Colin Rocker: How To Build A Powerful Brand Even If Nobody Knows You

In this episode, Colin Rocker — a New York City–based career educator, content creator, speaker, and entrepreneur — breaks down career development, personal branding, navigating corporate life as a Gen Z professional, and balancing ambition with family life. He shares practical insight on how to create opportunities for yourself, stand out in the modern job market, and build a career with intention.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

It was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do to look my wife in the face and she's 39 weeks pregnant and say, like, I can't pay my portion of the rent this month. Honestly, Trey, like I grew up with a lot of shame. If I could present a facade of someone who appeared successful, I would be happy. I wasn't. It was a smokescreen. I didn't want people asking questions about why doesn't Colonel have any gas money?

SPEAKER_03 0:21

You know, everybody has a different reason to wanting to win. The person who wins is the quickest person to implement valuable knowledge that you're taught. What are your thoughts almost two years in being a father?

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Your family is not your marriage. If the three of us are all at home, I cannot take it for granted that that's time I'm spending getting closer with my wife.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

You almost have to be like water with your kids. There are some days where you're gonna have to put on a different hat and you're gonna have to be able to bring out different emotions.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Yes. My emotional range has been pushed in either direction. I've learned to be the strongest hammer and treat everything like a nail, but every problem in your life or every situation can't be solved with a hammer. And why would you be able to strike this with a hammer?

SPEAKER_03 1:01

Because there's no toolbox to being the perfect parent.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Yes, and sometimes your presence is the answer.

SPEAKER_03 1:07

Welcome back to The Modern Man. If you guys are new here, we talk about culture, society, careers, entrepreneurship, and how you can be a better version of yourself. On this episode today, we talk about a person who is very passionate about charting their pathway and being the first to do it. He's passionate about helping people online, to be able to help them get careers, jobs, and just overall being able to create a life for yourself that you deserve. I hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. Today's guest is somebody that I met recently last year. And ever since I've been able to see their content, I've become an incredibly huge fan. When it comes to charting your own path and being the best and the first in your family to do something, this person is extremely passionate about doing this and building a better future for the current and next generation. He's a dynamic keynote speaker, founder, and content creator. He's deeply committed to helping the people in this generation to be able to find the right jobs, the right businesses, and to be able to be overall successful. He generally wants to see the next generation and this generation be the best person that they can be. And without further ado, I am excited to welcome today's guest, Colin Rocker.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

That was amazing.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Wow. And you've been on a few podcasts, I saw too. So that means a lot. You know what though? It's been a while because I realize that especially like you get to a certain point, you know, rack up your few awards, you make some good content, and you get a lot of invites to podcasts, right? So I've kind of I've kind of stepped back and I've had to get more intentional in terms of like, you know, only showing up when I feel like I have something to say, right? That actually means something, and that I want to just hang out with someone I genuinely like want to spend more time with. And so I have been on a few podcasts, but I think I took I took a step back and now I'm like I'm ready to get back out here, you know, have some good conversations.

SPEAKER_03 2:58

How is that when you do get invited to be on those pods? And I guess you're like being a gentleman and declining those. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

I don't know. I I guess I found myself I went full time, and we can get into the whole origin of all this. But when I went full time, I had a pretty immediate need for cash, right? Yeah. New parent, right? New York City, um, new to entrepreneurship, right? So I was just kind of saying yes to anything and everything that came in my inbox, right? It was very, it was very easy to get me to do pretty much anything, right? But then I realized that, you know, I'm saying the same thing. I feel spent like energy-wise, right? Because I'm just running from thing to thing to thing. And I felt like I wasn't able to show up like as a hundred percent of like who I was in that moment. So it was really more of like a an energy and intention thing where I was like, do I need to be in this space saying what I just said on someone else's podcast yesterday? Or should I spend that time working on the business, working on my ideas, working on my content, right? And make the product better so that, yeah, like in a few months' time, uh, when I'm on another one of these shows, I feel like I've got something more important to say.

SPEAKER_03 4:01

Yeah. Yeah. I typically see what a lot of people, whenever they do go on like a podcast run or a show run, they do, they're promoting something, whether it's a movie, it's a product, or it's something that they have that's coming out. And I've learned that the whole marketing for that, because people are trying to get to know who you are and put more things deeper. But for you, you have a you have your uh you have your group, your meet, you know, your meet. Tell me about that and tell me why you feel like that isn't something that you should always talk about.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

That's fair. I appreciate you saying that. No, I mean, so you know, I a lot of my content is focused on career advice, right? And so a lot of career advice, especially for this generation, is really focused on like how to build relationships and how to network in a way that isn't um cringy or you feel that like compromises, you know, who you are and like so you can stay authentic and all that stuff. And I realized that a lot of people, um, myself included, kind of weren't being served in like your traditional like networking environment or networking event. When I moved to New York initially, right, very other similar situation where I was starting my network from scratch, I was starting my career from scratch. So I was going to all these events, but in New York, you realize that people quickly size you up, and in a lot of places by how much money you're making, what you do for work, and where you do that work, right? So it's a lot of job title and company title kind of trading. And if you tell me something that isn't as important or prestigious as I think I should be talking to a person that is working there, I will leave that conversation at the earliest opportunity, right? And so I wanted to create my people do that in New York? Very, very much so. I thought it was just an LA. Self-service, I mean, it's it's an everywhere thing. I think in a lot of these big competitive cities, right? Even Atlanta. I mean, we've got a great creative industry here, right? If you're not at a certain studio, if you don't have a certain size platform, right? Like I'm gonna peacefully, you know, decline and go somewhere else. Maybe. I don't know, maybe people are nicer than I remember. But um I they're still that bad. Let's still that bad in some cases, yeah. Yeah. I thought so. And so for the first, what it initially was was a new kind of networking event. I kind of flipped that on its head because at my events, you can't mention where you work and you can't mention where you work at. And so you have to really figure out a way. And I help you do that with a few prompts that I develop each each event. But um, the core sort of like purpose and meaning behind the event is and why it's called for the first, is you have to be, in order to get in the door, you have to be the first in your family to be doing something professionally or personally. And so we've had people that are clearly, you know, the first to move to this country, move to New York City, maybe work in a certain industry. But we have people who, you know, um, people have to register to attend these events, right? So each event we get 100, 200 people that want to come. I cut that down to like 40 to 60. But like some of the stories I see are like, you know, I'm the first to uh live a lifestyle that's focused on like abundance versus scarcity. Or I'm the first person in my family to live a life that is creatively fulfilling instead of doing, you know, what I feel like I have to do to get the bills paid, right? And so some of these answers to these questions have really um helped me honestly to define and then expand what like a first is and what that brand really is. Um, but yeah, that's that's my community. And yeah, I guess you're right. I should be talking about it more.

SPEAKER_03 7:12

Hell yeah, bro. That's that that's fire. Like, even as you told me about like you were speaking about how some of the people have almost like it in reverse, you're making the event to be an inspire each other and connect, but they're inspiring you at the same time. Uh I think that's truly magical, especially to I connected with the one you said about I'm the first person in my family to live creatively instead of doing what I feel like I have to do. I am definitely one of those people that I'm in my family first to do that. Um, so that that's amazing. How did the whole idea of creating a group for the first like come about?

SPEAKER_00 7:49

That's that's a great question. So I think with with my own content, right? Again, like giving, showing up, you know, for for years I was on TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, kind of showing up and giving career advice, tactical tips, right? Here's how to form up your resume, here's what to say in a job interview, here's how to get this specific role in project management for say, right? But what I realized after a few years, and I'm sure you saw this too in your areas and where you show up, is I just started to notice that I sounded and looked like everyone else that was saying a similar thing, right? So for everyone else who was talking about career, business, money, it just felt for me like I wasn't doing enough to really differentiate myself. And I wasn't, and frankly, like I wasn't enjoying the content that I was making. And so I really took some time, um, maybe back in 2023 or 2024 to figure out what is something that I feel only I could say. And the turn that came to me through that process was this idea of being a first generation professional in corporate, right? Because I, you know, my dad's from Mississippi, uh, my mom has a master's degree, right? And so I'm not really a traditional first-gen student or first-gen American, right? I don't have that immigrant story, but my dad was a plumber. My mom worked in education. And so when I moved myself to New York, I didn't have any money. I stayed in an attic for a few weeks before I could save up enough to get my first apartment. Um, built my entire network from scratch, moved up with one suitcase, you know, and sort of literally built the life that I have now, quite literally brick by brick. And so I started to imbue that in the content that I was speaking. And so it wasn't just here's how to get a job, but here's how to get that job. And everyone else interviewing for that maybe has family connections that you don't have, or they know a certain way to sit in the seat or how to open that conversation with the interviewer that you maybe weren't taught. Right. And so I started to think about how I could expose, discuss, bring up maybe some of the more unseen, like hidden aspects of people's career journeys that weren't really being discussed, and speak more specifically to a journey that I feel like wasn't being properly addressed, right? Because the stuff I talk about in my content, it's not what was told to me around the dinner table, right? It's not what I've learned from a 30-year career as an executive, right? Like it's really um, you know, tales of lessons learned the hard way, right? But I feel like that's how I really gained my audience and I I love uh what I get to create now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:11

But dude, you speak like one. You speak like somebody who has been doing this for a very, very long time. And even though, like, dude, I'm older than you, I thought I thought that um you were older than me, just the way that you present yourself online. And um it's it's bro, it's it's so so many good things.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

It's just the stress of fatherhood, it's the bags and reminds of you know from the sleepless nights. But hey, I understand.

SPEAKER_03 10:35

I understand. Did it twice? Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

That's true, that's fair.

SPEAKER_03 10:38

Um, but I I think that um the passion behind it is what I do sense every time that you talk. But I I really wanna I wanna back up because bro, I think when you you people can see this full product of you right now, right? Sure. You speak incredibly well, you're a keynote speaker, and I'm hearing that you moved to New York with barely anything, and now you've built this whole network yourself. What was CON in high school like? And what is like what is the what is the lore, the origin story of that? Because, bro, you being the first, right? You created all of this out of thin air. I was actually talking to them right when I first got here, right? And I have to have this pep talk with myself sometimes when I feel like just down and things are hard, you know. Mine is like typically like lock in FN, you know, like you gotta lock in, you've created you're living someone else's dream. That's right. Things that people are like looking at and they don't really know all about what you do, but what all took to get to where you're at right now. And I think that even for me, like I'm curious, bro, because like how it must have you where did the vision come from to like when you were, I don't know, 13 years old, to be able to think I'm gonna create something this huge, this big for your for my life.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

