pull n. – a force drawing someone or something in a particular direction or course of action.

Supply chain issues. COVID-19. The Great Resignation. Quiet Quitting. According to conventional logic, the U.S. labor market is past-due for some relief. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Last month, U.S. worker productivity levels reached at an all-time low. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that over 70% of economists believe that we’ll be in a recession by mid-2023—if we’re not already in one.

But what does this mean for employers? How do we connect with our current, and potential, workforce while maintaining our competitive edge?

In the age of the Great Resignation, there’s been no shortage of signs that many employees are beginning to look for new opportunities that better align with their priorities. Three fundamental truths remain:

• Burnout is sky high.
• Dissatisfaction is still running rampant.
• Employees are putting life ahead of work and want a company that mirrors that priority.

Recently, I had the privilege to sit with our business development team along the sales journey of a new client. Our goals in the conversations that comprise these meetings are pretty simple: Remove barriers and get to the next conversation. The barriers are usually invisible constructs, present only in the prospects’ minds, but with the potential to block us from doing business together. So the art of the sale is really the act of throwing paint on invisible objects, making them visible only for long enough that we can smash them together.

What do musicians and marketers have in common? We are both masterful remixers.

Think about cover songs. Why do we love them? Because they’re an expertly mixed cocktail: 1 part novel, 1 part nostalgia. We’re simultaneously comforted by a familiar tune and thrilled by the creative reimagination.

Last week, MindHandle racked up not one, two, or three, but FOUR awards at the American Marketing Association’s Marketer of the Year Awards. That includes the top honor as overall Marketer of the Year! We’re celebrating this week, and you can, too, by listening to MindHandle Mix 18: Promise to Care, a playlist inspired by the award-winning magnetic storytelling we crafted for Texas Health Resources.

At first glance, real estate investors and rock stars appear to have little in common, when, in reality, they share a major common passion: money.

Cold, hard cash is one of the most common subjects of top music hits around the world. And while dropping brand names for luxury watches and shoes might seem like surface-level swaggery, if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find stories about ambition, motivation, and freedom. Money stands for a lot more than money.

As a welcome to our newest client, Oldner Lighting, this week’s MindHandle Mix is a salute to the power of light! Owner and lighting master Scott Older uses his talents to bring out the emotion of commercial and residential spaces. Simply put: he transforms that space into a place by putting it in the best light.

Much like our playlist, Scott is truly eclectic. He’s a lighting designer, cyclist, nutrition junky, and even a musician! Give MindHandle Mix Vol. 16 Light On a listen and you’ll find a full spectrum of songs to love.

This week’s MindHandle Mix is inspired by one of our favorite restaurants, Fish City Grill. Last year, we got to deep dive into the Fish City Grill experience to rebrand the restaurant chain inside and out (and racked up a few ADDYs along the way including “Best Restaurant Marketing.”) They’ve been our client and preferred source of oyster nachos ever since.

We love Fish City Grill because their brand is modern and friendly, with a dash of irreverence, and a lotta love for darn-tasty, fresh fish. So if you’re daydreaming of a coastal vacation like we are right now, press play on this mix, and drift away.