It’s My Birthday: Here's Where I Hope To Be This Time Next Year

¡Es mi cumpleaños, y’all!

I think it’s safe to say that the past 12 months have been a potent cocktail of necessary uncomfortability, massive growth, and beautiful challenges. (shaken not stirred)

And as I blow out the candles on yet another year, I'm filled with hope, determination, and a deep sense of purpose for the year ahead.

But instead of the usual birthday wishes for myself, this episode is all about YOU!

In this episode, you'll hear my very transparent and specific goals for the next 12 months—and more importantly—how I plan to help YOU achieve YOURS.

Click play to hear all of this and…

(00:00:01) My birthday plans and my family's traditions that we still do to this day.

(00:08:17) An honest reflection of the past year (the good, the bad, and the ugly!)

(00:12:11) How I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone this past year.

(00:17:04) What I did this past year to SERVE on a whole new level.

(00:19:39) The mindset I carried with me this year in order to GROW.

(00:23:06) My TOP three focuses for the next 12 months.

(00:24:11) The specific actions I’m taking to achieve my goals.

(00:31:41) What I believe to be the most under-utilized marketing component and how you can start doing this ASAP.

(00:33:49) An inside look at the investments I plan on making in the next 12 months.

(00:35:04) My personal experience with masterminds.

(00:35:58) How Gary Vaynerchuk impacted my business mindset.

(00:47:11) A HUGE decision I recently made gasp.

(00:51:24) The BEST birthday present you could ever give me.

As mentioned in this episode:

Join my email list >>HERE<< for my weekly newsletters filled with insider business strategy, personal reflections on resilience, and the journey of being a thought leader.

For full show notes, visit: jasminestar.com/podcast/episode415a

Transcript

Jasmine Star (00:00:01) - It's a. Welcome back to The Jasmine Star Show where we discuss business mindset. And today, or should I say or ask me Cumpleanos yes, today is my birthday. I have to tell you that in my family, birthdays have always been special. It's just been a moment to really celebrate who we were individually in our family. And I say individually because I've mentioned before on the show, I have a twin sister. So every year and there was just one year, there was just one year. We did not celebrate our birthdays together, but for our whole life, or should I say our whole lives. We have celebrated our birthdays and so this year will not be any different. We are going to go away with our entire family. Yes, like one big Latino Brady Bunch. You know, it's like the I was gonna try to come up with a last name in Spanish that was close to Brady, but I'm like, no man, Brady's is as American as you get. Like, there's no Mexico izing it.

Jasmine Star (00:01:18) - There's no Latino izing the word Brady unless you have an idea. If you have an idea, y'all just let me know, okay. Anyway, it's going to be all of us under one roof. There's going to be over ten of us, and it's just going to be a day to or asking me a few days to hang out, swim, barbecue, and for our birthdays. JD is making us dinner now. My sister says this same thing every time JD cooks a meal. Okay, so my sister is an avid foodie. She loves cooking. She's really good at it. She's the kind of person that just like watches, cooking tutorials, food tutorials, growing your own produce tutorials. My sister is the kind of person who has her own herb garden, okay? And so she has a deep appreciation so that whenever she travels somewhere, she goes out of her way to plan where she's going to eat. And she often I know she's gonna hate me for saying this. She often brags how many Michelin star restaurant she's in it, and I'm like, I couldn't care less.

Jasmine Star (00:02:18) - And I'm like, is this food good? Like, honest to God. Like she'll be like, oh, so we had a 27 course meal and I'm like, listen, if one of the courses is avocado foam on a Japanese spoon with a twist in Daisy, that is not a course. I'm sorry. That is just let's make something fancy and pretend it's food. I have never been, I have never been. I've done one like nine course meal and I just wasn't a fan remotely. I know so many people are rolling their eyes. I get it, but maybe your girl just isn't refined. Like I could not stand that every course was tiny, like tiny. And I'm not saying, oh, it's a small plate. No, it's tiny. Like it was like fairies. It had made this meal. And then all of a sudden they put it in front of me. And then, like, I'm supposed to be filled with this fairy plate of food. No, honey. No, no, no, but going back, my sister will always say to my husband, you are the best chef I've ever experienced.

Jasmine Star (00:03:23) - I have eaten at countless Michelin star restaurants. If you had a restaurant, you would have a michelin star. And like, she's so dramatic and she uses her hands and she flings up in the air. And if of course, of course, this food is the best one she's ever eaten. Anyway,, he's going to be making a meal for us. And so we're all going to be, as a family, under the same roof, like ten of us, like, say your prayers is going to be one big Latino family., and we hope not to kill each other by the end of it. Listen, I'm just being real, okay? Like, we put the fun in dysfunctional, okay? My mom hates when I say that,, one of the things that we do for our birthdays is we have a table tradition. So we go around the table and everybody says something about whose birthday it is. So they share their favorite memory, or they share something that they really appreciate or love about that person.

Jasmine Star (00:04:14) - And as somebody who really struggles hearing nice things about myself from other people, I'm like, I cringe during this tradition. But my sister, she thrives. The girl thrives when people just say nice things about her. So I'm like a withering little plant and she is like, blooming on this. Like mushroom made of cotton candy, like she's just living her best life. And so I look forward to that every year. And my mom has this weird tradition. Not weird. It's great. It's great. It's it's not weird., she has this idea that she decorates our birthday tables the same as when we were kids. So it's like, in her mind, it seems like a little bit like she's forever keeping us at the age that she thinks of us fondly. So, like, for example, like when I was 14, I was really into sunflowers. Like, I loved sunflowers. They made me happy. I had a sunflower bedspread. And so then like one year, I think it was like I was turning 28 and my mom.

