034: Authenticity, Autonomy, and AI in Social Media and Marketing with Adele Beiny

Danny Gavin    00:05 

Hello everyone i’m Danny Gavin, founder of Optidge and marketing professor and the host of the Digital Marketing Mentor. Super excited to have Adele Beiny today. The founder and CEO of Life is looking good. Life’s Looking Good is the digital agency offering content management, podcasting, digital campaigns, and marketing. It’s an agency born out of necessity at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 and now tells compelling stories with uncompromised quality and leading-edge design. Because when business is good, life’s looking good. Adele’s bit of an influencer on Instagram and recently began a new season of our Life Unfiltered podcast, which you can catch on YouTube, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts. How you doing, Adele?

 

Adele Beiny    01:07 

I mean, I’m doing better now that I just heard that amazing intro like, I actually like, I want you to write all my content because that was phenomenal i couldn’t even say it better myself.

 

Danny Gavin    01:17 

It’s funny because you know so many, a lot of people know about, you know you are, but sometimes they don’t know about your agency side so I think it was important to let people know that it’s, you know, it’s not just Edel the personality, but she’s actually got this amazing agency behind her.

 

Adele Beiny    01:31 

Thank you yeah i’m excited to be here thank you for having me this is. I love what you’re doing. I’m excited and I’m honored that you asked me to be on here.

 

Danny Gavin    01:38 

All right, so let’s jump right in. So let’s talk about your background. It’s funny, most of my guests, when I asked him like, where did you go to school? I would say, you know, from all the episodes that we’ve done, most of them say, you know, I went to this university at university, I know it’ll you didn’t go to college. So I’d love to know about coming from a world of no formal education and maybe why you didn’t go down that path and you know how you feel about it today.

 

Adele Beiny    02:00 

I grew up Orthodox Jewish and I’m 38 and I feel as though now there is a bit a larger movement toward young Orthodox individuals going to school but back when I was growing up, it really wasn’t a big emphasis. My, it’s interesting, both my parents are academic my mother went to Harvard before women were even going to Harvard. When I tell people that, they’re surprised because you think if you come from academic parents, it’s wild that I wouldn’t go to school. I mean to go to go on to university. My mother was actually the one that told me not to go to school. She said that you have the gift of gab you have a great personality, you’re a natural born networker. You’ll do better just going out in the world. And i actually didn’t do great in a formal educational setting, sitting in a classroom, learning i didn’t do my best i didn’t thrive. I like. Getting my hands dirty. So it was kind of a nobrainer for me. How do I feel about it today? I think I’m doing better than a lot of my friends that went to university. And it’s interesting because my son is at a very similar crossroads now. He is saying he’s due to go to College in the fall and he’s like mom i’d rather he’s working as an internship he’s like if I work this internship in commercial real estate for the next four years, I’ll be better off than getting an education. And it’s funny, I’m pushing him to go to college because it’s the world. And it’s funny because he’s like me, he’s got the gift of gab he’s well traveled he knows tons of people he’s extremely articulate, smart but I think the society we’re in now, whether we like it or not, it’s it really needs you to have a degree in some capacity. I think I eked through, but I would say to young people today go to college.

 

Danny Gavin    03:41 

Yeah and another thing that I see is also this, the soft skills that you gained through that program, whether it’s just, you know, how to work in groups or how to, you know, deal with living on your own i mean, you can do that outside of it, but you know, I think there’s a lot of experiences that you just can’t get if you’re not going through that.

 

Adele Beiny    03:57 

Yeah, and learning how to learn, you know, that was like something. I mean it’s beautiful thing now we have the Internet and we’ve got YouTube and you could teach yourself anything but there is something quite remarkable about being in a setting where you’re learning how to learn so and just the social aspect that’s important not to be stepped over, you know, your college network is important that’s one thing I didn’t get.

 

Danny Gavin    04:16 

Do you feel like there’s this part inside of you that wants to go back to school at some point and study something at an academic level, or do you not see that in your cards?

 

Adele Beiny    04:25 

Later in life when my kids are grown and I and I have a little bit more time, I could see myself doing something like in the honestly, more along the lines of what you’re doing marketing, just something along the lines of that help me be better at what I’m doing today.

 

Danny Gavin    04:40 

So kind of skipping along to California. You know, what brought you to California growing up in the Northeast, you know, a totally different world. What drew you there?

 

Adele Beiny    04:49 

Well, I came here for my second marriage, and now I have a daughter. So I stayed here. And I often say, oh, you know, I want to be on the East Coast i want to be on the East Coast but then when I go back to visit, I realized I’ve fully integrated to California culture like I couldn’t be more Californian if I tried. And the living is so easy here it’s you really, you adjust quickly. You know, we have the beautiful weather. It’s always, you know, it’s sunny, it’s easy, there’s parking. The one thing that’s tough is that cultural aspect where the East Coasters are just i feel in many ways east coasters just have this bit more of like this grit and grounding that Californians are missing. But you know, you make up for it because we have so much Wellness and options and you have food options like anything, you’re any whim. Is provided here. That is what’s unique about California. But I’ve made a life here and I, and now it’s home and I’m. I love it.

 

Danny Gavin    05:48 

That’s wonderful. Yeah and was it was the transition hard in the beginning or?

 

Adele Beiny    05:52 

Yeah, because I’m a little bit aggressive but people would tell me, like, you sound angry you sound aggressive. I’m like, I this is just an East Coast thing and it was lonely you know moving to a new state is hard. I would say like being in a Jewish community helps a lot because you have this built in network of people, but it’s hard moving to another state is hard there’s cultural differences people do things, they move at a different pace, there’s a different wavelength, everything is different. For me, what really worked, and I would say if anyone’s listening in their new is join like a little studio, not a giant gym, something petite, like either a pottery studio or a Pilate studio or something that’s a small intimate group. You’re much more likely to make friends in an intimate setting and you’re there all the time you’re there on a consistent basis so I ended up joining like little Studios and that’s how I made a lot of my like friends early on and kind of found my little groove.

 

Danny Gavin    06:51 

That’s amazing. And I think that, you know, so it’s about getting out, right? I mean, obviously with the Internet and with social media you can do it, but forcing yourself to get out, go to those places and make friends can really help.

 

Adele Beiny    07:01 

Yeah, you got to get out you can’t. I mean, you can make friends online, but it doesn’t translate to real life you know you can’t get drinks of the friend online.

 

Danny Gavin    07:10 

Yeah, it’s kind of hard yeah. So kind of dialing back, I would say your parents clearly influenced your passion for lifestyle design. What was it about how they raised you that grew you in that direction?

 

Adele Beiny    07:21 

I would say it was definitely my mom. My dad, not so much into the lifestyle. Wear the same shirt for 15 years if you let him. My mother is a is a creative in her own way actually not in her own way she works with some very large companies early in her career. Prudential, Dean, Witter, all sorts of big companies and she was helping them with their marketing. So and I think for me. The way that you live your life directly correlates to how you market, right? It’s like if you have a messy car and then you try it and then you know, you go out and like you try and have it all you have to. It sort of follows this, you know, the bread crumbs so my mom was a creative through and through and she in our home was. That she, you know, we had five children. It was a small home. You know, we didn’t have a lot of money, but I remember that at all the details were always paid attention to. She was always really aware of the way things looked, the efficiencies that, you know, we had a drawer that had all the things that you need to do your homework. All that little stuff stuck with me, I remember. Going to my friend’s houses to do homework and they couldn’t find tape, they couldn’t find scissors, they couldn’t find pens. A lot i remember this point as a child realizing, wow, a lot of my friend’s parents have not thought about the things that my mom has thought about in order to make our life better and smoother. And so that that’s the kind of stuff that just sticks with you as a child. And so as I. Grew into adulthood, it was important to me because my mother led by example of this, having things be well maintained, taken care of, having a lot of respect for the place that you live, which sort of organically led me into this whole lifestyle content that I that you see a lot of.

 

Danny Gavin    09:13 

And I think that’s a really good segue into mentorship because we’re going to talk in a bit about like, you know, your mom being your mentor yeah but before we do that, how would you define a mentor?

 

Adele Beiny    09:22 

A mentor to me is somebody that. Has the love of teaching and sharing in their heart, like it’s in their DNA and they’re not doing it for accolades they don’t do it for anything in return. They are born or have developed a love of sharing and like guiding and showing that it just happens organically it’s almost like you don’t choose to be a mentor people choose you because it because you exude it. You look you feet, they feet in your presence, they feel like you’re somebody who wants to share knowledge and guide. And so I think that’s like a mentor, somebody there, but it’s in their DNA. They can’t help it.

 

Danny Gavin    10:01 

And it’s interesting that you define it that way because it makes a lot of sense because I know like in pre sort of episode stuff, it was like, OK, so it’ll who are your mentors and it was difficult to like, OK, you know, who was it? And you mentioned your mom, but it makes sense, right? But based on how you’re defining it, it’s difficult, right it’s not easy to find a mentor.

