In this episode, Chris McMartin sits down with Nicole Dubé, a broadcast journalist pivoting into entrepreneurship with her company, as she shares her journey and expertise in media training and pitching strategies.
Key Topics in this Conversation:
- How to be authentic and tell a compelling story to connect with the audience
- The difference between working with a PR agency and doing PR on your own, emphasizing the value of telling your own stor
- How to pitch specialized retail areas with smaller interest, using women's circles as an example. Nicole's daily essential is starting her day with a cup of Jasmine green tea. The webinar concluded with gratitude from the Scotiabank Women Initiative and the audience for an informative and engaging session.
Tune in to this episode to hear Nicole's tips and tricks on building and strengthening brand awareness, what working in media has taught her about business, and why she trusts her gut instincts!
0:10
Excellent. Thank you everyone for joining today. I know that there's some more of you coming in from the lobby annual trickle in along the way, but I'll just start by our privacy note here really quick some housekeeping. So by attending this meeting, you consent to be recorded for the Scotiabank Women Initiative Master class. The Scotiabank Women initiative Master class team will have access to the recording. Please do not share any of your personal information because of the recording and we will make sure sorry if you are
0:41
and on on mute. If you could put yourself on mute so we don't have background noise that would be absolutely fantastic. And please feel free to share information, chat questions in the chat. We will definitely share those questions along the way and you can also use the functions, you can put up your hand, you can share with us. But we do find that with those that many people in here, the chat seems to be the easiest way to do things. So with that, let's get started. Let's kick off. I have the great pleasure
1:12
on behalf of the Scotiabank Women Initiative to introduce to you today Nicole Dubé. So, Nicole, thank you so much for joining us today. And I'm a firm believer that no one can introduce you better than you can introduce yourself. So with that, I'm going to turn it over and I'm going to ask you to tell us a little bit about yourself and then we'll dive deeper into your journey.
1:31
Hi. Hi, Chris. Oh, my gosh. Thank you for having me. Hi to you. Wherever you're joining us from, whether it's your home, your office, across the country, I'm.
1:42
Before I talk about myself, I just want to thank Chris for having me and Jazz for helping with this. And to everyone who's found time in their crazy busy day to jump in and hear whatever I can share and whatever wisdom I can impart, I promise you this will be a very value packed
2:01
hour and I will share everything. I can answer as many questions as I can. Who am I? I'm. I'm the media guru, as Chris has called me. I have been a broadcast journalist
2:15
for 20 years, almost to the day now, and I'm going to be pivoting into the wonderful world of entrepreneurship. Literally, I'm going through this pivot as we speak. You're meeting me at a point in my life that is so uncomfortable and so exciting, and we'll delve into that, but a little bit more about my career. So, right, right in in high school I landed myself in the Hamilton Spectator. If anyone's
2:46
joining us from southern Ontario and Hamilton, that's my home
2:51
at 17. I managed to get a few articles published in that award-winning newspaper,
2:58
and it was. It was such an experience. I knew right then and there. I wanted to tell stories. I went to Ryerson University in Toronto. Now TMU had the best four years. That got me to CTV Atlantic in Halifax. I again was in a newsroom, surrounded by some of the best storytellers in this country, and then made my way out West. I worked for Global News. I've worked for Sun News. The longest stint I've had though, has been with
3:28
CTV News, and I've been so fortunate in my career to be an anchor and a host, and I'm saying goodbye to 10 years with CTV Morning Live in Winnipeg. Most of that time has been spent as its host, which has been an honor and a privilege and has allowed me to interview some of the biggest newsmakers in Canada in a live setting. And we're extracting
3:59
conversations and authentic views and opinions and kind of that pressure cooker environment. So I shouldn't, you know, be that surprised that I feel uncomfortable with this transition I'm making because I found myself into uncomfortable situations my whole career. But still, this is kind of out of my wheelhouse, to be moving away from an area of expertise into kind of the unknown. And I have to say, I am so thankful that I have found the Scotiabank Women Initiative and even just Scotiabank
4:30
in general because the few steps I've had to take to launch my business, Scotiabank has made me feel supported and excited for me when I've walked in feeling naive and dare I say, a little bit dumb,
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anything. I thank you so much for that intro, Nicole. I don't think, as I said, I I couldn't have done that well. So I always say that you can introduce yourself better than anyone else can. And and I will dive in deep into the questions that we have, you know, building off your expertise. But I have another question. First, I want to talk for a second because so many people really, you know, had to, you know, we hear that word all the time, pivot, right. During the pandemic pivot, we got to pivot. We got to pivot. We got to pivot. And you use that word that you're you're like, in the midst. You're right
5:17
in the trenches of pivoting right now from being this guru, this expert, this, you know, in 20 years. So you started when you were nine and like, you know, you're just two. All of a sudden you're new. It's all new. And and not that you aren't bringing this expertise with you, but you're pivoting into this new world. So just take a minute and tell us like what does that feel like?
5:41
Ohk gosh yeah, it's uncomfortable. But I think anyone who's done anything worthwhile, they find that they can still be comfortable in the discomfort. So I'm definitely experiencing discomfort and I'm embracing that beginners mind, which is I don't know everything when it comes to business.
