Using Your Brand Pillars To Drive Value With Jason Brandt, President and CEO of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association
Jason Brandt is President and CEO of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association (ORLA). He specializes in association management and government affairs at state and local levels. His duties at ORLA include launching innovative programs and products that assist the hospitality industry in being profitable. Before his tenure with ORLA, Jason was the CEO of the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
Jason Brandt reveals what drives him professionally
The Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association’s (ORLA) mission and why it exists
Four pillars the Association is built on
How Jason quantifies the value of an ORLA membership for a hospitality business
What is the Association’s process for recruiting members?
Jason contrasts ORLA’s membership retention and attrition rates
How the Association uses success stories from existing members to attract new ones
What one thing would Jason change about ORLA, and what challenge keeps him up at night?
What you’ll learn in this episode:
Associations work on behalf of their constituents to make life better or easier in multiple ways. But what if there is reluctance to join? How do you effectively communicate the value that your association provides?
According to Jason Brandt, whose association works on behalf of Oregon hospitality businesses, it’s essential to specify how value is provided. His association does it by pointing to its four pillars: government advocacy, collective bargaining to get products and services of value, workforce development, and industry intelligence. Jason says any restaurant or lodging business stands to benefit from at least one, if not all, of those pillars by joining forces with thousands of comparable businesses that have similar needs and priorities.
On this episode of From Persona to Personal, Roger Hurni chats with Jason Brandt, President and CEO of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association (ORLA), about effectively communicating the value of association membership to businesses in a specific industry. Jason shares why his association exists, discusses the four pillars it's focused on, and reveals how it recruits new members. He also talks about what keeps him up at night as he navigates the challenges ORLA faces.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
This episode’s sponsor:
Today's episode is brought to you by LighthousePE.
LighthousePE is an AI-powered marketing automation software for mobile apps. It creates one-to-one personalized messaging and experiences that increase brand loyalty, provide competitive intelligence, and drive substantial revenue to your business.
LighthousePE accomplishes this by analyzing your customers’ behaviors and leveraging its onboard AI to automatically generate and deliver the right message at the right time.
To learn more, visit LighthousePE.AI.
Episode Transcript
Intro 0:02
This is From Persona to Personal podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by LighthousePE. LighthousePE is an AI-powered marketing automation software for mobile apps. It creates one-to-one personalized messaging and experiences that increase brand loyalty, provide competitive intelligence, and drive substantial revenue to your business. LighthousePE accomplishes this by analyzing your customers’ behaviors and leveraging its onboard AI to automatically generate and deliver the right message at the right time. To learn more, visit LighthousePE.AI. Now, let's get started with the show.
Roger Hurni 0:43
Hello, everyone, I'm Roger Hurni, the host of From Persona to Personal where I get to use my expertise and consumer behavior to engage with top business leaders who are propelling their brands forward. Before I get to today's very special guest this episode is brought to you by LighthousePE. LighthousePE is an AI-powered marketing automation software for mobile apps. It creates one-to-one personalized messaging and experiences that increase brand loyalty, provide competitive intelligence, and drive substantial revenue to your business. LighthousePE accomplishes this by analyzing your customers’ behaviors and leveraging its onboard AI to automatically generate and deliver the right message at the right time. To learn more, visit LighthousePE.AI. Now without further ado, I am very happy to have Jason Brandt with me today. Now for the past eight years, Jason has served as the president and CEO of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association. The organization is focused in protecting, improving and promoting Oregon's hospitality industry. The second largest private sector employer in Oregon, Jason's leadership experience includes positions on the Oregon career tech Advisory Board, the Oregon Business and Industry board, and the Oregon Council. Oh, problem gaming, sorry, problem gambling in the travel Portland board of directors. Outside of all that he is also serving this year as the president of the Council of State Restaurant Association, which is an organization that includes the participation from all 50 state Restaurant Association CEOs across the country, as well as the restaurant associations for Washington, DC and Puerto Rico. That's a mouthful. Jason, welcome to the show.
Jason Brandt 2:41
Hey, thanks for having me. Roger. Great to be here.
