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Boldly Hitting the Kentucky Bourbon Trail with Katie Peninger · We Built This Brand

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Explore and learn what all is out there that they never even knew.
0:03
And, and, you know, speaking about those
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experiences, there are ultra modern experiences.
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There are very rustic experiences.
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It's really any kind of experience you want exists.
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So how do we help people find that?
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Welcome to We Build This Brand, the podcast where we talk to
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the creators and collaborators behind brands and help bring you
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valuable insights that you can use in growing your own business.
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We're in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Today, I'm talking to Katie Peninger, VP
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of Account Service at Lewis Communications.
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This was a great conversation because we got to talk about
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the Bourbon Trail, how it got started, how she got into it,
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and some of the creative things that they've done with it for
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the 25th anniversary and what they're going to do beyond it.
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So if you're interested in learning about the Bourbon Trail, or you just like
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bourbon in general, or you just like marketing and great strategy, this is a
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great conversation about all of that combined, and I think you'll enjoy it.
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So without further ado, here's my conversation with Katie Peninger
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All right, Katie.
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Welcome to the show
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Thank you so much, Chris.
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Thanks for having me.
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Absolutely.
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It's a pleasure.
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And I'm, I'm happy that we're able to be here
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at Raven here in Nashville, Tennessee today.
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It's a little bit of a different setup and I always love
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being able to do these in person when we can make it.
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I was so excited to hear it was in person.
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So appreciated Raven helping us set this up and
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appreciate you being willing to come to Nashville.
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Absolutely.
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Thank you.
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And yeah, we're, we're happy to be out here doing this.
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So let's dive into it.
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So you work at Lewis Communications.
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You're currently the VP of Account Service.
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Yes.
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Is that right?
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That is right.
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What I've always loved to do is learn how you get to where you are.
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So if you don't mind telling me like where, where did you start?
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I noticed you have like a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
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And you got to start there.
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So how did you get to where you are today?
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Sure.
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I definitely don't have a probably typical account service background.
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I actually started the first half of my career on the creative side of things.
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I went to Auburn for graphic design, got my first design job right
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out of school at a small agency in Indiana where my husband's
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from, and never imagined that this is the path that I would take.
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So it's interesting when you think back to, "if I would have known
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then would I have done things different," but I'm I'm so glad I
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didn't because, you know, it could have changed that trajectory.
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So, um, but yeah, so being in a small agency, we wore a lot of hats, and
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I'm so grateful for that experience and that exposure to so many different
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sides of the business at the very beginning of my career, and so one
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of those was doing the account work in addition to the creative work.
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And over the years, and after 10 years of doing that, I
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started realizing I really had a love for the relationship
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building side of things for that account service piece.
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And when I started, it was time to make a change.
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And I started started thinking about that more and exploring that more, and
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this opportunity at Lewis opened, and it was an account service role and I
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was actually on the board of AAF at the time with a copy, insanely talented
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copywriter that worked at Lewis at the time and she had been there for
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long, probably over 20 years, and you know, I was asking her about Lewis,
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and because it stuck out to me how long people had been there, which as
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you probably know, in this industry, that's not at agency, in agency life.
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Yeah, see a lot of turnover in these roles.
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Exactly.
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And so, Lewis, I now understand why I've been there 11 years now.
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And so, I decided, okay, I'm going to try this, and I'm grateful they took
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a chance on a person that probably on paper, it was like, "Wait a minute.
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This is an odd split of create-, are you trying to be creative?
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Are you trying to do account service?
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What is this?"
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They took a chance on me, and here I am.
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That's, that's really cool.
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So, Um, when I think account service, I think you're helping
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clients with kind of the day in, day out, the operational,
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and also maybe providing some creative on top of that.
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Is that an accurate description of that?
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Definitely working with the clients on those day-to-day needs, overseeing that,
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working with them from a strategic, high-level standpoint, working with our
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teams across departments, and being a part of those creative conversations,
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which I think is why, you know, the way Lewis is so collaborative across all
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departments, and the way we approach our clients business and work, I think
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it's what made that transition for me so much easier than I think it would
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have been at other places where things can tend to be more siloed potentially.
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And so I think the collaborative nature of Lewis and how we all work
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together, I still feel very much a part of that creative process.
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It's just in a different way now.
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Yeah, that's, that's cool.
