American Advertising Legend Roy Spence on Purpose, Profit, and Finding Common Ground

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Mello Millionaire with Tommy Mello

Episode: American Advertising Legend Roy Spence on Purpose, Profit, and Finding Common Ground

Date: September 26, 2025
Host: Tommy Mello (w/ Podcast Host/Producer “Tommy Truth”)
Guest: Roy Spence, co-founder & chairman of GSD&M

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Main Theme:

Roy Spence—legendary adman, co-author of “Don’t Mess with Texas,” and champion of purpose-driven business—shares his journey, lessons on leadership, branding, and the power of marketing as a force for good. This episode dives deep into how entrepreneurs and leaders can build meaningful companies that serve both profit and a higher calling, while exploring how America can restore unity and the American Dream across generations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins of GSD&M—Learning by Doing

• Starting Out: In 1971, Roy and three UT-Austin friends started their ad agency with $5,000, no experience, and one goal: “stay together, stay in Austin, make a difference, and get rich.”
  • Mentorship Hidden in Plain Sight: Roy learned years later that a mentor secretly co-signed their business loan so they'd believe in themselves ([01:51–03:19]).
• Breaking the Rules: With zero industry baggage, they “didn’t break the rules—we just made them up” ([03:19]).

Quote:

“If you can dream it, you can build it.”
—Roy Spence [01:51]

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2. Purpose-Driven Marketing & Iconic Campaigns

• Southwest Airlines: Roy framed their brand not as an airline but as “the freedom business”, coining “You are now free to move about the country” ([04:39–05:06]).
  • Lesson from CEO Herb Kelleher: “Take the competition seriously, but not yourself.” ([05:16])
• Walmart: Roy cold-pitched Sam Walton, leading to “Save Money, Live Better.”
  • “We introduced Save Money, Live Better. Because if you don’t advertise, you’re going to cheat the ordinary citizen out of being able to buy the same stuff as rich people.” ([07:00])
• Don’t Mess with Texas: Born from a simple anti-littering message, it became a cultural rally cry, reduced litter 76%, and became the most-run PSA in US history ([07:38–08:28]).

Quote:

“A brand is a sacred promise… every time you violate that sacred promise, your brand is diluted.”
—Roy Spence [11:17]

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3. What Makes Great Leaders & Brands

• Leadership Essentials:
  • Discover your true purpose, not what you’re “supposed” to do ([08:53]).
  • Hire for character—“honey people” (givers) over “vinegar people” (takers) ([09:52]).
  • Follow the “golden rule” and prioritize people ([10:13]).
• Purpose and Passion: Brands must be built on a “mighty purpose”; different is better than just better ([11:17–12:29]).

Quote:

“Great leaders…have discovered what they were born to do, not supposed to do in life. It’s called purpose.”
—Roy Spence [08:53]

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4. Reigniting the American Dream: The Make It Movement

• Purpose: Roy’s nonprofit “Make It Movement” aims to inspire high school students to discover meaningful, well-paid work without necessarily going to college ([13:12–14:36]).
  • 98% of US parents want their kids to be financially independent at work they enjoy.
  • Push to revive vocational education and skills trades ([15:52]).
• Personal Story: Roy shares how his mother’s unique encouragement and his sister’s perseverance inspired him ([16:02–17:48]).

Quote:

“I don’t want you to spend another second of your life trying to be average at what you’re bad at. I want you to spend the rest of your life trying to be great at what you’re good at.”
—Roy Spence, quoting his mother [17:47]

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5. On Money, Management, and Finding Your Calling

• Advice to 20s Self:
  • “Making money is easier than managing it. I want every kid to be able to not only make money, but manage it.” ([17:58])
  • Marry the dreamers and doers; “get the in-betweeners out” ([18:30]).
  • Advise parents: “Quit asking your kids, ‘What do you want to do?’ Ask, ‘What do you love to do?’” ([18:45])
• Dignity of Work: Celebrate all forms of honest labor—“Respecting the dignity of all work” ([22:58]).

