SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to the Cut the Tie Podcast. Hello, I'm your host, Thomas Helfrick, on a mission to help you cut the tie to whatever is holding you back from success. But you gotta define that success yourself. Otherwise, it's just someone else's dream you're chasing. So today I'm joined by Tyler Riddell. Hi Tyler, how are you? Good. How about you? I'm good. I'm not as good as your shirt. Those listening, I can't describe it. It's kind of like okay, I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna try it. It's like grandma's couch section for Zero Bradley, and then went to a Jimmy Buffett concert, but got lost in the foral department. It's pretty good aggregate. I like that a lot. Tyler, take a moment to introduce yourself, where you're from, and what it is you do. Yeah, so yeah, Tyler Riddell. I am a fractional marketing manager living in a fixer upper, as I say, um, in Dallas, Fort Worth area. Um, and so yeah, I work mainly in digital marketing. And uh, but I also do some print marketing too. When you say living in a fixer upper, was that a metaphor for your life or the house you live in? You know what? I didn't even think about that. That's a bow. But no, I bought we got priced out and uh our desired uh range of where we wanted us a starter home, and uh we were like, okay, we can fix this up. And so yeah, we're about two, two and a half years in, and we've only fixed up part one of part seven of my renovation plant. Well you lauren, I mean listen, I'm uh I'm a handy person, I do all trades except mechanical or glass. It's just two mechanics they're too big a thing. Like, I can't put an HVAC unit myself, like right. I can't hang glass for a shower, it's just cheaper to pay some to do it. Everything else I do, electric plumbing, filing, all on permit, just to be clear for anybody listening. All right. Where where do you uh where do you live? Dallas, you said? Yeah, Dallas. Dow Dallas for there. I'm actually technically in. Which is it, sir? Dallas or Fort Worth. There's a line to be drawn, and we're gonna draw that line. Let's say we call it the Metroplex, uh, because you you could live in the smaller cities, but I live in Arlington, which is like right in the middle of it all. But Dallas Cowboys Stadium, it's in near me. Okay, you're acceptable. I don't actually I don't know any of the politics, or I assume there's some real um you uh what in your like your fractional marketing manager. Uh I like this because it uh it becomes very viable. Like, oh, we can hire we can afford that, as opposed to marketing officer, which is what I went with, and no one can afford. So is that was that intentional? Did it or is it just where you're like, no, that's all I can handle, or what's the what was the angle on that? So I was I was calling myself a fractional CMO, but um for the target markets, one of my target markets, it just wasn't actually all three of them really, uh, wasn't really making a whole lot of sense because it immediately said, oh, expensive. And CMO. Um, and so that's why I switched to fractional marketing manager and kind of positioned myself in like three ways. I can work for a digital marketing agency as a subcontractor, and then I could work for a BP or CMO for a larger company. Uh, and then I could still help startups small businesses and nonprofits scale. Um, so I typically go under 2 million revenue for them because I have special rates and stuff like that, uh, just to get started. And sometimes I get equity as well. So um just really depends on the package overall. So you're you can say you're versatile. I try. Look, marketing, as you know, we kind of just have to keep going with the flow because we keep everyone's like, oh, bad economy. We just eliminate the marketing budget. I'm like, don't you need more sales?

SPEAKER_01: 3:52

Like more revenue?

SPEAKER_00: 3:56

Like, how are you gonna get that? Oh, we'll make it up. We're keeping the Christmas party for one million dollars a year. Exactly. I'm like, uh something else. Oh all right. Well, uh, how do you define success then? Oh, um I really it's all you know relative to where you are in life, too, I think. Um, because where I define sex, success. Uh case next, how do you define sex? You can define that one too. I just want to make sure people did hear that correctly. I'm not sure what he's looking at on the other side of the screen, but I didn't care. It's just fun at this point. How do you define sex? Uh oh my gosh. I'm back to point. It's just an eight, this is an R. It's been a long week and it's only Thursday. Um but um yeah, so like earlier in my undergrad and grad work was probably like getting A's and on a roll and stuff like that. Now it's just finding a balance in my overall life of owning a business, um, and then my personal family life, and then you know what other goals I want to do moving forward, whether it be financial or you know, something for fun, hobbies or something like that. I feel like you don't have a definition of success. No, I don't because it keeps mine keeps evolving just based on life experience. I am happy to have made it to the toilet dime before I mean like is like is it really but are is that right now where would the definition of success would be like finding the direction to call it fat? Like, are you in that kind of I've I've been in those phases where I don't know what I want or am. Yeah. I yeah, yeah, I don't completely know. I'm kind of letting life I've you I'm perfectionist planner background for most of my life. So when I hit 30, I was like, okay, I need to just like roll with it a little bit more. Because I can't keep like uh resisting things and resisting certain changes and stuff like that. So that's kind of I'm letting it define itself as it goes. And if I feel joyful, then that's probably where success comes from me. I mean if your life was a day, you're in mid-morning, okay? And so uh what's in the afternoon here? So tell me before we get there, talk about your mid-morning journey in your life and how or you have to do the full life. I don't think we have much time, but um give me your journey a little bit and maybe some of those uh ties, so to speak, that you're you're I would actually I I don't normally ask this question. I'd say what the ones you're just struggling with today, uh, because it sounds like you're still finding it. You you made the move, but just just talk about your journey a little bit and what you're dealing with. Yeah, so I'm not gonna start. I'm 31, so I'm not gonna start from the beginning, but uh I will start in the past 13 years, which has been crazy, starting with my undergrad. I think there's like three major ties that I would call in the past that kind of like shaped where I or my path and wow I think. Um, first one, because within the 13 years, I got two degrees with a minor and three concentrations, and then I started a business, got married, bought a house. I was supposed to be a doctor, and now I'm in marketing. So to sum it all up, 32 on that one.

