Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here, and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, with great shows like Being a Boss. Today, we'll be focusing on how to make your best content and give your greatest interview to drop these value bombs.
I brought Caduce on the mic. Caduce is an acclaimed TV host, celebrity interviewer, and media coach. As the founder of Media Mastery Academy, Q helps the world best own their voice and share their story. And today, Fire Nation will talk about why your brand story matters, how to break through all the noise in the world today, and share your breakthrough brand story, how we can make content that actually rises above the fray, and so much more when we get back from thanking our sponsors.
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Caduce, say what's up to Fire Nation, and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. What's up, Fire Nation? So the thing that might be a bit controversial about my belief around success is that it absolutely ought to change over time. So a lot of people set goals, and they get really rigid around those goals.
I think we get to be flexible, because along the way, we discover who we really are in the process and what we really want. I love that, because flexibility has always been how I've grown my business. When I ask my audience, hey, what are you struggling with, Fire Nation? You tell me.
I have no idea what you're going to say, but then I create a solution around that, because I'm flexible. I can make those things happen, and that, Fire Nation, is the flexibility key. And wow, we're having a fantastic conversation, thank you, about how to make your best content and give your greatest interview, which is, you know, a little bit of pressure on you, brother, that in the title, starting something called Media Mastery Academy is a surefire way to lose more sleep. Love it for all of those reasons.
And let's just dive into the meats and potatoes of today's conversation. Why the heck does your brand story even matter? And Fire Nation needs to know why their brand story matters. Talk to us about this.
Well, it seems like a lot of people skip to the service for the product, right? They focus on exactly what it's going to do in the marketplace, and then we forget about the why sometimes. And Simon Sinek said it so well in his TED talk about the why. And so going even deeper on that and understanding that I want to hear a hero's journey from the people I work with.
I want to know all of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into what it is that I'm buying into, because there's a lot of other options in the marketplace. So I found with coaching hundreds of people around exactly what their origin story is, that those that find the pain to purpose journey are the ones that stand out the most. And I remember sitting there with Lewis Howes back in the day, as we were talking about the School of Greatness, which is now this multi-million dollar empire he's built. And at the time, Lewis hadn't really been vulnerable with his audience about exactly how he became the voice that he is.
And so there was like this missing piece in the puzzle. And once he shared about his why in a vulnerable way, he shared about this issue he had in childhood, and all of it tied together the human for people in a way that cut through that perfection that can be so easy to buy into when we see a guy like Lewis Howes doing his thing. And then all of a sudden, he's an actual human that people can relate to. And I think that's the opportunity everybody has, even though some people discount their struggles, and they don't think that it's enough to make a hero's journey.
I would assert that most people have something, some kind of a painful moment is probably the reason why they're so passionate about what they do and all for the world. Q, let's be honest, there's a lot of noise out there in this world today. And if we want to make the kind of impact that we all want to make in this world, we need to break through this noise. So how do we do that with our brand story?
Like what makes specifically a breakthrough brand story? Well, it's being really authentic and so clear in connecting with an audience about why it matters, why they ought to do the thing that they're suggesting they do. And that usually requires someone to take down the veil of perfection so that we can see the person behind it. But that's the scariest thing for most entrepreneurs.
Most entrepreneurs walk around thinking they got to have it all together and they got to be so crisp and polished when they get on camera. And I'm telling you right now, that is the biggest misconception that most people have in any content. And they come off as these people that are not necessarily the type of person that we spend time with. We see them and it's like they're up on a pedestal and that unrelatability becomes a wall for people.
When push comes to shove, when they see the two products on the shelf, they know the origin story of one founder and the struggle that they went through versus the other product, I will guarantee you they will buy that other product that they know that founders struggled to put on the shelf every single time. I mean, I'm over here taking furious notes, Fire Nation. If you're not, please check your pulse. I mean, here's a few things I've been writing down.
