Latest / The Starfish Storytellers / Season 4, Episode 1: The Black Dog Group 2025 Founder’s Episode - 2024 in Review

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Season 4, Episode 1: The Black Dog Group 2025 Founder’s Episode - 2024 in Review · The Starfish Storytellers

0:00
Welcome to the Starfish Storytellers, the podcast that makes a difference one story
0:04
at a time by bringing storytelling to life.
0:08
There are so many things that I learned in our second year of business.
0:16
I liken it to a roller coaster ride of sorts, but it's a journey I'm obsessed with and
0:20
I'm determined to stay on.
0:22
I learned about the importance of adaptability.
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During our first year in business I had a number of clients in rapid succession, but
0:30
during our second year we had a few lulls in business, which had its pros and cons.
0:35
The pros were I got to take a breath and regroup, we got to freshen up our content and refine
0:40
our processes, and we got to try something new when old processes or procedures weren't
0:44
working very well.
0:46
I learned that you really can weather uncertainty.
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In those lulls, I got to reflect on where I wanted to take the business.
0:52
I got the chance to speak with many diverse prospects.
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I learned a lot about their pain points.
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I got to keep producing great content, even in moments when my clients went through their
1:01
own transitions.
1:03
I learned that innovation is really important.
1:06
As a marketing communications agency, we have got to stay current.
1:10
We embraced a number of cool, mar-tech tools and they helped us innovate on our clients'
1:14
projects so we could even offer them more.
1:17
I learned that partnerships are a necessity.
1:19
You can't successfully run a business without your colleagues, mentors, and vendors.
1:24
We may be able to do a lot as a team, but we can't do it all.
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So I want to give a shout out to my photo, video, and promo partners who helped us be
1:32
that one-stop shop that we strive for.
1:36
I also want to give a shout out to all of our podcast guests from this past year.
1:40
We got to build some great business relationships and explore so many different types of corporate
1:45
storytelling that are making a big difference in the marketplace.
1:49
I learned that community matters.
1:51
I got my certification in guided autobiography and I met a wonderful group of fellow instructors
1:56
who I get to meet with regularly.
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Plus, as I said about our podcast guests, spending time with colleagues who speak the
2:03
same language professionally has only helped me grow.
2:06
And lastly, I learned that I need my team to make this content creation machine work.
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Without you, I wouldn't be here.
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I'm lucky to have some of the most talented and energized, biz dev and creative specialists
2:18
who work for us and with us.
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They keep me on track.
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They make our company look good.
2:23
And they definitely keep our clients happy.
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They say that team stands for, together everyone achieves more.
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And that could not be true.
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So I want to thank you, Jake and Alicia and Rebecca and Jeff.
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I'm excited to jump back into more storytelling this year and our local community, help more
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small businesses tell their stories through their marketing, and expand our enterprise
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reach to more corporate teams who may not have the resources to move those initiatives
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ahead.
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I am really looking forward to it 2025.
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We'll hope for us.
2:58
Hello.
3:00
My name is Leanna Henry.
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Welcome to the Starfish Storytellers.
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I'm the CEO of the Black Dog Group, a Markham and project management firm headquartered on
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the east coast of the U.S. in quaint colonial Bedford, Massachusetts.
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I'm your host and passionate about storytelling.
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I'm actually on a mission to raise up the next generation of storytellers.
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We've named ourselves Starfish Storytellers after the Starfish Story.
3:38
The moral of the Starfish Story is based on the power of one.
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No matter how big the challenge, each action we take makes a difference and has an impact.
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One step, one starfish, or one story at a time.
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Usually we open each podcast with a story from one guest.
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But in our annual Founders episode, you'll hear from our core team who will share their
3:58
highlight stories from 2024 meant to inspire and connect with you.
4:02
Then we'll break it down about what it's been like at the Black Dog Group in our second
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year of business.
4:09
So thanks for tuning in and let's get started.
4:12
Okay, so we're back and it's 2025.
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Can you believe it?
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No.
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I feel like a Jimmy Kimmel opening monologue when I say that.
4:25
They have that scene, the one that we always laugh at.
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Yeah, can you believe it?
4:29
Yeah, can you believe it's 2025?
4:31
Can you believe it's January?
4:32
How do we get to January?
4:33
My God, it's January.
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Really?
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It's the second day of January.
4:37
So they go on and on and on.
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So today's episode is our first episode of the year and the new season.
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And we want to focus on the Black Dog Group's 2024 and review.
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So what we've learned, what we've learned, and what we do differently, and what do we
4:56
think is coming next.
4:58
So back again is our Chief Operating Officer, Phillip Henry.
5:03
He's a co-founder, my other half, and the principal of Black Dog Management, our Project
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Management Agency.
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Here's what he learned this year.
5:18
Thank you, Leana.
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In our second year of business, I learned the value and the ability to really contact
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switch.
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Now, what do I mean by that?
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In our first year of business, I was working on one large project throughout pretty much
5:33
through the end of 2024.
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And I was also doing some of the initial things to stand up the company, the Black Dog Group,
5:44
so getting benefits, those kind of things.
5:47
In our second year of 2024, what I was doing became a little less straightforward.
5:54
I was actually working on multiple projects and multiple clients, and at the same time,
6:00
doing things, excuse me, to re-sign up for benefits, doing things to really take and
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enhance and follow up on those things as Chief Operating Officers, so finances, benefits,
6:16
those kind of things.
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So I needed to be able to not only switch between the projects that I was working on,
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I'm doing this over here, I'm running a divestiture over here, I'm running a software creation
6:29
project over here, and then switch those things, switch my mind between those things, and be
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able to, okay, this evening, tomorrow, I need to go into QuickBooks to update what we've
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done for the past month and see these invoices.
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I need to be able to go and see where we are in terms of benefits.
6:47
So the context switching and the ability to go back and forth and really have a good idea
6:53
of where we are, where I was across all of these avenues, it was a little daunting at
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the beginning of the year and at the end of the year, at the end of 2024, I'd like to
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say I developed a strength for it, I got better at it.
