November 11, 2025 • 49 mins
In episode 45 of The Adaptive Mindset, Brett Gallant interviews a seasoned manager in events marketing and a true master of reinvention, as he shares his incredible journey of overcoming challenges, embracing change, and finding fulfillment in both personal and professional life.
Tune in for an engaging conversation filled with insights and practical takeaways to help you thrive in a digital world.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:01:49] Career reinvention and adaptability.
[00:06:23] The importance of pausing.
[00:09:00] Travel as a content creator.
[00:12:50] Gratitude and personal growth.
[00:18:04-00:18:14] Power of a mastermind.
[00:21:30] Building a personal board of directors.
[00:25:19] Twitter networking strategy.
[00:29:05] Get to know Marc party.
[00:34:34] The joy of connecting people.
[00:36:49] Importance of networking over coffee.
[00:41:35] Building connections through generosity.
[00:43:23] Connection points in experiences.
[00:46:54] Coffee walks boost creativity.
QUOTES
- “I just fueled up here, and I got a saying on it: life with coffee helps.” -Brett Gallant
- "Everything I need to solve a problem, I already have." -Marc Smith
- “Make the connections not with the intention of getting anything back.” -Brett Gallant
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Brett Gallant
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brett_gallant/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brett.gallant.9
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-gallant-97805726/
Marc Smith
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marchsmith/
WEBSITE
Adaptive Office Solutions: https://www.adaptiveoffice.ca/
The Cultural Center: https://theculturalcentre.ca/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to the Adaptive Mindset. I'm Brett Gallant, cybersecurity thoughtleader and founder of Adaptive Office Solutions. Here, we
don't just talk tech, we unlock the strategies, stories, andmindset shifts you need to stay secure, lead boldly, and
thrive in a digital world. Let's get started. Welcomeback to the Adaptive Mindset. I'm really pleased to have with us
(00:25):
today, Marc Smith. Marc is a manager foran events marketing organization in Eastern
Canada. Before the show started, he told me he'son his 75th career. I don't believe him, but
he's had all sorts of different roles, 20 yearsas an entrepreneur, a content creator, events marketing,
(00:48):
among many things. Marc's story isa story of overcoming mindset shifts, reinvention.
I'm really pleased to have Marc with us today. This isgoing to be a show filled with so many takeaways. Marc,
Thank you so much. I hope this show is going to be filled with takeaways. I'm goingI am fully caffeinated.
(01:19):
I just fueled up here, and Igot a saying on it, life with coffee helps.
Yes, and I'm also a day drinker, soas soon as it hits noon, I put a little Baileys in my coffee, so nothing
(01:41):
So Marc, tell our audience a little bit about yourself. Let'sdig into your story and what you do and how you help people.
Yeah, so I don't know if it's 75. I mean, I'm only 56, butI've definitely had quite a few careers. And I seem to sort
of, I was ahead of the curve interms of not lasting in
(02:04):
any one company for, you know, a lifetime. I seem tohave every three, five, I think the longest time
I was an employee for one particular company wasseven years. So I, I guess you would say
I like change. Um, I need to stay interestedand I tend to, um, once
(02:26):
I've sort of mastered something, you know, what usedto maybe took me eight hours to do, then takes me three to
four hours. And so then I always have to fill thetime with other things. So my roles over the years have
always expanded and expanded and expanded. And then itgets to a point where it's too much. And then I want to change and want something
different. So I have been a, Ithink my title was special event coordinator. I was basically a community manager
(02:55):
for organic grocery store chain in Vancouver. I'm originallyfrom BC. And then that led me to starting
my own event production company in Vancouver. So I did that for almost 10 years,produced close to 300 client events over
that time and everything from really small, intimate, highvalue customer engagement events could be a dinner could
(03:19):
have been on the 50 something floor of the Shangri-La watchingthe symphony of fire as it was then called in Vancouver the light the fireworks
light show to 750 people in a old. convertedtrain station where everything including power had
to be brought in. So I've got kind of run the gamut. And thenI've also, I also used to run an optical wholesale warehouse.
(03:44):
So the customer service and all the inventory and wasreally, that was good. That was a good four years of my life
when I first moved to Vancouver. And then prior to relocatingand moving to Fredericton after COVID was, I
was a content creator for almost 10 years, so I had my own travel blog.
It started out as, it started out being called 30 Day Adventuresand then it transitioned to the new name, which
(04:09):
was Marc My Travels. So a play off of my name and also kindof a postage stamp and tracking where I go and
what I did. And that's actually my first timein the Maritimes was actually in Fredericton just
over 10 years ago, July of 2015. Andso when I went nomad in 2016, you
(04:30):
know, I've been, I don't wanna say I've been around theworld, but I've definitely traveled a chunk and
I've written close to 1500 stories. So when COVIDhappened, I was kind of ready to sort of just, slow
down a little bit, and also the hustle on everything wasgetting a little exhausting. So COVID was a great pause, and
(04:52):
when the COVID dust settled, I was like, okay, where am I gonna pick myselfup, and where am I gonna go to? And I thought, you know, I'd never lived in the Maritimes,
so let's try it. So I came here- I think a lot of people did that duringThey really looked at themselves and said, what
am I doing? What shift do I have to take in mylife? Is this worth it? A lot
(05:19):
I talked to a lot of friends. For me,COVID was actually not devastating. It
was devastating to my bank account, but it was not devastating to me personally.
I just happened to be, I literally happened tofly in the day of the BC lockdown. My
mom picked me up at the airport, I was going to go have a visit with her. SoI was like, oh God, okay, I guess I'm staying for more than a couple of days. But
(05:47):
every day, basically, I would get up, therewas a grocery store a very short walk from our house, and of course, grocery stores
were allowed to be open. They had a decent little coffee shop, so I would goin there, I'd get an Americano, And then I'd go for a good
hour, hour and a half walk every single day. And what I would dois I would just grab my phone and I would kind of spin the
contacts folder like a Rolodex. And I would just call someoneevery day that I hadn't chatted with for a long time. I would have these like just,
(06:14):
you know, conversations. And interesting for me, I kindof, it was during all of that time that I just realized
it's only when you stop running that you realize how fast you've been going. Andso the COVID allowed me to pause and could
I have kept going? Sure. But I,uh, I really did not want to pivot within the content creation
(06:38):
world any more than I had already done. I mean, I'dbeen doing it for, like I said, eight, eight to 10 years, and I'd
already changed four or five timeshow I was doing things because you know, that world
of content creation. I mean, first I was a blogger, then itwas an influencer, then it was, you know, everything changes so rapidly.
(06:59):
And so it just, I, you know, again, I'm in my fifties. Andso I was like, I don't know if I want to be working that
hard all the time, like 24 seven toSo, and I think you, a little bit of what I'm picking up is, what
I discovered in my own journey, especially in the last few years, my coachhas always said to me, Brett, you need to put your own oxygen mask on. And
(07:25):
I really started to embrace that two years ago. Did Itry? Yes. But you started to
say, hey, I'm going to choose me first. I'm going to do things that giveme fulfillment, that give me energy. And so
you said, OK, this old way is notWell, and also the other thing too was, again, even though I love
(07:50):
to travel, but travel was work for me.
It wasn't a vacation. That's a mistake peoplethink when they think that you're a writer. In fact, I literally
just got a message before we jumped on the Zoom from afriend of mine who is a travel writer. writes
more for traditional publications, newspapers, and et cetera. Andso I coached him a lot during COVID. And he's like,
(08:15):
hey, guess who's in Fredericton today? He says, I need to make somelife choices. He says, I'm booking
you for dinner on Thursday night. He says, let's have some chats. Hesays, I need to bounce a bunch of stuff off of you. And so I'm like, OK, yeah,
I'm available. It is I love this. Youknow, it's that thing of like, when every single week,
(08:37):
like in any given week back when I was a content creator, Icould be in two different destinations. So
that is not a vacation. My idea of a vacation rightnow would be an all-inclusive with a drinks package and
sitting in a cabana having a lovely like a Mai Tai ora rum punch or something and going out for a swim in the water and
(09:00):
relaxing. When I was a content creator, I wasup at six thirty seven o'clock in the morning i was answering emails i
was writing my story of the day i was scheduling my socialmedia for that for those post for the promotion that i would go
out and then i would hit a breakfast spot because i need to have content onwhere that was the content in the even the destination was part
of the story so it was yes. Yes. I'dalways have to do an unboxing of my hotel room.
(09:28):
You have all this association with that travelActually, to be fair, I probably only post
on social media once a week, maybe once every two weeks becauseI did it for so long. Now
I'm like, I don't care if you don't see what I'm eating for breakfast today.
(09:52):
Exactly. Meanwhile, hereI am posting everything, but
I come from the mindset of sharingmy journey to help people and inspire people. You haven't done
(10:18):
you're doing it because it's work. Like I still post, you know, I do thesocial for, for the cultural center where I work. That's different. I
don't have a problem with that because it's intentional and everything else.
