Barbara Riley, President & CEO of The AD Club of New England, on Redefining Mentorship and Building Community

In this episode of Breaking Through the Mayhem, host Danielle Calciano, Senior Director of Sales at Sightly, sits down with Barbara Riley, President & CEO (and fractional CMO) of The AD Club of New England, to trace her path from Boston radio and early agency roles to leading a regional marketing community and advising brands.

Barb shares how detours shaped her career—trading broadcast dreams for media and marketing, building client- and agency-side experience (Arnold Worldwide; CMO stints including Kaplan University and PopCorners), and why “showing up” changed her leadership style, from weekly New York runs to an 18-month Fort Lauderdale assignment.

The conversation dives deep into:

• Community as advantage: Why Boston’s unique mix of youth, heritage, and cross-industry depth powers creativity—and why in-person energy matters again.
• Mentorship redefined: Barb’s “Fusion Hour” and “Walkie Talkie” formats that replace top-down mentoring with cross-learning (junior↔senior, peer, cross-functional) and intentional, small-group connections.
• Authenticity vs. automation: A practical AI stance—use tech for speed and scale, preserve human empathy and trust at key moments across service, sales, and marketing funnels.
• Brand values & consumers: How two-way dialogue and value alignment (employees and audiences) make brands better—and how partners help audit options and move faster.
• Culture by design: Create spaces people want to return to; avoid punitive “must return” narratives; build respect and flexibility for real lives.

Barb closes with a call to action: help The AD Club be a “master connector and fueler” for marketers in New England—share what’s missing so the organization delivers real, measurable value.

TRANSCRIPT

Danielle
Welcome to another episode of Breaking Through the Mayhem. I am your host, Danielle Calciano. Very excited to have Barb Riley with me today. She is the president and CEO and fractional CMO of the Ed Club New England. Barb, welcome.

Barb
Thank you. Thanks for having me, Danielle. I appreciate it.

Danielle
Of course. So before we jump into it, I'll just share a little bit more about you. Barb is the president and CEO, fractional CMO of the iClub of New England, a nonprofit organization and champions of New England's marketing, advertising, and media community through industry-defining events, education, and networking.

With a remarkable background spanning leadership roles in media, strategic partnerships, and brand storytelling, Barb is known not only for her deep industry experience, but also for her ability to bring people together and elevate voices that matter. So very excited to have you on the pod today and really take a deep dive into more about what you're doing over at the Ad Club and really how you got to this great position today.

Barb
Well, take it away. I'm psyched to answer questions and certainly love this topic. So let's go.

Danielle
Amazing. Can you start by telling us a little bit more about your background and how you got into media and marketing?

Barb
Well, funny, I really wanted to be a weather woman or a newscaster. I went to school for that, for journalism, broadcasting, and then in business. And as I moved along my education in my career, I was a freshman at American University and I ran out of money. I was paying my education myself and I ended up having to go get a job during the day and go to school at night. That's how I...

ended up finishing my education. And I got a job at WCOZ radio in Boston and really fell in love with the marketing and the advertising and just the whole world. And then I got a job at an agency. So while I was going to school at night, I was working in the industry at 18, 19, 20, and 21 while other kids were in college. And I fell in love with it. And I thought, well, forget weather woman, forget newscaster. I'm loving this. you know, life is half about what you plan and half about what happens. And I've always had a belief that you just celebrate the journey and sort of assess as you go what you want. It can change. It's OK. Change is OK. And I ended up just finding this industry to be one that married the combination of imparting news and information with a little entertainment thrown in. So I kind of am doing some of the things I thought I might be doing in a whole different way and I still love it. All these years later, decades later, I really love it. I love the people and I love what we do and I especially like when we're solving problems and helping.

Sometimes you get the good fortune of doing it for a really strong purpose or really a company that has a strong purpose and it feels even better. But I just really am enjoying still the role. It's just great. I love it.

Danielle
That's amazing. It sounds like people have really motivated you over the years to continue to drive change in the industry.

Barb
Well, people have for sure, I mean, I've been lucky to work with really incredible CEOs, CMOs, creative people, media partners, talent just abounds. And they push you when you're around good people, right? That pushes you to wanna do well and do well around you. But I think the marketplace changes have motivated me just as much.

And some people used to say, you remember the days it was just TV and outdoor and radio? And I'm like, I remember it, but I actually think this is more fun. I think all the changes that are occurring, whether it was the advent of what technology brought us or just the number of distribution channels for how we can reach consumers, I actually think all of it's really fascinating and it makes us all better.

Danielle
100%. And I agree, think staying in one area for too long would be really mundane, especially when you're thinking about traditional channels like TV and radio. So to be able to stay on top of the trends and evolve with it really makes a difference.