Roger Hurni 2:44
I'm gonna jump into my first question right away. And I'm very serious about this question. What haven't you done that you still want to do? Because that is a laundry list, my friend?
Jason Brandt 2:56
Well, I think you know, as a millennial, I guess one of the older millennials out there, I guess I'm pretty fortunate. I've had two employers since graduating from college all those years ago, working for the Chamber of Commerce in the capital city in Oregon, Salem area Chamber and then this job with Orla and I think the reality for me and a lot of folks in my generation is we want make a difference work. We want work that drives a purpose that can be meaningful in the lives of others. And so whenever I have the opportunity to serve in leadership capacities, I tend to raise my hand as long as I have the bandwidth to do so.
Roger Hurni 3:37
Nice. I I'm a solid millboro Gen X are so few years older than you but I think they call the older millennials, geriatric millennials. And I really personally liked that term. My apologies if it's offensive, but I think it's pretty funny.
Jason Brandt 3:55
No, it is funny. Yeah. You know, you don't want to stereotype too much and put people into you know, boxes when it comes to what generation they're a part of. But, you know, I do think that, you know, we were very fortunate to be raised by the baby boomers out there and I'm the oldest of three sons, oldest pastor kid grew up in a really large church congregation. So I think it's a bit ingrained in myself as well as my younger brothers to make sure you know, we focus on on things that can make a difference in this world, since we only have a finite amount of time to do so.
Roger Hurni 4:29
That's great. That's great. No one cares about Gen X we just get looked over all the time. So it's it's fine very true. Roger,
Jason Brandt 4:34
I'm sorry that's my that's all my fault though. That's that's the pop culture out there. So you got it. I know. Guys you look bigger powers than me. Just as
Roger Hurni 4:42
a reminder, we gave you music television, we gave you guys the internet. We gave you guys that the computers and iPhones. Anyway. Alright, let's, let's get to what we're really here to talk about today. And that's the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association. I love for you to go a little bit more in depth on why the association exists and what its mission is.
Jason Brandt 5:08
Sure, yeah, these associations, you know, across the country, we are here to support and promote and defend the Oregon hospitality industry, and the great State of Oregon. And my counterparts do that across the country as well. When you think about it, there's no, there's no way to unify all these different independent restaurant operators and hotels, unless they voluntarily choose to kind of work together under the same tax rate. You know, you can have a one off point when it comes to, you know, a political issue that might come up. But you're you're not as strong as as if you're joining arms with 1000s of other operators that are in a similar business as you. So our associations, not just here in Oregon, but across the country, they exist in a voluntary capacity, you know, we go away tomorrow, if we don't have 1000s of members that voluntarily choose to be a member of their association. So in my role, it's a, you know, a true honor and privilege to to be really a steward of, of that association for the time that I'm serving in a leadership role. And with that comes, I think, four main pillars that we focus on. So advocacy at all levels of government, making sure that we're pooling that collective bargaining power of all of our independent Restaurant & Lodging operators and getting them products and services of value, hopefully, at better rates than sometimes they may be able to get on their own, for example, our average member as one or two locations, you know, versus being able to take the strength of all those 1000s of members to try to negotiate a better deal on a on a product or a service on their behalf. And then the other two pillars for us, we focus a lot on workforce development, virtually every industry under the sun, is going to be dealing with a workforce shortage. As long as we can see into the future, we simply do not have enough people in this country, for the open positions that are available both in our industry and outside of our industry. And lastly is industry intelligence. So making sure that all the conversations relationships, we have both at the state legislature with county commissions and City Council's making sure that our operators know what those elected officials and the staffs that work for government are thinking relating to our industry in ways that might impact their bottom line.
Roger Hurni 7:31
So there's no doubt that you drive a lot of value. And you're not a company that's like, hey, we have to make a margin of x. So I'm curious as to how to your members? Well, how do you measure value that your members receive from their participation, so that you can quantifiably justify, like, why you're advocating on their behalf?
