Work Besties Who Podcast

Authentic Storytelling: The Journey of Roxy Couse

• Work Besties Who Podcast • Season 2 • Episode 68

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In this inspiring episode of Work Besties Who Podcast, we sit down with Roxy Couse—content creator, corporate leader, and the voice behind the “Millennial Manager” movement. Roxy shares how she balances a thriving corporate career with consistent content creation, why authenticity is the foundation of personal branding, and how community and storytelling drive her success.

From tackling burnout to setting boundaries, Roxy opens up about the lessons she’s learned along the way. We also explore the lighter side—her love for iced coffee, her rule about work besties, and why you don’t need permission to be funny at work.

If you’ve ever wondered how to merge corporate life with creative expression, this episode will give you both the encouragement and the strategies to start today.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Why performance alone won’t get you promoted
  • How to balance corporate responsibilities with creative passions
  • The role of authenticity and personal branding in content creation
  • Roxy’s strategy for avoiding burnout through high/low effort content
  • Why one true work bestie can make all the difference
  • The power of storytelling in building community and influence
  • How small rituals—like coffee—can connect us back to our roots

Takeaways:

  • You don’t need permission to be funny.
  • Authenticity is key in content creation.
  • Balancing corporate life and content creation is challenging but possible.
  • Personal branding should reflect all aspects of who you are.
  • Boundaries protect what matters most.
  • Work besties provide essential workplace support.
  • Managing burnout requires self-care and content balance.
  • Storytelling is a powerful tool for engagement.
  • Building community creates lasting growth.
  • Finding joy in small moments enhances daily life.

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Work Besties! Theme Song Written by Ralph Lentini @therallyband

Jess:

What do you get when you mix a sharp sense of humor, spot-on self-awareness and a killer content game? You get Roxy freaking Couse. This isn't just an episode, it's a whole amazing vibe. Wait till the end, guys, because you will hear from Roxy herself. How do you make work feel more like you?

Claude:

Hi, I'm Claude. We are corporate employees by day, entrepreneurs by night and work besties for life.

Jess:

Join us as we explore how work besties lift each other up, laugh through the chaos and thrive together in every industry. Work besties Welcome Roxy. It's very much an understatement to say we are so freaking excited to have you.

Roxy Couse:

Thanks for having me. I'm happy to be here.

Jess:

So we wanted to just get right into it and ask you some questions about you yourself and how you started this whole movement. So how did you get to be who you are, finding that niche and the voice that you have, which is so unique?

Roxy Couse:

That's a great question. So it's kind of been this, this journey, and people that follow my content now and they probably know me as, like, the millennial manager. But that wasn't where I started. Actually, I was trying to create something and, outside of thinking about work, I didn't want to talk about work, I just wanted to be creative. So I started creating content about being a homebody. Because I am a homebody outside of the office, I was doing really well Like in terms of that.

Roxy Couse:

I've always loved home decor In my career. I've actually worked for home decor businesses in the past, so it's like that's so true to like who I am. So I started talking about being a homebody and curating my home with these things that I love. But then one day I was just like thinking about what can I do? What can I talk about?

Roxy Couse:

And I just randomly posted this video about around performance alone will not get you promoted. It was. It was heavy on my heart. I mean, I've been in corporate for a long time. I know this to be true and the video did extremely well and what I have found in terms of your niche and like what you do, it's very easy to. You can avoid who you are or you can really honor that and embrace it, and I felt like that's when the magic happened and I started to grow a following and people started to really resonate and find my content relatable, and so that's that's where we are today. I still kind of like, still the homebody, but I am very much about how to thrive in the corporate space now.

Jess:

Which I think is so fascinating, because when you and I first started connecting I vaguely remember the homebody stuff, but it wasn't until you commented it that I had to go scroll for it.

Claude:

And it is. If you go deep down, you'll find it. Yeah, because we came after right.

