Ever notice how being underestimated can light a fire under you? Too young. Too old. Not the right look. The wrong box. It’s frustrating. And it’s also fuel, if you know how to use it.

In this episode, I sat down with Trevor Storm, a student entrepreneur running Media Wolf Marketing while earning his finance degree at Butler University. Yes, you read that right. And no, he’s not waiting for permission.

We talked about what happens when clients look at you sideways and wonder if you can really do the job. Spoiler alert. That doubt can work in your favor.

Here are a few moments that stuck with me.

• Say yes, then earn it. Trevor’s mindset is simple. Say yes to the opportunity, then do the work to make that yes pay off. Not reckless, just confident enough to learn fast and own the outcome.

• Use what they doubt as your advantage. Youth. Flexibility. Fewer layers. Trevor reframes all of it. More time. More focus. More care. When clients are your whole world, they feel it.

• The magic lives in the final 5 percent. Anyone can start strong. Credibility shows up in the follow through. The details. The batteries charged. The checklist signed off. That last little bit is where trust is built.

If you’ve ever worried that you don’t look experienced enough or polished enough, this conversation is a reminder that credibility isn’t about age or titles. It’s about showing up, doing the work, and finishing strong.

Sometimes the best way to prove them wrong is to simply do the job better than anyone expects.

There was a time when conferences felt a little bit magical. You’d show up, coffee in hand, and before the first session even started, you’d be deep in a hallway conversation that changed how you thought about your work. Those little moments, sitting on the floor near an outlet, laughing over lunch, that’s where the real magic happened.

But somewhere along the way, that magic started to fade. Big events got flashier. More sponsors, more VIP packages, and a lot more “networking opportunities” that felt like thinly disguised sales pitches. It stopped being about connection and started being about clout.

I found myself missing the kind of conversations that left me inspired instead of exhausted. So, with a few fellow podcasters, Lisa Mitchel and Jenn Edds, we started dreaming about something smaller, more human. A gathering for women behind the mic who aren’t chasing followers but chasing meaning.

That’s how Beyond the Mic was born. Not a conference, but a conversation. A cozy afternoon in Indianapolis this March, no panels, no presentations, just 10 or 15 women sharing stories, scars, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

We’ll talk about the messy parts of podcasting, burnout, creativity, community, and how we can keep making something meaningful, one episode at a time.

So if that sounds like your kind of magic, come join the conversation at talkbeyondthemike.com.

Because maybe the best conference isn’t in the ballroom, it’s in the hallway, over coffee, between two people who get it.

Join me for Beyond The Mic in Indianapolis on March 26 - https://talkbeyondthemic.com

You know that feeling when you spend half your day chasing trends, tweaking hashtags, and wondering why your brilliant post is showing up three days late in someone’s feed? Yeah, me too.

That’s why I sat down with Alice Seba, a content marketing pro who’s been helping online publishers turn persuasive content into real revenue for more than twenty years. She’s sold millions of dollars’ worth of content — and she swears the secret isn’t outsmarting the algorithm. It’s out-connecting it.

As Alice put it, “You don’t need the algorithm to notice you if your community does. When you connect, collaborate, and share stories, you build something the algorithm can’t touch — real relationships.”

And that’s the magic. When you stop trying to please the algorithm gods and start showing up for actual humans, you get noticed by the people who really matter — even when the social media winds shift.

Here are a few big takeaways from our chat:

Stop chasing the algorithm. Your business isn’t with code; it’s with people. Spend your energy on conversations — comments, DMs, collaborations — the kind that build real community and loyalty.

Build your own audience. Social platforms change faster than fashion trends, but your email list is forever. Offer something useful, keep it conversational, and land in their inbox where you actually belong.

Make your offers sound human. Ditch the sales pitch. Mention your freebie or toolkit the same way you’d share a good book recommendation with a friend. Helpful, not pushy.

Use social time wisely. Ten intentional minutes beats an hour of doom-scrolling. Pop in, connect, and get out before you start comparing your breakfast to someone else’s curated lifestyle.

When you strip away all the noise, the algorithm might be unpredictable, people aren’t. They remember who shows up, who listens, and who actually cares.

Because no algorithm can replace a genuine connection — and honestly, that’s the best kind of marketing there is.

