Latest / Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden / Elevate Podcast Ep 15 - How to Really Make it Happen - Chance Benbow, CEO of JDA Worldwide

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Elevate Podcast Ep 15 - How to Really Make it Happen - Chance Benbow, CEO of JDA Worldwide · Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden

• 0:10
  Welcome to the Elevate podcast powered
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  by Braden. This is your front row seat
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  to the stories of local leaders, both
• 0:18
  nonprofit and for-profit, who are
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  shaping our community. Every episode
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  brings you leadership insights, lessons
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  from challenges, and practical
• 0:27
  strategies you can use today. And yes,
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  we'll keep it real and have some fun
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  along the way. If you're ready to
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  elevate your leadership, hit subscribe
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  and follow us on LinkedIn for updates
• 0:38
  and behind the scenes content. Now,
• 0:40
  let's dive in. Hey everybody, Jason
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  here, and I'm back again uh in our
• 0:46
  studio at the Braden Building, and I've
• 0:47
  got a reasonably new friend to me, but
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  not a new friend to the community. I've
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  got Chance with me from JDA Worldwide.
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  And Chance, it's great to have you in
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  the studio. And maybe just a quick
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  little tidbit about where you are today.
• 0:59
  >> Yeah, it's good to be here. Uh yeah,
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  Chance Benbo, JDA, uh Indianapolis
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  resident. Uh live here on the north side
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  of Indie. Uh been here since the end of
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  2013. So, um grew up in Indiana all my
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  life. I'm out boy. Uh I went to Anderson
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  University. So, uh Indiana's always
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  always been home.
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  >> All right. Gotcha. Okay. So let's go
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  back to the beginning. Grew up in Muny,
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  right? So all the way through high
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  school in Muny.
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  >> Yep.
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  >> Gotcha. What are you doing in the high
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  school days? What was fun and what were
• 1:29
  you studying or what was going on in
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  those days?
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  >> Yeah, at Delta High School in the early
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  2000s, everything revolved around
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  football.
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  >> Yeah, everything was football.
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  >> Everything was football. Uh we were
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  prally ranked um in the, you know, top
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  10 or 15. Uh we were a small 4A, so we
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  punched above our weight class a lot.
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  And we have historically really good
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  teams. And a lot of, you know, that
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  whole thing was, you know, when do I
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  make varsity? When do I make varsity?
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  And, you know, there was a really big
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  meal between my sophomore and junior
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  year where I got really serious about uh
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  lifting and speed and agility and some
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  of that kind of stuff. And had a really
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  influential mentor who uh not only
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  taught me how to work hard, but also
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  took a a relatively unathletic kid and
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  uh made me significantly more athletic.
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  Okay. Um and and a very long offseason.
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  >> Gotcha. And this was like old school
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  training stuff like in a pole barn in
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  gravel. Think like some of the rocky
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  this is stuff. When you're climbing
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  ropes, you're picking up rocks. This is
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  cool. Okay. All right.
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  >> Yeah. So, uh his name was Ty Stebons and
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  um he made just a big impact on me. It's
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  it's those little things. It's like,
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  yeah, I'm getting stronger and faster,
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  but um I'm learning work ethic and
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  commitment and, you know, working
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  through pain and, you know, delayed
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  gratification, that sort of stuff.
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  >> You know, it's interesting when mentors
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  kind of come in, I'm always curious how
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  how do they show up? Right. So, did you
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  was this a coach on the team and did you
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  seek him out or did did did you he kind
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  of find you say, "Hey, I think I could
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  help somebody over." How did that start?
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  Yeah, he was just kind of a, you know, a
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  pillar of the community type of guy. He
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  was an alum from our high school and he
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  actually uh trained my older brother and
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  my older brother had a similar leap from
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  his junior year to his senior year. And
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  um, you know, that for a lot of us, you
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  know, was a good visual of like, hey, if
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  you put the work in and, you know,
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  follow this program, then good things
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  can happen. And lucky enough for me, uh,
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  you know, that that's what happened. So
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  it was uh yeah that that scenario.
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  >> Gotcha. All right. So play football in
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  high school. Uh finish up your four
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  years as you're thinking about what's
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  going to be next. Are you thinking going
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  to college? Are you going to try to play
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  football? What are you going to study
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  and where do you go?
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  >> Yeah. You know, I grew up in a in an
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  advertising home. So marketing and
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  things like that were always central to
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  to our home. I always tell people me
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  watching TV with my dad growing up was
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  different than most kids because we were
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  talking about what we saw during
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  commercial breaks and you'd see things
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  like the first ad and the last ad of the
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  break are bookends and those are a lot
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  more valuable than the ones in the
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  middle. So from a media buying
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  standpoint, son, make sure that you
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  negotiate the bookends and it's things
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  like why do you think they're playing
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  that music? uh why do you think they
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  have that actress or actor? Um you know
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  what do you think they're actually
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  trying to get across to the audience? So
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  at a young age I just kind of grew up
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  listening and thinking through that. So
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  um it was always interesting as that.
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  Well I think in marketing right when
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  you're in high school and a young age
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  most kids when it's commercial time they
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  get up to go get a soda they get a snack
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  they go to the bathroom you're paying
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  attention to the book ends right this is
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  more important because it's first this
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  is more important because it's last.
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  That's what you remember. How cool is
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  that that you're getting all of that at
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  a young age? I'm just curious. You say
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  young age. Is this I mean, are you in
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  elementary school? You guys are talking
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  about this kind of stuff. When does that
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  start? When do you remember?
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  >> Yeah, I mean certainly more in the high
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  school years as I'm just kind of
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  considering what I want to do uh for a
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  living. And um I I think growing up
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  again in an entrepreneurial home, you
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  you have a little bit more of a sense of
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  what's possible and ambition and
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  dreaming and vision and some of that
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  kind of stuff. So I don't think I knew
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  really what I wanted to do at that
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  point, but I knew, you know, ingrained
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  in me that there was just a sense of
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  what could be possible. And you know,
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  for me, uh it ended up being marketing.
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  And from a at an early age that was just
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  kind of instilled in us.
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  >> Okay. All right. So leaving high school
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  going to study marketing. Where do you
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  go and what's that 3 four 5 years?
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  What's that look like?
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  >> Yeah. Uh I ended up at Anderson and you
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  know my my dad and my older brother were
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  both Wobbash rats and I think Wabash is
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  an awesome school. Um, I love their
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  position of um, wanting to raise up
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  really
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  awesome men who think critically and act
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  responsibly and and some of those
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  things. I attended a lot of Bon Bell
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  games growing up, too. And it's just
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  incredibly fun atmosphere. Um, you know,
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  my faith is important to me and I always
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  joked with my parents that if I went to
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  Wash, I might need a liver transplant.
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  So, I was like, maybe some more
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  accountability would be better for me. I
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  was like, but no. Um, Anderson was the
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  right place. uh they had the number one
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  uh Christian business school in the
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  country at that time. The accountability
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  piece for me I I I wanted it and uh I
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  ended up meeting a lot of good people
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  who kind of kept me uh in between the
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  guard rails. Um a few times we slid over
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  and hit hit the guard rails but uh more
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  or less it was just a great admirement
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  for me and it did allow me to continue
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  to play football uh which was uh a great
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  experience um getting to do that all
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  four years. So playing football all four
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  years, maybe just some highlights of
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  that, right? An opportunity to be a
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  student athlete, some of the things
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  maybe you learned or was some takeaways
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  that maybe came out of those four years
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  that you're leveraging today. Just a
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  little bit about that experience.
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  >> Yeah, the obvious ones, right?
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  Toughness, teamwork, um tenacity, grit,
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  uh being a part of a team, all of that.
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  You just got up close and personal every
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  day. But I'd say that the one that was
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  different than high school is there's
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  such a love for the game and
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  representing your community and things
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  like that that come with high school
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  sports which is just so special. But in
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  college it's a job. Yep. It is 365 days.
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  There's like a twoe break uh from the
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  end of the season till about you know
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  Thanksgiving uh where you know people
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  aren't doing much but then without a
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  shadow of a doubt everyone is over at
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  the wellness center in the gym doing
• 7:49
  something. Sure. because as athletes,
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  we've just been trained to have this
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  routine and, you know, everyone was just
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  always, you know, jumping at the bed to
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  get back in there and and do our thing.
