November 13, 2025 • 34 mins
How can small business owners cut through the noise online and create content that actually connects?
In this episode of the Business Roundtable Podcast, host David W. Carr speaks with Moniek James, digital marketing strategist, speaker, and founder of Renegade Creative Media Group. Moniek helps entrepreneurs and small business leaders build visibility and authority with practical, sustainable content strategies.
Moniek shares her journey from military service to marketing leadership, and how she now equips business owners to create digital content that is both authentic and simplified. She explains why content is more than posts or videos—it’s about telling your story in a way that builds trust, resonates with your audience, and drives growth.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Connect with Moniek James:
Website: https://www.themoniekjames.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniekjames
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/business-roundtable--6049255/support.
Watch more episodes on YouTube and subscribe here:
https://www.youtube.com/@steward_your_business
Connect with Steward Your Business:
Website: https://stewardyourbusiness.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidwcarr
In this episode of the Business Roundtable Podcast, host David W. Carr speaks with Moniek James, digital marketing strategist, speaker, and founder of Renegade Creative Media Group. Moniek helps entrepreneurs and small business leaders build visibility and authority with practical, sustainable content strategies.
Moniek shares her journey from military service to marketing leadership, and how she now equips business owners to create digital content that is both authentic and simplified. She explains why content is more than posts or videos—it’s about telling your story in a way that builds trust, resonates with your audience, and drives growth.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why most small businesses struggle to stay consistent online
- How to create content that feels authentic and still drives results
- The role of strategy vs. tactics in long-term digital marketing
- Why clarity of message beats flashy production every time
- Practical ways to build authority and visibility on a budget
Connect with Moniek James:
Website: https://www.themoniekjames.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniekjames
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/business-roundtable--6049255/support.
Watch more episodes on YouTube and subscribe here:
https://www.youtube.com/@steward_your_business
Connect with Steward Your Business:
Website: https://stewardyourbusiness.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidwcarr
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Welcome back to the Business round Table podcast. I'm David Carr,
your host, so we're glad to have you here. We've
got a brand new guest this week, Monique James. Welcome
to the podcast. Monique.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thank you so much, David, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Absolutely absolutely. I met with Monique and one of our
amazing networking group Success Champions Network. And when I met
with her, she has such a great background and I'm
super excited to help have her share and help you
the listener learn a little bit more about how to
lead more effectively in building clarity and content and confidence
(00:49):
in his digital age, like how do I do all this?
How do I get myself out there as a business owner?
And so Monique, thank you so much. I know you're
the founder of the Rendinegade Creative Media group, right among
other things. And so before we dive into that a
little bit, because I really want people to get into
(01:10):
you know, how you help them with marketing and AI
and all these tools, told our listeners a little bit
about what got you to where you are today, Monique,
and I love your background, so I want the listener
to hear a little bit more about that.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah, so I was giggling when you said, among other things,
because because Renegade Creative isn't the only business that I own,
and the business that came before this one, yeah, I
like to think of, gave birth to my marketing business
because I was, Yeah, I was not planning to get
(01:44):
into marketing when I decided to become an entrepreneur. Marketing
wasn't what I was going to do. I had started
another business. So my husband and I were both military,
both service members were Army veterans, and after I got out,
went to work and after a few years of working,
decided I wanted to start a business on the side.
(02:05):
And right as I was starting a business, we moved again.
We got orders, and we moved to a new city,
and I quickly realized, well, the version of the business
that I had in mind was not going to work
for the new city, the new market that we were in,
and I had to pivot. And that business gave birth
to the marketing business simply because at the time, the
(02:27):
things that I was doing to promote I hosted events,
I sold a pail and accessories online. I was simply
leveraging social media platforms. These are the days where Facebook
live wasn't a thing yet. It was kind of just
coming on the scene, and I was leveraging YouTube and
Facebook and doing all of these things to get people
(02:49):
to know about my brand and to come to my
events and to buy my Steff and other small business
owners in the city where we were started asking me
for help, were like, what are you doing? How are
you getting there? And I realized, oh, well, this means
there's a gap there, there's a lack of information education resources,
(03:15):
and so I decided to reach out. I actually attended
a workshop that was hosted by the SBDC in that city,
and it was supposed to be about Facebook marketing. And
I'm sitting in the back of the classroom and listening
to the instructor and like, oh, well, if this is
(03:35):
the kind of information that people need and people are
looking for, it was a room full of business owners,
I can teach this. That was that the light bulb
went off, and you know, that turned into a partnership
with the SBDC teaching workshops and leaning into digital marketing.
I was teaching as I was learning. I was teaching
(03:58):
what I knew at the time, and I was also
studying to keep teaching and did that for years. We
UH stayed in that city even after my husband retired
from the Army. Stayed there for several more years after
he retired, and I continued to teach workshops and work
(04:18):
one on work, one on one with business owners, UH
doing teaching workshops about social media and doing social media.
I had an agency model in the previous version of
my business, and three years ago we moved military life,
you know, we moved again and came to a new city,
another new city, and I started to think about what
(04:41):
I wanted the version of the business to look like. What,
because I recognized I was going to need to figure
out what this new market can can stand, what what
are the new challenges that business owners are dealing with.
But also what did I want the business to look
like for me as the leader? How that I want
the business to fit and support my lifestyle as a leader.
(05:06):
And I thought back to the conversations that I would
have with my social media management clients every month when
we would sit down to you know, discuss the content
that you know, my might put together. There would be friction,
There would be uh, heated debates, you know, about what
(05:27):
we believed the brand was and what they saw the
brand as and so as I was thinking, and that's
that pause, I was thinking about, well, what was at
the bottom of that. What was missing was the strategy.
At the time, I as a social media manager, was
not my offers, my services weren't about strategy. They were
simply execution. But I realized that the strategy was the
(05:50):
missing piece. And so I thought, there's a there's this quote, uh,
I believe it's attributed to Archbishop Desmond Tutu where he
says there times of time where you have to stop
pulling people out of the river, go upstream and figure
out why they're falling in in the first place. For me,
I thought, oh, the reason for the friction is because
(06:14):
upstream the strategy's missing. And so I decided that's what
I wanted to focus on. That that's where I wanted
to pivot and plant my flag and decide, I want
to help small business owners, nonprofits, organizations get clear on
these pieces. This it's the foundation. When you know the
(06:36):
bottom the bottom bricks, you know clarify what that looks like.
So when they're working with a social media manager like
I used to be, or a marketing vendor or whatever,
somebody that's handling their execution. That business owner is going
into it clearer and confident about their own brand, and
(06:57):
now that vendor or that in house marketing team can
better deliver for them and get them to the results.
So it's a win win for everybody.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yeah, no, I love that money. I think you recognize
that in yourself, that hey, I'm better, I can better
serve use my guests as a strategist versus an implementer.
And there's nothing wrong with either one. It's just understanding
where I'm gonna have the greatest influence impact. I think
that's great that you found that money and you're like, hey,
here's how I could do this, and be willing to
(07:27):
step out into that. That's why I love having folks
like you, other business owners are taking that risk and saying, look,
I'm betting on myself. I feel like this is the
greatest way I can help people and going in the
world and reaching them. And here's the thing. I think
I love having you on here because I want as
you're a listener here as a business owner, or you're
in a position where you're needing that outside input, you know,
(07:47):
you're getting to hear an expert that's gone through it,
lived it. Like you said, I lived it, and I'm
learning it and applying it. You know. I love having
guests like yourself that live and share from what and
lead from what the experienced in life. They didn't, you know,
they just didn't just take a course and oh I'm
not doing this. No, No, you're actively doing this. You're
learning this. I mean, we know AI is constantly evolving
(08:10):
and marketing even without AI. Right, it's just just in general,
like the channels and how we're doing it and the
way we do it, whether it's video, written audio, how
are we're doing it. We're doing the podcast today. It's
a different way of reaching people. Right, So you have
to have a strategy. What is what I mean, You
have a strategy, whether you think about it or not.
(08:30):
The strategy may not be a very good one, but right,
you know, and I think that's what I want to
get through on the podcast today really is why do
business owners Monique feel like marketing is so hard for them,
Like like they get overwhelmed the times and then and
oftentimes I see this marketing usually gets cut in professional
(08:52):
development because I help in the professional things are tight.
Whatever we're looking at how we're gonna spend money. Let's
let's not that's not focus on that. Let's not focus
on the marketing. Let's stop focus on the branding. Let's
not focus on developing our team. In my case, that's
some of their words. That's usually but let's go by
a widget or this, this machine thing or something and
invest money there, And oftentimes I feel it doesn't get
(09:15):
them where they really want to be. And so talk
a little bit. Why do you feel like it's so
hard for small business owners? Why does that feel to
them as you approach them and as you work with clients?
Monique in this.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Well, I think it feels hard because it is hard.
It's hard. I have to say that as somebody who
does it every day. It's hard. And I think sometimes
I understand. I operate as a marketer, as a marketing consultant.
I lean on my confidence, coaching principles, empathy and understanding
(09:49):
and transparency. I lean on those things a lot, and
so I understand deeply what it is to feel like
to be a business owner who says my products are great.
I've done you know, I've taken all the courses on
how to build a business, and I feel like, I
have a great thing, but for some reason, this marketing
stuff is so difficult. I can understand what that is
(10:12):
to feel like, well am I qualified to do this?
You know? It can really make you question everything. And
so it's hard because it is, and I believe that
there is a gap in understanding what needs to be prioritized.
And I partly I blame marketers for this. I blame
(10:35):
professional marketers like myself, because we don't tell the whole story.
We tell the part of the story that positions our
businesses as a solution, and we don't consider or don't
talk about, don't address the other variables in the mix.
So a lot of times when we're talking digital marketing, especially,
(10:57):
people automatically think social media. And I understand why it's
in our faces. And so when you think social media,
it's always, oh, well, it's about tactics. Well, do a
real No, just use TikTok Nope, just write long form
purse on LinkedIn, Nope, just do LinkedIn videos, just do reels,
just do YouTube shorts. It's very tactical. It's the general
(11:21):
market offers simple solutions quote unquote for nuanced issues, yes,
and without having a strategy in place. Every tactic can
distract you and make you feel like, well, oh no,
I have to quit what I was doing and now
do this because that's what the people are saying, do
(11:41):
or no, now I have to do this. So you all,
you never feel like you have a grasp. There's no grounding, right,
and so for me, that's what the strategy is. The
strategy is the grounding and it's the filter. So when
you encounter people saying, oh, well I do this, you
can run that. Well, does my strategy account for that?
(12:04):
Is this? Would this resonate with my audience? Is my
intended customer? Do they even watch YouTube? You know? So
you're able to make decisions from that place of clarity,
and you can make those decisions confidently because you have
something that functions as the home base for your business.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Without that, this marketing thing will always feel difficult and overwhelming.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah, well to your point, I think. I mean I've
experienced it, Monique. We're getting sold a lot and people
are saying like, I get this, especially as a coach consultant.
Could you the way they ask to do? And this
is salespeople. They're not even marketing, right, They're just using
a can thing like I get this off on quick question,
could you handle more clients or whatever? These things? And
then they want to like and then so it's like
(12:56):
they're not understanding my business. They don't understand the nuances,
and so how could you even do that? Like you said,
you have to come and understand. And I see this
like you said earlier, like sometimes we feel like a
business all I got to be on everywhere, I got
to buy every platform, I got to be on all
these things, and that it's exhausting, you know, like to
your point, are you where are your clients? Where are they?
(13:17):
Where are they? Where were they residing? And oh I
didn't even think about that. Well, I know because you're
being solely people are telling you all these things right.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
These tactics exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
And at the YU way, I hear you money coming
and you're kind of understanding that business owner the entrepreneur
where they're at. And you've done a lot of different things,
like you said, over the digital in person, selling different
types of products and services, but like understanding where they're
at so that they can, you know, be clear about
what I need to be doing in the business, like
(13:50):
where where where are I to be focusing and helping
them instead of like too, I noticed this as well, Like,
you know, sometimes the business owners are getting into the
weeds of stuff and they need to be more you know,
you're like I need you to be more present or
how how what's the strategy how you're getting out there?
Speaker 2 (14:05):
You know? Right, it's a lot to juggle, it's a
lot to disseminate and filter through and way all the
time on top of doing.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
The business exactly. Look, I can see where it can
get over overwhelmed. Yes, you know, but I think helping
the business owners so talk a little bit about brand,
like getting the brand clear, because sometimes I think that
they're muney too in money money and that they're trying
to like copy somebody else. So then you just sound
like everybody else, right, like can you impact how we
(14:40):
can you know, get that clarity of the brand out there?
How do you help them with that?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
So? Yeah, so I have what I call a brand
clarity framework that rests on three pillars. Okay, first pillar
is the character of the brand. And when when you
think about character, you think about a person's character are honest?
You know, like how do they have integrity? So you
(15:08):
think about the all of the things that people talk
about in the books, the mission of the brand, the vision,
the core beliefs. What are the right and left limits,
what are the what are the things that make the
brand special and unique? What's the story? What's what's the
thing that you want people to buy into? All of
(15:29):
those things and they're all invisible, I have to purpose.
