Value Driven Strategy
feat. Sunny Side Creative Agency
Jess Gill [Director of Communications] & Elisa Watson [Creative Director]
Baltimore, MD
Jess & Elisa, of Sunny Side Creative ,discuss how empathy, strategy, & personal history shape effective branding. They explain why marketing is a long-term, multi-channel effort and share how their unique backgrounds fuel their mission to empower clients with lasting communication tools.
EPISODE OUTLINE
What is Sunny Side Creative?
(00:03:23 - 00:05:01)
The duo introduces their agency, explaining how their complementary skills in communication (Jess) and design (Elisa) led to a natural partnership. They define their core work: distilling a client's story into a powerful visual and messaging identity.Debunking Marketing Myths
(00:05:36 - 00:08:52)
Jess and Elisa challenge the idea of overnight success, emphasizing that effective marketing is a long-term, strategic effort. They stress the need for a multi-pronged approach to reach audiences where they are and the importance of building marketing into a business's operational bedrock.Empathy as a Professional Tool
(00:19:38 - 00:33:04)
The conversation delves into their personal backgrounds. Jess shares how her hearing loss and family history honed her deep listening and empathy. Elisa discusses how her mother's illness shaped her emotional resilience and perspective, highlighting how these personal experiences directly inform their client-centered approach.
RESOURCES
Be More Kind - Local networking group
If you like this episode, I highly recommend listening to my chat with Brooke Kelbaugh, a cookie artist who shares her experience building boundaries, confidence and success through communication skills in her small business.
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TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] Intro music plays…
[00:00:08] Aubrey:
I'm Aubrey, your host, and four years ago my dear industry friend Kristina and I were like, “we should start a podcast.” We have already evolved a few times since then. Clearly there's only me, and I've lost track of the many variations I've used to introduce The Golden Approach, because as I changed and grew, the show had to as well, but neither pastry school or the hospitality industry taught me how to really sell myself. Most of the time the expectation was you shouldn't be talking more than to say, “hot behind,” “sharp,” “corner,” et cetera… you get the point; most people have seen The Bear by now.
So eventually I accepted that I needed help from actual professionals in the world of marketing. Dating back to that very beginning again, Kristina and I had gone to our first networking event for the podcast at Whitehall Mill, which was sponsored by two very successful local business ladies. Dana Cree of Gundalow Gourmet and Kathleen Tozze of wherever her heart leads her, which I believe currently is True Chesapeake Oyster Farm… but really do not quote me here.
So it was there that I first met Jess Gill. Since then, she has helped lead that same group now called Be More Kind. It's an incredible network for anyone female identifying in the Baltimore region, and I will highlight them in the show notes for this episode. Jess and I have also performed a dance show together and I've met her little family and over time I knew I wanted Jess's help specifically.
As a podcast, as a concept, I wasn't totally sticking the landing; Jess was now a co-owner and founder of a creative agency, Sunny Side Creative, with her partner Elisa Watson. Over this last year my experience working with them has been nothing short of amazing.
I'm not afraid to admit that I have had a very negative attitude towards Sales and Marketing. Not only is literally everything a commercial now, or for data collection it seems but most often, no offense, Sales and Marketing teams were difficult to work with, especially when catering is one and the same. So if you know, you know, point is Jess and Elisa completely rewrote my perspective on what Sales and Marketing could be.
We had such a great time rebranding The Golden Approach we didn't want it to end, so we decided to do an episode and it's so good. They offer so much knowledge and encouragement. I, I listen to these episodes a lot, so you know, um, through the editing process and every time I locked in on something different they were talking about, sometimes it was a business tip, other times a life reminder. I can't think of a more quintessential way to return.
So this endeavor has been one of the craziest of my life. It has forced me to face myself head on and in reward, I have gotten to know and work with some really incredible humans who make this world a super cool place to be.
Music fades in…
I'm glad I can share these conversations with you here on The Golden Approach. A podcast where I chat with people, I think embody the idea that we can have our cake and eat it too, because when we learn from each other, we collectively create a better future for us all. One led by curiosity, hope, empathy, and reciprocity.
Now, without further ado, let's get to the good stuff.