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  But it was a job and, you know, we we
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  got, you know, we'd finish playing a
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  game on Saturday. Uh we'd get Sunday
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  mornings off and then Saturday afternoon
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  we'd be getting treatment for injuries.
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  Wendy watching film and then we'd
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  actually lift, which is crazy. And then
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  we'd do, you know, some more film study
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  on Mondays. um and walk through and then
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  Tuesday through Thursday we're hitting
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  it with practice. Friday is another walk
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  through final prep and then Saturday
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  game you're just the rhythm and then the
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  off season it's so much training and you
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  know 6 a.m. workouts and you know things
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  of that nature. So it was it was a job
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  and again you just learn some of that
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  responsibility and time management and
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  um continued hard work doing doing that
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  um for that period of time. You're
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  having fun, but of course you're also
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  learning a lot on Good Life Seals,
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  right? Those things that are hard to do,
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  I I got to get up today. I have to do
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  this, right? But you're doing it as part
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  of the team. So much fun. So before you
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  move out and and move on through the
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  college ranks, maybe just one of the the
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  coolest games, funnest place you played,
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  maybe just something that was
• 9:06
  interesting and during that four years
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  or a cool game.
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  >> Yeah, the two that come to mind, my
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  junior year was our best year. We um
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  went to Cincinnati to play Mount St.
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  Joseph um University. They were really
• 9:20
  good at that point. They had won
• 9:21
  conference I think three of the last 5
• 9:23
  years. Uh this was rag when Franklin was
• 9:26
  ascending and you know a perennial
• 9:28
  playoff team. But we went to their house
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  and we had a young quarterback start
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  that game and uh our defense played
• 9:36
  really really well. Um I think we ended
• 9:37
  up winning the game 10 to nine. uh beat
• 9:40
  them at their place and it was a a
• 9:42
  trademark win for us. But the funny part
• 9:45
  of that story is my junior year I um in
• 9:47
  addition to starting a free safety I
• 9:49
  also held kicks and you know when you're
• 9:53
  about ready to receive the the kick you
• 9:55
  put your hand out to say to the center
• 9:57
  stop this thing and at the end of the
• 9:59
  game uh we hit a 47 yard field goal to
• 10:02
  win and after the game our center was
• 10:05
  like you had me really freaked out at
• 10:08
  the end of the game. I'm like what are
• 10:09
  you talking about? He's like, "When you
• 10:10
  reached out for that uh snap, your hand
• 10:13
  was shaking." And you know, I I didn't
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  know. He has a shirt out, isn't he? I
• 10:17
  say, "Do not don't mess up this." Yeah.
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  Right.
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  >> Uh uh snap, you got to get this thing
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  down, get the laces out. Let's go win
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  this game.
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  >> But that one was special. Uh I had a lot
• 10:27
  of dear friends on that team, our
• 10:29
  starting tailback. Uh a couple really
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  cool uh exacts around Indie, Nolan
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  Bernard, Alloy Partners, and uh you
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  know, some other friends of mine were on
• 10:38
  that team. and we went down there and
• 10:40
  took care of business and that year um
• 10:42
  we were good. Uh we dropped a couple we
• 10:44
  shouldn't have but no one wanted piece
• 10:45
  of us that year and that was a a special
• 10:47
  time and um really really enjoyed that
• 10:50
  one. So that one was good and then we
• 10:52
  played against a guy from Defiance
• 10:54
  College. He was a wide out. He was 6'4.
• 10:58
  His name was Luke Dylan and he had no
• 11:01
  business playing division three. Okay.
• 11:03
  He ended up playing for the Las Vegas
• 11:04
  Voodoo a few years and uh our coach knew
• 11:08
  to not put any coverages where I had to
• 11:10
  guard him, but there were a few times
• 11:12
  where he would just make some catches
• 11:14
  and I think he might have had two or
• 11:15
  three touchdowns in the first half on
• 11:17
  us, but he was really good and we came
• 11:19
  across a couple guys like that. Franklin
• 11:21
  had some quarterbacks who were
• 11:22
  phenomenal. Um some MLB draft picks for
• 11:25
  Gross Hullman we played against and beat
• 11:27
  on the road there, too. So, some fun
• 11:30
  some fun times there.
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  >> That's cool. I like the shaky hands. You
• 11:32
  got me a little bit nervous there.
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  >> Yeah, just a little bit. We We got it
• 11:35
  down if we wanted, but uh I I had our
• 11:37
  center get the freaked out.
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  >> Oh, that's terrific. All right. So, when
• 11:40
  you were playing football, you had to
• 11:41
  study. You're in marketing. And so, as
• 11:44
  you're approaching the end of your your
• 11:46
  college career, what do you think's
• 11:47
  going to be next and kind of where do
• 11:49
  you go?
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  >> Yeah. You know, that was actually one of
• 11:52
  the cooler parts of my experience at
• 11:54
  Anderson. Um I was not a very good
• 11:56
  student. Um I I snuck in with I think a
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  B minus average at the end of the at the
• 12:00
  end of my time there. Uh the cool thing
• 12:02
  that I did have an opportunity to do is
• 12:04
  I took a class. Uh it was a marketing
• 12:07
  class and we throughout the entire
• 12:09
  semester from a marketing agency uh
• 12:12
  standpoint managed an account the entire
• 12:15
  semester and I got to manage Irwin Union
• 12:18
  Bank of Indianapolis and we actually
• 12:21
  managed the account. We understood some
• 12:23
  of their technology, some of their
• 12:25
  unique differentiation, their audience
• 12:26
  and we put a plan together for what a
• 12:29
  dream pay would be for them.
• 12:30
  >> Okay. And you know, having grown up in a
• 12:33
  agency home, getting to do this was
• 12:37
  almost kind of like this is your chance
• 12:38
  to actually do this.
• 12:40
  >> Surely and we we loved that experience.
• 12:43
  It was great. Uh but it actually was a
• 12:47
  motivation to um start our own agency in
• 12:50
  college, which I did with a dear friend
• 12:51
  of mine. So following that class, um we
• 12:55
  ended up starting our own agency
• 12:56
  together and we did um stuff for small
• 12:59
  businesses, car dealers, furniture
• 13:00
  galleries, athletic complexes, coffee
• 13:03
  shops, uh little things like that.
• 13:04
  Anyone who would pay us money to do
• 13:07
  anything. So um got an opportunity to do
• 13:10
  that in college uh as a result of of
• 13:13
  that uh marketing class, which was all
• 13:15
  the motivation I needed to try to pursue
• 13:17
  this full-time.
• 13:18
  >> No kidding. So, as a junior, get a
• 13:20
  chance, get experience, go out, work
• 13:22
  with the bank, but then start your own
• 13:25
  company while you're still in college
• 13:26
  with with with a friend. Yeah. So, what
• 13:28
  what's that look like? Are you just
• 13:30
  working with organizations in and around
• 13:32
  Anderson? Are you guys cold calling on
• 13:34
  people? What's that look like to get
• 13:35
  that off the ground?
• 13:37
  >> Yeah, we have a lot of cold calls. We
• 13:39
  leveraged our network. Um both me and
• 13:42
  Andy Kennedy who I started it with we
• 13:44
  were both from Muny Delta Gratz. So we
• 13:47
  knew people at and around Muny.
• 13:48
  >> Okay. And you know sometimes it was like
• 13:52
  these two are really ambitious but let's
• 13:54
  just go ahead and take the money anyway.
• 13:55
  But we ended up doing some really cool
• 13:57
  work um you know for for some of those
• 14:00
  groups and some of the stuff move
• 14:02
  actually moved the needle for the
• 14:04
  organizations and a lot of it won awards
• 14:07
  and that experience was invaluable. I
• 14:09
  mean, we learned how to work together
• 14:11
  and have a true business partnership,
• 14:13
  but we also learned just some of the
• 14:14
  nitty-gritty stuff about working with
• 14:16
  pink clients.
• 14:17
  >> Yeah. And that was an experience that,
• 14:20
  you know, I wouldn't trade for anything.
• 14:22
  I mean, it helped pay for a few bills in
• 14:24
  college. Got us some experience and it
• 14:27
  would made all the difference as we were
• 14:28
  actually out looking for jobs. Uh, which
• 14:31
  time for graduation.
• 14:32
  >> So, what's that look like? So, you're
• 14:33
  running that business um and you're
• 14:35
  you're getting ready to to leave school.
