The Table: Marketing, Strategy, and Building a Business That Works in Real Life

Somebody in your area is searching for exactly what you do right now. They can pay for it. They're just not typing it in English, so as far as they can tell, you don't exist.

Meanwhile, you're spending real money to rank for the same search terms as every competitor in town.

Christina Spaulding is the founder of Manzanita Marketing. She spent six years in Germany, built the first US office for a German startup, and ran global SEO before starting her own practice in 2023. She expected to help US companies expand into Europe. What showed up instead were local businesses whose Spanish-speaking customers were already finding them, on websites that couldn't talk back.

We get into who's actually searching in your zip code, why the search terms nobody's fighting over are sitting right there, what to do when you don't speak the language yourself, and the one place to look tomorrow to find out if this is your market too.

What you'll learn:

• Why the customers you're not seeing aren't in another country
• The veterinarian in Georgia whose chat logs told her something her website couldn't
• What it costs to rank for a search term nobody else is bidding on
• The "language audit" you can run on the people already on your payroll
• Where AI translation actually saves you money, and the one step you can't skip
• The free data source that shows you who speaks what in your area

Chapters:

00:00 Cold open
02:28 The salad Christina brings to every party
03:42 Pamplemousse, and "if it's rare, it's valuable"
08:35 Laid off for the last time
08:55 The grocery ads already know something you don't
10:32 Across borders vs. across the street
13:59 Why "kids eat free" hits different in Spanish
15:47 English is half the web. Spanish is 5%.
17:20 The vet in Georgia
18:32 There's no excuse anymore
19:58 Dani gets caught in a cab in Mexico
22:16 The search term with no competition
23:26 Run a language audit on your own staff
26:17 Being understood when it's serious
27:10 AI translation: cheap, good, and where it breaks
31:02 The campaign that got every approval and nobody read
35:57 Start here tomorrow
40:22 Where to find Christina

Find Christina:

Manzanita Marketing: https://www.manzanitamktg.com
Instagram
LinkedIn

Free SEO audit for listeners: Reach out Christina and mention you came from the podcast. If you have a language market you're curious about, ask her to include it.

Your Next Steps:

Work with MeConnect on Instagram

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Someone told you they'd refer you. They meant it. And then nothing happened.

It probably wasn't that they forgot, or that they didn't like your work. It's that when the moment came, they couldn't finish the sentence about what you do.

KJ Blattenbauer has spent nearly three decades in PR and built her entire practice around that gap. She's the founder of Hearsay PR, the author of Pitchworthy, and the host of Pitchworthy: The Podcast, and her argument is that most founders don't need more people to see them. They need fewer, clearer words attached to their name.

We get into why being everywhere stopped working, why the people winning right now aren't the loudest but the easiest to explain, and the slightly uncomfortable exercise KJ gives clients to find out what the market actually says about them when they're not in the room.

What you'll learn:

• Why that referral never showed up, and why it isn't personal
• The difference between brand awareness and brand recognition, and why only one of them earns you business
• How to say who you are in one sentence and one breath, without flattening everything else you do
• Why saying the same thing over and over isn't repetitive; it's the whole mechanism
• The five-person exercise that tells you exactly how the market describes you

Chapters:

00:00 Cold open02:40 The best cake in America is from Costco04:17 Why doing everything right still isn't landing06:06 The recognition gap, defined10:10 "I want to refer her. I can't."13:45 Brand awareness vs. brand recognition15:39 When you need to change what you're known for17:15 Train people like you'd train a puppy18:54 Why repetition isn't repetitive21:34 Who wins in a recognition economy23:33 You don't have to dance on TikTok30:06 Your homework: ask five people33:09 Where to find KJ

Find KJ:

Hearsay PR: https://www.hearsaypr.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/kjblattenbauerPitchworthy, the book and the workbook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G2SH7FG5

Your Next Steps:

Work with Me: https://www.miseenplan.com/messaging-strategy-resetConnect on Social: https://www.instagram.com/miseenplan

Post every day. Show up on stories. Make more reels. Jump on the trend before it's over.

