Hire Truckers Podcast

00:00 - 00:10
Aaron Craddock: Welcome to the Hire Truckers podcast where we interview experts in driver recruiting. We provide industry insights, marketing trends and motivation to help you level up your recruiting game.

00:10 - 00:19
Aaron Craddock: Welcome to the Hire Truckers podcast. I'm your host, Erin Craddock. And today, I'm super excited. We have doctor Gina Anderson on. Thank you for joining us today.

00:20 - 00:22
Dr. Gina Anderson: Yeah. Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

00:22 - 00:34
Aaron Craddock: So when I was thinking through the intro, one of the things I realized I needed to add is published author. And so as the date of recording this, I think so it officially launched today, your new book?

00:34 - 00:40
Dr. Gina Anderson: Well, my official launch is Thursday, but it is actually available today on Amazon. It was published.

00:41 - 00:43
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. I'm gonna go find it and order it. Oh, literally.

00:44 - 00:46
Dr. Gina Anderson: You a copy I don't know. To order it.

00:46 - 01:18
Aaron Craddock: I'm gonna order it too. And so she is a two time Inc five thousand founder and CEO. The main way I heard about Gina's brand is through through Luma like, Luma Brighter Learning and, like, through one of our one of our mutual clients and and since and and started following her. And, well, actually, I think the first time, I think, Ginger met her at Women in Trucking and, then started following her then. And then, yeah, I've just kinda run-in parallel circles and then had some similar, client overlap.

01:18 - 01:29
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. And yeah. And I'm just excited to explore, like, when I sent over kind of the invite to have, Gina on the podcast, it was like a whole list of, like, I'm just curious about, like, these 10 different things.

01:29 - 01:33
Dr. Gina Anderson: Yeah. Let's do it. And we should talk about happy to share. Mhmm.

01:33 - 01:42
Aaron Craddock: And so my first question is Mhmm. Is around your mascot. And, actually, I didn't know I didn't know how I should word this.

01:43 - 01:43
Dr. Gina Anderson: Mhmm.

01:43 - 01:47
Aaron Craddock: Is it is it should I say what is Nugget, or should I say who is Nugget?

01:48 - 01:51
Dr. Gina Anderson: Probably what is Nugget? Because Nugget is an it.

01:51 - 01:54
Aaron Craddock: An it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's why I was that's why I was, like, struggling.

01:54 - 02:23
Dr. Gina Anderson: Nugget is an it. Pronouns are very, very important for Nugget because I want Nugget to be anything to anyone that needs whatever they need. And Nugget is a little bit of hope, love, and learning that can spread joy anywhere it goes. And so, you know, sometimes Nugget is assigned to he, sometimes a she, but Nugget really isn't it. And I believe every company needs a mascot.

02:23 - 02:43
Dr. Gina Anderson: And the reason why, Aaron, is everybody needs something to cheer about. You think about you know, when I first started Luma and I told some of my team that we're gonna mascot, they were like, Gina, this is trucking. Like, dudes aren't gonna, like they don't want a little orange thing. Like, what is that? Like, that makes no sense.

02:43 - 02:58
Dr. Gina Anderson: And my thing is, like, think about college, think about high school, think about the NCAA tournament. We do this big thing, you know, during that time. Everything is around like, people have mascots. They even have, like, the pools of the mascots. People need something to cheer about.

02:58 - 03:09
Dr. Gina Anderson: You need something to celebrate. You need something that releases that dopamine that makes you feel good. And so that's why we have Nugget. And Nugget actually has a best friend. Nugget's best friend is Brush.

03:09 - 03:40
Dr. Gina Anderson: Brush is a little furry blue person that, we actually have creatures that go around, and we send Brush out to Brush is represents the importance of having relationships and meaningful connections. So Brush, when everyone's someone when someone makes a meaningful connection to us, they get sent a brush with a little note that everyone needs a best friend. So Nugget's best friend is Brush. We have a whole loot of friends of Nugget. And so the question is, Aaron when are you getting a mascot?

03:41 - 03:46
Dr. Gina Anderson: That's really the question. The Or maybe you have one. I don't know. I don't I okay.

03:46 - 03:52
Aaron Craddock: So I we we when I when I interviewed, Tracy on our podcast

03:52 - 03:54
Dr. Gina Anderson: Yeah. She had Terry the turtle.

03:54 - 04:06
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. But before that, like, she Mhmm. She's like, I'm not doing this if it's not fun. She's like, I'm not even gonna have a do a podcast. And I'm like and I am so serious.

04:06 - 04:08
Aaron Craddock: Like, I just I enjoy business.

04:09 - 04:09
Dr. Gina Anderson: Yeah.

04:09 - 04:15
Aaron Craddock: And I sometimes have I'm like the inverse. Like, I don't have enough fun and don't laugh enough.

04:16 - 04:17
Dr. Gina Anderson: Yeah. And Aw.

04:17 - 04:18
Aaron Craddock: And I really have to

04:18 - 04:19
Dr. Gina Anderson: work at it. Mhmm.

04:19 - 04:26
Aaron Craddock: And so part of the reason, like, I wanted to have like, I try to be around Tracy a lot is, like, she makes me be, like, more joyful and

04:26 - 04:27
Dr. Gina Anderson: Aw. I love that.