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When you've got an organization that's less siloed, I found when you're in
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a siloed group, you run into people that are like, well, that's not my job.
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I'm not going to handle that.
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Exactly.
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Or my, my least favorite phrase, "It is what it is."
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Oh gosh.
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Yes.
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It's like, Oh boy.
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Well, not helping.
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Exactly.
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I know.
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You know, when we're talking to people and interviewing and
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they ask about the culture at Lewis, I always talk about, I
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feel like we have this culture that it's what needs to be done.
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How do I help accomplish that and get that done, even
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if it's not normally part of my quote unquote "role."
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It's very much a, uh, that collaborative spirit of what do we need
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to do as a team to accomplish what we're trying to accomplish?
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And I think that is a core piece of Lewis that I appreciate and love.
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And that's going to make people stick around too.
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Exactly.
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Exactly.
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I think it's also nice to give people the opportunity to explore.
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Everybody has so many different talents and things
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that they're good at that sometimes may not be within.
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What you would typically think of in that role definition, but I
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love that we have this culture of use people's strengths, whether
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it's technically a part of that role or not, how do we help
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people get to explore that and use that, which I think also makes
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it more fulfilling for people and what they're doing every day.
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That's really great because I don't think I would be
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like in my career where I'm at if I hadn't had bosses and
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other people that said, "Hey, you do that one weird thing.
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Could you come help me with that?"
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Like, "Oh, you do photography.
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Well, could you come shoot this?
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Could you do that?"
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Or, "Oh, we just want to do a silly video.
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Could you be a part of it?"
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And that just led me to learn and explore and get better at all these things,
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and I mean, I think that's a, that's a great way to keep people engaged and more
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involved in the company too, because they're like, "Hey, I get to use skills.
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I wouldn't otherwise use."
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Right.
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Maybe uncover something about myself.
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I wouldn't uncover otherwise.
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Exactly.
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Well, and I even take it back to, you know, I think
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about when I, I was interviewing at Lewis 11 years ago.
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I looked so different on paper, but I think that idea of people
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can have all different backgrounds and it's, it's what gets them
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to the spot that they're in, and that's an advantage and something
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that helps, you know, shape where somebody is on their journey
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that may not be the typical background, but it can be an advantage.
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For sure.
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Definitely.
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You know, in our, our business, I like being able to bring
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on people that have more than one thing that they're good at.
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Yes.
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The more tools you have at your disposal, the more valuable you can
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be as a team member, and I think that, you know, people that bring
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a lot to the table are really good to have have at your disposals.
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So when I was looking at over Lewis's website, one thing I noticed is
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that you all said you may help businesses make bold marketing decisions.
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Um, I actually really liked the way that and I'm going to
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butcher it because I'm not looking at a paper right now.
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I can't read it, but the way you all talk about, it's
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not just, not just people or companies, it's leaders.
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You help leaders make those bold marketing decisions.
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And I found that to be one of the better
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business statements I've heard from an agency.
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Honestly, I don't know how long it took to come up with or the thought
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behind it, but I can see how that speaks to people making decisions.
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On their marketing and on their services.
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Cause they're like, yeah, I want to, I'm the leader.
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I want to make the bold decision.
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So I thought that was really clever and you're welcome.
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And I was just curious, like, how does that
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phrase, how does that concept really play out?
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Absolutely.
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I think that is something that is so important to all of us in the idea of
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really being a partner to our clients and making sure that we understand
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what they are trying to accomplish and then arming them with everything
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that they need to be able to make those informed decisions and know that
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recommendations that we are bringing or things that we may be trying to
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push them to do, bringing them the data behind it, the reasons behind
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the why behind it to help them feel confident in making those decisions.
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But at the end of the day, I think it's really about
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that partnership that we believe in with clients.
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Absolutely.
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And I noticed you all had worked with some industriesy that might be
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a little older and more traditional, need a little bit of a nudge.
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Like, for instance, the Kentucky Bourbon
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Trail, which has a special place in my heart
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Mine as well.
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for so many reasons.
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But um, tell me, tell me about that.
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So, you know, working with the Kentucky Bourbon Trail has just been a dream,
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and in my 20 plus years, it's truly one of my fave- most
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favorite things I've ever worked on, and I think it's that
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full package of finding a client that wants a partner.
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They're looking for a partner.
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And so it's somebody that we can be collaborative with.
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We bring them ideas.
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There's a trust.
