Team Spotlight: Riley Collins

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
welcome back to cocktails, tangents and answers.
I am caitlin, your designatedoffice extrovert, and I'm here
to ask some endearingly nosyquestions of my favorite boy
digital specialist, because wehave Riley and Jamie.
Jamie is female, so my favoriteboy digital specialist, riley,

(00:32):
the mastermind behind some ofour sharpest strategies and
slickest digital campaigns, buthe's so much more than just a
dashboard and a paid ad.
Riley is a cat dad to twofeline co-workers who we love to
see on camera.
Sadly, you're in the officetoday so they will not be making
an appearance.

(00:52):
Tyson and Bora and is recentlymarried.
How are you?
Thank you for being here.
Oh, we got the bling.
I love it love it.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
I am very well.
Thank you for the very niceintroduction listen, I just read
.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
I just read.
I'm like ron ron burgundy Iread what's on the cue cards yes
, but also I do mean I do meanall of the things that I said in
there.
Uh, you are my favorite um.
First question and and the thetoughest one why is an old
fashioned your go-to drink at abar?

(01:30):
I was trying to guess.
You tell me why, and then I'mgoing to give you a little
exposition on what I wasguessing for you.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Or do you want to guess first?

Speaker 1 (01:37):
No well, I know it's an old fashioned, because it
says so in the notes but I hadsome, I had some assumptions
before.
But why, why an old fashioned?
Why is that your, your go-to?

Speaker 2 (01:49):
You know, I don't know if I necessarily have like
a actual reason for it.
Um, I was in that like, oh,they taste good.
You know, it just felt right tome.
Yeah, I don't know, it's just,you know you're like your palate
changes as you get older, likeas you drink more and all that
kind of stuff and I don't knowmy favorite drinks usually kind

(02:10):
of like cycle out in between.
However long a span will last,it's just a phase, I guess, I
don't know, it's just a phasebut yeah, I don't know, you're
in your old-fashioned era yeah,definitely, um, I don't know,
they're just like super simpleand it's like one of the drinks
that like every bar can make,because it's like two or three

(02:31):
things, yeah, so.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Okay, okay, okay.
So I was thinking about thisbecause I was trying to guess
before.
I looked at the notes and I waslike it used to be an Amaretto
Sour.
That was like the go-to, andthen it was like nice red wine
for a while where you're like Icould drink.
I mean maybe not like go-to,but you got into wine for a

(02:56):
little bit, so this but thislike makes sense based on what I
know about you.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
I don't know.
I mean, I still do like all ofthe above, like don't get me
wrong, I'll definitely go backand do that.
It's just I don't know, whoknows, tomorrow maybe it'll be
different, maybe it's like.
Manhattan or somethingcompletely like off the wall.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, I love it and I love that.
You I mean this kind of speaksto your role with us too, like
you'll try anything.
You're pretty like roll withthe punches.
Yeah, definitely, yeah, I wouldlike to start with the basics.
Who are you, what do you dohere and how long have?

Speaker 2 (03:39):
you worked at Antidote 71?
So I am Riley Collins.
I was born and raised in SiouxCity, Iowa, so I've been here
all my life.
Yes, exactly, I don't know.
I just kind of like the not sosmall town kind of like the
middle town, vibe.
It's not too busy, not toosmall, where you don't really

(04:02):
have anything around um.
I'm also I don't know, I justreally like being where I'm
comfortable at.
I don't really like to like stepway too far out and like change
everything at once.
Um, not that I like, wouldn'tdo it at some point.
But no, you can't leave it'spart of it's in your contract
well, it's not that I wouldleave here to do that, but

(04:24):
physical location at some pointthat's fair, you're you are like
a, you're a comfort guy likeyou know what you like, you want
to just like.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
That's good.
I appreciate that.
Also, I really love sioux city.
I'm not from here but I I loveit here and I'm proud of my.
It's my hometown now because,yes, yeah, we moved a bunch when
I was a kid.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
It's like that, a little bit of like family ties
and stuff as well.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
It's like I think either most or like all of my
immediate family is either inSioux City or like around, like
the surrounding area so.
I don't know and I'm likepretty tight with a lot of my
close family.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
So yeah, that's real sweet.
Uh, how long have you worked atat end of 71?
Has it been four?

Speaker 2 (05:14):
It has been um this weekend it will be four years.
I think that's August 2nd.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
Oh my gosh.
Okay, so my spidey sense wascorrect when I was like I think
it's like four years yeah that'swild that has like gone in like
a blink of an eye.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
It feels like seriously yeah.
I don't know.
I was just debating the otherday I was like because Megan and
I were talking about somethingand it was like, oh, when
somebody else joined us and Iwas like that was like last year
.
No, it was two years ago, whoawhat.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
No, I don't think so.
No, I don't think so.
I think it's been five minutesand that's just the way it is.
Well, I think it's aninteresting kind of foray into
like how you got here, like thiswas we're your first job out of
college right, Like you haddone some internships and like

(06:10):
how?
I mean I think we've talkedabout this, maybe even on an
episode before, but how did youget here?
Maybe even on an episode before.
But how did you?
How did you get here?

Speaker 2 (06:22):
I can't remember if it's, if this is just the
conversation that we've had inthe office, because I can't not
ask people questions but it'skind of been like a weird, not
like super unconventional ride.
I think technically this.
If we're speaking technicality,this might be my second job
since graduating college.
Okay, Because there was a weirdpoint where I was still looking

(06:43):
during that summer for a job,obviously after graduation.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
And it was just that weird part where, like, the job
market was like just not allthere, I mean there wasn't a ton
of opportunity, and whensomething would open you would
be competing against likehundred people or something like
that Something ridiculous.
So, um, for a couple of weeksbefore I got the job here, I
went and worked with my dad overat knife river.

(07:10):
Um, which is funny, because hewas like, well, you could come
work with me just for the timebeing, while you find something
else and I'm like I mean yeah, Imight as well do that and as
soon as I did that I started uminterviewing for here and then I
got the offer literally like aday or two before I started
working at knife river.
So a lot of the people werelike, so you're gonna train just

(07:32):
to work here for like a week ortwo and then you're out and
it's like, well, I might slide.
I need to pay my bills exactlyso, but they were all fun or
they were all like, fine with it, because they've known my dad
for so long working there.
So, um, but yeah, after that Istarted working here and it's

(07:53):
been a blink of an eye and fouryears later, here I still yeah,
here you still are.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
What does a typical day look like for you as a
digital specialist?

Speaker 2 (08:04):
Honestly, um, it kind of changes, uh, depending on
what I'm doing, because we'reahead of all things digital.
It's not just like one or twothings, um, so it kind of
depends on what's at the top ofmy to-do list.
Honestly, um, since I managelike two pretty big, uh clients

(08:25):
that work together, really, um,a lot of the stuff that I am
doing kind of applies to both.
So like, if I do one thing forone, I usually can do another
for the other, so like, it'skind of like a doubled to-do
list at points.
So, but yeah, there's a littlebit of strategy that gets thrown

(08:47):
in there, while you have alittle bit of like optimizations
for paid ads or, you know,whatever a client is running.
That's kind of what I'm doingday in and day out.
But, um, that's kind of whatI'm doing day in and day out, um
, but yeah, that's, that's.
That's the magic of it, that'sthe magic.

Speaker 1 (09:08):
Is there anything that you particularly love or
find like rewarding or exciting,as you're, as you're doing
things?

Speaker 2 (09:17):
I would say being able to strategize like either a
big plan like a, either like apaid media plan, or whether it's
just like a single campaign orlike multiple campaigns that
might work off of each other.
Being able to plan that out andhammer out the details and then

(09:40):
see the fruit of the labor, kindof come into play with that,
because that's where you kind ofget your most rewarding pieces
is like when you actually seesomething come to fruition, you
know.
So, yeah, yeah, I would saythat's probably the most
rewarding bit because, like withthe seo stuff, a lot of that
can take so long to actually getrolling or to see anything from

(10:05):
it.
That, like, sometimes you mightdo an optimization and then
kind of forget that you've donethat optimization because it
happened too long ago um andthen something pops up and
you're like I was so smart amonth ago.
That's amazing definitely, oryou're like, who did this?
Oh?

