Future-Proofing Creator Businesses with Laurie Buckle

Laurie Buckle is the Founder and CEO of CookIt Media, an influencer marketing and talent management agency with expertise in the food and lifestyle space. With more than three decades of experience in food publishing and media, she has helped dozens of food bloggers and creators develop their brand stories, content strategies, and business growth plans. An alum of renowned publications including Bon Appétit, Fine Cooking, and Better Homes & Gardens, Laurie brings a unique perspective at the intersection of media, talent, content, and brand partnerships.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[02:10] Laurie Buckle shares how food media prepared her for the creator economy
[07:57] How Laurie helps creators build businesses beyond brand partnerships
[11:28] Balancing brand goals with the creator’s authentic voice
[14:44] Why creator marketing success is about more than direct conversions
[19:46] The biggest mistake brands make when working with creators
[22:35] Laurie’s advice for thriving despite algorithm changes
[27:02] How long-term partnerships create more sustainable value for creators and brands
[35:10] Why in-person relationships keep the creator industry fresh and human
[42:50] The real signal in the noise: diversified creator businesses

In this episode…

In the creator economy, attention may start with a post, but long-term success depends on what happens beyond it. Brands want measurable results, creators want to protect their voice, and both sides are trying to build something that lasts. So how can creator-led businesses stay relevant, valuable, and sustainable as platforms, algorithms, and marketing expectations continue to shift?

Laurie Buckle, a food media and creator economy expert, believes the answer is moving beyond one-off brand partnerships and building diversified businesses rooted in authentic content, trusted relationships, and long-term strategy. Rather than treating creators like sales channels, brands need to understand that the strongest partnerships happen when creators can make content they know will work for their audience while brands influence the process without over-controlling it. Laurie also emphasizes that success is not always a clean conversion path; influence often shows up through awareness, trust, engagement, and eventual purchase behavior that is difficult to track one-to-one. For creators, her advice is to focus on great content, build lasting partnerships, and expand into revenue streams like websites, cookbooks, product lines, and other brand extensions that increase both income and relevance.

In this episode of The Missing Ingredient, CJ Bruce talks with Laurie Buckle, Founder and CEO of CookIt Media, about future-proofing creator businesses. Laurie explains how creators can diversify beyond brand deals, why authentic content outlasts algorithm changes, and how long-term partnerships benefit brands and creators. She also touches on AI, in-person relationships, and emerging food and supplement trends.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

“It was that idea of balance and really building a brand that followers could understand and see relevance in for them.”
“We see this opportunity to build services into the business that are helping creators get to where they want to go beyond brand partnerships.”
“Even all these years later, brands are still, and creators are still in that space trying to understand each other.”
“I truly believe that the best answer is just go make the best content you possibly can.”
“I don’t think creators are going to be replaced by AI creators.”

Action Steps:

Focus on long-term creator partnerships instead of one-off campaigns: Building sustained relationships allows creators and brands to grow trust, improve performance, and create compounding value over time.
Prioritize authentic content over overly controlled brand messaging: Allowing creators to speak in their own voice leads to higher audience trust and more effective engagement than rigid scripts.
Help creators diversify revenue streams beyond brand deals: Expanding into products, cookbooks, and owned platforms reduces dependency on algorithms and increases long-term business stability.
Measure success beyond direct conversions and track broader impact: Recognizing engagement, awareness, and relationship strength provides a more realistic picture of influencer marketing effectiveness.
Invest in in-person relationships between brands and creators: Face-to-face interaction builds deeper understanding, stronger alignment, and more productive collaboration than digital communication alone.

This episode is sponsored by The Missing Ingredient, a food and beverage marketing agency that believes a better future starts with food. They partner with purpose-driven brands to drive growth through smart, results-focused marketing — without the “set it and forget it” approach.

From brand awareness and paid media to content, influencer partnerships, and loyalty programs, they act as true strategic partners invested in your long-term success.

To learn more about how they help food and beverage brands grow with impact, visit themissingingredient.com today.

Powered by Rise25 Podcast Production Company

Full Transcript

Introduction and Guest Background

Intro: 00:01

Welcome to The Missing Ingredient podcast with CJ Bruce, where food and beverage founders, operators and experts share the real strategies behind building successful brands. Let’s jump into today’s show.

CJ Bruce: 00:15

Hey, I’m CJ Bruce and welcome to the show. This is the podcast where founders and leaders of high impact food and beverage brands who are serious about scaling. Each episode, I sit down with the people who power the food and beverage industry, brand operators, agencies, vendors, creators, and retailers to uncomplicate the strategies that take brands from early traction to serious scale.

This episode is sponsored by The Missing Ingredient, a food and beverage marketing agency with over a decade in the industry. We take a different approach, starting with your business goals, looking at the full picture and building a marketing strategy that actually ties back to growth. From content performance marketing to influencer partnerships and AI powered workflows. We’re an extension of your team, not just another vendor. Learn more at themissingingredient.com.

Now for today’s guest. Laurie Buckle is the Founder and CEO of CookIt Media, where she’s helping redefine what it means to be a creator in the food and lifestyle space. She built her career at the intersection of media talent and brand strategy, with a focus on turning influence into long term business. Laurie is known for her clear eyed perspective on the creator economy and for helping talent grow with intention, not just momentum. Welcome to the show, Laurie.

