Fitting in leads to misery.

70 percent admit to fitting in out of fear.

Leaders too.

Only 2 percent would provide honest feedback in a low-stakes situation.

One business owner shied away from a new offer because of criticism. That's the fear of standing apart. "I'll never do business with you again."

I heard that a lot on the radio. "I'll never listen to you again."

Every time I heard that, my ratings went up. Standing apart is good for business. Standing apart is good for leaders.

Trust me, people are looking for Standard Bearers to trust and buy from.

But that won't happen wearing camouflage and fitting in. This podcast is for you if you want to wave your Flag and stand apart.

Ready to wave your Flag? Here's your invitation to send me a message on Telegram (preferred) or book a 15-minute call.

Cheers, Standard Bearer.

Half think Dr. Anthony Fauci is a hero.

Half are outraged that he pled the Fifth over 100 times in front of Congress.

I'm neither.

Because beneath the worship and anger is his true legacy. One I learned covering the pandemic every day on the radio. You are your own authority.

You create your own reality.

Fauci is not in my bubble. He doesn't make decisions for me. Nor does any president. This is a hallmark of Standard Bearers.

We are our own authority. We don't cede it to bureaucrats, politicians, and influencers.

Fauci taught me that no matter what happens in the world, I have to live in it. I'm guided by my values. Freedom, Truth & Accuracy, Equality, and Justice.

Standard Bearers, tune in to dive deeper into your authority in this episode.

It's your boy, the R-O-B.

Cheers.

I paid $82 for a steak at one of America's most famous steakhouses. It tasted like a 6 out of 10. That disappointment led to a bigger question and a bigger message.

Smith & Wollensky boldly calls itself America's Steakhouse. They have the setting to back it up. White tablecloths. Big windows overlooking the Chicago River. Servers who walk you through the ranch sourcing, the in-house cuts, the aging process. The whole experience is designed to make you feel like you are about to taste something exceptional.

Then the steak arrived. Sixteen ounces. Eighty-two dollars. And 6-7, as the kids might say.

That is not a restaurant review. It is a symptom.

In this episode of Equal Matters, Rob Hunter takes that $82 disappointment and follows it to where it actually leads. A pattern of companies and leaders getting by on reputation alone. The seafood restaurant that ran out of lobsters. The roofing company with the values on the website that never showed up on time. The air conditioning company that charged premium prices for average work.

Mediocrity has become contagious. And most people have quietly accepted it.

But Rob is not most people.

This episode is a challenge to every business owner, leader, and professional who is tired of adequate and ready to become what he calls the Standard Bearer. The one who means what they say. Does what they say. And then does a little more. Not because the market demands it, but because that is who they are.

The bar is on the floor. The opportunity has never been greater.

This one is for the people who are ready to pick up the flag.

When you are ready to broadcast yourself as The Standard Bearer, hit me up.

robhunter.me

rob@robhunter.me

What happens when the biggest leap of faith in your life turns out to be the easiest part?

On the debut episode of Storytime, Rob Hunter sits down with longtime friend, colleague, and founder of A Taste of AZ, Eric Walters.

While moving 2,000 miles from Ohio to Arizona, quitting a stable job, and giving up drinking seemed like effortless choices for Eric, his true challenge lay in breaking free from a deeply embedded blue-collar mindset.

Raised in the steel city roots of Youngstown, Ohio (where a person’s worth is strictly measured by their hours on the clock), Eric opens up about the radical shift it took to stop viewing himself as just a cog in the machine.

Listen as Eric shares the powerful, life-altering stories that shaped his journey, including:

• The terrifying factory accident that changed his father’s life and inspired Eric to look beyond his small-town borders.
• The reality of navigating a high-stakes business partnership and learning the art of creative humility.
• How a spectacular failure as the “second-to-last” salesperson at a debt relief company was actually the universe stepping in to push him toward his true calling.
• The exact day, April 25th, 2018, he walked away from the corporate world to a soundtrack of Pink Floyd, choosing a life of culinary, craft beer, and community creativity.

It’s an honest conversation about deprogramming the hustle, listening to the universe, and the beautiful, messy process of creating something that brings people together.

Catch up with Eric on Instagram.

Subscribe to A Taste Of AZ here. Learn the best places to eat and drink across the state.

Meet Rob Hunter at robhunter.me

Russell & Hunter was the top-rated show in Phoenix. Then it disappeared. Here's why.

I'm Rob Hunter. For 4 years, my big brother Mike Russell and I rocked the mic on 550 KFYI.

This was my calling. My dream. And I was making great money.

Until I walked away.

This is why. It's a story that comes in many parts. Thinking about my future. How I can make a bigger, more positive impact. Philosophical. Adventure.

Working at iHeartMedia was great. Working with Mike was a dream come true.

Here's what I learned...

Division is the largest economy in the world. The right-left cash machine is built on propaganda and lies.

