WEBVTT 00:00:08.669 --> 00:00:11.609 Hey, everybody. Welcome to Good News York. I'm 00:00:11.609 --> 00:00:13.869 Matt from Clickstream Studios. This has been 00:00:13.869 --> 00:00:17.949 an exciting week. If you didn't notice or follow 00:00:17.949 --> 00:00:20.929 us anywhere, which you really should be, we were 00:00:20.929 --> 00:00:23.609 on the news yesterday. So Channel 9 came by and 00:00:23.609 --> 00:00:26.570 checked out our new space at the former Spaghetti 00:00:26.570 --> 00:00:28.809 Warehouse. I really got to stop saying that and 00:00:28.809 --> 00:00:32.590 just start branding our Clickstream Studios space 00:00:32.590 --> 00:00:35.030 on North Clinton Street in Syracuse. But they 00:00:35.030 --> 00:00:38.700 came by and did a great tour. Shout out to the 00:00:38.700 --> 00:00:41.520 whole Channel 9 crew. I literally loved everything 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:43.679 they did. They even did an awesome shot in the 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:46.799 train. I don't know, that was pretty cool. So 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:50.060 I can't thank them enough. But without further 00:00:50.060 --> 00:00:53.320 ado, you might notice that Mike's not with me 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:58.539 and we have a incredible guest today. I'm very 00:00:58.539 --> 00:01:01.359 excited. We've talked about... this incredible 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:03.659 woman a little bit on this podcast before. Her 00:01:03.659 --> 00:01:06.340 name is Alex and you've probably seen her if 00:01:06.340 --> 00:01:08.379 you're from Central New York because she is doing 00:01:08.379 --> 00:01:11.780 an incredible job with content and her podcast 00:01:11.780 --> 00:01:14.099 and her incredible CNY women's group that we're 00:01:14.099 --> 00:01:17.019 gonna hear all about. But without further ado, 00:01:17.780 --> 00:01:19.859 Alex, go ahead and just introduce yourself and 00:01:19.859 --> 00:01:22.299 tell folks what you're all about. Yeah, thank 00:01:22.299 --> 00:01:24.519 you, Matt, for having me. I'm super grateful 00:01:24.519 --> 00:01:27.019 to be here today. I absolutely love what you've 00:01:27.019 --> 00:01:29.459 done too here in the local Central New York community. 00:01:29.849 --> 00:01:33.310 I'm Alex Canavan. I am the founder of the CNY 00:01:33.310 --> 00:01:36.069 Women's Network and the host of Cultivate CNY, 00:01:36.170 --> 00:01:40.390 which is another local podcast here that is a 00:01:40.390 --> 00:01:44.069 platform for leaders and changemakers to be seen 00:01:44.069 --> 00:01:46.989 and celebrated. And I've been doing that podcast 00:01:46.989 --> 00:01:49.900 for a little over two years now. We just hit 00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:53.939 100 episodes this past September. It's been a 00:01:53.939 --> 00:01:58.340 lot of fun, as you know, growing a podcast. Basically, 00:01:58.579 --> 00:02:03.700 what I do, who I am, I consider myself a connector. 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:07.859 I'm in the middle of the business community here 00:02:07.859 --> 00:02:13.090 in Central New York. built my career off of growing 00:02:13.090 --> 00:02:16.330 a platform for business leaders to be seen, celebrated, 00:02:16.629 --> 00:02:19.789 and supported. That's incredible. That's incredible. 00:02:20.930 --> 00:02:23.229 We're going to talk more about this in a minute 00:02:23.229 --> 00:02:26.169 because you have an incredible event that you've 00:02:26.169 --> 00:02:29.849 done for a number of years now. I'd love to know 00:02:29.849 --> 00:02:32.889 what came first. Was it the podcast? Was it the 00:02:32.889 --> 00:02:35.469 Women's Network? What was the chicken or the 00:02:35.469 --> 00:02:37.110 egg here? Yeah. Well, you know what actually 00:02:37.110 --> 00:02:39.590 came first was this event that you just mentioned 00:02:39.590 --> 00:02:45.289 was the CNY Women's Summit. It was 2022. I was, 00:02:45.389 --> 00:02:48.409 gosh, how old was I? I was 23 years old. I was 00:02:48.409 --> 00:02:50.830 in business school because I started my degree 00:02:50.830 --> 00:02:55.229 later than most. And while I was in business 00:02:55.229 --> 00:02:57.789 school, I was interning at a local financial 00:02:57.789 --> 00:03:00.990 services company here in Syracuse. And I pitched 00:03:00.990 --> 00:03:04.750 an idea to them to host the first annual CNY 00:03:04.750 --> 00:03:09.759 Women's Summit, which was an event that I really 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:12.360 needed to go to at that time. I was in a place 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:16.340 in my career where I was pivoting, and I really 00:03:16.340 --> 00:03:18.280 wanted to find a mentor because all the podcasts 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:21.240 I listened to told me, if you want to be successful, 00:03:21.419 --> 00:03:25.460 find a mentor. Fair. So it was really an event 00:03:25.460 --> 00:03:28.259 that I needed, but I pitched it to them as a 00:03:28.259 --> 00:03:31.490 really awesome recruitment strategy. and they 00:03:31.490 --> 00:03:34.810 loved it. So, long story short, we hosted the 00:03:34.810 --> 00:03:36.969 first annual CNY Women's Summit on International 00:03:36.969 --> 00:03:41.189 Women's Day back in 2022. And this year, we're 00:03:41.189 --> 00:03:44.069 going to be hosting it for