Jul 11, 2022

This episode is a special one! The podcast centers around a communications and marketing professional. We discuss parallels between her career and fire and life safety professionals. Kaelynn Gagliardi gives great tips on writing from her time as a professional journalist. Also we talk about user experience, content creation, and branding. Oh and by the way its my wife! Big shout out to the her she is the first Fire Code Tech fan ever. 

 

Kaelynn's Writing Tip Links: 

https://copyblogger.com/

https://www.grammarly.com/

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2HPPqYzl0i3sRdo5fCEuNB?si=0XaBc6bQR5iwdeFAyXO6ig

 

Transcription

Hello. Welcome to the solo cast of fire code tech in these episodes. It's just gonna be me, your host, Gus Gagliardi. There's gonna be a range of topics, but I'm gonna talk about specific technologies, installation, standards, codes, and how they work as well as some other interesting topics that don't neatly.

Inside of the context of a normal interview. Hello? Well, welcome to episode 56 of fire code tech. Today. We have a very special episode with an interview with my wife, Kalin Gagliardi. In this episode, we're talking with Kalin about her career in marketing and communications. We speak about why it's important to cultivate a personal brand as a professional living in the digital age, Kaylin started her career in journalism and has over 200 articles during her time as a journalist.

So she gives her tips on professional writings and how you can. We've a better narrative and story into your next fire and life safety project. This episode is really special to me. Kaylin has been a part of the podcast since his very beginning, and she has been such a big help along the way. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and follow us on social media.

Oh, and if you do me a huge favor, go and give us a five star review on apple podcasts. Let's get into the show.

Well, Kaylin, welcome to the fire code tech podcast. Thanks for coming on the show. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. Well, I always like to get these things started with, you know, telling the listeners a bit about your back. And your professional career. Would you mind telling us a little bit more about that?

Yeah, absolutely. So I am, I like to think of myself as a formal journalist turned communications professional. Um, I have experience working for large corporations for small PR marketing firm. Um, and I've worked in internal communications. So employer to employee communications, um, I've done client communications.

I've been a part of brand awareness campaigns. Um, you know, I've done a lot of blog writing. Social media. I've been a part of digital advertising projects, um, media pitching community, giving planning events. I've kind of worn a lot of hats. Um, in addition to, you know, having a, a previous career as a journalist, that's very interesting, good to hear about some of the different roles that you've had so far, you know, um, sometimes I like to dive into.

you know, schooling, you know, you touched on that journalism piece. And so I'd like to hear a little bit more about your education and how those first couple roles. Shaped your career. Yeah, so I, um, went to Oklahoma state university and I was, um, a student in their journalism and strategic communications school.

I, uh, was, you know, my path was print journalism. Um, I really enjoyed writing growing up and, um, you know, took college as an opportunity to dive into that a little more. Um, Uh, yes, I was a student at the journalism school, but honestly, I feel like a lot of my education came from working for the student newspaper where I wrote like more than 200 articles.

I think by the time I graduated, um, You know, I really enjoyed it. And that was kind of my outlet to really finesse, um, my writing and just, you know, be a sponge and soak up, you know, all the knowledge that my peers had to offer our advisors had to offer and, you know, our professors too. So it was a really good learning lab for me.

Um, and then while I was in school, I had four internships, um, that, you know, allowed me to learn in the real world. Um, so it was a really. Um, I felt like once I left school, like I knew what I was getting into. Yeah. I think that's one of my favorite like facts or one of your most impressive facts is that you had an internship all four years of your college experience.

And not only did you have an internship, all four summers, but you also were frequently writing for the newspaper, you know, on a weekly basis for the school newspaper. Speak a little bit more about those internship experiences and how those. Like help set you up for your professional career. Sure. So I think, you know, having experience, like I said, you know, it really allowed me to see, okay, this is the field that you're getting in and this is what you're gonna do.

Um, on the a daily basis. Um, you know, I got to talk to other professionals who had been in the field for. Um, decades and, you know, go out to lunch with them and pick their brains, um, you know, pick the brains of my managers, um, you know, talk to them candidly about, Hey, should I continue doing this? You know, what have you enjoyed about your career?

