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BRX Pro Tip: Develop a Q1 Focused Email Campaign

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BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Develop a Q1 Focused Email Campaign
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BRX Pro Tip: Develop a Q1 Focused Email Campaign

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. You know, contrary to what I, at some point, really was beginning to feel, email and the power of email marketing done right is not going anywhere, at least, for a while. What are your current thoughts on leveraging email to grow your business?

Lee Kantor: I think it’s so important to productize things, and I think that email marketing is a great way to share what you’re learning with your people. I think a place to start is some sort of a first quarter focus or this quarter’s focus and then develop an email campaign that includes weekly tips, motivation, accountability, support. Plan out this kind of 12-week email series. I would theme it depending on what’s important to you or what your superpower is. Include actionable tips, include success stories, include motivation in every single email. And then, offer some sort of service program or resource to people who are subscribed to this list. I think email marketing is still useful, and it’s something that every professional service provider should be doing.

Lilly Powell – Residential Interior Designer

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HBR-Lilly-Powell-Feature
Houston Business Radio
Lilly Powell - Residential Interior Designer
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Kirby-and-Z-Interior-Design

Lilly-PowellLilly Powell is a passionate and vibrant interior designer known for bringing warmth, creativity, and positive energy to every space she transforms.

With a deep understanding of the psychological impact of colors, she helps clients create homes they truly love—whether it’s refreshing a living space, designing functional home offices, or preparing a house for sale with the perfect neutral tones. Her journey into interior design was serendipitous, but once she realized her natural talent could become a thriving career, she never looked back.

Beyond design, Lilly is a devoted wife of nearly 20 years, a proud mother to her 13-year-old, and a loving pet parent to both a cat and a dog. She values family, friendships, and meaningful connections in all aspects of life.

In her discussion with Trisha, she shared insights on color psychology, home office transitions, and a memorable kitchen and bathroom makeover. Her mission is simple: to make every client feel truly at home in their space.

Connect with Lilly on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston. Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. It is my pleasure. And by the way, another guest introduced to me through BNI network, which is really fun and interesting. Uh, it is my pleasure to have Lilly on with me today. Kirby and Z interior designs. She and I have had the opportunity to catch up a couple of times before, and she does amazing work. Lilly, welcome to the show.

Lilly Powell: Thank you. Pleasure to be here.

Trisha Stetzel: I’m so excited. We had some really good conversation before we started recording today, so I can’t wait to really dig into the details. So Lilly, if you wouldn’t mind, just give our audience a little background and how you got into interior design in the first place.

Lilly Powell: So I was asked the age old question, what do you want to do when you grow up? And I was about 30, a little late to the game. Um, we had adopted a baby, and, uh, it was something, you know, I wanted to be a mom first. So I decided interior design was in my blood and my passion and, uh, you know, started working for a firm and realized that I was working too many hours to be a mom. And so I decided to go out on my own and voila! Kirby and Z was born. And so we’ve been in business for ten years now, and the baby is 1314 now. So yeah, she’s a big girl.

Trisha Stetzel: Goodness, Lily, by the way, 30 is not too old to be asking yourself, what do I want to be when I grow up? Because I’m still asking. I’m way past 30. Uh, I know that you have a passion for this particular industry, and I want to focus on a couple of couple of areas that I’m curious about. Uh, we’ve talked a little bit about color and the psychology behind that, and it sounds like it’s really important when it comes to decorating, whether it’s in your home, in your office, or even in a corporate space. Tell me more about color and the psychology of colors around decorating.

Lilly Powell: So I have done a couple of talks for a real estate agent and, you know, some friends and just kind of diving into the color. If you go into a dentist office like a pediatric dentist, they’re going to have these vibrant colors because they want these kids to kind of feel comfortable and still happy go lucky, you know, when they’re coming into the dentist office because it can be scary. Um, and so it’s just one of those things that’s kind of like, you tell me who your friends are. I’ll tell you who you are. It’s the same principle. Who, who and what you surround yourself with is going to evoke a feeling. And so a lot of times, I will walk into a place, for example, hospital. And, you know, I see these bleak colors and in my mind I’m just like, wow, they should have brighter colors, you know, to help these people get through whatever they’re getting through here at the hospital. And so it is it makes a difference. You know, what you surround yourself with, whether it be at home or in your business. One of the things that I do like to do with a lot of my clients is when they are decorating their bedrooms. A lot of times we’ll make those colors a little more, a deeper color. Why is that? Well, because that’s where you’re going to bed, right? It’s time to calm down. It’s time to bring your blood pressure down. And some of these colors have shown, you know, to do that. So it’s important.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Oh my gosh. So I get in this corporate environment or hospital environments what those colors should look like. So from I want to dive back into this, this home environment where the bedrooms should be dark. What about like kitchens or living rooms. Is it about your personality? Is there like a color palette that you suggest more often than not? What does that look like when helping a client pick out colors?

Lilly Powell: Uh, it is going to depend a lot on the client themselves. You know, I’ll ask them, like, you know, what colors do you like? And a lot of times they will say, oh, I like all colors. And my response is, okay, we’ll do purple with green polka dots. Okay. I don’t like green and purple. Okay. What color do you like? And so it’s my job to like, drill down. You know what? What do you like? Where do you live? So if you come into my house, it’s, um. I have two chairs that have teal and pink and lime green, and so that’s where I like to live. So if you’re going into a kitchen and it’s your personality, you know, to be bright, you go with bright blues, bright yellows. You want something a little more subdued than you would go, maybe, you know, with like a navy countertop. And a lot of times, you know, it just depends on the client. And that is one of the things that I pride myself in as a designer is listening to what the client wants, not necessarily me being the designer, you know, picking for the client. It’s it’s about listening.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I love that. And I love that you said purple with green polka dots or whatever it was, right? Like, okay, maybe I don’t love all colors. Yeah. Uh, so I have a question for you. For those of you who can’t see us on video because it’s only audio. I sit in an in an office with no color, uh, because my walls are all cedar. So what? What does that say about me, Lily?

Lilly Powell: You’re okay with living in Cedar?

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. That’s funny. It is just. Yeah. Just to be clear, it’s a tiny house, so I’m not painting the cedar. But I do have some really cool paintings. It’s all filled with brightly colored, uh, music. Artwork. Uh, so that probably says some crazy things about me, right?

Lilly Powell: And that’s what it is. Your personality comes out through what you surround yourself with, and people don’t realize it sometimes. Um, I did have a, you know, a period in my life where I wasn’t as happy and I did, you know, battle depression a little bit. And that was around the time that we moved into this house. And I had a friend come in and she said, you know, this house doesn’t look like you. And I kind of took a step back and I was like, oh, that’s because I was not in the right space when I decorated. And so I decorated to where I was at in my life. And it was the weirdest thing that she she was able to point that out, but I was able to take a step back and be like, oh, we need to redo this. And now we’ve got, you know, the pinks and the blues and the lime greens that you know, I’m talking about. And so it does it, you know, it it matters. It really does.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah I can see that. Where colors really bring your personality to life. Meaning things that make you happy, right? And it really brings out the best in you. Even just thinking about the clothes. So it’s just as important to think about the colors in your house as it is, ladies, to pick out the outfit that you love. Right. You’re going to go in your closet and you’re going to pick out an outfit and wear a certain color. You know which colors you like and which ones you don’t. It’s just as important to have that surrounding you in your, um, home and even in your office. So I’m curious, Lily, um, what types of clients do you typically work with? Is it home? Is it office? Is it home? Office? What does that look like for you?

Lilly Powell: So I mostly do residential. Occasionally I’ll have an existing client ask, you know, hey, can you put some stuff in my office? But it’s mostly residential that we stick to. Um. The demographic. We did some research and come to find out that it’s mostly, uh, women. Uh, I think it was over the age of 40 and divorced men. Very weird. But those are my clients that I’ve been drawing to me. Uh, and so, yeah, those have been my clients. But, you know, in between, I’ve had families starting, um, you know, couples starting new families where we do a nursery. We have, um, you know, a library shelf built into an existing office for, you know, all the clients are now working from home. So it just varies.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, wow, I love that. I know you and I had a longer conversation the last time we met about, uh, all of these, um, most of them are women. The people that I engage with that are moving from office to work, from home, and they’re sitting in a place that’s not actually their office. And how great would it be to engage with someone like you who could help them through the process of really turning that into a place that they can grow their business. Like, that sounds amazing. Yeah, that sounds like so much fun. So the most it is interesting that your clients are women over 40 and divorced men. So if you’re listening, uh, Lilly might be your gal, right? Uh, especially for those of you who have started working from home. And by the way, just from a business perspective, you need to fill your office with things that make you happy and excited and the things that are going to help you flourish. And I know that, Lilly, you could help folks with that. Um, really get that office into a space where they can grow, right? You don’t want it to be a place where you dread going to the office, even in your own home, right? Yeah. Um, so talk to me about why having someone like you with your skills on my team is important. So why would I hire an interior designer in the first place?

