Launching Something New: Brand, Community, and Momentum at Manifest with Whitney Cowell

Seven thousand people, endless noise, and a brand reveal...without the press release. We sit down with Whitney Cowell, Revenue Marketing Manager at Knight-Swift Supply Chain, to unpack how a soft launch at Manifest turned a crowded floor into a focused pipeline moment. Instead of chasing flash, Whitney shares how her team shifted the story from warehousing to end-to-end supply chain, refreshed the visual identity with intent, and set up simple systems to make every conversation count.

We dig into the mechanics that matter: aligning with seasoned sales pros, treating the booth as a routing hub, and using clear criteria to move high-intent leads straight to reps while nurturing the rest with message-consistent follow-up. Whitney explains why narrowing your audience expands your impact, how a single color change can signal strategic direction, and when to keep legacy elements so customers aren’t left behind. The theme is discipline over spectacle, measure what moves revenue, then build brand equity around those wins.

Beyond tactics, we explore community as strategy. Whitney helped launch TMSA’s GiveBack program, turning service projects into low-pressure networking that actually connects people. She makes the case that purpose-driven culture attracts talent, strengthens partnerships, and drives the kind of word-of-mouth money can’t buy. We close with practical advice for first-time launch leaders: master budgets in context, know when to pivot, say no with grace, and avoid imposing a marketer’s checklist. Not everyone needs a new website or a TikTok, but the right move, at the right time, changes everything.

If this conversation sparks ideas for your next launch, share it with a teammate, leave a quick review, and hit follow so you never miss what’s next.

Check out the Transportation Sales and Marketing Association (TMSA) website or engage with us on LinkedIn.

Transcript

Meeting Whitney At Manifest

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Hello, everyone, and welcome to On the Move, a show where we share transportation, sales, and marketing success stories. I am Jennifer Carpis Romain, Executive Director of the Transportation Marketing and Sales Association, which is a trade nonprofit educating and connecting marketing and sales professionals inside transportation and logistics. And today on the show, I have Whitney Cowell, who is the Revenue Marketing Manager at Night Swift Warehousing and Fulfillment. We are here at Manifest. And so I was really excited because Manifest brought me to get to see people in person. So I took the time to interview people live. But so excited to have you back on the show. Yep. I've known you for a few years now. And we were talking about how after this interview we want to go get burgers and crepes or all of the above because these are things that we do at Manifest. But I've seen you wear a lot of hats over the years, both in your roles at TMSA, but also inside the industry and in your life, and even launching like a passion project. Yes. Um, so how are you describing this season of your life and your career right now?

SPEAKER_02 1:27

It's very full, but in a good way. I feel like I'm at the point where I'm doing things that I love. I've figured out what I'm good at. I've been confirmed on the things that I'm not. And I I get to say yes to a lot of things, which helps me when I need to say no to things. And being able to own that, I think is something I struggled with when trying to balance these things at the beginning. Um, but a few years in, I think I'm on a really, really happy path. I'm having a good time.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

I love that it's been fun to watch the journey. And so you actually just started at Night Swift Warehousing and Fulfillment. Yes. Uh two months, one month, two months.

SPEAKER_02 2:07

Yeah, the beginning of November, and right now it's the beginning of February.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

So not so

New Role And Soft-Launch Rebrand

SPEAKER_00 2:11

not too long, but you're already jumping straight into Manifest, and there's exciting things happening here for you guys. So, what's it like been like onboarding at a new company while launching other things? And what are you doing here at Manifest?

