A Culture of Learning with Lisa Cox

WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:16.480 Conversations from the front lines of marketing. This is be tob growth. Hello 2 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:21.199 and welcome into be tob growth. I'm your host, Benjie Block. Today 3 00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:25.239 I am joined by Lisa Cox. Lisa, thank you for jumping on an 4 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:28.480 episode of v Tob Growth with me. Yeah, thank you so much. 5 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:33.200 I'm so excited about this, for sure. So let's give some context. 6 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:39.000 You have a background in brand strategy. You have created your own ice cream 7 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:42.320 company, which we will talk about some of that. That sounds like a 8 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:48.159 fun adventure. And then here currently, you are Director of marketing at a 9 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:53.439 company called teak and twine. Tell us a little bit quickly about about teak 10 00:00:53.479 --> 00:00:58.200 and twine and what you're doing right now. Yeah, so you know, 11 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:03.560 teak and twine is a company that focuses on strategic corporate gifting. So it's 12 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:08.439 gifting, but there's always a goal to it right. So our companies really 13 00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:15.000 figuring out like what makes a good gift for a sales team and warming up 14 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:22.079 clients, versus what makes a good gift for like a virtual event, and 15 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:27.799 so you know, there's all these components and strategy and all these extra layers 16 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:34.200 the make these good just like way more impactful so as the director of marketing, 17 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:38.519 it's really about figuring out all those stories. And the company itself used 18 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:44.040 to be D Toc. So, like my task right now is really figuring 19 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:48.560 out how to do this in a be to be way and make it effective. 20 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:53.200 There's so much we can talk about there. I think D Toc and 21 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:57.879 then be to be. I had a couple of those conversations recently where I 22 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:02.920 there's some a lot of value in having views into both and how they can 23 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:07.759 influence your marketing strategy when you've done both. So that's great. Well, 24 00:02:07.919 --> 00:02:12.960 today what we want to do is I want to talk about learning with you 25 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:17.479 and we'll talk about it from several different angles, but let's start here. 26 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:22.840 For you right now in your job, what's your favorite part of working at 27 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:25.800 teak and twine right now, like what really gets you excited? Yeah, 28 00:02:25.879 --> 00:02:30.039 for sure. I mean, you know, just switching from D Toc to 29 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:34.159 be to be means we're like doing everything in the play buck right, and 30 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:39.759 so for me it's just really fun that there's constantly new projects we're experimenting. 31 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:45.080 You know, one of our core values is spaghetti at the ball and it's 32 00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:49.800 my favorite core value, and that's exactly what we're doing and that keeps me 33 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:53.120 excited. So I like Spaghetti at the wall. That is a fun way 34 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:59.159 of just seeing what sticks, what you're just trying and experimenting and stilling that 35 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:02.560 in your team. That obviously is going to help with products and what you 36 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:06.759 release and what you do in the world, but it's also going to help 37 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:10.000 internally and still that kind of cultural value. What, for you, has 38 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:16.439 been maybe an influential resource in your career, something that you really carry with 39 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:22.800 you, that you've learned? Yeah, I think the book that I'm obsessed 40 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:28.199 with right now is the leadership challenge and, you know, coming into this 41 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:30.360 role at taken twine, you know, I came in as the director, 42 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:36.080 right, and so is leading a team and I was really focused, you 43 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:39.199 know, on learning the skill of leadership. Right, I knew I couldn't 44 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:44.360 manage people, I knew I could manage projects, but I was looking for 45 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.879 a resource that kind of like the playbook of how to be a good leader, 46 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:52.680 and this book has been the best one. Like it really has steps, 47 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:58.560 it has stories, it's the most actionable resource I found and it's just 48 00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:02.280 helpful to remind myself that, like, leadership is a learned skill you know, 49 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:08.520 I think there's this like perception that you're a born leader and I don't 50 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:11.400 think that's true. Like you have to practice at it and work at it, 51 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:15.199 and that book is Great. Is there one sort of thing that the 52 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:19.399 book said that unlocked something for you or that you constantly go back to that 53 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:24.160 you're like, man, this has really taken my leadership to a different level? 