Julie Weeks
Hello! I’m the community marketing manager for the Kansas City region at Arvest Bank.
I’m a seasoned marketing professional with a passion for storytelling and community engagement, which has been a focus throughout my 25-year career. As the Kansas City Community Marketing Manager at Arvest Bank, I’m dedicated to fostering local partnerships and driving marketing initiatives to advance Arvest’s vision to be a community growth engine. I spearhead community marketing initiatives aligned with the bank’s growth objectives, emphasizing community engagement strategies that elevate Arvest’s brand awareness and cultivate community preference.
My past experience includes a significant time at Boulevard Brewing Company, where I grew the tour and visitor programs and community engagement. I played a key strategic role as the marketing communications manager during the brewery’s acquisition and oversaw company communications, public relations and consumer business on-site, ensuring Boulevard remained rooted in its hometown.
Always fascinated by how different industries engage with their consumers, I’ve also held positions at several Kansas City-based marketing agencies throughout my career, serving local, regional, and national clients with a focus on client services and public relations. Some of my favorite projects include PR lead for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day walks across the country, heading client strategy and direction for dozens of senior living communities, and developing media and community relations plans for clients in the pet food industry.
One of my proudest accomplishments is being a founding member of the Boulevardia board. I currently serve as an advisory board member of WIN for KC, am a member of the Kansas City Irish Fest committee, and volunteer with Lead to Read. Previously, I’ve served as a working board member for Warrior’s Best Friend, a committee event lead with TedxKC, a member of the Kansas City Irish Fest board of directors, the PR lead for Jazzoo, and two multi-year stints on the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association board of directors.
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-Transcript-
Brad Burrow (00:01):
Welcome to In A World With Real Media. I’m your host, Brad Burrow. In this podcast, we’ll dive into the lives of the most successful people in business. We’ll learn how they overcame adversity, took advantage of opportunities and learned from their experiences. Learn from our experts, get inspired, then go live your story. It’s in a world with real media. Hello and welcome to In A World with Real Media. I’m your host, Brad Burrow, and today we have Julie Weeks. She is the vice president and community marketing manager for our Vest Bank. And that’s just one of the many things that Julie has done. So Julie, thank you so much for being on the podcast.
Julie Weeks (00:44):
Thank you so much for having me. I’m looking forward to our chat today.
Brad Burrow (00:47):
Yeah. So you’ve been here quite a bit with Casey Studio. You guys are supporting Casey Studio. That podcast is doing really great, by the way.
Julie Weeks (00:55):
It has been wonderful and I have learned so much about stops along the streetcar that I did not know. Fun little facts. So it’s been really fun to listen to.
Brad Burrow (01:04):
And a little shout out to Michael.
Julie Weeks (01:05):
Yes. He is the best.
Brad Burrow (01:07):
He is the best. I just am hoping to be as good as a host as he is.
Julie Weeks (01:13):
He does an
Brad Burrow (01:13):
Awesome job.
Julie Weeks (01:14):
I got to tell you, I actually spent some time yesterday. I think I have three chapters left of his book and I just have loved everyone. Everyone, I’m laughing and it’s been fun.
Brad Burrow (01:23):
He is, I don’t want to make this podcast about Michael, but he’s such a good writer.
Julie Weeks (01:28):
He is such a good writer and such a good … I love his curiosity and his ability to really, even in some of the most challenging of interviews, be able to pull it together and make a really good conversation happen.
Brad Burrow (01:43):
So we are doing his book on audiobook versions. So that’ll
Julie Weeks (01:47):
Be
Brad Burrow (01:47):
Out not too long. I think we’re about finished with it.
Julie Weeks (01:50):
I feel like I’m going to have to listen to that too, to hear it from his voice.
Brad Burrow (01:54):
And it is his voice too, by the way. And the way he reads, the way he speaks the text is pretty fun.
Julie Weeks (02:01):
Oh, cannot wait. How fun.
Brad Burrow (02:03):
Anyway, so let’s talk about you.
Julie Weeks (02:05):
Okay. Thank you
Brad Burrow (02:06):
So much for being on the podcast too, by the way. This was really fun. So for every guest, I try to do a little research and find out what backgrounds are like. And so the first thing I wanted to ask you, and you have an incredible background. Oh, thank you. And you’ve done a lot of really cool things.
Julie Weeks (02:22):
Been around the block a few times.
Brad Burrow (02:24):
Yeah. But tell me, so you’re from Denver originally?
Julie Weeks (02:27):
Yeah, from Denver. Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, and then went to school at Colorado State in Fort Collins, Fort Fun as we like to call it.
Brad Burrow (02:35):
Yeah.
Julie Weeks (02:36):
And yeah, my goal since I was five was I really wanted to be the next Katie Couric. So went to school and-
Brad Burrow (02:44):
I think I saw that you were a reporter
Julie Weeks (02:45):
Like your first job. Is that right? So I studied broadcasting, broadcast journalism and worked at the student station, both the TV and radio stations and just had an incredible experience doing all of that. And then yes, I graduated and the Monday after graduation I drove my new Beatle to Sioux City, Iowa. Is that right? And yeah, did a stint as a one man band TV reporter anchor for just under a year.
Brad Burrow (03:12):
That was your first job?
Julie Weeks (03:13):
That was my first job. Wow. Yes. Yeah. Wow. And it was quite an experience. Culture
Brad Burrow (03:18):
Shock a little bit.
Julie Weeks (03:18):
It was a culture shock, yes. I didn’t realize, I think growing up in Denver, everyone always talks about all the mountains and I’m like, yeah, I mean, they’re just part of the landscape. And now every time I go home, I’m like, oh, the mountains.
(03:31):
So yeah, it was a very much different type of city than I had been used to living in, but I really loved it. I got a lot of great opportunities and experiences and sadly I wasn’t making very much back then as a TV reporter. And once my college loans kicked in, I had to really kind of dig deep to decide, is this something I’m able to keep doing? I already had a part-time job on top of my TV gig and I eventually made the decision that I was going to go a different route and try and do storytelling in a different way.
Brad Burrow (04:04):
Yeah. So one of the things that you are passionate about is storytelling
Julie Weeks (04:06):
And
Brad Burrow (04:07):
Where did that come from?
Julie Weeks (04:09):
I’ve always loved hearing people’s experiences and I feel like we can all learn from each other and just hopefully get some wisdom from others too and what they’ve gone through. And so I think that’s just always been something that’s been of interest to me is really helping tell people’s stories too. I think there’s a lot of people that have so many great stories and they don’t always get heard. So if there’s ways that I can help do that, that’s certainly something that’s always been of interest.
Brad Burrow (04:38):
The podcasting era is so amazing for that, isn’t it?
Julie Weeks (04:42):
It sure is. There’s
Brad Burrow (04:43):
So many things that you can learn just from, you can read, but seeing somebody actually speaking or reading the tone and the way it’s delivered, it’s just so powerful.
Julie Weeks (04:54):
It is so powerful. Yeah. I’m here for it for sure. My podcast list continues to grow and so luckily I take my dogs on lots of walks, so lots of time to listen to them.
Brad Burrow (05:05):
We’re dog friendly here, by the way.
Julie Weeks (05:06):
I know.
Brad Burrow (05:07):
Yeah. Michael, he’s helping me with some LinkedIn stuff and he’s like, “We got to post about the dogs.”
Julie Weeks (05:14):
It’ll be the best. The best posts you have, I bet. Yes, definitely.
Brad Burrow (05:18):
So we all have dogs and on occasion they all are here at the same
Julie Weeks (05:22):
Time. At the same time.
Brad Burrow (05:23):
Which is kind of crazy.
Julie Weeks (05:24):
I bet. I bet. But it’s so interesting. I’ve worked at a few places that have allowed dogs to come in either one at a time or chaos and everyone can bring them in whenever. But there’s something about having a dog around you that just, I don’t know, it helps bring your stress level down a little bit. And I always love the opportunity to pet a dog whenever I can at an office. So I appreciate that you have it.
Brad Burrow (05:50):
Yeah. There’s something calming about it. Our dogs, it’s chaos for about 15 minutes
Julie Weeks (05:54):
And
Brad Burrow (05:55):
They’re good.
Julie Weeks (05:55):
They figure it all out. Yeah.
Brad Burrow (05:57):
Yeah. It’s pretty fun. So you spent 25 years focused on storytelling, but with community engagement too, that’s been a big part at Boulevard and even some of the agencies and the things that you’ve done. I mean, what kind of brought those two intersections together?
Julie Weeks (06:14):
Yeah, that’s a great question. I think really probably starting off even my first role here in Kansas City, I worked for Sturgis Word, which was a boutique PR and design agency, Melissa Sturgis, who I adore and still consider her a wonderful mentor. They’re not around anymore. They’ve just wrapped up I think about a year ago. Oh, okay. Yeah. So I think she’s doing some consulting on the side, but starting to creep towards retirement a little bit, as much as Melissa can. Makes sense. Yeah.
(06:44):
But even then, I think I noticed the importance of giving back and especially from a PR perspective, anytime that you can contribute to the community, that’s usually a good feeling. The news might not always cover it, but as long as that’s not why your intentions, then I think everyone leaves feeling good and feeling like they’ve been able to help neighbors and help the community deepen. And community to me is such an important part of life. I’m very much a people person and I love my communities and I want to make sure that I can be as involved as I can and give back in ways that I can. I think John McDonald, also the founder of Boulevard very much instilled in me and I’m sure everyone else at Boulevard, when he was first starting the brewery, it was hard to get people to want to try a new type of beer, a craft beer in such a domestic- He was
Brad Burrow (07:41):
Kind of at the beginning of that, right?
Julie Weeks (07:43):
Yeah, he was. Yes. Yeah. He started it. The whole industry’s exploded. It is wild. Yeah. But for him, since day one, it was always important that we donated beer to events and while the pocketbook maybe wasn’t as large as some sponsors had hoped, we could always provide beer and even just that and the fact that he always wanted to do the right thing, I think very much shaped that desire for me.
Brad Burrow (08:09):
So you’re at Arvest now. Yes. We’re going to kind of bounce around a little bit here, but Arvest has a vision, you can correct me if I’m wrong, but a community growth engine. Yes.
Julie Weeks (08:21):
Okay.
Brad Burrow (08:23):
So your background’s kind of perfect for that it seems like. I pinch
Julie Weeks (08:25):
Myself every day. I’ve loved every moment of Arvest. And yes, I felt like when this opportunity was presented to me after doing some research on Arvest myself and seeing that, that was so important for them to be involved in the community, that was really what excited me about the role and the opportunity. And I had before that was doing a remote job for about a year and a half and just really learned during that time how much I need people. That’s
Brad Burrow (08:54):
Tough, right? When you’re
Julie Weeks (08:56):
Not around people all the time. It was really hard. It was hard for me. I know some people really thrive in that and I thank goodness they do and they’re able to be efficient and I just found myself being pretty lonely even though my two dogs and my husband works from home. I got some interaction, but yeah, just missed really being part of Kansas City specifically in the community.
Brad Burrow (09:17):
So this opportunity came up and you’re like, “This is for me. ”
Julie Weeks (09:20):
I was like, “I think I got to at least have a conversation about it. ” And luckily the conversation went well both ways and yeah, so have been loving it ever since.
Brad Burrow (09:29):
So one of the questions that I have is how do you approach building local partnerships that feel authentic rather than transactional? And the thing about that I think a lot of people is like, this is a formula that I need to go out and meet this many and maybe bankers are really, really focused on that, but you don’t feel like that. You feel like to me like you’re somebody that’s really genuinely … I remember when I first met you here for the Casey Studio podcast
Julie Weeks (09:57):
And
Brad Burrow (09:58):
I really did feel like you were genuinely interested in what we were doing, what we were doing for Casey Studio and that’s a skill I think that’s missed.
Julie Weeks (10:08):
Well, that’s very kind of you. Yes. I feel like, and I think I learned a lot of this, I would give credit to Boulevard again and then also my time at Barkley. I was in their PR department too and Barkley, the thing I loved during my time there was they really focused a lot on cause marketing and so that again is kind of how are you giving back or who are you partnering with? And I think what I learned with both of those different eras of my profession and something I really, it’s important to me at Arvest too is to make sure that you’re partnering with the community, the organizations that you can really partner with and it’s not just giving over a check. To me, a check is what we call a sponsorship, but how can we be a true partner? How can we help elevate your cause or your company more than just a check?
(11:03):
So we’ve actually been really lucky we are in our first year of a partnership with the Kansas City Current and that has been super fun, but during, I’d say our dating period of negotiating and determining what would be the right fit for us, you really get to know those people and do they have the same values that your organization does and do they see this as a partnership, something you can collaborate on different things about outside of just whatever digital ads you might get on the kiosk or seats to a game, all of that is great and obviously financial support for them is important, but can we do things together that will truly make a difference in the community? And I feel really lucky that the leadership at Arvest very much looks at it through that lens too and I feel like that’s something that we did a lot at Boulevard too, especially the Royals partnership is one that comes to mind.
(12:01):
It was a lot more than, okay, we’re partners, but how can we collaborate together? Can we make a beer for you? How can we help elevate your brand maybe to an audience, obviously the Royals, the current, a lot of people see them, but maybe there’s a deeper understanding of those organizations thanks to things that we’re doing to help promote them in our day-to-day business.
Brad Burrow (12:24):
Now were you at Boulevard won the World Series?
Julie Weeks (12:28):
I was, yes. Goosebumps.
Brad Burrow (12:30):
Yeah. Tell me about that. I bet that was very exciting.
Julie Weeks (12:33):
It was exciting and I actually got to go to one of the games. It was, I will never forget now I’m getting like major goosebumps. Driving up to Kaufman and for the ticket attendant to say, “Welcome to the World Series and hand you that rally towel.” And it was like, the World Series, it was wonderful and I think that the great thing about the partnership between Boulevard and the Royals is that when we first started, the Royals weren’t on a winning streak, but we really wanted to be part of that team anyway and really just be part of the experience that people have when they go to Kaufman Stadium. So when you do have those moments of championship, it’s just that much sweeter that the partnership is already there.
