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In this episode of Imperfect Marketing, I sit down with Danielle Hayden, founder of Kickstart Accounting, to talk about healthy business spending—and how investing in the right places can actually improve your profitability (instead of living in “cut back” mode forever).

Danielle shares her journey from hairstylist to corporate accounting to building Kickstart Accounting, and breaks down the benchmarks business owners under $500K/year can use to spend smarter and grow sustainably. We discuss:

The Truth About “You Have to Spend Money to Make Money”

• Why entrepreneurs often assume the answer is always “spend less” (and why that’s not usually the fix)
• How money stories from personal life can mess with business decisions
• What “healthy spending benchmarks” reveal about what’s normal—and what’s not

Healthy Spending Benchmarks That Support Growth

• Advertising + marketing: why you should group everything visibility-related together (including podcasts + marketing tools)
• Outside services: when hiring experts (bookkeeping, tax, attorney, VA, ops) becomes essential
• Payroll + paying yourself: why not paying yourself creates resentment (and can impact relationships at home)

Cash Flow + Systems That Keep You in Business

• Why “bill early, bill often” is a CEO-level move
• How better tools and automations can reduce chaos and stabilize cash flow
• Why relying on manual invoicing and checks keeps businesses stuck in survival mode

Profit, Growth, and the Reality of Seasons

• What it means if you’re highly profitable but exhausted (and why that’s a red flag)
• Why breaking even can be okay for a season—but not forever
• The long-term goal: building a healthy business with 10–15% profit after expenses

Biggest Marketing Lesson Learned

• “Do it anyway”: how showing up imperfectly builds confidence and momentum over time

Whether you’re trying to grow, hire support, or simply stop feeling tense every time you look at your numbers, this episode will help you rethink spending as a strategy—not a punishment.

Connect with Danielle Hayden:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/danielle-hayden-kickstartaccounting

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In this episode of Imperfect Marketing, host Kendra Corman sits down with Audrey “Tech Diva” Wiggins—an early tech adopter with deep marketing instincts—to talk about how entrepreneurs can use technology without losing the human touch.

Audrey shares how her love of innovation started long before today’s tools, and how business owners can stay focused, credible, and authentic while navigating constant change. We discuss:

The Tech + Human Balance in Modern Marketing

• Why you should evaluate what you’re already using before chasing the “next shiny thing”
• How to keep the “human factor” front and center through messaging and real customer access
• Why customer service is still a core marketing strategy—inside companies and out

How to Avoid Getting Overwhelmed by Trends

• The “pick 1–2 things and work them hard” approach (then automate as you grow)
• Why choosing platforms you actually enjoy helps you stay consistent and authentic
• When to delegate to tech vs. when it’s time to bring in a VA or support team

A Real Transformation Example

• The “Frankenstein website” problem: patchwork sites that look old, cluttered, and confusing
• Why a modern website isn’t just prettier—it’s functional, cleaner, and improves the customer journey
• The importance of mobile-friendly design (because your clients live on their phones)

Branding Mistakes That Quietly Cost You Business

• Why using Gmail/Yahoo/AOL for a business email hurts credibility—and what to do instead
• How a clean email signature supports your brand without being “chunky” or overwhelming
• The self-promotion gap: why many entrepreneurs hesitate to post their own content (even when their audience is already engaged)

A Hard Marketing Lesson Learned

• How choosing the wrong advertising channel can waste money fast
• Why “liking the salesperson” isn’t a strategy—knowing your market and ROI is
• When advertising does make sense without ROI: “passion investments” that support causes you care about

If you’ve ever felt torn between keeping up with tech and staying authentic—or you’ve been tempted by marketing opportunities that don’t actually match your audience—this episode will give you a sharper, calmer way forward.

Connect with Audrey:
Subscribe to her weekly newsletter: https://www.altogether.biz
Her weekly newsletter, packed with actionable marketing insights, tech trends, and resource tools designed to sharpen their skills and fuel business growth.

Looking to leverage AI? Want better results? Want to think about what you want to leverage?

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From "Holy cow, it can do that?" to "Wait, how does this work again?" – I've got all your AI curiosities covered. It's the perfect after-podcast snack for your tech-hungry brain.

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Work Slop: Why AI Shortcuts Are Costing Teams More Than They Save

Ever get an email, doc, or deck from someone and instantly think, “This is… not it”? In this episode, we’re digging into the rise of work slop—the vague, messy, low-quality output that shows up when AI is used as a replacement for thinking instead of a tool for support.

Kendra sits down with Sue Justice, founder of Emory HR, to talk about why this isn’t just an AI problem—it’s a performance, communication, and leadership problem that businesses can’t afford to ignore.

We explore:

What “Work Slop” Is (and Why It’s Growing)

• How AI-generated work becomes unclear, incorrect, or incomplete
• Why “slapping something together” shifts work to the next person
• The difference between using AI as an assistant vs. letting it do the job

This Isn’t a Tool Issue—It’s a Behavior Issue

• How people have always “phoned it in,” but AI makes it faster and more visible
• Why audiences and teammates can sense when work lacks human touch
• The real question leaders must ask: workload problem or character problem?

What Leaders Should Do About It

• When to coach and when to treat it as a performance issue
• Why a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) matters before cutting ties

How industry risk, trust, and legal exposure shape your response

Where AI Helps—and Where It Shouldn’t Lead

• Using AI for brainstorming or templates vs. high-stakes decisions
• Why contracts and policies need human tone, context, and accountability
• The risk of letting AI output become “authority” without review

Sue’s Biggest Marketing Lesson

• Why business owners shouldn’t try to do everything themselves
• How doing the wrong work wastes more time than it saves
• The sustainability link between delegation and quality

Whether you’re leading a team, outsourcing work, or using AI in your own business, this episode is a clear reminder: AI can save time, but only if humans own the standard. If the quality drops, the cost doesn’t disappear—it just lands on someone else.

“AI is meant to be an assistant… not the end-all ‘I’ll do it for you’ solution.” – Sue Justice

00:00:00
Introduction to Sue Justice and why HR belongs in this conversation
00:02:06
What “work slop” is and how it shows up at work
00:03:39
Why AI misuse is really a people/performance issue
00:06:53
Skill gap vs. character flaw: how to tell the difference
00:09:57
When work slop becomes a firing-level problem
00:13:05
Transparency, AI policies, and setting clear standards
00:19:01
AI adoption is everywhere—whether companies admit it or not
00:23:04
Sue’s biggest marketing lesson as a business owner

Connect with Sue Justice:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanajustice/

Website: https://emeryhr.com/

Looking to leverage AI? Want better results? Want to think about what you want to leverage?

Check and see how I am using it for FREE on YouTube.

From "Holy cow, it can do that?" to "Wait, how does this work again?" – I've got all your AI curiosities covered. It's the perfect after-podcast snack for your tech-hungry brain.

Watch here