August 27, 2025 • 34 mins
Discover the fascinating intersection of tech marketing and sustainable travel with Patrika Elise Cheston, founder of a marketing agency focused on guiding startups through various funding stages. Patrika's unconventional career journey—beginning with aspirations to become a news anchor before finding her place in the startup ecosystem—offers valuable insights for anyone feeling constrained by traditional corporate structures.
Patrika reveals her distinctive approach to marketing startups at different stages, emphasizing founder storytelling for early-stage companies seeking investment, while shifting toward customer benefits as products mature. "People think about how many features they can add to a product," she explains, "but it's always about the story and the connection, whether you're just starting out or about to IPO."
The conversation takes a delightful turn when Patrika shares her most memorable marketing campaign—parking a colorful food truck serving funnel cakes and fried Oreos outside a stuffy financial regulations conference. This creative, low-budget approach generated more meaningful connections than competitors spending hundreds of thousands on conventional tactics, proving that understanding human nature transcends B2B and B2C divisions.
As a woman in tech, Patrika candidly discusses the challenges of gender bias in the industry and her strategies for addressing these situations directly while supporting other women. Her powerful advice for women entering tech centers around a simple but profound question: "Why not me?" This mantra has helped her overcome self-doubt and pursue opportunities despite obstacles.
The episode also explores Patrika's parallel passion for sustainable tourism—born from childhood travels with her father—which has evolved into helping local tourism businesses market themselves authentically. Her upcoming podcast "Destination Journey" will further explore creative and responsible travel experiences that connect travelers with local communities in meaningful ways.
Whether you're marketing a startup, navigating a male-dominated industry, or seeking to make travel more responsible and accessible, Patrika's journey offers practical wisdom for creating authentic connections in our increasingly digital world.
This podcast is proudly sponsored by USC Annenberg’s Master of Science in Digital Media Management (MSDMM) program. An online master’s designed to prepare practitioners to understand the evolving media landscape, make data-driven and ethical decisions, and build a more equitable future by leading diverse teams with the technical, artistic, analytical, and production skills needed to create engaging content and technologies for the global marketplace. Learn more or apply today at https://dmm.usc.edu.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Mediascape insights from digital
changemakers, a speaker seriesand podcast brought to you by
USC Annenberg's Digital MediaManagement Program.
Join us as we unlock thesecrets to success in an
increasingly digital world.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I am thrilled to welcome another woman in tech,
Patrika Elise Cheston.
How are you today?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I'm doing great.
Thank you so much for having me.
How are you?
I'm good.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I'm good you have your hands in so many different
things.
Can you just tell our audiencea little bit about you and what
your passions are?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Absolutely so.
My background is in marketingand I started a marketing agency
a couple of years ago thatfocuses on helping startups
basically through all of thedifferent rounds of being a
startup, from seed to you knowall the way to IPO if we get
there, you know.
So I love working with startupsand that's one of my big
passions just enjoying all ofthe chaos and the growth that
(01:05):
happens at the same time.
But my other passion is traveland making sustainable,
responsible travel moreaccessible to everyone.
I think it's such an importantway to grow as a human and I
want to make that as accessibleas possible.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Two amazing things.
I have the travel bug as well,and I love tech and I love
startups and working withcompanies that are just still
finding their footing sometimes.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yes, definitely.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
How did you get into working with startups and
marketing?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Yeah, I actually didn't intend to go to startups
when I went to college.
I started out with the goal ofbeing a news anchor.
Actually, I was super obsessedwith stories and just learning
about the way that stories aretold and I started, you know,
pursuing that when I went tocollege and I very quickly
realized that if I was going tobe on a morning show, that meant
(01:55):
I had to be up at 3 am everymorning and that is not the life
I wanted to live.
So I started looking for adifferent way to be in the crazy
hustle of life.
So I started finding out aboutmarketing and I interned with a
startup that was a woman-ledstartup and it was an incredible
experience and I really lovedthat environment.
(02:16):
But I still thought I wanted tokind of go corporate and, you
know, wear a suit and work myway up the corporate ladder
because that's kind of what Ihad always seen in the movies
and thinking that that wasreally the path that I wanted to
follow.
And I went to a corporatecompany and very quickly
realized that it was not for me.
I toughed it out for about ayear and was miserable the
(02:36):
entire time and decided, youknow, this is not going to be
the path that I want to be in.
I don't like being kind of atthe bottom of the ladder, being
a nobody.
I really want to get my handsdirty.
I want to get involved inwhat's going on in the
organization, and a corporationjust wasn't really the best
place for me to do that.
So I decided to go back tostartups after that and just
realized that that is where Ithrive and I've gotten a chance
(02:58):
to work through a lot ofdifferent types of industries.
I like to say I work in the notso sexy industries like email.
I've worked in legal tech quitea bit.
I've worked with security techfirms and things like that.
So it's really still excitingbecause it's a startup and I'm
getting to be involved in somany different parts of the
business and wear so many hats,but at the same time it's also,
(03:19):
you know, trying to be creativewhen the industry itself is not
as creative.
So it's been an interestingjourney, to say the least.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I'm sure, but it's really good that you recognize
so early that being a part of abig corporation wasn't your path
, because I think a lot ofpeople it takes a lot longer.
Right, they're alreadymid-career or they're an
executive and then they go wait.
What am I doing here Exactly?
So I really want to hear aboutthe experience of marketing
(03:50):
startups and tech firms and howyou market them differently
depending on what stage they areversus their new it's
incubating idea.
They're going after their seedfunding or they're going through
their series A, et cetera.
What are the differences thereand where do you start with them
?
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Yeah, that's a great question and I think there are
both a lot of differences andsimilarities in the marketing
approach to the different rounds.
To start with the seed round,it's really about who is
building this organization.
Who are the founders, what istheir story?
Because at that point you mightnot even have really an MVP yet
, so you might not really havemuch to show.
(04:29):
You might just have a concept.
So it's really important to letpeople connect with the
founders and the people who arebuilding the product or the
service.
So I always recommend and thisis true across the board, across
all startups I really recommendstarting with that story,
Because starting with the storyis how you really get that
connection.
Especially in today's world,people want to know who's behind
(04:50):
the brands that they'resupporting, so you can use that
to your advantage.
I think that that's so importantand in the seed round, that's
really what people connect withand we've seen that work so well
in a lot of ways.
But we've also, you know, we'veseen that people who can tell a
really good story are the onesthat get the funding in the long
run for better or for worse,you know, but it's really a good
(05:14):
way to connect with potentialinvestors connect with your
future customers.
They want to know, you know,who's behind it all.
And then from there, you know,once you really have a product,
it's really about marketing thebenefits to the customer, and
the customer needs to understandhow this makes their life
easier, how it improves theirdaily experience or how it
solves a problem that they have.
You know, it's really easy tofall into the.
You know, oh, we can build allof these different features and
(05:36):
our product can do X, Y, Z, andyou know it's really cool.
Like I'm a tech person, I wantto see all those little features
that you've created, but at thesame time, it doesn't really
matter to the average consumerunless it actually improves
their life.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, it's not creating that emotional
connection and resonance Exactly.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yes, absolutely, and I think that's something that a
lot of startups, you know theyget so excited about it but then
they kind of neglect to focuson that emotional connection and
we buy with our emotions a lotof times.
You know, there, of course,people are making business
decisions every day butultimately, at the end of the
day, it's a person making thatdecision and if you make an
emotional connection, then youcan make that sale.
(06:15):
So that, to me, increases overtime with every round of funding
.
You know, once you've got that,you're kind of building out
that team, you've got thefunding to keep growing your
product, then it's still aboutthat story and I think that's
something that gets lost a lotof times.
People think about how manyfeatures they can add to a
product.
I mean, I've seen brands kindof fall apart a little bit
(06:36):
because they start building somuch that they're building away
from their core audience andthey, you know, lose that
connection and sometimes theyeven have to walk it back a
little bit to try to reconnectwith the people that they've
isolated.
So it's always about the storyand the connection.
Whether you're, you know, juststarting out or whether you're
about to IPO, it's all about whocan you connect with?
How can you connect with thataudience that you're building
(06:58):
and how can you make their liveseasier?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
And what I also hear you saying is that you know it's
different customer bases.
So when you're starting out andtrying to get funding, you may
have research about youraudience, you may have proof of
concept, but you really want tosell story to people who are
going to fund you and believe inand want to invest in you,
versus people who are going tobuy your product or service.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Very true.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Absolutely.
Do you have a favorite projectthat you've worked on?
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Oh, that's a good question.
I would say I worked with abrand that was in the email
marketing space and they wereactually an international brand
that were trying to really buildtheir brand in the US and there
was a lot of competition, youknow, a lot of kind of existing
brands that people already knewand trusted.
So it was one of thosescenarios where I was brought in
(07:48):
as the marketing manager forthe US market and I was really
trying to find the connectionsin the US.
So we were going to thesedifferent events and looking for
ways to stand out and wedecided one time to really lean
into the Frenchness of the brandand we literally just brought
champagne to one of the eventsand just popped champagne and
(08:08):
said you know, hey, we're inthis market now, welcome us to
the market.
And people were, of course,coming to the booth.
If they hear popping champagnecorks, I mean I'll come running.
So they were coming to thebooth and just getting to know
us.
But we leaned into the you know,like I said, the Frenchness of
(08:29):
the brand and were able to makethat connection with people
because they were excited to see, oh, there's something new on
the market.
This was also around the timethat GDPR was becoming a thing.
So people were starting to see,you know, there's a big
European tech market and there'sa lot of stuff happening there,
so bringing that over was aninteresting way to kind of make
that connection and tell adifferent story than people were
used to hearing in the US.
So that was a fun project to bea part of.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, and I love that you brought up the GDPR,
because that's something that wefocus on.
A lot is privacy, ethics, datasecurity and, of course, now how
are different countries, evendifferent states, united States
approaching artificialintelligence and we know that's
all over the place, place too.
So we have all these differentthings, layers, to look at, and
(09:07):
when we're whether you're in avolunteer organization, have you
know, you're in a corporationand you're trying to convince
them to an AI strategy, or youare a small business owner or a
student working on a capstoneproject these are all things you
have to consider where yourmarket's going to live right, or
where the people are going tobe from, I guess I should say,
(09:28):
because it doesn't really matterwhere they physically live and
make sure that you're adhering,probably to the most stringent
restrictions, particularly withsome of the non-sexy groups that
you've talked about.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Right, there are a lot of regulations and it's hard
to also communicate that aswell.
It's important to communicatethat across the board, but not
everybody wants to hear aboutcompliance.
That's not a sexy topic, butit's an important one and, you
know, it really ties into theethics as well fit into your
(10:06):
life working on these differentprojects?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Was that born also out of working with a company
that was coaching travel in aunique way?
Or is that just something thatyou always love to do?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
It's a combination.
Actually.
I started out traveling from avery young age.
My dad traveled a lot for workand he would take me and my
sisters along with him.
So you know, we were justalways getting to go on road
trips and I enjoyed that so muchthat when I started working in
different brands, whenever I hadthe opportunity to take a work
trip I was like sign me up, I'mready to go, and I had learned
(10:34):
so much about just kind oftraveling, you know, on the
ground, and just kind of goingto new places as a young person
coming up through the world thatI really just latched onto it
when I had a chance to startwork travel and that allowed me
to go to some places that Ipersonally couldn't have
afforded at the time.
It allowed me to kind of getout of my comfort zone and also
try solo travel for the firsttime, because I was so used to
(10:57):
traveling with my dad and momand sisters that it was kind of
intimidating to travel by myself.
But I instantly fell in love.
I realized traveling on my owntime was a wonderful experience.
I learned to really enjoy myown company, which I think is
super important, and it allowedme to kind of see things in a
different way when it came totravel.
(11:17):
I was learning about, you know,the general, the experience of
trying a hotel in a local place,instead of just kind of, you
know, going to the big names.
All the time I was learningabout what, where the local
people live and what the localpeople do, versus just going to
the tourist locations.
So a lot of times I startedtelling that story and telling
people you know, oh, I was inIowa this past week and people
(11:41):
are like what's in Iowa?
And I'm like there's so much,it was so interesting.
I went to this museum and itwas so cool and I got to tell
these stories that people wererealizing that were just so
interesting when they weren'tthe most common places.
So it really ignited somethingin me to start telling the
stories of locations that wereoff the beaten path and that led
into me understanding a bitmore about sustainability and
(12:03):
that it's not just an ecologicalapproach, it's not just about
the environment, it's also aboutthe people that are in the
locations and the businesseswithin those locations.
So I started helping localtourism businesses learn how to
market their brands and then Ialso started learning how to
work with small businesses inthose locations to attract
tourists and basically telltheir stories in a unique way
(12:26):
and get connected to people thatare visiting for the first time
.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Amazing Now are you overseas, right now.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
No, I'm in North Carolina.
I'm actually born and raisedhere, but I moved to New York
for a while and decided to comeback home.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I got kind of sick of the winter, oh yeah because I
know often people have this loveand thirst for travel.
You know you connect to so manyplaces and so many people that
you want to live in a lot ofdifferent places.
I spoke to somebody, I thinkyesterday or the day before,
who's lived in, I think, 24places, which is a little
extreme to me, but more power tohim and his wife.
(13:02):
That's amazing, yeah, yeah,because I think the more we
travel also the moreunderstanding and empathy we
have for others.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Absolutely yes, because I think there's.
You start to see that we're notthat different, even though
there's different ways of life.
At the end of the day, we'reall human and we're all trying
to, you know, make our lives alittle bit better.
We're all trying to connectwith people.
We're all trying to feelunderstood, and I think it's so
important when you're travelingto just have those local
(13:31):
connections and start to reallylearn about how other people
live life On the tech side again, because it sounds like the
tourism side is more B2C.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
right, it's about the consumer on the tech side.
Is it mostly B2B products oryeah?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Definitely, Because, you know, being a marketing
agency or running a marketingagency, we're really trying to
help those businesses get theirmessage out.
So it ends up being mostly B2B,but I do have a love for B2C.
But you know, B2B is really anexciting place to be.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Yeah, and do you think that there's a
differentiation in how youmarket B2B versus B2C?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Oh, definitely, definitely.
With B2B, you know, a lot oftimes there's a big financial
component where you're talkingabout.
You know how I can instantlyadd value to your organization,
how we're going to address yourrevenue concerns.
You know how we're going to cutyour churn, all of these
different you know technicalterms where they really want to
get into the nitty gritty ofwhat's going to address their
(14:28):
business bottom line.
And when you're looking at B2C,you get to get to that
emotional connection a littlebit sooner in the process.
I think people kind of initiallyconnect with an ad, for example
, and then they're going toclick on that and that's when
you kind of start telling thatstory instantly, whereas with
B2B there's a bit more of aprocess.
You know you've got to kind ofstart getting in and telling
(14:50):
them how you're going to impress, I mean how you're going to
improve their business andreally address some of their
business concerns.
But at the end of the day youknow you're selling to a human
being each time and I think it'sone of the things that I always
remind people is that even ifthey're B2B, they're still a
person and they have humanconcerns and at the end of the
day they're probably thinkinglike I want to make my life
(15:11):
easier, just the same as thatconsumer is.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
So while there's definitely a different like
marketing and sales process,there's still a connection
that's really important and ofcourse, I have to ask about
artificial intelligence, becausethat has changed our lives as
marketers so much and I feellike every day I'm still
learning how to use new tools.