Jess:

And it was all about, like you said, this millennial manager and I feel like the one thing that also came out when you and I had our sign conversation. I would have no idea from from watching your content, which I find fabulous and we'll be referencing more on, I had no idea that you were still working nonstop as well. So to us who have the nine to five jobs, you're balancing this content creation while still working, which is fascinating to us. How did you find the time to balance these two?

Roxy Couse:

Yeah, it's so funny because I feel I always say like I've, I've been living this like Hannah Montana kind of life, and it's actually when someone at work and it has happened often enough but I still get surprised if someone says like I'm on a call and they're like Roxy, I follow your content, I'm like what. I don't know this person at all. It just feels like it's this totally separate thing that I am. But even while it's funny, like as I've grown as a content creator and I've been doing it for a number of years now I've gotten promoted, I've switched companies, I've traveled for work a lot some time. Sometimes I was traveling three out of four weeks in the month but I was still showing up online and in my content because it's so important, because it was so important to me. So, yeah, I'm still working in corporate. I'm not full time. Actually, this is a new development. I went part time but I've been working in corporate this whole time and just balancing the content creation side with my my nine to five.

Claude:

How do you do that? Because it's so much work, like you know, we are there and we are not as consistent as you are, so you're a motivation. How do you do it?

Roxy Couse:

I'll be honest, I've had a lot of roles in corporate. So I've been on the strategy side. I've been like a product designer. I've worked with agencies and written briefs. I just feel like everything that I've ever done in corporate was preparing me to be able to do this for myself. When I work with the brand and brands tell me this all the time they're like you're so organized, your briefs, you're so responsive. I'm like the bar is on the floor If I can't reply all to your email. So some of it feels like second nature for me.

Roxy Couse:

I'm great at like managing my time and having autonomy and getting the work done and managing my to do list and so, like a lot of it feels like it's like second nature and it's almost like okay, I said I was going to shoot a video today, so like, let me get this out In terms of like how I actually do it. When I was first starting, I actually went on this I need to post every day for six months. So before work I was writing scripts, posting I would do my job. Because I work from home, I would do my do my job during throughout the day. If I like had an idea, I'd like jot it down somewhere, like, and later I'd either shoot it or I'd come back to it. But it's like before work, after work, weekends, like those are all opportunities for me to work on this, like side hustle content creation. I've just figured out, like, how to balance it and how to make it work without sacrificing the quality of my work during the day.

Jess:

That resonates with us really well. I do it usually first thing in the morning. You do it after work.

Claude:

And then weekend yeah, the weekend. I do most of it on the weekend.

Jess:

You've got that vision and ability to hustle, you'll find the time. You're right. It's just one of those that if you enjoy, you enjoy it. You'll find the time for sure.

Roxy Couse:

Exactly, you always find my husband thinks I'm crazy. Sometimes when I have script in my head, I can barely sleep because I'm excited I'm gonna wake up early in the morning. I gotta, I gotta shoot this. I actually did this, like yesterday, like it. Just you will find the time if you're, if you love it and like you, you have this like north star. I know where I want to go. You figure out how to work it into your life.

Jess:

I'm only tapping because, uh, how many times I like send her a text at like 3 am and she's like why are you writing to me at 3 am? I woke up and I got this inspiration. I just want to get it out there and like, let's go do it, uh-huh exactly we're like.

Roxy Couse:

I don't know if it's like people that are like geniuses or like you have trouble sleeping because you have all these ideas. I'm not saying that like we're geniuses by any means. Maybe we're crazy, I don't know, but passionate.

Jess:

We're passionate. So, speaking about, like stuff in your brain, what really sets you apart from my perspective, and it's your personal branding and how you bring yourself to life, whether it is if people go all the way back and see your home body section. I relate to that just as much as I relate to your content on the Millennial Manager, those love letters so much your personal branding to me is really what rises above. What do you think people get wrong about? Personal branding overall?

