Aarons Story

Aaron is from Stockport and his start in comedy begins similarly to many other performers. Aaron adopted comedy as a way to make friends and to keep people from messing with him. “It helped to sort of deflect some of the heat, and I made a lot of friends with it.” Aaron realized he was good at comedy later in school and got most of his enjoyment from “making his mates laugh at the lunch table.” After graduation Aaron went on to start his comedy career a few years later where he met Liam Tuffy. Liam and Aaron became fast friends and Aaron was able to make a successful career out of comedy, as a part of his journey for a while he was a host at the Amp Comedy Club in Stockport, and the Disorder Comedy Club in Manchester. At the time of speaking to Aaron he was preparing for 8 shows in one week! On top of that he has started a podcast with Liam called The Spread Negativity Podcast. Aaron is extremely busy with his schedule between recording new episodes, editing, and doing live shows to continue to make his dream a reality!

The Spread Negativity Podcast and Short Form Content

The Spread Negativity Podcast was started by Aaron Wood and Liam Tuffy 2 years ago. It's a comedy podcast where they share stories, talk about current events, and have guests consisting mostly of other comedians and influencers. It’s absolutely hilarious and is where I found Aaron to interview! I got to talk to Aaron about how he’s gotten to thousands of viewers per episode. It turns out that most of his viewers came from short form content! Short form content is becoming increasingly popular in the world of marketing and advertising and can completely change a business (or podcast’s) success! I asked Aaron what specifically he did in his reels and videos that made him stick out from his competition. Aaron went on to explain that he used popular trends such as reading reddit stories originally and has since branched off to start accepting viewer stories! This has brought plenty of new viewers and viewer engagement to the podcast. Aaron uses the same method for promoting his own comedy on his account. On his personal account Aaron posts mostly crowd work clips. Crowd work clips work well for comedy because they are niche to each individual person and won’t affect the comedian's actual set. The fact that Aaron uses short form content to not only promote his podcast but to promote himself really emphasizes the importance of it!

Aaron’s advice

I asked Aaron for any advice that he might have for people either wanting to become a performer or in their careers in general. “Just go out and start even if you won’t be good at it at first.” Aaron thought back to his first ever comedy performance at a “gong show.” The purpose of the gong show was for multiple comedians to go up and get taken off as soon as the crowd feels that they aren't funny. Aaron shared that he lasted around 40 seconds the first time he went up but didn’t let that discourage him, as soon as he walked off stage, he scheduled another gong show and kickstarted his comedy career. He says if he would’ve never continued his path and pushed through those first couple of failures that he wouldn’t be at the sport he's at now. Aaron also emphasized the difficulty of having a work - life balance as a performer. Aaron’s personal brand is based on how often he posts not only him doing comedy but him being funny in his personal life. This causes issues when it comes to balancing his personal life with his work life and he believes it happens with any performing career. 

All in all, my conversation with Aaron was extremely insightful and I really enjoyed it! I'm a huge fan of comedy and was able to get some information on the insides of podcasting and the comedy world. It also says a lot about short term content that it’s being used in so many different parts of the business and entertainment world. With the lowering attention span of younger generations, the best new forms of advertisement may all be short form content!

Find Aaron at different places below! You can also find the Spread Negativity Pod anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Website Instagram SNP YouTube

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Josh’s Start

Josh had a fire burning within him from the beginning of college, making it a point to talk to upperclassmen and professors to expand his network and gain him opportunities. During this he made a goal for himself - to get an internship by the end of freshman year with no experience in marketing. This goal is a difficult one to set for yourself especially in the midst of a pandemic, but he managed to accomplish it! Josh then worked at a marketing agency where he learned more about marketing and found his mentor that set him on the path to success. After this he moved on and started religiously going to the gym. Josh wasn’t able to secure an internship for the next year but said his mentor gave him advice to “make himself an internship if he couldn’t find one.” He realized that he could start by marketing his local gym that he’s being going to, where he then doubled their followers and business in about a years’ time! This started the cogs in the machine and eventually led Josh to create Good Social! After talking about his start, Josh and I then went into depth on some of the finer details of his mindset on his business.

Initial Issues, Goals, and Opinions on the Marketing Space

I asked Josh what initial issues he thinks he had in creating Good Social. “The hardest part for me is working with the finances, not because I’m not good at it, but because I hate working with numbers. I can’t wait until the day when I can hire someone else that enjoys doing it.” Josh then went on to say that he believes growth and finding initial clients would be the hardest part for anyone else starting, but he was lucky enough to get recommendations from the gym that he worked for. Josh shared that he believes testimonials and organic growth are a huge part of his vision for the future, and also for any other people looking to start a marketing company. “I don’t rush things because if you rush and try to use trends to go viral instead of being organic then the client can tell you're not being genuine. I like to combine myself and the client’s visions to get something unique without using unoriginal trends.” This follows the trend we saw last week with Chris Klein where he said organic growth is one of the most important things a business can focus on. The vision for Good Social for the next couple of years according to Josh is to eventually get his own office space. After that Josh wants to acquire some extra clients and bring on some help, eventually scaling up to about 10 clients in the shorter term while also giving them the individual attention and care that they need.

Josh’s Advice

Josh proceeded to give some advice for people that would like to start a business. “If all you want is money when building or making your business then you're never going to succeed. You need to be excited to wake up and do what you do every day.” Josh and I talked further on this point, agreeing on the fact that if you have the finances and ability then it’s better to make connections and fantastic content rather than unoriginal or uninspiring content for money. Depending on if your business is free to produce or not (maybe like a newsletter) then there is no downside to starting the business and collecting experience and connections. Josh then spoke on his experience in college and gave some advice for incoming students. “Making connections with upper classmen and professors really shows that you have motivation and drive. It’s helped me out a lot and I wouldn’t be where I was without doing it.”

My conversation with Josh not only taught me a lot in terms of starting a small business but also made me think of a quote by Jerry West talking about his dominance in the NBA. “Everyone likes to say they’re a dog, well I was a wolf, I ate dogs.” This correlates directly to the business and academic world. While you might be fine coasting through college and life without putting in any extra effort or taking risks you will never be the best of the best by doing that. Everyone should strive to be like Josh - be a wolf.

Josh has an extremely bright future ahead of him and I had a fantastic time talking to him. I hope you enjoyed the information as much as I did, and you can find Josh’s socials below. I’ll see you in your Inbox!

LinkedIn - Here

Good Social - Here

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What is Pittsburgh Beautiful?

So, what is Pittsburgh Beautiful? As mentioned before, Pittsburgh Beautiful is a social media company focused on highlighting events, stories, and scenery in the Pittsburgh area. With over 300,000 active followers, they produce a wide range of content, including articles on specific areas in Pittsburgh, breathtaking videos of the city's scenery, and curated lists of things to do while in Pittsburgh. Chris explained that Pittsburgh Beautiful actually started as a simple passion project on Facebook. Being deeply interested in photography and noticing a shift happening in the way Pittsburgh was perceived, Chris leveraged his camera and the emergence of cell phones to capture amazing pictures and videos of the city. As he shared these captivating visuals on Facebook, he gradually gained an audience. Encouraged by this response, Chris continued on his path to eventually create Pittsburgh Beautiful, a locally renowned social media company with a dedicated website and hundreds of thousands of followers.

Chris’s Story

Now let's dive into Chris's inspiring journey. Chris grew up in York, Pennsylvania, ironically on the other side of the state from Pittsburgh, closer to Harrisburg and Philadelphia. His earliest memories of Pittsburgh were when he was a child, only visiting the city for funerals, which led him to believe that Pittsburgh was just "the place people move to before they die." Fast-forwarding to his high school experience, Chris didn't excel academically. He did just enough to graduate because he found that the traditional education system failed to capture his attention and teach him much. He then enrolled at Drexel University, which was jokingly nicknamed "Orange Brick College" due to all the buildings being made of orange brick. Initially pursuing a Graphic Design major because of his love for art and his creative mind, Chris hit a roadblock in his first year of college. He almost failed out, prompting a serious conversation with his father, who is also an entrepreneur. His father explained that since he was financially supporting his son's education, Chris was essentially his employee, and passing his college courses was the work expected of him. Chris was told that if he didn't shape up, his father would no longer pay for his education, and that from now on he would have to change his major from Graphic Design. Taking this advice to heart, Chris decided to major in Finance and excelled in college from that point forward. This led him into the world of banking in Pittsburgh. While it was a stable career, Chris discovered that the corporate banking environment didn't suit him. He felt stifled, as he didn't possess a "yes man" personality and preferred finding more efficient ways to accomplish tasks rather than strictly following predefined blueprints. It was during this time that Chris channeled his hobby and created the Pittsburgh Beautiful Facebook page while still working at his banking job. Eventually, his immense success allowed him to quit his job and focus on Pittsburgh Beautiful full-time.

Chris’s Business Advice

Chris also shared valuable business advice during our conversation. His main piece of wisdom was not to let personal limitations limit your opportunities. When asked to elaborate, he explained the importance of collaborating with others who possess different skill sets. Chris mentioned his co-hosts on the Sports Porch podcast, Mark and Steve, who bring their unique interests and skills to the table. By working together, they have managed to create something they couldn't have achieved individually. Chris emphasized the significance of continuously learning new things, as it expands your limits and opens up new opportunities. Chris also touched on the current state of business and what is being pushed to current students and younger generations. “Monetization and going viral weren’t even things that were considered when it came to business and certain passion projects.” According to Chris the addition of these variables to the world of business made people forget that the best way to grow your business was to grow organically and gain a fan base of loyal supporters rather than trying to go viral or “sprint to the finish line.” He equated this to the tortoise and the hare, saying that if you focus on organic growth, you will always be better in the long run.

