Spagnola’s automotive journey began from an obsession with the sounds, sights and smells of muscle cars rumbling past his childhood home. His career was then ignited by a $200 scholarship from industry legend Mickey Thompson, which he won as the top student in his high school auto shop class.

Before leading SEMA, Spagnola spent decades in the trenches of the automotive industry, most notably by building Street Scene, a business that became a fixture in the lowered-truck, muscle-car and tuner market. On this episode of the “Only The Strong Survive” podcast, Spagnola shares with host Dan Kahn the vital role SEMA plays in the automotive aftermarket industry and what he has learned from his many years in the business.

Click on the icon above to listen to the entire episode, and here are our five top takeaways:

• Advocacy for the industry isn’t flashy, but it is vital.

• You have to make your “tent” bigger.

• At the SEMA Show, it is about finding a balance between B2B and consumer audiences.

• Learning to delegate is a powerful skill.

• A shared passion can bond anyone.

Advocating For and Protecting the Industry

One of SEMA’s most critical functions is its extensive advocacy for the industry in Washington, D.C. The organization has tripled its government relations budget to protect enthusiasts’ rights to modify their vehicles and access to public lands for recreation. While it might not get as much attention as the SEMA Show, doing so is vital for the industry’s future.

“We have to stand up for our rights to continue to be able to modify, continue to be able to do off-roading and continue to be able to have racetracks available,” said Spagnola. “In the off-road community, they say, ‘No trails, no sales.’ It is more than just protecting trails; it is really protecting that lifestyle.”

Expanding SEMA’s Tent

Under Spagnola’s leadership, SEMA is actively expanding its reach into the powersports and the off-road lifestyle markets. By bringing these segments further under the SEMA “tent,” the organization hopes to provide better representation and protection for all forms of motorized recreation. SEMA’s recent purchase of the Off-Road Business Association (ORBA) and the inclusion of side-by-sides at the upcoming SEMA Show are a reflection of its commitment.

“Through the purchase of ORBA and some of the other things we are doing, we are really paying attention to the whole off-road community now,” said Spagnola. “We want to make sure they are protected, and we want to see them grow. We are going to be doing a lot of work this year at the SEMA Show and are doing a full powersports area and starting to grow West Hall with trucks, off-road trucks and side-by-sides.”

The Evolution of the SEMA Show

The SEMA Show is easily the largest gathering of the automotive aftermarket industry in the world. However, there has always been a struggle with whether the show should be strictly business-to-business or more consumer-facing. For Spagnola, it is about balancing the needs of all SEMA members while continuing to evolve the show.

“There are still lots of mom-and-pop guys that come to the SEMA Show every year, so we need that business-to-business connection,” said Spagnola. “A lot of people now are just looking for eyeballs and branding. They just want to make sure that the consumer sees them and knows them. If you take a Meguiar’s or even Ford Motor Company, they want to see consumers and show their products to them. So you do need a consumer side, which is what we do now on Fridays and with the outdoor activities.”

Don’t Be Afraid to Delegate

Reflecting on his career, Spagnola identified delegation as one of his greatest early challenges. Early on, he believed in leading by doing every task himself, but he eventually realized the value of empowering his team. He now focuses on providing support and encouragement rather than trying to be “the guy that’s the best at everything.”

“I really had to learn to delegate. I really had to learn to trust. I really had to learn to surround myself with the best people,” said Spagnola. “That even involves your ego sometimes, with saying that you are going to let them do it to the best of their ability and trust them to do it and continue to trust them until there is a reason not to.”

We All Share a Passion

It is not hyperbole to say that we live in extremely polarized times. However, one thing that unites many people, regardless of who they are or where they live, is a shared passion for cars. No matter where Spagnola travels across the world, he always seems to find and form a bond with other car people.

“I’ve said for years I think we could solve world peace if we just talked cars,” said Spagnola. “We find each other, and we share that love and that passion that, I don’t know if I can put the right words together, but you just start to smile and chuckle and find this common ground. People can be so polarized today, yet when you start talking about cars and who they are and what they drive, it’s just fun. It’s just cool”.

We loved this conversation so much that we decided to release it on our podcast. Here were our biggest takeaways from the conversation.

Why Video Matters More Than Ever

Brands are no longer just competing with each other. They are competing for attention in a landscape shaped by creators, algorithms and constant scrolling.

The takeaway: Success doesn’t come from doing more content. It comes from creating the right videos for the right audience, platform and purpose.

For brands getting started, that means understanding who you are, who your audience is and what kind of story only your brand can tell. After that, build content that is authentic, manageable and designed to connect.

Start With Identity, Not Trends

A key theme from the discussion was the importance of starting with an identity. For legacy brands like the NHRA, that means understanding the history and foundation that shaped the brand, then translating it into modern formats.

The framework is simple: Start with your history, your brand identity and your audience, then build content that clearly connects all three.

Each piece of content should also have a defined role. Too often, brands try to make everything do everything, instead of being intentional about what each post is meant to accomplish.

Different Platforms Need Different Strategies

One of the most practical takeaways was the need for platform-specific thinking. You cannot treat every channel the same.

Content built for YouTube will not automatically work on Instagram, and vertical social content will not translate into long-form content. Yet many brands still create one asset and push it everywhere, leading to underperformance.

The better approach is to plan distribution early and build content for how people actually consume it on each platform.

Video Should Drive Behavior, Not Just Views

Another standout insight was the importance of focusing on behavior. For NHRA, success is not just about views. It is about getting people to attend events, engage with the sport and become part of the community.

For marketers, this reframes success. Instead of focusing on impressions, the question becomes whether content is driving action, whether that is engagement, sharing, exploration or long-term loyalty.

Those are the signals that build real momentum.

Authenticity Still Wins

Authenticity came up repeatedly throughout the Growth Garage discussion. Audiences can quickly tell when content feels forced, trend-driven or disconnected from the brand.

The panel pushed back on the idea of “going viral,” emphasizing that strong content comes from clarity and consistency, not chasing reach.

At the end of the day, brands need to show up in a way that feels natural to both the platform and their identity.

How to Know if Your Strategy is Working

While metrics like views, watch time and shares matter, they only tell part of the story.

The stronger signal is sentiment. How people respond to your content, whether they engage meaningfully, share it or come back for more, is a better indicator of impact than surface-level numbers.

Content that sparks real interaction and community is a sign that it is resonating.

Before the Camera Rolls, Get Clear on the Goal

Strong video content starts before production. Brands need clarity on the goal, the audience, the platform and what success looks like before anything is shot. The more clearly the story is defined upfront, the easier it is to execute effectively.

When content is built with that level of intention, it performs better and delivers more value.

The Hook Matters but So Does the Experience

The first few seconds still matter. Attention is earned quickly and lost just as fast.

But effective hooks are not about gimmicks. They are about creating immediate interest and pulling the viewer into the experience in a way that feels natural.

If the content makes the audience feel like they are part of the moment, it is far more likely to hold attention.

The Big Takeaway

The clearest message from this session was that effective video content starts with intention. The brands getting it right are not chasing every trend, reposting the same asset across every platform or optimizing for vanity metrics. They are creating content with a clear purpose, a strong understanding of their audience and a thoughtful approach to where and how that content appears.

That is the real attention shift. Attention is no longer something brands can assume they will get. It has to be earned through relevance, clarity and authenticity.

When video is built that way, it becomes one of the most powerful tools a brand has to capture attention, build connection and drive action.

Click on the icon above to listen to the entire episode, and here are our top five takeaways:

• The trades offer great career paths for neurodivergent individuals.
  

• Changing the traditional educational model to better fit the needs of TACT’s students required radically different thinking.
  

• Creating TACT required a “just do it” mentality but also the right team.
  

• The focus and loyalty of neurodivergent people can make them ideal employees.
  

• It is time for business owners to question the narrative built around autism.
  

There is a lot of Opportunity in the Trades (Especially for Neurodivergent People)
The massive increase in college costs and the rise of AI have led many people to consider vocational opportunities instead. With the previous focus on jobs that require degrees, there are also many unfilled jobs in the trades. These facts align perfectly with TACT’s mission and are a huge benefit for its neurodivergent students who might not thrive in a traditional college setting.

“The trades offer so many opportunities. I think part of the reason TACT has such a high placement rate is that those businesses (in the trades) are seeing how talented our kids are. They are recognizing that, oh my gosh, this is an untapped talent pool,” said Danny.

“When TACT started, it was me driving around in a ’58 Chevy, pretty much begging them to hire our graduates and look at all the things they can do. Now they come to us.”

A Shift in Thinking
Founding TACT required some significant shifts in thinking. First, Danny wanted to create an organization that focused on the abilities of autistic individuals instead of their supposed deficits. He also wanted to abandon the traditional time-based educational model, where people spend a fixed amount of time in programs before advancing. Both shifts played key roles in the success of TACT and its students.

“At TACT, it is competency-based rather than timetable-based. So you and I went to high school for four years, and if we went to college, it was for four years. If you ask any educator why it is four years, nobody knows,” said Danny. “It seems to be this arbitrary number that we have come up with. But if you can do the job and you can develop the skills, why can't you just move along at that point?”

Just Do It
Creating TACT seemed like a giant undertaking, but Danny’s advice for anyone considering something similar is to just do it. While he threw himself at TACT with an almost reckless abandon out of sheer passion, he was smart enough to surround himself with the right people. Recognizing where he needed help was key to TACT’s survival and success.

“It (starting TACT) was very, I wouldn’t say foolish or reckless, but more like a dad throwing everything into it and just going for it,” said Danny. “My education and trade background helped, but I had never written a grant before and didn't understand how it worked. Or how it works with the state and federal governments. I surrounded myself with people who did know all of that, and thankfully, those people have always ensured everything we do is very much above board.”

Locked In and Loyal
Many neurodivergent individuals possess a unique skill sorely missing from much of today’s workforce: the ability to focus completely on a task until it is done. They are also highly appreciative of those who hire them and stay loyal to those employers. These facts can make them extremely talented and valuable employees.

“When you look at our graduates, they are on task. They do not want to talk about what they saw on Facebook, what they did at the bar last night or who won the Broncos’ game. They want to work. That is what they want to do, and they are there to work,” said Danny. “Likewise, they are incredibly loyal. Once they get placed, they are not looking to go to the

shop across the street for a quarter more because they are happy and feel valued and respected.”

Questioning the Narrative
For business owners thinking of employing neurodivergent individuals, Danny notes that it is important to question the traditional narrative built around autism. By doing that and keeping an open mind, they can wind up with an awesome employee. Hiring someone with autism also isn’t just for charity, as they can make as big an impact on your business as you do on their lives.

“I would encourage people to have an open mind and question the narrative that a lot of us have learned about autism. I would guess that when a lot of people hear the word 'autism,' they think it is a bad thing. That is what I thought when my son was first diagnosed with autism,” said Danny. “But as we are learning more, a lot of us are recognizing that this isn’t something we should shy away from or be afraid of. Maybe there is an opportunity for a demographic that we haven’t even recognized as there that we can bring into our businesses. I would encourage them to look for the programs that are supporting that talent in their area.”

Johannes experienced this firsthand when he launched his own e-commerce business focused on selling hot-rod and classic Mustang parts in Europe. As the company grew, adding more parts to the site quickly became challenging with data of varying quality. Pivoting from his original business, Johannes founded PDM to address the challenges of inconsistent, fragmented and complex data in the automotive industry.

On this episode of the “Only The Strong Survive” podcast, Johannes sits down with host Dan Kahn to discuss the important role product data plays. It is an in-depth and interesting discussion of an often-overlooked but critical subject.

Click on the icon above to listen to the entire episode, and here are our top five takeaways:

• Accurate product data offers many benefits.

• Product data affects every channel of your business.

• Understanding the reasons for having good product data makes your brand more successful.

• Create the right infrastructure to ensure product data is accurate across your company.

• Build the right team and continuously invest in it.

The Benefits of Good Product Data are Huge

Some think of product data as minuscule details that don’t really matter. However, it affects everything from how your product appears on a site to whether consumers can even find it in the first place. Not paying attention to or having bad product data can have a significant negative impact on sales, as online consumers have little patience for errors.

“If you take it (product data) seriously, you will come out ahead. It is such an opportunity for companies now to really differentiate themselves from knock-off products and other companies,” said Johannes. “Building a brand and having that effort you put into it pay off has never been greater in my opinion.”

All Channels Benefit from Good Product Data

Another misconception about product data is that it is narrowly focused. However, because it affects so many aspects of e-commerce, the benefits of good data reach far and wide. Sales, marketing, wholesale distribution and all of your other channels perform better when product data is accurate.

“The beauty is that while you have that one channel you are optimizing for, all of your other channels are going to benefit from good product data,” said Johannes. “All channels will benefit from you taking cataloging seriously, at least for one channel to start. Then companies start to see the benefits across all their channels.”

Don’t Just Check the Box

Product data is about a lot more than just checking a box. According to Johannes, the companies that win with product data are the ones that have a clear understanding of what it is for. Without that vision, perfecting product data quickly becomes just another mundane task on a to-do list.

“The most successful suppliers we onboard are coming with a very specific objective. If the goal is that they just want to have ACES and PIES because someone told them to, whether external or internal, then they typically fail, because they are just checking a box,” said Johannes. “The most successful suppliers come with an objective. They see that they have an opportunity to grow their business with a customer, but they need better product data.”

Build Your Infrastructure First

Johannes notes that for any entrepreneur starting a business, it is important to consider where product data lives and to build a proper infrastructure around it. Often, product data comes from multiple sources and resides in different systems. If that data doesn’t match across your company, it can be extremely frustrating for your customers.

“This is why it is so important, this is true whether you are a hard parts supplier or a performance parts supplier, as you are setting up your company, and if you are taking it seriously and it’s not a side hustle, to really start thinking through what are the data points that are relevant to your business and which system owns that data point and how are those systems connected,” said Johannes. “You don’t want to run down the road, and a year later, you are trying to normalize and sync a lot of different systems. There is nothing more frustrating for a reseller than if they get data from you, but your website tells a different story.”

And Build the Right Team

As an entrepreneur himself, Johannes has naturally had his fair share of struggles. The key to getting through them (and avoiding some of them in the first place) is to employ the right people. Just as important as building your team is to continuously invest in it, especially in a rapidly evolving workspace.

“Build the right team and invest in your people. AI has a sense of doom to it that everyone is going to be out of work. Frankly, some people will be negatively affected as AI becomes more present,” said Johannes. “But on the flipside, people who embrace it and don’t shy away from it will benefit greatly, especially in their own professional careers. This is why, for me, as a CEO with a team of amazing people, I want to make sure they are not falling behind. It serves us as a company, but it also makes all of us so much more successful professionally.”

Click on the icon above to listen to the entire episode, and here are our top five takeaways:

• Always be passionate and knowledgeable about your products.

• The restomod market is still going strong.

• You have to do something different to stand out in a crowded market.

• Sales are more than just transactions.

• Hire people, not resumes.

Be Passionate and Be Knowledgeable
Velocity’s offerings stretch well into six figures, so selling them takes different tactics than cheaper products. For Tom, it is not about convincing someone to purchase a Velocity build. Instead, it is about being knowledgeable and just as passionate about Velocity vehicles as potential customers are.

“The biggest thing I have learned, and that we train into our sales guys, is that you have to be passionate about what you’re selling and you have to have the knowledge,” said Tom. “The truth is, these customers are all ultra-high-worth individuals, and they don’t like to be sold to. They don’t need to be sold to because if they are passionate about it, they are going to buy from you. It is then about building trust, and that trust comes from answering their questions, having knowledge of the product and being equally as excited about it as they are.”

The Restomod Market is Huge
Yes, the restomod market can be thought of as a niche industry, but it isn’t a small one. In fact, it continues to grow every year and attracts even more customers. It is a fact that even an industry veteran like Tom is surprised by.

“What surprises me is how big this cottage industry has become. I remember back in 2017 or 2018 when I was doing Defenders and selling the first $100,000 Land Rover. We danced around like we invented fire,” said Tom. “Now, if you are going to build a restomod Defender, and that market is having a bit of a tough time at the moment, but certainly six to 12 months ago, you were going to be spending $350,000 for that sort of product. Seeing how this market has changed, seeing the appetite, the appeal and the fact that it hasn’t slowed down and continues to grow, that surprised me a lot.”

Create Something Different
If you want to compete in a crowded market, you have to differentiate yourself from your competition. While there are plenty of shops selling restomods, Velocity operates on a different business model: fixed pricing, warranties, quick delivery of a custom vehicle and inventory ready for sale. Velocity has also built many vehicles, meaning there are no bugs to work out.

“You can go to places and spend really good money and still have issues,” said Tom. “If anybody has owned a classic car before, they will know the worst feeling is being really excited on a Friday night because they know the weather is going to be good on Saturday morning. Then they get in their car, and it doesn’t start, or it leaks or something doesn’t work. So a thing you are paying for (with Velocity) is consistency and knowing you can enjoy your vehicle when you have the time.

Sales are Consultative, not Transactional
It is easy for a salesperson looking to meet a quota to see a sale as a transaction. However, when a customer is spending six figures, that logic doesn’t work. For Tom, sales should be more of a consultative process, with his role being to guide decisions and answer questions. If you view a sale as only a transaction, you’re more likely to lose it, regardless of price point.

“I think all good selling at whatever price point has to be consultative. Our sales are definitely more consultative than most, and they are also passive. You can’t push. There are some people who come in and know what they want immediately, and that can be more transactional,” said Tom. “But a lot of the time, people have lots of questions, and it might be the first time they have ever purchased a vehicle like this.”

Hire the Person, not the Resume
People can “look good on paper” with impressive resumes and backgrounds. However, for Tom, it is essential to look past a resume when hiring someone. A person might seem like a good fit on paper but not be the right fit for a company in the long run.

“Early in my career, I looked at the resume rather than the person. I was trying to hire people on paper who felt like an amazing fit,” said Tom. “I should have known better, because I knew nothing when I got started. People might not be interested in products, but they are interested in people, customer service and standing for the right things. I had to learn that the hard way. I had two or three people who were very well paid and had incredible backgrounds, but just weren’t the right fit here.”

However, as a natural entrepreneur, Mark decided to head out on his own and create his own path. The result is the Sport Fishing Championship (SFC), a unique saltwater fishing championship with over a dozen rounds of competition spread across the Atlantic, the Gulf and Cabo San Lucas. Using cutting-edge technology, the SFC delivers all the action from its tournaments to online viewers in real time.

Launching the high-stakes billfishing tournament with multi-million dollar boats, multiple stops and covering competition in the middle of the ocean was no easy task. Making it sustainable over the long run was an even bigger challenge. On this episode, Mark shares with “Only The Strong Survive” host Dan Kahn what he learned from launching the SFC, what it takes to keep it going and how it was the ultimate test of his entrepreneurial skills.

Click on the icon above to watch the entire interview, and here are our top five takeaways:

• Absorb as much knowledge as you can from those around you.

• Doing discovery before launching a business is critical.

• Understanding why your idea or product hasn’t existed before is also essential.

• Long-term thinking always wins over short-term profits.

• Successful entrepreneurs can’t be afraid of failure.
  

Be A Sponge
Mark credits a lot of his success to being around the right people early in his career. Whether they were mentors, leaders or successful entrepreneurs, Mark tried to learn as much as he could from them. His advice is to always “be a sponge” and absorb as much wisdom as you can from others.

“I had the great opportunity to work with all the people over at Teall Capital and Ben (Sutton) and all the people he had worked with for over 20 years. You know, just be a sponge,” said Mark. “I was younger back then, but I really was just a sponge. If you have an opportunity to have access to someone who really wants to mentor you and will tell you how they built their business, take it.”

Look Before You Leap
Most entrepreneurs like to move fast. However, not taking the time to understand what you are getting into can ultimately lead to failure. For Mark, a detailed, lengthy discovery process for his idea of a saltwater fishing league was hugely beneficial. It helped him get an idea of what potential pitfalls were ahead and how to best tackle them.

“Turn of the calendar year on Jan. 2, I told myself I was going to put 90 days on my calendar to do discovery,” said Mark. “For me, at the time, I didn’t even really know what the problems or opportunities were. I was just asking questions. So I started picking up the phone and calling major tournament owners and asking them why there isn’t a PGA Tour of fishing?”

Know the Why
Beyond discovery, Mark notes that it is also essential to understand why something you are trying to make doesn’t exist. The answer to that question for a saltwater fishing championship was that all of the action takes place in the middle of the ocean. There was simply no way to bring the fishing live to online viewers. However, that was about to change with the advent of new technologies like Starlink.

“If we did what everyone else was doing, we wouldn’t be here right now. Bass fishing has been live for a long time. Why? Because you can transmit from a lake, back to a truck, and up and out. But try broadcasting from 450 miles offshore in the middle of the ocean,” said Mark. “So I got into it with SpaceX and learned about the LEO grid and where they were in that project. That was March of 2021, and as soon as I had that information, it was go time.”

Always Think Long Term
For entrepreneurs, there can be a struggle between short-term profit and long-term thinking. Often, the two can be at opposite ends of important business decisions. However, for Mark, thinking long-term is key and leads to a more sustainable brand that also generates a profit.

“My thing early on was that we needed to build the PGA Tour of fishing. The PGA is a 100-year league, so we needed to build a 100-year league. We need to think about how we can build a sustainable product with a strong business model behind it,” said Mark. “Ultimately, I am a capitalist and an entrepreneur and a red-blooded American. We want to create jobs, we want to lift the community. The captains, the mates and the people who work on these boats are superstars. We have to do our part to elevate them across sports media and entertainment culture.”

Never Be Afraid of Failure
Fear of failure is something that paralyzes many. However, for entrepreneurs, that fear must be set aside completely. According to Mark, one has to accept that failure is part of entrepreneurship. If you don’t let go of that, you will never take the many chances required to be successful.

“As an entrepreneur, you have to be prepared to fail. I fail all the time. I have failed with SFC, with certain projects or initiatives, or things like that. For me, I have never been afraid of failing,” said Mark. “I am saying all of this because hopefully there is a listener out there who has an idea, has the know-how, and has thought of a business and wants to go out and pursue that business. If I could speak to that person, I would say that you can’t be afraid to fail.”

Jason pivoted to real estate but soon missed the creative process of building something with his hands. While searching for another career path, his father-in-law had an old pickup that they both rebuilt. After selling it for a profit, buying another and doing the same, the idea for Fat Fender Garage was born. Now, Fat Fender Garage has gone from a one-man shop to a leader in parts, restorations and complete high-end builds of vintage trucks with over 70 employees.

Achieving success with Fat Fender Garage wasn’t instantaneous or easy for Jason. Along the way, he learned several hard lessons about entrepreneurship and running a business. On this episode of the “Only The Strong Survive Podcast,” host Dan Kahn discusses with Jason how he rose to the top of the highly competitive restomod market and the lessons he absorbed along the way.

Click on the icon to watch the entire episode, and here are our top five takeaways:

• Most entrepreneurs consider quitting at some point.

• You have to identify mistakes and take action to fix them.

• Your needs can often be the same as your customers.

• You will never succeed if you aren’t willing to work hard.

• Integrity is everything in business.

The Go/No-Go Period

Every entrepreneur faces a moment when they have to decide whether to move forward or to fold. For Jason, that time came when his neighbors finally got tired of his backyard shop. He either had to take on the cost of moving into a much larger, legitimate shop or close his doors. The decision really came down to how much he believed in himself and his product.

“This was a go/no-go period for me. Do we take on the risk of moving and all the extra expense and money? We are barely making it as it is. Deep inside, I had this belief that we had created something and started something that could be pretty good,” said Jason. “We had a really good product and brand that we were developing, and I always felt like I was almost there. I kept saying that for several years. So we decided to go ahead, let’s lease the building and committed to a three-year lease.”

Figure Out What Went Wrong and Fix It Quickly

Recognizing mistakes and then rectifying them is pivotal for any business. That lesson is especially true for brands just starting, as Jason learned after moving into the new shop. A handshake deal fell apart, costing the business significant money. Jason knew he had made a mistake and had to fix it quickly for Fat Fender Garage to succeed.

“We made a lot of changes. We put contracts in place and took the good-guy handshake deal out of it. We just said that we are running a business on these terms, and if you don’t want us to build for you, you don’t have to hire us. But if you wanted us to work for you, it was based on these terms,” said Jason. “I just decided we weren’t going to be the cheapest shop in town anymore, and we weren’t going to be doing things the way we did before.”

Find a Need and Fill It

Originally, Fat Fender Garage had no plans to be in the parts business and only wanted to focus on vehicle builds. However, after making their own parts to simplify those builds, Jason thought others could use those same parts on their trucks. His notion was correct, and his customers had the same needs. The parts side of Fat Fender Garage was born.

“I could buy all these parts, but they aren’t technically designed to go into the vehicle. They are designed to go into any vehicle, but they are not designed to go into my vehicle exactly the way they should. So we learned quickly that, in order to do it correctly, it was going to require fabrication,” said Jason. “I didn’t want to make a one-off of something five times; that is annoying. So what we started doing was making a part that works for us, because we are doing the same vehicle over and over. When that comes up next time, we just grab it off the shelf, and it makes it easy. That is how we got into the parts business.”

You Have to Put in the Work

Jason freely gives advice to others who ask him how to succeed. However, all the knowledge in the world won’t help if you aren’t willing to put in the work. If you are going to start your own business, you have to be prepared for it to take a lot of effort to succeed, because it absolutely does.

“We have people show up at the shop, and I give them the tour. I tell them that I will tell them everything that I am doing. I can show it to you, I can tell you about it, and I can give you all the tips and tricks,” said Jason. “But I can’t actually do the work for you. So if you are not willing to do the work, you are never going to get there. You have to be willing to put the time, the effort and the work in.”

Integrity is Everything

With a business that sells a six-figure product, integrity is everything for Jason. Without a stellar reputation, clients will look elsewhere. However, he notes that integrity isn’t enough for oneself, but should apply to everyone you do business with. And you need to be prepared for those who don’t think the same way.

“I want to have the utmost integrity in everything I do. However, I learned that not everybody is like that, not everybody is that way. So, as we are working in our businesses, only align yourself with people who have the utmost integrity and show who they are by the way they live their life and the things they are doing,” said Jason. “You can align yourself with those people, but those who don’t have that kind of integrity, just be careful because they are probably only going to be looking out for themselves. That might get you if you are not prepared for that.”

Corky took over what, at the time, was a small niche of the business, focusing on finding tires for classic and collector cars. Having flipped cars before he could legally drive and working in the tire shop since he was a kid, Corky quickly found success. Over the years, he painstakingly grew that niche into the main business, turning Coker Tire into a global leader in tires for collector, antique and restored vehicles.

On this episode of the “Only The Strong Survive” podcast, Corky shares with host Dan Kahn how he grew Coker Tire from a small family-run business into an iconic brand. Filled with deep insight from decades of experience, Corky’s knowledge is valuable for any entrepreneur, leader or CEO.

Click on the icon above to listen to the entire episode, and here are our top five takeaways:

• Success is all about finding the right niche and owning it.

• There are pros and cons to private equity.

• Suppliers play a larger role in a brand’s success than most people realize.

• Investing in quality always pays off in the long term.

• Work hard, but don’t ignore your family.

Find Your Niche and Own It

Coker Tire is a prime example of how crucial it is for a business to find its niche and own it. The company initially started as a more general one, selling tires and performing small maintenance jobs. However, zeroing in on manufacturing specialty tires for collector and antique cars unlocked growth that never could have been achieved in Coker Tires’ original, more generalized form.

“Anything that you do, do to the best of your ability. Just explore and learn everything there is about it,” said Corky. “A niche, a specialty, our business was classified as a niche. I basically owned that niche because I knew everything about it. I knew what the customer wanted, and I knew how to find out what the customer wanted. You have to stand before them and show them empathy and integrity, and that you are one of them.”

The Dilemma of Private Equity

Private equity has made a significant entry into the automotive aftermarket, purchasing multiple businesses. With his children not interested in running the business, selling Coker Tire to private equity made sense for Corky to retire. However, he notes that the move did not come without some unforeseen downsides.

“Private equity has a different attitude about people,” said Corky. “Most private equity firms hire smart people, but they don’t hire people from the industry very often. That is a big mistake because they tick off their customers, their suppliers and their employees. That is their dilemma, and they have come into our industry and paid a lot of money (for companies).”

Your Suppliers Are Extremely Important

Many companies focus on introducing new products and services to stay constantly ahead of their competitors. However, according to Corky, your relationships with your suppliers are just as important. You can create as many products as you want, but none of that matters if you can’t get the supplies needed to manufacture them. Solid relationships with your suppliers are a key to success.

“The hardest part of making Coker Tire a success was sourcing product. We developed products at great places, and we became partners with our suppliers,” said Corky. “That is what some of the private equity folks don’t get. They go and hire buyers from big corporations who believe everything is a commodity, and they try to save five cents here and there. We developed relationships with our suppliers to begin with, so I was always able to get on their production schedules.”

