January 13, 2025 • 57 mins
We’re back, and it’s 2025 - can you believe it?
In our first episode of the year (and of the new season!), our core group of Liana Henry, Phillip Henry, Jacob Measmer, and Alicia Fiore looked back over our second-year business stories of what we learned and what our predictions for the new year would be.
We shared some of our growing pains, talked about hot trends in content development, project management, and marketing, and reminisced about the ways we got to make a difference.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Starfish Storytellers, the podcast that makes a difference one story
(00:04):
at a time by bringing storytelling to life.
There are so many things that I learned in our second year of business.
I liken it to a roller coaster ride of sorts, but it's a journey I'm obsessed with and
I'm determined to stay on.
I learned about the importance of adaptability.
(00:26):
During our first year in business I had a number of clients in rapid succession, but
during our second year we had a few lulls in business, which had its pros and cons.
The pros were I got to take a breath and regroup, we got to freshen up our content and refine
our processes, and we got to try something new when old processes or procedures weren't
working very well.
I learned that you really can weather uncertainty.
(00:49):
In those lulls, I got to reflect on where I wanted to take the business.
I got the chance to speak with many diverse prospects.
I learned a lot about their pain points.
I got to keep producing great content, even in moments when my clients went through their
own transitions.
I learned that innovation is really important.
As a marketing communications agency, we have got to stay current.
(01:10):
We embraced a number of cool, mar-tech tools and they helped us innovate on our clients'
projects so we could even offer them more.
I learned that partnerships are a necessity.
You can't successfully run a business without your colleagues, mentors, and vendors.
We may be able to do a lot as a team, but we can't do it all.
So I want to give a shout out to my photo, video, and promo partners who helped us be
(01:32):
that one-stop shop that we strive for.
I also want to give a shout out to all of our podcast guests from this past year.
We got to build some great business relationships and explore so many different types of corporate
storytelling that are making a big difference in the marketplace.
I learned that community matters.
I got my certification in guided autobiography and I met a wonderful group of fellow instructors
(01:56):
who I get to meet with regularly.
Plus, as I said about our podcast guests, spending time with colleagues who speak the
same language professionally has only helped me grow.
And lastly, I learned that I need my team to make this content creation machine work.
Without you, I wouldn't be here.
I'm lucky to have some of the most talented and energized, biz dev and creative specialists
(02:18):
who work for us and with us.
They keep me on track.
They make our company look good.
And they definitely keep our clients happy.
They say that team stands for, together everyone achieves more.
And that could not be true.
So I want to thank you, Jake and Alicia and Rebecca and Jeff.
I'm excited to jump back into more storytelling this year and our local community, help more
(02:42):
small businesses tell their stories through their marketing, and expand our enterprise
reach to more corporate teams who may not have the resources to move those initiatives
ahead.
I am really looking forward to it 2025.
We'll hope for us.
Hello.
My name is Leanna Henry.
(03:09):
Welcome to the Starfish Storytellers.
I'm the CEO of the Black Dog Group, a Markham and project management firm headquartered on
the east coast of the U.S. in quaint colonial Bedford, Massachusetts.
I'm your host and passionate about storytelling.
(03:30):
I'm actually on a mission to raise up the next generation of storytellers.
We've named ourselves Starfish Storytellers after the Starfish Story.
The moral of the Starfish Story is based on the power of one.
No matter how big the challenge, each action we take makes a difference and has an impact.
One step, one starfish, or one story at a time.
Usually we open each podcast with a story from one guest.
(03:53):
But in our annual Founders episode, you'll hear from our core team who will share their
highlight stories from 2024 meant to inspire and connect with you.
Then we'll break it down about what it's been like at the Black Dog Group in our second
year of business.
So thanks for tuning in and let's get started.
Okay, so we're back and it's 2025.
(04:19):
Can you believe it?
No.
I feel like a Jimmy Kimmel opening monologue when I say that.
They have that scene, the one that we always laugh at.
Yeah, can you believe it?
Yeah, can you believe it's 2025?
Can you believe it's January?
How do we get to January?
My God, it's January.
Really?
It's the second day of January.
So they go on and on and on.
(04:43):
So today's episode is our first episode of the year and the new season.
And we want to focus on the Black Dog Group's 2024 and review.
So what we've learned, what we've learned, and what we do differently, and what do we
think is coming next.
So back again is our Chief Operating Officer, Phillip Henry.
He's a co-founder, my other half, and the principal of Black Dog Management, our Project
(05:08):
Management Agency.
Here's what he learned this year.
Thank you, Leana.
In our second year of business, I learned the value and the ability to really contact
switch.
Now, what do I mean by that?
(05:29):
In our first year of business, I was working on one large project throughout pretty much
through the end of 2024.
And I was also doing some of the initial things to stand up the company, the Black Dog Group,
so getting benefits, those kind of things.
In our second year of 2024, what I was doing became a little less straightforward.
(05:54):
I was actually working on multiple projects and multiple clients, and at the same time,
doing things, excuse me, to re-sign up for benefits, doing things to really take and
enhance and follow up on those things as Chief Operating Officers, so finances, benefits,
(06:16):
those kind of things.
So I needed to be able to not only switch between the projects that I was working on,
I'm doing this over here, I'm running a divestiture over here, I'm running a software creation
project over here, and then switch those things, switch my mind between those things, and be
(06:36):
able to, okay, this evening, tomorrow, I need to go into QuickBooks to update what we've
done for the past month and see these invoices.
I need to be able to go and see where we are in terms of benefits.
So the context switching and the ability to go back and forth and really have a good idea
of where we are, where I was across all of these avenues, it was a little daunting at
(07:00):
the beginning of the year and at the end of the year, at the end of 2024, I'd like to
say I developed a strength for it, I got better at it.
Still not great, but I got better at it.
So that's the context switching is what I pulled from this year.
(07:22):
So also with us today is Jake Meesmer.
He is our creative lead.
He brands our clients with his amazing graphic designs, he produces videos that fascinate,
and he brings life to our podcasts.
So take a listen while he tells you what he learned in 2024.
So one thing I learned in 2024 is to keep it short.
(07:46):
One thing I'm very, very good at is yapping a lot.
So I'm going to keep this very, very short.
But one thing that I learned in 2024 is that you don't usually know as much as you think
you know.
And coming into everything with an open mind and putting your ego aside can be very, very
helpful with what you can create.
(08:08):
This year I created a lot of content for a lot of different people, but at the beginning
of the year I was like, oh, you know, I know how to use Adobe really well and everything.
I know all these shortcuts and everything, but as you create more content, you have to
troubleshoot a lot more and being able to kind of be an active learner throughout the
(08:28):
entirety of your work is very, very helpful to creating better content.
And I think that kind of mentality has helped me create better stuff towards the end of
2024.
Newly with us on the team is Alicia Fiore.
(08:49):
Alicia is our copy editor and copy writer.
She crafts the compelling content for our blogs that our website visitors are finding
online and she will be engaging with our prospects and followers when she takes over
our social media and our newsletters this year.
And here's what she has to say.
Hi, Leona.
(09:10):
Thank you for having me.
This was a really exciting year to be part of the team.
I did join a little bit later in the year, but we really jumped in.
I was immediately given the task of creating our content blogs and our inside blogs so
that we could really show anyone looking in to see who we were, really what we know and
(09:30):
what we can offer.
And that was exciting because most of my background is in the writing aspect of things and I really
got to become an expert in marketing very quickly.
Well, I don't know that I call myself an expert yet, but for every topic that I was presented
with I really got to do a deep dive and get to research that.
And that was very actually exciting in a way because we weren't just looking to do introductory
(09:55):
things of, oh, well, this is this topic.
We want to say this is this topic, but here's how it's evolving and just really showing
that we were on the cutting edge with that.
So that's been a really exciting journey to take the skills that I've gotten over the
years for writing and applying it to something that's evolving in this quick.
(10:24):
So we're back together for our annual Founders' Episode.
And on this podcast, we like to talk to different storytellers, but today we are sharing the
stories.
So you just heard some of what we all learned over the last year.
We're also going to want to dig in today and talk a little bit about customers, content,
connections, and what's coming.
So we're going to start with customers.
(10:48):
So I've been doing a lot of the talking, so let me turn it over to you, Phillip.
What were some of the lessons you learned about acquiring new customers this past year?
And can you share a story about one of your favorite projects with that customer from
2024?
In terms of acquiring new customers, I think one of the things that I learned was to not
(11:11):
rule out any avenue whatsoever.
Initially at the, this is 2024, about midway or three quarters of the way through 2023,
I had gotten a membership on Upwork and was looking to, you know, I was looking to farm
that and use that to our advantage a little bit.
But like I mentioned in our first year, I had a full-time project and was working as
(11:34):
the COO.
But just having my name out there on Upwork, I was actually contacted towards the end of
23 by someone who found me.
And that led to my first outside client for that I came into that I believe I talked to
on last year's annual podcast, the manufacturing company based out of Wuburn, or Wilmington,
(11:55):
Wilmington?
I think they're Wuburn.
Wuburn, Wuburn.
Yeah, thank you, Wuburn.
Wuburn, the manufacturing company based out of Wuburn.
So in terms of networking, it's, there is no such thing as a bad part of your network.
The more places, it really is true, the more places you get your name out, the greater
the opportunities you have to harvest that, build a relationship, you know, turn that
(12:19):
relationship into a potential business deal.
Like I said, through Upwork, I was contacted about, but through this small manufacturing
company, the office was here, the head office was in Germany, and they were in need of someone
to create a process.
And so I didn't know for manufacturing, I didn't know how I could help these guys, but
(12:43):
I went in and went in and I had a couple of initial conversations with them, and I found
that what they needed me to be able to do, they needed someone to be able to help them
organize what they were doing for a specific purpose, and they needed someone for accountability.
That being, they had, they all had an idea of what it was they needed to do.
(13:04):
They just didn't have a central point to be able to bring everything together.
So I came in, helped them organize things, and helped them provide that accountability
so that they could all know what it was they were doing towards this goal.
And we turned out, we created the process, we changed how they were doing business, we
were a little part of how they were doing business, and we did that in about four months
(13:27):
at the beginning of the year.
So it was a great adventure and a great experience, all from that initial foray into Upwork.
