Shownotes
- Embracing Diverse Experiences: Larry elaborates on how having a varied career, much like the fictional Forrest Gump, can be enriching and provide unique learning opportunities. This eclectic range of experiences has played a crucial role in shaping his professional journey and brand.
- The Value of Early Career Experiences: Sara reflects on her first job out of college, acknowledging how learning from smart, strategic individuals in an agency setting has been instrumental to her growth. Despite its challenging end, the position provided her with a foundation in marketing and a diverse skill set.
- The Importance of Mentorship: Both hosts emphasize the significant impact mentors have had on their lives. Larry shares how Ray Nicholas, a VP at his former company, provided guidance and support that helped him navigate his entrepreneurial ventures and personal challenges.
- Defining Life With Passion and Side Hustles: Larry discusses the importance of having side hustles and diverse interests to avoid burnout. He appreciates the entrepreneurial flexibility to juggle multiple projects, even if it sometimes means managing many spinning plates.
- Mental Health and Work-Life Balance: Sara opens up about the critical lesson she learned regarding not letting work-related stress impact her mental health. She stresses that no job should cause such severe anxiety, reaffirming the necessity of maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Transcripts
What is happening, everybody? I'm Larry Roberts.
Sara Lohse [:And I'm Sara Lohse. And this is Branded, Your comprehensive guide to creative branding.
Larry Roberts [:And on this episode of the podcast, it's going to be a very special episode because why?
Sara Lohse [:We're getting festive.
Larry Roberts [:We're getting festive. And what do we have here? What do we have here?
Sara Lohse [:Is that a hand turkey?
Larry Roberts [:That was my little hand turkey going across the screen. There you have it.
Sara Lohse [:It is two days until Thanksgiving, and we wanted to talk about a couple of things that we are thankful for and things that have been really impactful for us on our career, professional, personal journeys, all that fun stuff.
Larry Roberts [:Yeah. You know, one of our journeys has been a little bit longer than the other, but I think we still share some, some, I don't know, some shared experiences. You know, I think we've experienced some similar things along our. Our very different paths. And we want to take this opportunity to share with each and every one of you out there, basically, the things that got us to where we are today and why we're thankful for those experiences, those people. And last but not least, at least for me, maybe that advice that help guide us along that path to get us here today. Talking to everybody on Branded.
Sara Lohse [:Yeah. So, Larry, why don't you start Age before beauty? What is that experience that you're really thankful for?
Larry Roberts [:The experience. There's so many experiences, obviously, since I've been here, basically twice as long as.
Sara Lohse [:You have been around the block.
Larry Roberts [:Yeah, there's. It's so funny, man. Because when I talk to people, it's not uncommon after they've, like, if I meet someone and I talk to them, I don't know, for a couple of weeks, a month or so. And as they start to see my experiences and the things I've done and the people I've met and just the it, they go, dude, how have you done all of that in your life? And it's kind of funny because I often refer back to Forrest Gump and I feel like I live a very forest Gump life. And I say that for one reason, because if you watch Forrest Gump, I mean, the dude does everything right. He runs forever. He's super, super fast at running. He's amazing at ping pong.
Larry Roberts [:He fought in a war he started. He was a co founder of Apple. I mean, he had his shrimp company. He did everything right. And if you read the book Forrest Gump, you would realize that he did even so much more in the novel. I mean, in the novel he also had a pet monkey. He Also went to space. I mean, he just did so much more.
Larry Roberts [:I mean, it's. It's ridiculous.
Sara Lohse [:I didn't even know it was a book.
Larry Roberts [:Oh, yeah. It was based on a novel, so. And. And back when it first came out, I had to read that. I used to. I used to do that all the time. I would always read the novels that go with the movies, and I can think about doing that all the way back to, I mean, one of my cult classic movies. And we're really not talking about much about branding here, but what.
Sara Lohse [:This took a turn.
Larry Roberts [:Just kind of getting to know us maybe a little bit more, and we're thankful for this opportunity to do that. But if you think all the way back, one of the movies that I still cherish to this day was the Goonies, and I remember never seen it. Oh, my God. It's one of the greatest movies ever. I mean, it's just a adventure movie for kids. It's great.
