How do we market our business when the election is happening? Because if you missed it, it's an election year and social media seems full with political chatter. And so today, I have a 2 special guests coming on the show so we can talk about how we're marketing our businesses during these times and how we can prepare ourselves for what's to come. Let's get into the show for those of you who are new. Hi. Hello. Welcome to the Mindful Marketing podcast. My name is Andrea Jones, and this is
episode 325. I have 2 special guests today who I wanna introduce you to. First up, Megan Griffith. Megan, welcome to the show. Hello. Thank you for having me. Yes. Y'all have heard Megan here before. But if you could give us the 60-second version of who you are and what your business is, that would be great. Absolutely. Okay. I am a multi passionate business owner. I have, I think, 3 businesses right now. But my main, business is, being an
auDHD life coach. So autistic ADHD life coach for people who are also autistic ADHD or both. And I'm also a business coach because I've been in business for about 4 years, and I've learned a lot. And being multi passionate, I have tried a lot of stuff, gotten really good at some of it, not so good at some of the other stuff. And, so now I I help people build their businesses as well. Yay. Thank you so much, Megan, for that introduction. And,
Josephine, over to you. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your business. Hi. Thanks so much for having me on the podcast. I'm Josephine Agrawal. I own a social media agency called Pomona Creative. We work with companies who wanna build and grow social media communities that are easier to sell to. I've been in social for about 10 years, mostly on the in house brand side. And in 2020, I went out on my
own and started Pomona Creative. I have a business partner who lives in Maine, and, we work with all different kinds of brands, b to b, b to c, small to large across, across the gamut. And I did Andrea's, fun fact, mentorship program in 2020. So that's how we know each other, and it was it was awesome. Yay. Awesome.
Yeah. I'm really excited to have this conversation with both of you because of your experience in business and in marketing and because both of you are kind of like on the front lines and you see a lot of what's happening on the Internet these days. So one of the questions is actually, came from what I'm calling the mailbag. I feel like this is the 2nd episode where I've done this where someone asked me a question. I was
like, oh, oh, turn it into a podcast episode. But the question is, how do I make sure my posts don't get lost in the sea of, like, election content? And as I was preparing for this podcast, I was oh, I have my thoughts, but I would love to have other people's thoughts because it is loud out here with all of the election stuff. And, I carefully curated my bubble online so that I don't see things that I generally don't see things that I don't want to. However,
I know a lot of people don't. And then they're seeing everything. They're seeing the rage bait. They're seeing they're seeing the, like, political discourse. They're seeing things and they're looking at their business going. How do I fit in with all of that? So, Megan, I'll go over to you first. What do you think? How how do they stand out in the sea of election stuff? I think the key word here is, like, potency. You wanna make your content really concentrated.
So like sometimes when I'm making a post, I'll be like, well, I'm gonna make like 3 posts out of this and I'll spread the idea out. And sometimes you just have to do that because a concept is complicated. But other times, especially during election stuff where there's just a sea of content, I think one of the best ways to stand out is to, like, make sure your your content really packs a punch. And I don't mean that in, like, being controversial for the sake of
being controversial. I more mean it in the sense that, like, use action verbs and, like, all the classic copy advice, but you just kinda wanna take all of that advice and concentrate it into each post. So instead of trying to keep up with the election content by making tons and tons of content to, like, override it, You wanna make sure everything you put out is, like, just really concentrated. It's exactly your message, and it's speaking specifically to your
people. You don't wanna try to win over the people who are talking about politics to be interested in your stuff. I don't think that's helpful. You want to win over your people who are gonna buy from you because that's the point. Yeah. Yeah. I think I love the word potency. I I think that's just a generally a good piece of advice for social media content is, like, make it something that people feel like they they got sustenance from it instead of it feeling like light and
