Doug Houser:
From Rea & associate studio. This is unsuitable, a management financial services podcast for entrepreneurs, tenured business leaders and others who are ready to look beyond the suit and tie culture for meaningful measurable results. I'm Doug Houser on this weekly podcast thought leaders and business professionals break down complicated and mundane topics and give you the tips and insight you actually need to grow your business. If you haven't already hit the subscribe button so you don't miss future episodes. If you want access to even more information, show notes and exclusive of content, please visit our website at www.Reacpa.com/podcast to sign up for updates.
As you know, all good things come to an end, but sometimes you just have to start over differently. Three hosts, 305 episodes, six years, one award and thousands of listens unsuitable has seen a great deal of success, but with success comes opportunity to improve. So out with the old, that would be me, and in with the new. Join Becca, director of Practice Growth at Rea & Associates, and Brad Circone, esteemed president and founder of Circone and Associates, to discuss what's in store for unsuitable on Rea Radio. Welcome to unsuitable Becca and Brad.
Brad Circone:
Thank you.
Becca Johns:
Thanks Doug. Good to be here.
Doug:
So, what's ahead. We've got a rebranding of the podcast coming after six years. Talk a little bit about that, Becca.
Becca:
Sure. So yeah, we started this podcast six years ago and podcasting was still fairly new at the time back in whatever 2015, the first season of Serial had just come out. So that was at least for my demographic, that was kind of when I started listening to podcasts and got really into the true crime thing. And Brad came to us with the idea of starting a podcast and I thought you're totally insane, but podcasting has evolved since then and this is a good opportunity for us to just take a look at what we want our podcast to be, who we want it to be for. We are devastated to be losing you as our host, but this is a good time to make that transition, we can start fresh with a new host, a new look and feel a new attitude and bringing something new and exciting to our listeners.
Doug:
Well, and for those in the audience, I'm not going away entirely. I've just, I've got some new duties here at the firm. So you'll probably see me pop up on here from time to time. But as your permanent host, I will be indeed no longer. So, Brad talk about the evolution of this a little bit. I mean, heck six years ago, people still had iPods, right? Which that's where podcasts came from, who the heck has an iPod anymore, right?
Brad:
No me, you and [inaudible] maybe.
Doug:
Yeah. So talk about the evolution that you've seen here. Not only with our podcast unsuitable, I mean, you've got a wonderful podcast yourself bringing the brand back together, which I look at that and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is a whole other level. So, talk about how the whole industry has evolved.
Brad:
It's just been amazing as a new form of storytelling and that's how I got intrigued by it. I started listening to it just from a news standpoint and got hooked on a couple educational podcasts. And then at the time we were lucky enough to be with some other associates who were getting into podcasting and it moved from a niche moment when I first mentioned it to Mark. It moved from a niche moment to something serious in the transition when we met with Becca and the whole Practice Growth team and said, let's really seriously consider this. And that's where the name came from the idea of unsuitable.
We wanted to do something creative that kind of let us tell our story, the brand story, Rea's story, but also the story of those we had on at the same time we were doing a web overhaul for Rea at the same time. And we were bringing our customer stories forward because they are at the center of the Rea way. And so the podcast, with a little bit of hesitation, was approved as part of that process, but it is amazing to me to have you guys talk about some 300 episodes. That's just crazy from us starting. I really thought maybe this would be a 50 or, you know, 50 or 60 episode thing.
Doug:
Right. Right. Well, and it is, I think you mentioned a great time to sort of rethink and rebrand how you approach the audience with this type of thing because the audiences out there are so much more sophisticated and everybody now knows what podcasts are and they're searching those out for the right kind of content and information. So how does that all interplay with the thought process of freshening it and rebranding it and all of that?
Brad:
Well, those are the things that Becca and her team and my team are in the process of, but we're going to rebrand it just like we do all things inside the Rea brand of continuous improvement, continuous engagement we learn. And we've learned a lot in 300 episodes. We have, as the firm bringing you some of this podcasting innovation technology, we go to podcasting summits continually, our team is always looking for the best way to aggregate podcasts. And you're right. It's moved from a small little niche moment to obviously something that Spotify and Apple are now fighting over.
Doug:
Right.
