Erik Kerr & Summer Felix on Explainer Videos

Erik Kerr graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Advertising. He has worked in sales before creating his own company. Summer Felix graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in Communications and Creative Writing. She is a ghost writer and has worked with several notable personalities. Erik and Summer are business partners behind a few initiatives including The Draw Shop, their longest running company, and their passion project, Clear, which is focused on eradicating addiction relapse. The Draw Shop is about creating crystal clear, whiteboard videos as explainer videos. They have worked with a number of prestigious clients including Eric Schmidt, Arianna Huffington, Tim Ferriss, Peter Diamandis and Dave himself.    

Time Stamped Show Notes:

00:33 – Dave welcomes Erik Kerr and Summer Felix 00:53 – Dave says the secret to success is a Tall Mocha Frappuccino Lite from Starbucks 01:13 – Summer does not agree with Dave as the drink is full of sugar 01:26 – Erik says that the key to success is a phone call to him 01:50 – Dave introduces Erik and Summer 02:40 – Dave has known Erik and Summer for some time and he considers them experts in finding your message and communicating it well 03:21 – Dave invited them to the podcast to talk about their expertise and because they are serial entrepreneurs 04:21 – Summer is a writer who works in creative copy and has written her own novel 04:55 – Summer liked the freedom that being a writer gave her 05:24 – Dave is amazed that Summer never had a “real job” and got into entrepreneurship head-on 05:31 – Summer’s dad is an entrepreneur and she liked that he was able to spend his time the way he wanted to 06:24 – Summer says entrepreneurs don’t do it just for the money, but because they also feel fulfilled and motivated by their work 07:06 – Dave met Erik at American Dream U Talks 07:24 – Erik started his career singing birthday songs in Fiverr in a wooly jock strap 08:02 – Erik shared that story during his presentation to help the military personnel transition back into civilian life and get a picture of to become an entrepreneur 09:10 – There are many freelance sites on the internet that can help you get extra money 10:04 – Erik had a “real job” at Walmart, but his entire career was built on being a salesperson 11:02 – Erik won a watch in a contest that involved getting the most magazine subscriptions and it hooked him into sales 11:26 – Erik also worked at Franklin Covey as the National Director of Executive Coaching 12:02 – Erik’s transition was about getting burned out with the corporate life 12:44 – Erik was also motivated to become an entrepreneur because he was selling entrepreneurial programs 13:01 – Erik focused on the sales funnel and lead culture in his coaching company 14:12 – Summer and Erik met through a mutual client and Erik sent a TedTalk whiteboard video, What Motivates People, to Summer which was the inspiration of their joint project, Draw Shop 15:15 – After making their own video, customers started coming in 15:53 – The idea is to draw out the meaning AND what you are saying, at the same time 16:23 – It makes the message clear and easier to understand and you get excited to take action 16:58 – Their book, The Five Neuro-Psychology Reasons Why Whiteboard Videos Converts So Effectively, is available at The Draw Shop website 17:51 – Prop Fuel is a pulse survey platform for entrepreneurs 18:23 – Erik says it’s not about the wow factor, but in the story you are telling 19:02 – If people are confused with your business, there is a lack of trust in taking the next step with you 19:29 – What is the concise, clear message that I want to give to get them to take that next step with me? 19:58 – Clear and concise communication is the most important 20:16 – The Draw Shop has a methodology that starts with a creative brief 21:08 – Aside from getting people to buy your product, how do you get them to talk about your product? 21:27 – If you have an awesome product, people will talk about it 22:25 – A test determined that a whiteboard video outperformed a talking head video and was three times more likely to be shared on social media 23:16 – People share whiteboard videos because it’s interesting and it gives you a dopamine boost 24:35 – Clear started when Erik got the idea of a technology that can predict relapse before it happens 25:01 – They researched about the indicators that can lead to the relapse and wanted to intervene before it happened 25:26 – Erik and his sister were playing cards with their Dad when his sister who was a nurse said that their father was having a stroke 25:42 – Their Dad was not aware that he was having one 25:57 – Erik realized that if his sister was not there, their father would have died that night 26:06 – Erik knows people who have suffered due to addiction and thinks society is more focused on getting them clean through rehabilitation centers that not all people can afford 26:48 – Relapse is the monster of the many types of addiction 27:11 – The brain or the body gives off early warning signs the same way Erik’s Dad’s body did when he went into a stroke 27:20 – If we can identify that, we can also redirect the body sooner before it reaches the crisis point 27:51 – The goal with Clear Health Technologies is to eradicate addiction relapse in the next 10 years 28:11 – They are currently in research and data gathering mode, but they are planning to launch a contest with a one million dollar prize through Hero X for a technology-based solution to identify and prevent relapse 29:27 – A mini-documentary is currently in the works about a guy named Malcolm 30:08 – Erik was at an Oakland conference and met Verney Gran who just lost Malcolm, her 25-year old son to a heroin overdose 30:24 – Malcolm was a star football player and was prescribed with oxycodone for his knee injury 31:24 – Since oxycodone is expensive and can only be bought with a prescription, people who become addicted to it turn to heroin 32:18 – Malcolm was clean for two years and was doing good but some changes occurred and it was enough to cause him stress—he got back into using heroin and overdosed 33:49 – There is already technology with various indicators, but they are not in one platform 34:14 – What they want to focus on is the physical indicators of the body 34:25 – The mission is to detect the relapse and to come up with the solution for what needs to be done during that time 34:56 – It is also for the loved ones to feel that they can do something and be able to intervene 35:31 – Eden is a challenge-based app 36:07 – Big challenges can be overwhelming, but small challenges are achievable 37:15 – The intention behind Eden is give one rewards for achieving challenges 37:44 – It involves a community that can help you be accountable for a challenge you set for yourself 38:10 – Eden and Prop Fuel are the same in the sense that it starts with little steps to get to the bigger picture 39:11 – Erik does many things now, but when he was doing Draw Shop, he was hyper-focused on building it 39:47 – They got a team that can self-manage and they created a scalable model that can be replicated 40:15 – As the core company, Draw Shop drives the revenue and this has given Erik and Summer time to do their passion projects 40:53 – Erik and Summer have put a structure in place that works for them even if they are located in different states 41:08 – They are more focused on making sure a few critical things get done daily that move them towards their larger goals 42:32 – Summer says that in writing a book for credibility purposes, you need 2-3 years to do it 43:06 – Sitting down to write is hard even though we can verbally communicate it 43:25 – As a ghostwriter, Summer says it’s about making that time commitment and having a professional to guide you 44:14 – Summer recommends Book in a Box and Trevor Crane to help you in your goal of writing a book 45:00 – In anything you do, don’t do it alone 46:44 – Dave closes the episode and encourages you to visit his website 

3 Key Points:

Whiteboard videos work well because they show your message in a clear and concise way. Addiction relapse can be identified and prevented. In anything you do, do NOT do it alone.

Resources Mentioned:

Entrepreneur's Organization – The EO Network The Draw Shop – Erik and Summer’s core company American Dream U – Dave and Erik met at one of their talks Fiverr – site for freelancers to find work The Five Neuro-Psychology Reasons Why Whiteboard Videos Converts So Effectively – Erik and Summer’s book Franklin Covey – Erik’s previous employer What Motivates People – Erik sent this video to Summer Book in a Box, Trevor Crane – Summer’s recommendations for those who want to write a book