010: Music, Mentorship, and Making Content with Glenn Taylor of Skybound Coaching

Danny Gavin    00:26 

Hello everyone. I’m Danny Gavin, founder of Optidge, marketing professor, and host of The Digital Marketing Mentor. Today I’m so excited to have a very special guest, Glenn Taylor of Skybound Coaching and Training, who is the President and a Certified Leadership Coach.

 

Danny Gavin    00:41 

I’ve known Glenn for over 10 years and it’s so awesome to have him here Skype on coaching and training. What is their coaching sweet spots? Well, they nerd out on helping strengthen leadership, presence, confidence, authenticity, influence, emotional intelligence. Presentation and speaking skills. Creative problem solving, innovation and collaboration. Some accolades and certifications that Glenn has gotten throughout the years. Professional certified coach through the International Coaching Federation as CPC coach through the Coactive Training Institute. He’s a past president of his local ICF chapter, and he also teaches coaching skills and mentors coaching in training. Last but not least, he has an amazing podcast, which we’ll talk about later in the episode Glenn it’s so nice to have.

 

Glenn Taylor    01:27 

You thanks so much for having me, Danny. This is really cool.

 

Danny Gavin    01:30 

My pleasure. Alright, let’s dive right in. Let’s start off with just your education, the early ways of how you got to where you are today.

 

Glenn Taylor    01:37 

Yeah, it’s a little bit of a winding road. Like a lot of people have actually always been interested in creative sort of things. So I as a kid, I was into art and magic. I was a magician in second grade called the Great Glendine. So my that name still follows me today, which I embrace. But yeah, I was just always into creative pursuits. O ended us studying music actually in college. Ended up shifting to a music business degree to get a little bit of that business background and then worked in the music industry for about a decade in marketing. And that’s where I really got my background in marketing and also my first taste of leadership. When I was promoted to a leadership position to manage A-Team that’s when I started to get really interested in people development. So from there just started to uncover. A deeper interest in leadership and ended up going back for a masters. Got a masters in organization development and leadership.

 

Danny Gavin    02:37 

Let’s go a little bit more into undergrad and your bachelor in music. I mean, obviously you’re far away from there today, but do you look back at that time and see any specific moments or classes or professors that really made a difference to you now?

 

Glenn Taylor    02:54 

Yeah, I well, I had an amazing. Piano teacher at the time, so anybody studying music? Gets a private teacher that they work with one-on-one and I would say, you know that you’re bringing that person to mind. He was definitely a mentor type, but. You know, also a teacher. What I really appreciated about him was that he was able to breakdown jazz music into a process. You know, a lot of jazz musicians who are teachers, they just sort of say like do it like this and then they play, you know, like make it sound like this or yeah, they just don’t know how to actually break it down into how do you know, nuts and bolts of how do you get better at something. So he had really figured that out and had a very. Organized way, I guess, to think about how you get better at playing jazz, which a lot of people think like, well, how does that work because it’s so much improvisation and fluidity, but it really is very mathematical and there’s a lot of preparation that has to go into it. Even though it’s an art, he still has made an impact, I think, on me in terms of how I get better at things because he modeled that very process oriented approach.

 

Danny Gavin    04:07 

I mean, I can relate to it with guitar when you’re doing a solo. Or riffing, right? So it’s like learning all those skills, getting the idea and then eventually they can let you loose and do what you need to. But to learn those fundamentals, even when like you, like you said like jazz, seemingly it’s like it’s not fundamentals, it’s all improv. But to learn those basics and having someone who’s so much higher and more knowledgeable than you, usually those people they can’t distill right their knowledge in a way down to that person, but it sounds like that teacher really could.

 

Glenn Taylor    04:40 

Yeah, Michael polera. His name and he’s still around and because I went to College in New Orleans, so he’s still performing around there and teaching at some other schools. So yeah, really gifted teacher.

 

Danny Gavin    04:52 

One point I want to bring up or one question is so you were, you know, I’m sure we’re going to talk about some of the influences while you were at the Symphony and you were CMO at the Symphony. But before we jump in there to let everyone know, right, you had a successful career at the Symphony, you were the CMO, you did really amazing and then at that point you decided. You know I wanna leave corporate world and actually want to become a coach. You know for some people that could have been and I’m sure there were people in your lives like Oh my gosh Glenn, you’re throwing it all away. That’s crazy. But for you like you knew inside you is the right thing and as we can see like these many years later how successful you are but let’s how about we go through that just a little bit that process of how did that come up? How did you get the gumption that, you know, throw away the fear and actually make a change like that.

