In this deep-dive episode, Meredith Lowry speaks with Kerri Jackson Case about the evolution of "MarCom" (Marketing and Communications) and the vital role it plays in business. With over 20 years of experience transitioning from TV news reporting to corporate and boutique PR, Kerri explains how strategic communication is built on the foundation of storytelling. The conversation covers the tactical use of press releases in the age of AI, the importance of "plain English" in professional settings, and the personal "plot twists" of being a "whole person"—balancing motherhood, adoption, and entrepreneurship.

The conversation explores the definition and necessity of MarCom (Marketing and Communications), which Kerri Jackson Case defines as the strategic act of delivering the right message through the most effective channel to a specific intended audience. A central theme is the importance of storytelling, with Kerri noting that people understand their world through narratives and that businesses must learn to tell stories about themselves that are fundamentally focused on the needs of the customer.

The participants discuss the critical timing for engaging a communications professional, advising that they should be "at the table" from the very beginning of a business or project to identify potential barriers and prevent costly public relations blunders. This early involvement is particularly vital when mediating between legal departments and public perception; a communications expert can translate dense legal jargon into "plain English" that satisfies the spirit of the law without alienating or terrifying the audience.

The episode also highlights the evolution of tactical tools like the press release, which Kerri defends as a vital instrument for establishing credibility not just with traditional newsrooms, but with search engine algorithms and AI models like ChatGPT. By using a Q&A or FAQ format in their digital infrastructure, businesses can ensure that AI pulls from trusted, authoritative sources when users ask questions about the brand. Finally, the discussion touches on the personal reality of being a "whole person" in the industry, emphasizing the challenges of balancing professional leadership with the unpredictable "plot twists" of family life and motherhood.

SheSpeaks Communications https://shespeakscommunications.com/

Just Get Started—Entrepreneurial Secrets with Kathleen Lawson

In this episode of the Woman Run podcast, host Ricky Smith sits down with Kathleen Lawson, the Executive Director of Economics Arkansas, to discuss how entrepreneurial thinking serves as a foundational life skill. Economics Arkansas, a nonprofit established in 1962, defines economics as the "science of decision-making," focusing on how individuals manage scarcity to make better choices as professionals and citizens. The organization provides over 200 workshops annually and offers free resources and stipends to PreK-12 educators across the state to integrate financial literacy into their classrooms.

Kathleen’s own venture into business began when she decided to participate in her organization's $10-Challenge, an experiment where individuals invest a small amount of their own money into a micro-business idea. Kathleen practiced this principle by investing $100 into chocolate and supplies to create "cocoa bombs," which she marketed through a single Facebook post under her business name, Sprinkles and Spice. The business grew rapidly, generating over $2,000 in sales in the first month and eventually landing her products in 13 retail stores across Arkansas within a single year.

This journey led her to identify five key ways to think like an entrepreneur, starting with the directive to just get startedrather than waiting for a perfect plan. She emphasizes the importance of a growth mindset, noting that she spent hours on YouTube learning specialized skills like cake decorating to meet customer demand. Kathleen also stresses the need to know when to pivot or stop, explaining that she eventually "sunsetted" her business when it no longer aligned with her personal scale and passion, viewing it as a successful chapter rather than a failure.

Furthermore, she advises professionals to focus on their unique value by identifying core strengths and delegating or automating tasks that do not add to the primary product. Finally, she encourages others to look for opportunities everywhere, training the brain to see problems as solvable business or mission-driven opportunities. Beyond business strategy, Kathleen maintains her leadership at Economics Arkansas and her family life through intentional habits like explicit scheduling on a calendar and a unique daily "Google Photos" purge to remain proactive and organized. Her story serves as a testament to the power of small experiments in building real-world confidence and professional success. Individuals and teachers interested in these economic tools and competitions, such as the Stock Market Game, can find more information at EconomicsArkansas.org.

In this episode, Meredith Lowry sits down with Shaheen Lokhandwala, the founder of Kinwork, to discuss the critical role of social capital in the success of startups. They dive into new research concerning "community-facing" businesses in Northwest Arkansas—such as coffee shops, florists, and bookstores—and how these owners often feel excluded from traditional entrepreneurial spaces. The conversation provides a roadmap for creating "affinity groups" that foster trust, resource sharing, and technical skill development.