Music fades out…
[00:03:23] Aubrey:
To start, thank you so much for being on the show. I really appreciate it and I'm so excited to introduce Sunny Side Creative to the listeners. So can you guys introduce yourselves as the duo behind Sunny Side Creative?
[00:03:36] Jess:
Sure. Um, so I'm Jessica Gill. I go by Jess and I am the Director of Communication, and one of the Partners for Sunny Side Creative.
[00:03:45] Elisa:
And I am Elisa Watson. I'm the Creative Director and Partner with Jess at Sunny Side Creative.
[00:03:51] Aubrey:
And I'm so excited that you were interested in doing this because I have so much gratitude for all the incredible, beautiful colors and images and messaging behind the rebrand of The Golden Approach. Which I get many a compliment on just so you know, a lot of people stop me to be like, “wow, I can see the difference! It's so bold, it's so beautiful,” and you guys are the magic behind that. So we're going to start with, what is Sunny Sid,e and like how did this come to be?
[00:04:22] Jess:
Sure. Sunny Side Creative is a marketing communications agency. We focus on all sorts of creative and design, through brochures, flyers, annual reports, and we focus on websites. And how it came about is, Elisa and I used to work together at another agency and then we both left independently, but we found that clients were asking, “Do you know somebody who can do this?” “Do you know somebody who can do that?” And because our skill sets are so complimentary, we were like, “yes, I do know somebody who can do that.” And then after a while we realized, this is silly, we should just do something together. And that's where Sunny Side Creative came into being.
[00:05:01] Aubrey:
I love when things are just like, very natural and organic, and people find their people. It's perfect.
So, I know this wasn't on the original outline, but you've prompted a question in my mind, if you don't mind briefly touching on it. I think we all know that marketing is a big part of society at this point. You know, there's a lot of strategy in how things are promoted or communicated to us; good, bad, otherwise. So I just think it's interesting to hear you talk about the amount of strategy that does go into it, because I don't think the average person, especially outside of small business, realizes. Um, especially with access to data and whatnot these days.
[00:05:36] Jess:
Yeah, so it's tricky because social media, for example, organic marketing doesn't go very far, unfortunately. Like you need to post the same thing six times before it might actually reach somebody, right? So even if it might feel like overkill on our end, like, “oh no, we're saying the same thing over and over and over again,” that doesn't guarantee that the person on the other end is getting it. So that's why for any sort of marketing to be successful, it really needs to be multi-pronged. It needs to be reaching people on different levels.
And you also really need to be thinking about people where they are. For example, if we're talking about an under-resourced community, maybe a podcast or an app is not gonna be the way to engage them, because maybe that's not what they're doing at the time, right? So we have to think about, “where are they?” Maybe they're taking a bus, so we wanna have advertisements on the bus. Maybe it's having flyers at a community center, just thinking about how do we reach people where they are, to get them the messages that they need to be getting, and understanding that it's gonna take repeat effort.
It's not a one, one time movement.
[00:06:50] Aubrey:
Elisa, did you have something that you wanted to add?
[00:06:52] Elisa:
Yeah, I think 20 years in, I would say that one of the lessons we continue to try to teach our clients is that you will not see things happen overnight, right? So it's the long game; Communications and Marketing is a long game. And so being able to think strategically across a longer period of time is gonna produce more results.
And please create a process to track those results. If you're not using Google Analytics on your website you won't know how many people are going there, and then what's your baseline, right? So making sure that you're thinking more than next week, because this isn't Shark Tank. You don't go on one time and then all of a sudden sell millions and millions of something. That just is not what traditional and the average Marketing and Communications game is.
[00:07:46] Jess:
The only other thing I'll add is, build your infrastructure, because so many people think of Marketing/Communications as a separate entity from their overall operations, right? And it's like no, Marketing/Communication is the bedrock of your entire operational process. So build that in. Think about it in everything that you do, because you have to be communicating to your staff, to your volunteers, your employee, right? What infrastructure are you using to get the communication out? What tools are you using to make your life easier?
Like we love Canva. Like, yeah, Elisa, the professional Graphics Designer, she can make anything. But we also know that you can't have an Elisa on your staff every single day so we'll build templates for you in Canva so that you can take what Elisa created, and then keep using it on a daily basis, because we like to say we're all about giving you the tools that allow you to continue shining. So think about their resources, think about their tools, and lead them to your advantage. Make them part of your infrastructure.
[00:08:52] Aubrey:
And I think the podcast can be seen as a case study of this: you do have to tell people multiple times as painful as it may feel to repeat. You do have to keep like, rethinking about who is the person that you're trying to connect with? Who are you trying to communicate to? Who is this message actually for?
And I do appreciate your point, Jess of, “what is their life,” right? Like, you hear writers or actors will do this exercise, of getting into the mind of a person. But I think it's just as important if you're trying to communicate a message. So it's just good things for people to munch on, whether they're in real life or in business.
[00:09:25] Jess:
Yeah. So I mean, Aubrey, your brand is a great case; you know, because you had a really clear idea of what it was that you were trying to do. You just needed some help kinda wrangling that, and bringing it down to the central truth of what you're trying to do, and what you're trying to achieve. And then you had a great design direction. So between you knowing what you wanted to say, but not knowing how you wanted to say it, and then you knowing what you wanted to look like, but not knowing how to get there, that gave us really great direction to help us create your messaging.
And then to create that logo, and to create that color palette, with a really cool, bold, jewel tone. Like every time I look at your brand guidelines, for example, it's so good you know. And it's cool because you for one, you had an idea, you trusted us with that idea. And then two, you were open to that boldness. And anytime where we can be bold, we're gonna go, "heck yeah!" you know, and of course, if we need to be more conservative and more restrained, we can do that too. It's just not as fun for us.
[00:10:35] Aubrey:
I honestly, I appreciate all those kind words, and I think that's exactly how I felt. I've always been very clear on the why and very clouded on the how, and, it is challenging financially speaking; that it is something you have to consider, like, who can you partner with? What do you have the budget for? Where do you invest your money? And so I experimented on my own and then saw very clearly on the path that like, “okay, this is somewhere where you just don't have the experience, and that's okay to admit. And you're gonna have to spend some money with professionals to fix that.”
And it took me a while to find the right partnership, you know, it all happened very organically, which is lovely. And so I would share with anyone who does listen to this to say that it is okay to do it on your own. It's okay to experiment. Honestly, I'm grateful I did, because Lord help you if I hadn't done that, and I still would've word vomited all of that information at you. So it was important to go through all these steps along the way, and then to find professionals who can truly help you get over those speed bumps when you find them.
Sound of chimes…
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Okay, let's jump back in.
Sound of chimes…
[00:12:24] Aubrey:
So I'm really curious to hear more about what this agency does. Jess, I considered you the storyteller, and Elisa, you're the visionary, and that's how I've broken it down in my head. Maybe you agree, maybe you don't, but give people just like a good snapshot image if they're unfamiliar with what a creative agency is; what they could expect from that business, from you each individually?
[00:12:49] Jess:
Okay. So really what we do is we help people figure out how to talk about themselves. We help people figure out a visual expression of how they talk about themselves, and then we make it happen.
We love starting with branding and for us branding is really, “how do people feel when they see your logo?” “how do people feel when they come across something that is promoting one of your offerings?” We want people to connect to your organization, to your mission, to your purpose. and if you don't know how to talk about yourself articulately, and in a way that immediately grabs their attention, then it's really hard for us to get that visual piece going.
So we start with, “what is that emotion?” “what is that connection?” And we help you distill what that is so that when we know what your story is, we can start to help you visualize that story so other people can immediately absorb it. That for me, that's where we start with brand messaging, and then we move into visual identity, which is all Elisa. So I'll let her take over it from there.
[00:14:00] Elisa:
So once we have messaging, and we talk about what we want the brand to look like, we work on a logo. And then, not to simplify what I do, but I make it all look pretty and on brand. We include your messaging and brand guidelines, and then comes the really fun part because we get to talk about what your bigger goals are, right? So perhaps it's getting an annual report out, or perhaps a strategic advertising campaign, or it's communications. Maybe you want an email newsletter, or a print newsletter.
