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Podcast Notes: The Jasmine Star Show - Episode with Marcus Murphy
Episode Overview Title: Being Ok When You Don’t Know What’s Next Host: Jasmine Star Co-host: Marcus Murphy Description: This episode focuses on the importance of taking breaks in the entrepreneurial journey and managing the pressure of expectations from others. Jasmine and Marcus share their personal experiences, particularly around taking time off without the pressure of what comes next, and discuss building a brand and business in the process.
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Key Themes and Concepts
- The Pressure of Expectations
- Jasmine's Struggle: Initially resistant to the idea of taking a break, Jasmine realized her reluctance stemmed from the fear of returning to questions about her next steps.
- Marcus's Insight: Both hosts discuss the discomfort associated with stepping back from work without a clear plan for what comes next.
- Embracing Breaks for Self-Care
- Taking Time Off: Marcus emphasizes the importance of taking breaks for mental health and clarity, echoing Jasmine's experience of needing space to breathe and reflect.
- Personal Journeys in Entrepreneurship
- Marcus's Transition: Marcus Murphy shares his journey from being part of the executive team at DigitalMarketer to becoming the CEO of his own tech company, The Five Percent.
- Focused on providing education and resources to athletes, he recognizes the gaps in their understanding of financial literacy and professional development.
- Jasmine's Evolution: Jasmine reflects on her journey as an entrepreneur, emphasizing her need to communicate authentically with her audience and the evolution of her brand.
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Key Takeaways
Marcus Murphy's Insights
- Building a Brand: He discusses the importance of observing market trends and developing a brand that addresses gaps in the industry, particularly for professional athletes who often lack essential business acumen.
- Community as a Resource: Emphasizes the value of creating a closed community to support athletes, providing them with crucial resources that would otherwise be inaccessible.
Jasmine Star's Reflections
- Navigating Expectations: Shares her experience of needing to set parameters for her breaks and how this relates to pressure from public perception.
- Personal Growth: Emphasizes that personal growth often requires stepping back and being vulnerable about not having all the answers.
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Discussions Highlights
Entrepreneurship and Community
- Helping Others: Both Jasmine and Marcus highlight the importance of helping others navigate their paths, likening it to being a "sherpa" for those climbing their own mountains.
- Education Gaps in Sports: Marcus identifies systemic issues in how athletes are educated about their careers, finances, and personal branding, which are often neglected despite their high earnings.
Emotional Vulnerability and Support
- The Value of Sharing: The episode emphasizes that sharing one's journey, including struggles and uncertainties, fosters a deeper connection with the audience.
- Empowering Others: Jasmine expresses the need for her community to understand that it’s okay to not know the next steps, promoting a culture of acceptance around uncertainty in entrepreneurship.
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Quotes
- “I’m taking a break without expectation and I need to do this for myself.” - Jasmine Star
- “You can put people's feet on a path, but you can't make them climb.” - Marcus Murphy
- “The best education in the world is inside of a community.” - Marcus Murphy
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Conclusion The episode serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of self-care in the entrepreneurial journey. Both Jasmine and Marcus encourage their listeners to embrace uncertainty and take necessary breaks while fostering authentic connections and community support.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:0010 years ago, I made the decision to build my personal brand that was elevated, yet approachable, and reflected who I was, not just what I did. I created my website with show it because it's true drag and drop freedom. So you can easily build and update your site. Plus their real human support team game changer. Want to try it for yourself? Head to jasminestar.com forward slash show it for a 14 day free trial and first month free. When you subscribe, let's make this like a power punch, but like bring our secret sauce. Yeah, cool. I'm into that. Okay. I'll just ask you, but there are some things that would be fun just because I'm here.
0:32Yeah. Like, I mean, I know you do podcasts, but I'm gonna ask a couple of questions. Okay. Oh my God.
0:49welcome back to the jasmine star show i am with my co-host marcus murphy and this has been a good run i have felt so good with the conversations that we had yeah and i kind of want to take an opportunity to number one thank you for this and let's like bring this full circle i'm so happy that we had that conversation on the front end because when Johnny mentioned interviewing at Yelp, like listeners were able to put that in context. Yeah, there were a few different times. Yeah, and then Matt was talking about LinkedIn learning and like people were on the journey with us. And so I think that that was really good and we got to like know you and we got to know the dream that you put up on the dream wall.
