Engaging Your Community: Secrets to Sustaining Growth with Kristina Bartold
In the grand finale Pop-Up Social Success Series episode, Peg Fitzpatrick sits down with community expert Kristina Bartold to unpack the secrets of creating and sustaining vibrant online communities for small businesses and entrepreneurs. From fostering a sense of belonging to balancing promotion with genuine engagement, they cover everything you need to know to turn followers into superfans.
Kristina shares actionable insights on building authentic connections, even with limited resources, and why engagement—not numbers—is the true measure of success. Together, Peg and Kristina highlight examples from the best in the business, including Taylor Swift and Duolingo, and explore how consistency, value, and the personal touch can lead to long-term business growth.
Whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to take your existing community to new heights, this episode is packed with advice to help you avoid common pitfalls, embrace authenticity, and build a loyal audience that supports your brand. Don’t miss the chance to watch the full video or listen to the podcast—your community will thank you!
Takeaways
- Community is essential for sustained business success.
- Engagement is a two-way street in community building.
- Authenticity is key to connecting with your audience.
- People want to see the behind-the-scenes of your business.
- Building a community can lead to new opportunities.
- Avoid constant pitching; balance content types.
- Successful brands infuse personal stories into their marketing.
- Creating a sense of belonging fosters loyalty.
- Mistakes in community building often stem from lack of engagement.
- Start by focusing on one-on-one relationships with your audience. People are still looking for value in social media.
- Having a unique value proposition is crucial for differentiation.
- Balancing promotion with authentic engagement is essential.
- Engagement metrics are more important than follower counts.
- Consistency in posting helps build community trust.
- Less frequent, high-quality posts can lead to better engagement.
- Personal touches in communication enhance community connection.
- Building relationships is key to long-term business success.
- You can create impact with a small, engaged audience.
- Community management should focus on one-on-one interactions.
Please watch the interview or listen to the podcast version of the episode.
TRANSCRIPT:
Peg Fitzpatrick (00:00.258)
Hey everybody, welcome to my pop-up series. I'm Peg Fitzpatrick, the author of The Art of Small Business Social Media, A Blueprint for Marketing Success, which is out now. And I am thrilled to introduce you to Kristina Bartold, who is a friend that I met doing my podcast tour. She is a Canadian girl. So shout out to all you Canadian girls, because I also love meeting Canadians, because Canadians are so nice, right?
Kristina (00:24.274)
Yes. LOL
Peg Fitzpatrick (00:27.192)
So let me introduce you to her. She is the co-founder of Social Snippet and the host of Community with Kristina Barthold podcast and she is a community expert. So I'm super excited. I will say I think community is the biggest thing for 2025. Spoiler alert to all of you watching. If you're just turning in stay around because you definitely want to learn this. So Kristina is the grand finale for my pop-up social media success series. She's a powerhouse when it comes to building vibrant online communities.
that drive meaningful engagement and long-term growth. Through her work at the Social Snippet, Kristina helps entrepreneurs and small businesses harness the power of digital communities to increase impact, attract ideal clients, and boost sales, which are all things we need, all while creating authentic connections, which is the thing now, you guys. So she is passionate about showing businesses how community can be the key to sustained success. Welcome, Kristina.
Kristina (01:23.183)
my gosh, I'm so honored to be here. My cheeks already hurt from smiling, like from talking to you for five minutes. So, so excited to be here.
Peg Fitzpatrick (01:26.552)
You guys are lucky we're here because we could have just talked for the whole time offline. Yeah, for sure. So we should definitely just talk every now and then. I was telling Kristina before we went live, I've met so many people on my podcast tour that are podcast hosts who are now my friends.
Kristina (01:34.353)
Yes, yeah, we definitely could have.
Peg Fitzpatrick (01:48.65)
It's so great to meet people, new people that believe what you believe and are just doing great things. There's so many people doing great things in social media in all different areas.
Kristina (01:58.749)
Yes, and that's actually the power of community. Really, when you think about it, how many people, Peg, you got in contact with to be on podcasts and to really promote your book, and how many people have been like, have an intro for you. I have someone I wanna connect you with. I've been on a train of your intros, right? And so it's amazing to see just how much everybody wants other people to be successful. so, yeah, definitely living in that energy and honored to be here.
Peg Fitzpatrick (02:01.217)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (02:22.72)
I think especially the podcasters are really close like that, really good with collaborations. And back in the day, that's how we were as bloggers too. We would share each other's stuff and I have to say I still love blogging. Do you like blogging?
Kristina (02:27.005)
Yeah.
Kristina (02:38.417)
I do, we do blog, we do blog. I would say like it's not my like community building method, but I see why it had so much traction.
Peg Fitzpatrick (02:40.236)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (02:43.564)
Yeah.
Yep. I still get good Google traffic from my blog. Like still organic Google traffic. It's good. And that's, that's why being around for a long time is helpful, you know, because Google still is like, Hey, we remember her. She's been around. Right. I would, yes. I did say that. I only said that to you, Kristina. That was prep. I'm just kidding. I was, I just, so you guys know what we're talking about. I was just joking because I'm like an OG around.
Kristina (02:49.831)
Yeah, I love it.
Kristina (02:53.971)
That's the stuff.
Kristina (02:58.183)
Yeah.
Kristina (03:01.489)
Internet grandma.
Kristina (03:08.295)
Sorry, sorry, I outed you.
Peg Fitzpatrick (03:15.596)
the social media, I've been around, I have been around for a long time. So we were talking about people who are newer and I was like, I'm like the OG. I did say grandma. I feel like I still got it though.
Kristina (03:23.718)
You
Yeah, do. can still be… grandmas are still hip. Grandmas can still be hip.
Peg Fitzpatrick (03:30.829)
Okay, I will go with that. So we're going to dive in here and we're going to ask Kristina some questions so you guys can learn all about community, which as I mentioned, and it's not hot air, community is the thing for 2025 moving forward. So if you're wondering, no, what do I need to do? This is it. Build community. So listen up, take notes, and Kristina is going to share some.
smarts with you guys. So why do you think building an online community is so important for small businesses and entrepreneurs today?