the fifth time on 00:03:44.069 --> 00:03:48.750 March 27th. And after the first summit, I noticed 00:03:48.750 --> 00:03:50.689 that there was definitely an opportunity there 00:03:50.689 --> 00:03:53.930 and it was going to be called the CNY Women's 00:03:53.930 --> 00:03:57.229 Network, but I didn't really know what it was 00:03:57.229 --> 00:04:01.139 going to be. And I didn't start the company until 00:04:01.139 --> 00:04:07.319 after our second summit in 2023. I will say that 00:04:07.319 --> 00:04:10.520 when I started it, it was the vision was not 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:14.419 nearly as big as it is now. I have a lot more 00:04:14.419 --> 00:04:18.339 clarity, a lot more data and a lot more direction 00:04:18.339 --> 00:04:22.360 now. So it is still definitely a baby company, 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:26.360 but we are now a media and PR company that operates 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:29.459 out of the mission to create more connections, 00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:32.240 opportunities, and inspiration for women across 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:34.980 upstate New York. That's incredible. And the 00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:37.779 podcast really started, once I decided to start 00:04:37.779 --> 00:04:40.379 the CNY Women's Network, I knew I also wanted 00:04:40.379 --> 00:04:42.279 to start a podcast. So the podcast started at 00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:45.620 the same time. And I knew that I, the reason 00:04:45.620 --> 00:04:48.660 why I, I mean, first of all, I always wanted 00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:51.959 to have a podcast. I was a big consumer, still 00:04:51.959 --> 00:04:56.480 am, huge consumer business podcast. I love entrepreneurs. 00:04:56.620 --> 00:05:00.339 I love hearing their stories and how they got 00:05:00.339 --> 00:05:04.519 to where they are. Because I started school late 00:05:04.519 --> 00:05:07.519 and I don't consider myself to have like the 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:09.720 traditional higher education background than 00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:13.980 most people do in this region. I really, you 00:05:13.980 --> 00:05:17.740 know, I feel like I had to be pretty resourceful 00:05:17.740 --> 00:05:19.839 when it came to educating myself in business. 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:22.180 And one of the ways I did that was just listening 00:05:22.180 --> 00:05:25.259 to a ton of podcasts and just listening to people's 00:05:25.259 --> 00:05:29.189 stories. So I took a lot of inspiration from 00:05:29.189 --> 00:05:31.889 the podcast I listened to and really saw a gap 00:05:31.889 --> 00:05:35.709 here in this community and I knew that there 00:05:35.709 --> 00:05:39.050 was a true need for people like myself, young, 00:05:39.269 --> 00:05:44.329 emerging, ambitious people in central New York 00:05:44.329 --> 00:05:48.069 to go and get inspired by the people right here 00:05:48.069 --> 00:05:51.689 in this community and you know, I'm born and 00:05:51.689 --> 00:05:55.430 raised here and I also kind of wanted to change 00:05:55.430 --> 00:05:58.610 the narrative that Syracuse is actually a great 00:05:58.610 --> 00:06:01.689 place to be, especially for dreamers and doers, 00:06:01.750 --> 00:06:04.910 and you can build the career of your dreams here. 00:06:05.350 --> 00:06:08.490 You just have to really, to be scrappy, and you 00:06:08.490 --> 00:06:11.089 just have to try, right? So I just think that 00:06:11.089 --> 00:06:15.629 podcasts are awesome for inspiring others, but 00:06:15.629 --> 00:06:18.949 I really, Cultivate CNY was really this thing 00:06:18.949 --> 00:06:22.290 that I knew I needed to create, so. people like 00:06:22.290 --> 00:06:24.370 myself could look up to people in the community 00:06:24.370 --> 00:06:26.110 and just hear their stories and realize that 00:06:26.110 --> 00:06:28.529 there are cool people here doing really awesome 00:06:28.529 --> 00:06:31.810 things. Yeah. So that's the vision. I love it. 00:06:31.910 --> 00:06:33.870 I love it. And it's doing incredibly well. You 00:06:33.870 --> 00:06:36.410 know, it's I feel like it's delivering on that 00:06:36.410 --> 00:06:39.250 mission. I see so many people that I know and 00:06:39.250 --> 00:06:41.589 even people I wasn't familiar with on your show 00:06:41.589 --> 00:06:43.689 who have just these incredible, inspiring stories. 00:06:44.110 --> 00:06:46.410 And that's I feel like you're you're hitting 00:06:46.410 --> 00:06:49.189 all the marks with that. So so it's a great job. 00:06:50.430 --> 00:06:52.209 One of the things I wanted to ask you is, and 00:06:52.209 --> 00:06:54.490 I've seen you talk about this a little bit on 00:06:54.490 --> 00:06:56.970 one of your episodes, but this is something that 00:06:56.970 --> 00:06:58.769 I talk about all the time with our clients and 00:06:58.769 --> 00:07:01.589 things like that in terms of how the podcast 00:07:01.589 --> 00:07:04.629 can help your business as a creator and making 00:07:04.629 --> 00:07:06.509 those connections with people that you might 00:07:06.509 --> 00:07:09.050 not otherwise make connections with, right? Absolutely. 00:07:09.050 --> 00:07:11.290 Can you talk about that piece a little bit? Yeah, 00:07:11.430 --> 00:07:15.610 so I didn't realize until I was like at least 00:07:15.610 --> 00:07:19.019 six months into... hosting the podcast that it 00:07:19.019 --> 00:07:22.439 was actually my greatest tool for networking. 00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:26.379 It is like truly the best networking hack you 00:07:26.379 --> 00:07:31.439 can do because you're inviting people that you 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:33.759 admire onto your show and you're giving them 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:37.339 an opportunity. And it's, I would say, you know, 00:07:37.339 --> 00:07:39.959 you're coming into the relationship with making 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:43.160 a deposit, right? You're not, there's nothing 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:45.220 wrong with this, but you're not, you know, asking 00:07:45.220 --> 00:07:47.379 someone a coffee so you can... pick their brain, 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:51.240 especially if they're super influential, busy 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:53.980 people. You want to come into that relationship 00:07:53.980 --> 00:07:58.420 providing value in some way. And I think hosting 00:07:58.420 --> 00:08:00.660 a podcast is a great way to do that, especially 00:08:00.660 --> 00:08:03.639 if it's really well produced and is, you know, 00:08:03.639 --> 00:08:05.480 you're delivering the content to them and say, 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:08.000 hey, you can use this at your will. I'm just 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:10.680 happy to, you know, have had some of your time. 00:08:11.339 --> 00:08:14.579 And I, you know, I tell people that all the time 00:08:14.579 --> 00:08:18.970 is this is my best networking tool. And, you 00:08:18.970 --> 00:08:22.730 know, at first I was simply interviewing people 00:08:22.730 --> 00:08:25.889 that I admire and I still do, but now it's a 00:08:25.889 --> 00:08:27.850 little bit more strategic as I continue to grow 00:08:27.850 --> 00:08:29.689 the business. Yeah, and I think that's incredibly 00:08:29.689 --> 00:08:33.570 smart. I've been trying to preach that for a 00:08:33.570 --> 00:08:36.809 long time because, you know, the way I describe 00:08:36.809 --> 00:08:39.610 it is I can call up a business owner and go, 00:08:39.649 --> 00:08:41.690 hey, can I come pitch my services to you? And 00:08:41.690 --> 00:08:43.350 they're like, no, I don't have time for that. 00:08:43.389 --> 00:08:44.909 You know, they get those calls 100 times a day. 00:08:45.129 --> 00:08:46.450 You call them up and, hey, would you like to 00:08:46.450 --> 00:08:49.289 be a guest on my podcast and talk about yourself? 00:08:50.029 --> 00:08:53.730 Yep. It's hardly ever a no. It's so easy. And 00:08:53.730 --> 00:08:57.230 I've picked up so many clients and friends, honestly, 00:08:58.110 --> 00:08:59.970 in having conversations like this. We're not 00:08:59.970 --> 00:09:02.590 even talking about what I do or what I sell or 00:09:02.590 --> 00:09:04.629 anything like that. But by the time we're done, 00:09:04.750 --> 00:09:06.190 we're friends. And I can't tell you how many 00:09:06.190 --> 00:09:07.990 folks have said, well, so now what are you doing? 00:09:08.049 --> 00:09:11.190 How can you help me with whatever? And it becomes 00:09:11.190 --> 00:09:13.389 just such an incredible relationship builder, 00:09:13.590 --> 00:09:17.850 which as we know is the key to everything is 00:09:17.850 --> 00:09:21.950 relationships and networking, which is your whole 00:09:21.950 --> 00:09:25.649 home base, which I love. Tell us if you could, 00:09:25.889 --> 00:09:28.230 Alex, a little bit about, as we jump around a 00:09:28.230 --> 00:09:30.590 little bit, a little bit more about your summit. 00:09:30.710 --> 00:09:33.070 So you've got one coming up, I believe the fifth 00:09:33.070 --> 00:09:35.090 one, right, in March? It's gonna be the fifth 00:09:35.090 --> 00:09:36.610 annual summit. I can't believe it's already been 00:09:36.610 --> 00:09:38.529 five years. That's pretty awesome, just on its 00:09:38.529 --> 00:09:40.690 own. It's really impressive. And I will say, 00:09:40.789 --> 00:09:44.549 I mean, the summit is... It represents so much 00:09:44.549 --> 00:09:48.210 to me for a few different reasons. I really think 00:09:48.210 --> 00:09:52.049 that the first summit that I, you know, this 00:09:52.049 --> 00:09:54.490 was the first opportunity that I felt like I 00:09:54.490 --> 00:10:00.009 got to do something in my career that was big. 00:10:00.789 --> 00:10:03.889 Before I did any of this, I was a professional 00:10:03.889 --> 00:10:07.289 makeup artist. I started building that business 00:10:07.289 --> 00:10:11.990 at 19. So I, you know, I would consider myself 00:10:12.299 --> 00:10:15.639 Business person since the start sure, but you 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:17.539 know the summit the first summit, you know to 00:10:17.539 --> 00:10:22.940 be young and Creative and to pitch in this big 00:10:22.940 --> 00:10:26.639 idea that at the time Was kind of crazy because 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:28.899 we were actually still wearing masks in public 00:10:28.899 --> 00:10:31.879 and there was no events happening. Gotcha, but 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:35.840 you know between pitching the idea and execution 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:39.740 there was six weeks total and Two weeks before 00:10:39.740 --> 00:10:42.019 the summit happened. The mask mandate was lifted 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:45.899 And this event was one of the first events, community 00:10:45.899 --> 00:10:47.980 events that happened in Syracuse since the pandemic. 