Laura Ries | Branding Brilliance & What It Was Like Being Mentored By Legendary Marketing Master (Al Ries) + When Building Your Brand, Why Is It Vital to Identify An Enemy? Interview with, the author of The Strategic Enemy

Audio Transcription

Transcribed with Cockatoo

(Speaker 12)
A globe completely engulfed in flames.

(Speaker 36)
Ooh.

(Speaker 39)
You want your logo to signify the end of the world.

(Speaker 41)
No, no, no, no, no.

(Speaker 40)
It’s like we’re driven.

(Speaker 12)
Like we’re taking over the world.

(Speaker 7)
Like we’re spreading like wildfire, but in an elegant way. I mean, understated. It should communicate integrity, honesty, classiness.

(Speaker 12)
A love for the community. A love for the whole world, really. Humble.

(Speaker 7)
But not too humble. You know, I want to exude pride. Like, humble pride. A bald eagle wrapped in an American flag In his talent, a stack of $100 bills. We’re financially successful and patriotic.

(Speaker 39)
Something like this?

(Speaker 38)
That’s incredible.

(Speaker 37)
That is amazing.

(Speaker 7)
With a logo like that, we’re going to sell a lot of beard combs.

(Speaker 5)
Some shows don’t need a celebrity narrator to introduce the show, but this show does. In a world filled with endless opportunities, why would two men who have built 13 multi -million dollar businesses altruistically invest five hours per day to teach you the best practice business systems and moves that you can use. Because they believe in you, and they have a lot of time on their hands. They started from the bottom, now they’re here. It’s the Thrive Time Show, starring the former U . S.

(Speaker 5)
Small Business Administration’s Entrepreneur of the Year, Clay Clark, and the entrepreneur trapped inside an optometrist’s body, Dr. Robert Zunich. Two men, eight kids, co -created by two different women. 13 multi -million dollar businesses.

(Speaker 2)
Ladies and gentlemen, on today’s show, you’re going to have a half hour of power to devour. You are going to learn so much on today’s show. I encourage you to grab a pen and a pad as you prepare to enter into the dojo of Mojo Faux Show. As we interview today’s guest, Laura Reese. Welcome onto the Thrive Time Show. How are you?

(Speaker 1)
I’m great, so excited to be here.

(Speaker 2)
Now, for anybody out there that’s hearing of you maybe for the first time, a lot of people might be familiar with your family or your background. Just walk us through your background and a little bit about your family so people can, because I think there’s somebody out there that goes, I think I’ve heard of her somewhere.

(Speaker 1)
Yes, I think they did I read a book by someone with that name you probably did a bit of a royal family of marketing. My father was Al Reese, and he wrote a book with his co author jack trial called positioning the battle for your mind that was the first of many books but really. the book that changed his life and the trajectory of his life to become so well -known for this concept that they created positioning. And that was about not talking about communicating out, but first looking inside the mind of what opportunity you can own to position yourself and to own an idea. So that was my history. I grew up with positioning.

(Speaker 1)
That concept took off in the seventies, just around when I was born. So lifted all my life and was always fascinated with what my dad did for a living. And he ran an ad agency for 30 years and then transitioned as his books and concepts and expertise. and consulting took off went into consulting full time so. I worked with him almost three decades. He passed in 2022 at almost 96 years old.

(Speaker 1)
He worked to the very, very end. And it was such a joy and pleasure to, my gosh, learn from the master. I like to say I was the ultimate apprentice. And what a great experience and just fueled my passion for positioning, marketing, helping companies build better branding.

(Speaker 2)
What was it like as a kid being mentored by the master of advertising? What did that look like? Or could you maybe share? Obviously, we would love to be a fly on the wall. What was that like?

(Speaker 1)
My dad never pranced around and made people kiss his ring or anything. He was so humble and also so giving in terms of wanting to mentor other people. So that made it so easy and fascinating. And he also never pushed it on me. It’s funny, people always asked him after we did events, he always joked the most often question he got asked was, how did you get your daughter to work for you? And he always joked that he didn’t tell me to do it, right?

(Speaker 1)
As soon as you tell someone, your kid to do something, never want to do it. So it was a bit of an unwritten, you know. feeling between us, I like to say, but listen, I was the only child of his second marriage. So as an only child, you don’t have any other kids to play with in the house, right? So you’re stuck there at the family dinner with mom and dad and dad only talks about marketing and branding. And, um, he loved it.

(Speaker 1)
He absolutely loved it, but he was so fun and entertaining. So my favorite story, you know, we’d, we’d have this little tiny TV with the bunny ears at the table. We always watch TV when we had dinner and mash was always on. And my dad had served in Korea. So that was a cool connection. He would tell stories about that.

(Speaker 1)
But the real entertainment, I like to say, was my dad giving commentary during the commercials. So whatever any company was doing, he always had to chime in, whether they were doing it right, whether they’re mostly doing it wrong, and what they should do, what they could have done, what they, and he would talk to me and my mom as if we were the CEOs of these companies and could actually do something. But it just, it fielded something in me and it made it interesting is also, you know, something you could understand. So he was able to put things in a word and in words so that you could feel you could do something. And it really, he was so good at pointing out what people were doing wrong and, you know, giving an alternative for how they could do it better. So he was passionate about what he did and that just, you know, oozed its way into me and the rest is history.

(Speaker 2)
I got one more question for you about your father and some of the things you learned from him is, you know, he worked with some of the biggest brands in America. And I’m not trying to paint you into a corner to ask you about specific campaigns, but do you vaguely or vividly remember some of the brands that your father was working on? Because, I mean, he was the legendary advertising guru. Do you have any examples of that for anybody who are maybe less familiar with your story?

