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In this episode of The Business Owner’s Journey, host Nick Berry interviews Romi Wallach and Nicole Mastrangelo, co-founders of The Daily Drip Media. They share their journey of creating a vibrant community for South Florida businesswomen, emphasizing storytelling, authenticity, and the power of building personal and professional connections. They discuss how community plays a transformative role for business owners, the importance of vulnerability in leadership, and what it means to be a thought leader. Their insights on fostering genuine connections and supporting businesswomen highlight the unique ecosystem they’ve built.
Romi and Nicole share that the core of Daily Drip’s success lies in its local, community-driven content created by professional women, not traditional content creators. This approach empowers members to step out of their comfort zones, share experiences, and build connections that resonate deeply within the community.
Nicole emphasizes that effective communities help members engage in self-discovery, which is vital for reaching personal and professional potential. The co-founders describe how their community supports women beyond just networking, facilitating genuine support, problem-solving, and emotional connection.
Romi and Nicole lead by example, sharing their challenges and personal stories. They note that this transparency sets the tone for the entire community, encouraging others to be open and authentic. Members feel seen and heard, which strengthens the culture and leads to impactful interactions.
Nicole explains the different stages of participation within The Daily Drip, from being a member in transition to stepping up as a thought leader. This progression is based on whether someone is looking to find guidance or is ready to share their lessons and inspire others. Community Partners like Daniel Wakefield are also very involved in the community.
The co-founders highlight how storytelling cuts through the formality of professional presentations and allows for genuine, heartfelt connections. The hyper-local aspect of The Daily Drip means that members are not just readers but potential friends, mentors, and collaborators who enrich each other's lives.
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The Business Owner's Journey Podcast host: Nick Berry
Production Company: FCG
Nicole Mastrangelo (00:00)
what has any community gaining legs and traction is the ability for that community to help its members self identify and go on their own personal journey. I think that is the difference maker because a community is like 50 % what you're doing, 50 % who you're doing it with. So if we're on this journey of self discovery of
becoming the best version of ourselves, reaching our fullest potential. And we're doing it through learning from the woman beside me, hearing her story, hearing her expertise. to Romi's point, it's this magical effect that's happening on the person that's consuming and the person that's telling. There's something equally to gain
Nick Berry (00:44)
The Business Owner's Journey. I'm Nick Berry and I've got real business owners telling their real stories, sharing their real lessons and strategies so you don't have to figure it all out on your
Nick Berry (00:56)
Romi Wallach and Nicole Mastrangelo founded the Daily Drip in 2020. The Daily Drip Media is a platform for thought leadership and community. They provide content, resources, and programming for South Florida business women. I wanted to have them on the show because I really admire what they've created. This community is a vortex that just keeps pulling people in and growing, and they've done it without losing their sense of purpose or their mojo. It's been really impressive to see because I know that that doesn't happen by accident.
So we talked about the secret sauce behind the Daily Drip and where they've been most surprised along the way, the role that community plays in supporting business owners along their journey, building and maintaining a culture of vulnerability and and how to know when you need the support of a community or if you're ready to become a thought leader. Enjoy this episode with Romi Wallach and Nicole Mastrangelo of the Daily Drip.
Nick Berry (01:48)
what is it the daily drip really does that's so unique?
Romi (01:51)
I actually think we do a couple of things that are really unique, but I think that what we do discuss and what is most special is that the content that you're reading, everything you hear, everything you're watching, These are local professionals and business leaders.
Nicole Mastrangelo (01:51)
you?
Romi (02:05)
these are not content creators. These are women professionals kind of going a little bit outside their comfort zone to share their stories and expertise on things that could be related to their careers, might be on the personal side.
But these are very relatable people because they're people you're running into or you see or you're connected to maybe by a few separate degrees. And then the community element, I think, is what has made this all really come together.
Nicole Mastrangelo (02:32)
you know, when you think about who our demographic is for the modern business woman, the modern business woman is used to connecting in a certain way. you know, like a lot of these, a lot of our network and our community, they're, they're avid networkers. They're out women about town. They're serving on boards, they're leading organizations. And so.
A lot of them, like these modern tools and social media and content, all of this evades them. And so I think what we've done is we've helped really dynamic people have more tools in their toolbox to connect with each other or whoever it is that they want to connect with. And then when you add to it, the element of storytelling, you know, when you go to a networking event or where you're at a professional,
organizations event or when you're leading something, you're kind of presenting your representative, right? Like your best professional self. But with the Daily Drip, when we're sharing stories and expertise, you cut through all of that and content enables you to share like a deeper part of yourself. And so then when you add the hyper local component of it, where it's like I'm reading a story by a woman in my backyard.
that I could go and connect with her on LinkedIn and we can go have a coffee and I can tell her how that really affected me or changed my perception of something, changed the way I think about something or made me feel connected to her like a perfect stranger because of content. I think that has been very powerful for a lot of our members to have this new tool and this new way of communicating with people in order to connect with them.