00:10:48.500 --> 00:10:52.600 And so there was this true sense of like excitement 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:56.580 and you could see that there was such a desire 00:10:56.580 --> 00:11:01.340 for it. And so, and honestly, that summit changed 00:11:01.340 --> 00:11:04.759 my career, changed my life, gave me the opportunity 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:06.820 to start this company, which has been an absolute 00:11:06.820 --> 00:11:10.960 dream. I will, I'm not too afraid to admit that 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:14.200 I have always wanted to build a brand. And there's 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:16.240 so many, I've listened to so many entrepreneurs 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:18.899 talk about, you know, their journey and they've 00:11:18.899 --> 00:11:21.460 always said, I would have never imagined building 00:11:21.460 --> 00:11:23.340 this company or building a brand. But I will 00:11:23.340 --> 00:11:27.019 say like, this is, once I saw the opportunity, 00:11:27.059 --> 00:11:28.860 I realized this is the opportunity of a lifetime. 00:11:28.860 --> 00:11:32.440 And so after the second summit, I could feel 00:11:32.440 --> 00:11:35.000 that there was really something there with substance. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:39.179 And I realized that I needed to you know, act 00:11:39.179 --> 00:11:41.100 on this opportunity before someone else did, 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.379 because there was, you could feel the energy 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:48.299 at the second summit. And so I decided that I 00:11:48.299 --> 00:11:53.039 was going to drop out of school. I was gonna 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:57.299 slowly close down my business and quit my other 00:11:57.299 --> 00:11:59.360 part -time jobs, because I had like a million 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:02.440 things going on. And I was gonna double down 00:12:02.440 --> 00:12:05.379 on this and really take a leap of faith and try, 00:12:05.460 --> 00:12:09.100 you know? So this summit, you know, the first 00:12:09.100 --> 00:12:14.320 summit happened after hours, 4 .37 p .m. Now 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:17.259 the summit is a full day event that happens, 00:12:17.259 --> 00:12:20.879 you know, from 9 a .m. to 6 p .m. and includes 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:24.659 all the things, really awesome keynote speakers, 00:12:25.899 --> 00:12:29.019 multiple stages and different breakout rooms. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:31.240 So it's kind of now become this build your own 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:34.799 experience for women that attend and, you know, 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:38.000 panel discussions, breakout sessions, master 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:41.799 classes. This year, we are elevating the event 00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:45.340 through really our programming. The event is 00:12:45.340 --> 00:12:47.840 going to bring in around 500 women leaders and 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:51.080 entrepreneurs. We are including speakers from 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:52.960 across the whole center state region. So we're 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:55.919 hoping to bring attendees in from all over into 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:57.840 Syracuse for the whole weekend. That's awesome. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:02.289 And I'm really excited because we've gotten a 00:13:02.289 --> 00:13:04.210 little bit more intentional with our programming 00:13:04.210 --> 00:13:06.789 this year and I really want all women that attend 00:13:06.789 --> 00:13:09.929 to walk away feeling like They learned something 00:13:09.929 --> 00:13:12.909 and they really they're gonna they got something 00:13:12.909 --> 00:13:14.710 at least one thing there that they're gonna take 00:13:14.710 --> 00:13:17.190 with them into the rest of their careers and 00:13:17.190 --> 00:13:19.789 You know in terms of who attends this event. 00:13:19.870 --> 00:13:22.389 It's such a wide range of women professionals 00:13:22.389 --> 00:13:25.850 and Executives you have early stage women professionals 00:13:25.850 --> 00:13:28.210 that are really needing to network and make connections 00:13:28.210 --> 00:13:31.240 and then you have you know high -level women 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:33.059 executives that are speaking at the event and 00:13:33.059 --> 00:13:34.779 staying all day because they just want to support 00:13:34.779 --> 00:13:38.120 me and show their support. But this year we have, 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:40.340 we added on a ticket tier that we're calling 00:13:40.340 --> 00:13:43.559 our executive level ticket tier. And there's 00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:45.759 going to be programming that's only available 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:47.519 for those ticket holders. That's really going 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:50.879 to be some high level stuff and you know, some 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:52.980 hot seat coaching and some really influential 00:13:52.980 --> 00:13:54.940 speakers that we're bringing in for those people. 00:13:55.879 --> 00:13:58.830 But yeah, it's been. It's been a journey. And 00:13:58.830 --> 00:14:02.509 this time of year right now, my life is pretty 00:14:02.509 --> 00:14:06.690 consumed with this event. And, you know, it's 00:14:06.690 --> 00:14:09.129 I honestly, my whole year revolves around this 00:14:09.129 --> 00:14:12.230 event. Yeah. My, you know, your Super Bowl, the 00:14:12.230 --> 00:14:14.750 way it is. It's my Super Bowl, the summit, you 00:14:14.750 --> 00:14:16.149 know, that's what we call it. All right. It's 00:14:16.149 --> 00:14:18.629 summit season. Let's go. And it really feels 00:14:18.629 --> 00:14:22.409 like I in terms of, you know, what my life is 00:14:22.409 --> 00:14:25.840 like and what my nervous system is like. it's 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:28.740 truly just builds up to this moment. And it feels 00:14:28.740 --> 00:14:30.980 like you've hit the summit on a mountain that 00:14:30.980 --> 00:14:33.860 day, it really does. And then you gotta come 00:14:33.860 --> 00:14:38.279 down afterwards. So it's a lot of fun and this 00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:41.019 event is really special and I know it's special 00:14:41.019 --> 00:14:42.960 to a lot of other people too, the stories I've 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:46.460 heard. We'll definitely get all your plugs before 00:14:46.460 --> 00:14:48.720 we're totally done, but just real quick, if folks 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:50.519 wanna get tickets, they wanna find out more about 00:14:50.519 --> 00:14:52.649 that event specifically, where do they go? So, 00:14:52.669 --> 00:14:55.370 you're going to go to cnywomensnetwork .com forward 00:14:55.370 --> 00:14:58.190 slash summit. You can also check out our social 00:14:58.190 --> 00:15:01.090 media. We have all the links. So, at CNY Women's 00:15:01.090 --> 00:15:03.110 Network, if you want to follow the podcast, it's 00:15:03.110 --> 00:15:07.070 at Cultivate CNY. If you want to follow me, alexandra 00:15:07.070 --> 00:15:10.149 .canavan is my username. That's awesome. That's 00:15:10.149 --> 00:15:12.289 awesome. And is it, am I correct in thinking 00:15:12.289 --> 00:15:14.049 it's at the On Center? Yes. Your event? Yep. 00:15:14.110 --> 00:15:17.549 Awesome. At the On Center, March 27th, 9 a .m. 00:15:17.549 --> 00:15:22.960 to 6 p .m. Get your tickets. Outside of that 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:24.720 massive event, I see you do some other things 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:26.860 with the group, right? Some get togethers and 00:15:26.860 --> 00:15:28.940 you're getting outside and you're doing all kinds 00:15:28.940 --> 00:15:33.019 of cool things, right? Absolutely. Aside from 00:15:33.019 --> 00:15:35.279 some of the marketing PR services that we offer 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:38.799 behind the scenes, forward -facing, we're a community 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:42.179 first. This whole brand has been built off of 00:15:42.179 --> 00:15:46.559 creating community. We have taken a really holistic 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:51.360 approach to that. You know, there's so many ways 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:53.919 to create connection and to build your community. 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:56.000 And it really has a lot to do with what your 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:59.419 values are. You know, if you value your fitness 00:15:59.419 --> 00:16:02.000 life and your health and getting outside, then 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:06.379 we have events for that. If you value, you know, 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:08.419 professional development and skill development, 00:16:08.820 --> 00:16:13.820 there are events for that. So we offer so many 00:16:13.820 --> 00:16:16.440 things. A lot of our events are like event series. 00:16:17.289 --> 00:16:20.289 We host around at least four events a month. 00:16:20.289 --> 00:16:24.330 Oh, wow. And, you know, those range from coffee 00:16:24.330 --> 00:16:28.490 meetups to we do these pop -up fitness classes 00:16:28.490 --> 00:16:30.730 where we collaborate with local boutique studios 00:16:30.730 --> 00:16:33.909 and offer an opportunity for our members to take 00:16:33.909 --> 00:16:36.730 a free class there. We have the CNY Women's Walking 00:16:36.730 --> 00:16:40.149 Club, which is a six -month weekly, honestly, 00:16:40.230 --> 00:16:43.330 now it's going to be twice a week, six -month 00:16:43.330 --> 00:16:47.580 meetup event series. Wow. And that's our You 00:16:47.580 --> 00:16:50.879 know our largest free accessible option for women 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:53.740 to get together and move their bodies and do 00:16:53.740 --> 00:16:56.580 something good for themselves, but just have 00:16:56.580 --> 00:16:59.120 Authentic conversations along the way and get 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:02.259 out and enjoy the beautiful You know landscapes 00:17:02.259 --> 00:17:04.660 and nature that we have here in upstate New York 00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:07.480 So we host walking meetups all around central 00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:11.109 New York from May through October But we also 00:17:11.109 --> 00:17:14.269 host hiking meetups once a month, and those are 00:17:14.269 --> 00:17:16.670 always so much fun. I think I've seen some of 00:17:16.670 --> 00:17:18.930 those videos. They're so much fun. And those 00:17:18.930 --> 00:17:21.809 really, honestly, I think those meetups were 00:17:21.809 --> 00:17:24.049 the highlight of my year. I really had a lot 00:17:24.049 --> 00:17:26.430 of fun planning them because I'm super passionate 00:17:26.430 --> 00:17:29.470 about travel. And this year we're going to be 00:17:29.470 --> 00:17:31.950 venturing out a little bit further, especially 00:17:31.950 --> 00:17:33.910 since our goal this year is to start expanding 00:17:33.910 --> 00:17:36.740 our reach beyond central New York. We're gonna 00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:38.559 be doing a hiking meetup at Letchworth State 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:41.599 Park. And I definitely wanna get out to the Adirondacks. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:44.400 And that'll be something that's more of an excursion. 00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:48.779 We wanna figure out organizing a shuttle and 00:17:48.779 --> 00:17:51.720 a lunch situation so we can make a day of it 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:54.059 and keep everyone in one piece too. That kinda. 00:17:54.059 --> 00:17:56.720 That's great. Gotta keep our people safe. Yes, 00:17:56.960 --> 00:17:59.160 absolutely. That's awesome. I love that. I love 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:03.200 hearing about all these things and what's. What 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:05.619 I like the most I think honestly is, as you sort 00:18:05.619 --> 00:18:08.079 of mentioned, you took a leap of faith or you 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:10.920 just did it. And there's so many brilliant people 00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:14.839 who have great ideas who never do anything and 00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:17.420 they're an accountant. You know, like, there's 00:18:17.420 --> 00:18:18.680 nothing wrong with being an accountant. We need 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:21.920 accountants, yes. But I just have so much respect 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:24.920 for people that take that leap and do these unique 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:27.619 things. That's the only way it'll happen. And 00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:30.670 you know, sometimes it doesn't work. your case, 00:18:30.890 --> 00:18:33.650 it's working really well. So it was a great leap, 00:18:34.390 --> 00:18:37.630 but I just really admire that. And I think that's 00:18:37.630 --> 00:18:39.349 something we need more of, especially in central 00:18:39.349 --> 00:18:42.470 New York, as we talk about trying to really show 00:18:42.470 --> 00:18:45.609 off how incredible this place really is. And 00:18:45.609 --> 00:18:49.730 we definitely share that goal. But it's such 00:18:49.730 --> 00:18:52.049 a great, great thing that you're doing. I think 00:18:52.049 --> 00:18:54.130 you're in a great place, especially as Syracuse 00:18:54.130 --> 00:18:58.500 is rapidly rising now. I've been talking about 00:18:58.500 --> 00:19:01.099 Micron for years and now it's legit. There's 00:19:01.099 --> 00:19:03.720 equipment moving and things happening right now 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:07.880 and business is following rapidly. Absolutely. 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:10.480 It's so exciting. To build these networks, that's 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:13.539 how all of us make those connections, get those 00:19:13.539 --> 00:19:16.420 positions in those projects and things like that 00:19:16.420 --> 00:19:20.640 is through networking. What you're building for 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:23.180 women and honestly for everyone in central New 00:19:23.180 --> 00:19:25.519 York, it's really cool to see. Thank you so much, 00:19:25.579 --> 00:19:29.470 Matt. Alex, before I let you go, give us a little 00:19:29.470 --> 00:19:32.930 tease of the podcast. Who's coming up? Who's 00:19:32.930 --> 00:19:35.829 some coming guests we can look forward to? Yeah, 00:19:35.910 --> 00:19:40.369 so we are getting, we're getting super intentional 00:19:40.369 --> 00:19:43.529 this year for the podcast. My goal for the podcast 00:19:43.529 --> 00:19:45.750 is also to start expanding outside of central 00:19:45.750 --> 00:19:48.190 New York. So we're gonna start bringing in people 00:19:48.190 --> 00:19:52.430 from Rochester, Albany, Buffalo, all the things. 