[{"_1":2,"_3":-5,"_4":-5},"loaderData",{"_5":6,"_7":8},"actionData","errors","root",{"_138":-5,"_139":-5,"_140":141,"_142":143,"_144":145},"routes/clips.$id.$slug",{"_9":10,"_11":12},"clip",{"_13":14,"_15":16,"_17":-5,"_18":19,"_20":-5,"_21":22,"_23":24,"_25":26,"_27":28,"_29":30,"_31":32,"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_44":45,"_46":-5,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":-5},"canonicalUrl","https://howleaderslead.com/clips/1028/be-an-undercover-customer-for-a-day","id",1028,"title","Be an undercover customer for a day","subtitle","transcript","WEBVTT\n\n1\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.980\nLast year we tried this out called undercover fan and every night someone on\n\n2\n00:00:04.980 --> 00:00:07.340\nour staff went undercover even me\n\n3\n00:00:07.340 --> 00:00:12.030\nI took the yellow tuxedo off. I dress. Yes crazily. All right, and we went\n\n4\n00:00:12.030 --> 00:00:14.220\nthrough the entire experience as a fan\n\n5\n00:00:14.220 --> 00:00:18.600\nSo I came into the ballpark. I parked like the fans did I came into the stadium\n\n6\n00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:19.520\nlike the fans did\n\n7\n00:00:19.520 --> 00:00:22.800\nI went through lines like the fans did I sat in different seats around the\n\n8\n00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:24.900\nballpark and every night someone on our staff\n\n9\n00:00:24.900 --> 00:00:27.850\nWould do this and we'd get together at the end of night and talk about the\n\n10\n00:00:27.850 --> 00:00:28.380\nexperience\n\n11\n00:00:28.380 --> 00:00:31.870\nWhat could we do better? What are great things that we did and now we have 30\n\n12\n00:00:31.870 --> 00:00:34.280\npages of notes from last season because we went undercover\n\n13\n00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:38.100\nHow many people have gone undercover and actually experienced what it's like to\n\n14\n00:00:38.100 --> 00:00:39.640\nbe a customer of your business?\n\n15\n00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:41.760\nThat was a game changer for us. So you\n","pretty_transcript","start_time",956000,"end_time",996940,"keywords","innovation, experience, product, customers, empathy","slug","be-an-undercover-customer-for-a-day","origin","cms","mux_playback_id","7ZpWgxCKHFNiufbG02OWo004OcfRKFKX2i9O016oP8Zr5U","mux_asset_id","O029yImWrULmZeUEX6SiN2qU5gSkVain8AefnOo57LuA","leader_id",46,"episode_id",256,"updated_at","2025-02-26T20:03:44.000000Z","meta_title","meta_description","og_image_media_id","web_url","https://www.howleaderslead.com/clips/1028/be-an-undercover-customer-for-a-day","og_image_url","leader",{"_13":36,"_101":102,"_103":104,"_105":106,"_25":107,"_108":109,"_62":110,"_59":111,"_112":113,"_69":114,"_39":115,"_116":-5,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_117":118,"_89":119,"_44":120,"_121":122,"_123":124,"_46":-5,"_125":126,"_127":128,"_93":129,"_51":-5},"episode",{"_13":38,"_15":52,"_27":53,"_17":54,"_55":56,"_18":57,"_20":58,"_59":60,"_61":-5,"_62":60,"_63":-5,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":-5,"_69":-5,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":-5,"_35":36,"_39":75,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_76":77,"_78":79,"_80":81,"_82":83,"_84":-5,"_85":-5,"_86":87,"_88":-5,"_89":-5,"_46":-5,"_90":91,"_92":-5,"_93":-5,"_51":-5},"og_image_media","What Makes You Stand Out?","what-makes-you-stand-out","Learn how to get the right kind of attention for your business by serving your customers and solving the real pain points they experience. Plus, get the permission you need to march to the beat of your own drum as a leader.","summary","

Today’s guest is Jesse Cole, the Founder of Fans First Entertainment & Owner of Savannah Bananas. He’s the one-of-a-kind innovator behind the incredible (and unlikely) popularity of this small Coastal Plain League baseball team.

That’s because the sell-out crowds at a Savannah Bananas game aren’t really there for the baseball. They’re there for the dancing grandmas and conga lines and – get this – the underwear salute! Now, there’s a phrase you never saw coming on a leadership podcast!

But this is all a part of Jesse’s plan. He knows how to stand out and get attention – and even better, he does it all because he truly loves fans and customers. If you want your business to stand out, this conversation is going to be an absolute game changer for you.

You’ll also learn:

One simple exercise to help you disrupt a category
A question you can ask to get more attention for your product or service
How to get inside the head of your customer so you can serve them better
Two ways you can bring your core values to life for your staff and customers

Take your learning further. Get proven leadership advice from these (free!) resources:

The How Leaders Lead App: A vast library of 90-second leadership lessons to stay sharp on the go

Daily Insight Emails: One small (but powerful!) leadership principle to focus on each day

Whichever you choose, you can be sure you’ll get the trusted leadership advice you need to advance your career, develop your team, and grow your business.

