Catch Up With Chuck | Episode 9

Rural Futures Institute Author

01/10/2018 Added

14 Plays

Description

Chuck is joined today by tech start-up CEO Brent Comstock to talk about what it takes to create a culture of entrepreneurship in rural communities.

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[00:00:03.379]Morning, welcome back to Catch Up with Chuck,
[00:00:05.939]this broadcast that we do from the Rural Futures Institute,
[00:00:08.792]at the University of Nebraska.
[00:00:10.702]I'm Chuck Schroeder, I'm the founding executive director
[00:00:13.953]of the Rural Futures Institute,
[00:00:15.808]and for those of you that
[00:00:17.478]have watched some of our materials,
[00:00:18.975]you know that our goal is a thriving,
[00:00:21.454]high touch, high tech future for rural Nebraska
[00:00:25.368]and the Great Plains by 2040.
[00:00:27.558]Well we know that in order to achieve that goal,
[00:00:30.782]rural communities have to be a fertile seed bed
[00:00:34.991]for business and social entrepreneurs
[00:00:37.871]that are in the business of driving positive change
[00:00:41.138]in their communities.
[00:00:42.508]So joining me today in this first broadcast
[00:00:44.975]of 2018, is our friend, a leading entrepreneur
[00:00:49.340]and genuine agent of change
[00:00:51.297]in rural America, Brent Comstock.
[00:00:55.455]Brent is the founding CEO of Bcom Solutions,
[00:01:00.691]which was originated in Auburn, Nebraska.
[00:01:03.954]Now have an office here in Lincoln,
[00:01:05.795]but still rooted in Auburn.
[00:01:07.538]But he is now also the founder of the Rural Impact Hub,
[00:01:13.446]which is a nonprofit organization
[00:01:15.349]working in partnership with Bcom,
[00:01:18.017]to create a national platform for action
[00:01:21.514]and collaboration among rural activists.
[00:01:24.093]I love that statement.
[00:01:25.477]I always--
[00:01:26.310]We do marketing.
[00:01:27.362](laughing)
[00:01:28.195]You know, old fist shakers, I just love 'em.
[00:01:29.630]So Brent, welcome.
[00:01:30.626]Thank you,
[00:01:31.619]Thanks for having me We're delighted to have you
[00:01:32.981]As part of our program.
[00:01:34.780]Well listen, you've been genning up and acting on
[00:01:38.014]ideas for rural based businesses for a long time.
[00:01:41.453]Now, you've said yourself, you look 12,
[00:01:43.479]even though you're 22.
[00:01:44.861]Maybe 13.
[00:01:45.694]But your pretty young.
[00:01:46.527]Yeah.
[00:01:47.360](laughing)
[00:01:48.193]But you've been doin' this for a long time.
[00:01:49.243]Tell us a little bit about your history.
[00:01:51.304]Yeah, so I grew up in Auburn Nebraska,
[00:01:53.516]and ended up that the short geographic pieces.
[00:01:57.225]I've lived in Auburn,
[00:01:58.838]I've lived on the east coast for college,
[00:02:00.648]and then I came back about,
[00:02:02.458]a little over half a year ago.
[00:02:04.382]And while all that was going on,
[00:02:06.265]I was building Bcom Solutions,
[00:02:08.563]which originally started as, you know,
[00:02:10.730]your neighborhood computer repair store,
[00:02:12.585]which has now evolved into a leading digital agency,
[00:02:15.819]that works with political candidates,
[00:02:17.508]capital campaigns, advocacy issues,
[00:02:19.589]but also while doing Bcom Solutions and building that,
[00:02:23.011]we recognized a value in providing
[00:02:26.503]services to rural communities.
[00:02:29.428]And so as our company grew, and we expanded offices,
[00:02:32.679]we have an office in Lincoln here,
[00:02:34.189]and one in Auburn as well now.
[00:02:36.300]So, as we continue to grow, we recognize the need
[00:02:39.239]to have some sort of system, some sort of model
[00:02:42.053]that could be replicable so that other rural communities
[00:02:44.147]could have things like entrepreneurial activities
[00:02:46.797]and eco systems that help facilitate change.
[00:02:50.393]And so we built the Rural Impact Hub about a year ago
[00:02:53.603]to do just that, and so I split my time
[00:02:55.842]between those and in my spare spare time,
[00:02:58.338]I dabble in venture capital in the Baltic Region of Europe.
[00:03:01.747]Which is not all that dissimilar from rural Nebraska.
[00:03:04.682]Sure.
[00:03:05.515]And, you know, I'm 14, I mean 22.
[00:03:08.332](laughing)
[00:03:10.415]Well listen, okay, speaking of your youth,
[00:03:12.951]the legend is that you started
[00:03:15.278]your first business at age 12,
[00:03:17.570]now listen, you may have been a computer whiz kid,
[00:03:21.776]but there had to be more to it.
[00:03:24.731]And we're, we think a lot about people and relationships,
[00:03:28.298]and our work with the Rural Futures Institute.
[00:03:30.462]Talk a little bit about the family environment
[00:03:33.187]at the Comstock house that encouraged
[00:03:36.112]a 12 year old to start his own business
[00:03:38.178]and feel like you could do that.
[00:03:40.098]Sure.
[00:03:41.226]So, my parents, my dad is an entrepreneur,
[00:03:44.420]and my mom works with him.
[00:03:45.929]They own a plumbing and heating business.
[00:03:47.913]And, I think the most important thing
[00:03:50.252]was the work ethic that was instilled from
[00:03:52.249]kind of very early on.
[00:03:54.203]My parents, you know, built their own business,
[00:03:57.325]and grew it to be successful.