And I remember when you got that contract, and you seemed to really enjoy working with
them, and it was, I think, just kind of a sign of, we could get some smaller projects,
(13:52):
but they could be really meaningful.
Yes, you could be able to work with them.
Yeah, it seemed like they really were.
I know for me, warm outreach really was king, but I also found some success on those project
platforms.
I have my name out there on Design Rush, I have my name out there on Upwork.
One of my clients initially hired me off of Upwork, and I was supposed to just be the
(14:16):
screenwriter for her radio show, and now it's kind of evolved.
Someone doing her ad copy, I'm doing her email copy, I'm doing her web copy, so it's
been a really great experience getting to work with them.
One of the creative projects that we got to work on in 2024, Jake, was branding that
mega church's summer camp.
(14:38):
Yes.
Oh, no, you're making a face with it.
So you do recall it.
I do very much.
So when you were working on that, because we did a lot of different content pieces for
them, what was standing out for you when you remember that?
A lot of stuff, for sure.
(14:58):
I think one of the big things was just the variety of content we had to produce for them.
They wanted shirts, they wanted banners, they wanted postcards, they wanted flyers, they
needed just everything.
I think they needed a deck made on Canva, too.
They needed a Canva deck that was similar to last year, but not last year.
(15:19):
I don't want to speak poorly about anybody, but it was a lot of very content, and I think
that was certainly a challenge to translate the designs that we made for the postcards
onto the shirts, so they looked at the same branding, but the shirts couldn't have this
much stuff because they had to be printed.
But overall, I think we did a good job on it.
(15:41):
Well, I thought it was really cool when I saw on social media the people running around
in the shirts that we designed.
I didn't see that.
You should show me that after this, though.
Oh, okay.
I'll do that.
Good to know.
Nice to see you.
Yeah, I will do that.
When you look back over all of the projects more or less this year, because there were
(16:03):
a lot, there were a lot of internal projects.
There were a lot of external projects, client projects, too, that you worked on because
you worked on a lot of different projects.
Definitely.
Is there one that really stands out that you really enjoyed the most?
Why?
Well, there was one project that was a branding project for one of our clients.
(16:25):
I probably enjoyed it the most because I had the most artistic liberty with what I was
doing with the branding.
Every creative stream is to have full creative control over what they're making.
So it was probably my favorite project to do just because I had that coming from a creative
design background.
(16:46):
It's nice to be able to pull from my roots, basically.
And for that particular client, it's a tech conference and it needed to be branded.
It's happening in this well-known city.
So I think when we looked at the branding colors, we tried to reflect that city.
(17:10):
It was just very, I think you're right.
I think it was, something that was very creative.
You were able, it made sense.
I think I definitely think that when I was first going into it, I was really unsure of
what I was going to do and how well it was going to turn out because I was like, no,
these colors aren't my favorites, but I ended up being able to work with what I had and
(17:32):
figure out what I thought looked good.
I guess everyone else liked that as well.
Yeah.
And now your artwork is everywhere.
Yeah, it kind of is.
It's a little scary, but it's nice to have it out there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
So, talking a little bit more about content, turning to Alicia now.
(17:52):
I know you've been active on our team for just a short time, but you have been cranking
out all of these blog pieces, so I appreciate that very much.
As you are having, as I keep throwing more at you, how are you staying organized with
all of the topics and all of the pieces that you have to put together?
(18:14):
So the first thing that comes to mind, and I wish I had a more fun, creative answer,
but the bottom line is I'm a big list maker.
So I have an in-process list.
I have a first draft submitted list.
I have a finalized and published list.
I have an ideas list that I pitch when we have our meetings.
Just a lot of lists that in my mind make sense, although someone looking onto them might be
(18:37):
like, what is this mess of a document?
And it's been fun because as I've been writing them, I see a lot of overlap in content.
So I'll be writing one piece.
I usually have a few going at once just so I can kind of switch topics if I feel like,
oh, this inspired me to write something here.
(18:57):
But I've noticed a lot of overlap in the topics, because of course within an industry, it's
all pulling.
This idea plays into this idea.
And so when I notice one of those kind of little lightning moments, I'll jump over to
the other document and I'll write notes that say, OK, remember to add this, and I'll add
a link and just go from there.
I like to keep it rolling.
(19:18):
And that's where the lists come in, because I am jumping between documents a little.
And then those lists really keep me on track.
Oh, lists are the best.
Yeah, they're great.
So you've had to write a lot of pieces of all the ones that you've written.
Which ones are standing out for you and why?
(19:41):
So I definitely, I don't remember right now the name we officially went with, but we did
one on brand employer identity and employer brand, excuse me.
And that one was really important to me because that one really represented getting kind of
an independent foothold, because that was the first one that I pitched to you instead
(20:02):
of you saying, go do this.
Because I had recognized a pattern in the content that we were doing, and I kind of
said, well, here's an area that I think that we as a company could really tap into.
And that was exciting because, like I said, it represented that I was kind of getting
the feel for things, that we were really learning how to work with each other as a team, and
(20:22):
that it was something new that as a company we could look forward to being able to advertise
to our clients moving forward.
Yes, yes.
I was really excited when I saw that one come through because I hadn't even thought of it.
I think that when we look at writing content or writing stories for sort of an HR department,
I had been sort of coming at it from more of a, more of a, like if somebody is going
(20:48):
to get hired, they need to tell their career story to stand out in the interviewer's mind.
But you pitched having sort of a company really brand themselves, showing their values, showing
what they offer.
So yeah, I'm excited for us to kind of grow that, grow that option for our clients.
(21:12):
So thank you for doing that.
So you know, Alicia creates a lot of our content, and Jake creates a lot of our content.
We do need to create a lot of content for ourselves, for our company, it's how we pitch
and promote ourselves.
So this question is for Jake and Phillip.
(21:35):
You do recall our lunch and learn that we did at the Burlington Area Chamber, right?
I do.
Yeah, very much.
Yeah, yeah.
So this past summer, we got to do a promo video together, which was a lot of fun, and
we got, we had tons of outtakes, which was a lot of fun, and we had to bleep you once
Phillip.
I may have cursed slightly.
(21:57):
Yeah.
Once is a little bit of an understatement.
So I may have cursed more than slightly.
Okay, good to know.
In addition to doing that promo video that we used, we had to do the deck for the presentation,
and I know Jake, you have really had to get into designing decks and...
(22:17):
I'm gonna say this really close to something.
I love making decks.
That's a lie.
Yeah, I know.
The decks are not always fun.
But I think we're starting to get a system down where you're getting to create sort of
the background first, which I think is a little bit, helps with vision.
Yeah, definitely.
(22:38):
The background design certainly helps to influence the layout and what content can go on each
slide a lot more.
So it makes the process a lot easier, kind of working from the background forward, rather
than trying to figure out what content you...
They can work either way, but the way I find easiest is making my background first, then
figuring out what I can put on it that makes sense.
(22:59):
Yeah.
I think that...
I know we just did one for the tech conference client, and we had different slides, and the
design really sort of was what informed what would be on that slide.
Yeah, for sure.
We also, in addition to doing the deck, we had to beef up your website.
(23:21):
We had to add some more content to your website, and I know that creating that deck and you
adding the content, your content to the deck was a little bit different than what you're
used to doing on some of your project manager decks.
Can you talk a little bit about what was different for you?
Yeah, well, to go along with the theme of why we're all here today, when I put together
the deck for what we were doing for the Chamber of Commerce, I was telling the story.
(23:46):
I was telling a story of how I was able to come in and help that small manufacturing
company do what they needed to do.
Normally, as a project manager, it's not a deck that I work with.
It's a slide, and the slide has a pie chart, bar graph, and a couple of bullet points about
what the risks are or how we're working around a situation, and that's it.
(24:06):
It's pre-branded, it's all cookie cutter, and that's what it is.
Our clients have, you know, my clients, they each have their own version of the status
slide, but for this deck that I put together, I told the story of how I got from A to B,
and when we did our lunch and learn for the Chamber of Commerce, I actually brought in
(24:29):
some of the drawings that I put together when I was taking down notes at the time.
It was a great experience, and the drawings and what I was talking about in the deck,
they just all fit together.
It was a great story to tell for this client and hopefully for our participants for that
(24:51):
day.
Yeah.
I remember people participating with you.
You asked that one question, like, who here thinks, like, you were pointing at the deck,
like, who on this slide thinks that their thing is the most important, and it was almost
unanimous in the room.
Everybody, there was a bunch of people that shouted out, yep, everybody.
Everybody thinks their thing is the most important.
(25:14):
Yes.
Everybody all the time.
My thing's the most important.
Right.
Yes, you're right.
We're just right.
We'll just say right.
We'll just go with that.
Yeah.
So, Jake, you were in charge of updating the website with the downloadables or creating
the downloadables for Philip.
I feel like with his stuff, I know with me, I'm always on you, like, do it this way.
(25:36):
No, never.
But for him, I think he was a little bit more, because he really didn't know what he wanted
or what it was going to be.
So you had really a clean slate with that.
Yeah, it was kind of like a, we were kind of figuring out what we wanted to do in real
time with that, kind of pulling something down, seeing if he liked it or not.
(25:59):
And editing it from there.
I definitely thought it was a very nice back and forth process, honestly.
Yeah.
When you came up with, because his look was very, I think, much more geometric it felt
like.
Yeah, it was definitely more geometric.
(26:20):
That kind of leans more towards like business-y or business-less creative stuff.
Right.
Right.
So.
One thing I did do there that I thought was fun was, even though I'm not a big fan of it,
I used some AI images.
(26:42):
Excuse me.
But it might be hard to believe, but there's not a lot of pictures of black labs doing business
things online that you can find.
I did a few images for his downloadables that I thought were really cute.
I like that branding detail that you have, Phil, on your website with all the black labs.
(27:05):
The black labs doing project management-y stuff.
I think it's so cute.
I love that so much.
Thank you.
Maybe I could make some more.
I don't know.
Absolutely.
When I understand, I think he's due for some more blogs.
Yeah.
That would be a good thing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think I have two content people in the room besides me.
(27:25):
Let's talk about your favorite thing we get to do together, iterating.
Oh.
So for our listeners, our content creation process goes something like this.
I meet with Jake and Alicia.
We talk about their project.
We talk about how it's going to go.
Maybe it's a graphic design for a client's web banner.
(27:46):
Maybe it's a blog for fundraising.