• 14:38
  What comes next? Are you guys thinking
• 14:40
  you're going to take this and keep
• 14:41
  going? Are you guys going to do
• 14:42
  something different? What's it look
• 14:43
  like?
• 14:44
  >> So, there's actually a pivotal moment
• 14:47
  when this happened. So, Andy and my dad
• 14:49
  or Andy and I met with my dad and we
• 14:51
  were up in um Caramel at Kona and the at
• 14:55
  Clay Terrace. I'll never forget where we
• 14:57
  were. And the whole thing was Andy and I
• 14:59
  were going to go to my dad and
• 15:01
  basically, you know, tell him be like,
• 15:03
  "Hey, we're ready to make this, you
• 15:05
  know, agency out of our apartment a real
• 15:07
  agency.
• 15:08
  And you know, my dad was very gracious
• 15:11
  but very honest with us. He's like,
• 15:13
  "Okay, so how much do you two want to
• 15:16
  make?" And at that time we're like, I
• 15:18
  don't know, 30 or 40 grand.
• 15:19
  >> Yeah, sure.
• 15:20
  >> He's like, "Great. So, you're going to
• 15:22
  need laptops and all that?" Yep.
• 15:25
  Software? Yep. Office space? Yep. He's
• 15:29
  like, "Are you guys going to hire
• 15:30
  anyone?" And we're like, "Yeah, maybe."
• 15:32
  Oh, that's And he just starts going down
• 15:34
  the list of all the stuff.
• 15:35
  >> Yeah.
• 15:35
  >> You want benefits? Yes, of course. He's
• 15:38
  like, "Great. You guys are going to need
• 15:41
  to generate about 20 or 25 grand worth
• 15:44
  of margin every month." And at that
• 15:47
  point, Andy and I kind of looked at each
• 15:48
  other like,
• 15:49
  >> "Yeah,
• 15:50
  >> you know, we we had we were doing stuff
• 15:52
  for 500, two grand, sure of time." The
• 15:56
  the work again was really effective and
• 15:57
  all that kind of stuff, but we sat back
• 15:59
  and we're like, "Dude, that's like 14
• 16:01
  American Chevrolets per month, and I'm
• 16:04
  full blah. What's your think? That's a
• 16:05
  bunch." So, um, after that, we decided,
• 16:10
  okay, maybe this is a not yet. And Andy
• 16:13
  got, uh, an awesome role in Austin,
• 16:15
  Texas at an agency, and I got a, uh,
• 16:19
  role at this awesome agency and four-way
• 16:21
  of all places.
• 16:23
  >> Worked on a lot of national brands. Um,
• 16:25
  do a best hardware, uh, GE, um, you
• 16:29
  know, groups like that. Invaluable
• 16:31
  experience. Um, that did not last long.
• 16:33
  After about 6 months, Andy and I talked
• 16:36
  again. We were like, "Screw it. We're
• 16:38
  doing this."
• 16:39
  >> No kidding. And the the lessons I
• 16:42
  learned in that, you know, year-long um
• 16:45
  opportunity were invaluable. I had an
• 16:48
  incredible mentor who took me under his
• 16:50
  wing. His name's Mike Motherwell. Um you
• 16:53
  know, I I had all this great background
• 16:55
  with my dad. Um but was really sensitive
• 16:58
  about joining family business early on.
• 17:01
  uh I didn't want, you know, kind of a
• 17:03
  reputation of, you know, a silver spoon
• 17:05
  or, you know, woke up on third base or
• 17:07
  anything. So, I was like, I'm going to
• 17:08
  go out and, you know, earn my key
• 17:10
  venture. Um, you know, not give anyone
• 17:13
  reason to to say that looking back. a
• 17:15
  lot of pride and ego in that which I've
• 17:17
  since come to rectile
• 17:20
  but um that time was important of being
• 17:23
  able to be mentored by you know someone
• 17:25
  else and have someone advocate uh for
• 17:27
  you and learn a lot about how an agency
• 17:29
  operates right outside of you know my
• 17:31
  firsthand knowledge of um seeing my dad
• 17:33
  do it. So that was a special time and uh
• 17:36
  it led to even greater things too.
• 17:38
  >> Yeah. So, so you get a time, what a
• 17:41
  great experience for your dad to sit
• 17:43
  down and start walking you through what
• 17:45
  life would really look like if you
• 17:46
  wanted to start this, but then you get
• 17:48
  about a year up in Fort Lane to see the
• 17:50
  other side
• 17:52
  be more work with different people. That
• 17:55
  experience, right, is something you
• 17:56
  can't recreate that. That that's just
• 17:58
  that's something that you got to go get.
• 18:00
  Yeah.
• 18:00
  >> All right. So, after that yearish, you
• 18:02
  guys decide to come back together and
• 18:04
  that's the genesis of of the new
• 18:06
  business.
• 18:06
  >> It is. Yeah. Uh and and you nailed it.
• 18:09
  That year was pivotal. Um I was low man
• 18:11
  on the tone pool.
• 18:12
  >> Yep.
• 18:13
  >> Um I had to deal with, you know, more
• 18:15
  seasoned people who, you know, were both
• 18:18
  patient and impatient with me. Uh
• 18:21
  thoughtful and not thoughtful. Uh I had
• 18:23
  to deal with my own expectations of
• 18:25
  like, hey, you don't get to just like
• 18:26
  manage the topical of the shop, like you
• 18:29
  got to start at the bottom sort of
• 18:30
  thing. And I was also in a role um that
• 18:34
  required a lot of extra effort. Uh, I
• 18:36
  was hired as a project manager and you
• 18:39
  want to talk about the least detail
• 18:41
  orientated project manager is a game.
• 18:44
  >> Yeah. Yeah.
• 18:44
  >> Um, how I ended up with that job is a
• 18:47
  little bit of a mystery cut. Um, so it's
• 18:49
  like I'm going to work 50 hours or 55
• 18:52
  hours to do this job every week and you
• 18:55
  know because when I have to and you know
• 18:58
  at that time I was like I'm going to be
• 19:00
  old school about this and make sure that
• 19:02
  I get year before my boss and he never
• 19:05
  leaves before me.
• 19:06
  >> Yep. So, you know, it was just learned a
• 19:10
  tongue, but that set us up for great
• 19:13
  success in starting Intersection, which
• 19:15
  was the name of the agency, and we were
• 19:17
  a kind of a branding boutique, uh,
• 19:19
  myself and Andy. And then, uh, we had a
• 19:21
  third partner who was a dear friend of
• 19:23
  mine to this day. His name is Tyler
• 19:24
  Ernley. And the three of us decided that
• 19:26
  we were going to start an agency and
• 19:28
  we're going to do it in Traverse City,
• 19:29
  Michigan. Because, um, my family had
• 19:32
  vacationed there all throughout my
• 19:34
  childhood. We noticed that there weren't
• 19:37
  really any agencies up there and we
• 19:39
  thought, hey, why not be um a bigger
• 19:42
  fish in a smaller pond and just kind of
• 19:45
  put it together and um you know, having
• 19:48
  uh some more consultation and and uh
• 19:51
  wisdom from my dad was great. He
• 19:53
  supported us in a lot of ways to to kind
• 19:55
  of get that going. So here we have uh
• 19:58
  two 23 year olds and a 22-year-old um
• 20:01
  ready to set a world on firing.
• 20:03
  >> Yeah. And so what year was that up in
• 20:04
  Turner City? What was that?
• 20:06
  >> Uh that was all throughout 2011.
• 20:09
  >> Okay. So 2011. I do want to go back to
• 20:11
  one thing and I I don't want people to
• 20:13
  miss this. You're at a new place. You're
• 20:16
  working there for a year in Fort Wayne.
• 20:18
  And you said a couple of things you
• 20:19
  don't hear very often. I'm I'm going to
• 20:21
  work 50 55 hours. I'm going to be there
• 20:24
  before everybody else. And I'm not going
• 20:25
  to let my boss walk out after me. That
• 20:28
  work ethic, right? So that that's I I
• 20:30
  hear probably football, right?
• 20:33
  ingrained, making sure you do it, put in
• 20:35
  the effort. But is that also is that
• 20:36
  what you saw also from your your dad and
• 20:38
  what he was doing as well? She's
• 20:40
  teaching you things on the commercials.