 

Glenn Taylor    05:41 

Yeah, I mean, it’s a pretty messy process. I think maybe like many people, I don’t know, we all envision this more perfect. You know, I’m gonna be at this place with the side hustle where it’s making this much money and it looks like this, and then I’ll be ready to go for it. But it rarely happens that way. You know, I can’t take all the credit for stepping off the Cliff because I’ll admit that I actually was exited out of this. So I was asked to leave. I was laid off at a certain point, which initially at that phase in my career, wasn’t telling that story. You know, the message was. Glenn has decided to leave the Symphony and that sort of thing. But I want to be honest about it because I think, you know, it’s I’m all about keeping it real. And that was part of the impetus, although not all of it. I had definitely done some things ahead of time that helped me take advantage of that opportunity because there was certainly, you know, when I was asked to leave the Symphony, which really was a good thing, there was definitely that voice saying, well, why don’t you just go into another marketing position at another major Symphony or even like a sexier? Marketing position like you could go you could probably you know be in the running for the New York Philharmonic’s marketing director or you know these other major orchestras. So I could have kept climbing that career ladder if you will and that would have been a more safe more expected path. But I think I had done the soul searching in the couple of years before that happens and laying some groundwork that enabled me to feel like no i can put on that Red Cape which has been such a powerful image for me and you know and make the jump. So I mean I had done the soul searching around my own core values life purpose and I was lucky enough to participate in a leadership program that asked us to do those things. You know that put us through. A lot of those exercises that I now do with clients, I mean they’re very coach like activities where you define what are the top values that are most important to you that you want to make choices based on what is your life purpose or your personal mission, which can sound really intimidating to think about, but it’s so important to reflect on. So I had done those things and really uncovered this calling passion around people, development, coaching and then I had started laying the groundwork with. Working with a. Branding design company to think about well, what would a coaching company brand look like? Thinking about some names, starting to build that brand, starting to build a website presence, doing some speaking, doing some side coaching and things, building up my coaching hours. So I’ve been doing all these things. So at that point when I found myself in that opportunity to make a decision, it was very clear because I think I had already put some energy towards this and really built the resonance and me for this new path. But it was difficult I think. The reason I hadn’t stepped out on my own previous to that was because of maybe what you mentioned. There were people in my life that made that more complicated, which I think is often the case when people are in relationships, have family, that sort of thing, right? It’s a bigger decision than just a personal decision. So that made it more difficult to step out earlier. But so sometimes I think that’s the best thing about. The universe or God making things happen for you and kind of forcing you to make certain decisions.

 

Danny Gavin    09:08 

Yeah, it’s such a perfect example of, you know, maybe at the time looking at something and seeing, Oh my gosh, it’s really horrible. But when you look back at it, you know, later, it’s like, Oh my gosh, it was all meant to be. And it provided me with the path to where I am today. So the trick is, how do we realize at the moment that even though it seems really bad, but there’s something good out of it, so that’s something that we all have to work on. But it’s nice to have things look back. End to reading. I’ve been in this situation like that before and you know I’m gonna do my best to try to see the positive from it. But that’s amazing. And I love how like you were doing the things necessary to build it up. And then before you know it, like you look behind you like, oh, I actually have. You know, I’m a coach already. I already have a coaching practice. So let me just make it official, which is so cool. Thanks for being open about that because I never knew that and it definitely. You know, enhances the story I think, because just because you know you left the Symphony for whatever reason, doesn’t really make a difference. But you had, there was a fork in the road and you could have taken either path and you made a decision, I think, to take the one which was less traveled. And, you know, long term it appears that it was a really good choice it.

 

Glenn Taylor    10:24 

Was but because I will say that i didn’t have client work. At that time, really, I may have had. One or two like individual clients that I was doing some sample coaching with, but it’s not like I had built up a replacement income. So I really did have to walk in faith and i want to emphasize that point that has been really fruitful for me and. Faith has different implications, I mean. I’m a person of faith religiously, so that it has that, element, but I think even if you’re not. Just faith in a general sense that when you move towards. Something that feels aligned with your gifts, talents, passions, values, all of that stuff. I think that God or the universe answers, and it’s kind of that thing where it has to be. It has to be a collaboration, right, like. You have to step out first and indicate like I’m going to follow this. And I don’t exactly know what. What’s next? Or if it’s going to work and usually other people and God answers. And then opportunities happen. So it’s certainly been that dance where if I keep moving towards this work this you know, and taking these risks, then things happen. If I pull back and kind of stay in the comfort zone and things don’t happen as much. So it is this really interesting thing, but I think there’s a lot of power, you know. Sounds easier said than done, but if you can walk forward into that unknown towards something of purpose, then things tend to happen and it’s a really cool feeling.

