May 6, 2025 • 26 mins
Join @thebuzzknight for this inspiring episode with Founder and CEO of Girlilla Marketing, Jennie Smythe. She has a new book out called "Becoming Girlilla" and she shares her insights on entrepreneurship, marketing strategies and how passion and perseverance can turn dreams into reality. You'll love hearing from this Great American Leader and get motivated to chase your own success.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
The saddest part for me is that I only had
the opportunity to work for one woman. All my other bosses,
which I had amazing bosses and mentors that all happened
to have ben men, but I had one female boss,
Lindy Thurman, who's I still talk to you almost every day,
(00:25):
who became that figure in my life, That was the
person that I trusted most deeply to give me honest feedback.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Welcome to this episode of the Taken a Walk podcast
hosted by Buzznight. Buzz speaks with musicians, insiders, and industry leaders,
and today he's got the inspiring story of an insider
and leader of the digital media world for musicians. Jenny
Smythe is a renowned entrepreneur and the founder and CEO
(00:57):
of girl Lilla Marketing, a leading digital marketing firm based
in Nashville. Smith launched Girlilla Marketing in two thousand and eight,
which has become a powerhouse in digital strategy for notable
entertainers and brands. Her memoir, Becoming Girlilla, shares her journey
through career highs, personal challenges, and her fight against breast cancer.
(01:20):
Here's Buzznight with Jenny Smyth on taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
So, Jenny, welcome to taking a walk.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
It's so nice to be with you. I wish it
was in person, but we'll do that sometime.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
We will do that for sure.
Speaker 5 (01:35):
But since the podcast is called taking a Walk, I
do have to ask you if you could take a
walk with someone living or dead, who would you take
a walk with and where would you take that walk.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I would call my grandmother who was on my mom's side,
and she lived on this great block in Phoenix, Arizona,
that that had orange trees and grapefruit trees, and so
I would just love to And I used to walk
with her as a kid, So I think it would
(02:09):
be awesome to be able to do that again, and
like just the idea of like how that smelled and
the memories and you know, it was just it was
a it was a great time, and I would think
it would be a huge privilege to do that again.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Do you get to take a walk in the midst
of your chaotic schedule to just sort of clear the air,
whether you're you know, creatively blocked with something or just
need a bit of fresh air, do you do you
go take a walk?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I'm extreme on the walk side. In fact, right now
I am training for a sixty mile walk for Susan
g Coman. This will be my second time walking. And
so yeah, I mean we walked. I walked all the
way through cancer treatment. Sometimes that's sometimes I could only
get up and walk through the distance of my driveway.
(03:04):
But yes, walking, running, exercising, all of that super important
to me.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
So talk about the early experiences with Electra, with Hollywood Records,
Warner Brothers, key lessons that came out of those experiences
that have shaped you to this day.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
So many I mean truly look back at that as
I say this a lot. I didn't go to We
moved around a bit, so I didn't have that high
school or grow up with the same people experience, you know,
where you would kind of go back and see each
(03:48):
other and have a reunion or anything like that. And
so those first years that I spent working as assistants,
as an assistant in some of those places that you mentioned,
were formative for me as growing into an adult. And
so not only were those jobs jobs that sustained a
(04:13):
very expensive city rent that I had to make every
single month, but they were also like older siblings in
a way, you know, people that taught me how to
get insurance, and you know people that I would talk
about dating with. And you know, my friend groups all
came from from all of us being at the same
(04:36):
level at some of those companies. So while I was
truly learning a skill and understanding a business, I was
also learning how to be an adult and learning how
to be a good friend, and you know, building a
professional network. And really those are still some of the
people that I talked to every single day.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Now, when you came out of those particular experiences, you
really didn't see over the horizon what you would become
with your gorilla marketing company, right that was not even
in your sits.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Not not even close. I mean, the only thing I
knew is that I wanted to work at a record company.
