Tag: brand

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Choose Your Partners Wisely. Be a Part of The Empathy Movement

Posted on by Red Slice

Tell me with whom you associate, and I will tell you who you are. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

We are judged by the company we keep. From the first time Aesop shared that phrase in his writings to what we know to be true today, who you choose to surround yourself with says a lot about who you are – as a person, a leader, and a brand.

As a brand strategist, I have talked before about the importance of choosing the right partners. Those who align with your values, complement your mission, and impact the same audiences. 

Who you partner with and where you advertise says a lot about who you are as a brand.

This is why some brands made a mass exodus from Twitter (now know as X) when Elon Musk took over and ravaged it from what it once was. An aspect of Cancel Culture addresses this – customers abandoning a company if the brand advertises with a certain partner they deem to be disreputable. 

Your customers and clients care about who you collaborate with. They notice. They make purchase decisions based on it.

So it’s time to think about your cause or mission. What does your brand stand for? What is your manifesto? What is your philosophy?

A practical way to communicate that beyond mere words is to partner and advertise with thought and intention.

So….

An invitation 

If you and your brand embrace empathy as a strategic advantage. If you believe human-centered leaders and cultures can achieve radical success. If you understand that empathy for your customers/clients boosts their experience, engagement, and evangelism of your brand….

You’re invited for a chat with me about partnering, collaborating, and joining my people-centered leadership mission.

  • We can discuss our shared values and work and see if our audiences intersect to amplify each other’s important work.
  • We can outline options to promote your brand and content on The Empathy Edge podcast and reach hundreds of thousands of high-value, highly-targeted listeners who need what you’ve got. Plus take advantage of other channels to reach them (limited spots available as I’m very discerning about who I bring to my audience)
  • We can revamp your brand story and messaging to better connect and engage with your ideal clients, reignite your employees, and differentiate your work. All to accelerate sales, impact, and growth.

Many folks approach me for partnerships but do not get accepted if they are not the right fit – or if there is no mutual benefit. Because I always remember it’s about the mission, carefully choosing partners where values align and who do right by their clients from a place of purpose, not merely profit. Those who understand that profit and purpose, empathy and high performance, compassion, and growth CAN co-exist.

Are you intrigued? Are you on a mission with me to prove empathy  – for your leaders, team, and customers – is a strength and can lead to radical success?  Let’s talk today!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Shift Your Marketing Mindset

Posted on by Red Slice

I want you to shift your thinking. 

I want you to shift your thinking about promoting and marketing your valuable work. 

What you do is valuable. It enhances people’s lives. It enhances their work whether you sell B2B or B2C, and you know it. 

So if you are not excited when talking about your business, if you shy away from sharing your philosophy and your values around the work that you do and why it’s different from what someone can get elsewhere…

…you’re going to have a problem with marketing effectively. 

The bottom line is: If you are not your biggest fan, no one else will care. You have to be the most excited, the most passionate, the biggest cheerleader for the work that you do, because that’s what’s going to attract people to want to work with you. 

It doesn’t mean it’s an ego trip. It doesn’t mean you’re just talking about yourself, but if you find joy in your work, you need to share that story with your ideal prospects so that they can get excited too. 

Again, if you have no passion and joy for talking about your business, if you downplay it, if you hide, if you’re bashful about it, no one else will be able to see the beauty of it. 

You have to be your number one fan.

Want to learn more about how to craft a brand story that empathetically resonates with your ideal clients and captivates them to learn more about you? Check out my free masterclass right now!

Photo credit: Frank Leuderalbert at Unsplash

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Can you Forgive a Brand for Lack of Empathy?

Posted on by Red Slice

Years ago, I wrote a few posts about horrific customer experiences, especially one with a certain hot Internet retail brand. As I put on the one item I bought from them today, I reflected on whether I would actually forgive them for showing such a lack of empathy. I mean, it’s been years, right?

It got me thinking: 

When is it time to forgive a brand for a bad customer experience?

Is there ever a time for a second chance, when you have felt disrespected or unseen?

