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A mic check, life advice, and a podcast sandwich. Special thanks to Ron Bronson and Jackie Vetrano.

 

Transcript

Welcome to StrategyCar. I’m Alaina Wiens, and this is Episode One. Today I invite you to join me on a road trip to a better web. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, and I’m not going to get there alone.

[THEME MUSIC]

So what do I mean when I say, “better web?” There isn’t just one answer, and there isn’t just one way to get there. To set the stage for what I hope is going to be a very long, ongoing conversation, I enlisted the help of a couple of my smart friends. I need to make sure I can explain what this thing is before I get started. And also I need to make sure I can use a microphone and a computer at the same time.

First up. Ron Bronson.

[MUSIC TRANSITION]

RON BRONSON: Alright. Hello.

ALAINA WIENS: Hello! Ron Bronson!

RON: It’s me.

ALAINA: It’s you. You’re here. You are my first official recording for what is intended to be my podcast. How do you feel?

RON: That’s wild. I feel honored. I don’t know how I made it through the gauntlet of people who could have this honor, but I’ll do my best.

ALAINA: Well, as my first guest, I feel it is my duty to introduce you. However, I think there’s so much to say about you I’m afraid I’m going to miss something important and I want you to have the introduction that you deserve. And so, can you introduce you? How would you describe Ron Bronson?

RON: Um, well personally or professionally? Professionally, I guess you could say that I am a person working on the web. I’ve done that, I guess, in this phase for the last, I don’t know, 13 years or so. I like brunch a whole lot. This is not–None of my professional duties involve that. For the last decade or so I’ve been working in a variety of different places on building web–you know, building digital projects, digital products for all kinds of organizations and institutions. How we met, primarily through higher education, but like you I no longer work in higher ed and haven’t for the last couple of years. And yeah, so that’s sort of the high level. What else do you want to know?

ALAINA: I think I would add to that you are just in general an all-around helpful person, and so the thing that I have called you today to enlist your help with is A: To make sure that I know how to record something.

RON: Mm hmm. Done. Check. Check.

ALAINA: I feel like maybe we’re accomplishing that? I’ll have to go back and check and make sure this worked.

RON: We’ll find out.

ALAINA: I can hear you. You can hear me?

RON: I can hear you perfectly. Or else I’d be talking to myself, which I do do, but not on recordings typically.

ALAINA: Maybe while you’re eating brunch.

RON: I’m pretty sure all the time. Just not when I’m recording myself.

ALAINA: Also I feel like if there’s a person who can find a way to professionally eat brunch, it’s going to be you.

RON: [Laughs]

ALAINA: That chapter has not been written. It’s coming.

RON: Maybe in my third phase of my life. [Laughing]

ALAINA: Third of infinity.

RON: Yeah.

ALAINA: I guess the second thing I wanted to try and do… If I’m going to make this podcast a real thing, I have to be able to explain to people what it is in a way that makes sense. And so you are my first trial audience because you are a person I would want to listen to this sort of podcast, but also a person I would want to talk to for this sort of podcast.

RON: Okay.

ALAINA: And so you need an elevator speech.

RON: Yeah.

ALAINA: Are you ready?

RON: Let’s hear it. Let’s do it.

ALAINA: Okay. So. I spend a lot of time thinking about how the web could be used to make things better for people and how people in the community could be doing a lot more to make the web better. And the further I get in that the bigger it feels and the more it feels like it’s going to take a lot, but also the more I realize it’s every little bit that we all do that gets us there. And so with this podcast, as I go out and learn from every single person that I can learn from, I want to collect those stories and share them with other people who might be looking for that same little bit of inspiration to do their part to make the web better.

RON: Yeah.

ALAINA: The end.

RON: [Pause] That’s not quite an elevator speech, that’s more like a… that’s more like a… unless you get a long elevator, but–

ALAINA: Well, maybe it’s like a super tall building.

