Because Business is Personal

Empathic Marketing for Schools: PR Strategies with Kathleen Kennedy

• Mike Caldwell/Kathleen Kennedy • Season 1 • Episode 6

Share episode

Send us a text

You can reach out to Kathleen on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleenkennedyapr/

And "X" (Twitter) at: https://twitter.com/KennedyAPR

In this episode of "Because Business is Personal," I had the pleasure of hosting Kathleen Kennedy, a school communication and PR expert, as we delved into the world of empathic strategies for engaging stakeholders and mobilizing resources.

Kathleen shared her invaluable expertise on raising awareness of communication needs among school administrators and creating customized PR programs to help them achieve their goals. One key aspect she highlighted was the power of meaningful stories that humanize the school experience and meet audiences' basic needs.

The heart of empathic storytelling emerged as we discussed how a simple narrative about a student stealing milk to feed himself on the weekend unearthed a deeper need, allowing stakeholders to connect emotionally and invest their resources wholeheartedly. We agreed that authentic stories have the incredible ability to activate empathy and build unwavering support.

In terms of real-life applications, Kathleen suggested dedicating specific focus time daily to your highest revenue-generating marketing activity. By consistently putting yourself in front of your audience, you can raise your profile and create abundant opportunities for growth.

The impact of empathic strategies on your audience cannot be overstated. Listeners will learn how to forge genuine connections with their stakeholders, resulting in improved outcomes and a lasting impact on their community.

Kathleen's credibility is undeniably impressive. As the founder of OKCCE, she has helped Oklahoma school districts access an astounding $1 billion in resources through her communication counsel. Her strength and resilience were also evident as she managed PR during the devastating 2013 Moore tornado, which tragically claimed the lives of seven students.

If you're eager to transform your marketing strategies with empathy, storytelling, and focus, I encourage you to listen to the full episode. Kathleen's expertise is unparalleled in the field of school communication, making this discussion an invaluable resource for all marketers and communicators.

Eager to harness the power of Empathic Marketing to propel your business growth? Get your hands on my #1 Amazon Best Selling book, 'Empathic Marketing,' or book a '30-Minute Gap Analysis' session directly from my website: www.becausebusinessispersonal.com.

Discover a wealth of knowledge in our podcast archives at www.becausebusinessispersonal.com.

Stay connected and follow me on social media for more insights and updates:

Join our community and elevate your marketing game today!

Mike Caldwell:

Hey, welcome to the Because Business is Personal podcast, the podcast where empathy meets marketing strategy. I'm your host, mike Caldwell, but I'm also known as the marketing medic. Now, the reason for that is because, before becoming a marketing strategist, I actually worked as a paramedic for 12 years, and it was during that time that I realized how important it was to truly understand the problems your patient was facing before you started providing treatment. And it's the same understanding, the same empathy, is just as crucial when it comes to understanding our prospects and making sales, and that's why, in each episode, we'll dissect the art of empathic marketing, exploring how top professionals infuse empathy into their strategies to build stronger relationships, boost their sales and make a lasting impact. So buckle up and prepare to turn up the dial on your marketing effectiveness. As we gear up to dive deeper into the realm of empathic marketing, I'd like to share a couple of special offers with you. First, you can get a free copy of my international bestselling book Empathic Marketing. You only need to cover the cost of shipping. Reading this will provide you with a much more in-depth understanding of the empathy-based marketing approach that we explore in this show. Next, I'm offering a 50% discount on a transformative 30-minute gap analysis session with me. Reading this session will identify the hurdles in your marketing efforts and together will develop an actionable roadmap aimed at winning you more clients and making you more sales. Just visit my website, wwwbecausebusinessispersonalcom to grab your book or use coupon code podcast to take advantage of my gap analysis offer. So why wait? Let's start turbocharging your marketing strategy today. Now let's get started with our episode.