So this is some of the biggest take-off views.
Nick Berry (04:20)
Are
Romi (04:21)
It's been pretty awesome to watch both the combination of the audience that's consuming this content and how the content these women are producing is impacting them. But it's actually been, I think, equally as amazing to witness these thought leaders, the women who are writing, find and uncover parts of themselves that they hadn't shared before and are really getting comfortable with that. the things that are coming out from them are
It's really unbelievable. Like they're uncovering parts of themselves and they're discovering parts of themselves that they had not otherwise shown, especially not on such a public stage. And so I think that it's been really awesome to watch the dynamic of their change and what they're doing and the impact they're having and the impact the audience is having.
Nick Berry (04:59)
Mm-hmm.
What kind of guidance are you giving them for that discovery and becoming that thought leader?
Nicole Mastrangelo (05:15)
Very little, and that's the irony of the whole thing. We give less guidance than, it's less about giving guidance and more about giving space for this sort of thing. It's amazing what happens when you put these types of leaders in a room and tell them that we're on a mission to encourage people to become the best version of themselves. What would you tell your younger self?
on this journey to the C-suite. What would you tell yourself 10 years ago when you just had that baby? And you're trying to navigate this world. And it's like just giving them the space and the outlet to be able to have those kinds of conversations and through those conversations discover really what they do think about these things.
and then be so inspired to want to talk about it in a more public way on a public stage. It's really just about giving space for it.
Romi (06:14)
We've actually been asked before, which I thought was kind of interesting. We had somebody specifically say like,
Asking us to this point, like what do we tell why isn't anyone writing about they inserted like a certain it was just a topic that's maybe a political topic or whatever and we were quite frankly we said we don't tell them what to write about like What you're reading is what is is on their minds and in their hearts. It is something that they feel compelled to share So in terms of what they're writing about this is entirely coming from them and something that they really want to share You know, we don't dictate what that looks like
I mean, there's always like conversation around it because we want to come up with good stuff. But I say that because I think it's important that this is really what's pressing on them.
Nick Berry (06:56)
most of the time, I think when someone says like that community building, even if they're trying to position it as something different, it's more social.
They enjoy it, they're fulfilled by meeting people, but it's it kind of flickers out. It doesn't get legs. what I've seen with you guys is it continues to gain traction and there's more to it than just we're gonna get a bunch of people together and get them to know each other. There's some intentionality on your part, I feel like, and trying to kind of...
understand better like what that is and not to imply that you're telling a thought leader like this is your brand or this is what you're about, but maybe how to do that well.
Nicole Mastrangelo (07:31)
I, yeah.
Yeah, it's, think what has any community gaining legs and traction is the ability for that community to help its members self identify and go on their own personal journey. I think that is the difference maker because a community is like 50 % what you're doing, 50 % who you're doing it with. So if we're on this journey of self discovery of
becoming the best version of ourselves, reaching our fullest potential. And we're doing it through learning from the woman beside me, hearing her story, hearing her expertise. It's like, to Romi's point, it's this magical effect that's happening on the person that's consuming and the person that's telling. There's something equally to gain from being on both sides of the stage.
And I think that's where our traction is, is like people come and tell us and it's kind of incredible. Like Romi and I don't know what to do with it often, but they say like, this changed my life. What do you say to someone that you just met five minutes ago and they tell you that they came to an event, they heard something, they met someone, the topics we're discussing literally changed.
Romi (08:44)
true.
Nicole Mastrangelo (08:57)
their life in a very real way in the sense that it changed the decision they were going to make. It changed the trajectory of what they're going to be doing now. It changed how they feel about something. And because of that one change, everything changes. Right. And so for us, it's like we come together to talk about the journey, right. What we would have done better, what we could do better, what my expertise is that I can help you on your journey. Right. And then
We talk about it in a variety of ways. Like we talk about it in articles. We talk about it on a podcast. We talk about it at virtual discussion groups. There's just like, I think the fact that it's for business women plays an interesting role too, because I think women inherently value sisterhood and support. So community is very natural.
for a lot of it. So like the community aspect versus the networking aspect, networking is a byproduct. It's not really the reason we're there. We're there to share and give and support and help people on their way. And I think that, I think it's the right thing for the right person. It's like solving the problem in exactly the right way that female business leader wants that problem solved.
Romi (09:58)
Yeah.
And it's community over networking because typically you go to like, I've been to a ton of networking events and you go to a BNI or you go to any insert, whatever networking group and you're putting your best foot forward and you're going to give your 30 second commercial and you're going to come across like you're a baller. mean, that's, mean, you're not going to show up and say, really struggling with my pipeline or I lost a case, right? Like you're not doing that. What happens in our
community is people get to show up and be very real about obstacles that they're facing and something that they're stuck with. And they don't have to posture and they don't have to pretend like it's all together. In fact, they feel comfortable enough to say, I'm struggling with this and who could weigh in.
