December 5, 2025 • 22 mins
Cut The Tie Podcast with Rande Vick
What happens when your dream job becomes the thing that drains the joy out of you? In this episode of Cut The Tie, Thomas Helfrich sits down with branding strategist, author, and musician Rande Vick. After spending more than two decades in the musical instruments industry with iconic brands like Yamaha and Fender, Rande learned the hard way what happens when your identity gets tied too tightly to your job.
When the pandemic hit, and his corporate role disappeared overnight, Rande was forced to confront a deeper truth. He had spent years building someone else's brand while quietly sidelining his own ideas, creativity, and entrepreneurial drive. That moment became the catalyst for launching The Vick Agency and developing his science-based Neuro Brand Method, helping companies create brands that live rent-free in the minds of their customers.
About Rande Vick
Rande Vick is the founder of The Vick Agency, a branding and strategy firm known for its Neuro Brand Method, a brain science driven approach to building memorable, emotionally resonant brands. Before becoming an agency owner, Rande spent more than twenty years in the musical instruments industry, holding roles at major brands including M Audio, Avid, Yamaha, and Fender.
A lifelong musician, songwriter, and storyteller, Rande blends creative instinct with neuroscience, helping brands create immersive experiences, activate subconscious triggers, and connect with customers at a deeper level. He is also the author of the book Neuro Branding and works closely with founders, solopreneurs, startups, and local retailers who want to stand out in a crowded digital world.
In this episode, Thomas and Rande discuss:
Why memories beat marketing
Rande breaks down his Neuro Brand Method, explaining how immersive experiences, storytelling, and subconscious triggers help brands live rent-free inside customers' minds.
Choosing meaning over metrics
Rande discusses why success now means working with the right clients, spending time with family, and doing creative work that lights him up rather than chasing titles or corporate prestige.
Key Takeaways
- A setback can become the turning point
Losing his dream job forced Rande to finally pursue entrepreneurship with intention instead of hesitation. - Great brands create memories, not just attention
Storytelling, sensory cues, and emotional resonance determine whether customers remember you. - If your brand is not being recommended, it is not working
Referrals and reputation reveal whether your message is living rent free in people’s minds. - Security can become the excuse that holds you back
Rande spent years choosing stability over potential. The moment he stopped doing that, everything changed.
Connect with Rande Vick
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randevick
🌐 Website: https://vickagency.com
Connect with Thomas Helfrich
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelfrich
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfrich
🌐 Website: https://cutthetie.com
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 InstantlyRelevant.com: https://instantlyrelevant.com
Serious about LinkedIn Lead Generation? Stop Guessing what to do on LinkedIn and ignite revenue from relevance with Instantly Relevant Lead System
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Cut the Tie Podcast.
And I am your host, ThomasHelfrick, on a mission.
Cut the tie.
Whatever it is holding you backfrom success.
And you better define thatsuccess yourself because if you
don't, it's someone else'sdefinition, it's someone else's
dream.
And you won't be happy when youget there and you won't know
what's holding you back fromthat because it's not where you
want to go.
So define it yourself, cut thetie.
Today I'm joined by Randy Vick.
unknown (00:24):
Rand.
SPEAKER_00 (00:25):
A little Randy.
I want to say Rand.
Randy, how are you?
unknown (00:28):
Mr.
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
Vic.
SPEAKER_01 (00:28):
I'm good.
I'm good.
You can call me whatever youlike, as long as it's not an
expletive.
I'm good, man.
I'm glad to be here and it'sgood to be with you.
SPEAKER_00 (00:35):
I appreciate it.
You take a moment, introduceyourself, where you're from,
what it is you do.
SPEAKER_01 (00:40):
Sure.
I'm out here in the burbs of LosAngeles.
Uh it's a nice, beautiful95-degree day today.
Uh, but I am a Randy Vic.
I um am the founder of the VicAgency, which is a branding
agency, and we work with uh allkinds of folks, uh, lots of
times solopreneurs, lots oftimes startups.
(01:01):
Um, particularly my backgroundis in musical instruments, so I
do some of that as well.
So I'm all over the place.
But what I am uh you know mostproud of is that we help
businesses uh kind of cutthrough the noise and get their
message clear and uh positionthem strong.
SPEAKER_00 (01:20):
You know, there's a lot of branding agencies.
I asked this question, you know,what makes you guys different?
Why do customers pick you?
SPEAKER_01 (01:26):
Yeah, so I mean, uh you know how you know how this
is because you're in the you'rea lead guy.
This is what you do too.
Um, but for for me, what reallyis the the differentiator is
that I have developed aframework called the neurobrand
method.
I wrote a book calledNeurobranding, and uh it's
really kind of a science uhbrain-based way of making sure
(01:49):
that brand we focus really onmaking memories over getting
attention.
So that's kind of our our bigthing.
We are really strong on uh oncreating extraordinary
experiences for our for ourbrands that we work with.
SPEAKER_00 (02:03):
Talk about that like a little in that book, though,
because I that is adifferentiator for you that
you've written, you have a pointof view on it.
There's it's a different take.
Can you peel the onion on thatone a little bit of what you
mean by you know a neurobrandneurobranding is that how you
said it?
SPEAKER_01 (02:14):
Yeah, I mean it's it's really based around some,
you know, um, and we can talkabout no, we we can we'll get
into this a little bit more, butreally it's just uh these these
three basic concepts to you knowput this all in layman's terms,
uh, is really you know immersiveexperiences.
This is something that we focuson, immersive extraordinary
experiences, uh, neurocouplingand storytelling.
(02:37):
So I know storytelling is allthe rage and everyone talks
about it, but if you know thescience of storytelling, you
know that that there's thisthing that happens when you tell
a story a certain way wherepeople connect.
And it's called neurocoupling.
It's it means that your brainsactually sync up with the
storyteller.
So you have you have anemotional tie to it.
And then the other piece of itis uh we really focus on
(02:59):
subconscious uh triggers.
SPEAKER_00 (03:02):
So what would be what would be an example of the
subconscious trigger?
SPEAKER_01 (03:05):
So well, I'll give you a clear one.
We we work with a music store,mom and pop brick and mortar
store, uh, which is a kind of adying breed in this in this day
and age.
