Hosted by Daniel K Cheung, Dreading Sundays is an audio podcast where SEO, digital PR, content and digital marketing professionals share how they have progressed in their career so that you may follow in their footsteps.

Featuring seasoned in-house professionals, SEO agency experts, freelancers, affiliate marketers, and niche website builders and flippers, the goal of Dreading Sundays is to break through salary secrecy and racial discrimination so that YOU may feel empowered to ask for a promotion, change careers, or start that side hustle.

Dreading Sundays guest lineup

EpisodeFeatured guest
1Katherine Watier Ong, Consultant, WO Strategies

“If you move organisations you can increase your salary exponentially. For example, I got a 30K pay rise by simply moving companies.”

>> Listen to Katherine Ong on being an in-house SEO, consultant and mentor
2Peter Macinkovic, SEO Lead, Easygo Gaming

“Once you have the leverage to negotiate everything is easier whereas when you’re starting out it is so hard.”

>> Listen to this episode
3Sam Torres, Co-founder, The Gray Dot Co

“The one thing I look for when hiring an SEO is a hunger to learn because everything else can be taught.”

>> Listen to Sam Torres on what hiring managers are looking for
4Jacky Chou, Entrepreneur

“I learn by doing. I’d assign one site to be completely black hat and smash it with PBNs and I’d make a ton of money from it and it’d die after some time.”

>> Listen to this episode
5Mercy Janaki, Group Head (SEO), Webenza

“If you do good work do not hesitate to call it out because it is worth calling out. If you don’t do it nobody else is going to do it for you.”

>> Listen to this episode
6Kevin Indig, former Director of SEO, Shopify

“Whenever you hire someone there is a job to be done. The most important thing is can the person do the job and can they do it well?”

>> Listen to this episode
7Crystal Wong, SEO Consultant, Sky Blue Search

“I was taking on anyone because I needed to get the experience and because I needed the money.”

>> Listen to this episode
8Jamar Ramos, Co-founder, Crunchy Links

“When you hear things like family-run, it usually means they want you to come in early, work late, and not be properly compensated for your time and contribution.”

>> Listen to this episode
9Billie Geena Hyde , Learning & Development Manager, SALT Agency

“I applied for jobs that were way above what I could get. “

>> Listen to this episode
10Win Shi Wong, Digital Marketing Manager, Optimy.ai

“Going into a specialisation usually means you get paid more.”

>> Listen to this episode
11Kristina Azarenko, SEO Hero, Marketing Syrup

“When you charge by an hourly rate clients tend to micro-manage you.”

>> Listen to Kristina Azarenko on how SEO allowed her to move countries
12Tom Critchlow, Creator, The SEO MBA

“When you know people in similar industries, similar backgrounds, and similar situations – you can talk to about salary information.”

>> Listen to Tom Critchlow on developing soft skills
13Dhriti Shashikanth, SEO Senior Media Manager, Digitas UK

“Learning how to communicate with clients when working agency-side is super important.”

>> Listen to this episode
14Iky Tai, J.P. Morgan

“When I was starting out I was scared and very nervous. I had doubts that I wouldn’t be able to get a job here in Ireland because I was not a native English-speaker.”

>> Listen to this episode
15George Nguyen, Director of SEO Editorial, Wix

“We’re ignoring search volume and keyword density. We’re going the semantic way and focusing on what reads well and what the experience is like. Will it turn out well? I don’t know.”

>> Listen to George Nguyen talk about diversity
16Chloe Smith, Senior SEO Manager, Blue Array

“So much of the career structure in SEO hinges on becoming a team lead or a head of SEO which then involves people management.”

>> Listen to Chloe Smith on career progression as someone with a disability
17Bibi the Link Builder, Co-founder, Bibibuzz

“Before you hire people from another country you need to look into what situation they’re in and dive into their culture.”

>> Listen to Bibi Raven discuss the concept of ‘throw away labour’
18Jun Arellano, Creative VA, Bibibuzz

“Whenever you want something or when you have a goal, all you to do is get started and figure out things along the way because you will never be ready.”

>> Listen to Jun Arellan recount his experience as a Filipino link-builder
19Helen Pollitt, Head of SEO, Car & Classic

“My experience with agency is that you get a real breadth of experience really quickly. You get to experience in different verticals, industries, company sizes and styles.”

>> Listen to Helen Pollitt explain why SEO job titles matter
20Nikki Halliwell, Technical SEO Specialist, Journey Further

>> Listen to Nikki Halliwell on why you should break things
21Amanda King, Consultant, floq.co

“If you’re a junior and you’re not currently involved in client-facing pitches, try and find a way to be involved as they’re being prepped agency-side.”

>> Listen to Amanda King talk about agency-side SEO mistakes when consulting for enterprise accounts
22Chi Thukral

“The minute you’re comfortable in your job and you’re not growing and you’re not learning and you’re not being challenged, that’s when you may need to look for a new role.”

>> Listen to Chi Thukral on what it is like representing a social media account with 1 million followers
23Debbie Chew, Global SEO Manager, Dialpad
24Gisele Navarro, CEO, NeoMam Studios

“In every one-on-one meeting I ask two key questions – what is working well for you right now and what is not working well for you right now?.”

>> Listen to Gisele on what the day-to-day looks like as CEO of NeoMam Studios
25Momina Asif, Freelance Content Writer

“If you’re a business paying $400 for a blog you’re going to get that level of service and you’re going to get that quality of a blog.”

>> Listen to Momina Asif describe how she went from 1PKR per word to 450USD per blog post
26Travis Tallent, VP of SEO, Brainlabs

“You don’t want to manage more than 7 people. If you manage more than 7, absolutely nothing gets done.”

>> Listen to Travis Tallent on SEO salries, career growth and people management mindset
27Morgan Petrov, Executive Director of SEO, TrendyMinds

“Have some ideas on how to fix a problem because it will give your manager a general idea on what direction your mind is going in terms of problem-solving skills.”

>> Listen to Morgan Petrov on what she looks for in candidates and why when hiring for an SEO position
28Sara Fernández
29Jolle Lahr-Eigen, SEO Consultant

“When I come across any form of discrimination I try to be on the solution-side of the problem. If it is not about myself but for others, I will speak out.”

>> Listen to Jolle Lahr-Eigen on freelancing vs in-house vs agency-side roles

If you’re someone who wants to know:

  • what your career prospects are as a content writer?
  • what you should put in your resume when applying for a mid-senior SEO role?
  • what recruiters are looking for when they are scanning through hundreds of SEO candidates?
  • how much you can earn?
  • when you should ask for a pay rise?
  • how to ask for a pay rise?

Then you’re going to find each episode of Dreading Sundays and the insights the guests share filled with inspiration, truth and motivation.