0 (2s):
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 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 Quddus on the mic. Quddus is an acclaimed TV host, celebrity interviewer and media coach. As a founder of Media Mastery Academy, Qu helps the world's best own their voice and share their story. And today Fire Nation. We'll talk about why your brand story matters, how to break through all the noise in the world today and share your breakthrough brand story.

0 (44s):
How we can make content that actually rises above the fray and so much more. When we get back from thinking our sponsors 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 the haystack. And right now you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com/fire. Your expertise is unique in 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/firefree.

0 (1m 24s):
That's THINKIFIC.com/firefree Quddus say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with what's up

1 (2s):
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.

1 (1m 45s):
So a lot of people set goals and then 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.

0 (1m 57s):
Well, we really want, I love that because flexibility is always been how I've grown my business. When I asked 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 the solution around that. Cause 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. They cue about how to make your best content and give your greatest interview, which is, you know, a little bit of pressure on your brother. They in the title, we have to give your greatest interview. So here we are interviewing

1 (2m 30s):
Media Mastery Academy is a sure fire away.

0 (2m 34s):
Love it for all of those reasons. And let's just dive into the meat 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,

1 (2m 51s):
It's like a lot of people skip to the service or 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 as 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 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've 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 house back in the day, as we were talking about the school of greatness, which is now this multi-million dollar empire he's built.

1 (3m 37s):
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 lane, he shared about this issue. He had an 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 Louis has 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 will discount their struggles and they don't think that it's enough to make a hero's journey.

1 (4m 17s):
I would, I would assert that most people have something, some kind of a painful moment. That is probably the reason why they're so passionate about what they do and

0 (4m 24s):
Offer the world. 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

1 (4m 44s):
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 when they make content. And they come off as these people that are not necessarily the type of person that we spend time with.

1 (5m 25s):
We, we see them in it's like they're up on a pedestal. And that unreliability 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 founder has struggled to put on the shelf every single time

0 (5m 48s):
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 loved 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 as the worst advice you will ever get. People want to connect with a human being, a flawed human being, be that flawed human being. Cause we all are flawed human beings. So stop the fake until you make an S be genuine, authentic, be true to yourself.

0 (6m 28s):
And Qu 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 like is doing it right? Well, I always like

1 (6m 38s):
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 and actually modeling what it is that I'm talking about, which is sharing my journey to starting 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 wasn't smart enough. I wasn't cool enough. I didn't have enough experience of broadcasting.

1 (7m 18s):
All those things, imposter 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.

1 (7m 59s):
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 create a 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 or 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 a see and that does not work. Not only for the audience watching, but for ourselves. Then 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 creating media mastery academy, where we can actually have a safe place to explore our voice, find our voice, own our story, and share it in a powerful way.

1 (8m 48s):
That makes a difference

0 (8m 49s):
For people, Fire Nation. I hope you're seeing why queues had a 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 mad 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

1 (9m 10s):
Truth. I actually I'm wearing something like a kimono over here. That's very intuitive on you. I'm literally walking the streets of Boulder, Colorado, and yoga pants. I kid you not freezing fricking cold people. Look at me like a lunatic, but I'm comfortable. Let

0 (9m 22s):
Me tell you do 3000 of these interviews. You start to kind of be intuitive about who's on the other side of the mic. So I have just this full picture of you right now, Q&A, I won't go into any more details, but it's, it's an amazing and foundation. We have so much more that we're gonna be talking about the, you need to be taking as furious of notes as I'm taking right now. As soon as we get back from thinking 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've ever thought about online courses, let me tell you from experience, they need to work for your business. Introducing the Thinkific app store, the first app store, for course, creators, that lets you build your courses your way.

0 (10m 6s):
If you're looking for an easy to set up platform, that's built for entrepreneurs that gives you the ability to create an online course that will look and feel like part of your brand. And that gives you an experience where you can pick and choose the right apps for you and your business. As you scale, then look no further than the Thinkific app store. The course creation options are nearly limitless. Create certificates, coupons, live lessons, private courses, and more and Fire Nation. Your invited to try it out for free for 30 days right now, visit Thinkific.com/firefree to sign up and get started on your online course today. That's THINKIFIC.com/firefree running a small business can be challenging.

0 (10m 47s):
You have to juggle so many things at once, including operating your business, hiring for it and managing HR and payroll. Thankfully, ZipRecruiter has teamed up with ADP to be your hiring and HR solution. And right now you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com/fire. How does ZipRecruiter make hiring easier? First ZipRecruiter sends your job to over 100 of the web's leading job sites. Then ZipRecruiter's powerful matching technology scans, thousands of resumes to find the right people for your job, then invites them to apply. No wonder four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. 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.

0 (11m 31s):
You can just focus on what you do best and Fire Nation. Right now you can try ZipRecruiter for free, just visit ZipRecruiter.com/fire. That's zip recruiter.com/FIRE ZipRecruiter.com/fire, ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. So Qu we're back. And I want to talk right now about making contents, because again, we to share a 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 actually going to see here. And hopefully add here to how the heck do we do that? I want to

1 (12m 8s):
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. No, no, no. I think we want to reiterate that origin story and 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.

