Conversations with Brad Montgomery

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brad Montgomery.

Hi Brad, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
More Formal: For business speaker Brad Montgomery, a funny thing happened on the way to law school. After
graduating from Brown, his college “side hustle” of professional drumming, street magic and
comedy clubs led him to performing on cruise ships and even the prestigious Hollywood Magic
Castle. Brad turned his love for the stage into his life work of becoming a successful keynote
speaker who helps people feel valued, appreciated, respected and recognized. He never made it
to Law School!
Brad is an entrepreneur, author, and podcaster. As a business keynote speaker, his expertise is
increasing performance by focusing on the people side of the business. He speaks about
harnessing the science of social and emotional support to encourage, support and retain their
people.
Brad is a Certified Speaking Professional — the highest earned designation from the National
Speakers Association. He is also a member of the Speakers Hall of Fame, an elite group of 150
inductees worldwide.
His diverse client list ranges from Fortune 500 companies to smaller leadership groups in rural
health care and groups of educators across the USA. He even spoke to the IRS where he
withheld 30% of his best ideas.
His background in entertainment is still very present in all his business presentations. Whether
he’s telling funny stories, sharing his innate and impromptu wit, or blowing audiences minds as a
mentalist – he’s definitely not your standard “talking head” speaker. He’s fresh. He’s funny. He’s
unique.
He has three awesome kids and an amazing wife of over 30 years. Brad loves playing jazz and
funk and then heading out for roller hockey. And in an emergency, Brad can ride a unicycle
while juggling.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth!? Ha. Not even close. But that is the joy of being an entrepreneur. I’m able to fail quickly, correct quickly, and pivot on a dime. I’ve totally had to make 1 million changes correcting 1 million mistakes. But to me that is part of the fun of running a business.

I love going to a conference or talking to appear, leaving with a great idea and being able to enact that idea almost immediately. But obviously that’s gonna lead to some mistakes.

I was just talking to a friend about how years ago I invested very heavily in very fancy printed press packets. For color pieces of art in a beautiful color folder. I think I had 5000 of them delivered to my office. What felt like the very next day, the world invented PDFs rendering my investment close to worthless. Was that a mistake? I think it was just part of doing business and now it makes a really good story.

Right now we’re dealing with Google search. My site has always done well with organic search. But now AI is going to change all of that. Was it a mistake to spend so much time and energy optimizing my website? I don’t think so. It’s just one of the many things that we go through as business owners.

One of my ear struggles had to do with the fact that my business and industry doesn’t really have a pattern. I might have two really strong and profitable October in a row and then the third year my calendar, mimics total unemployment. When I was younger it used to really throw me for a loop. The ups and downs of money coming in regularly or irregularly give me fits. But I’ve been long enough now that I’m really able to enjoy the slow times as much as I enjoy the crazy times.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Smooth!? Ha. Not even close. But that is the joy of being an entrepreneur. I’m able to fail quickly, correct quickly, and pivot on a dime. I’ve totally had to make 1 million changes correcting 1 million mistakes. But to me that is part of the fun of running a business.

I love going to a conference or talking to appear, leaving with a great idea and being able to enact that idea almost immediately. But obviously that’s gonna lead to some mistakes.

I was just talking to a friend about how years ago I invested very heavily in very fancy printed press packets. For color pieces of art in a beautiful color folder. I think I had 5000 of them delivered to my office. What felt like the very next day, the world invented PDFs rendering my investment close to worthless. Was that a mistake? I think it was just part of doing business and now it makes a really good story.

Right now we’re dealing with Google search. My site has always done well with organic search. But now AI is going to change all of that. Was it a mistake to spend so much time and energy optimizing my website? I don’t think so. It’s just one of the many things that we go through as business owners.

One of my ear struggles had to do with the fact that my business and industry doesn’t really have a pattern. I might have two really strong and profitable October in a row and then the third year my calendar, mimics total unemployment. When I was younger it used to really throw me for a loop. The ups and downs of money coming in regularly or irregularly give me fits. But I’ve been long enough now that I’m really able to enjoy the slow times as much as I enjoy the crazy times.

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My job title is funny keynote speaker for business and association audiences. It’s such a weird title that I barely know what it means. My clients hire me for meetings and conventions, large and small to come in and rock their audiences. I’m expected to give them tactical ideas that can change their lives and their businesses. What sets me apart from my peers is that my clients tell me I’m really entertaining. I’m a very funny storyteller, I’m a professional magician and comedy Mentalist. And I’m very quick on my feet. I love to get people involved with my keynotes… Even bringing them up on stage,… And creating a little bit of intentional chaos.

Yes, I’m expected to deliver a business message, but if people are not paying attention, it’s a complete waste of time. So I purposely make my keynotes really fun.

One of the many things I love about my job… And there are many… Is it I can literally be in an elevator on my way down to the convention floor, have a funny or interesting conversation with the attendees, and then bring that interaction to stage in the form of a joke or a story. I love i that my job is totally creative. I basically think stuff up, read a ton, and do my best to take an audience from point A to point B. And the fact that I get to do this in an entertaining way? I’m lucky..

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
When it comes to my business life, I take a lot of risks. Anybody who graduates, as I did, from Brown University and then immediately tells her parents that they want to be a professional magician is up for a non-traditional and risky job path.

My entire career has been spent on the stage. Whether as an entertainer or a speaker or as both. I’ve had to create my own product… This keynote… Create my own marketing and business model, create my own sales techniques and strategies, and do my best to keep food on the table and put three kids through college grade the f that I’ve been at this for 30 years makes me intensely proud. Roughly one third of professional speakers quit every year. There is tremendous turnover because this job is tremendously difficult. My longevity is definitely a point of pride.

But my Loung Jeopardy also speaks to my willingness to take risks. The market has changed dozens of times during my career. Tastes of my audiences and buyers has changed. I’ve had to adopt and adapt and move freely. It’s been a really fun ride.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bradmontgomery.com
• Instagram: @bradmontgomerylive
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bradlaughs
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradmontgomery1/
• Twitter: @bradmontgomery
• Youtube: https://YouTube.com/bradmontgomery1

Image Credits
No credits needed. I own all of these.