On Noticing with Jeff Slater

Jeff Slater has always been a “noticer”. When he was a kid and first learned photography, he would notice a small moment, and it would forever be captured on film.  As a young adult, he paid attention to all the ways people would show up and meet their passion.  As a marketing professional, Jeff would notice the things that would inspire people and alchemize that for the benefit of the companies he worked for.  But most importantly, as a son, husband, father, colleague and friend, Jeff pays attention to how he shows up - always asking himself how he can be more loving, more kind, and more empathetic. Jeff notices all of it - the large and small things -  and he actively chooses to be present in the moment.  Please listen to Jeff’s perfectly imperfect journey - we think you’ll be inspired to do a little less doing and a little more being.  

 

Bio:

If there is one guiding principle I experienced throughout my life, it is the importance of living in the moment. 

 

I grew up in a loving family with parents, siblings, and highly supportive friends and relatives. Foundational blessings like these were gifts that helped keep me grounded and grateful. My 95-year-old mom Bea remains my most ardent life-long cheerleader. 

 

There were two catalyzing events from childhood setting me on my journey. 

 

As a young teenager, I worked with my maternal grandfather George. He was an orphan and an immigrant from Russia and came here at age ten. Poppa George became a professional photographer who learned his trade from his Uncle Henry in Newark, N.J. When I started working with him, he was my current age, sixty-eight. 

 

With my grandfather as my teacher, I witnessed the magic of photography where you can capture a moment with a camera that took less than 1/1000 of a second but could last a lifetime. From ages fourteen to twenty-four, I worked as a commercial photographer throughout high school, college, and graduate school. Photography was the creative spark that ignited my curiosity then and now. 

 

I assumed my path would lead me on my perfectly creative journey to becoming a photographer. I had no other professional life plans or goals. 

 

Around that same time in my childhood, I took my first TM or transcendental meditation class and became a lifelong meditator. I have continued this practice for more than fifty years. My balance and calm can, in part, be linked to this practice. Mindfulness and living in the moment are part of the narrative of my life's journey.

 

But the universe had other plans; to my surprise, they involved the business world, specifically marketing. 

 

When I met my future wife, she graduated from Cornell with a degree in political science and French literature. But she had a small business selling extraordinary brownies from a home kitchen in Philadelphia. (Rated by Philadelphia Magazine as the best in Philly in 1975) 

 

Together, over more than a decade, we built a multi-million-dollar business selling Rachel's Brownies nationally. We had wild moments that included lunch with President Reagan, partnering directly with Ben & Jerry to make a Rachel's Brownies Ice Cream, and TV appearances on Phil Donahue's nationally syndicated tv show. 

 

We used to kid that all our friends were doctors, architects, and lawyers – professionals. And we were college-educated brownie makers spending our day knee-deep in chocolate. We were entrepreneurs without any business experience – yet we stumbled upon success. My wife Ra El (formerly Rachel) is the most courageous, extraordinary, and inspiring human I know. We have been married for almost 45 years.

 

During the 1980s, our two magnificent daughters, Sarah and Fanny, were born. Each provided countless exquisite daily moments filled with joy, gratitude, and exhaustion. Both are remarkable women. 

 

During our daughter's early years, I realized that the more present I could be with them, the more joy was available to me in these small moments. Living in the moments, I could manage the stress and crazy entrepreneurial journey that required an astonishing amount of calm, persistence, and flexibility to handle life's daily challenges and perpetual chaos. 

 

We eventually sold our business in 1989 and moved from Philadelphia to Raleigh. During the next decade, I became the EVP of Marketing for a $400M snack food company called GoodMark Foods, which eventually was sold to ConAgra Foods, a $30B company. I worked in various senior marketing leadership positions, including a stint in a global marketing role at Nomacorc, now Vinventions, in the wine packaging industry. 

 

Today I manage a marketing consultancy called The Marketing Sage as Chief Listening Officer, providing fractional CMO services and brand strategy. My clients are startups, mid-sized private and public companies, and several billion-dollar brands. I work on strategic brand and marketing projects. I spend my days wondering how the day will bring me opportunities to be creative and helpful and to get empathy for my work. 

 

If you have a thousand hours, I will tell you about our three-and-a-half-year-old grandson Bodhi Kai. 

 

Website: https://www.themarketingsage.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreylslater/