#23: Tapping into the Power of Part-time - Tina Marie Talks with Part-time Pioneer Linda Guild

In this episode of the Light your Life Podcast, Tina Marie talks to Linda Guild about harnessing the power of part-time. We will learn about utilizing untapped resources, people who want to be part-time, and why making a part-time person an integral part of the team elevates the individual and boosts the bottom line.

Linda is an association executive with over 20 years of experience. She believes in the power of connections. She has launched a startup in an established environment. Under the umbrella of The Guild Associates, she is bringing the knowledge of associations to the Talented Alliance of Part-time Professionals. She believes that those who work part-time and their companies deserve to have resources that fit their situation so that the individual feels valued.

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Tina Marie St.Cyr (00:01):

Hello, and welcome

Linda Guild (00:03):

To light your life. I am your host, Tina Marie St.Cyr. And of course we are going to be diving into ways that we can live our life even more, expand our education, our knowledge, our wisdom, so that our lives become even better. We get to sit at the hymn of those people that are creating magic and amazing progress in their own lives and learn from them. I know I love to do that. I know you love to do that. So I want to introduce our guests for today. Linda is an association executive with over 20 years of experience. And Linda guile believes that those who work part-time and their companies older

Tina Marie St.Cyr (00:42):

To have adequate resources, which fit their situations. So that

Linda Guild (00:47):

Of the individuals that are working part-time feel valued. Isn't that what we all want. We want to feel valued. You're going to understand why she's created this organization and what it means to our world. She believes in the power of connection, and I am going to be schooled today because I've already written down some questions for Linda. And I know that at the end of our time together, we're all going to walk away with amazing gifts. So today we're going to be tapping into the power of part-time welcome, Linda, to light your life. Thank you so much for being here.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (01:18):

Thank you, Tina Marie, I'm really excited to be here. This is going to refund. The great thing is,

Linda Guild (01:25):

Or friends we've met through masterminds and common connections. And what I love about that is that whenever we put ourselves out there to meet people, we haven't met outside of the realms of the places that we would normally hang out. We get to learn new things. And from doing that, just like the audience here, the people that are listening, we

Tina Marie St.Cyr (01:43):

Get to pull different perspectives

Linda Guild (01:45):

And knowledge to better our own lives. And I've learned from you. You've been an amazing resource to me in my growth and to the rest of the mastermind members. So I want to say thank you for my heart for that participation.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (01:57):

Thank you. I've learned a lot from you. And, and as we were talking just before we came on air it was thanks to the mastermind that I'm even here because we wouldn't have met without it. So it's amazing what the power of connection through different types of groups can do for you. And, and so

Linda Guild (02:17):

Bodes the question here is what had you tap into, and I'll use that again because tap is the name of your company and tap online. We're going to be learning about that today. And so I hear myself say, tap into it. It's like no pun intended, but it's like, it's going to be pretty much the same way. What had you reached out to be part of a mastermind at that part of your own career and business development?

Tina Marie St.Cyr (02:40):

So the guy old associates, which is the primary company that I run is a family, was a family owned business. I'm I'm third generation in it. And I had hit a point where I needed outsource outside resources. And you hadn't read a lot of about mastermind groups and had never really known how to get involved with what I think is the best way to do it. It think about it. And Matt, Mike, Kim many of your listeners, I think I've heard a lot of us talk about, I know I've, I've heard some of your guests talk about him. Great guy. He's great. And so he was putting together a mastermind and I, I knew he would have smart people together and that, you know, that I could learn from I think being a business owner, people say it's lonely and I don't think it's so much as lonely. It's trying to figure out that extra network and who else, what other knowledge do they have or their experiences. And I do like the term tapping into or connecting from because people think about things so differently. And so when I saw the opportunity, I kind of said, ding, ding, ding, this is something I've been looking for. Let's see if it's a good fit for me. So there you go.

