Season 4 Finale – A Year in Review: 10 Things I Learned This Year – Podcast Transcript

SPEAKERS

Lexie Smith

Lexie Smith 

Welcome to the pitching and sipping podcast, where we talk PR trends and tips over sips and meet a wide range of incredible founders, PR pros and members of the media. I’m Lexie Smith, a former workaholic VP of PR and marketing turned to time entrepreneur, founder of the PR ink business, NPR coach, new mama and self proclaimed connoisseur of puns, pizza and wine. I’m a huge believer that knowledge is power, and kindness never goes out of style. Think of this show as a way to uplevel your business and career over happy hour. Now let’s get to pitching and sipping. Hello, hello. This episode is a pretty dang personal one today. And I have to give a quick shout out to my other podcast that I co host with my business partner Emily Merrill. It’s called the ReadySet coach podcast if you’re ever interested in the coaching space, head on over and give it a listen. But I bring that up because I just got off a recording with her for our podcast already set coach podcast and we started to take an inventory of 2022 and Ms really hard questions and I found myself feeling hung up. And while maybe my mind was displayed in full, the full hot mess status that it is sometimes on that show, I’ve now taken a beat and wrote down some concrete things that I really did learn in 2022 as we head into 2023. And that’s what today’s show is going to be about. It’s going to be a really honest and transparent. Look back at 10 things that I learned this year. And first let me preface this if you’re new listener Hello, welcome. If you’re an old listener, you might know these things by now. But this was a big year for me. I had a baby, right. So part of my year was spent pregnant and then I had a baby and my life was flipped upside down in the hardest but best way possible. I continued to run two brands and a podcast, I launched a new podcast and I launched the PR agency and a new arm of my business. My body went through the most drastic changes it’s ever experienced through pregnancy, birth and postpartum. That journey, I’m still very much on my mindset. And my perspective very much shifted on many things in life. But also some things didn’t change. And were rather reaffirmed, such as my values were really reaffirmed all this to say I’m gonna go over 10 things that I learned, some of them are going to be personal to life, some of them are going to be very specific to PR or marketing and career. And hopefully there’s one nugget in today that lands with someone listening and if so reach out and let me know. Okay, let’s dive in. And there’s no particular order to any of these. But the first one, I just have to give a shout out. I learned how Gosh, dang powerful women really are. I mean, I didn’t know that. But now I know that the amount that we can handle that we can juggle that our bodies can go through that our minds can go through. I mean, oh my god, we rock. I think you know, if you’re someone who doesn’t have a family yet, you’re also awesome. But someone who does have a family knows this side of the coin really well. Working moms, oh my god, can I just give a shout out to any mom or or dad out there. But giving a shout out to my ladies right now. Who is doing parenting as a single parent? Because I’m not. And it’s hard. It’s crazy hard. But on that note, I think one thing that I learned aside how powerful women are I learned how powerful I am and how much I really am capable of just when I thought I couldn’t be capable of more. Dang I am so I just have to give myself a little pat on the back and a little soapbox, Stan, for everyone listening right now for my men in the audience actually reached out. I’m curious if I have any. Um, besides my husband, hi, CJ, who is forced to listen to the show. So I learned how powerful women are which was really really cool. Also, this sounds silly or obvious. I learned the importance of sleep. Please hear me. Oh my god. If you are feeling like you’re on the verge of burnout, if you’re feeling overly stressed. If you’re feeling any sort of way. Check yourself how much sleep Have you been getting? Because let me tell you when you’re a new parent when you’re a new mom, you don’t get sleep and that reinforces How much can go wrong in your body and your mind and your business when you don’t. So this year just taught me so much how much you have to really take a moment to prioritize sleep and health and health has been something that has been a really big focus in my life, especially over the past four to five years. It’s actually one of the main reasons I transitioned into entrepreneurship. But this new season for me, 2022 just reaffirmed how important it is to really make sure you’re putting health at the center of all that you do, because you cannot pour from an empty cup. Okay, so on that note, too, I learned, I thought I was efficient before I learned how to be so efficient this year. I mean, I have 15 hours, roughly, of childcare a week. And so I have learned how to stock as much as I possibly can in those 15 hours. And then I’ve learned how to own I’m gonna be honest, I still still am working on this very much so but I had a maximize and multitask when I don’t have childcare. So you know, hold on baby in one hand emailing with the other. This has challenged me in many ways, you know, it’s put on display like, times, I need to be present first times I need to be focused in on my business. And so I’ve learned how to be really, really efficient. But here’s something that I am pulling out from that, as I head into 2023, it’s something I need to work on. Because my life has been so caught up in a hyperdrive of having to be efficient, I am noticing that that’s carrying or spilling over into other elements of my life, like relationships, and I’m having a hard time turning it off. And so this will come up to another thing I’ve learned. But I really want to tone, tone that down and allow myself and 2023 to not always have to be efficient to just loosen up a little bit like loosen up. So if you’re like me, here’s a little reminder that it’s great to be efficient in some cases. But it’s also really important to not be inefficient in some others. So another thing that I was reminded of is that and again, we hear this this isn’t job right, your jaw dropping, but this was reinforced is I was reminded how nothing is ever as it appears on social media. Some of my clients went through crazy years, some of my friends and families went through the hardest years of their life. And you will not see any evidence of that on their social media. And some of you listening might say, well, that’s fake. Fine, you’re allowed to have your opinion, but in my perspective known they just not everyone wants to share or air all their dirty laundry on a social networking platform. I hear so many people getting caught up in a spiral or rabbit hole up Oh, looking at someone on Instagram, for example, and thinking they have a perfect life. Guys, there’s always so much more than meets the eye. So really do take that with a grain of salt. And if you start to notice yourself spiraling into Oh, look at them, they’re doing it so easy. So perfect. Know that there’s so much more that you aren’t seeing. Okay, we’re all human here.