[00:14:30] Jess:
Communication is such a broad term, that, and marketing is such a broad term that, so many people don't realize what it is, but it's really all the ways that you connect with somebody, right? So social media, it's email, it's that flyer that you get in the mail. It's that event invitation. It's that program that you're reading when you're at the event, right? These are all examples, the Marketing/Communication touches, and so for us, it's really fun to think about, “okay, here is what you're trying to do. Here's what you're trying to achieve. How do we make that happen? What are all of the different things that we need to do to make that happen? What language do we need to use? What audiences do we need to reach? What visual do we need to convey? Is there a certain mood that we're going for?”
[00:15:19] Aubrey:
Um, which having worked with both of you in both departments, the amount of progress that we made in such a short period of time is life changing compared to what I did on my own.
[00:15:30] Elisa:
It's very strategic. Everything that we do starts with who's the audience and what do we want them to do.
[00:15:36] Jess:
Oh, and we also asked about budget because yeah, you say, I only have this amount of money to spend we're gonna say, “okay, then we think that you should do X, Y, and Z and here's how we'll help you make it happen.”
[00:15:49] Aubrey:
Amazing. So since I do tend to try to help people from a business standpoint, maybe they're in your field, maybe they're not; what are some challenges? What are some wins that you've noticed, just in your small business that you think are worth highlighting?
[00:16:02] Jess:
I think that something that Elisa and I keep coming back to, we like to educate people. And a lot of our work is, yes, we're going to make whatever you ask for, beautiful whatever it is, but we're also going to empower you to keep doing what you need to do because we want you to succeed. And I think that is an underwriting philosophy that I think that's part of why Elisa and I gravitated toward each other for one, and two, I think it's what makes us successful with our clients because we're not saying, “okay, yeah, we'll do this.” We're saying, “we'll do this, and we'll also teach you how to do it.”
[00:16:45] Elisa:
Yeah. And I think finding people to work with who really get you, is incredibly beneficial too, right? So it's one of the reasons that we work with the group of clients that we work with and the, we work continue to work with new clients that fall in that same sort of category, because it matters to us. And when you find people that can get you, kind of like, we got you, then you can really produce great work and continue to produce it afterwards. Once we've given you the tools to continue that sort of like cohesive look and feel that consistent voice and then that, cohesive branding.
[00:17:30] Jess:
I think something that we have learned in the process, we have to remember, that not everyone has the same base of knowledge. When we're talking to somebody about print production for example, right? Like how long is it gonna take to get something created, and then sent to a printer, and then actually printed, and then mailed right? Where we're starting from may not be where the client is starting from. So we always have to remember to educate ourselves. “What is the sphere of knowledge that this person knows about this particular subject?” “Where can we educate them to fill that gap so that we're on the same page?” And that going forward, the process moves smoothly.
[00:18:11] Aubrey:
I think these are such universal thought points for people no matter what they're doing. Incredibly helpful little tidbits to carry into your every day.
And you honestly are doing my job a little bit for me. You've touched on the why, right? Being able to really connect with someone and understand their background, so you know how to move forward with them. And this is a point I really like to show a lot on the podcast: being able to get context on people's why, the way that they see things, or the way they move forward in life. And there are some things that I've learned about both your backgrounds personally, that I think have great influence in how you approach communications with your clients; communications with the outside world. So if you feel comfortable, I would love to take a couple steps back and get to know you both as individuals better. We talked about Jess starting, it is very clear that you really are like a curious, inquisitive person. Your natural inclination to stories I think is a clear representation in why you do what you do for a living, and I think that storytelling is a beautiful thing. As humans, it's a very authentic thing to like stories, but it is a very modern thing: marketing. So I'm really curious to see this bridge, that you can take something that is very authentic and translate into a world that is very business, and financially focused.
[00:19:38] Jess:
Yeah. I think that my default question is always: why. Right? As a kid, I annoyed my parents majorly because I had questions. “Why this?” “Why did that?” blah, blah, blah, blah “Why?” “But why?” Right? And I think that has carried out through my entire life because, I want to know. I just wanna know more. Give me the information. Just tell me, and I'll figure it out for myself, but just why?
And I think the other piece of it is, so I, I was born with hearing and then I lost my hearing in multiple progressive hearing loss episodes. And what I learned is, that what most people consider to be one act of hearing is three for me. There's the intake of sound. So that, processing of sound. And that interpreting, absorbing of sound. A lot of people mistake hearing and comprehension for being the same thing, but I always say: “I could speak to somebody who speaks Chinese and I can hear them, but it doesn't mean I understand them. And so I think because I have had to do the three parts of listening to interpret the world, I think that has made me a really good listener; to try to understand literally, what is happening around me. So I think the combination has been a big factor.
