a meal at some point and so I've got the frozen. The pans that are, you know, disposable pans freeze half the thing. You know, if I have salad stuff, I'll take it. Or I'll get a salad kit, maybe some bread, and I'll take, like usually like a, some kind of tree, and because I'm in skincare I try to take, like, if I have a little mask or something that I can like take for, if it's like a new mom or whatever, I'll try to kind of throw that in. So I made a reel about that and just said so.
Speaker 2:My friend's mom died recently and I reached out and just was like, hey, you know, do you have like a meal drink, and we bring you to a meal? And her husband texted back and was like dinner tonight would be great. And I was like, okay, it was like two o'clock, you know. Right, like I'm, yeah, but I like wanted I usually can make turkey meatloaf and mashed potatoes because we love that meal and everybody loves it, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, we're having like instant pot chicken soup tonight, like this chicken chili.
Speaker 2:So I just kind of jumped on camera and was like, hey, this is what I'm doing and don't overthink it. And it's something that I also learned this from another influencer. I'm sorry, I will, I will straight ramble. There's another influencer I follow. If you're not following her and you're a mom like what are you even doing? Her name's Kate Strickler. It's at nap time kitchen. Oh, we love her. And oh, my God, okay, so I've I've met her twice, but I met she thinks I met her for the first time a few weeks ago and we have a lot of mutual friends talking about fangirling and we were at the same like podcast.
Speaker 1:in a year You're going to be like I'm so glad, my first time here. Like wait, claire.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, it's so funny. So so I was like, oh, claire, like have you met Kate? And I turned around and I was like, oh my God, I love you so much. Zero chill. Oh my God. My friend Sarah literally said she was like I love, how chill that you were about that. And I was like, no chill, I'm not so serious. I'll have to say what I learned from her is like she is sharing things that are second nature to her, like it's second. It's second nature to her that, like her mom taught her, if you like a recipe, print it out and put it in a binder. You know like that's second nature and like so simple, so simple.
Speaker 1:That's why I love her simple, love her content. It's so simple.
Speaker 2:Sharing tips about freaking ziplot bags, you know, and like here's how I freeze my cheese from Costco and I'm like God bless America, I am doing that now. Yes, I feel like those are my most kind of helpful. Or like seen moments by people and it's stuff whether it's with skincare or kitchen stuff, it doesn't matter Like it's just when you you break down that wall of I'm here to market something for you, and whether it's a moment of vulnerability, whether it's like a tip that you just naturally do in your daily life, or whether it's like a small tip about your niche, like I forget people don't know the makeup, the sunscreen in your makeup is not enough. Like I, because it's just that's what I talk about all day. So I'm like how do you not know that? But like, of course, why would you know that? That's not your job? I know.
Speaker 1:I, and I think that we we do really over complicate it where we feel like we have to share so much tips, so much education, so much, so much. And it's like, well, actually take local back to percentages, because we're super good at math over here. Well, take like, just take like 4% of that concept and just share that. Like, just share that one little like. That was such a good example of what you said about the ziplocks, Like you don't have to talk too much about it. It's just this one little moment in time and it is on brand for her and it is on brand for you to talk about. You know how to help people and you know, with the I love that what you're talking about with bringing people a meal and that I didn't understand until I became a mom how easy it is to support a new mom. And you know I will. I will send any new mom a DoorDash gift card in their email. That is just like the my husband's always saying why do we have so many DoorDash gift cards? I'm like, no, they're not ours. I sent them, Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Yeah, Don't worry about it. I do love that.
Speaker 1:And you know, I love how you're breaking that down to be, when you hear that as like a process, and I'm laughing at asking if you have a strategy, because in my mind I'm thinking, like, is there a sales strategy? To like I'm fail, Because I do know that all of this does link back to you know, revenue generating activities at some point. Yeah, have all these different. I do know that you have a very diverse universe, structure of business around you. You have, like influencing, you have skincare products that you sell. You have your nutrition, you have podcasts, which I don't know if that's being monetized in some way. I'm not sure, but there is sort of like this, this very diverse, interesting universe, that web that you've built around you. That is a business model too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I say there's no strategy, I mean. So I will say this like for probably 18 months, almost two years, I really let my personal brand get neglected and kind of pushed to the wayside while I was working on my actual company and like I was doing our social media and I was, and like there was only I just only had so much margin for that. So I would I will say like right now, as of like a month ago, you know, we're like making the hires in the company to do that, which is great, so I can step back. So I'm in like personal brand growth mode. But exactly it all plays together. Like if my personal brand grows, then more nurse practitioners, pas and physicians hear about our company.