(Speaker 1)
Yeah, sure. I mean, listen, I mean, everyone, you know, still reads that book Positioning. And so he got called in and worked with, you know, every major company from, you know, Burger King and Apple to even if you want a good story, Donald Trump. You want to hear that one?

(Speaker 2)
I do want to hear that. I do want to hear.

(Speaker 1)
So yeah, that was, and I remember this vividly because I was a teenager. And so my father at that point ran an advertising agency and his big client was Harris, the casino down in Atlantic city. And at the time Harris was on the marina and his big slogan for them was to position against the enemy, which was the boardwalk. And they said, you know, the marina was more upscale and it was, they had this jingle. It was like by the bay, by the bay, by the beautiful, bay, whatever.

(Speaker 1)
And so he was very successful in working with Harrah’s and really building up that business. And then comes along as Holiday Inn owned Harrah’s, there was a prime piece of property in the middle of the boardwalk and Donald Trump’s family or Donald Trump owned that. And they wanted to do a joint venture. So Donald had the building, Holiday Inn would put up the money and they were gonna have the hotel. initially was going to be called Harrah’s and they’d have two Harrah’s. They’d have on the bay and on the boardwalk.

(Speaker 1)
My dad said, No, disaster, right? Line extension. You’re going to compete against each other. Each other, you know, become your own worst enemy, in other words. And so, you know, my dad’s like, we have to do something else. And so he talked to, you know, to Donald in the situation.

(Speaker 1)
He said, well, what if we would call it Trump Plaza? Well, as you can imagine, Donald Trump thought that was a terrific idea. My name, you know, my name in a building, Trump said, terrific. And Holiday bought into it. And that was enormously successful for first casino on the Broadwalk, and they did the advertising for it. And they said Atlanta’s centerpiece, and it was fantastically successful.

(Speaker 1)
And he’s very proud of it. It was great business for the agency. But three years later, my dad gets called into Donald Trump’s office, sits down. It’s all gold and gaudy and everything, and sits down and says, Al, you did a great job. Agency’s doing great, but you’re fired. And my dad’s like, what?

(Speaker 1)
Like, are you kidding me? He’s like, yeah, you know, I like to, I figured I’ve used all your good ideas, so I’ll bring in another agency. Of course, what did he do? He ended up expanding into multiple casinos and multiple bankruptcies. So he should have kept my father around.

(Speaker 36)
Wow.

(Speaker 2)
I’ve never heard that story before. And you know, the thing about you, your life is, um, you could have, uh, you know, absorbed your father had done and stopped there. But you have kind of continued to trailblaze as a leader in your industry. And you’ve actually taken a unique approach to advertising and to marketing. In fact, in your new book, you’ve written a new book called The Strategic Enemy, The Strategic Enemy, for anybody looking that up.

(Speaker 2)
You talk about when you’re building a brand that it’s vital to identify an enemy. Why is it important for every business owner to identify an enemy when building a brand?

(Speaker 1)
Because it’s that oppositional force that your brand stands against. And listen, the easiest way to get someone to understand it is to contrast what by what it’s not, right? What by communicating what you don’t do, it makes it much more clear to understand what you do do. So it just so happens with that Harris example, right? You had by the bay that was more laid back upscale versus the boardwalk, which is more exciting. Neither one is bad.

(Speaker 1)
Having an enemy is not about them being wrong and horrible. It’s about establishing the contrast and difference so that people can make a more clear choice to pick yours and to root for you. The best way to root for you is to root against something else.

(Speaker 2)
I think there’s somebody out there watching the show who’s a plumber, they’re a doctor, they’re a dentist, they’re a lawyer, and they’re going, okay, if I have a junk removal company, or I have a dentistry, or I have a, photography company or a home building company. How can I apply what you’re saying to my small business? Do you have any advice for the small business owners watching today’s show?

(Speaker 1)
Of course, I love small businesses. And we work with companies of all different sizes. Just before I let me preface it with one thing. The most important thing is if you can establish a new category, you mentioned junk. That wasn’t a thing until 1 -800 -JUNK got junk, right? They pioneered that new category by narrowing the focus, standing for that, making those trucks, the visual hammer.

(Speaker 1)
and then blasting out the communication so we all knew about this exciting new category. People really get excited about the category, not necessarily the brand. So what happens if you’re in a competitive field, whether it’s plumbing or dentistry, finding your focus is key. And that’s the way you find your enemy. So, you know, are you the pain -free dentist, right? Are you in a highly, you know, easy to find location or are you super personal?

(Speaker 1)
Are you super speedy? There’s always a way to find some sort of contrast that puts you against what the competitors are out there. Now, listen, one, the first and most important thing, is most people just spend all their time thinking about themselves, right? What am I good at? What do I wanna do? Well, yeah, that’s nice and important, but let’s look out in the competitive marketplace and not just in the marketplace, but in the mind.

(Speaker 1)
What other brands are out there that are well -established? And you have to find then your open hole to be different and go against them. So, if the biggest plumber out there is a big plumber, company with impersonal service and terrible customer support. They might have a big business, but you can be the personalized plumber, right? You can show up at a speedy time. You can show your face, show your personality, have some sort of contrast to what you are.

(Speaker 1)
Or even, you know, you look in the, what is Home Depot? Home Depot is the biggest home improvement store. Ace is the helpful place, right? They’re smaller, they’re a little disorganized, but because they’re so helpful, they come and help you find whatever you need. So whatever position is out there, there’s always a way to do it a little bit different. Unfortunately, most people just try to be better, right?