Mike Caldwell:

Hey everyone, welcome to Because Business Is Personal. Today we've got a special guest with us. We have Kathleen Kennedy. Kathleen's passion is advancing public education for all children by providing school administrators with public relations and communication counsel. Kennedy opened the Center for Communication and Engagement to assist schools without a communication professional. In eight years, she helped Oklahoma districts by providing $1 billion in resources for teachers and students. Although she started her career hoping to be a famous journalist, she found her true calling working in PR for a technology center. She also led a team of 12 at the communication chief of Urban School District for seven years. During her tenure in school communications, kennedy worked on significant crisis teams, including disasters such as the May 20, 2013 tornado in Moore, oklahoma, that killed seven children during the school day. Kennedy is also a communication coach for educators, hosts a podcast on school communications and a master class on education leadership, and she's a single mom of an 11-year-old, so let's welcome Kathleen Kennedy to the show.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Thanks, I'm excited to be here.

Mike Caldwell:

Hey, Kathleen.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Hey.

Mike Caldwell:

Kathleen. So, as we all know, this podcast is called Because Business is Personal and my book's called Empathic Marketing. So I'm all about the personal side of things before we dive into the business. So what's something non-business related about you that our listeners may find interesting or quirky?

Kathleen Kennedy:

Interesting and quirky Okay so. Or Interesting and or quirky right.

Mike Caldwell:

Okay.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Yeah, wow, so I'm a single mom by choice, but I, in my spare time, which is few and far between, I am a big collector of turtles, live turtles. Oh no, gosh, no, I don't like snakes.

Kathleen Kennedy:

We're talking about like no, I just collect turtles and I have some like behind me, but there's a story behind that. It's like a really slow and steady progress. Once I was talking about it and then, but it also dates back to college days and part of the sorority thing, and so now I have a. It's like a conversation story. That's very random, so Okay, okay.

Mike Caldwell:

Yeah, I worked with a real estate coach and his spirit animals a rhino, a rhinoceros everything he does is rhinoceros related, but a turtle, that's interesting.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Yeah, we've heard outer shells were soft on the inside and we make slow and steady progress.

Mike Caldwell:

Perfect, I like that. I like that. That really ties into marketing too, I think, because so many people think they're just going to like rush out of the gates and crush it with their first step bat and 10. That doesn't work that way. You need the slow and steady progress yeah. As long as you're moving forward, you're moving.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Yes, progress.

Mike Caldwell:

Yes, so are you. Would you classify yourself as an entrepreneur or business owner?

Kathleen Kennedy:

Oh yeah, well, yes, for sure Okay.

Mike Caldwell:

So what, what? What is your business? Because I know you work for the school boards and stuff.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Now, right, yeah, so wow. In 2001, I had my first school PR job and and marketing with the technology center, and so I worked there for seven years. I worked for a large urban school district for seven years and led their communication team, and then I was fired.

Mike Caldwell:

Okay.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Me and about five other people on the leadership team were fired. It's all political, motivated and driven, and it is in that kind of industry at the top when they're wanting change. So our superintendent had retired and I was like crap, what am I going to do? I had a one and a half year old at that time and I was like I've got to feed her and provide for her and myself and I thought I would retire in that job because I loved it so much.

Mike Caldwell:

And so.

Kathleen Kennedy:

I was a little heartbroken and I pouted for a day and then I was like, okay, it's time to go and I wanted to keep serving schools the way I was in my job that I had just got let go from. So I was like there's 500 and I think 60 at the time school districts in Oklahoma and so I was like there's a need. There are about 20 of them, had someone full time helping them with marketing and communications and PR, and so there was a giant need to help serve school districts and that's how I started, Like that's what I launched into.

Mike Caldwell:

Okay, so you're like a consultant. Do you work as a consultant for these different school boards?

Kathleen Kennedy:

Okay, so I started my business with the sole mission of doing what I did in a district, but for myself, and then I could hold, and I could help multiple school districts, so I didn't have to work for one singular board that was, let's say, politically driven. Okay, okay.

Mike Caldwell:

I think my first question is I don't think of a school as requiring marketing or PR, so can you explain why that Wow?

Kathleen Kennedy:

That's so funny because so my first job, when a friend of mine, I had worked for a nonprofit after being in television on my short, like three year journey, you get your degree and you're like I think I'm going to do this forever and like what does it?

Kathleen Kennedy:

mean to be and I have the perfect name for television, kathleen Kennedy. And you know like I hated it. And so I got into nonprofit and while I was there I was asked to be on the front lines after a tornado and they wanted me to deliver the news in our area and kind of on our side. And so a friend of mine is like, oh, you'd be really great in PR and marketing for a technology center. And I was like, what is that? Like you just put buttons on people and you like market with, like you know, you know I'm talking about like the metal ones.

