Marketing Happy Hour

What does it take to market a product that people only buy once, in the most emotionally charged moment of their lives? Kiara Kempski, VP of Global Consumer Marketing at The Knot Worldwide, leads a team of 80+ across a $250B+ industry and has the battle scars to prove it. In this episode, she breaks down how to build a data-informed brand strategy (not data-led — there’s a difference), why she abandoned big-name influencer campaigns in favor of an always-on roster of real couples, and how that shift drove 80% growth in social revenue. She also gets into what she looks for when hiring marketers, how to stay close to your customer without ever leaving your desk, and the one leadership philosophy that’s carried her from a nonprofit art job to one of the most recognized wedding platforms in the world.

Key Takeaways:

// Data-informed vs. data-led is a real distinction. When you’re building a new category or launching something without historical benchmarks, you can’t wait for perfect data. Kiara’s approach: build the story, set the checkpoints, and measure impact after launch rather than before.

// The influencer math in a finite market is different. With only ~2 million US weddings per year, reach-based influencer metrics don’t translate to ROI the same way they do in beauty or CPG. The Knot shifted to nano and micro creators who tell authentic stories and generate content that doubles as paid creative.

// Pattern recognition is the most transferable marketing skill. Kiara has worked across fintech, ancestry, health, and weddings. Her throughline: anchor every strategy to the root business or consumer problem, then stay agile on channels and tactics.

// Social listening is a non-negotiable. She personally monitors TikTok, Reddit wedding subreddits, and brand comments every week and sends her team a roundup every Monday. That proximity to the customer shapes strategy faster than any panel or focus group.

Connect with Kiara:https://www.instagram.com/kahleanicolee/LinkedIn

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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What happens when a non-tech founder decides to stop “pushing” prompts and starts “pulling” solutions from AI? Kahlea Wade, creator and founder of Alora Society, walks us through her “aha moment” — building a fully functional internal onboarding app from 500 pages of documentation in just a weekend — and explains why she now treats Claude as a strategic teammate. From streamlining soul-crushing admin tasks to navigating the ethical boundaries of generative AI in the creator economy, this episode is an essential guide for any professional ready to move from AI curiosity to AI proficiency.

Key Takeaways:

// The “Teammate” Mindset: Stop treating AI as a search engine or a tool; treat it as a brainstorming partner, market researcher, and strategist to unlock its true potential.

// Pull vs. Push Prompting: Instead of telling AI what to do (push), describe your frustrations and goals and ask the AI to design the solution (pull).

// The Claude Ecosystem Explained: Understand the difference between Claude Chat (ideation), Claude Cowork (agent building and connectors), and Claude Code (efficient, terminal-based execution).

// “Life-Quake” Automation: Use AI to handle the “mental load” of tasks like email categorization, task prioritization in ClickUp, and daily industry news briefings.

// Human Agency and Taste: While AI can take over “workflows,” it cannot replace “roles.” Humans remain the only ones capable of establishing “taste,” sharing lived experiences, and navigating complex emotions.

// The Experimentation Mandate: The only way to overcome AI fear is through “summer shred” style consistency — spending time tinkering with platforms like Lovable and Poppy AI to see what is actually possible.

// Claude (Chat, Cowork, Code): Her primary “teammate” for writing and agency operations.

// Lovable: The “no-code” savior used to build her internal team app.

// Poppy AI: A visual “vision board” interface that houses multiple LLMs (Grok, Gemini, Claude) for content analysis.

// ClickUp and Make: The connective tissue used to turn AI outputs into automated business tasks.

Connect with Kahlea:⁠Instagram⁠

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this episode, we sit down with Ally Lloyd, Global Director of Marketing at Peoplefinders, who spent twelve years at Match Group building and marketing some of the most recognizable dating apps in the world — from owning brands holistically to standing up an internal creative and creator agency to running full-funnel marketing for The League. Ally brings a sharp, channel-agnostic perspective to marketing that every brand builder needs to hear: paid social is a testing ground, organic is a community tool, LinkedIn is underrated when your audience is there, and trial reels are one of the most underused creative testing tools available right now. She also gets candid about the career advice that has stuck with her since she was twenty-two, why she uses her personal social accounts as a live testing lab, and what she looks for when building a marketing team.

Key Takeaways:

// Every channel has a job. Know what it is before you turn it on. Ally’s approach to channel strategy is simple: define the goal, set the expectations, and decide upfront what success and an exit look like. LinkedIn for The League drove lower volume and higher cost — but better quality users with higher in-app engagement. That is a win if you define it correctly going in.

// Paid social is your fastest testing ground. When you need quick learnings on hooks, messaging, or creative formats and do not have the budget for consumer research, paid social gives you A/B data fast. Use it to test before you scale, not after.