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There's an open communication there that I think
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in our world, that's how we do our best work.
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And I think that's how clients do their best
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work because you can have that open dialogue.
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You can point out truths to them that I think sometimes
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it's easy for people to, you know, it's why you need outside
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perspective, and I think, you know, it's not lost on us.
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We're a Tennessee agency working on the Kentucky
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Bourbon Trail, which is such an honor to us.
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There's so much talent in that whole area, and I think that
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outside perspective, though, was something they were ready for
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and needed to be able to ultimately help them move forward.
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They had one of the best problems, which is they outgrew themselves.
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What a great problem to have.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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And then it was the 25th anniversary and they recognized
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it was time to figure out what does the future look like.
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And there were no rules.
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And it's interesting when I even think all the way back to their RFP process,
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which I've heard this on other episodes you've talked about, and I so share that
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philosophy, RFPs, I think everybody's got a lot of mixed feelings about those.
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Right.
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And what I appreciated about theirs, there were no rules that I think so often
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RFPs come in with all of these strict rules because they're coming through a
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procurement process that I think limits agencies and limits how you're able
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to really make that best first introduction for them to get to know you.
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And since this did not have the rules, we approached it in such a different
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way because we threw out all those rules and it was like, oh my gosh, finally
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an opportunity to answer this the way we always wish we could answer it.
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And we did that.
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And we did our homework and, but I feel like that set the stage for us
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because we also don't answer every RFP because they're very time consuming.
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And you want to make sure it's going to be the right fit.
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But this one, I think, that was even an indication from how they issued
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their RFP and approach that process that, okay, these are our people.
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You know, they're going through this process, but they're not trying
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to put all these parameters on it that I think was indicative of
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a client that really is looking for that true partner and not just
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check some boxes just to make a decision.
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That's great.
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So what are some of those things that you all proposed and even
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some of the things that you enacted during during this project?
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Oh, my gosh.
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Again, I could talk about this one for days.
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It's been such a fun one.
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We've been, we're coming up on two years now and, you know, we
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started our deep dive with them and doing our discovery and research,
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which we actually started some of that in that RFP response.
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We brought in a local bourbon club that my husband is a
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part of and asked them to come in and do a share and let
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us just listen to them talk and then ask them questions.
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And so, you know, we started, as we do with any of our clients, we
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want to really understand from a 360 view, what are they dealing with?
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And I think with the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, it's really interesting
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because when you think about it, you're really trying to build
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something that supports, you know, they have 46 members and growing.
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It's not just one brand.
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You're trying to build something that can support
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all of those brands and the state of Kentucky.
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And it's so much bigger, and we saw that immediately.
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And especially as, you know, we spent more time on The Trail
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talking to all of these distilleries, and, and we are big
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believers and we want to talk to people throughout an organization.
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So talking to the frontline workers of these distilleries, talking to the
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owners, um, to really make sure that we understood why, what are we trying
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to solve here, and how do we help create the best foundation for their
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future that they can evolve and grow from for the next 25 years and beyond.
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That's a huge undertaking.
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Kentucky.
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I mean, I used to live in Kentucky.
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I have been to the Bourbon Trail as we talked about before we got rolling.
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I even started dating my wife.
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I guess again, it's a long story.
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It's not really for the podcast.
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We'll have to talk about that story one day.
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We'll definitely, I'll definitely tell you offline, but, um, yeah.
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We dated, we broke up, we got back together and we're like, we're leaving.
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We went to Woodford reserve together to get a bottle of
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bourbon engraved for a cousin of hers who lived in Turkey.
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Oh my gosh.
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And so we went there to get that engraved, and
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yeah, it was a lot of, it was a lot of fun.
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We had a good time.
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And after our tour was over, we left and I was like,
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"Hey, maybe, maybe we should give this a shot again."
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And that's when it all started back.
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See, bourbon brings people together.
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It really does in so many ways.
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And, and I hadn't had enough to say the bourbon was an influence
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on that decision for sure, but, but it was definitely quite
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the experience and it was a lot of fun getting to go out there.
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But yeah, I've, I just feel like places like
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Woodford and all that, they're all very unique.
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Their approach to bourbon is very different.
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And everybody has their own approach and they have their own focus.
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And I just, yeah, I'm a huge fan of bourbon overall.
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So I love that.
