Pop Culture, Marketing & Local Politics with Elizabeth Case

Welcome back to Women Conquer Business. I'm your host Jen McFarland. Join us for a fun, broad-based interview with Elizabeth Case as she shares her journey from small business marketing to leading a political campaign. We also talk about the similarities between local business marketing and political marketing, oh, and Schitt's Creek, and pumpkin spice lattes, and, of course, parks and recreation [music] It's super fun, there's a little bit of swearing, all that and more here on Women Conquer Business. If you're a small business owner like me, you probably have more goals and ideas than you could possibly get done - at least, I know that that's the problem for me - that's why I created the three key ingredients to achieving your goals.

What's inside? You will learn the three key steps that need to be in place so that you can be sure that you can achieve your goals. If you go to jenmcfarland.com/free, you will find this free guide to help you out with achieving your goals because we all know 2020 is just around the corner. And if you haven't set up the three or four major projects that you have out on the horizon for the next quarter or even year, this guide can help you with setting that up based on what you're actually going to do instead of those pie in the sky ideas. Again, that's jenmcfarland.com/free, and if sign up, you will also get access to our free VIP resource library where you will find between 5 and 10 guides, templates, and checklists to help you grow your business faster. Again, that's jenmcfarland.com/free.

Now let's meet Elizabeth Case. Elizabeth brings more than 17 years of business development and sales experience with a variety of companies from retail to non-profit management. She's passionate about relationship development, consistent communication, and follow-up. In 2011, Elizabeth drank the Kool-Aid of entrepreneurship and started Yellow Dog Consulting, a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on the small business owner. Yellow Dog Consulting is designed to help growing businesses set up the foundation and building blocks of their marketing and sales efforts. Elizabeth is also a huge pop culture fan, which you may have noticed from her monthly pop culture round-up on the Yellow Dog blog. Elizabeth lives in Hillsboro, Oregon with her husband, the world's greatest dog, Norm, and Cliff, a chocolate lab puppy who has all the energy all the time. Please, welcome Elizabeth to the show.

Hey, Elizabeth, welcome to the show.

Hey, Jen, thanks for having me.

Sure. When I first met you, I knew you as a small business marketing expert, which you still are, but now you've segwayed into something else which is more political. So can you tell us a little bit about how you became interested in politics?

Yeah. I think a lot of people, maybe not most but a lot of people, the 2016 election ignited a fire in us that we didn't know we had. So I was always kind of interested in politics. I was really interested in the last presidential election. And then after the election happened, I knew that I couldn't stay on the sidelines anymore, and I had to do something. So I got involved in my city - I live in the city of Hillsboro, Oregon; It's a lovely city; I love it a lot - and they have a civic leadership academy program. And I knew I needed to do something in the city and get more involved. And I knew that local politics where the place to start with that, but I didn't know how. So when I saw this civic leadership academy pop up, I signed up for that, I was accepted, and the rest is history as they say, but that history is a lot. So during the class, it was a six-week program and I got to meet some really incredible people including a woman named Beach, who decided she wanted to run for city council, and we hit it off just as friends. And she noticed that I might be a little OCD and assertive, two qualities that not everybody loves about me. But she thought they would be great qualities in a campaign manager. So after less than six weeks in this class together, she asked me to run her campaign. I had no experience - ah, I still just have that experience - but we talked about it, and although it's just [six that would?] go into it, and it seemed like where her expertise lies and where mine does that we would complement each other really well. So I ran her campaign for city council. And then from there, I ended up participating at-- I applied and was in the 2019 class for Emerge Oregon, which is a progressive women's candidate training program.

I think that's so awesome. And you're kind of bearing the lead here because Beach won.

Well, yeah. That too.

Yeah, so Beech won, and you've kind of continued to be active in Hillsboro politics at the same time as Emerge Oregon, right?

Yeah, yeah. So Beech participated in Emerge, and she was in the class of 2018. And she said, "If you think you want to run for politics someday, want to run for office at some point, Emerge is the best training ground there is for women who want to-- progressive women who want to run." So I applied. I was accepted. And after the 2018 election - which was a lot-- it was a lot of work - we had the governor's race, we had city councils, we had state reps, our US representatives who were up for reelection, state senators, state representatives, we had all sorts of local-- there were a ton races going on in 2018.

So kind of December and January were-- except for in May, in Hillsboro, we had a school district race. And so I had gotten to know one of the school district candidates. Her husband is a city councilor, and she was running for reelection for the school board. And then a friend of mine in Emerge was also running in that school board race for a different seat. So there were three candidates in the [civil?] school board race that I helped a bit with their campaigns just based on my experience with the city council race for Beech that she won. So, yeah, it's never a dull moment, but it's super fun.

Totally. And I know that you're a fan of the show Parks and Rec which actually predates the 2016 election. And since 2016, you've been involved in local politics. So for those of us who are fans of Leslie Knope, how close do you think that show is sometimes to what actually goes on in local politics [laughter]?

Really close, I think, is the right answer. The 2016 election was really hard for me. And so the day after the election when I woke up after that horrible nightmare, I started watching Parks and Rec again because it was my comfort food. And I know it seems ridiculous to say that a TV show could do so much for a person when it's, hell, a freacking fictional town in Indiana and their parks department, but it really was. It was, right, "If I want to do something, if I want to change, I can't go to Washington and do this right now - I don't know where - but I can start local and grow from there." And so it really was all about like, "Well, yeah, that's what Ann Perkins did. She was mad about a pet in her backyard on the side of her house and needed to get that fixed." And so she went to the city and asked for their help. And so I went to the city and found a way to get involved. And then from there, I ran Beech's campaign for a year and got involved in some different projects with the city. I joined the chamber here locally because I'm a small business owner and helped start a co-working space here in Hillsboro called HillHub. I know. Yeah. Never a dull moment.

Never.

Never. Never, never. And then I was just appointed to the library board in the Spring. And I know how ironic it is for the Buddhist Parks and Rec fan to join the library board. Believe me, it is not lost on me. But the Parks and Rec meetings in Hillsboro are at 7 am and the library meets at 6 pm. So it was an easier decision. Plus the library board asked me and parks didn't. But that's fine. I'll get over it.

Okay, Tammy. Whatever you say.

Yeah, I know. So it really is a lot like that. The people are working together that it's scrappy and it takes a village. It takes a lot of people, a lot of volunteers, a lot of-- you really discover how many people love your city. And some of those people are working in your city and some of those people are elected in your city and some of those people are just doing the work just because they love it and they want to live here forever and they want it to continue to be awesome.

That is so true. I only started watching Parks and Rec recently. You know that.

I know.

And it's because I worked in local government for 10 years. And I started off as Leslie Knope and by the time the show came out I was starting to be like, I'm not sure that I'm this into it. I'm not sure that this is a good fit for me. And a colleague of mine who, when I got my Masters in Public Administration, came and worked for me for a while. And she was like, "You are totally Leslie Knope! Achieve. Achieve. Achieve, achieve, achieve." And all of this. And it was totally lost on me. And then when I met you, I would download your opt-in about follow-ups and things like that and it was always about Pawnee and I'm like, I have no idea where Eagleton and Pawnee is. What is she talking about? So then I watch the first episode and I think I texted you and I was like, "Okay. Now your stuff makes sense."

Yeah. Go ahead. When [Beech?] asked me to run her campaign, I had made a Parks and Rec reference in our civic leadership academy class and she really liked that. And she commented on that at one point. And so we were talking one day and I made a Parks and Rec reference and she was like, "What?" And I said, "Parks and Rec?" And she was like, "Oh, I never finished watching it." And so I threatened to quit unless she watched it and now her entire family has watched it on repeat. It was super fun, they had a German foreign exchange student, so it was also a great way for him to learn local government. It was super healthy, definitely the way it happens kind of way. But yeah, I have dumped relationships for less. But, yeah. If you want to be able to participate in conversations at any length with me, Parks and Rec is a healthy landing ground there.

And I think that if you haven't been involved with local government, the value of Parks and Rec, part of it, is seeing things like a public meeting. Even though the scenes are maybe a little overblown, some of that stuff is what actually happens at a public meeting.

I was at a six-hour school board meeting last night. I don't have kids and I was at a six-hour school board meeting last night. And yeah, the dramatization is not that far off.

It's not that far off.

No.

I would say the thing that is actually the most far off is alienating the library.

Totally.

I digress. As a sidebar for people who haven't seen the show, it's because the person in charge of the library is divorced from the person in charge of Parks and Rec so it's a thing that the library's evil.

Yeah. And the library is evil. And it's hilarious, so.

And it's hilarious.

Especially because they're married in real life. so it makes it even better, so, yeah, love it , love the [program?]
Yes, yes, and one of the things I love most is how much you want to support and help Hillsboro, and that really is in the spirit of a Leslie Knope. And a lot of the people that I had met in working at the city of Portland, certainly not everybody, but it's one of the things that makes me so infuriated as a former government employee - I'm married to a state employee - is that there's this way of thinking. We were both a couple of bureaucrats, right, there was this way of thinking that we don't work hard [laughter], that we don't do anything, that we don't provide any value, and that Ronald Regan government is the problem attitude, it just permeates. And it actually, I think, hurts our civil society, and hurts getting stuff done. How do you feel about that?

Absolutely. And I would say in my very limited experience that I have found a lot more Leslie Knopes' than Ron Swansons. But there are way more people who are excited, and love their city, and will do whatever it takes, and know the rules, and know what we can and can't do, than people who are just there waiting to retire, and I'm very grateful for that in my town. The only city I lived in before [insofar?], I wasn't-- up in Washington State, I wasn't as involved with things there, but I got to know a communications director there, so that was kind of fun. He'd been a reporter and then went to the government side of things. And it was kind of fun to watch him and get a little bit involved with the city from that specific angle. And I realized I still follow them on Instagram and Twitter when things pop up in town, which is kind of fun. So definitely finding more that they love it where they live, and showing up at meetings.

So I was at-- the Library did Hillsboro Reads for the month of October, and so one of the cool things they did, the book was [Bored to Brilliant?] yes, [Bored to Brilliant?], and it's all about reevaluating your relationship with technology, so just how often are you picking up your phone? Why are you picking up your phone? Why aren't you paying attention to your kids or your spouse? It was really great. And so they did two music meditation classes where they have a gentleman here in the area who's a cellist. And he would come and teach some greeting techniques, and then play music for an hour. Ah, and it was just wonderful. And the first one was at the civic center, and the second one was down the street at the arts and culture center. And it was great to see how many employees were taking their lunch break to come down and listen to music, and meditate, and answer for a library activity, but a city activity, right, that was taking place during the day. And it's amazing how often you see city employees at the farmers market, at the grocery store running errands too. They live and work here and actually love it.

Yeah, man. I mean that's how it works. That's the way it should be is that the people who are working and supporting a community also live there and have buy-in , right?

Right.

One of the things that I think is so powerful about all of the work that you've done to get involved and do all of this stuff is I think that it will help you, unlike many politicians, make that connection between how political decisions affect policy and, ultimately, affect that front level staff interaction with a member of the public. A lot of the times, people are really frustrated with a government employee when it was some hairbrained political decision that has marked everything up and made it really hard for people to get stuff done.

Totally, so tiring. So I learned the hard way that when you end up the last person in a room with the chamber executive director, you end up co-chairing a committee with [crosstalk]. Oh, yeah. It's great. Never get left alone with her. It's terrifying what she'll ask you to do. But I ended up co-chairing this Hillsboro Downtown Together project, which was about bringing the chamber, the city, and the downtown partnership together, as we realized all three of these organizations are on the same highway, going the same way but we're doing a great job of communicating with one another. And so we've really stepped back to look at what do the business owners need? What do the business owners need? What do the property owners need? What does the city need to-- and then who's helping with those things? So we've talked about what are their concerns? We've met with them, we've surveyed them to see where are their challenges, where their frustrations and then really what we've done is Downtown Together, is identify who can actually help with that? Because they're kind of screaming into the ether, right? You walk to the information desk at City Hall and you start yelling at this poor woman or man who that is not their job. What you need to be doing is talking to the director of the planning department two years ago if you don't like how it is right now. And so it was really interesting as we're looking at that of making sure that we know who's in charge of each thing. Making sure that those departments know what the issues are. This is really something that's bugging them when they're like, "Oh, we didn't think trash was that big of an issue." And it's like, oh, my gosh, the amount of conversations I've had about garbage pickup and recycling. There's a story about an employee walking out the back of their store to drop the trash and finding a couple being intimate on a stack of pallets outback and still maybe a little more frequent than the pickup. Yeah. Yeah. It was great. Downtown Hillsboro, what are you gonna do? They're going to love that story when this comes out. But it's just little things that you don't realize how big an impact it's having on them day to day. And so with some small changes, what could we do to help these business owners. And who are the right people? So they're not just complaining and saying she never does this, or they never do that, or what's the point of this organization, when that's not their job. That's not what they were designed for. But somebody over here can help you.

I think that's great. Because one of the things that really positions you well is that you're a small business owner. So you understand things like when poor communication can really mess everything up. Or you understand that when you change one small thing, it can have such a ripple effect on your business because you've been a business owner for several years. And you work in marketing. So can you talk a little bit about your consulting that you do and then how you've bridged that work into politics?

Yeah. Bridging from small business owners to politics was way easier than I thought it was going to be because really, as a campaign manager, you're just marketing a person. So as long as that person kicks ass, it's not that hard. And I got very lucky to run a campaign for a candidate who's pretty spectacular. And so for me, it was, in my business, I work with solopreneurs, who, I would say, love what they do but the sales and marketing part of their job just sucks their will to live. So what do you need to be doing? What's going to be authentic to you as a small business owner? Where should you be networking? Jen's raising her hand.

I am.

But where, where are these people hanging out? Where do you need to be networking? Who's sending you business? Who is your target market? And then how are you communicating with them? Are you communicating with them on a regular basis? Where are you interacting with them on social media? I'm the marketing consultant who refuses to join Facebook. That has not been an issue in my business. It was a much bigger challenge in campaign land where all the voters are on Facebook, and your campaign manager refuses to join Facebook. That was a few fights. Healthy discussions, over scotch.

Which you won, by the way because--

I'm still not on Facebook. [inaudible] not a chance.

--you're still not on Facebook. Yep.

Right. I know. West Point grads can try but I will still win. So really in pulling that over, it's all about your list. Knowing your contacts. You need to put-- as a small business owner, you need to be communicating with all of your contacts. When you're kicking off your business or launching a new thing, you need to have those lists nice and healthy and ready to go. The same thing happens when you're running for office. Every single person, it does not matter if they can vote for you locally, if it is your uncle in Idaho with a small fortune who might send you 500 or 1000 bucks, make sure they're on that list. It's the same thing. I remember talking to a client years ago who was saying, when she was putting her list together, she was like, "Oh, but they're in New York. We shouldn't do that. We shouldn't have them on the list." And I said, "Well if they emailed you and said, can you fly to New York for a week to train my team? And you could charge them for all of that? Would you want to do that?" She was like, "Oh, my gosh, that would be awesome." Let people opt out. Don't opt them out when they're not ready to. They want to know what's going on with you. And it's those follow-up systems. So one thing I made sure we did with the campaign was, we had a monthly newsletter update. I know we're all-- I'm already tired of all the presidential emails I'm getting. Mayor Pete and Kamala Harris are sending me between 5 and 10 emails a day it feels like right now. But you do need to communicate with your network. So not to that extreme. You're not running for president, but you do as a city counselor or a school board candidate or even a state rep, want to make sure you have a monthly update of here's what's happening on the trail. Here's where I'm hanging out. Here's who I'm meeting. Here's where you're going to find me in the next month, and here's what I need. I need your money, I need you to stick a lawn sign in your yard, and I need you to come canvas for me or host a house party or whatever it might be. And so you kind of figure out what are those three asks for the month, and then add those in there. And then we also put into place for every house party or event we had follow up emails that were ready to go within a day because I will ride or die on follow up being the single best marketing tool you can have is good followup.

