Transcript
Oops! Our video transcriptions might have a few quirks since they’re hot off the press. Rest assured, the good stuff is all there, even if the occasional typo slips through. Thanks for understanding.
Kwame:
Hey, everybody. Welcome to today's episode of Beyond Influence. I am one of your hosts, Kwame Appiah, the head of Influencer Engagement at Later.
Scott:
Hey, everyone. Scott Sutton, co-host and CEO of Later. Great to have you guys today.
Kwame:
Excited to introduce one of Seattle's favorite people, one of my favorite influencers, and one of the first people I met in the Seattle influencer scene. You can't go to any sporting events without hearing her voice.
How are we doing today, Carla Marie?
Carla:
Hi, Kwami. Hi, Scott. Thank you for that intro.
Kwame:
That's what I'm here for. My job role within this podcast is to come up with good intros and then Scott does the rest of the interviewing.
Carla:
I might take that audio and use it for some other things. I appreciate it.
Kwame:
How's your week going? I guess it's a holiday week. What are your plans?
Carla:
I'm actually off this week. This doesn't count as work. We are putting out no new content. Anthony, my co-host and boyfriend, is in Japan. I stayed back, so I'm having a staycation and doing whatever I want each day.
Scott:
Looking at all the things you're involved in at the moment, a staycation seems warranted. You've got the Seahawks, the Morning Show podcast, and you're constantly creating content on Instagram. How do you balance all that?
Carla:
I get by. It's definitely something I want to be better at. For example, the Seahawks training camp is coming up in August. I'll be busy from 10 to 4, so I plan what I can do in advance, like not taking on any clients for social media or making sure I spend the weekend before doing extra prep for the Morning Show podcast.
Kwame:
You've been in the media realm for quite a while. How many years now?
Carla:
I started as an intern in radio in 2009, so just hit the 15-year mark. It was May of 2009.
Scott:
Were you like ten then?
Carla:
No, I was 21. Yes, 21. And there was no Instagram. Twitter just kind of came out. It was part of one of my college classes to get a Twitter, and Facebook still needed a college email address to sign up.
Scott:
It's crazy to think about being in the front seat through the entire evolution of social media. How did that evolution happen? Did you always want to go into media, or did you just fall into it?
Carla:
I was enamored by TV shows like TRL and MTV hosts as a kid. I knew I was best at talking and presentations. That was my bread and butter, and I loved doing that. I learned I could get into radio or TV if I did journalism. I also liked writing, so magazines were something I liked as well.
Kwame:
Wow. So, what have been the biggest changes you've noticed as your journey in media has evolved?
Carla:
It's a lot going from having the backing of a major media company to doing it on our own. Now, with the podcast, we are represented by a podcast company, Gemini 13, which sells podcast ads, but when it comes to anything else, it's just the two of us.
Scott:
Curious, who's your favorite TV host of any of the shows?
Carla:
Oprah. Because as a kid, my mom and I would watch Oprah together on the couch. This was the '90s, and I was between 8 and 10 years old watching this woman have her own TV show. Oprah wasn't doing fluff TV. She was talking about serious stuff, and it's just always been in the back of my mind that I could do that.
Kwame:
I just want Oprah to come back so that I can be in the guest and she can say, everyone look under your seats.
Carla:
Student loans are paid for.
Kwame:
That's basically what I'm looking for. But I guess backtracking again. So you were born in Secaucus, right?
Carla:
I was born in Secaucus, New Jersey.
Kwame:
Which is? I have a funny little story. Secaucus probably isn't a place that a ton of people have heard about, but it's pretty close to New York City. So back in the day, when I was in college, my closest friend in college was the goalie for the girls' soccer team at my school.
And when I couldn't make the, you know, find a way to get back to my home, back in D.C. because I went to school in Delaware, she would just say, “Hey, hop in and I'll take you back home for Christmas.” And so, she lived in Secaucus, and so that's crazy. I know, isn't it? Out of everywhere in the world.
Yeah. The place that I would go for Christmas sometimes in college. What's it? Cork is? So, you know, you're born in Secaucus. Life starts, you know, I guess when you were starting out, what were your dreams and aspirations like? What did you initially think you were going to be doing with life? I really find out you just like to talk.
Carla:
I mean, that dream started at like ten. So before that, it was like, I'm going to be an NFL cheerleader now. Hey, I guess like I'm super, super close to that. I must be close to that. As I could have gotten really being on the sidelines at a Seahawks game. But, it was always radio. I grew up listening to Elvis Duran on the morning show.
For me, it was on Z100. It's nationally syndicated now, but I loved listening to them. I would sit in the car, I would get to school late because I wanted to hear a phone tap. And then fast forward many years and I'm the one doing the phone taps on the air. It's just bizarre. And my mom, she'll even tell you, like, I would be like, I want to do what they do.
And she would say, okay, you do whatever you want. Like it's up to you, you can do it. And it is bizarre that it was the same show I listened to. I ended up working for. It's just crazy to me. But yeah, it was. It was always radio and never once I got into radio, never did I think I would leave or do anything else.
Other than radio. But getting to do all that other stuff has been the most rewarding thing.
Scott:
That's amazing. it's funny, I just imagine you're on the sideline next to the Seahawks Galaxy gals doing the booth like I am.
Carla:
I mess with them all the time. Like, you guys are going to teach me a dance. One of these games. And after watching the Dallas Cowboys, cheerleaders, the Netflix show. Yeah, man. It's no joke. I mean, I was a cheerleader in high school and college. It isn't college. Who am I kidding? I didn't make the college team in high school.
I can't even like that. It's such an intense world. I'm like, I'll just... I'll be on the sidelines with the microphone. That's it.
Kwame:
Yeah, I was watching that. So, you know, Chelsea and I watched it as well. We ran through the whole thing. And one of our friends down here actually used to be a DCC cheerleader. yeah. See who's Brian Walters who used to play. Yeah. You know. Right. Yeah. Exactly. He played in the.
Carla:
Girls game with you.
Kwame:
Guys? Yes, exactly. His girlfriend, CC, used to be a DCC for, I think, 3 or 4 years. And so, like, the minute we started tuning in, we were like, we wanted all the gossip. We hit her up, like, is this how it really is? And watching it, it is incredibly intense. Like, these are the creme de la creme of athletes, you know what I'm saying?
Thus, the amount of exhaustion and just strain they put on their bodies to make this happen. It's like seeing that it's pretty intense.
Carla:
And as they said, for the wage of a Chick-fil-A worker.
Kwame:
Oh, I know it's crazy, but that's a topic for another day.
Carla:
The media side.
Scott:
So I'm curious if you talked about your journey and coming up. You know you're working in radio. You transitioned to be a producer. Where did that break come from to transition and to go on screen? And what was that like? Because I think a lot of people out there, they're like waiting for that break or trying to set themselves up.
Carla:
So I was a phone app, so I was the phone producer at Ellevest around in the morning show. So I would answer every call that came in to the morning show. It's a very call-intensive show. I would type with. I would prep them, say it like this, and get them on the air. And that was my main job for a very long time.
But the way that the show runs is Ellevest does such a good job at bringing everyone in. So not every radio show is like this. If I, the 21 or 22-year-old had something crazy or something funny, whatever it was to talk about, I would pitch it to him and he would say, okay, we'll talk about this or you wouldn't know.
And he would be like, hey, come over, get in here, and you'd be live on the air, running into the studio, and you would talk about whatever that topic is. And other radio shows have behind-the-scenes people pitch these topics and then they give it to co-hosts to talk about it as if it is their life.
That is not how Elvis’ show works at all. And I think Anthony and I, we built our careers off of that, of just telling the truth and telling your story, even if it's not like the most fascinating or sexy thing, it's still you. And that's how Elvis is. Show us. So to go from producer to being on air, I was kind of doing both, my on-air role was growing a lot more.
I eventually got my own segment called What's Trending. So it was a daily. And I would just talk about a cool product or app or anything that I think, you know, you should be downloading or buying, and it was not paid at all. And this is, you know, ten years ago, at this point, it would just be, hey, I think you should check this out.
And it was my way to start getting small businesses on this huge, huge platform of 6 million daily listeners and just be like, yeah, go get that. Check out this bracelet company. It's this girl in her basement Little Words project. She's, you know, making these on her own. And now I still have them on my wrist all these years later.
And it's a $1 million company. And I think for me, I got bit by the radio bug. I got bit by the supporting small business bug. And, I still love producing and doing things behind the scenes. And I got to do all of that at once. So I guess that's eventually how I transitioned. And then I did a podcast while I was there, as just something fun to do wasn't paid for.
Anthony, who was my coworker. We both did the podcast together in the company. iHeart radio was like, hey, you guys sound good together? Do you want a morning show in Seattle? And that's how we went. But I mean, we still, till this day and even then produce our morning show. Even with the producer, we're very hands-on.
Kwame:
So is that what prompted the move to Seattle?
Carla:
Yeah. So we got asked about the show in December of 2015, and by February 10th I had lived here for 10 years. So yeah, we got asked about the show. We came out here on January 3rd, I think for like eight hours and missed our connecting flight. So we're only here in the dark in January, so I have no idea what Seattle looked like in the light.
And before I signed my contract. And then we came out here to do some promo and flip the radio station, because I went from hip hop to top 40 and went back, packed up everything, and then drove a U-Haul out here. So in less than two months, we were hosting a morning show in a city where I didn't even have a home yet.
I was living in a hotel room and now it's eight years later, and this is very much my home.
Kwame:
Did they tell you why Seattle?
Carla:
They were changing so much, which is such a bad idea. And radio now, looking back, they changed to three, four radio stations at the same time in one market, all under the same company. So how radio works is each city has several radio stations under their umbrella, and they're all different genres. So you often have hip hop, you're light FM type music, sports top 40.
And then there's like the in-between, our hot AC, as it's called in radio. So in between the top 40 and your work music, if you will, they just change so much at once. So they were moving stations to different frequencies, switching morning show hosts. They fired a whole bunch of people. And I mean, we didn't know anything. We just no one knew who we were.
It was so under wraps. And then we disappeared and we're like, hey, where are your new coworkers? And this is our morning show. And it was just a bizarre time. But why Seattle? I don't know, I guess the ratings weren't great. I don't know, this is one of the worst radio markets. I'm not just saying that it is known to be the worst radio market to work in, period, because of the amount of changes that they make here.
And I did not know that moving here.
Scott:
It's crazy talk, like thinking about, you know, the various leaps of faith that you've taken. I'm just going to start this podcast and then it's, you know, I'm going to get picked up and get off of this opportunity. But it's contingent on me just picking up my whole life and moving. One thing you hit on struck me, which was, you know, when you talked about working with Elvis and pitching different ideas and kind of just sharing your story, sharing your truth, being vulnerable.
You know, as of late, you had a pretty vulnerable experience. And, you know, Cam and I were talking about it. And we love that you're sharing that with the world because there are a lot of women who wouldn't have that kind of guidance, that experience someone like you to help give them the confidence, the empowerment to make a decision for their health.
And, but it's so incredibly challenging to put yourself out there. And so, whatever you feel comfortable sharing. But obviously it's out there on social media. Of course, it's our job to find it, but, no, I think we were really impressed about how much you put yourself out there.
Carla:
Thank you. So, yes, I had my breast implants removed after over ten years of having them. And to what you said, I, people keep saying to me, oh, it's so amazing that you're doing this, and I don't disagree. You are correct. It's awesome that women get to hear this story and know they're not crazy. They're not alone.
Something could be wrong, but the only way I know how to operate is to just talk about everything that I'm doing and bringing people along for the ride, and that goes, I mean, when I got the implants in, it was a whole thing on Elvis's show at the time. And back then it was with one of our clients.
So I was very lucky that I didn't have to pay for the implants, just the plant. So, they were a client, and I was 25 years old, and I got breast implants, and I loved them. They were the best. And we had the best time together. But I got to a point recently, over the last few years where I was like, I don't know, I don't feel great.
I know that breast implant illness is a thing now. I didn't know it existed when I got them and I just started following these women who were talking about it. So to what you're saying, I did the same thing to other women. I followed their stories and I realized that these things have to come out of me because I'm having pain.
I have 30 symptoms that are apparently a part of this thing called breast implant illness. And I said, well, I'm not just going to do this. And that's it. We're doing this. So I decided to launch a podcast called My Breast Implant Journey. And I think at this point, I'm 14 episodes in, and I've just talked to different women who have been through it to tell their stories.
But I'm also still very much learning about this. Doctors are still learning about this, which is crazy, but to what you said, I've had women reach out to me and say, I spent $10,000 on the doctor last year, and they can't figure out what's wrong with me. I had no idea it could be my implant. I'm going for a consultation next week.
Or I sent your podcast to my neighbor. She's always sick and she has implants and it's seeing in those moments it's like, oh, this is why I've been putting in this extra work and telling my story, because it's so rewarding to hear that and just know, like, I have this platform, why not use it? Why not use it as a megaphone and scream about the things that matter and can help others?
Kwame:
Wow. Yeah, gotta love it. You love it when people get a platform and they do good things.
Carla:
And some stupid things too. But whatever you know.
Kwame:
It is all good, you know? And obviously you're still learning a lot, but, like, have you noticed any drastic, like, positive changes in your health already in your lifestyle?
Carla:
Yes. So I instantly lost inflammation in my face. I knew that my face was inflamed, but I had gained so much weight. So once I can start actually working out again, and living a normal life, I'm hoping to lose some of the weight I gained. But the main symptoms of breast implant illness is weight gain and inflammation.
But it, like, essentially disappeared from my face. I had my friend the other night say to me, I don't think I've ever seen your jawline like this. And I was like, thank you. I'm not. I know, I can tell. Even my mom was like, whoa, your face looks different. That was the day after surgery, so that was nuts.
I've had really bad sinus issues. I'd say they're 30% improved at this point. And that was. That's two years. So that's just some of them, upper back pain. I don't have the shooting pains in my breast that I had anymore. So they were apparently attached to my chest wall and my ribs. So that's what was causing the pain.
No ruptures. I didn't have any of that. So you don't have to have a rupture or anything to have issues with them, but it's a very slow recovery process. I'm only five weeks out. It could take a full year for your body to detox the silicone.
Scott:
I love that, that you know, you're so open and willing to share. Again. I think there are so many things. It's funny because I think about the most minor things that I'm like, I'm not good shots can be a bad block, and it's like people are out there sharing, like the hardness of the heart in their life and personal trauma and pain and like, you know, there's lots of, like, spousal loss and other things and, and, or child loss and things where I just couldn't imagine exposing myself on that level.
But as you said, if you don't do that, if there aren't people willing to do that and share that experience, you know, it's not going to give comfort or guidance to other folks navigating that situation. I think that one of the good sides of social is there is almost anything for you. There's someone out there that's shared an experience or a community that exists or someone to find, you know, someone to talk to.
And I think that's the positive promise of social that, you know, sometimes isn't, isn't delivered, but, you know, more often should be. So it's amazing.
Carla:
It's got you nailed it with the word community. So there's a Facebook group called Breast Implant Illness. And when I first found out about breast implant illness, I joined this Facebook group that's 2016 probably I think it had like maybe 3000 people. It's almost 200,000. And when I tell people like, oh, I yeah. So in the Facebook group, I'm like, I swear it's not a tin hat, I'm not crazy.
And if it weren't for all of these women sharing their story, posting photos, I would have probably been freaking out, calling my doctor every day. But I was like, oh, I know what that is. Yep, this person had it. It goes away in a day or two and it did. So there was so much not that I'm getting medical.
I do not recommend getting any medical advice from Facebook or social media, but I had seen people go through it so I knew what to expect. And that community, like you said, is amazing. And I do see a lot in people who lose children, spouses a lot, all of that. I see all of that. And I'm like, wow, these people are so brave for sharing that.
But they're helping so many people. So I think if everyone could be a little bit more vulnerable on social media, it would even be even better.
Kwame:
Yeah, I agree with that. I mean, I'm working on that myself. And I see that there's a lot of moments where, you know, when you get online and you share something that somebody like a lot of the feedback and a lot of the response that I get it from our people who are like, may not even have like 1 or 2 posts, you know, like people who might not be open and ready and willing to share something like that.
But they're going through something like that and they like that validation for them. It's so important to know, like, I am not alone. And I think that that's one of the most impactful things about the internet and its access. And so what we have now is that people are constantly seeing other people going through the things that they're going through and that and like, knowing that like, hey, this it's okay that I'm going through this like, it's okay that I'm thinking about this.
Carla:
You're not crazy. Or you might be crazy, but other people are also crazy.
Scott:
It's funny, I talked to a lot of people who, you know, they're like, I don't know what my calling is. I don't know what I meant to do or like. I think about ways I want to give back and I can't figure it out. And it's so funny because, like, I think the biggest guidance in it and I would I'm, I'm guessing that you found this is like, I think the beginning of it starts with figuring out what you really care about and who you are and what you want to stand for.
But there are some moments that you never expected in life would happen. You didn't expect you'd be a champion for, you know, breast implant illness or, or excellence or any of this. But when you find it, you know, and, and you get super passionate about it and you don't have to force it, it's not something, you know, you wake up in the morning, you're like, I'm going to go out and I'm going to make a post and or check the boards.
I'm going to help someone that I'd be curious about, like, did you see that coming? Have you always wanted to get out and build community?
Carla:
No, it's you. Basically what you said is like, oh, it just happens and then you do it. That's essentially what it's been even going back to the complete opposite. But the same thing. Cats. So I never had cats growing up. I never liked cats. I now have four and I started collecting them in 2017, but I started working with a local animal rescue out here.
