The 3 Rules of Personal Branding Nobody Tells You w/ Chris Do | Ep 444

0:00Chris Do: People are so afraid of alienating everyone that they wind up saying nothing to everyone and they're just landing themselves into oblivion, into irrelevancy. So when you say something and you say something that is based on your convictions, not to say it to rile people up. I'm not saying to be a contrarian, to be divisive, but to say things that have meaning to you, it should both compel and repel. Chris. Yes, sir. Welcome back to the show. Appreciate it. You just launched a new workbook, Unblend Yourself. Tell me a little bit about what inspired that. Unblend Yourself comes from philosophically this idea that we have been socialized to blend in to get along.

0:42Chris Do: And depending on what culture you come from, it's stronger in some than others. But we're wearing, in my opinion, a very, for some people, a professional mask. You show up, you say certain things, and you play your cards. You don't try to upset anybody. and then if you do this for long enough, you forget who you are, what your core beliefs are and you're afraid to go against the grain and this is amplified across social media. We're so fearful of saying our thoughts, expressing ourselves in our true self, dressing the way we want to because we're afraid of the backlash. So Unblend Yourself is a culmination of the last three years of research, testing, experimenting in virtual and in-person in real life workshops where I'm testing concepts to help people figure this out for themselves.

1:22Chris Do: Like who were they, who are they meant to be in this lifetime? And who were they when they thought to themselves when they're seven years old, this is what I want to be when I grow up. And something happened to that plan. Did you always have the thought of making this book versus like a sales book or like how did this come together? I realized that my ability to teach as many people as I want is finite if I do it as an in-person experience or even through the price barrier. But I believe this is fundamental to our overall well-being, our sense of self. that I want to be able to do something that's a standalone thing that can be done at your own pace in the privacy and comfort of your own home that you can go through and ask yourself these deeply personal and profound questions that require a really kind of contemplative, reflective moment.

2:06Chris Do: And it's not always conducive to do around people on a certain timetable. So I recommend people go through the book at a certain pace that they feel comfortable with. And the goal is not to try to finish it as quickly as possible, but to learn about things that you kind of bear way deep inside of you and to have some honest conversations with yourself. When did you start to unblend yourself? It's been a progression of exploring, is it safe? I'm going to be okay. I think for me, doing video with Jose in 2014 was how I was able to do this at scale. So prior to that point in time, it's not like I was sitting there trying to fit in.

2:42Chris Do: I've always been intrigued by this idea of pushing buttons and using the things I say, my actions, and the way that I dress to kind of push people's buttons. And this has happened, but now it's happening at a much larger scale. So it's kind of that expression of you can't put the genie back in the bottle. So you do it in measured steps. Like if I showed up and dressed like this and said these things, what is the consequence of that? And like many things, there's a quote. The quote is something like, the human mind once expanded does not shrink back to its original size. And this is like many things.

3:14Chris Do: When you find out that these self-imposed rules that you live by are actually just that, self-imposed, they're not real rules, they're not laws, that you start to be more free. It's this classic story of a dog who wears an electric shock collar, and when they approach the perimeter to a fence that they're not supposed to go beyond, it sends them a little electric signal. After a while, they learn that there's a perimeter and you can just take it off, and they never cross that boundary. and the same is about an elephant who's one since childbirth is held by chain and eventually it's just a string and they never push past.

3:47Chris Do: We are like that. We learn really fast about what we can and cannot do according to certain societal norms and then we play small the rest of our lives. We never realize that once we leave the city in which we grew up in or we leave a group of friends that we thought this is my core group I must need them always or the job that we've always had we learn that the world's much bigger. There's a lot more to us to give. And I think that's one of the most liberating things. So with Jose, I guess, what was that chain that you had to let go? Like what was holding on to you? I think the biggest hurdle I had to get through was if I am myself, what kind of negative impact is it going to have on my business?

4:25Chris Do: Because at that point in time, I'm still running a service design company doing really big projects. And if I say this, does it mean that I lose that? And that was the thing I need to figure out. So a couple of things to learn in that process. And number one, nobody's really paying attention to you. In our own little bubble, I think we falsely believe we're the most important thing in the world because we have no other thing to reference. We're always thinking about ourselves. We're looking at ourselves. We're just dealing with ourselves most of the time. And we don't realize clients are busy.

