I’ve spent most of my career in marketing — helping brands grow, building strategies, and watching businesses transform when the right message meets the right people. But I’ll be honest: I didn’t fully grasp just how confusing marketing can feel until I started building a platform for people who aren’t marketers.
When I began creating Navia, I thought the problem I was solving was content — specifically, helping people stay consistent and create marketing content in their own voice. That’s still true. But it didn’t take long to realize there was a much bigger issue at play: most business owners don’t actually know what marketing is. And if you don’t understand what it is, how can you be expected to do it well?
Why marketing feels confusing (even if you’ve been in business for years)
Marketing is one of those words that everyone uses, but few people define. Ask five different people what it means, and you’ll get five completely different answers:
“It’s social media.”
“It’s branding.”
“It’s selling yourself.”
“It’s showing up online.”
“It’s email, content, visibility…”
All of those things are part of marketing — but none of them are the full picture. And when we treat them like they are, we end up overwhelmed, stuck in cycles of posting just to stay visible, and wondering why none of it feels like it’s working.
That’s what I started seeing more clearly the deeper I got into building Navia. I was watching smart, talented business owners second-guess themselves — not because they weren’t good at what they do, but because they’d never been taught how to think about marketing.
So what is marketing, really?
Marketing is not just content.
It’s not just showing up.
And it’s not just about being visible.
Marketing is the strategy behind how people find your business, understand what you offer, and decide whether or not they trust you enough to buy.
It’s the story your brand tells — through your website, your social presence, your emails, your visuals, your voice, and the way you communicate your value.
It starts before someone ever follows you, and it continues after they become a customer. It’s the full journey — from awareness to action, and ideally, to loyalty.
Done well, marketing helps people feel connected to your business.
Done poorly — or without strategy — it becomes noise.
If you're not sure where to start with marketing your business, check this out.
Why “just posting” isn’t a strategy
A lot of people think marketing means staying active online. And yes — showing up is important. But activity without intention leads to burnout. It’s easy to fall into the trap of creating for the sake of consistency without asking the deeper questions:
- What is my marketing actually leading people to?
- Does my content build trust — or just fill space?
- Am I helping my audience understand what I do and why it matters?
Without answers to those questions, your marketing may be visible… but it’s not necessarily effective.
How building Navia sharpened my perspective
I’ve worked in marketing for over a decade, helping businesses across industries clarify their message and connect with the right audience. But building Navia challenged me to look at marketing through an entirely different lens.
Navia wasn’t created for marketers — it was created for the business owner who didn’t go to school for this. The one juggling everything, doing their best to stay visible, and wondering if their marketing is actually working. Designing a platform for them meant I had to distill everything I knew into something intuitive, accessible, and truly useful — not just in theory, but in practice.
That meant revisiting the way marketing is often taught and communicated. I had to take concepts I’d worked with for years and translate them into a structure that feels clear and actionable for someone who’s never had formal training.
That process didn’t replace what I knew — it refined it. It has made me a better strategist. A better teacher. A more empathetic builder.
Because for so many business owners, marketing isn’t second nature. It’s a language they’ve been expected to speak without ever being taught. Navia exists to bridge that gap — to turn confusion into clarity and give people a system that finally makes sense.
What happens when you understand your marketing?
When you finally see marketing as a system — not a series of disconnected tasks — everything starts to fall into place.
You begin to understand the role each piece plays.
You stop second-guessing your every move.
You build trust with your audience because you’re showing up with confidence and clarity.
You’re not marketing out of pressure anymore.
You’re marketing with purpose.
How Navia helps your business grow
Navia is built for business owners who want their marketing to feel less overwhelming and more strategic. When you log in, Navia shows you what to focus on, gives you the tools to get it done, and even writes the content in your brand’s voice.
You’re not left trying to figure out what to post or whether your efforts are even connected to your goals. Navia builds the strategy for you — and then helps you execute it with clarity and ease.
Marketing doesn’t have to be confusing.
It just has to be built around you — your business, your voice, your goals.
