Marketing Happy Hour - A Very MHH Thanksgiving Special | Marketing Happy Hour Co-Hosts Cassie + Erica

Episode Date: November 22, 2023

Happy Thanksgiving to our Marketing Happy Hour community! In honor of this celebration of gratitude, we're sharing: What we're grateful for this year A live taste test of new (to us) beverage brands The items on our personal holiday wishlists 2023 wins from our past guests Grab your favorite drink and listen in! Check out our first MHH gift guide of the season! Thank you to the incredible brands who provided drinks for our taste test: Joyful Co Jayded AF Weekday Wines Mom Juice Ami Ami Kove SAYSO Beauty Booze My Muse Koe Kombucha Odyssey Elixer HEARTBEAT Thank you to these wonderful past guests for sharing your 2023 wins with us: Cayley Smith of Digiday, Mary Ralph Lawson Bradley and Kennedy Crichlow of Daily Drills, Sylvester Placid of Leidos, Travis Tyler of PandaDoc, Karissa Widder of Kindred by K, Lauren Roth of United Sodas of America, Stephanie Pagan of ILIA Beauty, Web Designer Macey Miller, Alison Taplin of E! News, Lauren Freund of Canva, Productivity Expert Jess Massey, Natasha of Shine with Natasha, Event Planner Amy Gaston + Personal Brand Expert Kahlea Wade! ____ Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know which conversations in 2024 you're excited for - we can't wait to hear from you!  Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠⁠Download the Dream Career Game Plan!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Check out our website!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Join our email list!⁠⁠ Connect with Co-Host Erica: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Co-Host Cassie: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow MHH on Social: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠ New to Marketing Happy Hour (or just want more)? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download our Marketing Happy Hour Starter Kit⁠⁠ This podcast is an MHH Media production. ⁠⁠Learn more about MHH Media!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Interested in starting your own podcast? Grab our Podcast Launch Strategy Guide here.⁠⁠

Erica, happy Thanksgiving. Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving to you. Love this week. This is my favorite holiday. So I'm excited. You know, it is one of my favorites too. I'm super stoked just to eat, hang out with family, do all the things. So, you know, we got to kind of dive into this episode today. It's a little bit different. We're not going to have a Thursday episode, of course, because of the holiday. So we're like, let's do something kind of fun on Tuesday, still celebrate, still be with our community for this week. But yeah, do you have any fun Thanksgiving plans? What are you doing? Well, my family just kind of normally gets together and eats Thanksgiving. I think that's everybody's family probably does that. But I love watching the parade. I love watching it since I was a little girl. We're not one of those families that does the turkey trot on Thanksgiving morning. So I don't have to worry about running. But just eating some great food

and spending time with family, which is my favorite part. But what about you guys? Yeah. Yeah. No, same. We're actually hosting this year, which is not normal for us just because I don't know, we wanted to. And so we'll have the family over for Thanksgiving this year. And in terms of traditions, yeah, parade is definitely a must for us too. So we'll wake up and do that and cook. And we may go for a walk, not a trot, but just to walk in the morning. So we'll see, but definitely laying low and just relaxing. But on that too, what about dishes? What's your go-to dish? What are you most excited for? Oh my gosh, everything. Well, my mom makes incredible mashed potatoes. Like I don't know how she does it, but they're amazing. And then we always have this like broccoli cheese casserole

as a side, which is just incredible. And then my favorite thing is the chocolate pecan pie. And we get it actually from Cracker Barrel, but it is like the best recipe I've ever had for chocolate pecan pie. It's my favorite. So I am very much looking forward to that. I actually have to go pick that up today. So I'm excited for that. But what about you, Cassie? That's awesome. I am a sucker for anything potato. So we typically, usually when my husband's family is hosting, we have like nine different potato dishes. But this time around, I think we'll have two or three. So we're cutting it down a little bit, but I love potatoes. I love bread. I'm like a carb fanatic. So any, any sort of carbs, I'm all for it, but we'll make mac and cheese as well. And so,

yeah, just, just give me all the carbohydrates. I'm getting hungry. Just like, we have to wait two more days. We have to stop. It'll be okay. We can make it through, I guess. Well, on that note of trying fun, delicious things, we actually wanted to taste test some drinks that were sent over to us today just to kind of do something different and let you guys in on what's in our glass lately. So I can go ahead and start. We have Joyful Co sent over their thirsty box and it includes ingredients to make a mocktail and some fun snacks as well. So I have this

