Danielle Meadows Stinnett uses cheat codes in the game of business

Dex: 0:05

Hey, welcome to another episode of In the Black. This is your boy Dex. And man, I'll be honest with you, I I've been trying to figure out a way to not so much doll up the bio that I normally read off to you guys for our guests. I'm actually trying to. Pay this bio respect while shortening it, because otherwise we could be here all year. I'm going to just introduce my guest name. Her name is Danielle Meadow Stinnett. She is the owner of Octane Design Studios. This is a 12 year old branding and identity firm based in the heart of Bluegrass. And for all my overseas listeners that is Kentucky. You'll know it by basketball and bourbon but Danielle is not just a octane Studio's owner she's also a podcaster, a wife, a mama of three boys, or three kids, I should say. I'm sorry. She's a lover of rustic cuisine, chai, cosplay star Trek, Picard, and Live mma. One of the things that really caught my attention about her is that she once said, life is more like Tetris and less like Mario. So I want to introduce you guys all now. Danielle Meadow, Stinnett Danielle, how are you

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 1:27

I'm great. Thanks for having me.

Dex: 1:30

man? I really hope I didn't butcher your bio too much. There's so much here and we're gonna cover so much. People are gonna learn so much about you and every time they learn something about you, they're gonna smile even more. . So tell me about your business.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 1:49

Sure. So I love the fact that you kick it off with how old we are. Cause our stature is always based upon some sort of number so we've been around, we've been around for a while. We're not the young kids playground. We're like the older kids that kind of, look over a little bit. I love what I do every day. I get to. To to play with about five women from seven different countries. And I think it's really interesting how we've been able to grow our lives, have been able to change other people's lives, just based on the fact that we like marketing and we like being able to create graphics for people. But not only do we want them to look pretty, we want them to function and to function for growth.

Dex: 2:29

That is it right there. That is it right there. You've helped over a hundred brands and two-thirds of them are local. Is that correct?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 2:38

That is correct. That was really something that I personally tried very hard to. To not necessarily throw in people's sentences quite a bit. It's, it happened accidentally, to be really honest. I just kept finding more people and more people kept gravitating toward me, and I wasn't paying attention to exactly where I was helping the people. It was just innately just wanting to help. Yeah. A hundred

Dex: 3:02

That is awesome. That is so awesome. But before you started everything you went through some moments before you actually decided to start your business. , just because we're gonna get to the dramatic part of the interview and we'll get into the jokes and stuff later, what was that emotional breaking point for you to where you were just like, we gotta take it this direction.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 3:19

There was two in particular. I think one, obviously coming from a background where I. I'm a third generation entrepreneur. I knew from a very young age watching my grandparents, my mother, my dad, my aunts and uncles. And now my cousins define their own rules and they weren't defined by what society told us that we could do or that were what we were capable of. And I think the turning point for me was realizing that I'm a part of that story. I'm a part of that legacy. What am I doing? So that was one breaking point. And the second breaking point was just coming out from a relationship and being a single mom, pregnant with a baby on the way in a one bedroom, 500 square foot apartment. I had to figure out life very quickly, not only for myself, but for my children. And that place of need really came from, do I work a factory job? Do I work a secretary job? Do I feel those holes where other people tell me this is where I should go? Or do I create a new slot? Do I create a new notch in my belt? Do I do something that truly resembles and reflects myself and finding purpose and joy? And that's what I do.

Dex: 4:34

that is it. You basically just conjured the spirit of everybody that's listening and that has just had a really hard time and you just, you spoke it out there. I appreciate that. I really do. But you had mentioned that you are a third generation entrepreneur. How much do you look to, your family for advice and support, and how have they helped?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 4:54

A lot of ways. I have an aunt specifically shout out to my aunt Angela. She, we refer to her as the goddess of wisdom. She's now a business wealth management. That's her side hustle as she has grown her business alongside her normal nine to five. And that was one person that's always, been able to speak a lot of wisdom into me. My mother was another person who always had something to say, but whether or not I listened was a different story. I really appreciated all the cousins that came before me. That kind of helped pave some ways in order for me to see my own way. And while we are definitely not in the same lane we do take on those same characteristics, that same mind, body, will spirit attitude, and I think that has been such a game changer for me in going my own direction with Octane