","WEBVTT\n\n1\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.250\nWelcome to How Leaders Lead where every week you get to listen in while I\n\n2\n00:00:07.250 --> 00:00:08.040\ninterview some\n\n3\n00:00:08.040 --> 00:00:10.080\nof the very best leaders in the world.\n\n4\n00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:13.180\nI break down the key learnings of the by the end of the episode, you'll have\n\n5\n00:00:13.180 --> 00:00:13.720\nsomething\n\n6\n00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:17.440\nsimple you can apply as you develop into a better leader.\n\n7\n00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:19.920\nThat's what this podcast is all about.\n\n8\n00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:22.720\nMy guest today, well, let me tell you something.\n\n9\n00:00:22.720 --> 00:00:27.650\nHe is one of a kind, a true innovator and one of the best marketing people I've\n\n10\n00:00:27.650 --> 00:00:27.840\never\n\n11\n00:00:27.840 --> 00:00:28.840\nmet.\n\n12\n00:00:28.840 --> 00:00:33.460\nTalking about Jesse Cole, the founder of fans first entertainment and owner of\n\n13\n00:00:33.460 --> 00:00:34.360\nthe Savannah\n\n14\n00:00:34.360 --> 00:00:35.360\nbananas.\n\n15\n00:00:35.360 --> 00:00:39.650\nNow, the Savannah bananas are a baseball team competing in the Coastal Plain\n\n16\n00:00:39.650 --> 00:00:40.460\nLeague, but\n\n17\n00:00:40.460 --> 00:00:42.760\nyou don't go to their games for the baseball.\n\n18\n00:00:42.760 --> 00:00:48.100\nNo, you go for the dancing grandmas and the conga lines and get this, the\n\n19\n00:00:48.100 --> 00:00:49.840\nunderwear salute.\n\n20\n00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:54.120\nNow there's a phrase you probably never expected to hear of this podcast, but\n\n21\n00:00:54.120 --> 00:00:55.040\nthis is all part\n\n22\n00:00:55.040 --> 00:00:56.480\nof Jesse's plan.\n\n23\n00:00:56.480 --> 00:01:01.030\nHe knows how to stand out and get attention and even better, he does it because\n\n24\n00:01:01.030 --> 00:01:01.560\nhe truly\n\n25\n00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:03.200\nloves his fans.\n\n26\n00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:07.660\nIf you want your business to stand out, this conversation is going to be an\n\n27\n00:01:07.660 --> 00:01:08.480\nabsolute game\n\n28\n00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:10.000\nchanger for you.\n\n29\n00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:15.520\nSo here's my conversation with my good friend and soon to be yours, Jesse Cole.\n\n30\n00:01:15.520 --> 00:01:23.440\nI have to just start out.\n\n31\n00:01:23.440 --> 00:01:27.710\nYou can't see this, listeners, but I am looking at Jesse and he's got on a\n\n32\n00:01:27.710 --> 00:01:29.760\nyellow tuxedo and\n\n33\n00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.120\na yellow hat and yellow shirt.\n\n34\n00:01:32.120 --> 00:01:34.400\nWhat's behind all of that?\n\n35\n00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:38.480\nI think I've been wearing the yellow tuxedo for now seven years.\n\n36\n00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:39.480\nIt is my uniform.\n\n37\n00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:43.960\nAs I share, I played baseball my whole life and I had a uniform that I played.\n\n38\n00:01:43.960 --> 00:01:45.400\nThat was game time for me.\n\n39\n00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:46.680\nThis means it's show time.\n\n40\n00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:49.920\nSo I believe everybody has something that makes them stand out.\n\n41\n00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:51.120\nThis is my calling card.\n\n42\n00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:52.640\nI wear it all the time.\n\n43\n00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:56.920\nI actually proposed to my wife in front of a sold out crowd in the yellow tux.\n\n44\n00:01:56.920 --> 00:01:57.920\nThank goodness.\n\n45\n00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:00.360\nShe said, \"Yes, we're still married.\"\n\n46\n00:02:00.360 --> 00:02:01.360\nSo it's amazing.\n\n47\n00:02:01.360 --> 00:02:02.360\nSo I found a lucky one.\n\n48\n00:02:02.360 --> 00:02:03.360\nBut this is me.\n\n49\n00:02:03.360 --> 00:02:06.000\nI believe everyone should amplify themselves.\n\n50\n00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.840\nThis is me outgoing, a little bit crazy.\n\n51\n00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:10.960\nI wear it all the time and have fun with it.\n\n52\n00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:13.680\nJesse, you don't have a traditional marketing background.\n\n53\n00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:17.160\nYou didn't grow up learning and proctor and gamble yet at 35.\n\n54\n00:02:17.160 --> 00:02:20.940\nYou were doing all these amazing things from a marketing and attention getting\n\n55\n00:02:20.940 --> 00:02:22.280\nperspective.\n\n56\n00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:24.600\nHow did you learn your trade?\n\n57\n00:02:24.600 --> 00:02:28.580\nWell, it started because I took over the worst performing baseball team in the\n\n58\n00:02:28.580 --> 00:02:29.280\ncountry at\n\n59\n00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:31.880\n23 years old as the general manager.\n\n60\n00:02:31.880 --> 00:02:34.720\nAnd of course, I got the job as a GM because no one wanted it.\n\n61\n00:02:34.720 --> 00:02:39.840\nI took over that team and there were only 200 fans coming to the games.\n\n62\n00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:44.390\n$268 in the bank account and we had three full time employees and payroll was\n\n63\n00:02:44.390 --> 00:02:45.200\non Friday.\n\n64\n00:02:45.200 --> 00:02:47.080\nSo there was no choice.\n\n65\n00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:51.280\nSo I realized then I was like, we were a baseball team, but no one cared.\n\n66\n00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:54.520\nAnd I always question, what business are you in, but what business are you\n\n67\n00:02:54.520 --> 00:02:55.200\nreally in?\n\n68\n00:02:55.200 --> 00:02:57.520\nAnd I realized we weren't in the baseball business.\n\n69\n00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:00.000\nSo I had to figure out what could we be the best at?\n\n70\n00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:01.900\nAnd I said, let's do entertainment.\n\n71\n00:03:01.900 --> 00:03:05.920\nSo I started reading everything about marketing, entertainment and having fun.\n\n72\n00:03:05.920 --> 00:03:09.220\nAnd David, that's when we started having our players do choreographed dances\n\n73\n00:03:09.220 --> 00:03:09.560\nduring\n\n74\n00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:10.560\nour games.\n\n75\n00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:14.080\nAnd we started having grandma beauty pageants and salute to underwear nights.\n\n76\n00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:15.920\nWe tried it all.\n\n77\n00:03:15.920 --> 00:03:17.400\nBut we knew how to create attention.\n\n78\n00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:20.370\nAnd once we got people to understand that we're about fun and we're not about\n\n79\n00:03:20.370 --> 00:03:21.000\nbaseball,\n\n80\n00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:25.120\nwe made it really easy to continue trying things that would get people excited.\n\n81\n00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:29.520\n>> So from a marketing and attention getting perspective, you're self-taught.\n\n82\n00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:33.370\n>> I had to be, yeah, I believe everyone should be a sponge and never stop\n\n83\n00:03:33.370 --> 00:03:34.040\nlearning.\n\n84\n00:03:34.040 --> 00:03:37.100\nAnd it's so obvious with you that you're learning probably more today than you\n\n85\n00:03:37.100 --> 00:03:37.400\nwere\n\n86\n00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:38.880\n20, 30 years ago.\n\n87\n00:03:38.880 --> 00:03:41.000\nAnd I think the greatest leaders are constantly learning.\n\n88\n00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:44.360\nSo I started reading books, everything I could get my hands on.\n\n89\n00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:49.010\nAnd my three biggest mentors were P.T. Barnum and Walt Disney and Bill Vek, one\n\n90\n00:03:49.010 --> 00:03:49.440\nof the famous\n\n91\n00:03:49.440 --> 00:03:51.240\nbaseball owners from back in the day.\n\n92\n00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:54.080\nAnd I just tried to learn as much what they did to create the excitement and\n\n93\n00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:54.720\nattention\n\n94\n00:03:54.720 --> 00:03:56.800\nand really get the customers to love them.\n\n95\n00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:00.480\n>> But give us the one big insight you got from each one of those mentors.\n\n96\n00:04:00.480 --> 00:04:04.320\n>> Well, I actually made three custom posters that are inside my office.\n\n97\n00:04:04.320 --> 00:04:06.800\nAnd the one of Bill Vek says innovation.\n\n98\n00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:08.240\nI don't break the rules.\n\n99\n00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:10.880\nI merely test their elasticity.\n\n100\n00:04:10.880 --> 00:04:14.060\nAnd if you know us, we break the rules with a lot of different things from\n\n101\n00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:14.960\ndancing players,\n\n102\n00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:16.800\na break dancing first base coach.\n\n103\n00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:18.880\nSo we're always testing the envelope.\n\n104\n00:04:18.880 --> 00:04:20.800\nThe second one, P.T. Barnum.\n\n105\n00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:22.280\nAnd it says showmanship.\n\n106\n00:04:22.280 --> 00:04:24.200\nAnd I've always tried to be a showman.\n\n107\n00:04:24.200 --> 00:04:28.120\nAnd his quote is something terrible happens without promotion.\n\n108\n00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:29.120\nNothing.\n\n109\n00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:32.900\nAnd so constantly thinking about what he did to create excitement about his\n\n110\n00:04:32.900 --> 00:04:33.520\nbrand and his\n\n111\n00:04:33.520 --> 00:04:35.280\nmuseum and then the circus.\n\n112\n00:04:35.280 --> 00:04:36.280\nAnd then Walt Disney.\n\n113\n00:04:36.280 --> 00:04:38.880\nI've read every book there is about Walt Disney.\n\n114\n00:04:38.880 --> 00:04:42.040\nAnd his poster says vision.\n\n115\n00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:44.680\nIt's kind of fun to do the impossible.\n\n116\n00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:47.960\nAnd I look at Walt and the adversity he went through and the challenges and how\n\n117\n00:04:47.960 --> 00:04:48.280\nhe had\n\n118\n00:04:48.280 --> 00:04:50.880\nmortgage his life and his house to keep going.\n\n119\n00:04:50.880 --> 00:04:53.040\nBecause he had this vision of making a huge impact.\n\n120\n00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:55.720\nSo for us, I'm always thinking what's next?\n\n121\n00:04:55.720 --> 00:04:57.760\nYou know, where is the baseball world going?\n\n122\n00:04:57.760 --> 00:05:00.200\nBut more importantly, where is entertainment going?\n\n123\n00:05:00.200 --> 00:05:02.830\nAnd we're challenging ourselves to put on the best show in the world at our\n\n124\n00:05:02.830 --> 00:05:03.320\nballpark.\n\n125\n00:05:03.320 --> 00:05:05.640\nAnd it's a lot because of inspiration from those three.\n\n126\n00:05:05.640 --> 00:05:08.000\nWell, I'm going to go back out of your childhood.\n\n127\n00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:09.560\nTell us a little bit about your upbringing.\n\n128\n00:05:09.560 --> 00:05:13.880\nWell, I grew up as an only child in a small town, a Situett, Massachusetts,\n\n129\n00:05:13.880 --> 00:05:14.600\nonly about\n\n130\n00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:16.360\n7,000 people.\n\n131\n00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:18.240\nAnd my childhood was different.\n\n132\n00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:22.920\nAs an only child, my parents actually got divorced when I was 8 years old.\n\n133\n00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:25.840\nAnd my mother unfortunately had a drug problem.\n\n134\n00:05:25.840 --> 00:05:28.860\nAnd so my father had to fight to get custody of me.\n\n135\n00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:31.820\nAnd my father worked so hard to get custody of me because it was different back\n\n136\n00:05:31.820 --> 00:05:32.160\nthen.\n\n137\n00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:35.320\nThe mother almost always got the child or the children.\n\n138\n00:05:35.320 --> 00:05:38.420\nAnd he fought to get custody of me, but he had to work really hard to provide\n\n139\n00:05:38.420 --> 00:05:38.760\nand put\n\n140\n00:05:38.760 --> 00:05:39.840\nfood on the table.\n\n141\n00:05:39.840 --> 00:05:41.040\nSo I was alone a lot.\n\n142\n00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:44.190\nSo without going too deep, David, I think that is one of the biggest things\n\n143\n00:05:44.190 --> 00:05:44.800\nthat's driven\n\n144\n00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:48.550\nme to where I am today, because I was constantly fighting to get love and to\n\n145\n00:05:48.550 --> 00:05:49.360\nget affection\n\n146\n00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:52.160\nand to get people to like me and be around me.\n\n147\n00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:53.760\nI didn't have a ton of friends as a kid.\n\n148\n00:05:53.760 --> 00:05:58.780\nSo now my dream is bringing 4,000 people together every single night and high-f\n\n149\n00:05:58.780 --> 00:05:59.200\niving\n\n150\n00:05:59.200 --> 00:06:01.320\nand singing together and dancing together.\n\n151\n00:06:01.320 --> 00:06:04.400\nAnd that's why my favorite moment, every game, is at the end of the game.\n\n152\n00:06:04.400 --> 00:06:06.880\nAnd we're just thanking the fans and having fun.\n\n153\n00:06:06.880 --> 00:06:09.840\nAnd I think my child and the challenges brought me to that point.\n\n154\n00:06:09.840 --> 00:06:14.180\nAnd I am so thankful for the childhood I had as being an only child, being\n\n155\n00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:14.640\nalone.\n\n156\n00:06:14.640 --> 00:06:17.520\nBecause now I get to surround myself with people having fun every single day.\n\n157\n00:06:17.520 --> 00:06:20.080\nDid you grow up loving baseball, Jesse?\n\n158\n00:06:20.080 --> 00:06:23.600\nYeah, that was one great bond my father and I had.\n\n159\n00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:25.400\nWe played baseball all the time.\n\n160\n00:06:25.400 --> 00:06:28.070\nMy dad told me, \"Jesse, if you want to go to college, you've got to get a full\n\n161\n00:06:28.070 --> 00:06:28.840\nscholarship.\"\n\n162\n00:06:28.840 --> 00:06:31.970\nAnd so I worked hard at baseball every single day and was fortunate to get a\n\n163\n00:06:31.970 --> 00:06:32.840\nfull scholarship\n\n164\n00:06:32.840 --> 00:06:33.840\nin college.\n\n165\n00:06:33.840 --> 00:06:36.120\nAnd I was hoping to play professional baseball.\n\n166\n00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:38.960\nBut my third year, I tore everything in my shoulder.\n\n167\n00:06:38.960 --> 00:06:41.040\nThat ended my career and I was done.\n\n168\n00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:43.840\nAnd fortunately, the best things happen when you least expect it.\n\n169\n00:06:43.840 --> 00:06:47.800\nI got an email about an internship working with a team to help on the front\n\n170\n00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:48.480\noffice aspect\n\n171\n00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:50.480\nand help to get people at the games.\n\n172\n00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:53.280\nBut David, I think the biggest thing I learned is I loved playing baseball.\n\n173\n00:06:53.280 --> 00:06:55.840\nBut boy, I hated watching baseball.\n\n174\n00:06:55.840 --> 00:06:57.920\nBaseball is long, slow, and boring.\n\n175\n00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:00.580\nAnd I think that made it easy for me to try to create something that's exciting\n\n176\n00:07:00.580 --> 00:07:01.360\nand fun.\n\n177\n00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:02.360\nYes.\n\n178\n00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:04.160\nI want to talk more about that a little later.\n\n179\n00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:09.400\nBut tell us how the tells the story of how you actually ended up in Savannah.\n\n180\n00:07:09.400 --> 00:07:12.640\nAnd what you started out with with the baseball team that you had heard.\n\n181\n00:07:12.640 --> 00:07:13.640\nYes.\n\n182\n00:07:13.640 --> 00:07:16.200\nI started in Gastonia, like I said, when I was 23 years old.\n\n183\n00:07:16.200 --> 00:07:19.600\nAnd we started creating attention with the Grandma beauty pageants and the\n\n184\n00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:20.320\ndancing players\n\n185\n00:07:20.320 --> 00:07:22.480\nand started attracting more fans.\n\n186\n00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:25.450\nAnd eventually I bought that team because I wanted to really have ownership and\n\n187\n00:07:25.450 --> 00:07:25.720\ntake\n\n188\n00:07:25.720 --> 00:07:27.040\nover.\n\n189\n00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:31.390\nAnd then out of nowhere, the last game of the season in 2014, I proposed to my\n\n190\n00:07:31.390 --> 00:07:32.120\nwife in front\n\n191\n00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:36.280\nof a sold out crowd and I stopped the game fireworks shenanigans.\n\n192\n00:07:36.280 --> 00:07:37.760\nThe crowd was like, what is happening?\n\n193\n00:07:37.760 --> 00:07:38.760\nShe said yes.\n\n194\n00:07:38.760 --> 00:07:42.000\nAnd the next day, she said, I want to surprise you with something special.\n\n195\n00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:43.400\nI want to take you to Savannah.\n\n196\n00:07:43.400 --> 00:07:44.720\nAnd we never been in Savannah.\n\n197\n00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:48.050\nSo we went to Savannah, fell in love with the city, went to this ballpark which\n\n198\n00:07:48.050 --> 00:07:49.000\nhad professional\n\n199\n00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:51.160\nbaseball for 90 years.\n\n200\n00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:52.160\nBut it had failed.\n\n201\n00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:55.520\nWe showed up that one night, David, and there was only 200, 300 people there.\n\n202\n00:07:55.520 --> 00:07:56.640\nAnd no one cared.\n\n203\n00:07:56.640 --> 00:07:59.360\nAnd so I looked at her, I go, this is shouldn't happen.\n\n204\n00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:00.800\nThere should be more people here.\n\n205\n00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:02.000\nSo I called the commissioner of the league.\n\n206\n00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.360\nI said, if this team ever leaves, we're coming.\n\n207\n00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:07.220\nAnd we found out that that professional team was leaving because they couldn't\n\n208\n00:08:07.220 --> 00:08:07.560\nget the\n\n209\n00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:08.560\nsupport.\n\n210\n00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:10.880\nAnd lo and behold, we were able to come in there.\n\n211\n00:08:10.880 --> 00:08:13.720\nAnd that's when it really started, that was about three years ago.\n\n212\n00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:16.880\nAnd we showed up that first day and the team had cut the phone lines, cut the\n\n213\n00:08:16.880 --> 00:08:17.400\ninternet\n\n214\n00:08:17.400 --> 00:08:18.400\nlines.\n\n215\n00:08:18.400 --> 00:08:20.160\nThere was nothing left in the stadium.\n\n216\n00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:21.160\nAnd we were by ourselves.\n\n217\n00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:25.480\nMy wife, myself, our 24 year old president and 322 year olds.\n\n218\n00:08:25.480 --> 00:08:29.320\nSo we took on a wadded debt to get there to buy an expansion team.\n\n219\n00:08:29.320 --> 00:08:31.480\nAnd then our challenges were just starting that first day.\n\n220\n00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:38.640\nHow do you get the courage to just muster that, muster up and buy a business?\n\n221\n00:08:38.640 --> 00:08:39.640\nBelief.\n\n222\n00:08:39.640 --> 00:08:42.600\nAnd I think that's something that we don't talk about as much.\n\n223\n00:08:42.600 --> 00:08:46.560\nWe believed that we were different, that we would create something successful,\n\n224\n00:08:46.560 --> 00:08:46.960\nthat we\n\n225\n00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:48.120\ncared more.\n\n226\n00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:50.440\nSo like we weren't your typical baseball team.\n\n227\n00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:53.320\nWe believed that it would be successful here.\n\n228\n00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:55.990\nMaybe it was dumbfounded belief because no one really proved it could be\n\n229\n00:08:55.990 --> 00:08:56.520\nsuccessful in\n\n230\n00:08:56.520 --> 00:08:57.520\nSavannah.\n\n231\n00:08:57.520 --> 00:08:58.520\nBut that was it.