6:08
And I'm grateful for my my background in journalism because you have to use a beginner's mind when you're learning something new and sharing it with someone. As a journalist, I think any expert, they do themselves so many favors when they bring whoever they're talking with up with them. And that's how I'm feeling right now is I will just have radical acceptance of my strengths and weaknesses
6:38
in all of this.
6:40
I'm very self aware of what I'm passionate about, what I know, and I'm also quite self aware of what I don't know. So asking the questions,
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not being afraid of making mistakes, which I know, I know, especially as women we all really strive for perfection and and holding off on our pivots until things feel perfect and right, That doesn't exist. That doesn't exist. I think anyone who's had a kid would probably know there's no good time to have a kid.
7:09
And then once you have a kid, there's no good time for anything. You're just squeezing stuff in. Wherever you find time, you got it. So, so that's where I'm at. But I, you know, in the pandemic when that word pivot, you know, was thrown, you know, left and right, I was joking. I'm like, if you're not reevaluating your life choices, are you even pandemic being like sit in that and be like,
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is is this is this real world right now. So that's where my journey began of OK, what am I really doing here? What's what's on the horizon for me?
7:46
I love that. I love that. Thanks for sharing and and thanks for sharing that vulnerability. Really. Like, I think as as entrepreneurs, as women, as there's just so many times that I think we need to hear that others say things like it's not going to be perfect or it's scary or it's hard or it's it's challenging or it's uncomfortable. So thank you for sharing that really, genuinely and authentically. I I do really appreciate that. So
8:16
you you mentioned that in in going through all this and in these early stages
8:21
that you know you were discovering yourself and and really being self aware of what you were good at and maybe what you needed to work on. Is there anything that surprised you? Like anything you're like, oh, I have to work on that or wow, I'm really good at that, that you didn't really know before.
8:39
Um, I I would say again, like in the world of journalism, when you're so good at being so decisive and being able to say yes to something, no to something that works that doesn't work, and then having to seek out
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advice on something new. I I was surprised at how
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I could take a back seat, even though I had like an inner knowing what the answer was. I think it was surprised at how much external validation I was looking for, for an idea that I
9:18
I already knew I was going to pursue.
9:22
I think I was a little surprised if if I'm to be honest, Chris, at how many conversations I had to feel like I wasn't crazy for thinking of leaving a career that I had worked forever at. But I don't have any regrets about that. I now, you know, it all led me to the right people,
9:47
but then eventually those same people put it right back on me. Nicole, you know the answer. You know what you want. What is it that you want? And so I had to come all the way back down to the basics and just sit in the uncomfortable and wait for that answer to come to me that I that I knew was there. I just had to give myself kind of the space to have that self-awareness
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as someone who who got to meet you right in the height of really this transition. Yeah, like we met right in the I think I might do this stage like you know it it's been a process and it's been a lovely journey to watch and inspiring at how really you forced yourself to be so self aware. And so I think that that's a story that you should continue to share for sure because I think that that's something that that
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we need to do more of is just be aware that it's OK for it not to look perfect. It's that's OK.
10:51
Crystal. I have to give you so much credit because you have created space for for women for those who are completely complete neophytes like myself to share with you. You you really have that gift as a journalist. It's something that I have worked at forever and here you are and you're just a master with it. Oh, thank you. I appreciate that. I really, really do. I I'm inspired by every story that I get to hear. So it's it really is my my honor. So I I've answered my
11:22
interesting questions and when you get to be the moderator, you get to do that first. So now I'm going to move on to all the questions that we've gotten and we we received. I have to tell you that the the feedback we received of individuals, so excited to come here from you today and really excited to hear what you have to share as the expert is the guru. So let's dive deep into it. So a couple of questions really centred around the same thing and and so I'll kind of put them together. But really, do you think there's unique challenges
11:54
that you face as a woman when it comes to moving up that ladder, whether it's internally, corporately like you were or even as an entrepreneur? Do you think there's things that are unique to women and and what would you say they are?
12:09
I think the number one
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thread through my life and through my colleagues and those who have been women with dreams and aspirations to to achieve their goals,
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it's that we carry this imposter syndrome. I don't know where we get it from but I work alongside
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plenty of very talented women and plenty of very talented men and I have seen and I've I've had a male Co hosts
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with less experience
12:47
and they not all. There's always exceptions. But I I would say
12:53
in my observation, they don't second guess themselves the way women do who want to move up, who do land. And I got to say, I I've always been a hard worker. Raise your hand. If you're a hard worker, you probably are. You probably outperformed colleagues and sacrifice. There you go. I I see your hands up. You know, you're a hard worker and for some reason for like, oh
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am I good enough for this? So I feel like in order to combat that imposter syndrome, first of all we have to be aware of it.
13:34
Yeah, you have to be aware of it. When when I was given the host role, um, I was pregnant. So I I even knew I was going to be hosting this three hour morning show and I was going to have to leave it to go on mat leave.
13:47
And because of that, the compensation package I was offered, it's a whole other story,
13:53
wasn't what the, the person in the chair before me was given. But I'll leave that there. Bottom line, that that's where the seed started. Oh well, OK I'm going to have to prove myself because I'm taking a maternity leave. I'm going to come back and I'm going to have to prove to to whoever that I'm worth the salary that I know the former, you know, Co host is going to have.
14:17
And then I had to start that work of OK,
14:20
every step I take, any step anyone takes is that evidence building to combat that imposter syndrome. And so the the first thing I started doing to prove to myself, and I think anyone can apply this is I started helping people in my newsroom who who were open to either feedback who came to me for help. The more I found myself helping others, the more I was realizing I am in a leadership role.
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They are benefiting from this and that started building my own proof in my own evidence to myself that I am in a leadership role.
15:02
They were coming to me asking for help the bosses were seeing. Um,
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ah, the that unity that was starting to build. And then anytime I had that voice in my head like, oh, they're they're judging me or they thinking about me or that interview wasn't that great,
15:19
I would help someone else, you know, that week and then I would learn at the same time. So helping others is, is this is something that I think all women can do if they're battling imposter syndrome.
15:33
I love that and and that goes obviously the Scotiabank Women initiative firmly believes in that sort of mentorship. We we do have mentorship program and we we believe that that mentorship is so essential whether that's formal mentorship like we have or informal mentorship like you were just talking about. And and I personally believe in in mentorship whether it informal or formal as well and I I work with a lot of programs that way. Is is there someone along your journey? Is there someone along the way that had really impactful,
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you know, moments with you as as a mentor regardless whether it was formal or informally?
16:12
I'm very fortunate in yes. I've had some phenomenal mentors and I will be seeking out even more mentorship as I as I go into this business venture of mine.
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I've never been afraid of going to anyone senior or with more experience
16:31
and doing that uncomfortable thing of saying can you give me feedback on this? And I know we don't like hearing what's what's not good.
16:42
But you know, as Mr. Boston Pizza, Jim Tree Living, who I got to interview on the show recently told me, there's really no, no losing. There's no mistakes in life. There's winning and there's learning. And you know we high fived on that because you have to again coming back to what I said earlier, you have to be able to be a little uncomfortable
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to learn and grow for sharing a mentor. Yeah. And and that that's helped going going to someone senior asking around if you've done that, props to you because people want to share. We're Chris, you and I, we're here today because we want to share. Yeah, they do. They just need the invitation. Absolutely. Absolutely. No, I think that's that's truly impactful and I love the, I love the like. You need to learn that that, you know, I I heard a quote once
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and it really stuck with me and it was actually at an internal meeting and but it really stuck with me and was impactful and it was fail fast.
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You're going to fail. Just do it quickly, Learn from it. Move on. Just fail fast. And I thought, God, that's genius. Like, don't sit in it. Don't Ohi failed. Like, what did you learn from it? What could you do differently and move forward and like right away? I was like, that's phenomenal. I absolutely love that. So similar to what you're saying, just learn from it. And then it's not a failure per se. Right. Bingo. Love it. Love it. Love it, love it. So let's let's talk a little bit about so,
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But here's one thing, and I hear this all the time when I'm talking to entrepreneurs or even internally when I'm talking to a lot of individuals like myself who get to work with entrepreneurs, work with, you know, women in business, whatever it may be. When you're doing media, whether it's social media, you're doing interviews, you're sharing online, whatever it is,
18:34
how much of your personal do you share? How much is too much? Where's that line? You want to be real. You want to be authentic?
18:43
Is there too much? What? What? What's your opinion around that?
18:46
Gosh, OK. I guess it depends on your channel and what your goals are, right? If you're if it's a personal channel and it's and it's not tied to your work. I mean going to town right Celebrate your family and your wins and stuff.
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If you're on social media and it is linked to your professional persona and I know there's so much out there now that like well people want to know who you are because they want to get behind you and your story to align with your brand or your work. I I'm fully aware of that. So I try to ask myself is what I'm sharing personal and
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beneficial in any way? Is someone going to have like a oh that's that's cool, oh, I didn't know that oh I agree. Oh that's an interesting insight. If it's personal but falls under that realm, I go for it because first of all humans were not perfect. We can't strive for perfection. We're messy go and be a real human. And I and I again, I believe that if if you have a genuine motive
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plus that authenticity you come across as having integrity, that's that's my barometer for if I'm going to share something personal.
20:07
Then there's also the word that I employ that I I find things fall under the category of private. Is there something private that's the difference between personal and like that?
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That helps me pause. If maybe
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is is what I'm sharing to Insider baseball? Is this something that me and the closest friends of mine know one would get a chuckle out of?
20:34
Um, will it? Will it kind of fall flat or make people be like, I don't know if I get that
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misinterpreted, maybe. Misinterpreted. Yeah. So
20:45
I, I, I use that. I know I'm I'm probably gonna stop sharing anything involving my kids soon and move that to a completely private account. But if if you want to use social media and and there is a place for it and and I know a lot of
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a lot of businesses are hoping to grow their reach with social media,
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it it's a it's a lot of work. It's a lot of work and you don't know what people's algorithms are. You don't know what their their feeds are getting. It's really hard to be targeted. It can be expensive. I know that much if you're trying to use it in a way to grow your business. But it's a great place to Share your story and I think as long as you're sharing a story, it's going to move you forward if you use the, you know, is this personal and part of my story and an alignment that's great private and a story. You got to use
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your your inner compass for that one
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and then link it to some data. But don't just be all data data. It doesn't evoke a feeling. But social media is a great place to evoke feelings. Feelings with data equals context. People like that.
