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Verbatim text
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Welcome to the Agency Trailblazer Podcast. This is an Agency Life episode coming to you every Wednesday Friday, where we interview an agency owner from around the world asking them the same questions because we’re all different, but we’re all the same. So let’s listen and learn from each other. Before we kick off the show, here is a word from our sponsor.
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Lee Matthew Jackson:
Welcome to another episode of hashtag agency life. And today on the show, we have Rommel C. Caibal. How are you today?
Rommel C. Caibal:
I am doing great. A little, you know, a little, you know, petrified. You know, basically, this is my first time first time doing an interview, but, yeah, but, you know, this is always exciting.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Very scary person, and, you know, so you should be very scared.
Rommel C. Caibal:
I I heard I heard stories.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Oh my gosh. I hope you haven’t heard although I have heard stories about you, of which I’ll probably ask you about. Because Paul Lacey, who who always seems to make some sort of an appearance on this podcast, has been up to his old tricks and has been secretly telling me things behind your back. So,
Rommel C. Caibal:
Yes. Yes. You know, and I I’ll get, you know, I got I got Paul to thank for this. You know, my you know, a good good mutual friend of ours, and and, yeah. It’s, it’s it’s always great and encouraging and, you know, and and making me make me do this, you know, and then even yeah. And, you know, doing, you know, this this type of, you know even the YouTube videos, yeah. He’s, he’s always very encouraging encouraging.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
He’s a great guy. We always need an encourager in our lives. So, folks, I just recommend you go to agency trailblazer.com and tap in Paul Lacey in the podcast area. You’ll see a couple of his episodes. He is a great guy. He’s a great encourager. He runs a fantastic business and a very close personal friend of both me and Rommel’s. We really appreciate his encouragement and his input, so I definitely recommend you follow him.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
He’s definitely, a star, in both of our eyes. But it’s not about Paul. It’s about you today. So we’ve got a few questions to hit you with. Are you ready to rock and roll?
Rommel C. Caibal:
I am ready as I can be.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Excellent. Let’s do this. Yes. Right then. So first of all, first question. We’re gonna learn about your agency and it is tell us the name of your agency and what it is that you do.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Okay. So, so I’m based in, Burlington, Ontario and, in Canada. And, the company’s name is RCC Graphic Designs, which is, named after me because, I I started it. So so I get to oversee every oversee everything that, you know, that that’s happening in it. I started off as, just a brief history. I started off as a graphic designer. That’s, you know, that’s that’s me, my my trade, and then, and then went into, marketing, went to, you know, did the course on on that to, Sheridan College here in, in in in Ontario. And, but at the same time, I also have a background in, relate we’re, relational database and and and programming back in back in the nineties.
Rommel C. Caibal:
So you’re a punk geek. Exactly. Right? And, you know, and, you know, and, my passion is is art and, you know, in computers and kinda merged too. And that’s how I ended up with, you know, being a graphic designer and, and started off in in the print industry and with the whole y two k, you know, then the the bubble burst and and so all the all the print laterals, all all the marketing stuff, kind of ported online, and and that’s, you know, where basically where my journey started, at 2 deck you know, pretty much 2 decades ago. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So 20 years. Can can I just say as well, though? I mean, I love databases. I’m a I I’m originally a database programmer as well. I’ve designed some absolutely stunning beautiful databases. And, I think that, databases are art just as much as design, because design is solving a problem, isn’t it? And creating an inter relational database that solves a problem. It’s just one of those things that makes me really excited. And, also, if anybody knows about the post meta structure of WordPress, then you’ll be as frustrated as as me about that because it is the worst design in history. And I love WordPress, but they definitely got post meta wrong.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I’m sure you’ll agree. But, anyway,
Rommel C. Caibal:
I I I think we all have that, you know, that, you know, that issues with it.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Absolutely. But let’s not be too geeky. And let’s find out about your birthday party. If you’re gonna have a birdie birthday party for your agency as it stands today, how roughly old is it, and when would your birthday approximately be?