// Trial reels are one of the most underused tools in social right now. Ally started testing trial reels on her personal account and saw immediate results on reach and format performance. Her approach: use them to understand what type of content drives shares, comments, and follows — and let those learnings shape the broader content strategy.

// Use your personal account as a live lab. Ally has gone viral on TikTok and driven trial reel results by testing on her own page first. If you are relying entirely on your agency or team to tell you what works, you are giving up the fastest feedback loop available to you.

// Your job early in your career is to make your boss look good. It sounds old school but Ally credits this filter with accelerating her career at Match Group from an EA role to running full-funnel marketing. Making your manager’s life easier builds the trust that opens every next door.

// Start your day grounded, not overwhelmed. The best advice Ally ever received came from a CEO who told her to come into each day prepared and centered — not reactive and stressed. For her it started with a morning run and arriving early. The form evolves, but the principle has never changed.

Connect with Ally: LinkedIn

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this episode, we sit down with Angela Trotti, founder of Jelly Seashells and social media consultant, for a conversation that spans agency life, in-house brand management, and building a creator business from scratch. Angela started her career in a nonprofit, found her way into social media through an agency — where she and Cassie first crossed paths — spent six years leading social for Mental Floss under Minute Media, and eventually turned a love of seashells and the Florida coast into a growing creator brand with surf retreats in Costa Rica and Portugal and a consulting practice of her own. She gets refreshingly honest about what brands consistently get wrong when briefing creators, what it actually takes to make social content feel native rather than forced, why going viral is only the beginning of building something lasting, and the one piece of advice she would give anyone sitting on an idea they have not launched yet.

Key Takeaways:

// Going viral is the starting point, not the destination. Any piece of content can blow up at any moment. What separates creators who build lasting careers from one-hit wonders is what they do after the moment — how they show up consistently, stay true to their voice, and turn casual viewers into a real community.

// Community means giving people something to walk away with. An engaged audience watches and reacts. A community comes back because they know they will leave with something — an idea, an experience, a connection. Angela built hers through workshops, surf retreats, and being genuinely reachable through DMs.

// Brands need to trust the creators they hire. The briefing process often fails because brands say they want something authentic and then hand over a bullet list of required talking points. If you hired a creator because their audience trusts them, let them lead the creative direction. That trust is exactly what you are paying for.

// Brand guidelines exist to help you play, not just to restrict you. Knowing your brand's lane is what makes it possible to jump on a trend in a way that feels earned rather than desperate. The brands that do it well are the ones who have done the foundational work first.

Connect with Angela: LinkedIn | Instagram | Jellysseashells@gmail.com

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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Kamara Turner is back for her third appearance on Marketing Happy Hour, and this time she is bringing insights from her newest chapter: Supervisor of U.S. Enterprise Communications at McDonald's, where she has been navigating the world of internal and corporate communications after years of brand and external PR experience at Walgreens, PepsiCo, Ulta Beauty, and The Coca-Cola Company. In this conversation, Kamara opens up about what it is like to communicate for one of the most personally meaningful brands in the world, how she thinks about the difference between building a community versus an engaged audience, her nuanced approach to using AI as an organizational tool without letting it replace her writing, and the career lesson that has stuck with her most: not all great ideas will see the light of day, and that is okay. She also shares a standout influencer campaign from her Pulse and Perspective newsletter and walks through how she keeps cross-functional stakeholders aligned when everything is moving fast.

Key Takeaways:

// When you work for a brand everyone already knows, your job shifts from introducing to nurturing. At McDonald's, Kamara is not building brand awareness from scratch — she is maintaining and deepening a relationship that people already have deeply personal feelings about. That requires a fundamentally different communications mindset.

// Community means pouring back into the people who support you. An engaged audience watches and listens. A community leaves with something — an idea, a resource, a tangible value. If you want to build one intentionally, start by asking what you are going to give people, not just what you want them to do.

// Data is your best tool for getting buy-in. When you can back an idea with consumer insights and hard numbers, you are no longer just pitching a concept — you are connecting it to the business. In a comms role where numbers can feel foreign, leaning into data is what separates ideas that get approved from ideas that stall.

Connect with Kamara: LinkedIn | Pulse and Perspective

Kamara’s Episodes: Mastering Your Brand Communications and PR Strategy | The Strategies You Need for Brand Communications and PR

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this solo episode, Cassie and Ally pull back the curtain on the career strategies they have been teaching inside their Denison Edge sessions and the MHH Collective, and share how they got there in the first place. From navigating the overwhelming landscape of marketing paths as a student, to making the ask in a way that actually works, to building a LinkedIn presence that keeps you top of mind, to landing your first speaking engagement, this episode is a practical and honest conversation about the moves that have shaped both of their careers. They also walk through exactly how they built the expertise and personal brand that led to ongoing teaching opportunities with Denison Edge, and share what is coming up this fall and into 2027 for anyone who wants to go deeper with them.

