Just Heather
2
Pay Day
Aug 03, 2007 | Filed Under: Media Matters, My Biz

Yesterday I loaded my 3 girls in the van and headed to the television station. They had asked me to do a run through with the anchor, but it was so last minute that the news director told me to bring the kids knowing I would not have enough time to arrange a sitter.

They were very well behaved (who are these children and why can’t they live at my house?) and enjoyed seeing where Mommy “works” now. The rehearsal was designed to allow me to hear the questions the anchor would ask so I could be prepared. He asked different questions every time we ran it. Then he asked a completely different question today—live on the air.

Never fear, I am an expert in my field (apparently) so I was able to answer everything efficiently. I then shared some of the good buys for this week with a referral to my website for even more deals. I felt good about the segment, but I haven’t it seen it yet. They showed a video clip of my kids and some graphics showing the math on the deals I shared along with the live video we were filming.

Our DVR managed to skip right over it. It recorded the news from 6:00 to 8:25 am and from 8:50 to 9:00 am, but I was live at 8:41. It manages to malfunction about twice a year and just my luck today was the day! The station is sending me a DVD so I’ll be able to see it and share it soon. I have no idea what happened, but I was devastated. My parents are out of range for the station and were counting on me to send them video.

Now, not only do I get paid to be on television, but I get a free DVD too!

On a related note, PayDays now come in a protein bar so when I eat one for lunch I can pretend it is a real and actual meal replacement instead of just candy.

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2
Small Town
Jul 25, 2007 | Filed Under: Family Ties, Hoosier Girl, Media Matters, My Biz

This morning before my meeting at the news station, I panicked about the fact that I have never been on a job interview before. I am 30 years old and I have never had a real and actual job interview. I got all my jobs because I knew someone who knew someone, and then I became a stay at home mom.

I wonder if I can use that term now. Starting next Friday I have a job as a morning news weekly contributor on the subject of savings and coupons. I will have a 3-4 minute segment each week, primarily discussing the top 5 deals of the week and directing viewers to my own website for more information. It is basically a big advertisement for my business, only they are going to pay me.

They want to come up with a name for me and/or my show. I need something catchy, but I’m drawing a blank. I did suggest Smart Shopper or Shopping Smart, from a previous comment, which they liked but we’re still brainstorming. I also came up with Good Buy Girl, which seems fun though I don’t know if they’ll go for the Neil Simon wordplay.

I’m still kind of in shock over how quickly this is all happening. I am excited, and I’m sure the nervous part will come next week. My mom reminded me that if I can handle the national evening news, I can do this. The difference is this is live and being local actually makes it more important to my business. I have 9 more days to panic so for now I’m just enjoying the excitement—and the idea of a paycheck—not to mention the fact that my father actually seems proud of me.

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4
Serendipity
Jul 22, 2007 | Filed Under: Media Matters, My Biz

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by a reporter from the Indianapolis Star. She was working on an article about rising grocery prices and had stumbled across FeedIndy.com. She came to the house to interview me and then followed me to the grocery store to see what I do. Her focus was on how local families were combating higher prices at the store.

I figured the local coverage could have a bigger impact on our business than CBS and the Chicago Tribune. I couldn’t have been more right. Since the article was released, we have seen a remarkable increase in traffic and I have been contacted by many people—old friends I had lost touch with, family members who saw my face (quite large and a little creepy) staring up at them and the news director for a local television station.

I have been invited to join their morning news team as a weekly contributor on the subject of shopping and savings. We have discussed the idea via email and phone. On Wednesday I will be meeting the news team to see if we are a good fit and discussing further details with the director. He already has several ideas on topics for my live segment. Me! On live television! Every week!

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4
If You Make Fun of Me 13 or 14 More Times
Dec 12, 2005 | Filed Under: Love Him, Media Matters, My Biz

Go ahead. Make fun of my shopping habits, but I’ve saved $6000 so far this year on my grocery bill. That may not buy a house, but it means the difference between staying at home with my three girls and getting a part-time job.

Rachael alerted me to the fact that my picture was included in an article on The Onion. Go figure. I get interviewed on national television, compared to Michael Jordan in the Chicago Tribune, and picked up as a syndicated article by the AP but it takes appearing on the front page of The Onion to impress him.

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2
Read All About It
May 09, 2005 | Filed Under: Media Matters, My Biz

I made the front page of the Chicago Tribune! I did an interview on Wednesday about my work with coupons. I took the reporter on a shopping trip and showed her how to save a bundle. I knew the article was coming out yesterday, but I had no idea it would be front page. If I had, I wouldn’t have frantically flipped through the entire paper and gotten newsprint all over my new shirt on the way to Mother’s Day dinner with my dad’s entire family! Good thing I got to impress them with my front page news so maybe no one noticed.

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4
“I hate how fake Hollywood is.”
Apr 09, 2005 | Filed Under: Checking Out, Media Matters, My Biz

On Thursday I hosted a CBS News crew in my home. They interviewed me about my coupon use and my business, filmed me with hubby and the girls, and followed me on a shopping trip. I think it went well. Who knows what it will look like once they edit the 2 hours of film down to a short Consumer Alert segment, but it was fun anyway.

It was a strange experience. Sometimes I took direction from the producer. Sometimes the reporter chimed in. Surprisingly, a lot of times the cameraman had his own ideas. I had a great time working with all of them, though I’m pretty sure the sound guy knows a bit more about me than he wanted to.

The shopping trip was a kick. They had approval to film, but once we got there we were told we could only film down the one aisle they had prepared. Too bad I didn’t need beans. We did talk the manager into switching to the promotional aisle since it had the sale items I actually needed, but we had to wait for them to clean it up and face all the products. The store also gave me my own special checkout, cashier, and bag boy. Funny how nice and helpful everyone was once the camera was rolling!

It should air on Friday night during the CBS Evening News if you want to tune in and check me it out. I think he said it would be on around 6:30.

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4
Big News (no, I’m not pregnant)
Feb 28, 2005 | Filed Under: Household CEO, Media Matters, My Biz

I have been sitting on something wonderfully exciting—and nerve-wrackingly terrifying—for 4 days now. I was going to wait, let it settle awhile, and share my news once the details were hammered out. I’m just not a patient person. So here it is:

I got a haircut!

And new clothes!

And while both of those are big in my world, not exactly what most would consider news. They were, however, required because of my news. So, are you sitting down? Ready?

Really?

I’m being interviewed for CBS News this week! Not my local CBS affiliate. CBS. National. Television. Scared yet?

I run another website. At FeedIndy.com we teach people how to use coupons to save money on their groceries, create a shopping list of great deals each week, and encourage our members to use the savings and extra groceries to donate to local food banks.

A few months ago we got a tiny mention in a local newspaper. Tiny. As in off to the side of an article about someone else, it said “visit FeedIndy.com weekly.” That was it. A CBS producer read the article, checked out the site, and contacted me last week. He wanted to interview me for a story he is working on about internet coupons. I didn’t know what to do. I kind of freaked out. I didn’t respond.

Lucky for me one of my favorite bloggers is starting a media company. I decided to tap into his expertise. He is now officially my personal media consultant. After being coached via IM (is there any other way?), I emailed the producer, using Genuine’s words verbatim. He responded immediately to set up a phone interview for the very next day.

Armed with my notes from Genuine, I paced waiting for 2:00 to hit. The interview/conversation flowed smoothly. I had my message right in front of me and answered every question without hesitation. I didn’t even use “um” once! One of his questions was “What does your husband think of all this?” It was fun to tell him that not only does Spencer appreciate every penny I save on groceries, but he’s my webmaster and tech support. He designed my website and keeps it working for me. At the end of the phone call, he asked if he could bring a news crew to my home for an interview.

He also wants shots of me feeding my girls lunch. In addition to the home interview, he wants to follow me around on a shopping trip. I was pretty terrified the store would run one of their stupid “store brand week” ads, but the sales are plentiful and the savings will be impressive. This was all supposed to happen on Wednesday, but it looks like we’re rescheduling for Friday. The reporter had to leave town and he hasn’t heard back from the grocery store for approval.

I’m actually relieved. I was am being neurotic about the house. It will be on television, so I’m guessing the juice stains on the carpet and crayon on the walls should probably go. Plus my office is an absolute disaster—on a regular basis—and since he asked where I work I was afraid he’d want some goofy shots of me at my computer. Now I have a little more time to get things done.

Twenty bucks I’m still running around like an idiot on Thursday Night. They don’t call me the Procrastination Queen for nothing.

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2
Thank Heaven for awesome teachers
Jan 05, 2005 | Filed Under: Checking Out, Media Matters, Mommyhood, My Biz

I have said several times recently—due to local events—that I really should start watching the news. Yet I still can’t bring myself to actually do it. It hasn’t affected me too badly so far. I get all caught up at PTO meetings fairly quickly. However, I might have seriously regretted it today if not for Stacia’s wicked cool teacher.

Today is the last day of triple coupons, which means I need to get my lazy butt in gear and pick up my free groceries. It is, afterall, my job. The plan was to clip coupons and take off after lunch, which is in about 5 minutes. Change of plans. Her teacher just called to let me know they were dismissing early due to the freezing rain. Stacia will be home in about an hour. And, now, so will I.

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