Yeah, I know you've proven that point many times over, and in fact, had a great opt-in. I don't know if that's still up on your site or not about following up. And in fact, it's a very similar model, actually. I think, at least the last time I talked to you to what you're helping small business owners understand is you have a list, you need to email them. And so many people-- I wonder, do you run into the same thing with candidates that I often run into with businesses? And I think you do as well, which is they're collecting the emails and then they're scared to email the list.

Yeah, totally. And so they don't really work on that. You got to talk to your network on a regular basis, whether you're a small business owner or you're running for office. You need to keep them abreast of what's going on so that when something happens, when the shit goes down, you can say, "Okay, we just got an opponent. I need to raise $3,000 in the next week. Can you help me?" I was helping a candidate out of Virginia who's in the November 2019 election here running for delegate, and she is running in the 24th district. And so every month on the 24th, she does a 24-hour fundraiser asking people to donate $24 and so-- or 240 or whatever.

Such a great idea, right?

But it's you've got to talk to them on a regular basis. Here's what I'm doing this week, here's what's going on, so that when the ask comes, when you're being outspent by your opponent, you can do that. One of my friends who ran for school board this last spring, she had raised like 3 or $4,000, a decent amount for a school board race. Totally healthy. This gentleman jumps into the race at the-- he jumps into the race, he had run and lost before, he spent-- I'm afraid to say this number because I feel like it's wrong, but he raised, I want to say 40 but I actually think it's $50,000, but let's say 40 just to be safe. He bought a billboard down on TV Highway, which is a stretch of road that goes through four cities in the Metro Portland area, had boughten a billboard, did all of these things, full-page ads in the local newspaper. She ended up raising, I want to say $8,000, and kicked his ass. And she had a [inaudible] network. She talked to them. She-- yeah.

Well, and here's the thing. We're getting into the holiday season and even though this is an evergreen podcast and you could be listening to it anytime, at the time of this recording, we're heading into holiday season and now I'm getting all these emails from people and I'm like, "Who are you?" I don't even remember because now they want me to buy something. Now it's pumpkin spice latte season and it's like kicking off the, "Oh my God." I hate PSL, by the way. Anyway, it's kicking off the, "Oh my God, I need to email my list." And I'm like, "I don't even remember who you are. Did I buy a candle from you a year ago?" And then you know what? It's unsubscribe, is what that is.

Absolutely. unsubscribe. I do the same thing. I will tell people, "Sign me up for your list. I want to see what you're talking about but if I don't hear from you for six months and then you're pitching me something, bye Felicia, I will not have it. Side note on pumpkin spice, the SNL sketch about Summer's Eve pumpkin spice, I know that's a wildly inappropriate thing to talk about in a business podcast but if you haven't watched it, just Google that and you're welcome.

It's for women. I think we all know what Summer's Eve, and I'll put a link in the show notes--

Okay, fantastic.

-- because I'm going to have to go watch it myself [laughter].

Pause this and go watch it together right now [laughter]. No.
So by following up and making sure that you're communicating on a regular basis with your audience, it's why the thing that I talk to my clients about the most is having a monthly newsletter. What can you be sharing with your network on a regular basis so that when they're ready to buy, they're ready to buy? What can you be talking to your voters and your constituents about so that when it's time for reelection or when it's time for them to vote that they are-- or that you need something alongside in their yard or a donation or a house party, that obviously they're going to say yes to you because you're clearly doing the work, you know what you're doing and you haven't been begging them for money every day.

Exactly, yeah. I mean, when I help small businesses, and I'm sure you do the same thing because we worked together for a while too, it's about making sure that people know that you're involved in the community and about your personality. When people say that they don't know what to say in a newsletter, it makes me a little crazy because there's always something going on. And it's the same if you're a candidate, you could even just talk about things that you've seen around town and people will ring that bell. They sometimes would rather read that than another pitch for money.

Totally. When we usually didn't ask for money, we usually left a donation bar in the bottom, or we'd have like three assets for the month but the donation was always one of the options, but it wasn't the top option and every newsletter made money because people were like, "Oh, it's time to donate to her." Or "Oh, I heard she got an opponent. Let's do this." I remember getting an email last summer when she drew an opponent and somebody emailed and said, "Hey, I heard they got an opponent. Let's get a house party on the schedule." There was a business owner in town who when he heard that they got an opponent he's like, "Oh yeah, send me the form and we'll make sure we publicly endorse you. Let's get it done." That was great.

So do you work with a political candidate? Is it kind of a small business preparing for an event? I mean, what happens then after the election is over? Do you continue the marketing as well?

Not usually, and I don't have it-- I haven't been doing this for an extensively long period of time, but it really is you finish the campaign, you spank your donors, your candidate needs to write a crap ton of thank you notes to you as the campaign manager. Can't do that. They need to be handwritten from the candidate, from the hopefully elected official. So sending those thank you notes, making sure that things get wrapped up, and how do you close down a campaign but also save stuff so that you can restart it for the reelection. So saving your list, not deleting things, don't shut down that free MailChimp account. And you can send additional updates. It's been interesting to watch from that election, candidates, other elected officials who now will occasionally reach out to their group, to their list in support of another candidate. So we had the Tualatin Hills Parks and Rec District, which is runs-- it doesn't include Hillsboro. Hillsboro has their own parks and rec district with THPRD covers a lot of unincorporated Washington County, Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, bunch of stuff in Sherwood, I think is in there And so it was really about supporting them. And so there were other people that I had talked to before who were like, "This is our slate of people that we recommend you vote for." And using your list to help support others and move it forward. And it's really that, pay it forward, thing, right? It's like when you go canvassing, do I really want to knock doors in the rain and wind? No, but, you know what? In a couple of years, I'm going to need them come knock a door for me, or they knocked a door for me, they knocked 50 doors from me last year. So I need to go do that and show up.

I love it. I love it. And you're doing all this and you're still helping small businesses too, right?

I am, yeah. So, my [inaudible] is yellow.consulting. Also, by day, it's helping candidates around the country with their marketing efforts and helping getting people elected, as I can. And then the chamber board, and chamber projects, and the library board. And then that has been--

Oh.

Those two dogs, right?

Yeah, I was going to say. No, you've got another of, by-day and by-night and in the wee hours of the morning puppy situation going on right now.

I do, I do, yeah. We have, today, Cliff is six months old. So we have Norm, who is our four-year-old yellow Lab, who is quietly sleeping and enjoying a day off from his brother. And then we have a six-month-old chocolate Lab, Cliff, who we are very grateful with. [inaudible] in two weeks and we're hoping that's going to help with some issues. Also, the puppies manners class that we're definitely half-assing and going great. But God bless puppy daycare and doggy daycare. And we promise not to reproduce because, yeah, we're not good at this dog thing, let's not give us kids.

Which you understand--

I do [laughter].

--as a fellow--

Channel free by choice.

--dog [crosstalk].

That's right.

Channel free by choice. God love it. Mm-hmm.

So, and you totally recommend running a small business and getting a puppy.

Yeah, absolutely. It is, I think, most people are more qualified to have a puppy than me. As all of my friends and family have said in watching me with a puppy over the last few months, "This is amazing watching you do this." Because I'm a bit of a control freak. I always joke, "I'm so organized, I married a CPA," which is true. God love him. But yeah, the puppy has been a good healthy challenge for a 16-year marriage. He's super fun. He's all the energy. He is starting to get closer to sleeping through the night. He's sleeping longer. But he does love to come snuggle on the bed about six in the morning from his crate. And so cries until we give up because we're tired because puppies are a lot, but it was good. It was a good reminder that not having children was the right choice for us. And that maybe this is the only puppy that we'll ever have. I think we will, in the future, adopt older dogs, rescue older dogs and fix the kinks. Like we did with Hank, our first one and Norm, our current yellow dog.

Who's just chilling out.

He's totally chilling out right now, it's great. He hasn't farted or barked at anything yet, so winning.

That is totally winning. [laughter] I have to have Booker downstairs. I'm at the office today but usually, if I'm doing an interview or anything, Booker has to go downstairs and he just looks at me, like, "Why? What is wrong with you?" And he also has farts that will, I think-- well, we call it a weapon of mass destruction actually.

They are, yeah. Same. Same over here. I got two of them now.

What are you feeding them?

Right. Evidently really good quality, hell of an expensive dog food. And then a crap ton of training treats. I think that might be our issue with the puppy.

That would be part of it, yeah. Those usually aren't as high quality well, hey [laughter].

[inaudible].

What else would you like to talk about [laughter]?

You have not, as of this recording, finished Parks and Rec. So there's a lot of things I'd like to talk to you about, but we'll have to record another podcast once you have finished the series [inaudible] episode. And yeah, you can [inaudible].

That's right. Because you're into pop culture, you're good at pop culture.

I am into pop culture. And so I always have my latest and greatest pop culture recommendations that come out at the end of the month. I write a blog post with what I'm reading, what I'm listening to, which is usually podcasts. I'm a big podcast girl, and what I'm watching, which is a variety of Netflix and stacked up DVR episodes of Riverdale and The Good Place and Stumptown is the new one. I mean, I've just finished The Righteous Gemstones is my fall recommendation if you didn't watch that on HBO.

What's that? Okay, what is that?

It is about a televangelist family. And its glorious. It's John Goodman, Danny McBride, Walton Goggins. I grew up in a Christian home going to church every Sunday, I went to a Christian university, as you can tell from all the swearing. But I [crosstalk]-- no. Yeah. It's okay. And so anyway, just growing up in that environment and then watching this, there's some serious PTSD and just like, it's so great. It's just so, so great. I made my brothers watch it. Yeah. [inaudible].

And, you're wearing your rose apothecary shirt.

I am wearing my rose apothecary sweatshirt today. Thank you for noticing [inaudible]--

Which is from where for those people who don't know?

It is from-- if you have not watched Schitt's Creek, drop what you're doing. It is the show you should watch after you finished Parks and Rec is Schitt's Creek. That is the priority list.

Yeah, I've watched Schitt's Creek. Well, the ones that are out including the latest. Yeah, I've watched it through like, twice, three times, maybe.

It's so good. It's just so good. I love it. So yeah. We came to Portland in May. So we went with some friends and searched Schitt's Creek live. And the highlight of that was Eugene Levy. And Catherine O'Hara singing God loves a terrier from Best in Show [inaudible] movie from the '90s [laughter] that is another fantastic piece of pop culture.
It's fantastic.

I don't [inaudible] and I probably shouldn't. I think we're the busy bee couple and they were really the Parker Posey family if I am being honest.

Likely. No offense.

Yeah, likely. No, it's fair. I mean--

So what are your favorite podcasts? And you do not have to say this one that's fine. But if you do that'd be awesome [laughter].

Obviously [inaudible] and right now, I really love cults, like obsessed with cults. It's a weird fun fact about me. And so a friend of mine turned me on to one called Uncover about Nexium, which is this like sex cult out of New York that some Hollywood actresses and actors got involved in and it blew up a couple of years ago. That was a crazy story, yeah and then--

[Cast?]?

Yeah, I know. And then another one kind of on that Righteous Gemstones angle is one called Preach from NPR and it's this gentleman-- he's Mormon, which is interesting to me. He interviews people kind of like in the messiness of faith. So he interviewed a couple-- a Mormon couple who came out. They both realized after getting married, having a couple of kids, that they were both gay. So she lives upstairs with her partner and he lives downstairs and he's dating and the kids can run between where they want to be. And there's also a really interesting two-part episode about Veggie Tales, that cartoon from the 90s--

Oh, yeah.

--that [inaudible]. Yeah. Right? Remember that?

Yeah.

That was fascinating. And so that was really interesting because it was about their faith and their business and believing. But it also was about how they royally screwed up and bankrupted the company and how it's coming back. And it's really interesting, so. Anyway, if you like that kind of stuff. Cults and religion, those are my current favorites. And then I'm always listening to the daily-- I'm really liking the newest Crooked Media What A Day podcast that just came out this week and it's 15 minutes and it's kind of like the top news stories. Those are some of my favorites. And then there's a few local Oregon politic ones that I like, especially the OPB Politics-- it's not Politics Now, it's the other one. Hold please and I can tell you. It is OPB-- yeah, OPB Politics Now. But it's like a half hour every Friday and it's just a recap of what's been going on in Oregon. So if you live in the state and are interested in local politics, that's a really great place to be paying attention to. So how about you?

That sounds great. Girl, I'm busy

Girl [laughter].

I'm watching Parks and Rec.

I completely [inaudible]. Okay.

What do you want from me?

I also want you to listen to podcasts and catch up on your reading.

Yeah. No, I listen to-- well, I've been reading-- believe it or not, the book I've been reading the last couple of days is the History of [Punting?] [laughter].

That's a great book.

Jon found it--

That's a really great book.

--at the library along with the book about canoes.

Yeah. How to Paddle Your Own Canoe?

How to Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offerman. So anyway, so we've been totally, fully immersed in Parks and Rec. and baseball and that kind of takes away from podcast time. I only got so many hours in the day. My favorite podcast is the Non Mom Happy Hour. It's about women, whether they use their baby box or not. And--

Oh.

--it's a really good show. They talk about kind of--

It's a what [inaudible]?

A Non Mom Happy Hour.

All right.

Yeah. And they cover a whole array of issues and talk about women in history and-- yeah. And so it's pretty cool. So that's kind of my favorite. I don't listen to a whole catalog. I kind of bounce around a lot based on what's going on. And then I'll find a new podcast and they go on hiatus and then I-- it's hard for me to pick it up again. So--
[It's kind of crazy?].

--yeah, I'm kind of all over the place but it's been all of Parks and Rec. all the time. It is so hard-- even after 21 years of marriage, I never know if John's going to like a show or not. So the fact that we both like this show, I'm all in. I'm all in.
Jeremiah and I have the same issue. He was all late on Righteous Gemstones, just an FYI, and he often is like, "Can we just watch Parks and Rec. tonight?" because it is a-- I mean, it's always-- it's on a constant loop in our house.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

Yeah. I think it's fun.

[I'm done?].

I think it's fun.

It is. It's feel good.

It does, and that's the thing. I mean, that's the best part is it makes you feel good. And some episodes make you fall off the couch. You're laughing so hard.

I'm going to watch-- yeah.

For example, the food poisoning one.

Food poisoning is that-- the flu is my favorite episode [laughter] of all time. It's my favorite episode on television.

Have I gotten to that yet?

Yeah, it's the third season when they end up in the hospital.

Oh.

Before the Harvest Festival [laughter] when they kicked off the-- "Hey, can I have some money for the cab?" "Well, sure how much do you need?" "I don't know. It was in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Do you know the exchange rate [laughter]?"

Amy Poehler is a gift that we don't deserve.

Oh, I deserve her. Yeah. No, I just need that [laughter]. I deserve that level of laughter in this lifetime. Yes, I do.

Yeah, you do. Yeah. All right, fine.

There's not enough happiness.

No.

I need it. I need it.

Yeah.

It's legit awesome.

Girl, that's [where it is?]. Yeah, get involved in politics. Watch Parks and Rec.

How can people find you? We all know not Facebook. So how can people find you?

Not on Facebook. I am active on Twitter @EJCase. I'm active on Instagram, also @ejcase and @yellowdogconsulting.

And on my website, yellowdogconsulting.com where I have handy, free downloads. I also have my kick-ass follow-up templates, so if follow-up stuff was something you were interested in. And then you can find me at a lot of different city events here in the great city of Hillsboro, Oregon. So if you're in town, let me know and hopefully, we'll meet up at a farmer's market or a city council meeting if you're really excited and at the library. You just never know, so. [music]

That's it.

Awesome.

Yeah.

Thank you so much for being on the show.

Thanks for having me, Jen