Episode 167: Winning at Business and Life with Evan Knox

This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.

Hey, so I'm Evan. I run an agency called Caffeine Marketing and we make marketing profitable for small companies that are doing less than $25 million a year in annual revenue. That might look like websites, advertising, but the key is, is that we design a marketing strategy for them from the ground up so that the marketing is actually profitable.

Evan, it's great to have you on the show. Question number 2, what's the best thing about working in your industry?

You are always learning and I'm always getting an exposure to different types of companies and businesses. So much so that in the last year I've actually become a partner in a lot of these companies because I found them so interesting. I think there's a ton of potential with each one.

That's interesting. That definitely sets you apart from the typical agency who is just getting paid by those companies, that you're really an investor in some of them.

Yeah, absolutely. It's really, it's one of my favorite relationships because now it's not just a transactional, hey, you do this, I'm gonna do this. We come alongside them. It's almost like, hey, I mean, really we are partners and we're joining arm in arm and helping them figure this out. And make it profitable and ultimately get them the business that they've always wanted.

Neat. Question number 3: I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?

Teachability. So when— not only have I, in the relationships with our clients, but also as we've acquired businesses, the business owners or the leaders inside of the businesses are often the cap or the bottleneck for the company growing. And it's really hard because I can't make somebody change their attitude or become more humble. And I'm not saying— I'm definitely not saying that I'm even in the top percentile of humility. I'm not. But I do think that an ounce of humility goes a long way in running a business and being willing to take other people's feedback and seek out feedback from other people who are not even your boss, who might even work for you, or finding other peers who are experts in their field. Is incredibly important. A couple business owners are now partners come to mind, and it's— I wish they would go read this book called Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink. And they're not bad people, they're really amazing people that do some incredible things. But this attitude of, hey, I'm going to control me and do everything I can to control me and not have a victim mindset is a great aspect of somebody who's teachable.

I like that a lot. Thank you for sharing. Question number 4: other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, What advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?

Besides the being teachable, I would say when it comes to your marketing is to not play the hero of your own marketing. I'm a StoryBrand Certified Guide, and it's a framework out of— it's a company out of Nashville that essentially has this framework that they use. And what I love about this idea that you're not playing the hero, you're playing the guide, is that you're there to serve other people and it's not all about you. And so your marketing message is less about, hey, we're so incredible. It's more like, hey, here's the problem that you have and here's what success is going to look like on the other side of working with us. So that would be my biggest suggestion is to make that shift.

I like that. It's very insightful. Thank you very much. Question number 5: What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?

So there's a lot of awesome people that I get the opportunity to work with, but one comes up to mind. His name is Josh. He's a fellow StoryBrand certified guide and I would love to have him on here.

Perfect. I'll reach out to him. Thank you for that referral. And our final question, question number 6, please tell me about your first job.

Okay, so this is a moment where I really had to consider. I've worked for my family for a long time. So my grandfather owned a jewelry store. My dad owned a diamond wholesale company. So he would essentially import diamonds and sell them to jewelry stores like my grandfather. But my first job, like where I actually had to pay taxes, on it, was working for this outfitter. So what they did is they would go and, you know, essentially drop people off the river and then they would tube or they'd kayak or whatever it was in the river and then we'd go pick them up. And so it's me and this guy in a van all day. I couldn't drive, so my parents dropped me off. And I remember like picking up boats, hauling boats, putting boats back in. And one day this guy who's a little bit older than I am, I think he was like 16, he was like, hey, they're like totally cool if we If we take the sunglasses, and I thought that was super weird. And so I took a sunglass, like one of the sunglasses off the rack. And for me, I was like, this feels weird, but I gave in to peer pressure in that moment. I was like, it's okay, cool. Like he said, it was fine. He's just an older guy, he's been around here. And then later that day, the owner, we're having like a team meeting, he's like, hey, where'd you get those sunglasses? I was like, well, this guy told me I could take them. And I'm dead serious. And then he looks at me and he's like So-and-so, did you ring them out? Like, ask the clerk. And we had had, I had had like just in a short time there, I built a lot of relational equity with these people. And they all looked at the girl and were like, oh, well of course Evan bought it. Like Evan paid for it, it's no big deal. And then the guy starts lying. He's like, oh no, we already paid for it. And I'm like, I literally was like, no, he didn't. He said we could take it. And I just remember I got fired. This other guy got like let go as well. And it was just an awful experience. So I've never quote— I mean, I've stole— this is my like, I've stolen something. I just blew my mind. But I had an inkling in that moment where I was like, ah, this feels kind of weird, but I'm gonna do it anyway. And that to me was a learning experience to go, you know what, I need to control me. Like I mentioned before, I can't control other people. And this feels weird to me. I'm not gonna be a victim to some guy peer pressuring me to do something. So that's my first job. It was very short-lived.

Wow, I love the story. It's so great. And, you know, the other thing that I heard from it is, is learn to trust your intuition. You know, you obviously wasn't feeling right inside of you, and, and that you should listen to that voice when, when it's clearly telling you you should do something different.

Oh yeah, very true. I was crying so hard. I mean, I was just, I really was a kid, and my parents picked me up and I was like, I stole something. I'm like, I just would, it was awful, but well, it's hilarious now.

I appreciate you sharing that great story. And Evan, thank you so much for being on the show. How can people find you?

The easiest way is to go to caffeine.marketing or evanknox.com. Caffeine.marketing is Evan.com. It's just caffeine.marketing.

Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.