Rommel C. Caibal:
Okay. So it’s been a long time, but I would place it, March 1st, 20, yeah, 2,002. 2002. Wow. That’s that’s when I officially registered it.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So that was mainly static HTML websites back in the day.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Yeah. You got it. You know? And, yeah, GeoCities, you know, all of that way way back then.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s fantastic. We we need to have a podcast where me and you just talk about what it was like back in 2,000. Well, I I first built my first website in 99. Well, no. 96, and then went kind of serious in 99 as a business. So me and you should totally just have a podcast or a video together where we just explain to people what it was like because it’s a completely different world, wasn’t it, to what I’m doing right now?
Rommel C. Caibal:
Yeah. And, you know, and you know how people talk about, you know, building building portals and, you know, and building, you know, in JavaScript and everything. You know how, you know, back then, it was used to be, frowned upon, but now, you know, in Jamaica, that’s basically a comeback. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And when you needed help, there was no help available.
Rommel C. Caibal:
That that that You had
Lee Matthew Jackson:
to go to the library and and get a book and hope that you could find the the solution inside of that book. So the amount of books I had that I probably didn’t return. But anyway Exactly.
Rommel C. Caibal:
LG can see here, you know, with my,
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And mine are all over there, but I’d have to move the camera and readjust the lighting, and it would just all go go to pot. And, folks, if you are listening to the show, don’t forget you can find it on YouTube on agencytrailblazer.comforward/youtube. So let’s learn about your setup, Rommel. And I would love to know how many people do you have in your team?
Rommel C. Caibal:
Okay. So, so, the administration stuff, there’s about, you know, 3 of us, including my, you know, my assistant. She takes care of all the, support tickets and everything. Yep. And and, you know, we have the building and everything. And then and I I work with, contractors, on on special projects, and that’s how we, we build the site. I like I said, I start off as a as a graphic designer. So, and and which brings me to, to a book that I read before, which is the Walmart way and how, Walmart, built, their their companies in in small, emerging communities.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Right? And then so I kinda treat my business the same way where I start off with a logo as a, you know, not so much of a lost leader, but, more of an an an an entry point.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Mhmm.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Right? And then from there, you know, we build, you know, marketing collaterals and then websites and and, you know, and, you know, and and, you know, and, basically, digital marketing.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
It’s a it’s it is a very effective way, isn’t it, of getting into a business because what we will do is people understand that we work with design agencies to create a WordPress website from what they’ve designed, and that’s all we tell people. But, actually, under the hood, we provide so many more services that are even way more profitable than that. But, obviously, it’s just getting in on that specific relationship. So it’s a real wise move. But you said kind of as a team, there’s about 3 of you, and like a lot of agencies nowadays, it’s more cost effective to partner with people on projects, and that gives everybody the freedom that they need. I think a lot of contractors, back in the day, we had a lot of employees. A lot of those are in our old agency. A lot of those are now contractors who we still work with to this day, and they love the freedom of of knowing that they can work with different agencies, which is really cool.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Exactly. And, you know, especially when we talked about earlier about globalization, you know, it it it just makes more business sense to, to work around, you know, the the time they’re convenient in, especially with, you know, working with, you know, with with, you know, with contractors or other businesses that have, young families. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Exactly. You
Rommel C. Caibal:
know? So you kinda have to work around, when they’re most, you know, productive and most, you know, you know, efficient way of, you know, managing their time. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And you’re gonna get the best out of them as well. So speaking of the modern office, the modern way of doing business, do you guys have a physical premises, or are you a virtual setup?
