Unstoppable Success Podcast

Host: Jaclyn Strominger

Guest: Deevo (The Brand Storyteller)

Cleaned Transcript Version

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:03
 Well, hello, everybody, and welcome to a live episode of the Unstoppable Success Podcast. I'm your host, Jaclyn Strominger. And as you know, on this podcast, we hear from amazing leaders their take on all things unstoppable success. They get to share their tips, their insights, and tricks that have helped make them be unstoppable. And I love to share that today. I get to introduce each and every one of you to Deevo. He is the brand storyteller. He is just to give you a little background on Deevo, as he said, he's a brand strategist, he's an identity architect, and he is the founder of the brand storyteller. And his work sits on the intersection of psychology, narrative, and strategic clarity. He helps founders and executives figure out what they are actually building, who it's actually for, and why so much of their effort feels like it should be compounding faster than it is. He works privately with a number of small people at a time, which is either very intentional or very anti-social, depending upon who you ask. He does not can not call himself a coach, but he is a true, in fact, brand, I wouldn't say brand storyteller. I wouldn't say brand magnifier. Anyway, Deevo, welcome.
 Speaker: 01:21
 I like it. Thank you. How are you doing? Good to see you.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 01:23
 Good to see you too. So good for having me. So good to do this live.
 Speaker: 01:27
 Um I wore my special jellyfish shirt just for the live.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 01:33
 Oh, thank you. That's jellyfish. They I like what they do, they move.
 Speaker: 01:38
 Um I love them. They're cool. They're enigmatic creatures of the sea.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 01:43
 They are really cool. So, Deevo, I love what you do. I mean, brand is so important for people, and I feel like I say this all the time, each and every one of us is their own brand. But talk about how you got into this because and what you and I'm also really curious, like, what do you consider your definition or what is your definition of success?
 Speaker: 02:06
 Okay, those are two separate questions. Which one do you want first?
 Jaclyn Strominger: 02:09
 Take the first take the second one. What do you consider definition of success? Yeah, yeah.
 Speaker: 02:14
 I mean, I think it's different for everybody. I don't think there is a singular definition for success. I think personally for me, success is freedom, autonomy, the ability to write my own ticket and do the things that I like to do without being confined to someone else's authority or or or you know, I call myself a corporate refugee because while I loved and learned a lot in the corporation, I spent 15 years in that. I was always building something for someone else, and I couldn't really have the autonomy and the direction of the strategy of what I really wanted to do. There was always like encumberments or red tape or just nonsense. And so success for me is and it's a financially part of it is financial, part of it is emotional, part of it is freedom and autonomy to autonomy to surround yourself with the type of people that really fill you up, fill up your cup, and enable you to continue growing. It's it's clearly defined North Star, understanding where it is that you're trying to build your life. I mean, there's so many different variables of success. It's surrounding yourself with good people, it's emotional intelligence and it's spiritual growth, it's financial growth, because yes, let's not forget, this is everything we do is based upon money. And the more money we have, the way I view it, the more opportunities that we can execute for other people, whether we're servant or not. So financial success and and I don't mean like gluttonous financial success. I mean, I I I make a decent money now. I want to make more money because that's going to give me more opportunities to do more things that I'm really, really excited to do. And that's sort of the definition of success is the ability to sort of see the big picture and step into it.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 03:43
 Right. So I love that. So how did you get into it for yourself, right? How did you get how did you get here?
