EPISODE 13: Infusing your brand into your nonprofit storytelling, with Ana Maria Páramo

(Episode transcribed electronically)

Matt Pearl: Hello, friends. This is Dot Org, episode 13, the podcast all about how nonprofits tell their stories. I'm your host, Matt Pearl. I was a broadcast journalist, a TV news reporter for 20 years. Now I run Pearl Impact Media, where I craft videos for nonprofits that get used and remembered. In addition to that, I also host this podcast where we help you build your nonprofit's storytelling strategy.

I have been excited for this episode for quite a while. Now, if you're a regular listener, you know that every time we have one of these episodes, I interview a different nonprofit leader with a thoughtful and successful approach to telling their organization's story. This interview is not only going to be insightful for you, it is a personal one for me. I had the chance to create an impact video recently for community farmers markets here where I live in Atlanta.

And I'll tell you this, there is such a joy and a satisfaction in doing work with an organization that you personally support and have supported for a while. And I've been going to the different farmer's markets that Community Farmers Markets runs for years. So this was a wonderful project to be a part of. And along the way working on the project, I was so impressed by their approach and specifically in a few ways that I think will be illuminating for your organizations. Number one, having a brand and a brand strategy that informs your storytelling goals. And number two, trusting your community with not just the joys of what you do and the impact that you provide, but with the challenges that you face.

Here with me to talk about all of that is the co-executive director and creative director of Community Farmers Markets, Ana Maria Páramo. Welcome to Dot Org.

Ana Maria Páramo:
Matt, thank you so much for having me.

Matt Pearl:
And our first question, Ana Maria, is going to be the toughest. Tell us about Community Farmers Markets in 30 seconds or less.

Ana Maria Páramo:
Oh my goodness. Well, Community Farmers Markets, it's a nonprofit organization here in Atlanta that is building a resilient food system for our city. We host traditional outdoor farmers markets as well as innovative forms of food distribution that we do vendor support for 140 plus vendors that we serve. We see around 200,000 people a year come through our markets. And we also have an accessibility program to make local food more accessible for people and an education branch that goes into the community to teach about the benefits of eating locally. How did I do? Is that in 30 seconds?

Matt Pearl:
I think you went a little over, but we'll let it slide. That's totally fine. And I mean, honestly, and we experienced this, you and I together while working on the video for CFM. I mean, you just do so much. And the hard part of conveying what you do is conveying all that you do because most people who go to the local farmer's markets that you run, they most likely think, "Well, that's probably all there is."

And that's certainly all that they see visually and that they see publicly. But you mentioned some of these other branches that you have and some of these other ways that you benefit the community. And it is really a beautiful thing and it was a beautiful thing for me to be a part of a project that was able to illuminate a lot of those other ways that you benefit the communities that you serve in Metro Atlanta.

I wanted to dive into this conversation about storytelling just by asking you about how you view storytelling, and particularly as it relates to the mission of your nonprofit. You have a creative background, you have a design background, you have a lot of expertise in this area, and I would just love to hear the way that that informs your work at CFM.

Ana Maria Páramo:
Yeah, absolutely. No, Matt, you were right to point out the challenge that we have at Community Farmers Markets in terms of telling our story, because we found that in order for us to fulfill our mission, we really needed to dive into different aspects of, as I mentioned, it's not only about distributing food and making food available, but we really need to incorporate education.

There are all these aspects that need to be part of the work in order for us to be able to be successful with it. So when it comes to talking about the work that we do, it can be challenging to convey all the different aspects of it. And I think that's something that has helped us is stay on the four lanes of our approach to access and talk to people about the things that they care about. Some people really just want to come get their vegetables to prepare their meals because they're really into cooking. A lot of people really come for the community aspect to meet their neighbors.

So for us, and for me particularly, it has been very important to understand what the motivations of our different constituents are, and tell them that story. Because at the end of the day, it's about sustainability, it's about farmer's prosperity, it's about eating healthy, it's about building just food systems.

