The Charleston Marketing Podcast
Welcome to The Charleston Marketing Podcast, the podcast that dives deep into the world of marketing, with a specific focus on the vibrant city of Charleston. Join us as we explore the strategies, trends, and success stories that shape the marketing landscape in this historic and captivating coastal city.
Each episode of The Charleston Marketing Podcast brings you exclusive interviews with local marketing experts, industry thought leaders and Charleston entrepreneurs who have harnessed the power of effective marketing in the Lowcountry and beyond. From strategic communication, social media, PR, digital strategy and everything in between, we uncover valuable insights and actionable tips for our listeners.
The Charleston Marketing Podcast
Kate Schmieding: Embracing Conservation and Advocacy in Modern Marketing
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What truly defines a purpose-driven organization? Join Stephanie Barrow and Mike Compton as they uncover the journey of Kate Schmieding, a remarkable leader in marketing and corporate responsibility, whose personal passions for fly fishing, surfing, and travel seamlessly align with her professional mission. From her early days in television news to her role at Obviouslee, a B Corp-certified marketing firm, Kate reveals her commitment to conservation and her impact on community initiatives such as Low Country Local First and the Charleston Surfrider Foundation. Discover how her personal and professional lives intertwine, driving her passion for positive change.
Explore the intricacies of B Corp certification with Kate as she recounts the rigorous process that companies face to balance purpose and profit. Gain insights into the pillars of evaluation and the challenges of aligning business operations with a people-first culture. Kate shares the emotional highs and lows of achieving certification, affectionately celebrating their "B-Day," and the continuous journey of improvement that defines the B Corp ethos. Learn about the resources available to certified companies and the importance of fostering an inclusive and equitable work environment, inspired by initiatives like Act in Solidarity.
Purpose-driven marketing takes center stage as we examine the role of authenticity in engaging environmentally-conscious consumers. Kate discusses impactful campaigns, such as Surfrider's efforts against offshore drilling, and the need for brands to avoid the pitfalls of greenwashing. Discover the significance of producing meaningful digital content in a landscape often cluttered with noise. Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned marketer, this episode offers invaluable insights into the intersection of marketing, corporate responsibility, and environmental activism, encouraging listeners to champion a more sustainable future.
Resources:
Presenting Sponsor: Charleston Radio Group
Title Sponsor: Charleston American Marketing Association
Cohosts: Stephanie Barrow, Mike Compton, Darius Kelly, Kim Russo
Produced and edited: rūmbo Advertising
Photographer: Kelli Morse
Art Director: Taylor Ion
Outreach: Lauren Ellis
CAMA President: Margaret Stypa
Score by: The Strawberry Entrée; Jerry Feels Good, CURRYSAUCE, DBLCRWN, DJ DollaMenu
Voiceover by: Ellison Karesh
Studio Engineer: Brian Cleary
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Welcome to the Charleston Marketing Podcast, powered by the Charleston American Marketing Association and broadcasting from our home at Charleston Radio Group. Thanks to CRG, we're able to talk with the movers and shakers of Charleston, from economy to art, from hospitality to tech and everything in between. These leaders have made a home here in the Lowcountry. They live here, they work here, they make change here.
Speaker 2:Why let's talk about it. Hello and welcome to the charleston marketing podcast powered by the charleston american marketing association. We're recording live. Are we live? We're recording at the charleston radio group studios. I'm alive. Big supporters of camo gotta give a big shout out to charleston's favorite dj, jerry feels good the beats at the beginning. And thanks to all our supporters. I'm alive. Big supporters of Kama Got to give a big shout out to Charleston's favorite DJ, jerry Feels Good the Beats at the beginning. And thanks to all our supporters. Hey, mike Compton here, president and co-founder of Roombow Branding goroombocom and your incoming president for the Charleston American Marketing Association. I'm here with my co-host, stephanie Barrow.
Speaker 3:Well, what, hey guys? I'm Stephanie Barrow, founder of Stephanie Barrow Consulting, a digital marketing strategy agency located here in Charleston, and your CAMA past president. We are excited to be joined by a very special guest today, we are excited, aren't we? We are All right, kate, say your last name.
Speaker 4:Schmeeting, schmeeting, kate Schmeeting. I've practiced it 15 times, but I just want to give her the respect. I did get scared. It's not the first time anyone's butchered my last name.
Speaker 2:It won't be the last what was your last name before Schmieding?
Speaker 4:Ditloff, I'm sorry yeah, exactly Gesundheit that's pretty much what it's like, yeah, going from Ditloff to Schmieding, it's a mouthful oh, that's a blog right there right, I'm going to write all about it later oh good, that's great.
Speaker 3:Well, I love it. Now. Kay is a strategic leader with 20 years of expertise in marketing and communications, corporate responsibility and, of course, people operations as director of Impacted, obviously a full-scale B Corp certified marketing company located here in Charleston. It's a very awesome agency. Yes, scale B Corp certified marketing company located here in Charleston.
Speaker 1:It's a very awesome agency. Yes.
Speaker 3:I've known you guys for a long time. She's passionate about driving positive change both within organizations and the wider world. Kate is a proven expert in navigating complex challenges, building strong teams and fostering thought leadership, with a focus on award winning PR, marketing and ESG initiatives. You are a badass, yeah. Beyond her professional achievements, she has got a lot of cool hobbies. So here we go. Kate is dedicated to being a community member, serving on the board of Low Country Local First, which are big, big supporters of CAMA. We're big supporters of them. She is formerly with the Charleston Surfrider Foundation I'm excited to dive into that where she was honored with the Charleston Surfrider Foundation. I'm excited to dive into that when she was honored with the Wavemaker Award for her commitment to protecting our coast. Okay, okay, I'm telling you she's a cool chick. All right, when she's not transforming brands, you can find her fly fishing, surfing, traveling and savoring all that the beautiful country has to offer with her husband, will. What's up? Will Shout out to Will how you doing well.
Speaker 2:Well, he's pretty tall.
Speaker 4:Yeah, tall inky will, big will just comes with the name I'm gonna you know what I'm gonna call him that later and see, now I'm thinking of like Willie style like what's that getting?
Speaker 3:oh yeah, no, no, no, no what no one else will smith yes, will smith yes kelly got it.
Speaker 2:She's encouraging me the og will um. Thank you for hanging out with us thank you, yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 4:I'm excited to be here with the charleston radio group yes, I was saying I haven't been here in many, many years, but I'm glad to be back what were you doing many, many years ago? So that was when I was working at the south carolina aquarium. I was leading all their.
Speaker 4:PR, marketing efforts, and so I would get to come over here and just talk about our new exhibits and what we had happening and conservation and just share the good work of the good, you know, the good work that they were doing over at the facility. When was this, oh gosh, this was before gosh 2010 and 2017. Ish okay, so basically, um, before that, I was working in television news for about eight and a half years oh boy nice, what was that?
