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Most workouts promise a better body. We’re more interested in what happens when movement gives you your people.

We sit down with Gillian Zettler, co-founder of The Drop In, to talk about building a Charleston wellness studio that treats connection as the mission. Gillian shares how the loneliness epidemic and the “transactional” feel of many gyms pushed her and co-founder Chandler Frisbee to design joyful, movement-based spaces where newcomers feel brave enough to walk in, even if they’ve never touched a spin bike, a yoga mat, or a dance floor. We also unpack the origin of their first big pop-up, why they launched in January, and how a clear purpose can beat fancy branding when you’re starting from scratch.

Gillian brings hard-won insight from leading the Charleston Wine and Food Festival and from early career years in scrappy radio promotions. We get practical about brand building, partnerships, and intentional community, plus the tough stuff founders don’t always say out loud: financial insecurity, identity shifts after a big job, and the pressure to “keep climbing.” She also draws a sharp line between real wellness and the snake oil that’s flooding the market, emphasizing trust, expertise, and human-scale hospitality.

If you care about wellness marketing, experiential marketing, and building community in Charleston, you’ll leave with ideas you can actually use. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a third place, and leave us a review with your biggest takeaway.

How can Charleston businesses get noticed, found and chosen? The Charleston Marketing Podcast, brought to you by Charleston AMA and recorded at Charleston Media Solutions, answers the marketing and media questions local business owners are asking. We explore media buying, advertising budgets, radio, digital marketing, storytelling and the customer journey, with practical strategies for growing your business in today’s attention economy. CharlestonMediaSolutions.com

South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) is a public, nonprofit organization that fuels South Carolina’s innovation economy by supporting technology-based startups, academic research, and industry partnerships. Through funding, coaching, and its investment arm SC Launch, SCRA helps early-stage companies grow, commercialize ideas, and scale within the state’s key innovation sectors.

Support the show

Title Sponsor: Charleston American Marketing Association

Presenting Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions

Annual Sponsor: ‪SCRA; South Carolina Research Authority

Quarterly Sponsor: King and Columbus

CAMACast Cohosts: Stephanie Barrow, Mike Compton, Rachel Backal, Tom Keppeler, Amanda Bunting Comen, 

Silicon Harbor Hot Take Host: Stanfield Gray, https://digsouth.com

Produced and edited: RMBO Advertising

Photographer | Co-host: Kelli Morse

Score by:  The Strawberry Entrée; Jerry Feels Good, CURRYSAUCE, DBLCRWN, DJ DollaMenu
Studio Engineer: Brian Cleary and Mathew Chase

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