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This is your go-to podcast for all things marketing, branding, and customer experience. We’re bringing you honest and fun conversations with bite-sized insights. Hosted by BrightSign’s CMO Brian Rowley and Head of Integrated Marketing Laura Smith, you’ll hear from industry pros, creatives, and innovators about what’s actually working in today’s evolving, digital-first world. No fluff — just real insights on how brands are connecting with audiences and driving growth. Tune in for fresh ideas, big thinking, and all the tips you need to take your marketing game to the next level.
Welcome to Prose + Comms: Engagement, Unplugged. I'm Brian Rowley.
Laura Smith:And I'm Laura Smith.
Jez Rose:And today,
Brian Rowley:we're actually doing a little bit of a wrap up, Laura. It's hard to believe we've got like 15 episodes behind us at this point. Like, it's crazy.
Laura Smith:Six months. I know. We never thought we'd do it. And then we did it and look at where we've come to.
Brian Rowley:Yeah. And I mean, I think it's been actually a really I mean, it's been a big first year, obviously, for pros and cons. I mean, we've had, you know, obviously a lot of conversations, a lot of new listeners, and a ton of honest takes about marketing branding and I think the overall customer experience. So for our final episode of the year, we're looking back at some of the moments that taught us the most and the ideas we're carrying into next year. So I think this is gonna be a fun one.
Brian Rowley:There's some there's some really good takes here that we've got.
Laura Smith:Yeah. I'm excited to to talk about some of these highlights, but it's not to say that all the other conversations that we had weren't super interesting. And obviously, we learned so much from all of them, but we're just gonna highlight a few today. And we're gonna you know, wouldn't be a year end episode without a highlight reel. So we've had so many guests, so many conversations.
Laura Smith:We know you've all had your favorites. Wouldn't say we have our favorites per se, but
Brian Rowley:We might have a few favorites.
Laura Smith:I mean, but we're gonna count down our three our top three episodes, sharing the moments that stuck with us. Okay? So the first up is why your culture might be killing your customer experience, and that's with Bob Osmond. So one of the moments I loved from the conversation with Bob was when we asked, how much of a role does empowerment play in creating standout experiences? Let's hear what he had to say.
Bob Osmond:If you have a very clear reason to go to work every day, you know why you're showing up and you live in an environment that gives you clear guidelines, the empowerment or the autonomy to make decisions, right, that you think are going to be in the best interest of your customer and the brand, that makes a massive difference. And Ritz Carlton's just one example. I mean, obviously that's a luxury brand, but I think that happens day in, out. Even in small to medium sized businesses or mom and pop organizations. It's the people who embrace the idea that the customer is the economic engine for the enterprise.
Bob Osmond:Those are the ones that are successful.
Laura Smith:Yeah. So I know we talked about the Ritz Carlton example in that. And I think we even talked about Trader Joe's too. And I feel like those kind of, you know, resonate because they're clear examples of how people living and breathing the brand to really make sure that the the culture's infusing the customer experience. But Brian, has there been any other examples since we, you know, recorded that, that you would say comes to mind that also does a good job of it?
Laura Smith:Because now I feel like when you talk about it, you kind of like live it and you wanna experience what's happening around you. Has anything, you know, kinda come to mind for you since since that conversation with Bob?
Brian Rowley:Well, I think it brought light to the fact that, you know, there's two parts to it. One thing that Bob called out on that episode, which was really kind of interesting was that that whole concept actually is also a responsibility of leadership because it has to start there and it has to be one that's actually moved through the organization. And I mean, I think there's other companies that do a really good job. We've seen it a couple of times. I mean, and we've mentioned it.
Brian Rowley:Disney like is another one, right? Like you can see their CEO walking around the park and picking up things that aren't right, Right. I mean, know, Eisner always was, you know, gets caught in those moments where he's like interacting with guests and having those conversations to make sure that the experience, no matter who you are within the organization, right, are important. And then I think that's what was so cool about the Ritz Carlton example was, I mean, no matter who you run into there, I mean, minute you walk through that door, they know you by name and they know you by name until the time that you leave. And I think those are the types of things that create those impactful moments, but it does start with everybody in any role within the organization.