 

Adele Beiny    10:18 

No, it’s not because I think also too, it depends on your personality i don’t know that I’m somebody that like, loves to be mentored. I like to look up to the sometimes my mentors don’t even know they’re mentoring me. You know, for example, I have some people online in the social media space that I look at i’m like, you’re crushing it. I take the best and the finest things of what I perceive to be their success formula. They don’t even know they’re mentoring me. But what I noticed. The common theme amongst all of the people online that I find are my mentors inadvertently are people that organically share how to Are you familiar with Tessa TEZZA Okay well, she’s got like over 1000000 followers, and I’m sure she’s huge on tik tok too. She has an app, an editing app that’s like color and video it’s like a studio an editing studio. What I love about her She posts phenomenal, phenomenal content. But she always shows the users how to use it. You love this video you love this photo. Here’s how I got that. A lot of online personality, social media experts, bloggers, they’re going to tell you their secret sauce. They’re going to post beautiful, elegant, you know, just inspiring photos and you’re just left. Kind of. How do I do that how do I recreate that? She’s somebody who shares it. She shares that information so she’s a mentor without even. I mean, she knows it, but that’s she’s organically doing it.

 

Danny Gavin    11:48 

Have you ever let her know like, hey, I really look up to you and have you ever reached out to her?

 

Adele Beiny    11:53 

I saw her once in the mall and I wanted to stop, stop her, but I didn’t. I felt bad. I held back and then I wrote to her and she’s got millions of followers i wrote to her and she wrote back. I said I just saw you at the mall i wish I would have said hi. You’re such an inspiration to me and I use your app. It helps like it helped create my brand. And she was like, you’re so kind i wish you would have come, said Hello. Always come say hi. So she was even in that moment, you know, she made me feel very special.

 

Danny Gavin    12:24 

So it’s sort of like her brand, like it’s just seeping through right you could. She loves helping. When she responds to you, she’s lovely. Yeah, that’s amazing.

 

Adele Beiny    12:31 

That’s like the clean car, like The Dirty car thing, right like you can’t have your life altogether and have a dirty car. It’s like she is her persona. It’s not just she’s online this is like she doesn’t just pretend that she’s nice online. She had a moment in the DM she could have just read it and not responded she took the time.

 

Danny Gavin    12:48 

It’s in her DNA, but I’m sure in like just in sort of the influencer circles, you’ve bumped into people that look one way online, but then when you actually meet them, they’re a little bit different.

 

Adele Beiny    13:02 

Yep, all the time.

 

Danny Gavin    13:04 

How do you feel about that?

 

Adele Beiny    13:06 

In order to have longevity in any brands, in any company and anything you’re doing, there has to be authenticity you can. Have two personas you can have an online and a personal persona. Eventually they will bleed and or you will be found out because this is just the way of the world so I think it’s very important that people ought to remember, you know, when I’m at a public setting or an event and I know that there might be people who follow me, I’m very mindful of, like my behavior i’m very gracious if I don’t. Rarely if ever get recognized but on occasion I do and if I do i’m so happy maybe how Tessa felt you know i’m just so I’m grateful I’m happy i’m honored like the fact that anybody spends the way that I think people should approach it and this is how I approach it as a you know marketing my own business life is busy and. There’s a lot of demands, not just in your personal life, but digitally you know, we’re pulled in a million directions everybody wants your click, everybody wants your eyeballs, everybody wants you to read, everybody wants to follow. If somebody is giving you that time, if somebody is coming to your page, to your site to look at anything you’re doing, you need to be very grateful for that. And that’s how I feel.

 

Danny Gavin    14:21 

The bottom line is you are a mentor to others. You know whether you want it or not, but do you practically think about that on a day-to-day yeah sometimes I think about it when I’m about to say something like sassy your mouth off you know because i am sometimes like the top bit of a talking head. I slim think to myself am I perpetuating a bit of negativity in this space And I and at the same time the flip side, I often think of the same thing when I’m posting something positive or trying to share or trying to talk about. Causes that are important to me, you know, like taking care of the earth at the same time, like if I’m doing something negative or if I’m doing something positive, I’m acutely aware that there are young people or old people that are that are taking in what I’m saying and might internalize it and or bring that out into their world so yeah, you have to. I mean, if you’re online and you have even a small following, I don’t even care if you have five people following you if you’re making an impression on them, you have a responsibility.

 

Danny Gavin    15:14 

But I think what’s cool is you’re also not afraid. It’s like, for example, I know a couple weeks ago you went to Israel you really didn’t have a great time and you basically let the world know, you know, I know when you go to Israel, you’re supposed to come back, say, I had a great time, but I didn’t really like it. Yeah, like it blew up but you know what it but it wasn’t bad like it’s okay it’s okay to go somewhere and not enjoy it. So it was good that you told everyone the Israel?