You know, and you can imagine how like they're like love bombed in a certain way with advice with I have someone I can introduce you to. I went through a similar thing and I work with this person or I have a book you should read, but it's constant. Like it's, I think the fact that people are coming to be very real about the fact that this journey is hard. Being an entrepreneur is hard. And while it has a lot of upsides, the downsides are very isolating.
when you don't have a community to talk openly about that.
Nicole Mastrangelo (11:33)
I think it also very often it's literally just getting it off your chest. It's just the container. It's the venting ground. Sometimes that alone is the solution. Sometimes you just want to say this fucking sucks. This is hard. I am lost. I don't know what the hell I'm doing or I made it. I got to the C-suite and I'm fucking miserable.
Romi (11:40)
Yeah.
Nicole Mastrangelo (11:54)
I have lost so much of myself and I don't know what to do about it. And sometimes you just need other people to look at you, listen to you and say, me too. Holy shit, me too. And that feels like such a weight lifted. And so sometimes it's just the validation is the song you sing. Yeah.
Romi (12:09)
So feel seen and heard. People just want to feel seen and heard. No.
Nick Berry (12:11)
Yeah, don't need somebody to fix it. I don't need you to take it from me. Just hear it. Yeah.
Romi (12:17)
It sucks.
Nick Berry (12:18)
you make sure that vulnerability, that authenticity stays a part of the culture?
Nicole Mastrangelo (12:23)
By example, Rony and I, we breathe this culture daily. We know that eyes are on us. And any moment, you know, we are living proof of that same building in public. We build in public. We let them know when things are hard in our world, or we let them know when we're struggling personally or professionally, or we share real stories about times we've hit those same roadblocks, what we've done about it. But I think that...
Romi (12:24)
It's, I was gonna say, don't.
Nicole Mastrangelo (12:53)
When it comes to community, the leader is gonna set the tone 100%. And I think Romi and I have not taken that lightly at all. We live and breathe what we expect and what we hope to see in the community at any point, whether it's a digital place or in person.
Romi (13:12)
at any tier.
And I think that after Nicole and I, think our thought leaders are the next tier of representatives of this exact thing. I think the fact that you then have 35 women doing pretty amazing things, getting really real about this kind of stuff. Like they are a shining example of what our community is all about. I mean, that's why they're in those seats.
Nick Berry (13:38)
Do you curate that group of people based on values like this? Like if you had somebody come in who was just like a purebred guru, you're like, you can't do that in here.
Romi (13:45)
and
Nicole Mastrangelo (13:50)
You know, it took a journey for us to get to this point. in the beginning, you know, we're, we're 180 degrees from where we thought the daily drip would be. so like in the beginning, we thought it would be a business resource and we were approaching it where it was like, we wanted a thought leader for each industry. Like we wanted a tax representative, finance, a marketing and HR sales. And then it started becoming this more lifestyle content. it started evolving. And so.
Romi (13:52)
you
Nicole Mastrangelo (14:20)
You know, we went from recruiting to actually sifting through applications. And so we pivoted instead of just us recruiting and asking people to come be a thought leader, the interest was so high and the demand was so high. And then learning the hard way about having people who are not motivated by the same values, who are here for different reasons. It helped us formulate what the application process should look like, who an ideal candidate would be.
make us get very clear in that interview process what you're interviewing for and what the opportunity is for you and how unique of an experience and how special an experience this is. And I think that helped us to ensure that we had the right people on the bus.
Romi (15:10)
Yeah, and there's a commitment level to it. It's, you know, so coming into it, you know, the other thing that I think is really strong about our community and that you really see demonstrated amongst the thought leaders is that everyone there is motivated by impact. Everyone shows up with how can I help and support, but even more, whatever they're doing, and it could be through their career or whatever they're doing in the community, but I will tell you that every single woman,
at least in the thought leadership, and I would even say in the community, that's a tie that binds. They're motivated by impact in their work and how they're giving back to people around them, whether it's the woman sitting beside them or in a bigger role. And that's very central to the women that are a part of this.
Nick Berry (15:56)
Yeah. So part of what I've been able to observe has been like the network effect. It seems like the snowball is continuing to gain momentum. one of you mentioned getting to a point where instead of going out and prospecting, you then had to kind of shift gears to receiving inbound. So what got you from zero to that point?
Romi (16:16)
Blood, and tears.
Nicole Mastrangelo (16:18)
it's, it was the power of content really, because content allows you to amplify what's happening in real life or at a local level. Right. So it was this, this idea that we were building a community and then we were amplifying what was happening through content that allowed it to have that snowball effect because
If we started with 30 people, all 30 of those people have LinkedIn networks, Instagram networks, Facebook networks. And so when we're showcasing our community through content and they're sharing it, the amplification process just grows and grows and grows. And then people are seeing what we call social proof, right? was, was working as social proof in real time where
We're sharing an article by one of our members. Their network is seeing it because they're resharing it. We're having an event. They're taking photos at the event. They're documenting the experience. And so about a year's worth of that, had, we switched from outbound to inbound within a year.
Nick Berry (17:23)
And how what year are you in now? Is you started in 21? Is that right?
Nicole Mastrangelo (17:25)
We're, yeah, we just celebrated our third year. So our third anniversary. So we're in our fourth year now. Thanks.
Nick Berry (17:32)
Happy Anniversary!
Romi (17:33)
Thank you.
Nick Berry (17:35)
So what are the roles in your community? I know you have the thought leaders and then you have another broader group. What is that group called? Community Members and then subscribers. And then there are partners also, right? Are there other stakeholders?
Romi (17:45)
that's community members. And then we have our subscribers. Yeah. So.
Nicole Mastrangelo (17:55)
So it's interesting, the community partners is just the term that we decided to give to the vendors that were helping us to fulfill our mission. So they're very much a stakeholder of the mission and very much a part of the experience. The thought leaders is how we started. We started with thought leaders and no subscribers. Literally one day the Daily Drip existed and...
Romi (18:19)
Yeah.
Nicole Mastrangelo (18:19)
And one day it didn't, right? Like it literally, we started with no subscribers. So it was all about having these thought leaders and building an audience base. And then what happened was that audience base grew and grew and grew. We knew that we couldn't have unlimited thought leaders because we can only produce so much content. And I think intimacy was a priority as well, because that's what...
create some of that magic experience and discussion. So intimacy was important, but also production was limited. So, but what happened was there were so many people in the audience that wanted to connect with the thought leaders, connect with us, connect with each other. I remember being at events and they'd be like, my God, you know the Daily Drip. I know, there's your newsletter. I get their newsletter. Are you friends with so-and-so? I'm friends with so-and-so. So it was like, we had this like...
Romi (19:01)
Hahaha!
Nicole Mastrangelo (19:09)
weird like sect that was forming organically on its own. And we just decided to like give it a name and do something with it. So it was like, okay, you're a subscriber, you read, watch, listen to what we're putting out there. You're a community member if you want to connect with each other and the thought leaders and talk about this stuff in real life and take it off the screen and actually have conversations and connections over it.
And then if you're a thought leader, you're driving the discourse. You're shaping what we're talking about. You're kind of leading the conversation. And so that's kind of how we structured it.
Nick Berry (19:44)
And so, and the, the ecosystem each role is, is necessary. Right. So the way that, I would describe that as, as like a platform model, but it sounds like with like community building strategy, you know, different strategies layered on top of it.
Nicole Mastrangelo (19:49)
Yes.
Romi (19:49)
Absolutely.
it's been also identifying and paying attention to what people want and what they're looking for. Even within the programming, it doesn't look like what we had from the very beginning because as we've gone along, it's paying attention to what are they showing up for? And at one point it was maybe they were looking for more learning, but that became not as...
important to a lot of them as the connecting and coming together and having this community. So I think to mine and Nicole's credit when it comes to how we've gotten here, it's that we're very much paying attention to the people that are involved, what they want, what they're asking for, what they want more of, and always staying true to the mission though. Like it doesn't involve massive overhauls.
But it's, know, the community membership was born from recognizing there was a whole group of people that weren't ready to be thought leaders. Like they're not quite ready for that role, but they want more than just to consume, you know? And so how do we create that? And then how do we make sure that they're, the thought leaders like love to engage with these members? Like they take real pride in being able to like be mentors to a lot of them. They're connecting offline. It's, it's pretty awesome. It's fucking amazing actually.
Nicole Mastrangelo (21:21)
I think Romi said it, that the feedback loop is so strong and it's a daily, it's a daily part of what we do. Like our conversations, we are in constant contact. We've got no shortage of tools, right? We've got every platform, email, the chats that are going on, everything. And we are, we are listening.
Romi (21:38)
You
Nicole Mastrangelo (21:46)
That's for sure. We are listening, we are watching, we're observing. And yeah, we've gone 180 degrees from where we started because we were listening. This community is very much theirs. We're just the facilitators. We're just, our job is just to make sure it is the place they want it to be. But they're really in charge here. And it took us by surprise. Like when we started, first of all, we never intended to incorporate this.
This was never going to be a formal thing. This was just marketing clients. She was going to get her clients and we were like, this is great. We can build a community and maybe get some clients out of it. And then it was like, this is a real thing. And I remember vividly being so fixated on building the audience because I thought visibility and marketing was going to be the thing that everyone was going to want. I remember being so blindsided by the whole authentic connection and community aspect of it.
Romi (22:13)
We didn't think this was, this wasn't a business.
Nick Berry (22:16)
It's some hobby you got.
