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Uncharted Entrepreneurship - hosted by Brent Peterson out of the Minnesota chapter of Entrepreneurs’ Organization – brings you daring stories straight from the trailblazing entrepreneurs who are unmapping business frontiers across every industry. Settle in around our virtual campfire as Brent sits down to pick the brains of startup pioneers, visionary founders, and intrepid CEOs whose origin stories - marked by unexpected twists, lessons, and stumbles along unpaved paths - will inspire your own trek in launching a boundary-pushing venture. Trading war stories, strategies, and even warnings, these audacious guests invite fellow founders and future leaders into their confidential circles in a uniquely transparent, wise, and motivational way. So join us off the beaten business trails to light your entrepreneurial fire!
Brent Peterson (00:02.38)
Welcome to this episode of Uncharted Entrepreneurship. Today I have Jen Roth. She is the president and founder of Blue Spark Marketing and Wise Blue Yonder. She's also the president of EO Minnesota. Jen, wow, that's a whole mouthful. me, tell us your day -to -day role and tell us a passion that you have.
Jen Roth (00:23.476)
All right. I'll start with a passion because that's easy. So I have a passion for good wine and spending time at wineries in California and Italy and wherever I can possibly go to find good wines. In terms of my role, for probably the primary role and where I spend most of my time is at my marketing agency, Blue Spark Marketing.
and we specialize in working with kind of mid -sized businesses and or enterprise -sized businesses that have aggressive or kind of transformative growth goals. And so we partner with folks to develop a marketing strategy or blueprint and then activate that blueprint with a full...
a full service marketing team and capabilities and it's akin to fractional marketing. I like to say we put together a plan and then we provide you with all the marketing you need and none that you don't. Because oftentimes folks need a little bit of a lot of things, but they don't need a full team specializing in all the different areas that are marketing these days. So that's Blue Spark marketing and my role really is to kind of oversee the vision and then let the team do what they do best.
for wise beyonder that is a growing business. I like to say it's a burgeoning startup and it is built around my passion for travel and it is a solution in a service that helps people with mobility challenges safely and confidently travel really designed for people with mobility challenges, but also even maybe aging travelers or even folks who might have an injury.
that makes walking long distance difficult for them. And so we will plan trips, we will provide vetted resources, and we will eventually be launching a platform that allows people to search for things that they can do, both with active family members, as well as, you know, traveling companions, as well as those that might have some mobility challenges. So it's been really, really fun. And and we're working on building that out and.
Jen Roth (02:41.23)
getting a lot of engagement and lot of great interest. And then the third thing is I get to work with entrepreneurs all the time because I am president of EO Minnesota, which is a global entrepreneur organization. Our chapter specifically has about 100 EO members and about 50 accelerators. So that means that if you're in EO, you are an owner of a business or a co -owner of a business that has a million or more in revenue.
annually and an accelerator program allows, I'm so sorry, I am going to have my husband get the dogs out of here. But an accelerator has 250 ,000 or more in annual revenue and hopes to graduate to that.
Brent Peterson (03:27.95)
That's great, and I'm also in EO, Minnesota, and we've served on the board together in the past, and it's been such pleasure to work with you. Jen, and I'm super fascinated about everything you're doing, but before we do that, what I'd like to do is just tell you a joke. It's called the Free Joke Project. Just give me a rating one through five. And I've got a little bit of a tongue twister, so hopefully I'll get it out today. So here we go.
Jen Roth (03:36.813)
Yes.
Jen Roth (03:50.67)
Okay.
Jen Roth (03:55.167)
Okay.
Brent Peterson (03:56.514)
Why did the art thief's van run out of gas as he drove away from the museum? Because he had no money to buy degas to make the van go.
Jen Roth (04:07.438)
one to five, huh? Well, I laughed, so I'm gonna say a four and a half. How's that? That one was impressive and very fun.
Brent Peterson (04:15.232)
Yeah, great. Thank you. I get a lot of four and a halfs and I'm really happy that I got that one out.
Yeah, thank you. All right. So I do what let's let's talk a little bit about entrepreneurship because this you know, you're doing a lot of different things, but this isn't your first marketing role like you've done. You've done this iterative times, right? So would you describe yourself as a serial entrepreneur?
Jen Roth (04:41.494)
You know, I would. I'd say I would. Yeah. I mean, I've started three, four businesses now, four businesses now, and am actively running two and actually in the process of another startup with a colleague in the kind of marketing space, if you will, more of an e -commerce type initiative.
