144 - Facing Scaling Challenges with Caroline Peters, Colorado Social

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): [00:00:00] Hey guys. Welcome back to the My Opinion Podcast. I'm your host, Maya Roffler, and today I have Caroline Peters with me. She is the founder of Colorado Social and she's gonna be sharing her business with us, but of course, sharing a upcoming business challenge that she has.

We're gonna go through some solutions today, and of course, I'm gonna give my opinion. So Caroline, welcome to the show.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Yes. Thank you so much for having me. I am looking forward to having your opinion.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Yes.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Um, because it's, it is time to get this advice.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Well, yes, and we all need to congratulate Caroline because she is expecting so about.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Thank you. I'm so excited.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): I'm so excited for you too. It's her first guys. So, um, tell us a little bit about Colorado Social. How did this get started? We have a local celeb with us too. You were in sports, right? And, and casting. So tell us about this. Tell us about your background.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: [00:01:00] Yeah, so real quick, I was a sportscaster out east in West Virginia, the Pittsburgh area. Loved it, realized I'm never gonna see my husband. So then I switched to news and I was a news reporter in Colorado Springs for three years. And with that I grew a passion for helping small businesses and telling their stories.

But after the burnout and the 2:00 AM alarm, I decided. I need to switch what I'm doing and that inspired me to launch Colorado Social. So I still do storytelling, but I do it in a way where I'm editing, managing, and helping people show up on social media. So I'm a social media marketer and a social media manager now.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): That's awesome. I love your background. It's very cool. Um, so were you like, tell us, Caroline, were you into like really big into Instagram? TikTok, like, did you just enjoy that space? How did you decide to go from doing sports Sportscasting, because that's fun and exciting. I totally understand. Wanting more of a balance though.

Were you kind of just [00:02:00] good at Instagram and social and TikTok, or was this like, what made you branch into that?

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Yeah, that's a great question and I'd like to think I was good at it, but. Really, we had to do it as part of our job. And so as you see the world changing news, sports, it's linear, but it's also on your phone. Right? And a big part of the expectation was we had to also be creating social media content. So I felt like I was doing double the job at that point, linear and non-linear content.

And it was time to make a decision. Also, when I spoke with small businesses, so many of them said that's where they needed help. And so I saw a need in the market.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): I love that. So yeah, here you were out with the people and like you saw a problem, which all of my entrepreneurs listening. You see a problem, you solve a problem, you now have a business. Right? That's perfect. And what I think is so cool about your story too, Caroline, is you know, again, you were out and about and this is what you were doing [00:03:00] and you were hearing people talk about this problem and that's how you just kind of dove all in.

Before we hit record, Carol, as, as you guys know, if you've been on my show, you know this, but we kind of chat before, but Caroline was sharing with me that you went on a trip to Thailand and you were like meditating on this and you were like, I'm just gonna start the biz. And you did And it just, it took off right?

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Yep. Went to Thailand for a month and you know, it really just helped me become centered again and realize, okay, what skills do I have? I wrote 'em down, storytelling being at the top of it. When I came back, I just, I knew it was time. I also wanna shout out all of the amazing women in Colorado Springs who are entrepreneurs who encouraged me because I don't think I would've had the confidence to just start.

Right. But as a journalist, you're a researcher. And that's what I did. I locked myself in a room how to start an LLC, and in two weeks I launched and had my website up and it just, it's so freeing to see [00:04:00] that all the journalism skills were transferable into doing what I'm doing now. I.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): I love that. Yeah, and I think, I think something that's important about your story too, Caroline, and I hope those of you listening that maybe haven't started the business yet because we have a lot of people out there too that haven't started. It's not as complicated as we need to make it. Right. Like sometimes I would hear people tell. Other people like just start. Just start. Or even when I hadn't started yet, it was like, and that feels really overwhelming, but honestly, just starting, like, just sit down, get your LLC or just sit down, make the website. It's those little baby steps that you know, like you in two weeks, you're like, oh my God, we're we're here.