Rommel C. Caibal:
Okay. So right now, you know well, probably for a long time. And, you know, and, you know, for almost 2 decades, yes, I’m a a virtual office. And Mhmm. It was very difficult starting off as that because as you as you know, you know, it was never like this before, right, where where you have Facebook, you have other, you know, means, like like Upwork, you know, or, you know, even Fiverr. Right? You know, it’s, you know, it’s very difficult, you know, having, a virtual setup. And I do have, clients that offer me a a space, you know, but but that that’s also a cost of, you know, an overhead that you pass on to clients. Right? So those are kinda kinda, you know, variables they kinda have to, you know, keep in mind.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Right? Yeah. So I’ve been fortunate enough to know that I was lucky enough to know that I slowly built, you know, in a loyal clientele that allows me to, function the way, you know, the way we have it. We have, you know, VPSs that, you know, that’s, them that services, our clients. And and, and and because of that, it allows me to, you know, to do this, this virtual gig.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. I love it. And it’s it’s a very, very cost effective way, I think, for a lot of agencies, to to operate. I need to cut that bit because some music started playing in my ear, and I just need to to yeah. So let me start again. Yeah. It’s a very cost effective way for agencies to operate nowadays. The the cost of premises, especially in kind of the biggest cities, can be £3,000, £4,000 plus.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So it’s it’s definitely a very effective way. Me and you were chatting just before we started recording with regards to our offices. We’ve actually moved our offices to the village that we live in, which is gonna allow us to walk to it. And also because it’s within the village, which is not in a central business district, it’s extremely cheap, which is amazing. And we’re just waiting now for them to finish all of the refits so that we can move in. But that gives us the best of both worlds. It kinda takes us away from our physical home here, where I’m at, which at the moment, it’s a little bit of a squeeze fitting everyone in who comes to visit, and we’ll be we’ll have some office space, which would be nice, but it’ll still be in the same village.
Rommel C. Caibal:
And and that’s actually a great point because, you know you know, it it’s sometimes, you know, you get, you know, you think about, you know, the allure of, you know, of working, you know, either from home or having an office. Right? And, you know, and all of us deal, you know, deal with that with that struggle whether is it, you know, something that, you know, it’s feasible for us to, you know, to build, you know, build a business outside the home or, you know, or work, you know, work and then have to deal with all the the the distractions, right, with family and, you know, dog dogs barking and everything.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Literally had that on the last episode, the dog barking.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Exactly. So, at the end, you guys just gotta sit down and figure out what’s, you know, what’s best what’s best for you this week.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Exactly. And and for us as well, it it is it it allows us. We both live in the village, so which is awesome. So me and Larissa can go, and then everybody else that works with us, are contractors, which we’re not we’ve got contractors, but we’ve also got employees around the world as well, which is nice. So we’ve kind of got a hybrid, for us who live together who live near each other. We have our kind of physical location here, and then we also have the hybrid where we don’t have to have massive premises for other employees. We can have them wherever they’re located. And I definitely think it’s it’s part of this modern age, a lot different to, again, what things were like in 2002.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So with regards to the team that you have, you’ve got contractors, you’ve got your assistant, you’ve got people who do work with you as well, who who are on the payroll, etcetera. What sort of team culture have you tried to establish with everybody?
Rommel C. Caibal:
So it’s, it’s so, yeah, it’s it’s it’s very difficult because, we go through, phases. Right? And, you know, and just like just like any other company. And, yeah. So, what I tried to do is give give it more, you know, free reign in in a way because, you know, especially when you’re starting off, you know, in in the agency life, it’s it’s very difficult to, you know, to let go. Right? And and I believe Paul mentioned something about the, you know, the E Myth. Right? Yeah. And I’m, like, a big fan of the, you know, of them too and, you know, and and because, you know, in Sales Tuesday, you know, that, like, Zig Ziglar, for for instance. Right? So one of the things they know that talks about is, you know, being a technician, a manager, you know, right, an an entrepreneur.
Rommel C. Caibal:
And and it’s, it’s, you know, it’s very difficult because you wear too many hats And, you know, and you’re, you know, you’re in control of everything. And, eventually, what you need to do, you need to, you know, structure your business and then let go of those, you know, little bit of that piece of the pie. You know, them, right, and delegate. So when you when you start figuring that out, then it makes it makes it a lot easier. So, and that’s why it took me over 2, you know, 2 decades opposed to somebody that, that, you know, that kinda, you know, figuring it out, you know, in within 2, 3 years or even 5 years. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
You’ll you’ll like a fine wine. You’ve you’re aging it slowly, but that’s absolutely fine. Really recommend the E Myth book to everybody. I think most of us are gonna find that, there’s a huge part of us which is the technician where we just kinda wanna get on with the work and sit in our, you know, kind of do the job as it were. That’s exactly it. Exactly. And then there’s always this kind of very alluring part of us that’s fighting us to be the entrepreneur with all of these exciting ideas. And the E Myth talks about kind of the franchise model and how to start to establish processes in your business which allow you, to let go, which Rommel was talking about is is kind of letting go and letting, his team start to take over the mantle of certain things.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So having those processes in place are really essential. So definitely worth good shout out there, Rommel, for that book. Well, let’s talk about your mission, as a as a company, as a business. And do you have a particular niche or industry that you’re working in?