Mike Caldwell:

Yeah.

Kathleen Kennedy:

And so I was like okay, so that was not what it was, and it was we are marketing the programs and services and I had loved it because as a student in high school I was in. Have you ever heard of DECA?

Mike Caldwell:

I'm in Canada, so oh, okay.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Okay, so DECA is a I thought it was an international program but it's a marketing and education program like teaches students in high school marketing programs and stuff. So I got my love and my calling for it as a junior in high school and it was amazing, and so it's kind of like planted the seeds. And then I went back to that when I was in my first school PR and marketing job. It was like, how do I market and get students interested in coming to a school that they can enroll in? They didn't have to, they weren't forced to go there, you got to choose to go there, and so that's a whole different ball game. And so it was all about creating ambassadors and they're helping you market. So you had student ambassadors to help you market. It's a really interesting concept to bring into business and, along the way, because you want your references related, tell your stories, right.

Kathleen Kennedy:

So it's kind of the same thing, yeah, okay.

Mike Caldwell:

Interesting. Okay, I think I got it now and so I don't. I was going to ask you what motivated you to become an entrepreneur, but we've got that. Have you had any regrets since making that decision?

Kathleen Kennedy:

Well, for the first couple of years I did, you know I would be like, okay, I'm doing this. And then, at the same time, I'm applying for jobs, like you know, like, oh, I need something permanent, this is going to be scary and hard and whatever. And I'll tell you what. Like I had one of those dads growing up that was like you know, you're on a schedule, you're doing what it takes to get it done, and he didn't care if you liked it, you're just going to do it right. And it's like he was hardcore, hard nosed, but he was business right. I think all of my sisters have a business minor.

Mike Caldwell:

Okay.

Kathleen Kennedy:

So that we had like a background and to fall onto and we needed it and like super smart advice from my dad. But when I told him my business idea, he became my biggest champion, like he's like yes, it makes so much sense, keep going, keep going, keep going. At first, when I first got laid off, he was like go find any job, like work in a bank, and I was like I could. The life would be sucked out of me if I had to work in bank marketing and PR.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Like I could feel my soul draining, and so once I would do this and was getting more leverage, he's like keep going, keep going, and so he was my driver.

Mike Caldwell:

Okay, so one of the things I talk about in with my marketing. What I do is I look at your audience's level of awareness how where are they have their problem, how aware of their solutions, right, and so it seems to me that you kind of created your own sort of position, like niche I guess. So when you would go to a school to say I can help you, they were probably at the unaware stage, like they're like how can you help me? We don't have a problem, but they have problems.

Mike Caldwell:

Yes, but they weren't aware of it, right, am I right?

Kathleen Kennedy:

Totally in the unaware stage, which is I'm so glad you brought that up, because for me it is it's twofold. You know they definitely need the services and I know that, but it is creating an awareness of the need, and so where I'm best at at meeting, that is going out in person and delivering like small um in person presentations, so in groups of superintendents or in administrative leadership. So I would reach out to people that I knew and I'd go start speaking and that's my bread and butter. That is how, like, because one person's like oh, that sounds like a good idea, and then there's like 10 or 15 of them and they're like whoa, we didn't know that that was an issue, right, yeah, so it's generating that, that and and like it was one that built on another and they built on another, and so I I love doing that.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Plus, I go and speak to, like, college classes, not not um, your bachelor's programs, but master's and doctoral level, where they are going back for furthering education, and so I'll go and speak to those classes as well, because they're in their learning specifically about becoming administrators and so that's my opportunity to go. Boom, you need this, and they're mind blown a little bit about, like, all the things that they're going to face as an administrator and what they need.

Mike Caldwell:

Wow, very cool. Yeah, and these superintendents aren't going home at night and like Googling, trying to find you because they don't know they need you until you tell them.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Yeah, right. Or and then I, you know, worked with so many people over the years now, um, that it's reference based a lot and of course, you love reference based clients, right. Like last year I had three that they were all in the same doctoral cohort and let's now all five of them are my clients that were in the same in the same.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Yeah, Like I was like they're all five, yeah, I'm doing work with all five of them and um and so like that is the best place to be and I love all five of them, like, but they're all super different and they all have. And what I talked to my clients about is you have to know your own audience and and have to deliver to your audience, like what they need and what they are wanting, and so I get to go in and learn about their audience and then create a custom program for them. I'm not delivering, like you know, like canned material for every single person.