 

Adele Beiny    15:36 

Thing comes up a lot i was just atmosphere last night and two people were like, we talked about the Israel thing i’m like, wow, it’s so you see like the impact of saying that you don’t like something is so important. But yeah, I agree i mean, look, we’re not doing anyone a service if we’re just constantly just saying niceties. I actually just heard this study yesterday. It’s like loosely connected. But this is the longest study of following children from like toddlers up they followed them like 70 years. And the overall, the people that were that had the belief like, it’s going to be fine, Everything’s going to be fine, like hep pie in the sky. They died on average like several years earlier because they didn’t take care. They didn’t They weren’t mindful right. We don’t do anyone a service of just being like everything’s wonderful all the time in the same way i have this responsibility and. I’m trying to build this brand of authenticity. So sometimes that will look like snarkiness, sometimes that will be sassy, sometimes it will be positive and kind and a warm mentor. But we’re also multidimensional people. And I think this is where I think honestly a lot just quickly taking it back to marketing sometimes for me this is where I think some. Marketers drop the ball a little bit. They become so hyper focused around one topic or like they’re one niche and I know people say to niche down and it is important, but at the same time, we don’t feel like seeing or doing or eating the same thing every day. So why would you only want to see one type of content, right? Like we’re flexible, malleable beings we don’t like, you know, So when I see a yoga studio, like only ever posting yoga schedule class, I’m like. Let’s get a little diverse here there’s other stuff let’s bring in Wellness, breath, work, mindfulness, like all sorts of things that sort of still boost your brand and help you kind of be who you are in the space, but without being so one-dimensional now you’re talking to the right guy. There’s been a lot of pressure on me, a lot of my advisors and different things to like niche down and I just say no, like I don’t want to, but it’s hard because typically success equals niching but i agree with you, I think that it’s not the only path to success.

 

Adele Beiny    17:46 

Well, you know what’s crazy? The algorithm loves a niche. Let me tell you what happened when I found this out, like, really poisonly So I’ve been marketing my podcast so I do the same formula, video, same kinds of music in the background, the same two seats. And those videos, I mean, I’ve been posting since like 2015 constantly, those videos. Every Tuesday, every Thursday, the same time on the couch saying the same things those videos did tremendously well. So it’s like the algorithm gods will tell you to niche down. But I give the proverbial middle finger to the algorithm gods because it’s I don’t. It’s yes, it’s fine and you know, follow a success. If you find a formula, do it. But don’t. One ought not to become a slave to just your niche. Because I think it’s fine short term sure you’ll you’ll blow up. But I think like what we’re seeing with threads, you can get the eyeballs, but you have to keep eyeballs and I think, you know, varieties spice of life.

 

Danny Gavin    18:47 

Yeah and I’m sure that will get to a point where you’re like, hey, I want to do something different, even though maybe your views are looking really good on your video but it’s like, I’m kind of bored of this let’s try something else exactly so let’s pivot to your area of expertise, lifestyle, design and marketing. How have your various positions before life is Looking good influenced your marketing style today?

 

Adele Beiny    19:05 

So my background is sales. I used to work in luxury real estate in Manhattan. I worked in some big properties like in Central Park Park, avenue south that. Sales experience combined with then I after that I moved into the beauty industry. I was working with like lasers and skin resurfacing with a lot of women. I was working for pharmaceutical companies but in the beauty space, very tough both luxury real estate and the beauty industry, very tough industries and you’re and you’re selling. I would say that selling was my greatest teacher. Into doing what I’m doing now because great marketing requires you to put yourself in the mind of the person who’s absorbing what you’re marketing. In order to know and feel and internalize what your audience is thinking or feeling or might want to think and feel, you have to know people, and the best way to learn people is try and sell to people do.

 

Danny Gavin    20:09 

You feel like in your upbringing maybe you weren’t in sort of these circles, but then like going through this time of either what you through the beauty industry or selling it kind of broke you out of that box and got to understand people better.

 

Adele Beiny    20:22 

Oh yeah, And I there was like Jobs where I had to knock on doors like I was door to door with the machine like that movie with Will Smith, like The Pursuit of happiness like hauling things, trying to get time with doctors, trying to just get 5 minutes with them. I was terrified, but. Like, you have to overcome some fear, and you really have to. You have a very short amount of time to deliver a very important message and that message is like, I want your dollars in this case, but with marketing, it’s I want your eyeballs, I need your attention, I need your time, I need you to care. So yeah, being exposed to, like, all women. Doctors, medical professionals, people buying real estate, people buying homes, right. You have to really tap into what they care about because otherwise they don’t care, right? I mean, I’ll never forget on my Allergan training Big Pharma with them, What’s in it for me? They’re like, if you have you have 30 seconds to art to get this point across to your audience, like what’s in it for me? And so, with everything I post, with everything I do, I think to myself what’s in it for them. And if I can’t answer that question, the content gets scrapped it doesn’t have to be deep, by the way. The with them doesn’t have to be like, oh, it’s life changing sometimes, if you’re talking head, but you’re entertaining, entertaining is important enough what’s in it for them? They’re entertained. That’s the very valuable.

 

Danny Gavin    21:45 

It’s a good barometer, right? Yeah so if you would say them like the content that you create, what percentage do you throw away because you’re like, man, this really has no value to it.

 

Adele Beiny    21:54 

Huge amount 60 %. I would say I scrap more than I post, especially now. The older I get, the more discerning I am. I think in my early days I was posting a lot more. And again, the algorithm gods love a lot of posting, right? The thing that people like, I think always need to remember about the digital space is all of these platforms, whether it’s, you know, Google, tik, tok, instagram all of them. They their job is to keep people on their site right, as long as you possibly can that’s their job. So they need all the people to be feeding the feeding that machine. So you will always get rewarded for more content. For me, like you said where we had to make a decision, I know where I’m supposed to niche down i know I’m supposed to post a ton of content. I didn’t want to just fill the airwaves because the algorithm rewards that i just wanted to make sure that I was providing value or entertainment or some sort of thing, so. Since I started scrapping a lot more, the older I get, I’m more discerning because I want to make sure that what I’m putting out there again is part of my responsibility. So yeah, a large number gets scrap now.

 

Danny Gavin    23:01 

And I don’t think people realize how much work that is because think about it like you put out a lot of content, but you’re putting out 60 % more whatever, and then half of that you’re throwing away that’s crazy.

 

Adele Beiny    23:11 

Yeah, I throw away huge amount. I mean, I or I post i will record it. I save it i sit on it sometimes I’m a bit more. Want to win like, I like this it’s going up i’m not thinking about it sometimes I’m like, I’m gonna save this. If I still feel like it’s good in a few hours or tomorrow, it’ll see the light of day.

 

Danny Gavin    23:28 

It’s like when you get that hectic email and you write the response and you’re ready to hit send, but then you wait. Ooh, I’m not gonna send that yet.

 

Adele Beiny    23:33 

Yeah, or if you’re like upset by an email, it’s always best place in on it so yeah, and sometimes too, I have to think like, how will my audience? Receive this I might be in a bit of a jovial fun mood but it could be that there’s something going on politically or you know it like in the world. So I’m you also have to be a little bit aware of like what’s going on around you and in our climate.

 

Danny Gavin    23:57 

So if you had to describe your dream client, what would it look like? How do you find that person and start a working relationship with them?

 

Adele Beiny    24:03 

My ideal client is an individual who. Allows me autonomy to do what I think or know that I do best but also has comes to the table with some of their own ideas or is willing and eager to share their interests you know it’s like you need this beautiful fusion of them allowing you to do what you do but that they’re also willing participant and somebody who’s I think just excited I look for someone with that that’s enthusiastic you know you need I think. As an artist or creative or a marketer, you do kind of need a bit of an energy, right it’s you got to get this sort of momentum because what you’re you that portrays and whatever you’re putting forward so I my ideal client is somebody that’s willing to share, willing to be involved in the process, but allows for some autonomy. How do I find them? A lot of my clients have come through my online platform through my through my Instagram and my social media. I think I’m blessed in that way. Because people see how I show up and they either they go, I 100 % want to work with this woman or they’re like this woman and I will never, will never work together. So typically, the people that find me know that I’m a straight shooter. That I’m like that I’m going to tell you very directly i mean I I’ve turned down clients in the past i will people will say I want to work with you and i will talk to them and I’ll know that we’re not going to be a good fit. Not just not because I can’t provide them with what they need, but because I just don’t think we’re going to be the best to work together and I won’t produce my best work. So I’m lucky that people kind of have a sense of who I am before they ever even. Click that book, a 15 minute consult with me, you know a discovery call. So I’m blessed in that way. I think it’s challenging to sort of get clients from scratch if you know if you. If you’re relatively unknown, much trickier.

 

Danny Gavin    25:56 

Regarding your average project, your average engagement, what are you primarily focusing on with your clients?