Barb
Absolutely.

Barb
and the power that now rests in consumers' hands has really made, I think for the better, having two-way dialogue with customers has been pushed to completely different places than it was five, 10, 15, 20 years ago, and that to me makes brands better. Brands are far more obligated to listen than they ever were before.

Danielle
One minute.

Barb
I think that's a necessity. So I'm loving it all, every part of it. Probably one of the reasons why I enjoy, I really enjoyed my life in the agency world because the creativity of that was probably the win, you're closer to it. But one of the things I loved about, and what I still love about being a fractional CMO for a couple of different brands is the ability to really hear the consumer.

Danielle
yeah. Yeah, I mean.

Barb
closer. You've got to be really close to them when you're working on a product. You have to be good at listening. And I have loved the fact that you can go beyond marketing and see where marketing can be moved throughout the entire organization. The whole organization represents the brand, but the marketing is better when the whole organization is tied to it. And I love that part of the job.

Danielle
Yeah.

Danielle
Absolutely, and it's so important for brands to align with who they're looking to reach and really understand them on a deeper level because at the end of the day, that's what they want to be rooted in is their core values are aligning with their audience's core values.

Barb
Right, exactly right. And that's the of the knitting together you can do and the tying it up. That's how the brand can best connect. And we can talk about that at some point, but I think that authentic matching of these are my values and this is what this brand stands for, even for employees, these are my values, this is who I wanna work for. I think those are the things that as practitioners, we need to continue to evolve again.

Danielle
Yeah, and I think for a lot of brands, get really lost in understanding who they are and what they stand for. And for companies like Cytley, it's really important for us to put a playbook or a blueprint together for these brands to identify and move through media channels with who they are and putting their best foot forward when it comes to reaching their audiences in general.

Barb
And those are the partners that we need to lean into. And I think that's really one of the challenges that abounds all of us today is that there are more and more companies providing really great resources like Sitely, but they're out there. There's a lot to work with to make us all better and having the ability to...

audit it all, a category of assessment and say here are all your options, you need to know these things. That's one of the challenges that we all have is getting awareness for all that because there's so many now. There's so many ways to improve your marketing.

Danielle
Yeah, definitely. So bringing it back just a little bit, you mentioned your first job still in college was in Boston. Have you stayed in the Boston area throughout your career?

Barb
Well, I guess home base has kind of always been Boston. But my last years at Arnold Worldwide, I did a three-year stint where I was Monday to Thursday in New York in the New York office. And here is an example that, again, when we talk about something near and dear to me later.

I had the option of just flying in on occasion to the New York office to meet the team. That was on the table because I had a home base in Boston. I had a client group in Boston. My teams were in Boston. And my depth of experience and connections are in Boston.

But I felt really compelled to go be there and be present because the new team that we just want a piece of business was based in New York. The client was in New York. And when we won the business, the pitch was, it was a really important piece of business. And I just didn't think that's how you run an account or it wasn't my leadership style to be a pop in kind of a leader.

I don't feel great about that kind of relationship building. I don't know that you can be a good leader, good manager, a good partner if you're not present and I wanted to be present. So I did that and then when I left Arnold, I became a CMO. I really had wanted to do that and one of my clients at Arnold,

One of my favorite assignments of all time, Kaplan University, was being acquired. Kaplan University is known as an online education tool. This is back in 2017. For adults who never made it through, I'm a perfect classic example. I didn't do traditional college. I did it at night like a, it was just work by day, school by night, work by day, nine years.

Danielle
That's right.

Barb
wasn't an easy stint. I think there are so many more adults out in the world that are like that, that they can't finish for one other reason, like they're a single parent, they run out of money, their job is demanding, they don't live near a good institution, their grades and qualifications didn't get them where they wanted to go, all sorts of reasons. Kaplan was a brand that I loved working on, on the agency side, because I thought they had a great mission to get people a chance to be educated, to get a better life.

And Purdue University, a really reputable university, saw the trends of online and saw that education was getting pricey. Decided to purchase Kaplan University. And when I decided to leave Arnold to be a CMO, the CEO of Kaplan called me up and said, would you consider taking this job as an acting fractional CMO? And for me, was a, I couldn't have imagined.

better start for me to be a CMO than with a CEO that I adored a brand I had experience on in a mission I truly was passionate about So I did that but it back to your question. It was in Fort Lauderdale and He wanted his CMO in Fort Lauderdale So I took the 6 a.m. Flight out of Logan to Fort Lauderdale. I Rented a place to live. My home base was still Boston and I moved down to Florida for 18 months, Monday to Thursday, every week. And I did that 18 months, plus the three years in New York. And I, so I could say, yes, I'm a Bostonian, but I felt the impact of not being in my hometown. And it taught me something. And it was the power of your community. It taught me a lot about embedding yourself in the place that you are working. It taught me a lot about the importance of face-to-face. I kind of already felt it before because I had shorter stints when I was starting up businesses, but I felt it deeply when I was literally renting an apartment in another city. And I said to myself, there is something that you can't trade off. have to, you have to understand the importance of your role and your, your

Danielle
Mm-hmm.

