good-grit-agency-2024

What a Wine Festival Taught Me About Standing Out in a Crowded Market

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 21:22:43 GMT

This past weekend, I found myself at the South Walton Beaches Wine & Food Festival—a tented maze of brands, bottles, and people all trying to do the same thing:

Get noticed.

Rows and rows of wine from across the country and around the world, each offering a tiny pour and a quick pitch. One sip. That’s all you get.

It made me think—this is what the marketplace feels like.

You’re lined up next to competitors who look a lot like you. You get one shot at attention. One moment to make someone care.

And somehow, by the end of the weekend, I walked away wit h three cases I was willing to wait in line for.

So what made those brands stand out?

The Best Stories Win—Every Time

The most crowded tables weren’t just pouring wine.

They were telling stories.

The winemakers who stood behind their tables, talking about their region, their process, their legacy—they created connection. People didn’t just taste the wine. They bought into something.

That’s the difference.

If you don’t have a person physically telling your story, your brand has to do that work for you. Your packaging, your content, your customers—they become your storytellers.

If your story isn’t clear, compelling, and consistent, you’re just another pour in the lineup

Branding Gets You the First Yes

Let’s not pretend aesthetics don’t matter.

They do.

Especially in a setting like this—and especially with visual consumers. (And yes, women drove a lot of purchasing decisions here like most markets.)

Before I ever tasted the wine, I noticed the label.

The colors. The typography. The overall feel.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t buy at least one bottle because I loved how it looked. But here’s the key: the branding got me to stop. The taste and the story got me to stay.

That’s the job of great branding—it earns you a shot.

In a crowded market, your visual identity is often your first impression. If it doesn’t stop someone mid-scroll or mid-walk, you’ve already lost the opportunity.

Word of Mouth Still Closes the Deal

We were there with a group, and one friend took his role very seriously—trying everything and reporting back what was “worth it.”

Guess what?

We listened.

And I bought wine I would have never chosen on my own because someone I trusted wouldn’t stop talking about it.

That’s ambassadorship.

It’s not new. It’s not flashy. But it works.

People trust people more than they trust brands. Every time.

If you’re not thinking about how to create advocates—real people who love your product enough to talk about it—you’re leaving your most powerful marketing channel untapped.

So What Makes a Brand Memorable?

In a crowded space, it’s not about being louder.

It’s about being clearer.

The brands that win consistently do three things well:

They educate their audience
They inspire through story and experience
They call people into clear action

Because at the end of the day, whether it’s a wine festival or the digital marketplace, we’re all just hoping someone chooses us.

Shout out to Jessica Bracken, owner of Proffitt PR for throwing the best shindigs and bringing all the right people to all the right parties.

Laura Quick, Founder of Good Grit

Laura is the visionary force behind Good Grit Agency and Good Grit Magazine, with 19 years of experience in marketing, brand storytelling, and strategic development. She has worked extensively with tourism boards, government entities, hospitality brands, and wellness industries, helping them create narratives that inspire action. Her superpower? Transforming ideas into compelling, high-impact stories that resonate with audiences and drive results. Laura is known for asking the right questions, truly listening to her clients, and ensuring every campaign is backed by a strategic plan that delivers. She also founded Les Dames, a nonprofit dedicated to reframing the childhood poverty mindset.

View her website at: honestlylaura.com

If You’re Thinking About Cutting Your Marketing Budget, READ THIS FIRST

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 19:39:26 GMT

Smart Leaders Ask These 3 Questions Before Cutting Their Marketing Budget

When revenue dips, most executive teams instinctively reach for the same lever:

Cut marketing.

Push sales harder.

Tighten spend.

It feels disciplined. It feels prudent. It’s also often the exact move that slows growth even more.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Marketing isn’t the problem. A disconnected, fragmented marketing approach is.

Before reducing your marketing budget, smart leaders ask these three questions.

1. Is Our Marketing Actually in Service of Sales?

Not “Are they aligned?”
In service of.

There’s a difference.

Is marketing showing up to sales meetings?
Do they understand the real objections your team is facing?
Do they know what questions prospects ask on calls?
Do they understand where deals stall and why?
Do they know why you’re getting nos ?
And just as importantly, why you’re getting yeses ?