(15:33):
I just started playing withcreating agents for my different
workflows and things, so I wantto hear about how you're
incorporating it into youragency and your business, and
you know what are some of yourfavorite tools.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Yeah, so you know, everybody knows about chat GPT
at this point, but I think oneof my favorite tools is actually
using chat GPT as abrainstorming tool and a tool to
organize my thoughts, because Iknow everyone is generally
concerned about, you know, is AItaking our jobs and while there
are some things that can beautomated, there are still a lot
(16:07):
of things that need that humaninput and they're always going
to need that human input.
So one of the ways that I loveto use it within the
organization is when I'm lookingto launch maybe, a new offering
, for example.
Sometimes I just use it tobrainstorm.
I'll say you know, ask me acouple of questions to help me,
like, flesh out this thought andthen, using that, it's like
having a conversation with aperson.
(16:28):
I don't have to bother anyoneat three in the morning when I
am, you know, brainstorming andmy mind is going crazy, but it's
a really interesting tool touse.
I've also been using there's atool called Pressmaster, which
is a really interesting tool tohelp generate different types of
content for basically tellingstories.
So I've been really interestedin that.
(16:48):
I'm testing that out and superexcited to be a part of that.
And then, yeah, I've also beentesting a couple of tools to
build AI agents as well.
I'm you know, I'm stilllearning that I'm a little bit
intimidated by it, just becauseI'm like I don't know how to
like, I don't know how to createsomething to tell what to do,
but it's an interesting conceptand it seems like there's a lot
(17:09):
of potential there, so I'm veryexcited about that.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, I haven't used Pressmaster, so I'm gonna have
to check that out, and thenwe'll have to trade what
products for using what toolsfor agent fusion.
Oh yes definitely One of myfavorite.
Like you, I like to brainstorm.
I usually use Claude as myfavorite brainstorm tool we were
talking a little bit about aswe're recording this interview
all day.
Google's been down, includingthe cloud services which made a
(17:35):
lot of other websites semi ornot operational.
Claude has been down.
It's back up now, thankfully,but it can be a real problem
when we rely on these tools somuch, and so that's where we
have to remember to save thework somewhere else, right, and
to also not just rely on onetool.
Maybe have many tools at ourdisposal, but I have used Claude
(17:58):
to help me actually figure outexactly how I want to program
agents and then, you know,create connections to do all of
the different things I want todo, and that's been really
helpful.
That plus human teaching,absolutely yeah.
So have you ever had troublegetting buy-in when you've been
working with a client?
(18:18):
They might be, you know, intheir early stage and they
aren't sure about the marketingstrategy that you're trying to
present, and how do you overcometheir objections?
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Definitely yes, that is something that's very common.
Marketing is intimidating for alot of brands in their new
stages and it can also be a costthat a lot of people don't
exactly know how to justifybecause they don't understand
the value that it adds.
So there are a lot of timeswhere people say, like, oh, we
can just post on social.
This person has an Instagram,so they know how to post on
(18:51):
social.
And while, yes, you can postlike, there's nothing stopping
you from posting, but there is avalue in having a greater
strategy and an understanding ofhow your social platforms
connect to the rest of yourplatforms and the rest of your
messaging.
So a lot of times I kind of,whenever I get that type of
concern or objections, I willtake a step back and I'll say
(19:13):
you know, let's talk about youractual concerns here.
Like, let's let's understand,if you were to invest in this,
what's the worst thing thatcould happen?
Basically, you know, let's takea step back and kind of walk
through the big picture so thatwe can understand what the
actual like root of the concernis, because a lot of times
there's a fear about putting outa product and maybe people are
getting comments on social mediathat the product's not good or,
(19:37):
you know, maybe they'reconcerned about, you know,
getting comments about who thefounder is or things like that.
It's intimidating when you'refinally going to put that thing
that you've been building outthere.
But that's why bringingmarketing on early is really
important, because you start toget that product market fit very
early on and you start, youknow, getting general sentiments
from the audiences that you'retargeting and you can also start
(19:58):
testing who are you targeting?
Is that actually your targetmarket?
Are they actually going to beinterested?
So you know, I really try toalways take a step back and just
never take things personally,like if someone's saying like,
oh, I don't really want this orI don't think I need this, it's
not about me, it's not aboutwhat I've created, it's about
their concerns about theirbusiness.
And a lot of times people justyou know they're building
(20:20):
businesses and those businessesare their babies, so they really
want to make sure that theytake care of it and grow it in a
way that makes sense.
So marketing can beintimidating, but a lot of times
it's really about understandingyour audience and getting
yourself out there early so thatyou can start really building
those connections andunderstanding what your audience
really wants.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Marketing and public relations are two things.
People start so much later inthe game than they should
because we are the ones who aregoing to help them make sure
that they're actually reachingthe right audience with the
messaging Right, that we cancreate plans from the beginning,
as you said, and it can bereally difficult.
And when you do get thoserejections, or when they're
(21:00):
bringing you in so late thatyou're like, oh, you should have
done this, this and this firstBeen there, definitely.
So when somebody is a startupbut they're bootstrapped, they
don't have funding, they didn'tnecessarily maybe go to a school
where they have a lot of peerswho have connections, or they
(21:20):
don't have connections to getsome seed funding, what are some
recommended tactics andstrategies that you would offer
them?
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah, that's a great question.
I've seen a lot of interestingthings in the market now with
especially for a lot of techphysical products.
There are a lot of people thatare, you know, taking pre-launch
basically pre-launchinvestments from crowdfunding,
as well as these kind ofplatforms that allow you to take
a small investment up front andthen deliver on the product and
then, you know, basically givethat product to the customer
(21:49):
later on at full price or adiscounted price if they invest
early.
So I've seen a lot of thathappening and I think that's a
really interesting approach.
But I also think there are somany different grants that are
available now, as well asdifferent competitions where
they're doing startup pitchcompetitions, and there are a
lot of ones that are tailored tospecific audiences or specific
(22:10):
types of founders.
So what I always recommend islooking for those, because if
you've really got your storydown, you can make connections
and maybe win some of thoselittle competitions, because,
you know, while it may only be a$5,000 investment, that could
be something that builds overtime and allows you to kind of
just keep going.
And, you know, a lot of timeswith bootstrapping a startup,
(22:30):
you really are kind of day today, just kind of doing what you
can to keep going and you'reworking towards that goal and
any little bit helps.
So I think it's kind of staying.
It's staying motivated, whichis definitely easier said than
done, but it's looking for thoselittle pockets of opportunity
where there are people who wantto support, for example,
women-led founders, founders ofdifferent backgrounds All of
(22:52):
those different types areavailable and a lot of times
they can be kind of smallcompetition, so you never know
if you have that chance to getinvolved.
And then, of course, like Imentioned, those types of grants
that are out there are reallyimportant to get involved in
early on and sometimes they havekind of a lengthy application
process.
So I think, as soon as you kindof know that you're getting
started on something, startlooking so that you're not
(23:14):
scrambling when you're desperatefor funding and looking for
ways to keep going.
So just looking for thoseopportunities and not thinking
of any opportunity as too smallto kind of keep your business
growing.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
That's such a good point and I appreciate that.
You just mentioned several wayspeople can get funding and I
think I apply the same thing tomarketing strategies or branding
or PR.
It doesn't don't worry abouthow small you know.
If it's a small podcast thatwe're booking you on or it's a
small publication, because youdon't know who else is reading
that publication, and that smallblog might be read by somebody
(23:47):
and I've had this happen whoworks for Forbes and they're
like oh, I want to write aboutyou now and then it gets seen by
other big publications, so itdoesn't really matter in those
smaller areas, right, thesmaller competitions, the
smaller press, the smallercampaigns help you test the
market.
They help you get comfortablesharing your message and
presenting and speaking, andsometimes people don't remember
(24:11):
that that's also a really bigpart of getting your brand out.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Very much so, and it's another intimidating part
too.
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Is there a memorable campaign that you worked on that
you can share with us for oneof your clients?
