AI Won’t Save Your Brand, But Your Story Will

We trace Lauren’s jump from a late‑stage layoff to a thriving, values‑driven PR firm, and explore how culture, clarity, and earned media fuel growth in an AI‑noisy world. Along the way we dig into boundaries, motherhood, and the quiet power of trusting your gut in your forties.

• layoff at eight months pregnant sparks launch
• coach‑guided decision making and early clients
• why reputation and networks beat résumés
• codifying culture through five core values
• client focus on values‑driven, often unsexy industries
• AI as tool not voice, plagiarism risks and fixes
• earned media outranking owned in AI search
• clear ICP, outcomes, and calls to action for creators
• PR versus marketing, simple and practical
• resilience in a weird 2025 market and longer cycles
• boundaries, mental health days, and glass vs rubber priorities
• trusting intuition sooner and teaching it to kids

Send us a message on Instagram at Diva underscore tonight

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Lauren And The Pivot Moment
• 2:40 Laid Off At Eight Months Pregnant
• 5:50 Coaching, Severance, And First Clients
• 9:00 Network Effects And Reputation
• 12:45 From Agency Life To In‑House IT
• 16:40 Building A Business That Fits Life
• 20:45 Institutionalizing Culture And Values
• 25:10 Who Sweet Arco Serves And Why
• 29:20 Standing Out In The Age Of AI
• 34:10 PR Versus Marketing Made Clear
• 37:20 How To Work With Lauren
• 39:10 Resilience, 2025 Headwinds, Keeping Faith
• 43:20 Mentors, Momentum, And Boundaries

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:02

Hi, I'm Carlene, and this is Diva. Tonight, right now we're working on a series called This Is 40, a female perspective. And I've talked to many women, and tonight I'm talking to Lauren Cockerell, who's in taxes. You know, she is very, very talented in what she does. You know, she is a public relations and marketing expert for growing organizations, and she has her own business, which is Sweet Art and Co. And she helps other small businesses. And I guess it's been a few years now that you've been doing this operation, right? And so what was the driving force behind it? Well, well, thank you. Well, I'm so glad to be here with you.

SPEAKER_01: 0:52

Thank you. Looking forward to our chat. Well, it's it's two-pronged. There was the tactical, oh crap moment of I was eight months pregnant and got laid off. And so it was time to make the second thing happen, which is I've always wanted to own my own business and I've always wanted to own my own PR firm. So I'm I'm 44 now, and so I've been in PR for as long as I haven't been, so for half my life now. And I really love serving others, and so it had been on my heart to start my own company, and then the day came when I was eight months pregnant with our second kid, and I certainly couldn't go interview for another job. And I was like, well, today's the day.

SPEAKER_00: 1:33

Wow, it was were you stressed? I mean, like it's it's hard, you know. Like I I don't have kids, so I can't really say I can relate, but I mean to have all the things like all that happen like a few weeks before the baby comes, it's kind of like uh it was definitely a you know, rug pulled out from under your feet moment.

SPEAKER_01: 1:53

I I had a feeling something was happening and changing. I'm I'm an empath by nature, so I could I could sense there was a shift a couple weeks before I actually went to my husband. I was like, hey, I I I I don't want to stay here anyway. Like we'd already planned, you know, for my eventual exit. But I I said, I think they might be gonna, I think they might be about to let me go. Are we okay? Like how much runway do we have? You know, how quickly I'm like, I can't go interview. I mean, especially in the States, just really no matter what I say, I don't know if anyone's gonna believe me saying, like, no, I really want to come work, I promise. And so, uh, you know, we're fine. This is how much time we have, you know, don't sweat about it. But it's like, you know, being fired or let go is is really, you know, is a a sort of a trauma. And then for it to be at such a vulnerable moment, just like, oh my gosh, you know, they they gave me a nice severance, so that was good. Oh, they did.

SPEAKER_00: 2:40

Okay, I was gonna say, like, yeah. No, and that position, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 2:44

That's like Yeah, they didn't want to get sued.

SPEAKER_00: 2:46

So it's gonna be a lawsuit at that point. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01: 2:50

Like, I'm so no, they gave me what I felt was a fair severance, and they gave me my the equipment that I'd had at home as kind of like my so I was like, Well, I guess I'll go start my company now. You know, in hindsight, it feels a little more blasé, but you know, in the moment I was I was very emotional, very upset, very stressed out. I'd really it'd been a very toxic environment, and so I kind of didn't really know what which way was up either. I had lost a lot of faith in myself. Ironically, or coincidentally, that morning I had mailed a$5,000 check to a coach that I was hiring to like help me figure out what was next for me. Like, do I do a resume and go find another job? Do I start my own company? Like, I'd already been thinking through what's my next step. And and then they called me and let me go. And I'm like watching the mail truck drive away. I'm like, come back.

SPEAKER_00: 3:37

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01: 3:40

It turned out to be very fortuitous. She helped me process the you know everything that had happened to me. And then we started to evaluate the two paths, but very quickly I was like, no, I I want to do my own thing. This is where my heart is. And so she helped hold me accountable and you know, helped me set up some initial values and helped me think through how I wanted to show up as a business person. And so it's very is very helpful. And I and I got I started getting clients right away. So it was very fortunate circumstance and things turned around very quickly.

