Episode 40: Stop Guessing: How to Truly Understand Your Customers

In this episode, Jennifer sits down with Curt and Rob, co-founders of HUMN Marketing Agency, to unpack the power of customer-centered storytelling and human-first marketing strategy. With complementary backgrounds in design, nonprofit leadership, and brand messaging. The conversation dives into the importance of understanding your customers on a deeper level—and how most business owners are marketing based on assumptions, not insights. You’ll learn how to use frameworks like StoryBrand, plus how HUMN blends human-centered design with smart strategy to build confident, simple marketing plans.💡 Top 5 Takeaways:Don’t market to yourself—market to your customers’ problems.Real insights come from real conversations. Partnerships thrive when built with intentionality. They share how they explored their compatibility, values, and strengths before formally launching a business together—Simple, confident plans win over marketing chaos.  Marketing isn’t B2B or B2C—it’s H2H: Human to Human. Meet our Guests: Rob MonacelliCo-Founder, Human-Centered Design StrategistRob is a hybrid creative thinker with over 25 years of experience in marketing and branding. He’s all about blending strategic thinking with innovative design to help brands tell their unique stories. Rob loves diving into consumer insights and transforming them into compelling marketing strategies that resonate with audiences. Curt KuiperCo-Founder, Certified StoryBrand GuideCurt is a branding and marketing consultant on a mission to help high-integrity leaders connect with their ideal customers. With a StoryBrand certification under his belt, he’s all about clarifying messages and creating powerful brands that truly resonate. Curt believes that strong branding can change the world for the better, and he approaches every project with a mix of empathy, collaboration, and a dash of fun. Free Marketing Assessmenthttps://www.gowithhumn.com/About the Host: Jennifer Kok has been a business owner for over 25 years and now is a business coach.She turned her first business into a franchise and successfully sold it 20 years later.  She was passionate about building a business and a family at the same time.And if you’re ready to go beyond visibility and truly grow your business, I invite you to check out the Earn More Stress Less Growth System. It’s designed to help creative business owners like you increase revenue, improve profits, and finally pay yourself more—without burning out.You have three options to join, depending on where you're at in your journey—and all of them are built around real-world strategies that work.3 Keys to Growing a Profitable Business Free Masterclass Replay And how to fix them so their business can actually support their lifeCurious about the Earn More…Stress Less Program? Here’s the breakdown: 💻 Learn more: Program Info🎧 Prefer to listen? Podcast episode here📞 Want to talk it through? Book a callMy name is Jennifer Kok, and I’m a profit and growth advisor for service-based women entrepreneurs. I help women business owners make smarter, more strategic decisions so they can grow profitably, pay themselves consistently, and avoid burnout.Because the truth is, business owners make decisions all day long, but the ones that really matter are often the hardest ones. Should I hire? Raise my prices? Invest in marketing? Let go of a draining client? Expand, or simplify?Those decisions carry weight, and they can impact your time, your profit, your energy, and your long-term growth.That’s why I created the Focused Growth Collective, a virtual mastermind for women business owners who want support making the kinds of decisions that move a business forward. Yes, we talk strategy, but we also look at the bigger picture like mental load, health, profit, and long-term sustainability.My goal is to help women build businesses that pay them well, support their lives, and still feel worth leading 10 years from now.Connect with me:Website:Facebook:Instagram:LinkedIn:YouTube: