276 episodios
REWIND: How National Geographic Stays Culturally Relevant with 400M+ Followers | Elizabeth Thompson of National Geographic
23/07/2026 | 28 minIn this throwback episode, we sit down with Elizabeth Thompson, Senior Manager of Social Media at National Geographic, who leads strategy for one of the largest social ecosystems in the world — over 400 million followers across platforms. Elizabeth shares the career journey that took her from Army brat and freelancer to running social for one of the most iconic storytelling brands, including how she grew Nat Geo's Instagram from 250M to 270M followers and TikTok from 2.5M to 9M. We unpack how a 137-year-old brand stays culturally relevant today, how her team uses UGC, reactive content, and new platform features to reach global audiences, and what creators and marketers can learn from building social strategy at scale. This one is packed with timeless frameworks — worth a relisten or a first listen if you missed it.
Key Takeaways:
// How to grow a legacy brand on social: The relevance, resonance, and risk framework Nat Geo uses to decide which cultural moments are worth jumping on — and which to sit out.
// The power of UGC at scale: Why Nat Geo Your Shot was reimagined as a creative community, not just a content bucket — and how it drives belonging, not just reach.
// Building strategy for massive audiences: How Elizabeth approaches content for 400M+ followers across seven platforms, and why an always-on strategy and engagement plays both have to coexist.
// Career lessons for social pros: How internships spanning PR, journalism, and email marketing — plus a freelance business and a master's degree in Germany — shaped her path to Nat Geo.
// Team building and cross-functional alignment: What transparency, flexibility, and proactive communication actually look like inside a large, matrixed organization.
// The timeless principles that will outlast every algorithm shift: Authenticity, community, and adaptability — and why these three things will always matter no matter what the platforms do next.
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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective
Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you.
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Follow MHH on Social: Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok | FacebookYes Way Rosé's Playbook for Building a Lifestyle Brand | With Co-Founders Erica Small and Nikki Huganir
02/07/2026 | 28 minIn this episode, we sit down with Erica Small and Nikki Huganir, the co-founders of Yes Way Rosé — a wine brand that started as a $200 tote bag and an Instagram account in 2013 and has since grown into one of the top rosé brands in the US, with over 13 million bottles sold and retail placement at Target, Publix, Total Wine, Walmart, and beyond. What makes their story so compelling for marketers: they built an entirely formed lifestyle brand — rooted in humor, female friendship, and culture — before they ever made a single bottle of wine. Erica and Nikki open up about how their fashion, media, and design backgrounds shaped the brand's voice and visual identity from day one, why they chose to grow without outside capital, how they're navigating marketing to both their original millennial audience and a growing Gen Z consumer base, and what led them to finally launch a non-alcoholic rosé in 2026.
Key Takeaways:
// Build the brand before you build the product. Yes Way Rosé launched as a lifestyle brand and Instagram community in 2013 — five years before the wine hit shelves in 2018. By the time the product launched, the brand DNA was fully formed: the voice, the aesthetic, the community, the point of view. The wine had a home to come into.
// Your creative background is a competitive advantage — even in an unexpected industry. Erica's years as a fashion editor shaped how Yes Way Rosé tells stories and spots cultural moments. Nikki's graphic design background meant the brand had a distinct, immediately recognizable visual identity from the very first tote bag. Neither had a wine background — and that turned out to be the point.
// Community built before a product is the most durable kind. The Yes Way Rosé audience was already engaged, loyal, and bought in before there was ever anything to buy. That foundation is a big part of why the brand is up 20% in a category that's down 4%.
// IRL marketing is back — and rosé is built for it. The "Bottle the Feeling" campaign — New York billboards, boats in Miami — is rooted in the belief that a brand like Yes Way Rosé needs to show up where people are actually living the moments the brand represents. Liquid to lips, in the right places, remains the most important marketing lever they have.
// The Gen Z and millennial sweet spot is relatability, not segmentation. Rather than building separate strategies for each audience, Yes Way Rosé looks for the overlap — content that's relatable, culturally relevant, and speaks the language of both groups. TikTok is a current priority, with the understanding that millennials are there too.
Connect with the Founders: Nikki + Erica
Learn More: Website
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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective
Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you.
Join the MHH Collective: Join now
Get the latest marketing trends, open jobs and MHH updates, straight to your inbox: Join our email list!
Follow MHH on Social: Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok | FacebookWhy 95% of This Brand's Marketing Budget Goes to In-Person Events | Meredith Mills-Merritt of The Original Southside
25/06/2026 | 28 minIn this episode, Ally sits down with Meredith Mills-Merritt, founder and CEO of The Original Southside, a premium ready-to-drink gin cocktail inspired by her mom's summer recipe that has grown into 20+ markets, landed on shelves at Whole Foods and Total Wine, and seen shipments grow more than 370% in its second year. Meredith brings a background in prestige beauty brand management that shaped everything about how she built Southside, from putting a full ingredient list on her cans (a rarity in alcohol) to investing in in-person demo and event marketing over digital spend. She opens up about navigating the alcohol industry's notoriously complex three-tier distribution system, how landing early partnerships with the Stanley Cup–winning Florida Panthers and LSU Athletics accelerated the brand's growth, and what she'd tell any aspiring founder sitting on an idea in their notes app right now.
Key Takeaways:
// 95% of the marketing budget goes to in-person, IRL events, and it's working. Demos, tastings, and events where consumers are already in a consumption mindset are where Southside wins the most efficiently. Her tip: book the 4–7pm demo slot at Whole Foods, not the 11am one — because alcohol shopping is a mindset, not just a product category. When people try it, they buy it. That's the whole strategy.
// Take calculated risks on partnerships early, even when they feel too big. When the Florida Panthers and LSU Athletics came calling, Meredith said yes, not because she had the budget of a legacy brand, but because arenas and live events are exactly the consumption environments that drive trial at scale. Those early partnerships created case studies she now uses to unlock new distributors, retailers, and markets.
// The alcohol industry has a transparency problem, and consumers deserve better. Alcohol is one of the only major consumer categories where ingredient labeling isn't legally required. Meredith discovered during her own production process that a proposed additive (sodium benzoate) could produce benzene when combined with vitamin C — a known carcinogen. That discovery delayed her launch by six months and eventually led her to co-found the Clean Alcohol Collective.
// If you're already thinking about starting something, that's the sign. Meredith's advice for aspiring founders: if you're already turning the idea over in your mind, you probably won't be at peace until you try it. The messy middle between failure and exit is where the real growth happens — and even if it doesn't work out, you'll come out the other side with something you built for yourself.
Connect with Meredith: Instagram
Learn More: Website
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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective
Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you.
Join the MHH Collective: Join now
Get the latest marketing trends, open jobs and MHH updates, straight to your inbox: Join our email list!
Follow MHH on Social: Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok | FacebookHow Rare Beauty Built Real Community Loyalty | Elle Rudnick, Manager of Consumer Marketing
18/06/2026 | 28 minCassie sits down with Elle Rudnick, Manager of Integrated Marketing at Rare Beauty, to talk about what it really takes to build a community-first brand in a category that's saturated with brands claiming to be exactly that. Elle brings a unique lens shaped by nearly a decade across fashion and beauty — from merchandising to brand marketing — and walks us through how she's translating that experience into Rare Beauty's integrated strategy across social, influencer, PR, and partnerships. She breaks down the no-phone, no-photos community dinner series she launched within months of joining the brand, why she's had to redefine what "perfect" means in a fast-moving industry, and the communication and collaboration skills she considers the highest-leverage investment of her career. If you're trying to build a brand people feel something for — not just buy from — this conversation is full of specific, actionable takeaways.
Key Takeaways:
// Consumer behavior doesn't change just because the product does. Elle's transition from apparel to beauty taught her that both categories are ultimately about identity — apparel is how people express themselves outwardly, beauty is more intimate, about how people see themselves and want to be seen. That insight sharpened her approach to emotional marketing across the board.
// Consumers can tell when you're "just posting to post." The biggest trend Elle is seeing: people want real connection, not surface-level content. Brands that treat community as a checkbox get called out fast — the ones that actually build with their audience earn deeper loyalty.
// Redefine what "perfect" means in a fast-moving industry. Early in her career, Elle equated perfect with flawless. Now, she defines it as clear, intentional, and aligned — because waiting for 100% polish means missing the moment entirely. Her approach: get to a strategically sound place, then execute and iterate based on real-time consumer feedback.
// The best campaigns make people think "wait, that's literally me." Elle's taste as a marketer is rooted in emotional relatability — honesty, nostalgia, humor, and small human details. Aspiration still matters, but she's far more drawn to aspiration that feels attainable and emotionally grounded than to anything overly polished or manufactured.
// "Community first" is becoming a buzzword — and consumers are starting to expect proof, not just claims. Elle is watching closely to see which brands actually back up the label with real action, and is intentional about making sure Rare Beauty's community initiatives are recognizable as distinctly theirs, not just another version of what everyone else is doing.
Connect with Elle: LinkedIn
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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective
Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you.
Join the MHH Collective: Join now
Get the latest marketing trends, open jobs and MHH updates, straight to your inbox: Join our email list!
Follow MHH on Social: Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok | Facebook- In this episode, we sit down with Brieane (Brie) Olson, CEO of PacSun, for a conversation that is equal parts brand strategy masterclass and career inspiration. Brie has spent nearly two decades at PacSun — moving from design and product to marketing and digital before stepping into the CEO role three years ago — and has led one of retail's most remarkable transformation stories, taking the brand from bankruptcy to a Harvard Business School case study and a cult following with Gen Z. She opens up about the viral TikTok moment that shaped PacSun's entire philosophy around co-creation, why most brands are fundamentally misunderstanding Gen Z and Gen Alpha, and what it actually looks like to give your customers a real seat at the table — not just a focus group. She also digs into her own leadership journey, why she went back to school at 40, and what she'd tell anyone trying to build something meaningful from wherever they're starting. Her new book, Co-Created, is out now.
Key Takeaways:
// Treat your customers as co-creators, not an audience. The turning point in PacSun's story came when an everyday consumer — not a contracted influencer — filmed a TikTok in her bedroom that sold 11,000 pairs of jeans in under 48 hours. The lesson Brie took from it: when you truly empower customers to love and represent your brand, the results can far outpace anything a paid campaign produces.
// Give Gen Z an actual seat at the table — not just a survey. PacSun's Youth Advisory Council brings together 14 young people aged 12 to 26 who function like a board of directors — weighing in on tech initiatives, marketing campaigns, and strategy. Social listening is a starting point, but the brands that win are the ones creating formal structures to involve their community in real decisions.
// Experiential retail isn't complicated: the mall is back, and unexpected pop-ups are winning. Gen Z and Gen Alpha want to touch product, hang out with friends, and be surprised. PacSun has seen major success showing up trackside at Formula One in Austin, at Goofball, and in other culturally-relevant spaces. Meeting the customer in moments that matter to them — not just in places convenient to the brand — is the new retail playbook.
// You don't need a title to start leading. Brie's advice for early-career listeners: stay deeply curious, build relationships relentlessly, never stay too rigidly in your lane, and do more than what's expected of you. She also makes the point that identifying what's blocking your growth — and taking action on it — matters more than waiting for the right opportunity. She went back to school at 40. It's never too late to fill the gap.
Connect with Brie: LinkedIn
Get a Copy of the Book: Amazon
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Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collective
Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you.
Join the MHH Collective: Join now
Get the latest marketing trends, open jobs and MHH updates, straight to your inbox: Join our email list!
Follow MHH on Social: Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok | Facebook
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Keeping up with marketing trends and leveling up your career doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Don’t go at it alone. Marketing Happy Hour was created to help you navigate the corporate marketing world, launch your own business, and stay sane while advancing in your career. Join hosts Cassie Tucker and Ally Golden each week as they dive into real conversations with industry guests, covering everything from marketing strategies to career growth and leadership insights—all served with a mix of inspiration and support to keep you thriving.
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