Your sales team is sitting on your most valuable strategic data. They hear:

“This feels too expensive.”
“How are you different?”
“I need to justify this internally.”
“We’re not ready yet.”

Those aren’t just objections. They’re messaging clues.

If your marketing team is not actively studying sales friction—attending meetings, reviewing lost deals, analyzing close rates—your campaigns are built on theory, not intelligence.

Marketing should make your sales team sharper, more confident, and more effective. If it isn’t, cutting budget won’t fix that. Integration will.

2. Is Our Marketing Spend Shortening the Sales Cycle and Increasing Profit?

This is the executive question.

Not: “Are we getting impressions?”
Not: “Did engagement go up?”
But: “Is this making it easier and faster to close profitable business?”

Effective marketing:

Pre-handles objections before the first call
Clarifies value before price becomes the only topic
Builds trust before procurement steps in
Equips sales with language that converts
Attracts better-fit buyers

If marketing is doing its job, your sales cycle should tighten, not lengthen.

Your close rate should improve.
Your profit margins should strengthen.
Your team should spend less time convincing and more time confirming.

If your marketing team doesn’t know your sales cycle length, average deal size, and most common objections, they cannot strategically influence profit. That’s not a spend problem. That’s a measurement problem.

3. Are We Treating Marketing as an Expense or a Multiplier?

Every organization is a sales organization.

Whether you sell:

A product
A service
A subscription
A city
A nonprofit mission
A vision

You’re asking someone to commit.

Marketing done poorly is an expense. Marketing wired correctly is a multiplier.

It should:

Fuel your pipeline
Increase close rate
Reduce friction
Strengthen retention
Protect margin

Impressions don’t pay payroll. Revenue does. If your instinct when profit dips is to cut marketing, pause long enough to ask: Is marketing ineffective? Or is it disconnected from the revenue engine?

Because those are very different problems. And only one of them requires a budget cut.

At Good Grit Agency, we build marketing in service of sales.

We sit in the meetings.
We study objections.
We analyze friction.
We align messaging to real revenue conversations.

Because marketing isn’t meant to be admired. It’s meant to drive revenue. Always.

Smart leaders know the difference.

Before you cut your marketing budget, ask yourself: Is it an expense? Or is it a multiplier you haven’t fully activated yet?

Laura Quick, Founder of Good Grit

People-Pleasing is Holding You Back in Your Career

Tue, 27 May 2025 17:39:17 GMT

If you’re a woman in the workplace, chances are you’ve felt the pull of people-pleasing. Early in your career, it can feel like a survival instinct—wanting to get things right, be liked, and prove yourself. We walk in with goals for where we want to be in the future, whether within our current organization or across our career as a whole. But what happens when people-pleasing stops being a stepping stone and starts becoming a roadblock?

The reality is this: People-pleasing can keep you stuck.

It can create a perception that you’re someone who will go with the flow of whoever is in the room rather than someone who has a clear perspective. Over time, this can lead to a lack of respect from colleagues and leadership. Instead of being seen as a strategic thinker, you may be overlooked for leadership roles because decision-makers don’t see you as someone who brings innovation, challenges ideas, or solves problems.

Why Authenticity Is a Career Advantage

Leaning into authenticity at work doesn’t mean being difficult or contrarian—it means:

Understanding your own perspective and being prepared to articulate it clearly.
Recognizing that you won’t always agree with everyone—and that’s not only okay, it’s healthy.
Knowing that agreeability in a thriving organization only works when it’s authentic.

If you’re agreeing just to avoid conflict, you’re not actually contributing to the growth of your department or organization. Worse, you may be impeding progress without realizing it. People-pleasing can unintentionally send the message that you’re not a problem solver, that you’re unwilling to challenge inefficiencies, or that you don’t have the vision to push an organization forward. And when leaders don’t see you as someone who questions, innovates, or refines processes, they may not see you as someone who is ready for the next level in your career.

Your Permission Slip to Lead with Authenticity

If you’ve been playing small and waiting for permission to speak up, consider this your sign: Lean into authenticity.

Use your voice.
Articulate solutions to problems you see.
Learn the skill of discerning when and how to disagree for the overall health of your company, your team, and your own career growth.

The most successful women I know aren’t the ones who agree with everyone—they’re the ones who know when to challenge, when to offer a fresh perspective, and when to confidently advocate for what they believe will move the organization forward.

So here’s your permission slip: You don’t have to be the most agreeable person in the room to be the most respected. You just have to be willing to show up as the leader you already are.

The Value of Clear Communication

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 17:32:51 GMT

At Good Grit, one of our core values is being proactive communicators. But what does that really mean, and how do we live it out?

Remember the old game of telephone from elementary school? The one where you whisper something to the person next to you, and by the time it reaches the last person, the message is completely different? That’s a perfect example of why clear communication is so important. Communication rarely stops with you—it’s meant to be passed along accurately.

Successful communication is meant to be passed down. Effective communication isn’t just about words; it’s also about the attitudes and behaviors we want our teams to adopt. Are you leading by example? After a meeting, when you’re loaded with information that needs to be shared, think about who needs to hear it and what details they need. Clear communication not only ensures that the right message gets across but also reduces frustrations and misunderstandings.

This brings us to another crucial point: clear communication is a powerful tool for preventing frustration. Think about how many times you’ve been upset over something you heard, only to feel relieved once you got the full story. By communicating clearly from the start, we can avoid these unnecessary fires before they even spark.

We’re all busy, and we’re all the main characters in our own stories. But understanding this helps us recognize that others are the main characters in their stories too. When we communicate proactively, we respect both our time and theirs.

In the end, clear communication is one of the most valuable gifts you can give—to yourself and those around you. It sets the tone for all your personal and professional relationships. The best part? You’re in control. You get to be the thermostat that sets the climate.

Clear Expectations = Healthy Company Culture

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 20:39:46 GMT

Audit workshops are one of my favorite team exercises, and I've been facilitating them for over a decade. At Good Grit, we approach each client as an expert in their field, positioning ourselves as learners at the start of our partnership. My role initially is to listen and ask questions, fostering an interactive environment with whiteboards and dry erase markers for all participants. The goal of these sessions is to uncover productivity and revenue roadblocks and identify where confusion may exist within the organization. This confusion often translates externally, affecting client relations and clarity.

Over the years, I've consistently noticed a disconnect between leadership expectations and team understanding of their roles in achieving company success. Initially, a founder's vision is clear, but as the company expands, introduces new offerings, and hires more team members, clarity can fade. The daily grind makes it easy for vision and expectations to slip away.

A lack of clear, individual success definitions can erode a healthy company culture. It's crucial that everyone, from the newest employee to leadership, understands their specific role in fulfilling the organization's vision. This culture stems from the top—effective leaders communicate and reinforce the vision and expectations, ensuring each department knows its critical role.

Here are three strategies to enhance company culture and reinforce clarity of vision:

Host a company-wide vision meeting.
Despite busy schedules, it’s essential for the CEO or top leader to address the entire company at least quarterly. Use this time to remind staff of the company’s mission, celebrate all successes, and reinforce the importance of every role.

Conduct team-building sessions focused on listening.
Encourage leaders in each department to hold meetings where they actively listen to their teams. These sessions should clarify challenges in current processes and not serve as complaint sessions. Aim to identify at least two actionable ways to ease difficulties, establish a weekly check-in routine, and schedule follow-up meetings to celebrate improvements.

Engage Good Grit for a strategy workshop.
Our workshops focus on identifying challenges and developing targeted improvements in processes and team dynamics. Investing in these workshops demonstrates a commitment to valuing team input and enhancing company culture.

By implementing these strategies, you can maintain a clear, shared vision and a strong, cohesive company culture.

2 Weekly Questions to Build Company Culture

Thu, 02 May 2024 19:22:09 GMT

Just as the pandemic had us taking to our individual home offices—which for many of us meant kitchen tables or coffee tables—our office implemented two meetings per week. Attendance was ALWAYS required unless they were dead or on vacation. Dramatic? Maybe. But keeping a team together when we were all navigating the unknown of a pandemic—and on some level worrying about making it as a company—well, it felt like the right requirement. More than two years later, we are still having two meetings per week—both still with required attendance (unless of course you are dead or on vacation).

The kick off meeting always happens on Monday morning. The purpose of this meeting is strategy—we are diving into what we finished lined last week, and what is on deck for this week. It ranges from 60-90 minutes, but normally runs just around one hour. Our internal traffic manager runs this meeting, and we prioritize based on biggest projects due that week.

