In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Tania Cheng (She/They), Director of Process Innovation at SheEO and part of the team that creates and curates of all aspects of community at SheEO. SheEO has more than 7000 activators globally and combined online communities of over 50,000 women and non-binary people.

About Tania

Tania leads initiatives related to community experience design, online community engagement, feedback and evaluation, team learning and development, process mapping, and storytelling through design.

Early on, Tania has been involved in intentional communities and their own personal journey of finding the places where they belong has led to find the value of community and value a sense of belonging. Tania naturally gravitates to work and people who care about the community and who care about relationships.

BIG IDEA 1

“We are working to shift mindsets and paradigms” (08:32)

As an organization and a community, Tania shared the impact they are trying to make; that they are showing the world different ways of doing things; different ways of funding ventures, different ways of doing business, different ways of being in community and different ways of being human. We are working to create more opportunities to have these conversations about equity inclusion, about power and privilege about decolonization around justice, all of these things that are essential to transforming systems.

These mindsets that are deeply embedded in the way they co-exist as a community and how they build a community. Tania added that it's all part of this broader theory of change of transforming ourselves in order to transform systems and creating the systems that we need that will work for everyone.

BIG IDEA 2

“The magic and the secret sauce of community is having the mentality and mindset of giving and generosity and trust and knowing that you can come and show up as you are” (13:11)

Having a “How can I help?” mindset and knowing that you can offer your support and it will be received and you can ask for support and it will be given is one of the magic of communities. Tania says that community should be a space where you can let go of all the things such as being and looking a certain way. She said that we should strive to create a collective place where you can show up as yourself with no judgment. 

We recognize that people are at different stages in their lives and have different things going on and how we can create a space that whenever you're here or whenever you participate, you're in the right place.

BIG IDEA 3

“Feedback is critical to our processes. ” (37:32)

Tania shared the process on how they handle feedback.  She said that their role as enablers in creating the systems and platforms and tools for the community to self-organize, is to get to action and transform systems. After every engagement event, there is always some feedback form and so they are able to immediately look at the feedback, react and respond as needed.

Their theory of change at the core is their values radical generosity and abundance transformation. She says it's about how they embody the values in day-to-day practices and knowing that when they do that, they create the relationships that then leads to the transformation that we want to see in the world. At the end of the day, it’s all about relationships.

Social Media Links:

You can find Tania Cheng at:

SheEO:

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Nicole Millard, co-founder and community manager of Australia's biggest privately owned parenting and women's blog, Stay At Home Mum.

About Nicole

Nicole has worked tirelessly over the last 10 years alongside her business partners, Jody and Brendan Allen, to build a huge online community for not only Stay At Home Mums, but all parents (including dads!). Their online communities have more than half a million members.

As a natural progression from creating this community, Nicole created Tenacious Digital, which is a small digital marketing agency offering services such as website design and social media coaching to small businesses and start-ups.

BIG IDEA 1

“The community grew because we were them, we were our audience” (07:22)

Nicole shared that they started their group to share some budgeting tips and how to save money but then people started talking about their kids and family and it became a parenting website.

She said that it grew into a massive community and portal of information where so many women (98% of the group) and dads as well, came to them for help. She believes that part of the appeal was that they were mums just like them, and so, the community had that affinity with them.

BIG IDEA 2

“It's just more for people to put their confessions anonymously on there.” (10:45)

On starting an anonymous community, Nicole talked about the long process it took for them to decide on it. She said that want to have a community on the website as well as on social media so they gave an anonymous forum a go and just see if it works.

Nicole shared that they had to build a lot of security measures to get rid of the spam posts and trolls, etc. They had it set up so that they can block people even though they don't know who they are. In addition, they managed to get a bit of a culture going there and a report mechanism where the users can report spam or inappropriate posts. However, she admitted that most of the time they let things go and run their course.

BIG IDEA 3

“People appreciate authenticity and honesty” (20:51)

Nicole recalled when they were building the community, they just straight out ask them how they could help people with their problems. She added that in order to keep your community engaged, you need to keep asking questions and finding out what they want to know.

 On handling her community, Nicole shares that she has been depending it very much on instincts compared to statistics. She says that in order for you to grow your community, it takes a lot of dedication, work and time but you have got to be on your authentic self and show your face because people want that connection.

Social Media Links:

You can find Nicole Millard at:

Stay At Home Mum: www.stayathomemum.com.au

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StayHomeMum

Instagram: http://instagram.com/stayathomemum

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/SAHMum/

We’d love you to join us for future episodes of the Social Lights podcast, produced by Social Mediology.

You can connect with us on Facebook at...

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Paul Bradley, who is head of global community at Agorapulse. 