Brent Peterson (05:04.418)
Do you feel that you fit into the typical mold if there is a typical mold of an entrepreneur who is sort of like, I'm going to do this new thing and let's go for it and dive in and do it.
Jen Roth (05:15.402)
Yeah. Brent, I would say I have imposter syndrome as most of us do. I look and play the part on TV, but not so sure on the inside. But I would say that when I do hang out with other entrepreneurs, they are for sure my tribe. So I do share a lot of the same characteristics, although sometimes I look around and think, man, they have it all figured out and I'm still finding my way.
Brent Peterson (05:41.774)
I can tell you from my own personal experience that I have not still not figured it out. And I opened my first business retail store in 1992. And at the time had nothing figured out. And I'm hoping I moved a little bit forward. I will say that I joined accelerator in 2014 or six 15, something like that. And that was that not to use an AI term, but that was a game changer in my life. that EO.
really put that framework or put some things around it that helped me to move to the next level. And I think the more important thing, and you can speak to this, is that it gives you the ability to speak to other entrepreneurs who are in the same position you're in, but maybe not the same industry.
Jen Roth (06:26.186)
Mm hmm. Yeah, I completely agree with that. think, especially when we get together for chapter events through EO or even other community based entrepreneurial events that may not be EO focused. When you get when you work with other entrepreneurs, you know, oftentimes I get the opportunity to talk to to new entrepreneurs, I'm not going to say younger because more and more I'm seeing entrepreneurs who
who have worked for quite some time in the industry and in a certain profession and they have decided that it's time for them to start their own thing and live the dream that they've had. And it's super, I learned as much from them, quite honestly, as I think they learned from me. But I think there's so much magic in entrepreneurs just sharing what they have learned and what's worked for them and how to apply it.
And every time I think I talk to an entrepreneur, whether they're new to it or they've been doing it forever, I learn something and hopefully I'm teaching them something too, because I learned a lot about what not to do as well as what does work. So it's a pretty cool journey.
Brent Peterson (07:33.282)
Yeah, it's, think it's interesting to see the different types or the different stages, let's say, because a lot of them, a lot of people do come out of corporate America and then they, they enter the entrepreneurial field and they realize, this is, this is the life for me. And that past life of having worked for somebody isn't so great. and then there's other people that write out, like I was, I dropped out of college to start my first business and never really worked for anybody. And it was, it's a different type of.
Jen Roth (07:49.848)
Yeah. Yeah.
Jen Roth (07:58.882)
Yeah.
Brent Peterson (08:01.272)
position or and I'd say I don't know if it's any different. I think maybe the person who starts in corporate America has a little bit more roundness to what they know about the more inside. I know myself, I didn't quite understand the corporate world until I got to the point of having large clients where you had to know it.
Jen Roth (08:19.31)
Mm -hmm. Yeah, yeah, I agree with that because I'm the opposite of you. I, you know, I went to college and actually got my master's degree and actually wanted to teach college, but ended up not doing that and working in marketing instead and loved it stuff and where I belong. And I did, I spent probably 15 years in corporate America before I started my own business. And I started my own business primarily not because I thought I was an entrepreneur, but because I had young kids and my job in corporate America was great.
but it required a ton, a ton of being away from home. And while I love travel, I don't love traveling Monday through Thursday every week and being out of town when I got young kids. And so that's actually what drove me to do it in the first place. And as soon as I did it, it became obvious it was my thing. But I do agree with you that, you know, I think both are good because when I talk to entrepreneurs and friends like you, who you're just automatically
on entrepreneur. You were born that way, you started that way, you've always been that. Sometimes the people that bring the corporate experience with them are, it's a huge gift because you do understand the inner workings of a business and you have automatic connections that you've built throughout the years and kind of trusted relationships that you can leverage. But the flip side of that is you've been molded into a corporate person. And so you don't always, that entrepreneur spirit needs a little bit of dusting off and refinement because it's not
automatically there and if it was there it was dampened maybe as you worked in a very very large organization. You know if you worked in startups that would be one thing but it is a certain lifestyle and you do have to kind of get through it and kind of past it and start to think a much more creatively and much more scrappily if you will in the entrepreneur space.