fluffy. Love that. Josephine, what about you? I'm interested in hearing about how you're also approaching this with your clients as well, but for your business too. How do we not get lost in the sea of electric content? Yeah. I would say, Megan's word is potency, and I would add to that consistency. So, we are planning on staying really nimble for our clients around election day and thereafter given kind
of how the 2020 election went. We know there's gonna be a lot of anxiety, and, also, who knows what's gonna happen with uprisings or whatever. We are, like, loyal to astrology in our business, and, there's a lot going on there. So, we are really trying to stay nimble with clients' content, and, election time is also gonna be competing with holiday noise. And, so we're we're staying consistent. We're putting out potent content, as as Megan said, speaking to the right people and our people, but
not necessarily expecting tons of gains in q 4. We're not doing big campaigns. We're staying consistent and knowing that we might need to push content at any point. And, luckily, our processes give us lots of room to do that. So as we're thinking about q 4, we just did strategy brainstorms and content planning for all of our clients. November and the beginning of December is definitely there's
a lot of flex room in there for whatever needs to happen. And, also, we'll add around, January with the transition of power, with the new person coming in. We're also planning for flexibility around that time too. Yeah. I think this election is an interesting one too because initially, we thought there could be like a renewal, right? Like, oh, there could be the same guy, but literally, it'll be different people. Well, I guess it's the same. But it's it's unique. It's
like a unique situation. So like, brace ourselves for what happened. I remember what happened in January or was that 2021 or 2020 with the yeah, that was wild. So it is all about I love the word nimble. I love that because I think that's just the name since 2020, that's just been the name of the game because we can't just preschedule our
posts like we used to. Right? I used to see ads all the time that was like, we'll create 365 pieces of content in one day, And then you preschedule it and that's your content for the year. You can't do that anymore because it'll be out of touch and it could be insensitive. So you kinda have to have your ear to the ground for a lot of these things. So you mentioned being nimble, but I'm curious. This is a follow-up, Josephine, for you. And then, Meg, Meg and I love to get your opinion as well.
So when something happens, what are we doing? Are you joining in the conversation? Are you just pausing content completely? Like, what's your approach when something happens in the news? Take a recent example, the assassination attempt on former president Trump. Are we still posting? Do we take a break from posting? Like, do we join the conversation? Do we release a statement? What's your thoughts? Yeah. We gotta take it day by day, around here.
I think, when I was preparing for this, I was thinking about the debate, and how coming out of the debate, there were so many memes and, clips that, even brands were were capitalizing, especially Kamala's face. I saw social media agencies using that to say, like, when they tell you they want the whole year scheduled out, and then she has, like, a smirk, on her face. You know? Like, that kind of thing, lighthearted, in the moment, on trend, great. Assassination attempt, that's a
whole other ball of wax. And, I mean, for our clients in particular, none that does not relate to their content or their business area at all. So, we continued on as, as grim as that might sound. It's kind of attempt number 2, and the the craziness of where we are right now with politics, it, we didn't even have a conversation about that. But I I do think that there are we we are having conversations regularly on Slack about especially with the uprising at the
capitol in January, we paused all post that day. So it it it kinda depends, And if it's relevant to the business, I would say, and the values of the business, we would comment on it or put out a statement. But, like, we have a 10 fish brand that's actually Norwegian that wouldn't make any sense for them. Yeah. And that's I love the Norwegian example too because we're so US centric, in even, like, I live in Canada. And even in Canada, Canadian
politics is so focused on US politics. Like, we're watching over here because we're about to have an election too, and it totally impacts how people vote when, like, the US election results come in. So it's so wild to think that. And also social media is global. Content is global.