04:28 - 04:34
Aaron Craddock: Just have fun. And then same thing with Ginger that works in our business. Like, just her brand, find joy in the journey.

04:34 - 04:36
Dr. Gina Anderson: It's happiness. It's

04:36 - 04:41
Aaron Craddock: happiness. Yeah. And and so I need a mascot in my life. And so

04:41 - 04:41
Dr. Gina Anderson: You too.

04:42 - 04:44
Aaron Craddock: We we, how Are you gonna

04:44 - 04:47
Dr. Gina Anderson: know what it? You're gonna know it?

04:47 - 04:54
Aaron Craddock: My first question is Mhmm. How many friends does Nugget have? Like, you're saying it's, like, multiple different

04:54 - 04:55
Dr. Gina Anderson: Yeah. Well, look.

04:55 - 04:59
Aaron Craddock: Little mascot friends that are actually Yeah. Existing.

04:59 - 05:30
Dr. Gina Anderson: I'll send you a coloring book, and each of them have a special mission. And every year that a client reaches their Lumaversary, they get a super shirt of a mascot of Nugget's friends because each of them represents something very meaningful. And so as long as you stay a Luma client, you continue to get goodness. And it's very important because that is the seed of learning, really. And, you know, you mentioned you said that you you don't have to you you can be serious and have mascots.

05:31 - 05:33
Dr. Gina Anderson: You just need something to cheer about. You know what I mean?

05:33 - 05:38
Aaron Craddock: I know. I need I need a mascot. I'm just saying, I feel like adding a mascot will help me

05:38 - 05:39
Dr. Gina Anderson: Mhmm.

05:39 - 05:45
Aaron Craddock: Take life a little less seriously, like, just enjoy Well I need a mascot in my life for

05:45 - 06:03
Dr. Gina Anderson: You do. Well, I can help you think about that. So Blake Lappin, he is the CEO and founder of a company, and him and I talk about his mascot because he didn't have a mascot. He was in the same shoe. And he created he wanted Nugget to have a partner friend mascot, and he created Spot On.

06:03 - 06:22
Dr. Gina Anderson: And it's a little light post, and it's purple. And someday Nugget and Spot On are gonna meet, and they're gonna duke it out. So if you have a mascot, we could have a trifecta. And Terry the turtle could come, and we could have a trucking trifecta or however many mascots, and they could all get together. Because I think and I know the TCA has a mascot.

06:22 - 06:33
Dr. Gina Anderson: It's like a it's a truck. Right? Or maybe it's ATA. Maybe I'm I'm mixed. But any case, mascots make it a little bit more enjoyable, and they have to have a purpose.

06:33 - 06:47
Dr. Gina Anderson: You can't just have a mask. It has to have a purpose. So what is the purpose of your mascot? And that's what's important because you can't just have a mascot. Every mascot at a university has a purpose, and they all have that's why they're all unique.

06:47 - 06:55
Dr. Gina Anderson: And I just think it's important. And every why don't businesses have it? Because they take it too seriously. You know? I don't know.

06:55 - 07:01
Dr. Gina Anderson: It's just I I just ask why not. And so when my one employee said, we can't do that, and I asked him, why not?

07:03 - 07:03
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm.

07:03 - 07:10
Dr. Gina Anderson: Why not? Why can't you do it? Why not? Like, why what's holding you back from having a mascot? Why aren't you feeling it?

07:10 - 07:13
Dr. Gina Anderson: Like, why why don't you already have it? Like, that's my question.

07:14 - 07:30
Aaron Craddock: So the first question, I have to determine, like, what is the purpose? And so I'll look at, like, our three year vision for our company. Mhmm. Because I know that you want alignment and purpose there. And then the second thing so I just have to get somebody to design design it?

07:31 - 07:32
Aaron Craddock: Is that kind of the next step?

07:32 - 07:46
Dr. Gina Anderson: In your in your head. Like, what it what is it? You know, what is it? So Nugget came from the burst of our logo because to me, brighter, you wanna have a burst of of learning and information, and so you have to think creatively. Are you creative?

07:46 - 08:11
Dr. Gina Anderson: You're creative. If or or get with creative folks that like to think outside the box about your brand and, like, what it means and, like, it has to have deeper meaning. Like, you have to think about and don't put pressure on yourself. It's like, you know, like, the burst of logo and our our that's where Nugget came from. Nugget is the burst that continues to bring light and joy and and learning all over, and so you can carry it around.

08:11 - 08:25
Dr. Gina Anderson: So I think it's thinking about the bigger purpose and where does it come from in your in your brand. So you just have to have a brains and don't put pressure on yourself. You could probably think about it while, you know, you're in the shower. It just comes to you. You know?

08:25 - 08:29
Dr. Gina Anderson: That's how these things that's how creativity comes. There's no pressure to be creative.

08:30 - 08:35
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. The, yeah, I'm excited. We need to look.

08:35 - 08:44
Dr. Gina Anderson: Well, I'll help you. I love I helped Blake. Blake and I talked, and then we came up. He is, like, his light. He has a soft light, you know, a little spot on.

08:44 - 08:47
Dr. Gina Anderson: Go spot on. I love it. Why not?

08:47 - 08:48
Aaron Craddock: I'm gonna look him up.

08:48 - 09:00
Dr. Gina Anderson: And he used AI to generate it. He didn't even need an artist. He sent me a picture of it the other day. He just said AI generated an image of a light post that's, you know, purple, and so that's what it is. Mhmm.

09:01 - 09:17
Dr. Gina Anderson: He didn't even hire anyone. He just got it. And that is so there you go. And then I called the Ellen Show because, honestly, I wanted a real mascot because I'm like, I want this thing to, like, move around and be. So I called and I got where they got their mascot.

09:17 - 09:39
Dr. Gina Anderson: And because every you could call any university probably, obviously, and find out where they get their mascot made. So I found out, and we created it. And it comes with us to a special event. So Nugget's been the t to Trimble twice and won on stage in both of those demos because people remember. It's what they remember.

09:39 - 09:42
Dr. Gina Anderson: You know? You wanna tap into the human brain, and that's my passion.

09:43 - 10:02
Aaron Craddock: And that that's how I that's how I found out, like, there was, like, the it pronoun, and that's why I was asking earlier Mhmm. The who shall I say who or what Mhmm. Is Nugget was because of your posts around him traveling to Trimble and and all those different things. I think it was you used was it Epps? Mhmm.

10:02 - 10:04
Aaron Craddock: The Estes. Estes.

10:04 - 10:18
Dr. Gina Anderson: Mhmm. Yeah. So Estes came and picked Nugget up from my garage, and they took special care of Nugget. And it was so oh my gosh. It was Nugget needed to be there because Nugget was the main person presenting for the demo.

10:18 - 10:35
Dr. Gina Anderson: And the first year, we won. The second year, I think we should have won, but they didn't want us to win twice. But people will still remember. The goal is when you do a demo of any technology or anything, you have to have people remember you. So people, what are they gonna remember from that showcase?

10:35 - 10:50
Dr. Gina Anderson: They're gonna remember that Nugget made it out of the Venetia Hotel alive because of the immersive experience we created. Nugget that's the thing. Your mascot has to serve a purpose. It can't just be on a shelf. You know?

10:50 - 10:59
Dr. Gina Anderson: And Terry the turtle serves a purpose for Tracy. Terry is, you know, sir serves a purpose for her. So you just have to think about it. And I'm happy to help you when when you get there.

10:59 - 11:06
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. We're gonna do it. And I and I'm hoping that multiple mascots within the transportation industry are birthed. Let's do

11:06 - 11:08
Dr. Gina Anderson: it. Because they all could be friends.

11:08 - 11:11
Aaron Craddock: Because of the show today, and then there's gonna be a big mascot

11:12 - 11:12
Dr. Gina Anderson: Why? Whether

11:12 - 11:13
Aaron Craddock: it's up.

11:13 - 11:28
Dr. Gina Anderson: I mean, they're like, we're men. People are like, you're it has nothing to do with gender. This has nothing to do with this has to do with being engaged and also having fun. And and not only that, but having something to celebrate. We wanna celebrate each other.

11:28 - 11:38
Dr. Gina Anderson: We wanna lift each other up. Why do every sports team, every NFL team has a mascot. Mhmm. Right? That's all it's all every basketball team has mascot.

11:39 - 11:41
Dr. Gina Anderson: So why don't every company have a mascot? I don't know.

11:42 - 11:42
Aaron Craddock: We could have

11:42 - 11:50
Dr. Gina Anderson: a whole bracket. We could do a bracket of mascots competing for March Madness among our companies. I think that would be incredible.

11:50 - 11:59
Aaron Craddock: Yes. No. I love it. Yeah. And when I was, like, I had an opportunity to, like, do some goal setting with, like, Ed Mylett.

11:59 - 12:17
Aaron Craddock: He's just, like, one of the people I look up to in, like, the motivation space. And so I was in in his home, like, a few week a couple weeks ago. Wow. And he was talking about, like, as we were setting our goals for the year, like, having like, tying them to an emotion. And so, like, a couple of the things I had is, like Mhmm.

12:17 - 12:28
Aaron Craddock: Like, I need to have more joy and things this year. So a lot of my goals are, like, framed around, like, joy and happiness and enjoying what I do. And and so I think the mascot is gonna have to be incorporated

12:28 - 12:29
Dr. Gina Anderson: I do.

12:29 - 12:31
Aaron Craddock: Like, the goals for this year. So

12:31 - 12:33
Dr. Gina Anderson: I love that. Let's do it.

12:33 - 12:58
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12:58 - 13:40
Aaron Craddock: Visit truckingclicks.com or call (512) 982-0816 today. The next thing. So we mentioned, like, your book early when we're when we're starting out the show. One of the quotes I had I had pulled from one of your posts the last couple days that really resonated with me is step off the treadmill of endless scrolling and embrace a more connected, fulfilling life. That, yeah, that just really means a lot to me because of my own just even journey in terms of, like, interaction with social media and how much time I spend on it and how I leverage it.

13:40 - 13:47
Aaron Craddock: And so I'm just curious. Yeah. Tell me a little bit of more about that, the stepping off the treadmill of endless scrolling and embracing the more connected.