\n\n232\n00:08:58.520 --> 00:08:59.520\nAnd then I'll tell you, it got harder, David.\n\n233\n00:08:59.520 --> 00:09:04.990\nWhen we sold one ticket in our first two months, and then on January 15th, 2016\n\n234\n00:09:04.990 --> 00:09:05.480\n, when\n\n235\n00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:08.680\nI got a phone call saying that we overdrafted our account and we were\n\n236\n00:09:08.680 --> 00:09:09.640\ncompletely out of\n\n237\n00:09:09.640 --> 00:09:10.800\nmoney.\n\n238\n00:09:10.800 --> 00:09:13.200\nAnd that's when my wife turned to me and said we have no other options.\n\n239\n00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:14.800\nWe have to sell our house.\n\n240\n00:09:14.800 --> 00:09:18.330\nAnd we sold our house, emptied out our savings account and got an air bed and\n\n241\n00:09:18.330 --> 00:09:18.960\njust started\n\n242\n00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:22.040\ntrying to hope we could create attention and make it work.\n\n243\n00:09:22.040 --> 00:09:23.880\nAnd that was just a little over three years ago.\n\n244\n00:09:23.880 --> 00:09:28.640\nYeah, I noticed that I read somewhere you started out a little duplexes, a\n\n245\n00:09:28.640 --> 00:09:29.360\ncouple of\n\n246\n00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:30.360\nyou got there.\n\n247\n00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:31.360\nOh geez, yeah.\n\n248\n00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:32.720\nIt was the nastiest place you can ever imagine.\n\n249\n00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:34.360\nI walked in and said, Nope.\n\n250\n00:09:34.360 --> 00:09:35.360\nNo way.\n\n251\n00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:39.560\nSo we bought it because that was all we could afford in sleeping on an air bed.\n\n252\n00:09:39.560 --> 00:09:42.840\nAnd I think like you and any other leader, you've all gone through those\n\n253\n00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:43.640\nchallenges.\n\n254\n00:09:43.640 --> 00:09:46.910\nAnd if you really believe in it, you're willing to sacrifice yourself for\n\n255\n00:09:46.910 --> 00:09:47.480\nothers.\n\n256\n00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:50.440\nAnd my wife, power to her, she was like, we're going to do this because we know\n\n257\n00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:50.880\nwe can make\n\n258\n00:09:50.880 --> 00:09:51.880\nit successful.\n\n259\n00:09:51.880 --> 00:09:54.800\nYou know, you called your team the Savannah bananas.\n\n260\n00:09:54.800 --> 00:09:58.880\nI don't know if like it's like saying toy wood three times in a row.\n\n261\n00:09:58.880 --> 00:10:00.880\nSo, you know, I don't know if I could do that.\n\n262\n00:10:00.880 --> 00:10:04.850\nBut anyway, was this a no-brainer for you or did you wrestle with that decision\n\n263\n00:10:04.850 --> 00:10:05.120\n?\n\n264\n00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:08.280\nI mean, you know, a lot of people would say, oh, if we called the Savannah\n\n265\n00:10:08.280 --> 00:10:09.840\nbananas, the\n\n266\n00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:13.960\nmaybe the people in the city will like that or make it fun of them.\n\n267\n00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:14.960\nWas that it?\n\n268\n00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:16.000\nWere you, was that an easy decision?\n\n269\n00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:18.320\nNo, it was unbelievable scary.\n\n270\n00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:20.920\nEven today when I go through airports and I'm going to get a keynote and people\n\n271\n00:10:20.920 --> 00:10:21.360\nare seeing\n\n272\n00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:24.440\nme in a yellow tux, that's still awkward and uncomfortable and scary.\n\n273\n00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:27.440\nBut naming the team bananas was really scary.\n\n274\n00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:29.200\nWe had a thousand suggestions for bands.\n\n275\n00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:32.240\nWe only had one person suggest bananas.\n\n276\n00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:36.560\nBut we knew that what our brand is, it's fun, it's unique, it's different.\n\n277\n00:10:36.560 --> 00:10:38.080\nIt's not like everyone else.\n\n278\n00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:41.840\nWe were very, very intentional with making that decision because we knew that's\n\n279\n00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:42.200\nwho we\n\n280\n00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:43.200\nare.\n\n281\n00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:47.280\nAnd so when we came out with that name, we created unbelievable attention.\n\n282\n00:10:47.280 --> 00:10:49.160\nBut we were also ripped apart locally.\n\n283\n00:10:49.160 --> 00:10:51.840\nI mean, people were saying the owners should be thrown out of town.\n\n284\n00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:53.760\nYou guys are an embarrassment to the city.\n\n285\n00:10:53.760 --> 00:10:55.320\nYou'll never sell a ticket.\n\n286\n00:10:55.320 --> 00:10:58.720\nBut here's the thing, David, they were all talking and everyone was, it was\n\n287\n00:10:58.720 --> 00:10:59.320\nnumber one\n\n288\n00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:00.400\ntrending on Twitter.\n\n289\n00:11:00.400 --> 00:11:01.400\nSo they were talking.\n\n290\n00:11:01.400 --> 00:11:04.900\nSo I believe that if you create attention and you get people into know your\n\n291\n00:11:04.900 --> 00:11:05.640\nbrand, then\n\n292\n00:11:05.640 --> 00:11:08.200\nyou can really show them what you're about and how much you care.\n\n293\n00:11:08.200 --> 00:11:09.440\nAnd that was the whole goal.\n\n294\n00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:12.640\nWe wanted to get them to understand, hey, this is wild, the Savannah bananas.\n\n295\n00:11:12.640 --> 00:11:14.960\nAnd they're naming their mascot split.\n\n296\n00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:18.080\nThey have a senior citizen dance team called the banana nannas.\n\n297\n00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:19.080\nWho are these guys?\n\n298\n00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:20.080\nAll right?\n\n299\n00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:22.740\nAnd that was the whole plan because once they knew who we are, then we could\n\n300\n00:11:22.740 --> 00:11:23.400\nreally start\n\n301\n00:11:23.400 --> 00:11:24.400\nhaving fun.\n\n302\n00:11:24.400 --> 00:11:28.720\nSo you call them, call the team Savannah bananas and get started.\n\n303\n00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:33.120\nWhat was the response to your initial marketing or tend to get any ideas?\n\n304\n00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:36.760\nIt wasn't a hint right off the bat or take time to grow.\n\n305\n00:11:36.760 --> 00:11:38.520\nNationally, it was a huge hit.\n\n306\n00:11:38.520 --> 00:11:42.050\nSo we started doing merchandise orders all over the country and all over the\n\n307\n00:11:42.050 --> 00:11:42.560\nworld.\n\n308\n00:11:42.560 --> 00:11:46.020\nAnd we had no idea how to do that, by the way, how to ship shirts to New\n\n309\n00:11:46.020 --> 00:11:46.760\nZealand and\n\n310\n00:11:46.760 --> 00:11:47.760\nUnited Kingdom.\n\n311\n00:11:47.760 --> 00:11:48.760\nWe had no idea.\n\n312\n00:11:48.760 --> 00:11:50.200\nAnd nationally, everyone was talking about bananas.\n\n313\n00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:53.780\nBut locally, as I mentioned, people were saying, you guys are not going to\n\n314\n00:11:53.780 --> 00:11:54.400\nsucceed.\n\n315\n00:11:54.400 --> 00:11:55.400\nYou're going to fail.\n\n316\n00:11:55.400 --> 00:11:56.400\nYou're an embarrassment.\n\n317\n00:11:56.400 --> 00:12:00.600\nI mean, I would say thousands of comments, emails, voicemails telling us that\n\n318\n00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:01.080\nwe will\n\n319\n00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:02.080\nfail.\n\n320\n00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:03.200\nWe'll never even play a game.\n\n321\n00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:04.760\nAnd that was hard to sleep on.\n\n322\n00:12:04.760 --> 00:12:06.760\nBut that's what happened when we named the team.\n\n323\n00:12:06.760 --> 00:12:10.040\nAnd then from that point on, it was like, all right, we got a chip on our\n\n324\n00:12:10.040 --> 00:12:10.760\nshoulder.\n\n325\n00:12:10.760 --> 00:12:12.640\nIt's nice to have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder.\n\n326\n00:12:12.640 --> 00:12:14.840\nWe saved every one of those negative comments.\n\n327\n00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:18.040\nAnd a year later on our anniversary, we did a mean tweet video.\n\n328\n00:12:18.040 --> 00:12:21.080\nAnd our whole staff was reading those negative comments on a video.\n\n329\n00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:23.960\nDid that go viral as well?\n\n330\n00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:25.520\nThat created some attention as well.\n\n331\n00:12:25.520 --> 00:12:28.570\nWhat was hilarious is most of those people saying those negative comments ended\n\n332\n00:12:28.570 --> 00:12:28.960\nup buying\n\n333\n00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:31.200\nseason tickets with us, which was crazy.\n\n334\n00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:33.200\nWell, how long did it take long?\n\n335\n00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:36.840\nDid it convert the attention into tendons?\n\n336\n00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:40.200\nYes, because again, we were trying to do what people liked.\n\n337\n00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:43.540\nAnd I think any business, you got to start with what frustrates people about\n\n338\n00:12:43.540 --> 00:12:44.200\nthe industry\n\n339\n00:12:44.200 --> 00:12:45.200\nyou're in.\n\n340\n00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:48.150\nAnd we realized people were frustrated because baseball was long, slow, and\n\n341\n00:12:48.150 --> 00:12:48.600\nboring.\n\n342\n00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:51.090\nAnd David, you know this, when you go to a sporting event, how many times did\n\n343\n00:12:51.090 --> 00:12:51.440\nyou get\n\n344\n00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:52.840\nnickel and dined?\n\n345\n00:12:52.840 --> 00:12:56.240\n$10 for this soda, $8 for this burger, $9 for this.\n\n346\n00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:57.840\nSo we did the exact opposite.\n\n347\n00:12:57.840 --> 00:12:58.840\nAnd that was our whole model.\n\n348\n00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:00.640\nWhatever is normal, do the exact opposite.\n\n349\n00:13:00.640 --> 00:13:02.720\nSo we created all you can eat tickets.\n\n350\n00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:05.560\nEvery ticket included all your burgers, your hot dogs, your chicken sandwiches,\n\n351\n00:13:05.560 --> 00:13:06.120\nyour soda,\n\n352\n00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:09.120\nyour water, your popcorn, your dessert for $15.\n\n353\n00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.720\nSo people were like, wow, it's a good deal as well.\n\n354\n00:13:11.720 --> 00:13:14.760\nSimilar to young brands, you see these unbelievable deals.\n\n355\n00:13:14.760 --> 00:13:16.880\nAnd so that really got people into the brand.\n\n356\n00:13:16.880 --> 00:13:21.240\nSo after a few months, we started selling out games and people came out.\n\n357\n00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:23.840\nAnd as you know, your customers are your biggest marketers.\n\n358\n00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:27.470\nWhen they came out to the ballpark and started seeing the break dancing first\n\n359\n00:13:27.470 --> 00:13:28.040\nbase coach\n\n360\n00:13:28.040 --> 00:13:31.100\nand started seeing the pet band and started seeing all the promotions, they\n\n361\n00:13:31.100 --> 00:13:31.640\nwere like,\n\n362\n00:13:31.640 --> 00:13:33.040\nwow, these guys are fun.\n\n363\n00:13:33.040 --> 00:13:35.000\nAnd then they did all the marketing for us.\n\n364\n00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.480\nYou know, Jesse, everybody talks about disrupting categories and disrupting\n\n365\n00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:40.400\nbusinesses.\n\n366\n00:13:40.400 --> 00:13:44.200\nYou've got the Netflix's, the Amazon's of the world.\n\n367\n00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:46.990\nAnd you're touching on this, but I want to go a little bit deeper on it because\n\n368\n00:13:46.990 --> 00:13:47.360\nI think\n\n369\n00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:49.360\nyou're making it a really big insight here.\n\n370\n00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:54.040\nI mean, you know, you talked about how you disrupted the baseball business.\n\n371\n00:13:54.040 --> 00:13:57.640\nWhat advice do you give to other businesses and other leaders on how they\n\n372\n00:13:57.640 --> 00:13:58.400\nshould put their\n\n373\n00:13:58.400 --> 00:14:00.240\ncategory in their business?\n\n374\n00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:02.480\nI think it's really easy model.\n\n375\n00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:04.440\nAnd I call it a mirror moment.\n\n376\n00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:07.920\nLook in the mirror and put yourself in your customer's shoes.\n\n377\n00:14:07.920 --> 00:14:11.280\nWhat do you hate about the industry that you're in?\n\n378\n00:14:11.280 --> 00:14:14.270\nWhether it's like banking, for instance, how many times do we call a bank and\n\n379\n00:14:14.270 --> 00:14:14.720\nwe get put\n\n380\n00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:17.400\naround for like five minutes before we talk to someone?\n\n381\n00:14:17.400 --> 00:14:18.480\nThat's a pain point.\n\n382\n00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:20.440\nYou know, think about lawyers and law firms.\n\n383\n00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:22.440\nYou're charged every minute, every email.\n\n384\n00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:24.000\nThat's a pain point.\n\n385\n00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:27.560\nSo we looked at all the pain points, wrote them down and said, what can we do\n\n386\n00:14:27.560 --> 00:14:27.960\nto do the\n\n387\n00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:29.600\nexact opposite?\n\n388\n00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:33.050\nAnd then I really believe that next point is what is the perfect experience for\n\n389\n00:14:33.050 --> 00:14:33.240\nyour\n\n390\n00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:34.400\ncustomer?\n\n391\n00:14:34.400 --> 00:14:37.440\nLove your customers more than you love your product.\n\n392\n00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:38.640\nWe all love our product.\n\n393\n00:14:38.640 --> 00:14:42.520\nWe talk about what we sell, but how often you talk about who you serve.\n\n394\n00:14:42.520 --> 00:14:44.200\nAnd so we started loving our customers.\n\n395\n00:14:44.200 --> 00:14:48.200\nAnd I'll tell you the name of our company is fans first entertainment.\n\n396\n00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:51.000\nOur missions fans first entertain always.\n\n397\n00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:54.120\nEvery decision we make is it fans first.\n\n398\n00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:57.850\nSo like for instance, when someone buys a ticket from us, they get a video of\n\n399\n00:14:57.850 --> 00:14:58.960\nus celebrating.\n\n400\n00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:01.960\nSay congrats, you just made the best decision of your day.\n\n401\n00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:04.240\nRight now as you bought tickets, we all celebrated.\n\n402\n00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:05.240\nWe grabbed your tickets.\n\n403\n00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:07.680\nA banana nana put your ticket on a silk pillow.\n\n404\n00:15:07.680 --> 00:15:08.880\nWe put it up in the air.\n\n405\n00:15:08.880 --> 00:15:10.800\nWe had a seance around your tickets.\n\n406\n00:15:10.800 --> 00:15:13.600\nAnd then we now put them in maximum security in our vault.\n\n407\n00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:15.520\nThey're ready for you to go bananas.\n\n408\n00:15:15.520 --> 00:15:18.670\nThat's the first touch point and then every single person that buys a ticket\n\n409\n00:15:18.670 --> 00:15:19.240\ngets a thank\n\n410\n00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:20.560\nyou call from us.\n\n411\n00:15:20.560 --> 00:15:23.760\nNow most of the times they think was in my credit card not work, we said no, no\n\n412\n00:15:23.760 --> 00:15:24.160\n, no,\n\n413\n00:15:24.160 --> 00:15:26.340\nwe're just calling to thank you.\n\n414\n00:15:26.340 --> 00:15:30.000\nYou have to map the experience and love them and how do you want your customers\n\n415\n00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:31.000\nto feel?\n\n416\n00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:33.080\nAnd how do you want to make them feel about your experience?\n\n417\n00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:34.080\nAnd that's what we map.\n\n418\n00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:36.580\nI mean, from our tickets are shaped like bananas.\n\n419\n00:15:36.580 --> 00:15:39.040\nLast year they were scratching snip and smelled like bananas.\n\n420\n00:15:39.040 --> 00:15:42.160\nI mean, we try to go all out on every touch point.\n\n421\n00:15:42.160 --> 00:15:45.120\nAnd I think any industry, what are those frustration points?\n\n422\n00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:46.480\nWhat are those pain points?\n\n423\n00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:50.000\nPut yourself in the customer's shoes, do the exact opposite and then love your\n\n424\n00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:50.600\ncustomers\n\n425\n00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:52.320\nmore than you love your product.\n\n426\n00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:55.090\nAnd David, I'll share one more thing last year, which I think every company\n\n427\n00:15:55.090 --> 00:15:56.480\nshould do.\n\n428\n00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:59.360\nLast year we tried this out called undercover fan.\n\n429\n00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:02.960\nAnd every night someone on our staff went undercover.\n\n430\n00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:03.960\nEven me.\n\n431\n00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:05.160\nI took the yellow tuxedo off.\n\n432\n00:16:05.160 --> 00:16:06.160\nI drove.\n\n433\n00:16:06.160 --> 00:16:07.160\nYes, crazily.\n\n434\n00:16:07.160 --> 00:16:08.160\nAll right.\n\n435\n00:16:08.160 --> 00:16:10.520\nAnd we went through the entire experience as a fan.\n\n436\n00:16:10.520 --> 00:16:11.760\nSo I came into the ballpark.\n\n437\n00:16:11.760 --> 00:16:13.560\nI parked like the fans did.\n\n438\n00:16:13.560 --> 00:16:15.480\nI came into the stadium like the fans did.\n\n439\n00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:17.280\nI went through lines like the fans did.\n\n440\n00:16:17.280 --> 00:16:19.560\nI sat in different seats around the ballpark.\n\n441\n00:16:19.560 --> 00:16:22.120\nAnd every night someone on our staff would do this and we'd get together at the\n\n442\n00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:22.360\nend of\n\n443\n00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:24.640\nnight and talk about the experience.\n\n444\n00:16:24.640 --> 00:16:25.720\nWhat could we do better?\n\n445\n00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:27.040\nWhat are great things that we did?\n\n446\n00:16:27.040 --> 00:16:30.840\nAnd now we have 30 pages of notes from last season because we went undercover.\n\n447\n00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:34.330\nHow many people have gone undercover and actually experienced what it's like to\n\n448\n00:16:34.330 --> 00:16:34.960\nbe a customer\n\n449\n00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:35.960\nof your business?\n\n450\n00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:37.360\nThat was a game changer for us.\n\n451\n00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:41.930\nSo you literally, you put yourself and your people literally in the shoes of\n\n452\n00:16:41.930 --> 00:16:43.080\nthe customers.\n\n453\n00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:44.080\nYes, 100%.\n\n454\n00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:45.760\nAnd it was mind blowing what we learned.\n\n455\n00:16:45.760 --> 00:16:48.920\nAnd you talk about the importance of getting attention.\n\n456\n00:16:48.920 --> 00:16:53.480\nAnd you say attention beats marketing 100% of the time.\n\n457\n00:16:53.480 --> 00:16:54.480\nYes.\n\n458\n00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:55.560\nExplain that.\n\n459\n00:16:55.560 --> 00:16:58.680\nWe marketed the team like crazy when we came to Savannah.\n\n460\n00:16:58.680 --> 00:17:00.040\nWe had, we were on Facebook.\n\n461\n00:17:00.040 --> 00:17:01.040\nWe were doing radio ads.