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Work and Life, Change – a conversation with Gaby Estrada
17 Plays8 days ago
Your hobbies and how you contribute to your community can shift—and that’s okay. It doesn’t have to stay the same every year (or even every month). Seasons change, and so do we.
Gaby Estrada works in a start-up alongside working on her own business Poquillo as well. That coupled with volunteering in her community and a wide range of hobbies and fitness activities means that she is a busy person.
In this episode of Rest and Recreation, the work life balance podcast from Abeceder Gaby describes to host Michael Millward the process of changing her mindset.
Gaby realised that she was too busy, that she needed to do something for herself. At the same time, she felt committed to all the projects and organisations she was involved with.
Michael and Gaby discuss
· The challenges of realising how and why you have arrived at a point of too much to do.
· Identifying how you add the most value
· Learning how to let go
· Restructuring life so that you can create a stronger version of you.
You can find more information about both Gaby and Michael at ABECEDER.co.uk
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:05
Speaker
Made on Zencastr. Hello, and welcome to Rest and Recreation, the work-life balance podcast from Abysida. I'm your host, Michael Millward. the Managing Director of Abusida.
00:00:19
Speaker
to Today, Gabriel Estrada and I are going to be discussing how we spend and enjoy our rest and recreation time can change in a similar way to, well, any other aspect of life, whether that's part of our rest, recreation, work life, Anything.
Promotions and Discounts
00:00:37
Speaker
As the jingle at the start of this podcast says, rest and recreation is made on Zencastr. Because Zencastr makes every stage of the podcasting production process from recording to distribution so easy.
00:00:55
Speaker
i encourage every podcaster to try Zencastr. Use the link in the description to access discounted subscriptions. Now that I have told you how wonderful Zencastr is for making podcasts, we should make one.
00:01:10
Speaker
One that will be well worth listening to, liking, downloading and subscribing to. As with every episode of Rest and Recreation, we won't be telling you what to think, but we are hoping to make you think.
Meet Gabby Estrada
00:01:26
Speaker
Today's rest and recreation guest is Gabrielle Estrada who tells me that I can call her Gabby. Gabby is a senior customer success manager at a startup and is also building her own business. So she's very busy but she's taken the conscious decision to make a structured approach to building her own work-life balance and we'll be finding out more about that today.
00:01:53
Speaker
Gabby is based in Galveston in Texas. Proper oil country, I believe. I've never had the opportunity to visit Texas, but if I do, i will make my travel arrangements with the Ultimate Travel Club because as a member of the Ultimate Travel Club, I can access trade prices on flights, hotels, trains, holidays, and all sorts of other travel-related purchases.
00:02:17
Speaker
You can also access those trade prices on travel by joining the Ultimate Travel Club. There is a link in the description which has a built-in discount. Now that I have paid some bills, it is time to make an episode of Rest and Recreation.
Gabby's Career Journey
00:02:34
Speaker
Hello Gabby. Hi Michael, thanks for having me. Oh, it's a great pleasure. Thank you very much. Can we start with you telling me a little bit more about who Gabby is and the sorts of things that you do?
00:02:46
Speaker
I have spent the last few years working for a startup. So I like wearing a lot of hats, exploring new things. so now that I have so much experience, I've decided last November to start my own business, helping other small businesses. Just because I've noticed is that between the startup world and traditional businesses, there's such a gap. Being that Brit, besides my career, i am devoted to giving back to the community. you do sound like a very organized person.
00:03:20
Speaker
I try to. <unk> You have that way of talking, which makes me think that you're very well organized and you know what you're going to be doing. And I suppose that fits in with your job and your business. If you're going to be helping people with their organization, you're going to be an organized person yourself. And I mean it as a compliment. Have other people said that to you as well? Yes. And it's actually a surprising comment to me every time I hear it, just because Sometimes I think that I'm disorganized, but the way that my mom think like thinks about it and tells it to me is that, Gabby, you're an organized, disorganized person.
00:03:58
Speaker
And that's fine. that's That's what works for you. So yes, I try to be as proactive as possible, do research ahead of time when I know I'm going to meet someone or do an event. But then I also accept that there's things I can't plan for and that's fine. So and I think that goes back to ah working in a early stage startup. So right when I started in college working for tech startup, Literally every day is so different. You don't know what you're going to encounter, but you somehow need to prepare. think that has been a ah good skill that has served me well and work and outside of work. So you're almost thinking about what might happen that could be good and also what might happen that would be less than good and having a plan to compensate for each of those.
