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111: From Burnout to Breakthrough: The HubSpot CRM Behind Sesh Coworking with Maggie Segrich

The Digital Marketing Mentor · 2026-04-29 · 36 min

0:00--:--

Key moments - from our scoring

Substance score

50 / 100

Five dimensions, 20 points each

Insight Density11 / 20
Originality8 / 20
Guest Caliber12 / 20
Specificity & Evidence10 / 20
Conversational Craft9 / 20

Maggie Segrich built SESH Coworking to solve a gap she experienced moving from New York to Houston: the need for an approachable, inspiring space where entrepreneurs and creative professionals could belong. After trying three other CRMs, she landed on HubSpot but felt overwhelmed and nearly abandoned it - until partnering with Danny Gavin at Optage Marketing for implementation. Their work focused on HubSpot sequences (automated email and task strings that free up team bandwidth), segments for targeted communication, and basic CRM hygiene that most people overlook. The conversation explores what surprised Maggie about implementation (her whole team now loves HubSpot), the gym membership analogy for how clients must do their own work, and concrete proof that systems payoff: when she had two separate staffing gaps six months apart, the October transition was dramatically smoother than April's because automation and workflows were already in place. For B2B operators considering CRM implementation or agency partnerships, Maggie's candor about underestimating client-side effort, the value of learning alongside your implementer, and how flat revenue can mask improving unit economics offers practical perspective.

Key takeaways

  • →HubSpot sequences (automated email and task workflows) reduced administrative busywork enough that SESH's team could spend more time on in-person member retention, the actual lever for keeping clients.
  • →Setting up CRM systems properly takes upfront time investment, but new hires onboard faster and operations stabilize more quickly - Maggie's second hire took six weeks to train, the third took four, because the system was already sound.
  • →Flat year-over-year revenue can mask business improvement if you're tracking the right metrics in HubSpot (deals closed, email open rates, customer activity); Maggie's 2025 numbers were flat but all her operational KPIs were up versus 2024.
  • →Clients dramatically underestimate the work they must put in with an agency or system; working with a CRM or coach is like a gym membership - the tool doesn't work unless you show up and do the heavy lifting.
  • →Meeting in person with your CRM implementer at least once builds trust and clarity in how to learn; Maggie insisted on an in-person first session because she's a visual learner, which changed the quality of her ongoing virtual work.

Guests

Maggie Segrich

Topics in this episode

customer retentionEmail marketing sequencesCRM automationHubSpot CRMOptage MarketingHubSpot sequencesHubSpot segmentsSESH CoworkingBusiness operations systemsHubSpot implementation

Questions this episode answers

What CRM systems did SESH try before settling on HubSpot?

Maggie went through three other CRMs specifically built for coworking spaces before landing on HubSpot; one vendor actually told her she broke their software because their platform wasn't flexible enough for her use cases.

How did Maggie Segrich connect with Danny Gavin and Optage Marketing?

Maggie commented on one of Danny's LinkedIn posts about teaching a University of Houston class, Danny DMed her, and she saw his HubSpot expertise in his profile; a colleague (Jenny) had also mentioned Danny when Maggie was considering leaving HubSpot for Zoho.

What is a HubSpot sequence and how does SESH use it?

A sequence is a string of automated emails and tasks (like phone calls) that trigger over time; SESH uses them to send contracts, renewal reminders, and follow-ups without staff manually typing each email, freeing team time for in-person member interaction.

How did SESH's operations improve between April and October 2025 when Maggie had staffing gaps?

In April, before HubSpot workflows were optimized, covering a vacant position was chaotic and tedious; by October, with sequences and automation in place, the same staffing gap was significantly easier to manage - Maggie attributes the difference to having systems already set up.

What surprised Maggie most about working with an agency on CRM implementation?

That she went from wanting to abandon HubSpot in December 2024 to loving it and recommending it to others; her whole team became obsessed with tasks and sequences, which was a complete 180 from her initial frustration.

What our scoring noted

Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.

Insight Density

11 / 20

The episode contains some useful operational insights about CRM implementation and business scaling, but much of the content is either conversational filler (travel stories, music preferences, family anecdotes) or repetitive explanations of basic HubSpot features. The substantive material - sequences, segments, automation benefits - is valuable but relatively straightforward and not novel for B2B operators already familiar with CRM fundamentals.

