Getting Creative

Leaning Away from a Money-First Approach

This sounds completely counterintuitive but after a layoff mid-2023, I went pedal to the metal networking, meeting (great) people, and having amazing conversations with people who had also been laid off or somehow had their career upended, stalled, or more accurately - been given the opportunity to think about where they were and where they wanted to go personally and professionally. It's been said of course that only hardship allows us to grow and level up. This is when we create our great pivots.

I'm a good brand strategist. I'm a good startup marketing leader. I can write a solid marketing article with insights that are genuinely valuable accrued from my own experience. I probably don't even know how much I know. Do you?

I always assume everyone knows what I do. For women and POC, that's instilled in us from childhood. Instead of being over confident, we need endless proof points of our value, endless experiences before we think of ourselves as leaders.

You are good at what you do too if you're reading this. We tend to find our own people and my bet is you are a seeker and you have proved yourself again and again. Maybe you are riding a string of successes right now or maybe you are feeling a bit wobbly from the past few years.

Either way, we live in a capitalist society and we are trained to equate our value with monetary value. We actually need to. If you're in America as opposed to Europe with some social cushion and healthcare, most of us don't have the luxury of vanity projects or hobbies. I know I don't. I'm a single mother of school age girls. I'm it for them. I have to deliver. So this has been a crazy few years post divorce from my business partner where we were going gangbusters. It's been humbling but I've come so far - yet the money. The money. The money. This is a hard time for the money.

My daughter wants to build a treehouse. She's drawn the structure. The physics aren't there but it sure is creative. She's now saving up money to pay someone to build it. The thing might cost 30k the way she has it drawn up. Minimum. But she's not bothered by this small fact. As you get older, you don't dare conceive of such a thing. It's too scary.

But isn't it too scary not to plan elaborate backyard treehouses?

I created a backyard treehouse of my own a few times last year - first I started an Etsy store selling a line of greeting cards. Fail. Then working to go fractional along with the entire universe. Eh.

I had to look at myself. At a certain point, I thought I don't want to run marketing. Yes, I have the tools in my back pocket but I am a creator. I am a storyteller. I want to lead with that which ostensibly makes less money as it is not all the things but I have to do what I know inside is me because the universe will not help otherwise. The universe is so annoying that way.

So now, on a dare to myself, after 2 months of work, I launched Actual People, a podcast and I started a Substack for my writing where for the first time I share an excerpt of one of my unpublished novels.

In business, I want to work with CEOs to help them communicate and connect more closely with their customers and partners through story and high quality or more intimate content like I did 10 years ago running Show Love, my brand documentary company. That's it. I'm not going after fCMO work unless it comes to me. I want to drive those intimate connections and that clarity and then the performance marketers can do their thing.

I didn't realize I had 368 subscribers to this newsletter. It's one of the things I stopped and started last year. I'd like to concentrate my subscriber base on Substack and would love it if you'd subscribe there. Meanwhile, here is my one movie, one trend, one tip:

?? MOVIE or TV Show: Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only

This was my favorite thing I saw over the holiday. It wasn't about the yuks. There weren't a lot of clips of their standup. It was about friendship. Friendship among geniuses in their field who have stood the test of time and brought newbies up with them. Friendship between people who could be competitive but realize it's not a zero sum game but rising tides floats all boats. It's about black male friendship and resilience. It's about love. It's a love story. For me, comedy is the most underrated art form on the planet and the most vital, important, and impactful as these are the great orators of our time that connects us, reflect us, and ease our pain. This is a must see. Also Dave Chapelle's in it.

Trend: The Ugly Shoe, The Zero Labor Home, and Total Inventiveness

This is not a new trend but the ugly shoe is so pervasive, from Crocs continued climb and the MSCHF ugly red boot of a year ago, the peanut shoe, and for me, any shoe i can slip on and take my kids to school with zero effort. I think it's about finding joy and not being overly concerned with others judgments. Stilted chicness feels out of touch. Whimsy, fun, and healthy escapism feel current. All the creativity coming out of CES which is always speculative and borderless, is especially interesting this year because of AI and the re-imagining of the smartphone. For instance, the "Zero Labor Home" moniker that LG put out is definitely food for thought. Even if it is a marketing buzzword, it's a good one. How will our lives fundamentally change with AI and how soon? How will we keep our humanity?

Actual People

I explore this in Actual People, my new podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Q8LiN6I4YZtcydLDEmTm7?si=b8b162cff8654b66&nd=1&dlsi=a53da0d9c9a84e07

or find a link here: www.chaunceyzalkin.com

A Marketing Tip: Be Brave

Brands, it's time to be brave and commit to something specific to build longevity and trust. Get going on better less ephemeral content.