Trust Is The Brand | Damian Ghigliotty | Full Battery Media

In this episode, I sit down with a Business Editorial and Advisory Specialist Damian Ghigliotty to talk about what it really takes to build trust, create fact-based content, and grow a brand without selling your soul to hype. 

We get into authenticity in marketing, why credibility matters more than ever, how journalism shaped Damian’s approach to business writing, and why so much modern content fails when it chases volume over value. We also talk about burnout, relationship-driven business growth, networking in real life, pricing your work, choosing the right clients, and how to use AI as a tool without letting it replace your voice. 

This conversation is packed with insights for entrepreneurs, creators, writers, marketers, consultants, and anyone trying to build a personal brand or content business with more purpose, more clarity, and more staying power.

What do you think matters more in content today: being everywhere, or being deeply trusted?

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

When you work in journalism, right, um, and I'm you know, I'm talking like traditional media, uh heavily kind of business, but writing for print, writing for newswires, delivering in delivering information where like one factual accuracy can can really impact you, you know, and then you lose trust with your readers. You know, errors happen, of course, and you do like a correction, right? This number was was off. But learning that and applying that to the work I do, corporations and companies um want that same level of accuracy, right? Because they're ultimately putting out messaging to investors, to buyers, to ecosystem partners and supply chain, you know, partners. That level of accuracy and information ultimately makes or breaks, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Welcome everybody back to the Full Battery Media Podcast. I've got an awesome guest with me today. Would you like to tell people who you are and what you do?

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Yeah, hi everyone. My name is Damien Gigliati. I'm a corporate ghostwriter, uh business consultant, former journalist. Um, and basically I set up a company where I work with largely corporations, um, help them produce fact-based content on a range of topics, finance, commercial real estate, uh, a bit of crypto. Uh I'm really, really big on supporting entrepreneurs uh across the board, women, minorities, uh, small businesses. And I produce content around this. Um, applies journalism. Um, it's not journalism. It's ultimately a form of marketing, but it's heavily fact-based and driven by some sort of mission, right? As opposed to just rah-rah product or, you know, go go, whatever it is.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Go team. Right? I love that. I love it when you have stuff that can be really grounded in um grounded in purpose is a way that I like to put it. You know, grounded in something that has a, I feel like I came from the background of being an educator. And I feel like the greatest thing that we can do with content is to create content that is um doing something to make society a better place, make our world a better place, may keep keep people a little bit um, you know, more connected in ways. Because at the end of the day, there are all of these jackasses trying to drive wedges between us. But the reality is we all want similar things. We all want to be cared for, loved, and happy, you know. And at the end of the day, the rest is just noise, you know?

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Totally. Really well said, Sean. You know, and I think basically there is like more and more white noise, right? And I also think the concept of like traditional sales is like heavily on the decline, you know, and whether you are a broker, you work in real estate, you you do, you know, um investment advisory services, people want to be educated and people want to be informed, you know, because it's that much easier to just go on Twitter or X or LinkedIn or Google and get the information you need. So it kind of actually raises the bar um for, you know, people like myself who produce content. And I'm with you 100%. Like there should be a purpose to it.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

I love that. It has to be. You have to have a purpose and you have to have a thought about what you're trying to communicate. Like, you know, for me and the different podcasts I have, at some point in a lot of time, I'm just trying to inspire people and enlighten people to make make this world a better place. And that, you know, however that it manifests itself in that moment, it's great. But like, you know, hard part is is like uh when you're building this stuff, when you're getting into content, when you're building for the long term, you have to have certain principles so that you, you know, don't break down because it's hard at times, you know. You know, and sometimes you have to plan for it, even if it costs you some money. You got to have this vision for what it is that you want to be doing. Because if you don't have that vision, it gets really hard to keep going, you know?

SPEAKER_01 4:32

And people burn out, you know, especially when people are trying to post 10 times a day and they're trying to post on different social platforms, you know, maybe not seeing the money or even the like engagement early on, they're doing that and they're and they're kind of like overexerting themselves, not feeling the reward from doing it. And that's how a lot of like anyone can be a writer, right? Anyone, but people kind of get off on the wrong foot, spin their wheels, and and burn out, you know, essentially.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

I had I have a bunch of video clients, and one of them was like, uh, I'm just gonna start trying to find I saw this place and they'll make an AI version of you and it will talk to people. And I was like, and I looked at and I was like, I you don't want to do that. You know, you don't want to do that. And I was he was like, why not? Because it's so much easier and I feel more, I, you know, it I feel uncomfortable. And I said, but that's what sells. Like when you want to sell something to someone, I don't pick the guy that looks perfect. If I'm going to buy a car and that guy is sounds too perfect, he looks too perfect, and he talks too perfect. That is not the person I want to buy a car from because I know that I'm gonna come home with the worst deal that you could imagine. But if I get the guy who comes up, you know, like he's like, you know what, man, I'd put my car. I I had one guy when I was buying a car and I just wasn't sure. And he looked at me, he's like, I got a, you know, I was 20 something. He's like, Yeah, I got a daughter about your age. And honestly, I'd put her in this car. And I said, Why? He says, Well, first of all, I know that money's important and this is good gas mileage. Number two, it's safe, you know. And he's like, you know, you've got a young kid, it's safe. And like the the levels of things that he spoke to, and maybe obviously he was still trying to go for the sale. I mean, social media, we're trying to sell something, you know, like that's most of the time what people are trying to do. You you you're you have an angle, whether it's your own brand or something else, but you know, you gotta have an angle and you gotta figure out ways to do it authentically, you know?

