Dianna Huff, The First Ladies of the U.S., and Pursuing Passions

Dianna Huff's journey from copywriter to Made in USA advocate is a story you won't want to miss. In this episode of Hello Moxie, we explore her inspiring path as she opens up about her 10-year journey in business – the ups, downs, and surprising twists. We discuss into the challenges and joys of supporting American-made products and she shares practical advice for young women navigating their careers. Dianna also reveals how she found her true calling and how historical women like the First Ladies have inspired her.

Bonus Content: Dianna Huff shares her strategy for pursuing your passions and turning them into real-world achievements. Join the community today to get exclusive access!

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Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00.802)
You're listening to Hello Moxie with Nicole Donnelly. In each episode, we honor the unbreakable thread that connects the fierce women who came before us to modern day pioneers carving their own paths. We'll share stories of unforgettable heroines, celebrate their courage, and bring to light the lasting impact they've had across generations. Get inspired by the stories of those who embodied true Moxie and pave the way for others to follow. Hello Moxie is sponsored by DMG Digital.

a woman owned marketing consultancy dedicated to helping B2B companies and e-commerce brands create exceptional customer experiences.

Hello and welcome to Hello Moxie. Today, I am so excited to be joined by my dear and lovely friend, Diana Hough. Diana and I met through LinkedIn almost over a year ago now, I think it's been. And we've stayed connected and she's just been such an incredible friend and support. And I just am so honored to have her on the show today. Welcome Diana, thanks for joining us.

Thank for having me.

Yes. And I would love for you to tell our listeners a little bit about who you are, kind of, you know, let's let our listeners hear all about the amazingness that is Diane and what you bring to the world.

Speaker 1 (01:19.726)
Well, so I'm president of Huff Industrial Marketing and I... So what does that mean, president? I always laugh. My team and I, we make custom build websites and follow on marketing programs for smaller US manufacturers. So I always say smaller. So anybody 50 employees or less.

And they really don't have a marketing department. So similar to what your model is. So we do custom builds and websites and then the follow on marketing. And then the other thing that I do, which I had no clue was going to happen as they say, and you know, internet forums speak, it was not on my bingo card. am an advocate for Made in USA and I published the blog Keep It Made USA.

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:17.166)
It's such a beautiful blog and you're such a really, love the way that you write Diana with such detail. You're such a, you really tell and you're such a great storyteller. Not only do you talk about these brands, but there's a lot of storytelling in what you share and a lot of passion for it, which is so cool. And I think, you know, it's amazing because I know you're wearing Made in USA. Right now you have this beautiful necklace on it looks like with these beautiful colored glass beads.

So I'd love for you to tell our listeners, us about what you're wearing and what's inspired this. This is cool.

Yeah, so I am wearing Yes, you're correct. glass bead necklace. It was made by this name Charlotte. I bought it. Oh my gosh. I'll be like, you know why I bought this necklace? I was David Mermin Scott and yes, one else. We're doing a big book promo. I forget which book it was. I was he no he was doing

the gobble de goop meant one of those things that he wrote. And I went to it and I wanted to look really good and I had a jacket and I didn't have any real jewelry. So I went to Charlotte and Amesbury and I wore the jacket and she picked this out for that. in Amesbury, Massachusetts, she would make these glass beads and then hand paint them. So I have earrings that match. So I am always honored to put on this necklace because she was such a beautiful artist.

I love functional art, like my house is full of functional art. love wearable art. then I found, so buying made in USA clothing, especially women's apparel is super tough. So 3 % of apparel is made here in the United States. And I think it's easier for men because a t-shirt and jeans, right?

Speaker 1 (04:11.48)
But for women, we have all these accessories and know, and functions. It's really hard. And so I found this woman, Sarah Campbell, who her headquarters are in Boston. Since 1985, she's been creating, she did private label clothing for like Talbot's. And once all of that got, all the work got shipped overseas, she lost all these clients. And so instead of giving up, she

now designs her own clothing line that you can buy in her retail locations. She now has 21 retail locations up and down the East Coast seaboard. It's an amazing story and her income. when that happened in 1985, 20 million down to 7 million. And she didn't give up. just regrouped. And now she has these stores. So can go into these little boutiques, which are, oh, I went to the one in Concord, Mass. It was like, oh, oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

She has the online e-commerce. Her sweater, so as she will tell you, you can't get sweaters made here in the US anymore because there are no textile mills. There are no manufacturers who make them. So the sweater's made in China, but I'd rather support her than some big faceless conglomerate. The sweater's made in China, but her pants, I'm wearing her pants as well, the trousers, they were made in the US.

