Happy Marketer Connection Ep. 11: Cathy Murphy, Venus Media Group on “Balance”

In our present remote work and virtual school world, marketers are struggling to find work-life balance. Cathy Murphy left Facebook and big business behind in her quest to establish balance, founding her own agency, Venus Media Group. In this week’s episode of the Happy Marketer Connection podcast, Cathy shares her journey and how being a busy Mom enables her to help brands reach other busy Moms.

Happy Marketer Connection Episode 11
Cathy Murphy, Co-Founder and CEO, Venus Media Group
Theme “Balance”

Like many busy professional moms, Cathy and Sue made the most of their time together, covering lots of territory, almost to the exclusion of discussing work-life balance, the podcast theme. Blame it on “Murphy’s” Law.

Hear how to connect your brand with women and stay true to your company purpose, why it’s helpful for your business to be platform-agnostic, the reason Cathy took the entrepreneurial leap, and how to achieve work-life balance even in the era of remote school. 

Episode Highlights

• [0:17] Sue Frech, Happy Marketer Connection, Vesta
• [0:58] Cathy Murphy, Co-Founder and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Venus Media Group
• Sue Frech interviewing Cathy Murphy on BALANCE
• [1:29] Work-Life Balance
• [1:33] COVID-19, Quarantine
• [2:42] What made Cathy take the entrepreneurial leap?
• [5:05] How did she get into marketing, advertising, and media?
• [5:11] International Business, University of Colorado
• [5:41] Qdoba, Chipotle
• [6:05] Client-side
• [6:15] Radio Sales
• [6:29] Pandora, Facebook, Instagram
• [6:44] What is Venus Media Group?
• [6:55] Krystal Morris
• [7:13] Millennial Moms, Gen X Moms (Generation X)
• [8:17] TikTok
• [8:24] Female Founders
• [8:35] NFL (National Football League)
• [9:04] Bayer
• [9:12] What early clients did Cathy start Venus Media Group with?
• [9:19] Virtua Health, CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), Hackensack Meridian Health
• [9:48] Mobile-First, Digital Marketing, SheEO
• [10:29] What are the challenges running your own business?
• [10:48] Coronavirus
• [10:58] Cash Flow
• [11:22] Out of Home Advertising (OOH), Advanced TV
• [11:48] Did Cathy’s clients boycott Facebook and Instagram?
• [12:10] Black Lives Matter
• [12:53] Direct-to-Consumer (DTC)
• [13:19] What are Cathy’s thoughts on community-building?
• [14:24] Vesta
• [14:44] Where does Cathy go to stay ahead of trends?
• [15:01] The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Ad Age
• [15:15] Spotify, theSkimm
• [15:36] Pandemic, Target Consumer
• [15:54] Zoom
• [16:07] Do you need to be the target consumer to market effectively?
• [16:24] Business Plan
• [17:32] Community Powered Marketing delivers a new world of sales growth. Learn more at Vesta-Go.com
• [17:49] Question from the Smiley360 community: How can I, as a consumer, help brands understand how to listen and talk to me?
• [19:33] Social Media
• [19:39] What positive story does Cathy have to share?
• [20:01] Networking
• [20:26] Chief
• [20:40] VC Funds (Venture Capital)
• [21:16] HBO, PR (Public Relations)
• [22:37] What advice does Cathy have for starting your own agency?
• [23:35] Testimonials
• [23:45] Revenue
• [24:22] How do you maintain work-life balance?
• [25:22] Netflix
• [27:12] Podcasts, AirPods
• [27:39] Working From Home (WFH)
• [28:01] Entrepreneurs
• [28:11] What can women do to improve work-life balance?
• [29:37] Distance Learning
• Outro
• [31:05] Thank you for listening! Subscribe to Happy Marketing Connection on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more
• [31:17] Connect with Sue on LinkedIn or Twitter at @SueFrech, and Vesta-Go.com
• Theme Song: Hello (Extended Version) – Paul Werner – provided by Jamendo

Get Connected
Connect with Cathy at Venus Media Group and on social media at @VenusMediaGroup.

Get More Happy Marketer Connection
Check out previous episodes and subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
Episode 1: Welcome to Happy Marketer Connection with Guest Marlea Clark, CMO of Stella Rising on “Evolution”
Episode 2: Dawn Dobras, CEO of Credo Beauty on “Champion”
Episode 3: Gina Bonafede, Director of Marketing at DAS Companies on “Connection Marketing”
Episode 4: Tom Deierlein, Co-Founder and CEO, Thundercat Technology on “Grit”
Episode 5: Michele Muhammad, CMO of DSE Healthcare on “Transformational Marketing”
Episode 6: Chris Pyne, Founder and President, Junction 37 on “Values”
Episode 7: David Rich, Founder, Palabra on “Storytelling”
Episode 8: Alex Colkitt, Content and Community Strategist, Sir Kensington’s on “Engagement”
Episode 9: Alan Sutton, VP Global Sales and Operations, Jay At Play on “Heritage”
Episode 10: Anne Candido, Co-founder, Forthright People on “Brand Love”

About the Happy Marketer Connection Podcast
Welcome to Happy Marketer Connection. Marketers know it’s the connections we make – between ideas, people, and brands –  that make all the difference. Each week, Happy Marketer Connection invites you to connect with our Co-Founder and CEO Sue Frech, Martech pioneer, and unfailing optimist, as she and her fellow passionate marketers explore engaging and inventive marketing strategies and toast brands making impactful consumer connections.