It's a big question. It is a big question. And it's it's one that I return to every few months, and I think my answer changes because I can be more honest with myself. And so that's one thing that I've really like enjoyed in retrospect. But like the more I feel like the more honest you are with yourself about like why you really did the things you did, the better answers you can get to, and because of the work that we both do, the better you can help people who are trying to go on that that journey themselves, right? So to to give you the honest answer that I've genuinely recently come to in terms of where did this come from and how did these things actually come to be. Like honestly, Trey, like I grew up with like a lot of shame in in my household in terms of like the perception of because my, you know, I didn't grow up in the hood, I didn't grow up in the projects, like we were always we're always the brokest family in the suburbs, if that makes sense, right? So, like in a neighborhood where everyone owned their house, we were renting, right? And when everyone was on vacation, like we were not, you know, and so I felt like I always was caught up in that like comparison of the lives of my friends and my classmates and people, because I I always made the grades and could get into the classes where, you know, I was surrounded by people that I guess, yeah, from the very beginning, like their home lives of nothing like mine, right? And so like you'd compare stories and it would just be like almost like two different worlds, right? And so I think from that young age and from that high school age, I was honestly like a little bit with like like I wanted to to separate myself. I wanted to get out of my, I wanted to get out of my environment, right? And so that's why where was this at? Like where'd you grow up? It's Marietta, Maryetta. Marietta, yeah, yeah. Cobb County, you know, metro Atlanta area, um, the 404. Um, maybe, I don't know, maybe the six, seven, eight. I don't know. One of them. One of them. But um, that's why coming out of college, like the goal was to get to New York by like any means necessary. And it literally was that. And so it was applying for, you know, the most prestigious, high-paid job that I felt like I could get. And so I ended up getting a job in consulting at Deloitte, which was at the time for me like very high paid. But you know, you you sign that, and then three or four weeks later, you know, your first paycheck comes, right? So I had uh money coming, but I literally had no money to get me to New York, right? And so um I packed up, you know, one suitcase with everything I had. I literally sold, um, I've got photos of this, but I sold everything in my college apartment. So it was literally me. The last night I spent in my college apartment, I literally slept on the floor because I had sold my bed and I had a thousand bucks, and I spent two or three hundred of that to buy a one-way plane ticket to New York. And then the rest I spent on an Airbnb. Um, that this woman was literally renting out her, she was renting out the home, but I couldn't afford the home. But I saw it had an attic. So I was like, hey, could I just stay in the attic? And she was like, fine. And so um I stayed in that attic for a few weeks, started my consulting job, and literally from there um had a bunch of experiences early on that just showed me that like I am just not like everyone else in this environment. Like I'll tell you in consulting, right? You're you're traveling a lot for work. And so, you know, that very first week, I'm on the client site. We're flying out to another city. I book the cheapest room in the cheapest hotel that's closest to the client's office, right? It was actually a smoker's room. And so I show up on the very first day of the job, you know, on time, but I'm I'm sweaty because I'm nervous, right? Uh, I smell like cigarette smoke, you know, and I'm in a suit that doesn't fit, right? Because I hadn't discovered your content yet. Um and my manager shows up and, you know, an Uber black with like an oat milk latte and like a little bit of breakfast from like the hotel. And he's like, why aren't you staying at the the Grand Hyatt, like across town? You know, that's where the literally the rest of the team is. I'm like, oh, I'm I'm trying to save money, you know. I'm I, you know, I don't want to um, you know, get get us in trouble or anything. And he was like, no, like like this is consulting, like like money doesn't matter. Like, you know, like do what you want, right? Money and so like. He didn't say that, but that was the that was the that was the interpretation, right? Like, don't worry about that because it doesn't in this world, like that doesn't matter, right? Like we're not trying to book, you know, the hotel six, it's a across the street from the client site. Um, and so it was it was experiences like that that was really telling me that like, you know, I I I woke up early and I I worked late like everyone else did, but like that hard work alone wasn't going to be the thing that was really going to separate me or really build the career that I wanted. And so I think it was some of those early experiences that, you know, helped in retrospect form the perspective I have on like career and work now. Um, but it took me a while to just be able to admit that, right? Because I I wanted to be the expert. Like when I showed up on the internet, you know, making TikToks in 2020, like you want to be someone that people can trust. You want to be someone people can um yeah, trust to give them what they need to move up in their careers. And so I didn't really talk about these things that maybe I was more embarrassed or ashamed of at the time. But as I've opened myself up to that, it's made the community of my online audience and in my in-person, you know, meetup community with for the first like so much richer. And I wish I would have done it sooner.

SPEAKER_03 16:56

So when you say he told you about how you realized that hard work alone wasn't gonna be able to get you more success, what did that what did that mean to you? And how did it kind of how did you implement it into your life going forward? That's a good question.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

I think um one of the big beliefs I have that's related to that is like I've always believed that like proximity was power, right? And as close as you could get to a decision maker or someone who could do something for you and make a good impression, that was almost like the the perception of you to people who can make changes in your life and in your situation is in some cases, especially in a corporate environment, I feel like in most cases more important than the raw number of hours you put in, right? Like I talk about in some of my videos the difference between like a blue collar and a white-collar mindset, right? Like I was raised in a blue-collar environment where hard work was paramount, right? And you know, you you hear things a lot like um, your work will speak for you, right? And and putting your time in and paying your dues and all these things. But like we've all, um, anyone who's worked in any environment has knows people that have worked twice or three times as hard as the other people around them, but they're not given the same opportunities, right, as other people. And I think a big difference maker for me, and again, this manager to his credit really took me under his wing and he he showed me like how he had navigated his own career because he was uh in his own right a very successful, very like young, like senior manager at the firm. Right. And he had his own way of doing things. But his whole thing was like, again, like perception is everything, you know, like if if something, if there's a part of the organization that you see like leadership is pouring resources and investment into, like that's where you want to be, right? Um, one of the first lessons of this, it's a long answer, but one of the first ways I learned this was um he asked me to start scheduling the team dinners at the end of like the workday. And I was so like, I remember in the moment, like I was so like pissed, honestly, and like embarrassed because like I felt like I had worked my whole way to become someone who was, you know, leading like strategy and like doing really important work. And you're asking me to like make a dinner reservation, right? But what I didn't realize was the person who made the reservation gets to attend the dinner. And so I show up for that first dinner, and it's all of the senior leadership from Deloitte, the company I'm at at the time, and some of our most senior clients. And so week after week, day after day, I'm able to build relationships with people much deeper than like any of the other analysts and associates, right, that were on my team because I was just I was putting myself in a somewhat lower position to be able to be put in a higher position later on, right? So being able to think long term about that and then showing up to these dinners, asking good questions, like building relationships, um, getting my first tailored suit, you know, like these things are like they're all they're all really, really important.

SPEAKER_03 19:43

Yeah, I really, I really love everything you just said and love that you were able to see the vision in what he had you doing, right? You had kind of had to let you had to take a moment to let down your pride to be like, all right, you gotta be scheduling these, you know, these dinners. Yeah. But you saw that he was putting you around really good people that you had an opportunity to meet that your associates or you know, um other coworkers didn't get a chance to meet. Which, you know, um, I met Van Jones recently.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

Amazing.

SPEAKER_03 20:11

And he he told me the quicker the person who wins is the quickest person to implement valuable knowledge that you're taught.

SPEAKER_00 20:19

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 20:20

The quicker the that's the person who wins, the quicker you can implement what you're learning. So those people that you met, you learn X, Y, Z, you start implementing it the next week, the next day. The same way if you read a really good book. That's the difference between people can read 50 books in one year, but the person who really is, okay, I'm going to uh make this really applicable to my life and make it happen. And I think that that's so important for your network, right? My mentor told me uh something that reminded me of what you said about uh perception is power. He always told me that when you are uh, I always asked him, I was like, you know, why is it because he always put his products like next to like a Mercedes or he may put his products next to a car or something like that. And I was like, why do you do that? And he was and you know, because I for me from the outside looking in, it could be like showing off. That's right. But he's like, okay, if I put my products or I put myself always next to a Mercedes or a Lincoln or some type of expensive car, I'm associating myself with this. And association is perception. That's right. And that's what people are able to be able to get from you, even that don't know you, even your friends that see you every day, it's like this is what you're associated with. That the first thing I can think, which you know we talked about earlier with you, the first thing when people think of Colin Rocker is LinkedIn.

unknown 21:41

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 21:41

Yeah. I'm just saying that's right by association and perception, it's like, okay, this guy is the essentially is the gateway to careers. So I need to talk to him about because right now, what is the biggest thing is like people are losing their jobs, they're getting laid off, yeah, and people can't find jobs.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

Yeah, can't get one in the first place. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:00

Can't get one in the first place. And you have positioned yourself where you are the gateway person to talk to for that, right? I need to talk to this person about how to get a job. I need to even for myself, I'm like, man, I sent you a print request on the other day, and I was like, he's popping. Like he's popping on LinkedIn, bro. I felt like because I made a connection with you, I was like, Yeah, I'm gonna be they're gonna see me and be like, who is him? You know, we need more of you on LinkedIn, 100%. I appreciate that. Uh hopefully I I can learn more about it through just studying like your profile and um and other people's. But I I think that like you said, it the network really uh means a lot. And um it it's not who you are, it's uh who you know. It's not what you it's like how's the quote go? It's not what you know, it's who knows you. It's not what you know, it's who knows you. Yeah, and it can get you into rooms. Uh, so I really love that you said that and that you learned that uh in your first job right out of college.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

I was lucky. Yeah. Yeah. I think one of the things um, yeah, I I mentioned this um in a comment recently, but I think in the modern workplace now, like we really are in like I I call it an empathy crisis, or I've heard it called an empathy crisis. Yeah. Uh, because you know, I was I was listening to this um session and a conference I was at recently, and this person is up there who's like, she's a big like culture HR leader, and she was talking about how if you're 22 right now and you're applying for a job, in most cases, especially if it's a large organization, that first or second round interview isn't even with a human. You're talking to a robot who you're putting voice into, and then they give you some response, right? Okay, well, maybe you make it through that, you get into that job and you run into maybe some of the same situations that I ran into. Now, instead of talking to your mentor or your manager or a peer advisor, all these people have been sucked into the work machine, right? They no longer have the time to sort of pour into you like they did maybe a few years ago. And so a lot of companies have implemented these like automated like ticketing feedback platforms, almost like customer service, where like if you have a question or a concern, you type it up and you send it into some platform, and either an AI chatbot responds back to you, or some response is like generated and sent back to you at some other point.

SPEAKER_02 24:11

What?

SPEAKER_00 24:11

Yeah. And then a few months go by, maybe a year, right? You get laid off from that job because you aren't performing and you're given this like automated, you know, templatized email that says, hey, we're sorry to inform you, yada, yada, yada, access is cut off, last paycheck will be on this date, right? And that's it. And so I feel like um, if you're, you know, we we wonder why Gen Z especially feels so disengaged with the workplace when it's been like, you know, slowly and now quickly like destroyed. Like there is no, I think it's so much harder to feel connected and engaged with the people you're working with and the organization you're working for. And that's led to a real like lack of empathy. Like it took, like now, I look back at that experience in those first two years I spent with that manager at Deloitte, and I'm like, like, this dude saved my life, like my career, you know, like he really took me under his wing and um showed me and in and gave me exposure to rooms I wouldn't have been in otherwise. And for the rooms I wasn't in, he spoke up for me in those rooms where I realized in retrospect was not happening across the board for some of the younger associates. And so I think like I love that you talk about your mentor. Uh, I think that's so important. I have mentors too in every part of my life, right? Um, not just business, not just work. And I think it's been some one of the keys, man. You gotta like uh taking it, taking it back back. It's like you think about um, you know, in tribal communities, right? Like you've got like the storytellers in the grios and stuff who were like, it's their job to share these stories that they've only learned through either someone vocalizing it to them or through their own hard-earned and hard-won experience, giving that to the younger generation. Um, I mean, you could see this show as your own version of that, right? Which I think it is. So it's it's really, really powerful.

SPEAKER_03 25:55

Yeah, that's definitely what we're trying to do here. Like, I want everybody to as well get a deeper connection with me that I can't give you in a you know 60-second reel or TikTok or you know, in a five to 10 minute video on YouTube. But I think to be able to learn with me and learn uh with our guest to all like be able to get that sense of connection of like what this world is, because it's a crazy world right now. But I do want to ask you, what do you say to the person right now? Because you you have you talked about the 22-year-old, right? And I think I'll put it in like three different sections because I think there's three different sections right now of different people who in the job market, right? You have the 22-year-old who is just recently graduated from college or looking for their purpose of what they want to do with their lives in their early 20s. You have a person who is in their third thing in that 35 plus category, and they've either been recently laid off or they can't find, can't seem to find a job for a while. And you have a person who's older, maybe 45, 50 plus, who also is in that like what what would you say to those three different demographics of people, to the best of your sure, you know, I'm not saying you gotta give them God tier advice, but just what do you what do you think they should be doing right now to position themselves? Because one of the things I read on your website is six, I did not know six percent of black Americans, or is it black Americans, black people? Black Americans, yeah. Black Americans only make a hundred thousand dollars a year.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