\n\n462\n00:17:01.040 --> 00:17:02.240\nWe were doing newspaper ads.\n\n463\n00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:04.800\nAnd we sold one ticket.\n\n464\n00:17:04.800 --> 00:17:06.080\nIt's proof for me.\n\n465\n00:17:06.080 --> 00:17:09.440\nIf you're marketing like everyone else, you're going to get results like\n\n466\n00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:10.320\neveryone else.\n\n467\n00:17:10.320 --> 00:17:13.420\nThat's why I always say whatever is normal, do the exact opposite because\n\n468\n00:17:13.420 --> 00:17:13.960\nnormal gets\n\n469\n00:17:13.960 --> 00:17:15.160\nnormal results.\n\n470\n00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:17.440\nSo for months, we were doing the same advertising.\n\n471\n00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:20.120\nIt wasn't until we got crazy and got attention.\n\n472\n00:17:20.120 --> 00:17:23.480\nSo I challenge everyone to think like a reporter.\n\n473\n00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:26.840\nIf you're a reporter, do you want to cover your business?\n\n474\n00:17:26.840 --> 00:17:27.840\nWhat's your story?\n\n475\n00:17:27.840 --> 00:17:28.840\nIs it different enough?\n\n476\n00:17:28.840 --> 00:17:29.920\nIs it interesting?\n\n477\n00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:33.920\nYou know, what you did, a Taco Bell, I mean, brilliant at getting attention.\n\n478\n00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:35.040\nAnd they thought like a reporter.\n\n479\n00:17:35.040 --> 00:17:37.640\nI mean, literally having weddings at Taco Bell.\n\n480\n00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:38.720\nAre you kidding me?\n\n481\n00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:39.720\nAll right?\n\n482\n00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:42.040\nSo we did attention and it brought people into the brand.\n\n483\n00:17:42.040 --> 00:17:44.840\nTaco Bell has done such a great job in pizza on KFC.\n\n484\n00:17:44.840 --> 00:17:45.840\nWhat are those unique things?\n\n485\n00:17:45.840 --> 00:17:47.920\nAnd I think that's what every business has to do.\n\n486\n00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:51.330\nEvery day I'm challenging our staff say, what are we doing to create attention\n\n487\n00:17:51.330 --> 00:17:51.840\nnow?\n\n488\n00:17:51.840 --> 00:17:56.120\nAnd like, give an example, every team sells T-shirts and hats, right?\n\n489\n00:17:56.120 --> 00:17:59.840\nSo last year, we sold Dolce and Banana underwear.\n\n490\n00:17:59.840 --> 00:18:04.210\nYou literally, if you can see it right here, we actually did Dolce and Banana\n\n491\n00:18:04.210 --> 00:18:05.160\nunderwear.\n\n492\n00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:08.840\nSo we came up with tighty whiteies and put a big banana on the crotch.\n\n493\n00:18:08.840 --> 00:18:11.480\nAnd we also had the small underwear with the small banana on the crotch.\n\n494\n00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:13.600\nAnd we sold Dolce and Banana underwear.\n\n495\n00:18:13.600 --> 00:18:16.160\nIt wasn't supposed to sell, but it sold like crazy.\n\n496\n00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:19.320\nI don't know because it was different and people were talking about it.\n\n497\n00:18:19.320 --> 00:18:20.800\nSo you know, what are those things?\n\n498\n00:18:20.800 --> 00:18:22.600\nHow can you be the only?\n\n499\n00:18:22.600 --> 00:18:25.190\nEveryone tries to be a little bit better, a little bit faster, a little bit\n\n500\n00:18:25.190 --> 00:18:25.680\ncheaper.\n\n501\n00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:27.240\nWhat are you the only one doing?\n\n502\n00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:29.080\nAnd that's how you can really create attention.\n\n503\n00:18:29.080 --> 00:18:31.440\nYou also talk about being a moment maker.\n\n504\n00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:33.480\nWhat do you mean by that?\n\n505\n00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:37.680\nI believe nothing matters more than making people feel like they matter.\n\n506\n00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.720\nAnd so what we talk about is fans' first moments.\n\n507\n00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.400\nYou may have core beliefs for your company.\n\n508\n00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:44.480\nEveryone does.\n\n509\n00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:47.720\nBut do you have stories that back up those beliefs?\n\n510\n00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:49.760\nAnd so we challenge ourself every day.\n\n511\n00:18:49.760 --> 00:18:52.890\nLiterally, and this is from you, you know, you talk about recognition so much\n\n512\n00:18:52.890 --> 00:18:53.200\nand no\n\n513\n00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:55.480\ngreat one in taking people with you.\n\n514\n00:18:55.480 --> 00:18:58.960\nEvery week, our staff sends an email to the leadership.\n\n515\n00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:01.680\nWhat was one thing that they did that was fans' first and what was one thing\n\n516\n00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:02.160\nthey saw\n\n517\n00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:04.480\nsomeone else do that was fans' first?\n\n518\n00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.320\nWe're looking for stories.\n\n519\n00:19:06.320 --> 00:19:09.520\nThe more stories that we have, that really builds the brand and who we are.\n\n520\n00:19:09.520 --> 00:19:11.760\nSo what are those moments that we create?\n\n521\n00:19:11.760 --> 00:19:16.090\nSo I mean, we have hundreds of them, you know, but I give you one David example\n\n522\n00:19:16.090 --> 00:19:16.720\nis happy\n\n523\n00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:17.720\ntears.\n\n524\n00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:20.760\nYou talk about the emotions that you want people to feel, you know, when they\n\n525\n00:19:20.760 --> 00:19:21.200\ncome into\n\n526\n00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:22.360\nyour place.\n\n527\n00:19:22.360 --> 00:19:25.850\nAnd I remember last year, I go around the stadium doing selfies every game with\n\n528\n00:19:25.850 --> 00:19:26.280\nfans,\n\n529\n00:19:26.280 --> 00:19:29.360\nwhich I don't know why, but people love selfies for some reason, all right?\n\n530\n00:19:29.360 --> 00:19:31.200\nSo I'm going around the stadium doing selfies.\n\n531\n00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:34.640\nIn one game, I saw this little kid jumping up and down with a poster.\n\n532\n00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:37.320\n\"Jassy, Jassy, come here.\"\n\n533\n00:19:37.320 --> 00:19:38.640\nSo I go over and I go, \"What's your name?\"\n\n534\n00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:39.640\nHe goes, \"I'm Cameron.\n\n535\n00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:40.640\nCan we get a selfie?\"\n\n536\n00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:41.640\nI go, \"Yes.\"\n\n537\n00:19:41.640 --> 00:19:43.720\nAnd he goes, \"Here's this poster I made of you.\n\n538\n00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:44.880\nI'm your biggest fan.\n\n539\n00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:46.120\nI'm the biggest fan of the bananas.\"\n\n540\n00:19:46.120 --> 00:19:47.120\nI go, \"Of course.\"\n\n541\n00:19:47.120 --> 00:19:49.120\nAnd I go, \"Cameron, this selfie is going to be on Facebook.\"\n\n542\n00:19:49.120 --> 00:19:50.760\nHe goes, \"Facebook?\"\n\n543\n00:19:50.760 --> 00:19:51.920\nAnd I go, \"Yeah.\"\n\n544\n00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:54.400\nAnd I come back, I see our director of first impressions.\n\n545\n00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:56.320\nI go, \"Kiki, I want you to watch this.\"\n\n546\n00:19:56.320 --> 00:19:57.560\nI go into the dugout.\n\n547\n00:19:57.560 --> 00:20:01.390\nI grab a sign bat and a sign ball and I go up and I get on a knee and I deliver\n\n548\n00:20:01.390 --> 00:20:01.920\nthis to\n\n549\n00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:02.920\nCameron.\n\n550\n00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:07.320\nAnd all of a sudden he goes, \"And starts crying his eyes out.\"\n\n551\n00:20:07.320 --> 00:20:09.000\nLiterally, tears flowing down.\n\n552\n00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:10.480\nI go, \"Cameron, are you okay?\n\n553\n00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:11.480\nAre you okay?\"\n\n554\n00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:13.840\nHe goes, \"No, they're happy tears.\n\n555\n00:20:13.840 --> 00:20:15.240\nThey're happy tears.\"\n\n556\n00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:18.760\nAnd at that point, his mother's crying as well.\n\n557\n00:20:18.760 --> 00:20:20.760\nThe whole section is emotional.\n\n558\n00:20:20.760 --> 00:20:23.790\nAnd Cameron and his mother stayed for the entire game, which is rare in a long\n\n559\n00:20:23.790 --> 00:20:24.320\nbaseball\n\n560\n00:20:24.320 --> 00:20:25.320\ngame.\n\n561\n00:20:25.320 --> 00:20:27.720\nAnd he runs up to me at the end of the game, gives me a hug and says, \"Thank\n\n562\n00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:28.000\nyou.\n\n563\n00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:30.120\nThat's one of the best days of my life.\"\n\n564\n00:20:30.120 --> 00:20:33.550\nReally by doing a little gesture of handing a bat, taking a picture and\n\n565\n00:20:33.550 --> 00:20:34.320\ncreating happy\n\n566\n00:20:34.320 --> 00:20:35.320\ntears.\n\n567\n00:20:35.320 --> 00:20:38.170\nWe share those stories every day about how, what are those moments that we're\n\n568\n00:20:38.170 --> 00:20:38.600\ncreating\n\n569\n00:20:38.600 --> 00:20:40.960\nto make people feel like they really matter.\n\n570\n00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:43.840\nAnd that really has built our company into what it is.\n\n571\n00:20:43.840 --> 00:20:45.880\nYou know, I was listening to you there.\n\n572\n00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:49.510\nYou talk about one of the people in your organization and you had a title,\n\n573\n00:20:49.510 --> 00:20:50.880\ndirector of first impressions.\n\n574\n00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:51.880\nOkay.\n\n575\n00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:53.600\nAnd that got my attention.\n\n576\n00:20:53.600 --> 00:20:54.600\nOkay.\n\n577\n00:20:54.600 --> 00:20:57.760\nYou give people unique titles in terms of their roles.\n\n578\n00:20:57.760 --> 00:20:58.760\nWe let them own it.\n\n579\n00:20:58.760 --> 00:21:01.320\nWe had to director of fun, director of first impressions.\n\n580\n00:21:01.320 --> 00:21:02.320\nI mean, you name it.\n\n581\n00:21:02.320 --> 00:21:06.080\nWe have fun with it because we want people to own their position and own what\n\n582\n00:21:06.080 --> 00:21:06.760\nthey do.\n\n583\n00:21:06.760 --> 00:21:10.760\nAnd Kiki, our director of first impressions, started out as a shy 22 year old.\n\n584\n00:21:10.760 --> 00:21:14.880\nAnd now she oversees the staff of 150 people at 25 years old.\n\n585\n00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:15.880\nAnd it's amazing.\n\n586\n00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:16.880\nHer story is amazing.\n\n587\n00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:17.880\nWe share that all the time.\n\n588\n00:21:17.880 --> 00:21:19.040\nBut yeah, you know, own it.\n\n589\n00:21:19.040 --> 00:21:20.760\nThis job's supposed to be fun.\n\n590\n00:21:20.760 --> 00:21:24.360\nAnd as a leader, you need to give your staff permission to have fun.\n\n591\n00:21:24.360 --> 00:21:25.840\nDavid, you did that.\n\n592\n00:21:25.840 --> 00:21:29.720\nYou know, everything you did from the cheese heads and from the floppy chicken,\n\n593\n00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:30.320\nthe rubber\n\n594\n00:21:30.320 --> 00:21:32.720\nchickens, that's giving your staff permission to have fun.\n\n595\n00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:35.640\nAnd I think these formal titles are over.\n\n596\n00:21:35.640 --> 00:21:36.640\nThey're not needed anymore.\n\n597\n00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:40.000\nWell, Jesse, you're in another league and you're making me go.\n\n598\n00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:41.880\nI wish I would have thought about it.\n\n599\n00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:42.880\nThat's fantastic.\n\n600\n00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:46.440\nI would imagine, you know, with your energy, you have to be somewhat of an\n\n601\n00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:47.880\nimpatient person.\n\n602\n00:21:47.880 --> 00:21:51.360\nAnd what advice do you give on patient spirit and people?\n\n603\n00:21:51.360 --> 00:21:55.200\nYou know, you've taken on all those responsibilities so early in your life.\n\n604\n00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:56.960\nWhat's your view on patients?\n\n605\n00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:59.680\nI was very challenged with that when I started.\n\n606\n00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:01.720\nIt was all about me, me, me, me, me.\n\n607\n00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:03.960\nGrowing me, I want to be a GM, a management partner, an owner.\n\n608\n00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:06.400\nI was so patient about what I wanted.\n\n609\n00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:08.360\nBut that didn't bring me that much happiness.\n\n610\n00:22:08.360 --> 00:22:10.600\nIt was being on a hamster wheel.\n\n611\n00:22:10.600 --> 00:22:11.800\nAnd it finally came to me.\n\n612\n00:22:11.800 --> 00:22:15.080\nMy greatest happiness is seeing other people have the time of their life,\n\n613\n00:22:15.080 --> 00:22:15.760\nhaving fun,\n\n614\n00:22:15.760 --> 00:22:16.960\nloving what they do.\n\n615\n00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:20.310\nSo on the back of our fans' first playbook, which we share with everyone on our\n\n616\n00:22:20.310 --> 00:22:20.720\nstaff,\n\n617\n00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:25.530\nour players, and it says be patient in what you want for yourself, but be\n\n618\n00:22:25.530 --> 00:22:26.240\nimpatient in\n\n619\n00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:28.560\nhow much you give to others.\n\n620\n00:22:28.560 --> 00:22:33.050\nAnd what I've learned now is that when I can share, teach, and have fun with\n\n621\n00:22:33.050 --> 00:22:33.720\nothers,\n\n622\n00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:37.360\nit brings me more joy, more success, more gratitude.\n\n623\n00:22:37.360 --> 00:22:40.750\nSo you know, like the thank you letter to you, David, I mean, I started that in\n\n624\n00:22:40.750 --> 00:22:41.640\n2016.\n\n625\n00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:43.160\nI started the thank you experiment.\n\n626\n00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:45.770\nI said, I'll write one thank you letter a day to someone that's made an impact\n\n627\n00:22:45.770 --> 00:22:46.040\nin my\n\n628\n00:22:46.040 --> 00:22:47.040\nlife.\n\n629\n00:22:47.040 --> 00:22:50.490\nAnd now into 2019, it's three years straight and over a thousand thank you\n\n630\n00:22:50.490 --> 00:22:51.040\nletters.\n\n631\n00:22:51.040 --> 00:22:52.360\nAnd that gives me joy.\n\n632\n00:22:52.360 --> 00:22:55.600\nThat gives me happiness, but it's also spreading gratitude to someone else.\n\n633\n00:22:55.600 --> 00:22:59.580\nSo patience is a challenge, but when you start thinking, what can you do for\n\n634\n00:22:59.580 --> 00:23:00.160\nothers, you'll\n\n635\n00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:03.400\nbe amazed at how much the things that you want start happening faster.\n\n636\n00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:06.990\nYou know, I really was blown away by that note that you sent me and it did make\n\n637\n00:23:06.990 --> 00:23:08.200\nmy day.\n\n638\n00:23:08.200 --> 00:23:12.880\nAnd, you know, obviously gratitude plays a significant role in your life.\n\n639\n00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:17.750\nDid you have a story that kind of brought that forward in your life or has that\n\n640\n00:23:17.750 --> 00:23:18.160\njust\n\n641\n00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:20.360\nbeen something that's occurred over time?\n\n642\n00:23:20.360 --> 00:23:22.840\nI started the one word by John Gordon a few years ago.\n\n643\n00:23:22.840 --> 00:23:24.320\nAre you familiar with that?\n\n644\n00:23:24.320 --> 00:23:25.320\nI know of it.\n\n645\n00:23:25.320 --> 00:23:26.400\nI have not read it.\n\n646\n00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:29.470\nYou pick one word for a year and instead of a New Year's resolution, you just\n\n647\n00:23:29.470 --> 00:23:29.880\nfocus on\n\n648\n00:23:29.880 --> 00:23:32.600\nthat word because most New Year's resolutions fail.\n\n649\n00:23:32.600 --> 00:23:35.600\nAnd so I started that with my wife and then we brought it to our team.\n\n650\n00:23:35.600 --> 00:23:37.640\nAnd in 2016, my word was care.\n\n651\n00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:38.640\nAnd I said, I can't just care.\n\n652\n00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:40.560\nI got to hold myself accountable to that.\n\n653\n00:23:40.560 --> 00:23:43.330\nSo that's why I started the thank you letter experiment, the thank you\n\n654\n00:23:43.330 --> 00:23:44.040\nexperiment.\n\n655\n00:23:44.040 --> 00:23:47.280\nAnd I'll tell you what happened, David, it was mind blowing.\n\n656\n00:23:47.280 --> 00:23:48.280\nI mean, it really was.\n\n657\n00:23:48.280 --> 00:23:51.240\nI sent a thank you letter to my sophomore English teacher who made a real\n\n658\n00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:52.760\nimpact in my life.\n\n659\n00:23:52.760 --> 00:23:56.180\nWithin a two week, she sent a four page letter back to me and she said, I've\n\n660\n00:23:56.180 --> 00:23:56.680\ntaught for over\n\n661\n00:23:56.680 --> 00:23:57.680\n30 years.\n\n662\n00:23:57.680 --> 00:23:59.880\nI've never received a handwritten letter.\n\n663\n00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:04.410\nAnd I was so hurt by that that I was like, if we can just tell one person a day\n\n664\n00:24:04.410 --> 00:24:05.080\n, thank\n\n665\n00:24:05.080 --> 00:24:07.800\none person a day, what an impact that would be.\n\n666\n00:24:07.800 --> 00:24:11.480\nAnd now our director of tickets has started it because it won fan a day.\n\n667\n00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:15.240\nAnd everyone on our staff, thanks one fan a day, whether it's a thank you video\n\n668\n00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:15.880\n, whether\n\n669\n00:24:15.880 --> 00:24:17.760\nit's a text, whether it's a letter.\n\n670\n00:24:17.760 --> 00:24:21.560\nAnd it's an amazing ripple effect that, you know, it's just like recognition.\n\n671\n00:24:21.560 --> 00:24:23.240\nYou're recognizing people for what they've done.\n\n672\n00:24:23.240 --> 00:24:24.680\nAnd you shared that with us.\n\n673\n00:24:24.680 --> 00:24:27.200\nAnd I think that's had a profound impact on us.\n\n674\n00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:29.920\nWhat else do you do to go about inspiring your team, Jesse?\n\n675\n00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:33.360\nIf you obviously care about people.\n\n676\n00:24:33.360 --> 00:24:34.560\nIt's how I show up every day.\n\n677\n00:24:34.560 --> 00:24:36.280\nIt's how you bring energy.\n\n678\n00:24:36.280 --> 00:24:39.360\nYou know, I think it's really important the stories that we tell.\n\n679\n00:24:39.360 --> 00:24:42.730\nYou know, every morning, what are you doing to be prepared to be your best self\n\n680\n00:24:42.730 --> 00:24:42.840\n?\n\n681\n00:24:42.840 --> 00:24:44.840\nAs a leader, I'm very intentional.\n\n682\n00:24:44.840 --> 00:24:46.080\nYou probably have a routine as well.\n\n683\n00:24:46.080 --> 00:24:50.350\nI wake up, I write my thank you letter, I write, I read, I go for a run, I\n\n684\n00:24:50.350 --> 00:24:51.000\nlisten to\n\n685\n00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:53.160\npodcasts, Ogo Lead is up there.\n\n686\n00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:54.400\nAll right, I listen to those.\n\n687\n00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:56.400\nAnd then I come back and I'm already primed.\n\n688\n00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:58.920\nSo many people come out during the day and they put fires out.\n\n689\n00:24:58.920 --> 00:25:00.240\nThey're firefighters.\n\n690\n00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:01.240\nBut I've already succeeded.\n\n691\n00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:02.320\nI've already won the day.\n\n692\n00:25:02.320 --> 00:25:06.270\nSo my goal to inspire people is to show up and be a model, to give our people\n\n693\n00:25:06.270 --> 00:25:07.000\npermission\n\n694\n00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:10.720\nto have fun, to give our people permission to teach and share.\n\n695\n00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:11.720\nAnd I share stories.\n\n696\n00:25:11.720 --> 00:25:16.080\nYou know, I get on stage and I share stories and I share stories about them.\n\n697\n00:25:16.080 --> 00:25:18.940\nIt means a lot when they see that they're featured in a big article or their\n\n698\n00:25:18.940 --> 00:25:19.560\nbig video.