Creative Banter Podcast

Amanda Jewell is an influencer based out of Dallas and Austin, Texas. 

She has a system on creating meaningful content across multiple platforms that drive traffic and reach an audience. She helps others by posting about her life, such as her successful YouTube video on how she got into her dream college.

We talk about the rise of influencer marketing, how to brand with value, and her current undergrad major in Advertising.

Influencers are shaping our market and are on the rise. Amanda has taken the journey of trial and error, hard work, and consistency to get where she is today. She loves to be in front of the camera, to help others, and to be her genuine self by living her best life so being an influencer is meant for her.

Show Notes:

00:20

Amanda introduces herself and why she became a content creator.

3:60

Throwback memories to MySpace and how influencers existed even then.

5:31

The 5 Questions!

9:50

Amanda tells us a big oops story of her as a child, which dates back to the beginning of her influencer passion being in front of the camera.

12:31

Amanda talks about her bigger goals for the future as an influencer and we dive into how it is important for young people to be exposed to big picture thinking.

20:47

Amanda has found great success as an influencer creating content on how she got into The University of Texas at Austin.

24:40

We dive into the polarizing effect that influencer marketing can have when it’s not offering value versus when it works. Amanda gives her honest insight to influencer work and its process.

29:53

Amanda gives advice to beginner or future influencers on how to focus on brand over sales.

31:30

As an influencer, is it better to reach out to a brand to work with them if you are already a loyal customer or if you are new and want to review a product?

33:23

38:57

Harlee asks how photographers can work with influencers to market their own work.

43:52

We ask Amanda what her favorite topic in college under her Advertising major is!

45:29

Amanda goes more into detail on how she’s helping teach others to become influencers. Hint: she now has an e-book!

46:44

As an influencer, how do you reach generations above millennials to show them the importance of using this form of marketing?

52:17

This or That

You can find Amanda here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theamandajewell/

Website: https://theamandajewell.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/amandajewell

Creator Jewels is a creative leader: a musician, a brand strategist, and the CEO of How To Be Social – a talent agency full of creatives who work with companies on strategies.

We have a deep conversation with Creator Jewels on what she has accomplished at such a young age and what she is currently working towards in her life and company.

We dive into Creator Jewels’ artistic interests, her career journey, her background, and more. Having a one on one with a leader in our Dallas community, a young and driven CEO, and an overall artist is inspiring to Creative Banter Podcast.

Show Notes:

00:20

Intro

1:58

5 Questions and a conversation on consistency, discipline, and hard work.

15:30

We talk about personal and career struggles and how Creator Jewels has overcome them in creating How To Be Social.

20:30

How To Be Social – the foundation and origination of it for Creator Jewels!

22:03

Jewels talks about the failures that led to success or good lessons learned.

23:57

Jewels talks priorities in life and her goals with HTBS.

25:53

What is a non-work related passion of Creator Jewels that she enjoys? Hint: anime!

26:40

Creator Jewels is a musician and she talks about the music journey she is on. We also talk TikTok and exploring content creation.

32:45

If Creator Jewels could give advice to her 15 year old self then what would she say?

36:27

What does a typical day in Creator Jewels’ life look like?

39:47

Jewels asks us what we want out of Creative Banter Podcast.

42:30

This or That

Find Creator Jewels and HTBS here:

Website: https://www.howtobesocial.com/

Website: https://officialcreatorjewels.com/thegoodstuff

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/howtobesocial_/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creatorjewels/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuVMr3MWkSgZsjGCG0F00Xw

Danielle Obe has created a product and brand called Nemes – it’s a simple and revolutionary aquatic headscarf that allows all people with hair to enjoy water activities while protecting their hair from water and damage.

Danielle’s beautiful story of being a young swimmer but giving it up due to the complicated maintenance of water and chlorine on hair but then seeing her daughters relive these same issues is what inspired Danielle to take action and solve this problem.

We talk about how her product is unique and there’s nothing else like it. Her product is greater than simply protecting hair – it can revolutionize culture and change statistics, especially for BMEs (black, Asian and minority ethnic). 

We dive deeper into her story, how her product has such impact, and where she sees her brand in the future.

Show Notes:

00:20

Madeline found Danielle’s product highlighted on BBC and immediately reached out because she was so inspired by Danielle’s passion and product that was more than a business but instead focused on helping others and pushing for a positive change.

3:05

Danielle introduces herself and her story that naturally led to her business and newly launched product –Nemes.

