Episode 15
Episode 15: Jo Ann Herold - CMO, Strategic Advisor, Adjunct Marketing Professor
About this Episode: On this episode of The Backstory on Marketing, Guy interviews Jo Ann Herold, CMO, Strategic Advisor, Adjunct Marketing Professor, Amazon Bestselling Author, and speaker. They discuss her backstory on marketing, the role empathy plays in leadership, overcoming perfectionism, and the importance of community involvement to your career and personal life.
About Jo Ann Herold: Jo Ann is a purpose-driven executive and brings more than 25 years of marketing expertise for iconic brands. She served as the CMO for The Honey Baked Ham Company, LLC twice. Prior she was CMO for Interface, Inc., VP of Brand Marketing at Arby’s Restaurant Group, and owned her own marketing firm. Jo Ann has an MBA in International Business from Mercer University and an undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University. She is an adjunct professor at Mercer University and GSU. She was the recipient of Atlanta AMA’s Lifetime Achievement award and two AMY Awards from the American Marketing Association.
Links:
Amazon link for her book: ‘Living On A Smile: 16 Ways to Live a Big Life and Lead with Love’: https://www.amazon.com/Living-Smile-Ways-Live-Life-ebook/dp/B0B39MQXV3
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannherold/
Instagram: @joannheroldp_lop
https://marketingmachine.prorelevant.com/
Sign up for ProRelevant Emails:
https://mailchi.mp/prorelevant/newsletter
Link to YouTube Video:
https://youtu.be/U388u1QhduM
Transcript
Hi, I'm Guy Powell and welcome to the next episode
Guy Powell:of the backstory on marketing. If you haven't already done so
Guy Powell:please visit pro relevant.com and sign up for all of these
Guy Powell:episodes and podcasts. I am the author of the newly released
Guy Powell:book the post COVID marketing machine, prepare your team to
Guy Powell:win. And you can find more information about the book at
Guy Powell:marketing machine dot pro relevant.com. Today we're
Guy Powell:speaking with Joanne Herold, author of a new book Living on a
Guy Powell:smile. Joanne is a purpose driven executive and brings more
Guy Powell:than 25 years of marketing expertise for iconic brands. She
Guy Powell:has served as cmo for the HoneyBaked km HoneyBaked Ham
Guy Powell:company twice. She was also cmo for interface VP of brand
Guy Powell:marketing at Arby's, and own her own marketing firm. She has an
Guy Powell:MBA in international business from Mercer University, and as
Guy Powell:an undergraduate and has an undergraduate degree from
Guy Powell:Mississippi State University. And she's also an adjunct
Guy Powell:professor at Mercer University and at GSU. She was the
Guy Powell:recipient of Atlanta ama is Lifetime Achievement Award, and
Guy Powell:to Amy awards from the American Marketing Association here in
Guy Powell:Atlanta. And lastly, she is now the author of living on a smile
Guy Powell:16 ways to live a big life and lead with love. Welcome, Joanne.
Jo Ann Herold:Thank you Guy. Awesome to see you. I mean, we
Jo Ann Herold:have a lot in common with the AMA and all the marketing work
Jo Ann Herold:you do in the community, too.
Guy Powell:Yeah, absolutely. And you have been on the AMA a
Guy Powell:long time. And I know you've been on, we're on there also a
Guy Powell:long time. And, and and it really is a great way to support
Guy Powell:the marketing community here in Atlanta.
Jo Ann Herold:Yeah, thank you.
Guy Powell:And I, I couldn't agree with you more. So well
Guy Powell:with that. Then tell us a little bit about your backstory on how
Guy Powell:you got into marketing.
Jo Ann Herold:Well, it's funny, I never imagined when I started
Jo Ann Herold:at McDonald's as a star. And what that means is I was the
Jo Ann Herold:store area representative, and wore the hamburger costume and
Jo Ann Herold:gave the birthday parties and worked the drive thru window,
Jo Ann Herold:that it would create a love for marketing. And what I learned
Jo Ann Herold:from that experience is that I love serving others, and that
Jo Ann Herold:food and iconic brands are a great way to do that. And so
Jo Ann Herold:through that, and it really was a marketing job.
Jo Ann Herold:Did my undergraduate and got a degree in PR communications and
Jo Ann Herold:journalism. And then just started my career in marketing
Jo Ann Herold:and really started at the bottom and worked my way up through the
Jo Ann Herold:ranks and have just loved my career in marketing.
Guy Powell:Yeah, absolutely. And you while you certainly did
Guy Powell:did very well going up in your career and up the ladder and cmo
Guy Powell:and three different times and Arby's and McDonald's and but
Guy Powell:most of all, though, I'm really proud that you were the
Guy Powell:Hamburglar that that's definitely something to be proud
Guy Powell:of.
Jo Ann Herold:Yes, it is. It is. I'll have to one of these
Jo Ann Herold:days try and find those old photos.
Guy Powell:You know, that's definitely something you got to
Guy Powell:put on Instagram. Can you recognize this person?