Brad Burrow (13:16):
No doubt. I bet that was a very fun time.
Julie Weeks (13:20):
It was. I mean, it’s fun for
Brad Burrow (13:21):
All of us
Julie Weeks (13:21):
Obviously. Sure. Yeah. We’re a big
Brad Burrow (13:23):
Baseball family. We love
Julie Weeks (13:24):
Baseball,
Brad Burrow (13:24):
But that obviously was an incredible time.
Julie Weeks (13:28):
And it’s been fun. The players are all so great. We had the opportunity. Alex Gordon gave us one full day of his to come to the brewery once and take pictures and do some social media videos and they’re just so generous with their time and we’re finding that with the current as well. We had two of the players out last week were doing a fundraiser for harvesters. And so they came and made an appearance and just engaging and interactive with everyone that was there. But I think part of that too is us making sure they feel at ease and that they truly feel like they’re part of us too.
Brad Burrow (14:05):
Yeah. I just did a podcast with Jeremy McDowell who’s starting the new softball.
Julie Weeks (14:12):
Yes. The Casey Diamonds. The Diamonds, yes.
Brad Burrow (14:15):
So we’re going to have a couple of the players on the podcast probably next week, I think. But I’m excited about that. Yes, me too. That’d be fun. And excited about them too. There hasn’t been an outlet for softball players. After college, you’re pretty much done
Julie Weeks (14:29):
And
Brad Burrow (14:30):
Now they’re going to have a place where they can go play professionally.
Julie Weeks (14:33):
I feel like Kansas City has done such a great job embracing so many different sports. I feel lucky I get to, just this year also started, I’m on the win for KC board and really just learning so much about all the different athletic programs here in town from grade school all the way up, Casey Glory, the women’s football team. There’s so many that we have the opportunity to go learn and cheer on. So yeah, I feel lucky that we’re all in Kansas City right now.
Brad Burrow (15:06):
Are you on a lot of boards? Is that a big part of what you do?
Julie Weeks (15:09):
I used to be on more and I think what I’ve found is I really want to make sure I’m be able to give the boards and my job and life 100%. It’s a big
Brad Burrow (15:17):
Commitment to be on a board,
Julie Weeks (15:18):
Isn’t it? It can be, yeah. So I feel like if I can’t give it my all, then I don’t, someone else should have the opportunity. But yeah, throughout the years I was a founder of Boulevardia on the board, which-
Brad Burrow (15:31):
Okay. We got to talk
Julie Weeks (15:32):
About Boulevardia a litle bit too. It was incredible Irish Fest, which was a super fun experience too and yeah, have certainly tried to always volunteer. I feel like even if your day to day job isn’t filling your cup, there’s always other ways to fill your cup if you’re not getting that joy from work and I think being able to volunteer and be part of organizations that are near and dear to your heart is one way to do that.
Brad Burrow (15:57):
And banking, that’s a big deal,
Julie Weeks (15:59):
Right? It is. I mean,
Brad Burrow (16:00):
Bankers always want to be on the boards
Julie Weeks (16:02):
For a
Brad Burrow (16:02):
Variety of
Julie Weeks (16:03):
Reasons different.
Brad Burrow (16:04):
But that fits in very well
Julie Weeks (16:06):
With your current- It does. And they’re always so supportive, which is nice too. Arvest is very supportive of us being out there and volunteering and giving of our time.
Brad Burrow (16:15):
Yeah. That’s really cool. So tell me some of the boards that you’ve been on. I’m
Julie Weeks (16:19):
Really
Brad Burrow (16:20):
Curious to hear about some of these. So
Julie Weeks (16:22):
Obviously win for KC currently, which has been wonderful. So you’re currently
Brad Burrow (16:25):
On
Julie Weeks (16:25):
That board? Currently on that. Yep. Just started in January of this year. So yeah, that’s a new one. What a time to be on that board. It has been thrilling and yeah, I feel lucky I’ve been able to work with the sports commission a lot during my boulevard times just because we were either donating beer at the end of the race or we actually founded Revel Run with Win for KC. Jessica Blubaugh was the director at the time and she came to me and said, “We really want to do a women only race 5K. What do you think? Do you think Boulevard would partner with us?” And I thought, “Well, yeah, but can we make it a 6K kind of as a six pack, have a little tie in. ” So we did. We did a 6K. She said,
Brad Burrow (17:06):
Well, is that right?
Julie Weeks (17:07):
Yeah. But so obviously I’ve had the opportunity to work with Kathy Nelson and Dave and so many wonderful people at the sports commission. So it’s kind of a dream come true for me to finally be on the board and officially be able to serve them in that capacity.
Brad Burrow (17:21):
Kathy Nelson is a rockstar, right?
Julie Weeks (17:23):
Rockstar. Yes. I mean,
Brad Burrow (17:24):
She’s really changed. I mean, they got to make a statue downtown or
Julie Weeks (17:31):
Something for her. And
Brad Burrow (17:33):
She’s really done a great job.
Julie Weeks (17:34):
She sure has. And just everything to put the spotlight on Kansas City over the last several years has been really amazing.
Brad Burrow (17:42):
So are you doing anything for the World Cup? I mean, I’m sure you guys are involved in that in somewhat.
Julie Weeks (17:46):
Yeah. We’re taking some clients and we’re having just kind of a sports party, if you will, to celebrate this moment in Kansas City. I’m not volunteering there although it was hard to not sign up, but I feel like they’ve had so many people sign up that they’re in good shape.
Brad Burrow (18:03):
Oh, that’s good.
Julie Weeks (18:04):
But yeah, I’m excited to kind of be a spectator for it and just see what it does for our community.
Brad Burrow (18:11):
It’s going to be very interesting,
Julie Weeks (18:12):
Isn’t it? It is. I know. I know. It will be interesting and it’s here before we know it.
Brad Burrow (18:17):
Well, not to date the podcast too much, but we’re weeks out from … I think as a matter of fact, today, the day we’re recording the podcast, they’re announcing the US team who are the players on the US team today. So that’s kind of interesting. Oh,
Julie Weeks (18:32):
That’s exciting. Yeah. I’ll have to check that out.
Brad Burrow (18:35):
So we’re a host home for sporting Casey Academy kids and we have one of the boys living with us now, he’s actually signed a pro contract. So
Julie Weeks (18:46):
He
Brad Burrow (18:47):
Was telling me just a little side note, sporting is giving up a lot of their facilities
Julie Weeks (18:53):
For
Brad Burrow (18:53):
The World Cup team. So he’s going to be practicing with the pro team, but they’re having to practice at different places for … And I think MLS may be even taking a month off.
Julie Weeks (19:06):
I think there’s been a lot of that. Yeah. The current, the same thing. I think they’re moving out this week from the training training center. Everyone who offices out of there, they were telling us for the next month or so. Yeah.
Brad Burrow (19:20):
It’s going to be wild.
Julie Weeks (19:20):
It is. It is. Yes.
Brad Burrow (19:22):
I think we’ll stay out south.