Jason Brandt 7:59
Sure. And I would say, conveying and communicating the value proposition for an association that you do not have to be a part of, if you don't want to be is the ongoing challenge in any type of association job, whether it relates to our industry? Or is broader in nature, like my previous role running a Regional Chamber of Commerce? And I think the answer to your question is, it differs depending on the operator we're talking to, so those four pillars I just went through one operator in one part of the state might have an issue with their city council or their county commission, or maybe there's a tax that's being proposed that's going to target our industry when other industries wouldn't have to pay that tax. Name your issue. If If something's coming up with a business owner, and they're having to interface with government, I would say that's probably the place where we can really maximize the value for an operator out there relating to the association's work, but also things like you know, industry intelligence, we create wage reports for all the different tourism regions of our state. So our members can log into our website, and kind of take, take a look at what the wages are for different job classifications and restaurants and hotels. And, you know, hopefully, that type of intelligence helps them take stay a step ahead of their competition. And then we do a lot of training too. And I would say we probably have more new faces in our industry than we've ever had before. So if our if our operators out there that are, you know, not tied to a broader brand and don't have a corporate training program available to them, how are they going to make sure that those new faces are shortening their learning curve as quickly as possible so that they can provide that exceptional service whether it's a hotel guest or a restaurant? Guest. So those are the places where we really I think do our best work is making sure that you know, the independent streak in Oregon is alive and well. We of course have chains and brands that are members as well, but the majority of our our members are mom and pop help businesses and, you know, it's our job to make sure that they have a fighting chance to stay in business and continue to be successful in Oregon's marketplace.
Roger Hurni 10:09
That makes a lot of sense. I know, with my own consumer behavior work that I've done, particularly around nonprofits or in not for profit organizations, you're doing the right things to have all these tools available to them. But not in those kinds of situations, you can lead a horse to water, right, but can't make him drink. You know, there's always those opportunities to identify specific behaviors you want your members to perform, and then set up a set of sequences to make sure that they really do digest that information and appreciate the advocacy because you're clearly doing some really great work on on their behalf. Is that also part of your remarketing or maybe you don't call it sales and marketing process for basically recruiting or you just hope that those Mom and Pop places see value in you and decide to join? Are you actually about a process for recruitment?
Jason Brandt 11:06
I would say our typical approach to talking about the association and and someone's interest in being involved with the association would be to kind of explain those four pillars and see if any of those resonate with that, we may not be a good choice for an operator out there if if they don't want to, you know, work on workforce development stuff, like speaking in high schools, or community colleges about their career journey, to try to inspire the next generation to consider careers in the hospitality industry. Or if they just, you know, shy away from politics you like, I know, I should pay attention to politics, but I'm really irritated by it, I just kind of want to, you know, steer clear of that. I'm glad you guys are doing it, but not really interested. Or, you know, maybe they don't feel they need our help with, you know, creating a stronger value proposition around products and services. But pretty much in every case, when I have a conversation with someone or someone who my professional staff does, there's something in our wheelhouse, that resonates with virtually every operator, but it shifts depending on, you know, where that operators passions lie. So that's the real trick is to make sure we focus in on what matters to them, and kind of meet them where they live, so that we can get them engaged in the most appropriate way
Roger Hurni 12:22
that again, really smart, you're, you're using those pillars to tap into whatever their motivations are, that they drive to, it's the same thing I use for behavioral analysis. Are you doing? So leading with those four pillars makes a lot of sense? Are you primarily waiting for them to contact you? And then use the four pillars? Are you doing some kind of outreach to the community like email, like, Hey, I saw that you started the business. And here are four pillars. And here's the association. And you know, we should have a conversation. How does that? How does it typically work?
