Welcome to Don’t Hide Your Hustle, a new series on Finding Delight that explores the myriad of ways to make a living in 2017. I’m asking folks to share how they hustle over the course of one work-day (which usually extends far beyond a 9 – 5 situation).

Today, I present you with Latasha’s story. She’s a social media whiz-kid in the corporate world and produces a stellar YouTube channel. (Seriously, I binge watched her videos recently and they’re a magnificent mix of beauty, lifestyle, and smart lady opinions.) Let’s check out her hustle!

Hello! My name is Latasha James and I am a social media community manager. Although my official job title is pretty standard and well-known nowadays, my life is anything but average. Because I work full-time doing corporate social media, freelance for clients across the globe, and manage my own personal branding efforts (which include a blog and YouTube channel), it goes without saying that I lead a pretty busy life. I wouldn’t want it any other way though — there’s never a dull moment and my life is always full of surprises. Come along with me for a recent Monday in my life!

6:30 am – I try to wake up a couple of hours before I have to leave the house so I have time to pull together a nice outfit, sip some coffee, and get a little bit of freelance work done. This morning I spent my free time checking emails and jotting down notes for a conference call with a client in Paris tomorrow.

8 am – I hop into my car and prepare for my sometimes treacherous commute… which usually involves a podcast. The Ask Gary Vee Show, Online Marketing Made Easy With Amy Porterfield, and Social Media Social Hour are my favorites. If I’m feeling like I need some extra self-care, I’ll turn on Nahko and Medicine for the People and belt it out on the highway instead… which is exactly what I did today.

9 am – I arrive at the office, sip more coffee 😉, check emails, and start a to-do list for the day.  I also use the beginning of my day to check the social media inbox for any urgent questions or inquiries.

10 am – After the immediate maintenance is taken care of, I start to schedule social posts for the day — this can take some time since I manage quite a few accounts.

11:30 am – Time for some personal branding! My company uses an employee advocacy tool that encourages us to share posts about the company and other relevant content with our networks, so I add a couple of articles to my Twitter queue. I also make sure to share some of my own personal posts and general social media industry content.

12 pm – Lunch time! I almost always work through lunch. Today I grabbed a quick salad from my company’s cafe, turned on a Podcast, and worked on the engagement piece of social media management aka ‘liking’ our social mentions, retweeting relevant accounts, and responding to comments that weren’t considered ‘urgent’ from this morning. This is the fun part of social media management — it involves lots of thank you’s and smiley faces. 😃

1 pm – I like to use my post-lunch energy to tackle a bigger project like implementing a large social plan, creating a video, or publishing something on the website. My company has quite a few events coming up, so today I worked on social support for those.

3:30 pm – This is the point in the day where I get started on scheduling social posts for the following day, close the loop on any customer service issues, and make a to-do list for the next day.

5 pm – Waste no commute time! I usually take a call with a client or listen to another Podcast, and today I choose to have a check-in with a local client.

5:30 pm – Immediately after getting home, I take some time to rest and unwind. Today I make a light meal, catch up on The View (I can’t help it, I’m addicted), and touch base with my partner, Norris.

6:30 pm – I send out a newsletter for a freelance client every Monday, which takes up quite a bit of my evening. I like to get started on that sooner than later.

8 pm – For another client, I am in charge of team organization and weekly social analytics. Once the newsletter is complete, I work on sending out an internal update email to my team and updating a spreadsheet full of metrics from the week before.

8:30 pm – More social media scheduling… 😃 This time as a freelancer. Since I only manage two accounts for this client, versus several at my company, this is pretty quick. I use Buffer, which is super user-friendly, very inexpensive for small businesses and freelancers, and makes it easy to recycle posts.

9:30 pm – More relaxation… with a twist. My boyfriend and I throw a silly TV show on in the background while we work on other things. Today I’m working on getting a YouTube video published, so I update the metadata, create a thumbnail with Picmonkey, and post it to my social networks while vegging out in my onesie.

10:30 pm – Winding down is important to me, and so is communication. Norris and I usually have a cup of tea, turn off the TV, and just talk for a little while before bed. Tonight the topics range from politics to goofy memes. It’s such a nice way to end the day. I’m a night owl and rarely fall asleep before midnight, but I like to start winding down well before then.

Thanks so much for sharing your hustle, Latasha! Do you guys have any questions for her? Do any of you spend your weekend and evening free-time working on personal branding efforts?  

P.S. Are you a hustler willing to share your story? Let’s chat! I would love to know how you’re making money while following your dreams in 2017. Shoot me an email — ebeth.berger@gmail.com. Thanks!