In this episode of Spark & Ignite Your Marketing, Jevon Wooden, CEO of Bright Mind Consulting Group, shares his journey from the military to entrepreneurship, highlighting how emotional intelligence, empathy, and patience have been key drivers in building his business and helping others succeed. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, you’ll learn valuable insights to fuel your leadership growth and business strategies.
Here’s What We Covered:
- Transitioning from the Military to Business: Jevon’s inspiring journey shows how skills from military service translate into entrepreneurial success. His story is a testament to the importance of adaptability and perseverance.
- The Power of Empathy in Business: Jevon explains why empathetic leadership is vital in today’s business world. Understanding not just what customers want, but how they feel, has helped Jevon guide clients in the service sector to increase their profitability.
- Turning Revenue into Profit: Many businesses focus on generating revenue but fail to maximize profit. Jevon shares his process for helping service-based businesses optimize their operations and marketing strategies, focusing on long-term growth.
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Transcript:
Beverly:
Did you know that organizations with highly engaged employees are 21 percent more profitable? Welcome to another inspiring episode of Spark and Ignite Your Marketing. I’m your host, Beverly Cornell, and today we are excited to introduce Jevon Wooden, a renowned, talented, Keynote speaker, coach, and consultant specializing in empathetic leadership. Jevon combines data analysis, real world experience leading teams in the military and in the corporate world, strong emotional intelligence, customly developed leadership programs that empower leaders and their teams to achieve breakthrough results. As CEO of Bright Mind Consulting Group, Jevon offers dynamic keynotes, transformative workshops and an individualized coaching programs that drive sustainable business growth. Jevon it’s wonderful to have you here.
Jevon:
Oh, it’s so great to be here, Beverly. Thanks for having me.
Beverly:
So talk about how you went from the military to owning a business and inspiring others. Was there before military too? Did you work before the military?
Jevon:
Yeah. My journey is it’s ups and downs and all the wrongs like most of us. So I spent time, I actually joined the military at 22. I had tried to go the college route after high school and just couldn’t afford it. So I was like, what? There has to be more. I was working two full time jobs at the time. I was trying to stay out of trouble growing up in Rochester, New York. And it just so happened that at one of my jobs, working at a hospital, one of the guys who worked weekends was moonlighting. He was actually a recruiter for the Army. And he told me, he said, no, you should just come up to the station. That’s how I ended up in the army. And I was like, okay, yeah, this is a great idea. So I spent, I did four years active time and then most of the rest of the time was a reserve. So I had the benefit of working in the civilian side and the military side during my career. And so I spent some time in the corporate space focusing on I. T. Cyber security. So I just saw between the two worlds that there was a common thread either missing or highly important, right? Which was the empathy and emotional intelligence. So that’s what made me grow, get into this business side of things, focusing specifically on that to grow teams and businesses.
Beverly:
So you started the company though, when you were deployed, right?
Jevon:
Yes. I started in 2017. It was my last deployment in Afghanistan, and I was just searching for something that I can do that didn’t require all the physical demands that the military required. And then also just emotionally and mentally, I felt that I knew I didn’t feel I knew that. Tech was great, paid the bills, but it didn’t feed my soul. I was a person that really always wanted to help others. And I found coaching through a Google search, looking for other ways to serve outside of motivational speaking, because I knew I wanted that piece of the business, but there had to be a little bit more there.
Beverly:
So the spark was the Google search. That was the spark to start the business.
Jevon:
I wanted to start the business, right? I wanted to do something right and I’m not a person that is really designed to work for others’cause I want to do things a certain way. and I know that.
Beverly:
You’re stubborn. You’re stubborn. Yeah. I’m
Jevon:
very stubborn. On the disc. I am a di right? So I am all the way. Assertive and stubborn, et cetera. I was like, what can I do? And yeah, the Google search sparked the coaching piece because I’m like, I don’t want to just speak full time. That doesn’t sound like what I want. So I found coaching and I found the international coaching federation to get certified in one of their programs. And here we are.
Beverly:
So what makes your consulting group unique in the consulting and coaching area?