Brian Rowley:It's not meant for just frontline employees. It's for anyone that has that interaction. So I found that to be an actually really interesting one.
Laura Smith:Yeah. And I liked our conversation because you just said it, but starting with leadership. But we did have a good conversation with Bob about, like, does it need to start with leadership? Or can a community of employees kind of really start to set that culture then kind of rise up? And there was a little bit of debate around that.
Laura Smith:And I think I agree that I think it has to start with leadership, but then you have to have the employees within in the organization behind that genuinely, not just talking the talk and walking the walk. So I think that that means that, like, the employees don't just need to say it, and and agree with on paper, but actually walk the walk and talk the talk, you know, along with the leadership. So I think it's just super important. So, obviously, for organizations like Ritz Carlton and Disney, as you mentioned, those clearly are infused in their everyday lives, but leadership has to have be setting the standards and the foundation for that. So I think it's important for us to think about as marketers in organizations, but also as we are consumers and interacting with brands, like pay attention to that.
Laura Smith:Right? Yeah. Because you wanna engage with a brand that makes you feel like you're a priority genuinely no matter who you're dealing with on the brand side.
Brian Rowley:Yeah. And I and I think that's the key piece to it. No matter who you're dealing with on the brand side. And that's not the customer side, that's the brand side. Because it doesn't matter who's having the conversation with that customer, that experience should be a positive one.
Brian Rowley:It should be the same. The overall messaging that's delivered in the way in which the brand represents shouldn't matter whether you're talking to someone in accounting. It's not just a marketing role, right? It's not just a sales role. It's anybody who has that touch point.
Brian Rowley:That's the part to that episode that I found to be really beneficial. And quite honestly, not that we didn't know it already, but when you put it in that context, I I think Bob did a nice job of explaining that and getting to the point of it.
Laura Smith:Absolutely. But I mean, we can't walk away from the Bob episode and not talk about Bob isms, right?
Brian Rowley:No, we have to. We have to.
Laura Smith:So, I mean, we had fun with that. And let's be clear, Bob does not coin all these. It's not all his quotes and sayings or whatever, but there is just a lot of fun to be had because a lot of the Bobisms we live and breathe every day, somehow they carry on. They're catchy. You don't forget them.
Laura Smith:You know, we just were talking about walk and talks during our prep. You hate them. I love them. But I think one of my favorite Bob isms is don't borrow problems from the future.
Brian Rowley:I knew you were going there, but I have to say What's yours? You're not wrong. It's that one. I say it all the time. Because, as we, as we look at that, how many times do you hear people who are predicting what's going to happen next?
Brian Rowley:And that's dictating the behavior that they're exhibiting at that one point in time. Why worry about that? It hasn't happened yet. Don't think about that, right? Stay focused, stay in the moment.
Brian Rowley:And I think that actually takes us to sort of our next favorite, right? And that one was at the crossroads emotion, intentionality, and the power of connection. That was with Jez Rose. And so in that episode, we asked Jez to talk about what he means when he says intentional experience. And this next clip actually challenged us to think about the moments we often overlook, the ones that actually give us the most control over our impact and decisions.
Brian Rowley:Let's take a listen.
Jez Rose:If we're more intentional, the only way we're gonna be able to do that is to be in the moment. This moment right now, as I am talking, as you are listening to my voice is the only moment that we have any guarantee of. Everything that happened before, we can't do anything about. There's no guarantee about what's gonna happen in the future. Literally this moment here is it.
Jez Rose:We got to wake up this morning. There was a ton of people that didn't and a ton of people that didn't expect not to wake
Jez Rose:up this morning either, right?
Jez Rose:So when you're at that crossroads, you have to be in the moment in order to understand and appreciate what is the direction you can go in. Because we've all made those long plans in business, in life, emotionally, spiritually, financially. The road is never straight. You never go from A to B. You go A, 8.1, 8.5, seven, detour via G, back via H, double skip over Z.
