April 18, 2020

#5Things: Adrian Cohn

In this episode we talk to Adrian Cohn, Director of Brand Strategy and Communications Smartling & host of the Move the World with Words podcast.

Adrian shares the 5 Things he can't live without:

1) His family & dog

2) Trek Emonda SLR Pro (his bike)

3) His iPhone

4) Drift

5) Calm app

Check out Adrian's last appearance on the podcast here:

Episode 1093: How To Move The World With Words


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Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:08.830 Welcome back to be tob growth. I'm Logan lyles with sweet fish media. 2 00:00:09.070 --> 00:00:12.990 Today is another episode in our five thing series where we're talking to a lot 3 00:00:13.029 --> 00:00:16.629 of former guests here on B tob growth about the five things they can't live 4 00:00:16.670 --> 00:00:20.469 without in life and in work. I'm joined again by a repeat guest, 5 00:00:20.589 --> 00:00:23.699 Adrian cone. He joined us back on episode one thousand and ninety three. 6 00:00:23.980 --> 00:00:28.300 He's the director of brand strategy and communications over at smartling. He's also the 7 00:00:28.379 --> 00:00:31.739 host of the move the world with words podcast. Adrian, welcome back to 8 00:00:31.739 --> 00:00:34.500 the show man. Thanks, Logan, and I love what you're doing with 9 00:00:34.700 --> 00:00:37.450 this piece here. This is awesome, Y has. So many people have 10 00:00:37.649 --> 00:00:43.329 loved these little bitesize episodes that we've been doing every Saturday and since about February 11 00:00:43.450 --> 00:00:46.609 now. So let's dive into the five things you can't live without. Man, 12 00:00:46.689 --> 00:00:50.640 you went straight for the heart on number one. Family and your dog 13 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:54.159 gets funny. How many pets have come up in this five things series already? 14 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:59.280 Well, it's hard to not list family, and my dog fits in 15 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:03.909 the top five and and the top slot. He my family is always been 16 00:01:03.989 --> 00:01:07.750 very close. In fact, I live in the same building as my parents, 17 00:01:07.790 --> 00:01:11.390 as odd as that may sound, I actually love it because every single 18 00:01:11.430 --> 00:01:15.590 day I take my dog for a walk and then I opened the door to 19 00:01:15.670 --> 00:01:18.939 my parents place. I'm clipped Flash, I let my dog go through the 20 00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:22.140 door and have a great daycare session and then I pick them up at the 21 00:01:22.140 --> 00:01:25.099 end of the day. That's phenomenal, man. I mean, with with 22 00:01:25.299 --> 00:01:27.980 so many people being so it's just normal these days, at least in our 23 00:01:29.299 --> 00:01:32.739 our culture, you know, here in the states, to just assume that 24 00:01:32.859 --> 00:01:36.489 we're states away from our closest family members. But there are some really great 25 00:01:36.530 --> 00:01:38.810 benefits but to having them, you know, so close, doggy day care 26 00:01:38.890 --> 00:01:42.049 included. I love that. It's great. And I have lived in another 27 00:01:42.170 --> 00:01:47.680 state before, in fact multiple times, and I could say with certainty that 28 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:51.159 now I'm back in New York, I love it and this is this is 29 00:01:51.239 --> 00:01:55.640 the best situation I've had before. Yeah, we do not have parents living 30 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:59.200 in the in the same building, but we've moved away from Colorado Multiple Times 31 00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:02.349 and family and the mountains keep calling us back. So I can relate to 32 00:02:02.390 --> 00:02:06.390 that at least to some degree. Man. Awesome. Well, number two 33 00:02:06.709 --> 00:02:08.990 on this five things series. We've heard a lot about people's workout routines. 34 00:02:09.030 --> 00:02:12.629 And the things that are enabling them, whether that's, you know, their 35 00:02:12.669 --> 00:02:16.099 fitness APP or their peloton. It's something along those along those lines that made 36 00:02:16.139 --> 00:02:21.219 number two for you right. Yeah, I have a really deep passion for 37 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:25.580 road cycling and IT'S BEEN A lifelong passion of mine. In fact, when 38 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:29.340 I was a kid and I was learning how to ride a two wheel bike, 39 00:02:30.009 --> 00:02:32.889 I was in New Orleans at my grandparents driveway, which was like really 40 00:02:34.009 --> 00:02:36.930 long and narrow, and when I got to the end of it, I 41 00:02:37.009 --> 00:02:39.889 had to get off the bike to turn it around and I recall, and 42 00:02:39.930 --> 00:02:44.129 I'll never forget this, that a dog was off leash and it was sprinting 43 00:02:44.289 --> 00:02:46.960 towards me as I straddled the bike and it bit me in the rear end. 44 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:52.840 And I was probably like six or seven years old. I have no 45 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:55.639 idea. was probably younger, maybe five. Anyway, I ended up writing 46 00:02:55.680 --> 00:03:01.389 my college application say all about that scenario and how it propelled me into being 47 00:03:01.430 --> 00:03:07.750 an avid cyclist and how you can't let setbacks determine your path. Today, 48 00:03:07.949 --> 00:03:13.699 I ride a bike called the truck Amanda Slr, which is this super lightweight 49 00:03:13.699 --> 00:03:17.379 racing bike that is used by pros on the tour circuit. It's a thing 50 00:03:17.500 --> 00:03:23.659 of beauty and over the weekends and during the week especially in the summertime, 51 00:03:23.699 --> 00:03:28.169 I'm doing tons and tons of mileage and at least once or twice a year 52 00:03:28.569 --> 00:03:31.090 I go to Europe to ride in France or Spain. That's awesome, man. 53 00:03:31.169 --> 00:03:35.449 Well One, I'm glad that that traumatic story didn't, you know, 54 00:03:35.930 --> 00:03:38.530 cause you a fear and a version of bikes or dogs, you know, 55 00:03:38.650 --> 00:03:40.960 going back to number one on your list, because a lot of people that 56 00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:45.919 that might be the case and to it sounds like you learned some marketing lessons 57 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:51.159 early, early in life to translate that situation into some storytelling right. I 58 00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:54.360 absolutely in fact, that that college essay. The title of it was bitten 59 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:58.870 by the bike, which I think is a pretty good headline. I love 60 00:03:58.990 --> 00:04:00.990 it, man. All right, number three is, you know, this 61 00:04:01.189 --> 00:04:05.430 Black Mirror that we carry around with us all the time. Number three on 62 00:04:05.590 --> 00:04:10.659 your five things is your iphone. Right, iphone, iphone, iphone. 63 00:04:10.740 --> 00:04:16.660 I have always been an apple consumer and fan of all the products that they've 64 00:04:16.699 --> 00:04:20.259 put out. I've followed Steve Jobs when he was alive, very closely. 65 00:04:20.339 --> 00:04:25.290 I followed Tim Cook and the rest of the company very closely and I remember 66 00:04:25.329 --> 00:04:30.529 watching the keynote when Steve Jobs introduced iphone in two thousand and seven and I 67 00:04:30.569 --> 00:04:35.209 was actually at there, their store in San Francisco when they sold the first 68 00:04:35.290 --> 00:04:39.720 iphone. I remember seeing the first person come out of the store holding his 69 00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:43.240 iphone in the air and I got one maybe two or three months later and 70 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:46.000 I've never had a phone since then that was not an iphone and it's just 71 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:49.399 hard to say I could live without it at this point. It's just such 72 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:54.750 an important piece of our daily lives and it allows me to connect with the 73 00:04:54.829 --> 00:05:00.149 world in a way that never really seemed possible before apple introduced I phone and 74 00:05:00.230 --> 00:05:02.709 I just love using the the product. I love it, man. I 75 00:05:02.829 --> 00:05:08.339 love that story. It Brings Back Memories. I was actually a journalism student 76 00:05:08.540 --> 00:05:12.860 in college and I remember doing my internship with a newspaper out here in boulder 77 00:05:12.899 --> 00:05:15.660 and I remember one I was at work and people were talking about like hey, 78 00:05:15.699 --> 00:05:18.660 this new iphone thing, like you can see maps and you can and 79 00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:23.889 it was like well, the Internet's been on phones right and I remember like 80 00:05:24.050 --> 00:05:27.290 people starting to like Murmur about it. Remember some of those conversations and I 81 00:05:27.370 --> 00:05:30.290 remember someone else going to one of the the apple stores and filming people in 82 00:05:30.610 --> 00:05:33.370 line and people coming out with the first I phone. Soul that that store. 