Mike Caldwell:

And that's so important. Like so in my marketing world, online direct response marketing we've got click funnels and Russell Brunson and his big thing is, you know, funnel hacking. You know, just find something that's working and do the same thing as them but, like you said, every odd, like you are, you've got five clients that are the same client but they're all completely different. You can't give them the same canned solution and so that's like funnel hacking doesn't work, cause every like. If it was, then you know you would just have a program that you gave to all five people, plug and play, let it go Great and then you like just generate it and you go on to the next and you make money.

Kathleen Kennedy:

And that's not how it works. You have to find that and it's like kind of like that, like what? How do people hear about you and and what are they looking for? You got to tap into that and everybody's different, like every community is looking for something different.

Mike Caldwell:

Awesome. So this brings me to the next question, which is which is perfect Can you share an interesting story about a major challenge you faced in your business and how you overcame it?

Kathleen Kennedy:

Oh man, oh yeah, I mean, there's so many, it's just but easy peasy, I've never had any challenges.

Mike Caldwell:

What are you talking about?

Kathleen Kennedy:

If it's not a challenge, you're not doing it right. Let's just start with that right.

Mike Caldwell:

Every day of sunshine and roses here. I don't know.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Oh my gosh. So really, the if you get comfortable this is for me, this is I may not be everybody right, but like if you get too comfortable and you're like going along and you leave what originally started you out in that good path, and that's where you've got to go back, to Like you've got to do what works for you. Have you ever read the book the One Thing by Gary Keller?

Mike Caldwell:

No, I know of it, but I'm not.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Marketing book right, he's Keller Williams.

Mike Caldwell:

Yeah, yeah, no, I know it yeah for sure. I just thought it was mostly a real estate base, so I haven't read it.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Well, you know what? That's what I was thinking, because I'm like, okay, what is that going to? But if you focus on the one thing that drives the most revenue in your business, that's everything else is going to fall into place. And that was his core message and I was like, okay, so for me it's speaking right, like getting out there and speaking and sharing my message, and I'm like holy crap. And then I have another mentor who is Shanda Sumter. She is amazing and started I went through a transformational leadership program about a year and a half ago.

Kathleen Kennedy:

So one of her things is your priority focus time, like setting a schedule every single day during the week and don't let anyone for any reason interrupt it. Don't like time block it out. And I'm like combining those two ideas in my time block and that's all I spend. Is that focus time in there? And it is a game changer. And so, because I went from having some massive clients who decided, oh, we no longer need you anymore because we're gonna do this on our own or they've hired someone full time to do it, and I'm like, whoa, wait a minute. They jumped off ship and I wasn't prepared because I wasn't out there speaking all the time and I wasn't constantly looking for those opportunities. And so now, not only that, I looked in that focus time and I'm like where are the bigger fish? Where can I go bigger and play in a bigger audience? Like so now I'm going to national audiences that cater just to the superintendents, and so I have found that. But that's my one thing right, like those are my still fall into my one thing.

Mike Caldwell:

Okay.

Kathleen Kennedy:

So my challenge was I wasn't doing what I need to be doing to keep that business momentum moving.

Mike Caldwell:

Right, okay, I think the way I like to end this podcast is with like what an action item we can take away. But before we get to that one, that final one, I think this is a super powerful one, because we've all, especially business owners, like, cause I've been there I don't know how many times, like I've got a couple of clients, they're paying the bills, I got lots of times off and things are going great. And then he retired. I'm like whoa, whoa, no, you can't retire. Yeah, I got to replace you. How am I going to replace you? Right, cause, like you say, are you wearing?

Kathleen Kennedy:

Superintendents last year retire and one died. So Well, I mean I knew it was coming, but then that contract and it was my biggest one ended and it had been my bread and butter for five years.

Mike Caldwell:

Right.

Kathleen Kennedy:

So yeah.

Mike Caldwell:

Yeah, so I think that's the important takeaway as a business owner is don't get too comfortable. Yes, so to get those first clients, you put a whole bunch of work in to get them, and you don't need to stop. Yeah, but you don't have to keep going at that level, right, like if you're doing whatever like six hours a day to promote yourself, to get those big clients. You can just wrap it back to like one or two hours a day, but you have to do those one or two hours a day, yeah.

