Stories, Success & Stuff
Watch episodes at https://www.siarza.com/siarza-podcast
A Siarza Production
Hosted by Kristelle Siarza & Jace Downey
Executive Producer: Kristelle Siarza
Producer: Jace Downey
Videographer/Editor: Justin Otsuka
Stories, Success & Stuff
Stories, Success & Stuff Episode 21: Ask Us Anything!
We've got a huge week coming up and want you to be part of it!
Kristelle and Jace are opening up the floor for YOUR questions. We welcome you to ask us anything!
Want help with your 2024 business development planning? Looking for guidance with your marketing? Unsure of how much to pay for your new web build? Interested in hearing more about a story we've told? Looking to go deeper on an area we've discussed? You ask - We'll answer!
Send your questions in at siarza.com/contact or DM us on IG @SiarzaTheAgency
We also have fun news about a great conference we'll be speaking at on November 17 in Albuquerque, NM. The seventh annual Women Entrepreneurs (WE) Mean Business Conference will feature key insights from leading women entrepreneurs in NM, strategies for business growth, and a networking reception to enable more connections between the Labs and industrial communities. Women in various stages of entrepreneurship are encouraged to attend! Get all the info/tickets at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/we-mean-business-conference-2023-tickets-634815218407
But wait, there's more! Listen now for a big Siarza announcement.....
A Siarza Production
Hosted by Kristelle Siarza Moon & Jace Downey
Executive Producer: Kristelle Siarza Moon
Producer: Jace Downey
Video/Editing: Justin Otsuka
Watch episodes at siarza.com/siarza-podcast
Follow us on FB, IG, TT, YT and TW @siarzatheagency
Follow Kristelle @kristellesiarza
www.misskristelle.com
Follow Jace @jacedowneyofficial
www.jacedowney.com
Hey everybody, thanks for joining us for Stories, success and Stuff. We've got an abbreviated version for this week, excited to tell you about some of the things that we're working on here at CRS, but we wanted to kind of have a quick podcast to kind of discuss how we want to get to know you all better and open up the floor. Open up for questions. Remarks. Chase, what kind of questions or audience do you think is going to be sending in questions, or what are the things that you'd really love to answer in our Q&A for this week?
Speaker 2:Oh my goodness, I've had folks ask like can we like send in personal questions that you guys can answer to help us in our business development? Or be more authentic as a leader, how to show up as a whole person and, holy, kick ass in your role, and I say yes to all of those things. I mean we've covered everything on here from our wacky identity episode last week. Thank you all for coming along for that fun ride, as we were in character All the way from identity to motivation. Our imposter syndrome episode was a really big one. I know it's something a lot of folks deal with. We were talking about Mondays, which people really enjoy, and just we've covered the gamut. We're going to continue doing so. So the questions that can come in are welcome to be of any nature, any appropriate nature that we can answer as people out in the world trying to do our best to be happy and successful as authentically as possible.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Some of the questions I love to answer are the origin story questions. Who doesn't love to talk about a little bit about what they've gone through, sharing this story, seeing if a lesson can come out and help them in their lives? I always love answering the commonly asked questions, which is how much is a marketing budget? How much should I be spending on social media? How do I? One of the great questions I get is how do you start your own social media department? I love answering those questions, even things like how the heck do you set a company budget? What does starting a nonprofit look like? It can be operational questions. It can be questions like how the hell does Spencer put up with you? That great question to ask, great questions to ask the answer is easily, and you're welcome, spencer.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think he's not around right now. No, we're an open book, we've always been an open book and thanks to all of our listeners saying and recognizing us in public just saying, hey, this is a great podcast or you can share stories about the beautiful challenges and crazy life that we both live. In fact, we're actually sharing a couple of our stories here pretty soon, on November 17th. November 17th is actually a really big day for CRSA.
Speaker 2:It's a huge day. We're going to be releasing the next podcast, which will indeed be answering the questions that get sent in, which you're welcome to do through our Instagram direct messages. You can go to CRSAcom on our contact page and fill out the info form there as well. We're releasing this episode earlier in the week to give you a little more time to get those questions in. They'll need to be in by Sunday night so we'll record in studio on Monday answering those questions. So, through Instagram direct message or our contact page at CRZcom, I'll put those links in the description here as well.