83 00:05:33.410 --> 00:05:38.160 It brings back some some cool memories. Also, just you know what 84 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:41.079 I just said, if we're going to talk marketing for just a second, 85 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:45.360 it's a great lesson to go back to that keynote and think about category design 86 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:48.639 and category creation, because phones that were connected to the Internet, we're not 87 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:51.310 brand new. I phone wasn't the first thing, but we knew them as 88 00:05:51.350 --> 00:05:55.990 pdas we knew them, you know, as blackberries was. You know, 89 00:05:56.110 --> 00:05:59.629 blackberry was was the thing there, but instead of saying like this is like 90 00:05:59.709 --> 00:06:02.629 a blackberry but better, it was a whole new category, and obviously Steve 91 00:06:02.629 --> 00:06:06.620 Jobs was the master at that. He totally now that presentation, that's for 92 00:06:06.779 --> 00:06:11.139 sure. Yeah, yeah, I'd say so, awesome man. All right, 93 00:06:11.220 --> 00:06:14.139 so number four and five on the list. Number four is actually related 94 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:16.060 to your work as a marketer. It's one of the APPS that you cannot 95 00:06:16.100 --> 00:06:19.009 live with. It out something that's in your Martec tool, steck. Yeah, 96 00:06:19.050 --> 00:06:23.930 drift is what I what I think I wrote down. It's a major 97 00:06:24.170 --> 00:06:30.170 part of our funnel at smiling and we launched the product on our website in 98 00:06:30.649 --> 00:06:33.480 October of two thousand and eighteen, and then we launched drift automation, which 99 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:39.319 is an additional piece of software that they launched in September of two thousand and 100 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:45.199 nineteen, and we've just had transformative results with on site chat and the ability 101 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:50.670 to book meetings and Converse with buyers on their schedule as opposed to on our 102 00:06:50.709 --> 00:06:55.430 schedule. So I'm a huge fan of the product. It's easy to use, 103 00:06:55.550 --> 00:06:58.790 easy to implement. We've had a lot of value and the people who 104 00:06:58.870 --> 00:07:02.500 work for drift I always been so supportive of our use case. Yeah, 105 00:07:02.540 --> 00:07:05.699 absolutely, and I love to hear that. All right. Number five is 106 00:07:05.779 --> 00:07:11.379 another APP more related to, you know, personal productivity and personal life. 107 00:07:11.459 --> 00:07:15.730 Maybe you know rolling over into productivity at work. That's the calm APP, 108 00:07:15.810 --> 00:07:18.649 right. Ah Huh. If you don't have the calm AP, you need 109 00:07:18.769 --> 00:07:25.170 to swipe up on your iphone or whatever device you're using, switch over to 110 00:07:25.209 --> 00:07:29.889 the APP store and download it right now. Gather subscription. It's like eighty 111 00:07:29.970 --> 00:07:35.720 bucks a year and I'm so passionate about this product because I only got it 112 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:41.720 at the beginning of the year, Wogan, and I've used it basically every 113 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:46.470 single day of two thousand and twenty and I have been able to realize such 114 00:07:46.509 --> 00:07:51.269 a different point of view on the daytoday. Before there were there were peaks 115 00:07:51.350 --> 00:07:57.350 and valleys, and now it's more of a steady stream of cognitive behaviors and 116 00:07:57.470 --> 00:08:03.180 responses to day to day happiness and frustration, things that just are inevitable in 117 00:08:03.339 --> 00:08:09.939 anyone's life. And I've always found meditation to be something that is beyond my 118 00:08:09.420 --> 00:08:13.769 skill set. But the reality is, as long as you're sitting quietly in 119 00:08:13.810 --> 00:08:18.970 a room by yourself and Haying at Shan't your breath, you're meditating. It's 120 