1:24And I think later in this episode, I'm gonna pull out a favor and I want you to practice your late night interview skills with me. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I already have 20 questions for you. Okay. Okay. Okay. So I want to start though, like now we're up to speed. And so we left the story where you were doing consulting. Right. And then you were like, I need to find myself. And you now, I mean, I jokingly, like I poke fun and I do it in love, but you're a CEO of a bonafide bomb business. And I want to start about like that origin story. Right. You know, I feel like it's actually something that maybe you relate to as well.
1:58There was a bit of personality in there, like a bit of like where I was becoming a personality saying, okay, I'm a speaker, I'm going to shows. And that was a big part of who I am. And then there was a new identity. One, I stopped posting on LinkedIn, which I don't know if anybody really noticed, but I didn't for almost a year and a half to the point where like LinkedIn was going, are you okay? Are you all right? Because you were a major contributor in this way, or just some of that circuit that I used to do. But I felt like I needed to figure out what it's like to be a technology CEO. And I spent a ton of time just interviewing, finding other people.
2:31Like there's a couple of pivotal people that are worth shouting out. But David Cancel, he started a company called Drift and they grew like a rocket ship. And I just look at these people and I'm like, how are you doing this? And so gracefully and all that stuff. Guess what? They're not. They're not at all. They're just people who have put on the new identity that that's who they are now. And they're still using that vehicle to accomplish their goals. So it doesn't matter whether it's a technology company for me or it was an event or it was me speaking. It just had to be able to be the vehicle to get me to where I wanted to go.
3:00And I think that's where the story probably is now is that I am developing something that aligns with where I ultimately want to go in life, that I have a fun time building with people that I actually care about. And it's led us to five, which is in the sports world, a closed sourced community application for athletic organizations. And it sounds super boring to say it like that, but it's a lot more fun because it is. It's like who puts business and sports, like business education and sports together. But if you look at the alternative, the worst catastrophic things that are happening to athletes in the world is because they are under-resourced and disconnected and isolated and alone.
3:37Okay, okay, okay. Hold on, hold on. Okay, so we went through, like, the fancy stuff. But we need to have a moment and give a shout-out to our girl, like, Riri. Because Rihanna disappears. Yeah, yeah. And then she comes back. Please let me be Rihanna. I'll take that. I'll take that. So you kind of went silent to go back and, like, find out, like, the new version. And so I kind of just want to, like, honor that space because so few people actually have the courage. Like, and for people who don't know, like you were like a voice on LinkedIn, like a force actually. And so for you to go quiet, it's for you to do like the inner work.
4:04And then can I repeat back what I think when you talk about the five, like what that actually is. Yeah, sure. Please. So athletes have been good most of their life at their particular sport. Great at it. And so then they get to a point and then they get people around them who know more than they do. And then it's very common to abdicate a lot of the other stuff so that they can focus on what their skill is. And that is to be an athlete. And that is to be like a standout. And then a lot of athletes get to a point in time where like they're entirely different people. Like they have more money. They have more resources.
4:37They have more following. Like that. Overnight. Yeah. And then they didn't develop the skill set to actually understand what that life looks like as a celebrity and then thereafter. And then as a hundred thousand or millionaire, like a hundred millionaire thereafter. Yeah. And so you saw a gap in the market. Well, I saw a gap in two ways. So one, there's an education gap. Okay. So wait, how did we get there? How did we get there? How did we get to the education gap? Yeah. Like you're like watching the NBA and like, there is an education gap. So I am very uniquely placed in this last two years of kind of going silent.
5:07I've happened to become friends with some massively influential elite athletes in the world. And what I realized is like, wow, you're not that different than a lot of these high capacity people that I meet in our business world. it's just that they understand more of like what they're supposed to do and that's what they're focused on how did you become friends with these athletes yeah so funny stories i have a silent business partner named ben bellucci such a cool name that is yeah so he's my cousin and he's uh he's a really it's funny because if you see him and what you guys will probably you can look him up and he's like this tall model he's beautiful and i see him on your instagram all the time yeah he's like literally people are like yo are you carrying that guy's bags because that's really but he's a MBA trainer.