Kathleen Kennedy:

To me, this focus time and the focusing on the one thing that drives everything to my front door is critical. It's mission critical for me and it was so powerful cause I went back and I actually looked at what my outcomes were and my input and the outcomes were like holy moly. I have like so, because I have so many different facets of my business. So there's the coaching, the masterclass and the podcast, and then my PR and communication firm, because I have employees that contract with me and that I have a full-time PR coordinator that works for me, and so I have other people that are like relying on a salary now and it's like okay you gotta go for it.

Kathleen Kennedy:

You gotta go all in and it's important yeah.

Mike Caldwell:

That changes things too, once you start hiring employees and, like I, get a lot of it.

Kathleen Kennedy:

It was a scary jump.

Mike Caldwell:

Yeah, Like this is this sort of off topic a little bit. But when I applied to medical school and I'm pretty good at tests, like I just I've always been able to pass tests on my own by skating by somehow. But when I was applying to McMaster the university in Canada called McMaster University they had a different process in that they didn't really have as many lectures, they had like tutorial groups. And so, let's say, you and I were in the same tutorial group and this week we have to learn about the heart. So it's like okay, you learn about the anatomy and physiology, I will learn about the biomechanics of it, you learn about the diseases, and then there's like six of us. We all learn a different component, and then we have to go in and teach the other people about it.

Kathleen Kennedy:

So great, what a great way to do that.

Mike Caldwell:

Oh my gosh, because the accountability I would have for you is so much higher than the accountability I have for myself, right?

Kathleen Kennedy:

Like I'm happy with the seat. I just learned everything.

Mike Caldwell:

Yeah, like I'm happy just to pass, right, I can skate by with just to pass and grade. But I know if you're gonna spend, like you know, 40 hours researching your stuff so that you could give me your best information, then I got a responding kind right. So, luckily I didn't get into med school.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Oh.

Mike Caldwell:

Because that would have stressed me out. But yeah, there is a different, definitely a different dynamic when you're accountable to other people, which is a great segue into my next question how do you incorporate empathy into your marketing strategies and can you share an example where this has made a significant impact?

Kathleen Kennedy:

Okay, yes, so in the United States, the public education system has been just driven in divisive ways through politics. It's taking a cut right and there's agendas, and so to me and this is the true for any business you really need to humanize it, and a lot of times. So one of the things that I do is I scan and do a lot of research before I work with clients and I take a look at their websites and I'm like oh, it's pictures of buildings. Yeah, that's not telling me what's going on inside the buildings that you're serving children. Oh, you have students and teachers. It's like, show me the kids that are having fun learning, or show me the teachers and introduce me to those people. And so you've got to connect with your audience, whoever it is. And so my way of sharing those stories is by creating authentic, vulnerable communication pieces, whether I'm doing that on a crisis situation or whether I'm doing it in the marketing right, like if I'm marketing a program and surface, I am marketing them because I'm talking about the lives that it's changing. Or if I'm telling about something that happened in a crisis like one of my favorite stories that was super pivotal in my time in the urban school district is. We had a student who was caught stealing milk out of school on a Friday afternoon. If you dive underneath, what was wrong behind that is that child was stealing milk because he was going to be hungry over the weekend and he didn't know how to feed himself. And that's heartbreaking.

Kathleen Kennedy:

But when you tell those stories, it allows people to connect to the needs right, because you're providing a service and you're fulfilling needs. But there's a if you've studied this at all Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. If you don't fulfill people's basic needs at first, you can't even begin to meet their upper needs right On that triangle. So you have to be able to feed those children before you can educate them. And that, for me, was the connecting piece and it was like, ooh, we have stories to tell about what's going on in our buildings and in our marketing and that's how we're gonna connect people and make it real and make it where people wanna invest their time and their resources and their money. Because when I talk about how I've provided a billion dollars in services to schools, that's because I'm able to connect people to the needs and that's need-driven marketing for me. And like being authentic and empathy and talking about that vulnerability piece.