And you can name the client ornot name but one where you
really saw that they you knowwhether they were resistant at
first or they embraced it, yourideas that it helps them get to
the next level.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
Yeah, actually there's one that I think about
pretty often.
I love to tell this storybecause it's there was a I was
working with a legal techcompany called Hanzo and they
basically were working in thecompliance and legal technology
space, so another you know notsuper sexy brand, but it was.
We were looking to really startmaking connections in the
market and we were sponsoring aconference that was a financial
(25:03):
regulations conference Again,not an exciting topic,
definitely a lot of suits there,a lot of people kind of sitting
through these hour-longsessions that were just really,
you know, intense and kind ofboring and very hyper-focused on
specific regulations and thingslike that.
So I decided that when we weregoing to approach this
conference, that we needed to dosomething that would stand out,
(25:25):
that would be memorable andthat would be interesting for
this conference.
And we had a very low budgetcompared to a lot of our
competitors.
So our competitors were easilyspending in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars and thebudget for this project was like
probably less than $20,000.
So very small, very hard tostand out.
And so what we did was I found afood truck that gave out like
(25:49):
carnival type of food, because Ithought that is going to be
very different from what theconference is serving and it's
also going to be somethingcompletely off base for you know
, these financial regulations,people that are going to be
sitting in these sessions.
And we parked a food truckright outside of the venue and
this food truck is like brightand colorful and it's got all of
(26:10):
this like delicious smellcoming out of it, because it's
like funnel cakes and friedOreos and stuff like that.
So, and what I did wasliterally go and get a funnel
cake from the food truck andthen I just walked around the
conference floor with it andpeople were like, where did you
get that?
Where did that come from?
I need that, where is that from?
And I'm like, oh, here, look, Ihave a ticket for you.
(26:30):
Just take this ticket up it'scourtesy of Hanzo Go upstairs
and you can get your free funnelcake.
And people were so excitedbecause it was such a different
thing for that conference.
You know you're getting youknow your standard like
conference cold pasta and saladand everything.
And then there are peoplewalking around with funnel cake
and fried Oreos and likedelicious strawberry lemonades
and it was so nostalgic and justfun that people really loved it
(26:54):
and instantly.
We started having so manyconversations because we
stationed our sales reps rightoutside the food truck, so while
people were waiting, they'dplace their order.
Then, while they're waiting, westrike up a conversation and
just say you know, oh, what areyou doing here?
Are you enjoying your time?
Just a quick conversation.
And now they're like it's veryhard to be, you know, stuffy and
upset when you're eating afunnel cake.
(27:15):
So I really loved being able tobuild that whole campaign and
then started connecting withpeople that way and then we used
it as a follow-up, you know,just saying like hey, did you
enjoy your funnel cake?
And people really loved it.
It was a great way to connectwith people and just something
that stood out and it wassomething that you know it was
kind of a difficult sell atfirst because people are like
(27:36):
it's a conference, what are wedoing with?
You know, what are we doingwith this?
That seems a little bit outthere, whereas other people are
giving out, like you know,backpacks and like little you
know, laptop cases.
But it ended up standing out.
It was so much fun, it was lowbudget and it was.
It was a great way to connectwith people.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Wow, that is absolutely a different technique
and it sounds like it worked.
And, as you mentioned earlier,even people who are in B2B and
tech are still people, and soyou really try to connect with
them on a human level and thenget into the business side of
things.
I love that.
Thank you.
Yes, it was so much fun.
We see a lot of women in technow, but it's still a very
(28:15):
male-dominated industry.
Has that ever been a hindrancein you getting the positions
that you've gotten?
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Definitely.
Yes, there have been a lot oftimes where I have been
automatically added as the adminrole in the room, and you know
that's an uncomfortablesituation to be in.
As a woman, you know to bethought of as the person who is
the one who's going to clean upafter all the guys have left, or
, you know, the automatic notetaker or things like that,
(28:45):
whereas you know there's nothingwrong with those roles, but
there is something wrong withthe group of men assuming that
the only woman in the room isthe one to do that, when all of
these things need to be doneeither way.
So there have been multipletimes that I've had that kind of
experience and a lot of timesit is disheartening.
It's easy to kind of fall intolike, oh well, you know, maybe I
(29:06):
should just kind of stay quiet,keep the peace.
I don't want to be that woman,you know, making a scene or
anything like that, but at thesame time that doesn't really
help anyone.
It doesn't allow people to.
You know, know that that's notthe right way to treat women in
the workplace and it's nothelpful for me either.
It didn't make me feel good tobe quiet about those instances.
So I definitely started, youknow, standing up and saying,
(29:29):
you know, oh hey, are you allgoing to grab your coffee cups
when we're leaving, and you knowthey might look at me funny the
first time.
But what are they really goingto say?
Are they going to say, no,excuse me, no, you should be the
one to get our coffee cups,because I kind of forced them to
face it.
So it's a bit intimidating todo that, definitely.
But you know it's been achallenge coming up through this
(29:50):
world of tech and while, likeyou said, it is improving, there
are a lot more women in technow, it still feels very
competitive a lot of times andit feels like a lot of times
women are fighting for the onlycouple of roles available for
women, which should not be thecase, and oftentimes it's kind
of, you know, not the case.
If you can really, if you canreally work to lift up the other
women with you, that's been myapproach to really try to.
(30:12):
You know, bring other peoplewith me and show that.
You know, hey, that was heridea.
She's valuable, she needs to bepromoted if I'm getting
promoted.
So those kind of approaches arereally important, but it's a
tough world.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Yeah, but I appreciate the fact that you're
saying we have to help eachother, we have to stick together
, and I do think, because womenare the nurturers, we're willing
to do the extra work, and a lotof times that makes people have
assumptions about us.
As you mentioned, we're goingto be the ones who bring the
treats, we're going to be theones who get everybody coffee,
we're going to be the notetakers, and that's not always
(30:48):
the best.
It's actually not usually thebest use of our time in those
rooms.
Well, patrika, you also have apodcast.
I'd love to hear a little bitabout that.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Getting back to your travel side, yeah, so my podcast
is called Destination Journeyand it's all about creative and
responsible travel.
It's been on hiatus for a whilenow, but it's coming back on
June 25th so I'm so excited torelaunch it and start telling
travel stories again.
And basically it's all aboutthose kind of adventures where
you're going off the beaten path, you're visiting somewhere new
(31:21):
and those kind of small townexperiences.
So it's been a fun time kind ofenjoying those adventures and
it's even more fun to get toshare them with people.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
I just want to ask one last question.
Of course, we'll link to yourwebsite and everything else in
the show notes, but what advicedo you have for women who are
looking to break into tech?
We have a large population ofour students for the digital
media management program at USCare women.
Some of them are already intech, but many are looking to
(31:51):
make a career change.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Yeah, that's a great question, and I've been in your
shoes, if you're listening.
I've been there, you know.
I know how intimidating itfeels to break into tech, and
what I try to remind myself ofon a daily basis and this is
still a mantra that I use isjust the words why not me?
Why not me?
Because there are so manypeople that are doing what you
(32:16):
want to do with less education,with fewer resources, with less
experience, and they're doing it.
And there is the.
A lot of times, the only personthat's stopping you from doing
it is you talking yourself outof it.
And while it's really scarysometimes to take that leap, you
will be in the same place ifyou take that leap and you don't
(32:37):
make it, or if you take thatleap and you do, you know.
So it's kind of like sometimesit's just worth taking that risk
and trying a little bitsomething that's a little bit
different and a little bit scary, because why not you?
Why are you not the person todo it?
Somebody else is doing it,somebody else is trying it, so
why, why shouldn't you?
And when I remind myself of that, that is something that has
(32:57):
really stuck with me and I'veused that to not talk myself out
of things, because it's veryeasy as women to say, oh no, I'm
sure there's someone who's morequalified or who has more you
know more experience or issmarter than me.