Jasmine Star (00:05:14) - Had my half of the table completely covered with sunflowers and I was like, oh, sunflowers. How nice. My mom's like, don't you remember? You love sunflowers? I was like, I did, yes, I did. And so, you know, like Bianca, for some reason, gosh, she's totally the holy twin she had decorated her room with like,, angel cherubs. Like, kind of like the Michaelangelo angel cherub. She was really into, like, Renaissance art. Gosh, we were such dorks. Anyway, so my mom had her half of the table, like, fully covered and, like, cherubims, like. Anyway, so I was at my parent's house a few days ago, and we were having dinner, and then Luna ran into the room and she was carrying like this toy, and it was probably like maybe 4 or 5in. And it was a girl in a basketball uniform dribbling a basketball that was like this figurine that she had brought in. And I was like, what's this? And Luna gives it to me and my mom's like, oh no, Luna, you ruin the surprise.

Jasmine Star (00:06:13) - And I was like, oh, what surprise, mom! She's like, that is part of your birthday celebration. I was like, yeah, basketball. My mom's like, don't you remember playing basketball in high school? I was like, yes, I, I played that, that is a fact. I, I did play basketball. So prepare your hearts. Tonight's birthday dinner table will be an homage to me playing junior varsity basketball. So anyway, you know, one of the things recently that has been very special as I celebrate my birthday is Jade and Luna will make me a birthday card. And JD always takes time and he writes really nice, beautiful message in it and I have saved every card that he has ever given me over my whole life. Like I have boxes of letters that we wrote to each other in college and cards that he's giving me like anniversary, birthday, Christmas, anything, anything that has his penmanship I have saved. And now I get to add to his bunch these really pretty, cute, adorable, messy cards that Luna makes.

Jasmine Star (00:07:18) - And so when people say like, oh, how are you celebrating your birthday? And I'm like, I want to celebrate my birthday, doing something that makes my daughter so happy. When she is happy, I'm so happy. Like I am not the kind of person that needs like a thing like, oh, we're going to the south of France. Like, not at all. I'm like, oh, let's, let's get on the Duffy in Newport Beach, and let's just spend the day out on the ocean like she loves it. And again, when she's happy, I'm happy. So, you know, I'm talking about what I do on my birthday and I'm bringing you in on this journey. And I want to say thank you so much for listening. I'm just going to start there is like, I get to spend part of my birthday with you, and that is very special to me. And you know, the reason why I decided to come on and make this podcast is because it's another year I'm going to be blowing out candles on yet another birthday cake, but there was nothing more that I would love to do than to get real and get honest and use a word I hate very much vulnerable.

Jasmine Star (00:08:17) - I really want to talk to you about my hopes for the next 12 months. So we're going to do that, and we're going to do that in two ways. I'm going to reflect on what I have done, learn changed in the last 12 months to bring me to where I am as an entrepreneur, business person and business partner, mother, wife today. And then I want to talk about what I'm going to do in the next 12 months. Like, you know, I always look at birthdays like some people look at New Year's as like, oh, New Year, new me. And that's true. But I've definitely been I hold something deeply profound and like, sacred to my birthday. So grab a slice of my virtual birthday cake and we're going to dive into this episode. Now, I should probably make it something very clear. I should say grab a slice of my gluten free virtual cake, but I highly doubt you would join me. So in my family, I'm the only person who's gluten free.

Jasmine Star (00:09:04) - Like, I would probably go out on a limb and say that my family is like gluten full. Like so. They hate the fact that I request a gluten free cake because nobody eats it. There's like one tiny little slice missing and it's mine. And everyone's like, we could throw that away. Listen, don't judge me. Don't judge me, okay? So if you've been listening to the episodes recently, if you've been listening in the last year, you will have known that a lot of the last 12 months was comprised of the year of rebirth. Rebirth meant something new. I was becoming a new person and part of this rebirth. It took two very visual forms in the business. I rebranded, I redesigned my website, I created new show art for the podcast. I really started putting different words to how I was showing up in the professional world, and it was very strategic. I have chosen to reposition myself and my personal brand from just a social media marketing expert to a marketing strategist, and I am focusing and stepping really strongly into go to market strategies.

Jasmine Star (00:10:08) - And I have developed this muscle by consulting large businesses over the last 12 to 16 months. And I don't talk too much about that because it genuinely feels so brand new to me. I am doing new things in new ways, and I am learning on the go and I am sharing what I learned. But first I need to be fully entrenched in it. And so, you know, for many years people were like, oh, Jasmine, we want to bring Jasmine on the stage because she is a social media specialist. Jasmine knows social marketing. Jasmine's your go to social marketing girl and I, that is a great honor. It is a great privilege. But I started realizing that I felt like a little bit closed in. I felt like that box became too small because I was thinking, yes, I do talk about social media marketing and I do talk about strategies, but that is one sliver of what I do in my business. It's one sliver of what I teach and help other businesses do. And so I decided to say, instead of people calling me what they want me to be, I'm going to step in and I'm going to start calling myself, I am a go to market strategist.

Jasmine Star (00:11:11) - I focus on marketing. You want to build your business. I'm going to be the person you want to talk to. So similar, but very different. And when I say this, it's exciting and it's intimidating. And I am committed to sharing my expansion with you because I want you to expand as well. In a previous episode, I did talk about struggles and challenges. I'll be sure to link it in the show notes, but these struggles and challenges specifically related to when you're starting something new, it feels like you're moving backwards, right? But what I've learned over time is that even though it feels like you're moving backwards, you're actually just starting. And when you just start something new and everything's new, you feel really intimidated. You feel like, what the heck am I doing? You feel very exposed. And my big focus this year is going to be I'm not moving backwards. I'm starting new. I'm starting to climb on a new mountain. And instead of feeling intimidated by it, I'm going to invite other people on the journey with me so that we can do it together.