RON: Well, no, I was going to say, that’s a long elevator. With a line, it’s great. Um, that being said, I thought, no matter what, I thought it was really good, um, and I think that you’re spot-on with your findings and your assessment of things, as it were. I think there’s a need for, there’s a space for more people to have conversations about technology, about the web and about, you know, just the digital space in general. The tools that we use, the things that we build, and how that impacts everyday life with everyday folks. Um–

ALAINA: Right! And it’s really, it’s that every day that I think feels sometimes like it’s not enough. Like those little bits that we do every day that are contributing to the incremental changes that make things better in the long run–I think sometimes we forget to acknowledge the importance of those or to even recognize that they’re doing something to help advance the thing that we’re trying to do.

RON: Yes.

ALAINA: Um, and so I would of course love to hear from all the people who are making the big, world-changing projects happen, but I think there are people everywhere who are just like head-down, doing their best to explain to the people around them why it’s important to care about making sure everybody can use the web, or why it’s important to make sure we’re doing our best to be inclusive when we design. All of those things.

RON: Yeah. I think you’re spot-on. I think you’ve–I think this is a spot-on thing and I think you are a perfect person to have that conversation with people, and ask those questions, and to be incisive, and to dig deeper, and so I’m excited that you’re doing this. I’m excited to be part of it.

ALAINA: I’m excited, too. And I think that if there’s anything about me that I am ready to own, it’s that I’m always going to be that person that’s going to ask 1,000 questions and not care if I sound stupid. Um, [laughs] I just always want to understand the thing better, and so I’m going to dig in. Let’s do this thing.

RON: We need more of that. I think a lot of folks are willing to talk a lot, but not necessarily ask questions because they either think they already know or make assumptions based on their experiences. And you’ve always been, in the time that I’ve known you as well to just be, you know really good at, you know, asking good questions. Like I said, being incisive and, you know, to drilling deeper and, you know. “So okay, why did you say it that way?” or “What about this?” or “What about that?” And I think, like I said, I think that, as you said also, that it’s very necessary to have more people having–wherever they are stationed in the world–able to have conversations about the work they’re doing and how important it is. Because it is important, and it does touch lives and does impact. So again, go you. This is great.

ALAINA: One thing that you didn’t really mention in your little introduction of yourself that I didn’t really prepare you to give–so thank you for that–is that you’ve done a little bit of podcasting yourself. This is something that you’ve dabbled with. And so being a person who kind of understands this and being a consumer of this kind of thing, what advice would you give me, getting started?

RON: Well, two things. There’s two parts. One is sort of an admission, actually. As for someone who spends–who spent–you know, probably not this year, but probably the past, previous, I don’t know, three or four years doing some form of podcast, whether it was a video podcast–it’s me and Tonya doing Higher Ed Solo or whatever–and then going on and doing my own audio podcasts in different formats, either as a guest or of course hosting my own things–is that, um, I’ve found that I’m not a great consumer of podcasts, actually. Like all my friends these days, no one talks about TV shows they watch anymore. Everyone just wants to tell you about a podcast they’ve listened to. I’m not as great about that because I listen to a lot of music, but I would say that when I do listen to podcasts, it’s usually people telling either–it’s two things. It’s one, having a few things, like driving somewhere and wanting something to listen to. But I like, I love interviews. I love learning from people and hearing their experiences and their stories and how they got places and what they did and what they did when things weren’t great or just whatever. I just love—that’s my favorite, really the only form of podcast that I typically enjoy consistently is the interview of someone and hearing a story about, you know, again first-person sort of narrative thing. So I would say to you that I think you’re heading in the right direction because you’re trying to do more of that, um, and making it relevant to people in a certain particular space.

My advice to you would be, and it’s not even anything to do with audio or anything to do with syndicating your podcast or putting it places. Obviously I’ll give you that advice offline, to the extent that you need it. But as far as, like, for this venue I would say to you that, um, don’t be concerned with how many people are listening. Like I told myself a lot when I was doing this that I’m doing this for me. If one person listens that’s fantastic, but I’m doing this for me. And that motivated me to keep doing it when, and as you may recall, when I was doing a doing a lot of podcasts, I didn’t even have interviews. I was just doing myself reading things or whatever or, you know, talking about some experience that I had. And the most satisfying part of that, well two things, was one, learning the technology better and, you know, having those skills and being better at editing and knowing software to recommend to people and stuff like that. But the other thing that I really enjoyed about the process was making myself do it. Was actually going through the work of doing that whole exercise and so, you know. And I think that has a lot of value and being less concerned with, especially in the beginning of something like this, being less concerned with–you know, obviously set your own benchmarks for success, but I would say to you that benchmarks for success at this level could just be, like, doing it consistently. [laughs] Like, you know, however consistency is for you, whether it’s once a month, whether it’s once a week, whether it’s once every two weeks, whether it’s–you know, whatever it is. Or doing a bunch of episodes and then saving them, that’s another thing you can do is record a bunch of episodes, you know, over a particular period of time and then just slow-release them. Um, I found that was a really helpful tool because then you didn’t feel the need to like, you know–life gets busy, things happen, summer happens, like you know. So, that was more advice than you asked for, but a bunch of different things in there that could be useful.

ALAINA: I think you know that I will always take all of the advice.

RON: [laughs]

ALAINA: I especially identified with that bit about not worrying so much about who’s listening and just doing it for you. I think that one of the things that really got my wheels turning on this is that the conversations that I was having about the things that I personally want to learn about were things that I wish I could go back and listen to later. I would go and read through the notes that I had typed up feverishly while people were talking and think, “and that’s not exactly how they said that, they said it in such a smarter way, I wish I’d been able to type faster.” So even if my one-person audience is myself, it’ll be a heck of an archive.

RON: Right. And it won’t just be you, someone’s always gonna listen. It’s just–I learned that, too. People just kind of, you know. You’ll get an email from somebody random. Maybe they know you, maybe they don’t know you. It’s always quite funny when it happens. It’s always quite funny when it happens. To me. So–

ALAINA: Making new friends.

RON: Exactly.

ALAINA: Everybody gets in the StrategyCar. Let’s go.

RON: There you go. [inaudible]

ALAINA: There’s always room for one more.

RON: [laughs]

ALAINA: There’s always a car pun around the corner. Every single time.

RON: Every time.

ALAINA: Every single time. Alright. Well, thank you, Ron Bronson.

RON: Here for you!

ALAINA: And when I’m ready for you to have your own episode, are you in?

RON: You know it!

ALAINA: Okay.

RON: Do you even have to ask? Come on.

ALAINA: I have an official commitment.

RON: Yeah.

ALAINA: My audience of me and you right now are bearing witness to your official commitment.

RON: It’s the first episode. Someone will listen to your first episode. So there you go, yes, they’ll all know. They’ll all know. It’s great.

ALAINA: Awesome. [laughs] Alright, well, thank you.

RON: My pleasure.

[MUSIC TRANSITION]

JACKIE VETRANO: Hello!

ALAINA: Jackie!

JACKIE: Hi!

ALAINA: Oh my gosh, I did it.

JACKIE: You’re–You’re amazing. [cat purring]

ALAINA: That’s… Yup. I’m something.

JACKIE: You rock. You rock. [cat purring]

ALAINA: [laughs]

JACKIE: [cat purring in background] All I know how to do is answer Skype calls, ‘cause I’ve never ever recorded a Skype call before. So you are way ahead of me.

ALAINA: You are in the process of recording a Skype call–Is that your cat?

JACKIE: [cat purring in the background] Do you hear her purring? She’s like between purring and snoring right now.

ALAINA: She loves my podcast.

JACKIE: Yeah was like, “Wait, I wanna be on the show.” She actually is wearing her own, you know, like mini headphones and has her own small microphone. I thought that was most appropriate.