Mike Caldwell:

Wow, you just gave a huge epiphany to me, because I've been teaching empathy for I don't know how long and I know all about Maslow's hierarchy but I haven't incorporated it. And that. How, how could I have missed that? That's such a huge part when with empathy is right, is getting the deepest Needs. Wow. I'm gonna have to go back and redo everything I've done. But no, I'm gonna. I'm not gonna redo everything, but I'm gonna start incorporating it for sure.

Kathleen Kennedy:

A little tweak is just all you need, yeah.

Mike Caldwell:

Yeah, wow, that's super, super powerful, of course. Oh, here's a cool question I like to ask. So do you have any Stories of campaigns that were upside down? They can be upside down either way, so either a campaign that you were sure would crush it but it flopped, or it's like I don't know if it's gonna work. It was kind of a Hail Mary, but it ended up like just absolutely like.

Kathleen Kennedy:

It's a marketing one, and I was Like I didn't know if it would work because it was like super out there for a school district, right, like it it was. It was just like, oh, should we do this? And I and I pitched it. I watched the Super Bowl. Yes, couple years ago I watched the Super Bowl and I watched specifically for the ads, like I could care less about like one or two teams playing Right. And so I called the superintendent that I was working with the next day and I'm like did you watch Super Bowl? He's like, of course I watched it. He watches for football, yeah, and the team yeah, the team in that district that I was working with.

Kathleen Kennedy:

I said did you two watch it as well? And the one lady is like oh, yeah, but I was hosting a party, so I sort of saw it, sort of didn't. And this other one was like I watched it for the commercials. And I was like so do you remember the commercial with the QR code that bounced all around the the TV in different colors? It was a neon colors.

Mike Caldwell:

Okay, I'm in Canada, so we don't. Yeah, it sucks, we don't get us commercials.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Okay, okay, okay. Oh, that's right, you probably wouldn't see that, okay. So it bounced. This is like a genius commercial in my and it may have been two or three years ago, I can't remember now, but it bounced around all over in in bright colors, neon colors, and it changed colors when it would go around the screen. So I I looked at that and I was like, oh my gosh, and my daughter's like, mom, get your phone. And she's like, so she's Scanning the code because she wants to know what it was. We got to see it. I don't even remember the company that's terrible, right, but they're their. Their site crashed because they had too many people that went to it. Right, is so cool.

Kathleen Kennedy:

So how can I take that and implement that idea? Because I was like what if we did a marketing campaign? Because this school district was trying to grow its audience of the number of kids that were enrolling and mark and moving into the district, and I like this is that Hail Mary pitch? And I was like, are you willing to go there with me?

Kathleen Kennedy:

So we, I got a geo fencing and mapped around their district of where the kids were and my mailing company was able to identify age three to I think it was eighth grade to kids in that age group, right.

Kathleen Kennedy:

And so we sent a postcard with the QR code that went to we created a website, just specifically a landing page about marketing and enrolling to that, to that district, and it was linked to that QR code and we were like we know you want to look and that was all we put. On the flip side, of course, we had to have the mailing address and the postage or whatever, and that's all we put was like we know you want to look, we know you're curious, or whatever it was. And so they got some enrollments off of it, because that's what their focus was and they're only. They were a tiny school district, so they weren't like hoping to get more than like 10 or 15. And I I know we drove I wish I had the metrics pulled up in front of me, but we drove the engagement up of that piece and then they also had some some actual enrollments from that as well. I'd have to go look it up and let you know.

Mike Caldwell:

Oh, wow, that's yeah. Curiosity based campaigns are fun.

Kathleen Kennedy:

But it was so like Different in school and the world of schools, right Like they were like oh yeah, let's totally do it. So everybody was excited, it was total Hail Mary, because nobody had ever done it. And, yeah, fun, it was fun. I.

Mike Caldwell:

Think the number one marketing campaign that I remember Before becoming a marketer and like paying attention to that sort of stuff.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Yeah.

Mike Caldwell:

I was. I think I was in Maybe university or I was just working as an ambulance tenant. For my first years I was in Hamilton, ontario, canada. It's a steel town. Anyway. Somebody bought like all the billboards and put the face of a red bulldog on the billboard. And it's just a bulldog space. It was red and that's it. And we're driving around and everywhere we're going we're seeing this red bulldog. You're like what the heck is this red bulldog? There's nothing with it.