And then the third part I'll say is, I am the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor. And so growing up, knowing his story, and his experience, has made me very empathetic. Again, going back to that curiosity piece, like I wanna understand the why. So I feel like all three of those things came together to make me very curious, engaged, empathetic, inquisitive, and all of those other things; which it really works out for me well in terms of the how I do what I do
[00:21:49] Aubrey:
From my perspective, it feels like you took things that were very, naturally you, and then as you grew up, found ways to apply them in the real world. But maybe it wasn't quite that linear. Maybe you didn't know what you were gonna be. I'm curious, was it a little bit like, this led to that? Or how did you find yourself translating that natural self into something formal?
[00:22:12] Jess:
For me it was, so, going back to the hearing thing; I found it a lot easier to express myself through written communication. Because people couldn't always understand me growing up. And I couldn't always understand other people. So if it was written, if it was textual, then that was an easy way for me to interpret it. But that also meant there are multiple ways that something could be interpreted. And fun fact, I briefly thought I would be a doctor. So I started off as a biology major, only to be taken down by calculus, and very quickly that this is not the place for me. I quickly switched over to English as a major in college and was like, yeah, this is where I'm supposed to be, because I want to be able to look at a piece of text and then think about all the different ways that I can be interpreted.
[00:23:04] Aubrey:
I hear a great exercise here for people to say like, “how many ways can you interpret something?” I don't know if we all spend enough time really realizing how we, even individually, translate things so many different ways. And I would be curious to challenge people who are listening to do it for themselves, and just see how many ways do I actually interpret something in a day?
[00:23:28] Elisa:
Absolutely. I would say this is something that I know Jess will agree with me on, is that I, we both, but I try very hard, to interpret everything coming from a place of good. So it's like when I've missed an edit that needs to be made and Jess is like, “you missed this” I don't take it as “oh, you missed this.” It's like, “how are you reading into things?” Because I think that somehow in our society, it is like people immediately go to the negative. It's like, “no, I don't wanna miss this edit. I wanna make sure that this is right. And thank goodness I have someone who can be that person with me.” And I try really hard in my personal life, and my professional life, to read text messages, slack messages, emails, with a dose of “happy” instead of defensiveness. Because I think people are inclined to be defensive, and inclined to read into things negatively, but it is being able to take a breath, and reading things from a place of good, and a dose of happy instead, is a huge game changer.
[00:24:36] Jess:
I think that's something that Elisa and I have talked a lot about, right? Like if we end up in a sticky client situation for example, we're gonna say, “okay, let's take a pause, and let's try to, you know, put a different lens on to see this perspective?” Right? Where is this coming from? What did we miss? What mis-step did we take? How can we rectify this?
And everyone wants to do, well not everyone, most people want to do good in the world, right? And how can we help one another do that good?
[00:25:10] Aubrey:
Yeah. I think this is such an important point, and I might be getting a little ahead of myself 'cause Elisa there's context in your background that we're about to get to in a moment, but Jess, you touched on it in your background. Like, how do you build that confidence to say that, I can have trust in the world? And that I can have confidence that most people mean good? And I think that this is, a timely conversation because a lot of people do struggle with this.
[00:25:36] Jess:
I think I have been so incredibly fortunate because I have met people who are aligned in their values, and in their commitment to doing good. And I don't know if it's me, or if it's just whatever, an energy that I exude, but I feel like I attract a lot of people who also want to do good in the world. And it's funny because I know personally, my friends will say I am a connector, right? Like I can bring all of my different friend groups together and then they all get along, and then they end up hanging out, and I'm like, cool. Great. It's just that there's a value-s alignment there. Maybe I have learned enough of what I don't wanna be around that, that has been the flag. Red flag!
[00:26:28] Aubrey:
I do think the value-s meter is a very good point, and a very good starting point for people. The value-s meter is always the one that will, most consistently, support you in your long-term relationships; whether it be business, or personal.
Um, Elisa, was there anything on that before we move you into the hot seat?