How do you establish meaningful milestones in your business? For years I treated my business plan like a glorified spreadsheet, a place to park projections and hope the numbers magically pointed me in the right direction. It took me longer than I care to admit to realize a plan without milestones is a lot like taking a road trip without those familiar green highway signs. You may get somewhere eventually, but you will spend a lot of time wondering if you missed your exit three miles back.

The trick is to start with honest, challenging and absolutely measurable goals. I learned this the hard way. In one of my earliest ventures, I confidently announced we were going to grow. That was it. Just grow. Predictably, no one knew what that meant, least of all me. Was I talking about five new clients or fifty? Without specifics, we drifted instead of charging ahead.

Once I began treating my goals like real mile markers, things changed. I set targets I could count, track, and celebrate. I tied them to timelines that forced me to make decisions instead of waiting for the perfect moment. Suddenly the business plan felt less like homework and more like a map with clear directions and a few helpful rest stops along the way.

Those measurable markers shape your timelines, clarify who is responsible for what, and give your budget a backbone. They turn vague intentions into a plan you can follow.

So here is my question for you. How do you set milestones that keep your business moving in the right direction?

When was the last time you were pitch slapped? You know what I mean — you comment on someone’s post, and suddenly your inbox is full of “personalized” pitches that feel anything but personal. In this episode, I chatted with Billy Sammons of Live Local Marketing, who believes it’s time to push back against the noise and get back to what actually works: real, human connections.

Billy’s been building local marketing communities for 15 years, and his message is refreshingly simple — relationships still matter.

Here’s what stood out from our conversation:

• Go old-school — because it still works. As digital spaces get more crowded, buyers tune out. Billy says the antidote is face-to-face connections that make people feel seen and valued.
• Start small, start local. Forget the cold calls. Walk into a business you already support, strike up a conversation, and collaborate on something that helps you both.
• Keep it simple. You don’t need a fancy setup. A phone, a $19 mic, and a tripod are all it takes to start creating local content that connects.
• Be genuine. Giving only works when it’s authentic. If you help someone and immediately flip to a sales pitch, you’ve lost the magic.
• Stop chasing viral. The diamonds are in your own backyard — meaningful, local relationships that grow your business organically.

Billy’s reminder is a good one: You don’t have to go viral to be valuable. Sometimes the best marketing starts with a handshake and a conversation.

About Billy Sammons

With 15 years of experience, Billy teaches proven strategies—like filming video commercials with local business owners—that put you in front of the right people, build stronger relationships, and generate long-term clients. His goal is to help others replicate what works, saving time and replacing cold leads with warm growth.”

LEARN MORE

https://www.livelocalwarmmarketing.com

Try the 5 day Challenge and see for yourself if warm marketing is the right way to grow your business. I want to give something for free, a trial run, which is a quick and easy way to try Warm Marketing for themselves.

If you think branding starts and ends with a logo, we need to talk.

In this conversation, I dug into what really makes a brand work and spoiler alert, it has very little to do with what you personally like. We talked about why branding gets messy, where business owners go wrong, and how to build something that actually connects with the people you want to serve.

I sat down with Jessica Adanich, an award winning designer, brand strategist, and founder of DesignProd Studio. She helps businesses turn half formed ideas into brands that are ready to stand up in the real world, not just look good on a screen.

Here are a few takeaways you can use right away:

• Your brand starts with your audience, not your taste Jessica nailed this. If you do not know who you are talking to, every design choice is just a guess. The goal is not to please yourself. It is to connect with the people you want to attract.

• AI is a tool, not the answer AI can help you get unstuck, spot patterns, or gather insight. It cannot replace talking to real customers or making smart judgment calls. Think toolbox, not magic wand.

• Consistency beats creativity when it comes to trust You might feel repetitive showing up with the same look and message. Your audience feels reassured. Brands stick because they are familiar, not because they constantly reinvent themselves.

• A good logo has to work in the real world If it only looks good in color, at full size, on your laptop, it is not a logo. It is artwork. Your brand assets should hold up everywhere, including black and white and low tech situations.

If your brand feels a little fuzzy right now, that is not a failure. It is a sign you are ready to clarify what you stand for and who you serve.