So the day that I went on full time payroll
at Electure Entertainment, I was nineteen years old. I made
nineteen thousand dollars, I had health insurance, and I thought
(05:39):
I'd made it. That was it. Like I got out,
I got in the door. I got a job in
the city that I wanted to be in, in the
industry that I wanted to be in, and so everything
that's happened to me. Since that day, there's been terrible things,
(05:59):
you know, but like from a professional standpoint, you couldn't
have told me anything other than I had made it.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
And can you express how difficult then and now it
is being a woman in the entertainment and music business.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
I think for me, certainly, I've had some spicy moments
happened to me. But the saddest part for me is
that I only had the opportunity to work for one woman.
All my other bosses, which I had amazing bosses and
mentors that all happened to have been men. But I
(06:43):
had one female boss, Lindy Thurman, who's I still talk
to you almost every day, who became that figure in
my life. That was the person that I trusted most
deeply to give me honest feedback and and it became
(07:05):
a very maternal relationship. So the that was I feel
like I missed opportunities to have more amazing female mentorship
so when I had the chance to, and I always
had female co workers, so that you know, that wasn't it,
(07:25):
But just to have a boss, you know, a female
boss that you could look up to to so you
could see yourself like there's there is a place for
me here, you know. So I decided to turn that
sadness into action, and and subconsciously or consciously, I can't
(07:49):
I can't confirm, because I would love to say it
was my idea ever since I was ex you know,
but that's just not the case. The case is that
as I went on, I only really hired mostly females,
and I am most comfortable in that environment. And it
(08:13):
makes me proud that seventeen years later I was able
to create the company that I had envisioned I wanted
to work for that just didn't exist at the time.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Reflect for a bit as someone you know, based in Nashville,
and when you think about the incredible amount of very
strong women that are working in Nashville. We've had a
couple of them on the podcast, Carrie Edwards Martha Earles
(08:46):
as examples. When you sort of observed the landscape, give
me your perspective as a female leader, how you observe
the female leadership in Nashville.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Well, you know what's funny is that in digital media
we've always been female heavy. So some of the first
departments that I ever saw female's lead were digital marketing.
They called it new media at the time, and so
I've seen it. I've seen it. Even if it was
(09:23):
my competitive you know, a competitive company, I've seen it.
I've been friendly. And I will say that being in Nashville,
I'm surrounded more by women than any other time in
my career. And that could just be the time in
my career as well, but there's no shortage of amazing
(09:46):
female leadership and entrepreneurship in Nashville, and I think a
big part of that is what I love about the
Nashville side is that a lot of the women that
I I look up to are on the creative side
and on the songwriting side and on the management side,
(10:06):
and so I feel like they are protective of the
asset of the writer, of the performer, which is that's
the backbone of our business. And so it's it is
lovely to see the level of protection that we have
on those precious assets because it really does allow for
(10:30):
us to continue growing for generations to come.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Where did you learn to be a great listener?
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I don't know. I think my husband would argue with
you on that. I think he would. I think he
would fall out of his chair if you said that
to him. I don't I don't know. I think by
mistake because early on in my career I was much
more interested in being heard than hearing other people. And
(11:00):
I was quick to be the first person to speak
up in a meeting because I wanted everyone to know
how smart I was and how great my idea was
or how right I was, you know, like, which in
turn meant let me tell somebody else how wrong they were.
And I had a couple of bosses that really sat
(11:23):
me down and you know, gave me some directions that
I definitely needed in order to become a better leader.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
We'll be right back with more the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Welcome back to the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
The subtitle of the book, Becoming Gorilla is my journey
to unleashing good in real life, online and in others.
So when did that epiphany occur to use your work
for a greater good?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
So it happened simultaneously in a couple different areas in
my life. The first area was I unfortunately lost right
around the same time that I was ill. I lost
three people that were very important to me, two of
(12:18):
which I worked with and one that I worked for.
And they were incredible leaders and incredible human beings that
had bestowed a ton of knowledge to me, and I
felt like I had all this information and I needed
to pass it on. It was like my duty to
(12:38):
pass it on. So I just kind of sought out
to like just start writing those lessons down, and mostly
business lessons, but like formative workplace lessons, also lessons that
we've all. You know, I've been on the digital side
for so many years now that I've seen the cycles
repeat themselves, and so I didn't want to waste any
(13:03):
more time. I wanted to give people the cheat sheet,
you know, the cliff notes, to like, hey, this is
what this looks like, and this is how you deal
with it. Let's move on and go go do something important.
