#10 Jeff Gurtman - Antiquing, AI's Mystery Shopping Challenge, and Parenting for the Long Run

Jeff Gurtman is the COO of a market research company and his experience teaches us that happiness is about finding your own path. In this wide-ranging episode we talk about how it is important to surround our kids with good influences, but also how sometimes you need to ignore the pressures of your friends to find what really works for you. We also talk about how AI might impact market research, how his antiquing hobby became both a social escape and quality time with his wife, his learnings from hosting a travel TV show, and the place of college education in the past/present/future. *Key Takeaways* 👨‍👧‍👦 Curating your friend group is important in all stages of life - they have a lot of influence over the person we become. 🛍️Mystery shopping is more than it seems—a nuanced, human-centric field that AI will struggle to replicate ⌚ Apple Watch is a great parenting tool - communication, tracking and a little bit of fun without the addictiveness of a smartphone 00:00:00 Teaser Clip 00:00:28 Meeting through college a capella 00:02:57 Finding the right career after graduation 00:04:57 Venturing into Television 00:05:59 Landing back at Coyle Hospitality Group 00:06:15 Ian's surprising Coyle connection 00:08:47 What Impact Can AI have on Mystery Shopping? 00:10:07 AI in the Context of Mystery Shopping 00:12:17 What is Mystery Shopping 00:16:24 Mystery Shopping is not easy for AI 00:18:52 Homogenized research threat 00:19:22 AI tools you may want, or not? 00:22:00 The excitement and threat of AI helpers 00:25:21 Remote work in the Pre- and Post-pandemic Era 00:28:24 Raising Kids with Unexpected Hobbies 00:29:38 Parenting Challenges and Joys 00:30:29 Advice for a new Girl Dad 00:32:15 Good friends for your kids is the key 00:33:12 Art and Antiques: A Shared Passion 00:34:41 The Art of Restoration and Framing 00:35:12 Having a hobby as a couple 00:35:39 The Antiquing Lifestyle 00:37:23 Running and Ultramarathons 00:38:31 The World of Extreme Running 00:39:50 Is Running Actually Fun? 00:41:38 The Impact of Fitness on Parenting 00:42:39 The Importance of Fitness in Childhood 00:44:07 The Role of Technology in Parenting 00:46:40 Ian's Art Project Plans 00:48:49 The Billion Dollar Question for VR 00:50:09 Technology applied to Market Research 00:51:54 Weird design tricks you don't notice 00:54:52 Should agencies test what they produce? 00:55:54 The Impact of Travel on Personal Growth 00:56:33 The Not-So-Covert Travel Spies 00:58:10 The Role of Loyalty Programs in Travel 00:59:27 Maximizing the Value of Reward Points 01:00:38 The Evolution of Travel Programs and Lounge Access 01:02:47 The Monetization of Lounge Experience and all of travel 01:05:10 How we grow from College to Middle Age 01:08:02 The Influence of Peers in College 01:11:54 How technology altered the modern college life 01:14:36 Reconnecting with College Friends 01:15:04 Screening Pitch Perfect and Friends Finding Success 01:17:54 Finding friend groups in adulthood 01:20:33 Ian's Video Game Recommendations of the moment 01:22:02 Invest In What Your Kids Know Don’t forget to hit like, subscribe, or drop a comment about your favorite part of our conversation. Your interaction fuels our motivation to bring more heartwarming and exciting stories your way! Everyday Insights unveils life lessons through engaging conversations with regular people. Host Ian McClellan navigates through the myriad experiences of our guests, extracting nuggets of wisdom that you can apply to the challenges you face everyday. Join us as we learn from the life stories of our friends. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/everyday-insights/support