David Novak 0:04 

Welcome to How leaders lever 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. Today's guest is Corey Robertson, one of the stars of the hit reality TV show, Duck Dynasty, it was actually Corys idea to take their small family duck call business and turn it into a TV show about the Corky Robertson family. Duck Dynasty became one of the most successful reality shows in history with an incredible brand presence. And Corey and her husband, Willie, were the business minds behind it all. But you know, something through it all, before the show and after, whether the cameras were off or on. Cory has been herself through and through, people are drawn to that kind of authenticity, because they know that's a leader they can trust. And let me tell you, when you listen to Cory today, you're going to get a fantastic of close and personal look at how to stay true to yourself even in the midst of big changes. Plus, she has some fantastic insights on scaling up managing brands and partnerships, leading through chaos and so much more. So here's my conversation with my good friend and soon to be yours. Corey Robertson.

Cory I can't wait to get into how you lead. But first, I got to ask you, you know you are a celebrity and lots of big things are always happening to you. What was your last pinch me moments that I can't believe it's happening me moment.

Korie Robertson 1:51 

This isn't my last but this was like one of the biggest so Okay, when I was a kid, I was a Kenny Rogers fan. I love Kenny Rogers. I was in his fan club. Like I was like this little eight year old kid and Kenny Rogers fan club. Well actually got to meet Kenny Rogers at a big award show. And he had twins that were you know, of age to watch Duck Dynasty and they were huge fans of the show. So it was like, a big moment for me. Because like, Kenny Rogers, you know, I tell Willie, he was like my first man with a beard crush.

David Novak 2:21 

That's perfect. You know? No way before Duck Dynasty 50 years ago, to be exact. Your father in law. Phil Robertson started a business called Duck Commander. Give us a snapshot of the business then and what it looks like today.

Korie Robertson 2:36 

Yeah, so whenever duck Nazis started, we actually had our 40 year anniversary on an episode. So a lot of people think, Oh, this big overnight success, but no, we were 40 years in. And whenever I came into the family, actually, I was a kid when I first went down there, and they were just making their duck calls, literally out of a little shed right next to their home. And it started like that Phil had this idea to make a better call. And he got it patented, he made a double rated call, which had not been done before. All the calls at that time were single read, and just started doing it. And year by year, a little more money, a little more money. And one of the fun stories that he did back in the day, he had a little tape recorder where he taped live ducks. And he taped him blowing the duck call. And you couldn't tell the difference between and he had it like scientifically tested to see you know the difference in the duck call and the live duck to prove to people as he kind of made his runs and went door to door tried to sell his duck calls. And just to prove to people that like scientifically, that's the most duckies sound and duck call out there on the market.

David Novak 3:41 

I love it. That's such a humble beginning. And what's the business like today?

Korie Robertson 3:46 

It's grown a little bit I'll never forget whenever. So warehouse. Yeah, just a little bit. The warehouse that we're in now actually, where are this little podcast studio is I remember when we bought this warehouse. It was huge. We thought this is massive. We will never fill it up. We're in this like little corner of all of our products. And now of course we have other warehouses that have more of our product. And, and this has become you know, we have a store and a museum and all that things going on. So yeah, life's changed a little bit since those days are driving around the trucks on deck called door to door.

David Novak 4:21 

And 30 years ago, you marry Phil's son Willie, and join the Robertson family. For someone who hasn't seen Duck Dynasty on television. Describe the Robertson family for me.

Korie Robertson 4:34 

Well, so the Robertson family, it's four brothers, and it's a family business. So you've got these four brothers, their wives, and then you got this crazy uncle Sy, which he was kind of the wildcard of the whole family because I feel like everybody has a crazy uncle and could relate a little bit because Uncle Sal was the crazy uncle. But Phil and k are the matriarch and patriarch and they ran this duck call business really out of their hands. own voice grew up helping in the duck call business. It was a family business through and through. And when we started the show, we actually started the show on a little smaller network called the Outdoor Channel. And we were like, Hey, you think people would want to see more of what we do behind the scenes, like as a business, because that that channel was more about just hunting, just straight up, like, watch a deer in the woods, watch the ducks in the woods. But we were like, we think we want to say a little bit more about what we do and how we run it as a family. And that's really what kind of took off for us.

David Novak 5:32 

I understand that was your idea to do the television show. When did you first get involved with the family business yourself?

Korie Robertson 5:39 

It was so in the early days, when we first got married, I needed a way to make a little extra money. So I was an art major. So I did these little hand painted duck calls limited edition, I had this idea. So I was like, I'm going to hand paint these calls. And I had Phil sign them. And I did like 500 of them. And I sold them to you know, different stores around the country and actually found just recently a hand typed, I had typed it on a word processor, a little, you know, asking people to buy my hand painted duck calls that I made back in the back in the early days. So that was my first entry into it. Willie actually wasn't working for the family business after he finished college, he was running a summer camp manage this summer camp, and we were having our kids and doing that. And I think we just kind of looked over at the Duck Commander family business and feeling Hey, we're a little bit tired. And everybody had been doing it for a long time. And we're like, you know, we have some energy, we feel like we could get back in here and really do something. And so the first thing we did was to start the website, duck commander.com Phil did not know anything about websites. He was like, you know, if anybody wants to buy a duck call, they can just pick up the phone and call me. That was his mentality. And we're like, you know, we think people might start buying things off the internet. So we should probably probably do a website. So we'll get started doing that. commando.com just out of our house, we put the phone number for our home phone number on the website, and we'd get calls day and night and we take the orders and and packaging them and ship them right there from our home. And then we started a little club called Duck Coholic. synonymous, we were like we're gonna Yeah, so I'll read the newsletter. And we we decided, you know, these are some hardcore fans, like these people really love duck hunting. So we started this club, and we call it a duck, duck holics. And we, you know, gave him a newsletter and a T shirt and a sticker that told said you were part of the club, and it just kind of grew our Willie. And as we were watching it, we were like, you know, these people really are invested in Duck Commander and in what we're doing, like how can we do more? How can we give our fans a little bit more and a little bit more? And it just kind of grew from there. Yeah.

David Novak 7:49 

So when was it you remember when you had this vision to do the television show? And was it a big? Was it a hard sell for the family to buy into?

Korie Robertson 7:58 

A little bit a little bit? I do remember. So I was actually watching the show American Chopper. If you remember that show American Chopper. It was about brothers who made motorcycles. And I was thinking why am I watching a show about motorcycles. I don't care about motorcycles. But I was like, Oh, it's a family. It's about the family business. And you see this interaction between their brothers and their dad and, and then I started looking around, and there's American Chopper products everywhere. You know, all of a sudden, there's T shirts, and it's all this. And I was like, I wonder if we could sell more duck calls if we, you know, made a show like this. And I was like, I looked over to Willie and I said, you know, I really think we could do a reality show about your family. And he was like, who's gonna watch that? And I said, Well, Ben, your family is not normal. y'all. Y'all are kind of interesting. Like, you're not normal. And he was like, what? So we actually went down to Phil and Kay and told them we had this idea. And Phil was like, who's gonna watch this? I don't know. We were I will say before that Now Phil had the idea to film his hands. He started making these DVDs called the duck men of Louisiana. It was a series he did one one year he sold it to Walmart. The next year, he didn't do it. And then they were like, you know, that actually did pretty well, you should do that again. So he had been since about the 80s. He had Macon been making these DVDs of their hunts where, you know, they just film what they did during hunting season, but it was all in the blind mind, you know, for hunters, you know, just for hunters. So anyway, I thought, what if we expand that and you know, tell a little bit more of the family story. And so I actually sent emails out to some different production companies and got zero response. And thought, well, you know, I think it's a good idea. Maybe we'll see if we can figure out how to make this happen. And we were at our big industry show trade show one year and vanilla guns. We had a sponsorship deal with vanilla guns. One thing that Willie is so good at and was so good about whenever we kind of came back into the business. Phil was kind of this loner, like he did his thing. saying he had his invention, he lived in the woods. And still, that's how he is. But Willie is a people person. And so he had started building these relationships with a lot of different other people in the outdoor industry. And we had a relationship with vanilla guns, they response around us and doing some things with us at that time. And they had just hired a guy out of reality TV. And so they asked for a meeting. And we went and sat down. And he said, you know, had this idea, I think your family could do a show. And I was like, nudge, and Willie told you. So. So that was pretty, pretty fun, exciting time.

David Novak 10:34 

Absolutely. And now, as I understand it, and your negotiation with the Outdoor Channel, I hear you ask for in quotes, one more thing that Willie thought was going to absolutely blow the deal, the whole deal. Tell us about that.

Korie Robertson 10:50 

That is true. So yeah, so that conversation happened. And we were excited, because we were thinking, you know, this is really like a 30 minute commercial on Outdoor Channel to our market about, you know, our business. And so we really looked at it as a great way to sell more duck calls. But and so Willie's like, look, this is just great marketing, let's just do it, you know? And I said, Well, you know, I feel like y'all should probably get a talent fee. You know, this is your, your talent, you know, you should probably get a talent fee. And he had, you know, he's just like, Do not screw this up. This is a good deal for us. They're paying for everything. They're sponsoring the whole thing. That's enough, don't screw it up. And so I said, you know, I actually just read the book, negotiate to win. And I was like, you know, this cannot hurt. Like, we can ask, they can always say no, I'll he's like, alright, we'll just back off, you know, if, if he if he just seems at all, like he's gonna back away back off, don't screw this deal up. So I went in there, and yeah, the deal was done. And I got up the nerve. And I said, Hey, you know, I really think the guys deserve a talent fee. And I'll put my number out there, you know, not a whole lot of money. But I put the number out there. And the guy said, Okay, sure. Done. And then Willie was like, oh, we should ask for more money. Of course, then, I was like, See, I told you, I tried to go for more. You held me back.

David Novak 12:11 

Well, you did. All right. As I understand it, you got 30,000 for Phil, Jason Willie, you know, which is great. Now, how do you? How do you determine the name for the first show?