21:56
I love that. And you know, it's it's so true. It's funny. I was the same way. So I, you know, I have my, my LinkedIn. That's very work and it's just me at work and that's what's happening. It's all about the Scotsman, Quinn initiative. And then obviously, like, you know, Instagram and stuff like that. That was my personal, that was my kids and you know what we did on the weekends and all that kind of stuff. And I I posted this one post a little few weeks ago and it was my son's birthday. And I just shared that, you know we're all out here and we're working so hard
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and we're putting in that time and we're answering all the emails and we're answering all the phone calls. And but today I'm taking the day off and I'm just celebrating my son's birthday with him And I'm not gonna answer any emails and I'm not gonna. And I shared that on my LinkedIn.
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And I got the biggest response I've gotten on any post I've posted in forever. And I thought and it but it's what you said. Like did it make people think? Did people resonate with it? And that's what everyone commented was like, oh, my God. It reminded me, right. I had entrepreneurs who I talked to the next day in meetings who were like, you reminded me to take a break. Like you reminded me that not everything's perfect and I can stop and I can take a breather and I can take a turn to just
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the mom or sister or spouse or or whatever it is, whatever it is you do outside of your business. Right. So I I love that. Like, how is the reaction going to be? Can they relate to it? I think that's super important and good for you for taking that day off. Because who's going to remember how hard you worked? Not some Gold Star wielding employer at the pearly gates. It's going to be your kids. They're going to know. Oh yeah, Mom worked real hard.
23:44
I I love that. And while we're talking about socials for a second,
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do you think there's some tips and tricks on socials as far as using that for promoting your business? Is there certain things that you can suggest when it comes to promoting what you're doing, whether it's a service or a product? Or I mean yourself being in that new business space? Like, is there certain tips that you can give that you're going to be using to promote your business on socials?
24:13
Well, I'm, I'm definitely going to use it because I I that's where my following is at right now. I'm trying to launch my website. It's hopefully going to be live any minute. I think the best approach is, is a one that feels authentic to to most of us and that that really is storytelling. You're going to promote your business.
24:36
I think people want to know the why behind it. As journalists, if we're going to put a business owner on the show, if we're going to feature them in media, there's going to be the question of why. So sharing that, sharing your, you know, your big Hairy Audacious goal,
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that is what people are going to connect to. It's really not going to be the product of service, but it will be how does that product or service help me? How does that product or service answer your question? Maybe you're seeing a trend in your service industry. That's an interesting to me. Maybe you're predicting A trend share that. Maybe you have a solution to a problem that a lot of people might be dealing with.
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There's so many questions that we're all asking. If you can answer that on your socials, that's connection, that's discourse, that that creates a dialogue.
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And how do we, how do we flag down new journalists? How do we get recognized? How do we, What's the best way for business owners to get noticed when they're trying to get in the media? They want journalists to, to recognize somebody. I realized the authenticity. I love the tell your story, show the solution. How do we make sure you're seeing that though?
26:00
Love, love, love that You asked that question. That is why I'm here today. If you are a business owner or you're out there and you're wondering how do I crack into this big secret Society of media? I hear you, I see you and I got to say there is no secret, you have to pitch yourself. And by pitch I'm not talking about a sales pitch, I'm talking you have something to offer to a media outlets audience. So where do you find the journalist?
26:31
Yes, LinkedIn works.
26:33
LinkedIn, at least in my experience. And again that that's probably going to shift. You're going to find journalists there. They're not consistent with LinkedIn. Some are, or the business journalists are, and those are the ones covering business trends or the big movers and shakers. If you're if you're a small business owner, whether it's a service or a product, and you want to build a report with a local journalist or media outlet, you're likely going to find them on Twitter and on Instagram. And many of them
27:04
just through their media outlets, main web page, contact us.
27:11
That contact link does work. Yes it gets flooded, but it is red. It is a newsrooms job to go through the reach out contact us. You can also find a journalist and not be able to find their e-mail or be able to DM them for some reason. But you can at least figure out, OK, who's their employer and go to the, you know, contact us with the pitch and say attention, this journalist, someone somewhere is forwarding that.
27:41
So that's probably the best way to find the journalist. And then you got to make sure you have a pitch.
27:49
And so give us your top five tips on that pitch. What do we do to make sure that on the thousands of emails that are coming in, our e-mail grabs attention? You're not wrong, Chris. There are
28:04
we're we're getting so many emails. Um, the The way the world has moved, there's, you know, entire
28:12
PR pitch bots now. I would get no less than 200 emails a day, but that's not all necessarily pitches. But my my base is about 200 emails a day. Internal emails, you know, big network emails. And then dozens,
28:28
dozens of pictures from PR firms. So how do you stand out?
28:33
Actually, journalists want to hear directly from whoever it is. That is the story we want to hear from that small business owner. We want someone local. We want someone in our own backyard
28:46
and we want to hear your story when there's like a PR firm e-mail. Sometimes just because it's a PR firm, it's going to get busted out because so much PR is bad. It's dated. It misses the mark. It's not sharing a story. So first tip my 5 tips. Here it comes. Grab your pen and paper. Write this down. I know this is gold. This is gold. Don't miss out. Be prepared.
29:12
No. What? Your know what your message is and know how timely it is. OK, that's step one. There's there's got to be a timeliness to why you're reaching out. Figure out
29:26
what what's happening in the world, what's seasonal, what's trending. That's the the first step because you don't want just want to e-mail blindly. We call that spray and pray. You're just throwing it out there and praying something, something connects. So I actually like to use an acronym and it's my media acronym. So you can write this down in the M stands for your message. As I just said, what's your hook? What's your headline?