And how does this apply to us personally? Can we ever give a second chance to someone who has been unempathetic, whether they realized it or not? A friend, a colleague, a boss. And if so, how do we know when it’s time?

I do believe companies (and people) can learn from their mistakes and try to do better. See: Uber.

But I also know that, when it comes to customer loyalty,  in this day and age, we have options. Especially if the company in question saw nothing wrong with their behavior and never tried to make things right. There is a difference between how classy brands own up to their mistakes (well done, Alaska Airlines) and how others simply blame and complain.

Interestingly, I found this study that shows that when businesses humanize their leaders, like when you don’t see your local catering company as Acme Catering, but as Sue, Bob, and Joe who OWN Acme Catering, customers are more apt to forgive them for missteps.

Companies pay a very high price when customers feel disrespected, unseen, or even blamed. One negative customer experience can be a brand’s undoing. 

And if you want a masterclass in what a string of negative user and employee experiences can do to a company, see Twitter (now X). That platform seems to be a ghost town these days, with most people fleeing to Threads.

How can a brand bounce back from bad customer experiences? Well a few things need to happen

Accountability: Did the person involved or the brand itself own up to their mistakes, apologize, and transparently explain how things went wrong? Note: Simply throwing a discount code at someone is not the same as accountability!

Genuine Contrition: Does the person or brand genuinely sound like they are sorry for your experience? Are they taking steps to make things right or secure your loyalty? If they say “Sorry…”in the same tone my kid does when he is asked to apologize, you’ll know it’s not sincere!

Systemic Change: Did the brand or person look deeper and get to the root cause of the lack of empathy? Have they gone back to the status quo, believing this to be a one-off, or has something changed in their communication, hiring, processes, or interactions? If so, this may be a sign they are learning from mistakes and we should reward that with a second chance.

Humility and a Growth Mindset: Do they see your experiences as an inconvenience they have to deal with or as a learning opportunity to improve customer (and interpersonal) experience from now on? 

I still don’t know if I can forgive the brand that treated me so badly a few years ago. How they blamed ME for the shipping mistake without proof, for not getting back to me as promised,, and then arrogantly proceeded to justify their poor customer service with “We’re just getting so much business right now, we can’t answer every email.”Wow. Just….wow.

But maybe over time, if I think their processes (and staff) have improved, I may just give them a second look.

With people at work or in your personal life…..well, these same rules can apply. I’m no psychologist, but I think the most important thing with people in your life is to give them the opportunity to know there is a problem first, assess their motives, and give them a second chance if you can. Especially if they’re willing to learn from it because maybe they just didn’t even realize their behavior – and this experience is a great lesson for them.

But after communicating to them that this was an issue and working through it together,  if they continue to disrespect you by not seeing your point of view or actively listening (please know, this does not mean they just “do what you want”all the time!), you may have to reassess the arrangement. 

Photo credit: Brett Jordan, Unsplash

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Why Taylor Swift is the Savviest Marketer We Know

Posted on by Red Slice

The dog days of summer have never been felt more acutely on our planet than the past few months. Record scorching temps, wildfires. And I’m hearing data that many companies are still not actively treating climate change as a business threat. Sigh. Seriously?!

Not to mention the sizzling hot economic buying power of women. Taylor Swift and Beyoncé fans are boosting local economies and Barbie became the first movie directed by a woman to break a billion dollars.

But can we pause for a moment to acknowledge something I’ve said for a long time?

Taylor Swift is a marketing genius.

Not only is she a gifted singer/songwriter, she has cultivated one of the most successful, sticky, and empathetic brands out there. She is a marketing machine, yet never loses sight of her craft – or her fans. The chef’s kiss to her extraordinary summer blitz? She made a surprise announcement that her concert will be launched in theaters as a film experience for those who want to see her again, or those for whom the concert was not accessible (either due to location or cost)

Damn, girl. BRA-VO!

