Social Proof

Show Notes:

(0:50) Introduction to Katie

(3:46) Working with the Unexpected

(12:41) A Day in the Life

(14:59) Vulnerability in the Workplace

(17:18) Standards for Wielding Influence

(23:46) Navigating Social Media

(27:19) What Katie’s Currently Consuming

(34:50) What’s Next for Katie

Links:

Beth Stephens

Katie Goodman

Katiegoodman.com

Quotes:

“The deal isn’t to say yes to everything, it’s a yes, I heard you. Yes, I see you’re trying to come up with an idea or trying to be heard. That’s the yes part, it’s affirmation and acceptance. Then the and part is adding something to it.” - Katie Goodman, (6:50) 

“...if I can’t support you in taking five minutes to deal with something, that’s on me. I think it’s a messed up culture if we’re not able to treat each other as humans and we’re this word professional with a capital P and it’s become gross. Why do we care so much?” - Katie Goodman, (15:32)

“I think that for me, as wanting to have influence on the conversations in the culture, we’re always thinking about what are we saying? How are we saying it a little bit differently or maybe a little bit more edgy?” - Katie Goodman, (19:22)

 Show Notes:

(0:49) Introduction to Sydney

(1:06) About Sydney

(5:03) Sharing Realness on Social Media

(7:35) Setting Internet Boundaries

(12:03) Blending Modalities

(17:32) Conscious Language Choice

(21:22) Discouraging Negative Conversations 

(24:39) Managing the Day by Day

(28:11) Marketing Yourself

(31:10) Awareness of Online Appearance

(38:16) Presenting Yourself to the World

(43:31) Tips for Influencers

Links:

Beth Stephens

Sydney Bass

The Profitable Stylist

Quotes:

“There’s a balance between having that realness and also not making yourself too open to people. I have to be in a space where I feel good and confident about what I’m talking about or actions I’ve done so that I don’t get swayed by people’s comments or start to go into people pleasing or justification mode.” - Sydney Bass, (7:56)

“Shifting from that negative to a positive helps on so many different levels with the energy you’re putting out. We talked about really honing in on specific words, like shifting the word but to the word and.” - Sydney Bass, (18:35)

“...coming back to internet drama, I think people are drawn to that because either it’s anonymous or it’s from a safe place behind a screen. There’s almost a tendency on the internet to be bolder or say meaner things that you might not say to a person face-to-face.” - Beth Stephens, (23:45)

Show Notes:

(0:49) Introduction to Brooke

(3:15) BTRIBALFIT’s Backstory

(8:28) Activating Influence 

(12:48) The Introspect That Comes with Age

(18:21) Repetition Yields Results

(19:30) Rewiring Beauty Standards

(25:24) Embracing Your Personality

(29:53) An Ideal Day

(34:00) About the BTRIBALFIT Community

(37:47) What Brooke is Currently Consuming

(46:20) Closing Thoughts

Links:

Beth Stephens

Brooke Robinson

BTRIBALFIT

Quotes:

“That is a huge reason I love to activate people because I see their potential. I see it from start to finish. If you choose dedication and consistency without killing yourself, you’re going to see progress and the results you want. Repetition yields results.” - Brooke Robinson, (9:11) 

“If you think about who listens to Social Proof, it’s a strange mix of people who are maybe shopper marketers or they work for a consumer goods company and make decisions related to social media or marketing, then you have individuals who have built a career or side hustle around their influence. We want them to be responsible in terms of how they show up online and build their personal brands.” - Beth Stephens, (16:42)

“This goes back to influence and how you have to relate to that person, that leader, that coach, that fitness instructor, and find commonality. You have to say, ‘I like her, and I’m interested in and relate to what she’s saying.’ That’s where the power of positive influence comes out. You get to unpack and undo some damage.” - Beth Stephens, (22:15)

“There will be women throughout the month that send me a little message, but they will say, ‘I have to be honest, I pressed play, but I just needed to hear your voice and be encouraged.’ They don’t even workout, they just need to hear some motivation that life’s going to be okay and they should be proud.” - Brooke Robinson, (36:29)

Show Notes:

(1:03) Introduction to Tamiko

(3:52) About NextUp

(5:59) The Evolution of NextUp

(9:12) The Importance of Paying It Forward

(14:31) Tamiko’s View on Influence

(19:19) Being Self-Aware

(26:05) How Tamiko Wields Her Influence

(32:17) Influence in Leadership

(35:20) The Intricacies of Delivering Influence

(37:57) Closing Questions

Links:

Beth Stephens

Tamiko Olabintan 

NextUp

Quotes:

“Influence is whatever platform you’re on. People think you have to be this grand person talking on stage to hundreds of thousands of people to have influence. No, you have influence in your immediate circle. You have influence with your friends. You have influence at every level.” - Tamiko Olabintan, (14:41) 

“I think when you start to influence is when you have a relationship because you can’t influence somebody that doesn't connect with you…you have to be able to have a relationship and be passionate about something.” - Tamiko Olabintan, (27:08)

“The other thing I would say about influence is knowing who you are and what makes things go and leveraging that to your benefit. Then it influences others because it’s genuine. I think the ones that go viral are usually because they’re authentic.” - Tamiko Olabintan, (30:16) 

“Where I’ve had the most success and where people really lean in, whether it’s clients or our team, is when they buy into that energy and that true self.” - Beth Stephens, (31:55)

Show Notes:

(1:06) Introduction to Natalia

(1:31) What Inspired Natalia to Work at Soapbox

(2:01) Being an Influencer

(4:37) How Being an Influencer Influences Natalia’s Job

(5:18) Hot Tips for Getting Hired as an Influencer

(6:18) Introduction to Jillian

(8:05) How Jillian’s Previous Work Transferred to Soapbox

(9:10) The Intricacies of Being a Social Media Manager

(11:30) Keeping Content Fresh

(12:45) Introduction to Tiffany

(14:10) What the Term ‘Sales’ Implies

(15:12) Working with Established Brands

(18:06) Venturing into the World of Pets

(22:46) Introduction to Jordan

(23:38) Making the Leap from Education to Marketing

(25:24) Most Loved Campaigns

(27:10) Prioritizing Diversity and Inclusion

(29:51) What Makes an Influencer Notable

(32:16) Introduction to Lauren

(33:04) Lauren’s Role at Soapbox

(35:29) Random Influencer Encounters

(37:48) Staying Calm when Things Are Hectic

(40:00) Work-Life Balance

(41:38) Introduction to Taylor

(43:17) How Personalities Affect Work Styles

(44:26) The Alluring Sides of Content Creation

(45:42) Taking Risks

(46:55) The Importance of a Supportive Team

(50:24) Speaking Up for Yourself

Links:

Beth Stephens

Natalia Reneaum

Jillian Wirtz

Tiffany Metts

Jordan Canter McGarrah

Lauren Scott

Taylor Reese 

Soapbox Influence 

Quotes:

“I love it when influencers write a long pitch for our campaigns. I think that’s so important because I can tell the content is going to reflect how passionate they are about the brand…you can see the difference when influencers actually use the product.” - Natalia Reneaum, (4:37)

“One of the coolest things that has opened my eyes up to the influencer world is saying, ‘We have this product that’s two hard boiled eggs in a package. What do you do with it besides eat it and make it look good?’ And I’ve been surprised by how many recipes or ways that people use these small items.” - Jillian Wirtz, (11:49)

“That’s what I’ve found rewarding is when a client’s happy and you know there’s so many different pieces to serving that client and influencers are the segue to that.” - Lauren Scott, (33:37)

“It’s like the analogy of the duck paddling beneath the water. You don’t really see what’s going on because so much of what we do on behalf of our clients is super frenetic and I think our job is to make it look and feel very smooth and seamless for the client.” - Beth Stephens, (37:26)

“One of the neat things about how we’re structured is that we’re looking to this vast audience across the US and asking, ‘What would you try? What do you think would be neat? What’s the trend and what could we do differently?’” - Beth Stephens, (46:12)

Show Notes:

(1:12) Introduction to Kim

(2:00) A Typical Day in the Life

(3:48) What Makes Aspire Unique

(6:51) Maintaining a Personal Brand

(11:08) Kim’s Non-negotiables

(16:29) Prioritizing What Makes You Busy

(21:03) Advice to Influencers

(28:23) Kim’s Background That Led Her to Marketing

(31:14) Advice to Aspiring Marketers

(34:45) What Kim Is into Right Now

(37:09) What Kim Is Consuming Right Now

Links:

Beth Stephens

Kim Feil

Aspire Healthy Energy Drinks

Kim's LinkedIn Post 

Quotes:

“What I really think of influence is it’s born out of having built a good reputation over the course of your personal and professional life.” - Kim Feil, (7:04)

“For me, I try to bend over backwards for anyone who reaches out for advice or time because I know I would not have had a shot at a career if people hadn’t extended me that same courtesy.” - Beth Stephens, (9:35)

“That’s one of the first things I tell emerging leaders, is to absolutely make time to have perspective outside your day-to-day work and family because that’s how you stretch and that’s how you learn.” - Kim Feil, (10:28)

