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PODCAST

The Speak Easy Podcast

Jen Estill and Karen Stefl — creative studio entrepreneurs, brand and video experts, boss ladies, moms

Hi. Jen Estill and Karen Stefl here. In The Speak Easy Podcast, we share years of expertise in marketing, branding, video production, strategy—not to mention management, employee development, mentoring, sales, creativity, maintaining life balance, managing money, and.. you get the idea. It takes a lot to keep a couple of creative studios thriving. We developed this podcast after years of "how do you..." boss lady conversations. It was clear that if we were both in such similar places with regard

business

All Episodes

00:22:04

Have the Hard Conversations Before It’s Too Late

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2024/03/26

Navigating the complexities of caregiving for aging parents is an endeavor fraught with uncertainty and emotion. It's a journey that often catches us off guard, forcing us to confront the profound responsibility of guiding our parents through end-of-life care.In this episode, we delve into our personal experiences with aging parents, reflecting on the hurdles faced and lessons learned. From grappling with difficult medical decisions to finding the right support systems, we discuss the steps we

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00:12:46

Is Your Job a Job or Is Your Job a Lifestyle?

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2024/03/12

For better or worse, sometimes we are our job, or our brand, or our leadership role…you get the picture. When you’re in a situation where your job isn’t something you put down at the end of the day and walk away from, what does that mean in terms of work-life balance?If you’re in a position where your job follows you into the other aspects of your life, it could be helpful to view your job not as your life, but rather as your lifestyle. In this episode, we talk about when wearing many hats at once

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00:23:18

Case Study: ScrapFest Documentary

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2024/02/27

Founded by David Such and Larry Bass in 2008, ScrapFest is a Lansing art festival that brings together artists from around the country to compete in a scrap metal sculpture competition. Earlier this year, Karen’s media production company, Render Studios, premiered their debut ScrapFest documentary. The film highlights various artists and their sculptures from the previous year's festival, offering viewers an immersive exploration into the creative journey of participating artists.For our second

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00:17:10

Clients Who Bait and Switch

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2024/02/13

Whether intentional or not, sometimes a client is disingenuous about the end goals of a project. For whatever reason, they are not upfront with their initial objective, and massage the creative process through nitpicking and endless revisions to achieve an end product that is decidedly different from what was agreed upon. In situations like these, it’s the job of the creative to advocate for their team, and explain to the client why nitpicking creative or playing it safe doesn’t serve their

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00:18:21

Don't Confuse Youth with Being Youthful

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2024/01/30

Youth might be a limited period in life, but youthfulness is a mindset that transcends age. When it comes to opportunities for career growth or probleming-solving, qualities like open-mindedness and curiosity are critical for success. But what are those qualities if not the characteristics of a youthful mindset? Maintaining a youthful mindset doesn’t mean rejecting maturity or experience. Instead, it’s all about balancing the wisdom gained through experiences with the enthusiasm and curiosity

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00:24:12

Case Study: Sad Little Town

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2024/01/16

Last month, the Detroit Free Press’s editorial page editor ran a piece about moving the state capital to Detroit, deeming Lansing a “sad little town.” It caused quite the stir, to say the least. Lansing residents and Detroiters alike sounded off on social media, the comments sections grew tense, and water cooler conversation was fueled for days. As buzz around the article grew, people in the Lansing community latched onto the phrase “sad little town” with a sense of tongue-in-cheek pride. Thus, an

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00:18:35

Another Round – The Most Important Things We Do Each...

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2024/01/02

For many entrepreneurs, the end of the year is a time for holiday get-togethers, meeting deadlines, and – the big one – goal setting. We take time to visualize where we see our organization in the coming year, in five years, or even a decade down the line. We carefully map out our business's progress and trajectory. But are we focusing on what’s most important? While it's pretty clear how to identify these quantitative metrics (like finances or organizational growth), it’s less clear whether our

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00:20:52

Another Round – A Little Gratitude Goes a Long Way

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2023/12/19

‘Tis the season for gratitude, but, in fact, it’s healthier to practice grateful thinking all year long. When we think about what’s missing, rather than what’s present, we invite anxiety, frustration, and bundles of other negative emotions to flood our minds. If you think about it, brains are like kindergarten classes: without some discipline, chaos will ensue and somebody is gonna end up in tears. A daily gratitude practice, however simple, can significantly improve your outlook. Everyone’s

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00:17:10

Another Round – Burnout and Overwhelm

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2023/12/05

We frequently talk about balance on the podcast and the truth is that something has to give when life becomes hectic. But don’t worry, we’ll return to the regularly scheduled programming in January. For now, we’re rebroadcasting some episodes that are hitting especially close to home right now. Enjoy Another Round – Ep. 164: Burnout and Overwhelm! Burnout often comes in waves — so to prepare, we need to have tools ready to counteract the feelings of stress and anxiety when they hit. Being

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00:17:57

Evolution & Reinvention

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2023/11/22

If you’ve got anxiety about reaching “midlife” or stumbling into the dreaded “midlife crisis,” just know that it’s not an inevitability. “Midlife” is a construct. By taking a proactive approach to life, you can avoid general monotony and the tired cliche of a “midlife rut.” By embracing change and staying curious about new possibilities, you can avoid succumbing to that sense of stagnation many of us fear as we age. The experience and wisdom we’ve gained by reaching midlife means that, when

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00:17:48

Hiring Employees With Experience Outside Your Realm

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2023/11/07

Hiring people who have skills that differ from your own adds additional challenges to the recruitment process. When a potential new hire’s skill set is outside of your wheelhouse, it’s essential to remember why you are hiring, and that diversifying the skills of your team is necessary for growth. It expands what you can offer your clients, and brings different thought processes to the table, strengthening your team’s ability to problem solve. As for determining the quality of a potential new hire’s

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00:19:02

Professional Advocacy – How Do Advocacy Organizations...

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2023/10/24

When it comes to supporting clients whose mission, if accomplished, would make the world a better place, strategy has shifted over the years. The divisive nature of politics today requires much stricter demands for how we can effectively create tools for clients who do advocacy work. Now more than ever, the tools you create must lay the groundwork for your audience to understand an issue before you start advocating for change. This work demands more transparency and nuance than ever, but that’s

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00:14:55

Quality and Standards: What Does Quality Mean in the...

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2023/10/11

When talking about quality and standards in the creative industry, it can be easy to miss the fact that producing work that’s “good enough” is often the result of a capacity issue. When firms have a limited budget or staff for a project, not every product can be made with expert care, so they have to settle for a deliverable that’s “good enough.” This can be a tricky cycle to get out of, as it affects every part of a business, from internal processes to the outward perception of the

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00:19:15

Time Wasters - What Habitual Parts of Your Day Need...

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2023/09/26

When thinking about habits that are time wasters, it’s easy to name things like scrolling TikTok or doing superficial “reorganizing” because those feel like conscious time wasters. It’s the unconscious time wasters that are much more insidious and hard to kick. Things like indecision, lack of planning, or even overplanning result in time wasted, whether we mean to or not. Recognizing these things as time wasters allows us to start figuring out how to create new processes that better serve our

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00:17:38

Shitcake: The Seven-Layer Cake of Our Lives

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2023/09/12

Life can feel like a mess even on good days. The personal responsibilities of life that bring us joy often start to feel overwhelming when the demands for our time and energy surpass what is possible for us to give. For many people, this is where shame and self-judgment kick in, because dealing with every layer of life all at once shouldn’t be that hard, right? Oh, if only it were that simple. Despite our best efforts, sometimes life is a shitshow, but the mess is easier to wade through when you

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00:19:53

Junk RFPs: Navigating the ‘Request for Proposal’ Process

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2023/08/29

RFPs, or Requests for Proposals, are a common way of soliciting work in the creative industry — and they can be an equally challenging (and often painful) process for everyone involved. In a written description alone, it can be difficult for a buyer to clearly articulate what service or product they’re looking for in an RFP. This can leave folks in the creative industry pouring hours into a proposal that isn’t actually what the client needs, which is a lose-lose situation for everyone. Personally,

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00:14:58

Leadership: Sometimes You’re Stuck With It

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2023/08/15

Leadership can be as overwhelming as it is rewarding. To view leadership as a ladder to climb ignores the aspects of the job that are far from a reward. Whether it’s a plumbing issue at the office, concerns about this quarter’s budget, or a conflict between staff, when you’re in a leadership position, the tough decisions are yours to make. In our case, we chucked out the idea of leadership being glamorous a long time ago. This podcast is affectionately described as “real talk about leadership

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00:22:58

The Creative Process: How The Sausage Gets Made

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2023/08/01

Talking about creativity and the creative process can be necessarily abstract, but it doesn't have to be. There is value to looking at creativity as an investment. Creativity takes a willingness to challenge yourself to break down what already exists and start from scratch. This process requires a lot of trust in yourself or your team, and that can feel uncomfortable at first. While creativity can feel like a gamble you don’t have time for, the pursuit of creativity can help you avoid falling into

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00:22:05

When To Hire — And When Not To

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2023/07/18

The question of when to hire and when not to isn’t about neglecting your team’s capacity needs. Rather, it’s about taking a more meditative approach to the hiring process. Beyond determining if your business has the budget to hire and what the capacity needs of your team are, it’s important to consider if your organization needs to change and how it needs to change with the addition of a new hire. Instead of immediately focusing on filling a role, waiting to hire allows you to let go of the

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00:17:14

Delegating Decision-Making: Why and How

The Speak Easy Podcast ·

2023/07/05

As leaders, we can’t (and shouldn’t) do it all. Bringing your team into the decision-making process is important to the health and wellness of your organization. No part of the organization benefits from being overprotective of decision-making, and being excluded from this process limits a team's growth potential. All that said, putting this delegation into practice can feel overwhelming. Preparing yourself and your team for a shift in the decision-making requires transparency and, overall, trust

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234 results

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