Not Nice. Clever.

Best Advice Shared In 2024 On Not Nice Clever

• Kat Torre and Candice Carcioppolo • Episode 235

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This is it—the ultimate roundup of the most powerful advice shared on Not Nice, Clever in 2024.

This is not just any mini episode. It’s your ultimate cheat sheet for growth, packed with actionable advice to help you make 2025 your breakthrough year.

In this special episode, we’ve curated some of our favorite (and most popular) guest episodes this year. If you’re ready to level up your mindset, career, and personal growth in 2025, this is where you start.

From personal branding tips to expert business strategies, these are the conversations that stuck with us—and will do the same for you.

Below are links to the full episodes mentioned in this episode:

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Hi, I'm Kat, marketer turned brand storyteller. And I'm Candice, educator turned entrepreneur. And you're listening to Not Nice, Clever. As CEOs and leaders, it's your job to always have the answers. But sometimes you need a little help. Leverage, if you will. We get it. This is the place for you. So wherever you're listening, 530 AM Club at the gym, on your way to your next meeting or putting out today's fire, let's get into it.

Welcome clever crew to today's mini episode and actually spoiler alert for the new year. This is our last mini episode of 2024 and actually ever until we change our minds again, right Candice? Cause we reserve the right to do that. Yes, exactly. I you were going to say that. So with 2025 just around the corner and don't worry guys, we've got some fun stuff coming up for you. A new segment called not nice advice.

Amazing guests. So you're definitely not going to miss out. But with today's mini, our final mini of 2024, with the new year just around the corner, we want to take a moment to pause, to reflect, to celebrate and look back at some of the best moments of the year. Because I feel like I don't know about you, Candice, but like for those who are like high achievers who are very entrepreneurial, we're always like, all right, what's the next mountain to climb? But we never pause to like stop and look back and see how far we've already come.

and ascended. So that's the vibe. We're recapping our favorite guest episodes on today's mini. Because next year you can look forward to an array of amazing guests. That's what we're really focusing on next year because we've got so much great feedback from y'all that you love to be introduced to all of the best people from our industry and other industries. And we're having an amazing time meeting new people.

So we wanted to highlight specifically the last year's episodes, guest episodes that you guys loved, just in case you missed them or you need a refresh. Here they are.

So do you want to share this first one, Candice? Sure. This is definitely one of my personal favorites. It's called Real Talk on Confidence and Self-Worth with Taya DeCarlo. And if you all don't know who Taya DeCarlo is, grab your phone, go on Instagram right now, and give this girl a follow. She's amazing. We talked about the distinction between confidence versus self-worth. And also as a reminder, y'all, we are on YouTube now. So if you want to watch this, you want to

actually see Taya in action, then you can watch it on YouTube as well. But she talked, she went so deep. I don't even think that she knew that she was going to go that deep on the episode. that much. You can be confident and poised and feel good about yourself. And you look in the mirror and you're like, Hey girl, but you can also subconsciously not recognize your worth. The distinction between confidence and self-worth.

I never really understood that. was like, well, those are the same things. If you're confident, you know, you're valuable. Duh. But no, for me, it was like, no, I'm, I'm confident in so many ways, but when it comes to people pleasing, it was a very hard pill for me to swallow that I didn't understand my value. In fact, I second guessed it.

imposter syndrome, right? But I'm not as good as this person. If people knew how I was behind the scenes, would they actually think the same of me? like for me recognizing, you know what? I know I'm a good person. I know the answer. Like I don't, not going to be gaslit by that person and overthink it. I'm, I'm, I know I'm right. And I'm going to stand in that truth. And I think Kat and I were also surprised and blown away and we

We felt it. got off the podcast and we were like, wow, like we learned things, which we always do from our guests. But we know that that one is jam packed. If you're like, maybe your life and career are going in different ways than you expected and you're trying to hold it together and you want to learn from someone who is going through shit and still showing up. That's the episode to listen to. Could not agree more. So

Another fan favorite episode, fan favorite and personal favorite is from one of our dear, dear friends who is technically on paper, a chief technical officer. He is all things tech, all things IT. That's typically what people know him for, but I don't want that to deter you from listening to coin's episode on AI, personal brand and human connections, because I have never met somebody who can speak tech, but also speak human.

so, so well. So that's super power. That is coins superpower. is bilingual in tech and human. So if you have been feeling overwhelmed or lost or disenchanted with everything around AI, listen to that episode. If you have been feeling like you're lacking in some of those soft skills that they don't teach us in school, but absolutely should listen to coins episode.

There was just, there's just so much. He's like one of those humans that you will probably tell your grandkids about. Like no joke. Right, Candice? Yeah. He's just like, I don't know how to describe it. He's a feel good human. As soon as you get in his orbit orbit. Yes. Like he's going to make you feel heard and valued and he makes things that we might find complicated.

seem much simpler and he's just he's great and he's the no dumb questions you can ask him anything. Yes. And that kind of comes through in his episode. Something can't be great forever or else it's just the norm. Things are great because they didn't last forever. That we have relationships that are like that. There are businesses that start and fail. There are products that are popular and then get not popular. All kinds of stuff. And we have fond memories over the things that we didn't have forever. Permanence

becomes average. there are like, look at Stanley, the water bottle company, 115 year brand. Stanley when you said that. These transformations can happen with legacy brands. The same thing is true. It takes patience to plant a tree you won't live long enough to sit in the shade of. The next episode that we loved was the episode called How to Feel Confident in Conversation with Cole Jeanette. So this is...

specifically if you are in the clever crew and you're an introvert, you're gonna wanna listen to this because he's built out frameworks to kind of help you show up in the world how you want to be instead of maybe how you've been in the past. And he is really good at just making things feel simple.

And we talked about things like starting conversations and how to end conversations gracefully. my God, that was a huge tip he shared. Right. So we're like, we're at networking events and we are ready to move on. What do we do? He answers that question. All it takes is a curious question, a curious, empathetic question. And then, so you go, instead of sharing your story, you go question, reflection, and then share your thing. So I'll go.

what happened? How's he doing? man, that must have been tough. it a fortune? Dogs are expensive. Yeah, it was. Let him talk a little bit. Let him share. That helps. That's what we're made to do with each other. And then you go, man, I bet that was really tough, huh? Yeah. And that, have you ever had somebody reflect back to you what you say and you go, yes. It's a great feeling. Yes. So good. Yes.

Thank you. It's like it's been stuck inside of you and in order for you to feel less crazy, you need another. And once you get somebody to that point, and that's not all the time, but that's kind of what we're shooting for in conference. Like, yeah, yeah, it was. And he also said something like the more rules we put up about how we connect and the less we connect. And as you know, connection is key. So really, really great episode. If you all don't follow him on Instagram, he makes

amazing reels and TikToks too, that are like bite-sized nuggets that you can use today when it comes to communicating and connecting. One of my favorite quotes from him is that, we're all always wrong. Like everybody, doesn't matter how smart you think you are or how well educated, like how book smart or street smart.

We're just getting like a teensy bit less wrong by asking questions and getting more curious. So I thought that that was cool. Cause sometimes if you struggle to start conversations or end conversations, you think that it's because of you or there's something you don't know, but there's so much we all don't know. So I love that like kind of permission slip that he gave everybody in that episode. Yeah. Permission to be curious. And the thing is when you are curious, you make other people feel important because you're asking them.

questions about their expertise and what they do and giving them the opportunity to share. And that builds their confidence and they get excited about that. Oh, so this next one, Clever Crew, I have a funny story about this one too. So it was our 200th episode. It premiered in August. If you missed it because you were enjoying the dog days of summer, go listen to it. It featured Glenda Baker. Now,

Queen Glenda Baker. Queen Glenda Baker. And it's so funny, Candice, because I was just on Instagram earlier today and a clip of the first time I saw her speak in person back in April of 2022 popped on my feed. And I was like, how perfect. And so I in the comments and I said, I remember meeting you. You introduced us because you already knew her, but I hadn't met her yet. And now guys, that episode, the 200th episode, how to deal with haters, how to be authentic, how to be vulnerable.

how to deal with caring about what other people think and learning to not care. mean, just so much. That episode gave me chills when we were having the conversation with her. It was so amazing. She is such a star. Talk about star power. This woman is incredible. She's also an open book. Yeah. So definitely.

made me blush. was like, girl, what are we talking about here? that's right. did tell you about it. no. My Scorpio rising love that part of conversation. Yeah. she gets a little spicy, y'all, but definitely listen to Glenda Baker's new actually. to the ear pods and listen to the kids can you might want to watch on YouTube because her facial expressions, my God, she says so much with her face. So you might want to check this one out there. Also, I would just want to say this too. We have this in our notes.

So we talked about overcoming the fear of criticism and we talked about how trolls actually increased her engagement by 632%. So y'all are worried about the haters in her case, the haters helped her to continuously grow. taught me a lot about the people that are in your circle aren't always in your corner. It taught me a lot about a lot of times that people that follow you are not really

and Doradies, but there are people wanting to watch you fail, wanting to watch you make a mistake, wanting to see you get off track. And, that was such an eye opening experience for me. because you know, I was living in this world where everybody loved me. Like I just, like it never even occurred to me that I would like, I don't follow people that I don't like.

because like I don't want that energy around certainly not commenting on their posts. Like I'm not like saying mean shit. And what blew my mind was like, do you not think that people that are hiring you are going to your social media and looking at what kind of person you are and seeing you be ugly and it was so shocking to me. But I think that part of the draw for,

people to me is that I'm not perfect. And put herself out there. I don't even know how many TikTok followers she has now, but hundreds of thousands. That's the haters karma. They hate to try and take somebody down and they end up rising them up. And it's just like, bro, you need to figure it out. Okay. The next one, this is like Kat's brand crush. So I'm sure she's going to have a lot to say about this.

But Chris Doe on the art of branding, and if y'all don't remember the story, Kat and I saw Chris Doe speaking to like, I don't know, about a thousand people at an event. And the minute he hit the stage, basically, like after three sentences in, Kat looked at me and was like, he's going to be on our podcast. And she claimed it and it happened. She made it happen. So we talked about the importance of niching down.

And we talked a lot about being introverts because all three of us are introverts. And yet we've been able to build brands that maybe people don't expect us to be introverts because of our brand building. And so we went deep there. I asked a lot of questions. You did. You were like on it. like, I'm going to get as much information as I can. It was like a masterclass. I find when you find two overlapping attributes,

that are really not connected like they feel like on the surface polarities and there's some kind of dichotomy that exists between these two. If we find that overlap, it's our own very unique special space and we can find it super magical. There was a company that was a forward thinking beauty brand, Digestible Cosmetics. It was using adaptogenics and Eastern ingredients with Western science and so eventually we got to this place and I said to them,

Is that positioning sexy science? And like, my gosh. So sexy science became a thing that's like, okay, I think we can own this category. So when we go too far towards beauty and fluff and woo, we have to pull it back. And when we try to be like a big pharma company, we know we can't claim that. So this is a little space we can claim and we can defend this. And this is pretty awesome. Kat, I know you have a lot to say about that too. Yeah, I just, I...

love that he's got a corporate background and took what he learned there and now applies it to help creatives. he largely works with creatives who want to grow their business, build their business, but often creatives are introverted. And so I love that mission of his and I loved his exercise about like finding the deepest, darkest thing that you maybe try to hide or like not look at or not admit about yourself. And then the best, most greatest thing and combining the two and owning.

all parts of you. And I feel like, and as a lot of people ask us, like, how do you, how are you so authentic? How do you be authentic? How do you show up authentically? It's like, being the same person that you are, when you're like chilling on the couch versus like on stage, you know, maybe slight wardrobe differences, be fair, and hair and makeup, but overall, like how you're talking, your mannerisms, the stories you share, you're the same person, you know? Yeah, what I realized is it's so much easier to push record.

when you're not acting. Yeah. So much easier to push record when this is the same conversation I would have with a friend. And Chris is just great at being his self and being a great teacher. think he's a really good teacher. Yeah, he definitely is. I've learned a lot from both of you guys actually about how to like.

apply actual teaching frameworks. right. This next one is also great ways to deal with the haters. So this was comedian and former beauty influencer, Meredith Lynch, who is an expert in reinventing herself. So if you're stuck in a rut, if you just quit your job, if you just got denied a promotion, if you want to launch a business and you're like, my God, how do I even reinvent? Listen to Meredith's episode.

I have to keep in mind that like my life is like, you know, is a huge, big, long line. And everybody who sees me on social media, whether they love me or don't love me is seeing a microscopic. Dot in that line. So they don't know me. Their opinion of me does not hold weight. I will say like, yeah, sometimes it hurts. Like some of the comments that I've gotten have been like deep. mean, I've had people.

send me things that are deeply hurtful. Yeah. And a lot of times reinvention comes with that imposter syndrome that you hear us talk about a lot. actually on a phone call with a, I was on a consultation with someone who's a potential client and she, I've known her brand. I've been following her brand for the past three years. And she's like, I think I'm tired of my messaging. I'm tired of what I've been saying, but I feel trapped in it because everyone knows me by that.

And she just needed us to say permission granted to take the next right step for you in your business, even if that's letting go of who you've been. And Meredith's episode really gets into how to do that. And even when you're feeling maybe unsure of what the next step is, allowing yourself to evolve into the next era. Yeah, it's waiting. Look at...

Look, every era that Taylor Swift comes out with is better than the prior one. So don't leave those eras, you know, waiting in the wings. this next one, this is a great one. Candice, you ensure this one. Yes, this one is G, my friend, Giselle Ugardi. If you don't know her, you need to. You must be living under a rock because she's been such an incredible supporter of Not Nice Clever and just friend.

who specializes in really communication and growing your confidence specifically in the online space. We talked about digital ownership, which I think was a term that we had never really heard before, but how to actually own what you're taking in online so you can stop blaming the algorithm or stop blaming your phone or whatever, social media for any of your woes in life and really owning.

how you spend your time online. She took us to church. Honestly, I don't even think Kat and I spoke for the whole hour. I was like, I had a question. Nope, sorry, she's saying, really important that speaking to my soul, I need to shut the fuck up and just listen. Exactly. Get ready, y'all. Repeat, listen to that. Exactly. So if you are still afraid of social media or you're demonizing social media or you feel like you are...

not confident on camera, you're gonna wanna listen to Giselle Ygardi's essay. Does nobody understand you or are you committed to being misunderstood? If you don't even know what you want or what you need, how can you expect anybody else to help you with that or to even know that you're having a hard time or that you're struggling? So you need to potentially be that brave one who goes first because

even think about the most meaningful relationships that you have in your life. They're not superficial and surface level. You've gone through shit together. You've seen some shit together. You've maybe even actually gone through it simultaneously side by side. All right. This next one is an incredible guest. She is a writer and collaborator with the company Fit Small Business.

which provides online resources for small to medium sized businesses everywhere. Definitely check out their website. But Mary King was our guest and she's a former hospitality director. She, like many entrepreneurs that we know has had many different lives, but I just absolutely loved the stories that she shared, the lessons that she has taken from all of her prior lives, including hospitality and applied it to business building.