SPEAKER_01 6:35

Absolutely. And authenticity can be can be taught to an extent. It is kind of innate, right? Like if you have a, you know, a strong kind of creative edge, or you're you're analytical, you're very analytical, you're just a naturally good writer, the authenticity comes kind of built in a little more, but it's it's something that has to be conditioned. It's like a muscle, right? Essentially. So it can authenticity can atrophy, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Yeah. And I mean, it's interesting because we live in a time where authenticity is, I mean, I'm trying not to throw shade, but I I saw this video the other day of this one TikToker, and she was dancing, and she looked like she was about 23, and then she moved in a way, and the filter came off, and it was like literally a grandma. And it was this was uh something out of China. And I mean, and hey, grandma wants to dance. Good for grandma. I'm not judging that. Grandma, get get out there and do your thing. But what everyone was commenting on was the fact that this filter was there to make it look like it was someone it wasn't, you know, and that authenticity is hard. But like also, I want to layer on to that. Like coming from journalism where like accuracy and credibility matter, um, you know, it it's one of the things that I was talking to my daughter the other day, and she's like, Well, is that true? And I said, Well, we have to figure that out because there is such a thing as truth, you know, and what rules from that world still shape how you run your business today and and the content that you create, you know?

SPEAKER_01 8:12

When you work in journalism, right? Um, and I'm, you know, I'm talking like traditional media, uh, heavily kind of business, but writing for print, writing for newswires, delivering in delivering information where like one factual accuracy can can really impact you, you know, and then you lose trust with your readers. You know, errors happen, of course, and you do like a correction, right? This number was was off. But learning that and applying that to the work I do, corporations and companies um want that same level of accuracy, right? Because they're ultimately putting out messaging to investors, to buyers, to ecosystem partners and supply chain, you know, partners. That level of accuracy and information ultimately makes or breaks, you know? So, you know, so anyone can write a promo piece, right? You know, let's talk about like a bank selling a mortgage, right? And it's easy to write uh a piece, hey, the housing market's booming, right? Like, you know, these mortgages now, interest rates are down a little bit, these mortgages are, you know, are beneficial and are, you know, gonna lead to you having a home. But like that level of superficial information probably already has some error in it, right? So you have to really scratch the surface. You have to really distill. Um, and ultimately, you know, with the clients I work with, if I don't know what I'm talking about and I don't really fully understand what I'm writing about, then the accuracy and credibility go down. And it's easy to find whatever the topic is, it's easy to find somebody who really, really knows that industry, that topic, who then can can produce what's needed, you know? So there is a level of, again, you that kind of ties into authenticity, a level of of really keeping up the quality of your work. Um, and and that comes down, you know, there's voice and there's a sense of like rhythm and a sense of like concise writing. But on underneath it all, you know, the information has to be vetted and verified.

SPEAKER_00 10:32

And it's interesting too because I I um have a podcast that is the growing money. I got a lot of podcasts. That's kind of like I do a lot. It's awesome. I do a lot of stuff, man. I got four podcasts that I run, and I have my daughter's YouTube channel and I run my wife's like, you know, music stuff. So I got a lot going on. It's fun, you know? Yeah but like one of the things too is like, especially with the financial podcast, we can't just spout off bullshit. You know, it's like, you know, it's like you gotta be like, if there's like a financial principle, and like one of the guests I have that come on, they're like, dude, I can't give advice, A and B, but we have to make sure this is right because there is a right way to do something. You know, like I saw this one guy and he was making videos, and he was a financial advisor, and he's a really nice guy, seemingly, but he was just like, Yeah, put everything in Bitcoin. And I was just like, Are you sure? Like, are you sure to put everything? I mean, I understand, you know, and then I pressed him on it, and he was like, Well, yeah, but I mean a diversified portfolio and Bitcoin's one part. I was like, okay, that's a bit different than what you just said.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

Diversify versus put it all in Bitcoin. And look at Bitcoin, right? You know, so it's it's hovering around 70K. Um, it it hit 62. I think for people who bought in um at 100 or 120, that's a massive loss. Um I I believe in crypto. I I write about it. I also write for uh two crypto exchanges. And those crypto exchanges would never I'll write about like how to how to avoid scams, right? Or how to um how to be how to be smart about understanding the blockchain and how it works. I'll even write about like uh quantum computing. Is it a threat to Bitcoin? Can it undermine the the sort of integrity of the data? Here's why and why not. Those crypto exchanges would never ever hire me to write a piece saying buy Bitcoin, right? If that makes sense. And they, you know, they're selling Bitcoin.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Right. And so that's where I find that, you know, coming back to that that truth and that accuracy is so powerful. But like I wanted to ask you this because when you're creating this content, you know, one of the things that I find is that um there's a lot of pressure um when you're hitting deadlines, when you're hammering the stuff out, and that pressure often reveals people's principles. Like, what moments early on tested what you really stood for as a founder, as a creator? So I a big principle for me is uh uh trust, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:15