Jevon:
Yeah. First of all, myself you’d be hard pressed to find someone with the mix of experiences and acumen from a business, from a corporate and from an academic standpoint, I do have an MBA and all these certifications on other stuff. But more than that, I am a business owner. True to form in growing the business and trying and testing things out, which I failed a lot. So I know exactly what it takes when it comes to marketing. Especially for a service, right? Services are my bread and butter understanding that. So yeah, so you get it. And I know the language and what people are going. I keep my ear to the street, so to speak. So I do this like theoretic theory is great is one thing, but to actually do it is completely different. And that’s where that emotional intelligence and empathy piece comes from, because oftentimes business leaders and owners do something from their standpoint, but they forget that on the other side, there’s a customer that may not necessarily think like them or want what they think they want.
Beverly:
There’s truth in that. Just because you believe it doesn’t mean that’s the person that you’re solving the problem for believes that. So you have to speak their language. There’s a little bit of a translation interpretation that has to happen between the entrepreneur and the customer. I feel as a marketing person, we do that. We helped it. Bridge that divide as well. So tell me about you say service based businesses. So tell me about who your typical clients are and what problems you solve for them.
Jevon:
Yeah. So typically when I focus on services, professional services firms like lawyers and accountants and all of those fall in there, but also other coaches and consultants, right? Because it’s one thing to help someone else with their stuff, but it’s another thing to do it yourself. So I find that that’s who comes to me most and what I help them with. I primarily focus on people who are already, six figures and they’re enough, they’re already doing decent, but when you take away the revenue that you spend on running the business and all that other stuff, what do you have left? So we really want to shift that, six figures and not from revenue to their profit. So I helped him come up with strategies, one on the operational side to be more effective and efficient there, but also how do we reach different people, right? And then how do we improve my value ladder enough where I’m improving the lifetime value of the clients I already have? So there’s a few components there that I helped them with.
Beverly:
So what is it about your industry and what you do that really frustrates you? And how have you overcome that? Like, how do you do things differently? One
Jevon:
of the things that frustrates me is that there’s no regulation in this industry. So it’s like people just pop up and they say, I’m a marketing extra. I’m a business coach. I’m a leadership coach, executive coach, whatever the case may be. But they really don’t know what that entails. And what it does is it takes away from the credibility of those of us. Who have done everything we can to make sure we’re doing it from the right perspective. We’ve gotten the education, we’ve gotten the scars of battle and all that stuff, so to speak. So that’s one of the things that really frustrates me, right? So how I overcome that is I practice what I preach. I primarily focus on organic marketing strategies content marketing. So that’s what I do. I build rapport, build relationships with my audience. It’s not just a pop up and pop in and then leave and come back and expect them to love me. I’m really looking to get those touches in, but I’m doing it from a genuine. Perspective. So that’s how I’ve overcome it because there’s a lot of noise out there. And to me, people are doing businesses, not with businesses, but with people especially in a professional services side of the house. So that’s how I overcome it. I make sure that they understand that I understand what they’re going through, what they’re looking for. I can speak their language, speak in a voice that is it’s easy to build a rapport. They feel like they, they understand me. They know me and vice versa. And that has served me well.
Beverly:
What has been one aspect of your business strategy or decision making process that has evolved the most
Jevon:
wow. I feel like everything really has evolved, but what has evolved the most for me that’s very key is patience. Because I understand that I can only control the controllables, right? It used to be early on when I’m like, why isn’t this working? I’ll go and try to launch a product and be like, why is this flopping? Why is this I’ve done everything, right? There’s an uncontrollable there, right? And and that’s what we talk about in marketing often, right? What has worked once. Does not necessarily mean it’s going to continue to keep working. So I had to learn patience and keep refining and tweaking and not just scrapping everything, but 1 piece at a time to see what’s resonating in that market research. I realized that I didn’t have to spend money on Focus groups and all these other things. When I had an audience, I can literally ask the people that I was serving and say, what are you looking for? And so I’ve done that now before I even go to think about creating like a course or a product or anything, I’ll ask, I’ll do a little small survey and just be like, Hey, which one of these do you feel like is a, it’s an obstacle in helping you achieve your goals? Which one of these whatever the question may be. And that has been. Key. That has been very key. Especially in these uncertain times, because we know if you’re B2B, especially like people are holding on to their purse strings a little bit tighter. So you have to be
Beverly:
patient. Every election here. Every
Jevon:
election. Yes, exactly. Exactly. But when they release the purse strings, we’re all going to be doing very well.