Speaker 2:like, do not recommend do not recommend at all, were you?
Speaker 4:were you doing it here in charleston? Uh, so I started in charlotte, north carolina, as a producer and then moved down to Charleston in hopes that I would get out of television news, and then that was the only job I could find I was with Channel 4 locally.
Speaker 3:Nice.
Speaker 4:Yep, and then after that transitioned to the South Carolina Aquarium and got to just talk about animals exhibits conservation all day, every day, which was wonderful, and then moved over to Groundswellwell public relations, which is an outdoor focused pr firm, which was then acquired by, obviously in 2021 no kidding, what was the name of the other agency again? Groundswell pr. Yes, obviously is making some big moves. Yes, we are we
Speaker 4:are definitely always looking to go big. Our founder and visionary lee is just always pushing the bill and looking for new ways to integrate new technologies. And how can we be better stewards of our communities, our environment and just serve with more purpose and impact?
Speaker 3:we were in the green room. The green room as in the conference room we're talking a little bit about, obviously, and like what a cool agency you are, and not only are you doing cool things in the city and um, you have a really neat work environment situation.
Speaker 4:We do so. We have a full work remote policy. About two-thirds of our team are based here in Charleston, the other third is based throughout the United States. We even have some team members who dabble in Europe for part of the year, and so we just honor a flexible working environment. We believe people do the best work when they're in the most comfortable of spaces. Working environment we believe people do the best work when they're in the most comfortable of spaces and we don't want to, you know, require them to go to the office if it's something that's not needed and we want them to embrace the flexibility, the creativity, be able to attend their kid's basketball game in the afternoon and then, you know, maybe catch up with work later. Or, in my case, I got to go out to Wyoming last year and was driving while my husband was driving, while I was working.
Speaker 2:That would be dangerous.
Speaker 4:I know it would be, but it's just so wonderful because it gives us the opportunities to still experience, you know, life, have that really wonderful balance but then produce really incredible work.
Speaker 3:I bet that kind of company culture really brings about adventure seekers and that kind of thing. Are they all surfing, are you all?
Speaker 2:surfing gurus together on the weekend.
Speaker 4:Yes, well, when I tie my own flies they don't generally look like the bug they're supposed to. I guess I have a little bit of creativity that I add, but I would say our team is just really up for anything.
Speaker 2:So big is the team.
Speaker 4:Right now we're about 26 individuals. That's impressive, yeah 26. When they acquired Groundswell, it doubled the staff size, essentially, and so it was a very interesting transition, because Groundswell was really and I mean this in the most endearing way a bunch of dirtbags. Oh, my dear Lord. I mean we would wake up early, go surfing, show up to the office, forget our shoes, you know.
Speaker 2:You were part of that team. Oh yeah, oh. So you're a fellow dirt bag. I am a fellow dirt bag, yes, Okay.
Speaker 4:Hey she's owning it. Yeah, and you know, it was just so much fun. And then we got integrated into Obviously. Integrated into Obviously, which brought this totally different skill set and just community and we all mesh together really well. We're a group of people who love to run, do yoga, spend time outdoors, go fishing, eat lots of really good food here in Charleston and do a bunch of traveling.
Speaker 3:So I think our team is really comprised of individuals who really look to experience life to its fullest.
Speaker 4:It sounds like a second family. I love it. Yes, it is, it is. I mean we make sure that we don't want it to be feeling like too much of a family, because sometimes family can be toxic.
Speaker 3:You'll get nothing done.
Speaker 4:So that's why we have the flexibility behind it. That's amazing Now. Are you originally from the Charlotte area? No, I'm not. I was actually born in Greenville, south Carolina, and then I lived in Puerto Rico, new Jersey, chicago, and then found myself back in the Carolinas when I went to school at Appalachian State, and I've been here in Charleston for about 20 years.
Speaker 3:Okay, so now Charleston is definitely home.
Speaker 4:It is definitely home, although the mountains are calling.
Speaker 3:So we'll see. Is that where you fly fish in the mountains?
Speaker 4:Yes, my husband and I go up to western North Carolina almost once a month to fish and you know, with all the horrendous things that have been happening up there, we haven't been fishing, obviously, but supporting from afar through donations and awareness and just trying to do what we can to help that community.
Speaker 2:If I was to go fishing cashiers, where would I go?
Speaker 4:I can't tell you that on this podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry. Why? Because it's too popular.
Speaker 4:Well, because I have a fantastic spot there and not a lot of people know about it, so we want to make sure that stays on the DL.
Speaker 2:Wow, I like it, I like it.
Speaker 3:She'll slide you a note when this is over. Yes, exactly, we won't put it out there to the masses.
Speaker 2:We'll make a comment and we'll find out where.
Speaker 4:I mean, if you end up going there, it's so incredibly gorgeous.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, we're going tonight actually Okay Are you, oh good.
Speaker 4:Well, yes, I'll make sure to give you some tips and tricks before you leave.
Speaker 2:Please. Amazing. So if I was to think of a Charleston marketing agency, the way you're describing it, you would be the Charleston marketing agency, right the way, the outdoorsy, the food, the, the lifestyle you guys are living yes and the work that you're producing yeah not so bad yeah, not so bad.
Speaker 4:We got our start here in charleston, but we're definitely looking to have charleston lee is born and raised in charleston yeah, she's at the inside charlestonian oh yeah what she's doing.
Speaker 3:Did you see what he did there?
Speaker 1:He did that.
Speaker 3:But what I like about what your agency is doing is that you're actually really changing the world.
Speaker 4:Oh right, One client at a time.
Speaker 3:A lot of us are creatives but your agency really is changing the world. Can you tell me what? Because a lot of maybe listeners don't understand what it is. But what is a certified?
Speaker 4:B Corp, sure, and I'm happy to explain, because as I've had more and more conversations, I've realized fewer and fewer people actually know what a B Corp is, and I'm in this little silo where I'm like everybody knows. So it's really important to talk about what it is. But a B Corp is a purpose-driven organization, so you're putting purpose over profit. Traditional business models have always been very profit driven, but when you are a B Corp, you're making sure that that purpose is equally as important as the profit, and so that may mean that you're being judged on a few different pillars, right? So when you go through certification, you're getting judged on your community, your workers, your environmental impact, the way that you treat your clients and your audiences, and then governance. So you have a bunch of different requirements you need to meet in order to get this certification, and it is a rigorous process. I thought there were going to be days that I was going to pull my hair out and just run around the block crying.
Speaker 2:What was that one thing that was going to make you like? Why is it so rigorous?
Speaker 4:Well, so in my case it was the assessment. So the process has a couple of different steps. You go online, you sign up to take the assessment. Any company can take it.
Speaker 2:Anybody can do it, anybody Listeners?
