Bridget Deutz is the Founder and Chief Marketing Strategist of Greenline Marketing, a company that specializes in inbound marketing and creative content writing. With nearly a decade of experience in both in-house and agency settings, Bridget is a seasoned marketing expert. She is also a board member of the American Advertising Federation, panelist, music teacher, and a speaker on inbound marketing at various conferences.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- How and why Bridget founded Greenline Marketing, a fully remote inbound marketing agency
- How to implement video marketing as a remote agency
- The ways content marketing has evolved and best practices to implement into your content strategy
- Ways introverts and extroverts alike can thrive in a remote work environment
- How to stay focused during the workday, adhere to calendar boundaries, and avoid Zoom fatigue
- Advice for aspiring marketers and entrepreneurs who want to grow their skills and businesses
In this episode…
Many companies struggle with creating engaging and effective content for their target audience. They also miss out on the opportunity to leverage video marketing to stand out from the competition.
Bridget Deutz, marketing strategist, inbound marketing expert, speaker, and experienced content creator, she shares her insights on the best tools and practices for creating engaging content — even with a small budget and a remote team. She founded her agency after nearly 10 years of experience in the industry, working from home as she helps businesses promote their products and services. Now, she's sharing how to thrive as a remote marketer.
In this episode of Remotely Cultured, Jeanna chats with Bridget about the power of inbound marketing and how she manages a remote marketing agency while balancing her personal life. Bridget shares insights into creating video content that resonates with your audience and reveals tips on how she blocks out her calendar, avoids Zoom fatigue, implements no-meeting days, and stays productive in a remote work setting.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Transcript:
Jeanna: This episode is brought to you by First Page Strategy. At FPS, we use data and big ideas to produce exponential growth for product-led brands who need to nail their acquisition goals, and want to work with a flexible, non-traditional agency. For example, in one year we've grown a client's total revenue 197%, their organic revenue by 300%, and their paid marketing revenue and leads by over 1,000%. If you're a SaaS, fintech, or startup in need to hit your 2023 high-growth acquisition goals, check us out at firstpagestrategy.com. Okay! Hey everyone, welcome to remotely cultured I'm your host Jeanna, calling in from Roatán, Honduras where I run FPS and host this podcast. Today we have with us Bridget Deutz, welcome Bridget! Where are you calling in from today?
Bridget: Thank you. I am calling in from Sartell, Minnesota. So smack dab in the middle of Minnesota.
Jeanna: Awesome. And is it warm in Minnesota right now? Or is it cold in Minnesota right now?
Bridget: Yes, it's warm. So we're approaching July so like humidity is setting in, we're getting into the low 90s. There's mosquitoes all the time. So really, Minnesota is like prime weather unless you really love 10 degrees below then this is not your prime weather but it's very nice right now.
Jeanna: Nice. So Minnesota summer.
Bridget: Yes.
Jeanna: All right, so everyone listening, Bridget Deutz is the founder and chief marketing strategist at Greenline Marketing. She has 10-plus years of experience in marketing communications, in both in-house and agency settings. She enjoys working with businesses of all sizes as well as contracting with great agencies. Bridget specializes in marketing strategy, inbound marketing, HubSpot execution, content creation, user experience and digital marketing best practices. So a lot you've got going on, Bridgette! Can you tell us a little bit about Greenline Marketing and some of the projects and clients that you work with?
Bridget: Yeah, so I started Greenline Marketing, gosh, it's approaching five years ago now, which is wild, time flies! But I started really out of a desire to kind of do my own thing. And when you said, "Wow, that's a lot going on", I had been with an agency as their Head of Inbound for five years and loved it. But the way the agency was just growing and evolving, they were kind of getting clear on like, what seats everybody sits in, but I loved working in the business. I loved working on the business, I loved onboarding new hires, you know, going to sales meetings with clients putting together the strategy. And so it just was the right time for me to say how can I do all the things I love and do them, when and where and how and with the clients that I want to. So that's kind of how it got its start. There's three of us now on the team. And yeah, I would say we have kind of three buckets of business. The first is that we work with other businesses who need either, like, added people to their marketing department or kind of outsourcing their marketing department. The second would be working with other agencies. Typically, it's those who use HubSpot or some sort of marketing automation software, we've kind of become like, we always call like a back office or like an extension of agency teams if they need either large project help or specific expertise that we happen to have. And then the third part of our business is leave coverage. So we do maternity, paternity, short-term health, leave coverage for businesses or agencies who need kind of someone to step in and assume a role while someone else takes some time off.
