Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Everybody, this is Sean Taylor, chief executive officer of Smith and Howard. Welcome to our new podcast, the worst advice I ever got. This podcast is going to be a little unique. We believe in that. We're going to talk specifically about the worst advice our guests ever got. It's meant to be a little shocking. It's meant to sort of wow you with can you believe that someone would give that advice? And I'm sure what you're going to get from it is going to vary from person to person. But most likely what you'll get from it is the ability to apply each guest's bad advice into your own lives.
JB, my producer, is going to be a part of every podcast. JB, can you tell everybody? Hello.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: Hi. Yeah, you'll hear my voice from time to time. You won't normally see my face. You will hear mostly from Sean. But now that you've heard me and Sean has introduced me, you won't be like, who's that?
[00:01:08] Speaker A: They could never think that about you. JB. Everybody knows JB.
When we were creating this, we really wanted something that was unique but also differentiated itself a little bit from every other podcast they might hear.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Well, that was the idea, is that we wanted to make a podcast that was just a good idea for a podcast. We weren't interested necessarily in making a niche.
We make a podcast called taxing poetic, where we talk niche, sales tax things. We can do that where we really hone in on something, but we just wanted a good idea to put us in the thought leadership space and have people come on. We like a nice, simple idea. What's the worst advice I ever got? And nobody needs a secondary question as to what your podcast is about because it's right there in the title.
[00:01:53] Speaker A: It does kind of say it all. We're not going to beat around the bush with our guests. You'll probably hear me say that phrase a little too often. We jump right in with our guests and we just ask them that question and we want them to tell us what it is us, right away. And look, we're going to spend a lot of time in the negative. We are not just going to take that bad advice and say, oh, I'm so sorry. How'd you recover? How's it better for you?
[00:02:15] Speaker B: Now there's 3.5 million podcasts in the world, and probably 3.1 million of them are all about positive advice and giving advice and these things. And so we really want to stay in that mindset of like, why was this so harmful? Everybody who comes on our podcast is a guest on a podcast. These are successful people who have obviously made it. They have obviously turned themselves around. We don't need to always just get to like. And now I am the this. It's like, we know you're great. Yeah.
[00:02:41] Speaker A: You're here because you're the CEO of this or you were a famous athlete or a famous performer. There's going to be a lot of different guests that I think are going to bring a lot of different interest for our listeners. I think it's going to be great for you to hear how some of our guests had to unwrap these scenarios.
[00:02:57] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. Well, so since we'll never get to ask you this again, now you get to be on the podcast. What's the worst advice you ever got?
[00:03:05] Speaker A: I think I've gotten plenty of bad advice, just like most people encounter. And I was given some thought to what would be the worst advice I ever got. And I think for me, it was simple. The worst advice I ever got was, it's so important always to make a good first impression.
[00:03:22] Speaker B: I mean, that sounds fine.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: What's wrong with that at its root or at just the topic level, you think, well, that makes sense because then people are going to leave with a better idea about you. But I think what it did for me was put an unbelievable amount of pressure on every encounter I was having. So every encounter I had, whenever I met somebody new, there was pressure. There was pressure for me to walk away from that and believe that I had made a good first impression. And what it was creating was moments where I had made a good first impression, but I didn't know that, or I thought it was a bad impression and it was really a good one, or I thought it was a good one and it was a really a bad one. And I kept second guessing, third guessing myself. Frankly, I just started just trying to become a people pleaser all the time. And it really led me into a bad place. I got this advice when I was in my teens, and as I grew and got into college and worked through college, and then I began the job interview process, I just kept thinking, am I doing enough? Am I doing enough? Am I doing enough? And really, I crashed. I ultimately reached a point shortly after I completed college where it actually made me not like myself.
[00:04:48] Speaker B: Because you're just like, I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do.
[00:04:51] Speaker A: I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do. I'm not good enough. No matter how hard I try, I'm not making good. This firm didn't I interviewed with this firm and they didn't give me a job. I obviously made a terrible first impression.
[00:05:03] Speaker B: Is the only thing that mattered.
[00:05:04] Speaker A: It was me. It was always me. And it never gave any context to the environment, to the other party, to any of a number of factors that had nothing to do with me on.
[00:05:18] Speaker B: A first impression basis.
[00:05:20] Speaker A: But I was stuck in my head that it was me. You're not good enough, you're not smart enough. And gosh darn it, people don't like you.
[00:05:29] Speaker B: To borrow from our buddy, would you say that it's not true, then, that a first impression is the most important thing?
[00:05:36] Speaker A: I would say it's not true. I don't think making a good first impression is absolutely a necessity. And it's absolutely true. I think you can make a terrible first impression and you may not get an opportunity to make a second impression, but I have a lot of great relationships today where I had someone share with me. This is a friend of mine. His wife worked at our firm. And the first time he met me, he thought, I don't really like this guy. But then he and I and his wife, we were all studying for the CPA exam together. And as we got in environments for a second, third and fourth time, he got to the context. He got to learn more about me, he got to an understanding of who I was, and we became better friends, and our families were friends, and he's worked at clients of ours over the years. So I don't think it's true. I don't think you have to make a good first impression. You may never get another chance to make a second impression, but that's not the end of the world.
[00:06:38] Speaker B: It's not the end of the world. Yeah, you can do another one. I mean, it's a funny story. Julie, the CMO just had this conversation with me the other day that she didn't like me the first time that we met because Julie was talking about the old logo that they were redoing. And I was just like, yeah, it's a terrible logo. I really don't like it. And she was, what? Like, she just couldn't believe I was being so forward about this logo that needed to change. And she's like, well, never going to work with that guy again. And now, lo and behold, here we are. So you can make a bad first impression and know, just don't make a habit out of it.
[00:07:15] Speaker A: And honestly, I think sometimes, like in that example, my guess is now, when Julie gets a bad first impression from somebody, she gives credence to it.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:07:24] Speaker A: Because your honesty and all the things that went into it made for a more creative experience working with you.
And I will say this. I have a number of partners who. My first impression, I wasn't really high on them. Right. My guess is that my wife didn't have a great first impression of me. Sure.
There's a number of stories like that. And so why we think we've got to be perfect or get it right the first time, I don't understand. And you know what? This whole first episode that we're doing.
[00:07:56] Speaker B: It'S the first impression, right here it.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: Is everybody's first impression of the worst advice I ever got podcast. And you know what? I hope you're not getting a bad impression from this first episode.
But even if you do get a bad impression, I really hope you tune into some of the other episodes, because it's not all about this first episode. It's certainly not all about me, and it's not about JB. It's about our guests and what they have to share. And that's more important than whatever impression I might be making on everybody that's listening. If I'm shooting for 100% on the first episode, I'm going to fail.
[00:08:28] Speaker B: Exactly right. Louis CK did a whole thing on, like, if you're good at this right away, you have nowhere to go. It's terrible. If you're a good stand up right away, it's the worst thing that could happen because you're like, oh, this is easy. I could just be funny all the time. Then you can't. So we actually hope that you think this first episode is just okay because it can only get better from here.
[00:08:48] Speaker A: Well, I can guarantee you, based on who our guests are that we have lined up, this will not be the best of the 16 episodes of the first season.
[00:08:55] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:08:56] Speaker A: No question in my mind about it.
[00:08:57] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. All right, well, we look forward to you guys. Listen to us on the podcast. You get us anywhere. You listen to your podcasts, you'll see some reels and things on instagram, lots of content coming your way everywhere. Sean, take us home, everybody.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: Really looking forward to the season together. Thanks for joining us today on the worst advice I ever got.