• 20:42
  Were you seeing that same kind of thing
• 20:43
  out of him and what he was doing running
• 20:44
  the business back then?
• 20:45
  >> 100%. Yeah. Just some of the soft skill
• 20:48
  stuff from him was great, you know, to I
• 20:52
  would call a lot to complain and say,
• 20:54
  "Hey, this is happening and this is
• 20:56
  happening." and he was a a steadying
• 20:59
  voice to say, "Hey, that's all well and
• 21:01
  good, but here are all the things that
• 21:03
  you can control. You have control how
• 21:05
  you show up. You can control um when you
• 21:08
  get there and when you leave. Um you can
• 21:11
  control what kind of teammate you are."
• 21:13
  >> And you can control how you treat your
• 21:15
  clients. And that was just ingrained at
• 21:18
  such a young age. And you know, again,
• 21:20
  we also had the benefit of experiencing
• 21:22
  that a little bit college. True. And you
• 21:24
  know, constipating up our own thing. So,
• 21:26
  um, but yeah, you know, some of those
• 21:28
  old school mentalities I think still
• 21:30
  play big time today and it's a little
• 21:32
  bit of a lost art and now when you see
• 21:33
  it uh at the ripe age of 38 now I am
• 21:38
  becoming older in the room, not you know
• 21:40
  young in the room anymore but older in
• 21:41
  the room when you see some of that stuff
• 21:44
  from younger people you just want to
• 21:45
  applaud it
• 21:46
  >> of course because it's such a you know a
• 21:49
  lost art and um you know within our
• 21:51
  culture we we see that and it's you know
• 21:54
  something that we try to celebrate.
• 21:55
  Yeah, I just I I just I didn't want to
• 21:57
  miss that. I think that for a lot of
• 21:58
  folks that may be watching this of the
• 22:00
  future, coming out of college, maybe
• 22:02
  young in their careers, that that to me
• 22:05
  is something you can control. Don't
• 22:06
  question how you going to show up in the
• 22:08
  room, how you going to treat others, how
• 22:09
  you going to work with your clients,
• 22:10
  what's your schedule going to look like,
• 22:12
  what effort are you going to put in? All
• 22:13
  the other stuff is going to happen kind
• 22:15
  of to you. These are things we can
• 22:17
  control, right? So, you're 23 years old.
• 22:20
  You're going to say, "Okay, I'm going to
• 22:21
  pack my bags. I'm going to head to
• 22:22
  Trevor City. It's 2011. And how's
• 22:25
  everything going TC for you?
• 22:26
  >> Yeah, that was a magical time. We, you
• 22:29
  know, we get started that year and I'll
• 22:31
  never forget our first ever account we
• 22:33
  won. It was Lake Ant Camp. It was a
• 22:35
  summer camp up in Northern Michigan. Um,
• 22:38
  we did a rebrand for them and we did,
• 22:41
  you know, the equivalent of a strategic
• 22:43
  plan, strategic marketing plan. And
• 22:47
  Andy, I think, has this capture on uh
• 22:50
  his phone somewhere of us getting the
• 22:52
  call that they agreed to our um to our
• 22:55
  proposal. And it was it was special. And
• 22:58
  that was the start. And I think at the
• 23:00
  end of that year, we made like $1,52.38
• 23:05
  or something like that. So we actually
• 23:07
  made a little bit of money in our first
• 23:09
  year of operation. Got to do some great
• 23:12
  stuff up there. And you know, we found
• 23:15
  some really good people who were very
• 23:17
  open-handed with their networks. Um,
• 23:19
  reminds me a lot of one of the special
• 23:21
  things about Indianapolis, frankly, uh,
• 23:23
  is we we just found really good people
• 23:25
  up there. And the other thing that we
• 23:27
  discovered that we didn't anticipate is
• 23:29
  we got a ton of work back home in Mudsy
• 23:32
  >> recently. We did. Yeah. So, we kind of
• 23:34
  in some ways started a um an HQ2 for a
• 23:37
  four or five person agency uh, back in
• 23:40
  in Muny. But, you know, um we were able
• 23:43
  to be a profit in our own land, which
• 23:44
  doesn't happen often. And we ended up
• 23:47
  with, you know, some great relationships
• 23:49
  in Triber City, but we ended up with
• 23:51
  some really good stuff, um, uh, back
• 23:53
  home, uh, including rebranding our
• 23:56
  hometown, which was probably the coolest
• 23:58
  project we got to do. No kidding. So,
• 24:01
  I'm just curious, if you're in Triber
• 24:02
  City and you're focused up there, is it
• 24:05
  just old relationships that are around?
• 24:07
  So just enough people that you guys knew
• 24:09
  from high school, college days and those
• 24:11
  types that were coming said, "Hey, could
• 24:13
  you help us to be able to start all the
• 24:15
  business down here?"
• 24:16
  >> Yeah. Could cool. It was great. Uh it
• 24:20
  just so you know, it takes about 6 hours
• 24:22
  to get from Trevor City to Mud. We had
• 24:25
  it mapped out. We only did this a couple
• 24:27
  times because it's insane. But there
• 24:29
  were times where we would leave Trevor
• 24:32
  City at 4 in the morning. We would go
• 24:34
  down meet from 10:30 till 6.
• 24:37
  >> Yeah. And then we would drive back home
• 24:39
  to get home at midnight.
• 24:40
  >> Yeah. See, and start it right back over
• 24:42
  again in Traverse City. You can do that
• 24:43
  when you're 23.
• 24:44
  >> Yeah. Parts harder to do as you get a
• 24:47
  little bit older with some kids, a
• 24:48
  little bit age. These days I'm sleeping
• 24:50
  in a hotel that night.
• 24:51
  >> That's real. But back thing, do it all
• 24:53
  all day long.
• 24:54
  >> And no money for a hotel either. See,
• 24:56
  that was the other problem. It was like,
• 24:58
  hey, we are going to slam some Taco Bell
• 25:00
  and McDonald's and we are hitting the
• 25:01
  RoadJack. And we did. And but you just
• 25:04
  think about some of those things that
• 25:05
  like build culture and build build
• 25:07
  friendships like I am to this day so
• 25:10
  close with Tyler and Andy in part
• 25:12
  because I mean we were just putting on
• 25:13
  the line every day for one another and
• 25:16
  you know those long trips up 69 to 131.
• 25:19
  Um it's just you know that's never ever
• 25:22
  going to go away for those reasons and
• 25:24
  things like that.
• 25:24
  >> Yeah. That windshield time is awesome.
• 25:26
  Yeah. All right. So you're running that
• 25:27
  organization up there. What do you do
• 25:30
  next? When when do you come back from
• 25:32
  Traverse City? Cuz you end up down here
• 25:34
  in Indianapolis like in 2013, 2014 or
• 25:36
  something like that.
• 25:37
  >> That's right. Yeah. So, you know, we we
• 25:40
  intended to, you know, say, "Hey, we're
• 25:42
  going to we're going to run this thing
• 25:43
  out and, you know, really give this a
• 25:45
  shot." And uh the the the cool thing
• 25:48
  with the Intersection story is like
• 25:50
  Intersection was no joke. Like yes, we
• 25:52
  were really young and it was our first
• 25:54
  job, but we uh tripled our revenue the
• 25:58
  following year in 2012 and then we
• 26:00
  doubled it again in 2013.
• 26:02
  >> So wait, does three years in business go
• 26:04
  from making like a,000 bucks that first
• 26:06
  year to tripling in the second year and
• 26:08
  then doubling? Oh wow.
• 26:10
  >> Yeah. From a topline, right?
• 26:11
  >> Yeah. See, they think about the growth
• 26:14
  and number of new clients. That's
• 26:15
  amazing.
• 26:16
  >> Yeah. And you know, we were doing good
• 26:17
  stuff. Like I actually, you know, we we
• 26:20
  joke about this. Some of the stuff that
• 26:22
  we were doing back at that time was
• 26:24
  really innovative. Like we were creating
• 26:27
  brands with no vowels. That's a common
• 26:29
  thing to do nowadays. We did it back in
• 26:31
  2012. Um we did variable brand systems.
• 26:34
  Um think AOL, think Adobe, think uh USA
• 26:38
  Today where you have a uh a brand mark
• 26:41
  that can have different imagery and
• 26:44
  graphics and colorways go into it. We
• 26:47
  did that for an awesome arts
• 26:49
  organization. So, we were doing that. We
• 26:52
  we shot some incredible campaigns that
• 26:54
  had the look and feel of like the
• 26:56
  Levis's Go forth campaign or the
• 26:58
  Chrysler uh Born in Detroit. Like, we
• 27:00
  kind of, you know, were doing some of
• 27:02
  that. That's that's hard to um have as
• 27:06
  inspiration and pull it off, but we did.