Jeanna: I love that. I hear this a lot from people that work for First Page — we have a lot of partners and contractors, and actually, Bridget has been one of our great partners and does really great work for us in the past as well — but a lot of people, you know, they leave their full-time jobs to go out on their own to do what they want. And that's I think a lot of remote workers like this remote work world has allowed people to kind of build their own businesses and be like a free agent working in the way that they want and for who they want. So that's kind of how you did it too. So that's cool to hear.
Bridget: Yeah, and it's nice because we have now, I feel like I have a really great network of other people who are really good at their craft and who I can pull in, you know, when I come up with a project that's like, "Okay, I'm not the best at this, but now I know someone who is and I know that they're working in their sweet spot and doing things the way they need to be done."
Jeanna: Yeah, and that's exactly how I grew First Page as like this collective of people that were really talented, didn't want to work for any one brand or be in an office or work, you know, for a company and wanted to be on their own, but are experts in their areas. So I did the same thing like pulling in an email marketer pulling in a paid marketer pulling in an SEO marketer. So, yeah, it's a great model. And what kind of, can you tell us about like a case study from a client that you've worked with recently, or an interesting result in marketing that you've tackled in the past year?
Bridget: Yeah. So we actually have a client locally, it's called St. Cloud Shines. And it's one of those clients where we really sort of are the marketing department, you know, we report to and work with a really great board. And they have a group of investors who are also involved. But I think, for us, it was new because it's digital. It's all their, you know, email, marketing, their blogs, that sort of thing. But it's also a lot of community events. We're currently working on installing a mural downtown.
Jeanna: Oh, wow!
Bridget: Yeah, it's very, yeah, it's been a lot of new territory, but really exciting to see it grow and kind of take off. It started in 2019 but sat a little bit stagnant after COVID, just because it was hard to get out and hear people's stories, but sort of takes after "Humans of New York", if you're familiar with that?
Jeanna: Oh yeah, they're the best.
Bridget: Yeah, just try to tell more about like positive stories and people and things to do in that community. Because I think we all can relate to like, it's easy to complain and see what things aren't working or that we don't like in our community. But instead it kind of took that and flipped it on its head. So it's been great now! This is our third year working on their strategy, and we've officially hit over 100 million impressions digitally. So that's been really exciting to see what's working and what's not.
Jeanna: I love that. I think, oh man, just listening to you say that, I feel like every community, especially across America now where everybody's so divided these days, could really use some more community building like, we're in this together versus we're divided. So that's really cool.
Bridget: Yeah, especially in our area, you know, when winters are long, and the days are cold, and it's like, oh, there's nothing to do here. And kind of taking that and saying, actually, here's all the things to do and the places to visit and, you know, businesses to patronize that we can support locally, that sort of thing.
Jeanna: That's great. Cool. And what do you think, is, in all of the marketing channels and tactics kind of happening right now, 2023 going into 2024, what do you think is the most important or the most exciting, that you're seeing results in and that brands should be focusing on?
Bridget: Yeah, I would say like, high level, I would probably just say content. But like, more specifically, we're seeing a lot of exciting traction with a lot of the video content that we're doing, both short form and long form. I just, I think the more time we all spend on our devices and add a screen, the more we want, like that ease of accessibility to watch or even like read a video while we watch it versus scrolling and scrolling. So we've been doing a lot of video stuff, which is great. We have really great video partners. And it's always worth kind of the work you put in to make that happen. So I would say video first and foremost, but other content that we've seen just really great success with — and I know First Page is familiar with — is content clusters, and just really starting to hone in on what you should be talking about, based on you know, what your audience is looking for online.
Jeanna: Yeah. Cool a lot to unpack there. I have so much to say about what you just said. I'd be interested, like, before we talk about specifically about video marketing and about content clusters, you know, saying that everybody should be focusing on content is, well... Content has been around for a while, right? Like brands know that that's kind of been talked about for the last decade. But it's changing so much! Like, I've seen it really change from the beginning of my career to now. And so I'm interested, like, how do you think people should be, or brands should be, tackling content now, versus what we might have been doing, you know, five to 10 years ago with content marketing?