Lexie Smith 

So the next thing I learned, I learned, and I think I shared this in my last reflection. But it still remains true that you always have to keep learning in life. And in business. It is so important, especially NPR to not get too stuck in our ways or get too comfy. And here’s an example. So for years now, one of publicists favorite go to resource has been Haro. Haro still exists or Harrow, I feel like there’s a debate there on what to call it, but Help a Reporter Out this year substack has really, in my opinion, become one of the most the top platforms to watch as one of the most, if not the most helpful or beneficial resource that we as publicists can use. So it just goes to show that every year every month, every quarter, we need to keep our eyes and ears open. We need to keep learning we need to be open minded to adapting strategies that maybe even were working for us for two years because the world is evolving. The industry is evolving, and we need to keep evolving. I also learned the power of continuing to lead with a collaborative mindset instead of one focused on competition or scarcity. So as some of you might know, I mean, I mentioned this top of show I have a second business called Ready Set coach and this business was birthed from a situation where my co founder and I were going in head to head Klein offs, meaning the same person wanted to work with us both. And instead of feeling competitive We saw it as an opportunity to collaborate and to create something new together. And if you’d asked me three years ago, if I would have started a second business with a co founder, I would have laughed. Now that has become one of the most fulfilling revenue streams and ventures of my life. And that’s because I’ve remembered to keep a collaborative mindset that also spills over into the PR bar. I consistently send different PR firms referrals when it’s not a fit, I consistently work to try to network with my fellow publicists, I don’t see them as competition I see them as as people as comrades as, as co workers, as friends as people who we are better together. And so I just for anyone listening who ever, you know, feels triggered by a competitor on Instagram on Tik Tok or feeling like there’s just too much competition, I really urge you to see if there’s rather an opportunity to collaborate in some way because it can be both financially fruitful and good for the soul, so to say. So I kind of just mentioned this, but I really, really, really this year learned how to not force a fit. With lack of sleep as a new mom running multiple businesses, My patience has definitely been tested, meaning I only have time to work with people and clients that are truly, truly aligned. And what I noticed is the more people that I said no to or referred away, and the more people I said yes to that were aligned, then the leads that started coming to me. In turn, were also more aligned. Because my testimonials and the client referral network that I was building were of my dream people, my dream people sent more dream people my way. So if you’re really looking to get to a place where you don’t start having, you know, to go through the weeds of having all the red flag clients, and what have you, I just urge you to own the power of saying no and referring elsewhere, don’t just jump at someone because they’re willing to pay really, really work to find an aligned clientele, you’re going to have a much more positive experience, you’re going to have more success, and it’s just going to be great for your life overall. I also learned how much something needs to be repeated. So I learned once again, I feel like most of these are in life in business. But I want to talk about the business side of things. So this is not a new concept if you’re someone in the marketing and PR space, but it usually takes around seven to 10 touches or seven to 10 times if someone’s seen something in order for it to stick. And that’s a stat we’ve heard floating around, that is a stat that more than preaching it and telling people about it, I experienced it this year, meaning I needed to see things seven to 10 times in order for it to stick for me. So I just hired a a systems consultant, for example. And she has been someone she’s actually a partner of mine, and she is someone who’s been in my my world for years. And she was starting to pop up on my radar a little bit here a little bit there a little bit here, I don’t know, maybe