Episode Transcript
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(00:03):
Welcome to the Jody Mayberry Show. And last episode,
you remember we had the wonderful guest,
Barry Jacobson. Well, he joined us to talk about creating
luxury experiences, and now he is back because that's
how we do it when we have a guest. We have that guest return to
ask me three questions. These questions are not prompted by me.
(00:25):
They're not planted by me, not encouraged by me. I have no
idea what Barry is about to ask me, but I do know I
am thrilled to have him back on the show. Welcome, Barry. Hi,
Jody. Thanks for, having me back. And and, now I get to put you on
the hot seat and give you three questions that,
you know, after watching and listening to you or on your
(00:48):
podcast, I just know you're gonna hit these questions right out of the
park. Well, we will find out. We'll find out. Well, I'm
glad you were willing to play along and come back and ask. So what
is your first question, Barry? So, Jody, after,
all the years knowing you and all the various types of,
role you've played in your life, I was wondering,
(01:11):
what advice would you give your younger self? I think I
would say do it sooner. I've taken some big
swings. I've done some incredible things. But I I look
back, and there are several points where I probably
knew two years earlier. It's probably time to move on and
do something else. But yet, it took me two years to push
(01:34):
myself off the cliff. So that's it. Do it
sooner. And I became a a park ranger. I was a financial
analyst at a commercial bank, and I probably knew a couple
years before I left, it was time to go. And even
when I left being a park ranger, I knew it was time to go
and I hung on for a couple years because being a park ranger is awesome.
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So I just think when you're young and you can take
big risks, just do it sooner. I love that because,
I'm always talking about risks. And you know what? If you take it and it
doesn't work out, you can always go back and find that next
window that's gonna open and you do something different. So I I love
that answer. Okay. Question number two. Who was your
(02:18):
mentor when you were growing up? When I was growing up, it's
probably my granny. You know, I grew up in Illinois. And in
the Midwest, it's not uncommon for granny to be your or
a grandmother to be the center of the family. And for me,
granny was the center of everything. The extended family all went
to her, and I just adored my granny. And she could be
(02:40):
grouchy sometimes, but she was just wonderful. I learned a lot about life
from granny. And then, eventually, to expand beyond
that, when I discovered hockey, then
who you look up to changes a little bit. In in particular, there was one
player, Kelly Chase. He played for the Peoria Riverman, went on to play for the
St. Louis Blues, and and he he's who I looked up
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to, met him when I was in grade school, thought it was so cool to
go to the Riverman games and then get to talk to the players after. And
I just thought Kelly Chase was was the best. So he was
probably the first non family member
role model that I had. And you probably looked at up to him,
because he probably had a great work ethic just like you. He
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cared about the effort that he put out every single day on the
ice. Right? And so, yeah, just like me, I have those,
my mom is my mentor, obviously, but so many others that you can
look at and try to emulate their work ethic.
And, you know, my dad was, you know, up every morning at 05:00 in the
morning off to work. So he was a mentor, but truly, you
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find people in your life everywhere that you can
learn from. So I love that answer. Well, I'm glad that you I'm glad
that you mentioned the work ethic side of it because I
feel like often we look up to sports
stars for the fact that they're stars and they play
whatever sport you like. But you can
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get a lot more out of looking up to a a
sports star, an athlete, because it
took so much to get to where they are. And if you can understand
how and why and figure out their story and what they overcame,
there's just so much there that you can draw from. So I'm glad that you
mentioned the work ethic part of it. Yeah. And imagine imagine his
(04:32):
parents waking up at, you know, 03:00 in the morning and getting
him to the ice by 04:30 or 04:00 in the morning.
I know hockey, and I I know the effort it takes. And then going
through I've see guys that are playing hockey at 11:00 at night just
so they can get ice time. So it's crazy. So, yes, work ethic
is important, and and I'm a true believer in that. So last question, Jody,
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and this comes from my background in, you know, guest experience
and memorable experiences. So tell me about, if
you can, and this might take a little searching in your head, you know, what
was a memorable experience that you had that stuck in
your mind from a service, whether it was renting a
car or traveling on an airplane or dining in a restaurant, or it may
(05:18):
be something completely different than that. Tell me about a memorable
thing that happened to you and your family or you yourself
that stuck in your mind and said, wow. That was great guest service.
It's interesting because I think when you ask about
service, for many people, an example that comes to mind
usually is bad service. That's kind of what we've come
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accustomed to now is, oh, service isn't great,
but we remember the really bad ones, and we remember the really good
ones. And I've had just some
delightful customer experience stories. I can even
think of this is often when people ask questions.