29:57
What are you telling us in the dead of winter? Local, local business and esthetician
30:04
Ah works out of her basement, has her own operation certified, and Hook was how to combat dry skin in Manitoba winters. And it was so timely. It was right at that point of the season where we're all like, slaking. Yeah, you think you're scratching everything off globe, right?
30:26
So you have a hook. That's time that you want your subject of that e-mail to be so short, like if it's more than five words or too long, keep it tight, keep it catchy. You need to have a hook or a headline and then you're opening message also has to touch on the same thing. We're all scratching your skin right now. I'm a local esthetician and I have solutions that I think your audience would benefit from at this time of year. Of course I'm paraphrasing your expertise.
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E in the media acronym is why you? Why are we gonna come to you? Your expertise or your story? OK, that might be an example. Something's occurred to you. Again, coming back to the fact that you might have solutions or steps or tips, you're seeing a trend. You saw a piece of data. Which brings me to the D
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date or data. Whatever works. You either have to connect your pitch to a timeliness, to to the date, the season. Something's happening, you know it's something Awareness Week and and you're someone that can help. So it's either date or a piece of data linked to a reference point, a neat statistic, A trend, something you're observing that might be changing. Unique, novel. Let us know. We want to know the relevancy of your pitch, and that's either date,
31:52
the date that timeliness. Yeah. Or that there's a piece of data and maybe there's some data that's come out that you can have an opinion on because you're in that industry, right. OK, that's
32:03
that's another way. Experts. We're always looking for experts. Yes, the I in media. Not the nicest, prettiest word, but it's itemized. Give me your three points that you're going to share, this esthetician said. The ingredients that work in the summer in your products are probably not going to work in the winter. I'm going to tell you what products to use instead, what products not to use,
32:27
and where you can find them at your local drug store. Perfect. I mean, who doesn't want that, right? You know, like boom, boom, boom. Yeah, super easy.
32:39
And then of course, the audience, make sure you're targeting the right media outlet, the A and that media acronym is mentioned the audience or at least target an outlet that is the right audience that is going to ensure that you rise to the top. It's your voice. And then to round out this whole strategy, OK, you've identified something that that you can offer in a timeliness. You've figured out your pitch.
33:06
Now you're going to need to follow up. You want to send that pitch. You have to do a follow up e-mail. You also have to make yourself available on a dime, because that esthetician, she got booked within two days.
33:20
Real quick. We're turning this around quick and media. We have so many hours to fill, at least in broadcasting. And I know local outlets, those journalists, they are overworked, underpaid, undervalued. They want to hear from you.
33:38
I love this. I love this. So tell me what is follow up look like what's good. Follow up because you don't want to be that person that like you know two hours later. Mom mom that's all I can think of right. Like the yes. But you also don't want to miss the boat. You don't wanna you don't wanna you know you follow up two weeks later and it's Pat you know that time that urgency you were talking about Now that doesn't really it's not as impactful anymore. So is there is there an ideal follow up time. When do I follow up. How soon is too soon?
34:08
I think you can follow up in one week easily. Love that, OK And. And multiple times.
34:16
You need to follow up at least twice that for sure, because here's what's happening in in the world of the journalists right now. The job that used to take three to four people to do has been amortized into one person. OK, you've heard about media layoffs. They're real. How do you newsrooms operate on shoestring budgets and a shoestring staff? And they're working so hard. Especially if you're targeting local media, that's a super safe place to go first. If you're a local business, go to your local media.
34:48
There's so many ways that you can approach that. You need to follow up. You need to make yourself available. It is not uncommon to have to follow up for Times journalists are overworked. As long as you aren't rude and you are genuine in your reach out.
35:07
I know you're busy. I really feel like there's a great opportunity to connect I and and maybe your third or fourth follow up. Throw out a couple more talking points. OK, yeah. And
35:19
just again, because a journalist eyes they're going through so much content every day, copy your original e-mail. Reply to just the original e-mail with the journalist's name.
35:30
Don't continue replying to your last sent e-mail, OK? Don't send a huge thread,
35:38
resend the pitch.
35:40
If by the 3rd e-mail you've heard nothing, you can even consider changing the subject a little bit, tweaking the talking points You can even do if you still feel uncertain. A simple I'm available this week, just re upping this, bringing this back to your attention. I know how hard you work. You can even a little ego stroke as long as it's genuine and you mean it. Love the story you did tonight or or love that piece you did yesterday. You know, with the the dog walkers from, you know, my neighborhood
36:12
community groups. So cute.
36:15
It's funny. I so I give I gave similar advice I I did some talking points on on a podcast that I was on and they said, you know, it's similar to journalists that we get a lot of requests. I get a lot of requests for businesses that want to partner with Scotiabank Women Initiative or want to work with us in some way or sponsorships, that sort of thing. And tons in a day. It's nothing to get to 300 emails a day.