I have trained now three different people in HubSpot with these things. The first person who I started training came back from the old era where like HubSpot was just like a dumpster fire, right? And I didn't know how to use it. And that person had the hardest time implementing the changes along the way. But then these two new people who came in and the system was already set up. It was the second person probably took about six weeks, the last person took four.
We did more deals, we closed more deals, we have a higher open rate. Uh, just like all the numbers are up. And so I'm like, ah, it's working. All the work that Danny and I have been doing, it's working, even though the dollar signs say it's flat, you know?

Originality

8 / 20

The episode recycles familiar frameworks: CRM-as-gym metaphor, automation freeing time for higher-value work, systems improving onboarding speed. While Maggie's personal journey building SESH is specific, the underlying business insights (implement systems early, automation saves time, sequences improve follow-up) are well-worn B2B podcast territory with little contrarian or first-principles thinking.

HubSpot is the gym, and you could go to it, but you really want a personal trainer, so you should really get an expert to help you.
It's the idea of taking those things which we really don't need to spend time on, automate them so now I can have space to do the things that I enjoy, that really count, and make a huge impact.

Guest Caliber

12 / 20

Maggie is a legitimate operator - founder and sole owner of a real business with ~6 years of operating history - but she's operating a niche, local service business (coworking space in Houston) rather than a scalable or high-growth venture. Her perspective on CRM and operations is practical but limited to small/mid-market scale. She is also an existing client of the host's agency, which introduces bias and reduces independence of perspective.

I'm the founder behind a thoughtfully designed co-working space built around community, flexibility, and supporting modern professionals and entrepreneurs.
We're flat on the year, which is it's okay. But I dug into my HubSpot metrics, and all of my HubSpot metrics are up compared to 2024. We did more deals, we closed more deals, we have a higher open rate.

Specificity & Evidence

10 / 20

The episode includes some concrete data points (sequences saving time between hirings, metrics year-over-year, onboarding timelines of 6 weeks vs. 4 weeks), but mostly relies on qualitative claims and anecdotes without substantiating numbers. Examples lack specifics: no revenue figures, member counts, deal values, or detailed case studies. Most claims are general principles rather than evidence-backed assertions.

We did more deals, we closed more deals, we have a higher open rate. Uh, just like all the numbers are up.
It was the second person probably took about six weeks, the last person took four.

Conversational Craft

9 / 20

The host asks reasonable questions about Maggie's journey, operations, and CRM implementation, but rarely probes deeper or challenges claims. Follow-ups are mostly confirmatory rather than investigative. The conversation drifts into personal storytelling (Italy travel, Beyoncé, family background) that adds color but diminishes substantive rigor. The host doesn't push back on vague metrics or ask about failures, competitive positioning, or specific operational metrics that would sharpen the discussion.

What mattered most to you in choosing a partner to help you?
Is there something you've learned about business systems that you wish you knew earlier?

Conversation analysis

Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.

Most-used words

hubspot31maggie19cool16space15feel15sesh13marketing12back9first8owner8started8didn8team8client7operations7systems7

Episode notes

This episode offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at what a CRM implementation actually costs and what it truly delivers, all from the client’s perspective. Maggie Segrich, founder of Sesh Coworking, was ready to walk away from HubSpot after multiple failed attempts until the right support helped her rethink how systems should work. Over six months, her team shifted from resistance to buy-in as chaotic operations became streamlined and automated. This episode is a candid conversation about how the right systems don’t replace human connection, but rather create the space for it to thrive. Episode Highlights: Systems fail because nobody helps you use them. The software isn't the bottleneck; adoption, training, and ongoing partnership are. Maggie believes that automation (like sequences and segments) doesn't replace human work; it instead frees up time for the human work that actually drives retention and growth. A CRM is the central hub where websites, email, social, phone calls, and customer data converge. Maggie’s story proves that if your CRM is broken, everything downstream is broken.

Full transcript

36 min

Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.

Welcome to the Digital Marketing Mentor. I'm your host, Danny Gavin, and together with industry leaders and marketing experts, we'll explore the meeting point of mentorship and marketing. We'll discover how these connections have affected careers, marketing strategies, and lives. Now get ready to get human.