They're all invisible, but they become the guide post for
every single thing that the brand does based on character.
That's the first pillar. The second pillar is the customer,
because you know, we are doing business and we are
(15:50):
selling things to people, and so I work with clients
and help them uncover who their customers are beyond the
census data, you know, just oh, it's a two parent
household and they make this much money and things like that.
We get into what's happening in the inner world of
(16:11):
those people and the outer world, the outer influences. So
what are they what are they desire? Do they do
they want to reduce their carbon footprint when they're thin
considering buying a luxury vehicle or do they just want
to show off when they go to their thirty year
high school reunion? Like what's their motivation? Also, what's influencing
(16:36):
them externally. What are they motivated by? Are they motivated
by status? Are they motivated by being aligned with a
brand as it relates to their values? All of those
things shape why people make buying decisions. So for the
brand to be able to understand that those things, all
of those variables, for the people that they hope to
(16:58):
sell to them more room to have a wide ranging
conversation with them. And then the last piece of that,
the last C is the content system. Before you think
about publishing on the seven channels, you know, let's first
figure out do you need to be on seven channels?
(17:20):
And what channels do you need to be on based
on what your audience prefers, Where they consume information, how
they consume information, Where do you have potential for growth,
and what can you maintain consistently Because the bandwidth, the
capacity of the business owner their marketing team has to
(17:41):
matter if we want to be realistic. So thinking about
identifying the channels, developing the workflows, how do the channels
talk to each other so that you can create with
intention and not have to duplicate work? And then what
(18:01):
are you going to say on these channels? What are
your pillar topics? Or pillar themes, and what I call
the filler themes. So like if you think about, you know,
building a house, the walls of the house, the walls
of your room are your pillars. They hold up your business.
And the filler topics is the furniture. It's the things
(18:22):
that you could talk about that indirectly relate to something
that ties back to those intended customers. So those three categories,
those three elements of that framework, those are the things
that I help a business owner get clear on because
once that's established, their marketing vendor, their social media manager, whoever,
(18:44):
the founder, every person on a team, everybody is now
operating from the same playbook, and so the marketing going forward,
the content going forward can be consistent, aligned. And the
beautiful thing is once that's clarified, leveraging AI. The AI
now because central repository for all of it. So it
(19:06):
just makes it even even better because now the tool
is now doing the heavy lifting. But we want to
get you to the point so that the tool is
adequately trained to do that and represent the brand consistently
over time.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Well, you brought up some good points that occurred to me.
Even as is a business or monique, what you're saying
is like, I liked how you said the walls and
the furniture, because sometimes what I found is there's confusion
in the marketplace if they if they haven't worked with
somebody like you, they have a lot of different offers,
a lot of different things, and it's and they're like, I,
I'm not sure what you are or what you're doing,
(19:40):
and so and I think helping them get crystal clear,
like this is going to be most appaling to your
your client, your customer, right, and how do we get
them in there first? And then maybe there's other follow
up offers or other things that you can include along
the way. But if there's confusion, they're like, I don't
want to buy anything because I'm confused with what's going on.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Yes, I will drive, I will drive by your house.
If I don't know what I think use it. So
I love to entertain, like I love the host gatherings
and swallwerais at my house and I and this probably
comes from I believe it's come from my experience, my
time as an event planner. I used to again, David,
I did a lot of things. I used to do
event planning, and so I would think about Okay, what
(20:23):
is the experience from the moment this person, my guest
arrives at the venue until and get out of their vehicle,
until they return to their vehicle to go home. So
if you think about as the business owner, what is
the experience that I want this intended customer to have
from the moment they stop, you know, at my brick
and mortar location, or my website, or my YouTube channel
(20:48):
or my lead magnet. What is the experience that I
love to have. I want them to know that they're
taking care of When when people come into my home
the first time, I'm going to give you a tour. Hey,
take your shoes off, get comfortable. The drinks are here,
the foods here, this is this, these are meet these people.
Get comfortable. You as the leader, you know. Taking it
(21:13):
back to our businesses, we're the leaders. So we have
a responsibility to cultivate and create an experience. Because once
that person gives us their attention, gives us their email address,
gives us their money, they're trusting us with their experience
from that point. And so guided by that strategy, you
(21:37):
can think, oh, well, when people come to our YouTube channel,
we want them to get this first or when they
meet me in person and they get my business card,
I want them to know this about me. Or when
they come to our when they come to our bakery,
whether it's first thing in the morning or during peak time,
(21:58):
we want to like this when they come out in
the door. All of those things matter, and it just
allows the leader to make decisions that are so intentional
and so strategic. It's warm and cold. I feel like
the intention the empathy is very warm. That's the woo
wool stuff that marketers to not talk about.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, and the.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Strategy is very cold. It's just numbers. But when you
have both, the business grows. The customer gets an experience
that they love and they want to tell people about,
which keeps the business growing, which keeps making people happy.
So it just becomes a cycle that just perpetuates itself.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
No, it's that's a great way of putting in. I
love how you presented that as a event planner. I
hope everybody's listening in its fun. We have very background too,
because I used to run a multile DJ business and
MC and all that stuff. To what your point is,
But thinking about that, I love the way you presented
that like a what is their experience with you? Is
(23:02):
it all choppy? Is it? Or is it like existent
in in in their interactions from their salespeople to the implementation,
because we're marketing at all different levels, right, But like
you said at the beginning, if the foundation is not there,
then it's going to be all over the place and
so and we have to come back to that foundation.
And it's not like we just do it well. I mean,
(23:22):
we said it right, But I think what I would
hear your money says, you're coming back and making sure
are we all in alignment? Are we still as we're
developing and growing the company, does it all make sense?
Or are we getting Are we drifting? Are we moving?
And I think how? I mean, how many of you've
seen companies that have started actually had a good foundation
and they've drifted and I'm like, I'm not sure who
this company is. I mean we've seen big companies too.
(23:42):
I remember like Time Warner about like AOL and I
was like, what is this? And then eventually it broke
down and they had to like sell it off. And
so like companies like they try to merge or they
bring in other folks and it gets muddy, and you
would think they would have a that you think whatever
skin you think they would get this, But they didn't, right,
They missed the mark. It did not communicate clearly. And
(24:05):
so I know we're not going to get to go
way deep into this, but you mentioned AI and you're
an AI Marketing is consultant, and you're helping them in
the strategy. So I do want to get into a
little bit about how do we use this if we're
getting the foundations right the branding, I like to talk
a little bit about how do we use AI as
an accelerant not necessarily replacement, but how do we How
(24:28):
are you seeing that right now in the marketplace money
when you get the strategy right, when you get the
branding right, When you get that, and then you can
start to access this tool right.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Yes, yeah, I totally agree. I'm one hundred percent in
alignment with how you how you already positioned it. It's
an accelerant. The human has to stay in the loop.
