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The Jody Maberry Show

The Jody Maberry Show explores the nature of business. Jody Maberry is a former Park Ranger who became the happiest podcaster on earth. With a mix of storytelling, lessons, and occasional guests, Jody gives you a look at the work he does with executives as he helps them build their brand.
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Now displaying: November, 2016
Nov 29, 2016

It is possible to get too comfortable in business. I was reminded of that on a recent shopping trip. 

It is the season to shop, and I recently visited three stores that left an impression on me. 

‘First, was the Disney Store. Have you ever been to a Disney store? It is everything you would expect. It is a magical place. Of course, what they sell is outstanding, but it is bigger than that. The displays, the cast members, the layout of the store are all wonderful. Every detail of a Disney store leads to you having a great experience, and hopefully spending money while you are there.  You may not be able to have products that are as magical of what is on the shelf at a Disney store, but you can pay attention to everything else they do. Find the Disney store closest to you and spend some time there. Don’t go there to buy anything, just watch. Watch how people flow through the store. Watch how customers interact with displays, products, and cast members. You can learn a lot spending an hour in a Disney store.

Next stop was the Lego store. This was an impressive experience too. Just like walking into a Disney store, you feel like you walking into a special place. They are doing a lot of things right in the Lego Store, too. You can always find an employee. There are more working than you would expect in a store that size, and they are easily identifiable in their bright yellow aprons. There are built Lego sets to look at, there are loose legos to touch, there are some lego sets exclusive to Lego stores. Plus, there is even an interactive display where you hold a Lego box up towards a screen, and right in front of you, the Lego box is instantly built on the screen. There is one thing that really impressed me at the Lego store, though. That was the shelves. They were never empty. If a customer took a box off the shelf to purchase, an employee immediately went into the back, grabbed a new box of the Lego set and put it on the shelf. I don’t know they reason behind this, but it gave the impression that they had everything you wanted. I ever saw when one Lego set sold out; they did not leave the space empty. An employee immediately rearranged the displays on the shelf, so the spot that was empty a moment ago was now full of lego boxes. Within a couple of minutes, there was no trace of the lego set that sold out. Everything they did in that store gave the sense of an abundance of Legos.

My third experience was even more memorable, not because of the store, which was nice, but because of something an employee said to me.

The third stop was Sierra Trading Post. At Sierra, I tried on a pair of dress boots. Once the boot was tied, I stood up and was immediately poked on the heel by something. I took the boot off and, I know this was not my best idea of the day, I stuck my thumb in the boot to see what poked me. Well, it was a nail sticking up from the sole of the boot, and now not only did I have a puncture in my foot, but I also had one in my thumb as well.

Not wanting this to happen to someone else to that pretty size 11 boot, I told one of the workers. I showed him the boot and then he went on to open every box of those boots and check every single boot to make sure no other pairs had that problem. While he did that, I was still browsing shoes, and we talked for a bit. He told me he had a nail come up through his boot once and poke him in the foot. The difference between his story and mine is he is a Marine. He was on one of those long marches Marines do. In the middle of the march, the nail came up from the sole of his boot to poke his foot. I asked him what he did about it. He said nothing. I am a Marine. Pain is just weakness leaving your body. I lost a lot of weakness that day.

How incredible is that? I am a park ranger, but I would have sat down and tried to fix my boot. But this Marine kept on marching.

I thought about the marine the whole way home.  Especially what he said about pain is weakness leaving your body. I had never thought of it this way. But I can also apply it to business. The pain you feel in business is helping you get rid of weakness. The pain can come from stretching beyond what you are comfortable with. Pain can be doing something you have never done before. Pain can be rejecting “we have always done it that way.” Pain is making mistakes. Pain was apologizing to a customer when you didn’t perform the way you should have.

All of this pain is weakness leaving your business.

If you are not experiencing the pain and instead focusing on your comfort, you are being left behind. If you are comfortable, you are being left behind.

Think of the Marine who I talked to at Sierra Trading Post, when the nail from his boot was poking his foot he felt pain. He could have stopped to fix his boot and felt comfort, but all of the other Marines would have left him behind.

So think about the pain you feel in your business. Is it a sign of growth? Is it an indicator you need to do something different? You should worry if you aren’t feeling pain because you are being left behind.

Nov 22, 2016

You can look great on camera every time. Not long ago, I did not know this. I thought you stood in front of the camera and hoped the photos turned out in the end.

Early in the year, I had a photo shoot. It didn’t turn out real well. I wasn’t comfortable using any of the photos on my website. Yet, I still needed photos, so I scheduled another photo shoot. Luckily, between the first and second shoot I met Val Brown.

Val Brown is an Emmy award winning producer. She has been preparing people to appear on television for more than 30 years. I was fortunate to work with Val before my second photo shoot because she set me up to improve on the first photo shoot, the one where I did not do so good. Now, we are both fortunate to have the opportunity to sit down today with Val Brown. I want to walk through the process Val and I went through to prepare me for the photo shoot. I know you are going to learn plenty from Val, so let’s get to work.

In this episode, Val Brown will walk you through the process we went through to prepare me for a photo shoot. After listening, you will realize you can look great on camera every time. If you want to learn more, don't miss out on more tips from Val. To get Val's guide, How to Prepare for Your Next Photo Shoot, just click HERE

Nov 15, 2016

This week I was given a surprise reminder of someone from my past I am thankful for. Mrs. Warren, Jill Warren, was my high school accounting teaching. She had such a tremendous impact on me.  Before I took one of her accounting classes in high school, I had no idea what to do. And I was a bad student. I didn’t even try.

But Jill Warren changed all of that. After taking the first accounting class with her, I took every class I could that she taught. All business related. A few years ago one of Jill Warren’s daughters contacted me. A milestone birthday was approaching for her mother and the daughters had a wonderful surprise planned. They reached out to former students of Mrs. Warren and asked them to write a letter about her.

I begin to write a letter, but sadly, I never sent it. Sorry Mrs. Warren. 

But this week I found everything I had written to Mrs. Warren in a notebook in my desk drawer.

So now is the time to thank Mrs. Warren and share this with you.

I call it Everything I need to know I learned in high school accounting. These are the 9 biggest lessons I learned from Jill Warren.

  1. There is a reason to celebrate everyone. 
  2. A smile and a handshake can build trust and mutual respect. 
  3. It is tough to be grumpy when someone looks you in the eye, smiles, and shakes your hand. 
  4. Respect can level the playing field.
  5. You can not always trust a smiling face and a generous handshake. 
  6. Timing is precious.
  7. Appearance and perception matters 
  8. Patience.
  9. You can have a big impact by impacting one person. 

So it may be true that everything I needed to know I learned in high school accounting. Thank you, Jill Warren. I am positive I would not be who I am today without you.

 

Nov 8, 2016

Rachel Ries write songs. She sings songs. And she sells songs. 

Does Rachel create art or content? Rachel joins me on the Jody Maberry Show to discuss that and more. We also talked about writer's block and connecting with your audience. 

Rachel will help you consider a different approach to how you write and the content you create. 

Find more of Rachel at RachelRies.com

Nov 2, 2016

Get more information about your customers. 

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