What's Working With Cam Marston

Many cities need more urban housing with Mobile, Alabama certainly being one of them. It's hard to find, though, and where you do find neighborhoods and houses many of them are blighted and unsuited for living. Porchlight is changing that. By carefully identifying properties, doing the often cumbersome work of locating property owners and then building homes that match the design and spirit of the neighborhood, Porchlight is returning streets and neighborhoods to their bygone thriving days. John Ruzic leads the initiative. Working from within Rogers & Willard construction, John knocks on many doors, makes hundreds of calls, and works to get the many stakeholders on board for the revitalization. And John foresees the day when urban centers across the southeast seek out his team's model and guidance to solve their own urban residential challenges.  Brought to you by the Gen Savvy Communications Academy.  Got someone who needs their story told? Reach out: Cam@CamMarston.com.

Mark Colson has oversight of the Alabama Trucking Association and has insight into the 131,000 people the industry represents in the state. That's 1 out of every 13 jobs. They're good people, Mark says, who get a bad rap. It's an expensive business to run - the rigs cost a good but, the drivers and diesel mechanics earn a nice salary and wage, but its the insurance that hurts these small businesses the most. The cost of insurance, per Mark, is driven up by the attorneys who adveriste in such a way that makes the truck drivers and trucking companies look like careless villans. Mark's goal is to spread the good word about the hard-working men and women who make up the trucking businesss.  Reach out to us with show ideas: Cam@CamMarston.com.

The "modern elder." It's a strange term. Chip Conley describes it this way: As curious as you are wise. I heard Chip at a conference in San Francisco, wrangled a meeting with him, and booked this podcast. I was moved by his content. If modern medicine has its way, we're going to live a long time and need a place to apply ourselves during and after middle-age. Chip went through this transformation and teaches his lessons at his Modern Elder Academy. He has 6000 graduates who have been through his program with the aim of finding new purpose. He has an infection optimism and makes some points that hit me right in the "Ooooofff. That's me!!" Enjoy. And let me know if you see yourself in this interview anywhere. 

Entrepreneur Operating System. It's building momentum amongst small to medium sized businesses in the area. Sid Sexton and Forrest Derr are advocates of it. Both have seen the results on their own work.  Sid runs Sexton Lawn and Landscape and says EOS has changed his company. Forrest was part of the transformation. The biggest place where you can see the results? Meetings. They're efficient, decision making gatherings, not rambling chatterings from a few people. EOS method insists on a meeting formula that begins with somewhat personal observaitons and then moves into the work. This recipe, I've learned other places, is part and parcel to many successful workplace cultutres - don't be afraid to get personal and vulnerable.  Sid and Forrest discuss EOS, the book that triggered it for them, and where you can go locally (in southwest Alabama) to learn more and get involved.  Forrest with Derr Consulting - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/forrestkderr/ Sid with Sexton Lawn and Landscape - LinkedIn: https:/

Judge Roy Bean Spirits began when David Gibson sold his advertising and marketing agency and decided to try his hand at whiskey and tossed a new brand into the marketplace. His product has a distinct pecan wood finish, making it unique. The regulatory body in the state of Alabama offered him a trail in markets south of I-10 and his product quickly caught on. Today the product is avaiable across the state and David is now working to gain distrubtion outside Alabama.  David has also created ancillary products to support the brand - soap, coffee, and a line of hats and T-shirts. He also has a wonderful satsuma based bitters that, along with his whiskey, make a stellar Old Fashioned.  As we recorded the interview, his annual honey cask was hitting the shelves. It's a limited bottling. The idea presented itself to David when some hobbiest honey farmers wanted one of his casks to provide a whiskey flavor to their honey. He then took that cask and re-added whiskey, giving the whiskey a slight honey flavor. It's a ma

The What's Working radio show has come to a close. The podcast remains. This is the first of the new podcast-only, non-radio versions of What's Working. No forced breaks for commercials, no time limit per episode. Much easier to edit. More fun for me. No obligations and no deadlines for new weekly content. If you're a fan of the show, please give this new format a chance. ----- My part of town has experienced a surge in owl attacks. In the pre-dawn hours (and a few in the early evening), joggers are getting attacked. Owls are flying away with earbuds, hats, jogging lights. One runner was more than harassed, he was attacked! Cuts on his hands and face. There's been over a dozen attacks.  I speak with an owl expert on what's going on. It's all normal, she says, but understandibly unnerving. The topic is not exactly a workplace, workforce, or marketplace trend but...it's a trend around here of some sort. So, it counts for the show. At least the new show. Owl attacks this week on What's Working! (Please forgive m