SPEAKER_01: 7:21

Sure.

SPEAKER_00: 7:22

So before college, I my whole plan was like I had whole planned out basically all my high school planned out too for uh pre-med. And so, but by sophomore year of undergrad, I had gotten my first two C's uh ever in my life, and it kind of like just rocked my world. It's like, okay, now is this really what I want to do? I'm like, I'm trying so hard. And so uh I ended up calling my parents on a Saturday night, which is not a good sign from a college student calling your parents on a Saturday night when you should be out doing something else, and uh said, Hey, I think about changing majors, what do you think? They're like, Yes, please. Because they saw how don't fail. I lost so much weight, I was sick all the time. It was just wasn't you know, I was obviously to that point why wasn't feeling joyful, and so um, and so I switched to after taking one marketing course that kind of just I was like, whoa, this is awesome. Uh I switched to business administration. I took so many science courses though that I ended up with a biology minor. And I was thinking about going into health administration after my undergrad, but I picked up two social media contracts during my master's degree in business administration. Uh and um I was like, oh, this is fun. So I kind of just kept going. I started the company in 2017 with my mother after she retired. Um, and she it was a basically a social, at that time it was a social responsibility consulting firm, and we always had PR and marketing added to our strategies. So I was the marketing and PR piece. Well, marketing mainly I wasn't having fully into PR yet. And so I just after those, after my master's, I was like, you know what? I think that's kind of what I want to do, especially after I shadowed during my master's as well at a hospital, and I was like, I don't want to be here. So I was like, nah, but so uh, but another moment that was huge for us, because a year or two in, we threw out our entire business plan, which was a moment of someone who's gone through six years of uh basically education around building businesses and being in the midfield of whatever, was like, okay, this is real life. You can do all the market research and all the stuff that you think you got, what you need in your target markets and what their pain points are, but no one was actually buying what you were selling. And so I was like, so that was like another moment of like, okay, I had to throw out this thing and I built. And uh, but I did and we did, and we pivoted and it continued to evolve based on kind of feedback and how we were acquiring clients and stuff like that, and um, that's kind of how that um kind of evolved over. Obviously, she just retired a couple of years ago from my business partner, my mother. So I'm focused mainly on marketing now. Um, but that third one um that was really pivotal that I had to cut was got getting so emotionally invested in my work. Because when I show up for a contract or work for a company full-time for a little over a year or something like that, um I kind of bring my authentic self fully there. And um sometimes I realize that's not what you should probably do at all. Because you gotta set some boundaries between your work and life a little bit. I know people are like it needs to merge a little bit sometimes, but I after nine years in career now, I'm like, no, we are not family. You know, it's a bit that's a it's a big lesson to learn, right? Is that uh and I've I've done that too, where you sometimes you get friends from work, uh, but it's interesting because it unless you don't work, it's just weird because like when you leave there, I I most cases I found like you people don't fall up very well. You're just some do, but then then like those are actual friends, right? But it's like the ones that immediately fade off, like you were they were just it's just like all right, whatever, acquaintance. And it it and and you like had a different relationship with them than they did with you in the idea of like what you thought you were, it kind of kind of sort of really kind of deeply hurts. So um no, and everyone has to go through it. Um, I think you have to figure out what boundaries you need to set overall and what environments you're in too, because it's each company is different. But I think once you trust the wrong people one time, I mean it hurts like it should hurt you enough to where you don't do it again. Hopefully you won't do it again, but you just realize like, okay, I'm too emotionally involved in this, and so I really this is just I need to show up for work, do my job to the best of my ability, and then call it a day. It doesn't mean I don't care, it just means that there's a level of emotional investment I'm going to make in this. It's kind of like you see how Darth Vader started off as a happy intern and ended up being what he was. It's like that's that path. Like the other life. Along your way, you know, you're you're you're just sort of you're figuring it out, right? Uh right. Kind of like I actually maybe skip this kind of question. Really, right now, what are you most grateful for? Um I think personal life, definitely f my family and my partner. I think having someone that supports you, whether it be friends, family, you know, it doesn't have to be blood, anything like that. It just having that support system in this human walk of life is so important, I think. Because if you're just doing a hello, there's literally no purpose really sometimes because it's like you don't get to share with anybody. And so that's probably what makes me, you know, the most happy. Um and then kind of work-wise, I think I pivoted recently into areas that I enjoy more. Um, because I've been in over 10 industries, and so it's just been an interesting trying to figure out where what industries I do like um and get excited about because marketing, as you know, it's this like all over the place most of the time. And um, but there's a science to kind of repeating it in different industries too. But sometimes you get to a product, you're like, this is actually really boring. I don't care about this, makes a lot of money. I don't know if I care about this that much. I'm trying to find the industries that uh are I tend to focus on the ones that say that really they've stayed away, their lagger in technology. And and though I have a very deep understanding of some technologies, I know personally when I go there, I don't have to go as deep or prove it. I can just show a few things and show the strategy and they they see, okay, I can trust. There's not as much like qualification, excessive qualification to prove how to do something when you give somebody who who they they uh they identify more with the process and the frameworks, less so than your mastery of a wizard tool, right? Um and some industries that just love you to know a tool is it I hate those. Like it like it, like it's it's so like, oh my god, like there's gonna be something to replace this next year. Like, right? Like, and and and as you as you navigate, right, and you start figuring that out. Um when you say marketing's all over the place, it is true. Like you're like you're chasing a herd of cats led by another cat. Um, and yeah, so I appreciate that statement very much. Uh what's the biggest tie right now, though, you're struggling to cut? Um I think my kind of where I want to go marketing-wise, because I've um I've done some project management, and so I've thought about highlighting more my marketing project management side and shifting a little bit more into that. Um, and so because I really enjoy um organizing, get keeping people on track, a timeline, um, and managing projects. So I picked up a project or client recently, and they basically are letting me lead all the lead gen, but also managing all the clients, and I'm realizing I really enjoy that more. So I'm kind of like in the between right now of doing a little bit of marketing and then a little bit of uh project management, and so I think that's where in the next several years I'm gonna need to see where I want to go next, essentially. Um, because I don't think you need to be in the same career paths forever. So if you find something that actually I I wouldn't recommend it unless you set a love for it, right? I mean like I I wouldn't because it's like if you don't like it a little bit, you might as well do something you do like. I mean, because you only get one shot at this, right? So to speak. And the reason you know that is because no one on the planet knows knows without certainty that they were some other life form at something. Like no one's like, I was a dog last time, that was easy, right? You just you're you know it's it doesn't work that way. So anyway. Um it's true. I mean, if you could go back though on your timeline, when would you go back? What would you do differently? Uh this actually goes back to your what you did as your comment uh about loving what you do or liking what you do. I actually disagree a little bit on I'm not sure, I'm not sure your show will error if you disagree, but go ahead. Because I realized pretty early on um or past several years is that you know, if I chose a different uh career path or I got educated in something that is highly sought after in this new age, I would probably be financially in a different place than I was potentially with marketing heading in that direction. Even though digital marketing is still in demand, it doesn't mean that the stability of the career path that I chose was probably the right one. Because a lot of us go to college and we're like, we're us my, me as a millennial, we're told follow your, you know, something that you love, your passions and stuff like that. So you got something that kind of lined up. I was practical a little bit more because I got a business degree, but find something that's more balanced of what you like and uh, you know, uh something practical. But really, you should have done for something practical to get a job, then have your life be full outside of work. And so I would probably have gotten like a computer science degree or something like that. That way I could probably go into data analytics or marketing analytics and still come wrapped back around to marketing or something like that. But I probably would not be in marketing. Well, I and I listen, I think this is a lesson here for anyone listening, is that uh I would tell you the time is now. So I'll give you an analogy I've used before. I went to like a 30-year, probably 30-year high school reunion, right? And you know, for oh, there yeah, so it's 48, right? And I realized that I probably have good solid 30 cognitive years left, then it should be claiming pretty bad after that. Um basically just graduating high school again right now.