Kristina (04:03.251)
Yeah, so why I think building an online community is so important is because we are living in a society that really cares about vanity metrics, right? We care a lot about those big numbers next to our names. We're always trying to look bigger, cooler, greater than we are, right? And when we really drill down into what sells when it comes to business, it's those super fans. It's those people who are so excited, who are singing your name in every room, who are the people who are referring you to their friends.
Peg Fitzpatrick (04:11.874)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (04:26.072)
Mm-hmm.
Kristina (04:31.603)
And that's why building a community and really nourishing and nurturing a community is so important because those are the people who are often the people who are not only gonna buy from you but are the people who are gonna present new opportunities to you. I've been noticing more and more, Peg, I don't know if you feel this way, but there's a lot of businesses I look at and I'm like, that person or that business is so successful in…
Peg Fitzpatrick (04:36.076)
Mm-hmm.
Kristina (04:52.881)
they were opened a door because of their community or because of a relationship they have or something like that that another person may not have been open to, right? Like when you see people collaborate with celebrities or I was watching an episode of Dragons Day, which is our shark tank. the person was like, one of the dragons was like, how are you gonna get this product out? Do you know a celebrity who will do things for you for free? And the person was like, no. And right? But, and that was impactful, right? That it's like, we need community to help us sustain and
Peg Fitzpatrick (04:55.447)
Right.
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (05:02.946)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (05:14.924)
Wow. Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (05:21.784)
Yeah.
Kristina (05:21.959)
We've seen people in our own social media world where they'll have 60,000 followers but they can't sell a $15 product. And it's because there's no community around what they're doing. building that is key.
Peg Fitzpatrick (05:27.703)
Right.
Peg Fitzpatrick (05:31.992)
That's true. I am so blessed. have met two of the sharks from Shark Tank. One of them, Damon John, did the blurb for my book because he's amazing. I met him at South by Southwest with Guy. And Barbara Corcoran and I did a speaking event together in New York City for TJ Maxx. And she is…
Kristina (05:41.651)
Amazing.
Peg Fitzpatrick (05:53.418)
One of the nicest, best celebrities I have ever met in my life. She's so gracious. Smart is a fricking whip as you would expect. mean, she is like, she's so amazing. We did this big thing and they were doing this big, photo thing and the speakers were me, just little me, Barbara Corcoran and Layla Ali. So like.
Kristina (05:57.555)
I
Kristina (06:12.103)
Wow.
Peg Fitzpatrick (06:12.973)
Leigh was like 6'5 with heels. She's so tall. And Barbara grabbed me. She's like, you need to be in the center of this photo. And she pulled me like… And I never would have done that myself because it was an overwhelming amount of people and stuff. So anyway, she is just the real, real deal.
Kristina (06:25.831)
Yeah.
But the graciousness that you're talking about, Peg, right? Like that is a community building piece, right? Like where, you know, we've all met probably like someone successful where, you know, they're not gracious. I went to Taylor Swift this past weekend and I was like so moved by how moved she was. Almost like as soon as it came out of my mouth, I was like, maybe I shouldn't have said that. Like, that correct?
Peg Fitzpatrick (06:32.908)
Yes. Yep.
Peg Fitzpatrick (06:38.945)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (06:44.416)
I want to hate you for that, but also…
Peg Fitzpatrick (06:49.56)
Yeah, damn it. I am a huge 50 and I did not get to go see it live anywhere in the world. It was better than you thought even though, wasn't it? Yeah. There are no crappy seeds. You were live.
Kristina (06:55.121)
I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. It was so good. And I had crappy, crappy seats, but I will just say. But what was amazing about it was just that people are there and they are so in the energy of it, which is so beautiful. she, you can tell when she goes on stage, she's like, thank you so much for being here. She's not up there being like, yeah, you're right, 50,000 people are here for me. She's like, thank you so much for the sold out event. That sticks.
Peg Fitzpatrick (07:09.517)
Yep.
Peg Fitzpatrick (07:14.136)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (07:20.822)
Yep, is a very gracious person and she's built one of the best online communities. She does so many secret things that people don't know about.
Kristina (07:27.507)
100%.
Peg Fitzpatrick (07:33.152)
When Tumblr was huge, and I don't know if she still goes on there, but she used to go on Tumblr and like find fans and go deliver Christmas presents to them. She would personally buy them, wrap them, and then go surprise and show up at their house. And she didn't do these things so people knew about it. She just celebrated her fans in so many different ways. She is, she is, is…
Kristina (07:50.951)
love it yeah
Peg Fitzpatrick (07:56.104)
Bastet marketing but also the Bastet community like really nurturing and honoring her fans. She's so great Well, they questioned to two hours later. But anyway, Taylor Swift. No, we don't have to god I hope you guys all like Taylor Swift, but if you don't she is a she is out of the off the charts community builder
Kristina (08:03.027)
Yeah, go go go!
Kristina (08:13.831)
Yeah, and we can learn a lot. We can learn a lot from the customer service aspect of that, which is that when we make our customers feel like 100 bucks or we make other people feel like 100 bucks, that level of gratitude, it permeates with people. Where people are like, wow, Taylor's so great. Wow, I've seen this with local businesses, where they do something big in the community. You might not even ever think to buy from them, but you see them do something big and you're like, wow, I want to be part of that too. Yeah, exactly.
Peg Fitzpatrick (08:27.798)
Yep.
Peg Fitzpatrick (08:33.612)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (08:40.074)
I should give them my money. Yeah. And also you should definitely be looking for those people in your community because those people are the people that we need to support so much. Especially right now when we're getting to Black Friday and shopping craziness, which is so funny because people around the world, global companies are like pushing Black Friday and like you don't even have Thanksgiving. This is not a day for you people. Yeah, Americans. This is an American. I mean, it's truly an American.
Kristina (08:58.673)
Yeah, me.
Peg Fitzpatrick (09:07.298)
Hot mess. That's what Black Friday is, a hot mess.
Kristina (09:08.007)
Well, Peg, just on the note of Canadians really fast, let me get to the next question, is that we are so, we follow American culture so much that obviously we've taken Black Friday on as ourselves, but there's so many.
Peg Fitzpatrick (09:19.978)
Yep, Australians I saw posting about it too, so it's not just you guys.
Kristina (09:24.573)
But a bunch of Canadians got the date wrong and they sent them out last Friday. So like all these Canadians were like, happy Black Friday. And we're like, it's next week. It's next week.