SPEAKER_00: 4:06

How did you build like your network so quickly?

SPEAKER_01: 4:09

Right. So as soon as I felt things shifting, I reached out to my first boss and mentor. So I reached out to her to say, like, hey, I I think things are shifting a little bit. I I can take on side work if there's ever a project you don't want to do or if there's anything you want to team up on. And so she became almost like an outside salesperson for me. And then I also reached out to my my network just saying, Hey, I'm available. And I had I had past clients coming to me saying, like, oh, can we be on retainer with you? I'm like, Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_00: 4:36

Oh my gosh. You know what? I think when it's supposed to happen, some things happen, you know, and hearing you talk about that reminds me of like when I started this journey, like the podcast, like everything just kind of happened. Like, I got into this business boot camp through a friend I know from high school, and like my editor, my designer him, I know him from like elementary school. Someone even offered to be my editor. So, like, I don't know, I find like if it's something you're passionate about, it might be scary in the beginning, but it it works out. And and like here you are now to talk about it, right?

SPEAKER_01: 5:13

And so it's kind of like you're like you're living right, you know, it's like you're in line with your purpose. And because when I, as I was wrapping up that corporate role, I really was not living in a way that I felt like I was put on this earth to do. Like I was selling commodity, you know, I'd moved from a PR role into like selling commodities and uh, you know, selling Office 365 and managed hosting. I was like, kill me now. My special skills and talents were not being used. And I was like, oh man, you know, I like to solve problems, like to help people, and like I couldn't help people. Like it was just not, they were like, No, I don't want to talk to you, I just want to buy this thing, you know. And so I remember one day I was talking to my coach at the time, and then I was telling her about all the progress that was happening at that time, and so I was at postpartum and had all these clients coming in, and and she was like, gosh, you know, Lauren, I just want you to know, like, this is not how a new business is supposed to start. Like, you're very lucky. And in the moment, I said, now wait a minute. I've been working for 15 years, like I have a reputation. This is, you know, yes, I am fortunate, but it's not luck. Like I have a body of work that I'm and in a network, and you know, I've made sure not to burn bridges over the years so I could walk across them at this exact moment. Like, I don't think it's fair to call it totally luck here.

SPEAKER_00: 6:24

Yeah, you know what? I think I think it's safe to say, like, if you have a good work ethic with people and like they remember like what you did to help them, no matter what, they'll remember you. And I and I think that's like when it's your calling and you're helping people, they'll come, right? And so do you feel like okay, from your past work experiences, where did you work prior? Because obviously this is like the the road that leads you here, right? So where did you start your career in PR?

SPEAKER_01: 6:53

Yep. So I graduated with a business degree from a small liberal arts school in 2003 and like literally stumbled into a PR firm not even knowing what PR was. I was like, can I be an intern here? Um I had a friend who was an intern there and she was leaving town. I was like, Well, can I mean this is the naivety of a 22-year-old. I was like, Well, can I have your internship? Like, like they're transferable, you know? Which is not. And she was like, I don't know, we can ask. And so they hired, you know, dumb old me, but I always love stories. And it ended up being this incredible mashup. Like, I didn't even know what it was, but turns out that I love stories and I love business, and I was able to pull them together. And I was like, I'm the perfect person for a PR. And so I was there. I started as an intern, and then 10 years later, when I left, I was the vice president. And just, I mean, I was like, I want to do this, I want to own this business. You know, I ended up not wanting to own that business in particular. Like, I just was like, you know, I think I'd rather start my own thing one day. But after 10 years, I'd gotten married. Uh, we knew we wanted to start it anyway. I was in my 30s at that point. And so I was like, well, you know, we don't have maternity leave or anything here. We're just, you know, tiny little PR agency. And I wanted to try something different anyway. I kind of felt like I'd run out of runway there. So a client hired me and I went in-house. They created a a director of public relations role for me, and it was two sister IT companies. So I went from the agency to this IT shop and was running their PR and some vendor relationships, and that role changed over time. So after five years, they laid me off and I started my company, and we'll be uh eight years in October.

SPEAKER_00: 8:26

Wow, eight years, wow. So in the eight years that you've been doing this, what what do you think you've learned in in that time period? Like, how do you run a successful business, especially a PR business?