Jez Rose:We didn't think we were gonna get there. Oh, back to B again. It's never in a straight line. So intentionality and creating experiences that are intentional is about being in the moment. And that's the only way that we can connect with people.
Laura Smith:I miss hearing his voice. I
Brian Rowley:He's like such a fun guest.
Laura Smith:It's such a fun and I feel like that was our first episode maybe. Was that our first episode? I think it Our second.
Brian Rowley:Yeah. It was very early on for sure.
Laura Smith:Producer Joey. Yeah. Producer Joey, I think it was our first. Right? Great.
Laura Smith:So anyway, it was so long ago. Right? That was six months ago, which is crazy because it feels like, know, we've been doing this for a while, but I just I miss his voice because he was a fun guest to have on, obviously inspirational and hysterical. So That Anyway.
Brian Rowley:One resonated though. I mean, the comment of the only real moment we have control over is the current one. And everything before it is fixed, everything after is not guaranteed. I mean, at first when we were talking about this, like, okay, how does that translate into sort of that customer experience as an overall? And I think what we learned from that is customer behavior is not necessarily linear and sort of the buying journeys associated with that are really unpredictable.
Brian Rowley:So you have to stay in the moment because those strategies shift and there are signals that customers give that we can't forecast. So if you're not present understanding and taking advantage of the opportunity at that given time, you're going to miss opportunities moving forward. That's the part for me that I thought was really good and Jess does such a great job all the time of pulling those sort of concepts to life.
Laura Smith:Yeah. Because I think it was like, it was like a life lesson as well as like a marketing customer experience, customer engagement lesson. And that's what I loved about it. The parallels to your point, like it's first we're like, you know, as we were talking to him, we're like, okay, where could this go? And then it was so obvious because it does come back to marketing.
Laura Smith:It's about connecting with people on the right time, understanding your audience, knowing what they may need, knowing when they were ready to engage. It's it's just it's understanding what people's mindsets are at too. Right? Because you don't know what's going on. You have to understand that you don't know what's going on.
Laura Smith:So to engage with people, it's just it's part of human nature that this is a reality that we need to always be considering. So it was a very a deep deep yet we had a lot of fun.
Brian Rowley:We did. We always do. We have to bring him back
Laura Smith:for sure
Brian Rowley:in '26. He's always a
Laura Smith:five If he agrees.
Brian Rowley:He probably might.
Laura Smith:The last one we wanna feature is the has experience, quote unquote, become a buzzword, and that was with Bryan Meszaros. So this last moment we'll share basically is is well, it gets back to why we started the podcast. So let's listen to Brian and and hear his thoughts on this episode.
Brian Meszaros:For me, think it's you know, experience is creating a unique moment that someone feels emotionally connected to you. That is something that that is memorable, that is that resonates with you long past the experience, but I think it allows you to recognize the moment that you're in and feel some type of connection to what you're visualizing or interacting within a space. I think there's a lot of brands and environments that will put in displays and throw out flashy content and call that an experience. I think it's misleading. It might be visually gratifying, it maybe conveys some type of information that helps them better understand about maybe what they're selling or information, but I don't call that an experience.
Brian Meszaros:I call that a misuse of the word. It's just good information that's relative to you where the point of engagement is at. But I wouldn't call that an experience. Think it's just missing there's no emotional connection. There's no storytelling element.
Brian Meszaros:There's no change of behavior. You know, just to put content on the screen, it's fine. I mean, it serves a purpose, but to call it experiential or call it an experience, I I I think it's just that's just wrong. It's just wrong.
Laura Smith:Which I find, you know, it's true. You know, we're you know, we so many people use our experiences all the time and just putting content up is not an experience. I think he does dive into a bit of the experiential piece as we talk further, but it's right. It's in the storytelling concept of that too. Like we talked a lot about storytelling in one of our episodes as well, Brian, about like the story, translating storytelling into story doing.