Be authentic and clear about why it matters, about why it matters. And I love this quote that you shared, take down the veil of perfection. Take down that veil of perfection. And something that I'll add to this is, Fire Nation, fake it till you make it is the worst advice you will ever get.
People want to connect with a human being, a flawed human being. Be that flawed human being because we all are flawed human beings. So stop the fake it till you make it. Be genuine, authentic, be true to yourself.
And Q, before we move on, is there one or two examples you can share about how somebody that you know, or maybe even you, who knows, is doing it right? Well, I always like to start with our own journey. I told Lewis a story earlier, and that felt like a little bit of an adjacent example to what I think is really important in actually modeling what it is I'm talking about to sharing my journey to start a Media Mastery Academy, because I essentially looked around the media training landscape. I remember when I started at MTV, there was really nothing that supported me to feel better in my own skin.
I felt so fraudulent being on that stage at MTV, because I did not feel like the cool person that they hired. I felt like I was inadequate. I was smart enough. I was cool enough.
I didn't have enough experience broadcasting, all those things. Impostor syndrome was raging in my mind. And there was nothing around me that supported me to dismantle those limited beliefs in such a way where I could step on stage and feel as good as I looked. And so I decided that years later when I still didn't see anyone in the marketplace solving for that inside out issue, when people get on camera, get on Clubhouse or whatever medium we're using to feel more real and feel like we can be in flow state and we can be truly accepted and celebrated for who we really are, not what we think we should be.
I decided I needed to do that because I had a nervous breakdown at the beginning of my MTV career. Backstage, I literally fainted in front of my new colleagues my first summer on the job. Devastating. It was traumatic.
And I don't want anyone to feel like that ever again. And so that's why I created Media Mastery Academy, because I know there's people listening right now that have been turning themselves inside out, trying to be perfect on camera, on the microphone, on Clubhouse, and they clench up every time they get tagged into a conversation live. And then they put on what they think we want to hear or see. And that does not work, not only for the audience watching, but for ourselves.
And we stop trusting ourselves and our integrity goes out of the freaking window. And we wonder why we can't sleep at night. That is my origin story to create a Media Mastery Academy where we can actually have a safe place to explore our voice, find our voice, own our story, and share in a powerful way that makes a difference for people. Fine Nation, I hope you're seeing why Q's had the type of success that he's had.
I mean, here he is being open and honest and flawed with you right now. And I mean, you know, we can all step back and look at him and all the accolades he's had and everything he's done and who he's met and be like, this guy has it all. He knows exactly what he's doing. He's perfect.
But hey, he's willing to open up his kimono and share the truth. I actually am wearing something like a kimono over here. That's very intuitive of you. I'm literally walking the streets of Boulder, Colorado in yoga pants.
I kid you not. It's freezing freaking cold. People look at me like a lunatic, but I'm comfortable. Let me tell you.
You can do 3,000 of these interviews. You start to kind of, you know, be intuitive about who's on the other side of the mic. So I have just this full picture of you right now, Q, and I won't go into any more details, but it's amazing. And Fine Nation, we have so much more that we're going to be talking about that you need to be taking as furious of notes as I'm taking right now as soon as we get back from thanking our sponsors.
As entrepreneurs, we have unique expertise and goals, but one thing that we share in common is a desire to shape our business the way we want. And if you ever thought about online courses, let me tell you from experience, they need to work for your business. We'll see you next time. And right now you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ziprecruiter.com slash fire.
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Plus, if you are a run-powered by ADP customer, you can access ZipRecruiter directly through the run platform, so you don't have to worry about handling the nitty-gritty details of running payroll, HR, and hiring. You can just focus on what you do best. And Fire Nation, right now you can try ZipRecruiter for free. Just visit ziprecruiter.com slash fire.
