Taking a Leap

[00:00:00] Hello everyone, I'm Andy coming to you from the United Kingdom

[00:00:23] and I'm Scott coming to you from sunny San Juan, Puerto Rico today.

[00:00:28] Oh that's going to be an exciting one to find out a little bit more about but welcome everyone to the

[00:00:33] Tea and Timbits podcast Global Perspectives in Business Development to help you prosper.

[00:00:39] So I'm really curious Scott what takes you there to Puerto Rico?

[00:00:45] Yeah it's a roadshow today may have a little bit of a different audio setup but

[00:00:51] I'm here for a partner conference we belong to a software partnership and we're in that ecosystem

[00:00:58] and a couple times a year we get together and just sort of share notes and learn about the product

[00:01:06] and and and run some roundtable conversations to help us all sort of inform the development

[00:01:13] of that product and you know insights about the market and whatnot as well.

[00:01:17] Oh that's exciting do you have any exciting stories from there that you wish to show?

[00:01:21] Yeah I think it's worth just sort of reinforcing I know we've done lots of topics around events

[00:01:27] you know this one's a little bit of a different style it's more professional development but I

[00:01:32] guess you know still still very relevant but incredible value in terms of all the sort

[00:01:41] of side conversations that we've been able to have the in-person is so much different than

[00:01:47] the virtual conversations that you that you have throughout the day sitting down chatting with somebody

[00:01:52] and just sort of letting the having time and space for conversations to organically

[00:01:58] develop has been super super valuable and I think it's just it's very hard to I think measure

[00:02:05] the value of that sometimes but you know it just being able to connect with the the

[00:02:13] executives that are here and the other partners that are here has really been super.

[00:02:19] Oh fantastic fantastic no as you know I'm a big fan of these type of events especially if they run

[00:02:24] properly or if you're able to develop them so that they have value to you if they're not run

[00:02:29] properly. What's really neat is that it's it's a routine it happens every every six months you

[00:02:35] you know roughly and we know who's going to be here we've met each other before

[00:02:40] these are competitors that are in the room with us but we have become friends and we get to know

[00:02:47] each other and we are very open about many things together that you know challenges and

[00:02:52] opportunities that are you know we're all facing and we all can support each other on

[00:02:58] so again super super valuable. Fantastic fantastic so what are we going to talk about this week?

[00:03:04] Yeah so well Andy thank you for asking I know that you have taken a new leap and launched a new

[00:03:13] venture for yourself and in the sort of pre-show chit chat we were doing I thought

[00:03:17] you know what let's um let's record a conversation about you sort of making that leap and what

[00:03:24] that's all been about for you because I think this is something that is going to be really

[00:03:28] relevant to a lot of people that sort of listen and think about business development

[00:03:35] and business growth. I think it's not necessarily just about a huge leap I mean you've made a

[00:03:42] you've launched a new brand a new business and really done something into a new market

[00:03:47] a new industry which is quite you know quite a thrill but not necessarily what everybody's

[00:03:56] going to do but I think in what we do on a regular basis we're all making sort of new bets on ourselves

[00:04:03] and in our roles so I think it's going to be relevant at least I hope so. So if you'll indulge

[00:04:10] me Andy can we have a little chat about that? We can we can no so just to put it a little bit

[00:04:19] into perspective essentially you know I've been in the same industry or working with customers in

[00:04:27] the same industry for about 20 years and I you know I've enjoyed it I've been able to travel

[00:04:35] around the world meet lots of different people get involved in lots of exciting projects work

[00:04:39] lots of different companies and see many of them grow and develop and build some very

[00:04:44] strong relationships that have often evolved into friendships as well so that has been very positive

[00:04:51] but I got to a point sort of middler last year and I felt that do I want to continue to do the same

[00:05:02] thing for the next 20 years or the next 40 years or however long I wish to continue working for

[00:05:08] and I just felt no no I'm not sure I do I think it's time for a change I think a lot of people

[00:05:19] go through that and yes it can be you know branded as a whole midlife crisis thing and

[00:05:23] you could go down the road and buy a Porsche like some people do or you know many other things that

[00:05:30] people do to to deal with their midlife crisis scenarios but but I thought well I don't feel

[00:05:38] in crisis because I'm very happy with with my life and the way that things have developed

[00:05:43] I just felt that I wasn't doing the thing that I wanted to be doing and I thought well rather

[00:05:48] than feeling like that for another 20 years just do something about it so I spent some time

[00:05:54] you know not just rushing into it overnight you know I spent some time looking into it

[00:05:59] is it possible is it you know is it practical to to make these changes and to and how can I

[00:06:05] take the experience and the skills that I have been using over the last 20 years

[00:06:10] and apply them into this new industry which is completely different to the industry that I've been

[00:06:15] working in like I think I think for the listeners just to make this quite practical let's let's get

[00:06:20] specific about it so you yeah okay previously have been in sort of the maritime energy

[00:06:29] yeah and supporting those businesses and business growth and and whatnot and so I guess you've learned

[00:06:36] a lot from that industry and the processes and structures and approaches that make them

[00:06:43] work more effectively especially in a sales position and so what's this new industry Andy?

[00:06:49] So I've you know it's now I'm pivoting into the into the music industry but not just any part

[00:06:55] of the music industry very specifically a micro niche within the music industry which is in the

[00:07:01] heavy metal and punk genre of the music industry. Well very big pivot very big turn for you there

[00:07:14] why did you think that there was an opportunity there is it just a passion and you want to go

[00:07:20] there or you know what have you uncovered or what was the insight there that said I think there's a

[00:07:25] business opportunity here? Well the music the new music business is a business you know it is

[00:07:32] it is an industry that has been through a lot of transition which is which is something I'm

[00:07:38] very familiar with working with and that has been a very quick and a very shocking transition

[00:07:44] to the industry and in what way what do you mean by that? Well just take for example the introduction

[00:07:51] of streaming services right I mean that's completely changed the way that you know record sales and

[00:07:58] the traditional relationship between artists and the you know and the business side of

[00:08:04] the industry as well. Is it is it is there more onus on the artist themselves or is there still

[00:08:12] a structure in the industry that has sort of production houses and agents and reps and things

[00:08:17] like that? Yes so in order to be produced. The structure is still there but it is also possible

[00:08:24] for artists to self-release and self-manage and self-promote and you know and so on as well.

[00:08:32] You know the levels of success that they will get you know we're very about who picks up on it

[00:08:38] who hears it you know what relationships they have and so on and but it's you know

[00:08:46] the industry as a whole I mean and I don't want to make a whole episode about you know the music

[00:08:51] of course but essentially there's you know because the industry is in transition they

[00:08:58] needing to look at their businesses very differently so from the business side they need

[00:09:02] to start looking at their businesses differently about how they can run those businesses

[00:09:05] differently based on you know 50 60 years of experience and growth and success and then

[00:09:11] suddenly in the last five or six years it's you know it's completely pivoted and the way that

[00:09:16] you interact with the you know with the artists and the way that the artists can interact with

[00:09:21] the industry and the way that the industry needs to act as well and the opportunities of making

[00:09:26] money those have all changed developed and you know often very quickly and not necessarily

[00:09:33] with so much structure or clarity around how to use those in a best way so the business side of

[00:09:39] things need a lot of help but also the artists need a lot of help as well because if they're reading

[00:09:44] about you know how to succeed in the music industry and that you know that information

[00:09:48] was published two or three years ago it's outdated right it's not relevant and you know

[00:09:54] so let's come back to sort of the opportunity that you saw for yourself to make a business

[00:10:01] for yourself in in this space where where do you fit into that and what's the what's the opportunity there

[00:10:08] yeah well I have the advantage of course is that I'm not going into it cold I've been

[00:10:13] I've been personally passionate about music for a very long time I was lucky enough to

[00:10:19] you know grow up in London in the 90s and had a lot of friends who were in the you know in

[00:10:24] the indie music scene at the time and so of course I knew the industry from a young age

[00:10:30] and have connections that have developed either into successful artists or into other people

[00:10:34] within the industry so you know as I say I'm not going into it cold about 10 years ago

[00:10:39] I started working on logistics projects that were to do with you know event logistics and so

[00:10:45] those things involved festivals tours and and things like that as well so those have also

[00:10:50] helped to build up my you know sort of my global network I just felt that you know a lot of

[00:10:59] the skills a lot of the experience and a lot of the the challenges that I see in the you know in

[00:11:06] the various companies across you know maritime logistics and energy yeah those are business

[00:11:12] challenges and and you go to it you know you go to a music industry conference I was in one

[00:11:17] few weeks ago in Oslo they were they are having the same challenges they are having the same

[00:11:22] discussions that any other industry are having about you know how to be more efficient in

[00:11:26] business how to make more sales how to you know how to grow their business and and how to

[00:11:30] operate more efficiently right those those challenges are there in any industry it doesn't matter what

[00:11:36] industry you're working with and that's why our podcast is so popular because you know people

[00:11:40] you know people listen to it from all different industries they they know they're able to apply

[00:11:45] the things that we talk about into their industry yes they need to adapt it slightly

