Hi, everybody. Happy Tuesday and welcome back to another episode here of The Daily Grind. On today's episode, we are joined by Mr. Jordan Paris.
Jordan is a 22-year-old author, podcast host, and entrepreneur who has been featured in publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, Men's Health, Yahoo Finance, and MarketWatch. He is the host of one of the top podcasts out there, top-ranked podcasts as well, Growth Mindset University, author of a book with the exact same title. He has interviewed some amazing, amazing people and is also the founder and creative director for TrendUp Media. Today, as always, everyone, be sure you have a pen, piece of paper, sit back, and really dive deep into today's interview with Mr.
Jordan Paris. Enjoy. Today's podcast, everyone, is brought to you by Wellspent. Wellspent is a free money management app on a mission to help Canadians make better decisions with their money.
By linking your bank account, you can start saving and start reducing regretful spending. Listen, most other apps out there are just going to tell you that you're spending too much eating out or you're spending too much on things that maybe matter to you, but don't matter to everyone else. Wellspent takes a completely different approach, which is absolutely amazing. I encourage you all to download the app available on Android and iOS.
You can check out their website at wellspent.co or follow them on Instagram at well.spent. You guys are not going to regret this. What an amazing app and amazing tool for you right now. Again, wellspent.
You can download it today through the Android and iOS stores or go to wellspent.co. Just before we jump into today's episode, everyone, I want to thank you all for listening. If you enjoyed this podcast, all I ask from you today is think of one person who you feel like could benefit from today's episode and share it with them. Now without further ado, please meet Mr.
Jordan Paris. Well, Jordan Paris, welcome to The Daily Grind, my friend. How are you? Colin, I am happy to be here.
I've watched you from afar for quite some time now, so it's my pleasure. Awesome, man. Well, how are you handling these days? How are things?
Yeah, man. Just sorting through it and trying to figure out what the best plan of attack to come out better is. Because you hear the cliche. I mean, it's becoming a cliche now, I feel like.
I mean, I posted about it yesterday where 355 years ago, a young student named Isaac— I won't even say his last name. A young student named Isaac, 355 years ago, there was just the great plague of London from 1665 to 1666. But when he came back to university in 1667, he had discovered calculus. Theories in hand, comes back to university, make him a fellow six months later and then a professor two years later.
Again, a young man named Isaac Newton. So I'm trying to figure out, like, how can I come out of this better? I'm channeling all my energy right now into my work, even more so than usual. Yeah, I think we're all trying to find the answer.
We're trying to find that sweet spot, right? Yeah, and I think like I think what's going to be super important now, like if you're a business, you know, like businesses are not going to want to be like if you're B2B, you know, business and you're selling businesses, right? You're selling your services, maybe your agency services, something like that. You know, which I think you and I, we fall in that boat.
But or at least I do. You know, I think agencies are going to be a lot and a lot of people do. Agencies or businesses are going to be way less apt to spend on things without a direct, measurable return on investment or measurable ROI. So if you have a product or service that is directly linked to a return on investment, you're going to thrive during this.
And if you don't, you better figure it out. No doubt. 100%. So before we jump into this, Jordan, for people kind of being first introduced to you, give us a brief synopsis.
Who are you? What do you do? Yeah, well, I'm a curious guy, curious Jordan, instead of curious George. Yeah, I like to have fun, help people and make money.
And I like to help people make money. And I just have a good old time over here. You know, I have this podcast called Growth Mindset University, where very much like yourself, Colin, I interview people that I really look up to my role models, heroes, even. And, you know, those people, you know, we've interviewed we've interviewed a lot of the same people.
You know, I've interviewed Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art. I don't know if you've interviewed him, but oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. OK.
But I know I was I've looked at your list several times and there's some overlap. I can't think of any right now, but Ryan Serhant, Million Dollar Listing. Dean Graziosi is coming up. Robert Green's on Friday.
Yeah. Yeah. Dan, the only way the peaceful warrior. It's like my favorite book of all time.
I got to speak with him in September. I think it was. Yeah, it was September 2nd. And so, yeah, I have a lot of fun with that.
Awesome. Would you say your business and everything was built behind your podcast? Oh, for sure. Yes.
So walk us through, like, when did when did you start the show? Walk us through your podcast journey. Like, how did how did it start? What was the initial vision for Growth Mindset University?
Yeah. You know, there was this I remember this little very, very, very vaguely in December of 2018 or December of 2017, December 2018 is when I reached out to you for the first time because we were talking about before this. And December of 17, I was visiting family up north. I'm from Fort Myers.
I live in Fort Myers, Florida now from Pennsylvania. I was visiting family up north with at the time a girlfriend and we were in my room and I just like it came to me for the first time. Like out of I can't even tell you why or how, but just silence lead to myself. Growth mindset university.
