The Shortlist Episode 95: The Short(er) List: Staying Grounded in AEC Marketing

There's always a lot going on in the world of AEC marketing. The deadlines are real, the pressure can build, and somewhere between all of the submittal requirements, check-in meetings, task lists, and marketing production, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the details and lose sight of the bigger picture.

In this episode of The Short(er) List, Becky sits down with Grace Takehara for a conversation that has nothing to do with proposal strategy and everything to do with the person behind all that planning. They talk about finding balance (even in the small moments), setting up a home office that actually feels good to sit in, and how to make space to celebrate the wins—without immediately pivoting to the next thing.

Whether you're thriving, surviving, or somewhere in the middle, we're got you covered with a conversation that is practical, honest, and committed to sparking joy in your day-to-day—because you deserve it!

Podcast Transcript

Welcome to The Shortlist. Hi, I'm Becky Ellison from The Shortlist Podcast, and I am going rogue.

Apparently, some things are just too silly, weird, or extra to fit into our regular shortlist episodes, so we are bringing those conversations, rants, and other fun stuff that was too spicy for TV direct to you in bite-sized little podcast treats,

hosted by me and featuring all of your favorite Middle of Sixers. Listeners, you are in for a treat today. I have Grace Takehara back on the pod, who is one of our most organized pursuit managers. She is also our social media manager.

She does everything on earth, and somehow she manages to do all of this without losing her mind. She's very impressive. Grace, hello.

Nice to have you. How's your life?

Oh, man. What an intro. Thanks, Becky.

Life, it's spring. It's been so beautiful. I'm here.

I'm ready to talk about being grounded. It's going to be great.

We're back in junior high. What do we do this time to get in trouble? Because you see listeners grounded.

Anyway, Grace, I'm so excited that you're the one here to talk about this topic because listeners, Grace is one of the most calming people I know, which is, I think, unusual in AEC marketing because it's chaos.

She is very often my emotional support human here at Middle of Six. And you're about to get the benefit of this too because today we are talking about how to stay grounded as an AEC marketer.

Grace, what does that mean to you?

Yeah, I mean, you're right on with, there is a lot of things flying at you and your role as a marketer. And it can be a lot to be like, okay, what's the priority? And what is my focus at this time?

And how am I like staying sane through it all? So for me, it's really about, this is so like hard to do, easier said than done. But being present and just being like, okay, where am I at in this moment?

And what is the priority in this moment? So I think that that is so key for me staying grounded is just being focused on what's in front of me at this moment, because your task list is so long, it feels never ending. It can be really overwhelming.

So yeah, I think the being present has been kind of the root of what I'm striving for. And I'm trying to find that balance still. It's definitely a practice, right?

So what does that look like?

Like how can we practice being present when we sometimes want to be anywhere else?

Yeah, for me, it's finding the little joys that you can sprinkle out throughout your day. You know, it's like, what is the thing that I can look forward to this afternoon in the office, you know, like or at my desk if you're working from home.

And it's just like trying to have these little touch points throughout the day that like bring you back to a level set or like make you happy or like make you appreciate something.

Because when you're in the mix of it, and again, your task list just feels like infinite, it can be hard to feel like, where am I at in the middle of all of this?

And so yeah, I just think it's finding and carving out the time for yourself, even if it's five minutes of your time, which can feel like a lot to sacrifice.

But when you have that time to reset, it really does like make you more productive and allows you to kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel before your deadline hits or something, you know, just sprinkling those little moments of joy in.

That's helpful. I was looking forward to this podcast. That was keeping me going all week.

I was like, this is going to be fun. I'm just like smiling from ear to ear. You are so right.

This is keeping me alive.

So you said like you keep talking about the task list, which of course is for some of us are nightmare. Some people love it. Like what's your, what's your task list situation?

How do you stay organized with all the bazillion things you have to do?

Yeah. Well, at Middle of Six, we're fortunate enough to have a project management software, like something like an Asana. We use ClickUp at Middle of Six, which has been digitizing my task list.

I'm a list writer, physical list writer. And so it's been really nice and helpful to have it digitized and have it kind of integrated into our daily work, you know, on our computers versus just written down.