 

Adele Beiny    26:02 

Up until about like six months ago, my niche was small female owned businesses. And because my audience online is predominantly female, that was like a very synergistic flow for me. Where they typically come to me there’s two stages, either they need a rebrand, they need a new look and feel and or I would say the second genre because it’s pretty much divided into two buckets the other genres, people that started out, they have their look and feel, but they had no idea who they were as a business, as an individual, as a brand when they started out. And so they’ve just been. Shooting fish in a barrel and they have no there’s no cohesiveness and they’re lost. So either I work with them on like, let’s figure out who you are and who your brand is and what you’re trying to say, or all the way on the flip side to like people that need they need a website, they need a logo, they need a look, they need brand colors, they need a social media presence, and I do that with them as well.

 

Danny Gavin    27:03 

Which part do you like the?

 

Adele Beiny    27:05 

Most Oh my God, brand development coming up with their look and feel. I mean, it’s like giving me a blank room it’s like, here’s a blank room, put stuff in it. A lot of people get completely paralyzed when you show them an empty space and they say like, let’s design it. That’s my strong suit i make decisions very quickly and decisively and I’m usually don’t backtrack like, I don’t have a strong record of being like, Oh no, I have to undo. So for me, when someone says I need to create a brand, Oh my God, it’s like. From heaven, I’m like, let’s do, let’s figure out who you are and then let’s create this friend because I get, because I have such a strong part of it’s like birthing a baby. You take, you know, an individual who has a dream and idea, a passion you know a hope, and you give it color, flavor, texture, font presence. It’s such a beautiful thing. You burn, you burn the brand.

 

Danny Gavin    27:56 

But I love the fact that you say that it needs to be a partnership because you don’t just want someone that you can boss around so how do you vet that out from someone that they’re going to be a willing partner in this process?

 

Adele Beiny    28:05 

I’ll have people that say like i don’t need a discovery call i know I want to work with you and I go the discovery calls for me, you know i need to make sure that like we are going to be a good partnership and that’s where I kind of sort of start to. See who they are, see how excited they are, see if they’re really committed to their project the last thing I would want is to build someone, use their time, my time and their project doesn’t really go anywhere i want to know that they’re committed to this. I want to know that they’re as passionate as fired up and hopefully more fired up and committed than me and that they also have opinions and feelings about if someone’s like, I don’t know, I don’t care you just create the brand. I know that’s an immediate telltale sign to me that I won’t be able to create the brand because I need them to give me information for me to come up with something you can’t create something from nothing. So I need to know, why did you do this why did you get into this business what do you care about what are you trying to do with your brand if they if they don’t have that passion, I can’t make something from nothing to that.

 

Danny Gavin    29:08 

So segue back to a little bit about your content. You have a lot of content about designing tablescapes and hosting events and holidays, and usually mention something about reflecting on the meaning of that event and what sort of emotions we want to weave into that setting. How did you come to be so intentional about events and hosting?

 

Adele Beiny    29:26 

I think I’m a I’m a daydreamer since I was very young like. I like to do make believe i like to think about stories and incidences like I was always like. I think I was a kind of kid who was making up scenarios in my mind and dreaming and a lot of like make believe play. And I used to imagine like when I’m older, I’m going to create fancy dinner parties and I’m going to it was like a way of, I think for me, especially coming from a large family with very, with a very little voice in many capacities and, you know, not having a lot my family didn’t have a lot of money. My dreaming was a way of having hope. And so when I got to the stage of my life as an adult where I could create, where I could produce an event or a dinner party or, you know, any sort of thing that I could produce, it was I wanted so badly. To give people that little sense of adventure and make believe that they could come into my house or an event i don’t know if you know this, but I was an event designer like I did weddings and parties as well and it was a florist as well i know I’ve lived a thousand lifetimes, so I actually did produce events. I wanted to give people this moment where they were like and they felt transported out of their life, out of their stress, out of their worry when we go to events or dinners, I think. The responsibility of the host to sort of transport your guests somewhere for that time, for that moment, for that meal, for that evening, that is the marking of a true great host. So I think it started from my from when I was very young, really wanting to give people this sort of make believe kind of escape from their life. And that’s And so I think what would it take? What details? What lighting, dark, sparkly candles you know what takes people away from their life what takes you away from their phone you have to create magic.

 

Danny Gavin    31:16 

Yeah, I really want you to make my event for me.

 

Adele Beiny    31:19 

Yeah, it’s so fun it’s really fun when you get to see people’s, you know, sort of probably how you feel when you either people graduate your program and they’re like they have, they’re armed with like so much knowledge to kind of go do these things that there that’s in them, it’s this, it’s sort of this, it’s this amazing gift that you could give people to sort of take them out of their life for a moment and give them a new and exciting experience it’s very hard to do, especially in today’s pressure and busy life it’s hard to create magic, so I try and do it wherever I can.

