Navigating the Future of Branding and Business Growth w/ Jenny Dennis

Jenny Dennis, our guest and the creative powerhouse behind Trio Solutions, takes us on a captivating journey from her roots in New England to the sunny shores of Charleston. Her story is a fascinating testament to the unexpected twists that can define a career, as she shares how a simple suggestion from restaurant patrons led her from biology to advertising. Jenny's experiences highlight the power of perseverance, a passion for marketing, and how seizing opportunities can lay the groundwork for professional success.

As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of marketing, we explore the shift from traditional tactics to dynamic, data-driven strategies. Jenny, MPCC President Kathi Herrmann and Co Host Darius Kelly discuss the critical importance of understanding marketing fundamentals and the role of branding as a strategic investment. Businesses today must engage with customers meaningfully, leveraging social media reviews and feedback to build a reputable brand identity. We delve into the art of aligning brand values with customer expectations and the impact this has on a loyal customer base.

In the tech-driven world we live in, the conversation extends to the role of technology in our daily lives, from AI's futuristic promises to the indispensable nature of our mobile devices. We examine the balance between being connected and taking time to unplug, especially for new businesses eager to make their mark online. From influencer marketing to the enduring legacy of iconic advertising campaigns, the discussion accentuates the critical strategies businesses can adopt to thrive in today's digital age. We wrap up with insights into the community-focused initiatives at Trio Solutions, including their innovative Creative Lab, which offers a vibrant space for content creation and collaboration.

Presenting Sponsor: Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce

Studio Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions

Production Sponsor: RMBO.co

Design Sponsor: DK Design

Committee:
Kathleen Herrmann | Host | MPCC Immediate Past President | Mount Pleasant Towne Centre
Mike Compton | Co-host | Marketing Chair | RMBO.co
Rebecca Imholz | Co-host | MPCC Executive Director
Amanda Bunting Comen | Co-host | Social ABCs
Ben Nesvold | Co-host | In-coming President | Edward Jones

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, hello and welcome to the Building Business
Podcast powered by the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce.
We're recording in theCharleston Radio Group Studios,
who, of course, are a hugesupporter of the chamber, with
our friend, brian Cleary, thebest mixer, master of all of our
podcasts.
Thank you, brian.
Kathy Herman here.
I am the current president ofthe Mount Pleasant Chamber of

(00:25):
Commerce.
I'm also the marketing directorfor Mount Pleasant Town Center.
I'd like to thank everyone forjoining us and I have a really
special co-host here with metoday.
I'm so excited Darius Kelly.
He is the owner of Darius KellyDesign and a current member of
the Chamber Marketing Committee.
Darius welcome, darius.
Tell everyone a little bitabout yourself.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Well, I'm actually a local here in Charleston so it's
not many of us still around,but I've had my business for
about five years now.
I'm an avid Steelers fan andI'm so excited to be here with
our guest and I'm ready to getthis started.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
I met her very early on, when I moved here in 2018,
in a completely different 2016,I'm sorry in a completely
different capacity, which isalways so funny, but I always
clearly remember the firstpeople that I met when I moved
here, so I'm really excited thatshe's here with us today.
She is the president and chiefexecutive sorry chief creative
officer for Trio Solutions,which is a full-service

(01:24):
marketing communications agencybased right here in our beloved
Mount Pleasant.
Please welcome everyone.
Jenny, Dennis, Hello, goodafternoon, Jenny.
We're so excited to have youhere Again.
We met in a different capacitya long, long time ago and I'm so
excited about what you're doingwith Trio Solutions.
So let's get started, as wealways do, with a little bit

(01:47):
about your background and whatled you to Trio Solutions.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, sure, so I was.
In terms of background, I wasborn and raised in New England.
I'm a New Hampshire girl, I'msorry, I'm not a Steeler, but,
and you know, I did sort of thenon-traditional college route.
So I did not come out of highschool and just do the four
years, I did it over time.
I actually, when I graduatedhigh school, I moved all the way

(02:12):
to California because I thoughtI was going to be like this
really cool.
You know, hey, I'm not going tobe bound by living in New
Hampshire in a small town, I'mgoing all the way to California.
And I wasn't trying to be anactress or anything, but I
definitely had some dreams andsome goals and some things.
And so, believe it or not, Istarted my classes in biology,

(02:33):
which has nothing to do withmarketing at all.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
It's a funny story.
It is a funny story.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
And so as I was taking these classes, I also
worked in restaurants.
So I did my waitressing and Iwas a bartender and all of that.
And then about two years intoit, my dad got really sick,
unfortunately, and that causedme to want to move back home.
And so I moved back to the EastCoast and I got a job at a fine
dining restaurant and I had Ionly worked at the bar and I had

(02:59):
these two guys their names wereKevin Tracy and John Edwards
and they would come in almostevery weeknight and they were my
regulars and they owned an adagency and so we would get to
talking and they would alwayswatch me like upsell the wine

(03:20):
list and just really be anadvocate for the restaurant and
so good with the customers andall that stuff.
And so one day they were like,have you ever thought about a
career in advertising?
And I was like, absolutely not.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
I definitely have not thought about that.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yeah, and so, long story short, they continued to
kind of court me in this ideaand they said just come in and
see what we do.
I think there's a place for youat our agency.
So I did go in, I ended upworking with them, I changed the
biology major and sort of.
The rest is history.
But yeah, that was my firstagency job, my first insight

(03:54):
into marketing and really when Idecided that I liked this and
wanted to do more of it, Well,apparently you were born with it
right Because you were doing itat the bar.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
Yes, Before you even knew that you were doing it at
the bar.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah, we even knew that you were doing it, it's
true.
So fast forward.
I moved to to Charleston in2007.
And I was a stay at home momwhen I moved here.
I moved here my daughter.
I was eight months pregnantwith my second daughter and so
you know I stayed home for abouta year or two.

(04:30):
But while I was staying home Iwas also a group exercise
instructor and I worked at StAndrews Family Fitness in West
Ashley and every month I wouldsee this rack of skirt magazines
and I loved skirt magazine likeI thought it was the coolest
thing.
I just loved how it wasoversized and all the graphics
and how the kitschy copy and theads.
I loved this magazine and so,as usual, I picked up my copy.
I open it up and there's thisgiant full page ad that they're

(04:53):
looking to hire.
And I came home and I told myhusband I was like I'm ready to
go back to work and he was likereally.
And I said, yeah, I want towork for Skirt Magazine.
And so I applied for the joband literally like the next day
they called me in for aninterview and I remember it was
like conference room styleinterview, everybody sitting
around the table, and I ended upgetting the job.

(05:13):
It's crazy because I'm not fromCharleston.
I really didn't have a networkat the time, I didn't even know
anybody.
I moved here and I was a stayat home mom who taught step
aerobics Like I had no insidelike network or circle of
influence.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
But you know, sometimes that's not a bad way
to start fresh right and youmeet people that way having.
To get out and pound thepavement to find clients.

Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah.
So you know, I started sellingads at Skirt and I think that's
really helped in positioning mefor the role that I have now,
because I've been on both sidesof the aisle.
You know I've sold media and Inow, you know, help create media
.
So it's two different sidesthere.
I had a really, really great runat Skirt.
I loved every minute of it.
I worked there for about eightyears, I, you know, moved up

(06:01):
from ad sales rep to associatepublisher.
I eventually got the privilegeof being the publisher after
Nikki Harden, who is the founderof Skirt, retired.
You know she made an amazing,wonderful product and I'm so
glad that I got to be a part ofthat story.
And then it was time for me togo.
The company that Nikki had soldthe magazine to they had, you
know, we just sort of had adifference of opinion on what
direction the magazine shouldtake and I decided that it was

(06:23):
time for me to go and,ironically, jessica Monday, who
is the founder and CEO of trio,she had trio, had some clients
that would run ads in skirt, andso I did the typical.
You know, when you leave a jobyou kind of send out that like
email from your personal emailthat's like I'm looking for a
job and I did not have anotherjob lined up.

(06:45):
And so Jessica received thatemail that I sent out to a small
group of people.
And about two weeks after Ileft Skirt, I got a call from
Jessica and she said hey, wouldyou like to have lunch with me?
And I was like sure.
So I went and I had lunch withher and she said you know, I'm

(07:05):
doing amazing things at Trio,but I need help running this.
I want to scale it, I want togrow it and you know, would you
be interested in coming andhelping me run my agency?
And I said yes, and here we are, seven years later.
That's amazing.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
That's a big difference from working at Skirt
Magazine and doing that versushelping build a marketing agency
.
What?
Was that change of scope, likefor you.

Speaker 3 (07:25):
It was actually very exciting.
You know, I truly believe thatto be successful in this type of
business, you have to seechange as an opportunity and not
as a threat, and so I reallyembraced it.
Jessica is a wonderful,wonderful business owner and
just a great boss.
She cares so deeply about theteam and about our culture and
she wants you to have theprofessional development that

(07:47):
you need.
One of the things that sheinvested in me very early on was
a leadership coach.
That was a game changer for me.
It really helps you identifyall of your blind spots, which a
lot of them are more blind thanyou think they are, and so you
know that helped me to be ableto cultivate these relationships
, to be able to step into therole of president, cause I was

(08:09):
not hired as the president, Iwas hired as the COO and she was
the CEO and president.
And then, over time, you know,we hired another person here and
another person there, and inthe seven years that I've been
here, we have doubled in size,meaning our team.
And we've also doubled inrevenue.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
Well, that's important too, and we did it
together.

Speaker 3 (08:29):
I certainly do not take all the credit for that,
but we truly are somethingspecial.
I do think of us as the dynamicduo for sure.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
So, for the businesses that are listening to
us today, jenny, some of themwill always and I've been
marketing since I got out ofcollege a very, very, very long
time ago, so I always knew Iactually went to school for
marketing is what I wanted to do, because I was always kind of
that person that was out thereand whatever.
But there are still businessesout there that say I don't need
marketing.
Yeah Right, so before we eventackle that subject, which is-.

Speaker 3 (09:00):
I've got a lot to say about that.
A very unsmart way to think, bythe way.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
We keep talking about Trio Solutions, so take this
opportunity to let our listenersknow what type of services your
agency provides.

Speaker 3 (09:14):
We keep saying full-service marketing.
What does that mean?
That's a good question.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
And let's explain to them the importance.
We'll do that first, and thenwe'll tackle about why you need
marketing.

Speaker 3 (09:25):
Yeah Well, for us, full service means we do a
little of a lot of things.
A lot of times I even shared,as I was telling you kind of, my
coming up story.
I used the word advertising.
Marketing is not synonymouswith advertising.
It's so much more than that,especially now where we have all
of the technology and thisentire like you know, user

(09:45):
experience and customerexperience and all that the
world is offering us.
It's not just oh well, do youhave a logo?
Oh, do you have a tagline?
Oh, do you have a website?
It's like what is?
Every single thing that you areputting out into the world is
some sort of message, and ifyou're putting nothing out,
that's also a message.

(10:05):
So when you talk about fullservice, it means not just we do
all of the services that fallunder the giant umbrella that we
would call marketing, but it'salso full service in the
relationship and the way that wewant to come alongside and
partner with our clients and ourcolleagues.
And so for us, ideally like anideal client for us is someone
who really is looking forsomeone to collaborate with and

(10:28):
someone that wants to have aplan, and we want to execute
that plan together and beadaptable and change and
optimize and monitor and do allof those things.
I'm not a fan of the spaghettimodel.
It doesn't work for theweatherman, it doesn't work for
marketing.
Just throw stuff at the walland see what works.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
That's an old lady term that we use.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
All right, I just say it in myself.
I'm sorry.
I knew exactly what, Jennymeant but the younger generation
might not.
That's a great question.

Speaker 2 (10:59):
Darius, because now everyone else would need to know
the answer to that question.

Speaker 1 (11:04):
But that used to be the way marketing was, like all
right, you'd sit down with aclient because I've been on kind
of both sides myself and itwould just be like, well, let's,
let's just try everything andsee what works now.
And how ironic, right that allthree of us are in the marketing
industry which I think is great, which I'm so happy to be here
today, but now it's so it couldbe.
It's so targeted, it's such acollaborative effort with the

(11:27):
client.
I remember just sitting in aoffice and the and the
advertising agency would comeand just present stuff to us, Um
, and my boss, boss, boss at thetime would be like yes, no, yes
, no, I mean, they never askedus right back in the day, that
was, if she was able to do theirjob to come up with it.
So I love that you brought uphow important it is to be
collaborative with the clients.

Speaker 3 (11:48):
But well, and also back in the day, you didn't have
access to the data like youhave today.
Now it was kind of like allright, yes, there was some
information on how many carswere on the road if you had a
billboard up, or what thecirculation or the readership
was If you had, you know, aprint ad, or what the
listenership was if you had aradio ad, all those types of
things and the reach, butnowhere near what we've got

(12:10):
access to now with data.
And of course, there was nosocial media and you know that's
just another total animal.
So it's interesting.
It's come a long way, but I'veenjoyed watching this evolution,
you know, and I think it'sreally cool to say that we are
part of something old school andsomething new and innovative
and exciting.

Speaker 1 (12:29):
So so what are you going to be your old school?
Yeah, I know we'll get ameeting again here in about 20
years.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
That is so funny, but but seriously, let's touch base
about this question aboutmarketing too.

Speaker 3 (12:41):
Back in the day they used to do this spaghetti model.

Speaker 1 (12:45):
That is so funny.
But seriously, let's touch baseabout this question, about
marketing too, because I'veunfortunately met many
businesses in my career andrecently too.
I'm just going to build it andthey're going to come, and if
they don't, then they're silly,and whether it's budgets or old

(13:05):
fashioned belief, whatever itmight be, I try my best to
explain that that's just not theway that it works and, of
course, you both know this,being in the marketing world.
What are some tips and I'd loveto hear from both of you
actually tips on what we canshare with our listeners, maybe
besides hiring an amazingmarketing firm?

(13:27):
We're going to touch base aboutthat later, but what are some
things they could do on theirown, perhaps that are easier to
do for people who are not somarketing-minded?