\n\n699\n00:25:19.560 --> 00:25:22.770\nSo how often are leaders talking about their people or how often are they\n\n700\n00:25:22.770 --> 00:25:23.480\ntalking about\n\n701\n00:25:23.480 --> 00:25:24.480\nthemselves?\n\n702\n00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:26.200\nAnd I've heard you numerous interviews.\n\n703\n00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:30.600\nYou're constantly talking about the people that worked with you, not for you.\n\n704\n00:25:30.600 --> 00:25:32.880\nAs a leader, most leaders have it the other way around.\n\n705\n00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:34.560\nThey think, you know, I have people that work for me.\n\n706\n00:25:34.560 --> 00:25:35.560\nYou got it wrong.\n\n707\n00:25:35.560 --> 00:25:36.880\nYou work for your people.\n\n708\n00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:38.400\nAnd so how often you share in those stories.\n\n709\n00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:42.870\nSo this is the combination of learning and reading thousands of books on\n\n710\n00:25:42.870 --> 00:25:44.640\nculture, experience.\n\n711\n00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:47.440\nAnd you know, again, I think we know we're getting better every day.\n\n712\n00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:48.440\nSo there's a long way to go.\n\n713\n00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:49.680\nI got a lot to improve on.\n\n714\n00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:50.680\nI'll tell you that.\n\n715\n00:25:50.680 --> 00:25:51.920\nYou're an avid reader, Jesse.\n\n716\n00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:55.640\nHow do you go about building and inspiring your own teams?\n\n717\n00:25:55.640 --> 00:25:59.040\nSo we started the Better Book Club about three or four years ago.\n\n718\n00:25:59.040 --> 00:26:02.920\nAnd it's actually an online platform, which has every book in the world.\n\n719\n00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:06.140\nAnd it asks a few questions and you fill out a book report and then we pay our\n\n720\n00:26:06.140 --> 00:26:06.640\npeople to\n\n721\n00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:07.640\nread.\n\n722\n00:26:07.640 --> 00:26:10.440\nSo when we have a great book, it made an impact.\n\n723\n00:26:10.440 --> 00:26:13.250\nWe will just share it with everyone and we'll say, who would you recommend this\n\n724\n00:26:13.250 --> 00:26:14.200\nbook to?\n\n725\n00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:18.600\nAnd so now we paid thousands of dollars to our people, which theoretically is a\n\n726\n00:26:18.600 --> 00:26:18.920\nmuch\n\n727\n00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:22.750\nbetter investment than spending $6,000 to send someone to a conference if they\n\n728\n00:26:22.750 --> 00:26:23.160\n've read\n\n729\n00:26:23.160 --> 00:26:25.800\n20 books and actually did reports on them.\n\n730\n00:26:25.800 --> 00:26:29.260\nSo we learned this from Arnie Malham, who started the Better Book Club and it's\n\n731\n00:26:29.260 --> 00:26:29.600\nbeen\n\n732\n00:26:29.600 --> 00:26:31.280\nhuge for us.\n\n733\n00:26:31.280 --> 00:26:34.730\nOne of our people, Kiki, our director of first impressions, never read when she\n\n734\n00:26:34.730 --> 00:26:35.200\ngraduated\n\n735\n00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:37.240\ncollege, never read one book.\n\n736\n00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:41.380\nAnd now she's read 15 books and she's obsessed with it because she loves it and\n\n737\n00:26:41.380 --> 00:26:42.640\nshe's learning.\n\n738\n00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:45.560\nAnd that's amazing to see someone fall in love with learning and growing.\n\n739\n00:26:45.560 --> 00:26:48.870\nIt's a great way for you to show how much you care about your people and once\n\n740\n00:26:48.870 --> 00:26:49.400\nthey care\n\n741\n00:26:49.400 --> 00:26:53.600\nabout you, they know you care about them, they're going to care about you.\n\n742\n00:26:53.600 --> 00:26:56.920\nWell, we want to make them better people, not just better as employees.\n\n743\n00:26:56.920 --> 00:26:59.360\nAnd we're focused on them as what type of people they are.\n\n744\n00:26:59.360 --> 00:27:01.870\nAnd if they're growing and developing and becoming better people, that's a win\n\n745\n00:27:01.870 --> 00:27:02.320\nfor them\n\n746\n00:27:02.320 --> 00:27:03.800\nand it's a win for the business.\n\n747\n00:27:03.800 --> 00:27:07.420\nSo why wouldn't we pay them to read and help encourage them to be a part of\n\n748\n00:27:07.420 --> 00:27:08.160\nlearning and\n\n749\n00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:09.160\ngetting better?\n\n750\n00:27:09.160 --> 00:27:15.880\nYou know, you're a big time in the individuality, notice the yellow and tux.\n\n751\n00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:19.080\nAnd you really believe in being true to yourself, what's behind that?\n\n752\n00:27:19.080 --> 00:27:22.960\nWhat really got you to believe so much in being exactly who you are?\n\n753\n00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:24.560\nI think I was afraid in the beginning.\n\n754\n00:27:24.560 --> 00:27:25.560\nYou know, it's a tough question.\n\n755\n00:27:25.560 --> 00:27:28.640\nI was afraid to kind of come out and be different.\n\n756\n00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:30.440\nI mean, I didn't wear this yellow tuxedo all the time.\n\n757\n00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:32.000\nI dressed like everyone else.\n\n758\n00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:34.240\nI wanted to fit in like everyone else.\n\n759\n00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:38.290\nBut I realized my personality is about, you know, being out there, being\n\n760\n00:27:38.290 --> 00:27:39.360\noutspoken, having\n\n761\n00:27:39.360 --> 00:27:41.600\nfun, talking, being crazy.\n\n762\n00:27:41.600 --> 00:27:44.840\nAnd so every time I wasn't being this, I was hiding.\n\n763\n00:27:44.840 --> 00:27:48.760\nSo I think a lot of us, we have to give ourselves permission to be our full\n\n764\n00:27:48.760 --> 00:27:49.400\nself.\n\n765\n00:27:49.400 --> 00:27:52.230\nHow many people show up to work every day and all they're thinking about is the\n\n766\n00:27:52.230 --> 00:27:52.920\nweekend.\n\n767\n00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:56.480\nHow many people are showing up all day and they're not being their whole self?\n\n768\n00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:00.380\nIf I'm not being my whole self and wild, fun, crazy, Jesse, why would, you know\n\n769\n00:28:00.380 --> 00:28:01.080\n, our staff\n\n770\n00:28:01.080 --> 00:28:02.240\nbe that way?\n\n771\n00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:06.100\nSo it's such a tough question for me, David, because I just tried with small\n\n772\n00:28:06.100 --> 00:28:06.640\nbets.\n\n773\n00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:08.880\nI first started wearing this during our games.\n\n774\n00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:10.760\nThen I started wearing this during speeches.\n\n775\n00:28:10.760 --> 00:28:12.520\nThen I started wearing this at the office.\n\n776\n00:28:12.520 --> 00:28:13.920\nNow I wear it all the time.\n\n777\n00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:17.320\nAnd I'll tell you the looks I get at the airport these days are crazy.\n\n778\n00:28:17.320 --> 00:28:19.080\nAll right, people look at me like crazy.\n\n779\n00:28:19.080 --> 00:28:20.760\nAnd it had to get over that fear.\n\n780\n00:28:20.760 --> 00:28:23.000\nBut now that I'm over it, I'm like, you know what?\n\n781\n00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:26.880\nWe need people to be more out there, more different, more unique.\n\n782\n00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:29.000\nAnd I think hopefully it's given other people permission.\n\n783\n00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:31.680\nI spoke the other day and a young woman came up to me and she said, I've been\n\n784\n00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:32.920\nhiding myself\n\n785\n00:28:32.920 --> 00:28:34.960\nfor months and years.\n\n786\n00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:36.960\nBut now I let my hair go red.\n\n787\n00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:38.360\nI show my piercing.\n\n788\n00:28:38.360 --> 00:28:41.520\nI'm okay to show a tattoo because that's who I am.\n\n789\n00:28:41.520 --> 00:28:43.160\nAnd who do you want showing up to work every day?\n\n790\n00:28:43.160 --> 00:28:46.280\nThe person that's who they are or the person that's hiding themselves?\n\n791\n00:28:46.280 --> 00:28:50.740\nYou know what, I read a quote that you have which I love, which is we're not\n\n792\n00:28:50.740 --> 00:28:51.480\nborn to fit\n\n793\n00:28:51.480 --> 00:28:52.480\nin.\n\n794\n00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:53.480\nWe're born to stand out.\n\n795\n00:28:53.480 --> 00:28:55.440\nThat's exactly what you're talking about, right?\n\n796\n00:28:55.440 --> 00:28:56.440\nYes, yes.\n\n797\n00:28:56.440 --> 00:28:57.440\nEveryone.\n\n798\n00:28:57.440 --> 00:28:59.240\nAnd you don't have to wear a yellow tux.\n\n799\n00:28:59.240 --> 00:29:01.720\nYou know, David, I guarantee there were numerous things you and your leaders\n\n800\n00:29:01.720 --> 00:29:02.200\ndid that.\n\n801\n00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:04.960\nYou were like, wow, I'll always remember that about them.\n\n802\n00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:07.660\nYou know, I question, I opened my book, which is crazy because I wrote it when\n\n803\n00:29:07.660 --> 00:29:08.480\nI was 32,\n\n804\n00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:09.480\n33.\n\n805\n00:29:09.480 --> 00:29:10.920\nI opened my book with my eulogy.\n\n806\n00:29:10.920 --> 00:29:13.760\nI actually sat down and wrote my eulogy.\n\n807\n00:29:13.760 --> 00:29:16.960\nAnd I question everyone, how do you want to be remembered?\n\n808\n00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:21.110\nIf you were to write down who you were, what you stood for and the impact you\n\n809\n00:29:21.110 --> 00:29:21.600\nmade, would\n\n810\n00:29:21.600 --> 00:29:23.080\nyou be proud of it?\n\n811\n00:29:23.080 --> 00:29:24.920\nIs it a story you want to read?\n\n812\n00:29:24.920 --> 00:29:28.310\nAnd when I challenged myself to reverse engineer my life, it said, yeah, of\n\n813\n00:29:28.310 --> 00:29:28.880\ncourse, I'm going\n\n814\n00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:29.880\nto be myself.\n\n815\n00:29:29.880 --> 00:29:31.840\nI'm not going to be like everyone else.\n\n816\n00:29:31.840 --> 00:29:32.840\nAnd some people won't like it.\n\n817\n00:29:32.840 --> 00:29:33.840\nAnd that's okay.\n\n818\n00:29:33.840 --> 00:29:37.930\nIt's so tough, especially for young people today, to not care what other people\n\n819\n00:29:37.930 --> 00:29:38.520\nthink.\n\n820\n00:29:38.520 --> 00:29:40.280\nAnd I still go through it as well.\n\n821\n00:29:40.280 --> 00:29:43.840\nAs that only child trying to impress his dad and make him proud, I still care\n\n822\n00:29:43.840 --> 00:29:44.280\nwhat he\n\n823\n00:29:44.280 --> 00:29:45.880\nthinks and what a lot of people think.\n\n824\n00:29:45.880 --> 00:29:49.560\nOnce you overcome that, boy, happiness and fulfillment, man, it comes pretty\n\n825\n00:29:49.560 --> 00:29:50.160\nstrong.\n\n826\n00:29:50.160 --> 00:29:52.080\nI think we all go through that.\n\n827\n00:29:52.080 --> 00:29:53.640\nBut you do have to muster that.\n\n828\n00:29:53.640 --> 00:29:58.270\nBut if you can wear a yellow tuxedo or give away rubber chickens like I did, it\n\n829\n00:29:58.270 --> 00:29:58.840\n's kind\n\n830\n00:29:58.840 --> 00:29:59.840\nof crazy.\n\n831\n00:29:59.840 --> 00:30:01.560\nBut it's you and it makes you feel good when you do it.\n\n832\n00:30:01.560 --> 00:30:04.120\nYeah, thanks for saying mustard up because that was a good reference there.\n\n833\n00:30:04.120 --> 00:30:05.120\nI'll take that one.\n\n834\n00:30:05.120 --> 00:30:06.120\nThat was for you.\n\n835\n00:30:06.120 --> 00:30:07.120\nI can't jump fairly quickly.\n\n836\n00:30:07.120 --> 00:30:08.120\nA lot of puns.\n\n837\n00:30:08.120 --> 00:30:09.120\nI like it.\n\n838\n00:30:09.120 --> 00:30:13.030\nWhat's the biggest mistake that you think entrepreneurs make when they start\n\n839\n00:30:13.030 --> 00:30:13.440\nout?\n\n840\n00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:15.640\nThey try to be like their competitors.\n\n841\n00:30:15.640 --> 00:30:18.520\nThey try to be a little better than their competitors.\n\n842\n00:30:18.520 --> 00:30:22.940\nI'll tell you, I have not looked at other baseball teams, other sporting teams\n\n843\n00:30:22.940 --> 00:30:23.440\nat all.\n\n844\n00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:25.680\nOur competition is not the other sport teams.\n\n845\n00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:29.800\nWe're competing with Amazon, Netflix, Ritz Carlton.\n\n846\n00:30:29.800 --> 00:30:34.180\nI try to focus on where can we be the only and what can we take from other\n\n847\n00:30:34.180 --> 00:30:35.320\nindustries.\n\n848\n00:30:35.320 --> 00:30:39.400\nI think even looking at the fast food, everyone's trying to, oh, a four for\n\n849\n00:30:39.400 --> 00:30:40.400\nfive deal, a three\n\n850\n00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:42.680\nfor five deal, a two for five deal.\n\n851\n00:30:42.680 --> 00:30:44.000\nEveryone's just trying to mirror each other.\n\n852\n00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:45.680\nSo then how do they stand out?\n\n853\n00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:48.560\nSo I would challenge any entrepreneur that's starting a company.\n\n854\n00:30:48.560 --> 00:30:50.960\nWhat are you the only one doing?\n\n855\n00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:52.440\nWhat makes you stand out?\n\n856\n00:30:52.440 --> 00:30:55.970\nIf you say you're a little bit better, a little bit cheaper, a little bit\n\n857\n00:30:55.970 --> 00:30:56.240\nfaster, that's\n\n858\n00:30:56.240 --> 00:30:57.240\nnot unique.\n\n859\n00:30:57.240 --> 00:30:58.240\nThat's not only.\n\n860\n00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:00.700\nWe pride ourselves every, I mean, this year we're going to have the first ever\n\n861\n00:31:00.700 --> 00:31:01.560\nmale cheerleading\n\n862\n00:31:01.560 --> 00:31:03.520\nteam called the mananas.\n\n863\n00:31:03.520 --> 00:31:05.320\nWe're going to be dancing at our ballpark.\n\n864\n00:31:05.320 --> 00:31:07.320\nWe'll be the only ones with the mananas.\n\n865\n00:31:07.320 --> 00:31:08.800\nAnd we challenge ourselves on that.\n\n866\n00:31:08.800 --> 00:31:12.360\nSo I think entrepreneurs really think about what makes them the only.\n\n867\n00:31:12.360 --> 00:31:16.870\nYou know, fans first entertainment, this is a definition of your company, it's\n\n868\n00:31:16.870 --> 00:31:17.560\nyour frame\n\n869\n00:31:17.560 --> 00:31:18.560\nof reference.\n\n870\n00:31:18.560 --> 00:31:21.120\nWhere do you see taking that over the long term?\n\n871\n00:31:21.120 --> 00:31:23.280\nBecause it gives you lots of room to play.\n\n872\n00:31:23.280 --> 00:31:26.550\nYou don't have to just be a, you know, offer up the great baseball experience,\n\n873\n00:31:26.550 --> 00:31:27.080\nwhich you\n\n874\n00:31:27.080 --> 00:31:28.080\ndo.\n\n875\n00:31:28.080 --> 00:31:32.320\nBut you see broadening this into other categories or other aspects like Amazon.\n\n876\n00:31:32.320 --> 00:31:34.320\nAmazon started out as a box store.\n\n877\n00:31:34.320 --> 00:31:35.320\nYes.\n\n878\n00:31:35.320 --> 00:31:36.320\nYou know?\n\n879\n00:31:36.320 --> 00:31:39.280\nIf you asked me six months ago or a year, I would have said 5 million percent\n\n880\n00:31:39.280 --> 00:31:39.480\nyes.\n\n881\n00:31:39.480 --> 00:31:44.130\nBut what I've learned is that often we try to do so many things and we don't do\n\n882\n00:31:44.130 --> 00:31:44.360\nit as\n\n883\n00:31:44.360 --> 00:31:45.640\nwell.\n\n884\n00:31:45.640 --> 00:31:47.160\nAnd so we were doing events.\n\n885\n00:31:47.160 --> 00:31:50.910\nI mean, we had all you can eat food truck festivals, haunted stadiums, concerts\n\n886\n00:31:50.910 --> 00:31:51.160\n.\n\n887\n00:31:51.160 --> 00:31:53.840\nAnd we weren't doing that well because that's not what they're best at.\n\n888\n00:31:53.840 --> 00:31:58.960\nWe believe we can provide the best sports and entertainment show in the world.\n\n889\n00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:00.840\nSo that's what we're going to stay focused on.\n\n890\n00:32:00.840 --> 00:32:03.840\nAnd I think everyone's so focused on scale and growth.\n\n891\n00:32:03.840 --> 00:32:06.840\nAnd I'm so impressed with people like you who've done it tremendously.\n\n892\n00:32:06.840 --> 00:32:09.040\nBut again, you stay true to what you did.\n\n893\n00:32:09.040 --> 00:32:11.500\nI mean, I've read some of the stories when you try to combine elements\n\n894\n00:32:11.500 --> 00:32:12.080\nsometimes.\n\n895\n00:32:12.080 --> 00:32:13.360\nThey didn't work as well.\n\n896\n00:32:13.360 --> 00:32:16.880\nYou know, Taco Bell should not be serving things that Taco Bell shouldn't be\n\n897\n00:32:16.880 --> 00:32:17.440\nserving.\n\n898\n00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:18.640\nAnd they do it really well.\n\n899\n00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:22.430\nSo we are going to look at how do we do what we do best and maybe show it to\n\n900\n00:32:22.430 --> 00:32:23.440\nmore people.\n\n901\n00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:27.080\nSo the answer your question, David, maybe we can take the show on the road.\n\n902\n00:32:27.080 --> 00:32:30.680\nMaybe we can bring a fans first entertainment to the bananas to more teams.\n\n903\n00:32:30.680 --> 00:32:33.730\nBut bring our break dancing first base coach and our banana nannas and bring\n\n904\n00:32:33.730 --> 00:32:34.080\nwhat we do\n\n905\n00:32:34.080 --> 00:32:35.960\nwell and expand that.\n\n906\n00:32:35.960 --> 00:32:39.760\nBut I don't know about doing too many other things outside of our realm.\n\n907\n00:32:39.760 --> 00:32:42.920\nWhat would you do if you took over Major League Baseball?\n\n908\n00:32:42.920 --> 00:32:44.760\nWhere do I begin?\n\n909\n00:32:44.760 --> 00:32:46.760\nThe challenge, here's the challenge of Major League Baseball.\n\n910\n00:32:46.760 --> 00:32:48.880\nThey're making more money than they've ever made before.\n\n911\n00:32:48.880 --> 00:32:50.040\nIt's over $10 billion.\n\n912\n00:32:50.040 --> 00:32:51.040\nThe owners are growing.\n\n913\n00:32:51.040 --> 00:32:52.040\nThey're making more money.\n\n914\n00:32:52.040 --> 00:32:53.040\nYet here's what's happening.\n\n915\n00:32:53.040 --> 00:32:54.560\nAttendance is dropping dramatically.\n\n916\n00:32:54.560 --> 00:32:56.240\nDrop 4% last year.\n\n917\n00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:59.440\nIf you look at the crowds here in early April, less than a thousand people at\n\n918\n00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:00.880\nsome ballparks,\n\n919\n00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:03.880\nI think the challenge is they need to figure out how do they make the game\n\n920\n00:33:03.880 --> 00:33:04.440\nfaster, more\n\n921\n00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:07.000\nexciting and more fan centric.\n\n922\n00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:11.050\nRight now they're so stuck on tradition and the way the game should be and not\n\n923\n00:33:11.050 --> 00:33:11.600\nfocused\n\n924\n00:33:11.600 --> 00:33:12.600\non the fan.\n\n925\n00:33:12.600 --> 00:33:16.240\nThey love their product, maybe more than they love their customers.\n\n926\n00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:18.640\nAnd so I never want to throw a stab at Major League Baseball because I'm so\n\n927\n00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:19.040\nfortunate to\n\n928\n00:33:19.040 --> 00:33:20.720\nhave a job in baseball.\n\n929\n00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:24.590\nBut our success has become because we focused on not the baseball, but focused\n\n930\n00:33:24.590 --> 00:33:25.280\non the fan.\n\n931\n00:33:25.280 --> 00:33:27.470\nSo if I were in Major League Baseball, I would say, \"All right, how do we get\n\n932\n00:33:27.470 --> 00:33:28.080\nour players\n\n933\n00:33:28.080 --> 00:33:29.920\nmore involved with the fans?\n\n934\n00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:31.720\nHow do we make the game more fast, more exciting?\"\n\n935\n00:33:31.720 --> 00:33:32.880\nYou know, give me an idea.\n\n936\n00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:36.090\nOur games, the first thing you'll see when our ballparks, our players are\n\n937\n00:33:36.090 --> 00:33:36.920\noutside greeting\n\n938\n00:33:36.920 --> 00:33:39.040\nthe fans and signing autographs.\n\n939\n00:33:39.040 --> 00:33:42.130\nThen during the game, our players will come out of the dugout and deliver roses\n\n940\n00:33:42.130 --> 00:33:42.600\nto little\n\n941\n00:33:42.600 --> 00:33:44.400\ngirls in the crowd.\n\n942\n00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:47.730\nOur players will even go on dates with fans during the game and we'll have our\n\n943\n00:33:47.730 --> 00:33:48.320\nsaxophone\n\n944\n00:33:48.320 --> 00:33:51.820\nguy serenade them while they're having a date with an older fan during the game\n\n945\n00:33:51.820 --> 00:33:51.880\n.\n\n946\n00:33:51.880 --> 00:33:55.240\nOur players have done conga lines in the crowd during the games.\n\n947\n00:33:55.240 --> 00:33:57.800\nBecause the players are a part of the experience of the fans.\n\n948\n00:33:57.800 --> 00:34:00.700\nRight now, there's this still stigma of professionalism and the players have to\n\n949\n00:34:00.700 --> 00:34:02.040\nbe professional.\n\n950\n00:34:02.040 --> 00:34:05.200\nLet the players have fun and let them get involved with the fans.\n\n951\n00:34:05.200 --> 00:34:07.880\nThat's how you build people that love you, that don't just like you.\n\n952\n00:34:07.880 --> 00:34:11.160\nAnd David, as you know more than anything, love is better than like.\n\n953\n00:34:11.160 --> 00:34:14.300\nAnd I'd rather have a thousand people or a hundred thousand people that love me\n\n954\n00:34:14.300 --> 00:34:14.360\nthan\n\n955\n00:34:14.360 --> 00:34:15.880\nmillions that kind of like me.\n\n956\n00:34:15.880 --> 00:34:18.280\nAnd I think that's what Major League Baseball should focus on.\n\n957\n00:34:18.280 --> 00:34:20.760\nSo you've written a book, find your yellow tucks.\n\n958\n00:34:20.760 --> 00:34:23.400\nWhy don't you write the book and what's the main message?\n\n959\n00:34:23.400 --> 00:34:25.880\nIt shares the journey of how to stand out.\n\n960\n00:34:25.880 --> 00:34:28.690\nAs I've shared with you, I believe everyone should stand out and be the best\n\n961\n00:34:28.690 --> 00:34:29.160\nversion of\n\n962\n00:34:29.160 --> 00:34:30.160\nthemselves.\n\n963\n00:34:30.160 --> 00:34:33.110\nAnd everyone has one thing that makes them stand out but we're too afraid to\n\n964\n00:34:33.110 --> 00:34:33.560\nactually\n\n965\n00:34:33.560 --> 00:34:34.560\ndo it.\n\n966\n00:34:34.560 --> 00:34:38.520\nThe book is a goal to give permission for people to be themselves and have fun\n\n967\n00:34:38.520 --> 00:34:39.440\nevery day doing\n\n968\n00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:40.440\nit.\n\n969\n00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:43.460\nAnd so I share my journey about trying to be the best and being a sponge and\n\n970\n00:34:43.460 --> 00:34:44.080\nlearning from\n\n971\n00:34:44.080 --> 00:34:45.080\nothers.\n\n972\n00:34:45.080 --> 00:34:48.520\nAnd it shares how to be different in your business and then how to create a\n\n973\n00:34:48.520 --> 00:34:49.320\nlegacy based\n\n974\n00:34:49.320 --> 00:34:51.080\non how you want to be remembered.\n\n975\n00:34:51.080 --> 00:34:54.700\nSo it's my journey and it's still evolving but I'll tell you the reception has\n\n976\n00:34:54.700 --> 00:34:55.240\nbeen really\n\n977\n00:34:55.240 --> 00:34:56.240\nspecial.\n\n978\n00:34:56.240 --> 00:34:57.240\nSo thank you for the acknowledgement.\n\n979\n00:34:57.240 --> 00:35:01.350\nYou know, my sister-in-law Gretchen Bart, she was in Savannah and I told her I\n\n980\n00:35:01.350 --> 00:35:01.720\nwas going\n\n981\n00:35:01.720 --> 00:35:03.480\nto be doing an interview with you.\n\n982\n00:35:03.480 --> 00:35:05.520\nShe says, \"Oh my gosh, is that guy crazy?\n\n983\n00:35:05.520 --> 00:35:09.400\nAnd boy, do they have a fun experience and you're going to love this guy.\"\n\n984\n00:35:09.400 --> 00:35:10.400\nYou know what?\n\n985\n00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:11.400\nShe's right.\n\n986\n00:35:11.400 --> 00:35:12.400\nYou know, she was pounding your success.\n\n987\n00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:13.400\nThank you.\n\n988\n00:35:13.400 --> 00:35:16.920\nYou sell out your games and you know, people are waiting to get tickets and you\n\n989\n00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:17.400\n've been\n\n990\n00:35:17.400 --> 00:35:19.600\non ESPN, CNBC, CNN.\n\n991\n00:35:19.600 --> 00:35:23.840\nHow do you keep your feet on the ground?\n\n992\n00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:29.040\nI mean, you know, you can easily get a big head here, Jesse.\n\n993\n00:35:29.040 --> 00:35:32.830\nReed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix just recently said, \"We're always going to be\n\n994\n00:35:32.830 --> 00:35:33.680\nan underdog.\"\n\n995\n00:35:33.680 --> 00:35:35.520\nAnd they were like, \"Well, you're dominating right now.\"\n\n996\n00:35:35.520 --> 00:35:38.920\nThey're like, \"We only have a small percentage of a global media landscape.\"\n\n997\n00:35:38.920 --> 00:35:43.600\nHe goes, \"What about, you know, you're spending $8 billion now on new content.\"\n\n998\n00:35:43.600 --> 00:35:46.840\nHe goes, \"That's a small percentage in the scheme of things.\"\n\n999\n00:35:46.840 --> 00:35:49.000\nNetflix sees themselves as an underdog.\n\n1000\n00:35:49.000 --> 00:35:51.200\nThe reality is we're a huge underdog.\n\n1001\n00:35:51.200 --> 00:35:52.760\nWe've always been an underdog.\n\n1002\n00:35:52.760 --> 00:35:54.360\nEveryone's thought that we couldn't make it.\n\n1003\n00:35:54.360 --> 00:35:56.040\nWe're a college summer baseball David.\n\n1004\n00:35:56.040 --> 00:35:58.440\nWe're one of the lowest levels in baseball there is.\n\n1005\n00:35:58.440 --> 00:36:02.840\nSo we love the respect, the recognition and the acknowledgement, but we know we\n\n1006\n00:36:02.840 --> 00:36:03.360\n're just\n\n1007\n00:36:03.360 --> 00:36:04.360\ngetting started.\n\n1008\n00:36:04.360 --> 00:36:07.600\nSo for me and our staff, I say, \"Guys, we're just getting started.\n\n1009\n00:36:07.600 --> 00:36:09.680\nWe've made an impact on this many fans.\n\n1010\n00:36:09.680 --> 00:36:11.520\nHow do we make a greater impact on more fans?\"\n\n1011\n00:36:11.520 --> 00:36:15.360\nAnd so we tell those stories and we love going in and say, \"Guys, hey, we got\n\n1012\n00:36:15.360 --> 00:36:15.800\ndoubted\n\n1013\n00:36:15.800 --> 00:36:16.800\nagain.\n\n1014\n00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:18.000\nPeople don't think we can do this.\"\n\n1015\n00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:21.290\nWe build that underdog into our nature because it makes it more fun to overcome\n\n1016\n00:36:21.290 --> 00:36:21.880\nthat way.\n\n1017\n00:36:21.880 --> 00:36:25.240\nYou've got this restless dissatisfaction with the status quo, which really\n\n1018\n00:36:25.240 --> 00:36:25.960\nserves you well.\n\n1019\n00:36:25.960 --> 00:36:29.320\nBut you know, when you get bigger and I'm sure you're not sleeping on an air\n\n1020\n00:36:29.320 --> 00:36:29.800\nbed like\n\n1021\n00:36:29.800 --> 00:36:30.800\nnow.\n\n1022\n00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:31.800\nYou've got a real bed now.\n\n1023\n00:36:31.800 --> 00:36:36.650\nYou know, there is a big temptation to play it safe and kind of hang on to what\n\n1024\n00:36:36.650 --> 00:36:37.840\nyou have.\n\n1025\n00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:41.590\nHow are you going to be, basically, make sure you walk and talk on what you\n\n1026\n00:36:41.590 --> 00:36:42.400\njust said?\n\n1027\n00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:44.920\nThat's one of my biggest fears, complacency.\n\n1028\n00:36:44.920 --> 00:36:47.760\nThe bigger you get, the easier it is to want to protect.\n\n1029\n00:36:47.760 --> 00:36:51.160\nAnd I want to always play offense, always come up swinging the bat.\n\n1030\n00:36:51.160 --> 00:36:53.400\nAnd Netflix is my inspiration on that.\n\n1031\n00:36:53.400 --> 00:36:56.160\nWhen they were on top of the world with DVD sales, they split the company and\n\n1032\n00:36:56.160 --> 00:36:56.560\nsaid, \"We're\n\n1033\n00:36:56.560 --> 00:36:57.920\ngoing to start doing streaming.\"\n\n1034\n00:36:57.920 --> 00:36:58.920\nAnd they plummeted.\n\n1035\n00:36:58.920 --> 00:37:02.080\nThen they said, \"We're going to go and do all original content.\"\n\n1036\n00:37:02.080 --> 00:37:04.600\nThey kept changing when they were on top of the game.\n\n1037\n00:37:04.600 --> 00:37:08.790\nSo I don't know how I'm going to answer that question coming forward, but I\n\n1038\n00:37:08.790 --> 00:37:10.040\nknow when things\n\n1039\n00:37:10.040 --> 00:37:13.480\nstart to get easy, that's when you need to work harder.\n\n1040\n00:37:13.480 --> 00:37:14.920\nAnd so I have a fear.\n\n1041\n00:37:14.920 --> 00:37:15.920\nI'm like, \"Oh, wow.\n\n1042\n00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:17.120\nAll of our tickets are selling.\n\n1043\n00:37:17.120 --> 00:37:18.720\nWe have a wait list in the thousands.\"\n\n1044\n00:37:18.720 --> 00:37:21.200\nWell, shoot, what are we doing?\n\n1045\n00:37:21.200 --> 00:37:23.440\nLet's figure out something to make it a little more challenging on us.\n\n1046\n00:37:23.440 --> 00:37:25.800\nSo what did you do?\n\n1047\n00:37:25.800 --> 00:37:26.800\nThat's actually, I want to ask that to you.\n\n1048\n00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:27.800\nWhat did you do?\n\n1049\n00:37:27.800 --> 00:37:29.760\nBecause your brands grew unbelievably.\n\n1050\n00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:34.240\nWell, I think one of the big things the leader has to do is to find reality.\n\n1051\n00:37:34.240 --> 00:37:38.720\nAnd every year you have to define what hasn't been done yet.\n\n1052\n00:37:38.720 --> 00:37:42.680\nSo for me, the joy in business is the unfinished business.\n\n1053\n00:37:42.680 --> 00:37:43.680\nWhat hasn't been done?\n\n1054\n00:37:43.680 --> 00:37:48.280\nThat's what you want to get up every day and be inspired that they get at.\n\n1055\n00:37:48.280 --> 00:37:51.120\nBut you can ask me that when I do a podcast for you.\n\n1056\n00:37:51.120 --> 00:37:53.320\nWell, you've got a good answer to that one.\n\n1057\n00:37:53.320 --> 00:37:58.280\nWhat's next in terms of how you personally grow yourself?\n\n1058\n00:37:58.280 --> 00:38:00.960\nFor me, again, it's a sharing story.\n\n1059\n00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:03.400\nIt's spreading the lessons.\n\n1060\n00:38:03.400 --> 00:38:06.000\nAnd I think all of us need to look ourselves as teachers.\n\n1061\n00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:07.680\nSo I'm challenging our staff.\n\n1062\n00:38:07.680 --> 00:38:08.680\nEveryone of you guys are a teacher.\n\n1063\n00:38:08.680 --> 00:38:10.040\nYou're not a salesperson.\n\n1064\n00:38:10.040 --> 00:38:11.400\nHow can you share more?\n\n1065\n00:38:11.400 --> 00:38:14.720\nI want them to grow because I think you learn more when you're teaching than\n\n1066\n00:38:14.720 --> 00:38:14.920\nwhen you're\n\n1067\n00:38:14.920 --> 00:38:16.120\nactually learning.\n\n1068\n00:38:16.120 --> 00:38:18.520\nSo for us, we're looking, how can we teach this?\n\n1069\n00:38:18.520 --> 00:38:20.800\nHow can we teach the fans first experience?\n\n1070\n00:38:20.800 --> 00:38:24.060\nHow can we teach companies to put on a show for their customers and for their\n\n1071\n00:38:24.060 --> 00:38:24.760\nemployees?\n\n1072\n00:38:24.760 --> 00:38:27.380\nAnd that's the next step is for us is we're going to start sharing this,\n\n1073\n00:38:27.380 --> 00:38:28.040\nteaching it even\n\n1074\n00:38:28.040 --> 00:38:29.040\nmore.\n\n1075\n00:38:29.040 --> 00:38:32.490\nAnd then as I alluded to earlier, hopefully coming to your town and other\n\n1076\n00:38:32.490 --> 00:38:33.200\ncities all over\n\n1077\n00:38:33.200 --> 00:38:36.560\nthe country and putting on a show all over the country with the Savannah\n\n1078\n00:38:36.560 --> 00:38:37.240\nbananas.\n\n1079\n00:38:37.240 --> 00:38:38.240\nThat's great.\n\n1080\n00:38:38.240 --> 00:38:40.280\nYou know, so let's wrap this up here.\n\n1081\n00:38:40.280 --> 00:38:41.600\nI want to ask you this question.\n\n1082\n00:38:41.600 --> 00:38:42.760\nI have two actually.\n\n1083\n00:38:42.760 --> 00:38:46.360\nThe first one is your wife, Emily, you guys are partners.\n\n1084\n00:38:46.360 --> 00:38:49.440\nYou're in the business together every day.\n\n1085\n00:38:49.440 --> 00:38:51.160\nHow do you make that work?\n\n1086\n00:38:51.160 --> 00:38:55.410\nAnd what advice can you give in terms of how to make your business be so\n\n1087\n00:38:55.410 --> 00:38:56.960\nintegral in your\n\n1088\n00:38:56.960 --> 00:38:59.160\nfamily?\n\n1089\n00:38:59.160 --> 00:39:00.240\nIt's been a challenge.\n\n1090\n00:39:00.240 --> 00:39:02.240\nAnd I think we've learned a few important lessons.\n\n1091\n00:39:02.240 --> 00:39:05.440\nWhen we first came to Savannah, she took over the operations and she had to\n\n1092\n00:39:05.440 --> 00:39:06.120\nfigure out how\n\n1093\n00:39:06.120 --> 00:39:10.280\nto serve 4,000 people all you can eat in an old ballpark.\n\n1094\n00:39:10.280 --> 00:39:11.880\nAnd every night she got beat up.\n\n1095\n00:39:11.880 --> 00:39:15.200\nAnd I mean literally fans would yell at her, they'd yell at the staff.\n\n1096\n00:39:15.200 --> 00:39:18.700\nAnd while I was being cheered for on the field, putting on the show and I'd get\n\n1097\n00:39:18.700 --> 00:39:19.240\nin the car\n\n1098\n00:39:19.240 --> 00:39:22.440\nat midnight one in the morning on top of the world and she would be, it looked\n\n1099\n00:39:22.440 --> 00:39:22.880\nlike she\n\n1100\n00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:24.720\njust got completely defeated.\n\n1101\n00:39:24.720 --> 00:39:27.910\nAnd it was at that point that we had a really good realization that she should\n\n1102\n00:39:27.910 --> 00:39:28.560\nbe doing more\n\n1103\n00:39:28.560 --> 00:39:31.560\nof what she loves and not doing what she hates.\n\n1104\n00:39:31.560 --> 00:39:34.700\nAnd so we got her out of that terrible position and challenging and started\n\n1105\n00:39:34.700 --> 00:39:36.100\nbecoming a mentor.\n\n1106\n00:39:36.100 --> 00:39:40.300\nAnd for us, whenever we get into each other's own world, we have challenges.\n\n1107\n00:39:40.300 --> 00:39:44.020\nSo she stays away from the show and I stay away from her and her mentorship of\n\n1108\n00:39:44.020 --> 00:39:44.400\nour other\n\n1109\n00:39:44.400 --> 00:39:47.220\nemployees in the HR and hiring.\n\n1110\n00:39:47.220 --> 00:39:50.800\nAnd once we got clear on our roles, we've worked even better together.\n\n1111\n00:39:50.800 --> 00:39:54.210\nSo I think that's key when you're working with a partner, any partner, be very\n\n1112\n00:39:54.210 --> 00:39:54.560\nclear\n\n1113\n00:39:54.560 --> 00:39:57.560\non your roles and don't jump into that place of space because that causes\n\n1114\n00:39:57.560 --> 00:39:58.080\nissues.\n\n1115\n00:39:58.080 --> 00:40:02.240\nSpeaking of hiring, what's the single biggest thing you look for when you hire\n\n1116\n00:40:02.240 --> 00:40:03.040\nsomebody?\n\n1117\n00:40:03.040 --> 00:40:04.800\nWe do a three-step process.\n\n1118\n00:40:04.800 --> 00:40:08.340\nWe want a video cover letter because we want to see your personality.\n\n1119\n00:40:08.340 --> 00:40:10.900\nNumber two, a fan's first essay on how you're on our core beliefs.\n\n1120\n00:40:10.900 --> 00:40:13.500\nAnd number three, we want to see your future resume.\n\n1121\n00:40:13.500 --> 00:40:14.940\nWe don't care what you've done in the past.\n\n1122\n00:40:14.940 --> 00:40:16.900\nWe want to know what you're doing in the future.\n\n1123\n00:40:16.900 --> 00:40:19.540\nAnd so when we put those three together, we are very clear.\n\n1124\n00:40:19.540 --> 00:40:23.300\nWe can see does this person fit our values and fit our culture.\n\n1125\n00:40:23.300 --> 00:40:26.900\nSo we are very specific there and we map the experience.\n\n1126\n00:40:26.900 --> 00:40:29.060\nLiterally, our onboarding, our interviewing.\n\n1127\n00:40:29.060 --> 00:40:30.940\nI mean, we put on a show for them.\n\n1128\n00:40:30.940 --> 00:40:32.740\nAnd David, you'll appreciate this.\n\n1129\n00:40:32.740 --> 00:40:37.400\nLast ad I did when hiring, I wrote, do not apply for this job.\n\n1130\n00:40:37.400 --> 00:40:41.000\nAnd I gave all the reasons on why you should not apply to work with us.\n\n1131\n00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:43.910\nAnd we've had everyone on our staff interviewed on video saying why you should\n\n1132\n00:40:43.910 --> 00:40:44.440\nnot work for\n\n1133\n00:40:44.440 --> 00:40:45.840\nthe Savannah Bananas.\n\n1134\n00:40:45.840 --> 00:40:49.160\nWe are so clear on the people that don't fit our culture to get very clear on\n\n1135\n00:40:49.160 --> 00:40:49.620\nthe ones\n\n1136\n00:40:49.620 --> 00:40:51.080\nthat do fit our culture.\n\n1137\n00:40:51.080 --> 00:40:52.760\nAnd that has been going that opposite thinking.\n\n1138\n00:40:52.760 --> 00:40:55.920\nIt's been very great for us and that's been a success.\n\n1139\n00:40:55.920 --> 00:41:00.920\nSo what three bits of advice would you give as firing leaders, Jesse?\n\n1140\n00:41:00.920 --> 00:41:04.280\nAll right, number one, what makes you stand out?\n\n1141\n00:41:04.280 --> 00:41:07.900\nIf you can't answer that question, it'll be a real challenge for you.\n\n1142\n00:41:07.900 --> 00:41:11.680\nLove your customers more than you love your product as I shared before and love\n\n1143\n00:41:11.680 --> 00:41:12.860\nyour employees\n\n1144\n00:41:12.860 --> 00:41:15.800\nmore than you love your customers.\n\n1145\n00:41:15.800 --> 00:41:19.460\nAnd if you can do those three, I believe you can have success for many years to\n\n1146\n00:41:19.460 --> 00:41:19.940\ncome, but\n\n1147\n00:41:19.940 --> 00:41:20.940\nyou have to live it.\n\n1148\n00:41:20.940 --> 00:41:23.240\nYou have to have stories that back those points up.\n\n1149\n00:41:23.240 --> 00:41:26.400\nIf you just say it means nothing, you need to show it, you need to share it,\n\n1150\n00:41:26.400 --> 00:41:26.840\nand you need\n\n1151\n00:41:26.840 --> 00:41:27.840\nto live it.\n\n1152\n00:41:27.840 --> 00:41:29.480\nAnd then I believe you'll always stand out.\n\n1153\n00:41:29.480 --> 00:41:32.600\nYou know, I have to tell you this, I mean, it's very sincere.\n\n1154\n00:41:32.600 --> 00:41:36.130\nIf I could have ever hired somebody like you, I wouldn't have had a job very\n\n1155\n00:41:36.130 --> 00:41:36.640\nlong.\n\n1156\n00:41:36.640 --> 00:41:41.660\nYou are an incredible attention-getting marketing person who is such a great\n\n1157\n00:41:41.660 --> 00:41:42.920\nsimplifier in terms\n\n1158\n00:41:42.920 --> 00:41:47.280\nof taxes, but you have a belief in what works and you're sick into it.\n\n1159\n00:41:47.280 --> 00:41:54.120\nAnd I think every listen should listen to this podcast because they'll learn\n\n1160\n00:41:54.120 --> 00:41:54.480\nhow to\n\n1161\n00:41:54.480 --> 00:41:56.560\nreally grow their business and grow themselves.\n\n1162\n00:41:56.560 --> 00:41:58.480\nSo thank you so much for your time, Jesse.\n\n1163\n00:41:58.480 --> 00:41:59.480\nI appreciate it.\n\n1164\n00:41:59.480 --> 00:42:00.480\nWell, David, it means a lot.\n\n1165\n00:42:00.480 --> 00:42:02.720\nI can't tell you how much of an inspiration you've been for me.\n\n1166\n00:42:02.720 --> 00:42:03.720\nSo thank you.\n\n1167\n00:42:03.720 --> 00:42:15.360\nWell, obviously I had a lot of fun with that one.\n\n1168\n00:42:15.360 --> 00:42:20.860\nThere's nobody in the world like Jesse Cole, and I just love how much energy\n\n1169\n00:42:20.860 --> 00:42:22.080\nand simplicity\n\n1170\n00:42:22.080 --> 00:42:24.000\nhe brings to the party.\n\n1171\n00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:26.680\nHeck, he is the party.\n\n1172\n00:42:26.680 --> 00:42:30.560\nAnd don't you just love his mirror moment where you look at your business from\n\n1173\n00:42:30.560 --> 00:42:31.240\na customer\n\n1174\n00:42:31.240 --> 00:42:35.990\nperspective and identify the things that they hate about your industry, and\n\n1175\n00:42:35.990 --> 00:42:36.880\nthen you solve\n\n1176\n00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:41.800\nthose problems in a way that differentiates you from competition.\n\n1177\n00:42:41.800 --> 00:42:46.070\nThat's why the Savannah bananas are getting attention when so many other teams,\n\n1178\n00:42:46.070 --> 00:42:46.480\neven in\n\n1179\n00:42:46.480 --> 00:42:49.440\nthe majors, are struggling to fill seats.\n\n1180\n00:42:49.440 --> 00:42:53.730\nThis week, as a part of your weekly personal development plan, have that mirror\n\n1181\n00:42:53.730 --> 00:42:54.240\nmoment\n\n1182\n00:42:54.240 --> 00:42:55.920\nfor your business.\n\n1183\n00:42:55.920 --> 00:42:58.960\nWhat do people hate about the industry that you're in?\n\n1184\n00:42:58.960 --> 00:43:03.230\nMake a list of those pain points, then ask yourself, what would it look like if\n\n1185\n00:43:03.230 --> 00:43:03.720\nwe could\n\n1186\n00:43:03.720 --> 00:43:07.800\nreally eliminate one of those and then go do it.\n\n1187\n00:43:07.800 --> 00:43:11.600\nIt's a fantastic way to see your business the way your customer does.\n\n1188\n00:43:11.600 --> 00:43:15.440\nAnd if you have the courage to break the mold like Jesse does, your customers\n\n1189\n00:43:15.440 --> 00:43:17.200\nwill notice.\n\n1190\n00:43:17.200 --> 00:43:21.780\nAnd it might just be the strategy you need to differentiate yourself from your\n\n1191\n00:43:21.780 --> 00:43:22.640\ncompetition\n\n1192\n00:43:22.640 --> 00:43:26.880\nand maybe even redefine your entire category.\n\n1193\n00:43:26.880 --> 00:43:28.880\nSo do you want to know how leaders lead?\n\n1194\n00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:32.960\nWhat we learned today is that great leaders know how to stand out.\n\n1195\n00:43:32.960 --> 00:43:36.680\nThanks again for tuning in to another episode of How Leaders Lead, where every\n\n1196\n00:43:36.680 --> 00:43:37.400\nThursday you\n\n1197\n00:43:37.400 --> 00:43:41.760\nget to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world.\n\n1198\n00:43:41.760 --> 00:43:45.460\nI make it a point to give you something simple on each episode that you can\n\n1199\n00:43:45.460 --> 00:43:46.240\napply to your\n\n1200\n00:43:46.240 --> 00:43:50.200\nbusiness so that you will become the best leader that you can be.\n\n1201\n00:43:50.200 --> 00:44:00.200\n[BLANK_AUDIO]\n\n1202\n00:44:00.200 --> 00:44:10.200\n[BLANK_AUDIO]","

