In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Paul Kostial, founder and CEO of Audience Innovation, a direct‑marketing firm based in Austin, Texas. The conversation begins with Paul sharing a formative personal story: his father’s sudden death when Paul was 15 and his mother’s perseverance, which instilled a lifelong drive to never give up. Paul then outlines his core industry insight—that modern consumers are multi‑dimensional and engage across many channels, making one‑size‑fits‑all marketing ineffective. He offers broader business advice, warning entrepreneurs that operational tasks (HR, legal, taxes) can overwhelm founders and pull them away from their core strengths if not anticipated early. When asked what he would tell his younger self, Paul emphasizes aligning one’s career with personal strengths while remaining flexible to let the path evolve naturally. On personal well‑being, he stresses the importance of finding inner peace or a “Zen” space to balance a demanding career. He recommends Zig Ziglar’s The One Minute Sales Manager as timeless sales wisdom and shares his favorite T.S. Eliot quote about risk and boundaries as a daily motivator. The episode closes with Paul directing listeners to audienceinnovation.com for contact.
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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 makes the process of becoming a published bestselling author as simple as sipping your morning cup of coffee. You can learn more about Authors Unite at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Paul Costill with us. He's the founder and CEO of Audience Innovation, a direct marketing firm based in Austin, Texas. Paul was formerly a VP with Time Inc. before launching the company 11 years ago. Paul started his career in the agency business and worked for Campbell Ewald, Lintas, and Bloom before moving to Time Inc. So welcome to the show, man.
Hey, thanks, Tyler. Appreciate it.
Of course, man. Grateful to have you here. I love Austin, Texas, so that's awesome that you're based out of there. We'll jump into the first one, man. The first one I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Well, the story kind of starts off with a negative. My father died when I was 15, kind of very unexpectedly. He was only 46 years old, but my mother, who was only 36, had two teenage children. And I think the perseverance of her in what was a turbulent time, losing her husband so early in life, being so young and with 2 children and just being so committed to creating a great life for us, even without her husband, was very motivating to me. Like, you just never stop. No matter what happens, you're always gonna give it your best and create the best life for yourself and your family.
I'm very sorry to hear that that happened, man. And thank you for sharing that with us. The next one I have for you is, what is the most valuable piece of information that we should know that is within your expertise or industry?
Well, I think that the thing that I've learned the most over the course of time, and especially with the advent of online and digital marketing and it being so prevalent today, is that, that human beings are not one-dimensional. We communicate with human beings as marketers are companies who communicate with their customers in multiple different channels, and that human beings are consuming information from lots of sources all day, every day. And I think sometimes we forget that, and we kind of think a one-size-fits-all strategy is going to work, and it really is not the most effective way to communicate with humans.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice, and not necessarily industry-specific?
Well, I think as a business owner and an entrepreneur, I think so many people do something so well and they start a company and then they're really overwhelmed by the management of the company and they end up doing less and less of the thing that they do so well because the entrepreneurial aspects of running a business with HR or legal or taxes and all those things are very, very time-consuming and often underestimated by an entrepreneur and they really don't have a knowledge up front of how much time those things are going to take or what resources they needed to get their business launched, you know, at the beginning of the business instead of catching up later.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
I, I think besides that piece, I, I think it would be to, to, to channel yourself into a path that is your, your, your key strengths, your areas of focus and to follow that path and let that path take you where your career takes you. I think we get too much planned on a certain career and a certain path, and it's like, it's almost like you need to set yourself on a course, but you also need to let the course take you where it naturally takes you in your career.
And, uh, kind of going a little bit down a different path, in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
You know, for me, I have a very busy business life. And I think so many people today do. It's really to find that, that kind of peace and inner self, and that Zen space that's going to work well for you to kind of have a peaceful life that's well balanced, and oftentimes balanced with a very stressful or demanding career. So it's kind of to find your source and your center and to find that peace in your life that will help balance both.
And what is the best book that you've read? And what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Oh my gosh, I can't answer that, Tyler. I have read so many great books. I don't even have one that's coming to mind. I mean, the one that first pops to mind is The One Minute Salesman written by Zig Ziglar like 50 years ago. That book is still relevant today, if maybe not more. So that's the one that popped to my mind. So I would suggest that. Although I've had 50 books that I've read that are fantastic.
And just curious, if you don't mind, I'd love to dive deeper there. The One Minute Salesman, is that like, as you would imagine, like I've actually never heard of that book. So is that about like, obviously like sales and like tactics or like what's it about?
Well, Zig Ziglar was in his time in the '50s and '60s, a very renowned salesman. He spoke on sales and creating customer relationships. And he has a book called The One Minute Sales Manager, which is just a very simple book about creating relationships and having fantastic customer relations that will create bigger and better sales for you and your company, you know, throughout your career. It's almost so simple, it's like getting back to the basics.
Got it, got it, okay. And then what is your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote is a T.S. Eliot quote. And this is like for the last 20 years been my most favorite quote. And it is, only those who risk going too far can possibly find how far one can go. That drives me every day, like push the limits and find out what your boundaries are by actually getting to the place that you find the boundary.
Love it, man. Thank you so much for coming on. The last one I have for you before we let you go is where can our audience best find you online? Line to connect with you?
Well, our website is audienceinnovation.com, so that's an easy place to connect with me. Our information is on the Contact Us page, and I'd be happy to chat with anyone anytime.
Awesome. Thanks again for jumping on.
Yes, sir. Bye-bye. Thank you.
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