Mission-Driven Marketing

Are you interested in how strategic marketing can create community change with limited resources? In this episode of The Power Lounge, host Amy Vaughan introduces Erin Maxson from COHatch, a specialist in impact marketing. The episode, titled "Mission-Driven Marketing," explores the use of narrative to engage communities and the effectiveness of cost-efficient marketing campaigns. Erin shares examples from supporting local blood drives to assisting a budding romance novelist with a new website. The discussion will cover the importance of local involvement, the benefits of seeking feedback, and how targeted marketing efforts can influence communities significantly.

Listen for a conversation filled with real-world stories and strategies from Erin that demonstrate how impactful change is achievable for everyone..

Connect with Erin:

Erin Maxson

Head of National Digital and Marketing, COHatch

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinmaxson/

Episode Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction

00:49 - Exploring Purpose-Driven Marketing for Significant Impact

09:20 - Personalized Contributions from Smaller Businesses

11:00 - Discovering Pressure-Free Community Impact in Phoenix

16:19 - COHatch: Enhancing Community with Coworking Spaces and Rentals

24:06 - Laurie Champions Passionate Storytelling for Community Engagement

27:22 - Effective Storytelling in Impact Marketing on a Budget

32:28 - Building Sustained Relationships Through Mission-Driven Marketing

37:51 - Leveraging Local Research to Understand Community Needs

43:02 - Lynette Utilizes Local Design for Enhanced Community Comfort

49:23 - Focusing on Revenue and Organizing Events to Support Star House

53:50 - Committing Effectively by Knowing Yourself

57:59 - Challenges Encountered While Reading "How Change Happens"

01:02:19 - Outro

Quote of the Episode:

"Being a smaller business or freelancer is tough, but seeing my direct impact on others is deeply rewarding." - Erin Maxson

"In impact-driven campaigns,You have to be prepared to watch it fly or fail" - Erin Maxson

Support the show

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hello everyone and welcome to our weekly Power
Lounge.
This is your place to hearauthentic conversations from
those who have power to share.
My name is Amy Vaughn and I amthe owner and Chief Empowerment
Officer of Together Digital, adiverse and collaborative
community of women who work indigital and choose to share
their knowledge, power andconnections.
You can join the movement attogetherindigitalcom, and today

(00:34):
we are joined by Erin Maxson.
She is mastering the art ofimpact marketing at one of
America's largest workplaceproviders and who is also an
amazing partner to TogetherDigital Cohatch.
Erin is joining the show to tellus about how making a
difference doesn't have to breakthe bank.
In fact, some of the mostpowerful community initiatives

(00:55):
don't cost a dime.
From her home, based in Phoenixwhich I'm kind of sort of
jealous about right now becauseI am sitting in gloomy
Cincinnati, ohio where shebalances national digital
strategies with her love for thedesert adventure for desert
adventure, her three dogs, aaron, brings a unique perspective on

(01:15):
how technology and marketingcan be forces for good.
She is going to share practical, accessible ways to weave
purpose into your marketing DNA.
So, whether you're a seasonedmarketer looking to add more
meaning into your campaigns oryou're just starting to explore
your work and how to createpositive change.
This conversation is certainlyfor you.

(01:37):
We will talk about finding yourwhy, maximizing your impact on
a minimal budget, and why thebottom line isn't the only line
that actually matters.
So grab your coffee, your tea,your notebook and join us for
the next hour as we explore howto make marketing matter more.
And for those of you who arewith us listening live, don't

(01:57):
forget you can join theconversation through the chat.
We love to hear your commentsand especially your questions.
Erin, thanks for joining ustoday.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Thank you for having me.
I'm very excited.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Me too.
Me too.
Again, this is something nearand dear to my heart.
I've been a marketer for longerthan I would probably like to
say.
It stops at 15 years, and thenI just kind of quit adding years
after that.
I'm like oh we're just going tostop counting, kind of after 40.
I'm like, and then some change.
But you know, mission is justanother and purpose is just

(02:30):
another thing that over theyears has just become more and
more prevalent and meaningful,not to just us marketers but to
consumers as well, and I'mreally curious for you to share
with our listeners.
You know that, how purpose hasbecome a part of your journey.
I know you've said in the pastit's been there kind of from the
start, but what was that firstmoment that sparked your

(02:54):
interest and impact drivenmarketing?

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah.
So I graduated with a marketingdegree and I had changed my
major seven times and it got tothe point where I was just like
I got to get out of here, man,and so I ended up going back to
the College of Business and Igot my marketing degree.
I didn't really know what Iwanted to do with it.
I was really into sports, thenthought I was going to work in
the NBA, which is a little bitof a different kind of life.

(03:19):
120 hour weeks and always beingon the go Paycheck did not add
up.
So I started looking at otherthings and I got my first job
out of college remote.
It was a remote job for anagency based out of Louisiana
and I was living in Fort Worth.
I'd love to say that thatagency was very impact driven.
It was not.

(03:41):
But in my free time is kind ofwhere I started mixing the
impact in the marketing.
I had just adopted a dog abouta year prior.
Her name is Rory and you'reprobably going to hear all about
her.
She's my little angel, angeldog.
But I was doing marketing of allkinds.
I was kind of just gettingstarted in agency life, picking

(04:01):
up things that I could, so I hada lot of random skill sets
social media, content creation,copywriting, advertising, all
that stuff and I startedvolunteering at a local shelter.
So it kind of went hand in handthat I was, as I started,
getting more involved with theshelter.
They had a lot of needs,obviously understaffed, not

(04:22):
enough funding all of that funstuff we all know is common
knowledge in a lot of differentindustries.
But I was volunteering at thiskill shelter in Fort Worth and
it really opened my eyes to howmuch marketing makes an impact
and can really change the livesof everybody, whether that's a
dog or a person or a familylives of everybody, whether

(04:47):
that's a dog or a person or afamily.
I spent a lot of time doingsocial media stuff, doing photos
, writing bios for dogs andreally like we could get one
photo and one good bio out.
You could get a dog that hadbeen in the shelter for 200 plus
days adopted in a weekend andit was one of those things that
it makes you realize that a lotof us do a lot of the same
things every day in marketing.
Like you may be posting socialposts every single day, but it

(05:11):
was such a eye openingexperience for me to see it,
really go that far and make animpact, and it also made me want
to bring that back into workRight, I had a lot of small
business clients at the timethat I think it's pretty common
theme.
Everybody's like I can't makean impact, I just need to, you
know, make enough revenue inorder to survive this month,

(05:33):
kind of thing.
But I was able to kind of takesome of those experiences from
that volunteer work and itreally kind of spurned
everything else in my lifeafterwards and just trying to
make the most impact as possible.
So it was very hard anddifficult but it was also very
rewarding.
So I think that's that isalways the common theme as well

(05:54):
with impact marketing.
It's not easy to do most of thetime, but it can be very
inexpensive and also make areally big difference if you, if
you know what you're doing andwhere to start Right.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
I love that so much.
Erin, I'm very much with you.
I'm an animal lover and havebeen since childhood, and I
think oftentimes in order toquell the drama that happens
sometimes in marketing andadvertising I've said we're not
saving lives here, but what youjust said is that you were, you
actually can and you were savinglives with your marketing, and

(06:30):
I love that so much.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
I know I may not be able to do that now, but I do my
.
We do a little bit different,different kind of impact now but
Right, right, but it does.