That's right. That's right. That's crazy. And and in context of everything that we now know about this economy in terms of affordability, uh uh the ability to buy a home, right, the price of education, post-secondary education, right? Um, what AI is doing at the job market, like that stat has become especially recently, like so uh so wild to think to put into perspective of if you are that person, you know, um yeah, you're having a rough go of it, probably, right? So it's it can be really tough. But yeah, I think to um one, I love that question because I feel like especially online, we maybe focus too much on the early career, right? Because honestly, genuinely, like I just think it's easier, right? You've got less to to work with, right? Like I've I've been an executive coach, and so I've helped people who are 10, 15, 20 years into their career uh make a pivot or find their next role. And you know, it it is it is harder, right? So what I would say to that, to, to the to the to the younger person to that part of your question, um you have to make the job market in your career as like physical and as human as physically possible. And so that old advice of um, I made a video on this where it's like, you know, your your grandfather's advice to just walk in and hand them their resume doesn't sound so stupid anymore, right? Um, obviously that specific tactic is still very stupid, but I think it's stupid. I mean, you're not gonna get like if you if you want to work in high finance, right? You cannot walk into the headquarters of JP Morgan and hand so any resume, right? You can't even approach the steps of that building. They will escort you out. But what I am saying is that if I were a young person right now trying to get your foot in the door, you want to make that job search or that career path as physical and IRL as possible. So what I mean by that is if there are in-person like conferences, networking events you can go to, if there are people coming to campus that work at these organizations, do that. Um, I was a big fan of Cole DMing on LinkedIn. At the time when I was in college, that was really effective for me. Like probably 50% of the people I reached out to at that point would reach back and at least answer a question. Maybe they don't get on a call with you, but maybe if you have a question, you know, wanting to learn more about what work they did, like people, people got back to you. In 2026, that may not be the case. Like I, again, like going back to the the empathy crisis, right? I feel like inside the workplace there's a lot less empathy, but I also feel like um outside of it, like people in a slightly older generation have less empathy for what those people are going through. Like try not to be one of those people. But I would say, like the hard thing about being someone younger in your career is that you don't have the resume or the wins or the things you can put on a piece of paper that are gonna make you jump out to a potential employer. But you as an individual being able to look someone in the eye, form a relationship with that person, that's always gonna make you stand out. And so I think younger person, get as uh real as you can and go from you know URL to IRL, right? Maybe come to it for the first event, you know, um, if you're in New York, uh, but I think that 100%. Yeah, that's what I would do. Um maybe for that mid-career person, mid-tier career person, 35 plus. I think we're in an interesting point where I'm seeing a lot of people that come to my events, right? And maybe this is more like 28 to 32, so almost at that phase. But it's like a lot of people are understanding that like when the job market is so bad and when you're finding it so hard to pivot or even hard to move up in your current career, this might be the current time, the the current best time to take that bigger swing, right? I think I I talked to a lot of people in my comment sections and at in-person events, and like yeah, they work in wealth management, you know, at that point in their career, they're making 250, 300 like good life for themselves. But maybe they really wanted to like start a business, right? Maybe they really wanted to start interviewing people who, you know, I don't know, make really unique toys for a living or something. Maybe there is some untapped, like unexposed creative pursuit that they have not had the time to pursue. But in this moment of if you're feeling that stall or that lack of passion for what you're currently doing, hopefully by that point, you've now built up some resources where you can take that sabbatical or take that pivot and really just go for it. I mean, people reinvent themselves on the internet every day, you know? And so I feel like there's never been a better time to take that kind of like jump or leap. And you have ideally the network where you can take some of those um transferable skills, right? And apply them from where you've learned to where you want to go, right? And then I think yeah. The last part of your question, that's it's actually the hardest one. Yeah. But I think if maybe you're more advanced, you're saying like 40s, 50s? Yeah, 40s, 50s. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, I'll tell you by that point in my career, I will have like I've still been working. Uh, but I think because I love what I do, but I I think it's like um focusing on contribution and really leaning into like building up this next generation is ideally where I would want to spend the vast majority of that time. And so maybe by this point, it's like, how can I become a resource to the people around me or to the people that aren't around me, to the younger people, to those 22, 23 year olds? Like, yeah, because this is that's kind of how that circle connects, right? Right. So if you're in that 40s, 50s, maybe this is you being more open to and being more receptive to actually responding to that LinkedIn DM or actually responding to that person who was in line at coffee and noticed, you know, I don't know, your nice watch or your car or something and said, Hey, like, how did you get that? Or can I, you know, can I learn from you? Right. I think being open to being able to contribute and, you know, lift up as you get to wherever you're trying to go as well, I think that can be some of the most fulfilling work of someone's career. And I feel like if you're if you're feeling that lack of purpose, drive, motivation at that, at that level of your career, it's probably a sign that it's time to tie back and start saying, okay, how can I contribute to the others around me?

SPEAKER_03 33:48

I really like every single answer you gave. And to recap and even put my my thoughts into it, the 22-year-old, because I'm the person who wants to, who was like, all right, if I'm gonna go get a job, I'm trying to walk in and hit my resume. Because my biggest rule, I talk about this all the time. Even when I, even when I was single, I'm like, you just gotta get me in person. That's right. You just gotta get me in person. That's right. I can win in person.

SPEAKER_00 34:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 34:15

And that's like you said, the strongest thing you have. And I felt how I felt at 22 as well. And I think that I love that you talked about the actionable steps is using what you do have at your fingertips, right? If you're 22 years old, get LinkedIn. You need to be DMing, you need to be emailing, you need to be taking your taking your shots. And I love that you said 50% you were able to stay. And I still think to to today, yeah, today that's very possible because even when I talk to my manager sometimes, they're like, oh, we connected with this person on LinkedIn, and like there's it's still a very powerful platform, and it still goes down in the DM. It 100% does.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:53

And I think that that's the the best way that you can, the quickest person, the quickest way, you know, from a sales aspect, you can get that person from online to DM to email to a lunch, a phone call in person is the quickest way that you can make that connection. A girl uh talked about this. I saw um uh she talked about this, I think I was at one of the uh a dinner or something like that. And she talked about how she wanted to go to be on um a Beyonce concert. Really bad. She really wanted to go to Beyonce concert, but she didn't want to pay for it. Okay, fair. So she story I heard, and she messaged everybody she could find that had anything to do with Beyonce on LinkedIn, DM, anything in their bio that had something to do with it. She said out of like maybe 150 people that she messaged, one person got back to her. Wow. And that one person was um she was part of Beyonce's team. But she was like, hey, I'm going to the show tonight and I don't have anybody to go with. You want to come with me? Simple as that. Simple as that. But she kept taking the shots. And I think that it's it's a testament. Whatever you want, you really have to find a way, like you said, to there's a hundred billions of people in this world that will give it to you.

SPEAKER_01 36:01

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 36:01

For that person that's in that mid-tier that you talked about. I love that you said that they have to take the bigger swings, they have to take the risk because everybody has a creative project, a passion, something that makes them tick that they've thought in the back of their mind, what if I had done this? What if I and right now, these jobs are gonna lay you off. That's right. That's right. They are gonna lay you off. There is no more job security. There is no more job security. So, and you don't want to sit up there in your house and wondering like what I like while you do have the job security now, the funds coming in. Do it, buy that car wash, go into business with your friends, start whatever the painting thing is that you want to do. I I think that that that is so important. I I really love that you said that because I think right now, even if I was still working in corporate America, I would definitely be trying to build something on the side. Like just have your make your side hustle move. And then the uh thing about the you know, 40s plus. I think that the best thing that they can do is give back to the younger generation. With and even if you don't feel like you have a lot, whether whether it is you don't you have a job, you don't have a job right now, if you can give and devote your 40 years of your life that you in your experience, there's bro, one of the things I love is uh people being basketball coaches.

SPEAKER_01 37:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 37:28

Like it matter if you're coaching recreation, if you're like if you used to play, if you used to be a uh professional athlete or some type of athlete and you're not doing that now, giving back to the younger, uh the younger generation, I think is so important. That's right. People, especially like you said, at that point, if you're like 40s plus, you have so much in life to be able to give. That's right. Whether you realize it or not.

SPEAKER_00 37:49

Exactly. That's what I was going to say, where so many people, even in, you know, I'm I'm 30, right? And so even in my life, I've been surprised at the things you just pick up along the way that come out when you're in an environment, maybe around someone who's not as far advanced down their journey, that there's like, whoa, like, how did you learn that? And I'm like, what are you talking about? Right. Like what you take for granted, what anyone at that age takes for granted in their daily life, could like change the you know, course of someone's career, their business, their life, their fitness journey, right? Just by like being around you. Yeah, it's really powerful.

SPEAKER_03 38:21

It is, bro. It is so you said that you became a father and an entrepreneur at the same time. Yes. Bro, I did too. Really? Same time. Really? We got married in 2021.

SPEAKER_00 38:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 38:36

Uh, in June 2021. And uh, I became an entrepreneur about maybe four, I want to say four months after we got married. And then we had uh my we had my first uh my first son, oldest, we had him in January 2023. So around the same period, I'm having to, I only had 12 months to travel as much as I wanted to before he was born, pretty much. Hey, really quick, I hope you guys are really enjoying this episode. I really want to cultivate a community of guys who really, really, really are passionate about being the best version of themselves, or people who really want to enjoy just content that's different than usual. With that being said, I would love if you could join our Patreon channel. It's the first link in the description. And on there, we give a lot of different advice, things that you may not see here on our YouTube channel or on any other platform. And also, we're open to making specialized content even from this pod and from this channel that you may want to see. So definitely check it out. First link in the description. I'll see you there.

SPEAKER_00 39:39

What drove that decision for you? Like when did you know it was right to step out on your own?

SPEAKER_03 39:44

Uh it's a loaded question, but um so I tried to be an entrepreneur, start being an entrepreneur. I used to work for Tesla.

SPEAKER_01 39:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 39:55

I used to work for Tesla in um 2018. And uh I worked for Tesla for a while, and that was like my first like kind of like corporate job. I first was a salesperson and then I was a delivery, uh, deliver delivery specialist.

SPEAKER_01 40:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 40:08

So I realized when the Model 3 came out, that was like, because we would get our we would get a lot of our communication, what was going on in the company through Elong. Okay. So he would send emails, but uh the craziest part about it is he would send emails on the day of the morning, we're finding out from Electric what's going on. So Electric would send out an article and then we would have to read it, and then he would send an email later that day.

SPEAKER_00 40:31

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_03 40:32

And so that would put a lot of us in stress when the model three came out. Our manager, like three of our managers, got fired that like literal day. Yes. Because they were cutting back so much because they were putting so much into the model three. And around that time, that's when I got like really like stressed. Cause I'm like, because I was like, okay, I still was wanting to content create and do things on the side, but I was just kind of like, I took that big swing and I was like, I told my parents, uh, told my wife, which was my she was my girlfriend at the time, I was like, I want to just I want to kind of really if I'm gonna talk about men's fashion online, I really want to know what I'm talking about. Yeah, so I left, got a job at Indochino. Wow, yeah, wow, and then from Indochino, I started working at Suit Supply. So I left Indochino and started working at Suit Supply. So I was working at Suit Supply and Nike at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 41:16

I did not know any of this.

SPEAKER_03 41:17

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

This is the deep lore.

SPEAKER_03 41:19

Yes. So through that, I'm still like trying to build this thing on the side. Yes. But I always kept wondering, I've had like 17 different jobs over my life.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

Oh my goodness. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 41:29

So I'm trying to learn this over this whole time, like, why don't I like any of these jobs I'm doing? Yeah. But I'm I still want to give my best to it. And even when I'm like in the deepest, deepest pits of being broke, right? Sure. I'm like, I still gotta do what I gotta do, but I still want to build that thing on the side.

unknown 41:45

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 41:46

I get a job being um a sales uh professional at Tornau. Are you familiar with Torno? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So I I and so when I get there, yeah, watches. When I get there and I get that job, I'm like, bro, this is because I was so broke by then. I needed something, I just needed something consistent. Yeah, and so I was like, I'm not going nowhere. Right. This is it. This is it. Yeah, this is my job. I'm a I'm gonna sell these clients. I'm not gonna let any of them know that I'm, you know, I'm doing something on the side, whatever, but whatever. But I'm gonna give my heart and soul to this job. After about that's when the year that uh COVID hit, I had another mentor who I recently had on here that told me he was like, yo, go all in on TikTok. And I was like, ah, okay, I did that. TikTok kept building over it over a long time, and then I started making a little bit of bread. It got to the point where my wife and I had just gotten married, okay, and I was trying to burn two ends so much. Yeah. So recently married, I'm live at this point because I didn't live with her prior. Same. So I'm living with her. Yes, I'm living with her, and her job is basically where she is getting home around about 3:30 p.m. Okay. Obviously, I'm working in retail, so I'm not getting home till eight o'clock, 8:30 sometimes when we close the store. And we were kept missing the connection time. And by the time I get home, obviously I have emails to respond to. I have videos that I want to make because prior when I was living by myself, I could make the videos at night. That's right. So I'm, you know, but I have to be able to give that attention to her.