Beverly:
We’re going to be ready. We’re going to be ready. So I actually going to equate us to like mad scientists. Because I believe we’re always experimenting, doing the A B testing, tweaking here, and, algorithms change overnight, and we have to adjust for that, and we’re like mad scientists, making sure that the secret ingredients are where they need to be. And what does that look like? And it does evolve and change. And what worked 10 years ago does not work anymore. And you have to continue to it’s a never ending organic evolution. Your website’s never done your, your projects are never really done. You have to keep tweaking them. Excuse me while my mad scientist hair over here I feel like that’s what we’re doing all the time. And sometimes you say patience. But I think a natural curiosity for me, like what is working is the thing that really drives my decision making now is a natural curiosity of where the customer, the client sits and where their customer sits. And then the tools that we use. How did those best, are they best implemented to feed that, whatever that looks like. So curiosity and patience. I don’t have a lot of patience, Jevon so we’re in trouble there.
Jevon:
I have to be intentional about it because I don’t know how much you all know about the, this, but these aren’t known to be patient people, right? But I’ve had to I’ve understood that’s something you can learn. A lot of us think we’re inherently born with it. Patients for me, it’s not that I don’t get frustrated or upset. It’s how I deal with it, right? How I can call myself to look at what lessons can be learned because I too am a very curious person. And I really feel like you have to be if you’re in like a marketing space or a business space, because if not, what are you doing? You’re not going to, a lot of us focus, right? On a problem and we forget to look for the solutions. And I feel like that’s what marketing is, right? It’s a cool puzzle to solve. And it’s, everything is different. No matter if you think you’re doing the same thing, it’s always different. That’s why I love it.
Beverly:
You do have to be agile and curious. How is a tool better now or how can it better serve our customers? And what does that look like? But it, there’s some challenges. Tech is great when it works and not so great when it doesn’t work. And we have become super reliant on the internet and tools like Facebook and Twitter. So, What’s one of your biggest challenges and how have you overcome it as far as your business journey?
Jevon:
I think for me the biggest challenge is really about myself, right? There, there are days when I’ll just say I am someone who has to come back Depression and PTSD, right? So for me, the hardest thing is usually to keep going to just get up and decide to win right to say, what business is slow right now. I know that there’s still some things I can do. Maybe I can write a piece. I can write a blog or. Get on some podcasts, do some outreach, et cetera. Sometimes it’s just tough to say, I do, I have an enemy. So what I’ve decided to do is the day before when I do feel great or I feel at least okay, I’ll write what I need to do the day before So I’ll plan it out. I’ll prioritize and I leave that sticky note on my computer or in my phone. And I also put everything in my calendar and block out. I’m big on time blocking and color coding, so I’ll do all of that stuff to come back. If I come back and I just wake up and it’s 1 of those days, I’ll come back to my computer and I’ll say, what’s number 1. If I can get number 1 done or spend some time on number 1, I’ve won the day. So that’s really the biggest thing for me. It’s really a battle within myself that I have to really make sure I’m being mindful of because there are days where I’m, I sometimes in a depressive state. I work really hard and I’ll just keep going. But what I’m doing is really procrastinating or trying to fight what’s impending. So what I’ve realized is I pay attention to myself and I look at my triggers and my patterns. So all of that together has allowed me to make sure I Don’t get all the way down into the stake. It’s really hard to come back out when you’re down there. So that’s how I combat it. And that’s how I even apply that with my customers, my clients, even if I’m good, right? I’ll tell them to do those same tools because if it works for me, right? Someone who has a chemical response is going on. It’s damn sure going to work for them. And it does, right? They’re like, wow, this is 1 of the best and easiest ways I can win. So there you go,
Beverly:
I appreciate you sharing and being a little vulnerable and talking about the things that we really, most people have something that they battle, whatever that looks like for them, we all have a story. We all have loss and grief and trauma from different things. We have fostered children. We have, I have adopted, my son’s adopted, my mom’s adopted. There’s stuff that, you kept a kind of process and some of that as far as your self worth and all those things as you grow up as an adopted child. And I do think that every entrepreneur There’s something feeding that fire, the fuel in their belly. And it sometimes comes from some of those really hard experiences. And it doesn’t mean it’s always a walk in the park to do the journey. And so it’s I think you’re giving a gift when you share that you struggle a little and how you overcome that because so many of us struggle and we all need to overcome the things that, Are getting in our way. We joke a lot that we’re marketing therapists that we help you look at where you’ve been, where you want to go and the things that hold you back and we push you forward or give you resources to get you to the next level. But we’re in it with the business owner. Oftentimes it’s one person or two people who run the business. We’re the only other ones that’s led into the profits and revenues and where you are struggling and the challenges that you have. And we hear a lot of those stories and we are cheerleaders and therapists many times. And we listen. And we care and we help when we can, because like you said, we’ve, we own our own businesses. We have been there and we’ve also helped so many other businesses. So we can give some perspective that maybe is hard for the person who’s in it, doing it to see. So they can’t get up above the trees, they’re in it, doing it and give that.