hot toddy. It's actually a non-alcoholic hot toddy made with spiritless Kentucky 47 non-alcoholic bourbon, which I am not even a bourbon fan, but I can get behind this. I really like the flavors in here. And there's also a hot toddy cocktail mix from a brand called Trail Toddy. In the box too, there's also a mini espresso syrup from Cheeky, which is a brand that I've been so excited to try. So I really need to get on making like an espresso martini with that, but that's for maybe on Thanksgiving to do. So yeah, it just kind of makes a great gift for anybody on your list. And you'll actually find it in one of our gift guides that we're posting on our blog and on our Instagram. And so stay tuned for that. Be looking out for that. And yeah, Joyful Co is just awesome. And this is delicious. It's in my favorite mug. I love that. Oh my gosh. Well, I'm trying jaded AF. So they sent over

three different cocktails. So they're these beautiful bottled cocktails and I specifically have cracked open. I'm not going to lie. I cracked it open for friends giving Erica. So I tried it before, but I'm trying it again now, I promise. Um, but the lavender martini was so good and it's, it's so beautiful. It's like this pretty purple, very light color. It looks natural. It's delicious though. So it tastes kind of like a Mandarin orange, but their vision is to enable the discovery embrace and embrace an embodiment of inhibited mid luxury originality. That is a mouthful, but I love it. And it's so beautiful. And we're just, you know, I'm a huge fan of that brand and it was a crowd favorite at friends giving. So love it. Yum. I can't wait to try that. I'll have to come over to your house that we each have like different ones. So we're like,

whenever we get together again, we'll have to like trade and try different things. But next on my roster over here, I have weekday wines, rosé. These wines are low calorie wines from the coast of California that are created by a couple that wanted to indulge without hangovers. So that's something we can all get behind. They created lower calorie premium wines with less alcohol. Cassie and I both have one. So I am tasting the rosé and Cassie has a Pinot Noir. I don't think she has it in front of her today, but probably will crack that open on Thanksgiving, I would assume. Yes, absolutely. Next on my roster over here, I have mom juice and they sent over some really cool wines and I have kind of a funny

story with this. So I posted about them on my social media account, my Instagram, and someone reached out to me and they're like, do you have something to tell us? And I was like, listen, I know it says mom juice. I'm not a mom. I'm not becoming a mom, but I love the brand and I love everything about it. So just a little funny anecdote though, but yeah, they have the mission to shift the wine culture by creating a community and increasing accessibility within the industry for moms and beyond. So it's definitely targeted at moms, but I think non-moms can definitely enjoy this brand as well. And it's super cute. They have this podcast called only moms and a community of

ambassadors. So I completely love this. I love how niche it is. Um, and I love that they've created sort of this community slash bigger business around this brand, but, um, I'm trying the Rose. It's delicious. I'm a huge fan. I love Rose just in general, but, uh, there's this really great. And they actually have a really cute holiday tasting kit available that I think would make a really great gift.

And next over here, continuing on the wine train, I have the Ami Ami white blend. Um, I've been loving these. They're boxed French wines made in the South of France by eighth generation wine growers, which is insane. Two boxes equals four bottles, which is a lot and it's actually delicious. So I've been enjoying that for quite some time now. I think it lasts, I might be wrong about this, but I think it lasts up to six months once you open it in the refrigerator. I'm sorry, not six months, definitely six weeks, not six months. Don't quote me on that. But anyway, the iconic duo, which is what we got sent by this brand, comes with their white and red wines. I have a glass of the white next to me and it is

so good. I am loving this brand. So thank you. Shout out to them for sending that over. We are loving it. I can't wait for Cassie to try to, I cannot wait. Next on my list is Cove. They are an award-winning craft brewery from San Diego and they sent over their craft brewed cocktails and I'm trying the dragon fruit margarita. I've tried some of the other flavors before, uh, just from hanging out and these are delicious. I really, really like these. Um, so the dragon fruit margarita is super refreshing. It's very fun. And I am excited for you to try them too, Erica. Oh my gosh. Seriously, so many fun things to try.