Here are 3 reasons why Taylor Swift is one of the savviest marketers around:

  1. She knows her fans

Empathy is her watchword and she knows exactly what her fans want, need, value, and how they want to feel. Everything she does is designed to delight – from encouraging Eras tour makeovers to friendship bracelets to her vulnerability and authenticity in both her songwriting and on social media, she is tapped into exactly what her audience wants. And she’s constantly topping herself – like releasing the movie version of her tour.

  1. She knows the music business

Taylor writes a lot of her own songs, and retains many rights other artists do not enjoy – but back in 2019, her old record label was sold and she lost the rights to her master recordings. Which meant anyone who wanted to use her songs had to ask Scooter Braun for permission and pay him a licensing fee. So she sidestepped him and has been re-recording all her old songs again, branded as Taylor’s Version to ensure she still retains control over those newer cuts. Boss move.

  1. She knows social media

Taylor is the queen of social media savvy. Her posts achieve crazy engagement from fans, and she posts so much “bonus content” there about her life, behind-the-scenes moments, and first-to-know-news.  But she would not achieve this level of fandom if she simply used social media as a one-way billboard, promoting her records and concerts. She has created a hub that invites engagement, where fans feel like they are visiting a friend, and are part of a community bigger than themselves. She talks about her feelings, her process, her heartbreaks! And she loves using social media to surprise lucky fans, making the others stay glued to her every word in case she may come knocking on their door next! Taylor has created an iconic image, yet her fans feel she is so approachable. A hard balance to achieve!

The lessons here?

  • Know your people – adopt an empathetic mindset and really get to know them.
  • Know your industry – understand how your business operates within the ecosystem.
  • Know your channels – leverage channels to connect and engage, not just “sell.”

Photo Credit: Getty Images, article

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

What is a Brand Story and Why Does My Business Need one?

Posted on by Red Slice

A small business owner asked me the other day, “What do you mean by brand story? Is that website copy?” 

I said yes, sort of. But it’s bigger than that – it is not just one sentence, but it’s also the vibe and value promise of your business. Your brand story is not simply what you sell. It’s your purpose and what you believe. How you’re different. What value your offerings ultimately give to a buyer.

Porsche and Honda both make cars. They do NOT have the same brand story. They are not selling to the same people. Customers buy from them for very different reasons – not simply “because I need a car.””

Your business, no matter what industry you are in, needs to understand this.

How did this brand strategist get into the empathy advocacy game? Simple. Empathy is the key to marketing and sales success.

Marketers get this. You can’t influence or persuade someone – or build right-fit offerings for them – if you don’t understand them.(TWEET THIS!)

You must peek into their lives, see things how they see them, and ensure your solutions meet those needs, address those goals, and fulfill those aspirations. Or quite frankly, they should not be doing business with you.

Sometimes empathy gets a bad rap when used by marketers – or sociopaths – to manipulate. If it is used in that way, that’s just lazy marketing in my book. Marketing should be about elevating the truth of your story so the right people can find you and achieve their goals or solve their problems.

Empathy has always been the key to successful advertising. It’s never about the product, is it? 

A 1995 Nike campaign that always stuck with me, which I mentioned in my first book Branding Basics for Small Business, was called “If you Let Me Play”. The ads showed bright-eyed young girls playing sports and each would in turn say,

“If you let me play sports

I will like myself more;

I will have more self-confidence,

I will be 60 percent less likely to get breast cancer;

I will suffer less depression.

I will be more likely to leave a man who beats me.

I will be less likely to get pregnant

I will learn what it means to be strong.

…If you let me play sports.”

This was not just about the features of their shoes or athletic clothing. It was about empowerment. About safety. About strong mental health for girls. 

They got me, as a just out of college woman back then. They knew exactly what engaged and connected with me. They knew who I wanted to be and what I wanted to stand for. And they likely grabbed loads of parents who felt exactly the same way.

That’s empathy in marketing. Understanding the goals, desires, fears, values, and needs of your ideal audience and creating products and services that speak to them. But one step further, a good marketer has to be able to communicate that they understand.

That’s where brand story comes in.

Many business owners and even marketers can speak eloquently about the features of their products. But they might not be as connected to the story they can share that will inspire, engage, and influence their ideal customers to join their community and stay loyal to the brand.