Jevon:
You really have to look at that. Like the, historically, where were they, did anything work for this business? Something, most of it, they’re still in business,
Beverly:
right? So
Jevon:
looking at where they were. And a lot of times what I find is there was one, like something In the past, a lot of you said, a lot of them are one or two people in reputational damage really affects a lot of the clients that I come across. It’s maybe they didn’t respond fast enough, right? Or they had an outage or something like that. Just the communication piece is where there’s lacking. So we’ll find that a lot of times we implement systems that can help them with that, that they are off to the races after that. And then we can do some things to help rebuild the trust of their customer base. But yeah, I think that going back to, that question you asked, I feel like resilience is something that you must have if you’re in this entrepreneurial journey. And the things that we’ve gone through in our past or something that we can lean on to say, Hey, man, if I can get through that, whatever’s going on, business is slow. I can figure it out. All right. So sometimes that marketing therapy and all that stuff can apply and it helps us ourselves as we go through this journey for sure.
Beverly:
I think it started there. That’s where I learned it. And then I started it with others, right? Like it started with me. I am part of that. Hey, this is some of the things that I do or have helped others. And a lot of times the customers that I’ve had since I started my business, the clients that we’ve had they’ve grown up too, like we’ve all gotten wiser and more seasoned and had all the experiences and learned a ton about our business, our industry and ourselves. And that creates much more confidence and clarity that, that you can’t get when you’re just starting out. It’s just, you, it’s like the tuition part of the work. You have to go through the things to learn the most. And It’s hard to fast forward and collect 200 and go past quickly. You can’t do that as much as you want to. Then you learn how to get past that, whatever that looks like, because that resiliency is key.
Jevon:
Yeah. I’ve learned a lot of lessons from the shortcomings, right? Like some of the ones I was talking about before, it’s they’re like, how do you know what, they’ll ask me, how am I different? Because I’ve done this and I know what has worked and what has not because I know a lot of, A lot of the people who came into this thing, maybe they came in during COVID times where you could run an ad and make, a couple hundred thousand dollars, right? It doesn’t work that way anymore. And that’s why I said earlier, I focused on like organic marketing content strategies, etc. Because if you rely on these platforms, like you talked about earlier, you were relying on ads. That’s a tough way to make a living. It’s expensive. It’s a tough way to make money. It is very expensive and there’s no guarantees, right? It’s not like it’s marketing arbitrage where if I run this ad, I’m guaranteed to make at least a dollar.
Beverly:
It’s a little bit better than when I first started. I worked for Chrysler being from Detroit. We all have the automotive background. And I did some marketing for Chrysler when my first job out of college and advertising then traditional advertising, billboards. Ad, ads and TV and that’s really expensive and quite sophisticated in many ways. Having the access to a target audience that we have now for fairly inexpensive is pretty darn powerful and equalizes the fortune 500s and the little mom and pop store on a way that has never been possible, but to do it really well, like I’m with you, I don’t. Ads are not those ads. That’s not my forte. I definitely, about the content and the SEO and local SEO, that’s more my wheelhouse as well. But I do think that the Google ads and the Facebook ads are an equalizer. If you have the budget and you know who you’re reaching and all the things, and you have the right person that’s doing that for you, I do think there’s some opportunity there for sure. And that’s every product or service. that, like they don’t all need to have it.