54 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:30.040 Yeah, I think there's two, and one is just modeling the behavior, 55 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:34.920 so being really intentional like what I want as a team, and it 56 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:40.160 starts with me first, right. I can't just tell people what to do. 57 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:45.279 I have to be really intentional about modeling and doing that myself first. 58 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:49.240 And then the second one that I love. I think they call it show 59 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:55.800 the heart, but I interpret that as like you have to show the impact 60 00:04:55.800 --> 00:04:59.839 of everyone's work, right, like you can't just say you're doing this project 61 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:03.360 and good job. It really helps people feel motivated of like you did this 62 00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:08.560 project and now it helps us get here with pipeline and now we have this 63 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:14.959 type of revenue and that keeps people really excited. And Yeah, just having 64 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:20.279 that really kind of unlocked how I give feedback and motivate the team. I 65 00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:27.920 think in Bob I've noticed when it comes to showing the heart, that can 66 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:30.920 get jaded a little bit where it just becomes number. So like we used 67 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:34.560 to do at a previous company I worked for, we do like the queue 68 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:38.600 one review and it was like a fun there was there was elements to it 69 00:05:38.600 --> 00:05:42.000 that I actually think we're done really well, but I noticed this tendency, 70 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:46.040 once we got into like reviewing what each department was doing, that it was 71 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:51.600 like very data driven and numbers driven, which is probably a lot more of 72 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:57.480 a leaning and B Tob that you get to this this level of like, 73 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:01.079 okay, our team did drive this data, but if it's not connected to 74 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:05.680 any sort of emotion or or person or like, how do we actually make 75 00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:09.800 an impact in the world, which be to be companies are making a huge 76 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:13.600 impact in the world right I think there's a lot of room for improvement there. 77 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:17.480 So I love that you you touched on that and think it's extremely vital 78 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:20.879 and what the best way to do it. Learn that principle and then just 79 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:25.879 apply it to your team and and that's that's wonderful. So that's great for 80 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:30.480 you, Lisa. Do you think our books usually like where you do the 81 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:33.800 most of your learning? And Self Education, or is it podcasts other like 82 00:06:33.879 --> 00:06:39.959 events? What do you lean towards? Yeah, I think it definitely depends. 83 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:43.639 I do love a good book, but I'll admit for me it's all 84 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:49.399 podcasts. Like my podcast library is very full. I think that just helps 85 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:55.360 me digest the information. I can slowly, you know, absorb it. 86 00:06:55.399 --> 00:07:00.319 But what also helps is taking notes. So I have a giant list of 87 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:04.720 podcast work notes and then I go back and like reflect on it and like, 88 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:10.560 you know, put it into categories because, yeah, it's easy to 89 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:15.120 take an information and when you just walk away from it, you're not gonna 90 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:19.120 retain it. So I try to be good about going back to those podcasts 91 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:21.560 and what I took from them. That's such a big part of it, 92 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:26.000 because we can consume so much content that it could be really hard to actually 93 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.839 remember, like what did I learn there, and like what, how do 94 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:32.120 I apply it? Yeah, so you're you're taking what you've learned, you're 95 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:35.399 applying it right. So then that is modeling, which we talked about earlier, 96 00:07:35.399 --> 00:07:40.240 modeling for your team to be a learner, and that's where we want 97 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:44.920 to go with this conversation, is instilling that that learner mindset in your team 98 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:49.480 and really championing that. So, because you're passionate about it, then how 99 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:55.199 do you turn that into like a cultural thing in your current context? How 100 00:07:55.240 --> 00:08:01.319 do you think about your team being learners? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, 101 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:05.439 when I'm thinking about like having the team be learners, you know again 102 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:09.759 from this book and where we were, you know, I'm taking a step 103 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:11.079 back and like okay, so how am I going to do that as a 104 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:16.639 leader, like how am I going to make the team leaders? And you 105 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:20.160 know, I touched on this when I was brought onto the roll. Like 106 00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:22.720 the company was in this huge pivotal point, right, it was going from 107 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:30.480 D Toc to be to be. We had really aggressive growth goals and the 108 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:33.840 whole team was brand new. So there was just like all these things up 109 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:39.320 in the air and seeing that, like I knew the way we were going 110 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:45.919 to succeed was embracing learning, right, we had to be comfortable with experimenting, 111 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:50.559 you know, trying all these things, seeing what's stuck. So for 112 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:54.600 me, embracing this is actually, you know, a strategy to hit those 113 00:08:54.679 --> 00:09:01.440 goals and something that I'm always keeping top of mine to build h do you 114 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:07.600 intentionally tell people to just try things because I have a tendency. I love 115 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:13.039 trying and breaking things and remaking them and all that, like the evolution right 116 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:20.080 of processes. But I notice in myself a tendency early on to just take 117 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:24.159 in, you know, everything and not try and feel like I'm walking on 118 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:28.960 eggshells a little bit. So you have a brand new team, right, 119 00:09:28.039 --> 00:09:33.759 and you're trying to instill this cultural value. How are you doing that? 120 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:37.399 Yeah, I mean there's a few ways that we're, you know, instilling 121 00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:41.720 that. One really easy way is just in the goals, right, so 122 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:48.279 we create quarterly rocks, same goals, you know, whatever company uses. 123 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:52.159 Yeah, so I make sure that everyone at least has one or two gold 124 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:58.519 that's focused on learning, right, so that's either a new skill or connecting 125 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:03.000 with some other department and learning how they're running to like help them do their 126 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:09.159 job better. So when you have it in the goals, it's top of 127 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:11.000 mind, right, like everyone wants to hit their goals at the end of 128 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:16.720 the corner, and so you put it in there and it's clear that's a 129 00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:22.279 priority and that everyone is expected to work towards that. Yep. So give 130 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:28.679 me an example of like how you would put a learning goal as like how 131 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:31.440 many rocks do you guys have? Because I know different companies do different things. 132 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:35.720 So if one or two of their goals are around learning, what is 133 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:41.440 that goal actually look like? Yeah, so we have roughly four or five. 134 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:46.360 So some are just as basic as like read this book, you know, 135 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:52.080 read this user research book to help you have better conversations with customers. 136 00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:58.759 Or if you know, in the conversations with the people managing, if they're 137 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:01.759 hesitant to do something new, I'm like, great, that is a goal. 138 00:11:01.799 --> 00:11:09.639 We are going to experiment with new ways to incorporate video into social media, 139 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:13.639 let's say. So you know, it's about having a conversation with them 140 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:18.480 and, like you said, like finding those eggshell type moments and pushing that 141 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:24.159 to be one of those top goals. I like that. And obviously leadership 142 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:28.720 is often reading a room right, like Oh, I notice when we talk 143 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:35.879 about this there's a bit of hesitancy and now I can lean into that and 144 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:37.960 help this person grow. And obviously you could push too hard or not. 145 00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:43.279 You don't want to do that, but there's a good way of helping someone 146 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:46.720 achieve a goal that's then actually good for them personally and for your business. 147 00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:52.399 So there's a lot of pros to that. Give me an example of good, 148 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:56.720 or maybe bad company culture around learning and growing, like what do you 149 00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:01.399 see that's good and or maybe a bad example? Yeah, for sure. 150 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:07.200 You know, when you're creating like a good culture around learning, I think 151 00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:13.480 what people forget sometimes is that you also have to create a culture where failing 152 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:18.120 is okay. Right, they both have to happen together and you can't have 153 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:24.000 you can have the good culture of learning without the other totally. And you 154 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.399 know, obviously I'm a big believer of learning. You know, the