Growing A Creative Business with Tara Street

Kathleen Shannon 0:01
Hello and welcome to being boss,

Emily Thompson 0:04
a podcast for creative entrepreneurs. I'm Emily Thompson.

Tara Street 0:08
And I'm Kathleen Shannon. I'm Tara Street and I am being bought.

Emily Thompson 0:16
Today we're excited to welcome back Tara St. Kathleen sister and co founder of braid creative. As always, you can find all the tools, books and links we reference on the show notes at WWW dot being boss dot club.

Kathleen Shannon 0:31
I know that we have a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs and side hustlers listening to the show. So if you're sitting there thinking about becoming your own boss, there is a good chance that your idea of how challenging it will be, won't exactly match up with the reality of how challenging it's actually going to be. Now, this is not an attempt to talk you out of it. In fact, it is the exact opposite. Because there is so much amazing help available, you've just got to know where to look. So our friends at freshbooks make it ridiculously easy to do cloud accounting for small businesses and they have helped millions of folks just like you make the brave leap to being their own bosses. With freshbooks you can create and send perfect looking invoices in less than 30 seconds. You can also take photos of your receipts from your phone, which makes managing your expenses a million times easier. Now to see how freshbooks can support you and becoming your own boss we want to offer our listeners an unrestricted 30 day free trial Just go to freshbooks comm slash being boss and enter being boss in the How did you hear about us section.

Emily Thompson 1:40
Terrorists DRI is the co founder with Kathleen of braid creative at branding agency or they develop a brand positioning messaging and design for creative entrepreneurs and purpose driven businesses seeking a brand platform that fits their true vision.

Kathleen Shannon 1:58
Tara, what we're so excited to have you here.

Tara Street 2:05
Response why I thought we I thought we were still not we hadn't finished account.

We are in the podcast now. Like what what do you want? We I'm just trying to do my thing. And you guys are calling me bugging me. wanting me to play with you.

Kathleen Shannon 2:28
I know it is kind of like that. is kind of like that. Well, I'm

Emily Thompson 2:32
glad you're here. Tara. I'm so glad you're here to play with us today.

Kathleen Shannon 2:36
Tara is probably our only podcast guest he's like fine. Fine, I'll come if you want me to. Oh, yeah. What do you want me to say? I know, you know, whenever I was thinking about recording this episode, I usually do a little bit of prep, and I'm thinking about it during my workout. And I was like, could we just kind of pretend like we're not even recording a podcast and just catch up the three of us,

Emily Thompson 3:00
right? I just want to shoot the shit with Tara. Yeah, really fun.

Kathleen Shannon 3:05
All right, so let's just pretend like we're doing that. But we're gonna be talking about braid. And evolving business. Yes. Yeah. And please do growing a team. Yeah, and how we're making it work. Right. So

Emily Thompson 3:19
for anyone who doesn't know, proper introduction here, Tara here is Kathleen sister. Yay. And partner at braid creative. So the two of them started bright green of what, six, seven years ago now? Yeah, about six years ago, right. And in that time that you guys have evolved a ton. I feel like the most evolution though, has probably taken place in the past like, year and a half. Probably since the last time you were on the show chatting with us about whatever we were talking about. Now, a lot of exciting things have been going on. And that's what I want to talk about today. I want to catch up on everything that's been happening at braid. Okay,

Kathleen Shannon 4:00
so Tara, start by what have we been known for over at braid creative? Okay, so

Tara Street 4:05
I would say over the past five years, what we've been most known for is branding and positioning, other creative entrepreneurs, wellness, entrepreneurs, coaches, designers, photographers, fun little random, like people that have maybe a bookstore, they're opening or you're mostly people, though, that are selling a service. And a lot of them are doing it on their own, or they're doing it with a partner. I don't really use the word startup because that implies sort of tech, right? So more, you know, we really embrace that creative entrepreneur, name, whatever that means. And that's what we've really been helping for the past five years. And then in the last year, maybe a little more time flies. We have been kind of busy The braid method, which is sort of our process for working with these creative entrepreneurs, back to some organizations and medium sized to even larger size businesses that we used to work with back in the advertising agency days, which Kathleen and I, we grew up in that world. And we were like, hey, maybe we could bring some of what we've been learning out, I hate to use this word, but out with the millennial minded, you know, solopreneurs or working with bring it back to the organization's you could really use that insight for their brand, and articulating their purpose as well. So that's what I've been doing with our offering. Some physical things have been happening

Kathleen Shannon 5:47
at the same time, right. So I think it's funny, because whenever I first started working for myself, or yourself, the ad agency, and I was doing super freelance project work, like designing wedding invitations, maybe doing a logo here and there, but we did not have a process like we do now. And whenever we started braid, creative, I felt like I grew up a little bit with the creative entrepreneur and our creative entrepreneurs grew up with us, right. So I have a lot of people following my personal blog that were also freelancing and doing project work, Emily included because Emily hired us for the braid method way back in the day, and was one of our first clients. And so really taking that agency strategy that we had learned from those days, and taking it to creative entrepreneurs and helping them message and position themselves in this more top level way, and really creating a whole brand platform and not just a logo. And so that still includes identity and design, but kind of like across the board,

Tara Street 6:48
right? It's like what's your specialty? What's your expertise? Who is your dream client? What is the best content you share? What is most inspiring thing about your personality, all of those things go into our brain method.

Kathleen Shannon 6:59
And so I feel like I grew up starting braid creative with you as career wise, like it pushed me to the next level. And now I feel like five, six years into it, that we're having that growth, again, both for ourselves and our dream clients. So a lot of those creative entrepreneurs that we were serving five years ago, have gone on to create their own small businesses where they're expanding and growing their teams, or they're going in and consulting with really large clients themselves. And with that, like I just feel like there's this constant growth, yes, with us and our clients at the same time.

Tara Street 7:39
And I also think that another thing that happens for us and for you guys, is there's a lot of people who follow along with braid, who listen to being boss, who maybe don't work for themselves, and they enjoy hearing the philosophies, insights and stories, but maybe they're a marketing director in a larger business, right, or they work in house somewhere. And so there's a lot of that overlap, as well.

Emily Thompson 8:08
I have a question, did the growth at braid happen? Because you were getting clients coming to you asking for things that you weren't yet offering? Or did you change? Or did you grow up braid in order to go after those people? Like,

Unknown Speaker 8:26
how did that happen?

Tara Street 8:28
It's definitely more of the ladder. Whenever I say former or ladder, I have to think really hard.