Lilly Powell: A lot of times it is less expensive to hire me than for you to go out and buy furniture out on your own.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay.

Lilly Powell: Shocking, right? So a lot of times you go into a furniture store and their ceilings are going to be either 22 foot ceilings or it’s a giant store. And so you find this wonderful bed that looks amazing. You buy it, you get it home and you realize, oh, my ceilings are nine foot ceilings. And all of a sudden you have this enormous bed taking up the entire space of your room, and you have room for nothing else. And so a lot of times that’s where I can come in and just consult and just be like, okay, this is a great bed and everything, but let’s see if we can find something that actually is to scale for your house. And so I do have one client in particular. She hired me for that reason. And she told me she’s like, I know that if I do not hire a designer, I’m going to end up spending more money because I’ll get it to the house. It’s the wrong shade. It’s the wrong size. It’s whatever. So a lot of times it’s just easier to have that person that does this for a living to come in and just say, hey, this is going to work. This isn’t going to work. Let’s see what we can find. Um, that, you know, that’s going to make you happy and still give you what you want.

Trisha Stetzel: Um, yeah, I love that. My bed’s way too big for my bedroom. Lily, I might need one of those. Uh, well, and, you know, just just to give myself a little credit, it was because we moved from one house to another house, and we had that bed there, and, well, it doesn’t exactly fit here. It fills the room, which is. Okay. Um, let’s. I know that most of your clientele, uh, as you mentioned in your study, are women over 40 and divorced men. But I also know that there’s another area that you specialize in which is aging in place. Can we talk a talk a little bit more about that? What does it mean and how do you help?

Lilly Powell: Absolutely. So aging in place is exactly what it says aging in place. A lot of my clients are baby boomers that are now empty nesters, um, retirees. And a lot of times the choices are they either move to a facility where, you know, um, aging, uh, I forget what the name of the facility is anyway. A facility where they can, you know, grow older. They have assistance if needed, or they have to downsize to a smaller house. And a lot of times I can come in and I can just help them by opening bathroom doors, you know, to fit a wheelchair or a walker if needed, later on in life. I can reinforce the walls so that we can add grab bars to showers and bathrooms, stairwells, you know, different areas of the house, um, install different kind of flooring. That’s not going to be so slippery so that, you know, as they’re shuffling, shuffling along, which happens, it’s going to happen. You know, most of us, they don’t slip and fall. I even went as far as installing a heated floor for one client, which is in Houston. She’s like, yes. I was like, all right, let’s do it. So we did it. And recently we did. Um, we installed an elevator for another client. Same thing, aging in place. It’s a four story house. She doesn’t want to move. And we did research and we looked at all of our choices as far as, like, you know, this is where you can move to or this is where you can stay and this is what we can do. Price point I brought in a real estate agent to help her. You know, this is how much your house will sell for. This is what we’re going to buy for, you know, your new facility. And we just went through the whole process with her and helped her make that final decision, you know, to remodel and install an elevator. So, you know, that’s it’s just it makes me happy to see her, you know, in her little elevator. And she had a party and brought all her friends over. And so it’s it’s very cool. So. Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. You do so much more, Lily, than than just help people with colors. It’s amazing. And so for those listeners who know me well enough, you know that I have, um, uh, lots of energy that I put into, uh, my grandmother and my mother and I. These things are so important, Lily. You know, there are studies that say our seniors who are getting older and older fear losing their independence more than they do actually passing away, which is this space that you’re in, which is aging in place and helping them be able to stay at home and keep their independence is so important. We have so many baby boomers, um, living right now, uh, who are in that difficult place, right? Can I stay here or do I need to go to a facility? So in that, in that space as well. So you do some can we call it remodeling. Like what. So aging in place you’re doing a lot more than just interior design. So can you really describe all of the services that you can provide for your clients.

Lilly Powell: Well let’s see let’s pull out the list. So yes I do pick out colors, um pillows, which is, you know, the basic interior design stuff. But we do, uh, go in and we can remodel kitchens and bathrooms. Those are typically the things that we’re remodeling a lot of times, um, it’ll start with, hey, you know, I need a new color for my bathroom, and we just it kind of just escalates and moves into, you know, let’s just do a remodel. And so that’s definitely something that we provide. So it’s it’s a little bit of everything. Um, but our niche and what we started doing ten years ago was truly interior design. Wallpaper, paint, selecting tiles. Me going into a tile store is like a kid in a candy store. Like, I love doing it. Or even picking up paint. Everyone’s intimidated by it and I’m like, it’s just paint. Like you don’t like it. We redo it. So. And everyone’s, like, scared of it. I’m like, no, don’t be afraid. But that that just painting is one of the simplest things that you can do to your house to just, like, juice it up. And people are very scared of it. And I’m like, no, that’s like the easiest thing you can do is paint a room. And the best thing is, if you don’t like it, redo it. You know, it’s just paint.

Lilly Powell: You can paint over it, right? Use a different color.

Trisha Stetzel: So, uh, that brings up another question then, Lily. What? What is your bet? What’s your biggest piece of advice to someone who may be selling their house in the next six months?

Lilly Powell: Uh, selling a house in the next six months. Mm. This is tricky. I do have real estate agents that bring me in to prep the house and stage it. Sometimes we do staging with the client’s their own furniture. We don’t bring any furniture in. But one of the things that we do tell them is if you are one of those people like me that has various colors in your house, you’re going to have to paint it back to a neutral color. Why is that? Because the people that come in to possibly buy your house, they need to be able to envision themselves in that space. So you have to take away all of who you are. Right. Because we’ve surrounded ourselves with the things that we love and that we like and that bring us joy, that includes colors. Uh, we have to take those out and allow someone else to visualize themselves and their stuff in this new home. So.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, and that’s hard. But we’ve also made the decision that we’re going to sell our house. Right. So when we make that decision, then we’ve got to put something more neutral, I’m guessing on the walls, so that it when people come in to look at the house, they can see themselves there without your big red wall or your big yellow wall or whatever color that you love right in there.

Lilly Powell: Red or blue or whichever.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh my gosh, Lily. So I’ve done some crazy things. We had a yellow wall with, uh, purple handprints on it. When our son was younger, I had a bathroom that I painted purple. I’m talking about purple with, um, blue sponge over the top of it. I am not afraid of.

Lilly Powell: My own heart. I mean.

Trisha Stetzel: I’m not afraid of paint. Uh, although it is hard to cover up when you use those dark colors. I’m just saying. Now, paint has come a long way. Uh, you know where it does cover up those dark colors and, you know, way more than way more about that than I do. So if listener if if we’ve got some listeners that are really interested in connecting with you. With you, Lily. Just having a conversation. Want to know what it is that you do, or maybe even want to talk to you about services. How can they find you?

Lilly Powell: I have a website. It’s a glorified business card. I have pictures on there and a little bit about me. If you want to go in there and read, it’s WW, Herbie and Z and z.com and you can find all my information there.

Trisha Stetzel: Fantastic. I’m going to put that in the show notes as well. So if you happen to be in front of your computer listening, you can just click and go directly there. You can even comment in the social posts where you’re watching this and get a hold of Lily. You can just do it at Lily and I’m sure it will pop up and tag her. So, Lily, uh, as we get to the back end of our conversation today, I would love if you would share one of your favorite client stories.

Lilly Powell: So right now, top of the list is a young lady that we installed the elevator for, and we went in and she just knew she needed to update her kitchen and her bath. And like I said, we slowly started talking about, you know, aging in place and what that’s going to look like. And we went from a I think it was a just basic white kitchen. I don’t even remember what color it was at this point, to a beautiful blue with brown doors, stained brown doors, cabinets and kitchens, all new appliances, new beautiful backsplash. I just got a picture. They installed the chairs yesterday. Her dining room chairs. We installed an elevator so now she can go up and down. So yeah, that that makes me happy. And when I see things like that, that keeps me going. So yeah, I love it.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. So was it an easy decision for her to go with blue in her kitchen?

Lilly Powell: No, she it was one of those things. When you hire me, we have to build a trust, because I can walk in there and I can visualize what it’s going to look like, and not all my clients can. And so we’ll, you know, we’ll do renderings and I can show you more or less what it’s going to look like. But it’s one of those things that you have to trust that I know what I’m doing, and I know what it’s going to look like when we’re done. And she did tell me she goes, Lily, I’m a little scared of this floor. I said, okay, you know what? You don’t like it. We’ll just repaint it. And that was kind of like, oh, okay. And so we went with it. But she loves it. She’s happy with it. And, you know, it brings her joy. The house looks completely different. It’s very bright and vibrant. She’s happy.

Trisha Stetzel: That’s amazing. All right. Kirby and z.com. Right. That’s where folks are going to find you. They can look up pictures. They maybe soon can see the blue kitchen if you put it out there and even connect with you on social. Are you on social media where people can find you as well?

Lilly Powell: Yes, we are on Facebook and Instagram. Same thing. Kirby and Zee.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay, fantastic. Lily, I’m so glad you came and joined me today. This was so much fun.

Lilly Powell: Thank you for having me.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. You may have to come back and we can talk about, like where how our furniture should sit in the rooms. Like, how is it really zen and does it work for people? Right. I’m just saying, I think that would be a ton of fun.

Lilly Powell: Anytime.

Trisha Stetzel: Thanks so much again, Lily, I appreciate it. Anybody who would like to connect with Lily, please check the show notes. Or you can just go to Kirby and A and z.com to connect with her and see the beautiful work that she’s already done. That’s all the time we have for today’s show. Join us next time for another exciting episode of Houston Business Radio. Until then, stay tuned, stay inspired, and keep thriving in the Houston business community.

 

Branding Beyond the Logo: Crafting Your Story as a Woman Entrepreneur

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WIM-Mindsy-Feature
Women in Motion
Branding Beyond the Logo: Crafting Your Story as a Woman Entrepreneur
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In this episode of Women in Motion, Lee Kantor interviews Asha Mody, founder of Mindsy, a branding studio in San Diego. Asha shares her journey as an immigrant and her mission to empower women entrepreneurs through strategic branding. She emphasizes the importance of a clear and intentional brand strategy, distinguishing between a logo and a brand. Asha discusses common branding challenges and offers advice for building a purposeful brand. She highlights her commitment to supporting women in business, sharing success stories and practical tips for entrepreneurs to achieve brand clarity and authenticity.

Asha-ModyBuilding a brand isn’t just an exercise in creativity—it’s an act of intention. Asha Mody, the visionary behind Mindsy Studio, is on a mission to transform the way we think about brands. With over 10 years of experience and a track record that’s as impressive as it is diverse, she’s helped women-led businesses, startups, and INC 500 companies craft brands that don’t just look good but feel right.

Asha’s philosophy? Brands should be rooted in purpose and mindfulness. Her approach blends soul and strategy, stripping away the noise to uncover the essence of what makes a brand unforgettable. As a Strategist and Design Director, she’s worked magic across diverse industries—from plant-based food and natural beauty to health, coaching, and sustainability-focused businesses. Asha has elevated wellness brands to cult status, coached founders on mindful scaling, and brought clarity to the chaos for countless entrepreneurs.

Recognized by GDUSA and World Packaging Design, Asha doesn’t just create logos or taglines; she sculpts stories that resonate. Her secret? Deep human insight, strategic clarity, and a mindfulness-driven creative process that puts authenticity front and center.

When Asha isn’t crafting impactful brands, you can find her breaking a sweat with her two teenage boys at the gym, painting intuitive mixed-media masterpieces, or traveling with her life partner to discover creative coffee havens. Each experience fuels her passion for mindfulness and storytelling, helping her weave even richer narratives for her clients.

As a keynote speaker, course creator, and startup advisor, Asha has shared her expertise with communities worldwide. Her ultimate goal? To empower 1,000 women-led brands to scale their dreams while staying true to their values. Whether it’s breaking into Whole Foods or redefining an industry’s narrative, Asha builds brands that stand for something—and people remember them.

Connect with Asha on LinkedIn.

Music Provided by M PATH MUSIC

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios, it’s time for Women in Motion. Brought to you by WBEC-West. Join forces. Succeed together. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Hi, Lee Kantor here. Another episode of Women in Motion. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, WBEC-West. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Women in Motion, we have Asha Mody with Mindsy Design. Welcome.

Asha Mody: Thank you,Lee. Thank you. I’m excited for the show today.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Mindsy Design. How are you serving folks?

Asha Mody: Mindsy Design is a branding studio in San Diego, California, and we help empower women entrepreneurs to design their branding, packaging and strategic approach to launch their product and services in the market.

Lee Kantor: So, what’s your backstory? How did you get involved in the branding business?

Asha Mody: Oh, that’s interesting. I grew up in India and came to the United States 20 years back. And when I came here as a minority immigrant woman, I didn’t have the working rights. So, I invested myself in educating myself for ten years, fighting my rights from… at White House. And finally, I got my immigrant working right ten years back. And I started working in a company as a graphic designer, where I saw that CEOs, CMOs, sales team, everybody is on very different pages, and they design just pretty looking design, doesn’t create the impact what company wanted to create. So, I learned about brand strategy. I got C-level Certified Brand Strategist and how design can create impact and meaningfully by aligning their purpose and their mission and vision on the one page. So, that’s why I designed because I believe that we can create a meaningful impact if we have all intentional strategy and we can communicate clearly with the audience, which, really, they need to hear.

Lee Kantor: Now, is that a mistake that you find, especially with young entrepreneurs or maybe not young by age but young by being an entrepreneur, is they confuse maybe their logo with their brand. Like, they don’t really understand the brand stands for something a lot more than just what their logo might look like.

Asha Mody: Yeah. So, I like this question a lot. The logo or tagline, it’s just the one part of the brand. It’s not the brand. Brand is something. It’s your gut feeling. I ask this question, when you are not present in the room, what do people say behind your back? What is the gut feeling that you are creating it? That’s called the brand. For example, owners, founders, or sales team or marketing team, they cannot be always in the store selling your product, right? So, when you are not present, what do you want to create the feeling behind your back? That’s trust. That’s authenticity. That is the brand, when people feel really connected and they feel to join your tribe.

Lee Kantor: And brand is something that even if you’re not mindful about it, it’s still happening, right? So, you might as well be mindful about it.

Asha Mody: I agree, because if you are not mindful and intentional about it is a secret of crafting the brand messaging and how it resonated. Like, if you are not intentional about it, you are living somebody else’s brand. You are hiding and not able to communicate, what are your core values, why you stand for it, what is your vision and purpose to make a difference in this world? So, the secret of cutting through the noise is by storytelling, we do it. And messaging, we create that to really resonate with the audience. So, it’s generally brand get lost. They feel the messaging is not about shouting or shouting or being loud, but it’s about connecting on a deeper level with the audience.

So, that’s what we do at Mindsy Design. We believe every brand has a story of worth telling, and it’s just about uncovering it intentionally and what makes it connected with your audience. And we start this by understanding their users’ fears and desire and aspirations, and how can your brand or product goes in their life and make their life more easy? And we do that kind of a matchmaking connection with the brand and right audience. So, if they are not intentional and conscious about sharing their story, which really connects with the audience, they are actually living somebody else’s brand. And then, they feel overwhelmed and stressed that, “Oh, this is not bringing ROI. This is not the way I want it,” and they feel disconnected with their own brand.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you ever have meetings with folks and maybe even leaders where they think their brand is one thing but their audience or their clients or even their employees think it’s something else? There is a disconnect between what the leadership either thinks their brand is or aspires for their brand to be, but the reality of how people are seeing it today.

Asha Mody: Yes. That’s all we call in a brand DNA. We design it. It’s CEO, have a brand vision to get the company on one level but, sometimes, consciously or unconsciously, it disconnects or not able to communicate with the internal team or external team or, for example, distributors or supply chain. Everybody is on different page. So, the brand wants to make one leap progress. Instead of getting the growth, they start getting tangled in the small obstacles more because they don’t know how to clearly find their voice and communicate that with the audience. So, when we do the strategy, find the intentional brand strategy, everybody stays on the same page for the communication, either it’s visually or verbally. But authenticity, the clarity is the one… Is at the core of the brand. We try to communicate.

Lee Kantor: Now, what are some symptoms that a company leader might be seeing right now that they’re not connecting the dots, that, “Hey, maybe we have a brand clarity issue,” or people aren’t really clear on our mission, but there are symptoms, there are things happening in their business every day that maybe they’re not kind of clocking, like, “Hey, this could be a brand problem. We don’t have that authenticity or that intentionality yet, and we have a problem. We got to fix that.”

Asha Mody: Yeah, this happens. Like, major with my clients, they realize it that their marketing efforts, their time, energy, and they’re spending on ads but it’s not bringing ROI to business. For example, we did a recent seaweed brand, and it was really beautiful and meaningful brand where women and entrepreneurs goes in ocean, take out the seaweed and make spices and collaborate with local farmers. And it’s such a great product for reversing carbon footprints. But they were not able to scale in on the national level. It was… they were struggling with their sales. People were not picking or the packaging was not popping out of the shelf and going in the car. So, that’s how if pretty-looking design, but it’s not creating impact or connecting with the audience, it cannot bring the ROI to business.

So, we actually did entire rebranding it. For example, we clearly define their position, how to stand out in the crowded market. We saw the blind spot that the audience don’t even know… have enough education about how to use seaweed or how to use this product in my daily kitchen in United States. People even didn’t know about that it’s growing in the local Alaska Ocean, West Coast ocean. So, those are the missing pieces we found that why brand is struggling either with the sales, not connecting with the audience, not able to bring the messaging clearly, and everybody is not on the same page. And what happens with that ripple effect? Brand loses the trust.