Dex: 5:39

That is so awesome. I again, you're speaking a lot of, you're speaking from the voice of a lot of people that have said all these same things themselves. Just the support, finding the right people and knowing that one person that you can look to for wisdom. But let's get into your actual business now that we've gotten to know you a little. how do you help your clients?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 6:05

I hope them hope. Wow. Where do I start? Really sometimes it's finding the right. And that comes down to captions and strategy writing and content and copy. Sometimes it's finding the right look, you get the client that says I'll know it when I see it. And that's what I helped map out both in their minds and visually. And then I also love to help people just navigate. What the next steps are. So many people say, okay, I started this L C or I started this new business. Now what? And for many of these businesses that we started out with Octane, many of them didn't have their proper business license. Many of them have not paid taxes for years. Many of them didn't have the right framework. And that's something that I feel Octane helps bring to the table, especially for minority businesses because a big chunk of them are bipo owned businesses. I love the fact that I can help structure a framework for a business specifically of color that has not had that level up yet.

Dex: 7:01

Yes. Yes. How many of those do you deal with, like percentage wise to where it's okay, we're really good at doing this, making this widget, or doing this service. What is the percentage of them do you think? Just don't have the entire framework and you just have to set that up for them?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 7:22

Oh man. I would say now, in the begin, in the beginning I would say it was a larger number. We've been a little bit more selective now in the way that we choose to partner and work with people. So I would say, In the beginning, probably close to maybe 25 to 33% of our clients were businesses that didn't have that base. But now I can say very proudly that we're probably anywhere between 10 to 15. Now,

Dex: 7:45

Okay. Okay, so when you When you do start helping your clients and you have to ask them just one simple question, what is the absolute question you ask all your clients when working with them?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 7:57

What do you want?

Dex: 7:58

That's usually, yeah, that sums that one up.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 8:02

seems pretty simple, but it's one of those situations where it's it has some layers to it. So when we say, what do you want? I don't wanna necessarily just say, yeah, I want a website, or, yes, I want this in product, or I want this product launched. It's, it goes a little bit deeper than that. So we say, what do you want? What do you, what? How do you see yourself? How do you want to communicate with others? And those are the deeper questions that kind of base upon the what do you want? So we really do take the time to break down the simplicity and add those extra steps so that it can create, again, that structure, that foundation, so they don't feel like it's just a simple old, oh, I just need this. Because a lot of times, and especially now in marketing in 2023, it is not that way. It is much more complex, a little bit more complicated. So we make it simple by asking, what do you want? But we break that down much deeper into multi-levels of service and products.

Dex: 8:54

Oh, okay. So when you're doing a strategy for someone do you start with say, writing copy, or do you start with the look of what they want for graphics or. Where do you normally start? Or is it just by a client to client basis?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 9:11

Oh no. We have a system. love systems. systems are my best friend. So we always start, whether it's a logo, a website copy. We always start with what's your voice? What's your voice saying? What's it saying now? What do you want it to say? And so we always do some sort of brain voice activation with our clients. Even on the lowest level so that they understand what they're telling us they want their brand to be. And we also have a better gauge and scope of work to better understand in regards to what their brand is and what they want it to do.

Dex: 9:41

All right. I can see why people like working with you. Incredibly affable. You know your stuff, you got a system. Everybody loves systems. So what what industry do you find yourself working with the most?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 9:55

It's usually I prefer to work with entrepreneurs and startups. I love that area of structure for business structures that are new. And I like that specifically for two reasons. One, because they're hungry. And the sponge is more dense at that level. When you're in those first three to five years of business, especially in those first one to two years of business, or 75% of them don't exist after two years as an entrepreneur, it's very, Easy to help initiate systems. They're more propped for growth, if you will. That sponge is incredibly dense and so I wanna make sure that it's easy for them to pick up what we're putting down. And then the other part of that is also better understanding that we're not creating change in the moment. We're creating change for. A lot of these first year and second year businesses their minds are only thinking forward in the next one to two months. They're living month to month or they're going, what's happening in the first six months of my life? We're thinking about the grandchildren that come from the grandpa that started the shop. And so because we have such a wide aerial view of that generational wealth and growth that we can build and invest in entrepreneurs that's what gives us that leverage and that edge to keep going and keep investing in these early businesses.