It still needs a driver, you know, It's if it's
a vehicle. We use vehicles to go from one place
to another, It's still needs a driver for the for
the initial setting of the vision and setting of the
(25:00):
direction and also to did we get where we said
we were going? Are we at the destination that we
said we wanted to go to? So we have to
stay involved. We have to drive the tools and ensure
that the tools are doing what we want the tools
to do for us. I definitely my approach with AI
(25:21):
is it's a thought partner can't replace. I actually believe
it's unfair to the tools. It's unfair to the technology
to expect it to perform like human beings because we
are walking contradictions and kaleidoscopes.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Yes, yes, you know we.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Contradict ourselves knowingly and unknowingly at in a given moment,
like we are so multifaceted, it's not possible. In my opinion.
I don't know what the AI nerds are properly cooking
up right now that we don't know about, but it's
just it's just not possible to expect the technology to
be able to function the way we do, which is
(26:08):
why we as responsible business owners have to stay involved
and yes, once we have done that work to get
to get clear on the brand when it comes to
the marketing piece. Now, the AI tool simply simply helps
you spread your message. It speeds up your execution. It
helps you stay true. It becomes like an accountability measure
(26:32):
because if you've done the work to clarify the strategy
to your point earlier. There are a lot of brands
that do that, and then over time we veer off,
We forget, you know, the brand strategy documents get put
in a binder, you know, on a shelf, and over
time we stop going back to it to remind ourselves
(26:55):
who we said we are. Yes, when we leverage AI
to house that information for us, we're we can we
can mostly trust that the AI will honor what we've
said we want to do and what we've said we
want to go. So allowing it to house, you know,
(27:16):
the the nucleus of the brand, I think it's great,
and then put it to work to accelerate your content ideation,
your content creation. There's a lot of fantastic tools out
there now that are doing that, are doing video, that
are doing visuals and again ensuring that there is a
human on the back end to do the quality control,
(27:38):
quality assurance piece before it gets published representing the brand.
But the AI, it is, it just accelerates everything. It
helps us save so much time, so much man ours
brain power as well, because the tools come up with
those ideas and help us flesh them out so much faster.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Right, Right, So you're your you're you're using this tool.
It's not replacing it, but you know it's understanding I
think probably working with you, like what how much do
we delegate and lean on it? And where do we
have to own this message? Because it can give you
lots of different ideas, but you need to make sure
that that fits an alignment like with your culture. And
(28:17):
again you're feeding it, but still nonetheless you know things
you know, I'm thinking I'm gonna throw back five years COVID, Right,
remember when COVID hit, everybody had all these messages about like, oh, well,
we're doing this to protect you, and we're doing this
to protect you, Like how are you know? What are
you doing as things change and evolve and staying relevant
and you in the AI, you know, if you're not
(28:39):
being cognizant of that and you're like just get whatever
it takes out of it, you have to like know
how to feed it. And that's why I guess where
you're helping Monique is you're like, hey, how do we
get this working for you in the right way.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
And for some businesses that might look like starting with
developing ai USED policy. That's I help people do that too,
deciding how will we you is it, how does it fit?
What won't we do? What will we do? But really
creating those that those guidelines. Again, I know what we
tend to think. We tend to think about structure as
(29:13):
something that limits us, but structure in any person who's listening,
who's a parent will probably will probably agree structure creates freedom. Yeah,
within the structure, there is freedom. So for brands that
are in those in that stage of trying to figure out,
you know, what to do, what can it do? They're
thinking five years in the future that might look like, okay,
(29:37):
well let's let's develop our ai US policy first so
everybody's on the same page, and from there we'll know
exactly how we can make the technology work for us.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Yeah, and that's why I love with humaniqu because you're
bringing us and you're looking at that particularly from the
marketing lens. But I think working we work with Synergy
Partners and sc Anglia, work with other folks that are
different strategy from UH from insurance to legal other than
how are we doing this cohesively and well and collaboratively.
And that's what I love having partners like you here
(30:10):
on the podcast because I don't focus on that marketing SIPE,
but I can tell you when there's off because I'm saying, Hey,
this person I'm working with with this team, they don't
even understand all the services that your company offers. They
don't even know. So there's a problem here. And and
that's why we're going to have you on the podcast
money because that you can share and then people know, Okay,
here's another resource I can lean into. I know we're
(30:33):
getting close to endo the podcast. We're gonna have to
have you come back because there's more to cover. But
I want to say, Okay, we've covered a lot. I
mean from from just getting our strategy, branding AI. But
you know, if if I'm the business owner or the
individual I'm feeling again we talked about earlier, overwhelmed, I'm overwhelmed,
or maybe I'm maybe even the person that's like, I
(30:55):
got an idea for our business, but I don't even know,
like is it viable? Where do I go? Because I
think how many we talked before we started recording the podcast,
Like people have started their business, and they would be
so much better off if they would have backed up
earlier on and brought you on earlier on in the
process instead of now they spent months and probably even
years possibly like oh this is so painful. You know,
(31:16):
what would you say to that person that's either just
thinking maybe that you're just starting, or they're frustrated they're
not really getting where they want to be Monique and
saying what would you help them? Is it a mindset?
What is an action something that they consider? What would
you advise them?
Speaker 2 (31:32):
What comes to mind is what I think. It's Steve Blank,
so i'm as I am a student of lean sic
signal methodology as well, and one thing that he talks
about is getting out of the building, like get out
of the building so that having the idea is great,
but the only way to really know if it's going
to work is to get out of the building and
(31:53):
talk to people. Talk to people who don't love you,
because there mom will always tell you it's a great idea.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Yes, yes, other people who don't love you.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
People who can be who can be objective, and whether
it's the person with the idea, hey, well what do
you think about this? Or you know when was the
last time you did this? Get that real feedback, and
similar for the business owner who is stuck. Get out
of the building and find the persona that you think
(32:26):
is the person the buyer for the thing that you
sell and hear from them what are they buying? What
aren't they buying, why are they buying? Why are they this?
Instead of that that feedback. For me, I too am
very much. I'm solution and oriented, so I will sit
in my office and figure out the solution by myself.
(32:48):
But sometimes we need that external perspective, somebody outside the
jar who can read the label, like somebody needs to
read our labels right, so we can we have that
real world feedback and we can use that feedback to
make to create insight that helps us get clear which
(33:08):
helps us make you know, those decisions from a place
of confidence.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
I love that you said that. Get out of the building.