Brent Peterson (10:07.362)
Yeah, I want to kind of go into some of the things you're doing and I'm very interested in wise in wise blue yonder. I personally, my sister in law has MS and she's in a wheelchair and my mother in law has MS and she's, she's walking, not, you know, she, she does have some mobility issues. So tell us about that and how, how, I mean, I think how, important it is to, to help.
people understand when they go somewhere that there is going to be different types of needs that people need in different countries and different areas have different access rules and some are better than others. Tell us a little bit about that business.
Jen Roth (10:44.27)
Yeah, absolutely. So first of all, hope your relatives travel if they like that, because I hope they don't let that stop them, because many do. But Wise Beyonder comes from personal experience. I have arthritis. I got it when I was nine. So it's called systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, which means that I have it in every joint. So I've had eight joint replacements and 14 surgeries.
and it's been a chronic kind of lifelong condition for me. I started, you know, when I was nine, I was either very, very sick and in bed or I was at gymnastics. And then as the years went on, the mobility decreases, Surgeries, et cetera. And so, but at the same time, I've been lucky enough to travel all over the world. I've been in many continents. I've been in many countries. I've traveled for work. I've traveled with friends. I've traveled with family and it's really, really, really cool. But to your exact point,
Depending on where you go, the information that is available to somebody with a disability or with a special need is not accurate the vast majority of the time. And even when you use AI to try to plan trips, which trust me, I've done, even the information that comes to you through the AI agents isn't accurate. For example, I went to Barcelona and I was actually used AI to see what they would say for a trip review after I already went.
and they recommended that I take the transit system. Well, the transit system isn't even remotely accessible. I was there, I know it firsthand. Or they recommended an attraction that I literally couldn't navigate. My husband and had to leave it because it was so steep and there was no elevator even though they said there was. And so the lack of accurate information for those travelers who really, really need it is a huge obstacle.
and a huge risk and danger. And what happens is, childbirthers that are put in that position feel embarrassed that they can't keep up with the people that they're with, that they don't have access, that they can't actually navigate successfully the destination that they're in. They feel unsafe because it is literally physically dangerous for them, right? And it's frustrating because even when you do all the research in the world, you can't get the information that you need.
Jen Roth (13:08.152)
to take a trip where you feel safe. And a lot of times what you'll see happen is like you might go on a trip with, did you say your sister or your sister -in -law? Your sister -in -law and she'll say, I'm fine here, I'll just stay here. You go ahead and hike three miles. Well, she's doing that because she knows she can't go with, not because she actually wants to stay there and do nothing, right? And so one of the things that Wise We Yonder does is we create small group trips and custom trips so that if your sister -in -law wants to,
Brent Peterson (13:17.666)
Sister -in -law.
Jen Roth (13:37.034)
enjoy a discussion about fine wines while you take a walking wine tour, both parties have an exceptional experience, right? And so that's really kind of what Wise Beyonder is trying to do is to encourage people, regardless of ability, to get out there and see the world with information they can trust and the resources that they need to make sure that that trip is amazing. So it's a lot of hands -on work and it's a lot of, right now it's a lot of just custom.
you know, kind of travel concierge or travel planning experience and guidance. And we have to do a lot of calling and a lot of get on FaceTime with a hotel to show me that for sure that you have an elevator that works and for sure that that wheelchair can fit in that room, et cetera. But over time, our goal and our hope is that we'll have a platform, you know, that you could actually go out to and you can actually Google, I'm going to Barcelona and this is my
you know, need and it will filter for you tour guides, destinations, hotels, transportation options, everything that you would need to actually put together your own trip. But right now it's all custom travel planning and content.
Brent Peterson (14:50.67)
Yeah, I think one thing that they would tend to do is just go to a cruise because you know on a cruise you're going to have lots of accessibility that, and then they'll have maybe some more information about ports you visit and there is certain amount of accessibility at ports and certainly can't do, you know, some of the things you couldn't do is zip lining. if you're 80 and if you're getting a little bit older, zip lining might not be a solution. But I do like what you said earlier about having
an alternative at the same destination. So somebody does zip lining and then there might be a talk about the history of the area that somebody could that your travel companion could also participate in and a good way to look at it.
Jen Roth (15:28.962)
Sadly.
Jen Roth (15:34.348)
Yep. Yeah. And many, many companies are absolutely willing to do that if you get ahold of them or work with them. You know, but if you go into that event without having asked or done any of that kind of due diligence, that person will sit there and they'll just wait for the rest of the, you know, able -bodied, I hate using that word, but you know, the able -bodied people to do what they do. And then they'll say, it's okay. But I'm telling you firsthand, it's not always okay.
