1 00:00:00,937 --> 00:00:05,028 All right, Robert, it is a pleasure to have you on our podcast today. 2 00:00:05,028 --> 00:00:14,231 Super excited to dive into all things, leadership, leadership, collaboration, and some entrepreneurship tacked on there as well. 3 00:00:14,611 --> 00:00:19,622 You have a very interesting journey and a great path of success. 4 00:00:19,622 --> 00:00:28,245 So before we kind of get into the nitty gritty, I'd love if you could just give us a high level of who you are, what that journey's looked like, some of the exciting things you're 5 00:00:28,245 --> 00:00:29,611 working on today. 6 00:00:29,611 --> 00:00:35,143 And then perhaps just for clarity as well, what a digital first agency means and looks like. 7 00:00:36,098 --> 00:00:36,809 Yeah, no, for sure. 8 00:00:36,809 --> 00:00:37,759 And I'm excited to be here. 9 00:00:37,759 --> 00:00:38,430 Who am I? 10 00:00:38,430 --> 00:00:41,663 I'm still trying to figure it out, I think, is the honest answer to that question. 11 00:00:41,663 --> 00:00:44,035 But I'll let you know what I figured out so far. 12 00:00:44,035 --> 00:00:46,276 So my journey is an interesting one. 13 00:00:46,276 --> 00:00:49,919 So let's start with where we are today, because I think that's important to sort of know. 14 00:00:49,919 --> 00:00:51,431 Let's start in the present. 15 00:00:51,431 --> 00:00:55,636 So presently, I am the CEO of Elite Digital. 16 00:00:55,636 --> 00:01:00,408 And Elite Digital is one of the biggest digital first agencies in Canada. 17 00:01:00,408 --> 00:01:02,069 We have tons of amazing people. 18 00:01:02,069 --> 00:01:09,202 We work with all the biggest brands in the country, medium sized businesses, enterprise businesses, and we are their digital partner. 19 00:01:09,202 --> 00:01:11,554 They come to us with their goals. 20 00:01:11,554 --> 00:01:12,614 I want more leads. 21 00:01:12,614 --> 00:01:13,454 I want more sales. 22 00:01:13,454 --> 00:01:14,655 I need to build a community. 23 00:01:14,655 --> 00:01:16,376 I want to strengthen my brand. 24 00:01:16,376 --> 00:01:18,077 All of these fun things. 25 00:01:18,077 --> 00:01:20,618 And they turn to the experts at Elite Digital. 26 00:01:20,618 --> 00:01:24,209 And then on our team, we have gifted creative staff. 27 00:01:24,209 --> 00:01:26,010 We have all of our designers. 28 00:01:26,221 --> 00:01:34,906 We have gifted marketers that search marketing SEO social media programmatic email all that fun sort of stuff We have talented developers. 29 00:01:34,906 --> 00:01:43,132 So once we design something and it's beautiful We actually bring it to life and make sure it works and we have an end with analysts who are measuring everything and we have 30 00:01:43,132 --> 00:01:53,489 amazingly talented account managers and project managers and Really what we do is I always say we assemble the dream team where we act an extension of our clients to say hey today 31 00:01:53,489 --> 00:01:55,940 You may not have an entire digital marketing department 32 00:01:56,053 --> 00:01:57,614 but tomorrow you do. 33 00:01:57,614 --> 00:02:01,997 And not only are they amazingly talented, but they are awesome, awesome, awesome people. 34 00:02:01,997 --> 00:02:04,299 And we are so incredibly proud of our culture. 35 00:02:04,299 --> 00:02:08,663 I am a fortunate lucky guy to work with such amazing people each and every day. 36 00:02:08,663 --> 00:02:09,784 I feel blessed. 37 00:02:09,784 --> 00:02:13,326 And I honestly, I'm so proud of the entire team at Elite. 38 00:02:13,507 --> 00:02:16,549 Individually, they are amazing and together they are unstoppable. 39 00:02:16,549 --> 00:02:18,511 So it is a magical, magical thing. 40 00:02:18,511 --> 00:02:20,642 And this is now let's go back in time. 41 00:02:20,642 --> 00:02:23,555 This is our 22nd year doing this. 42 00:02:23,555 --> 00:02:25,386 So I have been doing this now for the better part 43 00:02:25,386 --> 00:02:33,841 of over two decades, which is wild and crazy and mind-blowing to me, because I actually started this company when I was in high school. 44 00:02:34,082 --> 00:02:46,290 Many moons ago, long ago, goofy teenage Rob in his parents' basement with braces and all didn't really know what he was doing, but I started this company back then and I was a 45 00:02:46,290 --> 00:02:55,306 student by day, a high school student first, then university student by day, and entrepreneur by night, which was a real interesting 46 00:02:55,306 --> 00:02:57,418 challenge to do. 47 00:02:57,418 --> 00:03:02,641 But I've been doing this for a very, very, very long time and over the years it's been quite a journey. 48 00:03:02,641 --> 00:03:07,284 I'd like to think I've learned a lot and evolved a lot since that goofy teenager in his parents basement. 49 00:03:07,284 --> 00:03:11,227 But it's been a wild ride filled with ups and downs and twists and turns. 50 00:03:11,227 --> 00:03:13,898 But I love it as much now as I did back then. 51 00:03:13,898 --> 00:03:19,172 And I always say everything I do, every failure I've had is a learning opportunity. 52 00:03:19,172 --> 00:03:25,516 And I have done lots of learning over the past 22 years that have really sort of set us up for where we are now. 53 00:03:25,516 --> 00:03:30,820 When I think about the journey, we've been on the list of the fastest growing companies in the country three times now. 54 00:03:30,820 --> 00:03:32,351 So Canada feels like a big place. 55 00:03:32,351 --> 00:03:43,499 So from starting from a single guy in his parents' basement with nothing but a dream to now being one of the top rated, most highly respected digital first agencies is rather 56 00:03:43,499 --> 00:03:44,456 exciting. 57 00:03:44,456 --> 00:03:44,966 no kidding. 58 00:03:44,966 --> 00:03:48,990 mean, congratulations and the enthusiasm is oozing out of your pores. 59 00:03:48,990 --> 00:03:52,683 So I can tell that, you it feels like you just started it yesterday. 60 00:03:52,683 --> 00:04:02,102 And that's something that's truly exciting to see a founder, a CEO who started something decades ago now carrying through that exact same enthusiasm. 61 00:04:02,102 --> 00:04:09,619 So kudos for obviously all the success, but I can see why you're successful based on the energy that you bring to the business every single day. 62 00:04:09,619 --> 00:04:10,360 And that's. 63 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:10,620 Thanks. 64 00:04:10,620 --> 00:04:11,020 You know what? 65 00:04:11,020 --> 00:04:14,672 I always say to any entrepreneur, I think you have to love what you do. 66 00:04:14,672 --> 00:04:18,254 I think it is very difficult to get out of bed in the morning and keep trying. 67 00:04:18,254 --> 00:04:20,095 And again, I don't think any of this is easy. 68 00:04:20,095 --> 00:04:24,437 If there's an entrepreneur out there who says this is easy, I want to talk to them and know their secret. 69 00:04:24,437 --> 00:04:28,458 But I think you have to love it because I think when you have that passion, it's easy to keep going. 70 00:04:28,458 --> 00:04:30,539 It's easy to know that failure is not an option. 71 00:04:30,539 --> 00:04:35,862 It's easy to look at an immeasurable challenge in front of you and say, we're going to find a solution. 72 00:04:35,862 --> 00:04:38,133 So I do love it now. 73 00:04:38,133 --> 00:04:40,304 And honestly, being able to work with such a 74 00:04:40,304 --> 00:04:44,667 amazing people at Elite Digital makes every day just an absolute joy. 75 00:04:44,667 --> 00:04:47,549 that adds to the fun in such dramatic ways. 76 00:04:47,549 --> 00:04:49,840 But you did ask before, what does digital first mean? 77 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:51,851 So I don't want to leave that unanswered. 78 00:04:51,852 --> 00:04:54,273 I always say we're digital first, we're not digital only. 79 00:04:54,273 --> 00:04:55,114 What does that mean? 80 00:04:55,114 --> 00:04:59,797 It means as a marketing agency, we try to take a digital lens on things first. 81 00:04:59,797 --> 00:05:08,973 So if you go back in time, it used to be brands, small businesses, medium businesses, enterprises would all sort of plan their marketing strategy and then say, we should do 82 00:05:08,973 --> 00:05:09,724 digital. 83 00:05:09,724 --> 00:05:10,224 Maybe digital. 84 00:05:10,224 --> 00:05:11,425 digital matters. 85 00:05:11,425 --> 00:05:14,627 And as we all know, digital today can't be an afterthought. 86 00:05:14,627 --> 00:05:18,729 Coming out of COVID many years ago, that digitally transformed the world. 87 00:05:19,010 --> 00:05:21,181 Everybody's online now, right? 88 00:05:21,181 --> 00:05:25,014 No one is like running for the yellow pages to find what they're looking for. 89 00:05:25,014 --> 00:05:27,976 So we know we live in a digital first society. 90 00:05:27,976 --> 00:05:31,839 So being a digital first agency means we look at a client's goals. 91 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:34,700 We don't ask them, what do you want to do in the digital landscape? 92 00:05:34,700 --> 00:05:35,911 We say, what are your goals? 93 00:05:35,911 --> 00:05:36,832 Where do you want to be? 94 00:05:36,832 --> 00:05:38,543 What does success look like? 95 00:05:38,543 --> 00:05:40,136 And then across our 96 00:05:40,136 --> 00:05:49,854 army of amazing subject matter experts that really span the entire digital ecosystem, we could say, this is where you are, and this is where you want to get to, here's your path 97 00:05:49,854 --> 00:05:53,046 to victory, and here's all the things we're going to do to make that happen. 98 00:05:53,046 --> 00:05:55,769 And a lot of times our clients don't even know what's on the menu. 99 00:05:55,769 --> 00:05:57,570 They didn't know that was possible. 100 00:05:57,570 --> 00:06:02,314 And that's where we really have this partnership-centric approach, where we say, just tell us where you want to be. 101 00:06:02,314 --> 00:06:03,255 Tell us your goals. 102 00:06:03,255 --> 00:06:10,040 And we are going to stand with you there and march forward, doing all sorts of really cool and effective things that are going to mobilize your 103 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,956 audience utilizing literally every digital channel possible. 104 00:06:14,119 --> 00:06:24,675 Thank you for answering that because you I think especially as someone who grew up in the era of Yellow Pages and now only uses them as like a booster seat when I need to see 105 00:06:24,675 --> 00:06:27,377 overheads, it's, it is quite a transition. 106 00:06:27,377 --> 00:06:33,790 A lot has changed and a lot has changed in that space and I'm sure continues to evolve, including for yourself. 107 00:06:33,790 --> 00:06:42,595 And I want to, I want to turn internally for a minute and go back to Young Rob in the garage, in the basement, as you mentioned. 108 00:06:42,805 --> 00:06:50,235 You had a big dream, as you said, you had a vision and now 22 years later, has that vision shifted or iterated? 109 00:06:50,235 --> 00:06:51,518 If so, in what way? 110 00:06:51,518 --> 00:07:01,142 And what have been some of the biggest challenges you've overcome, especially as the, you know, our world has changed so much in the past five years, let alone 22 years. 111 00:07:01,142 --> 00:07:04,883 So what's that done to your vision and to the kind of trajectory of the company? 112 00:07:05,614 --> 00:07:08,634 Yeah, so I think what's interesting about that is it changes all the time. 113 00:07:08,634 --> 00:07:13,554 mean, imagine, you know, the digital landscape changed right now while we're having this conversation. 114 00:07:13,934 --> 00:07:15,574 you know, could jump back in time. 115 00:07:15,574 --> 00:07:22,314 I was featured in a documentary about the emerging social media industry because we created a Facebook page for a brand. 116 00:07:22,314 --> 00:07:26,534 And like, if you think today, Rob, you were in a documentary because you created a Facebook page for a brand. 117 00:07:26,534 --> 00:07:27,814 Like, we do that now. 118 00:07:27,814 --> 00:07:29,554 Like, that's not newsworthy now. 119 00:07:29,554 --> 00:07:34,574 Well, when social media was new, which dates me and I feel old saying that, this was groundbreaking stuff. 120 00:07:34,574 --> 00:07:35,720 So I have seen 121 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,182 an evolution in dramatic ways. 122 00:07:38,182 --> 00:07:46,989 But I think at the heart of it, my vision was always I wanted to run an organization and company that I could be so incredibly proud of. 123 00:07:46,989 --> 00:07:57,227 And that really is an overarching statement that through all the phases we've gone through has been this sort of consistent theme, even as we've adapted and pivoted, because growing 124 00:07:57,227 --> 00:08:02,642 up, I spent a lot of time, all my summers, I spent at different camps, day camps, overnight camps. 125 00:08:02,642 --> 00:08:05,424 And I always loved that it was like this community that 126 00:08:05,424 --> 00:08:13,720 materialized where everybody was there and even when I was staff, you know, we had a job we were taking care of the kids but this amazing community materialized where everybody 127 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:15,731 was in on it and everybody was having fun. 128 00:08:15,731 --> 00:08:16,782 We were doing good things. 129 00:08:16,782 --> 00:08:25,307 The kids were having fun, but everybody was sort of in on this community vibe where we all knew we were part of something that was special and I always knew as I created a company 130 00:08:25,307 --> 00:08:31,171 whether we were small or big or as we've grown I wanted to make sure we had that same feeling of community. 131 00:08:31,171 --> 00:08:35,344 So we call ourselves the elite family and we don't try to be like everybody else. 132 00:08:35,344 --> 00:08:36,645 want to have more fun than everybody. 133 00:08:36,645 --> 00:08:37,946 We care about each other more. 134 00:08:37,946 --> 00:08:39,347 We put our people first. 135 00:08:39,347 --> 00:08:44,991 So I always wanted to run this company where if you asked my staff, do you like working here? 136 00:08:44,991 --> 00:08:46,611 They would say, I don't just like it. 137 00:08:46,611 --> 00:08:47,492 I love it. 138 00:08:47,492 --> 00:08:55,998 And that's really, really important because I believe if people love their environment and their colleagues and their coworkers, their culture, it's going to lead to better work. 139 00:08:55,998 --> 00:08:59,340 And I have 20 years of evidence that that holds true. 140 00:08:59,340 --> 00:09:05,404 So I've always sort of had that overarching theory of I want to have a company that we could all be proud of. 141 00:09:05,404 --> 00:09:07,526 everybody who's part of it loves it. 142 00:09:07,526 --> 00:09:15,811 And even to this day, there's people I'll see who worked for me years ago and they'll still talk about how being part of the elite family, you know, impacted their lives and 143 00:09:15,811 --> 00:09:17,472 changed the trajectory of their career. 144 00:09:17,472 --> 00:09:25,718 And if I could be in a spot where I'm positively impacting the lives of the people around me, that to me is something really special that counts for a lot in my books. 145 00:09:25,718 --> 00:09:27,039 So that matters a lot. 146 00:09:27,039 --> 00:09:35,376 But over the years, we've morphed and adapted every which way because when I first started out, we were really focused on email marketing. 147 00:09:35,376 --> 00:09:40,310 We were, I created the first cloud-based email marketing software in Canada and email was new at the time. 148 00:09:40,310 --> 00:09:41,962 Companies weren't sending newsletters. 149 00:09:41,962 --> 00:09:48,247 So we did email and I had the idea in my mind, we're going to be the best at email, but we're only going to do email. 150 00:09:48,247 --> 00:09:53,331 And our clients would call us and say, Hey, I love what you're doing for me in email marketing and my newsletter. 151 00:09:53,331 --> 00:09:54,562 Can you do my website? 152 00:09:54,562 --> 00:09:56,653 And we said, no, we just do email. 153 00:09:56,653 --> 00:09:58,315 Can you manage my Google ads? 154 00:09:58,315 --> 00:09:59,996 No, we just do email. 155 00:09:59,996 --> 00:10:02,898 And then one day I woke up and I said, why do we keep saying no? 156 00:10:02,898 --> 00:10:04,319 We have amazingly talented people. 157 00:10:04,319 --> 00:10:05,400 have all these skills. 158 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:06,602 Why are we saying no? 159 00:10:06,602 --> 00:10:08,584 Let's try something different. 160 00:10:08,584 --> 00:10:10,005 What if we said yes? 161 00:10:10,005 --> 00:10:11,547 What if we said yes to everything? 162 00:10:11,547 --> 00:10:13,449 If someone calls us and they said can you do it? 163 00:10:13,449 --> 00:10:15,771 We're gonna say yes, and we're gonna figure out how to do it. 164 00:10:15,771 --> 00:10:19,055 Now I'll be honest, this got me in trouble some of the times, right? 165 00:10:19,055 --> 00:10:25,462 I would go back to the office and be like, hey team, we now do this and they would look at me like, my god Rob, why would you say yes? 166 00:10:25,462 --> 00:10:25,954 But- 167 00:10:25,954 --> 00:10:28,335 It's only the first time you've done something the first time. 168 00:10:28,335 --> 00:10:32,077 So we have a real sort of learning focus at Elite, right? 169 00:10:32,077 --> 00:10:33,878 So we would say, yes, we could do that. 170 00:10:33,878 --> 00:10:35,098 We'd figure out how to do it. 171 00:10:35,098 --> 00:10:36,249 We'd really strategize. 172 00:10:36,249 --> 00:10:37,089 We'd work together. 173 00:10:37,089 --> 00:10:39,140 Again, there's no obstacle we can't overcome. 174 00:10:39,140 --> 00:10:40,541 And we would get good at it. 175 00:10:40,541 --> 00:10:50,896 And over many years, when you say yes to enough things, suddenly now I sit back and I go, holy smokes, the amount of things that we are really, really, really great at. 176 00:10:50,896 --> 00:10:52,666 And we set the bar very high. 177 00:10:52,666 --> 00:10:53,937 That's the brand of Elite, right? 178 00:10:53,937 --> 00:10:54,827 Anyone can be average. 179 00:10:54,827 --> 00:10:55,888 That's not who we are. 180 00:10:55,888 --> 00:10:59,190 But you say yes to enough things and you're critical about what you do. 181 00:10:59,190 --> 00:11:03,453 We post game everything we do and we ask ourselves, how can we be better? 182 00:11:03,453 --> 00:11:06,675 And I always say to my entire team, if we're standing still, we're falling behind. 183 00:11:06,675 --> 00:11:08,236 So we're always being critical. 184 00:11:08,236 --> 00:11:11,078 Even if we think we're great, how can we be greater? 185 00:11:11,078 --> 00:11:13,160 And that's a really big part of our culture. 186 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:16,765 But when you have that attitude, you build one website, how can we be better? 187 00:11:16,765 --> 00:11:18,823 A second, a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth. 188 00:11:18,823 --> 00:11:25,818 By this point, fast forward all these years, we've gotten so good at what we do because we never stop asking how we can be 189 00:11:25,818 --> 00:11:26,469 better. 190 00:11:26,469 --> 00:11:29,030 I kind of treat it like golf, like we're always playing against ourselves. 191 00:11:29,030 --> 00:11:31,432 I want to have a better score the next round I go out. 192 00:11:31,432 --> 00:11:34,895 So my entire team knows how can we be better. 193 00:11:34,895 --> 00:11:42,080 Core to our philosophy, our strategic goal is always rooted in leveling up, leveling up as individuals, as teams, and as an organization. 194 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:44,179 And that constantly keeps us moving forward. 195 00:11:44,179 --> 00:11:45,180 fantastic. 196 00:11:45,180 --> 00:11:45,660 Fantastic. 197 00:11:45,660 --> 00:11:46,370 And it's exciting. 198 00:11:46,370 --> 00:11:49,161 I'm sure your team is, they're excited by the work. 199 00:11:49,311 --> 00:11:55,864 and you celebrate along the way, which I love too, because I think where teams can get kind of bottlenecked is that 1 % better, that 1 % better. 200 00:11:55,864 --> 00:12:00,226 And some people are saying like, for the love of all that is good, is this not good enough? 201 00:12:00,226 --> 00:12:09,921 But if that's the lens you're looking through is to become experts and you, it sounds like you attract and or seek out folks who have that mindset already. 202 00:12:09,921 --> 00:12:10,691 So 203 00:12:10,721 --> 00:12:14,502 Talk to me a little bit about how you find the people that are on your team, right? 204 00:12:14,502 --> 00:12:17,324 I mean, you've already gushed over them, which I love to hear. 205 00:12:17,324 --> 00:12:20,615 It means that you've got such a core group. 206 00:12:20,855 --> 00:12:23,136 How do you find them and where do you find them? 207 00:12:23,136 --> 00:12:31,259 And what's some of your process to make sure that they'll fit that culture and they're aligned with what you're striving for? 208 00:12:32,010 --> 00:12:32,700 No, absolutely. 209 00:12:32,700 --> 00:12:38,113 And it's funny, you know, I hear that sort of 1 % better and I always say, you know, there's an expression, practice makes perfect. 210 00:12:38,113 --> 00:12:40,154 And we say practice makes progress. 211 00:12:40,154 --> 00:12:46,717 And we think that's really important because while it is about getting better, it's not about trying to achieve some, you know, vision that we can achieve. 212 00:12:46,717 --> 00:12:48,238 It's about just trying to get better. 213 00:12:48,238 --> 00:12:51,139 And I think fundamentally at their core, everybody wants to get better. 214 00:12:51,139 --> 00:12:52,900 All of my staff love learning. 215 00:12:52,900 --> 00:12:54,661 So you asked a really great question. 216 00:12:54,661 --> 00:13:00,083 And again, I'm so proud of our culture and it's so core to who we are in our DNA. 217 00:13:00,083 --> 00:13:02,224 And when we're looking for people, 218 00:13:02,224 --> 00:13:10,650 We don't just look at their experience where you went to school where you worked Okay, equally as important to us is the vibe check. 219 00:13:10,650 --> 00:13:11,370 Okay. 220 00:13:11,370 --> 00:13:13,502 Are you going to fit in well with our culture? 221 00:13:13,502 --> 00:13:15,113 Are you going to add to our culture? 222 00:13:15,113 --> 00:13:17,094 Are you going to make us better? 223 00:13:17,094 --> 00:13:28,062 There are many things I can teach people I was a professor for many years as well I taught I taught at Seneca for many years so I could teach people a lot of things What I can't do 224 00:13:28,062 --> 00:13:30,203 is I can't teach you to be a good person. 225 00:13:30,203 --> 00:13:32,324 I can't teach you to care for the person 226 00:13:32,337 --> 00:13:37,301 I can't teach you how to have good work ethic and try harder. 227 00:13:37,301 --> 00:13:39,803 Those are things that you either have or you don't. 228 00:13:39,803 --> 00:13:44,767 And when we are hiring at Elite, that is the intangible quality we are looking for. 229 00:13:44,767 --> 00:13:49,110 Yes, we will look at your resume, and your good resume may get you an interview. 230 00:13:49,110 --> 00:13:49,951 It might. 231 00:13:49,951 --> 00:13:58,718 But when we go to that interview, equally as important to how are your technical skills is are you going to fit in well with the team, right? 232 00:13:58,718 --> 00:14:01,680 I use a lot of sports analogies, and I always say there's some 233 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:08,880 players, know, in basketball that step onto the court and as soon as they're on the court, all the players around them also get better. 234 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:10,860 That's the person we're looking for. 235 00:14:10,860 --> 00:14:18,660 We're looking for the person who steps on the court and makes their teammates better, where they bring a lot to the table, but the team overall gets stronger. 236 00:14:18,660 --> 00:14:26,440 And we have an amazing person who manages our HR, the team themselves, we do group interviews, everyone's in on it. 237 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:31,800 And we really try to cherry pick those people that bring the right skills to the table, but also 238 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:40,336 bring the right attitude and vibe to the table and oftentimes when I'm talking to people about sort of the interviews they were in, I'll first say, know, how did they do on the 239 00:14:40,336 --> 00:14:41,727 elite vibe check? 240 00:14:41,727 --> 00:14:45,830 Because they're not good for the vibe, but they're really talented. 241 00:14:45,830 --> 00:14:47,891 That's not the person we're looking for. 242 00:14:47,891 --> 00:14:48,872 Nothing against them. 243 00:14:48,872 --> 00:14:50,082 They may be super talented. 244 00:14:50,082 --> 00:14:59,098 They may be a great fit for someone else, but that's not what we're looking for because when you walk into the offices at elite, either virtually or in person, you feel that 245 00:14:59,098 --> 00:14:59,879 right away. 246 00:14:59,879 --> 00:15:01,520 And I love it because we've had new 247 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,281 people start lately and I'll check in with them, right? 248 00:15:04,281 --> 00:15:06,862 And I'll say, how is your elite experience going so far? 249 00:15:06,862 --> 00:15:15,655 And when that feedback is, it's amazing, I can't believe how welcoming everyone is, the outpouring of support is unbelievable, everybody wants to help me, that to me is how I 250 00:15:15,655 --> 00:15:19,168 know we're on the right track because that is super special. 251 00:15:19,168 --> 00:15:20,609 I love that, the vibe check. 252 00:15:20,609 --> 00:15:24,801 I think it's so important to qualify that. 253 00:15:24,801 --> 00:15:28,203 And you did it when you were explaining how you find these folks. 254 00:15:28,203 --> 00:15:36,047 It's not that we want them to fit in, but how can they, what do they bring that's kind of their unique flavor as well that they can add to make us better. 255 00:15:36,047 --> 00:15:38,059 And so I think there's such a... 256 00:15:38,241 --> 00:15:46,478 having that distinction between, you're not just coming in everybody's bobble heading because we're the exact same, but how do we take you as a unique individual? 257 00:15:46,478 --> 00:15:56,916 How do you align with what we're doing and make sure that one, you're going to feel welcome in this space and two, that we want you here every day because yeah, to your 258 00:15:56,916 --> 00:15:59,188 point, you can be so technically skilled. 259 00:15:59,188 --> 00:16:00,749 And I'm not sure if you've heard this story. 260 00:16:00,749 --> 00:16:02,410 I can't remember who it was. 261 00:16:03,271 --> 00:16:07,895 So I know somebody out there knows the person that did this, but there was a... 262 00:16:07,977 --> 00:16:16,129 a company and they were looking to hire and they would go, part of the hiring process was that they would go and pick up the candidates in a car. 263 00:16:16,129 --> 00:16:23,971 And after every single interview, the hiring manager or the CEO would ask the driver, how did this person treat you? 264 00:16:24,292 --> 00:16:24,692 Right? 265 00:16:24,692 --> 00:16:27,393 And if it was, if it was poorly, they just didn't get a call back. 266 00:16:27,393 --> 00:16:32,034 If they were kind, then there's more to, there's more discussion here. 267 00:16:32,034 --> 00:16:33,354 But I think it's so important. 268 00:16:33,354 --> 00:16:36,459 It's just those, those things, those fundamental, like, do you show up with 269 00:16:36,459 --> 00:16:39,460 with kindness, can you care for the person next to you? 270 00:16:39,460 --> 00:16:49,885 And in the environment you've created and obviously why you're leaders in your industry, it means that you have to have that level of consideration for the rest of the team. 271 00:16:49,885 --> 00:16:55,887 And it sounds like there's a lot of collaboration that happens within your environment. 272 00:16:56,950 --> 00:16:59,341 Yeah, so everything we do at Elite is teamwork, right? 273 00:16:59,341 --> 00:17:01,342 I don't look for one person who's good at 10 things. 274 00:17:01,342 --> 00:17:04,594 I want 10 people who are each the best of the best of the one thing they do. 275 00:17:04,594 --> 00:17:11,097 Because when you assemble those people in a room, when you get those people sitting around a table, it's unstoppable, right? 276 00:17:11,097 --> 00:17:16,039 When we, like I am to this day, and again, I remember a time when it was like me and a few others. 277 00:17:16,039 --> 00:17:17,360 So I have that perspective. 278 00:17:17,360 --> 00:17:26,954 But when I see what the team at Elite Digital can do, when I see the teamwork of them facing a client challenge and really thinking outside the box and looking at every way and 279 00:17:26,954 --> 00:17:28,425 Building off each other right? 280 00:17:28,425 --> 00:17:36,671 I love that we know we said one of the things we say around the office is push each other with love So don't attack someone's idea, but push them to be better challenge them even 281 00:17:36,671 --> 00:17:45,266 more and when everybody's in on that when everyone's like I'm gonna push you and you're gonna push me, but it's all for the greater good right I want to be better even me as a 282 00:17:45,266 --> 00:17:54,532 CEO I have lots of practice of doing this and every day I still want to be 1 % better I still want that right one of my catchphrases around the office is be better tomorrow than 283 00:17:54,532 --> 00:17:56,896 you were yesterday, and that's about just constantly 284 00:17:56,896 --> 00:18:07,334 growth and I think that's super important, but when you create this culture that is both welcoming and diverse and we value different perspectives, I don't want to have a bunch of 285 00:18:07,334 --> 00:18:09,166 people on the team that think like me. 286 00:18:09,166 --> 00:18:12,469 I actually want a bunch of people on the team who don't think like me. 287 00:18:12,469 --> 00:18:13,989 That's more important. 288 00:18:14,150 --> 00:18:18,954 I need people who are going to think in different ways because that breeds fresh ideas and ideas breed ideas. 289 00:18:18,954 --> 00:18:20,976 So we absolutely love that. 290 00:18:20,976 --> 00:18:26,640 And I think when people embrace diversity and they embrace the fact that everyone's going to have their own unique 291 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:34,780 perspective and there is no right or wrong but it's about understanding all the perspectives and then figuring out what is the best way forward but creating an 292 00:18:34,780 --> 00:18:37,340 environment that is welcoming to that, right? 293 00:18:37,340 --> 00:18:39,660 We tell everybody there's no such thing as a bad question. 294 00:18:39,660 --> 00:18:41,600 Show up and ask bad questions. 295 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:49,640 The only bad question is the question not asked because I want to create a culture of if you don't know something, maybe in another organization it would be, oh, I'm going to be 296 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:52,760 embarrassed to ask or I'll just put my head down and maybe when no one will notice. 297 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:54,260 I think that's terrible. 298 00:18:54,260 --> 00:18:56,820 I want to have a culture where people raise their hand and say, 299 00:18:56,820 --> 00:19:07,681 I have no idea about this and I want everybody else to jump and say I can't wait to help that person and that makes us so special and I get to watch that happen literally each and 300 00:19:07,681 --> 00:19:10,519 every day and it's just awesome to watch. 301 00:19:10,519 --> 00:19:11,419 That's incredible. 302 00:19:11,419 --> 00:19:12,680 That's incredible. 303 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:20,945 And I think to your point, there are so many environments where people are fearful or scared. 304 00:19:20,945 --> 00:19:25,947 And some of it is due to external influences. 305 00:19:25,947 --> 00:19:28,609 Some are the narratives they tell themselves. 306 00:19:28,609 --> 00:19:30,009 Some is experience, right? 307 00:19:30,009 --> 00:19:38,914 But knowing that new folks can walk into your organization and immediately feel welcomed and helped, I'm sure that breaks down a lot of those potential, the narratives that some 308 00:19:38,914 --> 00:19:40,553 of the newer people feel. 309 00:19:40,553 --> 00:19:43,026 in their minds of, don't know if I can say this. 310 00:19:43,026 --> 00:19:44,749 I'm not sure if I can ask. 311 00:19:44,749 --> 00:19:51,858 And one other thing I really want to highlight that I respect is that people have a line to you. 312 00:19:51,858 --> 00:19:54,462 remind me, how big is your company right now? 313 00:19:54,462 --> 00:19:55,258 How many people? 314 00:19:55,258 --> 00:20:01,321 we probably have about 70 people now, I would say, somewhere around there, including like the freelancers and part-time and everything else. 315 00:20:01,441 --> 00:20:04,282 And it varies and we're growing and we're hiring right now. 316 00:20:04,282 --> 00:20:10,585 But what I think is important is I do, I have an open door policy or a virtual open door policy, depending on the day. 317 00:20:10,585 --> 00:20:11,656 And I think that's important. 318 00:20:11,656 --> 00:20:17,949 I think there's some organizations where the CEO sits off in their ivory tower and does whatever they do. 319 00:20:17,949 --> 00:20:20,430 That's not who I am and it's not who I want to be. 320 00:20:20,430 --> 00:20:23,501 Remember, I built this company doing this work. 321 00:20:23,501 --> 00:20:25,092 So when I started the company, 322 00:20:25,092 --> 00:20:26,773 I didn't have any outside funding. 323 00:20:26,773 --> 00:20:30,476 So if I needed a skill, I couldn't hire for that skill. 324 00:20:30,476 --> 00:20:32,277 I had to learn that skill. 325 00:20:32,277 --> 00:20:33,978 So I learned Photoshop. 326 00:20:33,978 --> 00:20:35,279 I learned computer programming. 327 00:20:35,279 --> 00:20:36,300 I learned QuickBooks. 328 00:20:36,300 --> 00:20:37,360 I learned SEO. 329 00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:38,661 I learned all these things. 330 00:20:38,661 --> 00:20:47,417 And now fast forward 20 years, I could have really meaningful conversations with all of my staff across all the departments, and they're all better than I am today, and I'm the 331 00:20:47,417 --> 00:20:48,488 first one to admit that. 332 00:20:48,488 --> 00:20:55,012 But I know just enough to be dangerous that I can have a meaningful conversation with them because I understand the language that they're speaking. 333 00:20:55,012 --> 00:20:59,655 And the fact that I have this open door policy, they know I'm easy, they know I'm down to earth. 334 00:20:59,655 --> 00:21:04,018 They know I want to know what's going on because my only desire is to help. 335 00:21:04,018 --> 00:21:13,815 That open door policy, not only by me, but all of our managers and all of our leadership team, everybody has that attitude of not, my goodness, you're a coordinator, you're so 336 00:21:13,815 --> 00:21:17,167 many rungs away from me on the hierarchy, don't you dare talk to me. 337 00:21:17,167 --> 00:21:18,568 Absolutely not. 338 00:21:18,568 --> 00:21:19,829 I know everybody's name. 339 00:21:19,829 --> 00:21:20,990 I know about them. 340 00:21:20,990 --> 00:21:24,032 We celebrate, and again, I'm big on work-life balance, right? 341 00:21:24,032 --> 00:21:24,752 We have staff that- 342 00:21:24,752 --> 00:21:26,473 are pregnant, we're celebrating that. 343 00:21:26,473 --> 00:21:28,795 We have staff that just got engaged, we're celebrating that. 344 00:21:28,795 --> 00:21:30,356 We celebrate birthdays. 345 00:21:30,356 --> 00:21:36,700 We do all of these things because we also realize there's more to work than, there's more to your life than just work. 346 00:21:36,700 --> 00:21:44,375 People spend a lot of time working and I get it and I want them to love that time, but I also want to be an organization that realizes there's so much more going on in this 347 00:21:44,375 --> 00:21:46,547 person's world than just work. 348 00:21:46,547 --> 00:21:47,237 And you know what? 349 00:21:47,237 --> 00:21:48,908 We're also part of that. 350 00:21:48,908 --> 00:21:54,825 The fact that we have people who have formed bonds and friendships at work where they get together on the weekend, that's not a work meeting. 351 00:21:54,825 --> 00:21:57,091 They're getting together on the weekends socially. 352 00:21:57,091 --> 00:22:02,604 That means this thing that I built is forging new relationships, and that's amazing. 353 00:22:02,667 --> 00:22:13,067 the fulfillment that comes from that and just knowing that, you know, I think that's one of the things that is a big miss in organizations these days. 354 00:22:13,187 --> 00:22:20,087 work life, as much as we say there's a distinction between the two, it ebbs and flows. 355 00:22:20,087 --> 00:22:23,819 We feel certain ways based on the morning we've had. 356 00:22:23,819 --> 00:22:27,281 We feel certain ways at home based on the day we've had at work. 357 00:22:27,281 --> 00:22:29,352 And it's human nature, right? 358 00:22:29,352 --> 00:22:33,994 It's virtually impossible to completely compartmentalize those things unless you're watching, what is it? 359 00:22:33,994 --> 00:22:34,884 Severance? 360 00:22:34,884 --> 00:22:37,385 That show where, yeah, you have two personnels. 361 00:22:37,385 --> 00:22:44,428 Only then, and I hope and pray that we never actually reach that in reality, but who knows? 362 00:22:44,428 --> 00:22:50,451 So with that being said, you've got this awesome culture where people love getting together. 363 00:22:50,707 --> 00:23:00,146 You've created this, you had this vision so many years ago, and as you said, know, bootstrapping it that you had to go out and learn all these skills, which means that I'm 364 00:23:00,146 --> 00:23:09,004 making an assumption here, so correct me if I'm wrong, but somewhere along the path, you've probably had some pretty impactful mentors that also helped guide, influence, 365 00:23:09,004 --> 00:23:12,626 shape, direct, or really just like be a shoulder. 366 00:23:13,269 --> 00:23:15,522 to or a sounding board, I should say. 367 00:23:15,522 --> 00:23:25,419 So is there any or are there any in particular that you can identify at certain points in your journey where you say this person was instrumental in helping me do X, Y or Z? 368 00:23:26,210 --> 00:23:26,840 Yeah, absolutely. 369 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:30,992 So my father has been a huge mentor for me and he's an entrepreneur as well. 370 00:23:30,992 --> 00:23:35,174 So I got to grow up seeing sort of entrepreneurship close hand. 371 00:23:35,554 --> 00:23:39,356 And he's been my biggest supporter from day zero. 372 00:23:39,356 --> 00:23:45,918 And the biggest thing he always told me was, his biggest words of wisdom was that failures are learning opportunities. 373 00:23:45,918 --> 00:23:49,160 And I think especially when I was younger, I would do different things. 374 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:50,330 And again, I was young. 375 00:23:50,330 --> 00:23:51,611 I wish I knew what I knew now. 376 00:23:51,611 --> 00:23:54,882 If I can go back and talk to Pastor Rob, all the things I would say, but... 377 00:23:54,882 --> 00:24:01,255 You know, I made so many mistakes and I think it's easy to make those mistakes, get knocked down and not get back up. 378 00:24:01,255 --> 00:24:02,976 I think failing is easy. 379 00:24:02,976 --> 00:24:04,607 I think giving up is easy. 380 00:24:04,607 --> 00:24:12,200 But because my father would take these failures when I would be sort of so beat up that this thing happened and he would just sort of say, what did you learn from this? 381 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:12,390 Right? 382 00:24:12,390 --> 00:24:14,531 How was this going to make you better? 383 00:24:14,531 --> 00:24:19,874 Because he was always saying that and him and my mother and my whole family, endless cheerleaders. 384 00:24:19,874 --> 00:24:25,018 But because every failure was a learning opportunity, which is still how I treat it today. 385 00:24:25,018 --> 00:24:25,939 right? 386 00:24:26,058 --> 00:24:31,501 it suddenly made it seem like the failures weren't so bad, they were getting me better for the next go around. 387 00:24:31,501 --> 00:24:40,165 And every time I would stumble and fall on my entrepreneurial journey, of which there were many times, and there will be many more times to come, when those failures aren't failures 388 00:24:40,165 --> 00:24:43,486 but they're learning opportunities, it reframes the way you see it. 389 00:24:43,486 --> 00:24:47,248 And suddenly, you know, yeah, it didn't go my way, but what could I have done differently? 390 00:24:47,248 --> 00:24:48,729 And what could I learn from that? 391 00:24:48,729 --> 00:24:55,952 And even when I do things now, I can almost trace back to, here's how I'm gonna react to the situation because of all the things 392 00:24:55,952 --> 00:25:04,672 I've learned in the past and I think having that support structure and I think sort of having my family being my biggest cheerleader and biggest supporter made a huge 393 00:25:04,672 --> 00:25:05,492 difference. 394 00:25:05,492 --> 00:25:11,192 The other part of this too is I my wife I started dating her when I was 16. 395 00:25:11,192 --> 00:25:12,031 Okay. 396 00:25:12,031 --> 00:25:14,172 And that's a very very very long time ago. 397 00:25:14,172 --> 00:25:24,392 I've been with her consistently since I was 16 but she is always pushing me to be the best version of myself and she is big on having a growth mindset and she endlessly supports me. 398 00:25:24,392 --> 00:25:25,872 But the fact that she since I've 399 00:25:25,872 --> 00:25:33,032 16, which is many years ago, since I've been 16, she's been pushing me to be the best version I can be of me. 400 00:25:33,032 --> 00:25:40,632 That sort of led to this idea of constant growth and constant evolution, which is why I love learning and I love improving and I love all that. 401 00:25:40,632 --> 00:25:48,132 So I think the way I push others to be better and again, with love and respect and admiration, but we can all better. 402 00:25:48,392 --> 00:25:49,142 I feel like 403 00:25:49,142 --> 00:25:53,005 my family and my wife and everyone has been pushing me that same way. 404 00:25:53,005 --> 00:25:55,870 So do I think I have figured out this CEO game? 405 00:25:55,870 --> 00:25:56,991 Absolutely not. 406 00:25:56,991 --> 00:26:03,938 I haven't and I'm not sure I ever will, but my goal is to be better tomorrow than I was yesterday and I never want to stop doing that. 407 00:26:04,011 --> 00:26:04,932 fantastic. 408 00:26:04,932 --> 00:26:10,814 Those are two, well, two, mean, and your father, your wife, and then your family as well. 409 00:26:11,293 --> 00:26:14,966 Those are driving forces that you are very fortunate to have. 410 00:26:14,966 --> 00:26:19,568 And I think that that's something that really, really helps shape us as people. 411 00:26:19,568 --> 00:26:31,402 And when you have cheerleaders like that who are willing to accept, let's say, 22 years down the road, a different version perhaps of yourself, that's really, really special. 412 00:26:31,402 --> 00:26:33,175 also big shout out to your wife for 413 00:26:33,175 --> 00:26:35,435 for seeing that evolution and for encouraging it. 414 00:26:35,435 --> 00:26:45,135 I think that's one thing that we miss in our personal relationships is that if I'm growing, you might be growing as well, but just know that I might be a different person in 415 00:26:45,135 --> 00:26:50,895 20, 30, 80 years from now as we're walking aged on a beach somewhere. 416 00:26:51,416 --> 00:26:52,948 Well, it's wild and crazy. 417 00:26:52,948 --> 00:26:54,907 our oldest daughter is 12. 418 00:26:54,907 --> 00:26:57,526 She's 12 going on 18, but she's 12. 419 00:26:57,692 --> 00:27:04,708 So she's four years younger than when I met my wife and started dating her, which is like mind-blowingly crazy when we think about it. 420 00:27:04,708 --> 00:27:11,511 yeah, and that is, I mean, I don't have kids yet and I can just imagine seeing them grow. 421 00:27:11,511 --> 00:27:12,140 do have... 422 00:27:12,140 --> 00:27:18,346 I have three and having to be entrepreneur and father to three wild and crazy kids is an interesting thing. 423 00:27:18,346 --> 00:27:19,095 No kidding. 424 00:27:19,095 --> 00:27:22,254 Do you think there any of them have the entrepreneurial zest? 425 00:27:23,306 --> 00:27:23,746 You know what? 426 00:27:23,746 --> 00:27:29,729 I think they see, they see me, they see my wife, the way we operate, and I think they pick up on that. 427 00:27:30,009 --> 00:27:37,603 When they lift their heads up from their iPads, I should say, but when they occasionally aren't flipping through endless YouTube shorts or TikTok, and they see what we're doing, I 428 00:27:37,603 --> 00:27:39,493 would like to believe we're imparting that on them. 429 00:27:39,493 --> 00:27:48,238 But I'll tell you, the same way I approach with my children about having a growth mindset and learning and growing and failures or learning opportunities, the same thing I do with 430 00:27:48,238 --> 00:27:50,369 my staff, it's really the same thing I do with my children. 431 00:27:50,369 --> 00:27:53,152 It's funny how much they parallel each other. 432 00:27:53,152 --> 00:28:01,912 Because I want what's best for my team at work, I want what's best for my children, and I'm willing to give 110 % to all of those people to make that happen. 433 00:28:01,912 --> 00:28:04,405 So it's actually interesting how much it parallels one another. 434 00:28:04,405 --> 00:28:05,015 Absolutely. 435 00:28:05,015 --> 00:28:05,316 Yeah. 436 00:28:05,316 --> 00:28:12,871 Again, going back to that kind of blurred line of work and life and they're ultimately mirrors for one another when you think about it. 437 00:28:12,871 --> 00:28:13,881 Right. 438 00:28:15,363 --> 00:28:15,930 yes. 439 00:28:15,930 --> 00:28:18,312 some of our staff said, March break is coming up. 440 00:28:18,312 --> 00:28:21,654 I don't know if I'll be able to come into the office because my kids are going to be home. 441 00:28:21,654 --> 00:28:23,035 And we heard that. 442 00:28:23,035 --> 00:28:25,576 And our team was like, well, what if we put that on Ted? 443 00:28:25,576 --> 00:28:33,670 What if we said this is March break, bring your kids to the office day and the older kids will be like camp counselors and we'll sort of run programming for the kids. 444 00:28:33,670 --> 00:28:37,561 And instead of you figuring out what to do with them at home, why don't we bring all the kids in? 445 00:28:37,561 --> 00:28:39,042 We'll get to meet everybody's family. 446 00:28:39,042 --> 00:28:40,333 The kids will have a blast. 447 00:28:40,333 --> 00:28:41,863 We'll do fun things during the day. 448 00:28:41,863 --> 00:28:43,224 So when I look at sort of the company 449 00:28:43,224 --> 00:28:51,310 we are and I'm like, well you could stay home and have a childcare issue or you could bring your kids to work and we could have fun all day with them. 450 00:28:51,310 --> 00:29:00,490 Again, those lines get blurred between work and family and I think we could make that work and have some fun along the way and I think the staff sort of love that immersion into I 451 00:29:00,490 --> 00:29:04,099 want to meet your kids and I want to see the mini yous that you deal with at home. 452 00:29:04,099 --> 00:29:07,902 So I think our approach to that is also pretty unique and fun. 453 00:29:08,074 --> 00:29:10,515 I've never heard that before and I love that. 454 00:29:10,515 --> 00:29:14,875 I mean, that's one of the things that we hear often is childcare, can't come in. 455 00:29:14,875 --> 00:29:16,995 Oh my gosh, there's a PA day. 456 00:29:17,495 --> 00:29:19,155 All of a sudden everybody's flipped to virtual. 457 00:29:19,155 --> 00:29:20,775 What do I do with my kids at home? 458 00:29:20,775 --> 00:29:26,975 Now they don't have to worry about entertaining them either because they've got friends that they can make. 459 00:29:26,975 --> 00:29:29,555 I think that's super creative. 460 00:29:30,395 --> 00:29:31,174 Yeah. 461 00:29:31,174 --> 00:29:39,154 again I have three kids the other people you know the other people on our leadership team they all have kids so when someone says my kids school called I have to go pick them up 462 00:29:39,154 --> 00:29:48,194 that's the priority like I want that to be the priority oh you have a doctor's appointment for your kid yes that is the priority we will arrange around that because I ask people to 463 00:29:48,194 --> 00:29:57,674 give a hundred and ten percent to elite I really do but in turn we give a hundred and ten percent back and if something is important to them or their family it's equally as 464 00:29:57,674 --> 00:29:58,480 important to us 465 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:04,872 And I think the fact that we recognize that and people realize that we recognize that makes such a dramatic difference. 466 00:30:04,872 --> 00:30:07,074 builds loyalty, so much loyalty. 467 00:30:07,074 --> 00:30:08,795 Where else do you get that? 468 00:30:08,815 --> 00:30:12,458 I genuinely believe that that is not the norm, that you are the exception. 469 00:30:12,458 --> 00:30:13,850 And we wanna make that the exception. 470 00:30:13,850 --> 00:30:22,739 And that's why I think you sharing your story and your philosophies here will help to spark that creativity in other leaders who say, how do we build that loyalty? 471 00:30:22,739 --> 00:30:23,690 How do we build that trust? 472 00:30:23,690 --> 00:30:28,253 And how do we really show our team members that we care? 473 00:30:28,755 --> 00:30:29,422 And so. 474 00:30:29,422 --> 00:30:34,430 Absolutely, and I think being normal sounds boring, and I don't want that to be us. 475 00:30:34,832 --> 00:30:36,225 I think being different is important. 476 00:30:36,225 --> 00:30:40,221 think being unique is important, but I think also understanding our values, right? 477 00:30:40,396 --> 00:30:41,847 We are a family first company. 478 00:30:41,847 --> 00:30:46,108 Like we really do practice what we preach and that's really important to us. 479 00:30:46,108 --> 00:30:47,269 And we're there for each other. 480 00:30:47,269 --> 00:30:48,809 Like I've done this for a long time. 481 00:30:48,809 --> 00:30:51,070 I've seen wild and crazy things happen to people. 482 00:30:51,070 --> 00:30:59,814 And I think when something to one of our employees happens and it's a crazy thing in their life and their work family is endlessly supporting them, not saying why didn't you answer 483 00:30:59,814 --> 00:31:03,816 that email, but endlessly supporting them, what can I do to help you? 484 00:31:03,816 --> 00:31:09,515 When your work family is that special and cares that much about you, you feel that every single day. 485 00:31:09,515 --> 00:31:10,257 Right, yeah. 486 00:31:10,257 --> 00:31:12,693 And you know that it's not, there isn't that stress. 487 00:31:12,693 --> 00:31:14,547 You can deal with what you need to deal with. 488 00:31:14,547 --> 00:31:18,355 Everything else is taken care of, which means you're coming back refreshed. 489 00:31:19,394 --> 00:31:27,297 If one of my staff had to go and deal with some sort of family emergency, I will jump in and cover for them so they can go and focus on family. 490 00:31:27,297 --> 00:31:36,502 I am the CEO and I will jump into any job in any role I can because the important thing to me is they could go be the best mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter, whatever 491 00:31:36,502 --> 00:31:37,102 it is. 492 00:31:37,102 --> 00:31:46,967 That's what's important and everybody in our organization understands that and I think that makes a big difference and it changes the way you have a relationship with work 493 00:31:46,967 --> 00:31:49,200 because you know that your workplace cares about 494 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:58,580 you on a different level that isn't just the hours you're logging or the work that you're producing and I think that makes everybody try a little bit harder and when everybody's in 495 00:31:58,580 --> 00:32:05,669 on it when you look to your left and look to your right and every person there is feeling the same way the overall dynamic is unreal. 496 00:32:05,669 --> 00:32:07,601 means it's not transactional anymore. 497 00:32:07,601 --> 00:32:09,572 It's, yeah, I love that. 498 00:32:09,572 --> 00:32:10,423 I love that. 499 00:32:10,423 --> 00:32:14,627 Everybody is, I wanna say zooming. 500 00:32:14,627 --> 00:32:24,134 I was trying to find the correct adjective to use because I don't think there's one that is big enough that really encapsulates what your team is doing and how they're working 501 00:32:24,134 --> 00:32:25,015 towards their goals. 502 00:32:25,015 --> 00:32:29,979 So I think that you have created a truly unique and. 503 00:32:30,251 --> 00:32:32,012 fantastic culture. 504 00:32:32,013 --> 00:32:34,875 I'm so grateful that you've taken the time to share your philosophies. 505 00:32:34,875 --> 00:32:41,521 I know you've shared a lot of mantras as well, some of the things that you say and that you use to motivate your team. 506 00:32:41,521 --> 00:32:44,623 So two wrap up questions for you. 507 00:32:44,623 --> 00:32:47,826 And I would imagine they piggyback off of one another. 508 00:32:47,826 --> 00:32:59,199 The first is, is there one mantra that you've consistently, that you would say is like your number one that come hell or high water is what you hold on to? 509 00:32:59,199 --> 00:33:08,925 And the second is in thinking about some folks who are either looking to become the most incredible individual contributors or perhaps looking to take their own entrepreneurial 510 00:33:08,925 --> 00:33:13,848 journey based on your experience, what is one piece of advice that you would give them? 511 00:33:13,848 --> 00:33:17,970 And feel free to tap into Young Rob there as well. 512 00:33:18,006 --> 00:33:20,267 Yeah, my goodness, would young Rob say? 513 00:33:20,267 --> 00:33:22,948 I think, I I have so many, my team would laugh. 514 00:33:22,948 --> 00:33:31,151 I have so many catchphrases that are, at our holiday party last year, behind my back, I didn't know they did it, but I give a speech at our holiday party and without me knowing, 515 00:33:31,151 --> 00:33:32,752 they were all playing Rob bingo. 516 00:33:32,752 --> 00:33:37,598 So they all had a bingo card with different like Rob-isms that I say and like. 517 00:33:37,598 --> 00:33:44,401 as I'm giving my lovely, beautiful, heartfelt year-end speech, people are cheering as I say certain things. 518 00:33:44,401 --> 00:33:49,183 I say, go big or go home, and people start erupting, and I'm like, why are they all cheering that I said this? 519 00:33:49,183 --> 00:33:52,105 Meanwhile, they're all trying to play this Rob is in bingo card. 520 00:33:52,105 --> 00:33:55,366 And honestly, the fact that our culture allowed for that, and I this was amazing. 521 00:33:55,366 --> 00:33:57,127 So I do a lot of catchphrases. 522 00:33:57,127 --> 00:34:01,969 I would say fundamentally, always be learning and always be growing is really important. 523 00:34:01,969 --> 00:34:05,021 I think that ongoing growth and that growth mindset really matters. 524 00:34:05,021 --> 00:34:07,522 And especially in the digital world where we live, 525 00:34:07,522 --> 00:34:09,413 something new every day. 526 00:34:09,413 --> 00:34:15,047 And listen, there's some kid in their basement today who wants to start what we're starting. 527 00:34:15,047 --> 00:34:20,150 And if we're not fired up and trying to always stay ahead of the curve, we're going to fall behind. 528 00:34:20,150 --> 00:34:21,942 So I think the learning is important. 529 00:34:21,942 --> 00:34:29,667 But I think to answer your other question, my one piece of advice would actually, again, come back to failures or learning opportunities. 530 00:34:29,667 --> 00:34:32,148 think being an entrepreneur is very difficult. 531 00:34:32,769 --> 00:34:34,610 If it was easy, everybody would do it. 532 00:34:34,610 --> 00:34:36,431 Again, also on the raw bingo card. 533 00:34:36,431 --> 00:34:37,462 But I think it's a very 534 00:34:37,462 --> 00:34:43,717 true statement that this is challenging and it's easier to fail than it is to be successful. 535 00:34:43,717 --> 00:34:50,242 And I think you have to be flexible and adaptable and love what you're doing, but know that it's not a walk in the park. 536 00:34:50,242 --> 00:34:51,403 It's not going to be easy. 537 00:34:51,403 --> 00:34:52,864 You are going to get knocked down. 538 00:34:52,864 --> 00:34:55,286 There are going to be days when you think 539 00:34:55,286 --> 00:34:56,827 Can I even go on? 540 00:34:56,827 --> 00:35:02,111 And I think if failure's not an option and you're just determined to push forward, then you do. 541 00:35:02,111 --> 00:35:10,316 I think when failure's an option, it's easy to throw in the towel, it's gonna be easier if I just go get a job somewhere else, and it might be, but if you're really gonna have that 542 00:35:10,316 --> 00:35:20,834 entrepreneurial mindset, you have to be all in, you have to go for it, and you have to know that failing is simply part of the game, and you can't be upset about it, you have to 543 00:35:20,834 --> 00:35:24,366 embrace it and ask how it can lead you to be a better version of you. 544 00:35:24,691 --> 00:35:27,174 and that is a beautiful mic drop. 545 00:35:27,174 --> 00:35:30,787 I think you have given us so much to think about. 546 00:35:30,787 --> 00:35:39,616 The audience, whether you're a middle manager, whether you're a senior leader and a CEO like yourself, whether you're also an entrepreneur like yourself, I think everything that 547 00:35:39,616 --> 00:35:46,252 you have shared is sage wisdom and people can take action on it as well. 548 00:35:46,252 --> 00:35:48,534 So I just want to thank you so much for... 549 00:35:49,547 --> 00:35:55,372 bringing such amazing energy to this conversation and sharing all of your insights with me today. 550 00:35:55,587 --> 00:36:03,359 And with that, if people want to follow along with your journey, see all the amazing, cool, innovative things you're doing, where can they do so? 551 00:36:03,980 --> 00:36:04,711 Yeah, absolutely. 552 00:36:04,711 --> 00:36:06,213 No, and again, thank you for having me. 553 00:36:06,213 --> 00:36:06,772 This was great. 554 00:36:06,772 --> 00:36:07,695 I love this. 555 00:36:07,695 --> 00:36:08,997 So we are Elite Digital. 556 00:36:08,997 --> 00:36:12,241 The website is EliteDigitalAgency.com. 557 00:36:12,241 --> 00:36:12,862 Check it out. 558 00:36:12,862 --> 00:36:14,043 You can follow our socials. 559 00:36:14,043 --> 00:36:16,947 You can get a glimpse at our culture by checking us out on Instagram. 560 00:36:16,947 --> 00:36:22,389 But EliteDigitalAgency.com is where you're going to want to go to see the wonderful world of Elite Digital. 561 00:36:22,389 --> 00:36:26,859 Well, thank you again, Rob, and look forward to following along myself. 562 00:36:27,608 --> 00:36:28,704 Thanks so much.