If you’re a small business owner, there’s a good chance you’ve found yourself handling marketing simply because… someone has to.
You didn’t set out to become your own Chief Marketing Officer. But here you are—posting, emailing, second-guessing what’s working, and wondering why it still feels harder than it should.
That’s exactly why I wanted to sit down with Tayler Cusick Hollman, founder of Enji, on This Might Get Creative – A Behind the Brand Podcast.
This episode is all about what marketing looks like when you’re running a business and doing the marketing yourself—and what the data says about how small business owners are really navigating it.
From consultant to small business champion
Tayler spent more than a decade working as a marketing consultant, helping small business owners make sense of what they should focus on and what they could ignore. Over time, she noticed the same pattern repeating itself.
People weren’t unmotivated.
They weren’t careless.
They weren’t “bad at marketing.”
They were overwhelmed.
So instead of creating another framework or checklist, Tayler built Enji—a marketing tool designed specifically for small business owners who are doing it all themselves and need something that actually fits into real life.
That experience led directly to Enji’s State of Small Business Report, which became the backbone of our conversation.
What the State of Small Biz report reveals
One of the most interesting parts of our conversation was digging into the findings of the report and what they say about the current small business landscape.
A few themes stood out:
Effort is up, but results aren’t always following.
Many business owners are putting more time into marketing than ever before, yet still feel unsure if it’s working.The lack of a marketing plan isn’t just about time.
Often, it’s about perception. Many owners think a strategy has to be complex or formal to be useful—so they avoid creating one at all.Data changes everything, but it’s still intimidating.
One stat that really stood out: small business owners who track metrics are 2.8x more likely to say their marketing is effective. And yet, many founders avoid their numbers because they don’t know where to start or what actually matters.
What I appreciated most about Tayler’s perspective is that she doesn’t frame these challenges as personal shortcomings. She treats them as completely normal outcomes of trying to do too much without the right support.
Marketing when you’re doing it yourself
This episode isn’t about chasing trends or doing more for the sake of doing more.
It’s about:
Understanding what actually matters
Letting go of unnecessary pressure
Making marketing feel manageable instead of overwhelming
We talk about what small business owners can change right now—not after a rebrand, not when things slow down, but in the middle of real, busy workdays.
If marketing has ever felt like a maze you’re stuck navigating alone, this conversation will feel familiar—in the best way.
Listen to the episode
🎧 Listen to Navigating the Marketing Maze: Insights from Tayler Cusick Hollman on Small Business Success
On this episode of This Might Get Creative – A Behind the Brand Podcast, we talk about:
The most surprising stat from the State of Small Biz report
Why working harder isn’t always the answer
How to approach marketing data without overcomplicating it
One thing small business owners can change immediately
👉 You can listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Download the State of Small Business Report
If you want to dig deeper into the data we discuss in this episode, you can download the full report here:
📊 State of Small Business Report 2025
👉 https://www.enji.co/state-of-small-business-report-2025
Connect with Tayler & Enji
🌐 Website: https://www.enji.co
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enji_co/
🧵 Threads: https://www.threads.com/@enji_co
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/enji/
If you’re looking for marketing tools built for real-world small business owners—not full-time CMOs—Enji is a great place to start exploring.
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If this episode resonated with you, I’d love for you to listen, share it with another business owner, or leave a review. These conversations matter, and they’re even better when they reach the people who need them most.
— Svenja
Lyon Creatives
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