ALAINA: I don’t think anything that could have just happened would have made me happier than I am right now.

JACKIE: [laughs] She’s uh, she’s here on my lap and–oh! I just moved so that means she’s moving. So she’s like, “Oh you know what, Jackie? I’ll let you have some privacy for this.” So she’s–she says bye. Uh, how are you? What’s up?

ALAINA: I’m great! Well, I am calling you with a microphone. Is that weird?

JACKIE: No, I mean, I have my microphone, too, so…

ALAINA: You were ready?

JACKIE: I, I just have every excuse to use this thing. I love using it.

ALAINA: Yeah, so I was gonna start out with like an introduction of you. I learned when I called Ron the other day that I’m really bad at this part, so I’m going to introduce you and say that you are like podcasting cheerleader-slash-teacher-slash-encourager of all things.

JACKIE: If you wanna use sensei, like if that feels right to you, I wouldn’t be upset about it. But yeah–

ALAINA: You know, I’ll go ahead and write in in here. I like it a lot.

JACKIE: Awesome.

ALAINA: Actually. Um, so, but…

JACKIE: But then I get to put it on resumes and stuff.

ALAINA: I wish you would.

JACKIE: [laughs]

ALAINA: But then also why don’t you actually introduce yourself for real so if anybody listens to this they know who you are and why you’re great?

JACKIE: Okay, I really like that I still have no idea what we’re doing. Like is that intentional or am I just missing something? [laughs]

ALAINA: It’s kind of intentional.

JACKIE: Okay, I like this. I like what’s happening. It’s like the mystery podcast.

ALAINA: [laughing] It won’t always be a mystery I hope.

JACKIE: No, I’m really excited about it. This is going to be great. Okay, so hi. I’m Jackie Vetrano. I live in Albany, New York right now, but that won’t be true like two and a half weeks from now, which is terrifying, because I’m moving to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where there is significantly less snow and it’s, uh, warmer. I check the weather every morning now because it’s so nice down there. I currently work at Skidmore College. I do social media stuff. I also produce, host, publicize, edit, every single thing that can be done for their award-winning podcast called This is Skidmore, which is now entering its second year and I’m sad to be leaving it. Uh, I also host my own podcast. I cohost it. Um, it’s called Higher Ed Social, and that’s been going on for three years. And it’s the longest relationship I’ve ever had, uh, which is sad because–

ALAINA: But it benefits all of us.

JACKIE: It does. I was about to say it’s sad, and then almost said, “because it’s with Lougan Bishop,” and I realized halfway through me saying that that that’s not what I meant. Just in that, like, Lougan and I cohost the show–

ALAINA: In no scenario do I cut that, by the way.

JACKIE: Like, yeah I figured that won’t get cut, and I figured Lougan’ll hear it and hopefully laugh and not hate me for what I just accidentally said. Um, but yeah, so me and Higher Ed Social have been together for three years. It’s been a great ride. Um, yeah, I was about to say like stuff I do for fun and it’s so funny because I have a running joke with a friend of mine that like being on dating apps, guys are always like, “So what do you like to do for fun?” And I’m like, “uhhhhh” and I have no hobbies. Like I sometimes say that I like to run, but I really hate running. It’s just something I used to do, uh, but now I don’t do it as much. I guess I could consider like grad school a hobby but it’s not something I enjoy. Um, I mean podcasting’s super cool and stuff, so like my voice is all over iTunes which is pretty killer. Um, I tweet for fun. And I pet my cat and post pictures of her to Instagram, which is like my life. So…

ALAINA: If you were pitching a sitcom to me based on these things right now, I would pick it up. In a heartbeat.

JACKIE: Oh my God. Like I–

ALAINA: We’re gonna do a whole episode just on this at some point.

JACKIE: I’m, I’m in for it.

ALAINA: This is why I’m calling you! You’re in for everything all the time.

