Cory Burns from Kahn Media on “Only The Strong Survive”
Growing up as a car-crazed kid in Southern California, Cory Burns’ life has always revolved around automobiles. That love of cars eventually led Cory to a part-time job working for Joe Molina’s JMPR agency. As one of the era's most dominant automotive PR agencies, it was a natural fit for the young Burns. That two-week gig quickly turned into a full-time job, as Cory has an innate knack for public relations.
Dan Kahn, host of "Only The Strong Survive,” was working at JMPR at the same time. Seeing Cory's natural talent, Dan quickly hired him as his second employee when he set out on his own and founded Kahn Media. Almost 15 years later, Cory proved it was a wise move, rising through the ranks to become Kahn Media’s Senior Vice President, Accounts.
Bootstrapping his way from intern to vice president has taught Cory a lot about what it takes to be a leader and how to succeed. Being entrenched in public relations for over a decade has also given him a deep insight into the current PR landscape. In this special episode of “Only The Strong Survive,” Cory shares his thoughts about both with host Dan Kahn. Click on the icon above to hear their entire insightful discussion. Here are our top five takeaways:
Willfully and consistently exiting your comfort zone is key to growth.
Leadership is about others and not yourself.
Don’t just hire experts, learn from them.
Successful creators are now becoming brands.
The decentralization of modern media has created challenges.
Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
For Cory, much of his career growth has come from his willingness to step outside his comfort zone. Trying something new that you might not be comfortable with is the best way to learn new skills. Being a wallflower or staying indefinitely in your comfort zone never leads to personal and professional growth.
“I always look at it to take every opportunity to just try something new and show up where you may be uncomfortable. I remember being that kid cold-calling on the phone,” says Cory. “Show up at a place and have someone introduce you, ask someone what they are into or ask them about what they do. You never know who you are going to meet or how you are going to grow as a human. That has been my biggest takeaway and what I find to be the most fun.”
Leadership is About “Not Having to Be the Guy”
Some mistakenly think that leadership is about bossing others around and enjoying all the perks that can come with a leadership position. However, for Cory, that is not the case. His path to becoming a leader became much straighter when he learned that leadership is about serving others and letting them enjoy those perks instead.
“If I had to look at it overall, it feels like the passing of the torch. Those experiences that I loved so much that this career enabled me to have, I now get a lot of joy from watching someone else experience them. I think that is when I transitioned to learning how to be a better leader,” says Cory. “That was the transitional moment for me, and it took me a long time to remind myself that I don’t always have to be the guy (to have those experiences).”
Hire Experts and Learn from Them
Many companies want to hire experts in their respective fields. However, some companies make the mistake of never listening to those experts after they hire them. For Cory, one of the biggest shifts in culture at Kahn Media happened after hiring the right people and learning as much as possible from them instead of having them conform to a rigid way of doing business.
“One thing that stands out the most is we have a lot of really smart people that work for us. You and I can’t know everything about every medium,” says Cory. “So the best change is we have hired a bunch of people who have knowledge in different subject matters and with different marketing backgrounds. We have hired people to strengthen the brand and to learn from them as opposed to a lot of companies where you come in, and you have to do it their way.”
Creators are Now Becoming Brands
The demise and decentralization of media have been rapidly accelerating. While some initially thought that the deeper pockets of large-scale media outfits would give them more staying power, that has not been the case. One contributor to this is that some content creators have now become brands, allowing them to diversify their income streams and not be dependent on the whims of algorithms.
“I think watching independent creators not just think of themselves as content creators who just make videos but as a business is where the traditional media model lost,” says Cory. “They (traditional media) only had one business model, and that was to sell ads on their networks and hope people watched and that they get good ratings. I do think that is the biggest change in modern media.”
The Downside of Decentralization
While some see the demise and decentralization of traditional media as a good thing, it has also created many challenges. Giving everyone a “voice” has made it more difficult than ever to decipher truth from fabrications. The resultant flood of content has buried high-quality content under mounds of the lackluster. The rise of AI has made it even more challenging to determine what is real and what is fake.
“The downside of the age we are in now is that it is really difficult to decipher the truth. Because of the power of social media and algorithms, if you want to be in an echo chamber for only the things you want to hear, it will serve you exactly that,” says Cory. “Even if it is totally untrue, you will still see a headline. How do you do your research? Who verifies that this is true? There is the element that if you are into a hobby or a certain subject matter and you want to learn something, but there is just as much of a challenge, I think, with a lack of nuance on the same platforms.”
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