Changing how we work during Covid-19

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the podcast Work That Out. My name is Travia Steward and I am a performance and life coach, and it's my mission to empower men and women with the tools to create better relationships, better balance in their lives, and a clear sense of communication in all areas. I can help you create and design the life that you've always imagined for yourself. My intention for this podcast is to inspire, to motivate, and to equip you with the ways in which you can take your life to the next level. We've all been in situations where we've had to dig deep and find the answers find the motivation to figure things out, to work that out. Hearing real life experiences and stories of how everyday people are achieving the life of their dreams can hopefully inspire you to reach higher for yours. This show is focused on shining a light on people who have done just that, in hopes that you too can learn from our conversations some ways to take your life to a whole new level. I'm excited for the ride. Thank you for joining us for Work That Out. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Work That Out podcast. My guest today is a graduate of UNLV who started her career in the casino industry with Hilton. Eventually, she moved to the hotel side of the business with DoubleTree Hotels, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, and even the Homewood Suites. She then transitioned into tech with a number of positions in startups and then Motorola Computer Group. She is now global president of the integrated marketing arm at Allison Partners, which was recently named a North American agency of the decade. She was named to the inaugural list of the Champions of PR and the Innovator 25. So ladies and gentlemen, right now I would like to introduce you to the one and only, my friend, Cathy Blanchard. How you doing today, Cathy?

Hey, Trey. How are you doing?

I'm doing very well.

That's quite a lead up there.

You know, well, you know, I think it's due. And so the one thing that I love about doing this podcast is that I love having these types of conversations about things that don't come up when we're like watching a Saints game or when we're like coming over for Thanksgiving, that kind of thing. And I think, you know, actually after doing the research, if you're president of a company, we know that you're accomplished. But when I saw your accolades, now I know that you're accomplished, you know. And so I just— so I want us to just have a conversation today. I don't want it to feel like an interview. I want it to feel like we're sitting at your pool, we're sitting out having a beer, and I want you to really talk to your experiences and feel free to share whatever it is that you want to share with us.

Okay.

So just to introduce yourself to our audience, tell us a little bit about your role as president. Like, what are some of your job duties, responsibilities, and what's your impact with that company?

Sure. So Allison Partners is a marketing agency, a marketing communications agency, and, uh, I think we're about 19 years old now. I've been with the company about 10 years, um, and we literally help companies, um, and brands market themselves, get better attention in the media, deliver content that resonates with audiences, deliver sales, whatever it may be. And so my role— I've had a lot of different functions with them. I started off in the Phoenix office and kind of helped build that up. But about 5 years ago, I launched this division called All Told, which basically is the content, digital, creative, research, and measurement groups. So we sit as specialists within the agencies and help supplement our account teams for our clients.

Nice. So part of what I like to do is go back and figure out what set Kathy up for success. So I want to go back to like maybe high school. What were some interests that you feel like completely align to what you're doing today? Like what introduced you to this world of PR?

Yeah, it's really interesting. So I was big in the speech and debate in high school and in college. And in high school, I was— did all these oratorical contests. I constantly did speeches for the American Legion all about our Constitution, and I used to compete all over the state and really grew my love of like public speaking and just communications, you know, and I kind of followed that up in college. I was on the speech and debate team and traveled around and did kind of similar things, and so yeah, I think it just kind of got me on that path, you know.

Okay, so when you're talking about it got you on that path, so you are, you you know, 16, 17, 18 years old and you're in high school, what about your mindset, your environment set you up for the level of success that you're achieving now? Like, did you have dreams of one day I'm going to be president of this company? And so did you know and believe in yourself enough as a sophomore, junior, or senior in high school to know that you could achieve these things?

Yeah, it's a really interesting question. I mean, I don't think anybody has that much confidence in high school for sure. I definitely did not. I definitely, you know, we had a lot of, you know, my parents raised us with a lot of expectations, you know, and at a very, very young age I was always told, "You can do anything, you're a Blanchard," and that was like the mantra of my life, you know, and there was a lot of expectations, and you've met my family, you know, they, you know, they expected a lot out of us, good grades, good performance, you know. I remember, so in high school, I don't know if you remember this, but there was like the top 10, which were like the top 10 grades. My sisters and brothers were all very accomplished, and so when they went to hang up the plaques in our house, you know, like, so it was Kim top 10, Ken top 10, and they put Cindy's right below it here instead of centering it so that there was a huge open space of where they expected my plaque to go. Expectations, baby. Yeah, yeah, so it's like 5 years of me knowing exactly what they were expecting, that it would have to move the plaque for when I got mine.

