Citizen Rebel

Alaina Shearer [00:00:00]:
  If you are a founder or a business owner and you are listening to this and you are on the fence,  if you are an individual and you are on the fence about saying something, it's not gonna get any easier. Hi, it's Alaina and Chris from Citizen Rebel, the show where structure meets rebellion. Here you'll hear real stories from real brands taking bold stands.

Alaina Shearer [00:00:22]:
This is our first episode of our new podcast called Citizen Rebel.

Chris Vogel [00:00:31]:
So exciting.

Alaina Shearer [00:00:35]:
It's very exciting. And we're both, you know, a little nervous, of course, because for me, it's been a while. It's been a minute since I've had a podcast or been on the air, which I used to be in a former life. And. Chris, is this your first. This is your first podcast?

Chris Vogel [00:01:01]:
Yes. I am a virgin podcaster. I listen to a lot of podcasts and I'm a big fan of many, but never done this myself. So, yeah, this is kind of nerve wracking.

Alaina Shearer [00:01:22]:
And we are doing this almost against our will, I would say, you know, like you 100%, but really, I would. If tomorrow this podcast would be rendered obsolete and unnecessary, I would be so excited that we don't have to do this.

Chris Vogel [00:01:40]:
But I was just about to say, yeah, and typically I wouldn't know what to talk about because does the world really need another business branding podcast? No.

Alaina Shearer [00:01:51]:
No, it does not. And that leads us right into why are we here and what is the podcast about? So to all of you who are listening, thank you for joining us. And Citizen Rebel is a podcast dedicated to featuring brands who are taking a stand against MAGA. And we are, without a doubt anti MAGA. That does not mean that we are anti Republican or anti American. It is strictly a stance that we do not approve of. Fascism, racism, sexism, all the things that we're seeing unfold. And of course, people destroying our beautiful country that we love so much.

Alaina Shearer [00:02:33]:
So that's why we're doing this.

Chris Vogel [00:02:35]:
Fascism really is kind of one of those key areas where I drew the line after seeing all the things that happened. And it reminded me a lot of, you know, the country I grew up in and got really scary.

Alaina Shearer [00:02:50]:
Now tell us about your background, Chris.

Chris Vogel [00:02:53]:
So, yeah, I grew up in Germany. I didn't move to this country until after college. So I spent over 20 years there growing up in the 80s and 90s.

Alaina Shearer [00:03:01]:
My grandmother was German Jewish and escaped and got here on the last refugee boat. So Chris and I have that shared history from, from both sides. And so that is important to know.

Chris Vogel [00:03:13]:
And one unique thing about growing up in Germany at that time is that they had this thing called Verganheitsbeweltigung, which basically means a way to work through your past. With the whole Nazi thing not too far in the. In the rearview mirror, we wanted. They wanted to make sure that the public was educated properly so when they went out into the world, they could represent their country, just because of the massive shame that they were feeling because of the past. So everything we learned in school, no matter what class, you know, geography, religion, German, any class, it's all 1933 through 1945. So that whole National Socialist period of time in Germany. And Yeah. So looking at the stuff that's happening right now, that looks very, very familiar.

Chris Vogel [00:04:00]:
So, yeah, very scary.

Alaina Shearer [00:04:02]:
It is. And right now, what is most shocking to a lot of us is how silent people are being and especially brands. And it would be. It'd be really fascinating to look back to Germany in 1933 to see, or maybe even, I guess preceding 1933, who owned the media and how messaging was distributed. But right now we have a polarized media. We have media for sale, clearly on both sides. We have a biased media on both sides. It's actually really hard to find neutral media coverage.

Alaina Shearer [00:04:43]:
For me, it's the Associated Press and the New York Times. You know, as long as you. I still trust them as a news source entirely. The Wall Street Journal. But we have other media outlets like the Washington Post, down for the count, owned by Jeff Bezos.

Chris Vogel [00:04:59]:
Yeah. For the first time, not. Not endorsing a nominee, I think this time around. Right?

Alaina Shearer [00:05:04]:
Yeah, yeah. And then the LA Times, I think, same thing. Right. And so they're losing reporters, their editorial board. So the media outlets are dropping like flies, and we're down to very few. So enter brands, corporations with massive media budgets who are buying commercials and media, and then all the way down to small businesses, medium sized businesses who do have influence in their community, arguably more so than a massive corporation. A local company is trusted by far more than a massive mega corporation. Right.

Chris Vogel [00:05:40]:
And also connected to its community in a sense, with real people being neighbors of their customers. So it's not as far removed and not as dehumanized as these massive corporations interact with the public.

Alaina Shearer [00:05:57]:
So we're in a state and a moment in history that the difference between today in 1933 Germany is that we do have the capability to publish a podcast like this. We do have the capability as advertisers to buy media and influence public opinion. And it's so frightening that it's come down to this, that we have lost our fourth arm of government, which is the media and a free press. They're still there, but again, just struggling to hang on. And so as advertisers, as brand ambassadors, or as we represent brands, what if and what happens when brands do say something? What happens when they don't say anything? That's what we want to explore on this podcast and it's a really fascinating topic right now. So our first guest is Trevor Silva, the owner of My Cluck Hut. And they have an Instagram account in which, you know, he's got a soap company in Nashville. And they have always been very anti hate and they've come out recently against MAGA and one of his posts went viral and his sales have skyrocketed.

Alaina Shearer [00:07:16]:
So we're going to talk to him, we're going to talk to other influencers across different mediums and channels who are out there saying, I am not okay with this. And we're going to see what it does to their business and we're going to see the impact that that has, what the downsides are and what the upsides are.

Chris Vogel [00:07:33]:
And one of the things to add, I think, is that one big difference between 1933 Germany and now is that we live in a society where, you know, we have a free economy. We can make our decisions with our dollars. Right. That's why we talk to these brands, that's why we talk to these companies. Because people spending their money on specific products in specific contexts really make a difference.

Alaina Shearer [00:08:02]:
Yeah. Target sales report just came out today and it's down steadily since January when they dropped their DEI program. I personally, we haven't shopped on Amazon since January.

Chris Vogel [00:08:14]:
Same.

Alaina Shearer [00:08:15]:
Yeah, we used to spend, we spent. There's some damage there to Amazon with our family not using it anymore.

Chris Vogel [00:08:24]:
Well, and it's, you're really running into the issues. I know this is a bit of a sidebar, but we were trying to get a replacement for our, our French press coffee maker, just the glass piece. And on Amazon you hit the button and it's there tomorrow. We went to all these different hardware stores and you know, their inventory system wasn't up to date. So whatever was showing on their website, it's just this, we're used to this really, really well oiled, massive machine that just makes our lives so easy. And letting go of that, it's just interesting to see how everyone else is just kind of scrambling.

Alaina Shearer [00:08:57]:
It's a testament though, we're doing the same. We're driving far distances to stores to get things. We're taking our time to do that because that is a form of activism.

Chris Vogel [00:09:07]:
Yes.

Alaina Shearer [00:09:08]:
And it's not just us. We're not alone in that. And so we know that consumers are making decisions based on brands and where they stand. How can we help as brand experts and marketers, how can we help them? How can we guide other brands and give you the courage to stand up and say something for us? We made a proclamation on the Good Now website. Good Now is our boutique brand and marketing agency. And Chris and I made the decision back in mid January. I think it was to post a proclamation essentially saying, if you are a fan of fascism, racism or sexism, or opposed to inclusivity, we don't want to work with you. We don't want to work with you.

Alaina Shearer [00:09:49]:
And it felt really great to do that. It felt so good. And that was the first step leading toward. Here we are with the podcast.

Chris Vogel [00:09:59]:
If you're in need of killer branding and marketing, check out our agency, Good Now. We're dedicated to purpose-driven brands like.

Alaina Shearer [00:10:05]:
Yours, from brand architecture to websites and executive personal brand training. If your brand is ready to take on the world, but not quite ready to face the world, we're here for you. Visit goodisnow.com for more. So Citizen Rebel. Let's talk about the name of the show. How do we come up with the name?

Chris Vogel [00:10:25]:
So, yeah, the name is based on two archetypes that are associated with both myself and Alaina. And if you don't know what an archetype is, archetyping is a really, really valuable branding exercise in which you pick one of 12 archetypes, which are basically roles, stories that have been around since the ages. It's something that goes back to the birth of humanity itself, in a sense, and it transcends cultures and countries and languages. It's these key identifying characters in stories that you will see repeated over and over again. So using those archetypes and aligning yourself with one of those, you can, you can already tap into knowledge that people already have across the globe. So it's a very effective way to position brands. And my brand archetype is the citizen, which is all about, you know, being one of the people connecting on a peer to peer level, kind of standing against hierarchy and standing against oppression. It has its kind of a little bit of a socialist vibe to it, but it doesn't necessarily have to go down that route.

Chris Vogel [00:11:35]:
I am a social democrat. As I said, I'm from Germany, but those things kind of resonated with me. And, Alaina, what archetype are you?

Alaina Shearer [00:11:42]:
I'm the rebel through and through. I've always been. And if you've followed my career, you already know this, but if you have not, I've done a number of rebellious things and am almost bound to that rebellion. That is part of my character. And the more I try to deny that, the more frustrated I become as a professional. And I get very, you know, I'm not living my truth. And so I become distanced from the people around me professionally, or I just get really bored, I guess. I don't know how to describe it, but when you're not living your truth, then you feel pretty down.