• 27:08
  >> Wow. So, I was really proud of that
• 27:10
  work. And you know, we fast forward to
• 27:14
  uh the end of 2013
• 27:16
  and um we had uh a meeting with a real
• 27:21
  estate developer here in Caramel and I
• 27:24
  was invited into the meeting and uh it
• 27:28
  was a whole bunch of agencies that were
• 27:29
  invited to this. So the company was Main
• 27:31
  Street. Uh a lot of people will
• 27:32
  recognize that name. Jay were a big
• 27:34
  developer of luxury nursing homes. Um
• 27:37
  you know big organization media rise. So
• 27:40
  at this time it was as the organization
• 27:42
  was still you know relatively lean
• 27:45
  probably they had 15 to 20 people at
• 27:46
  that point in time and Main Street had a
• 27:49
  few different marketing agencies that
• 27:51
  they worked with you know some on
• 27:52
  strategy some on PR some on some other
• 27:54
  things and um Zeke Turner and Ably
• 27:57
  Chester invite me to this meeting um you
• 28:01
  know they're you know some folks who
• 28:03
  have played a big role in my life you
• 28:05
  know had a relationship with my dad and
• 28:06
  you know they invite me to to go to this
• 28:08
  meeting and I don't say much of this
• 28:10
  meeting because again it's just the
• 28:11
  meeting of all these agencies and I
• 28:13
  probably say a couple two or three
• 28:15
  things in there. Um but apparently
• 28:17
  whatever I said you know was impressive
• 28:20
  enough for them to say hey why are we
• 28:23
  working with all these agencies when we
• 28:25
  can hire Chance.
• 28:27
  >> Oh
• 28:28
  >> so okay
• 28:29
  >> that was very honoring to hear that. The
• 28:32
  problem is two of my closest friends are
• 28:35
  back in Traverse City. Yep. And you
• 28:37
  know, I go back and I tell these guys be
• 28:39
  like, "Fellas, I think we actually have
• 28:40
  a shot of sighting these guys." Like,
• 28:42
  there's a gap here for us to to fill the
• 28:46
  the problem was um Zeke ends up offering
• 28:49
  me a job, you know,
• 28:52
  >> and at that time um we were growing. We
• 28:55
  had actually acquired a little agency in
• 28:57
  Traverse City.
• 28:58
  >> Okay.
• 28:58
  >> And the weight of running an agency and
• 29:03
  again, we're 24 at this point.
• 29:05
  >> Yep. 25 something like that. The weight
• 29:08
  of like we have a big payroll to hit. We
• 29:11
  all of a sudden have three or four
• 29:13
  additional employees on top of the three
• 29:15
  of us. Yeah. Um there are car payments.
• 29:18
  There are mortgages. There are kids
• 29:20
  school. There are all these things and
• 29:21
  you know it's like we're on our way to
• 29:23
  be being a million-dollar agency. Uh and
• 29:26
  in topline which you know for some young
• 29:29
  kids and the you know 2010s that's you
• 29:32
  know pretty good.
• 29:32
  >> Heck yeah. Yes. So, you know, we're
• 29:34
  we're feeling the weight of that. And um
• 29:38
  meanwhile, my serious girlfriend, who is
• 29:40
  now my wife, um is finish butler here.
• 29:44
  Yeah. So, it's like, okay, I'm getting
• 29:46
  this job offer. It's three times what
• 29:49
  I'm making. Um my my wife is here. So,
• 29:54
  it was one of the hardest things I've
• 29:55
  ever had to do in my life of go to these
• 29:57
  guys and say, "Hey, fellas, I I didn't
• 29:59
  have this one on my bio card, but uh I'm
• 30:02
  going to bury this woman." Yeah. Uh, you
• 30:04
  know, I still think Main Street can be a
• 30:06
  client of the agencies, but uh, this is
• 30:09
  something I got to I got to consider you
• 30:11
  and I decided to do it. Um, and you
• 30:14
  know, that was that was tough, but you
• 30:17
  know, it it was it was the right
• 30:19
  decision for me. And, you know, it
• 30:21
  actually was a great jumping off point
• 30:23
  for for all of us at the end of the day
• 30:24
  to end up at some, you know, really cool
• 30:27
  roles. But, man, it was it was hard.
• 30:29
  that that was a tough thing to to have
• 30:31
  to to navigate through, but uh we did
• 30:34
  and you know, we maintained an awesome
• 30:36
  friendship to this day. It's probably
• 30:37
  even stronger. Uh but that's Yeah,
• 30:39
  that's how that chapter got.
• 30:41
  >> Gotcha. All right. So, now you're back
• 30:42
  here in Indianapolis. Uh you fast
• 30:44
  forward a little bit. You got the girl,
• 30:46
  so that's good. Yes. So, the the
• 30:48
  girlfriend became the wife. Excellent.
• 30:50
  >> No refunds. She knows that. So, no
• 30:52
  refund policy.
• 30:53
  >> Good job. Right. And so, now you're at
• 30:54
  Main Street. And are you running
• 30:56
  everything when it comes to marketing?
• 30:58
  What's that role look like?
• 30:59
  >> Yeah, you know, right when I got there,
• 31:01
  I think I was the 24th, 25th employee.
• 31:03
  >> Okay.
• 31:04
  >> And you know, one of the reasons I was
• 31:06
  so fascinated with accepting that role
• 31:09
  is it's like I'm 25 years old and these
• 31:14
  guys want me to run marketing for a $300
• 31:16
  million a year. Yeah. Like the premier
• 31:19
  developer of these post-accute
• 31:20
  healthcare properties. And I was really
• 31:22
  touched by that. And it was one of those
• 31:24
  things where if I'm being honest, they
• 31:25
  saw something in me before I even saw it
• 31:28
  in myself. And I just really wanted to
• 31:30
  like prove them right. Yeah, sure. Like
• 31:33
  I'm going to throw myself into this. I'm
• 31:35
  I'm going to do the best that I can. So
• 31:38
  yeah, I I had the opportunity to to
• 31:39
  touch a lot um you know, the marketing,
• 31:42
  advertising, brand management, uh PR.
• 31:45
  Um, I got to play around with some parts
• 31:47
  of our culture and hospitality for a
• 31:49
  little bit of that too, which we had an
• 31:50
  an amazing culture uh that we developed
• 31:53
  at Main Street. And it was it was a it
• 31:56
  was a very uh fun ride there. We ended
• 31:59
  up um working on a a merger with a $2
• 32:03
  billion real estate investment trust for
• 32:06
  a big portion of our portfolio. So we,
• 32:09
  you know, were making headline news and
• 32:11
  really shaking up the industry with, you
• 32:13
  know,
• 32:15
  rethinking a product in a nursing home
• 32:17
  that's typically thought of as very
• 32:18
  sleepy and dark and not a experience
• 32:22
  that inspires. And we kind of flipped it
• 32:24
  and we're like, no, if if you have to
• 32:27
  have this 30-day stay, we are going to
• 32:29
  make it the best possible environment
• 32:32
  that you could have.
• 32:33
  >> Sure. And when you partner with a great
• 32:35
  operator who comes in and then provides
• 32:36
  phenomenal care, it's you know a great
• 32:39
  synergy. So it was it was a great great
• 32:41
  ride. Uh I know a lot more about senior
• 32:44
  living than ever I thought I would.
• 32:45
  >> Sure.
• 32:45
  >> But you know it was really fun to craft
• 32:48
  a brand in an environment where you
• 32:50
  don't typically see excellence in
• 32:52
  marketing. It actually makes the
• 32:54
  excellence that you produce maybe that
• 32:56
  much brighter. Yeah. So we were able to,
• 32:59
  you know, do a lot of fun things and in
• 33:00
  an industry that typically doesn't, you
• 33:02
  know, invest a ton in the brand side of
• 33:04
  things.