13:47 - 14:28
Dr. Gina Anderson: Yeah. Well, let me tell you let me tell you, like, you probably know this as much as I do being a business owner or not being a business owner, but I spend a lot of time I've, you know, in the last year, I find I travel a lot. And so what do I do when I'm traveling because I'm by myself is I will spend time scrolling on social media, and I'm just scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. And I'm very attuned to how our minds work and cognitively how that impacts you. And I found myself feeling sad and and sad because and there's a lot of research that's showing this, because of what you're seeing on social media.

14:28 - 14:52
Dr. Gina Anderson: And so the thing is, what if and I ask myself this question. You asked me the why. What if we spent and I know being a learning scientist that, in fact, scientists are making apps. They're making social media. They're making technology more addicting based on the light, based on the sounds, based on everything with it to make you want to look at it.

14:52 - 15:18
Dr. Gina Anderson: Like, when you don't look at your phone, you find yourself wanting to look at your phone. Like, it's not there, and you're wondering, what am I missing? All of that is addictive behavior. That is key to being tied to addiction. And the thing is, the surgeon general in 2023 came out with a research study that I read in in very in-depth way, and I it really it really resonated with me, the fact that people are feeling lonely.

15:18 - 15:29
Dr. Gina Anderson: I went to a talk. There were, like, 3,000 people in the room, and I asked them, how many of you feel like a five today? A four or five. Like, two people, two or three people raise their hand. Like, no one is feeling good.

15:30 - 15:46
Dr. Gina Anderson: People are sad. You know? But what if we, instead of did that doing those types of things, really got in touch with our true selves and really what's important. And you talk about happiness. That is the key, the deep key that's in my book.

15:46 - 16:16
Dr. Gina Anderson: How do you unlock happiness, more happiness in your life, more meaning in your life to be more connected, not only with other people, but with your true self? And for me, being, an owner of a learning company, this is deeply meaningful because learning has lost this element of the heart, and it's lost this element of the mind. And we it's just a bunch of content. That's really all it is. And so that quote and that post is deeply meaningful because it's the reason I wrote my book.

16:16 - 16:45
Dr. Gina Anderson: I wanted to give strategies for people to reignite their passion for living, really discover what it is that's holding them back, you know, and giving them a road map to move forward. And so that's what my book is about. And, really, the reason I wrote the book is because that moment when I realized, like, I'm sad too. I mean, I'm not feeling it's just making me feel worse, like, doing this. So why are we continuing to do it?

16:45 - 17:08
Dr. Gina Anderson: And I'm not the only person. You know, you look at a room of 3,000 people, and it's like, well, we're in a time in our lives where we're the most connected. We could call anyone in the planet. Well, maybe not in the planet, but not not you know, but we could call pretty much anyone we wanted to through WhatsApp or or anything. I can contact right now someone I know in Saudi Arabia, for example.

17:08 - 17:19
Dr. Gina Anderson: So why are we feeling so disconnected when we're so connected? And there is a science behind it and there is an answer. That's why I'm really excited and passionate about

17:20 - 17:30
Aaron Craddock: it. That's I'm so excited to read it. So yeah, so you would ask, like, on our pre call, you're like, hey. Did you write a book? Because I was like, oh, I have something in common with this.

17:30 - 17:55
Aaron Craddock: So no. My wife, though, Lauren, she, this year, like, had a mentor in January or last year, I should say. So this time last year, she had a mentor, like, challenge her to just, like, write every day and, like, write her book. And so initially, it was gonna be around minimalism in the classroom because she's she's a teacher. Aw.

17:55 - 18:24
Aaron Craddock: And so, like, so and and a lot of the same concepts of, like, what you're talking about, like, in terms of, like, less and, like, just the impact of things and even technology. But what it evolved to into is it actually so she ended up writing it within six months and and finished it. I think I think it'll be, like, a 50 pages. Like, we have I actually have the copy of it. Right now, we're in editing.

18:25 - 18:54
Aaron Craddock: And so I'll be reading it in the next week and then, and then a few of our, mentors and friends like published authors are reading it. And but yeah, it turned into just minimalism in general in our whole journey. And that's not just like, we've gotten rid of 40,000 items, like, in our home, like, since we moved to Texas two and a half years ago. But it's not even that. It's, like, how we, like, like, cut out, like, social media consumption.

18:54 - 19:19
Aaron Craddock: Like, I I'm a producer or I'm on there with intent, not just mindlessly scrolling and, like, the impacts that's had versus spending hours on it before. Like, the impact that she has, like, in consuming social media. Like, she has to delete Facebook from her phone just because she gets anxiety and, like, about how other people's lives look and things. And it's, like, crazy how quickly it can spiral. Right.

19:20 - 19:27
Dr. Gina Anderson: Yeah. It's so sad. Read that book. It's so connected. I mean, it is very much connected, and it's leading with purpose.

19:27 - 19:38
Dr. Gina Anderson: Right? It's leading with anything you do is leading with purpose and why you do it. For me, social media, I'm on LinkedIn a lot. They're like, Gina, that's great. Like, you're saying this, but you're on LinkedIn a lot.

19:38 - 20:09
Dr. Gina Anderson: It's like, I am, but every post I make, everything I do is authentic. I I like something will happen. Like, the other day or two days ago, I had an elf in my yard taking down Christmas lights, and he told me how meaningful my podcast was to him. And him and I, Robert dear elf Robert, talked for, like, a half hour because what we're doing and what you're doing and what you're saying, you're making an impact to help people thrive and move forward because that's what's deeply important. And that's the whole purpose of my company.