And tough socks.

Yes, I love it. We're going to have to get a picture. We're going to have to share it for our listeners so they can see. And it's Sarah Campbell, right? So I am so curious. How do you find Made in USA clothes, everything? Like what is your secret to actually finding these, these, you know, companies? Tell our listeners what they can do. Cause I know that there's a lot of women that would love to support Made in USA, but don't know where to start.

Speaker 1 (05:48.376)
Sarah Campbell.

Speaker 1 (06:09.484)
Yeah, that's a question I get asked regularly. But Sarah Campbell I found by accident. So in Austin area here, there's a radio DJ, Candi O'Terry. She's very well known. And she now does a podcast, the story behind her success. And I actually got interviewed by her because of the blog. so I've been following her on LinkedIn and she posted that she announced she had breast cancer. And she got interviewed by a chair or she told her story.

on pink chair storytellers. And she's this fabulous pink dress and she's got the microphone, the gold microphone and all the dress, the dress. And so it's said dress by Sarah Campbell. And I click through to it. And I'm like, I felt like it was like landing in Oz.

my god! Love it first.

Speaker 1 (07:03.534)
And it was during the summer, early spring summer, all these beautiful summer sleeveless dresses and color. I was drooling. I was like, Oh my god, oh my god. And so I ended up buying a first just a sleeveless blouse. And the construction, I was amazed by the construction. It was just fit the tail, it was tailored. It looks so good. I put it on. I'm like,

you

I like a million bucks.

But mostly it's a lot of trial and error, know, buying, just find, I do a lot of searching. do, you know, darn tough socks I found because I read about them somewhere else. A woman I work with, Burr, who's an image consultant, total image consultants. She's vegan. So when I was working with her and I said, I need to, you know, I need some help finding clothes, but

Can we find Made in USA as much as possible? She's so used to searching for vegan. She was like, sure. So she helped me find a lot of lines. So I actually have a post on my blog about women's apparel and various lines of clothing that are made here, but it is, tough. It is real tough.

Speaker 2 (08:20.856)
Very cool. know, we are going to have to share that in our, we'll share it in the show notes for folks that are looking for, for that. That's so such a wonderful, wonderful, amazing resource. Love it. Well, I have to tell you, Diana, I was reading this. This is my, one of my favorite poets. I'm not sure if you're familiar with Mary Oliver. She's a beautiful poet. I love this book. It's called devotions. And so I love to read her poetry in the morning, you know, and I'm

drinking my tea before I start my day. And so I was reading this poem and it made me think of you because I know what a you just have this love for reading. Every time we talk, you're always telling me about what book you've read recently. And you're always giving me such great recommendations of books to read that I just love. And so I read this poem and it lit me up. I was like, this is for Diana's. I'm going to read it to you for listeners. It's called the loon.

Not quite 4 a.m. when the rapture of being alive strikes me from sleep and I rise from the comfortable bed and go to another room where my books are lined up in their neat and colorful rows. How magical they are. I choose one and open it. Soon I have wandered in over the waves of the words to the temple of thought. And then I hear outside over the actual waves.

the small perfect voice of the loon. He is also awake and with his heavy head uplifted, he calls out to the fading moon, to the pink flush, swelling in the east that soon will become the long reasonable day. Inside the house, it is still dark except for the pool of lamplight in which I am sitting. I do not close the book, neither for a long while.

Do I read on? So beautiful.

Speaker 1 (10:19.43)
that's beautiful. Thank you.

I know you do. Yes. I read that and I was like, I can just picture Diana sitting and reading, looking outside, you know, in the morning or in evening.

I do wake up with this joy because my dog wakes me up, Rocky. then I go into the other room to stretch and I do have a bookcase lined up with books and toys. I'm trying to stretch.

Yes, so fun. So anyway, I just had to share that with you today. Yeah, so I want to know what's lighting you up besides Made in USA. What else is lighting you up right now? What are you super excited about?

Thank you, that's beautiful.

Speaker 1 (11:06.35)
right now. Yeah, two things. this month marks my 10th year as Huff Industrial Marketing. I'm actually very excited about that. And I achieved everything I had set out to do when I first started with the exception of being the Made in USA person. So that's, that's very exciting. And it's funny, you know, about the blog, then that's, that's the other thing that's lighting me up. So I started it in 2022. And I was actually terrified to

Congratulations!

Speaker 1 (11:36.334)
to start it. So I started in 2022. And the rabbi's wife, she was holding a book club. So this is during COVID. So we had a book club over zoom. And one of the books that she had us read was, what would you do if you weren't afraid? And I wrote down what would you do if you weren't afraid by Ashman? She's a mentor for top for top leaders and top companies are for leaders and top companies. And I was reading that book. And I just

I said, if I weren't afraid, I would start this blog. And the reason why I was sort of afraid was because it might be too political. Made in USA, know, manufacturing, you know, you know, might be too political, but I wanted to do it. And I was super afraid, but I did it. I had a photographer come in, take a picture. you know, so I started the blog. And since then I have published close to 20 interviews with people.

I know.

Speaker 1 (12:29.294)
whose companies make things here in the United States. And I've done a ton of product reviews. I've done even more than that, that don't even make it to the blog. I'm not a paid influencer. I'm not paid to write these things. If I don't take requests, people can't send me free stuff. If they offer me free stuff, I say no. I'm open to all except like a friends and family discount, but I pay for everything. I do.

And so what's really lighting me up right now, just recently, is because last week I posted that write up about Sarah Campbell. And it took me hours and hours to write. I did research, I to the store, I read that book I told you about, When Women Ran Fifth Avenue. Yeah, about fashion industry. And I used to make my own clothes. So I just put my heart and soul into this write up. And after I published it, I thought,

you

Speaker 1 (13:26.894)
Cause I was so in the flow. I thought this is it. This is what I want to do. This is my calling. Yes. I have Huff Industrial Marketing. I love working with manufacturers and telling their stories, but this is what I want to do. So as a gift to myself for 2025, I'm not calling it a goal. It's a gift to myself. am giving myself the time and space to pursue this versus always having it on the back burner or when I have time or

feeling guilty for doing it because I should be doing client work. I'm going to give myself the time and space to do it.

That just speaks to my heart so much. think it's so beautiful how you said, it's not a goal, it's a gift to myself. What a beautiful way to frame that. That was the impetus for me creating this podcast. I wanted it to be a gift to myself in the same way instead of a goal and a gift to my 11-year-old self actually. I think that's just so beautiful. Your passion for it, I just know that...

whatever happens, you're going to have a tremendous impact because of how much heart you're putting into this and how, you know.

I love that word heart. You actually have it on your blog head. No, your LinkedIn header. I do. Yeah. I never thought about heart before until I saw that.

Speaker 2 (14:47.662)
yeah, I definitely wear my heart on my sleeve if you haven't noticed. But yeah, my gosh, I'm so excited to see where this goes and to follow along. exciting. So yeah, that's really cool. So wow, that's gonna be a fun evolution for you. So very cool. So I can't wait to follow along. It's gonna be amazing. Yeah.

I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 (15:13.57)
Thank you.

And I do have to say you have been in business now for 10 years you said? Over 10 years?

I've been in business since 1998, but before Huff Industrial Marketing, was DH Communications and I was a freelance copywriter. So yeah. So then

And you did freelance copywriting for some really, really well-known marketers, really well-known marketers. I remember you telling me.

And I walked away from all of it and everyone thought I was crazy.

Speaker 2 (15:40.142)
Tell me more. Why did you walk away?

So I started off in 1998 and then in 2001 the dot com bust hit and I lost all my clients because I was working with all these startups. Not that I had that many because I was still relatively new. And then someone called me and said, you know, I've been searching all over for this freelance, for a freelance copywriter. Do you know you're not, your website's not optimized? I'm like, what the hell is that?

This was when it was no longer open. So I started doing all this research and figured it all out. And this was before Google ads, Google, the Google search engine was just coming in. There was still AltaVista and Yahoo.

Alta Vista!

And so I started following all the big names like Jill Whalen and just learning everything. I completely redid my entire website based on how to do it. And I started using Overture, which was the precursor to Google ads. I think it got bought by Yahoo, but you could buy keywords and your website would show up. I did, test, I, to this day, I'm like,

Speaker 1 (16:57.132)
my God, there was so much serendipity. I, everyone called me freelance copywriter, but I tested MarCom Copywriter. Do you know, as soon as I started doing that, I was leads were flying in the door. So I started calling myself, I stopped calling myself a freelance copywriter and focused on B2B marketing or MarCom copywriting. that was in the old day. I still can't like now today, like if I get a lead a month.

Wow.

Speaker 1 (17:26.498)
Then was like three or four leads a week. was so.

It was like the early days when it wasn't so hard.

And then big companies like Thermo Fisher Scientific and other companies were having me come in to teach SEO. And I wrote this book, Turning Clicks into Leads through search engine optimization. I was getting all these interviews back when podcasts were just starting out. They were in their infancy writing articles, speaking at conferences. And then it just kept getting bigger and bigger.

Then I started doing more website work because I went from optimizing to writing content, to writing the whole website and working with different designers. so by, by 20, 2013, I was so burned out and I said, okay, I just want to focus on websites. Cause that was my love. I was really good at it. And so I made this huge switch and crashed and burned. It was pretty.

about income dropping, it was awful. It was a big mistake and I had to regroup. And so I didn't have any work. And I can laugh about it now, but at the time it was very serious. I was down to $7 in cash. So was the end of August. So I said, okay, I'm going to take the week off. And I rode my bike all over Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and just, you know, what do I want to do?

Speaker 1 (19:00.662)
What do I want to do? And I said, I don't want to go back and work for somebody.

Right. mean, once you get a taste of it, once you work for yourself, is like, you don't want to go back.

Well, I'm like, I've got to figure this out. And so I kept asking myself, what do I like to do? And I kept coming back to, love working with manufacturers because I had been doing that all along. So I tested it out for a couple of months. And then in December of 2014, I went to the State House and changed my name to Huff Industrial Marketing. Never looked back. Everyone thought I was crazy because that was in manufacturing. Everything was getting offshored.

Yeah.

I built it from, I built the whole thing from scratch.

Speaker 2 (19:44.28)
Yeah, you know, it's manufacturing is a hard, tough industry for market.

It's very tough. And just to go back to the $7, I bought an ice cream cone and I toured a museum I came across, one of those houses, old houses, $50 a tour.

Gosh, Diana, you have such moxie. What bravery. I love how when you got down to that $7, you know what I love about that? What? You got down to $7 and you could have asked the question, how can I make some money? But you didn't ask that question. You asked, what do I like to do? Diana, that's brilliant. And it shows to me how purpose-led that you are.

you

Speaker 1 (20:25.686)
No.

What do I like to do?

Speaker 2 (20:35.478)
and just how committed you are to like doing what you're, what you in your heart and soul want to do.

Thank you. Because you know, at the time I felt like an abject failure. Yes. I'm a marketer and I can't market my way out of a paper bag. That's what I keep telling myself.

I'm sure you did.

Speaker 2 (20:53.966)
And especially like it must have been so hard because you had really achieved so much. It's so different if you haven't achieved it. But to have reached the level that you had and then to just have a crash and burn after a decision that you made that you felt good about.

Yeah.

Like that is incredible Moxie and what a wonderful, wonderful. Also, like I love how when you got to that point, you decided to go outside and go biking. isn't that so beautiful? Like the cure for all our ills is just to go outside. Like, you know.

And that's what I did. It was an amazing week.

Did you sleep? That's what I want to know. Were you able to sleep?

Speaker 1 (21:47.566)
sleep. But I would and I had this bike, this old clunky bike, and it had a handlebar bag and every day I'd pack my lunch and water and I got a book from the library. that was the other thing I went over in Portsmouth. There's a huge museum complex thing of all those old villages. I forget the Strawberry Bank and the library had a free pass. So I got the free pass from the library drove my car

over there, rode over to me, came back, took off my cycle shoes and had sandals in my handlebar bag and I did the little tour of that. I had a great week. It was awesome.