Speaker 4:Yes, so you go online, you take the assessment. The assessment is more than 100 questions covering those different areas that I just spoke about, and the questions, some are very straightforward, like what was your annual budget for last year? Cool, I can answer that. What was your head count? No problem. And then others are like what was the exact amount of water that your rental unit? Use over the course of the two-year period in leaders Like so complex, and I tend to be someone who is a very thoughtful thinker, aka overthinker.
Speaker 3:How would you?
Speaker 4:even pull these facts and figures Well. So you have to work with the rest of the team and generally, when you're a company getting B Corp certified, depending on the size of your organization, the team could be comprised of one person, such as myself, sure. Or if you're a larger organization, you could have an entire sustainability team that's focused on gathering all this data. Okay, so in my case, I had to go through all the questions, make sure that I was reading them correctly, because some of them seemed like they were written in a foreign language and could be interpreted a million different ways and then work with our different departments to get those answers and luckily, in my case, I'm really leading the charge on the diversity, equity, inclusion, sustainability, environmentally, the environmental impact and then I would work with our accountant for the numbers and then with our leadership team on policies and procedures, and get all of those answers, have documents to support all of those answers as well, surveys, then Surveys to your employees to get the data that they're looking for.
Speaker 4:As far as, how they're being treated Exactly.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's a tough.
Speaker 4:So that's one of them. Now, is it all?
Speaker 1:anonymous.
Speaker 3:Is it sent in to them and you don't see it, or you pull all this data and you submit it all at one time.
Speaker 4:So you pull this data and you submit it at one time. Once you complete your assessment, then it takes generally anywhere from two months to up to six months, depending on how many other assessments they're analyzing. And then you work with a specific individual who you meet with two or three different times for about an hour or two and you go through a handful of questions. They ask you more details about the specific questions, the documentation you provided, analyze it and once you make it through that, it's kind of a very nerve-wrenching waiting period and then you find out whether or not you've been certified, and then you find out whether or not you've been certified.
Speaker 4:So in our case we were doing a lot of things right from the get-go, because Lee has always been very adamant about purpose. We want to serve our communities, we want to give back. We don't want to just do marketing for the sake of marketing. We want to have reasons behind the clients that we work with and what messages we're putting out there. That is externally, but internally it's always been a very people-first culture. We have something called the no a-hole policy.
Speaker 2:Oh sorry.
Speaker 4:I don't know if I'm allowed to say that but Is it in the handbook?
Speaker 3:Does it say no a-hole policy in the handbook?
Speaker 2:Yes, I think we know what you're talking about.
Speaker 4:Yes, so I mean that just shows how people-forward our culture is. So we've been treating our people really wonderfully from day one. And then, additionally, we put in systems to help us figure out what our clients think about us. So what is their satisfaction rate, getting the feedback from them, and then, of course, the employee component, through anonymous engagement surveys, having a full, robust review process. So all of these different elements came together and so when I came on board with obviously I'm a passionate conservationist and they're like Kate, I think this is something that you should be in charge of and I was like, yes, I'm going to take it, I'm going to run with it.
Speaker 4:And so it was definitely a huge learning experience, but well worth every single minute spent getting to the place where we are now.
Speaker 3:Now, when did you actually acquire the certification? Was it recently?
Speaker 4:Yes, it was actually on June 11, 2024. Excellent, wow, that's our B-Day. That's amazing, oh your B-Day, that's awesome.
Speaker 4:So relatively recent. It took us about two years from start to finish to get this certification. That's not normal. I guess every company is going to navigate it in a different time frame. Some, who have a devoted team, will get it done in a month or two. Others will get it done in a year. In our case it took about two years because we wanted to make sure that this was right for us as an organization. So while we were very gung-ho from the beginning to get the certification, we also wanted to make sure that it made sense for our organization. So I had some really thoughtful conversations with our leadership team answering some really important questions that they had about how this could affect our business, the pros, the cons, lessons learned from other agencies like Brains, who's located up in Greenville, and how they got the certification. Why they got the certification came together with that information, decided yes, we are going to do this. And then the assessment process began. Then this was during COVID, so of course there were some hurdles during that time.
Speaker 4:What do you mean Just you know priorities, Like, of course, okay, staying alive, so just managing multiple projects while working towards the certification at the same time being essentially a one-man band that's a lot.
Speaker 3:That's why it took a little bit longer. Now, since you've gotten the certification, have you seen like an uptick in like different kind of clients? Like, have you seen a different change in the marketing campaigns that you're working on? Like, how are you putting it into your strategy?
Speaker 4:Sure, so we were already putting it into our strategy even before becoming B Corp certified. We've always been a very purpose impact driven organization, and so we actually created a specific impact team, which is the team that I lead at. Obviously Okay, so our clients fall under the purpose umbrella. So we work with amazing organizations like Low Country Land Trust, who are just incredible, incredible nonprofit here in town.
Speaker 2:Okay, what do they do?
Speaker 4:So they preserve land and put it under easement so that it's essentially fending off builders and making it so that we're not destroying our local ecosystems, because if we build too much, we have too much infrastructure, then the whole entire environment is going to suffer and then we're not going to have the beautiful oak country that we have anymore.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and one of their key projects is actually the Angel Oak Preserve and so that is obviously the Angel Oak tree. They fought tooth and nail to keep that from turning into a 600 unit housing development. It was in the, it was that was in the works.
Speaker 3:Yes, wow, turning into a 600-unit housing development that was in the works potentially, yes, wow, that's mind-boggling to me. It absolutely is. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Speaker 4:And the housing units and the asphalt and stuff would have been on the roots of the Angel.
Speaker 3:Oak what.
Speaker 4:So it was a very very bad thing.
Speaker 3:It's such a treasured landmark in our city.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I can't believe that was even proposition and yeah, so the low country land trust was able to acquire the land around the angel oak thanks to the coastal community foundation grant program.
Speaker 4:Which was amazing, two local organizations working together and so now they are looking at creating this incredible preserve that's going to serve as a hub for education and just making it so has beautiful walking paths that people are not trampling on the roots of the tree, and just making it so it has beautiful walking paths that people are not trampling on the roots of the tree and just taking the best care of this iconic landmark in Charleston.
Speaker 2:Oh wow, I'm glad I asked yes.
Speaker 4:So I mean, I could go on for days about the work they're doing. And then another one that I'm very excited about is a new organization called the Charleston Center for Paleontology. Okay, and so it is founded by this wonderful human, dr Elizabeth Kane, and she, you know, is a PhD but not a paleontologist. She's basically an advocate for paleontology in the Lowcountry region, and what a lot of people don't realize is that we have an incredible fossil record underneath our feet that pretty much nobody's studying, but that fossil record plays a huge puzzle piece in evolution in general, and so she is working to do the digging and find that fossil record and answer questions that we have about evolution and climate change and how past climate change, what we can learn from it now that we're going through similar situations, and so just a really cool organization. They actually found I think it was a 26 million year old dolphin fossil in somerville just about two months ago, so coming from someone who's?