[00:03:58.992]And this idea that, you know, you have to work to get
[00:04:02.760]and achieve success was really important.
[00:04:04.896]But I think the bigger thing,
[00:04:06.066]which I learned after going to college
[00:04:07.520]and having some friends that didn't have
[00:04:09.374]the same environment growing up,
[00:04:10.915]was learning and understanding that my parents told me,
[00:04:13.598]and my extended family told me from early on,
[00:04:15.866]that you know, you can achieve what you want,
[00:04:18.688]but you've gotta work towards it.
[00:04:20.444]Where as a lot of parents tend to be a little bit more
[00:04:23.067]helicopters and say, you know,
[00:04:24.509]you need to go into this career or that career,
[00:04:26.734]my parents were happy to have me do what I wanted,
[00:04:28.890]just knowing that it was my responsibility,
[00:04:31.199]and as I was growing into an adult, that that was important.
[00:04:33.934]And now that I look back on that,
[00:04:36.017]that's really been important to
[00:04:37.930]be able to have that freedom.
[00:04:40.432]Our business started in my parents basement.
[00:04:43.793]Actually, it wasn't even the basement.
[00:04:45.599]My first first business was before 12,
[00:04:48.240]and I would sell magazines, rent magazines out,
[00:04:51.678]that I didn't own to family members,
[00:04:53.502]and then I would find them if they were overdue.
[00:04:55.673](laughing)
[00:04:56.669]But that business took place under the stairs.
[00:04:59.171]It was like the Harry Potter cupboard.
[00:05:01.178]Then we upgraded to the storage room,
[00:05:04.047]and then the technology business took off,
[00:05:06.174]and then we built our office in Auburn,
[00:05:07.910]and continued to grow.
[00:05:09.197]But that supportive environment I think is critical
[00:05:10.789]for people in entrepreneurship or in other industries too.
[00:05:13.329]Anything else they want to do in life.
[00:05:14.769]Yeah.
[00:05:15.629]It just established such a great pattern in you,
[00:05:18.478]that it's been fun for me to see you replicate.
[00:05:21.524]Yeah.
[00:05:22.357]Use those same tools, personally,
[00:05:24.729]in so many different ways.
[00:05:25.994]Okay, so, you may have been working
[00:05:28.292]in the basement for a bit,
[00:05:29.746]but one of the interesting parts about your story to me,
[00:05:33.383]is as your business started growing,
[00:05:37.293]you chose not to just do it in your garage or your basement,
[00:05:42.623]and focus on what's great for Brent and for my business.
[00:05:46.400]Yeah.
[00:05:47.337]You very early on said,
[00:05:49.768]hey, what could we do on the Main Street
[00:05:52.604]of Auburn Nebraska,
[00:05:54.044]Yeah.
[00:05:55.050]That would not only help our business grow,
[00:05:57.113]but from as best I remember the story,
[00:06:00.022]as we came down for the opening.
[00:06:02.361]When you opened the doors it was immediately available
[00:06:04.840]to the community for other activities
[00:06:07.096]that were good for other people.
[00:06:08.607]Yeah.
[00:06:09.599]Tell a little bit about your relationship to community.
[00:06:12.058]Yeah, well when I went away to school in North Carolina,
[00:06:15.313]four, four and a half years ago,
[00:06:17.176]I didn't have any explicit intention of coming back.
[00:06:20.060]Which people, now even saying that,
[00:06:22.345]it sounds kind of entertaining and funny
[00:06:24.312]that I had a completely different plan
[00:06:26.092]that involved Washington DC and all these other things,
[00:06:28.773]which are still coming to fruition in a different context.
[00:06:31.255]But I had every intention of going to the university
[00:06:35.506]that had offered me a full ride,
[00:06:37.544]and I was gonna stay there, and I was gonna,
[00:06:39.556]you know, grow that.
[00:06:40.985]And then I came back, I came home for a break,
[00:06:43.421]and several businesses had pulled
[00:06:45.245]their businesses out of downtown.
[00:06:47.185]And so in Chapel Hill North Carolina
[00:06:49.710]where people are fighting to get real estate space,
[00:06:52.048]in Auburn Nebraska, people were, you know,
[00:06:55.012]you could rent a whole block.
[00:06:57.296]And so that was the original reason
[00:06:58.836]why I started talking about this idea
[00:07:00.788]that Main Street businesses, they need to evolve,
[00:07:04.314]and organizations, they need to evolve
[00:07:06.194]to be able to adapt with the times,
[00:07:07.854]but at the same time that value of a Main Street business,
[00:07:10.832]presence is so important.
[00:07:12.597]Whether it's digital presence,
[00:07:14.654]but in rural communities, that physical presence.
[00:07:17.438]Which we tried to tell people
[00:07:19.046]did not mean you needed to have your own building,
[00:07:21.169]but hey, come and, you know, rent this table,
[00:07:24.691]and use this table as your space,
[00:07:26.917]and then when you're done with it you leave.
[00:07:28.544]And that mindset of thinking is not new to the world.
[00:07:31.196]We weren't inventing anything.
[00:07:32.836]But for rural communities that the adaptation,
[00:07:35.474]the business, and kinda the downtown mentality,
[00:07:37.586]was very different.
[00:07:38.741]Sure.
[00:07:39.574]That was new, and it's still a challenge and a struggle.
[00:07:41.794]People go, oh, so we can come in here, and use this space.
[00:07:44.192]And they're like, what's the catch?
[00:07:46.928]And I was like, well, you know,
[00:07:49.250]you tell people that you used it so more people can use it.
[00:07:52.347]That's strange.
[00:07:53.352](laughing)
[00:07:54.729]But it's growing and I think that the Rural Impact Hub,
[00:07:57.650]the layer on top of that that we added
[00:07:59.477]in the last four years was,
[00:08:01.421]place is important, presence is important,
[00:08:04.797]people are important, but also programming.
[00:08:07.232]If you wanna make change,
[00:08:08.833]you can't just expect to have an empty room
[00:08:10.831]and people to come do it.
[00:08:11.900]So we facilitated workshops,
[00:08:13.597]we're inviting national politicians
[00:08:16.035]to come in this year since it's an election year,
[00:08:18.603]and have civil debates in our space.
[00:08:20.971]Because politicians and groups of people
[00:08:24.255]and thought leaders and academics,
[00:08:26.787]they think about rural America,
[00:08:28.986]they talk about it, some of them write about it,
[00:08:31.538]but not a lot of times are people talking in rural America.
[00:08:34.862]So their on Main Street, Auburn, Nebraska,
[00:08:37.471]population 3400, and they're experiencing that first hand.
[00:08:41.536]Well, this whole notion of high touch and high tech,
[00:08:44.783]again, not a new idea,
[00:08:47.539]Right.
[00:08:48.436]But is one that we see over and over,
[00:08:51.105]is critical to success, and you demonstrate that.
[00:08:53.887]So, we talk a lot about rural broadband,
[00:08:57.040]and it's a big issue nationally.
[00:08:59.135]You and I have talked about it,
[00:09:00.802]you've been in the middle of all that.
[00:09:02.515]So, but to launch Bcom Solutions in Auburn,
[00:09:06.029]you had to have access to high quality broadband.
[00:09:09.859]Or broadband.
[00:09:10.901](laughing)
[00:09:12.270]Yeah, or broadband of some kind!
[00:09:14.339]So, just briefly, we're gonna explore
[00:09:16.765]this in more depth in weeks to come,
[00:09:19.102]but from your standpoint as a business person,
[00:09:22.783]was it just a matter of getting fiber to the door?
[00:09:25.475]Or is it a more complex issue for the business
[00:09:29.333]and in the community?
[00:09:31.070]So interestingly enough, there was not,
[00:09:33.018]rural broadband I think is critical,
[00:09:35.258]that access is critical.
[00:09:36.952]And the thing that I tell people,
[00:09:38.268]I think a lot of times people think about fiber internet,
[00:09:40.474]and they think about Netflix, and they think about
[00:09:42.561]all the things that Facebook and Snapchat,
[00:09:44.913]and I go to rural communities and meet with people
[00:09:47.350]that are 80 and 90 years old,
[00:09:48.506]and they go, well my great grandkids,
[00:09:50.276]all they're doing is they got their face in their phone.
[00:09:52.402]And, rural broadband is surely helping support that,
[00:09:55.995]but from my perspective, without access to the internet,
[00:09:59.145]I wouldn't be sitting here today.
[00:10:00.827]Because I would, you know, go to college,
[00:10:02.627]and get a degree and go get a job somewhere.
[00:10:04.437]I wouldn't have had the ability to build
[00:10:06.020]a technology company in Auburn, Nebraska,
[00:10:07.718]before I could drive a car.
[00:10:09.911]And so, but in Auburn, we didn't have a local provider,
[00:10:13.592]which I think is really key when you have those
[00:10:15.574]local community partners like a telephone company
[00:10:17.815]that's evolved into the fiber company.
[00:10:20.244]And so that was really critical,
[00:10:22.647]and I think that access provides people
[00:10:25.220]with an opportunity and similar to what you talked about,
[00:10:28.553]kinda that high touch mentality,
[00:10:30.736]having it is one thing, but then being able to say,
[00:10:33.605]okay we have it, now we can build all these
[00:10:35.443]programs off of it is another thing.
[00:10:37.210]When we look at the Rural Impact Hub in a scalability model,
[00:10:39.779]it's going to every rural broadband
[00:10:42.647]company or affiliate and saying, here use this,
[00:10:46.069]and so that way when you want
[00:10:47.563]to take part in our programming,
[00:10:49.161]you can tune in through a video,
[00:10:50.946]you don't have to drive 600 miles to get to us.
[00:10:53.684]We'd welcome you to.
[00:10:55.239]But that access I think is critical,
[00:10:57.607]and I think it's important as generations kind of change,
[00:11:00.856]that that message isn't lost.
[00:11:04.210]Listen I wanna explore in a little more depth
[00:11:06.535]something that you've referenced a couple of times.
[00:11:08.545]So here you have, you have Bcom Solutions
[00:11:11.496]that you started as a kid.
[00:11:12.751]It's grown, it's been successful,
[00:11:15.169]you're involved in a number of
[00:11:16.961]countries internationally now.
[00:11:19.260]You've gotten into other realms, politics,
[00:11:21.696]as you've referenced here, and crossing the spectrum
[00:11:26.448]of ideological possessions
[00:11:28.571]and all that yeah, that's fun
[00:11:29.780]And all that sort of thing that's a whole other episode
[00:11:31.493]So, how, you know, a rational person would say,
[00:11:34.304]okay you've got this booming business,
[00:11:36.820]you could focus all of your attention
[00:11:38.854]and your energies right there,
[00:11:40.578]what most people would do.
[00:11:42.546]Well, instead, in 2017, you launch this nonprofit,
[00:11:46.896]Rural Impact Hub, that,
[00:11:49.940]I mean, it may help Bcom Solutions,
[00:11:54.036]but you wouldn't have done it for just that purpose.
[00:11:57.044]Right.
[00:11:57.877]What the heck are you doing?
[00:11:59.287](laughing)
[00:12:00.407]Well--
[00:12:01.240]It seems to me, quite honestly,
[00:12:03.250]there's a values underpinning here,
[00:12:04.975]that I just, I wanna explore for just a minute.
