Kevin Wilkerson shared his story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Kevin, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What is a normal day like for you right now?
My typical day at PubClub.com, a lifestyle and travel blog that I have had for more than 20 years, involves constant content additions and updates. This involves checking e-mail throughout the day for press releases and media opportunities as well as sponsored posts, which are the revenue lifeblood of this and many other blogs. Sometimes I cover events and at other times, I seek out things to write about by visiting restaurants, bars. places or events. It all depends on the day but the key is to keep posting current content with articles relevant to the site.
When I am traveling, it is more about researching content than daily site maintenance.
I also like to get in a run. Besides the fitness benefits, it helps clear the mind and I often get creative story ideas when running. If I have time in the afternoon, I like to add in a bike ride.
Then there are times when my other professions cause me to get way from the “typical” day. In addition to publishing PubClub.com, I have Public Relations and content writing clients and assignments and, depending on the deadlines, those can take priority. A third occupation is as a tour guide in San Diego and that job can cause a change in my schedule on a momen’t notice.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a communications professional and have two distinct but parallel professions: content writer and public relations. The experience of one feeds the other. I began my career as a journalist for daily newspapers and won an Associated Press award for investigative journalism. I then began a career in public relations where I worked with – and sometimes directly for – international brands, including a major motorsports organization and a worldwide marketing and promotions company.
Additionally, I used my journalism background to launch PubClub.com, a lifestyle and travel blog more than 20 years ago. It is one of the longest-running websites on the Internet. It has content from around the globe – Australia, Amsterdam, the Greek Islands, London, Paris, Canada and throughout the United States among the places – and has created great opportunities for me to travel and to write about subjects I like on a daily basis.
I am also a tour guide with Another Side Tours in San Diego. I give e-bike tours all over the city, including to Balboa Park, La Jolla and around Coronado island. I also occasionally give tours on Segways as well as driving and corporate team-building activities. I really enjoy showing people around scenic San Diego and doing so on a bicycle is an ideal way to do it.
Thanks for sharing that information. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
A moment that really shaped how I see the world was my first trip overseas. And I have to thank Julie Dugan, the person who was cutting my hair at the time. She kept talking about the Greek Islands and I heeded her advice. Up to that point, I was enjoying life so much in Manhattan Beach, CA, that I thought that was about as good as things could get, but I was wrong.
I had done a lot of traveling for work in the USA, Canada and even to Baja, Mexico but had never been overseas. From almost the minute I arrived, I realized I was a fool for not going there sooner. People from all over the world were there, all with different customs (and accents!) yet we all had one thing in common: we were in the same place at the same time. Everyone was friendly, happy and fun. We were all different but we were also the same in so many ways. It was a life-changing experience.
I was so captivated that not only did I go back to Greece several other times, but I took friends with me so they could have the same experiences. Since then, I have been abroad to Australia, Croatia (which I found similar to the Greek Islands), the Netherlands, London, Paris and Germany. I never knew what I was missing.
Dugan’s instance that I go to Greece opened up a whole new world for me – literally – and I am forever grateful to her for it. She changed my life, which was already pretty good, for the better.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
If I could tell my younger self something, it would be to travel overseas earlier in life. I would also have told myself in college to take full advantage of all a college campuses have to offer its students. Specifically, while studying journalism, I would have spent some of my time in other areas of the School of Communications.
I should have gone to the student TV station to see how that works, to the campus radio station to learn about that part of communications. This is exactly what I recommended to others when I was asked to speak to a group of communication students. Eventually, I learned all this because of my work in PR and am now quite good at giving interviews for TV and radio, speaking in sound bites and getting across clear message points. This really has helped me in today’s modern media with social media posts and podcasts.
As far as anything else, there’s not much. My parents did a great job of bringing up myself and my sister, teaching us to respect other people and to treat people right.
And then there are some things in life you just have to learn through experience.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
My blog, PubClub.com.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What will you regret not doing?
I hope I don’t regret anything, but it would probably come down to not going to all my bucket list events and not traveling to certain places in the world that I currently want to visit.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.pubclub.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pubclub/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-wilkerson-3711555/
- Twitter: https://x.com/BarBlogger
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pubclubber
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PubClub
- Other: PubClub LIVE YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@pubclublive6668
PubClub LIVE Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PubClubLIVE/
PubClub LIVE Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pubclublive
Image Credits
PubClub LIVE: KC Witherspoon