We are in the highest speed of digital market. So, when people are scrolling to your product, or on the shelf in the store or on the website, they cannot get connected or stop in a three seconds of time to pick up your product from the shelf or stop to scroll and buy your product online. So, because there is a mismatch, there is no clear communication. So, really, we do the Brand Awakening workshop, where a workshop where we guide through this process is to get the clarity, uncover the root problem, and how can you build the bridge between your brand and the audience by authentic voice on every touchpoint, and strategize the position so you can stand out in the competitive market?

Lee Kantor: You bring up an important point, I think that the strategy has to be done first. You have to do the work at the strategic level. You can’t just throw a bunch of tactics at something or even storytelling, you know, content pieces at something. You really have to get the strategy right in order to get everybody kind of seeing and saying the same thing.

Asha Mody: Exactly. So, in shortly, if I say this, the strategy word is very, sometime, gets heavy too. But it’s like finding the soul of the brand. If you are not finding the soul of the brand, the brand body is dead. So, you need to find out the soul of the brand. Why you are doing what you’re doing? For whom you are doing? What it means to them? It’s just the metrics you are trying to achieve the sales or really you want to make a difference in people’s life. What is the purpose of your brand? What is the vision and mission? So, finding that clarity, which really wakes you up at night 2:00 and run for your brand, which inspires your team to work for your business and brand without even asking them. They will go and become your hidden ambassadors.

You know why people go at night at 2:00 and wait for Jordan shoes or an Apple iPhone? Because they trust in the brand. They really believe in that brand that this will make my life better. Like, for example, Steve Jobs, nobody knew that we need 60,000 songs in our back pocket, right? But he knew that this product will make people’s lives better. That’s a need. And he crafted his product and services, his product, which now people really trust it, wait for the line no matter. Sometimes ups and down goes, but they have a strong tribe build for them.

So, the point is about the strategy and messaging. Everything needs to feel cohesive and build the trust between you and your audience. It’s finding the soul of the brand and the design is the outer body of the brand. Then, the strategy and everything comes together. How your brand needs to walk and talk, how it needs to behave, and that everybody on your organization start going in the one North Star direction. And then, after that, it makes a meaningful impact for people and planet.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there any advice you can give an entrepreneur? Maybe they’re not ready for you and your team yet, but maybe they aspire to be entrepreneurs or they have a small business right now, are there some steps that they can be doing themselves right now to kind of build that brand with a soul?

Asha Mody: Yes, definitely. I think I’ve noticed the biggest mistakes, how can they avoid it if they are not ready. At least, trying… They try to do… Trying to be everything to everyone. So, the most successful brands embrace specificity. Like what is the specific? They know who they are, who they serve and communicate that boldly. So, this is why I feel if they are not ready, at least, find that clarity and they can definitely go on my website and download the brand discovery workbook. And in that, they can do by themselves. If they are not ready, they can at least have the clear answers for this question: Who are we? Why we are exist? Who are our customers? And how do we make their life better? And communicate with the clarity. So, at least, they will not get overwhelmed and waste their time, effort, energy, money in the wrong direction. At least, with the intention and conscious action, they will make a progress to build a brand they want.

Lee Kantor: Now, why was it important for you and your brand to be part of the WBC-West community? What did you hope to get out of it and what have you gotten out of it?

Asha Mody: So, for the WBEC-West community, I think my brand, Mindsy, stands for mindfulness. It’s an intentional approach, and I’m on a mission to build a thousand women brands. And why I do that? In my childhood story, I have seen my mother as an entrepreneur and my father passed early age, I saw her as a struggle to build her own business. And as a minority women business and immigrant, when I came to this country, I didn’t have right to work for ten years. But by God’s grace, now, I’m working from ten years. But I saw, as a woman entrepreneur, how it is hard to struggle to get rights, to build the dreams and vision what we have in the life. And that’s why I opened… I have this branding agency, which is with the very mindful approach, that woman entrepreneur has dreams, and they just need a good partner and support to bring that dream and vision into real life. And I’m on a mission to do that, so they feel less overwhelmed and stressed to build their businesses, but they have clarity to invest their time, money, hard-worked money, and get the impact or get the impact they want to make in this world, and bring their dream in the real life to thrive.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there a story you can share about maybe a client you’ve had where they came to you with a struggle? You don’t have to name the name of the organization but maybe share what problem they had when they came to you and how you were able to get them to a new level.

Asha Mody: Definitely. So, for answering this question, for local hot sauce brand, it was a garage-made brand, but she was working 9:00 to 5:00 in an organization. It was her dream to create that product and bring it her grandmother’s recipe as an innovative product in the market. And what happened was we did the strategy, find the right audience. What is the uniqueness about her product and service? How would people… she can stand out in the company. We did entire strategy session and created the Brand Awakening Roadmap. With that, she started building her product. From garage sales zero followers to zero sales, now that brand won a metro food pitch competition and she’s in more than 267 stores. She came on the TV show. And now, she’s about to come to the Costco.

So, seeing that from zero sales and zero followers, she had intention to make that much income what she makes in corporate, and give up that job, so she can invest her fulltime energy in her brand to create the purpose she wants to create for upcoming generation and the recipes her grandma had create. So, seeing this kind of story, the people, we have only one life and we want to live for the dream what we have. And seeing that success that women entrepreneurs are now thriving. And she built her own business, and she’s very ambitious, and getting success, and seeing her doing that makes me makes me really fulfilled. So, I think I’m creating a very micro contribution in women’s world to get where they want to be through the mindful approach and design and packaging design.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned you want to serve a thousand women-owned business brands. Is there anything that we could be doing to help you? What do you need more of today?

Asha Mody: Definitely. We have something we do as a Brand Awakening Workshop. This is for the women entrepreneurs who are on the startup or midlevel. This workshop brings very clarity to find the root problem and give them the plan, which is doable for them. There are so many agencies, and they can give you a multi-million-dollar plans, right? But what if that woman entrepreneur has a small team, and they don’t know how to excel in their own business? So, we give them the brand, what you need to stop doing and start doing with this clarity to achieve your goal where you want to see in three years yourself. And we reverse engineer and make that plan for you. We call this as a Brand Awakening Roadmap. It’s a 90-minutes interview with the founders and whoever is a decision maker, and we give them this plan, so they can run away with that and apply by themselves but if they need help, we help them build their brand with the clear intention and strategy.

Lee Kantor: And if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Asha Mody: The best way to connect on my website, www.mindsy.design or LinkedIn or Instagram DM. They can definitely book a call from my website for 15 minutes per call. If we are a great fit for them, we can solve their problem, then only we intentionally collaborate. If we are not a good fit, we recommend the right person for them. But this is very conscious and intentional approach. It’s like a matchmaking, we say, right? So, they can book a call from my website or DM me on LinkedIn, and we would love to help them.

Lee Kantor: And the website again is mindsy.design, M-I-N-D-S-Y dot D-E-S-I-G-N.

Asha Mody: Yes. It’s Mindsy M-I-N-D-S-Y dot design.

Lee Kantor: Well Asha, thank you so much for sharing your story today, doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Asha Mody: Thank you. Thank you, Lee. Thank you for inviting me. And I’m very grateful for WBEC-West for giving this opportunity on behalf of women… rocking women entrepreneurs and lifting this ecosystem, I’m very grateful to be here.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Women in Motion

 

BRX Pro Tip: Host Virtual Events

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BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Host Virtual Events
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BRX Pro Tip: Host Virtual Events

Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Let’s talk a little bit about hosting virtual events.

Lee Kantor: Sure. I think it’s a fun idea, and it’s something we used to do quite a bit in person. And now, with the advent and the people being more and more comfortable with Zoom, and Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, all that virtual has come into play. So, I would recommend thinking about hosting a virtual networking event maybe to kick off the year. And that’s a great time to just open it up to your existing and potential clients as a way to connect and share goals. And, you know, if you have enough local clients too, I would definitely be doing this kind of face to face. That’s my preference to do things, face to face. But if you have a global business, I would definitely consider doing a virtual networking session.

And whether it’s in person or virtual, it doesn’t really matter. But, you know, leverage kind of smaller groups and breakout rooms for kind of focused or kind of specific discussions around topics that illustrate your expertise or illustrate what the groups need in terms of the topics or the things that you want to talk about. And, you know, combine education, combine kind of brainstorming ideas.

And then, after the event, don’t forget to follow up with all the attendees. And then, you can use that as an opportunity to, you know, kind of have some personalized offers based on what you learned at this kind of events. But I think it’s a great idea to have regular events like this, whether they’re in person or virtual, just as another way to add value and connect with your people.