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6. Unity and the Power of Meeting in the Middle

• Bringing Leaders Together: Roy recounts bringing former Presidents Bush and Clinton together for disaster relief PSAs; facilitating unity for a cause ([20:46–22:00]).
• On Compromise and Common Purpose:
  • “Compromising is not an evil thing. It is sitting down and talking.” ([22:00])
  • “Don’t give up on the idea we can come together on something… We can come together on purpose for the next generation.” ([27:16–27:45])

Quote:

“Meeting people in the middle is not easy…but it’s the right thing to do.”
—Roy Spence [22:00]

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7. Notable Campaigns & Lasting Impact

• Favorite Ads Not His: Budweiser’s classic Clydesdale commercials ([24:42]).
• Most Inspiring Campaign: “I’m an American” PSA post-9/11, featuring Americans of all kinds declaring “I am an American.”
  • Ran more than any PSA in US history.
  • Ends with “E pluribus unum—Out of many, one”—a hopeful message of American unity ([25:02–27:08]).

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• [00:00] “Meeting people in the middle… we can come together on purpose for the next generation.” —Roy Spence
• [07:59] “Don’t mess with Texas.” —Tommy & Roy Spence
• [10:29] “‘You can have anything you want in life if you just help enough people get what they want.’ Exactly right.” —Zig Ziglar, quoted by Tommy & Roy
• [17:47] “Don’t try to be average at what you’re bad at—be great at what you’re good at.” —Roy, quoting his mother
• [22:00] “Meeting people in the middle is not easy, but it’s the right thing to do.” —Roy Spence
• [27:16] “We can come together on purpose for the next generation. I want the next generation to be a generation of builders.” —Roy Spence

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Highlighted Timestamps

• Entrepreneurial Origins: [01:51–03:19]
• Southwest Airlines & Brand Insights: [04:39–05:23]
• Don’t Mess with Texas Campaign: [07:38–08:28]
• Leadership Reflections: [08:53–10:29]
• Brand as Sacred Promise: [11:17–12:29]
• Make It Movement/Trades & Dignity of Work: [13:12–15:52]; [22:58]
• Personal/Family Stories on Purpose: [16:02–17:48]
• Financial Wisdom: [17:58–19:02]
• Presidential Unity Stories: [20:46–22:00]
• I’m an American (Post 9/11): [25:02–27:08]
• Final Message on Coming Together: [27:16–27:56]

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Closing Thoughts

Roy Spence urges listeners to hold fast to the American Dream—by focusing on purpose, building meaningful brands, respecting all work, and finding common ground even in a divided nation. His mix of storytelling, humor, and wisdom makes a compelling case that business at its best is about service, not just sales, and that we have both the responsibility and opportunity to help the next generation thrive.

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This episode is a must-listen for entrepreneurs, marketers, and anyone interested in purposeful leadership and the restoration of the American Dream.

Transcript

[Roy Spence]

I learned that meeting people in the middle is not easy. Meeting people in the middle, compromising is not an evil thing. It is sitting down and talking to each other. Don't give up on the idea that we can come together on something. It might not be on politics, but let me tell you what it can be on. We can come together on purpose for the next generation.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

Innovative, iconic, passionate. Our guest today is the co founder and chairman of GSD&M, one of America's most influential marketing and advertising agencies.

[Roy Spence]

When you have a mighty purpose and your purpose is to help every one of your clients, you will not only have a great life, but you'll make a big difference.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

He's a Wall Street Journal bestselling author and the creative mind behind the iconic tagline, don't mess with Texas.

[Tommy]

Don't mess with Texas.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

In 1971, Roy and three fellow graduates from the University of Texas launched their company, GSD&M with $5,000 in a dream.

[Roy Spence]

My job is to thank you dumbass ideas and make them brilliant.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

Under Roy's leadership, GSD and M became a powerhouse partner to some of the world's most influential brands. Southwest Airlines, Walmart, BMW and the PGA Tour.

[Roy Spence]

Follow your passion, Follow your purpose.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

Roy has built a career around the belief that marketing should be a force for good. If you can dream it, you can build it.

[Roy Spence]

Be kind to everybody you meet because everybody's fighting some kind of battle.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

Get ready. This interview will change the way you think about marketing, entrepreneurship, and the American dream.

[Tommy]

Welcome back to the Mellow Millionaire. Today I'm in Austin with Roy Spence. Known for his wit, wisdom and Texas sized charisma, Roy's inspired audiences around the world to make a difference, not just a profit. Roy, let's go all the way back to 1971. Four college graduates, $5,000 in the bank, and no real business plan. How did you just talk about the beginning?

[Roy Spence]

Well, Tommy, you know a lot about this stuff. If you're a dreamer and you're an entrepreneur, and I think entrepreneurship is the miracle of America if we really go and try it. If you can dream it, you can build it. I grew up in a little small town called Brownwood, Texas. It's about 140 miles from Austin. I went to UT and that was the moment between Ozzie and Harriet and the Vietnam war. The world changed. Finally one of my guys said, well, why don't we go into advertising? And Tommy, I said, great. What's that? I was 19. I had no idea. So I went down to the bank. Brand new tie Dye T shirt, ponytail was looking great. Not anymore. But Anyway, I was 19, so I just sat down at the chair. He tapped me on the shoulder, and he said, young man, do you have an appointment? And I went, no, but you're not, like, busy. So he said, what do you need? $5,000 to start a business. What's your business plan? And I told him, and it's still on our wall. We want to stay together, stay in Austin, make a difference, and get rich. And he loaned me the money. You know what the real story is 20 years later, Tommy? I've been this place, and I walk up and a guy said, see that old man by the window with a cane? Do you know him? I went, yes, sir. Robert Sneed, a lawyer, kind of mentor of ours. He said, you remember that $5,000 you borrowed? He co signed that note and never told you. He wanted you to believe you got it on your own. And lesson learned, somebody helps you, you help somebody else. And then we started the business. We didn't know anything about advertising, so we didn't break the rules. We just made them up. What we loved was. And we learned this is that in marketing, you can use marketing as a force for good. You really can. And we didn't know any different. We were kids. We were in the business to build our clients business. And that never had been said in marketing before. And about three or four years into the deal, I get a call from a guy named Herb Kelleher. And he had heard about us, and he said, son, do you know who I am? I went, no. And he said, well, come see me. So I drove to San Antonio. Herb's the founder of Southwest airlines. He had 28 airplanes. I. I was 28 years old. We talked for two hours, and he finally said, son, do you drink? And I went a lot. So he pulled out a mayonnaise jar of mezcal. So I hadn't had mezcal since, because we drank it all. But he said, what business are we in? And I said, I don't think you're in the airline business. And he said, what are you talking about? I said, you tried to three times at the Supreme Court to deregulate the airline industry because only rich people could fly. 15% of the American people had flown. I don't think you're in the airline business. I think you're in the freedom business.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

Someone has the freedom to fly because of you. Today, Southwest Airlines is a symbol of freedom.

[Roy Spence]

It's a moment in time with your marketing when you find something like when we came up with Dean, you're now free to move about the country. We wrote that because we remembered that every airline had a ding.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

You are now free to move about.

[Roy Spence]

The country when they were landing or whatever it was. And every time people would hear the ding, they'd think of Southwest, even if they were flying United. We still do represent him 45 years. He taught me one great lesson. And you'll love this. I think, Tommy, take the competition seriously, but not yourself.

[Tommy]

It's pretty profound. I mean, a lot of people. You know, I was with a guy yesterday, and he talked about cold calling, going down the Yellow Pages, building business. And I just found if you take care of people. I'm not saying this to be conceited or my ego, but I want your dreams to come true.

[Roy Spence]

We learned that if you treat your people right, they treat the customer right. And if the customer doesn't like you, you get fired. But if they love you, they promote you. And that's what happened to our little company. People would. I got call a collect call from Sam Walton. He said, oh, Roy, I like you because my dog is named oh, Roy, you come see me. So long story short, borrowed money got to Bentonville, Arkansas. He's sitting there. I have a briefcase with nothing in it. And I put it. And Sam's over there. Mr. Sam, I'd never been there. This is Walmart. I'm 30 years old. And he had heard what we did with Southwest. So finally, he looked at me and said, oh, Roy, I love you, but where's the rest of your staff? And I'm staring at him. I have a briefcase of nothing in it, and my knees are shaking. Just. I said, well, Mr. Sam, there's an old saying in Texas. One riot, one ranger. What kind of problem you have, Sam Walton? Tommy fell on the floor and grabbed me, and he said, oh, Roy, you're hired. And again, when we were talking, Mr. Sam, I was back there recently, and I'd say, you have to advertise. Because he didn't want to, because he's. Because if you don't, you're going to cheat the ordinary citizen out of being able to buy the same stuff as rich people. And he went, you're right. And so we introduced Save Money, Live Better.

[Tommy]

You know what I just realized, Roy? There's another Roy that lives here. He's called the wizard of ads. And I spent a day with him. He got his big thing with Rolex and jewelry type stuff, and he did it in front of me. He's like, oh, imagine a time when you're faced against everything. You're hiking, you reach the pinnacle of success. You're looking down, you've just hiked Mount Everest. Rolex. You deserve it.

[Roy Spence]

You ain't bad, buddy. But he was, he was special. Yeah, we laugh sometime because, you know, Roy Rogers kind of killed our name. Roy. There's not many Roy's, but I'm glad mine is.

[Tommy]

You've also coined the phrase don't mess with Texas. Tell me about that.

[Roy Spence]

So we, they, we are asked to pitch it and we were competing with don't pollute, give a hoot. My partner Tim McClure reached down and got a FUD sickle or whatever it was and wrote on it, this isn't litter, it's trash. And he wrote, don't mess with Texas.

[Tommy]

Don't mess with Texas.

[Roy Spence]

We reduced litter by 76% through marketing. And you know what? Willie Nelson sang it. We had everyone volunteering. It was the most run PSA in the history of America. Don't mess with Texas. And then what? We found every TV in the station in the in Texas, called us and said, can we run it for free a moment? What'd you say? Free. Because then Willie did it and George Foreman did it.

[Tommy]

Yeah.

[Roy Spence]

And the Dallas Cowboys did it. And it's not just politics, it's a moment in time with your marketing when.

[Tommy]

You find something such a good slogan. You've worked with CEOs from Southwest, Walmart, John Deere, BMW, PGA. What did you learn about leadership for sitting at those tables? What are some of the, the common denominators that you've seen and see today? What makes a great leader?

[Roy Spence]

Great leaders, first of all have discovered what they were born to do, not supposed to do in life. And let me repeat that. It's called purpose. First of all, Aristotle said it the best about purpose 3,000 years ago. Where your talents and the needs of the world intersect, therein lies your purpose. America needs to go back to that again because we've got to let our young people know you can become great at what you're good at. So one of the things I found that great leaders, they've discovered what they were good at and became great at it. Secondly, I think great leaders realize their most important asset is the people they hire their people. And by the way, here's a little my mom's story she used to tell me. Now, Roy, there are two kinds of people, vinegar people and honey people. She said vinegar people are takers, honey people are givers. Hang out with the honey people. And somehow I found leaders believe that you hire the right people, the givers, and sooner or later, the takers will be gone. I'm serious. And finally, I think I learned, I really do believe that there is a golden rule. And he or she who has a goal should not rule. You ought to treat people like you want to be treated. And that passion like you have for your business, you get purpose, passion, have the right people.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

There's Zig.

[Tommy]

Ziglar once said, you could have anything you want in life if you just help enough people get what they want exactly right. And I just believe in that.

[Roy Spence]

And you know what, Tommy? That's not Kumbaya. I mean, givers do it naturally.

[Tommy]

Yesterday I was just thinking, I was born in the United States of America. I'm very fortunate. My fingers work. I don't have any pain. I wake up every day with a lot of energy. There's so many things that have happened that have been divine for me. I mean, you got your energy.

[Roy Spence]

I mean, every day. I'm 77.

[Tommy]

77.

[Roy Spence]

Well, I look fabulous, you know, but you do. Well, I'll be 77 October 10th. You can send me a damn present.

[Tommy]

Okay, But October what?

[Roy Spence]

October 10th.

[Tommy]

October 10th. What do you see what makes truly great brands in your eyes? And how is it different than just a product?

[Roy Spence]

Wow, great point. Again. I. I think a brand is. Is a sacred promise. Meaning if you have a brand like Southwest, you have a brand like the PGA Tour that we have don't now, but a brand is a sacred promise you make to your customers and to your employees into the country and the world. I always believe if you have a brand that you truly believe in and it's doing the right thing, every time you violate that sacred promise, your brand is diluted. So it's always important to. For example, if you say, we want to save you money so you can live better, every day, Walmart, they wake up with all their folks and say, this isn't a theme line. This is our purpose. If we save people money, they're going to live better. And every time we violate that, it's our fault. Secondly, I do believe you have to be different before you can be better. And you know that building a business and indifferent for a purpose, I really do think different is better than better.