Key Takeaways:

// Your first marketing role is a starting point, not a label. The landscape is broad and the paths are many — follow your curiosity, play to your strengths, and talk to people actually doing the jobs that interest you before committing to a direction.

// The make the ask formula works. Be specific, be brief, make it easy to say yes, and follow up. Whether you are asking for a fifteen-minute coffee chat or pitching yourself for a collaboration, the people who make specific and well-researched asks are the ones who get responses.

// Your personal brand is always working for you, or it isn't. Posting once a week — about what you are working on, what you learned, what you are reading, or what your honest take is — is the single highest-return habit for any marketer trying to stay visible and relevant.

// You do not need more experience to start speaking. You need clarity on what you know. Getting crystal clear on your areas of expertise is what allows you to pitch yourself confidently for speaking engagements, teaching opportunities, and podcast appearances. A repeatable session on one topic is more powerful than a dozen half-formed ideas.

// Podcasting is a gateway to speaking. You do not need to start your own show — pitching yourself as a guest gets you comfortable articulating your expertise, your elevator pitch, and your story in a low-pressure format.

Enroll in Denison Edge Courses: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/denison-edge

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

Join the MHH Collective:⁠Join now⁠

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In this episode, we sit down with Allie Hartman, founder of Creator Partnerships Lab, who spent 16 years building influencer and creator marketing programs for brands like Dr Pepper, Snapple, Core Hydration, BaubleBar, and more before leaving her comfortable corporate role in April 2026 to go out on her own. Allie walks us through the career arc that took her from the Ad Council to Ogilvy to Keurig Dr Pepper, what finally pushed her to make the leap, and how she built Creator Partnerships Lab around a simple but powerful idea — that most brands focus on finding the right creators and completely underinvest in the infrastructure that makes those partnerships actually work. She breaks down the biggest misconceptions brands still have about influencer marketing, why relationship-first thinking will always outperform one-off posts, what fractional consulting actually looks like day to day, and the mindset shift she credits for finally getting clear on what people would pay her for. If you have ever thought about leaving corporate, monetizing your expertise, or building something of your own — this one is packed with honest, practical insight.

Key Takeaways:

// The infrastructure underneath the content is where most brands fail. Briefs, measurement frameworks, contracting standards, usage rights, approval processes — these are the things that make creator relationships actually work. Most brands skip all of it and wonder why their influencer marketing is not producing results.

// Purpose is the intersection of your values and your expertise. Allie credits a Jay Shetty framework for giving her the clarity she needed to build her business. Once she understood that her purpose was to take 16 years of specialized expertise and make it accessible to as many people as possible, everything else clicked into place.

// Start with the problem, not the product. Allie built her Creator Partnerships Operating System after listening to a creator friend complain about a brand that had no idea how to work with her. She identified the problem, realized she could uniquely solve it, and built the product from there.

// Fractional consulting is the future of work for senior operators. Companies do not always need every senior role full time — their needs are cyclical. Fractional consulting gives brands access to director and VP-level experience at a fraction of the cost, and gives operators the autonomy, flexibility, and purpose alignment that corporate rarely provides.

Learn More About Allie and Her Business: https://www.creatorpartnershipslab.com/mhh

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this episode, we sit down with Julie Zukof, VP of Brand Marketing at Lucky Strike Entertainment — the umbrella brand behind Lucky Strike, AMF, Bolero, and the Professional Bowlers Association — to talk about one of the most interesting brand stories happening in culture right now. Julie brings a background spanning advertising agencies, brand strategy, wellness, and in-house marketing, and she breaks down why bowling is having a genuine cultural moment, how Lucky Strike is building an entertainment ecosystem that goes far beyond the lanes, and what the rise of IRL and screen-free experiences means for every marketer paying attention to where consumer behavior is headed. She also gets into how to balance nostalgia with evolution when marketing a legacy brand, why Gen Alpha is becoming the consumer insight conversation every marketer needs to be having, and what she actually looks for when building a marketing team. If you are thinking about brand experience, community building, or how to keep a legacy brand culturally relevant — this one is packed with transferable lessons.

Key Takeaways:

// People want to participate in brands, not just buy them. The most powerful brand experiences right now are the ones that create genuine participation — bowling leagues, pop-ups, partnerships, ecosystems. Consumers are no longer satisfied being passive buyers.

// Screen-free experiences are up 500%. The same pattern that caused community to decline in the TV era is now playing out with phones — and brands that offer genuine IRL connection are seeing a direct surge as a result. Experiential is not a trend. It is a response to a real cultural shift.

// Nostalgia plus experience is the most powerful Venn diagram in marketing right now. Gen Z is the most nostalgic generation ever studied. Brands that sit at the intersection of something familiar and something worth showing up for in person are winning across categories.

// Gen Alpha is already making purchasing decisions — and most brands are not ready. Kids are telling their parents where to go for birthday parties, weekend plans, and experiences. Understanding how this generation consumes media and makes decisions is one of the most important consumer research conversations happening right now.

Learn More About Lucky Strike: https://www.luckystrikeent.com/

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this episode, we sit down with Ashley Johnson, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer of Visit Newport Beach, who has spent twenty years building some of California's most beloved destination brands, including sixteen years at Visit Laguna Beach, where she became President and CEO at just thirty three years old and won an Emmy for a children's educational campaign that used storytelling to change visitor behavior. Ashley brings a perspective that translates far beyond the tourism industry: she breaks down what it actually means to sell a feeling rather than a product, why the best marketing feels like an invitation rather than an advertisement, how her in-house team of seven executed over twenty two campaigns in a single fiscal year, and what she has learned about imposter syndrome, leadership, and hiring in two decades of leading teams.

Key Takeaways:

// Sell the feeling, not the feature. Nobody books a vacation because of a beach photo. They book because they can picture themselves there. The strongest marketing makes the consumer the main character of the story, not the product.

// Great marketing feels like an invitation. Give people enough information to feel comfortable, enough inspiration to get excited, and then get out of the way and let them have their own experience. Overly prescriptive marketing removes the magic.

// Market with your community, not around them. The biggest mistake a brand can make is building a strategy that ignores or inconveniences the people closest to it. When locals see your marketing and think "yes, that is exactly us," you have done it right.

// Storytelling can change behavior. Ashley's Emmy came from a seven-minute educational video for school groups that made kids want to protect tide pools before they ever visited. Great storytelling does not just inspire — it influences what people actually do.

Connect with Visit Newport Beach: @visitnewportbeach

Connect with Ashley Johnson: @missashleytaylor

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this episode, we sit down with Brianna Keefe, founder and CEO of Toastique — a fresh, made-in-house cafe concept that started as a single 1,000 square foot store in Washington D.C. in 2018 and has grown to over 65 locations across 25 states, entirely through franchising and word of mouth. Brianna opened her first store at 24 with no formal marketing plan, no app, and no third party delivery — just a highly shareable product, a commitment to quality, and an instinct for community. She opens up about how grassroots marketing and in-person community building became the foundation of Toastique’s entire growth strategy, what the pandemic taught her about the strength of the brand she had built, how she has had to evolve as a leader as the business scaled, and the customer service principles she swears by that any business in any industry can apply.

Key Takeaways:

// Word of mouth is still the most powerful marketing channel you have. Toastique spent nothing on marketing for its first year and a half. The product was shareable, the experience was memorable, and customers did the rest. Brianna's belief: if you focus on quality and experience from day one, that becomes embedded in the culture of the brand.

// Grassroots marketing compounds over time. Before apps, third party delivery, or a formal strategy, Toastique built its presence by showing up in the community — catering office breakfasts, doing pop ups in residential buildings, and connecting with neighboring small businesses. That foundation still drives some of their strongest growth today.

// Product presentation is a marketing decision. Toastique was built from the beginning around food that looks as good as it tastes because people eat with their eyes first. The visual shareability of the product meant customers were doing organic social marketing without being asked.

// Be knowledgeable about what you sell, at every level of the team. Toastique requires every team member to pass an 80-question product knowledge quiz before working the register. If someone cannot answer a customer's question confidently, the experience breaks down — no matter how warm the greeting was.

// Personalization at scale is still possible. Remembering names, orders, and personal details — and following up on them — is what turns a transaction into a relationship. In hospitality and in marketing, that memorability factor is what keeps people coming back.

Connect with Brianna: LinkedIn

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this episode, Cassie and Ally are fresh off attending D23, Disney's biennial fan expo in Anaheim and one of the largest brand-driven community events in the world, and they're breaking down everything they observed through a marketing lens. From Crocs building a racetrack-themed booth to Marvel turning a line into a fully immersive story experience, to Disney transforming what could have been a standard press announcement into a 15,000-person live spectacle hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, this episode is packed with concrete, transferable lessons on experiential marketing, merchandise strategy, fan engagement, and community building at scale.

Key Takeaways:

// Exclusivity and urgency are your most powerful tools at a live event. The activations that drove the longest lines at D23 weren't just pretty, they offered something you could only get there, only that weekend. Limited drops, early access, collectible items, and mystery products created genuine excitement and organic content without a single paid push.

// Turn your announcements into experiences, not press releases. Disney could have dropped its park and film news on social media. Instead they put 15,000 fans in a room with live performances, a talk show format, and the actual people behind the projects. The fans became the news cycle.

