Here at Frances Roy, we seek motivation and inspiration through books, movies, podcasts, music, magazines, blogs, and so forth. Creativity presents itself in many forms and we harness that creativity through these exposures. By sharing our team RWL’s with you, we hope to extend this inspiration and offer it as a platform for contagious creativity. As we present our individual RWL’s, we ask you to share your own RWL’s with us. Where do you find creative inspiration?  

Shantelle P. Dedicke, CMP 
President/Chief Creative Officer

Hillaree Durso, Senior Director of Content & Marketing 
R: Mental Toughness by Harvard Business Review and Linkedin Articles
W: Top Gun Maverick and Family Feud
L: Diary of a CEO by Steven Bartlett and the Hello Frances Podcast

Janae Erickson, Art Director

Kelsey Doar, Marketing Manager 

Jodie Warner, Research Coordinator 

July 1st marks the 6th year of Frances Roy Agency and we’re making this year all about our team. This week, host Shantelle Dedicke is joined by some of our team members to discuss goals and inspirations for year 6 and more. Make sure to follow along with us over the next year as we celebrate the Year of the Team and all the great things to come. Have questions about or for our team? Email he***@********oy.com.

Although graphic design has evolved throughout recent years, many still believe common myths about this ever-changing art form. Our Design and Content Coordinator Kayla Koger and Junior Copywriter Jacie Chandler host this week’s episode of the Hello Frances Podcast to share their takes on a few common graphic design misconceptions. Questions for Kayla and Jacie? Email he***@********oy.com.

Everyone’s raving about TikTok, the social media platform that took the world by storm in 2018 and has been growing in popularity ever since. Let’s discuss how the app works, some interesting statistics, and how your business can grow if you decide to be on TikTok.

The Basics

TikTok is an app for making and sharing short videos that are usually between 1-3 minutes long, but with recent updates they can even extend to 10 minutes. The videos are tall, and you navigate through videos by scrolling up or down on the app like a feed, not by tapping or swiping side to side. You can view videos on three different feeds: “Following” shows you videos from the users you follow, “Friends” shows you videos from users that follow you back, and “For You” is where TikTok uses their algorithm to show you videos they think you would enjoy.

Creators have a variety of tools at their disposal, including filters and sound searching, to record and edit videos on the app. Users are also strongly encouraged to engage with other users, which can be done through response videos to comments or duets with other users’ videos. Hashtags are surprisingly important on TikTok as well. While they exist to organize videos by trends or repeating jokes, users tend to use them on all their videos to gain exposure.

Interesting Statistics

Statistics sourced from https://www.yellowhead.com/blog/tiktok-facts-and-stats/.

TikTok is used by more than one billion users around the world, and this is huge, because other apps usually take more than four years to reach the billion-user mark. TikTok was able to accomplish this feat in around three years and is still among the fastest growing brands in the world.

TikTok also is the most popular app among U.S. teens and young adults, with 70% of teens across the U.S. using TikTok. It is most popular among teens, but people between 20 and 29 are the second biggest age group, followed by those 30-39. By marketing on TikTok, advertisers can target the important 18-34 age group, which tends to be more willing to try out new things. 

TikTok’s engagement rate is significantly higher than other major networks including Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Its usage per day also continues to grow; it was 62 minutes in 2020 and rose to 68 minutes per day as of 2022. 

How You Can Grow

Since TikTok has such a high engagement rate and is popular with the age group that’s more innovative than others, your business can thrive on TikTok. Being on TikTok offers you multiple ways to spread the word about your brand, promote your products without it feeling salesy, and attract new customers by building strong relationships with your audience. To do this, your business should create unique and relevant content that means something to your audience while also staying true to your brand. That being said, there is a lot of work that goes into creating content for TikTok, including finding ideas or trends to use for videos, recording videos, and editing videos. Your business should decide whether you have the capacity to create meaningful content often enough to gain traction on TikTok and thrive on the platform. If not, there’s no harm in being off TikTok, but it is something to keep in mind for the future!

Have questions about TikTok or whether your business should make an account? Feel free to comment below or email he***@********oy.com!

Business owners often find themselves faced with big decisions they have to make that affect their business, their employees, and their future. Recently, Shantelle had to make an important decision for Frances Roy, and with doing her research, she began to consider her intentions and if they aligned with those of the agency. She discusses her process for making a decision for the organization and how this can affect the overall vision for Frances Roy Agency. 

Did you love this episode? Send us an email at he***@********oy.com. We’d love to hear from you! 

The time is now to go after the internship you want! Internships are a great way to test out your skills and see if the field you intend to be in is the right fit for you. Let’s look at key takeaways from my experience as an intern at Frances Roy.

Internships provide you with real-world experience.