Speaker 2:Any questions you're getting, keep in mind we're a full service communications agency. We do everything from web development to digital marketing, traditional marketing, ad placements, all things in the advertising realm. We do PR, we do crisis communications, we do media relations, we do video and photography. If a business needs it, we do it. So if you have any questions in those realms, or for either or both of us personally and directly, or about the more stories side to all of this success stuff, those questions are welcome to come in by Sunday night at either of those options that we mentioned, because once we release that episode, there'll be three very exciting things going on at.
Speaker 1:Crystal's mattress. Yeah, so that's a toss over to those. So November 17th is actually CRZ's birthday. That was the day that we incorporated. I woke up at four o'clock in the morning saying to myself this is gonna be the start of a new life. So excited to share CRZ's birthday with everybody, which is also my work.
Speaker 2:Why November 17th? What was going on that week, that day? Was it a Monday? Is it a Wednesday? What was it? What was your?
Speaker 1:year for about that day. I remember already having two or three appointments out on my own. It was a really, really exciting day. I was up in Santa Fe when that day had happened. There was no particular reason why that date needed to be my date of starting the company. It was just in 2014,. It was a month after balloon fiesta and I had wrapped up that work when I was the account executive for another firm, but I was just really glad to actually have the opportunity to be out on my own. So started it the way that my old owner started his and the rest of these days history, which is really exciting.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, november 17th was just a really significant day. That was also the day that I didn't understand how to get my business license and how to set up my CRS at the New Mexico State Tax and Rev. That was also the day that I started our bank account. Like, it was a really big day. Okay, it was a really big day. So this year it's also really exciting. We get to share our stories collectively. We get to share our stories at the we Mean Business Conference brought to you by or presented by San Diego Labs and diverse W Business Program, scale Up New Mexico and the Arrowhead Center at the New Mexico State University. They have been incredibly kind in asking three big departments, or three big things that we love to talk about, and two departments of CRSA. You've got to talk at two o'clock that day at the conference, is that right?
Speaker 2:I sure do. I will be leading Marketing Failure 101, a guide for entrepreneurs, as a proud failure of two businesses. I've learned quite a bit from that side on how to totally sabotage yourself as an entrepreneur, and it's stuff I see all the time. When I did entrepreneurial consulting in Austin, I saw the same things all the time and it drove me nuts. Because you'd have these people in front of you who are full of passion and ideas and energy and they're looking to make a positive change in their community in some way. Most entrepreneurs have a big heart for something and they want to make a positive impact on the world. And so here they are, in front of you and they're gonna fail.
Speaker 2:Most entrepreneurs fail, most small businesses fail, and it's not because people don't have great ideas or they don't have the energy to put into it. I mean, entrepreneurs work really, really, really hard. I know I've said it before, but if you have an entrepreneur in front of you that wants to work for you, hire them. They're gonna be able to do everything. They're amazing people and I just could pick out exactly which ones.
Speaker 2:We're gonna fail, and so often it came down to marketing. So the fact that I'm giving a marketing talk at a professional conference is kind of hilarious to me, given how much I fought it for so long of my own entrepreneurial career. But I've learned a lot there and then I've learned a lot on the other side as well on how to do it successfully. So my goal at the conference we standing for women entrepreneurs mean business. It'll be an in-person, local conference here in New Mexico is to help people who are not in the business that can introduce themselves to the economy. Vice versa, some people maybe avoid some pitfalls that we often fall into as entrepreneurs and have some legit, practical guidance on things to do to help give an advantage for that idea or business to succeed.
Speaker 1:We're going to do it in a totally non-judgmental way.
Speaker 2:Like I said, I have two failed businesses. I know what's up in that room. I know how to fuck it up, and it's okay if other people are fucking it up too. We're going to figure that out together.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you're a phenomenal public speaker too. That's the exciting part about it. It's just like you know, when the conference had asked for you to present, I said, yes, sign me up, and what time is that show going to start? Because I want to be there for that. So I'm really excited to see you speak, which is great.