Romi (22:20)
I'm
Nicole Mastrangelo (22:43)
that like being featured was like a cherry on top. Like that was just like a bonus of what they were getting. Yet I thought that was the reason people were coming. And so it quickly made me realize that those features, those feature opportunities, those opportunities to have the mic really were just vehicles for connection. And that the connection was what everyone was drawn to, this ability to find their people.
Romi (22:47)
Yeah.
thought leaders are fiercely protective of one another and of what the team has become. you know, I say that kind of laughing kind of like, not but the other side of it and they have been instrumental is that they also help like, you know, we have one of our thought leaders Ciara who and her voice is always in our heads. It's like, if you guys would like it, if you guys want it, if you would want to do it, so do we like
Nicole Mastrangelo (23:16)
God.
Romi (23:39)
Each one of them have actually contributed in some really meaningful way because of how invested they are in the mission themselves. Like they consider this as much theirs as it is ours. And I think that's why, like they have such pride in being daily thought leaders. the... Right.
Nicole Mastrangelo (23:56)
Because they see their input mobilized, right? So it's like, have this idea or I thought this could be better this way and nobody mobilizes faster than Romi and I. Like we will make something happen in 48 hours. I dare you. Like we will make it happen. Like Romi and I don't mess around. And especially when they're right. Like they're right. That was an astute observation or that would make this better.
Romi (24:05)
No. No, it's...
Yeah.
No.
Nicole Mastrangelo (24:22)
We don't sleep on it, we're mobilized, we go and we do it. And then for that person to see, wow, my idea wasn't only just heard, like I said it five minutes ago and look, there it is, there it goes, my God. And it's like, that's where the ownership gets built even more. That sense of pride is like, you know, I'm affecting something here. I have an impact here and we want them to feel that way.
Romi (24:33)
Right.
Nick Berry (24:46)
Yeah, I mean, it feels great to be a part of a team like that or a group like that, right? for anybody. So what's in the future? Like where, where are you taking this?
Nicole Mastrangelo (24:54)
the natural question everyone wants to know is when are we going to move outside of South Florida? When are we going to go here and there and everywhere? And I mean, I think for us, we're still very much in the building phase. Like there's still pieces of initiatives that aren't a hundred percent and there's still things we have pins in. So I think when it feels complete here,
then maybe we can start thinking about and exploring like where else might we go. But I think we want to really build something meaningful right here at home. And I think it's a big market and it's a growing market. And I know, and I think, the next two, three years will be very telling of where this goes.
Romi (25:34)
Stay tuned.
Nick Berry (25:36)
Yeah, there's still plenty of opportunity here in this unit, Like duplication is not the only direction you can go.
Romi (25:38)
a live.
Nicole Mastrangelo (25:42)
No.
Romi (25:43)
No, we have so many, we do have so many initiatives. mean, right before this call, we were already like talking spillover from yesterday. And I think that what makes us really good at what we've been doing is we don't rush anything. We've never acted from a place of desperation or this has to get out right away. Like we've been very focused on continuing to improve on and make better what we've got going on.
Nicole Mastrangelo (25:52)
Yeah.
Romi (26:13)
and then taking the time we need to so that when we come to market with things, these are things that we know. Like they're not perfect. We don't wait for perfect, but we're very patient with the process.
Nicole Mastrangelo (26:24)
in the beginning it was about, we were striving towards monetization so that we can pay the bills, right? We can cover the operating expenses. Then it became striving towards monetization so that maybe this is the future for Romi and I and my consulting firm and her consulting work.
are not really the end all be all. And that was a big pivotal moment for us where we were like, wow, this little hobby that we had, is it something? And what does that mean if it is? Are we gonna make this the main thing? Well, what does that mean? And so then we moved towards that. And now, like as we project into 2025 and we're staring down the barrel of revenue we never thought would be possible for the daily drip. didn't set out to create it in this way.
we're sitting back and we're kind of thinking, and we have this conversation often, she and I, where it's like being able to wake up every day and do work that you love and make a living from it and, and hit goals from it is like, it almost feels like you've already won, you know? And it feels like everything else after that is, a bonus. And yeah, yeah, it's true.
Nick Berry (27:37)
It's hard to imagine living any other way, right?
Romi (27:41)
really is.
Nick Berry (27:42)
That's awesome. mean, congratulations. think that's the goal, the dream for anybody, any entrepreneur.
Nicole Mastrangelo (27:47)
Definitely, I think that should be the goal. I think sometimes you get distracted by shiny objects, but at the end of the day, if you wake up every day and what you do doesn't feel like work, it feels like passion, it feels like filling you up, I think that's like such a gift.
Romi (28:03)
Yeah. And we get to do it together.