Bridget: Yeah. When I think about like, when I first started blogging or even helping businesses with content, it was a lot of getting blogs like, "Okay, how many can we do and how many topics can we cover?" And I think it was a lot of competing with other high-level "how" and "what". And now, I think there is just such a mass of information on the internet, and we can probably relate to this, too — you want to find an article or a piece of content and get all the information you need. So it's almost a balance of like, oh, it's not quantity over quality. Sorry, it's quantity over quality — no!
Jeanna: Quality!
Bridget: Quality over quantity. You know, it's not like, oh, we're publishing 15 blogs a month. But if you're publishing three long-form, everything that you need to know, really actually insightful, you know, has great links to related information. I think that's where it's like, take time to save time, because pumping out just massive amounts of blogs each month isn't necessarily where it's at, or really going to get you any further in the optimization game either.
Jeanna: Yeah, for sure. That's exactly what I would say has changed as well. Like, there used to be this kind of ecosystem of creating as much content as you could by preparing 700 words. But yeah, I don't know, I wouldn't read that anymore these days. And I definitely look for like the one guide or resource that's in-depth and like, walks through case studies, has data, has multimedia, that kind of thing.
Bridget: Or if I can, like skim and see their headings are the questions that I have, and they have the answers, you know, like, that is what I'm looking for.
Jeanna: Yeah, I do the same thing. Cool. And with video content, you know, we're also trying to kind of dig in and do more video content. It's been difficult, like I said, kind of the evolution of content marketing is the price of video. You know, formerly, you had to have like a studio and all this equipment. And so I'm curious, how are you guys, because you're set up just like FPS, where you are remote and you have people in different locations and you work from home or other locations, so how do you guys tackle video marketing as a remote company with remote partners? And remote talent?
Bridget: Yep. A lot of the videos that we ended up doing, like start to finish, where we put together the strategy and then like, shoot or lead kind of the creative side, and then share, are probably more of our local clients where we can get to them, you know, in less than three hours, and have partners accordingly. The other areas where we're more involved in video, I would say, is it's putting like the strategic guidance together, and then seeing, like, who's the right partner, who's the right person for the video. But yeah, we're not always on site, I guess, when it comes to video, if it's not local.
Jeanna: Have you done any recording of like, Reels or TikTok, or any of that? Because we know everybody kind of is interested in that format these days where a resource of yours is like recording remotely and creating those types of videos for clients. Or do you do only like kind of local in-house, branded videos?
Bridget: Yeah, we do have a client who does some Reels, and those we create from photos or like short video clips that they've sent us. So it's almost a collage of different assets that we can then put together into a Reel. It's kind of one way we're trying to kind of test the waters because they also don't really have a full budget for video, but they're like, well we can take videos from our phone and send you photos and kind of trying to get creative with it.
Jeanna: Yeah. I love that though. Because like, the industry has changed. Like, you know, back to 10, 20 years ago, when I started out in marketing, content marketing was my focus in my own career. And video was just not, like, achievable for any brand I work for because it was $10,000-$20,000 per video. And so this world now where like anybody can shoot a video, I mean, it's not great for the video agencies anymore, but being able to kind of create lightweight, less branded, less heavy videos, people want to watch those organic videos of just someone in their house talking on camera, it like really lowers the creation bar, right? And so that allows a lot of brands that weren't able to have content and video before kind of access that channel. So it's been fun to see the evolution.
Bridget: Yeah, it's a different accessibility, I think for businesses of different sizes and budgets. And the other thing I think is, you know, especially as audiences and customer bases gets younger and younger, they, you know, that idea of ephemeral content or like, oh, it's only on their story for 24 hours, or it's gonna get buried and other TikTok videos. It can be short and quick and a little scrappier.
Jeanna: Right, yeah. It's not gonna live on the internet forever and ever and ever and haunt you —
Bridget: Yeah, exactly.
Jeanna: — years from now. Cool. Okay, let's talk a little bit about remote work. How long have you been working remote?
Bridget: Yes. So I have been working full-time remote since March of 2019.
Jeanna: Okay.