Speaker 3 (13:36):
Yeah, would you like to go first, I guess.

Speaker 2 (13:40):
I would say the first thing would be just to educate
yourself.
I've come in contact withbusinesses and they don't even
have the understanding of what amarketing strategy is or how to
go about creating a campaign oreven just a design aspect and
why all of those things areimportant in marketing as a
whole and even getting thatmessage out.
So I would always tell peopleeducate yourself.

(14:02):
Probably go on Google and justdo some research just to have a
basic understanding, becausewhen you're meeting with a trio
solutions, for example, thatwould help them better
understand how to help you andto get your story out there and
have your business grow yeah, no, I totally agree.

Speaker 3 (14:19):
You know, I always tell people like ask the pros.
You know I might be a pro inmarketing, but I think Steve
Forbes is a the pros.
You know I might be a pro inmarketing, but I think Steve
Forbes is a pretty good like.
You know.
You should take, take advicefrom him.
I think Forbes is sort ofsynonymous with money and most
people are, you know, runningbusinesses.
Yes, they want to make animpact and they want to make a
difference, but they also wantto make money.
Even if you're a nonprofit, youstill have to run that like a

(14:41):
business and you have to havemoney to be able to make a
larger impact and serve thecommunity.
So, but Steve Forbes says thatthe single most important
investment you can make in yourbusiness is your brand period.
And so what people don'trealize is that your brand is
not just oh, did I run an ad oram I on Facebook.
Your brand is also how peopleanswer the phone, if you have a

(15:03):
brick and mortar, the experiencethat they have with your
salespeople, if you are mailingthem something, or if they're
purchasing something from yourShopify website.
It's the packaging, it's everylittle aspect of any interaction
and engagement that someone haswith your business.
That is what marketing cancapture.
And so you've got to at somepoint, whether you're using a
professional agency, whetheryou're using a professional

(15:25):
agency, whether you're trying toself-implement and do it
yourself and lots of people cando that and be successful or
whether you're not doing it atall, you're still marketing.

Speaker 1 (15:34):
Well, and also in the age of social media, one bad
review, one bad note abouteither your restaurant or your
store, and everything goes viraland it can really affect you.
You have to be prepared tohandle all those things.
And again, I've talked with somepeople who are like, oh, I
don't read my reviews or oh, Idon't, and I'm like my mind is

(15:55):
blown.
I said how do you expect to besuccessful and still be around
in a year if you're notaddressing anything that's
important to people, andespecially in Mount Pleasant?
We all know there's lots ofchoices in this town and so you
know I could go to restaurant A,that I've always had a great
meal and this, and that you knowthe service is great, the

(16:17):
reviews are great.
Or I could go to restaurant B,which is the opposite, and I
choose to spend my money at A.
I'm not going back to B.
Yeah, is the opposite and Ichoose to spend my money a day.
I'm not going back to be, youknow, and I think people just
assume, oh, people are justgoing to come in.
It's not the way it worksanymore.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
It's not, and you were asking, like you know, what
are some tips or some toolsthat people can use, and I think
even with when it comes toreviews and being open to
hearing what the consumers aresaying about your business,
especially on the local level.
It is really important andthere's so much out there.
You know, I'm not even sure ifwe're going to get into the

(16:52):
whole AI conversation.
I feel like it's.

Speaker 1 (16:54):
You know, that could be a whole other podcast, I
think it could but Part two ofyour finale is AI.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (17:00):
Well, there's probably AI out there that we
wouldn't even have to show up.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
and yeah, Well, there's probably AI out there
that we wouldn't even have toshow up and we could just have a
podcast, Brian find my voice onAI and let's just ask it some
questions Exactly.

Speaker 3 (17:11):
But the reason I say that is because it is really
amazing the capabilities and theopportunities for people to
come out and do things on theirown, and we have vetted a lot of
those.
I'm sure you have too, and wehave vetted a lot of those I'm
sure you have too.
You know.
It's the canvas and the siteswhere you can build your own
website and all of the tools andtechnology out there.

(17:31):
But the one thing that we'venoticed at TRIO when people have
come to us and said, hey well,I did this on my own, or that
has professional knowledge onhow to use that, and so those
are a great, great startstarting point for people.
It's a great opportunity forfolks that might not have a huge

(17:56):
budget but they still.
I highly recommend that theypartner with somebody.
It doesn't mean you have to gohire a full service agency like
Trio, but partner with somebody,like when you talked about
educating yourself so that youcan get the most out of that
tool that you're investing in.
That's really where you'regoing to see the differentiator,
because everyone's trying touse those tools, everybody's

(18:16):
trying to do those things areyou seeing um in your time at
trio um, especially nowadays,like you talk about the canva
and ai?
are you seeing?

Speaker 2 (18:24):
similarities in like the challenges that those
businesses are having whenthey're saying oh.
I did this logo by myself, or Idid this website quickly by
myself.
Do you think that's a challengewhen?
They're trying to like,differentiate themselves Because
, like, a new business isstarted every day.

Speaker 3 (18:41):
Yes, I do.
I think that for the businessesthat are a little more scrappy
and they and they survive andthey make it through that, like
you know, sort of volatile timeof trying to be successful, a
lot of times what we see is thenthey come to us and say, okay,
well, I'm ready for a rebrandright or I need a new website
because what they did in thebeginning it's kind of like a

(19:02):
house of cards, you know it.
It's not going to sustain them,it's not going to help them
really scale their business ortake it to the next level.
It was maybe like what theyneeded to do to get that
starting point and you knowthere is.
There's always a good time topartner with someone who's
professional in marketing.
It can be before you start,like in that you know, ideation
phase.
It can be in the startup phase.

(19:23):
It can be you're five years old, it can be you're 25 years old.
In the business there's alwaysan opportunity and a need to
have professional partners.

Speaker 1 (19:33):
I also think it's funny.
We were just saying before howimportant the brand is.
Right, I mean, that iseverything is the brand.
And for some companies whoincorrectly think that they can
make the perfect brand or theirperfect logo and I'm not saying
anything bad about all mycompany, I love all my
businesses what I'm saying isthat this is that from the start
, to me is the time to get theprofessional help.

(19:56):
Yeah, Because also, you couldput something out there and
maybe not have the ability to doan appropriate Google search to
find out does somebody elsehave that logo, Does somebody
else have that name and are theyright down the street?
Yeah, you know.
And so starting from thebeginning to me makes the most
sense.
But I understand that, you know, maybe they could start and

(20:17):
then figure out that they need alittle refresh.

Speaker 3 (20:20):
You make a really good point, because the reality
is is that there's a lot morethat goes into having developing
that brand besides just thelogo or even the name, and
you're you do have to registerwith the secretary of state and
you do need to make sure thatyou know the URL is available
and the social handles areavailable and that there isn't
someone else with the samebusiness name.
You know, even in anothercountry.

(20:42):
You know that that can be thecase now, especially with access
to the internet like we haveand everybody being able to do
business globally.
So, yes, you're absolutelyright.
In a perfect scenario, ideally,people would come to us first
and let us help them understand.
Why are you in business, whatis it that you want your

(21:02):
business to represent and howcan we best communicate that to
the audience that you're tryingto target?