Speaker 1 (06:41):
It does go to show that right, because depending on
the type of marketing thatyou're doing, it can have that
level of impact and I think thatis an important reminder.
So, while I was mentioning it ata little tongue in cheek, at
the end of the day it could havethat potential and it is 100%
right.
I think I have a friend herwife works at they're a no-kill

(07:04):
shelter and you know it's a biguphill battle to try to, you
know, maintain funds, tomaintain space, to, you know all
of those different things.
But a big part of how they aresuccessful is truly their
marketing and their ability tomake these animals, you know,
positioned as adoptable, to keeppeople aware.

(07:25):
And you know we had that kindof conversation about at a
friend's dinner party about howinstrumental marketing is.
And I think the thing I'vealways loved about marketing and
I'm sure you feel this way toois that it's creative problem
solving.
And you know, if you are trulycreative, it's not big budgets
aren't always necessarilyrequired, right, like that's a

(07:46):
part of the problem solvingsometimes, right, just working
around those smaller budgets andfiguring out how to make the
most of it very scrappy marketer.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
I think a lot of people.
If you start working at largeragencies and you've got clients
with a lot of budget, you'reused to certain things right and
it definitely I worked my wayup that ladder of like getting
to a more stable business withCoHatch.
I worked in a lot of startupsbefore but I think it really
helped me kind of shape theimpact that you can make with
pennies on the dollar if notjust using your time to be

(08:27):
creative.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
So yeah, yeah, and you and I kind of had the
inverse experience.
I started at bigger agencies,first with bigger budgets and to
me it was like bigger budgetssometimes equaled bigger
barriers, right, Because allthose dollars went towards a lot
more layers and usually likelegal involved and more kind of
like teams and things like that.
And then now running a smaller,more mission-based business I'm

(08:51):
my own client, best client everand then you have to figure out
how to be scrappy and creativeand you do maximize the dollars
and the opportunities and thereare less layers and people
usually involved and so thingscan be more agile and that can
do more testing and learning andcreating efficiencies, Whereas,
like when you have those biggerbudgets, sometimes then you

(09:12):
have to kind of you know, Idon't know almost validate those
dollars more and you don'tactually maximize every penny
and to me sometimes there's alittle bit.
There's more waste, in myopinion, honestly.
Oh yeah, for sure, because youdon't watch every dollar and
every cent that goes through.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
Yeah, and I think that's the important part of
your so what was your Go?
Ahead.
Sorry, I was just going to sayI think the important part-.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
No finish.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
If you're looking at big budgets and things like that
, a lot of those businesses,they have other ways of making
an impact right and it's maybenot so local and not so in touch
with what the actual needs are.
It's more like a genericoverlay of what they can
possibly do, and I think that'seven though it's harder to be a
smaller business or a freelancer.

(09:55):
It definitely at least for me,it's always been more rewarding
to be able to like see mypersonal like I helped that dog
or I worked with this person andnow they've launched a series
of books or whatever it is, andI think that's always.
There's good and bad to both,but I do like the challenge of
being a smaller, scrappier kindof thing.

Speaker 1 (10:17):
Yeah, that's such a great point, that direct impact.
You get to see that so muchmore when you're dealing with a
smaller scale, so I'm curioushow's your approach to the
community impact evolved sort ofsince kind of moving to, since
moving to Phoenix and workingwith Cohatch?

Speaker 2 (10:45):
couple of years.
I was living on the road forabout two, two and a half years
during our wonderful COVID yearsand I think that all that whole
situation definitely changedthe way we look at community and
community impact.
I spent a lot of time inPhoenix I lived in Phoenix
previously before I took my tripand did all that fun stuff and
it really has always felt likehome and even though I had
friends here before, it wasalways very hit and miss.

(11:07):
I didn't really have like atrue community.
But as I'm now more rooted inPhoenix, it's been increasingly
more meaningful and important tome to figure out how to have an
impact and how to find theright people in the community
and to reach and do the rightthings that actually have
meaningful community impactwithin that smaller circle.

(11:29):
Cohatch I've been there foralmost been here for almost four
years now.
I've learned a lot about impactand impact marketing.
I think many people who havebeen through agency life or who
have had larger scale clientsprobably know that everything is
usually tied to the bottom lineright.

(11:50):
So everything that you do hasto make some kind of increase
and bump you up more in thegreen.
What I've really enjoyed withmy time at Cohatch is that I've
felt like the pressure has beenoff to attach every single thing
to revenue and I can still feelit in my body a little bit

(12:12):
every time that I, you know,pitch something or we do a
campaign and I'm like, oh God,but what if we don't make money
and we just spend all this moneyon random collateral or
whatever?
But I really have had thepressure taken off of me and
it's really helped me shift mymindset a little bit, if not a
lot.
Matt Davis, who's our CEO, hashad to mold me from the

(12:35):
beginning, because I was I'vealways worked in startups.
I've always worked inbusinesses where it's, like I
said, everything's tied to thebottom line.
If you don't do well, peopledon't get paid right.
But when I first joined theteam, I had obviously had all
that experience.
All I could see was like we gotto be efficient Dollar signs,
you know that's got to be thefirst thing.

(12:57):
But it was a real breath offresh air for me because it
wasn't about a conversion.
It was about what makes alasting impression on our
members, on our team members, onour community, because those
are the stories, those are themetrics, so to speak that last a

(13:17):
lifetime and it's very, verydifferent and it's definitely
more of like a qualitativemetric, right, but we define
conversions as anything thatmakes an impact on our people,
right?
We have members that mentionthings in passing.
Like you know, I've got mykid's first birthday coming up

(13:39):
and part of our membership isyou get free life events now.
So everybody that's a member.
They have three events per yearthey can host at any of our
membership is you get free lifeevents now.
So everybody that's a member,they have three events per year.
They can host at any of ourlocations completely for free.
And we track that.
We want to make sure that ourmembers are using those benefits
and getting the most out of it,and that really truly is, I
would say, the majority of ourreviews.

(14:00):
The majority of the metricsthat I track is going to be the
stories I hear from people, thememories that are made, how
engaged people are with ourbrand and the experience we
provide, and all of that hasreally led to some great,
amazing partnerships.
Like you're looking to gather,digital is a great partnership

(14:23):
for us.
Star House is another one.
We're working locally with StarHouse in Columbus to help
renovate and completely redo aunhoused facility for youth in
Columbus, so we're working withthem.
We're also working withSanctuary Night to help with
those that are in sex work andmaking sure that they're housed

(14:45):
and healthy and safe, and it'sthings like that we wouldn't
have been able to do if we werepurely focused on revenue, but I
will say that it's.
That's the stuff that investorsare interested in.
A lot of people nowadays,especially if they're wanting to
invest big dollars in business.
They want to know what you'redoing for the people and they

(15:05):
want to be invested directly intheir local communities.
They want to see like physical,tangible evidence that you're
doing something before they evenput money in your business or
your idea.
And it's some of that stuffthat we do out of the goodness
of our heart, because it's stuffthat's so meaningful to us, but
it has allowed our business togrow tenfold.