SPEAKER_00 43:24

I'm laughing because I, yes, I'm gonna be able to do that. You understand? Yes, yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_03 43:27

So I'm sitting here like, okay, this is becoming very, very difficult. And then, you know, you're you have that split brain where it's like, I know I need to respond to XYZ right now, but I know I need to connect with my wife. Yeah. I know that I'm split. You know, then there's no time for yourself in your mind, right? That's right. And it just became exhausting. And so that was when they I but I really didn't want to leave my job because I was like, I was, I was like, I don't want to go back to being broke. I don't want to go back to being bro. I love that I have a little bit of savings right now. That's right. Amazing. But I I I brought the whole conversation up to her, and she was just like, Well, look, why don't you try it for three months? It doesn't if it doesn't work for three months.

SPEAKER_01 44:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:12

And you know, by the grace of God, I never, you know, never had to go back.

SPEAKER_00 44:16

Isn't that beautiful? Have someone in your life that like truly believes in you. Yeah. Like I um one of the reasons why I married her. Yeah. Yeah. I I had a similar but different story where I was working a corporate job. Um and I lost that job right before my son was born. And so I I got let go like, you know, early May. This wasn't Deloitte, right? No, it was a different job. I I worked for a few different consulting companies. Then I was actually at um my last corporate job is actually at a marketing agency, small marketing agency in New York City. Um, but I lost that job on like a Friday, and then that next like Thursday, like we're going into the hospital to like have um our son, Isaiah. I hope I didn't mess that date up. But um literally it was like a week's time. I know that for a fact.

SPEAKER_03 45:04

Um she's gonna get you when you get back home. She is.

SPEAKER_00 45:07

She is, but that's okay. Um, and so I'm literally like, you know, I had that experience where I'm I'm in my apartment holding like my newborn baby boy. We don't have any family in New York. I don't have a job. She's on maternity leave, right? I'm on forever paternity leave because I don't have a job. So I'm really trying to figure out like, do I go back into the job market? Right. And because of the content I make and the world that I'm in, it's like I'm looking at a probably six to nine month-long search, right? At that point, if I'm lucky. Um, but at that point, I had same as you. I had made a little bit of bread with content, not full-time, but like not full-time money, but like I started toying with the idea, like, if I put those 40, 50, 60 hours into this thing that I know I'm passionate about, that I can see some momentum going, that I already started to build a team around me, and like that was really working out well, but hadn't really reached like its like maturity, like where it is now. And I had a very similar conversation with my wife, and she was like, she gave me six months, but it was um, but it was it was a very similar thing of like I I I I believe in you, I trust you, um, and I and I want to see if we can make this work. And then same as you, like it here we are. Oh man, like almost two years later, which is just, you know, which for you I know is baby time because you've been doing this for a minute. But like I wake up every day and like I'm I'm so so grateful I took that leap because I don't think my my business and my brand and social media for me, it it would have never gotten to this point if I wasn't put in a position where I had to make it work, right? Because I spent um, I mean, I spent those six months barely inside the home, right? And so like I was always at an event, I was always at a networking thing, I was always going to another city trying to just like drum up some motion for myself, right? Because I had to, you know, I I had very like real responsibilities. And so I'm so grateful that when my wife was in a position where it's like, you know, she could help us make sure that we weren't gonna get evicted or miss a grocery bill or anything like that.

SPEAKER_03 47:10

Um, and so I don't mean to cut you off, but I I don't I you you said something that I think is really uh paramount, I think, for a lot of guys as men can you tell me and walk me through what your mental was like during that time? Like you just lost your job, your son's here. Yeah, and you know, obviously, like your your wife is the one that I'm assuming, correct me if I'm wrong, was she kind of the person making the money? 100%. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 47:35

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 47:36

How did how did that feel during that time, man?

SPEAKER_00 47:38

I mean, look, I mean, I um content aside, my wife has made more money than me and her corporate career for quite a while at that point, honestly, which is funny because I had made my living giving career advice to people, you know. But um, I think um for me, like it was it was hard. It was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do to look my wife in the face, and she's you know, 38, 39 weeks pregnant, right? And say, like, hey, like I I can't like pay my can't pay my portion of the rent this month, or like I can't get my bills right, or I'm gonna have to pull out of savings or this account, you know, pull some of the Bitcoin out, right? Like we're gonna have to move some stuff around and figure this out. Um and I was, yeah, I was I was embarrassed. I felt ashamed. I felt like I um I felt like I was in the worst position to to be a parent at that moment. Um, and that didn't go away. I'm still working through that a little bit, but like I I I felt that I had like in that moment when you dedicate your life to someone, part of that is like, you know, through the thick and the thin, but like it got it hadn't really gotten that thin until like that exact moment. Um but I I was really surprised and relieved in just her her belief in me, you know, because at that like it was it was not like it's easy to look at, you know, LinkedIn top voice, Forbes 330, like all this stuff, and like like that, like none of that was there, right? I was just a guy sharing networking tips on the internet, right? And um, she she believed in me and what it could be, and she uh did more than her fair share, put in way more than 50%, you know, um, way more than 100% at some points to keep us afloat and to create the space for me to um build the business I ended up making. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:26

Bro, that's powerful. That's powerful. I think as men, a lot of times you feel like our worth is tied to money that we're making or our success at that point in time. So I know it's so many fleeting, so many feelings that can come in at the same time, especially at the one of the most, I would say, I would one of the most life-changing times of your first child coming into the world, it's uh it's different, you know. I for myself, I think, you know, I I identify with that because it's so much of thinking it's like, can I you when you you're when your partner first tells you that they're pregnant, you think in your mind, can I even support a child? Look, I I just found out how to brush my teeth the right way a few years ago, you know? Like it's uh it's uh it's stressful. And then I think around that time, like you said, your job, you know, so a little bit of I would say I I I mean I told my wife this the other day. I think like a little bit of your self-confidence comes from because I asked her, I said, so I feel like you know, I feel like I I look way better than I did when you first met me. And she was like, you're a more polished version, obviously. But like, and I would I and I told her, I was like, well, I said maybe it's because I make more money than I did when I first met you. And because I'm tying my worth to my money.

SPEAKER_00 50:46

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 50:47

I'm tying my worth to how much money I make right now, how much I can provide. That's right. And I I can only imagine because that times where I felt like I couldn't.

SPEAKER_01 50:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:56

Um, there was even a time re you know, in recent years where it was like a really slow season. Um, and you know, I felt like I was burning through so much cash.

SPEAKER_01 51:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:05

And I start that feeling started to come back where I'm like, I can't provide, I can't provide, I can't, you know, I can't provide the way that I want to. So nibbles at you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:14

So I can only imagine during that time for you, like Yeah, I think especially, and sorry to cut you off, but like going back even to some of the earliest things we were talking about, like it's always um like that shame came back, right? And like now we're going to because when you have a kid, as you know, your whole life changes, your social circle changes in a lot of ways. And so now we're going to uh yeah, we're we're going to parties and we're going to social social situations or like, yeah, I'm I'm introducing myself as a content creator, right?

SPEAKER_03 51:44

And like, you know, at that point, one about to get into a whole nother conversation, but go, but, but go ahead, but go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. I'm gonna I'm gonna let you get this.

SPEAKER_00 51:53

You know, I'm I'm at this like upper east side, you know, party or whatever, and you're surrounded by, you know, lawyers, bankers, people in tech, right? Um, and I'm the guy, you know, making videos on TikTok right now, LinkedIn, you know. So I think that that's always been something that I've struggled with going back to that moment of like like shame and wanting to define yourself because for me it was achievement. Whereas I, you know, wanted the money, sure. And the money oftentimes comes with the achievement, but it's like I always wanted to be like I didn't just want to be in student government, I wanted to be class president, I didn't want to be on the team, I wanted to be the captain, right? I didn't want to be just at work, I wanted to get the biggest promotion quickest to the best title, right? Like I was I was chasing all of those things. And when that whole infrastructure kind of got ripped away, and now I'm in a new world with very different rules that most people, especially outside of like, you know, marketing influencer or whatever, like they had they're they're not really understanding it, right? Like, even when I started to make, to your point, the money and even super surpass what I was making in corporate externally to a lot of my friends, like I was still just like, like a lot of, I think a lot of people around me, maybe in that first year, thought that this is what I was doing until I was would be able to find a job. Like I would, like a year into my going full time, like I had family members asking me, like, so like are you're still looking for a job, right? I was like, I don't think so. You know, I don't think so. But it's I I had to really um redefine how I think of myself as a professional and as a man because it's I didn't really uh I I I didn't know I would end up here, right? Like this wasn't really the necessarily the end all be all for me. I think when I was younger, I wanted that corporate job and the prestige and the perception that came with that. Yeah, like really going back to my my first answers here, but um, I had to sort of realize that like like this path is is is for me and I'm and I'm good at it, and I can make a big impact by doing the work I'm doing. And I can have the flexibility to have amazing conversations with people and you know be there for my son, the way that my dad really couldn't be there for me, right? Because of just the way in which you know my my work is now. So yeah, man, like I've had to completely it's been it's been a process and we're still going through it, but I feel like um it all started with just the the belief and the support of like yeah, like like one uh very like one woman who like really believed in me. So yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 54:27

Dude, I identify with you so much. Like literally, there it's hard to unpack everything you said, but I identify with a hundred percent of it.

SPEAKER_01 54:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:36

What well one question I do have, right, is just uh is this actually more of a selfish question. Sure. When you were in high school, were you that same type of person? Like, were you just more so like I want to be class president in high school? Like you where did that come from? That I want to be the best energy. Where did that come from for you?

SPEAKER_00 54:53

It I mean, quite honestly, it all it like it it goes back to the to the shame conversation. I I didn't want people asking questions about, you know, um, why why doesn't Colon's car have any AC? Well why why doesn't Colon have any gas money, you know? Why is this basically if I'm class president, shut up. Correct. Yeah, yeah, I'm good. It was a smoke screen, right? It was to hide the fact that I was, you know, uh still wearing hammy downs and I couldn't afford to go on the summer trips and like the spring breaks and my friends were going on. Like it was like a if I could present a facade of someone who appeared successful, I would be happy. I wasn't, and then people would perceive me to be, I guess, bigger, better than I thought I was when it really wasn't, you know, now at 30, like I I can look back and like that, like you know, you can't build a life like that, and that's not really what you should aim to be. And I still I think I I think I pursue similar goals now from a much stronger sense of self. Yeah, but at 17, 16, like that's where that was coming from. I wanted people to see the the the title or the accolade and not ask any questions about the person, you know. Wow, wow.

SPEAKER_03 56:04

Wanting to be the best from a place of a smoke screen, I think that you know it's that's that's powerful because everybody has a different reason to wanting to win. And it sounded like you still had the knack and the drive to win, but the over the course of 15 years that uh that it's changed and almost gotten more refined the more you've gotten to know about yourself. Yeah, I felt the same way, I think, like not necessarily from the shame perspective, but the I feel like I was trying to please two different crowds.

SPEAKER_01 56:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:40

Um, for me, I felt like I was trying to please the crowd because uh my I come from a family of educators as well. So my grandma has always like been correcting the way that I say certain words and stuff like that for since I was like five. And then it got to a point where, okay, this is how I speak. Yeah. And then, you know, I started, you know, going playing basketball and certain like areas and stuff like that, a summer camps in Augusta. And you know, I got the why do you talk so white? Why do you got you? Why are you so proper? Yeah, um, particular thing. And so now I'm feeling like I have to switch up how I talk or get a little bit more cultured. Absolutely. Yeah. And I it's always the drive of feeling something I I gotta prove. I have to prove that I'm good enough, even though I speak like this, I can be, I can, I can, you know, I scored the last five points in this game, or I'm I'm enough in a certain aspect, uh, aspect to different people. And um, I felt the same way, I think, like in high school, um, that you know, that you felt like about like, okay, I don't want you to know this particular thing, but so I'm gonna let you see this thing. Like, I'm really good at talking, me particularly, just me, I'm really good at finessing my my way into whatever wherever I want. Yeah, I realized that very early that okay, I can talk my way into a lot of situations in a way in a lot of way out of a lot of situations.