Unknown Speaker 8:39
It's all weird. Nope. I've

Kathleen Shannon 8:42
heard about things all the time. The second one. So just to clarify, we grew braid in a very intentional way in order to go after some of those,

Tara Street 8:52
right? Because there, and we'll get into this in this episode, I have a very funny and passionate and mixed feelings about braid before this evolution of braid after. Okay, and so one of the things was, we always said no, to the extra things, people want it from us. We always said no to clients who weren't fit. With our specialty in our niche. For the most part. We broke the rules every once in a while. But it was always for a reason. We knew our rules. We knew our boundaries. We knew we wanted to be known for working with creative entrepreneurs, but also sort of small business. You know, there's some wiggle room around that. Where there wasn't wiggle room is everyone who wanted to work with braid. And this is still the case has to hire us to do the braid method first, and that's our branding and positioning process. And then let's see, let's see if there's other things you need from us. Some things are up fit for some things we're not if you have additional things you want us to design or right for you after We've done your brand, great. If you want us to do your website, after we've done your brand, maybe not. But we have some great partners that we can recommend. So we knew very clearly what our offering was. And we did not break the rules around that. But what we did break the rules around was sometimes who we'd work with. So it wasn't like all of a sudden, we had larger organizations saying, Oh, we want to work with pray to, but we can't, we had a little bit of that. I feel like it was more like, Hey, I think there is a need for this out there. What would we have to do at braid, to make that feel like something we could take on working with larger clients? And still asking every day? Is this a rule from the old gray days that we're willing to break? Or is this something that we need to do?

Kathleen Shannon 10:54
I also want to talk a little bit about the fact that we came from the agency side where we had experience working with huge clients and huge budgets. And we thought out the gate, that might be what we were doing. But again, because of my personal brand and what I had been doing, I was like, hey, let's try this creative entrepreneur thing. And we did it and it worked. And it worked really, really well.

Tara Street 11:16
So super exciting to that we can take a method and be able to work with it. I feel like maybe five creative entrepreneurs a month, because of how structured and process oriented we were. And we were getting, we still are. So funny how we're being passive, we still work with two to three creative entrepreneurs a month, we just have to schedule very carefully, right? But but it was so cool that we can bring that same level of not only creative strategy and messaging to so many, because we were so process oriented and had so many systems for how you did it.

Kathleen Shannon 11:52
And we got so defined in that world that I feel like it almost took us five years of really being in that world with the creative entrepreneurs and really honing our process in order to almost have the confidence to really break our rule and what we're known for and evolve in this new way. What didn't you say, Tara? Like,

Tara Street 12:08
yeah, if we had done it earlier, we would have felt like, what are we doing? And why are we doing this, and I think we would have lost our focus, but because we have been doing it for so long in the same niche with the same focus. We're like, okay, we can still keep that and do this. If we build a team. I think if it had just stayed just being you, Kathleen and Liz, our designer, we would have had to make a choice. Let's keep specialized in creating computers. That's great that that hire, you know, that university wants to work with us. Or that financial institution wants to work with us. But that's not our focus as distraction. But I think it was when I became clear that we wanted to grow our team that we knew, okay, we can do both. And so we preach a lot about specializing and narrowing in for people who are one person in two people. And but also knowing when it's okay to break your rules and broadened out. And can I also jump in and say another motivation for this. And this gets a little more personal between the difference between my strengths and Kathleen strengths as original founders and partners of braid. And that Kathleen's always been really great and embracing new ways to scale and I just talk about scaling a lot and reaching more people. You know, Kathleen, what was your original MySpace?

Kathleen Shannon 13:32
So it's called, like, live journal, I think, live journal in my space for sure, right?

Tara Street 13:37
It's a Kathleen's, like 10 years old or whatever online peace of mind journal, and I didn't even have an email. I started my first job. Right? They didn't have email at

Kathleen Shannon 13:46
college like me because I was actually embarrassed to have those things because you didn't like doing something wrong.

Emily Thompson 13:52
Oh, real deep. So let's talk about how uncomfortable you are with your internet persona back then a Catholic kid interesting.

Kathleen Shannon 14:03
Not that it was a strength I thought it was silly.

Tara Street 14:06
Yeah, right. Because my older sister doesn't do that this isn't real. So that's the seven year difference between Kathleen and i that is a kind of a big difference. And so anyway, Kevin has always been really comfortable with that one too many. Right? Speaking one to many and even you guys teaming up and doing being boss in the early days it was so cool because I can see how you guys were reaching so many people the same people we were working with one on one now you're able to reach so many for the podcast and now the book whereas I really thrive in the one on one and I love when I'm working with a client one on one. I'm just in in it with them. I'm just in the zone I'm like in my sweet spot. And I've always said I cannot I really get the heebie jeebies GB is giving a talk. So nowadays everyone feels like they should give a talk or they should you do all these things that so many of They're doing well. But not everyone is suited to that. And it just kind of freaks me out getting a talk. And most people who know me are like, you're great at talking in front of people, what are you talking about? And they go, I'm great at talking in front of people, if I'm talking one on one with them, or 20 people, a boardroom, these guys can be suited up in a boardroom, and I'm talking to them, but it's about their project. It's about the thing that we're creating together, it's about the hard line telling them they need to follow, because I have immersed myself in that work. But it's harder for me to just share content, broadly. So the point of this being I think, when you guys were able, like Kathleen has been able to embrace and you guys have been boss have been able to reach more people want to Mini, that's a great way to grow a business, right? That's one way to scale and grow. The way I knew that I can continue to help also be a leader in braid and help grow us is by maybe taking all these things that we've learned and grown and take them back to some companies that have some budgets, and they've got some need, and we can help them. Because we're just as boss in their boardroom, as we are talking with the creative entrepreneurs. And so that's something it was a choice to make, for a way to bridge grow. So we were always doing the same thing forever. But we're not giving up on our creative authors, either. We're just finding a way that they can both coexist.

Emily Thompson 16:25
I want to talk about making that choice, because I doubt it was like just an overnight decision. Like, when did it start? And how long did it take for you to like, actually, like, there hadn't been a seed planted, and then an actual decision, and then actual implementation and completion like how what did that process look like? And how long was it?

Tara Street 16:47
Again, time's funny for us, because on one hand, Kathleen, and I know you're like this to Emily, like, once we decide something, we're doing it and we're doing it tomorrow. And why didn't we do it yesterday? For sure. The other hand, when your business is going good, and all systems are green, and everything's happening, like it should even take a little more time then figuring out how do I want to screw this all up?

Emily Thompson 17:17
Which mistakes Am I gonna make?

