Nick Myers, Founder and CEO of RedFox AI
Voice-First Technology Innovator | TEDX and International Keynote Speaker | Founder & CEO | AI Futurist |
Podcast Host | Travel Addict
Nick Myers is the Founder and CEO of RedFox AI in Madison, WI in the US RedFox AI helps give brands a voice by leveraging the power of AI and voice assistant technologies like Alexa and Google Assistant.
Nick is a TEDx and International Keynote Speaker having spoken across the US and the world in countries like Australia and Thailand; on topics ranging from Artificial Intelligence and the future of work, social media in the era of Artificial Intelligence, and how any organization can give themselves a voice (literally) using voice assistant technologies like Alexa and Google Assistant.
Nick has been featured in publications such as PR Daily, Madison InBusiness Magazine, and co-authored an article for The Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing based in London.
This year, Nick was nominated as Voice Commentator of The Year at the Project Voice Awards in Chattanooga, TN and has been recognized as a Madison In Business Magazine 40 Under 40 award winner for the Class of 2020.
Who do you most admire in business?
A legend in business who fundamentally helped to reshape the world and empower people through technology that I admire more than any other is none other than the late Steve Jobs.
To me, Apple products (specifically the products that Steve Jobs designed) have always been more than just a piece of technology. They are extensions of what it means to be a human being – an extension of Steve himself. An extension that represents his unwavering tenacity and persistence to keep creating and empowering people through technology.
Steve had an ability to design technology in a way to always help achieve human outcomes. In 2005, Steve Jobs gave the commencement speech at Stanford University. It wasn't until 2011, after his death, that I had discovered a video of him giving that very speech. In that speech, he gave a quote that has stuck with me to this very day that I have embodied and have chosen to live my life by: "Stay hungry. Stay foolish."
What companies or brands do you like, or do you think are getting it right?
Hm. This is definitely an interesting one. Personally, I think Microsoft is rocking it right now and they have been for quite some time. It's funny because back in the mid/late 2000's to think of Microsoft being a progressive and innovative company was a joke. Ever since Satya Nadella took over in 2014, the company has done a complete 360° turn-around.
They have invested HEAVILY in cloud computing becoming #2 in the marketplace behind Amazon. They have made countless developments in AI and AR tech. They are the ONLY major tech company talking about AI ethics, and their CEO has taken an "open borders" stance by choosing to partner with other competitors like Amazon and Apple instead of siloing themselves.
They also are the third tech company to have reached a trillion-dollar valuation behind Amazon and Apple. I was lucky enough to be able to tour their campus in Redmond, WA a few years ago when I was visiting a friend who worked there, and all I can say is that they place A LOT of focus on their employees and helping their employees succeed to become better versions of themselves.
What is the best advice you ever received?
The best advice that I ever received was from my good friend and mentor Miri Rodriguez. Back in 2017, we connected at an event in Madison, WI and shortly after that she started helping me develop and build my personal brand.
As I was explaining to her that I wanted to start my own company from scratch while also working to become a speaker I will never forget her telling me "If you put in the work, anything is possible". As simple as that piece of advice is it is the most powerful piece of advice that I have ever been given.
These last few years all I have been focusing on is putting in the work and the results have shown. Put in the work. That's all that it takes to accomplish anything.
What drives or motivates you each day?
What drives me to wake up each morning is hoping that I can help make a difference in someone else's life by either helping to teach them something new, make them laugh, or help them gain a new perspective on something that they may not have had before. With the nature of the work that I do, my sole goal is to help empower EVERYONE through emerging and innovative tech. This is what motivates me every day and helps to reassure me that I am doing what I was put on this Earth to do.
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
This is definitely a loaded question! Overall, I think we have still only scratched the surface of what social media is capable of. If you think about it, it has only been within the last few years that people have really started to raise concerns and question things about platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram and the impact that they are having on society and our species.
Social media has allowed every human being to connect with every other every human being, which is amazing in so many different ways, but extremely harmful at the same time. I think we are going to see a shift from mass social media where everyone needs to be connected with everyone to more localized forms of social media where people begin to focus and hone in on the people that really matter to them, and who can offer them genuine value as opposed to being in a consistent state of FOMO and trying to connect with everyone.