seven to 10 times until finally it clicked in my brain, but I needed to hire her. So if you’re ever afraid of feeling too repetitive or feeling too salesy, like selling too much, or talking too much about you just remember, first and foremost, the algorithms are blocking some people from even seeing it. And second, a lot of us need to see things and to be reminded of things seven to 10 times, that also reinforces the power of PR because with good PR, you’re helping yourself your business, your clients stay top of mind. And that’s what we want to do, right, we want to remain top of mind so that when someone does have a buying moment, you are who they go to, or your client is who they go to. So speaking of that feel like unintentionally, these are kind of leading into one another, I learned that we really shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket when it comes to marketing specially for earned channels, especially especially for social media. So there’s if you’re following the news, I’m recording this in December’s is going to probably go out sometime in January. So there might be a big update here. But right now, one of the current event news that’s happening is all about Twitter. Elon Musk took it over, lots of changes have been happening, you know, just launched this subscription for verification and it’s it’s crazy and it’s making a lot of people wonder what the future of Twitter is going to look like. And so for those who have put all their eggs in the Twitter basket, this might feel a little scary. The future might feel a little uncertain. Same thing goes for Instagram, you never know when they’re going to change the algorithm on you or tick tock or LinkedIn. Right. So I’ve just been re reminded how important it is to really adapt an omni channel approach to marketing and PR. And while yes, you can absolutely concentrate efforts on a certain platform, know that if it’s not an owned channel, that it’s not owned, and be prepared that you might have to shift and pivot to another platform, given an acquisition or a merger, or something else that changes. And the 10th thing that I learned this year, is, life doesn’t slow down. So you have to, and this, once again, applies to business in life, but my daughter at the time of this recording is eight and a half months, and oh my gosh, she has changed every week. And it can be really easy. There are some months where I’ve really, really been concentrated on work and just going through to do lists and checking things off that all of a sudden, I blink and she doesn’t fit in her clothes anymore. And now she’s she’s like army crawling Wait, when did that happen? Right things happen so, so fast, and it can be so easy to let them pass us by let these special moments in life pass us by. And so I’ve really been reminded to intentionally set time to slow down and be present and soak in life in this moment, because you’re never going to be able to relive it twice. So while this is predominantly a business focused podcast, I hope that someone listening is given a little reminder today of why you’re even doing what you do, is it to support your life is it to create impact, try not to get too caught up and being busy. Remember that you have to be intentional, and you have to make time to slow down, slow down. So that was a really, you know, all over the place year in review. And to my brain. I appreciate each and every person who continues to tune into the show for seasons. Wow. It’s been multiple years. This show is really a passion project for me. And it’s my way in my attempt of of sharing knowledge and giving back to the PR and marketing Industries at large and I really want this show to be a resource for you. So if you are a listener and there are topics you’d like to hear in the upcoming season, please please please reach out. Also, if you haven’t already, if you want a little good karma take take a minute and leave a review wherever you’re listening. It would really mean the world to me and the reviews really help this show get seen to other people. So anywho until next time on the pitching and sipping podcast. Cheers. Hey guys, if you are enjoying the pitching and sipping podcast, please do me a huge favor and leave a review wherever you are listening. If you want to connect with me to learn more about the PR bar Inc. You can do so on Instagram at the PR bar underscore inc or you can check out my website at the PR bar inc.com Cheers