SPEAKER_00 58:04

Prisma.

SPEAKER_03 58:05

Yeah, appreciate that. Yeah, a little bit of aura, a little bit of aura. Yeah, yeah. Um, and when I realized that, I I I felt like it's a presentation that you can give to people, but you I I I it for me it striked uh down a little bit later in college where it was just like, okay, you can't hide through this for so long. You really gotta understand what the the sense of self is and the why to why you do a lot of things. And so I never wanted to be like a student government president or anything like that, but I think that I I wanted to I wanted to prove my worth. Yeah, I wanted to prove that, hey, look, I'm val, I'm valuable in a in a certain way. I also like with the whole thing that you said about you never knew you were gonna be here.

SPEAKER_01 58:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:51

And like what your viewership of what success was uh was same for me as well. Like as far as I got, I just knew like uh what my viewership or success was I was gonna wear a suit, have his briefcase, and walk into an office cubicle, like the office cubic. Very, very similar vision. Yeah. That was as far as I got.

SPEAKER_00 59:08

That was it. Yeah. I didn't know, right? Like my um, I I do remember when I was a kid, um, you know, my dad was a plumber, like I said, commercial and residential. And so in the summers, instead of going on vacation, I go to work with my dad. And so we'd bit bop all around Atlanta, going from job to job to job, and we'd go through Midtown and we'd see those big glass buildings, right? And like I would always look at them and I'm like, you know, what are these people doing? Right. That I see wearing nice clothes in these big glass towers, like, like it was just a completely different world for me. Um, and I always wanted to know. Uh, so yeah, it was driven by a little bit of curiosity, intrigue, but like my, yeah, it's so funny. I I said this on I said something very similar to what you just said in an earlier conversation this week, where like my version, the vision I had for what a successful life for me was, like it was it was always like that cloudy vision of yeah, I want to look nice, literally have the briefcase, have the office, right? But yeah, like what that was, like who, who, who knows, right? And I think I I got there for all intents and purposes, and then things happened. But I like I like, yeah, man, I wouldn't change anything. Like, I like where I'm at for sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:21

Yeah, I would I would encourage a lot of people to have that conversation with themselves. Like, we're figuring out the two things I think that are really important is figuring out for people who are listening, watching, figure out what your viewership of success was at 13, because 13 and 12 are where we're the most impressionable and where we start to make a vision for what our lives would be from both from both a professional sense and purpose and love. So a lot of time for both of those around that time, that's where you start to develop a lot of things that carry with you throughout the rest of your life. And I think that like thinking back, like what was like why why did I want to go in this direction? Right. What was my viewership of success like? Yeah, and it it really will tell you a lot about what you were thinking and like how a little bit your life shaped out a little bit um a lot now, because I I think it's uh overall really important.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:18

Yeah, and be honest with yourself. Yeah, like I feel like as I've gotten older, like I've been able to get just more honest with myself in terms of why I actually wanted why I wanted, you know. And I feel like it's made the content better, it's certainly made my relationships better. Um, but yeah, I I totally agree. And I didn't know that about the 12 to 13. That's uh we'll have to think about that a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:37

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, uh, from a parent perspective, they say 12, uh 12, 13 is actually the most challenging time in a in a marriage. Uh in a marriage, when um when your child's with the parents, yeah, when the kid is okay. Because they're going through so many different changes, yeah, and you're trying to fig figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:56

I guess that makes sense too, because with the onset of like adolescence and hormones and everything, like yeah. Interesting. Yeah, appreciate that.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:03

Yeah, so yeah, well followed.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:04

Are you there yet?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:05

You're not your kids are that I was gonna say, yeah. No, no, my son's three. My son's three.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:10

So how old is your son? Almost two.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:11

Almost two. Okay. So our young my youngest son is the same age as your as uh as your son.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:17

So my son, my youngest son just May of 24? Uh he's August. August, okay. August of 24. Yeah. So yeah, they're they're like right there. Yeah, nice. So you're going through, he's like walking around, getting into everything.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:30

Yes, definitely like getting into the toddler phase. He's he's all boy. I mean, anything with like a wheel on it, like trucks, ambulances, this is one of the benefits of being in New York. Like just to entertain him is to just like get him out of the apartment. Yes. And like anything with a big wheel on it, especially like we just had all that snow, right? So all the the salt trucks and the blowers and the sh scrapers and everything that they had out there, like he he loved it. So it was good.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:54

Yeah. Yeah. How does how do you feel about like as much as you feel about like uh your your purpose in being um the first and charting your own path? How does that entail with uh because I lot of I feel a lot about like I was actually just telling a friend earlier, like this morning I was talking to him about a lot of my decisions now go into thinking about my sons, yeah, everything that I do because they're my legacy.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:18

And I think legacy, purpose, and make charting your own path. I think it can't kind of all go hand in hand. Absolutely. Um, what are your thoughts now? Like two almost two years in being a father with everything.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:29

Yeah, yeah. I um you know what to ask a question. Um, I think what I always tell people is like for me at least, fatherhood and parenthood has been a very exposing experience for me. I feel like more than anything in my life, more than marriage, more than you know, anything with work, like having someone in front of you who is from you and a person you love very much, and just like navigating that and like what it what it opens you up to. Like, I feel like my my emotional range has been pushed in either direction. Like there are moments where um this is so silly, but like yesterday, um I'm actually a pretty big Spider-Man fan. Me too. Then are you really? Yeah, the trailer came out yesterday. The trailer just dropped. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And um, my son Isaiah has this little Spider-Man like plushie. Yeah. And like we had this like little small moment where I got home the other day. I hadn't seen it yet. And um, we said goodbye. You know, Nanny um went out the door, and me and him got on the couch and he had his little plushie. And we literally, I pulled it up on my on YouTube on my phone and we just watched it. And I was like, like I almost cried watching like a movie trailer with my son because I felt like it just like I was able to share something with him where without like getting into it too much, like like my dad and I didn't share a lot of those moments together, like we didn't have a lot of shared like hobbies or interests or things like that. But like to take something as simple or you know, small as a superhero movie, right? And to be able to share that with my son, like that's been amazing. But also, especially that first year, um you're pushed to the limits, especially like you know, I'm I was trying to build a business, right? While also trying to be present for my son, and while also like I I love that you brought this up, but like um your family is not your marriage. And that's something that I learned like the hard way of like if the three of us are all at home spending time enjoying ourselves, I I cannot take it for granted that that's time I'm spending getting closer with my wife because it wasn't. And so I had to learn in my own life how do I carve out time for the rockers, Colonel Cayley, Isaiah, the marriage of myself and my wife, and colon, right? For me to like recharge and and reconnect with who I am, right? And so I feel like I've got no advice, I've got no perspective. I'm still very much in the depths of figuring that out for myself, but navigating that has been like really, really tough. And It's given me a lot of I will say, like it's given me some empathy for my dad, like the things that he was going through in his own journey um as well. So yeah, I've I've got no idea if that answered your question, but those are just some you didn't.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:13

I don't know if you did, but I I was locked in, bro. I was I was like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. But no, I I like what you said about the three, the three buckets.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:22

Oh, oh, being the first. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, I'm like, you know, I was raised in the suburbs of Atlanta, right? The majority of family on my father's and and mother's side was raised in a pretty similar environment. And so I think a lot about like um, like I said in a video, it's like you've gotta Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I I think especially men, their perspective on fatherhood is I need to be a better dad for my kids than my dad was for me. And while I think that's a good place to start, I do think that in especially like my situation, I would say your situation, like if that is the barometer for success, I do think it sets you up for failure because your kids, the way they're gonna grow up and all of the um abundance and success in life and the journey that you are going to take them on in their lives, is going to look, I imagine, so different from the way you were raised. Whereas you really have to meet the moment like you're actually in as a parent, right? Like I'm I am the first to raise a kid in a one-bedroom apartment on the upper west side, right? As a as a working, you know, content creator, speaker, whatever, community builder. And so like that looks very different. And so I constantly have to, I have to prevent myself from falling into the pattern of just because you know, my mom and my dad maybe had this perspective or they did it this way, like I can't fall into that trap, I'll say, because like I'm in a very different moment and I have to constantly like think and rethink and reevaluate how I'm approaching fatherhood to make sure that I'm doing what's best for my life today and not just defaulting to like the way I was raised.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:04

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It is a trap because if you I'm I'm serious. It's like if you if you try to sit, if you try to think about all the things that your parents did or your father did as a parent, you're like, I'm not gonna be like this, I'm not gonna be like that. It's so different. You as a parent, what I'm learning, right? I don't know a whole lot, been blocked in for three years.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:25

But you almost have to be like water with your kids. Yes. Because perfect metaphor. You have to be like water because it's like there are some days when you're gonna have to be different. You're gonna you're gonna have to put on a different hat and you're gonna have to be able to bring out different emotions. Like obviously, like you, you would think that we're gonna be like, no, sit down, shut up. I'm your dad, you my son. But it's not like that. It's not like that. It's not like that, bro.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:51

Can I can I jump in and say that I'm one of the revelations I had that God, you're so right, is like um as an achiever, I would consider you an achiever as well. But like everything, I I've learned to, you know, be the strongest hammer and treat everything like a nail, right? But everything isn't like everything, every every problem in your life or every situation can't be solved with a hammer.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:12

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:13

And so, like as an achiever, I'm used to like, if I want like this grade, this job, this business outcome, this whatever, this relationship in some way is like I'm gonna figure out a way to get it done. And sometimes, you know, you do have to turn on that um, you know, that that voice you just went into. But it's like as with as a like parenting man, like you you have to learn how to be like, yeah, like soft but persuasive. And you have to like, um, there's this whole story of like the the wind in the sun. Yeah. And they both had a competition between who it's actually a madman reference, it's not even my story, but like there's a traveler, you know, with a big coat on, and the wind blows as hard as he can on the traveler, and the traveler just like grips it harder, right? The stronger the wind blows, the tighter he holds on his coat. Whereas the sun just slowly raises the temperature in the room, doesn't even touch him, right? And eventually the traveler just takes the coat off, right? And I felt like that analogy has had to become like what I need to learn as a parent because I want to be the wind in most cases, yeah, but you got to learn how to be the son, or like like that's why I love the analogy of like the water, like being really like adaptable to like what you're actually going through. You do, bro.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:23

Yeah, the trap to what you said earlier, because this world is different than the world we were raised in. And there were things necessary for how what they were going through. When you talked about it gives your dad a little bit more empathy, I feel it the exact same way, bro. Me and my dad's conversations be going crazy now because it's like I understand him a whole lot more because I am a husband, I am a father, and I understand like so many of your decisions throughout the day are just made for your family, for the Rockers, for the Bryants. Like it is it's so many of them and being like water, right? Because you have to, when you come in the house, right? You go in the house, you have what's going on in your mind, a hundred billion different things. Yeah. But you gotta lock in and be focused and be present with your family. That's one. That's that's step one. That's crazy, right? You you gotta be you gotta be focused. When you're focused and you have to remember in that time, you that includes you as far as being an achiever and entrepreneur. Yeah, okay, I can't be on my phone as much. That's right. Even though I need to respond back to this email, this text, this edit, this whatever. Yeah, I need to take these three hours or so and just be locked in with my family. Okay, that's first step. Then it's being actually even deeper present in the moment. Okay, that's right. My son is banging this against the wall. Yeah. It's getting on my nerves that he is doing this over and over again. Stop. Then it's you're trying to have a conversation with your partner about their day, your day, because it's around that six o'clock, six thirty, wind down time. So every that's a time to everybody, you know, if you're living a family life, that's what you're doing. And essentially, you're trying to connect, you're trying to focus on your family, your child. And so I like what you said about the buckets because the buckets are right there because each day is different, and you don't have to have the answer for each day.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:21

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:22

Yeah, I made that mistake thinking that I have to have the answer every day. I'm leading a man of my household, I have to have the answer, but you don't because you're figuring it out every day. Like you've never been a parent before. I've never been a parent before.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:37

Why would you know the answer?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:39

And why would you be able to strike this with a hammer? Because there's no tool, there's no toolbox to being the perfect parent.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:44

