Note: Happy 2026! Thank you for all your prayers. Our beautiful baby girl arrived the day before her due date and we’ve been settling into life with two toddlers and a baby for the past two months. God is so good!

As I slowly return from maternity leave, I’m not currently accepting new projects or consult calls yet, but I couldn’t wait to send out some newsletters with thoughts I had over the past few months. Thank you for being here, and hope you all had a blessed Christmas!

In 2021, I wrote this post for All Saints Day on my blog about 7 patron saints for Catholic marketers.

Four years later, it is by far my most read blog post.

My guess? People are at their wits end with marketing, Google "patron saint of marketing" in desperation, and come across that post.

Here's the problem:

I now think that post is missing the #1 example of Catholic marketing we have (aside from Jesus).

Spoiler alert: We heard about him during the last two Sunday's Gospels.

After more than a decade working in marketing (and four more years of experience since that post, when marketing has just become WILD, to put it mildly),

I've decided who I think the actual patron of marketing should be: St. John the Baptist.

Now, I have no Church authority to actually make that happen, but here's what I think we can learn from him this week, especially as we start out in a new year with fresh goals for our marketing:

1. He leaned into what made him unique.

St. John the Baptist was an...interesting dude.

He definitely would have gone viral on social media for his appearance alone. "You ever seen that preacher? You know, the one who only wears camel's hair clothing?"

"Did you see that guy who was eating locusts and then started talking about repentance?"

Even Jesus acknowledged St. John's uniqueness: "What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothing?" (Matthew 11:8)

But it wasn't "weirdness" just for views.

John's oddities were an asset to attracting people to him, and from him, to the message.

The message of repentance was the most important. His uniqueness was just a tool to get people to listen.

We need to do the same in our marketing. In the crowded online space, we have to go against every instinct of our high school selves to blend in and instead stand out. Be weird. Have a routine or ritual that makes us different.

But we don't stop there: We then have to use that uniqueness to make our work memorable.

They'll come for what makes you stand out. They'll stay — and have their souls changed — because of your message.

🙏 St. John the Baptist, give me the courage to stand out so that the message the Lord has placed on my heart can stand out too.

2. He spoke boldly.

Okay, I'm not necessarily saying you should start out your marketing message with "you brood of vipers!"

But no one can accuse St. John of being one to mince words.

That very boldness in speaking the truth even when it wasn't popular or might offend people attracted the RIGHT people to his message.

Often, we are so afraid of alienating potential people that we water our message down. Even if it's not controversial, we know that some people won't agree with us, and so we shy away from speaking our mission boldly.

It seems counterintuitive, but we actually want to take strong stances in our marketing. That way, when the right people hear it, they think, "Yes, I thought I was the only one!" It feels like they found an instant friend and community with whom they align.

Will it drive some people away? Yep. But they weren't going to align with your mission anyway.

And it will actually draw in the people you really want to serve.

If you struggle with this, remember, you're not going to put out a sign that says "We won't serve you if you don't agree with us!" It's simply acknowledging that there is someone else out there who can serve them better — and that the Lord has called YOU to serve people that only your non-watered-down mission can.

🙏 St. John the Baptist, please intercede for anyone who does not resonate with the message God has asked me to share. Please ask God to raise up for them exactly who they need to draw closer to Him, even if it is not me. Give me courage to speak the truth boldly and so draw the people to me that the Lord has asked me to serve.

3. He paved the way well, but stayed humble and pointed to Jesus.

In last Saturday's Gospel reading, people come to St. John and try to make him jealous of Jesus. "HE'S baptizing now! What are you going to do?? All your people are going to Him!!"

And what does St. John say?

"He must increase, I must decrease."

I am struck by the humility of that statement. St. John was at the top of his "career" as a prophet. He had so many people following him. He easily could have capitalized on it and convinced people that he was the Messiah, gaining more acclaim for himself.

But he didn't.

Instead, at the very height of his career, he took a backseat. That's how we know that he was doing everything for the right reasons — it was never about him. It was always about Jesus.

I know in the Catholic marketing world we often struggle with humility. How can we market without falling into pride and wanting to use it all for our own glory?

By always, always pointing back to Jesus, like St. John did.

Even when we don't understand exactly what He's doing. We do the job the Lord has asked us, and then step back to let Him shine.

When we are at the height of our success, do we have the ability to fade into the background and give all the glory to God?

Like the Israelites in Deuteronomy 9, God reminds us that it is not our own righteousness that leads us to success in His name: It's all His. It's always been all Him.

We are just have the great gift of being His messengers, and then stepping out of His way to do His thing.

🙏 St. John the Baptist, help me to have the humility to use my platforms and marketing not for my own gain or attention, but always to point to Jesus. Help them to be successful not for my own sake, but for Christ's.

So as we journey into 2026, I invite you to call upon St. John the Baptist's intercession as you look at your marketing goals for the year.

Ask him to intercede for you, providing you the courage to stand out, speak the truth, and then step back to let the Lord work through you.

For His greater glory,

Emily

P.S. I've missed writing these newsletters for you all! I have some ideas of things to share, but I'd also love to hear from you: What are you struggling with in marketing right now? What can I demystify in marketing for you? Hit reply and let me know — I might just choose yours to write about in a future newsletter!