Laura Smith:And I think that's kind of like he was talking about that at foundational level, then we took it a step further later on as we dove into storytelling. But what he says is he creates quote unquote experiences all the time, but how we define those and how consumers engage with them are different because it's not every experience isn't the same.
Brian Rowley:Yeah. And we have the actual pleasure of actually working with Brian and the Open Eye Global team all the time because they do a lot of the content for us. And, you know, the thing that's great about them is is not only is he saying that, but that's what they live and breathe. That's what they do when they create content. And I think one of the things that's actually really interesting with that discussion is, you know, a lot of people spend a ton of money and it's very hard to do this and be able to predict this, but a lot of people spend a lot of time and money creating visual content that's attractive, right?
Brian Rowley:And is, you know, quote unquote stimulating in some way. But the reality of it is it's the content that drives to the emotional side is the stuff that people remember. And if you think about it, we spend weeks planning narratives and messaging frameworks and logics and all that. But the real moment is actually the human moment and that's always unpredictable. And so when you can capture that and you can develop something that can trigger a reaction like that, which his team does really, really well.
Brian Rowley:I think that's what drives the difference between sort of just a digital display or content that's actually just, you know, filling space versus one that's actually moving the needle for an organization. Really, he's he's that team does such a fantastic job. Love working with them.
Laura Smith:Yeah. And I think the one thing that he said was we talk about like the surprise. How does surprise play into an experience? Right? It can't be expected.
Laura Smith:It has to be unexpected. And how do you drive that emotion with somebody and surprise, you know, that surprise and delight, if you will, can do that. I think a lot of what we also talked about with him was, you know, failed experiences. You know? They forget about the consumer.
Laura Smith:Like, they're building something fantastic, and it's super cool, and it's like, you know you know, you think it's gonna be so highly engaged with and all that, but you're not thinking about the end consumer. You're creating it for your own brand and the purpose of what you're trying to showcase. And I think that's where he touched upon, like, the failures. They're not you're not gonna succeed if you're if you're forgetting who you're creating the content for. And I think one thing, Brian, you've brought up in other episodes, not not this one, I don't think specifically, was in your previous role where one of your booths that you created was like a large projector was like Yeah.
Laura Smith:Right? It was like that was creating it for the brand, not for the consumer. And you realize that when you called out on it.
Brian Rowley:Right? You have to I mean, those are types of things that, you know, when you go into these shows and you see the amount of time and investment that people put into it. And and the question always comes back to, are you doing it for you? Are you doing it for the people that you plan to have visit the booth? And there's a big difference.
Brian Rowley:And the results of successful or not successful when it comes to trade shows and events, really goes back to that. Did someone feel like you were talking to them and solving a problem that they had when they entered the booth? Or were they literally just there to listen to you ramble about something that you thought was important, but had no relevance to them? And I mean, the reality of it is, is, you know, people who do it well do that really, really well. People who don't, it's as obvious as can be.
Laura Smith:And I think if we were to walk a trade show floor, which we do, we will be in the new Couple weeks. Yeah. At ISC or NRF too. But but the big one at ISC is, you know, you'll we'll see a lot of fails there. You're you're just seeing it's all about, you know, the product and the brand and not necessarily about what how to drive drive that consumer in and to get them engaged and them to think about how they might, you know, meet you as a brand.
Laura Smith:It's yeah. It's people get it wrong. People get it wrong. So there are lot of failed ones. But, yes, Brian's team does amazing work for us and for many other brands to avoid that.
Laura Smith:That's kind of the goal, right,
Brian Rowley:Yeah. And I mean, I think Alicia Henley did a nice job on our episode with her too, right? Talking about what she, I think referred to as Instagram moments, right? Those moments and how do you help capture that on the show? And there've been others, right?
Brian Rowley:Like, I mean, there's a couple of others that stand out. We talked about process and creativity, right? Like that was another one, like does process get in the way of creativity when you know, you're looking at it from a marketing aspect, you know, those are all things that we do consider and take because you don't want to, you know, put too much of anything in place. Really need things to happen in an organic way in order for teams to be successful and for you to create the most amount of impact.
Laura Smith:Yeah. I just you know, you're you're bringing up some of these other episodes because it's true. Like, these three were definitely, you know, the most listened to, downloaded from a metric standpoint. And but there's so many other episodes that got a lot of traction that we saw through our own, you know, our own networks. And that one being about creativity versus process sparked a ton of conversation in my network I know, as did the agency or in house conversations.
Laura Smith:You're right. Like, a lot of the marketing people in our networks, I mean, that just drove a ton of interest. A lot of people reached out to talk about it further because people those are challenges people are facing every day in their day to day lives, and that's why we're here to have these conversations because we as marketers know none of this is easy. Right? We're having to, like, make these decisions from, like, budgets to, right, staffing to, like, creativity versus process to all these things.
Laura Smith:And I think what we're what we've tried to do here and and we'll continue to do is, like, let's just have the conversation. Let's be honest about this and know that, look, we may not solve the problem or solve everyone's problem, but at least we'll give perspectives on both sides, and that's our intention to be able for people to be able to think and maybe scratch their head a little bit about, am I doing it the right way? Maybe I should try a different way. So it's so again, it's not to say these three are the only three that had a ton of attention drawn to them. There were many others that and we had a lot of fun doing them all.
Laura Smith:You know? I think that's what what kind of made this last six months a lot of fun. Sometimes not fun having to do it on Monday Monday
Brian Rowley:mornings 9AM. Or having when our
Laura Smith:mics didn't work and our headphones didn't work,
Brian Rowley:and
Laura Smith:Joey's yelling at us.
Brian Rowley:But you would never know that. Right. No, whatever. We have a great producer. Joey does a great job for us.
Laura Smith:We need a bleep what is it called? A bloopers reel?
Brian Rowley:Could There's lots notes. Could hours and hours of that if we wanna release it.
Laura Smith:Sound check. Sound check. Still don't hear you.
Brian Rowley:Sound check. But it is a lot of fun.
Brian Rowley:And you do get a lot of conversation. I can even tell you, like some of the conversations people had with me, they're like, you know what? I don't necessarily agree with the take or the perspective that you had, but the reality of it is it's a conversation. You and I, especially like, you know, we've heard, you know, people who say, oh, I wish you guys disagreed more. And we don't disagree a lot.
Brian Rowley:We actually are fairly well aligned on things, but that doesn't mean we don't, and we're not open to other perspectives and open to having those conversations and listening to what other people are thinking. Because at the end of the day, we can learn from a different perspective than ours. And we're open to those conversations. And that's why we've invited some of the people that we have on to have the discussions that we've had this So it's been, for me, I think it's been a lot of fun. Love this platform.
Brian Rowley:I think it's a lot of fun.
Laura Smith:Yeah, I've definitely learned a ton. I mean, I've taken more notes on what, you know, the advice some these folks have I'm given like, this is genius. These are experts in certain areas. I'll take it, and it's been super exciting. So this is a good transition, I think, to our own hot seat.
Brian Rowley:Wow.
Laura Smith:I love what Joey does every time. We never know. It's always a surprise.
Producer Joey:I mean, they cut that from k pop demon hunters. I'm not sure why, but I found it. So here
Laura Smith:you Feels a little k pop demon hunters to me.
Producer Joey:It's K pop genre. I mean
Laura Smith:Oh, it's a genre.
Brian Rowley:That's good, Joey. Good stuff.
Laura Smith:Thank you, Joey, for that great transition. So we're gonna put ourselves in the hot seat to wrap things up today. We've always asked our guests the tough questions. Now it's our turn. So I'm gonna start and I'm gonna ask Brian, what is the biggest trend that we underestimated?
Brian Rowley:You know, I think one for me is, you know, AI didn't just sort of accelerate marketing. I think it actually rewired the entire concept of content creation and workflow, right? We knew it would help. I don't know that I realized it would re shape like a lot of roles and job expectations and timelines. And even some of the conversations we've had around defining like originality and can you do AI and still create sort of an experience that is, you know, both personal and aligns with sort of the overall.