Monte Criswell is a songwriter. A big time, bad-a$$ songwriter. 200 of his songs have been recorded by Nashville artists and he's had several number 1 hits and a few Grammy nominations. His passion from a young age was to be in music. From the University of Alabama (and St Paul's Episcopal School in Mobile, Alabame before that) he declined a law school enrollment at Syracuse and went to Nashville where he hustled and slept in his car looking for a break. Today's he's a known name in the country music scene, having written for George Strait, Darius Rucker, Trace Adkins, Morgan Wallen, and many many more.  On this episode of What's Working we discuss the music business from the point of view of a songwriter.  Find Monte on Instagram.  Monte Criswell Songs. Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty Persons Services Corp Bill-E's Bacon Roosters Restaurant in Downtown Mobile, Alabama Bay Business News CR Mi

Low T. What's it mean? What does a man with low T experience? What does testosterone replacment feel like? Whan changes can you expect? Dr Matt Barber has taken on this issue with his new business called Gameday Men's Health. In a private environment, you will get tested to see what your testosterone level is and whether you need their services or any of their other offerings.  Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty Persons Services Corp Bill-E's Bacon Roosters Restaurant in Downtown Mobile, Alabama Bay Business News CR Mitigation Find Cam Marston's book - What Works: The Ten Best Ideas from the First Two-Hundred Episodes on Amazon.com.  To get the Cam's "Here's What's Cool" list each week and a Free Chapter of What Works, sign up here.  Last - The best daily news newsletter I've found is Morning Brew. I've read it every morning for years. Good content written with a dash of snark. Find it here.  

The Isle Dauphine Oyster Company was born out of Doug's passion for process, the coastal waters, and Doug's fondness for oysters. A trained engineer, Doug has now created a predictable product that's ready for the big time. That's a part of his pitch when he enters restaurants in Nashville, Birmingham, Atlanta, and New Orleans - they can count on his oysters tasting good all the time and always being available. He's not worried about storms, about too much fresh water, about any of the variables that smaller, less sophisticated farmed oysters companies struggle with. Doug is now spreading the word and one of the markets he's targeting the most right now is his own home town of Mobile, Alabama where about a dozen farmed oyster companies operate yet, strangely, few restaurants offer them on the menu.  Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty Persons Services Corp Bill-E's Bacon Roosters Restaurant in Dow

Ron McBay travels to places most of us only fainly know about to represent NATO and train these countries leadership on NATO approved engagement practices. It's very precise content and Ron, trained as an attorney and a background as a JAG, knows it very well. Curious how NATO really works? Want to know what engagement tactics are allowed? Listen in to this week's show.  Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty Persons Services Corp Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial Bill-E's Bacon Roosters Restaurant in Downtown Mobile, Alabama Bay Business News CR Mitigation Find Cam Marston's book - What Works: The Ten Best Ideas from the First Two-Hundred Episodes on Amazon.com.  To get the Cam's "Here's What's Cool" list each week and a Free Chapter of What Works, sign up here.  Last - The best daily news newsletter I've found is Morning Brew. I've read it every morning for years. Good content written wi

Maymay went on to YouTube from Chilton County, Alabama many years ago out of a desire to create some beautiful paper creations. People watched. Then more people. Then many more people. Now she hosts events online with hundreds of attendees and they travel internationally to come to her hosted events in Chilton County. Social media is her advertising tool and she does it very well. This is an amazing story of success from a charismatic lady who you can't help but fall in love with. Enjoy! Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty Persons Services Corp Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial Bill-E's Bacon Roosters Restaurant in Downtown Mobile, Alabama Bay Business News CR Mitigation Find Cam Marston's book - What Works: The Ten Best Ideas from the First Two-Hundred Episodes on Amazon.com.  To get the Cam's "Here's What's Cool" list each week and a Free Chapter of What Works, sign up here.  Last - T

The National Association of Realtors changed home buying rules and they've been in effect about a month. Home buyers will now have a new conversation with their realtor when they go to buy a home. The realtor will need to negotiate a fee with the buyer. Previously it was in the background as the deal went forward with a typical 6% commission split between buyer's agent and seller's agent. Now, that's all changed and is highly negotiable.  Angelo DePaola has seen this coming. It's no surprise. He thinks it will make the best realtors stand out even more and the "hobbiest" realtors who sell homes as a side-hustle slowly go away. We discuss how he now has to give extra effort at defining his value to home buyers and what it means for realtors going forward.  Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty Persons Services Corp Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial Bill-E's Bacon Roosters Restaurant in Down

Telling people things allows them to disagree with you. Asking them questions allows you to understand their perspective and allows you to align with their ideas before directing them. Bob Tiede is an author of the book Leading with Questions. He and I discuss the power of questions as a leadership tool.  Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty Persons Services Corp Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial Bill-E's Bacon Roosters Restaurant in Downtown Mobile, Alabama Bay Business News CR Mitigation Find Cam Marston's book - What Works: The Ten Best Ideas from the First Two-Hundred Episodes on Amazon.com.  To get the Cam's "Here's What's Cool" list each week and a Free Chapter of What Works, sign up here.  Last - The best daily news newsletter I've found is Morning Brew. I've read it every morning for years. Good content written with a dash of snark. Find it here.  