Speaker 3:got like an elementary school age child and he does too? Are they coming to schools? Are they sharing this knowledge with others in the community? What like sure Can they come to my school?
Speaker 2:Yes, pto's calling you right now.
Speaker 4:Yes she is. They're relatively new, so they're just dipping their toes in that.
Speaker 3:Okay, they have about one or two.
Speaker 4:When the time comes, please give them my number.
Speaker 4:Yeah, they have about one or two outreach programs scheduled, but that is definitely one of her pillars. That is very neat. Yeah, so I get to work with really cool organizations doing really cool work for the Lowcountry but also throughout the nation too. We work with Bonefish Tarpon Trust, which is a really great non-profit working to preserve our waters and ecosystem and fish population down in Florida, which ultimately has a waterfall effect on the rest of the fish populations around the world. So just love working with those organizations that have that positive impact.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. Now, when you become a certified B Corp, I'm just really interested in it yes. Do they give you like specific tools, like how do you?
Speaker 4:better take those tools to like educate your clients, oh my gosh, that's the best part about becoming a certified B Corp are all the resources that you have at your fingertips. So when you have that official badge, then you have access to this portal called the Beehive. And so in the Beehive you have a forum. You have all these different groups focused on things such as marketing impact, climate change, diversity, equity and inclusion just anything that falls under that purpose umbrella and then they have webinars and just educational materials that you can pull at any time and use those to help amplify your campaigns or help you have an even better B Corp score the next time that you get certified, because you actually have to get certified every three years.
Speaker 3:That was going to be another question. Yes, you have to go through the exact same process every three years.
Speaker 4:Not the exact same process. It's a little bit toned back, since we've already been officially certified, but it's really important to stay on top of what type of questions they are presenting this new round. They're going through a whole kind of revamp of the certification system, so at this point I don't know what to expect about two and a half years from now, but what we do know is how we can improve. So as a result of the assessment, we see all the areas that we did very well in, and then we can pull a report that shows the areas where we could use significant amount of improvement.
Speaker 4:And so we take that information and our aim is to have a higher score every time we recertify. Amazing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I feel like obviously has always kind of had been the gold standard of starting with change.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Because I remember was it like 2019, 2020? I could be wrong. Like pre-COVID, you guys started implementing the Act in Solidarity.
Speaker 4:Yes, our Act in Solidarity collective happened after the murder of George Floyd, and so agencies came together to take a stand and create a more inclusive, equitable working environment for all and community. And so we formed this internal collective, and so it's comprised of volunteer team members who come together once a month and we, at the beginning of the year, put together a plan and we hold ourselves accountable to that plan. These are the things that we want to change within the organization to make it more inclusive and equitable. How are we tracking? Do we need to shift anything along the way? And then we report out to the team about quarterly, so they're in the know of what we're doing behind the scenes, and then, at the end of the year, we, during our team retreat, present more of a robust overlook of everything that we accomplished, and then do the same thing year over year. We're not perfect, but we're at least trying Now.
Speaker 3:is this a South Carolina thing, or is this just? This is just at Obviously.
Speaker 2:This is.
Speaker 4:Obviously, but they've also connected with other agencies, so that was Agencies in Solidarity and that happened, I think, in 2020. And I feel as though that's dissolved since then, because I remember Trio Solutions took some of the messaging and the initiatives back to that agency, yep, and so certainly, hopefully, like Trio did, like obviously did, making sure that we don't just do one and done. Like okay, we're going to take a stand. Things have fizzled down. Let's get back to our other work. We are absolutely making this core to what we do. That's amazing.
Speaker 2:Can you give an example Of what Of what you did within your organization to make we do? That's amazing. Can you give an example Of what Of what you did within your organization to make it more Sure?
Speaker 4:So one of the priorities for us is at the organization as a whole, is professional development, and so we want to make sure that we are marketing in a very culturally sensitive way, and so we had a series this past year where every quarter we were joined by our DE&I partner, akate Kern, and she came in and did four different sessions on culturally competent marketing.
Speaker 4:And so each of those sessions focused on how can we market through a more inclusive lens, how can we connect with populations authentically so we're not essentially greenwashing, right or purpose washing and just assuming we know what they want? Instead, what tactics can we put in place and speak to the individuals and get them involved in these conversations so that we're being really open, transparent and sensitive with how our marketing?
Speaker 2:campaigns. I want her on the show, please. She's Atlanta-based.
Speaker 4:But she would be a fantastic one if you ever do virtual, because she's also co-owner of an agency. Oh, okay, yes, that's amazing. She's an incredible human.
Speaker 3:I think we had a one year Didn't we try to do a Spark Awards centered around this? Oh, I don't know who we a one year Didn't we have a try to do it, was it?
Speaker 2:a.
Speaker 3:Spark Awards centered around this.
Speaker 2:I don't know who we are this year, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, can't remember you should.
Speaker 2:Totally 100% should. Yeah, that's a great idea. Going back to the B Corps.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:What's it cost?
Speaker 4:It depends on the size of your agency. So once you get certified it's a yearly fee. I believe for us it's around $2,000. But if you're a really big agency it could be a million dollars.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it depends on the agency. Yes, so it could be affordable for a solopreneur.
Speaker 4:Oh, absolutely. It could be affordable and, at the end of the day, purpose over profit right.
Speaker 2:So an investment. I know, I know I'm asking the questions here I'm asking the tough questions here, I get it. He's gonna take this knowledge and take it back to his own. I'm not done asking the tough questions, though what it has there been an?
Speaker 3:roi and or minus purpose and or uh giving back to the world I understand that I love that too.
Speaker 2:I'm very much on that theme okay uh, is there any tax benefits?
Speaker 4:tax benefits I'm not sure about. I would imagine yes, because it is a nonprofit.
Speaker 2:I'll have to.
Speaker 4:Google it that we are supporting, you know, b Corp, nationally or internationally, I should say, is a nonprofit. So maybe there is, and then ROI, absolutely. So the ROI is twofold. We have more companies who are interested in us because we are focusing on impact I would think so marketing, but the ultimate roi is attracting the best talent. Now more than ever.
Speaker 2:Okay, that makes a lot of sense now, more than ever employee.
Speaker 4:Like job seekers, are looking for organizations. They get back, give back, have purpose, are authentic, transparent, and that's how we attract the best talent. And when you have the best talent, they're going to do the best work and the clients are going to be blown away by this incredible work and keep coming back and referring you and it just is like this wonderful, beautiful waterfall effect.
Speaker 2:Aw, is it going on right now, this waterfall effect? Is it happening?
Speaker 4:I mean, it's always happening.
