The Ultimate Blog Podcast - Real Life, Real Blogging: Pam Worth on Growing The Lifestyle Notes as a Busy Mom

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

If you’ve ever wondered how real moms manage to start and grow a successful blog while juggling work, family, and everything in between, this episode of The Ultimate Blog Podcast is for you.We sat down with Ultimate Blog Roadmap member Pam Worth, the creator of The Lifestyle Notes, to talk about the ups and downs of blogging as a full-time teacher, busy mom of three, and passionate wellness advocate. Tune in for practical time management tips to help you finally start and grow the blog you’ve been dreaming of!🗺️ Join The Ultimate Blog Roadmap✉️ Subscribe to The Lifestyle Notes newsletter📱 Follow Pam Worth on Instagram🔗 Click here and check out the show notes for this episode!Do you love this podcast? Say thanks by leaving a positive review and/or rating!  

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast. This podcast is the podcast we wish we had when we started blogging. I'm Amy Reineke and I'm Jennifer Draper. Our episodes dive deep into how to monetize your blog, sharing unique insights and practical tips. We bring you in-depth interviews with successful bloggers and experts who offer valuable, actionable advice. Our mission is to educate, support, inspire, and empower you in your blogging business. Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast. Well, today we get to sit down with one of our members from the Ultimate Blog RedMap. And I love having this time to spend talking with our members.

We've had several others on the podcast here to just really talk about their blogging experience. And what brought them to blogging in general, what their passion is, what their passion is, what their purposes and all that. And so Pam Worth is joining us today to chat about her blogging journey that she's on. And Pam, welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. We are so thrilled, like I said, just to sit down and have this one-on-one time with you to just honestly connect even more with you and understand this part of your journey and allow you to speak very freely about what it looks like in the last two, three years. that you've been blogging. And so do you want to start out just by sharing with our audience what your

blog is and what got you started? Sure. So my blog is called The Lifestyle Notes. And it is a blog really focused on motherhood and wellness. I started it about two and a half years ago. And, you know, I had always kind of been a consumer of blogs for years way back, maybe even before Pinterest, definitely before Instagram. And I, depending on, on the season of life, I had blogs that I would follow and I would check frequently. And when Pinterest came along, I, you know, I would be deep into Pinterest, whether it was looking up wedding things or motherhood or, you know, all sorts of things. And so I'd always been a consumer. I always thought, gosh, this would be so amazing to be able to share my own experiences too.

And so for years I did that. And then eventually I got to a point where I really started to feel like I had things that I wanted to share. And I'm passionate about health and wellness for moms. And I think especially in this time, I have three young kids. I work full time. But I want to live my healthiest life. And I want my kids to live their healthiest life. And sometimes it's all about finding those easy things that you can do. And I just had wanted to share that. And so I had absolutely zero tech background at all. I didn't know anything about doing this. Luckily, my husband, who's in the tech field encouraged me and kept saying, you can do it, you can do it. And it started off, honestly, with months of reading about it, how you would start a blog, watching lots of YouTube videos, and just trying to encourage myself to do it. And I eventually did, took the leap. And it was probably about six months later where I found the podcast, the ultimate blog podcast. I started listening like crazy. I started DMing Amy with questions. And she said, you know, you might want to think about our membership. And so I joined the member.

and I then went backwards in my journey in terms of going back and saying, okay, I've got to get this set up right. I'm going to, I'm going to make this something. I'm really passionate about it. And so I really went back and tried to set it up well. And since then, I've been part of the membership. And I've just been continuing to work hard at it. And I really, really love this journey. What were some of your biggest concerns when you were thinking about starting a blog. Was there anything that kind of made you pause or hold back a little bit before you kind of dove into that process? Yeah, I think the tech piece for sure. I had zero experience. I had no idea how these blogs that I read, how that information got there, how they set that up. You know,