Rommel C. Caibal:
Okay. So in in terms of, particular niche, it’s always good to, you know, to niche down. There’s no just the whole question about that. Just like, you know, how we were handling our our business stages, every every year, we always, or even, you know, not just every year, but, you know, every 2, 3 years, we, depending on, how the environment is and and, you know, what the market is, we try to focus on one, one specific industry. So there were in in the past, you know, we did, you know, basically just the restaurants and, you know, and and, I think this year, we’re doing, manufacturing.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Oh.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Last year, or the year before, I believe we did the con construction. Yeah. So it it all
Lee Matthew Jackson:
like a seasonal niche. You’re actually trying something different where you’re trying different industries each year to mix things up.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Exactly. And, you know, and heard
Lee Matthew Jackson:
of that. That’s that’s fast how is that going?
Rommel C. Caibal:
Yeah. It it it’s it’s great because, you know, it it, you know, it it varies, as long as you have, you mentioned, as long as you have a a process in place. Yeah. Right? Because, if if you have a a a formula and, you know, and you have, you know, a process in place, like, you know, I use my whiteboard all the time. I see. And and yeah. And and so once once you have once you have that set, then you can apply those formulas in the different, you know, you know, different different industries. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I I think there’ll be a lot of people who will kill for your formulas then because that sounds fascinating. Now I’ve got a question then. I mean, this kind of works very well from this. So you’re the first person I’ve heard who actually likes to experiment in different niches over different years. So for all of those different clients that you’ve had in the different areas, what do you feel the main problem is that you solve for all of your clients?
Rommel C. Caibal:
Okay. So, one of the things, Dana, that I, eventually figured out is that, at least, at least for the clients that I’m, in involved in is that, none of them have, a specific set of, of of of process in place. Right? Because because they’re all started off. I’ll I’ll work mostly with with local businesses. Right? Small to medium sized businesses. We do have, like I said, manufacturing. So we do have a lot of, you know, companies that organizations that have multiple branches across Canada, and some of them are are, you know, global. Right? Yeah.
Rommel C. Caibal:
But, the the the small ones, the local ones, most likely, just like the E Myth, they’re a sort of a technician. They don’t have the expertise, you know, for marketing and promotions, and they don’t have, a past in place in the in terms of, sales. Because one of the things they know that, is missing as an entrepreneur and as a technician is that, you the, you know, one skill set that’s missing is is sales. Right? And, you know, and that’s what I love about about sales because once, you know, once you have that that that skill set, then, you know, then you can pretty much, you know, sell, you know, sell anything because around that revolves, you know, you know, pricing strategies and and, and, you know, and figuring out, you know, you know, different markets.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So it would be fair to say that you help, clients with their sales. So helping them through the different tools and the different services that you have, be it started off with the brand image that you provide right through to the marketing strategy that you also provide. Massive issue for many businesses. It’s finding those new leads, bringing them in, and and converting them into sales. Would that be a a good way of saying it?
Rommel C. Caibal:
Correct. Absolutely. Cool.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
I’ve been told I’m a wordsmith. So, there there you go. I’m I’m trying to live up to that name. Alright. Let’s get into marketing then. Literally, we’re talking about marketing now. And how do you generate leads as a business? K.
Rommel C. Caibal:
So, currently, I’m I’m, I’m trying to work with, with with LinkedIn and, and and Instagram. So a lot of them, especially nowadays, the whole push with, you know, social, social media. I do, you know, do some, like, lead scraping in a way, through lead generation and, and a lot of email, email campaigns. And I and apply the same formula that I use for, you know, for my clients because at the end, I wanna make sure they know that I can vouch for, you know, for that, for that process. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah.