[00:26:46] Elisa:
It's funny 'cause you were like, “is there anything, like, how did you gain this confidence?” I'm like, I have no idea. I just, I don't, I…
[00:26:53] Jess:
I feel like you came out confident, like you just have that innate confidence about you. I feel like you've always been confident.
[00:27:01] Elisa:
Oh my gosh. Which is the complete opposite of what I actually was,
[00:27:04] Aubrey:
This is why these kinds of conversations, I think, are so helpful for people because of, how you are perceived versus how you perceive yourself versus what you think you're born with, whatever. I don't know.
[00:27:13] Elisa:
Yeah, I don't know. I would definitely say people would say that I'm a confident person. I very much know who I am. I agree with Jess completely. I surround myself with people that have the same values as I do and cultivate and water those relationships. One of my husband's favorite little signs that we have is, “the grass is greener where you water it” and I think that's really important. So yeah, I don't necessarily know where the confidence came from, but yeah, we can, you can put me in the hot seat.
[00:27:45] Aubrey:
That's okay. I love it. I love a natural. That's great. Sometimes we gotta build things, and sometimes we just have natural skills that we can use in life and that's how it works. So that's great. So yeah, so we started with the,
[00:27:57] Jess:
Wait, I'm sorry. I just have to say I love that because that is literally part of your messaging.
[00:28:01] Aubrey:
I know. And that's why you guys have been so helpful because, like again, used to know the why, didn't know the how. And I literally stare at my brand guidelines sometimes and I'm just like, “okay, this is my root. What am I trying to say right now? Does it connect to the roots?” So I really appreciate that. I feel like when I sit and look at my brand guidelines, I'm like, “why is this so hard? I'm talking about myself, and yet I'm like, who am I, what am I trying to say?”
[00:28:26] Elisa:
It's hard to talk about yourself.
[00:28:29] Aubrey:
It's truly the hardest. Like it
[00:28:30] Elisa:
It really is. It's difficult.
[00:28:31] Aubrey:
Yeah, I think talking about yourself is one of the hardest things that you can do, for a variety of reasons. Which is why I'm gonna make you do it right now.
So, as I made Jess give some context, we've touched on why you are a visionary. From what I've learned about you, I do think a lot of that goes back to your background with your family, and your mom, so anything you feel comfortable sharing to that point?
[00:28:48] Elisa:
Yeah, sure. Well, I'll start with the fact that I was drawing before I ever started talking, but in context, I have a twin brother and we didn't really talk to other people until we were like four.
So I've always been an artist, and have always thrived in that artistic space. I love school actually. Jess and I are both; we're always educating ourselves about, I'm always falling down a rabbit hole of learning about something. So I just love to learn. And then creatively, I just continued to cultivate that art. My mom was always really supportive. Like, “what do we need? do we need paint? do we need brushes?” I didn't grow, you know, we didn't grow up with much, but I drew all the time and spent a lot of time outside watching ants and learning about insects and reading the encyclopedia.
So past that, then I got to high school and I had an amazing art teacher, Mr. Crush at Thomas Stone, shout out to Mr. Chris Crush. He really helped me. I was silk screening t-shirts I had designed for our kindergarten graduating class and he's like, “you know, this is a job.” And I was like, “what?” He's like, “yeah, what you're doing, it's called graphic design. It's a job.” So I was 16 and from then on, I was like: this is what I wanna do. And I always, my whole life, I wanted to be an artist first or a teacher. My mom was a teacher for fourty-plus years. My twin brother is a teacher in PG [Prince George’s] County. My sister's a college professor and runs some doctoral programs. My best friend, and oldest friend, Laura, is a teacher. So I am surrounded by teachers. I always wanted to be an artist and this was a great way to, to work with what I loved. I loved letter forms. So honestly, every step I took from then, including like, my independent study with art when I was a senior in high school, and then where I went to college; every step was to become a graphic designer. Because I really love the idea of communicating messages to people, and communicating with people, visually.
But, as far as being the empathetic, and very much feeling person, we warn people when we work with them that I may cry, and that no subject is off limits. We say that because, I am definitely a very emotional person, and I lead with my heart. Jess does too. It's another reason that we get on so well. And I have had some really wonderful things in life, and I've had some really hard things; everybody does. One of my other famous things is that “everybody has their own mountain,” right? So like when I look up, my mountain looks really daunting and hard, and difficult, and when I look across at someone else on their mountain, it looks like they only have a short way to go, and their mountain looks so easy, right? But like, when they look up, their mountain looks hard. So everyone has their own mountain, right?
Like my mom getting sick when I was younger. I was in seventh grade and I went to the school that she was a teacher at, she was in the hospital. We went multiple times to say goodbye. I really did not, she was not expected to make it. And then she did. And it was, what we really considered a miracle. It was amazing. But, I also then spent the next few years holding her hand while she walked, and learned how to walk again, and being there and rubbing her feet at night. I don't know a lot of fourteen year olds who are like, at home rubbing their mom's feet because she can't really feel them, and they're always cold. So I had a really unique experience as a teenager. I never went through that, “oh, I hate my mom.” “I hate my parents.” I actually got really annoyed with people when they would be like, “oh, my mom is so annoying.” I'm like: you have no idea. You could wake up tomorrow and she could be gone, because that's really what happened. She had collapsed in the middle of the night. My dad had called the ambulance and we woke up, and they were just gone. There wasn't a note. And we are note leavers, And, there was no note. Then she didn't come home, and wasn't expected to come home. So that was really hard. and it made me grow up really fast. And definitely, my Mom was my compass. She was the best person I knew. Very positive, but also very wise.
[00:33:04] Aubrey:
I really appreciate you sharing, just so you know. I just, I think it's truly beautiful for people to hear other people talk about, like the people that influence them, and help shape them. Whoever's in your life.
I do think it's so important for us to all really just, find a level of gratitude and, like, peace, I don't know. Just that important connection, and that humanity that like, ties us all together. I think it so clearly paints a picture, pun intended, of how you've developed as a person, and like, who you want to be and how you want to exist in the world.
[00:33:41] Jess:
So something that I, and I think I say this to Elisa pretty much every single day, or every time Elisa and I do something, I learn something new about Elisa. And today is the fact that she also comes from a family of educators 'cause I don't think I realize we had that in common. And I think that's part of the reason why Elisa and I work so well, because I like, we both like, building things. And Elisa, like, we're both good at executing on the things that we build, but we also wanna keep pushing ourselves to try something new.
[00:34:12] Aubrey:
I also feel like I resonate from your story, like you’re both of your drives to learn. I think it is a very underappreciated gift of a time to be alive. Like, the ability to have any information at your fingertips, pretty much, right?
[00:34:29] Elisa:
So true.
[00:34:30] Aubrey:
But I will say, I do know it's harder in this climate for people to understand how to find information, and how to decipher information. I feel like this goes back to what you were saying Jess, actually, about your comprehension, right? Like that's great that there's all this information but are we actually hearing it? Are we actually comprehending it? Are you fully nourished by that information? So yeah, I think there's a lot of takeaways for people and just like, really process the things that you guys just shared. So thank you so much, truly.
In summary, it's all about being, like, open-minded. And I think there's a lot of open-heartedness here as well. That is the last piece of the puzzle that I'd love to touch on, anything you think is, as professionals in that field, worth touching on?
[00:35:15] Elisa:
I would say continue to learn, continue to challenge yourself and learn how to listen. I would definitely not be where I am today if I hadn't had an amazing creative director at MedStar Health. I worked for the corporate Marketing department, and I am a talker. My husband jokes, I could have a good conversation with a wall.
[00:35:36] Aubrey:
You and me both, girl.
[00:35:38] Elisa:
Right? And growing up a twin, I was definitely like, Richard and I talked to each other and we, we're divided attention and all of that. And she pulled me aside one day and was like, “Hey, you're really good at what you do, but you're not great yet. You could be great. But you have to learn to listen.” And actually sent me to an extended education, active listening class. I learned so many tools that I still fall on, like I fall back on today where I'm like, “oh, I need to remember to be quiet and listen and be willing to not have an ego.”
Look, I can make anything look great. I can love what I do. I can design something that I love, that I know has good balance, that I know is amazing, but I'm not my own client. My clients are my clients, and they are the ones that have to be excited and love what I've done.