00:08:20.009 --> 00:08:24.449 okay to have thousands of thoughts, as long as you recognize that it's okay 121 00:08:24.490 --> 00:08:28.279 to have thousands of thoughts. And it's really cool. The calm APP talks 122 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:31.199 you through the process of learning how to meditate and I've found it to be 123 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:35.080 a transformative thing for me, so I would recommend it to anyone at this 124 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:39.679 point. That's really cool, man, even we're not even a dozen episodes 125 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:43.269 into this five things series and that's the second time that that APP specifically has 126 00:08:43.389 --> 00:08:48.149 come up. When it comes to calm, Meditation, winding down for sleep. 127 00:08:48.429 --> 00:08:50.909 I think all of us, you know, kind of push the importance 128 00:08:50.990 --> 00:08:56.580 of sleep off today, especially those of us in be to be leadership rolls. 129 00:08:56.820 --> 00:09:00.139 Definitely, man, and I think you you bring something to light there 130 00:09:00.220 --> 00:09:05.059 for folks who have never thought about meditation, just the the concept of mindfulness, 131 00:09:05.179 --> 00:09:09.580 and you hit on it there, that you're aware of what thoughts are 132 00:09:09.659 --> 00:09:13.129 going through your head, you're deciding, you know thoughtfully where those next thoughts 133 00:09:13.169 --> 00:09:16.370 are going to go. That that that can give you so much more control 134 00:09:16.649 --> 00:09:20.370 and calm and just a more, more even state. I love that. 135 00:09:20.529 --> 00:09:24.759 I heard a podcast episode on the Craig Gro Shell leadership podcast a while ago 136 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:28.799 and he was talking about it's not about time management, it's about energy management 137 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:33.000 and we waste so much mental energy a lot of times just in some bad 138 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:37.360 habits and some things where we don't realize where we're spending our physical, environmental 139 00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:41.870 energy. And you know, you've talked about saying physically fit, you've talked 140 00:09:41.870 --> 00:09:45.149 about, you know, mental state. Definitely drop some good nuggets. Man. 141 00:09:45.149 --> 00:09:48.070 I appreciate you being back on the show today. For anybody who didn't 142 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:50.750 hear Adrian's last appearance on BB growth, will link to episode one thousand and 143 00:09:50.750 --> 00:09:54.419 eighty three in the show notes. Check that out. Check out the move 144 00:09:54.500 --> 00:09:56.980 the world with words podcast. Adrian. Where can people stay connected with you 145 00:09:58.419 --> 00:10:01.539 if they've been inspired a little bit today or they want to find your podcast? 146 00:10:01.580 --> 00:10:05.259 Man. So the podcast is at smart lankcom slash podcast, and you 147 00:10:05.340 --> 00:10:11.889 can listen to it on whatever media player you choose and you can connect with 148 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:16.090 me on linked in or twitter. Adrian KKN is the handle a Dr Iam 149 00:10:16.490 --> 00:10:20.799 K Cohn. And, yeah, I'd love to hear from people and Logan. 150 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:24.000 Thanks so much for having me. Absolutely man, this was a fun 151 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:31.000 chat. Certainly was. I hope you have a great weekend. I hate 152 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:35.279 it when podcasts incessantly ask their listeners for reviews, but I get why they 153 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:39.149 do it, because reviews are enormously helpful when you're trying to grow a podcast 154 00:10:39.190 --> 00:10:41.509 audience. So here's what we decided to do. If you leave a review 155 00:10:41.590 --> 00:10:46.750 for beb growth and apple podcasts and email me a screenshot of the review to 156 00:10:46.909 --> 00:10:50.860 James at Sweet Fish Mediacom, I'll send you a signed copy of my new 157 00:10:50.940 --> 00:10:54.700 book, content based networking, how to instantly connect with anyone you want to 158 00:10:54.779 --> 00:10:56.940 know. We get a review, you get a free book. We both 159 00:10:58.019 --> win.