 Speaker: 03:51
 A long and arduous and twisty and bumpy and U-turney-filled road. I spent many years in the corporation doing a lot of work for that. And simultaneously, about three or four years into working for the corporation, I realized that I was leaving a large part of me behind. And so I set out to sort of like tap back into the things that really filled me up. And I'm very artistic by nature. Um, one of those things that I stepped into back then was photography. It was something I've been doing since I was 12 years old, but I realized that I was so I was so attached to the machine of building for someone else that everything else sort of got thrown by the wayside. I had stopped reading, I stopped painting, I stopped taking photographs, I stopped doing all these things. So I was like, I've got to figure out a way to reintroduce those things into my life. And so I did that through photography. That that eventually led me to walking away from the corporation with photography full-time. I spent, uh I still own that business, but I spent almost 15, 16 years photographing weddings and families and headshots and traveling the world doing destination weddings. I've been in 26 different countries to photograph people and tell their stories. And in the process of doing that, it just I I'm one of those type of people that I make connections really well. Um, I have contacts all over the world. And some of these contacts started asking me to help them with business stuff. And it wasn't just, you know, weddings, it was creating content. And in the process of creating content, I was being asked to sort of show them how I did this or how I did that. And so they started leading to workshops and all these different things. And then before I knew it, I realized that my true passion was helping people figure out their own story. And it wasn't just branding, it was articulating their identity and really understanding who they were so that they could truly step into their business and not just sort of like have this billboard without any character behind it, right? And so, anyway, the more that I did that stuff, the more I realized that my true zone of genius was like taking all the work that I'd done on myself, and that's a whole story into itself. We could probably have a separate podcast on that. And then I realized that in the process of doing that work on myself, that made me a better man, that made me a better human, it made me a better businessman. And so I was like, shit, I'm onto something here. So I started to figure out ways to like monetize that, but systematize that so that I could take that and then share that with other people. And then I started testing out on friends and different clients. I'm like, hey, would you be willing to like sort of go through this module with me that I've just been developing for the last two years? And I might expose, I may not expose, but anyhow, like people were like, Yeah, let's try it. And so the more I did it, I realized that I was able to sort of create this own unique version of branding. I call it branding because it's a it's a known lexicon for most people. Um, if I were to call it identity architecture or something else, we'd be like, What's this woo-woo guy doing? So I've sort of taken spiritual development and mental development and intelligent work and psychology and neuroscience, and I've bridged the gap between all of those and the connection and correlation between actually building a business and building a brand so that you are empowered to do the things that you do. Sorry, long explanation, but there you go. Mic dropped.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 06:44
 No, no, but that's actually really, but I I love it because you know, a lot of us we have those personal experiences that actually take us to lead us down this path. And it doesn't happen overnight. And I would say that that's actually so listeners, I think that's actually one big thing is that that it's a journey. So part of it is understanding that that that success and unstoppable success, you know, as Debo has just shared, you know, you have to embrace the journey, right? And and it's different for everybody's journey is different. So we can take you know, take out any type of comparison. Deevo, but I'm really curious, you know, something that you said I think is really important and and how you got here, and that is that you realized that you weren't fueling some of your passions.
 Right.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 07:42
 So now that we, you know, what you do now, how do you how do you help other people really, you know, find and fuel their passions more so?
 Speaker: 07:53
 You know, well, it it's my process. Uh, you know, I've I've been developing this for for many years now, and it's sort of an iterative process. It's not the same for any two people, sort of like my definition of success. I mean, how you might grow your business and how you grow your brand brand is not the same way that I might do it, right? You have different avatars, you have different niches, you have different core core competencies, you have different gaps, you have different shadows. So the first process in what we do is really sort of doing what I call identity architecture. We sort of re-engineer who you are as a human. And there's a lot of neuroscience and psychology behind that. I have a very structured program that I'm in the process of getting patented right now. It really kind of like breaks down and gets to your source code, is what I call it. It's sort of like, and if you think about your source code for a minute, like think about it. I mean, I'm in I'm in my late 40s and I've been living a life for 40 some years, sort of doing all these things and having all these experiences and meeting all these people and having all these trip-ups and all these failures and all these successes and all these things, but it doesn't just happen in like the last five years. That source code goes all the way back to like day zero. Even when you're in the womb of your mother, you're like extracting information and like in the DNA replication that goes into your body, right? Like people don't even realize that that you can take on trauma as a as a as a fetus, like, and then you get born, and then you suddenly have like this imprint on your on your DNA and how you process things, and then you have experiences with your parents. And if you didn't have a good experience with your parents like me, you have all sorts of other trauma that sort of gets exacted on, then it comes gets compounded over time, and then it sort of becomes like your DNA and how you actually show up on the planet, right? And if you don't take the time to have some self-awareness on how those things actually originated, whether it's financial scarcity, whether it's imposter syndrome, whether it's just fear of literally living, all of those have a source code, right? And so before we can even get to the business, before we can even get to the brand, I take all my clients to this source code origination process where we really figure out, okay, Jaclyn, who are you as a human? What is it do you believe? What are your philosophies? What do you believe about your business? What do you believe about success? And all those things have matter to them that then get compounded over time, that then drive the way you show up in your life, that drive the way you show up in your relationships and how you treat customers and how you treat all these things. And so it's really important that in that first step before we even get to any sort of business or branding, we really unpack the human DNA to sort of understand who you are. And then once we sort of have that sort of blueprint, if you will, we're like, we see what we believe in, we understand how we show up in the world, we we understand what money means to us, we understand what relationships mean to us. Like, we now have like this mosaic in front of us that defines who we currently are. And then we're able to take all those pieces and then match them up with a business brand, a business model that can actually empower you and fill you up inside. So the shit you're doing is like, this is my true like zone of genius. I know it's my zone of genius because I unpacked it all before we even got to this point. And now I can like show it for my customer, and my customer's like, fuck, I love this guy. He's so excited about what he does. And it's like, bam! And then you can like take all those things and just grow them, and it's like an iterative process that never stops.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 10:53
 Right, right. I right, I love it. And and I'm I'm just smiling because it's it is so great to be able to have that and know what that stuff and and I'm and it's amazing, and I'm sure you find this too, how many people don't actually spend the time compared to who they are, what what you know? I might I I look at values, like what are your values? What are your achievement codes? As you say, you're what's your source code that's making you you, you know, and and being able to spend the time to actually know who you are and what drives you is so important. And I'm curious, like what have you seen some of your clients that change in them? I mean, it has to, it has to have it has to create or elicit, you know, a huge change once you've unpacked this for somebody.
 Speaker: 11:44
 Yeah, and and and it's not something that is visible right away. So just like a just like a plant growing in your garden, right? You know, it just slowly starts off as a little seed and then it's grows some roots, then it replicates fruit from flowers and all the things that happens. Like that's what happens as humans, right? We're just sort of like a symbiotic version of a plant, right? And we feed it with sunlight and water, we feed it with nutrition, or we feed it with information, we can start to grow and expand. But that it doesn't happen overnight. You're not going to go through this process of be like, oh my god, look at me, I'm fully enlightened. That just doesn't work that way. But what does happen is a slow matriculation. You start viewing things a little more differently, you start activating confidence in your body, you start realizing that you can show up for the client, you start realizing that you are worthy of praise. I'm working with somebody right now, so she's highly successful. She's been running a very successful business for almost 20 years, but she wants to make a pivot. She doesn't really feel fulfilled in this anymore. But in the process of making the pivot, we realize that she has a really hard time sort of articulating and accepting the power that she actually possesses. So she has like this scarcity model. And the more we start to unpack her scarcity model, we realize that it goes all the way back to her child, where childhood where her father didn't trust her, told her things, made her believe things about herself that weren't actually true. But that became her narrative. And now, as we start to unpack these things, she can actually start to see what is true about herself and what is untrue. And then when you can start to sort of see how the actual story fits who you are as a human, then you can start to live that way and habituate that way and like develop all the different things because now, like, for example, she hates taking praise, she gets really embarrassed by it. And I'm like, we have there's something in that space we need to unpack. And what it turned out is that she never got praise from her family the entire time. Her dad was just like, do this, man, you gotta work so hard, and like there's no time for sitting back and hugs and hearts and all those sorts of things. So she never got any of that. So her model of like performance was based upon like this performative model that I always had to like drive, drive, drive, drive, and never any encouragement. So, like when you can shift that around, and again, this is pure neuroscience and psychology, this is not just Deevo throwing out little smokes, smoke screens in the air. When you can shift that model around, you actually alter epigenetically the DNA of your body so that you can start to accept praise. You can start to like realize I'm actually really fucking cool. I can do these sorts of things, and I'm really excited about it when I do them. So it's just like it doesn't, it's different for everybody. So yeah, I don't know if that explains it, but yeah.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 14:10
 But I love what you just said about helping, you know, your that the client that you had, like looking back and understanding where some of those things are coming from, right? It you know, and I and I think this is a huge point for the listeners, is that your past does not have to dictate your future. And something that happened in your past does not have to does not have to right your future. If you can become aware of something that maybe impacted something in the past, you can make that shift. It is possible, but you have to become aware of it.
 Speaker: 14:47
 Well, the past does define our future. It's a very large part of who we are. The the the I would I would rephrase that a little bit is that how can we optimize our awareness of the past so that behavior mechanisms that have been implanted in our DNA and in our cognition and in the way we narratively tell our story, we can alter those so that they are no longer ones that are damaging us, they're no longer ones that are controlling us, they're no longer ones that are manipulating us. Because I truly believe sort of everything we are, everything we exude is inner energy, and that energy is matched by an equal amount of energy that what we receive. So it's in cut inputs equal outputs, cause equals effect, like polarity, like the duality of life. And I'm getting a little bit existential here, but like that's what we are. We're just energetic beings. And if we're walking around all day long with insecurity and with fears and mopiness, and I can never accomplish this, I'll never make this kind of money, I'll never land these types of clients. Well, bro, that's exactly what you're gonna get back. So it's really important to understand psychologically how you show up as an individual currently, and then when you have a sort of like a picture of that, you can sort of look at the things that don't actually fit what you want, and then you have to go into each one of those and unpack the source code hypnotically and then like be like, these are this is how I got this belief. And now that I understand where that belief came from, I can decide if it if it serves me any longer or not, and then I can shift it, and then I can start recreating the energy output that I'm that I'm giving to the universe so all the different things come back. And people think, oh, this is a business podcast or this is my business, it doesn't matter. Dude, it does matter because who you are energetically is going to be exactly what you attract into your business. If you believe in scarcity, if you believe in fear, if you believe in control, if you believe in manipulating people, if you don't have a servant attitude, the types of people that are also attracted to that is exactly who you're gonna bring into your ecosystem.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 16:34
 Right. That's true. And I feel like I say this all the time. Your vibe is gonna your vibe will attract your tribe, and your tribe is the people that are in your life as friends and people around you and your clients. So, you know, a lot of this, and we've you and I have talked about this, but but getting clarity and having and gaining clarity on what you want in your business is so important. So talk about you know, talk about how you you see, I mean, this is a lot of what you've been talking about, is a lot about getting clarity, or maybe it's even maybe you think of clarity as beyond that beyond that.
 Speaker: 17:08
 Clarity is probably one of the most underrated growth strategies that that one can put into their business because most people are working on the wrong version of themselves, they're working on a version of themselves that doesn't that doesn't match who they actually are deep down inside, or is trauma-based, or is fear-based, or something that was programmed into them. And that doesn't mean you can't be successful, that doesn't mean that you can't make money if you don't do this work. I'm simply saying that there will be a ceiling to it. And when you keep hitting these ceilings or you keep hitting these loops, it probably behooves you to sort of understand why that hat that why that is happening, and that's getting clarity. Clarity is a is a line is directly connected to alignment, it's directly connected to identity. And so having this clarity, again, it doesn't mean that you're gonna fix it right away, but once you sort of it's like taking a GPS coordinate, man, you can just get in the car and drive somewhere, and eventually you'll probably arrive. May take you a fuckload longer than it would if you put in some coordinates on your GPS. So GPS coordinates is clarity. It gives you and your car of specific most optimal, and Google has traffic updates now, and they tell you when there's police on the road or there's construction and it reroutes you. So clarity gives you the GPS so that you know where your North Star is, and you can just realign and align and realign and align and stay on target.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 18:28
 Yeah, I love that. I absolutely love that. So I'm curious, you know, if you could give everybody one tip or action item that will help them gain that clarity, what would it be? One or it might be more than one.