36:41
And uh, someone asked, you know,
36:45
how's a good way to get noticed? And I said, you know when I see those individuals on LinkedIn or Instagram or whatever it is and they're always liking or commenting or oh, I saw this article or great post or great event or. And then I get an e-mail. I'm like, I know that name
37:01
and it's only because I saw it in notifications, right? Like I saw it in notifications somewhere and now all of a sudden I'm like, huh, that name is super familiar. So that kind of stuff makes a difference. So I completely agree with that piece of advice, right? Like like what they're doing. Follow what they're doing. Like it comments whatever it is and all of a sudden you're a familiar name on the screen.
37:26
This is simple. Is that against journalists? They're they're inundated. But then OK, so maybe you have a pitch. It doesn't. It doesn't land. Media is a long game. So it doesn't mean that you can't reach out for. OK, well, maybe Mother's Day, perfect time. A student Mother's Day. Oh, maybe it's the fall. And you know, again, you have a service and you know, people get created. It gets busy in the fall. And this would be a good time for someone to take, you know, some self-care there. There's ways to reach out, and maybe by the time you do it, the third
37:57
time. But name familiarity rings a bell, just just as the journalist is now finally has room to breathe. And they're like, oh, this is neat. OK, now I have time.
38:12
I I think that's great. That's great advice. Then you gotta be ready. Yeah, be ready and then be ready. Because now it's a whirlwind. As soon as you've been selected, that's it. And now it is a whirlwind of meetings and information and interviews and and all of that. So that's really great. That's really great advice. Can our entrepreneurs be ready, though? So what are some common things? Let's say I send you my pitch, I get you to read my pitch, you read my e-mail and you say I want this story. This is what I'm interested in. I I think
38:42
this is great. Can I be ready with anything? Is there stuff I should have ready that you're gonna ask me for the first time we chat?
38:52
No. What? Your
38:56
You know what your story is? OK, You know, I all too often there's maybe a desire to be like, oh, I'm in. I'm just going to talk about my product.
39:09
Ooh, that could that could have you land on the, UH. That wasn't what we thought we were getting, right. If you're pitching from a game, journalists are storytellers. Television especially, like morning shows. That's a great place to target.
39:27
They are thinking of their audience. So I'll always think what can I give that journalists audience not unfortunately it's it's not about you and the service. It's what value am I giving to that outlet have that ready to go because there's nothing more that makes a a reporter feel a little slimy when they're like am I going to just give them a free commercial Because I thought we were going to get,
39:58
you know, some value here for the reader. The viewer for sure. And and you make a good point that it's really all about the storytelling. So any tips or suggestions on how you get better at being a storyteller? Like being a storyteller is not that's a skill. It really is. And so if I'm the successful entrepreneur, my skill might be what my business is, my passion, my right. And. And so that doesn't mean that my skill is telling my story, even though I may have a great.
40:29
So do you have any tips on how we can be better storytellers so that we can better tell our story?
40:37
OK. Great question.
40:41
You're obviously reaching out for for a purpose. You know, journalists get that.
40:48
It really comes down to, again, are you a service or you a product. So if you're a product, telling your story has to be what, why that product? You know, there's so many great products out there. There's so many great ideas out there. It's not about who has the best idea, it's who communicates it best. OK. So if you have a great product and products are tough to pitch, lots of products looks like a commercial,
41:13
it has to fall under. You know again what I was pointing out earlier with that headline, are you on the forefront of a trend? What made you see that trend?
41:23
Are you seeing like a change in your industry?
41:28
Here's a great example. UH, there is an interior design firm in Winnipeg.
41:34
We actually reached out to them because they shared that they were moving to a four day work week and they were offering childcare.
41:43
Who offers childcare anymore? And I'm like this is there's a trend right now for work life balance. There's a trend happening and and a conversation happening about how are we supporting moms coming back to work. And here is a small design firm who found solutions that multi $1,000,000 big corporations can't even figure out. So that was that's the story. It's not
42:13
in that regard. That's what made it timely and newsworthy and noteworthy for sure. So not of course not every business or service has,
42:23
you know, is going forward with that. But you have to, you do have to isolate what is unique about you. What problem are you trying to solve in the world?
42:35
You know, why did you go into massage therapy? How can we use that at our desks? You know, now we're all being welcomed back and you know, you have to be in the office three times a week now, if not longer. That's going to feel a lot different than being able to do laundry in between calls and getting stuff done in the kitchen. If you're, if you're in massage therapy, you know, here's what you can do. If you're back at the office and your wrists are now sore, or your your hamstrings or your quads are tightening up because you're doing a lot more desk work, then you know what you would have done six months ago.
43:06
So it's it's knowing, Um,
43:10
who you are, what problem you're trying to solve, and then how it can connect to to the greater discourse. If you can distill that, there's a story there that's engaging and now it becomes about the listener in the audience and not just about you and your chronological history into entrepreneurship. Yeah, you're not just listing your resume. I love that. I love that. So I'm. I'm mourning the crew that we're gonna open up for questions. So if you have some, please put them in the chat. I know some of you already have
43:40
and we will go over those. So please if you've got questions, we're willing to answer them. But I want to shift a little bit there, Nicole and I, I really want to hear. So you, you've given us your expertise. You've shared with us so much about, you know, what we as entrepreneurs can do to get in the media and get seen and get heard and tell our story.