// Merch is a marketing signal, not just a revenue line. The resurgence of vintage Disney t-shirts under Bobby Kim isn't just a product strategy, it's a cultural statement about where the brand is going. Limited drops, nostalgia, accessibility, and wearability all work together to turn a t-shirt into a conversation starter.

// Peeling back the curtain builds deeper brand loyalty. Disney's Imagineering booth let fans meet the people behind the parks, ask questions, and see physical models of projects still in development. Access to the process is one of the most underused tools in brand marketing.

// Community is the most durable marketing engine you can build. D23 exists because of Disney's fan community, and that community does an enormous amount of Disney's marketing for free. Cassie and Ally are a perfect example — two marketers who attended, created content, and will talk about this event for weeks. Building a community that shows up for you, on and offline, is a long game worth investing in.

// Maintaining the status quo is the riskiest thing you can do. Bob Iger's philosophy, that staying still is more dangerous than taking risks, is the through line of everything Disney presented at this event. New stories, new formats, new access, new product. The brands that keep pushing are the ones that keep their audiences leaning in.

____

Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this episode, Cassie turns the mic on co-host Ally Golden for a candid, long-overdue conversation about her career journey — from a PR degree she couldn't quite use, to a wealth management firm where she cut her marketing teeth, to brand management roles that clarified exactly where her passion lived, to a layoff that forced her to rethink everything she thought she knew about her own worth. Ally opens up about the ego hit of being impacted by a reduction in force at Title, what it took to separate her personal identity from her professional title, and the unexpected projects — freelance writing, mentorship, community work — that helped her rebuild her confidence and sense of self in the aftermath. She also shares the one behavior she's spent years unlearning, why being a big fish in a small pond early in your career is one of the most underrated moves you can make, and the piece of advice she'd give to younger Ally if she could go back. Equal parts career reflection and honest conversation about what it really takes to grow — this one is for anyone who has ever felt like their career was supposed to look different by now.

Key Takeaways:

// Being a big fish in a small pond early in your career is a gift, not a consolation prize. Ally's first role at a 15-person wealth management firm gave her more runway, ownership, and variety than most entry-level roles ever do. Wearing every hat — even the ones you didn't ask for — is what creates a well-rounded marketer.

// Clarity about what you actually want doesn't come from thinking. It comes from doing. Ally didn't know she wanted to be in brand management until she was knee-deep in tone of voice work and color analysis at a finance firm. You have to try things to know which things are yours.

// When you lose control of your career, build something you can control. After her layoff, Ally cold-pitched a local magazine, started freelance writing, and leaned into mentorship — not for financial reasons, but to feed the parts of herself that a full-time job had been crowding out. Those extensions made her a more well-rounded professional and person.

// Unlearn the idea that your voice has to earn its place in the room. The biggest unlock of Ally's career has been realizing she was shrinking to fit a box — holding back questions, ideas, and asks because she didn't feel she fully qualified. Raising your hand before you feel completely ready is the move.

// It's okay for your dreams to change. Ally spent years chasing a goal that didn't work out on the timeline she expected — and grieving that was part of the process. But flexibility and nimbleness are what allowed her to see the opportunity that was right in front of her all along.

____

Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this episode, we sit down with Lauren Schulte Wang, founder and CEO of The Flex Co., the brand behind the menstrual disc that has sold over 185 million units, holds 88% market share in its category, and is now carried in over 30,000 retail locations including Target, Walmart, and CVS. Lauren built Flex from scratch in 2016, creating an entirely new product category with zero search volume and a consumer behavior change challenge that she describes as one of the hardest jobs a marketer can have. She opens up about how obsessive customer listening shaped their entire go-to-market strategy, what it took to fight platform by platform to earn the right to advertise a period product on social media, why word of mouth is still their strongest acquisition channel after nearly ten years, and how reaching profitability in year seven gave Flex the agency to put customers above all else.

Key Takeaways:

// Changing human behavior is the hardest job in marketing. Flex isn't asking someone to switch brands, they're asking them to rethink something deeply personal. That challenge shaped every part of how they educate, nurture, and retain customers.

// Retail shelf space is a billboard. Their target customer is in that aisle every single month. Lauren's strategy: build awareness through influencers and streaming TV, then let the shelf close the deal.

// Word of mouth is still their number one acquisition channel, after ten years. Building a product people feel compelled to tell their friends about is not a soft metric. It is a growth strategy.

// Profitability is about agency. Reaching profitability in year seven gave Flex the ability to make decisions that put customers first without being beholden to investor timelines or the next raise.

// 88% market share and 3% awareness is the opportunity, not the problem. Most brands would panic at low awareness. Lauren sees it as the greatest runway ahead.

Connect with Lauren:LinkedIn

Learn More: Website

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this throwback episode, we sit down with Elizabeth Thompson, Senior Manager of Social Media at National Geographic, who leads strategy for one of the largest social ecosystems in the world — over 400 million followers across platforms. Elizabeth shares the career journey that took her from Army brat and freelancer to running social for one of the most iconic storytelling brands, including how she grew Nat Geo's Instagram from 250M to 270M followers and TikTok from 2.5M to 9M. We unpack how a 137-year-old brand stays culturally relevant today, how her team uses UGC, reactive content, and new platform features to reach global audiences, and what creators and marketers can learn from building social strategy at scale. This one is packed with timeless frameworks — worth a relisten or a first listen if you missed it.

Key Takeaways:
// How to grow a legacy brand on social: The relevance, resonance, and risk framework Nat Geo uses to decide which cultural moments are worth jumping on — and which to sit out.
// The power of UGC at scale: Why Nat Geo Your Shot was reimagined as a creative community, not just a content bucket — and how it drives belonging, not just reach.
// Building strategy for massive audiences: How Elizabeth approaches content for 400M+ followers across seven platforms, and why an always-on strategy and engagement plays both have to coexist.
// Career lessons for social pros: How internships spanning PR, journalism, and email marketing — plus a freelance business and a master's degree in Germany — shaped her path to Nat Geo.
// Team building and cross-functional alignment: What transparency, flexibility, and proactive communication actually look like inside a large, matrixed organization.
// The timeless principles that will outlast every algorithm shift: Authenticity, community, and adaptability — and why these three things will always matter no matter what the platforms do next.

____

Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this episode, we sit down with Erica Small and Nikki Huganir, the co-founders of Yes Way Rosé — a wine brand that started as a $200 tote bag and an Instagram account in 2013 and has since grown into one of the top rosé brands in the US, with over 13 million bottles sold and retail placement at Target, Publix, Total Wine, Walmart, and beyond. What makes their story so compelling for marketers: they built an entirely formed lifestyle brand — rooted in humor, female friendship, and culture — before they ever made a single bottle of wine. Erica and Nikki open up about how their fashion, media, and design backgrounds shaped the brand's voice and visual identity from day one, why they chose to grow without outside capital, how they're navigating marketing to both their original millennial audience and a growing Gen Z consumer base, and what led them to finally launch a non-alcoholic rosé in 2026.

Key Takeaways:

// Build the brand before you build the product. Yes Way Rosé launched as a lifestyle brand and Instagram community in 2013 — five years before the wine hit shelves in 2018. By the time the product launched, the brand DNA was fully formed: the voice, the aesthetic, the community, the point of view. The wine had a home to come into.

// Your creative background is a competitive advantage — even in an unexpected industry. Erica's years as a fashion editor shaped how Yes Way Rosé tells stories and spots cultural moments. Nikki's graphic design background meant the brand had a distinct, immediately recognizable visual identity from the very first tote bag. Neither had a wine background — and that turned out to be the point.

// Community built before a product is the most durable kind. The Yes Way Rosé audience was already engaged, loyal, and bought in before there was ever anything to buy. That foundation is a big part of why the brand is up 20% in a category that's down 4%.

// IRL marketing is back — and rosé is built for it. The "Bottle the Feeling" campaign — New York billboards, boats in Miami — is rooted in the belief that a brand like Yes Way Rosé needs to show up where people are actually living the moments the brand represents. Liquid to lips, in the right places, remains the most important marketing lever they have.

// The Gen Z and millennial sweet spot is relatability, not segmentation. Rather than building separate strategies for each audience, Yes Way Rosé looks for the overlap — content that's relatable, culturally relevant, and speaks the language of both groups. TikTok is a current priority, with the understanding that millennials are there too.

Connect with the Founders: Nikki + Erica

Learn More: Website

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this episode, Ally sits down with Meredith Mills-Merritt, founder and CEO of The Original Southside, a premium ready-to-drink gin cocktail inspired by her mom's summer recipe that has grown into 20+ markets, landed on shelves at Whole Foods and Total Wine, and seen shipments grow more than 370% in its second year. Meredith brings a background in prestige beauty brand management that shaped everything about how she built Southside, from putting a full ingredient list on her cans (a rarity in alcohol) to investing in in-person demo and event marketing over digital spend. She opens up about navigating the alcohol industry's notoriously complex three-tier distribution system, how landing early partnerships with the Stanley Cup–winning Florida Panthers and LSU Athletics accelerated the brand's growth, and what she'd tell any aspiring founder sitting on an idea in their notes app right now.