• 33:05
  >> Yeah. You know, it is interesting. You
• 33:06
  think nursing home, you don't think,
• 33:09
  right? But you changed the script. You
• 33:11
  created great places to be partnering
• 33:13
  with good operators, great provide good
• 33:16
  service, and that's just traditional
• 33:17
  business, right? Yeah. You need to go do
• 33:19
  that for all of our clients. And so that
• 33:20
  that's that's interesting. So you get
• 33:22
  your hands a little bit all over Main
• 33:24
  Street. How long are you there? And then
• 33:26
  what's the next transition?
• 33:28
  >> Yeah, so we were there uh about four
• 33:30
  years and we I I really enjoyed my time
• 33:33
  there. Um Main Street's model wasn't
• 33:36
  wrong. Uh but it was early and we were
• 33:38
  moving really rapidly. Uh the core
• 33:40
  business was an awesome dynamic of we
• 33:43
  would uh develop these uh luxury nursing
• 33:46
  homes uh raise capital on the front end
• 33:49
  and then we also had a sister company
• 33:51
  that was a real estate investment trust
• 33:53
  that we also raised money on the other
• 33:55
  side to acquire them. So you get the
• 33:57
  development fee but then you also get
• 33:58
  the long-term board of the asset.
• 34:00
  >> Yeah. And that process was awesome. We
• 34:02
  ended up expanding in you know to some
• 34:05
  different verticals and and like I said
• 34:07
  the model was right. we were just really
• 34:09
  early, ended up being spread out pretty
• 34:11
  thin. So, um, you know, ended up
• 34:14
  deciding like, hey, this is probably a
• 34:16
  good time to, you know, look elsewhere.
• 34:18
  And, um, that took me a place I never
• 34:21
  thought I'd be. Uh, which was, um, you
• 34:25
  know, deciding what to do next. And, you
• 34:28
  know, I had a couple conversations about
• 34:30
  a VP of marketing job and a CMO job in
• 34:32
  Indie. Neither opportunity felt right.
• 34:36
  And I'll never forget, um, I was in
• 34:38
  Italy on vacation with Kyler and she was
• 34:42
  like, you know, what do you what do you
• 34:44
  think? Are you going to take either one
• 34:45
  of these? I was just like, I I really
• 34:46
  don't think so. And I don't really know
• 34:48
  quite what I want to be asked. And she
• 34:51
  was like, well, you know, your your
• 34:52
  dad's been asking you to join the the
• 34:55
  business for for 10 years. And I was
• 34:58
  like, yeah, like I've kind of decided I
• 35:01
  don't want to do that, you know, for
• 35:03
  some reasons we talked. Yeah, sure. And
• 35:06
  you know, in that conversation, she was
• 35:08
  like, "Well, you know, it might just be
• 35:10
  worth a chat with him."
• 35:13
  So, I did that and um it was it was
• 35:17
  pretty great. At that point in time, um
• 35:20
  this would have been 2017. JDA was right
• 35:23
  at the cusp of what has ended up
• 35:26
  becoming a 10-year
• 35:28
  um growth trajectory.
• 35:30
  >> Sure. Um, and I I was I ended up meeting
• 35:32
  with my dad for for breakfast and he was
• 35:35
  like, "Hey, if you ever did this, now's
• 35:37
  the time." Like we uh at that time JDA
• 35:40
  had just signed Museum of the Bible,
• 35:42
  >> okay?
• 35:42
  >> Which is this incredible um massive
• 35:47
  museum in uh the heart of DC right where
• 35:50
  all the great Esonian museums are and
• 35:52
  things like that. Uh he, you know, we we
• 35:56
  have a lot of attention from from that
• 35:58
  work. We had signed a publicly traded
• 36:00
  oil and gas account that had been a
• 36:02
  client for a long time. Our traditional
• 36:05
  consumer package good work was thriving.
• 36:09
  Um, Answers of Genesis and the Creation
• 36:11
  Museum were we're really humming along
• 36:13
  along with the Arc Encounter. And we
• 36:17
  just he was like, we we're growing and
• 36:20
  we didn't realize just how big of a
• 36:22
  magnet the Museum of the Bible
• 36:25
  visibility was going to bring the
• 36:26
  agency. Sure. But that campaign was some
• 36:29
  of the best work we've ever done. Um
• 36:31
  half a million people went to the museum
• 36:33
  in the first 6 months of its opening.
• 36:34
  Wow. And you know our the campaign that
• 36:37
  we launched to help drive people there
• 36:39
  was very effective. And you know it was
• 36:42
  just it was a fun opportunity to join
• 36:44
  the team right as a lot of that was
• 36:46
  going. But you know I told my dad I was
• 36:48
  like listen um if I do this I don't want
• 36:52
  any equity. I don't want you feel like
• 36:54
  you have to pass me the torch. I want to
• 36:56
  help you finish strong. That's what I
• 36:58
  want. So,
• 37:01
  just tell me first whether when you're
• 37:03
  ready to hang this up, whether that's in
• 37:05
  10 minutes or 10 years or 20 years or
• 37:07
  whatever the case may be. Um, I want to
• 37:10
  know first.
• 37:10
  >> Yep.
• 37:11
  >> That's been 10 years ago. Gotcha.
• 37:13
  >> And, uh, things are are moving along
• 37:15
  really well. And it's been it's been a
• 37:18
  wild ride. I, you know, I was talking to
• 37:20
  a dear friend of mine and about the job.
• 37:23
  I was like, I don't think I'm going to
• 37:24
  take it for all, you know, the sure ego
• 37:27
  reasons and things like that. And he's
• 37:29
  like, all right, so let me get this
• 37:30
  straight. You're not going to take this
• 37:31
  job because, you know, it's family
• 37:33
  business and you swore it off. I was
• 37:35
  like, yeah. He's like, so,
• 37:38
  uh, anyone who knows you knows that
• 37:40
  you're qualified for this job and anyone
• 37:42
  who doesn't know you, why do you care?
• 37:46
  >> And it really stopped me in my tracks.
• 37:48
  And that was that conversation was the
• 37:50
  moment where I was like, you know what,
• 37:51
  this is this is the right thing for me
• 37:53
  to do.
• 37:54
  >> Yeah.
• 37:54
  >> And I did not know that it would fast
• 37:58
  forward to the role I'm in today. Um cuz
• 38:01
  I also resisted that too. But it it it's
• 38:05
  been a wonderful ride. It's the most
• 38:08
  fulfilling
• 38:10
  thing I've done in my career up to this
• 38:12
  point.
• 38:12
  >> It's amazing. And so before we get to
• 38:14
  what makes you unique, JD Worldwide, it
• 38:17
  sounds like the book ends of that story
• 38:20
  and your wife kind of says maybe you
• 38:21
  should have a conversation with your
• 38:22
  dad. And then the friend, that's a mic
• 38:25
  drop moment. That's a really good thing.
• 38:28
  Those who know you know that you are
• 38:30
  qualified for this job. Those who don't,
• 38:33
  why do you care? That's good. Yeah.
• 38:35
  Yeah. I would thank that friend. That's
• 38:36
  a good one right there.
• 38:37
  >> Well, he's got another one, too. So,
• 38:38
  this is Tyler Gringley, who I um his
• 38:41
  split up co-founders and interexual with
• 38:43
  Andy and I. Sure. His other claim to
• 38:45
  fame is um what Kyler and I were uh
• 38:49
  we'll call it dating um you know,
• 38:51
  casually talking still. We both end up
• 38:55
  um down at Kilroyce. Uh I was there for
• 38:59
  a Pacer game and she was you know, out
• 39:01
  the bell and at that time we had gone on
• 39:04
  a couple dates. Uh, but you know, we
• 39:05
  weren't like pursuing each other really
• 39:08
  seriously. So, we end up saying hey at
• 39:10
  Kilroy and like she went off and was
• 39:12
  hanging out with another guy and I was
• 39:14
  going out trying to hang out with this
• 39:15
  other girl and we're on our way back
• 39:17
  home. Tyler was with me. We had some
• 39:20
  work to do in Indianapolis and then we
• 39:21
  were just headed back to Traver City and
• 39:22
  he knew that I was you know kind of
• 39:24
  dating talking to Tyler. So, we have
• 39:27
  that six hours of windshield time and on
• 39:28
  the way up and and then right as we pull
• 39:31
  back into my condo, he is like, "Why are
• 39:34
  you talking to anyone else other than
• 39:37
  Kyler?"