Art Therapy and Community Engagement: The Mission of Everyday Art

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Sandy Springs Business Radio
Art Therapy and Community Engagement: The Mission of Everyday Art
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In this episode of Sandy Springs Business Radio, Lee Kantor talks with Maureen Sullivan and Katie Carr, co-founders of Everyday Art, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making art accessible and supporting emerging artists. They discuss the mission of Everyday Art, which includes an online gallery for under-recognized artists, art therapy workshops, and community engagement initiatives. Katie shares her personal story of finding solace in art after a severe accident, which inspired the nonprofit’s creation. They also highlight their efforts to host art classes and fundraising events, aiming to foster creativity and inclusivity within the community.

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Everyday Art proudly showcases artists who have a talented portfolio and have a desire to give back to the community.

Maureen-Sullivan-Katie-CarrMaureen Sullivan, co-founder of Everyday Art, grew up in Atlanta and went to Marist High School. After graduating from Wake Forest, she served as an AmeriCorps volunteer in an inner city school in Baltimore teaching art. Upon completion of the year, she enrolled in Catholic University Law School on a scholarship. It was there, in Criminal Law Term 1, that Maureen met her future husband, Brendan Sullivan.

Maureen practiced law in the Boston area for five years. She clerked for the Massachusetts Superior Court and then took a job in public finance. She worked for five years assisting cities and towns in the New England area to finance capital projects such as school buildings, public safety buildings, and water or sewer projects.

Maureen moved back to Atlanta in 2011 after the birth of her first baby. She wanted to be closer to family and be a stay at home mom. The public finance team asked if she would stay on as contract attorney part time. She agreed and has worked remotely for the team since, while being a stay at home mom with her three kids.

Maureen has served on the Finance Committee for her local school and church. She has been on the board as Treasurer at her local baseball and softball park. In her spare time, Maureen enjoys swimming on a masters swim team and volunteering with her daughter’s softball teams.

Born and raised in North Carolina, Katie Carr, co-founder of Everyday Art, is a graduate of The University of North Carolina Wilmington, with a degree in Communication and minor in Journalism. Katie received her Masters in Business from The University of Georgia and is an avid Dawgs fan!

Katie relocated to Atlanta with her husband Tim in 2013. Katie and Tim are proud parents to Anna (11) and Matthew (8). She and Tim have been married for almost 13 years and reside in Dunwoody, Georgia.

On January 8th, 2024, Katie’s life changed forever when an unexpected trauma took place during a routine surgery. She was in a coma for 11 days. After waking up, she was met with a change that would forever alter her plans for the future. Because of blood clots turning into sepsis, her left leg was amputated above the knee. Her husband, parents, brother, family, friends, Saint Jude the Apostle Catholic Church and School family, along with the entire Dunwoody community stood behind her from the very beginning.

Fast forward almost a year and 12 surgeries later, she is rehabilitating at The Shepherd Center learning to walk again with her bright pink prosthetic she calls “Leslie!” Katie strongly believes that without the amazing community, friends and family, and her faith surrounding her, she wouldn’t be here today.

Katie loves coaching volleyball and softball (especially with Maureen), sitting on the beach looking for sharks teeth and listening to beach music. She’s also an oil abstract artist and has participated in various art shows around the Atlanta area, notably Dunwoody Art Festival and Chastain Art Festival. She also loves showing her work at Moondog Brewery.

Follow Everyday Art on Instagram.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Sandy Springs, Georgia. It’s time for Sandy Springs Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Sandy Springs Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. We are broadcasting live from the Greater Perimeter Chamber, advancing Dunwoody and Sandy Springs. So excited to be talking to my guest today. We have Maureen Sullivan and Katie Carr and they are with everyday Art. Welcome.

Maureen Sullivan: Thank you. Thank you for having us.

Katie Carr: Thank you so much for having us.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about everyday art. How are you serving folks?

Maureen Sullivan: Everyday Art is a nonprofit. We just recently got our nonprofit status and we’re very excited about that. But we just created this charity. And the point is to try to bring art to the everyday person and encourage everyone to dabble in a little bit of art.

Lee Kantor: Now is art. When you say everyday person, does that mean the everyday person as artist or everyday person as consumer of art?

Maureen Sullivan: Uh, well, I can say probably a little bit of both. The one thing that we offer is an online gallery, and we search for artists that, you know, they’re not professional artists, but someone who is just a creative or who loves to dabble in watercolor or even, you know, mixed media. And we love to find these artists and display their work on our website. We have just found so many incredible people who you actually would never know how artistic they are. We have some kids who are great at photography drawing. We have moms who dabble into some art. Katie, help me out here. Anything else? It’s been awesome.

Katie Carr: So if it’s possible, we can backtrack just a little bit and tell you kind of how we got started, and that might.

Lee Kantor: Sure. Okay, so you want to. Let’s get the backstory where the genesis of the idea came about.

Katie Carr: Sure. Yeah. It just flows organically. So I had a really bad accident last January where I lost my leg. And Maureen and I are best buddies, and she immediately was like, you know what? I want you to have a place where you can always do art.

Lee Kantor: So you were like an artist.

Katie Carr: I am so in my spare time.

Lee Kantor: Or just.

Katie Carr: I did a couple shows like Dunwoody Art Festival and Sandy Springs. But.

Lee Kantor: But it was a passion.

Katie Carr: Passion project. Yep. All day long. And I’m an abstract oil painter. And it was just started as she was like, I have this idea, and it grew into this marvelous nonprofit that we just, you know, received our 500 and 1C3, checked that box, and there’s three different things that we’re trying to accomplish. And the first being what Maureen talked about is as recruiting this. The everyday artists kind of like how I was not in a gallery, not as public as what some may be doing, doing shows, but not necessarily having their own website. And we curate this art, and we’re trying right now to find artists that do a variety of pieces so we can build our online gallery to have a range of prices.

Maureen Sullivan: And this way, too, someone could purchase art and they can put it in their home or in their office, and it has a meaning and it’s something.

Lee Kantor: There’s a story behind it.

Maureen Sullivan: Exactly. It’s a little bit more than Hobby Lobby or Target, and one of my favorite pieces actually is from Amy, Amy Hamlin, and she is actually suffering from brain cancer, and she’s turned to painting as a way to cope with her diagnosis. And it’s just something, you know, you hang it on your wall and you think, wow, you know.

Lee Kantor: You’re making an impact.

Maureen Sullivan: Exactly. So it’s and we split the proceeds 5050 with the artists and the nonprofit. So that’s one thing that we’re doing.

Lee Kantor: Is that like, I don’t know how the gallery business works. How does a like if you were a gallery in a more traditional manner, what is kind of the financial way that they go about doing business?

Maureen Sullivan: Um, it’s similar. I think the split there is more. The gallery would take 60 to 70. Oh, really? So we do just a 5050 split. Mhm. Um, but so that has been really fun. And if you know anybody’s listening to this and is an artist, please come check out our website and contact us. We’d love to see your work.

Katie Carr: Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: Is there a physical gallery also or everything is just done online?

Katie Carr: Eventually we would like to someday.

Lee Kantor: So that’s on the roadmap is to have a physical gallery at some point.

Maureen Sullivan: Yes. Yes, absolutely.

Katie Carr: The second part of what we’re doing is, um, is something very unique in the fact that we are dabbling a little in the art therapy type workshop classes. Uh, we have a PhD in psychology that we’ve partnered with and kind of collabed on a couple of classes where it’s not it’s not preachy. It’s not deeply therapeutic. But, um, more mindfulness techniques. Right. And we host these classes where I’ll teach a class where we use, um, uh, texture for abstract. So using plaster to create something that you can put on a canvas and make it not something that you can pick up at Hobby Lobby, but not your fine art piece. Right. And just do different paint colors. And, um, that’s been a pretty big success.

Maureen Sullivan: Success. Yeah. I have to give a shout out to Morgan Weatherly. She is our therapist, and she’s been really fantastic in partnering with us and helping to set up classes. And our last class sold out. And, uh, right now we’re having classes kind of wherever we can because we don’t have a location.

Lee Kantor: And those are in person.

Maureen Sullivan: Yes, they are.

Lee Kantor: In the community, in and around the community.

Maureen Sullivan: So we go to different places.

Lee Kantor: So what’s an example of a place you’ve been to?

Maureen Sullivan: Uh, we were at a local preschool once. They had us come in, um, and then we have something on the horizon at a school cafeteria. We did something in a business park outside. So that’s been exciting, right? We were just talking to another company just this week, rise, which is a nonprofit. It’s a coffee shop where the baristas are adults with special needs. Right. And so we’re going to be going out there. We hope to do an art class.

Katie Carr: Yeah. Great partnership there.

Maureen Sullivan: Yeah. Um. Maybe anybody.

Katie Carr: Maybe classes for the parents with children with down syndrome. Or, um, grab a buddy and have a class with a special friend. Yeah. Where we teach the class, we provide all the supplies. They leave with a piece of art that they can hang in their home.