Dex: 11:16

Cool. Yeah. You I'm sorry, my head's just everywhere right now. The, in your bio you had mentioned how Oh, you're not necessarily a fan or you're, you are a fan of non-traditional learning. And this is I wanted to segue into your Q1 essentials. This is a platform that you had started. Can you tell us about that

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 11:38

Absolutely. Q1 Essentials started out as this, as a nag. Okay, It started as a nag. Someone kept bugging me, like, how do you do this? And I had more than one client come back and ask me similar questions after a period of time. And so I was like, instead of me repeating myself over and over again, I'm just gonna record it. And then that way you can just, I can always reference that. And so it became an accumulation of multiple tutorial. And then as my team grew, my team was also invited to teach on some of these points. And so it was not only just coming from me, but now that type of thought was coming from multiple women across multiple countries. And so now Q1 Essentials is a three month brand intensive for entrepreneurs and small businesses and startups to really invest in a deeper look of their marketing plan from the start to five or three years out. So this is one way that I can give back hand that baton. To a lot of people who are in need, and I'm really proud of that because this is, again, one way that we can build generational wealth. When everybody goes up, right? When everybody's on the same level, when we win, you win. When they win, we win. And I feel like that's such a cultural dynamic that I'm trying to mimic through q1 E.

Dex: 12:59

Yeah. You definitely want to get away from the crabs in a barrel For sure.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 13:04

Yeah, absolutely. That mentality has got you sharp.

Dex: 13:07

We can all eat. I don't understand, like the energy that's spent on infighting is energy that can be spent on growth. In my personal opinion, I think a lot of it has to do with, insecurities. It's just people are insecure about where that next meal is coming from.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 13:23

I feel like that's something too that we address in Q1 Essentials. It's more than just these 14 plus mini courses that you can take whenever. It's also a little bit of that internal community. Maybe there is some insecurities about starting a new business that you're not, that you've not yet addressed. This is something that helps support you not only on a marketing front, but also building the confidence and the skillsets to move.

Dex: 13:46

I'm gonna even take that further. I think building that culture of. taking, fighting against fighting yourself and fighting everyone else and serving other people, you end up serving yourself even further. It's just

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 14:00

I love that.

Dex: 14:01

yeah. That's why I started this podcast is to help other people. And in the process I ended up helping myself. I ended up learning even more. Like you, I've learned so much more outside of school than I have in. and it just, it doesn't stop. It really does not stop at all. Yeah. But it takes a certain energy for that. And you have a gamer's energy. Yes, I can hear that. Super Ns. I can hear little Sega. I'm hearing a little, I'm hearing some accent. A little game Boy you had one of those in your back pocket on the bus to school.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 14:37

Yes,

Dex: 14:37

Yeah. Okay. I'm, that was you. Okay. I'm just gonna, I'm gonna put a rumor out there that you're the one that started ab select start. That's, I'm putting it out

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 14:49

I'll take it.

Dex: 14:50

It's true. Until proven otherwise. So

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 14:54

I love it. Thank

Dex: 14:55

there we have it. There we have it. . Now how much has gaming? I. How you approach helping your clients?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 15:05

Oh my goodness. Every inch of it. I think there's so much of octane that is based upon the foundations of the strategy of play, and that is something for some people that can be a deterrent, and for others that can be something a little bit more enticing. And we have built a repertoire around Octane that play is essential and play is important if we want to figure out what works and what doesn't work. And I love the fact that I can include gamer references and analogies all the time because it's such a huge part already of my life. My family of five gaming is a huge part of our lives. We use that as a strategy for. Knowing and understanding how we can put certain building blocks together to create something else. And I apply that same strategy to businesses in helping small businesses and entrepreneurs understand how to put those foundational blocks together so they can build a legacy that they're really proud of.

Dex: 16:04

That is so awesome. That really is now, you were saying all that and the first thing that came to mind is like, what game can I beat her in? And does she still have, do you still have Tetris dreams? This is just a side note, but do you still have Tetris dreams?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 16:19

Yes, absolutely. Are you kidding me? I absolutely, I'm a huge fan of Teris, obviously, and we build, we talk a lot about that. But we also use things like Mario, we're Fortnite. Come on, we're the family of Fortnite. Like all the things.

