Next month, I’m speaking at FreshBooks #IMakeALiving event at the Burroughes. I’ve been following this series since it started and have been a few times. They bring together creatives from different industries to talk about how they make money, challenges, and lessons learned. You will leave feeling motivated and inspired. #imakealiving: creating a genuine brand in the digital world Our panel on March 27th brings together some great people and we’ll be talking about creating a brand in a digital world. Lots to discuss here! Tickets are free, get one here! Topics for the Night Building an online business Creating an online community Projecting your persona Creating authenticity in the digital space Measuring ROI from impressions and reach Finding the right social platform for your business About #IMakeALiving The #imakealiving event is returning to Toronto for the 4th time to bring together a diverse group of creatives, entrepreneurs and small business owners for a lively, candid and often hilarious conversation. Part small business boot camp, part group therapy you’ll leave feeling inspired and motivated. Plus, you’ll get lots of actionable insights to take you and your business to the next level. After the discussion, the event opens up for networking & drinks – a great opportunity for you to meet like-minded folks! If you’re not familiar with FreshBooks cloud accounting, check out freshbooks.com. I’ve been a customer for 5+ and use them to do all my invoicing! Look forward to seeing you! LMK if you get a ticket!

This my TEDx Talk from late 2015 where I speak about innovation and social media. The theme of TEDx Western was The Human Condition. I start out sharing some things I’ve had the opportunity to do because of the internet and then move into how the internet has changed, how fast they change, faking it, followers, narcissism, influencers, and where all this social media stuff is going. The original blog post from the day I spoke at Western University in London, ON is here. “If you’re in school there’s a good chance you’ll be working in a job that doesn’t exist yet.” – Casie Stewart Posting this gives me anxiety because I don’t think it’s my best work but I can’t take it back now! Feel free to watch if you have 15 minutes. I would love your comments, good OR bad. I know I kept turning around to face the screen and don’t do that anymore, the monitor up front wasn’t showing my slides. I was also a bit heaver here than I want to be omg the internet gives me anxiety.  “If you have a vision, keep that in mind. Follow that. there might be people who may not understand but that’s because your vision is so far ahead they can’t see it yet”.  – Casie Stewart TEDxWesternU 2015: The Human Condition; a concept that is intimately intertwined with every single one of our lives. All of us subscribe to the human condition and the diversity of what that means makes humanity the enigma that it is. Together we will try to navigate its definition from the perspectives of a variety of professionals. From implications on healthcare to business to human rights, TEDxWesternU 2015 will explore what it means to be human.

Had a great time at Social Media Week. Was great to see so many familiar faces (like Raymi, hey girl!) and meet some new friends. Kudos to Michelle and the Pinch Social team for putting on a great festival. I’m proud to be a member of the Advisory Board and love seeing how HUGE SMWTO has grown over the years. Deb from Rock-It Promotions and I spoke on a panel about influencers and influence and influencing. Very hot topic right now! Scroll down to watch my talk via Facebook Live video. Watch My Talk At Social Media Week 2017   Time in for my influencer talk w/ Debra Sadowski at Social Media Week Toronto (SMWTO)! Posted by Casie Stewart on Wednesday, November 15, 2017 Lauren was also a speaker and it was her birthday. I showed up with balloons to brighten her day. Take the sunshine wherever you go!

If you’re not constantly innovating, you’ll get left behind. Last week I spoke at a conference where I stressed the importance of a ‘digital first strategy when it comes to marketing and expanding your business. On the way to Blue Mountain, I stopped by a corn field to take a couple photos in the corn, a la Children of the Corn. I like to spend some time by myself before I hit the stage so I grabbed lunch at the Italian restaurant in the village. Wore my fav new blazer from Zara. Yes, the same one I was wearing in the video last week. We all know what happened to Blockbuster when they didn’t think ‘digital first’, they essentially died and were overtaken by online movie streaming services like Amazon & Netflix. we’ll always have traditional media but if you want to connect directly with your audience in real time, social media is the future    

Here I am on the TTC again. I really wish I had headphones but they’re still in my travel bag at home. I’m heading over to Centennial College to chat with a class of Advanced Social Media year 3 students about my life and work. I try to say yes as often as I can when a friend or close contact asks me to chat with their class. It’s always an opportunity for me to learn. I love their questions. I love reminding them that the job they’ll have one day might not, and probably doesn’t even exist. It’s ok if they don’t know what they want to do yet. I remind them to find something they love doing and become really, really good at it. I tell them to explore creativity and try new things. To not be afraid of other people who can’t see their vision or grasp their unique idea. There have been so many times in my career where the person/people I was working with or for, didn’t get my idea. Most the time it was because only I could see so far ahead, not as far as me. They weren’t there yet. Having the skills and knowledge to see an idea before anyone else will often keep you ahead of the pack.  When I worked at CTV for Much/MTV Canada I remember telling my boss it would be a good idea to put the show hashtag on the tv screen. He totally thought I was crazy and made me feel bad about my ‘dumb’ idea. We all know how that turned out, eh? Another time at an agency job I suggested we get this cool InstaPrint thing from NYC. It involved hiring a guy to man 4 machines onsite for the event that would print little…