Um, because you can, you know,there's a million reasons for
people to shop online or doother things.
But if you can create anexperience in store that uh that
(03:26):
kind of tags, you know, allthese things that we're talking
about, experience, uhstorytelling, and then the
subconscious trigger in thiscase is something we did, aside
from kind of structuring thestore in zones where you kind of
walk through and have anexperience.
Uh a subconscious trigger wouldbe that we also uh scented, we
brand scented the place.
So when you walk in the door,you're you're met with the smell
(03:46):
of like wood and leather.
And that's a subconscious thing.
You know, you'll you'll rememberthat when you, you know, and
then when you get that smellagain or somewhere else, you'll
think, oh, I've smelt thatbefore.
And it was this guitar store andyou know, such and such
California.
So those are the things thatthose are kind of that's a one
idea, but that's the first thingthat popped into my head.
SPEAKER_00 (04:05):
But no, yeah, well, and that's it's actually
interesting because it's thatthat experience makes you, you
know, especially you can gothere, let's say, and there's
added value, like you know, ohmaybe someone's playing there.
They meet it's a great place toget coffee, or they have like a
little unique whatever, theyhave Jenga or something, like
whatever it is.
Yeah, go there, it's just morethan that.
It's like you get that as well.
And and hey, um, I might as wellbuy some strings from here, or
(04:26):
exactly something extra.
SPEAKER_01 (04:29):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (04:30):
Uh we'll talk before we get into your journey and and
you know, the the metaphoricties you've had a cut.
What's what's your definition ofsuccess?
SPEAKER_01 (04:39):
Um, well, it's changed, right?
I used to uh I used to be acorporate guy.
So uh that whole system isdifferent because success is pre
predetermined and pre-packagedfor you.
Now, success for me is a lotmore about living the life I
want to live, uh, choosing theclients I want to work with,
spending time with my family,uh, the the things that are
(05:01):
really important, making music.
I I was in the musical and uhmusical instruments industry for
uh 23, 24 years, and to thepoint where music stopped being
fun because it was just all myyou know, my time, my my hours,
my work, all of it.
It just stopped uh making itstop being fun.
And now I can do that, you know,for leisure.
SPEAKER_00 (05:24):
Yeah.
Uh well uh tell me about yourjourney a little bit and you
know maybe identify the majortie you had to cut to achieve
that success.
SPEAKER_01 (05:32):
Okay, yeah.
Uh I know I've I've listened toyour show, so I know that you
know it's that tie cutting comesin many different forms, but
I'll tell you my story is that Ium I I'm a musician, I've been a
musician since I was 11, Ithink.
And um my first gig was atStan's guitar shop uh in in the
(05:53):
little town that I lived in.
And uh he hired me when I waslike 13.
Don't tell anybody because itwas under the table.
But he just, you know, he paidme a little bit of money to tune
the guitars, mind the shop.
Well, he went down to the bardown the street, and uh it was a
lot of fun.
But um that you know, throughthat journey, I I ended up uh
working for some big brands inthe space, uh including like
(06:15):
MAudio, Avid, um, and thenYamaha, uh in music, and Fender
finally.
And um, and it was a series oflike falling forward all the
time.
And I was, you know, a lot oftimes those were sales jobs or
uh those types of things.
And uh man, there's a couplethings.
(06:36):
I just I I I was in the wrongworld.
You know, I thought this is whatI wanted to do because I love
the instruments, I love makingmusic, I love even some of the
products that we're we'reproducing that are allowing
people to have this experiencein their life, but it was just
not the the the the world, themeasurements, the things that uh
became obsessive or got me introuble, all those things were
(07:00):
just because it wasn't it wasn'twho I was, and so uh yeah, I
ended up uh I got uh I got letgo of my dream job at Fender.
SPEAKER_00 (07:11):
Well, I've been there.
I got let go.
I've I've been there.
I don't know, I know exactly howthat feels.
Yeah, uh and at the time it'sdefinitely happening to you.
Uh you know what uh but thenhere you start your own
business, you're doing your ownthing.
Do you do you feel like thathappened for you now?
SPEAKER_01 (07:27):
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, I do.
And the yeah, like you said, itsucks when it happens, right?
Like it was uh I I'm a I'm aguitar player and Fender sought
me out.
They found me on LinkedIn, andand you know, amongst all these
people that were applying forthe gig, they they kind of
courted me.
And so I was like, oh man, thisis ideal.
I love it.
I'm I'm kind of a um I've been aFender guy since I was 17.
(07:49):
You know what I mean?
The whole thing just aligned,and I and and I was in love with
it and I identified all thestuff was wrapped up, and this
like leaving that because notbecause I necessarily was going
to or at the time wanted to, butbecause it happened at the
beginning of COVID, um, it mademe do two things, right?
I had to kind of come to termswith why I was so tied up in
(08:12):
that brand.
And in doing so, I discoveredthe truth about how brands work.
And so I really started to, youknow, I was already working with
some people in marketing anddoing those types of things, and
then I really startedunderstanding now what what they
need is a stronger brand.
And so, and even doing someself-work in that, you know what
(08:33):
I mean?
I started realizing that's wherethe subconscious piece comes in.
Like I was really identified asa fender person, and now I'm
not.
SPEAKER_00 (08:40):
How do you think just I'm curious, how do you
think like a fender, what'stheir strategy versus a Gibson
uh or even like a Taylor?
As as far as uh their like theirbrand, like like you know,
they're all guitars, they doslightly different, you know,
things, if you will.
Uh, but how do you think theywhat's their conscious strategy
decision?
Like, and maybe translate that alittle like kind of to the thing
(09:01):
you had to let go and what youdiscovered from it.
Because I think that's reallyimportant.
SPEAKER_01 (09:05):
Yeah, I mean, I think that the what Fender does
strategically very well is uhthey're they're uh focused on
new players, right?
Because they've got the rest ofus old guys hooked, right?
So they're focused on like kindof bringing up this whole thing.
You can go to Cole's or youknow, probably like JCPenney or
(09:26):
whatever and buy a Fendert-shirt because it's everywhere,
it's a brand that peoplerecognize who aren't even
musicians, and so they've reallydone a good job of kind of
roping in people, I think, andin the levels of guitars, you
know, from squires to customshop.
They've done a really good jobof seeding the entire, you know,
playground of musicians.
And uh, you know, everybody,like you said, I think the the
(09:49):
all of those big those are theyou know, the big three that you
mentioned, right?
And maybe like Martin, um, thetop four guitar manufacturers,
and they all kind of have thissimilar, you know, they appeal
to different people fordifferent reasons.
A lot of that's influencermarketing, a lot that's just be
you know, the artists that usethose instruments, those types
of things.
And and that was certainly forme why you know when I walked in
(10:12):
to uh a guitar store when I was17 and I saw a fender
stratocaster for the first time,I was like, that's the that's
the one because I've seen youknow Stevie Ray Bon playing that
one or somebody of that sort.
SPEAKER_00 (10:25):
I went with a dockamini myself, I'll tell you
what.
There you go.
20 some years ago, and I decidedto put my stickers on it.
Yeah, I ran forward it now, andI certainly couldn't afford it
then, just to be clear.
Uh I would that's I should saythis way I shouldn't buy it now.
Could could pay for it, easy,right?
(10:46):
Definitely should not have backthen.
But I'm like it, but it's beensitting there.
Like it's good value.
Like I don't even take care ofit well.
Um it does and holds tooth.
It's crazy.
Uh along your journey, right?
You you know, there's one thingidentify it in your tie.
And and and you know, but howdid you make that adjustment?
Like, what were the kind ofsteps, practical things you did
to kind of go from dream job toyour own of you know, to cut the
(11:08):
tie?
SPEAKER_01 (11:08):
Yeah, I immediately uh uh like I said, there was
some self-work involved in inkind of cutting the tie because
I was I was literally devastatedfor for a minute, and and that
still comes up, right?
I still feel those feelingssometimes.
It's been a long time now, butbut um that product immediately
after that happened, I had allthese relationships and all
these connections in theindustry, and I knew because of
(11:30):
the thing that was happening atCOVID with COVID everywhere, was
that all these mom and pop shopsuh weren't prepared to be
digital resellers, they werejust mom and pop shops, you
know, and they were keepingpaper receipts at the time and
and not really, you know, nowthey're forced into the digital
age.
So I immediately started helpingthose kinds of businesses get
(11:50):
online, you know, develop theirtheir uh their e-commerce and
those types of things.
And that was that was the fora,that's what got me started into
what I'm doing now.
Uh but you know, there's anemotional piece to all that too,
because I'm you know, buildingI'm building e-commerce sites,
selling vendor stuff still.
And I'm like, ugh, um, I'm justkidding, I still play fenders.
(12:12):
But that's uh that's you know,that's that was the world.
And so yeah, I had to kind of,you know, um there's there's a
moment in this, I think, the cutthe time moment for me is is
realizing like, man, I've beenI've been building somebody
else's empire, right?
I've been adding value tosomebody else's logo.
And um, and at the point of, youknow, when you say that out
(12:35):
loud, you're just like, man,what if I would have started
this 10 years ago?
What if I had to start this forthe first time?
My gut said do it.
And and this isn't my firstentrepreneur, you know,
entrepreneurial journey either.
I've done this, I've done thisbefore, but I've never given it
the time to become what it needsto become.
I've always, you know, there'salways been some lucrative offer
(12:56):
or something that came alongthat was too tempting not to
pass because, you know, I'm afamily man.
And so like security meanssomething, and uh, and those
things are hard.
Those things are hard to movearound.
SPEAKER_00 (13:10):
Um what happens if Thender came to you right now
and said, Hey, I want you tolead up creative for us, and it
makes more than you make.
SPEAKER_01 (13:19):
I I couldn't, I couldn't go back.
I I mean there's some there'ssome temptation in that for
sure.
And I and maybe it's because Iwouldn't trust them.
Maybe Gibson said that.
SPEAKER_00 (13:29):
I'd have to really consider my well you could
contract around the trust.
Now now you would know tocontract around it if they're
coming at you again.
Like, listen, we're gonna get aguarantee out of this one.
And I didn't have a way.
SPEAKER_01 (13:40):
So yeah, I mean, how about you?
Would you, would you, would yougo back?
SPEAKER_00 (13:45):
Well, what's interesting, uh, you know, my
own cut to tie journey isaddressing adult ADHD this year
and and in and getting kind ofinto that with medications and
stuff.
Uh, what I found is I think Iactually could work for somebody
again if it was the rightenvironment, which is a crazy
concept because that wascertainly not anywhere on any
table that I would even considerany time before or since then.
(14:06):
Uh, but yeah, I think I think Icould, if it was the right setup
of you know equity and what whatI'm building towards, and it was
paid well, and there's a youknow, there's money on the
backside of it, I wouldn't giveup the podcast.
But yeah, sure.
Uh, but you come through thesephases of your life, you're
like, hell no, I'm bitter, andthen you're like, yeah, I
probably would if it's paidright.
I also didn't want to travelthough.
Like Lance, like I wouldn't wantto go back to my like, you know,
(14:28):
four days a week traveling everyweek.
SPEAKER_01 (14:29):
That's yeah, it was it's rough.
SPEAKER_00 (14:31):
That is that's no point at all.
Um, the uh, you know, in yourown journey here, like right,
you know, if you could go backthough to any part of your
timeline, you know, when wouldyou go back?
What would you do differently?
SPEAKER_01 (14:43):
Oh, that's it's a free question.
That I mean, you know, theofficial answer is like to go
back to whenever Bitcoin wascheap.
SPEAKER_00 (14:50):
Everyone answers that.
A lot of people didn't.
I agree.
That is the right answer.
Next question.
SPEAKER_01 (14:55):
Uh but uh you know, in career-wise, uh, yeah, there
is there's something.
I I was working for uh Yamaha,right?
And Yamaha is a is a phenomenalcompany to work for.
Um a little bit slowly.
SPEAKER_00 (15:11):
Four wheelers and guitars.
I mean, what could go wrong?
SPEAKER_01 (15:13):
Yeah, they do they do it all.
And literally, if you're inJapan, and I think that you
know, I found out recentlythere's a there's a whole line
of like luxury hotels that areYamaha branded.
SPEAKER_00 (15:22):
So there's a there's a yeah, it's a huge like it's
all over the place that whatthat company owns.
SPEAKER_01 (15:27):
It's like a yeah, yeah, it's wild.
But it was but they're also agood company because they uh
there's a little I think it'sthe the culture is a lot more
loyal, and uh yeah, it was agood company.
And that's that's literallywhere I was working when Fender
came a knocking and I and Ibailed because I'm a Fender guy.
SPEAKER_00 (15:46):
So yeah, that's there's no regrets in that.
You got your dream job.
I did.
You know what I mean?
In my own case, I got a dreamjob, what I thought was dream
for my you know, like what wasideal setup.
But when I got there, I gottatell you, it wasn't as cool and
satisfying to make it a crazyamount of money.
It was like you know, it was itjust it didn't it didn't hold
the value uh that I thought itwould.
(16:07):
And it distracts you to somedegree when you get you like
this is not that cool.
Yeah, but uh, you know, and I'msure you felt the same thing at
times in your own journey, uh,as many people do.
So uh much better to be on yourown if you can make it, right?
Uh what uh what kind of givesyou inspiration today though?
SPEAKER_01 (16:24):
What gives me inspiration?
Yeah, I mean, I findinspiration, obviously, like you
know, family stuff.
My my wife is a uh she's areally good big picture uh
visionary, and so I I runeverything by her, like
work-wise, if I'm you know uhdesign-wise, uh strategies on
(16:45):
me, but like design-wise, I'mI'm always having her check
things because she sees thingsthat I don't.
So I I appreciate that.
I'm inspired by that.
I'm really inspired by um uh youknow, even what you're doing in
encouraging entrepreneurship.
I think that's and and wheneverI see that, I mean that's that's
what you're doing here.
Whenever I see that in general,I think I'm inspired by
(17:06):
entrepreneurs who are who areputting it all out there and
moving forward.
SPEAKER_00 (17:10):
You try, right?
You just keep putting it outthere.
I appreciate that.
Uh, you know, and I'm equallyinspired by meetings of people
who just tried stuff.
You can see some werestruggling, some are still
figuring it out, some arehopeless, some are crushing it.
Like it's all over, but they'rethey're still out there not
quitting, which is uh a big keycomponent.
Uh do you have like a favoritebook?
Or in your case, do you have afavorite song?
(17:31):
Maybe we'll go differently.
Do you have a favorite likestock?
You need to you need to get thatvibe right?
What's the music you go to?
SPEAKER_01 (17:38):
So I am uh when I'm working, I'm listening to like
flow state, you know, almost newageies high music because it
helps me be creative.
But if I'm listening, uh and I'ma songwriter, right?
I've been I've been writingsongs since I was 16.
So I'm an old man now.
So I I really love like I loveBob Dylan, and most people
cringe when I say that, but Ilove Bob Dylan.
(17:59):
I love his his uh his poetry.
I love Jason Hisbull, if you'refamiliar, kind of Americana
artist.
Um, yeah, so I I love that kindof stuff.
Uh there's a there's a grip ofsongwriters in that in that in
that stream.
Um, I read a book.
I want to come back to thatbecause there is a book that
that really inspired what I theneurobranding aspect of what I'm
(18:19):
doing.
It's called Immersion by Dr.
Paul Zach.
Um fantastic for for marketers,for uh business owners.
I think everyone should bereading it.
He's a neuroscientist, but he'sbroken it, he's broken this down
to like you know why what'simportant for business.
SPEAKER_00 (18:37):
What's some the uh the best business advice or
worst?
You can choose either way, whichway you'd like to go with that.
You'd ever read it.
SPEAKER_01 (18:43):
You know, I I don't know.
Uh thinking about this too.
I I don't know, you know, peoplepeople are sure to give advice.
When my my dad, I come from along line of entrepreneurs, by
the way.
So uh I've seen this my wholelife.
My my dad, my mom and dad ownedan antique store when I was
growing up.
And um and I'd worked theresummers, you know, refinishing
(19:05):
furniture from England.
Uh my dad, uh, he he kind ofwas, you know, he's a he's a
simple man, he's a he's a stronguh leader.
And his whole thing was always,even when, you know, I remember
whenever he said this multipletimes, and this is apply he
applied this to his businessjust as much as he did to his
personal life.
(19:26):
And it was literally just treatpeople well, treat people the
way you want to be treated.
And you know, so anytime he wasjust an honest businessman, and
I feel like, man, I wish therewere more people that were
honest businessmen.
Uh and I think that that wholeidea, I mean, it's just the
golden rule, right?
Like it's just what what youlearn in, you know, summer camp.
(19:49):
But I think that uh there'ssomething profoundly missing in
business because we're alleveryone's trying to get ahead
at the expense of everybodyelse.
And I think that there'ssomething about just being
genuine and authentic andwanting to help people that uh
you know, I think people findvalue in that.
SPEAKER_00 (20:08):
Yeah, I agree.
Uh that's really good advice.
Just, you know, I'm there's notmuch more I can add to that's
that's fantastic.
Uh, if there's a question Ishould have asked today, though,
and I didn't, what would thatquestion have been?
SPEAKER_01 (20:20):
Well, I mean, you could have asked me uh lots of
things.
How many songs have you written?
Uh, you know, but but well, youknow, for the business side of
this thing, you could have said,you know, how do you know when a
brand is failing or when a brandisn't serving you anymore?
Oh, and I think that yeah.
(20:41):
I mean, I think, you know, youuh you you can ask yourself,
like, what do people say aboutyou when you're not in the room,
or what are people, are peoplerecommending you or referring
you?
Those are all good signs thatthings are working well for you.
But if you're not getting thosetypes of things, and you know,
you you're you know, what I liketo say is that we build brands
(21:02):
that uh live rent-free inpeople's minds.
And uh the flip side of that isyou're just renting space on
their timeline.
So you know how this is contentis is important, but a lot of
people are just throwing contentand there's a lot of noise.
And if you uh if you can findthe signal and if you can find
the right strategy that you'reactually speaking into people,
(21:25):
into their minds and livingrent-free in their in their
brains, then you're on tosomething good.
If you're not, then you got it'stime to take a look at your
brand.
SPEAKER_00 (21:33):
Yeah, that's that's that's very good advice.
Uh by the way, thank you forcoming on.