Jo Ann Herold:It was, I think I got to wear it because the
Jo Ann Herold:costume was a small size. I got to run around and greet people
Jo Ann Herold:in
Guy Powell:the costume. Yeah, exactly. Well, and I'm kind of
Guy Powell:tall is as you know, and I used to do some amateur acting and
Guy Powell:what really upset me was I never got cast as a small part in a
Guy Powell:small part where I was like short character rather. Anyways,
Guy Powell:so So you've now left HoneyBaked Tam, and you've started a
Guy Powell:consulting company. Tell us about that.
Jo Ann Herold:Yeah, that's been a lot of fun. I've done some
Jo Ann Herold:work with Georgia State University and love them and
Jo Ann Herold:heading with a professor, the Georgia State marketing
Jo Ann Herold:roundtable. That's a great group of chief marketing officers from
Jo Ann Herold:around town and doing just a lot of different fun projects with
Jo Ann Herold:clients all say so I'm really enjoying the consulting work and
Jo Ann Herold:advising others and leveraging the marketing experience for
Jo Ann Herold:other brands.
Guy Powell:Yeah, absolutely. And you know, one of the things
Guy Powell:with a background like yours is you have, you know, a wealth of
Guy Powell:hands on experience and work and of course, working yourself up
Guy Powell:the ranks and things like that. So being able to share that and
Guy Powell:also see the results of your efforts across a handful of
Guy Powell:brands is is a lot of fun. I'm sure.
Jo Ann Herold:It is. It is. And I'm doing a lot of work also in
Jo Ann Herold:the purpose and sustainability area. So excited about that as
Jo Ann Herold:well.
Guy Powell:Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And that's definitely one of the
Guy Powell:certainly the hot hot topics here and in marketing, you know,
Guy Powell:sustainability, but also, you know, diversity, equity and
Guy Powell:inclusion and things like that. So that's a great place to be.
Guy Powell:That's for sure.
Jo Ann Herold:Absolutely.
Guy Powell:Thank you. Yeah. So now you just recently left
Guy Powell:Honeybaked Ham. So what do you what were some of your biggest
Guy Powell:challenges there?
Jo Ann Herold:Well, honeybaked ham is an awesome brand awesome
Jo Ann Herold:company, doing really well, the consumers love it. The brand did
Jo Ann Herold:a great job during COVID As far as leveraging technology to
Jo Ann Herold:serve the customer. And that would be through, buy online,
Jo Ann Herold:pick up in store, curbside did a lot of work on the technology
Jo Ann Herold:side to make it easy for consumers to shop. And, of
Jo Ann Herold:course, it's a beloved brand and delicious. So. So we, you know,
Jo Ann Herold:overcame a lot of challenges during that time and continue
Jo Ann Herold:the brand continues to do really well.
Guy Powell:Yeah, we always have the challenge. We'd like to have
Guy Powell:a turkey for Christmas, and or a ham for Christmas. And it's kind
Guy Powell:of like, Okay, do we do the HoneyBaked this year? Or? Or do
Guy Powell:we do the turkey? So yeah, the HoneyBaked is for Christmas is
Guy Powell:just awesome.
Jo Ann Herold:Yeah, they it's also great during everyday,
Jo Ann Herold:they've got great meals and great solutions.
Guy Powell:Yeah, and I would imagine that as well. You know,
Guy Powell:and certainly with the stores and even year round, you can
Guy Powell:certainly get and purchase a ham, but at the at the end of
Guy Powell:the year for Christmas, or potentially even Thanksgiving,
Guy Powell:that has to provide some enormous challenges just to make
Guy Powell:sure you can meet that demand and stuff like that. I'm always
Guy Powell:impressed with how how well companies like yours do in that
Guy Powell:case?
Jo Ann Herold:Yeah, a lot of planning a lot of cross
Jo Ann Herold:functional work goes into making it, you know, supplying the
Jo Ann Herold:demand?
Guy Powell:Yep, yep. Absolutely. So as a marketing
Guy Powell:leader, then what do you see as the most important aspects of a
Guy Powell:leader that you've been using and learning and improving on
Guy Powell:over the last years? And, and then also, now that some of
Guy Powell:those are in your book? I'm sure. So what are the what are
Guy Powell:some of those qualities that you'd like to maybe discuss?
Jo Ann Herold:Oh well I think leadership, it's important to
Jo Ann Herold:know, the team and have a relationship and understand
Jo Ann Herold:where everybody is communications, obviously, also
Jo Ann Herold:a key and for the team to really understand the whys. And you
Jo Ann Herold:know, what's going on? Why are we going in this direction. So
Jo Ann Herold:that's very important. Engagement and keeping everybody
Jo Ann Herold:involved? I've started and I, just through the years lead with
Jo Ann Herold:love, and to, you know, work is really hard and leadership is,
Jo Ann Herold:is hard. And so it's to lead with empathy and kindness and,
Jo Ann Herold:but also, knowing that, you know, we're there to drive
Jo Ann Herold:results and performance and so coming alongside the team and
Jo Ann Herold:making sure that everybody understands what we're trying to
Jo Ann Herold:do and why is critically important.