Roxy Couse:

That's a great question. When it comes to personal brand, one of the things that I've been very careful about is it's about me. I'm the brand, so it's not attached to my employer, it's not attached to the jobs that I've had. It's me as the person, and when you become the brand, you can branch out into so many different things. I'm a storyteller, I love to write poems and I love talking about home and I love all these different things and those just become that's Roxy, as opposed to if you only spoke about a specific thing.

Roxy Couse:

If I only talk about being a millennial manager, I put myself in this box almost, and people come to expect that from you and it's hard for people to come along on the journey when they're so used to seeing you as this one thing. So I've just made sure that my brand is well-rounded. All the things that make up who I am I've heard it said many times is you are the niche, like it's you. It can't be like Roxy, who works in corporate from nine to five, because if I no longer work in corporate from nine to five, you would have a hard time relating to me, because that's all of who I am.

Jess:

I love that. That's fantastic. The element of authenticity. What does that mean to you, especially in relationship to the content?

Roxy Couse:

I love creating authentic content and there's always a little truth to everything that I create. Sometimes the timelines are switched around and I'm not too specific. I've talked about like I've had a boss who didn't like me but you don't know if that was now or if that was like years ago. But I do. Every story that I've told and I think the reason why people can relate to it is because we're experiencing these similar things. We've all had this and this is from real experience of working in these spaces and from my life, and it just comes out.

Roxy Couse:

Authenticity doesn't mean that you tell everything that's ever happened in your life and you expose every element of your life Because, for me, I create, I don't document. So I don't talk necessarily about my husband. I don't talk about the day in the life and what we're doing and all of these types of things. The content that I am putting out is authentic to who my husband. I don't talk about the day in the life and what we're doing and all of these type of things. The content that I am putting out is authentic to who I am. I'm only speaking from experiences that I've had.

Jess:

That's awesome. As your audience is growing, what part about yourself do you try to protect from that audience?

Roxy Couse:

One of the things that I've learned in creating content is that everything can become content. For example, I've tried to kickstart my health journeys and going to the gym and everything can be content. So it's very hard to protect certain parts of your life or to focus on those parts because you're like, oh, I could talk about this. So I am trying to be better at like making everything into content piece. I have started health journey and wellness and I have talked about it a little bit. I'm working out more, but every time I go to the gym I don't need to like filming it and talking about it, kind of like rose your mind off to um, uh, to be an intentional about this.

Roxy Couse:

There there are definitely some elements that I try to protect, things that, like me and my husband do like I don't do like date nights or I just did like this surprise 40th birthday for my husband weeks ago and some content creators would like post pictures and stuff. I just don't. And people do ask. People want more of you. They want you to talk about your home life and like marriage and like people ask me like is your husband a homebody? And all these kinds of things, and it's like he didn't sign up to be a content creator. My friends didn't sign up to be a content creator, so I just protect the people around me from the content stuff.

Jess:

That's smart, I think. That's one thing that I think we even talked about it too when we first started off. What are those areas that we would protect? And we talked about family and elements of that, because you need to have some element. That's just you know.

Claude:

Which is fine for some people that do it. It just depends where on for you and your authenticity, where you draw the line.

Roxy Couse:

Where you draw the line Exactly.

Claude:

So, which might be that for us and for other people, oh yeah, there's nothing wrong with it If anyone wants to share all of it.

Roxy Couse:

that's fantastic, I think just you need to know your boundaries and how you can do it in your own authentic way.

Jess:

Yeah, the focuses that we each have, which have some synergies, which is fantastic, definitely gear more towards how to help people from the career aspect, or personal and career not necessarily relationship.

Claude:

Regarding the balancing corporate life, you said earlier that some people, actually you know, say oh, I follow you, your company, like at the beginning. How did they react? You say that you've been moving companies, so what was their reaction all this time?

Roxy Couse:

and I've worked for for tech companies and in the tech space things are kind of changing where everyone is thinking about thought leadership and how can we be thought leaders in the space? When I first started I was so nervous about people at work like finding my social media. I started to get like serious on tiktok and actually people at work were like oh, oh, tiktok's for kids, they're dancing over there and I'm like cool, this is a great place for me because you're not over there. So I started on TikTok and I was just growing on TikTok and no one really talked about it. So I assumed that no one really knew like what I was doing. I probably had like maybe like 90,000 followers on TikTok before I heard anything. But the people that talked about it they were marketers and so it was cool. People were cool about it.

Roxy Couse:

But I was very cognizant of the social media policy at work. I am I'm a stickler for the rules. If you tell me I can't do something, I'm going to make sure that I don't do it. But there was nothing in there about creating a social media presence. It's just don't use work time to do it or don't talk on behalf of the company. I think every company has those same policies around it, and so I made sure that I stayed within the rules. What I found was that some of the topics that I would talk about especially if I talked about marketing and a retailer loyalty program the video just completely blew up.

Roxy Couse:

I work for a company that was like creating software for marketers, and when it was picked up by the media, that was really great. That's really great for the brand, because my company does marketing and I'm talking about marketing, so it's thought leadership, and I think that that's where I see a lot of corporate people having this opportunity to leverage who you are and your expertise to talk about topics that could benefit the brand. I'm just very cognizant of the social media policy and when I switched companies, I actually got clarification. I saw the social media policy. I was like getting through it and I went back because I wouldn't want to come into an organization. I assume everyone's Googling everyone these days, but who knows? Right?

Jess:

yeah, I do know it hit me like I don't want you to be like oh, you're a sports fan and your game's a little unique too, actually, if you didn't Google me, but I did get clarification and my boss was totally cool.

Roxy Couse:

They respected it, they loved it and maybe if you play within the rules of the organization, everything should be fine. I mean, it can be kind of weird at times, but I just try to make sure I follow the rules and not compete with my company. We're going to switch topics.

Jess:

One of the topics that our work besties love to learn more about is burnout. So you talked about you. Did you have a traditional job just recently? Part time, but at times you were full time and then you started building your career, which was full time. Did you have moments of this isn't sustainable. And then what did you do to help, kind, of course, correct that?

Roxy Couse:

For sure. There's definitely been moments where it didn't feel sustainable. So one of the reasons and a lot of people don't know this is that when you, when you start to create content the way that I was and I was doing the homebody stuff and it was more like vlog and I need to like go around my house with like a tripod and all this kind of like it's very labor intensive and it's it's it's a lot of work. I needed like a balance between low effort and high effort content, which is where the millennial manager came from, because the millennial manager content is low effort content. I set up a tripod here I'm talking to the camera so I just needed that balance and that's kind of like where it came from, because I could knock out like millennial manager content like 10 episodes or 10 posts in the time. It would take me to go around and do the vlog styles and editing and things like that.

Roxy Couse:

On the content creation side, in terms of you, you can't go hard all the time. You need high effort, low effort. You need to balance it. It's kind of like work. If everything is a priority, then nothing is. You need high priority, medium, low, the low hanging fruit things. That's how I balance it, but also if I need to take a break, I'm going to take a break, like there have been times when I've been traveling for work. I have a lot going on and I didn't have time to do the content. So I either would repurpose what I have I've learned the art of repurposing content and doing those things or I just sideline. It's a balancing act and I mean you will burn out if you don't prioritize and take the time for yourself. So I try to balance.

Claude:

It's good to hear that from someone that is, you know, successful, that it's okay to stop and not to feel guilty, Because I know, at least for us, if we are not promoting, then there's also this guilt. Oh my God, my brand is going to go away. I'm going to lose. You know this and that. So I think that it's so important to hear that also from you for everybody that it's okay to pause. Obviously, it's not going to be for two weeks or three weeks, but you know a certain amount of time.

Jess:

Right, right, it does matter. I'm going to ask you that same question, but as your millennial manager self, what would you say to your community about how to deal with burnout?