But even though those are my goals, I have different vehicles to tell that story. And our markets, a lot of people visit our farmer's markets mostly because of the feeling. They love feeling part of something good, something meaningful. There's a feel good aspect to our farmer's markets that has been really important in the way we tell this story. So you would see that across our communication platforms. We have a very energetic, positive way of talking about our work. And you see that on our colors, we use warm, bright colors, a friendly tone.

And that is a great way to present something that has a deeper meaning. We meet people where they are. We're all here to build community, to gather on a Sunday morning, but there is a deeper meaning to this and is food access and is food justice. And so we found that through those more approachable mechanisms, we are able to tell deeper stories.

Matt Pearl:
That's a great way to look at it. And I think one of the things that has always struck me, even before I started working with you, but just my experience going to the markets for years and years, both on my own and then with my family, is that you all have such a great sense of who you are and you're able to express that with your brand.

And I always say whether or not, whether from a video perspective and from a storytelling perspective, whether an organization is going outside and hiring someone like me, or whether they are taking it on their own, the first step is knowing who you are and knowing how strategically that aligns with your goals, whether that's fundraising or building awareness. And you have multiple goals with CFM, right? Obviously, there's always the fundraising part, but then you also want to drive traffic to your markets.You have markets that you don't want to be empty, you want them to be full of people.

And just from a mission standpoint, you're trying to build community. So there's a lot that you're trying to do and the brand and your brand strategy plays a part into all of that. I would love to hear it in your words, how that takes place. You mentioned, for example, just the simple color schemes that you use, all lead toward that vibe and that brand that you're trying to put out there.

Ana Maria Páramo:
Yes. And I would like to start by saying that I've been with the organization since 2014, so a little bit over 10 years, and I do have a graphic design background. So I came with that skillset into the organization, and it took me a while. This has been a process. It's been a 10-year process to really connect with people and understand what motivates them and have that then become part of the brand. So there was a big curve of understanding the organization and what makes people tick, what people respond to. And just really talking to people was what allowed me to put those skills at work and be able to create a visual brand, a tone that spoke to the reason why people support our organization.

And as I mentioned before, I think that feel good aspect was something that really stuck with me. That sense of warmth of community was something that I wanted to tell through the way that we talk about our work, through the photography. We are very lucky to also have in our team, Jenna Mobley, who was a professional photographer on top of being a fabulous musician and educator. So having the right talent has been essential for us and working with people that are deeply connected to the mission, that want to understand what ... And instill that essence from our programs and present it back to the community.

So like Jenna, with her photography, you would notice, again, it's very warm, it's very open. It includes a lot of nature into all the shots, right? Whether she's capturing the farmer's market, she will frame all the trees. And I do the same thing when I am working on all our graphics and our website. I want to make sure all that nature element is incorporated. There's great shots of all the beautiful produce that our farmers grow. So again, bringing all those values into our visuals and our copyright has been very important.

Matt Pearl:
You touched on something that I don't want to let pass because I think this is actually a really important thing that a lot of nonprofits maybe feel a little icky about, and that is tapping into the talents of the people who you already employ or who are on your board, and in some cases being intentional about going out and finding people with those backgrounds. I've been on the board of Lekotek of Georgia for 14-15 years at this point almost. And I can tell you, the reason that they asked me to be on the board was because at the time I was a TV reporter with a video background and could help them with marketing and social media and video. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, there's everything right with that because so many of us in the nonprofit space get into it because we care about the mission of what we do.

And it's important, as we're building out, to try to make sure we're surrounding ourselves with people who have backgrounds in other areas, whether it's fundraising or whether it's accounting or whether it's operational or whether it's marketing. And just working with you, I mean, you had so many unique insights during our time working on the video that came from your design background. And when we were putting together the video, and we'll talk more about it later, but the specific part I want to mention now is this idea that when we were working on it, we talked about that big issue of CFM does so many things, how am I possibly going to get to all of them in the production time that we had? And we were able to lean on Jenna's photography to cover some of those elements that I wasn't able to shoot.

