Beyond the Brand: A New Learn To RV Series Is Here — And It Starts April 1st

Beyond the Brand Is Sponsored by RV Roofing Solutions

Jennifer has an idea, and this time, Joel and Christina Bram from the Community Spotlight series are along for the ride with Tasha. In this special announcement episode, the four hosts pull back the curtain on an exciting new weekly series launching April 1st: Beyond the Brand. Airing every Wednesday, it’s a short-form interview series designed to spotlight the small businesses and passionate founders shaping the RV community — one story at a time.

Learn About:

•        What Beyond the Brand is and why it’s launching

•        Why the first featured company is NOT RV Roofing Solutions and the heart behind that decision

•        What types of brands will be featured and why it’s about stories, not sales pitches

•        How businesses can get featured, including a special half-price offer

•        How listeners can suggest brands they want to hear on the show

Links & Resources:

🚐 RV Roofing Solutions (sponsor): rvroofingsolutions.com

📋 Learn To RV Media Kit on Pillar: pillar.io/learntorv/mediakit

📣 Advertise With Us: learntorv.com/advertise-with-us

📧 Pitch a Brand for the Show: connect@learntorv.com

👥 Join Our Free Facebook Community: Learn to RV: The Community

📸 Follow Our Adventures: @LearnToRV

👉 More RV Life Resources: learntorv.com

📺 Watch on YouTube: Learn To RV Channel

🎙️ Podcast Website: learntorvthepodcast.com

💛 Support the Podcast:

Patreon (Join the Campfire Crew for bonus content, early access, + swag)

Buy Me a Coffee (drop us a tip ☕)

💬 Know a brand that belongs on Beyond the Brand? Tell us in our Facebook community or email connect@learntorv.com!

✨ Share this episode with your favorite small business owner — and subscribe so you never miss a Beyond the Brand drop on Wednesdays at learntorvthepodcast.com!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

All right, so tonight is a little bit different. We have a guest co-host tonight. So we have Joel and Christina Bram, who you just recently met on their community spotlight series. We're here tonight because I have an idea, and I'm gonna tell these guys on screen about my idea. And so we're gonna get to watch them react to this idea.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

So um you guys know that I think the last idea you told us, or the three before that?

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Well, it's a lot of ideas, rapid fire. It's like whenever you have those strips of firecrackers and you set them off and then they just all go really fast. That's how Jen's brain works. Yeah, it just goes so fast.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Yes. Love it. If it means anything today, I got compared to Joel today. I'm gonna Yes.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

So you guys are like the same person in like a really interesting way. But yes, keep going because this is a good one.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

Oh goodness.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

Well, I like you and I like her.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

It's so it means you're pretty awesome. I'm glad we've figured that out.

SPEAKER_02 1:07

So Christina, you gotta love it.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

So Christina and I were talking earlier, and she's like, Oh my gosh, you're so much like Joel. And I'm like, how so? And she's like, Well, you know, he has all these great ideas, but I've got to ring him in. And so from time to time, there's that moment where she just has to be like, Okay, put the brakes on. And so, yes, these are great ideas, but someone has to execute them. So, you said you're listening, and now ours are. We need to let them know the pets episode was the other day. All the pets have lost their minds. This is cracking me up with the pets. We had a guest appearance by Teal's hedgehog yesterday. It was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

I heard there was a hedgehog, and I can't wait for that episode because she said that he was like she said he was active and like with the star of the show. And I was like, how is a hedgehog?

SPEAKER_01 1:55

I gotta, I want to see it just to know his little nose was like a little motor, it just would not stop.

