In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews international speaker Cheryl Brown, who specializes in social and digital marketing for financial services. The conversation begins with a personal story about Brown’s father impounding her car until she paid a $100 bill, illustrating the lifelong lesson of paying bills on time. Brown then shares her core industry insight: thought leadership functions as a form of currency, citing the example of Kalen Reacts turning food‑video content into a lucrative platform presence. She offers broad business advice emphasizing daily kindness, the power of good "juju," and the importance of ignoring naysayers to stay true to one’s voice. When asked about happiness, she says it comes from doing the right thing for the right people for the right reasons. Brown recommends Bob Burg’s The Go‑Giver as her favorite book, highlighting the principle that exceptional value yields extraordinary results. Her personal mantra is “be bigger, better, and more bionic,” and she directs listeners to find her online under the handle “Bionic Socialite” across social platforms. The episode also includes a brief sponsor plug for Authors Unite.
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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 makes the process of becoming a published bestselling author as simple as sipping your morning cup of coffee. You can learn more about Authors Unite at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Cheryl Brown with us. She is an international speaker on the topic of social and digital marketing specific to financial service organizations and professionals. So welcome to the show, Cheryl.
Thank you.
Of course, grateful to have you here. We'll jump into the first one, Cheryl. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
It has to be about my father. He bought a car early on, 16, excited. You know, this is how I knew I was meant for financial services because he allowed me to finance it through him. And I remember vividly that I got the payment was due to him. My $100 was due to him on a Thursday. And I thought, oh, I get paid on Friday, I'll pay him Friday, whatever. I get paid. And so Friday morning I go out to get in my car and the car's gone. And I remember standing there and I was like, oh my gosh, my car got stolen. And I was freaking out. I ran back in the house and my dad very calmly sitting at the table reading the paper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. And I told him and he said, oh, your car's not gone. It's been impounded until I get my $100. And I thought, you've got to be kidding me. Yeah. So it was amazing because it really taught me the value of paying my bills on time. He was always really big on, and he didn't give me any slack. And because of it, it created a very responsible person with money today. And so I've always been really grateful for that.
Wow. That is a cool story.
It was rough. Yeah, right?
That's funny. I can like picture that vividly. He's just like relaxing. He knows you're going to run back in.
Oh, he totally knew I was. And, you know, it was funny. And it wasn't like he said, Hey, you know, you're going to get your check later today. It was better figure out how you're going to get to work and get to the bank and get me the money because you're not going to get the car until I have it. So, I mean, it was like calling friends to come and get you. And it was valuable lesson, lesson learned. Pay your bills on time.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
I would say that today thought leadership equals currency. You know, those with a lot of thought leadership, it equals very large money-making potential. And, you know, I work in financial services, so it's not a super all-the-time exciting, you know, it's not people get up and put on Facebook, wow, look at my investment portfolio. You don't see that a lot. But, you know, just to give it an example, so if anybody has watched a video on Facebook of Kalen Reacts, he's the guy who looks at the, the food, uh, he's like the food critic. And it was basically just him laying around watching funny videos of people making food. However, he now He built such a thought leadership around it that Ellen DeGeneres hired him. And so he's on her show now. And that had absolutely nothing to do with what he did, but it was something that was really good. So I think thought leadership really needs to get its fair shake in showing what it will do for your overall money-making potential.
And, uh, what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily, uh, industry specific.
Exactly. So I tell everybody kindness matters. I want you to go into every day with you know, good juju, it comes back to you tenfold. If you wake up and you're kind to every person that you encounter, I am always amazed at how often that does come back to you in ways you would be very unsuspecting for later on.
And if you could give your younger self, besides not paying your dad on time, one piece of advice, what would that be?
Oh my gosh. So I will also tell you, don't, Don't buy into any of the naysaying when you're younger. So for example, I remember I had a— I was standing on stage one day, I speak at about 40 conferences a year, and I had always had on my report card, Cheryl's a fabulous student, she needs to control her talking. And I would get in trouble from that with my father. My mother passed away, it was early, so it was just me and my dad. And I thought, you know, years later it was funny, I was standing on my first— on stage at the first paid conference that I'd ever been paid to do. And I said, for every teacher that told me I talk too much, Here I am today. So I really totally just went against the grain of what that was. And I tell young people today, don't buy into what other people say about you. Discover yourself and keep going with it regardless.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Do the right thing for the right people for the right reasons. You'll go to sleep every single night knowing that you were a good person that day and No reason why you shouldn't sleep well.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Has to be from my friend Bob Burg, The Go-Giver. You know, when you give exceptional value in everything you do, extraordinary results truly will follow you. He's a fantastic human being. His books are amazing. And so I reread that book every year.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
Oh, it's my own quote. I tell everyone to be bigger, better, and more bionic because if you step up and step in into being your best self every day, you will exceed what your expectations are.
I agree. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where is the best place for people to find you online?
I tell everyone just anything that says Bionic Socialite is pretty much going to be me. So whether it's Twitter or Instagram or Snapchat, You can pretty much type in Bionic Socialite and you'll find me.
Perfect. Thanks again for jumping on.
Thank you.
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