Dex: 16:33

what do I want to yell at 13 year olds all day.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 16:35

I do it already, so

Dex: 16:36

Yeah. Yeah. There's that with with helping your clients, are there particular tools that you go to, for graphics or for marketing or anything like that? Which ones do you use? Which ones do you like?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 16:46

I like them all. So I literally consider myself a connoisseur of tools and I think that's what makes a designer. It's not the actual application of a specific tool, it's the welding of all the tools. So I love the fact that. I use Campa obviously a lot. Navigate myself between design and my clients. But I live in Adobe so I practically create a lot of logos and all the brand essentials with vector type programs and then bring those into easy places like Canva to use as need be for clients. So those are two big ones. But I really do love Dreamyard because I use that a lot both for podcasting and for. So I love the fact that I can use a tool like Streamy Yard to keep up with easy webinars, to create accessible tools so that clients and my staff can learn new accessible ways to do things quicker and faster.

Dex: 17:42

Oh, okay. That's what's up. I just want to make a quick side note to Canva Adobe. and streamy Yard. If you guys want to send a check, I can give you her address and y'all can just send her a check a check for that free advertising. All right. And that recommendation.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 17:59

Oh my goodness. Yes. I'm for it. Yes, please.

Dex: 18:02

I'll just take 10%. That's all. That's it. That's all I want.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 18:06

Yes. Collect. Collect

Dex: 18:08

On your Octane website, you mentioned that 60% of your clientele are women and or bipo businesses. Do you think that is because you find them because of your social circles, or do you think it's just easier for them to find you because they identify with you?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 18:24

Yeah, I think it's a little bit of both, but I would like to lean on the fact that they identify with me in some way or another. They understand like the quirkiness of myself is also a little bit of quirkiness in them. I'd like to think that when we talk about gaming of any kind, maybe they don't know the game, but they understand that the strategy that I'm trying to use is something that's applicable to them in real life. So I'd like to think that yes, there's a level of myself that works, but also there's a level of octane that is applicable to anyone, accessible to anyone who's just open.

Dex: 18:58

Oh, okay. Yeah I can, I definitely dig that. I that kind of helps me segue a little bit, so I'm just gonna give you a little thanks for that one. I have a quote and I want you to guess who, who said this quote. And this is about you. This person says she is a quirky, professional, blurred that's a black nerd, for people that aren't in the circle with a heart of gold and an eye for creativity, and providing excellent client service.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 19:25

Oh my gosh. Ooh. Maybe. Oh my gosh. How, I don't know if even know

Dex: 19:32

You are just like, that could be anybody that's, yeah. Everybody says that about me. So that's my Brandon right there.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 19:40

yeah, I, to who that was. I can use that.

Dex: 19:43

You . I am just going to a suggestion that the next time Sicily stamper, that you go ahead and buy her a coffee

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 19:50

Oh my gosh, it's Cecily. Ah,

Dex: 19:54

Yeah.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 19:56

Huster. Oh my goodness. I love Cecily. She's one of my favorites actually. In hindsight of this interview we were talking just about the necessary things we have to go through, the uncomfortableness we have to go to get to change. And that was something that I wanted to bring up because I promised her that I would mention her, and here you are, mentioning her before me

Dex: 20:17

Hey, I didn't do a lot of homework when I was in school, I try and do homework. On people I really admire. So I guess that works out

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 20:23

Oh my goodness. Love that. Perfect.

Dex: 20:26

At some point you did come across Ms. Stamper. Tell me about meeting her

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 20:32

Oh my gosh. Tiffany and I are our lives a lot alike? We're both special needs moms. We both come from a journalism background at the same school, from the same school at different times, like really fate. And I actually was. Just and coincidentally talking about starting a podcast and it was, I definitely wanted to be named after my work, but not of my work. My hashtag is more, hashtag more than graphics and I've been using that for well over a decade and it was so easy for me to transit. From being behind the mic in podcast editing and podcast producing to being now in front of the mic and maybe even adding some friends along. And that's where Sicily really came in. I asked her if she was interested over lunch and she was like, are you kidding me? Yes. Let's go. So I love the fact that she is super cheerful, high energy as well. And we just both have that. We just both have that cool gel. She comes from more of a technical background and she's a. And I come from more of a technical background with creativity as well, so it just worked hand in hand. We're like PB and j. And this year we actually added a bonus co-host also a woman of color. Shout out to you Priscilla. So I'm super excited about the growth for this podcast.

