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Aaron Spatz 00:10
Good morning DFW, you are listening to DFW business podcast, the Dallas Fort Worth Business Podcast. I’m excited that you’re joining the show today The show features business executives and leaders across the metroplex. And it’s here to bring you stories to help fuel your drive your passion and pursuits in a way that’s meant to entertain you, educate you and help inspire you. And I would love for you to join in on the conversation. So if you have any questions, any feedback, I’m especially curious about what what your feedback is. So what what are you liking about the show? What are some more things that you’d like to see me dive into? Are there any guests that you’d like to see on the show? In fact, I would encourage you to tag them as you’re watching a certain episode that would grab our attention. And maybe, you know, we could work something out and get somebody on the show. quickest way to get a hold of me, drop me a line podcast at Bold media.us. Today, I’ve got Eric carbaugh. Eric is a military veteran, you’ll notice I’ve got a lot of military veterans on the show slightly, slightly biased, but that will be changing. So non military folks, I want you to know, I love you, too. This is a business podcast, military, non military don’t care. So But Eric is a military veteran. He works in creative brand strategy. He runs his private business called pixel spectrum. And what’s really cool is he’s a fellow podcaster like myself, so I’m gonna go ahead and plug him real quick. I’ve encouraged you to go to go warrior up.com. He runs the warrior Up Show. And Eric, I just want to welcome you to the show, man. Thanks for being here.
Eric Carbaugh 01:41
Thank you. I appreciate your time.
Aaron Spatz 01:42
Yeah, for sure. So, you know, let’s let’s do a quick dive into like your your background. Work. Where are you from? are you originally from the DFW area?
Eric Carbaugh 01:52
Actually, no, I’m actually originally from Pennsylvania, I’ve kind of lived all over the US. I’ve lived in Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina for a little while, of course station when I was in the military, California and North Carolina as well. But we came out here probably I want to say about six years ago. And I should have got out here a lot sooner. I got out here about as fast as I could. So that seems that
Aaron Spatz 02:11
seems to be the common thread. In fact, yesterday’s show we cover that exact same topic was there are so many folks that are moving here or have moved here over the last decade or so. And so it’s it’s it’s actually kind of funny. When I do run into a DFW native, it’s almost like you really do exist. So but but no, I let’s let’s dive into a little bit of your story. So you have been in the brand strategy space, you’ve done a lot of UI UX design, I’ll let you translate all that for me and for our audience. So give us a little bit insight and who you are. Yeah,
Eric Carbaugh 02:47
absolutely. So I got out of the Marine Corps in 99. And I quickly jumped right into building the business. I just knew that I was what I was going to do so. But even before then, I was always artistic, always pushing the envelope a little bit. And actually, just before I got out is when websites were really starting to come up. And I was tasked because I had artistic ability, you’re going to do the unit’s website, absolutely had nothing, no idea what I was going to do what how to do it and didn’t know anything. So I had to learn on the fly like most of the people in the military do. So as a result, when I got out, I realized this is going to be a lot of fun. So I just threw myself into the whole branding, you know, doing logo design, branding, strategy, that kind of stuff. And as a result, because of the prior experience with the web technologies, I really wanted to focus a lot on user experience, user interface design, and all of that and make it a lot better. So I found early in the timeframe before standards were even out there before U X was officially coined UX, I was pushing the envelope at that time making everything user experience friendly, getting users where I wanted to get them to right away, even before responsive became a big thing I was pushing the fluid, what I called fluid design at that time making a stretch because we had different size monitors. So I was always a kind of a head of that. And I it’s a lot of fun for me because I kind of coined that of being the next trend. So I want to I’m looking at the horizon to see what’s going to be the next trend in what we do in the digital and visual media experience based. So that’s really where I get into, and I geek out a lot about creative brand strategy and helping businesses kind of Foster, you know, a lot of businesses find out they don’t really know how to navigate the inner workings of digital web, as well as digital and visual media and print media and all of that. So that’s where my expertise comes into play. Because I’ll make be able to bring everything from print to web user design, brand experience, logo design, all the way up to video production. And I’ve got a lot of experience across the whole platform of that.
Aaron Spatz 04:47
Well, you know, what makes what makes you exceptionally fun and intriguing talk to us because you’ve been in the space for for quite some time. So you like like you mentioned a minute ago, you were calling responsive web design was You know, responsive web design before it even was a thing you’re calling fluid web design. And, and so for those of you that are not following right here, so like responsive web design, if you’ve ever been on a website, like on your laptop, or desktop, and then you go to jump over on your phone, and you have the exact same experience, it’s like, zoomed out is what I like to call it. And it’s not mobile optimized, it’s not responsive, or it doesn’t respond to different monitor sizes, or different device sizes. It can get really clunky and look really junky. And it can make a brand not really represent itself to its to its fullest extent. And so that’s just, it’s, it’s fascinating. So like, you’re you’re, you’re focused in on identifying trends and seeing so back, but back in the day, as I’ll as I’ll just go ahead and say, You were already identifying responsive web design as being something that’s important. So I mean, I’m just gonna throw it out there like what what are you seeing now as things that people need to start paying attention to?
Eric Carbaugh 06:01
Believe it or not, the way I see it, of course, mobile should be your primary focus, forget desktop. Of course, everybody needs a desktop website, because there’s still a lot, especially business professionals, we’re looking at it. But if you’re not even in the mobile space, you’re already behind the times. And it’s not even just making it mobile responsive. So the problem, one of the biggest problems I have with mobile responsive, is people look at what we design for desktop first, which is the big screen, and then we go to the little screen, the problem is, then you’re dropping stuff off, if you focus first on the mobile side of everything. So your messaging is more concise, more clear, and straight to the point. And then as you scroll out, or zoom out to the larger screens, then you can add more stuff to it, which is usually just fluff. Or you can actually go in a little bit more detail. But honing into a more concise and pinpointed message is where the trend is gonna continue to go. I have no doubt, especially with smartphones, or smartwatches. Now that are coming out, I really see that becoming a big player in the next, really probably the next two years. But also on top of that is constantly refreshing your content on your website, if you don’t have that constantly being refreshed, and even your design and look and feel needs to be refreshed. It used to be you could get away every two to three years, you’re honestly looking at having at least a homepage refresh or landing page or doing something that’s a little bit different, literally about every six to 12 months.
Aaron Spatz 07:23
Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, because Search Engine Optimization being what it is, I mean, it’s you’ve got you’ve got to keep feeding that beast man, you got to keep you got you got to keep the Google bots happy, man they want to they want to chew on new stuff. Absolutely. No, you raise an interesting point about watches. And so that’s, that has been a fascinating thing to see develop. And so obviously one of the biggest limiting factors to successful watch design, and sustainability of that is battery life, right? So we’ve seen battery, battery life on, on watch, improve substantially over the last several years. And like I don’t even know how these dudes do it with just making batteries so much smaller. And in that the charge rate or the life of that battery lasting you now, what used to be like three hours is now 12 or 18 hours. And so it will absolutely be really interesting to see what happens in terms of how, how is information going to be consumed by somebody, you know, like in the gym, or in between meetings, or whatever? And how are they going to look down on this thing and understand, right, the impact to their brand or the impact to their, to their business. So
Eric Carbaugh 08:33
and that’s where I think like that, that’s going to lead to actually a lot more use in artificial intelligence. So that’s going to be also another part of the next trend that’s coming is I think the watch design in the Watch strategy is actually going to lead more into AI than ever before. I mean, we’re already seeing that now, you can easily be perusing something online, you go to Amazon or Facebook or Twitter, and you’re being fed ads of something that you just looked at, that’s already starting, but it’s only going to get better and if companies are not. Now not every company needs AI, there’s no question about it. But the companies that do if you’re not already innovating with that you’re already behind the times and we’re seeing with these massive shutdowns right now, if you’re not ahead of the schedule in the digital space, you’re going to be high and dry before long.
Aaron Spatz 09:19
So how can companies harness AI most like most effectively for their? And I realize it depends on business and industry and everything else but like what are some of the what are some of the best ways are best use cases rather for for the case for AI?
Eric Carbaugh 09:36
One of the easiest things if let’s say you’re selling a product or whatnot, one of the easiest things if you’re honing in on certain keywords that people are looking for, and you’re able to trigger that into the algorithm. So your your let’s say your online ads or Facebook ads and different things are actually targeting those different keywords, then you’re going to already pop up. That’s probably the easiest way right there alone. But you can even take it a step further and if you provide some offices. So you actually have your AI actually doing most of your customer service, pre screening for calls and different things like that and support tickets. That’s probably the easiest and the quickest way just right there alone. But the more you look into where things are going, because we already have the VR coming as well. So that’s also another next trend that’s coming. Companies need to start embracing how they’re going to adapt to that content, because VR is only on the rise. And it’s only going to continue to get on the rise. And I believe that’s how you’re going to tie in. Also, the watch design is going to be more VR VR where it might not be a full face covering. But maybe like Google’s attempt at the at the eyeglass that they had, I think that’s probably going to have a big resurgence coming along. Before long. It goes back to the QR codes to a lot of people said, oh, QR codes are dead. And for the last 1015 years, I’ve been telling people don’t give up your cute QR codes keep doing it. And now we’re finding it’s a big resurgence. Because of China, China has pushed the QR code to levels that nobody’s ever done before. And people forgot about it. So that’s again, just staying on top and kind of reading what’s happening around the world, not just in your local community, is how you stay on top of those next trends.