[Tommy]

You know, a lot of people that I talk to, they say, we're the best. And I'm like, what does that even mean? You know, we're open nights, weekends, we do background checks, and I'm talking more a Little bit about home service. I love what I do. I'm very proud of what we do. We were essential during COVID I mean, we redeemed. We got to go. Like, now. I don't mind talking to a doctor and a dentist and getting in a room with a lawyer and saying, you know, and by the way, I feel like it's something that, you know, I decided to get a master's degree, but going back, it didn't do anything for me. I love the fact that someone could come out of 11th grade and make six figures and take care of their family without any debt. Well, let's talk. Let's just jump into that. Well, so what. What. What is. What are you working on?

[Roy Spence]

So about 2019, they're saying, we have a massive number of jobs and nobody applying. And normally in America, there's massive number of people applying and no jobs. So I thought about it. I went, are you kidding me? And I realized these young people didn't know what these things were. And so I started the Make It Movement Fund, its nonprofit alone. My purpose is to use marketing as a force for good, to reach kids while they're in school and show them careers close to home where they can become financially independent soon after high school. We support teachers, school counselors, CTE instructors, encouraging students to start the journey of discovering their purpose and making a lot of money doing what they love to do soon after high school so they can make it in Texas. So we've been testing it in Central Texas, and there's one thing all Americans agree on. Pew Research just came out with this, and I had no idea. When I started the make it movement, 98% of all parents want their kids to grow up and be financially independent doing something they enjoy. So we want millions of young people, whether it's in plumbing or fixing or dentistry, it doesn't matter. Find out what you love to do early in life and go do it.

[Tommy]

You know, I was just on Mike Rose podcast.

[Roy Spence]

Yes.

[Tommy]

And he said, listen, you don't need to love. It's not the sexy jobs. Because, you know, I was going to be an orthodontist, and then I interned with a dentist ready to take my DATs. I mean, I'm studying for them. And he goes, you know something, Tommy? He goes, how much do you know about business? I said, well, my dad owned a business. My mom's a realtor, so she runs her own business. He said, if I were you, I'd go take the GMAT and get, get. Get a master's degree in Business. Because you know why? I don't even own this practice. A businessman does without a. He's not a dentist. And that changed the trajectory. And I can't imagine, even though I love kids, I couldn't imagine, like, hi, I'm going to be working in your mouth all day today. Like, I love what I do. Yeah.

[Roy Spence]

And it's in. Bottom line is, you know, if we do believe that everybody's encoded differently and America was born different, not perfect. We've never were born to be standardized.

[Tommy]

Right.

[Roy Spence]

We were born to be entrepreneurial. Now you got it. By the way, if it's a character issue, that's different. But the make it movement is on a mission to reignite the American dream. Find out what you are good at and you love to do while you're in high school.

[Tommy]

Well, they took shop out of high school.

[Roy Spence]

Yeah. My whole thing is to bring it back, name it Differently. Because AI is a great tool for builders.

[Tommy]

It partners with human beings to help us do things, not.

[Roy Spence]

Not driving the human beings. A real quick story, too. When I was in the seventh grade, my mom was a civics teacher, by the way. And by the way, my older sister had spina bifida, so she never walked. And she was supposed to live to be four months and she lived to be 49 years old. Susan Spence. Because of my mom, I pushed her to school every day, pushed her home, and she graduated from high school and never walked. And she went to a community college here. And all of you out there, don't get mad, but I pushed my sister during the fall around and we listened to the cowboys when they used to win. She passed away. And all those years I thought I'd been pushing her, she'd been pushing me.

[Tommy]

Wow.

[Roy Spence]

And my mom was civics teacher. So here's how I started to make it movement. When I was in the seventh grade, I turned in a paper and I got it back. I had eight misspelled words and there's a huge C minus. So I'm walking home pushing my sister and I go, my mom, mom didn't say anything. So next year, eighth grade, I turn in another paper. Tommy, I didn't have eight misspelled words. I had 11. Oh, boy. @ the top was an A minus. And I said, mom, I put, I don't get it. And she said, you can't spell, but the teacher and I believe you can write. And she put her arm around me again and get emotional about this. But she said, I don't want you to spend another second of your life trying to be average of what you're bad at. I want you to spend the rest of your life trying to be great at what you're good at.

[Tommy]

I want to ask you three questions I ask on every podcast that repeats. So what's one piece of game changing advice that you wish you Knew in your 20s?

[Roy Spence]

I guess I wish I had known that making money is easier than managing it. For me, I want every kid to be able to not only make money, but manage it. And I wish I'd know more how to do that. Fortunately, I married a great person and my partners helped me manage my money.

