Meet Bob Marcus

We recently connected with Bob Marcus and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Bob, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

People ask me all the time…how to you do it? How do you wake up and just go? I guess people ask me that question because they must have their morning coffee and I don’t. I have never liked coffee. My stimulant I guess is life! My job is fun because I meet so many interesting people. I have met people from around the world. My tours are basically the same. It could get monotonous to some, but for me I look at is I’m am teaching people things that never knew about the area. I consider myself a rolling docent. I love when people try to stump me with questions. I say, if I don’t know the answer, I’ll just make it up. I guess I’m a good actor.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

You can find me all over the internet by googling my name and Bay Area Info Tours. I’m proud to say many people have interviewed me, even ABC Action News did a feature on me. I started my business because I saw a need in the marketplace for it. Every time I would go to another city, I would want to learn about it. A lot of major cities have hop-on hop-off buses. We do not have that here in the Tampa Bay Area. We have walking tours, Segway Tours, Boat tours, ghost tours etc. I am the only tour in a luxury mini-van. It’s part history, part mural, part ghost, part architecture, BUT all fun! The tours are virtually customizable. I’ll ask if you want to do something or not. Or you can tell me where you want to go. It’s structured, but not totally. I even took someone on a 6 hour tour, though most are only 4. Besides the normal tours, I have taken people on a tour of where Cocoon and Summer Rental were filmed. I am now starting Brew Tours because it’s something people want.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

This to me is a perfect fit for me. In the past, I have been a radio DJ, cruise director, comic and many other things. I do enjoy driving and tell stories of the local area. People that live here do not know the amazing history of the area; from the conquistadors, Robert E. Lee, Al Capone, Babe Ruth to all of the celebrities that make Tampa Bay their home.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

I really have to hand this one to my best friend in high school, Ed Volkman. Without him I don’t think I would have become the person I am today. I was a very quiet shy kid. Ed was the class clown. How we ever became friends still amazes me. Ed broke me out of my shell. He was the hit of the party and lightened up the room where ever we went. He became Chicago’s number one DJ meeting hundreds of celebrities. Today, he is still a jock, but now with his own rock n’ roll band. For me, he taught me how to be funny and entertain. .Who knows how I would have turned out if it weren’t for him!

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