Sometimes this is because we get so caught up in jargon, we don’t speak in the way our customers actually talk. Which is the cornerstone of empathetic marketing! Sometimes, they think customers want to hear önly the facts”- when research proves that we often make purchase decisions because of emotion but justify that decision with logic. Yes, even our most skeptical, data-driven buyers do this because….WE’RE ALL HUMAN! Don’t believe me? Check out my podcast episode with behavioral economist Melina Palmer on all the research proving we don’t buy for the reasons our conscious brains tell us we do. We respond to other cues we are not even aware of! 

But what to say? How to say it? How do we even know what our ideal customers really want and need?

New Course to Help You Craft Your Brand Story! Brand Story Breakthrough

As some of you know, I have shifted from pure brand consulting to focusing on empathy speaking and training.  So  I’m unveiling what I hope will be a signature course to help marketers, business owners – and even agency professionals such as PR and design experts who need to help their clients nail their brand story and may not have a good process.

Check out  Brand Story Breakthrough, a 5 week digital course, along with weekly live coaching with me for feedback and guidance. This is my way to help people at scale uncover the magic of their brand story and build all the tools for their messaging toolkit so they can attract their perfect customers, stand out, and grow their revenue and impact.

And the root of the entire course and process? You guessed it. Empathy.

Empathy is too often what is missing from messaging. I once had a corporate VP client who disrespected their target client base, calling them arrogant, entitled, and not interested in the data. You cannot successfully market your offerings to those who need it if you despise or disrespect them! Sorry, not sorry.

If you’re struggling to get attention from right-fit customers you know you can impact, I would love, love, love to help.

Please check out details right here and see if it’s right for you (There’s even a free masterclass video on that page that will be super valuable for you) 

PS, this process works whether you sell products or services, B2B or B2C, non-profit or for-profit. Because it’s about flexing your empathy muscle and communicating in a way that resonates with the right people and ignites them into action. Not to lie to them. Not to deceive.  But to connect with them in a genuine and value-driven way.

Bottom line: We are all human. And if your mission is to have an impact and offer genuine value to customers or clients, you deserve to reach them and they deserve to know you exist for them. Marketing done right  is not sleazy. It’s a way for you to let the people who need you the most find you. Get excited to share your story. If not you, then who?! ChatGPT can only get you so far. First, you have to emotionally connect with the people you serve.

Photo Credit: Social Cut on Unsplash

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

What Do You Do? How to Nail Your Elevator Pitch

Posted on by Red Slice

What does your organization do?

Why does this question strike fear into the hearts of new entrepreneurs? And let’s be honest, many professionals and even markteres who can’t quite capture what they do in a clear and compelling way.

My friends, we call the proper response to this question  the Elevator Pitch. 

What is an Elevator Pitch?

You may have heard this term before but might not know where it comes from. It comes from finding yourself trapped on an elevator ride with an investor or C-suite executive and you have about 30 seconds (an elevator ride) to explain what you do, why it matters, and what is your ask. You are pitching them to capture interest so they want to learn even more.

We use this term Elevator Pitch now as the response to questions like, “What do you do?” Or, “What does your company do?”

There’s a lot that goes into your Elevator Pitch though:

  • What do you do? How are you positioned? Is it a product or a service? Are you defining a new category?
  • Who do you do it for? Your ideal customers. What niche do you serve?
  • Why does it matter? Your core benefits or the results that your organization helps your ideal customers achieve.
  • What is the tone? What’s your brand vibe – what are the right words for this response?

And as I always like to say, perhaps even add on a piece of flair at the end, like a tagline or provocative statement. After all, your should easily be able to say your Elevator Pitch out loud – even though many of us use it on our website.

Call it an Elevator Pitch. Call it a Core Value Proposition. Call it a Brand Positioning Statement. Call it what you like. But if you can’t clearly and compellingly articulate it to people who ask – you, who should understand the value better than anyone else – you won’t be able to attract the right clients and customers.

And that’s tragedy because you may very well be the solution someone is seeking.

See? Communication does matter more than you think! Being able to communicate your story clearly and compellingly can make or break your organization’s success. (TWEET THIS!)

How to Craft an Empathetic Elevator Pitch That Gets Attention

If you’re struggling with crafting your Elevator Pitch, please download my free guide The Empathy Edge Brand Positioning Template to leverage the power of empathy to craft the right brand statement that attracts your dream clients. You’ll get:

  • 6 strategies for crafting your empathetic brand statement
  • 18 examples to spark your creativity
  • 3 fill-in-the-blank templates you can customize and make your own.

Through my books, workshops, and client engagements, these tools have helped thousands of entrepreneurs and businesses stand out and attract their dream clients and customers.

Download your free guide now right here and make sure you hit all your 2023 goals – and attract and impact all  the right people!!

Photo Credit: Sung Jin Cho, Unsplash

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

What is a Brand Positioning Statement?

Posted on by Red Slice

What is a Brand Positioning Statement? Why do you even need one?

Your business or organization can only grow and attract attention if people understand what you’re all about. While there are no official figures, according to one source, in 2021, the average person was estimated to encounter between 6,000 to 10,000 ads every single day.

There’s a lot of noise out there, ya’ll!

To get attention, cut through the noise, and ignite action, we must be able to quickly and clearly explain what we do, who we do it for, and what benefit they get from us.

This is where a Brand Positioning Statement comes in!.

A Brand Positioning Statement is a super useful brand tool that speaks directly to your dream clients or customers in the language and words they understand. A Brand Positioning Statement quickly, clearly, and succinctly describes your business to someone so they can understand if you are right for them or someone they know, and compels them to learn more. The brand positioning statement is also something called your Core Value Proposition and can form the basis of a memorable elevator pitch, too. So you can see why this is a fundamental tool in your brand and marketing toolkit. 

A brand positioning statement encapsulates your Brand Strategy into a clear, compelling statement that can inform many other marketing tactics, such as a tagline, press release boilerplate, or advertising copy. 

This statement tells me the essentials about your company: what it is, how it is positioned, the target audience, the three core benefits it provides to me as a customer, and even clues me into the voice of the company.

But how do you create a good brand positioning statement?

Well, you know I’m going to say this: It requires empathy! Empathy for your ideal customers: their needs, wants, goals, aspirations, and values.

The tendency is to describe our businesses by talking about us. What we sell, provide, offer. I, I, I, I, I! It’s not about us. It’s about our customers. 

But to get a customer’s attention, we need a keen understanding of seeing the business from their point of view: What do they get from our products or services, from their point of view? Also, known as benefits. 

How to Craft an Empathetic Brand Positioning Statement

If you’re struggling with explaining the value you offer or if people are not quite sure if you’re the right fit for them, download my free guide The Empathy Edge Brand Positioning Template to leverage the power of empathy to craft the right brand statement that attracts your dream clients. You’ll get:

  • 6 strategies for crafting your empathetic brand statement
  • 18 examples to spark your creativity
  • 3 fill-in-the-blank templates you can customize and make your own.

Through my books, workshops, and client engagements, these tools have helped thousands of entrepreneurs and businesses stand out and attract their dream clients and customers.

Download your free guide now right here and make sure you hit all your 2023 goals – and attract and impact all  the right people!!

Photo Credit: Cristina Gottardii, Unsplash

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Why Brands Need to Select the RIGHT influencers

Posted on by Red Slice

Recently, my beloved Peloton announced a partnership with a very high-profile influencer. And it has me annoyed, disappointed, and a bit perplexed from a brand strategy perspective.

 And clearly, I was not the only one.

Peloton has been in the news lately for its financial woes. Its revenues have tumbled and experts are forecasting the end of the brand that surged during the pandemic. As gyms open again, cheaper competitors emerge, and folks find alternate ways of getting their fitness itch scratched, Peloton kind of had nowhere to go but down.

I, for one, adore the brand and everything it has to offer. So, yeah, I’m biased. Peloton not only got me through the pandemic lockdown, but I have come to view my favorite instructors (Cody, Christine, Jess King, and my newest love, Robin Arzón) as family. Oh, that crazy Cody! What will he be gossiping about today?!