SPEAKER_01: 8:40

It's it's been an evolution, honestly. You know, there I think every it's you know, it's it is like with children, every age and stage has its pros and cons. You know, you're starting out, you're trying to figure it out who are you. And when when I started the company, I was I was burned and burned out. And I just thought, I don't want to hire anybody, I'm just gonna do this myself. I mean, I was just like, whoof, no, but then quickly needed to staff up for different projects. And so I I allowed it to evolve as I felt like it was meant to be, you know, like to think about like what what you know the first year of my son's life and then also my business life, like, you know, that needed something at that time where it was like I was more of a solopreneur um consultant and and now I have a team of seven. But I think one thing that I realized in business ownership is that it has allowed me to be the most fully actualized person that I'm meant to be. Like it really has brought out every part of me that I did had not been able to bring to the table it as a W-2 employee at other roles. Now that's not to say like everybody needs to have their own business because I think there are roles and functions for which we need someone who wants to show up and do the same thing every single day. And and then need that we need them to make the system run. And we need people who are entrepreneurs where they don't want to own their own business, but they want to treat my business as theirs. You know, I mean, like we need every uh every lid for a different pot. But I think one of the things that I've done as I've grown the company is institutionalized culture and defining you know who we are as a business, what are our values, and you know, how do we imbue everything that we do with who we are so that our brand can live beyond just me. You know, it's not just me anymore. And so I think you know, sometimes people are missing that, they're missing culture that really helps make people want to show up every day and they want to fight for the business as if it's theirs. And that's something I see it with clients when they're struggling. That's can often be part of the the reason. And then I see people who are doing it really beautifully with thousands of employees. So maybe I got there in the end on your answer.

SPEAKER_00: 10:52

It's like me when I asked you a question. I'm like, wait, that was a fully loaded question. But when you said institutionalized culture, what do you mean? Uh can you elaborate on that? Like, that's an interesting thing.

SPEAKER_01: 11:03

Right. Well, it's you know, some people say, like, oh, we've got a great culture. Like, what does that mean? They've got ping pong tables or something like that. Um whereas one of the smart things I've done in this business is is coming up with our our core values. They weren't just like, oh, this is Lauren's secret sauce. It's like, okay, these are attributes that people, you know, they came out of the woodwork when I started the company to work with me because of these things, but also I see them in people who want to work for us. So strategy first, hungry and humble, delightfully curious, do what we said, be the easy button. Those are our core values. And so when I I put those on paper and I define them and I share them with the team. Well, I could have just stopped there. What we also did, we created it as a part of our employee recruitment process. So when someone applies for a role, they have to tell us how those values resonate with them and how they show up with those values, like what they mean to them. And then as we're talking to them, we're screening for them. Okay, like, does this they said this is, you know, do it what they said, like, but are they really walking the walk here? We use it in disciplinary uh actions as well. So if you tell me you're gonna have a draft to me tomorrow, but then you're a week late with it, over and over and over again, you're having now that's a values violation, and we have to have a conversation about that. And I've dismissed people before because of it. And then also we have a values champion every week. So and it's the team manages it. So today someone was nominated for a value, next week they're nominating somebody else, and so it perpetuates on and on. And so it's it's like, you know, it's not just oh, you're a strategist for strategy first, but you have to say why. So it's like caught doing good. So it's like it's this continuation where it's always alive and well in our organization. And and that's that's one part of culture, it's not just values, but it really helps from the foundational aspect of, you know, here's who we are, here's who we say we are, here's how we act what how we say we are. And then that really feeds into everything else and how we treat each other and our clients.

SPEAKER_00: 13:00

And so who are your clients? Like you you say in your more or less who you are as as an individual that you serve smaller businesses. And so the small guy versus the big guy, you know what I mean? We're just starting off here, right? Right.

SPEAKER_01: 13:15

It varies and not necessarily like not necessarily micro businesses like like my own, but we tend to work a fair amount in the North Texas area just because I'm from here and I've lived here most of my life, uh, and this is where my my network is. But we also have folks around the country and you know, really looking for folks who I say values driven, but but I mean that in like a their core values drive them. They're looking to treat their team well, they're looking to treat their community well, they're looking to treat their their clients well, and you know, maybe they aren't great at articulating what it is they're trying to accomplish, and that's where we come in to help them cast that vision and communicate all the wonderful things that they're doing. Um, a lot of unsung heroes, we we love like the folks in the manufacturing or industrial or financial services uh space. Like they're not quote unquote sexy, but we love it because we can really like crack open their the chest of the business and pull out that beating heart and be like, no, look at what you're doing. Like, yes, you're selling these little widgets that you know you might think nobody cares, but you they you do care because you're employing these many people and you're able to contribute thousands of dollars a year to these nonprofits and blah blah you know, on and on and on. And so that's what we love. And multi-generational businesses is a little bit of a side niche for us, helping that third or fourth generation step into their family's legacy and help them really crystallize what they want to do moving forward as while they're honoring the past. So, so it ranged, you know, we've got some folks in the kind of like one to ten million revenue range, small business, and then we have some in like the billion dollar range, you know, where they, you know, I I was talking to somebody the other day, they're like, I'm I'm sorry, I just you know, we we need you. We're not that we're not very sophisticated. I'm like, listen, if you didn't you didn't need me, what would I be here for? Like, it's okay to to need some help. Like, you know, you could be a billion-dollar business and still need some help. Like it's it's all right.

SPEAKER_00: 15:10

Yeah. With any business, it's about the brand and and the message, right? And how you show up and if you can help them, you know, create a brand that's better for them, all the power to it, right? You know what I mean? Like you put your your name your company name across that. And so I think that because we're in the age of technology, what's important with marketing, especially in a digital era?

SPEAKER_01: 15:36

So this is not my saying. I I ripped it off with somebody and I don't remember how. It's hard to read the label from inside the bottle. So it's really hard to do for you what you need to do. So, like, like you know all the ins and outs, you know the good, the bad, and the ugly about yourself, but it's really hard to discern what your customers want to hear from you. So we come alongside our clients and we help, you know, we pull out what's really important, what's gonna resonate with their audience. Let's distill it down, distill it down, distill it down. And then in the age of technology, in the age of AI, you have to make sure that you're clear and consistent and different. So, you know, you don't want to just lean on Chat GPT and sound like everybody else, and oh, and also maybe accidentally plagiarize somebody else's content because if you don't give it enough, it's just gonna pull from the internet, which means it's gonna rip off somebody else, and then you're using that content as if it's yours. Yeah, yeah, look out.

SPEAKER_00: 16:32

Very how do you stop that? Like, I mean, a lot of people are using chat GPT. Yeah, like okay.

SPEAKER_01: 16:40

This is true true story. So I I use chat. I I love chat. Um, me too. I when I show up with chat with like, here's my point of view, here's the experience I've just had, here's what I'm trying to accomplish, here's my vision, like take this crappy first draft and make it make sense. If I do that, the content is mine, it's in my voice, I've trained it, it but it's it's mine. If I come up and say, I don't know what's right today, what should I talk about? You know, what are some topics we can talk about? Okay, we'll talk about that. All right, write it for me. It if I don't give it everything, I've taken content, run it through a plagiarism checker, and it's plagiarized.

SPEAKER_00: 17:15

My goodness. So, like if you're pretty much saying that even when you're using a tool like chat GBT, that you really have to be very specific with what you're asking to do. Otherwise, if it's too general, it will take away from well that's what's trained to do. It's it's it's not it's not. See, that's the thing that's that so many people don't understand about this this platform. It's it's amazing to help you, but like there's so many things that like people don't really.

SPEAKER_01: 17:46

You know, you you you have to be in the captain seat, and you know, you have to say, This is our turn of voice, this is what I'm trying to accomplish. It's um great writers create great content in Chat GPT because we understand story structure, we understand what we're trying to accomplish, we're able to pull out like that that makes sense, where's that even coming from? That's not you know, like that you're just generating generic AI slop that's ripped from the internet because that's what you've been trained to do. But if you instead are coming up with your like this is my point of view, this is my story, this is my expertise. I'm trying to comment on this exact thing, then it then it is yours, then it is a great help.

SPEAKER_00: 18:24

I have never thought to last to whether or not it plagiarized, but now I know from personal experience from a business person, business perspective, I just learned so many things that I I would have never really thought that it would take because I'm seeing it in my voice and asking it, okay. This is Diva tonight, posted this is the guest, and you know what I mean, and in my voice. And so, like I you just taught me something that I have to think about. So that's just mind blob mind bobbling. I'm just like blown away right now.

SPEAKER_01: 18:55

Keep showing up as you, and it's great. It's great, you know, feed it as much as you can, uh, and and you'll be in good shape.

SPEAKER_02: 19:01

Diva tonight, glamour for your ears. This is 40, a female perspective.

SPEAKER_00: 19:08

I do have a off-topic, like I mean, starting from the big beginning, but you're in business, and so is this like a family thing? Did you have a business mindset when you were younger? I always say like it's it's not where you're going, it's where you came from. So who instilled this this this uh mindset for you? I mean, this journey here.

SPEAKER_01: 19:30

Um both both of my parents were professional. They're they're both still with us, fortunately. My mom worked for IBM in sales for multiple decades, and my dad has owned his own business for my whole life in the insurance financial services realm. But even as a kid, I remember being interested in being a babysitter, not because I liked kids, but because I wanted to make money. And and so I went to the local children's hospital. I went to the children's hospital, I took like a safety class, I I passed like the CPR test and like the poison prevention test, and and like I bought a bottle of Ipecac syrup, which you used to use. I don't even think you're supposed to use it anymore, but to induce vomiting if someone ingests poison, and I like put it in my backpack and made a little flyer and like you know, rode around on my bike in the neighborhood, like handing out flyers, trying to get clients. It turns out I was a horrible babysitter, did not have any repeat clients. I'm probably my own kids, but uh you know, I was kind of like, Are you not an adult? Let's just talk like adults, but anyway. But looking back, you know, it's like I I wanted my own business, I wanted my own money, and and so I, you know, I had internships and jobs, and but boy, that first after-school internship when I was at the PR firm, I was like, oh man, yeah, this is this is for me. So, you know, it's sort of me is sort of the environment. So just kind of like I think it's one of those things that's like the uniquely Lauren experience for you know, this is what I was meant to do. You know, not a I don't think I'll ever own like a 50-person agency that overwhelms me. I like, you know, the small but mighty, I can beat everybody with two pizzas, I can hug everybody and know, you know, I want to know their families and who they are and all their wishes and hopes and dreams. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 21:06

No, I like that though. I think small is good, you know. When I went to school at Humber for radio, and they always say when you're starting off, you you're gonna get a job at a small radio station because like working at a bigger radio station is is when you've made it, like you built yourself up to that point. But in small community radio is where you'll learn the most. And so even for you, I think you realize too, like when you're working for small businesses, um, you get to focus in and like help them build that brand. So when you say all that and just who you are, what is your legacy? What what do you want to leave behind?