 

Danny Gavin    12:09 

You mentioned you’re a swing dancer, but it sounds like you’re a tango dancer as well. So very talented dancer, Glen.

 

Glenn Taylor    12:15 

Oh, thanks. Yeah, and dance is a really great metaphor for a lot of things in business, too.

 

Danny Gavin    12:19 

All right, let’s jump now into mentorship. So how do you define a mentor?

 

Glenn Taylor    12:24 

I’ve thought about this a lot because we talk about it in coaching quite a bit because we have to make that distinction between, well, what is a coach versus a mentor versus a consultant. These terms get muddled for people, I think, given that I have some pretty clear definitions, I guess, of those different things. A coach in terms of how we define it. A coach as somebody who doesn’t give you the answers but supports you to find your own answers. So they. Are a guide, a catalyst. Lay more of that facilitator role. Ask you questions so they draw out of you answers or resources. The potential that you’ve already have, whereas I think a mentor usually is more telling based like they’re farther along in their career or in their life and they’re sharing some insights, inspiration. Telling you their story, maybe giving you some pointers. I do think Mentor is a is more advice oriented or more telling oriented typically, whereas a coach is more like, well, let me help you solve your problem. I don’t have the answers. You have the answers, let me help you uncover them. And I think both are really great and helpful and necessary. So not saying that coaching is better than mentorship, it’s just different. I’ve benefited from both in my life for sure.

 

Danny Gavin    13:49 

I love that distinction.

 

Glenn Taylor    13:51 

That doesn’t fit with how you think of mentorship.

 

Danny Gavin    13:54 

It’s a different spin, right? It’s one of the great parts about this podcast is everyone has a little bit of a different definition, you know? And sometimes it’s about explaining what it is and sometimes it’s comparing it with something else. And I think you’ve given us such a nice different perspective comparing it to a coach and how both are really awesome but provide, you know, a little bit of a different path to where you want to get.

 

Glenn Taylor    14:16 

To and I think in reality there’s probably blurred blurred lines between them, like I’m sure I can think of certain mentors. That even if they don’t know they’re stepping into coaching, have some moments of coaching right where they’re asking the really thoughtful, open questions that help me think through something so that in that moment they’re kind of wearing a coaching hat. But most of what they’re doing is more mentorship, or vice versa. Sometimes coaches will put on a mentor hat occasionally, so it is fluid in that way as well.

 

Danny Gavin    14:49 

I love how you put it as hats, right? Because exactly. Like, it’s not necessarily a person, but it’s, I guess, a way of approaching something and it’s a method. Well, let’s talk a little bit about the impactful mentors over your career during your life this was fun I because I hadn’t really thought about this before, so I really had to go back. In my files, in my memories to try to figure out, well, who would I identify as mentors? O yeah, a few that i thought of when I was still CMO at the Symphony and starting to explore this. Leadership and coaching path. I signed up like my very first leadership course was at Rice University, and at the time they had a entity on campus called Leadership Rice where they offered. Some classes and programs for the students as well as some things for the community. So I signed up for this Community leaders class and it was really like a leadership one oh one and the woman who taught it, her name is Susan Lieberman and she’s now. Moved on from Rice and is writing some really cool books and doing some mentorship and coaching herself. But yeah, Susan was really the first person that helped me understand leadership at that more academic, deeper level and think about what is it mean, what does it mean to be a good leader? So she was a teacher, she was in that teaching mode, but we also built a relationship outside of the class where she helped. Give me some thoughts and support in terms of things happening at the Symphony. She actually came into the I had her come to one of my team meetings at the Symphony one time and resent some ideas on leadership and effective teams. So we would meet for lunch, we would meet for coffee every once in a while after the class finished just maintaining that relationship where you know I saw her as this coach and leadership expert farther along in her path and she was really a great support for me and also helping me I think see this alternate path of coaching outside of doing marketing.

