How PR Builds Trust, Attracts Customers, and Drives Referrals with Lexie Smith

Speaker A: Next on your customer, your success. Lexi Smith.

Speaker B: Flip side, what AI has really done. While there's access and there's shortcuts, it's also created a much more skeptical marketplace. Um, there's a lot more phonies out there. There's a lot more AI generated thought leadership. It's almost like there's this layer of distrust that has been entered. So it's like great opportunities, but be really careful because no one trusts you. You so right. Like in that way, trust has become more important than ever.

Speaker C: Welcome to your customer, your success. Where entrepreneurial thinking, client focus, leadership and operational discipline come together to build stronger, more sustainable businesses. I'm Gary Mara, your host and a strategic business advisor. I'm joined by founders, executives, entrepreneurs and advisors with experience building, leading and growing organizations. We get into the decisions and everyday execution that turn good intentions into better business results. If you own a business, lead a team or serve clients, you're in the right place. We'll learn a lot, have some fun, and leave you with a few ideas you can put to work.

Speaker A: Hi everyone and welcome back to your customer, your success. My guest today is Lexi Smith. Lexi is the founder and CEO of Growth Mode, an agency that builds visibility and thought leadership for founders, executives and experts. She is also the co founder of the Ready, Set Coach community. She has held senior and executive roles at PR agencies, built and led in house PR and marketing departments. And our clients have landed in Forbes, Wire, Vogue and Oprah, just to name a few. And her own insights have appeared in Entrepreneur and Business Insider. Lexi is a three time founder, a board member for Everyday Action and and a podcast host. She is a host of the Pitching and Sipping podcast, the top rated PR and media show. Today we're going to talk about pr, what it actually does for business on both ends of the customer relationship. Bringing in new customers and strengthening the ones that you already have. Wow, Lexi, that is a lot. Welcome to the show.

Speaker B: It is a lot. I'm not used to hearing it either, so if I'm blushing. Excuse me. Thank you for having me.

Speaker A: You're quite welcome. I always marvel at everything my guests do. It's amazing. But uh, hey, that's why you're on the show because you have such an interesting background and a career. So good for you. We are glad to have you. We have not hit, uh, PR specifically yet, so this is going to be awesome. And you are coming to us from the great state of California. So, uh, it is. You live in a wonderfully beautiful part of the country and I love California. But the only thing, like I say, it's so far away. That's the only thing I don't like about it. It's uh, quite far away.

Speaker B: Remind me where you're at, Gary.

Speaker A: I am in Weymouth, Massachusetts, south shore of Boston. Yeah, so we are far. It is the full six hours that way. It's six that way and five this way or whatever, however it works out to. So all right, so let's hit it. Um, pr. It is such an interesting topic and we touch on some themes, uh, on the show. But let's just kind of set the table for everybody. Lexi? Um, let's say, you know, when most people think pr, they kind of think some of the basics like media coverage, press releases and stuff like that. But what are they missing about what PR can actually do for your business?

Speaker B: They're missing a lot. And it's very common. People usually already think to your point about media or they think the other end of crisis comms. I don't know if you've ever seen the show Scandal, but Olivia Pope, that's another common reference, so.

Speaker A: Mhm.

Speaker B: That is true. Those things are covered in pr. But it does so much more than that. You know, it can create visibility and get you new clients. Sure, but. But it also helps establish credibility. It helps you if you're going to look to raise capital. It helps you with relationship maintenance for industries within your customer base. Um, it can help you create opportunities to go on stages. You know, visibility again is high level, what it can do. But I like focusing on the keyword, which is the second word of it, which is relationships. It's all about relationships.

Speaker A: And we love hearing that on the show because that is the theme that goes throughout all our episodes. It is building those relationships, whether it's cx, uh, customer success, sales, um, vendor relations, anything like that. That uh, is the common theme. So that is uh, a great point and certainly why you're here today. But kind of give us the broad picture too. So there's um, uh, you told me there's seven distinct kind of uh, parts of PR and just give us the broad picture real quick so everybody can kind of have their bearings straight and then maybe tell us one or two that kind of carry some more weight than people think for small and mid sized businesses.

