Transcript
Podcasts and Goldfish
Speaker 1: Welcome to PurposeCity. Stories of humanity in action. Sponsored by Executive Wealth Management. Guests on PurposeCity do not necessarily reflect an endorsement of Executive Wealth Management.
Ken: Rob.
Rob Johnson: [00:00:30] What's happening?
Ken: What does podcast and goldfish mean to you?
Rob Johnson: Yeah. So I think a lot of people have a presumption that because podcasting is such a long form medium and live in a very snack size media society, that they're not compatible. But I think for us, podcasting is a way to go deeper and longer on a particular topic that people might not have the opportunity to do in a new setting or in a social [00:01:00] media comment section, which is always in hell of a good time so-
Ken: Right. I mean it frustrates me that even... so my news for the day as I scroll, like my phone with Yahoo headlines. And I'll pick what I want. So those are little sound bites, so I like a soundbite world, but then you want to hear the story. So I'll listen to... on the radio on the way in just to hear what's going on in the world, SiriusXM and all news channel, and I still don't get it [00:01:30] because in seven minutes, they're just repeating soundbites for 24 hours. So the goldfish reference obviously is... I don't think we actually know the attention span of a goldfish.
And honestly, if it is five seconds, eight seconds, or 10 seconds, good for the goldfish. Do they really need a long attention span? I think is the question of the day. So this is nothing against goldfish at all. This is comparing [00:02:00] to the average person supposedly having short attention spans, and even if we narrow it down, besides all of us have, because we're used to soundbite media and whatnot. But it's even a knock on millennials and younger generations that they almost... I think unspoken, it's an insult that maybe that's all they can handle. Yet, they're the ones just skyrocketing this long form media of podcasting. How does that [00:02:30] equal out or make sense or is there another conclusion we can come to about like the younger generation?
Rob Johnson: No, I think when you look at the younger generation, and again, this is... I'm painting with a broad brush, but a lot of younger individuals want depth on the topics that matter to them. It's like you can be a really good generalist or you can be a specialist. And I feel like a lot of younger people are in this specialist category where they want to be a part of things that matter to them, that they feel they have a part in. [00:03:00] And with podcasting specifically, this really started, I would say, as a movement in the 2013 era when Serial was released, which was a show from This American Life. And it really captivated people and being invested in a long form story that they felt like they could be a part of.
Ken: And that was an investigative documentary style leave you waiting for the next episode, unraveling the serial killer case [00:03:30] right?
Rob Johnson: Yeah, so it was a case of [inaudible 00:03:33] was a case in Baltimore, Maryland that was tried between 1999 and 2001. And basically what they did was, they put together... when I call... and anytime I have a new engineer or someone that's coming into the company, I invite them to listen to that podcast, because this is a master class in editing. The whole thing, the way it's done... it's beautiful. The content aside, the way that they've put it together is just phenomenal, which is why it won so many awards. But basically it's... and they did something different. [00:04:00] They released all 12 episodes at once. They didn't make people wait and they just released it as a season. And then it was the most downloaded podcast that year. And it was just incredible how they did it.
Ken: So that brings in the on demand aspect. That you don't get with other forms of media. It's going that way, so the streaming of the Hulu's and the Netflix or whatever, but that people are being accustomed to not waiting at someone else's whim of when to hear something and what they're going to hear or view, [00:04:30] but you can pick and choose when and what you want on demand. And that's... I compare this to a little bit... I had a dad that was a barber and I called them old school barbers where they're dying out like dinosaurs. The barber shops have turned into unisex shops, that have turned into fancy hair salons, and barbershops are just some leftover old guys at the end of town. And it smells a little weird. And you get the same haircut at all of them.
And [00:05:00] it's a very masculine experience, but it's a dying breed. But in fact, it has come back but in a different way. And going to a barbershop has become a cool thing. They do all the cool beer trimmings, they do all the... it's this real hip modern comeback of the barbershop. And I think of that in radio, I used to be in radio years ago and I think well that's a medium going out, television has replaced it, streaming is replacing television, [00:05:30] and who wants radio anymore? And there's still a place for radio, but this is just a... to me it's like the barbershop thing. It's a new recreation of how to do it.