[00:12:06.928]Yeah, well I think one of the key things,
[00:12:08.852]somedays, it's you know, Bcom Solutions is a nonpr--
[00:12:11.536]If I work on the Rural Impact Hub enough,
[00:12:13.563]then Bcom Solutions becomes the nonprofit.
[00:12:15.559](laughing)
[00:12:16.611]I won't tell anyone on our team that, but,
[00:12:19.503]you know, so there is a underlying value,
[00:12:23.314]and that was, as our business has grown,
[00:12:26.482]we've struggles with, how do we remain in touch,
[00:12:29.037]in connection with rural communities.
[00:12:31.218]And when I moved back, the assumption was
[00:12:33.586]that I would centralize all of my
[00:12:35.523]attention to one rural community.
[00:12:37.124]And I've traveled to hundreds of rural communities,
[00:12:39.150]and spoken to thousands of people,
[00:12:40.901]from Alaska to Florida and everywhere in between,
[00:12:43.241]and every time I see great opportunities
[00:12:46.493]and things going on,
[00:12:47.731]but it's usually someone gets tied down
[00:12:49.502]to that community, and then they can't share,
[00:12:52.158]they can't spread their ideas,
[00:12:53.580]and then they get kinda brain drain,
[00:12:55.120]and so I was like, we need to build a model that's scalable,
[00:12:57.246]or replicable, we try and use the word replicable,
[00:13:00.082]because we want each community to be able to pick it off
[00:13:03.050]and use it as their own, not to think of it
[00:13:05.492]as this big corporation that's expanding, 'cause it's not.
[00:13:09.139]And at the same time entrepreneurship is important.
[00:13:12.725]I am, you know, probably the strongest advocate
[00:13:15.406]for building rural entrepreneurship from an early age.
[00:13:17.700]But there are also some underlying issues
[00:13:20.438]that entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs have to face
[00:13:23.294]when they work in a rural community.
[00:13:24.947]Not really any different from urban communities,
[00:13:26.660]but racism is still alive in rural communities.
[00:13:29.993]Sexism is still alive in communities.
[00:13:32.755]The idea of identity in a rural community,
[00:13:35.479]people has this identity crisis of, oh,
[00:13:37.506]I'm three hours from the nearest thing.
[00:13:40.116]A small business planning workshop
[00:13:42.709]is not necessarily gonna help them first,
[00:13:44.978]but helping them identify like minded people will.
[00:13:48.059]And that's not a political issue, that's not a gender issue,
[00:13:51.158]that's just an issue of some people are in a rural community
[00:13:54.365]because that's where they came from
[00:13:56.045]that's where they're gonna stay,
[00:13:57.670]and they're consistent and they're
[00:13:59.110]happy with working their job.
[00:14:00.450]Some people are living in this rural community
[00:14:01.953]saying there's so many opportunities,
[00:14:03.135]but they feel like they don't
[00:14:04.274]have that body to support them.
[00:14:05.827]Sure.
[00:14:06.660]And that directly helps Bcom Solutions,
[00:14:08.723]because we are working to be the digital resource
[00:14:11.676]for rural politicians, rural nonprofits,
[00:14:14.257]and capital campaigns.
[00:14:15.357]And so when people say well what services do you bring?
[00:14:19.022]It's like, here's all the digital resources,
[00:14:21.300]oh, and not only do we sell those technology services,
[00:14:25.097]but we understand the place that you're working in
[00:14:27.538]because we're spending every day
[00:14:28.891]in some way being involved in some capacity.
[00:14:31.415]The final thing on that is the rural urban divide.
[00:14:34.139]Which I think is largely this misnomer
[00:14:36.463]that people, you know, you exit Lincoln,
[00:14:39.571]and then you go to this big wall,
[00:14:41.629]and then you open the gate, and then oh!
[00:14:43.981]There's rural, you've arrived.
[00:14:45.706]Like that doesn't happen, but people talk about it
[00:14:47.701]as if it's this mysterious thing.
[00:14:50.793]And so one of the things that we're working with
[00:14:53.349]in the Rural Impact Hub is how do urban-ites
[00:14:57.192]and residents in urban communities
[00:14:59.109]still stay in touch with rural communities?
[00:15:01.168]And that's been a challenge for me
[00:15:03.946]as someone who has residence in Lincoln,
[00:15:06.724]spends time in a lot of rural communities,
[00:15:09.022]largely in Auburn too,
[00:15:10.833]but how do people still accept me
[00:15:13.331]as someone who's from a rural community
[00:15:15.086]and that I'm not selling out?
[00:15:16.926]Right.
[00:15:17.759]But there are hybrid models, because my philosophy is,
[00:15:20.803]if there's a business owner who would like to invest
[00:15:23.011]in a rural community 10, 20 million dollars,
[00:15:26.228]but he or she wants to stay living in Omaha or Kearney,
[00:15:31.799]or you know, why wouldn't that rural community say,
[00:15:34.793]oh well we're happy, bring the business in,
[00:15:37.063]let's find a model to make you involved and engaged,
[00:15:39.786]because that supports the economy of that community,
[00:15:41.940]and it supports the business owner
[00:15:43.493]in wanting to continue to be involved.
[00:15:45.664]And that rural urban divide I think
[00:15:47.144]is something that people constantly talk about,
[00:15:48.954]politicians talk about it, residences talk about it,
[00:15:50.860]nonprofits talk about it, and that's something
[00:15:53.349]that we're trying to always talk about.
[00:15:55.702]That the divide is the issue, it's not,
[00:15:57.498]we need to separate rural and urban into two buckets.