Linda Guild (03:59):

And we do so as a business owner, myself, sometimes we're programmed with stay in your lane and only reach out for resources whenever you hit a road bump or a hiccup. And if you don't feel as though, you know, then you're going to go reach for that, either marketing resource or financial resource, or, you know, something of that nature. And for me, it's like, wait a second, that I'm running a program, I'm running a program of what should happen in supposed to happen. Let's break up that program and go reach out and be connected to people that are in completely different industries. So we can hear what they're doing. And because we don't always know what we don't know. And I love learning in that way. That's why we even have the light, your life podcasts. So we can all learn,

Tina Marie St.Cyr (04:42):

Which is awesome to play

Linda Guild (04:44):

Ohio, that you're an association executive. And I, you know, my research, I went and Googled it and I'm like, I don't know if that's what she means. So first question here, help us understand what an association executive. Right?

Tina Marie St.Cyr (04:57):

Okay. So let's start with what an association is. Most associations are not-for-profits meaning that at the, the profit doesn't go back to shareholders or to its members. It goes to the benefit of the common good, some types of associations that the majority of your listeners would have heard of is the American medical association, the American bar association in my area, I'm running a group of automotive. It's an advertising association. So it's Honda dealers and visit your local Honda dealer or booze at your local Acura dealer. So those dealers have gotten together and they're advertising as a group and we're providing the, the resources for them, making sure that they're following state laws, that they're filing their taxes. And our company has been doing it since 1932. We've been in all industries practically, except for medical. We've never ventured into the medical field. And we've done everything from lobbying to running a flower show and a boat show large conferences, small conferences. It's a lot of fun and but there's an association can be anything. It's, it's really amazing when you start to look around. I mean, there's probably an associate. I know there is association for coaches. There's a speakers association. There's there's different types of clubs that they just have, you know, like interest in chests or interest in. And we know there's a roller skating one,

Linda Guild (06:39):

Everything, right. I'm a birdwatcher and I know there's the Autobon, you know,

Tina Marie St.Cyr (06:45):

Typical charitable organization. Yep.

Linda Guild (06:48):

There you go. So how did this start? You said 1932. So I guess third generation, this is somebody in your, in your lineage that had this need. How did it all begin? Do you know the story?

Tina Marie St.Cyr (07:00):

I do know the story. So my grandfather had worked for one of the major accounting firms and had lost his job during the depression and was looking to figure out something else to do. And his wife saw an ad for the cigarette association to do some bookkeeping for them. And so he got involved with them and then started to do other work for other groups. And there was an association for the association executives. He got, that was founded in 90, the Boston one was founded in 1929. He became involved with them and became very active in, in learning really about the nonprofit world and was, was actually a leader in the national association in the fifties. And one of the first people to become certified as an association executive. He was,

Linda Guild (07:57):

This is great. I'd never heard of this. And I it's obvious that this is necessary. You know, when we look at the tiers and the different levels of support any organization would require this sounds as though, you know, this association understanding how associations run obviously is its own business model. Yep. And the support of that business model is what your firms doing, right. You've taken go ahead.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (08:22):

And we do it for organizations that have opted not to hire staff directly. So I don't want to say that we're poor necessarily, always a small organization. We might have very large budgets or you may see companies such as ours that might have 15 people dedicated to one association or 20 or 30. They've just opted to have a bigger company because they get the, it affords them the resources. So they might have access to a better database and better equipment. And they're not paying us when we're, when there's not as much work. So, you know, as I said, we, we run a fair amount of meetings and there's, for some of our groups, they may be dormant in the summer. They may not run any groups, any meetings during the summer. So the way we're structured, we're there. When the you know, a member calls, you're not paying a staff person to sit and twiddle their thumbs during the summer.

Linda Guild (09:23):

It was very cost-effective for an association to look into your organization, to help them manage cash, you know, and, and in a time right now where that is King and queen, that it makes sense to be mindful of who's on your side. So your organization, of course, you've got the credibility you've been around and, you know, the, the, the game here and what to do, and today we're focused in on part-time. So yep. Not only the, what you do within tap there's, there's a visibility in a, in a acumen and a wisdom that you've gathered in the need for part-time work across organizations. And that does seem to be, it's almost like the stepchild version of employment. Like we, you know, whatever, I know we do career coaching here and when people come, they're looking for full-time, they want to become an FTE, right. And inside of LinkedIn, you get the choice to be able to click those boxes of what you were available for full-time remote. And then the part-time, it's almost like literally inside the nervous system, you look at that part-time piece and it's like, Oh no, you know, this is sort of like a stepchild, but you're seeing that this is a high need within the employment marketplace. And then that grouping of people that are seeking part-time or has been underserved. Right.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (10:44):