SPEAKER_02 2:24

So I guess what I'm doing here has a lot to do with the onboarding of the new company, but uh I've known part of the team for about a year now and had the chance to have an up-close and personal behind-the-scenes look at the business, which made saying yes to them very easy for me. Um, and I I think the onboarding part wasn't too bad because, like I said, I had this intimate knowledge of what was needed, where the gaps were, and then I had a lot of freedom to come in and start building things, which was really fun because it wasn't necessarily all my ideas. It was identified business gaps that made a lot of sense. And one of the things that I'm doing here that's been a big part of it, is the announcement of our new brand. So we are now migrating from just Night Swift Warehousing in fulfillment, that piece of it, to Night Swift supply chain. So it's a reflection of the growth we had in 2025, which was exponential. A couple million square feet of warehousing added, um, over a dozen new warehouses in Q4 were, I guess between Q3 and Q4 were added to our network. So we have expanded services, and I get to be a part of that piece from the ground up, which is really cool.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

And you guys are debuting that logo here, correct?

SPEAKER_02 3:44

Yes, everything with the exception of a few bits and bobs. But the booth is branded. We've got, you know, our case studies, we've got everything that we're gonna be able to hand out is in Night Swift supply chain, and it has a little bit of a new, fresh look to it as well.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

I love that. And so, yes, we are here live at Manifest or recorded at Manifest for when people are viewing this, but um, there's a lot of noise literally like behind us as the trade show goes on, but just in general, like brands are trying to stand out. The show has, I think, like 7,000 people here this year, which is bananas. But how like how do you launch a brand in a way that actually feels intentional, not just flashy, especially

Standing Out Amid Trade Show Noise

SPEAKER_00 4:24

in the chaos of a trade show?

SPEAKER_02 4:26

I think it's more than just fun colors. I really think in order to do it, you have to know why that brand exists and who you're talking to specifically. And that's something that I really love is like having that that target audience, and it I feel like sometimes in the supply chain it gets really lost because it's really saturated, like in logistics of you have it, we'll move it. And that's not something that resonates with people. And I think being able to start really narrow with your focus actually opens the doors wider the further into it you go.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

I agree, and then so now that you are the revenue marketing manager, I like there's this different lens than just like a general marketing perspective. So, how do you think then balancing brand building with performance expectations, especially as you start your new role, but just as the new brand takes off, how do you kind of balance that?

SPEAKER_02 5:23

I think they go hand in hand in the sense that I am not here for just brand awareness. So talking to our existing

Marrying Brand And Revenue Marketing

SPEAKER_02 5:33

customers, having this intentional alignment with sales, where I am running some sales functions. Um, and that's a really big piece of it. There's no, there's no like hands-off hard line in the sand, and I like that because the people that I'm working with have been in the game for many, many, many years. And so I'm I feel like I went on site and told them I like I needed to actually take a break because I was learning so much so fast, and it was all really helpful. But to the question of like beyond just the brand, um, it is that intentionality with these goals that can be met. And then it's it's how does marketing support sales, but how is sales supporting marketing and what do those conversations look like? And I think allowing us to sort of blur those lines of messaging and outreach and have a very clear, a clear handoff system, but the way that it feels on the receiving end is seamless, I think is is really impactful, and that's honestly what I'm here to do.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

And then so launching this new booth, how do you then put those pieces together with the new brand?

Booth Strategy And Lead Handoffs

SPEAKER_02 6:44

Yeah, so um we're attributing basically everything here as marketing led. So, like as we're going back and looking at the data, this is an intentional marketing outreach. And then, based off of engagement, based off of conversations, we're able to take that back, decipher what immediately goes to sales based off of the engagement we had here, and then what needs to be nurtured with marketing. And so the booth is kind of just the facilitating hub for all of that, which is hopeful because with a new brand, we wanted a place to be able to display it to facilitate those conversations, and then also it's a new name, so there already have been a couple of questions of like, oh, I thought it was this, and and then we get to talk about well, this is why it's changed.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Sure. And then when you are kind of when we talk about trade shows, there's like the pre-add and post, and I feel like that post area is where people forget so much, yeah. And with this brand change, then does the we're at the current stage. Are you able then to have those photos and be able to translate that

Why A Soft Launch Now

SPEAKER_00 7:44

into the post so that you have more of those visuals? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