Brian Rowley:So, I mean, we knew it was going to be powerful. I didn't think it would be as powerful as quickly as it probably came into play. And I think, this is another one we, I think with Brad Hinsey, we actually talked about this and we had said that, when you think about the web, like it took years for people to translate and get used to the web, right? AI sort of was introduced last year and now like everyone's like, are you using it? What are you using it for?
Brian Rowley:How are you using it? What are you doing? Like, you know what mean? It's all about pressure associated. So for me, that was one of the ones that I think we underestimated.
Brian Rowley:How about yourself?
Laura Smith:Yeah. I would agree. I mean, think that's probably a lot of people would say that same thing. Right? Because I think it's just like, it just it took a turn.
Laura Smith:I think we live and breathe it through as marketers, but also in our organization from a technology standpoint. So I think it's literally in every conversation we have, whether it's whether it's a tool we're using or whether it's how we're enabling that for our technology. So I think it's, you know, in everything you read and see, it's courses all AI, but I think, yeah, we put more of our we pressure tested a lot more than I think we we thought we were going to. And now it's become part of our, you know, every day. I think we have a ton of room just learning from Brad about how him and his team are using it and really, you know, systematically building it into their organization.
Laura Smith:But that just gets me more excited about like the opportunity because we made a lot of headway, but there's so much more room for going out there.
Brian Rowley:Yeah. What's a hot take that you would say we now stand by?
Laura Smith:The managing your schedule with April.
Brian Rowley:That one hit deep for you. That one was a deep
Laura Smith:I was like, good Lord. I could I really hope I could I hope someday I could do it. I need to, like, hire her. But it was all about, like, eliminating, like, how she helped people. Because the first problem with people when they try to think about, like, you know, are they helping self or an organization, building relationships and growth and things like that, it's like the schedule is people's, like, the worst enemy.
Laura Smith:And so managing, like, how do you you know, she helps people eliminate eight hours of meetings from people's schedule. Like, that's an example she gave. So in in talking about how everything we believe everything is urgent, and we do. Like, your head's down doing something. Something pings.
Laura Smith:You look up. Well, like, how do you remove those things from your everyday so you can be so laser focused on the things that really matter? And, obviously, her and her team do this for a living where they work with leaders to help them remove those barriers and create that space to be able to do their thinking, their their their the work that needs to the most effective work they need to. So that to me was like, wow. So I don't I haven't mean, I wanna stand by it.
Laura Smith:I guess I believe in it. I need to, like, put, you know, pen to paper and figure out how to do it for myself because meetings do overtake our lives. But it was just a fascinating model where people are doing it. And she had said, like, someone, you know, bonuses were increasing because somebody learned how to better manage their day to day workload and team and life that had that much influence on the bottom line. So that is one we need to figure out to do.
Brian Rowley:Yeah. And that's actually it's funny because just yesterday, I I actually thought of her because I was looking at my calendar and I like, there was one hour that I wasn't at least double booked during that hour for half hour segments. And I was like, okay, whose fault is this? No one but my own, right? And I went back to that episode because it's true.
Brian Rowley:You're not efficient. Like I think her points and some of the things that she mentioned were really interesting. And I mean, the other thing for her that I found to be very interesting was the aspect of, we all are in the sales capacity role, right? Like we all have to think of ourselves in that role because that's what we do. And I think that actually helps in prioritizing, is this really valuable to the business or is this just taking time out of my day?
Brian Rowley:And the things that are just taking time out of the day are the things that we have to reprioritize. And then it is depth to your point. It's a lot easier to say than it is to do, but I do think it's something that we should be aware of and focus on.
Laura Smith:Absolutely. Okay. A hot take that we no longer stand by.
Brian Rowley:Oh, let's see. One that we no longer stand by. I would say I I would go back to AI in regards to this one. And the concept of everyone needs to adopt it fast. I don't think is necessarily correct.