Trust and consistency. So I'm actually, and the way my business works, um I have a select group of clients uh under 10 people. Um I'm in five years, year five of doing my work and working with companies. Out of let's say eight companies, more than half I've been working with for three years, right? And this is not every day different clients will, you know, put me on a project, I'll be kind of busy for a few months, uh, it'll quiet down. And then I've got other clients, right? So I'm I'm working and I'm I'm staying employed, right? But basically, I'm not a believer in the like fast scaling and and the sort of burn and churn. Because I think one like any, I could do that, right? And I could set it up and just kind of keep pulling in c clients, keep kind of churning things out, next, next, next. But I'm actually a big believer in relationships, right? So the people I work with hop on a call, hop on a Zoom or a riverside call and talk. I'm a familiar face, right? And I actually kind of treat that almost like a currency, right? So those relationships to me hold a lot of value. And as time goes by, they will then refer me to other clients. And I don't have to be like blaring the horn on LinkedIn as much, right? If that makes sense. Um But it's also the the concept of familiarity and trust. And, you know, I'm very comfortable hopping on a call and meeting somebody brand new and and just sitting down and saying, okay, tell me about your business, kind of what's your what's your real niche, what's your messaging. And I, you know, do that all the time, but I also find a lot of value and comfort in seeing, you know, ex-executive that I've known for eight years, right? And hearing, hey Damien, great to see you. Like that, that has a value to it, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:23

The idea of relationships and like that trust is so huge. I um I early on in social media, there was one of my favorite books. It was written by these two guys. I don't even remember their names, but I remember the book. It is called Trust Agents. And it was saying how one of the most important things that you can do in building content is developing trust. It's, you know, why are certain groups, fans, so um ravenous about the content they produce, or because you have this trust and this faith that the next thing is going to equal what you just had. It's gonna equal that that question. You know, when you look at the underlying ethos of different channels, I I love thinking about Mr. Beast. Like, have I here's one of the reasons I like Mr. Beast is he answers, he asks the question that we all would always wanted to answer. When you're a kid, right? And you you look sitting there in grade school and you look at your friend, you're like, hey, hey, would you eat poop for a dollar? And like the kids are like, no, I'm not gonna eat poop for a dollar. You know, would you eat poop for $10? And I mean, even now, if someone asked me that, would you eat poop? I was like, Dad, I'm not eating poop. Like, and my daughter would do a joke like that with me, would you eat poop, Dad? But the other day she asked me that question and she's like, Would you eat poop for a million dollars? And I'm like, A million. A million dollars. I'm like, we are gonna be in, we are gonna be enjoying some poop poo on the plate tonight. And that's not a problem, you know. I will take this one for my family. I'm not talking, I gotta know what type of poop. Like, that's not the questions you gotta ask. That's hilarious. But you know, I I'll figure out a way. I'll have some Coca-Cola next to me and just pound that Coke so I can get through it and like flavor-wise, balances it out. But that's a million dollars. Mr. Beast's whole channel is built around that concept. What would you do for this? You know, he walks up to someone. Here, he has a thousand dollars. Would you fly to Paris right now? I remember that episode, you know. Now, why is that important? Because his fans trust that they're gonna come on, and every single episode, he's gonna check to see what people would do for money. You know, you see these like uh one zero to one to ninety-nine, and they have someone in every age from one to ninety-nine, and then the people are slowly getting kicked off and stuff, right? Well, what was interesting about that episode was watching, I think it was like, I don't know if it was the 50 somethings or the 60 somethings that were just brutal, going after everyone. And they were just like, I want this money, you know? But it the question is always asked, and whether whatever channel you follow or whatever channel you want to build, at the end of the day, you have to continue to figure out that question of like what information you're delivering and how can you deliver it in a way that people will trust that you're gonna show up with that, you know?