 Speaker: 18:48
 I mean, there's a lot more. I think you need to get really brutally clear on who you are and what you actually want out of this life, and then understand what that looks like. Like how it you have to sort of get get into your mind into your own mind and understand how you're showing up. And part of that is getting clarity on who you are as an individual. I think that's the first place you start. And even if you don't run a business, maybe you just want to be a better partner to your, to your, to your lover, maybe you just want to be a better father to your kids, or maybe you just want to be a better friend to to your to your compadres, like whatever it is, you have to sort of understand who you are as an individual so that you can say, like, okay, I keep having the same thing happen to me over and over. And I'm speaking from experience, like I kept running into the same loops over and over in my life. And this was years ago, right? My relationships always sort of hit the same ceiling, my financials always hit the same ceiling, my my parenting was always having certain problems, and I got divorced when I, you know, uh after a 10-year marriage, and I was like, everybody just wants to blame the world and blame everybody else. It's your fault. That was a bad driver, you cut me off. But bro, you get to choose how you respond to all these things, right? I get to choose how I respond to my failures, and I can say, wow, there's a lot of opportunity for me to learn here. I what was it that I could have done differently to show up better for my client, for my wife, for my children, whatever. So I think really it all starts with having some clarity, brutally clear on who you are as an individual, so that you can build from that point. Like understanding your identity is literally the foundation of your home, right? It's the foundation of your business. And once you have that in place, then you can start figuring out all the different pieces that make the home more fully, more becoming and more aesthetically pleasing, or however you want to label that.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 20:24
 Right. I actually I love that. You know, so gaining that clarity, knowing who you are, and defining that. And something else that you said that I think is really important, listeners, you know, the keynote you control how you respond and how you react. And it's not about the blame game, but like we, you know, you get to decide how you want to show up, how you want to react, you know, and as you just shared, and I think it's really important, you know, you looked around and you saw, okay, well, if I if I want to keep repeating this and getting the same results, what do I what do I would you know do if have to do to change to get a different result? Because you can't keep doing the same thing and expect a different result, right?
 Speaker: 21:14
 I mean, think of yourself, even if you're not a coach, even if you're not a parent, there are there are plenty models to prove this, right, throughout your entire life. Just think about yourself. And if somebody else in your in your sphere was doing the same thing over and over again to you, you would probably say, dude, like take a look at what's going on. There's this recurring loop that's happening. I want you to sort of understand why do you keep coming up against this? Or if your children are, you have a relationship with your children, or you're your boss, or whatever it is, like you always have a role in everything. Everybody always thinks it's someone else's fault. I cannot control what you do with this podcast, Jaclyn. I cannot control what questions you ask me. I cannot control how you respond to my thesis of or my argument or whatever, but I can control how I deliver it. I can control how I show up, I can control what I wear, I can control how I talk. I can control all the variables that are within my space, but I can't control anyone else. And throughout your life, you're going to sort of see these. I had an incident this morning. Had a road rage situation where this dude was literally at the speedlight. We were all trying to turn left. And this bro had like gone way past the stop line, and his truck was like halfway out in the intersection, and it made it really dangerous for everybody to turn. And people are driving by, honking at him, and tell him. And he just sits there. And finally I got up to him and I was like, bro, everyone's honking at you for a reason. Back up. And instead of being like, oh wow, I'm really self-aware. I can see that I'm like sitting out here in the middle of the road. And instead of being on my phone, I could probably put it in reverse and back up. He chooses to like start throwing obscenities at me. And I just calmly said, I looked at the code of his car. He was driving a vehicle that was a commercial vehicle. And I said, I have your vehicle ID number. I think I'm going to call your office right now and just tell them what just happened. It's like, dude, like I could have gotten out of my car because he was like screaming at me. But like, what's the point of that? Right? So you always get to control how you respond. So I was like, I don't, I think your boss would probably want to know that you did this right now, and I'm gonna be a snitch and tell him on. So yeah, I mean, whatever. That's a decent example, I guess. But dude, come on, man, you're literally out in the middle of the intersection. You can't see that there's 25 cars honking at you that can't even get by, and you can't like put your car in reverse. Like, come on, man, read the room.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 23:19
 I know. Well, you know what? And here's the thing about this, and I think this is really important, you know, being self-aware and understanding like how can we, how can we each and every one of us be a little bit better or do a little bit better so that we make it better for everybody else. And I think it is so important. So I want to talk about storytelling because you know brands are and you know, everybody says, you know, storytelling, storytelling, you know, it's you know, stories sell, right? So you shared how you know, you obviously were traveling around and you saw this. You know, what's a really great, I guess, like one of your favorite stories and and how you like bringing stories into helping people with their brand and and uh you know their success.
