Meet Marc Gutman | Strategist / Entrepreneur / Idealist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marc Gutman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marc, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
This is an interesting question. I don’t know if I’ve ever achieved “balance” and that’s how I look at it. I think early in my career I’d think about this topic as work was what I “had” to do and personal is what I “wanted” to do – but I was always over leveraged in the work department. It was a bit of a victim mentality – thinking I was trapped, or sacrificing for work, or unable to lean into what truly made me happy.

But I realized this was a bit of a false ideology. A prison of my own making. 🙂 Today, my work life and my personal life co-exist. It’s pretty hard to see where one ends and the other begins. But I will say that it didn’t happen overnight or in one quick moment. It was gradual and happened over time.

I first started with a vision of where I wanted to be and then worked to get a minimum foothold and then slowly claw my way to where I wanted to be over time.

An example of this is I always wanted to spend my summers on the Lake in Michigan. This is many years ago before COVID and the work from home movement. So when I got offered a new job and I was negotiating my benefits I requested the ability to take two weeks of vacation in Michigan with one remote work week in between (this was 3 weeks in Michigan). They said yes and soon 3 weeks became 3.5 weeks, then 4 weeks, then 4.5 weeks etc.

I’ve used this “land and expand” approach to almost everything in my life – whether it’s work or personal. Just get a foothold and then make something of it.

Not sure that’s balance but it’s how I approach it.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Currently I’m the lead strategist and founder of Wildstory. We’re a strategy and design firm dedicated to helping businesses stand out from their competition.

I like to say my job is to fall in love with a client’s business, mission, and vision and then help the rest of the world fall in love with it too!

What sets us apart is our tendency to slow down and think for our clients. Most clients come to us naturally with the problems they think they have: they want a new logo, better messaging, a new website, etc.

Many firms will take those requests and execute them right away. Our approach is to slow down and ask “why”. Why do you think you need a new logo, message, or website?

Usually these are just symptoms of MUCH larger business problems such as an uninspired product or product offer, lack of positioning, trying to mimic what your competitors are doing, or not selling enough.

We want to know what the underlying problem is so we can help our clients with a long term fix – vs just slapping a new coat of paint on a festering problem.

We also like to say your brand has a job – and that’s to SELL. If you’re not selling like you hope to, that’s usually a good indication that something’s off in your business and brand.

And as far as where we are in business today? It’s NEVER EASY. 🙂 I think that’s a bit of a entrepreneur fairy tale. And if it is easy, it won’t be forever. The market is fickle and competitive – it’s a battle all the time. Sometimes it’s easier… but never easy.

How are we, where we are at? So simple. We haven’t quit. We keep showing up to play the game. Some days are good. Other days I’d like to forget. But we always show up for tomorrow.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love to be outside. If I had someone in town:

We’d probably start at Red Rocks. I’d show of the classic music venue and we’d do a hike.
Back in Denver we’d head to Rino for some shopping and probably test drive a Rivian – that seems like a Colorado thing to do.
Dinner? Uchi. No doubt. Probably my favorite spot for Sushi in the world! Go Omakase. Expensive but worth it.

Then, we’re big theater goers – so I’d take in a show at the Denver Center for Performing Arts (DCPA). After? Maybe a cocktail at the Sweet Action speak easy.

I’d sleep in the next day and grab brunch at Snooze.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
It’s not related to my story but if I can bring more awareness to First Descents www.firstdescents.org – an organization dedicated to bring the healing power of adventure to young adults with cancer and MS that would be cool!

I have been fortunate to support First Descents as a volunteer on several of their weeklong programs as a photographer and most recently I ran the 2023 NYC Marathon to benefit First Descents.

Website: www.wildstory.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/marcgutman

Linkedin: www.linkedin/in/marcgutman

Youtube: @wildstorymedia

Image Credits
Mike Arzt