Peg Fitzpatrick (09:32.228)
It's Grey Friday, stop! Next week's Black Friday. I know, it's crazy. It did turn into a mess. But I have to say, I was not joking about the Canadian. I love Canadians and I have found so many authors that I like that are Canadian and I love reading about when they're set in Canada, like Carly Fortune. You probably know Carly, right? You haven't read Carly Fortune?
Kristina (09:52.091)
No. No!
Peg Fitzpatrick (09:54.985)
Look her up. I'm gonna send you links to her books. She's amazing. Her books have been like
Kristina (09:56.883)
Please.
Peg Fitzpatrick (09:59.352)
I think she's on her third or fourth book now. She's so great. But I love the ones that are set in Canada because come on, everything is in America, people. Books don't have to all be our culture. And I like learning. The ones that I really love, they go to Tim Hortons. They're set in Toronto, but also a little lake villa where they go. You gotta get the vibe right. They have poutine.
Kristina (10:16.435)
Stop!
Kristina (10:23.795)
The only Canadian book I can think of is Anne of Green Gables, so I need these links. Yeah. Please do.
Peg Fitzpatrick (10:27.719)
okay. I'm gonna have to send you. Amy Lee is another one. Amy Lee is another kind. I found a couple in the romance. I don't know if you like romance books like romcom kind of deals.
Kristina (10:32.477)
Bye now.
Kristina (10:36.563)
I probably haven't read a non-business book in five years, so send me everything. Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (10:41.132)
You gotta do it girl, hop out. You've read enough, except for you can read my book. But then, no, I'm just kidding. You don't even need to read my book. I appreciate that. You did a great giveaway, I appreciate that. Okay, so anyway, I'll send you some Canadian authors, especially Carly Fortune, she's so great. You'll just love it. You need to like, brain to get away from the business a little bit. That's what I started doing. I started alternating between business and pleasure, and it does help your creativity more.
Kristina (10:45.369)
Yeah, I will. I've been sending it to people. I've been sending it to people. I did a giveaway on my podcast. People… Of course.
Wait.
Kristina (11:02.738)
Amen.
Kristina (11:09.319)
Yeah, I love it, done.
Peg Fitzpatrick (11:11.96)
So what do you think are the key ingredients to a thriving, engaged online community?
Kristina (11:19.719)
Yeah, so I would say one of the key ingredients is that it's a two-way street. And it's that you're engaging with your people as much as the people are engaging with you, and that you're managing your community. You're showing up for them. You're sharing with them. And you're being a storyteller. The best communities that I see are the ones where the leadership or whether that's like a brand or whatever, they take it so seriously. And they're really showing up. And they're telling the brand story. They're talking about the impact that they make. And they're showing the behind the scenes.
And when it's a two way street, there is a relationship that's created, right? And even if it's probably stronger on one side than it is on the other, you don't know your fans, they are still excited about what you're doing and excited about what's going on. So I would say that's the big thing to a thriving community is really that focus on the relationship and making sure that it is that two way street.
Peg Fitzpatrick (11:55.724)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (12:06.004)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Can you share an example of a brand or business that has an incredible online community, and what can we learn from them?
Kristina (12:14.643)
You know what's so funny is when I prepped for this question, Taylor Swift was actually who I chose, but I'm gonna actually, I'm gonna deviate, I'm gonna deviate a bit. But Duolingo, such a good example of actually being so creative with your brand and actually so many people are trying to free this owl and this girl's dressing up in this owl going everywhere, it's genius. does it inspire people to use the app? Yeah, does it get people knowing what's going on? Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (12:18.328)
That we spoiled it. Yes. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (12:36.705)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (12:40.984)
does.
Kristina (12:44.219)
And so I think that was such a good lesson, think, too, of how do you infuse a personal story into a brand? How do you create character? How do you create excitement around a brand?
Peg Fitzpatrick (12:51.106)
Right.
Peg Fitzpatrick (12:55.052)
I think that's great. Another brand. gosh, I just thought Poo Poo is another brand that I love. I actually worked for them. Spoiler alert, I do consulting with them. their online brand is amazing and so funny and so hysterical. Their creative director, Nicole is she's so smart and she's so funny. And when I worked with them, it was hysterical just like looking up. It's all potty humor. And it's and it's funny. Like my husband kept going, what are you doing? What are you laughing in your office? I'm like, I'm their stuff. It's so funny. Like they're so funny. And you think, well,
people aren't really going to talk about that stuff but their community shares their stories and they you know they're you know that brand right do you know Poo Poo?
Kristina (13:33.379)
yeah, and I think that's such a funny concept as well when we talk about community is that you're like no one wants to talk about poop, no one wants to talk about these things. But there is literally something for everyone and there's something, there's people who find that kind of humor really funny, there's people who won't resonate with that and that won't be a fit for them. But I think it's really about finding that message that resonates with your audience and then really leaning into that.
Peg Fitzpatrick (13:38.231)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (13:44.717)
Yeah.
you
Peg Fitzpatrick (13:51.468)
Right.
Peg Fitzpatrick (13:56.184)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, but it goes even down to like when you dig right in, I should run to my bathroom and pull one out and read it you. their product, everything on their product labels explains how to use it because they're a different kind of product because you spray it before you go. It's not air freshener for after you go. And everything that they do explains how it's the spray before you go. You know, like it explains it. But in really smart, creative ways, like it's just everything they do is so great. The design, the packaging, and it's a great product to top it off because you can have great marketing.
and not have a great product in the second. It's only going to work for one purchase, right? No one's going to buy it again. So they're another fun one. But Duolingo on TikTok is chef's kiss. Yeah. How can small business owners create a sense of belonging and connection in their communities, even if they have limited resources?
Kristina (14:31.859)
Totally.
Kristina (14:38.589)
Such a job.
Kristina (14:47.857)
Yeah. So I think really the way that small businesses can really champion that is by becoming the main character of their own business. And it's really showing up.
Peg Fitzpatrick (14:56.023)
Mm-hmm.
little applause for the main character energy. I love it.
