Clicks and Giggles | Your Backstage Pass to Digital Marketing Strategies

The Fun Phone

• Jordan Rothwell Perry • Episode 12

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Join me today for a candid exploration of setting boundaries that honor both personal joy and professional duty. From the eye-opening lessons learned while tying the knot to the introduction of a "fun phone" that revolutionized my ability to be truly present, this episode is a deeply personal voyage into the heart of balancing the grind of growing a business with the simple pleasures of life.

Embracing a dual-phone lifestyle wasn't without its hiccups, yet the freedom it brought was undeniable. I unravel the transformative impact of having a device dedicated to fun, from better sleep to uninterrupted quality time with loved ones. Let's celebrate the strides we make towards a healthier work-life equilibrium, and remember, our pursuit of a flourishing business is just one part of our quest for a fulfilling existence.

Topics covered in this episode:

  • The concept of the "fun phone".
  • The need for boundaries with phone usage.
  • My experiences with managing her phone during busy periods.
  • Pros and cons of having a separate phone for personal use.
  • Implementing boundaries around phone usage.
  • Seeking the balance between work and personal life.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Clicks and Giggles podcast. I'm your host, jordan Rothwell-Perry, and I'm here to make your marketing click, connect and convert. My mission is to help good people with great offers make more money through paid digital marketing strategies. I truly believe that one ad can change everything for you and your business. Tune in weekly to unlearn what the bros and insert air quotes agency gurus have led you to believe about advertising and hear from inspiring women in my network who are making business a little more live laugh launch and a little less stuffy suit and tie, because nobody playing the long game is having a terrible time. Whether you're new to business making millions or you're just my mom tuning in for clicks and giggles, you are welcome here in the room. Get ready for a good time. Good time.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Clicks and Giggles podcast. It's just me today and I've been wanting to do an episode about this for a while and I just haven't carved out the time. But here we go. So today I want to talk about the fun phone P-H-O-N-E the fun phone. About the fun phone P-H-O-N-E the fun phone. So what is the fun phone? Let me take you back before we go forward.

Speaker 1:

So got married December 2021. And probably a couple months before we got married. My therapist was like hey, for your wedding and your honeymoon, how are you going to be off your phone? And I just looked at her like what are you talking about? How do I do that, I don't know. So I mean, I still laugh. Because our wedding day was December 11th and I was working with a non-profit and, as you know, end of the year for non-profits. It's crazy. They're trying to get all those different donations in. People are tax deducting their life away, all that good stuff. So I worked the morning of our wedding. I don't think that would surprise anyone. It's a little unhinged and truly I love what I do. So anyhow worked. The day of our wedding had such a fun wedding reception. Our wedding ceremony was beautiful Only like 20 people, it was amazing. And then we went to the Ritz Carlton for a wedding night in a couple of days Ritz at Lake Oconee here in Georgia. It's so amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing.

Speaker 1:

Anyways, my therapist was like when you go to the Ritz, you need to leave your cell phone in the room, and I just could not physically do that, and so that showed me that was a problem, right. So I actually put my phone on airplane mode for a lot of our like mini honeymoon-ish time. It was so nice. And then, you know, people were leaving me alone, like they were like, oh, this chick just got married, you know. So they were leaving me alone Kind of makes me think I should like get married a lot, like remarry Brad every couple months so that I can have that time away where no one's bothering me because the boundaries were respected so fast forward. So I just kind of learned from it. I was like okay, and what I learned was, even if no one's bothering me or reaching out to me bothering me is not the right word, reaching out to me I still check things. So it was like okay, note to self, like whatever, but my self-control and boundaries are not there with myself.

Speaker 1:

Lesson learned Perfect 2021, check 2022, we go to the Ritz again and it is like December 15th ish. So this is yeah, 2022. And I had just hired an assistant, new assistant. She was great. And I also learned that, like right before the end of the year and before people take off for Christmas, I get busier. So it was like lesson learned. We were sending emails. She was like you can sign emails from me, which is awesome. So she like covered my hiney and helped me, like, look like I was on vacation, air quoting right now, but I was not. And so I learned from then like we will, will celebrate our anniversary just like a little different if I'm not busy or I need to plan far, far, far in advance.

Speaker 1:

Anywho, lesson learned brought my phone was in the middle of big launches. You know, people were trying to push for big goals for the end of 2022. All of that good stuff Still had an amazing time, right, but I had my phone. I have ads manager on my phone, I was checking it like a nut and all that good stuff. So it's like, even if I I put my computer away, my phone is still with me and like I like having my phone with me for safety and like, hello, you want to have your phone with you. So, lesson, lesson learned again. And that was less around the wedding and me needing my phone, and it was more around like wedding and me needing my phone, and it was more around like December is a difficult time. Okay, lesson learned always through the lesson we learned.

