I have a great mentor. His name is Ted Matthews.

I first met Ted in the summer of 2006, in his office on Jarvis Street in Toronto. He had founded an integrated marketing communications firm, grown it to a staff of 80, worked with Fortune 500 clients, and then sold it. Then he launched a Brand Coaching firm, Instinct Brand Equity Coaches. I was looking for a copywriting gig, with designs on being a part of Instinct ongoing.

But first I had to make a good impression.

Ted answered the door and invited me to have a seat while he finished something up. Eager to make some kind of chitchat, I noticed on the wall a smartly-framed design award he’d won. He’d been given the silver.

I said something like, “Wow. This is impressive.” To which Ted replied, “When a client disagrees with me, I tell him to go see the guy who won the f****** gold.”

Devastatingly funny, yes. But more to the point, uncompromising. That’s what I thought of Ted, right from the very start. As he proclaims in one of his many maxims, consistency is the number one rule of Branding. True to what he preaches, Ted has never wavered.

Recently I had what was, to me, a massively entertaining conversation with Megan Matthews, Ted’s daughter, who took over his practice. She is an elite Brand and PR strategist who has worked in Toronto, London (UK) and New York, leading PR for Brands including Unilever (where she was global communications lead for Dove), Gap UK, Johnson & Johnson Beauty, adidas for Stella McCartney, Pandora and many more.

Above is a video of our conversation, in which we share our favourite Brand lessons learned from Ted – and which are still a priceless reservoir of wisdom.

I hope you enjoy it even a fraction as much as I did.