Speaker B: Sure. So I, back when I got into entrepreneurship, my first company was called the PR Bar Inc. And it was all about PR education. So I developed what I'm about to share with you which is called the seven Relations of pr. So it's not necessarily something you read in a textbook book, but it's what I've pulled out my career. So there are seven different relationships that we look at when we're talking about pr. So they are public, they are customers or clients. It's number two, we have the media, we have industry, we have communities, we have investors for people, you know, funding your company. And then the last one is your employee relationship. So internal. Right. Um, the two that tend to be the most interesting or talked about for businesses and small businesses are the public and customers and clients. And by the public, I mean people who are not yet your customers or clients. Right. So they're not yet in your ecosystem. And then obviously customers or clients are people who have bought in to some degree.

Speaker A: Mhm. So tell us in your own experience in your world, how can PR help bring in a new customer? Somebody who's maybe never heard of the business? Walk us through the path. Or a path. Or paths.

Speaker B: Let's do a path, right? Because there's so many different paths. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Um, uh, let's, let's talk about public, right? Because I think that's one of the most common ones people are looking for when they come to pursue pr, is how do we gain visibility, how do we get new people to hear about us? Um, one path to the public is what we're doing right now, right. Your customers, I'm gonna say 99.9999% positive, have not heard of me before. So me coming on this show and guessing is one path for me and my brand to the public. So media is one great example of how you can reach a new audience. And um, it's obviously why most people associate PR with media. So that's one lane. Um, you know, speaking, going on stages, that's another lane. We can talk traditional like radio or broadcasts again. And I'm sticking in this path of media. Those are all different examples of ways you can reach a new audience for the public.

Speaker A: And so this is a bit of a newer medium, but the same thing holds for me that somebody might be watching you because they know you and then they've never heard of me. Uh, so this is why this is a wonderful medium and I enjoy it. But it is, it is a great idea, um, for many people to start delving into them and sharing your, your thought leadership. And that's one of the reasons I did it, to be honest with you. So, um, so when's the right time for business to start investing in pr? What, what should, what should be in place before they pitch somebody. What. Tell me what you, you think about getting started for folks that are overlooking this, perhaps.

Speaker B: Yeah, well, I, I have a soapbox that I say everybody needs pr. It's just a matter of what type. Right? Because we all need to be focused on relationships. But if we're talking about onboarding or investing in an agency, someone like mine, there are a few things realistically that you should have an order. Um, first, expectations and understanding of what it's like to work with an agency or a PR firm. It's not, oh, I'm going to try PR for one month. That's just not how it works. So you need to understand, have some level of PR iq, go down a rabbit hole of educating yourself to some degree. Right. Because you're going to need a budget and you're going to need a commitment. It takes time. If you have a PR firm telling you that they're willing to work with you for a month or even two months, I usually tell people that's a red flag because PR relationships just take longer. We're not talking about ads here where it's click to purchase. So first and foremost there's the mindset and the budget going into it. Then once you're on board, there are some core assets that I always say should be in place. For example, if you're going to go on a, uh, obviously it always depends on your type of business. But if you're about to go out to the media, but you haven't addressed your website. Okay, cool. So you get this great media hit and then funnel all this traffic back to your website and they leave. Like, what was the point of that? Right? It's like cart before the horse. So setting up your assets, meaning your owned assets, your website, how people, where they're going to go when they do find about you. Making sure that funnels in place, you have some way to nurture them is really, really important. Before you turn on that hose. Um, there's a lot more nuances of course. Ah, from a technical standpoint of what goes into a press kit or what, what assets you need to have. But kind of the, the three I just surmised are basically get your ish in order, right? Your website, the place you're going to funnel people when you do get press or media and make sure you understand what PR is, what it's not, and that this is a commitment so that you've budgeted and planned accordingly.

Speaker A: And that, that fascinates me. Like do agencies really go out and tell people one or two months. Uh, um, for real.

Speaker B: I mean, I think it's like with any business period, there's going to be levels of an entrepreneur that some people are desperate. Right. Like they'll say anything to close the sale. Um, it's. And I think that's something you need to weed out when you're, when you're on the hunt.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Right. Like who is established, who is going to actually manage and set my expectations.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker B: Um, who's not just calling themselves a PR firm because they pitched once. There's a lot of those out there.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker B: Um, so I like have this whole list of red flags that I educate people on because it's a whole, it's a lesser known business model to work with if you haven't worked with an agency or a PR person before. It's, it's kind of mystical in some ways and it's easy to get lost in the sauce when you're, when you're out there hiring.

