Front & Center Leadership: Brandon Birkmeyer

Chris Stone [00:00:01]:
Brandon Birkmeyer is a seasoned marketing consultant and brand strategist with over 2 decades of experience advising fortune 100 companies including Coca Cola and Apple. He's the author of his brand new book, Front and Center Leadership. It's an amazing book. It's a comprehensive guide that offers actionable steps for leaders to build authority, influence, and credibility through personal branding. Would you please welcome to Dealcasters, mister Brandon Birkmeyer. Brandon, thank you for coming, man. Yeah. We need that.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:00:33]:
Yeah. Where's the audio button with the Right.

Chris Stone [00:00:35]:
Out noise? You know, I I don't know. For me, it's a little cheesy to do that. It's not on brand for us, Brandon.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:00:40]:
You say that, but then there was such a vibe. The intro to the show they rolled for, was it 17 minutes of Yeah.

Chris Stone [00:00:46]:
Yeah. It would be 16, actually.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:00:48]:
Yeah. Yeah. But no but no crowd cheers for Brandon. That's fine. I got you.

Chris Stone [00:00:55]:
Listen, I've got I've got them here, you know, but I just I feel like I need, like, like, more of, like, a 100000 people as I mean, this feels like the one they give you in the in the Rodecaster Pro sounds like more like 15 people.

Jim Fuhs [00:01:07]:
I almost feel like,

Chris Stone [00:01:08]:
you know, after you know, hate to

Jim Fuhs [00:01:10]:
go back to football, but, like, I went to the Carolina ODU game at South Carolina, and, you know, they start sandstorm. Right? So maybe that's what we need to work into our intro.

Chris Stone [00:01:20]:
I have no idea what you're talking about.

Jim Fuhs [00:01:22]:
Where they're all waving the towels as I you know?

Chris Stone [00:01:25]:
Okay.

Jim Fuhs [00:01:26]:
It's like everybody's jumping up and down.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:01:28]:
Song Sandstorm by Deruda.

Chris Stone [00:01:30]:
Yes. Okay. Wow. Okay.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:01:32]:
It's like an old, old EDM song.

Chris Stone [00:01:35]:
Yeah. I've been stumped already. Brandon, man, thank you. Thank you for for coming to the show. I just you know, we we run-in in in different circles, but some of the same circles. And, I met you at at at a conference. It could have been, you know, a pod fest, could have been podcast movement, it could have been, NSA. And a lot of these things, you know, overlap, and and Jim as well.

Chris Stone [00:02:01]:
And, I don't know. We just seem to be, you know, just kinda attracted to each other in terms of, like, hey. We're talking yeah. And and, you know, when I talked to you at Podfest, I think, you know, made 3 or 4 podcasts, Podfest ago, you I I was like, what's going on with you? You know? Because you you're you're a successful, podcast host with brands on brands, which is a fantastic podcast. And if anybody wants, to really get some some valuable information, that's a great podcast to subscribe to. But I was like, man, what's going on with you? And you're like, you know what? I really wanna start doing is getting on more stages. Get it be, you know, doing more keynote speaking and really and I introduced you to a few people. A few months later, I I'm looking on LinkedIn.

Chris Stone [00:02:47]:
I'm seeing you in front of a ton of people. I'm seeing on a bunch of stages. And I was like, okay. Like, this this guy didn't just didn't say I wanna do it. And then it didn't really happen. So talk to me about that journey maybe initially before we get into the book, like, how has your how is the the speaking thing going for you?

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:03:08]:
Yeah. It's going well. It's all smoking mirrors, which you see online, obviously. Just make that stuff up with some green screen. But now the, how's it really going? I so like anything else, I take on a project every year, and I figure out like what's the thing that I wanna focus on, and the actual start of the year was speaking, this is 2 years ago, I think when we spoke. And to do that, I, you know, joined the National Speakers Association, I joined a bunch of YouTube channels and consumed the school of YouTube, and I, through the National Speakers Association, found a speaking coach, took their like speaker program. So I learned the craft, I learned the skill and the business of speaking. And my coach, as I was getting into this, I was like, what can I do? Like, what's my first go to action that'll really help me get going other than just pitch, pitch, pitch? And his advice was, Brandon, you should write a book.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:04:04]:
It was the only thing I didn't want him to say. Right? I don't know. Like, this is, the I I have a podcast, it's a YouTube channel, I write blogs, I'm on social media. I'm like, please don't make me write a book. Like, it feels like like old man Right. Style of building a personal brand. So I'm like, don't make me do that, please. But that's what he said, and I respect my my elders, I respect the people who that have been doing this as professionals, and I said, okay, well, how do I do that? So that started me down this other path where the next project, I had to put speaking on hold, and the book became the project.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:04:42]:
So that sent me down the next road. But, yeah, along the way, I'm still like pitching the ideas from the book on stages even before the book was done.

Chris Stone [00:04:52]:
Man, that's incredible. And now, Jim, I know you, you run-in in circles with, with a lot of the NSA, folks. And and so any anything to add to the the whole speaker

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:05:05]:
thing? Yeah.

Jim Fuhs [00:05:05]:
I I think that's definitely probably one of the biggest things they tell these folks that are wanting to become speakers is, like, you gotta have I mean, the book is almost like, I hate to say it, like your business card. It validates you. And what I think people have to remember, I mean, I don't know, maybe not in Brandon's case with his book, you're not gonna become a millionaire with your book, but what it's gonna do is it's kind of like that, hey. You read the book, and then it's like, okay. Now I know why I wanna work with this person. So I think that's that becomes part

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:05:35]:
of

Jim Fuhs [00:05:35]:
it. But I think too, you know, because Brandon definitely poured his, his heart and soul into this book. You know? What I get concerned about is seeing people are using AI to just throw out a book, and I I don't think that's the same thing. So, what what are your thoughts on that, Brandon?

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:05:55]:
Well, I'm lucky I didn't write the book with AI or I'd be really eating, you know, pie in my face right now or whatever that eating crow. Thanks for asking if I read it with AI. No. No. It was written all by, you know, by by me specifically, dictated and then edited and used professional editor to put this thing together. But, no, I I I don't fear AI, but I I think what will happen is that the the book space will become crowded, just like everything else does when it becomes super accessible. And, you know, the the bad elements, the people who wanna use just AI and no original ideas will make books that are kind of watered down and garbage, and others will make books that are still creative and wonderful and that use AI. I mean, it great, you know, that that helps, but, for me, it wasn't even about that.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:06:46]:
But yeah, I like that there's tools. I like tools out there to help. I definitely appreciated that there's like, there's tools out there that help me who's not a designer, like make a cover. And like, this wasn't accessible. I formatted this book myself. I went in and like, did all the internal paging and everything else. And then KDP, you can self publish through Amazon KDP. There's these tools are amazing.