Jevon:
And it’s tougher for me. It’s a tougher for service, right? Because some of the things that you’re serving, it, Finding that target audience, because we know a couple of years ago, right? The whole privacy law acts, all of that stuff has changed the way ads can target those
Beverly:
cookies, those retargeting cookies,
Jevon:
all these things, that were heavily relied on with having to figure out new ways. So the cost per acquisition and even. Even tracking a lead properly, right? I’ve done a lot of this stuff for my clients, like setting up a Facebook ad. Google has been better for me than Facebook for a lot of the businesses simply because their local ad radius and all that stuff is really accurate. But what I’ve found, if. As for ads for so one of my clients, they do they’re electrical contractor, right? And they sell generators and all this other stuff, which was very relevant in Houston because we had that hurricane and a lot of
Beverly:
people
Jevon:
yeah, but what I found that if you do programmatic advertising, that is, that has been a boon. You’ve mentioned like making it the great equalizer. So being on Hulu and being on YouTube TV and being on all these things all at once has been fantastic for
them.
Jevon:
If you do, if you have the right organization running them for you. So that’s something that maybe the listeners could look into that haven’t thought of it, depending on what their business model is.
Beverly:
Yeah. And I do think, there’s so many opportunities. Even now, organic. Content is shifting due to AI. Like we’re always having to like figure out the next thing. And SEO, I think is on the cusp of a huge transformation due to AI and how is that going to play out for our customers and the content that we create and set up and what does that look like? And so I think there’s I was just going to ask you about the trends in the future. How do you think you are adapting and evolving? To how things are changing so quickly in the marketing space. Like what I learned in college back in 1998, and what I know now, these are my master’s program in 2004. Is so different so we are in a speed race, I feel like. Our industry changing so quickly. How do you keep up and how do you evolve with your clients and stay as a leader? Cause you have to be on the cutting edge to be successful. I feel like.
Jevon:
Yeah, absolutely. One, one of the ways is following the people who do this all day, every day, like the American marketing association, digital marketing institute and all those, like a couple of those bodies. I don’t want too many, but I get a couple of those and just see who’s sharing the pertinent and relevant information for that time. The second thing is being like a partner, like Google. Yeah. If you’re considered like a vendor for them, they’ll start sending you things like upcoming changes and give you beta tests and all that other stuff. They just actually had a change. You mentioned SEO. So they, they had a change where, because people were like cranking out all this content with AI. So they actually penalize you for doing that. So that’s something for people to think about. Don’t just post five posts a day because, you, you can. That type of stuff. And then also just like conferences and listening to the podcast like yours so I just do a lot and then the. The other thing is testing. I do testing before I test it on my partners, I test it. You got to get in the lab, right? See what’s working and what’s not cause that’s key.
Beverly:
So I have a lightning round and I asked a few questions and it’s more just quick answers so that we can stay on time for your commitment. We really, it’s just there to uncover some of your favorite business insights and tools and inspirations. Are you ready, Jevon
Jevon:
I am ready.
Beverly:
Okay. How have you, I feel like what we do, especially in the service business, and. things. How have you created and maintained lasting connections on your journey?
Jevon:
So one, I’m a big proponent of LinkedIn, so I use that to make sure I stay in front of people, right? And then I’ll also do a lot of like outreach on my email list. So if I’ve worked with you in the past or had an interaction with you, chances are you might be on that list. If you approve that to be on that list so I also send out regular emails, not too much, but maybe like once a week. And then, yeah, so that’s how I stay connected to folks.
Beverly:
So look at the, so much wisdom you’ve had and all the books you’ve read, the podcasts, the associations that you follow. Has there been one? organization or person or podcast or book that has left its mark on Jevon’s journey. You would not be where you are without that information or that person.
Jevon:
I can’t say there’s one to be honest but I will say that the American Marketing Association, they have a ton of tools and resources for relatively low cost that have been very beneficial. And here in Houston, they have a great chapter. So I like to join some of their events and stuff.
Beverly:
What’s one unconventional tool or app? It can be conventional too, but I like unconventional better. Tool or app that’s become your secret weapon for success and maybe even revolutionized how you work.
Jevon:
I don’t know if it’s unconventional, but I like Grammarly. Yeah. Grammarly is my, like my thing, right? Because I’ll write, copy, and then I’m thinking it’s the best thing since sliced bread. And it really. helps me make it sure it’s succinct and make sure it’s relevant to whoever the audience is. And so I love Grammarly.