5:47So when we, we, when I first started saying the idea behind, I want to create world-class education. I want it to be a certain pillars. Like I want it to be sales, marketing, leadership, wealth, and wellness. Like that's what I felt like was the core foundational elements that every entrepreneur should have. And then I started saying, well, that's makes sense for every entrepreneur to have those foundational elements. But then I started meeting these pro athletes, these people that literally have all those comments that you talked about, but are going bankrupt and don't know how to do social media and like literally don't know what to do with brand deals when they come through.
6:21They had no idea. And that's at the highest level of sport. And so I said, wow, I wonder if this is a problem at lower levels through the middle, like where are they getting their education? And I'm not talking about colleges, universities. I'm talking about the real functional world stuff that they need to know to navigate. Like what? Like investing, balancing? Investing. Yeah. Balancing a checkbook is so wild, but there are a majority of people that I've met adults that still don't do that. They don't even look at their bank accounts. Like I'm talking about fundamentally different mindset shifts.
6:50So not financial literacy, like wealth building, money teams, like what's the market saying and how do you even read it? Right? Like what's your portfolios? Those types of financial pieces are big, but then if you go over on the other side, it's like leadership, leading yourself, the ability to have a conversation, communication skills, and then you go wellness, wellness, the idea of like mental health and putting it in the forefront of the conversation. So I knew that there was a gap, not only for elite athletes, but just people in general. And so we needed to come and build a format that was educating in those pillars and then being able to deliver in a way that they get it.
7:22Okay. So I find it intriguing. Like if you look back at it, did you know that you were going after one of like the most lucrative markets? Like, you know what I'm saying? It's like, you're not the first person to think of like the need and gap of education. And then what you went to is like, I'm just going to target millionaires. The total addressable market for this is billions and billions of dollars right well and here's the crazy thing yeah total adjustable market is billions millions dollars but how many like users yeah yeah so it's really it's a small it's a small small market but it's a domino so we knew that if we could get the elite athletes in major professional sports leagues across the world that everyone else that is an organized sport that gets money so think about this there's 500 nba athletes in the world period right one of them is my business partner which is cool in this event.
8:06His name is Admiral Schofield. You guys will meet him, hear him, whatever. But the whole point is out of those little 500, that's a very small percentage of everything I'm talking about. Because on the university side, there are 700 ,000 athletes that are in the universities. And I'll give you an example. So you went to, where'd you go? UCLA? UCLA Law School. UCLA Law School. Where'd you go? I mean, it wasn't like the Harvard cafeteria. The Harvard of the West. Four letters. But I do think that if you look at a program like that, They have 27 varsity sports, okay? They have 1 ,000 student athletes and all of them are getting like their actual budget, their operating budget for UCLA sports.
8:40What do you think it is? I have no idea. $250 million on average. Okay. Right? Per annum. Okay. So why is it so high? Why are we putting so much money into athletics of these big – I'm talking about student athletes, right? Why are we putting that much money in? The entertainment, the eyeballs, the way that they're putting money in because that also feeds all the students who come and pay hundreds of thousands to go there. Right. The alma mater, the, I mean, it's a big deal. So I know that if we get the elite athletes of the world at the top level to start saying, using this and practically functionally becoming like not only the education part, but organizing their lives.
9:17I'll give you an example. This is totally funny, but Admiral, if we're calling him right now, I'd say Admiral. What team, you have to explain, like what team does he play for? Admiral plays for the Orlando Magic. Okay. And he played, He was an All-American University of Tennessee. And we met because of my cousin through my good-looking cousin who doesn't look anything like me. And when we met the first time, we knew when he started talking to me about the current state of his world, he was like, we still send text messages to each other not to miss the plane. And I'm like, you're at a hundred, like a billion dollar industry.
9:49And these guys are sending each other WhatsApp group messages in terms of communication. When they need to get like some type of, hey, hey guys, here's some wealth education. It's a speaker who comes in every once in a while, right? But if I went into every front office, which I have, and these big, amazing, like the magic, and I say, hey, do you care about your athletes? Their unanimous answer is yes, we do. And if I say how, it gets into, well, we kind of do whatever. And I'm like, that's a problem. And that's a solvable problem. So we can solve it through education. We can solve it through platform.
10:21And we can give them the community they so desperately deserve and what's going to help them at that level. and also the education that they've missed most of their lives to enable them to have this really flourishing, amazing experience. And when they flourish, the whole organization flourishes. Okay. But let's go back. Let's go back. You have this idea, like these five pillars and you're like, it's going to be education. And then like, so then you meet Admiral and you're like. It all kind of, it kind of clicked for me because when I first went into it, I wanted to create like a community of entrepreneurs.