About Paul

Paul started his journey in blogging and growing social media accounts as a social media expert. He eventually started his career as a community manager at Intel and has continued to be a part of the community manager profession.

BIG IDEA 1

“We want to create a hub for people who are interested in this industry to better themselves.” (19:52)

Paul shared his take on community going beyond the basics. He talked about launching a community and doing enough discovery to get to know what actually motivates people.

He added that it goes beyond the product or platform that you are selling because you have brought in this other element which is around education.

BIG IDEA 2

“People need to use you to get through their day” (31:06)

Paul described what community management is all about. He says that you can do all kinds of fun things within your community but ultimately, your goal is to solve people’s problems from day to day.

He added that everybody's point of view is valuable.

BIG IDEA 3

“You need to know what your goal is” (35:14)

Paul advised that the first thing you need to know when starting a community, is knowing what your goal is for the community. Is your community trying to create a revenue stream or is it going to provide support to your customers?

He said that when starting their new learning community he started conducting interviews and the consistent answer they heard was that a lot of people want help. They want help learning how to get better, they want help learning how to up-skill providing social media services and they want help with their career.

Paul’s boss told him; just keep doing them until you start hearing all the same stuff over and over again. This is a great strategy for all businesses who want to start a community!

Social Media Links:

You can find Paul Bradley at:

Agorapulse: https://www.agorapulse.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-m-bradley/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulBradleyCMGR

We’d love you to join us for future episodes of the Social Lights podcast, produced by Social Mediology.

You can connect with us on Facebook at @SocialLightsPodcast and find future episodes at socialmediology.com.au/sociallights.

Thanks for your time and stay inspired,

Kate vanderVoort

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Lou Duggan, founder of Cake 2 The Rescue, an award-winning DIY cake kit company which has helped more than 40,000 Australian families pour their love into a homemade cake.

With a background in engineering and design, Lou has spent the last ten years building Cake 2 The Rescue into a thriving e-commerce business, with more than 250 cake kit designs, and a loyal online audience of 60,000+ cake fans.

About Lou

As a talented creative entrepreneur, Lou is a big believer in the power of vulnerability in business, and loves empowering other women to ditch perfectionism and embrace entrepreneurship.

Originally from Scotland, Lou is mum to three gorgeous teenage girls, and lives on the Gold Coast with her hubby Craig. She confesses an addiction to human connection, homewares and her dog George.

BIG IDEA 1

“Community is the essence of everything that we are and everything that we do.” (07:25)

Lou talks about how the Cake 2 The Rescue community has given her a purpose in life--something that validates and reminds her on a daily basis that she has a place to stand in the world.

She teaches the women (and some men) in her community to love themselves and in the process, she learned to love herself too. She said that in a way, the community saved her and she saved them. Overall, her community is where Cake 2 The Rescue starts and finishes and everything in between is just cake.

BIG IDEA 2

“They get a safe space in which to dare to be themselves in which to show up and only have to be exactly who they are.” (13:02)

Lou talked about how important it is to have the community as a safe space. She said that it has a carry-on effect into everything else they do in their life. That when they come into the community, they might not bake a cake for six months, but it reminds them every day because they sit within that space of people who only raise each other up.

She added that the comfort and a safe space is essential to building a community. You can't arrive at a space and immediately feel like everything's okay, but if you wander through the timeline of Cake 2 The Rescue, it'll happen pretty quickly.

BIG IDEA 3

“You must be who you say you are. If your brand voice is not you, it can't be you that does it.” (47:25)

Lou shared two things on starting a community. She said that first, you have to know what it is you actually stand for; because you're going to be doing it for a long time. Second, be fearless in what you believe and be fearless in your policing of what you believe.

She emphasized how it is a lot easier to show up as yourself than pretend to be something you're not every single day for the rest of your life. The face of your brand is your brand.

You can find Lou Duggan at:

Cake 2 The Rescue:  https://www.cake2therescue.com.au

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1020725931335983

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cake2therescue/

We’d love you to join us for future episodes of the Social Lights podcast, produced by Social Mediology.

You can connect with us on Facebook at

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Chris Field, CEO and founder of Mercy Project, an innovative nonprofit working to end child labor trafficking in Ghana, Africa. Outside of his role at Mercy Project, he is an award-winning author, speaker, business consultant, college lecturer, four time Guinness world record holder, viral sensation, 27-time marathoner, and ice cream lover.

About Chris

Chris’ passion around community is centered on all of us getting more comfortable with what it is that we have to offer. He believes that when we choose to give what we have and not what we have left, the impact of that kind of gift can be so great.

