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Showing posts from July, 2025

The Marketing of Essence Fest: A Legacy in Need of Legacy Thinking

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 By Dani Marie Inspired by Nick Love and “The Marketing Room” on Fanbase I recently tuned into  The Marketing Room  on Fanbase, hosted by Nick Love, and the conversation centered around the  marketing of Essence Fest . I’ve never been to Essence Fest myself. Truthfully, I hadn’t even been that interested—until recently. But now, life looks different. I’ve got kids. I’m thinking about legacy, lineage, and cultural touchpoints. I’m thinking about who’s going to shape what my children consume, and how we bring them into the fold—not just as bystanders, but as  participants . That’s when the conversation got real. 📉 The Essence of the Problem Many agreed that this year’s  marketing rollout was rushed . There was  little to no build-up , minimal storytelling, and a lack of emotional pull. While they did attempt to attract younger audiences through the  Coca-Cola and AT&T stages , it felt like an afterthought—reactive instead of in...

God’s Timing Is Perfect: A Word for the Late Bloomers

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By Dani Marie There’s this pressure we don’t talk about enough—the unspoken expectation that by our late 20s or early 30s, we should already have “made it.” Career? Booming. Finances? Stable. Family? Settled. Purpose? Fully walked in. But what happens when your life doesn’t look like that at all? What if you’re the one who had to start over… again? What if you’re the one who didn’t “figure it out” in the first round? What if your story has been one plot twist after another? If that’s you, I want you to know something deeply true: God’s timing is still perfect—even when it feels like you're behind. The Myth of Being “Too Late” Let’s cancel the lie that you’re too old, too stuck, too delayed, or too damaged to start again. Life isn’t a linear race. It’s more like a series of pivots, resets, and unexpected reroutes. You’re not late. You’re being prepared . For many of us, especially millennials, the traditional roadmap didn’t work. Layoffs, pandemics, family responsibilitie...