Insights, commentary and news

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Transcript by Derek Oyen 

[Intro theme music] 

Derek: Do we have any other guidelines, really? No? 

Jesse: I don’t think so. We keep it really loose. 

Derek: No crying? 

Jesse: You can cry. I want to see somebody – I don’t want to make them cry, but if they just naturally start crying … 

Gabi: I mean, if you would have caught me, like, two days ago, I probably could have. It was, like, one of those days, you know, that you just, like – I cried during, like, “Kung Fu Panda.” 

Jesse: Didn’t you just have a conversation the other day about crying? 

Gabi: Yeah.  

Jesse: And we talked about how you might cry about work. 

Gabi: Yeah, some days it just happens for no reason, and that’s fine. 

Jesse: If you’re going to cry, Derek, where are you normally crying? 

Derek: As you probably guessed, my emotional state is fairly stable, so it’s not extremely high, it’s not extremely low, so it’d be rare. But I will tell you that one hundred percent of the time I see the scene in “Up” where they go through the photo album, tears come to my eyes. 

Jesse: Disney’s just great at knowing what’s going to get to you. That little love story they have is incredibly emotional. 

Derek: Yeah, not a word in it. 

Jesse: No, they don’t need one. And now that we’ve brought you up, we’re going to bring you down with our guests today. [Derek: laughing] 

Jesse: They, as guests always do, provided us with truths and a lie, and these ones are going to be tough. I looked them over when they sent them this morning, and we’ll read them to you and let the listeners see if they can guess before the guest introduces themselves. So, I’ll read the first one this time. It’s “I adopt a turkey every year.” 

Derek: Second one is so broad in its statement that I don’t see how it could not be true. “I have photographed a celebrity.” 

Jesse: But let me stop there, though, because both “I adopt a turkey every year” and “I photograph a celebrity” – When you say, “I adopt a turkey every year,” if I go buy a frozen turkey from Giant Eagle, am I adopting a turkey? 

Derek: Well, you’re purchasing it. Are you adopting it? Maybe you shoplift it? 

Jesse: They might be pretty loose with the terminology. And also, “I have photographed a celebrity …” If I pull out my phone while I'm watching TV and take a picture, did I just photograph a celebrity?  

Derek: Yes, you did. 

Jesse: All right. Well, the third one is “I have gone cliff jumping.” 

Derek: I want to know if there was a parachute involved in that or if they just jumped off a cliff. 

Jesse: Well, let’s let our guest introduce themselves, and then we’ll try to guess what’s the lie here. So, if you want to go ahead and tell us who you are … 

Gabi: All right. Hello, everyone. My name is Gabi Sergi. Did you have any other thoughts with these? I don’t want to give it away too quickly. 

Derek: Well, we have to guess first, but our guests are good at making these difficult. 

Jesse: Yeah. Here’s my thing. Gabi is a very creative person, and she’s also a very – I don’t know if sensitive is the right word, but just a very …  

Derek: Caring? 

Jesse: … caring person. Yeah.  

Gabi: Thank you. 

Jesse: So, I can actually see her … I can see her adopting a turkey every year. And I kind of hope that is true because that actually is kind of a very sweet thing. 

Derek: I don’t know Gabi enough to know if she’s vegetarian or not, but I can see if she’s vegetarian, that also being a very valid kind of thing. 

Jesse: I’m guessing she has photographed a celebrity, and I don’t think she took a photo of her of her TV. I think she actually did see a big celebrity and photographed them. 

Jesse: Has she gone cliff jumping? 

Derek: The first thing that came to mind for me for that is cliff jumping, like when you go rafting, you’re jumping in the water off of a 20-foot cliff, which is a blast. And I can totally see Gabi doing that.  

Gabi: Yeah, that sounds great. 

Jesse: Tough. They make it tougher and tougher. 

Gabi: It’s hard to come up with them too, though. 

Jesse: Was it tough? 

Gabi: I spent like an hour thinking about it. I asked my family. I was like, give me something. 

Jesse: Did you really? This isn’t easy. 

Gabi: No, it wasn’t. 

Jesse: OK, I’m ... I’m going to say Gabi has not gone cliff jumping. 

Derek: OK. And in order to increase our odds of getting something right, I will say she has not photographed a celebrity. 

Jesse: All right. Well, Gabby, what is the lie? 

Gabi: OK. I have not gone cliff jumping.  

Derek: OK, you got it! 

Gabi: Yeah, it was funny that you said you asked if there was a parachute involved. I have gone skydiving three times. That’s where my idea came from. But I have not gone cliff jumping, for some reason that scares me more than skydiving, but I would still do it, I think. 

Jesse: But skydiving, you’re totally up for. 

Gabi: Yeah, super chill. 

Jesse: What made you skydive for the first time? 

Derek: A dare? 

Jesse: Honestly, because I think it’s scary just to get up there. 

Gabi: No, it’s just like an internal calling. Just, like, one day, it was, like, nice weather out and I was, like, you know what I’ve never done? Skydiving. So, I just went. 

Jesse: By yourself? 

Gabi: Yeah, by myself. All three times were by myself. 

Derek: That’s a rather bizarre, impromptu, kind of, “you know what I’m going to do today that I never thought about doing before?”  

Jesse: I admire that. I mean, I’ve always said that with skydiving, the thought of it scares me. But if somebody were to ask me to do it, I wouldn’t be able to say no, because I think I would torture myself with “you should have done it.” But the fact that you just took it upon yourself to say, “Hey, it’s a nice day. I’m going to go do it,” that’s pretty amazing. 

Gabi: Yeah, well, you have to wait until the day of, to an extent, because of the weather. Like, you can’t go in bad weather. But, yeah, every fall, it’s my new tradition. So … 

Derek: Do you do this by yourself, or do you go with friends? How does this work? 

Gabi: I mean, I would go with other people, but I’ve always gone by myself.  

Derek: Jesse will go. 

Gabi: Yeah, Jessie, you’re invited. They open up in April. I think. I think the fall is my favorite time, though, because you get to see, like, the leaves turning and it’s really pretty. 

Derek: That is not a perspective you typically see. I can imagine it’s amazing from up there. 

Gabi: No. This might sound odd, but it’s very peaceful. Very calming. It’s beautiful. Yeah. 

Jesse: How long are you in the air? 

Gabi: So, depending on how soon you open your parachute, but the free-fall is, I think what was it, 60 seconds or something like that? Not too long, and then once the parachute opens up, it could be like several minutes. You just soar around. 

Derek: Is it a tandem jump? 

Gabi: Yes. Mm-hmm.  

Jesse: It has to be right? 

Gabi: Your first time does, and then after that you can go solo, which I thought was crazy. I feel like you would need more than once. 

Derek: That sounds a lot crazy, yeah. 

Gabi: But the last time I went, there was, like, a guy in the plane who looked really nervous, and, like, he went by himself. So, I asked him after he landed, like, how was that for you? And he was like, that’s my second time ever skydiving. And I’m like, “They let you?” And they’ve been, like, asking me, like, you should do it. Like, all you have to do is do, like, this ground course. And then they let you go by yourself. And I’ve been, like, no, this is for fun. I don’t wanna make this into something I have to use my head. They’ll let you pull the chute or whatever. But, like, I don’t want to be responsible for any of that. I’m good. I’ll just enjoy the good parts and let someone else do the rest. 

Derek: I skydived once, and it was … we had just graduated high school, so my buddy and I went to – I believe it’s the same place – but it was a very different experience because they didn’t do the free-fall. It was like, you know, the World War II movies, where people have the straps that are connected to the airplane … 

 Gabi: Yep, my parents said that. 

Derek: And you jump out, hold your arms against your body, and it pulls the parachute for you. 

Gabi: Yup. 

Derek: The old-school round parachutes, so you can’t really steer it. So, it was in those. But it was, like, three seconds of freefall. But it was pretty cool. Just, kind of, you’re hanging, just looking around as you’re floating down, hoping you’re going to land in the right field at the end of the thing. 

Jesse: You said your parents have done that. 

Gabi: Yes, that’s the one that they did as well. I’ve been trying to get them to do tandem. 

Derek: So, it’s a family thing. 

Jesse: Yeah. Is it a family thing, did they encourage this hobby from you? 

Gabi: No, I usually don’t tell them, but … [laughs] 

Jesse: Would they not be for it if they did know? 

Gabi: No, I just don’t want to worry them. I just tell them afterwards, yeah. 

Jesse: That’s pretty crazy, though, yeah. I’ll have to try it one day. Derek and I both did the Lifebank ...  

Gabi: MT outing?  

Derek: Over the Edge. 

Jesse: Yeah, we had to walk … scale down the side of the Oswald building downtown. 

Derek: Yes. 

Gabi: Mmm. 

Jesse: And that was pretty thrilling.  

Gabi: I would do that. 

Jesse: Yeah, that was fun, but even though I think back to that now and I’m like, would I do that again? I’m like, maybe, but that was a pretty … the day of that I was pretty nervous. 

Derek: It’s intense. It’s absolutely intense. Yeah. And I don’t know, Gabi, if you have a fear of heights. But I have a fear of heights. But I try to put myself in positions to challenge that fear of heights. But what I found was really, really bizarre was when I was in the plane for the skydiving, no fear.  

Gabi: Wow. 

Derek: I think it’s because you’re far enough up from the ground that you don’t see risk in it anymore. We were two or three thousand feet up, and it’s like, “Oh, OK, I’ve been in airplanes. This is nothing.” If I’m three or four stories up, then palms are sweating. If I’m 20 stories up on the Oswald building, my heart is racing like a jack rabbit, and I’m talking to myself the whole way down the building. So, it was really weird for my brain to kind of turn itself off. 

Gabi: Wow, that’s awesome you got to experience, like, the differences with different heights. 

Derek: But you just go, “I'm out.”  

Gabi: Yeah, I think it’s fourteen thousand feet, the one that they do, yeah. 

Jesse: [to Derek] Gabi’s done it three times. Do you want to do it again?  

Derek: I don’t have the need to anymore.  

Jesse: Because you’ve done it. 

Derek: I’ve done it. I’ve done it. Now, the free-fall would be, I think, a pretty amazing experience.  

Gabi: That’s the best part. Yeah, that’s the best part. 

Derek: I did not get any freefall. 

Gabi: Hmmm. Maybe someday. 

Derek: You go every fall. 

Gabi: Yeah, I know. I’ll invite everybody. 

Jesse: Open invitation. 

Gabi: This is your open invitation. I read an article recently. There was some like ninety-year-old woman who goes to that same skydiving place, like, religiously, like, goes and skydives. And I was like, wow for that to be your hobby in your 90s. It’s never too late. 

Derek: Never too late. 

Jesse: Do you want that to be you one day at ninety, still going?  

Gabi: Maybe. I don’t know. See how I feel. 

Jesse: So, you adopt a turkey every year. That’s true? 

Gabi: Yes, it started … I think this is the fourth year, so not every year of my life. But every year, my sister and I, we adopt a turkey from Farm Sanctuary, and they have a, like, a whole thing … it’s a whole event on their website, and, yeah, we get to pick which turkey we want to adopt, and then we get a whole picture. We line them up on our mantle, and that’s like our way of celebrating, like, Thanksgiving with the turkey. 

Derek: What happens on the day after Thanksgiving with these adoptions? 

Gabi: Some of them get adopted by, like, specific families that they’ll, like, host them. Or they, like, live at the sanctuary, so sometimes you’ll see, like, repeat names come up. This year I was like, “Oh, we adopted that one last year.” So, we always try to pick a new one. But so far, if I can remember their names, we had Faye, Tutu, Galadriel, and this year’s Lizzie. 

Jesse: Do you name them yourselves? 

Gabi: No, they have their names. Yeah, but it’s actually really cute. They have a quiz. You can see which turkey you are. If you can’t pick which one that you wanna adopt, They're like, which one are you? This year I was Lizzie, so I gotta pick her. 

Jesse: And they ask you questions about your personality? 

Gabi: Yeah. Mm-hmm. 

Jesse: So, it’s like which Friends character are you? 

Gabi: Yeah. I, like, highly suggest go to the website. 

Jesse: That’s pretty neat. 

Jesse: And we have to know what celebrity you photographed. 

Gabi: Kim Kardashian.  

Jesse: Really?  

Gabi: Yes. 

Jesse: Where at? 

Gabi: She was doing a panel about her podcast with wrongful incarcerations at Ohio State University, and I was hired to be the only photographer at that event, which was a little stressful, but a very cool experience. 

Derek: So, it wasn’t just a random shot of a celebrity walking down the street.  

Gabi: No, it wasn’t. 

Derek: This is a legit “I’m being paid to photograph celebrity.” Very nice. 

Gabi: Yeah, had to work with her publicist and all of that and a little elevator ride. But it’s interesting because I’m not, like, a huge fan of her, but it’s nice that people like, actually, like, everyone knows who she is, so… 

Jesse: Yeah, for those who can’t see in the studio, Gabi is wearing a Kim Kardashian T-shirt right now. 

Gabi: Yeah. Huge fan. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think, like, they were recording her TV show there too. So, it’s cool to, like, see, like, kind of the behind the scenes and all that. Like, the whole production aspect of, like, how she goes and lives her life with all of that. It’s crazy. I could not do that.  

Jesse: Did you get to meet her at all or mostly interaction with … 

Gabi: Yeah, yeah. 

Jesse: Was she pretty nice, or … 

Gabi: She’s nice. Very short.  

Jesse: Is she? 

Gabi: Yeah, she’s like 5-2 or something. 

Jesse: My brother, Brett, and I go to … we used to go to Sundance Film Festival, and that was the most common thing I think I would find is that celebrities were always shorter than you thought they would be. 

Gabi: I was, like, standing next to her in the elevator and I was like, “Hello?” I’m, like, I’m wearing flats and you’re wearing heels. I’m not that tall. 

Jesse: So, we’ve talked about these two truths and a lie, which are all very interesting things. But let’s talk a little bit about your life at Marcus Thomas. Do you want to tell the listeners what you do every day? 

Gabi: Sure. 

Derek: And what does it mean to plan media? 

Gabi: Mmm. Yes. 

Jesse: What is your title? I don’t think we’ve said your title yet. 

Gabi: Yeah. So, I am a media planner, and I’ve been at the agency for almost three years – maybe that’s wrong – something like that. And, yeah, planning media, I think it looks a little different depending on the accounts and all of that, but I like to say that I spend probably 90% of my time in Excel. A lot of numbers like budgets, strategy, making sure campaigns are trafficked, running, pacing, optimizing all of that fun stuff. So, a lot of people see, like, an ad, and they think about all the creative work that goes into it and not necessarily all of the time and effort that goes through, you know, targeting the right people, getting it in the right place, and making sure it performs well, and all of that. So, that’s me.  

Derek: Is this something that you go to school for? 

Gabi: I went to school for communications with an integrated marketing track type of deal. I don’t even know if they have a major specific to media planning. I think every college is so different. I don’t know, I just picked my major because there was so much that I could do with it, and I was like, I want to work at Marcus Thomas and that’s the internship they had open. So, here I am. 

Derek: So, you started as an intern. 

Gabi: I did. 

Derek: And you turned that into a full-time gig.  

Gabi: I did. 

Derek: Very nice. 

Jesse: Communications major. I was also a communications major. I know that is a very broad major. Did you ever have any thoughts in college of doing something else? 

Gabi: All of my internships previously were much more in the creative fields. I did like a lot of graphic design work and, like, website design and things like that because I am a very creative person. And part of the reason that I took this internship too was like, well, I don’t have … at the time I didn’t have super strong, like, tactical or analytical skills behind marketing. I had more of, like, the visual aspect in those skills. So, I kind of wanted to balance out my skills. So, yeah, originally, I would say I was probably looking more towards creative fields. 

Derek: That was an unexpected answer from my point of view, because I work in the creative group here and I would not put Excel as a strong point in general for a creative. And you saying that you have a design and creative background and now you live in Excel is really interesting to me, because those are totally different sides of the brain. So, that’s a very well-balanced sort of left and right. If you can now not just work in, but enjoy, Excel. 

Gabi: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Derek: Given your creative background. So, that’s really interesting to me. 

Gabi: Yeah. Sometimes it’s a little bit – I don't know the right word – like, not like defeating, but to see some people who, like, numbers come to them so naturally and that type of stuff they do off the top of their head, they know exactly like where everything makes sense. 

Jesse: For me, that’s defeating.  

Gabi: Yeah. Like, I’m not a ... I’m not a math person. I’m not. Like, that’s always been, like, my toughest subject in school, and all of that, and working with numbers is not something that comes easily to me, so, like, being able to, like, you know, still produce, like, really quality work – like, for me takes sometimes, it feels like, extra effort than some people. But I still want to strengthen those skills, so, yeah. So, it’s like there’s good and bad. 

Derek: So, you said that you came to Marcus Thomas through the internship. 

Gabi: Mm-hmm. 

Derek: You just picked that internship because it was Marcus Thomas. It wasn’t that you wanted that position and Marcus Thomas had it. It was that Marcus Thomas had a position and you just wanted to be at Marcus Thomas. 

Gabi: I didn’t even know what media planning was, honestly, before that. I don’t feel like most people do. Like, when I tell my family, I’m like, “Oh, I’m a media planner.” They’re like, “Whaaat?” Yeah, so, I, in college, I mean, I think I might have seen it on, like, possible, like, job career list, but we weren’t, like, taught what it was. So, no. Going into it, I was like, “Huh, media math? I wonder what that is.” 

Derek: That was a leap of faith. 

Gabi: Yeah, I had really great mentors and people that helped me learn the different systems. And honestly, it’s not something that, like, you really could have learned in school anyways, even if you had a background in that, educationally. Like, you really have to learn it on the job in my opinion, so I didn’t feel like I was, like, behind or anything. Yeah. 

Jesse: And still have a lot of creative outlets today. 

Gabi: Yeah. 

Jesse: I know you just mentioned graphic design. You do love art. I’ve been by your desk, which has some of your paintings on the wall. Is it just for fun? Do you do anything that you show anywhere? 

Gabi: Occasionally. My artistic outlets are more of I do them for me and then if an opportunity comes to me, I’ll take it, but I don’t normally actively search them out, mostly just because of the lack of free time that I have. But, yeah, through different connections that I’ve made, like, I have done art galleries, I do get hired for freelance photography and graphic design work occasionally, but it’s not something I, like, actively search out for. Yeah. 

Jesse: Strong lover of music too.  

Gabi: Yes. 

Jesse: One thing you had said one time, which I can relate to, is that you go to a lot of shows. You try to go to a lot of concerts, and when you do, you have to get – even the opening band’s music. You have to download and listen to everything to make sure that you don’t feel like a poser when you’re there. Do you still do that? 

Gabi: Yeah. So, the pre-concert playlist in your car for like two months before. You’re like, “I will know all of these lyrics.”  

Jesse: I have shows that I’ve bought tickets for, like, next summer, and I’m already in the process of, like, I need to learn these songs to make sure I know everything before I go in.  

Gabi: It’s a good way to learn new bands too, because, like, a lot of times I’ll pick a concert based on the headliner and then I’ll look at the opening acts. And I'm like, oh, I’ve never heard of them. And, like, I actually like them better.  

Jesse: That’s true. I know you’re younger than I am. I’m thirty-three. But we actually recently looked at a study that Spotify had done which said that after thirty, people stop seeking out new music. 

Gabi: Wow. 

Jesse: And I agree with you. It is a great way to keep up to date by going to shows and just learning about some of the openers. 

Gabi: At thirty. Wow, that’s surprising. 

Jesse: That they stopped seeking out new music? 

Gabi: Yeah, I’m wondering too if that statistic will change as, like, streaming is now, like, kind of the primary source of music, to, like – if you have Spotify, like, you’re like, oh, here’s a new playlist for you, like, it’s just so much easier. You don’t have to search it necessarily. Just like, ohh, yeah, I’ll listen to “Recommend for You.” 

Jesse: I also wonder, though, if, like, seeking out music is related to, like, having a lot of free time, though, and as you get older and start more and more responsibilities, if you just lose the time to do it, I don’t know. 

Gabi: That might be a nostalgia thing. Yeah, who knows. 

Derek: I feel like people are talking about me right in front of me here. As the “much older than thirty …” 

Gabi: Do you search out new music?  

Jesse: Do you seek out new music? 

Derek: I will probably listen to one of the Spotify recommended lists before I will go to an album, so it’ll be the daily mix, or it’ll be some new stream that Spotify is recommending. So, I do actively look for new music. One thing that I really enjoyed during COVID times was the JQBX thing that you started up where – and now that we’re back in the office, I don’t listen to it anymore – but a group of people would get together and everybody would share a playlist, and I would be listening to so much stuff that I’d never heard before. And that shows up at the end-of-the-year Spotify thing. It’s like, for some reason, Bruce Springsteen is in my top five – Jesse DiFranco – for Spotify. But I would not listen to Bruce on my own. But because I’m in the room with you … 

Jesse: And I wish I could take full credit for that. That was during COVID. I think Brett actually, my brother, Brett DiFranco, actually started JQBX, which is now Turntable, but it was a shared playlist room where everybody can go in and share music. Gabi, you used it too. Do you still use it sometimes? 

Gabi: Yeah. Once in a while. Yeah, I’ll hop on. Once a week or something. 

Jesse: And we implemented different themes, like today’s songs all have to start with a certain letter, or these are all by, you know, different types of artists. But I agree during COVID I thought that was great. Now that we’re back in the office, I use it a lot less. But I think there are still some people that are still on it. 

Derek: There are some die-hards still there. I’m not one of them. 

Jesse: Gabi, you don’t pop in once in a while, you said? 

Gabi: I do, but sometimes there’s not people playing music. So, I don’t wanna play it for myself. 

Jesse: Yeah. And it just sounds lonely. 

Gabi: Yeah. Like, no one needs to know that I’m playing music by myself. 

Jesse: That’s kind of like the person who goes skydiving by themselves. 

Gabi: Yeah, maybe it’s a pattern for me. 

Jesse: So, since you’ve started at Marcus Thomas, you’ve also gotten involved. I think you’re quite a bit … specifically what I could think of is you’re involved in the LGBTQIA+ organization, our affinity group. What got you involved with that? 

Gabi: Was it last year, did it kick off? It’s new. It’s a newer affinity group for Marcus Thomas and they were looking for people to join, and it’s something that I’ve always, you know, been very passionate about. Everyone should feel represented, and they were looking for people. I was like, well, why not me? Because you know, anyone can join. Personally, I do identify in the LGBT spectrum, but you don’t have to be to join. And it’s been really nice to see, like, some of the people you wouldn’t even expect necessarily to say, like, hey, like, I’m also here to support. And seeing, like, how you can get involved in the community outside of work too. It’s been really fun. 

Jesse: Yeah, that’s awesome.  

Gabi: Yeah. 

Jesse: I know you do a lot with organizing some of the events and things and things like that. 

Gabi: Yeah. Someone’s got to do it. 

Jesse: Recently tried to get a dodgeball game going that didn’t end up … 

Gabi: Ohh, yeah. Raf showed us a great opportunity to join a dodgeball tournament, but it turns out a lot of us are scared of dodgeball and that’s OK. [laughing] 

Jesse: That’s reasonable. 

Gabi: Mm-hmm. I wasn’t gonna go. No. Gym class drama. Yeah. 

Jesse: It’d be interesting to find out, though, who here still has that side of them. Once you get on the dodgeball court and who’s chucking balls at everybody, you know. 

Gabi: Certain people did approach me about being interested in that, and you could tell the ones that were like, “Give me the rules, I’m ready.” I'm like, “OK.” 

Jesse: This might have been a bad idea. 

Jesse: Gabi, we could talk to you all day. Thank you so much for being a guest on the show. This was a lot of fun. I didn’t know you did all this skydiving, and I look forward to the – I won’t say I look forward to it. I expect an invitation [All: laughing], and we’ll see how we’re feeling that day. Thank you so much for coming on the show. 

Derek: Thanks for coming, Gabi. 

Gabi: Yeah. Thank you both. 

[Outro music starts] 

Derek: Today’s show is hosted by Jesse DiFranco and me, Derek Oyen. It was recorded and mixed by the man to my right, Mikey Nichols. Our theme was composed and recorded by David Bemer. Thanks, David. “Ask a Better Question” is produced in and by Marcus Thomas. The opinions on this show are not those of Marcus Thomas. You can take that up with Jesse and me. 

[Outro music fades]