BGBS 054: Andy Starr | Level C | Different Is So Important

Andy Starr is a provocateur in the niche landscape where education, business, and brand co-exist. He sees the value in being different and finds comfort in creating change. Even as a kid, he liked being the black sheep. He didn’t identify with the lead singer in a band or the striker making goals in soccer, he always wanted to be the drummer in the back or the goalie with a different uniform.

With 17+ years of agency experience, Andy continues to move the needle forward with co-founder/brand master Marty Neumeier, as they educate leaders in the evolution of brand within business through their platform, Level C. You’ll learn that Andy believes in more than just using strategy to sell. He believes in people, storytelling, and provoking emotion. Andy believes that provocation can be good and different can be important, inspiring us to ask ourselves how can we each embrace our differences to provide value to the world.

In this episode, you’ll learn…

• Andy considers himself to be a provocateur in the professional education space. To him, this means being different for the sake of being valuable.


• In the professional education realm, what needs to change is access, quality of content, relevance of content, and applicability of concepts. Andy and Marty Neumeier care about progressing professional education through the lense of brand.


• On the higher academic level, much of what is studied focuses on theory. The purpose of this is to teach you to think critically and prepare you for a world that is constantly evolving. With this in mind, analytic thought will always be relevant.


• Andy grew up in a conservative, change-resistant part of the world. Growing up, he always wanted to do the complete opposite of what was expected of him. When he learned the payoff of being different it transformed his whole world.


• Andy was always enraptured by the drums. He resonated with drummers the most but didn’t begin playing himself until college. When he did, he expresses it as meeting himself for the first time.


• While in law school, Andy helped his girlfriend with her graphic design clients and found more interest in that than what he was studying. She introduced him to The Brand Gap and he fell in love with the book.


• Marty was a great influence to Andy, and he messaged him many times with his accomplishments to prove himself worthy of being mentored.


• When Andy first visited Marty’s apartment, he found a highly used, beat-up version of The Brand Gap that he thought may have been a first edition. He later learned that it belonged to the one and only, Steve Jobs.


• Level C’s purpose is to bring the role of brand to the C suite so that business is done with the people in mind. By doing so, real change can happen within business, and in turn, the world.


• Brands do not control their audience, they influence them (and even that has a limit). A brand’s stance will provide more context to where you stand in regards to their position, whether that is with or against them.

Resources

LinkedIn: Andy Starr

Instagram: @the_andy_starr

Level C Website: levelc.org

Quotes

[15:55 ] Different matters because we think that there’s something in it for us. Whether it’s noticing something different, or acting, feeling wanting to be different, there is a perceived payoff to that. When I realized that, when that was revealed to me and for me, my whole perspective on everything changed.

[19:25 ] I actually started playing drums. That was something that I always wanted to do. Even as a little kid, I was always attracted not to the guitarist, or the lead singer, or the pianist, I was always attracted to the guy sitting in the back, because the guy sitting in the back was always the one that I felt in my chest, in my gut.

[51:56 ] What we’re trying to do with Level C is we’re trying to put in, or depending on your perspective, restore the role of brand into the C suite. To restore the role of brand into a position of influence on the business side, a position of relevance to the business and the consumer side…to influence the way people think about this stuff. And we believe that when they think about it, when they learn, and they think, and they process, and then they practice, real change can happen.

[53:01 ] We’re not looking to change the world. We’re looking to change a part of business because we do believe that if you change business enough, then the world can be changed.

Podcast Transcript

Andy Starr 0:02

That romantic sense of the trajectory of my life or what I thought that trajectory needed to be, where it was always there, I couldn’t shake it no matter how hard I tried, until I actually started playing drums. That was something that I always wanted to do. I always, you know, even as a little kid, I was always attracted not to the guitarist or the, the lead singer, or, you know, you know, the pianist, I was always attracted to the guy sitting in the back, because the guy sitting in the back was always the one that you felt, or the one that I felt in my chest in my gut, right. And the drummer always seemed like, like the black sheep. And I honestly couldn’t necessarily tell you why that was, but it always was.

Marc Gutman 0:54

Podcasting from Boulder, Colorado. This is the Baby Got Backstory Podcast, where we dive into the story behind the story of today’s most inspiring storytellers, creators and entrepreneurs. I like big backstories and I cannot lie. I am your host, Marc Gutman.

I’m Marc Gutman, and on today’s episode of Baby Got Backstory, we are talking with Andy Starr, co founder and partner of the brand education company Level C. And while I have your ear, if you’re listening, I’m assuming you like our show. And if that premise holds true, then please take a minute or two to rate and review us over at Apple podcasts or Spotify, Apple and Spotify use these ratings as part of the algorithm that determines ratings on their charts. Better yet, please recommend this show to at least one friend you think will like it. If this is your first time listening, please consider subscribing. It is your subscriptions that make this show possible. Alright, enough of that stuff. Let’s get back to the show. Andy Starr’s bio describes him as a provocateur for hire at the intersection of education, business and brand. And while that is a super cool bio, I think he’s so much more than that.

Yes, he’s a provocateur. But he’s also a thought leader, an empath, an educator, an entrepreneur, a brand nerd, a people person, the partner to branding legend, an author, Marty Neumeier. I hope I can call him a friend and he calls me the same. But if you ask Andy who he is, he’ll probably say none of all that and simply tell you, he’s a musician. With 17 plus years of agency and in house experience across multiple categories of client business, including special focus on nonprofit and higher education. Andy is equal parts strategist, creative manager, and storyteller. I first met Andy is one of his students via the Level C program.

Level C is an education platform. They’re a company and a certification focused on all things brand. I’ve personally attended, and surprisingly, graduated both levels one and two. And all I can tell you is that there’s something special about what they are building. How Andy sees the world. In his relationship with brand Master, Marty Neumeier. Andy is an accomplished brand professional in his own right. And well on his way to becoming a brand icon. Just don’t tell him that. And this is his story.

I am here with Andy Starr. He describes himself as a provocateur for hire at the intersection of education, business and brand. He is also the co founder and partner at Level C and we’ll talk a bit about that. But Andy, what is a provocateur for hire at the intersection of education, business and brand?

Andy Starr 4:20

That’s what I like to think of a brand professional as being, someone who pokes the bear, someone who’s looking to, you know, everyone’s favorite word, zag. You know, when if everyone is doing this over here, I want to be the guy doing this over there, okay? And just you know, sometimes being different for the sake of being different, but professionally being different for the sake of being valuable. And that’s what this whole thing is it’s provocation. provocation can be bad, but provocation can be really good. It can be valuable, it can mean something. And that’s how I see myself I just see myself as a provocateur for Hire less for hire these days, just, I’m getting tired of doing client work. You know, I want to focus more on being provocative in the professional education space.

So, you know, and that is that is where we find ourselves, you know, at the intersection of business and education. You know, education is a business, I’ve had several education clients, universities and colleges that that refuse to acknowledge that they’re a business at the end of the day, that makes my job as a brand provocateur more difficult. So when Marty and I started this, I was just like, let’s just call it what it is, let’s let’s, let’s not gloss, spin, blow smoke. Education in business is where we are. It’s what we do. And it’s what we’re looking to transform, you know, then leave leave, leave the bullshitters to play in other spaces that they just make up, or that they they ignore. So that’s, that’s my jam.

Marc Gutman 6:00

Yeah. And so, you know, you’re talking about being a provocateur in the education space, which leads me to believe that there’s something wrong with the education space, at least as we see it today. That holds true, please correct me if I’m incorrect in making that assumption. What’s wrong with education today? Like, what ar