So then I send them off.
They go, they create, they work their magic.
Let me say that they're brilliant at what they do.
So they create and draft amazing things.
But then they come back to me and I start editing.
(28:07):
Why do I edit?
It's not because I don't like what they gave me because it's always great stuff.
I tend to edit for flow and anything written and I tend to edit for balance and symmetry
or I might edit something on a graphic design that maybe I may have an idea of what the
client might want and I'm going to tweak it in that direction.
(28:30):
So I'm putting you on the spot.
Care to share your thoughts about the iterative process and I'm open.
How can we make this better?
Do you want to go first?
Sure.
I'm going to sound like a real teacher when I say this, but I think that in the time I've
been with the company, Leana and I have really worked out a process that works for us.
(28:51):
So when I first came on, we were in this process of trying to figure out what made sense for
us because she had originally been doing the blogs before she brought me on and it became
a process of do we make notes?
Does she just do the editing and post it from there?
Do I do multiple drafts?
And it took a little while of us kind of learning what works for us as a team, but I think where
(29:14):
we're at really works out well and we have frequent meetings to discuss any changes that
are made so that moving forward, I know what she likes in voice and flow and how we address
our audiences and as I said before, that's given me kind of the confidence to pitch ideas
(29:36):
and go from there.
It is funny because she has said that sometimes it's a moving target, but I think that that
is true with any assignment at any company, any school, anything that you're going to
do sometimes you just get hit with something that's a little bit different or it's just
the act of getting your head into someone else's creative space.
(30:00):
And that can be a little tricky, but it's definitely rewarding when I get that text
that says, okay, we're live because it really shows that even in moments of being like,
what am I doing here?
It definitely pays off and at this point in the process, I like to think that we've kind
of got the voice down.
That took the longest I think because I've done writing in a lot of different contexts,
(30:23):
but blogs were a little bit new for me.
And so just getting the idea that we were both on the same page, that was a little bit
of a trick, but I think we might be there.
I agree.
I agree.
I think that as someone who's had to capture voice for clients, that is one of the hardest
things to do because they know they're back here behind their eyes and they know what
(30:46):
they want and they're trying to convey that.
And some folks are really, really good at conveying what the voice should be and others
will say, oh yeah, no, you do it and then when you do it, it's not right and then change
it and then you do it again and it's still not right.
So it is.
It is a bit of a little jimmy of a journey.
So thanks for hanging in there.
I appreciate your patience as well.
(31:08):
But you know, it's like with those tricky tasks, when you finally get it, it's even more satisfying.
Definitely.
Your turn.
Oh, my turn.
I'm not getting out of it.
Excuse me.
I think it's iterative edits.
It's a very helpful process, but sometimes it can be really frustrating.
(31:35):
Sometimes when you're creating, I'll say art for this, they can send it to someone and
be like, I love how this looks and I'm going to send it off and it's going to be great.
And then it comes back and it's like, you need to change this, this, this, this.
It's something like, oh, they think my art's awful.
No, that's not how it is.
It's just being able to listen and learn and adapt and figure out what's going on.
(31:57):
And even though it can be frustrating, it's, once you get the thing where it's like, oh,
yeah, this is it.
I'm like, finally, it's it.
It's really rewarding.
I will say I have had to test my patience a lot when it comes to this, but I find that
(32:18):
it's probably one of the better processes for me and Leona to kind of work back and
forth when we're creating like banners and logos and all that kind of artsy or stuff.
Mm-hmm.
(32:39):
You know, that was one of the things, you know, as a, in my career, that if you're going
to be a creative, whether your medium is, you know, graphics or writing, it is developing
that thick skin.
I am, I am edited all the time.
I'm still edited, you know, and sometimes I appreciate what you're saying, Alicia, because
(33:03):
there's times where I'll send things off to one of my clients and I won't get edited back.
And then I'll be really surprised.
And I found that one thing that was really kind of cool was, as a script writer, to then
listen back to the recorded show and hearing the words that I wrote being said out of somebody
else's mouth and knowing they didn't edit that.
They like actually, they actually said what I wrote.
(33:25):
That's pretty cool.
But it is, there's been times where I've had like iterations like back and forth and
back and forth and back and forth.
And I'm like, should I just start over?
Like, you know, so I, I've been where you are.
So I appreciate your honesty, both of you, thank you.
All right, connections.
(33:46):
That's the next C on the list.
Philip.
Yes.
So you and I spent time this year attending networking events through the local Chamber
of Commerce, mostly towards sort of the middle, I think, of 2024.
And if you're listening, Rick Parker, we promise we're coming to more events.
So we got the opportunity to connect with a number of other businesses during these,
(34:10):
during these events.
I think my favorites were the Lunch and Learns.
You know, it was just, it was like the perfect time of day for us, you know, and, and it
was a real captive audience, you know, and it was a small group.
So you had time to really talk to people.
We also built some partnerships, you know, we've had some folks approach us and we even
(34:31):
got a couple of referrals.
So it, you know, it's been a great, it's been a great process for us.
So any event or connection that stands out for you?
The event that stands out for me is the taste of Burlington.
That is, we've gone to it, we went to it in 23 and 24.
In 23, we were, we were both a little wide-eyed because we didn't know what to expect.
(34:55):
At 24, we, we had a better idea of what it was to expect.
And it's just, it's, it's all restaurants and eateries in the area coming to bring their
wares.
But it's, there is such, there is a large avenue, a large venue for all the businesses
in the area outside of, you know, the restaurants and the eateries where we can just come together
(35:18):
and talk to each other and we exchange business cards.
And I think we talked to more people in the 23 one, the 23 version that we went to as
opposed to 24, but that's the one that stands out.
Not only because the food was amazing, but we met a lot of great people and frankly,
we got to reconnect with some folks that we hadn't seen in quite a while.
(35:39):
So that's, that's the one that stands out in my mind.
Yeah.
I have a great photo of us with a bunch of people that, that we know and that we met
and, you know, it's really important to, to develop those connections.
Yeah.
Okay.
So I was looking at last year's script and one of the questions I had raised last year,
(36:00):
so I'm going to ask it again.
In what ways did we as a company make a difference this past year?
And when you answer the question, it can be for our clients, it can be for a charity,
if there's anything that stands out, you know, how did we make a difference?
I know how we help our clients, but I was thinking about our own corporate or social
(36:20):
responsibility that we engage in.
So I know last January, we made some donations to the food pantry that's at Grace Chapel.
And we, in April, we always pack meals for the Rotary Club for the hungry and pride.
(36:41):
We always do something with the Trevor Project, whether, I know we've done, Jake, we've done
like five K's before, but I think this year we donated.
And they're just, they're just such great causes.
And I think it's so important, I think, as a company to have a cause that really matters
to you.
So I'm going to go around and ask everybody what you think.
(37:02):
I'm going to ask you, Alicia, I know you're new, but I'm going to ask you too.
So starting with you, Phillip.
So you already mentioned this in April when we got together and the packing meals for
the hungry.
And when we did it in April of 23, it was the meals were sent nationally.
They were sent within the United States.
(37:24):
Last year when we did it, the meals were being sent overseas to the Ukraine.
So that was, in my opinion, that was just a wonderful way to make a difference and to
be able to reach out halfway across the world to just be of some little help.
And I look forward to going back and frankly seeing where these meals are going to go this
(37:45):
year.
One of my, one of my favorites is definitely the donations to the Trevor Project.
Because I know quite a few people who have had issues with, you know, home and security
when it comes to coming out and I just find that, you know, those organizations really
(38:06):
do help people and it's our responsibility as a company to kind of give back to our community,
the people we have in our association.
No, I mean, we, we as a company always want everyone to show up to work as their authentic
selves and we are big allies to the LGBTQ community.
(38:29):
We always have a pride podcast every year and we do something to support.
We attend pride.
So this is something that's a very important value to us.
So you know, thanks for pointing that out.
I'm going to ask our new person on the team for thoughts on this.
So I really love that this company that I get to be part of is so involved in making
(38:53):
a difference.
Now, I did come a little bit later than being actually active in participating in some of
these, but even now we still try to make it clear that we're involved in these things.
Like, you could see it in the podcast that like we could absolutely just focus on kind
(39:15):
of the more market focused things, but we definitely bring people on whose job is specifically
nonprofits just for charity and we give them a voice and equally as the people who are
working for these major major corporations that are bringing in potentially millions,
(39:36):
billions, billions of dollars.
And then on my end, I've been able to add additional attention to them by bringing them up in the
content that I've been writing.
So I just love that these things matter to this company and then we make sure that they
don't just, we're not just fair weather participants.
(40:00):
There's things that we're talking about year round.
Yes, yes, I agree.
I think it's easy to, you know, I mean we have LGBTQ people on staff so it's, you know,
we live this every day, you know, we don't just put on our rainbow socks, you know, in
June.
You know, we do this all the time.
And you're right, you know, we have this platform, this amazing platform, like let's use this,
(40:24):
you know, for good.
I think that's a big part of when we started the podcast.
Definitely.
I would, one thing I really like about the podcast is that we bring in a lot of people
from our own community who are trying to make differences, who are working with, within
the community to make a difference for people.
I think one of the things I remember really well was we had a guest who worked with a
(40:45):
food pantry.
Mm-hmm.
And we were able to, but I think it's really nice to be able to use our platform to help
people within our own community.
Yep.
I mean, I know we've talked about, on the podcast, we've talked about women empowerment,
we've talked about, you know, different coming out stories, we've talked about helping food
pantries, we've talked about, we brought in the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center.
(41:11):
So for their Gala, so they could raise money for the community for healthcare.
So, you know, this is something that we will continue, you know, into next year as well.
So thank you.
So now, what's coming for 2025?
So what are some predictions that we can make for this coming year?
(41:31):
So I'm going to ask everybody to kind of come to the table with that.
So as I said earlier, digitalization is key.
Having a strong Mar-Tech stack is very important.
And we adopted and expanded our own Mar-Tech stack this year because we wanted to stay
up to date and we wanted to be able to offer more and we plan to do even more and explore
(41:52):
more in 2025.
I did find myself using more AI tools this year.
I know when we had our podcast the beginning of last year, we were like, be careful, be
careful, be responsible.
And I still feel that way.
I think that, you know, as a content marketing agency, as a digital agency, you know, we
do have to be careful and use these tools responsibly.
