Soaring Stories

Recipe for Success: Food, Design, + Freelance Life with Lauren Hodgen of Citrus Diaries Studio

Lauren Hodgen is a passionate food enthusiast and the creative mind behind Citrus Diaries Studio. Since 2018, she has shared her journey of wellness through food, and she now works with food brands on their packaging design, website design, and recipe development. Lauren’s love for wholesome, nourishing ingredients is at the heart of her work, which is designed to inspire others to embrace a healthier, more vibrant lifestyle. ✨ We talk about: The partnerships + parallels between fashion and food Two design trends that are most popular for food brands right now A typical week in Lauren’s life running Citrus Diaries Studio Lauren’s process for developing recipes for brands Finding a community while working for yourself Measuring success and progress as a creative ✨ Connect: Lauren’s website: citrusdiaries.com [https://www.citrusdiaries.com/] Lauren on Instagram: @citrusdiaries.studio [https://www.instagram.com/citrusdiaries.studio?igsh=cnhqYzZzOTgybWNp] Lauren’s Podcast: Dear Citrus Diaries [https://open.spotify.com/show/6hmtlNwcyeN2Vpcpe3V845] Lauren on Substack: Wholesome Goods [https://substack.com/@laurenhodgen?utm_source=about-page] Anna’s website: annamadeblog.com [https://www.annamadeblog.com/] Business email: hello@annamadeblog.com [hello@annamadeblog.com]

Landing Your First Internship Through a Cold Email with Copywriter Sara Noel

Sara Noel is a Website Copywriter + Marketing Mentor for business owners who want to craft compelling narratives and build better connections with their ideal clients and customers. Through copywriting, marketing strategy, and mentorship, she helps creative brands, founder-first businesses, and freelancers create, tell, and sustain their success stories—and have a whole lot of fun while doing it. In this episode, Sara goes deep into landing an internship, how she runs her six-figure copywriting studio, and her client processes. ✨ We talk about: What was Sara like in high school? Cold-emailing + how Sara got her first internship How Sara learned to set up the process for her copywriting clients Why Sara decided not to build an agency and instead focus on individual clients and courses What a week in the life looks like for Sara Sara’s top procrastination tips! ✨ Connect: Sara on Instagram: @btlcopy [https://www.instagram.com/btlcopy/] Sara’s Newsletter: Tattoo Story on Table of Contents [https://btlcopy.substack.com/p/toc-119-so-we-got-tattoos-together] Sara on TikTok: @sara__noel [https://www.tiktok.com/@sara__noel] Sara’s (free) Cold Pitch Guide [https://view.flodesk.com/pages/602f31030f39bbe6c85e7c4a] Sara’s Website: betweenthelinescopy.com [https://betweenthelinescopy.com/] Sara’s Email: sara@betweenthelinescopy.com [sara@betweenthelinescopy.com] Anna’s website: annamadeblog.com [https://www.annamadeblog.com/] Business email: hello@annamadeblog.com [hello@annamadeblog.com]

Jesslyn Rollins: From Acting + Theater To Becoming the CEO of BIOLYTE, Sold in 15,000 Locations

Jesslyn Rollins is the CEO of BIOLYTE, the IV in a bottle. She started selling BIOLYTE from the back of her Toyota Highlander to high school football teams, but over the course of eight years has transformed a product into a brand now featured in 15,000 retail locations, including QuikTrip and Circle K. Jesslyn embodies an infectious energy, igniting a spark in others to pursue their goals with confidence and relentless dedication. ✨ We talk about: Why Jesslyn’s family created BIOLYTE Taking action vs planning when running a company How Jesslyn sold BIOLYTE to high school football teams Expanding from high school sports programs to college sports programs Sweat, sport, or sick: who BIOLYTE is for The sports drink industry and new sports drinks How Jesslyn landed her product in Kroger The connection between theater, improv, and sales Preparing for a big sales meeting + what goes into that Getting feedback on her pitch deck ✨ Connect: BIOLYTE on Instagram: @drinkbiolyte [https://www.instagram.com/drinkbiolyte/] BIOLYTE’s website: drinkbiolyte.com [https://drinkbiolyte.com/] Anna’s website: annamadeblog.com [https://www.annamadeblog.com/] Business email: hello@annamadeblog.com [hello@annamadeblog.com]

What Is The Knowledge Economy? With Maxine Cunningham, Founder of Pick My Brain

Maxine Cunningham is a startup founder and creative visionary obsessed with helping people share their knowledge. She quit her job as an economist after seeing Airbnb launch and realizing the power of the knowledge economy. ✨ We talk about: What is the knowledge economy? What Maxine learned from her parents, who were both entrepreneurs Maxine’s mindset around risk Why Maxine decided to pursue economics Validating the idea for Pick My Brain Building her dream “knowledge marketplace” How Maxine decided on her pricing model Living an unconventional life ✨ Connect: Maxine’s company: pickmybrain.world [https://www.pickmybrain.world/] Maxine on Instagram: pickmybrain_ceo [https://www.instagram.com/pickmybrain_ceo/] Maxine on LinkedIn: @maxinecunningham [https://ca.linkedin.com/in/maxinecunningham] Anna’s website: annamadeblog.com [https://www.annamadeblog.com/] Business email: hello@annamadeblog.com [hello@annamadeblog.com]

Kelsi's Kitchen: Unpredictability In Entrepreneurship and Parallels Between Being an Entrepreneur And an Athlete

Kelsi and Cassandra are the co-founders of Kelsi’s Kitchen, a raw chocolate brand sold in Whole Foods, Sprouts, Wegmans, and more! Since 2019, Kelsi’s Kitchen has created raw truffle bites – and when I tried one (the raspberry flavor is AMAZING), I knew I wanted to chat with them to hear how they did it and how Kelsi and Cassandra are now expanding the business. ✨ We talk about: Kelsi and Cassandra as high school students Parallels between being an entrepreneur and an athlete Problem solving, challenges, and why they’re actually helpful How Kelsi and Cassandra met Cassandra’s background working in the beauty industry How Kelsi created the recipe for the chocolates Demoing and retail sales launches Days in the life of Kelsi and Cassandra ✨ Connect: Kelsi’s Kitchen on Instagram: @kelsiskitchensnacks [https://www.instagram.com/kelsiskitchensnacks/] Kelsi’s Kitchen website: kelsiskitchen.com [https://kelsiskitchen.com/] Kelsi’s podcast: Fueled [https://open.spotify.com/show/5FjokvykMySlBjJR89QlB9?utm_medium=share&utm_source=linktree] Anna’s website: annamadeblog.com [https://www.annamadeblog.com/] Business email: hello@annamadeblog.com [hello@annamadeblog.com]