Daily Inspiration: Meet Dan Bauer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Bauer.

Hi Dan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been a professional marketer for the past 50 years. My story is best framed presented in six chapters.

1. “Ad Agency Madman”

My teenage dream had always been to work in an advertising agency. While earning my undergrad degree in communications, I researched and pursued agencies throughout the country. The challenge was getting in without any prior experience — a rarity in that exciting industry back in the 1970s.

Incredibly, I met the founder of a well-known Pittsburgh agency and convinced him of my passion and potential. With my first office literally a broom closet, I got the job and advanced rapidly. Then one night, from out of the blue, came a job offer from another agency located in, of all places, Honolulu! Intrigued but cautious, I flew to Hawaii for a one-day visit, fell in love with the firm and the culture, and spent the next 6 years there, climbing to the rank of VP Account Supervisor at age 29.

2. Corporate American
After 10 years in the ad agency business, I was recruited to the client-side by the rival of my biggest client. I joined Bank of Hawaii as Director of Corporate Communications and, within 2 years, was named VP Director of Marketing, managing a department of 20. Climbing a steep learning curve, I began to realize that a bachelor’s degree in communications would not be enough for me to understand, qualify for, and take on a senior marketing role at a larger company. I needed an MBA education.

However, as the husband of a wife with her own successful business career, and the dad of two young sons, I couldn’t justify disrupting my family and leaving a great job in Paradise to attend just any MBA program. I set my sights on the best of the best — Harvard Business School — and somehow, the miracle of miracles was admitted in 1988.

3. Harvard MBA Student
This education was like drinking vintage champagne out of a fire hose! The depth, breadth, and rigor of learning were beyond anything I could have imagined. And being the classmate of brilliant overachievers from around the world was an education unto itself. I loved those two years and made the most of every opportunity there. Academically, I excelled in the industry and competitive analysis and felt empowered and qualified to take on major challenges.

4. Big Brand Honcho
Coming out of Harvard, I had four attractive job offers. The one I chose leveraged my prior banking experience as well as my fresh MBA knowledge. I joined Citibank as VP of National Marketing based in Chicago. It was a valuable experience, but I longed to do something on a global scale. So, my next stop was MasterCard International where I served as Senior VP of Global Marketing for their debit and ATM services.

I loved the international scope and high energy there. However, a few years later, when asked to relocate with the company to New York, rather than uproot my family, I decided it was time for the next big chapter — entrepreneurship.

5. Entrepreneurial Explorer
Having experienced the very best in business education at Harvard, I had a real passion for helping others pursue the same opportunity for transformation. So, leveraging my marketing and branding background, I launched a business named The MBA Exchange. Operating from our spare bedroom with only a laptop and a homemade website, I began to advise, mentor, and guide 20-somethings from around the world on how to bolster their candidacies in order to earn admission to top business schools like Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton.

Over the next 20 years, I grew the business into an industry leader with almost 80 consultants serving over 5,000 clients. I loved every day leading The MBA Exchange. In 2013, we were named to the “Inc. 5000” as one of America’s fastest-growing private companies. But nothing lasts forever. When approached by one of my lieutenants who was interested in buying the firm from me, I decided that this would be the best possible exit. So I said yes.

6. Marketing Sherpa
Having experienced the entire entrepreneurial journey — from launch to sale — and having decades of national and global marketing experience and credentials, I had the urge to put those assets to work in helping a variety of companies. From startups to Fortune 100. I launched my marketing consulting firm Bauer & Associates, Inc. (www.bauer-inc.com) and have now served over 75 clients across 30+ industries.

And there’s no end in sight! With offices in Chicago and Nashville, I am immersed in exciting opportunities with clients in healthcare, professional services, finance, consumer goods, you name it. Will this be the last chapter of my story? Don’t bet on it, y’all.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I can’t say it’s been a smooth road, but it’s been a relatively straight and manageable one. With one eye focused on immediate priorities, and the other eye trying to see around the next curve, I managed to make progress, avoid obstacles, and keep climbing.

Sure, there were a few struggles along the way…

•  I got my first full-time job in advertising before I earned my bachelor’s degree. It took another year to complete my education remotely, but I didn’t want to delay the pursuit of my professional dream.
• I experienced a heavy dose of corporate politics, turf battles, and insecure bosses in my various corporate positions, but took it in stride by convincing myself that this was a real-world learning opportunity that would make me a better leader down the road. And it did.
• I pursued several jobs along the way that looked like the “perfect” next move to advance my career. Several times I made it to the “finals” only to have the offer go to someone else.
• Disappointed and frustrated by these outcomes, I soon discovered that it’s really true — when one door closes, another opens. It might take 6 months or even a year, but in every case, a bigger, better opportunity came up for me, and I never looked back.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
There’s no doubt that being a successful marketer in today’s world requires an understanding of and skill in quantitative analysis and evolving technology. But, I’ve found that the “X factors” in having a true impact are ultimately more qualitative, more subjective, more ethereal. What do I mean by that?

Well, I have seen over these five decades that the keys to formulating, communicating, and advancing an idea are vision, logic, and empathy. The abilities to anticipate change, to connect disparate pieces, and to feel what others feel. These are assets that I count on every time I face a new challenge. They’ve been constants in my career and I count on them to be there when I need them most.

Whether the mission is developing a new brand, growing sales, gaining market share, entering new markets, launching a new product or service, I welcome every chance with confidence, eagerness, and optimism. So far, so good.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
As a kid growing up in suburban Cleveland, I always found joy in making others laugh. I cultivated a sense of humor by immersing myself in entertainment media. Whether it was listening to fast-talking DJs on the radio, watching classic sitcoms on (black & white) TV with my parents, or sneaking into the living room to watch late-night talk shows on school nights, I loved humor more than anything else.

My other “vice” was music. As the son of a former professional drummer, I fell in love with percussion at an early age. Banging away on pots and pans was a great outlet for my boyhood energy. After playing snare drum in the junior high band, I realized that this was not a passing interest. I got my first drum kit as a birthday present, then joined my first band (“The Colonials — Music with a Revolutionary Beat” — at age 15. By the time I was 18, I had become a bona fide rock drummer, performing with a local band (“The Lunatic Fringe”) at teen parties. I brought my drums to college and kept playing with campus bands through those years as well.

After graduation, with a full-time focus on career and family, I put the drums aside for the next 30 years. But once a drummer, always a drummer. I picked up the sticks again at age 50, after our kids were grown, and joined a local Chicago blues band playing in basements and dive bars. And I continue to play to this day as a founding member of a Tom Petty cover band, “Highway 78.” Every time I sit down at those drums, I’m “18 years old” again. Why quit now?

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.bauer-inc.com