Korie Robertson 12:22 

So originally, it was Duck Commander has been la presents that commander well, then as that show was happening, we were kind of winning all the awards, and they had these golden goose awards, we won the golden goose awards, all these awards in the outdoor industry. And we got an email from, you know, a guy from Hollywood information at duck commander.com. He's like, Hey, I think you've got what it takes to have a big show. And so Willie called him back. I remember I was in the room. He's on speakerphone, and he's like, wait, I saw your show. And he just like you're gonna have if we do what I think this show is gonna do, you're gonna be have billboards in Times Square. And we're like, yeah, right. But, you know, we did really believe in it. And we did think we had something special. And so yeah, we made a sizzle reel, and pitched it around to all the networks and got offers from a lot of networks, which was really exciting. And ended up going with a&e had audience like 50%, female 50% Male, which really fit what we felt like our demographic because we're such a family show. So we said yes to AMA. And then they're the ones who came up with the name dynasty, we submitted all kinds of names. We were friends, but like Brian and Murphy, and he was early in his career at the time, and so we even had him make a little, like a little song that would go with one of our titles. I can't remember what's how we tried to get duck men because we own duck man. So we're like, trademark duck, man, let's name a duck man. But of course, I didn't go for that. And so they came up with the name Duck Dynasty. And we were just like, huh, we thought we thought I'm not sure about that. But, you know, hey, we'll go with it. We'll trust it. And it turned out to be a very, very good decision.

David Novak 14:02 

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You and Willie do the negotiations on behalf of the entire family. The contracts and sponsorships are done. division deals. Was there has ever been a moment where that's been particularly challenging to get to the right solution?

Korie Robertson 15:07 

Yes, that is it is always challenging. Of course, when you work in a family business, and you're, you know, you want to represent everybody well, and so that is hard. And Willie, and as a husband and wife team, you know, we have we both have some strong opinions on Tom. So they're gonna definitely be some strong opinions. And one thinks we should go one way one thinks we should go the other, but we tend to work pretty well, because he is more of that, like, relationship person and all that. And I don't mind. I'm not I, I really probably had to learn this more than but I'll read the fine print. I'll read the contract. And I'll and I'll stick with it really is more like, he raised the first round, and it's like, oh, no, we won't. And I'm like, No, we're gonna get there. Like, we're gonna get there. Come on, we'll get our head down. And we'll, I'll stick it out for the long haul. So we negotiate to where we're all happy.

David Novak 15:56 

Well, you read the book. So yeah. You took that all the way to the bank? You know, you know, when your first episode of Duck Dynasty aired on a&e, what kind of impact? I'm really curious, what kind of impact did that have just almost overnight on duck call sales.

Korie Robertson 16:13 

That was insane. That first year was absolutely insane. So we started airing in April of 2012. And that first year that was so duck call business is, you know, seasonal, obviously, because you only sell duck calls in the fall and winner. And so, you know, we kind of had a cycle for how we worked, you know, and how's the company worked and everything because we've been doing it for a long time. And then all of a sudden, you have this television show that's running every night and every week, and you got a lot of people that are not duck hunters, Bond duck calls, you know, and so that was really fun. But a real challenge. We crashed, our website crashed, I think three times, honestly, that first year because of just so we just weren't prepared at all. We started running a business 24/7 This warehouse, we were hiring, if you could walk we hired you at the time, we were just like, Come, we need you. We were on we literally had had to work 24/7 We had to get, you know, other warehouses and all that. And it was a really fun, exciting time. But it was also a little bit crazy. We we had to make a video because one other funny piece of it is our show. You know, it's a fun family show. And it appeared that we really weren't working very much. Because, you know, the show was always like the guys were messing around in the woods and weren't making duck calls. And so we'd get emails like, Hey, y'all need to actually get to work and make some duck calls. I'll order my duck call three weeks ago and haven't gotten it yet. So we we had to make a YouTube video saying like, look, we're really working here. We walked you through the warehouse promise, work is happening. We are behind because we're trying to keep up with the demand. But yeah, it was a crazy time.

David Novak 17:58 

I'm just curious on his if you if you could think back, you know, what would have been your duck calls per day, you know, before the TV show. And then what did it end up being?

Korie Robertson 18:08 

I should have looked at the numbers. I know this in 2013. We sold a million duck calls. Think before like August of that year. And there's and, and the duck hunter numbers. You know, of course, there's there's not even like really in our country a million Daikon, as you know. So the numbers, it was one of those things that, you know, you say, Oh, we had like 25% growth? It was like 800% It was?

David Novak 18:36 

I can believe that? Yeah. You know, and, and I understand that this is a handmade product. So, you know, how did you go scaling up the business to keep up with that kind of demand? I mean, how do you scale it?