Chris’s General Advice

Beyond business advice, Chris drew parallels between life and business. He shared his most important but simple life lesson he has learned, stating that one must spend less than they earn to achieve financial stability in business. This mindset also extends to relationships, where he emphasized the importance of giving more than you ask for or take.  “Whether it be family, friends, or a significant other, you should always give more than you take, and you’ll be a better person for it at the end. 

Chris's early experience with office jobs not aligning with his personality may resonate with many of us on a deeper level. Some of us prefer working for ourselves or exploring different career paths in life, and that's perfectly okay. Chris's final words of advice truly struck a chord with me. He mentioned that in life, we make both positive and negative decisions, but not all negative decisions have to be seen as bad. Instead of dwelling on regrets, we should view them as learning opportunities. When asked if he would change anything if given the chance, Chris jokingly remarked that he might have "stayed single and moved to Italy" or something similar. However, he quickly assured me that the question wasn't realistic because he genuinely has no regrets and has learned from every mistake he made, rather than beating himself up over them.

I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Chris, and if you're interested, you can find him and his businesses below. I hope you enjoyed this interview as much as I did. I’ll see you in your inboxes next week!

• LinkedIn - Here

• Pittsburgh Beautiful - Here

• The Sports Porch - Here

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Nick's Story:

Nick shared that his strong work ethic and drive to constantly improve were instilled in him at an early age by his father. He reminisced on a story from when he was young when he asked his father for an allowance. His father agreed but with the condition that he wake up at 7 A.M. the following Saturday morning. To earn his allowance, Nick found himself greeted by his father with work clothes and boots, ready for him to join him at work. Nick explained that this has driven him throughout his entire life and moved on to talking about his young adult life. As a young adult, Nick applied to seven colleges after high school but was rejected from all seven of them. Because of this, Nick worked with his father in construction after high school but soon realized, even though he describes it as a "noble profession," it wasn't the path for him. Therefore, he pursued higher education further. Nick's higher education includes Baruch College and Harvard University Extension School. While in college, Nick studied marketing but didn't really know what he wanted to do with it. While he was studying in college, he shared with me that he was actually the lead singer in a rock band! Nick believed in his band and eventually sought to get his band a management contract. After showing the management company his demo, they offered him an internship instead, and his journey officially began. After interning and working there for a short time, he moved on to a college startup where he was the head of music programming. From there, MTV bought the startup, and he became an official employee of MTV. Eventually, he was introduced to Hot House, where he works and continues to make a remarkable impact to this day. Nick emphasized throughout this portion of our interview that he made sure he was in a position where people didn't necessarily see him just for his job title but mainly for his skill and what he could potentially bring to a company. After I heard this, I branched off and asked Nick what he did specifically during college and in other aspects of his life that he thought helped propel him to his current position.

Nick's Advice:

The first question I asked Nick, regarding advice, was what he thought he did during college that helped him reach his current level. When asked about the impact of college, Nick highlighted its role in building his confidence. He firmly believes that confidence is a crucial part of success. He believes that it is absolutely everything, explaining that it allows people to put their trust in you. According to Nick, when people have confidence in your abilities, they entrust you with more challenging projects, providing an opportunity for you to rise to the occasion. The next question I asked Nick was what traits he thinks are necessary for individuals today to have a strong start in business. He shared that people need to be critical thinkers and opportunistic. He emphasized that the world of business and people's careers are not a linear path and that you need to learn when to raise your hand at an opportunity. And if you do raise your hand, be ready to work to prove yourself. On this topic, Nick also explained that you should always be curious and ask questions. "If you ask questions and if you have thoughts, people look at you and say maybe you should be doing this too," he said. He also mentioned that it's important to form ideas and test out things you'd like to do by creating content, strategy, and engaging with marketing to showcase your experience and demonstrate that you “willingly threw yourself into the fire”, as Nick put it.

As our conversation drew to a close, I asked Nick what he would change if he could go back to his college years. He responded by saying that he wishes he had developed his swagger and confidence much earlier on and told himself to "stop being so nervous." He firmly believed that it would have helped him seize opportunities much earlier in his life.

Nick's perspective on college, primarily as a stepping stone for personal growth and confidence rather than solely a means to gain work experience, was refreshing. I hope this helped you gain some insights into Nick's journey, and I encourage you to take some of his lessons to heart. Other than that, I hope you have a great rest of your week, and I'll see you in your inbox next week!

Find Nick at:
linkedin.com/in/nick-schittone

hothouseinc.com

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