Rommel C. Caibal:
And and so yeah. It’s, it it’s, it’s a combination of of of every single thing they know that that we do, you know, online. And and, you know, and a lot of them, you know, revolves around, creating, good, lead magnets so that way you can, capture the capture them and then, and then put them to a a process, which is, you know, a funnel. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So strategic social media, sending people to specific landing pages or parts of your website and capturing their attention with those lead magnets of which you can then start to develop that relationship.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Absolutely.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. That’s that’s a good strategy, tried and true, and definitely not a strategy that you would have been able to apply necessarily back in 2002. So it’s something that’s definitely evolved, hasn’t it? With the way that the Internet has changed and the amount of free information that’s out there as well. It’s so cool.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Exactly. And, you know, you definitely need, you know, definitely need patience and, you know, and try not to take as many shortcuts things.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Absolutely. And these things take so much time. I’ve been doing this podcast now for 3 years nearly, and, you know, it it’s definitely taken time to grow and to build the community. And I’m one of those people who’s I’m really impatient. I want things to happen now or yesterday. So this has been a massive lesson with me for especially around the idea of content marketing, etcetera, providing free value
Rommel C. Caibal:
and and
Lee Matthew Jackson:
learning that you kinda need to marketing, etcetera, providing free value and and learning that you kinda need to stay in in for the long haul. Exactly. Success. You’ve had 20 years of this now, and that success in itself, you’ve been around in the industry producing websites, brands, all that sort of stuff for for clients for 20 years. So kudos to you. How do you personally measure success? For example, how would you finish up a year or a day or a week feeling like you’ve thought that was a good week? You feel like you’ve achieved something. What would be your measurement?
Rommel C. Caibal:
Yeah. So measurement is, first, you know, without without my clients, then, you know, then, you know, then, you know, why why bother doing this? Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So Fair enough. So
Rommel C. Caibal:
so, you know, so, loyalty and, you know, and, you know, with with your clients and and, you them telling you that, you know, they’re doing a great job and it’s, you know, that that’s where the, you know, m r your MRR, your monthly recurring revenue come come comes in and Mhmm. With that. And then, you know, your annual, you know, p and l, your profit and and loss, you know, you check that and see how you how you progress, every every year. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Customer retention and growth.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Exactly. So, you know, once once you figure, you know, figure that out, then, you know, then you’re on the right path. If there’s, either, you know, there’s, a down, you know, like, your peaks and valleys. Right? So Mhmm. If there’s a down, then obviously, there’s there’s an issue, then you work on that problem and try to get you back up. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s really, really good advice. I think a lot of us often forget, that there are a few of the basics that we definitely need to keep our eye on, which is keeping the customer happy, making sure we retain them, and keeping your eye on those on those numbers because we’re in an a kind of a, an industry which can very much feast and famine as well at times if we don’t keep our eye on the on the kind of the long term, what what’s coming in in the pipeline.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Exactly. So, you know, so trying to, you know, make sure yeah. At the end of the day, it’s all about customer service. Right? Absolutely. If you buy if you prove if you provide, value to your customers, then, you know, then, you know, that’s where your, you know, word-of-mouth advertising comes in and, you know, and the referrals. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Exactly. Which kind of goes right back to the how do you generate leads as well. So we we’ve kind we’ve kind of gone gone through both those questions. And, apparently, that’s vodka in the glass that he’s drinking. So
Rommel C. Caibal:
the I will tell you after this, after this.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Alright. So it’s confession time. You can either confess what’s in that glass or or something about your business. The question is
Rommel C. Caibal:
Mhmm.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Bearing in mind that it’s just me and you and a few 1,000 listeners around the globe, so I’m pretty sure your secret will be safe with all of us. We No
Rommel C. Caibal:
no pressure.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
What is the biggest problem that you feel you have in your business?
Rommel C. Caibal:
Okay. So I often tell this to, you know, like and I mentioned this to you before too and, you know, and, you know, and our mutual friends and and everybody at Martechwise and and and Mhmm. And, WebAgency Mastermind is that, you know, time is like my nemesis. Right? And, you know, I don’t I don’t think I think everybody is the same thing, especially with, you know, working from home and, you know, especially now. It’s it’s summer. You know, my kids are off school. So, you know, so having to juggle, you know, work and and managing a Facebook group and, you know, and and, you know, and family and friends. Right? You know, so the work life balance exists, but, you know, but it’s a it’s a struggle.