And for those that are listening, you know, we're going
to make sure you guys connect with money because we
look to our show notes. Minik and I are connected
on LinkedIn, Come visit us in success Champions Networks, among others.
So you guys make sure you come in and follow
along Monique, it's been a pleasure having you on the podcast,
and I hope you definitely will come back and share
(33:33):
more with us. You have just some great insights, love
your energy. Thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
I would love to come back. This is this is fun.
I could talk about this alliday. So yes, I.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Awesome, awesome. Thank you so much, Monique, and thank you
guys for listening and following along on the Business Roundtable podcast.
Week after a week, we bring you great guests. Whether
you follow us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, whatever the case
might be, please share, like, and subscribe. But that's always
appreciated and we look forward to you guys coming back
again next time. Thanks again, Lennie, Thanks everybody for listening.
Welcome back to the Business round Table podcast. I'm David Carr,
your host, so we're glad to have you here. We've
got a brand new guest this week, Monique James. Welcome
to the podcast. Monique.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thank you so much, David, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Absolutely absolutely. I met with Monique and one of our
amazing networking group Success Champions Network. And when I met
with her, she has such a great background and I'm
super excited to help have her share and help you
the listener learn a little bit more about how to
lead more effectively in building clarity and content and confidence
(00:49):
in his digital age, like how do I do all this?
How do I get myself out there as a business owner?
And so Monique, thank you so much. I know you're
the founder of the Rendinegade Creative Media group, right among
other things. And so before we dive into that a
little bit, because I really want people to get into
(01:10):
you know, how you help them with marketing and AI
and all these tools, told our listeners a little bit
about what got you to where you are today, Monique,
and I love your background, so I want the listener
to hear a little bit more about that.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah, so I was giggling when you said, among other things,
because because Renegade Creative isn't the only business that I own,
and the business that came before this one, yeah, I
like to think of, gave birth to my marketing business
because I was, Yeah, I was not planning to get
(01:44):
into marketing when I decided to become an entrepreneur. Marketing
wasn't what I was going to do. I had started
another business. So my husband and I were both military,
both service members were Army veterans, and after I got out,
went to work and after a few years of working,
decided I wanted to start a business on the side.
(02:05):
And right as I was starting a business, we moved again.
We got orders, and we moved to a new city,
and I quickly realized, well, the version of the business
that I had in mind was not going to work
for the new city, the new market that we were in,
and I had to pivot. And that business gave birth
to the marketing business simply because at the time, the
(02:27):
things that I was doing to promote I hosted events,
I sold a pail and accessories online. I was simply
leveraging social media platforms. These are the days where Facebook
live wasn't a thing yet. It was kind of just
coming on the scene, and I was leveraging YouTube and
Facebook and doing all of these things to get people
(02:49):
to know about my brand and to come to my
events and to buy my Steff and other small business
owners in the city where we were started asking me
for help, were like, what are you doing? How are
you getting there? And I realized, oh, well, this means
there's a gap there, there's a lack of information education resources,
(03:15):
and so I decided to reach out. I actually attended
a workshop that was hosted by the SBDC in that city,
and it was supposed to be about Facebook marketing. And
I'm sitting in the back of the classroom and listening
to the instructor and like, oh, well, if this is
(03:35):
the kind of information that people need and people are
looking for, it was a room full of business owners,
I can teach this. That was that the light bulb
went off, and you know, that turned into a partnership
with the SBDC teaching workshops and leaning into digital marketing.
I was teaching as I was learning. I was teaching
(03:58):
what I knew at the time, and I was also
studying to keep teaching and did that for years. We
UH stayed in that city even after my husband retired
from the Army. Stayed there for several more years after
he retired, and I continued to teach workshops and work
(04:18):
one on work, one on one with business owners, UH
doing teaching workshops about social media and doing social media.
I had an agency model in the previous version of
my business, and three years ago we moved military life,
you know, we moved again and came to a new city,
another new city, and I started to think about what
(04:41):
I wanted the version of the business to look like. What,
because I recognized I was going to need to figure
out what this new market can can stand, what what
are the new challenges that business owners are dealing with.
But also what did I want the business to look
like for me as the leader? How that I want
the business to fit and support my lifestyle as a leader.
(05:06):
And I thought back to the conversations that I would
have with my social media management clients every month when
we would sit down to you know, discuss the content
that you know, my might put together. There would be friction,
There would be uh, heated debates, you know, about what
(05:27):
we believed the brand was and what they saw the
brand as and so as I was thinking, and that's
that pause, I was thinking about, well, what was at
the bottom of that. What was missing was the strategy.
At the time, I as a social media manager, was
not my offers, my services weren't about strategy. They were
simply execution. But I realized that the strategy was the
(05:50):
missing piece. And so I thought, there's a there's this quote, uh,
I believe it's attributed to Archbishop Desmond Tutu where he
says there times of time where you have to stop
pulling people out of the river, go upstream and figure
out why they're falling in in the first place. For me,
I thought, oh, the reason for the friction is because
(06:14):
upstream the strategy's missing. And so I decided that's what
I wanted to focus on. That that's where I wanted
to pivot and plant my flag and decide, I want
to help small business owners, nonprofits, organizations get clear on
these pieces. This it's the foundation. When you know the
(06:36):
bottom the bottom bricks, you know clarify what that looks like.
So when they're working with a social media manager like
I used to be, or a marketing vendor or whatever,
somebody that's handling their execution. That business owner is going
into it clearer and confident about their own brand, and
(06:57):
now that vendor or that in house marketing team can
better deliver for them and get them to the results.
So it's a win win for everybody.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yeah, no, I love that money. I think you recognize
that in yourself, that hey, I'm better, I can better
serve use my guests as a strategist versus an implementer.
And there's nothing wrong with either one. It's just understanding
where I'm gonna have the greatest influence impact. I think
that's great that you found that money and you're like, hey,
here's how I could do this, and be willing to
(07:27):
step out into that. That's why I love having folks
like you, other business owners are taking that risk and saying, look,
I'm betting on myself. I feel like this is the
greatest way I can help people and going in the
world and reaching them. And here's the thing. I think
I love having you on here because I want as
you're a listener here as a business owner, or you're
in a position where you're needing that outside input, you know,
(07:47):
you're getting to hear an expert that's gone through it,
lived it. Like you said, I lived it, and I'm
learning it and applying it. You know. I love having
guests like yourself that live and share from what and
lead from what the experienced in life. They didn't, you know,
they just didn't just take a course and oh I'm
not doing this. No, No, you're actively doing this. You're
learning this. I mean, we know AI is constantly evolving
(08:10):
and marketing even without AI. Right, it's just just in general,
like the channels and how we're doing it and the
way we do it, whether it's video, written audio, how
are we're doing it. We're doing the podcast today. It's
a different way of reaching people. Right, So you have
to have a strategy. What is what I mean, You
have a strategy, whether you think about it or not.