Julie Weeks (19:24):
Yeah, I know. I feel lucky that yes, I could stay at home if I want to or I can go explore.
Brad Burrow (19:30):
Yeah. Yeah. So tell me, one of the questions I have for you, what lessons from the craft beer world have translated into banking?
Julie Weeks (19:42):
Right from beer to banking. I know. There you go. There’s your book. There you go. Yes, exactly. It’s funny, I think, and you and I talked a little bit about this, but the craft beer world very much is about relationships and Bo Sullivan, who was the VP of sales and marketing there for a very long time really reminded me and all of us of that just because of how great he was with relationships and how important he always said, it’s a relationship. And I think the way that Boulevard operates is very much … I mean, you want to be there. You want to be part of whatever … If you pour at a beer fest, you’re happy to be there to do that. If you’re hosting an event there, it’s fun because you’re letting people into the house. And so I think banking is very similar as in relationships are important.
(20:34):
You have to be able to trust who you’re giving your money to. And I think relationships has been something that’s always been important to me no matter what agency or industry I’ve been in. And what I’ve found now that I’m older is that so many of those relationships end up circling back. And I ran into a woman a few months ago at a chamber event who back in 2001 when I had just started at Sturgis Word, we were on the Public Relations Society of America, one of their committees together and we spent a lot of hours planning the Prism Awards and different events like that. And so to see her 25 years later and be able to kind of pick up where we left off was so fun. So I feel like especially in Kansas City, we’re a small community at the end of the day and so just nurturing those relationships has been important I think in any industry, but very much took that from both craft beer and even today in banking.
Brad Burrow (21:42):
So what is the common thing about you, Julie, that’s been the common thread? This is one of the things I was thinking about when I was thinking about what questions to ask you from the very beginning, Sioux City all the way through now, what’s the common thing that’s really been there in every position? Because you’ve had some pretty diverse type of experience.
Julie Weeks (22:04):
Yes, I have. I think it comes back to those two words, relationships, community and as long as my job has given me the opportunity to pursue both of those, I’ve really enjoyed it. And then there have been times where I’ve said, “This either isn’t the right fit for me or the company has evolved and maybe it’s time for me to go do something different.” I mean, in full transparency, I was at Boulevard three different times, for a total of 15 years-
Brad Burrow (22:34):
Well, I have the three different
Julie Weeks (22:35):
Titles. Yep. There you
Brad Burrow (22:37):
Go. Hospitality director,
Julie Weeks (22:39):
Great transition
Brad Burrow (22:40):
By the way. Marketing communications manager.
Julie Weeks (22:44):
And
Brad Burrow (22:44):
Tell me if I’m not saying it right.
Julie Weeks (22:45):
No, you’re doing it great. And then the
Brad Burrow (22:46):
VP of communications.
Julie Weeks (22:47):
Yes. Yeah. I mean, you
Brad Burrow (22:49):
Grew up
Julie Weeks (22:50):
And
Brad Burrow (22:50):
Came back and
Julie Weeks (22:51):
Came back. I did. Yeah. And it was- Did John call
Brad Burrow (22:53):
You and say, “Hey, I need you back here.”
Julie Weeks (22:55):
He did. He did do that once, yes. And yeah, no, when I started at Boulevard at the time I was really enjoying agency life, but I had gotten to a point where I really wanted to really dig into one specific company and so I felt like being able to do that with whatever company that was going to be was really my goal at the time and- As an agency
Brad Burrow (23:17):
World, you might be working with 10, 15 different companies
Julie Weeks (23:21):
At the same time. Yes. And a lot of different industries. Yeah. So for me, I kind of wanted to become an industry expert, if you will. And so Boulevard was looking for someone to actually kind of make their tour department bigger. At the time, this was back in 2003, we were giving one tour on Saturday afternoons at 1:30 and the way that you reserved your tour spot was you called a phone number and you left a voice message and you told us how many people you were going to bring. And then once we capped at about 30 people, we changed the voice message to this week’s tour is full, call back again. We hope to see you down the road. Is that right? Imagine. I know, right? And at the time, a lot of the tour volunteer, they were all volunteers and/or staff. Peyton Kelly, who was the creative director there for such a long time, would come in on a Saturday and he’d give a tour and then maybe you’d come back another time and Mike Youngquist, our production manager was giving the tour.
(24:21):
So anyway, so really the goal was there was so much demand. We wanted to be able to offer more opportunities for people to come and take that tour. So then we added a 3:30. Then we had one day, two tours and then we thought, gosh, well, if it works on Saturdays, maybe it would work on Sundays too. Let’s do the non-production days, brewing 24 hours a day. So people always saw some bit of the magic and then eventually grew it more and more during that first stint there. And then we built what is now not the new building, but I still always think of it as the new building, but the three story building where the brewhouse is now housed, the large on and with that came more event spaces. So my role really kind of morphed into tours, overseeing like our gift shop, our visitors experience if you will, but also overseeing all of the events.
(25:16):
At the time I was kind of going down a path where I felt like I was becoming more into event management, hospitality, hotel side would make a lot of sense versus that storytelling and really being engaged with the community on that level. I made the very hard decision to leave and I went to go work at Barkley. I was part of their PR team, which was incredible. I always say I got my master’s of PR on the job at Barclay just because I got so many great experiences and opportunities. Kind of thrown into the fire a litle bit. Definitely thrown into the fire. Yeah. But a few years down the road Boulevard came calling back social media had become a thing and when I left the first time, I said, “If you ever need someone in PR, I’m your girl. I want to be there.
(26:06):
I want to be able to tell Boulevard story as like the main focus of my job.” And sure enough, few years later, Jeremy Ragenese, another amazing mentor and boss of mine called and said, “Does that offer still stand?” Because I think now with this whole social media world, we do need someone to oversee communications and PR. So yeah, so went back in 2010 and got to live that incredible experience, got to be one of the individuals that really helped share the news about our joining the Duval family-
(26:42):
Big
Brad Burrow (26:42):
Deal.
Julie Weeks (26:42):
… which was a big deal and many, many late nights of planning and making sure that we were doing it the right way. And then yeah, down the road, 2018 came and I just felt like maybe I had done everything I could for the brewery and maybe it was time for me to let other people shine and do what they could and maybe explore something different. So yeah, left in 2018 after Boulevardia that year, could not miss not doing that.
Brad Burrow (27:12):
Yeah.
Julie Weeks (27:14):
And then yeah, unfortunately Boulevard went through a bit of a hard time at the end of 2020, early 2021 and a lot of leadership changes needed to happen and that’s when John McDonald called me and said, “Any chance you’d come back? I need to kind of write the ship a little bit and feel like you know what Boulevard means and you I’ve always bled Boulevard. I still do. ” And so I was like, “Absolutely. I would love the opportunity to help the new chapter for Boulevard.”
Brad Burrow (27:45):
Yeah, that’s awesome. That was probably a fun phone call.
Julie Weeks (27:48):
It was fun. It was fun. It was hard. They had gone through a lot and so there was a lot of emotions that people were having and it was definitely a rebuilding time, but they had great leaders. Bobby Dykst really helped kind of keep things going. He oversees all of the sales and marketing there. There’s a lot of people that have been at Boulevard for a long time and so it’s important to me that they love where they’re going to work. So it was fulfilling to be able to help that come back after a time that didn’t feel like that for some people.