Jason Brandt 12:55
Yeah, good question. So it's kind of a hybrid approach. We do a lot of digital marketing and communication out to the industry as a whole. But we also have regional representatives on our staff that cover different parts of the state, and they work full time to get out in the field and, you know, build relationships with people that may not know what orlo stands for. And they have no clue that there even was a state association for their industry. So a lot of those engagements are about education, and making sure you know that we understand what they're in business for why they chose our industry. And if there's some way we can be helpful in their ongoing success. So yeah, I mean, digital communications are a huge part of what we do, and we have just under 3000 members, but it's every single lodging property outside of short term rentals. So this is just the traditional hotel properties and motel properties, beds and breakfasts, those types of things, plus the restaurants, if every one of those locations was a member 12,500 locations. So with just under 3000, you know, there's a lot of potential there. But naturally, both here in Oregon and also elsewhere, amongst my counterparts in other states, typically, kind of organically about one in five of those locations in the state will proactively join their association and choose to be a member, which means there's, you know, four out of five out there, which is kind of a continual process to both identify them and make sure we have time to, to develop a relationship. You know, there's just so much upside and potential for associations to get even stronger in the future. The key is, you know, being active communicators, and making sure that we really fully do understand why they're in our industry, and if there's something we do that could be helpful to none.
Roger Hurni 14:47
That's great. There's only that clearly there's a big market opportunity then in front of you. Once someone does become a member, you have any issues around attrition, or they're in they're in it
Jason Brandt 15:00
I know we do have issues with the attrition. And so you know, you kind of bring every year if you think of like a crowded room, you, you know, bring some new folks into that room, but a few squeeze out the back door, right. And so there's this constant, constant ebb and flow when it comes to new members and members that choose to drop. The members that choose to drop do it for a variety of different reasons. But what we've seen as of late is a lot more transitions of ownership, where we're building a new relationship with the same brand or independent restaurant or hotel, folks that are selling their business, and we haven't identified the new the new owner yet and haven't had a chance to reach out and, and build that relationship. And then also just folks that feel like, if I'm going to pay a membership, I want to make sure I have time to engage in the association, I just don't have enough time, I don't have enough staff, and having to work my tail off in my restaurant or my hotel. And if I can't be actively involved, then I don't want to be a member. Those are typically the things we hear our retention rates for restaurants is usually about 85%. For lodging, it's about 90%. So the vast majority, do you continue to be members year in and year out?
Roger Hurni 16:17
Yeah, it seems like I know, you said the majority of them are like one and two kinds of places. But I think when you get to two or even three, you stop working in the business and you work a lot more on the business. That seems like that to be the tipping point for being able to make sure you've got members actively involved? Yeah,
Jason Brandt 16:37
Roger, that's true. For sure. I would say, yeah, kind of that 234 location mark, you do have kind of some executives that are more externally oriented and, and building those relationships. So from a proportional standpoint, even though the nature of businesses in Oregon, a lot of them are small business. So when you're looking at the whole, the whole market, you got a lot of one or two location owners out there. But once you get higher and in the amount of locations you have, the odds of them being a member are much greater than those that are one or two, even though there's a broader pool of one or two location operators, if that makes sense.
Roger Hurni 17:17
No, it totally makes sense. Since you're driving value for these members, do you collect feedback or some sort of success story? I'm sure you anecdotally people will come up to be, you know, members will come up to you and say, Oh, this thing that you did really help me out and solve this problem from an HR perspective. Or, you know, I can't believe our state legislature was doing X and thank you for being an advocate. Do you collect those success stories? I mean, what do members believe success looks like to them?
Jason Brandt 17:45
Yeah, I think it depends what pillar we're talking about. But let's just take advocacy as an example. I mean, during the pandemic, it was just nonstop media interviews, so probably did a few 100 media interviews, you know, across, you know, television and radio. And we actually created a kind of a two page, you know, front and backside flyer called Orla outcomes that just really pinpoints and documents, all of the things that we accomplished on behalf of the industry, which saved our members, money and non members money as well. So I think the key in association work is to turn the intangible value that you're creating into a tangible communication piece, if possible. So one of our projects right now, after getting through the 2023 legislative session in Oregon and six months long ended in the summer, is creating a document that actually monetizes the value of those pieces of legislation which we had a direct impact on. A lot of the times we're in the business of saving our members money that they otherwise would have to spend because of new mandates or requirements for for operating a food service or lodging business. So whenever you can monetize the value of what you're creating, even though it seems difficult on the front end, because a lot of them are intangible services. I think that's the key to success.
