Episode 120: Aquila Mendez-Valdez

Aquila Mendez-Valdez

Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome to the pretty powerful podcast. Where powerful women are interviewed every week to share real inspiring stories and incredible insight to help women or anyone break the barriers, be a part of innovation, shatter the glass ceiling, and dominate to the top of their sport industry or life's mission.

Join us as we celebrate exceptional women and step into our power. And now here's your host, Angela Gennari.

Angela Gennari: Hello, and thank you for joining us for another episode of the Pretty Powerful Podcast. My name is and I'm here with Aquila Mendez-Valdez. Hi, Akilah. Hi, Angela. How are you? I am doing so good.

Thank you so much for joining me. So, uh, I'm excited to talk to you because we're talking about PR and marketing, which I think is really important for, especially for small businesses. So Akilah is the founder and CEO of Hot in Texas, an award winning PR and marketing agency based in San Antonio. She's been [00:01:00] asked to speak and present to audiences across the U.

S., Europe, and Asia, and has been featured in Forbes, Newsweek, The Telegraph UK, Digiday, and PR On The Go, in addition to numerous appearances, publications, and podcasts for her expertise in both the PR and marketing worlds. Fantastic. Very impressive.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. So first question, what made you want to get it? What made you want to get into PR and marketing?

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: That's a wonderful question. So I really, you know, from a young age, I loved reading. I loved writing. I love stories and anything kind of in that realm was always one of my favorite things. And I, I grew up on a farm in Indiana, so you can imagine there was not a lot going on besides just my imagination and being able to.

Uh, you know, tuck away with a good book. Um, I'm the oldest of six, so if I could find a quiet corner by some miracle, I was all about it. [00:02:00] Um, but from that point, you know, I, I initially in high school and kind of early college thought I wanted to be a journalist, um, and then like many of, you know, potential journalists or people who do go into the journalism field started to.

So realize that maybe the, the work life balance would be a little bit tricky in that field. And so when I switched to PR, I felt like, okay, I've found something where I can still do that piece that I love of being curious and telling stories. Um, but also get to, you know, do things in a way that would make sense for having a family and, and having my own business.

And that was really kind of the best of both worlds for me.

Angela Gennari: Yeah, absolutely. So, um, yeah, I agree that that life balance, especially as a mom and working mom and trying to get it all together. It, yeah. Finding that balance is tricky.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. I know there's, you know, I was fortunate that I made that switch early enough that now I've been able to do my, my entire career in PR and marketing, but, um, I know that's not, it's not always the case.

[00:03:00] Sometimes you have a little bit more of a roundabout way of, of finding what you love. So I w I was just really lucky in that regard.

Angela Gennari: That's awesome. So, um, what I love about PR marketing and what you talk about a lot in your bio, um, is storytelling. And I think that that's such a key piece. So can you talk about how storytelling is?

It's important for PR marketing.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah. Right. Well, I think it's, you know, really what kind of differentiates us from just, you know, simple advertising or running an ad, you know, something where it feels a little bit more disconnected from your audience. I think PR and marketing, especially in the age of AI, when it's really easy to just whip up a, Image or copy or something like that stories are really what actual humans connect to.

Speaker 4: Um,

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: and so I think that that really gives you an opportunity to, um, build a campaign that's going to resonate with people. That's going to actually move them towards action and what you want them to do and just feel more, I [00:04:00] think, truly loyal to your brand. If they understand the story behind, you know, the founder or why you're launching this.

Particular product or why you decided to, you know, move the company in a certain direction when you let people kind of have that insight into the story behind it, um, they feel like they're along for the journey and that just deepens their, you know, brand loyalty to a whole other level.

Angela Gennari: Yeah, absolutely.

Well, and I think that one of the powerful things about storytelling is it imagine it lets people imagine their place in your story. And I think when you can do that, you really connect and that requires some vulnerability and it requires some transparency. which can be a little bit scary for people, but you want to be the one to tell your story and not let somebody else be the one to tell your story.

Because if you can, if you can control the narrative, you're in a much better position.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And to your point, you know, it, even if you're feeling a bit shy about [00:05:00] sharing your own story, if you can tell the journey of your customer really well, and make sure that they understand, I know what you're going through, I know how you feel, I get your pain points down to a T, um, you know, again, you're going to connect with them and, and have them feel so much more, um, you know, I guess, willing and able to support you, um, because it feels like you actually get them.

Angela Gennari: Yeah, absolutely. So you kind of briefly touched on this, but A. I. Is becoming a massive thing, right? And a lot of small businesses are leading on this on the A. I. Component or is the P. R. Marketing. Are you guys embracing it? Or are you kind of, you know, kind of trying to separate yourself from it?

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah, I was just talking to my team about this, um, and sharing some articles about it.

Um, you know, earlier this week, because especially I think on the PR side, you know, you're seeing kind of one of two camps. You're seeing some journalists that are embracing it and excited and using it to sort of aggregate, you know, [00:06:00] information really quickly. Um, but then you're also seeing publications opt out of being part of the AI search engines and they don't want to be included, you know, in those references.

So, um, that divide, I think we'll just kind of continue to widen. And it's really affecting, I think, you know, on our side, if we're crafting content, um, that we're pitching to a journalist, we have to be very, very careful how much we use AI, how much it's actually, you know, truly original content coming from us or from our client directly, um, to make sure that that relationship with that journalist doesn't get.

Completely, you know, tattered and, and ruined because we, you know, send them something and it's a hundred percent AI generated and then they're, you're never going to, you know, be able to run that. So I think it's definitely sped up. Some of our processes changed a lot of the ways that we do, you know, in particular, like research and, um, you know, maybe just in that ideation phase, we can kind of get that brainstorming session going a little bit faster with the help of AI.

[00:07:00] Um, but at the end of the day, I think there's still a lot of areas where marketing and PR need a human touch. And, um, you know, it's still that human direction of what's the creative spark that gets AI to do what it does the best.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. And I think there's. There's value in AI, but I also think that there's no substitute for, like you were saying, the human element.

And, you know, while it can do a great job of giving you like a, you know, a template or something to kind of work on. Like sometimes if I'm writing something, I'll use AI just to kind of spur some ideas, but then I just kind of run with it from there.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah. Yeah. I think the most interesting area that, like I said, we were talking about earlier this week is really in terms of search.

And, you know, how do you make sure that your content is the content that these, you know, AI chat, uh, options pull for a resource? If, if you want to be seen as an expert, if you want to be the thought leader, how do you make sure that your content is AI friendly so that [00:08:00] You know, yep, you're the first person that, um, you know, chat GPT thinks of when they're pulling the references for a particular topic.

Um, so even, you know, even down to like the SEO side and things like that, I think how much AI is going to shift search engines and, and overall kind of how we gather information, um, is something to be thinking about if you're in charge of making sure that your brand is front and center and in everybody's mind.

Angela Gennari: Yeah, I 100 percent agree with that. So when you're looking at running an ad campaign, how do you kind of position, um, a business? Like how, what? What do you do to start ideating, to start creating that like story and that vision? What are steps one, two, three, like if I'm a small business and I've never hired a PR firm, how do I prepare for that?

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah. So when we're onboarding a client, we usually go through a pretty extensive, uh, you know, brand audit and make sure like we have a messaging framework. that we go through and, [00:09:00] and, uh, work with them on to make sure, you know, what are your key differentiators? How do people work with you? Uh, what's the best way for them to reach out?

What are the key messaging points that you want to hit on, you know, consistently over and over and over again. Um, cause we want to make sure they understand, like if, if we're putting out content that starts to feel redundant to you, that means that we're just barely getting across. The, the message to your audience, like we've got to say things five, six, seven times before it's going to sink in.

So how can we do that in a way that, um, is actually hitting the mark for, for what your goals are. Um, and then I think, you know, when you get down to the actual like content creation side. Once we know your messaging and we know your framework now, how do we make that content actually exciting to watch and actually engaging?

Um, so we talk, you know, I probably push my team with feedback on content about hooks on, you know, a daily basis. Like what's the, what's the visual hook for this piece of content? What's the verbal hook? What's the [00:10:00] caption hook? How are we hooking people? How are we making sure that no matter what? They want to stay and give us an extra two seconds or three seconds of their time, um, because it's not enough to just put a video out there for the sake of a video.

It has to actually be optimized and, and strategically thought out as far as what will actually stop the scroll.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. So you're saying four to five times is what somebody has to kind of see an image in order to, is that's, I've heard that before. I've heard it something like three to five times.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah. Image or a campaign or, you know, new product launch. Uh, you know, we, we've had people come to us before and they're like, well, I already, you know, I already told people that I do this and nobody, nobody, you know, responded, nobody raised their hand and we're like, okay, well. How long was your campaign?

And they're like, well, no, I just did like one Instagram post and we're like, Oh, okay. There's, there's our biggest problem. Like, we've got to say this, you know, until you're absolutely sick of it for people to be able to [00:11:00] understand, you know, Hey, we've got like, you know, on a personal level, I'll give you an example.

We just launched in December, uh, a new campaign to do content clinics, basically like social media, kind of done with you, where we would have. Um, small groups come into our offices and work with us on their social media strategy. And I launched it in December. I pushed it for seven days and it was like crickets.

And in my head I was like, okay, this is a really big learning moment for me. That number one, I chose a terrible time to try to like catch everybody's attention when it was like middle of holidays. Like everybody's just. Their minds are totally different places, but then number two, like to not let it completely discourage me and to say, okay, we're going to take that.

We're going to learn from it. We're going to relaunch it in January and put it right back out there and say it again for seven days, because it may have very well been that we just missed people's attention spans. We just didn't catch them or we didn't say it often enough. And I think it's, it's [00:12:00] okay to be able to admit when something You know, truly doesn't work, but a lot of times it's just a matter of your customers are out there.

You're just not reaching them, you know, either correctly or messaging it, you know, there's all sorts of different pieces that, that we can now kind of AB test and see if we can hit the mark a little bit better here in January.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. And that makes so much sense because I've done that to like, you know, I try to not launch podcasts during the holidays because it's like the lowest rating, you know, it's like you're not getting it.

You're not getting the eyeballs. People are distracted. They're out shopping. They're cooking. They're spending time with family. And, you know, this is the last thing on their minds. So yeah, I think that's very valid, but you're right. So, I mean, sometimes even though we're in the industry where the experts, we sometimes like, Oh yeah, that makes sense.

Yeah.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah. It was a really nice wake up call of like, Oh, you're not, you're not immune to that. You've got to pay attention to those things. Um, so I, you know, I, I wish, or maybe not wish that's probably too strong of a word, but I would love for more [00:13:00] people to understand that just because your marketing agency.

You know, might propose something. And if it doesn't work perfectly, it's not a reason to say like, well, they just, they can't cut it. They're not, you know, worth their salt. It's really more so. I think, are you watching what that agency does afterwards? And do they use that as an opportunity to say, no problem.

This is how we're going to make it better and bigger for, you know, 2. 0 launch or 2. 0 version. Um, or do they just kind of continue to keep staying stuck in that cycle of like banging your head against a wall kind of thing.

Angela Gennari: That makes so much sense. So do you find, um, on the PR side, are you, cause I've heard so many times that, um, like I have friends who are in media and, you know, they used to say, well, you know, we have all these media directors and these guys have been in the industry for years and years and years, and it's like this high prestigious job and, you know, you work your whole career to get up to this news director, media director, like level, but [00:14:00] now they're starting to kind of get rid of those folks and put in the, uh, Clickbait people, you know, the 20 somethings who, you know, they just know how to make sensational headlines.

Do you see that to be true?

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. So I think that. You know, a big thing, particularly when you're a product based company, uh, you have to understand the name of the game in that PR world is really those affiliate links. Like they're absolutely not going to include you in that article.

If there's not a chance for that media company to earn some ad revenue or affiliate revenue from that link. Um, so making sure that you understand that game and being able to sort of insert yourself into seasonal campaigns where journalists are going to be looking for, you know, I'm not going to put a product up there that I don't think is actually going to sell.

And they, you know, for, for better or for worse, it's causing them to change what type of selections they're going to make. It's not always just about the small business that they really love this particular soap that [00:15:00] they put out or whatever it is. It's. Um, so that's just sort of the unfortunate, you know, landscape for media right now that ad revenues dropping, they've got to figure out how to make money somewhere.

Um, and a lot of even on the, you know, non product side on, you know, articles or, or content, um, that's a little bit more, you know, editorial in nature, a lot of that is even going to pay to play. Um, so. So when you do have an opportunity to, you know, connect with a journalist that's actually writing a really great, you know, earned piece of content for you.

I think the biggest, you know, advice I can give is to, to take advantage of that to the fullest because it's, it's becoming more and more rare, unfortunately.

Angela Gennari: It

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: really is.

Angela Gennari: And since you kind of briefly touched on it, can you describe to the audience what [00:16:00] earned media versus paid media is?

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, it's, it's, uh, Definitely.

I think a little bit of a jargony kind of term. So earned media means that we've got a journalist who is writing about you for free, that they're not charging for that space in that media publication or on that show, or, you know, whatever the media outlet is, um, earned media is that, you know, your agency or whoever it is has reached out to that journalist.

They've said, yes, I want to talk to them. And they're writing that piece in a very non biased way. Um, When you're talking about more paid media, then you're, you know, handing over a chunk of change for that piece of media to be written. And it gives you a little bit more editorial control to say, you know, these are the photos I want.

This is the language I want. Maybe you can actually write the piece. And it's more of like a editorial kind of op ed almost, um, piece of content. Um, Um, but again, it's, it's going to have that exchange of, [00:17:00] of money and it's going to typically come with some type of disclosure, um, so that, you know, the audience understands like this is a paid sponsor, um, and, and that changes things a little bit, I think, in terms of the potency of that piece of content, when the audience is savvy enough to understand like, okay, well, they paid to be featured on this, um, you know, that, that changes the dynamic.

You know, earned media really has kind of that, you know, gold standard, um, particularly with, you know, driving an audience to, to feel that that level of trust is sort of, uh, kicked up a notch, uh, in that department.

Angela Gennari: Yeah, I would definitely imagine that trust is a big factor in that because, you know, if I see somebody has been featured because of how, you know, they've solved a problem for somebody that really resonates with me versus.