20:09 - 20:23
Dr. Gina Anderson: That's the whole purpose of my being. And you ask, like, the why, and you just hit on it. It's about making those meaningful connections. And but the thing is, it's not just this is grounded in neuroscience. This isn't like just my opinion.

20:24 - 20:58
Dr. Gina Anderson: This is the science of learning and how our brains work because our brains are so powerful. You can, like, talk yourself out of something that's not even true, but because your brain is functioning in the chemicals and the way that it's, you know, always evolving and changing can make an impact. And so anytime you do something on social if you're gonna do social media, at least this is my opinion. And like you just said, it has to be purposeful, and you have to do it in amount that is, you know, that you can handle because maybe it's five minutes a week. You know?

20:58 - 21:07
Dr. Gina Anderson: Maybe it's not every day. So I think you just everyone has to be in tune to what their true self needs and how that impacts them and everyone in their lives. Mhmm.

21:07 - 21:11
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. The, have you read the anxious generation?

21:12 - 21:40
Dr. Gina Anderson: I haven't, but I actually am writing I'm writing a white paper about generations and the impact of coaching. And in fact, it'd be interesting to see how they define the generation because I'm actually looking at age developments and how that corresponds to the development of our brains and how our brains evolve and how different influences impact the cognitive structure of our brain. But to answer your question, I haven't read it, but it'd be interesting to kinda see that.

21:40 - 22:09
Aaron Craddock: So it's it's more geared towards, like, technology's impact on kids. And but yeah, it it just it makes a a few arguments like I didn't expect it to go into, like in terms of like letting your kids like have risk and like risky play and and how technology's changed that. And Anyway, I think I think you would enjoy it. It's a hard read in terms of yeah, just kinda some like difficult concepts in terms of like the negative impact that technology can have on kids and anxiety

22:09 - 22:10
Dr. Gina Anderson: and Mhmm.

22:10 - 22:12
Aaron Craddock: Things like that, but a really good read.

22:13 - 22:25
Dr. Gina Anderson: I love learning. That's the thing. I love learning. You always can learn. That's the seed of life, like, to continue to learn and learn new things, learn new perspectives because at the end of the day, when you stop learning, you start you stop living.

22:25 - 22:41
Dr. Gina Anderson: And so I think it's really important to continue to think about ways of understanding yourself and seeing the world around you. It's so it's so critical because we can gain new understandings and new perspectives that make us appreciate each other even on a deeper level.

22:42 - 22:53
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. So speaking of learning, like, I wanna learn more about, like, Looma because I I really don't know. Like, this is Mhmm. It's kinda funny when Gina and I were setting up this call. It's like Mhmm.

22:53 - 23:11
Aaron Craddock: Like, let's just like, I wanna learn all these things, but, like, let's just do it on a podcast and, like, share share with our our mutual networks. And so what is but I guess first question is, like, why did you start, like, Looma? Like, what's the story behind that? And then I have some follow-up questions too.

23:12 - 23:29
Dr. Gina Anderson: Yeah. So, I started LUMA with Scott, my husband. Scott actually had a remote sensing company. He was doing missile warning detection systems, And I was designing on I was the director of online learning at the University of Dayton. Go Flyers.

23:29 - 23:58
Dr. Gina Anderson: And we used to debate a lot about how people learn. My passion, I started my career as a special education teacher, and I'm always have been interested in why certain people have hurdles learning. And that has really been the core of my passion since I was really little of trying to really understand, like, why does this person understand this information? Or why does this person have trouble tying their shoe? Or why is this person struggling with this this, you know, condition or whatever that is, whatever's holding them back?

23:58 - 24:22
Dr. Gina Anderson: So we started creating you know, I had perspective on different technologies and what worked and what held people back that had learning challenges or ADHD or just different different learning challenges and hurdles. And so we created a technology together. He pivoted and I I kind of convinced him, like, this is something we should do together. So we did. And, in fact, we started the company in 02/2008.

24:22 - 24:35
Dr. Gina Anderson: People think, oh, did you just come out? Have you been around? We've been we've been in business a long time. Like, that to me is a long time, 02/2008. But we entered into trucking around 2014 because we were right next door.

24:35 - 25:03
Dr. Gina Anderson: And I don't know if you remember, Staymetrics. They actually were acquired by tenth Street, but our office was right next to them. And they were like, Gina, you should go you should go look and see somehow trucking companies are being trained. I went out and I was horrified, Erin. I I just couldn't get over how drivers were being trained, and I thought there's a real opportunity here to really make an impact and and specifically to change behaviors.

25:03 - 25:31
Dr. Gina Anderson: Because the thing about it is it's not the fact that drivers might not know, like, not to text and drive, for example. It's just that we have to work with them to change their behaviors. And, also, if you sit in a classroom for five days, for eight hours a day, you're not gonna remember any of the content anyway. So I you know, we started in 2014 in trucking, and we've made such a measurable impact. We have, you know, clients that come to me and say, do you know we've improved our safety?

25:31 - 25:44
Dr. Gina Anderson: And I I kinda laugh because I was like, yes. I know. I mean, when you do these things and you use all interaction modes, you can really change behaviors. That's the short version because we don't have much time.