Speaker 1 (10:21):
that?
Oh, that was me it was me.

Speaker 2 (10:24):
But yeah, no, the paid piece is definitely a lot
more fast and you can see stuffcome from that a lot quicker.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
Well, we tell clients that too is like those pieces
can work in tandem.
Right working on these otherkind of organic pieces, that can
happen, you know, a slower burn, but can sometimes have greater
impact or reward over the longterm.

(10:50):
Because it's a more sustainablebudget path too right, like
you're paying for that singleoperation and then you can apply
that later, or you know, growfrom that.
So I am curious what do you dooutside of work?

Speaker 2 (11:18):
What are the things you're passionate about outside
of work?
Well, other than being a catparent.

Speaker 1 (11:24):
Dedicated cat dad.
Yes, they're so cute.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
Cleaning up messes and playing with them and doing
all that fun stuff.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
So just a parent got it.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
Just a parent, yes, Makes it a little bit harder
because you can't reallycommunicate with them.

Speaker 1 (11:40):
but they know they wouldn't listen anyway.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah, they would not.
No, but they know they wouldn'tlisten anyway.
Yeah, they would not know.
We call bora.
She's got selective hearingbecause you can definitely tell
that she hears you, her ears aremoving, but she just does not
pay attention to you.
So it's like okay, can I, can I?

Speaker 1 (11:55):
tell you of like a real parenting story.
The other day dorothy looked attyrell and I and she said
you're not listening to me andwe were like we are, we're just
not doing the thing that you aredemanding of us.
So we're like what do you?
we like pulled back and we'relike what do you think it means

(12:15):
when someone listens to you andshe's like it means you do what
I want.
And I was like, oh, oh, this isthe problem.
Even if she was listening toyou she might be mad anyway
welcome to the real world.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
Honestly, I was like yeah, this is it, this is how
listening works so, but I dounderstand where it came from
yeah yeah, yeah, definitely,other than being a cat parent,
um, just kind of watching tvwith my newly found wife, or not
newly found.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
I mean, you found newly, newly, newly wife.
Yeah, I was like, you found herlike a lot of years ago, right?

Speaker 2 (12:53):
long time we've been together I think, this is the
ninth.
I think yes, wow, we've beentogether since like 2016, so
whatever that math masks out toI think that's fine, not, yeah,
that'd be nine years.
Yep, so long time Um, I do playa little bit of video games

(13:14):
here and there.
Um, what do you like?

Speaker 1 (13:16):
to play Taco.

Speaker 2 (13:16):
Zack.
A lot of different stuff,honestly.

Speaker 1 (13:20):
Um.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
I don't know, just whatever I feel, you know, yeah,
like more sports or more likecars or like.
Honestly, this is my hot take.
I don't like sport video gamesbecause they can be so
unrealistic.
Unless like that's what theywant, like if they're trying to
be realistic.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
They actually make me mad because there's so much
stuff that happens.
That's unrealistic mad and I'mlooking at you this is the hot
take that it's like it's hard toactually like want to play the
game, but if it's like acartoony, like style game, where
it's like, yeah, we're not liketrying to be like a little
super mario brothers or like alike a yeah, a little bit like a

(14:03):
go-kart mario part.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
So sometimes we'll play that.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
But yeah, a little bit of everything honestly, so
that's fantastic I love it.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
Um, I have lightning round questions, yes, which is
not really the way that youoperate, so let's see how this
goes.
I feel like you do.
You have a gut reaction, butyou also have like a you're.
You're a very thoughtful person, like it takes there's a filter
sometimes, yeah, yeah yeah,yeah, okay, I know this sort of

(14:35):
go-to coffee order.
It can't be hot go to.
That's all I know.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
Yes, um, usually it's a latte or like a mocha,
something really simple, liketwo-step.

Speaker 1 (14:48):
It's got to be iced, though.
Yeah, that's no hot beverage,and not hot tea either.
Like no beverages can be hot.