SPEAKER_01 18:12

It's a really, really good question. And I think one, you know, um having having a level of consistency is important. Um, so I'm gonna kind of stick with with more like my area of content, which is more, more writing, more written. You know, I'll do, I'll do videos, I'll do podcasts, um, heavily on LinkedIn, right? Because that's kind of where professionals are, right? I use Instagram, um, and I use I use Facebook and I use uh X, Twitter. Um I I like I like to call it Twitter, but um I don't really get the same engagement off of those, and I don't really get work off of those ever, right? Like I can post on LinkedIn. Basically, for me, I use LinkedIn, right? And then I may work on a white paper, right? Um, I actually worked on a helped a woman, Jerry Stengel, produce a white paper for Wells Fargo on the impact of women-owned businesses. And this is like real data-driven, really looking at uh access to capital and business sustainability and resilience, looking at you know hard numbers and turning that into a narrative. So I worked on that with Jerry for half a year. Uh, I've worked on it with her for three years in a row. We work on that half the year, right? It's not every day, but proofs come back and it goes through review with the bank and then it you know comes back around. When that goes live, and I post that on LinkedIn, you know, that is ultimately advertising for that mission, right? Which is to support women entrepreneurs. It's also advertising for Wells Fargo. It's also advertising for Jerry, and it's also advertising for me, right? So as people see that, okay, Damian was a writer-editor on this, on this white paper, that ups my credibility, that spreads, and then I will get inbox DMs saying, hey, you know, uh, I'm looking for a writer, looking for an editor on this project. That said, you know, there is a limit to how much you get from from posting, right? Or even just producing, whether it's um you're on Twitter 10 times a day, or you post on LinkedIn twice, twice a day, or five times a week, whatever it is, you know, you can, or you put out a newsletter. That's important and you can do that, but you also really have to get out there, right? Like you have to network, you have to meet with people, you have to like go to events, go to entrepreneurial get-togethers within your space, right? Whether it's like software as a service or you know, crypto, whatever it is. You find your ecosystem, be present, be there. And what I find in doing that, right, and I have a few different beats, so to speak, but when I go to events and talk to people, get maybe hop on stage, right, and introduce myself or just go up and really like shake hands and and meet with people, when I'm back at my desk and I'm doing that next post, I have that much more of an audience, right? Because I'm not just uh a guy on a screen, right? Like I'm I'm somebody who whoever my reader is met in real person. And and that that IRL that in real life is essential. And that is the sort of the the other part of the pillar of doing digital content. Digital content by itself. Um, these people who tell you, like, oh, I make I have a million followers and I make a million a year, and all I Do is produce Instagram videos. Like that's usually bogus.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

I I I think that the um it's a slow and steady burn. Like if you really want to build something, it's it's about it's this it's about showing up every day and continuing to nurture those relationships. Like the the podcast conversations that I have had here have turned into leads for me. And they always are, but it comes because I'm authentic and I'm just saying stuff and I'm making good clips and content that you know people are like, well, you know what? If Sean can do it, he's an idiot. Then we can do it too. You know, it's like, I'm like, well, I play an idiot, but I actually have a plan behind what I'm doing. It works sometimes, doesn't others. But you know, one of the things is I was like, I want to you to I want people to trust me. I want people to trust that I am out there trying to ask the questions that, you know, they might be scared to ask. That's the point of my my financial podcast. Do you know, like, I had no idea what a 401k was like until I was like 40 something, because I was living overseas, man. And I sounds crazy, but like I didn't, I didn't know about all these financial things because I had been working and living in Southeast Asia as an English teacher. And when I was sitting there and I was talking to my like my my friends, and like they're like, Well, this is what I have on my retirement accounts. And I was like, Oh. And I felt so embarrassed that I never asked. I I would finally was looking things up, but I felt was just petrified. But then I started my Growing Money podcast to talk to financial professionals and ask the stupid questions. And I'm I'm the first to say that. And now I will tell people that, like, they'll judge the hell out of me. But I'm like, judge me, but there's a lot of people out there that have the same fears, the same uncertainties, you know? And I think that the idea is what I'm going back to is that, you know, you can create authenticity, and that authenticity can help broaden your impact. But you have to figure out who you are and and figure that out. Because, like, not every client's for you. You know, if you're a creator, not every brand is something you want to work with, not every person. I had one person that was talking to me about doing content for them, and simply scheduling an appointment was such a headache that I was like, this is not someone I want to work with because it was just this monstrous thing. And it was like, they I talk into the assistant, and then the person was messaging me back, and then the assistants messaged me back, and it was just like this chaos. And it was like, I mean, I know that sounds like I'm just, but it wasn't. It was the type of communication too. And I actually had someone reach out to me. Oh, and I had like, I had a guest that wanted to come on the podcast. That I just finally said, you know what, I wish you the best, but I don't want to have them on my podcast. And this is why they were reached out to me through my fan page, uh not fan page, but like the LinkedIn page of the brand for the podcast. They messaged, hey, my friend said I should reach out to you about coming on your podcast. And I was like, okay, great. And I messaged them from my personal one and I was like, let's talk. I'd love to have you on. And they said, Yeah, tell me about your podcast. I was like, Oh, well, check it out. Like some type of understanding. You messaged me. Yeah, you messaged me. They're like, uh, but you know, yeah, this is kind of what I do. This is the format. They're like, cool, send me some episodes. I was like, you reached out to me, man. Like, you messaged my fan page. Like, I thought you had looked at my podcast or something. And like, I just suddenly realized, and then I sent over some links, and then I finally was just like, they had a couple more questions, and I was just like, this person's not bad, but this is not someone that I'm engaged. I want to have a conversation with just because I don't feel in alignment. And that realization that I don't have to be a fit for everyone, and not everyone has to be a fit for me, has helped me in my business. How how have you had any experiences like that as well, with you know, finding when when choosing clients, like what principles help you decide what who actually makes the business healthier, not just looks more impressive on paper, you know?

