Episode Category: The Localist

This week on The Localist, Javacia Harris Bowser, creator of writing collective See Jane Write, joins Carrie to talk about writing in the time of COVID, a membership opportunity with See Jane Write, and some major obstacles Javacia has faced this year. Javacia and Carrie break down the business of being a writer: how to get paid, how to market yourself, how to gain supporters rather than just followers, and how the pandemic has affected Javacia’s workload (you might be surprised by her answer!).

This week on the Localist, Carrie is wrapping up season one and giving listeners a teaser of what to expect in season two. Carrie shares the origin story of the podcast, her hesitation about continuing during quarantine, and why she ultimately decided to continue sharing the stories of local businesses.

This week on The Localist, Carrie is joined by the inimitable Mike Rollwagen — her dad. Mike guest hosts to ask Carrie some thought provoking questions about Season One, the evolution of the Localist brand, and much more. Mike and Carrie dive in with the original intent of the podcast and how that has shifted not only in response to the pandemic but as a holistic evolution of growth. Carrie elaborates on the Localist brand’s focus on community, and discusses all aspects of podcast guests, from reaching out, to scheduling, to the actual interview.

Kathleen Varner, florist, graphic designer, and prop stylist in Birmingham, AL joins Carrie this week on The Localist. Kathleen tells us what drew her to styling and what being on set is really like (not as glamorous as you might think!). Kathleen breaks down her journey from intern to freelancer, and how every job she’s had along the way has prepared her for what she’s doing now.

Kameron Monet Buckner, influencer and Associate Attorney practicing employment litigation in Birmingham, AL, joins Carrie on The Localist this week to discuss laws related to remote working. Kameron and Carrie discuss FMLA and the CARES Act, and what is and isn’t legal when you’ve been furloughed. Then they switch gears to cover influencing: how Kameron integrated her love of beauty and fashion with law.

Deb Miller, managing principal at organizational development consulting firm Ken Chapman & Associates, joins Carrie this week to tackle managing remote teams. Many workforces are still partly remote, and Deb details some of the challenges she’s seen, including technology and equipment and the eternal struggles of effective communication.

This week on The Localist, Carrie dives into maintaining company culture while much of the workforce is still working remotely, and who better to join her for that conversation than two of her coworkers! Josh Brown, Customer Support Lead and introvert, and Bo Billingsley, Sales Specialist and extrovert, share their reactions to virtual team building ideas like coworker chat-roulette and Zoom yoga classes.

Michael Stuckey, Head of Support Development at Infomedia, joins Carrie this week to talk about working remotely and the systems that can help remote work run smoothly. Stuckey and Carrie discuss why they chose the products they currently use at Infomedia, and why Slack is superior to all (Stuckey really, really loves Slack!). They move on to the Google Suite, Trello, VPN security and password managers.

Brooke Fleming, Chief Revenue Officer of the tech focused event services and AV company Digital Motion, joins Carrie this week on The Localist. Brooke and Carrie discuss how Digital Motion actually pulls off virtual and hybrid events, including partnerships, sponsorships, breakout sessions, and even marketing.

The Localist’s showrunner Michelle Phillips joins Carrie again this week for part two of Carrie’s journey from employee to business owner, and back to corporate life. Michelle and Carrie dive in with how a side business for Church Street led to Carrie writing a book and ultimately realizing she needed to move on. Carrie describes building up her freelance work again, and how she landed a steady job that gave her both stability and freedom to continue freelancing and pursuing creative projects.