Episode 98: Chad Erickson

Announcer: The Producers, featuring the most respected international talent in the world of audio production and voiceover. Radio, TV, film, and online. In-depth interviews, industry insights, putting you on the inside. This is The Producers Podcast with Ryan Dreen.

Ryan: Hello, hello. Thanks for checking out the podcast. Let's see here. I've got like, I actually have a list of a few things that I wanted to, I guess, promote. Or just a mention in the intro here. So real quick, first of all, this is the Chad Erickson interview. Chad Erickson provided some solid demo audio, which I'll play in minutes just so you can get a better feel for who he is. Although he, again, he's one of those guys that most people listening to this either already knows of or certainly has already heard. I can tell you right now, it was a very informative interview, fast-paced, lots of info. We get into a lot of radio stuff. We do spend a lot of time on the voiceover side, especially, you know, for a radio guy who wants to then maybe make a living in voiceover and then maybe even get onto the TV side, how the worlds are completely different. And then we do a lot of talk about, you know, what the budding talents of the world might need to know. A lot of good stuff coming up here in that. All right, so Chad Erickson in Minutes, chaderickson.com, the best place for you to go if you want to learn more about him. Oh, and real quick, on my website, ryandreen.com, check out the Chad Erickson post. He He provided some cool pics from his studio. I put them there. Hopefully I don't break the podcast by embedding those into the episode post, but I know people are good about emailing me when I really screw stuff up, so that's nice. Let's see here. Upcoming, 100th episode. Now, I'm trying not to be long-winded about this, but I wanted to do something very special for the 100th episode, and it turns out it's probably going to be technically like episode 101 or 102, but I am planning something very international as I will be traveling to Europe with a lot of very big-time imaging people in the same place. I'm not exactly sure how the podcast is going to connect to it, but it will be something related to that. So, again, it might fall like episode 101, 102, or maybe I'll just name the next 3 episodes 99A, B, and C. I, I don't know, probably not that, but Speaking of next episodes and speaking of the Imaging Days coming up in Amsterdam, I'm going to do a few episodes, or at least a couple, that feature people that will be at that show, but also people that I've really wanted to talk to on this podcast. Next, Stacks Williams. I don't know how many people know him, but at this point he has one of the most prolific in-house imaging jobs on planet Earth. He took over for Dave Fox at Z100 and KTU in New York City. So that job, I mean, it's been months now, but, and again, if you're listening to this podcast, you may have already be aware that he has that job, but it's still pretty fresh. I figured I'd give him, you know, a few months to get used to the gig before I bothered him for an interview. But we did that, or we'll do that, I should say. And that interview will be coming up next. Yeah. Then we'll feature a couple other people discussing the Imaging Days, and then as I said, the big century mark anniversary episode is coming up as well. I would say that's plenty. If you need any more info, I try to post a few extra blogs here and there, you know, products that I find that are interesting or a couple little tips and tricks that I've put out there. All of it, everything, and you can contact me as well, ryandreen.com. Okay, I'd say that's good enough for an intro, and for now, we will get to it. Welcome to the podcast, Chad Erickson. All the hits. Time to get your country on. The best mix of the '90s to now. Today's positive music. The greatest hits of all time are on. Spin this. This is why we're number one for music and entertainment. This is Ed Sheeran. Here we go. This weekend is for showing pride in what makes you happy, like going old school. Washington's variety of the '80s, '90s, and today. This Thursday, how do you deal with a boyfriend? who's physically challenged— Challenge accepted. How do you work things out with a pal? Let's go, old woman. I will toss you like a salad. A new mom. Then, who will survive— Oh! The attack of the killer apartment? You look like you're in a lot of pain. Do you want to roll the dice with one of the pills on the couch? A new 2 Broke Girls after A New Mom, CBS Thursday. When Steve Harvey links up with Ellen— I love you so much. The surprises and the fun never stop. Don't miss Steve Harvey and Ellen, back-to-back weekdays. Well, I guess we have our promo now.

Ryan: And we're back at it again. Another one of the, the, the monster voice talents of America. And, a guy I've been looking forward to chatting with quite a while. you've been on my list, man, and, we finally etched out some time. I got onto your schedule. Chad Erickson, thanks for joining the show.

Chad Erickson: Hey, hey, what's going on, Ryan? Thanks for having me. This is awesome.

Ryan: Yeah. yeah, you were too kind. I know we were going back and forth trying to schedule, and you're like, well, I got a billion things, but I really, you know, I'm going to make this work. And I really appreciate that. I appreciate you doing that. And I know we're coming up on sweeps, as you said— or I'm sorry, we're coming up on the fall season, as you said.

Chad Erickson: Yeah.

Ryan: Which makes your world hell. And I wanted to start there.

Chad Erickson: Okay.

Ryan: And now I want to get to your background, but just because, I don't think I've ever really talked about how crazy that can be for a talent who is so neck deep in the TV network promo world. What does that mean to you when we come up on the fall TV season?

Chad Erickson: It means you cannot take a second of time off. You got to be on essentially all the time because there could be something that comes down right now and they say, hey, Chad, we got to book a session. Can you be there? So you have to literally be available all the time.

Ryan: And how, how long— when does that start and when do you get a little bit of a, you know, reprieve? When does that lay off a bit?

Chad Erickson: Well, I mean, when TV sweeps start, it's usually, you know, they start really kicking into gear towards the end of August. And then, you know, it really goes the full season. Like, probably it chills out right before, you know, Thanksgiving, and then it dies down for a little bit, and then it picks back up again.

Ryan: Wow, okay. So let me think, how quick in that sort of— 'cause I think a lot of people listening have some kind of level of professional voiceover career going, or they want to. But, you know, with me, it's a lot more commercial and industrial type sessions where it'll be like, hey, in 3 weeks we've booked a session, you know, get ready. With you, how quick— yeah, how quick is it, you know, is reasonable for them to expect to get you into a studio or at least get a session in your studio?

Chad Erickson: I mean, when things start to ramp up, so, you know, if Steve Harvey's people call and say, hey Chad, we need to do a session, they need to do it now because you're working on their timelines and schedules and you essentially, you kind of got to drop what you're doing and just go with it. you know, sometimes you got an hour or 2 to, to rearrange your schedule, but sometimes it's, you know, if you're out getting a coffee and you get a call from your agent, they're like, they need to go now. So you just hurry back as fast as you possibly can and, and, and muster through it.