Hello, I'm Danny Gavin, founder of Optage Marketing Professor and the host of the Digital Marketing Mentor. Today's episode is a special one for us. For the first time on the podcast, we're sitting down with an active Optage client to talk about business growth from the inside, what it's really like to scale operations, implement the right systems, and make strategic decisions about how you manage your business and customers. I'm excited to welcome Maggie Segrich, owner of SESH Coworking.

Maggie's the founder behind a thoughtfully designed co-working space built around community, flexibility, and supporting modern professionals and entrepreneurs. In this conversation, we're going to talk about Maggie's journey as a business owner, what led her to build SEH, how she thinks about operations and growth, and what she's learned from implementing CRM systems and business automation, including what's worked, what's evolved, and the systems that have made the biggest impact.

This episode is all about perspective, honest insights from the client side that business owners can learn from Maggie. Welcome to the show. Hi. It's Friday.

Yay. Yay! We release these on a Wednesday. So anyone who's listening, you're gonna feel the Friday vibes.

So maybe you can wait a couple days to listen. So, Maggie, uh we've known each other now for feels like a year, maybe less. It's so awesome to have you here. Thank you.

All right, so let's jump right in. Can you walk us through your career journey and what your professional life looked like before starting SESH? I've done a little bit of everything. Went to school initially thinking I was gonna be a high school English teacher.

Turned out that wasn't for me. Did promoting for Miller Light, radio stations, and then ended up in New York, worked in finance. Also not for me. Went back to school, had a career in jewelry design for 10 years, ran the family farm as well, started a chamber of commerce as well, done some real estate and sesh.

A little bit of a lot of things. I didn't know about the farm. Yeah. That is really cool.

And yeah, I didn't know about promoting for Miller Light. You definitely have like a, I feel like you're like Mary Poppins. Like you could pull like whatever you out of that bag. Yeah.

Maggie's bag for sure. Totally. Obviously, you're now with Sesh, which is an amazing place. And anyone who's in Houston has to come visit it because it really is one, one of a kind when it comes to co-working and just the community environment.

So we're going to be talking about it today. But Maggie, can you tell us the story behind Sesh and how the idea came to life? I moved to Houston in 2018 from New York City, where I had my jewelry company and I had founded that Chamber of Commerce. So for me, it was like the best of both worlds.

I had other business owners who I was meeting with regularly. If I had questions, I could just get their resources or bounce ideas off of them. And because I lived in New York, my jewelry studio was in my home, which come to find out when I moved to Houston, would not be normal. People don't go to other people's homes to visit their jewelry designer.

So when I moved here, I was like, well, I need other business owners and I need a place for my jewelry studio. I couldn't find that like happy medium. Eventually, I found my former business partner hosting these like once-a-month coffee meetups. And uh she was talking about building the space, and I was like, yes, let's do it.

I need that. Other people need that. And here we are, 2026 now. So almost eight years later.

Wow, that's amazing. We think about in life how many people have ideas and don't actually like do them. So it's cool that you grab the bull by the horns on that one. There are co-working spaces, not like you created the idea, but what gap did you see in the co-working or flexible work six space that you wanted to solve?

It was approachability, inspiring, and a sense of safety that people could show up as their authentic selves in whatever capacity that is. You know, if it's yoga pants and a t-shirt and flip-flops for the day, great. If it's a three-piece suit, great. But we just wanted to build a space that people felt just comfortable being wherever they were in their day, their entrepreneurial journey, or even their creative journey.

So outside of the dress, like can you paint a picture of what Sesh looks like, what it is for someone who's never visited there before? Like when you walk in the doors, there's this plant wall, and then you approach the front desk, and it's this like bright uh chartreuse screen, and there's usually a couple smiling faces, usually mine, also behind the front desk. And as you turn around, you see art adorning all the walls, you see the library, giant windows surrounded by plants, you smell coffee, you smell the bakery that's right next door, um, which is very enticing.

And um, you you hear that like laughter and typing and low murmur of ideas being generated. And it's it's almost more of a feeling when you walk in the front door than it is like just one visual thing. No, I think you've described it beautifully. And it really does feel that way when you walk in.

It is, it's like it's a feeling, it's just a feeling. Yeah. So let's talk about being the business owner. What does a typical day look like for you as the owner of SES?

I wake up every day about 6 30, check my emails really quickly. Not anything too, too dense, but like, is there any I need to respond to this as soon as business hours start? And then do the morning routine with my 12-year-old and head into the office usually around 9 30, 10, meet with the team, talk about any, you know, client stuff. And then a lot of my time is spent either on operations, marketing, partnerships, website stuff, a lot of the back-end stuff that nobody sees.