So, yeah, this is such an interesting conversation. Megan, for your clients, like, as you're going through especially your business coaching clients, how are you telling them to approach these topical things that pop up, and how do they adjust their their strategies based on that? Well, I think for my business coaching clients, I I tell them they should do what feels right for them. I'm never gonna tell a client like you have to be political or you can't be political. Like, that
doesn't feel aligned to me at all. But something I have been doing a lot of, in the last year of the ongoing genocide in Palestine is I've really been urging my fellow business owners to use their influence in order to speak out about this. Because I'm sort of coming at it from an influencer point of view where I have 1,000, like tens of thousands of followers on Instagram and on YouTube. And I
do have influence. And I think to not use that influence to encourage my community to speak out about something horrific that's happening is kind of irresponsible. That's that's how I feel for me. And I want to make sure that other people who also have influence understand what's going on and can make an informed decision about whether or not to speak up on it. For instance, I reached out to somebody I'm I'm pretty close to and hadn't said anything for months about Palestine. And I was
like, hey. I really like you, but I I don't know if I can I don't know if we can keep hanging out because this is really important? And she was kinda like, yeah, but, like, it's not my brand. And I was like, they found concentration camps. And she's like, what? Wait. I didn't know that. That changes everything. And so sometimes people just don't know. And so I have found my job is to even though, like you said, there's so much election content, so much political
content. There are some people who don't have any of that. And like sometimes that's just the way they want it, but sometimes it's just an accident of the algorithm, kind of. And sometimes I just like to let people know if you can influence people to buy your program, you can influence people to have an opinion about politics as well. And that's a huge responsibility that I think we should take really
seriously. Yeah. I I like this conversation because I take a little bit of a different approach, and I like to share the varying approaches. And this is something that you and I talked about, Megan, which is there's so many terrible, awful things happening in the world that I actually find it very challenging to speak to many of them. Because in my opinion, if I start speaking about 1, I do feel the responsibility to speak about all of them. And
also, I speak to about them in safe spaces for me. I do not think social media is a safe space for me. I would never post something where I know that people are going to get heated about it for me personally, But I will talk about it in my communities. I will talk about it on, you know, paid client calls or I will talk about it, you know, on maybe even podcast conversations because it feels a little bit safer than the TikTok algorithm, for instance. I am not that brave. There
people in there are too heated. And so I love that you have such a strong stance on it because the value systems are there. And I think, both of you have mentioned leaning into values as a piece of this. So why why like, how do we how do we establish our value system there? Like, what are some of the things that you think about when you're like, is this something I wanna share, or is this not something I wanna share? I'll start with you, Justine.
Yeah. That's a perfect segue because I was thinking my kind of approach between Andre, you're saying, like, take it offline, talk about it in your safe spaces, and advocate for the things that you're really passionate about, and Megan, you're like, I wanna use this platform and that feels safe to you and and important to you. Those are both, you know, you're sticking to your individual values. And I I I kind of am a medium between that where I encourage, well, our own brand, but also
our clients that we are not marketing to everyone. And so if we say something that is political, it's gonna bring in the right people, and it's gonna take out the wrong people, and especially if it's through the lens of your value or your values. So, like, for an example, one of our clients is, a local farmer's market, and they when I was writing their, social media brand voice guide, we were
going through the question of, do we talk about politics? But they feel really strongly that food is political and especially local food and farming is political. And in the state of Colorado, water rights are a huge thing and and water in general, like, we're advocating for farmers to have access and all that. So there's so many political aspects of food. And we put in the brand voice guide, we are political. We talk about politics. And it's not necessarily we talk about
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. It's we talk about the local legislation of what's happening with farming and water rights. And so and, we had a regenerative agriculture certification, same kind of thing, like food and and the environment are
political. So let's take that angle and show our values, attract the people who, we know want to be a part of our community, and really repel the other people that aren't aren't gonna be a good fit, which, in such a noisy atmosphere on social media, I think, is, like, the best thing you can do. And can I jump in real quick too about what is considered political and what isn't? Right.