• 39:39
  And you know, one of my best friends
• 39:42
  introduced me to Kyler and then Tyler,
• 39:45
  you know, was like, "Why are you wasting
• 39:47
  your time?"
• 39:49
  She then literally like 2 or 3 days
• 39:51
  later out of the blue she just calls me
• 39:55
  and she tells me she's get baptized
• 39:57
  and right when she texts me that I
• 40:00
  picked up the phone and called her and
• 40:01
  we ended up talking for like 3 or 4
• 40:03
  hours and the relationship just went to
• 40:05
  a completely different of course level.
• 40:07
  Um that would not have happened probably
• 40:09
  without some nudge from Tyler. So if he
• 40:12
  gets two and it's two I'll tell you why
• 40:14
  I drop that on two drop moments. Those
• 40:16
  are awesome. So JDA Worldwide, what
• 40:18
  makes you guys unique? Well, how are you
• 40:20
  different than all the other folks out
• 40:21
  there?
• 40:21
  >> Yeah. So, you know, I I'd say a unique
• 40:24
  thing about us is we are full service.
• 40:26
  Um, I think being a full service agency
• 40:29
  based on who you ask, you you can get
• 40:30
  mixed reviews. We like that we have a
• 40:33
  brain practice and a creative practice
• 40:35
  and a digital practice and a web
• 40:37
  practice and a PR practice and a paid
• 40:39
  media practice.
• 40:40
  >> Okay. The reason we like that is we have
• 40:42
  really great people running each one of
• 40:44
  those practices. So we don't have a weak
• 40:46
  link in the chain. The other reason we
• 40:48
  like it is it allows us to engage with
• 40:51
  our partners in a very selfless manner.
• 40:55
  We get to ask them like what problem are
• 40:58
  you lying awake thinking about every
• 41:00
  night? Is it sales? Is it impact? Is it
• 41:06
  market share? Is it donors? Is it what
• 41:10
  is it? And instead of trying to force
• 41:15
  one or maybe two things that we do
• 41:17
  really well as the automatic solution to
• 41:19
  that partner's problem, we could be
• 41:21
  really open-handed and just say, "Look,
• 41:23
  whatever it takes for us to help you
• 41:26
  solve this problem, we have the
• 41:28
  practices and resources to bring to bear
• 41:31
  to get adopted."
• 41:32
  >> Yeah.
• 41:32
  >> So, we really love that about the
• 41:34
  agency. And again, when you have really
• 41:36
  great people across all those practices,
• 41:39
  uh you're confident in your ability to
• 41:41
  to get that done. But the other cool
• 41:43
  thing is just the very name of JDA. So
• 41:46
  JDA founded in 2003 actually stands for
• 41:49
  Joseph David Advertising.
• 41:52
  And uh there is not a Mrs. Joseph or a
• 41:55
  Mr. David. It is the Joseph and me David
• 41:57
  from uh the Old Testament. And those two
• 42:01
  Old Testament heroes u epitomize our
• 42:04
  core values. So our the core values of
• 42:07
  JA are being trusted advisers and
• 42:10
  interpreters of dreams like Joseph was
• 42:12
  fighter.
• 42:13
  >> Yeah. Of course uh we kind of view that
• 42:15
  as being interpreters of dreams for um
• 42:18
  CEOs and business leaders and or
• 42:20
  leaders. Yeah.
• 42:20
  >> And um also being their trusted adviser.
• 42:23
  So we often, you know, try to work with
• 42:26
  category leading brands and things of
• 42:29
  that nature. And because of that, it's
• 42:30
  our duty to be great advisers and uh
• 42:34
  interpreters of their dreams and then
• 42:35
  take them to Crockett. Yeah. Which is
• 42:37
  great. And then David was probably one
• 42:39
  of the most creative men ever to live.
• 42:42
  And as an agency, everything that we do
• 42:43
  is creative. So we often say that it's
• 42:46
  our job to be courageously creative in
• 42:48
  all we do, which is our third core
• 42:49
  value. And the fourth one uh being a
• 42:52
  former athlete and having several
• 42:53
  teammates who are also uh former
• 42:55
  athletes is uh ready to fight which
• 42:58
  David was especially in the shadow of a
• 43:00
  giant. So uh one of our kind of calling
• 43:03
  cards is to read dreams and slay giants
• 43:06
  and we do that on behalf of our clients.
• 43:07
  So um that means that we often run
• 43:11
  toward partners who have very convicted
• 43:14
  values. uh whether that is a leader of
• 43:17
  an of a secular organization who has
• 43:20
  very you know firm values or um
• 43:24
  faith-based or nonprofit oriented
• 43:26
  organizations who exist to impact those
• 43:30
  are a home run for us of course. So
• 43:32
  those are the sort of organizations that
• 43:34
  we are a wonderful fit for but given our
• 43:37
  full service capabilities we end up with
• 43:40
  um partners of a wide array which I
• 43:43
  really enjoy. Yeah, it's awesome. You
• 43:45
  know, when you think about your business
• 43:46
  and and a lot of folks don't know JDA,
• 43:49
  that's great to hear that story, right?
• 43:51
  It's awesome to hear that. So, before we
• 43:53
  get into a little bit of community,
• 43:54
  let's talk a little tech.
• 43:56
  >> Yeah. All right. So, when I think in
• 43:57
  technology, it's it's not what you're
• 43:59
  using today to run your business, but
• 44:01
  it's maybe where's technology beginning
• 44:03
  to enter some of your circles? How are
• 44:06
  you guys leveraging some tech? And maybe
• 44:08
  where do you think things are going to
• 44:09
  go? And and everybody of course says the
• 44:10
  words AI. Oh, yeah. Right. So tell me a
• 44:12
  little bit about what's going on in your
• 44:14
  world there.
• 44:14
  >> Yeah, I think like most people, what was
• 44:17
  it at the beginning of 2025?
• 44:19
  Um maybe it made its way from the coasts
• 44:22
  to the Midwest or you know, whatever the
• 44:24
  case may be. But I think if you have to
• 44:25
  rewind the tape and go back to business
• 44:28
  planning for 2024 going into business of
• 44:31
  25, just about every CEO was like, how
• 44:34
  are we going to maximize AI in our
• 44:37
  business? And I think the thing that
• 44:38
  we've discovered in the creative and
• 44:40
  communications and media sphere is AI is
• 44:45
  an accelerant. It accelerates really,
• 44:49
  really good work and it accelerates
• 44:51
  really, really bad work. Yeah. The thing
• 44:53
  that I know for sure is the human being
• 44:57
  behind the mouse and the keyboard matter
• 45:00
  more now than ever. Uh, I didn't live
• 45:03
  through the
• 45:06
  rise of email, but I think that probably
• 45:08
  transformed the way business was done.
• 45:10
  Same thing with the cell phone. Um, I
• 45:12
  did live through uh the smartphone. H,
• 45:16
  uh, I got my first smartphone when I was
• 45:19
  working in Fort Wing and I had email on
• 45:20
  my phone
• 45:21
  >> and I could watch videos on my phone and
• 45:24
  that was a game changer from a marketing
• 45:26
  perspective.
• 45:27
  Uh, but I think the biggest thing that
• 45:29
  we've learned is this is an exceptional
• 45:32
  tool to accelerate work and to cut down
• 45:35
  timelines and things like that. But the
• 45:38
  the human control of it, the prompts
• 45:40
  that you have to put out, um, you can
• 45:43
  get slop really easily.
• 45:44
  >> Yep.
• 45:45
  >> And it takes really good prompts and it
• 45:47
  takes really good follow on
• 45:49
  clarifications and filters and things
• 45:51
  like that. And when used properly, it's
• 45:53
  an again an effective accelerate. I we
• 45:56
  take a lot of pride in making sure that
• 45:58
  the human touch behind it is always
• 46:00
  present and we even just write into our
• 46:02
  contracts. We say look nothing that we
• 46:04
  provide you is solely going to be done
• 46:06
  by AI and we're pretty proud and upfront
• 46:09
  about that. We'll use it like the tool
• 46:11
  it is it is uh it accelerate and we just
• 46:15
  want to hold that loose leaf.