Jasmine Star (00:12:11) - Now, one of the things as part of rebirth that I was really focused on doing was to push myself into new rooms and I am very specific about the word when I say push, because it is not easy for me. Friends, I have to push myself outside of my house. You've probably heard me mention it before. I'm an introvert. Like on a scale of 1 to 10, I am squarely at 12. I am a read a book and drink a cup of tea kind of girl like I am the kind of person that if we made plans and then you had to cancel last minute, I'd say, oh, but on the inside I'd be like, yes, like that is how much of an introvert I am. And, you know, I'm just gonna be honest, I probably have used it as an excuse, I really have. But if I continue to use that as an excuse, if I had continued, if I stopped showing up in new ways last year, if I had stopped showing up online, if I just stopped speaking on stages, if I stopped going to events, who would that serve? It wouldn't serve me.

Jasmine Star (00:13:10) - It wouldn't help me grow. It wouldn't help you if you and I had the opportunity to see each other at an event where you came to something I hosted, and I don't think it would help anybody. Us always being safe, us choosing to be comfortable all the time. It doesn't serve anybody. And so when I started realizing last year that I wanted to push myself and to do things differently, one of the first things I did in the last 12 months is I signed with a speaking agency. So the way that my career as a speaker has been built has been completely and totally organic. We have done nothing to grow myself as a speaker. I put out content and then people will find it and then they reach into us. And so that is how it's always been built. But this past year, we decided to sign with an agency because an agency will actively start pursuing different stages, bigger rooms, different clients, different pay structures. And that was forcing me to be in different places, in new ways.

Jasmine Star (00:14:10) - I had to push myself past wanting to feel safe and comfortable. Another thing I did to push myself was different than any other year in my entire life. I said yes to local networking events, which I know it probably doesn't sound like a big deal to you, but it's a very big deal to me because because of my high introversion, when I would go to a conference, I could say, okay, well, this is who you're going to be for three days when you are in New York or Dallas or Vegas, right? It's like I am in my I'm going to build my business in network phase. But I never brought it close to home. And I think subconsciously I didn't bring it close to home because people would have like a lot more follow ups. They'd be like, let's do this again. And you can't be like, oh, you're in New York and I'm in Newport. Can't do it. It's like you're in Newport and I'm in Newport. Oh, okay. You know, so I started saying yes to regional and yes to local, like it was anywhere I was going to start saying yes.

Jasmine Star (00:15:09) - I was like, this is the year of yes. And so I would go to events. I'm a part of an executive group coaching program, and part of people in my cohort were all over the United States. However, you can meet with other people in your neck of the woods, so they have regular Orange County meetups. Every single one. In the last 12 months, I went to when they would have regional events in LA. If I can make that commute. I was going to that. In the last 12 months. I went to a web three all female meetup in Pacific Palisades. Now, if you're not familiar with California like our freeways are, no joke. Like if you were to Google Newport to Pacific Palisades, it's probably like 47 miles, which you're like, not that bad. But in California, like Southern California commute time, you're looking at like two, 2.5 hours one way, then staying at the event and probably like an hour and a half on the way home. If you went at 2:00 in the morning, you could be there in like 30 minutes, right? But making that commitment was saying, yes, I'm going to dedicate a large portion of my day because it means something to do things locally and expand myself.

Jasmine Star (00:16:11) - I said yes to coffee dates. I'm not so much of a coffee date kind of person because like I just mentioned, it's like 22 minutes to get to the coffee shop, 30 minutes there, 25 minutes to get back home. I'm like, my gosh, you know how much I could have done in that time at home? But who was I really serving by only saying yes to me? I was going to events in LA, and my criteria for going and investing in these events was, could I learn one piece of education that could change my business? Just one thing, could I want to learn one thing? And it was crazy because I went in focused on the thing I could learn. But every time I went to an event, I would meet one person that really changed the way I saw something, or I had a really great conversation, or they opened doors for me in a way I wasn't expecting. And so doing the events locally was a big shift and simply saying yes. Also, there has been a big change in me getting out of my way and pushing myself to do new things.

Jasmine Star (00:17:04) - I'm going to be talking about that extensively at the end of this episode, because it does deserve its own thing. And y'all, like, prepare your hearts. It's I'm so nervous you Stephen, talking about. I don't even freaking have words for it. Okay, now we're talking about what's been happening in the last year, like the biggest reflections. And you know, biggest reflection when I look back is like I rebranded. The second thing is like push myself to get into new rooms. And the third biggest thing that happened in the last year is putting out a new high ticket offer. And I believe it was so transformational. And I want to lead with the reason why I'm saying it's transformational is because that's what our students have been telling us. We're still in the middle of it. You know, it's April 6th. We started this programming at the beginning of March, and it is eight weeks of live coaching. It is eight weeks where we're going through a lot. It's called a live course experience, your biggest launch ever.

Jasmine Star (00:17:56) - And it was the first time I have ever taught a live course experience. It was the first time we launched it in this particular way, and it was the first time that we were having a very, very active community where we're in it and doing a lot of group. Collaboration and accountability. It's been pretty freaking incredible. And so I you know, what we're doing in there has opened my eyes to the possibilities of how I can be expanding as a business owner. And, oh, okay. We added just recently, we're in the group and these people are so smart and they're like basically killing it. And they're asking for more of the things that they want. And I sparked an idea with the team, and we are going to be offering it to our students first. They're going to get exclusive ability to do that. I can't talk about it yet. I'm going to talk about on the podcast. I am, because the way that it's really come out has been like, wow, you're listening to what your customers and clients and students want, and then you're making an offer.