Chris Stone [00:07:10]:
Yeah.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:07:10]:
That we now have to make these things a reality. There's no gatekeepers stopping you from being a thought leader in this world. And I think that ties into what I believe in, so most of the things I do like this book, like speaking, like podcasting, I go back and I turn around and I figure out how do I make this so that anyone can do it, and then I try to teach that. So at my heart, I'm a coach, I'm a mentor, I'm a speaker, and an educator, so everything I create or I do, I'm like, how can I make this something I can teach someone else? So when I started a podcast, I would did that the hard way, figured out how to do it, hired a coach, and then I, you know, created programs and online courses for how to start podcasts. And now that I was in the book writing process, I have materials and coaching about how to write a book. And then so everything's a step, and now it's like how to speak and all those things. So at the end of the day, it's all in my world, I call it personal branding. It's all these things that we do to help us leverage thought leadership and put ourselves out there in ways where your reputation might help either get you that job, bring you that client, or build that dream business that that you're hoping to build.

Chris Stone [00:08:17]:
That's incredible because it's a you know, just in in those last three sentences, we can hear your why. Right? It's not there's no question you have the heart of a teacher. You you know, and that and and a lot of people that think that someone who's in maybe the business that you're in, that we're in, we're in it for to to get money. Right? To and, of course, money comes along. You gotta you gotta pay bills. Right? But if if that's your ultimate goal, I mean, it's you're you're gonna you're gonna be jumping from thing to thing relatively quickly. But if you have the satisfaction of showing someone and teaching someone how to how how they can be successful, I feel like that's a that's gotta be a lot more satisfying. What are some stories maybe of of people that you've helped that, you know, whether it's the, you know, the personal branding space or maybe some stories that has, you know, because the book's been out for a few months, and maybe by now you've gotten some feedback from from some people who have read the book and, have, you know, how has it impacted them?

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:09:18]:
Yeah. So it's funny when you do something like this, you never know, like, what kind of feedback you're gonna get. And when I wrote the book, I really wrote it for the the me from, you know, back in the day. So people don't know, I spent 17 years in corporate. And to your point about purpose, if I wanted to be making money, I would have stayed in corporate. Like, that was, you know, the golden goose paycheck. Being an entrepreneur is not easy. It doesn't pay as well, and it's a pain.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:09:44]:
It's a lot of work. You have to have a calling for that kind of thing. And I don't sell widgets, I sell, you know, experience and coaching and and teaching, so it's it's definitely a harder road. But for me, I was I wrote the book and I teach basically me from back in the day. So when I was coming up in corporate, there were these walls that I would hit, or ceilings I would hit along the way, and it wasn't until I became an entrepreneur and I looked back that I realized that most of it was reputation driven. So I had a resume and great experience, but I didn't have a reputation outside of my resume. I didn't have a network that would, like, really serve me. I didn't know CMOs and CEOs and those kinds of things.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:10:27]:
I wasn't out there building those kinds of relationships, I was just doing my job. I didn't have any influence in my space. I didn't have any thought leadership per se out in the world. I had never written anything or put anything on, you know, the interwebs. I had no blog posts, no speaking in my background. I just did my job, created business plans and marketing plans, and presented them to CMOs, and got paid. And then I looked back, I joined in entrepreneurship, and guess what you need when you're an entrepreneur? You need a network, you need a little bit of influence, you need some credibility that you can do the job you say you can do. And I was like, man, like, now I gotta build this for my business.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:11:09]:
Why didn't I do that for myself when I was coming up in corporate as as a professional in my space? Why didn't I build my network? Why didn't I learn these things? So really the book isn't about how to be a leader, because there's a lot of books like that right now. What it is is the path to leadership. For the people who are out there who already have leadership skills, I know there's a lot of them who get overlooked. And it's not because they're not they don't have team building skills or communication skills, it's because they hadn't put themselves out there in a way to stand out and to get noticed. So this book is really personal branding for leaders. It's the path to leadership so that you can get recognized and promoted to say, I see what you're doing. Like, now I get it. Wow.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:11:51]:
So that that's why the book's out.

Chris Stone [00:11:53]:
Yeah. I think so many people when they look at, you know, solopreneurs, you know, and a lot of people, like, you know, get got laid off or got fired from their job, and then they become entrepreneurs. And then they learn the lesson that you learn, which is, oh, I when somebody would ask you what you did, you just said I'm regional director of, you know, Orkin or, you know, or whatever. You would say, you know, the company, you know, your position in the company you work for. And what you're gonna you're not talking about that at all. You're like, well, yeah, what do you do for people, you know, that happens to be in that job? Because that's what that's what moves with you when you don't have that job. And so a lot of people are in this in this position where it's like, whoops. Now I am looking at my LinkedIn and all it says I was regional director at Oregon and not a whole bunch of other stuff that you need, which is your your personal brand.

Chris Stone [00:12:43]:
And so when you're do most of the people that you work with, are they currently working for these companies and you're helping them build that brand from within that that company? Or are they in that spot where they're not with a company and they're entrepreneur or solopreneur, whatever?