Right. So do you think—

I was kind of the epitome of it.

So did that help you, or did you feel like this immense form of pressure to work that out to accomplish things?

I think in my earlier days, there was a lot of pressure. Like, I remember my first jobs out of college, just having a lot of anxiety around success and performance and those kind of things. And again, I think some of that you take in stride. My mom also really, so one of the things that came out of all my speech days is that when I went into college, I thought I wanted to be a broadcast journalist. I wanted to be on the news and give the news because that, you know, that flowed from what I was doing, right? And my mom at the time said, please, no matter what else you do, like get a marketing or a business degree in addition to communication. She was worried about me getting out of college and not being able to find a job. And so, you know, I think there was, you know, there was a lot that I did to to prepare myself for success and try to like, you know, tick those things off the checklist. But yeah, it was, it's always a work in progress.

Always a work in progress. I love that. So your parents were entrepreneurs, weren't they?

Mm-hmm. They were. They owned a sporting goods store, which I started working at when I was 9.

Right. So, can you speak to the difference between growing up in that environment compared to someone else who doesn't have those examples in their life?

Oh, that's really interesting. You know, I mean, my parents were constantly trying to, you know, owning a business and trying to get it off the ground. And in a small town, frankly, there was a lot of talk. Like, I learned a lot about marketing and operations and things like around the dinner table without even knowing that I was learning about it or the pressures that they felt or the trade shows that they went to and so forth. And so I think that is a bit different than, you know, hearing that and understanding what went into making a successful business for them.

Right.

What worked and what didn't definitely had an impact on me. There's no doubt about it.

Right. So I want to talk a little bit about your role at Allison Partners. So is it— do you say Allison Partners?

Yeah, you can say A&P is fine.

A&P.

OK. A&P. A&P.

So I read this article about you where you were talking about storytelling. And I feel like that's something within you because I know that you love to go to the theater. I know you love plays. How do you link your love for storytelling when you're working with your clients at A&P and how do you get that story out?

That's interesting, Trey. So, you know, I think a lot of it, similar to yourself, right? I mean, you love storytelling and performance. I do. Yeah, he did. And it all starts with the intention, right? So what are you trying to achieve in that story and what's the audience, right? So who is the intended audience? And I think it's, you know, when you think about like a brand and how they get their story out, you have to understand that we all have so many demands on our attention and so you have to honor the time that you're asking someone to spend listening to your story and you have to, you know, you have to value that. So, you know, a lot of companies, I think a lot of brands really focus on the me, me, me. So we do this and we're the most powerful and we're the most innovative instead of saying what's the benefit to you? What are you going to get out of this? And when you flip the lens, when you think about the audience first, I think that that opens you up to a whole bunch of different possibilities. Right.

So, yeah, that, that was transitioning right into my next question. What would be your branding advice? And I think you sort of answered that about, like, someone, you know, an influencer starting right now, someone trying to create authority.

Yeah, it's a really good question. I mean, we're in such weird times right now, you know, so the world of influence and what we're doing within this pandemic is quite different. But I think knowing the end audience and so, like, for example, right now, if if there's an influencer that has been around for quite some time and they were posting right now on Instagram the perfectly portrayed food and the really beautiful household and the perfectly dressed kids, it wouldn't resonate as much because we're all struggling in this moment. You know, we're all running our households, it's a little chaotic. And so you have to remember the audience at the time and you have to think about what is really gonna resonate with them. And people want things that are real, they want authentic, you know, they don't want perfectly polished and beautiful all the time.

Right. So when this pandemic hit, was there a moment in your mind where you're like, oh my goodness, we have to pivot. We can't keep doing the same things. Can you talk to me a little bit without giving away the, you know, the whole chest secret of AMP about what that pivot looked like for your company and for you?

