If you know me, you probably know that I went to the University of Buffalo for six years and really enjoyed my time there. I received my bachelor’s degree in psychology. My counselor at UB steered me to the social work master’s program and I absolutely loved the program. I graduated with my master’s degree from UB and then threw myself into my work. I was counseling families and really loving my clients and my work. I became a supervisor and enjoyed that even more. I next wanted to interview for another position, and then I gave birth to our first child. I looked into his eyes and proceeded to beg my husband to let me stay home with him and not return to work.
That was a lot of pressure that I put on my husband to be our only income. In my defense, most of my paycheck would have gone towards day care anyway. I stayed home with our children and absolutely loved being a stay-at-home mom. I can never repay Seth for those years home with our kids. I am still technically home when our kids are home.
Having three young children was wonderful and also stressful. I had overwhelmed feelings a lot and found that pouring them onto paper was making me feel better. Writing became my greatest coping skill. When my husband would read what I was writing, he told me I had a mommy blog. I asked him what a blog is? This is where my new age career began. The moment that Seth told me that all my writing was a mommy blog is where my new world of work began.
The Whinypaluza Parenting blog was established, and I began making some money for my family. I kept writing and my audience kept growing. Mothers were relating to me and even giving me topics that they wanted me to write about.
I continued to write, and it became a weekly successful mom blog. Whinypaluza Wednesdays became a thing, and my blog was coming out every Wednesday. Seth told me that we should start a vlog. A vlog is a video blog. Every Wednesday night at 9:00 PM, Seth and I started to go live to discuss my written blog. We found that people liked the blog and that they were enjoying the vlog even more. The vlog was born, and my paycheck increased with it.
Seth owns four businesses and is so busy. I really don’t know how he does it all. One of his businesses produces a bunch of podcasts. Seth turned to me one day and said, “You really should do your own podcast. You would be great at it.” Seth explained to me what my podcast would look like. It felt so overwhelming and new to me. Taking risks and pushing myself tends to pay off. After telling Seth that I didn’t have time (our three children keep me very busy), I decided to push myself and give it a try. “Take a chance on yourself,” I told myself. Chances and risks tend to work out well and I was right (and Seth was right). Seth had no doubt that I would have a great podcast.
The Whinypaluza Parenting and Marriage Podcast was born three years ago. My first podcast was with my three friends discussing my first book. In fact, I forgot to tell you that I have also written two books: Whinypaluza is book one and Whinypaluza Gets Less Whiny is book two. Book three is going to be a podcast book.
On my podcast, I interview experts about parenting, marriage and helping women. The vlog, blog and books were already giving me a paycheck each month. Now we added in the podcast. My paycheck was growing, and I was feeling even better about being able to help Seth with our huge list of family bills.
It doesn’t stop there, and I won’t stop learning and growing Whinypaluza even more each year. The most recent addition is the Whinypaluza newsletter. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday a new newsletter is released. As work grows, I help more people and my paycheck keeps growing with it. Seth is the idea master behind Whinypaluza and I am the content master. Our teamwork in marriage goes quite well at work too.
How do I make money is my biggest question. The biggest way I make money is through advertisers. Advertisers for the blog, vlog, podcast and newsletter. I am also an HR consultant for Seth’s businesses. I consult Seth on work issues on a regular basis and he pays me for this. I’m using my master’s degree in ways that I never could have imagined. My jobs didn’t exist yet when I was going to school.
What’s next?
I’m never going to stop growing and expanding. Our oldest child will be going to college soon. On our walk last night, I was doing the math of how much money I can contribute to college if I start taking therapy clients. My mastermind husband told me that he has better ideas for me. If you think that I am new age in my work, my husband is far ahead of me. He loves using me as a guinea pig for all his new work ideas. He discussed some of his ideas with me. I am thankful that Seth and I are an amazing team. I see us working together to help other couples in their professional and personal lives. I see so many things in our future.
When I told my mom that I wanted to stay home with my kids, her advice to me was, “Work will always be there.” I know we need to work to earn a living for our families. I also know that my work will keep growing as my children get older. There will be plenty of time to work more. Right now, I try my best to work around my kids’ schedules. I have found work that works for our family. I can use my degree and feel like I am helping people and contributing to our family.
Do I work:
Yes, I work a lot! I work part time. I work hard. I earn a good paycheck for my family. I am sure people will continue to ask me this question. I don’t think our parents fully understand what it is I do. My mom understands. My mother-in-law asks questions and tries to learn which I love. I don’t think my father-in-law even knows what to ask me. I don’t have a traditional office job. I am not in an office or school setting. I am home working away while my kids are at school. My prime working hours are 10-2, but you will also see me on my couch at 10 pm working too. I fit it in where I can, and I love that Seth and I have created a job for me that works for our family. I am so thankful to Seth for all his ideas and for always believing in me. He always knows I will be successful at what I do before I realize it myself. I love being his guinea pig and trying all his new ideas. I can’t wait to see what we both come up with next.
The next time someone asks me:
Do you work?
What do you do?
How do you make money?
I will direct them to this blog!
Laughing, Learning, Loving,
Rebecca Greene, LCSW-R
Check out my 
:
Whinypaluza Notes:
Whinypaluza Mom Group:
If you are looking for a supportive community, come join the free Whinypaluza Mom Facebook group. I created this as I wanted us to have a place where we can talk about tips, strengths and challenges we are having. It is another step I took to help everyone to know that you are not alone. The May Mother’s Day challenge was so much fun. Come join the group and bring a friend with you! I love to give away prizes. This group is private so please find me on Facebook at Whinypaluza or Rebecca Greene and message me to ask for an invite. I’m also on Instagram @becgreene5 and @whinypaluza_mom. I am also on Tik tok @whinypaluzamom.
The Whinypaluza Schedule:
Whinypaluza Wednesdays: My weekly blog comes out every Wednesday. I am always open to your topic requests. A new Vlog (video blog) also comes out every Wednesday night on Facebook and You Tube live at 9:00 PM Eastern time to discuss the blog. If you would rather listen to a podcast than watch a Vlog, you can wait for the following Wednesday and the Vlog is released on my Podcast.
Family Fridays: Every Friday morning a new Podcast is released. Most of my episodes on Fridays are me discussing parenting and marriage with experts on the topic. If you would rather watch the Podcast instead of listen, you can watch it on You Tube. If you would like to be on my Podcast or know someone who would like to please message me on Facebook or Instagram or at whinypaluzamom@gmail.com
