Shop Talk: Christene Marie’s Empathy-Driven Approach To Thought Leadership
It’s been a banner year for CEOs, both fictional and non-, appearing as characters in films and TV shows. But how many real-life CEOs starred in an actual movie?
Well, meet Christene Marie. Last year, the head of boutique branding and marketing firm The Knowing Agency made her feature debut in Christmas Couples’ Retreat, where she plays plays one-half of three couples who go on a retreat hosted by a famed therapist (available now on Amazon Prime).
But, most of the time, the Maryland native wears her other hat. Since forming the Knowing Agency in 2019, Christene has worked with Toyota, Amazon, and a Fortune 500 healthcare company. This year will see the publication of her first book, Knowing. We talked to the business leader about watching her movie debut, her empathy-driven approach to branding, and how deep work can drive thought leadership.
Helm: Can you break down what is meant by empathy-driven branding?
Christene Marie: Both the authenticity and the empathy aspect can be summarized in the definition of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is twofold. The first is the ability to be able to understand, express and convey one’s own emotions, and then there’s the ability to handle interpersonal relationships. The latter half is where we find our approach to empathy.
I liken it to literally picking yourself up from your seat and sitting with someone else in their seat, seeing the world through their eyes, and imagining what they’ve experienced, listening to them, and asking thoughtful questions and asking why. It starts with the work that we do, and then that allows us to connect with other people.
Helm: How did you form your philosophy of branding?
CM: The organization I previously worked at defined brand as the expectation for the anticipated experience that a customer is going to have. I loved that, and I loved the process that they went through. But the brand was handled very much in a one-size-fits-all way. Once cultivated, the brand was handed over to the marketing side, and they were like, “Well, we’ll do Google ads, we’ll do Facebook ads, we’ll do this this and this.”
But there was no “What is the target audience? Where do they spend their time? What will resonate with them? Where do they need to show up?” The execution on the brands itself was missing. And then also I have cultivated incorporating empathy into the messaging and how we view the audience that the brand is serving.
Helm: How did you come to start The Knowing Agency?
CM: The catalyst was reading Rich Dad Poor Dad. That was when I thought, why am I working for other people? Why am I giving all of my money away? Not that I was making an exorbitant amount by any means.
I was 26 at the time and I never had big dreams for starting my own business or anything like that. But this entrepreneurial spirit has been a part of me since I was 12 years old and I started a camp for girls.
And I made a little deal with God. I was like Okay, God, if I’m supposed to do this, I pray that you’ll bring the first opportunity to me. The next day I woke up and somebody who I’d met for 15 minutes six months before called me with an opportunity with a cold-press juice company out of the Dominican Republic. They needed digital targeting in in the US. So I hired a digital marketer, I hired a website designer, a website developer, and a graphic designer. And then I just project-managed. They were my first client and we grew from there.
Helm: Do you consider yourself a thought leader or as someone who’s becoming a thought leader? Or is the title of thought leader something that only others can give you?
CM: I think it’s all three. It starts with you being able to walk in where you want to end up. I’ve been reading multiple books by CEOs at a certain level who talk about manifesting and believing that what you want is here, it’s now, and then it comes into fruition. I’ve heard so many people talk about this. So I think you have to believe that you’re a thought leader.
And you have to always be advancing in thought leadership. The day you think that you’ve arrived is I think the day when you become stale in your messaging and stagnant in your progression. And to your third point, it’s also verified by others declaring you to be a thought leader.
Helm: When you were watching Christmas Couples’ Retreat, were you able to turn off the marketing part of your brain? Or is part of you always thinking about branding?
Christene Marie: I was able to turn it off the first time I watched it, with just the director and another cast member. I felt like I was able to watch it just for me. Whereas when you’re watching with your family, you definitely notice every single little mistake. That’s the perfectionist in me, which frankly allows for us to cultivate really strong brands and really robust marketing campaigns and all that.