Bridget: Well, prior to that I had like one, maybe two days a week at the agency but it was very new at that time and kind of testing the waters but I knew that I really liked it.
Jeanna: Yeah, okay. So for years, you've been remote, and you identify or consider yourself an extrovert, yeah?
Bridget: Yes, I always say like, between introvert and extrovert I would pick extrovert. But I, after reading, found out that I am probably an ambivert, which is like someone who's naturally extroverted but also needs time alone to like, refill their tank.
Jeanna: That's me also, I think, I haven't heard ambivert, that might have come out recently. But I've heard like, the "introverted extrovert", I've always considered myself as well. How has being an extrovert in remote work worked for you? Can you talk a little bit about that?
Bridget: I always tell people I'm really grateful that I chose to work remote on my own terms and timeline before everyone was sort of forced to a year later during COVID. Because I think when I transitioned into it, it was very clear to me like, okay, what boards can I join? Or what can I volunteer? So, you know, I started playing volleyball with a group of girls, and that was one way to like get out and be in a social setting. And I did more like community theater. And I teach piano and voice lessons once a week. So it was like, some strategy of how I could fill my calendar with things that did get me out or get me other interaction. And over time, it's just become a really nice balance too like I said. We have a really nice network of other contractors or people who own their own business and do their own thing that we partner with other creatives a lot that I end up, you know, a few times a month meeting with like-minded people.
Jeanna: Cool, yeah.
Bridget: So yeah, it's a nice balance for me.
Jeanna: I love that! I actually think that's really good advice. I hear this a lot, through all the conversations I have about remote work, and some of the arguments against remote work, that people want to, you know, they're gonna feel lonely, they're not going to have the office culture, not going to, you know, have the happy hours or the friends or whatever. And I think that it is important for people that seek that kind of lifestyle that aren't maybe comfortable staying at home all the time and more extroverted, that you do focus on filling your out of work time with your community and friends that you have already. So like I read once this quote that like we have to disconnect the workplace from being our cultural/social life because it doesn't need to be. And so I have always also during my remote work journey, which has been since 2016, always had things in the evenings also, like either workout classes or happy hours or dinners with friends or whatever it is to get myself out of the house. And I struggled moving to Roatán two years ago and starting over in a community because I didn't have those people or things built. And I found myself for the first time working remote without people to go talk to or things to do after work. And wow, I really felt that like, I was like, man, I don't know that I like sitting at home day in and day out and like, doing nothing and not talking to anybody. It was really challenging for me. And at that time, I signed up for a co-working space to just try it —
Bridget: Oh, sure.
Jeanna: — which I had never done before, just to try to like, be around a little bit more people. But I think that the beauty of remote work is that you're not forced to do any one thing, right? Like if it works for you to stay at home and be introverted and you have social anxiety, then you can follow that path. If it works for you to have a co-working space and be in an office two days a week, but then not whatever days you don't want to be, then you can take that path. You know, there's like so many different types of people in the world that it just allows people to kind of follow what works for them the best.
Bridget: Yeah, and I think for me, too, sometimes I'm like, I just need a change of scenery. Like I have a few other friends who are full-time remote. And I'm like, "Hey, I'm going to work at the coffee shop today if anyone else wants to join!" Because then it's almost, we can work remote and still be together if we're all kind of feeling that slump.
Jeanna: Yeah, exactly. I love that. I tried to do that on my no-call days as well. Just changing up the scenery, for sure. And how has remote work transformed your life? I know you kind of talked about this remote work "good life", and what does that mean to you?
Bridget: Yeah, I have a really big family. So I'm one of six kids. My five siblings are all married with kids, and they actually all live in my hometown in southwest Minnesota. That's where my parents live. It's a really big farming community. And I live, you know, a couple hours away in central Minnesota, and being able to grab my laptop and say I'm gonna go home and work there for the week or for three days, I don't constantly feel the pull of like, missing recitals or birthday parties or random, you know, family days at the cabin. And that's really like, my family is, you know, my North Star. And that's what really re-energizes me. It's my total relaxation. So that was actually a big push for me as well. I knew I wanted to stay in this area, but be able to be, you know, more intertwined with my family as I felt the need. So that was a big part. So I just, I think I feel better because I don't always feel like I'm saying no, you know, even when friends are going through hard times, or you know, need support, knowing that I can say, hey, I can work from anywhere, and if you need me to come to you, or if you need someone to be with your kids nights and weekends, while you handle, you know, what's going on in your life, I just, I feel like I can be the helper and the person that I am and that I want it to be for other people, and being able to offer that kind of feels like my truest self without feeling like I have to rearrange my whole life and my whole schedule.
