In His Shoes: Adam Rozenhart

Who’s walking around in Poppy Barley shoes? Here, we spend 5 minutes with our customers to find out who they are and what they do.

Name

Adam Rozenhart

Occupation

Digital Marketing

Home

Edmonton, AB

Poppy Barley style(s) I own:

The Vancouver Chukka in Navy

What does a day in the life of Adam Rozenhart look like?

There's no typical day-in-the-life for me. My work, and my extracurriculars mean that every day is different. But I can tell you that I get a really early start (I'm usually up around 4:30 or 5 am), and I stay up late. With all the things I have going on, I've adopted the mantra that I can sleep when I'm dead.

How would people describe you in one sentence?

I would hope people would say, "That Adam Rozenhart is as kind as he is smart!" My goals in life are always to be helpful to people when they ask, and if I can't be immediately helpful to them, I can at least point them in a direction that IS helpful.

Tell us a little bit about current and past projects you have worked on?

Currently, I'm working on my international travel podcast about Canadians living abroad called "The Expats", and I'm trying to revive my YouTube channel and show. I've been dreaming up and writing a lot of sketches for YouTube, but it's difficult to carve out time to shoot video that involves a lot of other actors. I love creating things, and so podcasting and YouTubing (totally a verb) are outstanding creative outlets for me.

What does your creative process look like, from developing an idea to bringing it to life?

I think I'm a good ideas guy — they just come to me, more often than not. For me, it's all about consuming culture — books, TV, movies — and meeting with other people to find truths and insights about life, society and culture. So I'm a bit of a machine gun when it comes to spitting out ideas. Developing things and realizing a vision is something I'm getting better at, but it's sometimes tough to find the motivation with so many other commitments in my life.

With so much going on how do you stay focused/organized/manage your time?

I've become a willing and happy slave to iPhone — without reminders and my calendars I'd likely miss every meeting or engagement that I'd committed to.

What inspires you?

Other people: I love meeting, talking to, observing and being around people. Their dreams, their experiences, their stories are a huge source of inspiration to me.

What do you love most about your job?

The depth and breadth of challenges we have to solve through communications and advertising — I love a good challenge, and I love being part of the team that cracks a challenge and comes up with something that really connects with an audience.

You have said your goal is to, “shine a light on other people doing great work.” How do you find these people influence you and the work you do?

I always have my eyes and ears open, and I have a great network of friends and colleagues who direct me to these interesting people. I think people will always be a huge part of the work I do, both professionally and personally — they inspire me, make me question the direction of my own life, and their stories and experiences open me up to the possibilities in my own life.

You have worked on two different podcasts, The Unknown Studio and The Expats. If you could interview anyone on your podcast who would it be?

I actually tried to get an interview with Donald Sutherland a few months ago to talk about expat voting in Canada (he wrote a letter to the Globe and Mail on the subject). His agent, who was delightful and replied almost immediately to my query, told me the letter contained all he wanted to say on the matter. I've also reached out to Commander Chris Hadfield as one of the few Canadians who's actually lived in space, but I've yet to hear back from him or his people.

For our readers who are interested in watching and listening to one of your Youtube videos and Podcasts, what are your all-time favorites?

Oh man, this is like asking which one of your children you love more! I can tell you my most popular YouTube video (and my most criticized) is one I did on weird facts about Canada around Canada Day a few years ago. One of my favourite Expats episodes was when I interviewed a Canadian living in Japan. The lengths she went to to get bacon were astonishing!

You have a love for the City of Edmonton, how do you see it changing and evolving?

Edmonton's become a young city, and I think with that shift come the demands and expectations of a younger population for amenities beyond grocery stores and gas stations. Young Edmontonians are looking for connection and cultural opportunities, and we're starting to see business, institutions and governments respond to those needs. Edmonton's a pretty interesting place already. In 5-10 years, it's going to be amazing.

You have an entire day off. How do you spend it in Edmonton? Top things to do?

I would grab a coffee and breakfast down at Little Brick in Riverdale, take a stroll through the River Valley, maybe pop up to campus and explore around there. Grab lunch at Farrow Sandwiches on 109 Street, do some shopping along Whyte for the afternoon, grab a bite at Next Act (noticing a pattern here), and check out a movie at the Princess Theatre!

Our Spring collection is inspired by travel. If you could travel anywhere right now where would you go? What would you do?

I would go to Western Europe, and explore France, Italy and the Netherlands. Food would, of course, be my focus!

What do you love most about your Poppy Barley’s?

They're so comfortable! I always worry about having to walk too far in dress shoes. But I have no concerns about that in my Vancouver Chukkas!

If you could walk in anyone’s shoes for a day, who would it be?

Donald Trump. I'd love to know what it's like to be right all the time, and to be a complete unfettered asshole with zero consequences.

What are you most proud of?

I'm most proud when the things I create are enjoyed by others.

Something most people don’t know about you?

I'm far less extroverted than most people think. I need a lot of down time.