Brad Burrow (28:24):
So an observation that I’m making as we’re speaking, you seem like a person that once you get bored that like you have to have something and tell me if I’m wrong, but I feel like
Julie Weeks (28:37):
You’re
Brad Burrow (28:37):
Somebody that’s like, “I’ve got to have something I’m working towards in your day to day job.”
Julie Weeks (28:41):
Would you agree with that? I think that I would definitely agree with that. When I was at Boulevard the second time, I was there for eight years and I really thought that was where I was going to be. I really had not jumped around too much before then. And then when I decided to leave, then I did do some jumping because I was having lunch with another former Boulevardian and he said, “If your job isn’t bringing you joy or fulfilling you in some way at least half the time, then maybe it’s not the right job.”
Brad Burrow (29:15):
There’s wisdom in that.
Julie Weeks (29:16):
There really is. And that stuck with me a lot. And so I went to a few different agencies in between and I worked as hard as I could and many, many hours, but if it got to a point where I just wasn’t feeling like I was getting joy out of doing the work, then I thought maybe this is better for someone else and maybe my joy will be at a different profession, which was hard for me. I don’t like to quit. I’m not a quitter, but then you look at my resume and yeah, I have quit several times.
Brad Burrow (29:52):
Well, I think that people are all different. Some people can work at a job for 30 years Yeah. And be happy. I think as you get older, you start looking at things a little bit differently. And it’s like the joy that you’re talking about and the drive and the ambition and I want to make a difference. All those things start becoming more important to you.
Julie Weeks (30:19):
Completely.
Brad Burrow (30:20):
Now here I’m talking, I started real media in 97.
Julie Weeks (30:24):
Which is amazing.
Brad Burrow (30:26):
But the thing about, I think our situation is that we get to do a lot of different things and we get to help a lot of different people and there’s something gratifying about that.
Julie Weeks (30:36):
Definitely.
Brad Burrow (30:38):
More along the agency kind of feel.
Julie Weeks (30:40):
Yes.
Brad Burrow (30:41):
But when you see your work really impacting fundraising for an organization or they’re having success because of something that you’ve done, there’s nothing quite that feels quite as good as
Julie Weeks (30:52):
That. So true. And that brings up to me something that is not always my favorite thing to think through, but when I left Boulevard in 2018, I went through a little bit of an identity crisis, I think, because I always would be like, “Hi, I’m Julie from Boulevard.” And it just was like, I don’t know. It was my identity. And that same year, this is so silly, but I also crashed my Beetle, which I had had a Beatle, three different Beatles ever since college. So that was also a bit of my identity. And so with both of those things gone, I really had to start redetermining what do I need to align myself with? Do people care I’m at Boulevard? I don’t know. They might, they might not, but I need my identity to be my own and I can’t just lean on what I’m giving a lot of my time to a job as my soul identity.
(31:48):
And it took me a little while to kind of work through that. How
Brad Burrow (31:51):
Did you work through that?
Julie Weeks (31:53):
It was hard. I went through a few different jobs that just weren’t the right culture fit. And then COVID happened and I really, that’s where I feel like I kind of reminded myself the importance of being involved in the community to if it’s not the job, then how can I volunteer and who can I volunteer with that will at least make me feel like I’m helping the community be better in some way?
Brad Burrow (32:20):
Yeah. Where were you when COVID happened?
Julie Weeks (32:23):
I was at Glen Evans, which was an ad agency for senior living, which was- All
Brad Burrow (32:29):
Places to be
Julie Weeks (32:30):
When
Brad Burrow (32:30):
COVID hits.
Julie Weeks (32:31):
I mean, that was
Brad Burrow (32:32):
Probably-
Julie Weeks (32:33):
It was wild. It was wild. And we had senior living establishments that we did marketing for throughout the country. Yeah, it was a challenging time. I think really that was probably a bit of the grind that at the end of my time at Glen Devans, I just decided I needed something different and it wasn’t quite bringing that joy. Well, that would
Brad Burrow (32:57):
Be mentally true.
Julie Weeks (32:58):
Which was hard. Yeah, it was hard. Because
Brad Burrow (33:01):
All of those facilities were struggling.
Julie Weeks (33:03):
They were and finances changed. A lot of their money went from marketing to making sure they had the right equipment and masks and gloves. So I think it was a challenging time for the agency as well, just trying to reimagine, do we stay in just this sector? Do we look into different other focuses? So it was definitely a transitional time for that agency.
Brad Burrow (33:26):
COVID was a hard time for lots of companies. I
Julie Weeks (33:31):
Remember- How was it for you?
Brad Burrow (33:32):
Well, it was tough. I don’t know. I think by God’s grace, we made it through, honestly, but we did have a lot of things stop. I had some clients that were retainer clients that stuck with us that helped us tremendously, but we immediately kind of figured out how to do remote work. And so I went out and bought these big, big portable hard drive systems for our editors and stuff and everybody left. And I would be the only one that would come in every day because I could find files and get them to them and that kind of thing. But I just remember coming in here and just so weird driving into work, no cars
Julie Weeks (34:13):
On the highway. Yes. But I
Brad Burrow (34:15):
Would come in every day and try to hold things down a
Julie Weeks (34:19):
Little bit,
Brad Burrow (34:20):
But it was crazy.
Julie Weeks (34:21):
It was. Crazy time. It really was. Yeah. I mean, I think we all learned a lot about what is important to us during that time. And
Brad Burrow (34:29):
A lot of people, like you said, do like remote working. I personally don’t like it either. I have to be around people. I get energy from being around people.
Julie Weeks (34:37):
Exactly. Same. You’re probably the same way, aren’t you? I’m exactly the same way. Yes.
Brad Burrow (34:41):
Yeah.
Julie Weeks (34:41):
Yep.
Brad Burrow (34:41):
Yeah. And I can’t imagine working, being with your wife or your husband
Julie Weeks (34:48):
Twenty
Brad Burrow (34:48):
Four seven would be,
Julie Weeks (34:49):
That’s
Brad Burrow (34:49):
An adjustment for a lot of people.
Julie Weeks (34:51):
Definitely. It is. Yes. My husband was very patient with me, that’s for sure.
Brad Burrow (34:55):
Well, I love my wife too, but I’m not sure we could be together twenty four seven every day.
Julie Weeks (35:00):
Good to have a little something to break it up, for sure. Yeah.
Brad Burrow (35:03):
So really, really interesting. So one of the questions I have, and we have a few more, so we’re doing really awesome, but what from your agency background has really helped you with what you’re doing right now? Because agencies approach things differently.
Julie Weeks (35:19):
They do. Yes. I mean, I think really adapting adapting to a situation where maybe it’s not going as you thought it was going to plan or how it’s planned, being able to- Rarely does it go
Brad Burrow (35:31):
Help, right?
Julie Weeks (35:32):
Exactly. Yes. I think work ethic, that’s something that’s super important to me. I’m going to give it my all. And I think with agencies, you have to give it your all because clients are depending on you and you also are holding the reputation of that agency in your work. So being able to also fake it till you make it sometimes. I think we probably all do that at some capacity in our lives and I think there were certain times at agencies where I’m like, “Oh, I’ve never done this before, but I’m going to act confident and I’m going to figure it out and I will just continue that until I actually do know exactly what it is I’m doing.”
Brad Burrow (36:18):
Yeah, that’s very true. I think for us, I say yes a lot and then we figure it out. I mean, we’ve grown for that reason and got a lot of different capability for that reason, but it’s not always easy.
Julie Weeks (36:35):
It is not. Sometimes
Brad Burrow (36:36):
You’re making a lot of mistakes. Podcasting, for example, I just wanted to learn podcasting. So I started doing a podcasting with a friend and we did a hundred episodes. I’m like, “Okay, we can start doing this. ” And then this thing’s evolved to where we are now, but we made a lot of mistakes and learned from those mistakes. Okay, don’t do it this way, don’t do it this way and we’re still learning and that’s the way I think you innovate as a business.
Julie Weeks (37:06):
Absolutely.
Brad Burrow (37:08):
It’s
Julie Weeks (37:08):
Okay
Brad Burrow (37:08):
To
Julie Weeks (37:08):
Make mistakes. I was going to say, learn from your mistakes and yeah, build on it, change what you need to. But to your point, yes, it is okay to make mistakes and I think that it goes kind of back to when I thought I’d be Katie Couric, all of a sudden when I’m like, “Well, now what am I going to do if I’m not a reporter, that was my life plan.” And yeah, so you got to learn to pivot and embrace new challenges and new goals.
Brad Burrow (37:33):
Yeah. So here’s a good question for you and we’ve talked about this a little bit, but in today’s society and especially with the younger generation coming up, relationships aren’t nearly as critical like face-to-face. Now I might play a game with you or I might see you on Instagram or I might do Snapchat. I still haven’t figured out Snapchat by the way, but you’re approaching, I don’t want to say old school, but you’re still-
Julie Weeks (38:05):
I am.
Brad Burrow (38:05):
You’re focusing on the personal relationship side of things. Are you being pushed, I guess, more towards what we’re doing in society
Julie Weeks (38:18):
Now? I think, yeah, and it’s interesting as I was thinking about my profession and my career over this, when I did TV, the internet was not, you weren’t doing a story for the website, you weren’t posting it on social. You were literally just doing your package for the day and I think about that a lot. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from the generations coming up, but I hope that I’ve been able to teach them a few things too about things that are important to continue doing that do feel a little more old school. Everyone talks about AI and what jobs are even going to be around in 10 years from now. Well, AI will probably do a lot of things, but one thing AI cannot do is have that human interaction and that human relationship. Ding,
Brad Burrow (39:04):
Ding, ding,
Julie Weeks (39:05):
Ding, ding. That’s right. So it’s one of those exactly right. I think it’s important just to remember, let’s use technology how we can to be better, but it can’t be everything and it is. It’s different. My heart goes out to the kids that had to do remote learning during COVID and that’ll, I think, continue to be an interesting case study that I’m sure lots of different organizations are following and just how that lack of interaction really did impact them and continues to today. But yeah, I mean, I think my team’s a lot younger than me that I currently have. They’ve taught me a lot of things, but I think I’ve taught them too like, “Hey, did you hear from so- and-so?” And they’re like, “Well, we emailed and no, never heard back.” And I was like, “Did you try calling?” And it’s like-
Brad Burrow (39:54):
What’s that?
Julie Weeks (39:54):
Oh, well, no, because for them that’s just not been the norm, right? But I was like, “Well, let’s just do it together. Let’s try calling and see if they pick up.” And it’s kind of rewarding for them I think too to be like, “Oh, we’ll see. Okay. Maybe my email got buried or whatever.” But if you can just catch someone and have that human conversation for two minutes, a lot of times you can get a lot solved.
Brad Burrow (40:19):
How’s that changing your marketing strategy? I’m really curious that, and I’ll just give you a little bit of background on us. I’ve tried lots of different things and we’ve evolved, but everybody’s like, “Oh, email marketing, all this stuff.” I don’t think email marketing works that great, honestly. I think people just click, delete, delete, delete, delete. So I think that our attention spans are, and what we pay attention to is changing maybe daily.
Julie Weeks (40:50):
I completely agree.
Brad Burrow (40:51):
And so from a marketing standpoint,
Julie Weeks (40:53):
What
Brad Burrow (40:54):
Do you do to stay on top of
Julie Weeks (40:54):
That?
(40:56):
It’s hard because you do want to make sure you’re still using those same strategies that have worked. You want to be supporting publications that you have seen or at least have your target audience that are reading them or clicking on their website. Casey Studio would be an example of that. Casey Studio would be a great example of that, but you do have to kind of learn, okay, well, if that isn’t working, what else can we layer on top of? Not get rid of completely kind of the layers that you’ve started with, but yeah, can you try a new campaign that’s a text campaign for something? And to your point, yeah, it’s funny, my colleagues, some of them laugh. They’re like, “I’d never read my personal email account. I remember the last time I was in my personal email account.” I’m like, “Oh man, okay. Well, that’s good to know that if I’m targeting younger audiences, email’s definitely not going to be the number one way to potentially reach them.” But then is it text?
(41:56):
Is it Snapchat? Is it- Instagram. It’s Instagram. And I feel like to your point, it’s always changing. I feel lucky in my current role, I come up with a good game plan based on our budget, but then leadership allows me to pivot or, “Hey, I want to take just a teeny bit of this and try this one thing. It’s new.” I don’t know if it’s going to be successful or not, but I feel like if we don’t try it, then we aren’t going to know. But then I think the question also then becomes, well, how long do you try it? What’s a trial period versus a lot of marketing unfortunately takes a while. I mean, you have to see something, I think they say seven times for it to really make an impression on your brain. The current, we’ll give that as an example. We’re in the stadium.
(42:47):
We’ve got ads that play on their screens. Maybe impression or two. You might see our sign at the stadium. We’re doing a debit card with them. So we have a billboard that we’ve been promoting the debit card with, but where else am I making that connection am I making it to the right audience?
Brad Burrow (43:09):
Right.
Julie Weeks (43:10):
So really trying to determine what that is.
Brad Burrow (43:12):
So what was it about the current audience that the current, their audience that intrigued arvest?
Julie Weeks (43:20):
I think the current has the Longs and the other owners have done such … They took a risk and they went all in. But gosh, what a brand they have created and- So
Brad Burrow (43:33):
Quickly too.
Julie Weeks (43:34):
Yes. And really loyal following.
Brad Burrow (43:36):
Yeah.
Julie Weeks (43:37):
So for Arvest, we are a regional bank and James Dormbrook at the Business Journal told me this right after I started at Arvest, Kansas City is the heaviest saturated market in the country for banks. Is
Brad Burrow (43:51):
That right?
Julie Weeks (43:51):
Wow. So we currently have 113 different bank brands in Kansas City. Wow.
(43:57):
So for Arvest being one of 113, we’re a larger player, which is great, but we’re not the largest. Our hometown is Bentonville, Arkansas, so we’re not the hometown champion from that perspective, but gosh, we sure do love our communities and that’s what I think is so great about Arvest is, well, let’s partner with Hometown. Our mothership might not be right down the street, but we want to be as big in the community as we can. So that was really to me, we had an opportunity to be the only bank there outside of Bank of America and that was really intriguing to me because I think sometimes there’s oversaturation in a different category or a specific category at especially sporting stadiums, music venues. But if you can partner with one that hopefully doesn’t have five or six already and you can establish that relationship and deepen that partnership like we talked about earlier, then hopefully they see that commitment and they also want to keep it exclusive.
Brad Burrow (45:07):
How much do you dive into your target audience, like the demographics of your … And you don’t have to tell me right now, but I’m really curious, do
Julie Weeks (45:15):
You
Brad Burrow (45:15):
Know exactly what the demographics are of your target
Julie Weeks (45:19):
Audience? We do have different categories. We have probably several different categories of our target audience and luckily corporate does that for me in Bentonville. They have done all the reports and- They’re doing all the research on it. … gonna do the data and then they basically communicate to us, okay, in Kansas City this is who we should be targeting. Well, we want to be a bank for everyone. Here are the individuals that we feel would be best for our partner portfolio.
Brad Burrow (45:51):
Everybody’s bank.
Julie Weeks (45:52):
It can be challenging for sure. So that’s really how- So you get
Brad Burrow (45:56):
Reports on
Julie Weeks (45:56):
That? We do. We do. And so I feel fortunate that we get some of that direction, but wherever I’ve been, it’s always, yeah, especially when you’re doing business to consumer, which has been a lot of my career. Even at the agencies, I haven’t done a ton of B2B or I haven’t thrived in that maybe or found it as exciting as- But Boulevard,
Brad Burrow (46:18):
You probably
Julie Weeks (46:18):
Really knew your target
Brad Burrow (46:19):
Audience was there.
Julie Weeks (46:20):
Absolutely. Yeah. Now that is another industry where the target audience continues to evolve and change. Younger people aren’t consuming as much beer. So how do you pivot and how do you determine how are you going to meet that audience where they’re at with the product that they enjoy?
Brad Burrow (46:41):
Doesn’t it make marketing so much easier when you do know who you’re marketing to though? It does help.
Julie Weeks (46:45):
When you’re trying to
Brad Burrow (46:46):
Hit everybody, that’s just impossible
Julie Weeks (46:47):
To do a
Brad Burrow (46:48):
Good job.
Julie Weeks (46:48):
It does help. And I think marketing can be so gray, right? It’s not very black and white, it can be challenging to measure success with marketing specifically on its own. I place an ad, what has that ad done for us? If no one ever mentions the ad, but it was the seventh time they saw Arvest and that was the ad that was like, “I’m going to go in and I do want to talk to a private banker.” Great, but you have to make sure it’s all building together.
Brad Burrow (47:22):
Yeah. Who is, in general terms, who is your target audience? Are you looking for commercial business type banking?
Julie Weeks (47:30):
I would say it’s both retail and commercial. We have a very strong commercial team and yes, we are always looking at ways to be able to get involved with different opportunities or commercial real estate endeavors here in Kansas City. So real
Brad Burrow (47:44):
Estate’s a big focus thing?
Julie Weeks (47:45):
Real estate’s a focus. Yeah. Our mortgage department is the top performing in the company. So we do a great job with mortgages. Shout out Jason Peters and his team. We have a great private banking team. Lori Funk really leads a lot with doctors and with nurse, like with the medical industry. Like a practice,
Brad Burrow (48:07):
Like
Julie Weeks (48:08):
If you had
Brad Burrow (48:08):
A practice.
Julie Weeks (48:09):
If you had a practice or yeah, niche there. Very much a niche. Yeah. So those are, I’d say some of our highlights of areas that we are focused on. It’s the loan to deposit ratio and where are you? How much are you loaning? How much are you getting in? So like many banks, mass affluent, affluent audiences, you want to at least have their attention while you’re able to hopefully help others that are not in those categories too.
Brad Burrow (48:39):
How much have you had to learn the banking business?
Julie Weeks (48:43):
I’ve had some very patient colleagues. Barbara White, my amazing boss has taught me so much in the year and few months that I’ve been there. Are you a numbers person?
Brad Burrow (48:51):
I mean, do you-
Julie Weeks (48:53):
Numbers fascinate me. And for whatever reason, number stats, I think this probably goes back to reporting a litle bit, but like statistics, anything that you can throw out that people can absorb and digest, that’s very interesting to me. It’s all about the bottom line person? I am not.
Brad Burrow (49:10):
Because you’re a creative person.
Julie Weeks (49:11):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (49:12):
I mean, so
Julie Weeks (49:12):
Like
Brad Burrow (49:13):
Brain, right, brain
Julie Weeks (49:13):
Type
Brad Burrow (49:14):
Thing happening.
Julie Weeks (49:14):
And I think that was where a few of my jobs became so focused on the bottom line and not enough about the rest of the experience that I just I’m like, okay, this is just not, it’s not going to be my forever gig.
Brad Burrow (49:32):
Yeah. I think I would feel that way too.
Julie Weeks (49:34):
It’s
Brad Burrow (49:34):
The creative that
Julie Weeks (49:36):
I
Brad Burrow (49:36):
Really love.
Julie Weeks (49:37):
Yeah, absolutely. And finding creative ways to talk about things like banking.
Brad Burrow (49:43):
So about finished. So a couple more questions I have. What advice would you give to a young marketer that’s coming up, maybe they’ve just graduated or maybe they’re a year or two into their career. How should they look at their career and what things should they be doing moving forward?
Julie Weeks (50:00):
Networking, networking, networking, that to me is huge and I see that the younger- You should
Brad Burrow (50:07):
Do a training video on that probably.
Julie Weeks (50:09):
I wouldn’t be. I’d be happy to brainstorm with people, but I’ve always been super impressed at people that are in their 20s that reach out to me to want to network and that is just, it’s so crucial. I think you really finding a job and landing a job, your resume obviously speaks wonders, but if you don’t know people that might be able to give a little nudge to someone at that company, you can get automatically declined without even having the opportunity to- No matter how your resume looks. Exactly. So networking is super important. I think agency life, while it can be a grind, everyone should in marketing should try it for at least a year or two because I think that really helps you understand time management and how to be efficient, how to work with a lot of different people because you work with not only the clients, but all the different departments within an agency, I feel like in a really more intense way than you do at a lot of companies.
(51:13):
And yeah, I’ve learned so much from each agency I was at and feel very grateful for those times.
Brad Burrow (51:20):
Yeah. You say the relationship side, I feel like the kids, I say kids, the young people that are coming into the industry now have to be more intentional about that because that’s not something that they’re just automatically doing already.