SPEAKER_01: 21:45

While you were while you were getting to the question, I was thinking, you know, one of the reasons I do like the smaller environment, because I've always I was reflecting like, oh gosh, I've actually always liked a smaller environment. I went to a small school as a kid, went to a small liberal arts school, 1500 people. Like I wanted I knew I wanted a classroom of like 20 people, like I wanted to know my professors, I wanted to know the people, like it's but it's it's always been about the people for me. I want the human relationship. I want to have I don't want to have lots of friends, I want to have a few like really deep relationships, and and so the I think that is my legacy of how you know the the connections I have and the deep friendships and impact I make on, you know, my loved ones and just how I see them and they see me and and how we can help each other grow and and love each other. And so it's you know it's it's it's about the people for sure.

SPEAKER_00: 22:37

Yeah. And you know, it's interesting that you say that with the people because I find like, you know, it like you said earlier that you're an empath, and I feel like I'm the same way. People have always been drawn to me. And like sometimes, Lauren, I just want to be like, leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to help you today. No. But like you said, it's it's the relationships you have with people. And I think as I've gotten older, like we haven't even talked about 40, but I think as I've gotten older in this age now, that I realize that like I'm not gonna care too much about what others think of me as much as I used to. And I and I'm always because I work with people, like even my personal job other outside of the podcast, that I find that now it's easier for me to talk to people and not feel awkward about I'm like, oh, should I say anything to that person? You know, and and hearing you reiterate the thing with people is so important behind any business because you aren't like even if you don't directly talk to people all the time, we're in the people business no matter what.

SPEAKER_01: 23:43

So now that's have their own money. It sounds like they can shop for us now, but they don't have their own money yet.

SPEAKER_00: 23:52

So with PR and marketing, as someone who is a podcaster, how do I stand out? Like myself, other than being authentic. People keep saying you're just just be authentic. That's the important thing. But as a PR person and someone who works in marketing every day, what do you say?

SPEAKER_01: 24:13

Yep. Uh well they're right. Definitely be you, be uniquely, Carlene. I think also being clear about what you want to have happen for your brand, knowing who you serve, how are you helping them, what does success look like on the other side of engaging with you in some way, whether it's listening to your content or or if you have other pathways for them. I think knowing those things really help fuel your content engine. So the your social, your blog, your the podcast you're putting out, the guests that you're having on, you know, viewing the viewing your screening through that lens of okay, is this a good guest or a guess it's not a fit? Based on uh are they helping me get to that goal of of helping, you know, my avatar of you know, so-and-so, whatever you want to name her. And then also, you know, beyond that, being clear about that. So what are your actual goals? What do you want to have happen? What are your calls to action? Who who's you? What uh who is you? That's good. Yeah, yeah. Who are you?

SPEAKER_00: 25:12

That's not no, but that works. I guess who's you? We're all, you know. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 25:19

Getting the unfiltered version here. Who are you? You know, who is for you, and how do you want to help those people? And how do you, you know, if they're not ready to engage with you, are there ways for them to connect with your content? Are there is something you can give them so they're in your email list? You better email them if you want to talk to them. So building up your email list, providing good content, valuable content, something that you know is is what advice do you have to give? Like what is what is your secret sauce and how can you package that up? Uh is is where you need to start. And then from there, what other platforms can you be on to help amplify your podcast and your brand? So can you beyond other shows? Can you contribute to what uh what other channels and medium are are available to you? So other other blogs, other you know, news articles, so on and so forth. Like what all can you create? And then also because right now is for AI in this in this moment in time, however long this is gonna last.

unknown: 26:13

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 26:16

The year of our Lord, 2025, in August, at the time of recording, this is true. I don't know what will be true when it airs.

SPEAKER_00: 26:22

Oh my gosh. I'm laughing, but it's so true, it's so scary. I never in my wildest dreams would I think it would be so advanced now. You know what I mean? It's like technology has changed so much, and it always does.

SPEAKER_01: 26:37

Let me land a quick plane and let me let me tell you something else about that. So, right now, AI search is ranking earned media, so articles, columns, you know, your your traditional media is ranking those results higher and recommending. So if you say I'm looking for a podcaster who's focused on women in their 40s, if you've got content out there other than what you own, it is gonna pull that first, and then it will start to recommend based on you know, like your own blog or whatever, but it prioritized quote unquote earn media ahead of other channels right now. Right now, yes. But technology changes. When I started in 2003, we still sent press releases via fax machine. There was no Facebook, there was no Twitter. I mean, you know, I've already seen stuff change tremendously in my 22 years, and it changed a bunch before that too. You know, there used to be like, you know, you used to have to hand do everything. So that's just job to change. We just have to stay on top of it without going losing their minds.