Key Takeaways

• The Power of Social Capital: Beyond financial capital, a business’s social capital—the strength of its networks—is one of the highest indicators of startup success.
• Support for "Main Street" Businesses: Local, community-facing businesses (often labeled "lifestyle" or "mom and pop" shops) often feel a legitimacy gap and lack the specific support structures available to tech-based startups.
• The Problem with Traditional Pitching: Traditional networking environments, like Chambers of Commerce, often require a "high-energy" pitch that doesn't align with the energy or needs of many small business owners.
• Organic Peer Groups: Successful networking often happens organically outside of formal programs, where owners text each other for advice or refer customers to one another.
• The Affinity Group Model: Creating structured "affinity groups" (based on industry, like tattoo artists, or identity, like queer-owned businesses) allows for deeper trust and specialized problem-solving.
• Demystifying "Technical Skills": Technical skills aren't just for coding; for a small business, they include essential functions like payroll, legal compliance, marketing, and navigating AI tools.
• How do I build a business network?

In this episode of the Woman Run Podcast, host Rickie Smith sits down with Meg Green, a Registered Dietitian and Integrated and Functional Nutrition Certified Practitioner. Meg shares her personal and professional evolution from working in pediatric oncology at St. Jude to launching her own virtual functional medicine practice.

Key Discussion Points:

• Meg’s Career Evolution: Her journey from clinical pediatrics to discovering functional medicine after facing her own undiagnosed autoimmune challenges.
• Functional vs. Traditional Medicine: Understanding the "root cause" approach to health—moving beyond masking symptoms to true healing.
• The Gap in Women’s Research: A look at why women were excluded from medical studies until 1993 and how that affects modern hormonal health.
• Hormonal Health & Perimenopause: Validating symptoms like brain fog, sleep disruptions, and fatigue that are often dismissed as "just stress".
• Building a Business: The challenges of moving from a medical mindset to an entrepreneurial one, and the importance of a support "village".
• The Power of Personalization: Why there is no such thing as a universal "superfood" and how bio-individuality dictates nutrition.

Connect with Meg Green:

• Website: meggreenrd.com
• Instagram: @meggreen_rd
• Email: meg@meggreenrd.com

The Woman Run Podcast is a production of Wright Lindsey Jennings, dedicated to sharing the stories of women who inspire us.

In this episode, we welcome back Robin Atkinson, a veteran of the fashion industry and CEO and Founder of Upkept. A creative leader dedicated to sustainable fashion and workforce development in the sewn trades.

Robin shares the story behind Upkept, from the initial beta launch using a simple website form to building a proprietary tech platform that simplifies apparel repair for the modern consumer. We dive deep into the environmental impact of "fast fashion," the disappearing craft of tailoring, and how Upkept is bridging the gap between traditional skills and 21st-century convenience.

Takeaways:

• The Upkept Mission: Upkept is designed to make apparel repair as easy as ordering DoorDash. Users can ship their damaged or ill-fitting clothes to be fixed, hemmed, or modified through a streamlined online process.
• The Beta Phase: Robin discusses the importance of an "authentic" beta launch. Upkept started with a basic Squarespace form to test demand—proving that people across the country were eager for a reliable, remote repair service.
• Combatting Fashion Waste: With the average American throwing away over 81 pounds of clothing annually, Robin explains how repair can divert massive amounts of waste and break the "purchase-replace" cycle.
• The Future of Repair: Looking toward Europe's legislative lead in brand responsibility, Robin envisions a future where "reverse logistics" make it easier for consumers to maintain and extend the life of their wardrobes.
• The "Secret Sauce": Robin reflects on co-founding the company with her husband, Cash, combining operational fashion expertise with high-level tech development to build a unique, proprietary platform.

In this episode of the Woman Run podcast, host Meredith Lowry sits down with Jasmine Hudson, co-founder of the award-winning brand Black Paper Party and a key leader in the Northwest Arkansas entrepreneurial scene.

Jasmine shares her journey from being recruited by Walmart out of an HBCU to becoming a full-time entrepreneur and community advocate. The conversation highlights how she, alongside partners Madia and J, scaled a seasonal celebrations brand into major retail stores like Macy’s, Target, and Family Dollar by filling the "black space" in representation.