Guy Powell:Yeah, and I think you're right and and and from
Guy Powell:your book as well. I really liked how you you know, you
Guy Powell:mentioned empathy with with everybody that's on the team and
Guy Powell:those could be your employees as well as potentially even the
Guy Powell:agencies that you're working with. But also then to not only
Guy Powell:for yourself, but for the team is be part purposeful about your
Guy Powell:work life balance, because, and I'm guilty of this sometimes,
Guy Powell:you know, you just, you got a lot going on and as a solo, well
Guy Powell:as an entrepreneur, you, you know, you just you take the time
Guy Powell:and, and some things just take a lot of time and unfortunately
Guy Powell:sometimes that it's that work life balance doesn't come out
Guy Powell:quite right.
Jo Ann Herold:Mm hmm. Yeah, I agree, I think it's important to
Jo Ann Herold:prioritize, and to make sure the, you're looking at the big
Jo Ann Herold:rocks and the big rocks can be family and help them as well as
Jo Ann Herold:all the work and just making sure that all those big rocks
Jo Ann Herold:are prioritized. And I am very purposeful about time and time
Jo Ann Herold:management. And every day, make sure that the days and the time
Jo Ann Herold:is focused on what's most important, and whether that's
Jo Ann Herold:getting a big project done, or working, you know, exercise or
Jo Ann Herold:family.
Guy Powell:Yeah, absolutely. And I like your, you know,
Guy Powell:setting aside time for certainly for family, and then setting
Guy Powell:aside obviously time for your priorities. But also, you had a
Guy Powell:lot in there about, you know, planning your time. And I think
Guy Powell:that's also a challenge. And you know, making sure that you have,
Guy Powell:you know, whatever it is a three year goal, and then a one year
Guy Powell:goal to help to get to the three year goal. And then what am I
Guy Powell:doing today? And what are some of the challenges that are going
Guy Powell:to hinder me from getting there? I really liked what you talked
Guy Powell:about on that.
Jo Ann Herold:Oh, thank you. I've used I used to use Covey.
Jo Ann Herold:And now I use what's called a full focus planner. And it helps
Jo Ann Herold:map out overall goals. And then daily goals, weekly goals,
Jo Ann Herold:monthly goals. And so it's a for me, it's been a great tool book.
Guy Powell:Yeah, yeah. And you can see it I mean, obviously,
Guy Powell:through your career and what you've been able to achieve.
Guy Powell:That's fantastic. I'd like to, I like one thing that you had as
Guy Powell:well. And I, and maybe you could expound on that. It's the
Guy Powell:thinking in 3d, I thought that concept was pretty interesting.
Jo Ann Herold:So this, that concept came from my boss at
Jo Ann Herold:interface, who was the CEO, and he liked people who could think
Jo Ann Herold:not only verbally, but also think ahead and visualize and
Jo Ann Herold:take an idea and really bring it to life. And so he's the one
Jo Ann Herold:that coined that, that term, and but I've adopted it from him and
Jo Ann Herold:used it.
Guy Powell:Yeah, absolutely. Well, I thought that made so
Guy Powell:much sense. Because sometimes, and it's so easy to get focused
Guy Powell:on whatever that immediate urgent thing is, and then
Guy Powell:realizing that the urgent thing may not be the most important
Guy Powell:thing. And then number one, and then number two is, you know,
Guy Powell:what are kind of the, the long term consequences of what it is
Guy Powell:that you're working on today. And I it's easy for all of us to
Guy Powell:get to lose sight of that.
Jo Ann Herold:So true.
Guy Powell:Yeah, yeah. So I like your, your idea of, of
Guy Powell:planning. And I think that just makes so much sense, I do
Guy Powell:something similar to that maybe not as rigorous. But it really
Guy Powell:does help to make sure that you get, you know, a little bit of
Guy Powell:work life balance in there. I'm not probably as good as I am or
Guy Powell:should be. But nevertheless, I do like your point about the
Guy Powell:planning.
Jo Ann Herold:What do you What tool do you use? Well,
Guy Powell:I have a, I do a weekly, a monthly and a 90 day,
Guy Powell:I don't go past 90 days, but I do a weekly, weekly, monthly in
Guy Powell:90 days. And I mean, obviously, the 90 days is kind of also
Guy Powell:includes some long term stuff in there, but you know, it, it's so
Guy Powell:easy to see how those things get can get lost in the sauce. And
Guy Powell:if I don't put it in specifically into one of those
Guy Powell:buckets, then it does get lost in the sauce. And so that's kind
Guy Powell:of what I do. I don't use the the Franklin Covey or the or the
Guy Powell:other method that you're talking about. But for me, that seems to
Guy Powell:work out pretty good. And then of course, there's a daily I
Guy Powell:mean, I've got a daily planner that I you know, every day I'm
Guy Powell:writing stuff down and then you know, and then review it. And so
Guy Powell:maybe that's why I don't have as good a work life balance as you
Guy Powell:do. Yeah,
Jo Ann Herold:I don't think I don't think there's ever any
Jo Ann Herold:perfect balance though. Sometimes work is out of balance
Jo Ann Herold:or life is out of balance. And so I don't think there's anybody
Jo Ann Herold:or any Your time was absolutely perfectly balanced.
Guy Powell:Yeah, yeah. And then I think you're probably right.
Guy Powell:And sometimes you got to take a little more, and then sometimes,
Guy Powell:you know, I just, you got to just have a day off. And, and,
Guy Powell:but you got to plan that in, you have to plan that in, especially
Guy Powell:when you're in leadership, because everybody else is kind
Guy Powell:of depending upon you. And if you're out for that day, they
Guy Powell:gotta, you know, know how to how to depend on you without you
Guy Powell:being on being there. So. Yeah, absolutely. So I also liked the
Guy Powell:imposter syndrome, and the challenges or the problems that
Guy Powell:that can cause. Tell us a little bit about that.
Jo Ann Herold:So that is, and I think a lot of people have that
Jo Ann Herold:even actors and actresses, and great performers have it. And so
Jo Ann Herold:much of it is believing and being confident knowing that you
Jo Ann Herold:can do something. And then also, sometimes it's a fake it until
Jo Ann Herold:you make it and just, you know, going out there and doing
Jo Ann Herold:something and being being confident and believing in it.
Guy Powell:Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And it and I think I have that
Guy Powell:once in a while. And I don't know, you know, obviously, you
Guy Powell:know, I've been doing my stuff for a long time you have as
Guy Powell:well, and you would think that we would be 100% Confident in
Guy Powell:anything, you know, that's related to what we know. And
Guy Powell:yet, you know, every once in a while you just, you know, you're
Guy Powell:just not, it's not confidence, maybe, but you're just not, you
Guy Powell:know, you're a little reticent to kind of blow your own horn.
Guy Powell:And we're, you know, and that's, that's, I think, what, what
Guy Powell:really hit home with me when you were expounding on on that when
Guy Powell:I was reading about that in your book?
Jo Ann Herold:Oh, yeah. It's so true. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Guy Powell:So now, I also liked that you are a recovering
Guy Powell:perfectionist.
Jo Ann Herold:Yeah, it's what I used to do. And I probably still
Jo Ann Herold:do it a little bit, I would try to wait until everything was
Jo Ann Herold:perfect to share some of the work and what I've learned over
Jo Ann Herold:time is now I share early often get people involved, because I
Jo Ann Herold:think it makes a better work product. And then, you know,
Jo Ann Herold:everybody's really engaged versus trying to, you know, have
Jo Ann Herold:everything designed, and all the i's dotted and T's crossed. So,
Jo Ann Herold:so that's something that, you know, just, I've learned and,
Guy Powell:and I think that's hard, I think for, especially
Guy Powell:for a younger marketer, I think that's, that's really hard. I
Guy Powell:know. Um, and I'm definitely a recovering perfectionist. And
Guy Powell:it's really only been in the last couple of years that I more
Guy Powell:willing to share earlier on, because I'd like to get, you
Guy Powell:know, things, you know, as far along as he can, and then share
Guy Powell:it as opposed to kind of getting them, you know, 80% and sharing
Guy Powell:it and getting feedback on the 80%. And then also direction on
Guy Powell:the 20. And, and so I will admit that that really hit home for
Guy Powell:me.
Jo Ann Herold:Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Guy Powell:So how do you how do you import that into, you know,
Guy Powell:you're, you're the, you're the folks that are working for you,
Guy Powell:the you,
Jo Ann Herold:I guess that goes back to leading with love. And
Jo Ann Herold:so realizing that when somebody comes to me with a work product,
Jo Ann Herold:it's, you know, it may not be all the way perfect or baked or
Jo Ann Herold:whatever term that is, and so it gives me the chance to work with
Jo Ann Herold:them and, you know, to help craft, whatever the assignment
Jo Ann Herold:is, and to teach and to mentor and to be a part of it.
Guy Powell:Yeah, yeah. And I, I found that and I don't know if
Guy Powell:it's an I call them kids, they're not kids, but folks
Guy Powell:coming out of college recent graduates, sometimes they're and
Guy Powell:this may also be in terms of the imposter syndrome, the two kind
Guy Powell:of CO together is they don't often have the confidence to ask
Guy Powell:the questions early on. And what I've found is that if I don't
Guy Powell:check in with them very often, then they'll go off on a tangent
Guy Powell:and not that it's necessarily wrong, but it isn't the
Guy Powell:priority. And you know, then you know, you wasted all that time
Guy Powell:not only their time, but calendar time and you gotta you
Guy Powell:know, get them back real and back into where you want them to
Guy Powell:go and, and also do that without, you know, Uh, you know,
Guy Powell:telling them they're wrong. And you know, you got to do it in a
Guy Powell:positive way. So I don't know, if you've seen things like that,
Guy Powell:as well,
Jo Ann Herold:I do, I think the but check ins, the, you know,
Jo Ann Herold:let's keeping things on the calendar too. And, you know,
Jo Ann Herold:let's just see where we are and check in and it gives them,
Jo Ann Herold:again, an opportunity to really understand the project to
Jo Ann Herold:understand the kind of the whys in the house behind it. And then
Jo Ann Herold:keeps, you know, keeps the project on task.
Guy Powell:Yeah, yeah. And I think that's, that's a good way
Guy Powell:to put it as that is to make sure to reiterate the goal and
Guy Powell:what we're trying to achieve and how we're trying to achieve it.
Guy Powell:And, you know, what I found too, is that the younger folks, as
Guy Powell:much as you'd like them, like to think that they have the same
Guy Powell:knowledge that that you have, they don't, and they don't have
Guy Powell:the context necessarily. And so, you know, you have to kind of
Guy Powell:communicate that context. And, and I, and sometimes, you know,
Guy Powell:you think you may overdo it, but that learning part of that
Guy Powell:communicating with that context I found to be to be very
Guy Powell:valuable.
Jo Ann Herold:Absolutely. Yeah.
Guy Powell:Yeah. So, so did you have all of your teams then
Guy Powell:also, do your planning routine? Or did you do something
Guy Powell:different for them?
Jo Ann Herold:I mentored a lot of people and, and quite a few
Jo Ann Herold:folks on the team started to leverage the planning system.
Jo Ann Herold:And so you know, that, to me is a, it's a more personal, you
Jo Ann Herold:know, some are actually digital, and everything's done that way.
Jo Ann Herold:I've haven't, I'm a, I guess, a hybrid of write things down on
Jo Ann Herold:paper, and then, you know, a digital calendar. So it depends.
Jo Ann Herold:But I got the concept from ours at honey bag, the chief
Jo Ann Herold:operating officer used it and so he's the one that shared it with
Jo Ann Herold:me. And then I shared it with many on my team. And they, they
Jo Ann Herold:did use it.
Guy Powell:Yeah, yeah. Fantastic. I liked as well, one
Guy Powell:thing in your book, which was successful, people are not
Guy Powell:gifted, they just work hard and succeed on purpose. that I
Guy Powell:thought was a great quote, I haven't, I think you have a
Guy Powell:reference from GK Nielsen. And, and I really thought about that
Guy Powell:quite a bit. And, and I think the purpose piece fits in with
Guy Powell:with your, almost your total message from your book. So tell
Guy Powell:us how that's kind of affected your activities and your
Guy Powell:planning?
Jo Ann Herold:Yeah, so in marketing, so much of and
Jo Ann Herold:leadership, so much of it is results and driving results. And
Jo Ann Herold:so there's a lot of hard work that goes into that. And so
Jo Ann Herold:it's, it's really being smart about whatever it is, you're
Jo Ann Herold:trying to achieve, really understanding who's on the other
Jo Ann Herold:end, who the consumer is, who will buy, what you're trying to
Jo Ann Herold:market to engage the teams, and whether it's the internal teams,
Jo Ann Herold:the agency partners are the cross functional partners.
Jo Ann Herold:There's a lot of work and communication and selling in as
Jo Ann Herold:far as that goes. So I know, in my career, there wasn't any,
Jo Ann Herold:anything I was successful with that didn't involve other
Jo Ann Herold:people. And so more work at Arby's or HoneyBaked, or
Jo Ann Herold:interface, especially Arby's and honeybaked ham, the products and
Jo Ann Herold:promotions had to be executed at the store level or field level.
Jo Ann Herold:So it was real important to get engagement all the way through
Jo Ann Herold:the process. So you know, a lot of hard work and learning how
Jo Ann Herold:best to make sure that the programs were easily executed
Jo Ann Herold:and easily understood.
Guy Powell:Well, and a lot of communication, you brought that
Guy Powell:up early on and you know when you have a plan that especially
Guy Powell:if you're so as I recall you were the star in was that just
Guy Powell:Atlanta or is that the southeast or?
Jo Ann Herold:That was in Oceanside? rings, Mississippi.
Jo Ann Herold:So I worked for I worked for a franchisee at McDonald's and,
Jo Ann Herold:and they had several McDonald's locations.
Guy Powell:Yeah, well, in getting whatever that whatever
Guy Powell:that activity is communicated throughout that organization is,
Guy Powell:it's hard, it is very hard, especially when they're spread
Guy Powell:out like that. And, and, you know, you have a goal and and
Guy Powell:then getting buy in and realizing that, you know, people
Guy Powell:have their own priorities and personal priorities as well as
Guy Powell:work priorities. I kudos to you in terms of how you've been able
Guy Powell:to do that.
Jo Ann Herold:Thank you. It's relationships are key.
Guy Powell:Yeah, yeah. How true how true. So you received the,
Guy Powell:from the Atlanta ama the Lifetime Achievement Award,
Guy Powell:which is no small thing. That's an enormous thing. And so how
Guy Powell:has that impacted your career?
Jo Ann Herold:I would say I was so incredibly honored by that.
Jo Ann Herold:And I was the AMA president and 2011 2012. And started in the
Jo Ann Herold:AMA, just as I right out of college, and would go to the
Jo Ann Herold:meetings and loved the AMA. And so it was just an amazing gift
Jo Ann Herold:from an organization that I'm so so proud to represent. So I
Jo Ann Herold:don't know that it's really changed anything, as much as it
Jo Ann Herold:was just, I was so in awe of it, and so grateful for it. And I
Jo Ann Herold:still am very involved in the AMA i co lead the Executive
Jo Ann Herold:Advisory Board with Jeff hella Meyer, and it's just a fantastic
Jo Ann Herold:group, who are committed to helping other marketers.
Guy Powell:Yeah, absolutely. And, and I think, you know, the
Guy Powell:AMA has done quite a bit around town. And there's just a lot of
Guy Powell:value. We it affects 1000s, of marketers in the Atlanta area.
Guy Powell:And then AMA, you know, on a national basis, or even an
Guy Powell:international basis has a huge footprint as well.
Jo Ann Herold:It does, it does, and it needs marketers wherever
Jo Ann Herold:they are in their career. So whether it's a collegiate,
Jo Ann Herold:there's chapters on college campuses to up and coming
Jo Ann Herold:marketers, to professors who have their PhD, it's, it's
Jo Ann Herold:involves all levels of practitioners and academics.
Guy Powell:Yeah, yeah. So what was the most fun thing you did
Guy Powell:with the AMA?
Jo Ann Herold:Oh, gosh, well, a couple of fun things. We had the
Jo Ann Herold:I love ama campaign. And that was a lot of fun and engaging.
Jo Ann Herold:And in when you say AMA, everybody says, Oh, I love the
Jo Ann Herold:AMA. So we had a big campaign around that. The second thing
Jo Ann Herold:that I loved is we were very competitive. And I think we
Jo Ann Herold:still are with Houston. And so our whole goal was to beat
Jo Ann Herold:Houston. And so to be the third largest chapter nationwide, and
Jo Ann Herold:we were able to beat Houston. So we really celebrated that. I
Jo Ann Herold:think the third thing is, we would have the Amy's at the Fox,
Jo Ann Herold:and the Egyptian room. And so it was just, and we still have the
Jo Ann Herold:amas and it's just great to see everybody in a room and
Jo Ann Herold:celebrate the best marketers and advertisers in Atlanta and just
Jo Ann Herold:a super fun.
Guy Powell:Yeah. Yeah, it sure is. And, yeah, I remember being
Guy Powell:at the doing the event at the Fox, and yeah, that room down
Guy Powell:there. And then just the energy, when the the before the awards
Guy Powell:were given out, we were in that Egyptian room and, and the
Guy Powell:energy's just, it's just incredible, and then being able
Guy Powell:to see, you know, marketers both on the agency side and the
Guy Powell:corporate side and, and then to see what they've done and the
Guy Powell:creativity that has gone into their work and really how not
Guy Powell:only, you know, helps the company but can inspire people
Guy Powell:to do things that they might not otherwise do. Absolutely. And
Guy Powell:that's that's what I like about the AMA. Now, one of the things
Guy Powell:that that I'm involved in with the AMA as well as the
Guy Powell:mentorship program and and I find not to be, you know,
Guy Powell:incredibly valuable and and it teaches me as well. You know how
Guy Powell:to work with junior marketers or first, you know, early marketers
Guy Powell:in their career. Were you involved in the mentorship
Guy Powell:program?
Jo Ann Herold:I was as a matter of fact, you had recently as a
Jo Ann Herold:guest, one of my mentees, who is Teresa Cairo? Yes. And we
Jo Ann Herold:started that program over 20 years ago. And she's one of my
Jo Ann Herold:very dearest friends as a result of that, and has she's just a
Jo Ann Herold:rock star and president of the Johnson group and so proud of
Jo Ann Herold:her and but now, what I do is, I mentor the president and the
Jo Ann Herold:president a lot if they would like to do that just because of
Jo Ann Herold:the long standing experience with the AMA.
Guy Powell:Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's funny, Teresa. I've
Guy Powell:actually known her as well, maybe even from about the same
Guy Powell:time as you. My first book is this one right here. And she was
Guy Powell:one of my early editors. It's called return on marketing
Guy Powell:investment. And she read it and she, she provided such great,
Guy Powell:great input on. Yeah, definitely love Teresa. She's fantastic.
Jo Ann Herold:She is.
Guy Powell:Yeah. So anything else you'd like to talk about?
Guy Powell:About your new book?
Jo Ann Herold:Super excited about it. It launched this week.
Jo Ann Herold:I'd like to give a big shout out to the ripples team, Jeff,
Jo Ann Herold:hello, Meyer and Michelle. And Andrew over it ripples. And it.
Jo Ann Herold:It's doing really well. It's, it's already an Amazon
Jo Ann Herold:bestseller. And I wasn't expecting that I wrote the book
Jo Ann Herold:more it was a goal that I had and wanted to celebrate friends
Jo Ann Herold:and families and colleagues along the way. So the bet it's
Jo Ann Herold:selling well is just a lucky strike dry, I guess are a fun
Jo Ann Herold:part of it. But
Guy Powell:well, no as as a successful marketer than you
Guy Powell:know, marketing a book or marketing ham there. You know,
Guy Powell:there's certain concepts that go together there. Yeah, that's
Guy Powell:fantastic. Yeah, being Amazon. Number one best seller. That's a
Guy Powell:that's a big deal. Congratulations on that.