Who should get a hold of you?
How do they do that?
SPEAKER_01 (21:40):
Yeah, I mean, anybody who's struggling with
their brand, anybody who's uh instartup phase or uh struggling
phase, whatever it might be, I'mhappy to help.
Uh you can find me atVicAgency.com.
You can find me on LinkedIn,it's uh Randy Vic.
Randy with an E.
Randy Vic.
Uh, you can find me there.
SPEAKER_00 (22:01):
Your parents, I'm sure you've had words with them.
Why?
I guess you could change it, butthen it's like, oh, I'm spiding
my parents.
Well, randy.
SPEAKER_01 (22:09):
If you must know, it's it's actually I'm junior,
so my dad had the same problemgrowing up, and he decided to
pass it on.
I guess he didn't want to sufferby himself.
SPEAKER_00 (22:18):
You're like, Dad, you know, you didn't learn
anything.
You just like thanks.
I appreciate it.
Yes.
At least you're not a boy namedSue.
That's true.
Uh thank you, by the way.
I appreciate you.
SPEAKER_01 (22:31):
Yeah, man.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (22:33):
If you guys are still here with us, listen and
watch, and uh go check out uhVic Agency.
Uh get out there, go cut a tieto something holding you back.
Be sure to define that successfirst because you're gonna be
chasing someone else's dream.
Thanks for listening.
Welcome to the Cut the Tie Podcast.
And I am your host, ThomasHelfrick, on a mission.
Cut the tie.
Whatever it is holding you backfrom success.
And you better define thatsuccess yourself because if you
don't, it's someone else'sdefinition, it's someone else's
dream.
And you won't be happy when youget there and you won't know
what's holding you back fromthat because it's not where you
want to go.
So define it yourself, cut thetie.
Today I'm joined by Randy Vick.
unknown (00:24):
Rand.
SPEAKER_00 (00:25):
A little Randy.
I want to say Rand.
Randy, how are you?
unknown (00:28):
Mr.
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
Vic.
SPEAKER_01 (00:28):
I'm good.
I'm good.
You can call me whatever youlike, as long as it's not an
expletive.
I'm good, man.
I'm glad to be here and it'sgood to be with you.
SPEAKER_00 (00:35):
I appreciate it.
You take a moment, introduceyourself, where you're from,
what it is you do.
SPEAKER_01 (00:40):
Sure.
I'm out here in the burbs of LosAngeles.
Uh it's a nice, beautiful95-degree day today.
Uh, but I am a Randy Vic.
I um am the founder of the VicAgency, which is a branding
agency, and we work with uh allkinds of folks, uh, lots of
times solopreneurs, lots oftimes startups.
(01:01):
Um, particularly my backgroundis in musical instruments, so I
do some of that as well.
So I'm all over the place.
But what I am uh you know mostproud of is that we help
businesses uh kind of cutthrough the noise and get their
message clear and uh positionthem strong.
SPEAKER_00 (01:20):
You know, there's a lot of branding agencies.
I asked this question, you know,what makes you guys different?
Why do customers pick you?
SPEAKER_01 (01:26):
Yeah, so I mean, uh you know how you know how this
is because you're in the you'rea lead guy.
This is what you do too.
Um, but for for me, what reallyis the the differentiator is
that I have developed aframework called the neurobrand
method.
I wrote a book calledNeurobranding, and uh it's
really kind of a science uhbrain-based way of making sure
(01:49):
that brand we focus really onmaking memories over getting
attention.
So that's kind of our our bigthing.
We are really strong on uh oncreating extraordinary
experiences for our for ourbrands that we work with.
SPEAKER_00 (02:03):
Talk about that like a little in that book, though,
because I that is adifferentiator for you that
you've written, you have a pointof view on it.
There's it's a different take.
Can you peel the onion on thatone a little bit of what you
mean by you know a neurobrandneurobranding is that how you
said it?
SPEAKER_01 (02:14):
Yeah, I mean it's it's really based around some,
you know, um, and we can talkabout no, we we can we'll get
into this a little bit more, butreally it's just uh these these
three basic concepts to you knowput this all in layman's terms,
uh, is really you know immersiveexperiences.
This is something that we focuson, immersive extraordinary
experiences, uh, neurocouplingand storytelling.
(02:37):
So I know storytelling is allthe rage and everyone talks
about it, but if you know thescience of storytelling, you
know that that there's thisthing that happens when you tell
a story a certain way wherepeople connect.
And it's called neurocoupling.
It's it means that your brainsactually sync up with the
storyteller.
So you have you have anemotional tie to it.
And then the other piece of itis uh we really focus on
(02:59):
subconscious uh triggers.
SPEAKER_00 (03:02):
So what would be what would be an example of the
subconscious trigger?
SPEAKER_01 (03:05):
So well, I'll give you a clear one.
We we work with a music store,mom and pop brick and mortar
store, uh, which is a kind of adying breed in this in this day
and age.
Um, because you can, you know,there's a million reasons for
people to shop online or doother things.
But if you can create anexperience in store that uh that
(03:26):
kind of tags, you know, allthese things that we're talking
about, experience, uhstorytelling, and then the
subconscious trigger in thiscase is something we did, aside
from kind of structuring thestore in zones where you kind of
walk through and have anexperience.
Uh a subconscious trigger wouldbe that we also uh scented, we
brand scented the place.
So when you walk in the door,you're you're met with the smell
(03:46):
of like wood and leather.
And that's a subconscious thing.
You know, you'll you'll rememberthat when you, you know, and
then when you get that smellagain or somewhere else, you'll
think, oh, I've smelt thatbefore.
And it was this guitar store andyou know, such and such
California.
So those are the things thatthose are kind of that's a one
idea, but that's the first thingthat popped into my head.
SPEAKER_00 (04:05):
But no, yeah, well, and that's it's actually
interesting because it's thatthat experience makes you, you
know, especially you can gothere, let's say, and there's
added value, like you know, ohmaybe someone's playing there.
They meet it's a great place toget coffee, or they have like a
little unique whatever, theyhave Jenga or something, like
whatever it is.
Yeah, go there, it's just morethan that.
It's like you get that as well.
And and hey, um, I might as wellbuy some strings from here, or
(04:26):
exactly something extra.
SPEAKER_01 (04:29):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (04:30):
Uh we'll talk before we get into your journey and and
you know, the the metaphoricties you've had a cut.
What's what's your definition ofsuccess?
SPEAKER_01 (04:39):
Um, well, it's changed, right?
I used to uh I used to be acorporate guy.
So uh that whole system isdifferent because success is pre
predetermined and pre-packagedfor you.
Now, success for me is a lotmore about living the life I
want to live, uh, choosing theclients I want to work with,
spending time with my family,uh, the the things that are
(05:01):
really important, making music.
I I was in the musical and uhmusical instruments industry for
uh 23, 24 years, and to thepoint where music stopped being
fun because it was just all myyou know, my time, my my hours,
my work, all of it.
It just stopped uh making itstop being fun.
And now I can do that, you know,for leisure.
SPEAKER_00 (05:24):
Yeah.
Uh well uh tell me about yourjourney a little bit and you
know maybe identify the majortie you had to cut to achieve
that success.
SPEAKER_01 (05:32):
Okay, yeah.
Uh I know I've I've listened toyour show, so I know that you
know it's that tie cutting comesin many different forms, but
I'll tell you my story is that Ium I I'm a musician, I've been a
musician since I was 11, Ithink.
And um my first gig was atStan's guitar shop uh in in the
(05:53):
little town that I lived in.
And uh he hired me when I waslike 13.
Don't tell anybody because itwas under the table.
But he just, you know, he paidme a little bit of money to tune
the guitars, mind the shop.
Well, he went down to the bardown the street, and uh it was a
lot of fun.
But um that you know, throughthat journey, I I ended up uh
working for some big brands inthe space, uh including like
(06:15):
MAudio, Avid, um, and thenYamaha, uh in music, and Fender
finally.
And um, and it was a series oflike falling forward all the
time.
And I was, you know, a lot oftimes those were sales jobs or
uh those types of things.
And uh man, there's a couplethings.
(06:36):
I just I I I was in the wrongworld.
You know, I thought this is whatI wanted to do because I love
the instruments, I love makingmusic, I love even some of the
products that we're we'reproducing that are allowing
people to have this experiencein their life, but it was just
not the the the the world, themeasurements, the things that uh
became obsessive or got me introuble, all those things were
(07:00):
just because it wasn't it wasn'twho I was, and so uh yeah, I
ended up uh I got uh I got letgo of my dream job at Fender.
SPEAKER_00 (07:11):
Well, I've been there.
I got let go.
I've I've been there.
I don't know, I know exactly howthat feels.
Yeah, uh and at the time it'sdefinitely happening to you.
Uh you know what uh but thenhere you start your own
business, you're doing your ownthing.
Do you do you feel like thathappened for you now?
SPEAKER_01 (07:27):
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, I do.
And the yeah, like you said, itsucks when it happens, right?
Like it was uh I I'm a I'm aguitar player and Fender sought
me out.
They found me on LinkedIn, andand you know, amongst all these
people that were applying forthe gig, they they kind of
courted me.
And so I was like, oh man, thisis ideal.
I love it.
I'm I'm kind of a um I've been aFender guy since I was 17.
(07:49):
You know what I mean?
The whole thing just aligned,and I and and I was in love with
it and I identified all thestuff was wrapped up, and this
like leaving that because notbecause I necessarily was going
to or at the time wanted to, butbecause it happened at the
beginning of COVID, um, it mademe do two things, right?
I had to kind of come to termswith why I was so tied up in
(08:12):
that brand.
And in doing so, I discoveredthe truth about how brands work.
And so I really started to, youknow, I was already working with
some people in marketing anddoing those types of things, and
then I really startedunderstanding now what what they
need is a stronger brand.
And so, and even doing someself-work in that, you know what
(08:33):
I mean?
I started realizing that's wherethe subconscious piece comes in.
Like I was really identified asa fender person, and now I'm
not.
SPEAKER_00 (08:40):
How do you think just I'm curious, how do you
think like a fender, what'stheir strategy versus a Gibson
uh or even like a Taylor?
As as far as uh their like theirbrand, like like you know,
they're all guitars, they doslightly different, you know,
things, if you will.
Uh, but how do you think theywhat's their conscious strategy
decision?
Like, and maybe translate that alittle like kind of to the thing
(09:01):
you had to let go and what youdiscovered from it.
Because I think that's reallyimportant.
SPEAKER_01 (09:05):
Yeah, I mean, I think that the what Fender does
strategically very well is uhthey're they're uh focused on
new players, right?
Because they've got the rest ofus old guys hooked, right?
So they're focused on like kindof bringing up this whole thing.
You can go to Cole's or youknow, probably like JCPenney or
(09:26):
whatever and buy a Fendert-shirt because it's everywhere,
it's a brand that peoplerecognize who aren't even
musicians, and so they've reallydone a good job of kind of
roping in people, I think, andin the levels of guitars, you
know, from squires to customshop.
They've done a really good jobof seeding the entire, you know,
playground of musicians.
And uh, you know, everybody,like you said, I think the the
(09:49):
all of those big those are theyou know, the big three that you
mentioned, right?
And maybe like Martin, um, thetop four guitar manufacturers,
and they all kind of have thissimilar, you know, they appeal
to different people fordifferent reasons.
A lot of that's influencermarketing, a lot that's just be
you know, the artists that usethose instruments, those types
of things.
And and that was certainly forme why you know when I walked in
(10:12):
to uh a guitar store when I was17 and I saw a fender
stratocaster for the first time,I was like, that's the that's
the one because I've seen youknow Stevie Ray Bon playing that
one or somebody of that sort.
SPEAKER_00 (10:25):
I went with a dockamini myself, I'll tell you
what.
There you go.
20 some years ago, and I decidedto put my stickers on it.
Yeah, I ran forward it now, andI certainly couldn't afford it
then, just to be clear.
Uh I would that's I should saythis way I shouldn't buy it now.
Could could pay for it, easy,right?
(10:46):
Definitely should not have backthen.
But I'm like it, but it's beensitting there.
Like it's good value.
Like I don't even take care ofit well.
Um it does and holds tooth.
It's crazy.
Uh along your journey, right?
You you know, there's one thingidentify it in your tie.
And and and you know, but howdid you make that adjustment?
Like, what were the kind ofsteps, practical things you did
to kind of go from dream job toyour own of you know, to cut the
(11:08):
tie?
SPEAKER_01 (11:08):
Yeah, I immediately uh uh like I said, there was
some self-work involved in inkind of cutting the tie because
I was I was literally devastatedfor for a minute, and and that
still comes up, right?
I still feel those feelingssometimes.
It's been a long time now, butbut um that product immediately
after that happened, I had allthese relationships and all
these connections in theindustry, and I knew because of
(11:30):
the thing that was happening atCOVID with COVID everywhere, was
that all these mom and pop shopsuh weren't prepared to be
digital resellers, they werejust mom and pop shops, you
know, and they were keepingpaper receipts at the time and
and not really, you know, nowthey're forced into the digital
age.
So I immediately started helpingthose kinds of businesses get
(11:50):
online, you know, develop theirtheir uh their e-commerce and
those types of things.
And that was that was the fora,that's what got me started into
what I'm doing now.
Uh but you know, there's anemotional piece to all that too,
because I'm you know, buildingI'm building e-commerce sites,
selling vendor stuff still.
And I'm like, ugh, um, I'm justkidding, I still play fenders.
(12:12):
But that's uh that's you know,that's that was the world.
And so yeah, I had to kind of,you know, um there's there's a
moment in this, I think, the cutthe time moment for me is is
realizing like, man, I've beenI've been building somebody
else's empire, right?
I've been adding value tosomebody else's logo.
And um, and at the point of, youknow, when you say that out
(12:35):
loud, you're just like, man,what if I would have started
this 10 years ago?
What if I had to start this forthe first time?
My gut said do it.
And and this isn't my firstentrepreneur, you know,
entrepreneurial journey either.
I've done this, I've done thisbefore, but I've never given it
the time to become what it needsto become.
I've always, you know, there'salways been some lucrative offer
(12:56):
or something that came alongthat was too tempting not to
pass because, you know, I'm afamily man.
And so like security meanssomething, and uh, and those
things are hard.
Those things are hard to movearound.
SPEAKER_00 (13:10):
Um what happens if Thender came to you right now
and said, Hey, I want you tolead up creative for us, and it
makes more than you make.
SPEAKER_01 (13:19):
I I couldn't, I couldn't go back.
I I mean there's some there'ssome temptation in that for
sure.
And I and maybe it's because Iwouldn't trust them.
Maybe Gibson said that.
SPEAKER_00 (13:29):
I'd have to really consider my well you could
contract around the trust.
Now now you would know tocontract around it if they're
coming at you again.
Like, listen, we're gonna get aguarantee out of this one.
And I didn't have a way.
SPEAKER_01 (13:40):
So yeah, I mean, how about you?
Would you, would you, would yougo back?
SPEAKER_00 (13:45):
Well, what's interesting, uh, you know, my
own cut to tie journey isaddressing adult ADHD this year
and and in and getting kind ofinto that with medications and
stuff.
Uh, what I found is I think Iactually could work for somebody
again if it was the rightenvironment, which is a crazy
concept because that wascertainly not anywhere on any
table that I would even considerany time before or since then.
(14:06):
Uh, but yeah, I think I think Icould, if it was the right setup
of you know equity and what whatI'm building towards, and it was
paid well, and there's a youknow, there's money on the
backside of it, I wouldn't giveup the podcast.
But yeah, sure.
Uh, but you come through thesephases of your life, you're
like, hell no, I'm bitter, andthen you're like, yeah, I
probably would if it's paidright.
I also didn't want to travelthough.
Like Lance, like I wouldn't wantto go back to my like, you know,
(14:28):
four days a week traveling everyweek.
SPEAKER_01 (14:29):
That's yeah, it was it's rough.
SPEAKER_00 (14:31):
That is that's no point at all.
Um, the uh, you know, in yourown journey here, like right,
you know, if you could go backthough to any part of your
timeline, you know, when wouldyou go back?
What would you do differently?
SPEAKER_01 (14:43):
Oh, that's it's a free question.
That I mean, you know, theofficial answer is like to go
back to whenever Bitcoin wascheap.
SPEAKER_00 (14:50):
Everyone answers that.
A lot of people didn't.
I agree.
That is the right answer.
Next question.
SPEAKER_01 (14:55):
Uh but uh you know, in career-wise, uh, yeah, there
is there's something.
I I was working for uh Yamaha,right?
And Yamaha is a is a phenomenalcompany to work for.
Um a little bit slowly.
SPEAKER_00 (15:11):
Four wheelers and guitars.
I mean, what could go wrong?
SPEAKER_01 (15:13):
Yeah, they do they do it all.
And literally, if you're inJapan, and I think that you
know, I found out recentlythere's a there's a whole line
of like luxury hotels that areYamaha branded.
SPEAKER_00 (15:22):
So there's a there's a yeah, it's a huge like it's
all over the place that whatthat company owns.
SPEAKER_01 (15:27):
It's like a yeah, yeah, it's wild.
But it was but they're also agood company because they uh
there's a little I think it'sthe the culture is a lot more
loyal, and uh yeah, it was agood company.
And that's that's literallywhere I was working when Fender
came a knocking and I and Ibailed because I'm a Fender guy.
SPEAKER_00 (15:46):
So yeah, that's there's no regrets in that.
You got your dream job.
I did.
You know what I mean?
In my own case, I got a dreamjob, what I thought was dream
for my you know, like what wasideal setup.
But when I got there, I gottatell you, it wasn't as cool and
satisfying to make it a crazyamount of money.
It was like you know, it was itjust it didn't it didn't hold
the value uh that I thought itwould.
(16:07):
And it distracts you to somedegree when you get you like
this is not that cool.
Yeah, but uh, you know, and I'msure you felt the same thing at
times in your own journey, uh,as many people do.
So uh much better to be on yourown if you can make it, right?
Uh what uh what kind of givesyou inspiration today though?
SPEAKER_01 (16:24):
What gives me inspiration?
Yeah, I mean, I findinspiration, obviously, like you
know, family stuff.
My my wife is a uh she's areally good big picture uh
visionary, and so I I runeverything by her, like
work-wise, if I'm you know uhdesign-wise, uh strategies on
(16:45):
me, but like design-wise, I'mI'm always having her check
things because she sees thingsthat I don't.