(15:27):
We have people wanting tocreate impact hubs, like we're
doing at star house and othercities now, and we'd love to do
it, but now you're we're out ofbandwidth kind of situation,
right?
So, yeah, it's um, I've learneda.

Speaker 1 (15:42):
I think it's definitely is a mind shift set
for most marketers to not seethe dollar signs, but I feel
like I've learned quite a bitand Matt has really been like
don't worry about it, it's allgoing to work out if we do the
right thing for the peopleversus the short game and the
immediate returns, because Ithink what you're building, in

(16:05):
my opinion and it sounds likewe're pretty much aligned in
that way right, it's like you'rebuilding belief, you're
building trust by establishingand living out your values as an
organization, as a brand, and Ithink that's what we've always
loved is having Cohatch as apartner.
And for those of you who aren'tfamiliar live listeners, I've
dropped the link to the Cohatchwebsite in the chat.

(16:25):
We'll include it in the shownotes.
And, for those of you whoaren't familiar, they provide
co-working and rented officespaces throughout the country,
namely in the Midwest and in theSouth as well, and they're kind
of expanding all over, butagain, like you said, offering
up those like life event typespaces and it is very community

(16:46):
centric.
And your community managers,like I mean, I have my favorite
locations and I know mycommunity managers and they know
what's going on with my lifeand they know my kids names and
you know I know what's going onwith them and their families,
because you know there'ssomething about you know, having
a culture.
All of us are living this newworld of you know, hybrid and
remote work and a lot of us missthat aspect of you know having
a culture.
All of us are living this newworld of you know, hybrid and
remote work, and a lot of usmiss that aspect of you know,

(17:08):
company culture, and I thinkwhat you know Cohatch does
really well is it provides thatextension of that and that sense
of community.
And so, like partnerships andworking with organizations like
ours together, digital membersin case you don't know, y'all
should know because we messagedit a lot um, but like, if you're
ever looking for co-workingspace, you know we get, like our

(17:29):
members get 30 off ofco-working space, which is so
generous, um, and then, ifyou're looking to rent office
space, like richard's beenworking with some of our members
to help them find and get spaceas well, which has been amazing
.
Um, but I have to, erin, whatdoes that do for you as a
marketer, too right, whensomebody as high up at the very
top comes to you and says Idon't want you to worry about

(17:52):
the bottom line all the time, Iwant you to also think about,
like, impact and opportunity.
What does that do for yoursense of risk taking and
innovation?

Speaker 2 (18:00):
Yeah, I think one of the biggest things about working
at CoHatch and the leadershipat CoHatch they put so much
trust in their people to knowthe right thing and do the right
thing.
And I think there have beenseveral roles or even freelance
projects I've taken on whereI've been so scared to fail.
Right.
Like you do something.
You have a really good idea,it's going to cost some money,
and you're just terrified.
You have a really good idea,it's going to cost some money

(18:22):
and you're just terrified Likeyou've never done it before.
But you think it's going to begood and if it's not, you're
like oh God, I could be out ofhere, I might not be able to pay
my bills next month.
I don't have that fear here atall and there have definitely
been days where I've shed happytears about it, because I always
have it's always been I'm avery empathetic person.

(18:45):
I wear my heart on my sleeve.
I care so much about everysingle person.
Like I'm one of those people.
Like I see an ant on thesidewalk and I try not to step
on it.
And so it's some of that, thatlike it's so nice to be able to
bring that part of me to workand be able to lead my team with
that mindset as well.
So, like all the things that wedo, which we do a lot of

(19:09):
internal communication as wellfor my team and for the whole,
like broader organization ofCohatch, we do a lot of like
training and rollouts and likemy team is so focused on trying
to do the right thing for otherpeople and it just bleeds into
everything that we do now and Ilike every time I talk to people
on my team or even other people, you know, like our community

(19:30):
managers, everybody is just so,so impact and heart driven.
I just haven't seen it anywhereelse and, yeah, that's
fantastic, it's, it's a verygood feeling.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
It's much different than most places I've been, so
yeah, it gives you a good reasonto show up.
And then, like you said it,without that risk or without
that fear of failure, um, thatdesire to one show up, try
harder, lean in, take thoserisks, be more innovative, like,
how much better of a companyare you all because of that.
And I have to say too, Ithought it was super sweet.

(20:01):
So shout out to all of yourcoworkers.
By the way, you sharedyesterday, I think it was, or
maybe the day before on LinkedInthat you were coming on the
podcast.
I have never seen so manycoworkers do shout outs, reshare
the post, give the praise.
So I mean, y'all are doingsomething right.
Um, and the amount of supportthat I saw, so that was really
wonderful.

Speaker 2 (20:21):
I love seeing that.
You are going to make me tearup thinking about it.
I was already reaching out toeverybody because as soon as I
posted it I was gettingnotifications back that
everybody had shared it and Iwas like, oh my gosh, all are
too kind to me.
So it's yeah, we have a very,very good culture.

Speaker 1 (20:38):
You do, and, aaron, you only get what you give.
So it's just.
It's just, it's a reflection ofwhat you're putting out there.
So kudos to you as well.
And again to the company and theculture that you guys are
building and creating.
So, yeah, it just goes to showwhat a great culture that you
all are fostering and with thework that you're doing.
All right, let's talk a littlebit about some specifics on a
campaign where you were able toachieve both your business goals

(21:01):
and community impact, wheremaybe budget was a little bit of
a constraint.

Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah, so one of the things that I was this was early
on in my career with Coach andwe had finally gotten a team big
enough and and I was getting tothe spot where I was like what
fun things can we do now, youknow, like we were just trying
to get through all the thingsthat we knew we had to do and we
finally were to the spot wherewe could do something different,

(21:26):
something new, and one of myfavorite things that I've ever
seen from a marketingperspective was something called
a good newspaper, and I'm sureseveral people, if anybody's on
here, has heard of the originalgood newspaper.
I get their emails and I lovedit and it was one of those
things that I was like how do Itake that and do something here?

(21:49):
Obviously, we have so manymembers, we have so much going
on.
It's hard to get it alltogether, but I was really
gung-ho about it and we didn't.
Print is expensive for thosethat don't know, and so we have
thousands of members talkingabout doing a physical good
newspaper.
It's one an expensive task andone that's probably not.

(22:11):
I wouldn't say it's a thanklessproject, but it's one of those
things that I was notanticipating to have as much
feedback good feedback from itas we did, and it's one of the
things that we started off asdoing is like we thought we were
just going to do it once andsee how it went and now we went
from doing it monthly toquarterly because it's a huge

(22:31):
task.
But it's not really a truecampaign per se, but it is one
of my favorite marketingprojects we've ever done.
It's one of my favoritestrategies that helps not only
us but the community.
We deliver it to our restaurantpartners.
It's one of those things that itjust is such a really cool

(22:53):
concept and I didn't realize,even with a small budget I think
we started with maybe we didlike maybe 200 or 300 copies the
first time and we had such likeoverwhelming feedback that we
were like we got to keep doingthis.
Like we have so many peoplethat want to be a part and share
and investors love getting it.
Like it's stuff that we getasked for Like every.