So I was gonna ask you what's the most challenging part of what you do, but it sounds like just juggling so many different components. Would you agree? Yeah. And it's oftentimes the hardest part is the task switching, having to like prioritize, okay, I'm working on this right now, but then suddenly this has come up and it needs immediate attention and switching to that and then being like, okay, wait, what was I doing?

And going back to that, that that task switching is, I find very draining. Yeah. And I can imagine sometimes it's frustrating, especially when you're like trying to do something and it's like, I just want to get it complete. Yeah.

Yeah. It's important too that when I am in the space, that I'm there for the people who are there. Cause that's a lot of times that's what they want. They want to come say hi to me.

They want to talk to me. They want to bounce an idea. They they want to know if I know someone or a resource. And so having that balance of not overtasking myself while I'm there in the space so I can have the bandwidth for the people who are there.

So obviously, when we talk about perks, Maggie wasn't going to say herself, but definitely one of the one of the sesh perks is Maggie. And you can Yeah. So that's cool. Okay.

So that covers some of the challenging things. But what would you say has been the most rewarding? Oh my gosh. Most rewarding is seeing my members collaborate with one another, seeing them win, whether it's they land a big client, they win a grant, they win some award.

It's most rewarding when they come to SESH and they start small and then they grow and they grow. And then the next thing they need two offices, and then their team is so much bigger than just them when they started. And that's kind of like not that we had a hand in it, but being able to see that growth in other people, it's rewarding. That's so cool.

And I'm sure there's quite a few that you've seen come through the doors who have grown like that. One of the things that I say a lot is like the best way that we can lose a client is they've outgrown the space and they go on and they get their own space. Like to me, that's like that's the best way to move someone to clothes lost, you know? Yeah, I know it's true.

It's growth, but in a very positive way. Yeah. I know this is not your first rodeo, but what has surprised you the most about entrepreneurship? I think the thing that surprised me the most is the resiliency in myself and in others.

And whether that's like the pandemic or the Duratio or people completely having to pivot because of a marriage, a divorce, death in the family, or just like their ideas didn't work, you know, the resiliency and kind of knowing that, like, oh, this is really hard for me right now. But like that person just like pivoted and look at them, they're flourishing. So, like being able to have that reflection for myself and for others, you know. Do you feel like everyone has that inside of them?

That sort of like entrepreneurship resiliency, or do you feel like it's something that either you have to learn or just not everyone has that gift? I don't think everyone has that gift. Just like I don't think everyone has the gift of being a good remote worker. True.

You know, it it takes tenacity, it takes responsibility, accountability. You know, you kind of have to be your own cheerleader and boss. And those can be hard to toggle back and forth between because every day is a roller coaster as an entrepreneur. Oh, yeah.

And therefore, I think some people are just made for the nine to five clock in, clock out. And I don't mean all corporate jobs are clock in, clock out, but you know what I mean. Yeah. And there are days where I'm like, why didn't I do that?

We all have those days. All right. So let's pivot over to business operations. So when you approached Optage about HubSpot, you were working in HubSpot for quite a bit.

So let's talk about like the world before. So, how were you managing customer relationships, business operations? We could even talk about pre-HubSpot, like before you even had a CRM. What did that look like?

MS. You know, we HubSpot's where we landed. We probably went through three other CRMs. There's a lot out there that are made for specifically co-working spaces.

And, you know, when we started in 2020, they just didn't do what we needed them to do. They weren't flexible enough. One company actually had the audacity to tell me that I broke their software. And I was like, I thank you.

That's quite the honor that you think I have that capability, but I'm pretty sure I don't. So um, can you just cancel it? We ultimately landed in HubSpot and it's been a journey. Obviously, there was a change in your business structure.

You had a you had a co-owner, and you know, they've left, and therefore it moved on to more onto your plate, naturally being the sole owner. What made you realize it was time to bring outside help to help with the CRM, to help the systems? To be fair, I really wanted to get rid of HubSpot. I was like, that's it.

It's broken, it doesn't integrate with anything, it doesn't do what I need it to do. I don't go in there. And it was just like, I was like, this is a disaster. I can't find anything.