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And I think I may have mentioned this to you before we got started, started
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with this recording, but I also was the committee chair for the Knoxville
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Ale Trail, which is craft beer, but very similar, and we definitely
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emulated a lot of what we saw the Kentucky Bourbon Trail doing as we tried
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to figure out how to build a way to drive tourism to Knoxville for craft
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beer lovers and just in the way you would do for bourbon in Kentucky.
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So I know on a small scale, at least, the challenges that you
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face when you're, when you're dealing with a lot of different
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personalities, a lot of different people and a lot of different
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distilleries that want to have something a certain way.
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So it's a lot of a challenge there cause you got to herd those
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cats, and then you have to make a decision on an aesthetic
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and a look and do something that's going to bring attention
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to the Bourbon Trail for what it is in this 25th anniversary.
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So I will say one of the things when I was doing research, I
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noticed was the website is a big redesign, and I was really
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thrilled to see that because prior to that redesign, I just
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remember being like, "Okay, I can find what I'm looking for.
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But that's it."
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And this seems to be a little bit more like tourism focused, a little bit
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more accommodating for people that are like, I don't live in Kentucky,
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and I want to come try to at least visit part of The Trail on my trip.
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So tell me more about that.
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Oh, my gosh, it's like you were in our minds.
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And I'm so glad that was your takeaway from it, because it says, "It's working!"
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Because, you know, back to even your original question on some of the
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things that we uncovered for them in that outside perspective, you're right.
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There's so many different personalities.
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There's so many different experiences on The Trail that you're
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trying to bring together, and one of the biggest things that we
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realized is the need for simplification because there are so many.
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And when, if you've never experienced it, even
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if you have been on it, it can be overwhelming.
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And then you mix in the landscape of Kentucky.
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It is this gorgeous, beautiful rolling hills, but it is spread out,
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and I think, you know, there were a lot of misconceptions and perceptions.
17:03
Right.
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That you're also facing from a lot of different
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aspects that we realized there's a lot to do here.
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How do we simplify it?
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How do we make sure people understand the experience that The Trail offers
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that they have no idea exists because they have preconceptions in their mind?
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You know, how do we make sure that we are representing all of
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these distilleries in the best way possible to get people to come?
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And, you know, and in their case, they, they
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don't have a problem getting people to come.
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They, it's, again, it's a great problem to have, but in our research
17:38
and talking to the distilleries and especially those frontline workers
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and the challenges that they face, we realized they had a problem with
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uneducated people coming to The Trail that didn't understand tours fill up.
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You should be booking three months in advance.
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You need to plan your transportation accordingly.
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You can't hit all of the distilleries in a day.
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Some people thought, "I'm just gonna spend
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a couple days, and I'll go to all of them."
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I mean, you could spend weeks.
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We spent a solid week on The Trail and made it to,
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I think 26, and that was going nonstop every day.
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And, you know, we were talking to people at all of these, but that's
18:22
what we heard loud and clear from them is it makes their job harder.
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So we saw an opportunity to do so much more with the web
18:32
experience that we were creating because we realized we've got to
18:35
educate people when they first start even thinking about coming.
18:39
We want to educate them on what to expect and how to plan their trip, which also
18:45
is going to lead to a better educated person coming to The Trail, who, it's a
18:50
better experience for them because some of these people, too, when they travel,
18:53
and they show up, and they can't get on a tour, they're not always so happy.
18:58
No, you're pretty upset.
19:00
Exactly.
19:01
And what that I think put on the distilleries is, and
19:06
kudos to them for the incredible job that they have
19:08
done in figuring out how to navigate those situations.
19:13
Because every one of them has come up with, and continue to come up
19:17
with new experiences because there's an element of that that I think
19:21
they're always gonna face, especially depending on where they're located.
19:25
So they are trying to get ahead of that, and I think, you know,
19:28
with that hospitality at the heart of all of the people in that
19:32
industry, they are so focused on how do we make this the best
19:36
experience possible even if it can't be the full experience.
19:40
You've got distilleries that have created quick 15 minute tastings
19:44
that they can get a lot of people in and out so at least they
19:47
have something to offer, which I think, you know, so anyway.
19:52
Again, I could, I could go on there so much.
19:54
Well, you're, you're, you're hitting on an important point because I can
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tell you from personal experience, a friend of mine and I decided we were
20:01
going to go do the Bourbon Trail, and we went to Louisville the night before.