[00:16:00.137]Well it's what I just have loved about the concept
[00:16:02.863]since the time you launched it,
[00:16:05.190]is that it does create an opportunity
[00:16:07.126]for crossing that divide,
[00:16:09.211]but also for those entrepreneurs,
[00:16:11.850]civic leaders in rural communities,
[00:16:14.386]who as you say, they wanna be connected with
[00:16:17.953]like minded people, like interest, different interests,
[00:16:22.041]that can help spark them, and sometimes that's hard.
[00:16:25.026]It's a little bit of the philosophy that we've applied
[00:16:27.009]in our sponsorship of connecting young Nebraskans.
[00:16:29.456]And connecting young professionals across the state.
[00:16:32.003]Who can sometimes feel kind of isolated,
[00:16:34.409]and it's just amazing what happens when you cross
[00:16:38.176]that high touch divide and get people together.
[00:16:41.583]So, okay, let me jump a little bit.
[00:16:44.361]In our program last week, we had Kathy Lang,
[00:16:48.530]who is the new director of the
[00:16:50.625]Nebraska Business Development Center,
[00:16:52.793]which is based at the University of Nebraska,
[00:16:55.175]Kathy and her organization have a state wide mission
[00:16:58.853]to encourage small business development.
[00:17:01.407]In your adventures, you've worked with local, state,
[00:17:05.289]federal agencies that are kind of in this game.
[00:17:08.326]What advice would you have for them
[00:17:11.228]for doing things that actually matter for you,
[00:17:14.826]the small business guy who's trying to make something happen
[00:17:17.223]in a rural community?
[00:17:18.506]Well I think this is really funny,
[00:17:20.218]because I just got done sending an email
[00:17:23.056]to someone in DC talking about the impracticalities
[00:17:27.064]of grant programs that are built for rural businesses,
[00:17:30.371]that 90% of them don't qualify for
[00:17:33.762]because they don't meet the minimum revenue threshold,
[00:17:37.031]or they don't meet all these different requirements.
[00:17:40.554]I think the biggest advice, is the simple fact that,
[00:17:44.643]rural communities are unique, they're not cities,
[00:17:48.703]so the same model shouldn't be adapted or adopted.
[00:17:52.590]And so what usually happens, is people take an urban program
[00:17:56.185]and they go, this is something we could scale
[00:17:58.196]to every rural community.
[00:17:59.481]Well sure, but without changing the requirements,
[00:18:01.464]you're never gonna, nothing's ever gonna happen.
[00:18:03.844]The other challenge is that there is this,
[00:18:06.198]and I don't think this is just in rural,
[00:18:08.284]but I think it's everywhere,
[00:18:10.148]but in rural communities, we call the city slickers,
[00:18:13.827]the city slickers for a reason.
[00:18:15.912]Because, typically they come in,
[00:18:17.849]they talk talk talk, and then they leave.
[00:18:19.845]And so in these programs come in,
[00:18:21.558]number one, most people don't know about them.
[00:18:23.752]Sure.
[00:18:24.585]There's marketing number one.
[00:18:26.283]And number two, the idea of building a relationship,
[00:18:29.144]a federal program, or a state program, or a local program,
[00:18:31.980]I consider it community organizing.
[00:18:34.422]And if you don't do the organizing piece,
[00:18:36.606]which is why we love working in the political space too,
[00:18:38.586]because it's the same mindset,
[00:18:39.927]you've gotta build that relationship.
[00:18:41.510]You've gotta understand the people,
[00:18:42.920]and you've got to show that you're actually
[00:18:45.258]invested and interested in it.
[00:18:46.387]Or they're going, you know,
[00:18:47.574]we've survived without your money, we don't need it.
[00:18:49.445]Or your assistance, or whatever it may be.
[00:18:51.400]The marketing thing is a whole other challenge.
[00:18:54.693]You know, local newspapers are still a thing.
[00:18:57.875]So if you wanna target people that are 50 plus,
[00:19:00.529]hit the local newspapers.
[00:19:01.956]But social media, is, in the targeting capabilities,
[00:19:06.095]is so much better.
[00:19:07.444]We have people reaching out to us on a regular basis
[00:19:09.071]saying, we notice that you targeted rural communities,
[00:19:11.253]for X, Y, Z, reasons, and people think
[00:19:13.549]that these residents in you know, Scottsbluff
[00:19:17.072]or in Benkleman or way out west,
[00:19:20.356]they think that they're isolated.
[00:19:21.907]Well yeah, they're isolated,
[00:19:23.090]but they're looking at their phone.
[00:19:24.201]Sure.
[00:19:25.034]So why would you advertise in the newspaper
[00:19:26.612]that they don't know exists,
[00:19:28.248]instead of targeting those rural, or using social media?
[00:19:31.445]And so with those programs and with politicians,
[00:19:34.626]I've told our team several times,
[00:19:36.166]like a dream customer of ours,
[00:19:37.991]would be either a local candidate
[00:19:40.757]that wants to use digital to get elected,
[00:19:43.599]or a federal race like a presidential race,
[00:19:46.181]that we're in no capacity to serve as their
[00:19:48.561]entire digital operation.
[00:19:50.272]But they come to us and they say,
[00:19:51.412]you know rural audiences, which we do.
[00:19:53.678]And I think that's really important
[00:19:56.047]from a marketing perspective,
[00:19:57.362]is that there are people there
[00:19:58.830]that are waiting for these programs.
[00:20:00.196]There are people there that wait until after it's too late.
[00:20:03.606]But I think they exist,
[00:20:04.600]and I think that's really challenging,
[00:20:05.717]is that there are many generations in rural communities,
[00:20:08.200]and so the marketing strategy
[00:20:09.940]cannot be any different than in the city,
[00:20:11.966]your target audience is just gonna be a little bit smaller.
[00:20:14.802]Little smaller, sure, of course.
[00:20:15.808]Okay listen, we know that we have folks in our audiences,
[00:20:19.924]moms and dads, prospective students
[00:20:22.662]that are watching Brent Comstock today,
[00:20:26.369]and thinking about your success,
[00:20:28.341]and I'll just bet they're saying to themselves,
[00:20:30.388]Okay, for my education track,
[00:20:33.457]I'm gonna have to focus exclusively on business,
[00:20:38.192]information technology courses,
[00:20:40.563]that's gonna be the key to my success.
[00:20:43.683]I know a little bit about the track that you have followed
[00:20:46.845]and that is not it.
[00:20:47.918]Yeah.
[00:20:48.751]I want you to share with our audience
[00:20:51.967]a bit of the diversity of your interests,
[00:20:55.394]and that you included in your academic track.
[00:20:58.727]Yeah, well I think it's,
[00:21:00.858]so I took classes in college ranging from
[00:21:03.706]accounting to mergers and acquisitions,
[00:21:06.559]to arabic to understanding Christianity's role
[00:21:11.492]in a non-religious government affiliation,
[00:21:15.871]and all of these different things.
[00:21:17.552]And people were probably looking at this thing,
[00:21:19.581]what in the world is going on?
[00:21:21.005]I took a, I can't remember what the most obscure,
[00:21:23.028]I took swimming of course too,
[00:21:24.298]because that was the easiest physical education class.
[00:21:28.106]So, amongst all of those,
[00:21:31.740]I have two programs of study,
[00:21:34.362]in business and in religious studies,
[00:21:37.043]which has been so fascinating
[00:21:38.552]because I came from, predominately white,
[00:21:43.174]conservative, Christian, America.
[00:21:48.042]And, this diversity piece was also something that
[00:21:51.305]the diversity of the mind, I think is really important.
[00:21:54.127]And so I tell people all the time,
[00:21:57.522]number one you have to take a religious studies class.
[00:22:00.102]Most of the people in my religious studies program
[00:22:02.528]were not religious.
[00:22:03.640]Which a lot of the people from back home are like,
[00:22:06.794]oh religious studies, you're going to be a pastor.
[00:22:09.375]And then I said business, and they said,
[00:22:11.273]oh, you're gonna be a church treasurer.
[00:22:13.496](laughing)
[00:22:14.511]And well, if this doesn't work,
[00:22:16.009]then I'll just move right on down the road,
[00:22:18.051]but when you understand someones religion,
[00:22:21.002]or when you understand the way,
[00:22:22.404]and religion is largely culture.
[00:22:24.437]When you understand that, as a business person,
[00:22:27.602]I'm more well equipped to go into,
[00:22:29.623]you know, Saudi Arabia, or to Italy,
[00:22:32.748]or to a different country.
[00:22:35.846]Not because I can value a business
[00:22:37.867]and know mergers and acquisitions and know how to do that,
[00:22:41.294]that's important, but to get
[00:22:42.992]and to facilitate that relationship,
[00:22:45.003]is all about, you don't schedule times during, you know,
[00:22:47.645]prayer time in Dubai, or doing all these different pieces.
[00:22:50.898]And I wouldn't have that if I just did the business major
[00:22:53.283]or I just did the computer science program.
[00:22:56.050]Which doesn't mean, and the major,
[00:22:57.844]we're hiring by the way, if you're a current student.
[00:23:00.701](laughing)
[00:23:01.534]And this was relevant, and we have internships.
[00:23:05.166]And they're paid.
[00:23:06.549]But I don't think I've ever looked at someones major.
[00:23:09.763]Or asked.
[00:23:10.632]We have an agronomist as our
[00:23:12.878]digital director at our company,
[00:23:15.274]who get an undergrad and grad degree at this institution,
[00:23:18.334]and it's like well, that's a natural path of course,
[00:23:22.274]going from east campus in agronomy
[00:23:24.086]to working at a web design company.
[00:23:26.020]Perfect!
[00:23:27.014]We're not weird or anything.
[00:23:29.830]But, that doesn't matter.
[00:23:32.197]And I think that's really important,
[00:23:33.840]and it's hard for the institutional knowledge
[00:23:36.146]to kind of evolve into that.
[00:23:38.147]But I've never looked at someones area of study.
[00:23:40.686]Now when it's unique, I ask them about it.
[00:23:43.038]Sure.
[00:23:43.918]If they list a language, I, you know,
[00:23:45.904]Google the first three or four phrases you should know,
[00:23:48.272]and then I test them on it.
[00:23:50.608]But I think that's really important,
[00:23:52.820]is studying what you're interested in,
[00:23:54.591]because the degree is important,
[00:23:56.316]I fundamentally believe that, and that networking
[00:23:58.369]opportunities are even more incredible.
[00:24:01.091]I'm fascinated with alumni bases
[00:24:02.901]and how there are so many untapped
[00:24:05.269]opportunities in alumni bases.
[00:24:07.305]And, the mentors that I've had,
[00:24:09.486]and I tell people, you know,
[00:24:11.213]hired people, had customers, had two offices,
[00:24:14.275]won awards, including a congregational award for
[00:24:16.914]rural economic development, before I had a college degree.
[00:24:19.739]There was something involved in the equation,
[00:24:22.107]that wasn't just academics and higher education,
[00:24:25.791]and that was largely mentors.
[00:24:27.612]Many of which came from going to college.
[00:24:30.301]So I think that's really important.
[00:24:32.336]And if you go to, if you're a perspective student,
[00:24:34.400]I would look at the campus environment,
[00:24:36.940]I would look at the educational program,
[00:24:38.795]'cause if you want to study medicine
[00:24:40.392]and they don't have a good premed,
[00:24:41.918]there are some industries where it's out of the blue.