Yes, love that. And sometimes your presence is the answer.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:48

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:49

Whereas that like that whole point of like you keep mentioning the phrase of locking in, like sometimes it's just it is the act of putting your phone down and letting. I see this now with like my son, he's not even two. When he knows he has my full attention, I can see like the peace and the calm, like overtaking. Does he ever snatch your phone from you? He's always happy to take it, but he doesn't snatch it just yet.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:12

Bro, my kids snatch my phone from me. They do that sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:15

No, my wife does not.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:20

Even better. Oh, yeah, it that is crazy. I do uh identify with the the moment you talked about about the Spider-Man thing. I'm a huge Spider-Man fan. Amazing. Um, and I am influencing that on my kids right now, especially my oldest. My oldest is starting to like, like, he's starting to like recognize a lot of it. Um biggest thing, and um it's uh to be honest with you, I actually almost cried when you were talking about the sharing the moment. Yeah, when uh you're talking about you were showing him the trailer, yeah. Bro, because um, so I'm a huge Dragon Ball Z fan. Anybody who knows me, I'm Dragon Ball Z or die. Like I'm huge, it's it's I have a Shenron and Dragon Ball tattooed on me.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:04

Uh when uh my first Father's Day gift, my wife got me a portrait, a painting portrait. And it was basically if you ever like see Goku and his wife and his son um together in front of the house from the anime. Yeah, but it was our faces painted on them. That's an amazing in our skin. Yes, I cried, I balled. I balled when I got this gift. And it was it was my first Father's Day gift because it was like wow, like this is this is my this is my family. This is like how because you know, if you think about like who the character Goku is, he's like he's building his family, but he's also like fighting crime, you know, fighting different villains on the hero's journey.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:48

And uh graduating from that thought, right? You know, she got him a t-shirt that you know, you know how you know, with you got kids, you know, they wore this t-shirt about 35 times. Yeah, you know, and so um he she got him a Goku t-shirt. That's awesome. And so he wears the Goku t-shirt throughout the house sometimes. And that's awesome. Then she got me for my last father's day a like a figurine of a Goku, like when he holds up the spirit bomb. Yeah, he a figurine, but it holds your headphones. So whenever amazing, wow. So whenever we uh whenever we are like doing bath time, she'll like one day he was asking to play with it. And so I didn't know all this because you know, we're home, we're you know, we're doing different things and working. And so I walk in the room one day, and um, you know, he says, Goku, Goku. I'm like, how do you bro? I got emotional. I'm like, you are literally seeing the stuff that like I'm I'm I'm sharing a shared interest. That's incredible, you know, with them. And um beautiful, yeah. He wants to play play with it, he knows the name, and you know, at three, it's uh yeah, it it it it means a lot to be able to have a shared interest. I used to uh play uh Max Payne with my dad growing up. Oh wow, okay, yeah, PlayStation. So I used to watch my dad like just play through the game. I played sometimes, but I was young, so I didn't really, I wasn't good at first person shooting.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:04

Playing Max Payne as a kid, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:08

But I saw my butt mainly my dad was playing it. I was seeing him like kind of like go through the game and playing in the store and stuff like that. And that would be something we would do for I don't know, like every weekend, you know. Every weekend he would, you know, I would see him playing it. And it for me, that was a shared interest and time that we had together. And that's something that you know you always cherish and they remember.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:27

That's beautiful. I um this will be quick because I don't want to harsh the vibe too much, but I will say like one of the biggest regrets I have in my life is how like uh I didn't know it at the time, but how I chose to like end like my relationship with my father because like he he passed when I was 24. Um so he's been gone for a few years now. Never got to meet his grandson and any of that. But like we our relationship would like ebb and flow, but like our last interaction, like it was an argument, you know. And so I remember just like storming out of the house and like getting in my car and just driving off, you know. And um that was that's one of the things where like I think about that that moment like so much more now, especially as a parent myself, because like I have to do the best job that I can to make sure that like that like that cannot repeat, you know, and like I I never want to be put in a position where you know I have some interaction with Isaiah and I I feel like it's our last. And that that's something that's like held with me like a long, like for a like for a very long time. Probably for the rest of my life, to be honest with you. But um, yeah, that shit's important.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:35

Yeah, that's true. We do have to value our we do have to value our parents, and yeah, it g it gives you a sense of empathy that bro, they was just doing the best they could. That's right, you know, well, what they had. That's right. Like you gotta you gotta think about where we are, you know. You're you were a parent at what 28 years old. Yeah, yeah. And I was a parent at, you know, 20, 28, 29 for the first time. And my parents had me at 24 and 25. Yeah. And so just think about where our minds were during that time, what the state of where we were at. Yeah. What resources were available or not available.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:12

And what what were they taught what being a parent looked like too? Exactly. Yeah, think about that a lot. I think that um it's our and I think that like you gotta give I understand you do got, I feel like you should give yourself grace though, because you didn't know. Yeah, you didn't know. I think that family, regardless if they get on your nerves or not, an argument is important as at the height of everything, especially your immediate family. Yeah, but you didn't know, you didn't know until now. And I think that God has a has a weird way of showing us things. You never know. That interaction may have set you set you up to give Isaiah the best father that he could ever ask for in this world. And I think that it's uh it's hard to look at that right now because it's like more like you look at it with like a lot of regret, bro. But like for me, like uh, I I I wish I could still talk to my grandfather more. I wish I called him more. My grandfather died when I was in college. Okay. So I I think all the time, I wish, like, I mean, I wish I had called Papa more. I wish I could ask Papa these questions right now, right? That are on my mind.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:21

Um, I wish I had drove to Augusta and just, you know, just so many different things that we can change differently. That's fair. You can't get that time back unless somebody wants to tell me about a time machine. Unless, you know, I'll invest.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:35

Yeah. But related to that though, I think about this too. Um Gary Vee talked about this like a few years ago, but like how cool is it because of how you've decided to live your life and how I've decided to live mine, where it's like, you know, your children and their children's children, granted, you know, all this is preserved, which I'm sure it will be, like not only will they know you and know your perspectives on things or whatever, but like they'll be able to trace the journey, right? Because you've already been, I mean, you said seven years or back to even earlier, right? When you were making the the YouTube skits, but like they'll be able to see your entire evolution. Right. And I think that's like that's one thing where I mean, my dad is is old, he was born in 1944. So um, I'm the last kid of his second of three marriages. So, but um I I am so like like I I would give almost anything to get any insight in terms of like the experiences that built him into the man that he ended up becoming, right? And I just think it's so cool that one day if he's even interested, like that is available to Isaiah because I've been documenting my life since I was 24 years old. You know, like that is so cool. And he can see all the different um jobs and the haircuts and the apartments, and you know, um yeah. It's really dope. You know, you'll be able to give that. You are in the process of like, you know, building a library of your own like lore and experiences and history to share with whoever's interested. I think that's really, really cool. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:14

We're blessed to be able to have that, to be able to have that catalog to look back on. And um, it's kind of like, you know, like you said, granted, it's preserved uh with the platforms, but it's kind of our our book that we're leaving or our legacy a little bit that like you have access to be able to watch all this, and you know, it's something that will hopefully still be here even when we're not.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:41

That's right. To to see us learn lessons as we learned them.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:44

Like I I mean, I'm sure like I look at some of my older stuff and I'm like, oh, like I don't even know if I believe that. I don't know if I'd recommend that specific piece of advice right now, but like, yeah, man, I think that's like that's the beauty of of of all this. Cause I think that's that's what life is. You know, you go through this experience, you you you pick some things up, you put them in your pocket, and like you'd hopefully when you get to that point in the road in the future, like you make a different call, a better call. And so I yeah, I think that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:13

Yeah, man. Yeah, this conversation's been uh man, I gotta say, this might be my favorite pot so far. I I I'm not gonna hold it. They they probably know that it's probably my favorite one so far. Before I let you go, I I like to ask guests just different questions all the time. Are you a movie person? Uh sure. Sure, yes. Yes, okay. Can can you give me your top five oh man, top five favorite movies?

SPEAKER_00 1:22:41

Okay, there are gonna be some weird ones in here. I didn't prepare this list, so there's gonna be just off the top. Um, I just because it's the movie I've seen the most often, and it's not even like a fatherhood thing, but I I genuinely like it. I think that the Incredibles, for me, this is a personal list. Okay, this isn't Colon's idea of like the top five movies of all time. These are Colin's favorite five movies. He's like, don't shame me on a lot. Don't shame me on this. I think that The Incredibles tells an incredible story, pun intended, of family, of reinventing yourself, yeah, and of the dangers of like the the the sins you create based on what you ignore in the main villain of syndrome, right? And that you can track that evolution, right? And how all that comes together. So that's actually that's one of my that's that's in the five, it's probably number five. Um I don't know. I mean I did really like Goodfellas. Like, I'm actually a big Scorsais fan. And so I would say like Goodfellas is like a really good movie, really good like New York movie. It's it's a movie that you can just sort of like live inside of, like it just feels like a complete like world, and everyone in that movie just feels like a real. Yeah, feels like you're watching someone live their life. Um, and then there just happens to be a plot connected to it, which I really, really enjoy. I mean, I like all the James Bond movies, that's a franchise. Yep. But I'll say that like like Skyfall is probably my I love Skyfall. Yeah, Skyfall's good. Skyfall's good. Also, about I I'm sensing a theme of like reinvention, you know, because in that one it's like, oh, like you're this old aging spy, you know, then he sort of has to come out of his own thing. But yeah, Skyfall's probably definitely up there. That may be like number two or number three.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:25

Um, I probably won't remember my favorite movie, which is stupid, but um let's see. I don't know. I really like Django Unchained, to be honest with you. Okay. Jamie Fox. Uh, that's a good one. That's a good one. Yeah. Oh, honestly, honestly, not even like I do like Home Alone. Home Alone. The New York one. Okay. So that maybe that's the second one? Yes, that is the first one. Because the first one he stays home. Lost it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you like home alone? That's a good one. Is that five or is that four? That's five, I believe. Okay. That's five. Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:54

Um, another couple of questions I want to have directly just for people before you uh get out of here to help. Um, people looking for a job right now, man. What are your thoughts on the job market? And what, what, what it just in your own viewership, man? What should people do out here, man? And um, it's a two-part question, but sure. People need jobs out here. I'm looking for a job. What do I do? I ain't got no job. And the second part to that question is, man, what should I do on LinkedIn? I live and that second part's more so for me.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:26

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:27

Oh, well, I mean, my my I've got specific trade advice for LinkedIn. Hey, um yeah, let's talk about there's a there's an answer, and then there's your answer. Yeah. So I think um, if you don't have a job, you are jobless, I would say that again, you um I always tell people you want to build a network before they feel like you need it. But if you do need it and you're in a position where you need a job, it's like my advice is is kind of similar to what I said earlier of like you wanna you wanna reduce the distance between you and someone that can give you an opportunity. And so I think that is going in person, even if that means traveling, even if that means putting a little something on a credit card. Like I do believe in like taking an investment in yourself to put yourself in a position to actually get an opportunity because people won't do that. And so you will stand out in that environment more, if that makes sense. Right. It's that whole thing of like, don't go to the well for water, right? Because everyone's at the well. And so you want to try to find positions and rooms you can be in where the opportunities will be greater because you'll there'll just be a lot less competition. And so I would try to figure out one, you know, there's a whole conversation around like the work you should be doing and the best fits for your skills and experiences, which you don't have time to get into. But like once you know what you want to do, try to figure out how you can get in person and in front of someone who can give you that opportunity. Um, and taken in, you know, I think like now it's like this whole thing of like, um, you know, I don't want to be as basic to just tell people how to like learn AI, but like that is where a lot of investment is going. Like if you look at the economy, it's it's healthcare and it's data centers, which is essentially like a, you know, a two degrees away investment in AI. Right. And so I think like in whatever industry you want to go into, figure out if there is a specific nuanced way that this technology is transforming that business. Like it's not just about how do you, you know, prompt chat better, but it's like figuring out, okay, like if you know you want to go into customer service or if you want to go into retail, if you want to go into, you know, um, hospitality, like what are the specific ways, the specific products, the specific ideas that are transforming that space and get like really, really deep into that. Because I feel like a lot of ways that people are getting hired is they're creating their own jobs.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:45