Work-Life Balance Strategies
00:04:54
Speaker
Correct. Yes. I'm also at heart. I'm an introvert. I like to, in a way, have a routine, even though and real life, it's really hard to have a concrete everyday routine that I follow every week. But yeah, that's a way that I express myself, just trying to be proactive, you know, kind of think about the best scenario and the worst case scenario. And that way, somehow i can you know manage in between those two spectrums. So part of being able to have a good work-life balance is about planning and thinking ahead at work. So you're not duplicating work and you're not thinking on your feet sort of thing. So I've got to do this, I've got to do that. You've planned things ahead. So you must be making very good use of the time at work, being very productive. I can say yes. And so one of the ways that I do that, and I get i do give credit this to my CEO, because he's a person that trusts every single employee at his company, he gives us freedom. So it's not an eight of five job. It's more about I trust you with your responsibilities. And I trust you that you're going to execute
00:06:15
Speaker
on them and that way I don't have to micromanage you because we are still a very small company under 20 people and when I joined I was it was I was like the seventh employee it's always good when you work in startups to have an employee number that is a single digit that's that part of the startup culture I suppose those with single digits different to those with double digits who are different to those with triple digits and you know they're all better than the people with the with four digits in their employee number But that's a completely different topic.
00:06:48
Speaker
I structure my week in a way that sometimes I work maybe less than 20 hours a week at my full-time job because you know I just organize myself. I know when I'm going to have meetings. I know when I have to do admin work. I just set really focused time where I have no interruptions and then I get things done. It wasn't always like that. and There was a period where I would have constant interruptions, it would take me longer to get something accomplished because I will have to remember, oh, where was i And then kind of restart again. But now i remind myself, you do have control over your schedule. Because of the culture of the company, I am able to do more with less.
00:07:36
Speaker
I think it's fascinating that what you're talking about is the company culture and being able to plan your own activities. And people, I suppose it's a collective thing, but everybody's understanding how everyone works and allowed to work in their own way. So you create as most effective way as working, most efficient way of working as is possible.
00:08:00
Speaker
That then gives you the opportunity to do your own the startup as well, which sounds great.
Community Involvement and Personal Goals
00:08:05
Speaker
But what we're talking about today is how all that that fits together to then enable you to also have a range of activities that you do away from work as well and create this work-life balance.
00:08:19
Speaker
You are working a full time job, but doing it very efficiently and effectively, which means you have more time to to leave work. What sort of things did you decide to do to create a healthy work life balance?
00:08:32
Speaker
change. I believe that last year was more simple than what I'm trying to do this year in 2025. Last year, if you had talked to me, it was a pretty simple schedule, in my opinion.
00:08:45
Speaker
So last year, the way that I was trying to give back to my community, spend also, you know, give time to myself besides work and, you know, career, was that i worked then I was pretty, pretty involved with a campus club we started at one of the universities here in town. We were the first one to start that club. And because of my experience working with startups, you know, I was I was so motivated to influence younger generations in one way or another. And since I'm pretty involved with my church, I decided to take that project on. And so
00:09:24
Speaker
I would say that two to three days a week, it was all about, you know, like execution in terms of marketing, getting the word out, building that club. Once we started having students um designing all of that. So that was pretty much it. So work, my my business on the side, and then, you know, giving back to the community with this campus club and then just doing daily walks. That was pretty simple.
00:09:54
Speaker
This year, though, it looks like a little bit more complex situation, but it's still doable. One of the things that strikes me is that you've set up a club on a university campus.
00:10:08
Speaker
What was the purpose of the club? Yes, great question. Something dear to my heart is always like having a faith-based community. And so when I was in college, I always found a club related to that where we could have like just like simple Bible studies, a time to connect with your faith. And so what we found out well after I finished my master's and all of that is that coming back here to town, um we had some friends, that moved over here to do their master's in physical therapy, they didn't find any club that could help them with that. So I was like, what? like I can't believe, you know, we don't have something like that here in Galveston.