Tara Street 17:19
Because it it's messy going through growth, it's messy when you first start your business. And then you you're working towards this, this place where you feel like you know what you're doing, and you got it going on. And we had that for a long time. And then it gets messy when you want to grow again. And so I am not as comfortable with many. As many people are being in that messy place for long. Or the chaos I like getting into the everything Phil is feeling good. And I know what I'm just be doing today zone quickly. So to issue your question, one of our our new partners, not one of our new partner Holly, who I'm sure have a discussion about this is someone who I've been friends and colleagues with for a long time. And so she's someone, if you'd asked me years ago, would you partner with this person? I'd be like, no, we're so opposite. But as I've grown, as a business owner and creative director myself, I've learned to value and respect someone who has a completely different skill set than myself. Whereas younger Tara would have been like, what you're not detailed and process oriented like me, I don't have any use for you. You know, if you don't know how to pull out these seven things in an organized way, you just need to like move along. And now I'm you know, I like someone who can be like, here's the big vision and here's where we wouldn't want to do next. Here's where we should go with this. And I'll be like, okay, let's make that happen. Because that's sort of the thing Kathleen have going on. Kathleen can say I think we should go this place next. And I can say okay,

Kathleen Shannon 18:59
let me help figure out how to get there. Part of this is that I was spending so much time over at being boss, that it was like okay, I'm not there as much for Tara to be how do we grow and push braid in this way? And there were some really messy conversations as far as your do we keep braid going as it is, am I still a part of it? Do I go full time being boss and this is a conversation I was having with you at the same time Emily about indie shop autography. And we've had to make some hard choices. And at the end of the day, I knew one that I love braid. I love the people I work with that braid, obviously it's my family literally. And I I just really value the work and I value being in the work and so I knew that I wanted to stay in it but I also knew that Tara needed the support and the person like I have you Emily liked her I needed one more person be in it with her. Yeah. And at the same time, we didn't know that I was going to be moving at the time. So I think it's all worked out really well that she has Physically in the space with her, so we also got a studio space, which is really super cool, but having Holly there in the space too, and I get along with Holly really well, too. I want this to sound like it's just Taryn Holly over there making decisions for braid. Now the three of us are very much in it together. Even last night, I was texting Holly like about this decision I had to make regarding a speaking gig. And um, you know, so like, we're all very much in it together and all this to say that was part of the messy part. And Holly offers this different level of support, but she also offers a whole new skill set as far as growing our team from just being branding and getting really into advertising. So Holly also has a background in media and buying media and that is like a whole new ball of wax for

Tara Street 20:46
us. You guys want to buy a printer? Okay, yes, we added a partner and that was took took a while It took about a year and a half, we'll come back to the printer. First adding the partner. You know a lot of you guys if you've listened to both I talked about this in the last episode, but I've got my little shed in the garden in the backyard, which was like a fantasy come true. And I worked back there for about two years loved my shed. Holly was coming to work in the shed cap when Holly started coming to work in the shed. Kathleen's like Why don't I hit a come work in the shed. I was like, fine.

Kathleen Shannon 21:25
Why I don't get to come work in the shed. Yeah. For me, I'm like, wait, I'm like, I'm like Gwyneth Paltrow and Railton and bombs, or I'm like, I need to move back home to

Tara Street 21:38
he can move home. I'm damaged too. I need to move home too. So yes, totally. So we were in this like 14 by 14 foot shed, Kathleen Holly, our designer who was interning for the summer. We're like, we need a space. So that was the next thing. So we got to space, we found it in a new build area and a cool Arts District. And our city is really cool. We built it out. And I'm looking around there right now. And I can't believe it. So that we had room for a team. And so they took about a year. And we kind of call it like living together. You know, so we've been sort of fantasizing about what it'd be like to add Holly on and to add that new layer to braid. We started working on a couple projects together. So I was we were just contracting with her to try it on. We were for both sides, our side and her side. So if any, you guys are thinking about adding a partner, this is a great way to do it. You know, she had her own little, you know, LLC, the vision was always the partner, but just set it up enough to where we could contract together. And then we started working on the paperwork, and the details and all the little legal bullets and ins and outs and making the operating agreement, which Kathleen and I did not have one. Right. Five years, we didn't have an operating agreement

Emily Thompson 23:06
agreement. And that's a hard conversation to have, like operating agreements, like having those conversations around, you know, what happens when we all die? Or what happens when one of us gets pissed and wants to leave or like whatever it may be, or even like, you know, leaving in a friendly manner, like all of that stuff. Those are really hard conversations to have. I cannot imagine having one with my sister.

Kathleen Shannon 23:31
I feel like that's easier in some ways. There was like, that's easier because we're practically psychic. I mean, we really feel each other. Yeah, big time. And, and so, yeah, I think that that that's also something about bringing on a third partner is because we feel each other so much like there can be business meetings that end in tears, right? Right. Whereas whenever you have that third person there is this like layer of professionalism, like okay, let's not cry in front of me suck it up a little and not be so sensitive. Um, but it was it was tricky. I think one of the hardest parts was that what if you leave situation and for some reason with sisters, it's like, okay, we always want the best for each other. And we will always be sisters first. Whenever you're being in that third person, it's like, okay, we're bringing her into it did feel a little bit like we're bringing her into our fold, which is true, because we had the established, established brand and we had all of that. There's also talks about buying in and I'm not going to share a lot of the details about that just for Holly's privacy. But it was a tricky conversation. It ended up working out fine. And I think the hard part about it was like the non compete and really realizing I had a grandfather in being boss as an exclusion to a lot of the things I couldn't do now for braid creative. Anyway, that's that's where it got really kind of messy, but also we worked it out.

Emily Thompson 25:00
I feel like that's kind of do you guys feel like that's like the most adult conversation you've ever had? Exactly like that could be like one of the most adult conversations that's like, career path planning and like, sort of like a communal career path planning amongst like three, like ambitious people who want to do amazing things, obviously together. But that just sounds, that's a sure well, what

Tara Street 25:26
really helps. So it's I mean, we love having deep, serious conversations, what is helpful about, like, putting it on paper, is having an attorney who helps guide us through it, you know, and like, we would even make her hop on with us and just talk us through it plain speak, because we would just go down the rabbit hole of getting too deep and off the rails with it. And we needed someone to say, Okay, now just, this means this, move on to the next bullet. Okay, this means this, because I think most creative entrepreneurs are probably like us where, I don't know, they'll go there. Like, I'll just go down the rabbit hole of talking about every aspect of what this can mean, or entail. If one of us leaves or someone does this, or someone does that. And I rather I like having an expert on the other side. So I think hiring a lawyer was a big bonus to help us through not getting so sucked down the drama hole. And we're like, Okay, this is just normal. Let's move on to the next thing. And just getting it done. I

Kathleen Shannon 26:28
want to highlight Emily, you said this communal word. And I will say that beyond the operating agreement, and having hiring like a legit lawyer to help us walk through it, there is this element of trust that at the end of the day, you feel like you're doing that trust fall. And I've got it with Tara, obviously, I have it with Holly, I have it with you, Emily. And it's one of those things where you have to say okay, at the end of the day, we have each other's backs. And we promise to be good people. And like our goal is never to screw anyone else over. Our goal is always to grow and build this amazing thing together. And I think we have to constantly remind ourselves of that, because whenever you're doing an operating agreement, you're constantly going to worst case scenario of someone being brought on as a third partner and then quitting the next day and you have to pay them out 1000s and 1000s of dollars. This being boss episode is brought to you by 2020s, where creative minds get authentic real world stock photos. If you're looking to tell a true story through your brand to deliver an honest message to your audience on social media, the photos you use will matter. 2020 has crowdsource millions of photos from a community of over 350,000 photographers, all available under a simple royalty free license. Today, they're offering listeners of being boss a five photo free trial to start yours right now go to 20 twenty.com slash being boss. That's the word 20, then to zero.com slash being boss to get five free photos.