 Speaker: 24:08
 There's like four questions in there. Which one do you want to start with?
 Jaclyn Strominger: 24:12
 Well, let's just talk about you know, really developing that story for people.
 Speaker: 24:18
 So everybody has a unique story, and I think just sort of to kind of like set the stage for what storytelling is, storytelling is the ability for you to connect emotionally with somebody that is in your sort of bandwidth, right? Think about yourself and your relationships, right? You have you have romantic partners, you have best friends, you have your favorite child, regardless of what any children or any parent tells you, we all have our favorite kids, and like whatever it is, like at the centerpiece of all of that is you have been able to develop some sort of a common bond between that individual, whether it's your lover, whether it's your partner, whether it's your best friends, whatever it is, right? And part of that bond comes from this emotional energy we were talking about earlier. But at the center of that emotional energy is your story, right? There's something about you that other people identify with. There's something about that that compels them to be like, and so when we share stories, when we're able to tell our story, when we're able to articulate our story, we end up we end up attracting the right type of people who connect with those stories. And ultimately, if you're in business, if you can tell your story properly, and that doesn't mean like sitting back and be like four score and seven years ago, I was this. It's like, how did you get here? Why did you build this business? What is it you want to exact on people by by building this business? Who do you like working with? Who do you not like working with? What are the problems that you solve? What are the problems you don't want to solve? Why do you solve these types of problems? What is it going to mean for me? Like, you want to position yourself so that people are able to hear this and be like, holy shit, I see myself in that solution right there, or holy shit, I could wear that right there, holy shit, I need that coach right there. And that's all around of like telling your stories so that when people hear these stories, they're like, that's the resonance, that's the connection, that's the like the umbilical cord that reattaches for them. So storytelling is like, and if you were to think about storytelling, like there's a probably compelling argument to say the storytelling goes back all the way back to our ancestors for however we have many years back. Like we used to live in large communities, and people used to literally sit around campfires at night at the end of the day after they farmed and toiled and killed the caribou, and they like shared meat and they swapped stories and they laughed and they drank beers or whatever they did, but they were all like in this community sharing stories about their days and their experiences, and then they would form bonds with other encampments and other communities nearby, and like they would swap stories and they would share stories around a fire. Like, that's what builds humanity. Humanity is centered upon storytelling. And if you can't tell your story, then nobody's gonna know your story, and then your story is just gonna be like this nebulous vapid existence that nobody ever gets to hear. And and everybody has a story, like there's always something you should be able to articulate to somebody when you do that. People are like, Oh, I can trust that cat. Oh, this guy's being real with me. Oh, this is somebody who I'd go sit down around a campfire and sing Kumbaya with, right? So that's storytelling 101.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 27:00
 Right, yeah. No, I love that. And I and you know, and it's interesting about sharing, you know, and talking about campfires. I'm curious, what are your thoughts? Do you think that people right now are having it's it's harder for them to tell stories or even like the generational because we are you know a tie to we're tied to devices and they don't people don't know how actually how to have conversations anymore?
 Speaker: 27:21
 Or I mean, I mean, just like everything else, I think we're we're we're in a shifting, evolving world. So it's it's it's hard for me to be like, oh, the current state of affairs is just is just a negative uh force filled and we're all doomed and gloomed. I don't know. Like people said the same thing about you know merchant transactions using credit cards and sharing your information over the internet, and then email came along, and people are like, I'm never gonna email, I'm still gonna handwrite that note, whatever. Like, I just think the times where we are, humans will eventually figure it out, we'll shift into some new normal. I I do think it's really important that we still contain and understand that storytelling is still a centerpiece of humanity, and whether we do it on our six-inch device or we do it around a campfire, like the the roots and the structure of storytelling are all the same. I just think sometimes we do have a tendency to sort of isolate ourselves because we have so much information exposure all the time, or like sitting here in our office. Like, I have to be very cognizant about getting up every day and going outside and going for a walk with my dog or making a couple of phone calls, or instead of always emailing people, I like I make a very cognizant and purposeful effort to sort of I still send handwritten notes to people, like I still send cards to people. So, like, yeah, I mean, I I guess there's always a risk, but there's a risk for for everything else going through the history of of time. Like it just at the at the end of the day, you know, the people who make things work are the ones who are going to be innovative and adaptive and sort of see the things where they are and understand how the impact can be, and then sort of like modulate and self self-sort of self-modulate with control, I guess. I don't know if that's uh answers your question, but yeah.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 28:51
 No, it's yeah, but so you know, I just I I think today, you know, it is everybody's evolving, but I uh one of the things, you know, that it's it's interesting. I feel like there's so many people that talk about how you know people do things in 140 characters and they're not necessarily, you know, having deeper, deeper meaningful conversations, right? But hopefully we might evolve. We sometimes we go back and we go forward and we go backwards, whatnot.