Korie Robertson 18:49 

Yeah, so that was hard, because the wooden duck call was the original duck call called the original duck call that the classic, the classic commander was the one, you know that Phil's began with. But obviously, the wooden duck calls are so time intensive to make but we do we still make all the duck calls right here, we put them together right here, they're all hand hand put together and blown here. But we did have to have to change some of our manufacturing to make it a little bit simpler, and went with some more plastic calls. And we changed a little bit of our RAID system to make it really a lot easier to put together which actually was a benefit to the customers too. Because when you take it apart or whatever, it's much easier to fit together than our classic commander call was,

David Novak 19:34 

you know, you mentioned that you had computer breakdowns and you know, just handling the massive orders was stuff. How did you handle that as a leader? Core I mean, you know, you got all this success, but you've got all this pressure at the same time. How did you balance the success pressure issue?

Korie Robertson 19:53 

Yeah, I will say the amazing thing about that commander and it's still like this to this day is like everyone He works with us can wear all the hats and is willing to wear all the hats and it's willing to get in there and like, Okay, we got a big order, we need to just get it done. And that's kind of how willing are we we've always run it, Phil and Kay ran it from day one, they're willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen. And in the early days, it was kind of like, literally, we would have a party and cook for people and invite them to come get an order help us get an order out. But as it's gone on, you know, I think whenever everybody gets busy, like we're right there in there to try and to help package orders, or do what it takes to get the job done. So we really tried to do that. And then and then I'll, you know, make work fun and our, our work and family. It's kind of all intertwined for us, and always has been, and I don't think we would have it any other way.

David Novak 20:48 

So many times you start out small, you get big, you know, and you kind of you can lose your ways you get big, how do you keep your what is now a big business, a big company, how do you keep it small for the rest of the employees?

Korie Robertson 21:01 

Yeah, that's a good question. I think. I think, you know, there were pieces of it that we did lose our way because Duck Dynasty was so big and it became this like, we were on like toddler underwear. We like Duck Dynasty, chia pets and Duck Dynasty everything. But then we have this Brand Duck Commander, that is a legitimate hunting company that was here for two years before and we hope is here for two years after and there was a moment there where it was, we're just kind of on everything. And that oversaturation word that you hear whatever it happened to us. And so whenever the show ended, we had to say, okay, like, who are we at the core? Like, who are we as commander at the core? And who are we going to be 40 years from now and, you know, had to kind of relay that message to the customer that like, Hey, we're still here. Like, we didn't leave that Duck Dynasty didn't change who we are and what we're about. That was a fun part of our life. And it was this like, big, massive, like, snapshot out of our life, but Duck Commander remains what it is. And so we I think we were at risk of that. And we did for a little bit have to kind of come back to the customer and say, no, no, no, no, no, don't forget, don't forget who we are at our core.

David Novak 22:18 

You had one of the country's most popular television shows and and you did leverage the brand in a whole lot of different areas. You know, how did you decide which way to go?

Korie Robertson 22:29 

That was not easy. We we definitely so dynasty was owned by a&e. And so we were able to I was I was part of the licensing as far as like I had approvals and some things like that, but a&e that they manage that brand and that was theirs. and Duck Commander, we tried to be a little bit more strategic about what made sense for our family. One of the fun ones that we did, I'll never forget. So we had an episode where Willie bought a winery without even telling me he calls me it's like a bottle winery. And I'm like, what, and I'll never forget when we did that episode, you know, thinking, Oh, I don't know, like this might be like too far fetched or whatever? Well, it led to Duck Commander wine that we did with the wine company during care of it out of Napa Valley. And it was the biggest selling wine and in Walmart for I think, three years running. And it ended up being this great, great product that came spun out of that one episode. And it was just such a fun, of course, we got to go to Napa and do the wine tasting and all that. And it was a great wine. And we sold it in Walmart for several years. And so things like that we're not expected at all, you know, to have a wine. But so I think part of it, yeah, being open to things that are unexpected. And some of the things we thought, Oh, this is a sure deal. You know, we didn't pick the right partners and didn't work. So yeah, but I think looking for the right partners is probably a lesson that I learned and all of it is, you know, you can have the best idea. But if you don't have the right partner to go along with it, it's it's not going to work. So

David Novak 24:05 

what would be two or three things you've learned about picking the right partner,

Korie Robertson 24:08 

I think take your time in looking for that partner and make sure you find somebody who who knows what they're doing in that space. Someone can have success in one space, but maybe they don't really know what they're doing in another. And so I think there was some times when we had that where someone would come in and be like, Oh, we did this and this and we think we could do this for you and this, but it didn't necessarily translate. So I think looking for partners that are have success in in specific areas, but then also partners that allowed in your values, because that does matter and it matters to us. It's not that you know, obviously, we are people of faith and faith informs everything we do but business businesses business of course, as well too, but values that align honesty, integrity, those types of values are just really important and who you partner with But

David Novak 25:00 

there's some great insight there. And you know, you've got incredibly good business instincts, obviously, you know, and you have the idea for the television show to grow the business and it takes off like a rocket ship. You know, what advice? Can you give leaders about following their gut?