I cannot wait. But next on my list over here, we've got some really fun mocktails. They have been seeing a lot of success lately from winning a pitch competition to entering some new retailers. It's from the brand Say So. It's been really fun to follow along with their journey on LinkedIn, but they are cocktail mixes in tea bags. So you just infuse the bag in your drink of choice,

whether that's a spirit or just a juice or something like that. And you'd have the perfect cocktail or mocktail. We have the variety pack here with their spicy margarita, cardamom, paloma, honey, rosemary, Moscow mule, and their old fashioned. Right now I have the honey, rosemary, Moscow mule as a mocktail. I'm actually using the ginger beer that came with the joyful co thirsty box. So it is delicious. I can highly vouch for these. I'm so excited to see where their success leads them in the future. I'm sure we're going to see them in major box retailers, and I'm sure we're going to see a lot more of them. So shout out to them. Thank you say so. Yeah. Oh my gosh. And I love all of these very unique vessels that all these cocktails are coming on in. We have really cool bottles, the tea bags, the boxes. It's really fun just to see how creative these brands are getting with their packaging and everything. That's honestly one of the most fun parts of this is just seeing how they do things, learning their stories, et cetera. Uh, but on that next on my list is

beauty booze. And these cocktails are made with, uh, six times distilled vodka and no added sugar. So I think the whole idea is it's supposed to be good for you, not, um, not be bad for your system and just ultimately for your skin. And so putting good in, in order to get a good on the external, which is great. Um, and I am trying the Clementine Paloma splash kind of like Cove. These are super refreshing and really great for a hot day. Unfortunately, we are still facing some heat here in Florida. And so these have been really nice this season just to, uh, you know, feel refreshed. And, um, I'm really loving this flavor just to, you know, feel refreshed. And I'm really loving this flavor.

I'm trying right now. It's very delicious. Oh my gosh. Yum. That sounds so good. Next over here, we have my muse. These were actually sent over by one of our listeners and it's organic enhanced water with fun flavors like blood, orange, orange citrus and peach mango. I've got

the peach mango flavor here. And you can actually easily find these on Amazon. It's super accessible and highly recommend if you're just looking for like an afternoon pick me up or something fun to drink. That's not just water, but still leaves you feeling super hydrated. So I'm loving this peach mango flavor. It's super good. I love that. Love that. Well, next on my list is a little bit different. It's kombucha. So co kombucha sent over a couple different variations that they have, but I'm trying the mango flavor today. This is non-alcoholic and it has vitamin C infused in it. And their slogan is kombucha, but better. So I personally love kombucha. I'm a big fan and I am totally cool with all the weird flavors and the nuances to it, but I also love the non-weird

kombucha and this is definitely it. It's not super fermented tasting. It's very approachable. So a lot of people I know who have never tried kombucha before, I usually tell them to try this brand. I've had it in the past, but I have not tried the mango flavor before. And so this is a treat and I, my family's hooked on this brand and they're huge fans of it, but, um, it's great. And it's again, very refreshing. We're sensing a theme here on my docket, but yes, very refreshing.

It's a really lovely canned kombucha and yeah, loving the mango flavor. That is awesome. I tried the watermelon flavor of Ko in a recent episode, and I agree with you. It was really, really good. A lot of kombuchas can be, you know, because they have that kind of like vinegary or like fermented taste. And that this one really doesn't. So I'm loving that. Next over here, I have Odyssey Elixir, which are mushroom energy drinks, which sounds super interesting. And I haven't even tried it yet. I'm going to try it live on air right now. They're supposed to boost focus, energy and mood. I am about to try the blackberry lemon twist. I will spare you my sipping sounds, but I'll see if I am more focused today while I am getting ready to cook some pies and figure out all the things that I need to do for work

before just relaxing the rest of the week. So I'll report back on that, but I the rest of the week. So I'll report back on that. Um, but I'll take a sip now and then I'll let you go on with what's next. Yes. Yeah. Those are really great. I've tried a couple of them too, and I'm a huge fan of anything adaptogen. So, uh, yeah, we, we enjoy the, uh, drinks with added health benefits. It's always a plus for sure. Uh, but last on my list, I have heartbeat and I'm not trying this one yet, but I want to save it for you, Erica, because we have to be together to taste test this because it is super unique and something unlike we have ever received before even tried, I think on our own before. Uh, so this is a spicy Rose, which sounds super interesting,

but I am personally very excited because I kind of like a spicy margarita. I'm really into that. I'm into spice anything. Uh, so I feel like I personally am going to really like this, uh, but it is made with a pepper wine blended intoé. And again, I've never seen anything like it. So this is going to be a fun one. We'll hold on to that, but just an honorable mention that we're going to try this one soon. And so again, we'll report back on that one too.

Oh my gosh. I am so excited to try that. I love any kind of like savory cocktail too. And it kind of sounds like that perfect blend between sweet and savory. So I am looking forward to trying that. Well, that was kind of a zippy way to go through all of these amazing cocktails and mocktails and

goodies that were sent over to us. But we wanted to extend just a really heartfelt thank you to everyone who sent them over because we're loving trying them. We're loving sharing them with all of you and seeing your reactions to some of the fun things that we're trying. So, you know, keep reaching out to us with your favorite drinks. We want to keep trying more and yeah, we're excited. We're, I think we're going to try a lot more beverages in the next year, which is going to be fun. So more to come on that. But we have to also express our gratitude just for this year overall and everything we've gotten to do and accomplish in this community. And thank you for listening, uh, whether this is your first time listening or your 80th time listening, uh, we're truly,

truly grateful. And speaking of that too, we're going to hit our hundredth episode at the end of this year. And I know a lot of podcasts do not make it nearly that far. So if you go online and search, you know, how many podcasts there are, there's millions, right? But only 720,000 podcasts have actually made it past episode 10. And so it's, it's tough out there. It's tough for podcasters. You know, we personally, I know put a lot of time and energy into this, but we love it. And that's why we do it. And we do it for you and just to get to know you and to support you through your journey and vice versa.

And so we are super, super grateful. So look out for episode 100. Oh my gosh. Yes. We seriously to echo that couldn't be here without your support. We love when you reach out to us on social and just let us know your favorite episodes or things that you would like to see in future episodes. So definitely continue to stay in touch with us by doing that, by signing up for our email list. So, you know, everything that's happening over in the marketing happy hour space. And we just can't wait for the fun things ahead in 2024. And just to echo Cassie, again, thank you so much for being here for listening. You know, we used to say this all the time, I or at least I did, I was like, I don't even know who listens to this podcast, probably just my mom. But we've seen throughout, especially this year, that a lot

of you are actually loving the show and learning a lot. And we love to see that because this is the resource that we wanted to have back, you know, when we were starting our careers. So, and we keep continuing to learn throughout our conversations with the people and the guests that we bring on the show. So it's just been really rewarding for us. And we know that it's been rewarding for you as well, which is really, really cool to see. Well, Cassie, I just want to know what else you're thankful for this year in general, personally, professionally, whatever you want to share. What are you thankful for? Oh my gosh. Well, you know, I don't think I

can say enough sort of the general things in life, but health, family, friends. I mean, I know that's kind of a cliche answer, but I truly am grateful for all of that. There's been a lot of ups and downs this year, as I've kind of shared a little bit, and it's just so good to go back and think about, well, listen, I wake up every day. I'm healthy. My family's healthy. My friends are healthy. And so that's the biggest thing I think overall, I'm grateful for this podcast. It's something that I get to come back to and meet so many people and just learn from people. I would say from our guests, it's like one of the biggest resources I personally have

for growing and learning about new strategies and things to implement in my business and what I'm doing. And so just even for that, um, having a resource myself from all of these amazing guests that, uh, we learned from, uh, to have to implement into what I do every day and that impacts my clients and then that impacts their customers and it just continues on and on. And so to have this ripple effect of learning and education and new strategies is just absolutely incredible. So yeah, that's kind of it on my end. What about you, Erica? I love that.