This is how great we are. This is how amazing we are. And you know, you can, you can kind of tell when it says, you know, paid sponsorship or something, you give it a little bit less validity. [00:18:00]

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah, no, a hundred percent. I think that, you know, earned media can feel scary for a brand to give over that control to a journalist, but we have to always kind of guide the client to understand that even if it doesn't feel a hundred percent self promotional and here's how to call us, give us a, you know, click here, do this.

That's actually a good thing. That's actually going to be, even though it's a softer sell, it's a little bit more of a like, Truly valuable way to connect with your audience because they're going to be, uh, evaluating you without feeling like they're being sold to, if that makes sense.

Angela Gennari: Yeah, it really does.

And you know, I see that all the time. So, you know, do you feel like there's value in, you know, going in and paying for those, those media spots? Do you, cause I get, I get these all the time, you know, somebody is like, Oh, we have the top 10 business women of the year. You know, why don't you, you know, it's 5, 000 to be one of them.

And you're like, anyone reading that and taking it seriously. [00:19:00] So, I mean, what is your, what are your opinions on that?

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah. I mean, I think it's the difference between, you know, is it fast fashion or is it luxury? Like, are we willing to take the time to actually wait for a true feature in Forbes? Or are we going to jump on an advertorial where they're going to put your name in the Forbes, but they're buying ad space and they're just putting you, you know, in there as a, as an additional person who's paid the 5, 000 or whatever it is.

Right. So it gives you that, you know, fast fashion, quick, you know, Oh yeah, I can put. You know, the Forbes logo on my website. Now I've been featured in Forbes, um, but it's going to have, you know, a quick, you know, moment with your audience, but it's not going to necessarily introduce you to a whole host of like new eyeballs.

So you just have to sort of understand like what your actual goals are. Are you, you know, are you launching something? Are you getting ready to fundraise? Are you getting ready to do something where, Hey, I need to see concrete. 10, you know, exact number of pieces in the media over the next 30 days. [00:20:00] All right, well, if you really want that fast, that quick of a turnaround, you might have to pay, uh, versus no, I'm in this for the long game.

I really want to make sure that any coverage is actually true earned media. They're doing a full, you know, deep dive on us, and it has that, you know, actual credibility behind it. Um, then you, you've got to be willing to give it a little bit more time and, and be patient, um, to see those results coming in.

Angela Gennari: Yeah, that makes so much sense. So when you're out there doing a campaign for someone, um, do you feel like it's a, it's a good idea to do kind of a mix of You know, media like PR and advertising, or do you really kind of go down one path?

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: So I always come back, you know, when, when some of our clients are interested in more traditional advertising, like a billboard or radio ad or buying ad space in a magazine,

Speaker 4: I always

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: want to make sure I understand, like, Their, their true budget, their true like high number, you know, for their marketing [00:21:00] overall.

Because in my mind, unfortunately I think that traditional advertising is probably going to have the least rate of conversion. Um, it's great if you've got the dollars, it's great if you're, you know, uh, Fortune 500 company, and you've got allocated your, you know, millions to every single bucket. But if you're a small business, then in my mind, traditional advertising is not where I would be putting my dollars.

And I, I love my friends that are in magazine, you know, publishing, and they're, you know, doing all of these wonderful things for their clients. But at the end of the day, if I have a. small business owner who's really watching their dollars and cents. I want to put them in front of people that are actually ready to make a decision or they're, or much further along in the customer journey.

And to me, you know, billboards or things like that is going to get you a ton of eyeballs, but maybe a tiny fraction of them are actually going to be ready to, to make a purchase.

Angela Gennari: Yeah, well, and I think it's important to go where your audience is, right? So I see all the [00:22:00] time people who have billboards up there and I'm like, why would that need to be a billboard?

Like people are just not, you know, rolling down the street looking for, you know, whatever the service is, you know, accounting, something crazy like. Why? Like what's the point of the billboard? Like a billboard to me is like a quick jolt of like, Hey, this is a brand. This is a brand. This is a brand. Or, Hey, we've got Bucky's coming up in the next, you know, exit and they'll have 14 billboards all in a row.

Right.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah.

Angela Gennari: But, you know, I, I feel like all the advertising, you have to go where your customers are. Right. Like, it's not going to help Bucky's to put it in a print ad. Right. Cause you're like prime. It's like 50 miles from me, but if you're 20 miles away from the exit, they have them all the way down the highway.

So it makes sense. So go where your customers are going to see you. Um, so one other question is, is print dead? Hmm. Yeah.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: I think it depends on who your audience is. Um, it's interesting that, you know, we've seen some [00:23:00] consumer brands go back to sending out like mailers and actual like magazines or, you know, like your old school kind of catalogs.