Speaker 2 (21:09):
So how would, I'm sorry, go?

Speaker 1 (21:10):
ahead.
No, I was just going to say Iwas going to tell a little funny
antidote.
I went to type in to find anInstagram account.
Not that long ago, I missed oneletter and it brought me to a
site that nobody wants to go to.

Speaker 3 (21:22):
We've all had that Right.

Speaker 1 (21:28):
So I mean be careful, I mean you know, look into that
stuff.
I mean I only missed one littleletter Right, so we always want
to keep that in mind.

Speaker 2 (21:32):
I didn't mean to interrupt Darius, I was just
thinking about that the otherday and kind of popped on.

Speaker 1 (21:36):
I'm like, are the alarms on my computer?
My corporate security gonna gobananas.
I didn't mean to type this in.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
I was kind of give a little bit of background and a
description on what brandingreally is for those out there
who do have a business and Ihear all these buzzwords like
branding and marketing and SEOet cetera.
But what is a brand?

Speaker 3 (21:57):
Yeah, that's a great question.
I mean, the brand is basicallythe essence of the business.
It is when that entrepreneur orthat group of people or that
you know other business decidedhey, we're going to, we have a
product or a service that we aregoing to bring to the
marketplace.
In addition to that, you canhave a personal brand, but we'll

(22:18):
put that to the side for asecond, but really it's the
entire package.
So it is the name, it is theway that it makes someone feel,
it's the emotional response thatyou want people to have when
they hear your brand, engagewith your brand or interact with
your brand.
It's the visual aesthetic of it, it's the tone, it's the voice,

(22:41):
it's all encompassing.
It's really how you show up inthe marketplace, how you want to
speak to people, and you reallyneed to have alignment with the
values of your brand andyourself, Because if you don't
have any kind of synergy withwhat you want to open as a

(23:01):
business, you're going to findit, I believe, a struggle to
serve those people, Because whatwe see time and time again is
people come into Trio and theywant to put their personal
preference on whatever it isthat we're doing A billboard
design, you know a color palette, a font choice and it's like

(23:21):
okay, if you are a 50-year-oldwoman and you like this, you
know more feminine style font,but your product is serving
teenage boys.
It doesn't matter if you likethis, you know more feminine
style font, but your product isserving teenage boys.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
It doesn't matter.

Speaker 3 (23:32):
if you like that, you know what I mean, and so I
think people need to realizethat the brand is the message
that you want, how you want tobe received in the world how the
company be received.
How the company be received.
Not the personal or the product?
Yeah, Exactly.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
Well, I've always said people always ask me all
the time because I've been doingmarketing so long about sales
and things, Because I've beenactually working in shopping
centers my whole career and so Iwas lucky enough to find
something that I adored, right.
But I would not be successfulif I had to sell staples or
recording equipment, Likesomething that doesn't interest

(24:07):
me.
I couldn't sell.
And it really is exactly like.
It's the same concept, thinkingthat just because I like it
doesn't mean you like it.
That's right, and if you wantyour business to be successful,
you need to make sure it'stargeted to the people that
you're trying to sell it to.

Speaker 3 (24:24):
Yeah, I would say, like my three fundamental things
that are so important.
Like when developing somethinglike that, whether it's a brand
or marketing campaign orinitiative or anything, is like
knowing your why we do a great,we offer a great service.
It's like a one day workshopwhere companies can come in and
we can really help them do adeep dive to understand, like,
what is your mission?
And if you don't have a missionstatement, it can be like what

(24:47):
is your cause, your passion?
Like why do you exist in theworld?
And then it's like from a valuestandpoint.
A lot of people say, well, we'rea values-based organization, or
they may have their values likeon you know, a plaque on the
wall or something like that, andthat's really important.
But the whole point of thevalues is to make sure that the
internal people that you'reworking with and the people that
you serve, there's alignment inthose values, because that's

(25:11):
how you hire, that's how youfire, that's how you make
decisions, that's how you do youoperate your company.
So you have this like outwardfacing mission or purpose that
you're emulating to the world,but then you have this values in
the system and the way that youoperate behind closed doors.
That then spills out to how theworld receives that mission

(25:31):
that you're trying to accomplish.
So we do a mission, vision andvalues workshop where we will
bring clients in and we'll say,and it doesn't matter Again,
hopefully you're doing somethinglike this from the get-go, but
a lot of times you're not.
And then you realize, hey, whyare we struggling, or why are we
missing the mark, or what couldit be?
If you can really solidifythose things, it helps with your

(25:52):
messaging, because you justkeep referring back to that,
like, stay in your lane.
You cannot be all things to allpeople, and I think sometimes
that's what people try to do,and they try to serve and pivot
and do all these things and it'slike no, be true to what your
brand is.

Speaker 2 (26:06):
I think that's really important, especially once you
come up with this is what mybrand values are.
This is the look, this is howwe communicate and just being
consistent.
I think that's a that's a bigthing that I've seen working
with companies and just thatconsistency to what our values
are.

Speaker 1 (26:20):
If you keep changing too much, I think people either
lose interest, they don't reallyknow what you are or what
you're trying to say and thatcould be annoying and
frustrating to potentialcustomers like me.
I'm like is it a car dealershipor is it a moped store?

Speaker 3 (26:35):
Whatever, it might be .

Speaker 1 (26:36):
And you can't do that .
Like Darius just said, it'sthat consistency that's really
important.

Speaker 2 (26:40):
I'm sorry, go ahead.

Speaker 1 (26:41):
No.

Speaker 3 (26:42):
I was just going to say.
I mean, we've all heard thatstatement, Like we have the
attention span of a goldfish orsomething.
I have a net, mine's a net youknow, goldfish is a little
better looking, I think, but youknow that's what?
Seven seconds or something likethat.
And so you have to be carefulbecause, yes, you want to make
sure that you're captivating theaudience, but the way to do

(27:03):
that is that brand recognition,brand recognition, and if you're
constantly changing, and you'reconstantly utilizing
mis-utilizing tools like thecanvas and these other things,
where you're just opening it andgoing, oh that's a cool
template, I'll use that, andthen the next week you go to do
your social media like that's acool template, let me use that.
The two have nothing to do withone another and you're just
causing brand confusion andyou're not building a loyal

(27:25):
customer base and you're notbuilding people that are going
to be your best advertisingsource out there, which is
referral and review, and so ifyou can't build that, then you
know you're going to get anegative shock appeal, kind of
like Kathy going to the wrongInstagram account by accident.

Speaker 2 (27:42):
It's like oh, I thought this was a fishing
company but none of the postsdon't even look anything that
that fits that brand.
So um just piggybacking off ofthat.
What can somebody do toestablish you know, this is my
brand, this is my marketing,this is how I communicate.
How do they go aboutestablishing that?

Speaker 3 (28:04):
yeah, I think you really have to take the time
there.
There's a lot of you know DIYthings out there.
But if someone were to come tous from the startup phase and
say, hey, we want to develop abrand, we start by doing
something we call a discoverycall and you really sit down,
there's a questionnaire that wesend to them ahead of time and
really make the person think,because here's the thing the

(28:25):
business owner needs to know thebrand better than we do.
Right?
And sometimes people come and weask them questions and they're
like well, I don't know If youdon't know how do you expect the
customers to

Speaker 1 (28:39):
know Right.

Speaker 3 (28:39):
And so, of course, we want to be a sponge, we want to
learn as much as we possiblycan about the industry of
whoever the client you know thatwe're serving is in, but they
have to be able to come and beable to articulate and identify
what it is that they're doing.
So I would say, in the branddevelopment phase, the number
one, most important thing is toreally understand what problem

(29:02):
are you solving.
Why are you creating thisproduct?
Why are you creating thisservice?
What does it do?
What does it mean?
What is the impact that it canhave?
Who is it going to help?
Who can you serve?
If you can get really crystalclear on those types of things,
then that gives you thefoundation to start building
things.
Okay, well, we know why weexist, we know what problem we

(29:23):
solve and we know who has thatproblem that needs us to solve
it.
Now let's go find those people,let's go talk to them, let's
see where they're at and whatplatforms they're on, and that
kind of stuff.

Speaker 2 (29:34):
And even in that, let's say, we establish, I come
in and I have all those thingsfigured out.
I think the next stage of thatis why having a professional is
so important, because whenthings change in the market, you
need somebody to help younavigate.
And then like, how do I stayconsistent to who I am but then
pivot a little bit just so thatI'm staying in the right lane

(29:55):
like I don't like, for example,I don't want to be political,
but like wearing a red hat had adifferent meaning once that
occurred.
So just how do you navigate?
Just the little things yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:07):
Well, I think the next phase after that is really
your name.
You know, like, what is thename that you're going to use.
Sometimes there's a wholeprocess in just developing the
name of a business or anorganization.
And then it's like, what is thevisual identity which we talked
about, which is all thoseaesthetics, colors and fonts and
logos and all of that coolstuff.
And then it's like, okay, wheredo you want to have a presence

(30:30):
off?
And then it's like, okay, wheredo you want to have a presence?
And I think, for as far as thenavigating part, you really have
to establish where you want tobe.
And then you got to payattention, you really have to
listen and you can't just set itand forget it.
You can't be.
You know, in marketing,autopilot is not a good idea.
So many times people will comein and say, well, yeah, I'm
running Facebook ads or I'mrunning Google ads and they're
just, they're not, you know,maintaining it, they're not

(30:53):
monitoring it and they're justletting it run on autopilot.
And in the beginning that mightwork well for some folks, but I
do think that there's alwaysopportunity, and especially with
these technology platforms.
They're changing the algorithms, they're evolving, they're
changing the specs.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
They're making it so much work now to get your ad,
even though you're paying.
They're making it so muchharder to get your ad seen.

Speaker 3 (31:14):
And if you, just one thing that we are finding a
challenge right now, especiallyin serving our clients, is if
you're on the social platforms.
There's so many different specs.
You could have an ad in stories.
You could have an ad in reels.
You could have an ad as astatic post.
You could have an ad in reels.

(31:34):
You could have an ad as astatic post.
You could have a carousel, youcan have all these things.
But they all require differentspecs and what happens is if you
just put them in there and youdon't pay attention to that or
the character count of how manywords you're allowed to have in
that post.
They just changed it.
It was 125 characters, Now it's80 characters.
So all these people that havemessages out there that were 125
characters long, they're beingcut off and truncated and if
they don't know that, thenthey're out of luck.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
But do you remember when Instagram first came out,
and it was I don't know, it waslike one or two lines.
Remember, like that was the bigthing.

Speaker 3 (32:01):
It was just like the best thing.

Speaker 1 (32:03):
It was photos only, actually, yeah the best thing
about Instagram was it was onlypictures and like people would
only write like a sentence.

Speaker 2 (32:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:09):
And then I guess whatever changed.
And now I mean, some of themare like almost novel length.
But you know, I'm speaking oflike keeping up with all these
new things though, because whenI started there was none of this
obviously.
I mean, we didn't even haveemail.

Speaker 3 (32:24):
Anyway, that's how old I am.
Oh, I picked up the phone a lot.
Yeah, of email.
Anyway, that's how old I am.
Oh, I picked up the phone a lot.
Yeah, I did a lot of the phone,um can't relate.

Speaker 1 (32:32):
Have you heard or can you share anything that you've
heard about um any kind of newfuture marketing things that
that are coming around, like youknow.
I know TikTok is.

Speaker 3 (32:44):
I can't watch it.
I can't, I can't yeah, I can'tdo it well.

Speaker 1 (32:46):
I can't do it.
Well, I can't do it, but Ithink even outside of social
media.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
You know there's a lot even better.

Speaker 1 (32:51):
Please, anything outside of socials even better.

Speaker 3 (32:53):
Well, I think we've also seen the commercials, that
there's a lot of this AR and VRtechnology out there which you
know, to be honest, we have notdabbled a lot in that.
Keep in mind that the thingsthat we see out in the forefront
and the cool Apple commercialsthat we see, or the Super Bowl
commercials or the amazinginteresting things we see on

(33:14):
TikTok, those are the earlyadopters, right, and so we're
not going to get into the wholecollege-level marketing course,
but most people it's going totake quite some time for them to
get caught up to that.
Even AI, you know, yes, a lotof folks are using chat, gpt or
some version of that to docertain things in their work,

(33:35):
but there's so much moreopportunity there and the
average my husband doesn't evenknow what that is Like, you know
.
So I think it just depends onwhere, what industry you're in
and what kind of job you have ifyou're implementing those tools
.
But I guarantee you, you knowmore than half the planet isn't
using this stuff, and so, whenyou think about it in that
regard, there's still a long wayfor us to go.

(33:55):
But I do think that.
I also think you know how longnow I'm giving a, I'm admitting
something I prefer to talk totext.
I don't like to type.
I kind of am going blind.
My thumbs are big and weird andI'm always like then I get
autocorrect and then I'm likecalling my daughter Gracie gravy
and it's just like it's not, itdoesn't work out, so I talk to

(34:18):
text.
But I think that's just onesmall example of like being able
to do voice activated commands.
You know the whole chat botthing, how much that has evolved
and how much smaller, betterand adaptive and predictable
those things have gone.
So I think it's taking thestuff that we have like, when
you say futuristic, I know it'scoming.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
We've seen the Apple commercials where we're just
going to walk around like Ironman and have you know, are they
really going to implant it in myhead or something that might
hopefully?
We're doing it yeah, I'm notgoing to be around for that or
something that might hopefullywe're good, yeah, I'm not going
to be around for that.

Speaker 2 (34:49):
I really, really don't want to be there.
I'm biting that as long as Ican.

Speaker 3 (34:51):
That could, that could be a possibility, but I'm
just talking about the fact ofbeing able to see.
You know you don't need to lookat a little tablet or a little
phone screen.

Speaker 1 (35:03):
Anymore it's.
I don't want to know anythingabout this.
That technology definitelyexists, it probably exists,
right, it does exist, and it'sright on our heels for sure.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
But I still think we got a little runway before it's.
We do we better, and it's notaccessible for everybody.
That's the other thing too.

