Stuff I Learned Yesterday

You may remember that I first came up with the idea for Stuff I Learned yesterday 6 months ago at New Media Expo in Las Vegas. I mentioned that moment in episode 1 of Stuff I Learned Yesterday. It took me 3 more months before I finally launched the podcast on March 17, 2014. I had no idea what to expect.

My vision for Stuff I Learned Yesterday was simple. I wanted it to be a short form daily podcast that you could listen to and find motivation, inspiration, and positivity. I really wasn’t sure if it would work. As I’ve mentioned several times, I began podcasting in 2008 about the TV show Fringe. I followed that up with a technology and entertainment podcast called Cutting the Cable Podcast. My podcast partner and I then formed Golden Spiral Media and we started another technology podcast and a film podcast. Additionally, we started a podcast for geeky dads.

Unfortunately, life changed right after we started those last three podcasts and two of the three shows never even made it to episode five. Later that year we started The Revolution Podcast.

I knew for a while that I wanted to do a podcast like Stuff I Learned Yesterday, even before it had a specific name and focused format. At one point while I was still at New Media Expo, I surveyed the Golden Spiral Media Facebook followers. I asked them what kind of shows they wanted to see from us in the future.

The results of the survey surprised me. Every single person that responded listed the name of a TV show or just said they wanted more TV podcasts. No film. No technology. No dad stuff. I responded and said I was surprised by the results. By the time the commenting was done I think there were one or two film requests, but the rest were all TV. Read More...

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Well, I warned you. I told you there would be more episodes coming about my flower bed project. In case you don’t remember, both my wife and I are terrible at trying to keep plants alive. This year we recruited our green thumb neighbor, Mandy, to help us. I’ve been really working to stay on top of the flower beds and keep my plants thriving.

I know absolutely nothing about gardening or flower bedding or whatever it’s called. I’ve looked it up a dozen times, but I’m still not sure if annuals or perennials are the ones that come back each year. I’m a total novice at this stuff.

Fortunately, Mandy really digs it. (pun intended) I go out every single day to check on my plants. I usually go out 2 or 3 times each day and look at them. I love to go out there first thing in the morning with a fresh cup of coffee and enjoy the cool of the morning with their splashes of color greeting me. The morning light and temperature has a very different effect on the plants than the midday sun and heat does. They look different in the way the colors look and the blooms are open wider during the sunnier times. During the evening the blooms are still wide open and beautiful.

Much to my disappointment, a few weeks ago many of my plants began to wither. The blooms shriveled up, the leaves sagged, and they just kind of sputtered. I went to the store and purchased some Miracle Grow. I read the instructions very carefully, but the plants did not respond the way I envisioned.

I thought that the plants would roar back to life and bulk up like an angry Bruce Banner. The morning after I first sprayed them I grabbed my morning coffee, and headed out the front door to see what changes awaited me. It looked the same as the day before. Day after day I went outside, and day after day they looked the same. I double checked the Miracle Grow label to make sure I was doing things properly, and confirmed that I was following the instructions correctly. Read More...

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Today is the Friday Forum!! In today's episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a very courageous and inspirational story shared by Rita. You can participate in a future Friday Forum episode by calling and leaving a message at 304-837-2278, emailing an audio file to [email protected], or clicking on the Send Voicemail tab on the right side of this page. Read More...

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In 2001 I took over as the store manager of a bookstore in Wichita Falls, Texas. Even though I was only 25 years old, I was confident in my abilities to manage over $1 million in inventory and a staff of 30 people. Of course, I had no idea just how much I didn’t know and the best way to learn is by doing. So I dove in head first.

The store had a really good staff. Unfortunately, the previous two managers had made some very poor decisions and the store was in rough shape. The store was dirty, poorly stocked, and morale among the staff was low. To be honest and completely truthful, just the simple act of changing the manager was enough to bolster morale. It could have been Mr. Peanut that stepped to the helm, but it was me.

Even though they would have reacted positively to Mr. Peanut, their enthusiasm would not have lasted long with him or me if they didn’t see positive things happening soon. I had every intention of taking the support and confidence they had offered me and making it count.

I felt like it was important to make the staff realize how important they were. I began holding regular staff meetings and I would try to motivate them to improve their quality of service both to the customers and to themselves. I tried to break down the invisible walls seen only by the employees. The walls that divided one department from the next. Read More...

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Ready for another Chicago story? I have a lot of Chicago stories because I’ve traveled there more than any other city. I love Chicago, but it hasn’t always been that way.

The first time I traveled to Chicago I went there for a work related conference. I was there for 4 days. The conference was about internet technology and lasted all day each day I was there. I was the only person from my company to attend the first year it was in Chicago but there were 4 or 5 people that were attending the conference that worked for a sister company of the one I worked for. I had met one or two of them before, but didn’t really know them that well.

The first night there was a travel night so we all just grabbed some food and crashed at the hotel. On the second night we all had a dinner schedule with one of our mutual vendors. The dinner lasted quite a while so once it was over, we went back to the hotel and called it a day. The next night I asked a couple of the people that I knew if they were doing anything outside of the hotel but they were not. I decided to stay in as well. The final night I once again asked the people I knew were doing anything, and they were not. I again stayed in as well.

I found out later that one of the guys I didn’t know also wanted to go out and check out the city a little bit. He asked his co-workers if they wanted to go with him but they declined. So instead of staying at the hotel with them, he ventured out on his own. Since he didn’t know me, he didn’t ask me. I got home from my trip from Chicago and felt a bit robbed. I mean, had I really just been to Chicago? All I really saw was the airport, a couple of taxis, the McCormick center, a couple of restaurants, and my hotel room. Every city has those things. Read More...

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