Equal Matters

Beks Roen has been reading since they were eighteen months old.

Grew up the kid of a pastor. Got baptized in front of a couple thousand people and smacked the bishop across the face on the way out.

None of that explains why total strangers, after watching Beks play Romeo in a New Hampshire forest this summer, kept telling them the same thing afterward: this felt different.

In this episode, actor, playwright, and stage combat teacher Beks Roen joins me to talk about the one idea that has shaped every part of their life: story.

Not the polished, realistic kind. The true kind, and the two are not the same thing.

We get into what separates those on a stage, and in your own head, how Shakespeare's most famous lover turns out to be a kid who has no idea what love actually is, and why a ritual Beks's family built to survive its hardest years is still how they find real joy today.

We also get into a car accident, a house fire that taught Beks how to actually remember lines, and the one-word answer a kid in the audience gave during the balcony scene that still cracks Beks up.

If you've ever wondered whether the story you're telling yourself is true, or just realistic, hit play. And read the piece that goes with it.

robhunter.substack.com

What does it take to stop fitting in and start setting the standard?

In this episode, Rob takes us to a nondescript strip mall in Sedona, Arizona, sandwiched between a Whole Foods and a crystal shop, to break down a masterclass in industry disruption: VESPA Healthy Italian Café.

By drawing a vivid line between the copy-paste predictability of corporate dining and VESPA’s bold, intentional, 72-hour fermented dough culture, Rob reveals what it truly means to be a Standard Bearer. You’ll learn why intentional friction, radical honesty, and uncompromising values aren't just good for the soul, they’re the ultimate business growth strategy.

In this episode, we unpack:

• The VESPA Experience: How a restaurant turns waiting into a privilege and customers into honored guests.
• Radical Authenticity: Why setting expectations early filters out the wrong clients and creates lifelong brand advocates.
• The "Standard Bearer" Framework: Bold, visible, and out-front leadership principles you can apply to redefine your own industry.
• Behind the Scenes: Insights into Rob’s work broadcasting the stories of visionary leaders, including a powerful story of resilience from a client who built a thriving business on her own terms.

Whether you run a business, lead a team, or want to elevate your personal brand, this episode is your blueprint for standing out, raising the bar, and leaving a lasting mark.

Hit play, slow down, and discover how to broadcast your standards to grow your business.

“Most of what we do is guesswork,” my doctor told me.

I was in for my annual 15-minute physical.

“Everyone is different,” he added. “We look at the labs, tap into our knowledge, and do our best to get you healthy.”

I appreciate his honesty in exposing the reality of medicine.

Thanks to insurance models, healthcare operates like a drive-thru. Patients come in and out, rushing through their menu of health challenges.

No wonder 70% of Americans say healthcare has major problems.

Yet the (billing) cycle continues. Healthcare is 20% of the U.S. economy, totaling $5.3 trillion. That’s $15,000 per person for mediocre results at best. Among the wealthiest nations, America has the lowest life expectancy and highest chronic disease rates.

The numbers show something is seriously wrong in healthcare. It’s built for trauma and disease management, not day-to-day vitality.

Dr. Dawn Dalili has been practicing medicine for over 20 years, learning that health goes beyond labs, supplements, and pills. She measures something different:

Aliveness.

“Lab tests tell you how your body is compensating for your lifestyle, but they can’t tell you why you’ve stopped giving yourself permission to thrive,” she explains.

On paper, her clients have it all. Good jobs and good families. Yet, the health challenge is the same.

“I’m so exhausted all the time.”

"Health isn't just the absence of disease or normal lab values,” Dr. Dalili shares on the Equal Matters podcast. “It's about feeling fully alive, energized, and engaged in your own life."

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Think of health as your lifestyle, the sum of your daily decisions.

Dr. Dalili explains it this way: “When you spend your entire life saying yes to everyone else while suppressing your own needs, your body will eventually say no for you.”

Every silent compromise taxes the body.

"Supplements and prescriptions can help manage the noise of a symptom, but they cannot fix a life that is fundamentally out of alignment with who you are."

Alignment is true health.

"Your symptoms are not enemies to be suppressed with a pill,” says Dawn. “They are your body's intelligent way of speaking the truth when you haven't been listening."

Adding, "No doctor, supplement, or lab test can care more about your life than you do. True transformation begins when you take radical responsibility for your own agency."

This takes the guesswork out of the equation.

"You are the ultimate authority on your own body. Healthcare works best when medicine is a tool you use, not a system you surrender your agency to."

Dawn’s practice revolves around what your body is communicating. That’s the symptom. A sign that something is off. Something that a pill or a 15-minute appointment won’t fix.

The $5.3 trillion healthcare machine isn’t going to be fixed anytime soon. You don’t have to wait for the system to change to start feeling more alive.

Real vitality and aliveness emerge when you consider the choices you make every day, the boundaries you aren’t setting, and where your energy is actually going. These are the underlying factors most doctors ignore. Exactly why we talked with Dr. Dawn Dalili.

She’s the Standard Bearer in healthcare. Bold. Visible. Out Front in redefining the industry.

Watch or listen to Dr. Dawn Dalili on Equal Matters.

Link up with Dawn here.

Dawn’s course on For Aliveness is here.

Small business owners I know are all struggling.

“It’s harder to get the word out,” I’ve heard numerous times. Makes sense. We’re constantly bombarded with ads. The ad noise is less impactful than ever.

Dave noticed a shift last year. What worked to get people in the door was no longer yielding results. Dave isn’t here to be the number one auto shop in Arizona. He’s here to redefine the auto repair industry. An industry where seventy to eighty percent don’t trust.

So we rewrote the formula.

And he’s seeing the results.

First, we got exceptionally clear on his shop’s high standards. Then, we discovered our theme and consistently posted new videos and podcasts on YouTube. We experimented. Found fun grooves and created.

Consistency and passion helped us find wrinkles.

A podcast episode on the F150 transmission. Thirty-plus thousand views signaled interest. We planned two more videos. Combined, those videos reached over two- hundred-thousand.

Within three weeks, nine F150s were parked at Tri City Transmission & Auto Repair.

As business owners and leaders, there are four things going against us. Prices are high, and people are more discerning about buying. Uncertainty has become contagious. Standards are lower. And trust in everything has been eroded.

Business, government, and leadership. Seventy to eighty percent of people do not trust the auto repair industry.

We, as consumers, are hunting for the highest standards and go beyond ads to find them. Watching Dave and the Tri City team educate makes it clear they are an exception to the rule.

They have raised the standards through transparency in auto repair. That’s why those F150s are there.

This formula is how to stand apart and attract clients.

Perfect clients are searching beyond ads.

Willing to binge three videos in forty-two minutes.

And pay you as the Standard Bearer.

This podcast is about growing your business with The Standard Bearer Formula.

Clear Standards

Theme

Consistency

Media Channel

If you are looking for results like this, I invite you to send me a message on Telegram here (preferred) or schedule a 15-minute intro call.

I work with Standard Bearers to get clear messaging, enhance media channels, and stay consistent to grow their business.

I’m Rob Hunter. Cheers.

Things done changed said the Notorious BIG. What worked three years ago no longer does. Hell, what worked last year no longer works.

Why?

Prices are high.

Uncertainty.

Erosion of Trust.

McDonald's has long been the Standard Bearer in fast food. But they've been slipping. Marketing efforts for their under $3 menu, K-Pop, and World Cup promotions fell short of expectations.

Meanwhile, Burger King in-store sales are up 8.5%. Because they upgraded their standards and are broadcasting it on all their channels.

It's working.

Mickey D's is learning its billion-dollar marketing budgets aren't yielding the same results.

In this episode of Equal Matters, Rob Hunter explores the solution through BK and the Standard Bearers he's working with, who are experiencing tremendous business growth amid uncertainty.

Send Rob a message on Telegram here (preferred).

Or book a 15-minute intro call here.

When Dave Riccio’s body failed him overnight, he embarked on a journey of change.

He asked himself, "Who am I now?"

Dave went from being an employee to owning a business. He runs that business by breaking a few industry rules.

Starting with heart-centered service.

During his journey, he realized that calculated safety was an illusion anyway. That realization gave him the courage to stop appeasing others, trust his internal compass, and build a business anchored in genuine care.

Join Rob Hunter for a conversation on pivoting through crisis, leaning into discomfort, and leading with heart.

You'll hear Dave's philosophies on redefining the auto repair industry. Using heart to do so. And being way more transparent with you so get good facts to make good decisions.

You'll also learn Dave's methods for taking the worst day and turning it into a way to live.

Dave owns Tri City Transmission & Auto Repair in Tempe, AZ.

Fitting in leads to misery.

70 percent admit to fitting in out of fear.

Leaders too.

Only 2 percent would provide honest feedback in a low-stakes situation.

One business owner shied away from a new offer because of criticism. That's the fear of standing apart. "I'll never do business with you again."

I heard that a lot on the radio. "I'll never listen to you again."

Every time I heard that, my ratings went up. Standing apart is good for business. Standing apart is good for leaders.

Trust me, people are looking for Standard Bearers to trust and buy from.

But that won't happen wearing camouflage and fitting in. This podcast is for you if you want to wave your Flag and stand apart.

Ready to wave your Flag? Here's your invitation to send me a message on Telegram (preferred) or book a 15-minute call.

Cheers, Standard Bearer.

Half think Dr. Anthony Fauci is a hero.

Half are outraged that he pled the Fifth over 100 times in front of Congress.

I'm neither.

Because beneath the worship and anger is his true legacy. One I learned covering the pandemic every day on the radio. You are your own authority.

You create your own reality.

Fauci is not in my bubble. He doesn't make decisions for me. Nor does any president. This is a hallmark of Standard Bearers.

We are our own authority. We don't cede it to bureaucrats, politicians, and influencers.

Fauci taught me that no matter what happens in the world, I have to live in it. I'm guided by my values. Freedom, Truth & Accuracy, Equality, and Justice.

Standard Bearers, tune in to dive deeper into your authority in this episode.

It's your boy, the R-O-B.

Cheers.

I paid $82 for a steak at one of America's most famous steakhouses. It tasted like a 6 out of 10. That disappointment led to a bigger question and a bigger message.

Smith & Wollensky boldly calls itself America's Steakhouse. They have the setting to back it up. White tablecloths. Big windows overlooking the Chicago River. Servers who walk you through the ranch sourcing, the in-house cuts, the aging process. The whole experience is designed to make you feel like you are about to taste something exceptional.

Then the steak arrived. Sixteen ounces. Eighty-two dollars. And 6-7, as the kids might say.

That is not a restaurant review. It is a symptom.

In this episode of Equal Matters, Rob Hunter takes that $82 disappointment and follows it to where it actually leads. A pattern of companies and leaders getting by on reputation alone. The seafood restaurant that ran out of lobsters. The roofing company with the values on the website that never showed up on time. The air conditioning company that charged premium prices for average work.

Mediocrity has become contagious. And most people have quietly accepted it.

But Rob is not most people.

This episode is a challenge to every business owner, leader, and professional who is tired of adequate and ready to become what he calls the Standard Bearer. The one who means what they say. Does what they say. And then does a little more. Not because the market demands it, but because that is who they are.

The bar is on the floor. The opportunity has never been greater.

This one is for the people who are ready to pick up the flag.

When you are ready to broadcast yourself as The Standard Bearer, hit me up.

robhunter.me

[email protected]

What happens when the biggest leap of faith in your life turns out to be the easiest part?

On the debut episode of Storytime, Rob Hunter sits down with longtime friend, colleague, and founder of A Taste of AZ, Eric Walters.

While moving 2,000 miles from Ohio to Arizona, quitting a stable job, and giving up drinking seemed like effortless choices for Eric, his true challenge lay in breaking free from a deeply embedded blue-collar mindset.

Raised in the steel city roots of Youngstown, Ohio (where a person’s worth is strictly measured by their hours on the clock), Eric opens up about the radical shift it took to stop viewing himself as just a cog in the machine.

Listen as Eric shares the powerful, life-altering stories that shaped his journey, including:

• The terrifying factory accident that changed his father’s life and inspired Eric to look beyond his small-town borders.
• The reality of navigating a high-stakes business partnership and learning the art of creative humility.
• How a spectacular failure as the “second-to-last” salesperson at a debt relief company was actually the universe stepping in to push him toward his true calling.
• The exact day, April 25th, 2018, he walked away from the corporate world to a soundtrack of Pink Floyd, choosing a life of culinary, craft beer, and community creativity.

It’s an honest conversation about deprogramming the hustle, listening to the universe, and the beautiful, messy process of creating something that brings people together.

Catch up with Eric on Instagram.

Subscribe to A Taste Of AZ here. Learn the best places to eat and drink across the state.

Meet Rob Hunter at robhunter.me