“I was in a meeting that went ten minutes longer on a day when I had a full schedule, but I was enjoying the meeting so much, I said, ‘I will figure out how to make the next meeting achieve its goal in ten minutes less.’” - Kim Feil, (17:04) 

Show Notes:

(1:56) Introduction to Jasmine

(2:49) Introduction to J’Aaron

(4:20) Introduction to Black Paper Party

(9:07) Black Paper Party Funding

(12:51) What Motivates Jasmine and J’Aaron

(17:02) How Jasmine and J’Aaron Wield their Influence

(21:13) Specifying Authenticity

(22:11) Growing Up vs. Where They Are Today

(29:01) Favorite Quotes

(33:16) What Content Jasmine and J’Aaron Are Consuming

(42:54) What Activity Jasmine and J’Aaron Are into Right Now

Links:

Beth Stephens

Charlotte Wedding

Jasmine Hudson

J’Aaron Merchant

JazzyJaeNWA

Black Paper Party 

"Our Deepest Fear” by Marianne Williamson 

Quotes:

“So we’re sharing black joy and just celebrating the holiday the way that we grew up celebrating and in a way that’s more accessible.” - Jasmine Hudson, (6:40)

“The only other non-negotiable that I can think of is just making sure we understand the intention behind the ask…because we don't want to be like the diversity check mark. Like are you actually invested as an ally and can we see that in the work that you do and the results that you turn out?” - Jasmine Hudson, (19:30)

“I think it’s also very important to specify what their version of authenticity is…when you’re approaching a community that you may not have much experience interacting with, you don’t get to tell them what you think is authentic.” - J’Aaron Merchant, (21:13)

Summary:

On this episode of Social Proof, hosts Beth Stephens, Charlotte Banister, and Nate Patterson sat down to catch up on everything they learned in the inaugural season of Social Proof. The trio discusses wielding influence, the responsibility that comes with it, and what they have learned from previous guests.  

Thanks for tuning in!

Shownotes:

(1:06) Introduction to Wielding Influence

(2:37) Being Authentic and Genuine

(3:45) Knowing Your Audience

(6:52) Highest and Best Use

(11:17) The Importance of Self-Reflection

(15:18) Recent Trends

(19:24) Final Thoughts

Links:

Beth Stephens

Charlotte Wedding

Nathan Patterson

Quotes:

“We’ve always kind of espoused this need for authenticity...but just from listening to our guests and getting to chat with them, all of them have unique stories, but I think the ones that rise to the top were the ones that were truly genuine to themselves.” - Nathan Patterson, (2:52)

“Through Social Proof, we’re causing people to pause and think about how people do pay attention to me and to what I put into the world and what I have to say.” - Beth Stephens, (5:17)

“I think that’s something huge we’ve learned from our guests to not be as afraid to look at ourselves in the mirror and see ourselves and be like, you can do better at this…just like being better in what you actually are good at.” - Charlotte Banister, (12:18)

Show Notes:

(0:53) Introduction to Christina

(4:00) Christina’s Experience as a Brand Ambassador

(6:48) Christina’s Transition to Podcasting

(11:26) Unpacking the Great Resignation

(15:15) Communicating Your Vision

(18:03) A Day in the Life

(22:58) Utilizing Twitter

(36:01) Future of the Influencing Industry

(45:03) How Influence Is Wielded

Links:

Beth Stephens

Christina Royster

Young, Black & Opinionated

Quotes:

“We’re always comparing ourselves to people in the media, and I had to stop and ask myself, ‘Am I doing this to glorify myself? Or am I really doing this for my audience?’ I had to reevaluate my priorities.” - Christina Royster, (10:04)

“I feel like people are finally waking up and putting themselves first, and that’s what was most important to me, taking the time to get a little bit of clarity.” - Christina Royster, (13:31)

“We’re willing to be influenced by people we believe in or we relate to, and I think there’s probably always going to be room for word of mouth marketing in that regard.” - Beth Stephens, (39:02)

“When I stick to who I am and stay true to who I am, other people can relate and I make it cool to be kind and to not do what everybody else is doing. I think people respect that and it’s refreshing.” - Christina Royster, (45:49)

That's a wrap! The first season of Social Proof brought a plethora of intriguing guests who taught us about wielding influence with integrity and protecting our personal brand. A consistent theme in every episode was one of our podcast pillars: what it means to be well at work. Whether you're in a behemoth organization or operating solo, we've got some nuggets of wisdom to help you be well, have margin and do great work.