If that advice makes you want to close the app and never open it again, this episode is for you. Leanne Miller actually tested it. She posted every single day for 30 days, in public, and tracked what it did.

Leanne is a Portland-based content coach and social media strategist who helps women in business run their own social media without letting it run their lives. Over those 30 days she grew about the same rate she grows at when she posts three or four times a week. We get into why that happened, what she'd tell you to do instead, and how to tell your content is working when the numbers stay quiet. Underneath all of it is the question she really set out to answer: can you grow your business on social media without losing yourself in the process?

In this episode:

• What 30 days of daily posting actually did to her follower count
• The three things she tested at once, including Instagram's trial reels
• Where the extra time came from, because it doesn't appear out of nowhere
• Her "everyday evidence" framework for spotting that your content is landing
• Why one post a week you can sustain beats a 30-day sprint you can't

Chapters:

00:00 Why "just post every day" feels like too much01:50 Meet Leanne Miller03:20 What she's bringing to the table04:55 From photographer to social media coach09:15 The 30-day experiment, and why she ran it in public11:35 The three things she tested12:50 Where the extra time came from23:00 The results26:55 What "quality" actually means29:05 Everyday evidence: three ways to know it's working34:55 How to design your own 30-day push41:15 Where to find Leanne

Find Leanne

Website: https://www.leannemillermedia.com

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

Her own write-up of the 30 days, Growing My Business on Instagram (Without Losing Myself in the Process):https://www.leannemillermedia.com/blog/sustainable-instagram-follower-growth-for-small-businesses

Send her a DM and tell her you found her through the podcast. She's happy to chat.

Next Steps:

Work with Me: https://www.miseenplan.com/messaging-strategy-resetConnect on Social: https://www.instagram.com/miseenplan

Growth is supposed to be the fun part, so why does it so often make everything feel harder? In this episode, operations consultant Amanda St Laurent and I get into the duct tape stage of business, the point where the scrappy systems that got you here quietly start holding you back. It isn't a sign you did something wrong. It's a sign you've outgrown your setup.

Amanda is the founder of Sonder North Co., a boutique operations consulting firm for founders who feel like internal friction is holding them back. Before starting it, she spent more than a decade in financial services, ending as a senior VP leading operations and strategy. She finds what's creating friction in a business and gets rid of it, so founders can step back from what they've built and lead it without carrying every decision themselves. She's exactly who you want in your corner when the thing you built starts to feel like it's outgrowing you.

What you'll learn:

• Why the cracks feel bigger as you grow, and why that's completely normal
• How to tell whether the pressure is the market shifting or you outgrowing your own setup
• Why automating everything backfires (in Amanda's words, automate a mess and you just get a faster mess)
• How to loosen your grip on the business you built without feeling like you're losing control
• The unglamorous next step that changes everything downstream, and no, it's not a new platform

Resources mentioned:

• Visit Sonder North Co.: https://www.sondernorth.com
• Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
• Amanda on Instagram: @sondernorthco
• Freebie: The Execution Bridge, Amanda's free friction-finder scorecard
• Work with Amanda: The Clarity Intensive, her 90-minute session plus two weeks of support.

Your next steps:

• Work with me

• Connect on Instagram or LinkedIn

Make sure you subscribe to The Founder's Table wherever you listen, and share this with a founder friend who's feeling the same kind of stuck.

See you next time - I'll save you a seat !

You cannot out-hustle a misalignment between your business and the buyer who actually exists today. In Part 2 of this end-of-an-era series, I'm walking you through the five things that have to be right before any funnel, automation, or content sprint deserves a minute of your attention.

This is Part 2 of the End of an Era series. If you haven't listened to Episode 12 yet, start there. That's where I unpack what's actually shifted and share the real-life client example of this framework in action.

In this one, I'm giving you the framework itself: the five-pillar check-in to run on your own business before you reach for another tool or tactic. Offer, buyer, positioning, message, marketing strategy all pressure-tested against who your buyer is right now, not who they were in 2022.

