Style-ish Podcast Summary

Episode: A Career Deep Dive with Strategist and Marketer Caitlin Emiko

Host: Rhiannon Joyce (Shameless Media)
Guest: Caitlin Emiko
Release Date: October 9, 2025

Overview

This episode of Style-ish features a candid and insightful conversation between host Rhiannon Joyce and New York-based marketing strategist Caitlin Emiko. They explore Caitlin’s unconventional path through marketing, her bold career moves, and the personal philosophy underpinning her success. The discussion covers moving from Melbourne to New York, building a personal brand, innovative campaign strategies (like making Grilled’s TikTok private), the importance of community in modern marketing, her friendship and financial partnership with Talia, and advice for creative professionals aiming to build enjoyable, sustainable careers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

[02:39] The “Swap”: Introducing NotebookLM (AI App)

• Caitlin recommends NotebookLM, an AI tool that turns materials (like scripts) into podcast-style dialogues to help digest information quickly – “It will spit out a podcast between two people and it’s all AI generated… it generates it in around four minutes or so.” (Caitlin, 02:57)
• Notable: Caitlin has adopted it over ChatGPT for learning.

[04:16] The New York Move: Benefits and Challenges

• Caitlin moved to NYC in 2023 to push her career and personal growth beyond the Melbourne agency bubble.
• “I just wanted to be challenged a little bit more... It’s allowed me to pretty much double my income.” (Caitlin, 04:16)
• Initial difficulties: most clients were still Australian; became more extroverted, networked strategically (incl. working at a cafe frequented by business owners).
• To expand her US network, she and her best friend Talia avoided Australians for their first year: “We almost had this rule where we said, we’re only going to be friends with and network with Americans in the first year.” (Caitlin, 06:26)

[08:18] Breaking Through in NYC: Time & Cultural Differences

• Only after about three years in NYC has Caitlin felt established, finally doing dual-market strategies for brands.
• On Australians thriving in NYC: “Australians… are more… financially independent earlier on… by the time you do get to say, 24… you have a lot more experience coming into the workforce.” (Caitlin, 09:37)
• Emphasizes Australian independence and work ethic as an advantage in international markets.

[11:15] Personal Style in NYC

• NYC enabled more authentic, less pressured self-expression in fashion.
• “There’s almost less pressure. You don’t feel the need to be super extravagant… dressing up more just on the day to day is normalized.” (Caitlin, 11:15)
• Still loyal to Australian brands: “Aussies just do it better.” (Caitlin, 12:18)

[14:43] Pop-Up Events & Community-First Campaigns

• 2025 trend: Brand pop-ups and artist meet-and-greets are popular because they foster genuine community and FOMO.
• “People do want to be more connected than ever because they are disconnected.” (Caitlin, 14:43)
• Discussion on the swing from CGI marketing back to real-life events.

[17:04] Authenticity and Community Marketing

• Comment on performative versus authentic community efforts: “It would be almost more powerful to not showcase it and almost have that word of mouth kind of speak for itself.” (Caitlin, 17:04)
• The risk of brands oversharing or faking community engagement; consumer savvy in seeing through inauthenticity.

[20:36] Balancing Personal and Professional Content

• Caitlin only shares ~5% of her work on social channels: “Showcasing my work isn’t a priority… before it’s done, you get the ego boost. And I don’t think that is like a good place for me to sit.” (Caitlin, 20:36)
• Her content strategy is mindful of how clients and potential partners may perceive her online.

[22:53] Career Growth: The Real Journey

• Her “non-linear” path: “I wasn’t the smartest person in school… but [I] always loved analyzing why something worked well… It took… two or three years of working for free.” (Caitlin, 22:53)
• Agency experience credited for skill-building and network expansion, but entrepreneurial leap was driven by the realization of value extraction (“It’s almost like having a manager. They’re just like taking, taking the cut.” – 26:13).

[27:38] Campaign Case Study: Grilled’s TikTok Strategy

• Caitlin grew Grilled’s TikTok by 350% by making the account private, leveraging FOMO and exclusivity.
• “Our notion was, let’s play on FOMO… what happens when [your audience] can’t be a part of it?” (Caitlin, 27:38)
• Videos carefully planned to stimulate shares and conversations (“Everything has a purpose… to drive comments… to drive shares…” – 28:41)
• The private account approach fostered an exclusive “insider club,” creating genuine engagement.
• Memorable moment: The “club bouncer” analogy for letting selected followers access the account (29:47).