[00:24:45.099]But, if you, those mentorships are really important.
[00:24:49.165]And you can understand from meeting with a professor.
[00:24:52.444]You can understand from meeting with an administrator.
[00:24:54.853]If that's gonna be the right fit.
[00:24:57.178]And actually I remember,
[00:24:58.846]in example of that, one of my mentors early on was Connie.
[00:25:04.373]And Connie was, you know, trying to advocate
[00:25:08.102]for me to come to UNL, I did not,
[00:25:11.101]but I remember she said, well we're gonna come up for a day,
[00:25:14.704]and we're gonna spend a day at UNL.
[00:25:16.932]And we went, we came here, and I was like,
[00:25:19.212]Connie, I don't have any interest in agriculture.
[00:25:22.690]Which is really funny now,
[00:25:23.931]because we're working with agriculture institutions
[00:25:26.572]and organizations and I'm like,
[00:25:28.066]well this would have been nice to know.
[00:25:29.553](laughing)
[00:25:30.557]We're comparing you know, notes about associations
[00:25:33.147]that involve pork and cattle, and all those.
[00:25:35.115]But we came here, we looked at the angler program,
[00:25:39.035]we looked at, I might with now Chancellor Green,
[00:25:42.604]who at the time was the vice chancellor,
[00:25:44.668]and we went to all these different programs.
[00:25:46.494]And I think immediately after that day,
[00:25:48.634]I decided I wasn't going here.
[00:25:50.490]It had nothing to really do with the experience,
[00:25:52.829]but I knew that I had people here
[00:25:54.284]that I could lean on for support.
[00:25:56.192]And that's something that's been valuable.
[00:25:57.808]And it doesn't matter the institution.
[00:25:59.501]I went to, you know, school on the east coast,
[00:26:01.484]and then come back and those relationships are still active.
[00:26:03.821]Sure.
[00:26:04.654]And that made a, that was a big deal.
[00:26:06.233]And that was, you know, something that I really leaned on
[00:26:08.330]when I looked at colleges, was,
[00:26:10.075]what will be my support base wherever I go?
[00:26:13.008]Yeah, I wanna throw in here,
[00:26:15.306]you also have a deep interest in music.
[00:26:17.412]Oh yeah, that's the other,
[00:26:19.010]That's the fifth thing Which actually I'm gonna,
[00:26:21.209]I'm gonna roll into our next question.
[00:26:22.042]You and I share--
[00:26:22.875]You're gonna roll the piano out?
[00:26:23.951]Yeah!
[00:26:24.784](laughing)
[00:26:25.837]We could, it would make the point.
[00:26:27.489]You and I share a fascination with the role of elders.
[00:26:31.365]Yeah.
[00:26:33.061]In various cultures and society.
[00:26:35.557]Now, most people look at Brent Comstock,
[00:26:37.729]and see this classic 22 year old millennial.
[00:26:42.063]However, I have heard you say happily,
[00:26:45.112]sometimes I act like an 80 year old.
[00:26:48.757]Yeah.
[00:26:50.554]I want you to say a little bit,
[00:26:52.644]we've had some great conversations along this line.
[00:26:54.856]I want you to say a little bit about the influence
[00:26:57.368]of elders in your life.
[00:26:59.008]And I know that in very early stage,
[00:27:01.157]you were performing music for elders
[00:27:03.299]for their entertainment.
[00:27:04.867]But the role of elders, and you have some thoughts
[00:27:07.303]about their role in entrepreneur companies.
[00:27:09.414]Yeah, well I love old people.
[00:27:11.269]We'll just put that out there now.
[00:27:13.924]And I am fascinated with intergenerational
[00:27:19.360]kind of, connections and opportunities.
[00:27:22.883]Obviously, growing up in a rural community,
[00:27:25.475]there's a lot of elderly people.
[00:27:27.432]Elders to young people, but also people that are elderly.
[00:27:30.383]And my earliest business customers
[00:27:33.318]were 85, and that's not an exaggeration,
[00:27:37.201]year old ladies that my mom new from aerobics.
[00:27:40.309]Or that my parents and I saw at church.
[00:27:43.588]And, I just think there's a historical piece there,
[00:27:47.326]that I spend all day in technology,
[00:27:49.433]so we could completely change our business model,
[00:27:51.617]we try not to, but tomorrow.
[00:27:53.427]And it wouldn't be that uncommon.
[00:27:56.165]But something that you lose in a start up,
[00:27:59.545]or in a technology company,
[00:28:01.218]or being the CEO of a company at 22,
[00:28:03.910]I could have, I could be 22 and have a PHD.
[00:28:06.578]But I still don't have that experience.
[00:28:09.602]And I think a lot of times, people try and again,
[00:28:12.026]kinda like the rural urban divide,
[00:28:13.285]it's like the old young divide.
[00:28:15.032]And they try and separate those groups.
[00:28:17.791]And I learned from playing piano recitals
[00:28:20.900]for people at a nursing home,
[00:28:23.296]to interacting with people at church
[00:28:26.600]to then working for them, to then going to college,
[00:28:29.326]and realizing that a lot of my friends
[00:28:31.039]were 40, 50, 60, 70 years old.
[00:28:34.947]Our oldest customer, I think, was like 96 or 97.
[00:28:38.853]And, that's been really fundamental to me as a person.
[00:28:44.017]And that role of elders, and in my capacity,
[00:28:48.337]in mentors, I love hearing stories.
[00:28:51.490]I love to talk of that as I'm in established.
[00:28:54.670]And, you know, you learn so many different things.
[00:28:58.049]And we talked about this when we were talking about
[00:29:00.102]the arts and you know, visual arts,
[00:29:01.912]and performing arts, you know,
[00:29:04.769]I've been in every capacity from performing,
[00:29:09.104]we would go and I would go in the summer to Iowa,
[00:29:11.926]and I would play a little tour of nursing homes.
[00:29:14.534]And I got everything from a tip in a tip jar,
[00:29:18.313]to one lady telling me that her granddaughter was my age,
[00:29:23.221]and was single and available.
[00:29:25.648](laughing)
[00:29:26.656]Which, you know, there's a catch.
[00:29:29.110]But, it was just so interesting to meet
[00:29:33.218]and connect with people, and it's something that,
[00:29:35.873]it's also a stress reliever.
[00:29:38.514]You know, doing all the things that
[00:29:40.323]we've talked about is certainly not easy.
[00:29:42.102]I wouldn't say that it's rocket science,
[00:29:43.558]it takes a lot of manual, you have to do things.
[00:29:45.427]I think, if anything, people look
[00:29:46.884]at all the different things that I am doing
[00:29:49.093]and our company is doing,
[00:29:50.374]and they see all the kinda disconnected in someways.
[00:29:53.014]But we're not in the business of
[00:29:55.569]spending a lot of time on research and stu--
[00:29:57.622]which there's nothing wrong with it,
[00:29:58.918]but we're not an academic institution,
[00:30:00.417]we have to survive and do things.
[00:30:01.928]Sure.
[00:30:02.761]And that's something that music has been
[00:30:05.048]kind of a release for me as well.
[00:30:08.548]And whether that's singing in a church choir,
[00:30:11.169]playing the pipe organ, or playing the piano,
[00:30:13.221]and it follows me everywhere.
[00:30:14.948]When I went to North Carolina,
[00:30:16.759]I walked into church
[00:30:20.513]at a church I was going to, and asked if they needed,
[00:30:24.390]you know, an accompanist for some sort of ensemble,
[00:30:27.131]and I ended up spending four years accompanying
[00:30:30.095]the children's choirs at this church.
[00:30:32.335]There were two that I accompanied,
[00:30:34.403]and when I wasn't accompanying the church choir,
[00:30:37.073]the children's choirs,
[00:30:38.393]I was sitting in the back of the church on Sundays
[00:30:42.358]with a man who was probably 50 to 60 years older than I was,
[00:30:46.386]who became one of my best friends.
[00:30:47.992]And my friend, my roommates were like,
[00:30:49.606]oh Brent's goin' to hang out with Bill again, that's odd.
[00:30:51.844](laughing)
[00:30:52.849]and so it's all interconnected,
[00:30:54.771]but I mean, I've learned so many different things.
[00:30:57.235]And I think it's great for our business.
[00:30:59.943]So the next thing I'm gonna try and roll out
[00:31:02.040]is a elders internship program.
[00:31:04.565]'Cause once you retire, people are like,
[00:31:06.248]well, you know, I'm gonna go work at Walmart,
[00:31:08.405]which I don't think there's anything wrong with,
[00:31:10.184]but I think there are so many different ways
[00:31:12.279]that you can get elders involved in giving
[00:31:14.518]their expertise and mindset,
[00:31:16.344]in a business that they have no idea what's going on.
[00:31:18.371]And we have no idea what they've done in life.
[00:31:20.385]I haven't shared that with my team yet, so.
[00:31:23.279](laughing)
[00:31:24.284]We'll tag that note and I'll send that
[00:31:27.031]to clip right onto them.
[00:31:28.783]It's been important, and it still is,
[00:31:31.335]and I hope that, and I'm trying to do this now even.
[00:31:35.300]When I see people, there are a couple of people I know
[00:31:38.437]that are freshmen in college that they're
[00:31:41.133]having difficulty navigating the situation.
[00:31:44.514]They're trying to understand that.
[00:31:46.709]I have a lot of friends who maybe
[00:31:48.665]don't align with me politically,
[00:31:50.532]who know though that I have some sort of connection,
[00:31:53.329]or I have knowledge about a political subject
[00:31:54.935]they're trying to understand.
[00:31:56.365]And they'll reach out to me, and I think that,
[00:31:59.046]that fostering and mentorship is important
[00:32:01.071]regardless of age.
[00:32:02.444]But you'd obviously get a lot of cool stories
[00:32:04.323]when you meet with someone who's been through
[00:32:05.733]two world wars and, you know.
[00:32:07.888]It's just really fascinating.
[00:32:10.058]Well listen, I made a funny face a minute ago
[00:32:13.136]because I know we've run way long, and--
[00:32:15.447]We've lost our viewership and--
[00:32:17.548]But this a night on TV will come out.
[00:32:20.583]Well Brent, this has been such a treat.
[00:32:23.575]You're a change maker with strong Nebraska roots.
[00:32:26.072]Your adventures have had global impact.
[00:32:29.296]We're so proud to have you as a friend
[00:32:31.633]of the Rural Futures Institute,
[00:32:33.334]and I hope as time goes on we continue to engage
[00:32:35.846]in big ideas, this has been great fun.
[00:32:38.368]Yeah, thank you.
[00:32:39.705]Well listen, I'm gonna ask you to stay in touch
[00:32:42.073]with the Rural Futures Institute
[00:32:43.798]through Facebook and Twitter, as well as our website.
[00:32:47.109]And we'll be coming back in weeks to come
[00:32:50.103]with more Catch Up with Chuck,
[00:32:51.928]meeting with people and looking at places.
[00:32:54.497]Talking about success stories in rural America,
[00:32:58.019]and demonstrating that strong rural communities
[00:33:01.086]are a legitimate best choice for worthwhile living.
[00:33:03.952]Thanks so much for joining us.

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Catch Up With Chuck | Episode 9

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