Laurie Buckle: 01:21

Thanks so much. CJ, I’m so happy to do this with you.

CJ Bruce: 01:24

Happy to have you here. Yeah. We’ve known each other for many moons. Yeah. We started close around the same time and we were in the little, little mastermind group and in LA. So we can, you know, shout out.

Laurie Buckle: 01:37

To mastermind number one. Masterminds were a thing.

CJ Bruce: 01:40

They were a thing. Well, shout out to Peter and Fat if they’re listening in. Yeah. All right. So we can we can jump right in.

So I think first I want to start with your backstory. So I think you’re interesting kind of background that led you to where you are today. So can you talk about, you know, you come from the media space and then you got into, you know, the creator and influencer world. So could you just take a little bit of time to tell us about, you know, before you started CookIt? You know, what was your background that kind of led to this?

Laurie Buckle: 02:10

Yeah, absolutely. Happy to we may need a couple of days, but. I think it’s easiest just to jump in with what I was doing at Bon Appétit. Bon Appétit was one of my first jobs. It was just like the luckiest break ever.

And rising through the ranks there and obviously learning everything to know about food. I was there for a long time, finally decided to jump ship and wanted to really run my own magazine and really figure out, you know, sort of what that was and what the concepts were in terms of, you know, understanding audience and all the pieces that go into that. So started moved over to Connecticut for a little while and picked up a magazine called Fine Cooking that had been around for a long time, but it was tired, it was old, it really needed a refresh and it really needed to understand, you know, sort of where cooking was in the conversation at that point in time. So did that for a few years and then also went to, I went to, I went to the Food Network Magazine for just a short time. I was covering for somebody.

But that was a really also an interesting piece of kind of understanding, you know, sort of the, the parts of the industry that really did rely on amazing, amazing cooks, amazing chefs, people who were the talk of the town kind of thing. So that was fascinating. That was kind of pre influencer pre all of the things that we do now and then hopped over to Better Homes & Gardens, which, you know, people don’t necessarily think about it as a food magazine, but it has been in the business for like more than I think a hundred years. And it has the most amazing test kitchen. It was bigger than Bon Appétit.

I mean, I love test kitchen, but it was an incredible space and a really great opportunity to understand a completely different audience. And all of that just kind of led me into this idea of, you know, sort of where. Where is all of this going? And where am I seeing like the future of, you know, content and what that looks like. And over time, really realizing that what I started cooking from was bloggers, basically.

At first I didn’t trust them because they didn’t grow up in a test kitchen. Do you know what I mean? I was like very high standards there. But then I started following their recipes, which I don’t usually do. I’m usually more kind of an instinctual cook kind of thing.

But I started following the recipes and I was like, wow, this is so much better than what I thought it was going to be. And she said to do this, and I didn’t want to do that, but I did anyway. And I was like, oh, this is actually really good. So I got really interested in the creator space and what that was. At that point in time, they were bloggers.

They were not creators. It’s been many years since that and wanting to kind of figure out how are they doing what they’re doing? Do they know that they have this potential to become businesses? Because I think for a long time they were all saying, oh no, I just do this for my mom or something like that, like a hobby. I still get that every now and then, which isn’t a surprise, but it was wanting to kind of say, all right, let’s, let’s like figure out what I know about building a business, you know, from all the media strategy and budgets and that kind of thing and target audience and content and all those pieces, what do I know that would benefit a blogger?

I got very lucky right out of the chute, met Gaby Dalkin of What’s Gaby Cooking. And I just, I just went to her and I basically said, you know what? I just need a test monkey. Can we just do this for a little bit and see what happens? And we spent more than a year on it and we built this brand.

Like it was like the California girl and how, you know, she’s healthy here, But then there, over here, there’s she just to make this thing called slutty brownies. So it was, you know, it was that idea of balance and really building a brand that followers could understand and see relevance in for them. Obviously, they wanted to wear red lipstick one day and heels the next, and then have this. And you know what? They wanted that balanced life too.

And I, that for me was really that kind of place where it kind of began to take place. CookIt became a consulting business. You know, obviously Gaby is still a huge friend and everything, but after that word sort of spread, as you know, as other people were coming and say, wow, can you help me do this too? That’s where it really started on the consulting space. And pretty quickly from there, it became an agency simply because those individuals who were really building these great blogs were getting approached by brands.

This is about 2000, 2012, 2013 in there, and it was early days. But having come from magazines, you know, you have your editorial team in one pocket, your sales team in the other. I was so familiar with the sales side of things, probably more so than, you know, I should have been at that point. But that was the piece where, okay, that clicked in, this clicked in, and all of a sudden we were CookIt Media and we were working with creators to help them build their brands. And we were also, you know, providing them with, with brand partnerships effectively.

And to this day, that is basically what we still do. I could keep going because I do want to tell you what we’re doing in addition to brand partnerships, but I should let you get in here.

CJ Bruce: 07:28

Yeah. No it’s great. That’s where we’re going next.