So I think a lot of hurdles for graphic designers can be that ego where they're like, “well, I don't wanna have to redo something. I already did it, and it already looks great.” Well, the client wants to change it. I tell our clients: I do everything with purpose. So if you're like, Elisa, “why did you put this line here?” I have a reason for it. I do everything with purpose, everything for a reason. And I think it's important to just remember that and to be able to educate your clients, but also not push back to the point where they're put off because, you're designing for them. You're creating for them.
[00:37:14] Aubrey:
It's a delicate balance; there's an important lesson of compromise.
[00:37:17] Jess:
Yeah.
[00:37:18] Elisa:
Yeah.
[00:37:19] Jess:
And then to Elisa's point, there's that compromise: how do we find that balance? Because sometimes, when we wanna say, “hey, I like,” …even you Aubrey; you have a lot of things that you wanna say. How do we bring it down to the things that are really at the heart of what you're trying to say so that it gets across clearly? And then knowing that to diminish what you're trying to achieve in that. “Okay, we've said a lot of things, but is it really what you're trying to say?” I, yes. I think there's a place for education. I think there's a place for in sync. I think they're a place for compromise, and I think they're a place for just that openness.
[00:38:00] Aubrey:
Yeah, and I think that's such a great way to tie the things into a bow. Life is not that simple, but in the case of an episode, to tie it all together. I'm listening to both of you talk and I'm like, “yes! I totally relate to that.” “Yes, I totally relate to that.” And I think that's the beauty of it, right? Is that, there's always some way to connect with someone. There's always like, a facet of yourself that can be mirrored and seen in like another person. And I think it's beautiful how you guys are able to do that, like, professionally, but also as humans. And I think it's also cool how you do it as a team, and how you've found each other, and been able to use things that are similar as super strengths, and things that are maybe a little bit different as good compromises in ways to take turns, and all that stuff. And I think that it sounds a little bit like kindergarten lessons, but I find life seems to always track back to the kindergarten lessons. And so it's just really cool to see that translate professionally, but also personally for both of you. So I truly am very grateful for your honesty, and your vulnerabilities that you shared here to tell that story as well.
[00:39:06] Elisa:
Yeah. Thank you for having us.
[00:39:08] Aubrey:
You're welcome. Is there anything else you guys wanna touch on before we wrap it up? Any final thoughts?
[00:39:14] Jess:
I, we, like hanging out with cool people, so if you're cool, come hang out with us.
[00:39:18] Aubrey:
Seriously, like the recommendation for you guys is, I don't feel like I can say it enough. But like, also, if you need any services in this creative agency that you guys described, like you really should work with them because you guys really changed a lot for me. Like I truly, I'm not over exaggerating that. I don't think I have it all figured out, clearly. Anyone from the outside world can see that. But you guys truly, like I said, it got me over a major speed bump. You set me on a really intentional direction. You've given me so much to work with and reflect upon, and I'm very grateful to have crossed paths. And to top it all off with an episode, is like, very special. So thank you from the bottom of my heart.
[00:40:00] Jess:
Thank you for letting us bring your vision to life.
[00:40:05] Elisa:
A pleasure to work with you, and so fun to create a brand that, to create your brand, that really is you; embodied in words, and image, and feeling. It was really great. It was so fun to work with.
[00:40:23] Aubrey:
Oh, thank you so much.
Music fades in…
Thank you for listening to the Golden Approach. If you like this episode, I highly recommend listening to my chat with Brooke Kelbaugh, a cookie artist who shares her experience building boundaries, confidence and success through communication skills in her small business. You'll find it linked in the show notes.
This podcast was created, recorded, and edited by me: Aubrey. With audio technology and support provided by Hannah, of Barn Swallow Audio Company. If you've liked this episode or any episode prior, be sure to follow us so you never miss a new release. We greatly appreciate you helping others find the podcast by leaving a review wherever you're currently listening, or directly sharing with friends and family. You can find extended resources, merch, and more in the show notes, and on our website, goldenapproachpodcast.com.
Till next time,
Music fades out…
Episode Resources:
Be More Kind - Local networking group
If you like this episode, I highly recommend listening to my chat with Brooke Kelbaugh, a cookie artist who shares her experience building boundaries, confidence and success through communication skills in her small business.
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