SPEAKER_00: 27:36

Yeah, yeah. And you know, one thing I do want to say is because we're talking about marketing and PR, but what is the difference?

SPEAKER_01: 27:43

So people when the people think about PR, they tend to think about working with me with the media, being a publicist, things like that. It's uh a little bit broader than that. Uh as far as I was raised up in the industry, I was taught to think about PR as a function of management and leadership. So, like casting a vision for the business, the reputation of the business. You know, some of the things that we do in PR aren't necessarily related to marketing. Sometimes, you know, we're announcing executive changes or mergers and acquisitions or you know, things things of that nature. We're doing crisis communications, those aren't necessarily related to sales, which marketing is a function of sales. We're driving, we're trying to get people to buy something, whether it's services or products or what have you. We're putting butts in seats, we're selling widgets, marketing is a function of sales. You can usually measure your ROI a lot better with marketing. And so, you know, marketing is usually PR, but PR is not always marketing. You know, I can't if I'm talking about a new executive vice president for a company, is that gonna drive sales? Not necessarily.

SPEAKER_00: 28:44

So wow. Yeah, and so you know, you're talking about marketing and PR. And so if anyone is listening and they want to work with you, like and they want your help, how do they go about it? Like, I know you have a website and all that jazz. What is it? What the fuck would you do?

SPEAKER_01: 29:02

Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_00: 29:02

Uh there you go. You can you can you can check us out.

SPEAKER_01: 29:05

Uh we're everywhere at Queen Arco, so that's K W E D A R C O. So that's dot com. That's all of our social channels. You can find me on LinkedIn. I'm pretty active over there. We'd love to chat. If you just have a question, feel free to drop me a DM. And then our my podcast, The Impatient Entrepreneur, is the Impatient Entrepreneur Pod.

SPEAKER_00: 29:25

I haven't checked it out. The Impatient Entrepreneur. I gotta check that out. Yeah. So as a businesswoman and a podcaster that has, I mean, whatever you said, it's gonna be eight years in October. When you started this journey at like eight months from now, I can I can't even imagine, like, woo! Like, and now the baby is not the baby anymore. The baby's in second grade. So it's just like it's your baby, you'll which is like they say, like having a child is like owning a business. So, like, it's it's like two and one. You know what I mean? Like you started both at a at like a pivotal time, like a crazy time. Like, you know, now that your baby is almost eight, what do you say to that? You know?

SPEAKER_01: 30:11

Yeah. Like, Lordy, here we go. It's so interesting. After I had my son, our second kid, and my business had started, I I was telling people, you know, like my son was born and I was reborn when I started. It was it was like for me owning my own business. And and I do feel like, you know, I'm Lauren 6.0 or wherever I am in this, you know, at 44. And so, you know, I'm really I'm I'm proud of myself. I've the obstacles keep coming, you know. I I think I think sometimes as humans we can think like, okay, I experienced this bad thing, so I'm good now. No more, thank you. But having the resilience to to get back up when you just get knocked in the teeth sometimes, you know, successful people aren't necessarily successful because they had the best idea. They're successful because it just kept going. And they believed in the idea and they they sacked themselves up. I mean, 2025 has been a weird, weird year. My sales cycles are the longest I've ever experienced. The you know, consumer behavior has been I mean, and you know, I I feel the same way. Like it's just like the unsteadiness, the chaos, the confusion, the the clouds kind of hanging over some of us. It's it's been a tough year, and I've really had to dig deep to to psych myself up sometimes. Like, how do I keep swimming? How do I just keep swimming? Because I have to show up for myself, I have to show up for my team, I have to show up for my clients, I have to show up for my children, my husband, my friends, my family. And and it's a lot. Uh but you're a lot.

SPEAKER_00: 31:33

When you list it all like that, I'm like, oh my god. Yeah, it's a lot.

SPEAKER_01: 31:40

I I can't believe it's been it's about to be eight years. I have not done this alone. I have an incredible team, incredible support system. I've I'm very blessed. And but you know, I'm also the one waking up in the morning and and showing up. So I I you know, if you're listening to this and you're like, heck yeah, I'm like, yeah, you know, pat yourself on the back. You're you're doing it.

SPEAKER_00: 31:58

Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? I think it's it's like at this age in our lives that in in our forties, like we are we are pushing through. Like I think everyone is going through different things, and it's people like yourself who are entrepreneurs that like you know inspire us to like, you know, if Lauren can do it, she has two kids, I don't have any kids, then I can suck it up and do it. You know what I mean? Like it goes to show that like you know, women are so like what powerhouses, you know, and yeah, doing a lot.

SPEAKER_01: 32:30

Helps to be an I I will say I trend toward optimism more than pessimism or skepticism. And I guess I'm like just delusion delusional enough.

SPEAKER_00: 32:42

You know, it's true though, because I mean I'd like to get back up again and and do it again, you know what I mean? And and the tenacity and the drive and the push, you know. And so for anyone who's listening and they are in their 40s and they are starting, what do you say to them? What is your Woo? That's oh my goodness. She's like, wow.