SPEAKER_01 26:15

Really, really great question. And and what you're what you're saying totally resonates. Um you know, especially the the concept of alignment, you know, where somebody starts messaging you and you know, you're just you're not feeling there's like compatibility. Um, so when I started my company, when I started my business 2021, um kind of height of the pandemic uh in New York City, I started working with a uh crypto exchange. And I basically, um, this was almost full time, like it was contract, but it was, you know, a good like six months, uh, daily, daily work. Uh, they sent me a Chromebook, and I was basically like an internal data analyst, manager, and liaison. So I would go through these like quality assurance, quality control reports around customer vetting, around like, are these customers real or not, right? With all the scams. Got really involved in doing this, um, and would go through these reports and they were riddled with uh errors and they were filled with flaws. And I had to like work with a team of 100 people, take these reports and go to like stakeholders at the top, you know, top people at the crypto exchange, and basically give them like the story and like give them an explanation of like where we're heading in terms of the customer vetting, which was like not a pretty picture. Um that work was high pressure. That was some of the hardest work I've done in my career. And uh it was like a fraction of my rate of what I charge now for client for content work. I went back to that exchange and I actually turned them into a like a client, like a repeat client doing content. And doing content for them was a lot easier. It was, I mean, people take a critical eye, but I'm not, you know, like the content is not at the core of like the company's like integrat financial integrity, right? Um so in doing in doing content, I realized it's more my natural skill, right, as opposed to like managing and and being like an auditor. Um and it's also something that can actually pay significant significantly more if you're smart about pricing. And sort of my takeaway from that is never quit a project uh halfway. Um, especially if you work a job, right, a nine to five, and and that job is not for you and you're not happy or it's causing stress, uh impacting your family life, by all means leave that job, right? And and find a find a better fit. But if you're a contractor and you're on these projects, the project will end, right? So tough it out, stick it out, because that can become a relationship. That like keep your chin up. Even if you are are on the videos and and you're sweating and you don't want to be there, just get through it. Because at the end, you know, that will be a lesson for you. That is how you learn how to better price, how to better find product projects, but it's also a potential repeat client, you know? So uh my rate on that project 2021 was one eighth of what my rate is now, right? Um I knew it was not, you know, I came from journalism and I, you know, I was making 100K a year, something like that. So it's not, you know, a situation where like I'm building totally from scratch in terms of pricing. But, you know, that's what they offered. It was it was a gig. I I liked the company, I thought it was interesting, I learned a ton, right? So I took that lower rate. I would not take that rate again, right? But I would work with that company again. Um, but that ultimately allowed me to build a rate sheet, right? And with my rate sheet, you know, generally $2 a word. Um the longer the the content becomes, the pricing goes down a little bit, right? Um, but generally $2 a word, $150 an hour, um, proofing maybe $100 an hour. So I have my clear pricing. I'll never go above that, right? So that's any client who reaches out, I'll give them my rate sheet. Um, and that is kind of my back to off uh back to credibility, right, and authenticity. I came up with this pricing, but I will often go below it, right? Like I will often get a project where I think it's really interesting and I can help, right, as a consultant, as a writer, um, but the client says, hey, we can't afford $2 a word, right? I'll then be flexible and I won't go back down to that pandemic project level, right? But I give myself flexibility, you know, and that allows me to really focus more on working with people I like and respect, getting into topics that I care, that I know, that I understand, that I care about. Like I wouldn't, I got offered to write something for like uh dating apps. And I was like, I don't like I'm like I'm a finance guy, you know, and and I'm I don't know dating apps. So yeah. So point being, people I like, content that I'm comfortable with, familiar with, um, and and ultimately projects I like. And and I and I think in doing that, I'm thinking less about the money, right? Because I just know here, here it is, right? Like it's it's etched out.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

I I think when you can, you know, find your, I don't know, find your lane, find your direction, find your your your I used to have when I was a kid, I don't know, I'm I think I'm older than you, but like these little race car tracks I remember like a toy car. I remember, you know, and you're like man, kids do not know the joy that you could find running a race car around a high speed and then trying to launch the thing off in the corner into the corner of the room. We'd have these pillows stacked, see who could launch it the best. But what was interesting is unless until you found your groove, the car wouldn't drive. That's right, you know, and so until you find the groove, if it's not in the groove, you can't drive. And you have to figure out what is your lane, what is your direction, what is your groove, you know? And you know, it's like because there's a lot out there. And if you're not careful, you'll feel scattered, you'll feel spread thin. You know, and like one of the things that for me is like when I'm making content, some of the principles that I focus in on is like number one, what story am I trying to tell? What am I trying to communicate right now? What am I trying to share and inspire into people? You know, and I mean, if it's a a personal finance podcast, well, you know, how am I helping people empower themselves on this? It this one, you know, with this podcast, I'm trying to, you know, I have my own production company, but I'm trying to talk to a lot of people, other people that are creators and have their own production companies because, dude, I want to spread the fire that I believe in that we can be making an impact in our world. And the more creators I can talk to, dude, they got their own company. Cool. It's not, it's not a zero-sum game, man. We are all doing good stuff. And like for me, those are the principles that I remember, you know. But what when you start feeling scattered, what principles help you reset before you start looking at, you know, what you're doing and what you're creating?