Beverly:
So how do you keep your entrepreneurial spirit alive and what do you feed it?
Jevon:
Yeah this is one way I keep it alive. Connecting with other entrepreneurs. I am a person that believes that, I don’t look at competition. I look at collaborative opportunities. So we can be doing the exact same thing, but I feel like I can learn from you. You can learn from me. So that’s probably the biggest way. I’ll just reach out and make it a point to connect with someone new each week. The second way is conferences, and then I’ll also spend time just within my own thoughts, and that’s how I keep myself fresh. That’s how I keep new ideas coming, innovation. And that’s also how I stay top of my game. Just taking that time.
Beverly:
How do you stay grounded and maintain a sense of purpose and clarity
Jevon:
yeah. So I actually just made a post about this on LinkedIn the other day. How I focus on, I think I mentioned it earlier to like controlling the controllables. It is not slow. Business is not a reflection of my knowledge or my services. It is just something that I cannot control. So what I do is I ensure that I’m prepared for when it does come back. So I make sure I check my value ladder. Is there a gap where I can offer, something more? At that 1 spot, right? Can I create a new service or product that could even bring some more people in at this time? I spent a lot of time with my daughter and my wife, my dog, because that keeps me grounded. And then also I start every day with gratitude. Yes, I think my, God, I believe in God. So I thank God initially, but I also look at three things that I have done so far that I can think of top of mind that I can say, you know what, I’m so glad you didn’t give up. I’m so glad you did this thing, et cetera, because it also reminds me that no matter what has happened, I am here and I’m getting another shot every single day that I wake up. So that’s something that I do that keeps me grounded.
Beverly:
Family is so important and your spiritual, the spiritual side of things is, I think is important as well. So I love that on so many levels. And I think even the idea of the three things, there’s a book called the gap in the game. It’s essentially a book about. appreciating instead of what you don’t have, what you do have and what health, how forward, even if it’s the tiniest little step forward you make is to sit in that. And I think entrepreneurs are not very good. We’re always looking at the thing we don’t have, let alone the thing that we do have. So I want to be better. I want to be bigger. I want to be whatever the goal is for the business. So instead of looking at the gap, looking at the game and really focusing on your wins, because that is. It’s the thing to be grateful for. So I love that. Two kind of fun questions All right. Because I got a little bit of sass, so I gotta keep it sassy. If your business had a voice what voice or emotion would come from resonate from your businesses?
Jevon:
Yeah. So the voice that comes from mine, and this is, Something I did in my brand when I was designing the brand. So the voice that comes from my business from bright, my consulting group is one of passion and one that is it’s just invigorating and refuels the people, the readers, the listeners, et cetera. And it’s just one of hope. That’s the voice. That’s how I would succinctly say it.
Beverly:
A new hope. Are you like Star Wars
Jevon:
y? Oh, okay. Yes.
Beverly:
Okay, so and I love that you went to your branding like to look at your voice because a lot of businesses don’t do that Yeah, obviously you’re in marketing so you understand that but I oftentimes assign that as like a thing after the podcast to people I feel like this question the next question are really powerful to look at from a branding perspective and how you can use that How does your voice work? Permeate everything you do. And what does that look like for you is a question I oftentimes ask my the podcast guests, but you’ve already got it like written in your guidelines, which is amazing. I love that. Love that. Love that. So yeah if you’re a listener and you’re creating your voice and you’re like, yeah, this is my voice. One of the people that was on my podcast that it was the voice of Morgan Freeman, like I said, the voice of God, and he was like, yes. And I was like, Oh my gosh, that’s amazing.
Jevon:
That is awesome.
Beverly:
If Bright Mind was an animal, what creature would it be, would it embody, and why?
Jevon:
Yeah, I would say it’s an elephant, right? Because we are, one that a lot of people look at underestimate that forgets that we can accomplish some great things, right? We are one that just wants to be there and help. And, eat our leaves and stuff like that. But if you mess with us, we can’t trample, right? So that’s what I would say. We’re elephant and there’s a majestic component to elephants as well. And that’s what I would say our brand
Beverly:
is. I like it. So that’s another thing that should be in your branding guidelines.
Jevon:
There you go.