I already had referrals. I already have some people because of the ecosystem that I was in. And I think what's important about your story too, Caroline, is that you again. Saw a problem with people that you knew and that's how, that's exactly how I started my event business. And it was especially during COVID [00:05:00] and people needed to go virtual.

I saw a problem, I solved it. And that's what you did too. And I think that's great. I think it's a good way for people to understand like you, and you don't have to have it all figured out

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Oh no,

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): it.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: absolutely not. And I kept things so simple when I started because people were like, what? Scheduling tools. I'm like Meta Business Suite. Only doing Facebook and Instagram to start, you know? Now I do TikTok too, and LinkedIn, but you have to walk before you can fly.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Yeah, that's kinda your quote. I love that you have to walk before you can fly. I love that. Yeah, and I agree and I think, you know, this is your space, so you know better than me, but I think that people get social fatigue, right? Social media fatigue. I should say rather, right, where they're like, oh my God, there's so many platforms and you have so many platforms that you don't do any of them, and that's such a miss.

Right? For a business, I feel.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Yeah, for sure. And it's, it's hard. And, and I get it, and that's what I try to do. I try to take that stress off my clients, right? Because we all get that imposter [00:06:00] syndrome or I'm just tired of it, right? I'm tired of living in comparison. So I try to make it fun for my clients and we're about connection so people feel connected to their business and then they wanna do business with them.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Yeah. What advice would you have for. listening, you guys that listen to this show, that feel that way, that feel like, because I have a lot of people that even come on the show and they're not really that active on social media, or they feel social media fatigue or they feel right, like you said, also imposter syndrome.

Like they feel also like, I just don't even wanna deal with it. What advice would you give them? Like would you tell them like, pick one. Start there and really hone into your audience. Like if you're the professional girly, like maybe really go hard on LinkedIn, or if you're someone that really likes to live stream, like go hard on TikTok and like start there.

Like what advice would you give with that Caroline?

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Yeah, I think it's good. Definitely don't start with more than two. Starting with one is good, but to even simplify [00:07:00] it more if you feel weird, because we're in an age where I've had, oh my gosh, social media for my whole life, right? I'm in, I'm a millennial, younger millennial, and so you're like, okay, I still got people from high school in here or college, and I just feel weird, right?

Make a new page. Make a brand new business page and then you can be your authentic self, and it sucks starting over. I know zero followers, but that page will grow so much quicker when you're comfortable. Also don't feel like you have to show your face and do a selfie style talking video. There's so many ways you can market your business and you can record a voiceover.

You can show behind the scenes, and so get creative, and if you're stumped, reach out for help. Right? If you follow my pages on Colorado Social, I'm always giving free advice. But I think it is nerve-wracking, but down the road, you are missing out on opportunities that you don't take when it comes to social media.

So in my opinion, it's worth trying to be on [00:08:00] and growing your business on there.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Great opinion. I love it. I absolutely love it. Caroline. Yeah, I, I think so too, and I think it's, I notice that a lot when people are like, I just don't, I just don't wanna mess with social media. I don't really want you, you have to. And I love that advice. Start with two because I, I could see also, you know, if you're just starting with one, if you don't get traction on that one, you're gonna feel really discouraged.

Right? But if you're doing two, then it's like you can, you know, one day you might have momentum on one, one, you might not, so then you're kind of leveling your expectation. Two, do you see that as well, Caroline?

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: absolutely. And every business is different. So some of my businesses, they do so great on Facebook, you know, restaurants for example. Whereas other people who are more in, in an author space, for example, they might be doing better on book talk. So it just depends. Right? And you have to play with it to discover where you're [00:09:00] going to perform the best.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): You said a couple things in that, that I really love. One, I like the thing that you said about playing with it, like have fun with it. You've mentioned that a couple times. Have fun with it. Take the pressure off of it. It's not that deep, it's not that serious, and it'll be exciting when something does work and someone is attracted to your, like you said, book or your restaurant because you're hitting the right place.

The other thing that you said that's really important that I talk about all the time. As we were chatting before we did the episode, I talk about sales a lot, which that's not your business challenge we're gonna be talking about today. Not your challenge at all. But I can see why you don't have that challenge, because you have this conquered yourself.

Caroline, like you said, restaurants do great on Facebook, right? Book book folks, authors do great on book talk. Go where your people are, right? So in, in picking your two social platforms, if, like I joked earlier, if I'm the professional gal. I need to be on LinkedIn. If I'm giving professional advice, I need to be on LinkedIn.

If I'm, you know, selling Labu [00:10:00] boos, I need to be on TikTok. You know, it's knowing where your audience lives. So you clearly have that covered. So again, you hit the ground running. You worked with over a dozen clients, kind of out the gate, very new business. Talk to us about what your challenge is right now.

'cause it's definitely not sales. So tell us what's going on. Yeah.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: I'm thankful that it's not sales, um, but I am a kind of a nervous wreck because I'm gonna have a baby boy here in three months and I want to make sure that I'm scaling appropriately. I hired two, you know, assistants and they've been doing great, but at the end of the day, we're still picking up clients and I don't want them to be overwhelmed.

I also don't want to miss out on opportunities. To grow my business because that entrepreneur mindset. And so I wanna make sure I'm scaling effectively without overwhelming my team and then also giving up that control, right? As a [00:11:00] founder. 'cause I'm going to take eight weeks of a maternity leave. Um, and some people say you have, you don't even know what's in store with postpartum.

So of course my mind is moving in a hundred directions right now.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Yeah, that's a lot. So we've got a lot to unpack here. Okay, so. The good news for you, Caroline, is that you already have some help, right? And you have some people that are in your corner and are working with you. A lot of entrepreneurs, especially solopreneurs, don't have that, right? And so going out on a maternity leave, like it's not even an option.

It's not, right. So let's, I mean, it's just not. Because you haven't really set that up for success. So, and the right news is if, you know, when you guys hear this, we're recording three months out for her from her due date, essentially, right? Give or take, right? So we, we, you know, we've got some time to set yourself up for success, to set your business up, to set the momentum up, to set your team up for success, because that's really where this is going to continue to [00:12:00] thrive for you, because we wanna keep your clients happy, we wanna keep your team happy and you wanna come back.

You know, new mom and feel like you can hit the ground running again. So lots of things to unpack here. So we were chatting about this before, but so you guys know she's got one freelancer that is probably going to go mostly full-time and then we've got another part-time. So I think something to think about here, just my, my opinion and take on this and obviously jump into any point, Caroline.

I think the more in these 90 days that you can invest in these freelancers. The better. Right? So this would be my time where I would be just mentoring the heck out of them, right? Anything, the more shadowing you guys can do, the more work, co-working time, you guys can do more than what you normally would.

And I don't mean this in like a micromanagement way. I'm not sure what your management style is, but I'm, I'm not micromanage. I hated it when I was in corporate. I don't know about you, but I hated it, right? [00:13:00] Right. And I don't find it effective, especially running a business like the one you're running, right, where you guys are managing social media.

Like they can, they can as long, long as they get their work done, like I wouldn't necessarily mind when they were doing their work or you know, it's about producing, it's about results. But I would take the next 90 days, you know, leading up to have some coworking time together to have some time where you, obviously you're a full-timer versus your part-timer.

It's gonna take more time. Giving them not the micromanagement time, but some coworking time if you guys are local to each other, setting up some time to spend time together, giving information, also creating kind of flow, any flow documents or things like that that maybe have been missed. Also having them tell you like, how can I set you up for success?

They may or may not know that answer, but it's a good conversation to have because it also lets them know that you're really concerned about it. Also, I want you to spend some time, [00:14:00] really, I love that you meditate, so this is kind of like your business meditation. I want you to spend some time thinking about all the processes and things that you do in your day-to-day that maybe they don't know about, and especially your full-time person.

I want you to write that down. I want you to write it down, and I want you to kind of create your standard operating procedures for your business. Have you written something like this yet, Caroline?

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: you know, it's funny because I've been meditating on it and I was like, huh, I do a lot and I need to write it down. And

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): There we.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: those, that term came to my mind, which I hated when I worked in corporate, and now I a hundred percent understand it.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Yes, but you know what's, this is your company so you can make it fun. You can call it something totally different. You can call it like the Colorado Social Standard or something like something to, you know what I mean, like whatever you wanna call it. But standard operating procedures in corporate America, as I know, and you know very well.

'cause that's where we come from. And a lot of you are still there listening, right?

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Mm-hmm.[00:15:00] 

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Student operating procedures are kind of like wa, wa, but they exist for a reason. They become mismanaged sometimes in companies, right? Like where it's supposed to operate in a certain way, and we don't understand why. What I encourage entrepreneurs.

Like us to do is create lean standard operating procedures. It doesn't need to be a hundred page book, but it needs to be something that if you, for some reason, let's say you have an, oh my God, God forbid your baby boy comes early, right? You can hand this to your team and they will be able to float. And beyond that, they will start to swim, right?

Like this is your emergency. I, I like for us to think of this as like your floaty, your life preserver versus where in some corporations when it gets a little out of control, they get away from that mentality and they think more like it has to be done like this. No. That, that eliminates creativity and ways for people to innovate, right?

This is really your life vest for [00:16:00] your team if something were to happen because. Life happens, right? What if the baby comes early? What if you have to get on, on bed rest for, I hope this doesn't happen. You know, there's what ifs in life. And so this is what I would do immediately if I was you. Okay? And something I would do that will make this even more beneficial to your team and anybody else coming on board is ask their feedback.

Hey guys, are there things that, 'cause they're part of building your company's quite young, they're part of the building team, and that gives them a sense of like, wow, that's really cool that she wants us a part of this. You know, they feel ownership and they're going to adhere to those standard operating procedures even more when they're part of building it with you.

That's what I would do. Okay.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: advice. And I, I just realized, you know, leadership skills, I need to work on those. Um, because they're not mind readers at the end of the.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): [00:17:00] If you have not told them, they're not gonna know. Right? So, but this is why I love this exercise for you. So if I were you, this would be my goal. Finish this by the end of January. Okay. Finish this by the end of January. This would be my number one priority because. This is a wonderful way for them, for you to communicate with them, for you to create open communication.

I'm sure you have it, but even more so, right. But I love what you said. You're like, they're not mind readers. Just 'cause you know how to do something doesn't mean they know how to do it. Right. Or they understand the flow of how you would prefer that it's done. Not because you're the stickler, but because you're creating.

Culture for Colorado social, right? This is how we do things here. If there's a better, more inno innovative way to do it, like share that with me. Let's collaborate on that. But here's the standard. If you're in that moment with, oh, how do I do that? They can. Reference this and look at this, and I don't want you to look, you guys are a social media and marketing management firm, right?

That's what you guys are doing. I don't want, I don't wanna see a hundred page [00:18:00] book. I don't wanna see a 50 page book. This should be, you know, the, this is how. This is how we operate. This is how we deal with clients. This is how you guys get paid. This is how you, you know, all these things that are basic.

You know, you're freelancers, so you really don't have to go super deep into the HR stuff, right? It's just the basic kind of contractual stuff. Create that resource for them, involve them in the process. I think that will be a fabulous step, right? You're gonna feel a big weight lifted off of you because it will give them some resources.

Okay? I would also go a step further and build in. What happens on maternity, because you're right, they're not mind readers, right? So what happens when you go out on maternity or leave, right? You can just have a, a clause in there about leave. Like what does that look like? They're freelancers, right? So if they have to take time, they take their time.

But it's good to go ahead and build that now. 'cause it sounds like you're gonna keep growing, right? So like what's, what does that look like? Right? Who do we contact? How do we engage? Things like that. 'cause when you're on leave. So, but this is a way for [00:19:00] you to also, like you said, you wanna beef up your leadership skills.

This is a way for you to tell them and set expectations now. Hey guys, when my baby comes, these are the eight weeks that I'm gonna take. Here's what constitutes an emergency here and outlining all of this. So there's no guesswork, right? Because. It's your business. At the end of the day, you can't really take a traditional maternity leave.

You can't, right. If there was some big emergency, I mean, thank goodness we're not doing brain surgery. Thank goodness. Right? Thank goodness. But you know, I think creating those boundaries, Caroline, it's gonna be really, really important so that they understand like, Hey, if a client is reaching out to them and needs a question about this and this and this, give them the resources for that.