Motley Zoo. They're amazing. They are the absolute best in the things that they do as an organization. But we were on the radio and they would bring us animals to talk about on the air, and they fully they're not a shelter. They function only by fostering cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, and whatever they rescue. And I said I'll foster two kittens.
It's fine. I'll figure it out. It can't be that hard. I ended up keeping those two kittens, and they're my seven-year-old babies. But I work with Motley Zoo a lot on different foster initiatives, helping them when they get animals in going there. Okay. We got to clean these puppies. They just came off of an airplane from Texas.
They were saved from a no-kill shelter, and things like that. I mean, I would have never in my life I've fostered, I think, ten kittens at this point, and I only kept four. So I'm still doing better. But they're just that. And just advocating for that and teaching people is crazy. It is. I've had people reach out to me and say, I always hated cats.
I didn't know how cool they were til you had them. And now I'm fostering and I'm like, what? That's crazy. To me, that's almost crazier than the breast implant illness thing to me. So yes, it's like with anything I don't purposely say, oh, I'm going to do this and, and make a stand on it. Now this is how I feel.
And at this moment I'm going to talk about it and just see where it goes.
Kwame:
Yeah. So I mean, with all the directions that you're going in, it seems like you've kind of got your formula down. I saw that, you know, with the talk show that y'all have, you now have, you know, Twitch streaming is on. I'd love to start getting a little bit deeper into the creator and influencing side of things that you do.
So I'd love to know a bit more about, you know, the Twitch experience. I, I, I want to eventually start Twitch Twitch streaming, you know, and so I'd love to know kind of you guys, when we came into your show, you I think we came a couple of weeks ago to, you know, Marshall and I did just a chat but also talk a bit about, chambers of change.
But you know what? I guess I would encourage the twitch side of things, and how's that going? And tell us a bit about the formula of starting that.
Carla:
Great question. We actually started Twitch while we were still on the radio, so there was a time when they took us from mornings and put us on at night and one of the lovely changed things that they did here in Seattle, and we were so used to people driving on their morning commute and calling into our show.
And then at night that doesn't happen. And it was just very much like crickets. Anthony and I sitting in the studio like, this is boring without other people calling, like, what are we going to do? So his idea was like, well, we should get on this thing called Twitch. Like Amazon just bought them or their local.
Okay. That's fine. So we figured out a way to rig up the studio where our mics would feed into Twitch, but the music wouldn't because that's not allowed. So we did all of that, and we would then be able to get people to call in who were randomly watching us on Twitch. Fast forward to COVID hits, and so many more people, and then we're back on mornings.
But so many people were at home physically, could watch our show, and they weren't listening to the radio anymore because they weren't in their car. So now we have more listeners, probably on Twitch at this point than on the radio, and they would interact with us. And it was that instant interaction where they would just type something in the chat, like the AOL chat room style, and we would respond or shout them out on the air or respond to them on the chat or during a commercial break.
We would have conversations with them so that when we got like, go two days later, we're like, well, we'll just do it on Twitch. And that's essentially where that was the base of how it all happened. And we stayed on Twitch because it became such a community for us. The thing about Twitch is it's hard to use as a user.
It's confusing. It's built for gamers who understand how things are gamified and the donating bits and doing this. It's not built for the 50-something-year-old mom who's new to listening to your radio show, or taking your kids to school. But we trained our listeners how to use Twitch, and that's where they stayed. And we still stream on YouTube now, we simulcast both of them, but most of our audience is still on Twitch, and it's been our saving grace.
Scott:
Why is everyone buying subs?
Carla:
You saw that. If anyone's listening, they have no idea what's happening on Twitch. You can subscribe to a channel and it's always like, oh, thanks for subbing. Oh, this person gifted subs to other users. And when my family was watching this whole time, they were thinking that people were buying people sandwiches.
They like tw or three years to say this to me. And I was like, this whole time you thought I was getting hundreds of sandwiches a day. What are you talking about? So we've joked for a while now that, like, we need to team up with Jersey Mix or something and do some sort of, like, donation to feed people?
Scott:
So subs for subs or sometimes for subs.
Carla:
It's something.
Scott:
It's so funny because you know what you highlighted, it almost seems like there's a hybrid format that radio, if they were a little bit more forward-thinking, could have adopted, which is a user-friendly kind of video, audio, interactive experience where they could really bring the users back in. Because a lot of I mean, I don't listen to the radio at all.