But I still do jot down notes, have my task list. I have a whiteboard, for example, that really helps from like my day of tasks. So I feel like accomplished checking it off, it always feels really gratifying.

So I feel like those are almost like little joys or little wins throughout the day.

Sometimes the task can feel so enormous or like intimidating, but it's like any little baby steps that you can make, I think helps me also remind myself to be grounded in that I'm making incremental steps forward towards that goal or towards that

like end product. So yeah, it's a balance, a hybrid between digitized tasks and like whiteboard physical tasks.

That's so interesting. So you have both a written like on paper task list and a whiteboard and a digital version of your task list?

Yeah. I mean, I feel like the whiteboard is the one that I rely on the most for my physical task list.

But it's like when I'm in a meeting, you know, it's like I'm jotting down the like task list from that meeting on my paper, which translates to click up our, you know, digital platform for tasks or to the whiteboard eventually, if it's like a big

enough chunk. Yeah, it's kind of like a couple of different places, but yeah, it's like the whiteboard makes me feel very accomplished.

I get it. Sure. I mean, it's like you do erase something off a whiteboard, you have to really mean it.

You have to get in there and just like, wipe that off and the squeaking of the marker.

Yes. There's something like my elementary kid self is like on my own whiteboard. This is amazing.

You're in control now.

The person who controls the whiteboard, controls the world. Love it. That's great.

So you're definitely one of those like checking stuff off, makes me feel better kind of people, not getting overwhelmed by the lists. That's good.

Yeah. Passport, check. Camera, check.

Traveler's checks, check.

Where are you saying check to?

Myself?

No, for remembering to pack the thing.

Now you do a good thing, you get a check.

So what else can we do when we do get overwhelmed?

Because of course, no one on earth is like Zen enough to not have a few meltdowns in the AEC marketing world. Some of us just live from meltdown to meltdown on the daily. How can we take those little times and get away from the meltdown?

I think of your five senses, right?

And tapping into what are some things that I can introduce, if I'm in the work or need to take a step away, like how can I tap into those five senses and try to get myself out of like that very intense mindset?

So some of the things that I do is simply taking, even if it's like a five minute walk, getting outside, hearing sounds, smelling things, just like trying to clear your head.

And I know, again, it seems like impossible to take yourself away when you're in the heat of work, but it really has been kind of my saving grace when things feel very intense because it almost is a reset. So that has been very key for me.

I also find that the things that you surround yourself with can really help yourself and remind yourself of one, why you're doing the work or two, help you get inspired to do the work.

So I try to surround myself with pieces of art or a calendar that brings a smile to my face or inspires me. And then also thinking about if you can and you're working at your desk, what's the music that you're listening to?

Are you listening to a podcast that's inspiring you? Or like self help too when you're in the heat of things.

And there's so many ways that you can try to get a breather, take yourself out of the intensity of the work and get inspired or try to reset throughout the day.

That's such a good point about the music. I listen to music 24-7, my Spotify numbers are unhinged. Sometimes I'll choose a specific playlist or an album to listen to, to set a theme for the day.

And I have certain work tasks that I will play certain kinds of music with and it becomes an association. And I don't know, for some of the more tedious, this is weird listeners, but one of my things that I do is I recreate site logistics plans.

So like an illustrator, I'll tune them up and make them look pretty. But it can take a while, it can be a little bit tedious.

And I don't know, I have no idea why, but for some reason I always listen to music from World War I during that time, like the soldiers in the trenches, long way to temporary, that kind of thing. For some reason, that gets me through.

Which is maybe a good metaphor because I always say, you got to sing in the trenches, right? The reason they do that is because you're in the most stressful environment possible, like the singing and the joking. Yeah, it keeps you going.

Grace, you're another person who's just so fun to just have a laugh with. You're always down for a little haha and a meme and whatever. I think that means so much to me.

Yeah, I got to get the fun, like find the fun in the work, right?

It's like if it's all just intense, intense, it's like that's going to wear you down. So yeah, I feel like that's a part of it too.

Exactly.

What do you find the most fun about work to Middle of Six? What makes you smile?

You know, I feel like it's really the team and just like the interactions with the team and like what people are listening to or interested in or what they're bringing.