I saw an amazing post on threads the other night that said, okay, so white women can listen to podcasts about white women being murdered, and it's like a fun hobby. But like, when I stand up for missing and murdered indigenous women, that's political. Like, why though? And I think what is considered political is hugely dependent upon the identity of the person speaking and the identities of the people you're speaking
about. And that's why it's so controversial to say that what's happening in Palestine is a genocide, but like, it wouldn't be controversial if it happened in New York City. Right? Like, so yeah, I just think it's interesting to talk about what is political and what isn't. Kelly Yeah, 100%. Just like living in a black body is suddenly like, things are unintentionally political where I'm like, I'm just sharing my experience over here, right? And people get heated about it. And I think it is one of
those things where that is the question. What exactly becomes political? And to me, it's like other people are starting to get uncomfortable about the conversation and then they start lashing out in their discomfort. And that's sometimes when you you feel like you hit on it. And I am I will be honest. I avoid it at all costs to protect myself and my own mental health. And also, it's almost entirely unavoidable because of just the state of the world, how I
live, and my belief systems and my values. They just show up in a certain way. So I love that we're that it's in the brand voice guide of your clients. It's like, this is the stance we take, and we firmly believe this. Beautiful. Love that. Anything else to add for either of you? I I wanted to say for our own personal brand, I Slacked my cofounder, Alina, the other day and said, should we do a a social post about
truth social, like, as a joke? And we made this meme that says when our clients ask if we're on truth social and it's like someone puking, and we and we were like, do we post it? But Alina Alina just had a gut feeling like, well, yeah, I think this is this is good, and it's funny. And it's one
of our best performing posts that we've ever done. So that's the perfect example of, like, that pulled in the people that we wanted, and not necessarily that we don't want Trump supporters or we do want Kamala, you know, all that. It's it's like, the values of of, of our, company. So, I think listening to your gut on on and it's lighthearted, but on that kind of content comes in handy. Yes. I love
the lightheartedness. And this is actually my next question about staying lighthearted when things get serious. Megan, how do you approach, like, the balance of, yes, we're talking about serious topics, genocide, concentration camps, and yes, we can also be like a human on the other side of it and have lighthearted experience. How do we balance that? I think that's a bigger question for like a day to day basis, but for the very least in our marketing,
how do we balance that? I think I've got a lot of practice doing this as, like, a disabled person. Right? I'm autistic. I have ADHD, and those are disabilities, and they come with very real limitations and struggles day to day. And at the same time, sometimes it's really funny when I find my car keys in the freezer, like, you know, so it can be both. And I think I'm I've had a lot of practice with, like, dialectical behavioral therapy, which is where, like, you hold opposing truths at the same
time. And so personally, I don't go lighthearted when things are heavy, and I don't go heavy when things are lighthearted. I just let everything mix together. So, like, yesterday, for example, on my stories on Instagram, I posted just a black background, and it just said had another nightmare about Palestine. My subconscious can't make sense of this. And then the next slide, I was like, come to my open house for my program. It's gonna be fun. And, like, that's
that's my vibe. That that's what it is to be alive right now, and I'm not gonna try to sugarcoat it or change it. Yeah. This is just the reality of it all. And I think while the Internet is a beautiful thing to find positive things, I also think it's beautiful that we're aware of what's happening in the world because of the Internet. Right? Like, go back, what, 30, 40 years ago, and we may not have this, like, this quick of an access to some of the news cycles.
I this is such a beautiful thing. So let me talk about, like, pausing social media because I'm a huge fan of it. So whenever anything anything slightly contentious or hot topic y or, newsworthy hits, my first instinct is like hit the big old pause button. And I think there's often repercussions of that as well. But that's my go to first instinct. So something happens, upheaval happens. What are your opinions on going silent when it's like a major world event? Josephine, let's start with you.
Yeah. Unfortunately, we've had that conversation so many times, too many times with mass shootings, that that's that comes to mind, especially, like, we've worked with in mental health, and, that feels very value aligned to talk about that. And I remember after Uvalde, with our mental health client, we did a notes app, of, I can't remember exactly what we wrote, but it was kind of like, take a minute, get off social media if you need to,
Bree. That was like a prompt to help people, and there was another shooting. I think it was like on a subway in New York City, which is where the client was based. So there were multiple times where we made content. We didn't pause, but we were we were trying to be the therapist, you know, for for these people or at least give them some,
something to help them rather than pausing. So I think that's a that's a pretty unique situation where, we felt like we needed to provide guidance in a way or help in a way, but I'm also very pro pausing, if there are, like, on other accounts for the Uvalde shooting and other mass shootings. We have paused all content because no one needs, you know, no one needs
