On Keepin It Real this week, Cam Marston makes some observations on this odd stretch of the calendar between Christmas and New Years. ----- This is a strange time of year every year. Kinda a liminal space between two big holidays. My instinct says I need to be working but the buzz of my email – a reflection of how busy my work world is – is so quie…

Judge Roy Bean Spirits began when David Gibson sold his advertising and marketing agency and decided to try his hand at whiskey and tossed a new brand into the marketplace. His product has a distinct pecan wood finish, making it unique. The regulatory body in the state of Alabama offered him a trail in markets south of I-10 and his product quickly …

On Keepin' it Real this week, Cam takes us back to 1988 when he and his team lined up to upset the world order in an all out international rowing competition. It was one for the record books. ----- It was the spring of 1989 in Augusta, Georgia. I was a member of the Tulane University Rowing team and we were there to train for Spring Break. Crew tea…

On this week's Keepin It Real, Cam Marston has just returned from a few days in Fort Lauderdale. It's a different world down there, Cam says. One that he might have envied at one point in his life. ------ My wife and I returned from Ft Lauderdale Saturday. We were there for a corporate event where I was giving a speech. My client generously offered…

On this week’s Keepin It Real, Cam hopes you have no regrets from Thanksgiving. And if you do, that you learn from them. ----- Well, how’d it go yesterday? Any family flare ups? Any thoughts you wish you’d kept to yourself? Thanksgiving gatherings are famous for finding people’s boiling points and the election having been just a few weeks ago, some…

On this week's Keepin It Real, Cam Marston wants you to know he's NOT A CYNIC. But there are things this time of year that just kinda get to him... ----- ‘Tis the season for pensive and sappy messages. I’m so sorry but it’s true. They’re appearing in TV commercials, in client and vendor emails. Letters received in the mail about the joys of the sea…

The What's Working radio show has come to a close. The podcast remains. This is the first of the new podcast-only, non-radio versions of What's Working. No forced breaks for commercials, no time limit per episode. Much easier to edit. More fun for me. No obligations and no deadlines for new weekly content. If you're a fan of the show, please give t…

On the way home from Oxford Saturday, Cam and his family stopped at a service station which led to him thinking about what NOT to put on his Christmas list. ----- For years I had my children convinced I was allergic to cats. I told them the reason we couldn’t have a cat as a pet was that my head would explode in a fiery ball. They wanted a cat. The…

On this week's Keepin It Real, Cam tells us about some early morning attacks that are happening in his part of town. You'd be surprised at who is doing the attacking. ----- On the top of the Tangles Hair Salon on Bit and Spur Road in Mobile sits a hat and a headlamp with its light on. The headlamp is the type that an early morning jogger wears befo…

Monte Criswell is a songwriter. A big time, bad-a$$ songwriter. 200 of his songs have been recorded by Nashville artists and he's had several number 1 hits and a few Grammy nominations. His passion from a young age was to be in music. From the University of Alabama (and St Paul's Episcopal School in Mobile, Alabame before that) he declined a law sc…

On this week's Keepin' It Real, Cam recalls a time when he was very much out of his element and was slightly afraid for his life. ----- About midway through the fourth quarter of Alabama’s loss to Vanderbilt, my son, who is a student at the University, sent me a text. It read, “Can I transfer?” I laughed. As a Tulane student we were fond of saying …

Low T. What's it mean? What does a man with low T experience? What does testosterone replacment feel like? Whan changes can you expect? Dr Matt Barber has taken on this issue with his new business called Gameday Men's Health. In a private environment, you will get tested to see what your testosterone level is and whether you need their services or …

On this week's Keepin It Real, Cam Marston tells us about a bomb maker he met who sends the bombs he makes to his friends. Oddly enough, you and I should be happy he's doing it. ----- There’s a man on the outskirts of Mobile who spends a good part of his days making bombs. He uses items he finds around town and buys from retail stores. He then send…

The Isle Dauphine Oyster Company was born out of Doug's passion for process, the coastal waters, and Doug's fondness for oysters. A trained engineer, Doug has now created a predictable product that's ready for the big time. That's a part of his pitch when he enters restaurants in Nashville, Birmingham, Atlanta, and New Orleans - they can count on h…

On this week's Keeping It Real, Cam Marston reacts to a book review about society and how we're raising kids. It's not the kids fault, Cam says, it's definitely the parents. ----- The Economist magazine reviewed a book called Infantilised: How Our Culture Killed Adulthood. The author, Keith Hayward, argues that western society is keeping kids less …

Ron McBay travels to places most of us only fainly know about to represent NATO and train these countries leadership on NATO approved engagement practices. It's very precise content and Ron, trained as an attorney and a background as a JAG, knows it very well. Curious how NATO really works? Want to know what engagement tactics are allowed? Listen i…

On this week's Keepin It Real, Cam's family dog heard what he said to the vet. And she has something to say about it. ----- When I walked through the back door our dog, Lucy, looked at me as if to say “you and I have some unfinished business.” Lucy had been feeling bad. She was lethargic and had thrown up in four or five places in the house. On the…