Um, and some of that is that's why this is a soft launch for us. We're not just like wing they go online, they'll still see, you know, um, in our outreach, it will still have formerly night swift warehousing and fulfillment. If you go to the website, it still has warehousing and fulfillment. And so we're, I think we were just talking with Bobby Kelly at our at our team as well that said, like, we're not gonna, you know, break our backs trying to do this all at once. Everything from this point forward um reflects the new brand, but there's still gonna be these elements because I we didn't want a hard launch because we are known in the industry, we are known by our customers. And you know, answering the question of what does that look like post-engagement, all of that stuff will be a reflection of what you see here. And maybe some existing conversations aren't quite up to that speed yet. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

And we'll have those announcements in the coming months. And why did you guys decide to launch the brand, the new brand now?

SPEAKER_02 8:45

Honestly, we're supposed to have everything locked in for manifest, and they let us. I'm being completely honest. And we started having stuff roll in, anyways, and it was a really good, this is such a big opportunity to be in front of a couple of customers of ours will be here, a couple of prospects of ours will be here, some of our partners, our technology partners are here. Um, some of our friends on the industry are here, and so it was a good way to get a lot more organic buzz around it. Um, because we didn't promote it in advance, we didn't send out press releases, everything will be word of mouth that's seen here. And I actually want to see what kind of engagement and traction we get just through that.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Absolutely.

Community Give Back Origin

SPEAKER_00 9:29

So pivoting a little bit, yeah. Um, so at TMSA, you are a board member, which we love, and you really not only like spearhead the community give back, but created it. Um so it's kind of been what um you've been working on for us. It's a it's a deeply people-first initiative. And so how has the work influenced how you think about brands and leadership in your day job, knowing like that impact on community that you could have at TMSA and then create like a new brand?

SPEAKER_02 10:05

Um that's a loaded question because it's a lot of layered, it's a lot of things that I love, and I think so the idea came to me because a lot of people are talking about sustainability, and that's a hot topic in the supply chain because well, because it has to be, frankly. Um, and you know, and we build around it, we build technology around it, and I think sustainability is tagged alongside longevity, is what it makes me think of. And a lot of people have these different programs within their organizations that impact the longevity of their communities, and I think that that impacts the longevity and sustainability of happy employees. And and so it was a it's an to me, it was a very natural fit. Honestly, I didn't know that you guys would even say yes. And I said, Hey, can I do this? And everybody's like, That's a great idea. It's like, oh well, I guess I'm in charge now. Yep. Um, which is great, but you know, we we do those things as well, and and we're very proud of the culture internally that we have at Night Swift supply chain. I know you guys are Emma, you guys, we are very proud of the culture that we've built with TMSA and what that fosters. Um, and I and I think being able to highlight not just what the people can do, what our roles are, how we're effective, but also something that reflects the heart of the people that are involved is really, really important. And I think that that's where things start kind of tying a bow on themselves.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Yep. And I think some organizations kind of see that community involvement piece as an extra, not something that you have to do, but if you have time to do or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

If if companies aren't engaging that way, what do you think they're missing out? Or if they don't invest anything in like purpose-driven initiatives at their company?