Quality Doesn’t Cost, It Pays

Coker Tires’ ability to grow and scale over the years has been impressive. Central to that growth was a relentless pursuit of quality with its products. While some may view quality as a cost, Corky explains that investing in it always pays off in the end.

“Quality doesn’t cost, it pays. The pursuit of the best you can do pays. People look for it, they desire it and they will tell others about it,” said Corky. “When you have a problem with a product, and you don’t handle it, that guy will tell seven people. If you have a product that is wonderful, you might be on a podcast with a guy who has your tires on his hot rod and loves them. Quality does count, and it does pay, and I am thankful for that.”

Advice for Entrepreneurs from Decades of Experience

Having built Coker Tire from a small family shop to a global leader in specialty tires, Corky’s knowledge runs deep. Thankfully, he doesn’t gatekeep any of that expertise that comes from decades of experience. His best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is a simple mix of hard work, family and sticking to what you know.

“Make a list and be about it. Number two, do what you know and do it well. Work half the time, that is 12 hours a day. Pay attention to your family and don’t ignore them. I did when I was a young adult, and I was out on the road doing 200,000 miles a year on airplanes, etc. My kids grew up without me, and that is one of the reasons they didn’t want the tire company,” said Corky. “But that was God’s grace for me, too, by the way. I sold the company in December of 2018, and the market just started declining somewhat, then COVID happened, and it hasn’t been the same since.”

For this special episode, we decided to take a look back at some of our best episodes from “Only The Strong Survive.” Rather than just one guest, this unique episode features a multitude of leaders, authors, experts and entrepreneurs sharing their deep insights with host Dan Kahn. Give it a watch to see our favorite and most impactful moments from “Only The Strong Survive,” and we have even more in store for 2026.

A special thank you to our guests and viewers who have helped make it a great year. Here are our top five takeaways from this episode:

• Company culture is just as critical as the products you make.

• Running a modern business involves having lots of emotional intelligence.

• True leaders aren’t afraid to ask for help.

• Building a community around your brand is central for creating a connection with your customers.

• Ikigai is a path to happiness.

BluePrint Engines CEO Norris Marshall on Crafting Company Culture

Company culture is often overlooked in the drive to produce more products and create new ones. However, it is essential and should never be ignored. Recognizing this fact long before company culture became a more recent focus, Norris Marshall carefully built the right one. The move proved wise, as Marshall built a brand that employees want to be a part of and move forward.

“I guess the culture comes from me, how I want to treat our employees and how I expect our managers to treat our employees. I start with the idea that everybody wants to do a good job, and you just have to find a way to let them,” said Norris. “I also do believe that people are capable of a lot more than we realize if we challenge and encourage them. So, I am big on challenging and encouraging. I’ve got a lot of push, and I am not easy to work for. At the same time, I am on their side, and I want to help them. I think you need to make it personal, too. People need to know that you care about them, and when the moment arises to show that, you really need to show up.”

Hellwig CEO Melanie White on How Running a Modern Business is Different

Melanie White wasn’t always sure that she wanted to run the family business. In college, she pursued a degree in psychology instead of the “usual suspects” of business, finance or marketing. However, that choice proved to be a wise one, as running a business today is different. Now, understanding how to motivate and interact with a wide range of employees is just as important as technical business know-how.

“I feel like it (the psychology degree) has helped me quite a bit,” said Melanie. “Now, it is a very different time when businesses are lucky to have team members. So, it is a shift that we have to make that is subtle but really important. As a business, we have to look at how to motivate our team members, attract them and be a really good place to work.”

Not Your Average Joe’s Tim Herbel on True Leadership

Business leaders often have pretty big egos, and sometimes, rightfully so. However, that same ego that helped build a business can also destroy it. Thinking you know the solution to every problem is a surefire way to slow or reverse your brand’s growth. A true leader will recognize their limitations, ask for help and surround themselves with people who can assist them.

“Once upon a time, I had a lot of talent, and I knew it. The ego got in the way, and it wasn’t until I failed miserably at life and had some time on the anvil that I realized that I don’t have all the answers,” said Tim Herbel. “It wasn’t until I failed and learned from failure that I learned what leadership is. Leadership is about being transparent and saying, ‘I don’t know, and I could use your help.’ Learning to ask for help as a leader is hard. But if you do it, you get surrounded by a good team.”

Author and Marketing Expert Mark Schaefer on the Importance of Community

Brands can be hyper-fixated on the next great product or idea. However, building community is just as crucial for a company as its products. Developing a community creates a connection with your customers that keeps them consistently returning to your brand, rather than your competition.

“As human beings, we don’t just want community; we need community because it helps form our identities. No matter what happens in this world, if a brand can create a community, it is the ultimate emotional connection,” said Mark Schaefer. “People don’t just love your soft drink or your cosmetics; they love each other in a community, and they will literally belong to a brand.”

SEMA’s RJ De Vera on Ikigai

Ikigai is a compound of the two Japanese words “iki” and “kai,” which roughly translates to “a reason for living.” However, the concept of Ikigai builds on this translation by finding fulfillment through aligning one’s passion with their skills and talents. For anyone looking to start their career, RJ De Vera notes that Ikigai is well worth exploring.

“Everyone says to find your passion, but I think there is more to it than that. There is this philosophy called Ikigai. It comes out of Japan, and it is this idea that you merge your passion and your skill,” said RJ. “So, what do you love, what are you passionate about, what are you good at, what does the world need and what can you get paid for? My advice to people would be to find the center point of all of those things. If you love car culture, develop the right skill set in something that can help you make a living, which is hopefully something that this culture and world needs. I think that is where you find success.”

Having been passionate about cars since childhood, Peter realized that modern cars were quickly losing their character and were overburdened with technology. In response, he founded Gunther Werks in 2017. Zeroing in primarily on the Porsche 993 platform, Gunther Werks completely reimagines the 993 to perfectly blend modern technology with an analog driving experience. Today, Gunther Werks is well-known across the automotive world for pushing the boundaries of performance and bringing back the joy of driving with its meticulously crafted and highly sought-after vehicles, such as the Turbo, F-26 and the GWX.

On this episode of the “Only The Strong Survive” podcast, Peter discusses what it was like to build two successful businesses from the ground up and the vital lessons he learned along the way.

Click on the icon above to hear the entire insightful interview with host Dan Kahn, and here are our top five takeaways from the discussion:

• Success never comes easy.

• Entrepreneurship involves wearing many “hats.”

• Learning on the job and rapidly adapting is a key to success.

• Efficiently producing a product will be your biggest challenge.

• Don’t count on people changing their ways.

Expect to Struggle

Most people only see Vorsteiner’s current state as a highly successful brand. However, like many startups, there was a long struggle to get Vorsteiner where it is today. Success never comes easy, and you should expect plenty of adversity along the way. If you don’t like struggling, then entrepreneurship probably isn’t for you.

“It was quite a struggle, actually, trying to penetrate the market where people were used to buying from high-end German tuning brands, and here I was, an American-based brand, trying to make products for BMWs,” said Peter. “It was a struggle to convince people that our brand and our products were on the same level as our competitors. It took years for us to break through and penetrate that market.”

Expect to Wear Lots of Hats

Unless you have significant financial backing for the launch of your brand, you will have to fill many roles yourself. In its earliest days, Vorsteiner was essentially a one-person operation, with Peter handling product design, shipping, invoicing and everything else to keep the lights on. Even as the company grew, there wasn’t the budget for financial or management specialists. Peter had to fill these roles himself and try to learn on the fly.

“We were very lean top-down. It was mostly manufacturing and operational staff that I hired. I couldn’t go out and hire a CEO or CFO for $100,000 or $200,000 a year,” said Peter. “We didn’t have the budget for that, so I basically had to wear those hats myself and have people who were manufacturing the products and doing the operations and shipping to support me. I had to wear a lot of hats both operationally and management-wise in my earlier years, and I had honestly no idea what I was doing.”

On-the-Job Learning

Launching what was essentially a low-volume, high-performance bespoke car company with Gunther Werks was definitely a new direction for Peter. Hiring engineering experts and other specialists was a massive help in bolstering the areas where Peter needed specialized knowledge. However, a significant factor in Gunther Werks’ success was Peter and his team’s ability to quickly learn on the job and rapidly adapt.

“There is no book you can read from Barnes & Noble about how to build a car company. You have to learn on the job. Even if I were to work in the finance field and investment banking, just because I have a finance degree, it doesn’t mean anything,” said Peter. “Most of the learning actually happens on the job. You have to adapt and constantly be learning and constantly improving your processes. It is a never-ending process. I am learning every single day, and the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.”

One-offs are Easy, Production is Not

Most startups have a hyper focus on developing the products they will sell. However, Peter notes that the challenge isn’t coming up with a product or prototype, but rather how to produce it efficiently and on a large enough scale to make a profit. While they are entirely different products, the hard-fought production lessons that Peter learned with Vorsteiner were critical to the success of Gunther Werks.

“When you are building a concept car or a proof of concept or a show display vehicle, anybody can do that in their mom’s garage. It is actually not very difficult for me to build a one-off concept car. It is actually productionizing that car, which is really an incredibly painful challenge,” said Peter. “It is so difficult, and this is where most of the car builders fail. They build a one-off car, and they don’t know how to productionize it and make money doing it. This is why you see so many car builders, a majority of them, fail after two to three years.”

Don’t Try to Change People

One painful lesson that Peter has learned through hiring people for both his companies is that people don’t really change. While most of us want to mentor and develop employees, it can be nearly impossible if the person is unwilling or unable to change. For Peter, holding onto substandard employees with the hope that they might one day change their ways is a recipe for failure.