Ryan: And what— I mean, but what's reasonable? Like, hey, Steve Harvey's people are actually hitting me up here, but I'm in literally the middle of what's going to be a 3-hour monster session with, I don't know, CBS, for example, or something that's, that's, you know, legit. You know, what's reasonable to tell people in that position? no, not now.

Chad Erickson: Well, I mean, you can't say no, Ryan. You definitely can't say no. you try somehow to figure it out to juggle both. And do you just say you're in session but I can be there in the next 10 minutes? Or— yeah, you know, usually bookings like that for, for larger clients, your agents have like a list of, of what's going on, so they would try to at least push it off a little bit longer so you can do what you're working on now.

Ryan: Yeah, kind of. that makes sense.

Chad Erickson: It is brutal though, I will tell you.

Ryan: Yeah, and, you know, now let's take a step back. you know, I wanted to jump into that. It was right front, top of my mind. I actually had just interviewed Howard Cogan, and so—

Chad Erickson: I listened to it. It was wonderful.

Ryan: Oh, cool. So we talked about some of the same themes that might come up today. go, go back in time though. you know, are you a radio guy at heart? Are you, no, I'm a TV voiceover guy now. You know what I mean? Where's your—

Chad Erickson: No, I mean, look, I started off from the very early, early ages of working in radio. I've worked in radio my entire life.

Ryan: Yeah.

Chad Erickson: I was a DJ, I was a production director, I was a creative services director. I did everything and I loved it. I love radio. I'm still a radio guy. I would still say a very large portion of my business is radio imaging. And I hope that doesn't change. I love it. It is a lot of work, but, you know, no, I'm still a radio guy. I've always been a radio guy at heart. even when I left Clear Channel at the time, I love everything about it.

Ryan: Yeah, no, it's good to hear. I, I kind of thought that, but, I wanted to give you an opportunity to—

Chad Erickson: Yeah, you know what, even, even as time goes on, you, you are diversifying your portfolio of, of doing commercial work and promo work, but I'm always going to be that radio guy. I love doing TV stuff, don't get me wrong, love it.

Ryan: Exactly.

Chad Erickson: But radio is where it's at for me. It always has been, and, I hope it stays that way.

Ryan: And give people a little idea, where did you grow up and where are you from, or where are you currently sitting, that kind of a thing?

Chad Erickson: Sure. I grew up, in a little town in New Hampshire, and as a kid I loved listening to the radio. I loved calling into radio stations. I always would listen to KISS 108 in Boston, which was still to this day a flamethrower. And, you know, I, I loved it so much that I finally was calling the station so much I asked the guy, I said, hey, do you ever need anybody to, answer the phones or get your coffee. And, you know, I was still in elementary school at the time, so the guy said, yeah, sure, just say you're getting school credit on your application and, come on out to Boston. So I would have my mother schlep me from, you know, the woods of New Hampshire all the way to Boston once a week, and to see and be a part of all this great stuff that was going on at the radio station, it was amazing.

Ryan: That's awesome. you're still up— I mean, you're east now. I don't actually know where exactly you are. Are you still—

Chad Erickson: When I left Clear Channel, I was working in Hartford, Connecticut. Met my wife at the radio station, believe it or not. And we have since then moved, we're in Western Massachusetts. So kind of close to Hartford, Springfield, Berkshires. You know, but because I work from home, that's the beauty of it. I could actually essentially be anywhere.

Ryan: Yeah, absolutely. I think you're probably gonna be like me, but what was your experience with Clear Channel? And, you know, when you left, was it amicable or were you like, burn this place down, I'm outta here?

Chad Erickson: Look, I'll tell you this. When I worked for Clear Channel, I worked with them in New Hampshire, also worked with them when I came to Hartford. I worked with some of the best people that gave me all the tools that I would ever need and then some. My operations manager at the time, Todd Thomas, who then left to go to Detroit, he really is someone that I'd like to thank so much because he gave me so many opportunities to, you know, within Clear Channel, but also within my voiceover career and helped me juggle both at the same time. So, No, I love Clear Channel, which is now iHeart, and I still have lots of friends that are there. I still work with the guys at CSG in Atlanta. So no, I love it. I was happy to leave because I was like, all right, well, I'm gonna try something new, but scared too at the same time.

Ryan: So yeah, so that's great, by the way, because I feel the exact same way about it. And, you know, it's a different company these days, but there's still just some epic talent there and No, there's—

Chad Erickson: there still is. And there are, you know, Clear Channel, they always gave any kind of tool that I would need to do my job and to do it well. And, I can't say a bad thing.

Ryan: Yeah.

Chad Erickson: And in fact, I loved even, you know, towards the end they were doing these creative conferences and flying us out to different places with program directors and, and, and hosting big events. And it was pretty awesome. It definitely was. It was a great experience.

Ryan: So, ballpark or exact, whatever you want, when did you actually, pull the plug on that and say, okay, time to go?

Chad Erickson: Well, you know, as I was working in Hartford, I definitely started creating a base of radio imaging clients and other clients too. You know, I was doing car spots and concert spots, you know, whatever I could do. I was like, oh, I wanna do this. I'm working with other local ad agencies, just trying to build, you know, additional income and to see how it goes. And, you know, time went on and, you know, things started building up. I was with the William Morris Voiceover Agency while I was working in Hartford. And, you know, at the time, I mean, I'm still a young guy, but I was on The Voice's CD. And at the time, to me, that was like, holy cow, I'm at the Porsche dealership of voiceovers. We would get the CD at the radio station and then boom, here I am on it. Oh my God, this is crazy.

Ryan: Wow.

Chad Erickson: You know, that was awesome. So during my time of building up clients, I was like, wow. I said, you know, I'm kind of making good money on the side in addition to doing my other responsibilities, which always, you know, took first priority. You know, then I was like, ah, let's see how it goes. And, you know, my contract eventually was up for renewal. And I'm like, you know what? Now is the best time for me to do this. If I don't do it, I'm gonna kick myself down the road.

Ryan: Yeah.

Chad Erickson: You know, you are taking a massive risk. You don't know what the outcome's gonna be. There's no guarantees. There's no contracts. But I just did it. And, you know, knock on wood, we've been doing okay since then.

Ryan: And, you know, has it been, 8, 8, 10 years in there, or how long?

Chad Erickson: Yeah, I would say I, I left Clear Channel probably 6 years ago.

Ryan: 6 years.

Chad Erickson: and it was, you know, that first year was definitely scary, but what happens is, is now you've freed up a ton of your time to actually concentrate full-time on your own work, and it It, it, that opens up so many more opportunities that you don't realize because now you have the time, time in your day to cold call clients. You can send emails, you can work with coaches, you can audition more. You know, that right there really opened up many more opportunities. And, you know, so, you know, as scary as it is, it allows you to just free up so much time to do more productive things to help your personal business.

Ryan: Oh yeah, for sure. So within that, I wanted to kind of get into a couple things. I think a lot of people have either done what you did or are thinking, can I do, you know, go down that path?

Chad Erickson: Sure.

Ryan: So I wouldn't mind hearing, you know, you can start either side of it, a few things or even one thing that you're like, whoo, that was a terrible mistake, glad I lived through that, but I would never have done that again. Or, you know, that was brilliant, I didn't you know, nobody told me, but this is something I did and it paid off big when I went on my own. So either side of that coin.

Chad Erickson: Well, I mean, look, I think the, the most important thing, if anyone's thinking about quitting their job and just going in voiceovers without a base or without a plan, do not do it. Stay at the radio station or the TV station, wherever you're working, as long as you possibly can. Because, you know, you can do both for as long as possible. When you get to the point where it's now One job is taking more time than the other and it's, it's creating a conflict, then you can start to reevaluate. But I would stay wherever you are as long as you can and try to build a base. If you join one of the pay-to-play sites, you know, every, every young guy that calls me and, and is asking for advice and coaching, I always say, look, there is a lot of value in Voice123. And if you don't have an agent, if you don't have a manager, if you're not working with somebody, this is big-time practice. So even if you shell out the money to join, and you're just auditioning, you are getting schooling for $400. You're there for the year, you're going through the trenches, you're seeing the process, you're seeing how many people are auditioning, and, you know, you can hone your craft and still do that while working at the radio station.

Ryan: Now, it's interesting you bring that up. In fact, we briefly talked about it before we started here. But, you know, there's a large— so I wanna get your full impression on those sites, 'cause I would imagine you're not on them anymore, but obviously you were at some point.

Chad Erickson: Sure.

Ryan: huge contingent of the voiceover side of the business— and again, this is to give people in the radio world especially, just who don't really pay attention to what the professional VOs are even talking about because they're not in that world yet, but they want to be— huge contingent that say those sites are evil and horrible. And, you know, what do you say to those people that say, you know, you're auditioning against 10,000 people for $50 jobs and they never lead to anything and By the way, they're also making you pay to be there. There's stern speakings against those sites.

Chad Erickson: Well, I mean, look, the bottom line, Ryan, is that everyone has to start somewhere. And, you know, sites like Fiverr or Voice123 or Voices, they are great, and they offer a product and a service that certain tiers of people are going to use and accumulate. Now, when I first was doing Voice123 way back in the day, I did it. I went through the motions. Yeah, there are 10,000 talents on there. You're competing with everybody. But I gotta be honest with you, I think 90% of them are not really that good.

Ryan: Right.

Chad Erickson: And you actually have the opportunity to start accepting gigs and getting gigs off of that. And, you know, the, the— what I found with, with my business and, and how I run everything is that, you know, you get one client and you do a really good job and you become and, and start to make a relationship with that client. They're gonna come back to you, and then they're gonna use you again, again, and again. And if you take that time in the beginning to create a relationship and have contacts, you know, those little $50 gigs on Voice123 could turn into 3 $50 gigs a month times 12 months. And then, you know, look at the bigger picture.

Ryan: Absolutely.

Chad Erickson: It may have a bad aura in some, in some people's, you know, mind that, you know, these, these— but you know what, personally, I'm not competing against those people. you know, it's a different— it's just a different platform, but everyone's got to start somewhere. And, you know, if it's Fiverr or, or whatever, yeah, I mean, that's, that's, that's great, but you still got to pay your bills. So if that's your avenue to get that money, it's what you got to do.

Ryan: I think, I think that's good, that you, you couched it that way too, because I actually really agree with the— it's a great place to be in the beginning.

Chad Erickson: Sure.

Ryan: but, but people need to know sort of When, when, when are these milestones? You know, when do I leave my daytime job? When do I leave the voices, the pay-to-play type sites? You know, when are the next steps for you? You know, how did you know that you had reached certain levels of achievement? Because while some people might book, you know, a single TV network promo gig, it doesn't mean they're a TV network promo voice. You know, it means they did it once.

Chad Erickson: No, you're absolutely right. And you know, that's, that's the scary thing about the world of TV promo. is very little TV promo now comes with a contract. I know Howard Kogan was talking about that, but, you know, I, I voiced Mom, the sitcom on CBS, and, you know, there's no contract with that.

Ryan: Yeah, yeah.

Chad Erickson: They could tomorrow say, you know what, we're gonna change directions, and, and then they don't have to ever call you again. So yeah, you're getting union rate for a promo and, and you've been on, you know, consistently, but that can change in a second. So don't take anything for granted because That can change quickly, and I've, I've, I've been the victim of that. And, you know, there's really nothing you can do.

Ryan: you know, I asked Howard this, and since you said you listen to the show, that, that's really nice of you. I appreciate that. oh yeah, but this will, this will inform that. I asked him, you know, do you ever get comfortable? Like, is it ever, okay, I am this guy now, you know, they're going to be calling me regularly and I can expect this work to come in regularly? If You know, if you get to that point, how do you know you're there? And if you don't, what kind of world is this? You know, what kind of life is this?

Chad Erickson: Yeah, right. Well, I don't think you should ever have that kind of mentality, in, in this business because everything changes so quickly. And I've, I've, yeah, I for one can tell you an experience that I've been in situations where you think you're that guy and everything's going great, and then all of a sudden you get the call from your agent, well, they're looking to change direction. And then you're like, oh, you're kidding me. And, and that happens more often than not. And there's no, there's no guarantees, you know. It's, it's you're just as good as the last promo that you voiced. And there's no— I mean, I don't know if there's any, any place to say that, you know, finally I've made it. I'm, I'm working it and I'm trying to continue it, and I'd like to keep it going as long as I can. So, you know, I mean, you can, you can get accolades for, for voicing certain shows or getting on certain networks, but—

Ryan: Yeah.

Chad Erickson: It does not last. So—

Ryan: So it doesn't matter who you are or how much you're doing or how many networks you're on, you can't guarantee—

Chad Erickson: No, I mean, because everything changes so quickly. It's Hollywood. They— I mean, yeah, you know, and it's always the— anytime there's a change of direction of, of any show or program, the first thing they do, these producers, they say, all right, well, let's change the voiceover guy. Well, is it really the voiceover guy? No, but let's change the voiceover guy.