00:10:52
Speaker
It was a collective effort. We talked with the church and we we were like, hey, you know, let's, you know, get some donations and let's start something. Like that's what led to starting that just because we we found a need And, you know, we needed we wanted to have a support group for those college students.
00:11:10
Speaker
When you describe your activities in that club, with setting it up for the organization, it doesn't sound that different from the work activities that you're involved in. Yeah, somehow it's everything is always connected. um One of the reasons why I decided to work for this startup was because we were making impact in the legal space ah where a lot of those attorneys, general counselors are doing very repetitive work that can be avoided. but they don't know how. So with the startup, we're trying to, ah you know, bring something new into the picture of hey, this is a way that we can help you. um
00:11:54
Speaker
And so that really, that was a vision that I saw myself aligned to. And same with, as you said, here with this college club, I saw a need and I was like, I think we can do something about it. So why not? And And I'm so used to wearing so many hats, sales, marketing, support, you name it, working with engineers, wherever it is. If I don't know it, I found a way to learn about it and kind of get started and then bring someone on board that can help with that. So for me, it's nothing stressful. I i enjoy it. I love, you know, doing new stuff and especially if they're making a positive impact. So from anyone else who is thinking about getting involved in a non-work activity that is actually going to use their work-based skills, it's not really anything to worry about. It can still be rest and recreation because it's the the mindset that you undertake that activity with is is what I'm hearing from you.
00:12:57
Speaker
You saw a need and you saw how your skills your knowledge could help to meet that need. And so it's not, I do this all day at work and I'm going to do that here as well. It's, I do this all day at work in that context, but when I do it here in this other context, I'm doing it for a different reason.
00:13:21
Speaker
And that's where the rest and recreation comes in. You're doing it for a different reason. That's a great point you bring, Michael. Yes, I 100% agree with you because one of the comments when you were saying this gave me flashbacks. ah One of the comments that I constantly heard from the from the people that made up the team um for, you know, to...
00:13:48
Speaker
execute on this project it was, hey, Gabby, we think you're taking a lot. We think that you're doing like 60% of the work. Are you okay? Is there some way that we can help you?
00:13:58
Speaker
But honestly, most of the people that were involved, except for the two younger folks that were, you know, focused on doing their master's, Um, they didn't really have a lot of tech skills, um, but they were good with, you know, helping execute on the vision. And so I was like, no, I'm totally fine. Like, this is not stressful for me. This is like, I feel so good doing this. Like it gives me energy. I don't feel tired at the end of this. Like I was so involved and it felt happy to do it. It didn't feel like, Oh, this is another project I need to finish. For them, it it seemed like a lot of work, but for me, I enjoyed it so much. it It didn't feel like anything negative. Sounds really interesting. But that's the sort of activity you're doing as part of your work-life balance where you're benefiting other people, giving back to your community and making it easier for other people. What other sorts of activities have you been doing that are more focused around your health and well-being? Yeah, yeah, no, great points. Let me just wrap up from last year. And then I think that will be a great transition to your question. okay So yes, I think around November, once I really, really started getting serious about my business, and in terms of, you know, side gets to something more official. i was like, I think the club is at a good spot. We have all the resources we need. And I think it's time for me to have a break and focus more on myself. And so I had that conversation. Everything was in a good spot. So honestly, it was a smooth transition. And I was like, for 2025, it needs to be something more about myself. What does that look like?
00:15:44
Speaker
In 2024, I was hearing a podcast about similar to a bucket list where you have 100 things that you want to do. and it can be anything. Don't limit it in your imagination. And so one of them was like, you know what?
00:15:59
Speaker
I know I do a lot of walking daily, but I want to take that up a level. When was younger, I used to do weightlifting, and that's something that I had stopped in college. I was like, I need to bring that back. Being more intentional of that as a goal, I decided this year to try out a few clubs that we have here in town to see which one i feel just more connected i decided to instead of just weightlifting make that crossfit class and community for myself so that's one of the things that i'm doing this year how's it going the crossfit
00:16:38
Speaker
It's going well. It's intense. I'm not going to lie. It's intense. Yes, that's the understatement of the day. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I've done it as well. It's hard work is CrossFit, but you're enjoying it, which is great. Yes, I am enjoying it because that pain, once you finish, is like, okay, this is some good pain because you're working out your body. And and it also, found that it makes you eat healthier.
