Are you fed up with the corporate bullshit holding you back? Welcome to Invest in Yourself, the digital entrepreneur podcast. The ultimate launchpad for entrepreneurs ready to seize control and unleash their creative genius. Hosted by Phil Better, the podcast mogul. Each week he's breaking the chains of conventional work with bold strategies, raw insights, and inspiring success stories from the digital entrepreneurs who took the risk and invested in themselves. This is your call to arms. Invest in yourself, break free from someone else's rules, and build the empire you deserve. Now let's dive head first into today's explosive episode.

Welcome back to another amazing episode of Invest In Yourself, the digital entrepreneur podcast. Podcast. I'm, of course, your host with the most feel better. And today's guest is someone who truly embodies creativity, vision, and business acumen all in one. If you ever wondered how to break free from the traditional mold of marketing and build something unique and forward thinking, then you're in for a real treat because our guest today is the president and founder of Forethought, an innovative marketing agency that does one does things differently. Their approach isn't your typical one size fits all marketing firm. Instead, they they customize their process for each and every client, bringing in expert team members as needed, meaning you only pay for what you truly require. Her vision for forethought is rooted in the future with all her employees working virtually as anonymous partners.

Autonomous partners part not anonymous, autonomous partners reflecting her ink their increasingly global worldwide reach. Beyond her impressive three decades marketing career, our guest is an adventurer at heart, a marathoner, an art supporter, and a businesswoman who is likely to be sliding down rocks in Asheville as she's dancing to YouTube in Las Vegas. Her creativity, spirit, and boundless ideas combined with her dedication and business savvy make her a true powerhouse in the industry. So I am thrilled and super excited to have our guest today. So please welcome Suzanne Scarno. I just messed up the last name. I'm sorry, Suzanne. I I

right. So funny.

I know beforehand I asked, and I was like, yes. I got it. And then I I put my foot in my mouth, Scaran. Right, Skerano?

Thank you, Skerano. Yes. And that is what a wonderful introduction. My gosh. Can we meet weekly? I love that.

For sure. I I will be glad to you just call me and be like, Phil, I need that intro, and I'll read it to you, pump you up. That's my job here in on Investing Yourself, the Digital Entrepreneur podcast. I invest my energy into you so that you can bring us the gold, and I'll hype you up until the day is done. So, Suzanne, let's just start right away. First, thank you for being here. I'm excited as you could tell by the intro, but why? Why did you decide to flip the script and become an entrepreneur? What was it about entrepreneurs that just galvanized your soul into doing it?

Thank you for having me, and I always love that question. I worked at an advertising agency that was traditional. It was a while ago, more than fifteen years ago. I started there, twenty nine years ago. And I was there for fourteen years because I loved what I did. I absolutely loved meeting with clients, understanding what their challenges were and bringing them solutions. I just felt there was a better way to do it. And the company that I worked for at the time was owned by a single, you know, private ownership.

And I'll never forget the owner and I went to a meeting one day and geographically, my apartment was only about a mile from where the meeting was, and our office was about five miles. So it wasn't really that far, but we left a meeting at 04:00 in the afternoon on a Thursday. And he says, I'll see you back at the office. And I thought, my god. There must be a better way. It's a beautiful day in South Florida. I could go to the beach. I could find a yoga class.

I could, you know, really back at the office at 04:00 to do what? Not to say that there weren't days that we had a lot of work and, you know, you roll up our sleeves and do it. I just felt that with the technology and the digital world that we lived in, we could work from home. We could work from anywhere. And frankly, a great idea doesn't always come from an office chair. It comes it come from a beach chair or, you know, the greatest meetings don't necessarily have to happen in a boardroom. They can happen in a family room, quite literally. So in 02/2009, I thought about what I wanted my life to look like and what I wanted to do and how my career that I loved could be a part of it, not rule it. And I couldn't find it, so I created it.