Speaker A: Yeah. And just even if you get somebody on podcasts, right. You, you want to coach them a little bit, make sure they have the right equipment, coach them a little bit, then get them out there, get those meetings and get them booked. And that all takes time, uh, right there. So just to even get somebody started and then your first few, you know, go out there and do it. I'm not discouraging anybody, but your first two guest appearances probably won't be lights out, uh, compared to when you do 5, 6 or 10 or 20 or 50 or 60. And that goes for hosts too, by the way.

Speaker B: So 100%. 100%.

Speaker A: So, yeah, if you look at any of my earlier episodes, you'll see what I mean from that. Um, all right, so we're going to move to strengthening relationships in a second. But for the ones, I guess this applies to both, uh, segments. But what really separates the ones that, um, turn this into revenue from the ones that just kind of go through the motions, frame it and, and, and move on.

Speaker B: Oh, man. Yeah. Okay, so, uh, my. I'm famous at. There's nuances to this, right? Yeah. So first and foremost, it depends on your type of business. And let me clarify that just in case there's different types of businesses listening. A product based business who gets press and a gift guide, that path is a lot easier to track revenue than if you're a service based business and you're a founder going out on, say, a podcast trip tour, that can be a little bit, uh, more indirect to track. So first and foremost, I think again, it comes to like that PR iq, understanding what the, the cycle of PR is. But let's take like your most classic example, Founder Fred. I don't know why we're doing Fred. Founder Fred is featured in Forbes. Wow, that was an alliteration. Founder Fred is featured in Forbes.

Speaker A: Um, nicely done.

Speaker B: It's what does. Right. What does Fred do with that? Right. The mistake I see people making is they expect the second they land that placement, the floodgates open and business is here. And that's not necessarily true. It can happen. And if you truly got this full on feature from page of forums, I'm sure it's going to do organically wonderful things for you. But what's more important is what you do with that. So you're going to leverage that. You're going to put that logo on your website, you're going to leverage its credibility in the sales process. You're going to share it across your own channels. Right. So I think one of the keys is understanding that just like a marketing asset, press can be an asset for you and the people who are really generating revenue get that and are working it. Because I'm featured in Forbes today, I can say I'm Featured in Forbes 10 years from now. Like it's not a one and done. Right, Right. So again, nuances, I won't go too far here, but that would be like my attempt at a quick answer that

Speaker A: I know and in fairness to you, we're touching kind of the, just the surface of all these, um, kind of areas of pr, but it is much more involved and much more complicated and like anything, it depends on who you are and what the business is. But that's exactly the point I think I'm trying to make and you're trying to make and why you need help from someone like you. Right.

Speaker B: I mean I, I, I love helping people. I'm also like point blank in, in, you can do it yourself if you want to. Um, I'm not like you need an agency to get press again. The whole first company I built was about empowering small businesses to do their own. Um, if you have the desire, the bandwidth and the commitment, you can go down the path of being your own publicist by all means. The reality is, as you usually get a little bit further along in your business, you don't have the time nor the desire to do that. So that's when an agency becomes a really great asset. Or you can hire in house, you can bring someone in house. Eventually what you end up doing is you have someone in house who Then also manages an external PR team. That's kind of when you get bigger and bigger the progression. So, uh, I think anyone can start if there's a desire and a commitment to the time of it. Um, if you don't have a budget, but you have time, then I encourage you to get started some way somehow.

Speaker A: No, brilliant, Brilliant. I love that answer. All right, so let's talk about strengthening the relationships that you already have. So, uh, how can this PR thought leadership strengthen those relationships, People that are already, uh, your customers or clients?

Speaker B: Yeah. Um, well, first and foremost there, I always say, and I don't mean to sound like a customer is an asset, but they're the lowest hanging fruit. Right. They've already bought into some degree.

Speaker A: Correct.