What are the really cool things that you've gotten to? Do you know what opportunities are there in the field? So I think. I would highly recommend, um, at least having one internship because, um, you know, it really opens your eyes to what you're getting yourself into and also what opportunities there are, um, within your field.

Yeah. That's uh, great advice. I always, um, try to encourage people to get a sense of what career they're looking to go into. , you know, you can't really ever know what a job is gonna be like until you actually get in there, work with your manager, see what the process and flow for the job role is. And really just kind of get a sense for what that day to day looks like.

Cuz you can have an idea of what a job might be in, in reality, it might be something completely. So touching on that journalism piece a bit more, um, you know, we're doing an interview right now, but, um, how was your experience with interviewing people? I know you've told me some stories, um, previously about how it could sometimes be challenging or.

You know, it seems like you had a, a wide variety of interview experiences during your time as a journalist, for sure. Um, I've conducted a lot of interviews and been a part of a lot of interviews. Um, and I think, uh, doing your research and knowing, you know, your, your subject, first of all, is key. And, you know, I think that, um, just being a human is really important too.

Um, because that's when you're gonna get people to, you know, um, open up to you, you know, when you say, Hey, here's some commonalities we have, or here's, you know, something that, um, We both share interest in, um, you know, to kind of open the door a little bit, to get them to feel com comfortable with you, um, and you know, to share their story.

Um, because that was one thing I really loved about journalism is it's storytelling. Um, and you know, you have to get people to open up to you so that you can share their story. And the more comfortable they are with you, the better stories they're going to share with you. Yeah. That's a great point. I think that people need to feel some sense of rapport and there has to be some sort of personal chemistry when you are having an interview or else it kind of just feels flat or like, There isn't any sort of chemistry in what's happening in the conversation.

So I can really appreciate that point of trying to level with somebody and provide a point of commonality between two parties. That's that's a great, I like that. So trying to draw a through line, um, you know, into you. During college was gonna move on until after to after college. But I think there's more meat on the bone for like in college.

Like what kind of professional societies and things were you a part of that, you know, helped. Form you and like start to build your rapport and network during that time. Yeah. So I was a part of a couple of professional organizations or student organizations, um, society, professional journalists, S PJ, and then also PR S S a, um, which is the student version of public relations society of America.

Um, you know, I. Spent a lot of my time working for the student newspaper. Um, otherwise I probably would've been even more involved. Um, but those, I think were the main, um, groups that, you know, I was a part of that really, um, allowed me to grow as an individual. Um, And I think that having just being a part of those groups and a, you're gonna find people who are interested in the same thing as you are.

Um, so, you know, it's easy to brainstorm bounce ideas off each other, think about things in a different way. Um, and then also, you know, a lot of times those groups have an advisor or are led by a professor, um, you know, which can be really great to. , you know, have someone that you can, you know, talk to about your ideas or ask questions about, and that's just someone else that you have, you know, at your disposal, as you know, someone who can give you guidance as a student, um, someone that, you know, you can come back to later in your career.

Um, so I would definitely recommend, you know, as a student, for any students who are listening, you know, take advantage of those groups. They only get harder to join as you get older and, um, more expensive yeah, that's a good point. Get involved while it's free. And while people are trying to, you know, professionals are trying to break your break, their neck to get students involved.

And, you know, I feel like professional societies are always so hungry for people to get involved and start to. Be a part of the organization. Well, and I had one thing to add to that. You know, when I say they, that they get harder, um, to get involved in life, continues to happen. And I feel like you have more time as a student to really make those connections.

Whereas as an adult, you know, a lot of times those, those commitments have to happen after. Um, and it's a lot more, yeah, it's just more labor intensive to try to facilitate these connections. And I mean, it's a lot easier as a student. I mean like a lot of times there people are coming in and as speakers and bring in free food and like, they're really doing everything they can to try to make it easy for you to be involved as a professional.