Barb
How do you find it within you to make that kind of commitment known? That's kind of like the question mark I asked myself. So COVID hit and then it challenged us all. I was going through that for five years before COVID hit and that all was right before COVID. So I moved right into that challenge and COVID hit.

Danielle
Yeah.

Danielle
And you were in Fort Lauderdale at that point?

Barb
I had just wrapped my stint and I came back and I had it. It was the CMO of Pop Corners. It wasn't fractional. It was a contract role. And it happened when I was at Pop Corners on a flight to Expo West in California.

Danielle
wow.

Danielle
Ha

Danielle
Mmm.

Barb
and they pulled us they pulled us back and said you have to go down to Pepsi we just got acquired by Pepsi. And I'm well you're canceling our trip because of COVID how come I'm going on another flight to Texas? But people didn't know that at the time people thought it was coming in from you know China and landing in California.

Danielle
Yeah. I think COVID could be there too.

Yeah.

Danielle
everywhere else.

Barb
So that was the day when we knew nothing. So anyway, the answer to your question is I have been outside the market in limited ways, but not to ever permanently live. And I don't feel any harm because I travel on average 48 weeks a year.

for my job at that time and I don't feel anything other than deep love for wherever I am I find a way to love it but I do love Boston.

Danielle
Nothing.

Danielle
Yeah, I think that I really resonate with finding your community and

making the most of your situation when you have to maybe work in two different cities or really split your time. I opened up Sightly's New England office right before COVID. It was September of 2019. So I opened that office with high hopes and a whole different look at what I was walking into. And so

One of the things that I felt I had going was being a part of the ad club and having that network of people to just start talking and understanding what...

is going on up here. This is a new market for me. had just freshly moved to Boston. So to be able to have a community, even if it was virtual for, you know, first year or two, it was great to be able to find mentors and a community that works for me when everything was so fresh and new. And I mean, here we are now. I think it's been five years. So the office really took off and grew and I'm, you know, grateful for it, but definitely.

give the ad club so much credit and appreciation for what it did for me in those few years.

Barb
I love that, you know, I never even, it's really bright to do that. I didn't know that that was the case. And I, you know, it's funny when I was in New York on Fort Lauderdale, I didn't have those options. And I think I would have liked that. To be really honest, I think that's a smart way to like immediately zone in on.

not just a community, but a specific community of peers that can be uplifting you and sort of accelerating your connection to the right people. And that's kind of how I view this role is fueling marketing in whatever way that looks like. it connections to people? Is it you need support in training?

Is it you need inspiration for your team and fresh perspective? Is it awareness that you need? mean, I'm supposed to, I really think about, I've never worked at a trade association before in my life, that that's not something I aspire to. It's not something I saw for myself ever. And ironically, when the opportunity was presented to me, it made perfect sense because I've always sat in some capacity.

And even more so now that way, I balance the marketing and the corporate side with the agency side. And I actually started out in media. My very first job was a media agency. And back when I said I my work in a radio station. So I kind of pull back and I think my community is that sort of whole community and my experience is that whole world.

makes sense to be in this role to help empower marketing. And again, going back to your point about having a community, I just, I love this city. I really love, I love where I am. Like I always love where I am. I find ways to love where I am. It's the only way to survive, I think. But I have found that there's something so special about Boston.

Danielle
You

Barb
I knew it for a long time like when I my flight lands at Logan I look at the skyline I'm like that's a beautiful skyline I'm so happy to be here. But it's unique it's a unique city because it's tapped with youth the youth that comes out of the institutions always pushes us. The heritage of being one of the you know oldest areas and well is the oldest area in the country it's

Danielle
Yeah.

Danielle
Mm-hmm.

Barb
an abundance of cool stuff like art, restaurants, skiing, museums, history. It's just got a lot going for it and then just it's small. It's small but not too small and it's big enough. It's walkable. It's got a really interesting dynamic number of industries. Like you really think about it like

Danielle
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Barb
you know, what are you known for? Some people will say we're known for financial services, but others will say, no, no, no, we're known for our education. Others will say, no, no, no, we're known for health care. And then others will say we're known for our sports teams. And then someone else will say, we're known for, you know, having a really vibrant, you know, young population. That's interesting. It's all of it. So I think those are kinds of when you say community.