And I, a lot of people don't commute. I was listening to whatever War of the Roses and C100 and all that stuff back in the day. I don't listen because I don't drive that often or my commute is a lot less. And so it's just, you know, maybe there is that hybrid format they could have adopted. Yeah. to compete with those guys.
Carla:
But there are shows that are doing it. But as a whole, the radio industry is just they're very much like, get off my lawn and they'll say they're adapting. But it's up to the individual show. I mean, I have friends who are completely funding their own video stuff because the company doesn't believe in it. So it's so it's frustrating because it's like, oh my God.
But radio is so important. We are just like just letting it go essentially is what's happening. And I don't blame the listener for not listening. No one wants to hear a ten to 15-minute commercial break when you can just go to Spotify and not hear a single commercial. I get it. So I don't know what they're doing.
It's a very sensitive subject for me. We can do a whole nother podcast about it.
Kwame:
And so, I mean, I guess, like now that things are on the move, you know, you've gotten probably a few opportunities, a couple of collaborations as you started your creative journey. Have you had any partnerships and collaborations that have really stuck out to you?
Carla:
I think it's probably the one that I have. It's been reoccurring for almost two years now, actually. The Little Robot, it's an incredible company. They're so fun with their social. And I will say that that is the hardest part. Sometimes when you team up with these companies and they send you a 10 to 15-page, do and don't use those colors to wear whatever where whisker that's their parent company.
They're very much like, no, I mean just yeah, just talk about it. And it's not like making sure the product is in the frame. It's and it's hard for me sometimes to just be creative and have fun with it because I am so used to that product in the, you know, this third of the video, it has to be this many times, say it this many times, where a little robot is like, not just have fun, just show the cats and talk about it a little bit.
I've been for two years now making videos for them that they use as their ads, and they boost their ads on Facebook and it's everywhere. I just filmed one for them this weekend, and this was the first time where it was very much like, just have fun. It doesn't have to be so serious with it. But man, they are.
They let you just be a cat mom. Essentially. They know that you know the product, just talk about it. but yeah, they're probably the best ones. Most fun.
Scott:
That's awesome. And I think for, you know, for folks listening who might not know all the ins and outs, you know, it's such a powerful tool to have influencer-generated content that can be repurposed for ads. And there's so much more genuine. And you think about, you know, you have a natural organic reach with, with your follower base.
But if they put dollars behind it, they target specific audiences, they push it across different channels and even, you know, we're taking things off and going connected TV ads or traditional displays or all kinds of different places. You know, you could see that same influencer piece of content that was originally created for Instagram in a whole variety of places, and it just hits a lot better because it is the one that's funny or genuine or highlights the product in a unique way.
Carla:
I agree. And I also started to see I feel like TV is scrambling a little bit when it comes to this because they don't, they're trying to do it. I've seen some commercials where they're trying to make it look like it is an influencer ad, but it's still just actors. And listen, I want these people to have jobs, voiceover actors, just TV actors, obviously, but they're trying to make it look like it's a social media campaign on TV.
Very similar to where radio is. It's like they don't know what to do here because it's just this archaic industry, even though it's not. But they're so stuck in their ways because it was just so easy for them for so long. And now they're like, oh crap, we got to do what they're doing on social media instead of just making their products better.
Kwame:
Yeah. And you know, since you started and had the transition from radio to, you know, to media and eventually now to kind of all those things and influencers, what was the first brand that approached you to do a partnership?
Carla:
So I was doing campaigns while on the radio as well as on social media. Oh, not as much, but I was definitely doing them. I had some, Allstate had me run A5K. That was the first and only time I ran A5K, but I did love it. That was something I did that wasn't part of, a radio endorsement.
But the first company to approach us after being let go was Seattle Gummy Company. And you can get them anywhere. They're not CBD. Everyone thinks immediately. I'm talking about weed gummies because I say Seattle. I'm allergic to coffee beans, and I could not find any substitutes for coffee. And I found their company and I love them, and I randomly tagged them in something, or Anthony randomly tagged them in something.
And it was a week after we got let go and they reached out to us. And truly, for four years now, we've been partners. They were the first partners of our show. And it's very organic how we do everything with them. It's not your traditional paid post, it's how they support the show and us in general and how we support them.
It's this really cool relationship that we don't have with any other brand. They don't have any other influencers. So shout out to them because they believed in us from day one. But I think my first social campaign was probably like fab fit fun in 2020 15 or 16, probably way back then, but there's been a lot.