It's a bummer when you go on vacation and you feel like you're missing out on a big part of it because of your own personal situation. And it's not something that anyone should feel bad about because you're given what you're given and you have a right to enjoy the same travel experiences that everyone else does.
Brent Peterson (16:18.562)
Yeah, we spend a lot of time in Hawaii and I'm always cognizant of where could my relatives go at the same time we're going. And a lot of times there isn't a lot of options, especially if you get outside of like the national system, you know, the state, maybe there's not enough money to fund those things, but I think that having an advocate for you, like what you're doing is so important and, and having
Jen Roth (16:27.64)
Mm hmm. Yep.
Brent Peterson (16:48.074)
having it customized. And I can see the vision that you have too, where you might have a database of things that people could rely on or look at that are vetted. And one more comment about AI because our business, our new business is based on AI for developing content.
Jen Roth (16:55.362)
Yep. Yep.
Jen Roth (17:01.74)
Yeah. and it's a wonderful thing, but they need a new database for accessibility. It's the raw data that's the issue, not the AI agent. Yeah.
Brent Peterson (17:11.042)
Yeah, I mean, I will just say in general, it's going to give you some bogus results. And that's where the humans really have to be involved in our business is always the human has to have that last look at it because I believe that AI is never going to be targeted to other AI because the other AI is never going to book that trip to Costa Rica. There's actually a human that's going to book the trip and
Jen Roth (17:16.832)
huh.
Jen Roth (17:31.896)
Right. Right.
Brent Peterson (17:36.418)
Hey, I think it's going to be great someday when ChatGPT does visit Costa Rica in person, but they're never going to tell me about it.
Jen Roth (17:43.598)
Right, right, right. I agree. You know, it gets you started, but it certainly doesn't get you all the way there. And so like a local example here is we're working on a series for regional and state parks for people in wheelchairs and with mobility challenges that they can visit because our parks are in Minnesota anyway, are beautiful. And our state has done an amazing job with infrastructure for accessibility in some.
parks. And so being able to really showcase and highlight the ones that you can go really enjoy yourself at, regardless of the ability of the people that you're with, I think is a huge gift. And so we actually went to Lebanon Hills, which is just a mile from my house. And it's a regional park. And we went and I, what I found online wasn't even close to the accessibility accommodations they actually provide, which was a nice, happy surprise.
because it was the opposite of what I usually find. so we're actually, I actually posted my, our most recent post is actually about that trip as well as a real. And so it's, I agree with you. think AI plays an important part, but I think in any business, even with the businesses we work with, the clients we work with at Blue Spark, it's a part, you got to have that human on both sides, kind of like saying what goes into it and assess what comes out.
I completely agree.
Brent Peterson (19:12.302)
If we do just kind of briefly talk about BlueSpark, you know, one of your roles is to develop branding for other startups and founders. Tell us a little bit about, at a 10 ,000 foot view, kind of that vision that you helped them unlock from another AI term. And we're going to delve in and unlock that vision from that other founders head. And I think that a lot of times people don't quite understand how the marketing brain works.
Jen Roth (19:34.605)
and
Brent Peterson (19:41.942)
Some people just think it's going to be the way they think it should be. Tell us how you kind of help and coach them through that.
Jen Roth (19:47.466)
Yeah, so, you know, our model at BlueSpark is truly to meet with clients and understand what their business priorities are and write what we call a strategic marketing blueprint. And that is basically a map to what it is that they need to do from a marketing perspective to meet their growth goals or their business objectives. And so that could be anything from building your foundation. What is your story? You know, who are your prospects and your target audiences?