10:48I wanted to teach people, right? But then I realized that that's such a broad stroke. Yes. That it needed to find something that was kind of like my carved out niche. I needed to find something to apply it. And even if it grows to something big, I still wanted to start in like a myopic way. Right. So sports, which I'm very passionate about, when I saw that, I was like, huh. So there's no real entrepreneurship education in this world. Dang, Marcus. Yeah. And so here's the cool thing. So like the show that we're about to do, I know I'm skipping ahead, but the show that I'm launching is taking that distilled version of business education from some of the most elite athletes and elite performers.
11:22Think of actors, artists, people that we really think are like essentially the skyscraper version that all of us love. But I want to go to the dig version of that skyscraper and find out what foundations they set up to make that look like it popped up overnight and it's so great and successful. And we don't talk about that. We celebritize the end result. It's typically the journey's not sexy. Okay, so you figure out it's the niche and then you said, oh, lucky for me, I'm going to pick a niche that's worth billions. Smart move. And then you get a co-founder who really does legitimize the inner workings of it and can speak to that experience.
11:58And then you're able to pull on connections from previous. My board right now is full of Hall of Fame athletes in the NHL, the NFL, the NBA. Because they understand the need for it. Because they are literally sitting there going, I wish I had this when I was playing. And did you fundraise? We did, yeah. And have you ever fundraised before? Never. I had to figure it all out, which is a wild world. But it's basically like you're on the traffic and conversion stage again and again and again and again. All the time. Pitching. Yeah. So what's interesting is a lot of people have money, but it's not everybody's money you want.
12:28So that's the new world for me. We were raising$2.5 million as a seed. That's like pre-revenue, no platform. It's like buy our idea. Yes, exactly. Okay. And you're saying at that point that our valuation is$10 million for just an idea and the people that are involved. It's a$10 million idea. Yeah. Gentlemen. But you know what's wild is it's a game because in the technology world, that is a very common. Yes, it is. So what is the best story that we can tell? What is the best team that we can put together that says that people can confidently go, these guys are going to go execute that and figure it out.
12:57And so, yeah, one of our CFO is a former VP of software at Apple, right? Like we have a team that looks like they can execute on this very specific thing that is timely. And that's what we raised money off of. I had so many meetings with people where they're like, yeah, I could write you a check for $250 ,000. And I remember all of us sitting there going, we don't want that person on our team. Right. Yeah. And that's tough. Because sometimes in the beginning, you're like, well, I just want that money because that legitimizes this whole thing. And then eventually we're like, no, it's not about the money.
13:27It's about the people that can make it go faster. So let's break down the business and then move into the dig because like, I want to know the purpose of the dig. Yeah. So if I'm a student athlete, I will be able to download an app. Correct. It'll be on their mobile. Yeah. And I go through the app and then I am there able to find like, so let's say I'm a college athlete. I mean, look at me. I'm like all of five, two on a good day. You know, it's like, yeah. they're like no one's giving me a ball the girl's the iron lung make sure she shoots um so like wait wait wait wait wait i see you you're athletic maybe you're not an athlete you're athletic though right hold on let me hair flip yes all these all these workout fake videos on instagram it's like yeah really it's a sham guys what a shadow no i know you're a photoshop yeah no no and i do appreciate it okay so anyway i opened this app i'm in the basket weaving athletic club at UCLA.
14:16And so then I opened the, I opened the app and I'm just like, yeah, maybe I get an endorsement now that with the NCAA, I am able to get money and monetize my name and likeness. And I'm sitting on$32 ,000 and I'm like, I can buy myself a car or I can go in and get some education on what I might be able to do for a long-term investment. Yeah. It's prescriptive in that way. So the admin version, so somebody at the organization, similarly to having like a a CRM or somebody that manages Salesforce organization, there would be an admin in that organization. So the UCLA athletic department is going to have somebody.
14:49Yeah. Who's their technical director or any of those people. And they run the community. So on the backend, they're looking at all the profiles from all their players, all the data and inputs for that player. So you can literally, depending on the integration, see if they slept last night. You can see if they went to their physio based on their calendar integration. You can look at if they're active or not active. You can see if they've consumed content, how much of it, how long, how far. You can do all these things by being literally by pushing that to their application. The secret, though, is it's private.