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Still not great, but I got better at it.
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So that's the context switching is what I pulled from this year.
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So also with us today is Jake Meesmer.
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He is our creative lead.
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He brands our clients with his amazing graphic designs, he produces videos that fascinate,
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and he brings life to our podcasts.
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So take a listen while he tells you what he learned in 2024.
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So one thing I learned in 2024 is to keep it short.
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One thing I'm very, very good at is yapping a lot.
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So I'm going to keep this very, very short.
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But one thing that I learned in 2024 is that you don't usually know as much as you think
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you know.
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And coming into everything with an open mind and putting your ego aside can be very, very
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helpful with what you can create.
8:08
This year I created a lot of content for a lot of different people, but at the beginning
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of the year I was like, oh, you know, I know how to use Adobe really well and everything.
8:16
I know all these shortcuts and everything, but as you create more content, you have to
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troubleshoot a lot more and being able to kind of be an active learner throughout the
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entirety of your work is very, very helpful to creating better content.
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And I think that kind of mentality has helped me create better stuff towards the end of
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2024.
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Newly with us on the team is Alicia Fiore.
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Alicia is our copy editor and copy writer.
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She crafts the compelling content for our blogs that our website visitors are finding
8:55
online and she will be engaging with our prospects and followers when she takes over
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our social media and our newsletters this year.
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And here's what she has to say.
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Hi, Leona.
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Thank you for having me.
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This was a really exciting year to be part of the team.
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I did join a little bit later in the year, but we really jumped in.
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I was immediately given the task of creating our content blogs and our inside blogs so
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that we could really show anyone looking in to see who we were, really what we know and
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what we can offer.
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And that was exciting because most of my background is in the writing aspect of things and I really
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got to become an expert in marketing very quickly.
9:40
Well, I don't know that I call myself an expert yet, but for every topic that I was presented
9:45
with I really got to do a deep dive and get to research that.
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And that was very actually exciting in a way because we weren't just looking to do introductory
9:55
things of, oh, well, this is this topic.
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We want to say this is this topic, but here's how it's evolving and just really showing
10:04
that we were on the cutting edge with that.
10:06
So that's been a really exciting journey to take the skills that I've gotten over the
10:11
years for writing and applying it to something that's evolving in this quick.
10:24
So we're back together for our annual Founders' Episode.
10:27
And on this podcast, we like to talk to different storytellers, but today we are sharing the
10:32
stories.
10:34
So you just heard some of what we all learned over the last year.
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We're also going to want to dig in today and talk a little bit about customers, content,
10:41
connections, and what's coming.
10:44
So we're going to start with customers.
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So I've been doing a lot of the talking, so let me turn it over to you, Phillip.
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What were some of the lessons you learned about acquiring new customers this past year?
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And can you share a story about one of your favorite projects with that customer from
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2024?
11:06
In terms of acquiring new customers, I think one of the things that I learned was to not
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rule out any avenue whatsoever.
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Initially at the, this is 2024, about midway or three quarters of the way through 2023,
11:20
I had gotten a membership on Upwork and was looking to, you know, I was looking to farm
11:25
that and use that to our advantage a little bit.
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But like I mentioned in our first year, I had a full-time project and was working as
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the COO.
11:35
But just having my name out there on Upwork, I was actually contacted towards the end of
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23 by someone who found me.
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And that led to my first outside client for that I came into that I believe I talked to
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on last year's annual podcast, the manufacturing company based out of Wuburn, or Wilmington,
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Wilmington?
11:56
I think they're Wuburn.
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Wuburn, Wuburn.
11:58
Yeah, thank you, Wuburn.
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Wuburn, the manufacturing company based out of Wuburn.
12:01
So in terms of networking, it's, there is no such thing as a bad part of your network.
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The more places, it really is true, the more places you get your name out, the greater
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the opportunities you have to harvest that, build a relationship, you know, turn that
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relationship into a potential business deal.
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Like I said, through Upwork, I was contacted about, but through this small manufacturing
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company, the office was here, the head office was in Germany, and they were in need of someone
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to create a process.
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And so I didn't know for manufacturing, I didn't know how I could help these guys, but
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I went in and went in and I had a couple of initial conversations with them, and I found
12:47
that what they needed me to be able to do, they needed someone to be able to help them
12:52
organize what they were doing for a specific purpose, and they needed someone for accountability.
12:58
That being, they had, they all had an idea of what it was they needed to do.
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They just didn't have a central point to be able to bring everything together.
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So I came in, helped them organize things, and helped them provide that accountability
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so that they could all know what it was they were doing towards this goal.
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And we turned out, we created the process, we changed how they were doing business, we
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were a little part of how they were doing business, and we did that in about four months
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at the beginning of the year.
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So it was a great adventure and a great experience, all from that initial foray into Upwork.
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And I remember when you got that contract, and you seemed to really enjoy working with
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them, and it was, I think, just kind of a sign of, we could get some smaller projects,
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but they could be really meaningful.
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Yes, you could be able to work with them.
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Yeah, it seemed like they really were.
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I know for me, warm outreach really was king, but I also found some success on those project
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platforms.
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I have my name out there on Design Rush, I have my name out there on Upwork.
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One of my clients initially hired me off of Upwork, and I was supposed to just be the
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screenwriter for her radio show, and now it's kind of evolved.
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Someone doing her ad copy, I'm doing her email copy, I'm doing her web copy, so it's
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been a really great experience getting to work with them.
14:30
One of the creative projects that we got to work on in 2024, Jake, was branding that
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mega church's summer camp.
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Yes.
14:39
Oh, no, you're making a face with it.
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So you do recall it.
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I do very much.
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So when you were working on that, because we did a lot of different content pieces for
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them, what was standing out for you when you remember that?
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A lot of stuff, for sure.
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I think one of the big things was just the variety of content we had to produce for them.