Scott:
As you watched it evolve. You know, coming from the earlier days and, you know, seeing radio promos and all this, and it's evolved. What do you do, how do you feel like it's gotten better, and what ways may be worse over time? And if you're launching a new brand, you know, maybe what advice would you give, from the experience you've had with these different brands?
Carla:
I think it's gotten better in that the bar is held higher for content when it comes to these campaigns because a brand considers you just to have fun with it. But they expect the audio to be great. They expect the editing to be awesome, and I think that the good part of it is we're not just getting, you know, this random Instagram photo.
Because when I first started doing this, you could literally only post a photo to Instagram. There was no carousel. There were no stories. There were no videos. You literally could not even post a video, not even a reel. So that's what's been really cool to see. So I think the good thing is that people are expected to put out quality content in that aspect.
I'm not talking about you having to have a full TV production. It has to be storyboarded, all of that. But it's just that people expect great quality. If you're working with a brand and it is a paid campaign, the bad side of it is that. At this point, I do think it is actually hard to get campaigns because there are so many people, there are so many incredible micro influencers out there now that are being paid way less than they should because they do have less followers.
But brands are taking their user-generated content and putting it. It doesn't matter to the brand, it's still an ad that they can then boost and it's still great quality content. So that is amazing for others for these newer influencers, but it is just harder to get brands. I think at this point, I would say that's not necessarily a bad thing because it is awesome that more people are having this opportunity, but it's just harder.
Scott:
To get more. We just need to get more brands out there doing influencer marketing and, and engaging. It's funny, I talk a lot about, you know, trying to explain what we do to, like, family, friends and, and, you know, people who aren't as into as social. And it's funny, I think my number one example is thinking about how much it costs to put out a Super Bowl ad between the production and then paying for the 32nd slot.
And then from a targeting perspective, you're getting 100 million worldwide people of every age and demographic. And every tax bracket. There's zero targeting other than us and pays attention to pop culture, probably.
Carla:
Right.
Scott:
Whereas, you know, with influencers and this part of what you mentioned, I think, you know, the targeting, the ability to hit the Seattle market, for instance. Right. You know, with Seattle gummies while they can sell everywhere, there is an affinity for Seattle. And so targeting that locale with you, who also has the strong floor in Seattle, is a much more effective way and it's more genuine.
There's a Seattle connection, you're more relatable. You're a user who loves the product and doesn't have to be prompted. So it's interesting. But, yeah, I think the kind of old-school tradition you pay a million bucks to produce. Now, I'd pay 15 million to have it aired for 30 days. It just doesn't make sense for most people.
Carla:
Doesn't. And it took something like social media to shake up the radio-TV industry. I mean, they had such a chokehold on these brands. And what's crazy, and I'm assuming it's the same for TV, is we started seeing this thing on the radio where these clients would come in and say, okay, well, how do we know who heard the ad?
And our salespeople would be like, well, you don't just expect us to zoom out and they're like, what do you mean? Because they started seeing these super-targeted ads, you can see every person who clicks on the ad through social media. But on radio, it's like, well, we just use Nielsen ratings and we'll get them back in three months and we'll be able to tell you that maybe this amount of people listened and it's like, make it better.
Like there. And I think that is what we're finally seeing is radio, TV and even Nielsen being like, oh, crap. We just kind of just been skating along all these years, and now it's time to make a better product.
Scott:
100%.
Kwame:
Yeah, yeah, we just get more and more digital, and like everyone in order for anyone to survive in the organizations to, to survive and to branch to thrive, they have to find a way to connect to people closer with what's going on in their hand, you know? And so, you know, a couple of things that we love to touch on before we close out.
Okay. so I'm going to start here with, if you could find and pick any brand at all on Earth right now, you can name 1 or 2, maybe three, if you want that. If they knocked on your door right now, you would jump for joy and stick to the roof like one of your cats that you would want to work with. Who would they be?
Carla: hi, Rivian. Please, please come to my door with a bow around any of your vehicles. I so, so badly want to work with an electric car company, but I think Rivian just looks so freaking cool. So, that would be, like, number one. So if you're listening, I'll give you my address. You just come on by but I think that would be so cool. And I haven't really seen any social campaigns with influencers when it comes to them.
I've obviously seen Tesla a bunch. I've seen a bunch of YouTube creators with Teslas doing videos, but I really personally haven't seen much for them. So I think I could be a huge help there. and other brands. I think a dream would probably be something, like Nike or Adidas. And these are the big ones.
So be able to be like, oh my God, Nike put me in a campaign or I got to do something with Nike. I think that would be an absolute dream.