• Why "my funnel isn't converting" is almost never actually a funnel problem
• The five pillars to audit before you scale any system
• The competitor most founders forget to position against (and it's not who you think)
• How to tell whether your offer has drifted out of step with your buyer
• The honest check-in question that decides whether you keep going or course correct

Don't miss:

• End of an Era Part 1
• Book a (100% no pressure) virtual coffee chat: https://mise-en-plan.moxieapp.com/public/coffee-chat-virtual
• Work with Me: https://www.miseenplan.com/messaging-strategy-reset
• Connect on Social: https://www.instagram.com/miseenplan

Something is shifting in online business, and adding another funnel won't fix it. The Season 2 kickoff is the conversation I have been have over and over with clients for months.

The buying environment that built most of our businesses from 2020 to 2024 is over. In this episode I walk through what has actually changed about your buyer, why a systems fix is not the answer, and tell a client story that shows what to do instead. This is Part 1. Part 2 brings the framework.

What you'll hear:

• The four real reasons your marketing stopped working (none of them are your funnel)
• The speaker system metaphor that explains why your systems can be perfect and still feel off
• Why your biggest competition right now is the option of doing nothing
• A real client story about starting with the buyer instead of the product
• What is coming in Part 2

Your Next Steps

• Work with Me: https://www.miseenplan.com/messaging-strategy-reset
• Connect on Social: https://www.instagram.com/miseenplan
• Book a free consultation: https://www.miseenplan.com/contact

In this episode of The Table, we sit down with Eamon Graziano of B&E Consulting to talk about the “other” AI—agentic AI—and how growth-stage founders can use it to make sales and processes cleaner, more efficient, and way more sustainable.​

If you’ve been pouring energy into using AI for copy and content while your actual bottleneck is a messy, manual sales process, this conversation will give you a much more useful way to think about where AI actually belongs in your business.​

What we cover:

• Why most founders are over-indexing on generative AI for content, and underusing AI where it matters most: sales workflows and operations.​

• The biggest pitfalls Eamon sees when small and mid-sized businesses try to “add AI” without a real process underneath (hello, tool-hopping and chaos).​​

• What agentic AI actually is and how it can qualify leads, handle repetitive follow-up, and keep your CRM updated so humans can focus on high-leverage conversations.​

• Why you should treat AI like a new hire: building clear SOPs, over-communicating details, and always keeping a human off-ramp in your sales process.​

• The key metrics and time studies Eamon recommends to tell if AI is truly helping your sales, not just adding more noise or cost.​

Links and resources:

• Connect with Eamon on LinkedIn

• Learn more about B&E Consulting

• Connect with Dani on LinkedIn

• Learn more about Mise en Plan

If this episode sparked ideas about how AI could support your sales process (instead of just writing more content), subscribe to The Table so you don’t miss upcoming conversations on sustainable, founder-friendly growth. And if you know a founder who’s overwhelmed by AI right now, send this episode their way.

See you on the next episode - I'll save you a seat!

Innovation isn’t just for billion-dollar tech teams in glass towers. It’s also for the solopreneur at her kitchen table, the mid-sized company trying to keep up, and the human behind the business figuring out what’s next.

In this episode of The Table, Dani and innovation strategist Jolly Pradhan dig into how big-company innovation principles translate directly into the everyday decisions you make in your business and your life, so you can keep adapting without burning out.​

In this episode, we get into:

• What innovation really is (beyond the jargon) and why even tiny shifts in your offers, operations, or habits count.​

• How big tech thinks about R&D—and how to scale that thinking down for small businesses and solopreneurs.​

• The 90/10 reality of innovation: most experiments won’t “hit,” and why that small percentage that does can change everything.​

• Why “solutionizing” too fast wastes time, money, and emotional energy, whether you’re a global company or a team of one.​

• Using real customer voice to guide your next move instead of guessing what people want.​

• How to apply innovation thinking to your own career, burnout, and personal pivots—not just your products.​

• A grounded definition of innovation you can actually apply to your current season, regardless of business size.​

• Simple ways to spot where a small, strategic change could unlock more ease or effectiveness in your work and life.​

• Permission to innovate in manageable steps, adapt as you go, and still feel like you’re moving forward.​

Meet our guest

Jolly Pradhan is the founder of End-to-End Innovation Consulting and has spent 15+ years guiding complex tech and AI products from idea to launch as a systems engineer and product leader. She specializes in connecting dots across teams and timelines to bring bold, customer-centered solutions to life in fast-changing markets.​

Links & Resources

• Connect with Jolly on LinkedIn to learn more about her work and innovation insights.​

• Explore Dani’s work at Mise en Plan if you’re ready to refine your messaging, offers, and strategy for your next innovation.​

Hit follow/subscribe so you never miss The Table. I'll save you a seat!