Yeah, it was, it was really intense. So we have employees in Asia also. And so we started worrying and thinking about this pandemic back in— so we have, we have offices in China. We started working on this December, January. And so we had some insights from that, but the speed of the how quickly it took off in the US, you know, we were thinking of like, oh, we're gonna have New York work from home, oh, we need to have Boston work from home, oh gosh, now I need to have San Francisco, and then it became like rapid-fire, like we got to take care of our employees, we got to get everybody set, we got to make sure everybody's okay. And that was, I mean, it was intensive. It's all hands on deck. And then the second part is clients. They all wanted to know like, what do I do in this scenario. And, you know, a lot of them raised their hand. How do I help? What can I do here? And then the media, the media changed, right? Like everybody that was writing about different things, all of a sudden it was all COVID all day long. And now it's all COVID and all economy all day long. So, you know, the whole thing, the whole thing shifted, frankly.

Right. So, of course, if you're the president of a company, you have a team. So I want you to talk to, you know, when you first got to AMP, you had, I think it was 3 employees that you grew to over 35 or 36 employees. And so how do you separate yourself from taking on a personal feeling of, I grew this company, now we're going through a pandemic and I might have to lay some of these people off even though I hired them. They've been my backbone. How did you work through that?

Yeah, well, it's a, it's a really good question. I mean, I think, um, One of the things that is so special about our company is really the culture and how much emphasis we put on the value of our employees. And, you know, Scott Allison, our CEO, has been very, very clear about the fact that, you know, we are— we're not doing layoffs at this point. We're not even making those considerations. We're gonna work through this, and you have to have that mindset. We are going to work through this. And so what are the things that that takes, and how do we all play a part in it? And so one of the things that I think is so important of, like, these valued relationships is they all know like we're in this together, we're gonna pull through this. And people, I think one of the amazing things coming out of this, Trey, is just how kind people are being, right? Like they're calling to check on each other, right? They're literally, they're giving each other space when someone is struggling. If a parent is like, oh my god, my kid is screaming in the background, I'm sorry, I can't do this, someone will say, I can take that phone call. Like it's a The camaraderie and the closeness that comes out of it is just— it's incredible.

Right. Yeah, because we're witnessing people— you know, it's kind of like, you know, 9/11. We see— I know it's both ends of the spectrum. We see the best come out of people, and sometimes we see the worst come out of people. But I think, you know, the majority has been examples of the best coming out of people. So I love that. So you mentioned—

I think so too.

Yeah. So you mentioned mindset, which, you know, it's probably 50% of my coaching when I work with clients is their mindset. And so, you know, I know that a lot of that was developed, you know, watching your family own a shoe store, those types of things, the expectations. You know, when I was a young girl, I was not raised in an environment where I had entrepreneurs in my family. I didn't, I didn't believe that I could do great things. It wasn't until the last few years, to be honest, I always thought that, you know, I was just going to be like my mom, you know, she was an insurance agent and she got into some home health and I was like, okay, I'm just gonna, I'm going to be a teacher. And I know I said just, but that is to talk to my limited mindset that I was just a teacher, which I know my impact has been massive. Right. And so I'm working on my mindset to know that I can accomplish these things. And also to know that it's never too late. What do you do that cultivates such a positive mindset, like on a daily basis? Like when they're like, Kathy, you've got a deadline on Tuesday, you know, and you're like, the pool pump just went out, you know, you know, how do you separate those things and know, you know, I can't be in that space right now. How do you develop and nurture your mindset?

Yeah, it's really interesting. So one of the things I'm trying to do right now during the pandemic is I'm trying to not just binge on Netflix and TV. I'm trying to like take some personal courses and things like that to try and develop during this time too. And I've been taking this course. It's really popular. It's called The Science of Well-Being. It's offered— they're offering it free right now. It's a really popular Yale course. And of course, Sarah, I just started it. Coursera, you got it, you got it.

I've done the happiness one.

It's so good. Yeah, so good. But so we just had to do, uh, that one of the things they do is like rate your happiness score and you have to take all these tests. And then it was you're finding your personal strengths. And so this is all really kind of top of mind for me, but there's two things that are kind of top strengths for me that I really lean into. One is social intelligence, which means trying to be empathetic and understand what people need to hear and how to be empathetic to their plight and understanding, kind of, kind of read the situation. And then the second one is gratitude. And it's true, I am blown away some days on the responsibilities that have been given to me or earned or whatever it may be. And, you know, I came from a small town and now I have a global role and I get to work with clients and employees, literally in all corners. And it's, it's mind-blowing to me. So if I wake up every day just thinking, what in the world, like, how— this is amazing, right? That puts you in the right— that puts you in the right mindset all day long.

So there are a lot of people who believe that if you're not passionate about a job, that you can't ever acquire that passion. There are lots of times when people get good at something and they're able to master the skills required for that job, therefore then by developing a passion for it. Do you feel like your engagement, your empathy, you know, the way you want to treat people, did you go into that job with that or did you see the need for it once you were there?

Oh, that's interesting. No, I think it's just, I think everybody's got natural strengths that they lean into, you know, and I think that's the interesting thing about strengths is that it's not strengths and weaknesses, it's strengths and lesser strengths, right? So like, I feel like there's opportunity to tap into those when you need them and to excel at them more and to accelerate them, but I think, you know, from a passion perspective, it's a good question because like we deal with clients, all different types and sizes and industries and everything, and you can find interest and passion in lots of different things. And it may be the topic is not necessarily what you're excited about, but maybe you can think of a different way of doing something or maybe you can think of a new approach. And so yeah, there, there's times, I mean, I've been doing this a long time in my career and I think, gosh, is there, you know, right when I think I'm like mastering and I'm getting a little more comfortable, then, you know, a pandemic hits and I have to rethink the whole world of like, Everything. Marketing and events and like everything. So, you know, there's always opportunity. But I do think, you know, it was interesting, you've met my husband before, but like his top strength was humor. And that's like, if he can lean, which you probably would understand, if he can lean into that and bring that to life, you know, that is a strength of his. And it doesn't mean that everything has to be funny, but it means he can bring levity to situations. And so I just, there's opportunity to just focus on what you're strong at naturally and go from there. But you know, there's also no doubt, we all have parts of our job that aren't our most passionate pieces, that aren't the things that we love to do. But you know, that's also why it's called a job, you know? So there's part of that too. It's not called your home or your love or your husband. That is very true.

Cool. You know, you speak so highly to gratitude. I'm a firm believer of, you know, I get up, I meditate, You know, I'm going through this, this challenge right now where I'm meditating 3 times a day.

Wow.

Yeah. And so, because, you know, I, I want to be more integral to my word. When I say I'm going to do something, then I want to stick to it. Because if you can't keep your word to yourself, then who can you keep your word to? And I feel like you are someone who is, you know, you keep your word. One, One of the things that I— actually, there's a lot of things that I absolutely love about you, but, you know, I love people who— my core values are love and connection. And whenever I talk with you, there is a genuine sincerity that I immediately feel. Like, I've never once ever felt that, you know, you put on a facade, you know, because, you know, there's this quote that, you know, "I am who I think my friends think I am." I never get that from you. I get that— and, you know, being a theater person and a coach, I observe a lot of things, and I feel like you are the same person with everyone. How do you maintain that consistency? Because, you know, you're a success. Oh, then you got to come down and talk about, okay, how much hot water we're going to put in the pot to boil some crawfish. And we got these people coming over who don't even know what you do. You know, how do you separate like your personalities from different groups of people without feeling like you have to be a chameleon?

Oh, that's really interesting. Yeah, I don't really talk about my work and my personal life that much. I kind of keep those separate, you know, like, I mean, I'll mention something interesting that I think I'm working on or something like that, but I do keep them pretty separate. I just, you know, Trey, I think part of it is just our upbringing being in a small town. I just think, you know, there are no airs in a small town, like, you know, everybody is, you know, everybody is, uh, everybody's in each other's business and everybody knows each other and you're all on equal footing. And I just, I don't know, maybe for me it's coming back to my roots It could be that. But I also don't, you know, I'm very appreciative of where I am and what I've accomplished, but I don't think that changes me as a person necessarily. Like, I think part of the reason I've been successful and part of the thing that I really love about my job, and I'm, again, I'm amazed all the time that I get to work globally. The stuff that I talk to my teams about in Asia and Europe, like if I'm meeting with the young team members, they're talking about boyfriend and girlfriend problems. They're talking about, you know, client issues. They're talking about like the same stuff, right? Everybody's got the same stuff going on. It's just people at the end of the day, you know. So just because my job is something doesn't make me any different or— yeah, I just think it's all about we're just— we are all kind of the same people. Yeah, we're just people.

Just people. So you mentioned that you were doing a course through Yale through Coursera.

Yep.

Is it the identity that, you know, you're president, you know, is that the identity that keeps you in that growth mindset? Or is that something that's internal within you no matter what your status is? Whew.

I'm trying to think, if I wasn't in my job, would I just be binging TV and sitting home and eating? And I might, you know, there's definitely pressure in my work to make sure that I'm on the cutting edge of things and to be learning and to do. And it's funny because obviously we hire tons of experts. And yesterday there was an email that went around and somebody was talking about something with TikTok and I was like, oh gosh, I really need to get better at that. I don't feel like I am the target of TikTok. I don't feel like I'm the demographic of TikTok, but darn it, I better get to know this better, you know. And so like you have to constantly push, right? Like, if we're gonna stay relevant, you gotta constantly push. So I do think there's definitely some of that from the job where I feel like I've gotta stay on top of things. But I don't know, but I've also just always been curious. I do like learning, but I also like, you know, good easy celebrity magazines and some chick lit too. So it's a mix.

Absolutely, you gotta have that balance, right?

Yeah.

And I've seen you maintain balance. You know, I mean, we will be texting or something like, I've got this deadline, but then we might hang out, you know, you know, during the weekend and it's like nobody's talking about work. And so do you feel like you balance things? You do a good job with balancing work and life?

Sometimes better than others, you know. I mean, it's really hard to separate the stress from one to the other, right? Like it just is, you know. You know, the last, you know, the last, what, however long we've been home now, almost 8 weeks, 7 weeks, however long it's been, those have been some tough times. And Moving from working from home to like trying to turn off the switch when it's— when I'm literally in my living room and pretend like I'm no longer at work, it's been hard. So I'd say the last, you know, this has been challenging. I think it's something I have to always work on. Yeah, it's really hard. And Lord knows I spend a lot of time, you know, looking at my phone while I should be watching TV or spending time with Joe. So it's a constant struggle. It really is.

So is that the struggle that kind of promotes a sense of normalcy for you?

I'm always so worried of missing a deadline, missing a request, missing something. And I, you know, I think part of it is I just also like activity, right? Like, I like a lot of stimulus. I like all that. I like having lots of things coming at me, you know? Like, I think I'd be somewhat bored if I didn't.

Right.

I don't know, it's probably part of me too, you know?

Okay, right, I get that. So You've been working for a bit, for a minute, right? For a minute.

You can say so.

Tell me about a time in your career, not just at A&P, but a time in your career when you were like sort of pushed, backed up into a corner, and you were like, someone came and said, Kathy, this is what I need. You had no idea how you were going to work it out. You had a deadline. You couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. But what was the process of you working it out? Like, I just know you have an example of this, which is why I'm just coming with this question, because I feel like, you know, we work it out when we have to. Where's a time? What's an example of any time in your career where you're like, oh, this is just going to be shit, you know, but it probably turned out to be amazing?

Well, I mean, look, again, you know, the most recent example was just the start of COVID right? Like all of a sudden. So imagine. So that Monday we started. Trying to teach our employees like, what do you need to do? What are the pivots you need to make? And then even this past week, you know, it really started to come to life for me. And I don't mean to be Debbie Downer here, but like, this is really changing consumer behavior. It's changing our ability to gather, it's changing our ability to travel. And so like, I have lots of clients that go to trade shows and events, you know. And that's probably our, you know, in the beginning when this first started, we're like, oh, those would be postponed to September, October. No, they're not, they're not happening in 2020. Some things may not happen in 2021, you know, and so to rethink, like, for my clients, for the people that are used to going to a CES or a major trade show, like, how do you rethink that? How do you still reach out to people? How do you network? How do you get leads? Like, no one's had to think that way before because we've always had this as a venue, you know, we've always had this as an opportunity. And so, you know, and it was, we spent In the last 2 weeks, we were heads down for like pretty much every day, all day, just trying to think through what some of these alternatives are. That's, I've, you know, that was, it wasn't like I could go read an answer on a textbook somewhere. This hasn't happened to us, right?

Right, not either of our lifetimes.

No, no. And so, you know, it is, it's a lot of like trying to back up and think like, what's the end result of, you know, it just, if someone goes to an event, you know, are they doing it because they're trying to network, or they do it because they want to get the Are they doing it because they're launching a product? So like I kind of backed into it that way of like what are they trying to accomplish and then what's the right ways around that. So, but there's been lots of this, right? There's lots of assignments. I mean, I think that's part of your early days in your career is getting a bunch of assignments and having no earthly idea what you're doing, right?

Right, right.

My early career, somehow or another, I was, well, I was involved in the expansion of casino gaming. Because remember I started in Vegas and so I would go to these conferences and talk to legislators about expanding gambling. What did I know about that? I was like 22, 23 years old. What in the world, right? But it's what I was doing. It's what I was doing. I was talking to legislators and I was helping to try to figure out how to bring gaming outside of Nevada and New Jersey. So I think that's a whole series of careers is is built on those moments of like, don't know it, figure it out, figure it out, do it anyway. Yeah, keep going forward.

I love that. So this will, you know, we'll wrap it up with, well, the subject of the pandemic. So especially being in PR, how do you spin what we're going through right now into something positive?

Yeah, that's a really good question. So one of the big things, so, you know, like one of the things that we've seen from the start is that, you know, emotions are running really high right now, right? Like, so in the, you know, and no one's obviously thrilled about the situation, but certainly in the beginning there was a lot more angst, anxiousness, fear. And, you know, and we watch a lot of like what's happening online and how people are feeling because that's— you gotta, you gotta know your audience. Again, you gotta make sure that you're not gonna step in it accidentally. And so what we then we saw was over time, anger started to dissipate, right? Because at first people were like, I cannot believe I'm in this situation. What in the world is going on? And now what we've seen is that anger has just turned into fatigue, right? Like we're so tired of reading about the cases and it's COVID all day, all day long. Right. And so, and I'm not making fun of it by any means. I'm not making light of it. But so what that did though, is that opened up a channel for people just wanted more good news. Right. And you've seen that, you've seen the Good News Show and you've seen like lots of the media are starting to do newsletters on like, different uplifting news pieces. And it's been amazing to see that people are sharing more uplifting stories, how people are reaching out to each other. And one of the things that I'm really hopeful of, DeTravia, that's going to come out of this is that I think, you know, people are going to have more expectations of companies, of brands to be a little more altruistic, you know, helping communities, helping give back in different ways, putting some of those types of things above, like just even, you know, just above profitability and margin and those things. So I do think there's some really interesting opportunities there too. So, but I think everybody needs a little good news. So it's a, you can't be pushing your product hard right now. You need to be thinking about how it solves something that's educational or helpful or maybe provide a little bit of levity. All of those things are good right now.

Right. Yeah. You know, I'm appreciating the fact that This is a perfect time for me to make my career pivot. And for me, it's— the timing couldn't, could not have been more perfect. You know, I mean, just having this at-home time because I was going to have to go back to work, you know, right after major surgery. And so it just was like— so in a selfish way, I said all the stars just aligned just for me. That's what happened so that I could work this out.

They were aligning. Silver lining.

That's a silver lining, exactly. And I have a little neck— a little bracelet that says, "It's the silver lining." So I won't keep you much longer, but I do have a couple other ones. So in the morning, right, we all have a process of what we do to set ourselves up for success. Like, for instance, what I do is, you know, I've been working on studying with a lot of coaches and stuff. And what I find that works for me is I have gone through and made a list of 16 things that if I sat and said this, you know, if I did these 16 things, my day is phenomenal. It works well. It's perfect. I'm highly energetic. Well, we can't do all 16 of those things unless you're probably on vacation and you don't have to go to work.

Right.