Kristina (15:01.351)
Thank you. Yeah, becoming the main character of your own business is actually like what you need to do to be building that community up. You know, one of the things I hear from all of our clients, my agency, we have over 85 clients, right? So I've heard lots of different excuses for why people don't want to show up. I've heard lots of different things. But one of the things that comes up over and over again is this idea of I'm boring. No one wants to hear from me. My business is boring. There is not a boring business out there.
Peg Fitzpatrick (15:12.77)
Mm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (15:16.095)
Hahaha
Peg Fitzpatrick (15:22.785)
huh. Right. Right.
Kristina (15:27.271)
People wanna hear the story. People wanna see the behind the scenes. They wanna see you packing those orders. They wanna see you telling the story. They wanna see you out in the community. They wanna see you at events. They wanna see you in what you're up to. You're probably the exception, not the norm, right? And so really going and showing that and showing how you show up is huge. embracing that main character energy is really helpful for creating that sense of belonging because people feel connected to you.
Peg Fitzpatrick (15:27.352)
Mm-mm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (15:37.623)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (15:41.101)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (15:48.459)
Mm-hmm.
Kristina (15:53.115)
And I know this was something that we did really well to give ourselves a little bit of kudos. When we started our business was really showing people the behind the scenes of growing a business. This was a side hustle that we grew into a main hustle and now we have all these clients and we have a team, we have an office and all this stuff. And people have been with us since the beginning and there have been times where I've gone on discovery calls with people where they're like, hey, you've been on my vision board for four years. I've wanted to work with you guys since the beginning. That's so beautiful and it shows that not all…
Peg Fitzpatrick (16:06.872)
crazy.
Peg Fitzpatrick (16:16.183)
That's so nice. That shows a lot about your company that people are putting you on a vision board, right? It does.
Kristina (16:22.132)
thank you. But it also shows that we don't always see the fruits of our labor right away. And sometimes we feel like we're posting on social and we're posting on social, we're like, no one's buying it, like no one's seeing it, like people aren't hiring me. But it's actually just like, takes people many times to see something before they make a purchase.
Peg Fitzpatrick (16:26.232)
Right.
Peg Fitzpatrick (16:31.704)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (16:37.068)
Yeah, a lot. It used to be like people had to hear about a brand eight times. I think it's more. It's so much more now. my God, are you kidding me?
Kristina (16:41.543)
it's like, yeah. The latest one I heard was 26. Yeah, I'm over it. I'm over talking about it.
Peg Fitzpatrick (16:49.528)
Yeah, because you had a heart attack you were like 26 times. So you don't have to worry about repeating things because number one, people don't remember everything that you post and they don't see everything that you post. Nobody scrolls through and reads everything from a brand. If you like it, you might go back and look at some stuff, but unfortunately, 26 that.
Kristina (16:57.715)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (17:09.784)
Breaks my heart a little bit. I gotta go. I'm just kidding So, what are some common mistakes that businesses make when they're trying to build an online community and how can they avoid them?
Kristina (17:12.595)
This is the end.
Kristina (17:21.819)
One of the biggest ones I say is pitching nonstop. So there has to be a balance between community building content, educational content, and then also sales content. And you're always selling, right? Being top of mind for people, for example, there's a Canadian company that I'm affiliated with called Next. They're a period underwear kind of situation. And they do a lot of stuff. they, yeah, so great. And they post a lot.
Peg Fitzpatrick (17:24.92)
Mm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (17:38.304)
Mm-hmm. Yep. I know next.
Mm-hmm.
Kristina (17:46.427)
and not all of it sales content. But it is always in the back of my mind when I see something where I'm like, yeah, I need to go get another pair. yeah, like, you know, when you see something. So it's just a reminder that even when you're not selling, you're selling. So you don't need everything to be like sales content and constantly pitching. I think that's one of the biggest mistakes people make when they're trying to build community is you try to sell too quickly. And for service-based businesses, you know, we see this a lot with DM selling, like getting in people's DMs, hey girl, like, you know, are you looking for this? Today somebody messaged me and they said, hello.
Peg Fitzpatrick (17:48.12)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (17:53.782)
Yep.
Peg Fitzpatrick (18:00.468)
Mm-hmm. Definitely.
Peg Fitzpatrick (18:11.052)
Yeah.
Kristina (18:16.039)
I'm wondering, I heard you're a bookkeeper. I'm like, I'm not a bookkeeper. But thank you so much for thinking I'm so good with math. But that could have been really avoided by just looking at my profile a little bit, right? so I think.
Peg Fitzpatrick (18:19.063)
Ha ha ha ha!
I'm
Peg Fitzpatrick (18:27.35)
Right. And why did they even bother? I had somebody who, before my book was out, sent me a LinkedIn message saying that, just read your book and it was amazing. And I knew they didn't have it because like they didn't. I'm like, you read it? And she was like, no.
Just be honest people and and look who you're connecting with. Don't send someone a direct message about something. And yeah, the people who you connect on LinkedIn and then they immediately send you a pitch. It's like no, no.
Kristina (18:47.548)
Yes.
Kristina (18:56.615)
Yeah. And leading with that authenticity is so important, right? Like people buy from people. We like to buy from people. At the core of biblical times, people were doing business with people they liked, right? People were trading bread and potatoes and all these things with each other because they liked each other. And so we still like to do business with people we like. And so if that's the case, how do you show up the best way you can so that you can be the first person that someone thinks about? Yes.
Peg Fitzpatrick (19:00.809)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (19:07.842)
Yep. Yeah. Yep.
Peg Fitzpatrick (19:21.206)
Right. They might not need X now, but they might need it down the road or they might know somebody who needs it. So yeah, if you want someone to disconnect with you real quick, send them an instant sales DM or LinkedIn message because I disconnect with people. Sorry. If your first impact, if your first impression that you want to make is a bad pitch, then I know that we're not going to connect. Bye. I really do disconnect. Do you or no?
Kristina (19:42.983)
Not a good fit.
Kristina (19:46.739)
Good for you. don't typically like, you know what, actually, I love to like engage with people sometimes when they do those pitches. So I love to ask questions, but no, I don't disconnect typically. I love to engage with my content.
Peg Fitzpatrick (19:53.184)
Yeah.
I did disconnect with a LinkedIn person. For someone who's just starting, what is the first step to building a community online? If you're the next Taylor Swift, what are you going to do?