Rommel C. Caibal:
So and and partly because, you know, because, you know, it’s you’re split in so many directions, and it it’s time. Right? And same same thing, you know, with with WorkWise, this this agency life, time’s always a factor. You know, I’m trying to figure out deliverables, you know, deadlines, and trying to, make sure that, you know, that your team is, is on track, making making sure that, you know, that, things that they’re supposed to deliver are are on time. So that way, in turn, you can deliver and satisfy, your customer’s needs. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. I know a British guy called Doctor Who who’s mastered time travel. So I’ll introduce you guys, but, otherwise, I think we’re all struggling. We’re all struggling with time. You’re totally right. Well, let’s talk about your well-being. You you work from home. You have the, the responsibilities of family time, like you said, with the children being off.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
You’ve also got your your business there as well. So there’s an awful lot of things that are vying for your time and attention. How do you, switch off, personally? So how do you calm down, maybe get away from the work? How how do you chill? Because you all struggle with this one.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Well, abs absolutely. The so one of the things they know that, that, you know, that my wife and I tell our kids, when, like, dinner time comes is is no most of the phones. No Okay. Even even even, you know, even when we go out for dinner. Right? You know? We try to, you know, to, you know, turn that off and put it away off the table. Right? In your pocket and, you know, and out of reach. Because, you know, anything that’s out of reach, out of sight, you know, that’s, you know, it’s
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Out of mind.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Exactly. And it it it makes it, and and, I do the same thing, you know, when when I’m sitting down, you know, with, you know, with a client on on meetings. Right? And, you know, because, like, right now, even even I have my phone here beside me. You know, I I turn I turn off the ringer. I turn off everything. I turn off, I mute Facebook. Okay? So that way, we you know, you and I don’t get don’t get interrupted. And, you know, that’s very important when you’re when you’re meeting with somebody, especially, a new lead, you know, a new transfer.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Right? And
Lee Matthew Jackson:
so I’ve got mine face down on the so I can’t actually see the notifications, and it’s silent.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Exactly. Because, you know, undivided undivided attention goes goes a long way. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah.
Rommel C. Caibal:
And so so that said, I try to, you know, to, compartmentalize, things. And I think that’s a great, you know, skill set to, you know, to have, you know, with entrepreneurs. And, and, you know, on the weekends, I try not to, you know, let work to take over take over that and spend, a lot of time with, you know, with my with my family. And Yeah. Because, especially now, my kids are approaching their teenage years, and then they’re going to, you know, they’re going to high school soon. Most likely, they’ll be spending time with their with their friends. Not not so much with us anymore. Right? So you don’t wanna you don’t wanna lose sight of that.
Rommel C. Caibal:
And, and, you know, and same thing with, you know, with with your friends. You know, they go off into different, you know, different directions. So, so so if you make time for, you know, for family and friends and and and and do some, you know, and and focus on work and set set, you know, boundaries and and hours, then then I think, I think you can make that work life balance work.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. I think someone, I think it was Amy Woods called it a work life integration. So it’s just finding, like you say, compartmentalizing, finding those times and those slots and not missing out on on the children because my daughter is growing so fast. It’s ridiculous, And it’s scary. Now then, so we’re both dads. We’ve we’ve confessed to both being busy. And time is one of our enemies or it’s also one of our joys. But how do you or do you even because it’s something I struggle with, how do you find time or what do you do to try and maintain some sort of health? That could be mental health, that could be physical, well-being.
Rommel C. Caibal:
So so during during downtime, okay. So like I said, my my routine so my routine in the morning is, I I wake up around you know, I wanna wake up at 6, but I I happen to wake up at 5, 4:35 just like just like you. Yeah. So I, I try to, you know, to, you know, you know, exercise it, you know, hit hit the bike and Mhmm. And, so that that’s how, you know, I keep myself physically, you know, healthy. My wife and I are you know, got this, you know, all kinds of different diets that we’ve been trying before. It’s a that is a lifestyle change. So Yeah.