(23:16):
We do it quarterly now.
So we went from monthly toquarterly this last year just
because it's such a heavy liftand we have so many scholars now
.
But I get questions pretty muchevery month from the team
When's the next good newspaperthat's coming out.
My members want to see it.
I have a member that wants tobe in it.
The investors want to know whatstories are happening, and it's

(23:38):
one of our most powerful toolsand projects we've ever done
because, it really showcases notonly our impact because we
really do try to stay away fromlike showing off the things that
we open another location butfor the most part, we show off
you know what our members aredoing, our nonprofits, what are
their causes, what projects arethey working on, what kind of

(24:00):
funding, what events are theydoing, startups, what ideas are
coming up and what's trendingand things like that.
And even our team members.
We have so many great teammembers that are doing volunteer
work Lori, who's in Delaware.
She does the blood drive itseems like every other week and
she is the most passionate,fantastic community manager.

(24:22):
She stays really involved.
And it's one of my favoritethings to be able to tell the
stories of other people, becauseI think more often than not, we
get so invested in our businessand our idea we lose the
stories of the people that wework with right, like why we
actually do what we do and howwe impact people and how people

(24:44):
think of us and the memories,everything that's attached to
our brand.
Beyond the people that aredoing the work, it really it's
your best marketing tool foryourself, but it's also the best
way to be able to understandwhat people need and how you can
help others in your community.
So that was.
It's probably my.

(25:05):
It's not a specific campaign,but I was like I got to talk
about this because it's one ofmy favorite projects that we do.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Yeah, I always grab onewhenever I'm in one of the
coworking spaces, um, and Iremember getting super excited
because I got featured in onewas it the year before last?
And, um, my kids were excitedcause they got to keep a printed
copy.
And you know, in this digitalage it's such a novel thing.
But you're right, it's such asmall nuanced thing, um, and

(25:34):
there is something to um that,specifically, that does breathe
in life, to that sense ofcommunity.
Um, that is such a great idea.
So I think that's such awonderful um notion to give to
the community to think about.
What are those kind of nuancedways?
If you're trying to bring backa sense of community and
connectedness and something likethat, where you're featuring

(25:57):
the people, the customers, thecommunity and something like
something that's printed, thatfeels more tactile and permanent
, is such a beautiful way toexpress that.
Um, and it's not, you know, itmight require a bit of a lift
and then, if you're kind ofdoing it, you know one thing
might too much, but quarterly isjust enough of a way.
That's such a great way to getthe engagement and to keep the

(26:19):
community involved.
That's a really, reallywonderful, beautiful way to do
it.
I was going to just throw inthe fun little anecdote that I
live in this really cutesylittle neighborhood that my kids
help deliver the town crier.
Our village literally has aprinted newsletter that goes out
and I know, right, it's very,very quaint and they only just

(26:40):
stopped it a few years back.
But they used to have like awhole column that was
neighboring with nina, wherethey announced new people that
bought houses in theneighborhood and they would
interview the families andeverything, but it still like
features all the smallbusinesses in town it talks
about like events that arehappening or upcoming it like it
talks about you know um historywithin the village and it's

(27:03):
just and I hope it never goesaway.
You know it's been happening forlike a hundred years and I hope
it really never goes away,cause you're right it kind of
has that sense of community andit's a once a month thing during
the from, I think, labor Day tothe Memorial Day, and then we
have a little bit of a break andI love that.
My kids do it.
They get a little bit of cashfor it, it's like their little

(27:23):
job, but yeah, yeah it does, itcreates a sense of community.

Speaker 2 (27:28):
So yeah, great idea.
Yeah, that's fantastic.
And I guess for those of youthat are probably like, oh, I
don't have it in the budget forprint, I totally get it.
We also do like a newsletterform that we do in our off cycle
For if we have other storiesthat are coming in, we just
can't wait.
We've got something really coolgoing on.
Yeah, I will say I think everylike we've and I'll talk more
about this is impact.

(27:50):
Marketing does not have to beexpensive, and one of the
cheapest, cheapest, easiest waysto motivate people to do more,
to make a larger impact, isstorytelling.
Whether that's your story,somebody else's story, all it
costs is time and a little bitof brain power, and those, those
moments are far more impactfulthan delivering on a KPI, at

(28:12):
least in my experience here.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
So Absolutely, absolutely, erin, I agree
wholeheartedly.
I love that Awesome.
All right, let's talk aboutmisconceptions and in mission
driven marketing.
What do you, what do you feelis one of the biggest?
Or, if you want to name acouple, even, yeah, I think, the
biggest one.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
I keep saying it people think mission driven
marketing is too expensive, it'sgoing to take too much time.
Only the big businesses cantruly make an impact.
I know people look at us allthe time.
They're like, oh that hugeproject you're doing with
Starhouse is so great, but Icould never do that.
You don't have to to make animpact.

(28:51):
And I think one of the biggestand this is not a co-op story,
but one of the biggest thingsthat made me teary eyed, which
as I get older I noticed thatI've always like my little
heartstrings are just pulled inevery direction but the craziest
thing I ran into somebody thatused to volunteer with at

(29:12):
shelter work.
She knew a guy who had justretired, has been an engineer
all his life, made good money,he just bought a property in
Tucson and he's helping resetand retrain a lot of behavioral
dogs.
It is a thankless job.
I have worked with so manybehavioral cases in the past and

(29:34):
I got connected with this guyand I was just really moved by
by his like, his whole likecareer, like he basically
changed his career at the lastpart of um before he retired,
started doing all this dogtraining, did all this stuff.
We got connected.
I was so moved by his missionand all the things that he's
trying to do.
I sent him five dollars on hiswebsite.

(29:56):
I sent him five dollars.
Don't know this man.
He didn't me.
I was just a lady that put $5into his PayPal account.
Three hours later I got anemail back from him and he was
thanking me profusely for my $5.
Like he was like, and I saidit's only $5.

(30:19):
Like I, I could send more, butI don't.
I mean you're getting started,I don't know everything about
you.
It could have been it, I don't.
I mean you're getting started,I don't know everything about
you.
It could have been.
It could have been a thousanddollars, you know, but $5.
And he sent me an email backafter I said it's only $5.
I'm looking forward to seeingall your progress.
And he said to me it's not just$5.
It's everything to me.

(30:40):
Without people giving me $1, $2, $5, $10, $1,000.
I can't do this.
And it was one of those momentswhere I was like you know,
maybe it's a little old mansyndrome, I don't know.
But I was just like I was somoved by him being willing to go
back and forth with me so muchover the fact that I spent $5.

(31:02):
So I want everybody tounderstand that, like you don't
have to do much to make animpact and sometimes it's just
listening, right.
You get those stories, you tellthose stories, you find ways to
discount things here and therefor businesses or people you
believe in.
I had another.
I had a lady when my freelancedays.
She was 62, 63, and she hadjust started writing romance

(31:27):
novels and she wrote three ofthem, wanted a website built,
and she had no, had no idea.
And I did it all for freebecause I was just so moved by
the fact that she's this late inthe game and doing something
completely different, right, andthat's.
That's a story that I willremember for the rest of my life
.
And she's still got her websiteup and she's still writing books

(31:49):
.