 

Danny Gavin    31:52 

People who know you know that you travel a lot, especially relative to me, but in general but you also clearly love decorating and being in a beautiful created home, curated home. How do you balance the wanderlust and the love of your own space?

 

Adele Beiny    32:04 

Funny and interesting that you just asked me this today because I’m traveling on Friday for five and away from my house for five weeks and I’ve been waking up with anxiety about leaving my house. This exact dichotomy is just happening right now. Sometimes the travel helps because I’m so obsessive about my space and its neatness and its uniformity. Some would say to an unhealthy degree, but it’s like I am who I am, so sometimes the travel for me provides this. Break from having to worry about my garden, my plants, my linen, the order, the tidiness, and it allows me to sort of get out of that space, get out of my home, worrying about it, worrying about what needs to be fixed, painted, touched up, something swapped. And I get to breathe. And I also think for work, for what I do, having a more macro view of your life, getting to pan out, I think it’s very hard to see your life. When you’re very close to it. So for me, I use travel as this opportunity to see like so much higher, go so much higher and look at my life more macro and I get into a different flow state with ideas like new newness comes in. It’s hard to bring in newness when you’re in your daytoday life without any break. So the travel provides that for me.

 

Danny Gavin    33:21 

Yeah, I can really relate to that i went to South Africa for two weeks, a couple weeks ago, and you know, I lived there for two years and have a lot of good friends there. And just seeing how they live and what they do, what they accomplish, it really inspired me because I feel like when I’m at home and it’s just a grind, I never have that chance to like look past and see what are the possibilities. So I can. I tremendously relate to that.

 

Adele Beiny    33:45 

Yeah, even down to something as silly as like. You eat like we I eat the same kind of lunch or breakfast like a milk all the time you go to a different place like South Africa and also you’re like, Oh my God, that’s a great breakfast, that’s a great lunch. Why don’t you get ideas even from like what to eat or you start to see things differently and you it makes you change up your mundane and as soon as you change up your mundane, I think you get into a different flow state of ideas.

 

Danny Gavin    34:06 

That’s what my in my experience, no, I love that and it’s so true. Yeah, just got to got to travel a little bit more.

 

Adele Beiny    34:13 

I know it’s hard it’s hard.

 

Danny Gavin    34:14 

I’m sure you’re waiting for this question, but how has AI influenced your job as a content creator and even your job in an agency?

 

Adele Beiny    34:22 

I haven’t been deeply affected by AI just yet. Well, I just, I was playing around with some logos for a brand that I’m working with now. And I said to myself, I usually, I always go to my graphics i have a graphics guy, I love him, he’s amazing i still use him until AI could get as good but I thought to myself, you know what? Just for, like, shits and giggles, I’m going to go try this on a I and I had like 800 logo options in 30 seconds whereas when you’re working with creatives and you have to wait time for their creative juices. But what’s interesting, I’m not the graphic designer i farm out a lot of that kind of stuff. So for me, i worry more about my independent contractors than I do about myself because. Right now A I can’t do what I do yet because it requires just a different part of the imagination. A I has yet to come up with imagination yet that I know of. A I I’ve heard it said like this actually last night on the podcast A I doesn’t have a conscience yet, right? Yeah, i use the word yet because i do think there it could be a time and where that could be possible you know, I don’t i don’t want to. A I is getting so smart, so fast. So i worry more about because I’m coming up with a general concept, right? A I could take on a logo. A I could take on copy now A I can give you brand colors, but it can’t yet come up with the original you have to feed it the information so the information starts with me. I worry about some other creatives. I had a guest on my podcast who said. If you want to write relationship articles that refer to your partner as a copilot, sure you should worry about a I but if you have original thought and deep creativity and passion, I think it’s going to be very hard for a I to duplicate that. And so in that way I don’t worry. I do worry for people who write, copy and do graphics. I think it’s going to be tough. But so far I haven’t been impacted yet, and for the better only. I also think we haven’t really truly seen what AI is even capable yet we’re getting a very watered down basic version of AI.

 

Danny Gavin    36:31 

I think when we see some of the later stages, it’s gonna be a little problematic for some creators, All right, It’s time for our lightning round. So obviously you’re a foodie, you like pop culture, you love travel. So let’s talk a little bit about those. Tell me your top two foods that you like to make or eat.

 

Adele Beiny    36:48 

Ok, eat pastas in any capacity i mean, I’m talking any type of pasta with any kind of sauce. Favorite thing. The other thing I don’t know, it’s really pasta or bust.

