Episode 132
Mentorship and Inspiration: The Influences that Shaped Bill Williams
Bill Williams, our esteemed guest, recounts a remarkable journey that spans multiple careers, from his early days in a military family to his current role as a registered investment advisor. His formative years, characterized by transient schooling, laid a foundation that ultimately led him to earn both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Broadcasting and Journalism from Texas Tech University. Following a tenure in educational television and communications consultancy, he transitioned into financial advisement, where he continues to make impactful contributions. Throughout our dialogue, Bill emphasizes the importance of resilience, encapsulated in his favorite piece of advice: “Never give up.” This episode not only highlights his professional evolution but also serves as an inspiring testament to the power of perseverance and the value of nurturing connections in varied fields.
In this enlightening discourse, Bill Williams, a veteran in the field of communications, shares his remarkable life journey that spans numerous roles and experiences. Raised in a military household, he attended a staggering 13 schools across the United States, which instilled in him a sense of adaptability and resilience. His academic pursuits led him to Texas Tech University, where he obtained both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Broadcasting and Journalism. His quest for knowledge did not end there; he further pursued a doctorate in mass communications at the University of Texas, where he also contributed as a faculty member while overseeing a four-city instructional television network. Bill's career subsequently took him to Ohio, where he served as the director of instructional television at Bowling Green State University, and eventually to Washington D.C., where he established his own communications consulting firm. After two decades in the nation's capital, he returned to Ohio, where he shifted his focus toward becoming a registered investment advisor, illustrating his remarkable ability to pivot and adapt to new professional landscapes.
Throughout the conversation, Williams emphasizes the value of perseverance and the profound impact of mentorship, recalling the pivotal advice he received to 'never give up'. This mantra has been a cornerstone of his professional ethos, guiding him through various challenges and career transitions. He recounts an inspiring story involving Adrian Vaughn, a mentor who saw potential in him despite his initial lack of experience in photography. This relationship not only shaped his career but also exemplified the crucial role that mentors play in fostering growth and resilience in individuals navigating their professional paths.
Additionally, Williams offers insightful commentary on the evolving nature of communication in today’s digital age, where the sheer volume of information can often obscure the truth. He articulates the importance of discernment in evaluating the credibility of sources amidst the cacophony of competing narratives. His reflections serve as a reminder of the critical need for individuals to engage thoughtfully with the information they consume and to remain vigilant in their quest for truth. This dialogue not only showcases Williams' extensive expertise in communications but also provides valuable lessons on resilience, mentorship, and the importance of critical thinking in an information-rich world.
Takeaways:
- Bill Williams' childhood was marked by frequent relocations due to his military family background, attending 13 different schools.
- After obtaining his degrees in Journalism and Broadcasting, he pursued a doctoral program in mass communications, ultimately becoming a faculty member.
- His career progression included roles such as the director of instructional television and later, establishing his own communications consulting firm.
- In a significant career shift, he became a registered investment advisor, demonstrating adaptability and resourcefulness in professional endeavors.
- Bill's experience with FEMA highlighted the challenges of disaster response and the importance of effective communication in crisis situations.
- The journey of Bill from a novice photographer to an award-winning professional illustrates the value of perseverance and mentorship in career development.
Transcript
My guest today, Bill Williams grew up in a military family, moving all over the country and attending 13 different schools.
Speaker A:Before graduating, he attended Texas Tech, graduating with a BA and MA in Broadcasting and Journalism.
Speaker A:He did additional work through a doctorate in mass communications at University of Texas where he was on the faculty and manager of a four city instructional television network.
Speaker A:He then went on to Ohio where he is the director of instructional television at Bowling Green State University for three years.
Speaker A:From there, Bill moved to Washington D.C.
Speaker A:where he started his own communications consulting firm.
Speaker A:Twenty years later, he moved his growing family back to Ohio where his two young girls grew up around family and friends, something he'd never been able to do as a child.
Speaker A:At that point, he changed careers and became a registered investment advisor.
Speaker A:Until now.
Speaker A:We welcome Bill to the podcast.
Speaker A:Well, Bill, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker A:How you doing today, my friend?
Speaker B:Doing very well.