4:53Chris Do: They're thinking about themselves. So they're not sitting there looking at every social post that you make and just listening to every podcast like, oh, my God, we disagree politically. We can no longer work with that person unless you do something super sensational in a way that's not good for you. And number two is there's a wider level of acceptance for you than you think. So even if they were paying attention, what inevitably happened is as you show more of yourself, some people get to say, I like that guy or I like her or I don't like that person. And I think that's a good thing. So when you say something, it should both compel and repel.

5:26Chris Do: It should compel people to say, yo, I get your vibe. I get what you're putting down. I want to be around you. This is cool. Let's chop it up sometime. and it should repel the people like, I don't like the way you think. I don't like that expression of whatever. For example, sometimes I wear fashion that is unpalatable for some people. If I wear some kind of weird, crazy color or floral print, for some people, some straight people, they might think that's too zesty. You can't do that. Or if I talk about therapy and how that's been one of the biggest return on investments I've ever had, they're like, well, don't bring your therapy agenda to this conversation.

6:03Chris Do: Everybody needs it. I never said everybody needs it, but if you're searching your loss, it's worked really well for me. I recommend you give it a try. I'm not trying to impose anything on anybody. For the people who feel called, try it. If not, no worries. Find whoever you think is most aligned with the way that you want to learn. I think a lot of us get stuck in a place where we want to make content as we grow a personal brand, but we talk about what is it that we do versus who we are. How do we navigate that road? Okay. Some very different things. Before I answer that question, I want to talk about the comments.

6:38Chris Do: Okay. Everyone has an a-hole and everyone has an opinion. That doesn't mean I want to see either. Let's just put that out into the universe, okay? Yeah. And everybody needs to know that. Sometimes they both stink. So people would say things like your hat or, well, who do you think he is? He's trying too hard. Or every time I tune in, there's another necklace and it's just getting out of control. Here's where it gets real interesting. When you're in real life and people start saying that thing, now you're dealing with heat in real life. but people are very brave behind your back. They're not so brave in front of you.

7:06Chris Do: Here's a classic example. I think you were there. We're at Ford. I think it's two years ago and at their main event. Ford is run by Neil Dingra. It's for mortgage professionals and real estate people. My buddy Trevor, Trevor York is there. He goes, Chris, Chris, I love the way you dress but I don't fully understand it and he's giving me a hard time as a straight white guy. He's giving me a hard time but with love. Trevor and I, we have a great relationship and he's like, I could never pull off that man bag that you're wearing, that purse. And I said, are you sure? And why don't you try it on? And he would try it on.

7:36Chris Do: And all the women around it, that part of the staff was like, oh, Trevor, you look so good. He goes, do I? So that's a presumption of reception of how people would read you and also a limiting belief about what you can and can't pull off in this life. And the next thing he would do is say, oh, what is that? Did you take that belt buckle off the airplane? Like, does TSA know about this? Trying to give me a hard time. I'm like, I'm good with it. You want to play? We can dance. And we have these conversations about what makes you comfortable and comfortable. And now this is great because Trevor, his game has changed.

8:07Chris Do: He's dressing differently and he's like sending me DMs like, hey, is this a good fit or not? And so I like that for each person. It doesn't have to be around fashion. It could be, oh, you never thought you could drive that kind of car or you never thought you could live in that house or that neighborhood or date that kind of person. We have so many limiting beliefs. Let's get into your question now. Your question is, why do people talk so much about what they do versus who they are? Because there's a lot of templates out there that exist, we don't know what to talk about. We're told from a very young age, don't talk about yourself, don't think about yourself so much.

8:39Chris Do: So what do we do? We deflect. What we're realizing is in the 21st century, we have an embarrassment of choices. We're kind of inundated and overwhelmed with how many choices we have in the world. In fact, there's a cognitive bias. It's called the paradox of choice. That the more options that we have, the harder it is for us to make a decision. and the reason why potentially some of your clients don't choose to follow you or to reach out to you is because they can't tell why you're different than anyone else and so therefore they shut down. And you and I both know this. Anytime you need to do something you don't know about, you start to do too much research and you're like, I'm just overwhelmed.