The second part of that was COVID. You know, like
all of a sudden, people that I loved were isolated,
(13:24):
and I just saw such aggression and negativity online in
a time that we should be coming together that for once,
it kind of affected me. And I have a tough skin,
like this isn't you know. I'm on the internet all
the time. I see all the bullies, I see all
(13:46):
the horrible things that people say to each other. But
it wasn't my friends. It wasn't my family, you know,
and going through some of the political shenanigans that all
of us have been, you know, going through for the
last couple of cycles. It's just very hurtful to see
people lose themselves, you know, and their friendships over something
(14:11):
about that they read on Facebook. And so I felt like,
you know, it was kind of one of those situations
that you find yourself in when you're of a certain
age where you're like, yeah, we should do that, we
should do that too. Who's going to do that? And
then you realize you look around and you're like, oh,
that's me. Okay, I have to do that. I have
to carry that ball forward. I'm the one with the
(14:33):
information that I can share. And so for the first
time in a long time, I wasn't worried about having
an opinion. You know, most of my career has been
built on being behind the scenes to help other people,
no matter what their opinion is, carry out their message
in a way that you know they're able to to
(14:56):
the best of their ability. And now I'm sort of
of them of the mindset that you know, we all
need to need a little bit of a reset.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
So what have we put all of your employees with
you in a conference room, and then you walked out
and we asked them to speak about what it's like
to be led by you to work for your company.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
What do you? What do you?
Speaker 1 (15:24):
What?
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Would your employees say?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
They're all so incredibly different in our little office, we
have a microcosm of the whole world with in terms
of opinions and backgrounds and passions and you know, all
of that. But I would hope that they would they
I mean, there's going to be some jokes, you know,
(15:47):
I mean for sure, because like we are an entire
building of you know, sarcastic, witty, quippie women. But I
would like to believe that they would say that I
respect them, and I respect the differences, and that I
(16:08):
listen to them, and that they ultimately feel empowered to
make the best decisions that they can.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
How do you size up future employees? What do you
what's the keys to hire?
Speaker 3 (16:23):
And great?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
That's a that's a really good question, because I would
I would chant there's so many talented marketing people, but
there aren't the chemistry and the building is so important,
so by adding another person, we really can throw the
balance off. Or when somebody who is prolifically influential, and
(16:47):
the building goes on because they get like a great
opportunity or whatever it can. It can ricochet pretty pretty
wildly in the building, not only for our own chemistry,
but also for our clients that grew close to them.
But I think my biggest flex of being a small
business owner and being a digital marketing person is that
(17:08):
we actually have retained people for a long time, which
historically speaking this side of the world can be rather transient.
So that's probably my biggest flex.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
The day we're recording this, the day before a situation
occurred where Napster was just sold, I wanted to get
your take on when you hear that news and you
hear about Napster over so many of our years of
our career, what you think of this.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Just it's so boring, like again, like how many times
you know? And at the end of the day, I think,
from a branding perspective, no matter who buys and how
much money you put behind a certain brand, if there
is a feeling of you know, distrust or there isn't
(18:10):
an affinity, I think those of us that went through
the first round of Napster, you were either team Napster
because you were like downloading the shit out of those
out out of those songs. That was me. I was like,
this is great. I don't want to get sued by
(18:31):
the ri double A, but like, this is also great,
you know. And then from a marketing perspective, you're thinking, Okay,
sure this is illegal downloads, but at the end of
the day, isn't this giving us information that we can
use to inform our strategy in the in the straight world,
(18:51):
you know, to say, like what songs are actually like
what are people pursuing versus you know, how how arrogant
were we in the music business to say when you're
going to listen you know what songs you're going to
listen to, and you're going to like this song, and
you're going to like this song for forty weeks before
(19:12):
we even release it to you to where you can
buy it. That was what we were doing. So then
you have the opposite, you have the exact opposite feeling
of affinity for Napster for some people, which was also
valid by the way that it ruined the music business.
(19:34):
So I don't know how many times you try to
rebrand that or you resell it, especially when you have
players in the field like Spotify and Amazon and Apple
Music that are they come with their own set of
affinities and also affection and the opposite. But nothing is
(19:56):
ever going to be napster like I just I would be.
I hope I'm wrong, and you know whatever, But I
just I don't see it as a brand that any
anybody in the music business with any kind of memory
ever sees being a major player.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Again, so can you brag a second with a couple
of maybe examples of some campaigns for some artists that
your company has recently done that that you're really proud of.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
I will tell you I get asked this question a lot.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
And darn, I shouldn't have asked it.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Oh, no question, you know the other question that I
get asked a lot. But I want to say that
I am most proud of when one of our clients
is passionate about a cause or a nonprofit or has
the ability to shine light on an important matter, and
(20:58):
they use their platforms and are creative respectful way to
do that. I will also say that my work with
the CMA and the CMA Foundation, even though it's not
my direct work, but the idea that our genre performs
(21:18):
for free. Two basically bankroll the CMA Foundation, which is
rooted in public music education for children. And my, it's
just it's so unique to Nashville and country music. I mean,
we do see amazing campaigns of people coming together. We
(21:42):
just saw it with the Wildfire Fund, but consistently quietly
without any credit, you know, just the millions and millions
of dollars that get funneled into music education in our country,
not just in Nashville, Bill, not just in Tennessee. That
(22:02):
is amazing. And then I would also say that Music
Health Alliance is I think boots on the ground helping
musicians and people in the music industry every single day.
I mean, from you know, dental care to heart transplants,
and the idea that we would create that Tatum Alsop
(22:27):
would create a company, a nonprofit that takes care of
an entire community. That is what I think is amazing
about music and specifically about Nashville, and almost every single
one of my clients of course, you know, I'm I
are either already involved with either of those organizations or
(22:49):
I have the opportunity to tell them about opportunities that
they can plug in. And so that is That is
what I'm most proud of.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Closing the book Becoming Gorilla.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
It's a lot about you know, resilience, authenticity, but it's
also about continuous learning.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
So what are you still trying to learn?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
My god? Everything? I mean, kids that humble me. My
husband is also an entrepreneur, so he's always doing something,
and neither one of us are afraid to fail. If
you fail, you're like okay, you know, like, well anyways,
we move on. But for me, every single day there's
(23:38):
something to figure out. So I just know that I
walk into my day knowing there's something that's going to
challenge me, and so I'm not derailed by that, you know,
or the strategy that I laid out on Tuesday on
Thursday is obsolete. That happens a lot, but I will
(23:58):
say that I have come to a certain age where,
you know, I am patient. I listen to everybody's big plans,
and just like the cycles that we were talking about earlier,
I'm like, have you thought about this? And there's a like, no,
I've never I haven't thought about that. I'm like, okay, well,
(24:20):
like that's kind of my skill now, right to be
the person that can poke holes in some of the plans,
and it used to be, especially in digital media, you
needed to be first and you needed to be fast,
and that is not the case anymore. You know, we
can we don't have to reinvent the wheel the whole time,
(24:42):
and we don't have to be the first person to
do as many things as possible. So the idea that
we can be creative and thoughtful and not only in
what we put out there, but how we communicate with people,
it's just a it's it's it's part of the ethos,
you know. So I think people forget that sometimes, so
(25:04):
being able to remind them that it's it's it's Instagram.
You know, at the end of the day, if you're
having this much stress out, is stress about it or
you are feeling, you know, overwhelmed by it, like you
you can take a break, you can there's ways to
work around it. And I get the same questions from
(25:26):
musicians as I get from my mom friends, you know,
I as I get from big brands. Like everybody is
concerned about safety, everybody's concerned about data, everybody wants to
have more followers and more engagement. So it's it's the same.