SPEAKER_02 11:59

I uh I think they miss out

Why Purpose-Led Culture Wins

SPEAKER_02 12:02

on a lot. I think but and some of it is you never know who knows who. That uh and from like a purely business revenue standpoint, like that's a missed opportunity, in my opinion. But also, I think not seeing people as human beings, uh, I just think it's a way where everybody gets to know each other on this deeper level where they get to step outside of being seen as because I've been in a seat where I felt like another number. Um and I've been in a seat where I knew that my job was on the line for the revenue that I could bring in. Um, and as somebody who doesn't have a natural inclination to sales, it was a hard sell to want to be there. Um I I think there's a a level of connection that brings us together. And I and then when you start seeing organization and organization, and then those employees have an opportunity to talk about it, it's another piece of common ground that we get to have. Um, and that's you know, I was able, I was fortunate enough in two different organizations that I was at to stand up some sort of community. One of them ended up being a full-blown, it was branded, it was very fun. Um, we had multiple locations that were participating, and then we had an annual event that we did, and I've been able to talk to other people from them watching that that wanted to implement that because there had been interest, but nothing in place to be able to support pushing that interest into action.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Yep. Yes, I I think too, one of the things I've seen as younger generations come into the workplace too, the core values of where they can donate time or where the company donates time. I know like some companies will do like, oh, we'll we'll give a donation in your name, but you're like, but I didn't I didn't get to pick that organization. Like that doesn't like at least give me some options to like you know, like where um, but I do think that um both actually having this purpose-driven engagement, but also showcasing that so that employees will want to come in, be part of that, be able to give back, have meaningful, like I know I've worked at places where you could like have like a PTO day that was geared towards volunteering or engaging, like doing that kind of stuff, which is always great. It just allows you to show your passion for what you care about, and like when when your passion aligns with a potential company, I think that that's great too.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Yeah, and and to your point, I think there is a narrative shift that's happening in the workplace that's ever evolving as new generations join the workforce. But I I think some of us were told because that's what it was in the company of this is our purpose, we come in, we do our job, and we leave. Anything outside of that, like I don't care what makes your heart happy, that's your business outside of here. We're here to do these things. And I think that like those are starting to change, you know. Some really big organizations that could, it would just be like a boardroom meeting where like we've picked this thing and we made these donations, and and that's something that happened, and then they were involved, right? Um, but I think the the opportunity to have like the boots on the ground, so to speak, those those grassroots kind of things, it I think it allows like employees to feel connected, it allows all levels within the organization to have opportunity together, and then it puts you out like in the community. And I've met I've had the opportunity to meet some really wonderful people in the community that otherwise I would have never um been able to shake their hands and hear their stories. And and I know that that doesn't just matter to me.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Absolutely. I think it's really important, and I do think that like you get to know each each other, you get to know your your colleagues in a different way, you get to hear what their passions are. I know um, like at the organization I volunteer at, we always say, like, you're your um your time, treasure, and your talent. So, like, how can you give that and what does that look like? And so we

Guardrails For Time And Energy

SPEAKER_00 16:06

talk about that a lot, and we love doing the community give back at TMSA. Um, and this year we're going to Denver. Do you actually want to talk about yes? That was like like I didn't even put that in the questions, but yes, let's chat about it.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

Okay, um, let's try airs, make them everything go crazy. Um so this year, Denver, a precious child. So we are officially partnering with that organization. Um, we had actually a lot of different things that we could choose from, but we chose to do something that we've done in the past, works really well for us. It creates a not only a way to give back to the community that's hosting us, which I think is really important. Like we go in, we take over a small area by storm for a couple of days, and then we blow right out of town. Um, and so being able to give back to the community and also create like a networking event where it's it feels very low stakes. Um, it's something that you don't have to know somebody to feel included and to be able to join. Um, because I don't know about you, but I've also been that person that stood in the corner and just been like, I don't want to interrupt that conversation. Like, what do I do?

SPEAKER_00 17:15

Where do I go? Who do I talk to?