Maureen Sullivan: Right. And Morgan asked. Just such a nice piece, too. Just on the meditation and thoughtfulness, you know, of creating something and finishing something and how that feels.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you mind if we talk a little bit about kind of the nuts and bolts of starting a nonprofit? Because there’s a lot of folks out there that want to do something like this, but maybe They’re too overwhelmed by. It seems too hard or too difficult. Can you share a little bit about you come up with the idea, hey, we want to do something around art. You decide to go down the nonprofit path instead of a for profit path, which obviously I’m sure you discussed different ways of doing the thing you want to do. So you land on nonprofit. Can you talk a little bit about the nuts and bolts on how to get that out of your head, and then into an actual kind of an entity like you’ve done, right?

Maureen Sullivan: I mean, it was definitely a dream that we kind of couldn’t stop talking about for a couple of months. Um, and the 500 and 1C3 application, it’s it’s extensive.

Lee Kantor: Right. And you didn’t have an existing thing like you were. This was all from scratch, right? This is an idea in your head. Yes. It doesn’t exist except in your minds. And now it exists. Obviously. Yes. So how do you go from that thought into, you know, do you the paperwork, like how do you even begin the process?

Katie Carr: Before we did that, we would run this by people in our family, in our community, and we were never met with. No, that’s a bad idea. Right.

Lee Kantor: So that helped. Right. You got a.

Katie Carr: Little.

Lee Kantor: A little.

Maureen Sullivan: Momentum, a.

Lee Kantor: Little mental.

Maureen Sullivan: Momentum. No one said, don’t do it. That’s crazy. Yeah, we thought they would. Um, and then I have, um, a law background. I’m a public finance attorney. So actually, I’m pretty used to tax documents.

Lee Kantor: Okay. So that part didn’t scare you?

Maureen Sullivan: Didn’t? No. I read the 40 pages of instructions and completed it. Um, and.

Lee Kantor: Katie, would you have if you didn’t have her, would you? Pardon? It would have been done right. It would have been an idea. That’s a great idea. And then it would have gone away.

Katie Carr: We really need each other. I worked at State Farm, worked at State Farm for the past 18 years as a data engineer. So my background is not at all documents like that. So we were very, very fortunate.

Lee Kantor: Right. So, so from your end, if it would have been you with the idea by yourself, it probably would have kind of died on the vine there, right? It wouldn’t have gone beyond that.

Katie Carr: Yeah. And you know, the other special thing about it too, is that we feed off each other with passion. She’s really good at certain parts and I’m really good at the other parts, and we kind of figured that, okay, it’s really run pretty smoothly. But no, I don’t think that either one of us feel like we could have done it without the other.

Maureen Sullivan: Um, it definitely is a little better jumping into something like this with someone. Um, I don’t think even if I knew how to complete the paperwork, I could have sort of signed off and sent it without knowing. You know, I had someone I wanted to do this with and hold me accountable.

Lee Kantor: Right now, each of you works for other companies. Had any either of you done anything entrepreneurial like this where you’re starting kind of a business from scratch like this?

Maureen Sullivan: I had done a small math tutoring business with my dad about ten years ago. He bought a franchise and so I helped him run it. Um, and so that that was it.

Lee Kantor: Did that was that helpful in that? Okay, a franchise kind of has a kind of a business in a box kind of feel to it. So there’s steps and there’s procedures and you kind of knew that. And you can kind of maybe borrow some of that into what you’re doing now.

Maureen Sullivan: Yes, it definitely helped. You know, I knew we needed insurance. I knew we needed licensing. Right. You know, I and to be honest, you can also Google a lot. Exactly.

Lee Kantor: But again, having done it, it makes you more confident that, hey, I can pull this off this. Other people have done some stuff like this.

Maureen Sullivan: Yes, yes. And we’re not getting it too complicated. We don’t have a space. Right. Um, and it’s a nonprofit. It’s not running a payroll.

Katie Carr: Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. It takes the pressure off of us. Um, the entrepreneurial part is really a passion. And what we see as our dream to be able to do this and give back. Um, so not as much pressure about, you know, our salary and things like that at this point.

Lee Kantor: So now what is kind of your like, how do you mark milestones? Like what was the first thing. Okay. We got the entity. So that was check that box. We’re legit now.

Katie Carr: Our website.

Maureen Sullivan: Website.

Lee Kantor: That was the next big thing was okay now we need a need a website. Look, we’re doing this. We got to do this, right? Yeah. At some point, you know, you’re in for a dime. In for a dollar. Kind of thing. We’re going to. If we’re going to do it, let’s do it. So now you got to make a website. So had you done that or you had to now got to find a website partner.

Maureen Sullivan: We we.

Katie Carr: Did.

Maureen Sullivan: We had an old friend who helped us.

Lee Kantor: So within the network again the the community’s helping you.

Maureen Sullivan: Yes. Another mom. There’s been a lot of moms out there that have helped us. Morgan is a fellow, um, her daughter goes to school with our daughter’s fellow mom friend. And then this was my my friend from high school, but she does a small website business on the side.

Lee Kantor: So then you were like, hey, we’re doing this thing. Did you ask her, do you know somebody? Or did she raise her hand and say, hey, do you need help?

Maureen Sullivan: She reached out to us and said, if you need anything, let me know. So.

Katie Carr: But it worked out good. She’s she was able to set up the the shell for us and I maintain our website now. Um, I have a bit of like a digital background type communication. Right. Um, so I’ll, I’ll maintain it now, but it didn’t. I mean, we there’s no way on earth I would have ever been able to do what she did. Right. Really set us up for success. That was the first big milestone where we were like, oh, this actually looks really nice.

Maureen Sullivan: And we should say her name. Elise Black. If you have a website. Website that’s exactly very talented.

Lee Kantor: So then okay, so now you have the website and then how do you go about kind of finding the artist? Was that did you think that would be difficult or easy. Like what was kind of because at some point you have to reach out, right. And get some artists in here.

Katie Carr: I was in the hospital for a really long time, and Maureen was visiting different art festivals out there. Um, during this.

Lee Kantor: Time scouting.

Katie Carr: She was. Scouting has a great eye. So she had a whole slew of business cards when, you know, we were ready to really start talking about this and, and reaching out to artists. And we really the pace at what people. No one said no. So we are um.

Lee Kantor: Because from the artist standpoint, it’s kind of a no lose situation. It’s like, hey, I’m just digitally putting my stuff there and I get 50%. So it’s. Yeah, why not?

Maureen Sullivan: Right? Right. We do ask that, you know, we have exclusive right to it for a period of time. Period of time. Um, but yeah, there’s no downside. And when we try to showcase the artists, we’ll do a special social media push just all about them, or we’ll try to interview them and publish it on our Instagram. Um, just to, you know, show the world who this person.

Lee Kantor: Is and what their story is. Now, um, is a hard part kind of saying no to some artists because, like, you’re curating, right? That’s part of your job as a gallery owner. Or is it like, hey, it’s all comers come in and we’re going to.

Katie Carr: Fortunately, we have not crossed that bridge yet. I, I’m sure that at some point her and I are going to have to discuss. Is it appropriate for our site? Is this a long right?

Lee Kantor: Is this aligned with our brand?

Katie Carr: Right. Our brand that we’re creating? Um, but luckily so far we’ve been like, yeah, let’s do it. We have photographers, We have people that have made crosses, you know, out of oyster shells and just I think somebody was making a quilt. So it pottery, like the sky is the limit for what we’re looking at.

Lee Kantor: Right. So you’re casting a wide net.

Katie Carr: Wide net.

Lee Kantor: And then is the are there any kind of rules like do they have to be local. Like what is kind of the criteria that you’re looking at, the lens you’re looking at for artists?

Maureen Sullivan: It does not have to be local. No. Um, it’s a little bit more convenient for getting the art to a local from a local, um, artist to a local consumer.

Lee Kantor: Right?

Maureen Sullivan: That part is hard because to ship art is expensive. Um, so.

Lee Kantor: Which could be more than the art?

Maureen Sullivan: Exactly, exactly. So that’s kind of tough. Um, but we have some, you know, some of our artists have figured out ways to, you know, make it work, right? You know, instead of sending a canvas, they might roll up a sheet of parchment, um, and that, that has worked. So we’re just dealing with that as it comes.

Katie Carr: Yeah. Yep. And there may be, you know, artists. I’m from eastern North Carolina, so a lot of our, um, my community and my friendships are, are spread out through North Carolina. But within that community, there’s a lot of artists. So if they if we want to showcase some of their art, they can deliver locally in their state and their their spot where they’re in.

Lee Kantor: Right. You’re just figuring out ways to make it work for everybody.

Katie Carr: Make it work. That’s the beautiful thing about having an online art gallery. It’s not just local.

Lee Kantor: So now you mentioned the art. You have the, um, kind of therapeutic kind of classes. Is there any other?

Maureen Sullivan: Yes. This is our favorite part. Yes.

