In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews marketing and startup enthusiast Emily Cooper. Emily shares a personal story about growing up in a diverse environment and how that shaped her commitment to diversity and privilege awareness. She explains her mentor’s insight that a brand functions as a lens for product decisions, advocating early brand development for early‑stage companies. Emily advises founders not to chase trendy buzzwords like blockchain or AI, but to build sustainable businesses rooted in their own expertise and personality. Reflecting on personal growth, she recounts learning to let go of obsessive detail and focus on the big picture. When asked about happiness, she emphasizes embracing difficult moments, learning from them, and maintaining a balanced give‑and‑receive dynamic. She recommends the business book The Fundraising Rules by Mark Peter Davis, highlighting its clear breakdown of the fundraising process for startups. Her favorite quote, “who dares wins,” reminds her to step out of her comfort zone despite not being naturally risk‑taking. Finally, she directs listeners to her Twitter handle @ecoupe and her emerging Medium writing. The conversation blends personal anecdotes, practical branding and fundraising advice, and broader life philosophy.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Emily Cooper with us. She is a marketing and startup enthusiast, so welcome to the show, Emily.
Thank you so much, Tyler. I'm excited.
Of course, we're excited to have you on and we'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Emily, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Yeah, so I think something that's really important to me is that I grew up in a really diverse environment. And so it's really funny, when I started applying to colleges when I was, you know, 17 or 18, I remember starting to look at statistics for universities and seeing like, oh, there's— this school has like 10% of the student body is not white or something. And It just blew my mind that that was the stat. I remember asking my mom and being like, why is there only 10%? Like, aren't there like 45% Black people in the United States or something like that? And she's just like blank stare, like, uh, no, you're way off. So I had this really interesting view of the world. And basically, I didn't really realize what I had until I was— I didn't have it anymore. And so now in all parts of both like personal life and professional life, I realize how important diversity is and how important it is to check my own privilege and try to advocate for diversity in lots of different groups.
Yes. And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Yeah, so I had a really awesome conversation with one of my mentors, former employer, Mike Bott recently, who's also awesome if you ever get a chance to cross paths with him. Um, and he said that a brand is a lens through which you make product decisions. And I think that is a really great way of summing up how I see brands and how I advocate for them when I'm working with early stage companies in particular. So I don't think it's, there's any hurt or harm in creating a brand early and iterating on it often. It can only help you. It is a sort of a platform that your business and your strategy and product decisions and all of these other things that you're doing when you're building a business can lean on. They can sort of lean on the brand architecture in order to become stronger.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
Yeah, I think it's funny. I think like something that we see a lot these days is that people are really trying to fit their startup or their business into a box. So what's trendy right now, you know, blockchain and AI and certain VC funds. And, you know, we went through like a whole phase of accelerators being really hot and people try to fit into this thesis and fit into this version of what's trendy right now because that's what everyone's talking about. But just because it's trendy doesn't mean you have to do it. So I think it's just don't try to fit your business into a certain model. Build something that's sustainable and that's, you know, includes your own expertise and your own personality. And that's going to be a lot stronger than trying to fit it into someone else's vision.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Yeah, I, when I was younger, I used to really obsess about detail. And I still would say I'm a pretty detail-oriented person, but there's so many things that I would sweat, like I would sweat the small stuff. So I would be planning an event or something, for example, and I would worry about like, oh my god, one of the signs has the wrong logo on it. It's like, these are things that people are never going to notice unless you make a big deal about it. And so if you just learn to kind of go with the flow and only control the things that are within your— the realm of possibility and focus on the big picture. Um, it really would have helped my younger self.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
It's a, it's a very personal question, Tyler.
Again, very personal. I like to get deep. Yeah, yeah, I like it.
So, um, I think that there's something to be said for understanding, like, how life has ups and downs in general. So something that is really important to me is embracing the times that aren't happy and trying to understand why things are the way they are. And, um, and leaning into the difficult times, it not only makes you feel better about the good times, but, um, it also makes you realize that the bad times are always something that you can learn from. Um, and then beyond that, I think it's just like finding a good balance in life and Finding a balance that incorporates giving and receiving the same amount of positive reinforcement. So some people might say like, to love and be loved or something like that is the key to happiness. And I think it's like, that's amazing. But I think it's like giving and receiving the same amount and feeling like that's valued on both sides.
Yes, love that answer. And what is the best book that you've read? Another tough question. And what was the number one thing you learned from that book?
Yeah, it is a tough question. I'm going to go the business book route because I think I could easily go down a rabbit hole talking about fiction or books about wine or something. But one of the best books I've ever read about business is called The Fundraising Rules by Mark Peter Davis. It's basically a fairly short book. It's an easy read. That dumbs down the whole fundraising process. So from seed stage all the way through growth financing and different kinds of funding for startups. When I was really early in my career, this helped me to not sound like a total noob. Like it was really important to understanding what startups are going through when they're raising money and where I can plug in to help. So super great read if you're new to fundraising, or even if you're just trying to like polish up your know-how.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
So I've always really liked this, it's like, this is like a really overdone quote, but like this, this quote about who dares wins. These quotes that encourage you to take risks. I would say even though I'm around startups and like innovation and and people that are taking risks all the time. I'm not necessarily the most risk-taking person in the world. So I have to remind myself that when you go beyond your comfort zone, that's when things really unlock for you. And so these quotes that encourage me to dare, like, who dares wins, like, once I take those dares and take those challenges, they tend to pay off.
Yes, I love it. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
Yeah, I am all about Twitter. Twitter's not dead. My Twitter handle is @ecoupe, E-C-O-U-P-E, like the car. And I'm also starting to write a little bit more on Medium, so I'll keep everyone informed on that. Via Twitter.
Perfect. Thank you again for coming on. We appreciate it.
Thanks so much, Tyler. Talk to you later.
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