Ric Patterson grew up in nearby Albertville, Ala., an only child raised by a single mother after losing his dad at age 11. Young Patterson was a talented catcher, which landed him a baseball scholarship at the University of Alabama where he earned a degree in social work.

But Patterson didn’t have career aspirations for social work. Through a series of events, Patterson discovered a career in marketing and advertising, which he has passionately pursued for more than 40 years. The founder and president of RP Media recently sat down with the Huntsville Business Journal and shared his journey and business practices to which he credits his success and joy.

How did you get into marketing and advertising?

I went to an employment agency here in Huntsville. They called me about a week later and said, “We think we found a job that’s perfect and meets all your criteria.” I said, “Well what is it?” They said, “It’s working at a TV station.” I said, “Doing what?” They said, “Selling advertising,” and I said, “I didn’t know they sold advertising.”

I was 25 and very poor and needed to go to work somewhere quickly, so I interviewed for three hours for that job. They hired me, and I made $7500 that first year selling advertising in the Sand Mountain area. They eventually moved me to Florence, and it was better, but it wasn’t much better and I was about ready to quit, and one day they called me and said we’ve decided we’d like to move you to Huntsville. Would you like to come? So I came to Huntsville with Channel 19, and ended up working for Channel 19 for 20 years.

Ric Patterson of RP media poses in front of Lincoln Mill, where his company is located

What led you to start your own business?

After 20 years at Channel 19, I got a call from Channel 31, which was a family owned company. I was tired of corporate America after about 20 years, and they offered me a management position and a lot more money. I took that position, and not long after I got there, they sold the company. I stayed with the new company for about six months.

Over the years I had watched a man out of Birmingham, who had a business very similar to mine. I decided I would talk to him about helping me go into business, and he said he’d be glad to help me. Then I talked to two others, one was Nick Lioce (of the Lioce Group), and he was very encouraging about starting my business. I was scared. I was 47. I was terrified because I’d never run a business. Then I met with the guy who owned WDRM radio and told him what I wanted to do. I said, “I’ve talked to two other people, and if any of you tell me that you think I’ve lost my mind, I’m not sure that I want to do this. But if three good businessmen tell me they think I can make this work, then I think it’s worth the risk.” So (in 2001) I decided I was going to leave Channel 31, and I was going to try to find about three or four clients and work out of a bedroom in my house by myself.

What is your business philosophy?

We help people do things that they need to have done because we want to, and by necessity, we give our entire interest, attention and love to this thing at hand. I learned to love this business. I’ve been at it for almost 45 years. My wife Linda and I both love the people that work with us. They’re like family to us. We have four account managers who share the same philosophy. I didn’t start this business to make a lot of money. I never have thought about wanting to be rich. That was not ever my motive. I wanted to do something that I enjoyed and that I was able to help people who wanted my help.

Where do your business values come from?

I had an uncle that was in the car business, and I started working for him in the summers. I saw what he did and how he did business. He would do things, and I’d think, ‘Why would he do that? He’s gonna lose money doing that,’ but it was the right thing to do and he would do the right thing.

I’m a big believer that telling is not selling. If you want to sell something, you ask people questions, and you find people who need what you have to sell.

One of the things that I’ve done that I still do today is most of our invoices are hand delivered to our clients, and there’s a reason behind that. The reason is because a lot of times I go in there and I get to meet and talk to the person who pays the bills and writes the check, and also if my client wants to look at the invoice and ask a question about it I can handle it while I’m right there. A lot of times they would just write me a check while I was there.

How do you balance personal and professional life?

That’s been a hard one. As I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten better at it. I met with a business coach about two or three years ago and his advice to me was, you need to take off Mondays and Fridays. I’m still working toward that. The work is just fun, and my wife and I work together. I love golf and I play twice on the weekends and I play some during the week with clients. I really feel like I am very blessed. I’m almost 70 years old and I really don’t have hardly any health problems.

Patterson’s team at RP Media

What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own business?

Controlling your expenses and having capital to be able to at least last a year would be two things, and then the biggest thing is that you have to continue to learn. Everything changes. What I do today is so different from what I did the first ten years I was in business.

How do you stay relevant in your field?

I’m curious. I’ve always been very curious about things. I want to know about people. I want to know about their family. When we go into a client meeting, we ask them, what things have you been doing that have worked because we don’t want to change those things. But if there are things that you don’t feel really work for you, those are the things we need to find a place where they will work.

What do you enjoy most running your own business?

I get a huge charge out of seeing people succeed. I had a client several years ago and I love the guy and he was so awesome to work with, and he told me up front, he said, “Ric, I bought a company, there’s two stores. I want to build this company to five stores and sell it.”

He did, and he told me you know you were part of this.

They don’t know what to do, and if they knew what to do, they wouldn’t have the time to do it, and we don’t tell them what to do. We talk to them. We ask them questions, and we advise them, and then we both come to an agreement. OK, this is a good plan, and they believe in that plan because they’ve had input. It’s about relationships, and that’s what I love about it, those relationships that I have with these people.