But when it's about my own life, I'm like, yeah, you know, my entire lifeYeah. Yeah. Yeah. So now, now you have this new
(10:40):
opportunity and you're, you're giving it the love andactually finding new ways to, to, find
ways to enjoy travel in new ways. At leasthaving the mindset and the recognition to know what fuels
you and gives you energy. going for a, youknow, jumping on a plane and going to three different destinations, probably
(11:04):
Well, if the bank account was like fully fundedand I didn't have to work, I would do that in a heartbeat. But I
would certainly, but I would not jam every single day withtwo adventures, three restaurants and
Well, and let me tell you this, how many ways can you talk about how juicy aburger is? You know, after a while, you know, I was starting
(11:29):
to lose adjectives to describe things. Andit was kind of like, oh, you know. And I mean, I'll also say
now, obviously, everyone's a little different, buteating restaurant food three days a week is not great
for your waistline. And I actually love tocook. So from 2016 to the end of COVID, I
(11:52):
didn't have a kitchen because I was a nomad. And the reason thatI didn't cook at
my mom's place during COVID was because my mom's celiac. SoI was, I mean, I did do some cooking, but obviously cooking
with flour is not allowed. So like, there was a lot of things, it was very different. So Ijust let my mom do it. But when I relocated here to Fredericton
(12:15):
and set down roots here, itwas really fun to kind of get back in the kitchen. And
I'm like, oh, I'm going to make beef stroganoff. Or like, you know, I had people over forThanksgiving Yesterday, Canadian Thanksgiving, if
any of your listeners are American, so in October. AndI did a baked ham, and I did scallop potatoes, and roasted
(12:38):
Brussels sprouts with a balsamic glaze, and that wasfun. I enjoyed that. And then I made a pumpkin cheesecake. That
And just picking up on a theme that I was talking about, Irecorded a, I went for a walk this morning, I
was reflecting on Canadian Thanksgiving and something Iheard in a service this weekend. It was all centered around gratitude.
(13:07):
Imagine you have immense gratitude for all the journeys thatWell, I mean, I, I think I kind of annoy people. I'm certainly not a
Pollyanna, but I, you know, I wake,my glasses always have full, even when things are
a little struggle. I, I certainly recognize that I'mblessed. Um, and you know, I also,
(13:30):
I'm a big believer that, um, I've got a couple of, well, I've gotmany sayings, but one of my, um, one
of my truths is that everything I need to getout or to, to solve a problem, I already have. I
already have the answers. I just have to tap into whatthat is. And so sometimes that's asking for help, and I'm
(13:52):
absolutely not afraid to ask for help. I certainly have surrounded myselfin my life with people that are a lot smarter than me in a lot of
different areas. So I lean on those people.
You're making me think of Think and Grow Rich. HaveNo, I absolutely detest reading business
books and self-help books because they're so dry. II watched the movie, okay? There's a movie, actually, okay? Short version
(14:19):
is Henry Ford was put on trial becausethey were trying to prove that he wasn't educated. And his argument was
why should I fill myself with knowledge that Idon't really need to do when I can just pick up my phone and
contact somebody and give me the information I need. Soyour network, I think the way what you were saying is,
(14:46):
your network is your net worth. You can just pick up the phone and call someone.
I know somebody in my network, Daylene Allen,She's really inspired me on this. She says, you
just need to reach out to somebody within your network, even LinkedIn. Likewhat you did during COVID, you were reaching out, having those
(15:06):
connections, fostering those relationships. But youcan just pick up the phone if you're struggling with something. And sometimes, a
lot of times, what happens Inlife, we're struggling with a challenge, and
we don't even realize that we can just pick up the phone or send a DMWell, and I think that... Don't lean into that enough. No, and I think people
(15:32):
spend... So, in my event business, Iwas always getting
co-op students or interns, whatever you wanted to call them, forwork experience, part of their schooling. And
I started them from zero to 100. I was like, you areliterally going to do everything that I do in a day. And
(15:54):
every morning, we'd sit down, and we'd sit down, and we'd discuss kind oflike what needed to be accomplished that day on any given project that
we were doing. And I would say to them, I said, listen, OK, I'm going to getyou to do this. We've not had a conversation about it and whatever.
I said, but I'm going to show you some examples of things that I've done. AndI said, spend 15 minutes on it. If you can't figure
(16:15):
it out, don't spin your wheels any longer than 15 minutes.
Call me. Like, you know, I would be in a different area. I'm like, call me andI'll walk you through it. But I said, I want you to give it a shot. And
Yeah. And I said, come back to me with the questions. Like, so, you know, but I'm goingto give you a shot. And I knew that they weren't going to, of
(16:37):
course, they're not going to be able to do exactly what I did because they're, you know, they're, Idid it. It's me. So, and they're new. And so,
but the idea was I needed them to try. And then I wouldlike, okay, so now that you've read it, you've gone through it, but I also didn't want
them to sit there for half an hour to an hour wasting their time. AndI'm, I very much look at my life that way that
(16:58):
I'm like, you know, when I was younger, maybe Iwould spend more time on a project on a problem because we thought we could solve
anything. Yeah. Or I thought I was, I thought I was supposed to solve it.
Right. And then, yes, that was a strength, but in away it was a weakness not to rely on other people to let them in to
But I w I would also say one, I am,so going back to the gratitude thing, I always give
(17:24):
credit when someone has, you know,moved me, shifted me further along on a
problem that I've solved. So I never claim somebody else'swork as mine. But two, it's
sort of like, there's And I've used thisterm a lot, they call it a solopreneur, or you're
(17:46):
a single business owner. But there's no such thing,because nobody who runs a business says it alone, even
if they're a solopreneur. I, in my event business,every year, and during more challenging times, I would
do it multiple times. WhatI would do is I would convene a quote-unquote
(18:08):
board of directors. And the ideawas that I would pick people in categories that
I needed that were smarter than me or more of an expert, soto speak, in that area. But then the
other qualification was Theyhad to absolutely want me to succeed. So
(18:30):
would you just grab people from the community and you're from you know that I knew yespeople that I knew and then so but the idea was is that because
I knew they were gonna rip apart my businessplan or the challenge or whatever it was I was doing, but
I needed them to not, like they had toknow me and I had to, because it was, I was sharing really
(18:53):
sensitive to me information about my business, thefinancial situation, all those things. So I needed the trust that
when everything, when the dust settled from the meeting, theirultimate goal was they wanted me to thrive. And
so that- Power of a mastermind. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, and I, and I, I mean, I know people that do it once a month andstuff like that. I, for me, that wasn't, isn't really for me,
(19:19):
but I did it when I was, when I, when I would bepivoting or when I had to make big decisions, I would do
it. They were like my, you know, like I said, my, my board ofOh, no. Yeah. Oh, I brought the food in. I had a couple of bottles of wine. And
then I, what I always do is I would always hiresomeone. If I did not have an assistant at that time, I
(19:44):
would hire someone to document the meeting and take notes becauseI would present. my plan, my
situation, whatever it is, and then they would be comingYeah, and I wouldn't have the opportunity to document or to keep, like,
(20:05):
remember everything. So I had somebody else there just capture allthat. And when I would start, the very first time I started one of
these, I said, listen, I said, you know, I am absolutelygonna guarantee that I'm going to, at some point in time, cry
during this session because I've put a lot of work into this. Isaid, but I don't want you to think that my tears are
(20:28):
a reason for you to stop. That's how we grow. I'ma big boy. I'm like, yes, it's hurting my feelings, but the minute you
leave, 10 minutes later, I'm going to be like, oh, yeah. Becauseagain, I set the premise in the invitation that these were people that
I trusted wanted me to succeed. I wantNow you understand why that was such a... It does, but I want to dig into it a little bit for a minute.
(20:51):
Because there's some entrepreneurs listening to this rightnow. And I've been doing my
own version of this. I met with... I was ina mastermind. We'd have deep dives on our business. Every
six weeks, we'd do a deep dive on each other's business. Sometimes it'd be two months.
And then I've also been using ChatGPT and I made my own virtualAI board of directors. But what you just said really unlocked something for
(21:17):
me. And I think I want to ask a few morequestions because I'm thinking, and I believe
that there's some of our listeners are listening to this idea. I'm like, oh, Inever thought of that. So how would somebody go
about getting their board of directors? Like,what did you do? Like, how did you, like, how did you, like,
(21:43):
So absolutely once a year. Yeah. CauseI was an event producer. I wasn't creating, you know, it's not like I was that
I had a physical product that I would have different iterations of. Iproduced events that, so the structure of that and what I,
the product is fairly simple. What, whatI was always challenged was, was finding the clients. and
(22:06):
what types of events and what types of, you know, where I neededto be. And so really a lot of business development, marketing,
that kind of sort of stuff. So for me, thatwas a once a year thing when there were so during the 2008, 2009 housing crisis
in the States and in America, when the market crashed and marketing budgets dropped,So up until that point, I had been doing a lot of BNI. I'm
(22:30):
sure you know what that is. Yes, I do.