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:12:59]:
Yeah. Most of the work I do now is running I'm speaking and running workshops and selling that in right now, trying to get more workshops at corporates to say, hey, like, let's teach 10, 20, 30 of your people the the secrets of personal branding, How to do things like write a a report for the company, or how to get out there and become the, you know, on the board of the industry association that they're in, or to be a speaker at their industry conferences. So it's it's those types of exercises. And like, I'll tell you this, when I when the first book first came out, I would I had people that I hadn't spoken to since college reaching out to me, which is funny. And they'd say things like, hey, you know, I'm I'm in between jobs, and I'm looking for a way to break through. Like how many people do you know that are open for work right now on LinkedIn? Right? Like I'm seeing it every day. And it's not just that, like, you'll see posts that say, I've been at this for a year trying to find a job, and I just can't find one. I got one of those phone calls.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:13:59]:
Actually, I've had multiple. And when I'm talking to them, it's I'm like, I can give you some advice for how to, you know, find job access. It's really for me, it's about networking more than it is about applying on LinkedIn or something like that. It's really about building relationships. But my problem is you're trying to dig the well now that you're thirsty. And so for me, I can give you immediate help, but I'd rather you jump to, like, a recruiter or something like that to to get yourself fed. Really, this book is sort of like when before you become hungry, before you're thirsty, here are the things you should be doing so that you won't have that period of time where it's hard to find a job, where you're competing because your resume looks like everybody else's. I want you to have those relationships and that reputation to back you up.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:14:46]:
So, yeah, I've gotten phone calls that are expecting one thing, but, you know, something else kinda happens. But most of the people I'm helping right now, we're really working through it's a lot more entrepreneurs, 1 on 1 coaching for the kind of stuff you're talking about, and that stuff is more like, I'm a creator, I'm an entrepreneur, and I don't know the business of personal branding. So each one is different. I I work with people very individualized. So in some cases, it's I've, you know, already have a large following on whichever platform, but I don't know how to turn that into a expert business, a knowledge business. So it's it's the other side of things. It's how do you take your personal brand and implement it in a way that is a business. And I'll I'll just to kinda make that make more sense, I really see that there's 6 kind of versions of using your knowledge in a way that gets you paid.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:15:36]:
There's using it for, like we're doing here, for entertainment, right? You can be a creator out there in the creator economy, and hopefully get paid by sponsorships. So you can be a creator, you can be a coach or a consultant, pretty similar in jobs with slightly different coach, coaches people and uses their own ideas to help them. A consultant is out there implementing something within a job to fix something. Right? Creators, coaches, consultants, you have the freelancers out there who are doing, you know, time for their skill. You also have the course creators who are out there taking their knowledge and turning it into systems and things that they can implement. And you have speakers, people who are getting on stage and getting paid to to share their knowledge to to an event. And each of these is a different business model, and a lot of us try to tap into them. I know I have, and to try tap into each of them.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:16:26]:
So a lot of the coaching, really, I'm like, here's how you start to build your personal brand, but then they're like, now what? So a lot of my work now is helping people with the now what, but this book brought them in to say, am I checking the boxes first? Have I done all the things that I need to do to start building my platform and the my repurposing systems, and do I have my voice figured out for the content I'm creating? So the book really is I think the entry point into personal branding, and then when I'm coaching people, usually it's now what?

Jim Fuhs [00:16:58]:
And Brandon, do you do you seem to find and, you know, you talk about it in the book about I think how some of these people, whether they realize, like because, you know, I always look at too. Right? There's a there's a difference between being a manager and being a leader. And I know all 3 of us have worked in big organizations and have kinda seen how where people get promoted. They really needed to become a leader, but they're a manager. Right? They they really don't see that self development of, like, how do I get my team to evolve and become better? But do you think it's that fear of, like, having to take on the responsibility of being a leader that's holding some of these people back from taking that next step. It's, like, it's really easy when you know that if you come to work every day, you're gonna have a check, you're gonna have benefits as opposed to if we don't do anything, we don't get anything.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:17:47]:
Yeah. I I think people have a rational fear, if you will, of that. For me, leadership, if you if you wanted to make it simply defined, is really just going first. Right? We it's like we our kids are in their lunch lines, and then they're the line leader. Right? They're the first one in line taking people out to lunch. It doesn't take much to be a leader, but there is something when you are when we're talking about actual leadership, there's something more than just being first, it's choosing to be first. And that choice comes with fears. It comes with the the real problems that you could, like, you can get in trouble for being a leader, like, because the eyes are on you.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:18:25]:
Right? So I in the book, you talk a little bit about it. I when I look at this, I realize I've experienced this myself. There's 3 types of what I call reluctance, to putting yourself out there, to stepping up and being a leader, to standing out, with personal branding, or just with projects that people are working on. And the three things that that people typically run into are what I call classic reluctance, or which is like the first type of, you have a real reason, right? Like you didn't wanna do something. Like how many times, gym, or you're out there and you're like, I wanna go to dinner with my wife tonight, and like you're like, what do you wanna eat? I don't know. What do you wanna eat? And you like, sushi. Well, I don't know. I just had a bad like, I had a bad experience with sushi reason.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:19:09]:
Like, you have real reasons why you don't wanna go to that restaurant or whatever it is. Like, you either don't want it, you're not in the mood, you don't feel like spending that kind of money when you can do this at home. You have real reasons that are totally fine to be reluctant for something. That's classic reluctance. It happens in every walk of life, in your job, in your professional decisions, in your personal decisions. There's a second type of reluctance, which I think is a little more sneaky, which I'm very guilty of. I call it thoughtful indecision. And this is where we are a little bit analyzing and analyzing, trying to get all the facts figured out before we make a decision.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:19:45]:
We want it to be informed, right? Analysis paralysis. And being an analytical person, that's very natural for me. Like, I want the details, and guess what? A lot of the time, having more time to make a decision means I've made a better decision. But in some cases, having thoughtful indecision means that someone else is passing you by, you know, or maybe a decision needed to be made quickly and you couldn't because you were stuck. So I think that happens to us a lot. And then the third is I just call it agreeableness, and it's just kinda consensus thinking. And it's hard to be a leader when everyone's gets a opinion and no one's making a decision. At some point, like, if you and me are all all 3 are voting on something, like, every now and then Jim needs to get a win, right? Like, Jim needs to vote.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:20:30]:
Like, maybe he needs to stand up for himself, lead and say, you know what, today, today, Chris, maybe I'm leading the show. Like, you know, like, whatever it might be, like maybe your cup needs to be filled that day, and it's not about consensus that day. So the point is, why do I think about the reluctance in this way? Because the opposite of reluctance for me is is initiative. And if we can get past reluctance, maybe we would take initiative to do those things that put us at risk, that that speak to us getting past those fears of, okay, maybe I didn't have time to overanalyze it this time, I'm just gonna make a decision based on my gut, or maybe I, you know, I'm not gonna come to consensus this time, I'm gonna hear people, but I'm just gonna make the decision for the group this time, or I'm gonna advocate for myself. And I know I'm talking a little bit of hyperbole, but the point is, like, we are reluctant people by nature, it's what's kept us safe. It's that middle of the pack mentality. And that's okay. I live my life 17 years like that.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:21:26]:
And sometimes you gotta take risks. Right? Sometimes you gotta put yourself out there if you want to achieve more than what you're currently getting.

Chris Stone [00:21:35]:
See, now, Brandon, now you're getting under my skin, man. You you you had you had you had to talk about thoughtful indecision as a part of reluctance, and I'm like, oh, god. It was it's like being in the pew at church and the pastor says something and you're like, oh, god. He's talking to me, you know. So no. But it's it's so true. And I do you think, you know, you're a podcaster and and I don't know. You've you've got hundreds and hundreds of episodes that you've you've hosted yourself on brands on brands, but also it guested on podcasts, you know, like like this.

Chris Stone [00:22:05]:
And we all know this thing about pod fade. Right? They talk about it all the podcast conferences. Everybody quits after 6 episodes or whatever because they there's a there's a lot of different reasons why they, they quit, and thoughtful indecision feels like a huge huge component of that. Right? So if you're a content creator, isn't that isn't that what the, you know, what would you say is like the biggest part of reluctance would be that thoughtful indecision part?

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:22:33]:
I mean, I I think it's individual. Right? I think we all have experience it in different ways at different times. I don't think we're always one thing, but I think it represents itself in these different ways. For podcasters, for content creators, I think for a lot of us, what we have is a confidence crisis, right? We we hope this thing will will turn on suddenly, and everyone will discover us, and we'll be viral. And when it doesn't happen, it hurts our feelings. Right? And people talk about consistency being the secret to that. I I don't know if that's true. What I like to say is if you want to build confidence in something, anything, like these skills that we're talking about, being a content creator, speaking, writing books, to get past the confidence crisis is, for me, you have to do 3 things.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:23:14]:
You have to know yourself, like yourself, and trust yourself. And people have probably heard know, like, and trust used in other ways, but Yeah. I'm flipping it for us today because, for me, knowing yourself means that you actually if you're gonna build a show, right, if you're gonna be a content creator, you have to understand what do you like to talk about? What's your passion? What's something that you can talk about every day and not get bored of it? And if it's not aligned with who you are, then it's gonna be something you quit. Right? It's gonna be something that you're like, I don't wanna do this, like, I'm bored about talking about microphones, and you know, if it was a gear show or whatever.

Chris Stone [00:23:49]:
Right.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:23:50]:
You know? Like, that's you're gonna get bored of it. Like, I love personal branding. And when I'm like, I love marketing in general. I I didn't just do marketing because they paid the bills. It's because I nerded out on marketing. If you're like, Brandon, what books are you reading? What's your hobby? I'm like, I'm reading marketing books. I'm sorry. It's a little boring.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:24:04]:
You know, I find that interesting. I find persuasion interesting. I find, like, marketing funnels and brands building interesting. So anyway, you gotta know yourself, you gotta know what your message is, and you gotta be aligned with what you're putting out is really what's coming from inside you. And then like yourself is, after you, like, put things out there, you've gotta give yourself a little bit of room to be like, yeah, I did okay. Like, be proud of yourself, take time to appreciate your accomplishments, and find things that you like that you did, and build upon them, like build the skills. Like, I would be I would have turned my podcast off if I, like, after a year of doing it, it wasn't better than the first episode.

Jim Fuhs [00:24:47]:
You

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:24:47]:
know? Like if I invest in the skill of something, the packaging, the skill of speaking, the skill of interviewing, if I keep investing in those skills, that personal development, I'm gonna like myself better because I can see the results of that work. So there's that piece. And then the third is trust yourself, which for me just means what you're talking about, what everyone else talked about, which is consistency, and like a commitment to the process. I think trust comes from doing the work, and looking back and say, Yeah, I kept that promise. Like I did that work, and whether the result was great or not what I expected it to be, I committed to something and I did it. And that shows proof that like you can accomplish something you set your mind to, You just gotta have the right goals for that to happen. So, you know, I trust myself, I'll say, you know, I'll look at this podcast, I'll do it for 6 months. I'm not gonna question was it successful or not, I'm just gonna get better at it every day.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:25:40]:
And at 6 months, I can make a rational business decision to say, did this work? Do I have the listeners I was hoping for? Did it give me any other benefits I wasn't expecting? And then I can reevaluate, do I wanna keep going for another 6 months? But the only way that works is if during those 6 months, you don't judge yourself day after day, week after week. You're not gonna judge yourself until the 6 months is over.

Chris Stone [00:26:02]:
Just like you don't look at your number, your download numbers every every day after every, podcast episode. Right? You you you got you know, I you know, this is, this is incredible information. And by the way, those of you who are watching and listening, go to deal casters dot live Amazon and in in the Amazon carousel is Brandon's new book, which we're talking about. This is a fantastic information. You know what I thought you were gonna do, Brandon, when you did the whole know, like, and trust, and you gotta know, like, and trust yourself. I thought when it got to trust yourself, it was gonna be like me looking at myself on camera going, would I trust that guy? But it was it was not it was not that at all. I guess you you kinda need to do that too, but I, you know, I do like I do like the twist there is is kind of like, trust that you're going to, to hit those hit those goals and attain those goals. It's important, you know, consistent.

Chris Stone [00:26:52]:
A lot of people talk about consistency. Right? And they look at consistency as, like, do it day after day after day after day, which is not wrong. But if you're just doing the same thing every day and not getting trying to get better every day, then you're just I you're not gonna you're not gonna grow. So if you if you grow that 1% every time, then, you know, it's like going to the gym. Right? You know, if you do the same thing, you sit in the corner with a 5 pound dumbbell and do that, you know, for 20 reps every time you go to the gym, you're not gonna you're not gonna necessarily be shredded, after 6 months. Right?

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:27:28]:
Yeah. Well, it's interesting. Right? Because I was doing research for this book, and I stumbled across a lot of, like, random fun facts. But the one that, like, once stood out to me was that over 80% of our actions take place automatically without us having to think about it. Like, our brains strive to turn everything into a routine. Right? Because it's hard work to, like, make new decisions or to try something we haven't tried before, or improve. And even thinking about it is it's time consuming and energy depleting, so by nature, our brains are like, you should create a routine around this. Like, you should conserve some energy, and maybe minimize some risk.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:28:04]:
Right? Like, that's what it wants to do, and, like, 80% of our actions are happening like that. That's why you can, like, blink and suddenly you you were driving somewhere and you blink and you you were there. You're like, I don't even remember the drive, like, what just happened. It's scary. Yeah. The autopilot. Right? Yeah. And it's sometimes we need to be shook out of that, out of those routines to, like, to actually grow.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:28:26]:
Like, we get bored. Like, that's what happens. Like, you're like, why do I not feel great? Like, why why do I feel like I'm in a rut? And it's because you're bored. You're, like, you're not growing. You're not challenging yourself. We need that challenge even though it comes with a little bit of stress. I'm not gonna lie. It does.