SPEAKER_03 2:01

So it actually looked at the camera most of the time.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

She, her little nose. Sorry, s'mores. Sorry, s'mores, if you're hearing this. I did not mean to misgender you. We're gonna ask her little nose, which is going crazy. She was so cute.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

All right. So I have an idea. And so you guys have actually heard me talk about this idea previously. So I would like to launch the Beyond the Brand series, but I would like Joel and Christina to help Tasha and I do that. That could be interesting. Yeah, tell us more.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

What exactly what do you when you say beyond the brand? Who are we talking about? What are we talking about here? Give us a little more.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

There's a lot of different ways they can get involved, but the Beyond the Brand series is meant for smaller businesses to be able to showcase their stuff. Basically, we would be doing an interview style format, and they could do a 20 to 30 minute episode for a fairly affordable price and get on the podcast and get in front of a lot of people. In addition, they would have opportunities to maybe either submit a blog to that podcast episode, which would go on learn to RV. So it could be like a dual hit if that makes sense. Everybody said I should tell our company story first. And right?

SPEAKER_01 3:16

But I thought we were going to do this week, but you said not yet. And I said, Do you want to tell us all why? Because I think it's a really I think people need to hear why.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

So, I mean, for 13 years we've been traveling, and for 13 years I was not a creator. And so now that I have this great platform, I can elevate others, and I always like elevating others above myself. And so it's such a wild ride. You know, I I get to be the backbone of Learn to RV, and I have a tool, a company that can drive that car, so to speak. And we all know that. But that being said, I don't think that RV Rifting Solutions has to be the first brand out of the gate. And I know you guys think that's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

I mean, come on, you know, I think it just speaks to the person that you are. Just hope that people know that that's the person that you are, and so I'm excited that they get to see that that's the person that you are or hear that that's the person that you are. So and we already have a few companies lined up.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Yes, so that's exciting. So we have a lineup, so you know, but getting booked on that, we're gonna need to create a form, Joel, you know, so that you know, so that cause you know, so that those people can come in and say, hey, I want to be on beyond the brand, but it's gonna be a super limited series, so we have to decide which day that'll drop on because I don't want that to drop on Mondays because that's when the regular podcast airs. And initially, when we discussed it, and we actually did one company in the community spotlights series spot. Um, you know, Gabe came on with Tank Rangers and we did that one, but that one kind of got me thinking that dropping it during the community spotlight is not the right place for it.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

So, what day do you guys community spotlight feels like it should talk about the not that Gabe is not part of the community, he very much is, but it's such a great place for people to tell their stories, and that's been such a heart tender place. So I think you're right on the money with that.

SPEAKER_02 5:19

I think the heart behind Learn to RV too is like making sure that everybody has a voice, and so having a specific place for those businesses and also keeping the place for the community members. I think it's I think it's great. I think it's gonna do it fulfill so many of so much of the heart that you have behind Learn to RV. So I think it's really great. It's gonna be cool. We're excited to be a part of it too.

SPEAKER_03 5:37

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

Well, and I think the other side of it is it doesn't mean that community spotlight people can't talk about their business, it's just not gonna be the main focus of that episode. So those community spotlight people that we give a free spot to may be the very businesses that are our first people that want to come on to share that side of the story. Because I mean, let's be real here. While I would love if, you know, Lippert or Dexter or one of the big companies said, Hey, we want to pay you to be on the Community Spotlight series, the reality is this is pretty much gonna be for the brand you don't know about yet, I think, more than anything. I mean, unless Lippert wants to give us their money and then come on over, Lippert.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Come on down, as they say in TV land.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

And I want to keep it affordable right now. You know, we're just starting this series, so there's an introductory rate for those businesses that's gonna be super affordable. And I think you've got that on our pillar already, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Yep, I have it added on there so people get to go on, they can see exactly what they'd get. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

And so tell us a little bit. So if you're new to the area, you know, new to the community, what is Pillar? I mean, because that's it's kind of like, you know, just a whole media kit, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:46

Yeah, Pillar's really cool. We uh got introduced to it earlier this year. Um, it's like a link in bio, but just like elevated. So you can actually sell products on there, you can share all of your bio information. And then the cool thing for content creators and for businesses as well, they have a media kit portion. So you can actually share all of your live statistics from all of your social media platforms. Um, you can share brand collaborations you've done. And so with one click, you can send it to a business and they get all of your information. So no more having to update a paper one. Um, a lot of people make them on Canva. So this is nice because it just auto-updates. And yeah, it's a really great tool. It's pillar.io. And we can send you guys a link if you want one. I think we have like a discount code if people want it.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

So very cool. Yeah. So I mean, so beyond the brand is to tell people's stories of where they came from, where they're headed, and where they see themselves going next. And so some of those brands are gonna be, you know, brands that you maybe know and love. And some of them are gonna be maybe some you've never heard of before. And so it's up to us to find them. Or if you're out there listening in the world of podcasting, if you're a brand looking for some exposure that is related to the RV industry, you know, or not. I mean, I could see somebody that maybe has like a pet collar business that wanted to come on. I mean, like, I think it's anything that so I mean, what kind of brands would you guys like to see come on for this?

SPEAKER_03 8:10

RV designers who renovate or or organize RVs are good ones.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

That would be really cool.

SPEAKER_03 8:16

I'm just I'm trying to think of who we saw at the uh at the recent R V show and you know, some of those businesses that would could get in front of even more of the community with learned RV because like see it as an opportunity, as you said, beyond the brand, looking for what was their heart, why'd they start it? You know, there's honestly, there's some R V brands and and companies out there that started um for you know, because they had a passion for RVs, they had a passion for travel first. And I want to hear that. I want to hear, you know, I want to make sure that I'm gonna support companies that are have the same heart and passion that I do, um, rather than companies that just started it because they're like, oh yeah, we saw this niche that needed to be, you know, reached and uh, you know, saw dollar signs.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

Right. Well, and I think that that's it. You know, I think I want the stories, and I guess that's what I'd like to say is, you know, I don't want beyond the brand to just be a sales pitch. Like you can get that anywhere. And so I want it to be the story, the family story, the passion behind it, the heart of the community, and go beyond just the products they sell. They'll have the opportunity to share that, but it won't be the primary focus of it. And we'll always, of course, you know, add the show notes and the links to it. That's the other question. What day do we think is a good fit for that? I don't think Fridays or Saturdays, Tuesday or Wednesday, I think.

SPEAKER_03 9:43

The the thought is always like when people get bored at work, you know, what do they go? You know, Monday and Tuesday's hard because everybody's trying to catch up from the previous week, and Fridays uh they're trying to get out of there early. Midweek's a nice lull time, so that that could work. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

No, that's that's a great idea. And I mean, like, we we could actually reach out to sporting companies, stuff like that, that you know, have products and stuff where people use them. I mean, your kids are doing baseball this season. So I mean, like, you know, that's a real thing. There's families on the road that do baseball. And so if we can somehow tie it back to the R V community, you know, because learn to RV is for everybody. It's not just for the full-time RVers, it's for people that are part-time, it's for retirees. I could see a fly fishing company coming on board with us because that could be a really good one and talk about, you know, how they got started. Like anything that has to do, I think, with adventure is a good one, you know. Yeah. Well, and I guess we could ask the audience, right? Tasha, I mean, like, what do they want to see? I mean, like, you know, so they could comment in where our Patreon group probably is our best way to do that, or the Facebook group.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Yeah, the Facebook group is always really open for that. I think on the Patreon group, the place would be to comment on this episode or to send us a message through Patreon. Another great way would maybe to be use the email that we've been using for if you have a story to share with us. Maybe they could also use that email at connect at learn to rv.com. Right. That way, you know, maybe they've got like 14 really good business instead of making a really long Facebook post, they could just send them all in one email.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

All right. So you don't think I'm crazy?

SPEAKER_00 11:26

Are you guys ready to do this? Oh, never. We are we're excited. I think it'll be fun.

SPEAKER_03 11:31

I love hearing the hearts of people. So I'm really excited.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Well, we're gonna be at the well, by this time the Zairs will have been to another big rally, and so we'll ask around there. But at the same time, we'll do FaceTime with those companies because I also think that's what's missing a lot of times in our communities is actually talking to the brands and their owners. And so I want Learn to RVU to step up on that and not just send an email. There will be times we just send an email, but the reality is is you know, that one-on-one connection. And I know Joel and Christina go to other events that we're maybe not at, and Tasha goes to other events that maybe we're not at. And so, you know, it's it's one of those things that I think that with the four of us we could make this kind of a really great series. Yeah. Okay, so a launch date for the series. Ready for that? Yeah, so my handy-dandy book because I'm not one of those, you know. So I think that we used to. We added a drum roll. That wins. So I think the first one of these is better than mine. Should probably oh, this is not a good idea.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

So we'll focus. Your drummers are distracted. We're still in the drum line. I think the first one should be on April 1st. What's to what's today? Nope, it's good. We got to go. We got this. Have you had crazier ideas? Yes. This is good. We got this. So no joke, April Fool's Day is the day that we're launching. We should do that. Okay. I like it. Okay, no more. So can the first company be a joke company? Is it like is there a company out there that makes like the squirting flowers that can actually I already have one in mind for this one, so I'm very excited about this one.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

This one is actually a big one. Um and you may see some of the same faces back for this one. So that will be the first one. That's your first hint. Tristina and Joel should know exactly what I'm talking about, but they can't tell you. We don't know anything. There's more to say a thing. The second one, you have to you have to be ready for the second one because you're gonna need to let that company know that we're gonna air that one on the eighth, which will be um a very important one because your rig is all set up by then, and that'll give you plenty of time to get the and Joel can help you get like the video cut footage. She can tell you.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

I'm about to get real with you. Bringing the microphone in close. If my rig is not set up by the eighth, I'm never leaving the rig again because I do not deserve to come outside. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 14:15

It's only like 300 square feet. How have you not moved already? Listen, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

All I see are boxes everywhere. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

So I always tell people it's so surprising we had to move out of ours for repairs twice. And the amount of stuff that came out of this tiny house is actually kind of impressive. How much junk we've been in here and are still underweight.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Like, it's crazy. If there is a company out there that moves people in and out of their RVs for repairs, for new moves, you should come on our show. We have a new segment. Please reach out to us at connect at learn to rv.com. Tasha will train you services for you.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

So I actually think looking at the calendar that we might have one every month in April. So that means May 1st. Every week? Every week in April. So yeah, every month in April. There we go. So let's hit the ground running. So I mean, like that means that May is wide open right now. So if you're the first four, hang on, that might not be right. So Wednesday, we'd have yeah, four, one, two, three, four. Yep. There's four Wednesdays in May. We will get you on that podcast episode for half price.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

Oh, honestly, May will be such a good spot because that's right before camping season starts. So it gives people time to get whatever you're offering, get it in, get it set up, get ready to kick off their road trips in the summer. So that's a actually really good spot.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

All right. So this one will air it like the end of March. And so that will kick off beyond the brand. And then we will go right into the businesses that are out there that are we're gonna come on and support Learn to RV and the direction we're going, and we can support them by bringing in more and more people. Are you ready? Okay, I'm ready for it. We are ready. Sounds fine. All right, all right. Well, don't forget to like and subscribe. Uh, the series will be called Beyond the Brand, and it will be on YouTube and everywhere else we stream, and so it will be in another segment of Learn to RV the podcast. So it's not a good one.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

Share this episode with your business owner friends.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Yeah, think bookkeeping, think, you know, maybe not bread makers. I don't know. That would be hard to catch. Don't rule anybody out. No, no, no. So anybody can join that. So, like, I mean, if it's if it's a good fit, you know, and it's it's affordably priced, and those first four people that sign up will get it for half price. So we can talk numbers, you can go on pillar, look at what those numbers look like, and we'll come in at half price for those first four. Awesome. We'll see you around the campfire. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Hit stop button.