Like it's always just so fun to hear about the similarities and overlaps about what we're watching or listening to, but then also like the things that make us so different.

So, you know, it's just like the people is like one of the most fun things and that translates to the clients too, right? It's like we're all people.

We all have these interests and like similarities and differences, and that's what makes the work really interesting and engaging. So for sure. It's all about the people.

Yeah.

Yeah. Anyone else out there who works from home like we do, sometimes if you're having a really stressful time and you're working on something, you can feel like I'm the only person in the world who's dealing with us.

I am at the bottom of a well and I'll never get out. You know, if you can have just a five minute chat with like one of your favorite black mates, maybe you can commiserate. You can have a little bit of a laugh, like compare notes.

Maybe they can help you.

You know, like sometimes it's easy to kind of forget because, you know, I'm sitting here in my own little office, in my little room and like, you know, Grace isn't physically there, but like I can always like, you know, send her a text or whatever.

Be like, you want to get on a call real quick? Like, I mean, that that kind of thing can really make you feel like you're not alone. And like, we're all kind of in this together.

So reach out.

Yeah, absolutely.

What are some of those little daily highlights that you, like, to create for yourself?

Little miniature holidays and rituals and fun treats.

Yeah, for me, the things that feel like they fit in for most days have been looking forward to, you know, that afternoon cup of tea.

And that's something that, like, has kind of become like a part of my routine and something that gets me away from my desk.

What kind of tea?

Ooh, I, so I have, I'm a big peppermint tea girl. That's good stuff.

It reminds, it brings me back, we've been talking about elementary school and whiteboards, but it just brings me back to, I had this one wonderful teacher in the third grade that, like, had peppermint tea, and it just, like, really is grounding to

me. It just brings me, yeah, it just, like, brings me to happy places, and it's just always so refreshing. So peppermint tea, and I also feel like that's kind of invigorating for the afternoon, but not caffeinated. So, love that.

And then I have been doing tarot card polls for my work days, just to kind of, like, see what the cards tell me, and just, like, you know, to just kind of have, like, a fun mindset for the day.

Totally don't take it too seriously, but it's something that, you know, just has become a part of my morning routine of, like, getting to my desk, doing a poll for my tarot card deck, and, yeah, just kind of seeing what might inspire me or carry with

Did you do one today?

Yes.

What did it say? I was prepared for you to ask. I know, I'm not...

Sounds fun.

I'm definitely not somebody that's like, oh, I pulled that card, I know exactly what it means.

I have an app that helps me, you know, encode. Yes, exactly. But I pulled the Eight of Cups reversed.

And the big message for the Eight of Cups reversed is, this is kind of like the mantra of it, is I embrace change and move forward with courage.

And I feel like that's very applicable in the world of an AEC marketer because there's always things shifting.

You know, it can be when you're on a proposal, it's like, we're swapping out the team or, oh, we have this thing that we're trying to get out of comms wise pretty quickly. And so your day can really shift on you.

So I just thought that was very fitting for this episode and for all the AEC marketers out there to embrace the change. And you know what? When you look back, it usually always works out, right?

And so just to move forward with courage, right? There's more success stories than there are immense failures, at least in my experience of being an AEC marketer. So it's like, just embrace it as best as you can.

That's great.

Yeah. Embrace change and move forward with courage. That's nice.

Yes.

The eight of cups backwards.

Eight cups?

Yes.

Eight of cups. No, I don't know. Gallon maybe?

I'm not sure. The important thing is, listeners, I think that's a very inspiring message and so true because it's constant change. You constantly have to move forward.

You cannot give up and cry and lay on the ground every time something goes wrong or the deadlines would get missed. So just remind yourself when you're feeling like, oh, no, I'm weak and helpless and I can't do this and I'm going to cry.

Take a breath and realize you have already gotten through so many things as an AEC marketer that the average non AEC marketer would just freak out to even hear about. So you're tough, you're resilient, you're killing it.

And Grace, you are definitely all of those things.

Oh, man.

Thanks for choosing Tarot Assistant. Let's get started. Interpretation.

The eight of cups reversed indicates that you may be facing a dilemma or hesitation in making a decision.

Also, you know, not to be a total square here, but like, you know, if you're overwhelmed with work and like, you don't know what to do, like you got to tell your supervisor.

I know that's like such a bummer to hear, but like they probably don't know. Like they have so much of their own stuff going on. You know, they probably think everything's fine unless you speak up.

So like, you know, if you, if you're like nervous about that or worried that you'll come like you're complaining or whatever, like you won't bring a list of like, here's what I'm working on.

And like, here are the problems and like, maybe here's some potential solutions. So that way, like when you come to that person, you're like super prepared. You're not whining.

You're like, okay, how can we fix this? How can we make sure that the ball doesn't get dropped ahead of time? Like I promise if you like go to your supervisor with plenty of time and an action plan, like that will not be bad for you.

So I encourage you definitely speak up to get help. Grace, do you have any tips for people who are nervous about asking for help?

I think that it's huge, a huge step to like even proceed with asking for help.

So I totally, I've been there where it's like, you see that your team's working immensely hard, including your manager or supervisor, and it can feel like another thing on the pile of like, again, the never ending task list that you have.

And so I think that being embracing vulnerability, it's hard, but it has, in my experience, always been like, people are willing to help and chip in.

And I think that you're right on, Becky, coming in with a plan and having some specific areas identified where you're having the challenges and trying to problem solve together.

That might help ease and help you feel a little bit more at ease with being vulnerable, with presenting the challenges in front of you and coming in with a plan that feels like it's actionable versus, again, yeah, coming off as complaining.

But you might also be a little bit in your head about coming off as complaining. I want to make sure that you feel valid and seen of feeling like you might want to ask for help.

So I would say just lean into it and trust yourself and know that people ultimately are trying to help you so that the team can be better as a whole as well.

Isn't this nice listeners? Like isn't Grace just the most comforting? That's so nice to hear.

Like this is, this is the kind of people I work with. I'm so lucky. Grace, any, any last thoughts?

Like, you know what, what's one thing we can all do today to make our lives better? Speak to us, Grace.

Yeah, it's again, such a practice.

But one thing that I'm trying to do that I've noticed having a positive impact on my outlook and how I'm feeling about my task list and feeling overwhelmed is at the end of the day, even if I didn't cross everything off my task list or didn't

accomplish all that I thought I would that day, it's like recognizing the things that you did make progress on even if it's small, because those little, we call them rocks at Middle of Six, but those little rocks that you move on a daily basis, even

if it's a pebble, a grain of sand, you are making progress. I just want to acknowledge that even if it's not the biggest step, any progress and momentum is progress and momentum. Recognizing the hard work that that takes, and that it's just going to

build. So I just recognize the little wins that you have every day, even if you're again, kind of thinking through, what else could I have done? No, you're good. You put in a hard day's work, and there's more work to be done tomorrow, right?

So yeah, just recognizing the greatness that you bring every day.

The greatness that you bring every day. That is wonderful. What a wonderful thought.

This is great. I feel like I already feel better just having talked to you. I'm sure our listeners will too.

Well, thank you. That was a lovely little chat. So nice to see you.

Everybody rate, subscribe, remember to share the love, make a friend, recommend the podcast to another AEC marketer who wants to feel seen because we see you, we love you, and we are you.

And we will see you next time where hopefully I can convince Grace to join our ASMR for marketers label. It's not a label, but we're the series we're working on. I think you could comfort some people.

Thanks, Becky.

This is wonderful. Thanks for being such a cheerleader too, and biggest supporter.

We're going to get to a competitive lovefest here. I can do this all day. Grace, you're the coolest, you're the best.

It's such an honor to work with you.

Oh my God. Oh, oh Lord.

You're the number one fan. Tell someone you love them today. Make it weird.

Bye.

Bye.

Hey.

Hey.

Are you ready yet?

Yes, you got the tickets?

Oh, got them right here.

Check.

The Shortlist is a podcast that explores all things AEC marketing. Hosted by Middle of Six Principal, Wendy Simmons, each episode features members of the MOS team, where we take a deep dive on a wide range of topics related to AEC marketing including: proposal development, strategy, team building, business development, branding, digital marketing, and more. You can listen to our full archive of episodes here.