Sara Lohse [:You know, is that the one that you don't feed them after midnight or.
Larry Roberts [:No, no, that. That's. That's Gremlins. So Goonies is just a group of kids that go on this adventure, and they end up firing, finding some. Some pirate treasure that's buried, and they use the pirate treasure to save their neighborhood. And it's just. It's just a fun movie from. From back in the mid-80s.
Larry Roberts [:But that's one of the first movies. I remember watching the movie and then reading the novel, and there were so many differences between the two that the novel just really made it better. So I ended up making a habit of watching movies and then reading the books that coincide with them. So, yeah, I thought I was the.
Sara Lohse [:Only one who does it in that order. I don't read them first. I read them after.
Larry Roberts [:It's better to read them after because you get so much more detail. And there's.
Sara Lohse [:Doesn't ruin the movie.
Larry Roberts [:Exactly. There's no room for disappointment. Right. If you read the book first, you're like, oh, but they left out this, they left out that, and you walk away feeling disappointed. But if you read the book, it's more of an enriching experience. And we're talking about experiences right now, and that was always an enriching experience for me. But the experience that I'm most thankful for as I sit here today on this episode of the podcast is the experience of being an entrepreneur, of having that opportunity of living in a world where it's a possibility. I've always.
Larry Roberts [:This goes back to my Forrest Gump Isms always had. No, no. I mean, it's just I've always had side hustles. I've always. Even in my corporate career, I've always had side hustles. Everything from, yeah, I think you have to. It's just fun. And actually, I was.
Larry Roberts [:I was in a mastermind yesterday, and I kind of got scolded a little bit because I do have so many side hustles that I have all these plates spinning in the air, and none of the plates are getting the attention that they deserve. And, you know, after getting that scolding, I was kind of kicking rocks yesterday a little bit. But then when I thought about it, I go, that's just me. You know, I don't have that gift of singularity. I don't have that gift of having a single focus on one thing. My mind is everywhere. And, yeah, maybe some people call it squirrel or shiny object syndrome, but that's just me. I have to have my hand in all these different cookie jars or I honestly just get bored.
Larry Roberts [:It doesn't matter what it is. I could be the most passionate person about a particular subject matter, but if I go all in on that subject matter, I burn out.
Sara Lohse [:Yep.
Larry Roberts [:So that doesn't mean I don't want to continue to love that subject matter. But, you know, I. I don't. I don't want to get into the minutia of it. I don't want to dedicate every waking minute to one thing. I just can't do it. So I'm super thankful for the opportunity to be an entrepreneur and have that flexibility and have that. Those opportunities to spin all these different plates and to continue to grow and continue to evolve and ideally do it all within a cohesive brand.
Larry Roberts [:So I'm going to draw all this. I'm going to bring it all back to branding, and that could be a challenge. And I know there's a lot of people listening right now that are very similar in that regard, where they have these opportunities and they have these ideas and they want to do this, they want to do that, they want to do this, they want to do that, and somehow they want to bring it all together and put it under the umbrella of their individual brand. And that can be a very, very big challenge, one that I continue to struggle with each and every day. But once again, super, super thankful for the opportunity to do just that.
Sara Lohse [:Yeah, I think if you. As long as everything that you're trying to do relates in some way, it's just a matter of, like, what you give attention to at the time. But for me, my side hustles never have anything to do with my actual. Like, I don't put it under my company umbrella. Like, my side hustle right now is dog sitting just because I love dogs. And if I can borrow other people's dogs, I won't adopt 12. So, like, it gives my pop of friends. And there's really not much more work that goes into taking care of two dogs as one.
Sara Lohse [:You just put an extra cup of food out. So I've got a big mastiff with me right now, and she is the sweetest little monster you ever done seen and extra cash. So, yeah, it's nice for me. It's interesting because when I was thinking about what experience, I would say for this, it's actually an experience that I don't usually talk about that fondly. I really feel like that's been kind of unfair. And it's the first job I had out of college. And the only time I ever really talk about it is in how I left, which was. That was the job that I got offered a different position and was asked, why would they want you? You're just a copywriter.