Julie Weeks (51:36):
It is not. You’re right. And yeah, I think the ones that are being intentional are the ones that we’re seeing that are shining and Kevin Sabin, who was Arvest’s president, CEO until the end of last year, he spoke at our annual planning a few weeks ago and he goes, “I just want to remind you all, put your hand up, volunteer for it. Even if it’s hard, be willing to give it a shot.” And I think that’s really important, especially when you’re getting started. Go the extra mile, stay past five if you have to. You won’t always have to do that, but I think really showing that you are giving it your all is important and will help you down the road.
Brad Burrow (52:19):
In our generation, I think that was just a given,
Julie Weeks (52:22):
Right? Yeah.
Brad Burrow (52:23):
I mean,
Julie Weeks (52:24):
That
Brad Burrow (52:24):
Kind of work, the hours and all that stuff,
Julie Weeks (52:26):
I don’t think
Brad Burrow (52:26):
That’s the case anymore.
Julie Weeks (52:28):
No, no. I think there’s definitely been a shift of what is the company doing for me a bit more than what am I doing for the company? And not that that’s wrong. I think a lot of companies had to kind of reevaluate, especially during COVID. What are we doing for our associates that are now not getting that people engagement? How are we making sure they’re still happy and thriving? But at the same time, companies deserve that extra effort too when needed.
Brad Burrow (53:03):
Yeah. Last thing is what exciting things do you have on the horizon for Arvest and you personally?
Julie Weeks (53:15):
Yeah. Well, Can City Current has been super exciting and next week Morton Amplitheatre opens up and Arvest Bank is the proud sponsor of The Vinyl Room, which is the VIP experience at Morton Amplitheatre.
Brad Burrow (53:28):
So you get to go in and hang out with the
Julie Weeks (53:31):
Artists maybe or what? So not the artist, but others that might have indulged in having that as an adamant VIP area. It looks incredible. That sounds fun. I cannot wait.
Brad Burrow (53:41):
That thing looks amazing driving
Julie Weeks (53:42):
When you’re driving around the- I know. I get goosebumps again. Yeah. I’m a huge live music person that fills me up a lot with joy anytime I can be involved with live music. So I’m super excited for that and they’ve got 42 shows coming this year. Yeah, amazing. So for us old school people, I can’t wait to see Billy Idol right here at Morton Ample Theater. That’ll be fun. But also want to see some of the new up and comers too. So that to me, both of those sponsorships are things that Arvest hasn’t done maybe if ever before. So having the opportunity to work through all the kinks and make it what we want it to be has been super fun and challenging, but I like that. We have a lot of new products. We’ve changed our checking accounts and there’s a lot more perks with them, which is kind of fun.
(54:34):
So that’s been fun to learn that portion of the banking world. I think for me personally, continuing to dive into banking and I feel better when I do feel a little bit like an industry expert or at least someone that people can go to and trust the knowledge is there. So that to me is something that I’ll continue to focus on as I continue to grow hopefully with Arvest.
Brad Burrow (55:00):
It’s an interesting time to be in the banking industry right now.
Julie Weeks (55:03):
It really is. Yes. Yeah. I know. So it’s kind of like, well, don’t worry about that, Julie, because it’s probably going to change next week anyway. But yeah, it very much is interesting to be in banking right now.
Brad Burrow (55:12):
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for being on here. One thing that … I’m pretty sure I did this with Michael, but I do it with most of the guests is this is called In A World with Real Media. And so that all came from, I used to do this movie voice thing and I’ve actually done voice work for a few people because you get really close to the mic and you say, “In a world with real media.”
Julie Weeks (55:34):
I love your intro. All the podcasts, all the episodes I’ve listened to, I’m like, “That is such a great voice to start.” Thank you. So well done. Well,
Brad Burrow (55:42):
That was a fluke how that happened by the way.
Julie Weeks (55:44):
Really?
Brad Burrow (55:44):
Yeah. I’ll tell you the quick story, okay?
Julie Weeks (55:47):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (55:47):
So I have a buddy that runs the Miami Heat Television Network and we did a lot of sports work in our first 15 years of existence. And so we’d go on these trips together and we’d play golf together and we’d be driving the car and I’d say, “In a world like that. ” And he’s like … So he calls me one day and says, “Hey, would you audition to be the voice of the Miami Heat?” Wow. And I thought he was kidding and no, he goes, “I’d really like for you to do that.
Julie Weeks (56:14):
” Oh my gosh. So
Brad Burrow (56:15):
He sent me a script and
Julie Weeks (56:17):
I did it right
Brad Burrow (56:17):
Here and I was the voice of the Miami Heat for four years.
Julie Weeks (56:21):
Congratulations. That’s a great thing on your resume.
Brad Burrow (56:24):
Well,
Julie Weeks (56:24):
It’s just
Brad Burrow (56:25):
A fun thing.
Julie Weeks (56:25):
Yeah, that is. And
Brad Burrow (56:26):
I was a full-time musician for 15 years
Julie Weeks (56:28):
Too. That’s
Brad Burrow (56:29):
Really how I kind of cut my creative
Julie Weeks (56:31):
Teeth. I love that.
Brad Burrow (56:32):
We’re in a recording
Julie Weeks (56:33):
Studio, so
Brad Burrow (56:34):
Music’s a
Julie Weeks (56:35):
Big, big
Brad Burrow (56:35):
Deal to us as well.
Julie Weeks (56:37):
I love it.
Brad Burrow (56:37):
Anyway, so that’s where in a world with real media
Julie Weeks (56:40):
Came from.
Brad Burrow (56:41):
So I would love for you to do your best
Julie Weeks (56:45):
Version- Oh man. My best version. … of
Brad Burrow (56:48):
Your movie voice. And I can tell you how to do it if that
Julie Weeks (56:50):
Helps. I would love, yes, any guidance. You
Brad Burrow (56:52):
Have to get really close to the mic and
Julie Weeks (56:53):
If you
Brad Burrow (56:53):
Talk in a low airy voice
Julie Weeks (56:55):
And say,
Brad Burrow (56:56):
In a world with real media.
Julie Weeks (56:58):
In a world with real media. Kind of, sort of. I might have gotten it.
Brad Burrow (57:04):
All right. That’s going out on the internet. Oh
Julie Weeks (57:06):
Wow, here we go.
Brad Burrow (57:07):
You could be getting calls from agents.
Julie Weeks (57:09):
Well, yeah, I’ll let you know what that tally is.
Brad Burrow (57:13):
Okay. Well, this has really been fun.
Julie Weeks (57:15):
It’s been wonderful to get to talk with you, Brad. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. Thank you so much for the opportunity. It’s fun.
Brad Burrow (57:19):
Yeah. So well we’ll see you around with Casey Studio and a
Julie Weeks (57:24):
Couple
Brad Burrow (57:25):
Things.
Julie Weeks (57:25):
Absolutely. I’ll be here.
Brad Burrow (57:27):
All right. So thank you for joining us today in a world with real media. This has been really fun. Be sure to share the podcast, pass it on to your friends, tell people about it, like it, comment, all those things. We want to really get some engagement going on this and we appreciate you guys joining us and we’ll see you on the next podcast. This has been in a world with real media. Thanks for joining us and be sure to subscribe on iTunes and follow real media on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn so you never miss an episode.