Jennifer Cortlandt - How To Create Brand Awareness w/ Social Media Content

SPEAKER_01 0:04

This is the Beyond the Story Podcast, a show that goes way beyond the story. And now Sebastian Right. Jennifer Cortland, what's happening, girl?

SPEAKER_00 0:24

How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:25

The TikTok queen herself.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Hardly. Maybe one day. We'll see.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

I like to be the TikTok king. So maybe, you know, if you once you figure it out, you let me know.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Take over TikTok.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Take over TikTok, one mini mic at a time. So speaking mini mics, that's actually how you and I first connected because you have you have so so so famously adapted mini mic strategy. For those of you not familiar, for the past 30 or 40 years, we've called these lapel mics. However, TikTok has a whole different universe of redefining products now. We utilize them. And this is actually known as the mini mic on TikTok. Yes, friends, I'm as mind-blown as you are. So let you know, let's start there. First of all, we had to connect on TikTok because of this little mini mic right here. But where did this whole thing come about?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

The mini mic, I believe the first time I saw it was this influencer. Her name is Tinks at Tinks.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

You know, do you know her?

SPEAKER_01 1:23

No, I heard the story.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

You have okay. Yeah. So she's just like, I don't know, I think she's like early 20s. She always has a mini mic. Just really funny. Kind of talks about, you know, being a being a girl, dating, stuff like that. Yeah, she she had the mini mic, and I've seen it through kind of throughout social media. And I was like, oh, I should get a mini mic for all of my content. Which it's great. It definitely makes the sound better, but it's it's kind of like visually a little like it takes the eye away from like the point of the story, I think.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

It it it does. It does. Those those little those little mics do have phenomenal quality. Some of them are as you know, I've I've got I've picked them up for 15 or 20 bucks before, and they really have some awesome quality. And then got one one time that's that's dual. So if you're doing like a podcast interview, wink wink.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

I got the little splitter, and I got two of these mics. I think all in it was like 40 or $55 or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Yeah, the these these days, the ability to improve audio quality, not not that difficult. In fact, I I the company Road that makes these microphones and makes the roadcaster and whatnot, they make a contraption that goes in the bottom of your phone. And it's just a little yeah, and you can put two you can put two mics and then it's got the the reporter app on it, and you can adjust volumes. You got like legit studio quality while while you're actually recording. Well, how long have you been creating content on TikTok? Where and how did this all start? When did you wake up one day and go, you know what? I want to talk about the quarrels of dating on TikTok with a mini mic.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Yeah, right. So I own a branding company called Creative Collective, and we do anything from small business brand consulting to personal branding. And just with my personal branding clients, I, you know, I have like full strategies that I give them. But I was like, I really want to have a case study that, you know, I'm able to reference. And so I'm like, I might as well just use myself. So I had, and I talked about this in one of my videos last year. I had deleted my like hot girl Instagram account. Basically, like it was just an account that I felt like didn't really accurately represent where I was at in life anymore. And so I started a full new account on Instagram in I believe it was like February of this year. And I love Gary B, and he's always talking about, you know, make content that you want to be known for. And then additionally, like, you gotta get on video, video, video, video, video, audio. And so I was like, all right, cool. I'm telling my clients they need to do this. I just need to do it. So my whole goal with starting talking about relationships was like, I just need to be sharing, I need to be comfortable in front of the camera, which was not something that I had really done a ton in my life. And so I was like, just talk about something that you know. And then I started talking about relationships, and seems to hit a nerve with people, and people are really vibing with it, and so it's kind of taking off unexpectedly so. But yeah, it's it's been really fun and interesting, especially the TikTok portion of it.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