Jeanna: Yeah, that's beautiful. I love that so much. It kind of goes back to the point we just made where, you know, you don't need to rely on being in an office for your community, because everybody has their own family and their friends is their community and being able to have more time to spend with the people that you've chosen, instead of in an office with the people you haven't chosen, really is the beautiful part of life. Right?
Bridget: Yeah, yeah. It's just brought, you know, balance for me in so many ways, like I said, about the people that I can be there for and be with, but also, like, just feeling like I don't dread things like laundry, or like walking my dog. Those things are just pockets of my day that I can step away from my screen without feeling guilty or without feeling like I'm going to have to explain it later why I was unavailable for those 30 minutes.
Jeanna: Yeah, totally. And you've done a fair bit of traveling right? Like I see you from Instagram and kind of just knowing you personally that you're bopping around all over the place. And so whereas what are some of the places that you've worked remote from?
Bridget: Yeah, well aside from Roatán, because I went to work with you and loved it there —
Jeanna: Yeah, that was great.
Bridget: — it's been Florida, California, Washington, D.C. and New York. The Black Hills. So all over the place. Yeah, New Mexico, Texas. And I'm always like, okay, what's next? Where am I going next? And that's again, the nice part is, you know, have laptop will work and will also travel.
Jeanna: Yeah, love that. And what's one of your favorite places you've visited in the last couple years since you've been remote besides Roatán? Let's take that off the list.
Bridget: Yeah, tropical islands, trump all else really. But honestly, yeah, I thought Washington, D.C. was very underrated. I mean, it was beautiful. It was clean. Everyone was so friendly. I had never been and so I, you know, hopped on a little electric scooter and saw so much of the sights and the monuments. So I did really like it there. And I also loved Albuquerque. I had a cousin who was living there for a period of time and it was just it was beautiful. They have mountains but really nice mild weather and the food was amazing. So yeah, I would say those are probably my top two over the last year.
Jeanna: That's so cool. New Mexico is just on the top of my list. It has such a — I love the pockets of the US that have such a like, really unique culture, right? For instance, New Orleans really leans into the jazz, the Creole, the bayou, and then New Mexico really leans into a lot of like beautiful Native American, Mexican culture.
Bridget: Yeah.
Jeanna: So it's definitely somewhere that I would love to go. And what about Minnesota? Can you just give people a little bit of insight into like, the daily life of what it's like to be in Minnesota because so many people haven't been there, haven't worked there?
Bridget: Yeah! I would say if you like to travel and see new places, I mean, add Minnesota to your list. I'm not saying it needs to be in your top two, but especially people who haven't experienced like, a winter or a lot of snow, there's a lot of really beautiful and remote cabins like if that's your, you know, cozy in and kind of lay low. But also we really do have beautiful springs and summers. There's, you know, obviously we're the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but there's so many fun things to do in the summer and the weather really can't be beat. I always say that's why Minnesotans live here, it's because we live for the summers.
Jeanna: And lakes right? You guys have lakes, cabins, that kind of thing?
Bridget: Yeah, I'm looking forward to you know, Fourth of July coming up and being out at the cabin for like a solid 10 days. So yeah, love it.
Jeanna: I've always been a big fan of cabins and lakes and all that. We had some of that in Seattle, Washington where I grew up as well. Okay, cool! All right, well, let's finish out talking a little bit about the culture of remote work, because we know that this is part of what the podcast is about. And I know that you have some remote work productivity hacks or tips to share with some of our listeners today. I know for me personally, like remote work completely leveled up once I established a routine and boundaries that I stuck to. I think that's like, the secret of making remote work for you, right? It's just kind of figuring out what you're going to remain true to during your work day. And it's often something I talk about with people, so I'd love to hear from you personally, like what your remote work routine is, and how you keep boundaries.
