Neil Bell, host of The Bell Board Posdcast has a new show out this morning.  Neil and Becky Smith, Steward of Operations at Behind The Board talk abut their respective journey’s into OOH, Becky’s time at IBO, generational change in the industry and building something new.

Here are a couple of excerpts:

NEIL: We’ve crossed paths so many times at IBO conferences, but never really got to sit down and talk. You didn’t come up through the billboard business in the traditional way — tell me about that.

BECKY: People only end up in out-of-home two ways: either they’re born into it, or it’s 100% by accident. I’ve never met anyone who set out to grow up and be in the out-of-home business — mine was definitely the accident. My background is that I was a high school chemistry teacher for sixteen years, and I loved it. Leaving education was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made.

BECKY: I want to give a little backstory first, because I wasn’t there for the earliest days, but I’ve heard the stories. Before IBO existed, there was a National Eight Sheet Association with regional meetings — that’s the earliest version of what we know today. Then Lamar came around, the market shifted, the economy took a hit, over-leveraged operators didn’t make it, and Lamar started acquiring. In the region I’m in — Region Four at the time — eight operators were left in that national association, and they did what independents do: banded together. John Arnold, of Arnold Outdoor, was at the helm, and they named it the Southwest Out of Home Association.

NEIL: What do you see operators struggling with most?

BECKY SMITH: Ironically, what makes them strong is often what stretches them thin. They’re great at building the business — finding locations, building relationships, even selling — but then they have to manage everything that comes after the sale, and the bigger they grow, the more coordination that requires. There’s a point where one person simply can’t grow further; it’s not a lack of opportunity, it’s a capacity issue.

To listen to the entire podcast, here is a link to the YouTube video chat of The Bell Board Podcast. It is also available on apple podcasts or spotify.

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