And that wasn't a huge part of the video, but I think having those photos in there of those extra elements that we didn't have fresh video of, and being able to use other photos just to kind of infuse the story even more with those beautiful vibes that you create, that's a very, very powerful thing. And so I think being able to lean on the people that are on your staff and that have these skills already, that can be very, very valuable. And there's nothing wrong with being intentional about that.

Ana Maria Páramo:
Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. And you're right to say that that applies also to building your board as a co-executive director that we are very intentional about that process, whether it is you need somebody on your team with a legal background, with a PR background, you really want to build a robust team. And we talk a lot about having the right people in the right seas in the bus, and that really goes a long way.

Matt Pearl:
She is Ana Maria Páramo. I am Matt Pearl. This is Dot Org, the podcast about how nonprofits tell their stories. Let me take a quick minute to tell you about how I tell stories. I was a journalist for many years. I traveled the world, covered the Olympics three times, and won national awards for video journalism, mostly for stories about the under-reported issues facing our communities and the people and organizations offering solutions. Now I get to work directly with those people and organizations. At Pearl Impact Media, I provide meaningful, memorable video storytelling for nonprofits and purpose-driven businesses. Maybe you want to raise funds, maybe you want to raise awareness, maybe you want to showcase your services in ways only video can do. I'm based in Atlanta, but work with clients across the country, and I would love to work with you. Head to my website at pearlimpactmedia.com to schedule a free consultation.

Back with Ana Maria Páramo with Community Farmers Markets in Atlanta. Ana Maria, let's go into this video that we collaborated on. You brought me in back over the summer of 2025, and the idea was to have a video ready to go for a huge event that you were putting on late in the fall or maybe midway through the fall in November. Let's first talk about the decision on your end, why an impact video was needed at that point, and why that specific need was worthy of an investment in an outside vendor and what that costs.

Ana Maria Páramo:
Matt, I had to advocate so much for this video to get produced as a nonprofit. We have a tight budget and our organization had been going through a process of leadership transition for a couple of years. So I was in a situation where the need couldn't have been greater, but the resources couldn't have been tighter. So it was definitely a pitch to the board, but for me and the leadership team was really important to present this new phase of our organization because even though we had been around for almost 10 years, we definitely were entering a new chapter and we wanted to present that to our community and have community buy-in for that next chapter. So I was very fortunate to have met you through the markets and I knew that you had made that transition from working on TV and having a very mission focused company.

So I really sold the idea to my team and to the board on how important it was going to be for us, especially going into this big fundraiser to talk about where the organization was at at that moment in time and how to capitalize on that moment to raise funds for our organization and really bring in people to help us build that next chapter.

Matt Pearl:
I have to say, I think that's a really good point to bring up that obviously this was something that you needed to sell, right? And that's not always the easiest thing to do. And I'm curious for you, because I think so much of working in nonprofits is about identifying people who, A, that you know, and B, that you can trust. And I'm curious if you didn't know me and maybe somebody had recommended a videographer, but you weren't quite familiar with their work, would you have been able to pitch as confidently as you did? Or did it really require that background and that previous awareness that you and I had?

Ana Maria Páramo:
I think that both things are true. I think that our leadership team, our board felt the need to have something renewed. We had been using the same video for over seven years at this point, but being able to also showcase the examples of how you approach storytelling was really the sounding point at the end because we would be ... Before our previous video talk had a very linear approach to all the different aspects of our work and just really center on being at the farmer's market and having seen other examples of your work, we knew that you could tap into personal stories to have a more compelling approach to the importance of the work that we were doing.

Matt Pearl:
Well, I will tell you, it was certainly compelling for me because as somebody who's been not just a vendor for you guys, but a client of the community farmers markets and your many vendors for so long, to actually get to go out onto some of the farms and interview some of the farmers who sell their goods at your markets, that was a really unique experience for me. And it's one of those things, again, I talk about how wonderful it is when you can support an organization that you're already supporting, right? And one of the real fun parts for me was recognizing in the moment that I was receiving through shooting this video, behind the scenes access that 99.9% of people who shop at your markets don't receive. So understanding in real time what was valuable about that, and then being able to put that into the video and knowing that that would be valuable for the people who you serve as well.

Because really, I think that's part of something that we try to talk about a lot when, I know I speak with other clients and prospective clients, this idea that yes, you need to convey what you do and yes, you need to convey the impact that you have, but there's something really powerful in giving that extra window that your stakeholders, whoever they may be, rarely get to see, that can be very powerful. And it can be really powerful specifically for building those relationships, whether it's donors or clients or people that you need to stay with you and remain invested in you.

Ana Maria Páramo:
Absolutely. Yeah. I'm glad you had an opportunity to go to the farms, talk to the farmers and capture so beautifully all the scenes and the hard labor of love that goes on at the farms. Yeah.

Matt Pearl:
The other real big decision, I think, with this video, which I don't know if it felt like a big decision in the moment, but looking back, it is relatively rare for projects that I've worked on, but we made a conscious choice not to run from the fact that this is a difficult time and that funding is more challenging now for the organization than it has been. I think a lot of it, people see what's going on around the country and people see the cuts that are happening specifically as it relates to nonprofits and the challenges that create.

So it's not that we were completely surprising a lot of folks, I would imagine, but there is still some vulnerability that is required to put that out there and to say that, and right away in the video, it's very clear that the question is posed to the farmers that we interviewed, "What would you do without community farmers markets?" And so that's, again, put into the video right away.

And I'm curious your perspective on that, because again, for a lot of nonprofits, that's a difficult thing to do and it requires that certain vulnerability to put yourself out there and trust that your community will support you.

Ana Maria Páramo:
Yeah. Yeah. And something that has been on my mind since we started talking is that just the theme of community keeps bringing up, and it's in our name, but when we talk about approaching people in our community, playing to our team's strengths, it's really all about people, about community. And having been able to successfully do a leadership transition to then come into a change landscape for nonprofits in terms of funding was really challenging and we knew we couldn't do it by ourselves. We really needed community to participate in the process.

And in order for people to understand all the implications, we needed to tell the story and we needed to tell the full story. So we worked together in 2025 and at the end of 2024, we started using just the phrase, "We need community now more than ever." We understood that the landscape was changing and a lot of people, the way that people approached business and nonprofits was changing and was being very challenging.

So we wanted to double down on community and we needed to tell people that if we stuck together and we all pitched in, we could make it work. We could transform what was a challenging time into an opportunity to build resilience for long-term sustainability.

Matt Pearl:
I love that. Let's talk about in the moment when that video played, I was so sad that I could not be there. I was on the other side of the country that night at a conference, but you held your soiree and the video played. And I would just love for you to share just how it played in the room and the feedback that you've gotten and fundraising wise, what it's meant for you.

Ana Maria Páramo:
I'm very excited to have the opportunity to talk about this one more time because it was really a surprise to us all. Again, 2025, very challenging year in terms of fundraising especially. And as we prepare for our gala, so mind you, we hadn't had this particular event since 2020. 2019 was the last time we did it and we didn't bring it back because of the pandemic, but because of the development need, we brought it back. And I got to tell you, it was challenging to sell gala ticket seats and sponsorships. We were not seeing the numbers that we needed, but we knew we had the right people in the room, people that cared, that were connected to the mission. And I hope that your listeners have an opportunity to watch the video because the opening scene is beautiful and the way you were able to tell the story was so moving and it really connected you with the land, just the music, the color choices, everything.