“One of the things I have learned from hiring hundreds of employees for both of my companies is that it is very difficult to change somebody. I thought, ‘Okay, he could work out, and I can change him and mold him into what I want him to be.’ I would say that is almost always a recipe for disaster,” said Peter. “I think that is the biggest mistake I have made when dealing with poor-performing employees who didn’t have the right vision, and I thought I could change them. I wasted many years trying to mold these people, and it just didn’t work out in the end.”

Eventually, Lauryn would fuse her love of nature with industrial design by becoming a bio-designer and founding GOB. The company aims to replace the 40 billion polyurethane single-use earplugs thrown away every year with ones that are fully biodegradable and made from Mycelium, a natural, farm-grown material derived from mushrooms.

On this episode of the “Only The Strong Survive” podcast, Lauryn shares insights from her unique entrepreneurial journey with host Dan Kahn. The in-depth discussion breaks down what it takes to launch a highly innovative business, how she plans to compete in a crowded space and what the musts are for modern brands to thrive.

Click on the icon above to listen to the entire episode, and here are our top five takeaways:

• Create a vision to anchor your brand before building it.

• Always hire someone unbiased to check your products before launch.

• Hire people to fill the gaps where you lack skill.

• Building brand awareness is vital to compete in crowded markets.

• Don’t always listen to advice from others.

Create an Ethos First

Some entrepreneurs start by creating products and figuring out how to sell them. Lauryn pulled back even further and wanted GOB to focus on what happens to products at the end of their life cycles. That foundational work helped guide the vision for biodegradable earplugs and pave the way for future GOB products.

“A product, no matter if you are talking about a massive dump truck with a million moving parts or you are talking about an earplug, it is nothing but materials at the end of the day. Once something is no longer usable, it’s obsolete, and you don’t need it anymore. All that is left are materials,” said Lauryn. “So, what we came up with was basically to begin with the end, which became an ethos and is how we still work at GOB. It is this ethos and idea that when you start thinking about a product, you have to think about its end of life just as much as its form and function.”

Hire a B.S. Detector

One important step Lauryn took early in the creation of GOB was to hire someone to validate whether its earplugs were effective. This move was a crucial one, as some entrepreneurs can have a strong bias towards their own products or ideas. An outside set of expert and unbiased eyes taking a close look at GOB’s earplugs and validating their effectiveness gave Lauryn the confidence to move forward.

“We brought on an audiologist in Berkley, which is near where our office is. He was our b.s. detector to figure out if this is actually working,” said Lauryn. “You can have your own biases when you have an idea, and you think it is working. Then you get to launch, and no one checked you. That is what we wanted to avoid.”

Fill Those Gaps

We have heard the importance of hiring the right people from OTSS guests before. However, Lauryn takes it a step further and notes that it is crucial to identify your weaknesses as a CEO. Then you can hire people to fill those “gaps” and assist you in the areas where you need the most help. Doing so does take an honest assessment of one’s abilities, though.

“I think that what I have uncovered as a creative CEO is that it can be an advantage if you are willing and able to look at the things you are bad at and fill those gaps with people who are incredible at those things,” said Lauryn. “We have a COO who has helped scale consumer product companies before. He was at Quip, the toothbrush company, he was at Fable, the dog care company, and a few others. He fills my gaps perfectly. Obviously, I need to understand the P&L, I need to understand our budget and set those things, but it is more of a collaborative process.”

Brand Awareness is King

If you want to compete in a crowded space, you absolutely have to build brand awareness. For Lauryn, that means embracing a direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales model. That setup allows GOB to reach, interact and market directly to its customers, rather than going through a middleman or wholesalers.

“I think if you want to be successful out in the world physically, at retail stores, venues, etc., these days, you have to have brand awareness, and that starts with DTC. We are scaling our DTC sales for that reason,” said Lauryn. “We want to spread, for lack of a better way to say it, like a virus. We want to be everywhere. Our products that we create basically have the added benefit of being relevant and ubiquitous in so many places.”

Don’t Always Take Advice

Having a mentor and the advice of others as an entrepreneur is huge. However, Lauryn notes that you must weigh that guidance and mentorship against your gut instincts. Ultimately, your instincts are usually correct, even if they go against the advice of others, when making tough decisions.

“Listening to people’s advice as if it is the way things need to be, I think that tends to be a thing with female entrepreneurs. We tend to take advice to heart maybe more,” said Lauryn. “I’ve taken people’s advice on hiring people that I shouldn’t have hired. I wasn’t listening enough to my gut and the signals that were present. I was taking mentorship maybe a little too far, I would say. I have learned to always double-check myself with myself and sit back before making hard decisions.”

Not one to ever sit around idly, Joe quickly put his plan into motion. One year after leaving the U.S. Army, he founded JMPR and steadily grew its client base. Over its 40-plus years, and through considerable hard work and persistence, the agency secured some of the biggest automotive brands among its client roster, including Rolls-Royce, Ducati, Lamborghini and many more. Eventually, Joe would sell the company before semi-retiring in Indiana.

Among the many JMPR employees who got their start in public relations at the agency was “Only The Strong Survive” host Dan Kahn. On this episode of the podcast, Joe and Dan reflect on what it was like working together before becoming fierce competitors. The former president and founder of JMPR also explains what it took to build a successful company from scratch and run it for decades. Click on the icon above to listen to the entire insightful episode of “Only The Strong Survive,” and here are our top five takeaways:

• Don’t just do what you love, do what you know.

• Trickling down from the top is quicker than starting at the bottom.

• You have to know when to let go.

• It is okay to not always be number one.

• Hire the right people and strive to retain them.

Do What You Love (and What You Know)

Joe attributes much of his early success to his passion for exotic cars. Combining what he loved and also had an in-depth knowledge of with a fearless attitude opened many doors early on. While there were definitely other agencies, few of them combined the automotive expertise and passion that Joe had.

“It all grew from the fact that, as a kid, I just loved cars. I knew all the things about exotic cars, not just regular cars, although I knew that industry too. I knew everything, every fact, every this, that and the other,” said Joe. “I could talk to anyone about anything, and I knew just enough to where they would say he knows his stuff, so he must be connected somehow.”

It is Easier to Trickle Down Than Up

Another key to JMPR’s success Joe cites was his relationship with publishing icon Robert E. Petersen. At the height of his empire, Petersen published nearly every major automotive magazine in the United States, along with other popular publications such as Guns & Ammo and Teen, and founded the Petersen Automotive Museum. Doing an excellent job for Petersen led him to recommend JMPR to his many contacts across multiple industries.

“For 17 years, we represented the Petersen Automotive Museum. They only ever had two PR agencies; I was one, and you (Kahn Media) were the other. But he introduced me to everybody,” said Joe. “I represented MotorTrend, Hot Rod, Teen magazine, Guns & Ammo, all of his 40-some-odd titles and his events. Then his friends wanted to hire me, and I was dealing with the guys who owned the companies. It was like I started at the top, and it is easier to trickle down than trickle up.”

Knowing When to Let Go

Selling a business is a highly personal experience for any entrepreneur who has built their company from the ground up. The same was true for Joe, as he wrestled with the decision to finally sell JMPR. However, knowing when to let go of a company is just as critical of an entrepreneurial skill as knowing when to start one.

“It’s a very personal thing of when to let go. I happened to be in my mid-60s and had a run for 43 years, 45 if you count some of the army years, and it was just time,” said Joe. “There is a time, if you are successful, or you think you are successful, or they tell you that you are successful, when you have to get off the stage and let other people on to perform. My time was over, everything was changing and I felt like an analog guy in a digital world.”

Nobody Stays on Top Forever (and That’s Okay)

For such a hard-charging and competitive individual as Joe, his perspective on staying ahead might be surprising to some, but it is shaped by decades of hard-fought experience. He notes that the desire to be number one in your industry is natural, but it ignores the cyclical nature of business. Staying on top also requires a lot of sacrifice that might not be worth it in the long run.

“Nobody stays on top forever. There is a rhythm to these things, and if you want to stay up forever, you are going to have to give away your sanity, your family and everything else to keep up with it because you have to be completely obsessed and have very little emotional room for anybody else,” said Joe. “I realized I had my day in the sun, I made it, I was there for several years at the top of the list, and I had made a good living.”

Always Hire Smart People

One piece of advice that Joe gives is one that we hear regularly from guests on “Only The Strong Survive.” That tip for success is to always hire smart people and treat them with respect. The right employees can make all the difference between your brand being successful or an afterthought.

“Always hire people who are smarter and know more than you and understand things that are changing quicker than you. Hold them with respect, and it is not just about paying them, it is about respecting them. You only got them for a little while,” says Joe. “The other thing we all learned is that everything has its time, and it’s a treadmill, and everyone is with you for a portion of their career. But try to find the bright ones, find the ones that can still work a room when there is a room to be worked, even if that is now a digital room.”

His early expertise in the Japanese tuner car scene, before it gained widespread popularity, opened other doors. RJ was tapped to help with the launch of Super Street magazine and would serve as its editor-at-large. From there, he became an advisor for the first “Fast and Furious” movie, even playing the role of street racer Danny Yamato in the premier installment of the radically popular franchise.

After his Hollywood debut, RJ helped build the Motegi wheel brand before heading marketing efforts at Meguiar’s. He now serves as the vice president of marketing for the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA).

From selling auto parts out of his mother’s condo to leading marketing efforts at global brands, RJ has learned a lot from his journey. On this episode of the “Only The Strong Survive” podcast, he shares some of that wisdom with host Dan Kahn.

Click on the icon above to watch the entire episode, and here are our top five takeaways:

• The platforms change, but people will always love modifying cars.

• Working at a multinational company helps develop a bigger perspective.

• The right timing involves envisioning your future self.

• Adaptation is a constant need.

• Ikigai is worth exploring for anyone seeking career direction and fulfillment.