So I I appreciate that.
I'm inspired by that.
I'm really inspired by um uh youknow, even what you're doing in
encouraging entrepreneurship.
I think that's and and wheneverI see that, I mean that's that's
what you're doing here.
Whenever I see that in general,I think I'm inspired by
(17:06):
entrepreneurs who are who areputting it all out there and
moving forward.
SPEAKER_00 (17:10):
You try, right?
You just keep putting it outthere.
I appreciate that.
Uh, you know, and I'm equallyinspired by meetings of people
who just tried stuff.
You can see some werestruggling, some are still
figuring it out, some arehopeless, some are crushing it.
Like it's all over, but they'rethey're still out there not
quitting, which is uh a big keycomponent.
Uh do you have like a favoritebook?
Or in your case, do you have afavorite song?
(17:31):
Maybe we'll go differently.
Do you have a favorite likestock?
You need to you need to get thatvibe right?
What's the music you go to?
SPEAKER_01 (17:38):
So I am uh when I'm working, I'm listening to like
flow state, you know, almost newageies high music because it
helps me be creative.
But if I'm listening, uh and I'ma songwriter, right?
I've been I've been writingsongs since I was 16.
So I'm an old man now.
So I I really love like I loveBob Dylan, and most people
cringe when I say that, but Ilove Bob Dylan.
(17:59):
I love his his uh his poetry.
I love Jason Hisbull, if you'refamiliar, kind of Americana
artist.
Um, yeah, so I I love that kindof stuff.
Uh there's a there's a grip ofsongwriters in that in that in
that stream.
Um, I read a book.
I want to come back to thatbecause there is a book that
that really inspired what I theneurobranding aspect of what I'm
(18:19):
doing.
It's called Immersion by Dr.
Paul Zach.
Um fantastic for for marketers,for uh business owners.
I think everyone should bereading it.
He's a neuroscientist, but he'sbroken it, he's broken this down
to like you know why what'simportant for business.
SPEAKER_00 (18:37):
What's some the uh the best business advice or
worst?
You can choose either way, whichway you'd like to go with that.
You'd ever read it.
SPEAKER_01 (18:43):
You know, I I don't know.
Uh thinking about this too.
I I don't know, you know, peoplepeople are sure to give advice.
When my my dad, I come from along line of entrepreneurs, by
the way.
So uh I've seen this my wholelife.
My my dad, my mom and dad ownedan antique store when I was
growing up.
And um and I'd worked theresummers, you know, refinishing
(19:05):
furniture from England.
Uh my dad, uh, he he kind ofwas, you know, he's a he's a
simple man, he's a he's a stronguh leader.
And his whole thing was always,even when, you know, I remember
whenever he said this multipletimes, and this is apply he
applied this to his businessjust as much as he did to his
personal life.
(19:26):
And it was literally just treatpeople well, treat people the
way you want to be treated.
And you know, so anytime he wasjust an honest businessman, and
I feel like, man, I wish therewere more people that were
honest businessmen.
Uh and I think that that wholeidea, I mean, it's just the
golden rule, right?
Like it's just what what youlearn in, you know, summer camp.
(19:49):
But I think that uh there'ssomething profoundly missing in
business because we're alleveryone's trying to get ahead
at the expense of everybodyelse.
And I think that there'ssomething about just being
genuine and authentic andwanting to help people that uh
you know, I think people findvalue in that.
SPEAKER_00 (20:08):
Yeah, I agree.
Uh that's really good advice.
Just, you know, I'm there's notmuch more I can add to that's
that's fantastic.
Uh, if there's a question Ishould have asked today, though,
and I didn't, what would thatquestion have been?
SPEAKER_01 (20:20):
Well, I mean, you could have asked me uh lots of
things.
How many songs have you written?
Uh, you know, but but well, youknow, for the business side of
this thing, you could have said,you know, how do you know when a
brand is failing or when a brandisn't serving you anymore?
Oh, and I think that yeah.
(20:41):
I mean, I think, you know, youuh you you can ask yourself,
like, what do people say aboutyou when you're not in the room,
or what are people, are peoplerecommending you or referring
you?
Those are all good signs thatthings are working well for you.
But if you're not getting thosetypes of things, and you know,
you you're you know, what I liketo say is that we build brands
(21:02):
that uh live rent-free inpeople's minds.
And uh the flip side of that isyou're just renting space on
their timeline.
So you know how this is contentis is important, but a lot of
people are just throwing contentand there's a lot of noise.
And if you uh if you can findthe signal and if you can find
the right strategy that you'reactually speaking into people,
(21:25):
into their minds and livingrent-free in their in their
brains, then you're on tosomething good.
If you're not, then you got it'stime to take a look at your
brand.
SPEAKER_00 (21:33):
Yeah, that's that's that's very good advice.
Uh by the way, thank you forcoming on.
Who should get a hold of you?
How do they do that?
SPEAKER_01 (21:40):
Yeah, I mean, anybody who's struggling with
their brand, anybody who's uh instartup phase or uh struggling
phase, whatever it might be, I'mhappy to help.
Uh you can find me atVicAgency.com.
You can find me on LinkedIn,it's uh Randy Vic.
Randy with an E.
Randy Vic.
Uh, you can find me there.
SPEAKER_00 (22:01):
Your parents, I'm sure you've had words with them.
Why?
I guess you could change it, butthen it's like, oh, I'm spiding
my parents.
Well, randy.
SPEAKER_01 (22:09):
If you must know, it's it's actually I'm junior,
so my dad had the same problemgrowing up, and he decided to
pass it on.
I guess he didn't want to sufferby himself.
SPEAKER_00 (22:18):
You're like, Dad, you know, you didn't learn
anything.
You just like thanks.
I appreciate it.
Yes.
At least you're not a boy namedSue.
That's true.
Uh thank you, by the way.
I appreciate you.
SPEAKER_01 (22:31):
Yeah, man.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (22:33):
If you guys are still here with us, listen and
watch, and uh go check out uhVic Agency.
Uh get out there, go cut a tieto something holding you back.
Be sure to define that successfirst because you're gonna be
chasing someone else's dream.
Thanks for listening.
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