Key Takeaways:

// 95% of the marketing budget goes to in-person, IRL events, and it's working. Demos, tastings, and events where consumers are already in a consumption mindset are where Southside wins the most efficiently. Her tip: book the 4–7pm demo slot at Whole Foods, not the 11am one — because alcohol shopping is a mindset, not just a product category. When people try it, they buy it. That's the whole strategy.

// Take calculated risks on partnerships early, even when they feel too big. When the Florida Panthers and LSU Athletics came calling, Meredith said yes, not because she had the budget of a legacy brand, but because arenas and live events are exactly the consumption environments that drive trial at scale. Those early partnerships created case studies she now uses to unlock new distributors, retailers, and markets.

// The alcohol industry has a transparency problem, and consumers deserve better. Alcohol is one of the only major consumer categories where ingredient labeling isn't legally required. Meredith discovered during her own production process that a proposed additive (sodium benzoate) could produce benzene when combined with vitamin C — a known carcinogen. That discovery delayed her launch by six months and eventually led her to co-found the Clean Alcohol Collective.

// If you're already thinking about starting something, that's the sign. Meredith's advice for aspiring founders: if you're already turning the idea over in your mind, you probably won't be at peace until you try it. The messy middle between failure and exit is where the real growth happens — and even if it doesn't work out, you'll come out the other side with something you built for yourself.

Connect with Meredith: Instagram

Learn More: Website

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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Cassie sits down with Elle Rudnick, Manager of Integrated Marketing at Rare Beauty, to talk about what it really takes to build a community-first brand in a category that's saturated with brands claiming to be exactly that. Elle brings a unique lens shaped by nearly a decade across fashion and beauty — from merchandising to brand marketing — and walks us through how she's translating that experience into Rare Beauty's integrated strategy across social, influencer, PR, and partnerships. She breaks down the no-phone, no-photos community dinner series she launched within months of joining the brand, why she's had to redefine what "perfect" means in a fast-moving industry, and the communication and collaboration skills she considers the highest-leverage investment of her career. If you're trying to build a brand people feel something for — not just buy from — this conversation is full of specific, actionable takeaways.

Key Takeaways:

// Consumer behavior doesn't change just because the product does. Elle's transition from apparel to beauty taught her that both categories are ultimately about identity — apparel is how people express themselves outwardly, beauty is more intimate, about how people see themselves and want to be seen. That insight sharpened her approach to emotional marketing across the board.

// Consumers can tell when you're "just posting to post." The biggest trend Elle is seeing: people want real connection, not surface-level content. Brands that treat community as a checkbox get called out fast — the ones that actually build with their audience earn deeper loyalty.

// Redefine what "perfect" means in a fast-moving industry. Early in her career, Elle equated perfect with flawless. Now, she defines it as clear, intentional, and aligned — because waiting for 100% polish means missing the moment entirely. Her approach: get to a strategically sound place, then execute and iterate based on real-time consumer feedback.

// The best campaigns make people think "wait, that's literally me." Elle's taste as a marketer is rooted in emotional relatability — honesty, nostalgia, humor, and small human details. Aspiration still matters, but she's far more drawn to aspiration that feels attainable and emotionally grounded than to anything overly polished or manufactured.

// "Community first" is becoming a buzzword — and consumers are starting to expect proof, not just claims. Elle is watching closely to see which brands actually back up the label with real action, and is intentional about making sure Rare Beauty's community initiatives are recognizable as distinctly theirs, not just another version of what everyone else is doing.

Connect with Elle: LinkedIn

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this episode, we sit down with Brieane (Brie) Olson, CEO of PacSun, for a conversation that is equal parts brand strategy masterclass and career inspiration. Brie has spent nearly two decades at PacSun — moving from design and product to marketing and digital before stepping into the CEO role three years ago — and has led one of retail's most remarkable transformation stories, taking the brand from bankruptcy to a Harvard Business School case study and a cult following with Gen Z. She opens up about the viral TikTok moment that shaped PacSun's entire philosophy around co-creation, why most brands are fundamentally misunderstanding Gen Z and Gen Alpha, and what it actually looks like to give your customers a real seat at the table — not just a focus group. She also digs into her own leadership journey, why she went back to school at 40, and what she'd tell anyone trying to build something meaningful from wherever they're starting. Her new book, Co-Created, is out now.

Key Takeaways:

// Treat your customers as co-creators, not an audience. The turning point in PacSun's story came when an everyday consumer — not a contracted influencer — filmed a TikTok in her bedroom that sold 11,000 pairs of jeans in under 48 hours. The lesson Brie took from it: when you truly empower customers to love and represent your brand, the results can far outpace anything a paid campaign produces.

// Give Gen Z an actual seat at the table — not just a survey. PacSun's Youth Advisory Council brings together 14 young people aged 12 to 26 who function like a board of directors — weighing in on tech initiatives, marketing campaigns, and strategy. Social listening is a starting point, but the brands that win are the ones creating formal structures to involve their community in real decisions.