That's ziprecruiter.com slash fire. Ziprecruiter.com slash fire. Z I want to talk right now about making content because again, we want to share our voice, our message, our mission, maybe our face with the world, but you know, if we're going to do that, we need to make content that's going to rise above the fray that people are going to see here and hopefully adhere to. How the heck do we do that?
i don't want to be reductive about it but it is truly about sharing our story because if we have an authentic origin story that is the why behind what it is that we're selling the world then sharing that with pieces of content no matter what the medium is going to make the content sticky it's going to have people understand that why constantly and i think some people think oh i'll make one post about my origin story uh-uh no no i think we want to reiterate that origin story in all the ways we can because there probably are multitudes of moments that led to why you're doing what you're doing right so i want you to think about all those moments and think about all the content you can make with that you can write about it you can shoot a video about it you can post a conversation on clubhouse about it but really mind that story and you'll find that there's something that's uh it's almost like you create a mythic experience of yourself because people start to realize exactly what went into it and all of the journey and it feels like kind of like when you watch lord of the rings and you're like late to frodo by the end you're like i would die for frodo you know and that's exactly what one creates when they come from that place with their content you create advocates never mind customers you create advocates people buy into what you're doing like it's a movement when you do that there are multitudes of moments that make up your story i mean find you should really absorb those words really understand these words the key was breaking down for you there are multitudes of moments that make up your story your story is not one moment in time it's the multitudes of moments that make up you your story and i love that you've actually mentioned clubhouse a couple times now you obviously personally love the platform so let's kind of divert here for a second talk about clubhouse what do you like about it how are you using it what kind of success are you having tell us all well i think it's that thing that reveals who's actually real because when we get into a live conversation we get to see what people are made of and there's a different sort of texture and aesthetic to it and we're in it we're actually having a conversation we're not just looking at a post that's been carefully crafted by social media team you know and so that really feels amazing because especially in a pandemic when we haven't gotten to connect nearly as much as we used to it's also creating a really cool ability to bump into people and have those moments of serendipity even within a platform like that so it's been magic and i found that because people can hear exactly my inflection my energy my passion as i'm speaking on there they are so much more apt to click through to my instagram click through to the dms like yo what are you up to i want to connect i mean i've had so many people make that transition within 10 minutes of listening to me they'll be into my instagram and so deep into advocacy around what i'm doing so it's been incredible it's probably the most powerful conversion i've seen any conversation online well i just followed you so i'm now one of caduceus followers and fire nation that's q u d d u s so i will be a part of your future clubhouse conversations and i'm definitely having a lot of fun there as well i mean it is just a place that for me just immediately clicks i'm not gonna lie everybody's like jld you gotta get on tiktok tiktok is amazing there's so much awesome stuff going on and i know there is and i'm sure there is it's just not my type of platform for reasons we won't go into it's not important right now but when i saw clubhouse i'm like i've been audio only interviews for literally a decade i've done 3 000 audio only interviews where i'm live with my guests but one thing that is kind of missing is i'm not live with anybody else i'd love interacting with multitudes of people being able to answer questions on the spot etc and man clubhouse is a fantastic place to do this so if you haven't checked it out yet make sure you follow caduce make sure you follow jld like surprisingly johnny dumas is my name there so go over there get in and enjoy and i want to talk as we kind of come to an end of our conversation here q how the heck can we make marketing fun and transformational at the same time i mean it's easy to make marketing fun or transformational i want to make it fun and transformational break that down for us the thing that most people do is we sit there and we strategize and we try to calculate what the audience will resonate with and and therein by we basically outsource any bit of intuitive wisdom that we might have that had us get to the place where we're selling what we're selling in the first place so i think that the first thing to make it transformational really authentic is actually in the process of creating marketing checking in with your ideal client for sure and with yourself and what you want to share about what it is there so so not getting to the point where the center of gravity is so much on the consumer listening that you're not even listening to yourself anymore right so that's the transformational piece is like owning