BECOMING A DIGITAL MUM - A STORY

A story has five basic but important elements. These components are: the characters, the setting, the plot, the conflict, and the resolution. These five elements keep the story running smoothly and allow the action to develop in a logical way that the reader can follow.

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Are you one of those people who sometimes get an almost ‘out of body experience’ that feels like you’re watching a scene from the movie of your life?

No?

OK, just me then.

Anyway, I wanted to give my account of the last 6 months of my life on the Digital Mums course a strong narrative structure and it's as much a story as anything else so, here we are.

Grab that popcorn, you'll definitely need snacks.

CHARACTERS

Seeing as this is a ‘scene’ from the movie of my life thus far, it probably makes sense to introduce me as one of the main characters.

I’m Larissa Fleming, a child of the early 70’s (I’ll let you do the math!) and what some might call a bit of a marketing ‘veteran’. I had been in the world of media and advertising for well over a decade, in the early years as a media planner before moving into business development and marketing roles for media agencies. I had a lot of love for the media world. It had enabled me to realise a long-held dream to live and work in New York and put me close to the innovation and creativity of this dynamic industry.

In fact, I had been witness to the explosion in social media - from being a “nice to have” on a media plan (maybe a Facebook competition and some user-generated content via YouTube) to having a pivotal & commanding place at the marketing table.

The other key characters in this little movie of mine comprise of 3 very important people – my husband and our two kids, a spirited 6 year-old daughter and a mischievous, cheeky 3 year-old son!

My husband is a freelance cameraman and having to do the ‘juggle’ with an office based role while he was away filming was ‘challenging’ (that’s the polite adjective!) and meant he would sometimes have to turn down work if our schedules couldn’t accommodate him being away.

Then there are the kids – increasingly I was having to field questions like ‘Why can’t you come to Family Reading Friday mum?’ and the worry that our child-minder was in effect seeing my kids more than I was.

Something had to give.

SETTING

Up until the end of 2016, I had managed to do the ‘juggle’ – keeping a full-time job whilst trying to be the best mum I could be. It wasn’t easy but I was fortunate to have an understanding boss who worked with me to achieve a 5-day working week with a shorter day (which effectively meant I had no official lunch-break), allowing me to get home to do bath and bedtime.

But all that changed when the agency was ‘retired’ and despite having a role in the new agency, it wasn’t for me. I was lucky enough to find a similar role working from home but after 9 months, I realised that I wanted to do something different and to find a better balance.

So, the end of 2017 saw me sitting at my desk dusting off my CV again. But conversations with recruiters felt like I was talking in a foreign language when the subject of a flexible working arrangement came up. One recruiter told me that there was an interested company but they were concerned with my 4pm cut off as most meetings ‘happened in the late afternoon’.

Enter Digital Mums, stage right (sorry, getting my screenplay confused with stage direction!).

PLOT

I’m not sure exactly when I became aware of Digital Mums, I just recall seeing some ex-work friends commenting & liking their social posts. I then saw some ads on Facebook and decided to have a look, purely for research purposes of course!

After that, it all moved pretty quickly. I found myself applying and within a day, having a quick phone interview and then I was ‘in’. I opted for the Social Media Marketing Associate Programme as I liked the idea of working on an existing business and I was eligible as I had previous marketing experience.

All films need a ‘hero’ and without an ounce of cheesiness, I can honestly say the Program Partner I was assigned, was that hero. The business I was lucky to be partnered with was ‘Baby Wings’ a cool, fun and innovative baby brand. In fact, one of their hero products, dummy clips, was something I used with both kids, although sadly not their brand (I wish I had known, the Baby Wings clips are so much better - top tip!).

After speaking with one of the founders at the start of the course, I had a very good feeling and was genuinely excited to get started.

But first, there were the social media ‘fundamentals’ to get to grips with.

What I really liked about the course was the ‘real life’ learning. This approach probably sums up how I’ve skilled up on a number of things – if I don’t know something, I mine the internet for info until I do! However, each weekly module takes you through the process of social media management and there’s always the Digital Mums ‘Mothership’ (an online hub providing advice & support) as well as the assigned Social Media Guides to provide support if needed.

CONFLICT

Every story has a conflict to solve. If I’m being honest, it wasn’t that big an issue but seeing as all stories have to have one – here was mine.

As part of the course, each cohort is divided into smaller groups known as ‘Peer Groups’. If you’ve done any reading on Digital Mums, you’ll know that this is one of the main things all graduates praise highly, many feeling that this was their lifeline during the course and that life-long friends have been made.

It’s a difficult terrain to navigate, meeting a group of women (albeit virtually) and knowing that there’s this expectation that you’re now supposed to be ‘BFFs’, it’s a lot to ask of a group of strangers. Unfortunately, from my perspective I didn’t quite hit it off with my Peer Group, the chemistry wasn’t there for me. I tried as best I could and it's no reflection on the others but that 'bond' just didn't happen for me.

Of course, I fully accept this could be more to do with me than anybody else, because if there’s anyone who can over think something and get all sensitive, it’s me, so...

**Cut to next scene**

Right, time to dive into the classic ‘montage’. You know the one, where the protagonist works really hard (and normally gets quite sweaty) toward some very important & personal goal – think ‘Rocky’ and of course, with ‘The Eye of the Tiger’ filling the screen & your eardrums. I’d like to say that sweatbands and leg warmers were donned as I worked my way through the course but the last few weeks coincided with an unseasonably hot summer (who’d of thought we’d get sunshine in June!) so generally, I just got sweaty.

RESOLUTION

And now we reach the payoff – I’ve completed the course and I smashed the campaign KPIs that were set. The sense of pride and personal gratification is immense.

There were times I worried I might not get there, and there were a fair few weird, anxiety-riddled dreams which had me thinking about my campaign in the middle of the night.

Still, once I got started managing the live campaign, the time just flew by. Working alongside my Program Partner was fantastic, Baby Wings gave me free reign with regards to content and tactics but was also really supportive and kept me in the loop on upcoming product launches, managing & coordinating influencer marketing opportunities and just being really positive.

I’m very proud of the campaign I designed which focused on ‘Empowering Mums’ under the hashtag #HighFlyingMumMoments which ran on Facebook and Twitter. Admittedly, I was filled with dread when Twitter was named as one of my platforms; I’d probably barely tweeted into double digits since I opened my profile way back in 2008. But having to go outside my 'comfort zone' has meant that I 'get' Twitter now and to my surprise, quite like it!

I learnt a lot from Digital Mums, much of it complimenting the knowledge & skills from my time in media but I know there is still, so much more to learn. There will be no resting on laurels, social media moves fast, almost as fast as the algorithms much of it is built on. So I know that further training & therefore investment will be needed to ensure I stay on top of things.

There are important things you need to honestly evaluate before signing up. This course will not 'spoon feed' you with everything you need to know. Don't expect something that resembles college or Uni, there are no course tutors and you won't get detailed feedback, just guidance on what might need to be re-considered. Again, this is what will happen in 'real life'. You will need to fill knowledge gaps and be able to 'sell' your proposed solution to a client. So in that respect, the course prepares you with the mindset to be resourceful.

The course and what you get out of it is simply what you make of it. You'll get back what you put in. For my part, I’ll be forever glad I took the plunge with Digital Mums, this will be a scene that will always be played in the movie of my life with much satisfaction, most likely a killer 80’s track playing in the background (Simple Minds – Don’t you forget about me, maybe?) and perhaps, a fist pump or two.

ROLL CREDITS.

#SocialMedia #FlexibleWork #Freelance #DigitalMums