B (3:03)

Do you think that takes you away from how relatable and magnetic you've been because of your ability to have depth across breadth?

A (3:14)

I didn't start there, Mo. And I have to say that this is a challenge that lots of people have. I don't think I have too strong of a challenge with this. It's attachment. Attachment to old identity. Even the way you phrase it sounds so violent to me. It's like, I don't have to let anything die. I'm as charismatic, as amazing, as relatable as I ever was. I just am going to narrow it in on one area of focus.

B (3:39)

You're the one who used the visual bury. I just said, do you think, yeah,

A (3:42)

you have to bury your old self because the new person can grow. I don't feel like there's a sacrifice here. I don't look at burial as a process of, like, mourning. I just. I have to clear out the house and make some room, have guests coming by.

B (3:55)

Do you think that this decision dilutes the effectiveness of your personal brand as it stands today?

A (4:01)

No, I don't even think so. I think if anything, it makes it even more potent.

B (4:05)

Tell me why.

A (4:06)

Perhaps you tuned in because you watched a pricing video. Or perhaps I was negotiating with somebody who wanted me to make a banger video but wasn't willing to pay. Or you might have watched a video where I was critiquing some typography or a logo. Or perhaps you've tuned in because there's this guy who's talking about authenticity, personal branding in a way that you've not heard before and you really connect. It really resonates with you. I think you'd be really happy for me to pick a lane so that you can learn more from me, so that you're not confused as to who's showing up every time.

B (4:37)

What about the ones that showed up and you're letting go of that?

A (4:40)

I'm okay with that. I'm not obligated to do what people

B (4:42)

want with that in mind. You're like, f what everybody thinks, I'm gonna do the thing and get really clear on it and stay in that lane. Me and you have had a.

A (4:52)

Okay, pause, pause, pause, pause. I don't want to say, like, f what everybody thinks. I think everybody wants me to be me. So I have a very different point of view. And I'm saying this because I know other people are listening to this Mo. I think the vast audience who likes me is rooting for me to be more me, whatever direction that goes in. So I'm not letting anybody down. Everybody who cares about me wants what's best for me. And the best person to decide that is me.

B (5:20)

And you're going to make a Choice that is 100% aligned for you, Correct?

A (5:24)

Correct.

B (5:26)

How are you defining that alignment? How are you getting to that point when you have such. You have so many things that you could choose from. You specifically, Chris, not the.

A (5:37)

Like you.

B (5:37)

How are you coming to this decision? Because I know you're actively working through this five ones for yourself.

A (5:42)

Yeah. Well, I'll tell you how my career choices worked out, and it's history repeating itself all over again. So year one and two of Blind, my production design company, started in 1995. If you called me for a logo, I'd make you a logo, and it'd be good. You need an identity system. I got you. You need a broadcast promo for a Sunday stunt free. I got you. You need a website for international beauty company. I got you. Oh, you need animation for your ski company. I got you. And as I'm doing all those things, I was never very good at any of them, except for the thing I studied in school, which was traditional design. And so it became a problem for me because clearly, and I'll give you the example, the clients who paid me sent me, one of their senior animators to overlook our project, to give me tips on how to make sure the animation was going to turn out well. So not only did it pay me, they paid for their own guy to come over because they knew I didn't know what I was doing. And that's a wake up signal. And I wasn't embarrassed. I was like, wow, there's so much I don't know. Because something that this person came by our studio and looked at our files and said, oh, and he was very pleasant about it. Did you know you could do this? And here's why I do it. And he showed me. I'm like, God darn it, I should know that. And so I think about two years in, I said to Jesse and said, hey, babe, I'm going to make a big business decision for all of us. I want to focus on one thing. I want to focus on motion design. I think there's enough there for me to sink my teeth into for a long time so that I don't get bored. And she's like, okay, whatever, I don't trust you. You know what you're doing. Go do that. So I did it. And 20 some odd years later, it was a good decision. Now, here's the cool part. Especially towards the end of that 20 years, a company came up to us. A client said, hey, I know this is not your thing, but can you help us out with a logo design? Not my thing. Do you guys do print? I'm like, dude, we do print. So we help them with that. So I was so good at this other new thing that people forgot about the old thing. But I was able to build a healthy business that did millions of dollars of revenue every single year. Got to work with some of the best people for the best clients as well. And until I decide I want to do something else, that's what I did. I'm just going through that same process right now on a personal level. So I would teach many things, but then now this is what I want to teach. And I think there's enough meat on the bones here that I could be doing this for the next 20 years. And by the time I'm 70, well, I think I'll be done for you.