SPEAKER_02 17:16

So it creates a really inclusive environment, but we're gonna be making tie blankets this year. Um and that's fun because we get to make them typically for children, is how we've done it in the past, and we get to do that again. And I love getting to just bounce from table to table and and talk to different people um that I haven't met before. And I love being able to support organizations that are really making a change um that are supporting marginalized communities um and peoples, and I don't know, something about that just feels really special that so many and the people come to these events that so many other people say that matters to me also. I stand with you. Let's make this happen.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

I love it. It's um so we started this back in 2023. So we've done it in Savannah, we've done it in New Orleans, we've done it in Austin, and then this year. Um, last year in Austin was the first year we didn't, the only year we didn't do the tie blankets just because we were supporting a summer camp and they didn't need blankets because it's really hot in Austin. So um, but we love doing the tie blankets. I love it because, like you were saying, like sometimes networking can be really awkward. I love the the giving back to the cheating aspect, but there's nothing to do with your hands, and I know that's so like, but you know, that can be such a weird um, you know, like you get nervous, you get fidgety, and so it's just nice, and you can like sit down and you can talk to people, and it's normally a small group that you're making the blankets with, which is awesome.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Um, and I think my favorite was one of our members the first year we did it, he was so excited. He's like, this is a life skill. My wife and my daughter are gonna be so happy I learned. He's like, I normally come back from conferences and it's just networking and like talking to people, but I can go home and like make blankets, and I was like, you do, but more power to you, new family activity, yes. And so, and I remember that first year we realized that this was not a skill to make blankets, no tie blankets. Um, we thought that was because we both knew how to do it, we thought that was something that everyone did. So we learned we now put it on the table, but now more and more people in the TMSA community know how to do that because we've done it before, but yeah, really excited about it and um excited that we have announced our our partnership with a precious child. So that's really exciting. And so you do all this at TMSA, you're starting your new role, you're really navigating a lot, and you're doing it in a very visible industry moment all at once. So, like, how do you as a person ground yourself amid all of the momentum, if you will, in transportation?

SPEAKER_02 19:53

Intentionally. It is a lot, and you

Practical Advice For First-Time Launches

SPEAKER_02 19:58

know, I've like you said, I also started some passion projects in the last few years, and you know, I did not hold myself to having to film a podcast every single week. Um, that was not sustainable for me, and when I was transitioning through jobs, I wanted to give myself time to adjust to what that would look like and to be really present onboarding and you know, not feel bad that I, you know, I I posted one time like I got on a plane and forgot to post and had already like scheduled out like airs today, and then I was like, just kidding, I'm on a plane, it'll air next week. It's fine. Um, and you know, there's there's a lot of things that I'm a part of outside of my job, and so I have a sober community that you know I have to see at least once a week to like have that in-person, honest, like, and it's not about me. I get to step out of outside of myself and just be a villager in a very tangible way. Um and that honestly, that keeps me, it keeps things right-sized, I think, for me. Um, and then to just add more to the to the list, uh this semester, I guess semester, I'm doing a book study with a group of women on being a wife, um, because nobody taught me how to do that. And so, you know, and some of his like just tribal knowledge, and so there's all these young wives that I've happened to meet over the last year, which is so random. And so we just decided we'll do a season of life together and and see what kind of community comes out of that. But you know, between that and having some coffee, and my husband's really good about making sure that we go on dates, and that makes me realize like sometimes my problems are really tiny and life is actually really, really good. Um it it is. A balancing act, but I think there's a season where some things are allowed to be bigger than others, and I try not to fight that, um, unless if it's taking away from my piece, and if it's taking away from my piece, then it's worth my piece is worth fighting for.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

Yes, absolutely. And I do think, like at the very beginning, you're like, I it's intentional, like it's being intentional, or like even at the very beginning, you're talking about like I'm saying yes to a lot of things, but then I know how to say no. And I I feel like that's a big balance um for for anybody. And I think that's something that like I'm learning through too, like and how how to balance what that looks like. And I do a weekly podcast, but at the beginning, I wanted to record live every week, which now thinking about seems crazy because I'm like, how am I going to be available at noon every Wednesday? I won't. Um, and so and it takes away opportunities like this. Like, oh, I'm gonna see people in person. I like to interview people in person over doing it virtually. I mean, virtually is fine, but like when you can actually like come together meet with the person, I just think the conversations are more fun for me anyway. But um, and so really thinking through like what is what is the purpose? Okay, well, if I do it live, we can have people that talk to us, but I can't really engage with the people I'm talking to you. So it's not like there's pieces of that, and so um, but yeah, being realistic on like what you can manage and and what you can't, or like even with the podcast, like I'll take a break over winter. I took a break over the summer. So I'm like, no one is no one is listening to this podcast in the middle of August, like they're just not, or over the holidays, you know, and so like really thinking through that kind of stuff, I think is really helpful, but I do think intentional, I don't want to be busy for the sake of being busy, I want to be fulfilled, and so that's kind of where I'm at. Yeah, I just answered my question.

SPEAKER_02 23:53

No, no, I love that, I love that because and the you know, because we are friends offline, you know, it's the kind of stuff that we talk about because it matters and it shapes how you're able to show up when you do show up, and if I'm saying yes to everything, I'm gonna show up as 50%

Right-Sizing Brand Moves

SPEAKER_02 24:10

of myself, and I don't like that. I don't like doing if I'm gonna show up as 50% of myself, it's gonna be in those groups where it's like I only feel like 50% and I need to be poured into. That to me is like the place where I I wanna I wanna be, but then I also want to be able to show up for other people, be able to pour into them. And I've had to say no to a lot of things, which is crazy because it looks like I've done nothing but say yes to everything this year. Um, but you know, between I would say mid-2024 to now, I I've said no to like a couple of opportunities, and and some of that is just protecting my time and doing nothing. To me, that is that is important time on the calendar.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

It is, it is. I will schedule it, which seems crazy. But even like at TMSA, like you love the community give back, and we've had that conversation. Like Whitney, you are now in four. I couldn't do it by myself.

SPEAKER_02 25:01

I had to ask for help, and it was horrible.

SPEAKER_00 25:03

But I didn't horrible, but we so then we moved, we moved community give back into our CSR subcommittee, which is part of education, which actually emerged because then at like one point you were in three different committees. I'm like, girl, you're doing I know you're doing way too much. So let's a get you the help and support you need for the initiative because it is a great initiative and it's something we want to keep, and so we want to we want to have proper resources on it, but yeah, I like it was almost like okay, we need I appreciate that you want to volunteer everywhere, but like let's not make you 50% everywhere and like figure out where your 100 is.

SPEAKER_02 25:34

I know, and the people that stepped up to like to help and facilitate. I mean, they moved so much faster than I could have, especially because right now I am onboarding at a new job. Yep, and my schedule is some days I'm way more open than I thought I would be. And other days I had nothing on my calendar, but I haven't stopped to breathe. Right. And so that's learning to delegate is something at my job, I'm very good at. At that, I was like, oh no, but it's my baby, I'll hold it. Yeah, um, you know, and I'm really thankful for the the rest of the volunteers, the committee members that like step up and they it just goes to show when I say like people that you know will wear their heart on their sleeves and it matters to them, like yeah, they rallied around and like, yeah, absolutely. Can't what else can I do? And I think that that's amazing. And that's as you're talking about the culture of TMSA. I mean, that that's prime example.

SPEAKER_00 26:31

Absolutely. And then for marketers listening who might be then stepping into a new role, leading a big launch for the first time. Is there a piece of advice that you wish someone would have given you earlier in your career or three months ago, or or whatever? What would you tell them? Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 26:47

And I actually, so I was reminiscing on this of like the first time I was on a podcast talking about marketing, and like I went back and watched it and was like, I'm gonna throw up. This is so embarrassing.

SPEAKER_00 26:57

I don't.

SPEAKER_02 26:58

Um so I guess there are three really big things. One is understanding how a budget works into the bigger picture, yeah. Um being able to talk to all departments who owns what and what is actually gonna be the most impactful because sometimes the things that you really want to do are not the things that make the most sense. It might be really exciting to want to invest in a piece of technology, but what you really need to do is like send handwritten thank you cards to uh customers who have a renewal coming up, for example. Um and that I've done the handwritten cards, and trust me, it gets old after a while, but they make a huge difference. Um, another one is knowing when the thing is no longer going to serve the purpose, uh, being able to like unplug from something or pivot from something that's not working instead of uh like you want to repeat what works, and if you're gonna build on it, you have to do so, I think, with data and ideally not by yourself.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:00

Um, and then the final thing that I would say is like you just can't say yes to it all. Um it's it stinks, but sometimes it makes sense to like not go to the event and send somebody else. Um, you know, sometimes you're gonna you're gonna have to say no to people um that think that their ideas are really good and they do make a lot of sense, but not yet. And that's that can be a really uncomfortable conversation and being able to navigate those moments with a lot of grace, um, knowing that everybody hopefully has the same goal. We're all marching towards the same end. Um, but you have to there's a certain type of responsibility the deeper you go into marketing and the the more responsibility they put on you, like your your yeses and your no's have a lot of weight, and you need to use them thoughtfully.

SPEAKER_00 28:49

Yes, I would agree. I think that's really good advice. And like I know when I was a director of marketing, I would always question back like how how does what you're asking of me fit into the bigger picture, fit into our goals, yeah, fit into the purpose because it didn't always, and especially as like new trends, like I feel like especially now, back in the day when I was a director of marketing, the trends weren't as like fast moving either. And so, but like we don't need to do every internet trend, we just don't like it. It's it there isn't always a bottom line that you think it is, and like you said, it like to me, me doing a video that does whatever the internet is doing right now is not going to be as thoughtful as doing a hand letter thank you to a customer, like right, it's just not, and if you have time to do both, great, but like how does one and the other really get you to your business goals and your revenue goals?

SPEAKER_02 29:48

Yeah, and I think one of the things that I've watched go really, really wrong and really, really right, depending on who you're talking to, is not coming in and imposing your thoughts on what the business needs to be doing. So um it was I heard somebody say this one time, like you'll know when a company has a new marketer because they'll be like, we have a new website. Um, and sometimes that's not the thing where you need to push all of your resources. Sometimes it is uh, which is funny because I've done a lot of new websites working in an agency uh for people, but I I think there's a there's a time and a place. Uh, not everybody needs a podcast. For some people, it makes a whole lot of sense. Not everybody needs to be on TikTok. I was at a company where we launched TikTok and it actually did really well because as we were going through hiring sprees, we had this brand for ourselves and it was attracting a lot of people that were excited about this excited about the supply chain. And so there's there is a time and a place um for ideas, and I think not putting your ambition above the the health of the company can be really tricky when you've been given the keys to the kingdom for the first time.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

Yeah, yeah, I think that makes sense, and like sometimes the website is where you need to focus, sometimes it's not, or like sometimes, like I know at TMSA, I still look at our logo and think, do we need a new one? But I've questioned that for four and a half years, but I knew that if I was ever to like to me, it's not it's not always just like we were talking about it's not just changing the logo and slapping it on. It's then what does that logo represent? How do you want the brand to look? It's not and so it hasn't happened because I'm like, there if that happens, it is a snowball into so many other things. And so we do, I did get a new website when I um took the leadership role at TMSA, but that was something that needed to get done. Sure. The website was very outdated, but then yeah, it's like thinking about the overall brand. But like one thing that I wanted to do, like part of why I don't love the logo at I shouldn't say that, but I don't love the logo at TMSA. It's not it's not a secret, but um, it's just because I like all of the TMSA palette colors, and the logo only uses the main two, right? So one of the things that I did is I was like, hey guys, we got a whole playground. There's seven other colors that you can use as accent colors to those two, and so we've definitely done that, like especially now launching the track program. Like each track has its own color, but each one of those colors is one of the TMSA secondary colors, it's which is such a smart use of the colors, and so it's like to me, there's still improvements that you can make without just doing it for the sake of doing it, because they're also it should be a purpose and a process and like thinking through those things. And as I think as you take on something new and you think about the brand and what you want the company to be and where the company's growing, sometimes you have to go through the growing pains to grow and see where the company's growing before you can then do the brand.