Nick Berry (28:03)
agreed. And well, which is a big part of it too, right? Nicole mentioned that being able to have the conversations have your ear to the ground, like that's part that's one of your advantages that you have right now. that's your your market research that's going on all day every day. that also seems to be something that gives you joy. So if it's part of your advantage,
And, it all gives you joy, it's not necessarily appealing to think about a future where you'd have to give that up. If you're trying to like duplicate, you're losing some of that advantage, right? You're not, if you're trying to go and, and duplicate the daily drip in X number of cities in the United States, that's going to be a different game. Right.
Nicole Mastrangelo (28:41)
Yeah, I think, you know, when people talk growth, they always automatically think more, like more people, more customers, more, more, more. Whereas I think growth more with the people we have. Like the fact that we are the size we are monetizing at the rate we are is a testament to that kind of mindset where it's like, could we serve these people even better? Could we do more for them? And Romi and I have kind of
Romi (28:41)
Yeah.
Nick Berry (28:57)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Mastrangelo (29:11)
gone that route in saying, do we go deep with this group? And so she and I, joke about what the next venture might be. And very rarely these days does growth sound like or look like a new market. It almost always looks like something else we do with this community, with these people and in this market. it's like, you know, we've everything from like,
Romi (29:25)
correct.
Nicole Mastrangelo (29:37)
You know, do we buy a castle in Italy and run like a vacation rental and retreat thing? Do we open up a cafe? Do we do different things? Like every time we talk about what the next thing might be, it's with these people in mind and with like, what are other ways we can do more with them? And so like before we got, we started this podcast, we were coming out from conversations about having our own
Romi (29:38)
So many things.
Nicole Mastrangelo (30:05)
content studio and space. We've spent the better part of three and a half years renting facilities and coordinating like chess, trying to get everybody in the same place at the same time when it's available. And it's been, it's been a challenge, the bigger we've gotten. it's like, wouldn't it be great if we had our own content creation studio and then we can use it whenever we need it. And then they can use it whenever they need it. And they need workshop hosting space or event hosting space. They got it. and so.
Romi (30:24)
You
Nicole Mastrangelo (30:35)
Every time we think of more, it's always about doing more with these people. And I think our lifetime value of our members and clients is probably shockingly high considering the size of the community and the age of the community. But we've just, we've gone deeper with them.
Romi (30:53)
We identified very early on that the way we were going to grow was by pouring into the thought leaders. Like that was very much the focus. Like how can we provide as much as we can support, value, education, resources, you name it, because the more we can support them, the better output that's coming from them. That's how we grow. That's how, like those are the people that they're watching. And we've taken the same approach with the community.
Community member that comes in has a call with me. We onboard I learn about them. Why did they join? Who are they looking to me? What are they up to? What are their goals? Whatever and we leave that communication open So that the members have access to make sure that they're getting as much as they possibly can out of this community It matters to us It's not like great. Thanks for your membership see you never it's like I want to know if something's amiss we want to make sure that
they're getting that this is what they came for. And the people that aren't there for that, that's a separate issue. But the ones that came for the reasons that we are doing all of this, I just, we want to show up for them as much as possible.
Nick Berry (32:04)
How long do your thought leaders typically stay with you?
Nicole Mastrangelo (32:07)
we have people that are OGs. In fact, what we had to do cause we don't want to put time limits on it. We don't want to say you're a thought leader for a year and then you can't be anymore. We want anyone who is willing to take on that responsibility to stay for as long as they want. But that's where we had to elevate the responsibility and make it a truly meaningful leadership position, a very unique.
Romi (32:09)
geez.
Nick Berry (32:09)
Yeah.
Romi (32:26)
you
Nicole Mastrangelo (32:32)
type of position in the community and one that these types of business owners and CEOs and people who are very in demand with their schedule are willing to make time on the calendar for. And it's been the kind of thing where like it's the right thing for the right season. And then when life or business takes you into a new season, now we have this revolving door effect. before we had the community membership,
there was nowhere to go after. If you weren't gonna be a thought leader, it was like, I'm nothing now. Like I'm a subscriber, like see who knows when, right? But now it's like you have an off ramp and an on ramp in the community membership because community members can apply to be thought leaders and thought leaders can exit and go into the community membership and they're still a part of something. And it's this all together.
Romi (33:07)
Right.
you
Nick Berry (33:23)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. you've mentioned the, the right thing at the right season. think that's a couple of times that it's come up. what are the signs or the thoughts that somebody's having that let you, if they said this, you know, we're what you're looking for right now.
Nicole Mastrangelo (33:38)
the community membership is ideal for someone in transition. And I think globally, like we're just a society in transition right now. People are leaving their jobs, they're leaving their industries, they're leaving their marriages, they're starting businesses. There's just a lot of change in transition and that's a hard road, that's a hard season. And I think...
people who are in transition, they're in growth mode, they're in a redirection, a pivot, the community membership is great because it's a place to unload all that, to maybe connect and find what your next stepping stone is or what that new direction just might be. I think thought leadership is ideal for the person who's come out the other side of that. They've gone through the fog, it's lifted, they've learned a lot from it.