team 155 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:31.679 has like all this initiative, they're learning all these skills, but there's always 156 00:12:31.720 --> 00:12:37.320 a tradeoff and anything in life, and in this sense the tradeoff is, 157 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:43.840 you know, either mistakes or unexpected outcomes. But I know it's going to 158 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:46.519 happen, right, so, like I can prepare for how I'm going to 159 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:52.440 react in those situations and from my part on my team, like, if 160 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:56.919 I know this is going to happen, I'm not wasting any of my energy 161 00:12:56.919 --> 00:13:01.799 making anyone feel bad about it right like. That is not going to help 162 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:05.360 anyone move forward. It's not going to help the team move forward. So 163 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:13.080 that's how I'm making our team a safe space to fail, honestly. So 164 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:20.080 I'm focusing on creating this culture of learning and I'm also spending just as much 165 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:26.240 time figuring out how to make a safe space to fail. Nice. I 166 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:28.799 forget who it was. Think someone that's like x military wrote a book or 167 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:33.200 something. I don't know. We're gonna get the quote wrong, so we 168 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:37.000 won't try to get it exact here. But the idea of either you win 169 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:41.440 or you learn instead of win or lose, I think is a really valuable 170 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:43.879 way to think of it. And in company culture where you're trying to promote 171 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:52.080 learning, those moments where something doesn't go right and there's a failure of some 172 00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:56.559 kind, but you actually choose to have a moment where you're actively going, 173 00:13:56.600 --> 00:14:00.120 okay, what did we learn from this? Or I've heard this questions. 174 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:03.519 That was really good, like what could be good from this? Yeah, 175 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:07.399 and when you push in and lean into that intentionally as a leader for your 176 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:11.360 team, then they see like it's not just okay that you failed, but 177 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:16.639 like there's some things that came out of this that will drastically impact the company 178 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:20.120 for the better in the long run. Right, like because now we know 179 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:22.799 several things that maybe didn't work or we shouldn't try again or whatever. But 180 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:28.919 I actually identifying those because sometimes company culture goes to okay, we're not like 181 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:33.000 mad at you, but we're also not talking about the failure right, like 182 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:37.799 we're not going to actually go into why that happened and what could be better 183 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:41.480 next time. And those are the conversations, of the crucial conversations that actually 184 00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:48.559 you gain momentum from failure potentially. So love that you're passionate about this learning 185 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:50.919 right as a topic because I feel like it's such a true north for you 186 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:54.960 and it's something you've leaned into for a long time. You've seen the win 187 00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:01.639 right from personal development and prioritizing that. So give me the origin story, 188 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:07.639 we hinted at this earlier, of the ice cream company, and will dive 189 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:09.960 into some of what you learned there, because I think it's a valuable just 190 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:16.120 user case right in like championing being a learner. Yeah, for sure. 191 00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:22.919 So I actually started the first couple of years of my career designing running apparel. 192 00:15:22.279 --> 00:15:26.399 So there's all that I can talk about there. But in that role, 193 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:31.720 you know, my my scope, in my focus was super well defined. 194 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:35.320 Right, it was running. It was a peril I understood what my 195 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:43.639 daytoday was and I just got to a point where I was looking to tackle 196 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:50.120 more complex problems, right, just take on these issues that just had a 197 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:56.559 little more effort to them. And friend of a friend of mine approached me 198 00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:00.799 and she wanted to launch a plant based ice cream company and was looking for 199 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:06.600 a creative partner and, you know, it was just the right point of 200 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:10.559 where I was in my career. I had always loved food, you know, 201 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:15.320 just like ticked all the boxes for me and just jumped straight into that, 202 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:18.240 which was great. You know, we did that for a year and 203 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:22.039 a half. You know, achieved a lot that I'm super proud of. 204 00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:26.360 You know, it was a premium food product and we still got into fifty 205 00:16:26.519 --> 00:16:30.559 retail accounts in a year. That's crazy. It is crazy. Yeah, 206 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:36.639 but you know, in that experience, yes, I was transitioning from design 207 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:41.200 into marketing and brand strategy and everything that goes into that, but in running 208 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:45.960 a business, right, I got all this exposure to the other stuff. 