But if you take 4 of those things, and so every morning or something, usually the night before I look, cause I have it on my phone. I like reminders. I like things that, you know, remind me to do it at this time. And so the night before I look at that list and go, okay, tomorrow I'm going to do these 4 things. And so when I get up in the morning, like yesterday, I was doing this conferencing. I had, I had a, had a Zoom conference I was doing. Well, I haven't been sleeping so well because I'm excited for the opportunity, baby. We're going to talk about that too. I love that. But so I, I felt like I overslept, which meant I didn't have time to get up and do my meditation. I didn't have time to do my morning stretch. So it just put me in, you know, I was just feeling some kind of way. So I wasn't productive. What is your process when you get up in the morning that puts you on your best foot, your most creative, puts you in absolute flow?

Oh, that's really interesting. So part of it is how I set up my week. And so, you know, we can all make lists. I like lists. I like, I like all the notifications and all that too. But I start every week with what are the 3 to 4 main things I have to accomplish for the week at a high level, right? So like it could be an initiative, it could be that I have to write something. So I have those, and so I know like those are the big chunks of things that I have to do. And then I usually have 2 or 3 people things. So whether it's reaching out to someone that I haven't talked to, seeing how someone's doing in the pandemic or otherwise, reaching out to a family member, like I do have people goals also, which gives me a little bit more balance. And then the other thing that I really do is I set out chunks of time per day that is non-email, non like back and forth stuff. It is literally like how I flow my work so that I feel like during this time I have the real ability to concentrate on those 3 or 4 thing. So you have to reserve time for yourself on your calendar because otherwise you end up— like, I can spend all day just volleying emails back and forth and get nothing accomplished, right? So like, I think there's that part, you know. I clearly exercise and all that's got to be part of it, right? Some days I'm better at that than others, like everybody, I'm sure. You know, if I'm gonna be on my best foot for the day, yeah, taking a, you know, some— a walk or stretching or whatever it may be in the morning is really important. To me too. And then there's got to be a little bit of a few moments of like, I've got to be careful of my screen time in the morning. So if I am going to be— if I'm getting out of bed, I've got to make sure that I make time for myself and I have a little bit of a ritual. And there's, you know, I won't bore you with the details, but that's really important to grounding my day, like how I go about it, what do I do in what order, what do I read before I jump into email. Like, that's It's, it's getting your mindset in the right spot. Right.

And that's really, really incredibly proactive.

So yeah, there's lots of good things I should be doing and I could be doing. And I've started all these little weird tweaks at home because of the pandemic. So yeah, I've been trying to burn essential oils. I don't know.

We all experiment all day long to figure out what works, right?

I'm trying to like have a really good like home office.

Yeah.

I'm experimenting with lots of stuff. Right.

Good, good. Yeah. So, um, whenever, again, I know you have a lot of experience and you have a lot of success.

You keep calling me old in a nice way. No, no, no.

I, I'm older than you. I have a lot of experience, but, um, you know, you, you're, you're very successful, but what happens in like those times when something just didn't work out? How do you bounce back when you're like, I have this amazing idea, I have spent 3 months on this campaign and they hate it?

Yeah, yeah, it's a tough one. I mean, so what I do is very subjective, right? Like you either like a video or you don't like a video, you like a graphic, you don't like a graphic. Everybody's got an opinion. Everybody's opinion is valid, right?

That's true.

Right. Really, really hard. So, you know, you do have to have a little bit of thick skin on that one for sure. Yeah, I mean, I'm in a service industry where at all points the client's right, right? Like, I can push back and provide the best counsel I can, but eventually it is their decision to move forward as they want to. Yeah, you know, I think some of the personal stuff is even harder sometimes. Like, you know, like if I've tried for something in my personal life and haven't been successful unsuccessful, that to me can even be more difficult. You know, things that I've tried out for and maybe not have won, or things that I've tried to pursue and I haven't been particularly good at. Like some of those things are, you know, that sometimes is even harder for me. And certainly just to push back on the work stuff, you know.

Right. Totally get that.

Totally get that.

In your life, what are you the most proud of that you've done?

Hmm. Well, that's a really good point, a really good question. You know, I'm very proud that I have found myself in a position where I am able to travel globally and to meet different people, different walks of life. That's, that's, it's really just such a blessing, right? Like, I just can't even believe that I get to do that for a living and have that kind of impact. I'm really proud that I got my family out from Louisiana out to Arizona.

Every one of them, well, except your brother. Exactly.