Why not you?
Just, why not you?
Just give it a try and see, seewhat you can do, and in the
worst case scenario, you'd try adifferent path later on.
(33:18):
But for now, why not me?
Why not me?
Speaker 2 (33:22):
I love it.
Great advice for everybody,really who's listening.
Yeah, thank you so much,patrika Elise, for coming on the
show today.
This has been a funconversation.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Yes, I've enjoyed it so much and thank you.
I appreciate your work, thatyou're doing.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
This is so important and such an important message to
give doing this is so importantand such an important message
to give.
Oh, thank you.
With that, this has beenMediascape Insights from Digital
Changemakers.
Thank you to everybody who'swatching this episode or
listening to it on your favoriteplatform.
Thank you for supporting ourpodcast that is hosted by USC
Annenberg's Master's in DigitalMedia Management program, and I,
(34:02):
or Joseph, will be back againwith another amazing guest to
share their story and theirjourney next week.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
To learn more about the Master of Science in Digital
Media Management Program, visitus on the web at dmmuscedu.
Welcome to Mediascape insights from digital
changemakers, a speaker seriesand podcast brought to you by
USC Annenberg's Digital MediaManagement Program.
Join us as we unlock thesecrets to success in an
increasingly digital world.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I am thrilled to welcome another woman in tech,
Patrika Elise Cheston.
How are you today?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I'm doing great.
Thank you so much for having me.
How are you?
I'm good.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I'm good you have your hands in so many different
things.
Can you just tell our audiencea little bit about you and what
your passions are?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Absolutely so.
My background is in marketingand I started a marketing agency
a couple of years ago thatfocuses on helping startups
basically through all of thedifferent rounds of being a
startup, from seed to you knowall the way to IPO if we get
there, you know.
So I love working with startupsand that's one of my big
passions just enjoying all ofthe chaos and the growth that
(01:05):
happens at the same time.
But my other passion is traveland making sustainable,
responsible travel moreaccessible to everyone.
I think it's such an importantway to grow as a human and I
want to make that as accessibleas possible.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Two amazing things.
I have the travel bug as well,and I love tech and I love
startups and working withcompanies that are just still
finding their footing sometimes.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yes, definitely.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
How did you get into working with startups and
marketing?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Yeah, I actually didn't intend to go to startups
when I went to college.
I started out with the goal ofbeing a news anchor.
Actually, I was super obsessedwith stories and just learning
about the way that stories aretold and I started, you know,
pursuing that when I went tocollege and I very quickly
realized that if I was going tobe on a morning show, that meant
(01:55):
I had to be up at 3 am everymorning and that is not the life
I wanted to live.
So I started looking for adifferent way to be in the crazy
hustle of life.
So I started finding out aboutmarketing and I interned with a
startup that was a woman-ledstartup and it was an incredible
experience and I really lovedthat environment.
(02:16):
But I still thought I wanted tokind of go corporate and, you
know, wear a suit and work myway up the corporate ladder
because that's kind of what Ihad always seen in the movies
and thinking that that wasreally the path that I wanted to
follow.
And I went to a corporatecompany and very quickly
realized that it was not for me.
I toughed it out for about ayear and was miserable the
(02:36):
entire time and decided, youknow, this is not going to be
the path that I want to be in.
I don't like being kind of atthe bottom of the ladder, being
a nobody.
I really want to get my handsdirty.
I want to get involved inwhat's going on in the
organization, and a corporationjust wasn't really the best
place for me to do that.
So I decided to go back tostartups after that and just
realized that that is where Ithrive and I've gotten a chance
(02:58):
to work through a lot ofdifferent types of industries.
I like to say I work in the notso sexy industries like email.
I've worked in legal tech quitea bit.
I've worked with security techfirms and things like that.
So it's really still excitingbecause it's a startup and I'm
getting to be involved in somany different parts of the
business and wear so many hats,but at the same time it's also,
(03:19):
you know, trying to be creativewhen the industry itself is not
as creative.
So it's been an interestingjourney, to say the least.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I'm sure, but it's really good that you recognize
so early that being a part of abig corporation wasn't your path
, because I think a lot ofpeople it takes a lot longer.
Right, they're alreadymid-career or they're an
executive and then they go wait.
What am I doing here Exactly?
So I really want to hear aboutthe experience of marketing
(03:50):
startups and tech firms and howyou market them differently
depending on what stage they areversus their new it's
incubating idea.
They're going after their seedfunding or they're going through
their series A, et cetera.
What are the differences thereand where do you start with them
?
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Yeah, that's a great question and I think there are
both a lot of differences andsimilarities in the marketing
approach to the different rounds.
To start with the seed round,it's really about who is
building this organization.
Who are the founders, what istheir story?
Because at that point you mightnot even have really an MVP yet
, so you might not really havemuch to show.
(04:29):
You might just have a concept.
So it's really important to letpeople connect with the
founders and the people who arebuilding the product or the
service.
So I always recommend and thisis true across the board, across
all startups I really recommendstarting with that story,
Because starting with the storyis how you really get that
connection.
Especially in today's world,people want to know who's behind
(04:50):
the brands that they'resupporting, so you can use that
to your advantage.
I think that that's so importantand in the seed round, that's
really what people connect withand we've seen that work so well
in a lot of ways.
But we've also, you know, we'veseen that people who can tell a
really good story are the onesthat get the funding in the long
run for better or for worse,you know, but it's really a good
(05:14):
way to connect with potentialinvestors connect with your
future customers.
They want to know, you know,who's behind it all.
And then from there, you know,once you really have a product,
it's really about marketing thebenefits to the customer, and
the customer needs to understandhow this makes their life
easier, how it improves theirdaily experience or how it
solves a problem that they have.
You know, it's really easy tofall into the.
You know, oh, we can build allof these different features and
(05:36):
our product can do X, Y, Z, andyou know it's really cool.
Like I'm a tech person, I wantto see all those little features
that you've created, but at thesame time, it doesn't really
matter to the average consumerunless it actually improves
their life.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, it's not creating that emotional
connection and resonance Exactly.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yes, absolutely, and I think that's something that a
lot of startups, you know theyget so excited about it but then
they kind of neglect to focuson that emotional connection and
we buy with our emotions a lotof times.
You know, there, of course,people are making business
decisions every day butultimately, at the end of the
day, it's a person making thatdecision and if you make an
emotional connection, then youcan make that sale.
(06:15):
So that, to me, increases overtime with every round of funding
.
You know, once you've got that,you're kind of building out
that team, you've got thefunding to keep growing your
product, then it's still aboutthat story and I think that's
something that gets lost a lotof times.
People think about how manyfeatures they can add to a
product.
I mean, I've seen brands kindof fall apart a little bit
(06:36):
because they start building somuch that they're building away
from their core audience andthey, you know, lose that
connection and sometimes theyeven have to walk it back a
little bit to try to reconnectwith the people that they've
isolated.
So it's always about the storyand the connection.
Whether you're, you know, juststarting out or whether you're
about to IPO, it's all about whocan you connect with?
How can you connect with thataudience that you're building
(06:58):
and how can you make their liveseasier?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
And what I also hear you saying is that you know it's
different customer bases.
So when you're starting out andtrying to get funding, you may
have research about youraudience, you may have proof of
concept, but you really want tosell story to people who are
going to fund you and believe inand want to invest in you,
versus people who are going tobuy your product or service.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Very true.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Absolutely.
Do you have a favorite projectthat you've worked on?
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Oh, that's a good question.
I would say I worked with abrand that was in the email
marketing space and they wereactually an international brand
that were trying to really buildtheir brand in the US and there
was a lot of competition, youknow, a lot of kind of existing
brands that people already knewand trusted.
So it was one of thosescenarios where I was brought in
(07:48):
as the marketing manager forthe US market and I was really
trying to find the connectionsin the US.