209 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:52.559 No, figuring out distribution, the inventory management, the production, you know, 210 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:57.559 conversations with buyers and doing sales pitches like it was everything. And you 211 00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:00.559 know, when I tell people about that, experience, I always call it 212 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:08.319 my real world MBA, which is extremely valuable to actually try something and you 213 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:12.359 you're doing that for like a year plus and then you guys made it a 214 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:17.200 conscious decision to to not go further with it, right. So talk about 215 00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:22.799 that part. Yeah, yeah, so we started this company and we had 216 00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:25.599 agreed, you know, from the get go that at a year and a 217 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:27.559 half we were going to reflect and, you know, decide if we wanted 218 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:36.559 to go forward. And at that point we're wearing multiple hats and, you 219 00:17:36.599 --> 00:17:40.400 know, we each identified what we love to do the Daytoday, which for 220 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:48.960 me was brand strategy and marketing. But she and I weren't enjoying just all 221 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:53.799 the other stuff, right, so I was doing operations and production and that's 222 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:59.480 not my superpower, and so we just decided that that was the right time 223 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:03.759 to close down so we could each pursue our passions, and that's when I 224 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:08.119 started freelancing and working for other small businesses and startups and this kind of brand 225 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:14.799 strategy and marketing world. I love that you guys chose to say a year 226 00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:18.559 and a half in will reevaluate, because that's one it's just good from a 227 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:21.720 learning perspective, like you could have chose, hey, we're just going to 228 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:23.960 go deeper into this, we love everything we're doing and even though we're wearing 229 00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:26.960 like you know. I mean, they could have gone that way. You 230 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:29.759 chose not to go that way, but you had that like we're going to 231 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:33.960 reevaluate, and that's valuable. You look back and you've hit on some of 232 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:37.720 these things already, as you've told this story. But choosing to okay, 233 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:41.319 we're going to go and I'm going to go in a different direction. There's 234 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:45.359 obviously clearly some that would look in and go, Oh, they tried an 235 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:51.240 ice cream company and they failed. You obviously did not fail. There's so 236 00:18:51.319 --> 00:18:55.000 much that you learned in that. So I want you to just go into 237 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:56.960 that. How it's your Real World Mba. So, like how did it 238 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:00.920 make you a better marketer in the long run? Yeah, I think in 239 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:07.920 that experience, you know, I was in charge of the brand side, 240 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:11.119 but because I was involved in all the other aspects of business, I got 241 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:15.599 to see the domino effects, right, I got to see how what I 242 00:19:15.640 --> 00:19:22.480 was doing on marketing affected other parts of the business. So now I approach 243 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:27.160 things by going kind of just beyond the traditional definition of what a marketer should 244 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:33.160 do. And it's actually funny at teak and twine our team internally we call 245 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:38.759 ourselves the brand team, not the marketing team, and I love that because 246 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:42.599 it keeps the definition the kind of loose, right, so we could kind 247 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:48.000 of see where we have the skills and opportunity to do something and that's how 248 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:55.279 we choose to tackle projects. So, like we just did a community feedback 249 00:19:55.279 --> 00:20:00.000 survey and the results, you know, obviously help us do better messaging and 250 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:03.599 better content, but we also like share that with the sales team, right, 251 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:10.400 because that helps them do better pitches and have better conversations with clients. 252 00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:15.519 So you know, today, yes, I'm focusing on marketing, but I'm 253 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:21.759 also looking for opportunities where our team and our team skills can have a positive 254 00:20:21.799 --> 00:20:26.680 impact on other areas of the business. So valuable as a marketer to have 255 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:32.599 that insight into other areas of business. Like, cannot stress that enough, 256 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:37.559 when you come out of a different even to a different silo within marketing, 257 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:42.839 and then the world is just so big right. Business is very there's a 258 00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:47.720 lot of different categories and having more knowledge and per view into all of those 259 00:20:47.799 --> 00:20:52.720 things makes you a valuable asset to the team over all. So that's great. 