• 46:17
  >> Yeah. you know, as a full-ervice agency,
• 46:19
  it's another arrow in your quiver,
• 46:21
  right? It's a way to do something a
• 46:22
  little different or accelerate
• 46:23
  something. It's not the only thing, and
• 46:26
  it's not your only thing. Yeah, that's
• 46:28
  great to hear. So, community, let's talk
• 46:31
  about community, right? You've lived in
• 46:32
  Fort Lane, Fort Wayne, Muny, Traverse
• 46:35
  City, Indianapolis. So, community is
• 46:37
  obviously where you're living and your
• 46:39
  business and your teammates. So, let's
• 46:41
  just talk about what's community mean to
• 46:43
  you and how are you engaging with the
• 46:44
  community? Yeah, I think the biggest
• 46:47
  thing is
• 46:48
  Indianapolis is the biggest small town
• 46:52
  ever. I, you know, I've said before I
• 46:54
  think Indie is like a two call town.
• 46:56
  >> Yeah. Right.
• 46:56
  >> You're two phone calls away from anyone
• 46:59
  that you need to meet with. And you
• 47:01
  know, this ability to get to anyone uh
• 47:06
  is awesome. And the fact that big things
• 47:08
  are happening around here is also great.
• 47:10
  So that's that's a a great thing. I
• 47:12
  think the heart behind that is our huser
• 47:14
  hospitality. There is a lack of
• 47:16
  pretentiousness. There is uh a desire to
• 47:18
  collaborate to partner in Indiana that
• 47:21
  is unique to most other states and
• 47:23
  markets. And I absolutely love that
• 47:25
  about Indianapolis. Uh so from a
• 47:28
  community perspective, you know, I'm I'm
• 47:30
  a fan of indie. Uh I'm an advocate for
• 47:32
  it. Um I've always been confused like if
• 47:35
  there's ever like this
• 47:38
  reputation of it is a cool or anything
• 47:40
  like that. I've always been perplexed by
• 47:42
  that and you know again I I grew up in
• 47:45
  Muny and went to school in Anderson and
• 47:48
  it's like it's a great it's a great
• 47:50
  place. So I I've never understood that
• 47:53
  uh sort of you know thing and and maybe
• 47:57
  I'm right in the sense that's actually
• 47:59
  not that big especially if you spend a
• 48:00
  bit of time here. It's pretty obvious.
• 48:02
  So that, you know, from my perspective
• 48:05
  is like I want to continue to invest in
• 48:07
  in, you know, our city because it it is
• 48:09
  a special place and I want to continue
• 48:10
  to carry the legacy of being accessible
• 48:13
  but also being up to to big things and
• 48:15
  just holding those two things in
• 48:16
  tension. Um, but you know, I think from
• 48:19
  a, you know, from a community service
• 48:22
  standpoint, um, one of the organizations
• 48:24
  that I think is more the epitome of what
• 48:28
  not only JDA wants to support and
• 48:31
  partner with, but also for me personally
• 48:33
  is our friends at Shepard Community
• 48:35
  Center. Yeah. On the near east side.
• 48:36
  Sure. I actually was just on the phone
• 48:37
  with um, Jay Height this morning.
• 48:40
  Phenomenal group. they are trying to
• 48:42
  eradicate poverty uh on the east side
• 48:45
  and they have it surrounded in terms of
• 48:47
  all the different levers that you know
• 48:49
  they know they need to pull to um sort
• 48:53
  of eradicate this big problem that's
• 48:56
  often a multigeneration challenge and I
• 48:59
  just love what they're up to. They're
• 49:00
  doing it a lot of different ways.
• 49:01
  They're doing it through skills
• 49:02
  training. They're doing it through a
• 49:03
  church. They're doing it through a
• 49:04
  school. are doing it through tons of
• 49:07
  programs like finance and um you know
• 49:11
  skill building and all that sort of
• 49:13
  stuff and and they understand too that
• 49:15
  there are root causes that need to be
• 49:18
  addressed before you just flippantly
• 49:20
  tell someone well just go get a job.
• 49:21
  Yeah. It's like well it's not that easy.
• 49:23
  That's right. There there's
• 49:24
  transportation, there's time management,
• 49:26
  there are all these things that we have
• 49:28
  to overcome being hungry. Like, hey,
• 49:30
  yeah, there there's just so much working
• 49:32
  against a lot of folks in in in that
• 49:34
  area. And the fact that their whole
• 49:37
  existence is to eradicate that is so
• 49:40
  horrible. Um, and we love them. So, we
• 49:43
  we volunteered there. Um, you know, we
• 49:46
  we love giving to them. And they are
• 49:48
  just exactly what we want. And, you
• 49:50
  know, a community leader.
• 49:52
  >> Yeah. And when you think about the
• 49:53
  community, you're exactly right. You're
• 49:54
  two calls away from getting to somebody,
• 49:56
  but then helping the community.
• 49:58
  Shepherd's doing a lot that they are a
• 50:00
  great resource for those folks over
• 50:02
  there. And it's just not that easy. Ju
• 50:05
  just get a job. Well, I might just need
• 50:08
  some food first. I maybe if I get that
• 50:10
  taken care of and then if I could get
• 50:11
  myself to the job, if I could do these
• 50:13
  things. So, they're helping in so many
• 50:14
  different areas like you like you
• 50:16
  mentioned. So, great opportunity and if
• 50:18
  people don't know about them, they
• 50:19
  should take a look at it because they
• 50:20
  really do a lot of good stuff. They do.
• 50:22
  And the the great thing with them is
• 50:24
  there's probably a cup of tea no matter
• 50:26
  your stance on the solution to that
• 50:29
  problem. Odds are they are probably
• 50:32
  doing something in that realm. And it's
• 50:34
  one of those things where it's like you
• 50:35
  might not, you know, completely be on
• 50:37
  board with everything that they do, but
• 50:39
  odds are there's something that
• 50:41
  Shepherd's doing that likely aligns with
• 50:43
  their values. And I love that too. It's
• 50:45
  like we need more unifiers out there in
• 50:48
  this day and age. And it's like odds are
• 50:50
  they are doing something that probably
• 50:52
  aligns with your values and and one's
• 50:54
  thought on you know how do we help you
• 50:57
  know solve this very complex issue.
• 50:59
  >> Yeah. Agreed. All right. Before we end
• 51:01
  maybe just a little bit of fun. Yeah.
• 51:02
  Right. So we know you enjoy your job.
• 51:04
  You know we you love what you do but
• 51:06
  when you're not working fun what are you
• 51:08
  doing these days?
• 51:09
  >> Uh anything with my two crazy kids. I
• 51:13
  have a seven-year-old and a
• 51:14
  four-year-old. And uh between I'd say
• 51:17
  about 7:00 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. is like a
• 51:21
  WWE match. But the they're crazy. Uh but
• 51:24
  love them. Uh Kyler and I love doing
• 51:27
  anything with them. They're both into
• 51:28
  sports right now, which is uh really
• 51:30
  fun. I got to watch out on any psycho
• 51:32
  dad stuff. Um but I get I coach with a
• 51:35
  bunch of my friends, so sure I I have
• 51:37
  some good checks and balances there. But
• 51:38
  yeah, you know that um Kyler and I love,
• 51:41
  you know, going out uh to the
• 51:43
  restaurant, seeing an indie
• 51:45
  anything. Cunningham is phenomenal. A
• 51:47
  lot of the staples around town like, you
• 51:49
  know, Blue Beard and uh Bodie and places
• 51:52
  like that are phenomenal. So, we we love
• 51:55
  doing that with some friends. We have
• 51:57
  Butler and Masswell season tickets.
• 51:58
  Okay.
• 51:58
  >> Uh she's a Butler grad, so um that's
• 52:01
  been a fun adoption for me. Um and I
• 52:05
  will golf just about any in any climate
• 52:09
  I can. And we we belong out of Crest,
• 52:11
  which is a fun club. blood of young guys
• 52:14
  out there. Uh, you know, easy to get in
• 52:16
  a a fun game. So, that's that's usually
• 52:20
  about it. Still as much time as I can
• 52:22
  with them and um golf when I can and uh
• 52:25
  sports all done.
• 52:26
  >> Seven and four. A little bit like a WWE
• 52:29
  time at the house, but those times are
• 52:31
  awesome and they're fun. So, Joy, my
• 52:33
  friend, Chance, thank you for being on
• 52:34
  the show. Thanks for sharing your story.
• 52:35
  Appreciate it.
• 52:36
  >> Absolutely. My pleasure.