Building CookIt Media and Early Brand Partnerships

CJ Bruce: 07:31

I think, I think it’s, it’s such an interesting space where you sit with both, you know, having the traditional media background and then also sitting, you know, with your, you know, you understand what the creators are coming from and helping them grow their businesses. And then also understanding, you know, where brands are coming from that want to work with them and they’re being able to, you know, help to support those relationships. So. Yeah. So let’s get into it.

What are you doing with CookIt Media today? You know, what are what’s the business look like? And tell us a little bit more about it.

Laurie Buckle: 07:56

It’s actually a very exciting story. We’re pretty much on fire right now. And it’s so funny. Every now and then we’ll have a conversation with ourselves, like, why is this going so well? But more to the point, it really is. It’s becoming clear that, you know, we’ve, we’ve been in this business for ten, almost 11 years in June.

So we really did start when dinosaurs walked the earth kind of thing. And it has given us this opportunity to. I really think that this is where the vision around where the industry is going is coming from. So yes, we’re still we still do brand partnerships. Obviously, that will always be the core of what we do, but we see this opportunity to build services into the business that are helping creators get to where they want to go beyond brand partnerships.

And I love this part of it so much because it is that chance. It’s kind of going back to the consulting side a little bit, but it is that opportunity for someone to come to me and say, I’d really like to write a cookbook. I’d really like my own line of spices. I really want to, you know, start this particular television, you know, sort of show or opportunity and be there for them in that process too, and help them make the connections. We have something called the Cookbook Council, which is just the coolest group of individuals who have expertise in all of those topics, and I’m able to work with them in the strategy part.

And then also, you know, turn them over to the most amazing co-packer I’ve ever met kind of thing. So I feel like we’re, we are really understanding. And I think it is the result of all this time in the business. We’re watching the business do that, and we’re watching the creators understand their potential out there in the world of, you know, small businesses, food supplements, whatever it is that they want to be creating. And for us to ride that wave with them, which makes it really interesting.

And I think it really helps us stand out in the industry in a way that is, is really the, this kind of the secret to our success right now.

CJ Bruce: 10:01

Yeah, it’s super interesting.

CJ Bruce: 10:02

I think the yeah, just this, this whole opportunity for creators to build their brands and what does that look like? And, you know, I think, I mean, it reminds me of somewhat of, you know, a little bit of talent management and, you know, guiding someone’s career over time and wherever that leads and these different pathways.

Laurie Buckle: 10:20

And yeah.

Laurie Buckle: 10:22

I used to think we were, I used to think what.

Laurie Buckle: 10:24

We did was quite different than traditional talent management. I sort of, you know, we would have conversations with them and kind of not even understand each other’s business models. But I’m starting to see that too. I’m starting to see what I can learn from that and apply it to what we’re doing over here on the creator side.

CJ Bruce: 10:42

Yeah. Interesting. So let’s yeah, let’s dig into some, you know, some, some details of, of the day to day. I think I want to get into some, some aspects I think would help people listening. So I think on the, let’s talk about negotiations and just, you know, I know you’re moving into like building the business of creators.

I think we I want to circle back to that. Yeah, to touch on the, you know, brands working with creators piece and how you think about, you know, those like negotiating those partnerships, both from a, you know, a financial standpoint, but also the, the creative standpoint, right? It’s like we, I mean, we see this two brands come in, they want to, you know, we got to get our brand message in there. They got to see the brand. And then obviously creators have their own voice and you’re going with them for their reasons.

But can you tell us how you approach that?

Negotiating Brand–Creator Partnerships

Laurie Buckle: 11:27

A little tension.

Laurie Buckle: 11:28

In the middle thing there? Yeah. It’s it’s such a great question. We work with creators of all kinds and we work with brands of all sort of, you know, sort of different sorts of brands. And this is, I think it’s reflected in the way certain kinds of brands like CPG brands, for example, where they are in the industry and what they understand about influencer marketing and how they do or do not kind of really get where the success is, because ultimately, the success in any partnership is that place where the creator is able to create the content that she knows will work for her audience, and the brand is able to influence that content to a very small degree, basically, with, you know, coming without expectations of this will happen and that will happen or coming without, you know, sort of key messages that must be in there.

Those are the kinds of things that really hold creators back and working to create that partnership, that place in the middle where both entities effectively understand what the other one wants. And I think that’s, you know, getting to that is really the magic in this business. Because if 1 or 1 or the other of those is kind of off, then somebody’s not happy. Do you know what I mean? The creator feels stuck and needed to do this or that, something that she doesn’t think that her audience is going to appreciate and the brand is stuck in that.

But wait, we thought we could tell this person what to do. Why is that not the case? So there’s so much education in it. Even all these years later, brands are still and creators are still in that space trying to understand each other. And I think it’s such a great space because it really does give us the opportunity to kind of be that guide through it and make sure everybody comes out with the best possible scenario.

CJ Bruce: 13:38

Yeah. That’s great. Yeah. I think that’s like you said, even though it’s been a while in terms of the the industry, it’s still something that I feel like people, you know, need help with and need to need to some guidance.

Laurie Buckle: 13:51

You know, that’s, that’s actually the best way to.