Emily Thompson 28:04
But I want to talk about just growing your team as well, because it didn't just stop it adding on Holly braid has gotten even bigger than that.

Tara Street 28:13
Yes, we we've always had Liz, our brand designer, she does all of our brand design. She's an amazing creative director and a writer. And then we also added another client strategist, sort of what you would call, like an account manager, who she can really take the lead with our organizational clients, we do a lot of facilitating workshopping. And there's just a lot of back and forth. And honestly, I mean, Kathy, and I can do it. But we've gotten pretty spoiled by our own method, which has very specific touch points that we meet with our clients. And we have very specific deliverables. But as we grow and things get Messier, more traditional clients expect a lot more customer service back and forth. And so we knew that that wasn't our wheelhouse. And so we added someone else to help with that as well. And so yeah, we're just growing, we're probably going to be hiring a new designer soon.

Kathleen Shannon 29:13
So and we also been working with a lot more vendors. So we're hiring video crews and managing those, you know, budgets and projects. And we're working with outside vendors for more print stuff and media. And so we're growing beyond just our team in that way as well. And I've really feel like Terry, you can speak to this too, a little bit. I feel like we're investing in our business in a whole new way. Whereas we've always kind of bootstrapped things. And if we're getting a paycheck, we're paying ourselves and Emily and I are experiencing this over at being boss as well with a few big ideas that we have in the pipeline. We're we're kind of putting money back into the business and taking bigger leaps with bigger zeros at the end of them than we ever have before. And that's kind of it It feels like a very big growth milestone for me. And I wonder if any of our listeners are going through it as well. Because like, whenever you're just working for yourself, you kind of get to keep everything that you make you're paying your bills, whenever you're investing in a team, it is this whole other ecosystem that you really have to be cognizant of and aware of. And there's a lot of trust and a lot of accounting and scary stuff that goes into it when you guys say,

Emily Thompson 30:25
Yeah, sure. And I want to hear terror from you. Like, how do you feel about such a big shift and how money is managed at braid, because that's been your job at brave, oh, my goodness gracious. So the exact spiration

Tara Street 30:44
in the middle of that right now, which is I really loved doing the books, and looking at the money and managing the money. I love that part of my role abrade, I loved my little dashboard, when I'd open up my accounting software, and I saw the money coming in and the money going out. I love sending invoices to clients. It was fun,

Kathleen Shannon 31:10
thank fresh books, cloud accounting.

Tara Street 31:15
Fun, but now it's getting to the point where I can tell it's not going to be fun. for one second longer, it's going to be complicated. And so we're also contracting with a CPA who has more experience with firms and agencies and figuring out how that works. And that's been really hard for me letting go of that control, for sure. And it hasn't even really happened yet. We're in the transition right now. So I still get to some invoices today, which is kind of fun. And I still get to open our mail and look at some bills that came in. And that's kind of I think that part's fun, too. I love it. I don't know why. So anyway, um, as we're shifting over, and I'm shifting all those responsibilities over it's, it's been really hard for me, like, the day that you choose to come in, and we were gonna transition everything over to her, I kind of got a little teary eyed, like I almost I was gonna cry, because I just felt so sentimental about what we were able to accomplish in those first five years on our own as two creative directors. And I will say that the same kind of emotion plays into the physical space. So we opened our physical space, big sign on the door in a very trafficked populated area. Like we're a firm, right? We're an agency, and we had so many of our vendors, like Kathleen was talking about videographers, photographers, talent agents, printers, past clients, other peers in our city who have had firms all these years, be like, Oh, my gosh, you guys, congratulations is such a big deal. Oh, my goodness. And I wanted to be like, yeah, it's nice that you guys don't realize we were a really big deal. Before we open this storefront, like, and I feel like almost defensive about it. Like you don't even know, like, we were more legit than you can imagine doing this from home, online, in a shed. But when you got into our content, and you got into our strategy and our business model, and us working together, and our books, and the money, we were legit. And so now all of a sudden, everyone be like, Oh my gosh, you guys finally made it. I'm like no, if anything, things are about to get messy. Before we make it again. Does that make sense? Like now we're investing in a different type of model. We're just doing it a different more physical way. And yes, we have to order a printer. And we have to order physical checks need to order physical checks that you print in the printer, like

Kathleen Shannon 34:00
what even is a check, right? Those are in the printer, and worse night.

Tara Street 34:05
Why are we doing this online? Because not all vendors and traditional partners and colleagues can do it that way. And so it's very interesting me figuring out what I want to stick to my guns to and go, No, I know, this is the way it used to be done. But this has worked for braid in this new world, you guys and let's just keep operating this way. And what I have to let go and go, okay, we can order checks. Okay, we can order from

Kathleen Shannon 34:33
Jonathan. I'm glad that you're mentioning this because I think that when the huge mindset shift we've had to make is that we're not. I think one of the phrases that we use a lot is like going back to the agency model and going back to the agency days and this idea of going back and remembering we're not going back to anything. We have created something pretty incredible, in a whole new way on our own terms over the past five years. And now we are bringing The way that things were into this new model. And so even in our physical space, I remember thinking, well, I guess we need to get the same kind of decorations we had back at our old office and then having this moment of like, Oh, no, no, we can make our office look like jungalow style, we can make it cover in rugs and textiles. And we can make it look like whatever we want to. And so for me that the physical space is kind of this representation of, Oh, we can do it in our way. And we can choose how that looks for us. And so the same applies to how we work with our vendors, and how we work with our clients, and really bringing what we've learned, and our expertise and our experience, both in the agency and the creative entrepreneur world into this new world. And that's the other thing with working with businesses and organizations, kind of backtracking to what we were talking about before is that I think that in the past five years, they've really come to understand in a more mainstream and almost intuitive way, what it is to be a creative entrepreneur, I think more and more people are quitting their jobs and working as contractors, more companies are adopting these like kind of flexible work miles. Yeah. And so I feel like with all of that transition and change, like the whole world, the whole economy is changing a little bit. And I think that our bigger clients now are really excited to be along for the ride. And we're really helping them in a lot of ways, transition into a new way of branding and working and marketing and advertising.

Tara Street 36:36
Yes. And we still say no, a lot. Even now even though we're getting broader and bigger and growing a team, we still have people say, hey, Oh, cool. Can you do this ad campaign for me? And we say, Well, yes. But you have to start with our braid method. And this is it. Let me tell you what that is. So we're still sticking to our principles on many things and our offerings, and our expertise is the biggest one that we always stick to.