Kristina (20:04.243)
Good for you.
Kristina (20:12.811)
my God, if you're the next person, please connect with me. I'd love to invest in you. yeah, so if I was getting started again and I was building community, excuse me, community, I would just really focus on one-on-one relationships and really chatting with people and hearing about what they want and what they need. So really just going into my community and asking people like, know, what would be helpful to you right now? What content would you be more helpful? What would be most helpful? And really focusing on adding value. like over and over again, like
Peg Fitzpatrick (20:26.914)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (20:37.195)
Mm-hmm.
Kristina (20:40.733)
How do you like over deliver, add value online, really show up for people? Because you want people to look at your stuff and be like, wow, she's doing all that for free. Imagine what it would be like if I paid her. And really just trying that up.
Peg Fitzpatrick (20:50.432)
I totally agree with that. I saw someone recently post, it was one of the Instagram influencers that likes to tell people how they're doing things right and wrong. And their thing was, whoever said to tell people to provide value is wrong. And then went about, and I was like, I think you're wrong. I didn't comment or anything, but people need that. People are looking for that. They're looking for like that.
you know, they're trying to learn something or be entertained depending on what kind of account you are. I that's, you know, I don't know. Anyway, I disagreed with that person, but I just, I zipped it and kept moving. But I strongly feel that people are still looking for value and that you do need to provide that.
Kristina (21:31.769)
And we are, I don't know, maybe somebody is listening to this and they are unique. I'm not. And in the sense that there are like so many social media managers and what you do, there's probably so many of what you do. So you need your value proposition. You need to be a bit different. And what that looks like often, like I can't say enough. And we tell all our clients, like, how do you add the most value and showcase the best way you can what you do and why you're different so that people are excited about making a purchase from you?
Peg Fitzpatrick (21:43.084)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (21:54.776)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, and remember you. How can businesses balance promoting their products while fostering genuine relationships? Because you were talking about, you know, you are providing value and you're definitely not pitching every time. I feel like they do have a hard time with that. But how do you just recommend, you know, mixing their promotion in there?
Kristina (22:07.155)
Yeah.
Kristina (22:17.927)
Yeah, you know, often people are looking for like some kind of ratio. For me, I don't have one, like where I'm like 20 % selling. I wish I did, that works. But I would say, you know, really just figuring out like the value and watching, like success leaves clues, right? So you start to see how people respond to your stuff. So if you're seeing that, you know, when you post this kind of stuff, it doesn't resonate, but then you're the most amount of sales when you post this kind of stuff, then really repeating that. But I think when you're storytelling and you're really showing up and showing like who you are and what you're about, what you're doing,
Peg Fitzpatrick (22:22.336)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (22:33.911)
Yeah.
Kristina (22:47.601)
I would say this stuff becomes really easy and actually becomes easier and you don't actually need to sell as much because that genuine authenticness is coming out in the conversation. So I would say really just focusing on providing value and you can't go wrong.
Peg Fitzpatrick (22:55.863)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (23:00.554)
Yeah, I do that with a brand that I manage and I post a lot of product posts. A lot.
Kristina (23:05.917)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (23:06.282)
And then I tried to balance that, you sometimes I'm just like, and then other things. Someone commented last week, can you just tell us, can you share more products on this one? like, almost everything I do is products and they're like, we need more. I'm like, I can't do all products. But it was just funny on that, one of the posts where I didn't, they were like specifically like, tell us what products to use. And I was like, geez, you know.
Kristina (23:22.215)
Yeah.
Kristina (23:31.101)
But that's a great example of like, you're never going to please everybody. And we see this with social all the time where even I run events and I see events. Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (23:34.518)
Yeah. But also it's like you can't provide too much value either. Like that he was like, okay, this, but also tell me what products to use too.
Kristina (23:42.983)
Totally, totally, yeah. But like yeah, it's just really like watching for the trends.
Peg Fitzpatrick (23:47.69)
Yeah. So how do you measure success of an online community? Is it about numbers, engagement, or something else?
Kristina (23:54.951)
Yeah, I would say it's engagement. Truthfully, like I would say I've seen, seriously, I'm not lying when I tell you this, I have seen clients with 50,000 followers who come to us to start working with us, like not be able to sell anything. And I've seen people who have 500 followers have six figure launches, right? And so it's really about like how engaged your community is and you'll see how engaged they are, like, right? When you're posting something, do people respond? I always use this example, but yeah, I have an okay Instagram following me, like 6,000. And I…
Peg Fitzpatrick (24:15.735)
Yeah.
Kristina (24:24.239)
had an emergency, like two years ago I had an emergency gallbladder surgery and I posted on Instagram just kind of being like, hi, like in the hospital, like really fighting the Canadian healthcare system over here trying to get this gallbladder out. And I probably got maybe 300 DMs, maybe, like maybe it was more. Like I was responding to them years later, like I'm still like going through them. But like people were so kind, but that was such a sign to me that like I had really like connected with people and people were reaching out to me being like, hey, like,
Peg Fitzpatrick (24:30.38)
Hahaha
Peg Fitzpatrick (24:34.007)
no.
Peg Fitzpatrick (24:40.566)
Wow. Yeah.
yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (24:49.292)
Mm-hmm.
Kristina (24:53.343)
Try chamomile tea, make sure you do this, right? But that was a sign of an engaged community, right? I'm not selling anything to these people. These people might never buy anything from me. They might never make a referral for me. But you have a great community. And so I think really looking at when you're posting, are you getting good engagement? Are people responding to you? Are you doing thought-provoking content that's asking questions that's receiving answers? All of those things make a big difference.
Peg Fitzpatrick (24:55.331)
Setting nice. Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (25:01.558)
Right. Right.
Peg Fitzpatrick (25:08.599)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (25:14.506)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, and I think the communication is not always on the post. So you see things where like a lot of times people do respond personally. Even, you know, now you can, instead of doing a comment, you can respond with a message on Instagram.
Kristina (25:30.129)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (25:31.562)
So you're directly talking to that. think that Instagram actually values that personal connection, that personal conversation more. So you're not going to see all the conversations publicly, but they're happening. Instagram does count them behind the scenes too. So.
Kristina (25:46.535)
Yeah, I would love Instagram to come out with less features. That would make me so happy, but we live and we learn.