That it is. They you talk about coming out of the woodwork. They they they certainly, you and I were talking here before before the episode, and I think everybody's TikTok story is unique in and of itself. I don't think anybody sets out to to to have a massive following on TikTok. It just starts to happen and and it is it is it is a product of being a practitioner of creating content and actually being a not only just a content creator, but it's about consistency. And I I come from the Gary school. I I I met Gary back in 2011. He changed my life. And uh that would be an I Yeah, these were the these were the wine days. The the early, early days I just read I had just read his first book, Prush It, and he was very accessible at the time because nobody knew who he was. So I had reached out, and then his second book came out, Thank You Economy, and he had a bookstop here in Miami. And we had a chance to connect even further. That's where I met him in in person and uh had a film crew call me the day. Yeah, we hung for like an hour because had a film crew call me the day before and say, Hey, total God thing. Uh film crew called and said, Hey, Sebastian, we love what you're up to. We'd love to work with you on a project. And I was like, Really? What are you doing Tuesday night? And so they came in with full-blown production crew and really quaint, cute little uh bookshop here in Miami called Books and Books. And yeah, Gary just came walking up the street from his hotel and was like, What up, man? Good to finally meet you. And so we sat down and filmed and chatted. It was probably one of the worst interviews I've ever done. I used to wear these big black poindexter glasses. This was before the bowtie days, and I would cock my head to the right a little bit and I would say as well and awesome after every comment that the person would make. And it was like awesome, awesome, cool, awesome. But that was the beginning of the relationship with Gary, and he would go on to to to become a dear friend and and mentor and just forever alter the path that that I was on. And these days we run into each other in green rooms. So the MC or I'm speaking at the event, he's the keynote speaker. And yeah, it's just been a real it's been a real special opportunity, and now he's he's yeah, he's he's just killing it. I mean, just absolutely. But what what he represents online and what he's built translates into the human being that he is. And when I say that he is an exceptional human being, he totally is.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

And uh I mean, I feel like there are some people that you can just tell their energy is like through and through who they are. I don't know if you can experience the kind of success and growth that he's experienced while being fully authentic, unless you are that way offline.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Correct. Well, who you are in here is who you are out there. Everything else is a fraud. So we live in this world, as you know, where putting on a mask before you leave the front door, pun intended. I'm talking masks, not 2020 masks. I'm talking about the mask of who we think that we are that we try to portray to everyone that no one's actually buying. But when you do stay in that authentic space, I'll never forget he told me 10 years ago. Sebastian told me two things that really stay with me forever. Well, a lot of things, but these two things really stay with me. The first one was authenticity, Trump's likability. That was the first one. And the second one was Sebastian, build a personal brand. That was what Crush It was really all about. Build a personal brand in addition to building your business brand because your personal brand in perpetuity becomes your reputation. And that just shook me to my core. I thought, holy cow. So yeah, been a wild ride with that old Gary Vee.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

But uh I love that so much. Yeah, he uh he he's definitely impacted me in more ways than I know. And I think just like so many people, like if you're an an entrepreneur, you've definitely been affected by Gary V in a very good.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

100%. And that's my my life mission is to be able to, my my I'm told that my energy is is infectious, and because of that, I've got a unique gift to be able to leave people differently. And Gary does the same exact thing. I had the same experience with him. I was so taken back how a couple years back he did a conference called Agent 2021 here in in Miami. I had the opportunity to spend the day with it with his team because I was there as as media and I I'll never forget his level of of eng l what's the word I'm looking for, not awareness, how present he was in a conversation. Like I'm talking like in and and a guy like that is that present in a conversation. What is everyone else's excuse? So when you hear I had a conversation yesterday speaking of a it was a potential prospect that didn't work out, not business prospect, dating prospect. And I got this whole program, like we meet for coffee, and if coffee is amazing, then we're gonna go meet for a drink. But if we don't make it past coffee, that's a rap.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Well, this time around your thoughts on the first date should just not be expensive.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

No, it needs to be like eight bucks or less. I always say the same, I'm not gonna pay a hundred bucks to find out I don't like you, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:08

So for both sides, because it's like for the you know, male or masculine energy that's taking the female or feminine energy out. Yeah, like it they won't feel used if it doesn't end up working, and then the other won't feel that there's an expectation if there's like a ton of money spent. I think it's just beneficial for both.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Right. Right, it really is. Well, I mean, I think on the both sides that if you spend too much money and you to figure out that you don't like the person, resentment shows up by default, and and then guilt shows up from the other party because like I really don't like him, but he bought dinner, he was a really nice guy. This whole like you know, pro program goes, but I try to establish that at coffee. If I if I tell my if if at coffee, I'm thinking, holy cow, how can I see this individual again? Then we we're on to something. And it's reciprocated. And usually that energy is reciprocated. Otherwise, you know, we're just back to you know, Vince Vaughn and wedding crashers and oh my god, I have the perfect girl for you. Forgive me. I'm under that forced, awkward situation they like to call dating. Right. Looking at her, she's looking at me. Do I have food on my mouth? Does she have food in her mouth? Yeah. So uh yeah, coffee is a huge, huge, huge, huge dating tip up there, men. Coffee's a but in a place I live in Miami, in a place like Miami, sometimes girls are tipped off to that whole coffee thing. It's like, oh, you want to go to coffee to make sure I, you know, I am who I am. But that happens a lot too on misrepresentation on dating is is absurd.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Because I I made a video the other day and I was like, hey, like guys, if if a girl is not giving you her number, she's resistant to meeting you in person, like quickly, then stop talking to her. Because guys, just as much as girls are like vetting out the guy, guys need to vet out the girl with all the Photoshop, you know, FaceTune, the angles you just really don't know what someone looks like. And it's not like the original person is unattractive, but when you're creating such a different expectation from reality, it's like by default, there's gonna be kind of disappointment that takes place. I try to tell women use don't use filters, like make it as accurate as possible, do video if you can. Like you're just putting so much pressure on yourself to be performative and sure instead of just like feeling like you can be your most authentic self.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