20:05
We were going to, you know, go up there and hit up some of
20:07
the local distilleries, and unfortunately for me, I actually
20:10
did get all the Bourbon Trails, all the places I wanted to go.
20:14
Oh, that's great.
20:14
In one bar.
20:15
Oh, nice.
20:16
Where did you go?
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I can't even remember, which is why I know I hit everything
20:22
and it was just one bar, and I'll leave it at that.
20:24
Yes!
20:24
It was, it was, it ended up, like, killing our experience, but, but, but,
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but I mean that like, I just remember that research process and going like,
20:33
"I've, I've lived in Lexington, I should know where to go," and looking through
20:36
and trying to even find the places to go and figure out what was available.
20:40
Like, yeah, it's difficult.
20:42
Well, and you know, that was another thought behind the website.
20:44
If we.
20:45
We looked at how do we help people understand the landscape of Kentucky
20:49
because you've got people coming from other states who don't realize how spread
20:53
out, other countries who really don't understand how spread out Kentucky is.
20:58
And we'd hear these stories of people flying into Louisville, and
21:02
going to a distillery, and ubering from the airport, and thinking
21:07
they can get an uber back to Louisville, and they're stuck.
21:10
And again, these distilleries are helping figure
21:13
out, you know, how to navigate this and what to do.
21:15
But, but that's why when we think about the education that we can do
21:20
on the front end to make that better, not just for the consumer, which
21:24
is obviously a first priority, but also for the distilleries and how we
21:29
help make their lives easier throughout that experience for somebody.
21:33
So that's been a big focus.
21:35
And, you know, we looked at regions across, we tried to
21:37
break it down by regions, and put in planning tools to
21:41
help people start to understand this because that's another
21:44
piece, too, is it was unanimous with everybody we heard from.
21:50
We want people to slow down and experience it because it's different everywhere.
21:55
And I think if you're just trying to rush to get to as
21:59
many places as possible, you're missing out on so much.
22:03
It's, it's a place you could have 10 different experiences
22:08
on 10 different trips, and then more, even more after that.
22:13
So how do we get people to slow down, to enjoy
22:15
the experience, to plan their trips better?
22:18
So that was a large focus for the website of
22:21
how do we make that easier and, and support.
22:25
Yeah.
22:25
Well, with over 40 distilleries that you're dealing with, do you
22:28
all still have the passport program with that where people can
22:31
get stamps at every distillery and is there some reward for that?
22:35
Is that still part of it or is that part of what you did to kind of like slow
22:39
it down is keep people from being as crazy of completionists with the project?
22:43
Exactly.
22:44
That has been a something we've talked a lot about and how we
22:47
wanted to really get people to, exactly what you said, slow down.
22:52
We don't want to incentivize a rushed experience.
22:55
We want people to explore and learn what
23:00
all is out there that they never even knew.
23:01
And, and, you know, speaking about those
23:03
experiences, there are ultra modern experiences.
23:07
There are very rustic experiences.
23:09
It's really any kind of experience you want exists.
23:13
So how do we help people find that?
23:14
So everything has been a focus on how do we help people slow down and enjoy it.
23:20
And I also hear like when, when this all got kicked
23:23
off, y'all did some sort of big live stream too.
23:25
Oh my gosh.
23:26
Tell me about that because I heard something
23:28
like 24 hours non stop streaming bourbon.
23:31
Yes, this was such an exciting, one of those things that
23:36
started out as a small idea that I keep saying it, you know,
23:39
it just kept spiraling in the best way possible and growing.
23:44
And so we hosted a, it was technically 26 hours because we decided we wanted
23:48
to hit every time zone in the world, and we learned a lot about time zones.
23:53
Um, admittedly, uh, I think a lot of us thought there were 24.
23:58
There's not.
23:58
It's, it's so much more complicated and even some that fall on half hours.
24:03
And it was a huge learning experience.
24:06
Um, so technically 26 hours, you know, even the logistics that went
24:10
into that from a streaming perspective, we were on calls with Zoom and,
24:15
you know, navigating, trying to figure out how do we cross 24 hours?
24:19
Because everybody we were talking to is like, "We've
24:22
actually never live streamed anything for more than 24 hours.
24:25
We've done 16 hours, 18 hours, but not more than 24 hours."
24:30
And so there were a lot of things like that
24:32
that we had to figure out along the way.
24:34
But yes, we kicked that off at 9 p.m.