Korie Robertson 25:19 

That's such a good one. I think that's so important. Our daughter, Sadie has a business and she's so good at it. And following your gut, she knows God has given her the passion that she has, and she follows it. And I and I've told her that, you know, there's been times whenever I've like, Oh, my God, it didn't feel quite right, but gone for it. And it just, it just never works. You know, I just think following your gut is so critical and so key, and, you know, stick to what you know, what you feel like God has put on you and put in your in for you and in your business. And, and try not to stray from that, you know, we know our market. We know our fans, and there has been times when I've been like, Ah, maybe, but someone convinced me. And I'm just like, it always comes back to, it always comes back to that gut feeling. So I definitely think following your gut is a key.

David Novak 26:13 

How has been been in the spotlight changed you as a leader?

Korie Robertson 26:18 

I would have to say that it hasn't. I think that for our family. You know, one of the things we talked about just so much with our kids is like you are who you are, whether you're in the spotlight, or whether you're at the Badlands hand, the Saints when they're in your work or your home or whatever. And just being really true to who you are, wherever you are, I think is so important. So I don't think that it has and I kind of hope that it hasn't. And one of the things our daughter Sadie said one time someone asked like, how do you think, you know, you kind of stay grounded. And she was like, you know, we're really the same people as home as we are in public. So that's just how it is. That's good. So I hope to think that that's how we lived our life.

David Novak 26:59 

You know, tell me about this phrase that I think your family uses. Remember the Alamo. I know, I remember, the Alamo means you know, I I've watched that movie is one of my favorites as a kid. What's it mean when you apply that to your family? All

Korie Robertson 27:13 

right, so that goes back to whenever we first started the show, Duck Dynasty, and there was some that some of the family was a little unsure, because you know, we are going into unknown territory. And there's this whole like thing of like, oh, you're going to Hollywood, what's going to happen, your kids are going to end up on drugs, and you're going into divorce. And you know, this, like fear of Hollywood. So we had some conversations about that. And we actually had a family meeting, we sat down and we're just like, you know, this is something we feel like is going to be great for our family, right for our company. We hope we point people to Jesus, which is what our family is all about. But you know, if it is not good for us, then we just want it to go away. We don't want it to happen, because we really had, you know, our family values were was most important. So we sat down as a family. And we're like, how are we going to like protect ourselves from that. And someone said, I think we should have like a catchphrase. It's like if you know, if someone's getting off, someone's getting the big head, someone's forgetting what this is really about. We can just say that. And that's all we had say we don't say anything else. And Uncle Sam, who's the crazy one of the family says, Remember the Alamo were all like, look at him like what he's like, that's it. Remember the Alamo. That's our say. And so it had nothing to do with anything else. But it was the perfect saying for us and our Willie's eldest brother Alan bought us all refrigerator magnets. I said to Remember the Alamo for us, it just put on our frigerator. And it was just a reminder to us to stay true to who we are, and not let the fame or fortune or whatever might come changes.

David Novak 28:43 

That's great. You know, you know, when I interviewed dude, perfect. They told me that their faith is is what it's kept their five founding members together, through their ups and downs. How has faith played a part in how you actually go about leading, you know, what you do every day with the people that you're privileged to lead?

Korie Robertson 29:03 

Yeah, I think that's a great question. Because, for us, it really does. Our faith affects everything. It's not something you do on Sunday morning. And it's different when you come into work on Monday. It really affects our relationships, our marriage, our relationship with our kids, our wrestling with, you know, the people that we work with. And so, I think, yeah, those principles that are true to faith, have Odyssey integrity, values, truthful, this is all those things that that, you know, the Bible teaches us or the way they live, we try to live that in our workplace as well. We actually have a saying that our family has always said is faith family ducks in that order? And is another kind of our family motto. It's like faith family dogs in that order. And you know, we always tell people, ducks that can that's interchangeable that can be something else for you. But for us if a family likes and that order is how we try to live and interestingly, whenever we started to the show, Duck Dynasty, we had a, the very first kind of promotional things, they made posters and billboards and all this. And they, they put on the top of them money, family ducks, and it came, we got the prints for theirs. And we had no idea that that was the way they were going to advertise it. And it was this, you know, they were trying to, you know, show that we were successful, whatever, you know, but it really bothered us because our family is not about the money. And so we took Sharpies and mark through every everyone that said money and we wrote faith on top of it. And so every autograph that we saw on that, or those posters, we just marked three money and wrote faith on top of that,

David Novak 30:41 

you know, shifting gears for a minute, I want to take you back. What's a story from your childhood, this shape the kind of leader you are today?

Korie Robertson 30:49 

Ah, that's a great question. So I grew up in a family business, my, my granddad and my dad, were businessmen we owned, we actually own Howard books that was sold to Simon and Schuster that published a lot of our dynasty votes. So that was really cool. Now they're full circle moment. And we owned a chain of discount stores called Howard brothers discount stores and a chain of actually what ended up becoming Sam's Sam's Club we had supersaver. And so I grew up in a family business. And one thing that I loved just watching my my granddad and my dad, as businessman was they were risk takers, they started a lot of businesses. And there were a few of them that hit and hit really big, and our family was successful in that way. But a lot of them didn't, but they weren't bothered by that, you know, and I think just seeing them, the risk takers and I've always tried to teach our kids that, you know, like, it's, it's taking a risk is good. You know, there's a quote that I love, it's like, if you try and you fail, you're not a failure, you're a risk taker. And you know, as think I saw that in my family, my, my granddad was a risk taker. He tried, he tried a lot of things. And like I said, some success. But he had fun in every bit of it. He enjoyed it, he enjoyed the process. He was full of joy in whatever he was doing. And one of the, one of the crazy things he did was he was, he loved to write to him as a songwriter, as well. And so he started this country music band. And he had these, these girls called the Stefan sisters and they went on tour of Europe, and I got to go as a babysitter. I was like, 15 years old, and I got to tour Europe, we went to all these little like, country music, festivals, and bars and all that. And I was like, 1415 years old, traveling around Europe. with them. It had nothing to do with any of his other businesses. It was just something he loved to do and wanted to do. And we went off and did it. And I got to go do it with him. So I think that really shaped me to just have fun and follow your passions. If it's something you want to try. Go for it. If you you know, don't make it, get up and try something else.

David Novak 32:58 

We'll be back with the rest of my conversation with Corey Robertson in just a moment. As you can hear, Cory isn't afraid of taking risks. And she's right. If you want to lead Well, you've got to get comfortable with the possibility of failure. But what happens after you fail? How do you bounce back? for that? I absolutely love the wisdom from legendary figure skater Scott Hamilton, about the power of getting back up after you fall.

Scott Hamilton 33:26 

failure isn't scarring or disfiguring or anything else. I think we put such a an identity on failure that we avoid it, we think it's going to be something that we have to carry with us for the rest of our life. And I try to encourage people that failure is 100% information, only information if we can break it down to information. Instead of this horrible toxic scarring disfiguring entity that we have to carry around with us for the rest of our life, I think we can move forward towards excellence or towards the best version of ourselves that we can be in. And so I'm a big fan of failure. I've fallen on the ice minimum 41,600 times. But it's it's getting up 41,600 times that allows you to understand the process of learning the process of growing, and the process of getting to where you want to be.

David Novak 34:16 

Go back and listen to my entire conversation with Scott, Episode 69 here on how leaders lead.

I understand you've always been a big dreamer. And you know, when you were a teenager, you dreamt that you would be on the Johnny Carson Show. And you actually end up on the Jimmy Fallon show. What was that? Like when you when you went on that show?

Korie Robertson 34:44 

Yes, that is crazy. So I had a list as a kid. And I had, I still had a list as a teenager and I had a dream that I was going to be on the Johnny Carson Show. And I had a lisp and I was like, you know, I really think I should fix this because what if I ever get Get on the Johnny Carson show that ended up being Jimmy Fallon and it was so much fun. He was really awesome behind, you know, meeting us backstage and everything and, and it was just a lot of fun. You know, we did so many things that yeah, we're a dream we were on all the all the major talk shows. And we got to travel and speak all around the country, we got to be on all the love all the, you know, what he called the the award shows got to go to all the award shows, and present and all that fun stuff. And then our daughter Sadie to dance with the stars, which was an absolute blast. So, yeah, I've gotten to I've gotten to do some fun things in life, for sure. That's great.

David Novak 35:41 

And, you know, you mentioned, you know, reading that book on negotiation and how it helped you, how did you go about building your business acumen is as businesses just growing leaps and bounds? And you had to, you had to learn how to really run a business? You know, how do you do it? And how are you continuing to sharpen your skills?

Korie Robertson 36:01 

Yeah, so I was really fortunate to have a family that had a family business, and my dad's really wise and some of that, so a lot of just asking questions of him and leaning on people who know more than I do. But I've also always been a big reader. So reading is definitely something that always, you know, learn so much from and yeah, that negotiate to win. But really did I read it before, as I'm doing, I'm going to implement this. So I think reading and then and then figuring out ways you can implement the things that you're learning from it is, is really important.

David Novak 36:34 

So you had millions of people tuning in to Duck Dynasty every week. And then in April of 2017, you aired your final episode. Why did you stop?

Korie Robertson 36:43 

We had done it for five years, we did 130 episodes. And it was a lot it was it was very busy. And it was fun and a whirlwind. But it felt just felt like Tom, you know, one of the things that was was challenging, I guess about our show is, we set up the show that's like around our family business right here. And then our lives were changing so much. But the show was still kind of set, right here. You know, we were doing Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, and all this kind of stuff, but the show still kind of was was set in a specific very specific time period. And so it felt like like, how's the show going to change and evolve with us? Or do we just end it? And like, it was that was a great run and all that. So we did, we decided that it was time. And he felt like it was time? And they said, Do you think it's time we're like, we think it's um, let's just go out while we're still in a in a really good place. And, you know, we still live in our same town, we're still running Duck Commander still doing all the same things we were doing. So it just felt like the right time.

David Novak 37:48 

How did it impact your business, your Duck Commander business?

