Forget Guest Posting and Think About Guest HOSTING in 2025

I'm sharing a personal update, the importance of balancing life and work, and learning when to step back.

Key Takeaways:

• Recognize your limits: It's important to identify when to step back and take time for personal matters.
• Future-proofing the podcast: To ensure the podcast continues, guest hosts may be invited to share their insights in future episodes.
• Resilience in challenges: Even with setbacks, it’s essential to learn and grow from them, focusing on failing differently next time.

Memorable Quotes:

• "As much as we want to come across like we have everything together, there are times we just can't show up as our best selves, and that's okay."
• "I’ve realized it’s not about intentions, but actions that matter."

Listener Action Items:

• Reflect on your own work-life balance and consider whether you need to step back in certain areas.
• If you're interested in being a guest host on the show, pitch your idea to me via LinkedIn or email at hello@simpleandsmartseo.com.
• Stay tuned for upcoming guest-hosted episodes for fresh insights on SEO and marketing strategies.

Chapters

• 0:00 Hey friend, welcome back to the simple and smart SEO show podcast.
• 0:17 Family Challenges and Personal Struggles
• 1:36 Work-Life Balance Dilemmas
• 3:47 Lessons Learned and Self-Reflection
• 6:05 Future Plans for the Podcast
• 7:29 Conclusion and Call to Action

Transcript

[00:00:00] Crystal Waddell: Hey friend, welcome back to the simple and smart SEO show podcast. I'm your host, Crystal Waddell. Today's episode is again, going to be just a little bit different. 

[00:00:08] Primarily because I thought it might be good to just talk about what we're not proud of that. We don't talk about a lot.

[00:00:14] I wanted to take a moment to share something personal with all of you. 

Family Challenges and Personal Struggles

[00:00:17] Crystal Waddell: So lately life has been throwing me some challenges. My dad has been dealing with some health issues. 

[00:00:24] And my husband has as well, because I don't, I'm not sure if I mentioned it in a previous episode, but.

[00:00:30] A few months ago, he hurt himself trying to close the garage door. 

[00:00:35] Which was broken during one of the previous tropical storms that hit North Carolina, not Helene or the hurricane that just hit Western North Carolina. 

[00:00:45] But one about a couple of months ago. And he, something happened with the garage door and it fell and it tore his bicep.

[00:00:52] So he had surgery. He was recovering. We're about halfway through the recovery. 

[00:00:57] And then at school, where he is a special needs PE teacher and probably the best pE teacher in the nation, I would say. 

[00:01:04] Not just my city, not just my state, but the entire nation. Jon is an amazing PE teacher. 

[00:01:09] He's one of those guys who's just made to be a PE teacher. 

[00:01:12] But unfortunately he was helping a student in one of his classes and the student sagged against his arm. And then retore his bicep. Or at least we think he retores bicep.

[00:01:22] Last time he was hurt, he had the MRI and the surgery within a week and a day of his injury. 

[00:01:29] And this time it's been almost a month and he still hasn't had the MRI. So it's been a little bit messy.

Work-Life Balance Dilemmas

[00:01:36] Crystal Waddell: I went home to Kansas where my father is to, just be with him as he was recovering from his surgery. 

[00:01:42] And it's just been a crazy time. And as I was. I was traveling back to Kansas. I made like the cardinal sin of scheduling meetings. Okay. 

[00:01:51] So when, first of all, when you're dealing with a personal crisis, don't schedule meetings.

[00:01:55] Okay. Especially with new people. Because, things are just a little bit jumbled in your mind. 

[00:02:00] And unfortunately, For whatever reason, I thought, Oh, you know what? I will just work from home in Kansas. 

[00:02:06] And my priority was to be there with my dad, but I was like, you know what? In the couple hours in the morning, I can get some work done.

[00:02:11] No big deal. So I then rethought that position and rescheduled my podcast interviews. Cause I was like, you know what? Actually, it's probably not a good idea, especially since I was traveling on podcast day. So I rescheduled my podcast interviews. 

[00:02:23] And I rescheduled them for like Wednesday and Thursday of that week or whatever.

[00:02:27] And then I realized that I had a meeting that my calendar allowed someone to schedule a meeting with me, a new client. And it was on Tuesday, the day it was flying out.

[00:02:38] So I look like the total mess I was. 

[00:02:40] Telling this person, Hey, I've got to reschedule with you. I'm flying out dah. And she's very gracious.

[00:02:44] She's I totally get it, whatever. We're going to meet in a couple of days. So I get to Kansas and I, I'm with my family and, having a good time. 

[00:02:53] I meet with my SEO squad, everything's going fine. Then when it comes time to meet with the new client, I forget that I'm in a different time zone.

[00:03:01] Oh, wait, let's see what happens first. Okay. So it's time to meet with the new client and my The MacBook Pro that I typically use would not turn on. So thankfully I have a backup MacBook Pro.

[00:03:11] So I turned that one on, but it hadn't been turned on since June. And somewhere in the middle of using a laptop that hadn't been updated forever, I missed that meeting yet again. 

