Bill Stainton on Running a Business

Business Mistakes & Thinking Time

Listen to Bill share his biggest mistakes in business and why thinking time is critical for business owners.

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In this episode, I interview keynote speaker and business coach, Bill Stainton. Bill is a 29-time Emmy Award-winning producer turned business owner. Bill shares his biggest mistakes in business, why thinking time is critical for business owners, and a fun story about helping Bill Nye the Science Guy get his start.  

[00:00:00] Julie Bee – Host: On today’s episode, I interview 29 time Emmy Award-winning producer turned business owner, bill Stanton, about innovating quickly, waiting too long to realize he was in business, and how scheduled thinking time may be the most important space for leaders to make. I’m Jube, and they don’t teach this in business school.

[00:00:23] Bill Stainton – Guest: Every 

[00:00:24] Midroll Spot: week, Julie sends out big ideas and easy actions that help elevate your business. She also shares some awesomeness happening in the business community. Make sure to subscribe to the Be Awesome brief@bejulieb.com. 

[00:00:41] Julie Bee – Host: Hey there, I’m Julie B and you are listening to. Teach this in Business school, a podcast where we discuss business ownership lessons that are learned through experience, not in a classroom or seminar.

I have to tell you all that I’m really excited for today’s guest. I’m interviewing Emmy Award-winning [00:01:00] producer, turn business owner, bill Staton. These days, he’s a keynote speaker and consultant, and I know we’re gonna have a fun conversation about some of the lessons he has learned on his own business ownership journey.

So Bill, welcome to the show today. I’m really excited to have you here with me and the listeners. Thanks, 

[00:01:16] Bill Stainton – Guest: Julie. I’ve been looking forward to this. So Bill, why 

[00:01:18] Julie Bee – Host: don’t you give us an overview of your business these days? And if you want to tell a little story about your background, that’s fine too, cuz it’s really fascinating.

But I, I want people to really know what you do these days and just Yeah. Go into that a 

[00:01:32] Bill Stainton – Guest: little bit. Sure. Yeah. And the two are kind of tied together loosely, perhaps these days. I, I, I speak, I coach, I consult, I work with teams on innovation, creativity, breakthrough thinking, basically helping them think differe.

about their world and about their business, because I’m sure you’ve found so many times we kind of get in a rut. We, we, we ask the same questions and we just wonder why we’re not moving ahead. Because, because, you know, we’re looking at the situation the same way all the time. [00:02:00] Mm-hmm. and coming up with the same answers.

Mm-hmm. . So I help people become, again, sometimes I say innovation, but that’s, that’s scares some people. Mm-hmm. . Cause they think, Ooh, innovation, that sounds risky. That sounds expensive, by the way. It’s not either. Yeah. Of those. But, so that’s what I. The way I got into that is my background is in, oddly enough, in comedy television.

For 15 years, I produced the longest running, highest rated, most award-winning regional comedy TV show in the United States where our job, like literally week after week after week was to be innovative, was to think differently every single week on demand, whether we felt like it or not. Mm-hmm. , and there were a lot of weeks when we.

And so that’s what I learned, that it’s not about, you know, waiting for inspiration to. There are, there are tools, there are techniques, there are ways to get your brain to think creatively, innovatively, to think differently whether you feel like it or not. 

[00:02:53] Julie Bee – Host: Yeah. And you were in a world where you were forced.

I mean, you had to, like you said, you had to be creative, so you had to figure out a [00:03:00] way on those. Everybody goes through a slump. Yeah. No matter what you do, but when you Oh yeah. You know, when you have to continue to deliver at that high level of. We’ve gotta figure out a way to 

[00:03:09] Bill Stainton – Guest: get around it. Yeah, we, when you say that about everybody goes through a slump, I mean, there were times where I had, you know, I, and the rest of my team, we had to write jokes, you know, going through divorce, death of a pet, death of a, of a parent, you know, things like, things like that.

And then, you know, come back and write the jokes. Mm-hmm. , because that’s the job. And now in business it’s kind of the same way. Your customers, your clients, your. doesn’t really care if you’re having a bad day. Oh, they might care because they’re good people, but mm-hmm. , you know, it’s kinda like if you, if you dish out $6,000 to see Springsteen or $300 to go see Hamilton, do you care if the guy playing King George is going through a tiff with his significant other?

No. Nor should you. , and it’s the same thing with our class. Well, the same thing in, in my old world of television. Mm-hmm. , same thing with the audience. The audience doesn’t care, nor should they have to, that’s not their job to [00:04:00] take care of us. And as business owners, it’s the same thing, you know? Yeah. We, we gotta take care of our own stuff because our clients don’t really care.

They’re counting on us to do what we say we’re gonna do. Yeah. And do it when we say we’re gonna do. Talking about 

[00:04:15] Julie Bee – Host: business ownership, then a little bit. I, what is your favorite part of being a business owner? 

[00:04:20] Bill Stainton – Guest: I think my favorite part, and maybe it’s the most dangerous part too, Julie, I’ll be, I’ll be curious to hear, hear what you think about this is that I can try things instantly, like I can have an idea tonight and roll it out tomorrow.

And that’s, that’s exciting cause oh, I can create something, Ooh, something new, something shiny. Let’s try it. Let’s throw it out there. And I think that’s by and large a good thing because then you know, you know as well as either the universe will tell you whether it’s good or not. Mm-hmm. and uh, But I, but I, I, I love that, that you don’t have to go through the bureaucracy and the channels mm-hmm.

Now, if it’s something major, then yeah. You get your team involved, [00:05:00] whatever, your team, even if your team is just you and your philodendron mm-hmm. , uh, you, you get them involved. But I, I, I think the ability to, to turn, to react, to create on a dime, I don’t know. I mean, have you found that to be true with your world?

I, 

[00:05:12] Julie Bee – Host: I, yeah. That’s one thing that I love as well, being able to. , just try something and, and put it into action pretty quickly. I think that’s, that, that’s probably one of my own favorite 

[00:05:23] Bill Stainton – Guest: person . And then have the world just slap you down and say, that was a stupid idea. Well, on the 

[00:05:27] Julie Bee – Host: other side of that is, it’s funny, I was actually talking to my mom the other day and I said, mom, I fail probably eight out of 10 times every day.

Yeah. , that’s, that’s like the other side of it, right? Like, you know, if you are going to. , the more things should try, the more things that are not going to work. Yeah. But you hope that within that you find the things that are, that are just outstanding. Yeah. And really do work. And I would love for you to tell the story you told me when we did [00:06:00] the interview.

I think you know the one I’m talking about and I think that can illustrate, I, I know it’s from your producer days, but I think that that can illustrate how just trying something can sometimes. Exponentially amazing results. 

[00:06:16] Bill Stainton – Guest: Okay. I think I know the one you’re talking about and it’s, it happened when something went wrong because for you folks, maybe just getting started in business, things are gonna go wrong.

They are. I mean, we only hear about the successes. We don’t hear about the eight things that went wrong, and so we think, oh, I’m failing because I’m not having all these successes. But no, th those successes followed a string of failures also. So here’s what happened. We, we were doing a. Uh, we, we, we, we shot our show on Saturday.

I mean, we shot the tape pieces throughout the week, but then on Saturday night, you know, the audience would come in and, and we’d do, you know, the live on tape as we call it, but in front of a live studio audience, and we were pumped. This is back in the, in the, like late eighties, 87, January 10th, 1987. It’s a Saturday and we’re pumped because we got a genuine big.[00:07:00] 

Now Seattle in the late eighties was not the hub that it is now. There was no Microsoft, there was no Starbucks. There was no Amazon. There was, you know, nothing like that. So it was tough to get good guests, but we got one. We got Johnny Depp. Yeah. Now let’s be clear, this is pre wackadoodle Johnny Depp. But anyway, so we got Johnny Uppp.

He was, he was starring in a TV show called 21 Jump Street. Mm-hmm . And they just shot a few hours north of us in Vancouver. So I called him and you know, turns out he knew our show and we knew his. And so you wanna be a guest. So, so the day of the show comes around and we are like, this is gonna be so cool.

Cause we got, you know, we got this major star, Johnny Depp is gonna be on the show and around 10 30 or 11 o’clock in the morning, I get a phone. From Johnny Depp and he cancels. He didn’t want to, I mean, he was, he was very nice about, but he said, you know, they scheduled re-shoots for Jump Street. And I, you know, I tried to get out of, but I canceled.

I, you know, I’ve gotta cancel. Well, this is a train wreck. I mean, this is disaster time. It’s the day of the show, . And you’ve had this happen in your world, Julie, I know you have, and everybody listening and watching this, you’ve had this happen where [00:08:00] you think you’ve done everything right? Mm-hmm. , and, and, and you have, but then all of a sudden, the universe just pulls the rug out from under you.

and it’s like, oh man, what are we gonna do? I, I don’t, so we just start tossing out ideas, you know, we’re in Seattle, it’s gotta be somebody local. What about the Seahawks? No, they’re outta town. Yeah. And we just keep throwing out names and nothing’s working for whatever reason. And meanwhile, the clock is ticking because, you know, at some point the audience is gonna show up, they’re gonna be expecting a show.

Mm-hmm. . So we’re just, it’s, it’s looking hopeless. When one of my, that actually was my lowest paid writer. pops his head up and says, well, you know, look, maybe I could do something with, with, with liquid nitrogen, which scared the hell out of all of us. Mm-hmm. because he was a little bit crazy and like liquid.

Clearly he didn’t understand the situation, basically. Yeah. Yeah. We’re looking for a guest to interview, but eventually, you know, we’re like, we run out of other ideas, so we have to go with this stupid idea for my lowest paid writer whose name was Bill. . And that night my [00:09:00] lowest paid writer, bill Nye, became Bill Nye, the science guy.

Mm-hmm. . And it was a hit, and it was all because Johnny Depp canceled. It was all because of dis disaster. And we had to, you know, we had to innovate. We had to think differently. But for a while I wasn’t, because I, I had blinders on. I, I, I couldn’t see the gold that was right there. Mm-hmm. , because I was so focused on, we have to get a guest to interview.

We have to get a guest to interview. So I, I, I wasn. I think of myself as an open person, but I wasn’t open to what I call, you know, the, the yellow dot, the different idea mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. , the, the, the outside look. But all of a sudden when we open ourselves up to that and it’s like, Ooh, ooh, that, that might work.

And, and it did. You know, he’s a cultural icon. Yeah. Still a little bit crazy, but, you know, still 

[00:09:49] Julie Bee – Host: just, just amazing. And the fact that, I mean, even you probably didn’t even know. . He truly had the science experi experience that he has, you [00:10:00] know, at 

[00:10:00] Bill Stainton – Guest: that time. Oh no, we knew that. See, that’s, that’s the thing.

Okay. I would encourage anybody listening to think about your team, like what’s mm-hmm. What skill sets do they bring to that you haven’t even thought about tapping into. Because it may be, you know, something that doesn’t specifically apply to what you do day to day. No. We knew that Bill NY had this engineering science background.

In fact, when we were on break, I, I was full-time, but most of my team, like during the summer, they had to get other jobs. Bill Nye would do work for Boeing, which is a little local airplane company we have up here just a little. Mm-hmm. , he would do work that people like you and I are not allowed to know about.

Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. because it was like super secret kind of stuff. So we knew he had. , but I just, you know, I, I didn’t make that connection, which is what innovation is all about. It’s all about connecting dots, making different connections. And I was the poster child for, no, Nope. Sorry. Can’t see it. Won’t see it.

Partly because he was the lowest paid writer. Yeah. And you and I both know that good ideas only come from [00:11:00] senior management. Of course. . Yeah. I mean, you know, the lowest paid writer, the quiet person, the introvert, the new person, the intern, can’t possibly have a good idea. It. Well, you never know who’s gonna have that, the missing piece to the puzzle.

Every business 

[00:11:15] Midroll Spot: owner needs a support network. When asked, most business owners will reference their support network as what gets them through the tough times. There are three characteristics to consider when documenting who is in your support network. And Julie has a free guide to help walk you through each of them.

Download your free copy now@thejulieb.com. 

[00:11:36] Julie Bee – Host: Hey, this is Julie B and you’re listening to, they don’t teach this in Business School. I’m here with Bill Stanton, and he just told a really great. Interesting, fun, innovative story about how Bill Nye, the science guy, became Bill Nye, the science guy. But Bill, I wanted to bring it back around to your business these days, and one of the questions I, I love to ask my guests [00:12:00] are, is, is what, what has been your biggest win?

As a business owner, I figured that Bill, nice story is probably one of your biggest wins as a producer. But in your own business today, what’s been one of your biggest wins? 

[00:12:16] Bill Stainton – Guest: Wow, that’s a great que you ask really good questions. Uh, one of my biggest wins has been, I think, well, staying in business successfully through a pandemic.

My business is primarily based, although not exclusively, and I’m, I’m switching that around. Up until the pandemic was primarily based on me being a keynote speaker. Mm-hmm. was not, I, I was inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame a few years ago, and so that’s what I did. I got on airplanes and I went into rooms packed full of people.

and then the pandemic hit and rooms packed full of people stopped being a thing. So, you know, now what do you do when all of a sudden your entire income stream dries up in a weekend? Mm. Well, you’ve gotta, you’ve gotta think differently. Mm-hmm. , you’ve gotta start doing other [00:13:00] things. So this goes kind of back to your first question.

Mm-hmm. , the ability to reinvent. Mm-hmm. , and I know pivot was an overused word, but, but the ability to look at, okay, what is it that we really. It and it, it’s, it’s ki it’s basically asking a different question. It’s kinda like with with, with the Bill Nye story I just told mm-hmm. , we were all asking, who can we get as a guest to interview?

Bill and I asked a different question. He was asking, how can we fill the time? Mm-hmm. , which you can see changes the entire context. Yeah. So when the pandemic hit, I was thinking, okay, I’m a keynote speaker. I’m a keynote speaker. Wow. There, I got blinders on. No, I’m not, I’m an expert. I’m an authority on innovation, on thinking differently, on breakthrough thinking.

That can, well, I don’t have to get on a stage to do that. I can do that right here. Mm-hmm. , I, I, I, I, I work with, I do workshops all the time. Why, why not make that a bigger part of what I do? And, and you can do that virtually. You can do that in person. So just the ability to actually kind of take my [00:14:00] own advice.

Mm-hmm. , I think, which we oftentimes, we. do. Yeah. You know, we have all this wisdom that we impart wisdom. Sometimes it’s real wisdom, sometimes it’s not. But you know, that we impart mm-hmm. and, and, and share and disseminate with our, with our clients. and then we just go back and do exactly the opposite in our own world.

Yes. So I think, you know, like I, listen, I, I listened to, to your podcast. I was just listening to your episode with Emily from a few weeks ago who’s, who was speaking about humor and that sort of thing, and it’s like, oh, that, oh, that’s a good reminder. That’s a good reminder. Everything is a good reminder if we just do it.

[00:14:35] Julie Bee – Host: Yeah. I literally, coming into 2023, I, one of my goals was to. implement three. Just three. Just three pieces of leadership advice that I’ve given over the past three years on my podcast because Right. Again, it’s, you know, these things and you know these things and I mean, I coach other leaders all [00:15:00] the time.

Yes. On my own medicine, it’s sometimes I’m the worst at taking it. . 

[00:15:05] Bill Stainton – Guest: Isn’t that the truth? I don’t know why that is, but that seems to be almost universal. It real, 

[00:15:09] Julie Bee – Host: it, yeah, it, it was. That’s also, I can say that’s also true for my own marketing agency. I think we’re, we’re probably the worst at marketing ourselves, but thankfully we get well for clients, so, you know, they, they send us referrals, , so that works out.

Yeah. 

[00:15:23] Bill Stainton – Guest: It’s always easier to toot somebody else’s 

[00:15:25] Julie Bee – Host: horn. Yeah. Yeah. So obviously, yeah, staying in, being in business and also, As a speaker going through a pandemic where you had to completely not, you know, change how you were offering services at that time and, and come up with some new services and new offerings to Right to survive.

Obviously a big win. So I always love to ask the opposite question. What’s your biggest failure in business or your biggest mistake in business that you’ve made? 

[00:15:55] Bill Stainton – Guest: I think the, the biggest mistake. [00:16:00] Waiting way too long to realize that I’m actually running a business . Okay. Because what happened was, so when, when, when Almost Live, which was my TV show, when they finally stopped production, I was gonna say when it, when they finally canceled it, but then they kept running reruns for like another 10 or 15 years.

Mm-hmm. , which I got paid zero. But when I went off, when went off the air, I became a speaker through a number of things, I, I just mm-hmm. , you know, I, I, I became a keynote. and for the longest time, and I mean like, you know, a decade or more, I basically treated it like a glorified hobby. I mean, I didn’t know anything about, you know, what a p and l statement is.

I didn’t know what a balance sheet was. I didn’t know how to run a business. Mm-hmm. , you know, I mean, I was, I was a really good speaker and I got to be an even better speaker today. I’m, I’m. Among the best. Mm-hmm. speaking about tooting my own horn. But you know, they don’t just let anybody into the Hall of Fame, but as a business person, that’s a completely different thing.

It kind of goes back to Gerber’s, the e myth [00:17:00] that, you know mm-hmm. , it’s one thing to be good at what you do, but then, then you’ve gotta run the business. Mm-hmm. behind it, the whole backend behind it, and, um, Th that was, that was the biggest mistake. It took me the longest time, and now I’m, I’m still playing catch up.

Mm-hmm. , I’m still learning, you know, how to read the numbers and set KPIs and, you know, track certain metrics and things like that. And again, run it, run it like, like a business figure out, okay, how do you do a, a salary? You don’t just do a salary when there’s money. Mm-hmm. , you know, cuz that’s, that’s what I did for long.

Well, if it’s a good month, I’ll take a bigger salary. If it’s a bad month, I’ll take No, that’s, that’s not how a business runs. 

[00:17:37] Julie Bee – Host: Uh, so I, and that’s probably one of the hardest, I think, lessons for business owners is to pay yourself first. You know? That’s the advice that Yes. You’re given when you’re investing in a 401k.

Yes. When you work somewhere else or when you Absolutely. You know, building your own saving. 

[00:17:53] Bill Stainton – Guest: Read, read the book. Read the book, profit First by Michael, and his last name is Unpronounceable, but he’s written some great books. But Prophet First mm-hmm. [00:18:00] is a, is a great book. And if you don’t Yeah. Yeah. Even, even if you’re only paying.

$20 a month. Yeah. If you can do that consistently, it’s just, it’s just to get the system, to get the pattern, to get that habit. Mm-hmm. of this, this comes out every month before anything else gets done. 

[00:18:17] Julie Bee – Host: Absolutely. So, kind of going down this path a little bit further, one of the things that I talk a lot about and coach quite a bit on is burnout.

And I wanna ask you if you’ve ever experienced it, and if you have no, you share a story or two. 

[00:18:33] Bill Stainton – Guest: can’t, can’t relate, you know? Yeah. We all, we all. Have experienced burnout. I know there was a, and sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s bad. Mm-hmm. and back in the early days of producing my TV show, before I knew what, what I was doing and when, when we first kind of started the show, I was easily putting in a hundred hour weeks.

Mm-hmm. easily every single week just to get the show done. And then when we got to year, like 12, 13, 14, 15, it kind of became, okay, I know what I’m doing now, but there was, [00:19:00] there was a month, it was my, my first six figure month, I think as a speaker. Mm-hmm. . and it was in October, which tends to be a busy month for speakers.

There are a lot of conferences and things. Mm-hmm. and I was either on stage or on an airplane every single day of the month, every single day, which was great for the bank account. Mm-hmm. fabulous for the bank account. But the, but I was exhausted at the end of it and I was always worried cuz it’s October, you’re always worried about what’s the weather over O’Hare?

Am I gonna make it to the next gig? So there’s, there’s. all this pressure and it’s like, why? Why did I say yes to all these? And I think, cuz I was thinking scarcity. Yeah. I can’t say no cuz there may never be another opportunity. I didn’t know how to say no to clients that weren’t the right fit. I didn’t know how to say no for my own wellbeing and my own mental, physical and emotional health.

Mm-hmm. , I’ve, I’ve kind of learned that lesson now, but it’s, but we do get this burnout and I think a lot of it’s because of the day-to-day [00:20:00] whirlwind that we get caught. , there’s so much to do. We think, well, when things just finally, you know, when when things calm down, I’ll get to this other important.

Mm-hmm. , you and I both know things are never gonna calm down. They’re never gonna calm down. Mm-hmm. . So one of the, one of the things I learned is the magic of the calendar. If you put something on a calendar, it’ll get done. If it’s not on a calendar, it won’t get done. So, Now I literally schedule time in each week just for me to think, just thinking time.

And sometimes that means like listening to a podcast or reading a book. Sometimes it means like, let’s just ask myself an interesting question about my business or about what my clients might be going through, and let’s spend 15, 20 minutes, a half an hour just thinking about that. But it’s in, it’s in my calendar as an appointment with myself.

Mm-hmm. . So somebody says, Hey, you know, can, can we talk on Friday at two o? No, we can’t. I have an appointment. Yeah, 

[00:20:57] Julie Bee – Host: exactly. And I, that, that is actually one [00:21:00] of the things that I practice as well, and it keeps me from burning out. Like if I know, if I know I’m not having thinking time, then I know I’m getting closer to possibly burning out.

And so few, so few business owners. Make time to think and then isn’t that amazing? But you’re absolutely right. They’ll do things. I mean, they will read books sometimes, but they’re so busy that they don’t have time to think. And at, at that point you’re, you’re going to stifle your innovation and your creativity.

That’s if you don’t give yourself some space, because that’s for me. I know my. Creative ideas or innovative ideas usually happen when I’m paddle boarding or when I’m walking, or they don’t happen when I’m sitting right here at this desk. Very rarely do they, do they happen here? And that’s the other part is I think if you’re not taking time to think, [00:22:00] no matter how you accomplish Matt, accomplish that, you’re gonna have a really difficult time 

[00:22:05] Bill Stainton – Guest: Innovat.

Absolutely. And you said two things that are, that I think are really important. Um, first of all, yes. Leaders don’t take time to think. Sometimes they read and look, reading is great. I’m a huge fan of reading. I’m, I always have at least like four or five books going at one time. Mm-hmm. , including both fiction and non-fiction.

Mm-hmm. . But reading is not the same as thinking. It’s not even the same as thinking about what you’re reading. Cuz a lot of us read and we might even highlight, but do we then go like, , do I agree with that? Mm-hmm. , here’s why do I disagree with that? Here’s why. I mean, do we actually think about it? Yeah, but the other thing you said is like paddle boarding and walking.

You know, I, I read a study, I can’t remember where I read, but it, I read a study where they, they did like look back at, I think it was something like the hundred most creative people of the last 200 years or something like that. Clearly a subjective list, but still, but they kinda looked as like, look, what are their habits?

You know, are there. [00:23:00] The one thing, the one thing that they all had in common was walking, was taking walks. Mm. Because it is true. You need to change your, your, your, your context, your location. Mm-hmm. , because we spend so much time you there with, with your awards in the background. Be here with my awards in the back, and we spend so much time here that our brain kind of goes into like, oh, okay.

It, it’s kind, you know, like default. , but you go out and start doing something else. Yeah. And all of a sudden your brain’s like, oh, this is unfamiliar, this is different. And now you can start making connections cuz you’re not in in background mode. Mm-hmm. , you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. . Absolutely. So yeah, it is.

Yes. Um, there’s a community center just oh, five miles from, from where I am now. Mm-hmm. that sometimes I’ll go there maybe once or twice a week. I’ll go there and just like take my computer or not maybe take a book or just a notepad. Mm-hmm. and. Go there and say, okay, I’m gonna be here for two hours.

[00:24:00] Mm-hmm. , and I’ll just, maybe I’ll come up with something. Maybe I won’t, but I’m, I’m someplace different. And it’s, you’re right. It’s amazing how many ideas will come because you’re not in familiar territory, so your brain doesn’t have the familiar neural pathways to go through. It’s kind of forced to think differently because you’ve given it different stimulus.

and 

[00:24:21] Julie Bee – Host: I, I talk about a lot about making space and when people hear that initially, they automatically go to time. And of course I hear I don’t have any more time, but I will literally if, if, if there’s a very strong objection at the time level. What I will recommend people do sometimes is plan to do the same exact work.

just go to the conference room instead of being in your office. Or you know, if you work from home, go sit at your kitchen table instead of sitting in your office. Yeah. And you’ll be surprised at just that, even if, even if it’s the same exact work you’re planning to do, just [00:25:00] that change in your physical location can open up new ideas, new creativity if you’re willing 

[00:25:07] Bill Stainton – Guest: to, to do it.

That’s. . That’s fabulous advice. And what I love about it is that, um, it’s free. Mm-hmm. , it doesn’t take any extra effort. You, you’re just going to a different room. You’re just doing something a little bit different. Yep. And that’s really all it is, is just, oh, this is different. This is new. Which is why among the best things you can do for your own innovation and creativity is different.

Read, read a blog article you wouldn’t normally read. Listen to a podcast that you wouldn’t normally listen to. Have a conversation. With somebody you wouldn’t normally have a conversation with. Do something. One of the things that, again, in your podcast with Emily, she says she’s taking up the drums, she’s learning something new.

Yeah. Learning. Learn a new language, learn a musical instrument. Just learn anything. There’s all kinds of resources out there, both for free and paid on this internet. You know, there’s no excuse, no. To not be able to learn something new and all of a sudden your [00:26:00] brain is like, oh, oh, oh, okay. We’re doing this now.

Okay. This is, this is. And you’ll find things just start to happen when all of a sudden you, when all of a sudden you inform your brain that, okay, you know what we’re gonna do? We’re gonna be a learning, thinking, connecting machine now. And you build those habits, your brain will go, okay, I mean, your brain is your servant, not vice.

Mm-hmm. not, not, not vice versa, not, not the other way around. You know, you give a good id, good ideas and good input. Ask it interesting questions and ask it for different, different challenge. It’ll come through and you’ll be amazed at what starts to happen. Almost by imagine 

[00:26:36] Midroll Spot: each and every week, Julie sends out big ideas and easy actions that help elevate your business.

She’ll also share some awesomeness happening in the business community. Don’t miss out. Subscribe to the Be Awesome brief@djulieb.com. 

[00:26:53] Julie Bee – Host: You are listening to, they don’t teach This in Business School. I’m the host, Julie B, and I’m here today with Bill Stanton. [00:27:00] And Bill, we have been having a fantastic conversation and I’m about to hit you with the heavy hitters.

Are you ready for these questions, ? 

[00:27:07] Bill Stainton – Guest: I am not. I’m not at all. No, no, no. I’d be lying if I said I was. All 

[00:27:12] Julie Bee – Host: right. Question number one. How do you define.

[00:27:20] Bill Stainton – Guest: Wow. I don’t define it in terms of money. I mean, money is a measure and we need money. Of course. That’s, that’s important. Um, I think success is that I’m pursuing, not necessarily achieving, yet pursuing interesting work, interesting to me that makes a difference in the world. However, I define that. , and maybe it’s my relationship, maybe it’s my community, maybe it’s my clients, but the pursuit of interesting work that serves the world.

[00:27:54] Julie Bee – Host: All right. Question number two. That’s a heavy hitter. What [00:28:00] legacy do you hope to 

[00:28:01] Bill Stainton – Guest: leave? What do you mean? Aside from Bill Knight, the science guy. ? 

[00:28:05] Julie Bee – Host: Yeah. What is Bill Stanton the Emmy Award-winning keynote Hall of fame speaker. Hope to leave as a legacy. . 

[00:28:13] Bill Stainton – Guest: Well, you know, the easy answer is I like, I would like people to think that, you know, the world was better for him having been here.

Um, but I, yeah, I, I, I guess that’s it. You know, he, he made a difference, made people laugh on, on a bigger level. I think I want, I’m kind of on a mission. To help people realize that they are innovators. Hmm. That it’s not an exclusive club to which they’re not a, you know, can’t be a member. Because I think so many people think that, that I’m, I’m not creative, because to be creative, you have to be, you have to be a genius.

You have to be a rocket scientist. You have to come up with something that’s earth shattering and it’s, you’re either born with it or you. None of those things are [00:29:00] true. And so many people go through these lives of quiet desperation because they don’t, they think, well, that’s, that’s not for, you know, that’s, that’s a club that’s, that’s the red carpet that I’m not Yeah.

Able to go to, you know, the bouncers have said, no, not you. It’s these people. The cool kids. We’re all the cool kids. We all have the ability, and the sooner we realize that, the sooner we can start making a difference. Go like, oh, I. . It’s, it’s only, it’s all it is, is a mindset. Yeah. If you believe you’re creative, you will create that reality for yourself.

That’s, that’s all it is. And I want to create a world where people believe that. Yeah. I’m creative. And creative doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re putting on a clown nose every Friday or something like that. Yeah. Creative just means that you’re curious about the world and you’re like, Ooh, I can make this better.

What if I did this? What if this, what if this happened? And you’re learning new things and connecting different dots and that sort. It’s a much more vibrant way to go through life, and if I can help more people mm-hmm. experience that I think that that would be the legacy I wouldn’t mind having [00:30:00] there.

[00:30:00] Julie Bee – Host: There was a time in my journey as a business owner where mm-hmm. , I did not think I was creative. Wow. And when I tell people that, that’s, that’s, that’s surprising coming from you. When I tell people that they’re shocked, and I remember, and my, my coach remembers the moment I called her. I was on my way to a doctor’s appointment.

I, I know exactly where I was . And I called her and I said, oh my gosh, Angie, I think I’m actually creative. She was, yeah. 

[00:30:27] Bill Stainton – Guest: Duh, . Do, do you remember what, what, what the, what the, what the inflection point was? I. 

[00:30:33] Julie Bee – Host: I don’t exactly remember what it was. It was, I think it was when I realized I could write a book or that I had a lot of, and I was, I also started making videos for YouTube for my marketing agency.

Sure. Mm-hmm. . Those were like the two things, and I had, I think I had thought, you know, told myself, because you know, my background as an accountant and a cpa, you’re not typically known for being That’s super correct. Super creative. But [00:31:00] I think I. Thought that about myself, but I started kind of playing around with video editing software and a lot of other things, and I, it just hit me one day.

I was like, I, I’m a creative person. . 

[00:31:11] Bill Stainton – Guest: Yeah. It’s interesting. One of the things I do during, during my, my primary keynote, in fact, I’m gonna be speaking to a group of CPAs in just a few weeks. Mm-hmm. , and I ask them, okay, so when you think of creative type people, who do you think of when they, you know, musicians, poets, dancers, actors, you know.

Okay. When you think of non-creative people, who do you think of? The first answer is always accountants. Even when I’m speaking to groups of accountants, it’s always us. We’re terrible, it’s us. And then I to them, within 15 minutes that they are creative cuz I have them do an activity. It’s like, oh, oh, oh, this is it.

Oh, this is what innovation is. Well, I can do this. Oh, this is creativity. Yeah. I can do this. Yeah. They end up being some of the most creative audiences I have some of the most creative clients I have. Mm-hmm. . So, so I love, I I love that, that you actually called your coach on the way to the doctor and said, I, I think, I think I might be creative.[00:32:00] 

[00:32:01] Julie Bee – Host: And her answer said was literally, well, yeah, , that’s what she said, me . Everybody knew but me. You know, those whole of those moments of, oh yeah, okay, here we go. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Well, bill, as we’re coming to the end of our conversation here today, I’ve enjoyed this so much. In fact, I Oh, me too. I wanna have you back at some point to, to continue our conversation.

Awesome. But as we’re coming to the end of this one, I ask this question of everybody I have on this show. . If you were going to teach a class to future business owners, what, what is the one, one or two main things you would want them to walk away from your class with? 

[00:32:39] Bill Stainton – Guest: I think the first thing is, goes back to when you asked me what the biggest mistake was that I made, I would, I would wanna teach, especially entrepreneurs mm-hmm.

that it’s, it’s a business. Mm-hmm. , you, you’ve gotta get the business part right? Yes. You love what you’re doing, but you don’t seem to, but remember, There’s, there’s, there’s the business. You’ve, [00:33:00] you are running a business. I’m not a speaker, I’m a CEO who runs a speaking business. I’m not a consultant. I’m a CEO who runs a consulting business.

I’m a business owner who runs. This kind of a business, and it took me so long to get there and it’s still, I’m still not a hundred percent there. It’s, it’s still a journey for me. Yeah. So I would, I would want them to, to really grasp that, that, that’s important. That said, I would also want them to grasp that.

You’ve gotta enjoy what you’re doing. I don’t believe in the adage that, you know, do what you love, the money will follow. Mm-hmm. , I think that’s, that’s really bad advice. I think that’s practically malpractice. Mm-hmm. . But, so I don’t think do what you love and the money will follow, but if you can love what you do mm-hmm.

because boy, that really does make, make a difference. I, I. Working with my clients. I love with my audience. I love that. And I’m, I’m sure you know this, so I love that look in their eyes where they go like, [00:34:00] Ooh, oh, oh, that’s, I never thought of it that way before. And all of a sudden there’s just, you know, oh, I’m making a difference.

Like the old starfish story, Ooh, made a difference to that one. You know, , that, that’s so find, find that part of the business that you just absolutely love and hang onto that. But don’t forget, it is a, 

[00:34:21] Julie Bee – Host: Hmm. That’s, that is fantastic advice. Well, bill, listen, I have so enjoyed our conversation and I know the business owners who will listen to it will love it as well.

I just wanna thank you again for being on the show today. 

[00:34:33] Bill Stainton – Guest: Oh, thanks Julie. This is an absolute blast. You are. You’re really good at this . 

[00:34:37] Julie Bee – Host: Thank you. And that, let me tell you something coming from you. How many, just tell me again how many Emmys you? 29. Okay. So that I’m going to take that. The compliment of the week for this school because that, that means a lot to me.

So thank you for 

[00:34:54] Bill Stainton – Guest: that. You’re welcome. And thank, thanks for having me. This is so much fun. 

[00:34:57] Julie Bee – Host: Absolutely. And [00:35:00] that is a wrap on this episode, but please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform so that you don’t miss out on any of these kinds of conversations. I’m Julie. B and they don’t teach this in business school.