I just think like, think of so many people like I might've just been like crying in my room like, my gosh, what do I do? You know? But yeah, but I'm sure that there were low moments too. It's never when things like when things like that, when bad things happen, but what a beautiful, beautiful comeback story, know? Yeah. And I can, I just see now in the work that you do just how passionate that you are about it. So good on you that you've, know,

Yeah. And I think from my own, like I haven't been an entrepreneur for nearly as long as you. My business is coming up on five years in February. Five years feels like a huge milestone. And it does like for anyone out there who's considering, you know, starting a business, you have to be prepared for the roller coaster. Like it's not going to be, you know, smooth sailing all the time. It's not going to be this.

Yeah, you'd have a stomach made of iron.

Speaker 2 (23:26.04)
you have to have a stomach made of iron. And if you don't, you'll have one.

Yes, we'll take that one soon enough.

what a beautiful story. you have any pictures? I'd love if you have pictures of that time of you biking. That would be super fun.

How do we do? Yeah, I might have some. cool.

Very cool. I want to know, I mean, clearly you are someone I massively admire, but I want to know who do you admire? Like who is a woman in history that has really inspired you? And I'd love to hear a story about her.

Speaker 1 (23:59.214)
This was a tough question because I've read too many books and there are too many women. there are, are women. here I'm doing show and oh, I was going to, I thought I was going to do show and tell. So I have this book, the president's house 1800 to the president's by Margaret Truman, who was the daughter of Harry Truman. And it's, is the most one I've read this several times. I love this book. Anytime I'm, you know, just need something to read. Cause

President's House.

Speaker 2 (24:28.963)
Yeah.

my brain is like going crazy. I just read this book and it's full of anecdotes about things that happened in the White House families, the White House families and their pets, marriage, kids, the of course the presidents, but there's also Margaret Truman covered many of the first ladies. So me, not just one woman, but it was the early first ladies that really

Cute.

Speaker 1 (24:57.58)
I hold dear in my heart because when the White House was first built, it took several, many years for it to be completed. So the first ladies, like I don't even think George Washington's wife lived there. I think the first one was Abigail Adams. So they're living in a construction zone. Congress didn't see fit to give them any money to run this house because it was a house. Why would we give you, you're living there.

And the house was open to the public. anyone could come through at any time. you know, you know, they didn't have electricity, they didn't have anything. So they're out there and they're out there in the middle of what was essentially the swamp, not the swamp. And because there was no Washington DC. And so to get out there, like they can only have parties when it was a full moon, because, you know, they might get lost.

These women hit up with a lot. And so, you know, like Abigail Adams, there's actually a painting showing her hanging the wash in what is now the East Room.

how funny. And the East Room is so beautiful. my gosh.

So, that's my favorite story.

Speaker 1 (26:09.484)
Yeah, so she's hanging the laundry, actually, so, know, as part of our country story. it was actually, I believe, one of hers, either a slave or a servant, because they would bring in the people who worked on their plantations to help. But anyway, it was a Black woman hanging the laundry. anyway, she's hanging the laundry in the East Room. And that's what I liked about this book, too, Margaret. She doesn't pull any punches.

anyway, the best story out of that early era is Dolly Madison. So she and her husband, James Madison went to France, to bring back things to furnish the White House. And, they would, they brought back some really nice things. Like, I don't, I couldn't even pronounce it, but it was this huge gold fil-gree thing that sat on the table at dinner and it had a mirror surface and it had all this, it was.

very ornate and beautiful and that and some other things. And so during the war of 1812, the British were coming and she was waiting for her husband and the soldiers to come and have dinner. She was making dinner for them. There was an animal and the rotisserie cooking and a horseman came riding up. You gotta leave, you gotta leave. Your husband's not coming. The British are coming. You gotta get out of here. So what does she do? You know, many, the thing I love about women

is that we can be so calm when there's an emergency. So like when my son had a bike accident and I get this blood curdling phone call, mom, like, oh my God, oh my God. And I have to go drive to him and there's like stuff coming out of his knee. Okay, let's get your bike in the trunk. Let's call dad, you know, I'm all calm. And then I break down later.

these old plum and she's like, well, okay, we got to tidy up the White House. got to, she came up with stuff she wants to save and puts it in the wagon. And the soldier was like, we got to get out of here. And then what does she do? She saves George Washington. So there's the big portrait of George Washington, the official portrait, which was nailed to the wall. So she broke the frame and took the canvas out and saved it. And then she said, okay, now we can go. And then the British came and burned down the house.