00:19:52.509 --> 00:19:55.470 There's going to be. in terms of who's coming 00:19:55.470 --> 00:19:58.049 up. A lot of the speakers that are gonna be at 00:19:58.049 --> 00:20:01.230 this year's summit will be coming up. And I'm 00:20:01.230 --> 00:20:03.609 also gonna start doing some more solo episodes. 00:20:03.869 --> 00:20:06.029 So I'm really excited about that. My goal is 00:20:06.029 --> 00:20:09.390 to host at least one solo episode a month. And 00:20:09.390 --> 00:20:11.950 I think that's gonna be, it's a long time coming. 00:20:13.430 --> 00:20:15.849 Every year I've said, I'm gonna invest a little 00:20:15.849 --> 00:20:18.130 bit more into my personal brand and developing 00:20:18.130 --> 00:20:22.940 myself as a thought leader in the space. As you 00:20:22.940 --> 00:20:25.660 can tell, I love to talk, but I just feel like 00:20:25.660 --> 00:20:27.259 sometimes when you're interviewing people all 00:20:27.259 --> 00:20:30.740 the time, you don't really get to share some 00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:32.799 of your deeper thoughts and ideas, and that's 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:34.380 something I definitely want to do more of this 00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:37.259 year. That's great. I love to see that. As you 00:20:37.259 --> 00:20:39.259 know, being a marketing and PR person today, 00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:44.039 a personal brand is huge. They're starting to 00:20:44.039 --> 00:20:46.259 get that message, executives of big companies 00:20:46.259 --> 00:20:48.460 starting to work hard to build their personal 00:20:48.460 --> 00:20:51.720 brand because that helps everything. I think 00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:54.720 you're absolutely on the right track. And I love 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:56.480 to see you doing a great job at it. So that's 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:58.640 the coolest part. One last thing I want to ask 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:02.000 you. If you wouldn't mind or if you'd like to, 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:04.640 let's shout out your production team because 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:08.220 your content is phenomenal. It looks great. So 00:21:08.220 --> 00:21:10.599 I'd love to just give them some love for all 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:12.640 the hard work. Definitely. You know, I will say 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:17.859 this 100%. I would not be able to be as consistent 00:21:17.859 --> 00:21:19.859 if it weren't for these guys. I mean, so many 00:21:19.859 --> 00:21:23.390 people sing my praises for how consistent I am. 00:21:23.470 --> 00:21:26.210 And I know it's really because I have an incredible 00:21:26.210 --> 00:21:30.670 team. So I shout out Dime Media. Eric and Andy 00:21:30.670 --> 00:21:33.990 are the co -founders. Evan is really our main 00:21:33.990 --> 00:21:36.269 producer for the show. He does an incredible 00:21:36.269 --> 00:21:38.569 job editing our content and all of our social 00:21:38.569 --> 00:21:41.390 reels and all that good stuff. And not only are 00:21:41.390 --> 00:21:44.230 these guys great at what they do, they really 00:21:44.230 --> 00:21:47.890 support me. They really want to see me. you know, 00:21:47.890 --> 00:21:51.210 grow and be successful. And so they're always 00:21:51.210 --> 00:21:54.670 constantly working on researching more ways to 00:21:54.670 --> 00:21:57.309 elevate the show, not just because it makes them 00:21:57.309 --> 00:21:59.109 look good, but really because they they believe 00:21:59.109 --> 00:22:01.750 in me. So it's awesome. It's it's been an absolute 00:22:01.750 --> 00:22:04.309 pleasure working with them. They also shoot a 00:22:04.309 --> 00:22:07.329 lot of our more professional content for our 00:22:07.329 --> 00:22:09.990 events, too, and definitely will be at the summit. 00:22:10.609 --> 00:22:12.329 So I've been working with them. This will be 00:22:12.329 --> 00:22:14.609 our third year working with them at the summit. 00:22:15.250 --> 00:22:18.119 And I can't say enough great things about them. 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:19.700 They're good people. That's great. Like I said, 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:22.180 you can see it in the quality of the work. They 00:22:22.180 --> 00:22:24.839 do a great job. So I just wanted to give them 00:22:24.839 --> 00:22:28.380 a little love for that, because it's hard work. 00:22:28.680 --> 00:22:30.279 Yeah, there's a whole village. I mean, it takes 00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:33.400 a village. And one of my goals this year is to 00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:35.160 really, at least for the CNY Women's Network, 00:22:35.319 --> 00:22:37.579 we're going to be launching an ambassador program 00:22:37.579 --> 00:22:40.700 for our members to... take part in and that's 00:22:40.700 --> 00:22:43.500 gonna look like our members showing up and hosting 00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:45.380 our events and being the face of these events 00:22:45.380 --> 00:22:48.480 and then also contributing to our channels and 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:52.880 kind of honing their creative gifts. I think 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:55.059 this is gonna be a really great way to create 00:22:55.059 --> 00:22:57.900 more visibility for our members, but also to 00:22:57.900 --> 00:22:59.920 continue growing the platform and putting out 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:03.920 good content. So it's really, I'm hopeful that 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:06.339 this year I can really start. to take a step 00:23:06.339 --> 00:23:08.700 back as the face of the CNY Women's Network and 00:23:08.700 --> 00:23:11.759 hopefully include so many more faces and voices 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:14.579 at the forefront, and it takes a village, right? 