[00:11:49] right but you and I have a lot of shared experiences and we you know we don't work

[00:11:53] in the same area at all we never have but there's a lot of things that cross over that that really

[00:11:58] match and I thought well you know stop focusing on something that you know that I just fell into

[00:12:04] 20 years ago and actually you know take those passions that I enjoy in my free time and actually

[00:12:10] take some value back to that industry from the experiences and the skills that I've

[00:12:14] I've built up over the time and and hopefully you know help some people to be successful

[00:12:19] including myself in that industry well it's very exciting I think it's a very bold move and

[00:12:26] congratulations on on taking that leap what do you what what are you most hesitant and

[00:12:34] you know where your hesitations and what do you maybe are reluctant about that you need to

[00:12:38] make sure you watch out for yeah I think I think it's always very scary to to take a leap away

[00:12:45] from something that you're comfortable with something you're familiar with and and to go

[00:12:49] into something new and I think that's why a lot of people don't change even if they're in an industry

[00:12:53] they're not happy with or in a job that they're not happy with stepping away from that can be a

[00:12:58] very very scary thing yeah because going into uncertainty is very difficult and it is very

[00:13:05] scary um I think the the key for me is going to be you know just making sure that I don't

[00:13:14] go oh it's getting a little bit difficult and then I'll go back to doing what I was doing before

[00:13:18] because it's easy you know right and I think that's the thing I'm scared of the most is that

[00:13:23] is that when it gets a bit hard I'll go back into you know going into your comfortable things

[00:13:29] yeah and I don't want to do that so so I'm sort of holding myself accountable not to do that

[00:13:34] and you know I went out a few weeks ago with um you know with a post and public post on

[00:13:40] on LinkedIn to say that I am changing this and I'm doing this differently and I did that deliberately

[00:13:46] you know not because I you know necessarily had something specific to say at that time but I thought

[00:13:51] it was really important for me to to hold myself accountable that you know no I'm not doing the

[00:13:57] other thing anymore I am now doing this new thing because then it's gonna you know because

[00:14:02] to go back into it would be first of all to say you know well actually I might be doing this

[00:14:07] other thing as well and it gives a very strange message to the market it gives a very bad message

[00:14:13] to me I'll end up getting stuck in limbo and then you know things everywhere would you know would

[00:14:18] not be good because I wouldn't be giving anything my full attention so you know it's it's the key

[00:14:23] of working through what is it I think Seth Godin he um he calls it the dip you know you've

[00:14:29] got to work through that bit because that that's going to come you know you're going to

[00:14:32] end up in this in this hole in this dip that there's going to be very challenging and

[00:14:36] that's when people give up but right if you keep going that's when you know that's when the really

[00:14:40] good stuff can start to happen and it's just making making sure I don't fall into that trap

[00:14:45] that everyone often falls in well I think I think um I think at your point there is

[00:14:51] sometimes the trap is inevitable there's sort of unpredictability and then the cycle to

[00:14:57] these things so knowing that it's likely to happen and being mentally prepared to just keep going

[00:15:08] is I think you know part of the mindset that you've you've adopted and I think that will serve you

[00:15:14] you well I think it will it will I mean not to play devil's advocate but it will be important

[00:15:19] not to blindly pursue everything through that absolutely making sure that it is a

[00:15:26] critical review of the situation and correct and an honest assessment of

[00:15:34] the opportunity and the challenges and what it's going to take to uh to continue to

[00:15:39] venture on but I have complete faith that you'll be able to to thrive and prosper there

[00:15:45] um great chat I I'm sure we'll come back to it many times uh and and borrow upon those experiences and

[00:15:52] and new challenges to share with everybody that's listening so thanks for letting us explore that

[00:15:59] that that that topic a little bit more with you Andy appreciate it no thanks very much Scott and

[00:16:04] I hope that it brings some value to people who are a little bit uncertain about their

[00:16:10] about their future their current lives and what to do and and gives them the you know the

[00:16:15] confidence that it is possible you know even if you've done been doing the same thing for

[00:16:18] you know for five years 10 years 20 years as I had been it is possible to do something

[00:16:23] different but just don't rush into it just you know take some time to build those plans and

[00:16:28] go into it do with intention don't just sort of pop in a bed one day um yeah so the

[00:16:33] outside world it will it will look like you just sort of popped up one day yeah yeah yeah

[00:16:38] yeah all right well thanks Andy thanks everybody uh if you want to uh connect with us and listen

[00:16:45] to more episodes please go to tntimbits.com follow us on LinkedIn we very much appreciate

[00:16:51] your input take care thanks everybody cheers

[00:17:03] you