What is your value proposition? What is your website look like? say, I mean, just the basic foundational elements you need for a good, solid marketing and sales program to much more sophisticated marketing, omnichannel programs, et cetera. And a lot of it just depends on where our clients are at and kind of what resources they have available to them. But the goal is to be as smart as we can with any investment that is made and then activate that for them. Specific to brand and e -commerce, what we have found a lot of
especially in the B2B world, but really consumer as well, is there a lot of companies that are starting to build out e -commerce functions on top of what their core competencies have been. So, for example, a client who offers equipment for fall protection and installs it might choose to then actually sell.
that same equipment to people who want to install it themselves. And that's a real case example. And so there are just so many, so many businesses that are starting to think about that. They're like, we have these products that we're already purchasing and we know what it needs to be. And there is an opportunity to sell this. We have a couple other clients that actually are selling content. And so we're seeing, I don't know if this is true across the board and haven't done any research on industry statistics, but we're seeing
this willingness and this appetite to pay for subscriptions for content if it's high value. So, you know, in my old years, you know, I used to pay for magazines, right? And I would read magazines because I loved them. Now people are looking and totally willing to pay for things like sub stack, right? And and all the content sources you can get there, but also just content from channels and from
Jen Roth (22:09.294)
authors where they see perceived high value. You know, can be organic cooking, it can be healthy living, it can be how to be the best mom, it can be all sorts of things, right? And so, so we have helped quite a few clients with building out and thinking through what that e -commerce component could look like. I will tell you that those who have brand awareness are much more successful in that launch than those who don't.
And so I say this a lot because I am by nature and by training a B2B marketer and a lot of people think brand doesn't matter and brand is super expensive to build. can be expensive to build, but when people know who you are, you know, I always say when they, when your message is unique to you, important to your customer and provable, your, your revenue and your
conversions and your speed of sale will be significantly better. I do think Gartner actually has a statistic that they use that they say that people, buyers are twice as likely to purchase if they know of that brand prior to going into the evaluation cycle. That's obviously for B2B organizations, but the point absolutely carries over on consumers and COVID had a lot to do with that because people started buying things online.
And so they are looking for brands they trust before they enter any type of payment information or agree to a transaction. we just continue to see the importance of building that brand out at the beginning of your process as a key, key element to being able to get those leads on the backend and get those sales.
Brent Peterson (23:52.535)
Yeah, and I think, do you, well, do you think that Amazon has helped give that, that, that sort of credence to the brand because they're on Amazon and you don't really know about it? Like I've bought lots of things on Amazon now and I would have never gone to their website, but just because I know I can return it if it's bad, I'll buy it from them.
Jen Roth (24:09.675)
huh.
Jen Roth (24:13.25)
Yeah, yeah, you know, and I'd love your perspective on this because you're a true expert in that. But from my perspective, I think Amazon does give you a safe shopping space as a consumer. But I also know at the same time that consumers don't always love spending all their money with Amazon and they would love to spend money with brands they trust outside of the behemoth that is Amazon. But they have to trust the brand.
because I I even had it happen to myself. I bought a phone charger that's built for travelers that I really, really liked and I never got it. Gave them money, never got it. Submitted several requests asking where it is, never heard back. Continued to get ads for the charger that I never received. So unfortunately, it doesn't always pan out and I think consumers, at least I'll speak for myself, but consumers have issues giving money to brands they're not aware of for those types of reasons.
Which is a bummer because it'd be nice to see some of these other brands and these other e -commerce retailers continue to find success. But you have more experience in that, so I'd be curious as to your opinion, right?
Brent Peterson (25:24.526)
I'm complete agreement that I would more likely buy from Amazon. it's a brand I don't regularly or really recognize, as opposed to buying something as if you see it in an Instagram ad and it's buy right now and then you order it. I would be more likely at that first purchase to buy it on Amazon. The smart brands I think are adding some
Jen Roth (25:34.894)
Alright.
Brent Peterson (25:51.798)
registration information for the product they're selling. So then it brings you back to their website and you can sort of trust them. But I think like you had, I think your use cases is really relevant in the fact that you do sometimes order something from somebody that's new and they may even been shipping it directly from China and it may take a month to get there. And then, and then it may never get there because it gets lost somewhere in the whole rigmarole of the shipping thing.
Yeah, I would agree 100 % that you really need to know that brand before you buy it direct. think like Shopify now has, and Google Pay are also sort of embracing this global single payment system that is giving a little bit more to it. I think that, and you're probably a little bit less at risk.
And then you also know that you can just cancel your credit card. But normally you're buying that travel charger. You're probably going to leave in the next two to three weeks and you'd love to have your travel charger for your trip, right? So that's the other risk, I think, and that's the other hurdle that a lot of brands have on their own website is that people don't now trust that it's going to get there in a timely manner.
Jen Roth (26:56.11)
Exactly.