Ryan: Well, I guess it's like rehabbing a house. The easiest, cheapest thing to do is repaint it, and it's the most obvious to the public. So I guess the voice is kind of like the paint. I thought of it that way.

Chad Erickson: So I mean, it's, it's so tough to get into TV promo, and it is an evil, evil beast. it's, it's a lucrative one for sure, but you know, you— there's no guarantees. And, and you know, you just have to keep that in the back of your head at all times that Stuff can change like this, so don't, you know, oh, I just got this huge gig, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go buy a new car. Don't do that.

Ryan: Right, right. It's more like, I just got this huge gig, I'm going to become a hermit, keep the money in the bank, and hopefully I'll get a second one.

Chad Erickson: Exactly, exactly.

Ryan: let me, let me ask you this. I believe you're pretty familiar with both sides, so you've got pretty big money that can be earned on the network promo side of things. But same with, you know, the national commercial scene. Have you put a lot of time into commercial work? Do you, do you have time to be putting into that still, or at all?

Chad Erickson: You know, you know, I'm with Atlas. Atlas has many departments. There's a commercial division, a radio division, a promo, etc. And, you know, I gotta be honest with you, I haven't done too many commercials, and I really haven't concentrated on that. And I think that if I could carve out some more time in my day, I really would, would, would love to, to pursue that more. you know, but it's busy because, you know, you're auditioning all day for promos and for, you know, for that kind of work. To, to now stop and to add another element to that, it's a little tough. I mean, I'm saying I would love to do it, and, you know, as time prevails, maybe after TV sweeps really kick that into gear. But, you know, I can't say that I've, I've booked too many commercials.

Ryan: Well, the reason I bring it up, and you still might have knowledge on it though, just talking about the financial side And then maybe compare that to the amount of work side. You book a big national campaign, you're gonna make some real money as far as a commercial side goes. Absolutely, of course. Same with network. So give people an idea if you can, what kind of money, not that, whatever, literal numbers or not, are we equal? Are we on equal footing here? You book one show and go a season, or you book one national spot and it carries for 4 months.

Chad Erickson: Are we talking about the same money? You can. I mean, I can tell you, I don't know if you guys hear Denis Leary doing all the Ford commercials. They pay him a handsome amount of money. Or, or you hear Ed O'Neill, Al Bundy, he does a ton of commercial work.

Ryan: Yeah.

Chad Erickson: And there's great money in it because, you know, most of it's union and it's, it's, it's, you know, you do it once and if they run it all year, you're getting paid all year. And if it runs next year, they're going to pay to run it again next year. So there is really good money. And I think even on a regional level, not only national, but, you know, if you got a Ford regional deal, I mean, it pays pretty handsomely.

Ryan: And we can compare that comfortably to the network promo side, right? Generally speaking, you're saying—

Chad Erickson: Yeah, I mean, you know, here's the thing. Network promo is, it's a union rate. So whether you're talent A, talent B, talent C, it's like $250 plus 10% agent fee. So finally, then that's why I say there's nothing guaranteed. So imagine you book a promo and, you know, you finally made it, but then they only use you once. So you just made $250. So it's a tough— it's a tough egg to crack because you need to— you need to book 2, 3, 4 of those a day.

Ryan: Okay.

Chad Erickson: To make it worthwhile. Because I've seen so many people, they're like, yeah, I finally booked a TV promo, and then they never hear from anybody again.

Ryan: Yeah. And the check doesn't really do much for them, and they're— they feel a little let down. And you—

Chad Erickson: yeah, yeah. No, I mean, the business, it is— it's a tough business. And, you know, especially on the TV promo side, it's, you know, it's— it's— it is— it's a lot of work. There's a lot of preparation to it, and it's you know, you can't screw up. You know, when I do CBS, you know, Mom, they call me up on the ISDN, I hear 3 beeps, and I have to be on and wrap my voice around an already produced promo and, and not screw up. You know, maybe you screw up once, but you can't— you know, you gotta be on point every single time.

Ryan: You know, I don't think I actually did this. Give people a good idea of the platforms you're on, some of the types of work you're doing, especially in that realm, and then we're going to switch gears to radio.

Chad Erickson: Sure, sure.

Ryan: But where are they actually hearing you?

Chad Erickson: Well, I've been very fortunate to be the promo voice of the Steve Harvey Daytime Talk Show, which has turned out to be very successful.

Ryan: That's been a good long run for you, right?

Chad Erickson: What's that?

Ryan: That's— I'm sorry, that's been a good long run for you. I mean, it has.

Chad Erickson: It has. And believe it or not, to go back to our story that nothing is guaranteed forever, I actually lost it at the beginning of last season because they essentially wanted to change direction.

Ryan: Yeah.

Chad Erickson: And, and I was like, oh, I was so devastated. And, and the, you know, this— the story behind it was about 5 weeks later my agent called and said, Chad, I think they're gonna go back. I was like, oh, thank you. So we're about to start a new season and I'm hoping it's me, but I don't know. So I— Steve Harvey Daytime Talk Show, also do Mom on CBS. I've been very fortunate to do all the billboards for ESPN College Basketball for I don't know, the last 5 years. and that, that's a pretty fun gig. it is a lot of work and it's a lot of weekend work. but it's, it's cool.

Ryan: Why is that a lot of weekend work? Why, why in particular is that a lot of weekend work?

Chad Erickson: Well, because I won't get the copy until late, late Friday night for the next week and a half's worth of games. And it's about— to cut all of the billboards, we have to cut each one individually. It's about 4 hours. So I, rather than do that during the week, I either take a Saturday or a Sunday and just plow through it. I'm concentrated. I'm just doing that.

Ryan: And, and they don't want someone on the line with you for that?

Chad Erickson: Nope, nope, nope, nope. They've, you know, we've got pretty much a good thing going where they'll send me the scripts and I'll just, I'll put them all in a big file and send it to them, and then they'll, they'll edit it up. But that's a lot of fun. that's great doing that. You know, I've been on Fox. I've, I've done a lot of, cable TV stuff. But, you know, radio is still for me where it's at.

Ryan: Yeah, okay, so let's switch gears then. Radio, obviously, when I've had your name put into my hopper, and I've known of you for a long time now, if I'm not mistaken, you've hosted—

Chad Erickson: I think we used to work together in New Jersey, I believe.

Ryan: Yes, exactly.

Chad Erickson: WNNJ.