[00:03:23] So obviously this new person was not happy with me. And she had a very, valid point.

[00:03:29] She was very direct and very, professional. And, she just said, at this time, she just wanted to decline working with me as a new member of my SEO squad. 

[00:03:37] As I was emailing her back, I thought, I even wrote, I'm like, I absolutely understand why you're saying this.

[00:03:42] And I just feel terrible that I couldn't give you the customer service that I would want to give someone. 

Lessons Learned and Self-Reflection

[00:03:47] Crystal Waddell: I tell you this to let you know that, sometimes you have to take a step back. 

[00:03:52] And I don't know how many times I have to learn this lesson, it's I think, oh, I've got it. I can do everything.

[00:03:57] And because I do a lot of things pretty well, most of the time. 

[00:04:02] I forget that there's certain times where my capacity, my emotional and mental capacity is to the point where nothing else can or should be added. 

[00:04:13] And one thing I've realized over the years, it's not about what your intentions are. 

[00:04:18] You could have the most, genuine Intentions in the world of being the best version of yourself. 

[00:04:25] But when you're not the best version of yourself. 

[00:04:28] The intentions don't matter what matters are your actions? and so you know again like i'm a big fan of self reflection. 

[00:04:36] And reflecting on this, it just reminded me like hello, Crystal. 

[00:04:39] You've got to learn this lesson for the last time, right?

[00:04:42] That sometimes you have to recognize when you're at that capacity. 

[00:04:46] And so because of that, it made me start thinking about the future because, with Jon, getting ready to go through the surgery again, go through the recovery again. 

[00:04:54] With my dad continuing to go through his treatment, I want to make myself available to them and not feel like it and not feel that torn feeling that you get sometimes.

[00:05:06] Like I remember having it at my day job where it was like, I need to take some time off to deal with this very important personal thing. And it was the worst feeling in the world when you knew that personal thing should absolutely 100 percent be a priority. But yet you are going to have to let someone else down. 

[00:05:23] Or cause someone else more work because you couldn't be there fully.

[00:05:27] So anyway, that whole situation had me thinking, okay, what do I need to do in the future to ensure that I have a buffer between myself and my responsibilities? 

[00:05:37] And one of the things I thought about was this podcast, because, you know, I love this podcast. 

[00:05:42] I'm here for it! 

[00:05:43] As much as I hope you get something out of this podcast, we have had such incredible people on the show, that I get so much out of it every week myself.

[00:05:52] But I have to admit, there may be times in the future where it may be difficult to juggle everything. So here's the thing. 

[00:05:58] I love the community that we've built here, and I don't want the podcast to stop just because life gets complicated.

[00:06:03] Not now and not in the future. 

Future Plans for the Podcast

[00:06:05] Crystal Waddell: So I've been thinking about a way to keep this simple and smart SDO show going strong, if I need to focus on my family in the future. 

[00:06:12] Which obviously it sounds like I will, and that's where you come in. Over the next few weeks, I'm inviting guest hosts to step in and share their insights. 

[00:06:21] And whether you're an SEO pro, or a marketing expert, or you have a business growth story to share.

[00:06:28] This could be a great opportunity to be a part of the show. 

[00:06:31] So if you're interested or know someone who might be, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. 

[00:06:36] Or you could email me at hello at simple and smart seo. com. 

[00:06:40] Pitch me your idea or over on social media. I'm simple and smart SEO on pretty much every platform.

[00:06:47] You can always find me at knowledge vomit as well. 

[00:06:49] The more I think about it, the more I'm like, this could be a really cool idea. The more conversations the better. So I'm really excited to see the new perspectives and conversations we could bring to this community together.

[00:07:02] And thank you so much for your support and understanding. 

[00:07:05] As of now, I don't anticipate anything changing with the podcast weekly episodes. 

[00:07:11] I just wanted to take this week to give you an update on what's going on. 

[00:07:14] And what I'm thinking about for the future. 

[00:07:16] But I do have several really amazing guest interviews already recorded. So those will be released, as usual. And then of course I will be returning to follow through Fridays, just as. I have the time availability. 

Conclusion and Call to Action

[00:07:29] Crystal Waddell: So, anyway. Thank you for listening. 

[00:07:31] Thanks for, just giving me a chance to stop for a second and reflect because it's just so important.

[00:07:37] We're entering Q4 and this year has gone by so fast. It feels like every year goes by faster and I just wanted to just stop, take a breath and hopefully, empower you to take a breath as well. 

[00:07:49] Because as much as we want to come across, like we have everything together, the fact is, there's going to be times where we just can't show up as our best self and that's okay.

[00:07:59] What's important, as Venus Williams would say is that we fail differently next time. 

[00:08:04] And we learn from the failures that we've experienced. 

[00:08:07] So that's all for today and I can't wait to hear from you and what you think of this idea. 

[00:08:12] Even if you don't want to be a guest host on the show.

[00:08:15] And yeah until next time keep moving forward