Hi. I’m Dusti, a Fractional CMO and marketing strategist in the personal development space, and as a long-time service provider, I am an outspoken critic of the false promises, hypocrisy, and theft rampant in this multi-billion-dollar unregulated, and often harm-causing corner of the internet.
Despite it all, I think there is good here – and I believe we can change the industry for the better. Here’s how.
– Guidance, not gurus and gimmicks.
We seek out real mentorship from people who do what we do – not who say they can help us make more money by “fixing our mindset”. (Because mindset is a drop in the bucket when your onboarding is trash, your systems are a hot mess, and you’re just trying to stay afloat and figure out wtf you’re doing anyway.)
– Transparency in programming and marketing, not Oz hiding behind a curtain with basic bitch biz 101 content.
We don’t teach marketing methods we don’t use. If we’re filling your programs with ads and purchased email lists, we stop preaching content and organic social.
If people aren’t finishing our programs, we give a damn enough to figure out why, fix what can be fixed on our end, and progressively ensure better client outcomes with the results.
– We take responsibility as leaders and managers.
We use our visibility and privilege for good. We look to give a hand up where we can, because that is how we all rise. We give credit where credit is due.
If we can’t keep staff, we take a good hard look at why (the fact that we are the common problem in those situations). As we grow, we create jobs we would have dreamed of having.
– Industry critiques with tangible next steps, not just bitching about the space.
When we get angry about the injustices we see online, we question why. And then, we take action. We don’t engage in mob culture.
We punch up, not down. We do better than a DEI certificate that gets stuffed in a drawer. We don’t fuck with false scarcity. We do what we say we’re going to do, and if we can’t, we do our best to rectify the situation while holding space for the reality of failure in a space that often demands perfection.
This list is a work in progress, but it’s the part of the code of ethics I’m developing for my programs moving forward.
It’s also the basis that I’m building Practical Magic on top of. If you’re interested in learning more about Practical Magic, click here.
Recent + Relevant Posts:
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It’s been a minute since a Facebook post got me so fired up I had to rage write a blog post before bed, but here we are. Someone who I’m not sure how I’m connected to posted a fake Times cover calling Trump America’s greatest president. My feed is typically scrubbed sparkling clean of any…
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Dusti Arab, Fractional CMO
And the founder of the reinvention co, a marketing consultancy specializing in working with personality-driven companies with small teams.
Intense, fun, and relentlessly practical, Dusti understands the lives of small business owners are deeply intertwined with their businesses, and if their marketing is going to be sustainable, it can't get in the way of why they do what they do. (And honestly? It should be fun so they actually want to do it.)
She is the host of Referral Worthy, a podcast for small business owners ready to go from "best kept secret" to the go-to name in their niche.