Ryan: Exactly. And now, if I'm not mistaken— okay, well, hell, let's just start with the story. It's an interesting story. When cost-cutting measures started to come about, you know, I saw a couple of my friends getting fired around me, but they they kept me. So instead of, hey Ryan, you're voicing 2 stations in this market, now you're voicing— you're, I'm sorry, producing 2 stations in this market, you're producing 2 markets in this region. And with voice talent, it was— they made some decisions that were odd, but they were like, hey, we're gonna have this guy, he's gonna voice 3 stations in the same market.

Chad Erickson: Yeah.

Ryan: or, you know, 5 stations across these 2 regions, you know. they had no qualms about putting you on 2 stations in the same market.

Chad Erickson: Well, the fun— the funny thing was, and I mean, for my ego, if I lived in Poughkeepsie, New York, I would be like, this is amazing. But Poughkeepsie, New York, I was on the country station, the top 40 station, the hot AC station, and I did some stuff for their news station. Yep.

Ryan: so you— I, I produced, the, the top 40, the— let me think here— the country I produced you at— and then that was actually right before I ended up leaving for ABC.

Chad Erickson: Yeah.

Ryan: But I think I produced you for a brief moment in time there on like 6 stations in 2 or 3 markets. And so I got to know you pretty intimately, but we— I mean, but you're, you know, your voice, but we never really got to know-know each other, which is, you know, kind of sad that it's taken us this long. But okay, so that, that moment in time, you're still actually in Hartford though. You're still producing imaging or you're on the air or what are you doing?

Chad Erickson: Yep. No, I was, I was doing creative services, director stuff and, and juggling both. And, you know, at the time, again, it's, Ryan, it's all about relationships. And I knew, yeah, the operations manager and program director of WRWD at the time in Poughkeepsie. He was a dear friend of mine and, and he's just like, screw it, let's just do it, you know? So I'm gonna be like, okay, sure.

Ryan: Right.

Chad Erickson: and that was, that was Aaron, Aaron McCord. I love that kid. He's, he's a good guy. But, you know, I think a lot of these things happened and, and, you know, I was able to do that from relationships. Relationships and working with these people either in Hartford or other places. And, you know, when, when people are, are hiring, they always, you know, they try to go to what they know and their friends and, and their relationships. And I would do the exact same thing.

Ryan: So, radio side, you, you start with what, one station in your own market or, or a small station somewhere else? How did it really start? What was your first station of voice and how did it happen?

Chad Erickson: I was with the William Morris Agency and I picked up, you know, a handful of stations. I actually was very fortunate to, to be on the early run of a bunch of Cumulus Top 40 stations at the time. And, you know, it was like one turned into another, turned into another. And, you know, make no mistake, during this time you have an agent and that's great, but they don't get you all the work. It's really, you have to do 99% of the work in the beginning. You need to be cold calling program directors. You need to be calling creative services directors. Send out your stuff. Let 'em know who you are, where you are, what you're doing. Send them some free produced auditions of their station with your voice on it, just to be heard and be like, wow, okay, that's kind of cool. You know, I remember my first station was WYUL in Chattagay, New York. It was 94.7 Hits FM. And the program director, Drew Scott, said he had faith in me and put me on the station. And I was on for a long, long, long time. Even after I left Hartford from Clear Channel. And it was only just recently I called him up and said, Drew, I've got a station in Montreal that wants to hire me. You know, you first and foremost are— I'm grateful to you. And if you say no, I'm not gonna do it. And he was awesome enough to say, no, I want you to go and be on in Montreal. So—

Ryan: That's awesome.

Chad Erickson: Yeah, you know, but you had— but you couldn't just do that to any PD. You have to have a relationship and, you know, really have faith that they've got faith in you.

Ryan: Absolutely. And I like to know about evolution. I think I've talked to a few different interviewees about this, but in your mind, you know, you started off, you know, you were— you were— it seems like we had very similar paths, you know. We were radio guys, you know, we were on the air, we were producing imaging, creative services, etc. on the voice side, you had a different trajectory than me, but you start with kind of that one station, you have your agent. What, what was, you know, a major event that led you to believe, oh, wait a minute now, this is something I could be doing? You know, you haven't left the station yet, but you're thinking maybe someday I can.

Chad Erickson: Well, you know, I mean, as— because radio imaging, I was— I, I love it. You know, I was still doing it up until a few years ago. I just found that, you know, working with other voiceover talents and, you know, my PD would be like, hey, we need to get this promo on right now. And to get our voice guy to do it right now, it was like, well, forget about it. That's not gonna happen.

Ryan: Right.

Chad Erickson: And, you know, as a producer now, I'm like, ah, shit, I gotta get this done right away. What do I do? So I started voicing those promos and I thought to myself, I'm like, wow, man, I think I could do this. You know, I think I could offer a better service too. You know, I think I could turn it around quicker. I think that, you know, be more efficient in the process. And I started doing it myself. I was like, well, you know what? It's just a promo. I'll start with that. And, you know, the program directors would see that and be like, wow, okay, well maybe we can put Chad on. And, you know, that's how it kind of spiraled.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Chad Erickson: But I just, I always said to myself, I was like, look, I'm, as a producer, even when I worked in New Hampshire, I was like, These guys would take so long to get shit to us, and we're like, we need to get it done now. And I was like, you know, if I start doing this, I don't want to be that guy. I want to be able to provide the service that these guys need, and sometimes it's immediately. And that's just, you know, that's how radio has really evolved, I'd say, in the past 5 or 6 years. It's, you know, everything is ASAP right now. It's not, oh well, I'm golfing, I'll have it to you Friday at 2.

Ryan: Yeah, right. Or, well, I think the other problem, which is what I wanted to get to next, is you can get too big— not too big, you can get big to where you physically have a stack of copy and you cannot turn it around in an hour.

Chad Erickson: Correct.

Ryan: Or have you— well, have you decided even now with, you know, lots of stations and lots of work, do you have a limit? You know, are you going to turn copy around by a certain timeframe, or have you had to stretch some of your limits?

Chad Erickson: You can ask any one of my clients, past, present. I have got remarkable turnaround time. I've, you know, my day, I take, you know, I break everything up and I do chunks of work for 2 hours, and then I stop for a little bit, and then I have stuff. But I am plowing through stuff so quickly. I mean, I'll work, I'll start at 7 in the morning, I'll work until 9 o'clock at night. That, for me, is the nature of the beast. It's tough, and it does become crazy. And if you have a lot of radio affiliates or TV affiliates. It can be crazy, but, you know, if you can structure your day to make everything fit and work and still have time for your family— I've got 2 little girls, I still want to have time with them— you can make, you can make it work.