[31:22] Marketing Pitfalls: What Not to Do

• Caitlin critiques copycat marketing and lack of originality, noting it’s “fake” or “performative” when brands just try what worked for others.
• “A lot of the time clients will say, I want to do what Grilled did… But they’re a small business. That’s not how it works.” (Caitlin, 31:22)
• The cycle of recycling trends leads to “everyone feels the same to me sometimes.” (32:22)

[34:30] Micro-Influencers & Trend-Setting

• Sees micro-influencers as the true drivers of trends: “It really is a formula… micro-influencers who have a personality… and then it gets trickled down.” (Caitlin, 35:20)
• Big-name influencers just apply the formula, often originating from smaller creators.
• Advice: Focus on being recognizable for your unique content style rather than follower count (39:18).

[39:18] Money, Friendship & Business

• Caitlin shares an account and all income/expenses with Talia, her best friend – a radical move that shocks people online more than in real life.
• “We just have a very similar way of living and a similar mindset… We’re never the type of friends that say, ‘Venmo me for the drinks’…” (Caitlin, 41:31)
• Trust and shared values underpin this unusual arrangement.

[43:04] Managing Multiple Career Streams & Avoiding Burnout

• Avoids feeling over-burdened by seeing content as play and work as distinct; never wants content creation to be a primary income driver.
• “The pressure comes from me showcasing results and then people thinking they’re going to get the exact same result.” (Caitlin, 43:04)
• Productivity hack: “Phones in bag” – when socializing, all work stops, and the phone is put away to recharge (46:54).
• Emphasizes mindset over tactics for career growth (44:44), suggesting not to identify success just with busyness or volume of clients.

[49:44] Future Goals & Upskilling

• Next goal: Learning about distribution in US CPG markets (e.g., getting brands into Ulta, Walmart, Sephora); seeking new skill growth.
• “I almost want to learn something new in that space… I am a freelancer; I don’t have a mentor and I don’t learn from anyone at the moment.” (Caitlin, 49:44)

[52:53] Hot Take: Performative Fashion

• Caitlin’s controversial opinion: Wired headphones as an accessory are usually performative unless genuinely functional.
• “If I see a girl… she has a really cool outfit, I’m like, no chance you posted a story of this. Like, I’ll literally see people post it and it’s not plugged into anything.” (Caitlin, 53:52)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “In all work senses, [NotebookLM] is how I digest all my information… I just like fully will put anyone onto it...” (Caitlin, 02:39)
• “Australians just have that little upper hand because you do kind of just get thrown out into the world… at like 17 or 18.” (Caitlin, 10:44)
• “People do want to be more connected than ever because they are disconnected.” (Caitlin, 14:43)
• “No corporate brand would ever let… let’s put our account on Private… [But] our notion was, let’s play on FOMO.” (Caitlin, 27:38)
• “We just have a very similar way of living and a similar mindset about. You go, I go… we would never be you and you would never be us…” (Caitlin, 42:46)
• “Phones in bag… anything that you need to get done needs to be done until that point where your phone goes in your bag.” (Caitlin, 46:54)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:39 – Caitlin’s “Swap” Rec: NotebookLM (AI app)
• 04:16 – Why move to NYC? Career impacts & income
• 05:25 – Strategic networking and tackling challenges as a newcomer
• 08:18 – Breaking through in the US market
• 11:15 – NYC’s influence on personal style
• 14:43 – The power of brand pop-ups & community marketing
• 17:04 – Authentic vs performative community-building
• 20:36 – Juggling personal branding and client work
• 22:53 – Caitlin’s unconventional career trajectory
• 27:38 – The Grilled TikTok campaign case study
• 31:22 – Common marketing mistakes & originality
• 34:30 – The role of micro-influencers in trend-setting
• 39:18 – Shared finances with best friend Talia
• 43:04 – Managing burnout and pressure
• 44:44 – Mindset shifts for career growth
• 49:44 – Next goals: upskilling & distribution
• 52:53 – Fashion hot take: The wired headphones debate

Final Thoughts

Caitlin Emiko’s deep dive offers honest, actionable insights into the realities of building a career at the intersection of personal branding, strategy, and content creation. Her blend of vulnerability (about her early struggles, financial choices, and mistakes) and strategic clarity make this episode stand out for anyone working in creative fields—or for anyone who wants behind-the-scenes stories of the new digital marketing landscape.