25:44 - 25:55
Aaron Craddock: So what like, how is or I guess why, like, why is LUMA different? Like, you've been used to you kinda touched on that a little bit of just Mhmm. You were kinda, like, appalled at, like, what existed in terms

25:55 - 25:56
Dr. Gina Anderson: of Yeah.

25:56 - 25:59
Aaron Craddock: Training prior to you entering the market in 2014.

25:59 - 26:00
Dr. Gina Anderson: Mhmm.

26:00 - 26:03
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. How and why how and why is it different?

26:03 - 26:30
Dr. Gina Anderson: Well, most of our competitors, if you call them competitors to me, they're content providers. So you can generate content, like and we have content to Illumic because that's what the industry demands. But content doesn't change behaviors. And content alone, if you're gonna create content, having done my PhD research on developing content specifically in the nursing schools. Like, what does that look like in terms of memory retention?

26:30 - 26:43
Dr. Gina Anderson: And that's like just like trucking, that's an industry. You don't want a doctor or nurse to be operating on you and have to use chat to figure out how to fix you. You know what I mean? Like, you wanna have people to be able to remember the information. It's like in a truck.

26:43 - 26:50
Dr. Gina Anderson: You don't want someone driving a semi truck and be like, okay. How do I back this? I'm gonna look it up. Like, no. They have to be able to do that.

26:50 - 27:10
Dr. Gina Anderson: And so the thing about what makes Looma different is that we use all interaction modes. We have a learning management system, but you can employ all of them across different interaction times. So learner to learner, learner to self, learner to instructor, learner to machine, learner to content. Learner to content is the last interaction mode. I write up machine is the last interaction mode.

27:10 - 27:20
Dr. Gina Anderson: I write about this a lot. If you're gonna do content, it has to be authentic. Meaning, this is how I got nugget. We're gonna go back to nugget. I got nugget out of the building of the Venetian.

27:21 - 27:35
Dr. Gina Anderson: Look. I coulda if I used one of our competitors and sent him a video, sent it a video on how to get out an emergency exit, it's generic. Like, okay. That's an emergency exit video. Well, that's not gonna help him that's not gonna help Nugget get out of the Venetian.

27:36 - 27:52
Dr. Gina Anderson: So what I did is I took my phone. I scanned the environment in my phone, and it's called immersion. I uploaded it to LUMA. We created we created all the exits, all the hazards. Nugget had to get down the stairs off the stage, and Nugget could use that.

27:52 - 28:08
Dr. Gina Anderson: And it and Nugget doesn't read English very well. Nugget actually speaks German. I don't know if you knew that. So the whole system read to Nugget because Nugget doesn't read in German. And so it's like using all the in all these different modes of learning to help Nugget, and Nugget got out of the Venetian.

28:08 - 28:24
Dr. Gina Anderson: That's a content interaction, but it's very different very different than what others are doing. And people say, Gina, I don't have the time. We don't have the time to it takes literally like it took I only have fifteen minutes to demonstrate this before the buzzer went off. I think no. It was five minutes.

28:24 - 28:41
Dr. Gina Anderson: I have five minutes. It was five minutes, and then the buzzer went off. The thing is, it doesn't take time. You just have to have the passion, and you want if you wanna change behaviors, you can. And the thing is, most people don't even ask their learners in this industry what they wanna learn.

28:41 - 29:07
Dr. Gina Anderson: Like, what do you wanna learn? Well, if you don't have someone's attention within eight and a half seconds, the scientists, neuroscience are finding your mind starts to wander. So if, like, your podcast is so if people are interested in it, they're gonna tune on after a few seconds. So it's like, think about that for a for a dry anyone, a warehouse worker, a doc all the safety sensitive things that these people are doing, they have to remember it. And so that's what makes LUMA different.

29:07 - 29:17
Dr. Gina Anderson: I'm so passionate about it because I know it works. If you use the techno you you can have a technology and not use it. You could have LUMA and not really use it. You just like anything. You know?

29:17 - 29:44
Dr. Gina Anderson: But if you use it and you could use it online, you can use it in the classroom, you can use it blended, all different modes because you on average, you need to hear or see something seven plus or minus two times on average. So if you think about that for, like, cargo securement or anything, you have to do it again and again and again and again and again and again and again. You know, it's like, it's not just one time. You can't just send them a video. I get to, like, so it's like, what are you currently doing?

29:44 - 29:56
Dr. Gina Anderson: And they're like, but that's what I've always done. That's the worst thing. I actually saw this. One of our clients has this as their tagline. I'm not gonna say who they are, but I thought this is great because it says, that's the worst thing you can ever say.

29:56 - 29:58
Dr. Gina Anderson: That's how we that's how it's always been done.

29:58 - 30:01
Aaron Craddock: They have that as a tagline? Yeah. They have that as

30:01 - 30:07
Dr. Gina Anderson: a tagline. Signature. It's like, that's the worst thing you can I saw it yesterday? They're like, that's the worst thing you could possibly do. That's the worst thing.

30:07 - 30:19
Dr. Gina Anderson: It's that's the worst thing. It's that's the way it's always been done. Well, you know what? That's and the and the and then the thing is I'm writing this white paper on age groups that are younger that are coming into the workplace. Look.