15:17So I'm not building a social network. We're building a platform and a community that's close circuited because one of the biggest fears of every sports organization is that something leaks outside. So I'm not talking about Twitter right now. I'm not trying to connect Instagram, which I know probably breaks your heart. No, not at all. But truly, they want this private experience where they don't have community. They have community. It's teams, right? They have community, but they don't have a way of having that community outside of a physical space. So in lies an opportunity to create community.
15:46And guess what? The best education in the world is inside of a community. Like all this disparate kind of like whatever. If you put it in there and now you've got a captive audience and you can start being prescriptive with, hey, you want to learn about investing? Here you go. Hey, here's a whole series of talks around NIL. Now you've got everybody right here in their world that they live on, which is their phone, right? And so I think that that's really great. And the fact that it's mandated from the universities or the sports organization. So it's not an option to download it. That's where we communicate.
16:14That's where your calendar is. Push notifications go there. So it's not like texting about don't miss the plane. It's like, hey, guys, it's workout time. Don't miss practice. Here's your physio appointment, like all of those little things that currently don't exist. And so what's wild is I'm speaking about it because there are some things like it. We don't want to go into a competitive market and be the first ones. I always laugh because people are like, want to be a pioneer. But many times when you're the first person to it, you got to ask yourself two questions. Why am I the first person here?
16:41Yeah. One, because that's expensive to be the first person there. Yeah. It's expensive because you have to educate the market. And then the other part is when you show up and all of a sudden like nobody else is there, did somebody else try it? And it was just like, Has anybody heard of the Oregon Trail? you know i was dying all the time gangrene gangrene i ate the wrong thing uh yeah i didn't want to be part of the first wave you know yeah but there is a beauty in that i was just saying this off camera but you know there is somebody that sits there like you've been to phoenix arizona yes times in your life right but you've also been in that that's a desert yeah so somebody had to walk across that desert and look out there and go this is home right i can make this work right you're an insane person right but they're not so insane now are they right so i think that what we're looking at is kind of like, I'm not afraid of being first, but I want something that's like in the category, but I can be just outside adjacent to the category.
17:32Okay. So you fundraise, you assemble a team, you've cast a vision, you've got people onboarded. There are students and athletic technical directors running this. No more text messages, get on the plane and here's your physio. This is all in here. Yeah. Stays in one, like one app to rule them all essentially. Okay. And so then you're like the wheels on the bus and it's moving. Yes. And then you're introducing the dig. Yeah. As what brand awareness funneling what's going on there. And then explain the show, explain the show like I'm five. Okay. So I think every single company needs a top of funnel awareness play, right?
18:07Okay. Because attention's hard to get. Yes. And you have to have, if you're going to do a show or launch a podcast or launch something, it should be tied in directly to aggregating an audience of potential avatars, but also just the brand recognition as well. Yeah. Basically. Yeah. I'm going to repeat this. You want to get famous for people who will buy from you. Right. That's it. Okay. Yes. Well, you're like the top of level awareness of classified avatars. And I was like, let me do a little interpretation. And expeditiously. But I do think, I do think that what's wild is at the top of funnel, it also itches a major scratches and itch that I have.
18:42Guys, it itches a scratch. It itches a scratch. Yes. It's been a long day. Yeah. But I do think that what it is, is like, I know that one of the things that gets me up in the morning that I love is this. I love this. I could do this all for the rest of my life. And I want to, if I can create the narrative at the top and I can enter interview and speak with really interesting people for the rest of my life and extract information that I know my community wants, especially in this sports world, it's the strategy. Now here's, here's what the dig is. You said five-year-old. Yes. Like explain it. Like you're explaining it to Pearl.
19:13Okay. Your daughter prone. I'll just sit down. Okay. Put the knife away. The best way I can say it is I had a talk that I did about skyscrapers and I used to say it to early people in their careers or I would use it if I was going to do anything. But the skyscraper is this. I was in college once. Remember that place? Yes. Were you ever in a dorm? Yes. Okay. Like a jail cell, like a window. Yeah. Yeah. So I was at a dorm and I used to look out of our one window and there was always a hole in the ground and they were building some building, but there was a big hole in the ground and they would just move dirt from here to here and here to here.
19:45And then it would never, nothing was being built. I thought it was like the biggest scam because the entire semester was like, there was nothing that ever was built, but there's facts of all. So I always thought something was wrong. And then I leave for a break and I come back and it was the middle of the night. And I remember getting in and going to bed. And when I woke up in the morning, my view was gone. There was a building there almost seeming like it was overnight. And then I started being like, well, that's crazy. But if you look at architecture or you look at buildings and especially skyscrapers, the majority of the work is done under the surface.
20:12In fact, you have to go down as far as you want to go up. And so when you do sort of, you don't have a skyscraper under the ground, but they go down. I'm still gullible. I was like, no,
20:27but they do have to go to the bedrock. So they have to drill down to the bedrock. So like in New York city, all those buildings are literally down on the bedrock to keep them erect. Like, wow. So when you think about a skyscraper, the one thing that always resonates with me as an entrepreneur or anything that I do is that this should take longer, but we don't know what they're doing down there. So like when somebody wants to start a business, we always throw them a hammer or we say, go jump off the thing and build a plane on the way down. But instead of handing somebody a hammer, you should hand them a shovel because it's actually not about building something quick.
21:02Like it's about building to the necessary foundation so that that thing that goes up stays. Right. So for me, I want to know the dig story for these people. Like I want to sit down like with Jasmine Starr and sit here and go like, tell me your dig story. Tell me all the stuff that's not above the surface that it took for you. And how did that foundationally develop? Is this a talk show? Yeah, it's a talk show. Oh. Yeah. And so you're bringing on famous athletes. Famous athletes, famous people. And you want to know their dig story. I want to get to their dig story.
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21:37That's okay. I got it. What's the goal? Season one. How many people? There's 10. There's 10 people in the first season. Okay. We've already been working on it. Yeah. And so you have them lined up. Yes. We have a couple of people that I'm still like they have publicists and people to navigate, but big time, huge folks who have like, by all means, if we look at them and go, wow, they did something huge, but we know the thing they did huge, but we don't know the, like Steph Curry, right? So Steph is the best shooter in the NBA, so good at everything, but he shoots a thousand three-pointers a day.
22:07His actual preparation, we aren't in love with because we want the game and the lights, but he can unpack that part. And then here's the other part. It's not just about that stuff. It's about how they set up their lives. So these people will be speaking about business. They'll be speaking about the business of their life, how they invest, their teams. They're going to speak about the pillars that are on the inside. The foundational pillars. Okay. Yes. Great. And then, but you had said you want to build awareness for the person who's going to buy from you. Yeah. But the person who's buying from you is essentially an athletic department.
22:37It's an athletic department, but also in addition to that, so that's one avatar of our business. Okay. The rest of it is a learning community of people who want to learn from elite athletes. So business owners are a big one. They can one too many buy into a community. Did you just get the model and leverage it to an entirely different audience? Yeah. Because, stop right now. Yeah. So the idea was that we start one too many inside of organizations, but we knew that we were going to build a learning platform where we bring in these elite athletes who teach business and also these elite people that teach business, but only principles of their foundational elements I mentioned, just the five.
23:12Now you're getting my name for our business? Yeah. My mind is going in a thousand different directions right now. So imagine that if I can start in a way where it's like these organizations, these teams, they're running this app, they're using our content. And then I want that to be a general population thing where every person now can have a seat inside of a learning community where they're learning from some of the most elite people on the planet who are distilling down how they build the foundational elements of their life. So we know that it's... Is there any proprietary information that goes to the athletic departments outside?
23:42If they create it. Oh. And the other part is we've been partnering with the beta group in order, like sometimes they're creating content that's good for everybody else and we want to buy that. So we can actually evergreen it into the platform. or you could just discount how much they're paying for the app. Right. And so all those things. But what I think is fun is this is the kind of stuff, because if you're sitting here listening, somebody is probably going, this is really complex and crazy. But the fun part about it is, is like, this is uncharted territory. Yeah, it is. We get to be a little bit creative in the way that we do it and nothing's wrong.
24:12Like whether I started that or I created a social media platform, it doesn't even matter. The fact is we've carved out a niche where we understand that there is an entrepreneurial educational gap in athletics, but there's also a lot of people who love those athletes who would love to learn. Like imagine learning franchising from Shaq. I would listen. I also adore Shaq and I like him as a DJ. So, but you see what I'm saying? There's an allure around sports that is different than anything else in the world. Like even celebrities, they will literally, celebrities, musicians, like everybody wants to go to the game, sit on courtside.