Speaker 3 (35:18):
It's kind of like a Tesla or a rocket ship.
Ride to the moon?
Yeah, you could go, but it'snot accessible to everybody.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
That's not realistic, it's not mainstream, yet no not
at all.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
That's a lot.
That's pretty heavy.

Speaker 3 (35:31):
It is, it is but it is but you also.
There's one of two ways we canlook at this right.
Well, people love it.
Listen, I mean.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
I work in a shopping center, so my target market
would love that more than lifeitself, and they probably
actually love just being able towalk into a store and point at
something and have it thrown intheir car.
Whatever, we can do with this,because that's the Asian, it's
like Amazon.

Speaker 3 (35:53):
That's exactly what I was going to say.
When you go to the airport, youjust like.
I just did it the other day forthe first time.
I don't remember when was Iflying out of.
Anyways, I went in and it justsays scan your credit card.
And you walk the store, getwhatever you want and you just

(36:13):
walk out and it automaticallyyeah, takes it out of you.
I did that for the first timethe other day.
Chicago how to feel I was inchicago it was weird, weird.

Speaker 1 (36:16):
Right, it was weird, but it was kind of like I don't
even like self-service because Ifeel like I'm not paying for oh
, I love you, I'm sure, yeah, Imean well, it is quicker, it is
much quicker I'll do it with alot.
I just take my big buggy in, sosee, I just feel bad for the
people being paid that theycan't, they don't, I don't well,
I used to work bring up mygroceries.

Speaker 3 (36:33):
For me the good news is is that this has been
happening since the beginning oftime, where things will evolve
and it does seem like wow, youknow, robots are coming for our
jobs or whatever these thingsare, but no, we just come up
with new jobs.
You know what I mean?
And that is literally thehistory of the human world.

Speaker 1 (36:50):
Well, we're almost the same age.
I'm a little older than you,but I remember the first cell
phones, yeah.

Speaker 3 (36:54):
Right, I mean not the big, gigantic ones, the ones in
the back.

Speaker 1 (36:56):
My husband had one of those because he's a little bit
older than me.
But I mean, literally they wentfrom big to small to big to
small, getting the first onethat I could touch and it just
kept ringing all the timebecause I kept hitting it on my
ear and like the progress thatwas made, yeah, um, in the last
what I guess 25, 30 years,whatever long it's been.
And now look at us.

Speaker 3 (37:17):
Yeah well, I guess those were dumb phones.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
Right now I mean, everyone just takes it for
granted now like back then itwas a huge.
I remember having a cell phone.

Speaker 3 (37:25):
My mom wanted me to get her one and I was just like
what do you want?

Speaker 1 (37:28):
a cell phone?
Why, you know?
I just want to be hip and I'mlike okay yeah, well now it's
beyond being hip exactly.

Speaker 3 (37:34):
You can't function without it to live.
I know it is sad I would.

Speaker 1 (37:38):
I was on a cruise and I was so upset because I, when
I went on vacation, I like tonot be connected.
I I leave my work phone at home.
I have two phones.
I have a work phone and mypersonal phone.
I leave my work phone at home.
I have two phones.

Speaker 3 (37:49):
I have my work phone and my personal phone.

Speaker 1 (37:50):
I leave my work phone at home.
I have my personal phone.
I don't put it on, except I hadto check for the cats, and that
was really the only time I usedit.
I went to go have breakfast atone of the restaurants and I had
to make a reservation throughthe app on my phone to have
breakfast.
You can't be unplugged anymore.
And I looked at the woman.

(38:11):
I'm a nice person.
I looked at her and I go.
I'm like wait a second.
I said, but I'm on vacation, Idon't want my phone.
Like I'm here and she goes.
It's the only way we can getyou.
I had to go back to my room,get my phone out of the safe,
because I don't even carry itwith me.

Speaker 3 (38:26):
Yeah, and make a, so that kind of stuff.
Good for you, though, forunplugging like that.

Speaker 1 (38:29):
Well, I have to, or else I'll just lose my mind.
But those technology, I meanthat's that's, that's what's
working right now though.
And and it does, really as amarketing person, I mean it, it
helps.
I mean these, the, the way, theway, the way the world these
days of getting your word outand your brand out.
It's amazing, actually, all thedifferent ways that you can do

(38:53):
it and get it out there.
But if there are, like I don'tknow, your top three tips for a
new business, jenny, aboutgetting things started or, you
know, just getting the word out.
Do you have any insight on that?
Or what would you say would belike the top three things a
company should do?

Speaker 3 (39:09):
Well, I do think in this digital age, it really
depends on you know what it isthe service or the um product
that you're launching.
But I will say what is thefirst thing?
When you hear about anything,what's the first thing you do?

Speaker 2 (39:24):
google google google it.

Speaker 1 (39:25):
That's right.
Can you believe people?
People are not on google yet.
I mean, businesses aren't onGoogle.
I said I tried to Google youand they're like, oh yeah, we've
got to work on that.
I'm like you do that before youeven do anything else?
You get yourself on Google.

Speaker 3 (39:39):
So I do believe that that is just.
It has become second nature forus that everyone, no matter who
you are, what your backgroundis, what your income level is,
whatever it is, the first thingyou do is you Google that.
And so I do believe that havinga website, even if it's a web
page, even if you don't havesomething that's, like you know,
really robust and fancy, butsomething that's done well and

(40:02):
really speaks to okay, like Isaid, those three things know
your why, know who that audienceis and have some kind of plan.
Like I said, those three things, know your why, know who that
audience is and have some kindof plan.
I think you have to do.
Do that.
I actually am more of the fan oflet's have a website before we
have the social media.
I know there's a lot of brandsout there that they just exist
purely on social media, andthat's okay too.

(40:23):
But if you're doing that, makesure that you're doing it well.
Make sure that you're buildingcredibility.
Make sure that you're doing itwell.
Make sure that you're buildingcredibility.
Make sure that you'reresponding to your customers.
You know whether it's throughDMs.

Speaker 1 (40:32):
That's a full-time job too.
I mean a full-time job Socialmedia management.

Speaker 3 (40:35):
That's another thing that I think people don't
realize.
They say oh well, we wantsomeone to run our social media.
That's time-consuming, it'smore you just make posts, then
you're not.
People forget that the wordsocial comes in front of media.
It's not.
Hey, let me just throw upeverything that I want to say
about myself and hope that youlike it and do something.

Speaker 2 (40:57):
That's not social media, that's not how it works.

Speaker 3 (40:59):
It's a two-way street , it's a relationship, it's
reciprocal, there's engagementand you've got to be involved in
that.
Just posting and if you thinkthat just doing organic posts
it's going to do anything foryou, that those days especially
if you're not, like you said,being social hiking other
people's posts commentingexactly um, and you've got to be
creating engaging content, youknow do you know?

Speaker 1 (41:20):
I mean, it could take a day to do a five second reel
depending.

Speaker 3 (41:24):
Yeah, sometimes, um, I do think that there's also an
influx in.
You know, I have a lot of greatfriends that are influencers,
but I do think that influencermarketing is something that,
when you talk about the future,I do think that that is here to
stay for a while.
I think that's going tocontinue to grow and evolve.
You know, whether that's hey,we want this influencer to come
and, you know, have dinner atour restaurant and talk about it

(41:46):
.
Or wear our clothes and know,show, show the pictures or the
videos out on the town.
I think that that really doeshave a large impact on
followings and audiences.
So I think that's so just tokind of go back.