(Speaker 1)
They try to do more, do too many things, and try to communicate too many ideas. The secret to building a brand is narrowing the focus. And let’s not forget having a good name. That is gonna go a long way, way too often. and people you know try to have sort of generic word because they want to communicate what they do.

(Speaker 1)
Those just aren’t memorable as brand names. What you need is a generic category, but what is your brand name and how can it lend itself to a visual? Very important for all companies, but for small business that are relying on word of mouth, of course, maybe their truck, they’re driving around town. Let’s make that name as memorable as possible.

(Speaker 2)
Where did you get this idea to write this new book? Do you remember where you were? Did you hit your head on the toilet seat and then draw it on a napkin? Where did the concept or the idea for this book come about?

(Speaker 1)
Well, it’s, you know, most of the books have always come from, you know, working with clients as to see, you know, the biggest job in working with clients is, you know, of course, figuring out the strategy, but the bigger job is convincing them to do it. And we do that using our principles and analogies so that it’s more easy for them to understand why they should do it, why the category is important. And I found that the enemy was not something we had used sort of in our repertoire of positioning tools, I like to say, but it became much more important And when I looked at many of the examples that we had seen of the most successful brands, you go back to the iPod, what made it so successful? It was a strategic enemy, right? Because at the time it was a high price. It was the first hard drive music player.

(Speaker 1)
At the time the market was dominated by cheap MP3 players, but they had not established the enemy that they were very different from and then over, communicated it in an oversimplified way. And maybe some of your listeners might not remember, but I know you and I do. It was 1000 songs in your pocket. What a powerful way to easily establish what your difference was against that strategic enemy that you so clearly named. And of course, Apple followed that up with one of the greatest. categories, they called a smartphone.

(Speaker 1)
When they said the iPhone was the first smartphone, Well, what did that do? That instantly repositioned the category dominant leader, Nokia, as the dumb phone. And seeing examples like that, and of course, one of the latest is Liquid Death. I really didn’t think there could ever be another idea for a water brand, right? There’s hundreds of them out there. And powerful brands, Evian and Fiji and all these others.

(Speaker 1)
But what did they do? They took a differentiated packaging approach and combined that with great marketing. Two things, one is the enemy was death to plastic. We’re killing our world with plastics that aren’t even being recycled. And aluminum is infinitely recyclable. And two, people weren’t drinking as much alcohol or energy drinks at events and concerts, yet they still want it to look cool, right?

(Speaker 1)
They wanted a can with cool branding that was just as cool as beer, but it also was super healthy and was water. And so that together was a monster success and really kind of fueled my excitement and passion. But the last thing that I didn’t you know I’d already started working on the concept of the book and the publisher. What sealed the deal was realizing what my data told me, and that was positioning the idea was founded by establishing the strategic enemy. So when the book came out, listen, he was a small business, you know, he was a tiny advertising agency to B2B companies, and they really wanted to distinguish themselves and build their brand in the market. And so the concept my dad came up with was this idea of the rock, which was a, you know, an idea that couldn’t be refuted and that turned into this concept called positioning.

(Speaker 1)
But to get that idea sold, to have people understand it, what he said was, you first got to knock out the enemy. So they purposely went out and creative advertising is our enemy. Not so much because they hated it or didn’t like it. It was because that had to be the strategic enemy of positioning. Because creative advertising said, well, all you need is a nice product or service and use the creativity of your advertising to sell it.

(Speaker 1)
And my dad said, no, no. The idea of positioning is, no, you have to craft your message so that it’ll be accepted into the mind. So the concept of the idea and the differentiation from your competitor was essential. And so that, you know, that just was like home run. I wish my dad was here to read it, but I think he would really love it because I listened, right? I listened to all of his stories.

(Speaker 1)
And that kind of just was magical.

(Speaker 2)
Now, Laura, in your book here, there’s just so much information. I’m sure your dad would absolutely be beyond proud to read this book here. Again, I’m pulling up on Amazon so we can see it, The Strategic Enemy, How to Build and Position a Brand Worth Fighting For. Again, this book, folks, it’s page after page after page of practical knowledge you do not get, but you should get in business college. This book is endorsed by Seth Godin. Someone says, Seth Godin?

(Speaker 2)
Yeah, the author of The Purple Cow, the legendary marketing guru. This book is endorsed by Seth Godin and many others. But if you’re watching today’s show, I want you to understand in this book There are pages and pages of powerful content, but we only have Laura for a half hour So I’m gonna get back into my questions. I have here for you. Next question is we talked about Building a brand. I think there’s somebody watching today’s show.

(Speaker 2)
They’re a plumbers. They’re a plumber. They’re a doctor. They’re a dentist They own a cheerleading gym. They’re a pizzeria. They’re a sandwich shop.

(Speaker 2)
They’re a home remodeler. They’re going Okay, what step one step two step three if I’m trying to build a brand from the ground up? What would be some of the practical? action steps that you might teach in your new book?

(Speaker 1)
Sure. Well, I mean, as we talked about, the category is essential. So figuring out what category you want to be in, and perhaps you can establish by being the first in something. So for example, in a pizzeria, you have location is super important. So maybe there’s not a Neapolitan style pizzeria in town, and you can be the first you can focus on and say, all the other places aren’t real, aren’t authentic. Or, you know, family style, whatever it is, some sort of way to be different that you can, again, people are more excited about the category than just your name, Joe’s Pizzeria.

(Speaker 1)
In the end, they will talk about Joe’s because they’re excited about that category. So really thinking about the category and then thinking about who’s the enemy of this category, right? What are we going against? What are people not gonna do because they come here? And two, when you think about your business, you do not have to promote anything everything you do and everything you sell. This is not like having kids.

(Speaker 1)
When you have kids, you should pay attention to all of your kids, hopefully about equal, right? When it comes to your business, forget it. Look at that one service, that one product, that’s the winner and spend all your time there because your job is to get them in the door. Once they’re in the door, you can sell them some other stuff. But what’s that one thing to get them in the door? I get drives me nuts with Smoothie King.

(Speaker 1)
What did Smoothie King do? I mean, they reinvented the smoothie. They came up with this concept and built a very powerful brand, has expanded. They refocused on healthy about a decade ago, sales boomed. And then they come out with two things. One, smoothies in a bowl.

(Speaker 1)
Hello, a spoon is the enemy here. But not only that, the thing is, once they added the smoothie bowls, All of a sudden the billboards are about bowls and the, you know, the in -store posters are all about bowls.

(Speaker 35)
Get it.

(Speaker 1)
So you sell a few bowls, but you promote your big idea. That smoothies with a straw, this nutritious, easy, convenient. And lately now they’re adding toast, like avocado toast, forget it. Increase what’s the most successful thing for your business is finding that one thing, finding that difference, and then staying focused on that and expanding interest in it. And I think you’ll find that more people will do that when they know you’re the specialist. And yeah, if you have a few other things things on the menu, but don’t go out of your way to promote them.

(Speaker 1)
And don’t go out of your way of looking for more things to add. Look, McDonald’s has been spending decades adding more things to the menu. It hasn’t increased the store revenue per se. I mean, look at, you know, In -N -Out Burger. They have stuck to, what, the basic menu McDonald’s had at the beginning, yet they do incredibly well and are incredibly profitable too.

(Speaker 2)
Now, in your book, again, this idea of finding a strategic enemy in your book, it’s just jam packed with examples. But I wanted to, as an interviewer, folks, I’m not supposed to ask three part questions or two part questions. So I’m going to ask a four part question just to see what happens. You know, you talk about how skims are was able to differentiate itself. You talk about how Uber was able to differentiate itself. Chick -fil -A was able to differentiate itself.

(Speaker 2)
I’d love if you could just kind of walk us through the commonalities between Skims, Uber, Chick -fil -A, these common denominators that anybody watching this show can implement in their business.

(Speaker 1)
First and foremost, they said no. They said no to something. That’s often a very good way to find your focus and find your enemy. So we go back to Chick -fil -A. What did they do? They said no to hamburgers.

(Speaker 1)
I mean, that was the trend, but they said, no, we’re going to focus on the chicken sandwich. They were the first fried chicken sandwich restaurant. They also said no to being open on Sundays.

(Speaker 34)
Whoa.

(Speaker 1)
Can you believe that? But they stuck to it. And it’s really become the lore of the company of giving their employees Sundays off. And I really applaud them for that. And so saying no is often a very good strategy. Also being different.

(Speaker 1)
So, you know, Spanx pioneered the idea of the shapewear revolution, right? No panty lines, Sarah Blakely, one of my hometown heroes here in Atlanta, brilliant idea of, you know, footless pantyhose. And that category, you know, took off an incredible success. But what was Spanx? It was beige. But what we what do we know?

(Speaker 1)
Not all people are beige. And one of them is Kim Kardashian, who just so happens was also a fan of wearing these kind of shape wears. But she couldn’t get the tone to match her skin because you wouldn’t know. But it looks best if it kind of matches whatever skin tone you have. So she was busy trying to, you know, craft her own thing. She was putting the Spanx and with tea bags and coffee grinds in her sink.

(Speaker 1)
And that became a four billion dollar business by being with inclusive colors, inclusive sizing, offering something that Spanx did not, doing it in a new way for the new generation. There’s always an opportunity. You know what kids like to do. They like to rebel against their parents. And so, you know, Skims and of course, Kim Kardashian could probably sell ice to the Eskimos, but you know, she’s endorsed many things over the years, but this really is true to her brand. And she, of course, is investing her full heart in it.

(Speaker 1)
And, you know, you can’t give me too many things. I forgot the third one.

(Speaker 2)
No, this is good. See, folks, this is what I shouldn’t do as an interview. You’re not supposed to ask somebody a two part or a three part or a five part question. But you know, in your book, you’re talking about skims. You’re talking about Uber. There’s so much in there was so limited.

(Speaker 2)
So it’s limited time here. So tell me about Uber.

(Speaker 1)
Yes, of course. Uber is great. Because do you know what the original name was? It was called uber cab, they bought uber cab calm brilliant idea you know what if you could you know they couldn’t find a taxi in Paris, what if you could request a ride on the phone this is at the dawn of the iPhone so idea off the start, but they got the name wrong initially. Uber cab, well that, how can you, who’s the enemy then, right?

(Speaker 1)
The enemy had to be taxicabs. And it just so happens, sometimes you’re not brilliant. Sometimes success comes at the, with a process server. So the, San Francisco Transportation Authority said, you can’t use cab in your name. You’re going to mislead people that you’re a taxicab company. And they said, oh, yeah, we’ll just take it out of their name.

(Speaker 1)
And they had a better name, Uber. And now Uber could go strike strongly against taxicabs with which they identified the enemy. established the category and has built a powerful brand. Same thing with Airbnb, who was their enemy? Clearly, hotels. Very powerful position when you are the pioneer in a new category, and that starts from zero.