Roger Hurni 19:14
You ever point out I mean, there's a lot of I like to divide up things between objectives and aspirations. And the reason I do that, instead of goals or the goals is just to all encompassing, objectives are really measurable. And you could probably spit back to your members, we did this advocacy thing, and that saved you a percent on whatever, something like that. aspirations are how, how can you help me effectively run my business better? It's hard to see that on the bottom line, but have a business, have a spreadsheet if your members are seeing that kind of value? You are collecting those kinds of stories and are you utilizing them in any of your marketing to help get additional members ers?
Jason Brandt 20:00
Yeah, we do. So on the products and services front, one of the things we just launched as a new property and casualty insurance product, a group program for our members, we also have one for workers compensation insurance. So if you qualify for that, you're gonna get a discount on your premiums that you can't get if you're not a member. So those are those are pretty powerful when you have testimonials from peers in the industry that have realized real savings by being a part of these group programs, and then getting significantly discount discounted rates on their premiums. So testimonials, I think, for us are pretty key, providing actual discount percentages whenever possible on products and services. But to your point about objectives, that's also key. I mean, we just got done with a multi day hospitality conference where we brought hundreds of people together, down in a community, Ashland, Oregon, and Southern Oregon, just just north of the California border. So our whole team was down there with our hundreds of our members. And, you know, I was on stage talking about those pillars, but really focusing in on one objective that we're going to be accomplishing for our members in the next fiscal year, and our fiscal year just started on October 1. So it's a way for the folks that are engaged with us to hold our professional staff and myself as a leader accountable for the objectives we're looking to accomplish that are that are concrete in nature and deserve, you know, reporting out updates on a regular basis coming up. So yeah, I think just continually communicating, being honest and full of integrity about the objectives that you want to accomplish and why they're central to your mission is pretty vital to keep people coming back and have the understanding that this is truly their association and not not Jason's because he's the president and CEO or anyone else on the staff.
Roger Hurni 22:02
Lecture. So if you could change one thing about the organization, what would what would you change?
Jason Brandt 22:09
Oh, good question. That I wish I had a few more staff that could develop relationships in the field, but I don't feel like the numbers really pencil out to make it work on the front end. So it's, it's kind of that ongoing debate internally as to whether we should have more boots on the ground to develop, you know, those personal relationships with folks that may not be members yet. And whether those boots on the ground would actually, you know, make sense from a business model standpoint. See, the reality is Roger for us. All that advocacy work, and, you know, really delivering results, and monetizing the value of that advocacy work will happen, whether someone's a member or not. So there's a certain school of thought out there that if you're in business, you know, that I've seen this mentality before, both in our industry and outside of our industry, where it's like, well, if you're going to do that work without me paying a voluntary membership, then doesn't that, you know, kind of make me I don't know, not as business savvy, by paying a bill, I don't really have to pay if you're going to do your great work, whether I'm a member or not. And then you have, you know, the majority of mentalities out there, which I would say understand the value of teaming up together driving results and having some skin in the game. But we I mean, in any business, you're going to have folks that are just looking at the bottom line. And if you're going to do that advocacy work without them paying, then they might want to get that free ride in the wagon, as opposed to helping pull it if that makes sense. No, it
Roger Hurni 23:54
makes sense. And everyone's motivated differently. You're never going to change everybody's behavior, there's always going to be a cohort out there that is bottom line driven, that they don't see the advantage of participating in a group. And what I've told clients when I've had counsel before is you have to, you have to ignore them. Because generally, those are the people that are not in business several years later, because they don't understand your brand pillars. They don't understand core values. They don't understand leading with empathy with employees. Those are the kinds of companies that grow and thrive and the ones that are solely focused on the money. There generally ends up being sort of flashes in the pan so I I typically don't worry about that, particularly when you've got received do the math, but 1000 More opportunities out there. There's plenty of room to grow and help the people who really want help. So
Jason Brandt 24:58
I think there is a Harvard Business review study once, right, a long time ago that said, you know, if you take care of your people, the bottom line kind of takes care of itself. And I'm paraphrasing here, that I think that's true with associations. The reason that most of the most successful Restaurant & Lodging operators are members of Orla is because they know whether you're a lodging or a restaurant operator, if you're taking care of your community, community, if you have friends that want to take care of you and support you at a statewide association, word spreads fast, because this is a world full of humanity, right. So if if you're a part of your association, then that's a part of, I think, the social responsibility equation when it comes to not just looking out for yourself, but caring about other people. And in the service industry, that matters a lot. I mean, people are gonna want to go to a restaurant go to a hotel, that isn't just thinking about themselves and their own bottom line, but has some core values that drive them to be something bigger than just that financial result. And I think that's one of the components that, that helps us be successful, especially with, with so many really savvy operators that are members of ours. The people that are most impressive in our state have voluntarily chosen to be members. And I think there's, there's some power in that. So using that peer network to drive more awareness of what the association is, and why it exists is is really key. By leveraging that peer network of operators out there.