I agree. Absolutely. You've stated it much better than in some ways I have. But I think that when people think of part-time, they think of entry-level, they think of temporary and they don't think of the skilled workforce. They don't think of the person that is taking a step away from full-time for, to raise a kid, to take care of an elderly parent, to create a difference in balance in their world. They've, you know, been a high powered executive and now they needed, they need different hours, or they're looking towards retirement. There's 17 million people that work part-time in the U S wow. Yeah. So the numbers are huge. And I think it's, you know, personally, I firmly believe that there's a huge brain trust and I became aware of it almost 20 years ago. Now, when as a small business, we were running 75 to 80 in-person events that ranged in size from 35 people to a thousand,

Linda Guild (11:47):

Your timeframe, like how, how what's the timeframe you're running these events. Cause that's all what I was in a year, like over a course of a year.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (11:54):

Yeah, I remember the one, one week and it was around this time we had 15 meetings in one week. It's a balancing act. It's what makes life fun, but so we needed a little bit of extra help and we were not, we didn't need a full-time person, but it just, it didn't make any sense for what we did. And, and I had a number of friends who are moms that had taken a step away from being in the workforce. And I don't quite remember how I approach them, but started to bring some people in, to do projects for me. And all of them said to me, my friends want something like this. They want to use their brain. They want to, you know, for some of them, they wanted to get out of the house. So some people came into my office and some people did stuff remotely over a period of time.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (12:48):

And it made me think, wow, there's a need here. There's a need for the individual to figure out how to find companies that want to hire someone that has a brain that can really provide value and, and use it. And companies need to figure out how to tap into this to say, you know, Hey, I need someone to do marketing, but I don't need someone full time. Right. and so we, you know, we started to think about it and I had the opportunity to hire someone named Erica. Now, Erica worked for me initially as a full-time employee. She loves accounting, loves numbers, and we just don't have a full-time role for an accountant. It's just not here. So she left after about a year, we kept in touch. She went in, earned her MBA and had a child. And I learned she wanted to work part time and figured out how to bring her back. So she worked for me for five years, 20 hours a week. She attended meetings. She earned benefits gave her PI paid time off insurance and was a full fledged member of my team working 20 hours a week. Yes.

Linda Guild (14:05):

It would be the same as an FTE, except it's a lesser expense to the company, which here's a, you afforded her that full-time feel of being part of the community, being part of the staff, not being ostracizes, you're only here for a little while. Right. And also giving her benefits, which is I D I didn't know that was, is that common to do for a part-time employee to offer benefits in that way?

Tina Marie St.Cyr (14:27):

It ranges. So some companies, I know, you know, number one, they have to be 20 hours to be able to do insurance. So the insurance companies won't allow you if it's less than that. So that, that is a limit limitation that the company, it doesn't matter what they want to do. They can't get around. However for things like paid time off that type of thing, I've heard some companies that do it in some that don't. And I think for each of them, it's, it's looking at, do you want to invest in this person? And are you seeing, what do they need? You know, someone may not need insurance, for example, because if they've been a stay at home parent and they have a significant other, they may get it through their spouse. Right. And, and that family plan but for us, what made sense with Erica was we wanted her to feel invested in us. And she did need the insurance for the family. That was one of the things that was before Obamacare and before it was as easy to get, if you were some of the small businesses, we, we offered it, her husband's company didn't audit the time. And so she was getting that access. But, you know, for me, I was getting someone who loved to counting. Yeah. Like

Linda Guild (15:45):

The people that love accounting, it's not me [inaudible].