But what constitutes. Reaching out to me and having that clearly defined and that I think we're getting a little bit away from standard operating procedures. Some of that can be in there, but then also. I want you to create, this is the next step. I want you to create [00:20:00] your maternity game plan. And you may have done some of this already, but that's kind of what we're talking through as well, you and I, right?

So one, we're gonna do standard operating procedures. Two, you're gonna create a maternity game plan. I want this to be a one pager, and I want you to sit with them and this be like, you guys all, can you all get like, meet for lunch or coffee or something like that. Are you all local?

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Yeah, so two of us are in Colorado Springs and one's in Denver. It's only an hour.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Fabulous. I know, I know. I'm so jealous. I love Denver and Colorado Springs. So beautiful places. Perfect. So that's what I would do, right? To set them up for success and say, Hey guys, any, any input, any, are we comfortable with this? You know, that's, again, you're working on your communication as a leader, so I love that for you as well.

So that's the next thing. Your maternity engagement plan, um, what, whatever you want, and, and define that for the eight weeks that you're out. So that's. That's your logistics, right? That's how you're gonna operate as a company, and that's how you're gonna operate while you're out.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Great.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Let's get into your next issue, right?

I don't know if it's an issue, [00:21:00] but you have great sales, right? And you have clients, right? You've had some movement with clients. One, come on, a few. You know, that happens, especially in the nature of the, it's like my event business. We have some new ones come on some years, some stay for a couple years, then they decide they're gonna scale back, you know, they're, happens, happens, happens.

Budgets, all of that. Very, very normal. I. Would like to think that you could continue to grow. Okay, and, and here's why I think this, because if you really build these standard operating procedures and you really show them like, this is how we're gonna engage during maternity leave, I don't see why you shouldn't continue.

To build your pipeline and do your sales like you have been doing and doing such a phenomenal job with it. But this is also gonna tap back into what we've been talking about, because I think you should sit down with your existing team. It should be a part of that talk and say, guys, here's our standard operating.

Here's what you know, I wrote this. I want [00:22:00] your feedback. Here's maternity leave game plan. Here's that. Now let's talk sales. This is like gonna kind of be a three-pronged conversation that you have with them ongoing, right? But a big talk. Here's where we are with our clients. Here's the workload we have daily, weekly. How are you guys feeling about that? Are you comfortable taking on more? Which you shared a little bit with me before we jumped into the episode. You have started to have those conversations with them, which is good.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: yes. They're both phenomenal, great creatives, and they both want to take on more, so that's good.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): That's amazing. But you as the leader now have to sit with each one and say, okay, you're giving me 15 hours a week. Talk me through your 15 hours. Right? And. When I'm saying this, I, I can already hear in my heads some people being like, well, Maya, that's really micromanaging. No, no, no, no, no. We're doing this collaboratively, right?

Like, I wanna talk about this to set you up for success. Not, 'cause I'm like, what are you doing for 15 hours every week? No, no, no, no, no. Right. Or what are you doing for [00:23:00] 40 hours? No. You're doing this in a way where you're gonna say, Hey Caroline, um, you're here 15 hours a week for me right now. Can you do more if there, you know, Caroline says, yes I can.

Great. So we can do 20. Walk me through where you are right now with 15. What are we doing every week with 15? You know, here's your clients, this and that. Cool. Then you're gonna know one of two things. You're gonna say, that sounds like a lot for 15 hours, actually, Caroline, you know what I mean? Like, are you sure you're comfortable or what?

You know, and then you start to have that collaborative conversation. Same, same thing for Maya. Who's the, who's your full-time person, right? Like maybe Maya. Hey, 40 hours. Wow. Oh, okay. Yeah, that's a comfortable four actually. I could see you picking up another. Another account that week, right? And then it starts, it's collaborative.

It's not micro, but also it starts to get you to understand how much you can scale. Right, and how much you can, and then it also helps you understand, can I bring another freelancer on? Because that was another thing that you had mentioned that [00:24:00] potentially you would consider doing and how many hours you would need.

So there's a lot of things going on with this, and what you can do, but this is gonna be really critical, is understanding your existing team, what their bandwidth is, what they're comfortable with, what they're working on. And I'm sure you know a lot of that, but having the collaborative conversation around that is gonna help you instead of just running in sales and being like, alright guys, we got another client who can take it.

Who can take it, who can take it? You know, Wolf of Wall Street kind of vibes. Right,

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Yeah. Don't want that.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): right, right. So that would be my advice, kind of this three-pronged approach to that. in like your standard operating procedures, you're gonna have to have, I don't know what onboarding looks like for your clients right now, but I'm sure you guys have a standard process for that. And you would have to make sure that both of these folks working for you are very comfortable with that.

And if you do bring on that kind of that third. I would prob, this [00:25:00] would just be my opinion, I'd probably just do a part-timer. 'cause that's a lot happening in 90 days. Right. So just supplement some of that time if you need it with sales. Sounds like you might. Um, but I would also make sure that there's kind of, which sounds like it'd be your full-time person, kind of that point person that does that onboarding.

So there's a clear flow. Right, and maybe this is just, maybe this is a sales standard operating procedure that you kind of put at the back of your standard operating, say, Hey guys. So when we bring in new client on, especially when I'm not here, this is what we do, right? Maya onboards that person, speaks with the client, sets clear expectations, onboards, then you guys meet and that, you know, whatever that looks like.

And I, that will set them up for success as well, especially if you're bringing on another. Freelancer and having open communication between all of them.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Yeah, definitely. It's crazy how, you know, bringing a child into the world really makes you even ramp your business up more, right?

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Yes, yes, [00:26:00] yes. But I think, I mean, this is all, this is all good. Like these are all really good problems, so. For, for scaling, 'cause I wanna make sure I'm answering your business challenge like that Again, those are the things that I would focus on. To answer your question about whether to scale or not to scale.

Yes, I wouldn't take on another 15 clients though in the next 90 days. Right. I would, I would be very intentional and collaborative with my team about what's realistic because I would, I would much rather come back after having my baby and having this amazing family time too. Okay. Maybe we only grew one, two, maybe three clients, but everybody's happy and we're good and we have the opportunity to like go higher now versus bringing on a bunch of clients.

My team is frazzled. They're all like. I've got, you know, 40 hours worth of work. I'm trying to cram into 20 hours a week. So that's what I would be looking at. And it's that it's the important communication between you [00:27:00] and your team and, and you're right, it's gonna help you. You're gonna grow a lot as a leader through this and delegating tasks.

I think it's one of the hardest things for our leaders to learn to delegate.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: It definitely, it's been, it is been freeing, I'll say that. But at first I had to sit and think, oh, and then there's always the things that still make you special as the founder, right? That, that only you can bring. Um, but I can duplicate myself and that's what I'm trying to do is instill it in them. Right.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Yes you can. So a couple things. I love that you brought this up. So a couple things I wanna say about that one. You're right. You are the special sauce because you are the person that founded this, right? And a lot of people are working with you, if not all of your clients are working with you because of you.

But something I would challenge you on as a leader, because I've talked about leadership for years on this show, and it's something I'm really passionate about. You wanna find people that are aligned with you, like you said, and are kind of mini use or culturally aligned with [00:28:00] you. But I'd also challenge your team to tap into their special sauce so that they have clients that are like, you know, I really love working with Maya.

Like I, I love you too, Caroline, but you know what, Maya, just the way she gets my brand voice on social, I'm just something about her. That's awesome because that's gonna make you wanna delegate even more. And then on your team, when you start bringing in clients, you're gonna go, you know what? We'd love to work with you, but I think you know what, you're actually gonna be best for Maya because she's kind of got that quirky social vibe like you guys do, right?

Or, Hey, you know what I'm saying? Like you can now, that's how you're gonna scale even more, Caroline, because if it's just you, you wanna be the face. You want to be the leader. You want to build the culture, but you also wanna attract different types of clients. You just don't want. You. You, right? Like you want different types of clients.

That's when I really knew that I was growing my event business. When people were like, God, I have this amazing event assistant. Okay, he's been [00:29:00] with me for years. He left me in October. Just a little sidebar. He's back. Okay, thank God. He moved to DC and he goes, I can't do it. I'm back in Atlanta. I'm thrilled.

Do you know several of my clients? They were more excited. I'm like, okay, I'm chopped liver, but you know, but I know I'm doing something right now. You know, in the beginning I used to think, well, what's wrong with me? No, I did the right thing because these clients are, are loving him and his vi, it doesn't mean that they like me any less, but it's going to help you scale.

'cause that's what we're really talking about. How do we scale even when. You are giving birth to your first child. Like, how do we do that? This is another way, and this is gonna carry you even further though, as you build, build people and bring people on. So also, as you're hiring, you know, you've got your two freelancers now, but as you're hiring and as you, maybe you bring people in, they, you know, as you grow, they go full-time, right?

And you've got one that you're kind of on the precipice with that think about different clients that would be attracted to those people while it aligns culturally with you. [00:30:00] But still it's like. Well that kind of, you know, maybe, maybe you get into nonprofits, right? Like maybe you, you know, you're a small business, so maybe this person's really into small business.

Maybe one person's really into like not-for-profit work. Maybe another person is really into like influencer work. I'm making this up. But like, that's when you start to be really versatile and then your people are connecting and you can delegate more. They can manage those accounts more, and you can really get into the logistics and the running of your business.

It's gonna help you with delegation and leadership a lot.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: I do love that and I also, I worry, you know, I want my employees to be having fun. I know that sounds weird. I want them to enjoy helping clients and enjoy the stuff that they're working on, and I also want my clients to be excited. It as well. So I do get that. Like I might not be everyone's cup of tea, but if I can help more small businesses grow on social because my employee is, that's wonderful.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): So this is one more challenge I'm gonna give you, um, like you need it right now, right? Three months away from, from [00:31:00] giving birth. But one more challenge I'll give you, ask your, ask your freelancers. Ask your team. Hey, what clients, of course, this is just a team building exercise and what you're gonna do, but hey, what's your favorite account?

Why do you like working on that account? What kind of accounts do you wanna work on in the future? Cool. So if I go out and start talking, I'm gonna help you with also looking out and farming for business. Okay. And hunting for business, I should say hunting. Um, so when you, if you know, like, if you know Maya on your team really likes working with nonprofits, I do.

That's why I'm talking about that. So then you can say, cool, like let's hit all the top 50 nonprofits that are happening in, you know, Colorado and let's start talking to them. And I really know Maya wants to work with them. Maybe start including me on some of the sales calls and stuff when they get hot, right?

So that's a way to get them invested in the company and really jazzed about what they're doing. We all know like, yes, I love that you want them to have fun at work. [00:32:00] We all know there's gonna be hard times and there's gonna be fun times, but if they truly enjoy the clients and the type of work they're doing, you're gonna grow exponentially because of that.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Yeah, definitely. Well, this has been very great and insightful.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Okay, good. I'm glad this was super helpful and, uh, congratulations again, Caroline. I'm so glad this was helpful. Tell us again where we can find you and how we can work with you

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Yeah,

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): at.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: my website is just Colorado social.com, and then it is just Colorado Social. Can't miss me on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): So, yes. So, and again, she's not just in Colorado as we talked about. You know, she works with clients all over the US right?

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Yep. Yep, that's true. I started in Colorado, but we've been growing, so it's exciting.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): It is very exciting. So you'll keep us posted, keep us updated. She's also active in our new Facebook group too. So if you guys are not in our Facebook group, join us for, uh, women Entrepreneurs and Leaders. So Caroline, thank you so much for [00:33:00] sharing this with us today and your challenges, and I think I'm excited to see you grow.

I think it's gonna be awesome.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--guest806869--caroline-peters-: Awesome. Thanks so much, Maya.

2026-01-22--t08-23-03pm--62d44f94d16e77b66619324b--mayapinion (1): Thank you. And thank you guys so much for listening to the MaYapinion Podcast. We'll see you on the next episode.