Brands are powerful when they tell a compelling and genuine story. Peloton made its name by standing for inner strength and beauty. By showing us that no matter where we are on our fitness journey, we can achieve. We can find comfort in community. We can love ourselves, no matter our size. And fitness is available to all. Peloton focused on strength and loving yourself for who you are and where you are, no matter what. 

And then they partnered with Kim Kardashian.

Now, I know Kim is an acquired taste. And while I admire her business savvy, I loathe the reality show chaos that shows like hers and others have wrought on our society. The shallowness, The consumerism. The distraction from important issues that need serious attention. 

Don’t @me. I appreciate guilty pleasures as much as the next person. But Kim Kardashian represents the absolute antithesis to Peloton’s brand story. She is known for cosmetically altering herself in the name of some societal definition of beauty. Get butt implants! Change your face so you don’t even look like yourself! 

If you’re a Kardashian fan, this is not about hating on Kim. This is about a poor brand alignment decision on the part of Peloton. How can a brand that stands for accepting your inner beauty and strength partner with someone who is a brand synonym for surgical enhancement? It just doesn’t make any sense. And it tarnishes Peloton’s authentic message of loving yourself as you are.

Your brand needs to stick to its values and story when making every decision. That includes deciding on influencer partners. Beware of choosing the right ones! (TWEET THIS!)

Peloton usually hits the mark on its collaborations. And I still love them. I’m just slightly disappointed in them as I would be my 8-year-old when he lies about being on his iPad. Brand lovers of Peloton expect more.

Got thoughts? Please share them with me on Instagram or Twitter.

photocredit: extratv.com

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

 Let’s Talk About A Better Workplace Culture

Posted on by Red Slice

Seth Godin’s daily posts range from the inspirational to the tactical. The mundane to the philosophical. So when a post punches me in the gut, in the best possible way, it gets me thinking. Which is his goal: Stop existing. Start thinking. Disrupt the status quo.

Recently, he wrote a post called But First, We Need to Talk About. The gist is that what we are willing to talk about gets attention, resources, and energy.  So when we’re unwilling to talk about end-of-life health care costs or oppressive capitalist systems, we can’t change things. Instead, we pour countless hours of conversation into things like political infighting, Tik Tok crazes, or why Kim Kardashian ever dated Pete Davidson (those last 2 are way far out of my wheelhouse)

The realization hit me: This is why I’m talking about empathy at work and creating better leaders, cultures, and brands. I want us to pay attention, yes, but to actually make a change. Transform.

It started out with helping my clients craft an empathetic and engaging brand story, rooted in purpose. And yes, advising them on where they need to walk that talk in their culture, leadership, processes, or habits.  But it’s become a bigger movement to me. One in which we rethink our existing models and narratives of leadership and organizational success.

For too long, we’ve adopted false and binary narratives that you have to choose between humanity and profits. That compassionate leaders cannot also be competitive. That ambition can’t co-exist with empathy and collaboration. That we need to be one person at work and another when we’re off the clock.

Who the hell made these rules? Oh, right, we did. Humans. Our capitalist and industrialized society.

And we blindly bought into this status quo.

Here’s the great news: We as humans have the power to CHANGE those rules. They are not laws of physics that cannot be broken. We made them. We can make new ones.. (TWEET THIS!)

But first, we gotta talk about it. 

We have to talk about what is not working, where we are not being inclusive, and how our business practices might be harming our people or the environment.  We need to admit that profit had been held up above all other concerns for too long.  And that we can have both/and rather than either/or. 

Then we need to talk about how we get there. How we re-establish new rules together. How we create a better workplace culture. How we make the entire for-business system better.

Are you ready to talk to your leaders, teams, and customers about the future of work and the empathy revolution? I’d love to help. Let’s chat about a transformative and provocative talk to kick this into action for your organization tomorrow! 