Tina Marie St.Cyr (15:51):

And so she came in focused, she came in with an outside attitude. I mean, she's, she's like the poster child for great part-time employee anyway, because she would come in and, and always, if she had been out for, you know, more than overnight, she would always come in and say, what did I miss? Do I, does anyone need help with something? Knowing that we always had a million things that we were juggling. And instead of just sitting down and starting on something that she thought was important, she would make sure that, Hey, am I still on the same page with what I left? You know, if I, if I left on Thursday and came in on Tuesday, that gap can a lot can happen. Right. So,

Linda Guild (16:34):

Yeah. So there's a couple of questions as an employer that are coming to mind because sometimes, you know, we'll hire a part-time employee and, and treat them not as an employee depending on state laws, but bring them in as a contractor. What, what have you seen is the difference of bringing a resource in as a part-time employee versus bringing them in, in contract? What are the, the, you know, pros and cons there that you've, you've recognized?

Tina Marie St.Cyr (17:03):

So one of the, the, the pros can be just the extra paperwork that you have to do as a, as an employer for the contractor. So if they're a contractor they're 10 99, you're not paying matching. And that type of thing, they also need to be able to control their own hours. I mean, as you know, there's, there's a lot of people that brings people in as contractors and don't understand the regulations could be an employee. Yeah. They, you have to be careful with that one. I think the pro is they're going to come in and they're only going to work on X project, you know? So you brought them in to update, work on your website or redo your marketing collateral, whatever it may be. That's also the con in my opinion, because, you know, you can't necessarily tap into them to do something else for you. So with Erica, she, as I said, she did our accounting and we ran a group. We still run a group that meets twice a month. And it hopefully it'll go back to in person sometime in the future. And she would attend one of those luncheons and enjoy that she would answer the phone and was part of our staff meetings and brainstorming, I think with contractors, you're not getting you oftentimes aren't including them in your staff meetings. Right. And so you're not getting that extra energy. Yeah.

Linda Guild (18:29):

Energy is a big one. And there's always this back of mind. I know for myself that you question the loyalty, you know, it's kind of interesting the designation from employee to contractor. There's a couple of things that go along with that. You're, you're questioning loyalty, you're questioning, you know, could they possibly go work for a competitor and the other hours that they have. So some type of, is there any legality to restrict certain auctions by that person? If they're a contractor, there are none. So having them as an employee and being able to have those stipulations in those agreements give you that you can build that trust in that little. Okay. Have you seen that as well?

Tina Marie St.Cyr (19:09):

I agree with that. And, and, and you're, I think if you do it while you're creating that investment in your company because they do feel a part of the team, and again, to me, that's having them be part of your staff meetings, having them understand what else is happening in the company, apart from just their role, just like you would do with your full-time employees. You know, we sit and we will review, we're running eight organizations in here. It doesn't really sound like a lot when I talk to someone that doesn't know what we do.

Linda Guild (19:43):

To me, I mean, like, I'm like, wow, I can, I'm running my own organization. I can't imagine a lot of people, there's always something going,

Tina Marie St.Cyr (19:53):

And that's the fun of it. But so she, you know, when you're bringing the person the part time and they're part of that, they may see something because they've taken two days doing something else, whether even if it is going to their child's Belterra and if their child's school, they still may come back with a different perspective that that helps the team. And I think it, it brings a different energy with contractors. They're so focused on I'm here to do X, you know, it's like when I have my accountants in to do our w we're audited internally, you know, that's all they're ever going to do when they come in and that's clear, we're not going to bring them and say, can you answer our phones? It'd be really weird. They stay in their lane, they stay in their lane. And I think that's the, the big difference between having them as an employee and a contractor is the contractor is going to stay in their lane and

Linda Guild (20:45):

Certain roles that part-time fit better in, or is it across the organization, just having that mindset of how can I silo this into an actual part-time job description?

Tina Marie St.Cyr (20:56):

I think the best way is actually seeing, looking internally. So understanding what does your team lack? So if your team is really good at like they're, they're really creative, but they don't do some of the additional follow through on it or

Linda Guild (21:22):

Database work. Exactly.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (21:24):

You know we have a friend that, that loves standard operating procedures. She loves her, her SOP, right? So if you're a company

Tina Marie St.Cyr (21:37):