Speaker 2:Maybe we open in a new state, you know. Maybe you know it drives patients to me. But patients also like I do skincare. I connected three of my skincare consults this week with injectors across the country that work for me. So like it all plays in together. And monetizing podcasts I just like that has also fallen by the wayside, like I could and I have before. It's just kind of lower on the totem pole right now, but like it feeds into my personal business strategy. So I'm like I pay for I have a great producer if you need anybody, but I don't know if you edit your own. I'm always like I excurs like math. I'm like I can't actually do that.
Speaker 1:I definitely have a podcast manager who edits it. Okay, I mean, I'm like that would stress me out.
Speaker 2:I don't outsource much, but I definitely was like I don't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was like no way.
Speaker 2:I can't. Oh, you know what I was going to say. I totally forgot this fleeting thought. Okay, never underestimate the value of the things that are like second nature to you, and whatever your business is, or your job or your, what content that you're creating. Like that's what I think is so critical about Kate from Naptime Kitchen, and like what, really, when, when my stuff really hits home, it's that I have realized it's valuable to someone else. So, anyway, that's just a side note, and also get a podcast producer, but yeah, so I'm just just thinking about that. Like I really want to say that. Like don't. I think people think that they don't have any value to offer and it has to be like some big production and it just yes, no, it doesn't.
Speaker 1:I do think that the introduction of Reels X amount of years ago contributed to that. Everything has to be all of a sudden. It was like everything is content, everything is content. And then when you are operating in the world, if everything is content, that's very overwhelming. But instead just try producing a piece of content a day, whether that be a story or post or a reel, and really just simplifying for that. And then don't be dumb and pay attention to your audience. Don't just, yeah, I think like oh, I like to produce this content because it's easy or low hanging fruit, or I like it, or it's pretty or whatever. It's my aesthetic.
Speaker 1:Look at what people are actually relating to and what they're commenting on. I love what you said. That big account can have 3 million followers, but they're getting three likes, or they're getting three. Yeah, I will instantly think like oh, those are all bot followers for sure. When I see that, I think I just think that can't be real. But also, it's because their content is not asking anything, it's not doing anything. Yeah, yeah, it's not engaging intentionally.
Speaker 2:It just depends, and there's also like there's a place for that. They might have millions of followers and so, based on that volume alone, they can command great partner just because of the way they style it and the way it looks. So I mean, there's definitely like a place for all of it, but just don't think that that has to be your place. And there's something else going to. Where's I going with that? Like there was a gym, a pearl of wisdom that was right on the tip of my tongue. I don't remember what it was. Anyway, if it comes to me I'll bring it back. But yeah, don't feel like you have to be that place of creating. Oh, tiktok, that's what I was saying.
Speaker 2:I think Instagram went into this very curated, manufactured space for a long time and then the beauty of TikTok which now is about to go away, I think, because it's becoming essentially like a shopping app but for such a long time on TikTok, the less curated and absolutely unhinged, the better the content did.
Speaker 2:So that is kind of filtering back into Reels, which I so appreciate, because I, for a while, like I felt kind of paralyzed for a little while. I'm also seeing bigger influencers say, like a couple of friends that I follow and keep up with. Recently one of them said like, hey, I have stuff I want to post, but I feel like it's not good enough right now, like, how do you guys feel about posting less curated stuff? And it was like you know, 99% of people were like, yeah, absolutely post it. So I do. I think people think there was a time and a place, was and is a time and a place for all of that, and it's just now more of a mix and we can successfully feel less pressure and also use these different platforms, like talking about creating one piece of content a day. You can download threads and create a thread. I literally did one yesterday that was like happy birthday to Taylor Swift and those who, all who celebrate or whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I saw it, taylor Swift.
Speaker 2:Yeah, crushed it. I don't know how many times. I got shared a lot of shitload, but, like us, it's. I typed out a sentence screenshot, did it and then put it on a white background and that was it. That was that could have been my thing for the day. Like I said, I'm in growth modes. Like then I posted a reel later, but I didn't have to like that. That alone got me great engagement, gained, I'm sure, some followers and that's all. How simple was that. It took me 30 seconds.