So when the video played, it really captured people's attention. You could really see people nodding across the room. And I got to tell you, we did that very strategically. We showed the video right before we went into our paddle race and Matt, we surpassed by so much the money that we thought we were going to raise right off the bat. We also, we work with an auctioneer, which was so important and he was like, "I will start our fundraising, our paddle race with some numbers that are not part of our actual strategy. Just I'm going to fish for larger numbers." And right off the bat, we had three people donating at that higher level and we raised more than double what we had anticipated for that paddle race portion, making the evening a great success. So it really turned around for us because we went into the event thinking we're barely going to break even and we raised more than what we had anticipated.

And at the end of the night, a lot of people talked about how powerful the video was.

Matt Pearl:
Oh, that's so great to hear. And now you also have something that you can use again and again for the next few years to come. And so that's a beautiful thing too. But I think more importantly, and if there's just a kind of a way to close the conversation, obviously I'm so thrilled that the video played a part and I think that speaks to the power of when you combine a video with the paddle rays and the right auction, when you put those things in order, that can really, really move the needle.

But I also think it's a real testament to, like you said, just trusting your community. And I think you said something earlier that really rang true for me. And as many times as I've said your organization's name, and as many times as I've seen emails from you and your colleagues with the name in the signature, it doesn't often dawn on me that community is literally in the name, and yet that is entirely evident in everything that you do.

One of my first experiences with Community Farmers Markets was not as a videographer or even buying the groceries that I would get there and the different vegetables and fruits and prepared goods. But one of the things that really caught my eye and that really helped me gravitate was when you were selling cookbooks with recipes from your vendors and from Atlanta restaurateurs. And I have all four of them, one for each season, and we still use them today and they're a wonderful thing. And it's like, it's so important to seek those opportunities that accomplish your goals, but do it in a way that speaks to who you are.

And I think for folks who are not in Atlanta and don't get to experience CFM in all of its glory and its markets, I just think that's a really powerful lesson to take, this idea that it's not just about doing what other organizations might do and that they find effective or what ChatGPT might tell you to do. It's about really being aware of how your community responds and the kinds of things that they'll want to see and that they will then use to buy in to what you're doing even more.

Ana Maria Páramo:
Yes. Yeah. I go back To how listening to our constituents, whether it's our vendors, our customers, our partner organizations, our funders, it's so important to have inform the way we, again, we tell our stories, our marketing, our branding, because ultimately they are the ones that hold the information. When you watch our video, you hear our farmers talk about the impact that the farmer's markets have in their lives, in their livelihood, and in their ability to fulfill their own mission, which is to store the land and imagine a different way to feed the world.

So listening is so important for us to transmit then. I'll listen to the farmer and tell that to the customer. I'll listen to the customer and give that information to the farmer. So we really are just like a super highway of information here where we're redistributing the stories that matter to people and finding the intersections of what people care about.

Matt Pearl:
Beautiful. Ana Maria, I have really enjoyed this conversation. I'm going to ask you that famous last question that all reporters love to ask. Is there anything we haven't talked about that you would like to add?

Ana Maria Páramo:
Matt, it was really a pleasure working with Pearl Impact Media, sorry about that. And be able to transmit something that was so important to us. People really resonated with it. And I feel like we have a tool now to continue to tell our story. I know it was important to our farmers and it really resonated with our audience. So thank you so much.

Matt Pearl:
Yeah. And like I said, on a personal note, it was such a pleasure to get to work with you in this way after being a consumer for so long at the market. So thank you for the opportunity.

Ana Maria Páramo:
Thanks for being part of our community.

Matt Pearl:
Of course. That is Ana Maria Páramo, co-executive director for Community Farmers Markets. You can find them at cfmatl.org. Ana Maria, thanks so much for your time.

Ana Maria Páramo:
Thank you, Matt.

Matt Pearl:
And that is episode 13 of Dot Org. If you found this helpful and want others to hear it too, a great rating or review wherever you get your podcasts goes a long way. Please take the time if you can and check out my work at Pearl Impact Media. Video storytelling can be so beneficial for organizations. I would love to work with yours. Book a free consultation at pearlimpactmedia.com. All right friends, I am Matt Pearl. Thank you for listening to Dot Org. We'll see you next time.