SPEAKER_02 32:42

And I I have trained, so one of the things that I I love that I've gotten to do is train new hires, like net new to marketing, figuring it out. And one of the first things I always tell them is like, this job is not sexy 80% of the time. Just it's not all like you'll see output, a lot of output, and be like, wow, marketing looks like fun. And it's like, have you ever gone through a CRM and had to manage duplicates? Because that's our job now. Yes, I have. Um that's our job now, not sexy, very effective. Um, you know, one of the things with this new brand,

A Day Worth Reliving

SPEAKER_02 33:20

since we're talking about branding, and we are here at Manifest with our new brand, is like we added, I added a primary color because it was lime green and black. And I was like, there is not a lot to forgive between the two of those. And so we I added a color, but part of it we wanted like a fresher, brighter, a different feel. And after talking to the team and doing some workshops around it, it made a lot of sense. And it's something that I think for some people that don't understand marketing, they would be like, Okay, you added a color. Like that's a really it might seem like a really trivial, dumb place to start, and it made a really big visual impact. And I'm really proud of it seeing it come to life where it had it does feel different. And I that was a you know, they did the there is a new website that happens previously, um, and it was lightly incorporated on that, but um, you know, it wasn't one of those, all right, we got to change absolutely everything. Like the logo is still the same logo that it was, just with a different name attached to it. That's fine. Some of our stuff still has, you know, we're housing in fulfillment, but even those things uh have like the website right now, they still look in the new brand. And to me, as somebody who like we had an existing brand attached to a very large corporation, having something that is very identifiable was actually really, really important for this type of launch.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for all of your advice and thoughts. It's always appreciated. I do have my last question for you, yes, which this is your second official time on the show. So I have my second question, not the first question I always ask. So if that if you could relive one day of your life over again, you do not get to make any changes. You just she's she's reading the questions because she's sitting next to me so she can see. But you get to relive a day, make no changes, personally professional. What day would you go back to and what would you change? Or not change, what would you go back to and just do it again and just live again and not change?

SPEAKER_02 35:30

I feel like my life my life has just been coded in blessings, and so I mean, to be sentimental, I think my first day sober was a really big day for me. You know, I I woke up and I called somebody and I asked for help, and then I showed up for myself, and I just remember like walking into this space and looking around and being so afraid, but not feeling alone for the first time in a long time, and and not thinking about how uncomfortable I felt in my skin because there was so much else to take in that was just so and I remember just walking out there and like in the parking lot and feeling like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and I called my cousin, who is also a sober person, and said, I think I'm an alcoholic. And she was like, Okay, let's talk about it, and just like the accepted, I just it was a day of just unbridled acceptance. And I went to bed that night thinking, I really think I can do this, and here we are.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

So I seven, seven years later, seven years, seven years later.

SPEAKER_02 36:36

It is seven years, one month, and a day as of filming. So it's it's been incredible. Um, I mean, there are a lot of days of like my wedding day was amazing. Honestly, the day before the wedding was really fun.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

But yeah, I feel like wedding days, there's a lot of like pressure and a lot of people.

SPEAKER_02 36:56

No, we had like a date beforehand and ate like biscuits, yeah. And then when they were taking too many pictures, I was like, ooh, can you stop? Like, I I don't know. I I'm surprised I wore shoes on my wedding day to be honest. But there, I mean, there are so many really wonderful days, but yeah, I think that one. I think the day that like really changed my life.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

Well, I love that answer and love your journey and being able to be a supportive part of it. And um, I appreciate all that you do, appreciate spending your time. I'm very hungry, excited to go get some burgers now. Let's go snack, and we will catch you guys next time.