(Speaker 1)
Entrepreneurs out there, the world is your oyster, because big companies, they don’t often have the cojones to do these things, to start something from scratch, to be brave, and to, in some cases, take on themselves.

(Speaker 2)
So if I’m watching this show right now, and I’m thinking about buying your book, I’m thinking about, you know, should I buy a book that could change my life? Should I pick up a copy of The Strategic Enemy? Should I do it? Should I, and I’ll pull it up here, folks, we can look at it, because someone’s thinking, should I buy this, or should I go buy a regrettable burrito from a convenience store? Should I buy this, or should I download yet again another song from iTunes that I probably will listen to once? Should I buy this book, or should I randomly invest in one beverage at a professional sporting event.

(Speaker 2)
Should I buy this book that could change my life or should I not? So what do you say to anybody out there that’s thinking about, they’re kind of on the fence, thinking about buying The Strategic Enemy. Why should everybody check out your new book?

(Speaker 1)
They need to buy this book because they need to strengthen their brand. And it’s entertaining.

(Speaker 23)
It’s

(Speaker 1)
fun. You know, everyone is excited about branding. It’s like Super Bowl Sunday, right? We all want to learn about it, understand it, learn why. Coca -Cola life was a big failure. Learn why when Coca -Cola united Coke and Coke Zero, that was a good idea.

(Speaker 1)
And why second brands can be enormously successful like Gap and Old Navy. The stories are what really bring the ideas and the philosophy to life, as well as I feel truly, you know, part of my mission is to make people feel they can do it and give them the tools and to show them it’s not that hard. It just takes, you know, being, you know, oversimplifying things, getting rid of what doesn’t work, saying no to something and doing more of what is working. And it’s really a lot of fun.

(Speaker 2)
Now, you do a lot of interviews with a lot of really talented hosts, and so I want to ask you this. You probably get off an interview from time to time and you think, you know, I wish they would have asked me this. Why did he ask me a four -part question? What kind of a sicko? Why is he so pale? But I’m going to give you the floor here.

(Speaker 2)
What’s the one thing that you maybe wished I would have asked, or maybe the one question that you wish that podcasters would ask you? Because again, your book is so filled with knowledge, and so are you. What’s maybe the question that I should have asked on today’s show?

(Speaker 1)
Gosh, you know, I must say, and I’m not trying to suck up, but you do a really good job. I think you’ve gotten to the heart of things, but you didn’t ask where my website is. So I will tell you that it’s Reese . com and it’s R -I -E -S, not easy to spell, but I’ve got a story about that for next time. But yes, no, it has been such a pleasure. I love talking about what my joy is and positioning and the strategic enemy and also the visual hammer.

(Speaker 1)
So don’t forget those visuals. That’s what drives in your brand positioning into the mind.

(Speaker 2)
I’m going to pull this up real quick here, folks. Let me get this website. Look at this, folks. How could I not pull up the website? It’s Reese . com.

(Speaker 17)
That’s the website.

(Speaker 2)
Reese .

(Speaker 1)
R com.

(Speaker 2)
R -I -E -S . com. I before E. I before E. You don’t remember your schooling. R -I -E -S . com. And for anybody out there that’s attempting to take notes while navigating down a gravel road, taking notes with an Etch -A -Sketch, that’s R -I -E -S .

(Speaker 1)
com.

(Speaker 2)
For anybody who’s parasailing right now, trying to take mental notes, that’s R -I -E -S .

(Speaker 6)
com.

(Speaker 9)
Laura Reese, thank you so much for your time, for your energy, for your knowledge.

(Speaker 11)
I really do appreciate you imparting some wisdom to myself and our listeners. Thank you.

(Speaker 6)
Yes, it’s been so much fun. Talk to you soon. Bye bye. But Clay Clark, man, he is one character. It’s a good word for character. Yeah, that is it.

(Speaker 6)
Good, driven, smart. And I’ve never met a guy who was so hyper all the time.

(Speaker 11)
He’s doing so much good. And then I met his mother and she just says she just lets him be Clay Clark. I mean, so, you know, he’s endorsed by his mother.

(Speaker 5)
And he’s doing magnificent work. So it was great meeting you out there and all the people that he surrounds himself with. His clay Clark starts his days at five o ‘clock in the morning.

(Speaker 6)
Oh, it’s incredible.

(Speaker 8)
Yeah, he’s, he’s like, he’s, he’s a machine.

(Speaker 2)
He’s a machine. But his, you know, I could, I have problems with my company starting at nine o ‘clock.

(Speaker 3)
Yes. Hundreds of people showing up at 5am in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Man, he’s a leader of a leader. He’s a fantastic young man. No, he is. Do you remember when we first met or connected or what happened there?

(Speaker 3)
You remember that thing? I do.

(Speaker 2)
It was at the other building.

(Speaker 22)
I replied to a Facebook ad.

(Speaker 4)
You called me. I came over.

(Speaker 33)
You talked so fast.

(Speaker 2)
and he said, so what do you think?

(Speaker 32)
And I’m like, let’s do it.

(Speaker 31)
Now, Karen, this is your first time at the conference, right?

(Speaker 4)
First time?

(Speaker 2)
Yes. How’s it going? Is it terrible?

(Speaker 4)
I’m sorry.

(Speaker 3)
How you doing?

(Speaker 4)
It’s great.

(Speaker 3)
Good? Great. And we’ve worked with you guys for a period of years, and you’ve grown quite a bit.