David Novak 0:04

Welcome to How leaders lead where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world, I break down the key learning so that by the end of the episode, you'll have something simple you can apply as you develop into a better leader. That's what this podcast is all about. My guest today, well, let me tell you something. He is one of a kind, a true innovator and one of the best marketing people I've ever met. I'm talking about Jesse Cole, the founder of fans first entertainment and owner of the savannah bananas. Now the savannah Bananas are a baseball team competing in the coastal plain League, but you don't go to their games for the baseball. No, you go for the dancing grandma's and the conga lines and get this the underwear salute. Now, there's a phrase you probably never expected to hear on this podcast. But this is all part of Jesse's plan. He knows how to stand out and get attention. And even better, he does it because he truly loves his fans. If you want your business to stand out, this conversation is going to be an absolute game changer for you. So here's my conversation with my good friend. And soon to be yours, Jesse cool.

I have to just start out, you can't see those listeners. But I am looking at Jesse. And he's got on a yellow tuxedo, and a yellow hat and yellow shirt. What's behind all of that?

Jesse Cole 1:34

I think I've been wearing the yellow tuxedo for now, seven years. It is my uniform. You know, as a share, I played baseball my whole life. And I had a uniform that I played. That was game time. For me, this means it's showtime. So I believe everybody has something that makes them stand out. This is my calling card. I wear it all the time, I actually proposed to my wife in front of a sold out crowd in the yellow tux. Thank goodness. Do you actually said yes. And we're still married. So it's amazing. So I found a lucky one. But you know, this is me, I believe everyone should amplify themselves. And this is me kind of outgoing, a little bit crazy. And, you know, I just I wear it all the time and have fun with it.

David Novak 2:10

You know, Jesse, you don't have a traditional marketing background. You didn't grow up learning in Procter and Gamble yet at 35. You're doing all these amazing things from a marketing and attention getting perspective. You know, how did you learn your trade?

Jesse Cole 2:24

Well, it started because I took over the worst performing baseball team in the country at 23 years old as the General Manager. And of course, I got the job as a GM because no one wanted it. You know, I took over that that team. And there were only 200 fans coming to the games $268 in the bank account. And we have three full time employees and payroll was on Friday. So there was no choice. So I realized that I was like we were a baseball team, but no one cared. And you know, I always question what business are you in? But what business? Are you really in? And I realized we weren't in the baseball business. So I had to figure out what could we be the best at and I went, I said, Let's do entertainment. So I started reading everything about marketing, entertainment, and having fun. And you know, David, that's when we started having our players do choreographed dances during our games. And we started having grandma beauty pageants and so lewd to underwear nights, we tried it all. But we knew how to create attention. And once we got people to understand that we're about fun, and we're not about baseball, it made it really easy to continue trying things that will get people excited.

David Novak 3:24

So from a marketing and attention getting perspective, your sales time now,

Jesse Cole 3:29

I had to be Yeah, I I believe everyone should be a sponge and never stop learning. And it's so obvious with you that you're learning probably more today than you were 2030 years ago. And I think the greatest leaders are constantly learning. So I started reading books, everything I could get my hands on. And my three biggest mentors were PT Barnum, and Walt Disney and Bill veck, one of the famous baseball owners from back in the day, and I just tried to learn as much what they did to create the excitement and attention and really get the customers to love them.

David Novak 3:56

But yes, the one big insight you got from each one of those centers? Well, I

Jesse Cole 4:01

actually made three custom posters that are inside my office. And one of Bill vac says innovation, I don't break the rules, I merely test their elasticity. And if you know us, we break the rules of a lot of different things from dancing players, a breakdancing first base coach, so we're always testing the envelope. The second one PT Barnum, and it says showmanship. And I've always tried to be a showman. And his quote is something terrible happens without promotion. Nothing. So constantly thinking about what he did to create excitement about his brand and his museum and then the circus. And then Walt Disney. I've read every book there is about Walt Disney. And his his poster says, vision. It's kind of fun to do the impossible. And I look at Walt and the adversity he went through and the challenges and how he mortgaged his life and his house to keep going because he had this vision of making a huge impact. So for us, I'm always thinking what's next? You know, where is the baseball world going, but more importantly, where it's entertainment going And we're challenging ourselves to put on the best show in the world at our ballpark. And it's a lot because of inspiration from those three.

David Novak 5:05

Oh, to go back down to your childhood. Tell us a little bit about your upbringing.

Jesse Cole 5:09

Well, I grew up as an only child in a small town, Scituate, Massachusetts, only about 7000 people. And my childhood was different. As an only child, my parents actually got divorced when I was eight years old. And my mother unfortunately had a drug problem. And so my father had to fight to get custody of me. And my father worked so hard to get custody because it was different back then the mother almost always got the child or the children, and he fought to get custody, me but he had to work really hard to provide and put food on the table. So I was alone in one. So without going too deep, David, I think that is one of the biggest things has driven me to where I am today. Because I was constantly fighting to get love and to get affection and to get people to like me and be around me. I didn't have a ton of friends as a kid. So now, my dream is bringing 4000 people together every single night and high fiving and singing together and dancing together. And that's why my favorite moment, every game is at the end of the game. And we're just thanking the fans and having fun. And I think my child and the challenges brought me to that point. And I'm so thankful for the childhood I had as being an only child being alone, because now I get to surround myself with people having fun every single day. Did you grow up loving baseball, Jesse? Yeah, you know, that was one great bond, my father and I had, you know, we played baseball all the time. My dad told me, Jesse, if you want to go to college, you got to get a full scholarship. And so I worked hard at baseball every single day and was fortunate to get a full scholarship in college. And I was hoping to play professional baseball. But my third year, I tore everything in my shoulder that ended my career and I was done. And fortunately, the best things happen when you least expect it. I got an email about an internship working with a team to help on the front office aspect and how to help to get people at the games. But David, I think the biggest thing I learned is I love playing baseball, but boy, I hated watching Baseball, baseball is long, slow and boring. And I think that made it easy for me to try to create something that's exciting and fun.

David Novak 7:01

Yes, I want to talk more about that a little later. But tell us tell us the story of how you actually ended up in Savannah. And once you started out with with the baseball team that you inherited?

Jesse Cole 7:12

Yes. So I started in Gastonia, like I said, I was 23 years old. And we started creating attention with the grandma beauty pageants and the dancing players and started attracting more fans. And eventually I bought that team because I wanted to really have ownership and take over. And then out of nowhere, the last game of the season in 2014, I proposed to my wife in front of a sold out crowd and stopped the game fireworks shenanigans. The crowd was like what is happening? She said yes. And the next day she said, I want to surprise you with something special. I want to take you to Savannah, and we never been in Savannah. So we went to Savannah fell in love with the city went to this ballpark, which had professional baseball for 90 years. But it failed. We showed up that one night David and there was only 200 300 people there and no one cared. And so I looked at her I go, this is this is shouldn't happen. There should be more people here. So I called the commissioner League, I said, if this team ever leaves, we're coming. And we found out that that professional team was leaving because they couldn't get the support. And lo and behold, we were able to come in there. And that's when it really started. That was about three years ago. And we showed up that first day and the team had cut the phone lines cut the internet lines, there was nothing left in the stadium. And we were by ourselves, my wife, myself, our 24 year old president and 322 year olds. So we took on a lot of debt to get there to buy an expansion team. And then our challenges were just starting that first day.

David Novak 8:31

How did you get the courage to just muster that muster up and buy a business?

Jesse Cole 8:38

Belief? You know, I think that's something that we don't talk about as much. We believed that we were different that we would create something successful that we cared more so like we weren't your typical baseball team, we believed that it would be successful here. Maybe it was dumbfounded belief because no one really proved it could be successful in Savannah, but that was it. And then I'll tell you it got harder David when we sold one ticket in our first two months, and then on January 15 2016 When I got a phone call saying that we overdrafted our account and we were completely out of money and that's when my wife turned to me and said we have no other options we have to sell our house and we sold our house emptied out our savings account and got an air bed and just started trying to hope we could create attention and make it work and that was just a little over three years ago.

David Novak 9:24

I noticed read somewhere you started out a little duplexes a couple of you got there

Jesse Cole 9:29

oh geez yeah we ate was the nastiest place you could ever imagine. I walked in and said nope no way there's no way so we bought it because that was all we could afford and sleeping on an air bed and you know I think a you and any other leader you've all gone through those challenges and if you really believe in it, you're willing to sacrifice yourself for others and and my wife power to her she was like we're going to do this because we know we can make it successful.

David Novak 9:51

You know you called your team the savannah bananas. I don't know if I can that's like saying toyboy three times in a row. So you know, I don't know if I can do Yeah, but anyway, was this a no brainer for you? Or did you wrestle with that decision? You know, a lot of people would say, Oh, if we call the savannah bananas, the, maybe the people of city will like that we're making fun of was that for you? Is that easy decision?

Jesse Cole 10:15

No, it was unbelievable scary, even today, when I go through airports, and I'm going to give a keynote, and people are seeing me in a yellow Tux that's still awkward and uncomfortable and scary. But naming the team bananas was really scary. We had 1000 suggestions for bands, we only had one person suggested bananas. But we knew that what our brand is, it's fun. It's unique. It's different. It's not like everyone else. We were very, very intentional with making that decision. Because we knew that's who we are. And so when we came up with that name, we created unbelievable attention. But we were also ripped apart locally. I mean, people were saying, the owner should be thrown out of town, you guys are an embarrassment to the city, you'll never sell a ticket. But here's the thing, David, they were all talking. And everyone was it was number one trending on Twitter. So they were talking. So I believe that if you create a tension, and you get people in to know your brand, then you can really show them what you're about and how much you care. And that was the whole goal. We wanted to get them to understand hey, this is why the savannah bananas and their what their name and their mascot split their what they have a senior citizen dance team called the banana bananas, who are these guys? All right. And that was the whole plan. Because once they knew who we are, then we could really start having fun.

David Novak 11:24

So you know, you call them call the team. So they ended bananas. It started what was the response to your initial marketing or educating ideas, it wasn't a hit right off the bat or take time to grow.

Jesse Cole 11:36

Nationally, it was a huge hit. So we started doing merchandise orders all over the country and all over the world. And we had no idea how to do that, by the way, how to ship shirts to you know, New Zealand and United Kingdom, we had no idea. And nationally, everyone was talking about finance. But locally, as I mentioned, people were saying you guys are you guys are not going to succeed, you're gonna fail. You're You're an embarrassment. I mean, I would say 1000s of comments, emails, voicemails, telling us that we will fail will never even play a game. And that was hard to sleep on. But that's what happened when we named them the team. And then from that point on, it was like, Alright, we got a chip on our shoulder. It's nice to have a little bit of chip on your shoulder. We saved every one of those negative comments. And a year later on our anniversary, we did a mean tweet video and our whole staff was reading those negative comments on a video that go viral as well. That created some attention as well. What was hilarious is most of those people saying those negative comments ended up buying season tickets with us, which was crazy.

David Novak 12:31

Well, how long did it take? It didn't take long did it to convert the tension into attendance? Yes.

Jesse Cole 12:36

Because again, we were trying to do what people liked. And you know, I think any business you got to start with what frustrates people about the industry you're in and we realize people are frustrated because baseball is long, slow and boring. And David you know this when you go to a sporting event, how many times you get nickeled and dimed. $7 for this soda $8 For this burger $9 For this, so we did the exact opposite. And that was our whole model, whatever is normal, do the exact opposite. So we created all you can eat tickets, every ticket included all your burgers or hotdogs, your chicken sandwiches, your soda, your water, your popcorn, your dessert for $15. So people were like, wow, it's a good, it's a good deal as well. Similar to yum brands, you see these unbelievable deals. And so that really got people into the brand. So after a few months, we started selling out games and people came out. And as you know, your customers are your biggest marketers. When they came out to the ballpark and started seeing the breakdancing first base coach and started seeing the pet ban and started seeing all the promotions. They were like, Wow, these guys are fun. And then they did all the marketing for us.

David Novak 13:34

You know, Jesse, everybody talks about disrupting categories and disruptive businesses. You've got the Netflix's, the Amazons of the world. And you're touching on this. I want to go a little bit deeper on it, because I think they're making a really big insight here. i You talked about how you disrupted the baseball business. What advice do you give to other businesses and other leaders on how they should look at their category in their business?

Jesse Cole 14:00

I think it's really easy model. And I call it a mirror moment. Look in the mirror and put yourself in your customers shoes. What do you hate about the industry that you're in? Whether it's like banking, for instance, how many times do we call a bank and we get put around for like five minutes before we talk to someone? That's a pain point. You know, think about lawyers and law firms you charged every minute, every email, that's a pain, it's a pain point. So we looked at all the pain points, wrote them down and said what can we do to do the exact opposite? And then I really believe the next point is what is the perfect experience for your customer. Love your customers more than you love your product. We all love our product. We talk about what we sell, but how often you talk about who you serve. And so we started loving our customers and I'll tell you the name of our company is fans first entertainment. Our mission is fans first entertain always every decision we make is is it fans first. So like for instance when someone buys a ticket from us, they get a video of us celebrating say congrats this You just made the best decision in your day. Right now as you bought tickets, we all celebrated. We grabbed your tickets a banana Nana put your ticket on his cell pillow, we put it up in the air, we had a say on surrounds your tickets, and then we now put them in maximum security in our vault, they're ready for you to go bananas. That's the first touch point. And then every single person that buys a ticket gets a thank you call from us. Now most of the times they think was it my credit card not work? We said no, no, we're just calling to thank you. You have to map the experience and love them. And how do you want your customers to feel? And how do you want to make them feel about your experience? And that's what we map? I mean from our tickets are shaped like bananas. Last year, they were scratching snip and smelled like bananas. I mean, we tried to go all out on every touchpoint and I think any industry what are those frustration points? What are those pain points, put yourself in the customers shoes, do the exact opposite. And then love your customers more than you love your product. And, David, I'll share one more thing last year, which I think every company should do. Last year we tried this out called undercover fan. And every night someone on our staff went undercover even me I took the yellow tuxedo off. I drove Yes, crazily All right. And we went through the entire experience as a fan. So I came into the ballpark I parked like the fans did. I came into the stadium like the fans did. I went through lines like the fans did. I sat in different seats around the ballpark. And every night someone on our staff would do this. And we'd get together at the end of the night and talk about the experience. What can we do better? What are great things that we did. And now we have 30 pages of notes from last season because we went undercover how many people have gone undercover and actually experienced what it's like to be a customer in your business. That was a game changer for us.

David Novak 16:36

So you literally you put yourself and your people literally in the shoes

Jesse Cole 16:42

of the customer. Yes. 100%. And it was mind blowing what we learned. And he talked about the

David Novak 16:47

importance of getting attention and you say Attention beats marketing 100% of the time. Yes. Explain that.

Jesse Cole 16:55

We marketed the team like crazy. When we came to Savannah. We had we were on Facebook, we were doing radio ads, we were doing newspaper ads, and we sold one ticket. It's proof for me. If you're marketing like everyone else, you're gonna get results like everyone else. That's why I always say whatever is normal do the exact opposite. Because normal gets normal results. So for months, we were doing the same advertising. It wasn't until we got crazy and got attention. So I challenge everyone to think like a reporter. If you're a reporter, do you want to cover your business? What's your story? Is it different enough? Is it interesting? You know what? You did a Taco Bell? I mean, brilliant at getting attention and they thought like a reporter. I mean, literally having weddings at Taco Bell. Are you kidding me? All right. But that created attention and it brought people into the brand. Taco Bell has done such a great job in pizza KFC. What are those unique things? And I think that's what every business has to do. Every day. I'm challenging our staff. So what are we doing to create attention now? And like, give an example. Every team sells T shirts and hats, right? So last year, we sold Dolce and banana underwear. You literally if you can see it right here. We actually did Dolce in banana underwear. So we came up with tighty whities and put a big banana on the crotch. And we also had the small underwear with a small banana on the crotch. And we sold Dolce and banana underwear. It wasn't supposed to sell. But it sold like crazy. I don't know, because it was different. And people were talking about it. So you know, what are those things? How can you be the only everyone tries to be a little bit better? A little bit faster? A little bit cheaper? What are you the only one doing and that's how you can really create attention.

David Novak 18:29

You also talked about being the moment they can What do you mean by that?

Jesse Cole 18:33

I believe nothing matters more than making people feel like they matter. And so what we talk about is fans first moments, you may have core beliefs for your company. Everyone does. But do you have stories that backup those beliefs. And so we challenge ourself every day, literally, this is from you. You know, you talk about recognition so much and oh, great one and taking people with you. Every week, our staff sends an email to the leadership. What was one thing that they did that was fans first? And what was one thing they saw someone else do that was fans first. We're looking for stories, the more stories that we have that really builds the brand and who we are. So what are those moments that we create? So I mean, we have hundreds of them, you know, but I'll give you one David example is happy tears. You talk about the emotions that you want people to feel, you know, when they come into your place. And I remember last year I go around the stadium doing selfies every game with fans, which I don't know why but people love selfies for some reason. All right. So I'm going around the stadium doing selfies. In one game. I saw this little kid jumping up and down with a poster. Jesse Jesse, come here. So I go over and I go, what's your name? He goes, I'm Cameron, can we get a selfie? I go, yes. And he goes, here's this poster I made of you. I'm your biggest fan. I'm the biggest fan of the bananas. I go of course and I go Cameron this selfie is going to be on Facebook. He goes to Facebook and I go Yeah, and I come back I see our director of first impressions. I go Kiki, I want you to watch this. I go into the dugout, I grab a sign bat and assigned ball and I go up I get on a knee and I deliver this to Cameron. And all of a sudden, he goes and starts crying his eyes out literally tears flowing down. I go, Cameron, are you okay? Are you okay? He goes, No, they're happy tears. They're happy tears. And at that point, his mother's crying as well, the whole section is emotional. And Cameron and his mother stayed for the entire game, which is rare and a long baseball game. And he runs up to me at the end of the game gives me a hug, and says, Thank you, that's one of the best days of my life. Simply by doing a little gesture of handing a bat taking a picture and creating happy tears. We share those stories every day about how it what are those moments that we're creating, to make people feel like they really matter? And that really is built our company into what it is.

David Novak 20:43

You know, I was listening to you there. You talked about one of the people in your organization and he had a title, Director of first impressions. Okay. And that, that got my attention, okay, you, you give people unique titles in terms of their roles,

Jesse Cole 20:57

we let them own it. We've had the director of fun director of first impressions. I mean, you name it, we have fun with it, because we want people to own their position and own what they do. And Kiki, our director of first impression started out as a shy 22 year old and now she oversees a staff of 150 people at 25 years old. And it's amazing. Her story's amazing. We share that all the time. But yeah, you know, own it. This is this job's supposed to be fun. And as a leader, you need to give your staff give your staff permission to have fun. And David, you did that? You know, everything you did from from the cheeseheads. And from the floppy chicken, the rubber chickens, that's giving your staff permission to have fun. And I think these formal titles are over. They're not not needed anymore.