Danielle
Mm-hmm.

Barb
I think how lucky we are because the community is so diverse. And when I say diverse, I don't mean necessarily race. I mean the composition of all that goes on here. That itself brings diversity.

Danielle
Yeah, yeah, I agree. And there's so much to learn from everybody that you can truly pave your way however you need when you open up your mind and put yourself in the situation of wanting to learn and, you know, live outside of your comfort zone.

Barb
Open mindedness, Danielle, you just nailed it.

Danielle
I mean, that's the way I would say. How has your approach to mentorship and connecting people to the right mentors really evolved over the years?

Barb
It's as I've gotten older I have challenged the word mentorship to myself and to others because it's got a I think this is my belief that the word mentorship has a built-in top to bottom feel

Danielle
Mm-hmm.

Barb
me with all my experience talks to you with all your little of experience or I know more than you so let me mentor you. And what I don't love about that is I think if you're if it's only learning and being mentored in that one way, I find that to be you're limiting your possibilities and opportunities. I think

I will use the word mentorship because it's known that there's something to it. But I think if we and I can broaden it, which is what my evolution of thinking is, is that my job at the Ad Club and in my own personal experiences is try to mentor and be mentored in ways that still allow so much learning because you're never done. And I like to think of it as cross learning.

Senior to junior learning, peer learning, cross-functional learning, and junior to senior learning. What I mean by that is I learned so much from young people and once I became a parent I realized just how much my kids have taught me.

and not just in business, but personally. And then I also think technology. They teach me more and more all the time about what's important to them as they grow. The other thing I think I learned going on the client side, which is what changed my mentorship description, is the amount of interaction required to be successful with the department leads.

from product development would be a really big one. Understanding the manufacturing team and going in deep and really being mentored and taught by what does it take to fix a machine that goes down and the pressure that's on, to be in the shipping department, to watch them try to get the Christmas rush out. I think when you spend this… precious word of mentorship and you change the dynamic of it being just learning and evolving your experience. Mentorship has so many more facets than the way we used to talk about it. And my hope in my role, I've created a new program called Fusion Hour, that it's intimate mentoring and it's in those different sort of spokes on a wheel kind of thing. It's or

I don't know what the analogy is, but it's side to side, it's up, down, down, it's all around. And the way I believe it works best is when you are open to learning. And you said open-minded, so I just think you have to be open-minded that if you're a CMO, you can absolutely be mentored from somebody who's got five years of experience.

Danielle
I love that.

And I think that is so important, especially for people that might be just starting in media or taking a big change in their role. It's really about understanding how everyone else operates and learning about other parts of the business that maybe you don't have to know about on the day to day, but to have that insight and understanding about how it's all working together in the ecosystem makes a world of a difference. so learning from one another.

is so valuable and sometimes I feel like it's a little lost on people.

Barb
Empathy too. It creates an empathy for the role or for the for the process. It may not just be for the person. It could be empathy and understanding on a process that you are your expectations on something being delivered to you were so far off but I think more importantly it sparked something really interesting in the evolution of innovation because if I'm learning about something else and combine it with what I already know

Danielle
Yes.

Danielle
Yes.

Barb
and think about the opportunities of new thinking. So yeah, I'm much more now and trying really hard to take that thinking and putting into practice in a program that allows more of that in the world. I'm also honestly hearing more and more of our workforce wanting it. From all ages, this notion of...

Danielle
Mm-hmm, yep.

Danielle
Is this good? Yeah.

Barb
getting smarter, learning more, hearing more perspectives. I think that that's, I mean, you said it when you said open-minded, that's just the way it starts.

Danielle
Yeah, definitely. And so how do you see this coming together? Is it fusion hour?

Barb
So I have four categories to start. I've bitten off way more than I can chew, but I've run four sort of platforms that I'm running and have names that I'm curating.

Danielle
Thank

Barb
So it's a dozen people trying to keep it like a dinner party, you know, sort of big enough to feel like you're meeting people and connecting small enough to feel like you can have real dialogue and learn something. So it's a dozen per, you know, it may end up being 10 if people can't make it last minute, which always happens, but it's intimate settings in an interesting background. I'm all about the venue being part of the inspiration.

And the first one's going to be at View Boston. Just an interesting backdrop of Boston and a new perspective to see it. if you haven't been, it's a great place to go. I'm not plugging it. I'm not an influencer. There's some really interesting.

Danielle
Check the link in my bio.