They wanna share and support other people on that process. And I think that doesn't mean that the thought leaders have it all figured out and they themselves aren't in transition and there's not challenges and things like that. But it's a great opportunity for people who have that wisdom of having been through that to share it with other people who are trying to find their way.
Romi (34:35)
Mm-mm.
The only thing I would add is that I definitely, I definitely notice and I've actually, there's been a few in a short period of time, very few, where I've said to Nicole, I'm like, this one's gonna be a thought leader. Like this one needs to be a thought leader. And it's because I have conversations and I don't even know if it's always something so specific, but there is, you can tell that this person is ready.
Nicole Mastrangelo (34:49)
Okay.
Nick Berry (34:49)
Yeah, yeah, I've got it.
Romi (35:16)
by watching some of what they're already doing from like a content space. Like I see how they're showing up. I see how they're talking and knowing and getting to know them and what their goals are. It's like, this would be a great space for you to be around other women like yourself and then getting the support to just continue sharing what you've already been sharing and let us help you, you know, just amplify that and even maybe refine it and connect you.
Nicole Mastrangelo (35:41)
I'm going to try to define what you said because it is something. It's not one thing. It's everything, but it's something. It's this. It's like some people go through that period of change or transition or self discovery or pivot, whatever you want to call it. They go through it and it's enough for them to just go through it. Come to these exciting.
Romi (35:45)
It's a something. It's something.
Nicole Mastrangelo (36:04)
new moments in life, new chapters and go on their way. And then there's other people who go through that and they're so called to share that story. Like, it's like sitting inside them on their heart. just, need to get it out of them for whatever reason. They just want to share the story, whether it's the validation, whether it's the impact and knowing like someone heard it and someone said, me too, or it helps someone or something.
And it's like, you can tell when you talk to people, the ones that have that calling in them. And then the ones that are just like, so happy to gain everything that they're gaining from the events, the community, the content, all the things. And they're just like so excited and they're the ones that come to you and like, I did it. I figured it out. I'm launched. Or I quit and I'm starting my own thing. I did, I went and took that job or I left him. You know, it's like you crazy things.
Romi (36:37)
Yeah.
Whatever.
Nicole Mastrangelo (37:00)
And that's really what they need. But then there's the ones that are like, I have to talk about this now. I know there's other people like me or I gotta just get this out of myself. And that's how you can usually tell a thought leader from a community member or a subscriber.
Romi (37:12)
Yeah.
Nick Berry (37:14)
Yeah. They're just in a little bit different places. It's a, journey is really similar, but they're different milestones in front of them. I talk about all the time, like I just, want to shorten the learning curve for other business owners. I learned a lot of shit the hard way and I don't think everybody has to, and I'm happy to tell somebody like, Hey, I can save you a lot of time. Like just do like this. Or, so it's, it doesn't just apply to like my,
Nicole Mastrangelo (37:20)
Yeah.
Romi (37:28)
Yep.
Nick Berry (37:37)
practical knowledge and skills for business or whatever it could life, things you're going to the shit you're dealing with, right? The things that you wish that man, it would have been nice if somebody would have told me that. Or if I would have had somebody to listen to me vent.
Romi (37:43)
100%.
Nicole Mastrangelo (37:50)
It's crazy because really when you say personal, like the daily drip for South Florida business women, know, supporting the personal and professional development of the modern business woman so she could reach her maximum potential. Really what that means is we're talking about the intersection. It's the intersection of where these roads converge. It's very gray. And that's how we get articles like dying to reach the top. All the ways being in the C-suite changed me.
Romi (37:51)
Yeah.
Nicole Mastrangelo (38:19)
And when you read that piece and it gets over a hundred reshares and it gets like, it pretty much goes viral in our world for our context. It's like, wow, this person is talking about the ways she, you know, it caused her to question herself, the ways it may have challenged her relationship at home or things at home, the way it affected how she approaches her work and all these things. most of the articles,
The really good ones and the ones that do really well are the ones that live at the intersection. They're talking about how we show up to our work and all the things that might contribute to how we show up to our work and how sometimes if you can fix some of those things, you might show up differently. Better or worse, doesn't matter, but you might just show up differently. And I think, I think,
Our content lives in the intersection for the most part. It's very rarely hyper technical. We might have some great listicles or great topics on business development, sales, marketing, strategy, certain things like that. But there's always the mindset component because at the end of the day, the business owner is making the decisions for the business and your business will reflect you and how you make decisions. yeah, the whole person.
Nick Berry (39:30)
Yeah, you're talking about like the whole person.
Romi (39:33)
Yeah.
Nick Berry (39:34)
Yeah, I think that's super important. And I think it, I mean, you can tell when it's being done well, how much it resonates with people. Like there's a light bulb that comes on.