(08:30):
The strategy may not be a very good one, but right,
you know, and I think that's what I want to
get through on the podcast today really is why do
business owners Monique feel like marketing is so hard for them,
Like like they get overwhelmed the times and then and
oftentimes I see this marketing usually gets cut in professional
(08:52):
development because I help in the professional things are tight.
Whatever we're looking at how we're gonna spend money. Let's
let's not that's not focus on that. Let's not focus
on the marketing. Let's stop focus on the branding. Let's
not focus on developing our team. In my case, that's
some of their words. That's usually but let's go by
a widget or this, this machine thing or something and
invest money there, And oftentimes I feel it doesn't get
(09:15):
them where they really want to be. And so talk
a little bit. Why do you feel like it's so
hard for small business owners? Why does that feel to
them as you approach them and as you work with clients?
Monique in this.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Well, I think it feels hard because it is hard.
It's hard. I have to say that as somebody who
does it every day. It's hard. And I think sometimes
I understand. I operate as a marketer, as a marketing consultant.
I lean on my confidence, coaching principles, empathy and understanding
(09:49):
and transparency. I lean on those things a lot, and
so I understand deeply what it is to feel like
to be a business owner who says my products are great.
I've done you know, I've taken all the courses on
how to build a business, and I feel like, I
have a great thing, but for some reason, this marketing
stuff is so difficult. I can understand what that is
(10:12):
to feel like, well am I qualified to do this?
You know? It can really make you question everything. And
so it's hard because it is, and I believe that
there is a gap in understanding what needs to be prioritized.
And I partly I blame marketers for this. I blame
(10:35):
professional marketers like myself, because we don't tell the whole story.
We tell the part of the story that positions our
businesses as a solution, and we don't consider or don't
talk about, don't address the other variables in the mix.
So a lot of times when we're talking digital marketing, especially,
(10:57):
people automatically think social media. And I understand why it's
in our faces. And so when you think social media,
it's always, oh, well, it's about tactics. Well, do a
real No, just use TikTok Nope, just write long form
purse on LinkedIn, Nope, just do LinkedIn videos, just do reels,
just do YouTube shorts. It's very tactical. It's the general
(11:21):
market offers simple solutions quote unquote for nuanced issues, yes,
and without having a strategy in place. Every tactic can
distract you and make you feel like, well, oh no,
I have to quit what I was doing and now
do this because that's what the people are saying, do
(11:41):
or no, now I have to do this. So you all,
you never feel like you have a grasp. There's no grounding, right,
and so for me, that's what the strategy is. The
strategy is the grounding and it's the filter. So when
you encounter people saying, oh, well I do this, you
can run that. Well, does my strategy account for that?
(12:04):
Is this? Would this resonate with my audience? Is my
intended customer? Do they even watch YouTube? You know? So
you're able to make decisions from that place of clarity,
and you can make those decisions confidently because you have
something that functions as the home base for your business.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Without that, this marketing thing will always feel difficult and overwhelming.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah, well to your point, I think. I mean I've
experienced it, Monique. We're getting sold a lot and people
are saying like, I get this, especially as a coach consultant.
Could you the way they ask to do? And this
is salespeople. They're not even marketing, right, They're just using
a can thing like I get this off on quick question,
could you handle more clients or whatever? These things? And
then they want to like and then so it's like
(12:56):
they're not understanding my business. They don't understand the nuances,
and so how could you even do that? Like you said,
you have to come and understand. And I see this
like you said earlier, like sometimes we feel like a
business all I got to be on everywhere, I got
to buy every platform, I got to be on all
these things, and that it's exhausting, you know, like to
your point, are you where are your clients? Where are they?
(13:17):
Where are they? Where were they residing? And oh I
didn't even think about that. Well, I know because you're
being solely people are telling you all these things right.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
These tactics exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
And at the YU way, I hear you money coming
and you're kind of understanding that business owner the entrepreneur
where they're at. And you've done a lot of different things,
like you said, over the digital in person, selling different
types of products and services, but like understanding where they're
at so that they can, you know, be clear about
what I need to be doing in the business, like
(13:50):
where where where are I to be focusing and helping
them instead of like too, I noticed this as well, Like,
you know, sometimes the business owners are getting into the
weeds of stuff and they need to be more you know,
you're like I need you to be more present or
how how what's the strategy how you're getting out there?
Speaker 2 (14:05):
You know? Right, it's a lot to juggle, it's a
lot to disseminate and filter through and way all the
time on top of doing.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
The business exactly. Look, I can see where it can
get over overwhelmed. Yes, you know, but I think helping
the business owners so talk a little bit about brand,
like getting the brand clear, because sometimes I think that
they're muney too in money money and that they're trying
to like copy somebody else. So then you just sound
like everybody else, right, like can you impact how we
(14:40):
can you know, get that clarity of the brand out there?
How do you help them with that?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
So? Yeah, so I have what I call a brand
clarity framework that rests on three pillars. Okay, first pillar
is the character of the brand. And when when you
think about character, you think about a person's character are honest?
You know, like how do they have integrity? So you
(15:08):
think about the all of the things that people talk
about in the books, the mission of the brand, the vision,
the core beliefs. What are the right and left limits,
what are the what are the things that make the
brand special and unique? What's the story? What's what's the
thing that you want people to buy into? All of
(15:29):
those things and they're all invisible, I have to purpose.
They're all invisible, but they become the guide post for
every single thing that the brand does based on character.
That's the first pillar. The second pillar is the customer,
because you know, we are doing business and we are
(15:50):
selling things to people, and so I work with clients
and help them uncover who their customers are beyond the
census data, you know, just oh, it's a two parent
household and they make this much money and things like that.
We get into what's happening in the inner world of
(16:11):
those people and the outer world, the outer influences. So
what are they what are they desire? Do they do
they want to reduce their carbon footprint when they're thin
considering buying a luxury vehicle or do they just want
to show off when they go to their thirty year
high school reunion? Like what's their motivation? Also, what's influencing
(16:36):
them externally. What are they motivated by? Are they motivated
by status? Are they motivated by being aligned with a
brand as it relates to their values? All of those
things shape why people make buying decisions. So for the
brand to be able to understand that those things, all
of those variables, for the people that they hope to
(16:58):
sell to them more room to have a wide ranging
conversation with them. And then the last piece of that,
the last C is the content system. Before you think
about publishing on the seven channels, you know, let's first
figure out do you need to be on seven channels?