Dex: 21:45

Oh man I'm just gonna go ahead and give my endorsement. I, and, in studying you I'd listened to a couple episodes and I was just like, man, these guys are good. I'm gonna have to step up what I'm doing because this is

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 21:56

We invite both girls.

Dex: 21:57

I'm

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 21:58

Oh, we invite girls and boys to this podcast, so don't feel left out. There's definitely all kinds of gems for everybody.

Dex: 22:04

talk dirty to me. That's all I'm hearing right now. But it's funny cuz that both of you guys come from journalism backgrounds. I was just having this conversation with a friend of mine who he also went to school for journalism. We were talking about, how different the industry was, before the internet versus now. And I was telling him, I really feel like it's going. Podcast where, you know a long form story will be done over, see a series of podcasts kinda like Serial, how Serial was done, and then all of the 24 hour news networks will pick up bits of it and then that'll just push it there. So then it becomes, you still maintain the creativity while also being able to get the revenue in order to maintain the. So I think if journalists play their cards right and these visits, these news organizations play it as well, they can re-feed the beast. . Danielle Meadows Stinnett: I love that. Wow. Yeah. Re-feed the beats. Let's go. I absolutely, I love that because I feel like in a lot of ways, the skillset that was taught, During the earlier years of journalism are actually the foundational skills that you would need to have to even really get started with podcasting. You have to have a story, you have to have a little bit of a foundation, and umbrellaing the story. So developing the story, I love the fact that you mentioned specifically that in order for a lot of these journalism that are up and coming, Learning how to use a series, right? Learning how to break up information is super, super productive. So yeah, I completely agree 100%. Yeah, cuz really with, information and the internet and we're so much, we're fed so much information. It's coming out us so fast that. , when you really look at stories, it takes a long lens, a long view of the whole thing in order to get a full understanding. And there are people out there that still want the full understanding. They're the types that listen to podcasts or audiobooks. They want the full knowledge of it, not just the headlines or the click bait or just some sort of, I call it bumper sticker politics, people that have bumper sticker politics think that bumper sticker answers are to nuanced questions and it's just it. No, you need a nuanced answer for nuanced questions so people are

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 24:17

Completely agree. Wow. Shout out to y'all keeping up with the Joneses. I love

Dex: 24:22

I know. I can't believe I did that off of only one cup of coffee today. So just gonna give myself a little pat on the back there. . Now I listened to your prioritize episode. Getting back to more than more than graphics podcast now. Tell me about the lessons you learned to get to that point and how it was never an easy lesson to learn.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 24:43

Oh my goodness. Prioritize is very it was hard for me very much in the early years of starting my business because I knew what I wanted, but I didn't know how to get there. And. , even though I had support of other people in the community and whatnot, what made prioritize super special especially in this particular episode, was me looking back these are the areas that I did great at Like keeping a list, focusing on three things, right? Not to get overwhelmed, go see some green outside, prioritize outdoor time. I think that was super important. Also prioritizing communities, the people that are supporting you. It doesn't have to be 50 people deep. It can just be three. It could be two I think it's super important to prioritize your goals and to stay focused on those goals. Even though we talk about prioritize, like being that focus, it's actually a cluster of multiple things, of multiple systems that are working for you. And so I really love the fact that you mentioned that prioritized episode because that is something we brought up multiple times, is having the right things in place so that everything counter works with each other to create the result that.

Dex: 25:53

Oh, okay. All right. I'm going to continue with the prioritized episode because you mentioned in it to take time to celebrate yourself,

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 26:01

Yes.

