Sometimes, the simplest things are also the hardest to do.

Exhibit A: Showing up consistently for something… even if it’s something you really care about.
Exhibit B: Putting ourselves out there.
And Exhibit C, which is what we’re talking all about in today’s episode, and is probably the simplest of all:

STARTING.

Taking the first step. Writing the first paragraph. Your first 5 minutes on the treadmill.

Starting.

Starting is simple, deceptively difficult, and yet… SO CRITICAL. Anything you want to do in life requires taking the first step.

Any result you want can only come from getting started.

So. Today’s episode is tackling this very pain point that I suspeeeeect a lot of you can relate to. I know I certainly can! And that is: GETTING STARTED.

My guest today is Denisa Parker, and while our areas of focus are different, there is a lot of overlap in the types of clients we work with. Denisa is the founder of Kind and Ivy, a brand and packaging design studio. She works with conscientious small business owners to help them unapologetically stand out in their market and create memorable experiences for their customers, so they can ultimately make a bigger positive impact in the world. Denisa has worked with fashion, beauty, wellness, and handmade brands to help them make a big impact with their audience- all while making a minimal impact on the planet.

I had heard amazing things about this book and was so so excited to cover it in this months Book Club. The more I read, however, the more I realized that Hooked is really geared toward tech companies, tech products, things like apps and games, and not physical products or services like the ones most of us have as our businesses.

That’s not to say this wasn’t a great book! Charelle and I were able to pull out so many lessons and ideas from each section, and throughout our conversation, apply them to business models you might have as a listener of this podcast. It was a fun exercise in finding the generalities in each marketing method, and thinking about how they can be used across industries.

Plus, I got to ask my favorite question: What can we learn from this?

Lots of you are experiencing social media burnout, and I can relate. I’ve been there. The ever-shifting algorithms, the pressure to constantly create content, and the time suck of putting yourself out there over and over again, often with minimal returns on that investment. It is exhausting.

My guest today has made NON-social media marketing the focal point of her marketing, and I am so excited to dig in with her. Rebecca Tracey works with aspiring life coaches, health coaches, healers, and other service-based businesses to build a business that will stand the test of time (and not be at the whim of whatever the newest trendy marketing fad is!). She helps clients clear the clutter and bring them back to foundations so they can articulate their vision clearly and move forward.

Rebecca’s message? Marketing without social media, (or at least without the need for social media), IS POSSIBLE. I found this conversation energizing and refreshing, and I know you will too.

You made it to the last episode in our 10-day Ringing in 2024 series! You’ve done some reflection, you’ve dreamed up your ideal 2024, and you’ve done some planning for the year and month ahead. Now it's time to talk about the key ingredient for making it all happen: maintaining momentum.

This week on the podcast is a special 10-part podcast series that I’m airing on the private podcast that’s part of Making Good Happen, but! As my holiday slash New Year’s gift to you, I’m sharing it with you, too!

This series will be released every weekday, Monday through Friday, from December 25th through January 5th. Each short and sweet episode will include some guidance as well as a short exercise to go through. By the end of this series you’ll have reviewed 2023, dream up your ideal 2024, and create a plan to get there.

And, BONUS! I’ve also created a free workbook you can use to work through these exercises. Head to makinggoodpodcast.com/2024 to get your copy and get going!

It's the second to last episode in our 10-part Ringing in 2024 series! Yesterday we took a top-level approach to planning the upcoming year, so today we're getting a little more granular. 

This week on the podcast is a special 10-part podcast series that I’m airing on the private podcast that’s part of Making Good Happen, but! As my holiday slash New Year’s gift to you, I’m sharing it with you, too!

This series will be released every weekday, Monday through Friday, from December 25th through January 5th. Each short and sweet episode will include some guidance as well as a short exercise to go through. By the end of this series you’ll have reviewed 2023, dream up your ideal 2024, and create a plan to get there.

And, BONUS! I’ve also created a free workbook you can use to work through these exercises. Head to makinggoodpodcast.com/2024 to get your copy and get going!

Welcome to Part 8 of our Ringing in 2024 series! Now that we have committed to consistency, it's time to map out our year from a birds-eye perspective.  

This week on the podcast is a special 10-part podcast series that I’m airing on the private podcast that’s part of Making Good Happen, but! As my holiday slash New Year’s gift to you, I’m sharing it with you, too!

This series will be released every weekday, Monday through Friday, from December 25th through January 5th. Each short and sweet episode will include some guidance as well as a short exercise to go through. By the end of this series you’ll have reviewed 2023, dream up your ideal 2024, and create a plan to get there.

And, BONUS! I’ve also created a free workbook you can use to work through these exercises. Head to makinggoodpodcast.com/2024 to get your copy and get going!

Today on our Bonus, Ringing in 2024 series, we're committing to consistency! Once you've set your goals, a key ingredient to actually achieving them is consistent action. 

This week on the podcast is a special 10-part podcast series that I’m airing on the private podcast that’s part of Making Good Happen, but! As my holiday slash New Year’s gift to you, I’m sharing it with you, too!

This series will be released every weekday, Monday through Friday, from December 25th through January 5th. Each short and sweet episode will include some guidance as well as a short exercise to go through. By the end of this series you’ll have reviewed 2023, dream up your ideal 2024, and create a plan to get there.

And, BONUS! I’ve also created a free workbook you can use to work through these exercises. Head to makinggoodpodcast.com/2024 to get your copy and get going!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! We are now just over halfway through our 10-day, Ringing in 2024 series, and you know what? It's time to start making some concrete plans. This is what episodes 6-10 in this series are all about: taking our goals and turning them into real, achievable plans.

This week on the podcast is a special 10-part podcast series that I’m airing on the private podcast that’s part of Making Good Happen, but! As my holiday slash New Year’s gift to you, I’m sharing it with you, too!

This series will be released every weekday, Monday through Friday, from December 25th through January 5th. Each short and sweet episode will include some guidance as well as a short exercise to go through. By the end of this series you’ll have reviewed 2023, dream up your ideal 2024, and create a plan to get there.

And, BONUS! I’ve also created a free workbook you can use to work through these exercises. Head to makinggoodpodcast.com/2024 to get your copy and get going!

One week down, one to go! You made it to part 5 of the Ringing in 2024 series! Today, I’m going to help you pull together all your takeaways from this week's exercises so you can formulate a goal (or goals!?) for next year.

This week on the podcast is a special 10-part podcast series that I’m airing on the private podcast that’s part of Making Good Happen, but! As my holiday slash New Year’s gift to you, I’m sharing it with you, too!

This series will be released every weekday, Monday through Friday, from December 25th through January 5th. Each short and sweet episode will include some guidance as well as a short exercise to go through. By the end of this series you’ll have reviewed 2023, dream up your ideal 2024, and create a plan to get there.

And, BONUS! I’ve also created a free workbook you can use to work through these exercises. Head to makinggoodpodcast.com/2024 to get your copy and get going!

Welcome to part 4 of the Ringing in 2024 series! Today I am so excited to introduce you to the Start/Stop/Keep exercise.

This week on the podcast is a special 10-part podcast series that I’m airing on the private podcast that’s part of Making Good Happen, but! As my holiday slash New Year’s gift to you, I’m sharing it with you, too!

This series will be released every weekday, Monday through Friday, from December 25th through January 5th. Each short and sweet episode will include some guidance as well as a short exercise to go through. By the end of this series you’ll have reviewed 2023, dream up your ideal 2024, and create a plan to get there.

And, BONUS! I’ve also created a free workbook you can use to work through these exercises. Head to makinggoodpodcast.com/2024 to get your copy and get going!

In the third installment of the Ringing in 2024 series, let's have some fun. It's time for the destination postcard exercise!

This week on the podcast is a special 10-part podcast series that I’m airing on the private podcast that’s part of Making Good Happen, but! As my holiday slash New Year’s gift to you, I’m sharing it with you, too!

This series will be released every weekday, Monday through Friday, from December 25th through January 5th. Each short and sweet episode will include some guidance as well as a short exercise to go through. By the end of this series you’ll have reviewed 2023, dream up your ideal 2024, and create a plan to get there.

And, BONUS! I’ve also created a free workbook you can use to work through these exercises. Head to makinggoodpodcast.com/2024 to get your copy and get going!