(42:13):
But they do help and they help us and they help our clients.
So I have, you know, a voiceover partner and, you know, he's somebody that we use or would
use for like a bigger project for a client.
But when I have to put together really quick voiceover for like a quick social media video,
I use Voices AI.
It has a lot of different options.
(42:33):
You can have different gender voices.
You can have different races speaking.
You can have different pitch.
And there's even some celebrities.
So sometimes you can, you know, maybe have somebody who listens to it guess who that
is talking.
Video for social media, obviously video is king.
I find that on when I manage client social media channels, video always gets the highest
(42:55):
level of engagement above just static text or just photos.
So but video is actually better when it's captioned.
Anybody can watch a video with the sound off if you're laying in bed and, you know, somebody
sleeping next to you and you're not only waking them up, you can watch your video with the
captions.
And so I started using Capwing.
It's a great tool.
(43:15):
It's quick.
It's accurate.
And you get to choose from different captioning looks.
So we'll be creating even more video this year.
And then as a content writer, I have to create web copy from recordings.
Sometimes when I get the recordings from my client, I don't have time to listen to because
it's like a whole hour of a radio recording.
So I use a tool called Descript and I drop it in, I drop the audio file.
(43:39):
It pops up the transcription for me and I get to just grab what I need and I can create
the web copy from that.
So and then of course, I will admit I do love Google Gemini.
I do use it.
It is Google's AI.
And you know, when you are writing copy on a daily sprint and there's copy, you have
to crank and crank and crank and crank.
(43:59):
It really does help to get a head start.
So those are my tools and things that I think are great tools and people should be using
and can use into 2025.
So I'm going to go to Alicia because you just wrote a very interesting blog about marketing
2025 trends.
Care to walk us through your research process and maybe a little, maybe a few of them.
(44:20):
Yeah.
So whenever I do research, I want to look at a bunch of different sources so that I just
make sure that I'm getting multiple perspectives, getting a lot of input from different sources.
Et cetera.
So when I was doing that, I tried to go all over the board and I definitely wanted to
make sure that I was finding articles that maybe mentioned different things because I
(44:43):
didn't just want a lot of repeat.
I didn't want to just fall into the crowd of talking about the same thing as everyone
else.
So I wanted to find some of the more unique ones and especially things that were applicable
to us.
And so definitely a lot of talk about AI, omni-channel marketing because we're in a digital age.
(45:04):
Even young kids are at a point where we're so digitized as a culture that they even notice
when a website isn't great.
So there's omni-channel marketing, which is basically just streamlining the experience
across platforms because I have experienced first-hand companies that haven't gotten there
(45:27):
and we don't have, again, as a culture, we don't have the patience for it.
There's also hyper-personalization because, again, with AI and it's not something that's
going to go away, just being like, oh, that's kind of interesting.
That doesn't catch people's attention anymore.
We need something that basically feels like it's speaking to them as closely as we're
(45:51):
speaking to each other here.
And that one really stuck out to me because while some people go, oh, will writers be replaced
by AI?
No, because AI can't connect with people.
And especially with things like hyper-personalization, it walks a fine line with privacy because people
don't want to feel spied on.
(46:14):
And if you don't have a relationship with the audience, then they will get that creeped-out
feeling.
But if you're a company that they really value and that they feel that they understand on
a more personal level, then those ads feel almost like you're known.
And it's a very different experience.
And that's where people like us come in because we're storytellers.
(46:36):
And we help deliver who that brand is to the clients.
So they're like a friendly neighbor instead of a creep looking in the window.
And that really can make a huge difference, especially in 2025 because privacy is a huge
topic.
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
Thank you.
(46:57):
Okay, so Phillip, you're up.
What is new in the world of project management next year?
And I know that you really like AI.
I know that you use it a lot.
So maybe you can also talk about how that might help in your role.
Well, excuse me.
(47:19):
What is new in terms of project management?
There's no new fangled methodology.
There's no new project management software.
There's nothing new like that.
It's kind of a revisiting of what's old is new again.
In one of the first blogs that I put out there, I talk about project managers using a hybrid
methodology.
Instead of leaning heavily into one or the other waterfall or agile methodology or lean
(47:48):
or whatever else, there is now a movement towards bringing them all together because
there is no project that is completely, totally, solely one methodology or the other.
So the advantage of using a hybrid methodology is that you can bring all of them together
(48:08):
to bring the most value to your clients.
And related to what you were saying about AI, about hyper personalization or whatever,
there is also, you know, I do use it a lot.
But I use it as more of a collaboration tool instead of, you know, going online and trying
to meet other project managers.
(48:29):
And how would you do this?
I actually use AI as kind of the other person in the room to spell ideas off of.
You know, I tell AI, you're a senior project manager, this is this, this, this, you're
trying to do this and this.
And it spits back a bunch of ideas at me.
You know, there isn't, you know, similar to other questions out there, will project managers
(48:50):
be replaced by AI?
No.
Because project managers still need to communicate.
They need to have empathy.
They need to see what their teams are doing.
And at the same time, but there is no such thing, and I don't believe that there is ever
going to be such a thing as a big, red easy button, give me a 1,000 line project plan.
(49:10):
Because that, that is, there is such an iterative process and an interviewing that you need
to do with your customers and your clients on all of, you know, through all of your stakeholders,
that that would just be an impossibility.
So the hybrid methodology, using AI as a collaboration tool, those are things that are, like I said,
(49:32):
it's not really new, what's old is new again, but I think that it's going to be used more
and coming up in the next year.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree.
Jake, I know that in the past year you got to animate some of the branding.
So you got to use that a little bit for the tech conference.
(49:54):
I know you got, definitely got more proficient, you know, when you were designing the PowerPoint
decks.
Oh, for sure.
I know they weren't your favorite, but, you know.
Can you talk a little bit about, like, what was it like for you, you know, and then from
a design standpoint, what do you think is up and coming?
(50:14):
Well, I kind of, I can't take the standpoint when it comes to design that AI.
I'm not going to sit here and be like, AI's the devil, but I would advise when it comes
to creating something creative to kind of veer away from the path of AI, because typically
(50:39):
when it comes to AI, like image generation or like video generation, stuff like that,
it tends to take from a lot of other artists and sources without permission.
So I think just, yeah, I think that having a creative department and creatives in your
(51:01):
company can really help with your creative validity going into 2025 with the rise of
AI.
I remember there was like a controversy surrounding it.
It was like a Coca-Cola commercial or something.
They were like, oh, this is AI-generated video because all the videos were like under a second
long and people just hated it.
People were like, I don't want to buy from this.
(51:22):
This is lazy.
This is awful.
So I think kind of incorporating human touch into design is what people are really looking
for going into the new year.
I know that with the branding that you did for that tech conference, they presented sort
(51:45):
of an idea that came from AI.
And you came back with completely like hand drawn, obviously graphics that captured some
of that, but definitely was very unique, very much personalized to that event for them.
(52:08):
It wasn't something they could just create on a computer, just from telling an AI to
make an image for them.
Yeah?
Another thing with AI you have to be really careful about, and a lot of people have already
been seeing this as a homogenization, which is basically that everything is being pulled
so broadly and being mixed together that everything that's being produced is kind of coming out
(52:28):
the same.
And if there's one thing you don't want for a brand, it's to blend in.
So that's where the creativity, as you put it, really comes in handy because AI can only
go so far as not thinking for itself.
And if all of its ideas are coming from things that have already happened, then nothing new
is coming from it.
Good point.
Good point.
(52:48):
I was playing with the AI the other day because I was trying to create an image of the dogs.
And I was trying to create, but the dogs are not, they're muts.
They're not like a pure lab and a pure rat terrier.
And so I wanted, so I was trying to tell the AI very specifically what I wanted, and it
(53:10):
would spit out a picture, and I'd say, okay, well, I want this.
So I would copy and paste the exact same thing, add two or three more things, and hit it again.
And it would spit out almost, I had like six or eight images that were almost identical
because the AI couldn't move past it.
It couldn't get past what I was asking for.
(53:33):
And I tried to be super, super specific exactly what I wanted.
And in the explanation, I found too that it kind of like lost its way.
Like it was just, okay, this is too much information.
This is too specific.
And I can't do that.
So it really, and I think we talked about this last year on the podcast, and I think
(53:54):
it, we stand true this year too.
It goes back to that human touch.
You're talking about the personalization, and you still have to bring it, and you're
talking about that you can't just, yes, you can make a thousand line project plan template,
but that's not going to help your client.
Not by any stretch.
And that's where the collaboration comes in.
(54:15):
I've used AI as the collaboration tool to, can you generate these ideas?
This is the environment that I'm, this is the environment, these are the expectations
that I have.
Generate me a bunch of ideas.
And then I pick those ideas, and then I use my experience and build on them.
There is no automatic big easy button.
(54:36):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I know when I'm creating content on a sprint, I will ask the AI for stuff, and I'll
read through it, and I'll be like, I like that, that, that, that, that, and that.
Which in essence would sort of be like me writing it, but at least I can just copy and
paste, and then I can just build from there.
So yeah, so it's good to have a foundation.
(54:59):
Any other thoughts?
Oh, one thing, one more thing to add to the AI image generation portion.
When creating AI images, you really have to be careful of what you're asking it to create
because specifically for the event with like the tech conference, when asking it to make
stuff for like that specific location, it can pull in really harmful stereotypes for
(55:25):
like the populations that live there.
And also AI likes to create a lot of white people when you ask it to generate people.
So, which is not always reflective of the client you're trying to reach.
Right.
So, I think that acts a level of diversity then is what you're saying.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I thought, the other thing that I thought was super interesting, I had asked it for
(55:48):
something, I was not, I was not asking it for political stuff, but I must have used
something about the election or something.
Oh, I was, I was researching something for a script about election results, and I think
I put something about election, and the AI spit back, I'm sorry I can't answer that,
it's controversial or something like that.
(56:08):
And I thought, wow, it does have some like some gauges, some, you know, some limits in
that regard.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, okay.
Well, that's all the time we have for today.
Thanks for being here, everyone.
It was great to reminisce and get ready to keep growing in 2025.
(56:32):
Thank you for having us.
Yeah, thank you very much.
Looking forward to this next year.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And to our listeners, whether you hear us locally from the BTV studios in Bedford, Massachusetts,
or across the globe on such podcast channels as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Prime,
thanks for listening.