Ryan: And, you know, what are we talking about? Can you still deliver in an hour if people need it, or is that kind of a case-by-case, or are you a one-day turnaround?

Chad Erickson: No, I totally, I totally can. I, I tell all of my clients, look, worst-case scenario, on a crazy day where I've got a lot of sessions, 24 hours, but most of the time it's an hour or 2 tops.

Ryan: And I found— I'm sure you're the same way— but I found nobody is upset with that if you're same day. I've had nobody say, oh well, forget it, I need it in 33 minutes. You know, it just isn't happening. People aren't that—

Chad Erickson: You have, you have special clients that need special needs, but for the most part, radio people are, are very understanding. But at the same time, you know, the radio landscape has changed so much where the program director is essentially the imaging guy and production guy. So, you know, when he finally gets to imaging for the weekend, it's Friday at 2 o'clock. So you kind of have to just prepare yourself for that too, because that, you know, Fridays can be bananas.

Ryan: well, I think, you know, we got a few minutes left. We hit that pretty good. I feel like we're covering your, your world real nice, which is what I wanted to do. I wouldn't mind hearing percentages though, to give— get a better idea. At this point, I know you're still voicing a lot of radio stations. You've got more and more TV work coming, and you said there's a little bit of stuff on the side, but, you know, the percentage of your day or your work or your revenue, however you wanted to say it, radio versus TV versus other.

Chad Erickson: I would still say that radio is like 65, 70% of my entire workload. and for monetary reasons, also my bread and butter.

Ryan: Yeah.

Chad Erickson: You know, I've tried to diversify as much as I can. I will do spots, I will do concert tours, I will do car spots, whatever. I'm, you know, I'm there all day to do what I need to do. If I'm in this office for 10 hours, I will do whatever possible that I can do. And, but yeah, definitely radio is still where it's at for me. And I don't know if I would change that for anything.

Ryan: Yeah, that's great.

Chad Erickson: No, I love my radio affiliates. They, we've, we've created some really good relationships and work with some awesome stations and some awesome creative services directors, and become friends with most of them. So, you know, we can talk shop. And I love when people call me during the day because I am stuck in this studio, so I don't get to see anybody.

Ryan: Well, that's what I wanted to get to next. But yeah, give him a call, man. He's lonely and scared. you, you— what's your setup like? You, you kind of are— you're making reference to your studio. almost like it's separate from your house. Have you rented a location and built a studio somewhere?

Chad Erickson: I wish that I did. you know, if I could, if I could change it all over again, I would. We have, we have a room in our house that we've, we've turned into essentially a studio. But I have a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old, and they love to come visit Daddy all the time, which is great. But, you know, they scream, they yell, there's a dog. but we've, we've created like a, a studio. And, no, I do my thing from the house. So it's, It's, it's fun, but you know, I mean, there are times that I wish, you know, I did have a— I rented a studio down the road just to, just to separate. But that makes it that much easier to be able to turn stuff around quickly.

Ryan: Yeah, no, absolutely. well, you sent me some cool pictures and they're on the site, so I was sort of leading the question. Obviously I knew your deal, but I put them on the site. Great pics. Now I'm looking at that room though where it looks like you've got your studio set up. You've got some good equipment. I think actually I don't have the pictures in front of me right now, but I think it's like a 416 you're, you're using. Yep, yep. I've got the, the Sennheiser 416.

Chad Erickson: 416. I've got an Avalon 737 and a Mackie board. you know, I've— it's really just bare-bones stuff. I mean, it's good clean equipment, but it, it really— I, I, you know, I was using the Focusrite for a while, but the problem with the Focusrites is if you use them a lot, the longevity of them, they don't last long.

Ryan: Oh, is that right? What, what, what goes bad about them? Something about the preamp or what?

Chad Erickson: Yeah, I mean, you know, I, I had a Liquid Channel Focusrite, which I love, But, you know, after like 2 or 3 years, the lights would start blinking and then it would, it would clip and—

Ryan: Oh, so just literally functionality? Yeah, yeah.

Chad Erickson: So I mean, they're, they're great beasts, but they do not last long. The Avalon I've had now for a few years, I love it.

Ryan: Yeah, that's kind of the— would you say that's the Rolls-Royce of, preamp channel strip type boxes, outboard gear?

Chad Erickson: In my opinion, yeah, I think so. I mean, but when I travel on the road, I've got, a Yamaha USB mixing board and I use the Sennheiser and I it sounds almost as good.

Ryan: Yeah, isn't it sad when you, when you do, you have a great, your mic chain— good God, that took me too long to say— and then you're in a hotel room with a blanket over your head speaking 416 direct input, to a crappier, you know, audio input, and you're like, damn, this sounds almost exactly the same as my home chain.

Chad Erickson: Yeah, we, we were actually, The Atlas Talent hosted a party at Pro Max in Las Vegas, and I, I took my, my Yamaha mixing USB mixing board, which is awesome, by the way, for $200 at Guitar Center. This thing is amazing. But I would sit in the hotel room and I'm like, man, this sounds good. This is great. It's a little clunky. I know people like to travel and have just like a small little box like Jeff Berlin, but you know, I've got the suitcase full of junk, but it sounds, it sounds great.

Ryan: Yeah, no, that's cool.

Chad Erickson: No, it's crazy how times have changed, and you know, you really don't have to have thousands of dollars worth of equipment anymore. You can, you can be pretty efficient with, with some bare-bones stuff, and it can still sound good.

Ryan: Now, when you're, voicing, obviously that's, the bulk. Oh, I forgot to ask, is that, is that literally 100% of your work right now, or are you still doing something that isn't voicing something?

Chad Erickson: I now 100% are I'm not doing any production. I was for the longest time—

Ryan: Cool.

Chad Erickson: Producing a lot of iHeart stations, but it really was taking a lot of time and I have a lot of passion for it. And I was like, look, I have to stop doing this because it's taking away from my voiceover time. And I wanna be able to turn stuff around quickly. When you start adding production into the mix, it, you know, it adds more hours to the day and it's a tough thing to voice and produce. You know, even still, I still have the production bug in me. I'll produce some sweepers and stuff and I'll send them to all my friends all my stations if they want to, if they want to use them, just to help out. but no, 100% voiceover all day, every day.

Ryan: Yeah, that's great. I mean, I think congrats is something you would say to that. There's a lot of people in the industry that are looking to get to that point.