Speaker B:Thanks for the invitation.
Speaker B:I appreciate it.
Speaker A:Well, it's good to have you on and I hope you enjoy that ice storm.
Speaker A:We'll keep it on your end and keep it away from us at Iowa.
Speaker A:We don't need more ice.
Speaker B:We didn't really need it here.
Speaker B:But we'll take what we can get.
Speaker A:That's right, you'll take what you can get.
Speaker A:So I'm going to ask you my favorite question.
Speaker A:What's the best piece of advice, advice you've ever received?
Speaker B:Never give up.
Speaker A:Oh, I love that.
Speaker B:Never give up.
Speaker B:There's always something around the corner that is so true.
Speaker A:And you know, sometimes we don't see it coming, but when we don't give up, we're so blessed when we it actually comes our way.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Just wait a while and things will get better.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:Wait a while.
Speaker A:The sun.
Speaker A:The sun will rise.
Speaker A:I'm curious, Bill.
Speaker A:Think about in your life, who are some people that served as an inspiration or a mentor for you on your journey?
Speaker B:One person comes to mind immediately and has long passed away.
Speaker B:His name was Adrian Vaughn.
Speaker B:He was director of news and information for Texas Tech College.
Speaker B:And I was offered a job as a photographer.
Speaker B:And my only experience was I'd been two meetings of the high school camera club.
Speaker B:And that was it.
Speaker B:And the person who hired me took me downstairs to the basement and said, this is the developer.
Speaker B:This is the fix.
Speaker B:This is the stop bath.
Speaker B:This is the dryer.
Speaker B:Good luck.
Speaker B:So I went out and bought all the books I could on photography and darkroom work and did my best, but my best was really not very much at all the first couple of weeks.
Speaker B:But he didn't fire me.
Speaker B:He kept me on, and eventually I got to the point where I won a bunch of awards for the office for their photography.
Speaker B:So had he fired me, which he should have done, I would never have had the career I did.
Speaker A:Wow, that's such a neat story.
Speaker A:And who knew that you would go from.
Speaker A:Only experience you had was a high school Photoshop, too, where that's what that led you to.
Speaker B:Yeah, I certainly wouldn't have believed it, because, you know, the first assignment he sent me out to take a picture, I came back with the most embarrassing question a photographer ever asked.
Speaker B:Where's the button you push?
Speaker A:Oh, no.
Speaker B:Admittedly, in my defense, it was a camera that is unlike any other camera I've used in 60 years.
Speaker B:And it didn't have a button to push.
Speaker B:It was a roller cord, and it had a lever that you would use to cock the shutter.
Speaker B:Then to take the picture, you would have to push the lever back in the other direction.
Speaker B:And I had never heard of it, and I'd never seen anything like it since.
Speaker B:But that was my first experience with professional photography.
Speaker B:Where do you push the button?
Speaker A:My goodness.
Speaker A:That would be a good question, though.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:So how did you go from a photojournalist at 18 to.
Speaker A:And how'd that shape your career?
Speaker A:You talked about, you know, you got some awards, but how did that experience shape your journey?
Speaker B:Well, I found that I liked it.
Speaker B:But, you know, while I was there, I was also writing, and I actually had planned to be an aeronautical engineer, and that was my major in college, but discovered I didn't like math.
Speaker B:I figured that's not really a good match.
Speaker B:And so I changed majors a number of times.
Speaker B:I tried this and I tried that, and I was in my fifth year as an undergraduate, and I was sitting in the union building with a friend who was on the faculty, and he said, you know, Bill, I was looking at your transcripts, and you've got enough hours to graduate next semester.
Speaker B:And I jumped up, grabbed him by the collar and said, great.
Speaker B:In what?
Speaker B:And he said, well, if you take three more classes in speech, you can graduate as a speech major.
Speaker B:And since broadcasting was in the speech department department, and I was already working on the radio station, I said, yeah, okay, we can do that.
Speaker B:And then the photography led me into television, and I got my master's in broadcasting and television and journalism.
Speaker B:And that's just one thing led to another.
Speaker A:What a.
Speaker A:What a neat career.
Speaker A:So you've spent a lot of time in journalism and broadcasting.
Speaker A:What part about that was the most memorable experience?
Speaker A:For you.
Speaker B:After I got out, I was working on a doctorate at the University of Texas and acting as a consultant to a bunch of colleges who were setting up television studios.
Speaker B: ind, this was back in the mid-: Speaker B:And I went out to these colleges and discovered that they were so far in the dark, I couldn't believe it.
Speaker B:You know, it's.
Speaker B:Well, we're going to set up the studio.
Speaker B:We've got some space here.
Speaker B:Well, it's got some pillars in the middle of the room.
Speaker B:That's not going to make a big.
Speaker B:A good studio or who's in charge?
Speaker B:Well, Jane gave, you know, I gave Jane the responsibility for setting it up.
Speaker B:What's her experience?
Speaker B:She was my secretary, you know, and so those were the.
Speaker B:The problems we were facing back in the 60s and trying to set up educational and instructional television.
Speaker B:It was a bizarre world.
Speaker A:Wow, that's interesting.
Speaker A:So you spent 20 years in D.C.
Speaker A:as well.
Speaker A:I'm kind of curious, as you think, about some of the challenges you face in Communications in D.C.
Speaker A:how did you help solve some of those with trade associations and government agencies?
Speaker B:Well, Postal Service was a good example.
Speaker B:They asked me, you know, how can we go ahead and set up or get more people to buy stamps that they don't use?
Speaker B:I said, that sounds like it's a job for stamp collectors.
Speaker B:They said, well, how do we get more stamp collectors?
Speaker B:And I said, well, why don't we start putting stamp clubs in schools?
Speaker B:Elementary schools start kids buying stamps early.
Speaker B:Well, put together a plan for stamp clubs and schools.
Speaker B:So I developed the Benjamin Franklin Stamp Club.
Speaker B:And to get it to use in the schools, what we did was we put together a package for the teachers on how to teach history using stamps.
Speaker B:We included some materials for the teacher.
Speaker B:We included some handout materials.
Speaker B:We included some posters and things like that, and then made it available to elementary school teachers.
Speaker B: They said, if you could sell: Speaker B:On the first several months, I sold 20,000 of these things.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:So that worked out pretty well.
Speaker A:That's interesting.
Speaker A:So can you.
Speaker A:Can you help the Postal Service now?
Speaker A:Because I seem to be struggling a little bit more now.
Speaker B:Well, the management back then was a whole different story than the management today.
Speaker B:But the Postal Service does absolutely remarkable stuff with the idea today.
Speaker B:What, 75 cents a letter.
Speaker B:But if you put this stamp on the letter, it will deliver it to any one of 300 million people throughout the United States or really around the world in two to 10 days.
Speaker B:I mean, what a concept.
Speaker B:I mean that's just absolutely marvelous.
Speaker A:It is amazing.
Speaker B:I love course back then it cost 3 cents.
Speaker B:So big difference.
Speaker A:It's true.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:To fly a 3 cent stamp around the world.
Speaker A:Yeah, it doesn't really cover the cost.
Speaker A:I noticed that you worked with FEMA and I'm curious as you think about your work with fema.
Speaker A:We've seen a lot of things with disaster response.
Speaker A:Any insight you have as to how FEMA works and maybe gives the audience some insights as to maybe some of the struggles that you might have noticed when you worked with fema?
Speaker B:Well, one of the things that we noticed is the fact that when disasters occurred and the female showed up on site, we were always welcomed and we always did our very best to get the result job done.
Speaker B:But we knew we had 10 days and if everybody wasn't satisfied in 10 days, we were going to be the bad guy because everybody wasn't made whole in 10 days and there is no way that's going to happen.
Speaker B:So basically our plan was do the very best we can and get everybody out there that we can on our side because in 10 days they're all going to be against us.
Speaker B:And that's pretty much the way it is now.
Speaker B:Of course, now seeing the recent activities down in the Carolinas, we got other people out there stirring up hatred against these terrible people from FEMA because oh my God, they haven't resolved everything and there's something else wrong so they must be stealing your money.
Speaker B:And I will have to say that the average person on a FEMA disaster relief is not a regular government employee.
Speaker B:They're a volunteer or a while wae while actually employed.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:They come on to work for FEMA when they are needed.
Speaker B:And that was my situation for the first four years I was doing my other jobs and I'd get a call saying, hey, can you take one an assignment this afternoon or tomorrow or we're having big problems coming up next Monday, can you go out someplace?
Speaker B:And I do it.
Speaker B:And that's what 90% of these other people do too.
Speaker B:They're not regular employees.
Speaker B:They just do it because they want to be there and want to help.
Speaker B:And I don't know of a better incentive for people to be doing that.
Speaker A:Sounds like FEMA needs a better communications advocate to explain exactly what FEMA actually does do and can do.
Speaker B: Well, that was my role in: Speaker B:And we came up with a whole bunch of new programs using computers and all to be able to get the word out and a new computer database and all that sort of stuff.
Speaker B:And Jimmy Carter lost the election and a new administration came in.
Speaker B:And the first thing they did was get rid of all of our plans and everything else.
Speaker B:You know, one of the things that we had to do was develop disaster plans for just about everything imaginable.
Speaker B:And I worked on the disaster plan for the next earthquake in San Francisco.
Speaker B:It's going to happen.
Speaker B:You know, what are we going to do about it?
Speaker B:And so we had the whole plan set up.
Speaker B: And then about: Speaker B:Well, they don't thrown out all the plans because they had done by.
Speaker B:Been done by a Democratic administration.
Speaker B:And so they had no plans for what to do when the occasion occurred.
Speaker B:Politics is a huge problem in a case like that.
Speaker A:That sounds like it.
Speaker A:So I'm curious, in all the work that you've done, especially in the area of communication, government, what do you notice as maybe some of the bigger challenges that communication and government wrestle with as they try to kind of.
Speaker A:Because there's so much news out there, there's so much information out there, it's hard to find good sources of quality information.
Speaker A:So how do you go about finding the truth in all of the noise?
Speaker B:Well, Keith, I gotta tell you, I don't know.
Speaker A:Okay, well, that's why I brought you on.
Speaker A:Solve that problem for me.
Speaker B:Well, I couldn't solve the problems as they existed 40 years ago because that was when I was active there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I solved some of them.
Speaker B:One of the problems we had was with clients like me, contractors like me getting paid.
Speaker B:And I was a lobbyist.
Speaker B:I was elected president of the Independent Media Producers Association.
Speaker B:So as a lobbyist, I went in to campaign for the Federal Government Prompt Payment act with the idea that the government should pay its bills on time.
Speaker B:What a concept.
Speaker A:Okay, Novel concept.
Speaker B:And so I, yeah, I remember making a.
Speaker B:I was a witness at one of the Senate agencies and I held up a copy of an invoice that my company had sent to the Postal Service and It was paid 18 months late.
Speaker B:And when they finally paid it, they took their prompt payment discount.
Speaker B:So we got the Prompt Payment act of.
Speaker B: got the Prompt payment Act of: Speaker B:Because that was a brand new concept.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Just, just, wow.
Speaker A:Government efficiency at its best.
Speaker B:Well, let's, let's face it, an awful lot of government is the problems are not the government employees.
Speaker B:Regardless of what we're hearing from the current administration, it's not the employees who really try to do a good job.
Speaker B:The problem is these people who are put in to take over every four years come in with their new ideas and things that frankly in many cases just don't work.
Speaker B:One of the things that my Independent Media Producers association did was found a problem that was about to happen because the politicians had decided we have too many people doing films and TV programs and all for the government.
Speaker B:We're going to send out a contract to the big studios in Hollywood and we'd only have five contracts and the five big studios would handle it all.
Speaker B:Well, that would put 20,000 people out of business.
Speaker B:Furthermore, the big studios, MGM isn't the least bit interested in doing little how to do it instructional programs for the federal government.
Speaker B:And if they did, the costs would quadruple or quintuple because they'd be using union, studio union, production union.
Speaker B:You have to have 32 people on site to produce this little classroom thing.
Speaker B:And so we finally got that shot down.
Speaker B:But it took a year to get that particular idea of shut down and out of the system.
Speaker A:Oh my word.
Speaker A:I love to focus on a little bit more on instructional programs.
Speaker A:So tell us a little bit about how you good.
Speaker A:How you went about developing instructional videos for the government.
Speaker A:I'm just kind of curious.
Speaker A:I know I've, I haven't seen those in a while.
Speaker A:Do they still do those?
Speaker B:Oh, I'm sure they do.
Speaker B:I produced a whole series of productions for Housing and Urban Development, you know, seamless floor coating and fog dry spray painting and things of that nature.
Speaker B:Not terribly interesting, but you have to get the word out as to how to do it.
Speaker B:I did a series of public affairs announcements for again for HUD on lead based paint and the dangers of lead based paint.
Speaker B:And we were down in Las, Los Angeles, New Orleans, helping with a school that was having to have all the paint removed in the school because it was all lead based and the kids were eating the paint.
Speaker B:You know, elementary school kids.
Speaker B:Hey, it's tasty, it's sweet.
Speaker B:Here's a flake of paint.
Speaker B:Have a bite.
Speaker B:We got the films done and showed how to do it and why schools needed to get rid of lead based paint.
Speaker A:Well, I never imagined eating paint, but I have heard about that because I lived in Detroit back in the early 90s and that was a big issue in Detroit.
Speaker A:Lead based Paint in homes.
Speaker A:And for some reason, I never imagined kids were eating it.
Speaker A:But now that you mentioned that it has a sweet taste, I suppose it's like candy.
Speaker A:And it is a problem.
Speaker A:I know you ran across that a lot in our urban area of lead based paint problems.
Speaker B:And it's still an issue out there, particularly with older homes and older schools and older buildings.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:You know, who wants to scrape all the paint off the walls and wearing hazmat suits?
Speaker B:But it's got to be done.
Speaker A:So you've spent all your career doing this wonderful kind of work.
Speaker A:What's been the most rewarding part of the work you've done in the past?
Speaker B:Well, the work with FEMA has definitely been the most rewarding.
Speaker B:And I've got one experience that I'll share with you and your viewers.
Speaker B:I was called.
Speaker B:This was, I guess in the late 70s, there was a huge storm in Arizona.
Speaker B:And I was called out to help with the flooding in Phoenix.
Speaker B:And when they called me, I said, you've got to be joking.
Speaker B:Phoenix flooding, Right.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker B:Well, there's a salt river runs through Phoenix.
Speaker B:It's a dry river.
Speaker B:And normally at the time, 27 bridges went across that dry river.
Speaker B:But this flood came down.
Speaker B:And when I was called, there were only three bridges left up.
Speaker B:So that was pretty significant.
Speaker B:And we were working on that.
Speaker B:And we were helped with army helicopters flying out to Navajo Indian reservation to drop hay to their cattle because the cattles were stranded on these little islands because there was so much rain up there.
Speaker B:And somebody asked me, you know, what about the Hopis?
Speaker B:Well, the Hopi Indians live in that same area, but the Hopies live up on mesas that are 700ft above the ground level.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:And their villages on the top of these mesas were built there for protection.
Speaker B:And they've been dated back over a thousand years old.
Speaker B:They've been there forever.
Speaker B:And so I made arrangements and we flew up, took the helicopter up to the Hopi reservation and met with the tribal chairman and said, you know, what's going on?
Speaker B:And he said, well, the rains basically melted our homes because they're made out of adobe, which is another word for mud brick.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:And when you get a lot of water, what happens to mud or dirt?
Speaker B:It becomes mud.
Speaker B:And I said, well, we can provide some aid to help you build it.
Speaker B:And he says, no, we don't want it.
Speaker B:If you look down there on the ground, you know, about half a mile over there, there's a whole village that is a village that is totally uninhabited because the Last time we asked for help, HUD came in and said, everything has to be built to HUD standards, and they're built down there, they're to HUD standards, but nobody wants to live there because they want to live with our people up here on the mesas.
Speaker B:And I said, well, let's see if we can't do something else.
Speaker B:And so we came up with an idea where we could give them aid as a foreign nation through the State Department, because technically, tribes are separate nations.
Speaker B:And I said, you know, I'd really appreciate it if I could come out and take pictures of the response and rebuilding that you've been doing there.
Speaker B:And he said, absolutely not.
Speaker B:If that's part of the deal, keep your money.
Speaker B:And I said, it's definitely not part of the deal.
Speaker B:Just we'd like to have some records of it, but if that's part of the deal, I never ask.
Speaker B:And so they got the money, they started doing it.
Speaker B:And a month or so later, I'm back in Washington, and I got a call at my home.
Speaker B:It was a tribal chairman.
Speaker B:He said, Mr.
Speaker B:Williams, if you'd like to come out and take pictures of our work, we'd love to have you as our guest.
Speaker B:I said, I can be out there in a couple of days.
Speaker B:So I was out and spent about a week living with the Hopis as their guest.
Speaker B:It was absolutely marvelous.
Speaker B:Got a bunch of great pictures.
Speaker B:And before I left, I asked the tribal chairman, I said, you know, why did you change your mind?
Speaker B:He said, well, sir, in the whole history of our tribe, this is the first time the white man has ever made a promise to us and then kept it.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:That made me feel really, really good.
Speaker A:I'm.
Speaker A:I'm curious how were the.
Speaker A:Was the work they done, how did.
Speaker A:How was it different than what we built for them and our expertise?
Speaker B:Well, the houses that the Hopi live in, as I mentioned, are adobe, which are mud brick.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Mud brick is not an acceptable building standard in the US as I'm at right now.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And they're roofs are supported by what they call Vegas, which are logs, okay?
Speaker B:And it's all built with natural materials and built by hand.
Speaker B:And so there's none of this prefabricated concrete blocks and wood and everything else, because, let's face it, out in the desert there, you don't have a lot of lumberyards and everything else.
Speaker B:So you use what's available and use the same things that they have been using for centuries.
Speaker B:While I was out there, they gave me a little Toy top that they had found in one of these buildings that had been destroyed.
Speaker B:And it and a couple other things that were found at that time had been radiocarbon dated back to the year 800.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:So they've been there a while.
Speaker A:That's amazing.
Speaker B:I found out later I was the first white man ever allowed to photograph on the Hopi reservation.
Speaker A:I bet those pictures were going back to your early beginning.
Speaker A:But those were like, phenomenal pictures that you could share.
Speaker B:They are.
Speaker B:But no, I couldn't share them.
Speaker B:That was part of the deal.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I could never make any commercial use of them.
Speaker B:I could use them for a report to Congress or for government reports, but I had no permission to use them in magazines and things like that.
Speaker B:I did get permission to use one of the pictures on the COVID for a magazine put out by the National Press Photographers association, but other than that, they're still in my basement.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:Before I die, I hope to get them converted and take them out and give them as a gift to the Hopi tribe for their records.
Speaker A:That would be neat.
Speaker A:That would be a really, really wonderful use of remembering what you've done.
Speaker A:As you think about the communication landscape going forward, how do you see it changing or the future of communication?
Speaker B:Well, I've got to say, I can't really give you an answer because I'm not in it anymore.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:In 92 or in the early 90s, everything changed.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I was used to developing film and working in the dark room and all that sort of stuff.
Speaker B:And then Kodak went out of business.
Speaker B:They're not selling film anymore.
Speaker B:Everything's digital.
Speaker B:And I said, well, I'm too old and ugly to learn a whole new trade in photography.
Speaker B:Let's do something different.
Speaker B:And I became a financial advisor.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:And I haven't taken a professional picture.
Speaker B:I don't even have a camera anymore other than the one I carry in my pocket.
Speaker B:Which to put into perspective, when I was in educational television, one of the last things I was doing for Bowling Green State University here in Ohio, I bought some TV cameras for them for their studio.
Speaker B:And one camera weighed about 400 pounds and cost close to a quarter million dollars.
Speaker B:And the little iPhone that I carry in my pocket does far better TV work than that.
Speaker B:Were, you know, 250 pound monster that I had to put in the studio.
Speaker B:It's just a totally different world.
Speaker B:And frankly, I don't know what's going on out there anymore because I'm not active in communications of that nature or photography.
Speaker B:And I haven't Taken a professional picture in 30 years.
Speaker A:So tell us about what you're doing now then.
Speaker B:Well, as I mentioned, I'm a financial advisor, but I'm getting ready to hang up my hat on that.
Speaker B:One of the things that I did was managing a group of insurance agents here in the Midwest.
Speaker B:This was back in the 90s when I first got started.
Speaker B:And at the time, if you wanted to keep in touch, you had to wear a pager and carry a whole pocket full of quarters.
Speaker B:And if you got paged, you had to try to find a payphone that was working and plug in some quarters and answer the call.
Speaker B:And Internet came out, and they had this thing called email that was brand new and made sure all the guys had it.
Speaker B:But just because they had it didn't mean that they were reading it.
Speaker B:And so I started sending out a thought for the day, something humorous, something inspirational, what have you, and said, read this and there might be something you need to know in addition.
Speaker B:So they started reading it and they liked it, and they started sharing some of these stories with their clients.
Speaker B:And the clients liked it.
Speaker B:Their sales went up.
Speaker B:That's not a bad deal.
Speaker B:And then the clients said, hey, could we get those emails too?
Speaker B:And there's no postage involved, so why not add them to the list?
Speaker B:And I'm not with that company anymore.
Speaker B:But now, 30 years later, I'm still sending out a thought for the day five days a week to anybody who'd like to get it absolutely free.
Speaker B:I've got people all over the country, most of whom I've never met.
Speaker B:I've got people in Europe, I've got people in India, I've got people in Australia that are still getting these thoughts for the day.
Speaker B:And a couple years ago, I started looking at these monstrous files I had of all these old thoughts, and I said, I ought to be able to do something with this.
Speaker B:So I decided to try to put a book together, and I did.
Speaker B:I took it to a couple publishers, and one of them said, this is not a book, this is a whole series of books.
Speaker B:And so the first book, 20 Years Internet Humor, came out January 1st, and it seems to be doing pretty well.
Speaker B:And I've got second and third books ready to go.
Speaker B:Hopefully by the end of the year we'll keep this thing going.
Speaker B:So I'm going to be doing that instead of working in the insurance and financial field.
Speaker A:So for those who want to get your thought for the day at email, how can they connect with you?
Speaker B:To get that, they can go to my website, www.Internet-horor.com that's Internet with a hyphen before humor.com and sign up for get it, you know, five days a week, sometimes six, no cost.
Speaker B:If you don't want to get it, just hit delete and you're done, you know, so there's no commitment you're making.
Speaker B:And the books available, currently, it's got a special for the ebook at 299 from Amazon or Goodreads or any of these other booksellers out there.
Speaker B:The paperback's 24.95, but hey, 299 beats 24.95, so take advantage of that while you can.
Speaker A:And not being a financial advisor, I could tell you that's a good deal.
Speaker A:299.
Speaker B:I wasn't speaking as a financial advisor, but you're absolutely right.
Speaker A:So I'm curious, after you're looking at all you have done in your life and what you're doing now, what do you want your legacy to be?
Speaker B:What a great question.
Speaker B:I guess I would like for people to be able to say, he was there for us.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Whether it's helping in a disaster or, you know, answering a question or helping with their finance.
Speaker B:Coming up this weekend, I'm cooking pancakes at a pancake breakfast for kids.
Speaker B:You know, I'm making any money at it?
Speaker B:No, but seems like the thing to do.
Speaker B:I try to help out whenever I can.
Speaker A:That's a great thing.
Speaker A:So as we wrap up this great conversation, what key takeaways or thought for the day do you want to leave with the audience?
Speaker B:The best thing you can do is start your day with a smile or a laugh, and I'll make the give you the opportunity.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:All you got to do is open your email and there it is.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:Well, Bill, thanks so much for taking time and blessing our day and my at least my day and my audience's day with learning more about you and the work that you've done and the thought for the day we can get to encourage our day and start our day off right.
Speaker A:So I appreciate the work that you do, Keith.
Speaker B:I appreciate the invitation.
Speaker B:It's been a joy being with you today.
Speaker A:Thank you.