Speaker 1 (31:50):
Love it.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
So it's stuff like that that I think, if you can
find small ways to do it, likeyou don't have to go big, you
don't have to go grand, right?
There's so many ways that youcan make an impact and there's
so many things out there now,like there's different software
for, like, rounding up anddonating back, so even for
invoicing, things like that it'sit's really easy to do if

(32:14):
you're just willing to spend alittle bit of time thinking
about it, and it's way easier todo if it's something that
you're passionate about too,right?
So those, those are the biggestmisconceptions that I think
people have.

Speaker 1 (32:26):
And.

Speaker 2 (32:26):
I know people probably look at me and they're
like Erin, you're such a largebusiness and you have so much.
And I do now but I did notbefore.

Speaker 1 (32:36):
Well, and being on the other side of that too is
like.
What you're making me think ofis the fact that, like when you
are, you know, doing missiondriven marketing, making sure
that every interaction, you aretreating each customer with
kindness and care andappreciation and letting them
know that each interactioncounts and it's not just
transactional, that it istransformational.

(32:57):
Every time somebody decides totake whatever action that they
can take, you know whether it'sa dollar or $5, that it matters,
and making sure that you'reexplicitly saying that and
letting them know is creating,it's cementing the relationship,
it's building trust and it'sloyalty Because, right, like you

(33:18):
continue to, they'll keepshowing up, right, they'll keep
following along, they'll keepcontributing, versus just saying
okay, yeah, thanks, thanks foryour dollar, okay, bye.
You know what I mean Makes sucha difference when you treat it
differently, or when you see itdifferently and appreciate every
little interaction andappreciate any instance in which
they can show up and give,versus just kind of diminishing

(33:40):
their contribution regardless.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
Yeah, 100%.
That's so important.
It's so important to get intothat.
I think that's we're all sobusy and life moves so fast and
it's it's hard sometimes toreally stop and be grateful for
those moments, when you havethem, where you get to learn
about a client or you get tolearn about a team member or a
member.
But it really is what it's allabout and if you're trying to
find ways to have an impact,like the first thing you can do

(34:06):
is listen and be there andunderstand somebody I wouldn't
say deeply, but deeper in orderto make that impact digital and
they're always like oh, thankyou so much for your time.

Speaker 1 (34:16):
I know how busy you are, and I say I know how busy
you are.
You know my time is no morevaluable than yours and you're
investing to be here.
So I'm going to invest in beinghere for you and it's one of
those things like I love it.
It's my favorite part of theday.

(34:37):
I get to learn and understandhow they found out about us, why
they're here, what they need.
It's just as valuable for me,hopefully, as it is for them.

Speaker 2 (34:46):
I think you and I have talked already three times
since I joined, and it's noteven been a month.

Speaker 1 (34:52):
It's so great.
It is so great and it'sabsolutely well worth my time,
and it's one of those things now, as a business owner, that I
will never change my mind about.
I will always find a way tomake time on my calendar for my
members, because they are, firstand foremost, the most
important part of my business,because without them I have no
business, and for any otherbusiness, without your customers

(35:14):
, how do you have a business?
So it's just, it's just one ofthose things you just have to
make room for those kinds of youknow it's not transactional.
You are building relationships.
I don't care what you'reselling, it is about those
relationships and showing up,and so when people take the time
to show up, you've got to showup for them and you've got to
say thank you and appreciate thetime and the energy, the effort

(35:35):
and the choice, because we haveso many choices now, right, an
abundance of choices.
And, oh my gosh, we just did amasterclass on sales and, oh my
gosh, I'm trying to remember thequote that she said.
She was Westland, she wasbrilliant.
She said we are also running upagainst.
The challenge that we arealways faced with is the the

(36:00):
decision not to solve theproblem, to not do anything.
We're not just competing withour competitors, we're competing
with the choice to not doanything and I'm like, oh my
gosh, she's so right.
Anyhow, the next question Ihave for you is I mentioned
earlier, we've got co-hatchesacross the country.
You guys are growing, obviously.

(36:21):
How do you ensure that you, youknow, can from a local?
I don't know how I worded thisquestion.
It doesn't read right to me now.
Hold on, let me read it andthen try to say it.
How do you scale authenticallyand create impact with
initiatives nationally whenyou're kind of?

(36:43):
You know you're all over?

Speaker 2 (36:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (36:46):
Hopefully that makes sense.

Speaker 2 (36:48):
It does make sense.
I hope my answer will makesense.
It's definitely.
It's one of my biggestchallenges.
You know, I think I have workedat like internationally involved
companies before and it'salways been very blank slate
everywhere, right, like you mayhave know, language difference,
but the brand, the values, allthat stuff there's not a lot of

(37:08):
stuff that really changes toomuch, um, but for us, as we go
into every city, every town, itis a challenge because I mean,
we have learned so much in thelast three to four years,
especially with how everybody'soperating differently post COVID
too, like these small these theculture of people getting out

(37:30):
and about is very different thanwhat it used to be, right, and
we're a very small team.
So there's only four people thatwork with me on marketing,
including our part-time internright now.
So, and we support all of ourlocations nationally And's
definitely it's a challenge toget the right mix of like this
is cohatch, this is what we do,and then also, you know, we're

(37:51):
going to tampa and then we'realso in pittsburgh.
Yeah, it's very, very differentand the people are very
different everywhere we go.
Um, but we do spend quite a bitof time trying to get to know
the community before we go in.
A lot of demographic researchgoes into it for us
understanding what are the hotspots One of the biggest things
we have learned, especiallypost-COVID these downtown areas

(38:13):
that were once bustling andeverybody was so stoked to go to
the office.
I don't know if that was evertrue, but people don't want to
go down there anymore Like theywant to be working close to home
.
They want to be doing stuffthat's important to them their
families, working withorganizations that are actually
making improvements in andprogressing in their
neighborhoods, Like we'regetting down to very granular,

(38:34):
Like it's not about are youmaking a widespread change in
the nation.
It's about are you making achange in my neighborhood down
the street two blocks away aboutare you making a change in my
neighborhood down the street twoblocks away.
So we do a lot of work tryingto get in with chambers, trying
to meet all kinds of localbusinesses, even businesses that
we know won't use our spaceretail businesses, things like

(38:55):
that working with the city toensure that we are delivering on
what they actually need and howtheir people are operating and
coming together delivering onwhat they actually need and how
their people are operating andcoming together.
But once we, once we open alocation, is really when I think
the local really hits in for us, because we try to do a lot of
upfront.
We do have people on the ground, right, but it's some of that

(39:17):
that you can't get until you seethe people using our spaces,
and so that always goes back tothe storytelling.
Like we have so many greatnonprofits, you have so many
great entrepreneurs, startups.
We've got all these greatpeople and they're so different
everywhere, but they're also thesame, right.
They all have kind of the sameneeds.
But it's also one of thosethings that, like the I've got,

(39:40):
I could name half a dozennonprofits that I've talked to
and interviewed that I'm likey'all do the same thing but
you're all completely different,you know, and it's seeing that,
and once we've opened our doorsand seeing the people that use
our spaces, that really helps megauge the mix a bit better and
make sure that we're doingthings authentically and unless

(40:02):
we run into any crazy stuffbefore we open a location.
You know, some communities aredifferent.
Development is always fun, butI think some of that is it's so
important for you to do a lot ofthe planning upfront to make
sure that you're not missing themark locally.
But you really aren't going toknow until you're there and
you're talking to the people andyou meet the people and

(40:23):
especially the most engagedpeople.
And so I take a lot of stockinto the feedback that we get
from early users.
I take a lot of stock intotestimonials.
Like we have Slack channelswhere we get every single review
that comes in and I reviewevery single one.
Our team responds to everyreview.
We take all that feedback and wedo something with it, Right?