I had done that for probably two or three years. ButI had sort of convened a casual board of directors with
just two or three people over coffee. And I was talking aboutthe various, they're like, what's your business development mark, what's your
whatever. Marceting was the first thing that was cut,if you remember back then, from people's budgets. And
(22:56):
then in the marketing space, the first thing that was cut was face-to-face events,which is of course is the complete back ass logic. People
were still doing events. So the problem was is that I didn't, therewere still events happening, but they were, but in
all honesty, and I love BNI, but my chapterwas not producing any actual clients for me that
(23:20):
I didn't have to discount to get because I didn't startworking until my fee was at 2,000, 2,500, which
meant their budgets were close to 15 to $20,000. Sothere was not a lot of, I gave a lot of referrals. I didn't get a
lot. So as a result of this conversation,you know, one, I was doing an hour and a half every single
(23:42):
week. Then there was the $25 fee for the,you know, the breakfast and everything. But on top of that, there was all the
coffees with the different members every single week tosort of stay connected and to find out more about their business. So there was
a very large cost outside ofmoney To be in that bni and after three years
(24:04):
i wasn't getting the same are why that i did at the beginning evenif you have to make that change yeah and so the
board like but i was you know i was kind of doubling down doingit and then the board of directors was sort of like. yeah, Marc,
you're not, any work you're getting out of this, you have to discount because theydon't have the budget. So just so they can see what you do. So
(24:25):
they're like, you need to get out of it and you need to like figure outwhere your actual customer base is. And then of
course, I already knew the thing is like, who hires me? Agency,you know, so I would go through the list and I realized there was a little thing,
(24:48):
In early 2009, I joined Twitter, I quitBNI, and I put the same amount
of energy into Twitter that I did into BNI.
But what I did was, and I used to dosome talks about social media in Vancouver, my
Twitter strategy was networking ata cocktail party. So I
(25:13):
would walk into a room, no one, I didn't know anybody. SoI would just, that's just logging into Twitter. I don't know who's in the room.
I would see someone, or I'd go over to anarea and I would overhear the conversation. That's
just like checking out people's tweets on Twitter. If Iliked what they were saying, I would introduce myself, get their
(25:41):
Then I'd have a little back and forth. That's tweeting back and forth with this person.
Then I would move on to another group of people and I would repeat somethingthat the person I just met had said that I thought was really interesting. That's a
retweet. And then, you know, and then I would book acoffee with them. And that's a DM, because like, you're taking it off, you
know, out of the public space, and you're going private. So like, all Idid this, and but my purpose on Twitter was
(26:05):
always to follow. So agencies, marketingagencies, PR agencies, All the groups of
previous clients that I'd had, where did that business come from?
Everyone listening, these are things youcan still do today with Instagram and LinkedIn. If you're
(26:26):
not doing it, I would encourage you to think about this isgold, spot on advice. Reach out, your
And here's the thing, and this is, so like, you know, when I'm meeting someone, like,I never want my first meeting with you to be when
I want to sell or buy something from you. No, no. Because,you know, I, and everyone laughs at me when I say this, there
(26:51):
is a cologne that a sales pitch hasthat is very similar to me is driving by a
What I've heard people say is it's commissioned breath. Cometo the table with something of value. But the
one thing I think though, if you're meetingwith somebody and you know you have something that can
(27:17):
help them, you're doing a crimeOh, a hundred percent. And like, and don't get me wrong. It's not like, I
I want to get to know you a little bit more before I commissionbreath. Yeah. Yeah. Where I just sort of, and even, and even if my sales
pitch, so to speak, has nothing to do with my business, I'm a sort oflike, Oh, you know what? I can, I am more than happy to, I
(27:47):
My nickname was Marcus one phone call. IYeah, that's why we're here to help each other though. Like, like,
Yes. I don't know a guy, but I have a general contractor thatprobably works with a guy who does. So it's the one phone call, right? It's
(28:07):
that Kevin Bacon, six degrees of separation thing where,you know, and the thing is, and so even when I moved to Fredericton, I
actually threw a party for myself. I had fiveacquaintances in Fredericton and, um, I
secured a location. Someone that was a cidercompany here in town local that had just bought a farm they offered up
(28:29):
one of their barns if I cleaned it out, then I could have the barn for an event spaceI hired a local caterer. The cider obviously I bought
cider from them and I friend of mine had just opened a brewery sothey came with their beer and then I had the five acquaintances in
Fredericton. that I had maintained a relationship sincemy first visit in 2015. I said
(28:50):
to them, I'm like, I'm going to throw a party. I'm taking care of the food and the booze. Isaid, can you just invite some interesting people you think I should meet?
And so I arrived on October 22nd, myparty was October 25th. There were 30 people there
and it was called a get to know Marc party. AndI literally just kind of like said, you know, thank you for
(29:13):
coming. You know, it cost me about, I think in total it cost me about justunder $2,000. But I asked
all those people that were there to book a coffee with me, andI wanted to get to know them. And I still have relationships with
That is brilliant, Marc. I love it.
I'm going to remember that. It's the same variation whatI've heard. I'm in Dan
(29:39):
Martell's group coaching program, andhe does something that I know quite a few people do
that are inspired by him. he does a founder's dinner.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I actually, so weirdlyenough, I actually got a job out of that kind
(30:01):
of thing. Um, it was a year, I did ayear that was, you know, there was, there wasn't really a plan to
actually, you know, go any further than that. But so I went in,I helped, I helped someone's business. They needed some operational help. So
I went in, did some, you know, help them do some cleanup and reorganization. Andthen, uh, I took some time off because even though I
(30:21):
just had COVID off, I was actually still kind of burnt out. Um,and I really didn't have a real Fredericton. And then, so then
I, so I took the, that summer off and, um, I ended up doing a,uh, a talk at the Fredericton chamber of commerce. And
about efficiency and how to make your day more efficientwork wise and things like that, and so I gave my talk and.
(30:46):
I wasn't actually that thrilled with it, because the people who I thought werethe audience that i've written my presentation for was not the people in the room.
No one's fault other than my own, I should have asked more questions. Butout of that mistake, I felt bad that
I did not feel that I had given the value that I'd wanted togive. So I reached out to every single attendee and invited
(31:09):
them for a coffee so that I could havemore one-on-one time with them. I would say about 35% took
me up on that. And one of those people, while we werehaving coffee, she was like, you should meet
my husband. He really needs some help with thenot-for-profit that he's running. And that is how I landed
(31:32):
the job that I'm in right now. I had a coffee meeting with him acouple of months after that, because it was around Christmas time this all happened. Yeah.
And, you know, he says, I need some help. And he says, sendme your resume. And so we had this conversation. And it just so happens that my
resume kind of fit, you know, what he wasneeding to take off of his plate. And so it's almost
(31:53):
a year now. And yeah, I couldn't be any happier. SoSo many great takeaways from what you've shared. You put
yourself out there. You've had the get to know Marc party. How many peopleare like, we hold back from just making those coffee or
getting out and speaking to people, networking, justfor clarification. So we let's, let's just turn the spotlight on
(32:18):
for a little minute to, so our audience knows what you're doing now withthis organization, Fredericton, what's your title and what
So the cultural center is, sowe are spaces for community collaboration and
connection. So we are a not-for-profit hub. Weare a not-for-profit landlord in the west
(32:40):
end of downtown Fredericton. And so we haveabout 60,000 square feet and we have about 13 different organizations.
that rent office space. Wehave a child daycare in there. And so we
do have a couple of for-profit businesses, but mostof the businesses in there are not-for-profit or community
(33:02):
organizations. And so we make that space availablefor them at a rate that is less than if we were
a commercial for-profit. And so partof my role and what they brought me on to do was, so obviously I overhauled I
tightened the branding, I overhauled the website, launcheda brand new website, reactivated our social media
(33:24):
presence. And, but then we have a3,700 square foot multi-purpose event space towards
the back of the building. And so it has been my jobto build relationships and to make that space a
revenue source for the building. Cause it's the only space that is notbooked 24 seven. There is absolutely no
(33:46):
space in that building for me to even have an office. SoI literally either work in a coffee shop or
I work from home. I mean, I tend to, I'm usedto waking up and going for coffee. So I usually just wake up,
grab my laptop, go to my favorite coffee shop in town here for acouple of hours. I tend to do my coffee meetings first
(34:07):
thing in the morning. That's my favorite time to chat, soto speak. And then I come home
and do the rest of my work from my home office. AndAnd you're a connector, Marc, like you're a connector. Yes. Yes.
And, you know, that is, and it, honestly, I don'tknow. I mean, obviously I, you know, need to make
(34:30):
money and all the rest of the things, but I don't think anything givesme any more joy than when I am able to
pair businesses or people together and to see magichappens. And I'm, um, When I
do an introduction, I'm always, especially if it's anemail introduction and someone doesn't know what's coming, I always include
(34:52):
a brief bio on each of the parties that I'm introducing andwhy I think there's a fit. You need to put some meat on the bones when you
do an introduction. And soif I'm offering that, that I'm thrilled to do, there are times
where people have asked me to make introductions for them, andI'm always happy to do so. But I also say my
(35:13):
introduction comes with a price. Andthat price is don't fuck it up because
I have put my name on the line for you. SoI need you to do your best. Don't let
the, don't let this, you know, show up, show up, showAnd you obviously thought highly enough for both parties that
(35:36):
they need to be together. So at least showup and take a shot at it and have a conversation. even
if you're not in the mindset of not wanting to have the conversation. Therewas a version of me many number of years ago that wouldn't do
it, but now I intentionally meet with people, evenhelp somebody that's on their journey. I've even met with people
(36:01):
that are in their journey of trying to start their own career in thisfield. I speak to them. I learned that from from
a HR manager for a firm that I used to workfor. He said, Brett, this is Carmen saying this, I'm feeling
them right now. I always makean effort to meet with somebody. If they come, I at
(36:23):
least have a conversation because you never know how much myWell, and obviously someone gave you advice at some point
in time that you've taken and whatever. So I mean, ObviouslyI love coffee and I love the act of coffee, which so
(36:49):
But I am, um, but I have a, I personally havea policy of never saying no to coffee. with someone.
Because, and the reason is, so I get, youknow, I mean, I cold email people to have coffee
with me. And I get cold called, not so much inFredericton, because I'm still relatively new here, you know, and that so
(37:11):
not as many people reach out to me here, I'm doing most of the reach out. Butthe back in Vancouver, people would reach out to me all the time for
coffees. And I would always say yes, I'd,you know, I'm like, sure, here's half an hour, let's do it, whatever. And I would, and
the person who asked for the coffee, it's their, asfar as I'm concerned, it's their agenda. So when we sit down, I'm
(37:32):
like, okay, this is your coffee. What do you go?
Like, tell me, what are you looking for? What are you, what, youknow, are you just want to get to know me or whatever, but it's their agenda. I
let them set it and I just follow what they're, what they're puttingdown. But the reason that I do this, is
I don't know who they are until I meet with them, and I don't know,more importantly, who they're going to be. Because I have often sat
(37:55):
down with people that were wanting to get in the event space or other things, andthat I'd met at a talk I gave or something. And then a couple
of years later, they would show up or reach outto me, email, phone, and they'd be like, hey, Any
chance you're looking for a blank?" And I'm like, oh yeah, I could, yeah,what's going on? Well, you know, I'm with XPR company and
(38:19):
we have this as a client and I've been tasked with identifying10 people in Vancouver to give one
of these things to, to get them to try it out and just to share your honest feedback, good,bad, or otherwise. And I'm like, oh, so like, and like that, I mean, that's
a very simple and whatever, but Allsorts of people that I did not know that I did have a coffee with
(38:41):
have all gone on to do great things. Andthey all answer the phone when I call. And there's a, you
know what I mean? And now they may not answer it immediately, butI always get a response. And so there's a magic that
happens in that relationship. And they were like, oh, youwere so nice to me when nobody else would meet with me, you did. Yeah,
(39:03):
and so I often find, especially in my contentcreation days, I often punched above
my weight in terms of trips and opportunities becausethe agency rep, the destination rep,
really, one, they liked my content. two,You know, so they had to sort of like, yes, they have numbers and
(39:31):
they have, you know, they have to justify all those, you know, all thetrips that they host and everything. But there was one time, uh, I'd
met, uh, I'd met a rep from a California destination atan event in Vancouver. And him and
his husband were, you know, they had a couple of personal days. Soand I had just chatted with them at the thing. And they were like, they're like, Oh, where should
(39:53):
we go for whatever? And I'm like, Oh, my God, let me make a list for you.
And I said, Why don't you come to my place for drinks, you know, when you'redone, or before you go, and then I'll have a whole list of things for you.
So they came to my place, you know, because it was close to where they werestaying. We had some drinks on my balcony. I gave them a list of places.
They called me the next day. They like, we want to take you out because we really appreciate it.
(40:14):
So we went out the next day. And then two weeks later, I got an emailfrom him. And he's like, Marc, he says,
he says, I primarily look after travel or aftermeetings and convention goers and
stuff like that. He says, but I've got, he says, I've got one spot left onmy fam trip. And he says, and I know the other three people, I
(40:35):
know they're all booking conferences. So he says, I've hitmy targets. He says, do you want to come to our destination for five
days? It's all expenses paid. And I was like, yes!And he's like, because, you know, he'd hit his sales targets. He
knew that everyone that was on that trip wasa guaranteed sale. So for me, and I went and wrote stories and
(40:57):
I never would have probably gone to that destination. So, butI wrote about the wineries and then he actually ended up using my stories
in some of his, you know, you know, press kitswhen he would be sending them out to potential clients about all
the things that you can do in his destination, because they weren't sexylike San Francisco or, you know, L.A. or
(41:18):
Santa Barbara, things like that. So, yeah, soit's the Tri-Valley, like, so it's like it is a wine region, but
it's not as sexy and as big of a name. So, yeah, so,you know, it was great. And again, never would have anticipated that coming from
See, this is really making me think of somebodyelse in my network that I've met, and I really admire him.
(41:43):
He says, who's missing out because you're not showing up? Youshow up. You make the connections. And you
make the connections not with the intention of getting anythingback. It's just knowing, I believe, you give the
universe will eventually come back to you. Yeah. And it'sYeah. My cheesy, my, my cheesy holiday
(42:05):
season email sign off in my personal email isif you give with both hands, you're open to a hug. So,
I mean, obviously that's personal and that's cheesy and everything else, butit's like, if you only give with one hand, then the other one's tied behind
You're making me think of this lady I met this pastweek. I do cybersecurity and
(42:28):
I had the great pleasure of serving a community, twocommunities in Labrador. And I went to this Northern community
that the only way to get there is by plane or boat. Andwhen I came in, they really needed help. And
the lady came up and she gave me biggest hug. I'mso glad you're here. That's one
(42:51):
of the most memorable parts of my trip. Thelady giving me the hug and then later the
Yes. Well, you know, I mean, whenI was a content creator and on trips, You know, it's, and
I always, and I see this from all of my friends that still write about their destinations.
(43:12):
You know, we get given so much swag, um,on these trips, the pens, the notepads, the dot, dot, dot, dot, dot
But you know, when you, when you go there and the person that's bookedyou on the trip and that's arranged everything, remembers that
it's your birthday. And so there's a little birthday card in your hotel orthere's like, you know, for example, they know that you love doughnuts.
(43:37):
I love doughnuts. And so they would be like some fresh doughnuts andthey're like, we booked them on your itinerary, you know, so dah, dah,
dah, you know, so like all, those are the little, it's those connection points,You know what? Small things matter the most. Yes. You know, we
People also stay in jobs because of managers, youknow, or the people that they work with and everything else. And so again,
(44:04):
like going back to, I feel, and it'sjust my own intuition about this, but
I believe I punched way above my weight interms of the opportunities I was given. when
my website numbers maybe didn't open that door, the likabilityfactor did. And then I would work really hard to
(44:27):
produce content that I thought was good and thatwas engaging. And then they would be, you know, I mean, and I
always say, like in my event days, they always ask me like, what's your,what are your metrics for a successful event? And
the answer is super simple. Will the client hireme again? And did they have a smile on their face when
(44:49):
they wrote their final check to me? That is a successful event.
That's success. So Marc, wrapping uphere, I told you that this was going to be an incredible episode.
And I'm a talker. Yeah, no, there's so many great takeaways fromthis. I'm richer because of this conversation. So
I want to thank you for this. How do people connect with you,So obviously, love LinkedIn. So it's Marc
(45:16):
with a C. Marc H. Smith is my LinkedIn.
And you can tell it's me because I've got a mic in my hand and I'm talking to a journalistat the Toronto Pearson Airport. So
that is probably the best because My Instagram and Facebook,I don't actually use that much. But if you want to follow me
on Instagram, I'm TheMarcSmith. And again, I'm Marcthe French way with a C. So they
(45:42):
can do that. And obviously, theculturalcenter.ca, ifyou are interested in looking at my event space and want to do
Yes, for people that are in Atlantic Canada,definitely connect with Marc, but connect with Marc, and perhaps if you're
even from outside of this region, connectwith him on LinkedIn, have a virtual coffee, grow, advance
(46:11):
Yeah, I know, I know. We'll have to have a real coffee soon,I will say that if we do, if I do do a
virtual coffee with someone, probably chancesare I'm going to say no to a Zoom because I'm tired of looking at my own
face. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to take my coffee togo. I'm going to put my AirPods in and I'm probably going to go
(46:32):
for a walk on one of the 120 kilometers of urban trailsin Fredericton because I love a coffee walk, even if it's cold out.
I started doing that too. I've started doing one-on-onemeetings with my team and
walk and get that oxygen in and I just find them so muchIf you do not have to take copious notes, I highly
(46:58):
recommend coffee walks or tea walks, whateveryou want them to be, because one, you're not facing
each other. So it's not whether it's even friendly, it's not adversarialto the oxygen and the exercise of just moving
your legs. Actually, I find it allowsfor a lot of creativity. And it allows for the conversation
(47:19):
to go places that it may not have gone if you were sitting in a coffee shopAbsolutely. And for me, just adding on to
that, I meet with my coach weekly and about four monthsago, actually six, I started doing the
calls while walking. Theeffectiveness for me went
(47:44):
Yeah, I just think, yeah, I mean, I don't lovegoing to the gym, but I do find that physical
movement along with that outside oxygen really doesspike the creativity. And a lot of times I will have phone
meetings where I need to come up with something, and itMarc, it was a real great pleasure to have you here
(48:10):
today. Thank you for having me. And everyone, Marc'scontact info will be in the show notes. Reach out, connect
and share this episode with somebody who needs to hear. There's so manygreat takeaways from board of directors to get
to know Marc. Maybe it'd be your get to know that you shouldreally think about doing all because of you've heard some great, great
(48:40):
Thanks for tuning into the Adaptive Mindset. If you found value intoday's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a
review, and share it with someone who's ready to thrive in the digital age.
Welcome to the Adaptive Mindset. I'm Brett Gallant, cybersecurity thoughtleader and founder of Adaptive Office Solutions. Here, we
don't just talk tech, we unlock the strategies, stories, andmindset shifts you need to stay secure, lead boldly, and
thrive in a digital world. Let's get started. Welcomeback to the Adaptive Mindset. I'm really pleased to have with us
(00:25):
today, Marc Smith. Marc is a manager foran events marketing organization in Eastern
Canada. Before the show started, he told me he'son his 75th career. I don't believe him, but
he's had all sorts of different roles, 20 yearsas an entrepreneur, a content creator, events marketing,
(00:48):
among many things. Marc's story isa story of overcoming mindset shifts, reinvention.
I'm really pleased to have Marc with us today. This isgoing to be a show filled with so many takeaways. Marc,
Thank you so much. I hope this show is going to be filled with takeaways. I'm goingI am fully caffeinated.
(01:19):
I just fueled up here, and Igot a saying on it, life with coffee helps.
Yes, and I'm also a day drinker, soas soon as it hits noon, I put a little Baileys in my coffee, so nothing
(01:41):
So Marc, tell our audience a little bit about yourself. Let'sdig into your story and what you do and how you help people.
Yeah, so I don't know if it's 75. I mean, I'm only 56, butI've definitely had quite a few careers. And I seem to sort
of, I was ahead of the curve interms of not lasting in
(02:04):
any one company for, you know, a lifetime. I seem tohave every three, five, I think the longest time
I was an employee for one particular company wasseven years. So I, I guess you would say
I like change. Um, I need to stay interestedand I tend to, um, once
(02:26):
I've sort of mastered something, you know, what usedto maybe took me eight hours to do, then takes me three to
four hours. And so then I always have to fill thetime with other things. So my roles over the years have
always expanded and expanded and expanded. And then itgets to a point where it's too much. And then I want to change and want something
different. So I have been a, Ithink my title was special event coordinator. I was basically a community manager
(02:55):
for organic grocery store chain in Vancouver. I'm originallyfrom BC. And then that led me to starting
my own event production company in Vancouver. So I did that for almost 10 years,produced close to 300 client events over
that time and everything from really small, intimate, highvalue customer engagement events could be a dinner could
(03:19):
have been on the 50 something floor of the Shangri-La watchingthe symphony of fire as it was then called in Vancouver the light the fireworks
light show to 750 people in a old. convertedtrain station where everything including power had
to be brought in. So I've got kind of run the gamut. And thenI've also, I also used to run an optical wholesale warehouse.
(03:44):
So the customer service and all the inventory and wasreally, that was good. That was a good four years of my life
when I first moved to Vancouver. And then prior to relocatingand moving to Fredericton after COVID was, I
was a content creator for almost 10 years, so I had my own travel blog.
It started out as, it started out being called 30 Day Adventuresand then it transitioned to the new name, which
(04:09):
was Marc My Travels. So a play off of my name and also kindof a postage stamp and tracking where I go and
what I did. And that's actually my first timein the Maritimes was actually in Fredericton just
over 10 years ago, July of 2015. Andso when I went nomad in 2016, you
(04:30):
know, I've been, I don't wanna say I've been around theworld, but I've definitely traveled a chunk and
I've written close to 1500 stories. So when COVIDhappened, I was kind of ready to sort of just, slow
down a little bit, and also the hustle on everything wasgetting a little exhausting. So COVID was a great pause, and
(04:52):
when the COVID dust settled, I was like, okay, where am I gonna pick myselfup, and where am I gonna go to? And I thought, you know, I'd never lived in the Maritimes,
so let's try it. So I came here- I think a lot of people did that duringThey really looked at themselves and said, what
am I doing? What shift do I have to take in mylife? Is this worth it? A lot
(05:19):
I talked to a lot of friends. For me,COVID was actually not devastating. It
was devastating to my bank account, but it was not devastating to me personally.
I just happened to be, I literally happened tofly in the day of the BC lockdown. My
mom picked me up at the airport, I was going to go have a visit with her. SoI was like, oh God, okay, I guess I'm staying for more than a couple of days. But
(05:47):
every day, basically, I would get up, therewas a grocery store a very short walk from our house, and of course, grocery stores
were allowed to be open. They had a decent little coffee shop, so I would goin there, I'd get an Americano, And then I'd go for a good
hour, hour and a half walk every single day. And what I would dois I would just grab my phone and I would kind of spin the
contacts folder like a Rolodex. And I would just call someoneevery day that I hadn't chatted with for a long time. I would have these like just,
(06:14):
you know, conversations. And interesting for me, I kindof, it was during all of that time that I just realized
it's only when you stop running that you realize how fast you've been going. Andso the COVID allowed me to pause and could
I have kept going? Sure. But I,uh, I really did not want to pivot within the content creation
(06:38):
world any more than I had already done. I mean, I'dbeen doing it for, like I said, eight, eight to 10 years, and I'd
already changed four or five timeshow I was doing things because you know, that world
of content creation. I mean, first I was a blogger, then itwas an influencer, then it was, you know, everything changes so rapidly.
(06:59):
And so it just, I, you know, again, I'm in my fifties. Andso I was like, I don't know if I want to be working that
hard all the time, like 24 seven toSo, and I think you, a little bit of what I'm picking up is, what
I discovered in my own journey, especially in the last few years, my coachhas always said to me, Brett, you need to put your own oxygen mask on. And
(07:25):
I really started to embrace that two years ago. Did Itry? Yes. But you started to
say, hey, I'm going to choose me first. I'm going to do things that giveme fulfillment, that give me energy. And so
you said, OK, this old way is notWell, and also the other thing too was, again, even though I love
(07:50):
to travel, but travel was work for me.
It wasn't a vacation. That's a mistake peoplethink when they think that you're a writer. In fact, I literally
just got a message before we jumped on the Zoom from afriend of mine who is a travel writer. writes
more for traditional publications, newspapers, and et cetera. Andso I coached him a lot during COVID. And he's like,
(08:15):
hey, guess who's in Fredericton today? He says, I need to make somelife choices. He says, I'm booking
you for dinner on Thursday night. He says, let's have some chats. Hesays, I need to bounce a bunch of stuff off of you. And so I'm like, OK, yeah,
I'm available. It is I love this. Youknow, it's that thing of like, when every single week,
(08:37):
like in any given week back when I was a content creator, Icould be in two different destinations. So
that is not a vacation. My idea of a vacation rightnow would be an all-inclusive with a drinks package and
sitting in a cabana having a lovely like a Mai Tai ora rum punch or something and going out for a swim in the water and
(09:00):
relaxing. When I was a content creator, I wasup at six thirty seven o'clock in the morning i was answering emails i
was writing my story of the day i was scheduling my socialmedia for that for those post for the promotion that i would go
out and then i would hit a breakfast spot because i need to have content onwhere that was the content in the even the destination was part
of the story so it was yes. Yes. I'dalways have to do an unboxing of my hotel room.
(09:28):
You have all this association with that travelActually, to be fair, I probably only post
on social media once a week, maybe once every two weeks becauseI did it for so long. Now
I'm like, I don't care if you don't see what I'm eating for breakfast today.
(09:52):
Exactly. Meanwhile, hereI am posting everything, but
I come from the mindset of sharingmy journey to help people and inspire people. You haven't done
(10:18):
you're doing it because it's work. Like I still post, you know, I do thesocial for, for the cultural center where I work. That's different. I
don't have a problem with that because it's intentional and everything else.