Brian Rowley:And again, I'm going go back to the Brad conversation because I think it was really important. I think everyone needs to adopt AI, but responsibly and intentionally. I think people need to look at it and I think they need to understand how does it fit into my job and in what ways can it make me more efficient in the job that I do. And a big part of that is understanding how people are using and what tools are they using. Because one of the things we found is, you know, a lot of organizations are dictating these are the tools that you should use for AI.
Brian Rowley:And the reality is there's a lot of people who are in the behind the scenes who are using their own tools. So I think one thing is you have to start to understand what people are doing. But I do think it's responsibly. And I do think organizations have to think about it. I don't think this is an individual contributor within a business that needs to stay laser focused on this.
Brian Rowley:I think the business itself owes it to the employees to think about how does this work? What guidance can I give people? How can I educate them and give them a place to ask questions about AI tools to be able to give them resources if they need to? So for me, I would say it doesn't have to be fast. I think it has to happen, but it doesn't have to be at the speed of light.
Brian Rowley:And I think it needs to be intentional. I would say the other thing that I would ask you is, what would you say there's one idea that we want everyone to bring into 2026?
Laura Smith:I have like two thoughts on it that really kind of are connected, maybe not. One is this going back to Brian's episode about experiences and, like, let's not overuse the word. Let's not say we're all creating them because we're not, you know? And so I think it's about, like, really understanding what an experience is that our audiences want to engage with or be part of. Because how many times we talk about, like, creating engaging experiences, and everyone's saying that.
Laura Smith:But what does that really mean? And so I think it's about, like, defining and understanding and just doing better as marketers to create those experiences that do surprise, that do draw people in because it's not just about the brand. It's about what the end outcome is that we want people to get out of it to better their lives, to better their everyday, whatever they're trying challenges they're trying to overcome. So that's one piece of it. The other side of it would be the marketing and sales piece.
Laura Smith:Because and it's top of mind because we do have another episode dropping in the new year that does kind of go deeper a bit on the marketing and sales. And so it's just top of mind because we've been talking about that and really understanding the fact that marketing and sales do not succeed without each other. And they are two groups in an organization that really, really need each other to drive the business forward. So it's that more sophisticated or forward thinking way of looking at marketing and sales organizations inside companies and not the more antiquated way as where, you know, marketing just supports sales with, you know, sales enablement, for example. There's more to it and understanding that we all play a role in the funnel, whatever that funnel looks like.
Laura Smith:So I think that's one that we'll dig deeper on it, and I think we, in our own organization, are we've come we've come so far Mhmm. In advance there, but we even have more to advance. And I think we've got a lot on our plates and a lot in our plans for next year that will do that, which is super exciting. So I just hope that others kind of want or or think about it differently if they are an organization that feels like it's the old model.
Brian Rowley:Yeah. I I think the other one for me was the importance of realizing you are your own brand. Making sure you put that forward. Yeah, Kate did a great job of that one. And I think that's important because, how many times do you look at pictures of people at events and you're like, oh my gosh, look at what they're standing in front of or how they've presented not only us, but themselves, right?
Brian Rowley:And I'm not saying that of our teams necessarily, but just in general, when you comb through LinkedIn and you look at things that are going on, right? You look at people and you're like, this is your brand as much as it is the bigger brand. And I think if people took the time and realized doesn't matter whether you're on social, it doesn't matter whether you're in a face to face meeting, it doesn't matter whether you're meeting someone for the first time. There's two brands you're representing yourself and the company that you work for. And both should be equally as important to you.
Brian Rowley:And you should be equally as focused on making sure that leaves a good impression beyond that. So, you know, I would just say that I think anybody that's out there, especially that's customer facing or representing themselves should do it with the same level of integrity that they're doing the brand. It's equally as important.
Laura Smith:Yeah. I think the last one's just like fun. Like, I guess, you know, if I would think about what our challenges were, we kinda talked about some of them being some of the sound challenges. But, like, if for me, you know, like, I never done a did a podcast. So, Brian, you've done podcasts before.