 

Danny Gavin    36:59 

Well, what about dessert what’s your favorite dessert?

 

Adele Beiny    37:03 

I love candy. I’m like it’s so problematic. The sticky stickiest, sugariest candy you could think of like I pulled out a molar like I have a literally just had an implant pudding because I pulled out my teeth from sticky candy. Love it gushers through all UPS like this stuff that you should never ingest.

 

Danny Gavin    37:20 

Yeah, I’m more of a cookie guy, but there definitely are the candy people out there.

 

Adele Beiny    37:24 

Yeah, I know yeah you’re either pastry or you’re sugar, sugar, sugar.

 

Danny Gavin    37:28 

What about pop culture? What’s your, you know, recently favorite movie or show that you’ve watched?

 

Adele Beiny    37:32 

I love the marvelous Mrs maisel. I love the colors. I love the whole, the whole thing it just, it feels like you’re watching Broadway show for five seasons long. What else if I’ve been watching the Gilded Age, I guess I like fantasy, where they dress up in like elaborate clothing i like an elaborate set.

 

Danny Gavin    37:50 

And let’s talk about travel. You top three places to travel where you’ve been italy all parts of Italy. It’s really my favorite place for like a quick local getaway i love Mexico it’s warm, it’s beautiful you’re going to get guaranteed weather. And Israel no, a third place. Ooh, I don’t know you know, I’m really trying to get to Japan. I want to do a proper Japan from like the mountains all the way down like i want to see Japan that’s next on my list.

 

Danny Gavin    38:20 

And if you have a chance to travel where like obviously there’s the option of going to a place that you’ve been to before and you really love or going to somewhere new, how do you decide?

 

Adele Beiny    38:29 

It’s usually Italy. Like I just, i find myself returning. I mean, and pasta exactly. I just, I love the culture, I love the fashion, I love the style, I love the food it’s a very warm culture. I try new places like this past year I was in Israel, I was in Bora Bora. I was in Mexico. I was. I’ll be in Italy, Austria, London. So, but it all really keeps coming back to Italy.

 

Danny Gavin    38:58 

Go back to italy? yeah. Do you see yourself buying a place there one day?

 

Adele Beiny    39:02 

I’m gonna be looking this summer.

 

Danny Gavin    39:04 

Wow it’s exciting yeah.

 

Danny Gavin    39:06 

Outside of that, before we wrap up, what is your next big project or next big thing?

 

Adele Beiny    39:11 

So I’m currently working with a men’s hair restoration brand they do. It’s essentially like a toupee, but they call it a hair system. It’s going viral on tik tok. I’m working with a brand that’s right Now just one. Guy in a salon. We’re scaling him up to immediately 10 stylists we’re building out a whole new building i’m involved in the build out. I’m involved in the entire branding process, colors, logo, ideas, seeing social. And we’re going to. Please, God, take it to franchise. So that’s something I’m really excited about. And I also just think it’s such a beautiful thing to give men confidence and have people feel their best, like what a beautiful thing to be able to do and be a part of. So that’s what I’m working on right now and we’re like it’s just about to launch so i’m super, super excited about that.

 

Danny Gavin    40:02 

Amazing opportunities and I love how you’re pivoting. You know, a little bit more to the men’s side of things obviously you can do amazing in both areas, but that’s great.

 

Adele Beiny    40:09 

It’s true i have predominantly been working with women it’s interesting and it’s fun to work with men too. And it gives you such a different, you know, it’s speaking to men is very different than speaking to women so it’s cool for me to sort of practice and like be a little bit, you know, learn a new area that I was kind of unfamiliar with.

 

Danny Gavin    40:26 

So it’s been a fun process, so it’ll where can listeners learn more about you and your business.

 

Adele Beiny    40:32 

My website and blog is Life’s Looking Good, Calm and Life’s Looking Good on Instagram.

 

Danny Gavin    40:38 

There you could just find my daily musings, some tips and tricks, and all of my nonsense on there and people if you’re trying to find her podcast or anything like that, you just have to click on the link in her bio and it will get you to everywhere where you need to go. So just stop being confused i don’t know the.

 

Adele Beiny    40:53 

Problem listener danny, you’re a good listener.

 

Danny Gavin    40:55 

I do my best. Well, it’s been such absolute pleasure to have you on the podcast thank you. I know you’re so busy think you’re making time for me today?

 

Adele Beiny    41:03 

Thank you for having me.

 

Danny Gavin    41:04 

This is really thought pleasure. And thank you listeners for tuning into the Digital Marketing Mentor. We’ll talk to you next time.