Brad:
And it says enough when brands of that caliber, both in innovation and in profit, want to be leaders in podcasts. So we'll get together with Becca and her team and we're thinking about what this brand rebrand looks like. It may be everything dug from art and art assets all the way to intros to the show and how we tell our stories.
Doug:
Yeah.
Brad:
Because we really haven't had the time, believe it or not, I can't believe it's been that many years. That blew me away when you guys said that top of the podcast. To have time Becca and I haven't really had time to reflect on, okay, what can we do now? So we're going to take a little bit of a break and we are going to go through a 60 to 90 day planning process to do that. And I think there's some automated things Doug, that are going to allow us to in more time telling stories than doing other tactical things that we're going to include. We're excited about doing that from behind the scenes.
Doug:
Very cool.
Brad:
And then lastly, we are going to start ending, adding some more micro of content, some more digital touches out there that kind of embrace the storytelling of what we've been doing on suitable for all these episodes. So those are the three major buckets that Becca and I will be working on.
Doug:
Super cool. Becca, a question for you, how have you seen in the last 18 months of COVID, how's all this evolved in terms of delivering all this type of media and content and how we touch clients and prospects. I mean, we've done some amazing webcasts and things like that, that we quickly put together with over a thousand listeners. And how does this all kind of play together in terms of where we go in the future?
Becca:
Yeah. We've heard from a lot of people, clients, non clients alike that COVID, in our response to COVID with the webinar series and all the content we put out really positioned us as a resource for them where maybe if they hadn't realized that before. So what we want to do with the podcast is make sure we're, we know who our listener is one, and we understand what they need from us. So that'll be a big piece of it. I remember when we were planning the launch of the podcast, we launched it internally to the firm first. And the first internal email we sent out was what is a podcast?
So it was so new that we had to explain to people like, here's what this is, and here's why we're doing it. So I think the benefit that we have now is that our partner and our clients, the business owners turn to a podcast, whether it's ours or others, or both for the business resources they need. And we want to make sure that we're positioning ourselves in a way that allows us to really be delivering the knowledge and like Brad mentioned the stories that they need to help advance their business and hopefully build some relationships with our firm as well.
Doug:
Awesome.
Brad:
And to Becca's point Doug, what's great about that is it really was just a giant experiment in the beginning, but now what's exciting about it to me is it's turned into not only an acceptable, but a valid and preferred medium for many business leaders. It's a preferred medium because their life is busy, they're mobile, and they don't want to spend the time to have to sit down and watch something, right? The whole differentiating asset of this medium is it fits the pace of our society today.
Doug:
Yeah.
Brad:
Better than any other medium.
Doug:
Very True. Very true. That's so cool. So where do we go next?
Brad:
Well, I think again, like I said, I think we'll take this, we're going to take 60 to 90 days and do that rebrand. But I think from everything that Becca and I have been planning on, as she said, one is really digging deeper in the data of what our audience wants to hear, what they need. And I also think without letting too much out of the bag, I also think there's, I think the way we're going to tell these stories and Doug, you and I have talked about this off mic many a time.
Doug:
Yeah.
Brad:
More conversational, more improvisational, more of that eavesdropping feel where you're getting whispered secrets or kernels of wisdom that you're not going to get any place else. And I think aesthetically audio production, every touch we're going to head down in a general sense down that direction. We don't know where that's going to lead us yet, but that's what the discovery is over the next 90 days.
Doug:
That's such a great way to look at it. And that's always been, tried to be my approach, not that it's always perfect, but you just want to let people tell their story and talk about their experience. It's not about listing off four or five things or reading from a script. It's, I learn more personally when I just hear people talk about their own story and experience and try to ask a few questions in the middle of that to maybe draw some more stuff out. But that to me is the fun part and the other podcast that I listen to and including yours, Brad, those are the best ones when you're sitting there having those types of conversations, because it's just fascinating to hear those personal stories and personal experiences. That's the enjoyment. So, and that's, those are the best client relationships we have too. When you can just sit and do that, let them talk about their business, how they go about it, what they've experienced and you just, you try to help folks with that. That's our audience, those business owners,
Brad:
Right. And I, and you brought up a great word that we talk about all the time in podcasting and that is this idea of a relational intimacy. And there is, we don't want to sell on a podcast. We just want to learn, engage and get to know one another. And especially when you're doing podcasts for businesses or B2B professional services it's not that we need to go out and know how many downloads were there. It's was the right single download happening that Wednesday that develops a relationship we can count on for the next 10 years.
Doug:
Yep. Absolutely.
Brad:
That's the real purpose behind this platform.
Doug:
Yeah. And that's certainly the thing I've had most fun with this and hopefully I can still be a part of it, albeit not quite in the same full-time role. So I'm certainly looking forward to that, looking forward to what's ahead for our firm with this too.
Becca:
Yeah. We always got a spot on the mic for you, Doug.
Doug:
Well, that's good. I look forward-
Becca:
Don't get rid of those cans.
Doug:
No, I will not. I look forward to when we can do this in person again too. I think that's, there's great aspect to it. Although we've certainly gotten better with the Microsoft teams in the zoom and all this, but there's an aspect to being in the room together that just creates an additional level that, that intimacy that I miss.
Brad:
Well when-
Becca:
Yeah.
Brad:
When Becca and I got together, she appeared as a guest on getting the brand back together. She imparted on me that it's the last time we had seen each other, when she appeared in the studio, in person, in Dublin on GBBT. It was the last time we saw each other.
Doug:
Wow.
Brad:
She said was in Cleveland the day the breaking news happened about COVID. We were doing a podcast.
Doug:
That's right.
Brad:
Live in Cleveland.
Doug:
I remember that. Yeah.
Becca:
Yeah. There was a, the first case in Ohio was in Cuyahoga falls.
Brad:
Right.
Becca:
Or, yeah. Whatever that county is up there, Cuyahoga county. And that's where we were. I was like, oh boy.
Brad:
[inaudible 00:14:45] We're trying to mute stuff. And I said, there's no muting this, this is from the government.
Doug:
Yeah. Gosh, that just, it seems like a lifetime ago in some ways.
Brad:
I know. All right. Well, would, do you mind if we Becca and I are intrigued about asking you some things about your journey in doing the podcast, can we spend some time asking you?
Doug:
Sure. Absolutely. I'm all for it.
Brad:
All right. One that was top of mind when Becca and I were discussing this is, you're our longest host on unsuitable.
Doug:
That's scary.
Brad:
110 episodes, which is nearly two years. And by the way, you did this through a pandemic. I remember when we ordered you headphones and shipped them to your house, right? And-
Doug:
Right Yeah.
Brad:
But I guess we wanted to know what attributes of hosting the podcast did you most personally enjoy and why did you enjoy?
Doug:
I think again, it's for me, for sure. It's just hearing, getting a little bit deeper with everyone's personal stories and experiences and the people that I have on that you want them to be relaxed and comfortable because you want to share and want them to share those stories and experiences. And when they do that, to me, that's just so, so enjoyable, whatever they're passionate about, whatever their subject is. And we've had people on to talk about, human behavior and motivation and selling and we've also had very, we have a lot of technical topics, tax some detailed tax topics and things like that doesn't matter what the topic is, but if they're passionate about it and tell some relational stories and things like that, then I, to me, then that's a win because I feel like I've learned. And I feel as though if, okay, if I've learned something, then maybe the audience has learned something too. So that to me is the biggest thing that I've tried to take from it and the way I've tried to approach it and hopefully that's somewhat enjoyable for the audience as well.
Brad:
Yeah. That's awesome. Great.
Becca:
Yeah. And Doug, as a host of a podcast, I think personally, I think you make this look pretty easy. I'm sure it's not, but to get those guests to come on, whether they're talking about a technical topic or telling more of a story, it's up to you in the seat that you're in to pull that out of them and to keep the conversation going, you're also keeping an eye on the clock to make sure our episode is the right length that we want. And of course soon we'll have someone new sitting in your seat. So, what guidance or advice would you have to a podcast host, whether that's someone sitting in your seat or someone at another company that's looking to start their own podcast?
Doug:
I think, and this may be a little bit unusual, but go and watch who I think are some of the best interviewers out there. And I'll give an example, one that might date me a little bit and one that's more current. I always enjoyed, I'm not necessarily a fan of all the topics per se, but it, to me, Howard Stern is one of the best interviewers out there. He, whatever you may think of him personally or the topics that he discusses, just listen to a few of his episodes and watch the way in which he connects with people and draws information and stories out of them. It's absolutely incredible. And in the same way, I go back to one of the first regular interviewers I used to watch was Roy Firestone on ESPN, same thing.
I mean very obviously very different topics, but of course he was famous for making all of his guests cry because he got them to be so personal and emotional in talking about stuff. And I just thought that was tremendous. Like how can you connect on that level and try to draw out these personal experiences and stories, because to me again, that's just most fascinating stuff. So I would say to anyone out there, go study what you think might be the best interviewers out there and learn from that. So talk show hosts too, are great at it. Some of the nighttime talk show hosts, one of my favorite guests on all those recently passed away the late Norm Macdonald. I almost thought he was hilarious on those. And I know the talk show hosts loved him on just because the stories he would tell.
Brad:
Right. And the way he told them.
Doug:
The way he told them. For sure. So yeah, that's a, that was a big thing for me. When I was asked to do this, it's like, I'm, I'm going to go back to some of those basic things that I enjoyed and try to learn from those interviewers.
Brad:
That's great. All right. They say that great things come in threes. So however you want to apply this personally, professionally, what are your three great things done?
Doug:
Well, I'd be remis, certainly if I didn't mention my three wonderful 20 something daughters and they all, they certainly did come in threes and love them all dearly. But, I would say in thinking about it professionally, it's just the ability to be here and work with Brad, you and your firm and the experience that you've had and your diverse background, and learn from that as well as our own Practice Growth team, Becca and Imani and the folks here and on top of that the support and leadership that I've gotten here in our region in Columbus and their, I guess, willingness to let me do this as part of building the firm's brand and presence and trying to do that. So professionally those three things have, just to me, been better than at any time in my career, I've worked at a lot of different places and done different things, and it's just truly, truly at Rea & Associates, it is different.
Brad:
That's great.
Becca:
And this might be a good time to share. I mean, obviously you're not leaving the firm.
Doug:
Right.
Becca:
This might be a good time to share what's next for you at Rea and what excites you most about the journey that you're about to embark on?
Doug:
Yeah, so we have a new CEO, Mark McKinley. He's not new to the firm, but he will be our new CEO effective November 1st here and not too long, probably after this episode airs. And at that time, I'll be taking over as regional president for our west central region, which encompasses our new Newark office as well as Dublin here. So Columbus market, as well as Lima. So in addition to my role as head of the construction and real estate segment for the firm, so I've got a lot of new things that I'll be, be doing and be involved with. We've got a great team here, a couple of office managing partners and Peg Minning, and Melissa Dunkle who I'm going to rely on greatly for what they do and what they bring to the table, because they there's a lot of things at, at a micro level that they can manage and handle way better than I can.
And it's if there's one thing I've learned over the years, that's just surround yourself with great people. I do not want to be ever considered near the smartest person in the room. I'd rather be the dumbest and let people play to their strengths. And we really do try to espouse that as a firm and I've been other places where that's certainly not the case and I'm at the point in my life and career in my mid fifties where I want to see those younger people shine and do that, you know? So step forward, here's your opportunity. And that's what I'm looking forward to in this role is just trying to help promote the people within our firm in terms of where they can take their career and their roles.
Becca:
That's great. Yeah. I think you definitely, from the first time I've met you, it seems like you're, you always seem very levelheaded, but it does seem like you're also very self aware and the fact that, I don't want to be involved in some of those day to day things. That's not my strength, you know that your time can be better spent in more of a visionary or leadership role. I think that's really smart to bring people along that can support you and help you be the best that you can be.
Doug:
Yeah. And I think it took me a long time to learn that not on only so much from a personal level, but as I saw, and it was exposed to so many businesses over the years and continue to be that's, kind of the one major lesson that I would try to impart among people is surround yourself with the best people pay for the best advisors. And I'm not just saying that as now in my role, sure that matters, but I've been, I was an inside CFO. I worked in banking as well, where I wasn't paid for my time, surround yourself with the best advisors because it's truly penny wise and pound foolish if you don't.
You're just, you're not maximizing what you can achieve and you're not maximizing your enjoyment of talking to and being around just the brightest and best people with diverse perspectives. Groupthink is a terrible thing and I've been at places where that's occurred and it's just, it's awful. It's awful. So I want to, if there's anything, one thing I can try to do, it's try to make sure everybody that I come into contact with whether internally or externally at clients, don't subject yourself to that, make sure you've got brilliant and great and different people around you to, to bend your ear.
Brad:
Well said. All right, last question. Since you have a love of music.
Doug:
I do.
Brad:
Like Becca and I do. And you, and I, I think when we met, that's the very first thing we talked about, wasn't it?
Doug:
Right? It was.
Brad:
So if you could be a lead singer or a guitar player, bass player, whatever you prefer, even a drummer of any performing artist, keep it in the music realm.
Doug:
Yeah.
Brad:
Who would that be?
Doug:
Well, you know where I'm going to go with this. My favorite band is The Clash as we bonded over the first time we met, but I certainly would not ever pretend to want to be in, and take the place of somebody like Joe Strummer. So I think I'd prefer to be on the periphery. Maybe to be the Penny Smith who was the official photographer for The Clash. Maybe I could tag along with her. Yeah. I could just tag along with her and kind of capture through a lens, all those experiences that that band had good and bad because I think you learn a lot from that, but as she always said in her years of music photography, they were really probably the most genuine band that she ever photographed. And she was certainly legendary. And is, I shouldn't say was she is still around.
Brad:
Yeah.
Doug:
But she had some other famous bands that asked her to go and photograph them and she just, she said, no, because they didn't, they weren't genuine. She tried even with like you two for example and just.
Brad:
Exactly.
Doug:
Found them not to be quite, either for whatever reason, they just couldn't be themselves.
Brad:
Yeah.
Doug:
And, so anyway that's a long winded answer, but that's.
Brad:
No, I that's perfect.
Doug:
That's where I'm at. I'd more, again I want to watch other people, their stories and who they are and, and what they do and learn about that. So that's the fun stuff.
Brad:
Yeah. And you're right for, to frame that up, she is the one as you know, but for the listeners, she is the one who shot the totally incorrect photo. That's not in focus, right? From the side of the stage of [inaudible 00:27:53] smashing the base for London Calling that is still one of the premier rock and roll shots of all time, that's her.
Doug:
It is. And, for those that don't know that iconic cover where he's smashing his base that was taken in New York City. And he was mad because everybody was just sitting there, everybody in the audience was sitting there and not engaging, right? So it kind of comes full circle. That's what we're about here. We want to try to get people to engage and listen and feel a part of it. And if they're not engaged, that's, if you're any artist or professional, no matter what you do, the worst thing you can have is an unengaged audience on the other side. I know we feel that way with our clients too, the best clients are the ones that are engaged with us.
Becca:
Absolutely. Yeah.
Brad:
Well-
Becca:
I know Brad said that was the last question. But I don't know how far back you've gone in the unsuitable archives Doug, but our first host Mark Van Benschoten ended every interview with one question, which I want to ask you, which is, if you could have one superpower, what would it be?
Doug:
One superpower? Boy, I'd really have to give that some thought, I guess, maybe better hearing, I don't know if that's a superpower, but I'd like to be just a better listener and be able to hear more, hear through all the noise, so to speak. So I don't know if that's really a superpower, but I'm not one of those people, I certainly don't want to live forever or do anything like that. I just, that's not me, but that would be kind of, well, I guess today in today's COVID world, it would be kind of cool to be able to just teleport somewhere, like fly somewhere without getting on an airplane. Cause that really just sucks right now.
Becca:
Yeah. It kind of always sucks though, especially right now. Yeah.
Doug:
Yeah, yeah. But that's a little selfish, so.
Becca:
Yeah. Hey, you're the superpower you're allowed to be selfish.
Doug:
I guess.
Brad:
Well, that's awesome. You've done an unbelievable job in hosting unsuitable and we all appreciate your accountants and your respect for every guest and your open mindedness Doug, to everything we've thrown your way. We really couldn't ask for a better host. Thank you.
Doug:
Well, thank you. And I certainly couldn't have done it without you and our team, obviously that does all the hard work and heavy lifting behind the scenes and I'll look forward to, to being on again, certainly as a, I'm sure a guest host when we need to pinch it or whatever the case might be. I'm always here to help because I think what you all do is just tremendous.
Becca:
Thanks, Doug.
Doug:
Thank you.
Becca:
I'll miss you.
Doug:
All right. See you soon.