We hope you enjoyed this special episode, and we'll see you next time.
(56:56):
Happy storytelling.
Yeah.
Welcome to the Starfish Storytellers, the podcast that makes a difference one story
(00:04):
at a time by bringing storytelling to life.
There are so many things that I learned in our second year of business.
I liken it to a roller coaster ride of sorts, but it's a journey I'm obsessed with and
I'm determined to stay on.
I learned about the importance of adaptability.
(00:26):
During our first year in business I had a number of clients in rapid succession, but
during our second year we had a few lulls in business, which had its pros and cons.
The pros were I got to take a breath and regroup, we got to freshen up our content and refine
our processes, and we got to try something new when old processes or procedures weren't
working very well.
I learned that you really can weather uncertainty.
(00:49):
In those lulls, I got to reflect on where I wanted to take the business.
I got the chance to speak with many diverse prospects.
I learned a lot about their pain points.
I got to keep producing great content, even in moments when my clients went through their
own transitions.
I learned that innovation is really important.
As a marketing communications agency, we have got to stay current.
(01:10):
We embraced a number of cool, mar-tech tools and they helped us innovate on our clients'
projects so we could even offer them more.
I learned that partnerships are a necessity.
You can't successfully run a business without your colleagues, mentors, and vendors.
We may be able to do a lot as a team, but we can't do it all.
So I want to give a shout out to my photo, video, and promo partners who helped us be
(01:32):
that one-stop shop that we strive for.
I also want to give a shout out to all of our podcast guests from this past year.
We got to build some great business relationships and explore so many different types of corporate
storytelling that are making a big difference in the marketplace.
I learned that community matters.
I got my certification in guided autobiography and I met a wonderful group of fellow instructors
(01:56):
who I get to meet with regularly.
Plus, as I said about our podcast guests, spending time with colleagues who speak the
same language professionally has only helped me grow.
And lastly, I learned that I need my team to make this content creation machine work.
Without you, I wouldn't be here.
I'm lucky to have some of the most talented and energized, biz dev and creative specialists
(02:18):
who work for us and with us.
They keep me on track.
They make our company look good.
And they definitely keep our clients happy.
They say that team stands for, together everyone achieves more.
And that could not be true.
So I want to thank you, Jake and Alicia and Rebecca and Jeff.
I'm excited to jump back into more storytelling this year and our local community, help more
(02:42):
small businesses tell their stories through their marketing, and expand our enterprise
reach to more corporate teams who may not have the resources to move those initiatives
ahead.
I am really looking forward to it 2025.
We'll hope for us.
Hello.
My name is Leanna Henry.
(03:09):
Welcome to the Starfish Storytellers.
I'm the CEO of the Black Dog Group, a Markham and project management firm headquartered on
the east coast of the U.S. in quaint colonial Bedford, Massachusetts.
I'm your host and passionate about storytelling.
(03:30):
I'm actually on a mission to raise up the next generation of storytellers.
We've named ourselves Starfish Storytellers after the Starfish Story.
The moral of the Starfish Story is based on the power of one.
No matter how big the challenge, each action we take makes a difference and has an impact.
One step, one starfish, or one story at a time.
Usually we open each podcast with a story from one guest.
(03:53):
But in our annual Founders episode, you'll hear from our core team who will share their
highlight stories from 2024 meant to inspire and connect with you.
Then we'll break it down about what it's been like at the Black Dog Group in our second
year of business.
So thanks for tuning in and let's get started.
Okay, so we're back and it's 2025.
(04:19):
Can you believe it?
No.
I feel like a Jimmy Kimmel opening monologue when I say that.
They have that scene, the one that we always laugh at.
Yeah, can you believe it?
Yeah, can you believe it's 2025?
Can you believe it's January?
How do we get to January?
My God, it's January.
Really?
It's the second day of January.
So they go on and on and on.
(04:43):
So today's episode is our first episode of the year and the new season.
And we want to focus on the Black Dog Group's 2024 and review.
So what we've learned, what we've learned, and what we do differently, and what do we
think is coming next.
So back again is our Chief Operating Officer, Phillip Henry.
He's a co-founder, my other half, and the principal of Black Dog Management, our Project
(05:08):
Management Agency.
Here's what he learned this year.
Thank you, Leana.
In our second year of business, I learned the value and the ability to really contact
switch.
Now, what do I mean by that?
(05:29):
In our first year of business, I was working on one large project throughout pretty much
through the end of 2024.
And I was also doing some of the initial things to stand up the company, the Black Dog Group,
so getting benefits, those kind of things.
In our second year of 2024, what I was doing became a little less straightforward.
(05:54):
I was actually working on multiple projects and multiple clients, and at the same time,
doing things, excuse me, to re-sign up for benefits, doing things to really take and
enhance and follow up on those things as Chief Operating Officers, so finances, benefits,
(06:16):
those kind of things.
So I needed to be able to not only switch between the projects that I was working on,
I'm doing this over here, I'm running a divestiture over here, I'm running a software creation
project over here, and then switch those things, switch my mind between those things, and be
(06:36):
able to, okay, this evening, tomorrow, I need to go into QuickBooks to update what we've
done for the past month and see these invoices.
I need to be able to go and see where we are in terms of benefits.
So the context switching and the ability to go back and forth and really have a good idea
of where we are, where I was across all of these avenues, it was a little daunting at
(07:00):
the beginning of the year and at the end of the year, at the end of 2024, I'd like to
say I developed a strength for it, I got better at it.
Still not great, but I got better at it.
So that's the context switching is what I pulled from this year.
(07:22):
So also with us today is Jake Meesmer.
He is our creative lead.
He brands our clients with his amazing graphic designs, he produces videos that fascinate,
and he brings life to our podcasts.
So take a listen while he tells you what he learned in 2024.
So one thing I learned in 2024 is to keep it short.
(07:46):
One thing I'm very, very good at is yapping a lot.
So I'm going to keep this very, very short.
But one thing that I learned in 2024 is that you don't usually know as much as you think
you know.
And coming into everything with an open mind and putting your ego aside can be very, very
helpful with what you can create.
(08:08):
This year I created a lot of content for a lot of different people, but at the beginning
of the year I was like, oh, you know, I know how to use Adobe really well and everything.
I know all these shortcuts and everything, but as you create more content, you have to
troubleshoot a lot more and being able to kind of be an active learner throughout the
(08:28):
entirety of your work is very, very helpful to creating better content.
And I think that kind of mentality has helped me create better stuff towards the end of
2024.
Newly with us on the team is Alicia Fiore.
(08:49):
Alicia is our copy editor and copy writer.
She crafts the compelling content for our blogs that our website visitors are finding
online and she will be engaging with our prospects and followers when she takes over
our social media and our newsletters this year.
And here's what she has to say.
Hi, Leona.
(09:10):
Thank you for having me.
This was a really exciting year to be part of the team.
I did join a little bit later in the year, but we really jumped in.
I was immediately given the task of creating our content blogs and our inside blogs so
that we could really show anyone looking in to see who we were, really what we know and
(09:30):
what we can offer.
And that was exciting because most of my background is in the writing aspect of things and I really
got to become an expert in marketing very quickly.
Well, I don't know that I call myself an expert yet, but for every topic that I was presented
with I really got to do a deep dive and get to research that.
And that was very actually exciting in a way because we weren't just looking to do introductory
(09:55):
things of, oh, well, this is this topic.
We want to say this is this topic, but here's how it's evolving and just really showing
that we were on the cutting edge with that.
So that's been a really exciting journey to take the skills that I've gotten over the
years for writing and applying it to something that's evolving in this quick.
(10:24):
So we're back together for our annual Founders' Episode.
And on this podcast, we like to talk to different storytellers, but today we are sharing the
stories.
So you just heard some of what we all learned over the last year.
We're also going to want to dig in today and talk a little bit about customers, content,
connections, and what's coming.
So we're going to start with customers.
(10:48):
So I've been doing a lot of the talking, so let me turn it over to you, Phillip.
What were some of the lessons you learned about acquiring new customers this past year?
And can you share a story about one of your favorite projects with that customer from
2024?
In terms of acquiring new customers, I think one of the things that I learned was to not
(11:11):
rule out any avenue whatsoever.
Initially at the, this is 2024, about midway or three quarters of the way through 2023,
I had gotten a membership on Upwork and was looking to, you know, I was looking to farm
that and use that to our advantage a little bit.
But like I mentioned in our first year, I had a full-time project and was working as
(11:34):
the COO.
But just having my name out there on Upwork, I was actually contacted towards the end of
23 by someone who found me.
And that led to my first outside client for that I came into that I believe I talked to
on last year's annual podcast, the manufacturing company based out of Wuburn, or Wilmington,
(11:55):
Wilmington?
I think they're Wuburn.
Wuburn, Wuburn.
Yeah, thank you, Wuburn.
Wuburn, the manufacturing company based out of Wuburn.
So in terms of networking, it's, there is no such thing as a bad part of your network.
The more places, it really is true, the more places you get your name out, the greater
the opportunities you have to harvest that, build a relationship, you know, turn that
(12:19):
relationship into a potential business deal.
Like I said, through Upwork, I was contacted about, but through this small manufacturing
company, the office was here, the head office was in Germany, and they were in need of someone
to create a process.
And so I didn't know for manufacturing, I didn't know how I could help these guys, but
(12:43):
I went in and went in and I had a couple of initial conversations with them, and I found
that what they needed me to be able to do, they needed someone to be able to help them
organize what they were doing for a specific purpose, and they needed someone for accountability.
That being, they had, they all had an idea of what it was they needed to do.
(13:04):
They just didn't have a central point to be able to bring everything together.
So I came in, helped them organize things, and helped them provide that accountability
so that they could all know what it was they were doing towards this goal.
And we turned out, we created the process, we changed how they were doing business, we
were a little part of how they were doing business, and we did that in about four months
(13:27):
at the beginning of the year.
So it was a great adventure and a great experience, all from that initial foray into Upwork.
And I remember when you got that contract, and you seemed to really enjoy working with
them, and it was, I think, just kind of a sign of, we could get some smaller projects,
(13:52):
but they could be really meaningful.
Yes, you could be able to work with them.
Yeah, it seemed like they really were.
I know for me, warm outreach really was king, but I also found some success on those project
platforms.
I have my name out there on Design Rush, I have my name out there on Upwork.
One of my clients initially hired me off of Upwork, and I was supposed to just be the
(14:16):
screenwriter for her radio show, and now it's kind of evolved.
Someone doing her ad copy, I'm doing her email copy, I'm doing her web copy, so it's
been a really great experience getting to work with them.
One of the creative projects that we got to work on in 2024, Jake, was branding that
mega church's summer camp.
(14:38):
Yes.
Oh, no, you're making a face with it.
So you do recall it.
I do very much.
So when you were working on that, because we did a lot of different content pieces for
them, what was standing out for you when you remember that?
A lot of stuff, for sure.
(14:58):
I think one of the big things was just the variety of content we had to produce for them.
They wanted shirts, they wanted banners, they wanted postcards, they wanted flyers, they
needed just everything.
I think they needed a deck made on Canva, too.
They needed a Canva deck that was similar to last year, but not last year.
(15:19):
I don't want to speak poorly about anybody, but it was a lot of very content, and I think
that was certainly a challenge to translate the designs that we made for the postcards
onto the shirts, so they looked at the same branding, but the shirts couldn't have this
much stuff because they had to be printed.
But overall, I think we did a good job on it.
(15:41):
Well, I thought it was really cool when I saw on social media the people running around
in the shirts that we designed.
I didn't see that.
You should show me that after this, though.
Oh, okay.
I'll do that.
Good to know.
Nice to see you.
Yeah, I will do that.
When you look back over all of the projects more or less this year, because there were
(16:03):
a lot, there were a lot of internal projects.
There were a lot of external projects, client projects, too, that you worked on because
you worked on a lot of different projects.
Definitely.
Is there one that really stands out that you really enjoyed the most?
Why?
Well, there was one project that was a branding project for one of our clients.
(16:25):
I probably enjoyed it the most because I had the most artistic liberty with what I was
doing with the branding.
Every creative stream is to have full creative control over what they're making.
So it was probably my favorite project to do just because I had that coming from a creative
design background.
(16:46):
It's nice to be able to pull from my roots, basically.
And for that particular client, it's a tech conference and it needed to be branded.
It's happening in this well-known city.
So I think when we looked at the branding colors, we tried to reflect that city.
(17:10):
It was just very, I think you're right.
I think it was, something that was very creative.
You were able, it made sense.
I think I definitely think that when I was first going into it, I was really unsure of
what I was going to do and how well it was going to turn out because I was like, no,
these colors aren't my favorites, but I ended up being able to work with what I had and
(17:32):
figure out what I thought looked good.
I guess everyone else liked that as well.
Yeah.
And now your artwork is everywhere.
Yeah, it kind of is.
It's a little scary, but it's nice to have it out there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
So, talking a little bit more about content, turning to Alicia now.
(17:52):
I know you've been active on our team for just a short time, but you have been cranking
out all of these blog pieces, so I appreciate that very much.
As you are having, as I keep throwing more at you, how are you staying organized with
all of the topics and all of the pieces that you have to put together?
(18:14):
So the first thing that comes to mind, and I wish I had a more fun, creative answer,
but the bottom line is I'm a big list maker.
So I have an in-process list.
I have a first draft submitted list.
I have a finalized and published list.
I have an ideas list that I pitch when we have our meetings.
Just a lot of lists that in my mind make sense, although someone looking onto them might be
(18:37):
like, what is this mess of a document?
And it's been fun because as I've been writing them, I see a lot of overlap in content.
So I'll be writing one piece.
I usually have a few going at once just so I can kind of switch topics if I feel like,
oh, this inspired me to write something here.
(18:57):
But I've noticed a lot of overlap in the topics, because of course within an industry, it's
all pulling.
This idea plays into this idea.
And so when I notice one of those kind of little lightning moments, I'll jump over to
the other document and I'll write notes that say, OK, remember to add this, and I'll add
a link and just go from there.
I like to keep it rolling.
(19:18):
And that's where the lists come in, because I am jumping between documents a little.
And then those lists really keep me on track.
Oh, lists are the best.
Yeah, they're great.
So you've had to write a lot of pieces of all the ones that you've written.
Which ones are standing out for you and why?
(19:41):
So I definitely, I don't remember right now the name we officially went with, but we did
one on brand employer identity and employer brand, excuse me.
And that one was really important to me because that one really represented getting kind of
an independent foothold, because that was the first one that I pitched to you instead
(20:02):
of you saying, go do this.
Because I had recognized a pattern in the content that we were doing, and I kind of
said, well, here's an area that I think that we as a company could really tap into.
And that was exciting because, like I said, it represented that I was kind of getting
the feel for things, that we were really learning how to work with each other as a team, and
(20:22):
that it was something new that as a company we could look forward to being able to advertise
to our clients moving forward.
Yes, yes.
I was really excited when I saw that one come through because I hadn't even thought of it.
I think that when we look at writing content or writing stories for sort of an HR department,
I had been sort of coming at it from more of a, more of a, like if somebody is going
(20:48):
to get hired, they need to tell their career story to stand out in the interviewer's mind.
But you pitched having sort of a company really brand themselves, showing their values, showing
what they offer.
So yeah, I'm excited for us to kind of grow that, grow that option for our clients.
(21:12):
So thank you for doing that.
So you know, Alicia creates a lot of our content, and Jake creates a lot of our content.
We do need to create a lot of content for ourselves, for our company, it's how we pitch
and promote ourselves.
So this question is for Jake and Phillip.
(21:35):
You do recall our lunch and learn that we did at the Burlington Area Chamber, right?
I do.
Yeah, very much.
Yeah, yeah.
So this past summer, we got to do a promo video together, which was a lot of fun, and
we got, we had tons of outtakes, which was a lot of fun, and we had to bleep you once
Phillip.
I may have cursed slightly.
(21:57):
Yeah.
Once is a little bit of an understatement.
So I may have cursed more than slightly.
Okay, good to know.
In addition to doing that promo video that we used, we had to do the deck for the presentation,
and I know Jake, you have really had to get into designing decks and...
(22:17):
I'm gonna say this really close to something.
I love making decks.
That's a lie.
Yeah, I know.
The decks are not always fun.
But I think we're starting to get a system down where you're getting to create sort of
the background first, which I think is a little bit, helps with vision.
Yeah, definitely.
(22:38):
The background design certainly helps to influence the layout and what content can go on each
slide a lot more.
So it makes the process a lot easier, kind of working from the background forward, rather
than trying to figure out what content you...
They can work either way, but the way I find easiest is making my background first, then
figuring out what I can put on it that makes sense.
(22:59):
Yeah.
I think that...
I know we just did one for the tech conference client, and we had different slides, and the
design really sort of was what informed what would be on that slide.
Yeah, for sure.
We also, in addition to doing the deck, we had to beef up your website.
(23:21):
We had to add some more content to your website, and I know that creating that deck and you
adding the content, your content to the deck was a little bit different than what you're
used to doing on some of your project manager decks.
Can you talk a little bit about what was different for you?
Yeah, well, to go along with the theme of why we're all here today, when I put together
the deck for what we were doing for the Chamber of Commerce, I was telling the story.
(23:46):
I was telling a story of how I was able to come in and help that small manufacturing
company do what they needed to do.
Normally, as a project manager, it's not a deck that I work with.
It's a slide, and the slide has a pie chart, bar graph, and a couple of bullet points about
what the risks are or how we're working around a situation, and that's it.
(24:06):
It's pre-branded, it's all cookie cutter, and that's what it is.
Our clients have, you know, my clients, they each have their own version of the status
slide, but for this deck that I put together, I told the story of how I got from A to B,
and when we did our lunch and learn for the Chamber of Commerce, I actually brought in
(24:29):
some of the drawings that I put together when I was taking down notes at the time.
It was a great experience, and the drawings and what I was talking about in the deck,
they just all fit together.
It was a great story to tell for this client and hopefully for our participants for that
(24:51):
day.
Yeah.
I remember people participating with you.
You asked that one question, like, who here thinks, like, you were pointing at the deck,
like, who on this slide thinks that their thing is the most important, and it was almost
unanimous in the room.
Everybody, there was a bunch of people that shouted out, yep, everybody.
Everybody thinks their thing is the most important.
(25:14):
Yes.
Everybody all the time.
My thing's the most important.
Right.
Yes, you're right.
We're just right.
We'll just say right.
We'll just go with that.
Yeah.
So, Jake, you were in charge of updating the website with the downloadables or creating
the downloadables for Philip.
I feel like with his stuff, I know with me, I'm always on you, like, do it this way.
(25:36):
No, never.
But for him, I think he was a little bit more, because he really didn't know what he wanted
or what it was going to be.
So you had really a clean slate with that.
Yeah, it was kind of like a, we were kind of figuring out what we wanted to do in real
time with that, kind of pulling something down, seeing if he liked it or not.
(25:59):
And editing it from there.
I definitely thought it was a very nice back and forth process, honestly.
Yeah.
When you came up with, because his look was very, I think, much more geometric it felt
like.
Yeah, it was definitely more geometric.
(26:20):
That kind of leans more towards like business-y or business-less creative stuff.
Right.
Right.
So.
One thing I did do there that I thought was fun was, even though I'm not a big fan of it,
I used some AI images.
(26:42):
Excuse me.
But it might be hard to believe, but there's not a lot of pictures of black labs doing business
things online that you can find.
I did a few images for his downloadables that I thought were really cute.
I like that branding detail that you have, Phil, on your website with all the black labs.
(27:05):
The black labs doing project management-y stuff.
I think it's so cute.
I love that so much.
Thank you.
Maybe I could make some more.
I don't know.
Absolutely.
When I understand, I think he's due for some more blogs.
Yeah.
That would be a good thing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think I have two content people in the room besides me.
(27:25):
Let's talk about your favorite thing we get to do together, iterating.
Oh.
So for our listeners, our content creation process goes something like this.
I meet with Jake and Alicia.
We talk about their project.
We talk about how it's going to go.
Maybe it's a graphic design for a client's web banner.
(27:46):
Maybe it's a blog for fundraising.
So then I send them off.
They go, they create, they work their magic.
Let me say that they're brilliant at what they do.
So they create and draft amazing things.
But then they come back to me and I start editing.
(28:07):
Why do I edit?