So we were going to thesedifferent events and looking for
ways to stand out and wedecided one time to really lean
into the Frenchness of the brandand we literally just brought
champagne to one of the eventsand just popped champagne and
(08:08):
said you know, hey, we're inthis market now, welcome us to
the market.
And people were, of course,coming to the booth.
If they hear popping champagnecorks, I mean I'll come running.
So they were coming to thebooth and just getting to know
us.
But we leaned into the you know,like I said, the Frenchness of
(08:29):
the brand and were able to makethat connection with people
because they were excited to see, oh, there's something new on
the market.
This was also around the timethat GDPR was becoming a thing.
So people were starting to see,you know, there's a big
European tech market and there'sa lot of stuff happening there,
so bringing that over was aninteresting way to kind of make
that connection and tell adifferent story than people were
used to hearing in the US.
So that was a fun project to bea part of.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, and I love that you brought up the GDPR,
because that's something that wefocus on.
A lot is privacy, ethics, datasecurity and, of course, now how
are different countries, evendifferent states, united States
approaching artificialintelligence and we know that's
all over the place, place too.
So we have all these differentthings, layers, to look at, and
(09:07):
when we're whether you're in avolunteer organization, have you
know, you're in a corporationand you're trying to convince
them to an AI strategy, or youare a small business owner or a
student working on a capstoneproject these are all things you
have to consider where yourmarket's going to live right, or
where the people are going tobe from, I guess I should say,
(09:28):
because it doesn't really matterwhere they physically live and
make sure that you're adhering,probably to the most stringent
restrictions, particularly withsome of the non-sexy groups that
you've talked about.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Right, there are a lot of regulations and it's hard
to also communicate that aswell.
It's important to communicatethat across the board, but not
everybody wants to hear aboutcompliance.
That's not a sexy topic, butit's an important one and, you
know, it really ties into theethics as well fit into your
(10:06):
life working on these differentprojects?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Was that born also out of working with a company
that was coaching travel in aunique way?
Or is that just something thatyou always love to do?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
It's a combination.
Actually.
I started out traveling from avery young age.
My dad traveled a lot for workand he would take me and my
sisters along with him.
So you know, we were justalways getting to go on road
trips and I enjoyed that so muchthat when I started working in
different brands, whenever I hadthe opportunity to take a work
trip I was like sign me up, I'mready to go, and I had learned
(10:34):
so much about just kind oftraveling, you know, on the
ground, and just kind of goingto new places as a young person
coming up through the world thatI really just latched onto it
when I had a chance to startwork travel and that allowed me
to go to some places that Ipersonally couldn't have
afforded at the time.
It allowed me to kind of getout of my comfort zone and also
try solo travel for the firsttime, because I was so used to
(10:57):
traveling with my dad and momand sisters that it was kind of
intimidating to travel by myself.
But I instantly fell in love.
I realized traveling on my owntime was a wonderful experience.
I learned to really enjoy myown company, which I think is
super important, and it allowedme to kind of see things in a
different way when it came totravel.
(11:17):
I was learning about, you know,the general, the experience of
trying a hotel in a local place,instead of just kind of, you
know, going to the big names.
All the time I was learningabout what, where the local
people live and what the localpeople do, versus just going to
the tourist locations.
So a lot of times I startedtelling that story and telling
people you know, oh, I was inIowa this past week and people
(11:41):
are like what's in Iowa?
And I'm like there's so much,it was so interesting.
I went to this museum and itwas so cool and I got to tell
these stories that people wererealizing that were just so
interesting when they weren'tthe most common places.
So it really ignited somethingin me to start telling the
stories of locations that wereoff the beaten path and that led
into me understanding a bitmore about sustainability and
(12:03):
that it's not just an ecologicalapproach, it's not just about
the environment, it's also aboutthe people that are in the
locations and the businesseswithin those locations.
So I started helping localtourism businesses learn how to
market their brands and then Ialso started learning how to
work with small businesses inthose locations to attract
tourists and basically telltheir stories in a unique way
(12:26):
and get connected to people thatare visiting for the first time
.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Amazing Now are you overseas, right now.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
No, I'm in North Carolina.
I'm actually born and raisedhere, but I moved to New York
for a while and decided to comeback home.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I got kind of sick of the winter, oh yeah because I
know often people have this loveand thirst for travel.
You know you connect to so manyplaces and so many people that
you want to live in a lot ofdifferent places.
I spoke to somebody, I thinkyesterday or the day before,
who's lived in, I think, 24places, which is a little
extreme to me, but more power tohim and his wife.
(13:02):
That's amazing, yeah, yeah,because I think the more we
travel also the moreunderstanding and empathy we
have for others.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Absolutely yes, because I think there's.
You start to see that we're notthat different, even though
there's different ways of life.
At the end of the day, we'reall human and we're all trying
to, you know, make our lives alittle bit better.
We're all trying to connectwith people.
We're all trying to feelunderstood, and I think it's so
important when you're travelingto just have those local
(13:31):
connections and start to reallylearn about how other people
live life On the tech side again, because it sounds like the
tourism side is more B2C.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
right, it's about the consumer on the tech side.
Is it mostly B2B products oryeah?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Definitely, Because, you know, being a marketing
agency or running a marketingagency, we're really trying to
help those businesses get theirmessage out.
So it ends up being mostly B2B,but I do have a love for B2C.
But you know, B2B is really anexciting place to be.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Yeah, and do you think that there's a
differentiation in how youmarket B2B versus B2C?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Oh, definitely, definitely.
With B2B, you know, a lot oftimes there's a big financial
component where you're talkingabout.
You know how I can instantlyadd value to your organization,
how we're going to address yourrevenue concerns.
You know how we're going to cutyour churn, all of these
different you know technicalterms where they really want to
get into the nitty gritty ofwhat's going to address their
(14:28):
business bottom line.
And when you're looking at B2C,you get to get to that
emotional connection a littlebit sooner in the process.
I think people kind of initiallyconnect with an ad, for example
, and then they're going toclick on that and that's when
you kind of start telling thatstory instantly, whereas with
B2B there's a bit more of aprocess.
You know you've got to kind ofstart getting in and telling
(14:50):
them how you're going to impress, I mean how you're going to
improve their business andreally address some of their
business concerns.
But at the end of the day youknow you're selling to a human
being each time and I think it'sone of the things that I always
remind people is that even ifthey're B2B, they're still a
person and they have humanconcerns and at the end of the
day they're probably thinkinglike I want to make my life
(15:11):
easier, just the same as thatconsumer is.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
So while there's definitely a different like
marketing and sales process,there's still a connection
that's really important and ofcourse, I have to ask about
artificial intelligence, becausethat has changed our lives as
marketers so much and I feellike every day I'm still
learning how to use new tools.
(15:33):
I just started playing withcreating agents for my different
workflows and things, so I wantto hear about how you're
incorporating it into youragency and your business, and
you know what are some of yourfavorite tools.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Yeah, so you know, everybody knows about chat GPT
at this point, but I think oneof my favorite tools is actually
using chat GPT as abrainstorming tool and a tool to
organize my thoughts, because Iknow everyone is generally
concerned about, you know, is AItaking our jobs and while there
are some things that can beautomated, there are still a lot
(16:07):
of things that need that humaninput and they're always going
to need that human input.
So one of the ways that I loveto use it within the
organization is when I'm lookingto launch maybe, a new offering
, for example.
Sometimes I just use it tobrainstorm.
I'll say you know, ask me acouple of questions to help me,
like, flesh out this thought andthen, using that, it's like
having a conversation with aperson.
(16:28):
I don't have to bother anyoneat three in the morning when I
am, you know, brainstorming andmy mind is going crazy, but it's
a really interesting tool touse.
I've also been using there's atool called Pressmaster, which
is a really interesting tool tohelp generate different types of
content for basically tellingstories.
So I've been really interestedin that.
(16:48):
I'm testing that out and superexcited to be a part of that.