But when it's about my own life, I'm like, yeah, you know, my entire lifeYeah. Yeah. Yeah. So now, now you have this new
(10:40):
opportunity and you're, you're giving it the love andactually finding new ways to, to, find
ways to enjoy travel in new ways. At leasthaving the mindset and the recognition to know what fuels
you and gives you energy. going for a, youknow, jumping on a plane and going to three different destinations, probably
(11:04):
Well, if the bank account was like fully fundedand I didn't have to work, I would do that in a heartbeat. But I
would certainly, but I would not jam every single day withtwo adventures, three restaurants and
Well, and let me tell you this, how many ways can you talk about how juicy aburger is? You know, after a while, you know, I was starting
(11:29):
to lose adjectives to describe things. Andit was kind of like, oh, you know. And I mean, I'll also say
now, obviously, everyone's a little different, buteating restaurant food three days a week is not great
for your waistline. And I actually love tocook. So from 2016 to the end of COVID, I
(11:52):
didn't have a kitchen because I was a nomad. And the reason thatI didn't cook at
my mom's place during COVID was because my mom's celiac. SoI was, I mean, I did do some cooking, but obviously cooking
with flour is not allowed. So like, there was a lot of things, it was very different. So Ijust let my mom do it. But when I relocated here to Fredericton
(12:15):
and set down roots here, itwas really fun to kind of get back in the kitchen. And
I'm like, oh, I'm going to make beef stroganoff. Or like, you know, I had people over forThanksgiving Yesterday, Canadian Thanksgiving, if
any of your listeners are American, so in October. AndI did a baked ham, and I did scallop potatoes, and roasted
(12:38):
Brussels sprouts with a balsamic glaze, and that wasfun. I enjoyed that. And then I made a pumpkin cheesecake. That
And just picking up on a theme that I was talking about, Irecorded a, I went for a walk this morning, I
was reflecting on Canadian Thanksgiving and something Iheard in a service this weekend. It was all centered around gratitude.
(13:07):
Imagine you have immense gratitude for all the journeys thatWell, I mean, I, I think I kind of annoy people. I'm certainly not a
Pollyanna, but I, you know, I wake,my glasses always have full, even when things are
a little struggle. I, I certainly recognize that I'mblessed. Um, and you know, I also,
(13:30):
I'm a big believer that, um, I've got a couple of, well, I've gotmany sayings, but one of my, um, one
of my truths is that everything I need to getout or to, to solve a problem, I already have. I
already have the answers. I just have to tap into whatthat is. And so sometimes that's asking for help, and I'm
(13:52):
absolutely not afraid to ask for help. I certainly have surrounded myselfin my life with people that are a lot smarter than me in a lot of
different areas. So I lean on those people.
You're making me think of Think and Grow Rich. HaveNo, I absolutely detest reading business
books and self-help books because they're so dry. II watched the movie, okay? There's a movie, actually, okay? Short version
(14:19):
is Henry Ford was put on trial becausethey were trying to prove that he wasn't educated. And his argument was
why should I fill myself with knowledge that Idon't really need to do when I can just pick up my phone and
contact somebody and give me the information I need. Soyour network, I think the way what you were saying is,
(14:46):
your network is your net worth. You can just pick up the phone and call someone.
I know somebody in my network, Daylene Allen,She's really inspired me on this. She says, you
just need to reach out to somebody within your network, even LinkedIn. Likewhat you did during COVID, you were reaching out, having those
(15:06):
connections, fostering those relationships. But youcan just pick up the phone if you're struggling with something. And sometimes, a
lot of times, what happens Inlife, we're struggling with a challenge, and
we don't even realize that we can just pick up the phone or send a DMWell, and I think that... Don't lean into that enough. No, and I think people
(15:32):
spend... So, in my event business, Iwas always getting
co-op students or interns, whatever you wanted to call them, forwork experience, part of their schooling. And
I started them from zero to 100. I was like, you areliterally going to do everything that I do in a day. And
(15:54):
every morning, we'd sit down, and we'd sit down, and we'd discuss kind oflike what needed to be accomplished that day on any given project that
we were doing. And I would say to them, I said, listen, OK, I'm going to getyou to do this. We've not had a conversation about it and whatever.
I said, but I'm going to show you some examples of things that I've done. AndI said, spend 15 minutes on it. If you can't figure
(16:15):
it out, don't spin your wheels any longer than 15 minutes.
Call me. Like, you know, I would be in a different area. I'm like, call me andI'll walk you through it. But I said, I want you to give it a shot. And
Yeah. And I said, come back to me with the questions. Like, so, you know, but I'm goingto give you a shot. And I knew that they weren't going to, of
(16:37):
course, they're not going to be able to do exactly what I did because they're, you know, they're, Idid it. It's me. So, and they're new. And so,
but the idea was I needed them to try. And then I wouldlike, okay, so now that you've read it, you've gone through it, but I also didn't want
them to sit there for half an hour to an hour wasting their time. AndI'm, I very much look at my life that way that
(16:58):
I'm like, you know, when I was younger, maybe Iwould spend more time on a project on a problem because we thought we could solve
anything. Yeah. Or I thought I was, I thought I was supposed to solve it.
Right. And then, yes, that was a strength, but in away it was a weakness not to rely on other people to let them in to
But I w I would also say one, I am,so going back to the gratitude thing, I always give
(17:24):
credit when someone has, you know,moved me, shifted me further along on a
problem that I've solved. So I never claim somebody else'swork as mine. But two, it's
sort of like, there's And I've used thisterm a lot, they call it a solopreneur, or you're
(17:46):
a single business owner. But there's no such thing,because nobody who runs a business says it alone, even
if they're a solopreneur. I, in my event business,every year, and during more challenging times, I would
do it multiple times. WhatI would do is I would convene a quote-unquote
(18:08):
board of directors. And the ideawas that I would pick people in categories that
I needed that were smarter than me or more of an expert, soto speak, in that area. But then the
other qualification was Theyhad to absolutely want me to succeed. So
(18:30):
would you just grab people from the community and you're from you know that I knew yespeople that I knew and then so but the idea was is that because
I knew they were gonna rip apart my businessplan or the challenge or whatever it was I was doing, but
I needed them to not, like they had toknow me and I had to, because it was, I was sharing really
(18:53):
sensitive to me information about my business, thefinancial situation, all those things. So I needed the trust that
when everything, when the dust settled from the meeting, theirultimate goal was they wanted me to thrive. And
so that- Power of a mastermind. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, and I, and I, I mean, I know people that do it once a month andstuff like that. I, for me, that wasn't, isn't really for me,
(19:19):
but I did it when I was, when I, when I would bepivoting or when I had to make big decisions, I would do
it. They were like my, you know, like I said, my, my board ofOh, no. Yeah. Oh, I brought the food in. I had a couple of bottles of wine. And
then I, what I always do is I would always hiresomeone. If I did not have an assistant at that time, I
(19:44):
would hire someone to document the meeting and take notes becauseI would present. my plan, my
situation, whatever it is, and then they would be comingYeah, and I wouldn't have the opportunity to document or to keep, like,
(20:05):
remember everything. So I had somebody else there just capture allthat. And when I would start, the very first time I started one of
these, I said, listen, I said, you know, I am absolutelygonna guarantee that I'm going to, at some point in time, cry
during this session because I've put a lot of work into this. Isaid, but I don't want you to think that my tears are
(20:28):
a reason for you to stop. That's how we grow. I'ma big boy. I'm like, yes, it's hurting my feelings, but the minute you
leave, 10 minutes later, I'm going to be like, oh, yeah. Becauseagain, I set the premise in the invitation that these were people that
I trusted wanted me to succeed. I wantNow you understand why that was such a... It does, but I want to dig into it a little bit for a minute.
(20:51):
Because there's some entrepreneurs listening to this rightnow. And I've been doing my
own version of this. I met with... I was ina mastermind. We'd have deep dives on our business. Every
six weeks, we'd do a deep dive on each other's business. Sometimes it'd be two months.
And then I've also been using ChatGPT and I made my own virtualAI board of directors. But what you just said really unlocked something for
(21:17):
me. And I think I want to ask a few morequestions because I'm thinking, and I believe
that there's some of our listeners are listening to this idea. I'm like, oh, Inever thought of that. So how would somebody go
about getting their board of directors? Like,what did you do? Like, how did you, like, how did you, like,
(21:43):
So absolutely once a year. Yeah. CauseI was an event producer. I wasn't creating, you know, it's not like I was that
I had a physical product that I would have different iterations of. Iproduced events that, so the structure of that and what I,
the product is fairly simple. What, whatI was always challenged was, was finding the clients. and
(22:06):
what types of events and what types of, you know, where I neededto be. And so really a lot of business development, marketing,
that kind of sort of stuff. So for me, thatwas a once a year thing when there were so during the 2008, 2009 housing crisis
in the States and in America, when the market crashed and marketing budgets dropped,So up until that point, I had been doing a lot of BNI. I'm
(22:30):
sure you know what that is. Yes, I do.
I had done that for probably two or three years. ButI had sort of convened a casual board of directors with
just two or three people over coffee. And I was talking aboutthe various, they're like, what's your business development mark, what's your
whatever. Marceting was the first thing that was cut,if you remember back then, from people's budgets. And
(22:56):
then in the marketing space, the first thing that was cut was face-to-face events,which is of course is the complete back ass logic. People
were still doing events. So the problem was is that I didn't, therewere still events happening, but they were, but in
all honesty, and I love BNI, but my chapterwas not producing any actual clients for me that
(23:20):
I didn't have to discount to get because I didn't startworking until my fee was at 2,000, 2,500, which
meant their budgets were close to 15 to $20,000. Sothere was not a lot of, I gave a lot of referrals. I didn't get a
lot. So as a result of this conversation,you know, one, I was doing an hour and a half every single
(23:42):
week. Then there was the $25 fee for the,you know, the breakfast and everything. But on top of that, there was all the
coffees with the different members every single week tosort of stay connected and to find out more about their business. So there was
a very large cost outside ofmoney To be in that bni and after three years
(24:04):
i wasn't getting the same are why that i did at the beginning evenif you have to make that change yeah and so the
board like but i was you know i was kind of doubling down doingit and then the board of directors was sort of like. yeah, Marc,
you're not, any work you're getting out of this, you have to discount because theydon't have the budget. So just so they can see what you do. So
(24:25):
they're like, you need to get out of it and you need to like figure outwhere your actual customer base is. And then of
course, I already knew the thing is like, who hires me? Agency,you know, so I would go through the list and I realized there was a little thing,
(24:48):
In early 2009, I joined Twitter, I quitBNI, and I put the same amount
of energy into Twitter that I did into BNI.