9:15Chris Do: That's why it just takes us too long to do something. Getting back to why people don't talk more about themselves, culturally it doesn't feel right. We don't know ourselves. We have low self-awareness and if we have high self-awareness, we're not quite sure what's interesting to other people. Historically speaking, we are the worst judge of our own value. I could do something. You're like, dude, how'd you do that? Why'd you even move that there or put that thing on? How'd you know that's going to work? And I'm like, doesn't everybody know that? You're like, well, I don't explain it to me. And then I would explain it to you.

9:44Chris Do: And depending on your reaction to me explaining to you, I think maybe I'm onto something. Maybe somebody else like you would want to know this thing. And that begins the whole process of understanding, wow, something I take for granted is valuable to other people. So if we want to learn more about ourselves, we need to put ourselves in a position where we're explaining to people what it is that we know, think, and believe, and judging by their reaction. And if you get enough feedback from different types of people, you might discover something you weren't even aware about yourself. I think you're so aligned with who you are.

10:17So I think it's easy for you to talk about these things because you're well-read and you do all these different things. but I think for like a lot of us, me being video production and build my business for the past 10 years around video production, when I'm like, hey, Chris, I want to make this video about that. You're like, no, that's boring. Talk about this other thing. And I'm just, and I just, I don't see it like the way that you do. For me, it's so easy. Like, well, I can build a personal brand talking about video, but you're like, well, that's not really building a personal brand. But I think for you, you're so aligned that like when you hear, when you say this, I mean, yeah, it makes sense for you, but like, I don't feel like it'd work for me.

10:51Chris Do: What wouldn't work for you? Like to not talk about videos. Like I don't know how to not build a personal brand around the thing that I've been doing for 10 years. Okay, let's clarify. Talking about what you do is not how you build a personal brand. You're basically doing tutorials. Nobody has any sense of who you are, what you stand for. All the things you've learned in life, it's just manifested in how to. So if we said this, if we put a robot voice on you, but it's the exact same script and we blur your face, would anybody be able to tell it's you? Because you're not really sharing your philosophy and your ways of the world.

11:24Chris Do: Now, let's contrast that against some people who are very strong personal brands, but maybe not put a lot of value into the world. We were talking to manager John earlier today. He's like, in the OG days, all you had to do is turn on the camera and be a personality. So we got to know those people really well. And they grew gigantic accounts and have massive fandoms. But to the average person, it's like, what value did you give to me? So the solution is somewhere in between the two to say, like, I create a lot of value in the world. I give you a lot of utility. I'm useful. I'm helpful to you creating transformation.

11:53Chris Do: But I'm also weaving in my story about who I am. So you have a choice. Do I want your brand of video production or do I want someone else's brand of video production? The classic example I always give to, and I'm sorry if people are bored out of this until they can understand this concept. Water is water. Water is two molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen, H2O. When we put that together, we have water. Water is water. Water comes from the sky. Water comes from the earth. It comes from every place. And it's theoretically free and abundant and available. Yet, we all make this decision to go into the store and buy a bottle of water for$2 or$25 for the exact same amount.

12:30Chris Do: Why does one command$2? Why does one command$25? And the answer is the story that each bottle brings. And there's a fancy word, it's called provenance, like where something comes from. This came from the Swiss Alps. This came from the Amazon River. This came from parts of Africa or the Canadian glacier. This is never touched by man. This is vapor distilled. They're all stories because marketers have learned that we need a story. Humans are meaning making machines that we need to have meaning in everything that we do. So if you tell the story, I allow myself to accept your meaning. So when you don't tell your story, there's no meaning, there's no connection.

13:07So if I wanted to start 2026, I want to start building my personal brand. I want to start post that I would start off with?

13:17Chris Do: Well, you're talking about the tactics of creating something before we can create something. We need to know, well, who the heck are you? And there's a good chance you don't know who you are. Hence the questions I post in the book and the workshops. Well, who are you? What are your beliefs? What are your values? And what people tend to do is they want to talk about all that they're good at, all the strengths and the beautiful things. We're very used to that. This is why people appear too perfect on TV or on social media. It's because they're presenting their very best self on their very best day.

13:45Chris Do: That's really boring to me. And it reeks of inauthenticity. So I say to people, look into your shadow self, the things that you feel great vulnerability around, things that might bring anxiety or make you nervous. Let's figure out how you can incorporate that into you because that makes you much more interesting. I don't know about you. I'm not perfect. And when I see perfect people, which they don't exist, but they present themselves to me, there's something about it. It feels like they're driving a wedge between me and them, my ability to connect with them is not going to be great. I hear you on doing the deep work and trying to find out more about yourself before you make that first post.

