How Her Husband's Unfinished Novel Became a Bridge to the Other Side with Ksenia Merch

How Gucci Coca-Cola and Louis Vuitton Built Brand Love

Why does a $5,000 Gucci bag and a $500 bag hold your stuff the same way — but one feels like an extension of your identity and the other doesn't? That's brand love. And in this full-circle episode of The MetaBusiness Millennial, I'm sitting down with the woman who literally wrote the international bestselling book on it — Lydia Michael — who also happened to be the marketing strategist behind my very first clean beauty brand, DAO Detroit (DAO = Defy All Odds), back in 2017.   Years later, she's a #1 international bestseller, owner of Detroit-based Blended Collective, an adjunct professor across three continents, and a Board of Trustees member at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. I'm building Ra Beauty, my second clean beauty brand — this time from a completely different place. So when she reached out a few weeks ago for a testimonial, I told her — let's do better than a testimonial. Come on the show.   What unfolded is part reunion, part masterclass, part love letter to the brands that built us.   We unpack The Eight Brand Love Stages — Lydia's framework featured in university programs worldwide and translated into Turkish and Vietnamese. We talk about why 90% of customers make decisions based on gut feeling (and then justify with logic), why Coca-Cola doesn't sell beverages (they sell joy and happiness), and why I'm a Gucci goddess in the era of Tom Ford sensuality. Lydia walks us through how brands like L'Oréal, Garnier Fructis, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Chanel, and Versace build emotional resonance — and where most small businesses leak love.   Then we cross the bridge into my world: the mirror principle. A brand can't receive love it isn't broadcasting. I share why I'm praying over every Ra Beauty box and signing every insert card by hand — and why building from the inside out is the new luxury.   This is the conversation for every founder, marketer, and high-achieving woman who wants to build something people don't just buy — but actually love.   —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —   🎧 What You'll Learn * The real, dinner-table definition of brand love (no jargon) * The Eight Brand Love Stages framework explained * Why 90% of buying decisions are emotional first * The difference between a customer who likes you and one who loves you * Why Coca-Cola sells joy and Gucci sells sensuality * How the mirror principle applies to brand-building * Why kindness is a marketing strategy * Why small businesses are the future of conscious commerce   📚 Connect With Lydia Michael * Book: Brand Love – Building Strong Consumer-Brand Connections (Amazon and wherever books are sold) * Website: blendedcollective.com  |  lydiamichael.com * LinkedIn: @lydiamichael  |  @blendedcollective * Instagram: @lydiamichael_  |  @blendedcollective   ✨ Connect With Erin * Instagram: @iamerinpatten * Website: erinpatten.com * Ra Beauty: rabeauty.co   If this episode hit, do me a favor — like, subscribe, and drop a comment with the brand YOU love most. Share this with a founder who needs to hear it.   Much love and light. ✨

She Married Into Hollywood Royalty Then Chose Herself

She married her best friend of 23 years. She married him in front of one of the most famous fathers in Hollywood. And she filed for annulment fifteen days later.   In this raw, faith-forward conversation with her sister and bestie Erin Patten, Romi Marie sits in the seat of her own truth — for the first time, in long form, in her own voice — about marrying James Haven (Angelina Jolie's older brother), the night-of-the-wedding moment that changed everything, the pattern of saying yes to men who couldn't stay, and the holy work of coming home to herself.   This is not a tell-all. It is a testimony.   We talk about three marriages and one annulment. We talk about the daddy wounds underneath all of it. We talk about her daughter who pulled her out of survival mode and looked her dead in the eye and said, "Mama, you got a bad picker." We talk about the memoir she is releasing one chapter at a time on Substack, read in her own voice, with no editor sexualizing her story for the page. And we talk about Jesus — about hiding, about being seen, about the moment a woman finally decides she has nothing left to hide.   Romi has been in People Magazine. She has been on reality television. She could have taken this story to any platform she wanted. She chose this one — because she wanted to be heard, and held, by her sister.   If you have ever said yes too fast, walked away too late, or wondered whether the life you are being asked to release is the door to the life you actually came here to live — this episode will meet you exactly where you are.   𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲: www.erinpatten.com 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺: @iamerinpatten 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻: @iamerinpatten 𝗧𝗶𝗸𝘁𝗼𝗸: @iamerinpatten 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆: https://open.spotify.com/show/3d5JluD4wiOC8pYSDVHTSq 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-metabusiness-millennial/id1654460591   𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗶 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴: madreromi.com 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗶𝗿: Substack — Romi Marie (new chapter every Wednesday morning) 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺: @romi_hairandbeauty   𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀 * Free Masterclass — Future Ready Leadership for the Beautiful, Loving and Knowledgeable Woman → erinpatten.com/masterclass-homepage * Apply for the Divine Alignment Mentorship → erinpatten.com * Join the Sol Full Accelerator → upgrade.erinpatten.com   #RomiMarie #JamesHaven #AngelinaJolie #JolieVoight #TheRealLWord #MadreRomi #IdentityCoach #FaithJourney #ChristianWomen #MotherhoodAndHealing #Annulment #DivorceRecovery #ChooseYourself #SubstackMemoir #FeminineLeadership #HealingEra #NothingToHide #SpiritualEntrepreneurship #ErinPatten #TheMetabusinessMillennial