Rommel C. Caibal:
The, so, you know, basically, try to maintain a healthy healthy living. Mhmm. I tried to, you know, as you can see, you know, I tend to read a lot. I try to keep up keep up with it. And and, and so and, at the end of the night, I spend I spend time with, you know, with my my wife and kids, and we watch TV and, you know, play games and and and stuff. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
That’s good.
Rommel C. Caibal:
But that keeps me, you know, you know, whole in in a way. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Yeah. Absolutely. So
Rommel C. Caibal:
if you set aside time, then, you know, then then, you know, then I think, I think you can, you can make make everything work.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Absolutely. No. I absolutely agree. That sounds brilliant. And I think kind of switching off in health and well-being, they’re kind of the similar sort of question. But I I kinda split those questions out because it does kind of help people it helps unpack further. Because if we just say one thing, oh, yeah. I go out for a run or I I do some exercise on a bike, It doesn’t really get to the the kind of the root of it where we end up talking about all the other things that we do because health is your mental health just as much as as your physical health as well.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
So that was a wonderful answer. And I really love throughout this entire interview, how your family has been completely number 1, throughout all of this. And I just think that’s beautiful and brilliant, and inspiring. So, I’m loving what you’re sharing, mate. We are coming into land. This is the last question. So you made it, and I wasn’t that scary, I don’t think. And you have been awesome.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
And that last question is and you have to stick to one tool. What is one tool that you feel has been essential to your success and why?
Rommel C. Caibal:
This one behind me, the white The whiteboard. Yes. Whiteboard. Yep.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Okay.
Rommel C. Caibal:
I I love the, you know, you know, you know, something tangible, something tactile, and just like, you know, with the books, it’s it’s different, when you flip through the pages, you know, opposed to, you know, you know, reading and creating a crate. So, you know, having, you know, having the muscle memory to, you know, to write down, stuff, draw, you know, flowcharts, you know, mind maps, on a whiteboard, and then transfer that digitally. I think, that’s a big huge, you know, asset in terms of, you know, putting down putting something down on paper. Right?
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Totally agree. I think I said on a few episodes ago, I quite enjoy the I have a to do list, which is physical as well as the online to do list, and I really enjoy just putting that line through things, physically myself, that tactile, yep, done. That is finished. I can forget about that. So completely agree. I feel like someone else said whiteboard as well a while ago, but definitely there is power in the good old fashioned utensils, isn’t there, as opposed to our entire digital life, which could disappear in a heartbeat, couldn’t it, if you forgot to press save? Or at least it’s on the board unless the kids get near it and decide they’re gonna doodle all over it, which has happened. So always take a picture of your whiteboard before you leave your office every day. Top advice.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Oh, that’s that’s that’s a very good advice. Yeah. It it’s it’s funny because, you know you know, how you know, especially, you know, us being in this industry for a long time and, you know, and we thought, you know, people talk about how, oh, you know, how how ray you know, television replace radio and Internet is gonna replace television and, you know, and and, you know, in emails, you know, social media is gonna replace email. But, but the fact of the matter is, it’s actually just an extension of, you know, of, you know, just basic creating new channels. Right? Yeah. You know, for communication. The same thing with the with the whiteboard, whether it be a whiteboard or even a good old fashioned, you know, notebook. Yep.
Rommel C. Caibal:
Right? So, you know, you know, it’s it’s all it’s all, you know, you know, relevant and, you know, and well, they’re great. So
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Absolutely. Well, Rommel, you have been absolutely awesome. Loved hearing about your business. Loving hearing all of your advice. Could you share with us how we can connect with you and then we will say goodbye?
Rommel C. Caibal:
So, you can, you can, you know, reach me. I’m on I’m on I’m on Facebook. So I just look up RCCGD and, and, you know, I’ll I’ll show up. And, Yeah. So the website is, rccgd.com for RCC graphic designs.
Lee Matthew Jackson:
Perfect. Mate, thank you so much for your time. Have a wonderful day.
Rommel C. Caibal:
You too. Cheerio. Bye bye, everybody.