[Tommy]

What did Einstein say is the biggest power in the universe? Do you know? Compound interest. And if it's working for you, it's doing great. When you got a 22% credit card, it's not working, it's working against you.

[Roy Spence]

So I'm glad I had again, I had givers around me. I always believe in marrying the doers. And dreamers. And dreamers. We see the mountaintop, but we're not always the fastest to climb it. And the doers will climb all the wrong mountains. Perfect. Marry the doers and dreamers. Get the in betweeners out of here. And by the way, parents, listen to me. Quit asking your kids, what do you want to do. Ask them what do they love to do. And if they say fishing, don't you know what fishing guides make in Colorado now?

[Tommy]

What are they making?

[Roy Spence]

65,000 a year and work six months. If they love fishing, go figure out how to make money fishing.

[Tommy]

I fell into grazers accidentally and I'm good at it. I mean, it's a pretty easy trade to learn, but I love meeting people. I mean, one day I'm on a ladder, a guy's telling me he's, I, I love Bernie's shirt. And by the way, at this point, I didn't really know who Bernie was and I'm not a big fan of Bernie's philosophies, but I just sat there and listened and learned. And for three hours I listened about Bernie Sanders. Another time World War II vet, took the day off after that and just stayed on his porch. That's how I grew the business. I just, I genuinely would listen. Yeah, and how to win friends and influence people. I have one mouth, two ears.

[Roy Spence]

That's what I did on the route across America. Same thing. By the way, my daddy, his name was Roy, he spoke Spanish before English. He was a roofer, he dropped out of school and then it's 95 years old. He Graduated from high school. And he called me. Not Roy. He called me Royto all my life, little Roy. And he taught me three things. Be extra kind to everybody you meet. If you have boys, they need hugs, too. By the way, I'm going to send you my book. When he passed away, I wrote the 10 Essential Hugs of life. First of all, you got to hug yourself. And I don't mean fall in love, but love thy neighbor as yourself. Some point, you got to hug good and bad. Secondly, you have to hug your family every day, even if you're not there. And by the way, Tommy, every day I do this with my heart. I do a heart hug to my mom or a friend. You got to hug where you come from. So the 10 essential hugs of life is basically be a hugger.

[Tommy]

So you were with a lot of former presidents. What. What are some of the things you took from that?

[Roy Spence]

When Katrina happened, I got a call from the White House, and I said, can you help get Mr. Clinton and former President Bush together to do a PSA? So I got him together in Little Rock because Bill had just had quadruple bypass surgery. And. And he said, young man, can you let me and Bill have a few minutes? Three hours later, they're still talking. And I got a note from one of the Bush family members. Said, barbara said, you don't know this, but that the day you got them back together was the day my husband became the dad Bill Clinton ever had. I get a call on Labor Day five years ago, Roy, all the farmer presidents want to get together and help the folks at Harvey. I said, okay, Mr. President, we have to film tomorrow, and you're the only person we all trust. So I got five camera crews, and we filmed Bush, Bush, Clinton, Obama, Carter. I have a picture of all the former presidents, and I got them all in one psa. And you know why they got together? For the higher calling of America.

[Tommy]

Yeah.

[Roy Spence]

I learned that meeting people in the middle is not easy, but it's the right thing to do. It's not. You're not. You're meeting people in the middle. Compromising is not an evil thing. It is sitting down and talking to each other.

[Tommy]

You know, I. What I find when I'm negotiating or just trying to compromise is typically, if you get down to the root of what the other people want, we both got to walk away feeling like we've got one. Something I always say, listen, we both got to win here. I wrote. When I wrote the book Elevator said, build a business where everybody wins. And when everyone wins, you Know when I play games and I'm competitive. Son of a bitch.

[Roy Spence]

Really?

[Tommy]

I really am. And in business, the client could win. The business owner could win. The internal clients, which are my co workers, could win. The vendors get to win. Even my competition, I invite them to come.

[Roy Spence]

I believe in that.

[Tommy]

By the hundreds. And they're like, why are you sharing this? I'm like, because we're elevating the industry. There's enough water for all of us.

[Roy Spence]

When we're at our best, no one is too good and everyone's good enough respecting the dignity of all work. And I think the more we can use the next year about this idea of reigniting the American dream and respecting the dignity of all work. And maybe again, America can just look at everybody and say, no one's too good and everybody's good enough.