(17:20):
And what channels do you need to be on based
on what your audience prefers, Where they consume information, how
they consume information, Where do you have potential for growth,
and what can you maintain consistently Because the bandwidth, the
capacity of the business owner their marketing team has to
(17:41):
matter if we want to be realistic. So thinking about
identifying the channels, developing the workflows, how do the channels
talk to each other so that you can create with
intention and not have to duplicate work? And then what
(18:01):
are you going to say on these channels? What are
your pillar topics? Or pillar themes, and what I call
the filler themes. So like if you think about, you know,
building a house, the walls of the house, the walls
of your room are your pillars. They hold up your business.
And the filler topics is the furniture. It's the things
(18:22):
that you could talk about that indirectly relate to something
that ties back to those intended customers. So those three categories,
those three elements of that framework, those are the things
that I help a business owner get clear on because
once that's established, their marketing vendor, their social media manager, whoever,
(18:44):
the founder, every person on a team, everybody is now
operating from the same playbook, and so the marketing going forward,
the content going forward can be consistent, aligned. And the
beautiful thing is once that's clarified, leveraging AI. The AI
now because central repository for all of it. So it
(19:06):
just makes it even even better because now the tool
is now doing the heavy lifting. But we want to
get you to the point so that the tool is
adequately trained to do that and represent the brand consistently
over time.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Well, you brought up some good points that occurred to me.
Even as is a business or monique, what you're saying
is like, I liked how you said the walls and
the furniture, because sometimes what I found is there's confusion
in the marketplace if they if they haven't worked with
somebody like you, they have a lot of different offers,
a lot of different things, and it's and they're like, I,
I'm not sure what you are or what you're doing,
(19:40):
and so and I think helping them get crystal clear,
like this is going to be most appaling to your
your client, your customer, right, and how do we get
them in there first? And then maybe there's other follow
up offers or other things that you can include along
the way. But if there's confusion, they're like, I don't
want to buy anything because I'm confused with what's going on.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Yes, I will drive, I will drive by your house.
If I don't know what I think use it. So
I love to entertain, like I love the host gatherings
and swallwerais at my house and I and this probably
comes from I believe it's come from my experience, my
time as an event planner. I used to again, David,
I did a lot of things. I used to do
event planning, and so I would think about Okay, what
(20:23):
is the experience from the moment this person, my guest
arrives at the venue until and get out of their vehicle,
until they return to their vehicle to go home. So
if you think about as the business owner, what is
the experience that I want this intended customer to have
from the moment they stop, you know, at my brick
and mortar location, or my website, or my YouTube channel
(20:48):
or my lead magnet. What is the experience that I
love to have. I want them to know that they're
taking care of When when people come into my home
the first time, I'm going to give you a tour. Hey,
take your shoes off, get comfortable. The drinks are here,
the foods here, this is this, these are meet these people.
Get comfortable. You as the leader, you know. Taking it
(21:13):
back to our businesses, we're the leaders. So we have
a responsibility to cultivate and create an experience. Because once
that person gives us their attention, gives us their email address,
gives us their money, they're trusting us with their experience
from that point. And so guided by that strategy, you
(21:37):
can think, oh, well, when people come to our YouTube channel,
we want them to get this first or when they
meet me in person and they get my business card,
I want them to know this about me. Or when
they come to our when they come to our bakery,
whether it's first thing in the morning or during peak time,
(21:58):
we want to like this when they come out in
the door. All of those things matter, and it just
allows the leader to make decisions that are so intentional
and so strategic. It's warm and cold. I feel like
the intention the empathy is very warm. That's the woo
wool stuff that marketers to not talk about.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, and the.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Strategy is very cold. It's just numbers. But when you
have both, the business grows. The customer gets an experience
that they love and they want to tell people about,
which keeps the business growing, which keeps making people happy.
So it just becomes a cycle that just perpetuates itself.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
No, it's that's a great way of putting in. I
love how you presented that as a event planner. I
hope everybody's listening in its fun. We have very background too,
because I used to run a multile DJ business and
MC and all that stuff. To what your point is,
But thinking about that, I love the way you presented
that like a what is their experience with you? Is
(23:02):
it all choppy? Is it? Or is it like existent
in in in their interactions from their salespeople to the implementation,
because we're marketing at all different levels, right, But like
you said at the beginning, if the foundation is not there,
then it's going to be all over the place and
so and we have to come back to that foundation.
And it's not like we just do it well. I mean,
(23:22):
we said it right, But I think what I would
hear your money says, you're coming back and making sure
are we all in alignment? Are we still as we're
developing and growing the company, does it all make sense?
Or are we getting Are we drifting? Are we moving?
And I think how? I mean, how many of you've
seen companies that have started actually had a good foundation
and they've drifted and I'm like, I'm not sure who
this company is. I mean we've seen big companies too.
(23:42):
I remember like Time Warner about like AOL and I
was like, what is this? And then eventually it broke
down and they had to like sell it off. And
so like companies like they try to merge or they
bring in other folks and it gets muddy, and you
would think they would have a that you think whatever
skin you think they would get this, But they didn't, right,
They missed the mark. It did not communicate clearly. And
(24:05):
so I know we're not going to get to go
way deep into this, but you mentioned AI and you're
an AI Marketing is consultant, and you're helping them in
the strategy. So I do want to get into a
little bit about how do we use this if we're
getting the foundations right the branding, I like to talk
a little bit about how do we use AI as
an accelerant not necessarily replacement, but how do we How
(24:28):
are you seeing that right now in the marketplace money
when you get the strategy right, when you get the
branding right, When you get that, and then you can
start to access this tool right.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Yes, yeah, I totally agree. I'm one hundred percent in
alignment with how you how you already positioned it. It's
an accelerant. The human has to stay in the loop.
It still needs a driver, you know, It's if it's
a vehicle. We use vehicles to go from one place
to another, It's still needs a driver for the for
the initial setting of the vision and setting of the
(25:00):
direction and also to did we get where we said
we were going? Are we at the destination that we
said we wanted to go to? So we have to
stay involved. We have to drive the tools and ensure
that the tools are doing what we want the tools
to do for us. I definitely my approach with AI
(25:21):
is it's a thought partner can't replace. I actually believe
it's unfair to the tools. It's unfair to the technology
to expect it to perform like human beings because we
are walking contradictions and kaleidoscopes.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Yes, yes, you know we.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Contradict ourselves knowingly and unknowingly at in a given moment,
like we are so multifaceted, it's not possible. In my opinion.
I don't know what the AI nerds are properly cooking
up right now that we don't know about, but it's
just it's just not possible to expect the technology to
be able to function the way we do, which is
(26:08):
why we as responsible business owners have to stay involved
and yes, once we have done that work to get
to get clear on the brand when it comes to
the marketing piece. Now, the AI tool simply simply helps
you spread your message. It speeds up your execution. It
helps you stay true. It becomes like an accountability measure
(26:32):
because if you've done the work to clarify the strategy
to your point earlier. There are a lot of brands
that do that, and then over time we veer off,
We forget, you know, the brand strategy documents get put
in a binder, you know, on a shelf, and over
time we stop going back to it to remind ourselves
(26:55):
who we said we are. Yes, when we leverage AI
to house that information for us, we're we can we
can mostly trust that the AI will honor what we've
said we want to do and what we've said we
want to go. So allowing it to house, you know,
(27:16):
the the nucleus of the brand, I think it's great,
and then put it to work to accelerate your content ideation,
your content creation. There's a lot of fantastic tools out
there now that are doing that, are doing video, that
are doing visuals and again ensuring that there is a
human on the back end to do the quality control,
(27:38):
quality assurance piece before it gets published representing the brand.
But the AI, it is, it just accelerates everything. It
helps us save so much time, so much man ours
brain power as well, because the tools come up with
those ideas and help us flesh them out so much faster.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Right, Right, So you're your you're you're using this tool.
It's not replacing it, but you know it's understanding I
think probably working with you, like what how much do
we delegate and lean on it? And where do we
have to own this message? Because it can give you
lots of different ideas, but you need to make sure
that that fits an alignment like with your culture. And
(28:17):
again you're feeding it, but still nonetheless you know things
you know, I'm thinking I'm gonna throw back five years COVID, Right,
remember when COVID hit, everybody had all these messages about like, oh, well,
we're doing this to protect you, and we're doing this
to protect you, Like how are you know? What are
you doing as things change and evolve and staying relevant
and you in the AI, you know, if you're not
(28:39):
being cognizant of that and you're like just get whatever
it takes out of it, you have to like know
how to feed it. And that's why I guess where
you're helping Monique is you're like, hey, how do we
get this working for you in the right way.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
And for some businesses that might look like starting with
developing ai USED policy. That's I help people do that too,
deciding how will we you is it, how does it fit?
What won't we do? What will we do? But really
creating those that those guidelines. Again, I know what we
tend to think. We tend to think about structure as
(29:13):
something that limits us, but structure in any person who's listening,
who's a parent will probably will probably agree structure creates freedom. Yeah,
within the structure, there is freedom. So for brands that
are in those in that stage of trying to figure out,
you know, what to do, what can it do? They're
thinking five years in the future that might look like, okay,
(29:37):
well let's let's develop our ai US policy first so
everybody's on the same page, and from there we'll know
exactly how we can make the technology work for us.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Yeah, and that's why I love with humaniqu because you're
bringing us and you're looking at that particularly from the
marketing lens. But I think working we work with Synergy
Partners and sc Anglia, work with other folks that are
different strategy from UH from insurance to legal other than
how are we doing this cohesively and well and collaboratively.
And that's what I love having partners like you here
(30:10):
on the podcast because I don't focus on that marketing SIPE,
but I can tell you when there's off because I'm saying, Hey,
this person I'm working with with this team, they don't
even understand all the services that your company offers. They
don't even know. So there's a problem here. And and
that's why we're going to have you on the podcast
money because that you can share and then people know, Okay,
here's another resource I can lean into. I know we're
(30:33):
getting close to endo the podcast. We're gonna have to
have you come back because there's more to cover. But
I want to say, Okay, we've covered a lot. I
mean from from just getting our strategy, branding AI. But
you know, if if I'm the business owner or the
individual I'm feeling again we talked about earlier, overwhelmed, I'm overwhelmed,
or maybe I'm maybe even the person that's like, I
(30:55):
got an idea for our business, but I don't even know,
like is it viable? Where do I go? Because I
think how many we talked before we started recording the podcast,
Like people have started their business, and they would be
so much better off if they would have backed up
earlier on and brought you on earlier on in the
process instead of now they spent months and probably even
years possibly like oh this is so painful. You know,
(31:16):
what would you say to that person that's either just
thinking maybe that you're just starting, or they're frustrated they're
not really getting where they want to be Monique and
saying what would you help them? Is it a mindset?
What is an action something that they consider? What would
you advise them?
Speaker 2 (31:32):
What comes to mind is what I think. It's Steve Blank,
so i'm as I am a student of lean sic
signal methodology as well, and one thing that he talks
about is getting out of the building, like get out
of the building so that having the idea is great,
but the only way to really know if it's going
to work is to get out of the building and
(31:53):
talk to people. Talk to people who don't love you,
because there mom will always tell you it's a great idea.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Yes, yes, other people who don't love you.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
People who can be who can be objective, and whether
it's the person with the idea, hey, well what do
you think about this? Or you know when was the
last time you did this? Get that real feedback, and
similar for the business owner who is stuck. Get out
of the building and find the persona that you think
(32:26):
is the person the buyer for the thing that you
sell and hear from them what are they buying? What
aren't they buying, why are they buying? Why are they this?
Instead of that that feedback. For me, I too am
very much. I'm solution and oriented, so I will sit
in my office and figure out the solution by myself.
(32:48):
But sometimes we need that external perspective, somebody outside the
jar who can read the label, like somebody needs to
read our labels right, so we can we have that
real world feedback and we can use that feedback to
make to create insight that helps us get clear which
(33:08):
helps us make you know, those decisions from a place
of confidence.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
I love that you said that. Get out of the building.
And for those that are listening, you know, we're going
to make sure you guys connect with money because we
look to our show notes. Minik and I are connected
on LinkedIn, Come visit us in success Champions Networks, among others.
So you guys make sure you come in and follow
along Monique, it's been a pleasure having you on the podcast,
and I hope you definitely will come back and share
(33:33):
more with us. You have just some great insights, love
your energy. Thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
I would love to come back. This is this is fun.
I could talk about this alliday. So yes, I.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Awesome, awesome. Thank you so much, Monique, and thank you
guys for listening and following along on the Business Roundtable podcast.
Week after a week, we bring you great guests. Whether
you follow us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, whatever the case
might be, please share, like, and subscribe. But that's always
appreciated and we look forward to you guys coming back
again next time. Thanks again, Lennie, Thanks everybody for listening.
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