And I couldn't agree more. All the basic things, health, wealth, wellness, all of the good stuff. And then this podcast, of course. And mostly, it's been kind of a difficult year, I think, for everyone. I've been having conversations around, you know, there's been some layoffs and there's been some hardship in trying to get clients or get a new job or, you know, just, you know, family, friend issues, things like that. But I think throughout it all, I'm just grateful that there's this piece of knowing that whatever lies ahead is

going to be better and bigger and just more exciting. And I'm just looking forward to that. I think everybody is. So I think we can collectively come together and just be thankful for what's ahead. Get this crazy year behind us and keep pushing forward. I love that. Yeah, absolutely. And I think on that too, just remembering that whatever hardship you're facing, it's creating more strength for you and what you're, you could potentially face ahead and your lowest lows of this year, just know that it's only up from there. And, you know, we're about to step into a new year where there's new opportunities and you just never know what's ahead. And ultimately, um, you know, obviously life is short. There's that saying, but just knowing that, uh, if you are young, you know, we talk to a lot of millennials

and Gen Zers here, uh, just not falling into that trap of imposter syndrome and knowing that you have so much opportunity and so many years ahead in your career and that you can truly achieve anything that you put your mind to. So just continuing to work hard and remembering that and staying positive. I know those are, again, cliche things to say, but lots is possible for you, I believe. So excited for what everyone can accomplish in 2024. 100%. Okay, let's switch gears and just talk about what we're putting on our wishlist this year. We are releasing some really fun gift guides over on the blog and on our Instagram. But I thought it'd be fun to just chat through what we're looking at putting on our holiday wishlist this year. So Cassie, start us off. What are some products or brands that you're going to have on your list this year?

Yes. My theme this year is health and fashion, I'd say. So I'm kind of tiptoeing between that realm there, which is kind of fun. So I'm a big fan of like health supplements and things like that. And I recently tried bloom greens and I would love to get some more of those just to put in my water on a regular, regular basis. And speaking of that too, I would love to grab myself a Stanley cup. Finally. Uh, I have not gotten one of those in the past, but I do love them. They have like this tan, beautiful, neutral color. Uh, and then on that too, tan Adidas Sambas. I know Sambas are everywhere this year, but, uh, I got to try them on and they're super comfortable and I'm a big fan of sneakers. That's like all I wear. So, um, and then also, uh, Anina being, I love Anina being, I've gotten to hear her story on a couple of podcasts and, uh, just love what she's built and her brand is awesome.

And so those sweatshirts I know are iconic, but I'd love to snag myself one of those this year too. What about you, Erica? Oh my gosh. Yes. I love that. And Stanley just had an awesome social media moment where I think someone's car caught on fire with their Stanley cup in the cup holder. And there was still ice in it after the car had

destroyed with with the fire and everything. And there was still ice in the Stanley. So that attests to their product in itself. But then the president or CEO of the company came on to social was very reactive to it. Just, you know, really just an excellent example of just being on top of things. And he offered to, you know, replace her car and send her some really amazing goodies from the brand. So I love that so much. And I love my own Stanley. So hope you get that for your holiday this year. But I also kind of have the same theme for my wishlist this year. And the number one thing on that is just from Merit Beauty. I've always wanted to try their products and just have never gotten around to it. I want to try their five minute morning set because I like saving time.

And I feel like this five minute morning thing I'm very intrigued by. So I'd love to try that. And then there's this Instagram brand that I'm just obsessed with. So I'd love to try that. And then there's this Instagram brand that I'm just obsessed with. It's called the yellow, the label, and they have a sweatshirt that says, let's go for a walk. And if you know me, that's just been my theme of the year. I've walked like almost every day. I'm pretty sure. So I love that. And then there's this brand called, I think Breda or Breda. I don't know if I'm saying that right um and they have beautiful watches so I have that on my list and then lastly um magnesium from the moon juice company I have always wanted to try but it's a little bit pricey so I don't know that I would

just like purchase it for myself if I haven't tried it so I'm like hoping that's going to be in my stocking this year we'll see what happens with that um but I'm excited to try it if myself if I haven't tried it. So I'm like hoping that's going to be in my stocking this year. We'll see what happens with that. But I'm excited to try it if I, if I do get it and then maybe I will treat myself to it if I don't end up getting it. Yes. We love that. Always, always treating ourselves. That's important too. Oh, for sure. Okay. Well, we just wanted to end this little Thanksgiving episode by celebrating our guest wins. So we reached out to some of our past guests to ask them to share some of their 2023 wins with us. And we thought we would just share them with you. So I'll go ahead and start. We have