Speaker 2:We're going to have fun. I insist on having fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 100%.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm saying yeah, well, conferences can be really stuffy, so make the best out of it, and I don't think this conference is going to be stuffy. In fact, they have Dr Lanisha Adams starting at 930,. I believe A colleague of mine and I are actually going to be doing a really exciting fireside chat. She's really the star of the show and I'm there kind of complimenting her on her story. Amazing consultant by the name of Vanessa Rowan horse, rowan horse consulting, and she also founded Native Women Lead, which is an incredible program for women and female entrepreneurs that are Native American.
Speaker 1:And so, you know, we were starting to plan out this fireside chat and we're just going to talk about how there's a lot of systematic barriers that we run up against. Like she's an expert when it comes to financial equity and I've learned so much from her, but women don't even think about financial equity as a reasoning behind some of the barriers that they face, or generational barriers, from the fact that you know there's there is such a thing as old money and new money. There is such a thing as as a generational trauma that plays a part in business, and so we'll talk about those types of topics here at the conference, and so that's going to be the lunchtime topic and then a fun panel that we were quick.
Speaker 2:I've had multiple people ask me will there actually be a fire?
Speaker 1:No, sorry, I don't think.
Speaker 2:It'll be a podium side chat or maybe with the fire going in the background couch chat.
Speaker 1:I think that's a that's applicable to talk about couch potato chats. No, the the final one at four o'clock is actually going to be our internship and mentorship panel, and I'm excited because we're going to be talking about how to create both workshop and panel presentation. So it'll be 10 minutes kind of talking about how to create your own internship program as a small business or small business owner, it doesn't matter how big or small you might be. Very much can create an internship or an internship like culture. We're also going to talk about how the impact of a mentor and mentee relationship actually plays a part of success in business, and so we'll actually have almost, as you put it, just four generations of CRS in the room, which is super cool. We'll have myself kind of doing the.
Speaker 1:This is what an internship panel looks like, our internship process looks like, and then we're going to have Danielle from our team, director of client services, talking about what clients or what, what it meant, what it looked like behind the scenes for us to be a mentor, mentee program in relationship and culture, and then we're going to have her mentee, which was Marissa Graham. Marissa Graham is going to be in the room and Marissa is going to be talking about what it's like to be in the middle, both in charge of our internship program but also being mentored by Danielle, and then we'll have Julia. Julia is our newest team member. She just got promoted to account or to account executive and she's going to be in the room talking about what it's like to be a mentee and what that progression really looks like among the three of them. So we're really excited to have our entire team there and especially on CRS is birthday.
Speaker 2:What a fun little round and one of the chances that, to think back to 2014, we were like how the hell do I set this up and I think we're going to probably need a bank account and to going to being asked to do multiple talks at a big conference because your company has reached a status of expertise and done so in a way that others admire. Nine years isn't that long for that to be accomplished. I know a lot has happened in between, but I love when things wrap up with a nice bow, and so the fact that you went from being a super small, just yourself and then three of you to start company to now you have four generations on the same stage this like super cute little family situation, which I love all within nine years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I love that it's on a birthday. I appreciate it too, and also too like it also is a great circle of life for you. That's my Lion King reference for today.
Speaker 2:I was like am I about to die?
Speaker 1:No, no, no, there's no Mufasa pushing off the cliff. That's not what we're doing here. But you know, to kind of wrap up this mini version of stories, success and stuff, I think what's really great about having you on board too is talking about your failures and successes. Right, you've seen successes with other business owners. You've seen what will be successful and how this will play a major part of like you joined a company so that way you could spread the good word of what it takes to actually be successful as an entrepreneur, and I'm excited to see that and see that happen. So really looking forward to having you join us in the conference as well. It's just, it's a big girl squad Like. It's great. You know, I love it. I'm super excited about it. But that wraps up our mini version of story, success and stuff for today.
Speaker 1:Please don't forget to send in your questions on your favorite social media channel or at CRSAcom through our contact us page. Send us a question, tell us what you want to hear for next week's episode and, most importantly, thank you, jace, for being here today. If you haven't subscribed to our podcast on your favorite social channel, don't forget to do that. Hit the subscribe button and, most importantly, don't forget to sign up for our email newsletter or any updates on stories, success and stuff at CRSAcom. Thank you, jace, we'll see you soon. Have a good one.
