The true power of HubSpot Academy (HubHeroes, Ep. 29)

[00:00:00] George B. Thomas:

Oh goodness gracious. How's everybody doing today?

[00:00:02] Max Cohen:

Good

[00:00:06] George B. Thomas:

Well, that's joyful.

[00:00:08] Liz Murphy:

Oh, am I allowed to talk now or am I gonna get played off again by our own intro music? This isn't the Oscars. The Oscars were last weekend, and here I am getting played off before the introduction even starts. George. I'm great. Happy Friday.

[00:00:24] George B. Thomas:

We should probably explain. Liz was trying to say something and I just went ahead and hit the intro music very loudly, might I say, which then I kind of tuned it down a little bit. But, uh, yeah, Liz, you, you're allowed to talk. We're glad you're here. We love you very much. Are we good now?

[00:00:41] Liz Murphy:

wow, wow. Out.

[00:00:42] Devyn Bellamy:

taking turns pissing off Liz. Every week

[00:00:46] Liz Murphy:

Yes. I will take some salsa for this chip on my shoulder. Thank you for asking. I know this is going to be a spicy episode. Would you like to know why? Since we're pulling back the curtain on things, this was an episode topic that I am very excited about. George, I know you're very excited about it. I know everybody looked at the outline and what we were gonna be talking about, and no one left me any notes.

So we are going in. Which is horrifying considering George apparently is feeling a little bit extra spicy today.

[00:01:21] George B. Thomas: Yeah. Yeah. It's Friday. It's Friday, and uh, I'm feeling spicy.  Oh yeah.

[00:01:31] Liz Murphy:

Devin, how are you today?  

[00:01:32] Devyn Bellamy:

I

[00:01:32] Liz Murphy:

I'm still mad at you. I'm just kidding. No, I'm kidding. How are you? if you wanna know why I did that, listen to the end of last week's episode. That's what we called Synergy of Content Promotion. No, Devin, how are you?

[00:01:44] Devyn Bellamy:

I'm fantastic. How are you doing?

[00:01:47] Liz Murphy:

I've been better. You know, I think I know what the haiku at the end of this episode is going to be about today. I feel like Max though he's been going under the radar for a little bit, so I might just get spiteful next week. We're gonna see what happens, but leaving all, all of the, okay. Wow. So two weeks in a row for George.

Got it. Perfect, perfect, perfect. But leaving aside all of the, angst in my heart, because I'm emotional clearly. That's okay. Leaving beside all the ANGs though, I am so excited about today's topic because we are talking about HubSpot. . Now I wanna share a little bit of my story with HubSpot Academy because when I started out many moons ago in the HubSpot universe, it was like 20 13, 20 14, there were five certifications and I worked at a small agency, HubSpot partner agency in Annapolis called Quinine Marketing.

what's up Kathleen And John, you are the best. And. A girl named Shelly or Shelby. And then my best friend, Jesse Lee, who is one of the most incredible website strategists I've ever met, she's now at Media Junction. The three of us at one point in time actually achieved all five certifications, and then John made us little TIAs that had like each of the five little symbols for each fit.

So, um, do you know what HubSpot Academy has now? Not five. From my understanding. George, you have at least 40. Is that.

[00:03:07] George B. Thomas:

well, we've gotta be completely honest and transparent on this podcast. At 

[00:03:11] Liz Murphy:

you only have 39? 

[00:03:13] Max Cohen:

46 

[00:03:14] George B. Thomas:

yeah. At one given point in time it was 40. but as my daughter who is, starting to get her certifications and, and tells me that she's gonna eventually have more than me. Has, uh, has informed me is that 11 of mine are about to fall off and I need to renew. 

So let's just say that, um, owning a business and keeping your HubSpot Academy certifications. 

[00:03:36] Liz Murphy:

story, George. Continuing on 

[00:03:39] George B. Thomas:

continuing on. Uh, so it's not 40, but it's a lot. Uh, and uh, it'll continue to be a lot cuz I will get them somehow some way 

[00:03:47] Liz Murphy:

So needless to say, it's not just five 

[00:03:49] George B. Thomas:

Uhoh. Devin has a suggest. 

[00:03:51] Devyn Bellamy:

What you should do is, At the week of May 15th through May 19th, what time on your calendar, and this is not just for George, this is for everybody. Ma, week of May 15th through 19th. Put some time on your calendar. I'm gonna go ahead and do a quick plug 

[00:04:07] George B. Thomas:

do it, brother. Do it. 

[00:04:08] Liz Murphy:

Shill, shill. Shill. 

[00:04:11] Devyn Bellamy:

World Certification Week is happening May 15th through May nine. 

[00:04:16] Liz Murphy:

What? 

[00:04:17] George B. Thomas:

Yeah, let's go get all the certifications in that time. Why do they wanna do that? Devin? 

[00:04:22] Devyn Bellamy:

Well, here's the thing, if you're not familiar with World Certification Week, it's an annual event that's hosted by HubSpot Academy where individuals and partners are encouraged to learn and connect and grow, but most importantly, dedicate time to your personal development. And that's why we're talking about it now, instead of waiting until May, because we know how crazy calendars can get.

So if you put time on your calendar, For May 15th through 19th. And the reason why those specific days is cuz it's not just concerted effort, but for every HubSpot uh, certification that is completed during World Certification Week, HubSpot's gonna donate $5 up to $50,000 total to education focused charities around the

[00:05:03] George B. Thomas:

Let's go. 

[00:05:04] Max Cohen:

Nice. 

[00:05:05] Devyn Bellamy:

additional 

[00:05:05] Liz Murphy:

my gosh. 

[00:05:06] Devyn Bellamy:

multiple online events, like prep sessions, office hours, panel discussions, professional development talks, and it's happening all around the world, across all time zones. So get time on your calendar. May 15th through May 19th, I would just, personally, I would at least try and block an hour a day. 

If you're the person who leads an organiz. set aside time. Tell your team members to set aside time and make that your big professional development week. Because not only are you gonna grow your team, and grow your people professionally, but you're also gonna help, uh, money go towards a worthy cause. 

[00:05:38] Max Cohen:

Do it for the kids. 

[00:05:39] George B. Thomas:

week off, do it for the kids. 

[00:05:41] Max Cohen:

Do it for the 

[00:05:42] George B. Thomas:

take that week off and just see if I can get like a massively obnoxious number of certifications during that timeframe. 

[00:05:48] Liz Murphy:

Oh my gosh. George. George. George. George. George. 

[00:05:52] George B. Thomas:

of the jungle. Watch out for that tree. What? I don't know. Where are we going? 

[00:05:56] Max Cohen:

you did start singing that song, 

[00:05:57] Liz Murphy:

know we have literally just totally broken down in the introduction, but for longtime listeners, first time callers, you knew this chaos was coming. This always happens, and I promise we will get to where we're going. Number one, George, we have talked about me coming down to North Carolina. Guess what happens at the end of that week? 

Fast and Furious. 10 comes out on the 19th. We need to have a convocation of the Liz and the George, and I wanna suggest something. 

[00:06:23] George B. Thomas:

oh. 

[00:06:23] Liz Murphy:

I think I should come down that. And you and I should see who can complete the most certifications in that week. 

[00:06:30] George B. Thomas:

Oh man, I'm getting dusted. yep. Hey, but first of all, let, let's, let's figure this out because I think it's a really cool thing to a, just get a bunch of certifications and give back to, the community and the kids as well. And the fact that, God, fast and furious,

[00:06:46] Liz Murphy:

Is it furious? Oh my God, the mothership. It calls us home. 

[00:06:49] Max Cohen:

Wow. Wow. You spend a whole week, you spend a whole week just developing your brain in the best way, and then you just melt it down on some fast and the furious 

[00:06:58] George B. Thomas:

course. 

[00:06:59] Liz Murphy:

I'm sorry. It is Cinematic Excellence. They put Ludicrous and Tyrese in a Ford, what was it? A Pontiac Fierro, and put them into space in orbit around Earth. 

[00:07:12] Devyn Bellamy:

And that made you want to see another. 

[00:07:14] George B. Thomas:

Well, 

[00:07:16] Liz Murphy:

Devin. Devin, you just got out of the doghouse and we're walking ourselves right back 

[00:07:21] George B. Thomas:

I'll I'll be honest. 

[00:07:22] Devyn Bellamy:

don't, don't get me wrong. I'm, I'm going to see it. I'm going to watch it, but it's only because I'm culturally obligated as an American that I've already devoted hours of my life to sing. The first nine, I might as well keep going, but we've been to space. What can possibly come? 

[00:07:39] Max Cohen:

It is about 

[00:07:39] Liz Murphy:

You are right, Devin. 

[00:07:41] George B. Thomas:

you know what? You know what could come next? They could actually visit HubSpot Academy 

[00:07:45] Max Cohen:

You know what? No. You wanna know what 

comes next. You wanna know what comes next. Dude, fast and furious. 11. That's exactly what's coming next. And you know 

[00:07:55] Liz Murphy:

that's true. It's the last installment. It's being broken up into two parts. But Devin is absolutely right, guys, because HubSpot Academy has become something incredibly comprehensive and amazing and r See what I did? That's a flawless segue. Take notes America. Take. 

[00:08:11] Devyn Bellamy:

whatsoever. 

[00:08:12] Liz Murphy:

No bumps. That's because I'm already face down on the carpet laughing and crying at the same time now. 

So let's bring it back. First of all, everybody remember May 15th, it's going to be the great HubSpot Academy World Certification Day. I'm so glad we stopped the intro to talk about that, cuz that is just so freaking cool. Way to go.  

[00:08:30] Devyn Bellamy:

whole week, world Certification Week. 

[00:08:33] Liz Murphy:

Yep. So let's talk about why HubSpot Academy is important. 

Why we're dedicating an entire. to do this kind of work because like I said at the beginning of this, right, I started back in 2013, 2014, there were five. Now they're like a bajillion. Now whether you ha are like me, and let's be honest, HubSpot Academy is kind of like the dentist. I know I need to go. I have not been. 

The longer I wait, the more problematic it becomes. And then for the people who are new to the HubSpot Ecosystem, you might be walking around. this is amazing. But it's like when you went to the Disney store and your mom was like, you can have one thing and then you can't pick one thing, so you pick something tiny and then you're just mad at yourself the whole way home cuz you were just so overwhelmed at the moment. 

You didn't know where to start. That is why we wanted to have this episode for today. This is not a superficial primer for HubSpot Academy. This is not just a big commercial for World Certification Week. In fact, going into this, I didn't even know that was happening, but I'm so glad we got to talk. . Today we're gonna talk about the genesis of HubSpot Academy, where it came from, what it was intended to create for us, and why it's essential to understand whether you're new to it or you've been around the block and you treat it like the dentist like I do. 

What has changed? But one of my favorite parts about this conversation that I know we're gonna get. Is that there's the stuff you're gonna explicitly learn out of HubSpot Academy, the actual certifications, the knowing and the knowledge, social media, sales enablement, delight, service operations. But there is something even more, bigger picture than that, that you can learn from HubSpot Academy. 

I don't even think Max and Devon know where George and I are going with this one, but I am so excited to get there. But let's cap it. . I wanna throw this question out there, and I'm gonna give this to anybody. What do people think HubSpot Academy is versus what is HubSpot Academy real? 

[00:10:25] George B. Thomas:

Yeah. So I wanna jump in here because, a, I'm gonna answer that question, but I also want people to realize the, tipping point in which I knew that I wanted us to have this conversation last week. Three times I heard. Yeah, it's just a lot. It's just a lot. I don't know where to start. Um, I, man, I go there and I'm paralyzed. 

George, can you give me like a, a roadmap? What's the 1, 2, 3 destinations that I need to take inside of the entires? City of education. And so what's interesting, Liz, for me, where I go is what it's become is it's become a lot. what's what I love is I've been able to navigate the city since it was a one room log cabin. 

Right. One certification, didn't really even have individual lessons, was only marketing hub. And, um, so I know how to navigate the city well, which we're gonna talk about navigating the city, uh, today in this episode. But what people I think, especially newcomers think is, um, it's a lot. and I don't know what to do with it. 

And the unfortunate thing is when I hear that I literally, there is not much that depresses me in the world, but when I hear that come out of people's mouths, understanding the true power that it could provide one's life and the growth that it could provide, one's business, I get, depressed, deflated, frustrated. 

And that's when I reached out and I was like, we have to do a HubSpot Academy. Session. 

[00:11:57] Devyn Bellamy:

Exactly. That's the thing is, is. in the beginning when there were like a handful of certifications, it was like, it was really easy to collect them all if you were that type of person. Or just find something that, fits what you're trying to do. Or if you're just trying to learn the software, that's great. 

And HubSpot Academy is a great place to learn the software. And some people, the all they want to do is go in and learn the platform. But HubSpot Academy is so, so much more than that there. , not just about the platform, but best practices. And regardless of what, part of the org you're in, there's something for you. 

And there's more than just the certifications. When people talk about HubSpot Academy, they get so deep down with the certifications they miss out on just the courses around. There are so. Excellent courses that can act as continuing education for you regardless of what your education was when you came in. 

And that's, that's the important thing HubSpot Academy is, can be as important for, uh, someone who is going for, you know, their post-doctorate versus someone who barely graduated high school. If you can get this information and internalize it and apply it, it is going to change your life. And that's not hyperbole, that's just fact. 

If you take this information from all of these experts that are compiled on every certification, every course, and, and you apply it, I mean, I'm doing things. normally are reserved for the world of people with letters behind their names. And I have no letters behind my name except for senior because I'm completely unoriginal and named another human being after myself. 

But as a result, I not even a month ago, was giving a lecture at as a guest lecturer at Howard University in an advanced social media. Just off of what I've learned from HubSpot Academy over the years, and so it, it, it's more than just where you go to learn HubSpot. It's where you go to grow better. 

[00:14:06] George B. Thomas:

Yeah, and I wanna jump in here real quick because Devin, I wanna, I said one of the things we're gonna do is help people navigate the city. And there's been, by the way, if you haven't logged into HubSpot Academy in a while, a lot has changed as far as the way of where you can. Find stuff, and again, we're gonna talk about that at a deeper level, but because Devin, what you said is they think it's just about the software, it's just about the certifications. 

You need to pay attention to that. In the one of the dropdown areas, it literally says categories, and then below that it says HubSpot software. So it's, do you wanna learn about the category that is marketing, the category that is sales, the category, the disservice, and it goes on. Or do you wanna learn about HubSpot Software marketing. 

HubSpot software sales. HubSpot Software service. So if you're a human that wants to learn about HubSpot software marketing blogs, you can go to HubSpot, software marketing blogs. If you wanna learn somebody, something about just blogging, it's gonna be up in the marketing categories. So you can pick and choose like the direction in which you're trying to learn. 

So that's one, knowing that there's a left and a right turn from the get-go of your education.

[00:15:10] Max Cohen:

Yeah, and so oftentimes, like I'll talk about. You know, when you think about just HubSpot in general, there's HubSpot, the software, and then there's inbound, the strategy, and they're meant to work together, The same kind of idea like applies in academy. You don't have to be a HubSpot user to get a ton of value outta what you see in there, You can technically do inbound without HubSpot. , right? You can do a lot of these things with other tools and you know, the academy will teach you everything you need to know about a lot of that stuff, So even if you're just in it for like the strategic stuff, there's tons and tons, if not more in there than like just strictly certifications on the software.

And if you wanna wanna learn how to pair both of those things together, well, there's no other place in the world where you can do it like that, And the reason I think that like this is so important. You know, we, we asked that question like, what do people think it is versus what is it actually?

Well, in terms of what is it actually, You gotta think about what this is a portal to, This is a portal to this massive HubSpot universe and ecosystem and community and job opportunities that sits behind this thing. You gotta think. You could work at HubSpot, you could work at a HubSpot partner agency.

You could work at a company that builds products on HubSpot. You could work at a company that uses HubSpot. There is an almost like unlimited amount of different variations of that and all the knowledge that you need to enter into those spaces, or at least the majority of. and different certifications and experiences that you can have that'll help separate you from others.

And especially in the world where the HubSpot talent pool that's just available out there in the universe is very scarce right now because there's tons of customers using HubSpot that are hiring people for their HubSpot experience. There's tons of partner agencies that are sucking up all the, the HubSpot talent that's out there in the universe cuz HubSpot is scaling and those partners need to scale with it, right.

All of that is available to you. All those learnings and education that you need to thrive in that space is available to you for free. You do not need to go back to college to learn this stuff. It is given to you on a silver platter, A lot of people talk about breaking into tech. Yo, break into HubSpot, break into inbound, And it's all right here. It doesn't cost you a goddamn thing, and you can go and start consuming it and get into this wonderful world that we all live in so much that we made a fricking podcast about it, right? It's all right 

[00:17:35] Liz Murphy:

a swear 

[00:17:36] George B. Thomas:

got a little passionate, max got a little passionate, but I, but I, but I have to double down on what Max is saying because, and I'm glad that you brought that up cuz I was literally trying to give. Liz, like subtle signs that I wanted to say something  

[00:17:48] Liz Murphy:

George, you don't have to hold on. You don't have to give me a subtle side. I was literally watching you. Like, don't say anything, Liz. Don't  

[00:17:54] George B. Thomas:

Yeah. It kind  

[00:17:55] Liz Murphy:

I'm ready to go. I'm ready. I wasn't gonna say

[00:17:57] George B. Thomas:

I I kind of was like that, but the cherry on top is the fact that it's free. And, and I bring this up and wanted to make sure that we brought this up because I was on a call this week with a potential client and they asked me the question, Hey, we're trying to hire a new content person, and if we. 

Can find somebody that isn't like just ready to go, where would you send them? To learn about digital marketing and content marketing and like the things that we're gonna do with HubSpot. And I rattled off three certifications that they should have that person do. And I said, and the good thing is that it's free. 

You would've thought it was the second coming of Jesus. That's my battle against, Maxus swear, by the way, it was the second coming of Jesus. Their eyes opened up and their mouth dropped open. They're like, wait, it's free. And I was like, yeah, it's free. So see, here's the thing. HubSpot does have some paid trainings and I think along people's journey they see some of these, paid trainings, and I get fearful that they see that. 

And then maybe start to think that HubSpot Academy is something that you actually have to pay for. And the answer to that is absolutely not. 

[00:19:05] Liz Murphy:

What's fascinating to meet George though is that. I wanted to pivot back to you to tell your story with HubSpot because you have, uh, I know we've talked a little bit about it on here, but I think each of us to some degree, even though maybe we take it for granted now, even though we look at it and go, huh, look at all the certifications I should do, but , I haven't like, like that was our gateway. 

That was our gateway to changing our career. Like for example, I, I think people are always surprised to find out like, I am a college dropout. 

[00:19:37] George B. Thomas:

Yeah. Huh? I got your beat. 

[00:19:39] Liz Murphy:

I landed, I, I know, but I landed in inbound completely by accident because I had worked my way up to a senior ed editor position at a digital publisher, but then they did a massive squeeze, a massive layoff, and I didn't know what to do. 

I got picked up by Kathleen and John at Quintain, and because of HubSpot Academy, I was literally able, Immerse myself into a new career, actually get real free education, not fake free education like is so common nowadays. Geez, who isn't making a course? Who I need women, and felt Pink Hat to stop making courses about how to make courses, about how to make courses for coaches who coach coaches, who co co coach coaches, like, please Stop  

[00:20:19] George B. Thomas:

specific. Very 

[00:20:21] Liz Murphy:

Look, they know who they are and every white woman on Instagram knows who they are and we know at least five of them. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:20:27] Devyn Bellamy:

That makes sense cause I have no idea who they are. That's. 

[00:20:30] Liz Murphy:

They're horrifying. And Devin, that's because you're a smart man who would never be near them. So, but my point is this, is that like I was able to make a massive pivot in my career during a time where the job market was not that great. And now this is my career. I found my life and my passion, and it's not because I ended up at a HubSpot agency, it's because of the access. 

Of the, the education. So George, I was so surprised that when Devin shared his story, you didn't take us there, man, cuz  

[00:20:58] George B. Thomas:

I mean, I I, I, can definitely take us there. Again, I want this to be the HubSpot Academy episode, 

[00:21:04] Liz Murphy:

gonna get there.  

[00:21:05] George B. Thomas:

Thomas, uh, episode. But, but here's the thing. I can, I can make it real short. High school dropout to agency owner. , and now if I extend that a little bit longer, what I want people to understand is in 2012, we stumbled into the HubSpot Academy and I forever, the rest of my life will have a very special place in my heart for Mark Killens. 

For Chris La Dolce. For Sarah Bedrick, right? For the old school HubSpot Academy folks who were hustling and grinding to create content. And I literally at, at one of the, inbounds after I had actually started to like do the HubCast with Marcus Sheridan and start to do tutorials and realized there was a little bit of this brand starting. 

To be built. I made it a point to go into the place at Inbound where HubSpot Academy, uh, employees were, and thank them from the bottom of my, my heart for creating the engine that allowed me to become who I was becoming. HubSpot Academy was the catalyst, the place where I could absorb like a sponge. All the information that I needed to know to help the businesses that I was working for and the businesses that we were helping to grow, pertaining to educating people with HubSpot and how to use it in their business and, and without HubSpot Academy, there wouldn't be a George B. 

Thomas brand. It would be impossible. At least not in a HubSpot ecosystem. It would've been at, I would've been at Salesforce. No, I would've done that. They don't have it either. I would've been at, you know, Marketo, no. Wouldn't have been there. They don't have it either. So I, I sit and I look at my story and I go from 2012 to an inbound zero, and I look at now 2023, what I would consider humbly an inbound hero. 

And I go, thanks HubSpot Academy. Thanks for all the road that you laid that I could educate and then turn around and educate others and, and live this life. Like, listen, people ask me, I'm like, I'm living the. and I, it's not a joke, it's reality. And I know that all of that goes back to those, founding humans who had an idea, a crazy dream, and they chased it. 

And, and I can only imagine the amount of humans that are like me and, and I, I can't wait till the day where I can just see like, Hey, I wanna see how many people this HubSpot Academy, like what are the ripple. What are the effects that that actually had on an entire like planet? 

[00:23:25] Liz Murphy:

I went from someone who was so afraid to give my resume to anyone because I would have to address the fact that I was at Boston University for about a year and a half, and then, you know, We need to bring visibility to mental health. I went to college to escape a lot of things. I didn't, there were, there was nothing nefarious about it, but I left and I had to go find my own way. 

And I actually moved to Boston for six and a half years. But I remember for so many years, giving my resume over was such a horrible endeavor. And then, uh, you know what? I gotta give another shout out to Bob Ruffo, who's the founder and owner of Impact, who's another HubSpot. . It got to the point where I was able to sit down with someone like Bob and he saw something in me because of the education I did, and I actually ended up not showing him a resume. 

Now, to be fair, I came in as part of an acquisition, but like he didn't want to ask my background. I was able to sit down and have an educated conversation about what I brought to the table, and if anybody's ever met Bob, you know, he is a special kind of D guy. He really takes bets on. But the only way I was able to show up as that confident person who had built a career then niched it down into the specialty of content is, is because of HubSpot Academy. 

And there's a reason, George, why I wanted us to share our stories first before we got into the story of HubSpot Academy, because I think sometimes whether we're talking about brands, people, HubSpot Academy, George, you haven't said humans yet, so can you throw me a humans real quick? 

[00:24:48] Max Cohen:

Oh, oh, 

[00:24:51] Liz Murphy:

Yeah. Oh, that was so  

[00:24:53] Max Cohen:

wow.  

[00:24:54] Liz Murphy:

No, but like we forget that it's not just where someone is, it's the story that matters. So you started, you don't, you started digging into it a little bit. Let's dig a bit more into the story of HubSpot Academy, but why should anybody care? Listening right now about where HubSpot came from and why in order to use it effectively? 

[00:25:16] Max Cohen:

I think like HubSpot Academy is probably like one of the, most tried and true examples. Of how inbound works, Like if you think about it, like all the customers that I was ever talking to at the beginning when I was an implementation specialist and I asked them how they heard about HubSpot, 99% of the time the answer was like, oh, your academy, your content, all that like, you know, and, and leading with educational content to really get people to like trust you and do better in their jobs, do better in their lives and to. 

Educate them, you know, in, in a lot of different ways. And, you know, that's how we were primarily like building a, a customer base for a long time. that's cool. But I think the other brilliant thing that HubSpot Academy did, you know, throughout its kind of history was like, it provided our customers a. 

To continue to be like educated and self-sufficient and like build these different communities. That ended up being the backbone of why we could continue to be successful and kept customers for so long and they kept growing with us, It's all because of that educational content and the, the, the care that HubSpot put in to ensure that. 

Not only did we yeah, get customers, but we actually like enabled them to be legitimately successful with the stuff that they were buying from us, instead of just using it as a way to like capture new leads and start selling to them. So I thought that was like a really, kind of cool thing that happened. 

[00:26:37] George B. Thomas:

So it's interesting, max, cuz you just unlocked something in my brain that I don't know was fully unlocked before. and, and if you know me, if you're a listener, you know me, I, I do really bad with compliments. Like Yeah, yeah. Humbly, you know, like happy, helpful, humble human almost, almost to like a, a bad point, uh, to be honest with you. 

But, but one time I remember, um, Dan. He said, , dude, you are inbound in human form. And I was like, oh, thanks. Cool story, bro. Like and, and, and, but, but the word stuck with me. And Max, it wasn't until I heard you talk about what you just said about HubSpot Academy, that a flash came to my brain where it's like you are what you focus. for 10 years, for over a decade, I've been focused on HubSpot Academy certification after certification, after certification, which has forced me to connect the dots, connect the dots, marketing the sales, sales to service, service to marketing, to operations, to rev ops, to cms, to CRM to like, and so focus on, focus on, focus on. 

And so it's interesting when I now think back about Dan saying you are in. Personified in a human form. It's because it's a decade of focusing on what HubSpot Academy was putting out, what they were, what they were teaching from a cultural best practice and click it to make it happen standpoint. and that just is kind of an amazing thing to sit back and kind of think about. 

[00:28:04] Liz Murphy:

You know, I'd love to get Devin's take on this and, and see if he agrees with me or not. What you're speaking to though, George is something. And I'm gonna be honest, I'm almost glad you guys didn't give a lot of notes because I think this is getting a lot more deeper and human. I don't have a fancy board, but that's what we got. 

I think we're getting into much deeper topics here than maybe we anticipated. Because what you're speaking to George is something that not necessarily HubSpot Academy can give you. You're either hungry to learn or you're not. It. You know, you're either, you're either able to look at HubSpot account, you're either looking at HubSpot transactionally as I would like to increase ROI of the platform, which is true, like that is a thing. 

But you also can walk in there, and I know we're gonna talk a little bit later about focus, like how you bring focus to like this big giant Disney store of HubSpot. But that's something you can't fake. But to your point, you, uh, it's almost, it reminds me of you are what you eat. And I think we forget that our brains are little consumers too. 

And we can feed it junk food or we can feed it with learning. And I've noticed that I'm always happier, helpful, more helpful, but never humble. Um, when I'm learning. I don't know. Devin, what are your thoughts? 

[00:29:12] Devyn Bellamy: if you are self-motivated when it comes to learning, if you are a D H D N U, hyperfocus, HubSpot, academy is the place to go. I had been obsessed with marketing since I was 15 years old, and I saw a URL on a website or on a, commercial for the first time, and it just blew me away because I was already designing websites. 

But at the time, it was like this underground, nerdy thing. And the next thing you know, American Airlines comes. And at the end of the commercial it says aa.com. That was game changing. That was like Super Bowl QR code, like level game changing for me. And it's always been a hobby to reverse engineer and try and duplicate marketing strategies. 

but the barrier of entry was entirely too. having only gone to college like Liz for a year and a half, and at that being a music education major. And so the, the thing is, is that I'm, I've done a lot in my life. I've learned a lot. I've mastered a lot. but it's always been through atypical, non-traditional means. 

It's learning it myself, doing it myself, going to to online and, and figuring it out. And so, When I finally was able to get in marketing 20 years after the spark was initially lit, the flame 35 years old is when I got into marketing full-time and not as a hobbyist, not as a quote unquote agency owner who's really just a glorified flyer designer. 

I was doing it for real and I was doing it for like peanut. Because somebody took a chance on a guy and I ramped up from entry level to director in a year because of HubSpot. I have had. So many amazing jobs and amazing experiences, and I've accomplished so much for other people, helping them grow and helping them make money. 

And there is a direct connection to every success in my life right now, including being on this podcast because, Of HubSpot Academy. The thing is, is that with, with with HubSpot Academy, what what, what was challenging for me is that I understood the concepts, I was able to connect the dots, and I was able to basically duplicate the inbound strategy by reverse engineering it without having any sort of. Without having any idea how to articulate what I was actually doing, let alone being able to commit, communicate to C-Suite for buy-in. I didn't know what a KPI was. I didn't know what a marketing funnel was. I remember the day that I Googled funnel, expecting to see one thing, and I saw section triangles, and I'm like, no, this can't be what I'm looking for. 

And like I, I remember learning all of that and, and, and, and being able, speak in a way that not only conveys what it is that I'm doing, but conveys it in a manner that inspires confidence in the people that are handing me money. And the entirety of that is because of HubSpot Academy. When people, when I was doing onboarding, people ask me, it's like, Devin, how can I be like you? 

Oh my goodness. You're so amazing in marketing. You're so good as a strategist. Oh, you're just working a HubSpot platform like a champ. How did you learn that? I learned it all. At HubSpot Academy, me, the college dropout tuba player. I was, I was working in radio making $18,000 a year. I went from making that in 2015 to making way more than that in 2023. 

I'm not gonna tell you about my pockets, but I'll just tell you that I'm eating alright. So I'm, I'm doing good, but. 

[00:33:07] George B. Thomas:

and furious reference. And a fast and a fast. And we ain't, 

[00:33:11] Devyn Bellamy:

Every brother 

[00:33:13] Liz Murphy:

You know what?  

[00:33:14] Max Cohen:

Family,  

[00:33:16] Liz Murphy:

what matters? The only people that matter are the people in this room right here, right now, except for Max, who said family like a swear. And I don't respect that  

[00:33:26] Devyn Bellamy:

But yeah, hubs, HubSpot Academy, um, is the reason I am enjoying life right now. It's the reason why my kids go to one of the be the best daycare in the city. why, like my kid does yoga. I have a kid that does yoga. There was once upon a time where you would get your hood card pulled for having your kid doing yoga, and I'm like, man, it's  

[00:33:53] Liz Murphy:

Does Snoop show up and he is just like, I will take that 

[00:33:57] Devyn Bellamy:

Is that, that's kind of the way it works in the community. If you're doing something that's considered atypical, you're gonna get the side-eye. But the thing is, is that. My children are living their best life right now. My family is living their best life right now because of HubSpot Academy. 

Every, every success in the past five years of my life directly attributable to HubSpot Academy. So just a recap from College Dropout to Guest Professor on the Rev op certification. So feel free to check that out. If you're gonna get certified in, uh, world Certification Week, you'll see me there talking about stuff that I learned through HubSpot. 

[00:34:36] Liz Murphy:

I was gonna make a joke, like,  

[00:34:38] Max Cohen:

And it's free. And it's free. 

[00:34:40] Devyn Bellamy:

And it's, 

[00:34:41] Liz Murphy:

I wanted to make a joke.

[00:34:44] Devyn Bellamy:

I used wife that we the same amount, but she has. 

[00:34:51] George B. Thomas:

Oh my  

[00:34:51] Liz Murphy:

love it.  

[00:34:52] George B. Thomas:

I don't even know. I, don't even know where to go from there. Liz, you've better. You better heard these cats. Heard these cats, girl. 

[00:34:59] Max Cohen:

Oh. 

[00:35:00] Liz Murphy:

but I love when you two just, I want all of you just going. I am. No, I'm just kidding. Actually, what was funny, Devin, is I wanted to make a joke there about like, well, now I know what certification to avoid, but that story, like these are the stories that make me go now. That's the first certification I'm taking. 

I may not wait because that's what this is all about. I wanna pivot the discussion here, not away from stories, but because George, I think we accidentally backdoored our way into our big idea. because I think what happens is that when we think about content, we think about it like a commodity. When we think about education, we think about it as that, well, what part of the funnel is the which triangle part, right? 

Like we're trying to feed the flywheel, the funnel, the, um, awkwardly shaped Tupperware with the mis, like with the wrong lid on top. Whatever. However you measure your sales cycle, we think about content and education as something with a very transactional. and I think one of the greatest things that people can take away from HubSpot Academy that has nothing to do with you going into the certifications and actually taking them is understanding that HubSpot is a business. 

HubSpot is a business that needs to make money. . This is kind of like the conversations I have with people when they're like, well, I can't just go on stage and be myself. I'm like, I go on stage and talk about Nicholas Cage and rant and Raven George, you saw me talk at at RetroFoam. I made people clap for me cuz they didn't clap hard enough when I told them I got married and I got mad. 

So I made an audience of foam insulation installers clap for me. And they did. And then they also took me serious. HubSpot is not is special, and it's also not special. You can do these things too with your education. You can look at the constituency of humans that you serve, and you can make a choice to say There is a greater good we are going to serve through education. 

and maybe it's impacting their lives. Maybe it's so Devin's kid could go to yoga. Maybe it's so George can stand here and own the fact that, by the way, you called yourself an agency owner out loud, which is incredible considering the conversation you and I had a week 

[00:37:04] George B. Thomas:

Yeah, I know. 

[00:37:05] Liz Murphy:

This is, I think, the big idea that as a content nerd, I just light the freak up words, move people education. 

You have the ability to change lives. I do not care what you do or sell. I genuinely do not care. Somebody somewhere, maybe just might be able to feel better about putting food on the table just because you went out of your way to educate instead of selling all the time. George, help me out. 

[00:37:34] George B. Thomas:

Yeah. Well, I think there's, there's something that has kind of come into mind and, and I feel like maybe it's a good piece to share. and that is, you mentioned transactional. My relationship with HubSpot Academy has not been transactional at all. It has been a relationship. it's been a relationship with the. 

It's been a relationship with the people who have been creating the content. It's been a relationship with the communities that I've been able to build because I've then been able to turn around and educate people. It, it's, it's all about relationship. It's all about humans. and it's not transactional.

And, and here's what I would hope that people would understand. If you're listening to this and you live in a world that this is not you, the phrase that I'm about to say. Take some time to think about if it should be, because for the past decade of my life, these are the words of wisdom that I would give somebody. 

And that is education trump's entertainment. And if you realize that education trump's entertainment, and you realize that you have an entire library on how to do good business in a human way with tactics and strategies that don't suck and make you look like a butt hole. Then I don't know what to tell you. 

If you're sitting there and you're worried if, if you're worried, yeah. If you're worried about, uh, you're getting certifications because your boss wants you to get the certifications, your boss is demanding you to get the certifications. Let me tell you how many bosses I've worked for in the last 10 years that told me I needed to get a certain certification by a certain date. Because I took the mentality of education over entertainment. I'm gonna catch 'em all. I'm gonna know everything. And again, I fully understand for me it's gonna be different for you. For me, it was because somebody told me I would never amount to anything and I felt stupid. And I saw HubSpot Academy as a way to never feel stupid again. And I took it and I ran. 

[00:39:29] Liz Murphy:

So I  

[00:39:30] Devyn Bellamy:

Man that hit me where I live, man. That  

got.  

[00:39:32] Max Cohen:

Damn. 

[00:39:34] Liz Murphy:

that, yeah, I, I think so many people take for granted. Ma'am, my boss is making me make my brain better and bigger and more smarter. Good or forever. What a jerk. I don't like them. Again, we can't sit here and share these stories and anticipate that Suddenly you're gonna be like, man, I also wanna change my life with HubSpot Academy. 

But I think it does invite the idea. I hope there are business owners right now listening to this who felt a ding the way I saw like Devin literally went, who like collapsed upon himself like a little tiny dying star. Just for a second, feeling that in the fields, I hope business owners are listening right now, and you don't need to know what certifications they need to go get. 

Make that part of their thing, make it a part of their week, their month, something. Make education a require. . I'm always amazed by companies and leaders who do not do this. N and it can't be stuff that's in your ecosystem. You can't do self-education on the stuff that's already in your house. You gotta go out and get new stuff. 

It's only gonna make your organization stronger. I get it. It's not technically quote, a revenue generating activity at the like very direct and obvious. I don't know. I just, I'm, I'm always, I'm sorry. I'm feeling a feeling right now, which is why I'm struggling with my words, 

[00:40:46] George B. Thomas:

all good. It's a  

[00:40:47] Liz Murphy:

I've, I've worked in places, I've worked in places where education is not prioritized or if education is prioritized, it's where you're gonna have to do it, and it's part of your requirement, but you're gonna have to do it during off hours, and that's not billable and the like, I have worked in organizations e outside of even just the inbound e. 

where that's been the case. And do you know what that made me do? That made me realize I was a number that made me realize that I was only ever as good as the stuff I was bringing in the door. And to be fair, everyone's replaceable like, you know, company culture conversation for a different day. But that's a great way to increase turnover. 

That's a really great way to, to move people out the. 

[00:41:26] George B. Thomas:

and I want everybody to realize too, that's listening this, like, especially business owners, um, this isn't a pipe dream I'm not gonna sit here and sell you a bill of goods that I'm not willing to do myself. And I don't say this to boast, but if you go look at our new HubSpot Implements implementation specialist, and you can go to the blog, you can learn about Jorge Fuentes, to his LinkedIn and see in the last three weeks from being part of the team, how many HubSpot Academy certifications he's gotten, and let the world know that he's gotten and is on the track of he even out of his own. 

Said, I'm gonna catch 'em all. You wanna talk about a boss that was energized when he said I was gonna catch 'em all? And I knew that I didn't have to like force him to have that drive, force him to have that grit. And so, Liz, where I'm going with this is you said make it mandatory. Lead the freaking way. 

Be a boss who gets the certifications. May not, it doesn't have to be all of them, but lead the way and then see who wants to follow and who wants to exceed. , what you're leading the way into. 

[00:42:28] Liz Murphy:

This has been such an incredible episode, and George, understandably, we're gonna have to do a part two of this, but 

[00:42:35] George B. Thomas:

I swear we have to do a part two to almost everything we talk about. It's kind of crazy. 

[00:42:38] Liz Murphy:

I, well, I mean, we should never just talk about something one time. I, I, that is by the way, content strategy, trip tip of the day. If you think you can only talk about something once you've got a content problem and you are writing, we just call me. Let's talk. but I, I hope you guys feel good about me letting us go a little off the reservation today, because I think we had the conversation we were supposed to have. 

[00:42:58] George B. Thomas:

yeah, absolutely. I, I do. 

[00:43:00] Liz Murphy:

Here's what I want us to end on before. Yes, George? I have a poem. 

Yeah. It's a little bit different this time, but before we get to that, um, short and sweet one sentence, what is your piece of advice to someone who is either new to HubSpot Academy or is suddenly feeling moved by this conversation to reintroduce themselves? How do they make sense of the overwhelm? Because it is a. What is your one sentence? 

[00:43:24] Max Cohen:

All right. This is, this is gonna be for someone who's, who's new to HubSpot, how you can use HubSpot Academy if you're, if you're stepping into HubSpot for the first time and it looks like a giant blank canvas, and you have no idea where to start, all the context that you need to make it all make. can come from doing a couple of strategic certifications. 

Don't worry about the tool ones. You don't need to get certified in the Marketing Hub to use the Marketing hub, but you need to have an overall understanding of the strategy. So all that stuff starts to make sense. Start there? Yep. Yeah, start there. Then all of a sudden it will become a lot clear. What the job is to be done with that thing then, then get your, get your software strategy after that. 

Right. But the more important thing is that you understand the strategy and that is the best possible place for you to go to download all that into your brain super quick. 

[00:44:19] Liz Murphy:

So many semicolons in that sentence, max, 

[00:44:21] Max Cohen:

Yes. Those were all commas. All commas. 

[00:44:24] George B. Thomas:

It was a little bit of a run on bro 

[00:44:26] Max Cohen:

you didn't say, Hey, hey, to be fair, you didn't say I couldn't use a run on sentence, so I stayed within the  guardrail.  

[00:44:32] Liz Murphy:

I, okay.  

[00:44:33] Max Cohen:

Take that  

[00:44:34] Liz Murphy:

Devin, you're up next. 

[00:44:36] Devyn Bellamy:

World Certification Week. No, no. Put it back on. Put it back on World Certification Week, May 15th through 19th. If you're interested in developing your career, put time on your calendar today. 

[00:44:51] Liz Murphy:

That was f. And what if it's, what if somebody doesn't wanna wait until May? 

[00:44:56] Max Cohen:

I hope we don't get sued for that 

[00:44:58] George B. Thomas:

do it. 

[00:44:59] Liz Murphy:

that's like two months away. So like, let's say in between now and then, what's your advice? 

[00:45:05] Devyn Bellamy:

Just set a goal, get in there and try and find courses and certifications that align with your

[00:45:11] Liz Murphy:

I love that George.

[00:45:13] George B. Thomas:

Every time Devin walks in a room from this day forward, like is gonna walk around with the soundboard with him. So, um, here's the thing. 

Fig. Yeah. Figure out. Figure out what your major pain point is. Go to the search bar. Search the thing, find the videos that come up. Hit the little heart on the videos. 

Then realize instead of being paralyzed by everything, you'll go to the My Saved Items tab and you'll watch the videos that will help you fix the thing that you have the most hurt in at this moment. Meaning you don't have to have a certification mindset. You have to have a, what do I need to learn today to get my ish done mindset? 

[00:45:54] Devyn Bellamy:

Those were semicolons. 

[00:45:55] George B. Thomas:

Yeah, I'm, it was a little bit of run on. I tried, you know, I tried to keep it short. It's hard for me to keep whatever.  

[00:46:01] Liz Murphy:

Gentlemen, this is how it's. If you're new to HubSpot or you've ignored it for a very, very long time, go to HubSpot Academy and just pick something that interests you. 

Just take the first step. It's like going back to the gym. Just start by thinking about putting on the gym clothes. Like just take the baby first a step. 

All right, George, are you ready for your poem? And then I'm gonna take us  

[00:46:24] George B. Thomas:

Yeah, let's, let's hear the, is it haiku or a poem? 

[00:46:27] Liz Murphy:

oh. It's a poem  

because I had some feelings. In fact, I asked Chad, g b t to, this is gonna be more embarrassing for you than it is for me. Trust me.

Write a poem about how George is mean to me in the style of Christopher Walkin. 

[00:46:42] George B. Thomas:

Oh snap. 

[00:46:43] Liz Murphy:

I've never done a Christopher Walken impression. We're gonna go on this journey together like a family. Are we. 

[00:46:50] George B. Thomas:

Oh  

[00:46:50] Liz Murphy:

see Max. He's like, this is gonna be terrible. 

[00:46:53] George B. Thomas:

Oh man. I'm so worried right now. 

[00:46:56] Liz Murphy:

Oh, George. Oh George, you make my heart so soar. Your words like daggers. They cut me to the core. I'm feeling like a wounded dear, lost in the dark. Thanks to your mean behavior that leaves. with a mark. I'm not gonna do the rest of that and that, but I am gonna read the end of it. Thank you. Thank you. Whatever it is you say, I will not let you bring me down. I'll keep on fighting and turn it all around for I am strong. I will not let you defeat me. I stand tall like a tree. Rise up and you'll see if you enjoyed that poem. If you enjoyed what we talked about this. , if you actually just have feelings, grievances, stories you wanna share, please go to your local podcast provider and leave us of review. 

But otherwise, gentlemen, I will see you next week. 

[00:47:50] George B. Thomas:

Yeah. I. To use the whole week to start feeling good about myself again. Holy crap.