15:04
They wanted shirts, they wanted banners, they wanted postcards, they wanted flyers, they
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needed just everything.
15:12
I think they needed a deck made on Canva, too.
15:14
They needed a Canva deck that was similar to last year, but not last year.
15:19
I don't want to speak poorly about anybody, but it was a lot of very content, and I think
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that was certainly a challenge to translate the designs that we made for the postcards
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onto the shirts, so they looked at the same branding, but the shirts couldn't have this
15:35
much stuff because they had to be printed.
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But overall, I think we did a good job on it.
15:41
Well, I thought it was really cool when I saw on social media the people running around
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in the shirts that we designed.
15:49
I didn't see that.
15:50
You should show me that after this, though.
15:51
Oh, okay.
15:52
I'll do that.
15:54
Good to know.
15:55
Nice to see you.
15:56
Yeah, I will do that.
15:59
When you look back over all of the projects more or less this year, because there were
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a lot, there were a lot of internal projects.
16:06
There were a lot of external projects, client projects, too, that you worked on because
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you worked on a lot of different projects.
16:13
Definitely.
16:15
Is there one that really stands out that you really enjoyed the most?
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Why?
16:19
Well, there was one project that was a branding project for one of our clients.
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I probably enjoyed it the most because I had the most artistic liberty with what I was
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doing with the branding.
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Every creative stream is to have full creative control over what they're making.
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So it was probably my favorite project to do just because I had that coming from a creative
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design background.
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It's nice to be able to pull from my roots, basically.
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And for that particular client, it's a tech conference and it needed to be branded.
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It's happening in this well-known city.
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So I think when we looked at the branding colors, we tried to reflect that city.
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It was just very, I think you're right.
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I think it was, something that was very creative.
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You were able, it made sense.
17:18
I think I definitely think that when I was first going into it, I was really unsure of
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what I was going to do and how well it was going to turn out because I was like, no,
17:26
these colors aren't my favorites, but I ended up being able to work with what I had and
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figure out what I thought looked good.
17:35
I guess everyone else liked that as well.
17:37
Yeah.
17:38
And now your artwork is everywhere.
17:39
Yeah, it kind of is.
17:40
It's a little scary, but it's nice to have it out there.
17:43
Yeah.
17:44
Yeah.
17:45
Okay.
17:46
So, talking a little bit more about content, turning to Alicia now.
17:52
I know you've been active on our team for just a short time, but you have been cranking
17:56
out all of these blog pieces, so I appreciate that very much.
18:02
As you are having, as I keep throwing more at you, how are you staying organized with
18:09
all of the topics and all of the pieces that you have to put together?
18:14
So the first thing that comes to mind, and I wish I had a more fun, creative answer,
18:18
but the bottom line is I'm a big list maker.
18:20
So I have an in-process list.
18:24
I have a first draft submitted list.
18:26
I have a finalized and published list.
18:29
I have an ideas list that I pitch when we have our meetings.
18:33
Just a lot of lists that in my mind make sense, although someone looking onto them might be
18:37
like, what is this mess of a document?
18:40
And it's been fun because as I've been writing them, I see a lot of overlap in content.
18:48
So I'll be writing one piece.
18:51
I usually have a few going at once just so I can kind of switch topics if I feel like,
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oh, this inspired me to write something here.
18:57
But I've noticed a lot of overlap in the topics, because of course within an industry, it's
19:01
all pulling.
19:02
This idea plays into this idea.
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And so when I notice one of those kind of little lightning moments, I'll jump over to
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the other document and I'll write notes that say, OK, remember to add this, and I'll add
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a link and just go from there.
19:15
I like to keep it rolling.
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And that's where the lists come in, because I am jumping between documents a little.
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And then those lists really keep me on track.
19:24
Oh, lists are the best.
19:27
Yeah, they're great.
19:30
So you've had to write a lot of pieces of all the ones that you've written.
19:38
Which ones are standing out for you and why?
19:41
So I definitely, I don't remember right now the name we officially went with, but we did
19:45
one on brand employer identity and employer brand, excuse me.
19:52
And that one was really important to me because that one really represented getting kind of
19:58
an independent foothold, because that was the first one that I pitched to you instead
20:02
of you saying, go do this.
20:04
Because I had recognized a pattern in the content that we were doing, and I kind of
20:07
said, well, here's an area that I think that we as a company could really tap into.
20:13
And that was exciting because, like I said, it represented that I was kind of getting
20:17
the feel for things, that we were really learning how to work with each other as a team, and
20:22
that it was something new that as a company we could look forward to being able to advertise
20:27
to our clients moving forward.
20:28
Yes, yes.
20:29
I was really excited when I saw that one come through because I hadn't even thought of it.
20:34
I think that when we look at writing content or writing stories for sort of an HR department,
20:41
I had been sort of coming at it from more of a, more of a, like if somebody is going
20:48
to get hired, they need to tell their career story to stand out in the interviewer's mind.
20:57
But you pitched having sort of a company really brand themselves, showing their values, showing
21:05
what they offer.
21:06
So yeah, I'm excited for us to kind of grow that, grow that option for our clients.
21:12
So thank you for doing that.
21:17
So you know, Alicia creates a lot of our content, and Jake creates a lot of our content.
21:24
We do need to create a lot of content for ourselves, for our company, it's how we pitch
21:29
and promote ourselves.
21:31
So this question is for Jake and Phillip.
21:35
You do recall our lunch and learn that we did at the Burlington Area Chamber, right?
21:38
I do.
21:39
Yeah, very much.
21:40
Yeah, yeah.
21:41
So this past summer, we got to do a promo video together, which was a lot of fun, and
21:47
we got, we had tons of outtakes, which was a lot of fun, and we had to bleep you once
21:54
Phillip.
21:55
I may have cursed slightly.
21:57
Yeah.
21:58
Once is a little bit of an understatement.
22:00
So I may have cursed more than slightly.
22:02
Okay, good to know.