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Five Lessons from 100 Podcast interviews

Posted on by Maria Ross

Last week, I hit 100 episodes on The Empathy Edge podcast.. 100 episodes! In that time, I’ve had the chance to speak with best-selling authors, CEO’s, marketing leaders, psychologists, social and emotional learning experts, culture consultants, and DEI champions.

The podcast started in August 2020 as a way to keep my empathy research going. Spending three years writing The Empathy Edge, I immersed myself in the data, stories, and interviews. And then once the book was out, promotion began. And the research stopped.

Suddenly, I didn’t see that latest report. The data I was using was outdated. Oh, and a global pandemic changed the way we work and how we interact with each other.

As the topic of empathy became more mainstream and evolved, a podcast seemed like a great excuse to keep interviewing experts – the best part of working on a new book! And you know me – I love to talk about empathy.

A podcast is as much fun and as much work as I thought it’d be. But it’s the best kind. And it has taught me many valuable lessons about connection, conversation, and change. (TWEET THIS!)

Five Lessons From 100 Podcast Interviews

And, if you’re thinking of starting your own podcast,  how this experience can transform you.

Never Go It Alone

When I set out, I knew I didn’t want to tackle this alone. What mic do I buy? How do I even list a podcast on Apple? Who will do my production and editing (because that makes me want to poke my eyes out). A friend connected me to a friend, Erica Mills Barnhart, who had her own podcast and she told me about her production team, Turnkey Podcast. I went to them and said, “Please help me make this happen.”They immediately put me in a Launch Your Podcast course. I got everything done that needed done and now this dream team edits and produces my podcast every week, just for you. 

Learn How to Listen – and Ask on Behalf of Others

Having been on many podcasts before, I knew how to do my spiel. But hosting is another ballgame. You have to learn how to listen. And respond. It’s a lot like acting, really. Curiosity was not too hard for me, as I’m fascinated by my guests and their experiences.  But I also have to ask the right questions to move the conversation along. I don’t like too many podcasts because it annoys me when the hosts ramble on and on about themselves, or don’t get the guest to answer the question asked – or the question I have as a listener. I have learned to think even more about my audience and what they would want to know. What do they need? My job is to get that info out of my guest for them. 

A Podcast is A Great Way to Meet Amazing People

Forget the awkward LinkedIn connection request: My podcast enables me to reach out to anyone and everyone I find interesting and have a chat! If you are naturally curious like me, this is a wonderful way to build authentic connections. Some of my guests have even become clients, or have hired me as an empathy keynote speaker or empathy workshop leader at internal and customer events.. But that’s not why I talk to them. I invite them on because they have something to teach us all. And stories humanize us. The more stories I can help tell, the more I can create more empathy in the world.This is why I’m committed to inviting women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and other underrepresented leaders and experts to my microphone.

Organic Conversation is Authentic Conversation

We have talking points, sure. And prepared questions. But I invite my guests to feel like we are having a casual chat. It’s not just rote Q&A. It’s interaction. We add to each other. We interrupt each other.. We go off on a tangent if that’s the conversation’s next logical step.  We embrace ad hoc joy for scripted humor. The best compliment I get is when people say they feel like they are sitting with us over coffee! When you do a podcast, yes, prepare, but keep room for organic flow for a much richer experience for both of you – and your listeners.

There are So Many People Working to Make the World a Better Place

I think the most valuable lesson I have learned from 100 interviews is that there is hope. If we seek out the changemakers who are doing hard things, we find that there are thousands, millions of ways people are making a difference. Whether they are a CEO of a social enterprise helping Ethiopian women escape human trafficking, a coach helping women find their own voice, a doctor helping children become more emotionally resilient, a DEI expert  helping parents crack open tough conversations about race, a workplace crusader trying to help build cultures where people can thrive at work,  a marketing leader using his company’s brand to stand up to racial injustice, or a community buidling expert sharing how to make online communities more authentic and connective for mutual benefit…..all of my 100 guests have shown me that you can work toward empathy in ways big and small.

Which one is my favourite? That’s like asking me to pick a favourite kid! But I invite you to take a listen and DM me on IG to let me know which one is YOUR favourite!