Marketing is changing fast.
AI is changing how people search. Ad models are shifting. New platforms keep showing up. And founders are being told they need more content, more reach, and more eyeballs just to stay relevant.
But after sitting down with Laurel Mintz , founder of Elevate My Brand and Fabric VC, I kept coming back to a much simpler idea:
What if your best marketing starts before you market anything at all?
Meet Laurel
I loved sitting down with Laurel Mintz, founder and CEO of Elevate My Brand and founder of Fabric VC. Laurel has spent nearly two decades helping brands grow, but what I love most about her perspective is how she cuts through all the marketing noise and brings it back to something very human: know your customer, listen to what they’re telling you, and build something they actually want. This was such a fun conversation, and there were a few moments that really made me rethink how we should be approaching growth right now.
One part of our conversation really stayed with me.
Laurel talked about what happens when brands bring their customers into the product development process. You ask questions. You listen to what they want. You test ideas with them before trying to convince thousands of strangers to buy.
It sounds simple, but it changes the relationship.
Your customer is no longer standing at the end of your marketing funnel. She becomes part of what you’re building.
Laurel saw this firsthand with Squishmallows. Bringing the audience into decisions about future products helped create what she calls “brand evangelists”—people who don’t simply buy the product, but genuinely want to tell other people about it.
That’s powerful.
And you don’t need millions of followers to do it.
More reach doesn’t always mean more business
During our conversation, we also talked about something founders can easily forget: a massive audience and a high-converting audience are not the same thing.
I’m much more interested in the second.
Give me a smaller community that cares deeply about what we’re creating, gives us honest feedback, buys when we launch, and tells other people about it.
That’s not just an audience. That’s an asset.
It’s also why I believe influence needs structure. When you understand the people who already trust you, you can begin translating that influence into products they actually want. Those products can become brands, and the strongest brands can eventually become companies.
Where the conversation gets interesting
Laurel and I covered a lot more than I’m sharing here—and intentionally so.
We talked about why she’s watching Reddit, what AI could mean for the future of marketing, what founders with smaller budgets should be thinking about, and why some of the old marketing playbook simply isn’t working the way it used to.
Then our conversation moved into money.
Laurel shared what happened when she went from bootstrapping her businesses to raising capital for Fabric VC. At first, raising money felt uncomfortable and completely different from anything she had done before.
Then she had a realization that changed how she approached the entire process.
And that’s where I’m going to stop.
Because hearing Laurel explain that shift herself is far better than me giving it away here.
Hear the rest of our conversation
If you’re building a product, growing a brand, trying to make your marketing dollars work harder, or simply wondering what you should be paying attention to next, this episode is worth your time.
Laurel has a sharp way of cutting through the noise and bringing the conversation back to what actually moves a business forward.
What I’m taking with me
The platforms will change. The tools will change. AI will certainly change how we work.
But I don’t think knowing your customer will ever become outdated.
Before you spend more money trying to reach more people, get curious about the people already paying attention.
Ask better questions. Listen carefully. Build with them.
Your next great marketing idea might actually be hiding inside a conversation you haven’t had yet.
So I’m curious: How often are you actually asking your customers what they want before you build it?
Let me know in the comments. I read everything, and I’d love to hear how you’re doing this in your own business.
Xo,
Tracy
P.S. If you know a founder who feels like she’s constantly trying to keep up with marketing, send this her way. Then watch or listen to my conversation with Laurel together. I have a feeling it will give you both a few things to talk about.
