Clarity Compressed with Paul J. Daly

I had a conversation about a brand experience I just couldn’t ignore. More than that, I couldn’t bear NOT sharing it with you because of it’s timely relevance. I’m excited to introduce you to my friend and colleague, the 25 year old D.P. (Director of Photography) at my agency Congruent. I didn’t have him as a guest just because he’s cool and more in touch with the modern retail experience than mos...

Every company starts with a story. Usually that story revolves around a person and a problem they are out to solve. Today is no different. When I spent some time with Carvana CEO, Ernie Garcia a while back we saved a good portion of the interview to release after the initial segment. To be honest, I think this is the better part. This is where we talk about the human side of the publicly traded CV...

On this week’s show I thought it was a good idea to bring it back to basics…one camera, one voice, one mic and one goal. To have you walk away with one small moment of clarity you can deploy TODAY in order to move closer to person you want to be. I’ve found that a broad sense of “clarity” rarely comes at once. It is typically the culmination of many smaller moments of clarity over time. Those are...

One thing I’ve learned throughout my life is that leadership is not a respecter of industry, age, situation or just about anything else. Leaders understand how to serve. Leaders are experts at empathy. Most of all, leaders are not afraid of engaging the conflict required to make forward progress. My guest today, Kevin Frye, is currently the Marketing Director of one of the largest, most progressiv...

It’s been two weeks and I’m STILL having flashbacks about how awesome ClarityCon 2019 was… seriously! I know I touched on the event last week, and how empathy was a key theme across all the speakers, BUT... this week I wanted to share the overall experience that people had. Brand is my OBSESSION. I know that it takes more than just a leader to brand well, it takes a team. People NEED to be on the...

Phew… My very first live event, ClarityCon 2019. went down last and it was a HUGE success. Looking back, it couldn’t have imagined it going much better. The speakers, attendees and my team walked away with some more vision and clarity for what it looked like to be better. I was surprised by how honest people became. The key ingredient is the center of this weeks show…Empathy. The format involved a...

If you want to do something that’s worth anything, you can’t get FANCY, you can’t get LAZY, you can’t get ENTITLED, you can’t stop being empathetic to those on the journey with you. Oh, and by the way, it’s INCREDIBLY difficult. This is just the way it is in life. I’m in the same boat and I’m feeling every bit of it today. That’s ok, because I don’t EXPECT it to be easy. All my experience in life...

P.S. I’m thrilled to announce that my first live event ClarityCon 2019 will take place in Rochester, NY in just 2 weeks on May 8th. It offers a national lineup of speakers from the automotive industry that want to help people and businesses grow, with forward thinking. I hope to see you there! ( www.claritycon.app ) P.S.S. I also have a book releasing TOMORROW: The Automotive Manifesto . Find out...

Isn’t if funny how we obsess over controlling all the things we can’t, yet often ignore the one thing we can. The one thing you can always control is your decision. I had the chance to head down to NYC to speak at the DrivingSales President’s Club this week and it really had me considering what keeps people from being innovative. As I thought more about it, I realized that most people see innovati...

What are conventions great for? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again … CONNECTION. When people are in the same room, they talk, and when they talk, both parties win. Fresh perspectives, new ideas, shared tools, newfound knowledge, you name it, it’s there. Digital Dealer 26 was a great opportunity to wrap with tons of people in the automotive industry and grow. One of the companies I ran into...

There are few people over the last 5 years of my life that have personally given me more clarity than this weeks guest. His name is Mike Lynch and he happens to be my therapist. Let’s face it, we all have issues that blur our vision and judgement at times. Most times, they aren’t business issues or personal issues or coworker issues or relationship issues…they are HUMAN ISSUES. Listen in as Mike a...

Have you ever found yourself exhausted from being neck deep on so many different fronts? I surely have. The funny thing is that all the things you are doing could even be good, positive and engaging things. Yet, you can still get tired and that’s ok. This weeks podcast is a quick shot where I dig into this balance and also get a little old school some quick and easy strategies for getting the most...

