Episode 25: How to start a side hustle with Run Wild My Child creator Sara McCarty
Episode Description
There is something so exquisitely captivating about seeing children marveling at the outdoor world, particularly in a day and age, where there are so many other distractions. A child’s presence and wonderment, if we can slow down enough to capture it, is completely in tune with the natural world around them. Sometimes we think that traveling outdoors with our kids has to be a grandiose adventure, or that it is too much work, so we simply don’t begin. But our guest today is here to tell us why we should head to the outdoors with our kids in even the smallest of ways and how this inspired her side hustle, Run Wild My Child.
Sara McCarty, creator of “Run Wild My Child” is an attorney by day and mother of three, who grew up as a small town girl in Northeast Missouri. She married a like-minded husband who introduced her to fly fishing, and together they’ve adventured together around the world. She says her biggest adventure this far has been parenting! She knows just what it’s like to experience mom guilt, and feel busy non-stop, oftentimes finding it difficult to be present at work when thinking of the kids and visa versa. A common trial of all mamas.
She also knows first hand just how challenging it can be to raise kids to value the outdoors when schedules and life tend to get the best of us. As a way to feel her creative calling and go-getter nature, she decided to start a side hustle blogging about her personal travels, adventures and family milestones. But it was her posts about parenting kids to take on “adventure type” outdoor lifestyles that really caught on, and she realized there was a need for advice on activities, gear, crafts, nature lessons and road trips, to name a few, for mamas.
In 2017 Sara decided in to help parents get outside and connect with the outdoor world by creating a website and social media platform for just that. “Run Wild My Child” helps Sara feel more connected to parents around the world as well as stoking her fire for writing and photography. Sara believes the success of her online community can be attributed to authenticity, passion and a collective yearning for the outdoors. If you have seen the stunning images on her IG page you not only will see kids on the full gamut of outdoor adventures, but will also gain advice, educational facts, tips and inspirational quotes to inspire you.
Take-aways:
5:05: Sara realized how easy it was to lose herself after the birth of her first child.
9:11: It’s so important to slow down and appreciate motherhood because it certainly goes by fast.
10:23 Sara and I discuss how it’s hard with your first to not want to CONTROL everything that happens with the family and the babies.
15:23: Get people involved early with helping you with your kids because if you don’t you won’t get a break and you’ll end up feeling resentful.
17:23: Sometimes the mom feels like the authority over the whole family and all of the children
22:10: If you know you want to commit to something, try starting when your kids are asleep, etc.
26:41: Find something that gives you a creative outlet and take one foot in front of the other towards it.
38:06: Make it a priority to get out of the house as a mama, because no one else is going to prioritize it for you.
41:32: Whatever adventure means to you-find that. That is where to aim your soul. Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing.
41:50: Theres never the “right” time. Start something and go for it, and the right time will find you.