But what I did was, and I used to dosome talks about social media in Vancouver, my
Twitter strategy was networking ata cocktail party. So I
(25:13):
would walk into a room, no one, I didn't know anybody. SoI would just, that's just logging into Twitter. I don't know who's in the room.
I would see someone, or I'd go over to anarea and I would overhear the conversation. That's
just like checking out people's tweets on Twitter. If Iliked what they were saying, I would introduce myself, get their
(25:41):
Then I'd have a little back and forth. That's tweeting back and forth with this person.
Then I would move on to another group of people and I would repeat somethingthat the person I just met had said that I thought was really interesting. That's a
retweet. And then, you know, and then I would book acoffee with them. And that's a DM, because like, you're taking it off, you
know, out of the public space, and you're going private. So like, all Idid this, and but my purpose on Twitter was
(26:05):
always to follow. So agencies, marketingagencies, PR agencies, All the groups of
previous clients that I'd had, where did that business come from?
Everyone listening, these are things youcan still do today with Instagram and LinkedIn. If you're
(26:26):
not doing it, I would encourage you to think about this isgold, spot on advice. Reach out, your
And here's the thing, and this is, so like, you know, when I'm meeting someone, like,I never want my first meeting with you to be when
I want to sell or buy something from you. No, no. Because,you know, I, and everyone laughs at me when I say this, there
(26:51):
is a cologne that a sales pitch hasthat is very similar to me is driving by a
What I've heard people say is it's commissioned breath. Cometo the table with something of value. But the
one thing I think though, if you're meetingwith somebody and you know you have something that can
(27:17):
help them, you're doing a crimeOh, a hundred percent. And like, and don't get me wrong. It's not like, I
I want to get to know you a little bit more before I commissionbreath. Yeah. Yeah. Where I just sort of, and even, and even if my sales
pitch, so to speak, has nothing to do with my business, I'm a sort oflike, Oh, you know what? I can, I am more than happy to, I
(27:47):
My nickname was Marcus one phone call. IYeah, that's why we're here to help each other though. Like, like,
Yes. I don't know a guy, but I have a general contractor thatprobably works with a guy who does. So it's the one phone call, right? It's
(28:07):
that Kevin Bacon, six degrees of separation thing where,you know, and the thing is, and so even when I moved to Fredericton, I
actually threw a party for myself. I had fiveacquaintances in Fredericton and, um, I
secured a location. Someone that was a cidercompany here in town local that had just bought a farm they offered up
(28:29):
one of their barns if I cleaned it out, then I could have the barn for an event spaceI hired a local caterer. The cider obviously I bought
cider from them and I friend of mine had just opened a brewery sothey came with their beer and then I had the five acquaintances in
Fredericton. that I had maintained a relationship sincemy first visit in 2015. I said
(28:50):
to them, I'm like, I'm going to throw a party. I'm taking care of the food and the booze. Isaid, can you just invite some interesting people you think I should meet?
And so I arrived on October 22nd, myparty was October 25th. There were 30 people there
and it was called a get to know Marc party. AndI literally just kind of like said, you know, thank you for
(29:13):
coming. You know, it cost me about, I think in total it cost me about justunder $2,000. But I asked
all those people that were there to book a coffee with me, andI wanted to get to know them. And I still have relationships with
That is brilliant, Marc. I love it.
I'm going to remember that. It's the same variation whatI've heard. I'm in Dan
(29:39):
Martell's group coaching program, andhe does something that I know quite a few people do
that are inspired by him. he does a founder's dinner.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I actually, so weirdlyenough, I actually got a job out of that kind
(30:01):
of thing. Um, it was a year, I did ayear that was, you know, there was, there wasn't really a plan to
actually, you know, go any further than that. But so I went in,I helped, I helped someone's business. They needed some operational help. So
I went in, did some, you know, help them do some cleanup and reorganization. Andthen, uh, I took some time off because even though I
(30:21):
just had COVID off, I was actually still kind of burnt out. Um,and I really didn't have a real Fredericton. And then, so then
I, so I took the, that summer off and, um, I ended up doing a,uh, a talk at the Fredericton chamber of commerce. And
about efficiency and how to make your day more efficientwork wise and things like that, and so I gave my talk and.
(30:46):
I wasn't actually that thrilled with it, because the people who I thought werethe audience that i've written my presentation for was not the people in the room.
No one's fault other than my own, I should have asked more questions. Butout of that mistake, I felt bad that
I did not feel that I had given the value that I'd wanted togive. So I reached out to every single attendee and invited
(31:09):
them for a coffee so that I could havemore one-on-one time with them. I would say about 35% took
me up on that. And one of those people, while we werehaving coffee, she was like, you should meet
my husband. He really needs some help with thenot-for-profit that he's running. And that is how I landed
(31:32):
the job that I'm in right now. I had a coffee meeting with him acouple of months after that, because it was around Christmas time this all happened. Yeah.
And, you know, he says, I need some help. And he says, sendme your resume. And so we had this conversation. And it just so happens that my
resume kind of fit, you know, what he wasneeding to take off of his plate. And so it's almost
(31:53):
a year now. And yeah, I couldn't be any happier. SoSo many great takeaways from what you've shared. You put
yourself out there. You've had the get to know Marc party. How many peopleare like, we hold back from just making those coffee or
getting out and speaking to people, networking, justfor clarification. So we let's, let's just turn the spotlight on
(32:18):
for a little minute to, so our audience knows what you're doing now withthis organization, Fredericton, what's your title and what
So the cultural center is, sowe are spaces for community collaboration and
connection. So we are a not-for-profit hub. Weare a not-for-profit landlord in the west
(32:40):
end of downtown Fredericton. And so we haveabout 60,000 square feet and we have about 13 different organizations.
that rent office space. Wehave a child daycare in there. And so we
do have a couple of for-profit businesses, but mostof the businesses in there are not-for-profit or community
(33:02):
organizations. And so we make that space availablefor them at a rate that is less than if we were
a commercial for-profit. And so partof my role and what they brought me on to do was, so obviously I overhauled I
tightened the branding, I overhauled the website, launcheda brand new website, reactivated our social media
(33:24):
presence. And, but then we have a3,700 square foot multi-purpose event space towards
the back of the building. And so it has been my jobto build relationships and to make that space a
revenue source for the building. Cause it's the only space that is notbooked 24 seven. There is absolutely no
(33:46):
space in that building for me to even have an office. SoI literally either work in a coffee shop or
I work from home. I mean, I tend to, I'm usedto waking up and going for coffee. So I usually just wake up,
grab my laptop, go to my favorite coffee shop in town here for acouple of hours. I tend to do my coffee meetings first
(34:07):
thing in the morning. That's my favorite time to chat, soto speak. And then I come home
and do the rest of my work from my home office. AndAnd you're a connector, Marc, like you're a connector. Yes. Yes.
And, you know, that is, and it, honestly, I don'tknow. I mean, obviously I, you know, need to make
(34:30):
money and all the rest of the things, but I don't think anything givesme any more joy than when I am able to
pair businesses or people together and to see magichappens. And I'm, um, When I
do an introduction, I'm always, especially if it's anemail introduction and someone doesn't know what's coming, I always include
(34:52):
a brief bio on each of the parties that I'm introducing andwhy I think there's a fit. You need to put some meat on the bones when you
do an introduction. And soif I'm offering that, that I'm thrilled to do, there are times
where people have asked me to make introductions for them, andI'm always happy to do so. But I also say my
(35:13):
introduction comes with a price. Andthat price is don't fuck it up because
I have put my name on the line for you. SoI need you to do your best. Don't let
the, don't let this, you know, show up, show up, showAnd you obviously thought highly enough for both parties that
(35:36):
they need to be together. So at least showup and take a shot at it and have a conversation. even
if you're not in the mindset of not wanting to have the conversation. Therewas a version of me many number of years ago that wouldn't do
it, but now I intentionally meet with people, evenhelp somebody that's on their journey. I've even met with people
(36:01):
that are in their journey of trying to start their own career in thisfield. I speak to them. I learned that from from
a HR manager for a firm that I used to workfor. He said, Brett, this is Carmen saying this, I'm feeling
them right now. I always makean effort to meet with somebody. If they come, I at
(36:23):
least have a conversation because you never know how much myWell, and obviously someone gave you advice at some point
in time that you've taken and whatever. So I mean, ObviouslyI love coffee and I love the act of coffee, which so
(36:49):
But I am, um, but I have a, I personally havea policy of never saying no to coffee. with someone.