Dex: 26:02

remind us why we should do that, and how do you celebrate yourself?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 26:08

Oh, I love it. Okay, celebrating for me sometimes can be seen as me being selfish in a lot of ways. Just know that I'm not, I'm just celebrating myself. I think it's really important that we take the small things and we cherish those small things. So even if it's a small win, like being able to go check the mail outside without a dog barking at you the entire time, or maybe it's being able to not be interrupted for 30 minutes at a time depending on what your atmosphere is like. Maybe it's just sending the email. To do something else that pivot that change in our careers or our lives, that one email could make a difference. It's celebrating those small wins and realizing how precious life really is. It really is in the small moments, in the small joys. And I love the fact too that when you bring up the prioritized episode, it's also a reminder to myself. Cause I think about it now, after the. How many other people were able to listen to those words and realize that they could do something different, that there's another opportunity for them to pivot, to change something so they could better in other areas or another new area that they're creating for themselves. So thank you for that reflection point. Cause , I don't get to do that very.

Dex: 27:18

Oh, . Hey. No, thank you. I I I realized there, there was one part of your your background that I didn't get a chance to bring up, and it's something that I feel would be a huge crime if I didn. In 2021, you land, you launched Kentucky Creatives. Tell us about that. C.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 27:39

Absolutely. It's a little, a big part of where I want to go in the future, but it's pr pretty much like an influencer marketing group. It consists of podcasters, bloggers videographers, anything in and around content animators things along those lines. And it started out originally as a group called Kentucky Blogger. That was originally founded by Aisha Nandu, and I really absolutely loved her to death when I first met her. And she was actually just doing things in and around blogging. And I decided when it was handed to me to take this group and really reinvent it into something different. And so I've been more of an influencer marketing route, and since then we've been able to work with some really big Kentucky brands so that they can work more locally with local influencers versus using influencers that are out of state.

Dex: 28:29

Yeah, definitely. It's, you know what's funny is that you You've done so much npr blurs podcasts, of course you are podcast and everything. Which podcast was your favorite and why is it mine?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 28:44

Ooh.

Dex: 28:45

You saw what I did there,

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 28:46

Favorite Uhhuh. You slid it right? Slide it right in

Dex: 28:49

right? That's what I do.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 28:50

I need to listen a little bit deeper. Text I need to do that, but I definitely, I don't, in my opinion, I feel like. Every podcast has certain gems about it that make it unique. But of all the experiences that I've been able to have, I feel like some of the more interpersonal ones have actually been with men on different podcasts that I've spoken on. I just feel like I grew up very tomboyish. I'm very comfortable in hanging out with the fellas and now that I have three boys, I get even more, hanging out with the fellas and I just feel like it's I'm.

Dex: 29:22

I said that's how it works.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 29:24

Yeah, . So I just feel I've always felt comfortable in that range. And when I started to become more of myself and actually being more a part of women communities it really came more apparent to me, like how much of myself Just embedded in what different podcasts I've been able to be on. So I see myself in almost everything, in almost all elements. Whatever. I'm talking on this, it's talking about video games, it's talking about my, my family life is talking about work, right? For Octane. I just feel like it's, I don't have a particular favorite, but I do say, I am more feeling in my roots or feeling myself when I'm amongst the fellows when I'm hanging out with the dudes. So I don't know if that's just part of my boy mom attitude for 2023 or not.

Dex: 30:10

You have so many quirks. And I remember on the email I had sent you, I mentioned your Dora Milage cos. . But I wanted to also bring up a, another picture and it's you're standing in front of a bunch of TVs. Are you aware of the picture I'm talking about?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 30:28

Yes.

Dex: 30:29

Do you remember what movie was behind you playing on the TV behind you?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 30:34

Oh my gosh. Not on top of my head. I don't, but if I actually go back to actually look at it, I probably could name it. I was literally shooting that inside of a that was an arcade. We have a local arcade here called the Brol Arcade, and that's one of their features in the arcade is this giant wall of old TVs. And I absolutely wanted to, at the bottom of that particular feature, piece of the wall is a ton of Ns games Xbox controllers, like things that you normally would just hang out with if you're gaming. And so I decided that I was gonna hold a controller and. These TVs and I wasn't even paying attention to what was on the tv. I just wanted to get the, that back photo for the photo. Amani Nache also world famous, and I think it's really interesting that when I was taking that photo there was a little kid that was next to me on the left and he kept wanting to hand me controllers because he wanted someone to play with. And I just thought that was so special. As I'm talking about gaming and being in this place to create branding for gaming that someone just wants to hang me remote and keep playing. And I do a lot of terminology and referencing, we've got more gamer tokens, we've got controllers, we've got all the things that you need to play. And that's my reasoning is because I referenced that particular scene from the very beginning.