SPEAKER_01 34:09

I would say rest and and relaxation. Um, that could be out with my my wife and son, you know, that could be uh a weekend of of traveling and and going to beaches if it's warm or going in the mountains. I even uh I know what you're talking about with those those car tracks, and I and I have one at home and I and I use that with my six-year-old kid, right? Because it's like I yeah, because I like the physical, I like the tangible um sensation. And also getting for especially for a kid, right? Getting dopamine, so to speak, from from a physical hands-on activity is a lot better than Fortnite, right? You know, for example. So, so and not that, you know, I like gaming and and I do it, but every time everything's moderation. Um, but rest and and relaxation and really taking time to think about, okay, you know, that last project was my heart in it as much as I want it to be, right? And was I at 80%, was I at 100% in terms of energy and output and enthusiasm? And if not, you know, um, what should I change about myself? Or what should I change about the kind of work I'm taking on? It's it's one or the other, right? And if you don't have those critical moments, especially during breaks, if you don't have those critical moments of reflecting, you could just keep jumping back into a situation where, you know, you're coasting and and it's working, but it's not really where you want to be.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

Yeah, really. But you know, if you don't have that that anchor point, it's tough, you know. And I think that finding those principles help you keep up what you're doing. But like, how do you balance independence with like collaboration too? Because I I find I find that I'm so much better when I collaborate with people. Like when I'm sitting here talking with people and like I try to do like solo content, and I think I feel so cringe. Hi, I'm here to talk to you about this, this, this, and this. And I'm like, it's just not my vibe. I can do it if I'm freestyling, but I can't sit there and like work off of a script. I know, like, you got a script that you're saying, dude. I cannot do that. Like the turning into the shot. And have you thought about like, oh dude, I just look, I look like an idiot. I studied acting, but I'm a pretty horrible actor. I like it, but I'm not that great. I'm good at improv though. But I mean, for me, collaboration is so much easier. But, you know, at the same time, for you, you know, protecting your standards while building something bigger than yourself is a question, when you collaborate with people, you put yourself out there and there's that risk, you know, to your brand as well, you know?

SPEAKER_01 36:58

So I think back to like getting out and like building in real life, um, networking with people. Fortunately, like because I came from journalism, which is like you're always like you're working with an editor or a team, you're on the phone talking to sources, like you are constantly engaged. Um less so now, so I do have moments where I can like wake up, I don't have to be in an office at eight or nine, right? I create my own schedule, but I'm often with my clients, like it's not just like Slack and email, right? Like I'm meeting with them, hopping on Zoom calls, you know, okay. Like after this, I'm hopping on a corporate client call. It's probably gonna be like two hours talking about capital markets and portfolio diversification investing. Um, I gear myself up for it. I like it, but ultimately the work I do, it's not just writing. It's a lot of con and a lot of research, but a lot of conversations. I also have a network, right? Um, kind of like an orbit, essentially. So I have subcontractors. Um, I work with uh former apprentices of mine. Um I work with uh a woman in um Austria. Uh I work with an incredibly talented woman in Nigeria, work with a really, really smart guy in India. Um, I work with a guy in the Philippines. So these are people I know and trust. And I get projects. Um I got a I had a client asking me to help build like an AI framework, essentially, like an AI framework for repeat content. Um, I understand in theory how to do that, and I understand content, but I don't like, I'm not like an AI mechanic, right? But I have a a colleague, a partner in India who is like a guru at that, right? And who specializes in that. So that's an opportunity for me to either bring him on as a subcontractor, right? Um, therefore I'm involved, I'm in the mix, um, or just purely make it a referral, right? And say, hey, this is not uh I would love to do it. This is not my skill set, but I know somebody else. And in doing that, I'm I'm maintaining relationships and I'm and I'm keeping um, I'm not just in a silo, I'm not just in a vacuum. I don't want to be, I'm with you on how it feels, cringe. And ultimately, you will kind of hit the end of a rope if you do that. Like if you don't talk to people and network and have a network, you know, um, work can dry up, right? And then when you're reaching out to people, it's kind of like you're you're starting from scratch and they might just be like, Who are you? Right.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

If you could go back and give yourself your younger self some advice when you were starting out your journey, what would that be? That's a great question.