Rob Johnson: That's a really good analogy. I think what people are finding is that there are ways to be more invested in an industry with being narrow rather than feeling like they're being broad. And even podcasters that we have come on and they say what's the quickest way to 10 to 15,000 downloads? And [00:06:00] it's like, "Well, it's not necessarily about the number of downloads, it's about the engagement with the listeners that you have. Like for my show, I'd much rather have a hundred dedicated listeners than a hundred thousand listeners that don't do anything. And that's the community experience that podcasting gives people. And that's what a lot of people miss. Is you are building a community of people that want to be attached to what you're doing.
Ken: Yeah so in mainstream media, they're trying to appease [00:06:30] everybody in their programming. They're cramming in... let's cook some food. How do you give a recipe? Then they go into what's happening in the Middle East, in the third world countries and with terrorists, then they try to mix in a little bit of sports for those people, and who's concerned about the weather and it's got to be fast, short, quick, and it's a little bit for everybody. And then what you're saying is this isn't trying to get everybody happy. It's like, "What if you're just into weather?" [00:07:00] What if you're into meteorology? What if you're a storm chaser? Then there's a podcast for storm chasers and you don't go mile wide and steep. You go inch wide, a mile deep.
Rob Johnson: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And podcasting has given people the platform to do that. To go deep, to have long form conversations, we call it pirate radio. You can really do pretty much anything that you want and talk about anything that you want, host anywhere that you want, and have whatever guests that you want. [00:07:30] There's no top level media restrictions that are stopping you from doing that.
Ken: Right. And at least at most levels, there isn't the concern for, We got OPs, our sponsors, isn't it a backwards trend where if you are successful enough in the niche and what you decide to talk about, sponsors will want to be on that. But you're not at mercy to-
Rob Johnson: Exactly. Exactly.
Ken: It switched the power play.
Rob Johnson: Yeah. And it's really interesting. Bill Burr was one of [00:08:00] the first, probably well-known pod-casters that started in the 2006, 2007 timeframe and he's still going, so it's 14 years later. He treats sponsors very poorly and it's awesome because... and they expect that, they want that. So he has very much shifted the way that sponsors relate to podcasts. And a lot of shows have done that, where they have an audience, they have a culture. And it's the sponsor's job to fit into that pod-casters community, not the other [00:08:30] way around. And it's really, really unique and there's of course... you always have the corporate... anyone that's listening to a podcast understands Casper mattresses or whatever it is around every podcast. So those people do have demands but it's... but for the people that are doing it and building a community from the ground up, they don't have to play by those rules that typical radio shows have to.
Ken: Right. How many podcasts on average do you think are out there today?
Rob Johnson: That was millions. So basically the way it works is [00:09:00] the majority of podcasts don't make it past episode 15. So with that, there's over a million podcasts in circulation. But I would say the number of podcasts that are listened to frequently that are past the 15 episode mark, probably below a quarter million.
Ken: So they were dump out because of lack of listenership? Engagement right?
Rob Johnson: Or just planning. Or people like, "Hey, I really want this cool podcast. I have this idea and-
Ken: More work?
Rob Johnson: It's like... yeah, I [00:09:30] also think it's that diet mentality of like I'm going to go to the store and get all this... I'm going to get everything ready. And then when it's time to execute, you're like, "All right, all right. I can't do this." Funyuns are good. So I think that's what a lot of people do, is they get really excited, but they don't have a plan to be longterm and consistent. So the millions... where if you say there's a million right now, that's a fluctuating number. They come and go, but that's about what's out there.
Yeah. Yeah. You can find about a million on any of the podcasts listings. But when you talk about consistency, it's less than a quarter million.
Ken: And then is it... [00:10:00] I would assume this, but I don't know... is the majority of that... because I think, "Oh why would I start a podcast?" Well, I did, but why would I start a podcast when there's a million out there? But besides some leaving, is that mean that a lot of them... is there just this majority of like hardly anybody's listening and then successful ones in a small percentage?
Rob Johnson: Yeah, it's very spread out. So when you talk about success, you have to talk about what category are they in, and how do they define [00:10:30] their success?. So if you're talking about national shows, you're talking about Adam Carolla, Joe Rogan, anything that NPR puts out, there's Freakonomics, so those are shows that have national success, because they have a national audience they've been established for a decade or more. When you talk about micro podcasting, when businesses are starting, when small shops are starting, you look at... they hit a thousand downloads. That's successful because they're not trying to be national, they're trying to be local. So [00:11:00] I would say that the bulk of podcasts that I see, the successful are the ones that have a consistent plan, they have over 15 episodes, and they're doing things actively, whether it's through social media or email, to ensure that they're tapping into their audience, they're listening to their needs and they're putting out frequent content. That is good.
Ken: Right. This is a little flashback to the goldfish thing, but the younger generation, I mean, they're [00:11:30] podcast... so you mentioned NPR. So 15 year olds on the average are not listening to NPR podcasts?
Rob Johnson: Oh I hope not.
Ken: But yet, the younger ones are the majority aren't they? That are pushing these out? And they're just talking... I mean, if I was 15 again, I think about what... When I was young, I don't know if you did, but we had tape recorders, and there was a thing cassettes and would record ourselves and play it back. And then in 10th grade, I think I was the first one of any of my friends [00:12:00] that our family had a home video camera. So we were making many movies and if there was a platform that you could just... we had the Donnie and Marie Osmond microphone, because you could broadcast your own radio AM station in your house.
It had a little pole, it was white, and you pulled out an antenna, but if that could go out to people, well I for sure we'd be doing it. And I wouldn't be thinking about, "Oh I need a sponsor and a brand." But I would be one of those millions. Right? I just started a podcast in my house, I'm a kid, and I'm talking about... I probably would have been [00:12:30] talking about video games. On my PC with a green VGA monitor.
Rob Johnson: Yeah, it's interesting to see how the platforms have evolved over time, and what I'm seeing right now in the market is people are getting... I I'll use the phrase burnt out on consumer driven podcasts because there's a lot of choice. Right? So what you're seeing now is more and more people are listening to podcasts every year. So over 90 million. Just in the states that have listened to a podcast [00:13:00] in the last year. So it's a very familiar media. And what we're seeing is the quality of shows, the demand for quality is moving up. One of the reasons why I started podcasting before I even had Speakeasy was I listened to a lot of shows that I liked, the content was good, but the audio sucked. And I was like, "Well, if you can't get the audio right, you can be saying the most profound thing in the world, but no one wants to listen to it because your audio is not clear."
So there's got to be a better way to make podcasts that are streamlined, efficient, and have good [00:13:30] sounding audio. And consumers are now tapping into that, and they want that quality. Conversely, when you look at businesses, business marketing, or business podcasting, it's 10 years behind where consumers were. So that's one of the most interesting things, is seeing how businesses are getting into podcasting. And they're not looking for national awareness, they're looking for podcasts that are either internal, so a CEO that has a thousand employees that wants to have a vocal recognition to their employees, to help with retention, [00:14:00] updates, make people feel like they're more part of a big company. Or a small business that's bringing in their partners, networking individuals, to help them understand more about what they do to establish more credibility. They're not looking for thousands of downloads, they're just looking for a credibility check.
Ken: Yeah, so we're recording now [inaudible 00:14:18] you're the owner of Speakeasy Podcast, Brighton, Michigan. You have one in Louisville, Kentucky. What are the majority of the podcasts that are in your business?
Rob Johnson: Yeah, so one of the podcasts on our network are small to mid-level businesses. [00:14:30] We have a couple of hobbyist shows that are running, we have some lifestyle shows, some wellness shows. But the majority are business owners that are looking to establish a deeper network, bring on partners, establish more credibility, and also use it as a medium to produce more social media content to help them just produce more content in general.
Ken: Yeah. So this is your second, your first Louisville, Kentucky. What else are you expanding to [inaudible 00:14:58]?
Rob Johnson: So Sterling Heights. So Sterling [00:15:00] Heights is online as of next week. So that's really exciting. So we have a podcast studio on the east side, they have two studios out there, because it's a much bigger... populous I'd say. And then we're planning out Ann Arbor next. Yeah.
Ken: So you're a business and it's growing fast and expanding primarily businesses, you said primarily?
Rob Johnson: Yeah.
Ken: And do you see this continuing? Is it a fad thing? Why did you start it as a business [00:15:30] or what were you doing before? Is it just a model for you? Or is there more of a mission behind it and getting people's voice out there?
Rob Johnson: Yeah, well, so one of the reasons that I started it, and this is one main component of our company is just full transparency. And one of the hardest things about us, is when I started weighing media, which is our marketing company, the small businesses are tired of talking to marketing companies. It's a, "Let me get you to the top page of Google." " [00:16:00] Let me..." And there's so much noise. I love podcasting, I've been in it since 2013. And I think podcasting is a medium that offers some pretty attractive things to businesses. Namely, you can get five to six pieces of content off of one show, video, audio, transcript, photos, guests, networking. There's just a lot of things that you can make from it. So when I had the idea for Speakeasy, is I wanted something that could be an attachment to our marketing company, to help businesses create that content.
And [00:16:30] in terms of it being a fad, I think audio podcasts over time, will always have a place because there's so nice for when you're in transit. When you're on the go. It's really nice not to have to watch a screen to consume content. That's why audio books are so popular. Video podcasts are going to keep rising in popularity because it's offering a medium for people to see the individuals that they've connected with through the audio platform. [00:17:00] So I think over time, it's going to be more developed. I think you're going to see a lot more I think you're going to see... like Facebook's adopting what Clubhouse did. So Clubhouse was an audio only application. They didn't save anything, there was no way to replay recordings, Mark Zuckerberg sat on the board for Clubhouse, and he took the clubhouse idea and started Facebook audio rooms. So I think you're going to see a lot more social media applications diving into the podcasting field and trying to make their own little mark on it. But podcasting [00:17:30] is a medium. Whether it's video or audio, I think it's here to stay.
Ken: Yeah. I listen to podcasts, but I like when they have video, even though I don't watch them, I like to see it... to get it going. Like who are these people? What are they doing? And then I don't look at it and I just listen to do my workout or I go for my walk or whatever I'm doing.
Rob Johnson: Well you can then play you can then play the video of what you saw while they're talking back and forth in your head. I do the same thing when I watch like Rogan, I'll watch the first 10, 15 [00:18:00] minutes. And then once they're talking, I can do the screen cuts in my head There's [crosstalk 00:18:04].
Ken: Yeah there is nothing else to see what they look like, the setting, now you're just listening to their voice. And as far as listening, so it isn't that... there's an intimacy and a closeness that podcasts bring that makes even the audience development different than I think any medium before it. Yeah.
Rob Johnson: Well, it's uncut. I mean, for the most part, I mean, you can obviously edit podcasts and take out blips and chair creaks and knocks on the table and whatnot, but-
Ken: We [00:18:30] keep all of our knocks in.
Rob Johnson: Yes.
Ken: If anyone's noticed, we keep all of the chair creaks.
Rob Johnson: Yes. Very important. So let's ask Johnny. So when we have a medium, like this it's uncut, it's unfiltered. It's a lot more personal. I think that's why people respond to this platform more, is because it's not highly produced, and that it's a television program with hundreds of thousands of dollars in production budget. It's a very real look. And that's why I think business podcasts are going to keep growing [00:19:00] in popularity because it's a very real look at business that we haven't done before. There's really no way to see a business from the back end transparently. Now with podcasting and video podcasting, there is.
Ken: It's, a real look and it seems more intimate, especially when you're listening, because this medium is mainly listened to through headphones. Or when you're alone, this isn't something you usually share with people. [00:19:30] Listening to a podcast is a very personal thing. And I think you're talking about audiences maybe not being big but small because it's a targeted... maybe interest, but I think you end up drawing a relationship quicker with the host or the program, because it's just feels, I think more one-on-one. Somebody right in your ear talking to you and giving their opinions or whatever it is and information. And [00:20:00] I mean, it's not one-on-one, but I compare it to, and this could be... I'm just weird but if I'm by myself at home or whatever, I almost prefer to have a live program on like the news in the background while I'm cleaning, because I feel like I'm not alone. Because it's live, even though it's the same as if I was watching an on demand Netflix, but that feels a lonelier. Does that make sense?
Rob Johnson: I've never thought of that, but yeah, that does make sense.
Ken: It does make sense. And like, [00:20:30] I love the History Channel, but they're all recorded. But if I'm feeling alone and I don't want to be a, I put on a live news, even though I'm not watching it. And I think even if podcasts are mainly recorded and whatnot, but there's that feeling of... it's not companionship but-
Rob Johnson: There's a feeling of community there.
Ken: There's a feeling of community-
Rob Johnson: When you have that for sure. And that's... one of the biggest podcasts networks in terms of volume [00:21:00] is... I don't know if you're familiar with Kevin Smith?
Ken: Yeah sure.
Rob Johnson: He didn't like the movie Clerks [crosstalk 00:21:04] called Hits and whatnot. He has a podcast network called Smart Cast. And he put out a lot of shows. And one of the shows on that network, I really enjoy. And they comment all the time that their listeners, when they go and do meetups, so they do live shows, because they've gotten pretty big now, people feel like as if they already know them. Like I've known you for 10 years. But it's awkward because I don't know you listener-
Ken: You're a complete stranger.
Rob Johnson: But that speaks to the intimacy [00:21:30] of it because you're revealing very personal things. It's almost like a weekly update of your life, depending on how you do the show. And that makes people feel very attached. Which in, for branding and marketing is a perfect thing to keep consumers at the ready in terms of just the best media for brands.
Ken: I don't know if you'd call it a negative, it seems like there's a... maybe a positive and then a... I don't know if it's a struggle or a potential struggle and where podcasting is freedom, you have the [00:22:00] equipment, you hook up, you can say and talk about what you want. Which, that's not the culture we live in. Not going to go too political, but do you know if that's already a situation? Well it is with social media, it's not logging on their platforms right? But do you see regulations coming in where it's not going to be so free because we don't want to hear, or others don't want to hear all those free thoughts and opinions?
Rob Johnson: I think with podcasting specifically, because it's always been marketed as pirate radio, [00:22:30] even when Steve Jobs, back in... I think it was 2006 when he was premiering one of the iPods, he showed how easy it was to create a podcast and garage band. And apple has always had a very... I will say open door in terms of privacy, because they want things to be... they have that pirate radio mentality as a business. Now, I don't know if you remember or not and I don't want to go too much into the politics of this, but Alex Jones was struck from a ton of different podcasts [00:23:00] networks, almost all of them, because of some comments that he had made, I think revolving or the Sandy Hook thing.
But the biggest thing that I've seen is that podcasting is never going to be a medium that's going to have those restrictions. Because it's so easy to set up hubs elsewhere to do it. So the first hint... like that was a big thing for networks to take someone off of their platform because it makes people feel that way. It makes people feel like they're going to be in a position [00:23:30] where someone is going to take away all the media that they've created. And I think because of how it was initially set up, that's a line I don't think they're going to want to cross. Because someone else can go and duplicate the same process. So it's interesting.
Ken: Yeah. So in your experience, having hosted podcasts, you have a business, letting other people host podcasts, several of them. I don't know if there's specific stories you have or a specific podcast, but I see a value [00:24:00] in this. And even what we're trying to do here is, highlight people, what they're doing in communities, it opens up a whole connection to highlight things that aren't what media cover... it's not front page stuff. No one's shooting anybody. And you can talk about somebody helping somebody, you can talk about just a neighbor helping a neighbor in a community and put it out to the world to listen to, or what businesses do, and they're not putting it in their PR plan. They're just helping [00:24:30] their community. Do you see that as personal rewarding to give a platform for that? I
Rob Johnson: I think so. I think to me it's really nice to see the creativity of business owners. I feel like when you're starting a business or when you're in the throws of it, right? You get into this position where you're in the day to day, and podcasting has given people... even [00:25:00] when you and I were talking about your show, a opportunity to be different, think outside the box, and you've done a really good job of that. And being able to highlight different people. It's very encouraging to see one, that people want to do that. And two, that there's a media platform in 2021 that allows for that. That it's not so much tied into ROI or just the business, or just [00:25:30] sound bites. It's more long form, it's more personal. And people want that. And that's encouraging to me.
Ken: Right. When you... you said you'd been doing podcasting a long time. Is that personally, you liked it as a hobby, or you were in college, and it just became your thing. Or-
Rob Johnson: So I started listening to podcasts right about 2011. It was when Kevin Smith stood up his network that really got my attention. 2013 Serial came out and then I had started doing some writing, [00:26:00] and in 2013 I was invited on a podcast, to talk about an article I had written. And in 2014 I was like, "I'm just going to do... just go off and start my own." So I started a show that got pretty popular. And then over time, I moved into the financial space, did a show on that, did about 80 episodes. And then as I was wrapping up my MBA, I was like, "All right, I want to take this idea commercial and side into this marketing business that I want to start, and it's just history from there." So I think [00:26:30] on the docket, I think I've done about 600 episodes. So it's been a very much a labor of love so.
Ken: Where do you see... where are you hoping your business goes? Or even the future of podcasting, like now we're at... it's not new. It's new in the explosion of it. Right? And is it going to you think continue to grow with startups or [00:27:00] kids in their bedroom and stuff? Or do you think there's going to be a point where it levels off and there's a certain level of professionalism that's expected that follows a crowd or?
Rob Johnson: Yeah, I think what you're going to see over time, is I think you're going to see startups starting a business alongside of a podcast. And that's for two reasons. One, it gives them a long form opportunity to tell people their message and mission in an audio format, without someone having to read it. And two, it gives them credibility, it gives them a voice. It gives [00:27:30] them a face to the business, which just helps in so many different ways. I think that for Speakeasy, my goal from the beginning has been very one road. I want to be the biggest podcast network in the country. I think that is a service that's been wildly underutilized, I don't think a lot of people are doing it well.
So even in Michigan, when I saw a couple of shops that were doing it, and the results are the things that we're offering, there was just some common sense things that [00:28:00] I thought could be injected on the business side that would help. So that's always been my mission is to just keep starting serving people well, and then just over time, we're going to keep growing organically just because I think of how it's structured and how well we treat people. My biggest thing is the employees that are here. If we don't have good service, we don't have a business. I can't even work with you as a client, if I don't have good people that are working with me. It's not going to work.
Ken: Yeah. And you want to keep us because I'm going to be your biggest [00:28:30] podcast in the country so-
Rob Johnson: Oh absolutely. Yeah. And I think it's a testament to grow through wellness and it's not a matter of total world domination or... it's just, we want to keep serving people well and having a bigger network to serve. And that involves growth.
Ken: Yeah. I'd like to wrap this conversation up going back to the theme podcast and goldfish. Being that podcast long form [00:29:00] audio. But yet we live in a soundbite generation and these whippersnappers can't pay attention for more than five seconds at a time and they're all distracted. Do you agree with... I think the opposite. I just think it shows a different way we've been taught to think and that there's so much information. We and the younger generation, especially has a gift of a computer that can process a whole bunch of data and get to that one [00:29:30] document that they're looking for. But what we call a short attention span is a sifting process. "I'm not interested, I'm not interested, I'm not interested. But I'm not any less smarter than a generation before me. But I want to know and understand these few things. And I'm going deep." Where the opposite might be a lesser intelligent person would want to stay at a shallow level. And be a goldfish. Sorry, goldfish, but they do stay shallow I think, I don't think they're [00:30:00] in the deep.
Rob Johnson: Yeah, not in the fishbowl at least.
Ken: Not in the fishbowl.
Rob Johnson: Well, I think to that point, I think the millennials are the most widely criticized generation, largely because they've been the generation that has grown up in the area of social media. And because of that, and they've gotten such a negative wrap, everyone wants to paint with a broad brush. And it's like, "Well look old, man you're on Facebook criticizing someone for not working while you're not working pick a lane." I need people [00:30:30] to just be specific. Don't broad brush.
You will find good and bad in every age group, demographic. You can find it and you can also take one person and try and make an example of an entire generation, which is pretty foolish. So I think specifically for the people in my age range, which... I'm 31, I know where that classifies, but I think that's still millennial for now. But I think in that range, people just want specificity, they want connection community. [00:31:00] I am not particularly interested in fast food soundbites and outlines. It's just not an interest to me. Because I want to know what I'm talking about and just not know about two sentences of a USA Today article.
Ken: So I've been waiting this whole podcast to say this. But I think we both agree that everyone having an attention span now of a goldfish is a bunch of carp.
Rob Johnson: Yes. I like that. Nice.
Ken: All right. On that note-
Speaker 4: Dad joke of the week.
Ken: Exactly. [00:31:30] All right so how can people find you and your business if they're interested in starting up a podcast?
Rob Johnson: Yeah, so for the podcast, it's speakeasynetwork.com. All the pricing, rates, we even have virtual services. So if you're not in... or near one of our studios, we have virtual packages and kits that we can send out and help you get rolling remotely. So speakeasynetwork.com and all the details are there.
Ken: Speakeasy comes along with plenty of whiskey.
Rob Johnson: Absolutely. That's Old Forester, [00:32:00] but that's good.
Ken: That is good. All right. And wherever your favorite podcast platform is please subscribe and like and share with others. So we can help this grow. This has been PurposeCity it's brought to you by Executive Wealth Management, and we will close out learning a little more about what they do. Thanks.
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Speaker 6: Through compassionate growth, we build defend and advance. That is the founding principle of our investment philosophy.
Speaker 9: [00:33:00] Clients, knowing that they can be up at one level of risk and very gradually reduced, based on a non-emotional analysis, is mathematically driven. It is based on a developed system that is built for a very large community.
Speaker 5: Our team is built up of not just a couple advisors with their assistants like you'll see in a lot of offices. We have our investment team here, in investment policy committee. We have our operations department here, we have our compliance department here, we have our technology department here. Which allows our advisors [00:33:30] to have more direct access, which allows them to not have to jump through as many hoops and that just leads to a more efficient client experience.
Speaker 10: I wanted to be part of a company that had, and fostered that teamwork that had regular meetings, like the case studies, the collaboration, the practice management. I saw a ton of value in that.
Speaker 11: Being part of a team is crucial for me. I came from almost 20 years in the banking channel, thinking about why [00:34:00] I came here, was specifically to do with the way that they treat the employees as family.
Speaker 7: We have a great culture here. That's one of the things I really take pride in. It is about chemistry. You need people to want to be here.
Speaker 11: The fact that we're treated so well allows me to focus on other things for our clients and how I can help them.
Speaker 12: What I really found special about this place was that the emphasis on building relationships, and that is something that I've carried into my practice as an advisor. I want to build that plan and then [00:34:30] obviously allowed to defend it. But ultimately it's that peace of mind that we're in to help them advance going forward.
Speaker 13: I'm the partner to the investor with inside the firm. I really enjoy answering client's questions. A lot of our clients like to read thoroughly through our disclosure documents and they have a lot of excellent questions. And part of my job is to ensure that the client is informed and has access to that information. So if there's ever a time where a client has a question, and if they just want to give me a call, they're always welcome to do that.
Speaker 14: We communicate with our [00:35:00] clients. We are following up with clients when they ask questions, we want to make sure we're proactive in doing that. And that's part of our strategy of building and defending and advancing our relationship.
Speaker 15: I've been working for executive wealth management for over 10 years. I love the people that I work with, with great clients. Our clients trust us. We care about our clients.
Speaker 6: Building your portfolio and your retirement. Defending it when it needs to be defended in difficult times. [00:35:30] And advancing it, when things turn. Build, defend advance.
Speaker 15: Schedule an appointment today, and meet with an Executive Wealth Management Advisor to learn how we can build, defend and advance your investment future.