(40:44):
Or if somebody shares a reallygreat moment, um, like, we have
impact stories for our scholars.
They can go in and add anythingthat they've achieved you know
being in our space and that'sthe stuff that you know.
Like I'll reach out to somebodysame day, Cause I it's so
important to me to understandlocally what's needed, because
so so many other business I'vebeen at have always been focused

(41:06):
nationally, right, um, and onceyou get to that size rate like
losing losing a member or 10 or20 or 50 doesn't feel like
anything.
But every member that is atCohatch means something to me.
They're here for a reason andanytime we have a bad experience
I want to know why Did we dosomething wrong?

(41:30):
Is there something that wecould have done differently?
Is there just a differentmindset or a different culture?
And I learn every day.
I love it.

Speaker 1 (41:38):
I think you just made such a good point and I'm going
to put a pin in it and say thatit's listening, it's listening
and acting on what you hear.
And it sounds so simple butit's so profound and important
because I think a lot ofbusinesses want to create impact
but it becomes an echo chamberbecause they don't look outside
themselves and they don't askfor the feedback and then, if

(41:59):
they do ask for the feedback,they don't truly listen and or
act on it.
Right, they'll sit with it,they'll hold on to it, they'll
sit on it, but they don't reallytake it into account and they
don't truly act on it.
But I think that is such animportant aspect of of it and I
will say having.
So we got to tour, we did aroad show, not this last year

(42:20):
but the year before that, and sowe got to tour, like
Indianapolis, cleveland,columbus, cincinnati, pittsburgh
, and so, yeah, shout out toLynette in Pittsburgh.
We loved it.
But getting to see each of thedifferent locations, what was
really cool is that there wasthat common, like you know, you
felt that common thread of, likeco-hatch, you know, branding

(42:40):
and just consistency of certainthings, but at the same time, I
love the way you all kind of youcan definitely feel like that
outside community brought inward, and you know, each of your
community managers had like thatsense of like understanding and
nuance of like what from theoutside influences from the
outside community got broughtinto, like the design or like

(43:04):
the layout of the actualco-hatch, and I love that
intentionality and so, like thecommunity managers like I said
specifically Lynette was reallygood about like pointing out
certain things about the designand like the walls and things
like that that kind of reflectedPittsburgh and its history and
that area in particular.

(43:24):
And I think a lot of that Idon't know, it just speaks.
It speaks true to the peoplewho you know live in that area
and want to work in that area.
When they see somebody newcoming into the space and
they're like well, I want, Iwant myself, my home, my values,
my city to feel reflected, andI think that's really smart.
It goes to show that you allare listening and then you're

(43:46):
reflecting back to the peoplethat you want to feel, that are
coming into the space to feelseen, heard and valued.
And when they see that, youknow they feel comfortable, they
feel at home and it's just sosmart and all it is is listening
, so I think it makes to me allthe sense in the world.
I also want to give a shout outbecause I know you guys are

(44:08):
opening a Covington locationsoon, so we have a lot of
Cincinnati friends in ourmembership base in Cincinnati
listeners.
So if you're listening, getready.
Was it February, is that?

Speaker 2 (44:14):
right?
Yeah, we're hoping for February, january, february.

Speaker 1 (44:18):
That's exciting.
Lots of awesome littlebusinesses out there in
Covington too, the Mainstrossarea, fabulous area.
So if you're looking for somespace to co-work or office space
in Covington, you'll need tocheck it out.
Maybe we'll do a togetherdigital event there too.
All right, fantastic, okay,could you share a time when a
community initiative let's justgo the other side of things,

(44:40):
because you know, sometimesthings don't always go to plan
and we learn from all things.
It's not just about successwithout strife, right?
So when did a communityinitiative maybe not quite go as
planned and what did you learnfrom it?

Speaker 2 (44:53):
yeah, I think one of the ones that I was so excited
about this initiative.
So one of our gift scholars,chad justin, um, he's got a
patented wear pack.
Um, it started with, you know,during clear bag.
Everybody does clear bags nowfor, like, sporting events and
things like that so he patentedhis own and he was a boost

(45:15):
scholar for us, a startupscholar for us, for several
years.
He ended up expanding, movingto Cleveland, has his own
warehouse, got his ownproduction facility.
Now he got funding from severalco-op people members and
founders alike and, um, it wasreally cool for him to come back
because he saw what we weredoing with star house online and

(45:36):
said he wanted to figure out away for us to work together and
collaborate.
So we went on kind of thisrabbit hole of like okay, we're
going to design a star Housewear pack.
We're going to do this back toschool campaign so that anybody
who purchases a wear pack caneither give it back and give it
to the youth at Star Housethrough their drop-in center,
which is open 24 hours a day.

(45:57):
So they give things likebackpacks, food, toothbrushes,
all that stuff to the unhousedyouth of Columbus.
And so we were doing this.
We were like, oh, this isreally cool.
We obviously bought a few todonate back and then we put the
campaign out there.
We pushed it for two months Ithink.
We ended up outside of ourpurchases.
We ended up getting like six orseven bags purchased.

(46:19):
We even got picked up by acouple of news outlets for this,
and so it was one of thosethings where it's like, oh, it
sounded so good, there was a lotof logistics behind it.
We really wanted to make animpact with it, a larger impact
with it, I guess, and you know,we kind of fell short of that
mark right, and it was one of.
It was harder for me and Davebecause we were like, oh, we did

(46:41):
all these interviews, we putall these social posts and got
photos and did design work andall this, and we only ended up
with six bags being purchased,despite all of the good feedback
and all that.
So it's one of those things thata lot of times when you're
doing impact driven item ormarketing campaigns or
strategies, you have to do a lotof logistics, you have to do a

(47:03):
lot of work up front and ifyou've never done it before, you
have to be prepared to watch itfly or fail.
And I'm not saying I wouldnever do something like it again
.
I think if we had a longerrunway, there could have been
things that we could have doneto maybe prep more for it and
put more behind it even.
But for us, because we do somany other things, it's also a

(47:27):
challenge for us to get goodinitiatives off the ground,
because we offer so much.
We do co-working and office andmeetings and events, and we've
got all kinds of things going oneverywhere.
And so what I learned from thatparticular campaign we had a
crazy busy summer.
We introduced a new offer, wehad a lot of people that are

(47:49):
really interested in all ourother stuff and we had so much
other stuff going on.
It probably just wasn't theright time to do it, but it's
one of those things that youknow, you live, you learn,
didn't love the results, but westill were able to make a small
impact, which is important too.
So if you're looking atyourself from a failure
perspective and you're saying,oh, I shot for the moon and, you

(48:11):
know, only got to one star,that's okay.
You live and you learn, butit's, it was one of those that I
was like, oh, I took so muchfrom it and like, if we were to
ever do a collaboration projectwith somebody else, um, like
that, I definitely would goabout things a little bit
differently, but I think I stillwould probably say yes to a

(48:31):
project like that.
It just would be differentcircumstances and time.