(Speaker 2)
From your perspective as a wife, working your husband -wife team, how has it impacted you, what we do here, you guys, just so they can hear? Because you’ve gone through the process.

(Speaker 30)
I gotta think about this a minute.

(Speaker 4)
I can say it. Go ahead. Can I speak for you? Can I speak for you? I will say that she has told me several times, since you have signed up with Thrive Time and Clay, you’re a completely different business owner, you’re a completely different man, a completely different person, and so you do not have my permission to ever leave Clay. So that’s – Let’s hear Karen can share the truth.

(Speaker 4)
Karen will be like, you’re different in a bad way. No. Things have gone wrong. It changed the whole, everything that we thought our business was, it’s completely different now since he has started coming here.

(Speaker 2)
His whole mindset changed.

(Speaker 4)
His whole mindset changed about the company.

(Speaker 24)
His whole mindset changed with us.

(Speaker 4)
It just, everything changed. Just like something clicked and he was excited about the business again.

(Speaker 2)
And it’s been amazing.

(Speaker 24)
And at first I was like, we’re spending what, a month on this?

(Speaker 4)
And now I wouldn’t change it ever.

(Speaker 2)
I hope he stays and keeps coming as long as we keep the business. And you guys, this is your first time coming to a conference. Yes, it is.

(Speaker 4)
How’s it going? You’ll never know, not know my name, that’s for sure.

(Speaker 2)
And Karen’s a pretty good name. Yeah, we gotta rebrand it. We’re working on it. Yeah, thanks. Yeah, we’re gonna really take Carl and make it negative. We’ll make Karen good.

(Speaker 2)
Okay, but it’s been a good thing for you guys? It’s been amazing.

(Speaker 26)
It’s been an amazing, amazing ride.

(Speaker 20)
And so we’re meeting with you, though.

(Speaker 22)
We have our weekly meetings.

(Speaker 20)
And in that meeting, Andrew is working with you.

(Speaker 29)
And having someone that’s just focused on you and your business and getting through your problems, that’s why you have a calendar, because you want to block out time for what matters.

(Speaker 2)
And then that means saying no to other stuff.

(Speaker 3)
Can you talk about that, Kevin, just blocking out that time to work on your business?

(Speaker 2)
Thank you.

(Speaker 28)
Let’s hear it for Karen, by the way.

(Speaker 3)
Let’s hear it for Karen. Thank you, Karen. Thank you. Keep her up here. OK, yeah. What’s it like blocking out time?

(Speaker 3)
Blocking out time for the weekly meeting?

(Speaker 2)
Yeah, just blocking out time to work on your business.

(Speaker 3)
Yeah.

(Speaker 2)
There’s a lot of times when I’m at the office, because I speak so highly of Clay and everything I’m going through, there’s several people in the office that will ask me, hey, Kevin, are you working in the business? Are you working on the business right now? And that’s my sales team, my general manager, and they try to keep me accountable. And so I’m like, you know, I’m working in the business, aren’t I? And they’re like, yes, you’re working in the business and you need to stop, because that’s our job. you need to work on the business.

(Speaker 2)
So sometimes I just get away, go to Panera for four or five hours, and I work on the business. Which Panera do you go to? Panera on Memorial. Vanessa can vouch for this. There was a time in my life we had one car, because we sold the car because we couldn’t afford to get our business going. So we sold the Acclaim.

(Speaker 2)
It was the white Acclaim. And we had a Mazda MPV with 200 ,000 miles on it. And so it was when I went full -time for the DJ business. So Vanessa would pick up the car. Depot, and then she worked at ORU, and she’d drop me off at Panera Bread at like 6 a .m.,

(Speaker 19)
m.

(Speaker 3)
, and the manager there, his name was Fareed Hussain, who now sells mortgages, and I would walk in, because they would open up, I think it was at 6 at the time, and Fareed would go, the DJ has entered the building, on the mic. Because I wouldn’t leave till like eight o ‘clock because that was my office was Panera and his evil, evil boss, Sherry, who I’m sure she’s a great lady. Sherry was like, you have to buy something, sir. And I’m going, fine, Sherry. So every hour I would buy something. And I would stay there for the whole day, but I needed a different environment.

(Speaker 3)
And why I’m hammering this is you say you go to Panera, we’ve never talked about that, but you need a different environment to get out of the daily. Why? Why do you need a different environment? I needed a different environment.

(Speaker 2)
Why did you need a different environment too? I know that if I’m in my office, everybody wants, hey, can I have just a minute? Just a quick minute.

(Speaker 27)
Just a minute.

(Speaker 26)
Hey, can I run something by you?

(Speaker 8)
And when I go to Panera, and I usually will buy a tea. Oh, yeah. And I make sure I set it out so they see it.

(Speaker 2)
They know you’re not just loitering. And I sit there, and it’s amazing. I have my laptop, my phone, and it’s amazing what I can get done when I’m away from the office. And you got, again, Kevin now has 350 plus employees. He and his wife have 350 plus employees. I mean, it’s a big thing now.

(Speaker 2)
Stairs, next question. I’m going to keep you up here for just a second. Next question. Next question, Clay. We answered this just a moment ago, but I wanted to say it again. Who can I trust for product inventions?

(Speaker 2)
And what about Pat?

(Speaker 10)
Well, what you’ll want to do, again, is read the Inventors Guidebook by Maurice Kanbar, OK?

(Speaker 2)
And you want to make a prototype.

(Speaker 13)
Now, Greg, there are things that you can make that people don’t want to buy and things you can make that people do want to buy.

(Speaker 2)
Right now, what are the things, if people look you up right now, what’s going to do is Google search for glue Let’s do a search for Tulsa wood floors and more.

(Speaker 8)
That’s where you’re at.

(Speaker 2)
Tulsa wood floors and more.

(Speaker 10)
That’s your Google map.

(Speaker 2)
Tulsa wood floors and more.

(Speaker 25)
We’ll pull it up real quick, Sean.

(Speaker 22)
What are the things that people want to buy from you right now?

(Speaker 10)
Mostly wood flooring, solid wood flooring.

(Speaker 2)
It’s just a very popular thing right now. What are things they don’t want to buy from you but you would like to make?

(Speaker 24)
Candlestick holders.

(Speaker 2)
Seriously, what are things you like to do but no one asks for it?

(Speaker 22)
I like to make stuff like this furniture and things like that, but it’s not…

(Speaker 2)
Which furniture here did you make? I made About ten of these tables.

(Speaker 23)
You made this table?

(Speaker 10)
Yes.

(Speaker 2)
Which other table did you make?

(Speaker 18)
The one down at the end.

(Speaker 2)
You made the tables? Look at this. I made the third row of tables. So you made the tables? Yes. We were talking about tables.

(Speaker 2)
I’m like, dude, i’ll take ten tables.

(Speaker 15)
Chairs.

(Speaker 17)
I made all the chairs outside.

(Speaker 2)
I’m saying this because if you Have a product, you need to make it first. Then you have a prototype. Then you want to sell it. And the idea that someone’s going to steal your idea really doesn’t matter, nor does it matter if someone steals your idea if you’re not selling anything. So you want to sell something and then use the profits from the thing to file for the patent pending. But don’t get the patent pending before you try to sell it.

(Speaker 2)
Are we on the same page? Who cares if they steal your idea? Because most ideas aren’t acted upon.

(Speaker 8)
They’re just worthless.

(Speaker 2)
Next.

(Speaker 6)
That urinal, by the way, that urinal’s a little bit of a sprayer.

(Speaker 2)
Who’s experienced that urinal? You’ve got to run away from that thing. You flush that thing, and you’ve got to run. But it’s a beer keg. It’s a beer. I’m always interested.

(Speaker 2)
By the way, there’s a urinal I’m working on getting right now, and I haven’t found it yet. Stairs, have I talked about the pea game? Yes, you have. Sean, will you pull up the pea game? Wasn’t it at a restaurant somewhere? Bird, remember we talked about the pea game?

(Speaker 2)
Pastor Brian, Pastor Brian is a client of ours. He invites me to Amarillo, Texas. He says, you need to come to our church. And I said, super great.

(Speaker 3)
He goes, dude, you’re going to love this restaurant.

(Speaker 2)
So we go to the restaurant, and I think they had quail and other things that Vanessa would not eat anything on the menu.

(Speaker 3)
You remember this?

(Speaker 2)
We’re in Amarillo and Pastor Brian is like, you’re gonna love this restaurant, dude. It’s awesome. And I know my wife, she’s a kind of a foodie, kind of a picky person. The carrots can’t touch the meat. kind of a person, you know? And so we’re there and Brian’s like, dude, this restaurant.

(Speaker 2)
Have you been to Charleston’s? You guys have been to Charleston’s? Yes. Do you remember the place in Tulsa that was like the hound, the fox and the hound?

(Speaker 22)
Yes, 71st and Garnett.

(Speaker 2)
Fox and the Hound isn’t around so I can speak about it. It’s not, it wasn’t super great, it wasn’t terrible, but it was okay. Picture in your mind an okay restaurant, okay? But this place is packed on a Sunday, and Pastor Brian says, dude, you’re gonna love this restaurant. So we go there, and I’m trying to figure out, why is this place packed? The food’s not that great, the decor’s not that awesome, but there’s an energy in here that feels like we’re watching the Super Bowl.

(Speaker 2)
And he says, have you gone to the bathroom yet? Like your grandma asks you, have you gone yet? And I’m going, Brian, I am a 35 -year -old man. I need to go to the bathroom. He’s like, have you gone yet? Have you gone? I haven’t gone.

(Speaker 2)
He keeps asking me. And I’m like, fine, I’ll go to the bathroom. If that’s what makes you stop asking, I’ll go.

(Speaker 10)
So I go to the bathroom. And there’s dudes at the urinal going, dude, you can do it. You can do it.

(Speaker 2)
Because it’s a urine -activated Gallagher. And you can only shoot if you’re urinating. And so the move is, it was located next to a Catholic church.

(Speaker 19)
So guys finish church, and they drink beer until they’re, and now I get the game.

(Speaker 9)
So people are at the bar pounding beer, and they have to pee, but they’re not gonna go, because they don’t want to waste their shots. And then you go in there, and whoever sets the record gets their meal. Free.

(Speaker 21)
And it’s something people do every day.

(Speaker 20)
When I first started coming here, I got so frustrated because in the urinal was a little soccer net and a soccer ball.

(Speaker 10)
Careful.

(Speaker 2)
And I could get the ball in the net, but I want to know how to get it out. Because there’s only one way. This is the technology. For some reason, they don’t sell it anymore. This is the company. Crank it up, Sean.

(Speaker 2)
…bar in London installed urine -controlled video games above their urinals. Bladder controllers make for a hands -free experience, and visitors to the bar are tested on the accuracy of their aim. Never has Nintendo Wii sounded more apt, and the bar’s owner… Nintendo Wii. And they had like a tank game.

(Speaker 19)
Hands -free experience.

(Speaker 2)
They had a tank game, and they had a skiing game.

(Speaker 16)
And I’m like, I need that, but I can’t find it.

(Speaker 8)
So just so you know, on my Christmas list, I’m trying to get that for the bathroom, because I think it’s going to change the energy in here when you guys come out feeling like winners, and no one can relate to you. The women are like, why is this guy winning? You go in kind of depressed, you come out a winner, and then no one will know, except for me, what happened in there. So that’s what I’m trying to buy. But right now, they’re sold out, or they’re out of business, or some stupid story. It will not be stopped.

(Speaker 2)
Also, the Blockbuster sign. You guys see the Blockbuster sign?

(Speaker 18)
That was another thing we needed to get.

(Speaker 2)
We got it. OK, Stairs, next one. Good deal.

(Speaker 3)
Clay, let’s see.

(Speaker 2)
I’ve got a podcast and a startup.

(Speaker 17)
They are not related to each other at all.

(Speaker 2)
Let’s see.

(Speaker 4)
Started the podcast seven months ago.

(Speaker 2)
How do I grow the podcast while also aim to grow my startup?

(Speaker 16)
Let’s talk about the podcast first.

(Speaker 3)
Who asked that question?

(Speaker 4)
Podcast.

(Speaker 8)
Hello, can you come up here real quick here?

(Speaker 15)
And I’m gonna pick on you and you for the same idea, and then maybe your wife can chime in for what really happened.

(Speaker 14)
When you started MultiClean, when was that?

(Speaker 8)
93.

(Speaker 2)
Were you guys together at the time? No.

(Speaker 3)
No? And so when you met this guy, were you like, man, this guy’s the janitor king, I wanna marry this guy, or how did that? Customer at the bank that I managed. He was a customer at the bank? Mm -hmm. And you knew he ran this business?

(Speaker 3)
Yeah, and I checked out the accounts to see, is that the right? No. Oh, yeah. He’s smooth. So that’s how that works. Okay.

(Speaker 3)
And so I, this is real though. So you, you had this idea and when did you and your mind, Kevin said, this is a real business. Well, my, my original goal, I knew that if, if I, if I say I made it, uh, my goal was five employees. My name is Kevin Thomas and the name of our company is multi clean. We are a commercial. janitorial service and we serve the entire state of Oklahoma and Kansas and soon to be Arkansas.

(Speaker 2)
We have probably grown probably five times. We’ve added, I think when we first started with you, we had 60 to 65 employees and now we have a little over 300 employees. Before we got involved with Thrive Time, we didn’t really have any systems or processes in place. I’ve probably been to Oh, in six, seven years, I’ve probably been to 12 to 13 business conferences. And amazingly, each time I go, I learn something new. And I’m so excited to bring it back and, and show the team about marketing and how to implement how to help you guys implement the SEO.

(Speaker 2)
And the coaching is just great because there’s accountability. And it’s just a fantastic way to to grow your company.

(Speaker 3)
Having a relationship with Thrive Time is It’s just been amazing for MultiClean. Oh my goodness, it frees me up because then I don’t have to take a class on search engine optimization or learn marketing or shoot video.

(Speaker 2)
That’s not what we do.

(Speaker 3)
What we do is commercial janitorial service and you guys are the experts on marketing and you teach me and hold my hand and show me how to do it right.

(Speaker 2)
And therefore, now my company is much, much larger.

(Speaker 3)
Folks, on today’s show, we’re joined by a real client.

(Speaker 2)
He may look like a male model. He may look like a hologram, but he’s a real person. He’s a longtime client. He’s a man that we consider to be a friend of The Thrive Time Show and a friend of mine. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the show, Kevin. Welcome on to The Thrive Time Show.

(Speaker 2)
How are you, sir? Clay, I’m doing great.

(Speaker 13)
I had a great Christmas holiday, and I’m glad to be here.

(Speaker 2)
OK, so first question, can you tell us what is your name, first and last name, and what’s the name of your company, sir? My name is Kevin Thomas, and the name of our company is MultiClean. We are a commercial janitorial service, and we serve the entire state of Oklahoma and Kansas, and soon to be Arkansas. And how long have we worked with you approximately at this point, sir? It’s been about six, seven years. And so many people reach out to me. I mean, literally every day.

(Speaker 2)
I just talked to a woman this morning. We get 10 to 20 people a day that reach out wanting to see if we can help them grow their companies. And we only work with 160 clients.

(Speaker 3)
And I do that because I want to only work with people that are super coachable. And so this woman on the call today was asking me, she said, well, What’s the most important thing that you do, that you have to do to grow your company? And I was telling her, I said, that’s kind of like asking a skilled chef, what’s the most important ingredient to make great cookies? Is it flour? Is it eggs? Is it butter?

(Speaker 3)
It’s like asking a home builder, what’s the most important component to building a house? Is it the footings? Is it the frame? Is it the concrete? That’s like asking, maybe it’s a great question, but really, it’s all of it. And so I really wanted to talk to you today about all of it, implementing all of it.

growing MultiClean, how we’ve been able to do it. So first off, could you share what it’s like to have a coach that works with you every week, who’s committed to helping you improve your business by one or 2 % every week? Well, Andrew is my coach. And the great thing about having him as the coach is he keeps me accountable. Because sometimes when you’re the owner, there’s no one to be accountable to. And he keeps me on track.

He keeps me tracking sales, tracking wins. If we have a loss, he helps me figure out what happened. He just keeps me being consistent with our processes, with our systems, which before we got involved with Thrive Time, we didn’t really have any systems or processes in place.

Transcribed with Cockatoo