So I try to answer some of those questions in
(25:46):
the book, and hopefully my hope is that when people
read it, they feel a little better about it.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
The book is great. Congratulations and I appreciate you spend
the time.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Thank you, nice Walkay, Thanks Jane, appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
The saddest part for me is that I only had
the opportunity to work for one woman. All my other bosses,
which I had amazing bosses and mentors that all happened
to have ben men, but I had one female boss,
Lindy Thurman, who's I still talk to you almost every day,
(00:25):
who became that figure in my life, That was the
person that I trusted most deeply to give me honest feedback.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Welcome to this episode of the Taken a Walk podcast
hosted by Buzznight. Buzz speaks with musicians, insiders, and industry leaders,
and today he's got the inspiring story of an insider
and leader of the digital media world for musicians. Jenny
Smythe is a renowned entrepreneur and the founder and CEO
(00:57):
of girl Lilla Marketing, a leading digital marketing firm based
in Nashville. Smith launched Girlilla Marketing in two thousand and eight,
which has become a powerhouse in digital strategy for notable
entertainers and brands. Her memoir, Becoming Girlilla, shares her journey
through career highs, personal challenges, and her fight against breast cancer.
(01:20):
Here's Buzznight with Jenny Smyth on taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
So, Jenny, welcome to taking a walk.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
It's so nice to be with you. I wish it
was in person, but we'll do that sometime.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
We will do that for sure.
Speaker 5 (01:35):
But since the podcast is called taking a Walk, I
do have to ask you if you could take a
walk with someone living or dead, who would you take
a walk with and where would you take that walk.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I would call my grandmother who was on my mom's side,
and she lived on this great block in Phoenix, Arizona,
that that had orange trees and grapefruit trees, and so
I would just love to And I used to walk
with her as a kid, So I think it would
(02:09):
be awesome to be able to do that again, and
like just the idea of like how that smelled and
the memories and you know, it was just it was
a it was a great time, and I would think
it would be a huge privilege to do that again.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Do you get to take a walk in the midst
of your chaotic schedule to just sort of clear the air,
whether you're you know, creatively blocked with something or just
need a bit of fresh air, do you do you
go take a walk?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I'm extreme on the walk side. In fact, right now
I am training for a sixty mile walk for Susan
g Coman. This will be my second time walking. And
so yeah, I mean we walked. I walked all the
way through cancer treatment. Sometimes that's sometimes I could only
get up and walk through the distance of my driveway.
(03:04):
But yes, walking, running, exercising, all of that super important
to me.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
So talk about the early experiences with Electra, with Hollywood Records,
Warner Brothers, key lessons that came out of those experiences
that have shaped you to this day.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
So many I mean truly look back at that as
I say this a lot. I didn't go to We
moved around a bit, so I didn't have that high
school or grow up with the same people experience, you know,
where you would kind of go back and see each
(03:48):
other and have a reunion or anything like that. And
so those first years that I spent working as assistants,
as an assistant in some of those places that you mentioned,
were formative for me as growing into an adult. And
so not only were those jobs jobs that sustained a
(04:13):
very expensive city rent that I had to make every
single month, but they were also like older siblings in
a way, you know, people that taught me how to
get insurance, and you know people that I would talk
about dating with. And you know, my friend groups all
came from from all of us being at the same
(04:36):
level at some of those companies. So while I was
truly learning a skill and understanding a business, I was
also learning how to be an adult and learning how
to be a good friend, and you know, building a
professional network. And really those are still some of the
people that I talked to every single day.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Now, when you came out of those particular experiences, you
really didn't see over the horizon what you would become
with your gorilla marketing company, right that was not even
in your sits.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Not not even close. I mean, the only thing I
knew is that I wanted to work at a record company.
So the day that I went on full time payroll
at Electure Entertainment, I was nineteen years old. I made
nineteen thousand dollars, I had health insurance, and I thought
(05:39):
I'd made it. That was it. Like I got out,
I got in the door. I got a job in
the city that I wanted to be in, in the
industry that I wanted to be in, and so everything
that's happened to me. Since that day, there's been terrible things,
(05:59):
you know, but like from a professional standpoint, you couldn't
have told me anything other than I had made it.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
And can you express how difficult then and now it
is being a woman in the entertainment and music business.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
I think for me, certainly, I've had some spicy moments
happened to me. But the saddest part for me is
that I only had the opportunity to work for one woman.