Speaker 1 (28:34.158)
Wow. So that's why I love that story.

That's incredible. It reminds me of, okay, so we had a recent guest on the show who talked about Nancy Wake. Do you know who Nancy Wake is? She was a spy during World War II. And I remember she was sharing a story about how literally she's a spy and she's in the middle of a war zone and they're like, okay, we got to get out of here. There's bombs dropping everywhere. And she realized she left her bag of makeup and creams behind.

Okay.

Speaker 1 (29:06.754)
He's going to be so...

So she like runs back to get her makeup and creams.

makeup and cream. Exactly. You know, it's like, you know, women. Yeah, I love that. It's so true. We are calm in a crisis and, and she knew what she needed to do and she did it.

Right? Yeah, yeah, that's why I like that story.

I love Dolly Madison too. She was such a vivacious and charming person.

Speaker 1 (29:34.84)
Yeah, she was the arbiter of social Washington. You know, now the other thing about these first ladies, they did a lot of work behind the scenes, and they don't get a lot of credit for it. And, you know, they they made their opinions known. And presidents would buckle under them.

Yeah. Abigail Adams. She was a force. Yeah, for sure. Very, very cool. I love that story so much. And it's so interesting about the East Room, like for listeners who've never been to the East Room, had the chance. So I toured the White House once and they take you through and you get to go into the East Room and it's the biggest room in the White House.

I've been there.

Speaker 1 (30:16.142)
Right. Because the whole function is there. Like someone got married. I forget which daughter got married there. Was it one of the Nixon daughters? Oh, you know what? Let's find out. Who got married there? Yeah. No, I think one of the Nixon daughters had her high school prom in the East Room.

there's several notable weddings that have taken place in the East Room. So one of the most famous is the marriage of Nellie Grant, the daughter of President Ulysses Grant. And Linda Bird Johnson, the daughter of President LBJ. Interesting. Wow. So that's so cool.

That's right, yeah.

Speaker 1 (30:54.29)
all those stories are in this book that I love this book it's just full it's so easy to read and it's just full of all these anecdotes about the White House.

can't wait. I'm going to totally read it. Amazing. Yeah. And I just, it's funny for me to like picture like laundry being hung in the East room, which now has these beautiful chandeliers and mirrors. And it's just like, you know, yes. that's such a cool story. Well, so, okay. I would love to know, you know, what is something that you love and admire about yourself, Diana?

Well, I would say the fact that once I decide to do something, I do it. So I may hem and haw about it for weeks and months, but once I decide, then I do it. you know, going into business for myself, when I first started in 1998, I literally woke up that morning and said, I'm not going to go get another full time job. I'm going to stay at home and work and take care of James. You he was a year old, a little over a year old. And so I just, did it, you know, and, and

Were you scared?

I was not scared. was, because back then I belonged to the IABC International Association of Business Communicators. And they had, you this was the old days and they had a print directory of all the memberships, members by state. So I just called all the people in Massachusetts at corporations and that's how I got my first gigs.

Speaker 2 (32:20.799)
Okay.

Speaker 2 (32:31.446)
love your moxie. It's so cool. And with a one year old at home too. So cool.

Yes, like 10 to 15 hours a week. He went to in-home daycare during those hours. But the rest of the time, I remember, you know, sitting outside in a little lawn chair with my feet in the waiting pool while he was smoking. Those were good days. Took him to the park, the library. I cherish those days. I really do.