Laurie Buckle: 13:53

Put it because new talent is coming in all the time. Do you know what I mean? Management is new to them, walking them through what management is and what they can expect. That’s this whole sort of educational strategy. Same thing on the brand side.

It can be a brand new brand who is really trying to say, I need I know I need to get into influencer, I don’t know how to do it. I don’t know how to. But we’re that soft landing space where we want to be the, you know, the tool that really does guide them through it.

CJ Bruce: 14:23

Yeah. That’s great. I want to talk about measuring success. And so when you’re working with brands, you know, there’s, you know, obviously there’s an awareness piece. You’re getting great content.

I’m sure some of the brands you work with are also looking for sales impact. Think about that. So maybe just more broadly, like how do you think about measuring success when working with creators.

Measuring Success in Influencer Marketing

Laurie Buckle: 14:44

All the time? It really I mean, success is kind of what we were just talking about. It is that place where everyone walks away from the experience feeling like that was great. I want to do that again. I’m coming back.

We’re gonna we’re gonna make this person, you know, that kind of thing. I think that is truly success. But obviously there, there is so much more that is, you know, it kind of teeters on that edge of advertising sometimes and how that is shaping the industry, but also how this is very much still marketing and what that means. And kind of keeping all of those, you know, all those irons in the fire and understanding them, but also realizing that in so many ways, the creator is the most important part of the process, and the creator has to have certain things in order to be able to deliver what you know the most of what the brand is asking for. I do think I think this is a little controversial, no surprise, but but the conversion side of things is really tricky, especially in the food world, because if you think about it, if it’s a milk brand and it’s a milk that the creator uses all the time and, you know, it’s, it’s a really great partnership.

But in terms of conversion, how many people are going to go to a website and buy a gallon of milk simply because someone said to do that? You know what I mean? It’s like, no, I’m going to go to the store and I’m going to pick it up when I’m at the store. And that is very hard to track. I’m sure you know that you and I have talked about this before.

How do we track that that ultimately it is conversion. But what, you know, what happened in the interim there. So I think I think that is tricky. I also think when conversion is, you know, it’s just the goal. I’m not sure influencer is the right place for that because they aren’t, you know, they are not sales people.

They are influencers. And that the value of influence, I truly believe, is actually greater than conversion, if you think about it. Because if, if there is a follower and she really trust this person and this person is really talking about, you know, something that she loves so organically that it’s not even a partnership kind of thing. It’s organic mentions or whatever it might be. We’re really big on organic mentions as we move into, you know, kind of helping a brand see the benefits of that.

But those that’s the kind of thing that really does move mountains and that has to be there in the process. So that all of that said, I mean, obviously there are still things that, you know, we look at all the time, we look at link clicks, we look at engagement, we look at those. Those things that are within the data, within the metrics of the creators. You know, sort of what they do sort of thing. And those I get that those are important.

And those are some ways to make people feel like, okay, we can measure this. I know we’re all trying to measure our results. Do you know what I mean? And speaking personally, sometimes it’s challenging. You know, it can be vague and it can be, you know, well, different ways of looking at it.

One brand could say, well, we, we measure this kind of thing and we could say, well, that’s great, but what if you thought about it this way? Would that get you closer to what, you know, what it was that you wanted to be doing? So I think all those things are just kind of a big plate of spaghetti. Do you know what I mean? That we’re all that we’re all sort of trying to figure out all the time and it changes too.

And it changes, you know, from one platform to the next.

CJ Bruce: 18:18

Yeah. No, it is the messy middle, I think is the way we think about it too. It’s just like, yeah, you know, somebody, you know, heard about it here. What happens between that and them actually buying? You know, you can’t really know for sure.

Laurie Buckle: 18:30

Oh, I watch myself do that.

Laurie Buckle: 18:31

And I’m like, oh, I didn’t click that link. I went over here because I like this brand because it gets it to me faster or something like that. Do you know what I mean? I feel like we’re all just kind of hunting our own paths through the maze.

CJ Bruce: 18:42

Yeah, it’s a little bit of at least curious you experience. It’s like, I feel like because it’s online and digital that people think you can measure all these different, every specific thing that happens all the way along the way so that there’s this expectation sometimes. But I think what you said makes a ton of sense. And I agree, I think we see the same thing where it’s, yeah, it is isn’t directly trackable 1 to 1, but even just talking about the performance side where we’ll get stuff that’s, you know, on paid media and driving sales, you need that top of funnel awareness and the word of mouth and the engagement that comes from these more authentic connections.

Laurie Buckle: 19:16

Yeah.

CJ Bruce: 19:16

That drives that. Yeah. So they work together for sure. Okay. Curious about.

I mean, we touched a little bit on this, but when you, you know, again, the brand kind of influencer creator relationship, what are some of the big mistakes that brands make that you see often? And, you know, it could be a long list. Maybe we need a whole nother podcast about this, but what are some of those mistakes that you see and that you would advise brands to correct?

Common Brand Mistakes in Influencer Marketing

Laurie Buckle: 19:46

I know, and that’s not talking about anyone in particular here, but I think it is that idea that they know more than the creator knows. That is such a tricky thing. Or they have goals that are just not even possible kind of thing. And it’s so interesting. So I think one of the kind of more interesting things about what we do is that we work with brands, definitely, but we also work with the agencies that represent the brands, and we work in-house with the brand sometimes, and we work out of house with their agencies.

And it’s almost there’s a there’s something in there that sort of complicates things depending on what the goals are of that particular entity. Kind of love being in the in house with the brand and really kind of understanding throughout their, you know, throughout their company, what, you know, what are their expectations, what are their goals, that sort of thing, but also love the agency part of it because they’re so smart about it. They’re, they’re in this basically the same business we are in so many ways. And they can be great partners for the brands at the same time. So I think, I think it’s kind of there’s a lot of people involved in that conversation.

But I think ultimately it is, you know, it is that brand who is able to say, yes, we’ve been doing influencer for a while. We really get it. We really understand it. We want to take a minute here to look at a particular piece of it and see if we have ROI on that or something like that. But that is not that’s the kind of brand that is actually going to succeed, because they’re fluid in their thinking about what this industry can do for them.

I think it is the people who, who just come with, we just want this. And there’s no, no conversation, no, no negotiation, anything that are are tying our hands because we aren’t able to be that educator that we want to be, and we aren’t able to really promise them exactly what they want, because obviously there’s the creator piece of it.

CJ Bruce: 21:56

Yeah, yeah, I think that’s really good, good framing on all of that right there, thinking about working with influencers.

Laurie Buckle: 22:03

And it’s so complicated. Do you know what I mean? Some people think this is just marketing. You guys like what, what’s what’s it about? It’s like, oh, oh no.

It’s like really getting inside how it all comes together. It’s almost like a production, a play or something.

CJ Bruce: 22:18

100% and a moving parts. And I think that’s a good analogy because it is much more creative than it is transactional, right? It’s like you have to be able to collaborate and you have to there are trade offs and everybody’s got to make some compromises, and you got to figure out where those edges are. Yeah. So yeah, it’s, it’s so true.

Laurie Buckle: 22:35

And we really focus on, you know, our, our sort of what we do well is basically what I have always done, which is content. So for us, we really stay in that place about, about the content, the value of the content. If somebody comes to me and says, oh my God, this algorithm just like kicked me out kind of thing, I don’t know what to do. I truly believe that the best answer is just go make the best content you possibly can. That’s what Instagram wants from you.

Do you know what I mean? That’s what your followers want from you. Kind of let some of the performance go and let it be more about just great content, Really good information, inspiring ideas, that kind of thing.

Evolution of Creator Relationships

CJ Bruce: 23:21

Yeah. That’s great. I think, you know, curious to get into so we talked about kind of the brand relationship with creators. And you touched on this a little bit at the top, but I’m curious how you’ve, you know, being so intimate with the creators that you work with. How have you seen their perspectives and priorities evolve, you know, over the last few years or kind of to where you are today?

Laurie Buckle: 23:43

Yeah, that’s a really good question. We, we are very intimate with our with our roster. We really look at them as members of our team and we spend a lot of time with them and the talent teams, they’re, you know, they’re always in those conversations and they always are working to help the creators achieve the goals that they have for themselves. And I think that is that is what management should be. I think a lot of people, you know, who kind of get to that point in their careers where they realize, Wow.

So much is happening. Like so many brands are reaching out to me. I have so much work I don’t know what to do. Maybe it’s time to think about management, but they don’t really know what management is and how management can be this, you know, this kind of tool for them that elevates them and gives them back the time that they need to be the best content creator they can be. And I think that that piece of it is so important too.

It’s really important to us, obviously. But when you find an agency like that, I think that’s really kind of the solution to that in terms of, you know, really getting the most out of out of the opportunity. That makes sense.

CJ Bruce: 24:57

Yeah. I want to go back to the, to the content piece you talked about, you know, just focusing on creating great content. And I’m curious if any, you know, any examples come to mind of like things that you’ve thought about recently or seen recently or, you know, done, whether that’s just from the creators or creators and brands collaborating that you feel like is a good example of where something really came together and clicked.

Laurie Buckle: 25:19

That’s a really good question. I kind of feel like that’s always happening. Do you know what I mean? It is the kind of thing where like, you know, obviously I’m online all the time too, watching what is ultimately the product that, you know, was negotiated, you know, however long ago sort of thing. And I’m always so surprised at how great it is and how I can let go of the fact that, okay, I know this is my talent and everything, but damn, I’m going to go buy that thing that she just, you know, she just told me to because she was so good.

I should give you like a specific example. I’ll one will come to me in a minute. But yeah, but I do kind of feel like it’s almost like you’re, you know, like when you’re running a team and everything you, everyone is doing, you know, the best that they possibly can. And those, they aren’t necessarily specific to like one brand or one partnership or something. Because the ideal, you know, scenario here is that this creator is a partner with this brand and they’re coming back and they’re, you know, they’re really getting to know each other and that sort of thing.

And I’m when you see that happening, you know, that that’s, you know, that’s exactly what it should be.