Jim Fuhs [00:28:42]:
Well and I think I think going back to what you're talking about with leadership, as a leader, by you continuously working to improve yourself. Right? And and I like I like to say, improvement is just 1% a day, and it doesn't have to be in the same area. So sometimes you don't even see it. But people will start to notice that, hey, This person's getting better, and that encourages them to be, you know, yeah, they may be followers initially. It's like, you know what? I can do that too, and that makes the whole team better. It it, you know, moves the ball forward, so to speak. So I think it's it's important that you talk about that, you know, because it's one of those things people don't always realize. It's like, to me, you know, life and leadership is about continuous learning.

Jim Fuhs [00:29:28]:
It's about continuous improvement. You know, what can I do better? I mean, you know, Chris, as an example I mean, if I would probably say 4 years ago, Chris, you didn't have the video editing experience that you have now or the ability, but you put the work in. Right? It didn't happen overnight. People like, oh, wow. That's really great. I I and they and they and rather than saying, I can learn how to do this, they say, oh, I could never do that. Right? Chris is just so much better as opposed to saying, you know what? I can learn from Chris. I can learn from others like Chris to improve myself in that area if that's what I'm passionate about.

Jim Fuhs [00:30:07]:
I think the other piece you brought up, Brandon, it's about having the passion for wanting to be good in that space. It does us no good to to do things that we don't like doing, thinking that somehow we're gonna wake up one day and say, oh, no. I like doing this.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:30:23]:
Yeah. And what's funny is, like, I'm a big, Kobe Bryant fan. You guys are talking sports at the beginning of this.

Chris Stone [00:30:29]:
Oh, yeah.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:30:29]:
From was raised in Los Angeles, big Laker fan in general. And, also Michael Jordan fan, even though I'm not from there, I need my son, my firstborn son, Jordan, my onlyborn son, Jordan, but it's just fun to say it that way. Yeah. But, you know, people who both of them, in in this regard, people who were just known for their determination, people who were known for, like, they were the ones that showed up early to practice, like, even though they were already the best player on the court, they were known to get in people's heads and have that, like, ruthless determination to win. And that mentality, I found very attractive, not the ruthlessness necessarily, but something about you have this inner drive to accomplish something. And I think I talk about in the book, the four laws of leadership, but one of them is you have to have the right reasons. And the right reasons for me is, like, you have to find that for yourself. Like, what's your motivation, right? What's and it's not like your purpose, which it could be, I guess, for some people.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:31:27]:
I just find that word hard to to grab onto, but I'm like, give me the, like, right reasons. I can I can figure that out? Like, what in this one little thing I'm doing right now, like, what it what's the reason that this thing exists for me? Like, what is a win? Why is this helpful? Why do I wanna put effort into this thing that might be hard? And it can't just be because I wanna make money, because I can make money lots of ways. So you have to have the reasons that are gonna keep you going when things aren't going your way, and that's internal. And I had trouble getting into this sometimes, but my friend, Mike Kim, he's in the personal branding space, he asked these questions. I don't know where he got them from, I don't know where they originally came from, but it was it spoke to me, and one was like, what keeps you up at night? What pisses you off? And what change do you wanna see in the world? And I found that super interesting to ponder, right? And it's like, because those things that you answer, you can apply them to small things or big things. But if I look back, I was like, well, being someone who was working in Corpus Christong, eventually hitting these ceilings where I wasn't like being able to jump to that, like, sea level table, I was like, what is the problem here? And I started to realize that, well, like, there's there I didn't I was never told how to do that. Like, it's there were no one trains you beyond how to do your job. They don't train you on, like, these other skills outside of your job.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:32:52]:
And I was like, that pisses me off that, like, I spent 17 years in a corporate environment with no mentors telling me about the skills of networking, the skills of public speaking, and, like, self development in general, this whole category of self development, which is like, once you go down, guys, like, be beware. Like, you spend hours listening to podcasts, right, and reading books, but it's it's so stimulating to the mind. But, I digress a little bit, but I guess my point is there's this this idea that it pissed me off that there wasn't like someone out there saying, hey, maybe you should take these steps. And I was like, you know what, I can maybe build some work around that, I can solve that problem with a book like this or with a podcast like that. And, you know, answer these questions for yourself, what pisses you off or what keeps you up at night? It keeps me up at night that there's very talented people that when they get to 40 years old, suddenly there's less and less jobs for them at the top of organizations. Like it's built like a pyramid, you know, like hundreds of people at the bottom, a few at the top. What do we do after that? Yeah. Well, if you don't have the skills to transition out of that job into something else, it's gonna be a rough road for you.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:34:00]:
It's like, so I'm like, how do I write something that helps those people? And what keeps you up at night? You know, it's like, well, it keeps me up at night that there is people whose talents are going completely unrealized, like untapped potential, and I'd like to see that change. So, you know, things like that. Doesn't have to be purpose, but I think definitely having, some type of the right reasons for you is gonna help you, kinda grow and push towards.

Jim Fuhs [00:34:25]:
And and, yeah, that really resonates with me, Brandon, because one of the things I've seen a lot, especially, like, say, in the veteran spaces to your point is, you know, when I was in the marines, you know, I did over 20 years in the marines, and it was like I was always advancing to, like, the next position of, you know, leadership, authority, whatever. But that is like, well, what happens when I get out? I'm not gonna have those same opportunities, but because I was so focused on my day to day, you know, assignments, I wasn't thinking about, like, oh, I need to learn to do this and that. It's gonna help me later. And so I think that's part of that challenge is making people understand, like, look, you're not always gonna be doing what you're doing now. What are those other things that you could be learning? And I think, really, to me, it kinda goes back to, right, mentorship, I think, is lacking in a lot of places. And so it sounds like in some ways whether people realize that when they are reaching out to you, they are looking for some mentorship. Like, I need someone to help guide me, as opposed to tell me what to do.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:35:28]:
Yeah. I what stood out to me was, like, the phrase, you don't know what you don't know. You know? And how do you seek out help when you have no idea what you need help with? So we don't even know to ask the question, so we just fall into these routines that we talked about. So that that that's something I ponder a lot. Like, when I find myself kind of doing a little bit of self analyzing, you know, I have a moment to breathe. I'm not sucked into my day to day routine. I'm like, what what don't I know? You know, like, what, like, what don't I know about? That's why I'm like, oh, I'm gonna take on a project. That helps me focus.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:36:02]:
I'm like, the project is writing a book. The project is speaking. Now I can actually think about, what don't I know about speaking? Well, like, literally anything. Okay. Well, what do I need to know then? Okay. Let me make a plan. Like, what do I need to let me how do I get around people that know how to do it? How do I, like, absorb content that's about that? How do I read the books about that? Because you have something to focus on. Help you figure out, oh, like, it's more clear.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:36:27]:
But if it's just, hey, grow as a person, like, well, I don't know. Exactly.