On Fridays though, things look different. We have a morning meeting that is just about checking in. Typically we watch a TED Talk during the week, and we discuss what we learned from it or how it challenged us—but then each teammate checks in. The epiphany I had during the pandemic was what my team REALLY needed from me: consistency. As an entrepreneur who has had to grow and earn the title CEO, consistency is not natural.

I have made it a habit over the last several years to hire incredible humans that are all leaders. I know how rare it is to have a team full of people who are self-motivated, solution-oriented, make-it-happen humans. I know it’s rare because I’ve worked on many teams where that wasn’t the case. Truly, I think this exact team has grown into those characteristics because they feel so supported. Interdependent, and yet autonomous.

Launching two meetings each week is something I think we will do forever. And listen—I’m the CEO that HATES meetings about meetings, or meetings that totally could have been a text—but these meetings are purposeful and create incredible momentum and impact. Today I wanted to focus on our Friday meeting, which is all about CULTURE. And if you are a leader, you already know this—culture is in the top three currencies your employees or future employees are using to measure whether they want to work with you or continue working for you. As leaders who are leading other leaders who are leading teams of people vital to our organization, we need to be fluent in what creates a culture worth staying in for the long haul.

Here are the two most powerful culture building questions leaders can ask their teams:

1. What did you/your team accomplish that is worth celebrating?

Encouraging our teams to see even the smallest victories is so important. If we don’t count the small wins, we could end up missing the really big ones too. By asking this question consistently, your employees will know it’s coming—and they will want to have something to share WORTH celebrating. I love this question because it forces all of us to focus on what went well, what problems we actually solved, and how even a small thing moved the needle. When we focus on these positive wins, we are reenforcing a culture of not just seeing it in yourself or your team, but in one another. As a CEO, it is incredible insight hearing how my leadership team spent their week by how they articulate their wins.

2. Who on our team is your hero this week, and why?

Who is the Most Valuable Player to you and why? I cannot tell you how this has enriched our company culture. They know this question is coming every week, and it never gets old. Because it is NORMAL in our company to brag on a teammate for kicking butt, pitching in, hitting tight deadlines, and a myriad of other things. When your team becomes accustomed to finding the gold in the people they work with and calling it out, MAGIC HAPPENS. I can’t give you a real statistic on what percentage of change you will have if you consistently, weekly, ask these two powerful questions, but I promise it’s significant.

The hardest part will be making space for a meeting dedicated just to connection. The second hardest part will be YOU, the leader, showing up, leading the charge, and participating. Challenge yourself to try it for a month, and then email me and let me know how it goes! I would love to hear from you!

Telling Your Business Story: 4 Ways to Better CONNECT With Your Clients

Thu, 02 May 2024 19:21:52 GMT

Telling the story of your business, your journey, your team, and the people you serve is wildly important—but not quite as important as WHY you exist. An evocative story helps you create a deeper connection with current and potential clients/customers. Here are four ways you can spruce up the story of your business to drive deeper connection.

After all, connection is our highest form of currency these days.

TALK ABOUT WHY YOU LOVE WHAT YOU DO. It’s so important for companies and organizations to articulate their WHY—and you don’t just do this once. This is the thread you should try and weave through all of the content you put into the world: in your social media, on your website, and even when you are being interviewed by media. Your WHY will attract the right talent to work towards your dreams, and it will also attract the right customers!
CELEBRATE YOUR TEAM AND THEIR MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTIONS PUBLICLY. People LOVE knowing you love your team and your team loves knowing you see them and celebrate their contributions. It will also help you as the leader/owner to celebrate the wins. Unfortunately in business, we aren’t always winning—and damn I wish we were. So, when we do win, WE HAVE TO CELEBRATE. Talking about the wins—even the small ones—publicly helps us remember how to focus on the good, AND our customers LOVE seeing a company that lifts up their team members as the heroes. Choose someone on your team today and make a post about them!
CREATE CONTENT THAT REFLECTS THE PROBLEMS YOUR BUSINESS IS SOLVING FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS REGULARLY. Look—like it or not, businesses are known by the problems we solve for our consumers. If you aren’t solving problems, what are you doing? A HUGE part of your brands story is the problems you are solving. Be the company that consistently talks about the solutions you are bringing to the table! Even if it seems super self explanatory, it’s always worth reminding your current and future consumers.
SET BIG GOALS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND TELL PEOPLE! Be a catalyst for good. Have your team pick an organization that you love and is in line with your WHY, and start helping. I know what you are thinking... “We don’t have time to do something like that. We are barely getting what we need to get done as a business…” and I hear you. But what I’ve learned is that teams that CHOOSE to volunteer or pursue something to make the world better together are so much stronger than the ones that don’t. It can be as simple as a food drive for a neighborhood food bank, doing a 5k for a charity and training together, or better yet—ask YOUR TEAM to help choose a cause. And when you choose it—TALK ABOUT IT. Not to show off, but instead to inspire others to do the same!

