Vintage Insights: Strategic Rejection: Why Saying No Drives Brand Growth with Jon Williams

1 - > SPEAKER_01: Hello, and welcome to the Retail Journey Podcast. 2 - > SPEAKER_02: I'm one of your hosts, Charles Greathouse. 3 - > And I am James Harris, and today we're talking to John Williams. 4 - > John wears a lot of hats.

5 - > So, among other things, he's the CEO and partner of 94-9 Radio 6 - > John Deek, uh, on field and on court announcer for the 7 - > University of Arkansas Football and Basketball, uh, and MC 8 - > Extraordinaire for fundraising galls uh here in Northwest 9 - > Arkansas. 10 - > Welcome to the retail journey, John. 11 - > I made him put extraordinaire in there. 12 - > SPEAKER_03: I was part of my rider, which is quite extensive.

13 - > Can we get it right, sir? 14 - > Between Skittles, not the white ones that J Lo likes. 15 - > No, thank you guys for having me. 16 - > I'm I'm really excited to be here.

17 - > Yeah. 18 - > Awesome. 19 - > Yeah. 20 - > SPEAKER_02: No, so I um I ran into you two or three weekends 21 - > ago at um it's called Breakthrough T1D.

22 - > Right. 23 - > Right. 24 - > Um, so type 1 diabetes. 25 - > It's uh the the the money from it used to be JDRF, right?

26 - > Junior um junior diabetes. 27 - > SPEAKER_03: You're gonna diabetes research foundation. 28 - > SPEAKER_02: Yeah. 29 - > So the the money really goes to researching a cure for type 1 30 - > diabetes.

31 - > Uh and we're talking in the lobby afterwards, and my my 32 - > wonderful wife, um, who I come home at night listening to I 33 - > listen to you guys in the morning, I listen to you guys on 34 - > the ride home because you got the two segments now on your on 35 - > your radio show, and uh, she came up to you, which is not her 36 - > normal MO. 37 - > I grabbed you by the arm, said you need to meet my husband 38 - > because he's your biggest fangirl. 39 - > SPEAKER_03: Well, and I uh and she had me at hello on that one.

40 - > I go, okay. 41 - > And uh that was really cool. 42 - > First of all, that that event was first class and having it at 43 - > Osage House with uh if people haven't been to Osage House yet. 44 - > SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's my first time, it's beautiful.

45 - > SPEAKER_03: That was also my first time, and I had no idea 46 - > what an incredible facility uh that was. 47 - > And so that was a first-class operation. 48 - > SPEAKER_02: They raised almost half a million dollars. 49 - > SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and their goal was nowhere near it.

50 - > And that is what um, as somebody who has been deeply involved in 51 - > charity uh events across northwest Arkansas, all I care 52 - > about is what's your goal? 53 - > What do we get? 54 - > And it's my job, along with you know the event planning 55 - > committee and everybody else that runs those events to break 56 - > the goal. 57 - > And they shattered the goals.

58 - > And uh it was a team event. 59 - > Shout out to Kim Daniels and her team. 60 - > SPEAKER_02: They did a really good job. 61 - > SPEAKER_03: Incredible auctioneer.

62 - > Uh also Allison Wise, a 4029, and and and really, it was a a 63 - > great event and really unique. 64 - > It was not long. 65 - > I know a lot of people, especially in the in the vendor 66 - > community who have to go to a lot of these charity uh galos 67 - > are constantly night, yeah. 68 - > Yeah.

69 - > Um, they're they're a lot of these galas go long, like they 70 - > uh a few hours, like people have a set amount of time. 71 - > SPEAKER_02: We're not 20 anymore. 72 - > SPEAKER_03: No. 73 - > Um 20 is that's that's in pictures that aren't on social 74 - > media anymore, is what that is.

75 - > Um, but that I thought that event really hit the sweet spot. 76 - > Great auction items, not too many, just enough. 77 - > A lot of personal uh testimony from uh people who are type one, 78 - > children, adults, and things like that. 79 - > I just thought it was a first-class event.

80 - > SPEAKER_02: Do you have a connection to type one diabetes? 81 - > Because you were on the board of JDRF for a while, right? 82 - > SPEAKER_03: Uh full disclosure, I was the first president of the 83 - > board of JDRF when uh that branch uh was first created in 84 - > Northwest Arkansas in the early 2000s because my son's mom um is 85 - > and has been a type one diabetic since she was 11. 86 - > Yeah.

87 - > Um and so when we had Jack, uh it is the understatement of the 88 - > year to say that was a uh challenging uh birth time uh for 89 - > him. 90 - > Yeah. 91 - > And they told us that up front. 92 - > They said, because you're uh dealing with a type one 93 - > situation, uh you're gonna have all these uh possible uh 94 - > problems.

95 - > They made us go down to Little Rock, they made us go to UAMS 96 - > before we had all the hospitals we have up here, and they put us 97 - > in a room and said, You're more 40% more likely to have spina 98 - > bifida, you're 40% more likely to have all this litany of 99 - > before he was born. 100 - > It was he was uh we we were getting the gender reveal down 101 - > there, and uh basically they were like, Okay, uh by the way, 102 - > it's a boy, and here's all the things that could go wrong, just 103 - > FYI.

104 - > And um, yeah, so we're blessed and fortunate that you know, 23 105 - > and a half years later, no, he's fantastic. 106 - > He's uh we're very, very fortunate and very lucky, but 107 - > not everybody who is type one diabetic that has kids are, and 108 - > so that's really what we're trying to do is improve the 109 - > lives. 110 - > And as as we like to say, go from type one to type none, 111 - > which I thought was clever. 112 - > And like 25 years I hadn't thought of that.

113 - > Why where have I been? 114 - > Uh, but that's what they're basically trying to put 115 - > themselves out of business, yeah. 116 - > Yeah, yeah. 117 - > SPEAKER_02: And um, like we do a lot of the charity stuff, the 118 - > industry we're in, whatever, but I'm a type one diabetic.

119 - > How long have you been type one? 120 - > Uh uh adult onset. 121 - > So we had a traumatic event. 122 - > SPEAKER_03: Um that were like 600 or something or low?

123 - > SPEAKER_02: Were you high or low? 124 - > Oh, I was very high. 125 - > Oh, yeah, like 800. 126 - > So when I when I finally so I'd lost a ton of weight, right?

127 - > And I'm drinking apple juice out of the carton. 128 - > It's like, oh, this isn't right. 129 - > No, I gotta tell you I was probably about 500. 130 - > Oh, goodness.

131 - > Yeah, yeah. 132 - > SPEAKER_03: That's dangerous. 133 - > Oh my goodness. 134 - > Yeah, I'm so sorry.

135 - > No, it's it's just it's you know, and so now you've got 136 - > everything on the technology. 137 - > SPEAKER_02: I got the technology. 138 - > I'm probably getting insulin as we speak. 139 - > SPEAKER_03: People who were type one diabetic.

140 - > Are you okay? 141 - > Um people who were type one before I would say the year 142 - > 2000. 143 - > Oh, yeah. 144 - > Technology was straight out of Flintstones, man.

145 - > It was uh you're it's a lot of guesswork, it's a lot of math. 146 - > You're like, I think this is the long acting, you're the short 147 - > acting, and let's inject them both, and I think I need a coke. 148 - > And I mean it was just yeah, really uh a tough way to 149 - > navigate it, but now I know a couple of guys, they're twins, 150 - > uh they're adult men, they're they're close to my age, 151 - > whatever. 152 - > SPEAKER_02: Um and they had the gene, which I didn't have the 153 - > gene, I had a different thing.

154 - > Um but they each had the gene, and one of them had a car 155 - > accident, and that triggered his onset. 156 - > Car accident? 157 - > Car accident. 158 - > So if you have the gene, right?

159 - > A traumatic event can spur it. 160 - > Oh wow. 161 - > And the other, a couple years later, had um like um pneumonia, 162 - > and that triggered it. 163 - > SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

164 - > SPEAKER_02: So both of them now are active type ones. 165 - > Oh gosh. 166 - > Uh, but it's a it's a weird, weird disease. 167 - > SPEAKER_03: It is, and I think there's a lot here in 2020, you 168 - > know, five where we're still finding out about it.

169 - > And that's what the research is going for, is to help people 170 - > manage it better and live their lives with it better. 171 - > And events like that one where I got I was lucky enough to meet 172 - > you, is is one of those things. 173 - > And um, it's really cool how Northwest Arkansas, specifically 174 - > the vendor community, um, is so invested in projects and in 175 - > nonprofits like uh that one. 176 - > Uh, there's so many.

177 - > If I started naming them, someone's gonna get mad. 178 - > SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's a huge, huge. 179 - > SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I've been I've been fortunate enough to be part 180 - > of Kissipig for I mean almost 18 years. 181 - > They made me a they they came to me first as a contestant.

182 - > And if anybody knows about Kissipig, it's basically it's 183 - > not a gala, it's 10 mini galas wrapped in a gala. 184 - > Uh, and they basically make all these people have their own 185 - > contests. 186 - > It's a genius business model. 187 - > Yeah.

188 - > And it's a very late night, too. 189 - > Oh, it's uh I I have gotten to the John Q. 190 - > Hammond's uh RIP, uh Rogers Convention Center at like five 191 - > o'clock and not left there until almost midnight on many 192 - > occasions. 193 - > And they've had incredible wallflowers and uh blues 194 - > traveler and just incredible.

195 - > I saw blues traveler. 196 - > Yeah, yeah. 197 - > So these events that happen in northwest Arkansas are 198 - > oftentimes the most profitable events that some of these galas 199 - > are like, for example, I know for a fact ADA their most 200 - > profitable event every year is in Northwest Arkansas at 201 - > Kissipig, by the way they do it. 202 - > Uh so it's it's really cool the way the Walmart community, the 203 - > vendor community in Northwest Arkansas really get behind some 204 - > of these.

205 - > SPEAKER_02: There's always a couple of vice presidents at 206 - > Walmart that are on the in the running for the you know the 207 - > pretend people that are bringing things up, and that it makes a 208 - > huge difference. 209 - > It's not even the personalities, it's the strength that you know 210 - > Walmart talks about this a lot that we we we have such scale, 211 - > we can change the world. 212 - > And this is just a microcosm of it. 213 - > No.

214 - > SPEAKER_03: So you grew up in Northwest Arkansas. 215 - > SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I was born in Silent Springs. 216 - > SPEAKER_03: So you have to deal with a lot of people. 217 - > I say deal with a lot of people, that's such a negative 218 - > connotation.

219 - > You have to deal with these people, but you have to you 220 - > encounter people that come to Northwest Arkansas who have only 221 - > been here like a year, two years, three years. 222 - > Oh yeah, and they walk around with their mouth agape, going, I 223 - > thought I was coming to Arkansas. 224 - > What is this stuff? 225 - > And it's just really cool to see where we are now as a community 226 - > in Northwest Arkansas.

227 - > SPEAKER_02: About a third of our company's revenue comes through 228 - > about two square blocks in midtown Manhattan. 229 - > unknown: Yeah. 230 - > SPEAKER_02: You had to talk to them about like what did you 231 - > guys do this weekend, and then they'll ask me what I did. 232 - > And they're like, well, that was just on Broadway, like last 233 - > week.

234 - > You know? 235 - > Yeah. 236 - > We're not limited. 237 - > SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, no, no.

238 - > SPEAKER_02: And I think access we have to cool things. 239 - > Yeah, and I would have always said that. 240 - > No, no, of course not. 241 - > Always said that.

242 - > No, when I was when I was in junior high in high school, like 243 - > there wasn't a reason to come to Rogers or Bentonville unless you 244 - > had a game. 245 - > Yeah, we talked about football baseball all the time. 246 - > SPEAKER_03: I mean, what what was the draw to Rogers? 247 - > What are we?

248 - > Dixieland Mall? 249 - > What is it? 250 - > And if you were in the Olive Garden Club, then you could uh 251 - > drink. 252 - > And honestly, do you remember this?

253 - > Here's fun. 254 - > Um do are you guys old enough to remember that where every time I 255 - > had to cut a commercial on the radio or anything, and it was 256 - > for a bar or like Cafe Santa Fe shout out R I Did I remember 257 - > those things? 258 - > Um where I'd have to the commercial would always start 259 - > out the same way. 260 - > Attention members and guests.

261 - > Uh, you'd have to say attention members and guests before 262 - > anything that had an establishment with alcohol in 263 - > it. 264 - > Yeah. 265 - > And I'm like, where what are we? 266 - > What am I?

267 - > SPEAKER_02: Because you had to sign a thing, pay five dollars, 268 - > and then they would reimburse you the five dollars. 269 - > SPEAKER_01: Stupid the ABC laws that have existed in this area, 270 - > they're like, it's um this it's something. 271 - > You know, for those that are considering Bentonville, uh, it 272 - > is no longer a dry company. 273 - > Yeah, this is no longer the case.

274 - > It is well, I mean it has changed a lot. 275 - > SPEAKER_03: That has changed quite a bit. 276 - > And and and it's funny you say that because it's only been how 277 - > long has it been that Benton County's been not dry? 278 - > Ten years, maybe I was thinking tennis, and uh and now it's a 279 - > completely different.

280 - > SPEAKER_02: Well, and growing up in Siloam, uh, which was like if 281 - > if if this little pocket is conservative, like Siloam is 282 - > even more so. 283 - > Um I drove through I drove through it last weekend uh with 284 - > my youngest son going to Tulsa for a basketball tournament. 285 - > Um, and there's just liquor stores and weed dispensaries. 286 - > SPEAKER_03: Oh I don't recognize this.

287 - > Silem Springs in and and by the way, I apologize because I'm 288 - > sure people who live in West Asylum Springs want me to 289 - > differentiate between the two. 290 - > Yes, of course. 291 - > Um West Sylum and Sylum has become a virtual den of iniquity 292 - > uh between the all the liquor stores, all of the I mean, 293 - > you've got Cherokee there now, you've got weed billboards every 294 - > 20 feet. 295 - > It's uh Chick-fil-A also.

296 - > Oh, well, don't forget Chick-fil-A. 297 - > Uh let's start with a number one. 298 - > Uh, but yeah, what Silem Springs has become the wild west. 299 - > I expect you know Doc Holiday to come walking.

300 - > Let's let's go. 301 - > SPEAKER_02: I'd never never imagined it. 302 - > SPEAKER_03: No way you could have. 303 - > Like if you could have been projected into the future and 304 - > seen 2025 Siloem Springs, you'd be like, come on.

305 - > No, no, there's no way. 306 - > SPEAKER_02: No, that's New York City. 307 - > SPEAKER_03: Is that a weed billboard? 308 - > Behind the weed billboard?