It seems the word "disruption" is thrown around pretty loosely these days. Ernie Garcia legitimately disrupted one of the largest retail industries in the USA. Automotive. Our conversation spans from cars to startup culture to personal legacy. One of my favorite parts of the interview is when I asked him to tell me about the moment when he realized Carvana was going to work. You’ll have...

What’s the difference between crazy and eccentric? Today’s guest will help you consider the answer. We talk about his huge collection of custom Nikes (I knew I liked him), his 22,000 gallon koi pond you have to cross on a glass walkway in order to get into his Lexus dealership. I’m really looking forward to introducing you to him. Peter Cooper owns Lexus of Lehigh Valley, winner of the prestigious...

I've said it again, and again, and again, and again. Your brand is not your logo. Your brand is not the name of your company. Your brand is a feeling that gives someone a reason to do business with you. BowTie Terrance is the epitome of a personal brand, especially for my friends in automotive. This man knows we live in a world where personal connection is key and when he found himself sellin...

This is the last podcast I’ll make in my 30’s as I enter my next decade of life. If I were to pass on just one lesson I learned in my 30s, I would tell you to GET HONEST with yourself as soon as possible. Honesty IS clarity. Sure, it's easy to wish the clarity came earlier, but the reality is that I needed to go through everything I did to bring me to the point where I could see it. The point...

Imagine what it would be like if your organization was able to deliver an amazing customer experience BY delivering an amazing employee experience. Claude Silver, the Chief Heart Officer at Vayner X spent a little time with talking about what it looks like when people begin to feel free in their workplace. Perhaps it is fitting that I could see the Statue of Liberty from her office. But, don’t let...

If anyone ever had a good excuse for a business to fail, it would be the guy selling VW beetles to West Texas Cowboys. BUT, just the opposite happened. A few weeks ago I went all the way to Amarillo Texas and had the privilege of talking to John Luciano , the newly named Volkswagen Global Brand Ambassador, about what it was like opening the first VW dealer in 27 years in a small Texas market. John...

What started as a 12 part content series for dealers around Dale Pollak’s book Like I See It turned into a weekly audio AND video podcast that has generated tens of thousands of views and interactions, speaking engagements and an overall forward momentum in the auto industry and beyond when it comes to better branding, marketing, operations and CONNECTION. . . . Upcoming Speaking Appearances: Driv...

It's true, people just don’t care about you. They don’t want to hear about your 50th anniversary. They don’t really care that your Great-Great-Great Grandpappy founded the company. They don’t want you to tell them about all the awards you’ve won. They certainly don’t believe that you are “different”. It isn’t that these things aren’t good things. It's just that until you do the hard work...

There are certain moments where things just come together. This past week was one of them as I spent 6 days in San Francisco for the National Auto Dealers Association annual convention . It became evident very quickly that my message of CLARITY is incredibly timely to the automotive industry, especially as it pertains to branding. The seismic shift in consumer demands has finally caught up. Consum...

You know those moments when something you’ve been feeling or saying gets validated by some other credible source? Well that was the story of my day at Gary Vaynerchuck ’s Agent2021 conference. The topic? You guessed it… BRAND. There is no shortcut. There is no hack. Those who put in the work will disproportionately win in the next 2-4 years of the internet. Whether you are an Auto Dealer, influenc...

For the first (and probably last time) in my life, the words “Who are you, Barbara Walters?!” were spoken to me. They came from this week’s guest, Jim Fitzpatrick, CEO of the CBT News Network and the Atlanta Small Business Network when I started asking him questions about his legacy. Because that is really what drives a person. Ok, that is what SHOULD drive a person. It is what has driven the most...

We often get in situations where we feel like we are a hostage to our situation. Consumer behaviors. Volatile markets. The political climate. Our financial outlook. AND THEN, there are all the things that really go deeper…our relationships. Our spouse or significant other. Our kids. Our friends. Our co-workers. Our social media followers…and on and on and on. Let me be very direct with you. You ar...

Will 2019 be a year of CLARITY or just more fog? We’re ringing in the new year right for 2019. A new name, renewed trajectory and the desire to make this next year the clearest, most fulfilling year yet. I hope that you are gearing up to do the same. Why? Because we are all in the fight together. So many times we make “resolutions” which are really nothing more than a dream. The best-intentioned w...