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Download our Black Friday, Cyber Monday playbook below! https://www.chantelbrayley.com/bfcm-playbook Everyone's tired. Everyone's overwhelmed. Not everyone has it all together, no matter what Instagram might tell you. In this week's episode of If You Know You Grow, Chantel is getting real about the end-of-year exhaustion that comes with building a business, chasing big goals and navigating the chaos of Q4. From the comparison trap and the pressure to constantly achieve more, to finding gratitude in the messy moments, protecting your wellbeing and remembering why you started, this episode is your reminder that you can be exhausted and still love what you're building. Because success isn't always pretty, things don't always go to plan, and sometimes the best thing you can do is give yourself a little perspective. Consider this your Q4 pep talk. You've got this.

Black Friday is coming… so consider this your survival guide. After 21 Black Fridays in retail and eCommerce, Chantel is answering your biggest BFCM questions — from when you should start planning and how deep your discount should really be, to acquisition, profit, clearing aged stock, lead gen, email flows, creative and the mistakes brands make every single year. Plus, Chantel shares her predictions for BFCM 2026, why 30% off could become the new baseline, and how to cut through the noise without sacrificing your margins or brand equity. If you’re heading into peak season feeling slightly overwhelmed, this one’s for you. Send prayers and snacks.

This week, Chantel is joined by someone who is usually on the other side of the camera — Nat! Nine months into working together, we’re pulling back the curtain on what working in marketing actually looks like. From career changes and breaking into the industry to 13-hour shoot days, creator campaigns, organic social, influencer marketing and the very unglamorous reality behind the content you see online. Nat shares what surprised her most about moving from content creator to working behind the scenes, how she put herself out there to land the role, and why getting comfortable with being uncomfortable might be one of the best things you can do for your career. Plus, we chat creator selection, constructive criticism, the messy middle of campaigns and why sometimes you just have to give it a crack and see what happens. If you’ve ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes in marketing or you’re trying to break into the industry yourself - this one’s for you.

What does running a business actually look like when things get hard? This week, Chantelle sits down with Anaita Sarkar — founder of Hero Packaging and Sell Anything Online — for a refreshingly candid conversation about the side of business we don’t always see online. They unpack the reality of cashflow pressures, changing consumer behaviour, knowing what to focus on when everything feels important, and why revenue and profit don’t always tell the full story. They also get into tall poppy syndrome, building a community that genuinely wants to see you win, the pressure to constantly prove yourself and why overthinking can be the very thing stopping you from putting yourself out there. From business survival to personal confidence, this episode is a reminder that success isn’t always as polished as it looks — and sometimes, you just have to do the thing anyway.

Your personal brand is saying something about you - whether you're intentionally curating it or not.This week, Chantel is breaking down the intersection between your personal life, your social media and your professional brand, and why your digital footprint matters more than you might think.From choosing what parts of your life to share (and what to keep private), to building content pillars that actually reflect who you are, Chantel shares how she approaches her own personal brand without turning her life into one big marketing strategy.Plus, we're talking authenticity, being a girl's girl, why someone else's success isn't your failure and the power of building a brand that makes people want to work with you - not just your resume.Because staying in one lane? Really f*cking boring.

Good marketing can get the customer through the door - but what happens next is what keeps them there. This week, Chantel is joined by customer experience expert Emily Elvey to unpack the part of business that too often gets overlooked: what it actually feels like to be your customer. With experience behind brands including MESHKI, THE ICONIC and M.J. Bale, Emily shares why customer experience is so much more than customer service, what brands get wrong when chasing acquisition without thinking about retention and why your CX team deserves a seat at the leadership table. They get into everything from loyalty programs and returns policies to AI agents, community, scaling pains and the small communication gaps that can completely erode customer trust. Plus, why customer experience might just be one of your most powerful forms of PR - because in the age of TikTok, one bad experience can travel very quickly. If you're spending money getting customers in but haven't thought enough about what happens once they arrive, this episode is for you. 🎧 In this episode: Why customer experience ≠ customer serviceWhat breaks in the customer journey as brands scaleAcquisition vs retention and why you need bothThe problem with treating CX as an afterthoughtAI, automation and the importance of good communicationWhy returns, policies and product issues are everyone's problemCustomer experience as community, retention and PRWhy understanding the psychology of your customer matters more than mapping a perfect funnelAnd, naturally, Emily shares five things that are expensive… but absolutely worth the money.

This week, it’s just us and consider this your overdue FaceTime catch-up. After celebrating one year of If You Know You Grow, Chantel is reflecting on the year that was, the community that’s grown around the podcast and what she wants the next chapter to look like. From choosing progress over perfection and learning to slow down, to raising the standard for the love she accepts, getting locked back into the habits that make her feel good and finally refusing to make herself smaller for other people - this episode is all about moving into the rest of 2026 with intention. Plus, there’s plenty happening behind the scenes, some very exciting things she can’t quite tell you yet, and a little glimpse into what’s coming next for IYKYG. The energy for the rest of the year? Lock in, take up space and stop minimising yourself to make other people comfortable.

What does it actually take to build a brand people care about AND keep that magic as it grows? Rachel Wilde has gone from launching a bootstrapped skincare start-up at 23 to leading a beauty business doing more than $50 million in revenue. Along the way, she’s built cult brands, created some of Australia’s most talked-about social moments and learned that growth isn’t always about having the perfect strategy... sometimes it’s about trusting your gut and being willing to move before you have all the answers. In this episode, Rachel and Chantel get into the parts of building a career and business that don't fit neatly into a playbook: backing yourself in rooms where you feel out of your depth, knowing when to ignore the loudest voices online, staying close to your customer as you scale and why chasing purpose might just be better for business than chasing profit. Whether you're building a brand, growing your career or figuring out your next move, this conversation is a reminder that you don't need to have it all figured out. You just need to be willing to do the thing and course correct along the way.

The season finale is here! Today I'm reflecting on my first quarter of being fully self-employed the lessons, the challenges, the wins, and the mindset shifts that have changed the way I approach business. I'm sharing what growth actually looks like behind the scenes, why investing in yourself is often the hardest investment you'll make, and how I'm planning the next six months across my business, team and personal life. We also dive into: My EOFY goal-setting frameworkWhy cash flow, people and processes matter more than everThe importance of taking your own adviceMarketing and consumer trend predictions for the second half of the yearWhy community, retention and real-life brand experiences are only becoming more valuableWhether you're a founder, marketer, creator or simply someone looking for a reset, I hope this episode gives you permission to pause, reflect on how far you've come, and build a plan for where you're heading next. Thank you for an incredible Season 2. Your support, messages and shares mean more than you know. I'll see you in August for Season 3 - with even bigger conversations, incredible guests and some exciting new projects I can't wait to share. Let's make the next six months our biggest yet!

https://www.mateship.app/ Jackson Mills This week, I sit down with entrepreneur, content creator, touch football representative and all-round opportunity magnet, Jackson "Millsy" Mills. From landing his first role at Qantas through cold outreach, to sliding into the DM's and receiving a reply from Mark Cuban, becoming friends with the Beckhams, working in cybersecurity, and now building innovative startup Mateship, Jackson shares the lessons he's learned from saying yes, putting himself out there, and backing himself long before anyone else did. Together they chat about personal branding, startup life, side quests, social media, building in public, and why some of the biggest opportunities come from simply starting a conversation. If you've ever wondered whether you should send the DM, take the meeting, launch the idea, or put yourself out there a little more, this episode is for you.

This week, we're diving into the world of parasocial relationships and asking a question I can't stop thinking about: Why is a woman's relationship often considered her most interesting piece of content? From Ariana Grande and Tammy Hembrow to soft launches, hard launches and everything in between, we're unpacking our obsession with knowing what's happening behind the scenes of other people's lives. I share a personal experience that made me realise just how invested people become in relationship content, why engagement skyrockets whenever romance enters the chat and whether creators should fight the speculation or learn how to control the narrative. Because at the end of the day, no matter how much content we consume, we never truly know what's happening behind closed doors. Let's talk parasocial relationships, internet culture, celebrity commentary and why maybe it's time we stopped writing fan fiction about real people's lives.

This week, we dive into the cultural phenomenon that has taken over everyone's feeds: Off Campus. But this isn't actually an episode about hockey boys. It's about what happens when brands learn to sit at the intersection of pop culture, entertainment and marketing. From viral reach and trending conversations to why social media is no longer just a marketing channel, We unpack the real reason some content explodes while other brands are still shouting into the void. Plus, a few EOFY marketing tips, thoughts on relevance versus trend-chasing and why the brands winning right now are building worlds - not just selling products.

⁠Join us at our next community event! Tickets here!⁠ Friendship is one of the most important parts of my life and honestly, one of the things I feel I've gotten right. In this episode, I'm sharing the stories behind some of the friendships that have shaped me, from my best friend of almost 20 years to the people I've met in Australia who have become family. We talk about what makes friendships last, why adult friendships can feel so hard to navigate and the difference between being connected by history versus being connected by values. I share my thoughts on friendship breakups, finding your people later in life, the importance of showing up for the people you love and why the strongest friendships are often the ones where you can happily do absolutely nothing together. If you've ever felt like you're struggling to find your people, wondering why certain friendships fade, or looking to build deeper connections, this episode is for you. Because at the end of the day, the best friendships aren't built on convenience or proximity, they're built on shared values, mutual respect, and choosing each other over and over again.

This episode feels a little more personal than usual. I’m sharing a real, unfiltered look into the season of life I’m currently in - the chaos, the growth, the overwhelm, the gratitude and the quiet moments where I’ve had to stop and ask myself what I’m actually building toward. Over the past few weeks, life has felt full in every sense of the word. From events, work, friendships, networking, long days, little sleep and big dreams, I’ve realised that not every season of life is meant to feel calm and balanced all the time. Some seasons are for healing, some are for slowing down and some are for growing. This episode is a reminder that it’s okay to be in a chapter where you’re stretching yourself, dreaming bigger, working harder and becoming someone new - as long as it’s aligned with the life you truly want. I talk about ambition, boundaries, relationships, mindset, nervous system regulation, online culture and the importance of getting honest about whether we’re actually committing to the life we say we want. Honestly, this one felt more like a journal entry than a podcast episode… but maybe that’s exactly why I love it so much.

TAC Scholarship Link Connect with Justin Learn more about The Aggregate Co. Today we are joined by Justin Irvine from The Aggregate Co. - aka the man making logistics sound way more interesting than it should be. This episode is packed with conversations around: Why ops can quietly make or break your brandThe truth about free shippingExpanding into the US without completely burning cashCustomer experience and what actually keeps people coming backBootstrapping businesses and scaling sustainablyWhy marketers and ops teams need to work togetherThe behind-the-scenes of global ecommerce growthThe Aggregate Co. scholarship and how brands can applyJustin shares so much knowledge from years in ecommerce and logistics, but in a way that actually makes sense, even if you’re someone who usually avoids conversations about 3PLs and shipping costs at all costs. If you’re a founder, marketer, ecommerce manager or someone trying to scale a brand, this one is definitely worth the listen.