Speaker 1:But I do think that people I do think it's really common to what you said like analysis, like paralysis, they're like, well, what do I say, what do I do? And thinking there's just too much pressure that every single piece of content has to perform and it doesn't have to perform. You just keep keep doing it, keep pushing it out. I'll post a reel and I'll get like 17 views or something and like I'll be like I don't think I'm just going to archive it, I'm just going to do something like this later.
Speaker 1:Like I don't do that I know that's like my. I have like a whole thing about. I'm not. I'm like monkey see, monkey don't do or whatever. You know, I'm really bad. As I said, not as I do, yeah, but I do think that there's this pressure that every single piece of content has to perform and it just does, doesn't, it just doesn't like there's not. Just decrease that, that expectation and understand that you are still out there building a community and the community wants to see content. People go on, go on these apps, they go on social media, they check their email all day long because they're looking for content and you, yeah, give them content because people are looking for it, you know.
Speaker 2:So I'm going to use my friend Katie as a really good example of exactly that. So my friend Katie, her handle savvy Derm and she's a dermatology board certified nurse practitioner and she was creating incredible content for like a couple of years and it was so good and I was always like man, like why did? Katie deserves like more. She's a follower. She's out here giving like incredible advice, like talking about products.
Speaker 2:She was killing it in her content but just like I don't know like wasn't connecting for some reason. And then she had this insanely viral reel and my theory she gained like 80,000 followers like almost overnight and she's kept all of them because she had and was creating good content in the first place and you can go viral. Also, another example of the opposite, where I have a PA friend who went viral, gained like 15,000 followers and now she's back down to like six because she wasn't creating consistently the content that people I think wanted to see. You know, but whereas Katie has been able to sustainably create more content, engage those followers like build her practice, build her online sales, and she was killing it before, she's just now got a bigger audience.
Speaker 2:That's also super engaged, yeah, so I think that also matters. I know I do that Like if I'm going to go follow someone now like I'll look at their profile before I just like blindly hit follow and I'm like, do I even care? So if they don't have a ton of good content or good content, I'm probably not going to follow them.
Speaker 1:You know that I mean that is such a good point. I mean, that's literally. I feel like if people just think about like the quality, get out of your own way. Think about the quality, wash your face Right? Just wash your face, Just wash your face. I'm going to pivot, but you talked about face consults, so tell me about, yeah, consults so people can work with you from anywhere. Is that how that works?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So skincare consults I do virtually all the time, all over the country. I mean, I'm licensed as a, so I'm a nurse practitioner and so like in order to prescribe drugs or like actually, let's say, you had, you know, rosacea and you live in Minnesota. I can't say that's a practicing medicine for me in Minnesota. So I can't say like, hey, you have rosacea, but I can absolutely still recommend products that are suited for your particular skin type and talk about, like, talk about it in that way, but if you live in South Carolina or Tennessee and you need a prescription, I can actually do that. But the beautiful thing about my network with SkinClick is so we're. So SkinClick is a concierge medical aesthetics practice, so it's like a med spa that comes to your house, right, and we're in 42 states.
Speaker 2:Like genius Kind of this right, no one, no one. So wherever you are, with the exception of like eight states, if I'm, if I've got some money in Detroit, you know, and I'm like, hey, this person needs to be seen or they need a prescription. Like, let me connect you with Katie, you know, in Detroit, she'd love to help you, you know, and yeah, so it's awesome. But for the most part, 99% of patients can manage with the resources that I have. It's great, but I would prefer people to when I need to. If I need to have somebody right now, I'm really strongly recommending that you go down Accutane. I mean, I can't do that, my network can't do that. I need you to see a dermatologist. But I'll make that recommendation when I need to. For sure, I love that.
Speaker 1:Where can people find you? Where can they book you? I'll put that all in the show notes. But what's the best way to sort of if they're curious about working with you. What's the best process for going about that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I'm personally at Claire O'Brien NP on Instagram. I'm most active there. O'brien is with a Y, so it's C-L-A-I-R-E-O-B-R-Y-A-N-N-P. On Instagram, tiktok, twitter, whatever all that. And that's right. If you're wanting to be a patient or book with me or talk to me, find me there. But then, yeah, I mean there may be nurse practitioners, pas, physicians, whoever but also we're hiring marketing, social media and accounting and all this stuff. Right now, we're always hiring bajillion people. The SkinClick is our company, so the SkinClick C-L-I-Q-U-E dot com. And then we're at the SkinClick on all of our social handles, so Instagram, tiktok Threads all of it, yeah, and you make it so easy to shop for products on there.