Chris Stone [00:36:33]:
What do you do with that? That's like, how do you eat an elephant, right? Yeah.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:36:36]:
It's like be a better dad, be a better podcaster, be a better speaker. Like,

Chris Stone [00:36:41]:
do you

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:36:41]:
have better relationships, be a better communicator? You pick one of these things to aim at, suddenly, it becomes very apparent what you don't know.

Chris Stone [00:36:48]:
Yeah. I think, you know, what you're talking about is is be is staying curious, and and, you know, like, your friend that, you know, what what pisses you off, what excites you, what what keeps you up at night. But what you're doing is you're taking that next step is, you know, what what excites you? Okay. It's this. Okay. Now what are you doing about it? Right? Like, in in like, taking that next step and and adding some practical action steps for yourself, putting a framework around it. So what are some for someone that doesn't seem to have that yet, like, what are you know, and and you coach people, you work with a lot of different people, a lot of different companies. You know? What's a what are some practical strategies maybe that they could, you know, like, hey.

Chris Stone [00:37:32]:
I I really want to do this and I'm really passionate about this and, you know, this particular thing pisses me off, but what's a constructive sort of practical way for them to get kind of moving into a direction where they're actually applying solutions and helping people?

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:37:46]:
Yeah. You wanna make it real instead of fluffy? I could do that. Yeah. No. So here's like real talk. What I would have done is like identify someone who's doing something that you wanna do. And what whatever it is. It's like they're doing the job you wanna do, they have the charisma you wanna have, like, find someone that you're like, you are a little envious of, or you're like, that's pretty cool.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:38:11]:
Like, because you can do that too, whatever it is. And if it was like your boss, like you just want the promotion of your company, great. Like, what skills does your boss or your boss's boss have? Like, actually analyze them objectively and be like, what are they good at? Oh, wow. They seem to be really good at people and communicating, and they have these client calls where they have so much charisma, or they're like really prepared. Like, how would you if you had to be them, what would you need to do to get to that level of skill? Would you need more repetitions? Would you need some mentoring and coaching? Would you need to learn learn a skill that you didn't already know? What is it? So for me, it helps. It's not just like be yes, curious. Like, I love the word curiosity, but I feel like it's like we have a bow and arrow, but we don't know where to aim. Right? So be curious about what? Like, about football? Sure.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:39:01]:
I'll know all the stats. Right? But if you're not jealous of the guy who knows all the football stats, then maybe you don't study that. Maybe that's not the thing to be curious about. Right? So like, you guys are great at going live, like, oh, like, I envy that, like, I wish I was better at going live and had that confidence. Well, how do they get like that? Well, I might call you guys up and ask you a few questions and be like,

Chris Stone [00:39:21]:
we're sure. We might tell you, we're sure. You

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:39:23]:
might tell me. Yeah. Right? You might. So I I there's I'm like, okay, well, there's a skill to this. Like, it's different than what I do, and you and maybe you have more confidence because you have a plan, like you know what how generally your flow is gonna go. You've practiced that more than I have. So any of these things, I'm like, pick something and aim at it and say, you know what, like, what do they have that I could be learning from today?

Chris Stone [00:39:48]:
I love that. You know, I'm I'm a huge fan of of influence to, you know, not just the Robert Cialdini book, but you know, what we're talking about is, is, you know, understanding, you know, what makes people move, what what what makes people, you know, buy what makes people, you know, understanding that that whole concept. And a lot of it is, you know, somebody's watching this video right now and they're going this Brandon Birkmeyer dude, like, this is cool. I could do this. He's he's actually talking about something I thought about doing and like, how do I do that? But don't try to be a Xerox copy of Brandon Birkmeyer. Right? Like, he's taken, you know, but use him as a as as influence. Right? You know, I wanted to be Allen Iverson, but, unfortunately, I have this body. And, you know, I I I can't do the crossover.

Chris Stone [00:40:37]:
But, you know, if he yeah. Maybe I'll use a little influence and a little Dirk Nowitzki and and then you get, you know, somebody who can't even make it in a high school basketball team. But the my point is, like, I think a lot of people want to follow a structure, step 1 through 23 and create the same click funnel site that somebody else did that made that that made them quote unquote, a1000000 dollars in 14 days. And, you know, then that's another reason why they quit. Right? Is is like, hey, I tried I followed this to a t, and I this I was supposed to make this money, or I was supposed to do that, and it didn't work out for me.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:41:19]:
Yeah. I I feel the same way. And I think Jim might like like this part of the story for me. So I I don't just pick something to aim at and be like, I'm gonna copy that. Right? But I definitely get very curious about, like, what are all the things that they did and try to model things, but then I actually break things out kind of a unique way that I think, it's just the way I think. I start with small objectives, right? And then like, that's what's the little or I call it operations. It's like, what's the little operation I can run? And I was thinking military, that's why I called you out, Jim. So I was like, little operations.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:41:50]:
So, like, what's the little operation I need to to take care of that's a quick win that's gonna get me one little step closer to the thing I wanna do? I wanna start a podcast. What's a little quick win there? Maybe I'll buy a microphone and, like, come up with some cover art and an idea. Okay. Like, whatever it might be. Like, what's the quick win operation that's you can get in, get out, and just make some progress. Right? And then I think one step bigger than that about campaigns. So when I was taking on the speaking thing, I was like, what's my campaign? My campaign for this 3 months or 6 months is public speaking or is a book. So I have projects that have a time based, you know, component to them.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:42:26]:
They aren't like an overnight success. They're gonna take some work, but they're gonna get me there. So I have my quick wins or my operations, I have my campaigns that I'm like, this is what I'm working on for the next few months, and then I have my mission, like the bigger goal that I'm aiming towards. And that might be a North star that's moving a little bit here and there, but generally, it's guided towards, you know, one purpose that is connected to this, like my reason for wanting to do the things I do. But if I can think like that, if I can start with a mission, and then break them down to the campaigns, and then even some operations under that, Like, I have a actionable thing I can do every day. I'm like, what's a little thing I can do today? And is this contributing? Is this some milestone I'm gonna reach on my way to getting this book out? Like promoting a book, like it's not done after you write it, promoting it, one more campaign now. Like how many podcasts can I go on to talk about this book? And how many, you know, like Amazon ads do I need to run to promote this book? And how many conferences I need to go to to speak at and hand out this book? Like, that's the that's the campaign we're in the middle of right now, you know, and that helps me actually focus my energy and and making And I look backwards and suddenly I've accomplished like a ton of objectives, ton of operations, a few campaigns each year. I'm like, I've actually accomplished something.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:43:42]:
You look back, you're like, wow, like, I didn't even know I was I could accomplish all that if I just said I was going to the beginning. I didn't I had no idea.