11:30

While in the trial and error stage of creating the aquatic headscarf, Danielle notices how healthy and moisturizing the product is for her daughter’s hair!

13:11

Danielle’s daughter’s friends and their moms all want one now. Danielle noticed that many people were using the product outside of the pool like in showers.

15:45

Men were starting to use the headscarf but didn’t know how to tie them so Danielle created a way for men to wear them and tie them like a do-rag.

16:30

BMEs (black, Asian and minority ethnic) were using the headscarf but not for swimming – so Danielle begins to dive into why BAME aren’t swimming and brings this issue to light and takes action to solve this issue.

17:50

Danielle teams up with others to get BMEs swimming by creating The Black Swimming Association in partnership with Swim England who then endorsed Danielle’s product Nemes.

19:22

Now Danielle is launching Nemes and the pre-orders skyrocket.

20:39

“It’s not just BMEs who had issues. It’s everyone! But because the standard swim cap has been the go to, no one has really bothered to think, “Is there another way?” but just embrace that as the norm so therein began my journey into Nemes.”

21:00

What is the meaning behind the name Nemes?

24:07

Danielle’s passion and journey behind Nemes is the real beauty of being an entrepreneur.

25:05

Danielle’s business journey is also her journey back into aquatics.

28:05

The 5 Questions!

33:53

Danielle talks about her love for water and how much it helped her as a child so her journey with Nemes reuniting her with water is very meaningful for her.

35:32

Danielle talks about how a journey starts from way before people take notice and where she sees Nemes in the future!

38:25

Danielle now wants to reach clients globally so people all around the world can have this premium quality product.

42:10

Madeline asks Danielle where she sees Nemes in years to come and how much positive change it will provide.

Where you can find Nemes:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mywaterproofscarf/

Website https://www.mynemes.com/

IG https://www.instagram.com/nemes_5s/

Twitter https://twitter.com/WaterproofScarf

Grace Duong is a designer, artist, and author. She designs and sells her own Tarot cards called Mystic Mondays, which she started completely on her own on and found success by selling them on Kickstarter. Her Tarot cards now sell in places like Urban Outfitters and Barnes & Noble and have been featured on major sites such BuzzFeed. She also has an app, more apparel and product, and runs a YouTube channel around her brand.

Grace’s vision for creating around her passions, working hard from the ground up, and branding true to herself is an artistic and entrepreneurial journey that is inspiring and can help guide others.

Show Notes

00:20

Grace introduces herself and talks about how she found herself creating and selling tarot cards.

5:25

Grace talks about who supported her Kickstarter campaign - hint: it’s not family and close friends and we talk why. This also leads into how Grace got into Tarot card reading.

9:53

The 5 Questions!

14:22

What was Grace’s journey towards Tarot cards?

17:47

What is Tarot?

22:15

Grace discusses when she realized she was attracted to design and illustration at such a young age.

25:46

Grace’s Tarot cards have been featured and are sold in so many amazing places. She also does more than sell Tarot cards so we dive deeper into her other products and her app!

30:45

Grace breaks down how she created Mystic Mondays and the kickstarter process she went through. It was not easy and there were a lot of lessons learned.

46:50

This or That!

Find Grace Duong Here:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/grace.duong/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/mysticmondays/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC74H6HtV6XAnfyfMTI1-Rzg

Website: https://mysticmondays.com/

We talk with Lindsay of Guilded Blooms Communications and Socially En Pointe. Lindsay is a digital marketing and communications professional with a passion for creativity, teaching, and entrepreneurship. She mentors women who want to succeed in their businesses in this digital world, runs workshops and a community, and has a full team of interns and employees. We learn more about what Lindsay does, her background and passions, and we talk about one of her niche target audiences and business focuses – introverts! Or what Lindsay so cleverly calls her clients – intropreneurs.

Show Notes:

00:20

Lindsay introduces herself. We learn about how her two businesses, Gilded Bloom and Socially En Pointe, came to life.

2:24

“I’m mentoring introverted women who are wanting to be social media marketers or digital specialists or web designers and I'm working with all these amazing women and coaches who are seeing or have seen introvertism as a negative in their business so we are working on their mindset to look at how it’s really positive and how it actually sets up you for success in business!”

3:00

We talk about Lindsay’s focus on introvertism in her business.

5:10

BOUNDARIES

5:55

The 5 Questions

15:28

Decision making psychology.

20:07

When did Lindsay realize she was meant to do what she’s doing?

22:30

Lindsay has a community for Socially En Pointe – it’s new and brings more support to her audience.