Speaker 1:

So then 2023, my business, thankfully, has just constantly been growing, which is such a giant blessing. And I also want anyone listening who's struggling in business to know that I have been consulting since I was 20 years old. I am 20, 20, 23. I'm 33 years old. I'm 34 in July, like this is 13, 14 ish years in the making, and so this is not overnight. And while it may look overnight, it's not. And it's like head down, lots of shaking hands, lots of loving on people and seeds being planted, sewn, grown, picked, whatever you want to call it. So all of that to say as my business has grown, I have the same phone number from when I was 16, 15. I don't know when I got a phone.

Speaker 1:

Anywho, oh, my gosh sidebar, I love my cousin so much. She's like a sister to me and my first phone number was I don't want to give the full phone number away because now my brother has the number. Anyways, the last four digits of it was oh, whatever, I'm just going to say it. So the first three digits was J-O-R, and then the last four is her name Kiri K-I-R-I. I'm freaking obsessed with my cousin and so still am. I mean, now she's like 40 and I'm 33. It makes me laugh so much, but I was like I think I was like 13 when I got my first phone. I was like, oh, I can pick the number, like I'm going to make it me and my cousin's name, which is just beyond precious. So all that to say don't call my brother.

Speaker 1:

But with that I've had other than that phone which I think when I turned like 16, my brother got my mom, just had me give him my phone and switch numbers to my number now, and so people have had this number for years. So, like this phone was high school and babysitting and you know, sports I'm air quoting sports because I played air quotes soccer and it was terrible. I ran air quotes, ran track, not good. Um, I'm like I, I just want to be this is like a whole tangent, but like my brother's played college baseball. I have believed that I was not athletic this whole time of my life. Now I'm like I just want to be a girlie that goes on, walks and lifts weights. So my sports journey is leading me to that realization at 33. Anywho, so that's what I'm working on personally. But all that to say years and years of people having this number.

Speaker 1:

Then I went to college, then I would be out at the club, give my number out to a boy dumb. They have my number now All the way through networking events, different things and people giving it out. And so I'm I'm not kidding you and sometimes I would have, like I showed Brad. I was like I text like 40 people today. This is a couple months ago and then there were seasons where I'm like I just literally cannot. You know, I'm in Slack, I'm emailing, I'm in different project management softwares, I'm on client calls, I like there was a boundary I had to set and so I just was not texting back as much and it became a joke. And then, you know, a joke as far as like, oh, good luck getting a reply from her, like more personally, because it just was hard and I had to pick and decide like I was going to be okay with that for a season, and I am.

Speaker 1:

I actually heard I think it was Layla Hermosi talking about how she had to be okay with not texting people back, because people who are building million dollar plus businesses aren't texting all day. And I was like, oh yes, this gives me the freedom and permission and it is what it is. I'll tell you, I'm 10 out of 10. You want to go to dinner with me. You want to have coffee with me? I put my phone on. Do not disturb, I flip it over. Let's chat. Let's catch up. I love it. I want to sit on the couch with you. I want to make tea, but like I don't want to text with you all day love that, love you. And like there's a lot of other stuff that could happen before we're like chit chatting back and forth all day.

Speaker 1:

So all these realizations. I was like I want to be on my phone less and I'd bring you know, I had to bring my phone out to dinner with Brad because it was the only phone I had and then I would find myself like checking email, checking Slack, doing things like in the car, or like hang out or waiting for, like an appetizer, and I just was like man, you're not getting the best of me. This is not, this is not it. This is not the vibe we want in our marriage and relationship, and especially pre having kids, like no way. So I did something wild, in my opinion, just one night last month I was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to lose my mind.

Speaker 1:

I sleep with my phone next to the bed on its little cool Belkin charger. I wake up. The first thing I do, even if Slack's off my phone, which is great I manually log into my email, even if it's deleted. So I first started like I'm going to back up one more second. I started deleting email off my phone probably like six or seven, eight months ago, and then I would re-add it when I was in a launch or certain things were happening and I didn't have a computer nearby. I was like I kind of have to check if something happens, right, so then the phone's next to my bed.

Speaker 1:

You know, in my contracts it does state that and if you're a service provider I would put this in there that all business is conducted via Slack email and Zoom. Slack email and Zoom Like, if you want work done, boom baby, let's get it, and not through text. And so some clients yes, they have my number we do text occasionally, but for the most part I try to wrangle everything that has to get done within Slack, zoom and email. It just works better, work gets done faster, etc. So if you don't have that in your contract terms, freaking put it, then you can point back to it and be like, oh my gosh, I love this. Is there any way you could put this in Slack, because then the team can see and it works like a charm.