B (8:22)

During that time, I'm sure what you were doing as far as logo design, amongst other things, were highly lucrative. And I know you just said that it's what's alive for you and what's going to create the most transformation, But I'm curious. What if there's something that you're really good at, gets you massively paid, but you don't want to do more of it? How do you stay in that pocket of still choosing the thing that you know is right for you and will create the most transformation? Maybe it's not the most lucrative.

A (8:56)

Well, you're a hired gun. You're a mercenary, you're a merc. You go in, you do a job. We have no affiliation. It's just whoever pays you the most, you just do that job and it's good to do that for a little bit because that allows you to have some space to think and reflect on what you want to do with your life. And what I would do then is I would save as much money as I can so that I have some Runway so I can make the next big decision in my life. So I didn't look at it back then in 1996 or 97, that I'm walking away from something very lucrative. People are calling me for all kinds of things. I could make money on all of them. I just got to choose the thing that I'm most passionate about that can carry me for the next two decades. That can feel like I'm a forever student. And I found that thing, surprise, surprise, it paid way more than what the other things did combined. So your one thing people are scared of because they feel like it's the limiting options, but your one thing is allowing you to focus. And if we just look at this because I think it's kind of interesting the parallel of this. What is pressure? Pressure in physics is force divided by surface area. So if you push, but you push across a wall, the wall will not break. But if you push the same amount of pressure through a pea sized shape, you can punch a hole through a wall. And so if you look at it like that and you want to have a breakthrough, you want to break through something, take the same pressure because there's no more pressure you can apply. You can't work more than you can, you can't push any harder. And you're not supposed to reduce the area of focus and you create tremendous pressure. That's what I want to be able to do.

B (10:40)

So this has led you to the five ones. So you can create that focus and create that pressure. I'd love to know from you if you're willing to share publicly with the crowd, where's your head going?

A (10:51)

The focus is to help other people do what I've been able to do. First of all, it's really easy to sell. You have the receipts, you're ahead of them on that journey. They can see the social proof that you have. So I'm not telling you to do something I've not done myself. I'm a multi platform content creator who understands high quality content, beats falling trends, algorithm hacks and everything else somebody else is going to tell you. And the reward is you get to know who you are more to develop ideas that are ownable, that you build up brand assets that you will have for the rest of your life. And I also understand that having a strong personal brand built around your true authentic self can help you to get the reach that you so desire. Reducing your ad cost, your cost per acquisition, can get you the speaking opportunities that you so desire. To be not following people, but to be peers with the people that you follow, I think that's pretty special and if it helps your business, fantastic. I'm pretty sure it will. But that's not what I'm trying to get you to be excited about.

B (11:53)

How does one work with you to accomplish that?

A (11:55)

Right now, just lots of money. It's pretty straightforward. In all seriousness, people see me in different masterminds speaking on stage and I have to tell you, I mean inside this cold exterior, the stoic exterior is still an emotional immigrant boy. And when people come up to me and they say to me, and I think they're sincere when they say this to me, you're my favorite speaker or just your energy and your presence is what I resonate with so much. I feel like the transmitter and the receiver are in alignment. Like I broadcast it as a very specific tune tuned to a certain frequency and the people can hear it, are picking it up. But then they inevitably ask me, how do I work with you? What's your offer? Because they're used to buying and prior to recently, I got no offer, I got nothing. I don't know, it's not my pro community because that's not right for them. It might be one on one coaching, but it's very expensive for them to do that. So when I created Content Lab, it was to answer that question. If you're making content and you're an experienced professional, you have some expertise and you need to go to the next level, I'd like to help you. If you believe in your heart that if you are surrounded by other people who are as motivated to make content as you, and you want nuanced feedback from a person who's been in the creative industry for 30 years at the highest level. That's what Content Lab is about. And if you need like somebody to do the work with you, for you, that's a much higher level engagement. That is where you need lots of money because I can help you. But you have to like add some zeros to that. If that's you and that's piquing your interest, just check the link. We'll include that in the description below. I've come to the realization that every time I start feeling stress or feeling diluted and I don't know where I'm going, it's because I don't have focus. And so many people, especially people who are creative, suffer from some form of adhd. They can't get focused on what they need to do. And so in hearing Takis, the five ones, I hear the call, one offer, one client profile, one channel, one form of promotion, and do it for at least one year. That's what I'm going to be doing.