And if no one on your team is, is good at that, and they don't enjoy it, that might be a great thing to, to bring someone in that makes sure that as you bring on new clients, everything, you know is streamlined and you have your procedures. So I don't think that there's one thing that works or doesn't work. It really is. There's a few criteria that I look for. One is, do you really understand what, how you operate? Right? So when you bring someone in and you're trying to have them fit in handing that work over, part-time, there's a little bit more piecemeal to it sometimes. So if it's not a big project that they're going to dive into, you know, do you have the communication there set up between you and that individual? Do you really understand how long things take? There's a big one, right? So you bring them in to work 20 hours. And really what you've asked them to do is four. And it's having that dialogue with you and them. I actually believe it or not believe in for small companies tracking time, at least for a little bit,

Linda Guild (22:51):

We have a time tracker worksheet. And it's funny because I asked them to track everything they're doing in a day. And they're like everything. I'm like, yeah, like whenever you get up to go to the bathroom, here's the time you left, you came back. It's not because we're being micromanagy or, you know, like that downward looking like, what are you doing with your time? It's, it's, let's really bucket and categorize where we're spending our time as individual. So from our perspective, internally here, we want to track distractions. We want to start to learn how distractions take us off our game and how can we increase productivity and efficiencies and the best way to start that is to track your time. And you guys do that too.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (23:26):

Yep. We do that too. And we also track projects. So sometimes I will notice when my team is avoiding a project. So many years ago, I had someone on my team that fabulous employees, you know, so statements, none of this is a negative. And for one of our clients, there was research along potential members. And I would watch that one project gets danced around, you know, and I finally said, okay, you know, with this has to happen. And she said, yeah, I suddenly realize I don't really like it. Okay. Carla, who is, part-time loves research. Let's give it to her. So understanding like what people liked, being able to shift it, but also saying to your team. So if you were to, to think about bringing someone, part-time ask everyone, if you CA if we brought in someone to help, what one thing would you like to give them? See if there's a trend. Yeah. You know

Linda Guild (24:26):

Common tasks. If somebody is more back office, operational mindset, task oriented, or systems oriented, if there's like three or four people that go, yeah. I'd offset that anytime. Right. Then you find somebody who it's their strength.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (24:39):

Exactly. Where, you know, conversely, it could be the creativity. Erica, who was wonderful with accounting. When I first started with her, okay. Do this flyer for me. And I'm like, everything was at the top part of a page. I'm like, boom, that's not her strength. Okay. We won't give that to her. So it can be on either way. My mom is very creative and sold office supplies and she holds, you know, when I was a kid hired someone part-time to handle all the paperwork I am. So I think it's, yeah, it's really figuring, I think it's, it's doing it well means taking a look at your company and saying, where is there a need? Are we willing to really have a good dialogue? How are we gonna make sure that we're integrating this person and making them feel part of the team, how are we going to keep them updated? Because there'll be gaps when they wash them. And not, everyone's great. Like Erica was upcoming and then saying, what did I miss?

Linda Guild (25:38):

So exhibit any tools or systems that you've seen that help with that integration and the higher level of communication across the team for part-time. Yeah.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (25:48):

We you know, I think using some sort of project management and it can be very simple. I mean, we actually use Google docs a lot that we track things and we assign things and it can go back, back and forth that people, you know, if someone needs me to review something and I'm not around, they can throw it on there and tell me where to find it. So I know that I'm supposed to do it. So it's not, I'm just assigning work to my team. They can assign work to me and get on my case if I don't do it. There's, you know, there's a ton of projects management software such as Monday and a sauna and, and those some tools it's not even an actual tool. It's, it's making sure that if you're doing team meetings and I'm a big proponent of having staff meetings on a regular basis if you can do once a week, great. If you can do once every two or three weeks, making sure that you're doing it when you're part-time employees, they're

Linda Guild (26:46):

Right. When they're going to attend.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (26:48):

Exactly. And you know, if you have a lot of new people periodically going through and saying, what's your background a lot of small businesses, you don't, someone was brought in to do X, but you don't actually know what else they know. So for, for interview,

Linda Guild (27:07):

The whole team knows,

Tina Marie St.Cyr (27:09):