44:00
I want to hear a little bit more about your new journey and your new story and what does it look like now. So tell us about Nicole Dubé Media. Yes. OK. So I did a lot of soul searching and realized, OK, what do I love doing? Well, my whole job is helping others tell their story. So I am launching Dubé Media Inc. The websites NicoleDubémedia.com only because Dubé Media is
44:31
taken, but we're going to use my name recognition at least in this in this city. So NicoleDubémedia.com is really able to find me any day now. It's going to be live
44:43
and helping people share their story, whether that is pitching media, whether that is being a better communicator for your audience, whatever that audience looks like. Maybe it is your social media channels, maybe it is internal or your, you know, stakeholders or shareholders. Maybe you are going to be doing some speaking engagements and you want to be better at that.
45:06
Sharing your story, identifying where that story can land and how it can best serve you but best serve others. That's what Davey Media is all about. Pitch, pitch, training. And then
45:19
really, my passion is helping
45:22
anyone nail that media interview. So media training is going to be a core focus, and media training really is What are your key messages and how are you going to get them out in a very concise and short amount of time? If I can help even just one person
45:40
feel the freedom of what it's like to be in a live, authentic, interactive conversation with a journalist or reporter podcast host, I mean, I'll be over the moon. That's what I'm hoping to do.
45:56
Fantastic. So so everyone hears that that we just got the very first free session from Nicole Media Nicole Media Inc training right there. So I think that's amazing and I love that you're you know you're sharing your passion you're sharing your expertise and and you're really teaching individuals to to do what they can do even better and really share their stories in intern with entrepreneurs that sharing their business right.
46:26
So I I think that's incredible so good for you I'm so excited for your journey. I'm excited that we get to be part of it. And one of the things I want to I want to share and I wanna have you share is we talk to our entrepreneurs all the time about, you know, ways that the Scotiabank Women Initiative can really help help them in their business, help them as as a person. And and you shared with me and and I hope you don't mind me saying so but you shared with me that your small business advisor you've been working with
46:57
has been really an essential team player in this whole journey that you've started as to being an entrepreneur. Well, you share with us maybe some of the amazing things or or just you know, how they made you feel or whatever it was that just made them so essential to you in these these pivotal moments. Yes. Oh my God, thank you for asking that because I have to give a huge shout out to Jen Haslam and her branch manager Navarin here at the Scotia Bank on Taylor Ave.
47:29
They received me with what I felt was like red carpet treatment as I'm navigating, opening a business account and being like, do I incorporate, do I not incorporate, Which I didn't realize people had such strong opinions on? Chris. Oh my gosh. Talking politics.
47:47
Like, yeah, that is what you do.
47:51
But when I shared that, yes, I'm launching Dubé Media and I'm, I'm really wanting to help people share their story, have that media training, help organizations understand and demystify what media is. Again, there's room for PR agencies, but they're really expensive. There's no guarantee. I'm telling you straight up, we delete those emails really quickly. So there, it's better to at least give
48:21
your time. If you don't have the dollars to a media strategy that you can pull off. And and I truly have shared some of those key elements, you can do it. And when I shared that with Jen and and Navarin, it's almost like they wanted to pop champagne for me. They're like, yes, this is exactly what you should do. We're here for you and I. I could have cried only because you go into a conversation like that thinking that maybe your idea is silly or that you're crazy to leave your career or
48:53
this well established role you've done and go after syndrome. I'm just saying. I'm just saying,
49:00
we need our little alarm, yeah. But to bet on yourself and then to come into a bank and have a big bank make you feel like you got this and we got you. And we're going to guide you through these questions. And
49:19
within I get home, there's already an e-mail from Jen going over complex business language that I didn't, you know, at the time. I was like, oh, I know what you're talking about, but I'm overwhelmed right now. I'm not going to go home and be like, what am I doing? And there was this e-mail recapping it and easy to understand language and then any other questions
49:44
and then just some nice follow up emails. At that point it's just been, I never expected that experience from a big bank. And and I I mean that I
49:57
I didn't know what that what that part of it was going to be like. It felt very uncomfortable. And I have to say, I know I now feel like I do have someone in my corner for any silly question. Jen already sent me links to read some stuff up because I'm I'm a researcher. Give me all the info let me figure it out. And yeah, I think we're so lucky if you're here and you're on this call.
50:21
Um,
50:23
there there is mentorship. And I don't know about you. I've paid for an expensive business coach to figure out my journey. I've done it. I've paid the thousands of dollars and
50:33
I don't want to spend a dollar more until I extract every last ounce of Intel from all the free programs and services that are right here just by the Woman initiative. And and my small business advisor Jen
50:47
I'm so thank you so much for sharing your experience and I appreciate that and thank you goes out to Jen because I'm sure she'll be listening if she's not already. So definitely thank you goes out to her for being such an amazing small business advisor and she's not alone. I get the opportunity to work with the small business advisors right across the country on a regular basis. You know working with them on on the Scotiabank women initiative and how they're working with their their customers in small business and they're all just incredible.
51:18
And so she's a great example. So absolutely, you know, thank you and to the branch manager as well. Again, branch managers are amazing and so proud to be a Scotia banker and thank you for sharing that. And I am going to go over a couple of questions. We've got a few minutes left. So I do want to go over a couple of questions that are in the chat. So let's see. So we've got Nicole, what's the different differentiating factors between DM ING and
51:49
R Agency? Sorry, DMD Inc and AR Agency? My reading that correctly, if you're referencing like Dubé Media, I work with you. We craft a strategy, we craft those pitches and I'm going to empower you to do your own PR in a model that can be replicated
52:12
by all means. PR agencies offer their services.
52:16
Their retainer fee might make your jaw drop,
52:21
and again, if they are not using that story structure in their pitch, it's really hard. Here's an example. We had a great pitch about
52:34
an organization of for profit organization that gave funding to a charity to do a build.
52:44
They were offering up the president of this organization to talk about their funding
52:51
to make this charity home build for a family. They didn't OfferUp a family, They didn't OfferUp a community organization saying how much is going to change the landscape. They offered up the president.
53:05
That is a big difference between PR wants to make their client happy
53:11
and if they're not thinking this news outlet has an audience, how will we serving their audience versus how am I going to make my client happy?
53:23
That's why those emails get busted out. We get that all the time. News about the organization, the corporation, the business, the product,
53:35
meet the founder. There's no story in there. But if you if you've done PR and you're and you've had a great experience, that's phenomenal. I'm just saying journalists are becoming better and better at seeing a PR agency. And sometimes when we see PR agencies, we send them to the marketing team.
53:56
If they can afford a PR agency, we're gonna make him pay for a sponsored segment or advertised content. If you want to get around the gatekeepers that are going to make you go through the sales team to get a media landing,
54:08
don't do it yourself.
54:11
Excellent. Thank you. I can, I can see a lot of head nodding and those that are on and I can see the some likes coming on the comments. So good, good answer to that. And can I ask a question just around that. So am I understanding that through a PR agency essentially they would do it for you, right. It's going to show like it's from them, right? Like it's whereas you're teaching them to do it themselves, which is which is the more authentic group in my opinion. Not that I'm right. I'm not the expert. But to me, even for myself,
54:43
you said right over the gates you can tell your story better than I can introduce you. Yes, yes, take out the middleman. We want the store. Love one because I love that. I love that. Alright. Another question we missed was how do you pitch when you're in a specialized retail area that has a smaller volume of interest? OK. What would be an example of that?
55:10
Andy, are you still here with us? And if you are, maybe you can give us an example.
55:19
So I'll wait to see if Cindy gives us. Oh, here we go.
55:27
Esoteric.
55:29
I don't know if I know what that means. I don't either.
55:32
Gonna have to help us out, Cindy. Yeah.
55:35
Um,
55:39
I understand. Mute. Yeah, absolutely. I'm just, you know, the spiritual world, basically the, you know, and that's a terrible world. So you know, Paganism, you know, terror readings, things like that.
55:54
It's unique and you know area that is is big and large but it's broad like with small at the same time,
56:01
right. No, thank you for the clarification, Sydney. Yes, I'm super into Charo. I love this. OK. Really quickly people think Taro, an easy time of year is anytime in October, anytime around Halloween or link it to one of the full moons.
56:19
You know, we have astronomers on the show talking about the meaning of full moons. I'm not sure if that resonates something that I oh, this is something I've wanted to pitch to my own newsroom. I'm going to just give you a pitch right now. Women's circles. If you are in the field of women's circles, what is that? They're popping up everywhere.
56:38
That's a pitch. If there's a woman's circle happening and you know interest is growing, link it. Link it if you can to something. OK, let's say
56:50
what's? What's the point? Why do you do what you do? Is it because you want to help people learn about themselves? Is it because you want people to have tools on their self development journey? Link that to some story that's already out there. Mental health is huge.
57:08
Gosh, see, this is one of those things where like if I had five more minutes, I could really not nugget this. We put you on the spot. We put you on the spot.
57:19
Yeah, but no, there's sorry. I keep kicking my, like, ring light. Yes, I got a ring light
57:25
find. Find something already current or trending or topical or you're perceiving Um
57:33
I know women circles someone pitched that you're going to get. I have to tell you right. I don't even know what that is but I'm like I I just wrote that down I'm like I gotta look into one of that is like I don't I don't immediately I'm interested though immediately I'm interested so great. And Cindy says thank you so much. So I I hope we've answered some questions. I I hate to cut this off. I've enjoyed this conversation so much. We are at time and I'd like to be respectful that you all, I mean, Nicole included, but all of you
58:04
who gave us an hour to sit and chat with us and listen to what Nicole had to say and had to share with us. So on behalf of the Scotiabank Women initiative, Nicole, I can't thank you enough. And to all of you that joined, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure. Nicole. I always end with one quick question. What is it that you do every single day that you can't give up? And it could be the silliest of things? For me, it's I absolutely, positively have to have my cup of coffee or I'm a monster. But is there something that you have to do every single day?
58:34
Start your day.
58:36
I drink a cup of green tea when you start your mornings, which I have done for 10 years. At 3:00 in the morning. I can't have coffee, but I'm adamant. And I'm even pickier than that. Chris, I need Jasmine green tea. It's my one thing. You're fancy. You're fancy. I love that.
58:54
You know, I like the aromatics of like, Jasmine green tea. I hunt it down so it's hard to find. I love it. I love it. I love it. Well, thank you for sharing that with us, Nicole. Thank you, everyone, for joining today. It's been an absolute pleasure and I wish you all an excellent rest of your day. Thank you. Find me on anywhere. All of all of all of all of Nicole's contacts will be in the chat.
59:18
OK, take care everyone.