Like it's almost this like novel, you know, experience for your customers to feel like, Oh my gosh, they sent me an actual like catalog. This is amazing. So in some ways I think that print will always kind of have this like nostalgia or this like. Feeling of, you know, the, the brands that I am the most loyal to, I would love to get mail from, I would love to feel like I opened my, you know, mailbox and I've got a, a cool surprise from, you know, a retailer or something like that.

Um, but at the same time, I think that, you know, you've got a younger audience coming up that, you know, I just spoke a couple of weeks ago to a group of high school girls and I was asking. If you're a fashion brand, you know, what's a magazine or what's a, what's a media outlet. I think I said media outlet.

I said, what's a media outlet you would want to be featured in. And you know, you ask somebody my age that, and instantly I could say, you know, Vogue or InStyle or Glamour, or, you know, [00:24:00] I'm thinking magazines and they all start naming more influencer brands and like brand. Like individual people that they were thinking of, like if that clothing brand worked with that person, yes, I would be excited about it.

But it was so fascinating to me that they did not think of a traditional media outlet at all. I had, like, I think maybe one of the mentors, like, who was my age raised her hand and was like, Vogue, and I was like,

Angela Gennari: Yeah! Right, right. That's interesting. That's really interesting. Yeah, because I would, I would go the exact same way.

I'd be like, I want to be an entrepreneur magazine. I want to be in Forbes. I want to be in Vogue. Right. Yeah. That's so fascinating.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: And for a certain age demographic, absolutely. Print still carries weight. It's still a really cool, you know, feather in your cap to be able to say like, we've been featured here, here, here and here.

Um, but you have to understand, you know, who your audience is. Do they care about it? If not, then it's not worth your time.

Angela Gennari: Well, and I have found, and, you know, I was, I was featured in, [00:25:00] um, both Entrepreneur and, um, Inc., which was a huge, huge, like, milestone. Like I was like, I've made it, right? And so, like, that was like, because I've learned, I've spent 20 years learning from these magazines, but when it came time for the magazine to come out, I couldn't, I couldn't Freaking find them like I couldn't find them anywhere.

And so it's like, you know, I would get my like annual, my subscription, but like, I want to go buy a copy for my mom. I want to go buy a copy for my office. And so, but you can't find them. Like, I feel like when I go into like a grocery store or Target, it's all these like. Super specialty magazines, like knitting.

Yeah. You can't.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah. All hyper, hyper local. Yeah.

Angela Gennari: But like finding these like, you know, traditional magazines that we grew up with, you just can't find them anymore. Right. And so you have to go to a bookstore or you have to order them online or, but like finding them is the challenge.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah. Yeah. Same thing.

I, I've experienced [00:26:00] exactly the same thing. I was featured one time in the print publication of Newsweek, and I had to go to some random third party site to order a copy, and it took two weeks to come in. And by the time it came, it was the wrong issue I had ordered. And I was like, Oh my God, forget it. I think I was in there.

I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, but it was just so funny that like, they've made it, you know, so, so niche, but, um, you know, to your point, some of those local, local community, you know, publications, um, where you find it in the local grocery store or people can pick it up. We have had some clients be featured, you know, Oh, the new stores opening.

And Oh, I really follow it like here in San Antonio, we have one called community impact. Um, and we've actually seen an uptick of customers who say, Oh, I follow you and community impact. And I, I saw your store opening. So, you know, sometimes you will find kind of that older demographic that, that feels really, really proud to support small businesses, that they will follow those hyperlocal [00:27:00] publications.

Um, But, you know, maybe it's not a print publication, maybe it's your hyper local, uh, you know, email newsletter, like we have a couple here in San Antonio again, like SITX Today, and we have, uh, Axios that is here, and their email subscriber list is, you know, Wonderful engagement and, you know, hyper targeted audience.

Um, so don't discount, you know, those type of publications where it's not a flashy name. It's not Forbes. It's not Inc. It's not entrepreneur, but there's power in that audience, too.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. And, you know, if you're trying to build a base, we're better than your own backyard. So, yeah, I think that that's a really smart idea.

Yeah. And so, um, you know, I, I'm one who still reads the newspaper, like I get the business chronicle and I still like to flip through it. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel like, like I get to the back of it and I'm like, I did something versus, you know, they send me the exact same content in their newsletter.

But I don't read the newsletter because if I read the [00:28:00] newsletter, then I'm only reading like one or two articles. Whereas if I get the actual magazine, the actual newspaper, then I'm flipping through and I read the entire thing cover to cover. And so, you know, I feel like I've accomplished something versus like, Oh, I'll check out a few words of this and a few words of that.

And it's not the same dedication to the news.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah. Yeah. It's a different experience for sure. I think that there's, you know, something to be said for like something physical in people's hands. Um, you know, same thing with our local, you know, San Antonio biz journal. Um, you know, there's, there's an audience that feels very excited to see your name in that particular publication.

Um, and you know, again, if they're an audience that's looking for what you do and they, Yeah. See you in a type of publication that they feel is credible and valuable and, um, you know, hyper local. They're, they're much more, they're much more of a warm lead than just a billboard, you know, buzzing on by

Angela Gennari: a hundred percent.

And, and I see people that I know in like a business chronicle and I'll immediately [00:29:00] text them or email them, Hey, just read this great article about you. And they're like, you're the one like. Yeah. But it's like, no, these are, but like, if I like what I've been featured in them a couple times and I get more texts and emails from that than I ever did with ink and entrepreneur because people are picking it up and reading it, you know, a lot of people.

So yeah. Yeah. And

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: how, how powerful for you to be, you know, top of mind for them now, you know, that exact moment, they might not say, Hey, I've got a lead or a referral for you, but. If they do in, you know, the next 30, 60, 90 days, you're, you would think they're going to mention like, Oh, you've got to call Angela.

Like she was just featured in this and she's a big deal and she's killing it right now. And dah, dah, dah, dah. Like it's just adding to that conversation and keeping you top of mind with people that know you and love you and want to know how they can support you.

Angela Gennari: Yeah, that's, yeah, absolutely. And there's nothing that's more heartwarming as an entrepreneur than having people reach out and say, how can I help?

Or how can I support you? Cause that really means a lot and referrals, you know, [00:30:00] like we, we live and breathe referrals because, you know, it's expensive. You want that to go far, but speaking of marketing as a small business, what advice would you give in someone like a small business wanting to develop their very first marketing strategy?

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah, I would say, you know, a super deep dive on understanding who you are

Speaker 4: and

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: your customer is and what their pain point is, um, before you even publish, you know, that first post and then giving that. You know, concept, whatever it is that you come up with, giving it enough time to actually see if it works before you decide to pivot.

Um, you know, we've worked with small businesses before where it seems like every week they're changing their, you know, product or their offering or their, you know, something about their system is changing and it's like. Okay. If we're having a hard time keeping up, imagine how your customer is feeling right now.

Like what, what do they do? [00:31:00] How can I support them? Is it going to be open nine to five or eight to six or like, what is the, you know, the best way to connect with them? Um, so I think, you know, having that patient in mind that it's going to take time and, you know, when you decide, okay, this is our customer, this is their pain point, taking the feedback from that audience.

To eventually be able to tweak and understand, like, where did we miss the mark or where can we continue to kind of hone in? Um, we'll just help you to continue to get better and better, um, but that research component is not to be skipped over. It really is so critical, um, to lay that foundation first and then feel like, okay, we're ready to actually move forward.

Angela Gennari: Yeah, I agree. I think that's really important. Um, so, you know, who, um. One of the questions I ask all the time is who inspires you?

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Ooh, I love that question. Um, I would say, you know, my, my dad, uh, was a entrepreneur. He still is an [00:32:00] entrepreneur. Um, and my mom helped, uh, you know, with the family business as well.

Um, grew up on a family farm. And so I've. I've given actually a couple of different like talks and, and, uh, you know, uh, presentations on the lessons that I learned from having a dad who was a farmer and, and, uh, you know, definitely a very, very unique way to grow up. But, um, I think that. The inspiration that I took from them and, and that I continue to, you know, call them and ask for advice on is, you know, that feeling of, of we can figure it out, you know,

Speaker 4: I think there's so many

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: women that are in corporate jobs or more traditional kind of nine to fives where they just feel like the.

Unknowns of entrepreneurship are scary enough that they decide, like, I'm just not gonna, uh, there's no way I couldn't figure out health insurance. I couldn't figure out taxes. I couldn't figure out like all the back office stuff feels so intimidating. But seeing my parents go through it really made me feel because I am not [00:33:00] naturally a super, you know, uh, I'm a really adventurous, spontaneous, let's just go with the flow kind of person.

But the fact that I saw their example and I knew, no, we can do this. Like there's, there's options, there's alternatives, there's, you know, a life outside of just the, the corporate nine to five. Um, I, that made me so much more confident to make that move. So, um, always, always taking inspiration from them. Um, my mentor, Jenny Dietrich is another huge inspiration.

Um, she's the creator of the peso model. And we have been working with them as part of, um, uh, you know, larger sort of mentorship group over the past year. And, um, Jenny, I think has such a wonderful framework for people like me that feel like, okay, if I am going to continue to work with these, you know, small businesses, large businesses, like any type of client, I've got to be able to show our worth and our, our, you know, ROI.

And the peso model and the way that she's broken, broken it out, [00:34:00] um, does such a good job of actually making that actionable and, you know, easy to follow. And, um, you know, just a very, um, I think. Innovative approach for the PR and marketing and really integrated, you know, communications in general. Um, and I'm just, I'm so glad that I've had the chance to learn from her because you know, as soon as you decide, like, ah, I kind of know it all.

I'm good. I don't need to, you know, continue learning. You know, you're, you're dead in the water. So I'm, I'm so grateful to

Angela Gennari: her

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: for that.