24:43There's something about sports that is this interconnectivity and tissue that I just can't explain to you. But if you can now say those people aren't athletes, they're business owners and here's all the things they can teach you about how they run their life and organize it. And have you guys already worked through the rev model for the people who are creating? Like the... Yeah, how much money they get and all that stuff? Yeah. Yeah, of course. Dang. It runs on a similar model. It's like a master class. Got it. Who's our friend that did a... Creative Live? Creative Live, yeah. Chase Jarvis? Yeah, Chase, right?
25:10So it's like a... It'll be studios. There's a creation element to it where we can partner with creators and experts. But also we have our own platform that will be a bit more of the marketplace that dang man i was wearing cowboy hat i take it off and i just dust your feet you just walk through that okay the nation desert all right i'm gonna deflect wait wait wait not not yet because you did say i was athletic right do you want me to teach i feel like i need to ask your teams i don't see i don't see anybody else affirming the athleticism so it's good yeah yeah yeah okay all right by the way everyone that's if you're watching this and people listeners, I'm holding up a glass.
25:46This is coffee. Yes. Yeah. We're not boozing. I feel like we could be, but this is definitely some, I don't drink. I don't drink dark liquor. I don't. But cheers, dude. Hey, cheers to that journey. Thank you. You came back like Rihanna, like showing off her fancy during the Superbowl. You did not come to play, baby. You're like next day you wake up$80 million richer. That was a great red outfit that she had on by way. Oh wait, real quick. But I've also done things where I've kept it, my foot in the game because events have always been my thing too. I now own two of them, which I think is great, not as a full owner, but I've finally, it was a dream of mine to own one.
26:17You're coming out to support it, which is pretty exciting. I love that. And I think that that's where I'm talking about. I feel like I can continue to do those things. My worlds can collide because they're all media content focused. And if I can continue to build a stable and have like access to great, incredible practitioners, then it all works really well together. And I can have best of both worlds there. And I just have to say like how selfish I am, Because I just feel like if you're selfish, but you call your selfishness, like you call it out for what it is. It's less bad. So I'll just call it out.
26:46Like, I really wanted to get into your brain and your network because you think so differently. And I think that you're carving out your own path. But it's like you're the first person to look in the Phoenician desert and say, this is home. And like, I want to be part of that second crew to be like, did you not die? All right. All right. Let's go. Let's go. I'll be a part of an event. You know what? No, you're not giving it. I'm not tired of speaking to events. I want to own one too. Actually, I was thinking Johnny should have his own gallery. Johnny should have his own gallery. His own gallery.
27:12All the time. Feature other artists. Yes. But then have his show charge the same price as any other gallery and get$100. But Johnny's also the kind of person that would just want to do that to put people on for free. So there's a whole different mindset. Well, he needs to consult with you. I'm just kidding. But I will say this. So the thinking that we just talked about, like seeing a city in a desert. Yes. Right? The habitation of that. Yeah. I actually feel like there's two different types of people. There's the first person who climbed Mount Everest. And then there's the person who shows everybody how to do it.
27:42Oh, oh, oh. Does that make sense to you? That's so good. That's so good. Because I feel like what we've all been obsessed with is being the first. But I actually think that most of us should be meditating on being a Sherpa. Like there is some beautiful thing. You can never make anybody climb it. Like I always think, I don't know why I'm sticking with Mount Everest, but let's just use it. Mount Everest has been there. We know how to get to the top. So why don't we not all do it? And I think there's something about the ability to understand that the path is there. You can put people's feet on it, but you can't make them climb.
28:15And there's a massive need for the people that came after the person who put the path there to show everyone else where the path is and that it's accessible. Amen. So I love that I have this vision for how to build a city in a desert or whatever it is. But I also understand that that doesn't happen without people who would have sat on the ladder there. But you understand, you understand you're not doing that. What's that? Building in public. Building in public is what you said? Yeah. Yeah. Well, aren't you saying like, I think I strongly identified with it because I'm just like, I will not, I will never.
28:51I haven't ever. I don't think it's my makeup to be the first, but hot thing. Like I have learned the skill of being a Sherpa. Of course. I don't have to be the best or the fastest, but I'm a good Sherpa. Yeah, but I think you're, yeah, I think you're, I think you're not just a good Sherpa. But I also feel like what, because you're in that position to be a Sherpa so much, you are a pioneer because it puts you out at some place where there's responsibility to be a pioneer. Okay. But like, if you're beholden to this idea that like, actually, let me identify. Okay. Are you the first to Everest right now as you do this?