Barb
It's kind of just a cool backdrop and we'll meet in the first one is young mentors with seasoned mentors just putting two perspectives, the youth and the seasoned together. And the next one is CMOs that are from B2B and CMOs that are B2C, put them together that don't know each other. Nobody can know each other. That's the whole intent. Being vetted for no connections.

Danielle
Yeah.

Danielle
And the intent is one, to be inspired by different points of view and two, just to make more connections. I piloted this already and

Danielle
I was going to ask, I have an idea, but I'll let you tell the story.

Barb
no, I, well, I piloted the idea by taking some unsuspecting seasoned marketers and some unsuspecting been in the market for five to seven years doing their jobs from different disciplines, but in marketing. And I put them together at a table at an event specifically for socializing. And I knew this was going to happen. My gut was just like, once you put

the these types of people together, I just kind of sensed it. They have gone out to lunch together. They have a regular call to check in with each other. It was only four and four. So not six and six. But just think about that. You you do the algorithm on four and four. Do the math. The number of connections and different things that happen from that can be magnificent. And

Danielle
Okay.

Barb
Somebody said to me once, you can't scale that. How can you scale that? That's so small. How can you scale it? And my response was, you don't scale networking. Networking is a precious connection where intimate conversations happen. And if I can do this over the course of the year, it will keep building. And that is my goal.

Danielle
Mm-hmm.

Barb
is to keep helping. Now, that's only one way that we're doing connections and mentoring. It's only one, but it's the most intimate way. And that is the one that I'm most intrigued to see the results by the end of a year. What's your idea?

Danielle
I think that's so special. the, well, I was going to say, this sounded so familiar to me at the Women's Leadership Forum last spring, the walkabout around the track where you were paired up with different people and you did a few laps and you just got to meet somebody in almost an elevator pitch style. Who are you? What do you, know, where do you work? And you just chatted about maybe what you were working on or a problem you were having. It was so fun.

to just be able to have these quick conversations and hear about someone that's just started in media or has been at their company for 10, 20 years, and to have these quick connections and now you see them at other events and you start to form these relationships just out of one quick conversation I think is such a natural way to meet people and to keep the authenticity of networking so pure.

and it's not forced and that's what I love about it.

Barb
Well, that's the point is that the walls are down at that moment, right? There's nobody feeling bad about me. how awkward is it to go to a networking event? Not everybody can just march over, put their hand out and say, hi, I'm Barbara Riley. I'd like to meet you. That's so inauthentic.

Danielle
Thank

Danielle
Yeah.

Barb
that the whole idea of the walk and talk is it's curating people who say I'd like to meet other people. So that's already checked off the list. And the groups of people we put together, you want to know them all. So yeah, that is a second version of what I'm talking about. That was created for that reason. I think you know this. I think I've told you, I call it the walkie talkie. I love what we're doing.

Danielle
Exactly.

Danielle
Yes.

Barb
and not sitting across the table from each other which feels more formal. think the walking part makes it so much nicer and yeah the more we can just make it easy for people to touch another person and just even five minutes makes a difference.

Danielle
I agree. agree. You just need two laps. It was great. And I, and again, I think it is such a nice, refreshing way to meet new people rather than feeling the pressure to introduce yourself or walk up to large groups of people and to take yourself in conversations that maybe don't feel as natural. Such a nice new way to be able to.

Barb
that what it was I never found out how many lives people

Danielle
grow your network and understand more about what's happening maybe in your smaller industry.

Barb
Right. And you know, the idea for Fusion Hour came from that walkie talkie because when we assigned people to that, we did do it the old fashioned way. And when I was handing out a card to a woman and she was a very seasoned woman and I said, here is your mentee, she looked around the room and she said,

Danielle
Mm-hmm.

Barb
Any chance I can be a mentee? I said, what do mean? And she said, there's some people over there I recognize as very seasoned. I'd love to go have some time with them. I thought, we gotta really think about this differently.

So yeah, I mean, maybe you could just call that a connection, but the whole point is you learn from everyone. And that is the beauty of what we're trying to do is just connect, connect in whatever form that might be. I have people calling me up fairly regularly to say, I am very, very interested in winning this piece of business. I see that you're connected to so-and-so. How deep is your connection on LinkedIn to this person? Is there any chance that you could either get some intel from me or make a connection from me or give me a leg up in any way? Those are things that are important for me to be doing, but the other one is just I have four… missions in my job and these are the people in this industry that would fall into that category. you think you could help me? So I think there's strategic networking and strategic mentoring. And for me, they require conversation and understanding and the ability to just go find a way to help them connect. That's what we're trying to do.

Danielle
I love that. It's so special and I'm so excited to see how it evolves.

Barb
Well thank you. I mean clearly you were part of it so I'm glad I'm glad to hear. Yeah.