Jasmine Star (00:18:51) - And if it's in fricking direct alignment, like, you know, it's like, ding ding, ding, you're winning the lottery here. And so we're going to be launching it to them first. And then if there are a few remainder seats open it's going to be small ish. And no it's not a mastermind., but if you are not in the live course experience with me and we're going to be announcing it to just my newsletter, you can find it at Jasmine Starcom forward slash subscribe. I'll leave it in the show notes okay. So subscribe to the newsletter because we're going to be just announcing it's not going to be a public launch. Not very much. And so,, I can't I can't wait. I'm just I'm blown away by what has come up from these people. And I have not offered, okay, we're just called X. I have not offered something like X in I think nine years. Nine years. It's been something sentence offered something similar. And I'm just really freaking excited.

Jasmine Star (00:19:39) - So prepare your hearts. So,, that was like, you know, the third big thing that was really happened that brought us to where we are today. And I'm like, wow, I feel excited and I feel hopeful now. What I want to give into is the three areas of who I want to be next year as an entrepreneur, like I want big changes in my business and I want to be making these changes, and I feel a little weird sharing them because they are very personal. And I'm also going to be sharing about how I achieve those goals, and I'm going to be talking as if I've already achieved them. I have learned that my brain listens to my words and my brain trusts my words. So if my words are speaking truth, then my brain considers it a foregone conclusion. My brain is like, it's done. Now I get to figure out how we're doing it. It's done. So. Before I do that, I want to say one thing and I need to take a breath, okay? I know that there will be a ton of things that happen in my life in the next 12 months that I cannot control.

Jasmine Star (00:20:47) - And I am choosing to embrace that. I know that no matter how well, how ambitious, how amazing, how giving, how joyful that I plan the next 12 months that life is going to do its own thing. I am not a fortune teller, and I'm good with that. I am trusting that process. And I can do this because I choose to believe that life is happening for me. Life is happening for me. It's not happening to me. That every dark day, every sad moment, every disappointment, every flash of anger, every heartbreak, every moment of sadness, every victory, every sense of joy, every accomplishment and every win. They're happening for me. And I hope. That they happen for you to. I hope that you can plan without expectations. I hope you can allow yourself to dream and trust that as long as you take consistent and persistent action towards your goals, it will pay off. Even if it is not the way that you hoped it would. Because wherever you and I end up on April 6th of 2025, I want you to say it happened for me.

Jasmine Star (00:22:03) - It happened exactly as it should, even if it happened differently than I had planned. So I say that because putting myself so much out there and sharing this with you makes me feel open in a new way. But this new version of me, this new, it's my birthday version of me. I'm going to be accepting that. And I want to bring you in with me. I want to develop relationships with you. I want to be real with you. Okay. So the first three of main focus is that I have for the next 12 months, and I'm talking mostly about this from a business perspective because this is our business podcast. So I'm going to be up leveling the free resources I create. I'm going to be more specifically expanding my podcast and growing my YouTube channel. Those are three things that I am really strategically focused on for my business. Now, it's one thing to say I want to grow my podcast, but I'm going to be sharing you with you how I plan to expand the podcast.

Jasmine Star (00:23:06) - And here's the thing. You might not have a podcast, but the things that I'm doing with it, you can apply to your mode of business growth. So I'm just come on here. I'm gonna say it by my next birthday, we will have grown our total listenership by 50%. That's it. Like that's huge. And I know it's a little bit crazy. I know it is. But I'm going to step in this goal, and I'm going to act like it's already done. So that when my brain says, wow, we have grown our listenership by 50%. By April 6th, 2025. Then my brain just has to figure it out. Another metric for us is that our average consumption like this is like the duration percentage. That meaning that the people are listening to it. Like on average 80% of our episode now, it's very rare. It's very rare that every podcast host has their listeners listen to 100%. It's very rare. And so if you, on average, have people listening to 80% of your episode like, that's pretty gangbusters.

Jasmine Star (00:24:11) - That's really a great margin. Right now we're about 71%. And so the next 12 months, we're going to be actively being strategic about getting people to listen to 80% of it. And we have to be really strategic about choosing every single word, every single guest, every single intention, every single framework. We want to draw you in and make sure that you're just like, I can't peel away from it because I'm learning, I'm engaged. I feel like I'm growing. I'm getting the things that I want from this. And so that's not on you, it's on us. But here's the thing, here's the thing I don't want any listeners was very clear with the team. We're not trying to get numbers to get numbers. I want very specific listeners. I want action takers. I want hungry entrepreneurs. I want the people who need to hear the lessons and the information that I know will take them to the next level. I mean, let's be real. Basically, I want more people like you.

Jasmine Star (00:24:59) - I'm like, can I just be honest? Like, yes, of course I'm going to be honest. It's my birthday if you made it to this point in the podcast. It's you. I want more people of you. And here's why I'm going to, like, let you in. I started off with very personal stories. Why I want to push away people who are really not here about understanding the full context of why I believe what I believe. I was raised and shaped to be a certain way, and so that you identify and you understand and use it through a lens in which you look at your own life. And then I talked about the three things I learned over the past year, because if you're not willing to learn from your own lessons or learn from somebody else, you're robbing yourself with the ability to grow in a faster way. And so if you made it up into this point, we're talking about, okay, great, how are we going to grow next? What are the things that we're going to do? You're an action taker.