Chad Erickson: Well, thank you. Well, listen, it is a lot of work. There's a lot of pre-planning and stuff. It's not just you sit in your basement in your underwear and, and record stuff, because you— I mean, even to this day, I still You know, I'm part of, part of everything that I do. I still have to market myself. I still call program directors. I still harass the hell out of them. But that's what you do. You have to do that. You gotta let stuff stick. And, you know, it, it is a full-time job by itself, and you have to treat it that way.

Ryan: tell me, tell me to stop talking now and I will, but I wanted to ask you about one more thing and then ask you my final questions.

Chad Erickson: No, no, no, keep going. We're good.

Ryan: only because I really wanted your perspective on this.

Chad Erickson: Sure.

Ryan: Explain to people, and I, I'm okay, When you're in— especially, I have a couple friends, some that you might know, that are a little more, I don't know, they're a little more— well, they're trying to be a little more knee-deep into the, like, trailer world.

Chad Erickson: Yeah.

Ryan: And they, they're, they're on the management side. You know, there's a big difference between what a manager does for you and then what an agent does for you and then what you have to do for you. Can you nutshell that for people that are, that are listening as to the differences?

Chad Erickson: So, I mean, they both complement each other. I do not have a manager. I have just agents at Atlas Talent. I know people who have agents and managers, and they do complement themselves. But what you got to understand, the agent's portion of, of the relationship is they're going to help you get opportunities and audition for major opportunities, but they, they don't care really essentially who gets it because they just want to book it for their agency. Where a manager A manager is kind of more tailored as your cheerleader, and they're gonna say, well, you know, they, they've— they can kick down the door and be like, Chad's the guy, you have to hire him, he's, he's it, period. So there is value in both. I mean, you know, you still have to pay commissions to both of them, if you decide to, to go that route, you know.

Ryan: Why don't you have a manager? Maybe, maybe explain that for people that are asking, well, so why not? Why doesn't he have a manager?

Chad Erickson: Well, you know, I mean, it's— I, I could. I, I do think that I'm, I'm pretty busy now. I think adding another element to my day, would be great. but I would have no time to myself because I would be auditioning double the amount that I was auditioning before.

Ryan: Yeah.

Chad Erickson: you know, but I, I know guys that have managers and they love them and they're, you know, they're friends and, and they get a lot of work from them. you know, there's value in both. How you pick and choose. There are some people that just have managers and no agents, you know. There is— there's no wrong path, you know. There's also people that don't have either of those and are still equally as successful. You know, I'll go to voiceover weekend classes with Maurice Tobias, and I see all these people, some that I used to work with, and they don't have an agent or a manager, and they're killing it.

Ryan: I've interviewed a couple that are like that, and it's surprising to me, but it's great.

Chad Erickson: No. So there is enough work for everybody out there. I've never been territorial with my stuff. There's no hidden secret. There's no, there's no secret sauce. You know, it's just treat whatever you're doing as, you know, as you want to be treated. And, you know, make sure you go through the process that it's a business. And, you know, slow and steady wins the race. You don't have to do these fast things right away. You know, you just take the long-term approach and things will happen. They really will.

Ryan: I, I got to bring up coaching because, it's just important to do with voice talent. You mentioned it already, you've said how important it is, you just talked about it again, weekend classes. You can be as brief as you want, but what, what does somebody who is a veteran or who's been actually training themselves or getting at it for a long time, what do they still need from coaching? Why would somebody still be getting coached after years and years of doing this?

Chad Erickson: Well, the landscape of, of, of reading and, and, and and interpreting copy continues to change and evolve. And it's good to still be present in what's going on and what's booking because you wanna book as much as you possibly can. You know, early on, one of the first people that I coached with was David Lyerly. And he was great because, well, at least for me, because he was also an agent at Atlas at the time. So he kind of knew my style, my range, and how to work with me. And, you know, working with David was great. I worked with Richard Redfield, Harry Dunn. Maurice Tobias is amazing. She does weekend classes with an open forum of voiceover people. And all of them are good. And there's no— I mean, there's a lot out there that, you know, people are trying to get a quick buck and, you know, they're not that great.

Ryan: Yeah.

Chad Erickson: But for the most part, working with a coach is invaluable. You have to do it. You just, you gotta do it because you will learn so much stuff that you didn't know. Wow. You know, when I'm coming from radio, radio is so fast and you're reading promos or commercials and you just, you don't, you don't think about it. But if you actually think about the copy that you're reading and interpret it differently, your read is going to come out completely different. you know, they— the, the— it's tough for radio people, especially if you read radio commercials all day at your, your local radio station, because you're in your radio mode essentially. You know, you got to kick that out and try to talk normal like you and I are talking.

Ryan: the, the radio factor, it's just something I haven't brought up with, with somebody in a while on this podcast. I think it, for me personally as a voice talent, it was— I, I go back and I'll hear some of the stuff that I've voiced for radio stations, and I've had a lot more success on the commercial side, so I speak to that side. But I, I, I can almost throw up in my mouth. I mean, I want to bash my head through a wall when I hear what I—

Chad Erickson: Ryan, if I listen to demos that I did and commercials that I did 5 years ago, 10 years ago, I, I'm right there with you. And I'm like, oh my God, these people actually hired me?

Ryan: Right? And, and they said I was good, you know? And I'm like, you're wrong. I wasn't.

Chad Erickson: Right. So even if you take that coach, by the way, it is gonna help all of your reads. You're— because you're gonna interpret things differently. And I can tell you, like, even with my radio stations, my read is, is evolved. And it's really, I think, benefited from working with those coaches.

Ryan: So, so that radio factor is something I just sort of brought up there too. But we both obviously clearly agree that, there's something that happens to you when you're inside of a radio station. But, we all run into that, especially when you're doing anything that's not related to radio. How do you lose that? How do you turn it off and on? you know, talk about that, that, that radio factor that is so evil in the outside radio voiceover world.

Chad Erickson: You know, it's it's it it it. I fought it for a long time, and I would I would sit on sessions with David, and I I would just be the hey oh oh, and I finally just beat it out of me. And I would keep a little you know a little chart on the side of my computer, which you know I would do with David because the important thing when that I was having a hard time with was landing on words and sentences to stop and to really show where radio is just like blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, and then. Call now. So, you know, it took months and months and months and practicing. And finally now, you know, it's kind of come to fruition to take those techniques and tools that you've learned and use them. But it takes a while. I mean, the mechanics, you would be like, oh, what kind of mechanics are there to read commercials? Well, there's a lot. You know?

Ryan: Yeah.