His greatest superpower is inspiring people to believe they can actually change the world and then showing them how to join him in doing it.

He is married to his high school sweetheart, Stacey, and is father to Micah, Beckett, Lincoln, and Theodore. He is the author of "A Billion Hours of Good" and "Disrupting for Good."

BIG IDEA 1

“Community is us believing that we're better together.” (12:09)

Chris talked about how everyone of us have something good to give the world today. He said that we all have these little moments for us to give what we have, and just to say, “Look, it's not much but this is what I have”. And the beauty of that is when a whole bunch of people do that, collectively, it's transformational, and it creates a tidal wave of good that simply cannot be contained.

He also discussed about how a community is a bunch of ordinary people choosing to receive the gifts we have with open hands, and how we are also giving the gifts back with the same open hands. He encourages us to give what we have a little bit every day, and trust that over time, the impact of that is going to be greater than we could ever imagine.

BIG IDEA 2

“What we lack is courageous leaders.  I really believe there's this beautiful opportunity to find courageous leaders as the world is desperate of them. ” (17:26)

Chris shared that based on his experience, if you've got a well thought out, sincere, life changing, life altering sort of idea and you're willing to sacrifice for it, people are going to line up behind you because we're all hungry to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We have this deep yearning of our lives to matter. We want to do stuff that matters. And that cuts across all socio-economic status and education level and age.

He advised to do the right thing and find that things that you know and chase it like a dog chases a tennis ball, and look behind you, you’ll see a bunch of people following behind you. He added that people are so gracious, especially when you're vulnerable, transparent, and honest about what you're learning and how you're growing and how you're improving.

BIG IDEA 3

“At some point, you have to ask if the things you’re sharing and the ways you’re communicating and the choices you’re making and the messages you are creating about, is really resonating with people.” (26:55)

Chris said that on social media, vanity metrics are fine. But at the end of the day, as an author, speaker, and as somebody who really wants to make a difference in the world, it's when people start coming to him and saying, that something he wrote mattered enough that it was changing behaviors in their life, for him, that's the greatest gift anybody can give.

He thinks that if we listen

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Jenn Donovan, marketing thought leader, change-maker coach and mentor for small businesses, a keynote speaker and a podcaster. She is the founder of an extremely successful community Facebook group Buy from a Bush Business, which currently has about 330,000 members. She's also co-founder of social enterprise Spend With Us -- Australia's answer to Amazon, for rural and regional small businesses.

About Jenn

Jenn started her career in law, for 18 years, but later found her passion in social media and marketing. She is teaching small business owners how to make marketing a priority (and why they should) and how to grow more people to know about how amazing your products or services are.

Jenn has ten chooks, three children, two peacocks, two Guinea fowl, one husband, one dog, one cat, and several pet lambs.

BIG IDEA 1

“Empathy is essential to any community. The community has to be a safe space” (19:21)

Jenn created the community out of the need to help people in rural Australia affected by drought. She knew that people no longer just wanted to donate because they didn't know where their money was going, so she created a space where people could actually buy something from the person so the money goes directly into their bank account, to directly put food on the table or help feed the animals -- and help actual people who live in rural Australia who were really struggling.

We talked about creating rules within the community as it has to be a safe space because these people are going through a lot (drought, bush fires, COVID, floods, mouse plague). These people are very vulnerable and they've got to have a safe place to be able to post and tell their stories and get some income.

BIG IDEA 2

“I've got to stick to my business model because that's how it started -- being very focused on what I wanted the group to look like and not swaying from that.” (26:43)

Jenn talked about the challenges that come in creating a community and the strategies she has used in maintaining the community. It’s important to know what your goal is for the community and to start making decisions toward that goal. The main question always boils down to, “Will it help the community?”

She advised to be laser focused on what you wanted the group to achieve, but also making it a very safe space so that people felt safe and encouraged.  Jenn realized that if she starts swaying from the business model, she is going to lose the people who are relying on the community because they're going to lose trust in her because she has changed what it looks like.

BIG IDEA 3

“Community is the golden nugget of business” (34:08)

Jenn opened up about the gifts of running a community and watching it grow. She said that community has taught her so much about business, about life, about trust and about collaborations. Having a community who trusts you, who are willing to sit with you, buy from you over and over again and refer to you, that's the golden nugget of business.

Whether you have 10 customers or 100 customers making them feel like they belong to a community as humans is key.

Episode Links

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/jenndonovan_/

https://www.instagram.com/spendwithusaustralia/

Facebook:

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Peace Mitchell, investor, international keynote speaker, co-founder of the Women's Business School and Ausmumpreneur, author and host of Best And Brightest podcast, Australian ambassador for women in tech and a Forbes.com business expert. Peace has a community of over 50,000 women and believes that investing in women in purpose led business is the number one way to change the world.