Katie Carr: Um, so we, uh, when I was in rehab for, you know, learning to walk again, I was able to kind of see what it looks like when you use creativity for rehabilitation techniques. So we’re very fortunate to take the proceeds that we are earning through the online art gallery, the art workshops, and build really awesome art kits. Um, it’s a it’s a box. It has a cute sticker on it from us. It’s wrapped in tissue paper on the inside with a canvas, some paint brushes and some paint. And we are able to partner with different, uh, hospitals in the area. We have contacts at Koa, at Piedmont, at Shepherd center, um, Emory, the list goes on. Anywhere you can deliver art kits to patients that could use creativity to help their spirit, help their occupational therapy.

Lee Kantor: Uh, so what are the elements in the kit?

Katie Carr: It’s it’s a canvas. So they get a small canvas, they get little containers of your primary colors of paint, and they get some paint brushes. And we have a card that we put in with instructions. So it’s and basically we’re working through the context of where we deliver maybe 50 kits to Piedmont, but we deliver them via an occupational therapist or a physical therapist and say, hey, you guys can run with this. It’s free of charge. This is our donation to you. Or you could call us in and we’ll be we’ll be happy to to run a class and kind of teach some basic art techniques, whichever they prefer. And we’re it just, it’s so awesome to be able to do.

Lee Kantor: Have you have you done that? Has that gone out?

Maureen Sullivan: Yes. We’ve delivered it to a few, um, occupational therapists and physical therapists. And then we have some contacts, actually, um, that we’re working on at Shepherd in Piedmont.

Katie Carr: Yeah. Wow. I’m very lucky to have my rehabilitation at the Shepherd center. Anybody who has heard that name knows only great things about it. Sure. And, um, you know, we I had a mom tell me one day where her son was diagnosed with cancer at a very young age. And she said, we would have loved to have one of these kids when he’s sitting in his room. Right. Just just to be able to. And that’s theirs. That’s their thing to do. Um, and everybody likes that feeling of creating something that someone else says that looks really nice, right? It’s that intrinsic feeling. We just want to bring happiness to these people.

Lee Kantor: And, um, do you do any kind of fundraisers or ways for the community to support your efforts?

Maureen Sullivan: Not yet. We’re working on it. No, we are working on it.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help you?

Katie Carr: We’re in the process of being able to accept donations. And once we can do that with the state of Georgia, we’re able to partner with, um, different companies and different places that we’ve reached out to that have shown interest in maybe sponsoring a fundraiser night, and then we can showcase art from our artist. We can showcase pieces that maybe have been created by, um, someone going through rehab that wants to donate their piece back to us and kind of have a nice gallery type event. We we have a lot of really cool things on the horizon where we think that it’s going to just open up and create lots of opportunities.

Lee Kantor: Now, what about from the artist standpoint? Is that something you’re always looking at? Artist.

Maureen Sullivan: We will always be looking for artists 100%.

Katie Carr: So if Reach out on our website.

Maureen Sullivan: Reach out. Yes or Instagram.

Lee Kantor: So what if an artist has like just a few pieces? Is that okay? Or do they have to have like a certain number?

Maureen Sullivan: They can send us one.

Lee Kantor: One.

Maureen Sullivan: Whatever, whatever works. Um, but yes, we’re always looking for artists or, or if you’d like us to come to an art class.

Lee Kantor: Yes. And so then who’s the ideal partner for an art class?

Maureen Sullivan: Well, I mean,we have something set up, um, where we get our hair cut. Yeah. Um. Okay.

Lee Kantor: So. So the venue doesn’t have to be super large.

Katie Carr: No, no.

Maureen Sullivan: There’s.

Katie Carr: No. So the the haircut place they’ve shown interest in. Hey, we want to have kind of like our post holiday party at our home. You know, we don’t really want to have, like, a sip and paint or something like that because that’s, you know, painting something specific. Not everybody is, is.

Lee Kantor: Wants to.

Katie Carr: Do that. You know, would you guys be interested in coming to our house and doing, you know, showing us how to use plaster as texture and creating something abstract? And that’s been really cool. And we’ve been working with the chamber and some other some other nonprofits that have, you know, shared some insights into maybe having a space to have a classroom to be able to host these and, um, yeah.

Maureen Sullivan: It’s coming along.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, I have a more substantive conversation with you or the team. What is the website? What’s the best way to connect everyday?

Maureen Sullivan: Art gallery. Com and the Instagram handle is everyday Art Gallery. And is that Facebook too?

Katie Carr: Yep Facebook as well. So in TikTok we’re on TikTok. Um, we are all about creating content right now, and this is why this is an incredible opportunity. So thank you for having us to share.

Maureen Sullivan: Yes.

Katie Carr: Thank you. Reach out. We would love to talk and connect and share more about what we’re trying to do.

Lee Kantor: Well, thank you both for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Katie Carr: Thank you so much for having us.

Lee Kantor: All right, this Lee Kantor we’ll see you all next time on Sandy Springs Business Radio.

 

BRX Pro Tip: The Importance of Elegant Follow Up

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BRX Pro Tip: Jobs to Be Done Theory Explained

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BRX Pro Tip: Jobs to Be Done Theory Explained

Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, thank goodness you’re such a prolific reader, and you capture so much, and return it to the organization and share it with our community. Give us a little bit of a primer, if you would, on the Jobs to Be Done Theory.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, Jobs to Be Done Theory is kind of developed by a guy named Bob Moesta, M-O-E-S-T-A. He has a book called Demand-Side Sales 101 Stop Selling and Help Your Customers Make Progress. I think everybody should definitely check out that book. But the theory is… The Jobs to Be Done Theory says that people don’t simply buy products or services; they hire them to accomplish specific jobs in their lives. And I think that that is absolutely true. And then, what you have to do as a business owner is to figure out how to frame what you’re doing as a way for your clients to hire you.

So, what is the job people hire you or your firm to do for Business RadioX? What the job studio partners hire us to do is to help them prospect for business more elegantly and effectively. We help them have more status and impact in their community. We help them build more connections and relevance. We help them create that brand ubiquity and social media content they need every single day. And we help them create a lot more revenue streams into their business. So, if those are some of the jobs you need to be done in your professional service practice, then you should be partnering with Business RadioX. Definitely connect with us and we can help you get those jobs done.

Elevate Your E-Commerce Game: Tailored Digital Marketing Solutions from Drizzle Digital

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Women in Motion
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Elevate Your E-Commerce Game: Tailored Digital Marketing Solutions from Drizzle Digital
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In this episode of Women in Motion, Lee Kantor is joined by Dree Ziegler, founder of Drizzle Digital, a woman-owned digital marketing agency. Dree discusses Drizzle Digital’s services, including social media management, website development, email marketing, and paid advertising. She emphasizes the agency’s data-driven approach and the importance of understanding client goals. Dree also introduces a new turnkey digital marketing package for small and medium e-commerce businesses. The conversation highlights the value of community and networking through organizations like WBEC-West and previews Drizzle Digital’s future expansion into the hospitality industry.

Drizzle-Digital-logo

Dree-ZieglerDree Ziegler is the founder of Drizzle Digital, a WBENC-certified, woman-owned digital agency built for businesses ready to stand out and grow.

Based in Denver, Colorado, Dree leads a fully remote team that thrives on creative strategy and delivering results. With more than 15 years of experience in digital marketing and e-commerce, she’s as passionate about crafting compelling campaigns as she is about exploring the world.

Whether she’s skiing down Colorado’s slopes, tackling an adventure halfway across the globe, or drumming with enthusiasm that far outweighs precision, Dree brings curiosity and determination to everything she does.

Connect with Dree on LinkedIn and follow Drizzle Digital on Facebook.

Music Provided by M PATH MUSIC

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios, it’s time for Women In Motion. Brought to you by WBEC-West. Join forces. Succeed together. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Women In Motion and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, WBEC-West. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Women In Motion, we have Dree Ziegler with Drizzle Digital. Welcome.

Dree Ziegler: Hi. Thanks for having me.

Lee Kantor: I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Drizzle, how are you serving folks?

Dree Ziegler: Well, Drizzle Digital is a woman-owned, woman-led digital marketing agency, and we’re based here in Denver, Colorado. We specialize in social media management, website development, email marketing, and paid advertising. And we really deliver creative, data-backed solutions for B2B and B2C companies. So, our goal is to help them grow their digital presence, engage their audiences, and build their brands online.

Lee Kantor: So, what kind of differentiates Drizzle from maybe others in the digital marketing space?

Dree Ziegler: So, Drizzle Digital is woman-owned and we are WBENC certified, as you mentioned, so we really bring a fresh perspective, I think. We’re also women-led, so we have women in leadership roles throughout our company. And in terms of our actual service offering, we really take a bold, creative approach to our clients, and that work that we do is data-backed. So, we are looking at data on a monthly basis based on the work we do to see if what we’re doing is working and how we can do it better.

Dree Ziegler: The other piece is that we really like to engage with our clients as part of their team, so we like to become an extension of your marketing team, an extension of your goals to work together hand-in-hand.

Lee Kantor: So, what’s it like when you begin a relationship with a client? What types of questions are you kind of asking them to really hone in on what are the metrics that matter and how you can really move the needle in areas that are important to them?

Dree Ziegler: Sure. I think the first thing we’re going to do is understand our client’s goals. So, clients come to us at a number of different points in their journey, and what we try to understand is what they’re trying to accomplish online, so we’re problem solvers in a way.

Dree Ziegler: If they come to us as an e-commerce company, we know most likely their goal is going to be to sell more online, and we are going to put strategies in place to make that happen. With a lot of our B2B clients, we’re looking at lead nurturing education, building leads for them. It’s sort of that longer sales cycle.

Dree Ziegler: So, the first thing we’re going to ask is what their goals are and try to understand that, and then understand how we can put together a strategy that is creative, that is data-backed, that can help them meet those goals.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you’re working with a client, obviously this is what you do 24/7, and the client obviously doesn’t understand all the nuances, and sometimes they ask you questions or have requests that maybe they read about in a blog post or a friend of theirs is doing, but isn’t really going to be effective for them. So, how do you go about kind of educating them and getting kind of layers deep to the real action that it will take for them to get the outcome they desire, but maybe not the tactic they think they need?

Dree Ziegler: Sure, and that definitely happens. I think understanding the client goals is really critical to this piece of it. So, not every client is going to need the same strategy or the same plan. It really depends on what that goal is. And it also depends on other factors, like budget and resources that they have on their side and things like that.

Dree Ziegler: But there are some misconceptions that we really try to address early on. So, for example, just posting on social media is not necessarily going to get you what you want for your business. You need to have an overarching strategy, and you might need to combine it with another tactic to make it work. For example, social media platforms really kind of limit the amount of reach you might have for organic posting. So, you might need to combine it with another strategy, like a paid ad or a boosting strategy to get in front of the right audiences to get what you need.

Dree Ziegler: So, we’re really digging into what their actual goals are, and trying to meet their goals within their budget, and be effective for them online, and that could be a range of solutions for them.

Lee Kantor: Now, how do you kind of protect your clients from the shiny object syndrome of “Hey, there’s a new platform that my nephew told me about, I don’t want to miss out on that, and let’s kind of reconfigure everything and get really into that.” Like, how do you kind of separate the fad from the trend?

Dree Ziegler: So, I think a lot of this comes down to reporting. So, we spend a lot of time in the data, understanding where things are successful and where things are not. And the thing about shiny things is that sometimes the shiny thing is a good thing to try and sometimes it’s not. So, it depends on what the data is telling us. If we’re not being as effective as we want to be with some of our strategies, we might try something new. We are always open to testing. Testing helps us to understand where we’re going to be successful.

Dree Ziegler: So, for example, the shiny object that you might be talking about, maybe it’s a new platform for social media. We might actually try that and say, “Let’s go and post a couple times this month, see if we get any traction on that platform and go from there.” So, I would say sometimes the shiny object is not going to work. Testing it will tell us whether it’s a good idea or not.

Lee Kantor: So, do you have any advice for the listener out there that maybe is not ready for Drizzle but wants to test something, like, is there an easy way to test something or kind of a simple way maybe is better than easy way of trying out something to see if it will work or not?

Dree Ziegler: I think social media platforms and email marketing are a good place for trying different things, trying new creative things like that. If you’re already doing some of those things, I would absolutely recommend that you give something a try. So, try posting a new type of content or try sending an email that includes maybe a new creative or something fresh for your email marketing, those are kind of things that you might, as a baseline, already have in your small business.

Dree Ziegler: When you start talking about things like paid ads or doing website development, things that get technical, that’s when you might want to get involved with a company like Drizzle, an agency that can help you do those more technical, difficult things.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned a couple different types of clients, you have e-commerce or B2B, is there kind of an industry niche or is it just anybody that is marketing that could benefit from digital? What is the profile of that ideal client? Is it more of a mindset or values rather than what they’re actually doing? Who is that ideal client for you?

Dree Ziegler: Yeah. So, we have clients in a number of different verticals, both B2C and B2B. We actually work with some very large corporations on their social media marketing. And then, we work with small and medium-sized businesses on website, email, things like that. So, really, we work with any size business.

Dree Ziegler: What we see in terms of consistency is our clients come to us because they understand that digital needs to be a strong part of their marketing strategy. And I think that’s true for almost all businesses at this point. So, whether they come to us early on and we helped them build their brand from the logo to look and feel to messaging, or they have an established brand and they come to us and they’re just really looking to grow online, the consistent theme for our clients is they know that digital needs to be a large stream for them and we need to help them to optimize it.

Lee Kantor: Now, you recently launched a turnkey digital marketing package, can you talk a little bit about that and what’s special about it?

Dree Ziegler: Yeah, sure. So, we see this gap in the market where particularly small and medium e-commerce businesses, they know they need to be doing paid ads, they know they need to be doing social, they know they need an email marketing strategy. And so, they can hire someone to handle that. So, they can hire a digital marketing manager in-house or what we’re proposing with our turnkey tool is that we come in as that marketing strategist for them. These are usually businesses where ownership is a big part of their marketing, where they have needs for a variety of digital marketing tactics and maybe only the budget for somebody to manage one.

Dree Ziegler: So, we come in with a strategist and we say we can handle your paid ads, your website management, your social media, and your email, and we’ll handle all of that under one flat rate. And that really helps the client to feel confident that they’re getting all the services in an integrated approach across all the different services.

Dree Ziegler: So, we become that extension of the team that we like to be. We have a single point of contact that is that main person helping to organize on our side. And we really think this gives the client, you know, the best digital marketing tools to grow their brand online.

Dree Ziegler: And for them, you know, in addition to that, they don’t have to spend to build that in-house team with all the skill sets that a digital marketing team on our side can provide. So, for one flat rate, they’re getting data, they’re getting creative, they’re getting strategy, they’re getting technical resources. So, that’s really the benefits for that service and we’re really excited to launch it.

Lee Kantor: Now, is it a better fit for the B2B or the e-commerce or the B2C? What is the ideal kind of fit for this or it works for either one?

Dree Ziegler: It technically could work for either one, but we’re really focused on small and medium e-commerce businesses. So, these are companies that are established bigger than a startup, but they’re at the point where they want to sell more online, and they are looking for resources to do it at a reasonable rate.

Lee Kantor: Now, why was it important for you and your firm to become part of WBEC- West? What was it that you were looking for when you joined that community and what have you gotten out of it?

Dree Ziegler: I think for one, it provides a ton of opportunity to connect and network with larger corporations and businesses. Being certified gets you in front of a ton of large organizations at their national conference. Those meet and greets are really, really valuable. On top of that, though, the community is really wonderful. It’s a lot of women who are facing a lot of the same challenges that we are in terms of growth, in terms of managing employees, in terms of just the day-to-day of running a business. And reaching out and leaning on them has been a really wonderful part of being a part of that organization.

Lee Kantor: Now, what do you need more of and how can we help? What’s next for you guys?

Dree Ziegler: So, the turnkey piece is really exciting. That’s been launched already. But the next thing that we are working on, a number of our clients ended up being in the hospitality industry, so we are actually launching a second digital brand really focused on hotels and hospitality, and that will be probably in the next month or so. But that will be a separate brand that we will be working with hotels to build their social media presence, run their email, and help them really book more rooms in a modern way. So, stay tuned for that. That’s probably coming in February.

Lee Kantor: So, if somebody wants to learn more, connect with you or somebody on the team, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Dree Ziegler: We are at drizzledigital.com, and you can set a meeting with us right there on the homepage.

Lee Kantor: And that’s D-R-I-Z-Z-L-E-digital.com.

Dree Ziegler: Correct.

Lee Kantor: Well, Dree, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Dree Ziegler: Thank you. It’s been great to be here.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor, we’ll see you all next time on Women In Motion.

 

BRX Pro Tip: Launch a Business Podcast Club

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BRX Pro Tip: Launch a Business Podcast Club

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, over the years, I personally and a lot of folks I know have gotten tremendous value out of mastermind groups, book clubs, collaborating with other people. Is there a way to do that with our medium, with the digital radio podcast medium?

Lee Kantor: Yeah, I think there is, and I think this is an opportunity for professional service providers out there to build more engagement and build more connection with the people important to them. I think a good idea is to create some sort of a business podcast club that includes monthly discussions to engage potential and current clients. I would select one business podcast that you’re all going to focus in on that month, and then just listen to it, take notes, and then share what you’ve learned and how it can affect your business. You know, make sure that this business podcast aligns with your business philosophy, and then just host a monthly discussion to deep dive into the insights that you’ve learned.

As a bonus, you can create supplementary material that relate to the podcast concepts that you’re discussing, and then you can share what you’ve learned on social media. But I think it’s a good idea to just kind of create these connections with people and have people working on the same thing for a month at a time, check in with each other, what have you learned, what have you gotten out of this and how are you applying it in your business. I think business podcasts are a great point that you can focus in on to help you build that connection and grow your business.

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