I, in true Maggie fashion, just went through and started straight up deleting things. I don't like tchotchkis, I don't like piles of paper. Like, so like for me, just going into HubSpot, I was like, you know what? I'm gonna take it down to zero and I'm gonna start from scratch.

And so I kind of tried to start doing that. And then I got into some things where I was like, hmm, I don't know what this is, and I don't want to break it because I don't actually, is it working? Is it not working? Do we need it?

Don't we need it? I couldn't answer those questions. And so I was like, I need help. So that's what made me reach out.

I actually reached out because I saw it on your HubSpot profile. Did Jenny tell you about me or did you stumble upon? So what happened? I don't remember.

Jenny told me about you because I was like, Oh, I'm thinking about leaving HubSpot and going to Zoho. And she's like, Oh, let me ask my CRM friend. And she was like, he says stay on HubSpot. And I was like, Oh man.

I don't want to talk to that guy. Well, I was just like, I don't understand. And then it was like the world sent this message down to me on your LinkedIn post about the U of H class. Right.

And I commented on that. And then you DM'd me, and I totally did not know why you were DMing me because I had completely forgotten that I commented on your post. All I saw in your profile was like HubSpot guru. And I was like, oh my, this is a sign from the universe.

And so I said to you, I was like, so tell me more about Hubspot and what you know. And that's how it happened. That's how the magic happened. Yeah.

What mattered most to you in choosing a partner to help you? I wanted to learn it. And I needed somebody who I felt like was gonna one, listen to me because I didn't really know what I was talking about. Like I might not have the language or the vocabulary to express to you in HubSpot terms.

But then two, I wanted somebody who was gonna have the patience to walk me through it uh and really teach me. So then that way I can appropriately teach my team. Um, that way things are on the regular, just done the right way. What made you feel like, oh yes, I found the right person?

Was it like our first meeting? Or was it like, I don't know if you remember, or was it just that it just the first meeting is good, second was, we just ended up continuing. I was like, can we meet in person? And you're like, well, I normally do these virtual.

And I was like, I'm a visual learner, and if we could meet in person the first time, that would be and then I was like, okay, this will work. This is fun. So awesome. And it's funny because I think we've only met in person once, which is silly.

Yeah. Um, so we definitely need to meet in person more often, but it but it's cool that that sort of gained the trust that you actually saw me, so I'm a real person. Like, you know, it's not just some virtual guy down in Antarctica who's like, who knows, who knows if they're even real. Working with an agency from your side, what makes an agency-client relationship actually work?

Ugh, communication's a big one. Thoughtful and organized communication is is like the specific part of it because you can communicate with people and have no idea what each other are talking about or make bigger problems, right? And so I feel like you in particular, you're very good at that. Like you have that amazing thing that records all of our calls, and then you send it to me, and I can go in and be like, oh yeah, I wrote down this word, and I just type the word in and it holds it up in the conversation.

And I'm like, no, no, yes. And it I that blew my mind. And for me, that was like that allows me as the student to be a better student because you can teach it to me and my house might catch on fire and then I forget, you know. Uh but I think what's interesting is but I think both you and I naturally are like note takers, and therefore we like we feel like we have to take everything down.

What's so so cool about using these sort of AI recording tools and using them properly? Yes, we can still jot down notes, but we don't have to rely on it as much. And therefore, we can at least focus a little bit more on the moment, which is nice. Yeah, totally.

Is there anything that surprised you about working with an agency on CRM systems implementation? I love HubSpot now. You would have never known. No, um and my whole team is they like live and die by HubSpot now.

They're all obsessed with the tasks. They make themselves more tasks. I'm going out and telling people that they should like use HubSpot. And I'm like, who am I?

Like, had you talked to me in December of 2024, I was like ready to throw it in the garbage and light it on fire. So I think that is like the biggest surprise for me. It's crazy, but it's also amazing. Yeah, that's what happens when you learn.

Exactly. Are there any responsibilities that you think clients sometimes underestimate on their end? Because I always say that it's like a marriage, an agency and a client, and we both have to do our part. Anything that you think people sometimes underestimate the work that they need to put in on their end?

All the time. All the time. Like whether it's for yourself or even like when I started the Chamber of Commerce in New York, the biggest thing is was like, well, what's the chamber gonna do for me? And I'm like, well, it's kind of like having a gym membership.