Speaker 2:I feel like it is I right now. This waterfall effect, is it?
Speaker 3:happening. I mean it's always happening. I feel like it is, I feel like it is. Yeah, I want to just step into your doors.
Speaker 2:It'll be like an adult disneyland, you know. Come out a better human yeah, oh, you're like a, like a human wash, like here I am I'm a better marketer and human as I walk through your door yeah, but it is kind of a catch-22 in a way, because sometimes I feel like I have to be the police with new business right.
Speaker 4:So we want to make sure that when we're having these new business conversations, the potential clients that come through our door or through our Zoom meetings align with the work we want to do being B Corp certified I can see that Adopting the initiative. Sometimes I have to be like let's tap the brakes. Are we really going to talk to this company that is making something that's single use and going to end up in a landfill? I don't think that's a wise move.
Speaker 3:So I have to kind of check in with our new business team. I like that you're practicing what you preach, though.
Speaker 4:You're not just using it as a?
Speaker 3:badge of honor to no, you're using it in all that you do.
Speaker 4:I mean, I feel like I'm a thorn in their side sometimes because of course they're a new business and they want that ROI.
Speaker 3:But at the same time it's like is it worth the risk? You're looking out for the environment and you're looking out for their best interests overall.
Speaker 4:Exactly, and so I've actually provided them with a checklist, a basic checklist. If you're going to be talking to a potential client, at least make sure that they check these boxes sure, and then we can continue the conversation of those boxes uh, no single use plastics okay, all right, there's three of those um and then there are some industries that we actually have to stay away from okay as being a b corp certified oh, it's part of.
Speaker 3:What agencies do you have to stay away from just?
Speaker 4:so the industries are like firearms, marijuana, oil and gas you know anything along, things that could be considered toxic in a way.
Speaker 2:No matter as natural as it is.
Speaker 3:How are you educating people about what you're offering Like? In a sense, is there like a page dedicated on your website to be more about certified B Corp and that kind? Of thing and what someone could expect when they come to work with you. Like an intro meeting.
Speaker 4:Yes, so we are in that process of building everything out Good.
Speaker 4:Good. We just announced our certification about a month ago. Yes, we finally went public with it about a month ago, so finally went public with it. And the plan is to create an educational campaign so that others can kind of learn from our experience. And so we want to make sure other agencies, other companies, other clients know the basics, 101s of what it takes to be a B Corp, what was really difficult for us, what was really easy, how maybe you can get started. Because if you are an organization looking at the certification and you see that assessment, you can get very overwhelmed very quickly. So I think it's really important to start somewhere, just start somewhere, and that could be through a collective, like our act in solidarity collective. Or it could be environmentally friendly office practices Start composting, recycling, low water faucets, environmentally friendly lighting, bikes at the office, the work remote policy, because that's cutting back on emissions that it takes to drive to the office, and all that jazz.
Speaker 4:So you can start somewhere and then just build upon that foundation and before you know it, you'll be at a place where you feel really good about being able to apply, and then you'll get certified and join the rest of us cool kids.
Speaker 3:Love that I feel like you've probably been a part of some really cool campaigns over the years.
Speaker 4:Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3:So what are, after all these years of being, you know, in conservation and that kind of, what are some of your favorite campaigns that you've worked on? I bet you've done some neat stuff.
Speaker 4:So for profit and well, I should say pro bono and not pro bono. So through work. One of my favorites was our Win Back Our Water campaign with Bonefish, tarpon and Trust, and we really spearheaded the entire campaign. We did the branding, we did all the public relations, we provided them with the assets for social media and then we hosted a media event. And so the entire purpose of this Win Back Our Water campaign was to highlight the concern of pharmaceuticals in the waterways in Florida and then other toxins as well, and really rallying everybody in the state of Florida to take a stand, sign, petition and get the government there to provide more funding to clean the water that was so toxic. And so they accomplished that goal.
Speaker 4:That was extremely rewarding. We had really amazing content as a result of it and just knowing at the end of the day that we were part of a solution just felt really good. So that was through, obviously. And then work with surf rider. I would say the don't drill campaign. Okay, we had, you know, controversy, I don't know, probably five, eight years ago time I lose track of time these days but where they were looking at doing drilling offshore of south carolina without any feasible data or research and they just wanted to go.
Speaker 4:you know, go for it and so we surf rider rallied with all local conservation organizations and got you know governor mcmaster to come down and local business leaders and mayors to take a stand against it.
Speaker 4:Because I remember cunningham getting involved in yeah, it would have been so bad for our waterways and our ecosystems, and so being part of that awareness campaign was very rewarding. We we surf rider had the surfboard that traveled up the entire east Coast. We didn't paddle it or anything like that, but we handed off chapter to chapter and then, when we got the surfboard in Charleston, putting together a press conference, having that as a visual aid, getting the signatures of supporters and then passing it on to the next chapter. So really impactful campaign, right?
Speaker 2:there? How do you even get ahead of that? How did you even find out that they were going to do that? And then was it? You were the one that's like, no, they're not doing that, I'm going to do this.
Speaker 3:I can see you're doing that. She's going to march in there.
Speaker 2:I'm fired up, just sitting next to her right now. You're going to start composting tomorrow.
Speaker 3:I don't know what I'm upset about, brumbo is.
Speaker 4:Stop by your house and be like hmm, so it is just all the conservation organizations coming together. We work in tandem because if we don't, we won't get much accomplished. And so I'm not sure which of the conservation organizations it could have been Coastal Conservation League just bringing like hey guys, we got to take steps towards this and then Surfrider nationally put support behind it and ultimately the surfboard ended up in Washington DC. We got in front of senators and house members and got them on board and made it happen.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh yeah. So how big is Surfrider?
Speaker 4:Here in Charleston National. Well, it's actually an international organization.
Speaker 2:Oh cool.
Speaker 4:But it's based in San Clemente, california, and then there's chapters throughout the United States and all of the chapters are volunteer run.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we know all about those, yes.
Speaker 4:Yeah, exactly, it's like having a second job, yes, but it is very rewarding when you see the impact that you have and the change that you can be a catalyst for.
Speaker 2:What's the dot com? How can people find out more about it?
Speaker 4:Just go to Instagram Charleston Surf Rider. You can find them there. Now it's in the hands of all these incredible Gen Z, gen X, whatever generation's younger than me. So Gen Z and they're just running with it. So much social media. They're just having so many beach suites and community get-togethers.
Speaker 3:That's amazing. I love that younger generations care more about the world.
Speaker 4:Well, and that's what's so important about purpose and impact-driven marketing, right is, that is what consumers want. When I am on social media, I am inundated nonstop with Gen X going to Goodwill and seeing all these deals they can get and then posting videos about yes, look how minimally I can live. And so they care. And so the brands need to be listening and us, as marketers, need to be the ones that are advising those brands of authentic ways to get in front of these audiences personally, I enjoy, like buying goods from someone who's giving back yes any kind of like.
