Surviving Q4 Burnout: The Real Black Friday Ad Strategy No One Talks About

This episode of Brain Driven Brands is a survival guide for founders, media buyers, and creative teams heading into the chaos of Q4.

Sarah sits down with Joanna Wallace (VP of Paid Creative @ Bird Dog, formerly HexClad) to pull back the curtain on what it really takes to prep for Black Friday without burning your team out—or losing your sanity.

We dig into:

✅ Why burnout hits creative teams hardest in September (and how to stop the slide) ✅ The hidden costs of “just make more ads” during Q4 ✅ How to prep your staff, editors, and assets so you’re not scrambling in November ✅ Why organization (not genius ideas) is the real secret weapon for BFCM ✅ The playbook Joanna used at HexClad to survive—and even thrive—during Black Friday

If you’ve ever felt like Q4 is a treadmill you can’t get off, this episode gives you the strategy shift (and the permission) to slow down, get organized, and protect your team while still hitting your numbers.

🎧 Listen in—and if you’re a founder or creative staring down Q4 panic, this one’s for you.

👉 Learn more about applying psychology to your ads: skool.com/tether-lab

Guest: Joanna Sloane Wallace, VP of Paid Creative @ Bird Dog LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannasloamewallace/

CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534

CoHost: Sarah Levinger Website: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevinger LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahlevinger/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah.levinger/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKwfjt_7PU5N_2fTfHemXXg