ITR Economics Account Executive Lyndsay Wornham is the host of our new show, By the Numbers™, alongside ITR Economist and Speaker Lauren Saidel-Baker. Get to know more about Lyndsay here, and subscribe to By the Numbers on ITR onDemand, or with an Insider Plus™ membership!
Lyndsay: I have been with ITR Economics for over five years now. I was an audience member and a fan before I was an employee. I was a business consultant for small mom-and-pop retail store owners before I came to ITR Economics.
[ITR Economics Senior Forecaster] Connor Lokar came and did a presentation at a convention my company hosted twice per year, and I sat in the back of the room, and I just listened but also listened to the questions that my members were asking. And I thought, “Wow, if he could capture this audience's attention and get buy-in from them, then ITR Economics must be doing something awesome on a much grander scale.”
I think that my job as a business consultant prior to coming to ITR is certainly something that I took into my job as an account executive. I do not consider myself a sales professional at all. I consider myself a relationship builder and a true embodiment of what we at ITR now call the Trusted Advisor.
Q: Why did you want to host By the Numbers?
Lyndsay: I saw it as a really great opportunity to provide even greater insights for my clients.
I figured if I was entrenched in these articles, in gathering this data, and being able to ask the questions from my perspective, which is probably more in line with my clients’ perspective than our subject matter expert, Lauren, an economist, then I was going to be learning in the process. And that additional knowledge would lead to more intelligent conversations with our clients and help me truly understand what their challenges are and provide insight to help alleviate those challenges.
Q: By the Numbers is a new show, but have you heard any feedback from your clients or viewers?
Lyndsay: So far, the YouTube comments are cool. People saying, "Thank you for leaving the charts up!” “Thank you for not just talking and involving charts so that I have visual aid.” “This is highly engaging!” “I enjoy that it makes sense, that it is broken down for me."
Q: Are there any specific topics that you like talking about most with Lauren on the show?
Lyndsay: I like talking about the real estate market and interest rates and even the labor market, because you start to connect the dots with how the world goes around. All the topics are interesting to me, but I think consumer spending, retail sales figures, the housing market, the job market... those are all things that I think the general population resonates with quickly and easily. Therefore, I do, too.
Q: Is there a specific category of headline that you find tends to most often include misinformation that you and Lauren make a point to clarify?
Lyndsay: We are apolitical. Especially with this year being an election year, I think a lot of the articles and headlines probably have an agenda or are at risk of having an agenda by skewing toward one party or the other. Anything that we can do to realign that and prove to our audience that it does not actually matter who is in office with regard to the economy and our outlook for the economy is beneficial. If you can remove the bias – if you can remove the emotion from it and look at just the numbers – it paints a much different picture and is better than falling victim to the headlines and the drama that they are meant to create.
We just did a segment in this week's episode about basically the research and the study behind negative headlines and how those drive click-through rates with more success than positive words in a headline. I think that shows why we need a show like this.
Q: Do you have a favorite part of being on the show?
Lyndsay: I enjoy the whole pomp and circumstance of getting ready and working with our production team. We have a lot of fun with it, and there is a lot of silliness that happens behind the scenes to make sure that we bring the energy and we keep our audience engaged.
The bloopers are always a highlight. When we get tongue-tied or we have to take a time-out or the train goes by, that is always funny, too.
But working with Lauren is the highlight for me. Even being considered on her level and being able to be in the studio with her and have the luxury of asking her the questions directly and hearing the answers directly from her is really fun for me and humbling. And it makes me smarter.
Q: Are there certain impressions or insights you hope viewers come away with when they watch the show each week?
Lyndsay: I hope the audience can come to trust us. If they are not somebody who has already been exposed to ITR Economics or who is already a loyal follower, I hope it evokes trust. I hope that they come to rely on us for the numbers, for the facts, for this unbiased data-driven analysis that we do.
If somebody is not a potential client – and we are out at a dinner party or at an event – and they ask what I do for a living, I always say, "Oh, I sell the future," because that is what we truly do at its core, but it is a bit hokey in the sense that you must have the buy-ins. People have to believe in our methodology and trust in our insights, and that only comes with listening and following over time.
Anything that we can do in this show to elicit trust and respect and gain a place in your heart and in your mind – that is what I want the show to do.
Q: Although the show is still new, what are your goals for By the Numbers going forward?
Lyndsay: I want to go viral at some point. I think that would be a fun goal – go viral. We joke about it in our house. My daughter always says, "My mom is famous." I say, "No, I am not. We would live in a bigger house if I was famous," but that would be really cool.
I want to set some viewership and subscription level goals. I cannot wait until we get our first 100 subscribers, our first 1,000 subscribers, and I will celebrate every single milestone along the way. I just want us to get noticed by more than just our everyday following. I want it to expand the world of ITR Economics. Our voice will help the world of business grow stronger, and, with that, society will grow stronger.