And I was like, oh, that's good. And I never verbalized it. Like I kept it shelved away. I didn't write down.
It was like a mental note. And thank God I remembered it. And I actually finally did something with it. It's February of 2018.
Then when I created this like free online course on Thinkific with, you know, it was just recycled content from like other people. I essentially like curated like videos and made a curriculum out of it, like included a lot of Jim Rohn and Tony Robbins and all that. And then and, you know, that wasn't anything special like at all, obviously. And then the following month, I decided to start writing this book and I was like, I'm just going to call it growth mindset university.
I didn't think twice about it. And so then that was I think it was March. Yeah, it was March 18th. I started of 18.
I started writing that. And then April 17th of 2018 was the day when I when I decided and put out my first couple podcast episodes called Growth Mindset University. And it was really embarrassing, man. You know, I, I, man, it was so bad.
So, so, so, so bad. And there's just I got this friend and she you know, she was like the only one I know that confirmed that heard those first two episodes before I replaced the audio files a couple hours later with like redos. Oh, man. And I just I, oh, my God, I'm so embarrassed.
She can hold that against me forever. And it's like literally my next door neighbor, too. But anyway, you know, it was up from there, you know, and figuring out, figuring it out along the way, growing as I was going and and asking for help from other people. You know, I'd asked for I spotted this kid, our mutual friend.
You know, you talked to him today as well. Mark Metri, right? I think it was August of or September of twenty eighteen when when I had very much the way I did with you, like asking me to get on the phone, you know, I was like, hey, can I waste your time? And then in December of eighteen, I asked you about your guest outreach strategy and I started getting all this information from other sources, other people, people that are starting to do what I want to do.
And and then in January of nineteen, I start putting it together, like because I had this whole list, Colin, of people that I was like, I want to reach out to you. Did you ever make an Excel sheet of like people that you want to reach out to? 100 percent. Big one.
Right. Right. So I did that. I had that for a while.
And I was like, I put it in like order of how hard that would be to get on the podcast. And I was just waiting to reach out to all those really the people that I perceived would be really difficult to get on the podcast. I was just waiting for like I was gonna, you know, I was gonna scale up chronologically, I guess. Yeah.
And then I had a friend named Wesley who was on that show. Love is blind on Netflix, by the way. I don't binge watch, but I binge watched that. Yeah.
Yeah. And they cut his engagement. So he's It's a never ending process of studying other interviewers and learning something from each of them. I've been dreaming about this relatively long article that I want to write for some time now, like what you can learn from the five best interviewers of our time.
And it would include lessons I've learned from James Altucher, Larry King, Joe Rogan, and Lewis Howes and all those and Cal Fussman, all those people and Tim Ferriss. You can even throw him into that conversation, those people. And I mean, it's hard to verbalize. I think when I write this article, because I've definitely I've learned things from each of them.
And I think it's going to be much easier to verbalize the exact things I learned from each of them once I put this article down on paper. But You know, the overarching theme and what I learned from Alex Benayan when I interviewed him, it's one of my favorite books, The Third Door. And he learned this from Cal Fussman, who I really admire as an interviewer. He said that people, these interviewers, these great interviewers that we all watch, they all have their own style.
And Colin, it's very easy for you and I to try and imitate their styles, right? You know, it could be very alluring. It could be like, it's a sexy thing to do to try and try and be like Joe Rogan or something like that. But we're missing the point.
Like they have their own style. They're that way because that's what makes them most comfortable in their seat, which in turn makes the guest most comfortable in their seat. And so by being something, someone we're not, we're like, we're totally just missing that point. And we're not making the guest most comfortable in our seat, in their seat because we're not most comfortable in our seat.
So the, the real, the overarching theme is like to just be unabashedly you, like whoever you are, just stop trying to perform because if you perform, you inevitably falter. Such is the nature of performance, you know? So yeah, I'm constantly learning from, from these people. It's interesting because, you know, I went through a similar process, but now I don't, I don't like to consume other content that way.
Like, I don't like to listen to other interviewers do it because I feel like I am taking on that style. Does that make sense? Ah, I know what you mean. It's like one of those things you go through on your social media feed and you see what other people are posting and then you just kind of post something generic because you're like, everyone seems to be posting this.
And it's not you. And that's where I have like a, a disconnect. I try to disconnect myself from that as much as I, I can to try to lean into more of who I am, which is what you're saying. Yes.
Yes, yes. Lean into more of who you are, of course. Yeah. Awesome.
So, I mean, obviously one of the reasons I wanted to have you on here is because you're young, you've built a successful podcast. I think that right now, I don't know about your opinion. I think right now is a great opportunity for people to do that as well. I agree.
So knowing that, I mean, people who, whether they've been in the space, they're thinking about doing it, maybe they have a business, a service, a product, like based on what you've seen, why, why is it so important for, because I know you work with businesses. Why is it so important for them to get started with a podcast or something? Yeah, it's a great way to build trust and rapport with your prospective customers over the long haul. And it's a very great thing in terms of brand marketing.
It can be, you know, a lot of these media companies, I look at, I look at them and you know, entrepreneur.com, they do a good job with, you know, they've got like a little network. I don't know, like six podcasts or something, but I look at, I look at these other companies. I know Forbes has one, you know, like Fortune and Success magazine. And, and I'm like, just wondering why don't they have a podcast?
They're a media company. They make money off of clicks because people click and then they, they are subjected to their ads. Why not just become even more of a media company, which they are and literally create your own TV channel, but much cooler, of course, because it's a podcast, create your own TV channel though, and, and, and sell ad slots, right? Why, why wouldn't you want to have own your own channel, especially when you have a built-in audience of people that are going to be listening?
I think a lot of these companies now in this very likely upcoming long recession, I think hopefully I'm wrong, but a lot of these companies that can't operate during, you know, this virus actually, like I think it would be a really cool thing and it's not applicable to all companies, but it'd be a really cool thing for them to say, start a podcast, literally create their own channel and have a little bit of ad revenue coming in that way. I mean, it's better than, it's something better than nothing. Totally. I don't know if you found this.
I found it too, you know, I think one of the most powerful things is the people you can get in front of, you know? And so like, if you have a service or something like that, like the thing with the podcast, you can get in front of the person you want to get in front of and the podcast. Yeah. Yeah.
I think it's a very, it's a different strategy for like brands starting a podcast, like big brands, but then, you know, when you, maybe you're, maybe you're an agency owner, I think it'd be really beneficial to start a podcast where you're literally interviewing, as you said, your ideal clients and building relationships with them. Yes. Great point. Yeah.
You know, and then even like, I mean, like, you think, right, you take an ad agency and you take a company and you sit down with them. A part of the episode could be like, you're going to do a live consultation with them. Like, what problems are you facing in your business? Here's how you can deliver those solutions and by doing that, you're, you're delivering proof.
And I think that's what, I mean, if you want any type of business right now, you have to have proof. And it's so hard to get. Oh yeah, absolutely. Totally.
So what's your, I mean, obviously times are unprecedented, but what's, what's your vision with what you got going on? Where are you looking to get to? Um, Yeah, straight up, I'm trying to sell a company. That's like a big goal.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's it. You know, I, I've got the What's the company? What company is that? Uh, yeah, it would be, uh, it would be Trendo Media.
So that's Trendo Media. Yeah. Yep. Yeah.
So you're trying to build that and sell it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Interesting. Why the, why the exit strategy?
Because I like money a lot and I want a lot of it and I don't want to be involved in day-to-day operations until I'm 80, so yeah. Have you thought about when you sell it, what you're going to do or what you'd want to do? Uh, I mean, my podcast doesn't stop. Yeah.
Unless, you know, there becomes a new, hot new medium that I want to take on, which I'm sure there will be, you know, I'm ready to pivot like that at any time. But, uh, no, I haven't, I mean, I haven't thought like, I haven't thought a ton about it. I know long-term travel has always been super appealing to me, not that I can't do that now. I mean, not now, now because of the virus, but.
Yeah, I get you. It's funny, in Forbes, I was like, yeah, you know, come May I'm gonna, you know, probably embark in long-term travel perhaps. I said verbatim, perhaps I'll live in Italy. Man, that was October.
That did not age well. Times change, right? Times change, yeah. Uh, yeah, man.
I think that that's going to be a time where I focus a lot more on relationships and spending more time with my family again because that's what's most important. And I imagine by that point too, that I'll be, you know, creating and raising my own family too. So, yeah. I, I've always wanted Colin to be like, I want to be the baseball coach.
You know, my dad never, he was a doctor. He never, like, he just didn't have time. And so, but I always wished, I wished he was. And yeah, I, I love, I just love sports.
I, I love everything about it. And, uh, I'd love to do that, you know. What, what sports did you play growing up? Yeah, I played, I played baseball.
It was like the main thing. Basketball on and off. Okay. And, uh, and flag football when I was younger and then as a senior in high school, I just on a whim did one year of, on the football team for high school.
Oh, no way. Yeah, yeah. It was a weird thing, yeah. What position?
I'm wondering what position you'd be playing. I was, so I was a wide receiver and a cornerback, but wide receiver was the main thing. I really, I, I don't have any memories that I made at cornerback. I, I just don't, other than like an almost sack that I had towards an end of a, the end Got you.
All right, cool. I like that. All right, next one. Someone messages you, or not someone messages you, okay, you've had this person either on your show, you know this person, but they ask you if they can get an introduction to a big guest you've had on your show.
