Doyle Buehler, Chief Expedition Officer, Dept.Digital
Doyle Buehler is a world authority on digital transformation, the best selling author, podcaster, teacher and entrepreneur. He has consulted, coached, taught, and inspired many in the areas of digital leadership, online marketing, social selling, social media marketing and digital strategy. He designs, develop, and deploys high performing digital foundations for businesses to transform how they deliver their value in this disruptive, digital economy. Doyle plays at the intersections of entrepreneurship and digital innovation and has spent the past twenty years in the business world with multiple businesses and startups from around the world. He positions digital leaders to think in a clearer, logical, more strategic manner for evolving their business. Doyle hosts an iTunes podcast, Breaking. Digital and regularly hosts his other Live video channels, where he interviews entrepreneurs, business leaders and digital marketing influencers from around the world, discussing digital strategy and branding for B2B & B2C.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
Facebook & Linkedin for the variety of people that you can connect with.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
1. Developing further insights into the digital experience, and more specifically, how to create digital experiences worth remembering.
2. Developing an online business strategy tool that creates a 3D customised model of your digital strategy.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
The ability to reach out to anyone around the world, at any time, and any place.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
I usually take advice cautiously :).
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
Knowing that I can make a difference in the world and express myself as an entrepreneur.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
Being open to the possibilities of creating new things and new opportunities.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
I've enjoyed the last year, as I've been able to meet hundreds and hundreds of people from around the world. I feel that Covid has brought us closer and allowed us to create more meaningful connections.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Resilience. Business is tough - it's a battle of who is tougher and who can push through. Are the problems and challenges greater than your ability to get past them? This is true of resilience - we've made the conscious choice to do this.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
I think if I had known everything when I started, then I might not have started. There is always so much to learn, and the experience of learning is such a major part of 'enjoying' it.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
I enjoy hearing stories where people have made a difference, paved a way forward, and created opportunities for others. It is not down to one person in particular, but to those who get through every morning, dig in their heels, and get the job done, regardless of the resistance that they face.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
Before getting into digital twenty years ago, I was a professional photographer, an aerospace engineer, and a military pilot. All of these things gave me a wonderful experience of how to do things differently and enjoy what can be done. I enjoy photography, design, and of course, aviation.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you been managed it?
It's been mixed. It's been difficult to be away from family for so long. Business-wise, it has been good to see the changes and the focus on digital, globally, and how this can pull us all together.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
I have mentored many people over the years, both officially and unofficially - startups, fintech, business, entrepreneurship. I regular teach as well to further enhance the capabilities and skills of others. I've taught many programs for business, specifically for previously incarcerated individuals, to help thin get a step up into the business world.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
It's not going to be easy, but it will be worth it.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
"Giving up" is probably more of a negative connotation for making a decision to stop something that just may not be working. Not everything actually 'works' in the end, so therefore not everything is a failure. It's just a mechanism for identifying when exactly to stop and decide to do something else.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"I'm not telling you it's going to be easy, I'm telling you it's going to be worth it" - Morpheus.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I guess it would really depend on the criteria that are being used. Getting it right can be quite subjective, yet the act of being subjective does, in fact, open up some possibilities. I like a company like SpaceX, for example, that has taken engineering and made such a remarkable change to it. One of the most epic things I have seen is of the SpaceX rockets landing "backwards" in unison on the landing pad.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
Sometimes I don't really know how to answer this. Does success mean being able to relax on a beach? For me, definitely not. Does it mean that I can be the next Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos? Probably not :). Does it mean that I can be creative in my own space and decide how to better define and articulate our businesses, lives and experience? I would say yes.