 Speaker: 29:22
 I mean, you can still tell your story in 140 characters, you might just have to do it a few times. Like, I mean, that's why you have that's why you have access to social media. Uh, anybody who tells me social media is a waste of time is a waste of my time because you have an opportunity to speak to eight and a half billion people on the planet right now. You have the ability to tell your story to eight and a half billion people. It behooves you to figure out a strategy and something that works best for you. That doesn't mean you have to stay isolated to it, but like you have 140 characters to show up 365 days a year as many times as as you want throughout the day. Like, use that, use that, you use that time and that space impactfully, be strategic about it, understand like how you want to show up on social media and use your 140 characters. Like, I make connections all day long through social media. I have people every single day who are DMing me and asking me for this or wanting to have coffee with me, and I'm doing the same thing to them. Like, use your 140 characters wisely, and you'll be able to like maximize the benefit. Again, understand where you are, read the room, see what the tools are at your disposal. How is AI going to help you now? How will social media be able to help you now? Like everything's constantly shifting. We just sort of have to understand how everything works rather than just get stuck in our little our muffled blinder silos, like horses pulling carriage and be like, I don't know, this is what I've always done, this is what I'm always gonna do. Like, no, man, take them off and like see all the world around you and adapt to it.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 30:39
 That's a key word, adapt. And I think that's a key thing. I think that listeners, we have to always be evolving and always be adapting. We're always looking at ways to shift, you know. Divo, I love that you know what you just said about you know consistently using the 140 characters, you know, and and social media can be a huge tool, right? It's a tool, right? And you're making those connections. So how do you how do you you know how do you recommend you know people make those introductions so they aren't those pitches? Like what's your you know, how would you guide somebody on that?
 Speaker: 31:21
 Well, it it it isn't it isn't any one thing. I mean, I I guess the the best way to explain that is think of yourself in the physical space, right? If you were sitting at a bar and there was somebody that was that you you felt was interesting, or you're sitting at a restaurant, you're sitting at a park, like I talk to everybody wherever I am, and like I'll be at the grocery line and I'll strike up a conversation with somebody, right? It's like I don't care.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 31:43
 You and I get along.
 Speaker: 31:44
 Yeah, like if they choose to be a dick and like say, Why are you talking to me? Well, bro, I'm just like that's on you, not me. So social media is the same way. Like, don't just sit out there and do your silly posts and be like, oh, no one's looking at my post. Well, dude, how many posts have you gone out and interacted with? How many comments have you given to other people? How many other people are you out strategically engaging with? Like, again, you always have a choice in how you respond. Is that instead of just blaming the algorithm or blaming everybody else? Like, what are you doing to make this work? So, you know, just a couple of things that I do every single day, no matter what. The first thing I do after I get back from the gym and do my thing is we go into social media. I go into social media, and LinkedIn is right now the vessel that I'm playing in. You know, I have to play in all of them, just pick something that really kind of scratches your back and go in, and I'll find 10 people every single morning throughout LinkedIn that is doing something interesting to me or posting something interesting, and I will give them a comment and I'll be like, hey man, I really love Jaclyn, how you just talked about building a brand and how you're reinforcing reinforcing the narrative about yourself over and over again. It really is compelling and it speaks to me. And I'll be like, here's my AI note, blah, blah, blah, blah. I literally write you a note. Like, I'm like, Jaclyn, I really love that post this morning. I take the time to read it, scan through it. I'm like, I love how you pointed out this, or I love how you are. And what happens is Jacquel sees my comment and she's like, wow, dude, Devo took some time to write to me. That's pretty freaking cool because not everybody gets feedback on social media. Most people, it's like an echo chamber, right? So you'd be like, oh wow, I'm gonna write back to Divo. Then what are you gonna do after you write back to Devo? Who's this Devo guy that wrote to me? Let me