Dex: 31:54

Aw story of your life. Somebody just wants to play a video game with you, . Danielle Meadows Stinnett: Yeah. I'm the movie that was playing behind you was boondock Saints.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 32:04

Of course it was.

Dex: 32:05

And I recognized it because of Ron, Jeremy, and I remember that part of him and what a, a douche bag He was that movie.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 32:14

Yes.

Dex: 32:15

Yeah,

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 32:17

Great movie. Oh my gosh,

Dex: 32:19

was a great movie. It was, it, it's sad that we couldn't get more stuff like that, but it is what it is. It is what it is.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 32:28

To settle for Saints Row for now. And as far as like gaming is returned, cyber Pump did its thing too. So we'll hold on.

Dex: 32:34

Definitely. I do this thing where I say, someone in the back of the class wasn't listening. What is the one takeaway from this conversation for the one person that was sleeping in class?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 32:46

Do it. I think that's the number one thing I wanna tell remind people those building blocks we talk about in Tetris, it's because we don't know what the next block's gonna bring. We don't know whether or not it's solid fireable. We don't know whether or not it's formidable, but we do it anyway. And I feel like that's the hope that we bring both to ourselves and to other people when we follow our dreams, when we follow.

Dex: 33:11

Where was this advice when I was in the seventh grade? Like you could have been a great guidance counselor for me, and I'm gonna have to hold you personally responsible for not for my entire life. So there's that.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 33:29

We can be pen pal. I'm cool with that.

Dex: 33:31

I'm all about it, man. I'm all about it. I will definitely get ahold of you. But for all those people out there, how do they get ahold of?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 33:41

Absolutely. Instagram is my jam. So follow Octane Designs with an S on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter and Pinterest.

Dex: 33:51

Awesome. Awesome. I am also gonna keep that information in the show notes. Who did you wanna shout out besides Sicily?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 34:01

Oh my gosh. Obviously Priscilla I wanna shout out, oh my goodness. My whole team, my whole squad team Octane, Aggie and Vico and Vidi and Amy. And myself and Tavia, oh my gosh, that's my squad. These are, these girls hold me down. I'm so grateful for them and their assets and their absolute genius that they bring to octane.

Dex: 34:22

Oh man. That's it right there. That is it right there. I do my best to try and find the type of guest that would impress my brother. My brother's kind of my hero, my role model. He's my younger brother. But, it's funny like that sometimes, but I feel like you are more the type of guest that would impress me. But he would also be impressed because I feel like. We had ever decided, put on a podcast or something together or an episode together, we would go have drinks or hang out or have coffee, or I can beat you in Mario cart or something.

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 34:55

Yeah. . Let's go.

Dex: 34:58

I'm all about it too. I've been practicing on the switch. I'm just, yeah. And

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 35:02

Oh my gosh. Anytime. Mario Cart, let's go.

Dex: 35:06

that is

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 35:06

Or Smash Brothers. I'll take you to work

Dex: 35:08

you will just beat me up in Smash Brothers. It'll just be like a regular public school bullying session. I'm used to it it's whatever, But I before I let you go, I just wanna say to everybody out there that I really do try and embody the spirit of each one. Each one. , all the guests that I bring on they give the best advice, they have the best energy, and they really do drop the most sage knowledge. And if you want to keep supporting all of that, please. Go to in the black podcast.com. There's, you can sign up to follow the podcast. You can sign up to buy me a Coffee, or, the best way to really support the podcast is to share with someone because there is somebody out there that needs to hear. From wonderful guests like Ms. St. It right here, or Meadows St. Great guests like Danielle Gina, and one of my favorites, Francois Baptist. There's just great people out there and I'm gonna keep bringing them to you. You just let me know how you want me to support this community that we're bringing together. And so for my amazing guest, Danielle, is there anything you wanna say for anybody?

Danielle Meadows Stinnett: 36:16

Y'all stay steady. Stay safe, stay steady. Stay ready.

Dex: 36:20

That's what's up. Yeah, let's do it. , for my amazing guest, I am Dex. This is in the Black, and you can find us on Spotify, apple, wherever you listen, please follow let us know what you think by leaving a review. And again, go to in the black podcast.com and we will see you guys later.