Yeah, I think it's a beautiful example of how you were able to find balance at when you needed it. I think as women, it's important for us to recognize that we go through phases in life and that at certain phases of our life, we might need more space and time to dedicate to certain things than others. And how can we kind of flex and bend depending on what...

is important in our lives at those times of our life. And it doesn't always need to be, okay, I'm going to work a nine to five job no matter what, you know, like really understanding and knowing for yourself, what, you know, what do I need right now? How can I flex and bend at this phase of my life and giving ourselves a little bit of grace in those moments, you know, is important. Yeah.

Yes, I agree. Yeah. So and then some of the other things that I've done. And I already told you about this one driving to Mansfield, Missouri by myself to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. So that was that was I was terrified. I had never done that before. So that was exciting driving there and back making the commitment to buy made in USA starting the blog.

Speaker 1 (34:10.38)
renovating this house. I I call it my project house, know, guys have project cars. This is my project house.

So, looking back on all those choices that you made to really just go for it, right? You went for it when you started your first business. You went for it when you went on that road trip. was something that was really important to you that you needed. You went for it when you renovated your house. What did you notice? What did you notice changed in you once you decided to go for it? And in the world around you maybe, you know?

I think the thing that it just made me see it's sort of like a lesson I have to keep relearning that all of my years are just that they're made up in my head. But I have to keep relearning it constantly. I don't know why. But there's a lot of fear in there.

You're not alone. You're not alone. think that fear is like, mean, I almost feel like we're hardwired, right? Like it's an evolutionary thing to fear. We're always constantly looking for threats and danger and how can we stay safe and how can we survive? And so I think to your point, the fear is never going to fully go away, but the more that we lean into it and just do it anyway, you're right. We're just retraining ourselves and that laws us to take bigger and bigger risks.

and face bigger and bigger fears and overcome bigger and bigger challenges, the more we kind of like train ourselves and look back and see, my gosh, look what I did when I overcame this fear. Look what I created in the world.

Speaker 1 (35:52.214)
write those down and reframe things. You know, when I hear myself, no, you're not really a successor. no, you really can't do that. I'll rewrite those things that I've done, the achievements, and from a very positive perspective and just reframing things is very helpful.

I love that. Such a word of wisdom. man, I can talk to you all day, Diana. You light me up. You so light me up. So I have one final question for you. And that is, what advice would you give to young women who are just coming into adulthood now? Maybe they're in college and they're trying to figure out where to go next.

Nice.

Speaker 2 (36:40.142)
And you've already given ton of advice in this episode. It's like full of wisdom, but like, what would be your final kind of like gift that you could give to young women who are coming up that you maybe would have wanted to get when you were that age?

Yeah, so my advice is always have a dream or dreams. So the reason I say that, so I'm going to tell you my story. So my first job out of college, I worked for the Northern California Marine Association. So I was the membership coordinator, which is the highfalutin title for secretary back in the day, no internet, right? Learned how to type on the IBM Selectric.

I'm typing up the association newsletter and a woman who worked in the office would write it and I'm thinking, this is so deadly. This is so boring. This is so bloody awful. And I'm typing and I said, is it okay if I write a story for this? And she's like, please do go. So I was the membership coordinator. So I started interviewing members, writing their stories and they

would get put in this newsletter and people started calling. Well, can you interview me? And that's where I feel like I, felt my, my calling, right? I loved interviewing people. just loved their stories and telling them. And so, due to political stuff, I, that job didn't last only, it only lasted nine months. So when I left, said, I was, I was, said, I'm going to be a freelance writer. And at the same time,

I met this woman who was older, who married with children, and she wrote for one of the sailing publications in the San Francisco Bay Area. And I loved her work. Every time the issue came out every month, she was in it. I read her story first. She wasn't a reporter. She wrote stories. they were so good. mean, they weren't like, anyway, she wasn't factually recording something.

Speaker 1 (38:44.238)
telling something, but in a very story, storyful way. And I loved her writing. I got to meet her. got to go to her workshop. And I got to see her setup. So she had this little desk with a typewriter and that's where she worked. And then she had this four drawer file cabinet and she had a manuscript sitting on her desk and we were talking blah, blah, blah. And she said, yeah, I just finished this one. And she opened the drawer.

and she could barely stuff the manuscript in. All four drawers were stuffed full of manuscripts because she was a very successful freelance writer. And in that instant, I was like, this is what I want to be. This is who I want to be. I want to work at home and sit at my little desk and have all of these manuscripts, right? Just pouring out of a file cabinet. This is what I want. So...

I couldn't make enough money to support myself being a freelance copywriter. went back to school, got my master's degree in English, and then started working for Varian. So when I went out on my own in 1998, that's when I became a professional freelance copywriter. I wasn't really writing stories, but I was writing and I was getting paid for it. So that's all good. And I did write, I would publish articles and, but they were all about marketing and you know, so.

Then when Rachel Cunliffe, my web designer and I, started the magazine, which we had just stopped doing, Manufacturing Marketing Magazine. That's when I started interviewing manufacturers again. And then we stopped the magazine and that's when I, and that was that coalesced with the blog. And so here I am again, interviewing these manufacturers, having them tell me their stories about how they started.

their companies, all these challenges they had to overcome. And so when I published that Sarah Campbell piece, I realized my dream had come full circle. I brought all this stuff for show and tell because I thought we're to do a video. So I'll show it to you. But I have this picture frame. when I had James, someone gave me a gift and I got a card and it said, dreams are gifts we give ourselves. I'm going to cry. Sorry, I'm going to cry.

Speaker 1 (41:03.406)
I saved that card out of all the cards I got. That was the one I saved. was in his baby book. And I don't know why I saved it. It sat in there for years. And then someone gave me the frame with the mat. There was nothing inside of it. It was just an empty frame. But this is you can see from the mat, see it fits the card perfectly. And I, and it, when I got the frame, I thought, I know what will fit in there. That card, I just like, had forgotten about it all those years. And then it came back. So I put it there.

And it's in my bedroom to remind me to always make sure I have dreams because they are gifts. And that's why I don't know if you've seen some of my posts on LinkedIn. say dreams are goals. They're gifts. They're gifts that we give ourselves. that to come full circle, that's why for 2025, I'm giving myself the gift of writing my blog and making it a priority.

You brought me to tears. That's incredible. My gosh. So inspiring. You're so inspiring.

So beautiful. I'm gonna try, sorry.

Speaker 1 (42:08.12)
I just wanted to thank you because it was your questions that got me to do. I've been thinking about them since you sent them to me. So thank you.

Good. I'm glad. Yeah. Thank you for like the gift of you and bringing all the goodness and just wonder that you have to this conversation. It's been so inspiring to me and I know it will be for our listeners. Dreams are the gifts that we give ourselves. That is so powerful. And it's so important for us to give ourselves gifts like that. I think especially as women.

There's so much.

We give everything to everybody else.

Yes.

Speaker 1 (42:50.614)
Yes, I mean I do the dog, the house, James when he was growing up, everything, everybody always came first, everybody else, know, work.

Yeah. But the beautiful thing is, that when you give yourself those gifts, you are enlarged to then give more to the people around you. Yes. It has to like, when it comes from that place, you just expand in a really beautiful and powerful way. And I think it's a really good way for people, for women to see like, there's no shame in wanting to give yourself something. It only fills the world with more of your gifts and greatness, you know?

So, you so much Diana for that. That's lovely. How do I go back to work after this?

I'm gonna go like run rocky around and calm down.

Yeah, go outside and go for a walk. I think I might need to just like digest all of this goodness. I mean, so much wisdom. I love your advice to go how can you go about finding your dreams and that I think is important for women too. So cool. Love it. Well, thanks so much for joining us, Diana. If you hold on for just a second, I'll end the show. We have a little outro that we put on. So it's been a pleasure to have you and one last thing.

Speaker 2 (44:14.86)
How can our listeners get in touch with you if they would like to learn more about your blog or your...

blog is keep it made. stuffy nose. Keep it made. USA.com is the blog URL, but it's also part of my website, huffindustrialmarketing.com. And you can follow me on LinkedIn. That's the only place where I'm active. So I'm trying for energy. Cool. Yeah, I'm on LinkedIn. And then my website where you'll find the blog huffindustrialmarketing.com. That's our

That's for today's episode of Hello Moxie. I hope you felt that unbreakable thread connecting you to the women of the past, to the trailblazing pioneers of today. Their stories of audacity, resilience, and courage are a powerful reminder of what's possible for you when you choose to live with Moxie.