Bridget: Yeah, I'll start with the boundaries, because it's one I learned from you working with First Page is we have set no-meeting days. On Fridays, we do not schedule meetings. Partly because by Friday, you just kind of need your time and space to get everything rounded out for the week. And we also try really hard not to do any meetings on Mondays, because that's kind of our time to like level set, what's the biggest priority? And then, you know, both Emily, my colleague, and I have blocks of time on our calendar too, so I think calendar boundaries is probably one of the biggest things I've honed in on on the last couple years that when I started out, it sounded nice, but I didn't really know how to do it. And it turns out, you just have to do it and say like, we're not available on those days or at that time. Yeah.
Jeanna: Yeah, so that's a huge one. For anybody listening, like I, I talk about this so much, but like, there's a real problem with remote work. And I'm not all like, it's not all roses and sunshine, like Zoom fatigue is a real thing. Like, I am so exhausted to the point of like, not even being able to feed myself or like do anything after work when I have days that are six to eight Zooms a day, which I've really moved away from, but —
Bridget: Because you feel like you have to be on and you have to like, present yourself over and over again, every time a meeting starts.
Jeanna: And it's six different topics. So your brain is exhausted, it's like bouncing around, bouncing around and you don't get bathroom breaks or food breaks. And so that's like a real problem for remote workers. And it's something that has to be like, treated like, very carefully. And I think that companies need to really pay attention to their Zoom and meeting policy. And it's something we always look at over and over and over again. So like, do you guys do anything to make sure that you're keeping meetings lean? Or what kind of meetings you're taking outside of like, just the no Mondays? And the no Fridays?
Bridget: Yeah, so we have a touch base on Mondays internally and Thursdays, both of them are like, mid-morning, so we have time on our own before we have to say kind of what we need each other for. But other than that, that's when we look at like, what's on our meeting schedule this week. Is it necessary? Who really needs to be in it? And we always try to schedule them with buffers because I think having a day of multiple meetings is hard. But when you're going back to back and you're like, I'm sorry, I have to fill my water or like, I just need to go to the bathroom because it's been two hours.
Jeanna: Right, yeah, that's horrible!
Bridget: And making sure that we allow that buffer time —
Jeanna: Yeah, that's important.
Bridget: — because otherwise, you start a meeting as like, not your best self or like already annoyed that you're in another meeting.
Jeanna: Yeah, right. Yeah, I think gaps, like allowing, if you use Calendly 15 minutes before or after meetings or just like trying to block out your calendar yourself. I also started just like putting a frickin lunch in my calendar, you know, a 30-minute lunch so nobody could book it because I found myself trying to run downstairs and grab like, a protein bar or just whatever.
Bridget: Not what you want for lunch, probably.
Jeanna: Yeah, yeah. Very bad. Okay, and so do you have any productivity hacks for anybody that works remote, and what you've learned?
Bridget: Yeah, I think the other one productivity-wise would be managing notifications. Like, there's times where I need to close out of my email so that I don't get a banner notification or I need to snooze my Slack notifications. We also use Monday internally for project management and just knowing when and how long I need to snooze those notifications — my phone included. I didn't use the do not disturb or the work settings on my phone until, honestly, like the beginning of 2023, and once I started I was like, okay, I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. Because it's everything from, you know a friend who's taking a mental break and sends you something on Instagram, to a Snapchat or a text, you know, that isn't urgent — but in my head, a text is "read me right now". And so kind of with the calendar boundaries, just setting notification boundaries and saying, hey, I'm going to be heads down on this, like we use Slack statuses — similar to FPS — that says, you know, "do not disturb" or, you know, "I'm doing this for this period of time" so that you set the expectation for yourself and so that other people can respect them.
Jeanna: Yeah, I love that. And you know what, let's talk deeper about this like, do not disturb work boundary because I'm not using it myself. The phone thing. I use do not disturb in my nighttime. So I use do not disturb like from probably 8 pm till 7 am. Just so I don't get woken up with things in the evening. But how do you use it? I have seen all of the different settings that they have availabilities for now, but I haven't tapped into it. So how do you leverage it for the workday?