Peg Fitzpatrick (25:50.858)
I know.
Yeah, they're trying to like play catch up on some things right now because blue sky made them. Everybody hopped over to blue sky and they're like, wait, but threads was doing well and everybody's like, bye. So we'll see how that goes. So what role does consistency play in community building and how can businesses stay consistent without burning out?
Kristina (26:03.623)
Yeah.
Kristina (26:14.129)
Yeah, I would say big time, like this is important because people start to depend on you. And so even I, you know, our agency does podcast management too. you know, people will be like, well, like, you know, what is it bad if I'm having to do this podcast? I'm like, truthfully, yes, because people start to want to hear from you. You become part of their Monday, you become part of their Thursday, whatever it is. And it's the same with social. We all have had those favorite influencers that we love, you know, we love hearing from and we love connecting with. And then, you know, they go missing or not like in life. I think they just like log offline, you know.
Peg Fitzpatrick (26:19.031)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (26:27.149)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (26:33.474)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (26:40.834)
We're really missing. Let's be a, let's be a crime podcast. on.
Kristina (26:43.761)
They're over it.
I know I can't, can't with the cry podcast, I'm too weak. But what I would say is really just showing up in that consistent, and that looks different for other different people, right? Like, you know, sometimes what people can do is one post a week, then that's fine. Like, you know, if it's coming up in your stories, I recommend people posting like three to four times a week on the feed and then showing up in a story every day. And really just so you keep top of mind for people.
Peg Fitzpatrick (26:57.132)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (27:01.728)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (27:09.142)
Mm-hmm.
Yep, but you don't have to do a million stories. Like if you could do three really good ones, you know, they're not selling. They're just kind of like behind the scenes. They're kind of like what's happening right now. Like your feed is more of the plan, thought out things. And then stories are just like, hey, I'm doing this. Hey, like this, you know, and I mix in things that are just things that I like that I see too with that. So stories are actually easier than a feed post, but you still want to stay on brand and stuff. But
Kristina (27:20.563)
Yeah.
Kristina (27:40.189)
Totally.
Peg Fitzpatrick (27:40.97)
I think with communities you do have to do, you have to be prepared to be consistent and it's important.
Kristina (27:47.515)
Yeah, and I would say like there is like I've seen this in my own Instagram that like people will like I get a lot of engagement if I post less than three stories and the minute I go ham and I'm like, I want to like post and like here I am on vacation and I'm doing the most. It doesn't get as much engagement. And so it's like if I really am like I want to prioritize my community sometimes less is more.
Peg Fitzpatrick (27:55.928)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (28:03.64)
Right.
Peg Fitzpatrick (28:08.578)
Yep, it definitely is. The days of all the teeny dots at the top are gone. Nobody wants to see that any, but no one's interested. You know, I don't, can't think of anything that I would want to see that had a million things anymore.
Kristina (28:12.871)
Gone. Long.
Kristina (28:21.043)
Taylor Swift concert.
Peg Fitzpatrick (28:22.84)
I watched all the Taylor Swift concerts from the beginning to the end. yes, I mostly, I mean, I looked at different, to be honest, if we want to just talk about community building and Taylor Swift online, you know, I started out the beginning watching one thing and then as it went on, was like Taylor kind of, she was great, but you know, we all knew she was sad because her relationship was ending. Then totally obsessed with Travis, like to the point of like, I would just tune in to see like, did he go? What's he going? Now I give them their privacy.
Kristina (28:27.773)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (28:52.844)
I feel like people should just get out of their business now, but I'm just waiting for the engagement Maybe that's Christmas maybe New Year's Christmas is her favorite if he knows what's what and he does it'll be Christmas She loves Christmas. He needs to take her to a Christmas tree farm and propose No, but she loves Christmas tree farms
Kristina (28:54.897)
Yeah. Yeah, me too. Maybe it'll happen in Vancouver at the Vancouver show.
Kristina (29:05.45)
god, I can't wait.
Kristina (29:09.628)
or Christmas market.
does she? You seem to know more about Taylor than I do.
Peg Fitzpatrick (29:15.916)
Her family had owned a Christmas tree farm when she was growing up and she's got a song called The Christmas, it's about that.
Kristina (29:18.909)
You
You love Taylor.
Peg Fitzpatrick (29:24.795)
I've been a fan for a long time. anyway, yeah, I mean, that would be like her ultimate little if you could have snow falling gently. He could do it like Hollywood make the snow come. Anyway, yeah, but we'll be back here. So what are your go to tools or platforms for managing or engaging an online community? Do you like to do them right on Instagram or?
Kristina (29:32.859)
And he can, he's Travis, he can.
Kristina (29:48.275)
would say like in the platforms, I would say like, you know, a lot of people will ask me like, you know, should I be on every platform? Should I be on LinkedIn? Should I be on TikTok? Should I be? And I'm always like, just be on the platforms where you'd like to be on them and like you want to include.
Peg Fitzpatrick (29:58.444)
Why are we twins, Kristina? That's my favorite thing too. I feel like you liking the platform matters so much. Yeah.
Kristina (30:03.837)
Totally. I hate tech talk. I hate it. And I, that's why I don't engage, but I love LinkedIn. I love Instagram. And so that's where I love to build community. So you find the places that you like to build community and really being consistent there and keeping those conversations out. those are, that's kind of the main tool. I like some scheduling tools too. Like, you know, that makes it a little easier, like later. but I'm not, yeah. Like I would say them later. Yeah. Yeah. Hootsuite's in Canada too.
Peg Fitzpatrick (30:10.989)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (30:16.983)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (30:21.079)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (30:25.176)
Shout out to Canada, later. And Hootspeed too, by the way.
Yeah, Vancouver. Totally.
Kristina (30:35.151)
my gosh, okay. I need a list for me of like all the Canadian things
Peg Fitzpatrick (30:39.8)
Why do I know so many things? And I met Justin Bieber. I saw it. It was in the elevator with Justin Bieber. If you want my like main Canadian thing. No, I was nice because there was other people on the elevator and I didn't want to blow his like, I looked at him and he knew I knew and I was just kind of like, he just smiled at me. You know, he was just like at a gym working out. So I didn't want to, it was at a hotel in Beverly Hills. How bougie was that?
