Renia (pronounced R-EE-n-a) Carsillo hates business silos and marketing hacks. So, she spends her days working with mid-size and small companies to integrate their business strategy with their impact strategy, design sustainable marketing frameworks, and find a growth cadence that works for their team and their lives. Renia believes founders are uniquely positioned to create a kinder, more equitable world. She is passionate about bringing C-level strategic support to the small and mid-size companies shaping their communities every day. Renia says, "Sustainable marketing is built on a solid business strategy. A solid business strategy is built on values-driven habits. Values-driven habits are built on healed/healing leaders. We can’t do these things separately. They’re all interconnected. ”
Two AI Tools Worth Actually Adding to Your Toolkit [Two on Tuesdays]
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Happy Tuesday, Reader! If you've been around here for a while, you know we keep a running list of DIY business tools and resources on our website. These are things we've personally tested and actually recommend. We update it regularly, which means we also regularly pull things off when they stop delivering. This spring, we did a refresh. A few tools that hadn't lived up to their promise got the boot, and two new ones earned their spot. Both of them are AI-powered and genuinely useful for founders and their teams. DIY AI Tool #1: Gamma App for Presentations That Don't Feel Like a Chore Gamma is an AI-powered presentation tool that helps you build polished, well-structured decks quickly, without needing a design background or a Canva subscription. We've tested a lot of tools in this space, and we’ve found Gamma to be intuitive and fast, with output that actually looks good. Whether you're prepping for a client pitch, a team strategy session, or a speaking engagement, it's worth a look. DIY AI Tool #2: Oboe for a Way to Learn That Fits Into Real LifeRunning a business means there's always something new to learn and never enough time to learn it. Oboe is an AI-powered learning tool that lets you create your own courses on any topic, whether that's brushing up on a skill, getting your team up to speed on a new process, or exploring something you've been meaning to dig into for months. You can sign up for free, build out a course in your own words, and even try their daily puzzle to keep your thinking sharp. It's one of those tools that sounds simple but has a lot of practical range. Be sure to check out the full list of DIY Business Tools.
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Renia Carsillo
Renia (pronounced R-EE-n-a) Carsillo hates business silos and marketing hacks. So, she spends her days working with mid-size and small companies to integrate their business strategy with their impact strategy, design sustainable marketing frameworks, and find a growth cadence that works for their team and their lives. Renia believes founders are uniquely positioned to create a kinder, more equitable world. She is passionate about bringing C-level strategic support to the small and mid-size companies shaping their communities every day. Renia says, "Sustainable marketing is built on a solid business strategy. A solid business strategy is built on values-driven habits. Values-driven habits are built on healed/healing leaders. We can’t do these things separately. They’re all interconnected. ”
Happy Tuesday, Reader! There’s no question that every small- and micro-business leader is having to make tough decisions right now about how best to serve their team, customers, and community. But this is not the first time we’ve faced economic uncertainty, which is why I know sustainable business growth is still possible—and perhaps more necessary than ever. Sustainable growth means evolving, changing, and blooming over time without burning people out. For a business to have sustainable...
Happy Tuesday, Reader! I started writing about the uncertainty in our current market last year. And to say it’s gotten even more tumultuous might be an understatement. The early days of the pandemic are still fresh in many of our minds, and some of us were around to navigate the Great Recession of 2008-2009. But for many small businesses, what's happening now with tariffs, inflation, and shifting consumer confidence is hitting differently. It's not just supply chain chaos. Your customers'...
Happy Tuesday, Reader! If you're like most founders I work with, the word "networking" might make you cringe a little. It's earned a reputation that conjures images of forced conversations, uncomfortable self-promotion, and that nagging feeling that you're just using people for personal gain. And, coming across as “salesy” in the current market can make you seem out of touch, at best. But what if networking could feel different? What if it could help you build a community that sustains your...