1 (12m 48s):
You can shoot a video about it. You can host a conversation on clubhouse about it, but really mine that story. And, and you'll, you'll find that there's, there's something that's, it's almost like you, you create a mythic experience of yourself because people start to realize exactly what went in to it and all of the journey. And it's, it feels like, kind of like when, you know, when you watch Lord of the rings and you're like relate to Frodo by the end of it, you're like I would die for frozen, you know? And that's exactly what one creates when they come from that place with their content, you create advocates, nevermind customers, you create advocates, people buy into what you're doing. Like it's a movement. When you do that, there

0 (13m 26s):
Are multitudes of moments that make up your story. I mean, Fire Nation really absorb those words really understands these words, that Qu is breaking down for you. There are multitudes of moments that make up your story. Your story's not one moment in time is the multitudes of moments that make up you your story. And I love that. You've actually mentioned clubhouse a couple of times. Now you obviously personally love the platform. So let's kind of divert here for a second and talk about clubhouse. What do you like about it? How are you using it? What kind of success are you having? Tell us all. I think it's that

1 (13m 59s):
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, and, and there's a, there's a different sort of a texture and aesthetic to it. And we're, we're in it. We're actually having a conversation. We're not just looking at a post. That's been carefully crafted by a 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've, I've 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, be like, yo, what are you up to?

1 (14m 49s):
I want to connect. I mean, I've had so many people make transition within 10 minutes of listening to me, there'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

0 (15m 3s):
On. Well, I just followed you. So I'm now one of conduces followers and Fire Nation. That's QUDDUS. So I will be a part of your future clubhouse conversations. And I'm definitely having a lot of fun as there as well. I mean, it is just a place that for me, just immediately collects. I mean, I'm not going to 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 because it's not important right now. But when I started clubhouse, I'm like, I've been doing audio only interviews for literally a decade. I've done 3000 audio only interviews where I'm live with my guests.

0 (15m 46s):
But one thing that is kind of missing is I'm not live with anybody else. I love interacting with multitudes of people and being able to answer questions on the spot, et cetera. And man clubhouse is a fantastic place to do this. So foundation, if you haven't checked it out yet, make sure you follow kudu, make sure you follow JLD like surprisingly John Lee 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.

0 (16m 26s):
The thing that

1 (16m 27s):
Most people do is we sit there and we strategize and we try to calculate what the audience will resonate with. And they're in, 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 and 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. They're so, so not getting to the point where the center of gravity so much on the consumer listening that you're not even listening to yourself anymore, right?

1 (17m 8s):
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 in a way 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, no. So, so I think it's that balance. It's considering one's audience, but not going and castrating your own authenticity in 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.

1 (17m 50s):
And then you truly are that, that Frodo Baggins of your story to take it back to the Lord of the rings. And, 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, is that you think 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 an Instagram live and feel great. Well, maybe you're more of a writer. So go ahead and sit and write that piece and, and allow yourself to luxuriating and not think so much about the metrics on the other side, but like really, truly enjoy the process.

1 (18m 32s):
And that's obviously a really beautiful piece of wisdom for living life in general, which is let's not abandon the journey that the juice of really taking those steps and all the process involved in, in the, in the thinking about the impact, and then not enjoying the journey along the way. I'm sure I'm, I'm mangling the, the idea, but, you know, paraphrasing, it 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 that you get to give that service that you make that product at that person. On the other side of it's going to enjoy that, you know, so really enjoying it. I love

0 (19m 9s):
We've used the phrase, the hero's journey multiple times now in Fire Nation. I want you to be thinking, as you're listening to this episode, as you're hearing cues 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 a Fire Nation gets from our conversation. You are enough.

1 (19m 42s):
You are enough exactly. As you are. There is 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 in you luxuriating in exactly who you are, because guess what? I've had a bunch of things in my past that I've regretted that I've thought were 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 translate into a powerful

0 (20m 23s):
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

1 (20m 42s):
Me on Instagram at QUDDUS. 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 so true, but yeah, I'm on Facebook as well. And also on clubhouse and Twitter also have a website Quddus.Co so fine

0 (2s):
Fire Nation. You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

0 (21m 9s):
And you've been hanging out with Q and JLD today. So let's keep up that heat. And if you head over to eofire.com and type conduce in the search bar has shown us page will pop up with everything we chatted about best show notes in the biz queue. Thank you brother, for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today, for that we salute you and we will catch you on the flip side. Thank you, brother. Hey, Fire Nation today's value bomb content was brought to you by cue and Fire Nation. Over the last decade, I've interviewed more than 3000 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs and created a revolutionary 17 step roadmap to your financial freedom and fulfillment.

0 (21m 52s):
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 foundation 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 zip recruiter, their matching technology finds these qualified candidates for you and invite them to apply. So while other companies give you too many options, ZipRecruiter finds you the needle in the haystack. And right now you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com/fire.

0 (22m 35s):
Your expertise is unique in 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/firefree. That's THINKIFIC.com/firefree.