And it also, it also would leave room to to to put on that mask, you know, of well, let's just hope. I mean, because eventually everyone's gonna be able to settle in. But the whole online transferring offline doesn't always isn't always fluid, I found. Like, believe it, more times than not, it it's it's it's hi, I'm awkward. You must be uncomfortable. It's so great to meet you. So great to meet you. Most of the time, sometimes you get lucky and it does transfer online. I've had some experiences. I had one earlier this year that it did. Everything was amazing online. You think, oh, it's FaceTime. The person's right there when we meet on. That does help out a lot too. FaceTime does help those those conversations do, even though they're they're remote happening. But yeah, this online dating world. I I've given up on it for the 44th time. I'll I'll rejoin Hinge next week. It's just exhausting. And I I'm like a I can't I can't date multiple girls because I I have ADD and I can't focus. Plus, I don't want to tell 14 people how my day was. I just don't want to do it. Like, I don't care. Right. I think where I was going when we first started talking about this was that when someone is saying, and you're not even done with your sentence yet, I hate to tell you. She's just not that into you. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Because but I I I I lack a filter sometimes because I'll just drive right in and go, Do you do this in every conversation? What do what? Say your uh-huns before someone's done with their sentence.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Well, as soon as you do that, the date's over. That's a wrap.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Oh, yeah, that that's a wrap. That's a wrap. I try to I try to open the conversation with have you healed from any past childhood trauma? And are you currently doing the work to become the best version of yourself? That really pisses them off. But if they get pissed off, there you go. There's all your answers. But sometimes you get a yeah, I actually am. I'm on the path. And as you know, you know, all joking aside, very few people choose the path of healing. You know, it's we're living in this woo-woo new world where I go, we'll guzzle some ayahuasca, do some yoga, and figure shit out. But it's very surface-living. That's even becoming more taboo. These ceremonies, the medicinal ways of being able to top in your mind and go deep, bro, are being really being, I think, misused, if you will, because what's happening is people realize, well, I can, we went on a journey. Do you want to go on a journey? Wait, that that those journeys are utilized as a tool to be able to function day to day without anything. I mean, you can go into a deep state of consciousness by you know doing breath work and meditating for a certain amount of time. Most people aren't actually aware of that. So it's fun to see.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

I feel like there is a lot of spiritual bypassing that happens in those settings. It's kind of like instead of acknowledging the ego and then kind of acknowledging it and bringing it into submission, yeah. You are completely disassociating from it, which actually makes the ego so much more dangerous because you're not even acknowledging that it's a threat. So it's still very it those those types of experiences, the change only can last so long. And that's why a lot of times you'll either see people then go really deep into kind of the you know, plant-based medicine world as medicine and spiritual world, or they kind of then have another tipping point, maybe like six months or a year later where they're kind of back to square one because the the issue is not being dealt with, which the issue is always our ego and our childhood trauma and our unhealed child and all of those things.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

Sure, sure. Stuff that people most people are unwilling to face because it's not, it is, it is it's hard and it's and it's it's an absolute total mess being able to do it. But what is on the other side of it is so worth it, even though that sounds cliche and a lot of people don't miss this part. And the part is when you are willing and committed to doing the work forever, and you actually do the work, those people around you that you know, don't know, love, don't love, they begin to shift and make changes in their own life. And you had nothing to do with it other than doing the work for yourself. And it's been countless times where my mind's been blown, and I'm like, wait a second, I was supposed to make that phone call.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