22:08
In addition to doing that promo video that we used, we had to do the deck for the presentation,
22:12
and I know Jake, you have really had to get into designing decks and...
22:17
I'm gonna say this really close to something.
22:19
I love making decks.
22:21
That's a lie.
22:22
Yeah, I know.
22:25
The decks are not always fun.
22:28
But I think we're starting to get a system down where you're getting to create sort of
22:31
the background first, which I think is a little bit, helps with vision.
22:37
Yeah, definitely.
22:38
The background design certainly helps to influence the layout and what content can go on each
22:43
slide a lot more.
22:45
So it makes the process a lot easier, kind of working from the background forward, rather
22:49
than trying to figure out what content you...
22:51
They can work either way, but the way I find easiest is making my background first, then
22:56
figuring out what I can put on it that makes sense.
22:59
Yeah.
23:00
I think that...
23:01
I know we just did one for the tech conference client, and we had different slides, and the
23:08
design really sort of was what informed what would be on that slide.
23:12
Yeah, for sure.
23:17
We also, in addition to doing the deck, we had to beef up your website.
23:21
We had to add some more content to your website, and I know that creating that deck and you
23:26
adding the content, your content to the deck was a little bit different than what you're
23:29
used to doing on some of your project manager decks.
23:32
Can you talk a little bit about what was different for you?
23:36
Yeah, well, to go along with the theme of why we're all here today, when I put together
23:41
the deck for what we were doing for the Chamber of Commerce, I was telling the story.
23:46
I was telling a story of how I was able to come in and help that small manufacturing
23:50
company do what they needed to do.
23:52
Normally, as a project manager, it's not a deck that I work with.
23:56
It's a slide, and the slide has a pie chart, bar graph, and a couple of bullet points about
24:01
what the risks are or how we're working around a situation, and that's it.
24:06
It's pre-branded, it's all cookie cutter, and that's what it is.
24:11
Our clients have, you know, my clients, they each have their own version of the status
24:17
slide, but for this deck that I put together, I told the story of how I got from A to B,
24:23
and when we did our lunch and learn for the Chamber of Commerce, I actually brought in
24:29
some of the drawings that I put together when I was taking down notes at the time.
24:36
It was a great experience, and the drawings and what I was talking about in the deck,
24:42
they just all fit together.
24:44
It was a great story to tell for this client and hopefully for our participants for that
24:51
day.
24:52
Yeah.
24:53
I remember people participating with you.
24:56
You asked that one question, like, who here thinks, like, you were pointing at the deck,
25:02
like, who on this slide thinks that their thing is the most important, and it was almost
25:07
unanimous in the room.
25:08
Everybody, there was a bunch of people that shouted out, yep, everybody.
25:11
Everybody thinks their thing is the most important.
25:14
Yes.
25:15
Everybody all the time.
25:16
My thing's the most important.
25:17
Right.
25:18
Yes, you're right.
25:19
We're just right.
25:20
We'll just say right.
25:21
We'll just go with that.
25:22
Yeah.
25:23
So, Jake, you were in charge of updating the website with the downloadables or creating
25:27
the downloadables for Philip.
25:30
I feel like with his stuff, I know with me, I'm always on you, like, do it this way.
25:36
No, never.
25:39
But for him, I think he was a little bit more, because he really didn't know what he wanted
25:44
or what it was going to be.
25:45
So you had really a clean slate with that.
25:47
Yeah, it was kind of like a, we were kind of figuring out what we wanted to do in real
25:53
time with that, kind of pulling something down, seeing if he liked it or not.
25:59
And editing it from there.
26:03
I definitely thought it was a very nice back and forth process, honestly.
26:09
Yeah.
26:12
When you came up with, because his look was very, I think, much more geometric it felt
26:18
like.
26:19
Yeah, it was definitely more geometric.
26:20
That kind of leans more towards like business-y or business-less creative stuff.
26:26
Right.
26:27
Right.
26:28
So.
26:29
One thing I did do there that I thought was fun was, even though I'm not a big fan of it,
26:37
I used some AI images.
26:42
Excuse me.
26:44
But it might be hard to believe, but there's not a lot of pictures of black labs doing business
26:50
things online that you can find.
26:53
I did a few images for his downloadables that I thought were really cute.
26:59
I like that branding detail that you have, Phil, on your website with all the black labs.
27:05
The black labs doing project management-y stuff.
27:07
I think it's so cute.
27:08
I love that so much.
27:10
Thank you.
27:11
Maybe I could make some more.
27:12
I don't know.
27:13
Absolutely.
27:14
When I understand, I think he's due for some more blogs.
27:18
Yeah.
27:19
That would be a good thing.
27:20
Yeah.
27:21
Yeah.
27:22
I think I have two content people in the room besides me.
27:25
Let's talk about your favorite thing we get to do together, iterating.
27:30
Oh.
27:33
So for our listeners, our content creation process goes something like this.
27:37
I meet with Jake and Alicia.
27:40
We talk about their project.
27:41
We talk about how it's going to go.
27:43
Maybe it's a graphic design for a client's web banner.
27:46
Maybe it's a blog for fundraising.
27:50
So then I send them off.
27:52
They go, they create, they work their magic.
27:55
Let me say that they're brilliant at what they do.
27:58
So they create and draft amazing things.
28:03
But then they come back to me and I start editing.
28:07
Why do I edit?
28:08
It's not because I don't like what they gave me because it's always great stuff.
28:13
I tend to edit for flow and anything written and I tend to edit for balance and symmetry
28:18
or I might edit something on a graphic design that maybe I may have an idea of what the
28:25
client might want and I'm going to tweak it in that direction.
28:30
So I'm putting you on the spot.
28:33
Care to share your thoughts about the iterative process and I'm open.
28:38
How can we make this better?
28:39
Do you want to go first?
28:41
Sure.
28:42
I'm going to sound like a real teacher when I say this, but I think that in the time I've
28:47
been with the company, Leana and I have really worked out a process that works for us.
28:51
So when I first came on, we were in this process of trying to figure out what made sense for
28:57
us because she had originally been doing the blogs before she brought me on and it became
29:02
a process of do we make notes?
29:04
Does she just do the editing and post it from there?
29:07
Do I do multiple drafts?
29:09
And it took a little while of us kind of learning what works for us as a team, but I think where
29:14
we're at really works out well and we have frequent meetings to discuss any changes that
29:21
are made so that moving forward, I know what she likes in voice and flow and how we address
29:29
our audiences and as I said before, that's given me kind of the confidence to pitch ideas
29:36
and go from there.
29:38
It is funny because she has said that sometimes it's a moving target, but I think that that
29:44
is true with any assignment at any company, any school, anything that you're going to
29:49
do sometimes you just get hit with something that's a little bit different or it's just
29:55
the act of getting your head into someone else's creative space.
30:00
And that can be a little tricky, but it's definitely rewarding when I get that text
30:04
that says, okay, we're live because it really shows that even in moments of being like,
30:10
what am I doing here?
30:12
It definitely pays off and at this point in the process, I like to think that we've kind
30:15
of got the voice down.
30:17
That took the longest I think because I've done writing in a lot of different contexts,
30:23
but blogs were a little bit new for me.
30:25
And so just getting the idea that we were both on the same page, that was a little bit
30:30
of a trick, but I think we might be there.
30:32
I agree.
30:33
I agree.
30:34
I think that as someone who's had to capture voice for clients, that is one of the hardest
30:41
things to do because they know they're back here behind their eyes and they know what
30:46
they want and they're trying to convey that.
30:49
And some folks are really, really good at conveying what the voice should be and others
30:55
will say, oh yeah, no, you do it and then when you do it, it's not right and then change
30:57
it and then you do it again and it's still not right.
31:00
So it is.
31:01
It is a bit of a little jimmy of a journey.
31:02
So thanks for hanging in there.
31:04
I appreciate your patience as well.
31:08
But you know, it's like with those tricky tasks, when you finally get it, it's even more satisfying.
31:14
Definitely.
31:15
Your turn.
31:16
Oh, my turn.
31:17
I'm not getting out of it.
31:21
Excuse me.
31:24
I think it's iterative edits.
31:27
It's a very helpful process, but sometimes it can be really frustrating.
31:35
Sometimes when you're creating, I'll say art for this, they can send it to someone and
31:40
be like, I love how this looks and I'm going to send it off and it's going to be great.
31:43
And then it comes back and it's like, you need to change this, this, this, this.
31:45
It's something like, oh, they think my art's awful.
31:48
No, that's not how it is.
31:50
It's just being able to listen and learn and adapt and figure out what's going on.
31:57
And even though it can be frustrating, it's, once you get the thing where it's like, oh,
32:02
yeah, this is it.
32:03
I'm like, finally, it's it.
32:07
It's really rewarding.
32:09
I will say I have had to test my patience a lot when it comes to this, but I find that
32:18
it's probably one of the better processes for me and Leona to kind of work back and
32:30
forth when we're creating like banners and logos and all that kind of artsy or stuff.
32:38
Mm-hmm.
32:39
You know, that was one of the things, you know, as a, in my career, that if you're going
32:44
to be a creative, whether your medium is, you know, graphics or writing, it is developing
32:52
that thick skin.
32:54
I am, I am edited all the time.
32:58
I'm still edited, you know, and sometimes I appreciate what you're saying, Alicia, because
33:03
there's times where I'll send things off to one of my clients and I won't get edited back.
33:08
And then I'll be really surprised.
33:09
And I found that one thing that was really kind of cool was, as a script writer, to then
33:14
listen back to the recorded show and hearing the words that I wrote being said out of somebody
33:20
else's mouth and knowing they didn't edit that.
33:23
They like actually, they actually said what I wrote.
33:25
That's pretty cool.
33:27
But it is, there's been times where I've had like iterations like back and forth and
33:32
back and forth and back and forth.
33:34
And I'm like, should I just start over?
33:36
Like, you know, so I, I've been where you are.
33:41
So I appreciate your honesty, both of you, thank you.
33:45
All right, connections.
33:46
That's the next C on the list.
33:48
Philip.
33:49
Yes.
33:50
So you and I spent time this year attending networking events through the local Chamber
33:54
of Commerce, mostly towards sort of the middle, I think, of 2024.
34:00
And if you're listening, Rick Parker, we promise we're coming to more events.
34:05
So we got the opportunity to connect with a number of other businesses during these,
34:10
during these events.
34:11
I think my favorites were the Lunch and Learns.
34:14
You know, it was just, it was like the perfect time of day for us, you know, and, and it
34:20
was a real captive audience, you know, and it was a small group.
34:23
So you had time to really talk to people.
34:26
We also built some partnerships, you know, we've had some folks approach us and we even
34:31
got a couple of referrals.
34:32
So it, you know, it's been a great, it's been a great process for us.
34:37
So any event or connection that stands out for you?
34:41
The event that stands out for me is the taste of Burlington.
34:45
That is, we've gone to it, we went to it in 23 and 24.
34:50
In 23, we were, we were both a little wide-eyed because we didn't know what to expect.
34:55
At 24, we, we had a better idea of what it was to expect.
34:58
And it's just, it's, it's all restaurants and eateries in the area coming to bring their
35:05
wares.
35:06
But it's, there is such, there is a large avenue, a large venue for all the businesses
35:12
in the area outside of, you know, the restaurants and the eateries where we can just come together
35:18
and talk to each other and we exchange business cards.
35:21
And I think we talked to more people in the 23 one, the 23 version that we went to as
35:26
opposed to 24, but that's the one that stands out.
35:29
Not only because the food was amazing, but we met a lot of great people and frankly,
35:34
we got to reconnect with some folks that we hadn't seen in quite a while.
35:39
So that's, that's the one that stands out in my mind.
35:41
Yeah.