You can have the membership to the gym, but that doesn't mean you're gonna lose weight and get in shape. Like you actually have to like go, get out of your car, go inside and lift the heavy things and move your body and do the work to see the change and to then feel the impact of your work, right? And I think that that's a misconception that a lot of people have, whether it's with working with an agency, working with a therapist, even with a co-working space, they're like, Well, what's this gonna do for me?

And I'm like, well, step one, show up. Step two, talk to the people in the space. You know, you have to put in the work. Because unless you just expect to have a really, really high exorbitant bill for you to just do everything, then you know, you gotta put in the work.

The crazy thing, Maggie, is so yesterday I was in a HubSpot call with actually HubSpot rep, and the way they described a HubSpot and sort of HubSpot relationship was HubSpot is the gym, and you could go to it, but you really want a personal trainer, so you should really get an expert to help you. So I just want to be hearing the the uh Hubs the gym analogy twice in two days. It well, and I think it makes it an easy analogy for people. You know, true, because most of us have gym memberships that we don't go to, right?

Exactly. Oh, and that reminds me, another cool thing that just to let everyone know, one of the cool things that Maggie does is when people are interested in coming, she makes them actually come. They need to actually see what does it look like to drive to the space. Because you have to know what it means to wake up in the morning, get in a car, and come here.

And there's no point of you signing up if you don't actually know if that's gonna work for you, which I think is genius. I love it. Yeah, because uh the other thing is is like maybe you don't like the commute. I I sometimes don't like the commute.

Like it's Houston. So hello traffic, you know. Like, I get it if it's too much. I totally get it.

So diving a little bit deeper into HubSpot, are there some specific HubSpot features or workflows that have made the biggest impact since we started working together? I now know what segments are. My team is like, what is this amazing feature? I remember I met with someone else before you and I started working together, and she was trying to explain to me segments, and I was just like, I don't get it.

And now that I've implemented them and we can just automate those emails to people. And great example. We have we put somebody in a segment and are you referring to sequences? Sequences, yes.

No, it's fine. See, I still don't have the vocabulary. It's okay. She did not interact with the sequence, but she did book again.

So she so let's just quickly break it down for our for our listeners. What a sequence is, is that you can create a string of emails and tasks and like to do a phone call over a period of time. This way you don't have to keep following up on people. When they actually respond to that, to one to an email, then they automatically unenroll, and that's really cool.

So in Maggie's line of business, there's lots of times where you need to like update people, you know, whether you send out the contract or there's a new renewal and things like that. So this has really been a cool key to that she's had it on. So in this example, she sent the sequence. The person's getting the emails.

She may not even clicked on the email, but eventually, like you said, she actually did come ahead, get get in contact you. Exactly. I think the reason why my team is like, oh, is because it saves them so much time. They don't feel like they're just typing and focused on their computer screen all day, every day now.

Um, they can just enroll people in these sequences and then they have more time to interact with the people who are physically in the space. So if you think about it, it's like sort of a microcosm of AI, right? I mean, it's the idea of taking those things which we really don't need to spend time on, automate them so now I can have space to do the things that I enjoy, that really count, and make a huge impact. Yeah.

That in-person interaction that my team has with the people in the co-working space, that's part of our retention, you know. That's that's how we keep people coming back. So it's important. Is there something you've learned about business systems that you wish you knew earlier?

All of it. Everything that everything you have taught me about HubSpot, I wish I knew like three years ago. All of it. Like had I had I known all of this, I feel like my business would be in a completely different place.

So for example, I just reviewed our 2025 numbers in full transparency. We're flat on the year, which is it's okay. But I dug into my HubSpot metrics, and all of my HubSpot metrics are up compared to 2024. We did more deals, we closed more deals, we have a higher open rate.

Uh, just like all the numbers are up. And so I'm like, ah, it's working. All the work that Danny and I have been doing, it's working, even though the dollar signs say it's flat, you know? I I think for many businesses, 2025 was a hard year.

So the question is if we didn't have all that amazing activity, who knows if you would have been flat, right? Like it may have been less. God forbid, right? But and the other way of looking at it is we're building momentum.

So hopefully that's gonna compound and make this 2026 the best ever. Yes. And I will tell you another example of the way it changed was I I let someone go back in April, and I had a period of two months where I was trying to hire someone new. And I only had one other person cover in the front desk with me, and it was like very tedious, and lots of emailing and lots of like clicking and focus work in HubSpot.