Key Discussion Points:

• The "Grit" Behind the Success: Jasmine recounts the bold move that landed her a job at Walmart and the subsequent 2 a.m. pitch that secured a deal on Shark Tank with Barbara Corcoran.
• Building Community: From her deep involvement with the Girl Scouts and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority to her role with Black Owned NWA, Jasmine discusses the importance of creating spaces for Black-owned businesses to thrive regionally.
• The Power of Representation: The mission behind Black Paper Party and the importance of seeing Black culture represented in everyday lifestyle products, from wrapping paper to pajamas.
• Entrepreneurship for All Ages: A look at the upcoming Black Owned NWA Expo and the new "Kidpreneur" track designed to foster the next generation of business leaders.
• Authentic Social Media: Jasmine shares her "masterclass" approach to social media, balancing strategic content across platforms like Instagram and TikTok while maintaining an authentic connection with her audience.

Listen in to hear how Jasmine is redefining what it means to be a "woman in business" in Northwest Arkansas

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In this episode of the Woman Run Podcast, Meredith sits down with communications expert Kerri Jackson Case to demystify the professional landscape of Marketing and Communications, often referred to as MarCom. Kerri defines the core of communications as the strategic act of delivering the right message through the most effective channel to a specific intended audience. She emphasizes that while businesses often focus on their own internal narratives, effective communication must prioritize the end-user by explaining how a product or service improves their life, safety, or efficiency.

A major theme of the discussion is the critical timing of engagement, where Kerri advises business owners to involve communications professionals as early as possible to identify potential barriers or "terrors" before they manifest. This early involvement is particularly useful when bridging the gap between legal departments and public perception, as a communications expert can translate dense legal jargon into plain English that meets the spirit of the law without alienating or terrifying the customer. The conversation also covers the tactical framework of the five W's, noting that the "Where" is dictated by the audience's existing habits—whether they are older demographics reading newspapers or younger generations using YouTube search functions.

Kerri offers a robust defense of the traditional press release, arguing that it remains a vital tool not only for reaching newsrooms but also for establishing credibility with search engine algorithms and artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT. Because AI pulls from trusted sources, a formal press release acts as a foundational document that gives a brand more weight in the digital ecosystem than a standard blog post or social media update. Ultimately, Kerri concludes that because humans are fundamentally storytellers, successful branding requires a company to first define its own internal story and then share that narrative in a compelling way that influences external behavior. This episode serves as a guide for leaders to move beyond "Us" focused marketing and embrace a purpose-driven, audience-centric strategy.

In this episode of Women Run, we sit down with Kathleen Lawson, the Executive Director of Economics Arkansas. Kathleen shares her unexpected journey from a nonprofit leader to a successful "cocoa bomb" entrepreneur, sparked by a simple $10-Challenge.

Whether you are looking to start a side hustle or simply want to innovate in your current career, Kathleen breaks down how entrepreneurial thinking is a foundational life skill.

Key Takeaways

• The $10-Challenge: Kathleen turned a small experiment into a business that sold over $25,000 in products and reached 13 stores across Arkansas within a single year.
• Economics as a Life Skill: Economics isn't just about money; it’s the science of decision-making and understanding scarcity to make better choices in life and citizenship.
• Entrepreneurial Habits: Transitioning from "safe" thinking to "opportunity" thinking allows you to see problems as solvable business or mission-driven opportunities.

5 Ways to Think Like an Entrepreneur

1. Just Get Started: Don't wait for perfection. Kathleen started with a single photo on Facebook; the LLC, branding, and packaging all came later.
2. Embrace a Growth Mindset: Stay in a "learner" mode. Be willing to test new products and fail in order to find what truly resonates with your audience.
3. Know When to Pivot (or Stop): Recognizing when a project no longer fits your passion or scale is a skill, not a failure. Kathleen discusses her "long walk" strategy for making these tough decisions.
4. Focus on Your Unique Value: Understand specialization. Focus on what you are uniquely good at (like decorating) and delegate or automate the rest (like making boxes).
5. Look for Opportunities Everywhere: Train your brain to see "dollars" or solutions in everyday problems. High-level hiring often looks for this specific trait in employees.

Notable Quotes

"Economics is really just the science of decision-making... it really is such a foundation for life." — Kathleen Lawson

"I realized I could have very little risk and great reward by just taking a chance." — Kathleen Lawson