In this 6‑questions‑in‑7‑minutes interview, Professor Pete Alexander talks with David Marlowe, a former Fortune‑500 senior leader who retired early to help people discover their purpose (ikigai) through his venture Blue Roo. Marlowe shares why he loves the “aha” moments that occur when executives realize their transformation potential, and he emphasizes that business advice often depends on context, urging companies to first deliver on current promises before chasing innovation. He advocates for deep investment in design thinking and empathy interviewing to uncover customer needs that users themselves may not articulate, citing examples from Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, and Starbucks. Marlowe also recommends fellow leader Corinne Woodman Hollibeck for the podcast and recounts his first job as a teenage disc jockey, a path that led to a seven‑year media career before his corporate ascent. The episode closes with contact information, directing listeners to Marlowe’s LinkedIn profile.
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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.
So I'm David Marlowe. After a 30-year career as a senior leader and executive in Fortune 500 companies, I grabbed the opportunity to take retirement, early retirement, and do what I always wanted to do, and that's help people live into their purpose. So I started Blue Roo to do just that. And in that, I help people find their fulfillment by uncovering and living into their ikigai, their purpose. And I help companies bring their purpose to their products and their people.
Well, David, it's an absolute pleasure to have you on the show. Question number 2: What's the best thing about working in your industry?
I love those aha moments when people just get it, and that's both personally and professionally. I had an executive when I started a transformation at a large Fortune 500 company, she's like, "Well, it'll be a— it'll just be a couple of years and we'll have everything fixed, right?" And then a couple of years later, she came to me and said, You remember that question I asked you? That was really, really dumb, wasn't it? I'm like, well, there you go. But it's, it's those moments where they realize all the potential they have and all that they can do when they're willing to commit to that level of personal or corporate transformation.
I love— that's a great story. Thank you for sharing it with us. Question number 3: I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
Oh, I would title it, and I hope you titled it in your perfect book, "It Depends." Because it's so often people say, well, what should I do this? What should I do that? Well, it depends. It's not always as cut and dried as that. And you want to understand. So companies will want to do a transformation, big transformation, but they're not delivering the day-to-day stuff right now. It's like, well, maybe we'll start with that. You know, if we could back up just a little and at least do what you're promising your customers you're going to do today and then move into the innovation space or the, you know, next, next, next thing space. So, it often depends and that's a tough thing to hear because they want answers.
Hey, you know, and I can appreciate it as well because that was one of my most common answers when I used to teach marketing classes. Well, it depends because there's so many other variables involved. So it's, it's great insight. Question number 4: other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what advice would you give to other business leaders?
I would say invest in understanding the principles of design thinking because those are really about getting that deep understanding of your customer, really investing in, in knowing things that they themselves don't even know. And it's more than just, well, we want to sell this, so we're going to figure out a way to market it. It's what does the customer actually need? And again, need that maybe they themselves don't even understand. So investing in a true understanding of design thinking or the principles around empathy interviewing, that kind of thing.
I like that. And it kind of reminds me of what Steve Jobs said many years ago about in the design phase is you don't ask the customers for it. You show them or you tell them what they need that they might not realize that they need. Is that something that you've experienced as well?
Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, over and over again, you know, you can go back. I love the Jobs quote, and Henry Ford said it even, you know, a century or 100 years before, right? If I asked my customer what they wanted, they would have told me a faster horse. And it's that same principle, right? And it's investing even the Starbucks logo kind of tells that the original Starbucks folks thought people wanted whole bean coffee. And what Howard Schultz discovered by actually watching and experiencing along with people their enjoyment of coffee was they wanted a coffee shop experience and the full thing that Starbucks offers today. But that came about from his actually observing what the customer wanted as opposed to, well, this is what we sell and this is what people are going to get.
That's a great, great example of it. Yeah, it's the service side of it, not just that whole bean. And, you know, I can totally appreciate that because, you know, it's— you want to just get that nice coffee. And, you know, pre-COVID, of course, as we know, the coffee experience being in the coffee shop. So it's a great example, great example. Question number 5: What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
I've always appreciated the great work that Corinne Woodman Hollibeck does, and I think she'd be awesome on this podcast.
Wonderful. I'll reach out to her. Thank you for that referral. And our final question, question number 6: Please tell me about your first job.
My first real job was as a disc jockey in, uh, in radio. I had worked at McDonald's, but I don't count that, um, and I hated it. And I was talking to my stepfather about it, trying to get some advice. And I'm not sure he intended this as good advice, but he asked me, what do I want to do? And I said, I don't know. And he goes, well, what are you good at? And I said, well, I don't know, like any 16-year-old. I was 16 years old at the time, by the way. And he said, well, you seem to be able to talk pretty well. Why don't you find something that involves talking? So I walked into a radio and TV station and applied and got the job. Years later, I asked the program director, I said, "Look, now that I've been in this business for a while, I know a 16-year-old has no business getting a job like that with the level of experience I had and so on." I said, "What prompted you to hire me?" He goes, "Some 16-year-old kid walked into my station and thought he should be working here. I wanted to find out what you were all about." Ended up I was halfway decent at it and got better. And made a pretty long career of it. I was in radio and TV for 7 years. I mostly have a face for radio, but I did do some television.
Well, and you have the wonderful voice for the radio. So I could tell you, that must have been a very successful mini career, I guess, for 7 years, because you definitely have the voice for radio.
Thanks. It's so crazy though, I joined the Marines to have a saner life, if that tells you anything. That's how crazy that business is.
I can only imagine. I mean, I can only think of like WKRP in Cincinnati, as knowing what a radio station would potentially do. And so I'm sure that wasn't completely, totally off the beaten path of what really goes on.
Surprisingly realistic, that show was.
Well, David, thank you so much for being on the show. How can people find you?
They can find me on LinkedIn. That's probably the easiest and best way, and I'm on every day and pretty responsive to messages. So yeah, reach out.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