But a whole team, because, so for example, my husband is amazing at Excel. But he's a sales guy and he was their trainer at one point as well. And someone figured this out. He works for a company with 80 or 90 employees, and he's done Excel trainings for the company. Wow. for individual, what not usual for a sales person. Exactly. and you know, for us, like, you know, we learn, like I said, with Carla, that she really liked research. So you know, you might find out that someone's used a particular type of software in their past, or, you know, has connections that you'd like, I mean, you don't quite know. And I think by people understanding and giving them that freedom to, to swap the, you know, move things around, I'm I not a silo person, actually, I am you know, if someone wants to learn about something and it's, and it works and it's going to help us grow.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (28:10):

Absolutely. And if one person can't handle something and they need some help and someone else feels like they have the time to help them great. As long as it doesn't feel like one, person's always dumping on someone else. Right. Balance there, you know? So you, you have to pay attention to that. But I think, yeah. I mean, honestly, it's, it's encouraging that communication. It's encouraging getting to know the individual. And again, you asked about the consultant and I think when you bring me in a consultant, I think sometimes you feel with the consultant that there's always a very high ticket and you don't want to waste their time. Right. And they may make

Linda Guild (28:52):

Extraneous things on their, on their tasks.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (28:55):

Exactly. So, I mean, and not that a part-time should be paid at a low rate, but it may feel different when it's very task oriented. So

Linda Guild (29:08):

It, it's interesting how we develop these mindsets, isn't it? It has definitely. And so tell our wonderful listeners what tap stands for and why you created this Alliance and what you provide people who are out there saying, you know, I think I want some part-time work and I want to call into,

Tina Marie St.Cyr (29:27):

So tap stands for the talented Alliance of part-time professionals and we're online and on Instagram and Facebook and all of that good stuff. And we offer resources where we're about to start a a course for individual that wants to work part time. So helping the job seeker find that ideal position and taking them through a process to learn what fits for them. So as we just talked about one size does not fit all. But we want people to find that job that values them and we are not headhunters, I don't want, so we're just helping them with that process of understanding, you know getting a little bit of an insight from a company on, on how to find that, that PR great job. So yeah,

Linda Guild (30:14):

You want to position it because sometimes when we're moving out of a full-time mindset and a full-time utilization, there's some sticky pieces there there's like, and I'm sure you've seen this whenever we coach our individuals and they're wanting to move. Maybe they want to go into an advisory role within an organization or something of that nature and more strategic lower, you know, involvement. There's the don't go in and try and be the hero to everything and think that you're going to know everything going in the organization. You know, don't stress yourself that way as a part-time person second, and maintain your boundaries. If you've said you want to maintain part time, you know, just look inside your nervous system. Cause there's this part of us going well, where's my value. Where's my significance. How can I be of more importance because that's who we were as a full-time employee and to really check and fight and go, where's your boundaries. You need, you need to pay attention to what you committed to and not over commit. Do you see that whenever you're helping your professionals as well, how to groom them to this?

Tina Marie St.Cyr (31:15):

Yes, absolutely. I think, and that clarity, I think it starts with understanding why do you want to work? Right. So if you haven't determined why you want to work, then you can't address issues like that. And you know, if you really want to work because you want to be more social, then being at home proofreading manuscripts, even if you love it, right by yourself is not going to give you what you, you know, part of why you want to work. So I think it's a lot of that, is that a little bit deeper looking inside and then understanding some questions to ask the company, because some of what we just talked about of how do you structure the job, the part-time has to make sure that that company is structuring the job well, because I think that's always, my concern is the company that hasn't done any of the work. And instead of it being four hours, that it's going to take the, the person to finish it, they're really giving them a full-time role and saying, but you can do it in 20 hours. Right. Hmm. And the person's completely stressed out and doesn't know how to say no. And you know, it's not what they want.

Linda Guild (32:24):

Courageous conversations with your employer.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (32:27):

Yeah. And asking great questions upfront. Right. and do you,

Linda Guild (32:32):

You're the resources. So if somebody day says, you know, I love that I'm listening to this podcast. I love that Linda gile does here. I love that I can tap into tap and let me remind everyone how to do this. They do have a website. However, we're also going to send you to their Instagram or Facebook. So listen, this is how you're going to find their website. And that is tap online.net. Now let me spell it because there's a trick here just like a nine, eight. We talked about this earlier, Linda, you know, my name, I need to buy a Val, but Papp online is T a P P online.net, T a P P online.net. And then on Instagram, it's T a P P O N L I. And then on Facebook, T P P O N L I as well. So you're looking for tap online with two PS and you're looking for Linda guile and she's got this amazing resource of talented Alliance for part-time professionals.