2026 already feels…weird. AI is everywhere, the economy and politics are shaky, social media feels like a slot machine, and your customers are more cautious and more skeptical than ever.​​

In this solo episode of The Table, marketing strategist and small business owner Dani Henneberger shares 9 shifts she’s watching this year and what they actually mean if you’re a small, thoughtful business that still wants to feel human while you grow.​​

You’ll hear about:

• How to use AI as support without outsourcing your voice

• Why social is no longer your whole strategy (and what to focus on instead)

• The rising importance of relationships, referrals, and real community

• How shifting economics, politics, and consumer priorities should shape your offers

• Why this messy moment might actually be the start of a small business renaissance

If you’ve been feeling the wobble but also sensing there’s opportunity in all of this, this one’s for you.​​

Work with Dani:
Want help making sense of this for your own business? Dani’s VIP Days are designed for seasoned founders who need clearer positioning, aligned messaging, and a marketing plan that doesn’t feel like a second job.​​

• Learn more about VIP Days

• Join The Table Live (small-group founder dinners): [link]

• Share your own 2026 predictions or questions: DM Dani on Instagram or LinkedIn

Pull up a chair as Dani chats with PR powerhouse Sarah Ramsey of Pitch PR about how service-based entrepreneurs and founders can harness public relations—no gatekeepers, no prerequisites required. Sarah gets real about the myths of PR, why you’re probably already doing it (surprise!), and simple, strategic ways to build name recognition and trust, whether you’re just starting out or scaling up. Expect insightful frameworks, actionable tips, and a fresh boost of permission to boldly own your expertise.

• PR isn’t reserved for “big names”—every entrepreneur benefits from visibility strategies that feel authentic and sustainable.​

• Sarah demystifies the difference between marketing, PR, and brand—and how their overlap fuels audience trust and growth.​

• Why local, niche, or industry-specific media coverage almost always beats chasing national features (especially early on).​

• Hot take: Attending events, commenting online, and connecting with your audience is already PR.​

• Pay-to-play vs. organic coverage—how to decide what actually moves the needle for your client base.​

• Permission: “Nobody needs to grant you permission to do PR”—practically, emotionally, and tactically.​

• When to DIY, when to get expert support, and the real value of outside perspective and media training.​

Sarah Ramsey is the founder of Pitch PR, where she helps authors, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs build lasting name recognition and engaged audiences. With over 15 years in newsrooms and extensive communications leadership for government and nonprofits, she specializes in turning bright ideas—and the people behind them—into household names. Sarah’s approach is practical, authentic, and relentlessly supportive, making PR accessible for businesses at any stage.​

• Website: www.sarahramsey.com

• Instagram: @PRPinchHitter

• Email: [email protected]

Timestamped Segments

01:25 “What exactly IS PR, anyway?” ​

05:10PR vs. Marketing: What’s the difference? ​

10:41 Who actually needs PR (hint: it’s you) ​

13:15 Local vs. National Coverage: What matters most ​

18:59 Pay-to-play media—worth it? ​

23:38 How to start building your own PR strategy ​

29:42 “Is your story newsworthy?” Deciding what to pitch ​

37:17 DIY PR vs. bringing in a pro ​

44:17 Media training as a game-changer for founders ​

45:33 How to reach Sarah and next steps 

Feeling inspired to own your visibility? Share your favorite insight from the episode and tag @MiseenPlan and @PRPinchHitter!

Plus... don't forget to hit follow and subscribe so you never miss an episode