Speaker 2 (14:56):
I can drink a hot beverage.
Funny enough, while Zach was intown this past weekend, we ate
at Perkins and I had hot coffee.
That Because that's the onlyoption you get diner coffee.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
Zach was in town this past weekend.
We ate at Perkins and I had hotcoffee that Cause that's the
only option you get and it'ssuper cheap.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
But I can drink it, but it's not that I'm going to
willfully choose for it andchoose like, choose not to.
Yeah, okay, that makes sense.

Speaker 1 (15:17):
Favorite way to spend a weekend Like, like, plan your
perfect weekend.
Oh or even just like one dayOkay.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
One day, honestly, if friends get into town, that's
awesome.
So going out, hanging out,eating, maybe going to the bars
or something that's really fun.
Really depends on what the goalis, though, like if I'm looking
for that awesome or if it'slike been a tough week, maybe I
just want to sit at home and notdo anything.

Speaker 1 (15:46):
Right, just loaf.

Speaker 2 (15:48):
Rot.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
Isn't that what you're calling?

Speaker 2 (15:49):
it now.
You want to do a little rot?
Yeah, a little bed rot.

Speaker 1 (15:52):
Maybe I don't know, yeah, but yes.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
Definitely sleeping in.

Speaker 1 (15:58):
I miss sleeping in so much Like eight o'clock is
sleeping in for me now.
If I can sleep until I know,it's such a crock, it's really
terrible.
It's not even because I amawakened by the small tyrant
that lives in my home.
It's just like my body's likeoh, we don't do that anymore, we
gotta go, you're up now.

(16:19):
You're awake, get over it, okay.
Final lightning round.
This has not been a lightninground, but that's okay.

Speaker 2 (16:27):
No, it has not.

Speaker 1 (16:30):
One destination on your like travel bucket list.
Oh, because like Colorado wasthere, but we did that.

Speaker 2 (16:39):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (16:40):
I've been to Colorado beforehand as well.
Okay, okay.

Speaker 2 (16:44):
But yes, that was a very nice location.
I don't know if I have like anactual like bucket list place,
Maybe somewhere outside of thecountry at some point, because
that's something I haven't doneyet.
Where that is, I have no idea.

Speaker 1 (16:59):
Get this man a passport.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yes, yes, maybe somewhere in Europe, just to see
it, I don't know.
Oh interesting.
Yes, yes, maybe somewhere inEurope, just to see it.

Speaker 1 (17:07):
I don't know, oh interesting.
Okay, if you're going to go.
You're going to do it big, Allright.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, might as well.
I'm not going to go to likeMexico or anything like that.
We got to go all the way.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
Okay, we have to get out of the North America.
North and Central America.
None of that Would you do SouthAmerica?
Is that not far enough either?

Speaker 2 (17:31):
Maybe I mean, I would say that's probably equal
distance.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
It's just Southern.
I know the Mercator projectionreally makes maps hard for me to
understand, I don't know,somebody get the mileage on that
.
We'll figure it out out, okay.
Okay, if you could call in withthe with an appropriate like
radius, that would be great uhanything else about riley
collins that we need to know oh,I don't, I don't think so

(17:59):
favorite cupcake flavor oh um.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
I love a good vanilla if it's like there's nothing
wild, but my mom does make agood like.

Speaker 1 (18:10):
I think it's like a frappuccino one oh, I think you
told us about this one.
It's like a caramel frappuccinoI like that one a lot can I
tell you how disappointed I wasto not be working in the office
today, because I know that thereis an insane amount of baked
goods in that fridge.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yes, and Riley's mom makes.

Speaker 1 (18:31):
Okay, there's gonna be enough, Riley's mom makes all
the treats.
I specifically did not try oneof those caramel brownies
because I wanted to havesomething to look forward to
this week.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
It'll still be there for you.

Speaker 1 (18:47):
Excellent.
I'm looking forward to havingthat for breakfast tomorrow.
It's going to be great.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
Maybe even lunch and dinner.

Speaker 1 (18:55):
And my teeth would hurt.
Okay, Riley, thank you forbeing here and letting me
torture.
Test your rapid fire and myability to stick to a script.
You can find our agency atantidote71.com.
Links to all of our socials arethere, or you can visit

(19:15):
ctapodcastlive to send us aquestion or leave us a voicemail
at 402-718-9971.
Thank you for listening andI'll see you on our next
employee spotlight.