149: Marie Griffin – Finding Your Catnip

“What is catnip? Catnip is powerful, memorable, and very fast. Everybody has a story, but the decisions that you make about people and brands is much faster than the story.”
- Marie Griffin
Hello, my friends! Welcome to another episode of the Onken Radio podcast (previously NION Radio), the podcast where we explore the body, mind, and soul of the creative entrepreneur. It’s my goal to help you take your creativity, business, and life to the next level. I’m so glad you’re joining me on this journey! 

Today, I’m excited about my special guest Marie Griffin, the founder of Griffin Marketing and PR. Marie’s developed a wealth of experience working with many high-level celebrities, (Stella McCartney, to name one) helping them with their PR and media training. Marie is focused on helping you deliver your message to the world in a very clear way. 

Here’s a quick taste of what’s to come from my interview with Marie:
“Keep chipping and chipping and chipping away so that [your message] is just absolutely you. For someone like [Nick Onken with] so much talent, so many interests, and so many ways of expressing themselves — [the major question is] ‘How are you going to package all that and put a bow on it and own it?’”
- Marie Griffin
When we see people who dominate in our chosen professional field, it’s almost impossible not to know their work when we see it. Still, often creatives have a hard time figuring out what sets them apart from their peers, and this is where Marie comes in. She has a trusted, holistic method to find this part of our brand, our “CATNIP,” and the process has been described as “honest, insightful, grounding, and transformative.” 

Marie uses her wealth of knowledge to help big companies and brands refine their messaging to connect with consumers as well as transform some of the biggest stars in entertainment to help make their messaging congruent. 

Congruence is when the inside and the outside match, and Marie believes this is as vital when conveying your message through body language as it is with how you speak. Her passion and commitment to help people are demonstrated by her clients and her innovative program #whatsyourcatnip? 

In this episode, we discuss how to find what is uniquely you, some of Marie’s tips for finding your CATNIP, and what helps you stand out in a world full of competitors.
Who Is Marie Griffin?
Marie Griffin is the sought-after authority in media and communication training for leaders and personalities in business, film, fashion, music, beauty, sports, media, wellness, and design. Her immersive process is informed by a profound understanding of people and a deep knowledge of the media, branding, marketing, and public relations landscapes. Marie’s hallmark is her one-on-one work from the inside out to elevate clients to their highest potential to help them answer the question, “What’s your catnip?”

As the second of four girls, Marie grew up in Scarsdale, New York in the sixties. Both her elementary school and high school were Catholic all-girls schools where she constantly felt tremendously supported and empowered by the nuns — always believing there was nothing she couldn’t do. Marie used their support to fuel the fact that she always knew she wanted to be involved in fashion. 

Marie’s dream was to work for a magazine, and when it came time for school, Marie chose the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising, which is now LIM College in New York City. Located in Manhattan, the college was perfectly positioned to help her get an internship right out of the gate with Seventeen. 

Marie grabbed this opportunity with both hands and, still only 19 years old, was offered a job by Seventeen starting as soon as she graduated. Marie was immediately dropped into the deep end and sent on a 48-city tour around the country to do “meet and greet” events with retailers supporting the magazine. Among other things, she started to produce fashion shows and promote advertisers,