JACKIE: [laughs] Yeah, it’s more of just that, yeah like let’s go. Like let’s just, let’s do it. Pretty  much.

ALAINA: Every idea I’ve ever had and said to you, you’re like, “Yes, that. I’m in. Let’s go.”

JACKIE: [laughing] Yeah, so I’m like that great conscience for you. Right? Like, “Hey, I’m feeling doubtful about this thing.” “Just do it.”

ALAINA: Just do it.

JACKIE: Just do it. No regrets. YOLO, as the kids say.

ALAINA: So this is me just doing it.

JACKIE: I’m so proud of you.

ALAINA: And so–

JACKIE: Isn’t it fun?

ALAINA: It is! Well, so far I just get to talk to people I like, which–

JACKIE: Yeah!

ALAINA: Great.

JACKIE: Which is great!

ALAINA: Great.

JACKIE: It’s a great life. It’s a great life.

ALAINA: The first thing I want to do with you is to first try to sum up what this podcast is going to be in some concise way and have you tell me if that makes sense.

JACKIE: Yeah. I’m–I’ve been waiting for this. I’m really excited.

ALAINA: Um. I will tell you I tried to do this with Ron. I was like, “Here’s my elevator pitch,” and he was like, “That’s real long.” We decided maybe there’s a line, or like it’s a real tall building. I don’t know. I mean sometimes you’re on the elevator a while, but you like walk out together and you have to, like, have a thing to keep talking about or it’s awkward. But in any case, I should make it shorter. Okay, so I’m going to attempt to summarize what this podcast is and then get feedback from you. Are you ready?

JACKIE: I am ready for it and my cat’s here, too, so she’s ready for it.

ALAINA: Support. I love it. Okay, so. StrategyCar is a show about the big and small ways we can make a better web together. [pause]

JACKIE: That was a perfect elevator pitch.

ALAINA: But did–is that, like, enough? Does that say enough that you’re like, “Oh, that’s a thing I kind of want to listen to?” or are you like, “What does that even mean?”

JACKIE: Yeah, so I think—so what I’ve learned in, like, podcasting life as a, I will call myself, a podcaster at this point, um, is that when you make it too convoluted it’s like too hard for people to be like, “Yeah I think I might take a listen, right?” Like, so I think–Or if you make it too niche-y, people, like you have a smaller pool of interest. So no, I think that’s solid.

ALAINA: I keep having this, like, drive to explain–

JACKIE: Drive?

ALAINA: Let me tell you what. The car puns?

JACKIE: I’m all about it. [inaudible] Beep beep.

ALAINA: It’s the best.

JACKIE: Beep beep.

ALAINA: Um–[laughs]

JACKIE: I would, I want, what did you say? It’s like, say it again? ‘Cause I think I want it on a t-shirt or I want it cross-stitched on my pillow.

ALAINA: Well, I might need it like smaller. Shorter. Or something.

JACKIE: How?

ALAINA: Well, so, like right now, I’m like, “Oh, it’s the big and small ways we can make the web better.” Maybe it’s just like, “how we…” I don’t know. “Making a better web.” It’s–

JACKIE: Wow, that’s like real small.

ALAINA: It’s real small. And so–I’m like over-compensating now because I have this constant need to tell you my life story and be like, “Listen…” [breath]

JACKIE: [laughs] Right.

ALAINA: Here’s everything I care about boiled down into a conversation.

JACKIE: Well, yeah, and that’s the thing about podcasting is that you don’t have to do it one episode, which is really cool. So you get to pick what you want to talk about, about like one little facet or one little like puzzle piece of your life in that episode, and then everybody’s gonna be like, “Okay, I gotta listen to the next thing, the next episode, figure out the rest of it.” You don’t wanna, like, just do it all in one episode. Then nobody’s gonna listen to episode two.

ALAINA: Well, because really the whole point is that there’s like not just one way to make the web better. It’s all of the things that we do to make the web better.