They're saying, hey, this is you're a hospitality chain with a bunch of properties across a different, uh, a lot of different states and areas. Yeah. You don't really have a good way to like, I don't know, synthesize like uh customer sentiment. The people that stay at these hotels, right? But I've learned how to build some system, like figure out a way to create a job for yourself. And I think that's probably better than just like launching a job application, you know, into the void of LinkedIn, which, you know, I think going on to LinkedIn, the first thing that I would do is it has to be filled out. You know, people can't you want to be findable. Like I've I've I've thought a lot, especially in my business recently, about my my SEO, but also what's called your your GEO or your A AEO, which is like your generated engine optimization. So a lot of times, especially like, you know, I'm sure you know, like when brands and and agencies are maybe casting for campaigns or looking for influencers, they're no longer like using analytics platforms. A lot of times they'll say, Hey, give me a list of the top 10 men's fashion and style creators that are based in the Southeast. And if you're not on that list, I'm certain you would be. But if you're not on that list, you're gonna have a tough time. And so I think in your industry, what can you do to become more indexable by these AI platforms that companies are using to find people for certain opportunities? And so I have a question about that.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:08

So would I need I'm serious because I this is the first question. So would I need to write on my profile, not necessarily this, but it's the first thing that came to my mind. The second, the second largest, second largest men's fashion, black men's fashion influencer in the world. I would figure out a way of calling yourself the first.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:27

First, yes, figure out a way of the colour. Or the largest, like, like create, create the category. Create the category. Create the category where like, I mean, you're like you're you have a massive platform. So create the category in which you are the biggest. Does that you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. So like if someone wants to do a campaign with me, right? Like I'm speaking to people that want to work in corporate, that maybe like live or work near a big city, that are like the first in their families to pursue that, maybe have a have a non-standard way of getting their education or getting that way into that, right? Like the deals I get now are so specific to that positioning, yeah, where I am usually like one of or the only people that they can go to for that because I've created my own market, right? So that's that's Trey advice, maybe, maybe too specific for like a lot of your list, but like that's something that you should be thinking about, whatever you are doing. How do I create my own job market, my own motion, my own gravitational force that's pulling things towards me? Um, but yeah, I mean, LinkedIn, there, the the basic answer is like get the easy things right, like clean headshot, um, um, cover photo that sort of tells people something about what you do. Keywords matter in your headline. So it should be name, organization, and then, you know, data analytics, hospitality, retail, whatever that is. Like put those keywords there because that that does matter. Um and then I I think, yeah, like if you're open to it and if you're in a position where you feel like you can do it without uh, you know, retaliation or uh, you know, negative perceptions or externalities at your workplace, start showing up consistently, right? Start sharing what you know, start telling stories about things that are happening in your industry. Um, or sorry, start giving your perspective on things that are happening in your industry, right? That's an easy way to show up in a way that I don't think should raise any red flags, right? If you're just saying, hey, yeah, like this this new deal was announced or this thing happened in the news. Here's my perspective on it. Like I think most people can get away with that without getting in too much trouble for creating content, you know? Right. Um so yeah, that's the that's the simple LinkedIn advice. But with you, like I would say, like there is a whole element of like, I mean, I'm so I'm so in awe of your operation here. Like I want to learn more. So I think like what I tell people a lot, and what I'll tell you, is like, give us like how did how did you build Trey Bryant style? Yeah, that the yeah, like give us the the tea, the behind the scenes, because LinkedIn, it's a very business and founder, like thirsty audience, right? So it's like they will enjoy the content that you make that is more like style and fashion focused, but they will be like ravenously hungry for how you have built this organization and how you built your team and how you find ideas for your videos and the things you're exploring in your business, like that your process, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:20

That's so interesting. Yeah, that's so interesting you say that. So I've as of recently, I got uh YouTube has been asking me to do more things like that. So I recently went to uh California in February for this particular project that I had where Google and YouTube wanted me to come talk about talk to. I sat on a panel with two other girls and they were content creators. One was more of a contentpreneur, uh she had a creator-led brand. Okay, and then the other girl was more like me. She's always been a content creator.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:52

And so we were sitting in front of DSW people from DSW, Fabletics, amazing, um, Aloe companies like marketing executives for theirs, and we were telling them the value of our process and why it's important to work with YouTubers, why it's important to um work with you know, creators in general, and how you should work with them and what you what the value of work, what the value is that of someone who has an audience. And uh it's funny you say that because that was they wanted to know my process. Yeah. They wanted to know like how I think about how do I how does my daily workflow go and how do I look at content, how do I look at working with a brand and all that. So it's interesting that you say that. So they a lot of people want to know the the bit the the process, the process behind what they're seeing as in the finished product.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:45

That's right. I mean, I don't, you know, I I I didn't come here to glaze, but like you've built something you've built you've built something very unique and special, right? Yeah, you are like there, there is no other Trey Bryant, right? And so like people like that kind of stuff, I mean, that would hit on any of your platforms, right? But I think specifically on LinkedIn, it's a way to talk about something that maybe is more prevalent on the platform in terms of like entrepreneurship founder process stuff, but it's always gonna have this unique flavor of like no one is on LinkedIn talking about how they built this kind of business, right? Like at least I haven't seen that content. And so that's really I think you would see we're building a media company in particular, yeah. Media company where you're the face of it, you know, and you've built this thing and you're working with these brands and you've built these different, you know, media lanes for yourself. Like, yeah, like that's that's what I would say. Yeah. Because the thing is, like, you know, I assume you know, a fair amount of your income comes from brand deals, right? It's like the the brands as well as the agencies that staff and work with those brands, they're already all on LinkedIn, and that's where they do a lot of their sourcing too.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:50

So yeah. You don't think that that's like, you know, as black people, we all never want to let nobody in our business. So I I think that that's my issue a little bit because I'm interested in private. And so I think that like I'm like, oh, like, I don't know, it's kind of like a ridiculous thought. But I think if I start showing this, will I be able to maintain it? Will something happen? Will will the will the brands or people who are giving me the opportunities where there be like, uh I don't know, or I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:20

I I it's it's have you ever given advice to anyone who's reached out and asked how you've built this business for yourself?

SPEAKER_03 1:35:31

Um uh reached out and uh when I see people on the street or if I like has anyone ever reached out to you and said, Hey man, like like love what you're doing, like would love to sit down with you.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:40

Like, have you ever had one of those conversations where you're just sharing any aspect of like how you've built, you know, what you've built today?

SPEAKER_02 1:35:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:49

Did the person you gave that advice to surpass you or you know, copy what you're doing? Like you know what I mean? Yeah. So like I feel like there's there's always gonna be the gap of like implementation, but there's always the gap of like what worked. I mean, I mean the the truth is like what worked for you specifically, yeah, truthfully can never really work for anyone else. Like usually once you've taken sufficient advantage of an opportunity or a lane, it's like like you own that space, you know. But there's also a way, like I I see what you're saying, but like again, like I, you know, I I do think that like even the stuff where you're talking about. I mean, earlier before we even turned the cameras on, you're talking about like, you know, how to tie a tie and some of that stuff, like the the 101 kind of stuff that you do a lot that's really, really helpful. Like there are, because of the economy we're in, there are high schoolers and college kids and 22-year-olds in their first job all on LinkedIn, and they're all looking for that kind of advice too. So don't think LinkedIn, you're only talking to, you know, 38-year-old white guys from Nebraska, right? They're there, you know. But there's also a very large contingent of people there who would love to learn from you um, you know, what shoes go with this suit, right? Or how to pick out the right pocket square or how to get dressed for um a big industry event they they're going to, you know, like that's that would totally work too. Damn, welcome.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:10

Yeah, man. Uh can I uh do I need to invoice you? Like, no, like I don't know, bro. Like that that's that's really good. You no, you gave me a lot of fruit for you. Don't ask me about movies, but I can I can tell you about LinkedIn. I can tell you about it. Yeah, yeah. No, I I appreciate that. And that's um that's good. So really the what I have heard, and I identify with what you said, is I have heard at least more than three or four times that behind the scenes of what I do is really important. And I don't I I think there is a little bit of I don't know, fear of showing that. I don't know why. I I I I have to really nail down the reason why, but I guess I want to, but there is a vulnerability aspect to it. Sure. Um, because I do love business. I do love business, I do love like even I I've talked a lot about even with my videographer and um and um other people I've shot with about the business aspect of being a content creator and the business aspect of scaling, because scaling is I realized a couple years ago how important scaling is to a business in general, and that you can get a whole lot more things done. Yeah. Right. Even like the Modern Man podcast, right? I was trying to figure out at first, I was really trying to skim the numbers, and I was like, I'm I'm gonna have to build this with some personal money.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:30

Um, because I if I try to double dip essentially and use um money that I'm making from my business, from my personal brand, it's gonna run into some things. And so I was like, okay, I need to build up a small like nest egg on the side, and I was trying to skim the numbers. And then I thought about like how much time did I want to invest in this, would I want to go? And I think about all that, and I was just like, okay, this is the type of person I need. And I think about that I can't be cheap because I if I'm gonna scale and really build this, and I really you know how you get into building something, yeah. You just you all you see is okay, I want to build this. I was like, okay, I do need to scale it because I don't have that because if I try to do too much on this side, then the personal brand is gonna fall to the wayside.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:14

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:39:16

So you I'm learning that every day is in is a new is a is a new journey that I'm trying to learn with this. Like even we filmed two in one week recently, and in that week I realized really I got like a super session on what I wanted the future of the company to look like.

SPEAKER_00 1:39:34

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:39:35

And I realized that like first we have to build the podcast. The podcast is the most important thing right now. The podcast is my favorite piece of content to make and shoot right now.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:39:48

My favorite piece of content to make and shoot because it's like me confidently coming in and saying, This is my show. And of course, I was inspired. I'm inspired by people like Steve Harvey, Oprah, um, Issa Rae that are able to create, I can create all those big things later, but as long as I can get this baby, this project grown up, and for people to be able to see the juice of this value. Okay, now when we get to a pr point where we've broken through, and like I'm a podcaster.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:17

Now we can start implementing other things and other dreams that I want to have for the whole media company in totality. And so uh I'm I'm learning each and every day, but you know it's a video in and of itself. I was just gonna say that. It's a few, honestly, but yeah. Yeah, it's amazing. That's probably what they want to hear on LinkedIn, I'm assuming, huh? Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna take the snippet, yeah, put it on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:39

You should. I mean, yeah, it's already filmed, it's amazing. Yeah, yeah. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:42

Has anybody ever told you, or are you inspired? I'm inspired by him. Are you uh inspired by Obama? Yeah, yeah. You give me like Obama vibes, bro. Doesn't he give you Obama vibes?

SPEAKER_00 1:40:55

I've actually I've I've gotten that a lot, especially lately, I guess, because he's more like I don't know, I feel like he's come out of hiding lately. But um Yeah, he has. He has, you know, he was you know uh jet skiing or something, and I feel like, all right, let's, you know, got to talk about some real shit now, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:09

Yeah, yeah. And then he's like doing this thing with Anthony Edwards now. That is hilarious.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:14

Yeah, no, I I get that a lot. I mean, he's uh 100%, he's a big inspiration for me. I used to watch that's what I would do. That's such a loser in high school. I used to watch his speeches like after like high school, and he was a big inspiration for me running for class president, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:29

The lore, the lore deepens, you know. It does, yeah. You used to watch Obama's like speeches after all of them, even the boring, yeah, like all the press interviews and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:40

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I liked how he like carried himself, it was really cool. He does, yeah, some nice. And we didn't know clearly how good we had it at the time, but you know. Clearly, we we don't know. No, I've not that kind of podcast, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:54

Have you seen the guy online that does the Obama impressions?

SPEAKER_00 1:41:57

Oh my god, I feel like there's so many good ones.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:59

Bro, there's which one there's this one kid. He well, he I first caught one of his videos where he does um, he like did the one with him, how him and Michelle met. Um he does he did like a whole skit on it. And then like also like um he does it videos with King Batch. You know what King Batch is?

SPEAKER_01 1:42:17

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:42:18

He does videos with him, and so he'll he he has the impressions down. Like I only watch his page honestly for the Obama impressions and when he has Obama.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:27

I'll have to find this guy.

SPEAKER_03 1:42:28

Yeah, but I mean, man, Obama I think is just so inspirational for the history of us. Like, if you're if you're a black man, like he lets you know that there's so much possible in the world for us that we didn't even know that was. And I think that um I think that I I see so much of that in you, just making a lot of things that are possible, and that's why I like your content so much because when I started following you, I had no idea I had no idea, like you you can tell in your content that you mean exactly what you're saying, and you're like talking directly to the audience, like yeah, I'm saying this because I want you to help. And you're literally probably, if I had to take a guess, you're cutting on that phone, that camera, yeah, right after you had the thought that come to your came to your mind. It feels like that. I've gotten really big on that lately.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:14

I feel like I'm I'm of the, yeah, because something this is a video I probably need to make and on the process point, but like I've learned that sometimes optimizing for efficiency isn't the most effective thing to do. Because what's common practice, especially if you're doing this full time and you've got a big infrastructure around you, is you know, you have filming days, scripting days, editing days, right? And you sort of bracket that out. And again, like I'm not saying that can't work for people. But for me, like the content I am trying to make, it's like, yeah, we're talking about career, we're talking about work, we're talking about money sometimes. But like I'm I'm trying to tell a story. I'm trying to, I always try to like, it's a big goal of mine for like now to think a lot about the the emotional experience someone gets watching one of my videos. Even though I'm talking about career advice and personal finance, let me tell you a story about like um, I did a video last year on um like family and estate planning, like setting up your will and all this stuff. I saw that video. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Telling the story of, you know, my my when my dad passed, he didn't have that in place, right? Him and my mom weren't together, right? Um, I got zero, I got a goose egg. My my mom, who was married to my dad for almost 30 years, you know, got nothing, right? Um, and so I think that there's like I I think a lot about like what is the emotional journey that I can take someone on and almost like educate them by accident, right? Without falling on like, you know, rage, right? But like how can I make you feel nostalgic or nervous or relief or you know, like I think about that a lot. And I think um that's where I'd like that's where I'd like to see knowledge, content kind of move because I feel like that's how I mean that's what you're doing with modern man. I mean, you're you're world building, right? I want to world build. It's not just about, oh, I follow Colon because he says he tells me what to do on LinkedIn, right? I follow Colon because I relate to his story, because I have a version of this in my own life, right? Like I feel like with with your audience as well, like people like you look sharp, you look great, right? But like that is maybe 20% of why someone is clicking follow and why someone is showing up day after day to say, Hey, what's Trey up to? Right. Like they want to, they want to see all this, right? They want to see who's in your circle, who you're gonna bring on the show, right? What are you gonna talk about? Um, you mentioned this earlier, but like, what are you gonna reveal about your own life in conversation with the people that come on this show? Like, that's why people are watching. Like, it's I think we're in an age where it's about the the world you are building around your content, right? Because we're like information, like we've been out of the information age for a decade probably. Yeah, certainly post-2022 and Chat GBT and all these things, like information age is done. Knowledge creation for the most part is done. Like, I'm not I'm not saying anything. I've never said anything, if we're being honest, in any of my videos that someone couldn't find in a book or through an LLM platform. Yep. But it is like the story in which I'm couching that in that makes that content shareable, likable, willing to engage in with someone. Um, so yeah, that's the that's the key, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:46:21

Yeah, that it that is really true because I have since I followed you, it I'm just being honest, it hasn't made me want to get on LinkedIn, but it's made me actually like look at like look at you more often to listen, to listen to them. Like every time you have a video that comes up, generally not just because like I'm friends with you, but just because like what like what is he about to talk about? Yeah, like I'm I legit am interested just to hear because you usually have like a just a really good thought to think about. Like I can think about every almost every video you talked about you made, I've already been, oh, I saw that. I saw that already, you know. Oh thank you. So I'm trying to glaze you back.

SPEAKER_00 1:46:56

Yeah, I appreciate that. Thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:46:58

But nah, like, you know, I think that like uh pause. No, sorry, but um no, I think that um it's true, man. I think that like you really do have a knack for connecting, you know, with the people who are watching. Thank you. And I think that it's the stories that you tell, you're a really good storyteller. I think if if you're like you said, you are going from the top of the dome with this, you're an incredible speaker. For somebody who just had to build all this up out of nowhere for themselves, right? You didn't have a book, you didn't have obviously your father to be able to tell you all these things. How do you become how do you become such a great speaker and charting your own path in that direction?

SPEAKER_00 1:47:41

The easier answer that I think most people can get to is like you need influences in your life and people who admire you. And so, like, if you ever uh you know, if you ever hear someone speak and you just like the way they have a turn of phrase, like I always like say, like, you know, if it's an executive, have they been on other podcasts? Have they done press interviews? You know, I talked about literally just talked about how I used to watch Obama stuff. But um honestly, um, something that I've gotten back into recently that's really helped me is I watch a lot of stand-up comedy. Really? Because my favorite stand-up comedians, and I think the best voices in that space, you have to be good at storytelling, you know, especially in the in the in the in the way that art form has evolved. You you're not just like throwing, you know, zip zaps and punchlines, you know, on stage anymore. It's like if you think about someone like like Dave Chappelle, like George Carlin, like Paul Mooney, uh Richard Pryor, like these are people who they're getting up there and they're making you laugh, but they are telling a story. And I'm trying to do the same thing, just instead of the punchline, that's the advice, that's the tactic, that's the thing you can take out of the video. And so I I think a lot about like it's a performance and they are taking you, it's the same thing where they are they're grabbing you with something. Maybe that's the the hook or the you know, something they say that's outrageous, right? Like um, this is gonna be on YouTube, right? Yeah. It's like I remember like Eddie Griffin like starts one of his podcast specials by saying, like, I want to fuck Michelle Obama. It's his first line. This first line, right? But because he's Eddie Griffin, then he goes on this whole thing about like politics and religion and the black community, and like he's talking about all these big issues and he's making you laugh like crazy, but you're also thinking, right? Um, and I think the best comedians do that, and that's where I actually get a lot of my inspiration from in terms of how I would like to show up. Because I want to take you on a journey, but then educate you by accident, you know. That I like that a lot.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:38

Yeah, take you on a journey, educate you by accident. Yeah, yeah. That actually was gonna be something that um I was gonna tell you. I think that like in your videos, that I think that's a nice, uh, a nice like next step. I think you should be a little funny. Yeah, I think you should add a little comedy in there, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:49:55

I've I've thought about that. Yeah, actually, um I I work with Someone who's a bit of a like creative strategist, creative director across my career content, and then the content I make and the stuff I do for um for the first my community. And she actually suggested that to me as well. Because what I hear a lot in conversation, you wouldn't know it by this conversation, but like, yeah, I think I could imbue more of the humor that I have in my day-to-day interactions in what I make and in my content for sure. I think another thing that I'm trying to get better at, so I appreciate you complimenting me on it earlier, is like I'm trying to close the gap as tight as I can between who I would be if you met me on the street and like who I show up as in my videos, right? Obviously, like, you know, not waking up at five in the morning, drool coming out of my mouth, like showing up as a professional and like a human being, but like closing that gap as much as possible is something I've become like really, really focused on this year in my content. And a big part of that, yeah, is I think um, you know, trying to get the humor back in there.

SPEAKER_03 1:50:54

Yeah. I think it um it matters a lot, and it's good that you're doing that. It matters a lot because my wife said something to me uh like I want to say, like maybe a year and a half ago. Um, because just like you, I make educational content, and so I was telling her, I was like, man, some sometimes I feel like some videos aren't hitting and blah blah blah. Just like, babe, the world's a sad place. Some people just want to laugh. Yeah, you know, people just want to laugh. And when I heard her say that, that's when I was like, Yeah, people do just want to laugh. How can I make this majority audience of guys? Because guys typically, if you probably look at a lot of our algorithms, there's some funny stuff in there. There is like I I I need like I watched some probably pretty funny stuff to get some good laughs that are getting shared. So when I got to when I got to thinking that, that's why I started doing skits in my content. Because I was like, Yeah, why not just make because I was already doing skits earlier in my in my career, but I was like, why not bring that back and still educate you at the same time and make edutainment?

SPEAKER_00 1:52:01

So funny, yes, isn't it funny how life works like that? Like so much stuff is just you um um life, like growth is usually the process of like remembering, not like learning, right? It's like it's so often that like you know, to get to the next phase, it's it's like you know, you don't need to pick up some new thing. It's like like remember what you used to do, who you used to be, you know, what you used to enjoy, um, and figure out a way to bring that up to like meet the context of whatever you're doing now. But yeah, it's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:52:29

It makes easier for storytelling, and I think like also like you're already going, they're already gonna be there to connect with you and listen to what you have to say because they know what you have to say is valuable. But I think if you it starts out like uh I read a uh um I read uh how to talk to anyone and um uh Leal is uh name of the author, she talked about in the book about like just throwing, sometimes just throwing small jokes, especially when you're about to get on stage, when you're as an opener, when you're about to meet someone, yeah, kind of lower their defenses. Yeah. Just throwing out something small, something small. It could be a joke on yourself, it could be a joke um to the person that's something they would they want to say, like the the thing you said about the guy said about Michelle Obama, that instantly like it's a it's a good hook, yeah. It instantly like gets people to laugh because it's like, what did you just say? Like that's crazy, yeah. That's absurd. Yeah, and it could be different levels of that, yeah. But it's it's to be able just to make people be like, okay, all right, who is this guy? Like, like let's let's get into it.

SPEAKER_00 1:53:27

It's it's a function of like charisma too. Like, I'm sure you know like people who are uh naturally charismatic and stuff, like they're they're funny, they're cracking jokes, right? At the very least, they're they're complimenting people, right? That's what I always say, like in a networking environment. But yeah, no, I think that's great, that's great advice. Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_03 1:53:43

Yeah, I've made jokes like that. Like, even I was in a training class, like I was in a training class for my first job out of college, and one of my first friends that I got out of college, her name was Tierra, and we were we had like a lunch break, and we had like a lunch break and everything like that, and we had not spoken at all, like hadn't hadn't said it. We we were all just listening to our our trainer just talk. Yeah, and I I said to her, We're we're really great friends to this day. But I said to her, I was like, it's like dang, that's a lot of that's a lot of ranch on that side, you know, and she looks over, she's like, What? And so we we we we kind of just get to talking from there, yeah, because it's like it's funny, but it's like I'm cracking a joke. I'm just trying to, yeah, I'm just trying to open the gap or you know, start a little bit of conversation. And I think a lot of people can appreciate that, you know, like even your video about what uh you know what Gen Z, uh about Gen Z's perception of why they are like this in the workplace. Yeah, next time you make a video about especially anything having to do with Gen Z, you could talk about this is why this person has a stale face, this is why this 22-year-old has a stale face when you go into the coffee shop. Yes, you know, like stuff like that. Yeah, they did last yesterday when I went to go get more coffee. Yeah, right. Stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 1:54:55

That's true. I appreciate this. Okay, let me know where to send my invoice. This is good.

SPEAKER_03 1:55:00

You give me some, I'll give you some, brother. Yeah, you know, I like it. Thank you. Thank you. But yeah, man, that's really all I have for you, bro. I I'm I I've truly, truly enjoyed this episode. I honestly I could probably talk to you for two more hours. I feel like we can. But I know Calebia is probably gonna tell me the batteries are dying soon.

SPEAKER_00 1:55:16

So no, but I've I've had a really fun time here. I I feel like you've you've made me think about a lot of stuff that I haven't talked about or like even thought about in a very long time. And like I've, you know, maybe I said this off camera earlier, but like you're someone that I've I've been watching on my screen for like years. And so it's really cool to sit down with you um to learn more about you and learn, you know, so much we had in common um in Yemen. Like it's it's it's it's such a blessing to be here. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:55:43

Yeah, man. Appreciate you coming on, man. Awesome. Thank you guys so much for watching today's episode. I hope that you feel inspired at least as much as I do on what we talked about in today's episode. If you like the video, make sure you leave a like, you leave a comment, and tell me what was your favorite part of the video that you enjoyed. And make sure you join our Patreon channel at the first link in the description. Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you in the next episode.