 

Danny Gavin    17:02 

Yeah, because, like, when you think about it at that time, right, you were in the Symphony and you weren’t necessarily looking at leadership from the perspective of ooh, this can be, you know, my passion or my life. But it was cool. If you really look at it, it’s like that initial grumblings of ooh, this is something I want to.

 

Glenn Taylor    17:18 

Do for sure. Yeah, she definitely fed that interest or kind of helped me uncover that even more. And then the other person, I guess chronologically this other mentor I wanted to mention. Popped up in my life before Susan did, and that’s Matthew van Beeson. He was the, he eventually became the executive director of the CEO of the Symphony. Before that, he was the general manager. So when I first started working in marketing at the Symphony in 2004 he was the general manager. And then he eventually became the CEO. He definitely was a mentor for me. We had a pretty quick, I think, rapport connection and built that relationship. He was very supportive. You know, even though as a general manager he was in a different department, he was in the operations. Side of the organization, I was in marketing. He still, you know, took interest in what I was doing, was very supportive of my ideas and my recommendations. Again, we would meet outside of kind of the day-to-day work. Like I think I probably invited him to lunch or to coffee and wanted to build that relationship. And he shared a lot about the Symphony world and his path and what it means to be a leader and a music nonprofit like that. So the biggest fruit that had really I would say is when he was promoted to CEO, he was the one who promoted. Need to be marketing director and at that time I was pretty young stills in my late twenties. To have somebody trust in you that much and believe in you and give you that kind of opportunity. Like I don’t know if I had applied for well, I know this for sure. If I had applied for a marketing director role in the organization at that time, I probably wouldn’t have gotten it because it didn’t have enough experience. But he was somebody that believed in me and said let me give this kid this opportunity. You know hey Glenn you’re going to be the marketing director. Stu you can do this. I believe in you. So that was a huge vote of confidence and the knowing that he was then my boss and a mentor was a cool combination. So that was a pretty big deal that he gave me that chance.

 

Danny Gavin    19:14 

Did it come as a surprise or did you know it was coming when you found out he wanted you to become our contractor?

 

Glenn Taylor    19:22 

I hoped it was going to happen, right? Yeah, I mean, I had a pretty, I think I was the natural internal choice. But with some of those higher level positions, oftentimes there’ll be a search. You know that the board or the executive director will decide, let’s do a national search for this. That was actually thinking about it. Now that was a really cool thing about the whole thing. I think he really. Said to the board, hey, we’ve got a great internal candidate. We’re just going to move with him and let’s not even do a search. So i’m guessing he really had to step up and say that and then because his, he already had such great credibility in the organization, you know, people gave him the latitude to make some of those decisions. So yeah, I think i was expected as the internal candidate, but you never know and oftentimes as I said they’ll bring in somebody. You know who appears big and sexy from some other city or whatever? Yeah, it was pretty neat. It’s like, hey, this. 27 year old or 28 year old, you’re going to lead one of the top orchestra marketing teams. That was awesome. Felt good.

 

Danny Gavin    20:31 

It’s funny because I went through a similar situation in my business recently where we have an open position and it was like, do we hire someone from the outside or do we promote from within. But you know, typically if I was going to hire that person from within, I’d never would. And there were like similar situation where it’s like certain people and organs are like no way, you can’t, you know, promote that individual. I like went within. Looked at my heart and was like, you know what? This whole organization is about like finding opportunity, helping people grow and you know, we got to give people the chance, so. I can definitely relate to that. And yeah, it’s not easy, right? It’s not an easy decision. But if you provide that support for that individual and you know, right, sometimes you know it’s right and you just got to push forward, even if others don’t necessarily agree.

 

Glenn Taylor    21:19 

Yeah, yeah. Some of those decisions are I guess, a combination of gut and experience. So, but I think mentors do that, right. They take a risk on people in a way they advocate for somebody. Whose younger? Who other people might not see as maybe ready for something and the mentor says like no, this person, let’s give him the chance. I believe in them and that means a lot. That automatically gives you the credibility too. To do something, to step into something so we can see that theme. I think in a lot of movies and a lot of stories where somebody’s teacher or mentor advocates for them, that’s really the initial chance that they get to shine. So I hadn’t thought about that till now, but that’s an important role of a mentor.

 

Danny Gavin    22:05 

So once you got in the role, did he kind of let you fly or were there still those opportunities of like mentoring you and, you know, checking up on you and giving you advice?

 

Glenn Taylor    22:15 

There were still those opportunities for sure, I mean. We were working together very closely, meeting regularly. And one on ones more from business, you know, managing the business perspective, but there were definitely moments. Woven in of continual mentorship guidance. We still would do some things outside of work as well every once in a while, and I think that that’s also an important piece. Of a mentorship relationship is that there’s the yeah, it’s not just a professional relationship, it becomes a personal relationship as well. And so typically there’s that more social aspect I guess, or relationship building piece that happens. Outside of justice, a mentorship conversation, so that builds trust and connection with the mentor.

 

Danny Gavin    23:06 

Let’s move to some more recent mentors. I know you’ve mentioned to me people like Pat Flynn, Chris Kenny, how have they mentored?

 

Glenn Taylor    23:12 

You let me start with Pat Flynn. I was thinking about this because. I’m like, can I have a mentor that I don’t personally know? And that was even letting my thoughts go out on that and thinking, well, what about? People that I view as heroes or inspiration who are more public figures or pop culture icons, you know, I would even consider some of them mentors. But Pat Flynn kind of sits in between that because he’s not a celebrity per se. We never actually met or talked or anything. And this was after I left and left the Symphony and was building my business. I found pat online through his company, smart passive income, and he is like a master content creator. And digital content guy built his own. Business as an entrepreneur, as a coach, more as a business coach and mentor and created a ton of content through his company. That was just really inspirational for me. I mean, he was doing. Videos and ebooks and podcasts and all of that before a ton of people. Before, as many people were doing those things. Now he was doing them in the late two thousands after he got laid off from a job at a, I believe, an engineering company, and then decided to follow his passion to build an online business and help other people do it. So he’s just been really inspirational in my journey, especially within the digital marketing and content development space. There would be a lot of days where I would listen to one of his podcasts or watch one of his videos and it would really. Inspire me to keep going and to do something new and to try something new. So and that way. I think I view him as a mentor because of his teaching, because of the resources he provided and the inspiration I think that he is to a lot of people, a lot of entrepreneurs. I’m curious, have you heard about him before? Have you ever seen his stuff?

 

Danny Gavin    25:03 

I have not, but I think you’ve told me about him before and I know that. I know he’s been a big imprint on what you do and inspiration as well cool yeah, right. And then Chris Kenny is somebody that I hired. So different type of relationship. He is a mentor, slash consultant, I would say slash coach. So he kind of blends a lot of those different ways of being, but he calls himself a sales mentor. And so I hired him specifically to. Help me strengthen my ability to land larger contracts and to sell myself as a coach. That’s kind of interesting. I mean it’s a paid relationship. So I guess at the bottom of it is a consultant type of relationship. But I would say he showed it. He’s definitely showed up more like a mentor and a coach. Because again, there was a personal relationship and even though on the surface we were working on how do I become a better salesperson, it actually got into a lot of deeper things that he helped me with that were more personal, like some confidence considerations or issues, challenges around, you know, how do you. Show U confidently and vulnerably. We got into some things about like everybody has I think some money baggage, like if you’re going to pitch a bigger contract, how do you get your mindset right so that you feel comfortable? Being able to pitch higher pricing for your services and to do that with confidence and how do you approach? People in a sales conversation in a way that feels authentic to you and doesn’t feel slimy and all that. He’s a master of all that and was a amazing mentor that helped me really step U my revenue earnings my business. You know take things to a whole nother level and show up with even better skills so. Definitely an impactful person in my life. Both in the professional sense and also in terms of some personal development.

 

Danny Gavin    27:03 

You have a amazing arsenal of mentors that have helped you in your life. So now let’s talk about how you mentor others. So obviously you’re a coach, but let’s talk about the mantra side. I know you mentor younger coaches and entrepreneurs. Let’s talk about that a bit.

 

Glenn Taylor    27:21 

Yeah, I love connecting with other coaches, other entrepreneurs, from a networking perspective, from a partnership standpoint, and just. Building relationships and oftentimes that does resent opportunities to support people who are earlier in the journey as an entrepreneur, especially as a coach entrepreneur. So as I’ve been involved with the coaching federation, which is a the Coaching association and there’s a local Houston chapter that has also put me in front of or. Giving me the chance to build relationships with other coaches and there are a lot of people going into coaching. It’s i think an attractive field and really growing O I’ve had the chance to. Sit down with younger coaches, people just getting into it and not only talk about coaching and my approaches but also the business building site. Because I think that that’s often the hardest thing for newer coaches is figuring out how do I make this work as a business especially they don’t have a marketing background so you know, sharing ideas, telling part of my story, sharing some recommendations. All those I think are mentor alike and so I. Enjoy giving back. In that way. I also do more formal mentoring. There’s actually mentoring that happens within the coach training journey. So when people are learning to become a coach and they’re trying to get certified as a coach, they have to work with a mentor for a certain number of hours. And that mentorship is directly related to their coaching skills. So they have to learn a certain type of certain set of coaching skills and demonstrate those. And so as a coach mentor, I meet with people, actually listen to their. Recordings their sample recordings when they are coaching their clients and we’ll talk about what are they doing well, what could they keep leveling U about their coaching skills? So in that context it’s feedback it’s. Advice and a little bit of coaching thrown in there to kind of help them. Figure out for themselves how to be a better coach. But yeah, that brings U the point of feedback. I think that’s an important role of a mentor as well, to provide that outside perspective because I could be so valuable that we all have blind spots that we can’t see ourselves.

 

Danny Gavin    29:39 

When you’re giving feedback or even receiving it, you know sometimes people don’t like constructive criticism or feedback. So how do you deal with it and how do you help others deal with that?

 

Glenn Taylor    29:49 

It’s a great question because you’re right, it’s all of us to some degree I think are uncomfortable with critical feedback. At least at first, you know, I’ve gotten to the point where I’d like to think, yeah, that I’ve worked enough on my mindset to be able to really welcome feedback. And I bring up mindset because I think it all does come to that if you’ve got more of that growth mindset. That sees feedback as helpful information and helpful for your growth. Then you can welcome it more because like I said, we all have blind spots that we don’t see. So that’s been part of the work for me is developing that mindset that welcomes feedback if I get defensive. About feedback, then there’s something for me to look at. There’s something there. For me to understand about myself, like why am I getting defensive? What’s the? Insecurity there or what’s causing that. And so that’s what i would recommend for people to kind of think about is like how do you view feed critical feedback currently and what’s where’s that coming from. You know what’s under the surface. I think sometimes it can help, at least in the coaching context to 1st have people take an assessment of some sort that’s people view as more objective right? Like a like a survey, either a personality assessment or skills based assessment. And that can tell them things that is more databased. It’s not somebody’s opinion. And then they can see like, oh, this assessment is telling me. I have some gas, so there’s some things I might want to look at. I need to figure out how to work on that, so to figure out how to work on that, I probably need some feedback. To understand more about that or whether people see that or not so that can be a way into it is try to find like a databased approach for someone to see something learn about themselves and then fold feedback in as part of the process. But I think you know a lot of my client companies, I encourage them to try to create a feedback culture, which is to really normal normalize feedback and say, hey, it’s one of our values, it’s something about our culture, it’s not just something that’s going to happen once a year so. We’re going to give feedback all the time and that’s a positive feed, you know appreciative feedback, positive feedback and developmental feedback and that’s a term that I’ve that I think is it’s a more friendly term for critical feedback is developmental feedback because we all need to develop, we got to keep developing or improvement based feedback. I think some of these things around mindset, normalizing it using other tools as well. Changing the language to try to? Dump the baggage that we have around feedback, you know can help it be. Hopefully more of a friendly or welcome thing for people.

 

Danny Gavin    32:35 

I love that. Super valuable. Thank you. Yeah, for sure. Alright, let’s jump into marketing a little bit. You’ve run your own leadership coaching firm for about 8 years now. How has your marketing strategy evolved over the years?

 

Glenn Taylor    32:48 

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to focus on the digital marketing side of things and that could be an edge for me because as I think I mentioned before, a lot of coaches, coach, entrepreneurs don’t have that marketing background. So if I could really leverage the marketing and branding and. Also creative side that could be a differentiator. Oi don’t know that that’s well it’s evolved in terms of probably building on itself overtime getting a little bit more sophisticated and justice expanding. But from the start I definitely knew that I wanted that to be a big part of my strategy and thank you Danny for being a great mentor. Hey I should have mentioned to you you’ve been a mentor for me especially on the digital marketing side of things to. Give me some thoughts, feedback, wisdom, point me in the right direction. O I’ve really appreciated that Danny. But yeah, I mean starting with investing more than probably a typical starter entrepreneur would on a website, on a brand. In terms of the visual design and then really playing the long game of. Building content O Blog content, podcast videos and doing those things now overtime, which is really. Paid off building reviews, building the Google business profile. And all of that giving me a certain level of authority, credibility and presence that I think is unique. So that’s definitely been a huge part of my strategy. A lot of other marketing, I guess, if you will, for coaches actually is more old school too. So it’s kind of been a combination of new school and old school. And by old school, I mean person to person. Relationship building speaking, you know, speaking as a big driver of. Sales for coaches and consultants, because it puts you in front of people that get a taste of your presence and your expertise and all of that, you know, referrals, encouraging referrals, ah man, those have been the biggest levers, I mean for the last year or two like working with Chris Kenney that I mentioned, really upping. My ability to. Cell bigger packages have those kind of conversations. Rice things at a different level has been a big part, you know, that’s definitely evolved for sure. And I’d like to do more direct business development outreach. So that’s a new Phase I guess that I’m in at this point is figuring out what does that look like and the way that feels. Authentic to me. And, you know, part of my brand is doing things, yeah, being true to my values of authenticity, playfulness, creativity, trying to always bring that. So how do I? You know, infuse that into the marketing and that’s been part of the. Part of the formula as well.

 

Danny Gavin    35:50 

I want to just touch on a couple of those points because number one, like as you were talking about the organic content and if you think about it, most people, you know when they’re beginning of their journey, you know, people always ask me, should I start with SEO or should I start with Google ads, right? Should I go organic or paid? Glen, you really like doubled down on organic content. Like I’m going to write blog posts, I’m going to create a podcast. I know that like right now it might not turn into anything, but I’m going to do it because I know it’s right and I know that it’s going to help eventually. And like you look back and you suddenly look like 8 years later and. Yeah, like you go to Glenn’s website, it’s the most beautiful website number one. And we’ll give you the address in a couple of minutes. But also like this is the library of content. And so it’s not just, you know from what you see from the website, but there’s also proof behind it. Like wow, there’s all knowledge and expertise and it’s amazing. So I think it’s so cool that you had that gumption and the early days of like I’m going to commit to organic content and we can see how that helped later on. I mean, like you and I, we’ve spoken about like just some of the terms that you ranked number one for on Google. Like it’s pretty crazy, like, you know, so it’s amazing that you put in that effort.

 

Glenn Taylor    37:00 

Well, I wanted to say it’s a bonus that I enjoy doing it. So i think the creative side of me and tapping into that feeding that like I enjoy writing, I really like graphic design. So you know leaning into those I guess those talents and interests and the fact that I see it as a creative outlet. It’s not just like a thing on my To Do List. It’s like, oh, you know, it’s fun to craft a message that or, you know, content that’s useful for people, but that’s also fun to make. So I think that keeping that mindset with it is has been really good, right? Because anytime it becomes the thing I have to do, then it’s not going to be as fun and it’s going to be harder to do.

 

Danny Gavin    37:43 

It that brings up an important point of like leaning into what you enjoy, right? So if you aren’t going to enjoy it, I mean sometimes you have to do things to market yourself even if you don’t love it. But if you can choose those things that are naturally going to be like when you wake up in the morning. Want to do it like you’re gonna, it’s gonna help a tremendous amount. I think one thing that you didn’t mention, and at least from what I’ve seen from a third party perspective, is also your willingness to try things out like with groups and maybe give away a little bit where typically you would charge, but you give away something for free for people to. Experience and you know from my perspective I think that’s been you know, a really amazing way of how you’ve been able to sell and also get people to experience you. And I think a lot of people could learn from that because sometimes it’s like you know I’m worth 500$ an hour and you know if I give away 30 minutes and you know and I don’t get paid two fifty I’m never going to do it. But it seems like you’ve been generous obviously with the goal in mind but that’s helped as well.

 

Glenn Taylor    38:44 

Yeah, that I hadn’t thought about that. What are the sort of things that come to mind that I’ve done? Are you thinking? Different groups, group conversations that have facilitated or invite different leaders, or yeah, I mean that that’s something that I’ve tried that I’d like to get back on to is. Facilitating group conversations where I’m providing a little bit of content, helping people connect. And inviting people to bring other people to those things. So again it’s a little bit more old school person to person. It’s kind of a mix of content and sales because you’re. Sort of like speaking as I guess you’re giving some information, but then you’re also meeting people face to face and building that relationship.