SPEAKER_01: 19:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 19:20

And I was 48. And so you're 30, right? So the truth is just graduate yourself from college or high school again, and you want to go do something else, go take a few years while you have some kind of money coming in and go do it. Like it's like it's after that, it's just an excuse. And if you know, once you've identified it, fear, whatever, it's just an excuse at that point you gotta overcome. Right. The problem is you don't know what you want to do. I think I'm not really sure.

unknown: 19:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 19:44

I mean, you can have their OnlyFans account with feet and go that route. That's another way. You take that shirt and just drape it on your feet and be like, that's it. That's it. Do you have a do you have a favorite book? Yeah. Uh It's called uh Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller. And it basically changes your perspective on who the hero is in the customer journey. And so um it's saying that we are the problem solvers aren't the hero in the customer journey. It's the heroes or the customer is the hero on their hero journey. We are the supporting. So it kind of just shifted my entire perspective on how I was supposed to word things um to potential customers in their in the journey. So that way, because really we're all about ourselves when we're buying things or anything in life. And so we involving someone else is only going to be how it how does it help me? And so that's kind of how you structure your my that's how I structure my marketing now. So definitely recommend it for anyone owning a business or um marketing and sales. You could certainly extrapolate that to life. So if you make other people around you the hero, you know, who do you want to hang out with? Someone who makes you feel like a hero or someone who you feel like you're the non-player character in the in the in the story. Exactly. So it's like you could apply that to life. The more times you can make anyone around you feel like a hero, they're gonna really like you. Exactly. Especially if they've been treated like an NPC their entire life. I I will assure you that that person may become a single white female stalker situation at that point. We yeah, like you haven't seen that movie, it's from the 90s, it's creepy. All right. So push push forward through your people. Um what's some of the the worst business advice your parents ever gave you? Um I'm being specific here, because you know you work with your mom. Well, that's a good question. I don't know if I've ever gotten bad advice. I think the only if you don't have a bad one, I'll I'll let you off the hook with good. The only thing I've seen is um from certain generations not willing to adapt or take the time to adapt to certain things. So I've seen some of my uh uh well, my parents in general, sometimes they're like you're not adapting to technology quick enough, especially in their business acumen. And so it slows a little bit everything down for everyone they're interacting with. So pulling them along, because they're so it's not even like they won't do it, it's more of like a habit and they're like, this is how I do it. Then I have to change, then it takes more time. And so sometimes you just have to make a little bit more time to you know fix something or move it to a platform that's make it easier for everyone else interacting with you. So that's the only thing I've seen that I would say that they need to improve upon. But other than that, they're they're pretty good with technology, just there's certain areas in business that I'm like, we need to move this on. I I literally in the show before this, I was like, uh, we were talking about AI and people's ability to you know interpreted this now. And I said, listen, you put enough money in the account at some point. I don't care about AI either. I was like, I don't need it at my job. I'll use it if I need to, or I'll pay some and your parents just might be like, we got enough money. I don't really think I feel like doing anything right now at this point. Right.

unknown: 23:19

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 23:20

So once you fully retire, you're like, sweet, I think I'm gonna hear it more than I thought. That's great. Um just don't use it for help preventative health care, mom and dad. So you guys don't chew up all our money at the end. And maybe do pick up skydiving right now. So exactly. Dark, dark, definitely dark. Uh if there was a question I should have asked today, and I didn't. What would that question have been? Um let's see if there's any projects or hobbies I'm doing. So the hobby question. What was that? What are some hobbies? Yeah, so right now I'm writing two books. So for marketing people and business people in general, like I creative writing actually helps you. And so I kind of do that as a practice just for practicing for clients, but I also I have a I read a lot of fantasy uh books, and so I was like, you know what, let me see what I can come up with. So yeah, I've been writing off and on. Like, I try not to make it a um because I when I once I start doing something, I had to like mull in kind of thing. Worth overdoing. Right. Like it was like, okay, don't make this whole like whole thing work, make it fun. And so that's kind of what I've been doing. So I haven't made it fully into, but I basically have two series going on right now. One's about a warlock, and the other one is about someone who can manipulate the elements, but it was also a warlock, too. So it's kind of a multifaceted. One of them's multi-faceted, the other one's kind of a little bit more straightforward. Non-Dungeon and Dragons Blair. Could you define what a warlock is, please? Yeah, basically it's someone that's they say usually it's a male that can manipulate magic, basically. So like a witch. Yeah, like a Harry Potter. Kind of Harry Potter or Harry Potter and be done with it. It's still great, but yet he's got to go to school for it. Tiger Woods didn't go to school for golf. He just started playing. What does Harry Potter have to go to school for? Whatever. He's not that great, a prodigy. And he's Harry. Aaron, literary. Who should get a hold of you? How do they do it? Yeah, so you can go to my LinkedIn, um, Tyler T Y L E R Ridel R-I-D-D-E-L-L, and then my website, same spelling um dot com. And then uh that's how you can those are the areas you can reach me. All right. Thanks for coming out of the way. You're been fun. Appreciate it. No problem. Listen, everyone who's listening, still listening, keep listening. Because I want to thank you for being here. Get out there, go cut a tie. Don't let anything hold you back, and certainly define your own definition of success. Otherwise, you're chasing someone else's dream.