Featured
Member Emily Keret shares her
experiences working with The Second Shift and offers some tips about balancing
work and family.

**What brought you to The Second Shift?**

I was looking for a way to get back to work after having a baby but
didn’t want to go back full-time. It was becoming harder and harder to find
something in public relations, an industry that runs around the clock and I
didn’t want to give up that much time with my daughter.  I found The
Second Shift and realized that I could have the best of both worlds—I could be
at home with my baby and take on projects that enabled me to work the hours
that fit my family’s schedule.

Tell us a little about the jobs you have done
through TSS?

One of the jobs I did when I first discovered The Second Shift was a
social media project for The Novogratz Family design company. They were looking
to build Pinterest pages and increase their followers. It was super fun to work
closely with them and to be able to help grow their fan base and their
business!  The second job I did was with Google! I worked on a PR project
for them focusing on a special summer concert series they were involved
sponsoring. It was fun to help them hand select the best people to help spread
buzz about their summer music program. 

How is your experience working through TSS
different from finding your own consulting projects? You can be honest… even thought you are Co-Founder Jenny Galluzzo’s sister 🙂

On my own I haven’t been able to find freelance jobs or consulting
projects with companies that excite me. Therefore, the work wasn’t as exciting
and I wasn’t as motivated.  Through The Second Shift I have been exposed
to companies I’ve dreamed about working for. And obviously the family connection makes the work even more meaningful.

You seem to have mastered the flexible
work/life balance—any advice for women just leaving the full-time workforce?

As someone who spent several years working hard to grow my career on
a particular path, I know that it’s difficult to make the choice not to go back
to full-time work, for whatever reason.  Then if you want to continue
working in some capacity, to keep the job flow going is also daunting. Don’t
stress about it–find your “sea legs” in your new life, take things slow and take
on jobs that you know you can handle with respect to your skill set as well as
time.

What’s the best advice you can
give Second Shift members about working with companies on
projects?

Have a
conversation with the company to really know what their needs and goals are and
assess whether or not you are the right fit for them. Don’t promise what you
can’t deliver.