We were lucky to catch up with Tim Beisiegel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tim, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

The lesson was simple. Value your family over everything else. The way it was taught to me, however, could have used some polish for sure. I was working for a small company that sold architectural hardware – Doors, hinges, locks etc … It was a smaller mostly family run company, and during the interview process they boasted about their family first policy, which being a father of 3 children, was important to me.
After several lunches and discussions with the owner and his son, I decided to jump ship from the company I was working for and hadnt really considered leaving for this competitor across town. I had heard they had a turnover problem, and when I asked he owner, he admitted that they had gone through several people but they were being picky about who they had working for them and why. It made sense to me. So …. I switched.
Within weeks of working for them it was clear that the family first mentality only applied to the people in the building who shared his last name. It was clear that the rest of us were going to have to take a backseat and learn to be ok with it.
I vowed then and there that if I were ever to be a business owner, or in a position of authority of any kind, that I would be family first – yours or mine. Because at the end of the day, you may lose your job, and that can be replaced, but family is far more valuable and should be treated as such.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

So this really a 2 part question for me. 1) As a logo designer, I came up working for my dad. He has owned a sign and logo shop for 40 years in our small western Michigan town. In that business we serve mainly the contractors and businesses of the area. Creating logos, providing them shirts, hoodies, hats, etc …
We think that the thing that sets up apart from our competition is the willingness to come to you and work where you are. Many of the sign and design shops that we compete with want to have you drop off your trucks, trailers and so forth to their shops, taking your item away from your work fleet for the day. Between that and our years of experience with our in house design studio, we can get what you need done quickly and competitively priced as well.
2) When it comes to podcasting, thats the road I never saw coming. In 2019 my daughter was hospitalized for 97 days with a condition known as Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS), an autoimmune response that attacks the bodies central nervous system. Post hospitalization I was struggling with PTSD due to nearly losing my daughter twice during her ICU stays and other emotional triggers. My counselor wanted me to write a journal, I laughed at her – I’m not a writer. She wanted me to make a VLOG, I laughed again. I saw no way that I was gonna sit down and talk to myself on camera. A good friend suggested that i start a podcast and talk with other people who are working their way through issues and traumas – I called it “Focused on Forward”. But I am also a huge nerd at heart, so I joined a Facebook group called “Funny Science Fiction” (we now have over 211,000 members – only 37,000 when I joined) and shortly became an admin on the page and created a podcast for the group with page’s creator.
Originally called “The Funny Science Fiction Podcast” we started interviewing people in the SciFi world. We eventually changed the name of the show to “The FSF PopCast” because we wanted to interview people from all over the pop culture world, SciFi or not. You can find out more about our show on our website – www.fsfpopcast.com or just look us up on YouTube or your favorite audio podcast provider.
We don’t talk about real life politics or religion and we do our best to keep the show somewhat family friendly, in the PG-13 rating area. Our shows tagline is “All Nerdy, No Dirty” ….
And although Focused on Forward is on hiatus, you can still find that show on your favorite audio podcast provider.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Pivot should be my middle name. I have had to pivot several times in life. In my 30’s I developed a heart condition and had to learn to work from home. Had to learn how to not work when my condition became so bad that it limited what I could and couldn’t do. And then, after my heart procedure I had to learn how to deal with lower stamina and energy. Pivot, pivot, pivot … Then after my daughters hospitalization and learning to deal with a chronically ill child and again how to work from home, I had to pivot again .. When her illness became so progressed that it included additional diagnoses that affected her quality of life, I had to pivot again and spend almost all day every day with her at home. Again pivoting …. but putting family first.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to learn to rely on oy cohosts and the team around me. Life had taught me that I needed to rely on myself. That I had to do it, take care of it myself. So delegation of responsibilities and actions for the show was not really my strong suit when I first started this path. Still I have to be reminded that I don’t have to do it all … I have 2 stellar cohosts and an amazing editor that I have learned to lean on and whose opinions I trust.
So when you grow up with your natural father being uninterested in you, and what feels like family and people close to you in life leaving and moving away from you – you move things inward and protect yourself. Thats what I did.
If I was going to be happy and make something of myself it was all on me, I felt like I had to do it, because no one else could be relied upon. Even with my wife, it took years to fully allow her in and trust her implicitly. But its one of the most valuable lessons I think I have ever learned. Just because some disappoint and fail you, doesn’t mean that all will

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fsfpopcast.com
• Instagram: @fsfpopcast
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fsfpopcast
• Twitter: @fsfpopcast
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@fsfpopcast
• Other: Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/fsfpopcast