Modifying Cars Will Always Have a Universal Appeal

When the import craze first took off, many hot rodders and muscle car builders frowned upon it. However, for RJ, what he was doing wasn’t that different from what those hot rodders had done as kids. Yes, the platforms were different, but the love of modifying cars was the same. It is a cycle that RJ sees continuing even today.

“The very first article I was blessed to be featured in was one by Mark Vaughn for Autoweek,” said RJ. “It was called ‘Passing the Flames,” and in it, he said that there is this group of young, rebellious kids modifying and messing around with their cars, much like everybody who came back from the war had done with their muscle cars. They were just doing it on a different platform and recreating the idea of ‘hot rodding’ but with a different platform. We didn’t know it, but it was just fun for us. There is something about customizing your car that appeals to a great group of people that continues to happen over and over.”

A Global Perspective Helps

The jump to work for Meguiar’s was a big one for RJ. Owned by 3M, the car care company was part of a large multinational corporation. While that can be a negative for some, it was positive for RJ, as it helped him develop a global perspective and the ability to look at the big picture.

“It really cut my teeth on what it means to work for a global Fortune 100 multi-national company. I think it really helped me get to my role now by having this perspective that is way more global and way bigger,” said RJ. “I can think at a different level, and I would have never really had that before, because I had consulted for bigger companies, but I was never in the trenches.”

Timing is Everything

The right timing has played a critical role in RJ’s career. From being in on the launches of Super Street magazine and “Fast and Furious” to joining Meguiar’s and SEMA, RJ’s timing has been spot on. However, it hasn’t been random strokes of luck. Instead, making the right moves involves constantly envisioning what you want the future to be.

“Being at Meguiar’s, I felt it was like time for a change. All roads in any big corporate company lead to its headquarters, and I just didn’t see myself in Minnesota, which is where 3M’s headquarters is,” said RJ. “I really wanted to stay in automotive, and a lot of the bigger roles were beyond Meguiar’s at the end of the day.”

You Have to Adapt

SEMA is the largest and most influential association for the automotive aftermarket, an industry undergoing significant changes. To keep its members ahead of these changes, SEMA has had to adapt and evolve as well. For RJ, changing as an association is just as important as evolving as a business. If neither adapts, they will all get left behind.

“Change happens so much quicker than it did 30 years ago. I think that is something we (SEMA) are embracing more and more because we have to,” said RJ. “We have to change quicker, we have to evolve quicker. Sometimes we have to push some of our industry because there are people who don’t want to change. But for us to prolong this industry and continue to help our members and the businesses in it find success, we have to be that catalyst.”

Get Your Ikigai On

Ikigai is a compound of the two Japanese words “iki” and “kai,” which roughly translates to “a reason for living.” However, the concept of Ikigai builds on this translation by finding fulfillment through aligning one’s passion with their skills. For anyone looking to start their career, RJ notes that Ikigai is well worth exploring.

“Everyone says to find your passion, but I think there is more to it than that. There is this philosophy called Ikigai. It comes out of Japan, and it is this idea that you merge your passion and your skill,” said RJ. “So, what do you love, what are you passionate about, what are you good at, what does the world need and what can you get paid for? My advice to people would be to find the center point of all of those things. If you love car culture, develop the right skill set in something that can help you make a living, which is hopefully something that this culture and world needs. I think that is where you find success.”

The panel’s original discussion took place during Kahn Media’s Growth Garage, a webinar series designed to help marketers and brand leaders acquire new skills and stay ahead of emerging trends. The in-depth interview is a fascinating one, exploring the real-world impacts of AI on brands and how companies can effectively utilize it.

Click on the icon above to listen to the entire episode of “Only The Strong Survive” to learn more about this critical subject, and here are our top five takeaways:

• You need to educate yourself about AI before integrating it.

• AI is progressing at an extremely rapid pace.

• The more context you give AI, the better the result.

• Humans still matter when it comes to authentic content.

• Approach AI outputs with a healthy skepticism.

Education is the Biggest Challenge

There is considerable hype surrounding AI, with significant interest among brands. However, before any brand dives into AI, it needs to learn what it can and can’t do. Its capabilities are constantly evolving, and understanding them is crucial before integrating AI into workflows.

“The key is education, education and education. People don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know the power of this technology,” said Seema. “Education to me is number one, and just getting people to understand in layman’s terms what this technology can actually do. Then it will start to unlock on the automation side, where data plays a role for precision, personalization and innovation.”

AI’s Progression is Measured in Days (Not Years)

Many of us are used to relatively slow product refresh cycles. A new generation of a car model might be introduced every 4 or 5 years. Updated phones and computers typically appear annually. However, all of those are sluggish compared to AI, as its progression can be measured in days. For brands looking to utilize AI, it is essential to keep pace with its rapid advancements.

“We as humans are so used to that if I get into a Toyota Rav4, three years later it is the same thing. You don’t expect progression to happen this quickly,” said Alex. “I think this is the first time in humanity when we have seen progression happen at such an accelerated pace that it is better than it was two weeks ago. That is something where people need a bit of a paradigm shift to think about these systems.”

AI is Not Google

One mistake that brands and people can make is to view AI as a conventional search engine, where you input a question and receive an answer. While it can operate like that, the more context you give AI, the better the results. Feeding an AI that context might take time, but its output is always better.

“We are so used to Googling something where you ask a question. The first time you see someone use ChatGPT or Grok or Gemini, they ask a question,” says Alex. “But what we are not used to doing is saying that this thing (AI) needs a tremendous amount of context. Without providing the context and educating this thing like it’s a five-year-old, which it is with aspirations to be a rocket scientist, you are not going to get great output.”

Humans Still Matter

There is the perception that AI is good at everything, but that isn’t the case. Yes, it is highly adept at specific tasks, but AI does a poor job of emulating the passion, excitement and interest of a human being. If you want to produce authentic and engaging content for your brand, it is a task best left to an actual human.

“I know multiple people that I have followed for 10 years who have outsourced their writing and thinking to AI. It is not full of em dashes, but it is that I have heard that thought before. The reason for that is because the whole field of artificial intelligence is based on the premise that the past predicts the future,” says Daniel. “When something is new and exciting, it naturally means it wasn’t predicted by the past. So if you want to keep the excitement of something you really find interesting, you still need to keep your hands on it.”

Be Consistently Skeptical of AI

Time and time again, multiple companies have gotten into trouble using AI. Typically, this occurs when a brand blindly trusts the output of AI and uses it without verification. Instead, it is always important to be skeptical of what an AI is producing or telling you.

“We hire some pretty awesome individuals, and we tell them, ‘Don’t let AI think for you’ when it comes to critical thinking. Pause for a moment when you have an output on something, or it’s giving you an answer or a response,” said Alex. “Be consistently skeptical of everything it does, no matter how nice it talks to you. Make sure you are real-world testing these things. Don’t just provide the outputs blindly like we all see on LinkedIn.”

Maurice Merrick has turned his passion for all things automotive into the popular “Horsepower Heritage” podcast. Many automotive podcasts focus on car reviews or the latest unveils. However, Maurice takes a different approach, diving into the people and stories behind the machines. The result is a fascinating and in-depth look at modern car culture, its history and the many people behind it.

Maurice is the perfect guest for this special episode of the “Only The Strong Survive” podcast made during Monterey Car Week. The week-long celebration of everything automotive has become one of the most prestigious automotive events worldwide, regularly drawing over 100,000 attendees to the beautiful Northern California peninsula. Maurice shares with host Dan Kahn his thoughts about Monterey Car Week, the current state of car culture in the U.S. and what it takes to be a successful podcaster.

Click on the icon above to watch the entire episode, and here are our top five takeaways:

• Monterey Car Week will continue to be popular.

• The notion that young people aren’t into cars is false.

• Automotive media and content are rapidly changing.

• Podcasters should focus on their passions and quality.

• The only way forward is through.

Why Is Monterey Car Week so Popular?

Monterey Car Week has become the premier destination for any automotive enthusiast. What once started as a one-day side show to the defunct Pebble Beach Road Races has now become multiple keystone events spread over a week that appeal to a broad audience. So why do people come from all over the world to attend Car Week? For Maurice, the answer is an easy one.

“It might as well be a Beanie Babies convention because people love what they love. They congregate and they want to talk to others and compare notes and learn more about whatever their special interest is,” says Maurice. “I think most people come to Car Week because this is the highest concentration of amazing cars in the world at one time.”

The Kids Are All Right

Much has been made about young people not being into cars. Supposedly, they would rather be browsing social media, hanging out with friends or online. Walk around anywhere during Monterey Car Week, and it is easy to see that notion isn’t true. Throngs of teenagers excitedly gather around exotics and hypercars to get a closer look at them. It is something that Maurice readily noticed and says bodes well for the future of car culture.

“We hear a lot about young people not being interested in cars, and I don’t think it is true,” said Maurice. “I think the car hobby is alive and well with young people. They don’t necessarily go to Pebble Beach or The Quail. These are expensive events, but they are all having their own little gatherings all over the peninsula.”

Automotive Media Has Completely Changed

Fabled magazines like Road & Track and Car and Driver used to be the mainstays for automotive information. Then the internet happened, and everyone shifted to being online. Now, the websites that once usurped those magazines as the primary sources of automotive information have become “legacy media.” So, where do people go now for content? Maurice explains the shift in automotive media.

“I think YouTube is now the place where people watch the most automotive content because it can be long form,” said Maurice. “Instagram also has a very healthy car culture tributary or galaxy in the universe of Instagram. So, I think those are the two main places people go to consume car content. In terms of podcasts, there are now so many car podcasts.”

What Aspiring Podcasters Need to Know

Approximately 90% of podcasters never make it past their third episode. Of those that do, another 90% don’t survive past their 20th episode. Maurice has now made over 170 episodes of the “Horsepower Heritage” podcast, which is in its fifth year. What is his best advice for people who want to become podcasters? He has some essential tips.

