Why I Hate Bro Marketing and Hustle Culture

Small Business PR

As a child of immigrants who was taught to work hard and value money over everything else, I've spent a lifetime unlearning the narratives that lead me to live by other people's definition of success, and measuring my worth through external measures. From burnout to my healing journey with my mom, I have shared very openly my relationship to re-defining my relationship with money, success, self worth, and how I believe our marketing should be a reflection of our core values. Recently, I attended an event that was very bro marketing which not only lacked any diversity at all, but prioritized MORE IS ALWAYS BETTER and this made me want to record an episode on my reflections on this. Although we live in a world where sometimes the loudest voices get heard or valued, may this episode be an invitation to give yourself permission to define success on your own terms.

Here’s What We Cover In the Episode and More:

• Reflection on a $5000 business event experience
• Diversity issues and lack of representation at the event
• Focus of the event on selling businesses, not just growth
• High-pressure sales tactics and lack of transparency
• Personal misalignment with extreme capitalist business strategies
• Value in a more nuanced definition of success
• Importance of balancing revenue growth with personal well-being and impact
• Emphasis on bringing humanity back into marketing
• Encouragement to reflect on personal business goals and values

Attending a high-cost business event full of aggressive upselling and lacking diversity was a wake up call— authenticity and integrity in business far outweigh any superficial revenue growth. The event’s narrow focus on preparing businesses for sale, while sidelining valuable voices, only solidified my belief that success isn’t about relentless hustle but about genuine connections and meaningful progress. Let’s ditch the cookie-cutter capitalist paradigm and embrace a more nuanced, human-centered approach to business growth.
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