So, I mean, you there's, and I was not the best about it. When I was in school, I went to a couple. You know, SFPs and, um, society of safety engineers, um, as SSE at the time, I think they're as S S P now, but yeah, I mean, the message is, you know, when you're in school, if you're in school, do everything you can to really capitalize on the resources that, um, higher education has to give because, um, I know I've heard other people say it before, you know, they wish they would've taken advantage of some of the.

Um, laboratory or, um, whatever facilities that your college might have at their disposal. So, um, lean into professional societies and just the resources that your college has to offer, but, you know, moving forward, you know, I, people in the journalism industry often talk about marketing as. Going to the dark side.

And today I really wanted to talk to you because I think that in the digital age that we live in, it is impossible to disassociate being a professional and having a personal brand and, you know, being a professional and managing your personal image. So, you know, moving forward into your first. You know, foray into a different field out of college.

Like just speak to me broadly. You know, this transition from journalism major to marketing professional and kind of what that means to be a marketing professional. Well, I'll do my best to answer that question. And I can only speak from my experience. Um, but you know, newsrooms are shrinking. I think. You know, that's, most people are pretty aware of that.

Um, you know, we've had fewer people who are expected to stay up to date on, you know, your local community news, what's happening in your state. And then, you know, what's happening in the country overall. So journalists are inundated with a lot of information and are having to sift through a lot of, um, you know, press releases, um, updates.

Everything. So, um, you know, going from being a journalist, to being someone who's sending out, those press releases, you know, it helped me have that perspective and a better filter for what busy journalists care about. And, you know, what's going to catch their eye and what are they gonna be interested in?

How can we take what we're doing and make it part of, you know, a larger story? How can we make the journalist job easier, um, and get our message. So it really helped me to have, you know, that filter as someone who's working in communications and marketing. Um, and then, you know, it also as a journalist, I think you're innately curious.

And so, you know, That is such a sought after skill in any industry. And in any role, like you want someone who is going to be, um, you know, asking really good questions and getting to the why of, you know, why are we working on this project? You know, why is this our goal? Um, and so I think that, you know, those.

Things helped me to, um, step into the marketing and communications world without necessarily having, um, you know, gotten a degree in that. I think, you know, journalism, marketing, public relations, strategic communications, they're all closely connected. Um, and you know, making that switch early in my career, um, was a good move for me.

Yeah, I think that's such a great point about curiosity and, you know, learning to really be invested in what you are working in. You know, I, I think I was talking to one of my coworkers recently and I was just, he said, I think that you're easily. Amused like I am. And that's that sort of curiosity has really been a blessing to me in my career.

So I think that's a great point. And then, you know, another awesome thing you touched on that to me is a real hallmark of any great professional is the ability to ask good questions. You know, I can always remember back in school, I would be sitting through a webinar or a lecture or a guest speaker. And my professors would always have really great, great questions and not just, you know, uh, good questions for, uh, you know, a student, great questions for a professional, you know, like things they were interested in, things that really, you know, they wanted to know and had a true interest in and brought life to the conversation and that the topic or the speech.

I think that being able to ask good questions is a really big deal for anyone who's worth their salt at what they do. So I really like those two points about what you touched on so far. . Yeah. And another thing that I'll add, you know, I touched on it a little bit earlier, but storytelling, you know, that's, uh, what journalists are paid to do essentially.

Um, but even as a marketing professional, like the best marketers are storytellers, and if you can humanize your product or, you know, your service in a. Um, that shows how it impacts people's lives, uh, and, you know, draw a connection. Um, you know, you're gonna be more successful as a marketer than someone who just says, Hey, here's our product.

You should really try it. Um, you know, because it goes back to, Hey, you know, you're peaking, someone's interest with the story. You're showing them how your product or service can be useful in their lives. Um, so I think that all of the best, I mean, if you think about like even commercials, you know, the commercials that tell a story, like those usually catch my attention more than, you know, just someone pushing a product.

Um, so that that's also, um, a commonality I see between the two fields. Yeah. You know, I was just. In the process of creating some contract documents for a project I was working on just today. And the, one of the notes I had from Brandon was, you know, tell this story a little bit more. It's not clear why we have this other structure or this, you know, piece of the puzzle.