Aaron Spatz 11:10
Well, you know, and now that we’re in this pandemic world that we live in now, QR codes have definitely made a quick comeback, whether you want it to or not, if you go to a restaurant or or retail or anything within the metroplex, you rarely get actual hardcopy menus anymore. It’s like a scan, scan this QR code, you know, so it’s, it’s, it’s crazy. It’s crazy to think about the direction that things could go. And it’s the things that people need to pay attention to as well. It’s, it’s it is definitely not and I’m curious your perspective on this, because I like obviously, we do some of the similar stuff. But like, you it’s not a one size fits all approach everybody. But there are there are absolutely like some tried and true you don’t screw around with this type of stuff. And to your point in the you said it really well was if you’re not already doing some of these things you are already behind. And I think that’s I think that’s the biggest wake up call for people as your competition is working to take away market share from you and right into add it to them. And that’s one way they can do it. So
Eric Carbaugh 12:16
absolutely. And a lot of people think that it’s only the big companies that are doing this or the telecoms, but the thing is, even roofers and painters can benefit from that, you know, any small business can benefit from what what we’re trying to do in this maybe,
Aaron Spatz 12:27
like maybe even more absolute bigger opportunity there. It’s like, man, there’s not a lot of people using it at that at a smaller level. And so it’s like, it’s a, it’s a better opportunity for you to stand out. Because you I mean, like we all expect it right? Like I expect my bank or my, you know, insurance company or whatever, like some big national thing. I expect them to be doing all these things, because they, they’ve got like, a team of 3000 people, that’s all they do. Exactly. But you go to like a smaller company, like to your point like roofing company, or plumbing or HVAC company. That’s a great opportunity, because I feel like not a lot of companies are embracing it. But you you do you do find them though, like every once in a while you’ll you’ll see them using technology in a way that really kind of helps facilitate the flow of business, you know, exactly. Well, you know, like, as you’ve as you’ve progressed to your career, I mean, again, really, it’s really fascinating study, because, again, you’ve you’ve had a front row seat to everything for the last 20 years. And so, well, I’d love to ask you a question. And I and I don’t I don’t know if this would be a touchy or controversial question whatsoever. I don’t intend for it to be this way. But what like what effect do you see the global economy now having on like US based UI UX, folks, when we when when you’ve got a lot of options in terms of outsourcing.
Eric Carbaugh 13:47
I’m actually glad you brought that up. Because I’ve, you know, in for the last 20 years, I do a lot of consulting. So usually, as soon as there’s a downturn in the economy, the first thing, every business, whether it’s big business or small business, the first thing they do is they cut their whole marketing team or their their graphic design team or their UI UX team, because they think, Oh, we have to hunker down and just, you know, take care of what we need to right now that and they don’t see that as an essential. You know, we had that word essential right now. But I beg to differ that anything visually based, creative brand strategy based anything you’re doing UX UI side is front and center, the most important aspect of your business because if you let that go, your competition is already most likely doing already putting the money into that. So they’re already ahead of the curve for you. And even goes as far as just a simple update to your your content online, or reputation management is also part of that whole creative brand strategy. And those are things that people seem to neglect on during these these hard economic times. And I think if companies could focus a little bit more on to what’s really important, of course, at the end of the day, it’s all about Saving money. So everybody wants to save money. So work with the companies you’re working with or find new companies that can do it, you know, save you a little bit of money or figure out how to get you get you on a retainer based program to help offset your costs a little bit. Anything you can do to help push in those attributes and stay in that visual space. Because if you’re not in that visual space, you’re basically I mean, let’s face it, we are technology driven society, I don’t care whether you’re here, or in another smaller country, technology is playing a bigger role day by day in society. And if you don’t embrace it, you’re going to go the way of the dinosaur. I hate to say it, and I hate to be blunt, but it’s very much.
Aaron Spatz 15:39
No, I mean, I could, I couldn’t agree with you more. And I feel like, we now have this massive shortage. And I would love to kind of see see what you think of this is like talking to businesses, or putting together brand strategies, and businesses right now our understanding maybe for the first some some already knew this, but now it’s they’re being forced to do more. Others are being faced with the reality. And it’s a hard reality to have to get their head around, because they have to do it very fast. But now it’s like your essential workers are now if like, if you had the budget, you got the team are like your video editors, your content creators, your writer, yep, graphic design. These are all the people that you need. It’s like your little communication squad man like you need, you need folks to help continue to produce content and to continue to advance your brand. Because to your point just a few minutes ago, if you’re not doing it, your competition will be doing it. And so now it’s this creative game of man, how do I how do I manage cost? Or is there something else I can pull back on? Without having to like, absolutely shut this thing down? 100%. So great, great, great point, man, I love that.
Eric Carbaugh 16:48
Yeah, I just, you know, just to kind of touch back on that I just wish companies would really pay attention more. And you got to be very careful too, because it is, you know, you get what you pay for. So don’t just think you can hop on Fiverr and get something done. Now, there are some great artists out there. But a lot of times I’ve seen a lot of companies that don’t do it. And they say Oh, well, you know, I could easily hire some five people to do what you do. Well, you’re not always just paying for what they can do. You’re paying for people’s experience as well. So you know, be careful, very careful and interview and research those companies that you’re about to or individuals that you’re about to do business with in the creative space, because it’s getting very crowded, and not many people really know what they’re doing.
Aaron Spatz 17:30
Oh, yeah, that’s all set. tool set. So So kind of to that point, is perfectly into my next question, which was, what what should others do if they’re wanting to pursue a career some of you are so there’s, there’s, there’s somebody, there’s somebody listening to this right now, watching this right now that has that has a genuine fascination about brand and working strategy, it seems to kind of be one of the big things that’s talked about a lot, because we are in a digital first world. Your perspective, I could talk about this literally, for days on end with very little, very little breath. I would love to get your, I would love to get your perspective on this. Like, what? What would you advise others to do if they’re wanting to pursue a career similar to yours?
Eric Carbaugh 18:11
Just get out there. I mean, honestly, throw yourself into it, learn, do learn, do find mentors, learn from people that know more than you just keep getting more information. And I mean, you know, I’m not going to negate the qualities of a good education, but in our space, it’s changing so much and so rapidly. That’s not enough. So throw yourself further into end learning and never stop learning. I mean, that’s basically what I do. If, if I can take a moment to learn from somebody, I’m going to do it. And I’m going to get out there. And don’t be afraid to take risks in this in this industry. Because the rewards outweigh any bad things that might happen. And yeah, you’re going to make mistakes, you’re going to step up or you know, step over yourself and make mistakes, whatnot. But keep pushing yourself and keep stretching your abilities. And that’s the only way you’re going to get better and don’t be afraid of honest critique. So throw it out there. You know, if you’ve got a group of people that are peers that are doing the same thing, get honest feedback from them, and take the good and take the bad and use what you can and just make yourself better. Okay, exactly. Just that basic. Exactly. And you know, as a designer, we all have a little bit of an ego you know, we think that we’re being you know, we’re kind of perfectionist, most any any designer I’ve ever met is a perfectionist. And you got to find there’s a point when don’t take yourself to perfect because it’s never going to be perfect enough for you. So you have to know when to stop and just to get it out there. And at the same time is that don’t be afraid you know you’re so what you’re always gonna have haters and you’re always going to have those that love you. Just go with it and do your best.
Aaron Spatz 19:54
Love it man. Love it.
Eric Carbaugh 19:56
It’s just get out there. Keep keep swinging the bat. Exactly. Yeah, or like the Cowboys, there’s always next year. Yeah, exactly. And never, and never stop. And never stop learning, you know, definitely never stop learning. Yeah, for sure.
Aaron Spatz 20:10
You know, and I feel like, folks, and this is a point that I think applies no matter where you are in business. So whether you’re in middle of your career, or whether you are in the middle of a new venture, whatever the case may be, I feel like the learning journey is what separates people and I, I heard this quote not long ago, and it was something I’m gonna butcher, this is going to be really bad. But it was something along the lines of winners are willing to do the things that losers are not willing to do. And what was funny about it, though, is, there’s no difference between the two, the two people have because, because to be a winner, you you have, you’re going to lose, you’re going to lose a lot, like you’re going to try, you’re going to fall, you’re going to try, you’re gonna fall, you’re gonna keep going, but you’re going to keep working out, you’re going to keep learning and so wherever you are in your journey, and I think Eric, to your point is not, don’t let that don’t let your perfectionism get in your own way. Like, don’t, don’t get in your own way. Just go out there and try and keep you know, keep aiming for the goal, keep going for it. And then, but be smart enough, Be wise enough to take on some mentors to take on some direction to take on some, some, you know, some growth opportunities there, right. And so that way you can, you can eventually get to where you’re wanting to go it, it’s never going to be a straight line. It’s just it’s never gonna be straight.