My adventure in entrepreneurship helped me find my new calling. Elevating the Standard Bearers who are redefining their industries.

Standard Bearers are the ones out front with heart-centered values. Change always comes from outside the system, not within it. Standard Bearers will blaze the new path.

Today, we're doing something a little crazy, a little outrageous, and completely off the wall: we’re telling the absolute truth.

Fresh off an intense, eye-opening retreat in the red rocks of Sedona, Rob is stripping away the polished broadcaster persona to deliver a hard truth to leaders, entrepreneurs, and standard-bearers everywhere: “I am a liar.”

Truth be told, we all are. But if you want to be the standard-bearer who changes your industry for the better, number one isn't enough. You have to live by uncompromising values. Today, Rob is breaking down the exact ways he fell out of alignment with his core values of freedom, truth, equality, and justice during his 27-year broadcasting career, and he reveals why radical transparency is the only way forward.

Inside the Episode:

• The New Orleans Compromise: How a young Rob tailored a major speech to a Republican room just to fit in, and why he publicly championed candidates he privately found gross.
• The David Vitter Story: A firsthand look at the ultimate standard of hypocrisy, featuring a religious-right senator who preached morality on the trail while privately caught up in the infamous "DC Madam" prostitution scandal.
• The 25% Lie: The dangerous reality of lying to yourself. If you claim to live by your values but only honor them 75% of the time, you aren't leading. Instead, you are managing a compromise.
• How True Change Happens: Laws don't change industries or societies because people do. When a leader steps forward, steps out of their comfort zone, and exposes their own misalignment, they pull people out of a defensive crouch and set a whole new standard.

Are you living an aligned life, or are you telling yourself little white lies just to avoid rocking the boat? It’s time to stop letting the fear of being Outkast dictate your narrative and start stepping into your true authority.

Boredom has crept across the land.

Millions are uninspired by the current conditions. Technology, politics, wealth disparity.

Clearly, we are divided.

This is your opportunity to become a standard bearer. A standard bearer isn't satisfied with being number one or the best in their industry.

Standard bearers are here to change their industries for the better. Or lead their company to new heights.

Hi, I'm Rob Hunter.

I help standard bearers rewrite the rules. Because we all need things to be a little better, a little less chaotic, and a little more fun.

Find out more at RobHunter.me

One word had an outsized influence on my life story.

That word is depression.

Diagnosed at 19, I carried that word around like a guilty verdict for 20 years. A word that became the central theme in the story I was living. My story’s theme became a sentence.

Depression became my label and my excuse.

“I can’t help it,” I’d say after making a poor decision.

And I believed it. Because four people told me so. First, a nurse. Then a therapist, a psychiatrist, and a second therapist. All of them experts with diplomas and credentials. Hearing the same word over and over again shaped an identity.

Because language is contagious. It works like a virus, traveling from person to person. From expert to teenager. In my case, four experts, later reinforced by three more. Depression was running wild in the background, authoring my decisions and shaping my choices. I was living a story I didn’t write. I was the narrator in the expert’s story, using their labels to define me.

Meanwhile, I had a successful radio career. Awards, accolades, and ratings increases. None of it shifted the story. Because the same thoughts were running on repeat. Radio stations play the hits.

My records on repeat were “You aren’t good enough.”

“You can’t help it. This is just who you are, who you always be.”

“This is something you’ll have to manage forever.”

That’s what they told me.

Then one afternoon in Los Angeles, six words freed me from that 20-year sentence. A different sentence that set me free.

“Your thoughts are not your own.”

A woman named Mary Morrissey said that from a stage in Los Angeles. I was sitting toward the back of the room. I didn’t understand it at first. But she went on to explain that you pick up words from experts, family, marketing, and culture. Those words take root. They start influencing your decisions. Decisions shape your story.

This sentence was like a verdict getting overturned.

Because if those thoughts weren’t mine, the story wasn’t mine either. And if the story wasn’t mine, I could write a different one.

That’s exactly what I did.

This episode of Equal Matters is about that journey. Living a story through the Depression Era in America. An industry that started in 1987. An era that still hasn’t ended. Therapy is a $100 billion industry. 45 million Americans are on antidepressants. And the industry keeps generating new words to influence people’s stories the way depression influenced mine.

Words like toxic, trauma, and triggered.

Words like narcissist, gaslighting, and neurodivergent.

For 20 years, I lived inside someone else’s language. Depression was the main character of my story. I was playing a supporting role in my own life. Until I stepped into the role that was always mine.

The main character that shapes the world around him, rather than waiting for the world to shape me. No matter what’s happening in the world, I still have to live in it. And since I’m writing the story, I’m in charge.

This episode is personal. It’s real. And if you’ve ever used a label to explain away a decision you’re not proud of, you’ll find yourself in good company.

Share

Watch now and share this with a friend.

Cheers.

-Rob