Why is this here? You know, if somebody looks at this and they're not as acquainted with the project, how are they gonna understand this? They're really in the, in the, you know, design process. Right. You know, as an engineer, we're constantly writing legal documents. And so that's one other through line or parallel between, you know, your perf your experience in professional writing is I see that, um, you know, there is so much writing in preparing, uh, shop drawings.

I mean, not shop drawings. Design documents and specifications. So, yeah. Um, what tips would you, I know I'm putting you on the spot here. We didn't prep this one, but what tips would you have for people who are looking to buff up a little bit on their writing abilities? I know I've struggled with this recently and you've kind of helped me through.

A little bit, but what are your thoughts on that? Yeah. Um, I think first of all, just say practice , um, you know, you can't get better at something if you don't put in the reps. Um, so, and you know, that's, um, One of the things that, you know, I was talking about earlier, I was getting a lot of reps at the student newspaper.

I would not be the professional that I am today if I hadn't gotten those reps. So I think, you know, first and foremost practice, and then, um, second of all, you know, there's a ton of free resources on the internet. You know, if your issue is grammar, you know, there's, um, resources that specifically cater to grammar, um, you know, If you have difficulty with sentence structure, I mean, all of those things, um, you can easily find resources for, um, and I will follow up with GU and see if he can add some of those links, um, to some of those resources in the show notes.

Um, so you have access to those. Yep. That's a great point. And you know, one item that we've talked about recently, that's helped me. You know, if you are not sure on how to tell the story or. How to really structure what you're trying to communicate to write a skeleton or an outline of what you're thinking.

You know, if you have a technical report in which you are trying to commute a communicate, a message, what are the salient points that you're trying to convey? And after you write those four bullet points, how do you weave that narrative together? So that's something that you offered to me when, you know, early in my new role as, uh, how to, you know, kind of buff up on your writing ability is.

You kind of sketch it out or flow chart. It, that's something you do in school, these bubble diagrams and different spider charts and stuff. But you know, when you get to be an adult, you forget all that stuff. And you're just like, man, I'm having trouble writing this. What do I do? So. Um, for me, that was a helpful, uh, little reminder on writing technique.

Yeah. And everyone has their own process. You know, I think my process is kind of to do an initial brain dump and get everything from my brain, um, out on paper. And then oftentimes here's, you know, the conclusion that I want to make. Okay. Here's the points that support that. And I kind of work backwards.

Because for me, sometimes the introduction is, is the hard part. Um, I know all the facts, I just have to figure out, okay, how do I wanna present this and set it up. So, um, I think, you know, there's a, a lot of different, um, you know, options for just brainstorming and getting your ideas out on paper and kind of organizing them, you know, like you were referring to the different charts and, um, You know, bubble diagrams and things, but, um, you know, everyone has their own process.

So I would just encourage you to find what works for you. Um, and then, you know, to hone in on that and refine that, that's a good point. That's a good point. So moving on, you know, some of the things that we hinted on, let's talk a little bit about. What it means for somebody to have a personal brand or for a company to be thinking about their image or social persona.

What do you see as, you know, what does that mean in today's age to you? I think that's kind of a loaded question. Um, you know, a personal brand is huge. Um, you need to definitely have, you know, an updated LinkedIn. If you have a personal website, keep your personal website updated, make sure it's user friendly, easy for.

Managers and recruiters to, um, use, um, and find the information that they need. Um, you know, and, um, even more so than just like your online presence, I would say, um, be kind, treat your coworkers, your managers and your clients, you know, with respect. Um, I think that Indi, I mean, it's a small world and so, you know, making sure that you treat everyone and have just outside of your digital presence, just a good reputation in general.

I mean, honestly, As a manager, like that is way more important to me, you know, than whether or not you have a LinkedIn profile. Um, because I want to recruit those people who are, um, you know, great to work with and are, um, hungry, humble, and smart, um, to be on my team, you know, instead of someone who's just great at social media.