Chad Erickson: I still, I got a checklist on the side of my computer, a do and don't list of things to do when you're reading copy. And I, I glance at that all the time just to get in that zone.

Ryan: Hmm, that's a good idea.

Chad Erickson: Because, you know, it quickly can change if you're reading a, you know, 35 radio stations and then you have to read a commercial audition or a promo audition. That's going to change.

Ryan: Switching gears like that, do you have any tips, techniques, or whatever that you do? I mean, you said the list, that's a cool, a cool little trick having that list on the side. But, or, or is it just something, you know, you're a professional, you have to be able to switch between a mom read, and then, you know, top 40 radio station in freaking Idaho or wherever.

Chad Erickson: Sure. No, I, I do. I have this checklist that's on the side. Things to do: make it simple, clear, slow. And things you don't do: don't make it interesting, exciting, or important. And, you know, I, I— it's small and stupid things, but it just reminds you what— you know, and, and sometimes people have other techniques. You know, they'll play some music, they'll, you know, they'll listen to other people's demos to kind of, to kind of get in that. Whatever your technique is, you know, you find it and then you use it every time. there was one technique I did and learned, going to see Maurice Tobias in Boston, and she would have us read a script, whatever the script was, and we would read that script without even looking at it first, as loud and as crazy as possible that we could read it. And then immediately after we'd read it like that crazy, we would read it normal, like we're talking now. And to hear the difference, it's amazing.

Ryan: Wow. Yeah, that's cool.

Chad Erickson: I mean, I know it's a stupid, a stupid, you know, process to do, but, but it works. And it, you know, it kind of just puts you into a different perspective of, of doing stuff. And I, I, I, to that, this day, I tell people about that and I, I use that technique and I, it's very helpful.

Ryan: It makes perfect sense to me. No, I literally, nothing about that is confusing to me. That is, that makes perfect sense to do that exercise.

Chad Erickson: yeah. Are you doing coaching too, Ryan?

Ryan: I did a little bit. Okay, admittedly, I need to do a whole lot more than what I've done, and it's been a long time since I've done some coaching. We all do.

Chad Erickson: Yes, of course.

Ryan: I have some friends that I highly, highly regard that are so much better than me that, that I also know will never tell me, oh yeah, great job, man, keep going. You know, they're always going to be honest.

Chad Erickson: Yeah.

Ryan: So I, I do it that way as well. People I really trust. And I— but it's scary, you know, it's scary to put yourself out there in any kind of creative field whatsoever, you know, you get that anxiety. And it's weird that, you know, I would voice something and send it to a client and not think twice, but there's some things that I wouldn't want to send to a friend, you know?

Chad Erickson: Right. No, and you know what, it's— it is— it is something that you just— you keep going through the motions. And you know what I found, like Maurice's, like, weekend sessions— like, if you ever hear about Maurice Tobias doing a weekend It's cool because there's a group of other voiceover people, maybe equally as successful or not, but it's an open forum to see other people's struggles in the process. And yeah, to realize that, you know, you're not alone. And to, to, to be able to hear other people interpret the copy, what's right, what's wrong, it's just amazing. And it really, it really will open your eyes and really be beneficial to you in the future. It's, it's highly recommended. And if you, if you get an agent or a manager, they're going to tell you the same thing. Go.

Ryan: Well, Maurice has come through Dallas now twice, in the last short period of time that I've had to miss both for travel. Yeah, but my agent is the one that said, hey, this is here, you, you, these are awesome. And I'm just every— both times I'm like, ah. And I've got friends flying in from out of town because they're so important to be at. And meanwhile, I'm here and Anyway, don't—

Chad Erickson: And she— her, her sessions are amazing. They, you know, if, if you're just starting out in voiceovers, maybe that's not the one to go to because it might be a little bit pricier than, you know, you're looking to do. But, you know, you could find a coach for $100, $125 an hour, and you will get so much out of it. Record the session, record everything that you're doing, go through the motions, and then when you're done, throw that on a CD and listen to it in your car, you know. And then you really— I think that's And that's the most beneficial part of that session is to listen back to what you did and see what worked and what didn't work. And, you know, it will just make you that much better in anything, whether it's commercials, promos, radio imaging.

Ryan: Well, yeah, I mean, that's why actors have tapes and they, you know, watch themselves. Okay, but I really gotta wrap it up here. We keep— man, there's so many topics, I keep going. I'm gonna have to have you on again. Of course, I say that to you, but I appreciate you having me on.

Chad Erickson: This was a lot of fun.

Ryan: So, man, I know you've already said so many We've had a lot of advisory-type points here. You, you've given us advice, but, you know, if you had to break it down to one thing, you know, you've got, young talent out there, or maybe some old crafty veterans on the radio imaging side that want to go and, and make their move like you did, you know, what's that one thing they should focus on?

Chad Erickson: Look, the most important thing, and I'll say this, and I'm sure 100 of your guests have said the same thing, you gotta, you gotta have a relationship with people and clients and really throw yourself out there, because an agent, a manager, whatever, You know, you'll get, you'll get opportunities, but you really need to be at the forefront of your business and, and create those relationships and become friends. Let them know what's going on in your world. If you book something with them, say, hey, thanks, I appreciate it. Send them a letter in the mail. Thank you guys for, for the opportunity. I hope we can do it again. Make those relationships because those relationships will last for long periods of time, and you just, you keep building them.

Ryan: Yeah, that's great. Chad Erickson, Thank you so much, man. I know that you're busy, and I know we had to work around— I mean, even, even I caused us a problem, but I know you, you, you pulled a lot of stuff out of the way to get this interview done with me. So—

Chad Erickson: And my kids did not interrupt it at all, so this is a win. Great.

Ryan: Chad Erickson. Oh man, give them the details. I did it in the front intro, of course, but do you want people to hit you up on Twitter, on Facebook, on Snapchat, on Grindr, on Your website?

Chad Erickson: I'm just on Tinder at the— no, I'm just kidding. Listen, I'm on Facebook. You can, you can always send me an email, chad@chaderickson.com, and I am happy to, to talk to anybody. If anyone's, you know, looking for advice or, or wants to run something by me or send me something, say, hey, here's, here's what I'm doing, what do you think? I'm happy to do it. I, I love talking to people, and, you know, I'm, I love helping people too, you know.

Ryan: Yeah, that's great. All right, so now finally, to put a cap on it, Chad Erickson, everybody. Thank you, Chad, so much.

Chad Erickson: Ryan, thank you very much. I look forward to doing it again and can't wait to hear your 100th episode.

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