Today in our 10-part Ringing in 2024 series, we take a look at lessons learned from the past year. This part of the reflection process can feel a little hard but in this episode, I want to offer some perspective that might help turn those tough realizations into learning moments.

This week on the podcast is a special 10-part podcast series that I’m airing on the private podcast that’s part of Making Good Happen, but! As my holiday slash New Year’s gift to you, I’m sharing it with you, too!

This series will be released every weekday, Monday through Friday, from December 25th through January 5th. Each short and sweet episode will include some guidance as well as a short exercise to go through. By the end of this series you’ll have reviewed 2023, dream up your ideal 2024, and create a plan to get there.

And, BONUS! I’ve also created a free workbook you can use to work through these exercises. Head to makinggoodpodcast.com/2024 to get your copy and get going!

This week on the podcast is a special 10-part podcast series that I’m airing on the private podcast that’s part of Making Good Happen, but! As my holiday/New Year’s gift to you, I’m sharing it with you, too!

This series will be released every weekday, Monday through Friday, from December 25th through January 5th. Each short and sweet episode will include some guidance as well as a short exercise to go through. By the end of this series you’ll have reviewed 2023, dream up your ideal 2024, and create a plan to get there.

The very first thing on our agenda? We need to celebrate 2023! You have worked SO HARD this year, so before diving into 2024 planning, let’s take a moment to appreciate how far you've come in the past year.

And, BONUS! I’ve also created a free workbook you can use to work through these exercises. Head to makinggoodpodcast.com/2024 to get your copy and get going!

Nadine Nethery is an audience-driven copywriter and brand messaging strategist for female founders who want to intentionally attract, delight and retain their dream customers. I’ve danced around the topic of audience research on the podcast before, but up until now haven’t dived in. In my former life in the corporate sphere, my background is in market research, so I’ve been around the block when it comes to getting to know your customers.

Nadine, however, completely amazed me in this episode. Her smart, original strategies for gaining insights into an audience are so inspiring, and the ways she uses AI as a tool to that end are also super thoughtful.

Seth Godin is a thinker in the marketing space that I have admired for a very long time, and I am so excited to share some of his work with you all.

While he may not use the words “ethical marketer” specifically to describe his work, but he’s definitely a non-bro marketer. He was one of the first to popularize the idea of “permission marketing,” not pushing a product or idea onto anyone, but selling to your ideal customer by adding value and being invited in by our customers.

Regardless of where you’re at in your marketing journey, I definitely recommend giving this one a read.

So this one is kind of a big deal for me.

I was a little bit nervous to record this episode, and honestly even more nervous to release it into the world. But I’m also excited!

My guest today is a rare repeat guest, Nell Wulfhart, the decision coach.

In our most recent conversation, recorded this past October, we turned the tables in a totally new format for the show. Nell took the interviewer seat to help me make a huge decision about my businesses. We treated it like a live coaching session, with Nell taking me though the process just like she would with any of her clients. As you’ll hear in the episode, I was pretty amazed by the end. Let’s just say Nell is very good at what she does.

When I tell you to think about marketing your business, what comes to mind?

Social media? Reels? Paying for ads? Complicated strategies? Stuff you don’t know how to do but everyone’s telling you that you “should” be doing? Spending money you don’t currently have available to spend? Overall… just a heavy sense of overwhelm?

If that’s you I have 3 things to tell you, all of which I hope you will find to be good news.

It’s not often that I get to sit down with a fellow retail store owner on this podcast, and it was so much fun to talk shop with Jessie Williams. Jessie is BUSY. Not only does she own three retail locations in North Carolina, two Edge of Urge locations, and one Unlikely Professionals, but she also owns and manages Cute House, a vacation rental home also in North Carolina. All of her businesses and side projects, (too many to list in this intro!), are focused on supporting up-and-coming makers and small businesses, as well as giving back to her community.

This episode comes out at the end of November, and I know from members in my community that the energy is high and also! A little chaotic. The end of the year is a super important time for many small businesses – certainly MOST small businesses in my community. So we want our marketing to really deliver for us.

But creatively… you might be feeling just tapped out.

SO

If you need some support planning your end-of-year marketing, today’s episode is for you. My goal is to give you some good ideas on WHAT TO ACTUALLY SAY in your marketing… in order to get those big results.