Speaker B: Um, so they're the easiest to become return clients or customers. They're the easiest to sell into something new if they've already bought in in some level, like part of the work's done. Flip side, they also become your walking, talking brand ambassadors. Right. If you are. Let's see what's on my desk right now. Um, a fan of AirPods and which keep falling out of my ear. So apologies everyone if you keep seen me.

Speaker A: That's not a problem. Just roll with it.

Speaker B: Um, if you're a fan of AirPods.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: And Apple does a really good job at making me feel, uh, not only a fan of the product, but cared for. When support issues come up, things of that nature, then I'm gonna sing to everyone out there. If you're about to go on a podcast tour, get some Apple AirPods. Right. I've just become a spokesperson for your brand. I'm someone who can talk about it because I use it and I appreciate my experience. So customer and client relations is best friends with a customer success team. I, um, think some of the smartest organizations and brands understand that and they coordinate. Not all of them do, but they're just, they're the warmest type of audience you can already have because you've already established some level of know, like, and trust.

Speaker A: Yeah, uh, brilliant. And I love that you just brought up Apple, because I just went to get a laptop for my new business and when I told them it was for a new business, their eyes light, lit up. What's your new business? Da da da da da. And they have business services and they, they reach out to me. They did. And I don't know exactly what they offer, but, um, certainly they're probably thinking of businesses larger than me, but just the fact that they were actually interested in me and my Business. Right. Shows you that level of training and customer support. Um, and they were just genuinely excited. They loved hearing about schooling Mitchell and they hadn't heard of it and it was great. And you know what? That left a great impression with me. And now I can't wait for my computer to get here, which is not here because there are no chips anywhere, apparently.

Speaker B: Oh, really?

Speaker A: Thanks to AI, there's a chip shortage. So it's, um. Yeah.

Speaker B: Oh, man.

Speaker A: So I might get it in September. But, um, yeah, no great stuff. And the store is always just so perfect. Right. Um, just absolutely laid out beautifully and so clean. So. All right, so let's talk about a little bit how the greater credibility and visibility translates into perhaps stronger referrals. You just did a little bit right there. But maybe you can talk about a little bit how you can do that with, with, um, current clients and how you can really kind of push for those, uh, relationships that generate referrals.

Speaker B: Oh, referrals. Um, well, let's talk about service based businesses because I think that may be the most. Yeah.

Speaker A: Um, can you tell I had my BNI meeting this morning

Speaker B: speaking of industry relations. Right. BNI or community relations, that's another. You're hitting on some of the other relations of pr. Um, I have found my career that the most successful way to generate referrals is to have an actual experience with the, the partner. So, um, I'm actually going to talk about my other company for a second. Ready, Set Coach Community. We just hosted a partnership, uh, boot camp in Denver, Colorado. My co founder lives in Denver, Colorado. And one of the things we talked about there were coach to coach referrals because it's an industry where referrals are huge. One person hires one coach, they often then hire another. And one thing we suggested was for the coaches in the room to get on a call and experience each other's services for an hour. Because once you experience or believe or have some level of trust in someone's service, it becomes tenfold more likely that you're willing to actually refer them with confidence. Right. Um, referring people. I think the classic mistake is you get on a networking call with someone, you're like, oh, you know, if you ever hear someone tell them about my company and you're like, sure. But then it goes, it dies there. Nothing ever happens because there's not an actual relationship established yet. There's no trust, there's no. Why would I open my network and refer you put my name on the line if I haven't experienced you yet? Right. So, um, Part of PR too. It doesn't always happen to have to happen at large scale. It can happen in these one on one rooms. Taking care and mind of cultivating a, um, relationship. Gary, I think you're phenomenal at this. You, you and I met on a call before this podcast and just got to know each other, got to know about our businesses and it started creating a relationship where I felt comfortable enough to share about your company to my husband who could be a potential client. Right. So, so it's, it's minding those relationships going the extra mile in my experience is what generates true referrals.

Speaker A: Yeah. And that is so right. And boy, you'd be a great spokesperson for bni.

Speaker B: I did go to one BNI meeting one time locally and it just was like for pr, it just was not my types of businesses.

Speaker A: Yeah, the types of businesses might be tough. Depends on your chapter. But no, but that is exactly. And you're exactly right. Uh, and that is the whole idea behind it and why, uh, it's encouraged and, but it has been great. My, my group is great and uh, I love it. But it is just about that. It's just getting out there, meeting a new group of people. The other group of people that's great is my podcast group, which I think I told you about. We meet on Thursdays. Hello, Simona. And I don't know, I don't think

Speaker B: I know about it.