extra that day. And, so we usually evaluate it if we can help or if we have resources for that particular, like, a big event, that's happening, then we share it. If not, we can step back and and be quiet. And this happened I mean, I launched my business in 2020 in the midst of June, you know, the the the summer of Black Lives Matter, and has continued on, but, we did a lot of of talking. And I honestly I was working with clients at the
time who were like, nope. Let's just keep posting. And I was like, I can't I can't work for you, you know? That's just a that's a personal line for me. If you're not gonna acknowledge what's going on or do something and continue to post about your newsletter, like, I can't I can't personally be involved in that. Yeah. Yeah. We, we lost some clients too, June of 2020, because of that. We're like, so this is happening, and we posted about other things that are happening in
this thing. You're just like, does it matter? Okay, cool. Great. Nice to know you. Okay, Megan, what about you? Like, how do you feel about pausing or going silent during major political or social events? I have mixed feelings. So first, there's like my general, it really doesn't have to do with my beliefs. It just has to do with
my nervous system. I tend to, whenever something freaky or scary or whatever happens, I want to post about it because for lots of reasons, but like my attachment and nervous system is just like, I need to do something I need to be seen and I need to be held and like, I want attention so that I can, like, be safe. And that's how it works in my head. That's often not how it goes. That's I think pausing is actually a really good idea. It's something I'm working on doing
more. But my instinct, if I'm being honest, is like, no, I should post. No, I should be part of this. No. I, like, I shouldn't look away. I shouldn't breathe. But I think that comes from a very naive place of social justice where it's like, oh, if I just post and get really outraged, this will fix itself and everything will be better. But, like, in reality, social justice is a lifelong civilization long thing. And, like, if you don't breathe, you're
gonna not be part of the movement anymore. And so that's something I have learned the hard way over and over. But I also think there are pauses that go a little too long. There was, you know, this creator I've really looked up to and really liked, and they had spoken up on all kinds of social justice issues. And then everything started happening in Palestine, and they were saying nothing, they were saying nothing. They were saying nothing. And people started to ask, like, hey,
and their response was, we've responded too quickly in the past. We don't wanna do that again. We're taking a moment. And I was like, okay, I think I disagree. But okay. This went on for months, this pause, and they finally started getting involved. But then with the first Trump assassination attempt, they put content out 6 days later. I'm sorry, you need to be consistent. If you're gonna pause, pause. And if you're not, don't, but it
really lets us know what's important to you, I guess. And yeah, so I'm working on pausing more because I think I lean too far the other way. Yeah. Okay. So this brings me to my next question because I feel like as business owners, sometimes we are so worried about getting it wrong. Because social media is so freaking public, everyone sees our content, and we're opening ourselves up to feedback and to
criticism with every single thing that we post. So how do we navigate this idea of, like, should I, shouldn't I? What if I get it wrong? And I know, Megan, we talked about this on our episodes because you have had this history. So I wanna start with you. You know, how do we like, what do we think about when we're like, is this the right thing to do for me? I think I used to feel a lot more lost about this. I used to be very reactive. I still like, my nature is to be reactive, but I'm
able to handle it a lot better now because I did get canceled. And, like, I very much learned my lesson in that I learned a couple of lessons, not everybody who says they're there for you is. But also I learned like, hey, not every opinion you have is a good one. Sometimes you need to hush and learn and be a little more humble. And so when I got canceled, one of the first things I did was I
need to outline my values because I'm not sure what I even value anymore. I think I'm just chasing likes, which is something I never wanted to do. So I outlined my values. And now before I post something, I just kinda run through those values. And if I'm not sure if it fits my values, I'm explicit about that. So I will say stuff all the time like, hey, please let me know if I am wrong about this, but here's where I'm coming from. Does anybody else see it this way?
And that's that's how I phrase my opinions now instead of the super clickbaity, like, you know? Yeah. Yeah. The value system, again, comes up again. We just did this exercise in my membership where we created our POV statement. So it was, like, here is what I believe about me. Here's what my people believe about the world around them. And then you can check yourself every time you post and go, does this post align with the beliefs of my business? And I do think that's a very powerful exercise
to go through. And it's one that I took my clients through back in 2020 when Black Lives Matter was happening. People were posting statements out of a reactive place instead of a values aligned place. And sometimes those statements just happen to align. But the people who missed the mark were the people who didn't even take the time to think about their business values or their personal values first. And I do think that's, that's a really good starting point.