Jen Roth (27:11.106)
I mean, even, you know, I have a 17 year old daughter and she likes to buy from TikTok and so she'll watch TikTok ads and it will be, you know, like a bundle of like jewelry and makeup and a cosmetic bag and I don't know, whatever is in the package for a really great deal. I even just a couple of nights ago, she's like, mom, do you think this is legitimate? Should I buy this? Because it's a really good deal. And she decided to take the risk and it did come right away.
But it's interesting to even watch younger buyers facing the same exact questioning and decision making processes as more seasoned buyers.
Brent Peterson (27:53.39)
Yeah, it only, it only takes one, one time to get burnt on something like that, to start questioning, should I buy it? And I, I, we don't have a lot of time to get, mean, I'm fascinated that TikTok has her own platform now specifically for brands to sell things directly on TikTok. a lot of those things are going to go there and we're going to see more fractured. Hopefully, you know, I would hope we're going to see more fractional fractionalization. that a word I can use for Amazon? So we're not always just buying stuff on Amazon.
Jen Roth (27:56.504)
All right.
Brent Peterson (28:22.934)
I would like to kind of close things out with, with you, you had mentioned earlier, the idea of being a fractional CMO or fractional marketing. And I think as my previous company, we did development work and it was so hard sometimes to convince a client that, yeah, you can project you need to do, but next week you're going to have a front end project. You might have a CX project. There's so many different things that an agency brings to the table. And if you give them some fractional amount of work.
that they can pivot for you. Like you could do branding, you could do marketing, there's all kinds of different things that you would do for the client that they wouldn't be able to hire on their own. And then just one more comment on that. The job market right now is that it is so hard to find those really good people and that those people tend to be very expensive. So you're also making a commitment to a hundred and some thousand dollars a year on a very
unicorn person, hopefully they can do a lot of different things, but typically they do something really well. So just give us a little bit on how that's important to hire an agency or hire a marketing company that can give you a more diverse look at what the marketing needs you need.
Jen Roth (29:26.552)
Yep.
Jen Roth (29:38.754)
Yeah, yeah, well I think you summed it up perfectly. But that's exactly what we're seeing, is people will come to us and they might have one marketing person or a couple marketing people, or maybe even no marketing people, and they're trying to decide if they should hire internally. And folks will make the decision to hire a senior marketing person who is great with strategy, but isn't one to orchestrate any of the work.
or vice versa, they hire an out of school kind of marketing coordinator who's like, I'll do anything you want me to do, but you have to tell me because I don't bring the experience or the acumen in terms of the strategy. then the client or the business, should say, gets really frustrated. And so where we come in and regardless of whether you work with BlueSpark or not, if you are a business that has two or three great solid marketing resources,
but you need a full complement of marketing services, you should definitely be looking for agency partners that can offer that support. And that is literally where the value is. So, you know, it is very common for us to work with somebody and start with needing to build out messaging and content strategy, and then optimize that for a website, potentially redesign or rebuild a website, and then turn that into a omnichannel demand gen through things like HubSpot and...
you know, organic social, paid social, organic digital, paid digital, connected TV is starting to really gain traction. And every single one of those things that I just said requires a different specialty. You know, very similar to your IT example. And so then it behooves you to pay an agency like ours a set amount of money so that you only get the SEO when you need it. You only get the content strategy when you need it.
Because if you hire a full -time content strategist at $120 ,000 a year, that's great, but how are you going to activate that? So there's just so much value in thinking through what it is you're trying to accomplish and then buying the sum of the parts versus each of the individual parts. I always do say though, because I was in corporate America for so long.
Jen Roth (31:55.662)
that if you do have 40 plus hours of content you need to create or 40 plus hours of development work you need to do, that's when you definitely want to an internal resource. Or if a lot of the work is gaining alignment with internal resources and stakeholders, that's something that is hard for agencies to do. Agencies are good at seeing your vision, helping you set your vision and executing on your vision and optimizing the work with metrics. What you need to be doing internally is ensuring that the organization
is going where they need to go and that what we are doing is aligned with where you need to go. So I tell folks that all the time when they're trying to decide on if they should hire internally or hire externally.
Brent Peterson (32:36.866)
Yeah, so let's try to round it out with one last question. Is that most important hire a project manager to help or a strategist or I suppose there's so many different things that somebody would go for, but it does go to say like with that visionary, you do really need a project manager to help help orchestrate all the different to do's that have to do. And then there has to be a bunch of people doing the to do's right.