Because, and the reason is, so I get, youknow, I mean, I cold email people to have coffee
with me. And I get cold called, not so much inFredericton, because I'm still relatively new here, you know, and that so
(37:11):
not as many people reach out to me here, I'm doing most of the reach out. Butthe back in Vancouver, people would reach out to me all the time for
coffees. And I would always say yes, I'd,you know, I'm like, sure, here's half an hour, let's do it, whatever. And I would, and
the person who asked for the coffee, it's their, asfar as I'm concerned, it's their agenda. So when we sit down, I'm
(37:32):
like, okay, this is your coffee. What do you go?
Like, tell me, what are you looking for? What are you, what, youknow, are you just want to get to know me or whatever, but it's their agenda. I
let them set it and I just follow what they're, what they're puttingdown. But the reason that I do this, is
I don't know who they are until I meet with them, and I don't know,more importantly, who they're going to be. Because I have often sat
(37:55):
down with people that were wanting to get in the event space or other things, andthat I'd met at a talk I gave or something. And then a couple
of years later, they would show up or reach outto me, email, phone, and they'd be like, hey, Any
chance you're looking for a blank?" And I'm like, oh yeah, I could, yeah,what's going on? Well, you know, I'm with XPR company and
(38:19):
we have this as a client and I've been tasked with identifying10 people in Vancouver to give one
of these things to, to get them to try it out and just to share your honest feedback, good,bad, or otherwise. And I'm like, oh, so like, and like that, I mean, that's
a very simple and whatever, but Allsorts of people that I did not know that I did have a coffee with
(38:41):
have all gone on to do great things. Andthey all answer the phone when I call. And there's a, you
know what I mean? And now they may not answer it immediately, butI always get a response. And so there's a magic that
happens in that relationship. And they were like, oh, youwere so nice to me when nobody else would meet with me, you did. Yeah,
(39:03):
and so I often find, especially in my contentcreation days, I often punched above
my weight in terms of trips and opportunities becausethe agency rep, the destination rep,
really, one, they liked my content. two,You know, so they had to sort of like, yes, they have numbers and
(39:31):
they have, you know, they have to justify all those, you know, all thetrips that they host and everything. But there was one time, uh, I'd
met, uh, I'd met a rep from a California destination atan event in Vancouver. And him and
his husband were, you know, they had a couple of personal days. Soand I had just chatted with them at the thing. And they were like, they're like, Oh, where should
(39:53):
we go for whatever? And I'm like, Oh, my God, let me make a list for you.
And I said, Why don't you come to my place for drinks, you know, when you'redone, or before you go, and then I'll have a whole list of things for you.
So they came to my place, you know, because it was close to where they werestaying. We had some drinks on my balcony. I gave them a list of places.
They called me the next day. They like, we want to take you out because we really appreciate it.
(40:14):
So we went out the next day. And then two weeks later, I got an emailfrom him. And he's like, Marc, he says,
he says, I primarily look after travel or aftermeetings and convention goers and
stuff like that. He says, but I've got, he says, I've got one spot left onmy fam trip. And he says, and I know the other three people, I
(40:35):
know they're all booking conferences. So he says, I've hitmy targets. He says, do you want to come to our destination for five
days? It's all expenses paid. And I was like, yes!And he's like, because, you know, he'd hit his sales targets. He
knew that everyone that was on that trip wasa guaranteed sale. So for me, and I went and wrote stories and
(40:57):
I never would have probably gone to that destination. So, butI wrote about the wineries and then he actually ended up using my stories
in some of his, you know, you know, press kitswhen he would be sending them out to potential clients about all
the things that you can do in his destination, because they weren't sexylike San Francisco or, you know, L.A. or
(41:18):
Santa Barbara, things like that. So, yeah, soit's the Tri-Valley, like, so it's like it is a wine region, but
it's not as sexy and as big of a name. So, yeah, so,you know, it was great. And again, never would have anticipated that coming from
See, this is really making me think of somebodyelse in my network that I've met, and I really admire him.
(41:43):
He says, who's missing out because you're not showing up? Youshow up. You make the connections. And you
make the connections not with the intention of getting anythingback. It's just knowing, I believe, you give the
universe will eventually come back to you. Yeah. And it'sYeah. My cheesy, my, my cheesy holiday
(42:05):
season email sign off in my personal email isif you give with both hands, you're open to a hug. So,
I mean, obviously that's personal and that's cheesy and everything else, butit's like, if you only give with one hand, then the other one's tied behind
You're making me think of this lady I met this pastweek. I do cybersecurity and
(42:28):
I had the great pleasure of serving a community, twocommunities in Labrador. And I went to this Northern community
that the only way to get there is by plane or boat. Andwhen I came in, they really needed help. And
the lady came up and she gave me biggest hug. I'mso glad you're here. That's one
(42:51):
of the most memorable parts of my trip. Thelady giving me the hug and then later the
Yes. Well, you know, I mean, whenI was a content creator and on trips, You know, it's, and
I always, and I see this from all of my friends that still write about their destinations.
(43:12):
You know, we get given so much swag, um,on these trips, the pens, the notepads, the dot, dot, dot, dot, dot
But you know, when you, when you go there and the person that's bookedyou on the trip and that's arranged everything, remembers that
it's your birthday. And so there's a little birthday card in your hotel orthere's like, you know, for example, they know that you love doughnuts.
(43:37):
I love doughnuts. And so they would be like some fresh doughnuts andthey're like, we booked them on your itinerary, you know, so dah, dah,
dah, you know, so like all, those are the little, it's those connection points,You know what? Small things matter the most. Yes. You know, we
People also stay in jobs because of managers, youknow, or the people that they work with and everything else. And so again,
(44:04):
like going back to, I feel, and it'sjust my own intuition about this, but
I believe I punched way above my weight interms of the opportunities I was given. when
my website numbers maybe didn't open that door, the likabilityfactor did. And then I would work really hard to
(44:27):
produce content that I thought was good and thatwas engaging. And then they would be, you know, I mean, and I
always say, like in my event days, they always ask me like, what's your,what are your metrics for a successful event? And
the answer is super simple. Will the client hireme again? And did they have a smile on their face when
(44:49):
they wrote their final check to me? That is a successful event.
That's success. So Marc, wrapping uphere, I told you that this was going to be an incredible episode.
And I'm a talker. Yeah, no, there's so many great takeaways fromthis. I'm richer because of this conversation. So
I want to thank you for this. How do people connect with you,So obviously, love LinkedIn. So it's Marc
(45:16):
with a C. Marc H. Smith is my LinkedIn.
And you can tell it's me because I've got a mic in my hand and I'm talking to a journalistat the Toronto Pearson Airport. So
that is probably the best because My Instagram and Facebook,I don't actually use that much. But if you want to follow me
on Instagram, I'm TheMarcSmith. And again, I'm Marcthe French way with a C. So they
(45:42):
can do that. And obviously, theculturalcenter.ca, ifyou are interested in looking at my event space and want to do
Yes, for people that are in Atlantic Canada,definitely connect with Marc, but connect with Marc, and perhaps if you're
even from outside of this region, connectwith him on LinkedIn, have a virtual coffee, grow, advance
(46:11):
Yeah, I know, I know. We'll have to have a real coffee soon,I will say that if we do, if I do do a
virtual coffee with someone, probably chancesare I'm going to say no to a Zoom because I'm tired of looking at my own
face. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to take my coffee togo. I'm going to put my AirPods in and I'm probably going to go
(46:32):
for a walk on one of the 120 kilometers of urban trailsin Fredericton because I love a coffee walk, even if it's cold out.
I started doing that too. I've started doing one-on-onemeetings with my team and
walk and get that oxygen in and I just find them so muchIf you do not have to take copious notes, I highly
(46:58):
recommend coffee walks or tea walks, whateveryou want them to be, because one, you're not facing
each other. So it's not whether it's even friendly, it's not adversarialto the oxygen and the exercise of just moving
your legs. Actually, I find it allowsfor a lot of creativity. And it allows for the conversation
(47:19):
to go places that it may not have gone if you were sitting in a coffee shopAbsolutely. And for me, just adding on to
that, I meet with my coach weekly and about four monthsago, actually six, I started doing the
calls while walking. Theeffectiveness for me went
(47:44):
Yeah, I just think, yeah, I mean, I don't lovegoing to the gym, but I do find that physical
movement along with that outside oxygen really doesspike the creativity. And a lot of times I will have phone
meetings where I need to come up with something, and itMarc, it was a real great pleasure to have you here
(48:10):
today. Thank you for having me. And everyone, Marc'scontact info will be in the show notes. Reach out, connect
and share this episode with somebody who needs to hear. There's so manygreat takeaways from board of directors to get
to know Marc. Maybe it'd be your get to know that you shouldreally think about doing all because of you've heard some great, great
(48:40):
Thanks for tuning into the Adaptive Mindset. If you found value intoday's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a
review, and share it with someone who's ready to thrive in the digital age.
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