Speaker A: Uh, I thought I talked about Volt Productions. Simona Costantini is how I learned how to do this. And we meet, uh, in her membership on Thursdays and she's very well known on the community and speaks, she goes out and speaks on tours and she was just at a conference last week and lo and behold, um, there were two people that had out as my guest. She's been a guest and they were at the conference and she was there with her six month old baby. And people are sending me pictures of each other that have been on the show and it was just, it made me feel great to see that, you know, people I've had on the show were together and thinking of me and sending me pictures.

Speaker B: So, uh, community relations, looking on all these different this neat categories.

Speaker A: I was just like floored that. Oh my gosh, it was super, super cool. So. All right, we got to keep rolling. So we got a few more questions for you. Um, have we hit your trust stack yet? Let's hit. Tell us what your trust. I'm just gonna leave it there. Tell us what your trust stack is because I think this is Interesting. Yeah.

Speaker B: Yes. Okay, so this is where I feel like I'm putting on my little professor hat again. Um, there are five layers of trust that I generally talk about with businesses and they do go in order. And I think these trust stacks, these layers need to be in place for a business to truly scale, to truly succeed, um, and reach a point of recurring good revenue. So layer one is the founder. Founder trust. Right. This is happening when you're starting your company. You need founder trust. People need to believe in the founder whether they're going to invest, whether they're going to buy in, whether it's your first client. Right. There needs to be who is starting this business. If we look at bigger companies, there's founder trust. That's needed too. Like, look at the biggest companies in the world. We know who the founders are. So that's layer one. Layer two is your owned trust. This is trust that you can see on the website. It's your brand. Right? Are we seeing the, uh, foundations that the founder has set or the founding team has set across owned assets? Like do we, are we seeing consistency? Are we trusting what we see? Once you have that down, then we go to earned. Right. So you say you're cool, but what about other people? This is third party. This is where media is really great. Media is coming in and validating you as an expert or giving you that logo for your website. That's third party credibility. Layer four is social proof. Cool. So the media thinks you're cool, you think you're cool. What about your clients? This is reviews, this is people who are posting about your product, um, you know, UGC content, things of that nature. And then finally we have community trust. And this is the one that compounds. When you've done all of those things right now you start to really cultivate a community, a community that lives beyond one singular tactic. So that was a lot of words. But basically it's founder trust, own, um, trust, then earn trust and social proof. Then it compounds to community trust.

Speaker A: That is brilliant. I absolutely love that. Wow.

Speaker B: Thank you.

Speaker A: Yeah, that is great stuff. And you know, the founder trust is so true and a lot of, um, different versions of it. I think I'm thinking of from the investment world that I came from, it's not so much the founder, but the kind of, uh, brain behind the investment process or investment structure. Could be the chief investment officer, it could be the founder. It usually isn't a small firm, but

Speaker B: sometimes, yeah, a founding team, your executive

Speaker A: team, it could be the head of fixed income. They're very well known for fixed income or equities or something like that. But the clients were always very comfortable with that kind of thought leader that was behind the whole engine. Right. And then you had the credibility of the actual portfolio manager and analyst team for that specific product and then your client team. So that is true in many different, different forms. Awesome. All right, so, so for um, so actually that goes right into my next question actually is for a small mid sized company, how much of the brand should sit on the founder and what's the risk when too much of it does? I think maybe that's a better question because I think you just laid that out beautifully. Um, so what's the risk there that you lay too much of that out there?