Speaker 1:

So all that to say, freaking February, I buy another phone on Verizon. I just am like get me a new phone that no one knows the number to and I need to just start fresh. And so I bought a phone the fun phone is what I call it. So phone gets here. I did not even know the phone number until it got here and I I'm not kidding you, I do not know the phone number, I know that it it's. It ends in a couple nines and ones. I don't know which way they go and which way they go, meaning the order, but it has been a freaking, like I say, ride of a lifetime, because I think it is like I'm so dramatic, it is so amazing to just be able to leave a phone somewhere and have a phone just for, like, safety and pictures. And so I was talking with some girlfriends and they were like well, give us the pros and cons, okay. So I'm going to give you the pros and cons of the fun phone, as I like to call it, and I will say, like if you're struggling with boundaries, I would get another phone, 100% Like there's a reason why businesses have a business phone and then people have a personal phone, and so I would say the fun phone.

Speaker 1:

The best part has been being able to disconnect and leave a phone in another room. So what I do at night my business phone, aka the old phone it goes either on the charger in the kitchen or it stays in my office for the next workday and it is done so like that is it Great. So the separation has been incredible. So, like when I want to look at it and when I feel like I'm working or am working or okay, like kind of getting off off the personal life track and just want to see what's going on, I'll check my work phone and then what's nice is like overnight it's just charging and hanging out and I can still use my fun phone, personal phone, for the alarm. I can like scroll a little before bed if I want, and I can go on TikTok or all those good things. And ads manager is not on my phone. Email is on my phone but not my work email, and so it really is like a personal phone, right. My phone, but not my work email, and so it really is like a personal phone, right. So that's been one huge thing. And I will tell you what my sleep has increased so much just better sleep, deeper sleep, not rolling over at three in the morning and checking my phone to look at something. If I'm in a launch, like I truly trust that, like I am a marketing expert we have done what we need to do and I can sleep for eight hours and check it with a clear head the next morning. So that has been a huge, huge thing. So I'd say that's like the number one amazing thing and then I'll share a con A con is this I'm a busy girly these days.

Speaker 1:

I have not set aside time to fully set up my new phone, so I started from scratch with it. So I have like 80,000 photos on my old phone my business phone now, and so I'm going to work on reorganizing those this summer. That's not a high priority task for me right now, and the only thing that's hard is like time hop is on my business phone because all the photos are on there. So it's like if I want to look or reminisce, that's like it's not a huge deal, but the thing that is and that hasn't switched over yet is like all the apps. So, for instance, using Lyft and Uber, I don't have that on the fun phone yet and I need to just set aside 20 minutes to do it and I'll be golden. So it's like Lyft and Uber aren't on there. I don't have Venmo on my new phone. I don't have my banking apps on my new phone. So there are times, oh, apple wallet, like I haven't set all of it up. So I would say, if you're listening to this, you're like, oh my gosh, I need like the separation. I love this. Just set aside time to be able to set it up, because that was my mistake, like truly.

Speaker 1:

The phone got here on like a Wednesday. I left Thursday on a work trip and was like, oh my, all right, let's go. And so at any given time, I have a phone in both pockets and I'm like, walking through the airport, shout out to old Navy's leggings. I wear their Navy leggings like religiously, with cute sweaters and yada yada on the go If I'm in travel mode and I have two phones. So my, you know, people close to me joke, I have like a burner phone and like another family, it looks like based on.

Speaker 1:

I just look sketch, you know, and I'm like, okay, that's fine for this season until I take a second to really set it up. It is what it is, so I'd say that's the only thing is like carving out time to separate everything and be like, oh, I need to put banking on here, apple wallet, like all the good stuff you want, but I'm like that's kind of like that's not a big deal to have the separation. Yeah, I did two separate Apple IDs so I started fresh there for storage and I just I felt like my old phone had so many photos on it it's so many stupid screenshots Like I've got to look while we're chatting here and I just wanted to start fresh. So that okay. Yeah, I have 96,053 photos of 1,109 favorites, 5,900 selfies. Olivia counselor, olivia, if you're listening, I should probably make a make an appointment after that. That's crazy. And I've 33,656 screenshots. Like that is wild and so it was just out of control and I'm so, so, so freaking, so, so freaking thankful that I just made this move and like I mean, if it sounds dramatic to someone, okay, great.

Speaker 1:

And I know there's other people out there listening who are like, oh my gosh, I cannot escape. You know, this phone has turned into a business phone, like to save my life and for me and my marriage and the future nuggets, we want little kids. I'm like I just want to be able to put it away. And I also want, as I build out a team locally that's another story for another day I want people to be able to take the phone and be like hey, um, you know, I'll pay you X. We're on call everyone once a month, which makes me laugh because marketing is not an emergency and when you're doing huge launches sometimes it can feel like it at times. And so, hey, can you take the phone this weekend? Hey, can you yada, yada. Hey, we're going on a vacation. Will you manage this? It just feels right and good and it's been such a good thing to switch to. And so, as I think of other pros and cons, I'll definitely record future episodes, but I think the biggest pro has been the freedom from it, and the biggest con has just been not everything's transferred over, but that's like an easy fix.

Speaker 1:

Truly do not know the full phone number, which I think is so fun, and I'll learn it one day and really right now, the only people who have the number is like two friends Brad and my family Like eventually I'm going to text my you know in-laws and Brad's sister and brother-in-law and do, like his side of the family group group chat in there versus on my other phone. But for this season it's just like I mainly just talk to Brad on it. It's great. I think it is confusing for the people who do have it and so I've been telling people like, save this new number as fund phone and save my other phone, as you know, jrp business or Jordan business, et cetera, and I mean that's really been. The hardest thing is like you know, I have one friend who does have the number, who I do business with and, you know, ask some business questions, and I'm like that's just a redirecting of like hey, when I'm on this phone I just want to talk about fun things, want to goof around, et cetera, and it really has been so, so, so good for my mental health and to just put it away and like be and I I'm just glad that I freaking, took the jump to do it.

Speaker 1:

I saw someone else with two phones. She actually owns a brick and mortar and she's a coach as well and she has one little one. She's pregnant with another. She's my client now. The best, she's awesome, but I just saw it and was like, well, she has she's coaching, but like she has a brick and mortar, like could I do this? And the truth is like, if you have to do something to help your mental health and help forge good boundaries, freaking, do it.

Speaker 1:

So I don't care if that's getting a phone or putting your phone on airplane mode from like five to 8 PM when you're like you're home with your spouse and your little ones, or if you're single, like putting your phone on airplane mode for a bit, just to decompress. We were not meant to be connected all the time. We were meant to live in community but we were not, freaking, meant to be glued to these devices like zombies, and I refuse. And so this is kind of the first step in healing that and fixing that and just honestly getting some old school normalcy back into my day, kind of like 1850s style, which makes me laugh to think about that. But I really wanted. I'm like I don't want to be glued to this thing. I love it, it's a great tool and this has gotten out of hand for me.

Speaker 1:

So that is the story of the fun phone. I'm looking at it right now. It does. I don't even have a background on it. Like when I tell you this thing is a straight up phone and like TikTok, scrolling, that is it, and I could not love it more. And I'm probably.

Speaker 1:

I got the new iPhone like 15 or whatever with the crazy good camera. I'm like, oh Lord, I need to start using it for some other things. But ads manager's not on it, business email's not on it, slack's not on it. And if you're having trouble with work boundaries and corporate or self-employed or not, like delete some of the stuff on the weekends, start there, because once you take these breaks and pauses, you can go back into work and just freaking, crush it, knowing that you got the rest you needed. And if you're not getting that rest, you're going to grow resentful, You're not going to feel good about it, and that I just refuse. I refuse to hate what I do because I love what I do so much and I just want to keep keep loving it. So that is the story of the fun phone.

Speaker 1:

I would love to know, if you have two phones, if you've thought about it, how you set boundaries around your phone, if you are disciplined like my friend Bryn, who has her phone like shut off most things at 8 pm and doesn't bypass the code. That's just not me, baby. I wish I could. So let me know, like, message me on Insta or or find me, find me and tell me. I can't wait to hear about it and I just I'm.

Speaker 1:

I'm excited for you know, anything you might implement from this episode, and I'm just also glad to be able to have this outlet to cheer other people on in their boundary setting mental health and just business, corporate work, life and finding ways to make their life even better amidst all the craziness. So I hope you have a good day. Thanks for tuning in and that's a wrap. Thank you for listening. If you were inspired by this episode, be sure to check out the show notes for the linked resources and my free guide three ways to know you're ready for ads. If weekly episodes aren't enough for you and you want more of your favorite click magnet, you can connect with me over on Instagram at launchwithjordan. I host regular challenges and drop valuable tips that will help make your marketing click, connect and convert. And if you think it would inspire a friend, send it, share it, just for clicks and giggles.