Korie Robertson 37:51 

So when the show ended, we had reached the point of kind of this like a little bit of oversaturation, because like dynasty was so I mean, we were when you find in Walmart, you just I mean, we were in every department, there was just the beards were everywhere, you know, and so Duck Dynasty was everywhere. So when the show ended, we did have to kind of it was, it was really a good time for us to kind of come back and say like, okay, what are our core values? What's really important to us? Who were we before? And who are we still and so it was also a time of like cleaning up, there was some licensing things that we had done that weren't working, we're like, Alright, we gotta we gotta pull it back in this ad was really important. Who are we going to be going forward? So I feel like the next couple of years, we're a little bit about that, you know, we had some we had some big successes and some that were not working and trying to figure out what those things were cleaning up some of that and then and then we decided, one of the things that had been really on my heart from from after doing Duck Dynasty was just entertainment and how entertainment is shaping our culture. And so that's when we decided to start our production company tried lively, which is something that we're doing now.

David Novak 39:03 

That's great. I want to ask you about that in a little bit. But I want to I've had so much fun with this interview so far, and I want to have a little bit more with my lightning round of questions. Okay, are you ready for this?

Korie Robertson 39:14 

I'm ready.

David Novak 39:15 

Okay, what's one word others would use to best describe you?

Korie Robertson 39:19 

I think the word kind because so I have a book called strong unkind and it's about about two values that I want to instill in our kids. And so I hope they would say unkind.

David Novak 39:30 

What would you say is the one word that best describes you? Strong. If you could be one person for a day besides yourself, who would it be?

Korie Robertson 39:41 

Russell Brand. I think he's hilarious. I would love to know what goes on his brain.

David Novak 39:50 

What's your biggest pet peeve?

Korie Robertson 39:53 

Letters. I just hate people who throw trash outside.

David Novak 39:56 

What's something about West Monroe, Louisiana that most people would know.

Korie Robertson 40:01 

We love our town. So what would people not know? It's I think people think it's this little bitty small town, but it's really got so much going for it. We love it. I don't know what the thing is that they would know about it. But come on the Westerner. i We're pretty proud of our town.

David Novak 40:16 

When was the last time you went duck hunting?

Korie Robertson 40:19 

Oh, this is embarrassing. I went deer hunting last year actually shot a deer last year. That was fun duck hunting. Oh, it's been 510 years. It's been a while. I'm not a duck hunter

David Novak 40:33 

favorite memory from one of the Duck Dynasty episodes.

Korie Robertson 40:38 

We did an episode where our our son we filmed the episode where our son got married. And he and his wife, Mary Kate, and that was so much fun.

David Novak 40:47 

Where's your happy place?

Korie Robertson 40:49 

We have a little beach area outside our house. I mean, it's a pond. So it's not really a beach but at least we brought some sand in. And I love going down there with the grandkids.

David Novak 40:58 

Now if I turned on the radio in your car, what would I hear?

Korie Robertson 41:02 

Probably an audible book. I'm listening to younger next year right now. So I'll turn 50 This year some listen to younger next year.

David Novak 41:11 

What's something about you that few people would know?

Korie Robertson 41:14 

I I'm a pretty much of a risk taker. I love to have fun parachuted of. I love to sew ski. I don't have a lot of fears in that regard. I'd love to try, try and try new things like that.

David Novak 41:28 

Great. Well, that's the end of the lightning round. And I just have a few more questions. And we'll wrap this up. Okay. So in addition to the Duck Commander, I understand you also and you mentioned this earlier that you work with your daughter Sadie, and you help manage her career. She's got a huge platform with over 5 million followers on Instagram, which is amazing what she up to. And what's the biggest challenge you face as a mother daughter duo on the business front.

Korie Robertson 41:55 

So yes, she started a company called Live original. And she her whole purpose is just to be a sister and a friend to people. She feels really called to that it says she writes books she does blog, she has an app called Ella sister. She has a conference coming up in September, called the eldest sister conference, she has a podcast. And that's been so much fun to see her just really follow her dream and do all the things that God has placed on her heart, the biggest challenge. You know, we work really, really well together honestly, she is one of the things that I think is really unique about Sandy is from a very early age, she will ask advice, and she will tell you her problems, and she will let you speak into them, which I think is a real asset, because it's helped her to be really wise beyond her years. So that's been great. There have been times when I remember when she first moved to Nashville, I thought, you know, I don't need to be her, you know, manager and mom, and we should probably get another manager. So it can we can have that separation. And it only lasted about a year. And then we're like, you know, we can really just do it ourselves.

David Novak 43:07 

That's so great to have that kind of relationship. And you also now you've mentioned this earlier, you you own a production company called tread lively. And you have a new movie, as I understand it coming out in September, called the blind. Tell us about that give us a little sneak preview?

Korie Robertson 43:22 

We do. We are so excited. So yes, one of the things that that our show really kind of showed me was the power of entertainment of shaping our culture and shaping. And we're being shaped by entertainment every single day. And so we did want to start a production company to put out more good content. And we're starting with a movie about our family story, which was kind of a big thing to start with about your own family story. We were like, Oh, do we tell our story first, but we decided to go for it. And it's filling ks early days is so their childhood up to really the beginning of Duck Commander. So it's very different from what you see on Duck Dynasty. It's the hard years. And they they went through 10 really hard years that most people would acquit it would have never made it. And so their story is the story that really made our family what it is today. And And when Jesus intervened in their life, their whole life changed, and that commander was invented and all that so this is that story.