Speaker B: Well again, I think actually you just laid it right back to you. You laid it out. It depends on the business model first and foremost. I um, think that it also depends on who your founder is, um, uh, where they, how they're involved in the company, what type of company is it. I um, think a founder can be a tremendous leverage point. That said, you know, every publicist has come across a founder where they have gray hairs and has probably done more public damage to the brand than good one. One thing that I learned or here's a risk for service based when I first launched that first brand, I've been talking about my OG PR brand more than my actual growth mod agency. But the PR Bar Inc. Brand was not branded to my name originally because I thought it could scale. But that business model was really working with me. So the limitation was that uh, when people interfaced with the brand because it was so much me, they didn't want to be passed off to someone else. Right. So that's something you need to be mindful of in a service based business if your founder is so on the forefront and if someone's buying into your founder but then you have a team who they're ultimately going to work with and they're not working with the founder. That's just a uh, perception and a relationship process you need to manage. So with our agency, for example, whenever I'm on a sales call, they're with me but I make sure to talk about my team. I say m, I'm going to be here in this capacity but my team is amazing. And this is who you're going to be interfacing with day to day. Right. So like a roundabout way to answer your question, what's the risk is I think like setting expectations that people are only going to buy into the founder can be Harmful. If that's not actually who they're going to be working with.

Speaker A: Yeah, or like you said, perhaps they're, they're looking for an exit, an exit strategy or to retire or something like that.

Speaker B: Yeah, that too. 100%. Right. Like, what happens if that founder goes away? Like, what is their goal? So there's my favorite word nuances to this, right?

Speaker A: There is no. This is great stuff. This is, this is so interesting because there's so many more levels to this, I think, than people think. Going back to that first question. Well, it's like press releases and stuff like that. Well, not a little bit more to it. Um, all right, so I gotta ask you this, uh, before we head to segments in, a couple of questions. What's changed now that we got podcast creators, people like me who just go up and say, hey, I'm doing a podcast. Uh, AI. Right. There's AI search now. And all sorts of things sit between the buyer and decision. So from kind of a modern standpoint, what's, what's changed? What should people be thinking about again? I know there's a lot of layers to that one, but, uh, give us a few.

Speaker B: There's nuances, Gary.

Speaker A: There a new. Is there a nuance there?

Speaker B: There sure is. I think, like, the high level answer to that is there's never been a time where there's more opportunity. Um, there's never been a time where there's more tools that we have access to that can connect us to the public. Um, you or I can start a podcast. It doesn't need to be, you know, a professional broadcaster with cnn. Sure, they can too. But really the access to opportunity is, is ample. It's, it's everywhere. Flip side, what AI has really done, while there's access and their shortcuts, it's also created a much more skeptical marketplace. Um, there's a lot more phonies out there. There's a lot more, um, AI generated thought leadership. And I think, I mean, even LinkedIn right now has the, the button where you can flag if someone wrote with AI on some of the PR platforms. I'm, I'm on that. Connect journalists to sources. There's a check for AI button. It's almost like there's this layer of distrust that has been entered. So it's like great opportunities, but be really careful because no one trusts you. Right. Like, in that way, trust has become more important than ever. So it's, it's this like, cycle. Right. And, um, I guess it's always existed to some degree. It's just, it's amplified right now. Everyone's talking about PR because of how much weight placements can have in LLMs. Um, but with, with that now, people are, are realizing they need to understand what PR is, which is cool. It's a good moment for my industry. It's a crazy one, though.

Speaker A: It.

Speaker C: It is.

Speaker A: And, and I can see why this, this is a fascinating podcast or you, you whole host a show, uh, that there's so much to dive into. And, uh, I totally see it now. Uh, so this has been great. All right, um, let's wrap up the interview segment with the closer question. Lexi, for the owner who has decided this is a year that they stopped being the best kept secret in the world. Where do they start?

Speaker B: Uh, start. I mean, besides, I'll go one layer past get your goals in order. Um, start on your own channels, right? Go back to that trust stack. Start on developing your point of view and your thought leadership on channels you can control on your own social platforms, on your own website. Really start developing there. It's going to help, uh, attract the next layer, which are those earned opportunities. So double down. Pick a, pick a channel. Pick a channel where your people are. It could be LinkedIn, it could be TikTok, it could be substack. So hot right now.

Speaker C: Is it really?

Speaker B: Pick an own channel. Oh, yeah, big, um, very big right now, um, at least in related industries to mine. And, um, double down there. Start there.

Speaker A: Yeah, start somewhere. I think that's the advice I would give because that's what I did. I started with a blog I didn't really want to write. I said, you know what, I just want to talk about it. And here we are, 66 episodes later. All right, that was a great opening interview segment. Let's hit Does It Hold Water?

