Local marketing firm aims to connect the community

Soreli Marketing owners, Lindsey Overstreet (left) and Emily Shepherd (right), smile while working together on building their blossoming marketing firm.

C ommunity and relationship building lie at the foundation of all the work that Soreli Marketing founders Emily Shepherd and Lindsey Overstreet do, from managing coffee shops to opening their own marketing firm.

The idea of Soreli Marketing slowly came to the founders while the two worked as baristas together at Sunergos Coffee, pouring drinks and becoming fast friends. Idle daydreaming behind the bar over their shared interest in social media and marketing during their shifts together eventually blossomed into their plan of partnering in the field.

“Everything changed, in the best way possible,” Shepherd said of the start of her friendship with Overstreet.

Opening Soreli Marketing

In 2025, Shepherd and Overstreet left their jobs working together as baristas and opened Soreli Marketing, a small firm focused on intentionality, connection and community.

The need for community for herself is something that Shepherd sought out prior to Soreli Marketing

“When I first started working [at Sunergos], it was a very pivotal point in my life, and I needed community. And when I came in, that was exactly what I got, was just like community,” Shepherd said.

This sense of community, of walking into a warm coffee shop and seeing friendly, familiar faces, is a feeling Soreli Marketing strives to provide as a result of their work.

“I think our impact externally is partnering with brands who provide similar experiences and helping connect them with like-minded people,” Overstreet said, “and fostering community,” Shepherd added.

Soreli Marketing aims to help brands consolidate their brand identity and messaging in order to reach their like-minded audience and deepen their connection with their existing audience.

Soreli Marketing offers several services to brands, including marketing strategy, social media management, and search engine optimization (SEO). Their team utilizes these tools to create a journey for customers as they interact with a brand.

The firm also specializes in marketing experience-based products to individuals. When partnering with brands, they consider whether the product will add value or if they are just selling for the sake of consumption.

“When you’re looking at marketing and selling things, there is a sense of responsibility of ‘Are we adding to your quality of life or are we just selling?’” Overstreet said.

Overstreet said that she finds joy in disconnecting from social media – by getting coffee with a friend, playing cards in the park – and thinks that other people are also tired of doomscrolling and are looking to experience life.

“These brands are just a collection of people, so how do we connect this collection of people with other people who want to be involved in that community?” Overstreet said, “Really, I feel like marketing is less about advertising or trying to sell a product and is more about bringing people together over a shared interest.”

Overstreet explained that companies that do marketing well are those that understand their community in a genuine and authentic way.

When working with companies, Soreli Marketing dives into how the brands have historically been presented, learns the way the company interacts with its clientele and how its customers view the experience. Ultimately, the firm looks to understand a company’s brand tone and unique selling point to accurately market it in a way that reaches the right audience.

“From a marketing perspective, we can showcase the culture and the personality of this space and getting people into the door. That is where that connection happens,” Overstreet said.

“I feel like marketing is less about advertising … and is more about bringing people together.”

Bridging backgrounds and goals

Shepherd and Overstreet have different backgrounds and experiences that led them to the team they formed together.

Shepherd earned a business degree from Bellarmine, as she knew that one day she’d like to start a business of her own – particularly a coffee shop. Eventually, she started working at Sunergos, where she rose to the position of manager at the location where she and Overstreet first bonded over their shared passions.

“She was really good at building up the community of that shop. She brought a lot of people together. She really took care of the baristas,” Overstreet said of Shepherd’s time as manager.

A shared emphasis on care and focus on building meaningful relationships is reflected vehemently in their marketing approach.

“We both have this shared value of taking care of people,” Shepherd said.

Like Shepherd, Overstreet also envisioned opening a coffee shop of her own, though she started college with an interest in photojournalism. She chose to leave college and instead work her way up to becoming a coffee shop manager – one step closer to her original dream of ownership.

Moving on and moving together

Overstreet and Shepherd decided independently that managing coffee shops wasn’t the path forward for them and that they wanted to work for themselves.

“I realized I didn’t actually want to run a coffee shop. What I liked about it was the stories and relationships that happened in a coffee shop,” Overstreet said.

Overstreet moved to a front desk job at Climb Nulu after becoming burnt out in coffee. There, she took classes while searching for a job in the creative world. She was eventually able to transition to a social media position at Climb Nulu, where she worked until branching off to begin freelancing in marketing and social media. While freelancing was fulfilling Overstreet's passion, it wasn't quite paying the bills yet, leading her back to coffee, where she finally would work with Shepherd.

Before working with Overstreet, Shepherd was toying with the idea of delving into social media again herself, as she also expresses herself creatively through social media. While initially in the social media industry, Shepherd really enjoyed working with a company that sold truck bed toppers, a topic she went into knowing nothing about.

“I love that aspect of it, where it was just a brand new topic that I had to dive so deep into, and that was part of my job,” Shepherd said.

Conversations over their shared interest behind the coffee bar opened a door for Overstreet and Shepherd to come together.

“I was really struggling to manage everything by myself, and I needed a sounding board to bounce ideas off of,” Overstreet said of her time freelancing while working at Sunergos, “I needed somebody who would help clarify ideas.”

Before partnering, Overstreet and Shepherd would talk through some of Overstreet’s freelancing gigs together. Eventually, the idea got pitched about them building a business together, and the thought stuck with them both.

“Being in a partnership is like a marriage.”

After feeling out their working dynamic, the two realized that they would make a great team and decided to open the firm together as partners.

A women’s leadership event in Texas worked as the perfect test of their friendship and business relationship; spending several days together showed them that they could step up for each other and navigate the business world together as a unit.

Just sitting across from the two business partners and speaking with them for merely an hour, the duo’s chemistry and appreciation for one another shone through.

“We bounce off each other really well,” Overstreet said.

Shepherd emphasized the importance of being vulnerable and having grace with one another as both business partners and friends.

“There’s give and take,” Overstreet said.

Sharing finances, navigating hard conversations, figuring out the best ways to do something, and creating something together are all ways that Shepherd and Overstreet approach their business partnership like a marriage.

“Looking at trying to start something as intense as your own company – with a lot of unknowns, a lot of uncertainties, a ton of risk – you need somebody that you can fully trust to hold you accountable, to be the best version of yourself,” Shepherd said.

Those looking to work with Soreli Marketing can find the business at SoreliMarketing.com, @sorelimarketing on Instagram and Soreli Marketing on Facebook.