[Tommy]

The key, you said there is work. That is my grandma, she had five kids. She went door to door sales. She was on food stamps. I mean, she didn't have a husband. He left. My mom decided she was going to work three jobs, and the church helped us out a little bit. But, you know, they worked. And the key there is you go to work. There's a lot of people, especially young men now, that don't. They don't want to learn a skill. They like their video games. And it's crazy. I mean, it's. It's literally like, you got to do something with young men. And by the way, just Americans in general, I just don't want to pick that out. But I'm with all my guys. I told you last night that work in San Antonio and Austin. And I said, guys, the one thing I learned, you know, if you're on a Southwest airline, what do they say? The oxygen mask, Put it on yourself first. And there have been times in my life where I necessarily. I didn't. I wasn't really satisfied with myself. And when you learn to fall in love with yourself, but not like ego, and you have energy and you show up differently, things start coming your way. It's just the way it feels like you smile differently. Your energy, your aura, your vibration, whatever you want to call it. So I'm going to do some rapid fire questions. What's the favorite ad campaign that you didn't create but wish you had?

[Roy Spence]

Oh, God. It was literally, I love the old Budweiser with the horses.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

Now look what you started.

[Tommy]

I got one more question, then we'll ask some closing questions. The most inspiring campaign you have ever worked on.

[Roy Spence]

I was in Washington, D.C. when 9, 11 happened.

[Tommy]

Wow.

[Roy Spence]

And I'm getting calls from my office going, my God. Y' all okay? You okay? Because they just bombed the Pentagon. And so got. Finally got a car, the five of us. So we started driving home, and I stopped at Duke University, where my daughter went. And we were in the car, and we talked about, what can we do? What can we do? And we talked about. And I said. We said together, why don't we create a campaign called I'm an American? And we're driving in the car, we didn't know what happened about anything. Except I get to Duke University, I tell my daughter, we want to do a campaign. We want people from every walk of life that are citizens to say one line, I'm an American. I called my office. We had film groups all over America. I finally got home, eight days later, we're doing it. And we produced this thing called I'm an American psa. And at the end of it, Tommy, it said, e pluribus unum. And that meant, out of many, one. It was the first motto of America. It ran it. We were up on the air. It ran more than any PSA in the history of America. And everybody was out there, says, I'm an American. I'm an American. I'm an American.

[Tommy]

I, I, I. I am an American.

[Roy Spence]

I am an American.

[Tommy]

I am an American.

[Roy Spence]

I am American. And so that whole idea that that's, you know, with all the stuff I've done in my life, that to me. And I have notebooks of people writing. I have postcards. I don't know who these people are. Like families in airports saying, we didn't know if we wanted to get on the plane. We saw I'm an American. And so sometimes doing the higher calling thing is the right thing to do, and marketing can be a force for good.

[Tommy]

We talked about a lot of things. I'm gonna let you close this out. Any topic, just maybe something the audience needs to hear.

[Roy Spence]

I would say right now, as we're looking at a divided nation, but also one that is going to celebrate 250 years next year, I think what we've got to do is stand together on something that we believe in, and that's the American dream. Don't give up on the idea that we can come together on something. It might not be on politics, but let me tell you what it can be on. We can come together on purpose. Shoot, that's good. It's a double meaning.

[Tommy]

Yeah.

[Roy Spence]

We could come together on purpose, on purpose and intentionally. We can come together on purpose for the next generation. I want the next generation to be a generation of builders.

[Tommy]

Very profound, Roy. I really enjoyed this. I learned a lot. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

Thanks so much for listening to this episode. Like always, we're going to close it out with the Tommy Truth, which is a little slice of wisdom from me to you that can help guide you in whatever you're striving towards right now. Words matter, but the way in which.

[Tommy]

We say the matter. I actually do a whole class on this during orientation, give you guys a great story.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

One day I paid 100 grand to.

[Tommy]

Go to three events and this guy comes out in a three piece suit, sharp, sharp guy, gets on stage and.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

He goes, how many people would like to come up here and be my volunteer? Nobody really raised their hand.

[Roy Spence]

One person.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

And he goes, let me rephrase that question. How many people would like to change their life forever? Everybody had two hands up. And the main thing was, is you can't just ask a question, ask it in a way that people want to engage. It's just the way in which we ask the way in which the tonality, the way in which the eye contact comes out is so important.

[Tommy]

And that's it, guys.

[Podcast Host (Tommy Truth)]

We'll talk to you next week.