Communications consultant David Perry spent two years sailing to 65 countries and believes PR is about building relationships. His grandmother taught him to listen twice as much as you speak. He cites Kahlil Gibran: work is love made visible.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. ¡Ahoy!
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner, and today I have David Perry with us. He's a communications consultant, so welcome to the show, David.
¡Ahoy! Thanks for having me on.
Of course, thanks for joining us. We'll dive in. The first question I have for you is, what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Well, I mean, that's, that's hard. You know, at 54 years old, I've seen a bunch. And I always say the best thing I ever did was meet my husband, Alfredo. I'm a great believer in working with people smarter than you. They make you look good. In my case, I married up. I married someone smarter than me. But besides that, I'd say the 2 years I spent working my way around the world by ship, visiting 65 countries. Travel is the best education in the world.
And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Well, I always say that people in public relations and communications do one thing and one thing only, and that's build and foster relationships. I always tell people when I do media trainings, it's all about relationships. At the end of the day, it comes back to where do you go with the relationships you've built? How do you help your clients? How do you help build a better world? And it's all about relationships.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice, not necessarily industry specific?
Well, any business advice, it's from my greatest heroine, my grandmother. She always said, "The good Lord gave you two ears and one mouth, so he must have meant for you to listen twice as much as he meant for you to talk." And I think people in the communications industry need to learn that lesson. Listen to your clients, listen to the media, listening to how the world is changing before you open your own trap.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Well, I guess on a personal level, I'd say exercise more. I was always the last pick to dodgeball, so I didn't realize the importance of getting out there and getting physical until I was much later in my 40s, and now I long-distance bike. But I think that's also a good business strategy. We need to find balance in our business lives, and I think learning to take care of ourselves is a big part of it. I wish I just exercised more. On another level, I would just say learn to delegate. I wish I had learned earlier the old adage that Scotty on Star Trek was so good at: under-promise and over-deliver. That's why he always told Captain Kirk it would be 24 hours before he could fix the dilithium crystals, and of course it always got done by the end of an hour show.
Yes. And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
I say living in the moment. You know, we're on this planet for a finite time. I don't know if life is short, but it certainly is finite. So I say live in the moment. We all die. And learning to stay calm in the face of chaos. Nothing has ever been solved by panicking. Again, to quote my grandmother, worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.
Oh, that is a good one, man.
Yeah, just quote Mildred Tyree Ward on that. She was a wise woman.
Yeah, that is incredible. And what's the best book you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Well, you know, I would like to change best to, I guess, the most influential. And this may sound kind of silly, but I mean, I read a lot of books, so it's hard to say what is the best. But the most influential in a very real sense was the first book I ever read, the book that taught me to read with my grandmother reading to me and then me reading back. And that was Winnie the Pooh. I mean, it taught me not only how to read, but it taught me to love the beauty and power of words. And ultimately, everyone in the communications business no matter your language, no matter your field of expertise, deals with language. And I think nowadays, when so much is about social media and 140 characters, learning and cultivating the power and beauty of words is important. And I guess close to second to that would be all the books by C.S. Lewis and his Narnia series, especially Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader. They taught me to love travel and love the beauty of of words.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
It's from Kahlil Gibran in his book The Prophet, and I've used it a lot. I use it in all of my trainings, and it goes like this: work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with joy but only with distaste, better that you sit at the temple door and take alms of those who work with pleasure. And you know, again, my grandmother always said that her husband, my grandfather, said to her The most important thing is to love your work, and I certainly love my work. I only work with clients I like, and hopefully I'm able to help them. Yes.
Thank you so much for coming on, David. That was a ton of value in less than 5 minutes. And the last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
Very easy. I've been online for a while, so it was good and easy for me to get www.davidperry.com, D-A-V-I-D-P-E-R-R-Y dot com. And you can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram at David Perry Perfect.
Thanks again for coming on, David. We really appreciate it.
Ahoy.
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