Fast forward to October when I let the next person go. And those six weeks were I had the gap so much easier. Like it wasn't as chaotic because we had things automated, we had these sequences set up, and it was like the difference between that April and May experience and the October and November experience was just light years away. In my head, that wouldn't have been a result that I would have expected.

I saw that in real time in six months. Yeah, I mean, that's just a celebration moment. Wow. Yeah.

So I think this comes to a good point. We know when talking to other people, it's sometimes hard to how do I balance the time investment of setting up the system and getting it to work with running the day-to-day operations? How important is it to do that? Super important.

The time that I invested with you, all the hours we spent working on HubSpot, right? I have trained now three different people in HubSpot with these things. The first person who I started training came back from the old era where like HubSpot was just like a dumpster fire, right? And I didn't know how to use it.

And that person had the hardest time implementing the changes along the way. But then these two new people who came in and the system was already set up. It was the second person probably took about six weeks, the last person took four. And so yeah, it just goes to show that like it expedites your training processes by having your operations and your systems like set up.

I don't know that that gets emphasized enough when you're starting a business. So, what would you tell another business owner? Like you're planning on setting up a business and you know how important implementing a CRM or working with an agency to help implement a CRM. Like if you would put that on the priority list, obviously it depends what type of business, but where would you stick that on that like rank?

Like how important is it to get that right? Well, if you're in the business of providing a service or let's say a product, I honestly I would have to say it's number one because all of your website, your social media, your email marketing, your phone calls, they all plug into that. Having that one central hub to store all of that information will save you so much time. And when you're an entrepreneur, you don't have a lot of time.

That's like your most expensive resource. And you're a wife, and you're a mom, and you're a friend, and you're everything else. So I'm just stressing like your time is like, right? So you need to have something where I can where the time you do put in, it's quality and it's not quantity.

Yeah, exactly. Wow. So, Maggie, what's next for Sesh? Something I've been really pondering about lately is we have a nonprofit arm, uh, the SESH Foundation.

And so I've a lot of the work that we do with SESH co-working is very mission driven. And so I've been really wondering if I need to, rather than running them as two separate entities, bring them together and merge them and run the whole thing as a nonprofit. And so that's something I've been kind of like swirling the drain on. Like I think it's gonna happen.

It's just if I can have the time and the space to make it happen, you know? Wow. I mean, that's it it it's a big step, but I think it's such a cool step because it's kind of like having two identities, but really it's one, and then it just might make it easier, but also powerful. It just allows you to focus more and then be more powerful with everything that you do.

Yeah. So I assume 2026, are you excited? Excited where you're headed? I'm excited because okay, so in 2025, I felt like I was entering this long dark tunnel.

And I was like, I don't know, is there a light down there? And I was like, well, I gotta get out of this tunnel by the end of 2025 because I have a whole other tunnel I want to go into in 2026. I was like, hopefully, if I did the math right, I should be starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel in like September or October. And that's what happened.

And so now I'm like excited for 2026 because, like, to your point, now I feel like I have momentum and I feel like the stuff that I'm gonna be working on in 2026 is gonna build that momentum and uh really push us forward. So yeah, I know, and I know it will. So that's awesome. Thank you.

All right, well, it's time for a lightning round. So I'm gonna mention the topic and you're gonna let me know what comes to mind. You can spend a little bit of time telling me about it, but let's see the other side of Maggie. So, Maggie, who's your favorite artist?

Musician or let's first talk about art and then we'll get into music. Okay. I'm gonna have to say it must very obviously be my neighbor, Katherine Liggan. She's an artist from here in Houston because I own probably like eight or nine of her paintings.

Wow, that's awesome. So I kind of feel like I that that's like the obvious answer, right? Yeah. Well, we'll have to definitely put a link up to her.

I imagine she has a website, but we'll put it up for her. That's cool. All right, and what about music? What's your favorite music to listen to or band artist?

So I grew up in the Midwest and my parents were divorced. So I basically grew up with four parents, and so my musical taste, like my mom would listen to like top 40, my stepmom would listen to only country, and then my dad and my stepdad would listen to like rock. And so, like, I just have this, and then because I grew up in St. Louis, there was a heavy like RB and rap influence with all the other kids that I went to school with.