260 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:57.240 How do you use the knowledge you have from that year and a half 261 00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:02.279 and like try to inst still it in your team that maybe just has a 262 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:04.960 more marketing mindset? I know you're taught. Can Brand makes it a little 263 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:10.279 bit more broad like helps that probably a little bit. But if someone's coming 264 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:14.480 out of like college or something and they're coming into a job where it's like 265 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:18.240 I trained to be a marketer and now I'm a marketer, often they don't 266 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:21.400 have that same type of view into the business as a whole. Right. 267 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:23.279 So, like how do you try to activate that in people, get them 268 00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:29.799 thinking bigger than just their department? Yeah, well, I think an our 269 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:34.000 specific team. I actually love this. Everyone on the team has a background 270 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:40.680 that's not in marketing. So good. So, yeah, so when we 271 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:45.319 take on a new project, I try to relate how their previous job experience 272 00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:51.240 applies to what we're doing in marketing today, and I think that just helps 273 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:56.920 reframe how they can use those skills. So someone has a customer service background 274 00:21:57.039 --> 00:22:03.119 and when she's creating sales enablement content, right, I'm like you know what 275 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:07.279 people ask right, you know what people are going to come back with and 276 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:14.400 like now you can preemptively address it and you know there's all these examples and 277 00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:19.759 marketing of how it's all interconnected and I think helping show that it connects to 278 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:26.720 past experience and you're just constantly building on that really helps our team specifically. 279 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:32.039 Yeah, it's that's a unique superpower that you have on your team. Specifically, 280 00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:37.640 let's go to how and just talk. How are you currently incentivizing learning? 281 00:22:37.720 --> 00:22:41.839 Right, so you said we put it as a rock. I like 282 00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:44.640 that idea. Is there anything else you're doing that? If someone's going, 283 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:48.000 I want to start something in my team and really give like a little extra 284 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:52.279 push? Anything you're trying right now to incentivize learning that you would tell people? 285 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:56.160 Hey, try this? Yeah, for sure. I think one project 286 00:22:56.240 --> 00:23:02.599 that I'm super pumped about for this year is what I'm calling the yellow project. 287 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:07.359 All right. So, yeah, so this is something that we created 288 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:11.920 and kind of the gist of it is that everyone on the team is going 289 00:23:11.960 --> 00:23:17.880 to get twozeros to do something outside of their normal domain. HMM. And 290 00:23:18.200 --> 00:23:22.880 you know, this is an opportunity to like really find an opportunity out there 291 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:27.480 in the marketing world and really plan for it and just totally run with it 292 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:33.880 on their own. So they have a budget, and what are the parameters 293 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:36.920 around that? least of like a what else? Because I think two thousand 294 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:40.880 dollars is a good amount for you can do something with Twozero, but it's 295 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:44.559 not so much that it's going to like break the company. What are the 296 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:48.720 parameters around what you're kind of wanting them to try? Yeah, exactly, 297 00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:52.079 and you're so right. Right, it's two thousand dollars for that, that 298 00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:56.920 specific purpose. You know, I don't want to overwhelm anyone. This really 299 00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:03.279 is about an opportunity to show some career progression skills. So what I'm really 300 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:10.839 looking for is like budget management, finding the strategy, presenting the results and 301 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:15.839 then, because we value learning, you know, it has to have some 302 00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:19.079 aspect that's outside of their normal domain, and I think that's a key parameter. 303 00:24:19.160 --> 00:24:26.240 Right, we're always doing experiments within each category, but this is really 304 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:32.200 about pushing to think outside of that. But honestly, beyond that, there 305 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:34.799 are no parameters. Like if someone says to me that they are going to, 306 00:24:36.279 --> 00:24:41.279 I don't know, sponsor a local basketball game or do this event, 307 00:24:41.319 --> 00:24:47.119 like if they have a reason and have a plan, like this is pure 308 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:52.440 spaghetti at the wall, as long as you explain to the whole team why 309 00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:56.160 this is worth our time. I like that. Okay, Lisa, I 310 00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:59.920 give you two thousand dollars and I say all right, we're doing the yellow 311 00:24:59.960 --> 00:25:03.599 project. What what's an idea that comes to your head? What something you 312 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:08.000 would want to try? Yeah, I think one thing that I've been thinking 313 00:25:08.039 --> 00:25:15.039 a lot about recently is community and events. We're in a very digital world 314 00:25:15.160 --> 00:25:18.960 right now. We're doing all these like webinars and digital events, but I 315 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:23.920 think there's more that can be there and it you know, it's stems from 316 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:27.640 also working at teak and twine. You know, I mentioned we do gifts 317 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:32.359 and for a clients we're doing a lot of pairing, you know, a 318 00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:37.039 physical gift with a digital experience, and that is so much more impactful and 319 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:41.680 there's so much good feedback, there's so much good data behind it. So 320 00:25:41.960 --> 00:25:49.319 I'm really curious, like how can we incorporate that physical plus digital component and 321 00:25:49.559 --> 00:25:55.279 community events? And that's what I've been thinking about recently. I like that. 322 00:25:55.359 --> 00:26:00.559 So you would host a in person event and if you have the money, 323 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:03.960 well, what type of event? Like? What road would you go 324 00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:06.759 down? What type of event would you want to create? Do you think? 325 00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:15.480 I think there's something really missing about just like ten people having a similar, 326 00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:18.920 let's say, job description and just learning from each other. Okay, 327 00:26:19.079 --> 00:26:22.480 I get a lot, you know, and these type of conversations one on 328 00:26:22.599 --> 00:26:29.640 one, and right now I just see a lot of webinars and virtual events 329 00:26:29.640 --> 00:26:34.359 where you only interact on a chat or you're just talking on Linkedin and dropping 330 00:26:34.359 --> 00:26:40.880 messages here and there. I think we're just missing, now more than ever, 331 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:44.720 the one on one connection. So I really think the smaller the more 332 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:48.079 impactful. Right now, it would be really cool to be able to host 333 00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:52.039 a live event with a twozero dollar budget, because you could do some cool 334 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:56.920 stuff where you're not trying to appeal to the masses. It could be pretty 335 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:02.640 hyper specific. It would be a UN unique thing that that group would remember. 336 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:07.599 So that's fun. I like that idea beyond just the Yolo project, 337 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:10.880 as we kind of start to wrap up here, if you're telling someone where 338 00:27:10.920 --> 00:27:15.559 to start with cultivating this learner spirit mentality and your team, anything you want 339 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:21.359 to invite people to try. Last things that you would would say as we 340 00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:26.279 start to wrap her yeah, I think my advice, honestly, depends on 341 00:27:26.359 --> 00:27:30.480 what stage of your career you're in. So, if you're trying to start 342 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:37.559 and you're an individual contributor, I constantly reference this quote from Elizabeth Gilbert, 343 00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:44.119 which is follow your curiosity. And so, yeah, you just find something 344 00:27:44.119 --> 00:27:48.920 you're curious about and just follow that. Right. If you're interested, you're 345 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:52.680 going to be so motivated you're going to show up every day and it's not 346 00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:56.079 going to feel like work. So just find something that interests you and just 347 00:27:56.519 --> 00:28:02.599 see where it leads. You don't really think about how it's going to apply 348 00:28:03.079 --> 00:28:07.400 like that. I'll show up and show itself later. I will end with 349 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:11.279 the story here because of something you just said, and then I'll give you 350 00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:14.079 a chance to talk there. But I want to I want to say to 351 00:28:14.119 --> 00:28:18.000 follow your curiosity. I'm literally in podcasting now because of that. Like I 352 00:28:18.039 --> 00:28:22.039 did not think this would ever be something I could just do full time and 353 00:28:22.039 --> 00:28:26.759 have these types of interesting conversations. I tore my Achilles one day and I 354 00:28:26.759 --> 00:28:30.440 didn't want to sit on my couch and do nothing for six months, so 355 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:36.119 I started having conversations like this and fast forward five years and here we are. 356 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:38.000 We're talking and this is like what I do for my life and it 357 00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:41.559 was following your curiosity. So I absolutely love that and you can instill that 358 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:45.440 in the team. Yeah, and I think what's great about that is that 359 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:48.680 if you had started like how do I make a career in podcasting, like 360 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:52.400 you would have been so intimidated you would never have started. Yep, so, 361 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:57.039 like that'll happen later. Just one step at a time, and the 362 00:28:57.079 --> 00:29:00.680 passion for conversation is what drives it to because I know there's a lot of 363 00:29:00.680 --> 00:29:07.680 people right under thirty five where like doing something like podcasting sounds so interesting, 364 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:10.759 but it's not that you actually have a love for conversation, it's that you 365 00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:12.880 just kind of think podcasts are cool, whereas for me, it's like the 366 00:29:12.920 --> 00:29:18.279 opposite. I absolutely love conversation to the point where I just believe in the 367 00:29:18.279 --> 00:29:22.519 medium and like there is an endless curiosity right. So where I just I 368 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:26.519 totally agree with what you're saying. Did you have one more thing you wanted 369 00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:30.519 to throw in here before we wrap? Yeah, I think if you're trying 370 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:36.240 to start instilling this culture of curiosity and you're the manager or the leader, 371 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:40.680 you know, going back to this book, it's about modeling the behavior and 372 00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:44.960 you know. I just wanted to share one way that I'm modeling that behavior 373 00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:48.680 is, honestly, if I don't know the answer, I'm saying that I 374 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:52.640 don't know the answer to the team, but to follow it up, I'm 375 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:57.240 showing how I learned the answer. So thank you. I don't know something 376 00:29:57.279 --> 00:30:03.640 and I end up googling it right I am sharing the best blog post I 377 00:30:03.680 --> 00:30:08.279 found and which passage helped me. Or if I ask the question on a 378 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:12.680 slack community, you know, I screenshot all the responses and share that with 379 00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:18.480 the team. So it's about showing them you know how easy it really can 380 00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:22.359 be to find these answers and that there's all these different ways that you can 381 00:30:22.359 --> 00:30:29.279 incorporate it. So you know it's follow your curiosity and if you're higher up, 382 00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:34.359 it's about modeling the behavior yourself first. I get a lot out of 383 00:30:34.519 --> 00:30:38.599 stuff from these these conversations, like a lot of learnings and a lot of 384 00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:44.160 things I end up taking notes on later, and the stuff I'm taking away 385 00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:51.920 from this conversation, I definitely think instilling a culture of learning something that you 386 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:55.960 can do practically through rocks, something I'm going to remember after this conversation. 387 00:30:56.359 --> 00:31:02.000 The idea of the Yolo project. Obviously, listeners adapt that however you want, 388 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:06.559 but as an idea I think it's really solid and and a fun opportunity 389 00:31:06.599 --> 00:31:11.200 to try and to give people more responsibility in a sense, with an amount 390 00:31:11.240 --> 00:31:15.240 of money that isn't going to kill you or break the bank. If you're 391 00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:22.279 telling someone what to do versus showing them, there is, you know, 392 00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:25.920 just different levels to leadership. Right. So if we can be leaders who 393 00:31:25.960 --> 00:31:29.519 teach other people how to be selfreliant, how to find answers on their own, 394 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:34.319 that's extremely valuable. So I appreciate ending the conversation there. Lisa, 395 00:31:34.359 --> 00:31:40.079 great takeaways from today's conversation. If people want to stay connected to you and 396 00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:42.400 teak and twine, just give us real quick like. Where can they do 397 00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:45.759 that? How can they follow the work? Yeah, well, if you 398 00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:51.160 want to connect with me, Linkedin is the best place. Just shoot me 399 00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:55.200 a message. Also, Linkedin is great for teak and twine. We have 400 00:31:55.240 --> 00:32:00.000 some really funny content that literally makes me laugh out loud. So I love 401 00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:05.000 it. Yeah, we're in the normal places, linkedin website. It's Takin 402 00:32:05.079 --> 00:32:09.839 twinecom perfect. Thank you so much for joining me here on BTB growth today, 403 00:32:09.880 --> 00:32:14.680 Lisa. Yeah, thank you so much, Benjy. Hey for everyone 404 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:16.559 listening. If you are yet to subscribe to the show, be sure to 405 00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:21.079 do that on whatever platform you're listening to this on right now, so you 406 00:32:21.119 --> 00:32:23.799 never miss an episode. We'd love if you leave a rating or a review, 407 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:27.920 and also you can connect with me over on Linkedin as well. Just 408 00:32:27.920 --> 00:32:31.359 search Benji block and would love to chat with you about business marketing, life, 409 00:32:31.480 --> 00:32:37.160 the podcast and yeah, shoot me a message there. Keep doing work 410 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:39.480 that matters, and we'll be back real soon with another episode of B Tob 411 00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:55.319 Growth. If you enjoyed a day show, hit subscribe for more marketing goodness, 412 00:32:55.400 --> 00:32:59.279 and if you really enjoyed the day show, take a second to rate 413 00:32:59.319 --> 00:33:02.240 and review the podcast on the platform you're listening to it on right now. 414 00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:07.400 If you really really enjoyed this episode, share the love by texting it to 415 00:33:07.440 --> 00:33:10.440 a friend who would find it insightful. Thanks for listening and thanks for sharing. 416 -->