Speaker 3:I have a friend who um has a non-profit in la called the giving keys and she works with homeless people downtown and she makes. I have a friend who has a nonprofit in LA called the Giving Keys and she works with homeless people downtown and she picks these keys and she puts words of inspiration on them and now it's become like a global movement. So if you see someone on the street and they're having a hard time, you give them the key that says like inspiration or like you know what have you, and it's huge.
Speaker 1:But I love that you're so not only like, you're like walking the walk yeah absolutely just down to the core.
Speaker 3:I can tell that about you that's amazing.
Speaker 4:A little bit passionate?
Speaker 3:no, it's huge, I bet, when you put your head down at night. You are proud.
Speaker 4:I'm proud of you yeah, it's amazing, I'm sure right yes, yes, but you know, going back to what those consumers want, they can see right through green washing and purpose washing, and I think us as marketers need to do our diligence in asking the hard questions to these clients before we ever form a partnership with them. They say we are eco-conscious and sustainable and conservative, like all these trendy words, and so it can be easy to get bamboboozled by that, but as a marketer, you need to say okay. So tell me exactly how you're helping the environment. Tell me exactly how much money you've been giving back to community causes. Tell me how many plastic bottles you've picked up from the environment as a result of this campaign over my lifetime lifetime, I pick up a lot of bottles, me too.
Speaker 4:Well, what kind of bottles?
Speaker 2:Oh dear, no, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 4:And so you have to ask those questions because otherwise you're getting absorbed into that purpose washing and it doesn't feel good. You want to make sure that when you're creating these campaigns they're as authentic as possible so they resonate directly with those audiences.
Speaker 2:I have a thought Okay, go ahead Real quick, go for it. And it goes on to the idea of one-use bottles almost right. Like just garbage to have garbage Content. Digital content just to have digital content. Oh yeah, right.
Speaker 3:Can we clean up the digital? I'm so tired of the phrase. Content is king. Let's just put everything out there.
Speaker 2:Content is king, but in a sense, but yeah, right, with the right content, right, yeah, like. But like there's so much garbage out there nowadays, like can we just like, put a limit to it somehow, or just put more thought to these, this content? Yeah make it more purposeful. Well, that's why you hire that's why you hire, you know, agencies, like obviously.
Speaker 3:But my question is I'm sitting here thinking about, I'm listening to you and like it's such an innate part of who you are and for a lot of small businesses they might not necessarily be able to afford like and obviously, or a marketing like, how do you think they would even get started like, do you think this is like on their about page, like on their mission statement? Like if they're living it, you know they're walking the walk and they're doing the things like, how do they communicate that without being like imposter syndrome and, like you said, like what did you call it exactly?
Speaker 2:What did you say again? Oh, purpose washing, purpose washing.
Speaker 3:I'm leaving with that phrase. It is very cool. Yes, I've never heard that before. Purpose washing Okay, love it, yeah. So I mean, how would you suggest a small business who is a mom and pop shop, who's doing these things, to communicate that to the public?
Speaker 4:Right, so there's a couple of different ways. Of course, you have to be your most authentic self.
Speaker 3:Yes, if you are, which is sometimes hard for people, very hard. Yes, that's weird.
Speaker 2:I don't know how that is so hard.
Speaker 3:Mike is very confident in himself. But then there's the rest of us.
Speaker 4:Yeah right, that's what it is so authenticity if you are being authentic, you should have no problem talking about that. Have no problem talking about that. And then data, data, data. Track your data and if you like to have a more subtle approach, then create an impact report. So track that data throughout the year and at the end of the year, put out a blog post, put out maybe a fancy report, if you have really talented graphic designers.
Speaker 4:Post it on your website. Have a dedicated webpage on your website that shows we do X, y and Z. We've, you know, diverted this many amounts of carbon emission through, you know, buying off offsetting carbon emissions, or we have composted this many pounds of trash this year, so that putting your money where your mouth is, essentially and that's what people want, otherwise they're not going to trust you and it it doesn't have to be a big lift. Also, incorporating into your social media campaigns, right. So if you're a mom and pop business, you're making a difference. You're doing all these wonderful things. Use that as a platform to help other people get on board as well. So if you compost at work, then maybe share your top three tips for composting that someone can learn from on your Instagram account and you're showing them that it doesn't have to be all or nothing. And we're not perfect.
Speaker 3:We're far from perfect, but at least we're starting somewhere yeah, now are you the only agency in the area that are is certified?
Speaker 4:yes, we are, I can uh out, in the entire state of South Carolina I believe there's only eight B Corp certified businesses. There is one other agency. They're up in Greenville, they're called Brains.
Speaker 2:You said that earlier.
Speaker 4:Yes, as in you were like why is she saying Brains? How should I be worried? But they are an incredible agency. I look to them for inspiration.
Speaker 2:Okay, writing that down.
Speaker 4:They're so fun and funky and cool. And they were the first B Corp certified agency in South Carolina, nice, I love it. And then we're number two. And then in the Charleston area we have maybe three or four businesses that are B Corp certified. So one of them is Planet Purpose Solutions that's owned by my good friend Leah Colabello, who without her I don't think we would be certified.
Speaker 4:Interesting so she works with organizations to help them with their sustainability ESG efforts and has worked with large and small companies to get them B Corp certified. Walk them through the process she was like just yes, brains, um, she was in my back pocket helping me everywhere and I am so, so, so thankful for Leah, so hi Leah. And then there's another brand I think they are a skincare brand that is also B Corp certified Interesting.
Speaker 3:I wonder how many there are nationwide. I'm sure there's statistics. Oh gosh.
Speaker 4:I'm not sure off the top of my head, nationally, but internationally, there's only about 8,000 companies that are B Corp certified. Oh my gosh, wow, and we are. When it comes to advertising and marketing agencies, it's something like 0.12% of agencies in the world are certified. So there's a lot of room for improvement on that front and a lot of agencies who could certainly jump on board. And for any local agencies that have questions or need help, I am more than happy to say should they reach out to you directly.
Speaker 4:Yes, they can reach out to me directly. I'm happy to grab coffee, meet, virtually, do whatever, because I want to see more and more ethical marketing and I think it's just so important that if we're all doing that, then the businesses are going to have to start paying attention. So it's just so important that if we're all doing that, then the businesses are going to have to start paying attention. So it's just again well yeah, it all works in tandem exactly, exactly, in numbers too right yeah, strength in numbers.
Speaker 2:Your site's awesome.
Speaker 4:Look at that your future is obvious.
Speaker 2:That's really neat uh, go to obviouslycom uh.
Speaker 3:You got to spell it out.
Speaker 2:It's pretty awesome. It's obvious, then L-E-Ecom.