35:42
I have a great photo of us with a bunch of people that, that we know and that we met
35:46
and, you know, it's really important to, to develop those connections.
35:51
Yeah.
35:52
Okay.
35:53
So I was looking at last year's script and one of the questions I had raised last year,
36:00
so I'm going to ask it again.
36:01
In what ways did we as a company make a difference this past year?
36:06
And when you answer the question, it can be for our clients, it can be for a charity,
36:10
if there's anything that stands out, you know, how did we make a difference?
36:14
I know how we help our clients, but I was thinking about our own corporate or social
36:20
responsibility that we engage in.
36:23
So I know last January, we made some donations to the food pantry that's at Grace Chapel.
36:32
And we, in April, we always pack meals for the Rotary Club for the hungry and pride.
36:41
We always do something with the Trevor Project, whether, I know we've done, Jake, we've done
36:46
like five K's before, but I think this year we donated.
36:52
And they're just, they're just such great causes.
36:54
And I think it's so important, I think, as a company to have a cause that really matters
36:58
to you.
36:59
So I'm going to go around and ask everybody what you think.
37:02
I'm going to ask you, Alicia, I know you're new, but I'm going to ask you too.
37:07
So starting with you, Phillip.
37:09
So you already mentioned this in April when we got together and the packing meals for
37:15
the hungry.
37:16
And when we did it in April of 23, it was the meals were sent nationally.
37:21
They were sent within the United States.
37:24
Last year when we did it, the meals were being sent overseas to the Ukraine.
37:27
So that was, in my opinion, that was just a wonderful way to make a difference and to
37:33
be able to reach out halfway across the world to just be of some little help.
37:40
And I look forward to going back and frankly seeing where these meals are going to go this
37:45
year.
37:46
One of my, one of my favorites is definitely the donations to the Trevor Project.
37:53
Because I know quite a few people who have had issues with, you know, home and security
38:00
when it comes to coming out and I just find that, you know, those organizations really
38:06
do help people and it's our responsibility as a company to kind of give back to our community,
38:13
the people we have in our association.
38:17
No, I mean, we, we as a company always want everyone to show up to work as their authentic
38:24
selves and we are big allies to the LGBTQ community.
38:29
We always have a pride podcast every year and we do something to support.
38:35
We attend pride.
38:37
So this is something that's a very important value to us.
38:40
So you know, thanks for pointing that out.
38:44
I'm going to ask our new person on the team for thoughts on this.
38:48
So I really love that this company that I get to be part of is so involved in making
38:53
a difference.
38:54
Now, I did come a little bit later than being actually active in participating in some of
38:59
these, but even now we still try to make it clear that we're involved in these things.
39:07
Like, you could see it in the podcast that like we could absolutely just focus on kind
39:15
of the more market focused things, but we definitely bring people on whose job is specifically
39:26
nonprofits just for charity and we give them a voice and equally as the people who are
39:32
working for these major major corporations that are bringing in potentially millions,
39:36
billions, billions of dollars.
39:41
And then on my end, I've been able to add additional attention to them by bringing them up in the
39:48
content that I've been writing.
39:50
So I just love that these things matter to this company and then we make sure that they
39:56
don't just, we're not just fair weather participants.
40:00
There's things that we're talking about year round.
40:03
Yes, yes, I agree.
40:04
I think it's easy to, you know, I mean we have LGBTQ people on staff so it's, you know,
40:12
we live this every day, you know, we don't just put on our rainbow socks, you know, in
40:15
June.
40:16
You know, we do this all the time.
40:19
And you're right, you know, we have this platform, this amazing platform, like let's use this,
40:24
you know, for good.
40:25
I think that's a big part of when we started the podcast.
40:27
Definitely.
40:28
I would, one thing I really like about the podcast is that we bring in a lot of people
40:33
from our own community who are trying to make differences, who are working with, within
40:39
the community to make a difference for people.
40:41
I think one of the things I remember really well was we had a guest who worked with a
40:45
food pantry.
40:46
Mm-hmm.
40:47
And we were able to, but I think it's really nice to be able to use our platform to help
40:52
people within our own community.
40:54
Yep.
40:55
I mean, I know we've talked about, on the podcast, we've talked about women empowerment,
40:59
we've talked about, you know, different coming out stories, we've talked about helping food
41:05
pantries, we've talked about, we brought in the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center.
41:11
So for their Gala, so they could raise money for the community for healthcare.
41:15
So, you know, this is something that we will continue, you know, into next year as well.
41:21
So thank you.
41:23
So now, what's coming for 2025?
41:27
So what are some predictions that we can make for this coming year?
41:31
So I'm going to ask everybody to kind of come to the table with that.
41:34
So as I said earlier, digitalization is key.
41:37
Having a strong Mar-Tech stack is very important.
41:41
And we adopted and expanded our own Mar-Tech stack this year because we wanted to stay
41:47
up to date and we wanted to be able to offer more and we plan to do even more and explore
41:52
more in 2025.
41:54
I did find myself using more AI tools this year.
41:57
I know when we had our podcast the beginning of last year, we were like, be careful, be
42:01
careful, be responsible.
42:02
And I still feel that way.
42:04
I think that, you know, as a content marketing agency, as a digital agency, you know, we
42:09
do have to be careful and use these tools responsibly.
42:13
But they do help and they help us and they help our clients.
42:18
So I have, you know, a voiceover partner and, you know, he's somebody that we use or would
42:22
use for like a bigger project for a client.
42:25
But when I have to put together really quick voiceover for like a quick social media video,
42:30
I use Voices AI.
42:32
It has a lot of different options.
42:33
You can have different gender voices.
42:35
You can have different races speaking.
42:36
You can have different pitch.
42:38
And there's even some celebrities.
42:39
So sometimes you can, you know, maybe have somebody who listens to it guess who that
42:43
is talking.
42:46
Video for social media, obviously video is king.
42:49
I find that on when I manage client social media channels, video always gets the highest
42:55
level of engagement above just static text or just photos.