Speaker C: Before we move into Does It Hold Water? And chip shots. I want to thank all of you who've been listening and supporting the show, your customer. Your success has grown and evolved and I'm excited about where it's headed. That evolution also reflects the work I'm doing with Schooley Mitchell, helping businesses reduce

Speaker A: operating expenses and improve profitability.

Speaker C: If you'd like to learn more, there's more information and a link in the show notes.

Speaker A: Now let's see if it holds water. All right, everybody, it is time for Does It Hold Water? My favorite segment. This is where I read a quote to my guests. They do not know the quote in advance. It is a piece of thought leadership. Could be somebody famous, somebody not. We don't know, but they give Us, uh, their opinion. Does it hold water or not? And more importantly, why? You ready, Alexi?

Speaker B: I think so. Let's go.

Speaker C: I'm going.

Speaker A: I'm going. It's a simple one, but I'm going. In the Wayback Machine. I haven't done this in a long time. I'm so happy I found this one. Sir Francis Bacon said in Ready 1597, he was an English philosopher and statesman, and he said, knowledge itself is power. Does the defense case hold water?

Speaker B: I think that actually is in a lot of my programming, um, that I have for my company and maybe even on my website. Yes. And. Sorry, I have to say, one of the number one things I tell my clients when they're media training is one of the best ways to develop confidence is to knowledge up. Right. The more you know, the more you're able to. To dig into that knowledge. Yes. It holds water. I love that it is on your website.

Speaker A: I didn't know that. I did not know because I'm saying

Speaker B: it must be somewhere. It's, uh, a. It's a quote. I didn't know who said it. That I often say there.

Speaker A: There's knowledge is power, which came after Sir Francis. I did research on this. Believe it or not. This is what I was doing before the show. Uh, knowledge itself is power. So now my question to you is, is knowledge itself power, or isn't it what you do with it more important?

Speaker B: I think you have to. I think it's the first step. M. You can't do anything if you don't have it.

Speaker A: You don't have it. Yeah.

Speaker B: Right. So, yes, it's foundationally one of the most powerful or dangerous. I'll throw that out there. True that we have. Right.

Speaker A: True that. But the next step is what do you do with it? Which is what we've just been talking about for the past half hour. So I thought that was a fascinating one. I'd like to go back. I gotta keep, um. I've gone down the road on Marcus Aurelius before. Um, uh, I like that idea of going back to the, uh, 1500s. Wow. 1597. Cool.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Great job. Ready for chip shots.

Speaker B: Let's do it.

Speaker A: Let's do it. Okay, everybody, it's time for chip shots. These are our shorter form questions. A little bit more personal in nature, but still professional. Lexi, we love the book question. Give us one book that has influenced you. Personal, professional, you name it.

Speaker B: This is a terrible answer. Uh, I'm not a business book reader. I'm a business. I like, listen to business on podcasts. I'm a fantasy fiction book reader and I will share this. And this is not like the best place to share this on a business podcast, but the books that got me back into reading. You're either going to know this or you're not. Is acotar. This is a terrible answer, but it got me back into reading again. Now I read every single night. So I gotta give a little shout out to Sarah J. Maas.

Speaker A: I don't know what that is at all, but that is a great answer. Uh, because if you're reading nothing but business books, people, take a break. I'm happy you're listening to the show, but you can't work all day, listen to business copycats and read business books all the time. Relax, read something fun.

Speaker B: That's a terrible answer for anyone who's looking for an IQ related answer. But I think I find so much joy through the disconnection that reading gives me. And Avatar is like very fantasy, so it's, it's very well known if you're into those genres.

Speaker A: Um, that is great stuff.

Speaker B: No, that's not my honest answer.

Speaker A: That is great. It's perfect. Perfect answer. All right, so this one is fascinating to think of. I don't know where you're going to go with this. The leader question. If you could spend the day shadowing a current leader, real alive, who would it be and what would you hope to learn?

Speaker B: Yeah, I, I've heard you ask this question before. And my answer is I would want to shadow a variety of people who've reached the top that are females. So for example, um, Sarah Blakely. I'd want to go like on a mini tour of some of the most successful Kendra Scott female entrepreneurs just to see I have a perception in my mind of what a life would look like when you've reached that level of success. And to be honest, I don't love that vision. So it'd be cool for them to disprove or prove me, Prove me wrong or prove me right. And they're also working moms. I'm a mom. We didn't talk about that. That's probably my number one job title.