Mike Caldwell:

It's super cool. Yes, it's just a red bulldog. And then months later, like bulldog beer, red dog beer hits the market and boom like everybody needed to try this beer because we've just been seeing this red bulldog fade. And this is before. Like MicroBrewers are famous and are popular.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Yeah, yeah.

Mike Caldwell:

But it was just such a strong campaign because of the curiosity, like for everybody's talking about it Like what's that red dog? Do you know what that is? I don't know. We all have our different ideas. I love those kind of campaigns.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Yeah, it builds the curiosity.

Mike Caldwell:

And.

Kathleen Kennedy:

I've seen a couple others do that too. That have been fun. And you like, they mailed out mugs, like coffee mugs, to everybody in the community and it was kind of driven like that. It had something on it and then they sent the other half of which being another mug later on, and this was like in a one community and I don't remember what it was for, but I just thought that's clever. I love paying attention to that kind of stuff. It drives me because schools are unexpected places where you don't think you need to market but you do when you, when we're in this competition era and we are. That's what we're facing a lot of times now. It's like marketing. You have to be out there telling your story, being empathetic, using that empathy and connecting with your audience, but being fun and clever about it too.

Mike Caldwell:

Yeah, and that's part of the empathy is like cause, we know that people want to be entertained more than anything. I don't know where that falls in Maslow's hierarchy I gotta look again. But yeah, but yeah, we want to be entertained. So if you don't understand that, then you're gonna miss the mark. So what were some life changing and defining moments in your career?

Kathleen Kennedy:

Wow, that's a good one. The single most defining moment was being on the communication team, volunteer communication team, and we supported the May tornado that killed seven students in more Oklahoma.

Mike Caldwell:

Okay.

Kathleen Kennedy:

During the school day, I helped tell the stories of those students, of each of the seven, and the teachers who laid across their bodies while the tornado was going over. It really was pivotal for me. They didn't have communication in any capacity. Their admin building that housed their technology was hit this is before cloud right and so they had zero way to connect to their community. So we built everything from the ground up and that is the ultimate version of. Like empathy marketing is being around fragile stories and stories of triumph and resilience and building them back up. But that is the place where I had worked on so many crises, but that was the single most important moment in my life and it literally shaped exactly where I was headed and where I was going. Like I knew that that was what I'm gonna do for what I was called to do and what I'm good at.

Mike Caldwell:

Yeah, things like that definitely changed you. I had a similar death toll in Leadville, colorado. I was a work as a paramedic and we got a call early in the morning to some unconscious teenagers at a residence and what had happened is there was seven high school kids went to the bowling alley we're shooting guns just because they're kids doing stupid stuff the police came, police chased them, they got away and they went into the garage of their dad's house and it was winter and they just stayed in their cars hiding, drinking beers with the engines, writing, listening to music, and so all seven of them died of carbon monoxide poisoning and so there was nothing I could do for them. But this was a Hispanic family and you know how big and tight Hispanic families are in that sort of in that area and yeah, and so like I couldn't help the victims, the teenagers, but there was so much I could do and I needed to do for the family.

Mike Caldwell:

Like we had like two or three heart attacks come in that day. We had like just so many other emotions, like stress-based emergencies that came into the ER and then you had to deal with those patients, but then you also had to deal with, like the people who brought them in. It was just so much emotion and, yeah, that definitely changed you and it teaches you to look at things in a much bigger picture, I think.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Right, for sure it was. It's stamped on my heart and I'd say that now, when we have tornadoes in Oklahoma, it's a, it's a little stressful.

Mike Caldwell:

Yeah, yeah, I guess. Yeah, a little bit of PTSD there, for sure.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Sure sure, yeah, yeah. Well, you know that was. Another thing we learned about in crisis communications is that we take in schools we provide counseling for teachers, students, families that need it, the resources we provide it for the administrators, but usually the people leading those crises and helping communicate in them are the last to think about needing any resources, and it's so. Now it's a game changer. You make sure that that's in your plan, so yeah.

Mike Caldwell:

And you hit that nail on the head as well, because, yeah, that was such an impact on our community and I was the guy who spearheaded getting all the critical incident stress, debriefing, and everybody got it and I didn't go.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Right Not.

Mike Caldwell:

Everybody but me.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Right, yeah, I didn't have time, I was helping. I know I get it, I totally get it.