25:47

Lindsay mentors her clients – what does she teach and what are the outcomes?

29:41

Lindsay is a genius at always creating helpful content on her IG with stories, going live, putting out templates, etc. She builds trust and loyalty through her brand by doing this. Lindsay talks about her favorite part of doing this as well as her favorite things to teach.

34:05

We dive deeper into what Lindsay does through her mentorships and Gilded Bloom business.

38:16

What is one of Lindsay’s biggest obstacles when it comes to running a business?

39:13

Consuming content: Lindsay is an empath so she avoids a lot of content in order to protect her energy.

42:24

Lindsay talks about what it’s like to be in introvert in business and how to protect one’s energy.

46:11

How Lindsay created processes in her business to eliminate anxiety and dread so she could focus on the parts of her job she loved.

54:30

Lindsay talks about the workshops she’s offering soon which are designed for entrepreneurs during COVID-19. We also dive deeper into social media and connection.

You can find Lindsay here:

http://sociallyenpointe.com/

https://gildedbloomscommunications.com/

https://www.instagram.com/socially.en.pointe/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sociallyenpointe

Mark Haney is an entrepreneur, a CEO, an angel investor in Sacramento, California. He runs his company called Haney Biz, which is devoted to backing local entrepreneurs. He also has a podcast and a community for entrepreneurs!

We reached out to Mark to give us insight on being an entrepreneur and filing for grants with the new federal programs during COVID-19.

Show Notes

00:20

Mark Haney introduces himself and his focus in his company and community.

1:08

How did Mark get started in his entrepreneurial career?

3:23

The 5 questions we ask every guest speaker!

12:05

Marks gives us an overview of what the new federal programs are like the Paycheck Protection Program.

14:20

How do these grants work for Sole Proprietors and LLC? What’s the difference in taking out the money for an owner’s draw versus for paying employees if you have any?

15:44

What advice does Mark give to business owners who are having to cut pay or hours or considering layoffs so their business can survive?

18:42

Are there exclusions to what type of business can apply for a grant?

20:00

What type of documentation you’ll need to prove income.

21:10

What is the CARES Act?

22:56

Mark gives insight to those who can’t file for employment to consider job positions that are currently hiring right now! Survival is key.

23:54

Mark talks about his business community where he brings in experts so entrepreneurs can learn and not feel alone during this time!

25:04

Madeline asks Mark what a positive outcome of this time can be. Mark discusses the efficiency we are learning to create through technology as well as entrepreneurs being naturally creative and having down time to let ideas blossom.

28:18

Using this as a growth opportunity is so important for us - lessons will be learned. Having a calm and positive mindset is vital during this time.

32:03

The game of This or That

You can find Mark Haney here:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/themarkhaney/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/haneybiz/

Website: https://www.haneybiz.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/haney-business-ventures

Podcast: https://www.haneybiz.com/podcast.html

We interview Kayla Balserak (NASM-CPT, WLS, FNS) who helps women gain confidence and channel their inner badass through fitness, nutrition, and mindset. Kayla has a podcast, a blog, and community under The Fit Writer and her signature program for clients who sign up for her tailored coaching is called Healthy Mind Healthy Body.

We talk:

-Kayla’s background and journey

-The 5 questions we ask all guests

-What is a mind body connection?

-Kayla’s journey from depression to being The Fit Writer

-Why toxic positivity is bad and the importance of health

-Boundaries and giving value to what’s important

-Habit development and where most people fail

-Fad diets vs healthy eating

-Imposter Syndrome

-How to keep up mental health in times of stress (like COVID-19)

---------------------------------------------

Show Notes

1:09

Intro time! Kayla tells us about herself – how she quit a corporate job and instead followed her core values and passion.

2:30

“I’ve been blogging since 2012” – Kayla has a solid background with writing.

3:09

How the name, The Fit Writer, came to be.

7:48

We discuss how Kayla’s decision to stand up for herself.

10:17

The 5 questions we ask every guest.

14:40

Kayla covers Healthy Mind Healthy Body, which is her signature program.

17:20

Kayla talks about her personal transformation from depression to who she is now.

18:28

We talk about toxic positivity and giving oneself a chance with positive mindset and healthy habits.

25:21

Kayla has a community for all her clients and audience!

26:26

How do we deal with negativity from others? Limited exposure and boundaries are everything.

30:16

Kayla reviews the book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck because it showed her what is worth valuing in life.

33:00

Habit development: start small and don’t do everything at once. This is where most people end up failing.