Speaker A: Mhm.

Speaker B: So I'd say pick any of the iconic female founders that we, we have out there today and I would be fascinating to shadow them and just see a day in the life.

Speaker A: Yeah, I think Sara Blakely might be in the lead on this show and uh, an absolutely great answer and a wonderful perception. Uh, what is it like in being a mom and working is. I'm sure. Quite tough stuff, being a dad at that level.

Speaker B: Right. With that many.

Speaker A: I was gonna say at all is tough stuff, but at that level, sure. Um, I've always wondered how some of these folks do it. And, um, look. Look at all you do. So give yourself credit and a pat on the back. You have two kids and you have, like, nine jobs or whatever it was.

Speaker B: What do I do? I don't even know.

Speaker A: You got like, three, four companies, kid, and you run a podcast and guest and all this stuff, so. All right, great stuff. All right. So, speaking of which, um, let's kind of shift gears a little. Is there a particular experience of failure early on in your career that taught you a valuable lesson you still use today?

Speaker B: So many. But the one that is coming to mind, simplified, is you can't pour from an empty cup, um, without going too into the weeds. A very large health event is what transitioned me into entrepreneurship originally. And I was your classic type A overachiever. I was a VP by the age of 26 of a very large company. I was on paper doing all the right things, and I was not paying attention to my health. And one day that all kind of got ripped away from me and I realized how fragile, um, life and your career and everything is if you don't have help. So it's something that I've rebuilt my companies on. It's something that I lead my team on, that we work to live. We don't live to work. And so making sure that, yes, amongst my 80 million job titles, or do these in the day that I'm also adding on, there's a little bit of self care, a little bit of health. Easier said than done, right? But, um, can't pour from an empty cup.

Speaker A: Love it. Absolutely love it. Great job. All right, one more for you. What is one question that you ask clients that never fails to deliver?

Speaker B: Yeah. On the PR boat, I think this actually even comes up on sales calls, is what does success with PR look like for you? Um, it is one of the most eye opening questions I get. And it shows me right then and there how well thought out someone, how much thought they've put into doing pr. Like, why are you doing it? What does success look like for you? If they just go, well, I want to be on forward for the Today show. M. I'm like, great, so you want two placements, that's it? And then what, like, you just being on them is successful? Or are you looking to drive revenue? Like, what's the goal? So it's peeling back the layers of, uh, what does you happy and feeling like I did my job look like?

Speaker A: Love it. And that is sometimes a hard question to answer, believe it or not. And I'm sure you get people that just stumble with that question.

Speaker B: 100%. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: No, Great one, Great one. Absolutely. Great guest. Lexi. Sorry. Lexi Smith. Oh, my gosh. Where could everybody find you? I know you've been up since early in the morning. So have I.

Speaker B: You're also doing 50 million things and parents.

Speaker A: So we, we have a few things going on here. This is this week.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: Where can everybody find you?

Speaker B: Yeah, go, uh, to my LinkedIn, I think Lexi Smith on LinkedIn. You're going to be connected to all my companies that way. Growth mode, all the things. But Lexi Smith. L, E X, I E Smith. I'm blonde. Click on my profile. Add me, tell me you heard me on this show. Um, and I'd love to connect there.

Speaker A: Awesome. Thank you, Lexi. And thank you all for watching your customer, your success, or listening. If you're listening on the audio, don't forget there is a YouTube video. If you're watching the video, don't forget there is audio available on all major podcast platforms. That is all for today. We'll be back more with more client experience. Leaders, all sorts of interesting entrepreneurs, small business owners. I got a whole list of people that are very interesting coming at you real soon. That's all for today, folks. Bye for now.

Speaker C: That's a wrap. Thanks so much for spending some time with us today. I hope the conversation gave you an idea or two you can put to work. If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe, like and share it with someone who might find the conversation useful.

Speaker A: And if you'd like to work with

Speaker C: me, I help businesses reduce operating expenses and improve profitability through my work with Schoolie Mitchell. You'll find more information and a link in the show notes. Until next time, I'm Gary Mara and I'm working hard for your customer and your success.