David Novak 21:37

Well, Jessica, you're in another league, and you're making me go, I wish I would have thought I would imagine, you know, what's your energy, you have to be somewhat of an impatient person. And what advice do you give on patients period painful, you know, you've you've taken on all this responsibility so early in your life, what's your view on patients,

Jesse Cole 21:56

I was very challenged with that when I started, I it was all about me, me, me grow me, I want to be a GM a managing partner and owner, I was so patient about what I wanted. But that didn't bring me that much happiness, it was being on a hamster wheel. And it finally came to me my greatest happiness is seeing other people have the time in their life, having fun loving what they do. So on the back of our fans, first playbook, which we share with everyone on our staff, our players, and it says Be patient and what you want for yourself, but be impatient and how much you give to others. And what I've learned now is that when I can share, teach, and have fun with others, it brings me more joy, more success, more gratitude. So you know, like the thank you letter to you, David. I mean, I started that in 2016, I started the thank you experiment, I said, I'll write one thank you letter a day to someone that's made an impact in my life. And now into 2019. It's three years straight, and over 1000 thank you letters, and that gives me joy, that gives me happiness, but it's also spreading gratitude to someone else. So patience is a challenge. But when you start thinking, what can you do for others, you'll be amazed at how much the things that you want start happening faster.

David Novak 23:03

You know, I really was blown away by that note that you said, and it did make my day and and, you know, obviously, gratitude plays a significant role in your life. Did you have a story that kind of brought that forward in your life? Or is that just been something that's occurred over time?

Jesse Cole 23:20

I started the one word by John Gordon a few years ago. Are you familiar with that? I know of it, I have not read you pick one word for a year. And instead of a New Year's resolution, you just focus on that word, because most New Year's resolutions fail. And so I started that with my wife. And then we brought it to our team. And in 2016, my word was care. And I said, I can't just care. I gotta hold myself accountable to that. So that's why I started the thank you letter experiment that thank you experiment. And I'll tell you what happened, David, it was mind blowing. I mean, really was I sent a thank you letter to my sophomore English teacher who made a real impact on my life. Within two weeks, she sent a four page letter back to me. And she said, I've taught for over 30 years, I've never received a handwritten letter. And I was so hurt by that, that I was like, if we can just tell one person a day thank one person a day what an impact that would be. And now our director of tickets has started it. He calls it one fan a day. And everyone on our staff thanks one fan a day, whether it's a thank you video, whether it's a text, whether it's a letter, and it's an amazing ripple effect that, you know, it's just like recognition. You're recognizing people for what they've done. And you share that with us. And I think that's had a profound impact on us.

David Novak 24:27

What else do you do to go about inspiring your team Jesse because you obviously care about me.

Jesse Cole 24:33

It's how I show up every day. It's how you bring energy. You know, I think it's really important the stories that we tell, you know, every morning, what are you doing to be prepared to be your best self as a leader? I'm very intentional. You probably have a routine as well. I wake up I write my thank you letter. I write I read. I go for a run. I listened to podcasts. Oh, go lead is up there. All right. I listen to those and then I come back and I'm already primed. So many people come out during the day and they put fires out their firefighters. But I've already succeeded, I've already won the day. So my goal to inspire people is to show up and be a model to give our people permission to have fun to give our people permission to teach and share. And I share stories, you know, I get on stage, and I share stories. And I share stories about them. It means a lot when they see that they're featured in a big article or their big video. So how often are leaders talking about their people? Or how often are they talking about themselves? And I've heard you numerous interviews, you're constantly talking about the people that worked with you, not for you, as a leader, most leaders have it the other way around. They think you know, I have people that work for me, you got it, you got it wrong, you work for your people. And so how often you share in those stories. So this is the combination of learning and reading 1000s of books on culture experience. And, you know, again, I think we know we're getting better every day. So there's a long way to go, I got a lot to improve on, I'll tell you that

David Novak 25:50

you're an avid reader, Jesse, how do you go about building and inspiring your own teams.

Jesse Cole 25:55

So we started the better book club about three or four years ago. And it's actually an online platform, which has every book in the world. And it asks a few questions, and you fill out a book report, and then we pay our people to read. So when we have a great book and made an impact, we will just share it with everyone. And we'll say Who would you recommend this book to. And so now we've paid 1000s of dollars to our people, which theoretically is a much better investment than spending $6,000 to send someone to a conference if they've read 20 books and actually did reports on them. So we learned this from Arnie mal Han, who started the better book club. And it's been huge for us are one of our people. Kiki, our director of first impressions never read when she graduated college, never read one book. And now she's read 15 books, and she's obsessed with it because she loves it. And she's learning. And that's amazing to see someone fall in love with learning and growing,

David Novak 26:45

it's a great way for you to show how much you care about your people, once they care about you. You they know you care about them, they're gonna care about you.

Jesse Cole 26:53

Well, we want to make them better people, not just better as employees, and we're not we're focused on them as what type of people they are. And if they're growing and develop and becoming better people, that's a win for them. And it's a win for the business. So why wouldn't we pay them to read and help encourage them to be a part of learning and getting better?

David Novak 27:10

You know, you're a big time and individuality Notice the yellow. And you really believe in being true to yourself? What's behind that what really got you to believe so much in being exactly who you are.

Jesse Cole 27:22

I think I was afraid in the beginning. You know, it's a tough question. I was afraid to kind of come out and be different. I mean, I didn't wear this yellow tuxedo all the time I dressed like everyone else I wanted to fit in like everyone else. But I realized that my personality is about, you know, being out there being outspoken, having fun, talking being crazy. And so every time I wasn't doing this, I was hiding. So I think a lot of us, we have to give ourselves permission to be our full self. How many people show up to work every day. And all they're thinking about is the weekend. How many people are showing up all day, and they're not being their whole self? If I'm not being my whole self and the wild fun, crazy, Jesse, why would you know our staff be that way? So it's such a tough question for me, David, because I just tried with small bets. I first started wearing this during our games, then I started wearing this during speeches, then I started wearing into the office. Now I wear it all the time. And I'll tell you the looks I get at the airport these days are crazy. All right, people look at me like crazy. And it had to get over that fear. But now that I'm over and I'm like, You know what? We need people to be more out there more different, more unique. And I think hopefully it's giving other people permission. I spoke the other day and a young woman came up to me and she said, I've been hiding myself for months and years. But now I let my hair go read. I show my piercing. I'm okay to show a tattoo because that's who I am. And who do you want showing up to work every day? The person that's who they are, or the person that's hiding themselves?

David Novak 28:46

You know, I read a quote that you have, which I love, which is we're not born to fit in. We're born to stand out. That's exactly what you're talking about. Right?

Jesse Cole 28:55

Yes, yes, everyone. And you don't have to wear a yellow tux. You know, David, I guarantee there were numerous things you and your leaders did that you're like, wow, I'll always remember that about them. You know, I question I opened my book, which is crazy, because I wrote it when I was 3233. I opened my book with my eulogy. I actually sat down and wrote my eulogy. And I question everyone, how do you want to be remembered? If you were to write write down who you were, what you stood for, and the impact you made? Will you be proud of it? Is it a story you want to read? And when I challenged myself to reverse engineer my life, it said yeah, of course I'm going to be myself. I'm not going to be like everyone else. And some people won't like it. And that's okay. It's so tough, especially for young people today to not care what other people think. And I still go through it as well as that only child trying to impress his dad and make him proud. I still care what he thinks of what a lot of people think. Once you overcome that, boy, happiness and fulfillment man it comes pretty strong.

David Novak 29:50

I think we all go through that. You but you do have to muster it up but if you could wear a yellow tuxedo or or give away rubber chickens like I did, it's it's kind of crazy, but it's you make you feel good when you

Jesse Cole 30:00

do it? Yeah, thanks for saying mustered up because that was that was a reference there, I'll take that for you fairly quick. I liked it a very appealing. What's the

David Novak 30:09

biggest mistake that you think entrepreneurs make when they start out?

Jesse Cole 30:13

They try to be like their competitors, they try to be a little better than their competitors. I'll tell you, I have not looked at other baseball teams, other sporting teams at all. Our competition is not the other sport teams, we're competing with Amazon, Netflix, Ritz Carlton, I try to focus on where can we be the only and what can we take from other industries? I think even looking at the fast food, you know, everyone's trying to, oh, a four five deal, a three for five deal or two for five deal. Everyone's just trying to mirror each other. So then how do they stand out? So I would challenge any entrepreneur that starting a company? What are you the only one doing what makes you stand out? If you say you're a little bit better, a little bit cheaper, a little bit faster? That's not unique. That's not only we pride ourselves, every this year, we're gonna have the first ever male cheerleading team called the man Anna's literally dancing at our ballpark will be the only ones with the man Anna's. And we challenge ourselves on that. So I think entrepreneurs are really think about what makes them the only

David Novak 31:12

fans first entertainment is a definition of your company, or it's your frame of reference. Where do you see taking that over the long term, because it gives you gives you lots of room to play. You don't have to just be, you know, offer up the great baseball experience, which you do. But you see broadening this into other categories or other other aspects like Amazon, Amazon started out as a bookstore.

Jesse Cole 31:34

Yes. If you asked me six months ago or a year, I would have said 5,000,000%. Yes. But what I've learned is that often we tried to do so many things, and we don't do it as well. And so we were doing events. I mean, we had all you can eat food truck festivals, haunted stadiums, concerts, and we weren't doing that well, because that's what they're best at. We believe we can correct provide the best sports and entertainment show in the world. So that's what we're going to stay focused on. And I think we're everyone's so focused on scale and growth. And I'm so impressed with people like you who have done it tremendously. But again, you stay true to what you did. I've read some of the stories when you tried to combine elements, sometimes they didn't work as well. You know, Taco Bell should not be serving things that Taco Bell shouldn't be serving, and they do it really well. So we are going to look at how do we do what we do best and maybe show it to more people. So the answer your question, David, maybe we can take the show on the road. Maybe we can bring fans first entertainment to the bananas, two more teams, but bring our breakdancing first base coach and our banana bananas and bring what we do well and expand that. But I don't know about doing too many other things outside of our realm.

David Novak 32:39

Yeah, you Oh, what do you do if you took over major league baseball?

Jesse Cole 32:42

Where do I begin? The challenge? Here's the challenge of Major League Baseball, they're making more money than they've ever made before. It's over $10 billion. The owners are growing, they're making more money yet, here's what's happening, attendance is dropping dramatically dropped 4% last year. If you look at the crowds here in early April, less than 1000 people at some ballparks. I think the challenge is they need to figure out how do they make the game faster, more exciting and more fan centric. Right now they're so stuck on tradition and the way the game should be. And not focused on the fan. They love their product, maybe more than they love their customers. And so I never want to throw a stab at major league baseball because I'm so fortunate to have a job in baseball. But our success has become because we focused on not the baseball but focused on the fan. So if I were in Major League Baseball, I would say Alright, how do we get our players more involved with the fans? How do we make the game more fast, more exciting, you know, give me idea and our games. The first thing you'll see when our ballpark our players are outside greeting the fans and signing autographs. Then during the game, our players will come out of the dugout and deliver roses to little girls in the crowd. Our players will even go on dates with fans during the game. And we'll have our saxophone guy serenade them while they're having a date with an older fan during the game. Our players have done conga lines in the crowd during the games. Because the players are part of the experience with the fans right now. There's the sale stigma, professionalism, and the players have to be professional. Let the players have fun and let them get involved with the fans. That's how you build people that love you that don't just like you. And David is you know more than love is better than like, and I'd rather have 1000 people or 100,000 people that love me than millions that kind of like me. And I think that's what major league baseball should focus on.

David Novak 34:18

So you've read the book, five year yellow tux, why don't you write the book and what's the main message,

Jesse Cole 34:23

it shares the journey of how to stand out? You know, as I've shared with you, I believe everyone should stand out and be the best version of themselves. And everyone has one thing that makes them stand out, but we're too afraid to actually do it. The book is a goal to give permission for people to be themselves and have fun everyday doing it. And so I share my journey about trying to be the best and being a sponge and learning from others. And, you know, it shares how to be different in your business, and then how to create a legacy based on how you want to be remembered. So it's my journey, and it's still evolving, but I'll tell you the reception has been really special. So thank you for the acknowledgement. Yeah,

David Novak 34:57

my sister in law Gretchen Barnes she lives in so they had to. I told her I was going to be doing an interview with us. She says, Oh my gosh, is that guy crazy? And boy, did they have a fun experience and you're gonna love this guy. You know what she's right. You know, she was touting your success. And if you sell out your games and people are waiting to get tickets and been on ESPN, CNBC, CNN, how do you keep your your feet on the ground? I mean, you can easily get a big head here. Jessen,

Jesse Cole 35:28

Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix just recently said, we're always going to be an underdog. And they were like, well, you're dominating right now. They're like, we only have a small percentage of a global media landscape. He goes, What about, you know, you're spending $8 billion now on new content, because that's a small percentage in the scheme of things. Netflix sees themselves as an underdog. The reality is, we're a huge underdog, we've always been an underdog. Everyone's thought that we couldn't make it work college summer baseball, David, we're one of the lowest levels in baseball there is. So we love the respect the recognition and acknowledgement. But we know we're just getting started. So for me and our staff, I say, guys, you know, we're just getting started, we've made an impact on this many fans, how do we make a greater impact on more fans, and so we tell those stories, and we love going and say, guys, hey, we got doubted again, people don't think we can do this, we build that underdog into our nature, because it makes it more fun to overcome that way,

David Novak 36:21

you've got this restless dissatisfaction with the status quo, which really serves you well. But you know, when you get bigger, and I'm sure you're not sleeping on an air bed, right now you got a real bed. Now, there is a big temptation to play it safe and kind of hang on to, to what you have, how are you going to make basically make sure you want to talk of what you just said,

Jesse Cole 36:42

that's one of my biggest fear is complacency. The bigger you get, the easier it is to want to protect. And I want to always play offense always come up swinging the bat. And Netflix is my inspiration on that when they were on top of the world with DVD sales, they split the company and said, We're going to start doing streaming and they plummeted. Then they said, We're gonna go and do all all original content, they kept changing when they were on top of the game. So I don't know how I'm gonna answer that question coming forward. But I know when things start to get easy, that's when you need to work harder. And so I have a fear. I'm like, Oh, wow, all of our tickets are selling, we have a waitlist in the 1000s. Well, shoot, what are we doing? Let's figure out something and make it a little more challenging on us. So what did you do? That's actually I want to ask that to you. What did you do? Because your brands grew unbelievably?

David Novak 37:30

Well, I think one of the big things that a leader has to do is to find a new reality. And every, every year, you have to define what hasn't been done yet. You know, so for me, the joy in businesses, the unfinished business, what hasn't been done. That's what you want to get up every day and be inspired to get out. But you can ask me that when I do want a podcast. What's next? What's next in terms of how you personally grow yourself?

Jesse Cole 37:58

For me, again, it's sharing the story. It's spreading, spreading the lessons, and I think all of us need to look ourselves as teachers. So I'm challenging our staff, every one of you guys are a teacher, you're not a salesperson, how can you share more? I want them to grow, because I think you learn more when you're teaching than when you're actually learning. So for us, we're looking how can we teach this? How can we teach the fans first experience? How can we teach companies to put on a show for their customers and for their employees. And that's the next step is for us is we're going to start sharing this teaching and even more. And then as I looted to earlier, hopefully coming to your town and other cities all over the country and putting on a show all over the country with the savannah bananas

David Novak 38:37

best, you know. So you know, let's wrap this up here. I want to ask you this question. I have to actually, the first one is your wife emmalin. You guys are partners, you're in the business together every day. How do you make that work? And what advice can you give in terms of how to how to make your business be so integral in your family?

Jesse Cole 38:58

It's been a challenge. And I think we've learned a few important lessons. When we first came to Savannah, she took over the operations, and she had to figure out how to serve 4000 People all you can eat in an old ballpark. And every night she got beat up. And I mean, literally fans would yell at her, they'd yell at the staff. And while I was being cheered for on the field, putting on the show, and I'd get in the car at midnight, one in the morning on top of the world. And she would be like she just got completely defeated. And it was at that point that we had a really good realization that she should be doing more of what she loves, and not doing what she hates. And so we got her out of that terrible position and challenging and started becoming a mentor. And for us, whenever we get into each other's own world, we have challenges. So she stays away from the show. And I stay away from her and her mentorship of our other employees and the HR and hiring. And once we got clear on our roles, we've worked even better together. So I think that's key when you're working with a partner, any partner, be very clear on your roles and don't jump into that place of space because that causes issues.

David Novak 39:57

Speaking of hiring, what's the single thing thing you look for when you hire somebody,

Jesse Cole 40:02

we do a three step process we want, we want a video cover letter, because we want to see your personality. Number two, a fans first essay on how you're on our core beliefs. And number three, we want to see your future resume. We don't care what you've done in the past, we want to know what you're doing in the future. And so when we put those three together, we are very clear, we can see does this person fit our values and fit our culture? So we are very specific there. And we map the experience, literally, our onboarding, our interviewing, I mean, we put on a show for them. And, David, you'll appreciate this. The last ad I did when hiring, I wrote Do not apply for this job. And I gave all the reasons on why you should not apply to work with us. And we that everyone on our staff interviewed on video saying why you should not work for the Savannah, bananas, we are so clear on the people that don't fit our culture to get very clear on the ones that do fit our culture. And that has been going in opposite thinking. It's been very great for us. And that's been a success.

David Novak 40:55

So what three bits of advice would you give aspiring leaders, Jesse?

Jesse Cole 41:00

Oh, all right. Number one, what makes you stand out? If you can't answer that question, it'll be a real challenge for you. Love your customers more than you love your product, as I shared before, and love your employees more than you love your customers. And if you can do those three, I believe you can have success for many years to come. But you have to live it, you have to have stories that back those points up, if you just say it, it means nothing, you need to show it, you need to share it and you need to live it. And then I believe you always stand out.

David Novak 41:29

You know, I have to tell you this. I mean, it's very sincerely, if I could have ever hired somebody like you, I wouldn't have a job very long. You are an incredible attention getting marketing person who's such a great simplifier in terms of concepts, but you have a belief in what works when you're sticking to it. And I think that every listener should listen to this podcast, because they'll learn how to really grow their business and grow themselves. So thank you so much for your time, Jesse, I appreciate it.

Jesse Cole 41:59

Well, David, it means a lot. I can't tell you how much of an inspiration you've been for me. So thank you.

David Novak 42:11

Well, obviously, I had a lot of fun with our there's nobody in the world like Jesse Cole, and I just love how much energy and simplicity he brings to the party. Heck, he is the party. And don't you just love his mirror moment where you look at your business from a customer perspective, and identify the things that they hate about your industry. And then you solve those problems in a way that differentiates you from competition. That's why the savannah bananas are getting attention when so many other teams, even in the majors are struggling to fill seats this week, as a part of your weekly personal development plan. Have that mirror moment for your business? What did people hate about the industry that you're in? Make a list of those pain points, then ask yourself, what would it look like if we could really eliminate one of those and then go do it. It's a fantastic way to see your business the way your customer does. And if you have the courage to break the mold like Jesse does, your customers will notice. And it might just be the strategy you need to differentiate yourself from your competition, and maybe even redefine your entire category. So do you want to know how leaders lead what we learned today is that great leaders know how to stand out. Thanks again for tuning in to another episode of how leaders lead where every Thursday you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world. I make it a point to give you something simple on each episode that you can apply to your business so that you will become the best leader that you can be

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