Romi (39:42)
And I think especially for women, I can only speak as a woman, but especially for women, we don't compartmentalize very well. Like we're not, we don't show up at work and block out everything else. I mean, my mom literally called in the middle of this podcast, right? Like that's a very real part of my day. But I say that to say like, we're constantly toggling between work and personal. Like you can be right in the thick of it and the school calls.
and you're literally dropping everything because you got to go pick up your kid. And there's a lot of things going on what you do in the community. so it's it's we don't compartmentalize that. So being able to provide a space where we're like trying to figure out how are you how are you managing all of these things? Because I feel like I'm dropping here. I feel like I'm doing better here. So having people weigh in on, listen, I get it. I know how you've been like this is a strategy I've used.
so that I show up to my job better or so that I'm a better mom when I get home or whatever the case may be. So I think that that's a big piece.
Nick Berry (40:43)
Yeah. It wasn't all that long ago. And I mean, my parents were probably raised this way. it's kind of a generational thing where, typically people were raised where you were, they were taught that work is work. Personal is personal. Don't commingle the two, like keep it separate. And, I think kind of had the realization like the whole person can, is going to be more effective
if you're able to like look at it in that way and kind of remove that false barrier, within reason. And so I think that's probably why it resonates so much with people when they find a community that they can do that. And they're being shown how to do that because it is a bit of a new paradigm.
Romi (41:17)
Yeah.
Nicole Mastrangelo (41:20)
Yes.
Romi (41:22)
And it's funny because I grew up with entrepreneurial parents that were business partners. So work was everywhere. Like dinner table, like I was talking about real estate development when I was like eight years old. Like this was, there was no separation of church and state in that sense because they work together. And it's equally as funny to me now because my very best friend is my business partner. Like there's no, I would argue even a good majority of the friendships and relationships I have in my life right now.
have been through meeting people through work. Like there's no delineation anymore that like this is just a work person. I mean, you've got some of those, but some of my deepest relationships have come from meeting people through networking or through work and collaborations. So I don't think it's being done like it used to be maybe.
Nick Berry (42:11)
Sure.
Nicole Mastrangelo (42:12)
No, and I think you bring up a good point, Rome, because I grew up in a family business and I think most small businesses are family businesses. And it is personal, like work is personal and things that happen personally affect work. And most small businesses are husbands and wives or parents and kids or siblings or friends. And I think just even the way the trends are moving where
Romi (42:16)
Same thing.
Nicole Mastrangelo (42:38)
this gig worker economy and solopreneurship. And now they're predicting that in 10 years time, there will be the capacity for billion dollar revenue businesses to be run in five person teams or less. So this idea of small business isn't necessarily a revenue marker, it's a people marker. And the smaller and the more intimate it is,
the more the soft skills matter and like the whole person matters and the culture and the dynamics matter. And I think a lot of corporate companies are just waking up to it now. Like they're trying to figure out how to keep people, how to attract people and how to keep them. And I think just employees in general, I think people in general are looking...
they say all the time, people leave not for the paycheck, right? You can give them all the money, can promise them all the benefits and they're still gonna leave. What do they say? People leave people, not jobs, right? Isn't that the saying? But I think it's because, and I think this is why we see so many communities rising, is because I think just as a society, like people are looking for community.
And they're looking for that in their jobs, in their companies they work for, and they're looking for it in outside communities, and they're looking for it in different clubs and things they belong to. Just we're looking for connection and community. I think this gig worker and solopreneur rise and everything is just going to drive that more because the workplace is going to become seemingly smaller and smaller and smaller. And so there's going to be that, that, that look for, for people.
where are my people, people like me, and that I can connect and feel seen and heard and understood and learned because we relate to each other and all that. So I think we're just gonna see more of this.
Romi (44:19)
Right.
Nick Berry (44:30)
Where are my people?
Well, it's been like fascinating to be able to observe what I've been able to just in the short time that I've known about the daily drip. I've met, probably more than a dozen people that have all been cut from a very similar cloth, the kind of people that you're attracting and the nucleus that you have, like it's
definitely not an accident that things are going the way that they're going. Congratulations on the anniversary. thank you for joining me and sharing the information.
Nicole Mastrangelo (44:55)
Thanks for being a part of it, Nick. I appreciate you.
Romi (44:55)
Thank you. This was awesome. Thanks, Nick.
Nick Berry is an accomplished entrepreneur and CEO, whose track record includes founding and leading numerous companies since 2002.
He is also a mentor and coach to other entrepreneurs and business owners who are looking for a trusted (and proven) advisor.
Among peers, colleagues, staff, and clients, Nick has been referred to as both 'The Business Guy' as well as 'The Anti-Guru', due to his pragmatic approach and principled leadership.
He shares his insights and lessons learned, along with those of his expert guests,
on his podcast, 'The Business Owner's Journey'.