Eric Carbaugh 21:31
And be very strategic to because something I learned early on, is if I can be strategic in clients that I take on, as well as consulting gigs that I take on that would actually stretch my expertise in different areas, I jumped on those opportunities. So don’t, don’t be afraid to. If you’re not that comfortable with something, don’t be afraid not to take that opportunity. And then at the end of the day, once you get some experience, reach back, and it’s never too early to start reaching back and helping those along the way and teaching them a little bit. Being a mentor yourself.
Aaron Spatz 22:01
Good. That’s so good. So good. Well, when we get back from the break, what I like to jump back in and ask you what you feel like the biggest challenge in the industry is right now. And we’ll we’ll cover that as soon as as soon as we come back. Well, this show is made possible by amazing sponsors, amazing people that are partnering with the show. And I just want to thank you and one I think first response AC so first response, AC and heating. Man, if you’re anything like me, calling a home contractor is is a bit of an unsettling exercise, right? Because, one, I’m a bit of a DIY guy, I like to figure things out for myself. Sometimes I break stuff, okay, sometimes I do. But I want to call people that I know I can actually trust and are going to actually do what they say they’re going to do and I hate being sold. I’ve dealt with AC companies in the past where they are, they are looking for a problem. You know, hey, that screw is rusted out, we need to replace it with this $500 screw. I mean, it’s like something ridiculous. These guys versus once they see they they’ve been serving, they’ve been servicing my house and those in my community. And I’ve done an exceptional job where they they will actually tell you what, what actually is wrong. They’ll explain it to you if you don’t understand. They are happy to educate you and help you get comfortable with actually what is happening. And so there’s been a couple cases where I thought it was like a major problems. I thought I broke it. And then they come out and take a look at it like no man, you just screwed this up. It’s it’s just going to be this like, we just need to fix this, this one this one thing. And so it’s not always going to be that way. I do expect one day like my AC is going to take a crap and I’m going to need a new one. But I I trust that they’re going to shoot me straight and do the right thing. So especially if you’re on the fourth side of the metroplex, that’s where these guys typically do the bulk of their business, I would encourage you to give give them a call, let them know that that you heard about them for me that that that would help both of us. And again, really super honest, trustworthy people. I encourage you to reach out so get back to the action with Eric man. So Right. Right before the break we were I my question to you is going to be what? What is the biggest challenge that you see people facing right now?
Eric Carbaugh 24:11
Honestly, innovation, I don’t see enough people innovating because we have big tech that’s doing a lot of innovation, a lot of and they’re driving a lot of innovation. But where I see that as being a big limit is they’re starting to rest on their laurels. And there’s not enough smaller innovators out there pushing the buttons and really pushing the the bar of where we can go in the future. And I think we need more people innovating and more even smaller business innovating like never before because we need to push things. Basically push things back into kind of this synergy. I think we’ve lost synergy. We’re a little bit outdated today. And I see that happening a lot more because of big tech is starting to take more of a prominence where they didn’t used to. When we look at the internet bubble, it wasn’t big tech at that point. It was, you know, innovators doing it. So I think we need to get back to that.
Aaron Spatz 25:04
Well, I mean, what does that look like? Like what? Help me understand what what your vision of that would actually look like.
Eric Carbaugh 25:11
I would love to see a lot more smaller technology based companies out there that refuse to get bought out by the bigger companies for the paycheck, because they are passionate about what they do and what they can offer. And I think if we have more of that, that’s, that’s where we’re going to kind of get to this. Again, the synergy when when you look at like telecoms, or not even well, telecoms, but especially cable industry, we had so much innovation from the early days of film all the way up until 1890. And they talk about innovation, but nothing’s really changed. You have Netflix, you have Hulu, but you still can’t just ala carte pick what you want on any TV package. Exactly. It’s all or nothing kind of thing. Yeah. So that alone deserves an a real breakup and innovation strategy of how we deliver that type of content. And I think the podcasting space is great, because we’re seeing a lot of that innovation happening. But I think from that is where we’re gonna see a lot more of these startups that are gonna, I think, really start to change, change some things. And I love it, because I do a lot of work with startups. So I do a lot of creative strategy with startups. And I’ll help a startup go from like a two to three month roadmap and give them like a three to five year roadmap by the time we get done with the session. And it’s a lot of fun to see. But I would love to see more of that. And more of where these little companies are really starting to get a idea of what their MVP is right away, and fail fast and get moving and get the funding that they need. So they can actually shake shake up the industry. In case you missed MVP minimum viable products. Yep, exactly. Sorry.