Do or don't? No, it's not happening. Especially if it's somebody that I don't know, absolutely not. Yeah.
You got to be picky with those things, right? Yeah, I can't. You and I, Colin, can't risk our social capital for, you know, like, we don't know if this person is going to end up wasting their time. And yeah, it's just, yeah, it's a big no.
I've had that. I like it. See how we're solving problems here in this segment. What about someone on LinkedIn just continuously tags you in every one of their posts?
Oh, God! Is there a do or don't? So what I think the question is, what would I do? Yeah, okay, what would you do?
Obviously, it's a don't based on that reaction, but what would you do? There have been times, Colin, where it's rare and I haven't done it in a while, but I used to, like if they're a repeat offender and it's completely irrelevant and it's just a gigantic block of names, I will literally hit the three dots and hit remove mention so that they know I don't want you to do this. Now I don't have time for that. Like I have bigger worries, bigger fish to fry for sure.
And now, you know, it's just, it's something that comes into my notifications and I don't even click on it. It doesn't really, I'm like, you know, it's just part of it now. It's part of the, part of the game. Totally.
I love it, man. All right, last one. All right, ready for it? This is more of like a, you got to think this one through a little bit.
So should someone, because a lot of people right now are going to be creating online courses because it's just the nature of the reality of what's happening. But should you start an online course before you've built an audience? Is that a do or a don't? That's a good question.
That's a very original question. I don't think that there is hurt in doing it before you've built an audience so that when, you know, as you're scaling up and attracting more people, it's already there and you don't have to scramble. Then again, at the same time, the reason I didn't do it that way, I didn't do it that way. The reason I have a free course on podcasting, it's an all-encompassing course on podcasting, 15-minute video course, really professional.
And I did that because I knew that's what people wanted from me. Like I was building an audience throughout 2019. And, and that's, those are the types of questions I got. Many of them had to do with the how-tos of podcasting.
And so by August, I had this course called How to Become a Rockstar Podcaster and put that up. So, you know, really not much hurt to do it before you create an audience, but just be aware that you might need to pivot and it could become outdated very quickly. Great, great advice. I like the action though.
So do I. I'd rather action than non-action. Yes. Right.
I think I'd rather people do something as opposed to like sitting and trying to like post on Instagram to build up an audience that way. You got to do something. Yeah. Awesome, man.
There we have it. It's the end of the segment. What'd you think of it? That was really fun.
That was super original too, man. I got it. I really want to have like an original segment like that on my podcast. I mean, not like that, but like that, you know, that'd be cool.
Cool. There we go. And just try and do things here. You're the third person I've tried this on.
So far, it's been a, so far it's stuck. I don't know how it was going to hit, but I feel like it was a hit. Yeah. Oh, for sure.
It was super fun, man. The last one definitely did get me thinking. Awesome. Jordan, for people out there who want to connect with you, learn more, where's ideally, where's the best place they can go?
Yeah, Colin. JordanParis.com is where I house just about everything and you can, you can find all the social handles at the bottom of the screen there. Of course, I'm, you know, I'm everywhere on every social channel, primarily LinkedIn and podcast, Growth Mindset University, and then trendup.media instead of .com.media. Beautiful.
I'll share all those links and make it super simple. And Jordan, man, leave us off with a message. Leave us off with, with an endpoint here, whether it's something you're thinking about or a message you want the audience to go home with today. Aha.
Don't make a living, design a life. That's it, baby. I love that. You know, it's been, I've been saying that for about four years now.
It's not just because it sounds good. It's because it actually works and design my life around the criteria. You can pick your own criteria, design my life around the criteria, the values of having fun, helping people and making money. And over the past four years, I've, it's been a slow process of aligning almost everything.
You can't make it everything. It's just not reality, but most of what I do, having that, having it aligned with those criteria. So I love it. Do you know Dave Meltzer?
Yeah. Uh-huh. And that's where I got the criteria from. I had, I had, don't make a living, design a life for two years.
And then I interviewed him a couple of times, but as I was like looking into him, he had like this for sports one marketing. It's help a lot of people, have a lot of fun, make a lot of money. And I was like, I was like, huh, like unconsciously, that's kind of what I've been doing. And I just kind of ran with it.
I love it, man. Well, Jordan, I want to thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule and jumping on the podcast here with me today. Colin, you're the man. Thank you very much.
You got it. And everyone hope you enjoyed today's episode. If you did, you can subscribe to the podcast. That'd be great.
But better than that. When you, when you listen to today's podcast, think of a person you feel like it could benefit from listening to today's show and hit that share button with them, share it out. Thank you so much for tuning in. We'll be back next week with another episode until then, everyone stay healthy, stay safe, and always remember to keep on grinding.