go check out Devo's profile. Holy shit, Devo's pretty cool cat. Like, I'd like to get to know this guy, right? And so what happens, that doesn't happen with everybody, but you just keep doing this. And here's another thing other people go to your post and they see Devo's thoughtful comment and they'd be like, hey, who's that cool dude who wrote that really cool comment? I want to see what that is, right? Think about your own behavior, right? How do you navigate social media? I guarantee you that if you see a cool comment from somebody, you're gonna click on that profile and go see who that person is, right? So I have a very, very specific strategy where I go out, I engage with people, I send people DMs, I invite people to be a guest on my podcast. Like if you have a cool brain and you're doing cool things and I feel like you have a good conversation, dude, I have a really massive podcast. I would love for you to be a guest and come share your zone of genius, people. And this thing just like it's like tentacles of a spider web. They just bing, boom, bing, boom, they just like explode all across the interwebs. And before you know it, people are sharing your content and they're reading your content and they're subscribing to your newsletter. I started a newsletter on LinkedIn, I will say about seven months ago. I've already got almost a thousand people who subscribe to my weekly newsletter specifically because I invite people to come check out my newsletter and I engage with their newsletter and I engage with their content. And it's like what this happens is you start to build this campfire community virtually in your 140 characters. So, like, don't tell me you can't beat the algorithm because the algorithm is bollocks, it doesn't exist. You can just be you and actually be social and build something around it.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 34:43
 Right. I absolutely, absolutely love that. Devo, I could talk to you for hours about branding and this and your storytelling, and you are so I love your energy. How it is how can our listeners best connect with you?
 Speaker: 34:59
 Behind the notes on your on your notepad, you're like, damn, he's a lot. I gotta slow down. We ran out of time. How can people connect with me? Just go to my website, uh Devo. You can find me at the brandstoryteller.com. I mean, I'm everywhere. Just de google Devo Charlotte, and you'll find me somewhere on LinkedIn, I'm on Instagram, I'm on every channel. Literally, we're on everywhere, but the brandstoryteller.com is the best way to connect with me.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 35:20
 And is there anything that you have specific that's coming out that's new? I mean, obviously, you have your your podcast is fantastic. Any new programs, courses, anything that you're that you've got in the works?
 Speaker: 35:35
 No, I mean I've always got something in the works, but it's just you know, work with me. I do I offer, if you want to get a taste of what it's like to work with the brand storyteller, I offer a uh a one-hour brand therapy session. You come in and lay on my metaphorical sofa and we'll sort of walk you through the things. You get, you know, you can ask whatever question you want, and you know, you can walk away. I swear, guarantee 100% that you will walk away with the answer to some of your questions if you just come and like spend an hour with me. Like, like that's my zone of genius, is being able to unpack your zone of genius.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 36:04
 Okay. Well, listeners, please do me the favor and connect with Devo because he is truly, you know, he is a brand genius and he can truly unpack, you know, more than you probably even think that you didn't realize. So, really great, insightful. He sees things that probably you don't see yourself. So really go and connect with Devo. Go to the brandstoryteller.com. And listeners, this is a lot of information. So please do me the favor and share this episode with your friends, your colleagues, and your business associates. If you haven't hit subscribe, make sure you're hitting subscribe. And then lastly, we have a brand new uh school community that we are building. So you can go to ungo to school and go to the unstoppable success community there and join us. The first hundred people get in for free. And we are doing some pretty amazing things on school every single week. And you'll actually be able to have conversations with many of our podcast guests as well. So this is the unstoppable success. I'm your host, Jaclyn Strominger. Thank you, Devo, for being an amazing guest. And again, listeners, please make sure you're connected with him because he's he's really awesome. So thank you for that.
 Speaker: 37:13
 Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Congratulations on your school launch. That's cool.
 Jaclyn Strominger: 37:17
 Yeah, that's pretty cool. Thank you.