Beverly:
Because it’s nice to envision something, right? To have a really powerful visual of that. I think it’s, it can help you stay focused in that way. I had a friend of mine who is a photographer and she said elephant as well. But she said a couple of things. They’re really smart. And they don’t forget and photographs don’t forget. And so it was really clever. And she’s also from Pakistan. So I think it fits her culture, but I also she said they go in groups like they’re families. And she does like family photography. So it was like perfect for her. I love that.
Jevon:
She probably had that ready.
Beverly:
I think she might have so that is the end of the lightning round. You survived, Jevon you’re good. Now what is the advice you would give Jevon at 18, before you joined the military, before all the life experience, that would save you some headaches and heartache along the way? If you knew, if you could set, if you could pull that kid aside and give him a talking to, what would you say?
Jevon:
Yeah, if I knew it was possible, right? At 18, I didn’t know what was possible for me, right? You have this thing where you’re watching everyone else do well and accomplish amazing things, but you have to have that belief within you. So that’s what I would tell 18 year old Jevon have that belief. Do not be afraid, to try new things. Do not be afraid to ask for help because it is possible, but you do not have to do it alone.
Beverly:
So what is one piece of practical advice that you could give to an entrepreneur today or a budding entrepreneur? Somebody who’s just starting out that they could use and go right after they listen to this podcast, they could go and do something that would help push their business forward.
Jevon:
Yeah I think it ties to what you were saying. Make sure you have at least know who you’re talking like. Have your avatar squared away, right? If you do not have that done, you don’t know who exactly you’re talking to. You haven’t done the research to know everything about them, even things they may not know about themselves. Then you have work to do. Know what language they’re using? No. You know what the problem really is and what solutions they’re looking for. Know what sites they use. Know what books they might be reading. Know all of these different things. What age, right? What’s the age? They probably are. What gender are they married? All those different things. Because those come into play when you do your marketing. And, a lot of business owners waste a lot of time trying to be everywhere on every single platform, you don’t have to do that. So it informs your decisions along the way on where you want to spend your time and your energy and your resources. So take time to do that. That’s the one thing I would say, because I know veteran businesses who don’t even have that locked in.
Beverly:
The customer persona is so powerful and one step further, if I may add Jevon onto it is the customer persona, but also the customer journey, what are the, every single touch points you have with the customer, what is their experience? I said to all, every one of my clients, you have to be customer obsessed it’s not about you, it’s about them. And it is all about who they are and how they interact with your business. That customer experience, not customer service. That’s a one time interaction. The customer experience across the whole way. You have to put long term value of a customer. That’s where that kind of plays out is in that every single touch point you have with your customer. How, what is it and how can you improve it? That should be the priority of everything you’re doing. And I love that you said, don’t beat everything to everyone because I just did a, I just recorded it was last week, last Thursday. I do also like seven, eight minute little podcasts on my own that I released on Thursdays. I do like the interviews on Tuesdays and release those on Thursdays. And I just did the biggest mistake service based businesses make. Is trying to be everything to everyone and how you can differentiate yourself and the customer persona is super key. So I love, love, love that. You know what I think, and some of the people think is the same thing. Before we go, Jevon where, share where our listeners can learn more about BrightMind Consulting Group and keep up with your latest projects.
Jevon:
Absolutely. So you can go to brightmindcg. com to learn more about us. And then you can connect with me on LinkedIn. Jevon Wooden, you’ll see a light bulb next to my name. Make sure you hit connect and shoot me a DM. Let them know that you heard me on this podcast.
Beverly:
Thank you so much, Jevon for sharing your wealth of knowledge and expertise today with me. I appreciate you taking the time.
Jevon:
Thanks so much for having me. It was fun.
Beverly:
It was fun. Your insights certainly have illuminated our listeners paths, offering invaluable tips and some very impactful strategies to enhance their skills and business growth. And to our listeners, I really hope you found this episode as fun as I did. Remember you can implement any of these into your business. And if you need any questions, you have any questions, need any help with it, Jevon or myself are always excited to talk to business owners and help them along the way. So don’t hesitate to reach out to us on LinkedIn. I will put your your website and LinkedIn profile in the show notes, Jevon. So if people want to connect, they can connect right directly there. And until then, stay tuned for more inspiring conversations and actionable tips to ignite your entrepreneurial journey and your marketing and future episodes of the Sparking at Your Marketing Podcast. And until next time, keep sparking. Jevon
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