SPEAKER_01: 33:07

Well, it's it's so funny, you know. I think if we knew what was ahead of us, none of us would do it. It's like marriage or childbirth or anything like that. If we knew how hard it would be, we would not do it. But that doesn't mean it's not also glorious. And I think if you're starting a business right now, I'm super proud of you. You can do this. You know, I think arm yourself with a support system who understands what it's like to be an entrepreneur because not everybody does understand the sacrifices you have to make, the late nights, the worrying, you know, the the the amount of sleep I lost at the first half of this year around taxes and payroll and all that. It's just like, oh my God. It's tremendous. But you know, being clear about why you're doing this and who you serve, and and you know, hopefully you're using special skills and talents that really light you up and make you feel like you're in your flow state. And you know, and but some people start businesses because they can't get a job too. And I see you too. You know, whatever you gotta do. Find your joys I'm out.

SPEAKER_00: 34:10

But in this market, yeah, like you were saying, thank yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 34:13

Yeah, I get it, I get it. But find find people who understand what you're going through. And you know, so you have your own like mini board of directors so that there's people who understand who, you know, if something's not going right, or you want to ask somebody a question about a contract or whatever, that you have you've got, you know, your your board of directors, as I called it, that you can call and and reach out to and lean upon, who can, you know, hopefully someone who's a little further along so they can guide you.

SPEAKER_00: 34:38

Like you mean like a mentor.

SPEAKER_01: 34:40

Yeah, I think people you can you can rely on and and help you. That's that's certainly been a huge, huge help for me.

SPEAKER_00: 34:48

I think you you couldn't have said it any better. Like it's so true. For me, I think it's what's helped me is having some good mentors along the way, like people who support you, like um in everything that you do. Like my sister's been very helpful, and sometimes you're just like the drive. Like, I I I remember like one last thing I I was uh on Saturday, it wasn't feeling 100%. And I I said I was going to an event, and I'm like, so it took me a long time to get ready to go, and like my sister reminded me, you know what I mean? I think she's always been a little pushed that you know helps you. And then when I finally got to the event, I'm like, I'm glad I did it. You know what I mean? I never would have met the people I did, and so even when you're I'm not having the best day, I feel like if when you keep your word to yourself, not to anybody else, that's when it's like, okay, I'm glad I did it, right?

SPEAKER_01: 35:38

Yeah, remind yeah, reminding yourself while you're doing it too. I mean, like I I'm I'm an introvert by nature, and so the energetic shift into doing podcasts or doing my own podcast or going to events, like sometimes I have to kind of psych myself up a little bit because the the energy drain is real, but it's like no, no, this is a good thing. But then it also makes me more discerning about how I want to spend my time too. You know, and I'm like, like this is really morbid. But um, I started declining things. I'm like, if I get killed on the way home from this thing, will I be mad about it?

SPEAKER_00: 36:13

Oh my god, saying no. That's the hardest thing sometimes. Like, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01: 36:18

I'm like, if it's a waste of my time, like if I I I spent time away from my beautiful children or my business or my my sweet husband to do some dumb thing, I'm gonna be real mad.

SPEAKER_00: 36:29

So it better be worth my time. Oh my goodness. Yes, I mean I'm trying, but yeah, I totally I I get we were saying something about that for sure. You know, we're talking a lot about business, but like we didn't talk about you being a mom and and you know, juggling all the things. So as a mom and as a wife, how do you do all the things? How do you manage it all?

SPEAKER_01: 36:51

Yeah, it's uh on one hand, being my own boss is is helpful because you know, I can make my own schedule. I can say, no, I'm not gonna be available for that. I can go be at school, I can have much more kids, or or if they you know need to stay home, you know, it's it's that's that makes it a little easier from time to time. One of my company policies is two mental health days per year per employee, no questions asked. And now I offer that to my kids, you know, two two days a semester, no questions asked, you know, if they're because that that now that they're getting older, sometimes there's like I just I cannot, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 37:21

Oh my gosh, wow. Yeah, they even told you. Oh my gosh, wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 37:27

So that's that's great. But then there's other times where I'm like, no, I I can't do that because I have made other commitments, or I've got to go do this because I need to recruit a new client. And and so a couple things have happened. One, I've invited, especially my kids, into the business. So I walk them through it. They you know help me do little things around the office, they help me check my mailbox and cash checks and such. I talk about my day with them, I talk about when things are hard or when they're great. And then, you know, as someone told me a metaphor a long time ago, it's like, you know, we're all juggling balls, we all have balls in the air, but you need to know the difference between which ones are glass and which ones are rubber. And so if something's gonna drop, you have to make sure that you catch the ones that are glass. My children are the ones that are glass. Now, that doesn't mean, you know, I personally for me, I think you have to decide like what is works for you and which doesn't work for you. Like, I know what I want to show up for and what has meaning for my kids. Like, if they need me there for a class play or want to have lunch on their birthday or something like that, like that's what matters. If it's just like a class party, I don't want to go. I would rather have quality time with them doing something else. And I think figuring out like who you are as a parent, as a working parent, that's like you have to make those decisions. And so I hold boundaries with my kids too. I say, like, no, that doesn't work for me, but can I do something else with you instead? And you know, we figure that out together.