Speaker 2 (41:59):
I know you didn't go to California to be an actor,
but if you could pick an actoror actress to be an influencer,
marketer for, let's say, trio.

Speaker 3 (42:09):
Oh, yeah, I know that for sure and I hope you I hope,
when I say this, you know whohe is.
You're in marketing, so there'sa good chance maybe I would
pick.
I would pick seth godin youever heard of.
I do know seth godin, yes he'skind of like well, these days
he's probably the grandfather ofmarketing instead of the father
father of marketing.
Sorry seth, like you'd everhear this.

Speaker 1 (42:27):
Hey man, we're going to send a message.
We'll tell you Come on, Seth,Listen to what Jenny will tell
you.

Speaker 3 (42:31):
We'll tell you about you, no but he wrote a lot of
really influential marketingbooks that, like I said back in
the day, before we had podcasts,before we had webinars, I had
to consume my marketingknowledge by reading an actual
paper book.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
Yeah, Wow, you can believe wow.

Speaker 3 (42:48):
Yes, exactly, and so I.
He was very influential to me.
I know Jessica does too.
We actually have a couple ofbooks that we require our team
members to read as a part of,like their onboarding process,
and so, you know, I just thinkthat he really understands like
the behaviors of consumers, aswell as what it takes to be a
good entrepreneur and a smartmarketing person, and so, yeah,

(43:13):
if he like, if he gave Trio areview or if he gave us a
referral, that would be like wehave arrived.

Speaker 2 (43:21):
Do you have a favorite self quote?

Speaker 3 (43:25):
I don't necessarily have a self quote.
I don't necessarily have aself-quote.
You know, I definitely havesome principles that I try to
live by.
You know, TRIO, we run onsomething called EOS have you
guys ever heard of EOS?
Yes, so, okay, that's okay.
Eos stands for EntrepreneurialOperating System, and it's
basically a system that wasdevised to run small businesses.

(43:48):
It's not necessarily just forthe marketing industry.
You can be in any industry.
There's over 250,000 companiesworldwide that are running on
EOS, and it's something thatJessica and I made the decision
to start doing a couple of yearsback.
But EOS sort of has thisprinciple when you talk about

(44:09):
how you run the business, andthe whole point is to gain
traction in the business bylooking at these six key
components and I won't go toodeep into that but they do have
a mantra about living the EOSlife, and the EOS life is doing
what you love with people.
You love being fairlycompensated and having time to
pursue other passions.
And I feel like that's a reallygood.
You know, nice, like peopletalk about work-life balance.

(44:30):
I don't think that work-lifebalance is actually a thing
these days.
I think it's like work-lifeintegration.
You know, I don't know aboutyou guys, but I would be lying
if I said I'm not working whenI'm waiting in line at the
grocery store or I'm not doingit.

Speaker 1 (44:43):
It just makes it easier to check right.

Speaker 3 (44:46):
And you don't have to worry about it later but it
also gives you more freedom andflexibility to travel, to do
things, to be there for yourkids or to walk your dogs.
We have tons of young folks inour office that they like to
leave at lunch and let their dogout, or you know those types of
things.
So I think you know it's reallyimportant to to have that sort
of center of gravity whereyou're like, okay, this is, this

(45:09):
is why I get out of bed in themorning, this is why I do what I
do.
I do love what I do, and Ithink that is really important.
I've been super blessed to havetwo really amazing jobs that
I've.
I've just enjoyed so much.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
You've mentioned before the word entrepreneurial.
We were talking before thepodcast that you're, I don't
want to say it incorrectly.
How are you involved with theHarbor?
Yes, Entrepreneurial group andyou said, you had something
there for small business.

Speaker 3 (45:34):
We do so.
We were actually the very firsttenants at the HEC when they
opened it up on E Wall Street.
We love it.
I kind of call it like adultcollege.

Speaker 1 (45:45):
I saw some guy like skateboarding in the parking lot
the other day.

Speaker 3 (45:47):
Hacky sack, yeah, one of those days, hey you'd be
surprised, but there's all sortsof cool industries.
I heard the other day thatwe've got 60, 61, 62 different
companies in that building,which is amazing.
But Trio was the first one andwe're one of the larger ones,
and so we kind of have our ownlittle wing up on the second
floor the larger ones, and so wekind of have our own little
wing up on the second floor.
But we took one of the spacesthat we leased and we converted

(46:07):
it into this really coolcreative lab where people can
execute and bring their visionsto life.
Whether they want to dosomething like this, you know,
record a podcast, whether theywant to take product shots or
headshots for their website ortheir social media or their
content, we can do video.

(46:28):
We can record, you know, liketalking head videos.
We can record videos fornonprofits, we can do all sorts
of reels and TikToks, and it'sreally meant to be for someone
like okay, we're very fortunatethat we're sitting here in this
professional space and we have,you know, professional talent
that's able to do these thingsfor us.
But this is not accessible,right?

(46:48):
Everybody can't just come tothe Charleston Radio.

Speaker 1 (46:50):
Well, that's because they're not the Mount Pleasant
Chamber of Commerce.
That's why.
But if they join the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce,
make sure you see us aboutmembership Continue.

Speaker 3 (46:58):
Yes, but there's a lot of you know the COVID.
Really, we saw a huge resurgencein the freelance population,
and so there's a lot of folksout there that want to be able
to produce content and theydon't have the means or the
resources to do it, and so wesaw this as a need for some of
our own clients.
But then we saw the opportunityto open up to our community,

(47:18):
and so it's a great resourcethat we have at the Harbor
Entrepreneur Center.
We are doing a soft launch forthis coming up very shortly.
We will definitely be sure toshare it with the Mount Pleasant
Chamber, but there will be aweb page.
We will follow our own advice.
We will have the right web pageand the right social media and
all of the things, but it's anaffordable way for people to do

(47:40):
that.
We've soundproofed it, we'veblacked out the windows.
There's no artificial light.
We've brought in all of theequipment that you need.
So really all you need is thevision and the ideas, and even
if you need help with that, youcan hire us to help you do that.
Well, I was going to say pleasemake sure you let our listeners
know how to get in touch withyou to learn anything about TRIO

(48:01):
is to go to our website, whichis TRIO-Solutionscom, and you
can also follow us on socialmedia at TRIO Solutions.
You know we're on all theplatforms there and you can get
my email and my cell phonenumber and all of those things
on our website as well.
On our team page we have thebios of all of our people and
contact information and you knowI might not be the one you want

(48:23):
to talk to.
We have lots of other veryinteresting people, probably
more qualified than me in a lotof areas.
So, yeah, it's a team effortwith Team Trio, but the Creative
Lab all that information willbe out on our site as well.
That's great.

Speaker 2 (48:36):
Yeah, fantastic, jenny.
What are you working on now, orwhat do you have coming up?