Jasmine Star (00:25:40) - You're not even messing around. You're here because you're like, I am going to learn something and apply something. So if we want more people like you, here is my early plan to make it happen in 2025. I'm going to say, oh. We were extremely particular about the guests that we brought on the show. So here's one thing is we get over 300 guests requests per month. I mean, we get hundreds of guest requests per month. And it's very, very rare that we bring on a guest that I don't personally know and trust. And I want to make sure that that standard gets even higher. I want you to know that every episode you turn into, you're like, dang, I didn't know I needed to hear this guest, but Jasmine vouched. Jasmine went through. Jasmine knows this person, so it's gonna be worth my time. Another thing we're going to do is I have always poured my heart into every episode, but I think that I'm giving myself like a great big green go be 100% you even when it's uncomfortable, embarrassing, or awkward.

Jasmine Star (00:26:38) - I think there's a part of me that like, yes, I'm real with myself. But then I stop myself, be like, whoa, gassy that that's that's really that's out of pocket, honey. I was like, no B out of pocket. In fact, when I'm uncomfortable, when I'm embarrassed, when I'm awkward, I'm choosing to believe that those are signs that the episode is really going to help somebody. Because when we cut away the fluff and we just gotta be real with each other, let's just have real conversations. And I would rather be all of my broken, glorious, amazing, awful, uncomfortable, embarrassing, awkward self so that, you know, 100% of who I was and what I stood for. I am also choosing to be a guest on other people's podcasts, because I believe there's a lot of power in sharing stories. So how do I end up growing my podcast? By going on other podcast? And I think that how do you want to grow your LinkedIn audience, your Instagram audience? Your Facebook audience is like by going out and being on those people's audiences on the same platform.

Jasmine Star (00:27:27) - And, you know, for this podcast, in order for us to really grow and expand, the podcast has to be 100% about you. Yeah, I'm the host, but it's got to be about you. So prepare your heart. We are going to be asking for things for me. We're going to be asking for what you want to hear, for we're going to be asking for you to submit your questions like, yeah, we're going to have a line where you can record your questions and then be featured on the podcast. Like, we're really going to make this about like, how do we make this show about you? And I'm going to be very, very honest here. So my husband and I, my business partner JD, we had a conversation about the podcast in the next 12 months, and we were just doing budgeting for the podcast. And y'all know we do not monetize the podcast. I don't have an issue monetizing the podcast. I don't, but I started this podcast because I wanted a space of self-reflection and creation, and I really just wanted a place to be me.

Jasmine Star (00:28:15) - So every year we're spending well over six figures, hundreds of thousands of dollars into the podcast and how many hours we spend creating and producing the podcast. And I thought to myself, you've done it on your own up until now, the only way you're going to get 50% growth over the next year is if you do it 100% for people who are listening. And so that's my commitment. That is my commitment. The second way I'm going to be growing distinctly in the next 12 months is I'm going to be focusing on growing YouTube. And, you know, I'm going to be focusing energy on growing YouTube. But I want to make sure very clear it's not about the numbers. Numbers are just a way that we know that we're on track, that what we're doing is moving the needle. So my goal is to have 100,000 subscribers on YouTube in the next 12 months, and that's a big number. I totally get it. But I'm up for the challenge. So for context, right now we have around 76,000 followers on YouTube.

Jasmine Star (00:29:08) - However, that following was grown heavily when I was a photographer creating photography content on YouTube. And then I stopped posting videos for about four years on YouTube. That is probably one of the top three biggest mistakes I made in my business. Totally honest. I let that channel wither and I'm trying to revive it, and it feels like I've just dug up a corpse and I'm trying to give it CPR. Like that's how I feel with YouTube right now. I'm like, oh God, this is going to be so hard. But I am dedicated. So if you're looking at something and you're like, man, this looks like a corpse and I am trying to revive it, great. Join me in this revival of the corpse by way of CPR. Okay, let's focus on three things that we can do. First, I'm going to be sharing more of the journey behind the scenes. I'm going to show the good, the bad and the build. And I'm doing that by sharing the podcast on the on YouTube.

Jasmine Star (00:29:56) - I am doing that by creating vlogs. So very casual behind the scenes, and I am going to be creating content like video content, longform video content that's specifically for YouTube. And then we're going to be like really strategic. So I would put out videos and I would just like title them and be like, whew, I'm done. Not really. There's ways to optimize videos that we haven't at all been focusing on. And so keyword research, compelling titles, descriptions, we're going to be using tags strategically. Up until now we're like not using tags. And I was like, oh, I should be tagging. You know, it's like we need to make the content more discoverable so you can attract a larger audience. Now, the last thing that we're going to be doing and we're going to be doing this not just for YouTube but across all social platforms, is we want to use analytics to help make decisions, because when we can analyze data like watch time retention demographics, I can make better decisions.

Jasmine Star (00:30:44) - Hey, what content do people care about? Like I'm not making the videos for me. I'm making the content to like, help other people. How do we do that? Our data and analytics will tell us. So we're gonna start focusing on that now. I talked about the three main focuses that I'm really gonna drill down in the next 12 months. I had mentioned the free resources that I created, and I'm specifically focusing on the podcast. And you do. And then the second focus for the next 12 months is going to be initiating more collaborations and expanding into new networks. Now, this podcast, yes, it is for my birthday, but I also want it to be a win for you. So I'm going to talk about how I'm going to be pursuing collaborations and expanding into new networks so that you could do the same thing. I know I have to tell you, collaborations, in my humble opinion, are going to be the most underrated marketing components. I want you to think of it this way you're not just leveraging that person's inner circle their network, but that network already knows, likes, and trust them.

Jasmine Star (00:31:41) - Meaning by proxy they're going to know, like, and trust you by association. Now, I say this because I experience it both ways. Like this is why I'm so picky about who comes to my podcast. I am not trying to have a podcast for having a podcast. I am trying to uplevel how you're doing your life and business by introducing you to people who I genuinely think are up loving your life and business. I'm exposing my guest to this network, all of you. Amazing people right now who are listening. And I hope if I have the honor and privilege of collaborating and expanding into other networks, I do the same thing. I serve other people's friends, collaborators, their networks, their groups, their communities in the same way. And so I'm going to tell you that I have experienced really great collaborations and then not so great collaborations. And if I had to drill down on the three things that people do really well when they want to collaborate with me in a way that taught me how I want to collaborate with others, I want to break those down real quick.

Jasmine Star (00:32:41) - Number one personalize the approach when people tailor their message. Not to me, but say, hey Jazmin, I know that you serve this type of person and I have this skill set and if I can combine them, this is how I get to serve your community. I'm just like, heck yes. Like, not just how it's going to make me interested in them, but how it's going to serve you. So I learned when I want to collaborate somebody, I want to immediately go in and say, this is what I want to do for your community. Number two, when I'm pitching myself and when I get pitched, I really like for there to be flexibility. I want to stay open to different ideas and I want to compromise to suit their community better. And then likewise, like if somebody's coming on the podcast, I'm like, I love your angle, but can we really focus it on this? Because it'll help people have action takeaways. And then thirdly, when it comes to collaboration, things that I've learned really well in advance is before I get pitched to go on to somebody's podcast or to do a collaboration with them when they're engaging with me, like when I'm seeing them in DMs or when they're responding, or if they were reposting my content, it really keeps them at top of mind.

Jasmine Star (00:33:49) - So now when I want to collaborate with somebody, I am reaching out to them. I am engaging with them. I'm tagging them in stories so that they become a little bit more familiar with me before I ask, okay, now, I had said that my three main focus is for the next 12 months would be focusing on the content that I'm creating, the free content that's a podcast and YouTube. The second main focus that I'm going to be working on is expanding my network and collaborating with others, and I explain the three ways that I plan on accomplishing that. And my third focus for the next 12 months is growth. Now, I know that's probably not new. Like you all know. Like I love me some growth, I love education. Your girl is a lifelong learner and in order for the business to grow and evolve, I need to grow and evolve. Now, I have to tell you that you all know I love investing in things that aren't really measurable. How do you measure education? How do you measure connections? How do you measure somebody pushing you to grow bigger than what you thought? Now you know that I am a huge fan of masterminds, and I know that for some people, it kind of rubs in the wrong way.

Jasmine Star (00:35:04) - I don't even like that word. And I get it. Not all masterminds are great. I've had some pretty phenomenal experiences with them, and they have caused me to grow so much. So much so that I'm a part of masterminds. This year in my business, I can list three specifically., two of them are independently led, like a group of people. We all come in and we all pitch a certain amount of money, and we go and we do something. Now, the third one, it's more of like executive coaching. They don't call it a mastermind, but they break you up into small groups. And my cohort has eight people and I invest in that, and I have invested in it since last year and this year, and at the beginning of the year, I told JD that I felt like something was missing, like there's this thing that I wanted to do, like I wanted to invest in myself, and nothing was really calling to me. Like I was looking at other masterminds, but they were,, focused on things that I really wasn't focused in at that time.

Jasmine Star (00:35:58) - And so I didn't really know how to pursue things. And then a month ago, I got an email from a gentleman by the name of James Orsini. And he is a very active key role player at VaynerMedia. Now, we met back. Goodness gracious. I think around 2017 now I invested in something called the Fords, and the Fords was a part of a venture through VaynerMedia. VaynerMedia is owned and operated by Gary Vaynerchuk, and I have to tell you that the first time I learned about Gary Vaynerchuk, it was 2015. I had never heard of him before. And my entire career, my entire career, I was doing well, but I had, on a subconscious level, a belief that it was kind of just really ghetto, like. I didn't have a lot of money, and so I was just leveraging free things like social media and my blog to build a business. And it was great. It was great, and it was effective. But I also felt like I was doing it like, I don't know, like I had champagne taste on a beer budget, you know, it's like I had $2 and I wanted to buy a taco for four.

Jasmine Star (00:37:07) - And I'm like, I'm trying to make. This work and I was, I was, but I was getting on a plane coming home from Dallas. I had taught a two day. Workshop conference to 50 business owners, and a guy by the name of Jimmy. Handed me a book and he said, you remind me so much of Gary Vaynerchuk, like what he says. And I'm like, oh, interesting, thanks so much. And he's like, no, Jasmine read the book. And the book was called jab, jab, jab, Right Hook. And I open the book on the flight from Dallas back to LA, and I can't explain what happened to me, other than the fact that I felt so completely seen by somebody who didn't know I existed. Gary Vaynerchuk wrote an entire book on the tenants and the beliefs and the foundation of how I had built my business. And so here I am learning about this guy who has a like multi multi-million dollar business and businesses and is an investor and is a speaker, and is an author, and is a podcaster, and is a video content creator and is a creator for social like.

Jasmine Star (00:38:14) - I'm reading all of these things and I see somebody so successful and so far ahead of me, but doing the same things that I had been doing in my business. So all of these years, the thing that I thought was ghetto, the thing that I was just like, oh, it's like my champagne on a beer budget was really, for all intents and purposes, the same principles. But his was like exponential. He was doing 100 to my one. But I thought to myself, My God, he's just doing more than what I'm doing. But we're doing the same thing. And I just felt, for the first time in my entire career, fully justified in what I was doing. Like nothing changed in my business except for my belief that the way I was building my business was right. Or I'd take that back. I knew what I was doing was right because it was working, but I felt like there was something different. There was something fancier. There was something better. There was more of a legit way to do this.