Roger Hurni 26:35
I would agree, you may feel like you've answered this question already in terms of you would change, like maybe the amount of reps you could get the money would pencil out so you can do those, those connections to the community and to those operators. If it's not that, what's the biggest challenge you're facing right now that's keeping you up at night.
Jason Brandt 26:58
I would say our biggest challenge is just, you know, slowly but surely changing the narrative back into a positive for the Portland region. So we have seven tourism regions for Oregon. We have the the Portland area, we have the Columbia Gorge gorge had river, we have eastern central and southern Oregon, we have the Willamette Valley. And then we have the famous Oregon coast. And all seven of those tourism regions have, I would say unique dynamics at any given point during the year. Coming out of COVID, we've had too long of a pandemic hangover in Portland. And we've lost a lot of business, frankly. And so our hotels and our restaurants in Portland, are struggling more compared to other tourism regions of the state. And so our, our work and I've been telling people this pretty pretty frequently. Our work in Portland is what keeps me up at night trying to figure out how we can be a part of conversations that frankly, we don't have direct expertise and things that, you know, we don't traditionally find solutions to like homelessness, affordable housing, general public safety, mental health services, behavioral health services, I mean, these are all, you know, social ills that aren't just facing Portland, but are facing major metropolitan areas across the country. That a pretty significant problem on our hands in America, when it comes to the Fentanyl crisis. And what's what that's done to break people's lives. I mean, virtually every day, I'm traveling around the state I'm seeing, you know, someone that's down and out, you know, living in a, in a tent or having some psychosis episode. And a lot of folks are seeing that, you know, across the west coast. So it's, we don't need to single out a specific region. But I think we need a much more aggressive and robust strategy at the national level to combat the Fentanyl crisis. And these are people that, you know, probably would be making a living in our industry, perhaps, or another industry. And it's a lost opportunity for them and for our country. And I get, I don't just lose sleep, I get very angry and frustrated about our inability to control what has turned into an unchecked cartel network of drugs flowing into California, Oregon and Washington, as well as other areas of the country. I mean, when you can, if you if you think about it, it only takes a couple quarters, and one fentanyl pill to completely transform your life. And we're seeing that right now. People make a short sighted mistake by taking that first fentanyl pill and then it's over. And and that's the That's that just breaks my heart because it's so much loss potential out there across the country that we have to address head head on. And frankly, we should demand more answers from our federal elected leaders as to how we're going to combat this at a national level.
Roger Hurni 30:16
Well, you clearly the passion for social issues. You actually sound like someone who's ready to run for office, is that a thing?
Jason Brandt 30:26
No, and I with three young kids and a wife that kill me, but yeah, maybe in another life.
Roger Hurni 30:32
I've thought about it before in the past, and my wife has given me the I don't want the fact that if you were to run for something 35% Of the people would hate you, because the hind your last name would be a D or an R or an R.