Scott:
That's awesome. We'll have to figure out Rivian. I think we're running the new Bronco campaign. So wait.
Carla:
Am I saying it wrong? Is it Rivian or Rivian?
Scott:
I don't know, I could be saying it wrong too.
Carla:
Right.
Scott:
The problem with ambiguous spelling is that no one knows the right way to pronounce it.
Carla:
Or maybe I have an idea. The campaign is about how to say the name.
Scott:
Okay, we're just going to this is going to be the pitch. We'll just set it straight over to them.
Kwame:
Yeah. Brilliant. Yeah. What are you gonna chop this, these two minutes, and send it over?
Scott:
Okay. Thank you. It's so funny. We always ask questions about favorite experiences, and I think legitimately, 3 or 4 have all been SUVs and the desert, followed by flying in a helicopter so we can, we can get the name and pronunciation. We can drive, whatever you want to call Rivian, you know, vehicles out in the desert and then fly back in a helicopter.
Okay.
Kwame:
Yes, I made it. This is what this show's all about. About getting a car. We're getting a Rivian in the desert.
Carla:
Think it is now that you're saying. I think it is Rivian. Not really. I don't know, I just made it. I made it sound way too fancy when I said Rivian.
Scott:
We'll touch it down. We'll get the correct pronunciation. So I'm curious with everything you have going on, irons in the fire everywhere. What's on top for the rest of the year? What are the big ambitions? If you know, if you could say a year from now? This is kind of the big goal that we're aiming after.
Carla:
Oh, okay. So we did separate everything media-wise. We have an apparel company where we have shirts, hoodies, t-shirts, hats, everything. And they all say you look great. You look great. Was a phrase we started using on the radio. When callers would call into the show, we would hang up instead of saying buy.
They would be like, you look great. And everyone in the studio would yell back, you look great. And we kind of just ran with that. And since going out on our own, we had an apparel line. We would donate to different charities. So there was a lot there. And it's kind of gone by the wayside because we're just focusing on the constant content that we're putting out.
And my goal for this next year is to really relaunch that better quality. just different, just make it different and better. So that is my personal goal for next year. and as a show content-wise, we just want to grow more. A perfect thing would be to have someone else working with us to then grow the show even more because it is so hard, like I said, to get that content out daily.
We're doing nine shows a week right now between the podcast, and our live show. It's just a lot. And it's so hard to promote that when you're doing nine shows. So to have someone else, working for us would be ideal. We just need to make more money to hire that person so those are my two goals over this next year.
Scott:
Nine, nine shows a week. That's incredible.
Carla:
Five of them are pre-recorded, but they're prerecorded the day before. Not like months in advance. So that's the more like Morning Show podcast. But each episode is under 25 minutes. But it's heavily researched. And because it's you know, it's news, it's headlines. We're saying what's happening in the world. It's not just randomly talking and having fun. So there's a lot of prep.
And then we do the three live morning shows a week on Twitch and YouTube. And then now with me doing the Breast Plant podcast. So it's nine in total a week, which is absolutely insane that we create and produce them all on our own.
Kwame:
Yeah, well, your mother was right. You do love to talk.
Carla:
Bills, but I don't shut up.
Kwame:
So I love that for you. It has gotten you to all the right places. Well, I mean, I'll start off by saying. Carla Marie, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today. Obviously it’s been incredibly insightful, learning a lot about your past, and excited for all the things that are about to happen in your future as well. Hopefully a Rivian partnership somewhere in there.
Carla:
Yes. If I could say. Right.
Kwame:
Yeah, right. We've got a lot of things to look forward to, but with everything coming together. Thank you so much for being with us today. I'll pass it off to Scott and you can give us some last words.
Scott:
Yeah. No, I was just going to say, you know, obviously been in the game a long time, and I just think it's such an awesome story to follow your passion and kind of as the journey winds, you know, jump on those opportunities, take risks, believe in yourself. And then along the way, you know, again, that calling might not, might not be apparent today, but as it comes, you know, I'll lean in and when you find your calling, your passion will lean again.
And so I love what you're doing for other women, entertaining, keeping people happy. And, Yeah, it's great. Great to connect with you now.
Carla:
You guys were awesome. Thank you for letting me be on your platform and sharing my story, because, I mean, it's awesome to get to do this. And I appreciate you both very, very much. And thank you for letting me ramble.
Kwame:
Any time. Come on back. Available at any point in time. With that being said, thank you everybody today for joining us for Beyond Influence. That is the end of our episode. We are very, very excited to see you next week. So until then, bye-bye.