Danielle
Without even realizing. Are there any other trends or shifts in the industry that you are very excited about or you see happening right in front of you?

Barb
I tend to get pretty excited about a lot of them. Just because it stimulates some thought. I've been like everybody, you you don't have conversation these days without AI, but I, I,

I love to also poke and be a contrarian sometimes. And I love AI, first of all, I'm a user of it. I love the notion of tech. Let me just say it another way. I don't love AI. That's not the way I would like to talk about it because that seems too simplistic. I like what AI is doing to bring speed to cumbersome tasks. I like the way that AI

Danielle
Thank

Barb
is making us re-envision some things that otherwise might not have been re-envisioned across the entire business, like I think in customer service, in sales, in marketing, in work streams, and there's so many ways. Copywriting. I don't ever think that...

I hear all the fear in people's voices and this is where I'm forced to think about this more than probably the average person. I don't really believe the trend where people say robots are taking over for people in business. Call me naive if you want, but I just see too much of the importance of trust and the importance of

empathy. I see way too much the importance of feeling heard and valued. I see too much in that nuances and words matter. To ever think robots will replace that piece of humanity that helps business flow. What I have been beginning to think in this journey of

authenticity versus automation, what I've been thinking about is where in the funnel does it make the most sense? And in that funnel, there can be a customer service funnel. There can be a marketing funnel. There can be a sales funnel. There can be a workstream funnel. I think that the challenge we're all having to face that I don't think people are talking about the way I'm thinking about it, but I am thinking about my own experiences.

I love it when I can get on a call when I have a problem with X company and I love it when I can go boom, boom, boom and get my answer and I'm not waiting for something. I love when technology speeds things up. But when I have just had a car accident and I am panicked about getting my insurance claim filed, I need a human. Someone is listening to me and says, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? I know that they have a script in front of them. I don't really care. But the second I hear that tone of voice, am like, anxiety comes down. And in the the in the customer service funnel, I could lay over automation best here, human voice best here. Deep

Danielle
Huh.

Barb
empathetic, emotionally savvy human here. In the process of networking, people aren't wanting to network with a robot. People want to network with the experience that somebody comes with and their personal vibe and the joy that that comes from in that experience. I just don't believe robots are taking over for people.

I that we have to really, I mean I know nobody meant that like 100%, but everybody seems to be freaking out. And all I have to say is we know where your role is, know where you're good, know when your authentic job and self fits in the funnel and do really good there. But if what your job is is number crunching, I'm gonna just say.

My chat GPT is doing a really good job of crunching my numbers for a financial report and turning it into a beautiful chart that can do it in 10 minutes and it would take you two days. So I don't think people should worry as long as where their authentic humanity is needed, that will still be needed. Be better at that. Do more of that. Find the right places to do that.

Danielle
Yeah.

Barb
And brands should say, let's make sure we're really good in those places where customers need it, especially in sales. Like in sales, I mean, there are places where on my, I can think of a product that I was promoting. So let's just think about Sweet Lawrence, a brand I was the CMO for.

You want to make sure your website has all the sales information to sell that product. You want to make sure that there's easy access on ordering, buying, shipping. You want to make sure the ordering process happens lickety split and it gets delivered. But what about when I have customers who are saying, I don't understand the allergen free message. If I'm going to buy this, I'm really nervous because this isn't just somebody who wants to eat gluten free. They need to medically.

I need to be sure when I'm buying this, this is the right product. I think that you need the role of a human here and efficient sales process here. think in customer service when there's a problem, you need the overlay. I think in marketing, we need the overlay. And I just think thinking about where we can as marketers and business people do the best in all of those and not be panicking about it, just take control of it.

I can't tell you the number of panicked people I talked to about it. I gotta learn more about it because I'm afraid I'm gonna lose my job. I gotta learn more about it because I feel like an idiot when I talk to somebody. The panic needs to stop. You're too young to know this. You remember in the financial services world when everybody was panicking that bank tellers would no longer be needed because there was an ATM?

Danielle
Yeah.

Danielle
Yeah.

Danielle
god.

Barb
I'm like, yes, there's less of them. Good, because people do want things faster. But why were we so worried that this machine was going to take over the world? We just, I mean, ask yourself, when things are tough, when things are...

Danielle
Thank

Danielle
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Barb
confusing when there is a business problem. Do you want the experience of a human? Do you want the empathy of a human? Do you want the deep personal connection that brings joy from a human or do you want it from a machine? Ask yourself, you want efficiency and you want speed to market. Do you want a human or do you want a well-oiled piece of technology, whatever that looks like? Both have a role.