David Novak 44:26 

I can't wait to watch that movie. And you know, you've gone through so many different challenges so many different businesses, different brands that you've created or sub brands that you've created, you know, and you've you know, you did all those episodes in that five year period where it's just concentrated. How do you manage through the chaos of of a season like that of of five seasons of TV, how do you manage your time and and stay focused?

Korie Robertson 44:55 

Yeah, so the first year of that, we it was insane. And whenever we go all in for something, we go all in, we're like, we're gonna do this right? So I feel like that first season, we filmed that we filmed probably each episode four times, because we were like, Okay, we got to get it right, we got to fine tune it. So I think there is a time of like, you are just all in, there's no balance, there's no, there's no, like, we're gonna make this work, and we got to do it. Then once we did that, we said, Okay, we set some boundaries for ourselves, we said, we're only going to film Monday through Thursday, we're only going to do 30 episodes a year, even though they were wanting us where they were airing our shows back to back and they wanted, you know, more and more and more and more. But after that, first, you know, Ron, we were like, alright, this is not sustainable. We have a family, we have life. And that's what's most important. So then we set the boundaries. So I do think in any business, there are going to be the times when you're going to be running, and you're gonna have to just get it. And then but then you got to come back to like, Where can we have the, you know, have a life and make sure it's something that we can sustain? And so we did that we went back and negotiated and said, We're not filming Friday, Saturday or Sunday, you know, we only do 30 episodes a year, and that and that made it sustainable for us for the next five years to keep going. So I would say that boundaries.

David Novak 46:14 

Well, you walk the talk on your faith, family and ducks. You know, there's, that was a way to really do that. And I have the last question here. What's one piece of advice, Cory that you you would give to some aspiring leader,

Korie Robertson 46:32 

I think just go for it with all your heart. You know, if you believe in something, go for it. Don't give up I think there's a piece of it. I talked about risk taking, I think being willing to take the risk. But then there's another part that I think is equally important in businesses and making a business sustainable is that and that's contentment, you know, being content where you are. And so you give it time to grow, had feeling K not been content with command or when it was making 12,000 a year or 20,000 here, and they had quit and just moved on to something else, we would have never seen the rewards these years later. So I think there are pieces of of it where, especially in this generation, where it's everything so fast, just you know, be willing to jump out there and take the risk, but also be content. If it doesn't immediately make a hit the content, stick with it and stay with it long enough to where you can find this success.

David Novak 47:26 

That's great advice. And I have to ask you, did the Kardashians ever come meet with you to try to get some best practice learning from your show?

Korie Robertson 47:36 

They did not. They did not. But you know, we got asked about the Kardashians a lot because we were kind of coming up at the very same time and our kids were similar ages. And we're and I was always like, well, they're a family running a business too. It's just looks a little bit different than ours. But yes, there's there's similarities. I guess we're both families in business together. Yeah.

David Novak 47:57 

Well, Cory putting the Kardashians aside, I have to tell you, this has just been a phenomenal conversation. And I want to thank you so much for taking time to be on the show. And one of the things I really admire about you is your risk taking and your courageous stand that you take and the fact that you've never lost track of who you are.

Okay, I gotta make a confession here. Cory really took me by surprise with one of her answers. In this conversation, I asked her how being in the spotlight actually changed her as a leader. And you know what she said, she said she hoped it didn't. Boy, I just love that. Now, that doesn't mean that she didn't grow and develop as the show took off. I mean, you can hear for yourself is the exact opposite. But whatever life brings success or otherwise, Cory knows who she is at her core, and what matters most to her. And she's going to stay true to herself no matter what. That's a really powerful message every leader needs to take to heart. Because you know, we all go through seasons with big changes and casts. And if you don't have a clear sense of what really matters to you, then it's way too easy to get off track. This week, I want you to think about this idea of personal integrity and staying true to yourself. Now, I think a lot of us associate that with values and character. And that's massively important. Don't get me wrong. But staying true to yourself can also look like setting clear boundaries. And that's an area where I see a lot of leaders struggle. This week. I want you to think about a boundary you need to set maybe it's an opportunity you should decline because you don't really have the time or a partnership that's just not aligning Right. Or maybe it's as simple as putting away your phone during dinner. Well Whatever it is, those clear boundaries help you stay true to yourself. So you can stay focused on what really matters, both for yourself and your team. So do you want to know how leaders lead? What we learned today is that great leaders stay true to themselves. Coming up next on how leaders lead is Alan Mulally, the former CEO of Ford Motor Company,

Alan Mulally 50:22 

I would really focus on serving. I mean, it's the ultimate and living is to serve, you start asking people, What can I do? Whatever your job is, what can I do to help more be more effective, but the thing that allows you to do that is if you have decided that the purpose of your life is to serve, and then when you move to the greater good for the greater good on that. Wow.

David Novak 50:50 

So be sure to come back again next week to hear our entire conversation. 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 you can be