309 - > SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's what it is. 310 - > So all right, let's get into it. 311 - > Um, what what brought you to northwest Arkansas? 312 - > Because you're not originally from here, are you?

313 - > SPEAKER_03: I'm not. 314 - > My mom is a uh native bread and buttered Arkansan. 315 - > She is uh from El Dorado, which is LA. 316 - > It is lower Arkansas.

317 - > And uh she and her whole family grew up in Magnolia, El Dorado. 318 - > Um, but we grew up, I grew up in Colorado, uh in the shadow of 319 - > the flat irons of Boulder in a town called Longmont, right on 320 - > I-25. 321 - > Uh, I came here to play baseball. 322 - > Um, I came here originally to play for Norm.

323 - > Um, I I was given an invited walk-on because clearly they did 324 - > not have a very good view of the video I sent them, and they were 325 - > somehow mistaken into believing that I could have pitched for 326 - > the University of Arkansas, a program that regularly puts 327 - > people in the major leagues. 328 - > Uh I I am 5'11 and at the time I was about 145 soaking wet. 329 - > And while I threw really hard for a kid that looked like he 330 - > was 11, um, I did not throw nearly as hard as Scott Brocale 331 - > or any of these people that uh went on to incredible careers 332 - > for the Razorback.

333 - > So after about five minutes and realizing what am I doing, um, I 334 - > stopped at baseball. 335 - > But I stayed at the U of A and I've obviously not left A. 336 - > Play four years? 337 - > I stayed four years.

338 - > I did not play four minutes. 339 - > Uh Norm, bless his heart. 340 - > I tell this story all the time. 341 - > SPEAKER_02: Really good in high school.

342 - > Oh, yeah. 343 - > SPEAKER_03: Yeah, editing videos. 344 - > Really good high school baseball player, and I probably should 345 - > have gone the JUCO route where they could have put weight on me 346 - > to where I looked like I wasn't 11 but 14 and um would have had 347 - > more success that way. 348 - > But I went straight, I'm going right to the SEC to try and do 349 - > this nonsense.

350 - > Clearly had no male guidance in my life telling me that I was 351 - > out of my mind. 352 - > Um, so I tried it anyway. 353 - > But I ended up going to the U of A and and journalism getting 354 - > into the broadcast uh program, which back then wasn't much of a 355 - > broadcast program until Larry Foley showed up uh a year after 356 - > I left, which I thought was awfully convenient. 357 - > Um now it's an incredible broadcast program.

358 - > Yeah, yeah, really is kind of known for it. 359 - > Oh gosh, they've what they've built on that campus uh for the 360 - > U of A with their broadcast, whether it's K UAF and their new 361 - > facilities just off the square, or that new TV studio they have 362 - > in Kemple. 363 - > Um it's pretty impressive. 364 - > Yeah.

365 - > SPEAKER_02: Excuse me. 366 - > You met my daughter, she has a twin brother. 367 - > Oh uh, and they're they're juniors this year, seniors in 368 - > high school next year. 369 - > So we've done a lot of campus visits.

370 - > SPEAKER_03: Are they Bentonville? 371 - > Rogers. 372 - > Rogers, okay, yeah. 373 - > SPEAKER_02: Mounties or heritage?

374 - > Uh she's a Mounty. 375 - > Okay. 376 - > Uh her brother is Providence, Patriot. 377 - > SPEAKER_00: Okay.

378 - > SPEAKER_02: Yeah. 379 - > Nice. 380 - > Uh so we're we're all split up all over the place. 381 - > Sure.

382 - > Um diversity. 383 - > That's right. 384 - > Uh we've we've done a lot of campus visits, but each one of 385 - > them independently did a U of A campus tour. 386 - > And I'm not like a big college guy.

387 - > Like I didn't quite finish. 388 - > Yeah. 389 - > All right. 390 - > And most of my classes were like after 7 p.

m. 391 - > There's nothing wrong with that either. 392 - > Learning is not day specific. 393 - > But it is so such a great campus.

394 - > Oh. 395 - > And so much fun to like all the history, all the the stuff that 396 - > just belongs there for 150 years. 397 - > SPEAKER_03: Isn't it crazy? 398 - > It is.

399 - > I'm biased. 400 - > I mean, I'm again, I'm from Boulder, and if you've never 401 - > seen the Colorado campus in Boulder, it is breathtaking uh 402 - > at the base of the flat iron. 403 - > It's just, it's to me, I grew up with that, and that's just 404 - > always like, oh, it's such a beautiful campus. 405 - > But they didn't have a baseball team, so I didn't go there.

406 - > I came to Arkansas where I played baseball for four 407 - > minutes. 408 - > And my kid graduated high school um in uh 2020. 409 - > So we'll get into that later. 410 - > What a fiasco that situation doing graduation ceremonies uh 411 - > in an empty auditorium uh via Zoom.

412 - > Uh, but he graduated in 2020, and and I'm like, I'm trying to 413 - > get him to look at other schools. 414 - > And I think that the reverse psychology of it actually drove 415 - > him to go to Arkansas. 416 - > Nice because we kept trying to go. 417 - > He's he wanted to be in you know, filmmaking, journalism, 418 - > things like that.

419 - > We're like, hey, Mizzou's got a great program, and Kansas has a 420 - > really good and all this. 421 - > And he's like, Are you kidding me? 422 - > Um no, I'm going to Arkansas. 423 - > And I finally was like, let's go to Boulder, show you that 424 - > campus, walk around, it's just beautiful.

425 - > And we walk around, take the tour, everything. 426 - > We get done, we get in the car, and he goes, That ain't that's 427 - > not fatal. 428 - > He's in he has this romantic Parisian Eiffel Tower view of 429 - > like old Maine and that campus. 430 - > He grew up on it, so it really meant a lot to him.

431 - > And he graduated in December. 432 - > So did something right. 433 - > Uh lucked into him. 434 - > He didn't.

435 - > He he he lived in the Frisco apartments uh down on Dixon and 436 - > West, which is a whole other podcast entirely. 437 - > But um, he lived down there and yeah, he he got through COVID, 438 - > all the Zoom classes, not entering a uh building until 439 - > like three semesters into his career, and uh challenging time 440 - > for him to graduate high school and go to college. 441 - > Yeah. 442 - > SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I help uh with the the youth at fellowship, 443 - > they call it FSM, and my guys are all seniors graduating 444 - > actually this weekend.

445 - > Oh, wow. 446 - > SPEAKER_02: From Bentonville and got them since they're freshmen, 447 - > right? 448 - > SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 449 - > So the way they do the cell group, I've been discipling 450 - > these guys since they were freshmen.

451 - > It's just been a really, really sweet time, and they're awesome. 452 - > You know, shout out to the guys. 453 - > Yeah. 454 - > Uh, but I don't know.

455 - > It's an exciting time as well. 456 - > 15 of them are all going to U of A. 457 - > So yeah. 458 - > I expect to be spending a lot more time uh down on campus.

459 - > Well, and we appreciate there being more Arkansas kids uh on 460 - > that campus and not having Texas players. 461 - > SPEAKER_03: I'm not judging or saying anything. 462 - > SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but yeah, no, these guys and a lot of them had 463 - > you know options all all around. 464 - > But at the end of the day, it's like, no, this is this is a 465 - > great school school environment.

466 - > SPEAKER_03: And there's some great programs. 467 - > Obviously, the business school shout out, the Walton Business 468 - > School, and there's some incredible engineering chain of 469 - > the country. 470 - > I mean, I wonder why. 471 - > Uh gee, uh that's the definitely if you want to go into supply 472 - > chain management or anything as far as uh business.

473 - > Marketing programs really good. 474 - > Absolutely. 475 - > SPEAKER_01: Uh so I have a couple journalism guys too going 476 - > down. 477 - > SPEAKER_03: Absolutely right.

478 - > Yeah, we and you know what's cool is seeing a lot of the U of 479 - > A alums go on to like Good Morning America, the Weather 480 - > Channel, you know, stuff like that. 481 - > It's really awesome. 482 - > unknown: Yeah. 483 - > Yeah.

484 - > SPEAKER_02: I want to talk to you about like on field, on 485 - > court, all that stuff, but let's let's do a little like like meat 486 - > and potatoes here first. 487 - > Um so it's a retail journey, right? 488 - > Yeah, we we generally, we don't always, but we generally talk 489 - > retail. 490 - > Um, and when we were chatting earlier this week, you have a 491 - > lot of brands, right?

492 - > Like national brands that come on your your your station and 493 - > hire you for kind of local media, similar to the billboards 494 - > you see on Walton Boulevard, right? 495 - > SPEAKER_03: Absolutely right. 496 - > SPEAKER_02: Um talk a little bit about that, what that what that 497 - > brings to them in terms of exposure. 498 - > SPEAKER_03: Happy to.

499 - > I so I've been in radio as you've both illustrated and as 500 - > um we've talked a little bit about. 501 - > I mean, I began my career in '93, and so this is my 32nd 502 - > year on the radio in Northwest Arkansas. 503 - > And so for the vast majority of it, it was one of the situations 504 - > where you go find a big company that has a radio station, and 505 - > then hopefully, if you do get enough show, they pay you. 506 - > And yay, I get to be on the radio, and then you get a 507 - > salary.

508 - > Um, and then it basically your salary is derived from the 509 - > ratings that you get through either Arbitron, Nielsen, or 510 - > what have you. 511 - > SPEAKER_00: Yeah. 512 - > SPEAKER_03: But then as radio began to kind of get like 513 - > started to shrink a little bit, and big radio conglomerates 514 - > began to get rid of uh big salary local talent. 515 - > About 2010, I kind of saw the landscape and I began to realize 516 - > that if I was going to stay in this medium, I needed to become 517 - > the salesperson.

518 - > I needed to be the one to go out and get the clients, get the 519 - > brands, uh, local, national, what have you, and make uh to 520 - > where the situation was they saw more ROI by having me endorse 521 - > their brands on my show and not having the middleman of the 522 - > salespeople. 523 - > I'll be the salesperson. 524 - > And so I began that in 2010. 525 - > And when you start something like that, it is not easy.

526 - > Uh no one's doing what I was doing. 527 - > Right. 528 - > And and so you kind of had to build that's the coolest part of 529 - > it. 530 - > It yes.

531 - > I and I I am of a rare personality type to where I 532 - > don't really uh feel fear. 533 - > Um, I really don't think there's anything if I if I just I just 534 - > feel like I can do it. 535 - > Yeah. 536 - > And so I knew that I was immediately foregoing because I 537 - > make no salary.

538 - > I don't make a dime uh from my my company doesn't pay me any 539 - > money in salary. 540 - > And so all of my compensation comes from a commission of these 541 - > partners. 542 - > Yeah. 543 - > And so therefore, I am incentivized to just keep going 544 - > out there, finding the people that I think fit the loyal and 545 - > royal army the best.

546 - > And fortunately, that is everybody from small businesses, 547 - > really small businesses, to Nestle um and Coca-Cola and uh 548 - > Sonic and things like that. 549 - > Yeah. 550 - > And so I've been doing that now for 14 years. 551 - > I actually love doing it.

552 - > I'm very competitive. 553 - > And so I like to sell because I like to beat other people in 554 - > sales, and I'm very, very um, I guess you would say protective 555 - > of the brands of the of the people I get on my show. 556 - > Like I care a lot about people knowing those brands, to the 557 - > point where if you were to go to anybody in my audience and ask 558 - > them, I'm gonna say a category, you tell me who John and Deke 559 - > have on there. 560 - > Like you go to them and go, Who's our furniture store?

561 - > Get it at Sam's, uh, who's their liquor store? 562 - > Macadoodles, who's their pharmacy, call your drug. 563 - > You go right down the line because I do only. 564 - > Only exclusivity.

565 - > I won't have competing brands on my my show. 566 - > And that and I think that those brands see the ROI from that 567 - > when they can drive down 49, look up at five billboards and 568 - > see four HVAC companies in a row where I don't think people 569 - > really get much ROI out of that. 570 - > SPEAKER_02: Well, and I just as a listener for years, like if 571 - > there's four options for something, but one is sponsoring 572 - > the loyal and royal, I'm right. 573 - > SPEAKER_03: Thank you.

574 - > And that's the goal. 575 - > And and I'll tell you this, and it's one of those chicken of the 576 - > egg things. 577 - > Are they a huge brand? 578 - > Because that's I gravitate towards large, or do I help make 579 - > them bigger brands?

580 - > And I'd like to think it's a little of both. 581 - > Yeah. 582 - > We try really hard to Deke and I really care about letting 583 - > everybody know that when we buy a car, Deke has, and I'm not 584 - > exaggerating, Deke has probably bought 11 cars from Wrath 585 - > Mitsubishi. 586 - > SPEAKER_02: Then you trade that like every six months.

587 - > SPEAKER_03: It feels like it's every much more than that. 588 - > But and we they we joke that we will pull up into the same call 589 - > your drug uh uh parking lot at the same time. 590 - > We go to Macadoodles, everything in my home is Sam's furniture. 591 - > Um and we do and and Benjamin Franklin does our plumbing.

592 - > Everything that we talk about on the show is in a form of how 593 - > they have made our lives better. 594 - > And so that's what we try to impart to our audience. 595 - > Yeah. 596 - > SPEAKER_01: I feel like it's easier to talk about the things 597 - > you authentically feel, yeah, especially in an environment 598 - > where like just reading off of a script is felt like nobody they 599 - > can, and you know what?

600 - > SPEAKER_03: People aren't dumb. 601 - > They people have a BS meter and they they can tell when you're 602 - > like this guy doesn't write. 603 - > Like you'll watch a like, I don't know, I'm trying to think 604 - > of a like a national uh spokesperson. 605 - > Like when you see somebody like a Kardashian and and they're 606 - > endorsing like Hyundai.

607 - > unknown: Come on. 608 - > SPEAKER_03: What does it mean? 609 - > Yeah, am I really gonna think that Kim Kardashian's rocking a 610 - > Santa Fe? 611 - > I have a hard time believing that.

612 - > I of course I'm making both of those up, and I'm probably gonna 613 - > hear from their attorneys. 614 - > Yeah, but I mean it's things like that when you when you when 615 - > you hear the like Tiger Woods does not wear a tag hearer. 616 - > Uh, you know, let's be honest. 617 - > Although Tag Hero is a great brand.

618 - > You know, he's probably wearing a Rolex or you know, something 619 - > like that. 620 - > SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can you can hear in a podcast when they 621 - > go from sharing the thing that they care about to reading the 622 - > scripts that they're getting paid to say. 623 - > Exactly right. 624 - > Exactly.

625 - > SPEAKER_03: Hit like and share, and you know, just they mail it 626 - > in. 627 - > And when we do endorsements on our show, it's I mean, we 628 - > literally integrate their brand with our brand into the story 629 - > where people don't know the difference. 630 - > Yeah, you do. 631 - > And so that is what we have tried to do.

632 - > And fortunately, we've got 26 partners on a show right now, a 633 - > lot of national brands, a few vendors are on there, and um, 634 - > it's great. 635 - > This is way off topic, but um, do you ever listen to Conan 636 - > O'Brien Needs a Friend? 637 - > I'm a very big fan of Conan O'Brien's, but Deke is a way 638 - > bigger fan of Cono Bryan's. 639 - > Letterman's my guy.

640 - > I grew up with Letterman. 641 - > Yeah, yeah. 642 - > And when I got to go, that's a whole other thing. 643 - > I could do a show, and the security guard could see what a 644 - > complete nerd I was about it.

645 - > And after the show is over, I'm standing around just like, am I 646 - > gonna see anybody? 647 - > This would be cool. 648 - > And he goes, You want to sit in the chair? 649 - > I go, What?

650 - > And he goes, You want to sit in Dave's chair, get a picture? 651 - > Oh, wow. 652 - > So my wife and I were there, and everyone had started filtering 653 - > out, and we just kind of crept up there. 654 - > I sat in Dave's chair, she sat in the guest chair, got a 655 - > picture.

656 - > That will probably be on an easel in my funeral. 657 - > That photo. 658 - > SPEAKER_01: The easel photo. 659 - > SPEAKER_03: But to answer your question, yeah, Conan O'Brien, I 660 - > think, is a masterful podcast.

661 - > SPEAKER_02: Is because you know the podcast venue, if you're 662 - > commercializing it, is is pretty unique. 663 - > And he there's the if you haven't seen it, you should pull 664 - > it up on YouTube where he does an ad for a bidet. 665 - > Go on. 666 - > And he clearly hadn't read the script until it was being 667 - > recorded.

668 - > And he just goes, he just goes insane. 669 - > It's the funniest, it's probably the funniest segment that he's 670 - > done on his podcast. 671 - > That is genius. 672 - > But I'll tell you how to, I'm not gonna go into it because 673 - > it's a little prof a little vulgar, but it is so freaking.

674 - > SPEAKER_03: And you know what's funny is that initially I'm sure 675 - > that the marketing people are actually the higher people 676 - > higher than the marketing people of that bidet company probably 677 - > lost their minds when they first heard about it. 678 - > Yeah, they're like, oh great, Conor O'Brien's just dragging 679 - > our brand of a bidet. 680 - > But then the marketing people are like, Do you know how viral 681 - > this is? 682 - > Do you know how many clicks this is getting?

683 - > SPEAKER_02: Yeah, 30 million views on YouTube or whatever. 684 - > SPEAKER_03: We did a thing just this morning, just this morning 685 - > on the show, because we've got Ozarks Go on the show. 686 - > They're the official internet of the Loyal and Royal Army. 687 - > Thank you so much for allowing me to do this.

688 - > And they came up to they go to us and they go, here's the 689 - > promotion. 690 - > If you're a brand new Ozarks Go customer and you use the phrase 691 - > loyal and royal three, it's three free months. 692 - > Now, we can say that in commercial form and endorsements 693 - > all we want, but Deke and I, mostly Deke, sat down and wrote 694 - > an entire song out about it on our show that sounds like Dio. 695 - > I don't know how many Ronnie James Dio fans we have.

696 - > I bet you could count them on one hand uh that are watching 697 - > this, or maybe they're bigger than I think. 698 - > But we did a whole song about Ozarks Go and Loyal Royal 3 and 699 - > the whole thing. 700 - > And I mean, it's a banger. 701 - > Love it.

702 - > It's just amazing. 703 - > We'll probably put it at least on our social media page, but we 704 - > just did it this morning. 705 - > And I mean, we sent it to Ozarks Go and they lost their minds. 706 - > They loved it.

707 - > It's so great. 708 - > How many of these can you do? 709 - > So, yeah, finding new ways, like you were talking about with 710 - > Conor O'Brien is really it's it's the key to getting to find 711 - > how it sticks in people's minds. 712 - > Yeah, yeah.

713 - > I love that story about the bidet though. 714 - > SPEAKER_02: You you've got to look at that. 715 - > SPEAKER_03: That is classic. 716 - > SPEAKER_02: So we talked a little bit about your kind of 717 - > unique model in terms of a radio station.

718 - > I when we chatted uh last week or a week before, whatever. 719 - > Um, I said I assume that there's other you know markets that have 720 - > a model like this that you like learn from. 721 - > SPEAKER_03: You're like, nope, I think I'm pretty right. 722 - > And there may be, I I I'm not gonna sit here and go, I'm the 723 - > only one in America.

724 - > SPEAKER_02: So so we use this thing in our uh in our company 725 - > uh called the five voices. 726 - > So and the five voices, you know, there's a pioneer, a 727 - > connector, um, a creative, uh guardian, and a nurturer. 728 - > Wow, right? 729 - > And that you've got all five of those voices, but they're in 730 - > different rankings.

731 - > So uh um, like I'm the I'm the pioneer. 732 - > Um, like that's my primary voice in the company, which 733 - > necessitates that your last voice is nurturing. 734 - > Correct. 735 - > That's absolutely right.

736 - > Does that does that ring true? 737 - > SPEAKER_03: It does, and and and because of the fact that it's 738 - > it's you know, they named the station after us. 739 - > I mean, they they which I thought was really great, and 740 - > that's what we wanted to do. 741 - > It's like if we're gonna come over here, which was nine years 742 - > ago next month, um, we're gonna be the brand.

743 - > And so at that point, it's the Lowen Royal Army, it's Radio 744 - > John Deek. 745 - > And so they're now you're protecting not only the brands 746 - > of your you know, your partners, you're now you're gonna protect 747 - > your brand because now you're worried about how you're melding 748 - > the two. 749 - > And that's what I'm most grateful for is the fact that 750 - > these brands have trusted us to elevate their brand awareness 751 - > and uh their brands within the call to action to people to 752 - > actually buy their products uh at points of sale uh to our 753 - > show, which I'm I'm incredibly grateful for every day.

754 - > We get to do that. 755 - > Yeah. 756 - > unknown: That's really cool. 757 - > SPEAKER_02: So um you you shared something with me that I want to 758 - > bring up.

759 - > Uh this community knows Cameron Smith well. 760 - > Oh, yeah. 761 - > Rest in peace. 762 - > Yeah.

763 - > Um, he's either gotten a person a job or filled a person's open 764 - > role um or donated a guitar at you know, Kiss Pig. 765 - > Uh, what's your you have a connection to Cameron? 766 - > What's your connection? 767 - > SPEAKER_03: I do.

768 - > Uh Cameron um was a mentor to me. 769 - > Uh, but he was a mentor to a lot of people. 770 - > Yeah. 771 - > He he's I mean, I you know, Bull Mattingley, and Aaron Peters and 772 - > a lot of uh guys kind of my age, I'm a little older than both of 773 - > those guys, but uh guys my age, people my age, Neely Jones, he 774 - > he mentored quite a bit, a lot of people uh that would be he 775 - > would meet people at Gala's, and that's how he would get with 776 - > them and start uh and I don't even know that he did it 777 - > intentionally, he just was a helpful person.

778 - > Yeah. 779 - > And uh the story that I uh how I met Cameron uh is crazy. 780 - > I was MCing the the Hope Cancer Resources gentleman of 781 - > distinction in honor of Bill Flaman, who's an amazing uh 782 - > entrepreneur in Northwest Arkansas, and he passed away 783 - > sadly of cancer. 784 - > And I was emceeing the gala, and they had the situation to where 785 - > I am seated, but at the end, they were supposed to have 786 - > somebody that was going to do, I think it was John George uh that 787 - > was gonna do the ask, and he couldn't make it that day.

788 - > And so about 20 minutes before the ask, I am not making this 789 - > up, they come to me and they go, John, um, John George cannot 790 - > make the ask, or can could you do that? 791 - > And I'm like, I've been asking these people for money for an 792 - > hour and 45 minutes. 793 - > You now you want me to get up and go, hey, but everybody, I 794 - > appreciate uh everything. 795 - > I'm gonna need more money, is what we're gonna need.

796 - > And and so that's exactly what had to happen. 797 - > But I had never done an ask before, really. 798 - > And so I just like, well, how can I best connect with these 799 - > people to do this? 800 - > And that's what I did.

801 - > I just tried to extrapolate it into you'd think$50, but really 802 - > it's a gas tank for people going to Narthai and things like that. 803 - > And I really I squeezed that orange as best I could. 804 - > They got a stack of like envelopes like this, and they're 805 - > like, that was crazy. 806 - > Mike, you you just shot us past our goal.

807 - > It was just great. 808 - > And so afterwards, this is going to be a reference everyone's 809 - > gonna enjoy. 810 - > We all congregate at Eddie Haskell's um RIP shout out, and 811 - > we go there and we're all just in in just having a great time. 812 - > And gentlemen walks up to me and he goes, John, I want you to 813 - > know that I've been in boardrooms from Miami to LA, and 814 - > that pitch you gave at the end, you could have put in any 815 - > boardroom and he just going on and on about it.

816 - > I go, This guy is really nice. 817 - > Thank you. 818 - > So I think and I'm just talking to him for five minutes, never 819 - > got his name, never got anything. 820 - > He's just very nattily attired, gorgeous wife.

821 - > And I'm like, wow, that was great. 822 - > So he walks off. 823 - > Guy next to me goes, You don't know who that is, do you? 824 - > Can't tell.

825 - > I go, I don't. 826 - > And he goes, That is Cameron Smith. 827 - > And I go, now I knew his name obviously from CSA, but I had 828 - > never met him or seen him. 829 - > And they go, go get his card, get his number.

830 - > What is wrong with you? 831 - > Go talk to him. 832 - > And sure enough, I go over there, I go, Mr. 833 - > Smith, I appreciate all the kind words.

834 - > And we became really close from that point on. 835 - > And uh, he changed my life. 836 - > Yeah, he totally did. 837 - > I was there was one point in my career when I it was right 838 - > before I had gotten the business model to own my show and do all 839 - > this, and I was really unhappy where I was, and I could just 840 - > see the future of them getting rid of high talent, morning 841 - > talent, and things like that.

842 - > And I go to Cameron, I go, You you know, your people make X and 843 - > suppliers make Y, and I just want to do that. 844 - > And he goes, What are you saying? 845 - > You want to be a vendor? 846 - > You want to work for one of these companies?

847 - > I go, I mean, I know a lot of people that do. 848 - > My son's mom has been in the vendor community for 20 years, 849 - > loves it, great at it. 850 - > And he goes, You just want to go around and knock on the door and 851 - > sell Welch's grape jelly or Pines 57 or to some buyer that's 852 - > gonna squeeze you for margins, and that's what you that's what 853 - > you want to do. 854 - > And I go, I don't know.

855 - > He goes, John, you're a brand. 856 - > And it was like a light, oh this moment of illumination. 857 - > And he goes, Build your brand, don't build anyone else's brands 858 - > but yours and people that pay you to build theirs. 859 - > And it changed my life.

860 - > And and on top of that, he just became one of my best friends. 861 - > And he and Monica were just the the very best. 862 - > They would have fireworks every fourth of July at Shadow Valley, 863 - > and just he was he was an incredible person and just 864 - > grateful he was uh someone that took interest in me and took me 865 - > under his wing. 866 - > Yeah.

867 - > SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and most people in the community have 868 - > some sort of a connection to Cameron. 869 - > Mine was uh when I first started the business, um I was working 870 - > with a former business partner of his, and they were still 871 - > friendly. 872 - > Uh, and he goes, Hey, will you come in? 873 - > Like, we're we we've only been hiring for like salespeople and 874 - > executives, and we're gonna start hiring for analysts.

875 - > Like the low, like you know, the people that are getting their 876 - > hands dirty. 877 - > What will you come in and give my recruiters uh kind of an 878 - > understanding of what the skill set is? 879 - > Right. 880 - > So I put together an hour, whatever, 45 minutes worth of 881 - > content, came in and did it.

882 - > I was walking out, and he shook my hand, he's like, You have an 883 - > IOU with me. 884 - > I'll give you whenever you want to call it in. 885 - > Oh wow, I'll deliver it. 886 - > That's a powerful IOU.

887 - > Right, right. 888 - > And and I held it for a long time, you know. 889 - > And um, I have two brothers, and my oldest one, uh, he's a 890 - > pharmaceutical rep. 891 - > He was getting kind of wary of the industry because he uh 892 - > layoffs every three years and you gotta start over, and you 893 - > know, yeah.

894 - > There's no loyalty in that in that business. 895 - > Uh and he came to me and goes, Hey, I want to I want to become 896 - > a salesperson for CPG. 897 - > How do I do that? 898 - > It's like, well, you probably gotta become an analyst.

899 - > Yeah, you kind of got to work your way up, you know. 900 - > Like, I don't I'm not sure. 901 - > I'm not sure your skills necessarily transfer. 902 - > Right.

903 - > Uh he goes, Well, I mean, I've got an I've got this advanced 904 - > degree, whatever. 905 - > It's like, well, okay, if you really want to push it, like, 906 - > here, call Cameron. 907 - > I send him a note and is like, here's my IOU, meet with my 908 - > brother. 909 - > SPEAKER_03: Oh wow, you used your IOU on this.

910 - > And they sit down. 911 - > I know. 912 - > SPEAKER_02: They sit down and uh he tell like he lays out what he 913 - > wants to do, and Cameron goes, Why are you talking to me? 914 - > Your brother's like retail link guru.

915 - > SPEAKER_03: He just saw things quicker and in ways you didn't 916 - > see them. 917 - > It it was such a talent that he would have such perspective. 918 - > He was also the first person to tell me to do fewer events 919 - > because the perception is that you got to do more events. 920 - > That way it's exposure.

921 - > Exposure equals like familiarity. 922 - > Familiarity means that people are more comfortable and the 923 - > whole like the whole thing. 924 - > But he goes, John, you are you are entering uh overexposure 925 - > territory because I do a gala, I see you. 926 - > I opened celebrate or cityscapes magazine, I see you, and uh you 927 - > need to make yourself more exclusive.

928 - > And and he gave he was the one that gave me that advice. 929 - > I there was a point where I was doing a gala every four to six 930 - > weeks. 931 - > It was maniacal. 932 - > If there's a gala to do here, well, right.

933 - > I mean, you could do one every week, honestly. 934 - > And and I I took his advice, and now I only do like three a year. 935 - > Um, and it was one of the smarter again, every piece of 936 - > advice he ever gave me turned out true and helped me. 937 - > SPEAKER_01: Well, you see the full circle of like only working 938 - > on the things you're close to, passionate about, so that you 939 - > can speak authentically and right.