Jen Roth (33:03.086)
That's right. That's right. And I would say it depends on your model and your organization. I mean, we have some clients where they have highly strategic marketing people that are leading the effort and just making sure that we activate in the right way for the business. That's very effective.
We have other folks that bring us on and say, I'm a good solid marketing manager who's very good with project management and I need you all to give me the strategy. These are our business priorities. Thank you, love it, let's go. And then they make sure that what we do is activated appropriately in the organization. We have some organizations where they have deep design skills internally because they do a lot of video, they do a lot of graphics.
and they want that there, but they don't have the strategist. So it just really depends on how you're set up. But I would encourage you to talk to whoever you are thinking about partnering with and ask them and explain what your resources and your needs are and let them help you think through that. Because you can work with almost any group if you pick the right partner.
Brent Peterson (34:09.218)
Yeah, that's good. That's very good advice. So Jen, we have a few minutes left. As we close out, I give everybody a chance to do a shameless plug about anything they'd like. What would you like to plug today?
Jen Roth (34:17.198)
All right, well, I will, I mean, I'm gonna plug two things, but I'll, you know, I would say we'd love if you are an organization looking for a marketing partner to activate, you know, help you build and or activate a marketing strategy and program. We'd love to help you. We are a HubSpot certified partner. So we do a lot of work in HubSpot.
And again, it typically starts with strategy, moves into execution, and then optimization. you know, we've been, I have an amazing team. I'm blessed with the amazing team that we have. And we'd love to talk to you if that's something you're interested in. And for wise way yonder, if you are a traveler who is at all passionate about advancing the world of travel for those with special needs, please check out the website, sign up for the newsletter and just engage. That would help us a ton.
as we continue to kind of spread the word about accessible travel. And that website is whyisblueyonder .com.
Brent Peterson (35:21.614)
Perfect, I will get all those, I'll get those into the show notes and then your final role as EO president, we should all be encouraging, we shouldn't be saying should, that's the first thing I should know. We shouldn't should on people, but I would encourage anybody to go to EOMinnesota .org and check us out. The Accelerator program, I started in Accelerator, it was fantastic when I...
Jen Roth (35:36.086)
Yeah.
Jen Roth (35:43.989)
I agree.
Brent Peterson (35:48.866)
When I graduated to EO, it was fantastic and I've had such a great experience in EO, both in the board. Yeah.
Jen Roth (35:54.83)
Yeah, I can't believe I didn't say that. You're absolutely right. I can honestly say that neither of these businesses would exist without the support that I have from EO. And I often say, and it's 100 % true, but it's the best business decision I've made, but it's also kind of the best investment I've made in myself because it makes me a better human, makes me a better mom, makes me a better wife, makes me a better person, and it definitely makes me a better business leader.
And I personally have gained so much from my experiences and opportunities there. So for the right entrepreneurs, it's a no -brainer.
Brent Peterson (36:36.334)
Yeah, I'll make one last and I keep saying one last, but what, know, one thing that people are confused about for EO is they think it's all about business, but really it's about your, your family, your personal life and about your business and how all those interact. Cause none of us do, except for Elon Musk, none of us do business 24 hours a day. We do have a personal life and there is a disconnection. There should be some kind of disconnection between.
Jen Roth (36:48.014)
Thanks
Brent Peterson (37:01.794)
what you do personally, what you do with your family, what you do in your business. But all those do, they're never completely disconnected. And it's important to know that in our forum meetings, we don't just talk about our business. We have a very holistic approach to what our life is like and what an entrepreneurial life is like. I mean, the corporate world, you can go home at some point and you can sort of turn off.
but it's hard to turn off as an entrepreneur.
Jen Roth (37:31.968)
It sure is. And how you show up at home is directly impacted by how you show up at work and vice versa. And I couldn't agree more. Our forum does the same. I mean, we'll go from a topic like how do I scale for growth or I'm not sure that my integrator is working for me to, my gosh, I'm really worried about my teenage daughter, right? And all of those things impact us as entrepreneurs and how we show up every day.
Brent Peterson (38:03.546)
Jen Roth, this has been a fascinating discussion. Thank you so much for being here. Jen Roth is the president and founder of Blue Spark Marketing and Wise Blue Yonder and the president of EO Minnesota. Thank you so much.
Jen Roth (38:16.44)
Thank you, Brent. It was a pleasure.