And then, yeah, I've also beentesting a couple of tools to
build AI agents as well.
I'm you know, I'm stilllearning that I'm a little bit
intimidated by it, just becauseI'm like I don't know how to
like, I don't know how to createsomething to tell what to do,
but it's an interesting conceptand it seems like there's a lot
(17:09):
of potential there, so I'm veryexcited about that.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, I haven't used Pressmaster, so I'm gonna have
to check that out, and thenwe'll have to trade what
products for using what toolsfor agent fusion.
Oh yes definitely One of myfavorite.
Like you, I like to brainstorm.
I usually use Claude as myfavorite brainstorm tool we were
talking a little bit about aswe're recording this interview
all day.
Google's been down, includingthe cloud services which made a
(17:35):
lot of other websites semi ornot operational.
Claude has been down.
It's back up now, thankfully,but it can be a real problem
when we rely on these tools somuch, and so that's where we
have to remember to save thework somewhere else, right, and
to also not just rely on onetool.
Maybe have many tools at ourdisposal, but I have used Claude
(17:58):
to help me actually figure outexactly how I want to program
agents and then, you know,create connections to do all of
the different things I want todo, and that's been really
helpful.
That plus human teaching,absolutely yeah.
So have you ever had troublegetting buy-in when you've been
working with a client?
(18:18):
They might be, you know, intheir early stage and they
aren't sure about the marketingstrategy that you're trying to
present, and how do you overcometheir objections?
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Definitely yes, that is something that's very common.
Marketing is intimidating for alot of brands in their new
stages and it can also be a costthat a lot of people don't
exactly know how to justifybecause they don't understand
the value that it adds.
So there are a lot of timeswhere people say, like, oh, we
can just post on social.
This person has an Instagram,so they know how to post on
(18:51):
social.
And while, yes, you can postlike, there's nothing stopping
you from posting, but there is avalue in having a greater
strategy and an understanding ofhow your social platforms
connect to the rest of yourplatforms and the rest of your
messaging.
So a lot of times I kind of,whenever I get that type of
concern or objections, I willtake a step back and I'll say
(19:13):
you know, let's talk about youractual concerns here.
Like, let's let's understand,if you were to invest in this,
what's the worst thing thatcould happen?
Basically, you know, let's takea step back and kind of walk
through the big picture so thatwe can understand what the
actual like root of the concernis, because a lot of times
there's a fear about putting outa product and maybe people are
getting comments on social mediathat the product's not good or,
(19:37):
you know, maybe they'reconcerned about, you know,
getting comments about who thefounder is or things like that.
It's intimidating when you'refinally going to put that thing
that you've been building outthere.
But that's why bringingmarketing on early is really
important, because you start toget that product market fit very
early on and you start, youknow, getting general sentiments
from the audiences that you'retargeting and you can also start
(19:58):
testing who are you targeting?
Is that actually your targetmarket?
Are they actually going to beinterested?
So you know, I really try toalways take a step back and just
never take things personally,like if someone's saying like,
oh, I don't really want this orI don't think I need this, it's
not about me, it's not aboutwhat I've created, it's about
their concerns about theirbusiness.
And a lot of times people justyou know they're building
(20:20):
businesses and those businessesare their babies, so they really
want to make sure that theytake care of it and grow it in a
way that makes sense.
So marketing can beintimidating, but a lot of times
it's really about understandingyour audience and getting
yourself out there early so thatyou can start really building
those connections andunderstanding what your audience
really wants.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Marketing and public relations are two things.
People start so much later inthe game than they should
because we are the ones who aregoing to help them make sure
that they're actually reachingthe right audience with the
messaging Right, that we cancreate plans from the beginning,
as you said, and it can bereally difficult.
And when you do get thoserejections, or when they're
(21:00):
bringing you in so late thatyou're like, oh, you should have
done this, this and this firstBeen there, definitely.
So when somebody is a startupbut they're bootstrapped, they
don't have funding, they didn'tnecessarily maybe go to a school
where they have a lot of peerswho have connections, or they
(21:20):
don't have connections to getsome seed funding, what are some
recommended tactics andstrategies that you would offer
them?
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah, that's a great question.
I've seen a lot of interestingthings in the market now with
especially for a lot of techphysical products.
There are a lot of people thatare, you know, taking pre-launch
basically pre-launchinvestments from crowdfunding,
as well as these kind ofplatforms that allow you to take
a small investment up front andthen deliver on the product and
then, you know, basically givethat product to the customer
(21:49):
later on at full price or adiscounted price if they invest
early.
So I've seen a lot of thathappening and I think that's a
really interesting approach.
But I also think there are somany different grants that are
available now, as well asdifferent competitions where
they're doing startup pitchcompetitions, and there are a
lot of ones that are tailored tospecific audiences or specific
(22:10):
types of founders.
So what I always recommend islooking for those, because if
you've really got your storydown, you can make connections
and maybe win some of thoselittle competitions, because,
you know, while it may only be a$5,000 investment, that could
be something that builds overtime and allows you to kind of
just keep going.
And, you know, a lot of timeswith bootstrapping a startup,
(22:30):
you really are kind of day today, just kind of doing what you
can to keep going and you'reworking towards that goal and
any little bit helps.
So I think it's kind of staying.
It's staying motivated, whichis definitely easier said than
done, but it's looking for thoselittle pockets of opportunity
where there are people who wantto support, for example,
women-led founders, founders ofdifferent backgrounds All of
(22:52):
those different types areavailable and a lot of times
they can be kind of smallcompetition, so you never know
if you have that chance to getinvolved.
And then, of course, like Imentioned, those types of grants
that are out there are reallyimportant to get involved in
early on and sometimes they havekind of a lengthy application
process.
So I think, as soon as you kindof know that you're getting
started on something, startlooking so that you're not
(23:14):
scrambling when you're desperatefor funding and looking for
ways to keep going.
So just looking for thoseopportunities and not thinking
of any opportunity as too smallto kind of keep your business
growing.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
That's such a good point and I appreciate that.
You just mentioned several wayspeople can get funding and I
think I apply the same thing tomarketing strategies or branding
or PR.
It doesn't don't worry abouthow small you know.
If it's a small podcast thatwe're booking you on or it's a
small publication, because youdon't know who else is reading
that publication, and that smallblog might be read by somebody
(23:47):
and I've had this happen whoworks for Forbes and they're
like oh, I want to write aboutyou now and then it gets seen by
other big publications, so itdoesn't really matter in those
smaller areas, right, thesmaller competitions, the
smaller press, the smallercampaigns help you test the
market.
They help you get comfortablesharing your message and
presenting and speaking, andsometimes people don't remember
(24:11):
that that's also a really bigpart of getting your brand out.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Very much so, and it's another intimidating part
too.
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Is there a memorable campaign that you worked on that
you can share with us for oneof your clients?
And you can name the client ornot name but one where you
really saw that they you knowwhether they were resistant at
first or they embraced it, yourideas that it helps them get to
the next level.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
Yeah, actually there's one that I think about
pretty often.
I love to tell this storybecause it's there was a I was
working with a legal techcompany called Hanzo and they
basically were working in thecompliance and legal technology
space, so another you know notsuper sexy brand, but it was.
We were looking to really startmaking connections in the
market and we were sponsoring aconference that was a financial
(25:03):
regulations conference Again,not an exciting topic,
definitely a lot of suits there,a lot of people kind of sitting
through these hour-longsessions that were just really,
you know, intense and kind ofboring and very hyper-focused on
specific regulations and thingslike that.
So I decided that when we weregoing to approach this
conference, that we needed to dosomething that would stand out,
(25:25):
that would be memorable andthat would be interesting for
this conference.
And we had a very low budgetcompared to a lot of our
competitors.
So our competitors were easilyspending in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars and thebudget for this project was like
probably less than $20,000.
So very small, very hard tostand out.