Sara Lohse [:So it kind of didn't end fantastically, but the experience itself, I mean, I accepted the offer the day before I graduated college, and in that time, I learned so much. I was there for, I think, about two and a half years, and I was learning from just really fantastic people, really smart, really strategic, and I just learned so much, and I was able to. It was my first agency position and kind of my last, because then I went in house with marketing and then launched my own. But being an agency, I was able to have my hands in all of these different industries and learn the ins and outs of them, while also learning some of the basics of marketing that I wasn't familiar with. Because I studied advertising. I studied communications and psychology. Like, I didn't actually study marketing until later in my career when I went back for a strategy certificate.
Larry Roberts [:So when you went to Cornell.
Sara Lohse [:Yes, I did. Thank you for bringing that up so I didn't have to.
Larry Roberts [:Yeah, I know.
Sara Lohse [:I did it. I did a digital marketing certification through Cornell's, like, online school, but that was really the first, like, formal marketing education I'd ever had. Everything that I learned, I learned from doing or I learned from the people I worked with. And I really am so thankful for that first job because of everything that I learned. And it's starting to resurface with some of the conversations that I've been having with prospects because they want podcasts to be launched within certain industries. And I can actually say, like, oh, yeah, I worked in that industry for years. I did this, this, and this within that industry. Like, I know that this is a goal, and I can pull from that experience.
Sara Lohse [:So definitely something that I'm incredibly thankful for. And I never actually meant to cast a negative light on that. It was just the ending was a blow to my confidence, I guess, handed me some imposter syndrome.
Larry Roberts [:There's plenty of that to go around, I promise. Yeah. So the next thing that we're thankful of on this wonderful episode, we're talking about a person that impacted us and a person that we're thankful for. Sara, you're on a roll. Tell us who you're thankful for.
Sara Lohse [:Normally, here, like I say, like my parents, which is the cookie cutter answer, which is true, of course, but I actually thought of one of my professors from college. Her name was Dr. Sandy Nichols, and she taught introduction to Mass communications. And when I started my major in mass communications, it was because I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was a criminology major. I was studying psychology and criminal justice. I wanted to work for the FBI and chase serial killers and all the stuff you would expect from me. And I was.
Sara Lohse [:I interned kind of with them and realized, this is not for me. And I was just like, all right, well, I'm already a sophomore. What am I going to do with my life? So I found masscom. It seemed to be something that was. Could be applied different places, just learning how to communicate. Like, that sounded good. So I took an intro to mass comm class. And the professor, I mean, she was just a sweetheart in general, but one of the things that she had us do was create a personal website, just set up like a WordPress and write a bio about us.
Sara Lohse [:And it was just a way to learn basics of website development with, like, plug and play websites and set it up so that eventually if we wanted to make it into our portfolio, we would have the framework and we had to write our about us, like, our about me bio page. And I wrote mine. And then the next day, she puts it up on the board and reads it to the whole class and then looks at me and says, you're going to be a writer. And I had never considered that, like, writing. I knew I didn't want to be an author, which I have a book coming out, so that changed. But I never. I never thought, like, I didn't want to write novels. And I just never really thought of writing being a career path unless you were writing novels.
Sara Lohse [:But she said it, and I was just like, okay, I guess that's what I'm going to do. And I got my first job as a copywriter, and I've been writing ever since. And it's something that I always was good at, but I never appreciated. It was like, that one talent I ever had. And I don't know, like, I never really thought of it as being a career path. And just her telling me, like, when I was kind of lost and not sure what to do with my life, she just, you're going to be a writer. And I just kind of clung to it, and here we are. So I don't know if she realizes or even remembers she ever said that.
Sara Lohse [:But Dr. Nichols, if you're listening to this, thank you. And you are correct. I am a writer.
Larry Roberts [:That's awesome, man. It's. When we were talking about this before the episode started, it's hard to just nail it down to one. You know, that there's so many people that have so much of an impact on our lives that to just narrow it down to one is a massive, massive challenge. And, you know, I actually gave you my answer before we started recording, but in sitting here, my answers kind of changed a little bit, you know, but there's definitely some. Some. There's a. So many people that it feels almost unfair to name just one.
Sara Lohse [:Yeah.
Larry Roberts [:But in line with entrepreneurship, which is, you know what I had said that I was that the experience that I was thankful for, I'd have to go with the person that impacted me the most in that arena would be Ray Nicholas. And Ray Nicholas was the vice president of the IT department at the company that I worked for for 21 years. And I ended up at it because of Ray. Honestly. I mean, I was in more. Actually, I was. I was in hr, which that's going to shock the hell out of a lot of people to think that Larry was in hr. But as a.
Sara Lohse [:Was that, like, for job security so HR couldn't fire you? Or.
Larry Roberts [:You know, here's an even funnier one. I was actually maneuvering for an HR management position at one time. So I was leveraging my corporate training background to get into hr. My ideal position at the time was to be HR manager over one of these distribution centers for the company that I worked for. And I was actually told the position was mine, and then they went behind me and filled it with someone else and bastards. That didn't go over very well. But Ray Nicholas was always there, you know, and. And Ray Came in and he saved me from my HR position down in the distribution center.
Larry Roberts [:And he recruited me into the IT department. And it literally, that changed my life. And he changed my life. He introduced me to, I'd say, structured entrepreneurship. I think I've mentioned before on the podcast that I used to own a swimming pool company. I owned a swimming pool maintenance and repair company, and Ray was my business partner in. In that venture. Ray also made it so that I could actually pursue that venture because he allowed me to work a schedule at work that would allow me also to run the pool business simultaneously.
Larry Roberts [:So he taught me a lot. And just outside of entrepreneurship, he taught me a lot about life. He was. I mean, it was to the point that I even called him dad. Many of us did. Several of us at work called him dad because outside of work, he kind of was a bit of a father figure. You know, we. We would all hang out at Ray's house.
Larry Roberts [:We'd all go camping together, we'd party together, we'd hang out together. We'd ride four wheelers together. We do all that. And it was all really under the guidance of Ray. And he was there if we were ever in trouble, he was there regardless. Just didn't even matter. And, you know, I. I haven't talked about my whole rehab.
Larry Roberts [:I don't think I've talked about rehab on Branded, but for those of you don't know, mentioned. Yeah, well, Ray's the one that made that happen. So. Ray made it very easy for me to get into one of the premier rehab facilities in the country. It's an opportunity that I would not have had if it wasn't for Ray. And he made it to where it was. Well, some. Some somewhat affordable.
Larry Roberts [:It was still pretty painful on the pocketbook, but it would have been out of reach otherwise. So from entrepreneurship to life, and literally everything in between, I gotta give it to Ray Nicholas. So I'm super thankful that he entered my life way back. Shoot, what was it, 2000? Ish. Maybe 99. 2000. Somewhere in that neighborhood. And he's been a part of it ever since.
Larry Roberts [:So, Ray, if you're listening, which you're probably not, but. But, Ray, I appreciate you, man. Thank you for everything.
Sara Lohse [:I'm sure you'll send it to him.
Larry Roberts [:Maybe. Hey, man, y'all need an internal podcast?
Sara Lohse [:Hey, here's our in. Hey, Towson University, would you like. Do you like a podcast? They probably have one. I don't know. All right, so rounding this out, what is the best piece of advice you've Gotten that you're really thankful to have heard.
Larry Roberts [:Yeah. The piece of advice, and I'll keep this kind of short because this has been a. We've been kind of long winded here today, but it goes back to another someone that could have been mentioned in who I'm thankful for in my life. And it goes way back. We're going way back. Way, way back in the time machine to roughly 1991.
Sara Lohse [:I was not alive yet.
Larry Roberts [:Yeah, you were not. And I had just started selling cars, and my sales manager's name was Gary Dunlap. And Gary, to this day, still a great friend of mine. Amazing mentor, amazing salesperson. And he, we'll say he culturally enriched me. He. He made me grow up a little bit. He taught me how to appreciate the finer things in life as well.
