In an appetizing episode of the Scroll Sessions, Dan Page invites Scott Porter, a brand experience maestro and a connoisseur of all things taco, to share his unique journey and insights into the world of branding and customer experience. From the bustling streets of Mexico to the boardrooms of innovative businesses, Scott blends his culinary adventures with a deep understanding of creating memorable customer interactions.

The Essence of Brand Experience: Scott’s journey from exploring the origins of tacos and churros in Mexico to founding San Diablo Churros is a testament to the power of passion-driven entrepreneurship. His story emphasizes the significance of merging personal interests with business, illustrating how authentic experiences can revolutionize brand engagement. Scott’s approach is not just about selling a product; it’s about embedding the rich, cultural essence of Mexican cuisine into the heart of his brand, making every churro not just a snack, but a narrative wrapped in a delightful, sugary experience.

Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Change: Navigating the waters of entrepreneurship is no small feat, and Scott shares the hurdles he faced along the way, from logistical nightmares to adapting to the new norms brought about by the pandemic. His resilience and ability to pivot, underscored by his commitment to customer feedback, showcase the importance of being agile in business. Scott’s journey serves as a reminder that challenges are merely stepping stones to innovation and growth.

The Role of Authentic Human Connections: At the core of Scott’s philosophy is the belief that true brand differentiation lies in the human connection. The episode delves into how Scott’s experiences in Mexico City, from street food exploration to executive taco tours, have shaped his understanding of creating elevated brand experiences. It’s not about extravagant gestures or hefty price tags; it’s about genuine, human-centric interactions that leave a lasting impression, transforming customers into loyal brand advocates.

Practical Steps to Enhancing Brand Experience: Scott provides tangible advice for businesses looking to infuse their brand with meaningful experiences. Starting with a solid foundation of understanding your brand’s DNA is crucial. This clarity in vision, mission, and values acts as a guiding star, influencing every aspect of the business, from marketing strategies to customer service protocols. It’s about creating a culture that empowers employees to embody the brand’s ethos, ensuring that every touchpoint with customers is not just a transaction, but a memorable interaction.

Conclusion: The conversation with Scott Porter on Scroll Sessions is a flavorful blend of anecdotes, insights, and actionable advice. It serves as a rich resource for entrepreneurs, marketers, and anyone keen on elevating their brand experience. By intertwining the love for tacos with the art of brand building, Scott demonstrates that at the heart of successful businesses are authentic, memorable experiences that resonate deeply with customers.

In a world where consumers crave genuine connections, Scott’s journey is a reminder that the most potent marketing tool we have is the creation of humanized brand experiences. So, as you bite into your next taco or savor the sweetness of a churro, think about the stories and experiences you are crafting in your own business. After all, every brand has the potential to be as delightful and memorable as a well-made taco.

Transcript

[Music]

0:09so today I’m thrilled to have Scott Porter a brand experienc Maestro and

0:14Taco offici andado on scroll sessions today I I I just saw mestro so I think

0:19it fits perfectly yeah I love it um from revitalizing businesses with Innovative branding strategies to Leading culinary

0:26adventures in search of the perfect Taco Scott Blends his love for food with a passion for creating Unforgettable

0:32customer experiences we’re going to explore Scott’s journey through Taco stands to cheros shops and how he’s

0:38revolutionized brand engagement welcome Scott hey thanks so much it’s great to

0:44be here yeah good I’m glad I’m glad I just pumped you up just a little bit made you feel probably pretty good I

0:49love it well tell us about like just the taco churo origin and I and I have to

0:55say like I’ve known like of you and been connected with you I think since like 20

1:01it’s probably like 2016 2015 CU I did these Gallery nights yeah in Utah County

1:06yeah and we were looking for sponsors and I found you and I thought it was unique and we reached out and you you

1:12came and you did like free samples basically at our gallery night cuz we had a bunch I mean we had a I think a

1:18little over like 300 to 400 attendees yeah you were like I sure I’ll come and

1:24have my stand and I was like awesome and it was so cool and then ever since then I’ve just kind of just followed you on

1:29LinkedIn and kept up with how things were going but talk to us about the like the origin of tacos and churros and

1:37where that came about for you cuz you’re obsessed yeah I know I I mean my whole

1:42world revolves around Mexican food and I’m not mad about it one

1:48bit um yeah I I and thanks for having me um and back then too like thanks for

1:55letting us start to get the word out at and going to your gallery night so it was it was was uh it was awesome and

2:02moments like that where we just need like one of the best marketing tools that we ever have is just getting our

2:07churros in people’s mouths like we just need to have people try them and see how good churros can be you know um which is

2:15kind of a bit of the origin of I I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus

2:21Christ of Latter Day Saints in Mexico for two years absolutely fell in love with don’t tell people that don’t tell

2:27people when you serve because yeah no that’s not um uh but the I it like absolutely

2:37changed who I am and was really transformative um not just on my own

2:42spiritual journey but in the rest like everything that I’m doing with my life

2:47right now is a direct result of just my IM immersion in the Mexican culture and

2:54with the Mexican people and my deep love for um who they are how they are and uh

3:03and what that’s done to transform you know my own personal way of being and

3:09Ethos and like what and and not only that but business yeah um what does this

3:15look like for business and so I was there for a couple of years I went back and was an intern in Mexico City for the

3:22summer um during my time in Mexico City uh I had an amazing friend that we were

3:29just like like she would show me the whole entire city and I’m from a local

3:35you got to experience it as like more or less a local yeah and she she was from Mexico City grew up and she’s like wild

3:42about food and total totally obsessed like I was on like I got to find the

3:47best tacos in the city and so we just like the weekend would just go go go let’s where can we go to get the best

3:54tacos and she knew and so um uh I we went to this one like street food

4:00Paradise neighborhood called Coan in the Southeastern part of Mexico City and

4:05well South part of Mexico City and um I mean it’s amazing it’s like it’s like

4:12tacos and street corn and and ice cream and of course churros and so uh I got

4:20these that was when I had my first fresh filled churros yeah yeah I was to say

4:25San Diablo’s more or less unique with I mean not necessarily unique to the con but at least it was unique to me like I

4:32hadn’t heard of a filed chur before when I first experienced it totally you know so yeah and um most people are familiar

4:39with churos and we’re forever grateful to Disneyland and Costco even though Costco is recently discont we’ll get

4:45into this I want to get into the Costco thing in just a minute because it’s such a good it was such a good idea so fun

4:50and um yeah but thanks to them churos are you know essentially ubiquitous everyone knows about them or it’s really

4:58rare that we come across someone that’s never heard of a churro or hasn’t had a churro um but when I had these fresh

5:04filled churros back then I was like why do we have such mediocre like churos in

5:10the United States they always smell so good and you always think they’re going to be amazing and then you eat them and

5:16you’re like oh okay those are okay fried though um but but these filled ones were it was like another level of of uh of

5:25deep fried happiness and so I was like we you know how when you travel and you

5:31eat food and you you think to yourself why can’t it be this good back home yeah

5:36like we have the same ingredients and we do the same thing so why can’t we have something like this back home so that

5:42was the thought and then you know several career lives later and and years

5:47later on down the road um and about seven and a half years ago it was the

5:52right time to to launch San Diablo churos so and our whole thing was

5:58actually our churros are mini we serve our churros mini as opposed to you know the foot long uh churros that most

6:04people are used to and it allows it allows people to have a variety and of

6:09of the filling flavors you know whether it’s dual City laj Nutella right now we have a raspberry we you know we’re about

6:16ready in the spring we’ll do our our uh fan favorite lemon kurd um coconut cream

6:24anyway but we fill them with all sorts of fun things so totally yeah impetus

6:29for the churro business and and in that on that same summer was uh was when I I

6:36was going to be several friends were going to come down to Mexico City and travel uh after my internship and so I

6:44was on a mission also to optimize the time that they were going to be in Mexico City and so that really best

6:51possible experience exactly yeah so I wanted to create this like itinerary

6:58that was amazing yeah and so we I and Mexico City has

7:04like some nuances with timing of you know traffic day time of the day what things are happening when and when the

7:11best Vibe is going on in different spots of the city and so um so that really was

7:17the the birth of the taco tour that I now do with Executives in a taco t

7:25Mastermind Retreat to Mexico City and that was um yeah that’s where it’s all

7:31started way back in as an intern in uh in Mexico City um and it’s really you

7:39know it it’s really quite it’s kind of snowballed from there because the the taco I found myself throughout

7:46throughout you know my career in in training on how to create amazing experiences how do we

7:54help people feel special whether it’s in a nursing home or in the airline business or in our her business how are

8:00we helping people feel special um I ended up using like examples from my

8:07taco search because and and I found that the taco became this totally unexpected

8:14master class in how to create an elevated brand experience on the street

8:20you know like totally this doesn’t need to be like the Ritz Carlton or uh or

8:25something like that that oftentimes Business Leaders think and equate to being something very expensive or luxury

8:33or this means like to create an elevated experience means that I have to spend a lot more money yeah which most Business

8:39Leaders are reluctant to do tot right well have you have you read um I think it’s called Uh I think his name is Will

8:47I think it’s gadera um unreasonable hospit yes unreasonable Hospitality I

8:53think it’s will gadera he’s a chef but he talks about in the book and also I think in his Ted talk because I I have

9:00just been it’s awesome reading more about him and I read his book and stuff but he shares an experience at his

9:06restaurant um 11 Madison Park I think is what it’s called in New York and he he

9:11had some guests that were out of town that were eating there and he overheard them like they had an amazing experience

9:17at his restaurant and but he overheard them say something about oh I haven’t tried a New York Street hot dog yet and

9:26he shares this experience of him going out into the street and getting a New

9:31York style hot dog from a street cart and bringing it in and giving it to the

9:37guest and how like how moved the guests were by that and like being able to

9:43create that experience is so like magical for them cuz he didn’t necessarily like I think he didn’t say

9:50he like went up and talked to them but he overheard it I think he maybe heard it probably from a server and so he made

9:56it happen and then now those people are bands for life and now this is an amazing story and they’ve told everyone

10:03exactly and he’s made his whole career off this unre like unreasonable more or

10:08less Hospitality right and so I I think that definitely goes into kind of your brand experience stuff that you’ve done

10:15more or less not only just like educating Executives but also and the experience you give people because I’ve

10:21I’ve seen it on social and it looks amazing and I hope I get the chance to go do one someday cuz I absolutely love

10:28Mexican but talk to me about like the like the the brand experience piece and

10:34talk to me about like how that how that’s helped people that have been in these masterminds and kind of what you

10:40really talk about on these trips to help more or less translate it into their business yeah one of the beautiful

10:48things and and the most ma in my opinion one of the most magical things about

10:53Mexico City and the reason why we go to Mexico City is that the the the culture

11:01is on I mean you’re immersed in it and and for many people Mexico City is uh is

11:08maybe a little bit out of their comfort zone you know people are familiar with like beaches and borders of Mexico and

11:15also there’s a little bit of a a a stereotype of perhaps like it’s not quite as safe or you know people are

11:22conern they’ve seen men on fire or whatever you know and it’s like oh I don’t know if I want to go to Mexico

11:28City it is amazing I think it’s one of the best food cities in the world um and

11:34uh and never been safer never been more accessible like just any cities like

11:41that there’s there’s bad parts and there’s great parts of the city I mean a massive best of metropolis yeah yeah

11:46it’s huge and and so uh there’s like so many layers to the city you have like

11:52ruins in the heart of the cico in the historic Zone and then you have a

11:57cathedral so you have this like Colonial presence of the architecture to cobblestone streets like amazing

12:04Cathedrals and architecture then you have the the ancient obviously with

12:09pyramids and ruins from from the the ancient people there and then uh and

12:15then the modern and everything that’s associated with that and modern buildings but also just very Progressive

12:22progressively modern society as well and so um we eat like the best of the street

12:29and we’re you know all the way up to number five best restaurant in the world is in Mexico City p and so um and

12:37everything in between and the one of the things that I we go in with this clear

12:42intentionality of um of really helping uh each of us

12:48unlock and understand to a deeper degree the power of real human Connection in

12:54your business totally and and the the way that that happens so much of it happens organically and it’s stuff that

13:01I we never plan for yeah um because what and and this is the the the beauty of

13:08the whole experience is that uh the culture and the

13:13people really become the Master Teachers here yeah and we don’t know what that’s

13:19going to look like yeah um of obviously we have our we have a couple of sessions

13:25several sessions throughout the the 5 days that we’re there we call them so Mesa discussions it’s basically table

13:31talk over breakfast um and that’s a peer-to-peer kind of learning and and

13:37and sharing of ideas um but so much of it is like we’re

13:44processing through wow what happened last night or so we last night we ate at

13:49puol number five best restaurant you can anticipate the service is going to be off the charts right and the experience

13:56and the food and like Ambiance and everything the mole and the you know Tor

14:02you know that it’s going to be amazing and your expectations are pry High really high yeah um and then one of the

14:09things that I love about it is that it inevitably happens um they’ll say you

14:14know what I kind of I felt pretty much the

14:20same maybe even more like a VIP or maybe even more scen or maybe more special um

14:28at the taco stand on the corner where we were just standing there and and the

14:34little the Patty and Yvonne were like on their you know their turned over buckets

14:40that’s where they’re sitting and they’re like in this G on this uh uh griddle that was you know it’s been used for 20

14:47years and seasoned amazing and like they’re just like making the blue corn

14:52ploo right there in front of you and um you know it’s been a family business for

14:5840 years they like say that their mom owns that corner when you know she’s just it’s their iconic right there in

15:06that that neighborhood and they said you know what I felt I think I probably

15:12sometimes the people say I think I felt more special on that street corner with her the way that they took so much pride

15:19in the quality that they were providing they were so kind they looked me in the eye like how are you doing today you

15:25know what what would you like on your on your tooo you know just making it that was this beautiful

15:31human interaction and um those are the types of things that are unlocked um is

15:38that you’re like okay well wow what did they do that made me feel so special and

15:44and then also this realization and this aha of like wow that didn’t cost anyone

15:50any money Y and so it’s more the feeling that they created to it’s like how do

15:56you res how do we as Business Leaders and and uh how do we restore a level of

16:02humanity to the business interaction and create because it’s cold for the most part these days well and and and we are

16:10we are we have already moved you know like several years about 20 years ago um

16:16they the two authors coined the phrase The Experience economy and we we’re now

16:21squarely in the experien economy they were saying this is cing these are where the consumer Trends are going and how

16:27people behave and and and what we just now and we understand this because we’re

16:34all consumers as well we demand more of the of where we’re spending our time

16:39money and and effort and for sure uh and resources uh we want people to

16:46understand we want businesses to understand us we want them to be kind we want them to give us recommendations we

16:52want them to know us right totally um and and use our name and and say Hey you

16:58know Dan I know you love XYZ let me get this for you totally um just like will Gara right

17:06like it’s like he overheard oh they want a taco or a taco Taco’s on the mine it’s

17:12like always on the mine every day is Taco Tuesday they wanted they wanted a hot dog they wanted a hot dog and he’s

17:17like I can make this special for them yeah now this is think about it this is

17:23they’re at a beautiful restaurant for sure like highend restaurant it’s like the complete antithesis of kind of like

17:30more or less what he was trying to create but at the same time not it wasn’t necessarily

17:36about at least to will about the food it was about giving them G yeah it the

17:42gesture right Absolut for sure well it was the kindness right like he for them that was something that they’re just

17:48like he overheard and he wanted to be he wanted to create wow yeah he wanted to

17:54create something that was special you know for them and that’s what happens when you’re in Mexico City it’s like

18:01there is just this desire to create something I I went to my favorite uh um

18:07quesadilla place in kokan and and I mean I’ve been going there for a really long time and I just love it it’s like the

18:14flavors I long for it’s a crispy it’s do they recognize you now when you walk in I mean I’ve been there a number of times

18:22and so we went and and I I was asking her I’m like what’s the secret of your

18:28success and and she said well we make it with love yeah that’s that was her like

18:35knee-jerk reaction her just like that was her it wasn’t like yeah you know we’ve been around a long time it was we

18:41make it with love and it’s just that is what is is just so prevalent in every

18:48experience that we have and I think it’s it’s baked into the Mexican um community and the culture

18:55there that’s yeah the ethos and it’s it’s in the court the P passion is very much yeah a huge part of their identity

19:03where in America I think it is but it’s in a different way yeah well and it’s so outward focused it’s like how can I

19:11provide a great experience for you even with perfect strangers y it just happens

19:17like this I I was at I was in Tulum and um and I went to the street taco place

19:23and I was just like like geeking out right like it’s the trumo the Alp Pas store I don’t you like Al I love it’s

19:31like yeah it’s probably my favorite kind of and there’s like yeah he was like shaving off this huge chunk that was

19:37charred and I Love Char on Pastor it’s just like I love it not everyone does

19:44but I do please exactly and so so he’s shaving this off I’m I’m recording it on

19:50my phone and and he shaves it off and throws it in the trash right in front of

19:55me and I was like was it’s the best piece I went I’m like oh my gosh that looks no you know it’s like slow motion

20:03I’m like don’t do it please don’t throw that and he heard me didn’t say a word

20:09and the next thing that he shaved he shaved off had some Char on it and he

20:14just hands it to me in his hands hands it to me I of course eat it like

20:20instantly and I’m like well thank you I’m like dude you threw away the best piece and he’s like you know obviously

20:26most of his customers don’t that yeah and so so I I can’t understand them but

20:32um so he like shaving he shaves off the next piece and me some more right there

20:37that it’s like that it’s the hot dog like that’s the hot dog at 11th madis 11 Madison Park it’s like he heard he’s

20:44like I care and this was like just random dude yeah you know just a random

20:50dude on the street he cares and I think that’s what is like a huge differentiator that

20:56transforms um that’s transforming me that’s really been transformative for people that I take to Mexico City these

21:02CEOs and Founders they’re like to experience this in a place where you’re a little bit out of your context and

21:10what you’re used to and to experience it in a way where you’re like

21:16wow it Spurs on these conversations of like what does this look like in my SAS

21:22business yeah totally especially especially in B2B cuz like I I feel like

21:27d Toc experiences have always been a little bit yeah a little bit more

21:33customer focused even before the experience uh you know economy was kind

21:38of coined but I think especially the last couple of years it’s really come

21:44defition in B2B because like B2B has been so stuck in more or less their ways

21:50for so long and not necessarily realized that like yeah all of our metrics that

21:57we’re tracking aren’t necessarily leading to like business outcomes right and at the heart of it like people do

22:05buy from people yeah and you know and we’re now starting to see like you know

22:10influencer marketing come to fruition on LinkedIn with like LinkedIn influencers now and like all this stuff is coming to

22:17fruition now in B2B yeah well and it’s exactly what you said it’s we’re uh

22:22we’re we’re humans still making a decision with another human and having an interaction

22:29and I think uh we we’ve we’ve moved away and the sooner that our businesses and

22:36our own mindset can move away to an elevated um process of thinking about it

22:44and so we’re not just stuck in this transaction land transaction is I give

22:49you money you give me something and we call it right this is we we’ve we’ve evolved past that in our in our society

22:59and it is all about the personal relationship right how do we build a relationship how do we what what do we

23:05talk about lifelong lifetime value of a customer right and those customers can be B2B they can be D Toc customers

23:12whatever it is but how do we evolve from and how do we level up and realize and

23:19embrace this idea of creating we’re actually creating a relationship with someone and not just um getting money

23:26from them yeah and it does to business outcomes of course and it’s like but it the one thing that especially I think in

23:34SAS it’s like it’s something that is extremely hard to measure though and like people and the more or less I mean

23:41there is ways to measure it and of course there’s customer feedback and other things but like in terms of what B2B has been so obsessed with it’s like

23:47tracking every metric we get an SDR to like you know we have to make a certain

23:52amount of calls to get a sale then we have to do this then it like falls on how many meetings do we get you know

23:58everything’s been so like just cold yeah and and not necessarily calculated and

24:04not necessarily personal and you know like that stuff and I think um i w i

24:11maybe won’t 100% give the credit to Chris Walker but Chris Walker on LinkedIn is a major guy in the SAS kind

24:18of marketing space and coined the term at least on LinkedIn dark social which

24:23is like more or less buyer behavior that is can’t be tracked necessarily it’s a

24:28DM to a friend it’s word of mouth it’s creating that experience that then translate to actual business but can’t

24:35necessarily be like measured on Google analytics yeah you know what I mean yeah

24:40so yeah for sure I think too it’s like where where this really becomes where this really hits for me is

24:49when you think about as a business um how can I become a trusted advisor for

24:57someone yeah you know how do I and and I actually there’s been a couple of times

25:04I mean a couple of individuals recently like Chad jarine and like like I went to

25:10him we were talking about um marketing and and he’s like you know what I have a

25:16different area of expertise and so I think you would be better served to talk

25:22to a couple of my colleagues that are have like you know longevity in your

25:27industry and so he so I am going to like continue to go back to Chad even though he didn’t

25:34get any money of mine as a contractor but he was but I now see him as someone

25:42that I trust and this has happened to me with a couple of other people too and it’s like the more that we can

25:49understand that that any interaction that we have with someone is an opportunity to build trust with them and

25:56it’s like when you go to a restaurant and and I I asked them like well what’s your favorite thing on the menu or what

26:02do you like yes um and and or I’m kind of looking at this one and it happened recently they’re like actually that’s

26:09probably not the best thing on the menu so I I I mean I love these other things

26:15and I’m like thank you so much for being honest because I don’t want you to just say oh everything’s good which so many

26:22people do just say everything’s good I’m like I don’t is that really true I don’t think so like I want to be able to trust

26:30you um and I will continue to come back when I trust you I’m going to refer

26:36people to you even though I may not be your customer yeah you know yeah like I

26:44so I I just think that the the more we can help to Klay Christensen talked

26:49about um the job to be done right I love clay I know I know it’s it’s it’s a

26:55bummer it’s a bummer he’s not around stuff I know for sure he’s a Wonder brilliant brilliant man great amazing

27:00heart um I uh the job to be done if we

27:06could you know someone’s coming to you with a job people come to us for

27:11catering and to do a unlimited Mini churos at their event yeah and if for

27:17whatever reason it doesn’t work out or our price point isn’t isn’t an alignment with their budgets like we’ll refer them

27:25to I mean we used to refer them to Costco and and they’re like well we weren’t helping to spend that much

27:31they’re like well we you could go to Costco and get some churos there’s other things like how can we help you get your

27:37job done you know your job is to get catering for your wedding or for your

27:42business party so how can we become a trusted adviser because Guess what at some point in the future you’re going to

27:48remember that and you’re going to be like wow they were really nice and actually helped me do what I needed to

27:54get done 100% well and I think in the wedding business cuz I I uh I mean I used to be a wedding

28:01photographer I say that but I still shoot weddings on occasion like you I don’t think I ever was at a wedding

28:07where you were particularly there but you had people that were definitely there running a booth doing churos at

28:13weddings and I think the the interesting thing about wedding the wedding business

28:19in general because it’s a little unique especially here in Utah because it’s the wedding capital of the world more people get married here every year than any

28:25other place in the entire world which is insane um but like it it allows for a

28:30lot of interaction and experiences and I like over my career before doing marketing like I’ve shot a little over

28:37200 weddings now and we’ve experienced a full gamut and one thing I realize is that at least as some kind of like core

28:45vendors we have relationships with a lot of other vendors right so if you if you can establish a really good relationship

28:51with a bride or a groom at the beginning of their journey to maybe find a photographer and you hand them all of

28:57these things like it giving them that brand experience more or less becoming that

29:02trusted adviser it’s like yeah we we’ve seen it all you know we’ve literally seen it all here’s some of our best

29:09recommendations here’s some amazing people to work with and people are blown away by that you know yeah yeah well I

29:16mean it’s just like having again it’s the hot dog right yeah it’s like you’re you’re and and it’s the one of the

29:22things I love about the taco experience is that you know I I’m obsessed with brand and customer experience so I can

29:28never take those glasses off so everywhere I go I’m like so the taco experience when they have toothpicks out

29:36when there’s like you know they’re anticipating they’re knowing that I’m going to get cilantro stuck in my teeth

29:42you know what I mean and so they’re anticipating that that’s happening the limes are already there when I go to a

29:49Mexican place and I have to ask for limes for my tacos I’m like who is sleeping at the switch here because like

29:56this is you have to on tacos and so it’s uh there’s there’s

30:03just like that forth thought of um anticipating someone’s needs yeah and

30:09and then what are we doing as a business to not just anticipate the needs but put those systems and structure in place to

30:15create these moments of magic like in Will’s case to to to go out and get the

30:20hot dog well someone needed to be okay with that I mean I’m not sure if he was the boss at the time but uh whether or

30:28not he was like it let’s say he wasn’t if he needed to feel

30:33empowered um and that and that culture needed to be built internally that that

30:39was okay yes like I have some amazing experiences about traiter Joe’s too that

30:45are just like insane right um

30:50uh there’s this one time I went to Trader Joe’s it’s kind of a three-part like Trifecta here so I went to Trader

30:57Joe um in Trolley close to in downtown and um and I’m you know I love their

31:04plantain chips so I’m over there in that snack aisle right and I’m looking at these coconut Krispy things that were

31:11new I was like picked up the package I was kind of studying it this guy that was stocking the shelves um says hey

31:18have you tried those before and I said no he’s like well open them up and give him a try and I’m

31:26like all right you’re like I’ve never done this in a grocery store before I’m like okay great and so I open it up and

31:33I try them I pop a couple and there delicious I’m like these be great in the morning with my Greek yogurt I’m like

31:39grab a couple packages and I go to uh purchase them right I’m walking out as

31:44I’m walking away um the manager crosses my path and I hear him talk to say to

31:51the guy and he says Hey Alec there’s um one of our customers has

31:57a flat TI in um can you go help her change her tire please and he’s like oh sure so he

32:03like puts it stops what he’s doing puts it down and like basically like skips out to go like help her change her flat

32:10tire and I’m like what what is going on here who is this guy and this just

32:17exposes so much to me about what’s going on behind the scenes at Trader Joe’s

32:23like the culture that they’ve established the the standards that they’ve set how they recruit the trust

32:30exactly and so then I like buy him and I’m that guy and so I follow I go out to

32:36the parking lot and I I track him down and I find him like he’s down there on

32:42his knees like changing the tire and um big old smile on his face and I said

32:48Alec um what is this all about yeah and he just brushed it off in like the most

32:54traiter Joe’s sort of way he’s like no this is just what we do at Trader Joe’s

32:59yeah you’re like wow it’s totally this is just what you

33:06do imagine a world where all of the businesses that we interact with and not

33:14just businesses but everywhere where we go and H people that we interact with

33:19where it’s like we have that mentality of like we just take care of

33:24people totally you know it’s because of things like this like when I’m when I’m speaking I say who loves Trader Joe’s

33:30and people are like one hand and they’re like I do and people are like clapping whatever people yeah people that love Trader Joe’s love and I say okay so so

33:38why so tell me how many grocery stores are between your house and Trader

33:43Joe’s and they’re like counting Counting like 10 12 whatever they’re like going

33:49through I’m like you passed 12 grocery stores to go to Trader Joe’s and not only that but you’re paying a premium

33:54too for sure yeah some things are are less expensive but yes there’s a premium

34:00um and they love it it’s because they care you know they recently announced

34:05Trader Joe’s recently announced that they will never do self checkout interesting because they want that human

34:12interaction yeah totally well and I mean their whole store is that way and it’s I mean it’s it’s from not only the the

34:18products that they curate the the experience that they curate but also like I mean down to the hand paint and

34:23signs like they have somebody on it’s customized right everything you’re in Salt Lake and they have University of

34:29Utah stuff and Westminster College on the on the way to the restrooms it’s just like it feels local it feels

34:36special totally um and here’s here’s like this punctuated it so like I’ve

34:42learned so much from this example so I’m telling the story Emily Smith comes up to me after a presentation she’s like

34:48you’re never going to believe what happened to me at Trader joose I’m like okay try me and so she said we were at

34:54checkout and I was there with my husband and and uh and they ask like they always

35:00do um how was your day and what do we respond right we’re like good fine

35:06whatever and um and Emily said but I decided to actually tell them what

35:11happened and so she said well actually we bought a car today and

35:17so without skipping a beat the cashier reaches around behind them grabs a bouquet of flowers fresh flowers and

35:24says congratulations and handsome the fresh bouquet of flowers right there that’s

35:29amazing yeah it’s amazing yeah it is um to me like there’s so much there like

35:36first of all that you know that employee knew that that was okay yes was

35:42obviously trained you know and that was and and and um

35:49was actually present and listening and so celebrating the person in front of

35:54you and the flowers were probably there for that specific purpose I would assume

36:00they want sell them yeah but I’m sure that much thought would have gone into it for sure you know and then also

36:08someone I imagine a conversation with the CFO like back in Monrovia California

36:15of like okay so we’re going to empower thousands of our line workers to give

36:20stuff away for free to give stuff away for free are we really okay with that and I think like that’s when you you’ve

36:28that’s when leadership has made the Paradigm Shift of of like we’re building

36:34relationships that are lifelong we are creating fans we are empowering our team

36:41also from the internal perspective that you build that type of culture your team feels amaz I mean the the psychological

36:48safety has to like absolutely exist in 100% yeah for sure you know and um and

36:54so what does Emily do she’s walking out she takes a picture pict of her Trader Joe’s bag with the flowers in it she

37:00just spent who knows how much money on a car yeah you know tens and tens of thousands of dollars on a car that’s the

37:07picture that she posts on the day she spent that much money on a car totally because it was about the human

37:13connection someone did something unexpectedly nice unreasonably nice y

37:19right Y and and it and it touched her you know it brought like this moment of

37:24like oh my gosh that’s so nice you know and we all love to feel like that yeah and no matter what is happening with AI

37:32or or machine learning or however technically Advanced our world gets we

37:38are all still going to be humans interacting with other humans yeah and that’s never going to go away and that’s

37:44so amazing you know yeah totally I mean and and so here’s here’s the extra so

37:50that’s kind of like Alec was good Emily is better and here’s even best right

37:56yeah part three so I’m scrolling through Facebook one

38:02day and I I’m looking through and I see pictures I see this picture of

38:08flowers and Trader Joe sign again and I’m like oh my gosh really here we go

38:15again this is like months later I like stop at the post and I read it and it’s

38:20you know my friend is is saying I’m so impressed with the kindness that was shown to me by Trader Joe’s team today

38:27um on checkout I you know they asked how I was doing and I said or what I what

38:33plans I had for the weekend she said well I’m actually going to my father’s

38:38funeral and um and they said they were so sorry for my for my loss and um and

38:46then I left the store and as I was loading the groceries in my car a Trader

38:51Joe’s employee came running out to my car with a bouquet of flowers and said

38:57that I had some unfortunate news recently yeah and and hopefully this

39:02brightened my day and so to me

39:09um that everything that we we talked about about the other examples like

39:15still holds true totally this to me is now

39:20even this is why people bypass 12 grocery stores to get

39:25to Trader Joe’s yeah is because um they

39:31care and it is consistent you know like that was what

39:36was what I mean was a different Trader Joe’s in a different city and a different like um there is a consistency

39:43with which they are creating and crafting these

39:48beautiful experiences for people totally that are not like I mean yes you can say

39:55well that’s an expense on their side sure but they have calculated I’m sure they’ve done so many studies and

40:01research and whatever that those pay dividends in the future and not only

40:08that it’s like yes we can talk about all of the you know when you create a positive customer experience you your

40:14customers will spend 140% more they’re going to refer people like the Hot Dog

40:19Person you know in Will’s example and um all of those like that will happen and

40:24all of those things but but as a but this is there’s a little bit more

40:30at play here that I think each of us can Embrace as this we have an opportunity

40:37and even I think a responsibility to make an impact for good in the world and

40:43um and that’s you know we we can do that totally with the culture that we’re

40:50creating internally at our businesses and how we actually bring that to life

40:56because it’s easy for us to come with really beautiful words that we frame and put on the wall and say this is what we

41:01believe in yeah but how do we how do we make this fully integrated into the

41:07hearts and minds and fully like embraced by all of our team at every level at

41:12every touch point every day yeah and that’s why this consistency of the

41:17Trader Joe’s experience is so poignant to me is that it wasn’t just a one-off

41:23well that’s really cool flowers whatever once but it’s like no they keep doing it it’s the my it’s my pleasure right at

41:29Chick-fil-A right like no matter where you are it’s the way and so when Alex

41:34says oh this is just what we do at Trader Joe’s he literally means it right

41:39yeah so what is your company’s way yeah you know what do we do at San Diablo

41:45what is our thing that people say oh well we’re just celebrating you’re

41:50you’re like I mean we have this one of our one of our um uh one of our team te

41:57members we got some feedback and they’re like we love the churos they were so amazing and we were so impressed with

42:03Colin who actually like it was he named a a churo filling flavor after our son’s

42:09birthday it was his birthday party and he called it the Ryland Delight you know and it was uh it was a special filling

42:16combination that he made and um and that made that like a highlight I mean the

42:23kid felt he was 8 years old and he felt like and and we’ve never said to our team okay listen if an 8-year-old has a

42:30birthday party and you’re going to it like make sure a name a churo after you

42:36know he just did it because that is the San Diablo way we want to

42:41create our one of our values is interaction not transaction you know we are anyone can sling churros anyone can

42:48make churros and give them to people we want to create an interaction that’s memorable and special and different and

42:54so um I think that’s the opportunity that we have in in business and in life

43:01is to is to really this really boils down to love like for me that like you

43:07keep like drilling down to what this boils down to how can we be a a catalyst

43:13and uh and um uh yeah like how can we be a catalyst

43:19for love really really yeah totally in in other people’s lives we are living in

43:24uh uh love um depraved world yeah you know

43:31very commoditized commercialized everything well and even there’s like so people are distanced from each other and

43:37there’s lots of hurt totally going on out there and sadness depression anxiety

43:43mental health issues Lon you name it loneliness um I just I I think that

43:49there’s simple if we just care just one more Notch a little bit more I had like

43:57I had a call yesterday with I had to call the Sandy Court because of a speeding ticket that I got we won’t get

44:04into that and um and there was a and I

44:10got an email that spooked me you know like some like I thought this was taken care of and I got this email and so I

44:15called and she was the nicest ever and you don’t anticipate that especially for

44:22yeah it’s like a very cold interaction like the yeah exactly courts or whatever it’s just like very like this is the way

44:28it is and yeah don’t they don’t care she’s like oh my gosh I’m so sorry we just recently upgraded our system that

44:35email went out erroneously so please don’t worry about anything I’m so sorry is there anything else I can help you

44:40with and I was just like well first of all it was unexpectedly nice cuz you almost like go in like with your guard

44:47up and you feel like wait I got to fight for you figure this out and so so she um

44:55so she was overly nice and I hung up up the phone and I was thinking I thanked her obviously and I said and and and I

45:03just took a minute to to recognize what I was feeling after that call and I was

45:08like I actually feel happy like of course like nothing was

45:14wrong so that’s helpful but like but she was overly nice and unexpectedly nice

45:21unreasonably nice and um and I realized that we just have so many micro

45:28interactions every day um that we can choose to be uh you know a an agent for

45:39positivity for love um what if she doesn’t know what’s going on in my personal life and what type of uh things

45:47are you know battles that I’m fighting internally when I get on that call with her yeah for sure she could be really

45:53mean and I’m like maybe that would could have been my call on Earth you know and

45:59I was like so depressed I’m like I get this email like and that was like the straw that broke the camel’s back and

46:05I’m like everyone hates me everything’s going down going wrong like this is nothing’s working out in life and then

46:12she was rude and who knows what could have happened yeah you know and so the

46:17flip side of that is that we can be a light we can be that positive totally um

46:23uh agent of love and of care and of just what I like to think of as just being

46:30human like humanizing the experience that you create yeah 100% no I I love

46:36that I think two two quick examples on my end I think one uh Logan mallerie I

46:41don’t know if you know Logan so I was so impr and I’ve followed him for a long time in LinkedIn he was a recent guest

46:47too and my first interaction in in real life with him I saw him at a little meet

46:53up at I think it was Kil and Lehigh sure and I went to him and he like you know

46:58said like hi Dan first of all he called me by name he didn’t impressive and that he one recognized my face and then he

47:07said what’s a problem that you’re experiencing right now in your business and how can I help like that’s the first

47:14thing that came out of his mouth after he said hi Dan you know and I’m just like I was kind of taken aback by that

47:22because I was like one I’ve never had somebody just say that and I’m like I’m gonna steal that now Logan um but I like

47:28just it’s very it’s a h it’s very human but it’s also like so I don’t know it’s it’s hard to

47:35describe the experience but I always remember that you know well and it it it sounds like he also just became a

47:41trusted adviser imediately just like instantly immediately for like yeah set

47:47himself up for that so that’s one that I just that’s always stuck with me and then two Shane and I especially in the

47:53last like two years we’ve really honed in with our with our team that we are

47:58not a digital marketing agency we are a customer service agency because as a marketing agency

48:04your clients are also your bosses more or less I mean that’s kind of how it turns into a lot of the times um and so

48:11like we we really do pride ourselves on our customer experience and we feel like it’s really really good but I think

48:18especially when you’re people facing in which is almost every role you know at

48:23more or less an agency or when you’re in marketing your interfacing with people all the time all day long that’s all you

48:29do like be human like take the extra second you know to be nice to treat

48:35someone as you want to be treated it’s crazy that we have to say that these days but like like take the extra second

48:42to do that because it’s going to go so it’s going to go like so much further and even if it doesn’t because you can’t

48:49control how somebody’s going to react to you you can only control yourself and so

48:54it but if you can control that in that experience of yourself it will help yourself oh yeah you know and not only

49:02benefit that person but at at the Deep part of yourself it’s going to help you yeah you know oh yeah I mean it’s just I

49:09like that is and and I think it becomes even more important when you are uh when you’re building you’re like

49:19as soon as you recognize that you’re not just like transacting right that you’re

49:24actually building a a a life relationship with this person totally

49:30that may come May mean that they become a client and it may mean that they’re not yeah you know yeah but at at the

49:36very least you were human with that person and you treated them with respect and you know if they forget it so what

49:42but if you know hopefully they do remember it yeah I mean that’s that would be the the the goal or is should

49:49it’s you know the classic they may forget what you say but they’ll never forget how you made them feel how how do

49:55we embrace that in in business totally as like really one of our to me that is

50:02and the whole reason I got obsessed with all of this when I was first running a nursing home was because it’s like we

50:10didn’t have money to to to to dedicate and allocate to any sort of marketing

50:16efforts for sure we had to create so I I was thinking like what if we created an

50:21experience that’s so standout that’s so different and special that people can’t

50:27help but talk about it yeah doctors patients families residents themselves

50:32nurses at the hospital discharge planners um and that’s what you’re saying it’s like how do we how do we

50:40like I I believe that our biggest marketing tool can be the creation of this humanized brand experience totally

50:47of uh the more that we treat each other with kindness and and as humans that we

50:53are uh that will be the thing that would can be our biggest competitive advantage

50:59and um and our best most effective marketing tool 100% strategy really well

51:05yeah yeah strategy out his core front but like you know obviously like there’s a ton of execution that goes in yeah um

51:11well Scott let to maybe wrap it up what is like your one piece of advice for someone that is trying to pull in brand

51:20experience like where where’s the first place that they’re going to start yeah to you know to do it absolutely um when

51:29I when I work with businesses on a on a Consulting basis I we always talk about

51:37the foundation and starting out with this phase one component of like first

51:43of all you need to understand and identify what your brand is your brand

51:50DNA your vision mission values um if you don’t understand that you’re going to be

51:56wandering your messaging will wander your team won’t know exactly what’s going on um you won’t have a North star

52:04to guide all of the the expectations of every function of your business if you

52:10don’t know and it’s not clearly defined and codified and said this is who we are

52:16and this is yeah this is this is what we expect of each other this is the type of

52:22experience we’re trying to create businesses that have done that it’s very clear right and you see that that’s what

52:30you see when you go to Chick-fil-A or Trader Joe’s or Disney you feel everyone’s on the same page Y and and

52:38also on so that is the beginning that’s the base that’s the foundation you start

52:44with and that really is the core and heart of everything that you do if you nourish that heart and that you

52:51understand what how the impact that a healthy thriving heart can have on your

52:57the rest of the body of your business yeah totally then um then you can start to create amazing marketing campaigns

53:05then you can start to create an amazing and an elevated humanized brand

53:11experience whether that’s virtual whether that’s in person whether that’s over the phone how that informs

53:19everything that you do totally everything um the way the words that you use in your emails you know how talk

53:26you’re scripting on the phone for you know whoever you’re talking to talking to so that is

53:34the that’s Foundation as soon as you know that then that you know you’re Off to the Races

53:41you know then you can then you can design an architect something that that

53:46is an in alignment with um who you’ve decided you are and what type of impact

53:53and emotion and experience that you’re looking to create well Scott I sincerely

53:58appreciate the time today man it’s always fascinating talking to you every conversation I’ve ever had with you I’m

54:03just like okay let’s go to Mexico now let’s go have some fun I love it well how how can people find San Diablo how

54:11can people conect with you well thanks so much yeah um uh uh San Diablo churos

54:17dcom and San Diablo churros is our Instagram and we’re on the socials and everything like that so um that’s San

54:24Diablo churos uh you can find more information about um the taco tours that

54:30we do to Mexico City the executive uh Retreats um as well as any the consulting or speaking engagement stuff

54:37on my website forever vitamin.com and so the te’s for tacos

54:43and transformation I love it something we all need more of right yes 100% well

54:49Scott thank you so much I really appreciate it man yeah thank you so much for having me it was awesome to be here loved our

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