It's not because I don't like what they gave me because it's always great stuff.
I tend to edit for flow and anything written and I tend to edit for balance and symmetry
or I might edit something on a graphic design that maybe I may have an idea of what the
client might want and I'm going to tweak it in that direction.
(28:30):
So I'm putting you on the spot.
Care to share your thoughts about the iterative process and I'm open.
How can we make this better?
Do you want to go first?
Sure.
I'm going to sound like a real teacher when I say this, but I think that in the time I've
been with the company, Leana and I have really worked out a process that works for us.
(28:51):
So when I first came on, we were in this process of trying to figure out what made sense for
us because she had originally been doing the blogs before she brought me on and it became
a process of do we make notes?
Does she just do the editing and post it from there?
Do I do multiple drafts?
And it took a little while of us kind of learning what works for us as a team, but I think where
(29:14):
we're at really works out well and we have frequent meetings to discuss any changes that
are made so that moving forward, I know what she likes in voice and flow and how we address
our audiences and as I said before, that's given me kind of the confidence to pitch ideas
(29:36):
and go from there.
It is funny because she has said that sometimes it's a moving target, but I think that that
is true with any assignment at any company, any school, anything that you're going to
do sometimes you just get hit with something that's a little bit different or it's just
the act of getting your head into someone else's creative space.
(30:00):
And that can be a little tricky, but it's definitely rewarding when I get that text
that says, okay, we're live because it really shows that even in moments of being like,
what am I doing here?
It definitely pays off and at this point in the process, I like to think that we've kind
of got the voice down.
That took the longest I think because I've done writing in a lot of different contexts,
(30:23):
but blogs were a little bit new for me.
And so just getting the idea that we were both on the same page, that was a little bit
of a trick, but I think we might be there.
I agree.
I agree.
I think that as someone who's had to capture voice for clients, that is one of the hardest
things to do because they know they're back here behind their eyes and they know what
(30:46):
they want and they're trying to convey that.
And some folks are really, really good at conveying what the voice should be and others
will say, oh yeah, no, you do it and then when you do it, it's not right and then change
it and then you do it again and it's still not right.
So it is.
It is a bit of a little jimmy of a journey.
So thanks for hanging in there.
I appreciate your patience as well.
(31:08):
But you know, it's like with those tricky tasks, when you finally get it, it's even more satisfying.
Definitely.
Your turn.
Oh, my turn.
I'm not getting out of it.
Excuse me.
I think it's iterative edits.
It's a very helpful process, but sometimes it can be really frustrating.
(31:35):
Sometimes when you're creating, I'll say art for this, they can send it to someone and
be like, I love how this looks and I'm going to send it off and it's going to be great.
And then it comes back and it's like, you need to change this, this, this, this.
It's something like, oh, they think my art's awful.
No, that's not how it is.
It's just being able to listen and learn and adapt and figure out what's going on.
(31:57):
And even though it can be frustrating, it's, once you get the thing where it's like, oh,
yeah, this is it.
I'm like, finally, it's it.
It's really rewarding.
I will say I have had to test my patience a lot when it comes to this, but I find that
(32:18):
it's probably one of the better processes for me and Leona to kind of work back and
forth when we're creating like banners and logos and all that kind of artsy or stuff.
Mm-hmm.
(32:39):
You know, that was one of the things, you know, as a, in my career, that if you're going
to be a creative, whether your medium is, you know, graphics or writing, it is developing
that thick skin.
I am, I am edited all the time.
I'm still edited, you know, and sometimes I appreciate what you're saying, Alicia, because
(33:03):
there's times where I'll send things off to one of my clients and I won't get edited back.
And then I'll be really surprised.
And I found that one thing that was really kind of cool was, as a script writer, to then
listen back to the recorded show and hearing the words that I wrote being said out of somebody
else's mouth and knowing they didn't edit that.
They like actually, they actually said what I wrote.
(33:25):
That's pretty cool.
But it is, there's been times where I've had like iterations like back and forth and
back and forth and back and forth.
And I'm like, should I just start over?
Like, you know, so I, I've been where you are.
So I appreciate your honesty, both of you, thank you.
All right, connections.
(33:46):
That's the next C on the list.
Philip.
Yes.
So you and I spent time this year attending networking events through the local Chamber
of Commerce, mostly towards sort of the middle, I think, of 2024.
And if you're listening, Rick Parker, we promise we're coming to more events.
So we got the opportunity to connect with a number of other businesses during these,
(34:10):
during these events.
I think my favorites were the Lunch and Learns.
You know, it was just, it was like the perfect time of day for us, you know, and, and it
was a real captive audience, you know, and it was a small group.
So you had time to really talk to people.
We also built some partnerships, you know, we've had some folks approach us and we even
(34:31):
got a couple of referrals.
So it, you know, it's been a great, it's been a great process for us.
So any event or connection that stands out for you?
The event that stands out for me is the taste of Burlington.
That is, we've gone to it, we went to it in 23 and 24.
In 23, we were, we were both a little wide-eyed because we didn't know what to expect.
(34:55):
At 24, we, we had a better idea of what it was to expect.
And it's just, it's, it's all restaurants and eateries in the area coming to bring their
wares.
But it's, there is such, there is a large avenue, a large venue for all the businesses
in the area outside of, you know, the restaurants and the eateries where we can just come together
(35:18):
and talk to each other and we exchange business cards.
And I think we talked to more people in the 23 one, the 23 version that we went to as
opposed to 24, but that's the one that stands out.
Not only because the food was amazing, but we met a lot of great people and frankly,
we got to reconnect with some folks that we hadn't seen in quite a while.
(35:39):
So that's, that's the one that stands out in my mind.
Yeah.
I have a great photo of us with a bunch of people that, that we know and that we met
and, you know, it's really important to, to develop those connections.
Yeah.
Okay.
So I was looking at last year's script and one of the questions I had raised last year,
(36:00):
so I'm going to ask it again.
In what ways did we as a company make a difference this past year?
And when you answer the question, it can be for our clients, it can be for a charity,
if there's anything that stands out, you know, how did we make a difference?
I know how we help our clients, but I was thinking about our own corporate or social
(36:20):
responsibility that we engage in.
So I know last January, we made some donations to the food pantry that's at Grace Chapel.
And we, in April, we always pack meals for the Rotary Club for the hungry and pride.
(36:41):
We always do something with the Trevor Project, whether, I know we've done, Jake, we've done
like five K's before, but I think this year we donated.
And they're just, they're just such great causes.
And I think it's so important, I think, as a company to have a cause that really matters
to you.
So I'm going to go around and ask everybody what you think.
(37:02):
I'm going to ask you, Alicia, I know you're new, but I'm going to ask you too.
So starting with you, Phillip.
So you already mentioned this in April when we got together and the packing meals for
the hungry.
And when we did it in April of 23, it was the meals were sent nationally.
They were sent within the United States.
(37:24):
Last year when we did it, the meals were being sent overseas to the Ukraine.
So that was, in my opinion, that was just a wonderful way to make a difference and to
be able to reach out halfway across the world to just be of some little help.
And I look forward to going back and frankly seeing where these meals are going to go this
(37:45):
year.
One of my, one of my favorites is definitely the donations to the Trevor Project.
Because I know quite a few people who have had issues with, you know, home and security
when it comes to coming out and I just find that, you know, those organizations really
(38:06):
do help people and it's our responsibility as a company to kind of give back to our community,
the people we have in our association.
No, I mean, we, we as a company always want everyone to show up to work as their authentic
selves and we are big allies to the LGBTQ community.
(38:29):
We always have a pride podcast every year and we do something to support.
We attend pride.
So this is something that's a very important value to us.
So you know, thanks for pointing that out.
I'm going to ask our new person on the team for thoughts on this.
So I really love that this company that I get to be part of is so involved in making
(38:53):
a difference.
Now, I did come a little bit later than being actually active in participating in some of
these, but even now we still try to make it clear that we're involved in these things.
Like, you could see it in the podcast that like we could absolutely just focus on kind
(39:15):
of the more market focused things, but we definitely bring people on whose job is specifically
nonprofits just for charity and we give them a voice and equally as the people who are
working for these major major corporations that are bringing in potentially millions,
(39:36):
billions, billions of dollars.
And then on my end, I've been able to add additional attention to them by bringing them up in the
content that I've been writing.
So I just love that these things matter to this company and then we make sure that they
don't just, we're not just fair weather participants.
(40:00):
There's things that we're talking about year round.
Yes, yes, I agree.
I think it's easy to, you know, I mean we have LGBTQ people on staff so it's, you know,
we live this every day, you know, we don't just put on our rainbow socks, you know, in
June.
You know, we do this all the time.
And you're right, you know, we have this platform, this amazing platform, like let's use this,
(40:24):
you know, for good.
I think that's a big part of when we started the podcast.
Definitely.
I would, one thing I really like about the podcast is that we bring in a lot of people
from our own community who are trying to make differences, who are working with, within
the community to make a difference for people.
I think one of the things I remember really well was we had a guest who worked with a
(40:45):
food pantry.
Mm-hmm.
And we were able to, but I think it's really nice to be able to use our platform to help
people within our own community.
Yep.
I mean, I know we've talked about, on the podcast, we've talked about women empowerment,
we've talked about, you know, different coming out stories, we've talked about helping food
pantries, we've talked about, we brought in the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center.
(41:11):
So for their Gala, so they could raise money for the community for healthcare.
So, you know, this is something that we will continue, you know, into next year as well.
So thank you.
So now, what's coming for 2025?
So what are some predictions that we can make for this coming year?
(41:31):
So I'm going to ask everybody to kind of come to the table with that.
So as I said earlier, digitalization is key.
Having a strong Mar-Tech stack is very important.
And we adopted and expanded our own Mar-Tech stack this year because we wanted to stay
up to date and we wanted to be able to offer more and we plan to do even more and explore
(41:52):
more in 2025.
I did find myself using more AI tools this year.
I know when we had our podcast the beginning of last year, we were like, be careful, be
careful, be responsible.
And I still feel that way.
I think that, you know, as a content marketing agency, as a digital agency, you know, we
do have to be careful and use these tools responsibly.
(42:13):
But they do help and they help us and they help our clients.
So I have, you know, a voiceover partner and, you know, he's somebody that we use or would
use for like a bigger project for a client.
But when I have to put together really quick voiceover for like a quick social media video,
I use Voices AI.
It has a lot of different options.
(42:33):
You can have different gender voices.
You can have different races speaking.
You can have different pitch.
And there's even some celebrities.
So sometimes you can, you know, maybe have somebody who listens to it guess who that
is talking.
Video for social media, obviously video is king.
I find that on when I manage client social media channels, video always gets the highest
(42:55):
level of engagement above just static text or just photos.
So but video is actually better when it's captioned.
Anybody can watch a video with the sound off if you're laying in bed and, you know, somebody
sleeping next to you and you're not only waking them up, you can watch your video with the
captions.
And so I started using Capwing.
It's a great tool.
(43:15):
It's quick.
It's accurate.
And you get to choose from different captioning looks.
So we'll be creating even more video this year.
And then as a content writer, I have to create web copy from recordings.
Sometimes when I get the recordings from my client, I don't have time to listen to because
it's like a whole hour of a radio recording.
So I use a tool called Descript and I drop it in, I drop the audio file.
(43:39):
It pops up the transcription for me and I get to just grab what I need and I can create
the web copy from that.
So and then of course, I will admit I do love Google Gemini.
I do use it.
It is Google's AI.
And you know, when you are writing copy on a daily sprint and there's copy, you have
to crank and crank and crank and crank.
(43:59):
It really does help to get a head start.
So those are my tools and things that I think are great tools and people should be using
and can use into 2025.
So I'm going to go to Alicia because you just wrote a very interesting blog about marketing
2025 trends.
Care to walk us through your research process and maybe a little, maybe a few of them.
(44:20):
Yeah.
So whenever I do research, I want to look at a bunch of different sources so that I just
make sure that I'm getting multiple perspectives, getting a lot of input from different sources.
Et cetera.
So when I was doing that, I tried to go all over the board and I definitely wanted to
make sure that I was finding articles that maybe mentioned different things because I
(44:43):
didn't just want a lot of repeat.
I didn't want to just fall into the crowd of talking about the same thing as everyone
else.
So I wanted to find some of the more unique ones and especially things that were applicable
to us.
And so definitely a lot of talk about AI, omni-channel marketing because we're in a digital age.
(45:04):
Even young kids are at a point where we're so digitized as a culture that they even notice
when a website isn't great.
So there's omni-channel marketing, which is basically just streamlining the experience
across platforms because I have experienced first-hand companies that haven't gotten there
(45:27):
and we don't have, again, as a culture, we don't have the patience for it.
There's also hyper-personalization because, again, with AI and it's not something that's
going to go away, just being like, oh, that's kind of interesting.
That doesn't catch people's attention anymore.
We need something that basically feels like it's speaking to them as closely as we're
(45:51):
speaking to each other here.
And that one really stuck out to me because while some people go, oh, will writers be replaced
by AI?
No, because AI can't connect with people.
And especially with things like hyper-personalization, it walks a fine line with privacy because people
don't want to feel spied on.
(46:14):
And if you don't have a relationship with the audience, then they will get that creeped-out
feeling.
But if you're a company that they really value and that they feel that they understand on
a more personal level, then those ads feel almost like you're known.
And it's a very different experience.
And that's where people like us come in because we're storytellers.
(46:36):
And we help deliver who that brand is to the clients.
So they're like a friendly neighbor instead of a creep looking in the window.
And that really can make a huge difference, especially in 2025 because privacy is a huge
topic.
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
Thank you.
(46:57):
Okay, so Phillip, you're up.
What is new in the world of project management next year?
And I know that you really like AI.
I know that you use it a lot.
So maybe you can also talk about how that might help in your role.
Well, excuse me.
(47:19):
What is new in terms of project management?
There's no new fangled methodology.
There's no new project management software.
There's nothing new like that.
It's kind of a revisiting of what's old is new again.
In one of the first blogs that I put out there, I talk about project managers using a hybrid
methodology.
Instead of leaning heavily into one or the other waterfall or agile methodology or lean
(47:48):
or whatever else, there is now a movement towards bringing them all together because
there is no project that is completely, totally, solely one methodology or the other.
So the advantage of using a hybrid methodology is that you can bring all of them together
(48:08):
to bring the most value to your clients.
And related to what you were saying about AI, about hyper personalization or whatever,
there is also, you know, I do use it a lot.
But I use it as more of a collaboration tool instead of, you know, going online and trying
to meet other project managers.
(48:29):
And how would you do this?
I actually use AI as kind of the other person in the room to spell ideas off of.
You know, I tell AI, you're a senior project manager, this is this, this, this, you're
trying to do this and this.
And it spits back a bunch of ideas at me.
You know, there isn't, you know, similar to other questions out there, will project managers
(48:50):
be replaced by AI?
No.
Because project managers still need to communicate.
They need to have empathy.
They need to see what their teams are doing.
And at the same time, but there is no such thing, and I don't believe that there is ever
going to be such a thing as a big, red easy button, give me a 1,000 line project plan.
(49:10):
Because that, that is, there is such an iterative process and an interviewing that you need
to do with your customers and your clients on all of, you know, through all of your stakeholders,
that that would just be an impossibility.
So the hybrid methodology, using AI as a collaboration tool, those are things that are, like I said,
(49:32):
it's not really new, what's old is new again, but I think that it's going to be used more
and coming up in the next year.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree.
Jake, I know that in the past year you got to animate some of the branding.
So you got to use that a little bit for the tech conference.
(49:54):
I know you got, definitely got more proficient, you know, when you were designing the PowerPoint
decks.
Oh, for sure.
I know they weren't your favorite, but, you know.
Can you talk a little bit about, like, what was it like for you, you know, and then from
a design standpoint, what do you think is up and coming?
(50:14):
Well, I kind of, I can't take the standpoint when it comes to design that AI.
I'm not going to sit here and be like, AI's the devil, but I would advise when it comes
to creating something creative to kind of veer away from the path of AI, because typically
(50:39):
when it comes to AI, like image generation or like video generation, stuff like that,
it tends to take from a lot of other artists and sources without permission.
So I think just, yeah, I think that having a creative department and creatives in your
(51:01):
company can really help with your creative validity going into 2025 with the rise of
AI.
I remember there was like a controversy surrounding it.
It was like a Coca-Cola commercial or something.
They were like, oh, this is AI-generated video because all the videos were like under a second
long and people just hated it.
People were like, I don't want to buy from this.
(51:22):
This is lazy.
This is awful.
So I think kind of incorporating human touch into design is what people are really looking
for going into the new year.
I know that with the branding that you did for that tech conference, they presented sort
(51:45):
of an idea that came from AI.
And you came back with completely like hand drawn, obviously graphics that captured some
of that, but definitely was very unique, very much personalized to that event for them.
(52:08):
It wasn't something they could just create on a computer, just from telling an AI to
make an image for them.
Yeah?
Another thing with AI you have to be really careful about, and a lot of people have already
been seeing this as a homogenization, which is basically that everything is being pulled
so broadly and being mixed together that everything that's being produced is kind of coming out
(52:28):
the same.
And if there's one thing you don't want for a brand, it's to blend in.
So that's where the creativity, as you put it, really comes in handy because AI can only
go so far as not thinking for itself.
And if all of its ideas are coming from things that have already happened, then nothing new
is coming from it.
Good point.
Good point.
(52:48):
I was playing with the AI the other day because I was trying to create an image of the dogs.
And I was trying to create, but the dogs are not, they're muts.
They're not like a pure lab and a pure rat terrier.
And so I wanted, so I was trying to tell the AI very specifically what I wanted, and it
(53:10):
would spit out a picture, and I'd say, okay, well, I want this.
So I would copy and paste the exact same thing, add two or three more things, and hit it again.
And it would spit out almost, I had like six or eight images that were almost identical
because the AI couldn't move past it.
It couldn't get past what I was asking for.
(53:33):
And I tried to be super, super specific exactly what I wanted.
And in the explanation, I found too that it kind of like lost its way.
Like it was just, okay, this is too much information.
This is too specific.
And I can't do that.
So it really, and I think we talked about this last year on the podcast, and I think
(53:54):
it, we stand true this year too.
It goes back to that human touch.
You're talking about the personalization, and you still have to bring it, and you're
talking about that you can't just, yes, you can make a thousand line project plan template,
but that's not going to help your client.
Not by any stretch.
And that's where the collaboration comes in.
(54:15):
I've used AI as the collaboration tool to, can you generate these ideas?
This is the environment that I'm, this is the environment, these are the expectations
that I have.
Generate me a bunch of ideas.
And then I pick those ideas, and then I use my experience and build on them.
There is no automatic big easy button.
(54:36):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I know when I'm creating content on a sprint, I will ask the AI for stuff, and I'll
read through it, and I'll be like, I like that, that, that, that, that, and that.
Which in essence would sort of be like me writing it, but at least I can just copy and
paste, and then I can just build from there.
So yeah, so it's good to have a foundation.
(54:59):
Any other thoughts?
Oh, one thing, one more thing to add to the AI image generation portion.
When creating AI images, you really have to be careful of what you're asking it to create
because specifically for the event with like the tech conference, when asking it to make
stuff for like that specific location, it can pull in really harmful stereotypes for
(55:25):
like the populations that live there.
And also AI likes to create a lot of white people when you ask it to generate people.
So, which is not always reflective of the client you're trying to reach.
Right.
So, I think that acts a level of diversity then is what you're saying.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I thought, the other thing that I thought was super interesting, I had asked it for
(55:48):
something, I was not, I was not asking it for political stuff, but I must have used
something about the election or something.
Oh, I was, I was researching something for a script about election results, and I think
I put something about election, and the AI spit back, I'm sorry I can't answer that,
it's controversial or something like that.
(56:08):
And I thought, wow, it does have some like some gauges, some, you know, some limits in
that regard.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, okay.
Well, that's all the time we have for today.
Thanks for being here, everyone.
It was great to reminisce and get ready to keep growing in 2025.
(56:32):
Thank you for having us.
Yeah, thank you very much.
Looking forward to this next year.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And to our listeners, whether you hear us locally from the BTV studios in Bedford, Massachusetts,
or across the globe on such podcast channels as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Prime,
thanks for listening.
We hope you enjoyed this special episode, and we'll see you next time.
(56:56):
Happy storytelling.
Yeah.
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