Larry Roberts [:But the one thing that he said to me that resonated all these years later was that if you want to grow and you want to evolve and you want to mature, you need to find someone that you respect that's in a position that you want to be in. And once you find that person, plug into that person and learn from that person. Watch what they do, watch how they do it, watch who they do it with, watch who they associate themselves with. So learn from those mentors and grow from those mentors. And that was one of the biggest pieces of advice that resonated with me literally for the rest of my life. In. In 91, I was like 19, you know, I was like 19 years old. And that stuck with me for.
Larry Roberts [:Still to this day. So I believe in that wholeheartedly. If you. If you're looking to grow, you're looking to evolve, you're looking to round out your game, find a mentor and plug into that mentor and learn from them.
Sara Lohse [:Good advice. So mine is actually different than what I planned on saying, too. And some. Something in our conversation sparked it. But I used to. I mean, I still. I'm a very anxious person, which everybody knows. I deal a lot with anxiety, depression, all of that fun stuff, just mental health in general.
Sara Lohse [:And I used to get really, really anxious about things related to work, especially back when I didn't own the company. And I was, like, kind of held to a standard or, like my actions would impact other people, and it would be to the point that I would be having, like, panic attacks because of just a missed punctuation or something, or like I read something in a certain tone and that's not how it was meant, but it's made me spiral. And one of the things that I was asked is why are you freaking out like this? It's only work. That has really stuck with me because it's so true. Like it's just a job. What? Like even with my own company, it's only work. If my company goes under, I find something else to do. Like nothing work related.
Sara Lohse [:Is that serious? In the grand scheme of things like you, the priorities that we really should be having don't really have anything to do with that. And of course money is always important. We can't survive without it, whatever. But if you really like look at it, why are we letting our jobs impact our mental health? And to the point that I was, which was actually panicking in the middle of a Sam's Club, could, couldn't drive myself home because I was like shaking. And it really made me realize that I should not be this invested, especially in a company that I didn't own. But there's no mistake that I could have made, especially my position because I was just marketing. I wasn't doing anything without like investments, anyone else's money. So what mistake can I make that would be that impactful that warrants this level of stress?
Larry Roberts [:Sure.
Sara Lohse [:And there's nothing like even with my company I can make mistakes and I'd have to apologize and fix it. But nobody's going to get hurt. It's not going to ruin anyone's life. Like it's just not that serious. So stop letting work have such an impact on your mental state. It's the best advice I've gotten.
Larry Roberts [:It's good advice. Good advice. And, and I experienced something similar to that, you know, back in, when I was in corporate even I was responsible for all reporting. So all from the executives down to the entry level workers that were looking at inventory levels, even though they always had to be super accurate. And if they weren't my direct report, man, he would just lose his mind. I'm like, bro, it's one skew out of. We have like a million SKUs. It's one.
Larry Roberts [:Relax, it was a mistake, I'll fix it. But yeah, it was super, super stressful. And I can totally relate to sitting there on pins and needles. Just, man, I don't know. I've checked this report 18 times, but man, I guess I should have checked at 19 because I missed that one. So. But yeah, that's great advice right there. 100%.
Sara Lohse [:And of course I'm thankful for you. That's my co host, my business partner and my friend.
Larry Roberts [:Well, I am thankful for you as well. It's been an interesting year that we've known each other and I think we've grown exponentially in a year and I hope that we have several more years where we continue to grow together and we continue to have these amazing Thanksgiving episodes on brand. Yeah.
Sara Lohse [:And we are so thankful to everybody who listened today. Look at me doing the cool little segue.
Larry Roberts [:Man, that was smooth.
Sara Lohse [:That was smooth, right? Okay, now you finish it.
Larry Roberts [:All right, so. So if you are thankful for anything, hopefully you found something here that you're thankful for as well. And we're thankful for each and every one of you for listening to every episode of Brandon and if you found some value in this and you want to say, hey, thanks guys, do us a favor and smash that subscribe button so we can continue to bring you these amazing episodes each and every week. And until next week, I'm Larry Roberts.
Sara Lohse [:And I'm Sara Lohse. We'll talk to you then.
Larry Roberts [:That.