Aaron Spatz 26:51
It’s all good. I have a service translator whenever I feel like I actually can be the translator. But no, man, I actually love that that’s a that’s an answer that you don’t hear every day in terms of innovation, especially at the small business level. And I think there’s, there’s there’s some fascination behind small business in ones that are being incredibly creative. The problem is, and I’m so I’m going to kind of argue with you on this one, too, just just for fun. But like, so you mentioned getting bought out. One thing I think that happens also is you’ll see a bigger company will identify will keep their eye on a small company, they probably have a team of people that are only looking outward at at upcoming technology, and then they go rip it off. So how do you deal with that?
Eric Carbaugh 27:33
Yeah, and that that’s going to happen regardless, so there’s no way honestly, there’s no way around it, the only thing you can do is continue to innovate and be better at your craft and get your message make. I think that’s probably like another key is hone your message, get your message to the point that even if they rip you off, your message outpaces their message and you’re able to take, take, take it and run with it. And that’s the hardest part is crafting that message. I’ve seen so many companies that are great ideas, but their messages, and then they kind of fade away. And then companies that you look at the people that are running the business, and they’re kind of haphazard everything they do, but because their messaging is so great, they’re out there, they’ve taken off, they’re doing well while this other company who had their head in the game and knew what they were doing business wise, just kind of faded away because of that messaging. And I think that’s part of where we’re at today is it’s more than just selling a product, it’s more than just selling a service, it’s all about your messaging, and also how your message actually translate into different generations. So you have, you know, the younger generations all the way up to the older generations, and each message is going to mean a different thing to them. So, you know, for the younger millennials and beyond and you know, Gen Z years and all that they’re all about mission, what is your mission, find out what your what your mission is, because your brand, like it or not, is a living breathing entity. It’s not a living organism, but it’s an entity, and your brand is a reflection of who you are, but it’s also a reflection of what your mission and your and your statement is.
Aaron Spatz 29:03
Yeah, no, that’s a that’s well said. And the, the the challenge is then being able to transcend the the generations, like you mentioned, like you got, you got a large, you know, you got a large population that is at retirement age, being in the baby boomer generation, then moving into Gen X, Gen Z, or Gen X millennial Gen Z and and how that I mean, that’s it’s important because you’ve you’ve got to be able to have in craft messaging, it really depends obviously, on your business, but being able to identify and connect and relate to each major segment of who your target audiences, right, these are things that we could talk about for days. Right? You know, who who is your target audience? So you know, I was gonna ask you just because we are still in the beginning of the year it still is January so I mean, talk talking about some goal setting man so like, what are some what’s what some what some big lofty goals, what are some things that you’re working on this year?
Eric Carbaugh 29:59
Yeah, absolutely. So So one of the things is definitely kicking off season two of the warrior up show, I did kind of a simple like little three or four episode season last last year, just to kind of see, you know, if there’s something I wanted to do, so I’m definitely gonna pursue that and kick that off a little bit more. But something I’m actually also going to be doing is more of a creative creative brand podcast that I’m planning on kicking off sometime towards the end of the first quarter. And the goal is to help you know, smaller businesses to get an understanding of what you know, if you really think about, it’s going to be branding one on one. So it’s just giving them the basics of what that means. And it’s something I’ve had in my mind for quite a while. And I just, I don’t think it was the right time and season to do so. But of course, right now, the way things are going in the big shake up that is going I think now’s the right season. So that’s, that’s kind of big on the horizon for this year, for sure. And then, you know, I also got a couple other book ideas that I want to get written as well. So I’ve got quite a bit and, you know, other ideas that I’m trying to launch as well. So we’ll just see how that goes. Well, let’s,
Aaron Spatz 30:58
let’s, let’s go ahead and go there. So like, I’m gonna go ahead and just plug it out. It does. Let’s go. So let’s go warrior up, calm talk us. Talk to us about that. Yeah, so
Eric Carbaugh 31:07
it’s kind of interesting. So being a Marine, I understood that we have issues that we have to deal with from PTS, but also you get out of the military. And you’re lucky if you get a for maybe eight hour course they call it, you know, transition course different services have different acronyms for it. But essentially, it’s this whole little thing all the end is geared for getting people to go to college more than anything. And you know, make sure you take care of your your credit, make sure you take care of your debt, and all that which is all good things. But the problem is, they send you out and then you don’t really have an idea of what to do. So you go from having a mission and having a purpose to literally sitting around. When in the military, we go and especially in the Marine Corps, we go 300% At all times, because 120% is failing, you know, so you’re constantly on the go go on the go. And then also you sit around and I think that’s where PTS really begins to come in a lot of a lot of industry say it’s a disorder. And I don’t think it’s a disorder. It’s just because of Now of course there are when you make combat in there, of course, there are other demons that you got to deal with. And that compounds the issue. But a lot of PTS, I think is just, it’s finding that new purpose and that new perspective. So that’s where we’re warrior up was based, it’s for anybody that’s kind of looking for purpose. And it is a spiritual journey. So it is based on biblical spiritual content. But the goal at the end of the day is to help people finding a purpose, and especially our fellow brothers and sisters in arms, and help them realize that they have a purpose, they were created with a purpose. And they need to find out how to get that purpose. So the goal is to help them get out of their own headspace, which is the most dangerous thing. For any veteran that’s dealing with that kind of stuff. Get out of your headspace. Find people that you can truly talk to and mentors, but then also find out what your purpose is. And that’s the goal is to kind of help initiate that whole avenue to help give them a reason to to find out what that purpose is.