SPEAKER_00: 38:42

No, that's good though. I think boundaries is important because we just don't want to burn ourselves, like like you run yourself ragged because you said yes to everything, right? And so teaching them boundaries too, that's so important. I like that. I like the two days, the two days off. I wish I wish sometimes I had those days. You know what I mean? Because sometimes we do need a mental break. You do, like, you know, because it's a different time now. Like we're we're spending more time on technology, on everything. It's you have to like turn it off.

SPEAKER_01: 39:11

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. My daughter was in fourth grade, she's 10. She so she's in fifth grade now, she'd be 11 this fall. She woke up one morning, she's just like, I I just can't. She's having a rough time with some social stuff. And she's like, I don't think I can I don't I I feel fine, I just don't think I can go to school today. Uh like, can I stay home? And I mean, you know, the look in her face was one like she was shooting her shot. She was pretty sure I was gonna be like, put your uniform on, you're letting you get out this door. And I I thought about my day and I was like, Yeah, yeah, you can stay home. And she's just immediately like, Are you kidding me right now? I'm like, no, it's fine. Sometimes you just can't. That's okay. I'll you we can do this, you know, a couple times a year. Uh you gotta take it seriously. But, you know, w if you if you really need it, you can stay home and you can refresh and you'll you'll have some work to do. It's not just watch TV all day. But if you need to re-ret re- rest and recharge, you know, you need to honor that. You need to honor your body and your mind, and we'll start again tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00: 40:03

Oh my gosh, that's amazing. I think I think that's amazing that you like people instill that in your family. I that's the first time I've heard that. And so um kudos to you, mom. I think that's awesome. I just feel I felt that there. You know what? Even when you said it, like it felt like you were talking to your daughter, and so it's so important. Like, I think being the person that you want them to be and to be understanding because I mean like she'll remember that, you know, maybe an issue.

SPEAKER_01: 40:29

Right. Well, and also like learning, I don't feel like if but speaking of being in 40s, I don't feel like I learned to trust myself until I was in my forties. And I was always looking for external validation of like, you know, whether it was like what to put in my body from a diet perspective, what was comfortable for me with like men, what what I needed to say yes to or no to in a business context. Like I would always, you know, I used got so used to s to quieting my intuition and you know, that other people were the expert in me. And so I'm trying to teach my children to be the experts in them and to listen to their own intuition and in in all facets and hopefully learning that more quickly than I did.

SPEAKER_00: 41:10

Yeah, I wish I I I can say the same thing because you know what? Like you you talk about that job. Um I had a job too, and um well, I still I still work now, but like this other job I was working, it was such a toxic environment. And I tried to organize the chaos, but you can't always organize chaos. And I think I like you said sometimes the warning signs are there and you're ignoring them. Like we're so intuitive as women. So I'm like that week before it had before I got laid off, like my manager was so like distant. And I, if anything, if if I had just narrowed in on that, I would have known. Like, you know what I mean? Like sometimes we ignore the things that are right in our face. And I I remember like even in another job before, I had to pick up anything. And I and I said it to my coworker, I'm like, they're gonna do something, something's happening, and it happened. So, like, yeah, don't ignore the signs, like you know what I mean, and and like getting back to you, like um and your daughter, and and just needing the the time. Like sometimes we just need a mental break from everything because it's it's you come in better the next day. You know what I mean? Like every day's a good day, and yeah, so we like to love it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 42:23

Yeah, there's um a podcaster and author, um, happiness expert, Gretchen Rubin. Um, one of her rules is, you know, to um to ask more from yourself, you must give yourself, or maybe or to I'm sure I'm messing that up, but but the I keep that in mind, you know, like I can't I can't ask of myself anymore if if I if my cup is empty, you know, I need to rest and recharge, and you know, there's a law of diminishing returns if you just keep pushing through.

SPEAKER_00: 42:48

Yeah, yeah. You know what? Like it's it's kind of the the whole thing where you're you're trying to make yourself better, but the environment that you're in is is is taking that away, then that's not a good thing either, right? And so it goes full circle, but I am so glad we got to talk. This has been amazing, and I I I hope we can talk again soon because you are a world of knowledge, right? And and for sure, all the way in Texas, right? You know, it's amazing what you do. And say again for me, like so. If anyone wants to check out your website, it's qrnco.com. Yeah, I can check it out myself. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 43:30

Yeah, just queid our co the and is dropped from the URL. So quedarco.com, that's what we are on Instagram, LinkedIn, all the places, and then Lauren Queedar Cockerell on LinkedIn. So if you want to slide in my DMs, you may that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00: 43:45

Uh Carlene, if this is Diva Tonight with Lauren Cocker, if this episode resonates, you can send us a text on the show. Thank you so much again. I appreciate your hat. Thank you, Carlene.

SPEAKER_02: 43:56

Diva Tonight with Carlene will be back. Send us a message on Instagram at Diva underscore tonight.