The legacy of your business is being written every day… so take an ACTIVE role in making sure it’s the story you WANT TO TELL. Is what’s out there how you want people to remember you? If not, CHANGE IT! And if you need help, Good Grit Agency would love to be a thought partner.

5 Reasons Why Your Sales Team Isn’t Closing

Thu, 02 May 2024 18:58:39 GMT

Crafting and steering teams that drive revenue, or what many millennials and Gen Z-ers refer to as “salespeople” as if it were a term to be avoided at all costs, certainly isn't a walk in the park, is it? My own journey spans over 17 years in the field, and I've found that with each passing day, the layers of complexity and nuance only deepen.

In my early days as an eager salesperson, my eyes were firmly set on smashing sales targets. Yet, I was fortunate to grow within nurturing environments, under the guidance of leaders who genuinely cared. Remarkably, during my initial, formative years in the sales arena—as a driven, single mother striving in the sales profession—I had the privilege of working under two exceptional mentors. My role in a fire restoration company, which inherently demanded empathy, played a crucial role in shaping my approach. There, my duties extended beyond traditional sales; I often found myself switching from flashy stilettos to fire boots, offering a shoulder on some of the darkest days of our clients' lives—their homes had been engulfed in flames. Balancing the drive to secure sales with profound empathy for the homeowners' plight, I believe, was key to my rapid ascent to becoming the top salesperson across seven countries within a year.

I entered the job confident in my sales abilities, yet the position challenged me to elevate the clients' needs above my own ambitions. This philosophy of prioritizing the prospective client's well-being over mere deal-closing has guided my approach for over 16 years and is something I endeavor to pass on to every naturally gifted salesperson I encounter.

Since 2009, I've had the opportunity to train and lead over fifty sales professionals, work with diverse teams, and offer consultancy to organizations valued between $50 million to $1 billion, focusing on refining their sales processes and enhancing client experiences. Despite the variances in organizational needs and team dynamics, the core 'WHY' driving the most successful sales teams remains constant. Here are the key principles, in order of importance:

Belief in the mission. Top salespeople are true believers in the solutions their companies offer, recognizing the meaningful impact of their work. This conviction in the company's vision and its value proposition is a common trait among high achievers.
Precise audience targeting. Successful salespeople thrive when they know exactly whom they're selling to, making it easier to identify and connect with key prospects and influencers.
Confidence in delivery. Elite sales professionals trust that what they sell will be delivered with excellence, reinforcing their confidence in the promises they make, which in turn, boosts their sales performance.
Collaborative mindset. The best salespeople are proactive in seeking improvements, drawing on frontline insights to suggest enhancements in partnership with their leaders, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.
Understanding urgency. Exceptional sales talent knows how to close deals by genuinely conveying the necessity of immediate action, a skill that significantly shortens the sales cycle.

If you're encountering obstacles with your sales team, it might be time to reassess these foundational aspects:

Do your products and services inspire belief?
Is your target audience clearly defined for your team, including key contacts and entry points?
Does your team have unwavering confidence in your company's ability to deliver with excellence?
Is there a culture of collaboration encouraged by sales leadership?
Does your team grasp how to create genuine urgency in closing sales?

Navigating the complexities of leading high-performing sales teams is undeniably challenging, with no shortcuts to exceptional leadership. However, revisiting these fundamental principles can provide invaluable insights. For those seeking further guidance, the Good Grit Agency offers workshops that might serve as an excellent starting point, especially since they boast an expert who's particularly passionate about refining sales processes.