Emily Thompson 37:05
How do you know what which sort of policies to stick with? Which ones you're willing to give in on? Let me tell you in six months, perfect for we'll talk about it, then

Tara Street 37:20
I don't know, I don't have a formula yet for how do I know, this is just me being stubborn, and not wanting to let go of what I've gotten used to and how much of it is actually being smart. And I'm still figuring it out. Which is nice to have a team now to help me figure it out. Together, especially three partners has been really cool. And and it really helps have those conversations for sure.

Emily Thompson 37:51
Yeah, I definitely imagine having three being not necessarily overall easy, easier, but easier in the sense of just making decisions. Like there's no like, yes or no. Or like, I would imagine that creates an ecosystem for I don't know, maybe faster conversations and quicker decisions. Yeah, yeah. And

Tara Street 38:15
it's interesting, it makes you think, Oh, I feel like people should only be like one person or three people. Two people have to be it's gonna be hard. Unless, you know, a lot of people are wary of bringing on a partner. And you know, if you're married or your sisters or there's sometimes a built in trust. If you're best friends, that's kind of scary. You might not be best friends for long or you might be great if there's one right answer, but I do think three makes it easier for us. For sure.

Kathleen Shannon 38:47
I think it's probably like siblings like birth order. I either went one kid or I went three you know what I mean? Because like two kids, it's like they're fighting with each other or they're fighting for attention from their parents. I feel like partners is the same way where like two people can always say it really does add in this element of voting, right? Like Raise your hand if you want to do this. Right. And to take it less personally. Yeah, you know. Okay, bosses, this is the kind of thing that I don't normally do, but I got a fabfitfun box in the mail. And I loved it. So if you don't already know about fabfitfun is a seasonal box with full size, beauty, fitness and lifestyle products. Their spring editor's box is epic. It has products like a free people eyemask beauty and skincare products from Kate Somerville, which is my personal favorite, and tart, which is another favorite. A super cute mug by ayesha curry. And that's just the beginning of it. Don't miss out because they sell out fast. Check out www dot fabfitfun calm Come and use the code boss. So you can save $10 off your first box, making it only 3999. us that is such a steal. Again, that's fabfitfun calm and use the code boss with how hard you work as a creative unfair, you deserve to treat yourself.

Emily Thompson 40:23
What are you guys planning moving forward? So you guys Well, before we even get there, let's talk about back to that timeline of the transition. Right? Are you guys in it now? Or are you like getting into it? Where are you at in changing and changing the kinds of people that you guys work with?

Tara Street 40:42
We are in it. We're in it, it's happening. Um, I would say we've been in it for good. Six months now, I would say. And it's interesting, some of our new clients are new. Some of them came through our old brain stomping grounds. People like athletes who have grown up since working with us five years ago, or have moved on to work with larger organizations that are still purpose driven. We've worked with an inclusion and diversity consulting firm, we've worked with a group of spiritual and life coaches who are a group of seven individual. And then we've gotten now to work with some larger clients who knew us from the old days. And so it feels a little bit like the band back together in some cases. And other cases, we're just really surprised by who is finding us. It's tricky. The trickiest part of the transition transition that we're still in is not as much behind the scenes and managing the books and managing the legal aspects and growing the team, it's also positioning ourselves. So try to get to this. Like how our clients or your listeners might think about it, you know, if you are known for one thing, and you're sharing a particular type of content online, in your blog, or your podcast through your email list, because you know, your dream client and you know, their wants and needs. So everything you write feels really personal and specific. And all the things that should to attract them to you and your content, that can get a little trickier when you start to broaden out. And so that's something we're still figuring out. I think for us, it's knowing which platform is speaking to which person and knowing that the online, you know, most of our list, most of our followers are creative entrepreneurs, but also just acknowledging that they're not all that, you know. And so how I think the biggest shift for us was, we started sharing content that's maybe a little bit less about advice to that audience, which is what we've been doing for five years and shifting more talking about what we've learned about our ex about branding about what a brand is, in a way that we know can relate to both our audiences and and the trick is just not watering it down. Because that's the thing we've been so passionate about not doing all these years is not watering down your message because you're trying to appeal to everyone. And the way we're able to do that, I think is by sticking to what it is we are experts at and not trying to be everything to everyone. But still open up who that maybe that everyone is that makes sense. It's one thing, we're broadening one thing we're staying pretty specific about

Emily Thompson 43:38
right. And it's just it's a minor shift and content and like what it is that you're sharing? Yeah, that gives you that without like rethinking or even repositioning entirely, is kind genius.

Kathleen Shannon 43:52
Another mindset thing that we've done is thinking about all of our creative entrepreneurs as kind of one client, like one big bucket of revenue, if that makes sense. Like if we're talking about diversifying a business model, I kind of think of them as one big client. And so that kind of helps me stay specific in my voice. Whereas before I would be really niching and doing an article just for photographers or just for coaches. And now I'm really thinking, Okay, just for creative entrepreneurs, what does that look like? And if I am writing a blog post, and I'm writing it for creative entrepreneurs, I might reread it through the lens of a marketing director and say, does this still apply? And sometimes I'm surprised like okay, yes. A lot of creative entrepreneurs and a lot of marketing directors have the same challenges which might be Where are all the places that my brand shows up? And for me, it's helped me become more creative in the content that I'm sharing in like what will actually help my creative unpure Next, after they work with me, what is the kind of content that would be most helpful to them? So for example, that prompted me to create a huge branding checklist of just all the places that your brand shows up and all the places that you should look at once you update your brand platform, and we can include a link to that blog post in the show notes. But then also realizing like this is really helpful for us whenever it comes to tactics for our organizational clients as to saying what tactics can we create an implement for you after we do your brand platform. And so it really does work for both. And I think that's really cool, too.

Tara Street 45:25
And it's interesting that Cummings in marketing director, because we knew immediately if we were going to be speaking to different audience of what we say purpose driven businesses, that it's still people. So who is that person, we are content following us hearing about us. And we decided, well, it's the marketing director. And she's probably, you know, this age and you know, all that dream client profiling that you do. So we always think of it as the creative entrepreneur, the marketing director, and like Alan said, they're not that different.

Kathleen Shannon 45:59
Yeah. And that's why I'd say to anyone who's really wanting to expand their niche is to still get really specific about who you are helping because it's still a single person that is presenting your work to their CEO, or holding the keys themselves and hiring you. And so I think that that's something I would think about as well and seeing what they have in common, what they don't.

Tara Street 46:21
And also, philosophically, once we Okay, so let's kind of go through the maybe what we call the sales funnel, I guess, for lack of better term, we've got our email list, we've got the blog, we've got content we're putting out there, we've got word of mouth, people are hearing about us finding us. If we can, then they're inquiring, they're emailing us, hey, I want to learn more, I want to talk about working one on one. And in that inquiry, we can tell very quickly, if they're part of a larger organization or their creative entrepreneur, we start the process of onboarding. So we always have that first phone call the kickoff phone call, after an email inquiry, if we've sent them our pricing and how we generally work and it still feels like a fit and they want to meet. We know if we get on the phone or on video, that depending who they are, we can show them a whole different case study of what we've done in the past. Usually, if we can get on a call with someone, where 75% to 90% there as far as closing that agreement, and becoming their agency, or then becoming our client. And so that is just recognizing that as long as our website and our online content isn't completely repelling that other audience, and we still look legit and consistent and polished, it doesn't mean we have to look corporate, we don't have to look generic, we can look like braid, we can still do and we still behind the scenes, once you become our client, we're still saying the same things. We're saying, Hey, your people, not a generic Corporation, hey, instead of coming up with a clever headline for this brand, tagline or for this campaign, how about we just use the real words that your people are using? Let's tap into the personality you already have not going to come in and do a Hey, you should be this or you should sound like this. It's all still about blending the personality with the offering. And just mining for what's already there and saying what people are already saying and not trying to come up with a slick. Here's a magic bullet slogan, look and feel that will make you a million. So philosophically, it's easy. Once we get behind the scenes working with the client, whether it's 10 people in a room in a marketing department or one person one on one, it's the same thing that we are believing in talking about and how we write and design.

Emily Thompson 48:50
I love all of that so much because I feel like so many people who and again, Kathleen, you're right, like all the people that we've been talking to for 567 years, even before we started the podcast, like they everyone gets to a point if you stay in your business where it's time to make decisions, and it's time to grow. And I love that you've come and sort of illustrated how it is that you guys have made all these little shifts in order to expand what it is that you're doing to scale, and also to make more impact. And I agree that it's not about redefining who you are. And it's not about you know, changing what it is that you offer and what it is that you're saying to you know, get clients or deliver the thing or whatever it is. It's just about making little shifts and finding where and how what you already offer can help other people because I do agree that whenever you start as a micro business or you know solopreneur super small business, like you have to get so narrow like that's how you get good What it is that you're going to be doing. But there does come a time when it's time to expand what it is that you're doing. And you guys have done it. You're doing it now. You have done it. You've done the legwork. You're on the way. And I like that it's not about like redefining, it's just about super small little shifts in. It sounds like pretty much every area of your business.

Tara Street 50:25
Yeah. And what I always we always say is not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. You know, just because you're You see, I mean, we It feels really like a big shift what we've done, but it's all little small things. And so nothing has really been. There's nothing that we really said, Okay, we have to stop doing this now. Or we can't say that anymore. Or we can no longer even be braid, we need to change our name. Oh, let's see what we can just shift and alter. And what we

Kathleen Shannon 50:56
those things were big conversations. Do we change our name? What is our tagline? How does this affect our website? I mean, there's been so much conversation and intentional decision making around the teeniest tiniest things that have been really hard to like, son in some ways, making those small shifts is even harder than saying, you know what, let's just burn it all down and start over again. Because we're being so careful. And most

Tara Street 51:19
people will go to our site now and not even most people wouldn't even know we made changes. That's how careful and intentional and small these these changes were even though they have big conversations behind them.

Emily Thompson 51:33
I love it. Kevin, is there any other braid things you want to talk about?

Kathleen Shannon 51:38
No. Is there anything else you want to know about?

Emily Thompson 51:40
I know not. I want to know what Tara is watching and reading these days. She best recommendations. I'm ready to go into the phone conversation with Tara please.

Kathleen Shannon 51:52
Emily and I were on a podcast yesterday. And the guy said that he was listening to one of our episodes with you. And he was like it was just so funny how you guys were talking about like what you're watching. I was just so funny. It's like Well, that's, that's our favorite conversation.

Tara Street 52:07
Yeah, that I wish that was the whole conversation. You know, I feel bad because I used to read so much. And I don't read as much anymore. But I think maybe is everyone like that now because because the shows are so good. The shows are just so good. So here's what I'm watching now I'm watching the marvelous, Mrs. nasal on amazon prime. I was kind of reluctant. I don't know why I guess I thought it looked sort of the premise is she's like a female comedian. And it's set in the like, the late 50s, early 60s, more 50s I think. And I just thought Oh, it looks a little happy shiny. So Callie, who's also a big movie. That's why she's our partner, big movie. watcher. She came in like you have to watch this. And I was like, I was cursing. Now that I need it. It's just a good indicator. It's a good indicator that this show will go there.

Unknown Speaker 53:04
That's like

Kathleen Shannon 53:05
I need sex. Is there sex?

Tara Street 53:07
Is there cursing? Just Yes, I go. Is there nudity? And she said yes. And I was like, Okay, I'll watch it. So I watched it and it was so cute. And then in the final credits it said Amy Sherman Palladino and David Palladino, I think I got that right Daniel David. And that was like, Oh my gosh, texting Holly. That's the creators of Gilmore Girls. And I love and I have these moments I'm watching and I'm like, of course. Of course it is like Gilmore Girls can curse and have nudity be set in the 50s. So that was really cute. I really enjoy it and I highly recommend it. I'm watching a little bit in a show drought. The Walking Dead is really kind of wearing me out. So I'm watching that as there's not

Kathleen Shannon 53:55
enough nudity. So much. We're getting it on in the zombie apocalypse. I know. Okay, it's just a waste of Daryl Dixon like you guys. Oh,

Tara Street 54:05
yeah. Whoever's Walking Dead fans like, Darrell, is it right, Norman? Rita is like everyone's in love with Daryl but why can't he just hook up

Unknown Speaker 54:14
with somebody if the love of God get naked?

Tara Street 54:17
Yeah. And there's a new guy on there who's got like long, scraggly blonde hair, and he's half his face is burned. And I call him nude. I call new Daryl. He's all skinny. He's all skinny. You know, I think he was stole their old biker jacket. Anyway, he I thought he was Dwight and I call new Daryl and I'm like, any new Daryl hook up with somebody because he's pretty cute too. No, none of it's happening. It's I can't. So I'm going to show drought and waiting for Westworld to come back on. I cannot wait. So the funny thing about Westworld is you know it's set in a robot This apocalyptic fantasy like Disney World, sort of, but it's Western. And the coolest motif that they have is that there's a player piano and the player piano, you know, as a piano that kind of plays itself, right? And it's sort of a metaphor for the show because they're robots. They're playing themselves, but they're on a loop. And so this player piano if you notice in the saloon is always playing like some popular music. Like it's playing Black Hole Sun, or Rolling Stones, or it's playing some sort of popular music. You don't really catch it because it sounds all Honky Tonk. salumi, player piano we, and I love that, but that's my favorite things about the show. And so Holly comes in to our space I braid. Because we come in down seeds are face to face instead of just videoing. She's like, okay, you have to watch the trailer for Westworld that came on during the Superbowl? Because she knows I don't watch the Superbowl and so she always makes you watch all the commercials the next day. And I was like, because I hate when people make me watch a video clip. Like I hate it. Like, I just want to, you know, I mean like, Oh, yeah, show you this. And I'm like,

Emily Thompson 56:03
I have a life to live.

Kathleen Shannon 56:04
And then it takes forever to load and like they can't is that Jeremy? I mean? Oh

Emily Thompson 56:13
my god, it's awful. I'm like, honey, I've been I've been doing things all day.

Kathleen Shannon 56:19
But I've learned that Jeremy's video is only showing the best clips. I just trust me. No. So

Tara Street 56:24
that was my husband. So as your host, David, like, they're showing us good stuff. It's just sort of that like, really? It is always good. But anyway, so I go Okay, fine. So over here my dad could she'd ever heard us at home I have. I was like a movie just was roll trailer that comes on and it's like ding ding it just the piano right thing. And I'm like, Oh, I wonder what I was like, Holly. I go this is Kanye. I want to say is that Kanye? Yeah. And I go and what's so funny about this? Is that songs actually like that. It's a runaway Oh, yeah, yeah, it's actually a banjo. So anyway, that was a long, nerdy roundabout way to say that's the kind of stuff that gets me super excited. So I can't wait for Westworld. Westworld to come back on. Love it. Plenty of nudity. Plenty of cursing, plenty of hooking up. But also beautiful, cool metaphors.

Kathleen Shannon 57:16
I've been catching up on Harry Potter. Without Tom. catching up on that's

Emily Thompson 57:21
like, I've been 15 years later. No more like finally watching. Finally watching her.

Kathleen Shannon 57:27
And fine is watching it with us. Good, good. Good.

Emily Thompson 57:32
I was the really awful mom who wouldn't let Lily watch them until she read the books. Um,

Kathleen Shannon 57:38
see, this is really just I'm selfish. Like I need to watch something. I need Fox to chill and watch something too. And I just need to finally get on the Harry Potter train. Yes, I know. But if you don't read them, it's not as good. I mean, that's true. I don't really see what your job is about. Exactly. Emily's gonna break up with me if I say that. Emily, you hadn't read that adult? Read it. If you haven't read it, you wouldn't be as emotionally invested in

Emily Thompson 58:07
Oh, definitely not I also read them so I read them at the same age. Pretty much the Harry was like as he did it, like our birthdays was on the same day when you're like it came out this on my birthday. Like so. like legit like, yeah, Harry Potter magic has endured age. I missed it. Yeah, I understand. I completely understand.

Kathleen Shannon 58:28
I do. Oh my gosh, I feel like our listener, I forgot that we're recording a podcast. Dear listeners, I know that all of you love Harry Potter so much. And I want to love it too. And I do. And one day, I will read all of them. And then I'll rewatch all the movies. And I know I will be 100% behind it. Please don't be mad at me.

Tara Street 58:47
You can read them when fox is reading them. When fox is old enough to read them. That's when you'll read them. And then you'll get it exactly.

Emily Thompson 58:55
Or you won't and then we will break up just is what it is

Kathleen Shannon 59:00
that needs to be put into our operating agreement.

Emily Thompson 59:03
Right if Kathleen loves all seven Harry Potter books by this day for done being vulnerable close. Um, no, I do have to I can't remember if I've asked you this, Kathleen, but I have to find out if either of you are watching the reboot of willing grace. No, I haven't. It's hysterical that either of you like watch willing grace back today? Yeah. Yeah. And have to watch the reboot because I feel like both of you both of you were the kind of people who did. Yeah, yeah. Please watch the reboot. It's hysterical.

Kathleen Shannon 59:38
Well, and I love the Meghan Murali who plays Karen and in the best. What? Like, yes, parks and rec care. She's so good in that.

Tara Street 59:49
Wait isn't room Karen in a way I messed up. Why don't Amy will can and will engage him Well, what is it and Parks and Rec Tammy? It's taking me

Unknown Speaker 1:00:00
Yes, it's also

Kathleen Shannon 1:00:00
really sent me Instagram message last night of the reboot of Trading Spaces space which used to also watch together like HGTV trading nation TV, the HGTV trend like we used to watch that Tara Lee was on Broadway back in the day

Emily Thompson 1:00:20
it was on TLC back in the day. It's TLC. And it has like original, like designers and hosts and carpenters. And we're Ty Pennington the carpenter. Yes. happening. Yes, I've been there. They're all coming back and Trading Spaces is coming back. And I am so excited.

Kathleen Shannon 1:00:39
And I feel like what's cool about it is that in hindsight they can they're kind of making fun of how ridiculous their designs. Like they're like, yeah, remember, whenever we did this, and how awful that was, like, Hebrew were like, yeah, or like having a whole wall full of moss or, like really bad. I mean, I was ahead of her time. Oh, my God, I feel either. I feel like they realize I think at the time, they were kind of taking themselves seriously. And now, in hindsight, 20 years later, or whatever they're like, okay, yeah, that was ridiculous. So I'm curious to see the direction that they take the show and then oh, also Queer Eye for the straight guy had a reboot.

Emily Thompson 1:01:19
I did watch all of that. It was Yeah, haven't caught up on that one. I'll add that one to my list. It was cute. I get about Trading Spaces willing grace, you guys have to check out everyone has to check out willing grace. It's so relevant and snarky and fantastic. And then I'm also kind of in a show drought as well. Actually, David and I have started watching perception which has, Oh, I can't remember his first name but McCormick from Will and Grace will Yes. The like such things as schizophrenic which you saw on consultant, Hulu, it's on Hulu. I don't know channels anymore.

Kathleen Shannon 1:02:07
You don't show I was watching on Hulu. I don't think I've talked about this younger with Hilary Duff. And Is that good?

Emily Thompson 1:02:14
Is it good?

Kathleen Shannon 1:02:15
I don't know. It was like one of those. I'm working on a logo and kind of watching TV in the background kind of shows.

Tara Street 1:02:23
In the same vein, I've enjoyed love on Netflix. I really liked that it was sort of like a girl's replacement from a girl stopped.

Emily Thompson 1:02:32
Yep, I will tell you both because this is a favorite pastime of ours. I've been watching fixer upper on Hulu a lot lately. Okay, so David can't get a snarky as you to like, doesn't seem to have it in him.

Kathleen Shannon 1:02:48
And Emily were once traveling together like at a event. And in the evening after we were done with working really just holed up in a room and watch fixer upper together all three of us

Emily Thompson 1:03:02
and just get super busy commentate the whole thing with all of our like, really strong opinions. And it was so much fun. And it wasn't just fixer upper. It was also like property it was all that stuff on HGTV

Tara Street 1:03:19
and I will say I think with fixer upper, we did it with loving, like love loving respect for what they've done. Do your listeners do your love chip? Super,

Emily Thompson 1:03:32
like really shitty rooms or houses like before they get redone and been like who lived in this dump or wherever it was, um, and then as their I don't know, as it's all coming together just being real dramatic. It's a fun time. It

Kathleen Shannon 1:03:48
was like that show Mystery Science Theater with that Mystery Science Theater three. Yeah, yeah. Like were there interior on that? Yeah. You just said there may commentary on like, we couldn't help but imagine how annoyed Joanna Gaines is because the producers were like, okay, now we need to get the clip with your eight kids coming in and eating pizza. And she's probably like, Okay, let's do Nice. Nice. Imagine her being exhausted.

Tara Street 1:04:12
I know. Yeah. I don't know how. how they do it.

Kathleen Shannon 1:04:17
I feel I mean, I okay, this is the thing. I went to go see Justin Timberlake in concert. And the whole time and I feel this way about TV shows to the whole time. Like I can't enjoy anything anymore. No, I wonder how much this costs. I wouldn't how much money he's making. I wonder how he is I wonder out my calculator and start calculating. Okay, if this were 100 and then all of these were 200. I mean, this is like Yeah, I do the same thing now. Yeah, I'm like how much does it cost to have all the equipment on the road? And is he falling from a personal jet to here? And what about Jessica Biel and their kid? Are they on the tour bus somewhere? Are they under the stadium? Is it so loud for them? Like I just go through all the inner behind the scenes. workings and I can't help but do that. I can kind of get out of it. Whenever I'm watching a really well done movie or TV show, I'm just in it. But like reality TV especially and concert, I was just thinking the whole time about the production and the editing and the choices that they've made. And I feel like I'm working.

Emily Thompson 1:05:22
Yeah, yeah, I feel the same way. Which is why if I'm gonna watch it, I'm just gonna carry along with them. I'm just gonna commentate right alongside. Um, that makes me feel better.

Kathleen Shannon 1:05:35
I've been really into showing Fox shows that we grew up with and so I'll text Tara and asked her Okay, what should I show Fox? And Beetlejuice was one of them that he's obsessed with love it that's in Tara and her son came up her youngest for a long weekend here in Detroit and we will all watch Ghostbusters together.

Tara Street 1:05:56
We all turn I was saying whenever the song will come on, we'll see.

Kathleen Shannon 1:05:59
Oh, and Thor so Thor is Taryn Fox each show tickets are special movie Ragnarok Ragnarok. So Fox wakes up sometimes in the morning going.

Tara Street 1:06:16
And then he talks all about aunt Tara. And then you text me other day what what's next? And I say Gremlins Did you guys watch Gremlins? We did.

Kathleen Shannon 1:06:25
That I know. Emily's making a face and Jeremy was like I think this is too scary. We kind of all we're a little bored. I'm sorry. What's the first Yep, just get through that. First I know.

Emily Thompson 1:06:36
I love the Gremlins but apparently on David side of the family it was like nightmare movie. So Which is why I made that face where I don't think I can really bring that one into my house.

Kathleen Shannon 1:06:49
Watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre growing up so like that was I know Freddy Krueger slowly.

Unknown Speaker 1:06:55
Yeah,

Emily Thompson 1:06:56
yeah, yeah, I we had a real nightmare movie. Yeah, yeah. And I liked them. Um, David little less so. So we introduced all the reasonably to pinky in the brain. Throwing that one out there. who's gotten some who has gotten some good, good old shows. I

Kathleen Shannon 1:07:14
show Fox Ren and Stimpy I wonder if he'd be into that. That was like,

Emily Thompson 1:07:21
the one show as a kid I was banned from watching. I could not watch Ren and Stimpy and sometimes I would like sneak and watch it even then I was like, I don't even want to watch this. Like

Kathleen Shannon 1:07:29
I remember a lot of my friends were banned from it. I had friends who were banned from watching The Simpsons. I know

Emily Thompson 1:07:34
what I remember watching that with my family when I was super young and then a couple years later getting banned from it and being like, I think I'm gonna call bullshit on this one. Obviously not out loud, but in my head.

Kathleen Shannon 1:07:48
Okay, let's wrap this up. Tara. What has made you feel most boss lately? I got some new shoes. girl tell us all about these. What makes you feel most boss ever?

Tara Street 1:08:06
Yeah, I've been straightening my hair a little bit more. Not super straight, but just a little bit I've always had I'm always big for curly hair. And so that I have conflicted feelings about straightening it. So I don't know if that makes you feel boss. I kind of like a traitor straightening my hair. But you that's another episode.

Kathleen Shannon 1:08:25
He like very Drew Barrymore with your hair.

Tara Street 1:08:27
You do? Um, do? I think that's boss? Thank you. I mean, I think

it's little things like that, that made me feel boss, because the big things are kind of just

Kathleen Shannon 1:08:40
make you feel anything

Tara Street 1:08:42
but boss, like no, they've just become part of my norm. So sometimes it's the little personal things that made me I feel like our business has become bigger than just one of us. And so I had to stop and really pinch myself and look and say, Wow, this is a big deal. It's like the little things when you get up and you're like, Am I gonna wash my hair? Am I gonna, you know, even still, right? And those are the things that make can make you feel more boss and other days. And where can our listeners find braid? You can go to braid creative.com and sign up for our emails or check out our blog. And or if you're in the Paseo arts district in Oklahoma City, on a gallery walk, you can walk by our windows away, but we will be there because we don't work after 5pm

Kathleen Shannon 1:09:36
I love it. Amen.

Emily Thompson 1:09:41
Thanks for coming in chat, Tara. Thanks, guys.

Kathleen Shannon 1:09:45
Hey, bosses, I want to tell you about the CEO day kit. The CEO day kit is 12 months of focus planning for your business in just one day. So Emily and I have packaged up the exact tools that we've been consistently using For years that have helped us grow from baby bosses to the CEOs of our own businesses, gain clarity find focus get momentum, prioritize your time, make better decisions and become more self reliant with the CEO day kit. Go to courses that being boss club to learn more and see if it's a fit for you and your business. Shout out to this episode sponsors including fresh books cloud accounting go to freshbooks comm slash being boss and enter being boss in the How did you hear about us section to try it for free. Go to 20 twenty.com slash being boss that's 22 zero.com slash being boss to get some really good stock photos and they're going to get through a few free ones your way and then of course fabfitfun comm enter the code boss so you can save $10 off your first box making it only 3999 Thank you for listening to being boss, find articles show notes and downloads at WWW dot v boss club. Thank you so much to our team and sponsors who make being boss possible our sound engineer and web developer Corey winter. Our editorial director and content manager Caitlin brain, our community manager and social media director Sharon lukey and are being countered David Austin, with support from braid creative and indicia biography,

Emily Thompson 1:11:21
do the work. Be boss and we'll see you next week.