Laura Smith:You have stood one up at your last role. For me, the challenge was, like, this was a great personal and professional challenge for myself because I'm like, this is out of my comfort zone. Everyone that knows me knows I love to talk, but I don't necessarily this was yeah. Joey, did
Brian Rowley:you did you know that Laura loves to talk? That's news to me. I had no idea. Me neither. I'm shocked.
Brian Rowley:Shocked.
Laura Smith:Well We
Brian Rowley:learn something every minute of every
Laura Smith:Not in this forum. So I'm like, oh my gosh. Like, I have to be ready to go. And it was just like, know, and and people are listening to me and not just the people around me, but, like, anyone could be listening to me. So that was like a whole which was super exciting because who doesn't want a new professional and personal challenge in their lives.
Laura Smith:So that was super exciting. So I I mean, there's definitely parts of it I love more than others, but I I I do I love it more than I don't, and I just love being out of my comfort zone sometimes. And I just love being able to learn new things. So doing the research to understand topics or doing the research to understand some of our guests and their backgrounds, like, that outside of my everyday job, you know, is just super exciting. So I feel like there weren't challenges.
Laura Smith:I think the overall setting up podcast for me was the challenge, and I think we've overcome that. And now I really enjoy doing it, and I'm excited for thinking of it in new ways for 2026. To be honest, how do we take pros and cons to the next level and challenge ourselves further versus just kind of staying status quo?
Brian Rowley:Yeah. I mean, I think you've done a fantastic job. I mean, you've settled into this very well. I mean, like, it just the conversation is very natural. I think the guests always are feeling comfortable.
Brian Rowley:That's our goal, right, of what we're trying to do. I think the interesting thing is I think people don't realize, and it's a lot of work in order to do this. And for me, some of the funnier moments are, the prep work that we're doing and like our initial conversations where like, oh God, I don't think that's gonna make for a good podcast. Right. And like being able to have that honest conversation with ourselves, right.
Brian Rowley:To say that doesn't work. Sort of the back and forth that's we've had associated with that for me is actually kind of the funny stuff. I'm just glad we don't have some of those takes. Joey, don't pull any tricks here, but I'm glad we don't have any of those takes because it is like, you can tell immediately, oh, that was a disaster or that wasn't going to work. But then quite honestly, there have been ones that we've thought were disastrous, right?
Brian Rowley:Afterwards we're like, actually, that's really bad. Yeah. Like really good stuff.
Laura Smith:We might feel uncomfortable, but like in the end, that was a great conversation. And I will say like the pre the prep, know, we we prep with our with our guests and then we obviously, of course, get on the line and we start to record. But I would say, like, I think we are very honest with our guests. Like, we are having fun. We are going to banter.
Laura Smith:I might swear there may be bleeping. Joey's gonna throw in some random stuff here and there. We don't even know what's coming, but it's we're having fun, and it might and it's okay to disagree. It's okay to be heated. And all of our guests have been so willingly open to that, which has been awesome, but also so many of them have said, you guys were a lot of fun.
Laura Smith:So I I feel like that's a win. Right? And we've had a lot of laughs, whether we just, like, scored big on the personality front with people because I think about, like, our pre the jazz prerecording was that you could never have that needs to be burned because we know him, we had a lot of fun and so much inappropriateness. And then we had something like a Kate. We just happened to be on the line longer with her earlier and Brad too.
Laura Smith:Like, I'm just thinking these situations where hysterically laughing, and then we have to dive in to record, and we're like, okay. This is gonna be easy because we've just got great personalities, and we have a vibe, and they're picking up on it. And that's been super fun. It's not to say we everyone has to have our vibe, but we've been very lucky. So a lot of laughs, a lot of laughs.
Brian Rowley:We've had a lot of laughs. We've had a lot of fun. And we're obviously gonna continue doing this into 2026. So we're excited for that. You know, for those of you that are out there that have been listening, we want to thank you for that.
Brian Rowley:And most importantly, if you liked what you heard today, be sure to follow us and we'll see you next year.