Angela Gennari: Well, and I think that that, you know, that has definitely come about over the past several years as I've learned, um, about your, uh, celebrities versus influencers. Right. So you were saying like, if you think you know it all, you don't like, I thought, you know, we've, we've always grown up with celebrities being the people that you idolize.

And now that's not true. Like we are, I feel like we're in a movement where it's like a very anti celebrity movement where. People are almost like, Oh my gosh, why do you have [00:35:00] Beyonce on there? Nobody cares what she thinks, right? Versus an influencer who has so much more power and status than celebrities these days.

Like I've just noticed it's, it seems like, and I could be wrong. This is just my perspective. Um, but it feels like there's an anti celebrity. Movement happening where people and I think a lot of it is the diddy thing and you know Just feeling like celebrities have these like hidden lives and they're not as right They don't resonate because you know They're these multi millionaire billionaire people and they don't have anything in common with us whereas influencers So feel like they're one of us.

You know, they feel like they're, they're just a normal person who happens to have a platform and it doesn't feel so isolated from, you know, the celebrity culture, which I think people are becoming disenfranchised with. Yeah.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yeah. Yeah, I mean. You know, it's been, it's been a tough couple of years. I think people are, there's a lot of people struggling.

There's a lot of people who feel [00:36:00] uncertain of what the future holds. And, um, you know, to your point, I just, I, you know, have been obsessed with wicked, um, since it just came out and they, they talk about, you know, in that movie, you know, what caused people to start, Turn it against this certain demographic.

And it was, well, there was the drought and things were tough. And so they look for somebody to blame. And that's, I mean, I think exactly what you're talking about that when things are tough, celebrities feel totally tone deaf. They don't feel like, Oh, she knows my struggle. She knows what it's like. Um, whereas influencers do, and that's truly.

You know, I, I just saw an article the other day too, of influencers who were trying to post detox, uh, like affiliate links for products after the LA fires.

Angela Gennari: Oh, wow.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: So there's your like, you know, mega influencer saying, Oh, I think I've reached a status where I can hawk this product. And I can make sure that my audience knows they can do this and this and this and immediate backlash from their audience of like, [00:37:00] what are you doing?

Like people have lost their homes. They've lost everything. And Here you are, you know, making a quick buck off of a detox drink. Um, so it, it won't take much for people to turn on influencers either, but, you know, the ones that are smart and savvy enough to understand the, the power lies in your authenticity, um, I think will be the ones that actually, you know, go the furthest.

Angela Gennari: Mm hmm. Very, very interesting. Yeah. So it's fascinating because, I mean, I grew up where, you know, if you put Michael Jordan on anything, you're going to sell millions of dollars of it. Right. Yeah. But, you know, that was, that was what I grew up with. And, and now, you know, that's, that's death sentence, you know, it's like, you must really be struggling if you have to use a celebrity to endorse your product.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Right. Yeah. Well, and I, I don't know that they convert as well as people think they convert, you know, like We've had clients that, you know, were a jewelry brand and had a really famous, you know, actress share it on her stories. And we thought, Oh, let's brace ourselves. That's going to sell like [00:38:00] crazy, blah, blah, blah.

And it was just. Nothing, you know, nothing coming through. And I think, you know, to your point, I would much rather, you know, see somebody share a relatable Amazon haul of like, no, this is like a cute necklace, but it's not a necklace necklace. Like that's just a wonderful aspirational and wonderful for people to see, like she has great style.

Um, but do I feel like I can afford what she affords? Um, so yeah, it's really, you know, again, going back to what we talked about in the very beginning, just making sure that you're telling the story and you're connecting and you're resonating with your actual audience.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. So to kind of pivot back to some of the questions that we always ask on every podcast, as women, we often give our power away in some way or another.

Is there a time that you've given your power away and maybe another time that you've stepped into your power? Ooh,

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: boy. I mean, I have certainly had, you know, [00:39:00] former clients where, you know, you're the only woman in the room and it's very easy to feel like, Oh, I've got to kind of make myself smaller. Like it's, it's a very, uh, scary place to raise your voice and feel like if you disagree that you're welcome to share those types of opinions.

Um, so absolutely. I can think of, you know, some moments like that, but, um, I would say, you know, over the last two to three years, I think, especially as I get closer to turning 40, they always say like you run out of Fs to give by the time you turn 40. So true. I'm getting. I'm getting there. Like mine might hit earlier because I have, you know, businesses and kids and all the things like pushing me.

I'm running out of F's much at a much faster rate than, than the normal person maybe. Um, but yeah, I, I, there's been a few, you know, times over the years where I have, you know, been terrified to speak up for myself, but every time that I do, it is so [00:40:00] validating and reassuring that. Um, you know, you made the right call, you did the right thing, um, you know, your, your gut and your intuition, um, is one of your superpowers as a woman, I think.

So, um, learning to actually trust that and, and not let the voice in your head kind of talk you out of it, um, is when the real kind of magic starts.

Angela Gennari: Ikela, I can't even tell you that statement because there is, there's been recent times and, and I mean, I should know better, but there's been recent times where I'm like, I knew something wasn't right, I knew it wasn't right, but I talked myself out of it, I talked myself out of believing the intuition, believing that feeling.

And you're right. It is our superpower. And we are so quick to ignore it. Like, I'm just being paranoid. You know, it's just, you know, I shouldn't think that way. I shouldn't, I shouldn't automatically be suspicious. But you know, when you know, you know, and yeah, I mean, just so many recent times where I'm just kind of [00:41:00] like, If I had just that little whisper in my head, you know, maybe slow down, maybe stop, maybe pivot.

And I just didn't because I convinced myself that people had my best interest in mind or people were being honest or, and you just know, you just know anyway. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. But you're right. It is our superpower. We just need to learn how to harness it for good and stop thinking it's, it's, you know, meant to harm us in some way.

Right. Yeah. What advice would you give to your 18 year old self? Oh boy, 18

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: year old Akilah.

Speaker 4: Uh huh.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Um, boy, I think, you know, I, I was a very, you know, type A, walk the straight line, tell me what I'm supposed to do and I'll do it, you know, to the T. He kind of kid, um, and I, you know, I still, I warned my husband.

So I'm like, I don't know if I've had my rebel phase yet. Like I've never really had like my, [00:42:00] you know, um, moment where I'm totally, you know, bucking the system. So I wish in college, maybe I would have lightened up a little bit. Like I was just so heads down, focus, do the right thing. Don't get too crazy.

And I feel like there's an emotional intelligence component where. You know, if you take advantage of the college years to build, you know, super strong relationships and learn how to like connect with people and all of that, it can really, you know, take you, take you far in, in, you know, the real world. Um, whereas I was so intellectual, like focused on, you know, let me get the best grades possible.

But then it was like when I stepped into my adult life, I had to kind of catch up in that regard. Um, So yeah, not, not to say that I wish I would have like, you know, partied like crazy in college, but just, just had a little more fun. Just let it loosen up a little bit.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. I was probably on the exact same track as you, you know, I need to get on the Dean's list.

I need to graduate with this honors and I need to do this and I need to do that. And then when I got into. [00:43:00] Out of college and I'm in my early twenties is when I made all the dumb mistakes. And I'm like, this is what I should have done in college when I had a bubble around me, you know, cause I always say like college is that perfect opportunity between adulthood and childhood where you're in a bubble and you can't, you're, you're held responsible, but you're excused.

You've, you've given a lot more grace. A lot more in college, you know, you can do dumb things in college. You're like, Ash is in college where you get to be an adult and, you know, out of college. And even if you're like 23, you're like, you should know better. I'm like, yeah,

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: yeah, absolutely. And like, how many times have I been asked for my college GPA over the years?

Like zero, you know, it's, it's really not as. Serious and as, you know, extreme as what you think it is. Um, so yeah, that would, that would definitely be my advice for 18 year old Akilah, but

Angela Gennari: yeah, yeah, I can completely relate to that. So, um, this has been super fun and I've really enjoyed talking to you. Um, I just have one more question for you.

What do you wish more people [00:44:00] knew? Hmm.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: I wish more people knew the truly, I think the biggest thing that has made a difference in my life is my love of reading and how much that impacted my ability to communicate and you know, write well, speak well, and I think that's the You know, everything I think in terms of being a curious type person connects back to whatever field you go into.

It doesn't have to be the PR and marketing field. Um, but yeah, I was just talking to my best friend about that the other day that I can't tell you how many times I go back. And I think like, I am so glad that I just absorbed as much information as possible when I was really young, because I think that just sets you up for success in so many different areas.

Angela Gennari: It sure does. It helps you to think through things and know how to answer intelligently and come up with great stories, you know, and, and yeah, I agree. I think reading is really one of [00:45:00] those things that we don't do enough of anymore. You know, short attention spans, we click, click, click, click, and then that's it.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you so much. This has been a lot of fun and I've really enjoyed talking with you.

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Yes, absolutely. Angela, thank you so much. I really enjoyed it as well.

Angela Gennari: Well, um, where can people find you?

Aquila Mendez-Valdez: Sure, so we are at hithitpr. com if you want to check out our website. Um, or we are out in Texas across pretty much every social media channel.

So that's H A U T E I N and then Texas spelled all the way out. Um, but I'd love to connect if anybody, you know, is listening and wants to. to, uh, you know, chat about PR marketing or share your, you know, to be read list and let me know what I should be still absorbing as far as information goes. Um, I'd love to

Angela Gennari: love to chat.

Awesome. Well, thank you so much again. And you can also find a kilo on pretty powerful podcast. com [00:46:00] and we will see you guys next time. Have a great day.

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