Speaker 4:Yes, after our founder, I thought that was so clever.
Speaker 2:I popped over to Brains as well and their opening shot. They have Kristen Bell.
Speaker 4:Yeah, she's one of their clients Are you kidding?
Speaker 2:Okay, x out of that. I can't look at that anymore.
Speaker 4:That's just awesome.
Speaker 3:That's awesome, she's awesome.
Speaker 2:That blows my mind. That's great.
Speaker 4:Yeah, they're cool.
Speaker 2:They're great. Another thing that kind of blows my mind is that we get a lot of listeners in Charlotte.
Speaker 3:Oh, really yeah. Oh, I wonder if there's any agencies in Charlotte. I wonder if there are and some in.
Speaker 2:Greenville and some in Greenville, but Charlotte is, it's like most listeners Mount Pleasant, charlotte and then Charleston.
Speaker 4:Oh, wow, that's wild. Hey, everyone in Charlotte, hey.
Speaker 3:Charlotte. Yeah, exactly, I wonder if there are any other agencies in Charlotte? Well, we had Blair. I would hope so, blair.
Speaker 2:Primus is from Charlotte. We had him on. I meant that our B Corp, that our B Corp that our B Corp.
Speaker 3:She can inspire them.
Speaker 4:You should put Well and I hope I didn't scare anyone with how difficult the assessment was. Once you get through it, you feel really good and if you have someone like me or someone like Leah helping you along the way, it's not going to be a heavy lift, especially being a marketing agency. There's an advantage to that because we're not producing product right, we don't have that supply chain, we don't have to have inspections of factories where things are made and have a material materials assessment. It's pretty straightforward, really focused on your people, the impact in your community, your clients, you know the environment and just how you operate as a business. And then I also want to add that, in order to become official, there is one big requirement, and so in other states you have to change your tax status and be a benefits corporation. However, here in South Carolina that is not the case, which is really wonderful, because then you don't have to jump through all those legal hoops.
Speaker 4:Instead, you have to put specific verbiage in your legal documents, and so you add that verbiage, which they provide you with, into the legal documents. Have a lawyer review and approve. Submit it. You're good to go.
Speaker 3:So you made all of these changes. All of this went live in June. How do you see it changing your business model? I know that you were already doing purpose-driven marketing and aligning with brands who adopted the same philosophy, and you know lifestyle as you and you know making those choices, but do you see any changes that you're going to be made or did you have to get rid of any clients or anything like that?
Speaker 4:I mean we have had to say no to new business opportunities because they weren't in line with our B Corp requirements, which is always really tough, right? Because?
Speaker 3:we want the money, but it's pretty black and white. You can tell them yeah, exactly, we love you, we support you, but this is what we're living by.
Speaker 2:We'll send them the Roomba. We'll go ahead and send those people the Roomba.
Speaker 3:That's my agency, Kate. He's going to be composting. That's my mission. Get both of you guys certified.
Speaker 4:But, yes, we've had to say no. Luckily, we didn't have to kick anyone off the roster, but as far as what is in store for the future, we're definitely leaning hard into that impact model. So our focus is really going to be impact events. And then outdoor, and luckily, almost every outdoor brand um, almost every outdoor brand has some sort of give back component, and so when I was working with olakai footwear, which is an incredible footwear brand, um, they had their Ama Olakai Foundation, which supported 10 different nonprofits in Hawaii. They were also a B Corp certified brand, and so working with them was just so much fun because I knew that, even though I was sending shoes to people to review and putting gear guides, at the same time I had the opportunity to talk about all the Amaulikai work, and so that was very exciting. So, like I said, impact events outdoors that's our focus.
Speaker 2:I love that. Yeah, I love that. And then the B Corp thing is huge too. I bet people seek that out too.
Speaker 4:They do Well, consumers especially. Like the Gen Xers. They're looking for that. B Corp logo.
Speaker 2:Gen Zers maybe, or Gen Z I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:I keep getting that mixed up. When you mentioned brands, the first thing that came to mind was like skincare and hair products and like that kind of thing.
Speaker 4:All I know is I'm a millennial, so everybody else has all these different letters.
Speaker 2:I was a millennial. I was like it's 78 to 82. Like it's really weird.
Speaker 4:But consumers can look for that B Corp logo on the product. They don't have to then go in and check a brand's sustainability report or read articles or whatever. They know that they've already met those rigorous standards. So, hey, this is going to be a really cool brand to support. So look for that logo. Be part of the change, support those organizations and then together we can change the world.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3:That is awesome.
Speaker 2:Kelly back there, is pumping her up too.
Speaker 3:She's excited.
Speaker 2:How cool is it that you get to work with your passion.
Speaker 4:Oh, it's so cool, I love it. You're bleeding passion.
Speaker 2:right now I'm like I can feel it from you.
Speaker 4:I love it. It's funny because working in television news, as I mentioned earlier it will Soul sucking Soul sucking. I can't imagine you in that environment. Well, I'm a very good multitasker so she was fighting it. She was. But what was cool, though, is, as a producer, I could weave in those conservation stories and community stories, because, at the end of the day, I got to make the call exactly which was awesome. So it kind of started there and then, when I transitioned to the aquarium, yeah it was all about conservation yeah, and.
Speaker 4:I was like, yes, this is the best thing ever I get to go on tv with an owl and I get to go hang out with dolphins all day amazing yeah, talk about the really amazing work of the sea turtle rescue program you could probably be really happy.
Speaker 2:You were probably like just glowing on camera with this owl right, just talking about how cool this owl yes, pippin was her name.
Speaker 3:That's amazing.
Speaker 1:I loved pippin, that's a core memory she's gonna hang on when you're talking about.
Speaker 3:That's all I can think of brands, and the number one that came to mind, of course, was tom's, and I just looked them up.
Speaker 4:Yeah, they're b corp. They'rep Patagonia. I was thinking Patagonia.
Speaker 3:Ben Jerry's yes, chloe, which is like a purse brand. That's amazing. Athleta, athleta, I love Athleta. That's amazing, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's pretty cool that being a B Corp kind of puts you in obviously's name and brand in that category.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 3:Absolutely big category. Yeah, frank, and Eileen is another huge one. Yes, I mean the body shop, some heavy hitters, beauty Counter, which once again beauty products.
Speaker 2:Didn't that go under? I think Beauty Counter went under, didn't it Anyhow?
Speaker 3:Lush, lush.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love.
Speaker 3:Lush Bomb. Oh, me too. Don't even talk. I had a bad day. Matthew goes to the store and gets me Lush Bomb, he brings me a glass of wine and I stay by myself.
Speaker 2:The world is good again.
Speaker 3:Listen to podcasts.
Speaker 2:Anyhow, like the marketing one. What's a plush button?
Speaker 4:now Lush. It's a cosmetic bath body. Your poor wife, I will help you it is over there in Town Center.