And then, you know, from a, um, company perspective, um, you know, having a great customer experience, um, you know, like I said, word of mouth, you know, um, even for companies there's glass store, there's so many review sides, trust radius, G2. Um, where people can go and rate you for your customer experience and, um, you know, people really pay attention to those.

And so I would say, definitely be keying in, on what is your customer journey, you know, even before, um, you know, they become a customer, like what is that sales journey look like for them? And then, okay, now they're a customer. What does that customer journey look like for. Um, you know, are they getting the support that they need?

Where could you, um, you know, enhance that, that journey for them? Um, So, I don't know if that answers your question. I think I viewed off a little bit there, but you did, you know, speak to personal brand and company brand. So I would say, you know, those are my tips. Yeah. Well, as all my questions, it was, uh, ambiguous and extremely broad.

So I think you did just fine there. Um, no, I, I think that the one point that really struck true to me and it was, it was, uh, A bit, well, I guess it is personal brand, but the, you know, we work in Oklahoma city, the greater area of Oklahoma city. And I can't count how many times that our rapport with other industry professionals or knowing somebody and being able to have a good reputation has paid dividends in our career.

I mean, uh, you. We've both been working for five to six years and I can't count how many times it's been a boon to us to have a good name in the community and to have coworkers that would vouch for the quality and the standing of your work and your attitude and your disposition. So, um, I think that. You would really be doing yourself a disservice to not think about that because you know, as people move on and you, and you realize as you get to work for a while, people, people will move on.

You will work with quite a few people, even people who you would never imagine would be, um, uh, you know, a benefit or a proponent to your career or whatever your goal is. Um, they'll pop up. You'll be surprised. Treat people. Try to be a good steward, hard worker and, um, be involved and be kind. And it just always seems to amaze me the people who will come out of the blue and, you know, be a boon to your career.

But, you know, we talked a little bit about. Um, professional and social image, but you know, something we talk about frequently together that I wanted to pick your brain a little bit more on was your journey from individual to like individual contributor, to a manager and kind of how you've seen that transition and your.

Growing pains and, or, I mean, you don't have to speak specifically to anything, but how you, you know, the struggles and the learning curves of going from somebody who focuses on doing a task and providing a product into, um, you know, the different challenges of management. . Yeah. Um, I would say, you know, as an individual contributor, um, I think sometimes you can be like, well, I'm doing all of this work over here.

Like what does my manager have to do? And, um, you know, as someone who is in a leadership role now, um, I can tell you there's a lot of work to do. . You know, but being in a leadership role is fun. Um, I think that there are definitely some, uh, growing pains and just like a learning curve, um, as with any new role.

Um, you know, if you have a company, um, where you are, you know, bringing up ind individual contributors, um, into leadership, you know, I would definitely encourage you to think about the training, um, for. Those new leaders, because I would say that anything that I could get my hands on, um, I, you know, I was trying to read and look into, because I wanted to be, you know, a, a good leader.

Um, I think, you know, oftentimes there are people who are put into leadership roles that, you know, maybe that's not the best fit for them, or maybe they just wanna be individual contribu. And so to that end, I would say, you know, make sure, like, think about the, the growth paths at your company. And, you know, it may not always be, um, leadership for everyone.

And so think about how you can maybe offer a growth path that, you know, Isn't um, leadership oriented and maybe offers, you know, um, growth, but, um, you know, as an individual contributor, because I do think, you know, that it is hard and it's a unique position and it's not for everyone. Um, but you know, one of the biggest things that I've taken away, just, um, in my, you know, fairly short time as a leader is, um, make sure that you're being human and be a human first and a manager second, you know, um, I think that thinking about how, you know, you can support your employees and I've heard people say it.

You know, think about how you're there to serve, you know, your employees. Um, you know, it's my job to coach them. It's my job to make sure that they're challenged and that they're growing, but also that they're supported and that they know that I'm there for them and that I'm going to help them, you know, through the challenges.

And, um, yes, it might be hard, but they're gonna be a better employee on the other side of, you know, this project or, you know, this report that they're trying to master or whatever it may. Um, so does that answer your question? Of course, of course. I think that, you know, I, I feel like I don't have much to add to that conversation.