Josephine, what about you? Like, you and your clients, when we're worried about getting it wrong or stepping in it, how do we navigate those feelings? Yeah. It's super interesting hearing about, Megan, your experience as a creator, you know, and a business owner, thinking through your personal values. And on our side, we're working with, businesses that have a, a lot of times, have a a chain of command. It's not just one person making the decisions, which can be frustrating, and it's hard
to get a quick reaction. And and in some cases, we net we never get a quick reaction, out of, like, a an an event or something going on. It's too corporate for something like that. Or, like, for example, we actually had 2 clients, earlier this year that we weren't allowed to use the term sustainably or sustainable in their marketing for two different reasons. One was a climate client that was, saying, we are not we are not trying to make, the earth
sustainable. We're already we have to we have to, like, go go one step beyond sustainable and and regenerate the earth. So that was one side. And then a really corporate client that was like, we can't technically say that our cans are sustainable, you know, on that side of things. So, the and and sustainability is also a bit political, or very political depending
on how you look at it. So those are our chains of command that we are, I don't know if that's the right term, but, we're hearing from our clients that and we're pushing back, from whatever we're seeing online. We're getting peep people asking, asking, are your tins recyclable or things like that? And we're giving the social listening piece of it to help inform their top down, communication or marketing approach, which I love. I love the piece where we get to show them what their
community is saying, for all of our clients. It really helps inform their values even in a way and make, like, the top down change from the people they're serving. Yes. Again, the values come into play. And even with the bigger companies, it may take longer to, get there with the values, but they like, in both of the examples you shared, there is a decision that's being made and a
stance that's being taken. And I think the challenge becomes if you don't if you don't take a stance, then the assumption will be, your your community will make assumptions about your stance. And so I love that came up in both of your examples. Both of you also mentioned instances where you used the levity of the situation or you transition into promoting your offer, in spite of whatever was happening in the world. And one of the questions that
I often get is, is that opportunistic? Right? Like, are we taking advantage of something that's happening? For so for example, with the debates, the comma memes, I posted a comma meme. I love it. I think it's I think it's, fun. It's a fun way to kind of integrate the election content into what I'm already talking about, and there is this little thought like, am I being opportunistic? What are your thoughts on this? I'll start with you, Megan.
Oh, I love this question. I kinda think yes and no. I I think I see both sides of it a lot because I think it could be considered opportunistic because it it makes me think of the bread and circuses thing where it's like, we're just contributing to this huge political circus that's going on in our country where it's entertainment more than it's sticking up for people. And I don't love that. Like, I don't post about Trump anymore. I don't post anything about
Trump anymore. People can gain how I feel about him based on everything else I support and don't support. Because that's what he wants. That gives him what he wants. And I'm not interested in that. So I just don't post about him. Like anything that happens with him is just not my business. But when it comes to people I am considering supporting and stuff, it's like, well, I just, to me, it doesn't I don't know if
opportunistic, that's such like a heavy word to me. Like, it feels really, like, aggressive. So it's more just, is it a distraction from what politics should be, I guess, is the thing I worry about. Now at the same time, I think that people who are trying to make a living, people who are not wealth hoarding billionaires don't need to worry about being opportunistic as much as, like, these horrible corporations that are destroying the world. You know? So, like,
I I'm torn. Yeah. It's how I feel about, like, the the use of plastics. It's like, well, I I feel personally, it should start with the big corporate people, not me in my trying to save a penny over here, you know? And, yeah, I I like that stance as well. Josephine, what do you think about this this idea of being opportunistic with social and political events? Yeah. Megan, you had really good points on both sides, not contributing to the circus of it. But also as a marketer, I
look at it as really good top of funnel content. Like, it's it's that mean content really is the it's what we use for most of our clients for, the top of funnel and gets the most reach and all of that. So, I like it from that perspective. I've seen it work really well.
And if your business stands for great things and you're trying to make people's lives better, you're only bringing in more you're bringing in more sales for your client or yourself, and you're delivering and making people's lives better through your offer your offerings. So in that way, I can, like, spin it for myself to say, like, yeah. This is a good thing, and and we can capitalize on it as long as it's not at someone else's
expense. I definitely think, I guess I I was using the word lighthearted earlier, but I would say I'm not here to put people down even if it's someone that like,
a candidate or something that I don't really like. I might personally post about people in politics that I don't like or have contempt for, but, on brand pages, I think as long as it's kind of a a positive, and it's it's bringing in sales and, help and viewers and, community members for clients, and it's not at someone's expense, I'm I'm all for it. Yeah. Yeah. I love this. And I think it's part of a larger conversation too. Did y'all hear about the Sticker Mule Insta incident?
So the founder of Sticker Mule, who's it's just like a sticker company. Right? It's like one of the top ones, posted his, I don't know, thesis on why people should vote for president Trump. And it was very aggressive for some reason, and he sent it out to everyone on the mailing list when they're just they're used to just the sticker
stuff. Right? And people did a bunch of, like, conversations around this because as the head of the company, he technically like, he's not doing anything wrong, and a bunch of people very verbally chose different sticker companies because they didn't agree with what he was saying. And so I do think that there's this fine line between, for a brand specifically, there's a fine line between taking a stance on something.