Jasmine Star (00:39:10) - You see, I'm just a girl from the hood. And so I was doing this because this is all I had. And there is somebody else out there who didn't have to do what I was doing and didn't have to do what he was doing, but he was doing it and doubling down on it and getting these massive results. And that was the day that I started consuming Gary's content like a fire hydrant, like it was like a broken fire hydrant in Brooklyn. And I was your girl standing in front of it, just with a little Dixie cup, drinking every last bit of it that I could consume. I bought his other books. I started following him on social media. I was watching his videos, and then I got an email and they had invited. They had announced that they were bringing 20 people to New York City, and you could spend $10,000 for a day at VaynerMedia. Now, this was not $10,000 for a day with Gary. It was $10,000 for a day at VaynerMedia. So you got to see how their departments work together, how their content played in with their paid ads, how their paid ads played in with their relationships with creators.

Jasmine Star (00:40:06) - I mean, I just wanted to understand the whole nature of what he was doing at VaynerMedia and. I got the email and I was like, there's just no way this is the craziest thing. Like $10,000 for a day. Are you kidding me? And so I talked to JD and I said, this is crazy, right? Like, this is crazy. There's no way I would pay $10,000 for a day. And then I called my dad and I was like, this is crazy, right? Like, my dad's an immigrant from Mexico. Of course, I'm expecting my dad to say, like, if that's local, get out of here, man. Are you kidding me right now? No, no. You're crazy. You're crazy. I totally thought that. And he just said, like Mia, I don't know. Is it crazy? I don't know, I don't have a business. Is it crazy? And I was like, I don't know. I think it's crazy. I called my best friend who knew? Like after I read Gary's book, I gave her the book and I was like, you have to read it.

Jasmine Star (00:40:57) - I'm like, this guy is freaking amazing. And I called her and I said, is this crazy? Because I think it's crazy. And then I paid the $10,000. It was a huge decision. This was back in. I mean, I bought the ticket at the end of 2016, and I went to the event in May 2017, and I spent the whole day in New York. But I have to tell you, this is a side note. Oh my God, like, this podcast was literally supposed to be 15 minutes and now we are like 30 minutes later, y'all, we having a conversation. Just pull up a chair. Happy birthday to me okay okay okay. I have to tell you, the first time I get I met Gary Vaynerchuk happened completely and totally unexpectedly. I'm not even sure if I shared this on the podcast., I fly to New York with JD and the event is at Hudson Yards. That's where the VaynerMedia offices are, and we decide to stay at The Standard.

Jasmine Star (00:41:48) - That's just right off the Highline, more like Chelsea. And I just said Chelsea like, is it? Chelsea is like flat iron anyway, so we're staying at the standard, which is about three and a half miles from Hudson Yards. That's not far, but in New York it's like a 25 minute cab ride. So anyway, so we're sitting at the standard. We walk out, this is the day before the event. We walk out and I'm looking for our Uber. And JD says there's Gary. And I was like, you're really funny, dude. Really funny. And I was like, can we just please pay attention? We need to get this Uber. And he's like, quiet and he's staring and he says, That's Gary. And I was like, that's not funny. Come on, please, let's go. And he's like. It's Gary Vaynerchuk and he starts walking. And that's when I knew he was serious and I was like, oh God. And I'm trying to find his line of sight.

Jasmine Star (00:42:38) - And there is none other than Gary Vaynerchuk standing in front on the corner in front of the Standard Hotel. And I'm mortified, like my feet are in cinder blocks and I'm like, oh God, no, no, what is he doing? What is he doing? JD marches up to Gary and says, Hey Gary. And Gary looks at us and I'm like, probably about two feet behind J.D. my mouth is on the floor and I'm like, what is he doing? And he's like, this is my wife. And I was like, hi, hello, hi, hi. I'm like Gary, who clearly sees that I am having an existential crisis. He's like, hey, nice to meet you. And then he says, I like your hat. And I was like, thanks, thanks so much. I couldn't get it together. Now here's the thing. I am born and raised in L.A. we see celebrities like all the time. You grew up and it was common. Like it's LA is Hollywood is just random people sightings at LAX like it wasn't everything.

Jasmine Star (00:43:34) - I've never been starstruck. That's not even how I roll, but I was. So I have been and so enamored with Gary that the first time I met him, I couldn't think of anything to say. I was like,. And then finally I get my feet out underneath me and I'm like,, I'm going to the four D's tomorrow. And he's like, really? That's so great. He's like, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. I was like, me too. And then we walk and we turned the corner. And then I, like I start dry heaving. I was like, oh my God, I think I just got sick in my mouth like, oh my God. I was like, but he likes my hat. Why am I so awkward? Why did you say hi? I'm dying. And JD is like, what are you talking about? He's like, you just made Gary. And I was like, I just met Gary. I just met Gary. He was so nice and he was so warm and welcoming.

Jasmine Star (00:44:18) - And I was looking forward to four days now. Four days. You spent the whole day with the VaynerMedia team. And then at the end of the day, Gary would come in and do like an hour Q&A. Everybody had like five minutes to ask him a question, and it was one of the coolest experiences. And the way I justified going was if I went and they invested $10,000 in that day, I had to ask myself, could I learn something that would make me 10,000 in 1 dollar when I had the next 12 months to go and deploy against it? And the answer was yes, I believed. I believed that I was going to learn something that would make my business $10,001 so that I get a positive ROI. I believe that, so I made the investment in I went. It was a huge deal for me. Now let's flash forward to a month ago when I get an email from James and James and I have stayed in contact over the years. Like whenever I'm in New York, I'll be like, hey, come by the offices, let's just have a chat.

Jasmine Star (00:45:17) - I chat with them for like 15, 20 minutes. There's no expectation. He's just the kind of guy who wants to build relationships. And it always felt like really warm and welcoming. So just imagine my surprise when he says, Jasmine, we're having a new offer at VaynerMedia. We're taking 12 people and we're going to be working with them for four months. And they invited me to get on a call. And so half of me was like, am I getting pitched? And then the minute that the minute that James brought out the pitch deck, I was like, oh, I'm getting pitched. And he's walking through what this is, and I'm going to explain all of it in greater detail in another episode. But for right now, right now, this is my birthday episode, and we're talking about what I'm going to do in the next 12 months. And I set an intention that I want to do something else, and I didn't know what that other thing was. And then last month, something comes my way, and it's as if I have been invited to and challenge to step up in new and different ways.

Jasmine Star (00:46:16) - So be careful what you ask for. Because if you say you want to do something big and something big comes your way, it is a test. So James is giving this presentation in the back of my mind. I'm like, oh my God, oh my God, this is expensive. This is really expensive. Like he's pitching me. This is expensive. This is really expensive. And he says, are you interested? I said, James, I'm interested. Can you give me a couple days? And he said, sure, immediately. Get off the zoom call with James, and I call JD, and he's at the gym. And I lay it out and I'm like, okay. And so then there's this, and then there's this, and it's this. And I meet every week, and then there's these other calls, and then they have this in-person trip and then we're going to be doing. And then I said, how much do you think it is? And JD is like, why don't you just tell me? I said, okay, it's,, $50,000 for four months.

Jasmine Star (00:47:11) - And we talked about the logistics and we talked about what what was included. And I'm going to share all of that in a future episode. I'm still in the process of this, y'all. Like it is April 6th recording this podcast, and we've just finalized the details. JD said. When you look back at that version of you in 2017, when you were asked and invited to spend $10,000 for that day. He's like, and you look back at that now and you would think, well, spending $10,000 a day like you would absolutely say yes to that immediately right now, because of how much you got from it and how much the business has grown from then. He's just like, if you were five, six years from now to look back at this day. Do you think that you can grow a business in such a proportion that you look back and you think that was a really small investment for what I learned, who I became and the connections I created. And I said, I, I believe so, and I also believe that what I learned over the next four months, I will be able to make $50,000 in one.

Jasmine Star (00:48:14) - As a positive ROI in the next 12 months. And then JD said, okay. He says, I bet on you. Ohmygod. Where is this coming from?., I wasn't expecting that. JD said I bet on you. He's like, when we look at what we're going to do in the next 12 months. He's like, I would rather bet on you than invest in the S&P. And so for those people who are not familiar with the S&P, there's like about on average, a 9% return. The last few years, the S&P, there has been a 12% return on what you're investing in the stock market. And so when J.D. says that he would rather invest in me. It was like, man. And here's the thing. It's not that this money is a birthday gift, or this investment is worthy, if not at all. We're making a business strategic decision. But when we were talking about a strategic decision and he said something just like in passing, like he's like, oh, he's like, I bet on you.

Jasmine Star (00:49:16) - It was like the greatest thing that your business partner can tell you is just, I bet on you and I know you. And so there's these things that are happening that I deeply know, I deeply know. I'm going to go into this year with growth on my mind. And while I have a loose plan of what I want to accomplish and what I want to learn, I have to be very open. And I am just figuring if I can get into those rooms. As a daughter of an immigrant, as the first generation business owner, as a first person to be a little bit oftentimes underrepresented in rooms like this, that I'm going to bet on me. In this year. And that bet is on growth. And that bet is on investing in things that cannot be taken away. My education, what I learned, the people I know, the experiences that I have. You guys, I just feel like I'm so geeking out because I got a calendar request. I'll be in New York in May, and Gary is releasing his new book, and part of releasing his new book is He is.

Jasmine Star (00:50:26) - You Guys just wait. And I feel like this is this is the craziest thing., he's ringing the bell on the New York Stock Exchange the day his book comes out, and he's taking the people in his group to go and ring the bell with him in the New York Stock Exchange. So when I told JT, I was just like, so you decided to bet on me this year, right? I was like, your girls go to the stock exchange and like, it's just this crazy thing. Like, maybe it's not that big of a deal for other people, but I have to tell you, like, I get to experience something just being there, just being expanded. That alone is something I am so looking forward to. And I have to tell you that $50,000 is not like a drop in the bucket, something that we just don't. Oh, sure. It's just, you know, I don't get out of bed.

Jasmine Star (00:51:14) - For anything less than 75.

Jasmine Star (00:51:16) - Not at all. It is a considerable investment in the business, but I am committed to that and to growth.

Jasmine Star (00:51:24) - We sitting here if we got to this point in the conversation? Number one. Thank you. Number two, it almost feels like this is a tiny bit of a really great celebration to be able to talk with you, to be able to experience what I do on this podcast and to tell you that part of my birthday wish, part of my birthday wish, is to make this podcast even better, to make it a podcast that like when it shows up and there's a new episode, you're like, hot dang, I'm ready for this. That's my intention to serve you. Well. Now that's my birthday wish for myself. But just in case you're in like, the mood to be giving a birthday present. Okay, okay., the best birthday present I could ever ask for is for you to take 30s to rate and review this podcast. I know, I know, we're not going to end this, you know, this podcast without being like, girl, it's your birthday. No, but literally it's your birthday.

Jasmine Star (00:52:12) - We're gonna party.

Jasmine Star (00:52:13) - Like it's your birthday. We're gonna leave a review cause it's your birthday. Jasmine. Ask for it all the time. But it's her birthday.

Jasmine Star (00:52:20) - Yes. The team and I put countless of hours making this show and making as valuable as possible for you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. What a beautiful day to be born. And what a beautiful day to connect with you. Thank you for listening to The Jasmine Star Show. And Bianca, if you got to the end of this episode because I.

Jasmine Star (00:52:40) - Know you listen. Happy birthday, Felicia Miyamoto.