We had the good fortune of connecting with Edna Mancia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Edna, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
My balance has shifted towards work, but it helps that I love what I do! There are times when it can be overwhelming, but I am reminded that this is the best for me and it’s helping me to reach my over-all longterm goal. I do believe there should be a balance between work and play, but when a job is also fun and you have the chance to do fun things, then the balance is already there!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
It was not easy being able to do what I do now. I wasn’t able to finish school due to money and so I had to work a variety of odd jobs. I would eventually apply to similar marketing vocations, but I never heard a call back because of my lack of education. I knew that marketing and/or social media were my field of expertise and interest, and yet companies never took a chance on me. I had the experience through volunteer work at church, but for some people that wasn’t enough. There were times I wasn’t sure how I was going to pat my bills when I was working all the odd jobs because they never truly did pay enough, but God had my back, and I always had enough to get by. One day I saw a job ad on Instagram for a company called UNATION. UNATION was my last hope before I settled for the job I was at at that time. Out of nowhere I receive an email that they wanted to interview me and I couldn’t be more excited! In the end, I got my job with UNATION (Stuff to Do in Houston) and have been happy ever since. It wasn’t easy because I had to work all the harder to prove myself due to not finishing school and I had to learn to be adaptable to whatever life threw at me. In the world of social media and digital marketing, I would say I have a small leg up on those who went to school because I’ve had to adapt to the ever-changing world of the internet and teach myself what my audience wants to see and how a story should be told. I even had to teach myself how to professionally edit videos, thank you YouTube University, but that’s a story for a different day!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend was visiting the area, I would plan to see all the best murals. I would take them to the best local food restaurants and food trucks in the city. Depending on what events are going on we would definitely make time to hang out there! Of course, you can’t forget about the bars and breweries around town. On the weekend we’ll go to the best brunch spots and maybe even hop on over to Galveston for some fun in the sun!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to shout out to my family. They have always been supportive of what I do no matter how crazy, or how many jobs I had before I finally got to where I am now. They always knew that I would be doing something unconventional, and no matter how long it took for me to get to where I am, they have always been there!

Website: https://unation.com/houston
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stufftodoinhouston/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ednamancia/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ednamancia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stufftodoinhouston/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-MtSuLBfpKMJnXAZPV7ySg
Other: https://www.instagram.com/ednamancia/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC1MA64oGaC1u85ROHVC__w