 

Danny Gavin    39:24 

It’s a casual way of selling because then people get to meet Glen. Oh, wow, look what he’s accomplished. Look at the people he knows. Look at the people he’s touched wow he also has some really great things to say. Maybe I should sign up for a coaching session. You know, I think it’s really smart, obviously takes time and effort and it’s a little bit harder. But, you know, I like just not that I know of. Tons of people. But you know, I haven’t really seen that from, you know, my circles. And I think that is a competitive advantage that you bring at least what I’ve seen throughout the years. So Glen as we’ve spoken about, creates really cool content. You should check out his videos. He usually ties in movie themes or comic book themes. Really fun. So we’re going to talk about what are your top 3 movies?

 

Glenn Taylor    40:07 

I love this question because I’m such a movie buff and nerd and it’s really hard to. Pick favorites, so it’s a. This is a challenging question, but I’ll take it on. I’ll just say that these are some of my favorites. I don’t know if I could even call them, you know. Top three. So that’s I’m kind of letting myself off the hook here.

 

Danny Gavin    40:30 

We yeah, we won’t count. Count it against.

 

Glenn Taylor    40:31 

You though. Man, I have to say the back to the future trilogy is one of my all time favorites and specifically the first one, the first back to the future movie. Just I don’t know man. Something about the combination of, you know, the eighties nostalgia and the story and the futuristic element and the DeLorean and Michael J. Fox is one of my favorite. I just think he really embodied that character. And then. Doc Brown and their whole relationship talk about mentor mentee, maybe there was something, some mentorship happening there. But yeah, it’s just funny it’s. Fantastical, but it’s kind of like real enough to draw you in, like as a kid, imagine this like, what if this actually happened, you know? So I really like movies that are realistic enough to where the fantasy feels grounded. That’s a big one from like a heroic, epic standpoint of a movie. I really love gladiator with Russell Crowe. So Russell Crowe.

 

Danny Gavin    41:41 

It’s Russell Crowe.

 

Glenn Taylor    41:42 

Yeah, like, am I saying the right name now? Yeah so gladiator really loved gladiator. It’s just. Epic, epic movie in terms of the battle scenes, and I think they did a really great job. Recreating that world and the Roman Empire and the whole transformation of. You know the main characters journey having been like this. Maximus is his name being this big War general who then ends up becoming. You know the enemy, an enemy of the Emperor of Caesar, and he becomes a slave and then he has to work his way back U and anyway it’s just it’s. There’s a cool journey there of the character and it’s just awesome movie, especially I think it resonates for dudes O. Check it out and let me see what else? I think the original and this is very timely because of the sequel just came out, but. Avatar, the James Cameron movie The first one is one of my favorite movies ever. I enjoyed the sequel. I think all sequels are challenged because the surprise elements and stuff aren’t really there anymore. So you have to, I don’t know it the second one was a little bit. Less all there for me in terms of the writing and the characters. But the first one just awesome. I mean, I remember going to the theater and seeing it. Yeah, four or five times probably in the theater when it first came out, just the world building that was created there. But ultimately a powerful story again of transformation, you know, like this marine who was really at. Wits end in his life and then. Finds purpose. And becomes alive again and has this whole journey of connecting with the locals that he that he ends U. You know becoming a part of by the end of the movie. So and the technology element I think i enjoy movies with yeah technology world building transformational stories. So yeah those are a few of my favorites.

 

Danny Gavin    44:01 

I love that 3 movies, 3 heroes and Glenn helps you become a hero.

 

Glenn Taylor    44:07 

Hey, look at that.

 

Danny Gavin    44:09 

Where can listeners learn more about you and your business?

 

Glenn Taylor    44:13 

Sure yeah. So company is Skybound coaching and training, and you can find us. online@goskybound.com is the website, and that’s also our handle on social. So go Skybound on all the main social outlets, and then if you’re into podcasts, search for the Skybound leadership podcasts. And yeah, we try to tie in, as you mentioned, some fun angles to leadership. From pop culture, movies, music, nerd culture. So specifically we enjoy working with clients in creative fields in marketing and tech. So if you’re in those realms I think you’ll you’ll enjoy our content and then you mentioned the videos as well. So on YouTube, Skybound coaching and training, wonderful.

 

Danny Gavin    45:00 

Glenn, thank you so much for being a guest on the digital marketing mentor. And thank you listeners for tuning in to the digital marketing mentor. We will see you next time.

 

Glenn Taylor    45:09 

Thanks for having.

 

Glenn Taylor    45:09 

Me thank you for listening to the digital Marketing Mentor podcast. Be sure to check us out online at the dmmentor.com and at the DM mentor on Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts for more marketing mentor Magic. See you next time.