Christina Langdon: Lessons Learned After 19 Years with Martha Stewart

08/22/23 • 57 min

Get your coffee or beverage of choice and prepare yourself for one of the most fascinating interviews we’ve done to date! Today we are joined on the show by Christina Langdon, a high-performance and success coach, here to share with us all about her 19 years of working with Martha Stewart.

She is an incredible storyteller, from start to finish, and shares the most interesting aspects of her journey working with Martha. Christina talks about the how, what, when, where, and why of her job(s) over the 19 years and recounts her very first (and lasting) encounter and impression of Martha.

She shares some anecdotal stories of her history with Martha and elaborates on why Martha really went to jail. Christina also describes the incredible comeback story of how the company managed to survive the charges, jail, and the mass advertising exodus. Our conversation then steers toward her decision to leave and ultimately founding her coaching business, along with some of the challenges she overcame in the journey toward where she is today.

Key Points From This Episode:

All things Martha Stewart: how, what, when, where, and why!
How she got the job working for Martha Stewart.
What it was about Martha’s magazine (Martha Stewart Living) that drew her in.
Marketing at Martha Stewart (the brand).
How she bought her brand back with $70 million.
Christina’s first encounter with Martha and learning about the brand.
Why Martha picked Christina: being in the right place at the right time.
Moving into management while Martha was brought up on insider trading.
Why she stayed during the upheaval with the brand: the mass exodus from advertising.
The real reason Martha went to jail.
Her handwritten letters to Martha and why she didn’t visit her in jail.
The plans for after Martha got out of jail.
A fascinating comeback story and how the company survived.
The biggest lessons Christina walked away with after working for Martha.
What it was like working on Martha’s TV show.
How she knew her time with Martha had come to an end.
Why she decided to never work for someone else again.
How being diagnosed with AML Leukemia rocked her world.

Joy: Mark Burnett on X

Hustle: HerMD

Resources:

This podcast is brought to you by the Marvelous online teaching platform.

Marvelous is an easy-to-use platform that helps you build and sell your own courses, memberships, and live-streamed programs. Go from idea to open for business in just minutes. If you're looking for a simple, streamlined way to build and grow an online business. You can learn more at Marvelous.

Key Points From This Episode:

All things Martha Stewart: how, what, when, where, and why!
How she got the job working for Martha Stewart.
What it was about Martha’s magazine (Martha Stewart Living) that drew her in.
Marketing at Martha Stewart (the brand).
How she bought her brand back with $70 million.
Christina’s first encounter with Martha and learning about the brand.
Why Martha picked Christina: being in the right place at the right time.
Moving into management while Martha was brought up on insider trading.
Why she stayed during the upheaval with the brand: the mass exodus from advertising.
The real reason Martha went to jail.
Her handwritten letters to Martha and why she didn’t visit her in jail.
The plans for after Martha got out of jail.
A fascinating comeback story and how the company survived.
The biggest lessons Christina walked away with after working for Martha.
What it was like working on Martha’s TV show.
How she knew her time with Martha had come to an end.
Why she decided to never work for someone else again.
How being diagnosed with AML Leukemia rocked her world.

Joy: Mark Burnett on X

Hustle: HerMD

Resources:

This podcast is brought to you by the Marvelous online teaching platform.

Previous Episode

Helping Farmers Make Money with Charlotte Smith

A life spent outdoors as a farmer can be deeply rewarding. But it can also be financially precarious. No one knows this better than today’s guest, Charlotte Smith, a marketing and mindset coach for farmers, who, at age 14, watched their fifth-generation family farm go bankrupt and lose everything.

After swearing off farming as a young adult, Charlotte found herself drawn back into a world of outdoor work upon having children. She realized that she wanted them to experience the same freedoms she did growing up on a farm in the Oregon countryside and that she was willing to do whatever it took to make that a reality.

In today’s conversation with Charlotte, we learn about the strategies she used to ensure her farm would be profitable and how her results attracted the attention of other farmers leading to her work as a marketing and mindset coach.

She reflects on how her background in communications and marketing gave her the skills she needed to succeed in farming before elaborating on the needs of her clients and how she is helping each of them turn their farms into profitable businesses.

We also learn about Charlotte’s book, Farm Marketing from the Heart, the effort that went into writing it, and why she is so grateful to her past self for producing it.

For all of Charlotte’s perceptive insights, be sure to tune in to this comprehensive conversation on coaching, marketing, and how to succeed as a farmer!

Here’s a sneak peek of what we discuss:

Hear about Charlotte’s pastoral upbringing on a beautiful farm in Oregon.
How her family’s farm tragically went bankrupt when she was a teen.
Her commitment to distancing herself from farming as a young adult.
How having kids inspired her to return to farming.
The strategy Charlotte used to prioritize profitability when she went back to farming.
How Charlotte became a marketing and mindset coach for farmers.
An overview of the diverse demographics that make up Charlotte’s clients.
Charlotte’s approach to finding the right people for her program.
What Charlotte charges for different coaching offerings and what they include.
Why her top priority is keeping her coaching accessible to all farmers.
How Charlotte helps her clients build their email list.
Charlotte’s second offering; a coach certification program.
An overview of her team and how they support her in her business.
Charlotte’s book, Farm Marketing from the Heart, and its impact as a marketing tool.

Joy: The luxury of creating pockets of time to do nothing

Hustle: ChatGPT

Resources:

This podcast is brought to you by the Marvelous online teaching platform.

Next Episode

Audience Audit: Kerry Hinds, Fertile Body Yoga

As an entrepreneur, it’s important that potential customers can easily find your services and that there’s no confusion about what you’re offering. But without an outside perspective, you may miss critical stumbling blocks that could drive customers away. That’s where business audits can be so useful.

In today’s episode, we walk listeners through a business audit for Kerry Hinds and her business, Fertile Body Yoga. Tuning in you’ll hear a step-by-step breakdown of her website and our suggestions for simple changes to improve both her site and her offerings that can lead to major improvements.

We also dig into some of the issues that Kerry is struggling with, like feelings of overwhelm, the pressure to attract new clients continually, and how creating a clear, simple, scalable offering will transform her experience of entrepreneurship.

Following along, you’ll get a sense of what it’s like to not only be coached by us but also, what it’s like being a part of our Luminaries program and how having the support of a cohort can supercharge your business. Be sure to tune in to hear all the details of today’s business audit!

Here’s a sneak peek of what we discuss:

An overview of how we’ll be auditing Kerry’s website: Fertile Body Yoga.
Insight into the issues that Kerry is struggling with and how to address them.
Steps to help you continually attract new clients without becoming overwhelmed.
Some of the visibility habits we teach in our Luminaries Live program.
Advice on how Kerry can simplify her services and create a scalable offer.
How she can hone in on her messaging to attract the right clients.
Key tips for website layout and design.
Why quizzes are so effective for generating leads.
A closer look at the quiz on Kerry's site and how she can improve it.
How Kerry can simplify her offerings and the impact this has on visitors to her site.

Resources:

This podcast is brought to you by the Marvelous online teaching platform.