Alaina Shearer [00:12:20]:
So for me, the rebellion is always the place where I want to be. And, yeah, I'm pulling up. So for those who don't know me, though, I ran for the United States Congress in 2020 in Ohio, lost that race, but it was an incredible adventure, and I would do it again. If I lived my life again, I wouldn't do it again in this life. It was a lot of work, and it was really hard, but we stood up against the Trump administration and opposing one of his shoo in candidates, and it was a fierce battle, and it was so much fun. And it was like my turn at military service, which I never did, or I didn't have a moment in my life where I had served my country before, and so I felt like I was serving my country.

Chris Vogel [00:13:01]:
That makes a lot of sense.

Alaina Shearer [00:13:02]:
Yeah. And before that, I founded a national women's movement called Women in Digital, which became Together in Digital, and that grew to 4,000 paying members across the country over the span of a couple of years. And we had events nationwide at 20 different chapter cities powered by hundreds of volunteers, and that was something else that I led. So the rebel, she's my archetype. And let's see my strengths, the truths. I challenge the status quo within my industry, and I'm more focused on disruption than tradition. And I always attract bold audiences ready for change. And I'm pulling this from our brand archetype, Tarot Deck.

Alaina Shearer [00:13:44]:
It's not Tarot, but we call it the Tarot Deck because we love Tarot. I love Tarot, but this is a brand archetype game deck that you can find on our website and you can order this deck and go through the process of finding your own brand archetype, who your personal brand archetype is. But you can also do that, of course, for your company's brand.

Chris Vogel [00:14:06]:
It works for both.

Alaina Shearer [00:14:08]:
Yeah, it works for both. Citizen Rebel. And we are so excited to have you listening and watching. We promise to bring you very compelling stories throughout this season of the show. And if you know of any brands who are taking a stand, if you see these wild, free birds out there, please let us know who they are so that we can invite them to the show. And we're just gonna keep an eye on everything. And, you know, the thing about this show that I do love so much is we are capturing a moment in time. And as we introduce each guest, we want to do a little bit of a time check at what the Trump administration is doing.

Alaina Shearer [00:14:50]:
So this is just the beginning at this Moment, this is April 14, 2025. We have just begun to see what's possible. And what the administration plans to do has yet to. You know, we see the plans, but when it unfolds, I predict it's going to be more and more unbearable for companies, corporations and businesses to not say something like, if you are a founder or founder or a business owner and you are listening to this and you are on the fence, if you are an individual and you are on the fence about saying something, it's not going to get any easier, you know, and.

Chris Vogel [00:15:26]:
That'S one of the things that I've talked about a little bit. But one of the driving reasons why we're doing this is things are going to change at some point. People are going to have to say something. The way it's looking right now, the trajectory, we're going to be documenting this as we go through this, because there's no, no way. Companies are just going to stand silent. At some point, they're going to have to say something and take a stand. So it'll be interesting to see how that unfolds. And we'll do whatever we can to support, you know, the companies and brands out there that are.

Chris Vogel [00:15:56]:
That are speaking up.

Alaina Shearer [00:15:57]:
You know, this is very personal for both of us, and I, and all of us, but my fear factor is a little higher than someone without Jewish ethnicity and the family history that I have and that all of. Well, most of my great aunts were all killed in the concentration camps. Like a whole swath of my family, they're just gone. So one generation ago, you know, not even.

Chris Vogel [00:16:21]:
And that's the thing, is that we lived through probably the most prosperous and stable, you know, set of decades. So remembering that these things can happen, that these things have happened and that circumstances have been very similar is hard because, you know, everything just seems so safe and comfortable. So I think after the pandemic, which was really kind of the first time, I would say it affected me personally, where something on the outside really had an impact, you know, I got pretty spooked, so. So this is kind of spooky too.

Alaina Shearer [00:16:53]:
Yeah. Well, we're here to get everybody spooked out and hopefully we want to. We want to be joined in our awareness of how serious this is. And if you feel that in your core you're in a safe place and however, the biggest goal is to hopefully lift you up with these stories, these inspiring stories that can show us the way, how can we get out of this? And if we don't get out of it, what do we do in the meantime to fight it and commiserate?

Chris Vogel [00:17:24]:
Because part of it is also just talking to like minded people, people that have the same set of beliefs and feel alone out there. We're all sitting in our home offices, you know, staring at screens and watching the news. Sometimes it's just good to connect with people and figure out a way that we can just, you know, kind of get together through this. So this is part of it, I think, as well.

Alaina Shearer [00:17:43]:
Absolutely. Okay. Well, thanks. Thanks, everyone for listening.

Chris Vogel [00:17:46]:
Thanks, guys.

Alaina Shearer [00:17:47]:
Yeah, we'll see you in the next episode. Thanks for listening to Citizen Rebel. If you like this episode, subscribe to the show and share it with a friend. To connect with us and find more, visit our website at www.goodisnow.com.