The Cartel Canceled Our Work Trip (So We Went to Medieval Times)

The Cartel Canceled Our Work Trip (So We Went to Medieval Times)

The work trip was supposed to be Playa del Carmen. Then a cartel leader was murdered, the US Embassy issued a warning, someone was already flying in from Lisbon, and Lauren had 72 hours to make a call on behalf of everyone. She pivoted to Orlando. The Airbnb in Mexico couldn't refund them. They ended up at Medieval Times. The chicken was fine. The horses were a problem. This week Lauren and Sydney are back from EMMIE's third annual consultant retreat —which was supposed to be Mexico, became Orlando, and ended with the entire team eating roast chicken with their hands in front of jousting knights. Along the way: new travel crimes are added to the canon, EMMIE hired its first man (Ethan, a growth advisor who wrote "Dick" on a Miro board without understanding why), and Leslie Douglas joins the sales team after the most chaotic non-interview in company history. Also this episode: • A new travel crime category: women are not immune, and cuticles on a plane floor are unforgivable • Sydney's seatmate in first class had a 30oz cold brew, a misogynist vocabulary, and four bathroom trips — in that order • Ethan has explained accrual-based accounting to Lauren no fewer than ten times. She understands it for exactly 30 minutes each time. • Ethan said "connective tissue" in a meeting and did the hand gesture. Lauren and Sydney were not okay. • Leslie hand-programmed NFC keychains for every consultant that tap through to each person's LinkedIn profile. She has been on the team for six weeks. • The Slackies: a surprise award ceremony built from a full year of Slack messages, featuring 50 certificates including Most Sympathetic to Robots, Most Dubious Units of Measurement, and a three-way tie for Most Flirtatious with the Marketo Product Roadmap • Medieval Times: recommended once, never again, the same knight wins every time, and $90 a ticket puts you in the nosebleeds which is exactly where you want to be. Timestamps: • 00:00:01 — Intro: the work trip recap begins • 00:00:54 — Travel crimes: returning offenses and new additions • 00:01:49 — New crime: cuticles on a plane floor • 00:02:30 — Sydney's first class seatmate and the 30oz cold brew • 00:07:55 — The real travel crime: the cartel cancels Mexico • 00:11:00 — The pivot to Orlando and the stress of making thecall • 00:14:18 — Introducing Ethan: EMMIE's first hire who is a man • 00:17:07 — What Ethan has taught them, and what Lauren still doesn't fully understand • 00:21:40 — Ethan's corporate vocabulary: leakage, connective tissue, meat space • 00:24:38 — The Big Deck Energy origin story and what Ethan wrote on the Miro board • 00:28:28 — Modesty departs; Leslie Douglas joins after a fake blind date interview • 00:32:20 — The NFC keychains; the Slackies award ceremony • 00:34:37 — Medieval Times: the team, the chicken, the horses, the verdict Links: Follow Pretty Funny Business on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/pretty-funny-business [https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/pretty-] Subscribe on Substack: www.prettyfunnybusiness.com [http://www.prettyfunnybusiness.com/] Marketing Ops community: https://marketingops.com/ [https://marketingops.com/] Leave us a review and subscribe wherever you listen — it genuinely helps the little podcast.

AI Is Just Digital Transformation in a Trench Coat

Turns out the thing AI can’t do is blow dry your hair. Or hold your popcorn at a Cavs game. The robots have officially started posting job listings for humans — they’re calling us the “meatspace” — and Lauren and Sydney have opinions. This episode is their seasonal take on AI: what it actually looks like to build something useful with it (Sydney built three agents, including one that reads Fathom call transcripts and drafts sales follow-up emails without being asked), why buying a composable AI tech stack is basically cutting the cable cord and ending up with more streaming subscriptions than you started with, and why you absolutely cannot give admin access to someone just because they look like they can hold their popcorn. Also: the cloud vs. on-prem history lesson nobody asked for but everybody needed, a platform called Rental Human where AI agents are the ones posting bounties, and the argument that “return to office” should be rebranded “return to on-prem.” Also this episode: • The word “digital transformation” once meant nothing to Sydney and she just faked it until it made sense — sound familiar? • Sydney's three-agent build: what each one does, what it replaced, and the one job it definitely did not replace • Composable AI tech stacks explained via cutting the cable cord, and why you’re going to end up paying more than cable • The AI pervert problem: what to do if you have one on your team, and why you cannot fire them • A platform where AI posts bounties for humans to complete — and yes, they called us the “meatspace” • A Vegas dream involving a limo, a forehead injury, and a roommate who was “at pancake breakfast, don’t worry about me.” • What dropping popcorn all over a Cleveland Cavaliers team shop taught Lauren about admin access Timestamps 00:00:01 — Welcome to Pretty Funny Business / seasonal AI take begins 00:01:00 — Cloud vs. on-prem: the origin story, and why “return to office” should be “return to on-prem” 00:04:05 — Sydney’s introduction to “digital transformation” and the art of pretending to understand it 00:09:02 — AI is just the new digital transformation, and what marketing ops needs to do about it 00:11:55 — Lauren’s three agents: the build, the workflow, and the job it did (and didn’t) replace 00:18:30 — The Rube Goldberg AI workflow problem and the marble run that’s actually a failure 00:20:47 — Composable AI tech stacks: Lego pieces, cable cord cutting, and the streaming subscription trap 00:28:14 — The AI pervert on your team: identify, protect, document, do not fire 00:30:18 — Rental Human: the platform where AI agents are posting bounties for humans 00:32:01 — “Meat space”: what the robots are calling us and why 00:35:34 — Dream segment: eight days in Vegas, a limo, a forehead, and pancake breakfast 00:37:45 — B2B marketing lesson: the Cavs game, the popcorn, and admin access 00:41:50 — Outro / bounty hunter applications open Links Follow Pretty Funny Business on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/pretty-funny-business/ Subscribe on Substack https://www.prettyfunnybusiness.com/podcast Leave us a review and subscribe wherever you listen — it genuinely helps the little podcast.

LinkedIn Lunatics: The Bodysuit Layer Debate, Bad LinkedIn Takes, and Sydney's Most Embarrassing Moment

Pretty Funny Business | S4E02 — "We Made LinkedIn Lunatics (One of Us Did)"LinkedIn is a gift that keeps on giving — and this week, it gave us a lot. Sydney's viral bodysuit/tights/skort/underwear order-of-operations post has officially been featured on the LinkedIn Lunatics subreddit, and we are processing this together in real time. (Lauren was present and claims total innocence. The evidence suggests otherwise.)From there, we dig into the LinkedIn Lunatics mailbag: a man who thinks holding a baby is women's peak state of relaxation, a 25-year-old being told not to take a sabbatical to Thailand, someone who looks like Bad Bunny (maybe), and the eternal question — is this post a thought leader, a loss leader, or just a LinkedIn lunatic? Also this episode: * The "does this post survive the group chat?" test for all LinkedIn content * A dream about Tinder, a dream about Grindr, and a dream about vibe coding at the gym * Whether lavalier microphones should ever be hand-held (a heated debate) * How abdominal surgery, a migraine, and an eye patch taught us something about B2B marketing * The describe-your-job-in-three-words challenge (the blockchain data one is sending us) If you've ever looked at your LinkedIn feed and thought "why is this here" — this episode is for you. Timestamps: * 00:02:18 — Thought leaders vs. loss leaders vs. LinkedIn lunatics: a taxonomy * 00:05:25 — Sydney's post goes viral on LinkedIn Lunatics (the grief cycle begins) * 00:08:35 — The bodysuit/tights/skort/underwear order of operations, explained * 00:11:25 — The comments section: supportive men, sales bros, and Kimmy saves the day * 00:16:08 — LinkedIn lunatics mailbag: women's "peak state," Thailand sabbatical, Bad Bunny * 00:24:59 — Lunatic mailbag continues: lavalier mics, potion polls, cat in a toga * 00:34:33 — Vibe coding at the gym: dream or nightmare? * 00:36:19 — Bodies, Pilates, and surgery (the eye patch story) * 00:41:38 — In conclusion: keep people on their toes, especially on LinkedIn Links: * Follow Pretty Funny Business on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/pretty-funny-business [https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/pretty-funny-business] * Subscribe on Substack: www.prettyfunnybusiness.com * LinkedIn Lunatics subreddit: r/LinkedInLunatics Leave us a review and subscribe wherever you listen — it genuinely helps the little podcast.

Ball Pit Dreams

Sydney and Lauren kick off Season 4 with a full recap of MOpsapalooza — including the legend of Lady Effington, a ball pit that became more hot tub than pool party, a slide that lasted approximately five seconds before the fire marshal intervened, and some deeply anonymous corporate confessions. Plus: what a four-year-old's encounter with the mayor of New York can teach you about B2B marketing. It was all just a dream, obviously.

Professionalism Is Fake: Zoom Etiquette, Makeup Rules & Work-From-Home Myths

Welcome to the final episode of Season 3 of Pretty Funny Business! Today’s topic? Professionalism. What is it? Who decides what counts? And why did we all buy day-to-night outfits in 2012 even though we were going absolutely nowhere at night? We break down: *  Why “professionalism” is mostly made-up *  Zoom etiquette we all pretend to follow (camera on? makeup? …internet?) *  The remote-work dress code nobody asked for *  Day-to-night fashion and the lies magazines told us *  Makeup expectations, gender double-standards & office culture *  Our most unprofessional moments with clients (in a cute way) If you work from home, show up to Zoom in a hoodie, or have ever been judged for not wearing makeup — this one’s for you. 📲 Connect with us: Lauren → https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenaquilino [https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenaquilino] Sydney → https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneymulligan [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneymulligan] 👗 Try Nuuly and get $30 off your first rental Nuuly – Sydney’s Invite Link: https://share.nuuly.com/sydney9937 [https://share.nuuly.com/sydney9937] Nuuly – Lauren’s Invite Link: https://share.nuuly.com/lauren42247 [https://share.nuuly.com/lauren42247] 🛠 Tools we swear by (affiliate links – we earn a small commission): Fathom for meeting notes: https://fathom.video/?source=agencypartners&ps_partner_key=c3lkbmV5bXVsbGlnYW43MzQ&ps_xid=aKkNfXKYBvY1Hp&gsxid=aKkNfXKYBvY1Hp&gspk=c3lkbmV5bXVsbGlnYW43MzQ [https://fathom.video/?source=agencypartners&ps_partner_key=c3lkbmV5bXVsbGlnYW43MzQ&ps_xid=aKkNfXKYBvY1Hp&gsxid=aKkNfXKYBvY1Hp&gspk=c3lkbmV5bXVsbGlnYW43MzQ] Airtable to manage workflows: https://airtable.com/invite/r/NHkCkkSD [https://airtable.com/invite/r/NHkCkkSD] Run your whole business like a pro with Google Workspace: https://workspace.google.com/landing/partners/referral/gws2/?utm_source=sign-up&utm_medium=affiliatereferral&utm_campaign=apps-referral-program&utm_content=9KKCZ0C [https://workspace.google.com/landing/partners/referral/gws2/?utm_source=sign-up&utm_medium=affiliatereferral&utm_campaign=apps-referral-program&utm_content=9KKCZ0C] 📧 Want to work with us? Find out more at https://www.emmieco.com/ [https://www.emmieco.com/]