Chris Stone [00:43:49]:
So you didn't when when you when you set out to do the the book, you didn't set, like, what do they call the big, hairy, audacious goal or something like that? You didn't you didn't set that? You just said you just you structured it like you just said? Or did you did you have a goal and how close are you to attaining it?

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:44:06]:
There we go. Well, first off, this is about the North Star. Right? Because first off, the goal was speaking. And then Okay. My mentor was like, well, you have to write a book. So I come I had to completely pause one campaign and switch to the other because it was hard to do just both. So I complete like, I didn't build a speaking reel, I just said, okay, I'm gonna figure this book thing out. So I had to go down that rabbit hole.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:44:26]:
So like, first off, your campaigns can shift based on what you learn along the way. Mhmm. But then, yeah, like, when I was tackling this, I had to break it down and say, okay, well, how do people write books, and how do I wanna write a book? Like, how does this campaign work for Brandon? And the I was like, well, my biggest barrier to writing a book, the reason I had that feeling of I don't wanna do this is because typing, like the way they tell you to write a book, like, type for 600 words every day, just do that. Like, that sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me. Like, why would I wanna sit down and type every day? I love podcasting, I love recording my thoughts, but typing sounds super slow to me. And so then I realized, I did more research, and I realized, oh, like, a lot of authors dictate their books. They speak their books. I was like, well, yeah, I do that all the time.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:45:13]:
Yeah. And I'll like, to be honest, and I'm like, okay, well, how do I do this with my schedule? Well, I can usually fit in a half of a day worth of recording. And in a half a day, guess what? I can record about, what was it, like 4 hours, which is like, I would get 8,000 words out. Wow. You know, and a few hours of recording, or more. And in like 8 sessions, I had the book written. It was it was, I had 60,000 words in, you know, 8 sessions. So it was like, okay, well, I do this naturally, you guys do this naturally all the time.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:45:47]:
It's probably easier than you think, I just had to have a good outline, and then a good and a good editor. But anyway, there's so yeah. I figured out the process. I had to chunk it down to things that worked, and then do it a way that would work for me specifically. I don't have like a cool framework for you guys for that one, but

Chris Stone [00:46:03]:
No. Hey, listen. You know, it sound it it it will it's your voice then. Right? It's not a you know, there's no rocket emojis and and and delving into things like, Chad GPT gives you. This is this is the real voice of Brandon Birkmeyer on this book.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:46:21]:
Yeah. So it's a process, you know.

Jim Fuhs [00:46:23]:
So Brandon, along this process too, have you found, like, during your campaign, it's like, you know, I I probably shouldn't have done, you know, this show or that show. Has it helped you make better decisions when you say, hey, this is really the right audience for my book and for what I'm trying to do? Have you found that to be part of the challenge?

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:46:42]:
I think the earliest part was a challenge for me. Like, I I went I went to a lot of conferences that were like, I was going to the speakers association conference because I'd never been to it before, and I was trying to become a speaker. And it was like, what are you speaking about? Because I want the book to be what I'm speaking about. Like, I wanted to connect. I wanted to have a keynote that connected to my main idea. And man, I had a lot of trouble figuring out what this book was gonna be about. Because it's like, who are you for? And what's your message? Because personal branding is always what my, like, message is, like personal brand. Yeah.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:47:15]:
But but then what what do you wanna do with that? Is it personal branding for entrepreneurs? Is it personal branding for content creators or coaches? Is it personal branding for corporate leaders? And what part like, is it one stage in the process, or is it the whole process? So I had I had a lot of, like questioning to figure out like what felt right, and I asked questions along the way to people. And I was like, well, how do I if I wanna make money speaking, what do I do with this knowledge? And a lot of them said, well, you know, like one of the more profitable spaces for speakers is speaking into corporate. Yep. And I was like, well, that actually aligns because I worked 17 years in corporate, and me my story is my realization that I didn't have a personal brand growing up in corporate, so how do I teach that back to people in corporate? So it all started to connect and make sense that this was the the book that was right for me to write to my older self, you know, my younger self, I should say. And things started to come together in that way.

Chris Stone [00:48:13]:
So, you know, this this I was thinking of this question earlier, and you just and now that we're back talking about the the speaking thing and speaking specifically to, to companies, to corporations, and and talking about personal branding, There's a part of me that thinks that wouldn't some companies look at it look at it somewhat threatening? Okay. You're coming in and you're talking to my employees about them creating a brand that they take with them when they leave this company. So is that is is that thought process out there? Or is it like is that is that old school stupid thinking? Or or like what I just think about that. Like, here, this guy is gonna come in here and tell all these people how they should create, you know, go play on LinkedIn all day instead of doing their jobs.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:48:57]:
Chris, that is old school stupid thinking.

Chris Stone [00:48:59]:
Alright. Good.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:49:02]:
No. Who talks like that? No. Excuse me. No. So, yeah, I think that could have been a concern. Right? But how I think of it is this, I I I think you can frame something based on, you know, if you wanna be afraid of it, or if you wanna chase it. Right? If you wanna be afraid of it, yeah, sure. Like, you you're gonna teach people how to build personal brands, and they're gonna leave you someday.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:49:25]:
What I would rather spin that to say is, wouldn't you wanna be the company that is known for developing the best and brightest talent in your industry? Like, wouldn't you wanna be known? Because what happens when that is the case? Well, when you're known as the company that has the best people working somewhere, it's like a magnet. It attracts other great people who wanna now come in and learn that system that way. Like a company like when McKinsey got into consulting, and BCG, and those like big management consulting groups, like they put in processes where you came in out of college knowing nothing about how to do this. They trained you on the job in their way, and how to run case studies, and do their work. And it's like trial by fire. And when you come out of it, like you wanna be hired, like companies wanna hire you, not just to do that work, but eventually to be CEOs and CMOs because you were trained in that way. So, yeah, I think, sure, it's a risk, but I'd rather take the risk on investing in my talent and getting them to want to invest in themselves. And guess what, if I'm a company worth working at, then it I'll just have better employees, period.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:50:35]:
And maybe there'll be a there's gonna be a little bit of gratitude for being someone that believes in investing in you, and helping you find that path to to being a leader in your industry. And yeah, maybe you'll lose some people here or there, but I think you'd be better for it, because their turnover is happening regardless.