Kaylee from Digiday and Glossy. She was our very first episode of marketing happy hour aside from like our intro episode. Um, and so she reached out to us and let us know that glossy actually launched an incredibly exciting new product this year called glossy beauty pop. It was their first event in the content creator and influencer space. Usually their events are very much business to business, but for this one, they needed the brands to sponsor and activate the audience. That was a group they've never invited to their events before, which was influencers. And she says it was a smashing success. She reports that over 100 content creators attended. They had sponsorships from Smashbox, Souljane, Genero, New Face, Olaplex, and more. They had speakers like Patrick Ta, Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Hudgens. Oh my gosh,

this is like Disney Channel forward here and others. And then one content creator even told them it felt like the Harvard Business School for influencers. So shout out to Kaylee and the Glossy team. That is incredible. What a great year that they've had. Yeah, I'm not surprised. They do such fantastic events. And so it's, it just makes sense that this one was a win for them too. But next on the list is from Daily Drill's co-foundfounders Kennedy and Mary Ralph from season seven. And their episode is actually one of our top of all time, which is so awesome to see. And so if you have not listened to this one, definitely go back and check it out, but a couple of wins on there. And so Mary Ralph got married and Daily Drills moved into a new office in the Pacific Palisades. And they also

hit eight figures in lifetime sales, which is great. So congrats to them. And they partnered with some of their dream brands and hired two new team members. So they're just moving up and up and up both in life and in business, which is really awesome to see. So congrats to the daily drills team. That's incredible. And I think I just saw on Instagram, they celebrated three years of the brand. So that is wild. That's amazing. That's great success in that time. Next we have communications team lead Sylvester Placid. He was also on season one of the marketing happy hour podcast. He says what he's most thankful for in 2023 is being selected for the emerging leaders program at his work. Every year, a group is chosen from

different business areas and given access to senior leadership to learn in depth about company operations. They are then given business challenges to solve as teams and expected to present their findings and solutions to executives. He says strategic communications is a key component of his team's solution. And he was delighted to demonstrate the tremendous value of an effective communications function to any organization. He says it's been one of the most difficult and challenging experiences in his career, but he's so grateful for the opportunity. That's awesome. Well onto Travis of Panda docs. So Travis is a friend of ours I'd say, and he's just such a fun guy. And again, season seven as well. So go back and listen to his episode, just cause he talks a lot about storytelling edutainment, which is a fun phrase

that we learned all about in his episode, but they ran their first ever TV ads using a Dr. Panda's document therapy sketch. And it sounds crazy, but it's so funny. Uh, Travis actually created this for April fools. And initially it was a joke, but their CEO loved it so much that they wanted to experiment with paid ads with it. Uh, and they ended up getting a great amount of leads from this experiment. And as of today, they've reached over 134,000 households in Florida and generating nearly 4,000 visits to their website. So kudos to Travis for that. And I think that's just a testament of you never know what kind of creative ideas can latch on. And so just testing and seeing what hits and just going for those creative, crazy ideas, and you never know what could potentially happen. Totally. I love

that it started as an April fool's joke. That's hilarious. And I think Travis too, just posted that he started a local Instagram to share all the good stuff in his area. So definitely check that out. If you're not following Travis already on Instagram, go over there, see what he's up to. It looks like he's posting about some good coffee shops in the area and things like that. So he's in the St. Pete area of Florida, I believe. So if you're there, go check him out. Anyway, next we have Carissa of Kindred by Kay. She was from season six and she doubled the size of her team in 2023. She learned more about the niche markets that she serves, scored a dream client and continued to just in general on this podcast is she sent such a heartfelt thank you note to us after being on the podcast. And it was so sweet to just reach out and thank somebody for hosting her. She's like the sweetest person. She knows how to, you know, communicate very well. And I thought that was such a standout thing. So something to

learn from as well, you know, if you are out there, and you've been invited onto a podcast, or you've been invited to speak on a panel, or you've been invited to, you know, teach a section of a course at a college or something like that, you know, just genuinely thanking the person that invited you is going to go really far in just continuing to network and, you know, stand out as a leader in your industry. So I loved that so brand. And so, yeah, I think that does go a long way, just continuing to stay connected with those, uh, podcasts and communities that you've been involved with. Um, and so we've talked a lot about them, uh, you know, off record with other people and referred people to their episodes and everything, just because they stand out so well in our mind. So on that Lauren of Unitedotas is next. And she was a part of our

first open for hire episode. And she actually got a new role at United Sotas after her layoff from a previous role that she faced with Otherland Candles. So she's really excited to be learning a lot more about the CPG space and diving deeper into influencer marketing. And again, Lauren is so good at what she does. And so I know she's going to excel in this new role and super excited to watch her thrive in that. Love that so much. Shout out to Lauren. I love keeping up with her on Instagram. She's one of my favorite people to follow because she just posts all about New York life. And that's what I love seeing. So next we have Stephanie of Ilya Beauty. She was from season

seven and it was an amazing episode talking about, you know, how to get hired. She's on the hiring team at Ilya Beauty. So she gave us some good resume tips and things like that. But she was just promoted from talent acquisition lead to manager of talent acquisition and development, which more appropriate appropriately describes the work that she does to support both full cycle recruitment and internal organizational development. She also is a people manager and manages people in training for their new roles. So shout out to her.

She's going to be amazing in this new role. Yes, absolutely. We love Stephanie. And we also love Macy Miller. She's a website designer locally, actually here in Florida. And I've had the honor to work with Macy on a couple of projects and she's so good at what she does. And she kind of breaks down her process and what goes into building a strong website on her episode in season four. Uh, but she is back to work after maternity leave. She has two babies under two. So kudos to her for that achievement and just, uh, building a beautiful family. Um, and she's just been able to balance both motherhood and launching 10 websites this year, which is absolutely incredible. And I know that is not an easy feat whatsoever. And so very excited for her and what she's accomplished. And I think she's just going to accomplish more and more in the coming years.

So super excited for her. Absolutely. Next we have Alison. She was previously at FabFitFun when she was on our season one, but now she's at E! News and she says this year she's thankful for Taylor Swift entering her football era she says that she signed on with E! News when she attended the Jets versus Chiefs game and it was the ideal night for a Swifty and sports fan like herself she says her lyrics are so fun to tie into captions and all of the content overperformed on their e-news channels when she posted it. So that is so fun to hear. I love like the specific campaign that she's loving right now. Okay. So next on my list, I have Lauren of Canva and Lauren is another one of those that's just

continued to stay engaged with the brand. And we had her all the way back on season list, I have Lauren of Canva and Lauren is another one of those that's just continued to stay engaged with the brand. And we had her all the way back on season one when she was with Shutterfly. And then we brought her back for the first, where are they now bonus episode in season seven, when she entered her time with Canva and Erica and I are both huge fans of Canva. And we just learned a lot from her on the different capabilities that the platform has. But this year, she led the social execution for Canva's biggest product launch ever, Magic Studio, which is kind of a part of their AI integration. And she celebrated her one-year anniversary at Canva and spoke at Social Media Day 2023 conference in Philadelphia. She was a guest speaker at Chapman University's digital marketing class,

and she's just done a lot of speaking engagements, and you see a lot of that stuff on her LinkedIn account, and so super excited and proud of her. I think that seems to be something that she really thrives in and does really well in, so I know we'll be seeing more of her. I think that seems to be something that she really thrives in and, uh, and does really well in. So I know we'll be seeing more of that. Um, but she also was the judge for social media day, Philadelphia's annual award ceremony and was featured in ad age market, her PR hangover podcast, podcast, and of course our show as well. Um, and then personally, she just reached her reading goal of 23 books in 2023, traveled to three new countries, three new States, and got to see Taylor Swift in concert at the

airs tour four times, which, Oh my gosh, I cannot even explain how much of a feat that must have been. And so kudos to her just on all fronts of life. my gosh I love that so much I love the Taylor Swift love in here let's go okay next we have Jess from Hustle Sanely she was on season four of the podcast she became a working mom so she had her first baby in December of 2022 and after three months of maternity leave she went back to work in March of this year. While her daughter is young, she is practicing a three and a half day work week, which is incredible to be able to do. And she's a recovering workaholic who now helps people pursue their goals while prioritizing their mental health and relationships.

And she says she was a little bit nervous as to how she'd adjust to working less, but she finds that she's really proud of the harmony and flow that she found as a wife, mom, and entrepreneur and can confidently say she feels like she's showing up well for all the important roles in her life. So I love that so much. That's such a great success story of 2023 and just learning how to navigate new seasons. Yeah, for sure. Well, next is Natasha of shine with Natasha, which I believe she's kind of in that friend group with Jess and Carson and a couple different people locally here in the Tampa Bay area that have been on our show. But Natasha is fantastic just for all things, Instagram and social media tips and strategies. But personally, this year was a year on focusing on a lot of her hobbies, which is really great

to see just how a lot of these people that we're talking to are pursuing their personal interests. And I think it provides a great balance for what they're doing professionally. And it's kind of an escape for people. So think about what you enjoy doing and just continue to pursue those. Cause I think it's super beneficial for increasing your productivity and your, your business and everything. But she also got married.

I have to mention that. So congrats to her. And she's just been doing a lot, I think on the personal and business front, but professionally she partnered with Metta on a four-part video campaign, which has been her highest brand partnership to date and hosted her first in-person event and a retreat for her mastermind. So she says it's been really fun to bring her clients to Tampa and bring her vision to life for creating a retreat for her brand. So again, super excited to see what she continues to implement and just create for her business. Yes. And then we have Amy. She was previously at Magnolia and she came on season seven to share

all about leadership and experiential marketing. That's such a good episode. I love listening back to that one as well. But she landed a fun new role in a corporate space and started her own business. So she is chief of staff in the world of venture capitalism. And she has also founded the company Wellset, which is a team of individuals uniquely positioned to not only teach her, but also wholly support her growing startup. And that is an event company where she is going around the state of Texas and hosting these incredible events. And we will put the link to her event company in the show notes so that you can check out all the fun stuff that she's doing over there. Yes, absolutely. Well, last but certainly not least, we have Kalia Wade, who was on our show in season one and brought back in season five. And Kalia is a personal

friend of both of ours. And it's just been really awesome since I think I met her in 2017 to watch her grow and excel in her career. But she made a massive expansion of her brand instead of just focusing on education around brand partnerships. She expanded into teaching how to establish personal brands online. So she's working with not only creators, but business owners and others. She also launched a influencer agency called Allura Society. And she founded this with her friend, our friend and colleague, Mia, and they hit over a hundred thousand in negotiated brand deals between the two girls on their roster. So super excited for them. I know that's just going to continue to build and thrive over time. And so really stoked to see what she does as well. And just really stoked to see what

everyone on this list and all of the guests that we've worked with in the past are going to do in 2024. I think there's just a lot of potential open for them and just also potential open for you. So if you have any wins that you specifically are celebrating this year and would just love to bring in a community of encouraging people alongside you as you enter into that new venture or a new step in your career or even life, just let us know, reach out to us on LinkedIn

and tell us because we'd love to be there alongside you as well. Oh my gosh, I love it. And I've loved reading through some of these wins from our past guests. I think it's important to like keep up with them and see where they're going in their careers and the things that they're doing and the different companies that they're working for now. It's so cool to just see the development continue to grow and expand in their careers. Like I love that so much. Well, we are at the end here of our Thanksgiving episode.

So thank you all so much for tuning in. I hope you enjoyed our little taste test. Just some personal anecdotes of what we're looking forward to in 2024 and these updates from our past guests. If you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, anything like that, reach out to us on Instagram or LinkedIn. Again, sign up for our email list to keep up with all the goodies coming your way, including our gift guides and anything else we need to say

before we sign off, Cass? I think that's it. I think just a heartfelt thank you to you. I know we've said thank you a million times this episode, but we truly are grateful and lots to come. And so as Erica said, just make sure you're staying up to date with us and stay connected with us in the community and all things can be found at marketing, happy hr.com. And so if you're just trying to figure out where to find something, when it comes to the podcast in our community, uh, you can find everything there. So thanks for being here guys. We're super, super grateful for you. Thanks again. And happy Thanksgiving. We are so excited to share that our first ever free Marketing Happy Hour digital resource is now available.

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but the framework can be applied to any industry. Our hope is that this workbook will help you truly elevate your career, whether you're in the market for a new position or just looking to make your mark in your current organization. No matter where this resource finds you, we are cheering you on every step of the way. So go check it out at marketinghappyhr.com forward slash freebie to download and make your career dreams come true.