All my other bosses, which I had amazing bosses and
mentors that all happened to have been men. But I
(06:43):
had one female boss, Lindy Thurman, who's I still talk
to you almost every day, who became that figure in
my life. That was the person that I trusted most
deeply to give me honest feedback and and it became
(07:05):
a very maternal relationship. So the that was I feel
like I missed opportunities to have more amazing female mentorship
so when I had the chance to, and I always
had female co workers, so that you know, that wasn't it,
(07:25):
But just to have a boss, you know, a female
boss that you could look up to to so you
could see yourself like there's there is a place for
me here, you know. So I decided to turn that
sadness into action, and and subconsciously or consciously, I can't
(07:49):
I can't confirm, because I would love to say it
was my idea ever since I was ex you know,
but that's just not the case. The case is that
as I went on, I only really hired mostly females,
and I am most comfortable in that environment. And it
(08:13):
makes me proud that seventeen years later I was able
to create the company that I had envisioned I wanted
to work for that just didn't exist at the time.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Reflect for a bit as someone you know, based in Nashville,
and when you think about the incredible amount of very
strong women that are working in Nashville. We've had a
couple of them on the podcast, Carrie Edwards Martha Earles
(08:46):
as examples. When you sort of observed the landscape, give
me your perspective as a female leader, how you observe
the female leadership in Nashville.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Well, you know what's funny is that in digital media
we've always been female heavy. So some of the first
departments that I ever saw female's lead were digital marketing.
They called it new media at the time, and so
I've seen it. I've seen it. Even if it was
(09:23):
my competitive you know, a competitive company, I've seen it.
I've been friendly. And I will say that being in Nashville,
I'm surrounded more by women than any other time in
my career. And that could just be the time in
my career as well, but there's no shortage of amazing
(09:46):
female leadership and entrepreneurship in Nashville, and I think a
big part of that is what I love about the
Nashville side is that a lot of the women that
I I look up to are on the creative side
and on the songwriting side and on the management side,
(10:06):
and so I feel like they are protective of the
asset of the writer, of the performer, which is that's
the backbone of our business. And so it's it is
lovely to see the level of protection that we have
on those precious assets because it really does allow for
(10:30):
us to continue growing for generations to come.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Where did you learn to be a great listener?
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I don't know. I think my husband would argue with
you on that. I think he would. I think he
would fall out of his chair if you said that
to him. I don't I don't know. I think by
mistake because early on in my career I was much
more interested in being heard than hearing other people. And
(11:00):
I was quick to be the first person to speak
up in a meeting because I wanted everyone to know
how smart I was and how great my idea was
or how right I was, you know, like, which in
turn meant let me tell somebody else how wrong they were.
And I had a couple of bosses that really sat
(11:23):
me down and you know, gave me some directions that
I definitely needed in order to become a better leader.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
We'll be right back with more the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Welcome back to the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
The subtitle of the book, Becoming Gorilla is my journey
to unleashing good in real life, online and in others.
So when did that epiphany occur to use your work
for a greater good?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
So it happened simultaneously in a couple different areas in
my life. The first area was I unfortunately lost right
around the same time that I was ill. I lost
three people that were very important to me, two of
(12:18):
which I worked with and one that I worked for.
And they were incredible leaders and incredible human beings that
had bestowed a ton of knowledge to me, and I
felt like I had all this information and I needed
to pass it on. It was like my duty to
(12:38):
pass it on. So I just kind of sought out
to like just start writing those lessons down, and mostly
business lessons, but like formative workplace lessons, also lessons that
we've all. You know, I've been on the digital side
for so many years now that I've seen the cycles
repeat themselves, and so I didn't want to waste any
(13:03):
more time. I wanted to give people the cheat sheet,
you know, the cliff notes, to like, hey, this is
what this looks like, and this is how you deal
with it. Let's move on and go go do something important.
