Episode 4

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Published on:

6th May 2026

EP4 The Mother-Daughter Business That Works with Julie and Cassidy Magnuson

Julie Magnuson didn't plan to end up in Northwest Arkansas. She just kept saying yes to the next right thing. Buying from promotional product vendors. Working for one. Moving to a new market for a colleague who needed help. And then one day, someone asked what it would take for her to stay, and she looked around and thought: this is a good place to raise a family.

Forty years later, she and her daughter Cassidy are running Creative Promos together. And the goal Cassidy just said out loud for the first time? To take over the business one day and keep serving the customers Julie has spent decades building relationships with.

This episode of HerStory is a little different. It's two women, two generations, one business, and a genuinely honest conversation about what it takes to make all of that work. Sami sits down with Julie and Cassidy Magnuson of Creative Promos to talk about the winding paths that brought them both to NWA, what it's actually like to work with your mom, and why service is still the thing that makes or breaks a business. In this episode, we get into:

  • How Julie went from buying promotional products to selling them, and eventually owning her own company
  • How Cassidy went from healthcare recruiting and medical sales to joining the family business
  • What it's actually like to work with your mom (the real answer, not the polished one)
  • How they divide the work so it doesn't swallow their relationship
  • Why burnout is real, vacations are not optional, and messy balance is still balance

They talk about the challenge of being a working mom before remote work existed, when your boss's wife stayed home and he genuinely didn't understand why yours couldn't. They talk about what makes NWA a community worth staying in, and why the answer keeps coming back to the same thing: the people here actually care about each other.

And then they each say something out loud that they haven't said before. Julie's is about retirement. Cassidy's is about stepping into something big. You'll want to hear both.

The Women of All Generations event is June 16, 2026, 3 to 6 PM at the Fayetteville Town Center. Grab your tickets at fayettevillear.com/woag.

Connect with Creative Promos:

  • Website: creative-promos.com
  • Phone: (479) 871-1945

Mentioned in this episode:

Women of All Generations | June 16, 2026

The Women of All Generations event is almost here. Join us June 16, 2026 from 3 to 6 PM at the Fayetteville Town Center for an afternoon of real conversation, connection, and celebration. Tickets and sponsorships are available now. You belong in that room. Grab your spot at fayettevillear.com/woag.

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About the Podcast

HerStory Podcast - Presented by Chamber Fayetteville and Be Freaking Awesome - Featuring Stories of Women of Fayetteville
Every woman you admire has a story she almost didn't tell. The version where things didn't go as planned. The pivot that looked like a failure before it became the thing that changed everything. The moment she almost talked herself out of the room she was born to be in. Those are the stories that actually teach us something. The ones that make you feel less alone and more ready to go back out there and try again. That's what HerStory is about, and it starts with an invitation. Chamber Fayetteville's Women of All Generations returns on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, from 3 to 6 PM at the Fayetteville Town Center. It's an annual panel, celebration, and networking event that brings together women across industries and age groups for honest, meaningful conversation. This year's theme is "You've Earned This," and it's exactly what it sounds like: a pause worth taking. A room full of women who have worked hard, grown a lot, and earned the right to celebrate that together. The 2026 event features a panel discussion moderated by Brittany Phillips, with confirmed panelists Samantha Gregory (influencer, @MunchinWithMantha), Kelsi Musick (head coach of the University of Arkansas Women's Basketball team), and Carol Gray (General Manager, Village Inn). You'll also find meaningful networking with 400-plus attendees, The Curated Collective marketplace spotlighting local and women-owned businesses, and the Sarah Jessie Young Award presentation, honoring a woman who exemplifies leadership, impact, and generational influence. HerStory is how we're getting you ready for that room. This limited podcast series is produced in partnership with Chamber Fayetteville and hosted by Angela Belford and Sami Kinnison of Be Freaking Awesome. Each episode features a different woman from the Fayetteville community, sitting down to share the real version of her story. Not the polished LinkedIn bio. Not the highlight reel. The actual journey: the grit it took, the confidence she had to build from scratch, and the growth she wouldn't trade even on the hard days. We're not here for surface-level inspiration. We're here for the honest, specific, "I needed to hear that" kind of conversation. The women featured in this series come from different industries, different generations, and different starting points. What they share is a willingness to talk about what it actually took. Because here's what we know after years of coaching and facilitating conversations about leadership and communication: the stories women tell each other in quiet moments, the real ones, are some of the most powerful professional development tools that exist. And most of those stories never get told out loud. HerStory is our attempt to change that. Angela Belford has spent decades helping people understand the beliefs underneath their behavior, the invisible edges that shape how we lead, how we communicate, and how we see ourselves. Sami Kinnison has built a career helping teams and leaders say the things they've been avoiding, and find out what's possible on the other side of that conversation. Together, they bring a warmth and depth to these interviews that creates space for guests to go somewhere real. Each episode is a conversation, not an interview. You'll hear laughter. You'll probably hear something that makes you catch your breath a little. You'll definitely hear something you want to text a friend. If you've ever sat next to a woman at an event and thought, "I want to know more about her story," this series was built for you. If you're the kind of person who drives home from a conference replaying one conversation that changed your whole perspective, you're going to love this. If you've been waiting for permission to tell your own story out loud, we hope something you hear here gives it to you. Subscribe now so you don't miss a single episode, and grab your tickets to Women of All Generations at fayettevillear.com/woag. This is the kind of event that reminds you why community matters, and why your story matters too. HerStory. Real women. Real Fayetteville. Real talk.

About your host

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Sami Kinnison