Mike Caldwell:

Yeah, well, on that happy note, let's see if you can share one actual marketing strategy or tip that our listeners can implement today to start seeing results.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Well, I think I kind of shared it at the beginning. Yeah, but I'll go over it again, is that?

Mike Caldwell:

yeah.

Kathleen Kennedy:

I cannot like get you to get the point across enough is that that dedicated time on your calendar focus time where you don't let anyone get into that time frame and you only just focus on the one thing that drives the most impact to your business, and for me it is clearly looking for speaking opportunities in front of my target audience, and so I I just it is, it's pivotal for me and it so, whatever that is for your, your audience and for you specifically, like, make sure you're looking for that opportunity and put yourself there Like right, then you go out and market yourself.

Mike Caldwell:

Yeah, yeah. Like so often we're told how lucky we are to have this opportunity or that now we weren't lucky, like we put ourselves in the road for that opportunity to come along, like oh yeah, and sometimes I've sounded stupid, like I know I did, and but it's where it.

Kathleen Kennedy:

I just sometimes people like question about the passion or whatever. But if you're passionate about it, it'll come through. And that one thing that I'm super good at, like that's what I'm promoting and I'm I know where, where my strengths lie right, like I'm not promoting things that I'm not good at.

Mike Caldwell:

Right. So, yes, I've really enjoyed this interview with you, primarily because of your passion. Like I've hosted other guests in there, it's just sort of just sort of blasé, right, but you, you're in it Like you are, like you believe in this 110%. Yeah, it's so much fun to talk to somebody who has that, that passion.

Kathleen Kennedy:

I do. Like why do you want to get up every day and not love what you're doing? Like that's a miserable existence to me and I guess my you know. Like when I told my dad when he was, like you need to get any job, like a bank job, and I'm like I can't, I can't have my soul sucked out from me. Like I just can't hold that way and I know some people can, but but it's just a miserable life and life is meant to be lived. Like. Why aren't we taking advantage of it?

Mike Caldwell:

Very cool. So what sort of people can you help and is there a way that they can reach out to you?

Kathleen Kennedy:

Absolutely. You can reach me at any of my social media handles, at my email address, which is Kennedy, at okay, ccecom, or my website, which is wwwokccecom, and I can help, like if you just want to run marketing ideas, or like communication pieces, pr, that kind of thing, even if you just want to bounce ideas off, no matter what, I'm happy to help anybody that wants to be helped. But if you are specifically looking to move your audience and you want to grow into an education leadership that's where my passion is. That's where I'm super passionate about is promoting leadership in those areas so yeah, Cool.

Mike Caldwell:

I also hope I could see like Kathleen Kennedy at Action One News.

Kathleen Kennedy:

but no, no, no, no, no anymore. Although, although when I was at the Urban School District, I'll tell you a funny story A friend of mine was on the sports, he was the sportscaster and on the weekends and he said, oh my gosh, you are on the news more than I am and I'm paid to be on the news. I was like, yeah, this is not really my like, I don't want to be here, but there were so many crisis that I was responding to. So if you Google me in Oklahoma area, you will find all of my history on TV there.

Mike Caldwell:

You go Okay. Oh, very cool. I'll be sure to put all of your links in the show notes and in the YouTube broadcast channel and everything like that.

Kathleen Kennedy:

It was fantastic visiting with you.

Mike Caldwell:

Yeah, thanks, kathleen, for coming out. Like I say, it's so much fun when people have passion and they're excited about everything. So thanks for thanks for being you.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Thank you, I wouldn't want to be any other version.

Mike Caldwell:

Awesome, all right, thanks, kathleen. We'll definitely stay in touch.

Kathleen Kennedy:

Okay.

Mike Caldwell:

And that is a wrap for this episode of because business is personal. Thanks for joining us and don't forget to take advantage of my two special offers. First, you can get a free copy of my bestselling book and Pathic Marketing you just pay for the shipping. Or you can have 50% discount on my gap analysis session with the coupon code podcast. Just head over to wwwBecauseBusinessIsPersonalcom or check the show notes for details. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please don't forget to follow, subscribe, leave a review and share the podcast with others who might benefit. Your support means the world to us, so stay tuned for our next episode, where we'll continue to delve into the intersection of empathy and marketing strategy. Remember, because business is indeed personal, every connection counts. Until next time, see you then.