And it ends up being the other way around. So I think if people were were, I hate to say more, more aware of being aware, kind of redundant there, but power that lies in awareness, but in everything. We live in this world where it's it's it's been it's become the norm and okay to say, hey Jen, I'm gonna sell you my bullshit and you sell me yours, we'll call it a deal.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

And we'll just say that that's okay. Right. Yeah, it's uh it's interesting. I'm very much I entered this world as a challenger, like I always will be in that space. And you know, growth is like such a huge component and driving force of my personal journey. Yeah. And I don't let people in my life not grow. And I definitely don't let anybody sit in their victim mentality, and that and I and I have you know, I'm a Capricorn, very like father energy, and so I think a lot of times people can get very triggered by that, which I totally respect, acknowledge, and appreciate. But I'm like, but we have to move shift past that beyond beyond the trigger. But I mean, all of the work is beyond the trigger. The trigger is just an indicator of where the work is.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Yeah, yes, yes, it beyond it's such an amazing tool to be able to utilize. It's you know, those triggers are also called the truth. Yeah, and the truth starts with ourselves and telling ourselves the truth here. It's one of my favorite quotes ever is the truth will set you free, but first it will really fucking piss you off. And it's so accurate.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

It's so true. It's so true. Like, that's the crazy thing about this journey of being human, is like we are just like the reward we get for our last lesson is our next bigger lesson. It's just this continually like unfolding paradigm, modus flower. You know, it's just always gonna be like if you're committed to doing the work, like don't worry about a lack of content.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Right. There's there's definitely not a lack of content at all. I I I I take I don't I don't want to say I take cold showers every day because I don't take cold showers, I would be blind. I end every shower, I end every shower with cold water. There's a giant difference there. However, and that's difficult too. You know, in a nice warm shower the whole night, and all of a sudden you're like, let's just crank it on cold, real quick. But I crank it on cold and I tell myself the same thing every single day. And that is I am committed to the work every single day. And that cold water reminds me of that discomfort being able to lean into that. Not every day, not everybody, you know, not every day you want to wake up and just lean right into it. Someday it's like just feels great to be a victim. But the more aware and the more work that you do on yourself, the more you recognize that being a victim, number one, being a victim no longer works, but the old ways no longer work. And that's the crazy part about it. And I think a lot of people get stuck in that cycle of trying to go back to the old way, it no longer works, and you're frustrated on why your old way doesn't work instead of realizing, you know, the the opportunity at hand. When so you're like rising, yeah. Exactly. So so when did you when did you make a decision that that becoming the best version of yourself was was important and doing you know, I air quote work? How did how did this all come about?

SPEAKER_00 19:09

I honestly think I've always been that way. Like, I mean, so kind of my backstory is I went to university to become a pastor. I was either gonna be a pastor or a professor of theology. So after studying theology and religious studies in Minneapolis, I moved out to LA. I was gonna live there for just like a year or something, and then go to seminary.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

And I wow, LA to seminary. Let's go. Washing them sins away, baby. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

LA for like a year.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

No, yeah, I'm gonna go to seminary for a year, wash LA completely out of the equation. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

Well, the seminary was like right outside of LA, so that was the the reason for that. But yeah, I uh I've always loved working with specifically women on their healing journey. It's just kind of always been a part of my heart, you know. I think you know, the my life experience has been so incredibly unique that it's lended itself to a really exceptional level of understanding a lot of different people's perspective. And so it's granted me access to working with a ton of different people, which has been really great. But yeah, so I mean, yeah, it's evolved and shifted though. So, you know, obviously I was like on the evangelical Christian train for a long time and had to do my own internal deconstruction of what that meant for me and spirituality and who Christ is and all of those different things. I had to kind of go into my own season in the wilderness and then went into teaching. Well, so I worked in tech then for probably like seven, eight years. And when I left, kind of parlayed my experience to, because I was executive assisting at the time, parlayed that experience into working with executives and entrepreneurs and teaching them mindfulness and meditative practices, had a yoga company wherein I hired different yoga teachers to teach around the Bay Area. I went to, you know, retreats and off sites and things like that. And I did that for a few years and then came back to Minnesota. This is where I'm from. And yeah, my plan was just to be here for like six months or something. And then I was gonna move to Austin. And then I met my ex-boyfriend. We like fell in love. I literally had my car packed.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Me too.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

And uh and we like went on a date and I moved in with him that week. So I wouldn't recommend it.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

Very familiar. I was I used to show up on the second day with a U Haul. Yeah. And pizza.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

I was here in Minnesota for longer than I had thought I would be, and you know, I uh I've always loved people's stories. I have always enjoyed helping people tell the best version of the story of their life. And so, you know, kind of with within the yoga experience that I had, I really felt, I felt fully in my body, but I didn't feel like I was really utilizing all the portions my business that I had, you know, accumulated over, you know, the those seven years that I was working in tech. And I was like, what is something that I can do that's like fully grasped all these portions of myself? And at the time I was doing coaching, and but it was kind of just more life coaching. It was a lot of relationship stuff, and I was a little bit like there's so much more to like unpack. You know, I kind of give relationship coaches a little bit of shit. And you know, fairly so sometimes, but also like I only give them shit because I've been there and I I understand. But the uh the to enter a coaching sphere, you know, just in terms of dating, is to do an individual a disservice because you're how we relate to others in romantic partnership has so much to do with our past experiences, you know, our trauma responses, our identity of self, you know, what we want for our future, our spiritual ideology ideologies. So it's not just like this kind of like encapsulated experience our lives. So I think it there's just like it need the conversation needs to be bigger around that. But anyway, so I was coaching, and that's when I was like started working with a couple clients that were starting their own entrepreneurial journey, and they were like, hey, I need some help with branding. And I was like, Yeah, I totally got this. And then I was just like doing so much for them that I was like, I should just do this as a business, and so that's when I launched Creative Collective. So that was like the height of the pandemic, so it was like in July of 2020, and it's been really fun. It was an interesting launch, obviously, because like everybody was very much in their own homes, and it wasn't like it didn't feel like attraction was there, but it also kind of relieved a lot of pressure for me because it was like if it works, it works, if it doesn't, it doesn't. It's really like not like it's not gonna affect much else in the world. And so I'm like, I'll just let it grow at its own pace and let it evolve and into what it needs to be. You know, that's like such a fun part and stressful part of having your own businesses. You're like, especially in the first three years, it's having enough focus to drive it forward, but then also giving it enough room to breathe to evolve into what it's supposed to be or what it wants to be. So it's kind of this like little juxtaposition that we're still within. So yeah, it's been a really incredible journey.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

Yeah, it sounds like it. And it sounds like you're just getting started, and it seems like you're, you know, it's leading with the fact of doing what you love. And that comes, I think, from being this has been this whole idea, concept, company, brand, et cetera, was birthed from a space of of very authentic space where, hey, maybe I can start doing this because I'm already doing it. And if it if it if it really hits, great, and we'll just see where it goes. And I think a lot of people, when starting a business or a brand or creating content, try to put too many expectations and predictions, right? Predicting what's what's going to happen versus just doing the work, you know, back to back to doing the work on ourselves and doing the work that involves being able to to to go and and create a brand. And and I'm and I I'd venture to to believe that you've you've you've been able to experience some pretty cool stories out of the work that you're doing with with individuals.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I definitely love the personal branding side of it. I mean, because it's just so much about getting to know a person's story and what they want and like what their why is. Like, what is your why? And like getting to see them like be like, oh, I could go from I don't know to sure, well, fuck yeah, this is my why. Like that's such a cool moment in time for them. And it's like I definitely always feel honored when I'm a part of that. But yeah, I think that like I it it's it's been it's been really amazing. The whole thing. I I yeah, I just love it.

SPEAKER_01 26:07

Has that major have have you had a lot of opportunities come up come from the content you create on TikTok?

SPEAKER_00 26:13

Yeah, this podcast. Yeah, I've definitely had a lot of people reach out to me for podcasts. I I put it off for about so I I only started doing TikTok, we just hit three months. So I've only been doing it for that long. And within the first month, I had a video go viral. It got like a million point two views or something. And I had a lot of people reach out and I was like, I would absolutely love to, but let's put you know, put a little placeholder on this because I don't think I have enough content for people to have context for who I am and like how I actually think, and I need to like really create more so that like there's just a reference point because a lot of the things that I talk about are very complex issues, and if you only have like one video, it's one or two, it's not really gonna be you can make easy assumptions about a person or what they believe based on just such a limited amount of context.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

Well, I some of your stuff's funny, some of it really hits home, some of it is very insightful. So having that good mix with your content, I think is so important. You can make people laugh, you can make them cry, and you can make them go, What okay, cool. You know, leave that element of surprise there really helps. You do a great job of that. If you're listening to this, you're thinking, oh my gosh, I totally want to follow this girl. All of her links are available in the show notes. That's the description of this episode. In the event you're wondering, what in the world is a show note, Sebastian? All of her links there and also a link to her agency and be able to connect with her further on on Instagram. I'm a huge fan of what you're doing here, Jen. And I I wanted to encourage you to keep up the great work. It seems like your heart and your head are in the right place for creating content, but being able to leave people different, which is it's a it's a it's it's definitely a gift. We're almost out of time, but I want to talk about one more thing, and that was when you were figuring out am I going to seminary or not going to seminary and really dissecting what the gospel means to you, what did all that look like? Because I when I look at it from my perspective, I'm a recovered Baptist. So everything. Yeah. So everything I was told as a child outside of the gospel was a lie, in my opinion. Because brimstone and fire, and you're going to hell and being able to manipulate and leverage and this and that, and you shouldn't do this, and finally came to a conclusion after walking away in the prodigal son, and we've all been at one point in time, and then coming back, I came to the conclusion that Christians don't tell other Christians that Christians don't do that. That's the first conclusion. The second one is the gospel's just not that difficult. It's so simple. It's just not at all.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

Jesus was like, yo, if you can't remember all this, just do these two things.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

Right, right, right, right, right, right. So I'd I'd love to, I'd love to to to learn how you know what what that looked like for for for you.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

I mean, how much time do you have? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:59

I reader's digest.

SPEAKER_00 29:01

Yeah. It was definitely gosh. I mean, the moment, there were so many like mini moments for me of awakening. And that's what I try to tell people when they're like, oh, like on the healing journey or on a spiritual awakening path. I'm like, don't look at it as there's gonna be this like magical moment. It's probably going to be a very long unraveling. And by that I mean like 10 plus years. Like these things just take time to figure out. And but yeah, one of the pivotal moments for me was I was, you know, studying to become a pastor in my undergrad. And one of the courses or one of the classes that I had, we had to go and witness, which if you don't know what that means, it's like just Christians going out and telling people about Christ.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

Yeah, those weirdos that knock on your door and we're like, hey, if you died tonight, do you know where you'd go?

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Mormons, that's like more Mormon where they're true. We know what we're doing, but Christians are really sneaky about it.

SPEAKER_01 29:57

Yeah, there would be witnessing evenings. Yeah, there would be, I remember witnessing evenings. That was right after a prayer meeting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

You just go up and you pretend like you care about what someone's talking about, and then you're like, yo, you know, you know Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 30:10

Right. Right. They're like, cool, call the cops, got a crazy person asking about Jesus at my front door. Right.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

But I remember one time I was talking to this guy, and you know, I kind of had my whole spiel, and he actually started like opening up about like his divorce that he was going through, and that he just felt really alone. And I remember catching myself as he was talking, thinking, Oh my gosh, I'm not even listening to him. Like I'm not even comprehending what he's saying because I'm only thinking about telling him about Jesus. Yeah. Like I'm not operating from a place of like authenticity and like actual genuine care. And I think that that's like I mean, a couple of different things. I think that's like really the a huge point that Christians miss is that they are like it's almost like they don't there isn't, and I'm not saying all Christians, but just in my personal experience, I didn't have the capacity to hold somebody else's pain. And I was bypassing my own pain and just being like, oh, Jesus will solve everything. And so I then you only treat people the way that you treat yourself. So like I was, you know, in this moment was a perfect example of how I had engaged with people for so long where it was like, oh my gosh, your pain is too much, and I don't even want to deal with my own pain, and this pain reflects my own pain, and I don't like none of us want to deal with it.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

Avoid avoid like he's the magic pill. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

And people just feel unseen when you do feels like very inauthentic and they don't feel cared for, and they just feel like a number. And that was like a really pivotal moment for me. I decided I'm going to meet people, hear their stories, and never try to change them. I'm always gonna like try to challenge them to be their best self, but I never want people to think that they can't be their fullest, most authentic self, you know, I or that they can't sit with their pain with me. I I definitely that was like a huge turning moment for me. But yeah, that and you know, many, many other moments. Oh shit, I'm doing this wrong.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

Right, right. I have been three o'clock in the morning in a bar having conversations about what faith looks like, being able to read read a book called Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by a guy by the name of Jim Cimbala. Him and his wife started the Brooklyn Tabernacle, which is still in existence today, but very humble beginnings back in the 70s when Brook that part of Brooklyn wasn't as you know, as hipster as it is today about actually building a church and what they've gone through. And he said, No, no matter what we went through in the very beginning days, I my biggest fear began became going through life without God showing idly on my behalf. And I thought for a long time I thought I wanted to start a church. I thought I wanted to take my expertise of branding and business, etc., and be able to say, hey, let's start a church here in Miami, only to realize that you need a lot of money and a lot of people in order to start a church and this whole modern movement of church, etc. That was the wrong, but I'm so grateful for that experience, for that, for that L, if you will, of the the church never got off the ground. But what it did was it it provided me with a platform to start living a lot more, a lot more authentically within space of my faith, but also allowing me to have my faith play out in my business. Meaning, if I have a platform and I'm creating content and people follow me and I speak and I'm on stages in front of people and people read my books, and that that that means that you have attention. Great. What are you gonna do with that attention? I think that my platform is an opportunity for people to see my faith in action, to be able to see that I'm less than a perfect. I say all the time my tagline, especially on my dating profiles, is I love Jesus, but I cuss a lot. And it really, it really is because to be able to see, and what that what that authenticity has done, my friends and I have a bunch of them in ministry, when life shows up, guess who they call? Why? Because it's a safe space. It's a safe space to say it's not always okay. And there they are real people on where it's at. So yeah, it's grateful for it. I um I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, it's non-negotiable, unshakeable, and it's it's the it's it's really the real deal. And I just think that God's just getting started, which is which is even crazier.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

It's not a physical building, it's within all of us, you know.

SPEAKER_01 34:27

Bingo, exactly, preach the gospel at all times, use words when necessary.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

Exactly, yes. Oh my gosh, she said that.

SPEAKER_01 34:34

I don't know, but he needs a high five, or she needs a high five.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

Major high five. Yes. Yeah, one of my girlfriends was like, Oh my god, right after I started posting videos, she's like, I love all your videos. Like, when are you gonna start doing like faith-based content? And I was like, What's that mean?

SPEAKER_01 34:53

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 34:54

So it's like, I'm not gonna be like, there's a reason why people get annoyed with vegans because it's like if you're a vegan, just be a vegan. You don't need to like talk about it all the time. But also, what do you eat when you're drunk at 3 a.m.?

SPEAKER_01 35:12

Like, let's keep it real.

SPEAKER_00 35:16

So it's like, let's just keep it real. And I think like the Christians have that kind of same energy where it's like, oh, you know, we need to have Christian content or Christian music or you know, these kind of Christian subcultures, which I do think that they're those those communities are super important and they do add value. Like, I think there's the reason we go to church is because it's a place that's dedicated to just edifying correctly your journey.

SPEAKER_01 35:40

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

But also you don't need to have just like little pockets of like what you would deem to be like appropriate material throughout life because you're gonna isolate yourself and exclude yourself from so many different individuals and experiences, conversations that if you if you think that the only wisdom you can receive is from somebody that agrees with you on everything, you are gonna miss out on so much that the world has to offer.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

So yeah, no, I don't I definitely don't want to be around. I I can call my mother if I need someone to agree with me. So I, you know, it's like my mom's like, no. Yeah, I was gonna say, and sometimes that's most more times than not, that that that's not even case. So such such a such a fun conversation here, Jen. And I know this is just the beginning for us to to to continue to to stay in touch here and see what we can come up with. I know there's a podcast in the future for you, and I'm really excited to see that all come to reality. And I just love that this is the incredible part of the digital world and the digital world of content is being able to meet and connect with like-minded individuals, and uh never been a more exciting time to be alive. And uh I totally agree with that. And thanks for your time. I know uh in between uh mini-mic videos, you know, you're a busy girl.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

So well, I also appreciate you having me on and really enjoyed the conversation. Yeah, we'll definitely connect, and I'll keep you posted on podcast as it develops.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

Yeah, and stay tuned for that too. I can include the podcast link in the show notes, but maybe the next time we have her on, I'm gonna make sure you subscribe because she just launched her podcast and she had a bazillion downloads right out of the gate.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

From your mouth to God's ears. Yes, actually.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

So you heard me. So absolutely. Jennifer Corland, thanks so much for your time. I appreciate you, and I look forward to connecting further.

SPEAKER_00 37:25

Absolutely. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

Until next time, friends. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of the Beyond the Story Podcast. Be sure to appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you subscribe to the show. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Be sure to appreciate it. Signing off from the podcast, launchlab.com studios. We'll talk to you next time.