14:20But I think for some of us, we get so paralyzed of even just doing a workbook. Like some of us can't even make a post just to make a post. So then you say like, hey, you got to do this deep work before you make something. Are you saying that's doing away? No, I'm not saying that.

14:34Chris Do: Okay. You can make whatever you want. In fact, all over the internet is people making whatever they want. And it's not stopped them. Some of them will figure it out and some of them won't. But if you want to be more intentional before you make the work, spend a minute. So I'll give you an example. What is something that you've wanted to teach, but you're not fully confident that you know how to teach it? Storytelling. Great answer. So storytelling. If you want to go out and teach storytelling, you can say, here's what I feel about this. And based on my own life experiences, this is what I know, which could be a great video.

15:03Chris Do: But a learned person, somebody who was like much more intellectual curious would say, well, what are the top five books on storytelling? And can I watch movies, read stories, and watch plays and start to understand the invisible structure that binds them together? What is the thing that makes the top 100 films of all time great? And then you can do that research and you can start thinking about it. And then you can maybe come up with a couple of things that are obvious between these things and a couple of things that are not obvious that you start to share with the world. You could do this in intimate conversation with you and another person off camera.

15:33Chris Do: You could do this in small workshops, virtual workshops. And then you start to see what ideas stick. and now you have something. And when you go and make content around that, something you've thought about, that's going to hit much harder. Can we see the difference between these two approaches? I want to say no, because that to me feels like what you just said of like, you're a how-to person. Like if you're coming, if you're like looking at these books, like, hey, here are five books for you to go read. How is that different than what you said to like to be a how-to person? Okay, these are two different arguments we're making.

16:06Chris Do: I ask you, can you see the difference between someone who wings it, who doesn't do any research, and one person who does a deep dive and just try to fill in the knowledge gaps that they may or may not have? Okay. Which one will be more valuable? The second one. The second one. Right. The problem is most people don't go this path, as you know. So when you say, I don't know how much work I need to do, it's like, have you done the basics? So now that you have structure and you've learned these things, when I say learn, I don't mean read. I mean learn. Like you can internalize it. You can share ideas.

16:34Chris Do: what happens inevitably is once you learn something, it gets mutated by your own brain in a good way. You say a little differently. You embellish this and you remove that. And all of a sudden it starts to become more yours and less theirs. Now, if you were to learn about storytelling, you're teaching storytelling. One way is mechanically say, here's how you tell a story. The other more interesting way is you tell an amazing story and say, do you want to know why I did that, here's what happened. That becomes part of your brand. But then don't you just become the storytelling brand guy? Yeah. That's what you said you wanted to learn how to do storytelling.

17:11Well, I wanted to figure a way out that I just don't become that person. Cause like why? So what's the difference between me being the video guy or me being the storytelling guy? Okay. What is video guy? I'm the guy that you come to when you need like videos done.

17:25Chris Do: And what is it that's the underlying layer that you're selling? Views reach for our clients? If I'm a strategist to help people get views, conversions, audience building, all that kind of stuff, I don't talk about video production at all. I talk about video strategy. Okay. That's very different. Okay, but let's say I talk about video strategy. Okay. I thought when you said about building your personal brand isn't about talking about what is it that you do. That's correct. So then wouldn't I just be the video strategy guy? Yeah. You haven't done anything to tell about your personal brand yet. So how do we get started with that?

17:59Chris Do: There's a couple of things you need to do. I've developed another workbook because I realized Unblend Yourself is dense book is a hundred plus pages. It's deep inner work and people are like, their heads are melting right now. So I was thinking, how do I provide a quick win? I'll share a story. You and I were in Japan. I'm having a really good conversation with my buddy, Chris Sergio. He goes, Chris, I love what you're doing. Can I give you some advice? I'm like, sure, please. And he's a brilliant guy. So of course, I'm gonna take advice from him. he said that what I find to be effective is when there's high frequency of exercises but low intellectual lift what that means is instead of giving us a big thing to figure out that we don't talk about for three days give us lots of little things quick check-ins so we feel like we're making progress on things little tiny tasks and it's very different than how I think I'm a deep diving kind of guy and these seemingly complex problems for me are not that complex but for other people, it's very complicated.