SPEAKER_01 39:53

I think basically don't limit yourself, um, especially in today's world, right, with with AI. Um, and there's a little bit of a lesson in AI as well, right? Like use it responsibly, use it to to enhance your work and and to empower you, but don't don't just kind of outsource your voice to it, right? Um a, you know, I would teach younger me to minimally use AI. To to minimally, I use it now, not a ton, but I use it. Um, to minimally use it and and to really, really build from my my natural skills, you know, my my hands, my voice, my my mind, really, really use that, not limit myself and and also really find an area that I like that I can see myself doing for 20, 30 years and and also grow within. Um, I don't regret working in journalism. Um, I learned it, it's it was like boot camp, did it for 12 years, built, I mean, a lot of my clients knew me as a journalist, right? So I'm able to go back to them, and that's like my warm network. But ultimately, I was not meant to be a journalist into my 60s, right? 50s, 60s. Some people you see, certain people in their 70s, like Bob Woodward, right? And you know, just to kind of name a big name, these people who are true blue journalists and they're gonna do it until the very last day of work. That's not me. Um, I love journalism. I don't think society can work without journalism. I think it's a pillar of democracy. But I'm also entrepreneurial and and I don't like to be stuck in a in a nine-to-five. I don't like to be at one single desk every day because I like to be out there. And I also like the concept of building my own thing because I, you know, I can earn more, essentially, right? And I'm not I'm not beholden to one publisher or one boss or one company. And a final thing for people who want to do the sort of independent solopreneur content, or not even solopreneur, you could be an entrepreneur and you know have employees, but people who want to get into this idea of building their own brand, building their own company, um, heavily, you know, content is a booming trillion dollar industry. It's massive. Um the one other benefit is there there's actually more job security in doing this. Because if you work for one company and that company does layoffs, which is happening, you know, very, very kind of scary and sad in a way. Um, but you know, if a company shrinks or a company does just a big round of layoffs and and you are in the mix of that, you're out of work, right? And you are starting over. If you have at least three, four clients and you lose one, you still have work. You're still employed, right? And then you can replace that client as opposed to jumping back into the job market, which, you know, uh God speed to everyone doing that. And and I'm not, you know, I'm not the guy throwing rocks at the nine to five or criticizing the, you know, the people who who work for a company. Like I think that is essential for many people. Um I think it's uh something that ultimately creates a job economy, right? Um, but you know, I would I would tell my younger self um really, really explore what's out there and and do it without too much technology. Because once you learn it, then you can add the technology on. Uh final, final thought here is I think with younger generations, and I have a critical view on this. And I'm seeing it like all over social media, LinkedIn. I'm seeing people complaining about AI for valid reasons, fearing it, criticizing it, right? Voicing a concern that AI will ultimately kind of replace workers. A very valid concern. But I'm seeing some of these same people outsource their voices to AI. So it's like, where does that put you existentially? Right.

SPEAKER_00 44:28

I think that we're entering a new era, and I think that there's so many questions that are unanswered. But what I think that you're pointing at, and I I agree, like my daughter, uh my wife is a musician, and we are using AI to the max to help with arrangements and to use it as a tool. So we'll take a song that we had from a great songwriter, and it used to be that we would outsource that song to a producer and try to describe to them this is the vibe we want. And what we're doing now is we're taking the song that we paid a human songwriter to write, throw it into the AI thing, give it the prompts. It creates this arrangement, and then we take it to human musicians to make it real and authentic. And it creates this vibe, and we're remaking it. And we have like instead of a fake choir, we we we go in Fiverr. I found this choir in Africa that does these beautiful choral arrangements. But that is this way to tap into it. And yet we sit here and we have all of these musicians, like these producers that we've worked with that are like, AI is horrible. Why are people and we're like, dude, it's just a tool, like it's a tool that if you use it, and you know, like with our my daughter, you know, she's studying piano, and I said, be a great piano player. And then once you do that, use these tools that you can to enhance what you're doing, to make it better. It's like did the typewriter make people worse writers? That's a great point. You know, it just enabled them, it's an enabled them to put things out there in a better and different way, you know. And I think that right now we're so scared it's a tool, it's you know, it's gonna take over everything. It's going to automate things, but I mean, if you go back like music and video are a good example. Like if you go back to music and like music, they used to record on tape, dude. You want to talk about a pain in the ass recording, like now we have these digital DAWs, and everyone's like, oh, AI, this, dude. It is software, it is a computer program. We have computer programs that emulate like the old vintage sound right now. Are you going AI, the doom and gloom? No, it it's just it's getting more technical. But the thing is, is I think that people think about it this way, too. I I wasn't gonna die down the AI bandwidth like rabbit hole, but there is one thing that I think that I want to say like about it. Like, my great-grandma lived in the age before cars, right? And she used to tell us the story about when they got their first car and it went about it went above 20 miles an hour and she dove out of the car while it was moving because she was terrified of going so fast. Now you go back to pre-cars, you know, what was the most common job in America? A blacksmith, a farrier, these people that were doing horse hooves. That was like the mechanics of our time, you know. But like at their time, that was it, and then the horses came or cars came and the horse went, you know, a different direction. And now it's more of a hobby, but it used to be transportation. Now, you go back to one of those people before that shift and you start talking to them about, yeah, hey, I'm gonna tell you about these things, automobiles. It's gonna be the thing of the future. And they're like, oh, really? Whatever. You're like, dude, I got this business idea for you. What is that? Car detailing. Okay. You're like, you're gonna go out for a weekend with the kids, it's gonna get food everywhere, and you're gonna have to detail this car. They wouldn't be able to comprehend it. They would not be able to, like, nothing's gonna sink through. And like, I think that's where we're at right now. We can't comprehend where all this stuff's gonna go. But I think that you know, you can sit there, go, oh God, or you can learn to drive a car, man, and understand that you don't want to like you just like you don't be an idiot, but learn how to drive a car. There's gonna be stuff that's opening up and things that are created, you know?