Kristina (30:47.335)
And did you say anything?
Kristina (31:03.25)
I ran into Kristen Bell in LA a few weeks ago, and she was having lunch with Rachel Belson. And like, 17-year-old me would have been like, holy crap, Veronica Mars. But I was cool, calm, and collected, and said nothing. And my husband was like, you should have gotten a photo. And I was like, she's a normal woman. She's a normal woman who likes to work. Let her be.
Peg Fitzpatrick (31:09.931)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (31:15.617)
Yes.
Peg Fitzpatrick (31:23.638)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Are you watching? Did you watch her new show that's out? God, it's so good.
Kristina (31:28.465)
I just finished it yesterday because I was waiting for so long because I was so like as a young adult I was obsessed with Veronica Mars. So I was like, did you love Veronica Mars too?
Peg Fitzpatrick (31:36.044)
Mm-hmm.
I actually did not watch that, but I do love Chris. I know. Okay, yeah.
Kristina (31:41.747)
You have to watch it, it's so good. Okay, you must. the Veronica Mars Seth Cohen thing was a little too much for me, so I was like, I need to work myself up to it. And so me and my husband watched it last week and I'm hooked. Can't wait for the next season. Nobody wants this, you guys have to watch it. Let us know what you think.
Peg Fitzpatrick (31:50.082)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (31:55.776)
Yeah, if you guys haven't watched it, it's so good.
And it's about podcasts, it's hysterical. And did you check out the Real Sisters? That's based on Real Sister podcasts. Yeah, and you will not believe this, but they are even prettier than the stars. They are really pretty. Not that Kristen Bell and the girl that plays her sister, they are beautiful, but even the real life girls are beautiful. You gotta look it up. Those are real sisters. It doesn't blow your mind. It's based on a real podcast.
Kristina (32:08.597)
I didn't know that.
Kristina (32:22.099)
Okay, I will. Nuts. Nuts, yeah. I'm like, how can you get hotter than Kristen Bell? There's no hotter than Kristen Bell. But you know what, it was interesting too, because I think the mainstream aspect of it, of it being like, you know, her hosting a podcast and not being the thing. It shows you how much jobs have changed.
Peg Fitzpatrick (32:41.084)
totally, totally. In an increasing digital world, how can businesses create a personal touch that keeps their community members coming back?
Kristina (32:49.735)
Yeah, I think every chance you get to engage with your customers is a good one, right? So whether that be in your Instagram stories, whether that be in the DMs, whatever that looks like, I love getting voice notes from businesses or little cards. That means the world to me. And even for us, too, when people join our membership, I'll typically voice note them and say, hey, I'm so excited to get to know you. And that goes a long way, right? So I think building those relationships and that trust is anything personal you can do with people, I would take it. even when the big brands do that, it's so impressive.
Peg Fitzpatrick (32:53.238)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (33:07.713)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (33:17.932)
Yeah, it really is. Especially now, the personal touches do just matter. A little note, something. Yep. Because people choosing you is important. People have a lot of choices in the world now. It's easy to spend your money.
Kristina (33:24.923)
Absolutely. Totally. There's lots of options out there. Yeah.
Kristina (33:33.541)
Absolutely, yeah. So that's what I would recommend is as much as you can have like touch points with clients or customers or however you serve people, I think that's the way to do it.
Peg Fitzpatrick (33:37.88)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (33:42.274)
Do you your membership like in circle or anything?
Kristina (33:45.191)
We, it is a Facebook group. It's about social media. So that's kind how we did it. But I do like Circle though. Circle is such a good platform. Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (33:46.891)
Okay.
Yeah. Yeah, I like Circle too. Yeah. How does building a strong community contribute to long-term business growth and brand loyalty?
Kristina (34:00.337)
Yeah, the thing about building a strong community, especially as a personal brand, I would say, because a lot of people really hide behind their businesses and their brands, I would say you're not only building your business for today, you're building it for tomorrow and whatever you do next. The first few social media clients we had for our business, we actually got from a previous business we did. So really thinking about all of these as long-term relationships is so important. So when you're serving people, it's not just you're serving them right now for…
Peg Fitzpatrick (34:07.192)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (34:19.607)
Mm-hmm.
Kristina (34:27.591)
tomorrow, you're actually serving them for maybe life, right? And whatever it that you do next. We love doing business with people we like, right? So when we like, it's like Sarah Blakely, right? Like has Spanx, does so well Spanx, and she puts out these shoes. And people are obsessed with buying these shoes, right? Because it's Sarah. Like, I don't actually think sneakers on a heel is like, in my opinion, they're not that cute. It's just my opinion. Sarah, don't come for me. I think you're amazing.
Peg Fitzpatrick (34:30.818)
Right.
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (34:43.444)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Kristina (34:54.471)
But like they're not super cute. so, but I think people buy them because it's Sarah. So it's like, I think how can you create that same level of hype? Do you have a pair of sneaks? No.
Peg Fitzpatrick (34:58.189)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (35:02.448)
Yeah, no, I'm really kind of over heels life. I did. I wore them because I work at home and so I never wear them anymore. So I had a trade show last month or is it the beginning of this one? I don't even know where I am anymore. I think it was the beginning of this month and I did heels like comfortable ones. But then at a trade show at a huge convention center, no matter what you were doing like a so much walking and my feet were just
Kristina (35:08.027)
Yeah, I mean…
Peg Fitzpatrick (35:30.69)
They were like, why? Like, why did you do that? And they were comfortable ones. but by the end they were not comfortable. My feet for like two days were like, you can't wear those again. Not anytime soon. yeah. So I, I used to wear like three inch heels and run around work and no problem. My twenties, I was all like heels and then I would go dance all night and dance all weekend and go back to work and wear heels all day. And I was like, I don't even know how I did it. I really wore like super high heels all the time. So I think that's part of the reason I
Kristina (35:39.431)
Yeah, no more.
Peg Fitzpatrick (36:00.634)
can't now.
Kristina (36:02.053)
Also, we are different women. never had that phase. I don't know, maybe that phase is coming for me. But yeah, it's never been my thing.
Peg Fitzpatrick (36:05.568)
I did.