Megan, you said something earlier about, like, not trying to change people's minds. I don't think that's the brand's job. I think it is your job to, like, call in your people. And there's a way he could have done that, I believe. Maybe just like some Trump stickers, you know, keep it aligned. And instead, he went very aggressive. The if y'all haven't heard this, look it up. It's it's a fascinating case study in
brands that that are taking a stance on something. But I'm curious, like, with that in mind, do either of you have examples of brands that have done it right? Right? Brands who come to mind where you're like, yeah, they have this balance of, you know, taking a stance on something and also promoting their stuff.
I have a a a personal example, actually. When I was working in house at, a natural grocery store, we were up against Publix, a huge conglomerate grocery store, and we were moving into Florida, which Publix, like, really owns, the grocery market in Florida. And, it was around the Parkland shooting, and the kids from the Parkland shootings were going and doing they were staging die ins in Publix stores where they would go and lay on the floor because Publix was, contributing money to the NRA.
As far as I know, they still are. And so we were a a smaller competitor, but, people started this, and this was a customer led campaign on Twitter. It was tweet the receipt. So people would say, I just drove past Publix to go to Walmart or I went to Whole Foods or what whatever grocery store they went to, they would tweet their receipt to show Publix this is how much you're missing out
on. And we started going in on Twitter and giving people we we did, the grocery store did, like, you could drink beer and wine as you were I can't remember what we called it. You could drink beer and wine as you were shopping. So we would give people a beer or a kombucha coupon, and we would say thank you. And we didn't create that campaign at all, but we jumped
in. And I guess some people could call it opportunistic, but really really, we were just, like, reeling in the value aligned people in in a moment where they were already kind of self selecting. And it was a really interesting way to, like, reward them and and bring them into our kind of value circle. Yeah. That's such a beautiful thing. I like, I love all of that campaign. The the idea that you went in and just
joined the conversation that's already happening. To me, that's actually the best use of social media for both businesses, creators. Like, it feels more like a community when we're all having similar conversations instead of, like, saying completely separate things, which is why I also don't believe joining in is opportunistic. But I do think that they this is the way to do it. It's like listening to the people you're you're in community with
and participating actively, which is beautiful. Love that. Megan, do you have any examples of brands or creators who you think have a really good balance of, you know, activism or standing for
something and kind of doing their thing? 3rd I really love a lot of business owners I know have a, like, values alignment check-in on a lot of their sales pages where it's like, hey, this is a place where we support trans people, we believe black lives matter, you know, like, and I've started including it on my stuff that I know is gonna see a broader audience, people who might not know me
as well. I have started including it as well, and I think that's just a really good way to, like, just just make sure that people know what they're getting into. To me, it's just transparency. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Right off the bat. I think Becky Mollenkamp does a good job of that on, threads a few times. She's posted, like, hey. So a lot of you are new here, and the comment section is not in agreement. So here's what I believe, just so you know, and you can, like, click on follow if you if you're
not cool with this. And I think that that is a really great way to just remind people of of your value system and what you believe in. Okay. Last question is, for me, election season is very stressful. I find it, it feels like I'm I'm tiptoeing a little bit around, like, what to say, how to say it, what do I think. And especially because my family believes it, like, my family is very divided as well. So, like,
extended family. I'm like, we're from Atlanta, Georgia. I'll just give you I'll give you that. From Georgia. There's it's divided. Right? And so I feel like I'm walking on eggshells a little bit and it, like, makes my anxiety go through the roof. So I know for me personally, I end up just doing a lot more mindless things. Reality TV, reading romance novels. I need the time to, like, chill out when emotions are high, and I'm very grateful I have that privilege.
What are some of the things that you recommend to listeners when we need a break from elections and everything else that's happening in the world? Josephine, I'll start with you. Yeah. I am also from the South, so I I feel you on that anxiety. I'm, like, constantly trying to dial myself back personally from rage commenting on family or otherwise, misinformation.