He's texting and he's saying it. Yeah. So, uh, that was a huge thing for me, right? Like, I mean, I came out west for school and didn't leave, and to eventually have my family back in and around me was— that was really important to me. Right. Lots of good relationships in my life, you know. So there's lots of things, um, you know, it's got to be more than just the work stuff, right?

It's got to be the fun part.

Absolutely.

So yeah, very cool. Um, so I want to get back to just a couple things you said that I've I've been on this journey for like the last 2 or 3 years, and I have realized that I think we all have, you know, Shelley puts it as having orbits, you know, it's the scientist in her. And so when she goes, well, who's on your first orbit? Like we're talking about friends, you know, you have your closest friends on your first orbit, then you have a next orbit that's a little further out. Maybe those are friends, but not quite as close. And then you go further out, you might have some acquaintances. And every now and then, you know, people can shoot into the inner orbit and they can shoot out for whatever reason, whether it's time or anything. Um, I, through my journey, I started realizing that I wasn't surrounding myself with enough people who had the same intention of friendship and the relationship as I did. Like, the conversation that we're having today is one— like, my top core values are love and connection. And I remember that I have— like, this is a conversation that I would love to just have with you if we're sitting in your backyard, to be honest. Like, I want to know all these things about you. And a lot of people are like, Why are you asking me that? My mom always said, "Get outta here asking me all those stupid-ass questions. You know, you're too shit-nass nosy," you know, is what she would say. My own mother.

Right, of course.

And so I love that I feel like you're very intentional with your friendship. And, you know, like when you said to us, "I want somebody to come over to my house and just go through my refrigerator," you know. And you did. And we did. We want to be those people. I love that. And I also was able to go on one hand, you know, when we talked about the, you know, I haven't been sleeping because I got a lot of stuff going on. And one friend said, your mind's racing, calm that down. But my friend Kathy said, you can't sleep because you're excited for the opportunity. And oh my God, I keep it in my phone. I refer to it. And I, every time I read that, I tell myself that's someone that I always and forever want in my life because I just— in that one sentence, it was— it just spoke volumes to me. And so I just appreciate your sincerity. I appreciate your friendship. And I think you just set such a fabulous example for, for me, for other people, hopefully, who are going to listen to this podcast. And for people who observe you every single day in life, like, I feel like you're someone who is consistent. You know, you're not one person with one person and then, you know, you're talking about them in your back. I just don't see that in you. So I honor you for that. And you inspire me because of those traits and characteristics. You really do. You're welcome.

Such a good communicator. You're so sweet. You're so authentic.

Thank you. I, you know, when I recognize it in you, I just want to, I want to pour into you like you pour into us. And I love that. Okay. So 2 more questions.

All right.

What is your impossible goal? Let's say, I mean, you know, you're going to live to be 106. What do you want to do that appears to be impossible today, but you're going to do it before you close your eyes?

I mean, one of the things I always have thought about but never figured out how to do is one day, one day, I want to run a nonprofit. Like, I want to be at the head of a nonprofit. I want to— and not because I want to be in charge, but I just want to be closer to— I want to be closer to a cause that is like in the trenches giving back. You know, I— that's one thing unfortunately that has kind of gone by the wayside is some of my volunteerism. I used to do a much better job at that than I do right now. That balance thing we talked about, it's hard to— it's hard to find all the time, you know. Yes, it is. It's really hard to find the time, but I would say definitely working on the nonprofit side. Yeah, I'd love to do that. I really would. It would inspire me a lot. So I think that would be— that would definitely be up there.

Yeah, nice. So if someone wanted to get in touch with you, learn more about you, follow you, connect with you, where can they find you and connect with you?

They probably— well, two things. They can find my email and information on the Allison PR website, which is www.allisonpr.com, or just LinkedIn to me and start a conversation that way for sure.

Okay. All right, Kathy, thank you so much.

You bet, Trey. Proud of you. Look at you. This is you in your element. It's me.

That's me. Thank you so much, Kathy. Hey, I'm going to go have a beer now.

OK, you do that. I'm going to go watch a flyover for all the health care workers.

But have a beer while you do it.

Oh, I think I will.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK. All right. Thanks, Kathy. Thank you so much for listening to Work That Out podcast. Just a quick reminder to connect authentically, live with purpose, and have no regrets.