30:19 - 30:44
Dr. Gina Anderson: You can't continue to do stuff the way that things have always been done because of the influences that they've exposed themselves to that have been in their lives that are gonna impact the structure of their brain and also how they learn. You're you're not gonna be able to. So I'm you know, and the thing is it's not meant to scare people. It's to give them the resource so that they can reach everybody. You know, we just launched in May, Luma Navigator.

30:45 - 30:58
Dr. Gina Anderson: It's the only the only thing in the industry or even in education that individualizes learning. Like, no one's doing that. Like, they don't even know how how to do that. It's, like, so far ahead. Like, the people are like, they don't even get it.

30:58 - 31:21
Dr. Gina Anderson: It's like the what does that mean? It's like, well, I mean, that's the thing. If you develop people don't get it, they're not gonna use it. So that's my challenge as a business owner is to tell people and educate people that why that's important and how to use it. So we're always innovating because I'm always studying how our brains and, specifically, how we can impact people's learning because that's my passion.

31:21 - 31:24
Aaron Craddock: So you helped Nugget escape from the Venetian.

31:25 - 31:26
Dr. Gina Anderson: Yeah. I sure did.

31:26 - 31:34
Aaron Craddock: Scanning the environment. So is that, like, when you did that, was that, like, a just a 360 degree, like, view, or is that, like Mhmm.

31:34 - 31:36
Dr. Gina Anderson: You just use a panorama. You just use your phone.

31:36 - 31:40
Aaron Craddock: That's what you did. You did panoramic and then you notated where to go and stuff?

31:41 - 31:57
Dr. Gina Anderson: Yeah. So what happens is the immersive technology that we built, you can use panoramic pictures. You load it to Luma, and then you can identify you can put hot spots. You can put video on top of it. You can put any overlay over it, but then you can pan it around.

31:57 - 32:12
Dr. Gina Anderson: So we have clients doing this for, inspections, for cargo securement, for terminal. We had someone do it. Look look at this. This is crazy. Like, parking lot accidents, people will, like, pull up and hit a pole or something because they're sending them parking lot accident videos.

32:12 - 32:19
Dr. Gina Anderson: That makes no sense. Like, yeah, we all know not to get an accident in a parking lot. Like, I know that. You know that. But the driver is just like, yeah.

32:19 - 32:27
Dr. Gina Anderson: They know that, but then they hit a pole. It's like, well, why'd you hit a pole? You just took a video on, like, parking lot safety. It's like, I don't know. I mean, I didn't see it.

32:27 - 32:45
Dr. Gina Anderson: So what you could do with the merger, you can scan the parking lot, boat it. You can drop it to them. You know? And with the technology in trucks now, it's getting to the point you can drop it, like, by location. You can see the parking lot before you even get there, and you can say, wow.

32:45 - 32:55
Dr. Gina Anderson: Okay. I know I'm gonna go to this parking lot, and they're gonna have this pool. It's gonna be narrow, and I gotta prepare myself for that. So it's giving them what they need. That's authentic learning.

32:55 - 33:12
Dr. Gina Anderson: It's giving them giving people what they need when they need it just in time and not, like, first day in orientation, like, hour four, like, saying be safe in parking lots, and then that's it. You know? It's like I told you to be safe. Right. And it's like not

33:12 - 33:14
Aaron Craddock: impossible. Wanted to hit the poll, you know, because it's

33:14 - 33:27
Dr. Gina Anderson: Right. And then the thing is now, if they get that if they get that immersion and they still hit the poll, that's a different that's psychology. That's change behavior management. And so that's tapping in. Are you ready to change?

33:27 - 33:40
Dr. Gina Anderson: Is this a behavior you wanna change? And moving them through that piece, which LUMA helps with too. So, you know, there's a heart and then there's the mind, and you have to think about both components to drive behavior change.

33:40 - 33:44
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. Mhmm. Yeah. That's so cool. Mhmm.

33:44 - 33:49
Aaron Craddock: I wish I'd heard that. So did you do a similar so that was your Trimble presentation?

33:49 - 34:14
Dr. Gina Anderson: Yeah. That was last year. This year, I did another Trimble presentation with Nugget, but like I said, we we demonstrated Luma Navigator. And I wanted to show that Nugget needed at least five interaction modes with learner to learner engagement being so critical, which I didn't mention that one before. But with hyper scanning, they have shown that learner to learner to learner engagement actually helps with knowledge retention.

34:14 - 34:44
Dr. Gina Anderson: So we did a Luma Navigator with Nugget on stage to have to show how Nugget needed learner to instructor, learner to learner, learner to self coaching to change Nugget's behavior, and we demonstrated it live. Nugget actually did and oh, and these bracelets, everybody had to make a commitment to stop texting and driving, and we wanted Nugget to stop texting and driving. And so we had to make a commitment to change. Yeah. And people walked away, and they remember the whole experience.

34:44 - 35:06
Dr. Gina Anderson: If you ask people what Luma demonstrated at Trimble, they'll they'll be able to tell you. Because we created emotional resonance to help them remember the information, of Nugget. Now we didn't win in year two, but we're still winners because we were on stage. And, honestly, I really do believe that they don't want two time winners there.

35:07 - 35:07
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm.

35:07 - 35:12
Dr. Gina Anderson: So, you know, you don't want back to back wins. It's not like the Bulls. You don't get five rings.

35:13 - 35:19
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. I have so many questions still. The, we're running low on time.

35:20 - 35:22
Dr. Gina Anderson: Oh, I'm sorry. I talk too much.

35:23 - 35:35
Aaron Craddock: No. You don't talk too much. There's just like I said, like, there's just so many different topics I wanted to dive into. So I wanna know, like, the why behind because you talk a lot about, like, spreading positivity and kindness. Mhmm.

35:35 - 35:46
Aaron Craddock: Like and and just, I think you're you're part of the I forget what it was on LinkedIn, like the kindness. What's the name of it?

35:46 - 35:47
Dr. Gina Anderson: Kindness worldwide in

35:47 - 35:56
Aaron Craddock: that area. Kindness worldwide. And I just see it in your content and Mhmm. All that. Like, what's the like like, why?

35:56 - 36:02
Aaron Craddock: Like, why spread positivity? Why spread kindness? Like like, is there some, like, backstory? Like

36:03 - 36:17
Dr. Gina Anderson: Yeah. So on that. Yeah. Honestly, for me, I am very focused on just having empathy and knowing that everyone goes through hurdles. You know, everyone has gone and continues to go through life hurdles.

36:18 - 36:42
Dr. Gina Anderson: And the powerful, ability to change behavior through releases of dopamine and serotonin and just goodness, that can get released chemicals from your brain is very powerful. And it can be bad. There's good and bad. And like you said, there can be that release when you're doing video games and technology. I mean, there's so much research.

36:42 - 37:10
Dr. Gina Anderson: But with gratitude, which is gratitude or kindness, there is a lot of neuroscience research that shows it actually makes you feel happy. And you say you need more joy in your life. Mhmm. And maybe there's something to unlock there as well. But if you sent a text right now, if you're listening and and you send a text to anyone that's on your mind and tell them how much they mean to you or what they've done for you or thank them for being there for you.

37:10 - 37:29
Dr. Gina Anderson: Maybe somebody this morning, you know, did something really kind to you and just send them a text. And when they get that text, they will it will release dopamine. It will release serotonin. It will make them feel they'll get a just an instant release of wow. You know, that was that was impactful, and they won't forget that.

37:29 - 38:04
Dr. Gina Anderson: And then you can send them they'll probably send a message back, and it'll do the same thing for you. And so the point is that in any circumstance, you have an opportunity to make yourself and make somebody feel good, and I think that's the and in a in a world where only three people were saying they were happy, it's an epidemic. I mean, this is something that we all have to help each other with, and it isn't just this isn't a business. This is life. Like, this is the true meaning of why we are here together is to help each other through these times.

38:04 - 38:28
Dr. Gina Anderson: So I'm deeply committed to it, and we facilitated at LUMA. We have a smile board. We're actually taking a mental health week next week, and we're some everyone on my team had a choice if they wanted, to have an experience or have a cash value. Some people are staying behind, but most of our team is going to Costa Rica. We're closing for a week, and we're gonna have a mental health week together.

38:28 - 38:50
Dr. Gina Anderson: I just think it's too important not to take care of your people and the people in your lives, your family, the people you love. So that's the why. You know, someone down the street just might need you to say, I love your smile today. You never know what they're going through, and that's the power that we all have as humans for each other. So that's the why.

38:50 - 38:51
Dr. Gina Anderson: Mhmm.

38:51 - 39:13
Aaron Craddock: Well, I love it. I hate that we're running up on time just because I have so many more questions. And so for for those of you that are still just curious and intrigued, by what doctor Gina shared today, I just recommend that you you follow her on LinkedIn. Just search for doctor Gina Anderson or Loomer Writer Learning. And, yeah, just follow her story.

39:13 - 39:25
Aaron Craddock: Like, I really enjoy following Nugget around The US. Thank you. Just that journey and and yeah. And I just smile. And then I'm also, like, challenged because Mhmm.

39:25 - 39:54
Aaron Craddock: As as Gina was sharing today, specifically, like, here's what we're doing, like, mental health day for our our team in Costa Rica, that challenges me as a business owner just to be like, okay. Well, how can I prioritize that more with my company? And then and then similarly, like, just different challenges she's had around, like, here's a systematic way to, like, spread kindness. And yeah, so just, yeah, I really appreciate your content and just who you are as a person.

39:54 - 39:57
Dr. Gina Anderson: Sunshine jar. I sent you one. Did you get it yet?

39:57 - 39:59
Aaron Craddock: No. I don't think I did.

39:59 - 40:06
Dr. Gina Anderson: Oh, okay. Well, it's coming. I'm I'm pretty sure that nugget that nugget put it in the mail, so I'll have to check on it.

40:06 - 40:07
Aaron Craddock: There you go.

40:07 - 40:09
Dr. Gina Anderson: Mhmm. Well, you have thank you so much for having me.

40:10 - 40:14
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. Thank you so much for for joining. Thank you for joining us today. Our goal

40:14 - 40:15
Aaron Craddock: with the Hire Truckers podcast is

40:15 - 40:25
Aaron Craddock: to provide industry insights, marketing trends, and motivation to level up your recruiting game. If we added value, take a few seconds to share this with your network. Have a great week.