And she even shared her birth story with us in which, we were not ready for that, but she's like so incredible and such just a gracious kind human. Yeah. And she's, I'll just, I'll just leave this little nugget with you clever crooks. I want you to listen to the episode, even re-listen to it. She talked to us about something called brain spotting, which can completely change the way that you look at

making memories, storing memories, being able to recall joy. So just brain-spotting. I think it can sometimes be when you're, especially in an entrepreneurial place and you're looking at starting a business, running your own business, we can think so big and we can define success as something so far away from our grasp. And one of my favorite things to mention when I'm talking to friends or siblings who are...

starting a business is... Hey sis, this is for you. Hey, it's for you. If you're listening. Subtly. Can you make it smaller? How small can you make this idea? What's the smallest bite that you can take at this? I think there's a theme here in our guests that you and I particularly enjoy. And it's people who are able to bring in business in the corporate world and just

also living the life you actually want and being a human being first. It's people who can marry those two things really well in an episode that we truly enjoy and we hope to bring you more of those people in 2025 Clever Crew because I mean, they're conversations that we just love having and I know you love listening to them. All right. Our last episode that we're going to share as we reflect, Candice, you want to intro this one? Because this one y'all Candice made happen 100%.

so I did a little bit of stalking as I do y'all. I sent, I don't know, seven, eight messages before I got a yes. but we are relentless over here at Not Nice Clever. So we are, this one's called Unleashing Your Inner Mogul and it's with Kofi. Y'all have to listen to this episode. Kofi is a luxury real estate agent, in LA, also a former

pro athlete and he has so many stories of, you know, perseverance and discipline and just connecting with the right people. And he's also very, a little bit woo woo, I'd say. Yeah, but like I'm a little bit woo woo. I'm a little bit woo feel like we both are. We are. That's people are. Yeah. And, and he's just an incredible human being. Once again, someone that we could talk to forever.

If you are that person who is struggling with seeing yourself at the top, if you're that person who's struggling with seeing yourself in the rooms that you actually want to be in, and you're kind of holding yourself back, you got to listen to this one, unleashing your inner mogul. I realize that I'm in a transitional phase from being more extroverted to being less extroverted and more introverted. And what is happening, I think, is

I spent most of my life just being very extroverted. think it's, I've always described myself as a people person. And as you go through life, you know, I still love people, but people are tiring. tell you, people will wear you out, right? In addition to that, I've reached a place where I don't love surface level conversations. just don't. We don't either. And most networking and...

most events and most sidelines at the soccer games. It's very surface level. also talked to us about how Mogul kind of came to be part of his brand, right? Yes. Yes. We'll save that nugget for you guys to listen or re-listen to the episode because yeah, Kofi was just so special and so humble too. So like well-spoken, so intelligent, but so humble at the same time.

and I admire people who can walk that balance. It was a treat to be able to talk to him. Now I want to listen to all these episodes again. Wow. going to do that. These are some really awesome episodes. So y'all, we hope that you take a look back at some of our episodes from 2024 and get excited about what's coming in 2025. And if you know someone that we just absolutely have to interview, slide into our DMs, we would love to hear who they are.

And because next year we are starting a new segment called Not Nice Advice, we want to let you know that you can DM Kat or I or NotNiceClever on Instagram at any time with a question that you would like us to ask our future guests. So if there's any question about your business, about your life, about branding, marketing, money, manifesting, communication, anything in between. Yeah, all of it.

DM us and we may choose one of your questions to ask a future guest. So not nice advice coming soon. Love it. Happy new year, Clever Crew. Happy holidays. We love you so much. And Candice, maybe we'll record more than one episode in the same room in 2025. And if you're wondering what to get Kat and I for this holiday season, super simple. You can leave us a five-star review and you can share our podcast with a friend.

Thank you, advanced crew.

Thanks for joining us on Not Nice, Clever. Remember to follow Not Nice, Clever wherever you listen to audio. And if you haven't already, drop that five star review. Share your takeaways. Tell us your story. We love to hear it. Signing off, you're not so nice, but so clever besties that mean business. See you soon.


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Candice Carioppolo

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Kat Torre

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