I had basic tech skills, but not anything more than that. So I think that was a huge hurdle. And I think part of it was, I'm not on a timeline. Let me just learn as much as I can. So I did a lot of reading. and watching videos and reading other blog posts about starting blogs, I think that was the biggest. And I think also because I had been a follower of so many blogs for years and many of them were established blogs, I thought, well, I can't do this. I can't post every single day. I can't, you know, all of these things. And I was looking at those blogs as kind of a guide. And that was intimidating. And I felt, well, I can't do that. So I'm not going to be able to do it. So I think those were the biggest roadblocks for me were that tech piece. And can I create this

type of, you know, website or blog that I'm seeing out there. Yeah. So then what was the turning point? Like I'm taking you out of that mindset and taking you into this, okay. So I think I could figure out the tech piece and who am I not to do something like this? Because I think what you're describing here is something that a lot of people feel in the beginning. Like, I can never learn that. And there's no way my blog would ever look like that. So when did that shift happen or was there like a moment that, you know, took you from one mindset to the other? I think, you know, I was in my early 40s at the time and I really was feeling strongly that, you know, I'm a mother. I'm a teacher. I put so much of my heart and soul into both of those

things. And I wanted something for myself. I wanted something more. And I had a lot of things that I felt passionate about and I felt like I could help other people because, you know, I'd had three kids. And, you know, I've been in this kind of wellness area for a long time where I've read a lot and learned a lot. And so I think it was around then that I thought, you know what, I really feel passionate about doing something, learning something new. And so that was kind of the turning point around then. My husband really encouraged me. You know, that was a big part because I didn't really say anything to anybody else. I just kind of, this was like internal for a long time. But he was a great encouragement. And I call him the tech department because he's,

you know, pretty good with technology. So I have him as my backup. But yeah, I think it was just that, you know, kind of time in my life where I felt very all consumed with these other parts of my life. And I really wanted this piece for myself to create something, to be creative, to share, to create a community with other moms that are in this kind of stage of life too with multiple kids in school, maybe, you know, parents maybe that are getting older, you know, and you want to take care of yourself and your family, but it's hard because your hours are limited that time for yourself. So, yeah, I think I just hit that point and just thought, I think I can do this. I'm going to give it a try. Yeah, I feel like so many people come to us

and say, you know, I just feel this really strong desire to, A, have something for myself because I'm giving so much in so many areas of my life. And I want something that, you know, as mine. And then that other piece of feeling so strongly about having that message to share. And I think that's really what drives so many people to start blogs because that's the heart and soul of it. Like you spent all those years reading blogs and it gave you information. It gave you hope.

It gave you ideas. All those things. We get to almost feel like we know those people. And we go to them for information, whether they know it or not, we're going to them for a recipe or, you know, any kind of information of, you know, a parenting challenge, whatever. And so I think a lot of us start to feel like, hey, I might be able to offer something in this space too. And I think that's what a lot of people are feeling inside. But then I think the other piece of it, like you said, is, oh my gosh, I'm so busy. I am giving all these things, like whether it's work or motherhood. or marriage or family or anything, your time is very limited. So was that a concern at all to you as well? Like, how am I actually going to even fit this into my life? Yeah, for sure. That was a big concern. And I think in the beginning when I was really just in the research phase, you know, I didn't feel any kind of pressure. I knew I had my own timeline. And so I used when I had

free time, I would read, like I said, listen and watch videos. But once I get into it, you know, it's a lot of work. It's a lot of work and a lot of. And I really, to me, I really wanted to prioritize that time. And so I make it happen. But it's definitely not easy. So yeah, that was definitely something I was concerned about going into it. Yeah. Let's kind of dive into that a little bit, Pam, because I think what you're describing is, I hate the word like common or normal. You know, like, what do they say? They say it a lot in like the health and wellness is it might be common, but it's not normal. I'm sure you've heard that, you know. And so it's a common feeling for all of us to feel a little frazzled. Like we don't have a lot of time. We're feeling overly stressed. We feel pulled in a million different directions. But just like

you said, hey, I have passions too. I want to be able to spend my days doing something that also fills my cup. It's not just about me pouring into everybody else. So when you made that decision, like, okay, I'm going to do this. I'm sure that there had to be a plan put in place. And you've spent the last two and a half years likely like perfecting that plan. And if you're like most of us, I'm sure it's not down to a specific science yet. And it's evolving. But what would you say some time management strategy tips would be for somebody who is in a similar situation as you? So they have a full-time job. They have multiple kids. But yet they have this strong desire and urge to start a blog. Well, I'll say that in the beginning, it wasn't great. My time management,

because being in all honesty, because I really did have felt like I had so much to learn and in so much excitement. So a lot of it was late nights when my kids went to bed. But I learned quickly that was not sustainable. And so I definitely started to put a plan in place. And it has evolved over time. To begin with, I block times on my husband and my personal family calendar every week. So this last year, it was Sunday mornings. I have a time set on the next. calendar. I have some times during the week also that I have set. You know, it's hard sometimes working between kids' activities and things like that, but, you know, as I said, my husband and I have worked out times throughout the work week that I can have in the afternoon evening. When I have

those time blocks set, I have tried to have a very clear goal of what I'm going to do during those times. Early on, I would get overwhelmed and do all the things in my free hour. Now I know that in order to be really efficient, I need to know what my goal is for that time and try not to stray from that, try not to stray from that goal. So I definitely have weekend time blocks. I have a couple time blocks during the week. I, you know, being a teacher, I do have the flexibility of those school breaks and summer. So for me, I can always, I will save bigger things that I know I need to do aside from kind of the day to day for those times when I know I'll have more time to be able to focus. So I know not everybody has that option, but kind of planning ahead for certain periods,

even if it's the week between, you know, Christmas and New Year's that a lot of people have off. It's, I would save things that I knew I needed to do. I had changed over my email provider. Like, that took me some time. I wanted to redo a bunch of things. I saved that for a time that I knew I could do that. And I have a note on my phone that, so if I'm going through my work day, it's not a time I can just be stopping and working on my blog, but I have a note on my phone where I'll keep track of ideas I come up with for posts or, oh, I forgot I wanted to add that to my newsletter and I'll throw it in the note. So it kind of gives me a little bit of a dumping ground so that I know when I have my focus time to have that ready. And then I think the other

thing is I had to get honest with myself about what I can do and when. I can't do these things on the fly in between my kids dance and soccer practice. I need to, that's why I have a spot where I can write things down to save for later. That's why I have time blocks with clear goals. I also know that I'm not one that can write content at night. I'm tired. I can't do that. And so for me, my morning block on the weekend, that is content writing time. During the week, I can do things like creating Pinterest images or getting my email newsletter scheduled. So that took a while and it still evolves and there are still days that I feel like, gosh, I wish I had more time. But having set times on my calendar would set goals has helped a lot and really just understanding what I can

accomplish during these times and kind of honoring that. When you talk about setting these goals, I'm thinking about your list. So you've got this like ongoing list of things to do. And if we're honest when it comes to blogging, I think we all have a list that's probably way longer than what any human would possibly have time for if they committed themselves 24 hours a date of blogging. Yeah. So when it comes to your goals, are you choosing? things off of that list to work on first and then kind of how do you prioritize those and then how do you let go of some of the rest of them that are going to have to wait? Because I think that's one of the things that's so hard. You feel like, oh, I'm not doing enough. I'm struggling. I have this

long list. I could be doing all of these things. How do you choose how to set your goals? I think that in the beginning I felt like I need to just get all this content out there before I really knew a lot about SEO and email marketing and all of these things that I've learned. And so I think I had to take a step back and think what prioritize what's the most important. And for me, the beginning was prioritizing the setup of my blog. That's why the membership has been so incredibly helpful. Every step of the way you both have been there to answer questions and kind of help with that setup piece, I needed to have the strong foundation. And then it did take time because I certainly have tried to do all the things. And I realized, I would say for sure, of the last year,

I have three big buckets that I focus my time, content creation, my email, newsletter, and Pinterest, because that for me in this early stages has driven the most traffic as Pinterest. So I had to kind of step back from other things like Instagram and other things that I really wanted to do as well because I knew that these were the pieces. I felt like they were the most important to me. And so when I look at the time I have across a week and I tend to look at the beginning of the week and sort of decide what I'm going to do in different times, those are the big three buckets for me that are the most important. And if I can come up with an Instagram

reel to kind of support my post or, you know, I can go on Facebook and do some promoting there or I can share some affiliate links, I absolutely do. But those three big buckets are my main goals. And so I really try to focus on those first, the other things as much as I can when I can. If you've been dreaming about starting a blog or you're stuck trying to grow the one you already have started, we have created something just for you. It's called the ultimate blog roadmap. This is our step-by-step membership plus course program that is designed to help you launch, grow and actually build a sustainable blog-based business that fits your life. Inside the roadmap, you're going to find everything you need from how to set up your site to creating

content with confidence to growing your email list, learning the basics of SEO, and also building a long-term strategy that does not lead to burnout. Plus, you're going to get access to live coaching each and every month, a very supportive blogging community where you can network and collaborate with others who are on the journey and real feedback along the way, because we believe firmly that you should not have to blog alone. If you're ready to stop treating your blog like a hobby and start building something real, we would love to walk the journey with you. You can learn more and join us today at Ultimate Blogroadmap.com. We would love to help you build the blogging business of your dreams. Do you feel like that attitude came naturally,

or do you feel like you kind of had to work to just kind of accept that, I guess is what I'm asking. And here's where I'm coming from. I feel like a lot of people, when they start blogging, they think that they have to do all the things. And that's the only way that they're going to find success. And so was that easy for you to do? Or was that just a lesson that you had to kind of learn along the way? Like, I actually can't do everything. You know, I can't do every little thing that everybody's telling me to do. And I have to just focus on where I'm finding, you know, the most bang for my butt kind of thing. I'm just genuinely curious if that came naturally or if that was something that, you know, you kind of had to work towards and you kind of had to also give up some things.

like, okay, I can't focus on that because maybe it was causing stress or it was causing you to not feel fulfilled and this feels more like a job. I'm just wondering if you ever dealt with any of those kind of feelings in regards to thinking about, you know, those time blocks and what's on your to-do list and the goal of the blog and everything like that. Yeah, that's a good question. I think I think I had to work at it. I think I had this vision in my mind of these are the things that I see other bloggers doing and I need to do those things too because here I am putting all of this time and effort into really trying to grow this baby. And, you know, I want to do all of the things to help it grow. And it took some work. It took some work to say, you know,

what, this is what's the most important to me. And the other things are going to have to go by the wayside. And maybe at some point when my kids are older or, you know, my schedule changes a little bit. Maybe that can change. I still sometimes question myself. I should be doing more on Instagram. I should be applying to more affiliate programs. But I have to keep going back to my main goals and what's important and the time that I have and how I want to allot that time. But it was definitely a work in progress. It didn't come naturally. I felt like I had to do all the things at first, for sure. I'm glad you're honest about that. Yes. Because I think that we all feel that at some time or another that the whole like I should be I should be I should be and you're shitting yourself

to death and instead of just focusing on hey I am a mom of three and a teacher and I'm building this thing and being really proud of what you are able to do so I'm just I'm glad that you've been able to get to that point and hopefully that's encouraging today to somebody listening to who might who might feel like you know they're burning the candle at both ends and they don't know how long they can do that because I think that's a common thing too is that people get very burned out. But having these time management strategy tips that you're working or that you've shared. And I think it's just encouraging to somebody who might feel like they don't know if they're doing the right thing or feeling the right way or focusing on the right things for sure.

Yeah. If you've been thinking, I really want to grow my blog, I just don't know where to start. Then listen up. This is for you. Right now, we're running a Christmas in July sale on the ultimate blog roadmap. And you can get 50% off your first month with the code Mary at checkout. This is not just another course. It is a full support system with step-by-step lessons, coaching calls, and real help from people who actually care if you follow through. Even if life's busy, even if you've tried before, you don't have to do this alone and we'd love to support you. Just head

to Ultimate Blogroadmap.com and use the code Mary. And let's take the next step together. Hurry, though, the sale ends Sunday night, July 27th at midnight. I feel like a lot of times we create these artificial finish lines for ourselves. But when it comes to blogging, there really truly is no finish line. Yeah, we certainly have goals. But whose timeline are these? goals on, they really only have to be on our own. So I guess the whole idea is you don't have to

wait till some magical time when you have all the time in the world to start this. You might as well start it now and just block out those little bits of time that you have available because then you're actually making some progress versus making no progress at all. And then you can, you know, you can adjust that as you go through different seasons of your life. You may have more time I mean, you may be able to work on it more, but at least it's in place and you have some good processes. It sounds like you're really focusing on the truly impactful things to help you grow your blog. And whether that's because you want to, you know, monetize your blog or you want to share a message or whatever, you know, we all want our blog to be seen. So you're really focusing

on those important pieces. And then you can kind of circle back in with, like you said, all the extra things when you get to it. So I think you've done a really good job of showing. people like how you can make it happen and it doesn't have to happen on a specific timeline. Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's no one holding a, you know, stopwatch. This is my, you know, project that I can do at my own pace. And that's, I think just being able to make that leap to start was so huge. And I know that's a really hard step for a lot of people. But if you keep that in mind that there is no timeline that I think that could be really, you know, helpful to people that might be in my situation and want to start a blog as well. Yeah. So taking that

first step and you were doing a lot of that on your own to start, but then that one of the next steps was that you decided to join our community with the ultimate blog roadmap. And that is an investment in your blog. It's not purchasing a theme. It's not purchasing a plugin or something that you need for your blog. But it's a way to continue to learn more. It has a course component. It has a community component. How did you know or what was that deciding factor for you that said, okay, I want to make sure that I've done this correctly and I want a community and it is worth the time and the money to invest in myself. What did that time period look like? You know, was that a scary decision for you to do? Because we hear, we do hear a lot from people like,

I'm just going to figure it all out on my own. And so I'd just love to kind of just hear your thought process. If you can remember back then, what made you like click join? I think I'd said this in the beginning, but a couple months in, I found the podcast, started listening, like binging all of the episodes. And it is part of my, you know, kind of learning process as I was getting things set up. And I realized very early on that I didn't want to do this as just like a hobby. Like I really wanted, I had, you know, a clear goal in mind with it. And I knew that in order to do that, I needed to have a good foundation. And so through listening to the podcast at first, you know, you both share so many great topics for both beginner and more advanced

bloggers, I knew I just needed more information. So that's when I started messaging Amy, probably too much with all of my questions. And when she had mentioned the membership, I think my first feeling, honestly, was relief because I was doing this by myself. I had nobody else in my family or friend group who had experience with this starting a blog. I wasn't even really sharing it. I was a little too nervous to even share what I was doing. And so I think I felt this relief that, oh, there's this community out there with people that are in the same position as me and these coaches who can help us through that and answer our questions. So I felt great about it. I knew it was a financial investment. But again, I knew that I knew where I wanted to go in the

journey that I, you know, am on. And so I was excited and relieved to have the support. I, you know, have gone, I went backwards through the modules and the roadmap to make sure that I had, and that involved a lot of changes of things. Some things were in place, which I was always really excited about. But, you know, I had to go back and I had to make changes. But I love the ability to ask questions and not feel like any question is too small or any question is, you know, you should have known that. I love the support of that. And I love being able to talk, even, you know, just over the computer, not at real life, but being able to connect with other people in the same position. Because blogging, and I know you've both mentioned this before,

it's isolating. You're doing it by yourself at your computer alone most of the time. And so when I would get stuck in those tech jams, those could be really anxiety producing for me, you know, knowing there were all, you guys were always there to help other community members were there to help. I've gotten so many great ideas from other things that members in the community have shared, which has encouraged me and inspired me to try new things that I don't know that I would have done on my own. So I really finding the membership was just, it was great. And I have loved being a part of it for sure. Awesome. I'm so glad you've had that experience and that it felt like a relief when I invited you in. But more importantly that, you know, for the last couple years, it's

continue to serve you well. And something that I do want to kind of encourage people with is Pam is shared that she has a full-time job. So with that, you are not able to attend those calls. And so what is that experience like for you? Because I know some of the other members that we've had on the podcast here have shared, they are able to attend more of a call. So I would genuinely just love to hear your very honest take on that. For anybody listening who maybe has thought about joining the roadmap, but it's like, well, I can't ever attend the calls. Have you still found that worthwhile, even though you can't attend the calls? And we put the recorded sessions in the membership, too. So are you able to go back and watch those? And do you still feel like that gives

you what you need there? Yeah, absolutely. You know, in the beginning, I think I did feel nervous in a way about missing the calls because I felt like that, you know, that face-to-face time with other members was really important with the guests that were coming, with both of you. And but that didn't work with my job. It wasn't something that I could do. And so I immediately started, you know, watching the recordings. And it's been great. I watched the recordings. I have both the Q&A sessions that we have and also when you have guests come. And I think that, you know, you have both also offered out, offered up opportunities to ask questions before those events happen. That's been really helpful because if I know I have something, you, I know

you'll answer it in the call, even if I'm not there. And I'm going to watch it later. So having that opportunity to put those questions in, whether it's for a guest that's coming or for the both of you during the kind of Q&A has been really helpful. But I always go back. And I think I have found kind of that community aspect by getting into, you know, the membership and asking questions and reading other people's posts. And I feel like I'm just starting to get to a point where I can actually answer some questions for some newer people, which is like, that's really cool. because I was always the one asking them before, but I think that kind of gave me that community sense that because we have this open feed where we can post, we can share, we can encourage one

another, we can respond. That's really important. But no, at this point, I feel, you know, I feel very much a part of it and I feel like I get a ton of value on it out of it, even if I can't be on a certain call at a certain time. That feels really encouraging from our ends because it was so important to us to create a community that worked for kind of anybody who had this desire to blog and didn't want to do it alone, didn't want to feel lonely and wanted to connect, but everybody has different commitments and different availability. So what we really hope is that people feel like they have all the opportunities that they want, but they never feel obligated to do more or take in more information than they need at that point in time. So I'm glad that you're feeling

like you can still connect in the community, even if you aren't able to get on all the face-to-face calls because there are other ways to get in touch with people and connect with people and just get feedback. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So Pam, one thing I'd like to just kind of end with here is today, if you were to be sitting down with a new blogger, and maybe this is a friend of yours who's like feeling how you were, you know, three years ago, what is something that you would say to encourage her, like, to get going, like to do it. Or would you encourage her to start a blog today? So what would you say to somebody who's kind of at that point that you were at, who had

some of the same concerns that you did? And based on what you've learned through this whole journey, what would you say to that person today? You know, one thing I would say, and I haven't really touched on this, I don't think, but one thing I would say is that I have found so much kind of joy in learning something new. More than I ever thought I would, you know, in my 40s, I learning something brand new has just been so incredibly, it's just brought me a lot of joy. And it feels really, really good. And so I think part of the aspect, it doesn't even have to be specific to blogging, but taking a leap to learn

something new can just be so fulfilling and rewarding. So I think that would be one piece of encouragement. You feel like you can't do it, but every little thing, every little step forward feels so wonderful when you're in the process of learning something new, whatever it might be. Blogging specifically, I would say, just take the first step. I think that person would feel so good to have made that little step and you can do it. You can do it. I feel like if I can do it, anybody can do it. I didn't have any experience, zero other than reading blogs. But every little step feels really good and rewarding and just take that first step and you can do it. even full-time raising a family. If you have the passion and the desire, you will make it work.

And having a community that can support you and help is just a gift. Thank you so much. I've loved just hearing from you. I think that your attitude is why you are where you are. It's very positive. It's encouraging and it's uplifting. And I think that serves you really well. And I'm I'm sure that your readers feel that. I know that our listeners today feel that and just putting that belief inside a woman's heart, like who might be wrestling with this decision right now. And so just thank you for sharing, you know, your journey and how this has looked for you so honestly, because I think that that's an important part of this process is to understand, you know, this is hard work. And this does take a lot of organization and time management, but that doesn't mean

that you shouldn't do it just because you maybe haven't ever done anything like it before. So, Pam, can you please let people know where they can learn more and connect with you? Sure. So my blog is the lifestyle notes.com. And I have a sign up right there on my homepage for my newsletter that I send out every two weeks. It's called The Weekly Notes. And I'm on Instagram, also at The Lifestyle Notes, trying to squeeze that in when I can. Yes.

All right. Well, thanks so much for joining us today and being part of our community. community. We love having you and are truly honored that you've trusted us these last couple years to help us build your blog. So thanks for being part of it. Thank you so much. Thank you for this opportunity. And this was great. So glad to be able to share. Thanks for listening to the Ultimate blog podcast. If you'd like to learn more about building your blog, visit theultimateblogpodcast.com backslash newsletter to get signed up for our email newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love for you to share it with a friend, subscribe, and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

Thanks for tuning in today and we'll see you next time.