When Kristy started her account at zero in 2019, she didn’t imagine finding herself surrounded by an engaged, authentic, kind, and supportive Instagram community of 1000+ followers within a few months. Nor could she have imagined the impact it would have on her Cincinnati-based business.

Talks like the one I had recently with Kristy are some of my favorites and I would be happy to have these conversations every day. We found ourselves well off the beaten path of what you’re used to hearing when someone talks about Instagram and business.

You’ll read how Instagram has helped her save time, money, and propelled other areas of her investment property business more quickly than she expected.

**Updated March 2023: The author of this post, Katie Taylor, is now the founding owner of The Outsourced COO- your savvy solution for less hustle & more help for your growing organization. You can learn more about her current offers by visiting her at outsourceyourops.com or on Instagram at @outsourceyourops. You can also contact her directly anytime here.

DOCUMENTING THE PROCESS

Prior to starting her account at @mom_homework Kristy wasn’t a big social media user. She is one of the most intentional people I know when it comes to valuing her time and choosing what earns her attention. It’s something I personally yield wisdom from on a regular basis when she reminds me that choosing how we spend our time is one of the best ways we can take care of ourselves and reach the goals we set out for.

So when Kristy decided to join Instagram to document the process of their rental renovations, she wasn’t totally clear on what would come from it, but knew it would help her keep better records of the before, process, and end results of their growing rental and investment properties. She had previously used Facebook to share photos with family and close friends, but decided she would use that time on Instagram instead.

FINDING COMMUNITY 

She spent the first few months familiarizing herself with the platform and seeing how to make best use of it. What she found rather quickly was an online community of others doing similar things in what she calls “the house community”.

“My way works great for me and other ways work great for others. That’s how I’ve been able to find a great, supportive community here.”

One of the distinguishing features of this Instagram community is that everyone is working for their own “why”. She says it’s not about calling others out for doing something differently or questioning if they are doing it right, but rather supporting one another on their individual journeys.

“When you have a space without worrying you need to do it a certain way there’s no pressure to try and be enough.”

I want stories like Kristy’s to encourage you to see beyond the vanity scope of social platforms and begin to understand the real value that is there. Your profits, efficiency and opportunities can all transform through something as simple and attainable as social media.

For example, Kristy said, “To be able to connect with people I trust fully and take their recommendation on this is where they put their money and how they have these loans built is really solid. I’m super appreciative for the connections we’ve made and the people we’ve been able to network with.”

Time saved without quality compromise is efficiency at its best. And that is thanks owed to having others further along the journey who are choosing to extend a virtual hand of support rather than be concerned by the competition.

Time saved without quality compromise is efficiency at its best.

-Katie, Abundant Collab Co.

HOW THINGS CHANGED

One of the first properties Kristy and her husband rented out became a saga of unexpected, expensive, and time consuming issues that had been well hidden before purchasing. They had properly prepared the house with no way of knowing they’d later discover a sewage line crack just after their tenants took occupancy. Because of the crack location it meant the repairs would be their responsibility without help from the city. All while the new tenants were settling into their new home.

As the primary lead on the house work, while her husband is at his full-time day job, she realized how difficult it can be to get certain traditional labor companies to trust her experience when she cites a problem to them.

This is where Kristy said having a network of people around her who have felt these pains or experienced similar situations has become truly invaluable. 

Her Instagram community was able to help her objectively look at things and affirm she had not made any errors. When you’re growing something new it’s imperative to trust your judgement, and that can be hard to do sometimes. The wealth of information and support from others has made such a difference for her over the last year and has impacted where they’ve grown and taken the business today.

GROWING FORWARD

When you have the right community of people around you the pressures to perform are replaced with a purpose to not only support your own business, but to share with others things you’ve learned, as well as looking to the wisdom others can share because of their experiences.

Kristy knew when she started that things would shift over time, and that she would serve a good greater than an aesthetic grid. 

Through Instagram she has made decisions around her design style and business strategies and has felt validated in her choices while pressing on toward bigger goals with the houses she purchases and how she uses them to continue scaling the business. 

DO WHAT WORKS

So many times we find ourselves paralyzed by choices or expectations that we neglect to ever act. For Kristy, she realized showing up on Instagram Stories regularly was what worked best for her when factoring social media into her already busy schedule. 

“By recognizing that everyone is on their own path, the pretty photos showing up every day online are fine because that’s someone else’s project, not mine.”

Kristy, Mom Homework

She reminds us that how someone else is utilizing Instagram is likely tied in to their own strategy, comforts, accessibility, and should be used as inspiration and motivation over any type of measuring or comparison tool.

DEBUNKING OVERNIGHT SUCCESS

If you’ve discovered Kristy on Instagram anytime in the last year you might find yourself believing the nuance of quick success. However, like in most cases, that’s nowhere near true for Kristy and her family when it comes to the six houses they now own. 

Their business story began almost ten years ago with much of the behind-the-scenes dedication and effort that doesn’t directly translate into the highlight reel. But, it’s paying off every day. It is because of the thousands of hours put into research, understanding city projections, and setting up systems that Kristy can make the quick decisions, calculate large investments, and most recently, pass her realtor exam.

For nearly eight years there weren’t any pretty pictures on Instagram, no online Instagram community to speed things up, few before and after transformations, and zero tenants occupying investment properties. 

To catch our full conversation, head over to Instagram and listen in here.

We talk about so many good pieces around business, Instagram and family. We covered:

• How it feels to first start on Instagram and the process of evolving over time
• How Instagram and Instagram community has helped her business even without selling anything
• Balancing online comparison
• Specific stories about the help she has received from her Instagram community
• The daily routines and flexibility that come with life, work, and parenthood
• How she used what she learned from Master Instagram Guide to forge the best path forward with Instagram

You can follow Kristy on Instagram at @mom_homework.

She also blogs regularly at momhomework.com.