Danielle
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I 100 % agree with that. And I think that that is another pillar of what site these values are surrounding and supported by. Here's tech that we've built for you that you can lean on to understand who your brand is, the values and really take.

who they are, their digital footprint and translate that into ways to reach our audiences, whether that be from an empathetic tone or just an overall understanding of trends and tactical information. But it really, there's a time and a place for it. And I don't think that really it would ever be one way 100%. You know, it's always gonna be.

Barb
Well, you just said something that's so true, like even just taking technology and infusing more humanity into the voice and the vibe and the, like even that learning, like how important the authentic humanity is, it doesn't always have to be delivered by a person. Like just even having it feel more, I don't know, empathetic or.

more steeped in the understanding of how difficult this moment could be or what problem this is trying to solve. Yeah, so you just that was a really important part to this like authentic versus automation or authenticity versus automation doesn't mean it's it's that versus that sometimes it it means how do they work together.

Danielle
Great.

Barb
But it also means how do they learn better from each other? And yeah, I think your example at CITELY is a really good one. Like what's the brand voice? That's a good one.

Danielle
Mm-hmm.

Danielle
Yeah, at the end of the day that will help you get to an outcome faster if you're thinking about real-time campaigns or how you want to navigate sensitive topics or conversations. And it's all about having the tools you need to move quickly and the right blueprint in front of you to be able to do that is so important.

Barb
really excited about all those things that you're talking like the betterment for the brand. Those things are really important. And I just think that we always have to keep balancing, know, speed to market efficiency, humanity, empathy, trust, like where are all those

like where do those levers come in either equation, right? And which one do you apply at a certain time? And you're talking about that for the brand. I think there's all sorts of tools like Sightly that we're not all tapping into. And you know, I go back to this notion of fear, just for one moment, technology can be scary. And the speed at which it's coming at all of us, I mean, you're managing it, Danielle, and you're in the middle of it. So you can speak to this better than me.

But there's a speed to market, which is also like, what am I missing? I just got updated on this one and mastered this, and now I've got something new to learn. I think that feels a little overwhelming. How do you deal with that? Like, that's part of it too, is like you're dealing with people who are feeling that way.

Danielle
Yeah, I think it's all about just easing people into to whatever it is to the process to to using new tools to understanding really what you're offering them and bring to the table that will help them. Doesn't have to be scary, but if you

For me, if you're bringing scenarios to them or showing them real-time examples that they can relate to, then I think it eases maybe some of the growing pains of adopting a new process or leaning into AI or a new piece of tech that we think really helps support what you're doing on a day-to-day basis. So for me, it's really just about like, just give it a try. Just look at these scenarios or understand really what this process is all about.

And I think that will really help people navigate and feel more comfortable with what they're really looking to do or just overall objectives and goals for themselves or just overall pieces of business that they could be working on.

Barb
that makes transistence.

I'm thinking about the trend question you asked and the second trend I think I would talk about is I am definitely seeing this sort of goes back to the community conversation we had, but I'm seeing a lot more people wanting to connect, like coming back out. I don't, I think there's probably gonna be behavioral studies that come about at some point.

the talk about the damage that was done from the years of certain age groups being locked in a room or stuck behind a computer. But the more I see people coming out, the more joy I'm starting to see that the connections are really making a difference and people are wanting more of it. It was sort of like, it was kind of funny to watch people who were, you know.

Danielle
Yes.

Barb
experienced of being out and about and always going someplace and always driving or taking the tea and the return to it was a little timid right there's been some just let me put my toe in the water kind of a feel and they're starting to remember that's what it's like i heard somebody walk into an office the other day i was there in the office it was vibrant somebody walked into the office and said wow this is

Danielle
Yeah.

Barb
This is reminiscent of 2019. And I thought to myself, my God, six years later, we've forgotten what that could feel like. Really? You really forgot what that felt like? And that's what we're dealing with. I'm surprised, but here we are. And I think people are just excited to be back in person and feeling the energy that comes from it.

Danielle
Yeah.

Danielle
Yeah, I agree.

I think you learn so much from just sitting next to your peers every day or just being in a room and listening to other conversations. There's nothing that can replace that. And people that have to go into the office one or two days a week, think without realizing it, they're getting more value from it than they think.

Barb
I bet I think they've turned the corner to maybe they are realizing it.

Danielle
Yeah.

Barb
That's what I'm starting to feel. I think in the beginning they weren't because it was such a just a, you know, a new muscle to exercise again or exercise it again. Now I think they're really starting to feel it. So I do think this sounds, you know, it's not rocket science that we're talking about, but it goes back to the importance of community, how lucky we are to to be in this community. But that's a trend I'm seeing. I'm seeing people kind of feeling happy about it, not annoyed by it. There was a lot of annoyance last year.