Speaker 1 (48:36):
Right, timing, yeah, timing is a has a lot to do with
it.
Right, I feel like some of mymost, yeah, most of the projects
that maybe haven't gone exactlythe way that I wanted had a lot
to do with the timing and leadtime for promotions because,
yeah, and frequency of messagingis probably like another big

(48:56):
thing we are competing with avery so much stuff, so much
attention.
Yeah, for sure, for sure.
That's yeah.
That's a great example.
Thank you for sharing that.
I know it's not always easy totalk about those things, but I
think it's really, it's reallyimportant you know to kind of
learn for where we have fallenflat Because, yeah, I just we
don't talk about that stuffenough.

(49:17):
But that's really where thelearnings truly are Right.
Oh yeah 100%.
Awesome, all right, how do youmeasure success when it comes to
impact marketing?
What do you feel are some ofthe metrics that matter most?

Speaker 2 (49:30):
Yeah, I think I mean I've said a million times we
always go back to revenue, right, and it's always really hard,
especially when we're doingthings.
I mean we were doing like abuild and brew event in Columbus
for Star House, where you knowall the proceeds of adult
beverages and building furnitureand donating will go to Star
House.
Tracking the success of thatwould obviously be related to

(49:52):
donations and things and youknow the money that goes around
it, but it's also hard to trackin some ways because it's some
of that stuff.
Our members love that and theystick around because we make it
so easy for them to accessthings that they need, whether
if they're fulfilled withvolunteering and we've had

(50:13):
anytime we do a Star Houserenovation day we always have so
many people that wannavolunteer and they're like thank
you for making this soaccessible.
So it's stuff like that.
You'll see the revenue and thedonation side, but you'll also
see it long term, right, like wetalked about the relationship
building and how easy andaccessible it is to be able to
do certain things around impact.

(50:34):
But really the thing for me andone of the most powerful things
we switched over to SproutSocial two and a half years ago,
and one of my favorite toolsthat they have is the social
listening tool and it basicallygenerates like this word cloud
of like positive, negative,neutral intent you can read
through.
All of you know like what wouldbe like high quality, highly

(50:55):
engaged people, whether they'remembers or just fans of what we
do right online, and I really Ican't say enough and I know
that's how we all operate nowlike if we want to go somewhere
new, we look at reviews, right.
So social media, listening tothat, reviews anybody that's a
repeat person.
I get a lot of people that areindividual entrepreneurs or

(51:16):
influencers or whatever, andthey're working out of our
spaces and they're sharingcontent with us all day, every
day.
It's almost impossible for usto keep up with our social now
because we have so many peoplethat are so drawn to sharing
about us, and it's that stuff,for me, shows the impact in how
much you actually truly make adent in somebody's day.

(51:40):
Right, our goal is always to bethe place where you come and
you're the most fulfilledversion of yourself.
You're working just down thestreet from your house or where
your kids go to school.
You have access to volunteering.
We make it easy.
You sign up, you bring yourkids, you can go to the gym.
Right down the road you can goto some of our rest.
We do all this stuff on purposebecause we want it to be easy

(52:05):
and we want the impact to go asfar and as deep as you're
willing to take it.
And those stories, those socialposts, the reviews, the feedback
those are really the thingsthat I look at when it comes to
impact marketing and especiallywhen we're doing like
partnerships and things likethat too, I want to know did our
partnership help you and yourcommunity?

(52:27):
If you're a scholar of ours,did it help you find funding?
You know volunteers.
Did somebody offer to volunteerto do something as a co-op
member now on your board?
Those are the stories and youknow data points we try to
collect as well as like how manytimes you coming into the space
.
You know what.
Are you using all the things inyour membership.

(52:47):
Are you booking your free lifeevent?
If not, why not?
Let's get your birthday partyor something going Like.
Those are all things that wepush really hard for and I'm
really trying to get it's.
So it's so difficult to trackright Cause you know there are a
lot of people that are like, oh, I don't want you to have my
data.

Speaker 1 (53:03):
I get it.

Speaker 2 (53:04):
But those are the really important parts of what I
do in marketing Everything, adimpressions, whatever.
I could care less about thatnow, because the real conversion
, the real result for us, isabout how deep our impact goes
for each individual.
I don't necessarily have tomake an impact to all 7 billion

(53:27):
people in the world, but if Ican help a hundred people in
Delaware, ohio, that's crazy,that's an amazing impact.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
Yeah, cause the ripple effect as well.
Right, that word of mouth andthe story sharing.
I love that.
Yeah, positive, like engagementand that positive engagement
that's.
Those are both really huge.
Love it All.
Right.
For anyone who is looking tostart to incorporate purpose
into their marketing strategy,what is one action that they
could start to take this week?

Speaker 2 (53:58):
I actually have been thinking about this for myself
personally, because we do a lotof stuff at work, right.
So we got a lot of stuff goingon for impact and I love that.
But one of the biggest thingsas we're getting into 2025, I've
been doing a lot of sittingwith myself and I think the
biggest thing, if you want tostart doing this for your
business, you want to startdoing this as a side thing,
volunteering.

(54:18):
Whatever you got to get, yougot to sit down and you got to
know yourself what are youpassionate about?
What time can you commit?
Is there money you can puttowards it?
Is your time more valuable thanyour money right now?
Is it a donation thing thatyou'd rather do versus you know,
volunteering?
That's so important for you toget down and dirty with those
details.
Because if you start doingsomething and going down a road

(54:41):
because you just want to make animpact and you don't know, you
don't care what it is or itdoesn't matter right now, you
just want to do something,you're not going to help anybody
, you're going to be unmotivated, results aren't going to be
good and everybody's going to befrustrated, whoever you're
trying to help.
If you can figure that out.
And I'm giving you another stephere connect with somebody on

(55:01):
LinkedIn.
That's a part of that cause orsomebody that knows the real,
true needs.
Set up a coffee chat I mean,that's all we're about together
digital.
I've had so many chats withpeople already and it's so fun
to be able to really understandpeople's needs and issues and
try to find solutions andbrainstorm that, and sometimes

(55:22):
it's a symbol of like I justneed you to set up an email
signature or make some tweaks onmy website.
Like I help people do that fromtime to time because I you know
they need it and it's a simplething that I can do.
So, no matter what you decide todo, it's so important to get it
aligned with what you reallycare about, because if you don't
, I mean I've I've been guiltyof it myself somebody needs help

(55:44):
, and then I commit myself to 10hours and I don't want to do it
because I don't see the impact.
It doesn't impact me the sameway.
Like all my dog stuff impactsme significantly more than it
would for another cause,probably Cause that's just who I
am, yeah, so um, and alwaysjust ask people what they need.
That's the first step.
Like, don't put yourself as,like I want to be the savior, I

(56:08):
want to be the hero, right Likeyou've got, to put your
listening ears on and helppeople where they actually need
to be helped, cause, like yousaid, we have the choice now
that if we have a problem, wehave so many other problems we
can say we don't want to fixthat.
Right now We've got seven otherproblems.
So make sure your solutions arealigned with the impact that

(56:30):
you're trying to make.