Peg Fitzpatrick (36:10.494)
I don't regret it. It was fun. 20 to 25, that was some good dancing time. So for those feeling overwhelmed by the idea of starting or managing a community, what's one piece of advice that you would give them so they don't feel overwhelmed?
Kristina (36:15.537)
Love it.
Kristina (36:26.239)
Focus on the one-on-one interactions and like, know, don't overthink it like I don't over like, know We run events for 150 people. We have a wonderful community of people who buy tickets all the time I don't overthink it. It's all one-on-one relationships and connections and you know voice notes and things like that but I Yeah, like really just remember like you're just trying to like often business owners the reason we get into business is because we believe that whatever we're doing is of service and so just like really leaning into that that like what you're doing is of service to people and
Peg Fitzpatrick (36:28.408)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (36:49.811)
Mm-hmm.
Kristina (36:54.993)
you're making a difference in that way.
Peg Fitzpatrick (36:56.64)
Yeah, connecting with people, it does make such a big difference. When I'm on Blue Sky now and I was like found there's all these people from Google Plus that are on there because I, when Google Plus was around, I was, that was like very big. I was very big on Google Plus. And so I kept seeing all these people. I had a million and a half followers, not lying. It was big. It was very big platform for me.
Kristina (37:05.747)
Mm.
Kristina (37:12.09)
Taylor Swift of Google+.
Kristina (37:18.395)
Yeah, you are the Taylor Swift of Google Plus. I'm just, I just needed a fact.
Peg Fitzpatrick (37:21.526)
I wish. I wish. But I did really connect with people. That was my main thing. I always respond to people and comments everywhere. But for there, I really built a good thing. I made a comment. I did a post that was like, I am seeing so many great Google Plus friends here, you know, and it's making me happy. someone commented and said, how do you know that you're seeing people from Google Plus? And I was like, because I remember them. I mean, even though, but that's why.
Kristina (37:45.351)
Yeah, because I have eyes.
Peg Fitzpatrick (37:49.656)
Right, I know their names, I know who they are, I remember the people I talked to. mean, some of them are close friends even now, like some of my closest people are people I met on Google +, but I mean, obviously I know them, you know what I mean? And people…
Kristina (37:52.124)
Yeah.
Kristina (38:03.921)
say the same thing with my events. say the same thing with my events. People will come up to me and they'll introduce themselves and I'm like, yeah, you came to the last three. I know everything about you. I remember everything. Like, you know, yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (38:11.34)
Yeah, like, hello, I do remember people like you probably don't know me, but yes, I do. You comment on all my stuff. Of course I do. Like, thank you. Right. I mean, but you have to pay attention. It's just, you know, you got to pay attention and you just know people because you see them. So anyway, I thought I mean, on one hand, it was kind of was kind of like, why is she asking that? But then I just answered it nicely, like, because I remember who they are, you know.
Kristina (38:27.889)
Yeah.
Kristina (38:37.149)
Fair. Yeah, I love that.
Peg Fitzpatrick (38:38.828)
Yeah, but also it's kind like why wouldn't you know who the people that you talk to? I mean it was years ago, it's been closed for a long time, but still I talk to them a lot. So I used to do live streams like Google Hangouts and you know all kinds of stuff on there. So you do connect with people. So what's the biggest myth about online communities that you would love to debunk?
Kristina (38:59.091)
that they need to be big. Like that you need to have a million and a half followers or whatever it is, you know, that has to be to see impact. Like I think a lot of people get really, really worked up about that and they really want to build like really big like communities, which is great. Like I encourage people to build whatever community feels good for them, but you can make impact with a hundred followers. If you had a hundred people in the room, what would that look like? You know?
Peg Fitzpatrick (39:00.504)
Mmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (39:05.803)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (39:19.116)
Yeah. I know when you look at those numbers in real terms, you know, like how many people that is. It is a lot of people. Yeah, I think numbers are a big myth. People really definitely do get tied into that and hooked into that. And they think, I need so many people and so many. It's not about numbers. It's about connection and community, which really isn't.
Kristina (39:27.058)
Yeah.
Kristina (39:41.204)
And I've seen I've seen people with massive audiences make people feel at home like you know where they go to an event and there's there's huge connection there and I've seen people with you know meet people over and over and over again not remember their name like yeah
Peg Fitzpatrick (39:45.272)
Mm-hmm.
Peg Fitzpatrick (39:54.007)
Yeah.
I can't say that I'm here, but yep. And I've had those, I'm sure you've probably had the same thing where you go to an event and you meet someone and they're not at all like you thought they were and then you're like, okay, well, there you go. And then you're not, then you're just, that disconnects you mentally from that person. Yeah.
Kristina (40:10.545)
Yep, totally.
Yeah, you're disenfranchised by it. I know somebody who I idolized, I thought was so cool, I met them in person. Our businesses actually aren't that different and I met them and I was like, perfect. And then now I know, right? And then there have been so many opportunities since for us to collaborate or do things and I've never taken it up because it just hasn't been a fit. I love doing business with people I like. I like doing business with people who are gracious and that's very important to me.
Peg Fitzpatrick (40:27.372)
Yeah.
Peg Fitzpatrick (40:37.228)
Yeah, right. Yeah, when you know they're only doing that, you know, they're not at all who they are online. It's just all fake. It's like, forget it. Yeah. So I appreciate your time. This was a totally amazing conversation. I hope you guys that are listening have loved everything that Kristina said and I hope you follow her and find her, follow her podcast, subscribe to it.
Kristina (40:47.889)
Yeah, 100%.
Peg Fitzpatrick (41:05.526)
It still says follow, right? Didn't subscribe, change to follow. Is that the thing everywhere or?
Kristina (41:10.301)
I think on Apple it might still say subscribe, follow?
Peg Fitzpatrick (41:12.824)
I they were the ones that changed to follow. Anyway, do hit the button so you get Kristina's podcast, whatever that is on whatever platform it is. And thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate you sharing your, your expertise in the community area. And I wish you all the best luck in 2025 and beyond.
Kristina (41:15.601)
I don't
Kristina (41:32.979)
Yay, so happy to be here, thank you so much. And any friend that I have, Peg is a friend of mine, so feel free to reach out and let me know what resonated.
Peg Fitzpatrick (41:39.09)
Awesome. Thank you.