Chris Stone [00:50:50]:
I'd rather

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:50:50]:
them leave not because they didn't feel like they weren't growing, but because they felt like there's just there's opportunity out there. But really, that's not what happens. Most people leave their jobs because they feel like they're not growing. Yeah. Fun stats. I have fun stats in front of me for these guys.

Chris Stone [00:51:07]:
Stats on the show.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:51:09]:
Nearly 1 in 4 people quit because they felt stuck in their role or in an industry with no growth opportunities. Wow. So one in every 4 people, like that's a massive amount of people at a company, especially a large company. And if you can be that company that makes them feel like they aren't stuck, then maybe you're one upping the competition and probably saving some money along the way in terms of turnover.

Chris Stone [00:51:32]:
Right. And if you're a if you're a leader, you're a manager, you're a boss, whatever, at a particular company, I had one one of the mentors I had would always say this to me. You know, when somebody else got hired a person away from me or whatever, he he would say to me, the good ones don't last long. Right? And it and it's it's true. So why not why not give them, you know, what you can give them, because I I feel like that that comes back. And I think I love the idea of saying, hey, you know, let's create a space that other people will wanna be because we've created great talent. Like, wow, they developed this talent at this particular company, and so I'm gonna go there. That this is the place that I wanna go because that's gonna help help me as opposed to you know just sticking them in a in a in a chair and doing doing the job just good enough so that they can be there long enough to do the job to get your your your market share where you want it to be and I think that's you know why don't more people think like that Brandon? I guess you wouldn't get business speaking on stages if if they were good at it right?

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:52:35]:
Yeah I don't know I can routines right we just get stuck in those routines. That's true. I think it's interesting because when people do feel invested in, they stay, and like I definitely stayed at places and didn't chase the paycheck because I felt like I was around the right bosses, the right team, that had that family feel, that like we're all investing and helping each other out, we're like in the same boat together. And those are the companies where you're like, oh, like I could be here 3 years, 5 years, 10 years. I never felt like that just because they paid me more. It was only when I felt like, like we had mutually aligned goals, and I was investing in the company and they're investing in me. That's the only time I've ever stayed somewhere long enough for it to matter.

Chris Stone [00:53:19]:
Amazing stuff, man. Amazing stuff. I mean, we could we could go on for hours, but, unfortunately, you know, Jim has a military schedule that he has to stick to. So we're gonna we're gonna have to cut it. So ladies and gentlemen, those those of you who are in in the house and by the way, we did have this comment earlier, Jim. I just thought I'd I'd bring this up for you. Uh-huh. Scott Eris just wanted to say how about them Cowboys? I wasn't about to interrupt the flow for football talk.

Chris Stone [00:53:45]:
Even even though we went, the Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan, route. That's pretty cool that you named your son Jordan after Michael Jordan.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:53:54]:
Yes. I no. My wife didn't think it was as cool. I because I came up with that name in high school, and when I met my wife, I was like, I just in case if things get serious, just so you know, I've already named my my firstborn son. Like, I hope that's not a problem. So she thought I was a little weird at the time, but that, you know, it's par for the course.

Jim Fuhs [00:54:11]:
No doubt.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:54:12]:
Luckily, we had a girl first, so she got to choose the girl name, and then Oh, okay. You know, we then the boy came second.

Chris Stone [00:54:18]:
What's the girl's name?

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:54:19]:
Your daughter? Hannah. Hannah. Hannah.

Chris Stone [00:54:21]:
Hannah and Jordan. It's just that you just saw you you're living the perfect life in North Carolina, man. It's, if you're still in North Carolina, you're like in that area?

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:54:30]:
Yeah. Raleigh, North Carolina. Loving it. It's like the mecca for suburban family life. It's great.

Chris Stone [00:54:36]:
Amazing. Ladies and gentlemen, Brandon Bergmeier. The book is front and center leadership, how leaders use personal branding to stand out and how you can too. I love that subtitle. That was that's, is that for search engine optimization, Brandon?

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:54:53]:
I I stole it. I I modeled it. I stole it from one of my favorite books, Gary v.

Chris Stone [00:54:57]:
Oh, okay. Crushing it.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:54:58]:
Crushing it. And at the end, it says, and how you can too.

Chris Stone [00:55:01]:
Oh, you can too.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:55:02]:
And I was like, I love that line. It's stuck in my mind.

Chris Stone [00:55:05]:
Scheme looks pretty familiar too.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:55:08]:
I I always I always pay homage to but, like, it's not the same. Right? Like, the like, they're similar books, but, like, obviously, it's a different book. It kinda

Chris Stone [00:55:17]:
has the same book, Brandon.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:55:19]:
That works for me. I'm just kidding. Well, it's funny, like when I start my podcast, sorry, Jim, if you gotta go, but no. No.

Chris Stone [00:55:26]:
No. I was kidding. I was kidding about

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:55:28]:
it. I start, like, I have, like, you know, we have a trailer for our show. My mine was like those movie theater voice guys, and and like he he was like a, in a world where and I was like, I have to. Like I have to I have to use this corny, like, model, because I like that. Like it it speaks to me in my own tongue in cheek way. So I most of the things I do in some way have elements of things that I just I love. And Gary Vee was one of the first people I listened to about personal branding when I was still in corporate. So I was like, okay.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:56:00]:
I'm drinking the Kool Aid. Like, I'm in.

Chris Stone [00:56:02]:
Yeah. I mean, listen. Success leaves clues. Right? And you're not you're not making a Xerox copy of of Gary v and and the movie guy voices. You know, you're you're using them as influences and and it's working for you, man, and we, we can't thank you enough for stopping by and taking time out of your busy schedule, and and being on our show, man. Congratulations on all the success of the book, and, man, you're awesome.

Brandon Birkmeyer [00:56:28]:
Thank you, Chris. Thank you, Jim. I'm happy

Chris Stone [00:56:30]:
to be here.

Jim Fuhs [00:56:30]:
Yeah. It's great to have you.

Chris Stone [00:56:31]:
Alright, everybody. As always, don't fear the gear.

Jim Fuhs [00:56:36]:
Thanks for listening to Dealcasters. Congratulations. You've taken another step forward in your content creation journey. Please don't forget to hit the subscribe or follow button here in your favorite podcast player so you can be reminded every time we drop an episode.

Chris Stone [00:56:52]:
We love hearing from our listeners and viewers. And if you're wanting to watch our shows live on Amazon, feel free to follow Dealcasters Live as well at deal casters dot live. Follow us on Twitter or

Jim Fuhs [00:57:18]:
email us at Dealcasters at Dealcasters dot live. Thanks again for listening, and you know the deal. Don't fear the gear.