Speaker 3 (48:49):
Well, I'm on now, or what do you have coming up?
Well, I'm so glad that youasked this because it really
resonates with mount pleasant.
We have had this, just thehonor to work with the town of
mount pleasant, and we arecurrently in the beta phase of
building the travel and tourismwebsite for the town of mount
pleasant oh wow, that'sfantastic it's a really
fantastic project.
we're super proud of it.
Um ian, our web developer,i'm'm really proud of him.
By the time this podcast airs,it will definitely be a live
site.
So that's exciting and we'vereally loved working, you know,

(49:10):
with John over there and themarketing department.
We love working with Matt andeconomic development.
I mean we.
The cool thing about Trio iswe've been in Mount Pleasant for
23 years.
We've never been anywhere else.
You know no tree.
Some of us I don't thinkactually none of us were born
here, but we've all been herefor a pretty long time and, you
know, feel very proud to call ithome and we really we love

(49:34):
working in our own backyard.
And there's a lot of opportunityhere and we are open.
We are open to it.
You know we we can do smallproject work, we can do full
service agency retainer work andyou know everything in between.

Speaker 1 (49:46):
That's amazing.
Well, again, with all the newbusinesses that are opening in
Mount Pleasant, amanda, how manyribbon cuttings did we go to
last year?
Wasn't it a ridiculous amount?
Hundreds, I mean, it's justit's insane.
And it's great.
But I love that we're able totalk to you, Jenny, to help out
these new businesses that thatmay either just be starting out

(50:09):
or perhaps are in a little bitof a slump, yeah Right, and, and
you know, rebranding couldalmost be like starting over.

Speaker 3 (50:17):
Starting over.
Or you know, if you just maybeyou came out of the gate but now
you can't get over the firsthurdle, you know there's.
There's never a bad time toconsult and potentially partner
with a marketing professional,whether that's a full service
agency or you know an individual.
I just, I really think that youknow, if you're, if you're a
business owner, you need to workwith a marketing professional

(50:38):
at least, at least once.
At least once is right, onceyou see it you'll, you won't
want to go back.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
Remind everyone of that website again.
For me, yes, trio-solutionscom.
Do you have an all-timefavorite campaign, whether it's,
I mean, not from your agency,but like growing up, or
something that you're seeing,like anything that like I?
For some reason, and I don'tknow why, but I loved the Pepsi

(51:03):
campaign with Cindy.

Speaker 3 (51:04):
Crawford.

Speaker 1 (51:04):
I don't know why that was a good one, and it was so
long ago and it was just thekids and the way.
It's still, to this day, one ofmy favorite campaigns.
Yeah, and I actually do drinkPepsi over its competitor, not
because of the commercial, well,maybe.

Speaker 3 (51:19):
Oh see, I'm a diet coke girl through and through,
but there are some really greatand of commercial well maybe.

Speaker 1 (51:23):
oh see, I'm a diet coke girl through and through,
yeah, but there I mean there aresome really great and of course
like the pepsi challenge was oh, that was fun, I love.
The pepsi challenge is anotherone that makes me cry every time
.

Speaker 3 (51:31):
It's just so I would say right now, because you like,
you could chronicle backthrough the decades of how many
amazing.

Speaker 1 (51:37):
So I should have asked you, maybe in the, maybe
recently, what's your favoriteone?

Speaker 3 (51:40):
well, right now.
All right, I I am a sucker fora tearjerker commercial because
I feel like that reallyresonates an emotional response
with me and I am a tears of joyperson, so have you guys seen
that publics commercial?

Speaker 1 (51:53):
like they're amazing.

Speaker 3 (51:54):
I'm gonna start crying right now seriously with
the girl and her mom.
She must have gotten remarriedand she has a stepdad and it
like I'm getting chills on myarm and it takes through the
whole thing and then at the endshe's on her wedding day and she
calls him dad, like I'mliterally they do I gotta say
they do an amazing.

Speaker 1 (52:12):
Yeah, I've seen this.

Speaker 3 (52:13):
Okay, this is good, because I'm a 50 year old woman
no, I like it.

Speaker 2 (52:16):
If you, if this moves you, then they're really
speaking.
I didn't cry, but I like it,but you were, but you were moved
, yes, you were moved.

Speaker 1 (52:22):
Publix has been doing an amazing job with their ads,
I agree.
Making them really hit rightthere, especially at the holiday
time too.

Speaker 3 (52:29):
Yes, they do.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
Oh, my goodness, Do I miss my family during holidays
when I'm watching those Do youhave a favorite campaign,
seriously.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
Recently or forever?
Did you see the Doritoscampaign where they didn't put
their name in the commercial?
Didn't they just use like atriangle shapes and like color
and they show like cheesethrowing up in the air.

Speaker 3 (52:51):
I love that.
You know what makes thatamazing.
Talk about building brandrecognition if you don't have
brand recognition you can neverdo something like that there's
only a few companies.

Speaker 2 (53:01):
I think that can actually pull that off, like
maybe McDonald's with the arcompanies.
I think that can actually pullthat off, like maybe McDonald's?

Speaker 1 (53:05):
Yeah, with the arches or something, but see now
listen everybody.
You build a brand so well thatthey could do something like
Doritos and McDonald's, andthat's what we're here.

Speaker 2 (53:15):
And you don't have to tell your name or anything.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
That's what we so amazing to have you on today,
darius, amazing co-host, I'dlike to thank everyone again for
being here today, andespecially my friend Brian
Cleary, for putting up with mefor 12 podcasts this year, and
you better have listened to allof them by the time this one
goes live and I thank you forletting me serve as your

(53:43):
president for the past year.
I really enjoyed it very muchand you're not getting rid of me
, I like to talk a lot, if youhaven't noticed.
So I promised, I promised I'dcome back to co-host a few
issues, a few podcast sessions,so you haven't heard the last
from me.
But, jenny, thank you for allthis great insight.
I know that our, our memberswill are going to completely

(54:06):
take advantage of all theamazing, amazing advice and tips
that you gave to them.
And and please check out, jenny, check out a trio, trio dash
solutionscom, see if they canhelp you out a little anytime.
And Darius, a little bitanother plug for our Darius
Kelly designs, please.
And Darius, a little bit.
Another plug for our Darius.

Speaker 2 (54:23):
Kelly designs please.
If you're looking for any helpwith design or marketing, please
give us a contact dkdesigncom.
And also I just want to giveanother plug to TRIO and also
the Charleston AMA, which isanother good resource If you
want to learn more about TRIO.
We have a great podcastinterview with the owner,
jessica Monday.
That is another greatconversation if you're looking

(54:43):
to just learn more about how togrow your business and anything
in the marketing and brandingfield.

Speaker 1 (54:47):
That's fantastic, guys.
Thank you so much.
So again, before we leave,thank you, Charleston radio
group for being so good to usand, of course, everybody at the
Mount Pleasant chamber ofcommerce.
Um, if you want to be a gueston our show next year, you can
go ahead and reach out toRebecca and we'll see if we can
get you in.
Make sure you subscribe to allof our media channels Spotify,

(55:08):
iTunes, YouTube, Instagram,Facebook and LinkedIn.
Thank you for being with ustoday.
Until next time, Mount Pleasant.
Until next time, listeners.