Even though you get some real-world experience inside the classroom, nothing beats the real-world experience you get from being an intern at a company. There seems to be a disconnect between real-world experience and classroom experience. When you are an intern, you work directly with your organization, therefore, your projects are more meaningful to you and the business. You get a great idea of how a company flows and how to best collaborate with other people in a professional setting.

Internships allow you to work with a team and better understand yourself.

Working with a new company or team may be awkward at first but remember that internships are a two-way street. When working with a team, especially if you do not have former work experience, you’ll learn how to best communicate with other team members, the strengths you bring to a team, and what role within a team fits you best. For example, during my internship, I learned that innovative ideas and organizational skills are a few strengths of mine. Knowing this helped me understand myself better. Use this type of insight post-graduation to help you pursue your ideal role in an organization. 

Internships provide opportunities to land the job. 

One of the best outcomes of an internship is to land a job with the business you are interning with. If you’ve put your best foot forward during your internship, by finishing tasks and projects with superb work and positioning yourself as an asset to the team, then there is a big chance that you will get a job offer to stay with the company. If the business you’re working for can’t hire you on their team, see if they can write you a letter of recommendation and be a reference for you. 

"I’m so happy that my internship experience at the agency allowed me to continue working with the team as a Junior Copywriter, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me at Frances Roy!" - Jacie Chandler, Junior Copywriter at Frances Roy

Have questions or want some advice for landing your next internship? Comment below or email he***@********oy.com.

Jacie Chandler, former Intern and current Junior Copywriter of the Frances Roy Agency is the host of this week's episode of the Hello Frances Podcast. In this episode, she discusses her time as an intern and why she believes internships are important. She shares some key takeaways from her time at Frances Roy, including real-world experience outside of the classroom, learning how to work with a team, and becoming more confident in yourself and the work that you accomplish. Questions for Jacie? Email he***@********oy.com. Learn more about how internships can benefit you with our blog this week written by Jacie at francesroy.com.

Director of Marketing and Community Relations at Step One Automotive Group, Maureen Bierman, joins us on this episode of the Hello Frances Podcast to discuss their past five years of business and their upcoming celebration for their anniversary. Maureen shares the exciting details of their Step One Fest on June 12th, the core values of their company, the successes Step One has had over the years, and much more. To join us at the event and to enter to win amazing prizes, sign up for the Step One Fest today! 

Although graphic design has evolved throughout recent years, many still believe common myths about this ever-changing art form. Graphic design is more than just creating logos or print materials, it now spans digital and even virtual reality creations. Here are a few common misconceptions about design and clarification of the common myths. 

1: Graphic design has to be trendy.

Keeping up with the latest trends is an important part of successful branding for a business, but these trends do not define professional graphic design. Trends may inspire you or push you to use new methods and develop new skills, but they shouldn’t be the main focus of your design. Designs that incorporate trends can look outdated a few months down the road, and therefore will not have a powerful impact on your audience in the long run.

2: You need fancy tools for graphic design.

Most professional graphic designers use design software like the Adobe Suite or a tablet with a stylus for freehand design elements. These resources give the designer more freedom with their designs, but the technology can be expensive and take some time to master. If you’re looking to create graphics, many free tools are on the market, including Canva, that make graphic design easier for the average person. Either way, using a form of graphic design software can help give your brand an elevated and professional look. 

3: Graphic design is about making things pretty.

Even though aesthetics are part of the graphic design process, that’s not something you would specifically ask a graphic designer to do. Graphic design is the art of creating visual content to communicate a message or tell a story for your brand. To do that successfully, the graphic designer has to think about what will shock the viewer, prompt thought, or even make the audience angry depending on the purpose of the design.

4: You have to be born creative to be a graphic designer.

There’s no doubt that some graphic designers are just born with artistic and creative skills, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn the art of graphic design. Anyone is capable of making effective designs or building a career in graphic design with the appropriate schooling, training, and consistency. 

5: Graphic design is about creating 100% original designs every time.

Originality is important because it sets you apart from other brands or competitors. However, this does not mean that you have to create 100% original designs from scratch every time you make some form of visual material. Many graphic designers set up templates for when they create a similar asset on an ongoing basis. This template ensures that the graphics will have consistency across all brand collateral.

Did you have graphic design myths to share? Let us know in the comments!

Photographer and Black and Gold Agency owner Elizabeth Waterman joins us on this episode of the Hello Frances Podcast to share her journey in the creative world and owning and operating her creative agency. Elizabeth shares how her business has evolved throughout the years, where she plans to take Black and Gold Agency in the future, how she and her team impact the clients they serve, advice she would give to her younger self, and so much more. Listen to the full episode now wherever you get your podcasts. Questions for Elizabeth? Send them to he***@********oy.com. To learn more about Elizabeth and her company, check out her Instagram and agency website.