But I definitely think that giving I mean, again, it goes back to depends on the type of business that we're at least working with from a client perspective on how we can help. But or or like like I said, if it's a mental health, client, we can actually give some therapist tips on how to chill out or post some cat videos, post some, like, dog videos, you know, that kind of
here's your moment. We've done that personally too with our brand. We're very nature based and, like, our branding and personally, myself and my founder, my cofounder. So, posting some, like, pear orchard videos and saying, take a break and get off or, you know, get off social for a few minutes. Just reminding people to be mindful and intentional about how they're using social media from whatever lens we have, is is pretty much and and or providing humor, is kind of how we approach
that. Yeah. Beautiful. I love that. Thank you, Josephine. Megan, over to you. What would you like to share with listeners about taking a break when the stress is too high? Okay. So I really like completing the stress cycle. If you have read, I haven't read the book yet, but I've watched their TED talk, the women who wrote Burnout. Yes. Right? So good. Yeah. So I think you need to complete the stress cycle. Sometimes taking a break
is the answer to that, and sometimes it's not. So, like, for me, whenever my hands get shaky and my chest gets hy vee and I'm like, oh, okay. I'm upset. My nervous system is going. That's when I'm like, what do I need in order to complete this feeling and be done with it and then take a break? Sometimes what I need in order to complete the feeling, there is no resolution. And a lot of times that's what it is for politics because we only have so much power as individuals. So
what I will do is I have an ice roller, like a beauty roller. I roll my face in the back of my neck and that really, whoo, very soothing. Definitely helps complete the stress cycle for my nervous system. Sometimes that looks like drafting a post, but not hitting post yet because I don't I try now to not hit post from that shaky hand space. I can draft it, but I post it later when my hands are stable. But I still need to make the post because I need to get my feelings
out in order to complete the stress cycle. What else have I done sometimes just taking actions? Sometimes I just have a list like, especially when it comes to causes I'm really passionate about. Like, sometimes when I need to complete the stress cycle, I just call my representative and yell at them a little bit. Like, hey, what are you doing? You're not getting your job. And that helps, you know, so sometimes you just need to take an action that'll help, your nervous system feel
safe again. Okay. I need this TED talk and book immediately because you totally blew my mind here because I can see myself avoiding. I'm avoiding my feelings. I'm avoiding it. I'm like, I'm not gonna deal with that right now. Let's get lost somewhere else. There is so much power in distraction. But the purpose of distraction is to give you a beat so that you can come back not to like keep
distracting so you don't have to go back. Yeah. And in in that book, they also talk about, removing the stressors, like you have the stress, but what is causing the stress are the stressors. And so that's a really interesting way. And I would encourage people listening even to just think about what are the stressors that are putting
pressure and giving you the stress. And, as business owners, there are so many of those, but I have found that sometimes clients aren't aligned and you need to let that stressor go. Or sometimes you're trying to create an offer that is not really aligned with what you're thinking or your audience you're pushing it and your audience isn't grabbing onto it. So let that go.
You know? Just think about the stressors, both personally and professionally, that you can let go of in order to move forward and complete the stress cycle. But, yeah, that book is amazing. Okay. I think it's called burnout, the secret to unlocking the stress cycle. Emily Nagasaki and Amelia Nagasaki. I'm gonna put the link to that in the show notes, and maybe we should do, like, a read along because I need to read this one. Thank you
both so much for being on the show. This has been absolutely fantastic. Can you share with listeners what's happening next for you and your business? Megan, we'll start with you. Absolutely. Okay. So, you can find me on Instagram at the chaotic entrepreneur. That's my business coaching account. And something really cool that's coming up in October is I am starting a group coaching program specifically around anti capitalist business practices.
It's called making money as a leftist. I'm really excited for it. There's gonna be 10 folks. We're gonna do coaching and some course stuff, and there'll be, like, Voxer chat hours, and I think it's gonna be really powerful. So, all of that is you can find that on my Instagram. Awesome. Thanks, Megan. And, Josephine, what's next for you and your business? Yeah. Well, you can find us on, Instagram at pomonecreative and also on LinkedIn
at Pomona Creative. We are in October doing a social that sells workshop that's for anyone, particularly marketers, who want to increase their, strategy knowledge and learn how to tie their social to ROI and to business goals. So that's happening October 9th, and, you can find it on our website, Pomona, pom0nacreative.com. Beautiful. And I'll have all of the links in the show notes, onlinedre.com/32 5. Thank you dear listener for tuning in to another episode of the Mindful
Marketing podcast. Make sure you stay tuned next week. I have Jessica Lackey on the show. We're going deep into her perspective on marketing outside of social media, which I always love this conversation because there's so many other different ways you can market. Until then, I will see you in my community space. Thank you so much. Bye.