43:00
So but video is actually better when it's captioned.
43:03
Anybody can watch a video with the sound off if you're laying in bed and, you know, somebody
43:07
sleeping next to you and you're not only waking them up, you can watch your video with the
43:11
captions.
43:12
And so I started using Capwing.
43:14
It's a great tool.
43:15
It's quick.
43:16
It's accurate.
43:17
And you get to choose from different captioning looks.
43:20
So we'll be creating even more video this year.
43:23
And then as a content writer, I have to create web copy from recordings.
43:29
Sometimes when I get the recordings from my client, I don't have time to listen to because
43:32
it's like a whole hour of a radio recording.
43:35
So I use a tool called Descript and I drop it in, I drop the audio file.
43:39
It pops up the transcription for me and I get to just grab what I need and I can create
43:44
the web copy from that.
43:45
So and then of course, I will admit I do love Google Gemini.
43:50
I do use it.
43:52
It is Google's AI.
43:53
And you know, when you are writing copy on a daily sprint and there's copy, you have
43:57
to crank and crank and crank and crank.
43:59
It really does help to get a head start.
44:02
So those are my tools and things that I think are great tools and people should be using
44:05
and can use into 2025.
44:08
So I'm going to go to Alicia because you just wrote a very interesting blog about marketing
44:13
2025 trends.
44:15
Care to walk us through your research process and maybe a little, maybe a few of them.
44:20
Yeah.
44:21
So whenever I do research, I want to look at a bunch of different sources so that I just
44:27
make sure that I'm getting multiple perspectives, getting a lot of input from different sources.
44:32
Et cetera.
44:33
So when I was doing that, I tried to go all over the board and I definitely wanted to
44:39
make sure that I was finding articles that maybe mentioned different things because I
44:43
didn't just want a lot of repeat.
44:44
I didn't want to just fall into the crowd of talking about the same thing as everyone
44:49
else.
44:50
So I wanted to find some of the more unique ones and especially things that were applicable
44:53
to us.
44:55
And so definitely a lot of talk about AI, omni-channel marketing because we're in a digital age.
45:04
Even young kids are at a point where we're so digitized as a culture that they even notice
45:13
when a website isn't great.
45:16
So there's omni-channel marketing, which is basically just streamlining the experience
45:20
across platforms because I have experienced first-hand companies that haven't gotten there
45:27
and we don't have, again, as a culture, we don't have the patience for it.
45:34
There's also hyper-personalization because, again, with AI and it's not something that's
45:40
going to go away, just being like, oh, that's kind of interesting.
45:45
That doesn't catch people's attention anymore.
45:47
We need something that basically feels like it's speaking to them as closely as we're
45:51
speaking to each other here.
45:54
And that one really stuck out to me because while some people go, oh, will writers be replaced
46:00
by AI?
46:01
No, because AI can't connect with people.
46:06
And especially with things like hyper-personalization, it walks a fine line with privacy because people
46:11
don't want to feel spied on.
46:14
And if you don't have a relationship with the audience, then they will get that creeped-out
46:18
feeling.
46:19
But if you're a company that they really value and that they feel that they understand on
46:25
a more personal level, then those ads feel almost like you're known.
46:31
And it's a very different experience.
46:33
And that's where people like us come in because we're storytellers.
46:36
And we help deliver who that brand is to the clients.
46:41
So they're like a friendly neighbor instead of a creep looking in the window.
46:47
And that really can make a huge difference, especially in 2025 because privacy is a huge
46:53
topic.
46:54
Yeah, absolutely.
46:55
Absolutely.
46:56
Thank you.
46:57
Okay, so Phillip, you're up.
47:02
What is new in the world of project management next year?
47:07
And I know that you really like AI.
47:08
I know that you use it a lot.
47:12
So maybe you can also talk about how that might help in your role.
47:16
Well, excuse me.
47:19
What is new in terms of project management?
47:21
There's no new fangled methodology.
47:25
There's no new project management software.
47:27
There's nothing new like that.
47:28
It's kind of a revisiting of what's old is new again.
47:33
In one of the first blogs that I put out there, I talk about project managers using a hybrid
47:37
methodology.
47:38
Instead of leaning heavily into one or the other waterfall or agile methodology or lean
47:48
or whatever else, there is now a movement towards bringing them all together because
47:56
there is no project that is completely, totally, solely one methodology or the other.
48:02
So the advantage of using a hybrid methodology is that you can bring all of them together
48:08
to bring the most value to your clients.
48:12
And related to what you were saying about AI, about hyper personalization or whatever,
48:16
there is also, you know, I do use it a lot.
48:21
But I use it as more of a collaboration tool instead of, you know, going online and trying
48:27
to meet other project managers.
48:29
And how would you do this?
48:30
I actually use AI as kind of the other person in the room to spell ideas off of.
48:37
You know, I tell AI, you're a senior project manager, this is this, this, this, you're
48:42
trying to do this and this.
48:43
And it spits back a bunch of ideas at me.
48:45
You know, there isn't, you know, similar to other questions out there, will project managers
48:50
be replaced by AI?
48:51
No.
48:53
Because project managers still need to communicate.
48:55
They need to have empathy.
48:57
They need to see what their teams are doing.
49:00
And at the same time, but there is no such thing, and I don't believe that there is ever
49:04
going to be such a thing as a big, red easy button, give me a 1,000 line project plan.
49:10
Because that, that is, there is such an iterative process and an interviewing that you need
49:16
to do with your customers and your clients on all of, you know, through all of your stakeholders,
49:22
that that would just be an impossibility.
49:25
So the hybrid methodology, using AI as a collaboration tool, those are things that are, like I said,
49:32
it's not really new, what's old is new again, but I think that it's going to be used more
49:40
and coming up in the next year.
49:42
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree.
49:45
Jake, I know that in the past year you got to animate some of the branding.
49:50
So you got to use that a little bit for the tech conference.
49:54
I know you got, definitely got more proficient, you know, when you were designing the PowerPoint
50:00
decks.
50:01
Oh, for sure.
50:02
I know they weren't your favorite, but, you know.
50:03
Can you talk a little bit about, like, what was it like for you, you know, and then from
50:07
a design standpoint, what do you think is up and coming?
50:14
Well, I kind of, I can't take the standpoint when it comes to design that AI.
50:23
I'm not going to sit here and be like, AI's the devil, but I would advise when it comes
50:31
to creating something creative to kind of veer away from the path of AI, because typically
50:39
when it comes to AI, like image generation or like video generation, stuff like that,
50:45
it tends to take from a lot of other artists and sources without permission.
50:54
So I think just, yeah, I think that having a creative department and creatives in your
51:01
company can really help with your creative validity going into 2025 with the rise of
51:07
AI.
51:08
I remember there was like a controversy surrounding it.
51:10
It was like a Coca-Cola commercial or something.
51:13
They were like, oh, this is AI-generated video because all the videos were like under a second
51:17
long and people just hated it.
51:19
People were like, I don't want to buy from this.
51:22
This is lazy.
51:23
This is awful.
51:24
So I think kind of incorporating human touch into design is what people are really looking
51:33
for going into the new year.
51:36
I know that with the branding that you did for that tech conference, they presented sort
51:45
of an idea that came from AI.
51:51
And you came back with completely like hand drawn, obviously graphics that captured some
52:00
of that, but definitely was very unique, very much personalized to that event for them.
52:08
It wasn't something they could just create on a computer, just from telling an AI to
52:14
make an image for them.
52:15
Yeah?
52:16
Another thing with AI you have to be really careful about, and a lot of people have already
52:20
been seeing this as a homogenization, which is basically that everything is being pulled
52:24
so broadly and being mixed together that everything that's being produced is kind of coming out
52:28
the same.
52:29
And if there's one thing you don't want for a brand, it's to blend in.
52:32
So that's where the creativity, as you put it, really comes in handy because AI can only
52:39
go so far as not thinking for itself.
52:41
And if all of its ideas are coming from things that have already happened, then nothing new
52:45
is coming from it.
52:46
Good point.
52:47
Good point.
52:48
I was playing with the AI the other day because I was trying to create an image of the dogs.
52:54
And I was trying to create, but the dogs are not, they're muts.
53:00
They're not like a pure lab and a pure rat terrier.
53:04
And so I wanted, so I was trying to tell the AI very specifically what I wanted, and it
53:10
would spit out a picture, and I'd say, okay, well, I want this.
53:12
So I would copy and paste the exact same thing, add two or three more things, and hit it again.
53:19
And it would spit out almost, I had like six or eight images that were almost identical
53:25
because the AI couldn't move past it.
53:28
It couldn't get past what I was asking for.
53:33
And I tried to be super, super specific exactly what I wanted.
53:37
And in the explanation, I found too that it kind of like lost its way.
53:43
Like it was just, okay, this is too much information.
53:45
This is too specific.
53:46
And I can't do that.
53:48
So it really, and I think we talked about this last year on the podcast, and I think
53:54
it, we stand true this year too.
53:56
It goes back to that human touch.
53:58
You're talking about the personalization, and you still have to bring it, and you're
54:04
talking about that you can't just, yes, you can make a thousand line project plan template,
54:10
but that's not going to help your client.
54:12
Not by any stretch.
54:14
And that's where the collaboration comes in.
54:15
I've used AI as the collaboration tool to, can you generate these ideas?
54:21
This is the environment that I'm, this is the environment, these are the expectations
54:25
that I have.
54:27
Generate me a bunch of ideas.
54:28
And then I pick those ideas, and then I use my experience and build on them.
54:33
There is no automatic big easy button.
54:36
Yeah.
54:37
Yeah.
54:38
And I know when I'm creating content on a sprint, I will ask the AI for stuff, and I'll
54:43
read through it, and I'll be like, I like that, that, that, that, that, and that.
54:47
Which in essence would sort of be like me writing it, but at least I can just copy and
54:52
paste, and then I can just build from there.
54:55
So yeah, so it's good to have a foundation.
54:59
Any other thoughts?
55:00
Oh, one thing, one more thing to add to the AI image generation portion.
55:10
When creating AI images, you really have to be careful of what you're asking it to create
55:14
because specifically for the event with like the tech conference, when asking it to make
55:19
stuff for like that specific location, it can pull in really harmful stereotypes for
55:25
like the populations that live there.
55:27
And also AI likes to create a lot of white people when you ask it to generate people.
55:33
So, which is not always reflective of the client you're trying to reach.
55:38
Right.
55:39
So, I think that acts a level of diversity then is what you're saying.
55:42
Yeah.
55:43
Yeah.
55:44
Yeah.
55:45
And I thought, the other thing that I thought was super interesting, I had asked it for
55:48
something, I was not, I was not asking it for political stuff, but I must have used
55:54
something about the election or something.
55:56
Oh, I was, I was researching something for a script about election results, and I think
56:01
I put something about election, and the AI spit back, I'm sorry I can't answer that,
56:06
it's controversial or something like that.
56:08
And I thought, wow, it does have some like some gauges, some, you know, some limits in
56:15
that regard.
56:16
Yeah.
56:17
Yeah.
56:18
So, okay.
56:20
Well, that's all the time we have for today.
56:23
Thanks for being here, everyone.
56:25
It was great to reminisce and get ready to keep growing in 2025.
56:32
Thank you for having us.
56:33
Yeah, thank you very much.
56:35
Looking forward to this next year.
56:37
Thank you.
56:38
Thank you.
56:39
And to our listeners, whether you hear us locally from the BTV studios in Bedford, Massachusetts,
56:45
or across the globe on such podcast channels as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Prime,
56:50
thanks for listening.
56:52
We hope you enjoyed this special episode, and we'll see you next time.
56:56
Happy storytelling.
56:57
Yeah.