Have you heard about the Tik Tok platform? What are your thoughts about it?
As a matter of fact yes! Back in late 2018, my best friend actually told me about it and started sending me videos. I thought the concept was neat and you could definitely tell that there was a younger audience experimenting with it.
Fast forward to 2020 and Tik Tok has now become the fastest growing social media platform on the planet. Having a background in marketing is definitely a platform that I would recommend brands begin to take a hard look at, specifically if they are seeking to engage with Gen Z and younger audiences.
Personally, I think the videos are hysterical, and we may even be creating an account for our company in the coming months.
Do you have a mentor or mentor anyone?
I do have a mentor… well, a series of mentors to be honest. Miri Rodriguez, whom I mentioned above, I would consider to be my first "real" mentor.
As the years have passed I have connected with many amazing people from around the world who all have been a mentor to me in some capacity; Coreyne Woodman-Holoubek, Bruce Holoubek, Mireille Ryan, Ming Johanson, Scot and Susan Westwater, and Neil Mathweg just to name a few.
As for me, I currently do not have any official mentees; however, I do have a monthly meeting set up with a young entrepreneur whom I met on LinkedIn last year and he and I hit it off immediately.
Since April of last year we have become quite good friends and have very much supported one another's goals and ambitions. I probably learn from him just as much as he learns from me to be honest.
How do you network?
One answer, LinkedIn! Well, LinkedIn, when used effectively. I cannot even begin to express how much becoming active on LinkedIn changed my life. My intent with LinkedIn has never been to sell anybody anything. I search for and connect with people whom I have a genuine interest and whom I think I can learn from.
Some of my best friendships have come from being active on LinkedIn, sending someone a message, and then taking the conversation offline. More often than not the offline conversation turns into an in-person meeting eventually. Twitter has also been a really powerful networking tool, especially in the AI and Voice space. Twitter is mostly where everyone hangs out so it is very easy to meet others and strike up a conversation that then can be taken offline.
How did you get into this line of work and what advice would you give to someone looking to get into the same line of work?
To be honest, I more or less wound up in AI and Voice because I made it happen. I did not graduate from university with a degree in any STEM field. My degree and background are in marketing and communications which actually has helped me be even more successful in the AI and Voice space.
Back in 2017, I started a digital marketing company (which at the time was named RedFox Creative) with my best friend. From there we began to work with VR technology and dabbled a bit with 360 videos. Long story short, the market just wasn't there for what we were trying to do at the time and my best friend ended up departing the company.
I decided to keep on running with it and in December of 2017 received my first Amazon Echo as a gift for Christmas. I had seen the devices on TV and truthfully just thought they were cool gimmick without any real value. Then, in January of 2018, on a very cold winter day in Wisconsin I decided to use my new Amazon Echo to order myself some toilet paper so I didn't have to leave my house and freeze to death.
After that one experience the light bulb went off and the rest is history. I started to dive deeper into AI and worked to teach myself everything that I could about the field. From there, I took a specific interest in voice assistant tech and ultimately pivoted my business towards AI and Voice. Early last year, my best friend returned to the business that we renamed to RedFox AI and he has been our CTO developing Alexa Skills and Google Actions ever since.
If I were to give any advice to anyone seeking to get involved in the AI and Voice space it would be to just learn. Learn everything you can about the technologies first before getting yourself in too deep.
There is a lot of misinformation floating around these days, and you can do both yourself and everyone else a favour by finding quality resources that you can use to educate yourself. If a communications major can learn about AI and Voice without going through any "formal" education than you can too.
What do you wish you had known when starting out?
I wish I would have known how long it would take to get a business up and running from scratch. We see companies like Amazon and assume that they were always this gigantic behemoth but that couldn't be farther from the truth.
Most people never think about the countless hours and endless nights of no sleep that are required to get there. It is a commitment unlike any other. All companies, no matter the size, start out small and must work their way up with a lot of patience and persistence.
For me, learning how to be patient was a feat as I was never a patient person growing up. I always wanted everything right now and to some degree I still do, but at the same time I now know that the journey is what matters more than reaching the end.
What's the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
I think the most common reason that people give up is the lack of persistence. Many people do start businesses, but many people also fail rather quickly because the moment doesn't go the right way they give up.
Any goal in life requires passion, determination, and persistence above all else. If you get knocked down, you can have your moment of weakness, but then you best be sure to stand right back up, learn from your failure, and start again.
What are you most proud of in your life?
For me, I am most proud of all of the authentic and genuine relationships that I have been able to build over the years. I am proud that I can call so many people, people from around the world, friends. Amazingly, we live in a day and age where I can communicate and interact with someone from Australia or Thailand in my living room through a webcam using the internet.
I am proud that I have a family who gave me everything growing up but who also taught me the value of hard work and that if you want to do anything you need to make it happen for yourself.
I am grateful that I have a best friend whom I consider to be a brother who has always been my #1 cheerleader and who has never stopped believing in me. Money and power are great, but if you don't have amazing people to share it with what’s the point?
How do you define success?
This is an interesting question because honestly, I don't think there is a definition of the word "success". I think each one of us is on our own unique journey, and what we consider to be a success is individual. To one person becoming married and raising a family is a success.
To another, becoming a VP at their company is a success. To me, success is knowing that every day I am able to impact someone else through my work positively.
What do you think your unique skill(s) is that helped you become successful?
I would say two skills have really helped me to become better at what I do and grow what I have in such a short period of time. First, I am extremely good at public speaking. It's funny because I didn't even realize I had this talent until my senior year of high school.
I have the ability to get up on a stage in front of others and just woo people. Most likely, because I am extremely passionate about what I do, but I also can read people and an audience very well and know what they want.
There is no better feeling to me in the world than when I give a talk seeing the gears start to turn in someone's mind as they think about what I am saying and how it can impact them. That is how I know I am doing my job.
Second, I would say I have an amazing ability to learn new things and articulate them very quickly. In school, I was always this way. What would take some people a few days to learn I could pick up in a few hours. This very much came in handy as I was learning about AI and Voice since both are two very dense topics when you really start diving into them.
What valuable lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
I think the most important lesson that I would like to share is that you should never live your life in fear. Fear has the uncanny ability to hold us back from allowing us to embrace our talents and strengths and do what we really want to do.
Fear makes us judge others and isolate ourselves from new perspectives. Fear is the root of all evil. DO NOT live your life in fear. Believe in yourself, challenge yourself, take that risk you have always wanted to take because at the end of the day, what do you really have to lose?
There are two things that are for certain in this universe; we all live, and we all die. Why waste the short miracle of life living in fear?
Is there anything new you are working on that you would like to share?
At the moment we are working on a really incredible product at RedFox AI. I can't speak too much about it at this point, other than saying that we are working to fundamentally change your experience inside of a grocery or retail store using voice assistant tech. It is extremely exciting, and I hopefully will be able to reveal more details in the coming months.
What is your favourite place?
Greece. Hands-down. The people, the food, the culture, the scenery is all amazing. I was lucky enough to spend three weeks there on a study abroad back in 2014 and wouldn't trade the experience for the world.
What is your hobby?
Can working be the answer (just kidding)? When I do get the time I really enjoy playing video games. I am a huge PC gamer and have owned every single PlayStation console that there has ever been. Some of my favourite games include God of War (Greek mythology of course!), Bioshock, Spyro The Dragon, the Uncharted series, and many more.
Best holiday of choice?
Easy. Travelling to a new country I have never been to and immersing myself in the culture.
What are you NOT very good at and what are you good at?
I am not very good at focusing on the important problems first. I make a lot of lists and tend to focus on things that may not always yield the greatest results first. I am, however, very good at being on time. If there is one thing anyone who knows me will say is that I am always on time and make a point to be.
Which words do you overuse?
Testament, Honestly, Disruption, Ambiguous, you know the words everyone overuses.
Your social media platform of choice?
LinkedIn all the way! (Followed by Twitter as a close second)
When are you happiest?
When I am spending time with my closest friends and just hanging out.
Your favourite author, movie, singer and TV show?
Author: J.K. Rowling
Movie: The Mist
Singer: Michael Jackson
TV Show: Supernatural
A positive phrase you like to share with people.
"Stay hungry. Stay foolish".