Maymay went on to YouTube from Chilton County, Alabama many years ago out of a desire to create some beautiful paper creations. People watched. Then more people. Then many more people. Now she hosts events online with hundreds of attendees and they travel internationally to come to her hosted events in Chilton County. Social media is her advertisin…

On this week's Keepin It Real, Cam Marston says he has a question for you. And he's curious if you have a question for him. ----- A story that lives in legend in my family is the day my mother interrupted a story about a boastful largemouth bass fisherman and my mother, in full innocence, asked “Who had the large mouth? The fish or the fisherman?” …

The National Association of Realtors changed home buying rules and they've been in effect about a month. Home buyers will now have a new conversation with their realtor when they go to buy a home. The realtor will need to negotiate a fee with the buyer. Previously it was in the background as the deal went forward with a typical 6% commission split …

On Keeping It Real this week, Cam reacts to Tuesday's presidential debate and shares something he's learned about himself in the recent years. ----- Trump got waxed Tuesday night. Wow, did he get waxed. I watched the debate not knowing what to expect but man, to me, he got crushed. Trump later proclaimed it his best debate performance ever. He was …

Telling people things allows them to disagree with you. Asking them questions allows you to understand their perspective and allows you to align with their ideas before directing them. Bob Tiede is an author of the book Leading with Questions. He and I discuss the power of questions as a leadership tool. Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy…

Cam's back from his one month sabbatical and creating commentaries again. This one he simply calls Gettin' Lucky. ----- Dr Suchan Shenoy is one of the regulars at Restaurant Five in Tuscaloosa on Saturday mornings. I join the regulars when I’m in town visiting my son who is a sophomore at the University. Dr Shenoy is an OBGYN at the DCH Hospital th…

The business of moving and movers. Pretty tried and true. Very little room for disruption, right? Wrong. Ron Holt has upended tradtional businesses before and is doing it again. His first was Two Maids where he based the payment of the service providers on the evaluations of the customers. The result? Huge efforts from the cleaners to please the cu…

With all the free weather apps avaialble, why pay for a forecast? Because Crown Weather offers something a bit more, a bit personal. Rob Lightbrown offers a subscription only weather forecast that gets into the weeds of the weather. I was referred to him by a retired banker who used Rob's service to help his agricultural clients try to prepare for …

Who is the hero of your business? Too often, it's you. It SHOULD be the customer. Stephanie Greenwood is a StoryBrand consultant and explains it all so simply to me. She's with IMMIX Strategic and walks me through the process. The customer is the hero. You - the business - are a guide that helps the hero overcome their problem. You bring them to so…

Leadership consultant and author Brandon Smith has written a book that I've had referenced to me too many times in the past weeks to simply ignore. Called Author vs Editor Dilemma, the book is a management and leadership guide with simple plans for turning your employees into a more highly productive team. It's a simple concept - as the leader, too…

Cline Jones spent time as a boy watching the locks and dams near his home take and receive tow-boats on the river. The attraction of the work was deep and he signed up to be a part of that industry. Today he's the Executive Director of the Tennessee River Valley Association and the Tennessee-Cumberland Waterways Council. He knows the numbers: the 1…

On this week's Keepin' it Real, Cam Marston wonders if we prefer entertainment to anything of substance. And frets over the consequences. ----- I hope everyone had a nice July Fourth holiday. On July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted and signed. It has proven to be one of the most influential documents in world histo…

Economist Connor Lokar says it's goign to get worse before it gets better. Then it's going to get much worse. Connor is with ITR Economics. He and his firm work with businesses to help them prepare for economic change. Avowedly apolitical, Connor and his team only say the November election is unlikely to change our economy in any meaningful way, re…

The roost is full at Cam's house. And on this week's Keepin' It Real, Cam shares that it may never be this way ever again. ----- My wife and I had thought our summer would be quiet and a bit boring. Two of our four children would be living away and the other two would be at home but either working during the day, away at camp for a few weeks, or pl…

Lots of changes coming to workplace rules ranging from the legality of non-compete agreements to changes to the salary of exempt employees. Windy Bitzer of the Hand Arendall law firm explains the changes and what they mean for you and me. Show Sponsors: E3 Termite & Pest Control Roy Lewis Construction Allison Horner - State Farm Agent Angelo DePaol…

On this week's Keepin It Real, Cam is having a harder and harder time walking his dog due to his neighbor's dog that won't go away. ----- “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain asked this of God after his brother Abel went missing and God asked Cain, “Hey. Where’s Abel?” Cain claimed he didn’t know. Cain had killed Abel, by the way, and was trying to hid…

Lots of chatter out there about AI. Lots. Every day some some sort of news about how it will make our world unbelievably better and another about how it will be the end of humanity. I reached out to Kai Gray to ask him to answer some questions - what can AI really do? Aside from being the best source tech help I've ever found, what can it do for me…