“I would say focus on quality and don’t try to chase a trend. If you are truly interested in a subject, make sure that passion is conveyed. It is infectious, and it will find an audience because, undoubtedly, there are others just like you who feel that same way about that subject,” said Maurice. “Invest in good equipment and invest in good audio quality. I hear so many podcasts where the audio quality just isn’t there. Most listeners will tune out in the first 30 seconds if the audio quality isn’t there.”

Keep Pushing Forward

With so many episodes under his belt, Maurice has been podcasting for a long time. That length of consistently turning out episode after episode could lead to burnout for anyone. However, for Maurice, the answer and the key to his success and longevity has always been to keep pushing forward.

“You just have to sustain, you just have to keep pushing forward,” said Maurice. “Whenever I hit an obstacle or I feel like things aren’t going like they should, because for some reason there should be this expectation that the universe brings things to me, whenever I start feeling sorry for myself in a way, I say that the answer is always to work harder. It always seems to be the answer, and things work out.”

Krishan Udvadia is Kahn Media’s head of digital marketing with a unique background. Originally an electrical engineer, Krishan spent the early part of his career working in the defense and aerospace industries. Eventually, becoming bored with the mundaneness of testing electrical systems, he developed an interest in digital marketing along with a passion for Mitsubishi Evos. Like he did with all aspects of his Evo, Krishan rapidly learned the intricacies of digital marketing.

Krishan brings a unique perspective and strategy to digital marketing that incorporates his engineering background. On this episode of the “Only The Strong Survive” podcast, he shares vital tips and what he has learned about making digital marketing campaigns perform with host Dan Kahn. It is a worthwhile discussion for anyone looking to tap into the power of digital marketing.

Click on the icon above to listen to the entire podcast, and here are our top five takeaways:

• The right creative plays a huge role in digital marketing.

• AI is changing digital marketing.

• Telling your brand’s story is a great way to stand out.

• Digital marketers who know and are part of your industry are always more effective.

• Bigger brands can often lose sight of who their customers are.

Creative is King

There are many aspects to a successful digital marketing campaign. However, some digital marketing agencies overlook creative and focus on targeting and picking the right platform. That is a huge mistake for Krishan as the right creative connects with customers and gets noticed in a sea of advertising.

“Creative takes up the most amount of real estate on your screen. The text is only so big with a tiny headline, and the creative takes up the rest. I think creative is king because you are able to explain what you are selling through it,” said Krishan. “The reason creative is so important is that it is how you make your first impression of your brand, product or service. Creative needs to be number one and take the most amount of attention and effort.”

Enthusiasts Make Better Digital Marketing Campaigns

One misconception about digital marketing is that it solely relies on proper targeting or choosing the right platforms to succeed. However, that is not entirely accurate, as digital marketing still has a psychological aspect. And the best people to understand your customers’ minds are digital marketers who are enthusiasts and also your customers.

“It is a psychological thing. It might sound weird, but you really want to be in their brain, understanding how they think, what they are looking at and if there are certain callouts that certain people think are good versus bad,” said Krishan. “So having that knowledge already there is a huge head start or a jump start.”

AI is Making an Impact

Artificial intelligence impacts every facet of marketing, and the digital realm is no exception. How it changes digital marketing is yet to be seen, as it is still evolving. However, there is no doubt that there will be changes that digital marketers will need to embrace and fully understand to keep crafting campaigns that deliver results.

“AI, in general, is a huge unknown right now. I think everyone is trying to figure it out. It is a big unknown that is coming, and everyone is quickly trying to get in the know,” said Krishan. “Just understanding it now because it is going to be ever-evolving, and no one is going to fully understand it. It is just like the Instagram algorithm, where it will change every week.”

Always Tell Your Story

Standing out in a digital marketing environment filled with nonstop product ads can be difficult. However, not every ad needs to be a promotion, discount code or new product launch. For Krishan, one of the best ways for brands to stand out and connect with their customers is to tell the story behind their brands.

“I think explaining the company or the story behind the business is something that is newly coming out, and people are more excited about learning that,” said Krishan. “At the end of the day, everyone can see a metal bumper 1,000 times, but it’s the way a company explains their story or how they created themselves or wanted to create a product. I think that is the biggest key to putting yourself out there. It comes back to being more relatable to the consumer.”

Big Brands Can Lose Sight of Their Customers

Scaling up is great, and growth is an obvious goal of most companies. However, one of the biggest dangers is that as brands get larger, they can often lose sight of who their customers are. If you don’t understand who your customers are, it is almost impossible to market to them effectively.

“I feel like some companies that become really big used to know who their audience was. However, as they have scaled up, and good for them that they have made money and been able to grow, I feel like they have lost touch with their core audience,” said Krishan. “That is where the marketing disconnect starts to happen. These big companies can forget how to pivot like a small company can.”

Now, EarthCruiser is back with a new focus and business model. In this episode of “Only The Strong Survive,” Lance shares what he learned from having to cease operations of the business he founded and how he brought it back. The tough and transparent conversation about what happens when things don’t go according to plan and how to turn that around is a fascinating one for any entrepreneur. Click on the icon above to watch the entire podcast, and here are our top five takeaways:

• Your supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

• For manufacturers, location is absolutely critical when it comes time to scale.

• A business failure takes an emotional toll on any entrepreneur.

• Pivoting and seeing opportunities in challenges is a vital skill.

• Never face your problems by yourself.

Your Supply Chain Absolutely Matters

Building vehicles for long-distance global overlanding is a very niche business. That also meant that EarthCruiser’s suppliers were very specialized. Once those smaller suppliers started to go out of business, it significantly impacted EarthCruiser’s ability to keep producing vehicles.

“What started to happen around us was our small suppliers, that we had helped and they had helped us build our supply chain, were starting to close their businesses or dramatically reduce their ability to supply us,” said Lance. “So we had two colliding things happening where the RV market was doing its weird thing, but more than that, our ability to become more efficient was getting harder and harder because we had less choices of how we could produce things.”

Your Location Matters Too

Lance is a big believer in small-town businesses and loves EarthCruiser’s base in Bend, Oregon. However, for a manufacturer, picking the right location is absolutely vital. While Bend is beautiful, its more remote location made it very difficult for EarthCruiser to access a large enough skilled workforce to scale its manufacturing.

“Coming back to our original challenge, is that if we wanted to stay in Bend, could we have a sustainable business model in Bend doing what EarthCruiser did? The answer was no,” said Lance. “Maybe someone else could, but it was clearly beyond my level of capability. Could we have a sustainable model of production for EarthCruiser somewhere else? Yes, for sure.”

Failure is Absolutely Gutting

Most entrepreneurs put their hearts and souls into making their businesses succeed, and Lance was no exception. EarthCruiser was his lifelong passion, so he lived and breathed it. Having to close its doors was the hardest thing Lance had ever done, and it took an emotional toll.

“As a business owner and as someone who started it, and you would feel this way too, it is not what you are but who you are. I don’t know how to explain it any better than that,” said Lance. “It does you damage when it fails because if you are truly passionate about it and this is really what you want to do, you are going to put everything you have plus more into it. When you are no longer that, it is really hard.”

Seeing Opportunity in Challenges

One of the most important traits of an entrepreneur is the ability to see opportunity in challenges and pivot accordingly. While Lance ran into problems scaling EarthCruiser, it was an engineering company at heart. His solution was to keep designing and creating the innovative products EarthCruiser is known for and then use other manufacturers to build them. A new version of EarthCruiser with a completely different business model was born from the old one.

“We have partnered with some large fiberglass manufacturers who all they want is scale. They normally do a lot of stuff for automotive,” said Lance. “So they will produce the EarthCruiser shells for us, and we are partnering with small companies all over the U.S., actually, that will build them out for customers. We will change what we do from being a direct-to-consumer business model to being a business-to-business model, but we can bring to the party the heritage of EarthCruiser.”

Talk to Someone

According to Lance, one of the biggest mistakes he made when things were going south was not talking to anyone. Discussing the difficulties facing your business with others can bring in different outlooks and opinions. Just as importantly, even if other people don’t have answers, sharing your struggles makes you feel less alone in hard times.

“Whether it is your partner, your gym buddies or whoever it is, talk to them. A terrible mistake that I made was not talking to anybody because I was dreadfully embarrassed,” said Lance. “That was a terrible mistake. It is easy to say it and harder to do it, but just find someone to talk to.”

The rise of ChatGPT just under three years ago completely changed Stephanie’s focus. She pivoted to embrace AI as a tool to make her agency faster and more efficient. Today, Stephanie does the same for other brands, working as an AI consultant to help companies integrate AI-powered marketing tools. On this special episode of “Only The Strong Survive,” she shares her experience of effectively integrating AI into brands and what to be aware of.

Click on the icon above to watch the entire episode, and here are our top five takeaways:

• Look for internal issues with your workflows before searching for an AI program.

• Follow AI experts on social media to understand what actually works.

• Humans still play a vital role with AI.

• Be protective of your sensitive data with AI.

• Always be transparent about how you integrate AI into your brand.

Start With Your Bottlenecks

Many brands struggle to integrate AI effectively into their workflows. Others “jump on the bandwagon” to say they are using AI but aren’t really solving any internal problems. It might sound simplistic, but one of the best ways to use AI is to first determine where it can be the most helpful.

“I think the best place to start is actually by identifying where your bottlenecks are. Just sitting down with your team and figuring out what the bottlenecks in our company are that are slowing us down the most, that are costing us the most money and that are taking too much manpower, but we really need them,” said Stephanie. “They are not dispensable and we really need them, but it is just too intensive. Once you identify some of those things, then it is looking at what AIs are out there that can help.”