Why I Quit Drinking, Dating, and Social Media Apps

In this episode, I'm getting honest about the season I've been quietly walking through. I haven't been on a date in months. I've stopped drinking. I deleted Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Facebook from my phone. I'm not going out on weekends. And my life, my business, and my alignment have never been more dialed in.   I'm calling it The Great Subtraction. And I am very much not the only woman in it.   There's a quiet movement underway among high-achieving women right now — an abstinence economy, a sacred withdrawal, a season of nothing that is actually a season of everything. We're stepping away from the cocktails, the dating apps, the constant content, the swipe-left-swipe-right disposable economy of attention. Not out of restriction. Out of recognition.   This conversation is about why subtraction is one of the most strategic spiritual moves you can make. It's about the mirror principle — how the chaos in your inner world is showing up directly in your business, your money, your relationships — and why deleting an app, declining a drink, or saying no to a date can do more for your next-level than another strategy session ever will.   𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲, 𝗜 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁: * Why I deleted my social media apps and what shifted immediately * The abstinence economy and why so many women are sober, single, and offline by choice * The mirror principle and how your business is reflecting your inner world * Why "you take you wherever you go" is the truth no one teaches in business school * How healing through subtraction creates space for the manifestations you've been calling in * Why your romantic boundaries and your business boundaries are the same boundaries * The woman who emerges from sacred withdrawal and why she's intimidating to anyone who knew her before   This is not about deprivation. It's not punishment. It's preparation.   If you've been feeling lonely, restless, or quietly pulled away from the version of life you used to chase — this episode will meet you right where you are.   𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲: https://www.erinpatten.com/ [https://www.erinpatten.com/]  𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺: @iamerinpatten 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻: @iamerinpatten 𝗧𝗶𝗸𝘁𝗼𝗸: @iamerinpatten 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀 * Free Masterclass — Future Ready Leadership for the Beautiful, Loving and Knowledgeable Woman → erinpatten.com/masterclass-homepage * Apply for the Divine Alignment Mentorship → erinpatten.com * Join the Sol Full Accelerator → upgrade.erinpatten.com

The Sacred Art of Sitting in What's Not Ready Yet

Tune in as I get real about what it feels like when every planet in the solar system is moving forward and your life still feels like it's buffering. This is a solo episode. No guest. Just me, my truth, and a download I couldn't keep to myself. I'm in limbo right now. The custody situation with my son is unresolved. My beauty brand Ra Beauty just launched and we're still figuring out direction. Business relationships I've outgrown are shifting. And my evolutionary astrologer Kristin Fontana told me something that rearranged how I see this entire season. She said you are right on time. And the system isn't fully a go yet. So I break down what's actually happening in the cosmos right now, why the lunar nodes hovering at eight to nine degrees Virgo/Pisces since mid-January have us sitting between what we're finishing from our past and what we're anchoring to in our future. I share the mirrored revolving door image that changed how I understand growth and why half of us are being sent back to re-evolve while the other half are being upgraded and sent forward. I get vulnerable about what it's been like to have no legal rights over my own son's medical care and schooling and how I had to move from shame and anger into unconditional trust in God. And I walk you through the April 20th to May 6th acceleration window that's coming and why you will only receive it if you honor the stillness first. This episode explores: * Why the not ready feeling is actually the readiness and what that means for your next move * The mirrored revolving door and how to know which side you're standing on * What releasing control looks like when it's your child and not your business * Why the 16 day window between April 20th and May 6th changes everything * How fasting, prayer, social media detox and purification prepared me for what's next This is not a motivational speech about patience. This is me sitting in the wait with you and telling you the truth about what I see on the other side of it. If you're sitting in April with a launch that's not ready, a situation that's not resolved, and a life that feels like it's on pause. If you needed someone to tell you that you are not behind. This episode is for you. Connect with me: * Website: www.erinpatten.com [http://www.erinpatten.com] * Instagram: @iamerinpatten Explore my work: * Free Masterclass: Future Ready Leadership → erinpatten.com/masterclass-homepage * Join the Sol Full Accelerator → upgrade.erinpatten.com #FeminineLeadership #WomenEntrepreneurs #PurposeDriven #ErinPatten #MetaBusinessMillennial #DivineTiming #SacredPause #TrustTheProcess

How Her Husband's Unfinished Novel Became a Bridge to the Other Side with Ksenia Merch

Tune in as my guest, Ksenia Merck, and I sit down to talk about what happens when the love of your life leaves behind an unfinished story. Not a metaphor. A real science fiction novel sitting in a drawer. And you decide to pick up the pen and finish it. An architect with over four decades in construction, a woman who grew up on job sites with her World War II paratrooper father, built her own consulting firm in 2002, and now runs two businesses while honoring the literary legacy her late husband Bill left behind. This conversation is not about loss. It's about what love looks like when it refuses to end. Ksenia shares what it was like to feel the vibration between her and Bill rise in the hospital during his most critical moments, how she went from PTSD and sleepless nights to locking the door and pulling out her paints at the same dining room table where her father taught her to draw. She walks us through finding stories about their love woven into his manuscript, why she creates in complete silence because that's where she feels him closest, and how painting the Twin Star became the symbol of their eternal bond. One soul in the center. Two hearts. I share my own experience with losing my father and how grief presents us with two doors. Destruction or creation. We get to choose which one we walk through. This episode explores: * What it means to finish your late husband's novel as an act of love not just legacy * How grief transformed into creative power at the same dining room table where it all began * Why the vibration between two aligned souls rises in crisis instead of falling * How creating in silence became her bridge between the physical and non-physical This is not a conversation about moving on. It's about moving with. When love is built in the spirit the physical world has no authority to end it. If you've ever lost someone and wondered if the connection still lives. If you've ever needed someone to remind you that love doesn't need a body to keep going. This episode is for you. Connect with me: * Website: www.erinpatten.com [http://www.erinpatten.com] * Instagram: @iamerinpatten Explore my work: * Free Masterclass: Future Ready Leadership → erinpatten.com/masterclass-homepage * Join the Sol Full Accelerator → upgrade.erinpatten.com Connect with Ksenia: * Website: MerckIIPress.com