940 - > SPEAKER_03: And that's how I actually got into it was through 941 - > JDRF and things like that. 942 - > But then you do those events, you keep breaking goals, and 943 - > it's it's one of those, it's a good problem to have, is when 944 - > they want to have you be involved with it. 945 - > And I'm grateful too. 946 - > Like the Cancer Challenge is amazing, the gentleman of 947 - > distinction is fantastic.

948 - > I mean, just go right. 949 - > There's so many amazing events in Northwest, Arkansas, but you 950 - > can't do all of them, man. 951 - > And um, he was right. 952 - > I mean, I I got to the point where I would open up 953 - > Cityscapes, and I'm there four times, and I was like, that's 954 - > not maybe too many.

955 - > SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah. 956 - > It resonates a lot in this space. 957 - > There's a lot of brands that are at Walmart that want to, you 958 - > know, execute at a higher level. 959 - > There are there are a whole lot of brands that are not at 960 - > Walmart that would like to be at Walmart executing at that high 961 - > level.

962 - > Um, and so you know, us here at High Impact, we we um I was told 963 - > early on when I was getting here of like, you know, the most 964 - > important thing is who you're saying no to. 965 - > Um, so that you are you know tied to those that you really 966 - > should be tied to. 967 - > Yeah. 968 - > And you know early on, I was kind of like, you know, I'd like 969 - > to have a few yeses uh and then we'll work on the no's.

970 - > But but now we're at this stage where it's becoming so evident 971 - > um and we're having to say no. 972 - > And it's it's hard uh because you want to be able to help, but 973 - > I can't um operate at a high level if I'm saying yes to 974 - > everything. 975 - > Need to be able to pace ourselves uh so that we're able 976 - > um to deliver. 977 - > SPEAKER_03: That was the difficult decision I made.

978 - > And I have had people from the the stations I'm on to everyone 979 - > go, why the exclusivity? 980 - > You're cutting off such a revenue stream. 981 - > Uh if you listen to most radio stations, they'll have three 982 - > different car remotes on a Saturday at three different 983 - > locations. 984 - > Oh my god.

985 - > And it's you'll Lewis Ford one, and then you'll be at uh the 986 - > auto park, and then you'll be at McClarty, and then and don't get 987 - > me wrong, all incredible dealers, all incredible things, 988 - > but like what are you telling all of them when you're like 10 989 - > to 1 at one place where I'm like, all right, man, cool, 990 - > thanks a lot. 991 - > And then an hour later, you're a different place. 992 - > It I think that when when I do exclusivity and like you talking 993 - > about saying no to certain things and saying yes to the 994 - > ones that you want to nurture a relationship with, I I have just 995 - > been fortunate that for the entirety, I've had people just 996 - > renew every year, every year after one after like Sam's and 997 - > Colliers and Macadoodles and uh on and on, because they exhibit 998 - > the loyalty that I try to give them.

999 - > Yeah. 1000 - > And and so it is paid off in spades. 1001 - > I'm sure I have cost myself money with that, but I would 1002 - > rather have someone who knows that I'm loyal to their brand 1003 - > than someone who's gonna be sitting there going, I don't 1004 - > know, man. 1005 - > Is he talking about my competitor now?

1006 - > SPEAKER_01: And and you create real value. 1007 - > Right. 1008 - > Um, it we've uh I've talked a lot lately as I'm talking to 1009 - > people. 1010 - > It's like, you know, I don't, I don't actually want to receive a 1011 - > resentful check from a partner.

1012 - > Uh, because well, one, no one's gonna write a whole lot of 1013 - > resentful checks. 1014 - > You'll stop at some point. 1015 - > But like, no, I want to have a deep relationship. 1016 - > I want to be able to authentically be grateful for 1017 - > partnership and want them to be grateful because that's the kind 1018 - > of thing that has stuck around at high impact for 14 years is 1019 - > the the folks that have experienced that.

1020 - > I'm thinking of one that's been in. 1021 - > I love that. 1022 - > 14. 1023 - > Like 18.

1024 - > Um you get it, buddy. 1025 - > Um for a long time. 1026 - > Um 19 in July. 1027 - > I think there's something there for everybody that like the 1028 - > spirit of fear isn't actually helpful, useful that you have no 1029 - > fear.

1030 - > Um that one's gonna be part of it. 1031 - > SPEAKER_03: I'm a little too unflappable, which is is both 1032 - > phenomenal and there's a problem. 1033 - > There is. 1034 - > Uh like it's it's the reason I I started noticing this.

1035 - > I'd be at midfield. 1036 - > There's 77,000 people in Raz Back Stadium, and I'm just like, 1037 - > all right, I guess I'm gonna do this thing here on the field 1038 - > with uh just this numb. 1039 - > It just doesn't affect me. 1040 - > It's weird.

1041 - > I don't know if it's always been that way. 1042 - > SPEAKER_02: When you're on the court or on the field, you can 1043 - > see it like you're you're there, you're you're doing a job. 1044 - > I am not aware of the people around you. 1045 - > SPEAKER_03: I'm really not.

1046 - > SPEAKER_02: And let's individuals, yes. 1047 - > Correct. 1048 - > SPEAKER_01: But the mass, no. 1049 - > If I'm engaging with someone the pressure is not a felt pressure, 1050 - > right.

1051 - > SPEAKER_03: If I'm like doing the Whataburger Fry Shuffle, 1052 - > which Razorback Twitter loves so much, uh, or the tic-tac-toe, 1053 - > which they love even more. 1054 - > Uh I I yeah, I'm I'm interacting in that fashion. 1055 - > But I I really don't I I don't really think about the other 1056 - > people. 1057 - > I'm just doing my best job and super helpful.

1058 - > SPEAKER_01: Well without having fear, maybe avoid mountain 1059 - > biking. 1060 - > SPEAKER_03: Uh uh Yeah. 1061 - > So we live next to uh the trail. 1062 - > We live next to the the trail, because it's so what a blessing 1063 - > to have that northwest, Arkansas.

1064 - > It's because we live in Johnson, and I mean we are 500 yards from 1065 - > that trail, and I we have started using the heck out of 1066 - > it. 1067 - > And mountain biking does terrify me, even though I grew up in 1068 - > Colorado because everyone I know that mountain bikes, it takes 1069 - > about a year, year and a half, everyone wrecks. 1070 - > Breaks a collarbone. 1071 - > Yeah.

1072 - > Bingo. 1073 - > I got a new one. 1074 - > Collarbone. 1075 - > SPEAKER_01: I got a new one a couple years ago.

1076 - > Yep. 1077 - > Have you what's your worst accident? 1078 - > I have a new collarbone. 1079 - > Yeah, I got that.

1080 - > You have a new collarbone. 1081 - > You got one on each side. 1082 - > Brought to you by Mercy. 1083 - > And what is this?

1084 - > Momo's getting. 1085 - > Um Ozark Orthopedics? 1086 - > Yeah, I got to pay full price. 1087 - > There was no sponsorship.

1088 - > And no discount for the second either. 1089 - > Oh man. 1090 - > Got to full you can't buy them in a bundle. 1091 - > SPEAKER_03: I was gonna say your podcast for the next year is 1092 - > brought to you by Ozark Orthopedics on Futural Road in 1093 - > Fayetteville.