The answer I give may not be the answer I would give ten minutes after
(06:03):
I answer it because I just go with what comes to mind. And this is
one that you will likely know well, the spirit of
it, not the exact experience. But we were at Disneyland when
my kids were little, and my daughter started not feeling
well. And she felt like her heart was racing, and she felt really hot.
And we were like, well, we this
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something could be going on. And of all the times I've been
at a on Disney property, this is the only time we've ever
had to visit the medical facility that's on property.
And I had no idea what it would go like, and I just felt
like they were so good to my daughter because this
was scary for her, but also to
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understand. I felt like there was so much empathy for
them to realize, okay. They're here on vacation.
Our purpose is to make sure they have the best vacation of their lives. Although,
I didn't fully grasp that that was Disney's purpose at the
time, but I feel it. And looking back, I can see what they were doing.
But to have the empathy to understand, okay, they're here for the best
(07:10):
vacation of their life. Their daughter feeling sick clearly
does not contribute to that. So what can we do to make it better? And
just in such an what could have been an awkward or a scary
situation and everything turned out fine with my daughter. But the way they cared
for her, the way they understood, gosh, this is a disruption to their
vacation and they don't know how things are gonna turn out. I just felt
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like that was wonderful. You can point to so many
great experiences at Disney, but that one
was one of my favorites because it's an experience you hope you
never have dealing with the medical team at Disney. But I'm
glad I did because I got to experience that. Okay.
Even in that situation, they are taking care of you. They are trying
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their best to make sure you still have a great vacation even though
you're seeing a doctor, physician's assistant, whatever.
And I thought that was just wonderful that that experience
turned out that way. Yeah. I believe that that's, you know,
sometimes people ask me, what's the really great
attraction at Disney that is underrated?
(08:17):
And I always say transportation. But now I'm thinking
about the nursing areas, the nurses' areas at each
park. It is special. And whether it's giving you a Mickey
Mouse band aid or getting you that
electrolyte that you need, especially in Central Florida when people
do become ill because of the heat, and they
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they care about you, and they get you rested, and they they know
that the rest of the family is concerned about you like you were concerned
about your daughter. That's another, you know, attraction, if you
will, at Disney that not many people are have to use.
But when you do need it, it is extraordinarily
Disney, and it's also a caring location where
(09:03):
you won't find that in a lot of places. No. You won't.
And Barry called it an attraction, which is kind of funny. And
it's just an attraction that you can get a fast pass to if
if you want it. Yeah. But last time
we talked, last episode, you said luxury is the absence
of worry. And, boy, I would say the medical team, the
(09:25):
nurses station, they strive for that. They strive to take
away your worry of whatever situation that you're
going through. And I don't know if you ever thought of of the nurses
station as luxury, Barry, but now that I've learned about
luxury from you, I would say it is a luxury experience.
Absolutely. They're taking your cares away. And and, just
(09:47):
like you said, their purpose is to ensure that you have the greatest
vacation of your life. And part of that is
making sure that you're cared for and you're well, so you can enjoy those parks
and those resorts. So, Jody, that great answers to the
questions. I I'm like you. Ten minutes after somebody asked me
something, I say, oh, I should have answered it this way. But,
(10:10):
you know, because true to our nature, we have all these,
stories from our history and whether it's work or in life that
allow us to, kind of, go back in the little brain that we have
and and search and get all these great stories that help people understand
our perspective. So thanks again, Jody, for having me on. Well, I'm glad
you came back, and these episodes are so fun for me because I don't know
(10:33):
what's coming. And I just I've told myself,
don't look for the right answer, perfect answer. Whatever comes to mind
first, that's what you talk about. And I never know I
never know what's coming, so it's always interesting to see where the conversation
goes. And you you took us to some to some fun places, Barry.
Well, thanks, Jody. Next time we get together, we'll talk about the tuna
(10:56):
fish story. Now you've left everyone hanging, and
they're gonna be ready for it. And remind us, Barry, where can we find out
more about you and what you're up to? It's,
barryjacobsonconsulting.com. That's my website,
and, you'll find all kinds of information in there about
me working with, various companies and also, my
(11:17):
speaking, opportunities for organizations. Alright. Thank
you, Barry, and thank you for listening to the Jody Mayberry
Show. He still wears park ranger
pants. It's Sugar Jay.