Roxy Couse:

Well one. I have told direct reports this we're not saving lives. If you are feeling like you can't do it all, that's okay, like we're all human and it is important for us to take a step back and prioritize and think about, like what's important in the grand scheme of things, also asking for help. I've always been terrible at asking for help and which also leads to burnout, so I've gotten a lot better at that. But I just think it's this mindset shift of prioritization and also being really realistic with ourselves that we can't do it all and that's totally okay.

Jess:

Okay, this is just something I would love to know. I feel like every time I watch your videos not every time, but a lot of your videos you're making some type of iced coffee. In fact, I created an iced coffee for this. That's when I ran to the kitchen and fell. That's what I get for that. Where did this love of coffee come from, and what's your favorite coffee?

Roxy Couse:

oh, my love of coffee. So my love of coffee probably goes. It goes back to me, a child. So my mom, she loves coffee and she gets up. She's always gotten up like really early. She always has. She always had a pot of coffee going. So I always smelled coffee in the house and we would. We would always sit on the porch and sometimes I would like take a sip when I was younger. But now, like we can drink our coffee together, yeah, so I just think I just my love of coffee definitely comes from my mom loving coffee and it was just like these moments that we would have together.

Roxy Couse:

So, like I often think about, like when I'm making my coffee in the morning, I like think about my mama and, yeah, it's just like true to who I am. And iced coffee in the morning, I like think about my mama and, yeah, it's just like true to who I am. And iced coffee is definitely like a millennial, millennial thing. I love an iced coffee. And COVID, during COVID. I never made coffee at home before because I always went into it. No, no, no, no, no, I would never. I'm like I'm not doing this because I would always like be going into the office, so I stopped every day, like I'm the person that like, if I'm going to be late, I'm going to show up with, like coffee, with the coffee with Starbucks, starbucks or LadyBug yeah, exactly, I'm going to show up with coffee, being that we're about work besties.

Roxy Couse:

I'd love to chat with you a little bit about work besties. Do you, roxy, have a one or a few work besties? I have always had a work bestie. At every place that I've ever worked. It's been like you just have to, you just need someone.

Roxy Couse:

I actually remember, um, and I think it's I actually have talked about, like how you can find community through work. And for someone like me who, like I've moved around for work, you can find community through work. And for someone like me who, like I've moved around for work I'm originally from Texas. I worked in Arkansas, moved to Cincinnati for a job me and my husband moved to Michigan for, for another job that I had I've had to find community in these places and I've pretty much made a work bestie at every place, even working remotely. There's always that one person where you're like, okay, this is, this is my person. So yeah, I just I just love it and I mean these are people that they've been to my wedding, I've been in there. It's, it's just like work is such a great place to find these forever friends, especially when you can connect over the same dislike for somebody or some project, just say the trauma.

Claude:

What would happen if there were no trauma at work? Right, we would not have any no, you still.

Jess:

We'd be talking about like love island, which I know you love to talk about, or something like that. There might be more positive commentary. I don't know, but it's a joke. Sorry, I get your joke, but I do love that because I think to your point. With the work bestie element, you can find them anywhere, or hopefully you can or you should. The coolest part about it is you end up being friends with people that you probably in everyday life would not have thought to connect with thought to to connect.

Jess:

Oh, absolutely, friends, right? Yeah, and it definitely like helps give you more perspective on things and learning from each other.

Claude:

Right, because a lot of time you are going to, maybe, and it's, there's this thing on tiktok, it's always. You know, oh, my world bestie, I'm going to their kids their 70th birthday, or you know, their kid's graduation when you're only 25. So you know, it's just so funny because you actually learn so much from everybody. You know Absolutely.

Jess:

And this way around the work, bestie community. I feel like it's kind of embedded in your ethos without even calling it out. But within your community, do you try to intentionally incorporate that, whether online or in real life, or is it just kind of organically?

Roxy Couse:

happening in terms of like work bestie. Yeah, so I have talked about work besties. I actually did the work bestie interview. It's like interviewing this like new work bestie type of thing, and I did this like funny skit about, like you know, tell me about a time, and it's it's like interviewing this like new work bestie type of thing, and I did this like funny skit about, like you know, tell me about a time, and it's it's just like these questions around, like so if your work best is on PTO, then what's going to happen Then I'm on PTO. I think it's so funny that that dynamic I just feel like it's natural, Like I mean, I feel like online I'm like everybody's work best. I'm either your favorite manager or I'm your work bestie. So I don't know, I just feel like it's organic.

Jess:

So one of the things that we get asked a lot about ourselves is with your work bestie, how do you help each other stay grounded? So if you could think about one work bestie or the collective, because I know you've got a bunch- I have a large community and I consider them all my work bestie.

Roxy Couse:

But this might be a hot take, but I don't believe in having multiple work besties at my company so it's gonna be like one person, like it's like one or two. But I just feel like, if I'm like telling you all my things, I can't be having you have like 10 work besties, because what are you telling them? So I'm like exclusive, I need like one commit and we can have other friends. But they're not at that level that we are. I like that.

Claude:

For example, I have my work, bestie you, I will say everything. Then I have some friend at work that I will say something, but not everything. I know what to say to each other, right? I don't want everybody to know what is in my head. I can say she's weird, but I can say it to you only I actually am aligned.

Jess:

I feel like all three of us are similar. I don't think you can have more than one solid work bestie at the same company. Right To your point, you could have a solid work bestie at other places too.

Claude:

Oh yeah.

Jess:

But when the same company, I think you could have other friendly work, friends, friendly co -workers yes, but I would not sorry current company. I would not consider anyone else there. I work bestie outside of you.

Claude:

Yeah, I agree, I think that's so smart thank god, I was like I made the cut while I wasn't breathing. You know I didn't want to. Where is she going there?

Roxy Couse:

what, how? I um, you know it's always great to have besties, like in this environment, in the corporate environment, because I feel like it's so, it's such a unique experience. My work bestie, who might be like overwhelmed, I'm like, but you're about to go on PTO, so turn on your out of office and get like stop answering. Even this tough love, even though I'm like I'm still answering, but I'm gonna like turn it off. I'm gonna like build you up and make sure that, like you're like you have somebody that has your back. That's like my thing and like, having this work bestie, like I got your back, I'm, I'm here for you. So which?

Jess:

I I mean working in the corporate environment, anywhere. You still want to have like that close knit of people in general, for sure, but to have someone know everything about you and I think maybe the difference is like that one work bestie doesn't know just the work stuff but the personal stuff they know the more.

Roxy Couse:

yeah, exactly.

Jess:

That's the point of differentiation, because I'm not going to go tell everybody about all my personal things that are going on that are in fact impacting how I show up at work, but they definitely will that one work bestie will know it all Kind of like.

Roxy Couse:

Even when I was creating content, I have had a work bestie who I'm like I don't know if, like I told them. I eventually told them I was like I don't know if you know that I'm doing this, but I'm getting a little following online and this is turning like. I would just I would always like tell them about like okay about like okay, this is happening, I'm so nervous.

Claude:

And they're like why do you need to like own it?

Jess:

But yeah, and they were there to support you and hype you up, which is every step of the way, which is amazing and fantastic, because I'm sure they're not along that same journey with you, so they have no skin in the game outside of just being that supportive person.

Roxy Couse:

Right, exactly, exactly. I love that.

Jess:

Of all your content creation. What's your favorite kind of area that you've focused in on, or even a clip that you've done?

Roxy Couse:

So my favorite is probably the storytelling aspect of it and I'm so glad I've been able to like come back to that. So I mentioned it in a comment on one of my videos where people were like you're a lyricist, are you writing a book? But when I was growing up, we had very little. But one of the things that my mom found was there was this program, it was called Young Writers Program and it was at the college and they happened like every year and it used to be free.

Roxy Couse:

I recently saw that there's a fee but like everything's more expensive now these days we're like, but like everything's more expensive now these days for like programs like that but it was this free program in the summertime. I went every summer and it was like a week long program and you wrote stories. They taught you how to write different poetry types, like a haiku and all this kind of stuff. At the end of the summer program you would get this book and everybody had their work published in the book and I had poems and all kinds of stuff and I I just love that program and I just feel in corporate we are tasked.

Roxy Couse:

You have to be a storyteller in order to get your point across or to bring people along on the journey. You have to be able to tell a really compelling story, and so it's just been very interesting how my love for writing and working in corporate and having to tell these stories it just makes up everything of like who, who you are, all these skills that you've gained along the way, and I've just loved being able to incorporate that into my content and try to think about how can I tell the best story, how can I move people. It's really a strategy behind it, but that's my favorite part of it.

Claude:

Which is totally your thing, because Jess is actually in Insights, which you always say. It's always about stories.

Jess:

How do you bring all of the facts into a story, because nobody remembers facts unless it's a story.

Roxy Couse:

It's a story Right.

Jess:

Exactly, exactly, and you have to bring them on a journey. So it's not only storytelling, it can't be about you. It's the audience. You're sharing it with right, and you do such a great job. Your content doesn't focus just on one thing, and even the topics that you have yes, it's the millennial manager, and you can look at us and see neither of us are millennials, but we still relate to it.

Jess:

Sorry, maybe people think twice you can tell I don't look like a millennial. Speak for yourself. I know I am not a millennial, but I definitely resonate with a lot of your content too.

Claude:

So even though it's focused on that, it's wide enough to still bring in people on the journey trigger that emotion right into people yeah, that's what it is, which brings us back for more which, by the way, is not so easy to trigger an emotion onto people. It is very hard. I feel like it's very hard.

Jess:

Well, I think it goes back to you. You're building a community similar to what we're trying to do. You've already established and people are on that journey, and if you build the community, you get to know who they are. So telling that story helps in a way, because you know what they're interested in. Yeah, yeah, yeah for sure, if somebody wanted to start into content creation they haven't yet. They've been thinking about it but they haven't like taken the stab yet. What would be your tip for them to get started?

Roxy Couse:

Just get started, so just start posting. So people ask me all the time it's like how do I get started? How do I come up with my niche? One? I think it's about being a marketer. I know what's about the odds. You have to figure out who you're talking to.

Roxy Couse:

One thing we say in marketing is if you're talking to everyone, you're talking to no one. It is much easier to talk to an audience that you yourself are a member of. So, like I can talk to millennials because I'm a millennial, I can talk to a girl in her 30s because I'm in my face. It's important to focus in on that audience. I'm going to talk to this one person about this one thing, and then you find that there's like a lot of people that also resonate with this thing. It's also important to have like an outside in way of thinking, and I actually was telling my hairstylist, the person who does my hair. I was looking at her social and it was a lot of selfies of her and I'm like but your hairstyle is, you're trying to get more business. It has to be outside in. You have to show the product.

Jess:

Style is you're trying to get more business. It has to be outside in.

Roxy Couse:

You have to show the product. Nobody wants to see the selfies of you. It's also like removing yourself from the equation and I've learned this thing. Like creating how do you tell a compelling story? Like I have to make you see yourself in this. This isn't about me, this is about you. So, for example, one of the strongest hooks that I felt like I've had was when I started doing the homebody content and like what I led was is anyone else a homebody? But yeah, you like being invited to things even though there's a 99% chance you're not going. It wasn't that made it less about me, it's about you and everybody's like yeah, I am. So if you're going to create, like it has to be, like selfless, like it not about you, it's about them. Start to create for a particular audience that, like you yourself, are a part of that you could talk about all day long and I just feel like that's the best way to get started.

Claude:

And, roxy, where can our audience find you?

Roxy Couse:

yeah, so it's at roxy cows, uh, instagram, tiktok, also youtube. Um, it's roxy cows on linkedin. Recently, like in the last year, I prioritized LinkedIn and I recently passed like 10,000 followers on LinkedIn, which I think is amazing because LinkedIn is so hard to grow on. So yeah, that's where you can find me.

