š Joel and the terrible, no good, very bad first impression
āHey everyone Iām Joel. First of all, Cincinnati isnāt that bad.ā
I was nervous.
This was my first time speaking to the entire company as the new Executive Editor of The Dad. An extremely senior salesperson spoke just before me about a big deal they just closed with Kroger, headquartered in Cincinnati.
āPicture me and Denise, in HIGH HEELS, walking down the street in CINCINNATI OHIO. Hahahahahaā¦ā
I was like:
Hold up. Do they think people in Cincinnati donāt wear high heels? WTF.
She continued with the unprompted Cincinnati roast sesh. It went on for a while. The company laughed along heartily.
When it was my turn to speak I walked to the front of the room.
āHey everyone Iām Joel. First of all, Cincinnati isnāt that bad.ā
Salesperson in the front row, āUm, yes it is, I was there.ā
āAlrightyā¦ so anyway, Iām from Cincinnati and Iām excited to be hereā¦ā
Off to a great start.
I introduced myself and my background. Readers of this substack are quite familiar with all of this, as itās been the topic for the past several months. And if youāve read even one post here, you understand what that journey has meant to me, especially in that moment. I was in front of a media company, leading a new brand in their portfolio. Only weeks ago I was in that tail end of my extremely corporate career, CRAVING something more creatively fulfilling. Wishing for this moment in the form of a mantra I wrote over and over.
Jill Smokler was running the presentation deck from the front of the room right where I was standing. When I talked about the serendipitous opportunity I had to work with Scary Mommy and how thankful I was to Jill for giving me that chance, I started to become overwhelmed with emotion. My voice cracked.
āWorking with Jill changed my life and helped me get this role, which I can honestly say is my dream job,ā I managed to say from within an emotional fog.
āSo this is the guy we have leading our mostly comedy brand? The guy who called out a senior salesperson at the start of his presentation for dissing his podunk town and then teared up when talking about his first freelance job? Okay thenā¦ This outta be interesting.ā
Alright cool so thatās me. Looking forward to working with you all. Letās talk about The Dadā¦
Right off the bat I introduced The Dad voice via "Brand taglines we consideredā¦ā
This is what modern fatherhood looks like.
We make the stuff you share with other dads.
Entertainment for guys with kids.
Tell dad jokes; donāt be the dad joke.
Not just a mom site with the pronouns switched.
And then one more that I wonāt say here because it was just a jab at a competitor dad brand. It was meant to be a joke that might get some laughs. But it gotā¦ NOTHING. Crickets. I looked over at our senior leadership team, one of whom Iād later find owned equity in the competitor brand. Their faces were likeā¦
I wrapped with the plan: The Dad would launch on November 1.
I handed the microphone back to my boss, Paul (COO), and I noticed my hands were shaking from nerves. Paul was probably second guessing ALL of his hiring decisions.
I walked to the back feeling like that was one of the worst presentations Iāve ever given.
Paul tried to lighten the mood in the room. āJust want you all to know that Joel actually isnāt THAT old he just has prematurely gray hair!ā He was right, it got laughs. āThanks Paul!ā I yelled from the back.
āWeāll all be seeing more of Joel here in the office. Heāll be here every week while we get The Dad started.ā
Nick and Ben looked at me and said āWhat? Did you know about that?ā
I had NO idea. I said āNope. Laura is gonna divorce me.ā
So apparently Iād be traveling to NYC more often. Iād be seeing lots of more frequent flier miles and also lots of high heels. Finally.