Aaron Spatz 32:58
And that’s awesome. I appreciate you doing that. And no, and I think it’s something that a lot of people struggle with. And and once again, this this, this is not, this is not a strictly military show. So I don’t want if you’re listening this right now, I don’t want you to think I’m just picking on on military folks. Because I think there’s a lot of lessons that Eric and I are talking about right now that apply to us specifically. So whether whether you serve in the in the military or whatever, whatever it is, you’re doing there, you’re gonna you’re gonna have challenges. I think people are on this long journey about trying to figure out their purpose, and the things that they’re passionate about. So I mean, like, what, like, what are some things that you’ve done? Like, I don’t mind shifting gears, man, this is part of the fun of doing the show is like, we don’t we don’t have to be all like business 100% of time in life. So let’s, let’s talk about that. So let’s talk a little bit about the like the formation of your your pert like finding your purpose, understanding your your whole vision and the direction that you’re going.
Eric Carbaugh 33:56
For me, it all started. So it’s kind of interesting. So it all started even before I joined the Marine Corps. But at the end of the day, you know, I was brought up, I’m a son of a pastor and all that stuff. So for me, it’s all about serving others and helping people out where we can. So when I joined the Marine Corps, it kind of just helped solidify that even more. And I knew as soon as I got out, so one of my ultimate goals, of course, make make feature films and stuff like that. So everything I kind of chose my career path of branding and all that because I knew it would help foster that. And I chose different again, being strategic. In my experience. I’ve chose different things. But at the end of the day, my ultimate goal is to actually have a Christian based, it kind of goes back to where I was talking about telecoms, not pushing the envelope with television. So that is actually I have that which wire up show is part of that is the remnant life.tv is it’s all about pushing Christian entertainment, not just preaching but I want a lot of different content sitcom’s news, unbiased news, I should say not just news but unbiased news because I’m tired of CNN and Fox News both I’m tired of all of the mainstream media because they’re pushing narrative that are just not right. So different things like that. But kids programming and also what I call the atmosphere channel, which is all about mental, spiritual and physical health. So it’s like the trinity of keeping yourself healthy and all that. But also that comes into the whole concept of finding your purpose. And that that’s kind of why I wrote this book as well. Because to me, it’s all about, you know, you’ve tried it, you want to try to figure out who you are, because I believe deep down in the core of everybody, because it goes back to ancient times, is we have a warrior within ourselves just waiting to be unleashed. And a lot of people get that confused. They think a warrior is this enforcer of, you know, negative stereotypes or whatnot. And it’s not a warrior, even a barbarian and a warrior. They’re the same, but they’re not an enforcer. Enforcer is basically a hired hand, they go out and do whatever, barbarians are warriors, they, they serve a purpose, and they serve a mission. And deep down, they’re driven by that. So I think all of us have that that warrior mentality deep inside of us. It’s just a matter of unleashing that to overcome your obstacles in front of you. So that’s really more or less the whole concept of that process.
Aaron Spatz 36:05
Yeah, I yeah, I love that I can identify with that. And so again, this is this is where this gets fun, because we can talk about any, like any number of topics that that we like talking about. So like coming, coming through a Christian upbringing, and that, and that is my, that is my identity. That’s my, that’s my faith. And that’s, that’s my home, like my home base. And that’s just part of who I am. Right. So but there’s, there’s been some amazing books, there’s been a few really just really amazing speakers and pastors out there that, that have that a hold on is that and I’m gonna go ahead and plug them right now. And there’s one or when Erwin McManus in California with mosaic church, he wrote a book called way of the warrior. Yeah, right. And so powerful book. And then I think a lot of people know, Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, again, out in SoCal. And he and he became like, really famous because of the purpose driven life that was like his claim to fame. And so but there’s a really, really good teaching that he did, called, if I could teach you only one thing. And it’s basically like, you know, why, why God made you. And so it’s a it’s a phenomenal study. And I get it. Some of you out there like sanea Preach it. There’s others of you that are like rolling your eyes right now. Yeah, it’s all good. I understand. Everybody is on a different journey and a different path. And I, I respect that. But the for, for me, and I was about to speak for you to Eric and I don’t I don’t want to do that. But, but being able to be able to understand, like, why the heck am I here? What is my purpose? What Why do I even exist? For me? I can’t, I can’t answer that adequately, without having a solid rooted foundation of my faith in my identity and God and so like, once I have that established, then I can go out and go do all these other amazing and fun things. With my point back to him and so I will, I will get off my off my sermon soapbox there, man. But uh, I thought it was a great, great, great segue or great, great tangent rabbit hole that we that we, that we drove down. And I appreciate what you’re doing, though, through, through go where you’re up and some amazing dreams and things that you have I really do. I’m, I’m cheering for you. And I really want to see all that like, come to come to fruition for you as as a as you continue to pursue that. So, you know, we talked, we talked goals, of I’ll ask you like one last question. But you know, like, What do you enjoy most about your work? And then how can people get in touch with you?