Jo Ann Herold:Oh, thank you. Thank you. It's actually the it
Jo Ann Herold:was the number one new release.
Guy Powell:Oh, nice. Very nice. Yeah, I was. As I was reading
Guy Powell:through it, I really liked you know, the personal stories and
Guy Powell:the business stories, and then how you brought everything
Guy Powell:together, I think he really did a great job on that. And it's a,
Guy Powell:it's, it's something that can be read, you know, and, and there's
Guy Powell:a lot of different points that you have to jot down because
Guy Powell:they're, they're just so valuable to, to how you manage
Guy Powell:your manage and plan your, your career and also your your work
Guy Powell:life balance.
Jo Ann Herold:Oh, thank you. Thank you. Well, for my fellow
Jo Ann Herold:author, I appreciate that. I know. I know, you know what,
Jo Ann Herold:writing the books actually the easiest part? The editing and
Jo Ann Herold:launching and publishing and marketing is a whole other.
Guy Powell:Yeah, exactly. That is, that is so true. And it's
Guy Powell:funny, I liked what you you said, you know, it's better to
Guy Powell:start getting feedback when you might be, let's say, 80% done or
Guy Powell:get feedback along the way. And, and my latest book, The Post
Guy Powell:COVID marketing machine, I did exactly that, and getting
Guy Powell:feedback on LinkedIn, and getting feedback from my
Guy Powell:interviewees and things like that. It really made it made a
Guy Powell:whole lot of difference in the quality of the content. And then
Guy Powell:now also that all those relationships are also part of
Guy Powell:the marketing, so Mm hmm. Yeah. So what do you see in your
Guy Powell:future? The more books then or we're all?
Jo Ann Herold:Well see, I'm talking. The next book will be a
Jo Ann Herold:hardcore marketing book. And so so much of marketing is it
Jo Ann Herold:happens on the job. And I wish I had a tool or a book that laid
Jo Ann Herold:it all out and say, so I'm kind of noodling that one.
Guy Powell:Yeah, yeah. I know exactly what you mean. I, I
Guy Powell:teach just like you do. I've taught over at Emory and then up
Guy Powell:in the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and couple
Guy Powell:and I've taught a ton over in Asia just as a you know, as a
Guy Powell:paid, you know, seminar provider. And one of the things
Guy Powell:that I think the marketing curriculum get wrong, is they Do
Guy Powell:not start with the question how to consumers make purchase
Guy Powell:decisions, they start with the tools, here's how you do
Guy Powell:research, here's how you do this, here's how you do that,
Guy Powell:here's pricing and stuff, but they don't talk about how they
Guy Powell:the consumer makes purchase decisions. And, and if you start
Guy Powell:with that, then everything else flows. And, and, and anyway,
Guy Powell:that's one of the things that I've learned. And I certainly
Guy Powell:have put it into all my books and stuff like that. And is
Guy Powell:there one thing that you have learned that you think would fit
Guy Powell:into, you know, into your marketing, and your marketing
Guy Powell:recommendations, and then now this hardcore marketing book
Guy Powell:like that?
Jo Ann Herold:Well, I'm thinking through it, no, of the
Jo Ann Herold:consumer landscape has changed so much, and there is no other
Jo Ann Herold:function that's under siege as much as marketing. And the
Jo Ann Herold:expectations of the business is that, you know, the marketer
Jo Ann Herold:really understands what's going on as far as the changing
Jo Ann Herold:landscape can drive, change and lead teams in order to meet
Jo Ann Herold:customers where they are. So that's a piece of it that I
Jo Ann Herold:really want to unpack. And, you know, there's a lot of new
Jo Ann Herold:marketing as far as the metaverse that, you know,
Jo Ann Herold:marketers are learning and understanding, but then how does
Jo Ann Herold:that all fit together? And how, to your point, what, what are
Jo Ann Herold:these things that the marketer has in their toolbox that will
Jo Ann Herold:encourage the customer to buy?
Guy Powell:Right, right, right. And to your point, you know,
Guy Powell:with the landscape changing so much, I have. I don't know, I
Guy Powell:don't know if it was surprised or whatever. But how well Tik
Guy Powell:Tok is done. Oh, talk and it is, it's it's an It's mind boggling?
Jo Ann Herold:Well, it is people think it's a platform for
Jo Ann Herold:younger kids. It's, I think their average age is around 36.
Jo Ann Herold:And it's I mean, it's just a huge population of users. And
Jo Ann Herold:this is so entertaining and fun and simple and easy to use. I
Jo Ann Herold:have a fellow marketer, Who is he and I did not know this. He
Jo Ann Herold:told me a couple of days ago, he said, Did you know I'm a tick
Jo Ann Herold:tock star? And I said, No, um, his name is David Gerson. And he
Jo Ann Herold:works for TK elevators. And so he's, he and I worked together
Jo Ann Herold:interface, but he refs on the side. So he's a soccer referee.
Jo Ann Herold:And he's got all these funny videos, and they just went
Jo Ann Herold:viral. And so he's, people now recognize them. When he's
Jo Ann Herold:traveling, they're like, Oh, you're the reps, you need love
Jo Ann Herold:to die. And so it's just a super fun platform.
Guy Powell:It is. I'm just now getting into it. And the thing
Guy Powell:is, for me, though, it I can't watch it. I got to limit my
Guy Powell:time. I gotta put in my time, five minutes, that's all you
Guy Powell:get, you know, and I'm flipping through and, and some of them
Guy Powell:are, you know, you're right. Some of them are so creative.
Guy Powell:But yet for business, a friend of mine, he's put out, I don't
Guy Powell:know, maybe 5075 tiktoks. And he has one, and these are on
Guy Powell:leadership on business leadership. And he does target
Guy Powell:though, a younger audience. So if you're like, early in your
Guy Powell:career, then what are some of the things to help you to
Guy Powell:advance your career and then be a leader in your career? And I
Guy Powell:was on the phone with him for about an hour, I don't know,
Guy Powell:maybe two weeks ago? And he says, Yeah, I've got one that's,
Guy Powell:you know, it's got 500,000 views so far. And and and then while
Guy Powell:we were talking, he got like, another 200 views. It was just
Guy Powell:incredible. And, and that kind of that kind of engagement. And
Guy Powell:that kind of following can really make a difference for a
Guy Powell:brand if you can figure out how to use it. And that one, I think
Guy Powell:is definitely one of those things. It's, you know,
Guy Powell:sideswiping sideswiping, Facebook, and other other
Guy Powell:platforms. And, and then I think you're right, the metaverse is
Guy Powell:still in its infant stages. There's a lot there yet, and I
Guy Powell:don't know if you've had any, any thoughts on where that or
Guy Powell:how that could be used?
Jo Ann Herold:You know, it's it's absolutely something I'm
Jo Ann Herold:watching closely and learning about and I mentioned the
Jo Ann Herold:Georgia State marketing roundtable. We've got somebody
Jo Ann Herold:coming in from Google to talk to us more about it. I know some
Jo Ann Herold:clients ants are using it. And even the Atlanta Convention and
Jo Ann Herold:Visitors Bureau is testing out. And it makes a lot of sense if
Jo Ann Herold:you've got a space and you want to capture visitors or consumers
Jo Ann Herold:attention. So yeah, I I'm excited to continue to learn and
Jo Ann Herold:work with it.
Guy Powell:Yeah, absolutely. And I'm interested in seeing
Guy Powell:some good case studies on it. I there's been a couple out there
Guy Powell:so far. And, and even here in Atlanta, there was a case study
Guy Powell:on I think it was Oshkosh, they did something internet averse.
Guy Powell:And, and so I'm looking forward to seeing more and seeing how
Guy Powell:that can can really work out. So anything else you'd like to
Guy Powell:bring up? Or bring up about your book? Or?
Jo Ann Herold:Well, you can go on Amazon, and look for living
Jo Ann Herold:on a smile. It's there. And for anybody listening who buys it,
Jo Ann Herold:let me know. And I would love to catch up and hear your thoughts
Jo Ann Herold:on it. So just very excited about it.
Guy Powell:Yeah, absolutely. And it's really, it's, it's a
Guy Powell:great read. I'm about halfway through right now. And, and I
Guy Powell:will admit, I've written down probably a half a page, maybe
Guy Powell:three quarters of a page of little notes and stuff like
Guy Powell:that. So and that's, that's for me. And when I read a book,
Guy Powell:that's exactly what I want to get out of it. And yours
Guy Powell:definitely delivered.
Jo Ann Herold:Oh, thank you. Well, one part of after each
Jo Ann Herold:chapter, I have a field guide or a toolkit to for the reader to
Jo Ann Herold:write their purpose statement or elevator speech or strengths.
Jo Ann Herold:And so I really wanted it to be a guidebook and useful and for
Jo Ann Herold:the reader to have the pause and to be able to take some of the
Jo Ann Herold:learnings that I've shared from others and use it for
Jo Ann Herold:themselves.
Guy Powell:Yeah, absolutely no question that that, that you can
Guy Powell:do that. And it is very well structured for that. So well,
Guy Powell:Joanne, thank you so much. I'm so glad we were able to talk and
Guy Powell:thanks to you for participating in my podcast and hopefully this
Guy Powell:and in our audience will purchase your book and, and
Guy Powell:learn more about what you've been doing and how you
Guy Powell:structured a lot of your leadership and your life is so
Guy Powell:that you can do better things and do more things. So thank you
Guy Powell:so much. Thank you so much, God. Yeah, absolutely. And also to
Guy Powell:find her book. Again, it can be found on Amazon, and it's living
Guy Powell:with a smile. And you can look that up really easy to find and
Guy Powell:for everybody please do that. Otherwise, stay tuned for more
Guy Powell:videos on my series of the backstory on marketing. And if
Guy Powell:you get a chance, please rank my these podcasts with five stores.
Guy Powell:Joanne, thank you so much. Thank you