SPEAKER_01 48:21

Really well said. And also, if I don't see it as a threat, I use it as well. I, you know, I think it can be misused. And I think often that speaks to the people using it or the companies using it, right? Um not a fan of the companies that thought they could just totally like gut their writing teams and and have AI replace them, you know? It is it can write, it can edit, but it needs a person behind it that's curating and that's training and everything, right?

SPEAKER_00 48:53

I was talking to my wife about this earlier, and we were talking about uh something. My nephew today at school, um he can be a bit of a bully at times. We'll work on it. He did something stupid today. He went up and he tried to wake another kid up that was napping. And this other kid we know is reactive. Like everyone at the school knows this kid is reactive, and he went and whacked this like thing next to the kid. Loud sounds woke the kid up. And the kid got angry, shoved my nephew, and my nephew grabbed his little like melodica. It's like a uh accordion that you blow into and it would air and hit him upside the head of the and I was like, dude, you don't do that. And so we're sitting there, and my wife and I are like looking at it, and I I I I actually had something that we shifted up. He goes to martial arts class with my daughter, but he's still in the kids' class, and he koofs off, and the teacher's really soft with him. And so I told my sister-in-law, I was like, I'm moving him up to the teen class because they train and they train hard. And that coach, I told him what happened, and the coach was like, coach went on, went in on him hard, right? And then he was like, I'm so tired. I was like, Good, you had some kid upside the head today. You deserve to be tired right now. But we were reading up on some different advice from Chat GPT, and it was like we were like, my wife's that like their families, my sister-in-law's family's going on a big trip trip this weekend. And like, we were like, maybe he should not go on the trip. Like, he hit a kid upside the head. Maybe he should stay at home while his family, you know, goes away and he stays with grandma and grandpa and my family, and he realizes that there's there's repercussions, you know, for your actions. And it was interesting because ChatGPT was like, no, that's not the best idea because of this and that, because it's gonna put into I was like, I looked at my wife and I said, has ChatGPT ever raised a kid? And she's like, No, but and I was like, No, it's filled up with all of this information, and and it's all anecdotally that it's from different, you know, experts and this and that. And I said, but it's never raised a kid, and but it does not have learned experience. Like, I don't want AI talking to me, and it does some stupid stuff. Like, I there's this one advertisement that I get right now, and I don't know who's thinking that I need to be targeted like by this advertisement, but it's got this Asian dude that's just ripped, and he's like sitting there, and it's like it's all AI generated, AI voiceover, and he's like, Did you know that after 50, Tai Chi is the number one way to get into shape? And this dude looks like he's doing TRT and totally on the juice and like lifting heavyweights every day. And the ad's like, Tai chi is what I do. And why he's sitting there with no shirt on, talking in like this interview setting. I'm like, like, what's happening right now? And I sit there and I watch that damn advertisement, and I'm going, who do they think they're selling this bullshit to, man? Because I want to see the dude who's actually over 50, who's actually in great shape, and I want to talk to that guy and go, what the hell are you doing, man? Because you're real, you're living it. Totally.

SPEAKER_01 52:08

And that guy is out there, and that guy's stock went up, right? You know, so he just needs to, he needs to get himself front and center. I uh I'm with you on everything you're saying here. I use it as well. It's a tool also for the people who fear it, or for the people who hate it, right? Because it, you know, potentially or possibly did take work away. My my my view is like, know thy enemy, right? Learn, like get in there, know how it works, you know, at the very least. We we can't ignore it. And I am of the mind frame that if we don't use AI and if we don't kind of like create guardrails and rein it in, and I think that's to be regulated to an extent. If we don't take ownership of AI, it's gonna own us, right? And it's gonna kind of it's gonna run the world in a worst case.

SPEAKER_00 53:01

Yeah. Oh yeah. Where can people find out more about you and like seek out your work, man?

SPEAKER_01 53:07

Thank you. Thank you, Sean, for asking. I would say you you you can find me on most platforms. I'm on LinkedIn, uh Blue Sky, X, um, Instagram, Facebook, Damien Gigliati. Um, my company is just my last name. Um, most sort of active on LinkedIn, and I have a website as well. But what I really invite is is for people to engage on whatever platform it's on. Uh talk to me, converse with me, you know. Um generally I I reply less to DMs, and I like to, you know, when I get into conversations, have it kind of out in the open. Um, I'm not a combative guy. I I like to think, I like I like to engage, I like conversations.