Speaker 1 (56:32):
I agree, I agree and I think we chatted this earlier
too and we were talking throughyour onboarding and we've got,
after the new year, our goalgetters workshop for members and
it's all about values alignmentand understanding your values
and setting your goals so thatyou're not doing the shoulds of
everyone else.
You are doing the things youfeel are in alignment with the
things you should be doing andit just it, it, it just aligns

(56:53):
so nicely with what you justsaid, because you know we've a
lot of us face burnout, becausewe do have a lot of skills and
talents and we want to serve,help and support others.
But oftentimes we end up givingthose gifts away because it's
just like, oh yeah, I can fixthat, I can do that, but then
when you do and put thoseenergies, like you said, towards
the things that do fill us up,it feels so different versus

(57:17):
kind of just giving it all awaywithout that return of oh.
This fulfills a value that Ihold.
It's helping animals, it'shelping somebody that's elderly,
that's writing a book for thefirst time and has been sitting
on this aspiration for so long.
So, yeah, it's a different kindof reward.
I love that advice.
All right, we've got a fewminutes left and we're going to

(57:40):
do one more question and thenour power round, but I want to
make sure that our livelisteners know that you all, I
love it.
You've been.
You've been getting lots ofaccolades, of course, erin
you're much loved in the chat,but if you all have any
questions, you are more thanwelcome to drop in a question if
you have them.
We're both, you know,bibliophiles.
We love our books.
Have there been any books inparticular that have shaped your

(58:03):
approach to mission-drivenmarketing that you'd like to
recommend to our listeners?

Speaker 2 (58:07):
yeah, so there is.
This is awful for somebodywho's like, oh, I'm so impact
driven and mission driven.
I have had I'm gonna pull itout because I finally found it
and I told you I was likesearching for it earlier.
Yeah, this book how changehappens on my to be read list
for like the last year or so andI have not picked it up yet.
It's been one that I've beenwanting to read.
I will say I am more of afiction girl these days.

(58:31):
I used to read a lot of businessbooks, but you know work stays
at work now You're living it,trying to do it, but this book
is one I've been wanting to pickup for a while, and I think
there's so many things that I'mtrying to get involved with
right now that it makes senseand it came highly recommended.
So how Change Happens, byLeslie R Crutchfield Awesome,

(58:53):
and it talks through successfuland failed campaigns of the 21st
century that have inspiredsocietal social cultural change
and it gives you some likeactual tips.
So I've skimmed several chaptersthat I've not fully read the
book, but if you're interestedin learning how to make change,

(59:13):
whether that be at work oranywhere else, I think that
would be a good read.

Speaker 1 (59:16):
Okay, well, you're gonna have to.
You know, you got that 24 hourflight coming up.
You have to let us know on thewe've got our books, podcasts
and articles channel on Slack,so you have to let us know.
On the, we've got our books,podcasts and articles channel on
slack, so you have to let usknow what you think of it.
Yeah, I definitely will make arecommendation.
It sounds amazing.
I like the, I like the thoughtof it.
All right.
Well, I don't see any questionspopping up yet, so we'll go
through our power round.

(59:37):
All right, I'm a I'm a naturenerd and I love a good hike, but
I also love the water, so Iwanted to know desert hike or
day on the water?

Speaker 2 (59:47):
I absolutely love both, so in the summer we are on
the river pretty much everyother weekend.

Speaker 1 (59:52):
We do a lot of paddle boarding.
My dog.

Speaker 2 (59:53):
Rory is my captain.
I'll have to post some photosin the Slack channel about that.
Right now, though, the weatheris perfect.
The weekend weather is supposedto be high of 72, and it's
sunny and beautiful, so we'regoing to go for a hike.
This time around.
We do a lot of hiking andbackpacking, and the dogs have

(01:00:13):
been in the house pretty muchall summer, so we've got to run
off some energy, so yeah, I'llsay desert hike.

Speaker 1 (01:00:20):
All right, I'm going to have to get out there to
visit you and Meredith soon.
All right, oh, I'm going tohave to get out there to visit
you and Meredith soon, all right, most use app on your phone.

Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
Oh my God, I'm so not exciting.
Um, I'm going to say Instagram.

Speaker 1 (01:00:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:00:32):
Because and it's so bad my partner probably is so
annoyed with me every night.
I absolutely memes.
Memes are my go-to, yeah, forgood and bad days, but animal
videos so yeah, I I learned somany new things about animals
every single day and I'mconstantly bothering alex with
like look at this new animal Ifound and I'm gonna tell you 20

(01:00:55):
new facts about it.
Um, so that's how I useinstagram.
I would love to say that I useit to like further my knowledge
and work and everywhere else,but it's mostly animals animal
therapy.

Speaker 1 (01:01:05):
I love, I love it.
That's great.
A funny story.
Fun fact I used to have aprinted picture of kittens in a
barrel.
When my team at the agencywould get really stressed out, I
would just bust out the kittensin a barrel picture and be like
, look, everything's going to beokay.
Just look at the kittens in abarrel, you'll be all right.
Oh, my gosh, um, gosh, um.
Let's see, you're okay.
I'm gonna go to the last onehere, because we're at time your

(01:01:27):
three dogs.

Speaker 2 (01:01:28):
Personalities in three words okay, I've already
talked about rory so much.
She's my first dog um that Iever adopted as an adult.
But word for her is angel.
Um, she's the best, she's thesweetest, can't.
I just can't say enough goodthings about her.
Um, my middle dog, asta, who wealso call pasta most of the
time cute, her word is silly um,she's a ruzz dog, high energy,

(01:01:51):
runs around everywhere.
Um, she's just funny.
And then mo, which is my latestdog I got two years ago.
Um, she's huge, she's a greatpyrenees cattle dog, hollylly
mix.
She's got wonderful traits andso we call her chaos monster.
So I'll choose chaos.

Speaker 1 (01:02:09):
Chaos.
I love it.
Fantastic.
Well, erin, thank you so muchfor all of your insightful and
very inspirational ideas on howwe can all be more effective and
more purposeful and missiondriven marketers.
It's been a pleasure.
Really appreciate your time.
Thank you so much for having meand thank you for everyone who
took the time to tune in today,take some notes, share the love

(01:02:31):
in the chat as well as theconversation today.
Everyone, it's been a pleasure.
Thanks for joining us today.
We're excited to see you allnext week.
Until then, keep asking, keepgiving and keep growing.

Speaker 2 (01:02:51):
Take care.