Eric Carbaugh 38:42
Yeah, absolutely. So what I love about what I do is, at the end of the day, it’s helping others, whether it’s business, or small business startups, whatever it is, it’s helping people achieve their goals, when it comes to creative branding, and marketing and different things like that. So for me, I love when I have this clean slate where we get this concept and we start working it and you’re going through like these strategy sessions, trying to figure out what you’re going to do. And then all of a sudden, it starts to come together as this cohesive message. There’s just something about that that’s enjoyable to me. And that’s why I love what I do, honestly. And it’s kind of goes back to what we were talking about just a little bit ago, it’s this full circle of what I do. It’s what it’s what I’m here to do, it’s part of my purpose isn’t just to help businesses, but to help coaching as well, you know, be mentors wherever I can be. And if, if I’m not able to, you know, really kind of push myself in those ways to be able to help others. It’s just not fulfilling like it should be. So I really enjoy that opportunities to do so for me, it’s a lot of fun, because I’m starting to see, even in my wife, she’s actually building an all natural beauty line and all that stuff. And it’s interesting because, you know, I’ve been doing this stuff for so long starting businesses and helping businesses is really rubbing off and now she’s Working on it, she’s running after it like crazy. So I’m actually helping her with the marketing right now of it as as it’s just beginning to really get off the ground level. But that’s the kind of stuff that I love. And I get excited about that I get really geeked up about it, because it’s just a beautiful thing to see this idea of something that came from an idea, and all of a sudden, it’s just turning into a viable business.
Aaron Spatz 40:20
Yeah. And that’s amazing. It’s cool to dream it, and then work it and see it and see it actually, like start to actually happen. It’s really, really awesome. Real quick, before we go, three things, if you had to tell a business leader, that may be listening to this right now, three things that you think any business should be thinking about as it as it comes to marketing, like just some basics. These are things that we need to be practicing and doing on a day in day out basis. Don’t ever forget these three things.
Eric Carbaugh 40:53
Yeah, I would definitely say, make sure your identity is simple and concise for people to see that includes your logo. But that also includes basically, what your business is about, people need to understand what it is in less than an elevator pitch. So literally, like in a simple phrase, what is your business identity, and then picture or add that logo that’s simple and don’t go, don’t try to put everything into your logo of what your business is about, pick something, keep it simple, keep it concise, and make sure that it can scale from a small poster size, you know, up to larger areas, I would say second would be your messaging, make it clear and concise. And again, a lot of things that I’m talking about is always going to be a clarity of message and a clarity of your vision. And then at the end of the day, the other third part would be how are you giving back? You know, really question yourself about how do you give back to either the community or the space that you’re in. Because I think that at the end of the day helps with your fulfillment in life as well of how you can help out others. Love it,
Aaron Spatz 41:58
that love it. And that and that was concise. So I mean, you’re just you’re just eating your own stuff, man. I love it. No. So once again, how can people get in touch with you?
Eric Carbaugh 42:09
Yeah, absolutely. So pixel spectrum comm is the consulting agency, of course, you got the Go warrior, up.com as well. And with that, with the book, I also have a program called books for heroes. So you can actually sponsor books for veterans that are dealing with PTS to get them a free book and through the through the go where you’re up, you can actually find a portal on how to do that. And you can also have yourself as a credit because I send out a little package with a letter that’s handwritten and even a certificate that says sponsored by and your name if you wish. If you don’t, you can stay anonymous.
Aaron Spatz 42:40
Nice. Well, man, that’s, that’s awesome. Can I just want to thank you so much for spending some time with me this morning. It’s been it’s been a blast.
Eric Carbaugh 42:48
I appreciate it. Thank you so much.