Jess:

That is one thing I think most content creators don't understand is the different platforms have different ways to gain those audiences. And it isn't the same recipe.

Roxy Couse:

Absolutely yeah, that was my journey. Like I grew on TikTok and then I was like, let me prioritize Instagram. Grow on Instagram. And then I was like, okay, linkedin. And LinkedIn was last, because I work in corporate. Like you really get seen over there by the people that know you in real life. So, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jess:

Totally understand that. But to your point, celebrate the wins, even how small, like there's still big wins. Absolutely Exactly All right, we have one last question for you, roxy. How do you make work feel?

Roxy Couse:

more like you. I make work feel more like me by showing up as myself. So one of the things that I I have a, I have a, I have a sense of humor and it comes out in my content, like sometimes I'll think about, like you know, I'm like panicking about a deadline or like we're like oh no, this happened and I'm like this is nothing Like compared to like the grand scheme of what's happening in the world. Sometimes I'll have to stop myself from giggling. When I was younger, me and my cousin, who were the same age, we always got in trouble because we would just be giggling at like the wrong times, like in church or something like that, and so I just think we take ourselves so serious where, like sometimes, we just have to like laugh and be, be who you are. I just think, if you can like hone in on that and this is how I'm going to show up and it just it just helps you to to just be more comfortable in any environment that you walk into.

Roxy Couse:

I have nervous energy. I think millennials have nervous energy, and so one of the ways that I get over that is I always try to crack a joke at the beginning of a presentation. I'm going to make you laugh, I'm going to make you smile, I'm going to make this seem this is not that big of a deal, and I feel like I bring that into the content too, like I'm. It's going to be humorous, but there's going to be some real to it, and that's just how, how I am and how I show up.

Jess:

I love it. I think I have said this to you now at least five times, but I'm a huge fan of yours. We're both huge fans of yours. This has really been one of the coolest things for us too, so thank you so much for having this conversation with us. I feel like I am leaving this conversation a bigger believer of you than I was even before is it even possible?

Claude:

I don't know, I don't think.

Jess:

I relate to you so much because I also have that nervous energy and I kick off with humor as my way of combating it too. Your humor is um the way you do it.

Jess:

It's so honest and it's so real and having those conversations with you, the hustle that you have behind the scenes, that people don't see or know, that you've now shared with us. I just I find it commendable and I'm so in awe of you. Thank you so, thank you so much for sharing this with us. You've led with a lot of insights. You've given us permission to take a pause. You've given us permission to laugh.

Claude:

You've given us permission to say it's okay that you're living in chaos but take a step at a time and to make sure to be authentic.

Roxy Couse:

And.

Claude:

I really love the fact that you say it's not being selfish. You have to be selfless and talk to your audience, and that I think it's something that is really, really important.

Jess:

I will be re-listening to this nonstop and remembering this important occasion. For me, this conversation was a true honor of our podcasting lives and we'll be re-listening to it every time we need a reminder that it's possible to be bold, funny and full of heart all at once.

Claude:

So if Roxy's words hit home for you, take this episode as your sign. You don't have to hide who you are to be professional. You don't have to shrink to fit into workplace culture so you can be funny, real, ambitious and still protect your peace. So share this with your work bestie, your group chat or that friend who's learning to lead with their authentic self. Then come hang with us in the work besties community, where we celebrate bold voice, weird talents and all the messy, magical parts of showing up fully at work. Follow Roxy, cheer up and let her remind you you don't need permission to be yourself and to be funny, but if you're looking for it, this is it.

Jess:

Bye. Remember, whether you're swapping snacks in the break room, rescuing each other from endless meetings or just sending that perfectly timed meme. Having a work bestie is like having your own personal hype squad.

Claude:

So keep lifting each other, laughing through the chaos and, of course, thriving. Until next time, stay positive, stay productive and don't forget to keep supporting each other. Work besties.

People on this episode

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Claude F

Co-host
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Jess K

Co-host
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Roxy Couse

Guest