Speaker 3:It's the bath bombs. They're awesome.
Speaker 4:And all their packaging is, I believe, compostable.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, they. They smell like heaven, all right, all right, yeah, hook me up. I need one of those for Emily. You know, b Corps are not tax exempt.
Speaker 4:It's not, it's fine. I'm just looking that up here. I just wanted to clarify that.
Speaker 2:I don't know when it was a good time to bring that up. I might just edit that out, yeah.
Speaker 4:Now, we know Now we know.
Speaker 2:I just wanted to make sure we knew that. But what an amazing thing you guys are doing there and I love the fact that we're spreading the word so that more agencies can pick up on this.
Speaker 3:I'm excited to see what Obvious does next.
Speaker 2:I'm excited to see this go viral.
Speaker 4:I hope it goes viral. Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2:Just like agencies doing good for other agencies, doing good for the community good for other agencies doing good for the community?
Speaker 4:yes, and I would. I would like to think that most marketers are in it for giving back to the greater good and not a lot of you, like a lot of us, have the opportunity to have our voice heard in that sense. So we have to get the buy-in from leadership and that buy-in can happen through following what other B Corps are doing, following the trends that consumers where they're buying what they care about, and then I think agencies will see it just makes sense because, like I was saying earlier, it gives you a leg up on the competition. When we approach new client opportunities, they see we're a B Corp, they know automatically that our values align and they want to talk to us.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that would be the difficult part Educating the clients on the importance of that as well.
Speaker 1:That's the hard part.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's amazing. I love what you guys are doing and your energy is infectious. I want to go home and be a better human because of you. Well, you know, just start somewhere I'm going to start recycling? No, he's not.
Speaker 2:I'm going to come check with you. I'm going to recycle. I want to see a look I got from Kate. The call yeah, matthew, over here. Oh my gosh, I'm just kidding listeners. Of course we recycle.
Speaker 3:Poor Mike. Mike's getting beat up today, I Mike's getting beat up today.
Speaker 2:I just did this morning, sir.
Speaker 3:Thursday, that's right, thursday I went out this morning it's fuller than the garbage.
Speaker 4:Somebody go do a drive-by. There we go, exactly.
Speaker 2:Somebody go check on governance, check on Mike's house. Keep me accountable.
Speaker 3:That's a lot Awesome.
Speaker 4:You'll see me driving by once a week. You said you recycle.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I will be here. That's so cute.
Speaker 2:That's like my HOA person. Don't even get me started with.
Speaker 4:HOA. I could do an entire episode on that.
Speaker 2:Kate, what else you?
Speaker 4:got. Just keep an eye on. Obviously, we're active on Instagram, linkedin. Keep an eye on the work that we're doing. If you are a brand in need of some help, we are here for you. We're always open to having conversations and if you have questions about B Corp, just come to me. I will walk you through the process. I will answer those questions and just help you get the process started.
Speaker 2:It would be cool to maybe do a follow-up. Sure If there's any kind of paperwork that you could send us? Yeah, so that we can probably maybe add to a newsletter.
Speaker 3:Yes, Because we have, you know, obviously the marketing community. A lot of us work with agencies and work with clients and I think it'd be great to send out some resources.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Like in a newsletter type form or what have you Like I don't know, just to our members yes, absolutely I can send a whole bunch of resources.
Speaker 4:There are podcasts. There's really great articles and resources. So, happy to share.
Speaker 2:Let's spread the word. Yes, absolutely Don't, you know, don't you know, and Kate, you're doing the good work. Keep doing the good work. Thank you, you're very inspiring Lee and the team. Lee and the team.
Speaker 4:Yes, lee and our incredible team, all of the humans on our team are just blow me away every single day. I'm so thankful to work with them.
Speaker 3:You never have any educational opportunities in the city. I don't know if you have any keynotes or anything like that Talks about something like this through Low Country Local. Yes, please invite us, because I would love to come learn more about it?
Speaker 4:Yeah Well, they do the Good Business Summit every year.
Speaker 1:And that is absolutely worth attending.
Speaker 2:We were sponsored that last year. It was amazing.
Speaker 4:Yeah, they have just wonderful sessions and Low Country Local First is such a great organization, promoting local businesses and setting up local entrepreneurs for success. And just so thrilled to be part of that board as well.
Speaker 2:AMA is going to be a community partner for the Do Good Business Summit AMA is going to be a community partner for the.
Speaker 1:Do Good Business Summit Yay.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. That's literally just kind of a new thing this week. Yeah, with our new development person, kayla.
Speaker 4:Yeah, kayla's wonderful Shout out to Kayla, she's really cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, small city, small world, but you're doing great. You're doing great Well.
Speaker 4:Thank you, guys for having me on and even wanting to talk about this, I was like you want me to go on.
Speaker 1:What Do you?
Speaker 4:want it. But I think the more conversations we have about it, the more people we can get on board and show them that it's really not that scary to get through that assessment and it's going to make such a difference and just kind of want to end with even if you don't go the route of getting B Corp certified, that's OK. It may not be right for you, but you can at least do something for you. But you can at least do something and think about your marketing through an inclusive, equitable, environmentally friendly, sustainable lens and make sure that you're not purpose washing yes, there it is.
Speaker 2:That could have been the whole conversation just now. You can just wrap that up.
Speaker 3:Key takeaway no purpose washing. Yes, I love it, it's yucky.
Speaker 2:Oh, my steph, do you want to? Uh, thank our sponsors? Sure, all of them all of them.
Speaker 3:Here we go. Alright, guys, before we leave, we need to say thank you to our sponsors. Of course, the Charleston Radio Group, where we would be without them our boy Jerry Feels Good at the beats at the front and the end of the show and of course, the American Marketing Association. And if you want to be a sponsor, if you want to be a guest on our show, please, please, please, reach out to us at podcast at charlestonamaorg and we will get back in touch with you.
Speaker 2:Kate, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you're awesome. Thank you both. This was so much fun.
Speaker 3:Good, we'll see. We'll connect again soon. Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Through the AMA for sure.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 4:Hey, Steph, you don listen to the very end, do you? I? Listen to as much as I can there is no beats at the end anymore.
Speaker 3:Well, there's just beats in the front. Well, maybe we should add some beats. Have you ever listened to yourself?
Speaker 2:it is not fun I know it's so hard, it's painful you do listen to all of them.
Speaker 3:Shout out matthew barrow oh bless his heart he's all our downloads I'm like sitting at home with a pillow over my head going mad. I I sound like a tool, but that's all right. We had fun, we did, we had a great time.
Speaker 2:You did great.
Speaker 3:Kate.
Speaker 4:Thank you guys. Thanks for being here so informative.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4:Hopefully I didn't talk too fast. I just get so excited.
Speaker 3:No, I love the passion. All right guys, Thanks for tuning in.
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