Shift Through the Noise

A wealth of AI-powered programs claim to supercharge your brand’s productivity and effectiveness. While some are helpful, others are not and just want to drain your bank account. Shifting through the “noise” of what AI programs are worth the investment for a brand can be confusing. However, social media can be a major help in determining which AIs provide value.

“I am in a community with trusted experts, and we are talking about what is working and masterminding it on a daily basis. But for people who aren’t in something like that, I would say find people who are and follow them. I am on TikTok and share a lot on TikTok for free. I give away a lot of tips and tools that can really help someone, and it doesn’t cost anything,” said Stephanie. “There are a lot of leading names out there. I like to follow Matt Wolfe, and he actually has a database of AI tools that you can search and find a tool that might be a good fit for you.”

You Still Need Humans

Brands get into major trouble when they think AI can completely replace a human workforce. AI is far from perfect and still needs human oversight over anything it produces or tasks it completes. Completely trusting AI and not checking its “work” is a recipe for disaster.

“It is so absolutely critical to have human supervision over all AI outputs. If I can warn your listeners of one thing, it is this. If you are copying and pasting what you are getting from any of these AI tools and you are not reading it, you are taking a huge risk,” says Stephanie. “I strongly urge you to stop doing it that way. It needs human oversight.”

IP is a Major Issue with AI

One often overlooked issue with AI is intellectual property. Once you put information into an AI platform, it is an extremely grey area who now owns that data. Stephanie has some stern words of advice for anyone using AI with a brand’s IP.

“With IP, anything that you give to AI is up for grabs. I don’t care if it promises you privacy. I don’t believe it, and I wouldn’t believe it for a second,” said Stephanie. “Use the tools. They are amazing, and I use AI all day, every day. However, I do not put sensitive information into it.”

Be Transparent

Stephanie notes transparency is essential for brands using AI, especially those using it to enhance products or services. She discloses to all her clients that she uses AI to assist her agency and its employees. Most don’t mind as long as they know that fact up front and don’t feel deceived.

“I absolutely disclose everything. I think transparency is critical at this stage with all of this because if you don’t have your client’s trust, you’re not going to have a client for very long, right? Absolutely, I disclose that I am using AI in all kinds of different ways,” said Stephanie. “I want to make sure that they understand I am using this technology and there are some inherent risks to it. My ideal client is okay with those risks, but not everyone is.”

Now, David is the third generation of the Brands family to run the privately held company. He has helped lead its transformation from a one-man operation selling knives out of the back of a car to a globally recognized brand. In this episode of “Only The Strong Survive,” David talks about the unique challenges faced in running a family business and what he learned from expanding Coast Products since leading the brand.

Click on the icon above to watch the entire episode, and here are our top five takeaways:

• Privately held family businesses have the advantage of long-term thinking.

• Innovation should be central to any brand.

• Long-term partnerships are just as important as long-term thinking.

• Running a family business without a clear leader doesn’t work.

• Failure is a natural part of entrepreneurship.

Think Long Term

According to David, one of the most significant advantages privately held family businesses have is their ability to think long term. There are no shareholders or investors demanding a rapid return on their investment. When the family business has been handed down through generations, the thinking naturally shifts to what is best for the brand in the long term. While there is less access to capital, there is also less focus on making a quick buck.

“We have always run our company to be the leader in innovation, to have great relationships with our customers and obviously make money. The amount of money we make isn’t as important as doing things right,” said David. “That is a great luxury you have as a privately owned company that frankly, in this day and age, doesn’t exist in public companies or even in a lot of partnerships.”

Never Stop Innovating

Coast Products was founded on innovation. In 1909, it introduced a salmon fillet knife with a spoon on the other end, combining two products into one. David notes that innovation should be central to any brand, as it allows you to expand product offerings and stay ahead of your competitors. That desire to innovate was critical for Coast Products during the advent of LED technology.

“We sold the first LED flashlight ever in the United States. It had a ‘whopping’ 18 lumens of light and sold for $39.99,” said David. “Today, we make an LED flashlight that has 5,000 lumens of light, you can focus it, it has a digital readout on a screen to tell you how much battery life you have left, it’s rechargeable and sells for $39.99. So you can see how much the LED revolution really has taken hold. We were one of the first ones in it and have never stopped innovating and leading the way in this type of technology.”

Build Long-Term Partnerships

David applies that same long-term thinking to all aspects of his business. Instead of constantly shifting suppliers to save a bit of money, he has forged lasting alliances with them. These solid partnerships have helped David and Coast survive multiple economic downturns with partners committed to Coast’s success.

“We think it is a real advantage. Because we have such loyal and supportive partners and because we have good partnerships, for instance, that is why we have been able to survive the current business climate, when other companies have really had problems,” said David. “It has been challenging for everybody, but thank goodness we have such a tight-knit, close family atmosphere among all of our partners that we have been able to, knock on wood, manage it okay.”

Running a Business by Committee Doesn’t Work

Typically, multiple members of the same family can be involved in running a business. This setup can make for some “interesting” dynamics where everyone wants to have input. It can also blur the line between siblings and bosses, creating even more friction. According to David, having one person ultimately in charge is the only way to avoid this chaos.

“I know a company here in Portland that has something like 28 family members working in the company. That would be really hard. I think I would almost rather be a publicly owned company than that,” says David. “I think it is clear that it really helps to have at least one person clearly in charge. For better or worse, you've got to pick one person and say, ‘Okay, you make the final decision.’”

If You’re Not Making Mistakes, You’re Not Trying

Entrepreneurship comes with a certain amount of risk. Introducing new products, trying different strategies or expanding into unfamiliar markets can all backfire. However, David notes that uncertainty is all part of running a business. If you haven’t failed at something, it is probably because you are playing it too safe.

“I once knew a guy who worked for my father who told me, ‘David, if you don’t make mistakes, you are not trying hard enough.’ I always took that to heart. Maybe I just did it to rationalize my mistakes at the time, but I really think that is correct,” said David. “If you never try something and it doesn’t work, then you are not trying enough new things. You are not thinking outside the box enough.”

Eventually, he set out on his own to start Schaefer Marketing Solutions, with clients ranging from small startups to global brands like Adidas, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer. Schaefer also created the well-read marketing blog {grow}, which led him to author 11 best-selling books, including “Audacious,” “KNOWN” and “The Most Amazing Marketing Book Ever.” He is also the co-host and founder of the popular “The Marketing Companion” podcast.

On this episode of the “Only The Strong Survive” podcast, host Dan Kahn leads an in-depth discussion with Schaefer about entrepreneurship and marketing. Schaefer’s deep insight and knowledge into both subjects make this episode well worth your time. Click on the icon above to give it a watch, and here are our top five takeaways from the interview:

• Being bland might be safe, but it doesn’t pay off in marketing.

• To form a connection with your customers, you have to know them.

• Building a community is just as crucial as building products.

• Your personal brand matters.

• Asking for help can be the difference between success and failure.

You Can’t Be Boring

Boring is always a safe bet for marketing. Your legal department will love it, and boredom never causes social media teams any heartburn. However, another guarantee of boredom is that it will never make your brand stand out in a sea of bland marketing. If you want to make waves, you sometimes need to toss a rather large rock into the pond.

“One of the things that I talk about in my new book is this scaffolding, this infrastructure we have in our industry that keeps boring in place. It keeps competent in place instead of audacious and instead of creative,” said Schaefer. “It is easy to be average because that is what gets approved by the legal department. It is easy to be average because boring has been institutionalized in most industries.”

Marketing is About Knowing Your Audience

Most people think marketing revolves around creating the right ad. While the right creative is essential, knowing your audience is equally important. To connect with someone, you must know their values, beliefs and needs. Discovering those often takes lots of research and knowledge.

“Marketing is not about the creative, it's about the research. An audacious campaign that set the marketing world on fire was the Nike campaign with the quarterback Colin Kaepernick. They lost $4 billion of market value in 24 hours or something like that. People were burning Nike products in the streets, but they increased their market capitalization in 10 days. The difference was that Nike had the data, they had the numbers,” said Schaefer. “They knew that demographic, and they knew to be welcomed on that island, they needed to earn trust.”

Build a Community

Brands can be hyper-fixated on the next great product or idea. However, building community is just as crucial for a company as its products. Developing a community creates a connection with your customers that keeps them constantly returning to your brand instead of your competition.

“As human beings, we don’t just want community; we need community because it helps form our identities. No matter what happens in this world, if a brand can create a community, it is the ultimate emotional connection,” said Schaefer. “People don’t just love your soft drink or your cosmetics; they love each other in a community, and they will literally belong to a brand.”

Build Your Brand, Too

Building a personal brand is important whether you are a CEO of a Fortune 500 company or just starting in the business world. However, many people don’t know how to go about it. For Schaefer, one of the best ways to build your brand is to identify the problems you are the best at solving.

“You have to be clear about where you fit in the world. What is the problem that is keeping people up at night with your customers or with your company? What is special about you that can help people solve that problem in a unique way? It takes some work to really think about that,” said Schaefer. “But you will be rewarded if you spend some time thinking about that, because once you can finish the sentence ‘Only I…', your entire personal branding and marketing plan unveils itself.”

Ask For Help

All entrepreneurs need to be highly confident in themselves. However, that self-assuredness shouldn’t be misplaced, and it doesn’t mean you know everything. Schaefer learned the hard way that asking for help is okay and can be the difference between success and failure.

“I had a pretty big business failure. It was a software I developed with some other people. We put together this big team, and I invested a lot of my own resources and money into it. It worked, but the reason it failed was because I was a terrible salesperson,” said Schaefer. “The B2B sales process just wore me down, and I thought that there were 25 other things I would rather be doing than this. The mistake I made was that I knew I was out of my area of expertise, and I didn’t bring in the right people to help.”