I like what you said, you know, I I've had different struggles in my small forays I've had into trying to lead others or manage others or be a mentor. I think it's something that is exceeding exceedingly difficult and, and not everybody is geared for. You know, the one piece of advice I always like to give young professionals reaching out to me, either through LinkedIn or through personal connection is to really try to find who is well suited for mentorship or for teaching, because, you know, you will stumble upon people who really shine at it and you need to lean into the people in your community who, first of all, you can, you know, Mesh with on a personal level.

And then second of all, they have the technical proclivity for mentoring and providing the technical knowledge for, you know, how to grow you as a professional. So, you know, that's not really, it's a little bit more management and professional development, but I don't think even I've had as much.

Management experiences you, now that you've been in your new role for a little while, so it's been cool to hear you go through your journey. Um, but you know, moving onto some, um, professional development topics, even though these all have kind of been professional development topics, but. You know, what piece of advice would you give yourself if you were starting out again as a professional, you know, what, did you have any big Eureka moments in the first couple years of working or, you know, What kind of takeaways can you offer the fire code tech listeners?

Well, you know, my piece of advice to myself would be, and I think I did a fairly okay job at this, but take advantage of all the opportunities that come your way. Um, you know, as a young professional, I think you, um, You know, you have to do learn the, the foundational basics at, at your job. Right. Um, you know, and as you learn those basics and you get to take advantage and be a part of, you know, other projects and, you know, learn new skills and grow from those.

And, you know, sometimes things fall on your plate that aren't necessarily in your job description. Um, and when those opportunities come, you know, I really encourage you to look at them as an opportunity versus as something you have to do. Um, because I think I have grown so much over my career just because I've taken advantage of some of those opportunities and, you know, difficult projects and, um, you know, things like.

Um, and, and I'm better for it. Um, so I would say, you know, learn as much as you can because you never know where your career is gonna go. You never know who you're gonna meet working on that project. Um, and what opportunities they may have for you down the line. Um, and you never know, like what skill you might learn that, Hey, maybe you're able to be an even better asset to the team because you learn this one, you know, Excel shortcut or whatever it might be.

Um, so that would be, my advice is take advantage of all the opportunities that come your way, um, and have a positive. yeah, that attitude thing is so big. And we, and we talk about that. We both had experiences with, you know, um, individuals in our career who maybe don't have the best attitude, you know, are learning attitude or a positive teamwork attitude.

And it can be caused such friction in a team or, you know, in a business transaction, it can be something that. Takes the wind out of everybody's sales. So, um, that one is huge and yeah, I think that that's a huge piece of advice. Don't be afraid to say yes to something, you know, that somebody is asking you to do that.

You don't know how to do, you know, it's okay to not understand it completely and to say yes, and to figure it out along the way. And in fact, um, Once you get to a certain point in your career, you just always be comfortable in figuring it out. And that's kind of what the two true mastery looks like. You know, being comfortable enough to say, I may not know everything that I need to, to get this done, but I know that I could figure it out.

So, um, don't be afraid to really go out on a limb and, you know, obviously you don't want. Put yourself or your organization in a spot where you are acting completely out of your competence range, but as long as everybody is aware of, you know, your ability to perform and, and the expectations, I think there are so many.

Um, profound opportunities to grow as a professional and to bring value to an organization by trying new things.

My next question on professional development is centered around, you know, resources. What kind of resources do you like to use to keep yourself in touch with what's going on in the. You know, I understand that it's, we're not explicitly in the same industries, but I do know that you consume a lot of different types of, you know, content to help you shape you as a business professional.

So I'd love to hear about that. So I would say, you know, daily, I get email newsletters, um, that are catered to my industry with articles, quick articles on, you know, Hey, four things you can be doing here, or, um, you know, is your organization prepared for this or have you thought about this? Um, that just so you know, make me think outside of my daily to-do list.

Which is always good. And then, you know, I've got some weekly newsletters. I have, um, an organization that I'm a part of, they send out a monthly magazine. Um, and then one thing that I would say that, you know, spans industries is just make sure, you know, what's going on in the news. Um, you know, no brand ever wants to, uh, come off as insensitive or tone deaf and also, you know, not only for PR reasons, but also for, you know, marketing opportunities.

If you see that there's been a shift, you know, in the economy or a shift, um, you know, in the ways that people are thinking about things, um, maybe that sets you up for an opportunity or you have a great message or. Um, where, you know, you can go after sales, um, in a different way. So, you know, I just think, you know, read the news, listen to the news, whatever makes sense for you, but you know, know what's happening in the world.

Yeah. I think that's a good point. I can be. Pretty bad about keeping my head in a hole sometimes as far as what's going on with news or just the general news, but it is a great idea for, you know, whatever industry you're in to be aware of. What kind of, you know, trends are happening as far as like, you know what technology is trending, what legislation is coming out, how is that gonna impact your role?

You know, not just what is the state of the industry now, but where is the, you know, whatever metaphor you wanna use, hockey, puck, soccer, ball, baseball. what, what, where is the thing that you're chasing? Where's that going so that you can be on top of it as a professional? Um, at which I think is so very important, I can think, you know, another way to extrapolate that message to fire and life safety is just your, you know, design professionals in specific is, you know, what kind of buildings are trending?

You know, what economy is popping O tech is down. So what's important now, you know, or we still concerned about, you know, data centers or, you know, Different and X or Y type of building. So, you know, just kind of thinking about that and being appraised of what's happening in the community is a big deal.

You know, the speaking of trends I wanted to pick your brain for our last question is what do you see as a trend in the industry right now for. You know, you as a professional, I know you keep pretty appraised of what's happening. Have some ideas about that. Love to hear. Sure. I think one thing that I've been thinking about a lot is, um, you know, just the evolution of marketing and how, you know, TV that used to be.

The main way that, um, brands got their message across and, you know, promoted themselves. And then we've seen that shift, you know, over the last couple decades to the internet and, you know, then to social media and you know, I'm thinking, okay, where is this going in the future? Um, And there's been a lot of talk about the metaverse and how, you know, that's gonna be a multibillion dollar industry, you know, in the next decade.

And, um, you know, how can you position your brand for the metaverse and what are some things to think about? And here's what other brands have done. Um, and so I think reading those case studies and, um, learning more about the metaverse and technologies like you hinted to, um, is really fascinating. And also me, you know, on the pulse of like, what is happening and what can I look forward to and how can I position my team, um, and my organization to think about X, Y, Z, um, you know, that's gonna be coming down the way.

Yeah, that's a great, that's a great point. I think. Um, I haven't thought about the metaverse and how that might, you know, interact with my industry, but I'm sure there's something there with the, all of the technology and 3d BIM and, uh, alternate reality technology there is out there, but I'm sure you wanna say that.

What do you mean? Just the fact that you haven't thought about. I say it all the time. Sometimes people will message me with really interesting recommendations of the things that I say that I don't know about. Hmm. It's something that's panned out for the better really well. I mean, the metaverse is like, it seems like a gimmick at this point, you know, it doesn't seem so tangible, but you know, we were just reading Reddit, ready player one the other day where, you know, they basically.

Have the metaverse and everybody's kind of plugged into that. So it doesn't seem like that's too far away. So obviously I need to start thinking about it, but I think that I lied and that wasn't my last question. And then my last question is, do you have any questions for me? Yeah, I'm curious, you know, I listen to the podcast, but obviously don't work in your industry.

So where do you see are like the biggest gaps or, you know, how can you translate all of this, you know, marketing, jargon, um, and speak to someone who works in your industry? Like, what would you say are your three biggest like takeaways? Yeah, I think that for me, I think that fire and life safety. Does a pretty bad job at marketing.

Um, we, you know, that's kind of the whole reason I got into this podcasting was that I would just felt like unheard as a young professional. And so I think, you know, number one, we could do a better job in trying to reach people and getting more creative on how to reach consumers or people who are in our industry.

Top line funnel people into the industry to begin with, because I know that this is a theme in general for all engineering disciplines, but we're a starred for new young professionals to come into the industry. You know, I've said frequently that when I graduated from the Oklahoma state, Uh, fire protection, safety technology program.

It was like a class around 40 and you know, maybe only a quarter or a third of those professionals will go into my specific kind of industry. And then, you know, within that, maybe half of those. So an eighth of all of those kids even go into something that could be a fire protection engineer. So, I don't know, that's all anecdotal, but I would really be happy if people would try to think more about the personal brand and the company brand in order to reach people and let people know about how good of a field it is and how much opportunity there is.

I think that's, um, the big one in my mind. and then second of all, personal brand for me has been a huge, huge, huge boost to my, um, just status as a professional, um, having fire code tech, having, you know, a updated LinkedIn being somebody who routinely engages people who. Don't know, um, in personal life, but have reached out to, you know, a topic that we talk about a lot is not being afraid to, you know, reach out to somebody in your network.

And, you know, not obviously not be a bother, not be insistent or, you know, just a, an annoyance, but, you know, having the ability. Reach out to somebody and ask to pick their brain about a topic or subject that maybe you're struggling with or interested in, um, that has been a professional or, you know, just kind of personal brand thing that has been an exceedingly huge boon to me.

And then, um, Yeah, I think one more topic of how this relates to everybody. We talk about content a lot and just content production and content development. And, you know, I really didn't know what I was getting into early on. Just, you know, what this is or what the role looks like. But at the end of the day, it's a giant marketing exercise or marketing endeavor.

I mean, the podcast is. I'm a marketing vehicle in itself. So sometimes I get people who will reach out to me and want to, you know, talk to me about creating a podcast or video content. And I, you know, first thing I, I think about for them is, you know, do they have a personal brand? Are they posting on social media or do they have, you know, um, a couple dozen followers on or connections on LinkedIn or, you know, no.

Ostensibly social media presence. It's gonna be a pretty heavy lift to produce content that anybody is gonna see with that kind of, um, just interaction with social media and personal brand. So if you have an interest in releasing content or. Um, you know, producing anything or really any business can benefit from having, you know, people in your, um, following or just connections that will be able to see the good things you're doing.

Otherwise you're kind of just operating and avoid. So, um, that's three things that I just, you know, kind. Rambled through, but no, I appreciate that. Well, miss Kaylin, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I just wanna thank you so much for coming on for the people who don't know Kaylin has been a part of the podcast before it was even conceived.

So. She's been a huge help in all, everything from the branding to picking the songs, to trying to dissuade me from starting the podcast two months before we were supposed to get married and then, you know, me being really mule headed and just doing it anyways to much of her consternation. So, um, I really wanted to have Kalin on because she has been such an integral part of the podcast for such a long time.

It makes a lot of sense and she has a lot to give to the listeners. So just wanted to give an on air. Thank you. I've been thinking about adding a thank you to you in the conclusion, little snippet of the. Podcast audio, because you've always been just, um, somebody pushed me along and encouraging me to keep going so big.

Thank you to you, miss Kalin. Well, thanks. I appreciate that. And, um, you know, it's, it was actually a lot more fun than I thought being on the podcast. Um, you know, GU knows this, but no one else does some, I don't like attention. So, um, you know, this was actually. Fun. So thank you for pushing me out of my comfort zone.

And then one last note, you know, to the listeners, um, you know, Gus is so passionate about fire code tech and so dedicated and, you know, he does put a lot of thought. Um, and effort into, you know, his guests that he's booking, um, the topics that he is covering and, you know, he wants to hear from you. So if you all have ideas, thoughts, you're interested in being on the podcast, um, please reach out because that means a lot to him.

Thanks for listening everybody. Be sure to share the episode with a friend, if you enjoyed it, don't forget that fire protection and life safety is serious business. The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are by no means a professional consultation or a codes and standards interpretation. Be sure to contact a licensed professional.

If you are getting involved with fire protection and or life safety. Thanks again. And we'll see you next time.