The second part of that was COVID. You know, like
all of a sudden, people that I loved were isolated,
(13:24):
and I just saw such aggression and negativity online in
a time that we should be coming together that for once,
it kind of affected me. And I have a tough skin,
like this isn't you know. I'm on the internet all
the time. I see all the bullies, I see all
(13:46):
the horrible things that people say to each other. But
it wasn't my friends. It wasn't my family, you know,
and going through some of the political shenanigans that all
of us have been, you know, going through for the
last couple of cycles. It's just very hurtful to see
people lose themselves, you know, and their friendships over something
(14:11):
about that they read on Facebook. And so I felt like,
you know, it was kind of one of those situations
that you find yourself in when you're of a certain
age where you're like, yeah, we should do that, we
should do that too. Who's going to do that? And
then you realize you look around and you're like, oh,
that's me. Okay, I have to do that. I have
to carry that ball forward. I'm the one with the
(14:33):
information that I can share. And so for the first
time in a long time, I wasn't worried about having
an opinion. You know, most of my career has been
built on being behind the scenes to help other people,
no matter what their opinion is, carry out their message
in a way that you know they're able to to
(14:56):
the best of their ability. And now I'm sort of
of them of the mindset that you know, we all
need to need a little bit of a reset.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
So what have we put all of your employees with
you in a conference room, and then you walked out
and we asked them to speak about what it's like
to be led by you to work for your company.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
What do you? What do you?
Speaker 1 (15:24):
What?
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Would your employees say?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
They're all so incredibly different in our little office, we
have a microcosm of the whole world with in terms
of opinions and backgrounds and passions and you know, all
of that. But I would hope that they would they
I mean, there's going to be some jokes, you know,
(15:47):
I mean for sure, because like we are an entire
building of you know, sarcastic, witty, quippie women. But I
would like to believe that they would say that I
respect them, and I respect the differences, and that I
(16:08):
listen to them, and that they ultimately feel empowered to
make the best decisions that they can.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
How do you size up future employees? What do you
what's the keys to hire?
Speaker 3 (16:23):
And great?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
That's a that's a really good question, because I would
I would chant there's so many talented marketing people, but
there aren't the chemistry and the building is so important,
so by adding another person, we really can throw the
balance off. Or when somebody who is prolifically influential, and
(16:47):
the building goes on because they get like a great
opportunity or whatever it can. It can ricochet pretty pretty
wildly in the building, not only for our own chemistry,
but also for our clients that grew close to them.
But I think my biggest flex of being a small
business owner and being a digital marketing person is that
(17:08):
we actually have retained people for a long time, which
historically speaking this side of the world can be rather transient.
So that's probably my biggest flex.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
The day we're recording this, the day before a situation
occurred where Napster was just sold, I wanted to get
your take on when you hear that news and you
hear about Napster over so many of our years of
our career, what you think of this.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Just it's so boring, like again, like how many times
you know? And at the end of the day, I think,
from a branding perspective, no matter who buys and how
much money you put behind a certain brand, if there
is a feeling of you know, distrust or there isn't
(18:10):
an affinity, I think those of us that went through
the first round of Napster, you were either team Napster
because you were like downloading the shit out of those
out out of those songs. That was me. I was like,
this is great. I don't want to get sued by
(18:31):
the ri double A, but like, this is also great,
you know. And then from a marketing perspective, you're thinking, Okay,
sure this is illegal downloads, but at the end of
the day, isn't this giving us information that we can
use to inform our strategy in the in the straight world,
(18:51):
you know, to say, like what songs are actually like
what are people pursuing versus you know, how how arrogant
were we in the music business to say when you're
going to listen you know what songs you're going to
listen to, and you're going to like this song, and
you're going to like this song for forty weeks before
(19:12):
we even release it to you to where you can
buy it. That was what we were doing. So then
you have the opposite, you have the exact opposite feeling
of affinity for Napster for some people, which was also
valid by the way that it ruined the music business.
(19:34):
So I don't know how many times you try to
rebrand that or you resell it, especially when you have
players in the field like Spotify and Amazon and Apple
Music that are they come with their own set of
affinities and also affection and the opposite. But nothing is
(19:56):
ever going to be napster like I just I would be.
I hope I'm wrong, and you know whatever, But I
just I don't see it as a brand that any
anybody in the music business with any kind of memory
ever sees being a major player.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Again, so can you brag a second with a couple
of maybe examples of some campaigns for some artists that
your company has recently done that that you're really proud of.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
I will tell you I get asked this question a lot.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
And darn, I shouldn't have asked it.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Oh, no question, you know the other question that I
get asked a lot. But I want to say that
I am most proud of when one of our clients
is passionate about a cause or a nonprofit or has
the ability to shine light on an important matter, and
(20:58):
they use their platforms and are creative respectful way to
do that. I will also say that my work with
the CMA and the CMA Foundation, even though it's not
my direct work, but the idea that our genre performs
(21:18):
for free. Two basically bankroll the CMA Foundation, which is
rooted in public music education for children. And my, it's
just it's so unique to Nashville and country music. I mean,
we do see amazing campaigns of people coming together. We
(21:42):
just saw it with the Wildfire Fund, but consistently quietly
without any credit, you know, just the millions and millions
of dollars that get funneled into music education in our country,
not just in Nashville, Bill, not just in Tennessee. That
(22:02):
is amazing. And then I would also say that Music
Health Alliance is I think boots on the ground helping
musicians and people in the music industry every single day.
I mean, from you know, dental care to heart transplants,
and the idea that we would create that Tatum Alsop
(22:27):
would create a company, a nonprofit that takes care of
an entire community. That is what I think is amazing
about music and specifically about Nashville, and almost every single
one of my clients of course, you know, I'm I
are either already involved with either of those organizations or
(22:49):
I have the opportunity to tell them about opportunities that
they can plug in. And so that is That is
what I'm most proud of.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Closing the book Becoming Gorilla.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
It's a lot about you know, resilience, authenticity, but it's
also about continuous learning.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
So what are you still trying to learn?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
My god? Everything? I mean, kids that humble me. My
husband is also an entrepreneur, so he's always doing something,
and neither one of us are afraid to fail. If
you fail, you're like okay, you know, like, well anyways,
we move on. But for me, every single day there's
(23:38):
something to figure out. So I just know that I
walk into my day knowing there's something that's going to
challenge me, and so I'm not derailed by that, you know,
or the strategy that I laid out on Tuesday on
Thursday is obsolete. That happens a lot, but I will
(23:58):
say that I have come to a certain age where,
you know, I am patient. I listen to everybody's big plans,
and just like the cycles that we were talking about earlier,
I'm like, have you thought about this? And there's a like, no,
I've never I haven't thought about that. I'm like, okay, well,
(24:20):
like that's kind of my skill now, right to be
the person that can poke holes in some of the plans,
and it used to be, especially in digital media, you
needed to be first and you needed to be fast,
and that is not the case anymore. You know, we
can we don't have to reinvent the wheel the whole time,
(24:42):
and we don't have to be the first person to
do as many things as possible. So the idea that
we can be creative and thoughtful and not only in
what we put out there, but how we communicate with people,
it's just a it's it's it's part of the ethos,
you know. So I think people forget that sometimes, so
(25:04):
being able to remind them that it's it's it's Instagram.
You know, at the end of the day, if you're
having this much stress out, is stress about it or
you are feeling, you know, overwhelmed by it, like you
you can take a break, you can there's ways to
work around it. And I get the same questions from
(25:26):
musicians as I get from my mom friends, you know,
I as I get from big brands. Like everybody is
concerned about safety, everybody's concerned about data, everybody wants to
have more followers and more engagement. So it's it's the same.
So I try to answer some of those questions in
(25:46):
the book, and hopefully my hope is that when people
read it, they feel a little better about it.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
The book is great. Congratulations and I appreciate you spend
the time.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Thank you, nice Walkay, Thanks Jane, appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Lynn Hoffman
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