So my musical tastes are all over the map, but the artist that I have gone to see the most in concert is Beyoncé. So I would not have guessed, but that's pretty cool. I know. Um there's there's even a Beyonce bathroom at Sesh.

I did not know that. I'll have to see it next time. That's so cool. Travel.

Italy. I love going to Italy. It's been six or seven times. Took my mom for the first time last summer.

That's nice. That was amazing. Whenever we go to Italy, we always have some quirky mishapslash adventure. So this time we were trying to go to a restaurant and we went on a detour.

Initially, the road that we were on was a gravel road. And then eventually we somehow were in the middle of a wheat field and the car was stuck. So my mom, my husband, and my daughter all had to get out of the car. I was in the driver's seat driving, and they were behind the car pushing the car through the wheat field.

And we made it out the other side of the wheat field. But we were, it was insane. It was uh we were like so far into the wheat field that it was like we gotta, we're the other roads gotta be right there. That looks closer than like trying to like pack up and go backwards from where we came.

So we made it. It literally sounds like a scene out of an HBO comedy. I love it. And that's what happens every time we go to Italy.

So we're kind of like, we should keep going back. This seems fine, you know. Maggie, curious. Have you been to Capri?

No, not yet. Okay. Crazy, right? Definitely have to go.

I know. It's I just quickly, I don't think I've told this story on the podcast. When I was 15, I went on a traveling camp to France and Italy. And I don't know how, but they had like a raffle, and the best five kids won a weekend trip to Capri.

We got on a flight from Paris to Capri, took a like a little yacht thing to Capri, and we spend the weekend there. Why? Crazy. Because Ronnie Prolman, who is or was the CEO of Revlon, he made a decision that wherever he goes for the weekend, he needs a quorum of men to pray with.

It was one of his like religious things that he did. And I don't know how like religious Ronnie was, but when it came to prayer on a Saturday, that was he was willing to dole out the cash. So a little 15-year-old Bips week. And I was one of those, and it was crazy.

It was absolutely nuts. That's so cool. That's so cool. So it was fun.

I mean, I called all my friends from the hotel. Like maybe I shouldn't have, but like, you know, and I even still have like some little alcohol bottles that I took when, you know. So it's just good times. But yes, you definitely have to go.

It's a really beautiful spot. I know. I can't believe I like we haven't done coastal southern Italy at all yet. So well, now you've got another another reason to go back besides for an adventure.

Yes. Outside of HubSpot, what's one tool you can't live without right now? Probably Outlook. I live and die.

I live and die by my calendar. Like I tell my team and my family, if it is not on my calendar, it does not exist. If you don't put it on my calendar and I don't show up, that's a you problem. That's not a me problem.

Yeah. I I I'm trying to get my wife to agree with me on that matter, but I can understand. And then what's an overhyped marketing trend or underhyped one that you're seeing or dealing with? I think blogs are underhyped.

I think that there's a nostalgia to long form content. And maybe it's just because I have an English degree, I like to read and I like to write. But when I go to other people's websites and I'm like, oh, they have a blog. And the last blog post was from like five years ago.

I'm kind of like, you should just take that off your website. Don't, don't, don't do that to me. And plus, I feel like it's like a very personal way to like get to know a brand versus like their social media where you're just like playing the algorithm game a little bit, you know? No, I love that perspective.

I haven't heard that point of view in a while. So it's definitely very refreshing. So, Maggie, where can people learn more about Sesh or connect with you? They can learn about Sesch at SeshCoworking.

com. And we're super active on TikTok at SeshCoworking, Instagram, the same handle, and LinkedIn. I personally am most active on LinkedIn. I love to talk about all the things that are going on in my life that relate to being a business owner, a Houstonian, and just that are community driven.

Um, so if you want to get to know me more, LinkedIn is the spot. Love it. Well, Maggie, this has been such a special conversation. I know we speak a lot, but we never really just get a chance, like chill.

And that's what it felt like today. So thank you so much for joining me. You're welcome. Thank you for having me.

Yeah, totally. And thank you, listeners, for tuning into the Digital Marketing Mentor. We'll speak with you next time. Thank you for listening to the Digital Marketing Mentor Podcast.

Be sure to check us out online at thedmentor.com and at the DM Mentor on Instagram. And don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts for more Marketing Mentor magic. See you next time.

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