JACKIE: For sure.

ALAINA: So, this is like all of our show. That feels important.

JACKIE: Yeah. And we all use the web, so you have like infinite guests.

ALAINA: Yeah. And we all probably want it to be better in some way.

JACKIE: Um, I would like it to be better. [laughs]

ALAINA: Okay, so, I say the word StrategyCar to you. Do you feel like as a potential listener of this show–you’re probably going to at least listen to the first one ‘cause you’ll be on it–

JACKIE: Oh, 100%.

ALAINA: –but as a potential listener, do you feel like you need an explanation of what a StrategyCar is or where that word came from, or do you think we just go?

JACKIE: I think… So my true opinion is that StrategyCar is vague, but not in a bad way, so let me finish because I know you’re probably sad that I just said that. StrategyCar is definitely vague, right? Because like there could be a lot of strategy cars. Like it could be about like high-speed NASCAR literal car. I don’t know if “car” means something else in another like context like the word, I don’t know. I’m trying to think of a word that means something else, that I, I’m–you’re not gonna cut that part, I know you won’t, of me sounding like an idiot–but there’s like car[laughing]. Leave it. So car, right? Like car people think car. They probably will go to a physical car, not a metaphorical car, but if you use, like, your little elevator pitch as, like, the episode, or, I’m sorry, the show description, I think people will totally understand where you’re going. I mean… Going. Car.

ALAINA: See?

JACKIE: Direction. Map. I love it. Yeah, you can’t give up that name. ‘Cause if you do, I’m gonna take it. And truthfully, like, instead of having guests on the show, you have passengers. Like, I mean, do what you will, but personally if you don’t use the word “passenger” at least once in each episode, I think you’ve missed the obvious pun.

ALAINA: I think it becomes a game. See, and they, they happen accidentally, and I go back and I listen.

JACKIE: Mm hmm.

ALAINA: It’s, it’s just always a gift.

JACKIE: Yeah, I think, well then what you do. This is how you monetize it, obviously, aside from t-shirts with your slogan, is you sell bingo boards with car puns and people fill out the bingo boards and if they get a bingo in an episode they send it in to you and they get a t-shirt or something.

ALAINA: So you mentioned the slogan. What would you say is the slogan? Could you repeat it to me right now?

JACKIE: Well, you gave me like eight different versions, but it’s “the big and small things we can do to make the web a better place.” Did you say “better” or “happier?” In my heart, it’s “happier” because that’s like cute to me, but my head, my brain says, “No, she went with ‘better.’”

ALAINA: It was “better,” and here’s why.

JACKIE: Yes!

ALAINA: I need it to work better. I need it to work for all the people and I need it to make things better for people, because it can if it’s not terrible.

JACKIE: [laughs]

ALAINA: If we use it the way that we should.

JACKIE: If we do things good, we will do good things.

ALAINA: That’s it! If we make a better web, the web makes things better for people.

JACKIE: That is true.

ALAINA: Stick that on a pillow.

JACKIE: I like–I’m going to have way too many pillows. This is stressful.

ALAINA: So, I often also say I’m going to cross-stitch things on pillows. I don’t know if that’s just a thing people say. I say it. I don’t know how to cross-stitch.

JACKIE: Yeah, see, I don’t either. I thought that was just like a metaphor for like “that’s such a darling phrase I would like it in my life permanently.” Like truthfully, I’ve said that to people, like, oh my God, like just now. “I want that cross-stitched on a pillow.” Like please don’t give me a pillow with a cross-stitched phrase. I will not know what to do with it, and then I’ll be crushed because it’s not like I can throw it out because it’s like you cross-stitched this pillow for me, but I really don’t want it. So, it’s just a sentiment, really, for me.

ALAINA: Yeah. Same.

JACKIE: Sorry for anyone’s heart I just broke by saying that, and anyone’s project I just ruined by telling them not to cross-stitch stuff for me on pillows.

ALAINA: [laughing] Like four people you’ve encountered are like, “Aww!’

JACKIE: They’re like, “Oh shit! I was hallway through it.” No, I think–So what is, what is your game plan? Like what is next?

ALAINA: So next is that I start talking to people who are making some contribution toward a better web, and hopefully along the way we kind of make this very long and varied definition of what a better web is. It probably means something different to everybody. Um, it kind of like, side story, I’m on this like personal mission in my town to make the web be better to do more things for people and I’ve just been doing a lot of research about how that happens and what that means and what resources there are, and I’m this super like nerdy mission to gather all this data and build this community dashboard. And along the way, I’ve been talking to people that might know something and they’re like, “Oh, you should also talk to this person.” And like, there’s a lot of stuff happening, and there’s a lot of stuff I don’t know. I want to learn about it, and even if I’m the only one that listens to it and I go back and I’m like, “Oh yeah, that. That was smart. I want to remember that.”

JACKIE: Well, I will definitely listen to it because it sounds happy and wonderful. And I’ve been listening to way too many podcasts lately so I need some more variety, so I’m very excited to have another one to add to my playlist, so.

ALAINA: That means I have to make this one and then at least one more so you have a thing to subscribe to.

JACKIE: It’ll be great.

ALAINA: So, embarking on this, what advice as a podcaster do you have for me as a person who is potentially trying to make this a thing that I do?

JACKIE: My gosh. Okay. Always have a backup plan, is number one.

ALAINA: That’s good life advice.

JACKIE: Uh, yeah I think it’s just like, yeah that’s just like general. Um, I think advice number two would be to not freak out if you miss a week or whatever your schedule is, like if you miss one it’s okay. And then, like, I think another life advice piece that still applies to podcasting is, like, just like have fun. This is your time to like do whatever tryout want and that’s what Higher Ed Social has been for me and it’s let me meet really cool people, and this is gonna let you meet really cool people. And it’s been so fun, and it’s been cool to like hang out. I’ve made over a hundred friends because of the show, so it’s neat. So just have fun! And rock it. Which you will.

ALAINA: You’re the best. Do you know what I’m gonna do?

JACKIE: I know.

ALAINA: I’m gonna, after we’re off here, I’m gonna go learn to cross-stitch, and then I’m gonna make you some pillows that say all the things you just said to me because they’re so delightful.

JACKIE: Please, please don’t. Please don’t do that. [laughs] Um, are you planning on getting like Mark Zuckerberg on this thing? I feel like he would be a solid guest.

ALAINA: Oh yeah! Oh yeah, he’s totally booked for the next episode.

JACKIE: Oh! Oh my God. This is awesome. Wow. I precede Mark Zuckerberg. This is amazing. This is such an honor.

ALAINA: You’re like the opener.

JACKIE: Yes! You always put the lousy one before the good one.

ALAINA: Although, sometimes you headline, but sometimes you just play last.

JACKIE: [laughs] Yeah, that’s kind of how I’m feeling, I guess.

ALAINA: You’re not the opener, you are first.

JACKIE: But I–

ALAINA: Which, I–technically you’re second because Ron was first.

JACKIE: Oh, cool. Alright. I would, if I had to be in a podcast sandwich, I guess between Ron and Mark Zuckerberg is a pretty nice sandwich to be a part of, so.

ALAINA: It feels right. It feels good.

JACKIE: Yeah. I like that.

[MUSIC TRANSITION]

That was Jackie Vetrano following Ron Bronson, and this has been Episode One of StrategyCar.

Turns out this was a perfect way to get started. We got a little bit of all the things. We talked with friends, we learned some stuff, we got some life lessons, and we got good solid advice for looking ahead.

And car puns. We got those, too.

Get the next episode of StrategyCar wherever you get your podcasts or you can join the conversation any time at strategycar.com.

Thanks one more time to Ron and Jackie, and I’ll see you all next time.

[OUTRO MUSIC]