And so what we did was I found afood truck that gave out like
(25:49):
carnival type of food, because Ithought that is going to be
very different from what theconference is serving and it's
also going to be somethingcompletely off base for you know
, these financial regulations,people that are going to be
sitting in these sessions.
And we parked a food truckright outside of the venue and
this food truck is like brightand colorful and it's got all of
(26:10):
this like delicious smellcoming out of it, because it's
like funnel cakes and friedOreos and stuff like that.
So, and what I did wasliterally go and get a funnel
cake from the food truck andthen I just walked around the
conference floor with it andpeople were like, where did you
get that?
Where did that come from?
I need that, where is that from?
And I'm like, oh, here, look, Ihave a ticket for you.
(26:30):
Just take this ticket up it'scourtesy of Hanzo Go upstairs
and you can get your free funnelcake.
And people were so excitedbecause it was such a different
thing for that conference.
You know you're getting youknow your standard like
conference cold pasta and saladand everything.
And then there are peoplewalking around with funnel cake
and fried Oreos and likedelicious strawberry lemonades
and it was so nostalgic and justfun that people really loved it
(26:54):
and instantly.
We started having so manyconversations because we
stationed our sales reps rightoutside the food truck, so while
people were waiting, they'dplace their order.
Then, while they're waiting, westrike up a conversation and
just say you know, oh, what areyou doing here?
Are you enjoying your time?
Just a quick conversation.
And now they're like it's veryhard to be, you know, stuffy and
upset when you're eating afunnel cake.
(27:15):
So I really loved being able tobuild that whole campaign and
then started connecting withpeople that way and then we used
it as a follow-up, you know,just saying like hey, did you
enjoy your funnel cake?
And people really loved it.
It was a great way to connectwith people and just something
that stood out and it wassomething that you know it was
kind of a difficult sell atfirst because people are like
(27:36):
it's a conference, what are wedoing with?
You know, what are we doingwith this?
That seems a little bit outthere, whereas other people are
giving out, like you know,backpacks and like little you
know, laptop cases.
But it ended up standing out.
It was so much fun, it was lowbudget and it was.
It was a great way to connectwith people.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Wow, that is absolutely a different technique
and it sounds like it worked.
And, as you mentioned earlier,even people who are in B2B and
tech are still people, and soyou really try to connect with
them on a human level and thenget into the business side of
things.
I love that.
Thank you.
Yes, it was so much fun.
We see a lot of women in technow, but it's still a very
(28:15):
male-dominated industry.
Has that ever been a hindrancein you getting the positions
that you've gotten?
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Definitely.
Yes, there have been a lot oftimes where I have been
automatically added as the adminrole in the room, and you know
that's an uncomfortablesituation to be in.
As a woman, you know to bethought of as the person who is
the one who's going to clean upafter all the guys have left, or
, you know, the automatic notetaker or things like that,
(28:45):
whereas you know there's nothingwrong with those roles, but
there is something wrong withthe group of men assuming that
the only woman in the room isthe one to do that, when all of
these things need to be doneeither way.
So there have been multipletimes that I've had that kind of
experience and a lot of timesit is disheartening.
It's easy to kind of fall intolike, oh well, you know, maybe I
(29:06):
should just kind of stay quiet,keep the peace.
I don't want to be that woman,you know, making a scene or
anything like that, but at thesame time that doesn't really
help anyone.
It doesn't allow people to.
You know, know that that's notthe right way to treat women in
the workplace and it's nothelpful for me either.
It didn't make me feel good tobe quiet about those instances.
So I definitely started, youknow, standing up and saying,
(29:29):
you know, oh hey, are you allgoing to grab your coffee cups
when we're leaving, and you knowthey might look at me funny the
first time.
But what are they really goingto say?
Are they going to say, no,excuse me, no, you should be the
one to get our coffee cups,because I kind of forced them to
face it.
So it's a bit intimidating todo that, definitely.
But you know it's been achallenge coming up through this
(29:50):
world of tech and while, likeyou said, it is improving, there
are a lot more women in technow, it still feels very
competitive a lot of times andit feels like a lot of times
women are fighting for the onlycouple of roles available for
women, which should not be thecase, and oftentimes it's kind
of, you know, not the case.
If you can really, if you canreally work to lift up the other
women with you, that's been myapproach to really try to.
(30:12):
You know, bring other peoplewith me and show that.
You know, hey, that was heridea.
She's valuable, she needs to bepromoted if I'm getting
promoted.
So those kind of approaches arereally important, but it's a
tough world.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Yeah, but I appreciate the fact that you're
saying we have to help eachother, we have to stick together
, and I do think, because womenare the nurturers, we're willing
to do the extra work, and a lotof times that makes people have
assumptions about us.
As you mentioned, we're goingto be the ones who bring the
treats, we're going to be theones who get everybody coffee,
we're going to be the notetakers, and that's not always
(30:48):
the best.
It's actually not usually thebest use of our time in those
rooms.
Well, patrika, you also have apodcast.
I'd love to hear a little bitabout that.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Getting back to your travel side, yeah, so my podcast
is called Destination Journeyand it's all about creative and
responsible travel.
It's been on hiatus for a whilenow, but it's coming back on
June 25th so I'm so excited torelaunch it and start telling
travel stories again.
And basically it's all aboutthose kind of adventures where
you're going off the beaten path, you're visiting somewhere new
(31:21):
and those kind of small townexperiences.
So it's been a fun time kind ofenjoying those adventures and
it's even more fun to get toshare them with people.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
I just want to ask one last question.
Of course, we'll link to yourwebsite and everything else in
the show notes, but what advicedo you have for women who are
looking to break into tech?
We have a large population ofour students for the digital
media management program at USCare women.
Some of them are already intech, but many are looking to
(31:51):
make a career change.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Yeah, that's a great question, and I've been in your
shoes, if you're listening.
I've been there, you know.
I know how intimidating itfeels to break into tech, and
what I try to remind myself ofon a daily basis and this is
still a mantra that I use isjust the words why not me?
Why not me?
Because there are so manypeople that are doing what you
(32:16):
want to do with less education,with fewer resources, with less
experience, and they're doing it.
And there is the.
A lot of times, the only personthat's stopping you from doing
it is you talking yourself outof it.
And while it's really scarysometimes to take that leap, you
will be in the same place ifyou take that leap and you don't
(32:37):
make it, or if you take thatleap and you do, you know.
So it's kind of like sometimesit's just worth taking that risk
and trying a little bitsomething that's a little bit
different and a little bit scary, because why not you?
Why are you not the person todo it?
Somebody else is doing it,somebody else is trying it, so
why, why shouldn't you?
And when I remind myself of that, that is something that has
(32:57):
really stuck with me and I'veused that to not talk myself out
of things, because it's veryeasy as women to say, oh no, I'm
sure there's someone who's morequalified or who has more you
know more experience or issmarter than me.
Why not you?
Just, why not you?
Just give it a try and see, seewhat you can do, and in the
worst case scenario, you'd try adifferent path later on.
(33:18):
But for now, why not me?
Why not me?
Speaker 2 (33:22):
I love it.
Great advice for everybody,really who's listening.
Yeah, thank you so much,patrika Elise, for coming on the
show today.
This has been a funconversation.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Yes, I've enjoyed it so much and thank you.
I appreciate your work, thatyou're doing.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
This is so important and such an important message to
give doing this is so importantand such an important message
to give.
Oh, thank you.
With that, this has beenMediascape Insights from Digital
Changemakers.
Thank you to everybody who'swatching this episode or
listening to it on your favoriteplatform.
Thank you for supporting ourpodcast that is hosted by USC
Annenberg's Master's in DigitalMedia Management program, and I,
(34:02):
or Joseph, will be back againwith another amazing guest to
share their story and theirjourney next week.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
To learn more about the Master of Science in Digital
Media Management Program, visitus on the web at dmmuscedu.
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