// Experiential retail isn't complicated: the mall is back, and unexpected pop-ups are winning. Gen Z and Gen Alpha want to touch product, hang out with friends, and be surprised. PacSun has seen major success showing up trackside at Formula One in Austin, at Goofball, and in other culturally-relevant spaces. Meeting the customer in moments that matter to them — not just in places convenient to the brand — is the new retail playbook.

// You don't need a title to start leading. Brie's advice for early-career listeners: stay deeply curious, build relationships relentlessly, never stay too rigidly in your lane, and do more than what's expected of you. She also makes the point that identifying what's blocking your growth — and taking action on it — matters more than waiting for the right opportunity. She went back to school at 40. It's never too late to fill the gap.

Connect with Brie: LinkedIn

Get a Copy of the Book: Amazon

____

Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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In this episode, we sit down with Mady Lanni, Senior PR Strategist at Manychat — the social media automation platform powering those viral "comment to get the link" moments you see across Instagram and TikTok every day. Mady's path to PR wasn't linear (criminal justice degree, anyone?), and that outside perspective has shaped a refreshingly sharp, social-first approach to a field that's rapidly changing. She gets real about the slow death of traditional newsrooms and what it means for brands still relying on press releases, why journalists are migrating from X to LinkedIn and how to meet them there, how to move fast on reactive PR without sacrificing brand integrity, and why your most powerful spokespeople might not be your executives — they might be your creators. If you work in PR, marketing, or communications and want to understand where the industry is actually headed, this episode is your roadmap.

Key Takeaways:

// Social is where the news breaks first — follow it accordingly. Mady starts every morning in her social feed, not her inbox. Trending conversations happen on social before they hit anywhere else, and the PR pros who catch them earliest are the ones who get the reactive coverage.

// Newsrooms are shrinking, and modern PR has to evolve with them. Traditional media outlets are downsizing. Journalists are building their own Substacks and newsletters. What "media" means is fundamentally shifting.

// LinkedIn is the new Twitter for journalists. Mady sees a clear migration happening: journalists who used to live on X are moving to LinkedIn for connections, relationship-building, and DMs.

// Always be able to answer "okay, and so what?" Before pitching any story, Mady asks herself whether the news genuinely matters to anyone outside the marketing team. If the only people excited about it are internal, it's a brand moment, not a PR moment.

// Creators are replacing executives as the most credible spokespeople. Journalists and readers are craving authenticity, and polished executive quotes often fall flat.

// Press releases are a tool, not a strategy. The future of PR is more creative, more relatable, and more human.

Connect with Mady: LinkedIn

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

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Five years ago, Marketing Happy Hour was launched from scratch — Canva logo, Google searches, and zero podcasting experience. In this milestone episode, Cassie walks through the full arc of her career: from a self-pitched internship at a Florida restaurant group to a pivotal move to New York City, from leaving a stable agency job to start her own business in 2019, to building MHH into the community it is today. Cassie gets refreshingly honest about the comparison trap of entrepreneurship, why she stopped chasing the "big brand on the resume" and started following what she actually loves, and the one piece of advice she'd give her younger self.

Key Takeaways:

// Cold pitching with concrete ideas beats cold pitching with just your resume. When Cassie landed her first internship — at a restaurant group with no open listing — she didn't just ask "can I help?" She came with specific ideas and made it easy for the hiring manager to say yes. The lesson: don't make the person on the other end do the work of figuring out how you fit.

// The biggest career accelerator is often the move you're scared to make. For Cassie, that was packing up and moving from Tampa to New York City. It pulled her out of a hospitality bubble and into big brand, agency-level experience that changed everything. You don't have to move across the country — but being open to expanding the type of roles and environments you're in is what unlocks the next level.

// Build a career on what you keep saying yes to. Cassie still doesn't have a singular "dream job" figured out — and she's at peace with that. What she does know is the types of projects that light her up: podcasting, production, storytelling, events. Following that thread, rather than a fixed five-year plan, has shaped her career more than any roadmap would have.

// The comparison trap is real — but it can be reframed. Everyone's timing is different. Everyone's journey has challenges you can't see from the outside. Instead of comparing, Cassie recommends using other people's careers as a research tool: study how they got there, reach out, ask questions, and let it inform your own path rather than measure against it.

// Give yourself grace. The advice Cassie would give younger Cassie — and the one she still needs to hear. You won't be perfect every day. Not everything has to make sense right now. Be patient with the journey, surround yourself with the right people, and trust that the pieces are connecting — even when you can't see how yet.

Connect with Cassie: LinkedIn

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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

Join the MHH Collective:⁠Join now⁠

Get the latest marketing trends, open jobs and MHH updates, straight to your inbox: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our email list!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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