Linda Guild (33:28):

So if they're interested in saying, you know, I would love to get back in the workforce. I am coming out of, maybe I've been taking a hiatus for whatever reason in my life. Maybe I'm moving out of a full-time and I want to do something part-time. So I, I value my, you know, what I give into the workforce and I, in my confidence and my professionalism, I don't just simply want to retire a hundred percent. For whatever reason you're looking for part-time work and effective part-time work, that's going to match you. How do they reach out to you and what would be that first step that you would be doing with an individual

Tina Marie St.Cyr (34:03):

So they can, they can reach out to us through any of the mechanisms that you just talked about. We'll be starting a course that will probably be underway by the time this airs, but we'll be offering it again. That will take a job seeker through a number of steps from, from defining their ideal position through the interview process. And, and some things for them to think about along the way. We have a roadmap that they can download for free that they'll find if they click on any of our links and they can also just connect with us. You know, I'm someone like a lot of people that if, if they ask us questions or direct messages, they'll get me, or one of my team members directly, it's not a robot. It's not outsourced. It's someone that will do everything to answer their question and, and start a conversation with them because we really want to change the world around how part-time is valued. And we just, we want people to know that working part-time is awesome. And, you know, the people should be valued, not, not seeing the second class citizen, so right.

Linda Guild (35:10):

And we're coming, you know, through this wonderful season of humanity called a pandemic,

Tina Marie St.Cyr (35:18):

Some

Linda Guild (35:18):

Silver linings that came out right for me, silver linings, where we got to realize our house is a pretty cool place to work from.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (35:25):

Like the first

Linda Guild (35:27):

Couple of weeks, I had very bad posture. I had non ergonomic desks called a folding table. My wife's a chiropractor. And so she was like, cause was like having neck pain and headache and I was irritable and she's like, can I come look at how you've set up the office upstairs? And I went, she goes, Oh, no, no, no. So we learn economics. And the hard way I did we also learned that we can take breaks and walk around the block and work out in the middle of the day and love our dogs. Would you say that your dog comes to work with you and she's been coming to work for, with you for how long

Tina Marie St.Cyr (35:59):

He's he's been in here for the last decade. Wow. So awesome. I heard him walking around a little bit and then he finally went back and laid down and he's, he's blocking, we have a puppy in the office too. And, and where I am is blocked off for the puppy and the, the old guy would never even try and get through. Like, you, you put up, you put up anything and, and we joke that all you have to do is say, put a sign and saying stop, and you won't go through

Linda Guild (36:26):

The older, we get the less energy it takes for us to go, okay, sounds good.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (36:30):

We have a dog in the office and, and it's pretty cool. So

Linda Guild (36:34):

A dog this morning, whenever I go, cause I'm back in an office setting and whenever I leave, she just looks at me like, again, you're leaving again. Be like, hello. And I'm like, I know tomorrow is Saturday and we're going to spend more time together.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (36:50):

Having a dog is cool in the office. I like, I liked that, but I think you're right. I think that's the other piece for that I think is good for the pandemic is a plus is understanding that people can work from home and do productive. So you have that individual who wants to work part time would like to work from home. It does open up avenues. And again, it's being clear with themselves of what they need. And making sure that they're figuring out and asking questions about the connections that they need, because if you're a really social person, like I said, working from home, or, or if you have toddlers running around you might be like, Oh, it's not going to happen. So I love that

Linda Guild (37:37):

You're here to support everybody with their questions. So for those that are listening, maybe, you know, people, maybe it's you and your interested in part-time work, you've gotten to the season of your life, where that work-life balance you want to and can afford to have more time outside of a full-time job. And you want to adhere to a part-time work schedule. And then also Linda can help you with what's your value in the marketplace, because that's another question Mark, that we end up having is wait a second. I'm coming out of full-time role. And I, I knew my value there. Now what's your value as a part-time it's not simply half, so it's not simply just doing a division of two. So could you speak to that Linda, about the value of a part-time resource into an organization?

Tina Marie St.Cyr (38:23):

I, I, you know, I think that's such a fascinating question is for every person stop and say, if you've tapped into, what do you love to do now, you're bringing PI more value into a company because you're focused on that. You have the background on it using the accounting is she really loved, it came in with that focus rather than the person that they can do it, but it takes them longer. Right? I am. And what, so explain to the company, Hey, this is what I'm going to accomplish for you. This is how I can move your, your goals through. You're not hiring someone to do things that one they're going to do well in four, they're going to do right. You're hiring someone, that's going to do one thing really well, and you're going to pay me well for it too.

Linda Guild (39:17):

And you don't need to explain me a lot, right. Or oversee or micromanage or both for communications, because there's a level of professionalism that comes with getting to the season of our life that we're saying, no, I'm going to dedicate myself to a focused effort as opposed to an elongated, you know, in training efforts.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (39:36):

Exactly. So, I mean, I think we look for a unicorn, oftentimes that person that can do everything and we've all been guilty of it. I'm sure. And, and something just doesn't, it's either that it's not done well or someone doesn't enjoy it. And the person that comes in and says, Hey, I can fill this gap for you. That's super valuable. And if you treat them well as an employer, you know, mean five years is great to have someone on your team. Awesome

Linda Guild (40:10):

Mine. So I'm looking at, we're coming out of a lull of you know, people wanting our services as a coaching firm, right. And, and the needs and the, you know, prospects are coming in yet my cashflow doesn't warrant, the, you know, taking on a full-time new salesperson, right. Yet I want to be prepared and not taxing my current staff so much that things fall through the cracks. And so I'm, I'm probably going to be giving you a call and let's talk here. I'm looking at bringing on an inside sales person. That is a, it's a more defined role, as opposed to someone who'd be out marketing and creating those leads and creating those connections. This one would be fulfilling the orders that come in online and it's easy to, you know, go into that one piece and own it. Right.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (41:06):

Yeah. And you just loved how you said one piece, you know, that you're not having them do seven. I am specialize in that. Exactly. And as part of that, they can, you may choose it. You need someone else and maybe something that you could have, you know, more of a job sharing with something beautiful

Linda Guild (41:28):

To overflow with the team. Right.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (41:31):

Exactly. I've learned. So

Linda Guild (41:34):

And I, I, I invite you to expand your title. It all says association executive of like, yo, you're so much, you know, like you're, you're like the mother of part-time people that need someone to handhold them through their process.

Tina Marie St.Cyr (41:52):

There's a title for you, chief bottle washer, right?

Linda Guild (41:58):

We've been talking about tapping into the power of part-time. Maybe you are that season of your life, where you even have inquiry or curiosity, and you want to reach out to Linda guile and her team. And so I'm going to remind you how you get in touch with tap and tap is the talented Alliance of part-time professionals. And Linda is at the helm of that. And she's been our guest today. So their website is tap online. That's tapped with two PS, T a P P online.net. And then on Facebook, she said, they're active on Facebook. They're after active on IgE the gram. And so you can go find them at T a P P O N L I P a P P O N L I on Facebook and on the gram. And so reach out, maybe, you know, somebody, and she's got a four-part course coming up now to help you navigate your part-time journey and find that perfect job for you.

Linda Guild (42:49):

You want to put this in your pocket because if you don't need her, now you'll need her in the future. Guaranteed. One of the thank you so much, you have really schooled me and helped educate me. And as a business owner, I'm always learning. And I really love that you've created this Alliance for part-time professionals. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. This has been a blast. Awesome. So if you have not yet, you want to subscribe to the light, your life podcast. We have amazing gas every week, just like Linda, who are helping to expand your horizons, give you a little nugget of something that they've been through their wisdom, so that you can increase your effectiveness as an individual in our world, as a career professional inner world, or as a business owner, you're going to be taking something away every time with light your life. Thank you for being fans of ours and go find us online at light your life, and also go find bonfire coaching. We could all use a coach. I know I've got a whole army of them behind me because I need direction. And if you're looking for that to reach out to bond for our coaching, we're here for you. Thank you for listening. And we'll be with you next week.

 

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