Speaker 1:I don't know if your sets are still on sale. I don't know if I missed the boat.
Speaker 2:All of December my friend.
Speaker 1:I'm a big Xeo fan and my husband has had really bad rosette.
Speaker 1:We love Xeo and I feel like it's sort of you really have to be in a, you have to be in a medical spa as such, you have to be in that scene there. It's not very easy, like most people don't know about this product. It's like amazing, yeah. But I love that if I want to try something, I can go to your Instagram account and I can be like oh, did she do a? Is there content on this? Yeah, like you know, like it's like yeah.
Speaker 2:Or ask me yes.
Speaker 1:I mean well now, because I'm, we're friends now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're friends, we're besties. No, but I love that. I mean what I don't love. I'm like so, yeah, you can certainly go and just shop on the website. I do.
Speaker 2:I do answer questions and DMs all day, every day, because I also know you're going to have a better experience and better outcome when I'm guiding you to the right products, particularly like Xeo.
Speaker 2:There's some stuff on there that I mean they've got some strong products that will tear your face up if you're not ready for it. And so, yeah, I mean let me guide you and I always tell people this like, yes, I'm happy to do a console if you've got issues and we need to hammer those out, but I'm also happy to make product recommendations, especially like when you're buying through me, because it's, you know, I mean it's my time, that's a boundary that I've had to set. It's like I'm happy to make your recommendations. Here's my link if you use it. Like, then I'm happy to recommend products. But yeah, so I know you're going to get a better outcome and have better results when, when I'm actually talking to you and then when I do consults, I stay in touch with those people forever, you know, because I I'm like what's working, what's not working. We do a lot of follow up that kind of thing, so it's fun.
Speaker 1:Definitely check, check clear out there. Give it a follow. I'm going to link all of that in the show notes and I love that you said that you know people can ask you for recommendations or get a console. I think that's genius. Um, my last question for you I like to ask everyone who comes on here is what would be your one piece of advice for any mom who's listening, who is maybe on the fence about starting their own business or pivoting or, you know, defining a niche or something like that. What, what can you share with them that is encouraging and sort of like cup filling.
Speaker 2:Oh man, okay, so I like love hate this phrase and I've said it many times to people I'm working with and every time I preface it with like yes, this is likely on a motivational poster in your high school gym, but leap in the net will appear. And it's so true, like I have experienced it. I've, I've seen it, I mean sure, every now and then the leap doesn't, you know the net doesn't appear, but, like, for the most part, leap in the net will appear. You know you have to take those, those chances and and and. If you don't, I mean gosh, you, just you you'll never achieve what you didn't even know was possible. So I mean you just kind of have to do it, you have to take those chances. Oh, I love that so much.
Speaker 1:I love like that whole idea of like not letting your fear be bigger than what's waiting for you on the other side of it. You know, and then that's appear and sometimes people bring them and sometimes you know, you find people who can become, you know, the best people in that situation for you too. I mean, I just feel like the the whole process of running your own business and building a business and the community that you build around that is. It's so different than anywhere else, I feel like, and when you can do it with other moms, it's even more fulfilling. Yeah, so, claire, thank you so much for coming on and sharing so much of your wisdom. I can't wait for everyone to follow you and to start washing their face and to get on the go and all of that fun stuff. So, thank you so so much for your time today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for having me, it was great yes.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, thank you for tuning in to another episode of the Made for Mothers podcast. We will talk to you soon. Yay, you just finished another episode of the Made for Mothers podcast. As always, you can find more details about today's show in the show notes and be sure to give us a review. Subscribe so you don't miss a chance to grow your biz from fellow moms. Are you wanting more one-on-one support, or are you looking to learn how to market your business in a way so you can spend more time with your family and less time stressing about what to do next? Then follow along on Instagram at Mariah Stockman, or book a one-on-one biz therapy session with yours truly, and let's find that work mom-of-hood harmony we all deserve. Until next time, this is your host, mariah Stockman, and thank you so much for tuning in.