37:39

How are fad diets today?

42:10

Kayla doesn’t have her clients count calories. She encourages clients who want guidance with portion control to use their hands.

43:53

Eating nutritious food is a mood booster but it’s also okay to not eat clean 24/7.

45:55

Kayla covers Imposter Syndrome and learns not to downplay her success.

52:15

What are Kayla’s best tips for people to keep up their mental health? We especially want to know her answer during COVID-19 as we shelter in place and physically distance.

57:02

What’s Kayla’s Hogwarts house and why?

58:25

This or That

You can find Kayla here:

Blog/Website: https://thefitwriter.blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thefitwriterinsiders/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.fit.writer/

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/thefitwriter

Madeline is one of the hosts at Creative Banter and we dive in to get to know her more! She talks about her photography background, her opinions on art, and the creative community she built.

Show Notes:

00:45

What does Madeline photograph?

1:12

What type of photography is Madeline definitely not interested in?

1:40

Madeline talks about her love for both natural and studio lighting.

2:57

Madeline talks about her intuitive creativity.

3:35

How does Madeline stay original when doing a lot of the same type of shoots?

5:57

Madeline’s take on her formal photography education in college and how it does or doesn’t affect her career now.

7:30

Madeline’s advice to newbies on how best to learn photography in the start of their career.

8:53

How does Madeline handle creative mental blocks?

10:20

If Madeline’s creative work were edible then what would it be?

11:20

Madeline explains what inspired her to grow the community DFW Creatives!

15:05

Madeline expands on DFW Creatives and the retreats that the community is now offering.

16:00

What are Madeline’s creative goals for 2020?

17:00

Harlee asks Madeline, “How do you define art?” and Madeline explains how philosophical that question is to her.

21:25

What does Madeline listen to while editing? Music? Podcasts? TV?

23:52

Madeline talks about her favorite time to shoot in the day and how she is absolutely not a morning person.

27:19

Madeline talks about her upcoming Big Bend retreat that she’s planning!

Harlee and Madeline jump on a phone call to record an episode over today's holiday - St. Patrick's Day. The Creative Banter hosts love to incorporate every holiday into their sessions! 

Currently, public places are shut down due to Corona so Harlee and Madeline are adjusting with studio recording and they talk about their current life updates and situations with what's going on.

We also ask for movie suggestions while we are quarantined at home! Are you celebrating St. Patrick's Day at home today? Drink a green beer and Guinness for us! 

We get to know a lot about our host Heather Askins of Heather Buckley Photography in this episode! Harlee and Madeline ask her all kinds of business questions so we can learn more about her journey and passion for photography.

Learn what Heather’s photography work would be if it were edible! Hear about past struggles that made her a better business owner today and what she would tell herself five years ago now.

Heather gives us a lot of insight into being a good business owner as a creative. She’s an amazing photographer who treats her clients like royalty and we are so happy to share her words with you!

Show Notes:

00:20

Heather nervously exclaims that she hates being the center of attention haha

1:17

Heather talks about how she got into photography and what inspired her! Hint: It started with senior photography. No surprise there!

2:50

If Heather could give herself advice 5 years ago then what would she tell herself?

5:25

What non-photography things keep Heather inspired?

6:18

Heather talks about some of the best advice she’s ever been given.

7:24

On the business side, Heather talks reoccurring struggles she deals with.

9:15

Heather gives advice to young photographers just starting out.

14:10

We talk creative intuition versus practicing creativity like a muscle.

15:20

Heather talks about how she keeps her work original and true to herself.

18:23

What type of photography does Heather DEFINITELY not have interested shooting?

20:07

If Heather’s creative work were edible then what would it be?

23:00

Editing or Shooting: Which one does Heather like more?

23:27

Out of these three things, which of these does Heather focus on the most? Emotion, lighting, or composition?

25:13

Heather talks about her dream senior shoots! It includes destination shoots.

27:18

Heather expands on her senior teams and how fun they are!

29:03

If Heather was given $10,000 for her business then what would she do with it?

You can find Heather here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherbuckleyphotography/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherbuckleyphoto/

Website: https://www.heatherbuckleyphotography.com/?fbclid=IwAR12lYxaNfeM0a0gy0PuZeqYWiLCibDWaalAtY5w41zFFHEkr1QAz8NPJp8

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeatherBphotos

You can find Creative Banter Podcast here:

Website - https://creativebanter.wixsite.com/podcast

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/creativebanterpodcast/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/creativebanterpodcast/