1094 - > Thank you, Dr. 1095 - > Kaler. 1096 - > Exactly. 1097 - > SPEAKER_02: This is awesome.

1098 - > I I'm afraid we've uh exhausted our time here. 1099 - > SPEAKER_03: I do that every time. 1100 - > SPEAKER_02: We normally do uh lightning round and the thing. 1101 - > SPEAKER_03: We can be quick.

1102 - > SPEAKER_02: Yeah, really quick, quick. 1103 - > So uh failure. 1104 - > Yeah. 1105 - > SPEAKER_03: Biggest failure.

1106 - > SPEAKER_02: Maybe that you learned from that. 1107 - > You learn from. 1108 - > SPEAKER_03: I mean, yeah, make it biggest failure that I 1109 - > learned from. 1110 - > Ooh.

1111 - > That's a tough one. 1112 - > Um, I would say um I got syndicated early, early, early 1113 - > in my career. 1114 - > Yeah, like in the late 90s, and I did not handle it the way I 1115 - > would handle it now. 1116 - > Yeah.

1117 - > And um, I I would definitely go back and handle that 1118 - > differently. 1119 - > Big time. 1120 - > Big time. 1121 - > Impestuous.

1122 - > Just uh, yeah, that was my biggest that that comes to mind. 1123 - > Yeah. 1124 - > SPEAKER_02: Um, so over the last year, year and a half, whatever, 1125 - > things are changing at a crazy pace, right? 1126 - > What do you what are you taking away?

1127 - > What's your learnings from you know the last uh in just in in 1128 - > in America or the world or particularly in business, but if 1129 - > you want to get it into the personal, that's fine. 1130 - > SPEAKER_03: I I the one thing I I I I think is the bigger things 1131 - > and the more complicated things get the more as simple it is. 1132 - > I love what we just talked about is the the it always comes down 1133 - > to relationships in business. 1134 - > It always comes down to handshakes, names, 1135 - > neighborhoods, making people feel like they matter.

1136 - > Yeah. 1137 - > Um That I always tell my partners, uh, the more you give 1138 - > me the uh creatively, the better off our campaign's gonna be, 1139 - > things like that. 1140 - > And and so people start really worrying about, you know, you 1141 - > guys were doing a podcast. 1142 - > Did you think five?

1143 - > I mean, you're doing it in a long time, but like this thing 1144 - > is such a great idea. 1145 - > It's so cool. 1146 - > People need to be doing more of this, and they are, but you had 1147 - > you do you remember the inflection point when you 1148 - > realized you had to do a podcast? 1149 - > SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.

1150 - > Yeah. 1151 - > We wanted to non-pretentiously actually help people. 1152 - > Um, thank you. 1153 - > And how can you give good information without just feeling 1154 - > like you're bragging about your thing?

1155 - > SPEAKER_02: Also being known for that. 1156 - > Yeah, yeah. 1157 - > Like we're a consultancy at our core. 1158 - > SPEAKER_03: Have you had good response within the Walmart 1159 - > community, vendor community, things like that?

1160 - > SPEAKER_01: Yeah, plenty of uh you know, merchants that have 1161 - > shared you know different podcasts because we talk through 1162 - > lessons for you know new buyers, you're uh or even on the 1163 - > supplier side when you're navigating you know omni-channel 1164 - > growth. 1165 - > What are the things you need to pay attention to? 1166 - > That's awesome. 1167 - > SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's a smart idea.

1168 - > So yeah, I I I think that people are realizing that there's new 1169 - > like you see movies nowadays. 1170 - > You used to never see people sit down for 30 seconds, like Tom 1171 - > Cruise with Mission Impossible. 1172 - > He has done every kind of media in the last two months, months, 1173 - > I mean two years for this. 1174 - > SPEAKER_02: Alright, he almost died in this last filming.

1175 - > SPEAKER_03: Uh I'm not shocked. 1176 - > SPEAKER_02: He's doing one of his own stunts. 1177 - > SPEAKER_03: That's that guy does all his own stuff. 1178 - > That's crazy the stuff he does.

1179 - > So yeah, I think people have had to kind of evolve their the the 1180 - > way they perceive what their job is based on how you get uh kind 1181 - > of connectivity and traction with these brands. 1182 - > SPEAKER_01: Yeah. 1183 - > SPEAKER_03: Yeah. 1184 - > SPEAKER_01: And then last one, uh, what's the you know content 1185 - > you're taking in?

1186 - > What are you what are you enjoying lately? 1187 - > SPEAKER_03: Oh, uh a lot of streaming, a lot of Netflix, a 1188 - > lot of Hulu, a lot of handmaid's tale, a lot of severance, a lot 1189 - > of oh, there's so many good shows. 1190 - > SPEAKER_02: There's so many good shows, right? 1191 - > SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, right now to me, severance is the best 1192 - > thing that's happened this year TV wise.

1193 - > SPEAKER_02: Such a mind-bender. 1194 - > SPEAKER_03: Man, you know what it is? 1195 - > It's Stanley Kubrick doing The Office. 1196 - > Yes.

1197 - > So if The Office were done. 1198 - > SPEAKER_01: That's exactly what it is. 1199 - > SPEAKER_03: If the Office were done in like 2001 of Space 1200 - > Odyssey, that's what Severance is. 1201 - > SPEAKER_01: Yes.

1202 - > Oh my gosh, that's so true. 1203 - > SPEAKER_03: That's a beautiful, yeah. 1204 - > And then I'll if I see The Office, I'll just stop and watch 1205 - > the next five episodes, as long as it's not the last season or 1206 - > two, which are garbage without Michael Scott. 1207 - > Yeah.

1208 - > Um, I'm a big Nuggets fan. 1209 - > I do like the Will Farrell season, but you know what? 1210 - > I did like that. 1211 - > And James Spader's appearances were amazing.

1212 - > Um, and then I'm a huge razorback, obviously, fan. 1213 - > And uh Broncos hopefully uh, you know, don't uh embarrass me this 1214 - > year. 1215 - > Uh so yeah, stuff like that. 1216 - > A lot of sports, a lot of bass Royals fan.

1217 - > I'm the weird Kansas City Royals, Denver Broncos fan, 1218 - > which is an odd hybrid. 1219 - > So, yeah, hopefully the Royals doing great. 1220 - > Bobby Witt, we know we got the Walmart connection with that. 1221 - > SPEAKER_02: So excited.

1222 - > And thank you so much for spending time with us today. 1223 - > My honor to do it. 1224 - > SPEAKER_03: Would you have me back? 1225 - > SPEAKER_02: I would definitely have you back.

1226 - > SPEAKER_03: Okay. 1227 - > All right. 1228 - > I'm honored, and I'm it's a great job, man. 1229 - > And I want you guys to know they have an entire sheet of notes.

1230 - > These guys are prepared. 1231 - > They ain't they ain't just like winging it. 1232 - > This is a real operation. 1233 - > So I dig it.

1234 - > Good job, guys. 1235 - > Appreciate it, man. 1236 - > Absolutely. 1237 - > SPEAKER_02: I really appreciate you coming on.

1238 - > It's kind of a kind of a it's a treat to me personally. 1239 - > SPEAKER_03: Well, I loved it. 1240 - > I'll I'd come back. 1241 - > SPEAKER_02: All right, and thank you all for joining in.

1242 - > Um, you can uh, as always, you can find all of our podcasts, 1243 - > uh, audio video on highimpactanalytics.com or 1244 - > wherever you get your podcasts, and uh appreciate you being with 1245 - > us today.