00:17:06
Speaker
um so it is also impacting my eating habits where I don't feel gravitated as before to eat out a lot. It's not bad, but I think I've definitely lowered down that frequency. so it's impacting the way I eat in a positive way. I'm also making more time to read. So every month I try to read a book.
Continuous Learning and Self-Care
00:17:34
Speaker
And then in order to remind myself to do that is that I made this blog where I post my learnings. The reason why I think I need to read is because you never stop learning. And a misconception I had is that once I finished college, I thought that's all you needed.
00:17:54
Speaker
Like, Peace out. You don't need to learn more. But yeah, that's totally wrong. There's so many things out there that you don't know and could make such a difference in your life. And one of the books that I recently read and impacted me is called, What Are You Doing?
00:18:14
Speaker
And I was like, I'm so happy I'm reading now. Because if I never come across this book, I wouldn't be as organized as I am in 2025. And that has allowed me to do all of the activities that I need to do. Right. So what is the book called? It's called What Are You Doing? The author is Paul Holbrook, but he gives you a method that's just so awesome. Great. You are efficient and effective at work because you have routines and ways of working and you've built into your rest and recreation the same type of things. I'm doing this with a purpose. And what you've been describing is that you are returning to activities that you weren't able to do because life got very busy. But now that you've got more organized, things are a little bit clearer.
00:19:10
Speaker
You've got your business on the right track. You've got your work on the right track. You can then return to these various different rest and recreation type activities. So I'm the type of person that I'm really devoted to my community that sometimes i forget that taking care of myself is also a very important thing to do. And I think this at the end of last year, was like, okay, I'm just doing so much, but where am I in the picture? And it was just such a good reminder that it's okay to pause on serving your community and to take care of yourself is just as important. And I had, I felt a sense of guilt, you could say to pause, but everyone else is like totally understandable. It was just myself and my thinking Um, so yeah, that's why this year I'm not serving, you could say actively with my community. And I decided this year was just going it was going to be about my business, my career and myself. And that's totally fine. And the next year, I'm not really sure yet how that's going to look, but it's okay if it's a mixture or it's another year just devoted to, to my learning and and my growth physically, spiritually, and mentally. yeah It sounds as if the challenge of changing was more of a challenge for you than it was for the people that were actually benefiting from your volunteering. You're the one that expressed the guilt. You're the one who found the process difficult.
00:20:49
Speaker
Those almost... We value you when you're here, but we know that you're not going to be here forever. So how did you manage that that process of of letting go of of something which is was at the time obviously very important to you? Yeah, i definitely has been all about mindset.
00:21:12
Speaker
Mindset has, that word has come into place just so much recently because the way you see things in life, You know, like everyone sees things differently. I remember, you know, having a conversation with my family because i I'm really close to them. And I was telling them, hey, you know, I'm feeling like I really, really, really enjoy working with them. But feel like my body's telling me that, you know, I'm feeling a little bit tired. Yeah. And they were like, well, it's fine to pause. But I was like, well, you know, I'm feeling guilty. I don't think that's right. Like I need to stay with them as long as I can. And they were like, no, like, you're reading this wrong. Like they appreciate your help, but they are also concerned about you. it So just kind of thinking like, it's okay to change. Yeah, changing my mindset that it's okay to pause and start something new. And even like,
00:22:07
Speaker
With CrossFit, I felt the need that if I did it, I had to stay with it for, I don't know, like sort of the rest of my life as the way to exercise.
00:22:21
Speaker
But then i my dad reminded me like I'm the type of person that likes to try a lot of new stuff. And then If I had a room where I could store all the things that I've tried in the past, that room would probably filled with so many things.
00:22:37
Speaker
It's fine to try out things. And then if you don't like them, it's fine to leave them and start something new. That's also something that I had to remind myself. And partial I think something that led to that to kind of forgetting of how I was when I was younger is that once you get older you have more responsibilities and somehow it makes you be more structured and have a routine and you become less of a child and sometimes you do need to go back to those child memories of how you were before you had more responsibilities if that makes sense
00:23:13
Speaker
Yes, of course, what you're describing is someone who decides to work in a startup, decides to set up a a new club on a campus, a community activity, and then to lots of different activities as part of your work-life balance, rest and recreation. You're a startup person.
00:23:38
Speaker
You're not a big corporate person. Mm-hmm. It's not until you actually hear you to talk about it that you start to realize that actually all of these things are connected. All of these things are working with your strengths, but actually utilizing your strengths to help a club get set up.
00:23:59
Speaker
It's set up. You don't need to be involved as much as you were during the setup processes once that is established. That then means that you can go and do something else.
Embracing a Generalist Lifestyle
00:24:10
Speaker
which is about learning a new skill, reading reading books so that you learn new skills, returning to your walking, doing your CrossFit, weightlifting, all of these different things where you are starting something new. And i suppose at different stages, they will stop by being the new thing that you need to do and you will move on to the next stage of those different hobbies.
00:24:34
Speaker
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. But it all spits together, doesn't it? It does. It does. And I think, honestly, Michael, it was like last week where really hit me. So a lot of my friends, they're not in the startup world. They're more in this corporate environment where things are structured. And so think one of the downsides of living... work remotely personally. for this startup. And so that's positive because I can live anywhere, including living close to my family. But on the downside, I don't get to connect physically with a lot of people.
00:25:10
Speaker
So I think that was with CrossFit, I have a community, which is really good. yes But yes, you kind of sometimes unintentionally you compare yourself to your friends. You're like, well, I should be just, you know, stay with something long term, just like they're doing. But yeah, as you said, I work in a startup environment. And I realized that I always wanted to become a specialist in something.
00:25:40
Speaker
As the startup grows, it seems like all of the 20 hats that I wore, now they're narrowing down every day as we get more people, and more employees, more in capacity. and so it's like, hey, Gabby, like, where are you going to, where are you going to specialize? Are you going to be the customer success guru or, you know, the operations ah person? But I was like, that seems kind of boring. I love to do so many things. And it seems because at heart, I'm a generalist as well. um
00:26:18
Speaker
and But I do think that at least when I was in school and in society, it's emphasized to always become a specialist. But also because of my culture, i I'm the oldest of three. um And I'm always the one just helping with anything. So I just realized it's okay to also be a generalist and that does translate into your life.
00:26:41
Speaker
personal life, your career, and it's okay. And you just need to hone on that, accept that. And it's it's nothing bad. You don't have to be a specialist to be successful and to be happy. That's true. It's true. It's about working out what works for you and also what rests for you, I suppose, so you can develop a good work-life balance. But certainly a very interesting approach. And I really do appreciate your time today, Gabby. I find it very interesting. Thank you very much. Yeah, no worries. I'm so, so happy to be you know having this conversation with you today. Thank you.
Episode Conclusion and Calls to Action
00:27:20
Speaker
Hi, I'm Michael Millward, the Managing Director of Abbasida.
00:27:25
Speaker
And in this episode of Rest and Recreation, I have been having a conversation with Gabby Estrada. If you'd like to know more about how Gabby managed her work-life balance, you can contact her using the link in the description.
00:27:39
Speaker
You can also find out more about Gabby and myself at abucida.co.uk. Achieving a good work-life balance is always easier if you're healthy. Being healthy is the key element of enjoying life.
00:27:53
Speaker
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00:28:05
Speaker
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00:28:17
Speaker
The annual health test is conducted by an experienced phlebotomist who will complete a full blood draw at your home or workplace. Hospital standard tests are carried out in a UK AS accredited and CQC compliant lab.
00:28:33
Speaker
you can You can access your easy to understand results and guidance to help you make effective lifestyle changes anytime by your secure personal wellness hub account. There is a link and a discount code in the description.
00:28:47
Speaker
I'm sure that you will have enjoyed listening to this episode of Rest and Recreation as much as Gabby and I have enjoyed making it. So please give it a like and download it so that you can listen anytime, anywhere.
00:29:00
Speaker
To make sure you don't miss out on future episodes, please subscribe. Remember, the aim of all the podcasts produced by Abbasida is not to tell you what to think, but we do hope to have made you think.
00:29:13
Speaker
Until the next episode of Rest and Recreation, thank you for listening and goodbye.