that hero's journey that you are absolutely uniquely positioned to offer up and market this thing anyway that no one else can so when we actually allow the center of gravity to come back to our seat then it becomes an authority that then emerges with the content versus this sort of placating tap dancing i see a lot online where i'm like is this what they think i want to see that ain't working no no so i think it's that balance it's considering one's audience but not going and castrating your own authenticity and your own voice in the process and by owning that authority by owning your journey and your story it becomes transformational because guess what then you get to speak from the hero's journey and then you truly are that uh that frodo baggins of your story to take it back to the lord of the rings and it's so powerful to sit in that seat and not flinch for a second about why you're there and your ability to convey what you need to convey and then the fun part is thinking about all the ways to tell that story there's so many ways especially now with clubhouse with instagram facebook twitter there's all these different ways to do it so think about what lights you up maybe you're not necessarily the video type that's going to jump on instagram live and feel great well maybe you're more of a writer so go ahead and sit and write that piece and allow yourself to luxuriate it and not think so much about the metrics on the other side but like really truly enjoy the process and that's obviously a really beautiful piece of wisdom for living life in general which is let's not abandon the journey the juice of really taking those steps and all the process involved uh in thinking about the impact and then not enjoying the journey along the way i'm sure i'm mangling the idea but you know paraphrasing it uh will still convey the point which is just you know let's really enjoy the process like every piece of content can be a celebration of how awesome it is you get to give that service that you make that product that that person on the other side of it's going to enjoy that you know so really enjoying it thinking as you're listening to this episode as you're hearing q's words like what is your hero's journey what does that look like so you can really articulate it when it comes time to do just that and q i really want you to step back now take the mic come up on stage and really just share the one thing out of all the things we talked about here today that you really want to make sure fire nation gets from our conversation you are enough you are enough exactly as you are there's nothing else you need to do you get to just sit in that perfection there's no mistake that's ever happened in your life that is unredeemable and you luxuriating and exactly who you are because guess what i've had a bunch of things in my past that i've regretted that i thought where wrong turns, bobbled balls. And guess what? Every one of them is now a story I get to tell. That hero's journey that I get to celebrate with everyone saying, God, I've been through a struggle like that before and they connect with me that much more and the same is true for all of us.
There's no one listening right now that hasn't been through something that can be transmuted and translated into a powerful story. You are enough, Fire Nation. Say that to yourself as many times as you need to until you start believing it because it is truth. And Q, how can Fire Nation connect with you?
How can they learn more about what you have going on with media mastery and everything else that you're doing? Take it away. You can find me on Instagram at Q-U-D-D-U-S. I'm also on the Instagram adjacent experience of Facebook.
I call it Instagram adjacent because Facebook is like a shell of itself now. It's like a shell of itself. But yeah, I'm on Facebook as well and also on Clubhouse and Twitter and also the website caduce.co. So find me there too.
Fire Nation, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You're hanging out with Q and JLD today so let's keep up that heat. And if you head over to eofire.com and type Caduce in the search bar, hit show notes, pop up with everything we chatted about. Best show notes in the biz.
Q, thank you brother for sharing your truth, interviewed more than 3,000 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs and created a revolutionary 17-step roadmap to your financial freedom and fulfillment. I put it all into my first traditionally published book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, personally endorsed by Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk and The Common Path to Uncommon Success by Nation is the step-by-step guidance you need to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams. Visit UncommonSuccessBook.com to learn more and order your copy today. I'll catch you there or I'll catch you on the flip side.
Hiring can feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack but when you post a job on ZipRecruiter, their matching technology finds these qualified candidates for you and invites them to apply. So while other companies give you too many options, ZipRecruiter finds you the needle in a haystack. And right now, you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com. Your expertise is unique and your online courses should be too.
So build it your way with Thinkific. Introducing the first app store for online course creators on Thinkific. Sign up for your free trial of Thinkific at Thinkific.com. That's T-H-I-N-K-I-F-I-C.com.
That's T-H-I-N-K-I-F-I-C.com. That's T-H-I-N-K-I-F-I-C.com.