18:55Chris Do: So I took that to heart. So when I went to do the next workbook, I had the goal of how do we lower the lift, the mental lift, and how do we make it fast, fun, and easy that somebody can do 30 minutes and feel like they have some success. So what I had to do is develop a whole set of different exercises. And it gave me a lot of clarity that, dare I say, I might actually even like more than the 100-page book. Okay, so I'll share it with you. There are three things. We'll call this your unblend essence or essentials or foundational layer, something like that. And there are these three things. The cool thing is you only need to know one of these things to figure out the other two.

19:29Chris Do: So what I want you to imagine is either a triangle or three overlapping circles, the Venn diagram. Where they meet in the middle is where you are in your personal brand. And they are, what is the one thing you want to be known for? And I'd like to reduce it down to a word if possible. There's some conditions there. So first, what's the one thing you want to be known for? Number two, who's the enemy? What are you on a mission to rid the world of? What do you want to eradicate? And this, there are only so many versions of this, right? So it's universal. There's probably 12 universal concepts that just made up the number that everybody's trying to get rid of judgment, let's say.

20:05Chris Do: And then the last one is, and it's the bridge between these two things. You're one thing, the enemy, the thing that you're trying to eradicate the world of and your call to arms or your rallying cry, the phrase that when you say activates your audience and the community. And so do you know the one thing you want to be known for, Drigo? Or of these three things, what do you think you're clearest about? A YouTube strategist. That's what I want to work on for 2026. Perfect. YouTube strategist. The criteria now, we have to ask ourselves this question. Can you own this space? Because the world rewards number one, not number two, three, or four.

20:40Chris Do: If you cannot own this space within a relatively short amount of time, and when I say short, between one to two years, then you should not try. Something from Seth Godin's book, The Dip, is we should predetermine if we're going to be successful. And once we determine we can be successful, we never quit. What people do is they don't think, they try things and they quit. They think and they try things and they quit. They never get anywhere. So if you look up right now on the internet, type onto Google or Gemini or anything and say, who are the foremost thought leaders in the YouTube strategy space?

21:10Chris Do: Get a list, double check your homework and say to yourself, can I with intentional effort overtake them in a year's time? If you think you realistically can I would suggest you go for it. But why do I need an enemy? Like if I'm just trying to be the YouTube strategist why do I need an enemy for that? You need to get rid of something in the world. Because we are more united in a common enemy than we are in a common friend. And all the best brands in the world as far as I know they have an enemy. Well, pick a brand. I guess it would be easier if we put this to a person versus a company. Okay. Let's do Brian Johnson.

21:47Oh, glad you brought that up.

21:49Chris Do: Are you familiar with Brian Johnson? A little bit. Okay. He is the guy who, I guess for lack of a better term, looks like a vampire. Sometimes he's considered the most measured man. He spends over a million dollars a year biohacking so that he doesn't have to age. So we say, what's the one thing he wants to be known for? Not dying or death. Okay. But the word would be something like longevity. Okay, I see the twist there. Okay. Okay, so longevity. He wants to live for as long as possible. And you can say aging reversal. His biological age is going backwards. His chronological age, nobody can stop, goes forward.

22:25Chris Do: So when he does all his chemistry and they look at it and his biology, they're like, wow, you're not 48, you're 36. And he takes a thousand vitamins. He's doing all kinds of radical treatments, red light therapy. He's doing everything he can to grow backwards in his age. What's his enemy? What's he fighting against? Death. That makes sense. Do you see how they're connected now? Yeah, yeah. He wants to be known for longevity and he wants to get rid of death. So longevity and death. What is his rallying cry to let everyone know we're on the same mission? Let's go do this thing. Do you know what he says?

22:56Chris Do: No. He says, don't die. And it's perfect. So I want to be known for longevity. My enemy's death. My rallying cry is don't die. So he has a conference, the Don't Die conference. He might have a package of supplements called Don't Die. So now it becomes really clear and he can build brand extensions from this. And it's super clear now. So whenever you think of longevity, he owns that space now. So there are a lot of other people like my friend, Dr. Kin Vu, and he's trying to like be for longevity. I'm like, I can't remove Brian from my mind. So you're going to be number two. And I'm pretty sure people in this space know Brian Johnson, but they don't know Kin Vu.

23:32Chris Do: And that's a problem. Now, there's mathematical parts that support this. The number one leader in any vertical is three times bigger than number two. Number two is three times bigger than number three. So basically, the three top players in the market control the entire market, and there's like scraps for everybody else. So the remaining 97 % fight for crumbs. If you can't be number one, don't even play. That's my opinion. Who's the first person on the moon? You know what I'm sure? Who's number two? No idea. Who's the first person to run the four-minute mile? Roger Bannister. Who's number two?

24:05Chris Do: Couldn't tell you. Right. Yeah. So let's say, for example, who is the person who's going to teach you to unblend yourself? You should say my name. And then who's number two? We don't care. Right. That's the problem. But I feel like that's so discouraging. Why? Well, you're saying like, hey, if you can't be number one, then you shouldn't even try. You shouldn't even try. So if I look up on YouTube and the top four YouTube strategists, you're like, oh, they didn't even bother. So then what do I do? Just - Find a different lane. Simple as that. Okay. So you say like, Chris, can you be number one in personal branding?

24:39Chris Do: Maybe. I'm not sure. But I can definitely be number one in unblend. Okay. It's words and words do matter. When you think of why, who do you think of? Simon Sinek. Who else do you think of number two? When you think of vulnerability, who do you think of? Brene Brown. Who do you think of number two? That's what I'm saying. If I cannot out research and storytell and do TED Talks, that's one of the 10 most few TED Talks in the world and compete with Renee, who's written so many books, who's been on Oprah, who's been on every single thing you could think of, I'm not going to try to win that game. I'll try to win a different game.

25:12Chris Do: Maybe I use the word shadow self. And I want to tell you something. You're like, it's discouraging. I don't see it as discouraging at all. Because if you're number one, it means you're number one and nobody can take that from you. So is this just one part of the book when you actually learn this? So is your book teaching you how to find this one thing for you to, be known for or are there different elements to the personal branding and what you can do? There's more than that. There's seven points. But I realized in trying to make it simpler, is it simple enough? I mean, I have a copy here and I've been playing around with it.

25:45Definitely something like when I'm on the airplane, I've been going through this. So it's definitely helped a lot. I do see one thing here. You said there's like three principles to personal branding. What are those?

25:56Chris Do: They are, number one, you have to be intentionally or meaningfully different because if you're the same as everybody else, you might as well not have a brand, you have a brand. Number two, you have to have the courage to be disliked. That sounds really good because it's coming from a book title that I also like a lot. So if you're different, different gets smashed. Different gets ridiculed. Different is misunderstood. So we know as soon as you have the courage to stand up, people are coming after you. So then you have to have the courage to be disliked. I'm different and I'm cool with that. Number three, and this is the one that's going to surprise most people, is more than 50 % of our brain is dedicated towards visual processing.

26:36Chris Do: So to tie it to how we began this conversation is the way I present myself visually signals to other people really quickly before words are formed, a feeling. And so principle number three is you have to be aesthetically discerning. If I were to show up in a potato sack with flip-flops, you might think, oh, Chris is really earthy. He's a man of the people. He's keeping it real humble right now. Or somebody else might think, oh, you couldn't be bothered to show up for this. I showed up for you. I can't take you seriously. So what we're doing is, unbeknownst to us, we're signaling to people all the time, who are we?

27:12Chris Do: How should you perceive me? So you walk into a room and you have a perfectly groomed beard and you're wearing a super sharp$10 ,000 Italian suit that's tailored. And you walk into the room, people are going to think, oh, this guy, he must be an important person. You come in there with shorts, cargo shorts and a t-shirt with holes in it and sneakers. Who let this kid in a room? Where's security? You can literally be the CEO, but people will interpret you as a certain thing. So what I tell people is this, your clothes are not clothes, they're tools. And tools are designed to solve a certain job.

27:46Chris Do: So the question for you is, the tools that you have, what job are you trying to solve? This is a really important question. So like if you're working in the kitchen, an apron works really well. And if you're working in a car, a jumpsuit works really well, a dark one. And if you're working in a hospital, scrubs work the best. So when you're dressed and you're going to step on stage, what job are you trying to solve? I guess I'm trying to impress. You're trying to impress. Yeah. And how would you impress people? By wearing something unique or sharp. So when you're trying to impress, most people say you're trying to be professional.

28:20Chris Do: You want to be taken seriously. Okay. And so then what are the tools that you would use for that of all the different kinds of fits you can put on? Most people say, well, sport coat, trousers, maybe a tie, maybe. We don't know. And that would be a pretty reasonable thing. Like I'm trying to be professional. I'm taking this seriously. I wish for you to take me seriously. And we adopt the corporate speaker's uniform. Perfect. The problem is you're also telling them I'm like every other person that's on the stage. I'm actually not that special. Maybe you guys should ignore me. because what I'm going to say is going to be like what everyone else is saying.

28:55Chris Do: The way they deliver it is the way I'm going to deliver it. You know how they start with this? I'll start with that. You know how they conclude with this? I'll conclude with that. You see their tone? I will adopt that tone. So you're inadvertently signaling to everybody by adopting the corporate uniform, I'm like everyone else. Please don't pay attention to me. This hurts because a lot of people dress this way. So my intention is different because I'm maybe more secure in myself. and more self-confident, I could give a flying rat what you think about what corporate looks like. What job I'm trying to solve is I'm going to be different.

29:30Chris Do: Whatever you heard before and after may or may not matter, but this will not be the same presentation. I'm not the same person. I actually care a lot about design and intentionality. And I'm going to tell you why it's an advantage to be different by proving it to you, not just talking about it. Imagine if I came on stage and I'm like, dare to be different. And I look like every single other person. The best way to unblend yourself is to look just like everyone else. There would be a mismatch, a misalignment between message and delivery. You see the problem. So I told you before, my philosophy, my ideas are meant to compel and to simultaneously repel.

30:07Chris Do: I know if I do something that doesn't repel people, I'm not doing anything of note. If you play it really safe, if you drive down the middle lane always at 55 miles per hour, you're not going to offend nobody. You're not going to break a speed record here. I'm here to break things. So somebody during our conversation at dinner, I said, so what's this all about? You're on stage right now. Why do you look like this? And I like being tested, by the way, because that caught me off guard too. I'm like, oh, it wasn't, it's just theory, man. You don't turn the lens back on me. And I had to think real quick and I said, so here's something you don't know about me.

30:42Chris Do: I hate social events. It took a lot of energy for me even to decide to come to this, even to say, yes, I'll be there. That was a lot of effort for me. and my biggest problem as a socially awkward introvert is I don't know how to start conversations with people but I enjoy the company of other people and so when I walk into the room and there's 18 people and they all know each other they're chopping up like they go way back I feel like I'm brought back to junior high again like I'm the new kid who just transferred into school and I look like nobody and I feel very much the outsider what I do is I am a provocateur so I want to wear things that invite people to have a conversation with me.

31:19Chris Do: So they can say, hey, what's up with your hat? Why'd you wear this today? And let's have a conversation. Or are you in the creative space? Or you must be doing something. Or you're an important person. I need to talk to you, right? I'm like, am I? That solves most of my problem. So in social circles, the job, unlike on stage, is come talk to me, please. I'd like to have a conversation with you because I think you're a person worth getting to know, but I don't have those skills. You just don't know that's what I'm doing to you. I love that. So what are some ways that people want to support and look into the book?

31:53How can we show up for you?

31:55Chris Do: A lot of different things. So we have some goals in terms of growing the YouTube channel. You can support us financially by becoming a member. The patron level is one that counts the most, but we appreciate any and everything you do. If you don't like subscriptions or memberships like that, you can just send me money on Venmo to help build this thing. Where can we get the books, the workbooks? Probably just go to Thefuture.com. We'll figure out where you can get them. But if you follow me on social at the Chris Doe, you'll know because I'm not trying to make it a secret. I'll tell you. Anything else for 2026 that is keeping you up at night?

32:27Chris Do: Nothing keeps me up at night. I sleep really, really well. But I will tell you something. The next chapter of what's in store for us in 2026, if all comes to fruition, fingers crossed, because I don't like talking about chicken for the hatch, you're going to say, oh my God, that guy had a dream and he's making his dreams come true and we get to ride along and be a part of it. Not just from a voyeur point of view, but we get to learn through the whole process. That's what I'm doing. Awesome, man. Well, great talking to you as always. Thanks for hosting me on your show. Of course, man. Thanks for me in the future.

32:59See you guys in the next one.