Bridget: Yeah, I use the work one often, whether it's like I have a lot of meetings or I just need to, like, really give my time and attention to a specific project. But I have it so you know, of course, like, if my parents call me like two times or three times in a row, it will come through, but my phone might not ring on the first time or for a text message that isn't like, urgent. And it just also snoozes all my social media notifications because I like social media and it's very distracting and I get pulled in. It's never just checking the notification. It's all of a sudden, scrolling or replying and that sort of thing.
Jeanna: I love that, cool. So you use the work, do not disturb during, like, whatever hours you deem your work days so that you don't get —
Bridget: Yep, yeah.
Jeanna: Oh, I love that.
Bridget: Yeah, and I can, I mean, I can turn it on and off. You know, if a random Wednesday, I'm not working that morning, I can easily turn it off and get my notifications.
Jeanna: That's great. I'm gonna start using that because like, here in Central America, we use WhatsApp for everything. So like my doctors are on WhatsApp. All the people that like, deliver all the kinds of like, services you get are on WhatsApp. And so I feel like my WhatsApp is just like, all day long, going off and I definitely need a break.
Bridget: Well for me, it's also getting all of those notifications then on my watch, too. And so then I just have none on my phone and watch and I can just stay focused.
Jeanna: Yeah, nice. Cool. All right. So I have three final questions to wrap up our chat today. The first one is what is your one #workfromanywhere item or tool that you could never live without?
Bridget: I went back and forth because it says very specifically one item or tool and I feel like I have like five. But I do think it would maybe be my AirPods. I, you know, putting them in and being able to do noise cancellation, if I want, I can put one if I want and still, you know hear the sounds of wherever I am. Those I would say are like, always make sure I have them and they're charged.
Jeanna: Yeah, for sure. I'm on that bandwagon. Okay, I'll give you a second one. What's another one you can't live without?
Bridget: Yeah, okay, my second one I think would be my portable laptop stand. Because I'm tall, and so when I work other places, it's really hard for me to be looking down all day because I'm not used to it. So I have, it like folds, kind of like an accordion and fits nice into any bag.
Jeanna: Oh nice, just something you got on Amazon or where did you get it?
Bridget: Yeah, yep.
Jeanna: Oh, cool. Okay. We'll go ahead and gather that link from you and share it. for our listeners. And if someone wanted to learn more about you, where should they go online?
Bridget: Yeah. If they wanted to learn about me professionally I would say LinkedIn is kind of where I try to keep everything up-to-date. But just getting to know me, I love Instagram and love sharing bits and pieces of my highlight reel there.
Jeanna: Cool. And greenlinemarketing.com?
Bridget: Yes, well, it's greenline-marketing.com.
Jeanna: Okay, good distinction, don't forget the hyphen. And finally, who is a mentor colleague or partner of yours that you want to give a shout-out to? And what is their best advice that has impacted you?
Bridget: Yeah, this was another one, I thought long and hard about this question. But I think I would have to say, my good friend, colleague, and mentor, her name is Simone. We were friends in college, we were a few years apart and just always kind of stayed loosely in touch after college. She kind of helped me get my first agency job. She worked there and was actually my boss. And she was always really good about asking me like, what, okay, what else do you need? Whether it's like, do you need more time in your day? Do you need tools, resources? And she just was like, a very intentional listener, which I hadn't really experienced young in my career, like someone who was asking me questions, but then like truly invested in how I was answering them. And really, I mean, Simone taught me what I know about inbound marketing and how to do it. And it's still I mean, her and I literally just had coffee this morning. And we're talking about, you know, the work we're doing now and how it's changing and questions we have. So it's just someone who continues to be a mentor, in like, how she runs her life, but also in the marketing world. So, yeah.
Jeanna: Cool, I love that. That's such good advice. I mean, I am a manager, a team lead at myself. And it's something that I think nobody ever nails and always needs to kind of figure out, you know, how to do things better. And so I'm always about like advice and tips on how to be a better leader. So that's great. Like, asking what they need and listening more. So that's great advice.
Bridget: Yeah, she was one of those bosses who didn't just tell me how to do it. She would be like, Well, what do you think we should do? Or how do you think we should approach it? And I was like, oh, she, she like actually wants my input.
Jeanna: Yeah, that's great. Cool. All right. Bridget, thank you so much for your time today. It's been a pleasure to have you on the podcast and we'll talk to you soon.
Bridget: Yeah, thanks for having me.