Jason Brandt 30:47
Right. So why we are so polarized, right, but there's issues out there that we should really all be able to navigate together and come together on. You know, I remember the pride we all felt, you know, after we were struck, so in such a devastating way after 911. You know, I mentioned I was a older millennial I was in, I was in college at the time, and you know, no one ever forgets where they were, when the 911 attacks happened, and think about what happened after those attacks. And how unified we were as the Grinch. I mean, what how, how amazing would that be, if we could find a way to perpetuate that feeling that everyone had, and how proud we all were to be an American and united, you know, standing together united, united, we stand right. And we had banners and posters and billboards. And it was it was a great season in the history of our country. A, you know, it's kind of a fool's errand with how polarized things are at this point. But I do hold on to hope that there will be a moment where we have leaders at the national level that can inspire people to grab a hold of that feeling once again, and rise to their maximum potential as an American, and help us figure out solutions to drive some of these crises to the door. So we can get back on track as a country. Yeah,
Roger Hurni 32:16
I would agree. It was a it was a unique moment in time, and hopefully we can find a way to get back there without a travesty. Yeah. You've been really great your time. I have one last question to wrap up the show. And because in the way you talked about the association, we talked about your members, there's clearly a lot of good advice there. So I'm curious as to what is the worst advice you received, that you said no to
Jason Brandt 32:42
the worst advice that I ever received that I said no to What do you mean by that?
Roger Hurni 32:48
You know, someone said, someone said, Jason, you should be the CEO of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association not allowed to do that, like that kind of a thing. Like instead of doing what you're doing, they said, here's like what my mom did to me, because I have an art director, background and creative background. I had already started my company. I was three or four years into it. My mom knew nothing what I did. And she came called me one day, and we're talking she said, You know what, Roger, she goes, I saw at the mall, a cart, and this person was like, making art out of someone's names, and then selling them to like, you know, protect their kids, you should do that. You're really good artists. I'm like, I own three companies. Like, no, no bad advice, mom. No, no, thank you. So have you ever gotten advice that you just said, that's not a good road to go down?
Jason Brandt 33:40
Yeah, I would say a couple of times. So as the oldest of three pastor's kids, myself, and my younger brothers are the ones that broke the cycle of pastors, and my dad was a pastor of a large church congregation, so as his dad, and so as his dad before him, so that's three generations of pastors. So I would say growing up there is a pretty not not any undue pressure from my dad. But I think just generally speaking, people knew about how, you know, the brands, we're, we're kind of known to take up the ministry. In a way I feel like what I'm doing is a secular ministry, you know, and it's, we try to bring the core values of, of servant leadership to, to our association kind of embody that amongst our staff. So that's, it was a hard no to becoming a pastor. Same thing for me, for both of my younger brothers, but that came up quite a bit for a while as well as a question you already brought up with me which is running for elected office. So people, people do bring that up with me pretty consistently. But for me, I think we can make a bigger difference as a family, both my wife Natalie, myself and our three kids by walking alongside the elected official Officials out there that do have the ability to make a difference and make sure that they have the support structures they need to find success. So in a way, you know, it helps you, I think expand your, your potential by being involved in various levels of government and building unique and fruitful relationships, as opposed to being singularly focused in one particular elected office role. So that's, that's currently the school of thought.
Roger Hurni 35:29
Fair enough. Fair enough. Now, you've been it's been a fascinating conversation. You've been great with your time. And I thank you for being on the show.
Jason Brandt 35:39
My pleasure. Roger. Thank you,
Roger Hurni 35:41
everyone. I have been speaking with Jason Brandt. He's the President CEO of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association. Jason, where can people learn more about you and the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association?
Jason Brandt 35:53
Yeah, best way to find the latest information on what's going on in Oregon's hospitality industry is oregonrla.org. So Oregon spelled out, R for restaurant, L for lodging, A for association dot org.
Roger Hurni 36:06
Great. Again, thank you so much. I am Roger Hurni. This is From Persona to Personal we'll catch you next time.
Outro 36:15
Thanks for listening to From Persona to Personal, the podcast that takes a closer look into how organizations personalize their marketing. We'll see you again next time and be sure to click Subscribe to get future episodes.