24:37
on the 16th to start the 17th in our first time zone, and we
24:42
got people from all around the world to participate in this.
24:46
And so we ended up having, I believe we had 32 countries participate.
24:50
Six continents.
24:52
We even had somebody from Fiji login.
24:54
We're like, how did they even hear about this?
24:56
This is amazing.
24:57
But it was, it was something that the more people heard
25:00
about it, and everybody wanted to participate in it.
25:03
So we tried to make it an experience, a virtual experience
25:07
that you could participate in with a group of people,
25:09
by yourself in your home, or join a group someplace.
25:13
And the distilleries participated, and we had live guests, and
25:18
top of the hour, we had a video that would play just kind of
25:21
introducing this idea, and what we were doing, and then we would
25:25
talk to some live guests, and come back up for the next hour.
25:29
So, uh, it was a really fun experience, and I think it blew us
25:34
away with it was even more successful than we even imagined.
25:38
We didn't know what to expect because again, this was a totally new idea.
25:40
We're like, let's see if this works and we're planning the next one next year.
25:47
Wow.
25:47
That's exciting.
25:48
So you're going to do this again.
25:49
We are.
25:49
Oh gosh.
25:50
This is going to be an annual.
25:53
Well, the media production side of me goes, "Oh, blessings on all those people."
25:58
Oh man, to keep everything up and going and to do all that.
26:01
Like I just, I know the back end logistics
26:03
of that are probably a lot of fun to handle.
26:06
Yes.
26:06
Yes.
26:07
It was
26:10
a labor of love that we had great partners to work with, and, and I
26:13
think everybody was so excited and running on adrenaline for this that
26:17
it was just, it, it actually went by really fast and by the end it
26:21
was like, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe this is already almost over."
26:25
That's a, that's probably a lot of shots of
26:26
bourbon in about 26 hours I would imagine too.
26:30
Slow sips.
26:31
Slow sips.
26:32
Um, yes.
26:33
Yeah.
26:34
I've, I've learned cause I actually part of how this
26:36
whole thing got started was doing a craft beer podcast.
26:39
So I've learned like, don't go too fast.
26:42
Yeah.
26:42
If you want to sound good and intelligent on
26:45
the mic, you got to hold back a little bit.
26:47
Yes.
26:47
Exactly.
26:49
That's awesome.
26:50
We could, like you said, we could probably nerd
26:51
out about the Bourbon Trail for ages and ages.
26:55
And that's really cool.
26:56
But like.
26:56
What else is top of mind for you right now?
26:59
As you think about going into 2025 in the future, obviously you
27:03
have another live stream plan, but what else, what other exciting
27:06
things maybe outside of the Bourbon Trail are you working on?
27:09
Are you excited to look at for the future?
27:11
Oh gosh, there's so many things right now.
27:13
I feel like it's a really exciting time between, um, just.
27:16
new clients that are coming on board that we're excited to work with.
27:19
And I think just with how our industry is continuing to change and is
27:24
changing in such a fast way that I think all of that's exciting for 2025.
27:28
Another thing I noticed that we had in common is
27:31
that you are on the board of AMA here in Nashville.
27:34
Yes!
27:35
I actually, I heard in one of your episodes
27:37
you were the president or are the president.
27:40
Past president.
27:40
Past president.
27:41
Okay.
27:41
Yeah.
27:41
Yeah.
27:42
Yes.
27:43
Yes.
27:43
That's great.
27:45
Yeah.
27:45
So what's it like here in Nashville?
27:47
What's the AMA chapter scene?
27:48
I've met some of your folks and I can't remember names right off the
27:51
top of my head, but I met some of your folks at the national retreat
27:54
Oh that's great!
27:55
two or three years ago and we had a blast with the Nashville folks.
27:58
So I have a special place in my heart for y'all.
28:00
Oh, that's awesome.
28:01
Such a great group of people.
28:03
And you know, I'm new to AMA over the last couple of years and it has
28:07
been so rewarding to be a part of because of how many incredible people.
28:11
are a part of that.
28:12
And I think like so many organizations like that, everybody's trying
28:16
to still, I think, recover after COVID and get people back together.
28:22
But I think it's exciting to see events where more and
28:26
more people are starting to show up in person again.
28:28
And I think everybody's been missing that in-person time.
28:32
Yeah, well the, the dynamics post-COVID, cause I was a part of
28:35
the chapter pre-COVID into post-COVID and actually I've been
28:38
president, not this is not to brag, but I've been president twice.
28:42
Um, The second time was like, okay, I'll do it.
28:46
Um, I could tell where this conversation is going, but it was, you know,
28:50
it was quite the challenge to get people together, to build community
28:54
and, and we find ourselves kind of leaning on similar things in Knoxville
28:57
of like, "Hey, we need to bring this together as a community of folks
29:00
and not just rely on maybe the old traditional, 'Oh, we're going to have
29:03
a luncheon and hope that people show up and talk about fun things.'"
29:07
Exactly.
29:07
Yes.
29:08
We're in that same stage of just trying to, you know, continue to
29:11
brainstorm the programming that people, what do people care about?
29:15
What are they interested in?
29:16
What do they want to take time out of their day to come and be a part of?
29:20
So, um, but I think there's a lot of great energy
29:22
around it and we're excited for the year ahead.
29:25
That's awesome.
29:27
It's a pleasure to, um, to be able to chat about all this.
29:30
I always like to end the conversation on the question,
29:34
what is the brand that you admire the most right now?
29:36
There are so many great brands out there, but I'll answer this from
29:40
the perspective of one that I've admired for a long time is Patagonia.
29:44
When I think about authenticity, and I actually, I think, learned so much
29:50
from another podcast, How I Built This, where they, I love that one as well.
29:54
Another great one.
29:56
And Just listening and seeing what that brand does and the realization
30:01
that, you know, it's such an example of it starts at the top, and
30:05
to have a brand that lives the culture that they are creating both
30:09
internally and externally, and they're not trying to be somebody
30:12
that they're not in the first to say we're not a fashion brand.
30:16
That's not what we're trying to be.
30:18
I think that kind of authenticity is something that a lot of people
30:22
are trying to figure out how to make sure they are being authentic.
30:26
So I think it's such a great example of that for so many reasons.
30:29
Patagonia this year has been a brand that I've
30:32
continued to fall in love with for a couple of reasons.
30:35
But one of the things that really impressed me was they did a ad
30:39
campaign about children's clothes that, at first, I got really annoyed
30:44
with because I'm a parent, and I know how expensive and how quickly
30:48
you go through clothes, but the minute the turn came, and you found
30:52
out that they're really talking about parents sharing clothes, and
30:54
having ways to make it more feasible for families to get access to
30:58
really good quality clothing, like, I thought that was really cool.
31:02
I thought that was a nice change, and of course
31:03
they're all about sustainability, which I really love.
31:06
Um, and I've also taken up fly fishing this year, and I got one of their
31:10
fly fishing bags, and I love just that little twist of branding they do.
31:15
Instead of a mountain range, they have a trout
31:17
as they're with the Patagonia logo on it.
31:19
I just, I adore that.
31:21
I don't know why.
31:22
But I adore it.
31:23
Yes.
31:24
Well, and that example with the children's clothes, that's exactly what I'm,
31:27
what makes me love them so much is it's not about just trying to sell a product.
31:33
It's really living and doing what they are.
31:38
you know, from, for the world.
31:40
How do we make this a better place?
31:41
How do we know that insight about who we're trying to get to buy
31:45
our product, but it's not just about selling another product.
31:48
Cause I really don't want to spend $90 on a, on a jacket for my daughter.
31:53
I would much rather do a hand me downs.
31:54
Right, right.
31:56
That, that thought, that process of sustainability
31:59
and community, I think is really cool.
32:00
So.
32:01
That's awesome.
32:02
All right.
32:02
Well, Katie, where can people learn more about Lewis Communications?
32:05
Where can they connect with you?
32:07
Yes, we are on all the social channels at lewiscommunications.com.
32:12
I'm on LinkedIn, and so yeah, they can find us there.
32:15
All righty.
32:16
Well, Katie, thank you so much for coming on today.
32:18
Thank you so much for having me.
32:19
It's been a pleasure meeting you and learning more about you.
32:22
Absolutely.
32:23
Absolutely.
32:24
Well, thank you so much.
32:25
Thank you.
32:26
All right.
32:26
Alrighty.
32:29
And that's it from the pantheon of podcasts that we have available.
32:33
If you enjoyed this episode of us on the road, be sure
32:37
to share this episode with your friends so that we
32:39
can continue to go on the road and build this brand.