The business of moving and movers. Pretty tried and true. Very little room for disruption, right? Wrong. Ron Holt has upended tradtional businesses before and is doing it again. His first was Two Maids where he based the payment of the service providers on the evaluations of the customers. The result? Huge efforts from the cleaners to please the customer and treat them well. He's taking this same non-tradtional thinking to Pink Zebra moving. The movers play music. They buy the homeowner dinner. They have a great time. It's about reimagining the stale and throwing some energy and ideas into it.  Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty Persons Services Corp Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial Bill-E's Bacon Roosters Restaurant in Downtown Mobile, Alabama Bay Business News CR Mitigation Find Cam Marston's book - What Works: The Ten Best Ideas from the First Two-Hundred Episodes on Amazon.com.  T

With all the free weather apps avaialble, why pay for a forecast? Because Crown Weather offers something a bit more, a bit personal. Rob Lightbrown offers a subscription only weather forecast that gets into the weeds of the weather. I was referred to him by a retired banker who used Rob's service to help his agricultural clients try to prepare for the storms that may destroy their crops. I spoke to Rob a few weeks ago where he predicted that by late July and early August there would likely be some tropical storm activity forming. And, as I write this today, right on cue, there is prediction of a storm in the Atlantic to arrive around August first. Rob offers something additional to his subscribers, too. Want a weather prediction for your picnic? Your outdoor wedding reception? Your high school football game? He'll gladly reply to your request with your own personal weather forecast for your event. Pretty cool.  Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Ag

Who is the hero of your business? Too often, it's you. It SHOULD be the customer. Stephanie Greenwood is a StoryBrand consultant and explains it all so simply to me. She's with IMMIX Strategic and walks me through the process. The customer is the hero. You - the business - are a guide that helps the hero overcome their problem. You bring them to solutions and help them avoid disaster. It's so simple. And yet we botch it again and again.  Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty Persons Services Corp Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial Bill-E's Bacon Roosters Restaurant in Downtown Mobile, Alabama Bay Business News CR Mitigation Find Cam Marston's book - What Works: The Ten Best Ideas from the First Two-Hundred Episodes on Amazon.com.  To get the Cam's "Here's What's Cool" list each week and a Free Chapter of What Works, sign up here. 

Leadership consultant and author Brandon Smith has written a book that I've had referenced to me too many times in the past weeks to simply ignore. Called Author vs Editor Dilemma, the book is a management and leadership guide with simple plans for turning your employees into a more highly productive team. It's a simple concept - as the leader, too often you're an author, telling people what to do. You need to edit - guide their behavior and leave them to take initiative. On with Brandon and me is Wills Moore. Wills is an executive coach and uses the book in his client interfaces. Wills shares stories of the book has changed his client's efficacy.  Brandon Smith - "The Workplace Therapist" or "The Worksmiths" Wills Moore - Agilitas Human Resource Consulting, 404.863.6511 Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty Persons Services Corp Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial Bill-E's Bacon Roosters Re

Cline Jones spent time as a boy watching the locks and dams near his home take and receive tow-boats on the river. The attraction of the work was deep and he signed up to be a part of that industry. Today he's the Executive Director of the Tennessee River Valley Association and the Tennessee-Cumberland Waterways Council. He knows the numbers: the 12,000 miles of waterways transport 1/3 of the nation's GDP; 541,000 jobs come from the inland waterways; 15 barges equals 1000+ 18 wheelers or 216 train cars. There are 219 locks operating today.  And it's the locks and dams that worry him the most. Many are well over their 50 year life-cycle for which they were designed.  We discuss the waterways, their infrastructure, and their threats.  Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty Persons Services Corp Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial Bill-E's Bacon Roosters Restaurant in Downtown Mobile, Alabama Bay

Economist Connor Lokar says it's goign to get worse before it gets better. Then it's going to get much worse. Connor is with ITR Economics. He and his firm work with businesses to help them prepare for economic change. Avowedly apolitical, Connor and his team only say the November election is unlikely to change our economy in any meaningful way, regardless of who wins the presidential election. To get a good read on the economy you need to know government spending, demographics, imports and exports, and a dozen other numbers. Connor knows his stuff, and you'll want to hear what our future holds.  Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty Persons Services Corp Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial Bill-E's Bacon Roosters Restaurant in Downtown Mobile, Alabama Bay Business News Find Cam Marston's book - What Works: The Ten Best Ideas from the First Two-Hundred Episodes on Amazon.com.  To get the To

Lots of changes coming to workplace rules ranging from the legality of non-compete agreements to changes to the salary of exempt employees. Windy Bitzer of the Hand Arendall law firm explains the changes and what they mean for you and me.  Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaola - The Coastal Connection Realty Persons Services Corp Seth Cherniak - Jeffrey Matthews Financial Bill-E's Bacon Roosters Restaurant in Downtown Mobile, Alabama Bay Business News Find Cam Marston's book - What Works: The Ten Best Ideas from the First Two-Hundred Episodes on Amazon.com.  To get the Top 3 Tips of the show each week and a Free Chapter of What Works, sign up here.