About Jessica

Jessica Adanich is an alumna of the Cleveland Institute of Art where she studied industrial design, graphic design, sculpture and glass. She spent her early career working with renowned brands such as Vitamix® and Hasbro NERF®. She spent the next six years leading the design and marketing department of Mace® Brand. As a seasoned professional, Jessica yearned for a creative agency of her own. DesignPod Studio was born in Cleveland in the fall of 2018. Jessica moved to Tampa Bay in October 2019 to be closer to the ocean she loves, where she leads DesignPod Studio as well as her shark conservation endeavor Fuzzy Sharks that creates artwork to educate individuals on shark conservation.

Learn More:

Welcome to 2026. This week is exciting for a lot of reasons. It’s the beginning of a new year, which means I get to close the book on last year and start fresh. I will be bringing along what worked and letting go of what didn’t.

This week is also special because on January 7, I’ll be marking a big milestone: the 16th anniversary of this podcast. It’s kind of hard to believe I’ve been talking that long, but my mother would not be surprised. She always said I was born talking.

While the show has gone through plenty of iterations, one thing has stayed consistent, a focus on creating great marketing insights for marketing professionals. I’ve changed formats over the years, but in the last few, I’ve settled into a rhythm that really works.

That said, after 15 years of talking about marketing, I’ll admit I was getting a little bored with just the tech and the tools and the tools and the tech. So last year, I launched a series called What Went Wrong, where I interviewed marketing professionals about campaigns and programs that didn’t turn out quite the way they hoped.

Those candid conversations became some of the most popular episodes last year, and What Went Wrong will absolutely continue in 2026.

I’m also taking More Than a Few Words out of the studio this year with some in-person interviews, and I’m even working on a local podcaster conference here in Indianapolis. More details on that soon.

I’m really looking forward to connecting with my audience in new ways, and one of my favorite tools for that is SpeakPipe. You can head over to morethanafewwords.com/contact to drop me a note or record a one-minute message. I’m hoping to include some of those messages in episodes throughout 2026.

There’s more to come, so stay tuned.

Some days the problem isn’t your KPIs. It’s the fact that you’ve been staring at your own brand so long you can’t read the label anymore. That’s where this conversation with Charlie Sells got interesting.

We dug into how easy it is for business owners to chase goals, tweak dashboards, and sprint through to-do lists while completely missing the bigger opportunity hiding in plain sight: curiosity.

Charlie, the founder of Clarity Over Everything, spends his days helping leaders step back far enough to see what’s actually going on. And let me tell you, he’s right. I’ve lived this one myself.

Takeaways

• Curiosity beats KPIs every time. When you stop assuming you already know your customer, your competitors, and your message, you finally spot blind spots you’ve been tripping over for months.
• Throw out assumptions and go look again. Competitors shift. Platforms shift. Markets shift. If you haven’t audited your landscape in a few months, you’re already behind.
• Not all ideas deserve your Time Once curiosity uncovers new possibilities, you need a simple roadmap so every shiny new idea doesn’t hijack your business.
• Leaders don’t need to get out of the way. They just need to stand in the right place. It’s not about consensus; it’s about alignment. When the team agrees where you're going, disagreement stops being drama and becomes fuel.

Specific Actions You Can Use This Week

• Do a 20-minute assumption purge. Write down everything you think you “already know” about your audience, competitors, and message. Then test one of those assumptions with real data.
• Run a quick clarity audit. Click through your top three competitors’ websites. Look for changes in their messaging, offers, or positioning. Note one thing you should reconsider.
• Set a 12-week priority filter. Pick one quick win and one long-game improvement. Everything else goes in the “later” column until those two are done. Yes, everything.

About Charlie - In his own words

Hi I'm Charlie, the face behind Clarity Over Everything and a brand positioning and clarity strategist who helps leaders and teams get clear, move faster, and set their brand up for success. For the last 15 years, I’ve worked across copywriting, content marketing, branding, and strategy—helping national brands, local businesses, nonprofits, and small teams turn complexity into clarity.

I uncover the hidden things causing confusion and misalignment, then partner with businesses to cut through the noise, simplify what matters, and get aligned and prioritized around what’s next. I also collect vintage vinyl records.

Book a free discovery call and learn more about hiring me as your collaborative marketing and branding partner. https://clarityovereverything.com

More than a Few Words - A Marketing Conversation

A bite-sized marketing podcast that cuts through the noise and delivers actionable ideas, with no fluff and no jargon.

Send a note or record a message https://morethanafewwords.com/contact/