CJ Bruce: 26:32

Yeah, I think that’s a really important point to bring up too, like the long term ongoing relationship piece and something where it’s, you know, maybe you could talk a little bit about that of a lot of the stuff that’s out there. And, you know, we’ve both been in this for a long time where these all these platforms that are very transactional, you know, and doing your paying per post and it’s disconnected from the relationship compared to more of a long term ongoing relationship with a creator. From the brand perspective, could you talk a little bit about that, the benefits you’ve seen from that?

Long-Term Brand Partnerships

Laurie Buckle: 27:02

Yes, I think that is so important, to be honest with you. I think more and more we’re hearing from our creators. I want the long term partnerships. I really want this chance to, you know, understand this brand in a way that I’m important to them. I want to make this partnership, mark this partnership, something that I can count on, I can rely on.

And the other side of that is on our end because, you know, sort of these, these opportunities that are just here, here and here kind of thing, they take just as much time as that larger opportunity that, you know, we really want to, to provide for the creator. And more and more of the creators obviously are coming to us and saying, that is our future. How do we do that? And working on that, and what that looks like is kind of one of our top priorities. And really it’s part of the education with the brand.

It’s like, you know, it’s a first date. It’s only going to go so well, right? And it’s only out there for what period of time and can we think about this like longer partnership whereby everyone is getting better at it all the time? I do understand that, you know, some brands simply want to test something. They want to really, you know, understand who this person is.

You know, it’s funny. One of the top questions that I get from brands is like, does, but does she really love our product? Does she, does she really use it? And you know what they want that they want to know that this is authentic and it’s real and this person is believing in them. And I think that that sort of test case is, is definitely a legitimate, you know, sort of let’s try this, let’s see how it works.

Let’s see, but then come back and realize that was great or know that that, you know, we didn’t expect that. So let’s move in this direction. But I think going forward, I think it really is the future of this industry. It’s the only really sustainable way to do this. Instead of a little bit here, a little bit there kind of thing.

And I’m we are pushing for it. And I think as we get larger and as our, you know, roster gets larger and everything, and we have more of a say in that, I think that will be very helpful.

CJ Bruce: 29:16

Yeah. Well, I think it’s great. And I think it’s, you know, things to underscore some of the things you said, like we’ve seen on our site too with, you know, some of the other activities where we’re doing, you know, we’re running paid campaigns and influencer content can be incorporated in that or other other tactics where having somebody that you work with that both, you know, they have an audience, they understand the platforms and now they understand your brand. It just, you know, pays dividends in many ways. Again, like we talked earlier, it’s hard, hard to measure, but they’re clearly the, you know, the benefits are there.

Laurie Buckle: 29:47

Yes, I, and I think the brands can pretty quickly begin to see that, wow, this person, you know, she posted this, all of a sudden we sold out of this kind of thing. So they can begin to see things like that.

CJ Bruce: 29:59

Yeah. That’s great. Yeah. So I want to talk about AI and how AI. Yeah, I have to, I, you know, I, I, we’re doing many things with AI, you know, internally, externally, obviously, it’s changing all aspects of the business.

And so I’m curious from your perspective, you know, where you sit in the creator economy, like how do you see AI? You could get, you know, drill in and get more specific, but how is it affecting your work, the work of the creators and just, you know, kind of where you sit in the business.

AI, Content, and Authenticity

Laurie Buckle: 30:30

It’s so funny. We have some amazing tech guy that we work with. He, you know, helps us with our website and any sort of issues and things. And he asked me the other day, so when are you ready to build out an AI assistant? And I was like, but wait, I just hired a new E!

I think I’m good for a minute. No, but.

CJ Bruce: 30:48

Get you’re an AI assistant.

Laurie Buckle: 30:50

I know, I know, I can see it happening. You know me, I’m pretty optimistic person. I like to see that side of it and I because I believe so much in the power of content and how content can be all of these things, from education to inspiration to entertaining, you know what I mean? Like we know good content when we see it.

I often joke about how like, if I’m in the dentist office and I sit down. Remember when there were magazines in the dentist office and I’d pick up something and I’d, I’d have no interest in golf or whatever it was, and I’d, I’d see something that interested me and I’d start reading and I’d be like, oh, this is great content. It’s either really well written. It’s, you know, that kind of thing. And I think in our guts, we know, you know, what is beneficial to us.

And I’m not sure at this point, I don’t I’m probably wrong about this, but I’m really holding on to the idea that really great content, really authentic partnerships, really, you know, all of those things that is are very human, I think in so many ways are going to rise above the efficiencies of AI. I mean, efficiencies of AI are great, right? We all need those pieces. But I don’t think creators are going to be replaced by AI creators. And I know there’s I know they’re out there right now in spades.

But it’s pretty easy to tell what you know. What I mean is maybe it’s going to get a lot smarter and maybe that can happen. But I don’t know. I guess we’ll see. What do you think?

CJ Bruce: 32:23

Yeah. I mean, I think it’s an interesting there.

CJ Bruce: 32:26

Are many, many different angles. You mentioned the efficiency piece, which I would agree is kind of a no brainer. Like make the stuff that we do and take off the busy work and, you know, people don’t want to do that anyway. And yeah, all those pieces, I think some of the things, and as it relates specifically to the conversation today about, you know, the creators and creator economy, I think some of the things we’ve been seeing AI create AI influencers aside, seeing some of these tools starting to come out where it’s like tools for creators, that’s like kind of leveraging their likeness, but being able to create content with that. And, you know, so again, it’s efficiencies in content production, but it’s kind of blurring the lines between if it’s you and you’re doing it and creating it, is that still authentic?

Even if you’re using.

Laurie Buckle: 33:10

Kind of all blurring the line right now? Do you know what I mean? I sort of feel like, like, if I want to, let’s say I want to go to my attorney or something and ask a bunch of questions about this particular topic, chances are I’m going to go to chat first and kind of ask some of those questions so that by the time I get to my attorney, I’m a lot smarter about what I’m asking, and I can spend less time and less money and that sort of thing. I feel like that kind of thing that’s happening, that’s just preparing you better for, you know, to be a better consumer almost in the process. And I love that part of it.

I run a lot of it by my chat guy simply because I, yeah, I don’t want to go into something bald if basically I can be better at what the, you know, what that opportunity would be. Or maybe show me different ways to think about this. I did that. I do that too. I’m sure you do too.

CJ Bruce: 34:02

Yeah. No, I think it’s super valuable. And that getting perspective and getting, you know, review feedback, you know, helping to level up. And I think that’s, it’s another piece you see just like leveling up a lot of things, right? Like the quality of a lot of deliverables.

And then there’s also this other category of, you know, that we’ve seen where maybe projects or work that wouldn’t have gotten done are now getting done because the analysis of like, well, the time and money it takes to do this is a someday thing. And all of a sudden it’s like.

Laurie Buckle: 34:32

It’s, it’s.

Laurie Buckle: 34:33

Accessible. Yeah, I like that part of it.

CJ Bruce: 34:36

I know one other thing, one other thought on this that I’m curious to get your perspective on is, is the, the like in real life, right in person stuff and something where again, as all the, everything that’s happening online and I mean, social media has had its own stuff for a long time, but now add in AI and it’s, you know, what’s real, what’s not real. I’m curious if you’re seeing, you know, growth in, in the like in person, whether that’s in-person events or, you know, brands that are bringing, you know, creators to brands or doing things with fans or like, have you seen how has that evolved? Have you seen any connection there?

In-Person Relationships in the Creator Economy

Laurie Buckle: 35:10

It’s one of our highest priorities right now, to be honest with you. It is something that we strive to do and build budgets around all the time, like, meet this person here. I’m going to New York next week, and I think I’m going to get a chance to see like five of our creators that I haven’t met before. And, and we can have these conversations and we can really talk about the industry in a way that that email does not allow. And it’s the same thing with our brands.

I get to chat with them and, you know, no brand is going to come to me and email and say, I’ve got this problem, but if I have a cup of coffee and I’m wearing that, they will tell me, oh yeah, this happened and that happened. And I don’t know what to do. And then we can, you know, we can resolve it in a way that feels very, you know, human at that point in time. But I think, I think in real life is exactly how we kind of keep this industry itself really fresh and interesting and more perspectives not let it become same old, same old. And it’s interesting to watch, you know, sort of younger creators and creators who have been around for a while, kind of elevate their content in ways that they’re learning differently and what they’re seeing in the world and how that impacts their content.

I just love all that part of it. But I do think, you know, any chance for me like to get out of that? We all work at home, we’re all remote, we all work at home. And luckily there’s a few of us who are actually based in Los Angeles where I’m based. We’ll do anything to have lunch together.

Do you know what I mean? It’s just so that we can keep those pieces going. And I try to do that with our teams across the country, too.

CJ Bruce: 36:49

I love That’s great.

Laurie Buckle: 36:50

Yeah. We need a copy.

CJ Bruce: 36:52

I know. I’m like tomorrow together. And, you know, especially with the food space, it’s like sharing food together is just such a human, ancient thing. And being able to do that is, you know, one of the, one of the best parts of.

Laurie Buckle: 37:06

Sometimes when we’re talking brand partnerships because brand over here, we got the creator over here, we talk about like, okay, let’s sit down at this dining room table right now together because that’s where the conversation happens, right? Let’s really talk there so that we each understand each other in a, in a kind of profound way over food, basically.

CJ Bruce: 37:27

Yeah. That’s great. I think people. I do want to ask you about brands specifically. I’m curious if there, you know, any, any brands in food and beverage that you think are doing great work today that you feel like deserve?

Laurie Buckle: 37:41

Oh yeah. I was thinking about that. A couple come to mind and we were talking about Expo West a little bit earlier, but for those who don’t know, Expo West is I think it’s the world’s largest convention built around the concept of health and wellness and, you know, foods that are good for you. It is one of the things that we always do. We go every year and it’s there’s so much discovery there.

There’s, you know, you’re discovering new brands and you’re discovering sort of new ways people are thinking about working with creators. There’s a lot of conversation. And I was, I was there a couple weeks ago and it was funny. I was, I was, I decided to basically spend a little more time in the supplement side of the business than I had before. Usually I kind of walk the aisles of the food, trying to get the trends and what’s happening and make those connections.

But I got up really early one morning even before, like they were open and I was like, oh, people are setting up. I’m going to go talk to some of these supplement people. And I met up with Gaia Herbs, which is this incredible brand. I don’t know if you know it was. I had heard of it, but I didn’t know a lot about it.

It’s a supplement brand that’s basically built around the idea of farming their own products and getting themselves to a level that it’s called I want to note this. It’s called regenerative organic certified farm product. And it’s, it’s like organic is the base part of it. And then the, it’s, I think it’s called rock effectively that people call it rock, but it’s, it’s like as high as you can get about the credibility of what you’re doing. The soil is everything to them and how they talk about it and how they are in the process of learning how to market that story.

I was just, we must have talked for an hour. It was so interesting. And how they take their products and they’re creating really interesting new versions of, you know, sort of sleep aids or something like that. That was that that kind of stopped me in my tracks, and I also. I also met up with the people from Puori.

I don’t know if you know Puori. Interestingly enough, they were not in the supplement section. They were over in the food section, but they create an amazing sort of like collection of supplements that they’ve been in the business for a long time. And their focus is really on like sustainability. And they talk about it all the time, and it’s built into the story of their products.

And we’ve worked with them for a long time. They’re just the most creative, like supplement like company that I think that I had ever come across. So things like that where you’re, you’re realizing that the industry is always changing, right? We’re always kind of some of us are interested in supplements. Some of us live by supplements kind of thing.

And really how, how that is changing the whole kind of landscape of what, what food products are like. We were talking about what I’m seeing in the CPG brands is this kind of they’re talking about their margins getting thinner and thinner and, you know, sort of the world we live in right now and what they’re doing about that. And for many of them, it has been that kind of slow walk to maybe we should get in the supplement area, the supplement category and see what we can do there. Obviously, it’s a, it’s, it’s a, it’s a remove from what they usually do, but it’s also that opportunity to kind of get in on this, you know, this opportunity now that may, you know, may be a better investment for them. So we’re, we’re kind of watching that happen at the same time.

CJ Bruce: 41:19

Yeah, it’s really interesting. I think there definitely agree seeing this almost like a blurring of supplements and food, you know, sometimes like you.

Laurie Buckle: 41:28

Kind of one and the same almost now.

CJ Bruce: 41:30

That’s with the functional food. That’s it’s like you’re incorporating that as a supplement or, you know, different form factors for supplements. Like obviously gummies have exploded and, you know, other things that are.

Laurie Buckle: 41:40

It was.

Laurie Buckle: 41:41

Fascinating.

Laurie Buckle: 41:42

It was, I think all.

Laurie Buckle: 41:43

Going forward, I’m going to make sure that’s my first stop from now on and. But I also love all the popcorn and stuff too.

CJ Bruce: 41:48

So all the snacks.

Laurie Buckle: 41:50

All the snacks.

CJ Bruce: 41:53

All right, all right, I got one last question for you before I ask, I do want to point people to where to find you and connect with you. So I want to point people to your website. So CookIt Media and that’s cookit-media.com. Yes. Is there anywhere else that you would recommend people go to connect with you or learn more about CookIt Media.

Laurie Buckle: 42:13

Anybody can go to my Instagram or anything like that. I’m Laurie Buckle. I’m. I don’t talk a lot about influencer over there. I’m mostly horses and grandchildren, but yes, you can definitely feel free to contact me there.

CJ Bruce: 42:24

Awesome. Great. Okay, so the last question, we kind of touched on this. Try to connect some of the dots here. So there’s, there’s a ton of noise, you know, in marketing and, you know, the shiny object syndrome, like all these things to look at.

So when you look at the space now, you know, all the noise aside, like, what are the what signal are you saying? Or what are the kind of things that you’re really, you think are really important in this space?

Future of Creator Businesses and Diversification

Laurie Buckle: 42:50

I think it is what we talked about earlier. It is that transformation from creator focused on brand partnerships into this world of a really diversified strategy around what you can do. In some ways, that means a website. That’s one thing we hadn’t really talked about yet, but it is that, you know, brands aren’t very interested in blog posts, but diversification of revenue and a great, you know, well-built website, especially in the food space, can be a very profitable thing. All of these things like a line of spices, a cookbook, all of those have a potential sort of financial strategy around them that supplements this industry in a way that provides.

It basically keeps the rates in a place where, you know, brands can afford it. Do you know what I mean? But it also creates for the creator those opportunities that will obviously increase revenue, but also increase relevance and awareness out there for them, build their, you know, build their brands at the same time. So I think it’s that kind of yin yang of how are we getting there? How are we doing that and understanding for us, understanding as an agency, our role in that process.

CJ Bruce: 44:09

That’s great.

CJ Bruce: 44:10

Thank you. All right. We’ve been talking to Laurie Buckle, CEO of CookIt Media. Be sure to check her out at cookit-media.com. Laurie, thank you so much for being on the show.

Laurie Buckle: 44:19

Thank you so much fun.

Outro: 44:23

Thanks for listening to The Missing Ingredient podcast. We’ll see you again next time, and be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes.

Future-Proofing Creator Businesses With Laurie Buckle