Danielle
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Barb
I have to come back in the office. So this traffic's terrible. People seem just happy about it now.

Danielle
Do you think a lot of maybe that negative sentiment is also coming from online communities or just social media in general where sometimes articles are, you this company has to return to work three days a week and all the negative comments that live within that article. Do you think a lot of that is coming from this sentiment that people might not have with just consuming it and seeing it within their newsfeeds is just without realizing it, making them feel that like, oh, this is not what I

Barb
Yeah. Well, it's an interesting perspective because I'd never tied it back to it. But when you think of the way you even just worded it, the number of posts that I read of such and such company now issuing a new policy, you must come back to work. It felt punitive. Like the big lords are calling us back. And when you even hear it like that, it doesn't feel good. When you read it, it doesn't feel good.

Danielle
Either.

Danielle
Yeah.

Barb
I don't believe work has to be in person. I don't. But I do believe judicious in person makes a huge difference. But the way some of the wording is, you're right, is so like corporate negativity. And we are telling you, you must do this. No one wants to feel that way.

Danielle
Yeah.

Danielle
Mm-hmm.

Barb
That just doesn't feel right. We have a member who, a couple of approaches that build a space and they will come, make it enjoyable, make it great, and they'll want to be there. I think that's been super effective as opposed to the you must. Nobody wants to feel that negativity and that sort of authoritative feel.

Danielle
Yeah.

Barb
But when you build it and they will come, it feels like you're, even though it's certainly not a choice, it feels better.

Danielle
I agree. I think so too.

Barb
We're in a creative space. need to not be punitive. mean, think about Picasso didn't do great work because he was, you know, put in a box and told you must do this. It was its creation and you got to be inspired. Yeah, yeah, right. I think you got to feel some freedom to.

Danielle
Yeah.

Danielle
Mm-hmm, yeah, you can feel confined, that's for sure.

Barb
And a respect level, a respect level from companies that we understand your life is as important as what you're doing here. And some days you just need to be home and work from home. Yeah, that's, that's fair. think that there's, we learned a lot from COVID. Not all of it great. Some of it was great. And that was one off, offshoot of it. I think that was good. But yeah, you're right. think negativity breeds negativity.

Danielle
We sure did.

Danielle
Mm-hmm. And sometimes you just have to figure out a way to ignore it. Well, I am so glad that we had the opportunity to sit down and really have this wonderful conversation and touch on all these great things that you're working on and how you feel. it's been such a pleasure just chatting with you and having you.

Barb
Right, I mean, it's so true.

Danielle
as a guest on our podcast. Is there anything else you want to share with our listeners before we wrap?

Barb
Well, first I want to say to you, you are an example for me of when you connect and you get out and about and you meet new people, you are an example for me. Like the second I met you, you are overflowing with ideation and positivity. And I think that makes it.

what we do that much more fun, right? And so working with you and getting a chance to learn more about you and what you do is it's easy, right? I think you are an example of what I'm talking about that you want to work with people like that. That's just a no brainer for anyone, but thank you because that's who you are and thank you. The only other thing I guess I would just like to say, and this is maybe just me more talking about sitting in

Danielle
Thank you.

Barb
the seat of the ad club and wanting to try to continue to transform and make it smarter and better and add more value to the market is that anybody who's listening that's in marketing that's in this region or has people who work in this region or clients in this region or hopes to I really would love to hear feedback and get more tapped into what is missing. There's this

question we used to ask ourselves about when we were marketing that would basically say, if we went away and no one noticed.

doesn't that tell you that your product's not really adding value? And I asked myself that about like, what is a trade association if they would anybody notice? And my answer was, yeah, probably no one would notice. And I want to make sure that we're the opposite of that, that the ad club isn't fluff. What I'm really trying to, I hope that it is a master connector.

that it is a master fueler for marketing and solving problems for what marketers are facing today because my biggest belief is that marketers are under fire for growth, for delivery, for selling products, for offering services, for making magic happen in business. And if I can't be with all the different roles I've played in my career, if I can't be doing a better job at fueling marketing.

then I'm not doing my job and I can't do it if I don't hear what people need. So I guess my last parting words are, if you're hearing this, seeing me, listening to me and Danielle, if you have any thoughts on what you need, how we can be better and how we can add the most value, I would love to hear it.

Danielle
We will definitely make sure that that is expressed and shared because I feel like we have more.

Barb
Thank you. And thanks for the time. Appreciate you so much.

Danielle
Of course, have a great rest of your day Barb. Bye.

Barb
You too, Danielle. Bye bye. Talk soon.