00:23:14.619 --> 00:23:16.960 I love that. I love that. That's such a great 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:20.339 approach. I love that you got the strategy just 00:23:20.339 --> 00:23:23.279 down for everything. You're definitely far more 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:25.279 organized than I am, so I have to admire that. 00:23:25.500 --> 00:23:27.299 Well, strategy is one thing. I'm good at strategy. 00:23:27.700 --> 00:23:29.700 It's the execution that's the hard part, though. 00:23:29.700 --> 00:23:31.700 That's fair. Getting from point A to point B 00:23:31.700 --> 00:23:34.599 is always the hardest part. I've got some really 00:23:34.599 --> 00:23:37.299 cool people that I work with that hold me accountable 00:23:37.299 --> 00:23:41.400 and also Have different gifts than I do that 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:43.440 are able to like really figure out Okay, what 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:45.759 are the what are the operations behind this thing 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:49.079 that we want to do and? Keeping me organized 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:52.140 is huge. So that's awesome. That's awesome. I 00:23:52.140 --> 00:23:54.619 love to hear that Alex. This has been such a 00:23:54.619 --> 00:23:56.839 pleasure I've I've wanted to talk to you for 00:23:56.839 --> 00:23:58.480 quite a while now and it was so great that we 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:00.740 were able to make it happen and again to celebrate 00:24:00.740 --> 00:24:04.180 one of the last interviews will do in this set. 00:24:04.259 --> 00:24:07.019 So I think that's a cool, cool way to put it 00:24:07.019 --> 00:24:10.740 to bed in before too long, maybe after the summit 00:24:10.740 --> 00:24:12.920 when things cool down. But we definitely need 00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:16.200 to have you back to our new place and help us 00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:18.480 break that in. So that'd be pretty cool. I would 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:20.799 love that. I'm so excited to see your new space. 00:24:21.720 --> 00:24:25.160 Congratulations on this, you know, huge growth. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:27.779 Thank you. And the spaghetti warehouse is pretty 00:24:27.779 --> 00:24:29.740 iconic. I mean, I'm really excited to see what 00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:31.960 you do with the space. It is. We're going to 00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:34.299 keep a number of the things that people love, 00:24:34.359 --> 00:24:36.539 then we're gonna add a bunch of just new and 00:24:36.539 --> 00:24:41.079 very unique things. So it's gonna get that historic 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:43.440 vibe, but definitely you're gonna tell there's 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:45.319 something new going on there. So I think it's 00:24:45.319 --> 00:24:46.799 gonna be pretty fun if everything comes together 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:51.460 the way I picture it. But yeah, with that, Alex, 00:24:51.819 --> 00:24:55.240 CNY Women's Network, follow the podcast. All 00:24:55.240 --> 00:24:57.740 of the links and websites and stuff will be in 00:24:57.740 --> 00:25:00.880 the description as always. And other than that, 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:04.119 follow us. We've got a long list of incredible 00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:07.220 things going on. Episodes all this week leading 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:09.259 up to our big move. I don't even know what our 00:25:09.259 --> 00:25:11.319 schedule, we'll take a couple days off as we're 00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:13.900 moving, but probably not that much, so stick 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:16.779 around. But also, in the meantime, don't forget 00:25:16.779 --> 00:25:18.559 to check out our boy Zach with Ads on the Go. 00:25:19.380 --> 00:25:22.480 Getadsonthego .com is the sponsor of this show. 00:25:22.900 --> 00:25:25.059 Zach just won an award, actually, I saw. One 00:25:25.059 --> 00:25:28.019 of the local chambers gave him a... Rookie of 00:25:28.019 --> 00:25:30.859 the Year Business Award and shout out to Hemi, 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:35.039 such a cool guy. But in any case, I'm Matt. That's 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:37.960 Alex. Danny's behind the board. Mike's skiing 00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:40.759 in Alaska. I don't know. We'll be back tomorrow. 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:41.359 Bye.