About Peace

Peace is inspired every day by the incredible women that are running businesses, starting businesses, scaling businesses and women who are really passionate about making a difference through the work that they do in their business. 

She started as a primary school teacher but later realized that online business was going to be the answer to find a way that she could work at home and still be at home with her children, while still be able to pursue her professional career ambitions and bring to life all of her ideas and dreams and following her calling. Her love for the community began as an idea to bring women together, to support, to uplift and to provide them with the connections they need to succeed.

Peace is a co-founder of the Women's Business School and Ausmumpreneur, author and host of Best And Brightest podcast. She is an Australian ambassador for women in tech with over 50,000 women in her community and a Forbes.com business expert. Her new book, The Women Changing The World will be out in December 2021.

BIG IDEA 1

“Women are the world's greatest untapped resource; if we could encourage and support women to be everything that they want to be and know that they can be, it could be incredible.” (7:15)

Peace believes that women see the world through a completely different lens by the natural instinct of women nurturing and caring for others, this means that women approach things in a different way than typically a man would. She thinks that it flows through to business; the way that women look after their customers, the way that they look after this staff and the way that they solve problems. She said that women hold the key to an unlocking and solving the problems that the world's facing everything from leadership. Peace believes that investing in women is the number one way to change the world and if we could invest in women and give them the support to really get their ideas off the ground, we would see big changes happening in the world. And from an investor perspective, she thinks that women are more likely to be successful and bring in more money.

BIG IDEA 2

“Community is at the heart of everything we do and our vision has always been to create a circular community” (7:15)

Peace talked about the communities being at the heart of everything. She believes that creating a circular community where the women who were starting out can get support and encouragement from the women who have more experience has always been at the core of why they started building a community. She said that it's all about working together and collaborating and connection. And being that women are just naturally good at communication and supporting each other, the generosity that we see within their community is incredible. It’s about women going out of their way to help each other and really caring about each other. She strongly believes in the philosophy; “We rise by lifting others”, and that it's a huge key to building community.

BIG IDEA 3

“Connections is everything. Success isn't just...

In this episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Venessa Paech, Australia’s leading expert in online communities and community management. She has led community for Lonely Planet, REA Group, Envato and Australia Post, and her private clients include: ABC, AASW, Teach for Australia, QUT, University of Sydney, SANE and Woolworths.

About Venessa

Venessa is Co-Founder and Director of Australian Community Managers (ACM), the national centre of excellence for online community management training and resources.

She started building intentional communities, with a mission of helping people connect, generate new value together and making better lives together. She teaches online community management for post-graduates at the University of Sydney and she is the resident Community expert for the Future Work Skills Academy.

Venessa is a published academic, and a PhD Candidate researching AI and online communities.

BIG IDEA 1

“We want to make sure that all voices are represented.” (13:20)

Venessa talked about the importance of diversity and inclusivity in communities. Community management is female dominated by a landslide of 75% and every year that goes up, partly because of the industries that community falls in Australia. She said that finding great women is not so challenging but increasingly she wants to make sure that all voices are represented. She talked about how she had really phenomenal indigenous scholars and practitioners sharing first nations community building techniques and knowledge, and in ways that is permissible and suitable for non-first nations and indigenous communities to use and apply because there's so much incredible ancient knowledge.

BIG IDEA 2

“The distinction between social media and community marketing is complicated because it is layered and there's a lot of natural overlap. Both practices can compliment one another.” (16:30)

Venessa defined and distinguished the difference between social media and community marketing. She said it’s important to understand that what each is trying to accomplish is quite different and how you measure success is quite different. There are clear distinctions and both practices can compliment one another. If you're an incredible marketer who creates great content, that's a really useful skill if you're a community builder as well. And likewise, if you're going to go and work as a social media marketer, knowing how to handle a crowd, how to moderate knowing how to really kick off and spot great conversations is a great way to generate engagement.

BIG IDEA 3

“The insights being generated from your community can be applied to every single aspect of the organization or business to enrich everything” (30:10)

Venessa emphasized that this is actually a very sculpting and enveloping concept. Managers describe community management as a central nervous system or air traffic control. There's a shift in thinking on community building from some sort of a title to being a little bit more wholistic and thinking about how do our relationships with these people, how their insights can be generated to create new products, new ideas, innovation capability.

The insights being generated from your community can be applied to every single aspect of the organisation or business to enrich everything. Community building maybe a lot to take on for an organisation or business at the early stages but that kind of potential awaits.

Episode Links

You can find Venessa Paech at:

Australian Community Managers: