Who We Are
Two friends navigating the chaos and comedy of management life together.
Mary Linkous has experienced 27 eventful years in the human services field, 19 years as a professional leader, and let’s not forget those 10 full-time mom years. As a girl scout leader, PTO leader, sports mom, household manager, and official grocery-getter, she’s basically the Swiss Army knife of multitasking. Oh, and she is also a licensed professional therapist—because what’s better than solving everyone else’s problems while also being a grandmother and dog mom to David Bowie (the canine edition, of course)? Talk about having a full schedule! She is convinced this plethora of experience has given her all the answers, listen and see if you agree!
Dana Kelly has spent 24 years in the mental health field, with 21 of those in professional leadership-working her way through middle management since 2005. As a Gen X oldest sister, Dana has basically been in charge since the early 90s, whether anyone asked her to be or not. She is also a full-time career mom and household manager, balancing ball games, practices, schedules, and keeping her family fed and functioning. Let's just say her life outside of work is… equally eventful. Her favorite part of all of it? Coaching and developing young leaders, helping them find their niche, build confidence, and maybe avoid a few of the hard lessons she learned along the way. She may not have all the answers… but she’ll definitely have an opinion—tune in, she will probably a story to go with it!
Our Journey
Dana and Mary are two friends and co-managers, expertly juggling the delightful chaos of a human services career, family life, and trying to maintain their sanity (while keeping our cortisol levels down) — all while turning those management mishaps into hilarious comedy gold on our podcast. Because let’s be honest, leadership isn’t perfect, and if it were, we wouldn’t have anything to talk about on this podcast!
Why?
The struggle is real
Because managing barely is just our style, and let’s be honest, it could very well be yours too if you stop pretending it’s not. Thrown into management like a cat looks at a bathtub—confused and slightly terrified—we started to ask ourselves, "What makes a good leader?" Spoiler alert: it’s not wearing socks with sandals. More often than not, it was way more fun to ponder, "What makes a bad one?" These conversations sometimes induce more eye-rolls than a dramatic teenage soap opera, so we thought, why not spread the laughs and share the fun?
Our origin story
Have you ever attended a work seminar that was supposed to motivate and empower you, but instead, it felt like watching paint dry? Yeah, us too! We kicked things off trying to present leadership tips, but honestly, we were more bored than a cat at a dog show. Then someone had a lightbulb moment: podcasts! It was like discovering a secret stash of chocolate in the fridge - not boring at all! So, off we went on this wild ride. It’s been a mountain of effort, but we're climbing it with the enthusiasm of a kid in a candy store. If you loved all of those silly analogies, stick around, we have plenty. We hope you tune in, and if you enjoy what you hear, please like it, share it, and tell us how you’re Barely Managing – we promise not to judge (too much)
Contact
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