29:25Yeah. This will be base camp one or two. Okay. Okay. Because that's different. Because if you were saying that we are almost in some ways beholden to share the journey. Right. Do you believe that you are? Yes. How so? I think that what I've done now, I'm willing to share in people's experience. So like getting somebody to come into this experience. Why do I have a show? Yes, of course. I will say, no, as a business person, I'll say, yes, it's for - Top of funnel awareness for the avatar. And like, yeah, we can throw out a bunch of acronyms. The real thing is, is that it's an invitation. So I really believe that this is my invitation at the top of the funnel for people to come inside.
30:04What I mean by that is not as a customer per se, but to join in on the journey. And it's funny. I would love – it's almost like I'm going up Everest, but everybody can watch. And I am going into some uncharted territory in the way that I'm choosing my niche. But I also believe that I can't get there without everybody else. So there is a part of me that's a little bit like I'm happy to go first, but I would love to go first with people behind me and making sure that I'm okay. Like I've been okay with that. Well, I'm happy to be on that journey. I do think that I would like to see more selfishly.
30:36Yeah. Like I had to, I had to cajole you to come down to SoCal to record this. But like every so often, I want to, I mean, are you just impressed? I'm like a homeschooler. I mean, I don't know. It's like, should we give my mom some props? Or my dad? Cajole. Cajole. Like my dad. I haven't heard anybody say cajole. Well, I just, now you're going to go home and like C-A-J-O-L-E. C-A-J-O-L. All right. Yes. My dad at Reader's Digest. Yes. He would read his Reader's Digest when he was like teaching himself how to read. And so he would go through these quizzes of like words. And so thank you, Reader's Digest and daddy late at night.
31:12But I feel like you are such a magnetic character. And yes, you're inviting people on the dig. But like it already looks at you at Everest. And you're putting a chair next to you inviting another person to climb their Everest. If I would have had a camera crew with me this entire last year and a half and even what we're doing now, it would be really interesting to document our build. It would be really interesting to do that. Well, especially as like a block founder of a SaaS company. Yeah, it's a little bit different. It's kind of like so rare. Like you out here are like a black unicorn. You know, like you're the extrovert.
31:41Well, I think it's funny because some people don't know that I'm black at all. Which is the best. Breaking news. Some people were just like, somebody just leaned into their YouTube channel. I was like, I don't think so, bro. Color correction. Jasmine might be tripping. But I actually do think that there's something about being a minority founder. There's something about that also being not my entire identity. Right. But I also think that, yeah, I think there's a responsibility in that to be like, it is something to be cognizant of. And you don't need a film crew. No, I don't. You have your phone.
32:13You have your phone. Is this an intervention? Yeah, it is. This is an intervention. No, it's called an excavation. There's no intervention. You're still like, I'm trying to bring out, like, I selfishly want to see what it is you're doing. It is so powerful. And just to see the way that you. I haven't shared. I've been digging. And I know that sounds so bizarre, full circle there. But that will come out. But I feel like, yeah, I feel like I picked up the shovel for the last two years. Good for you. And I haven't hit my bedrock just yet. Good for you. Good for you. Good for you. Okay, so ladies.
32:44How many metaphors did we do? I don't know. Everybody got lost. It's like, we're out here. Like, you're Rihanna. Building on the Oregon Trail. into Phoenix without water. Now you're climbing Everest with a Sherpa. Yeah, somebody got it. There's some poetry in there. I mean, maybe we just think that we're super deep. Like we're like out here trying to be professional podcasters. I hope somebody got that and was like, yeah, okay. So if you were still with us and you send Marcus like an Oregon Trail gif on Instagram, like you will know, like you a real ride or die. All of a sudden he's like, disentry gif.
33:16Why would you do that? I do like a good gif. I do like gif. So we communicate in gifs. We communicate in GIFs and memes. Yeah. Like it's just, we have whole conversations. I have a group chat like that. And also, yeah, I feel like sometimes a GIF says more than what you're trying to say. Okay. Yeah. So am I allowed to flip the script and ask you questions? Can I do that? Or did you have another one? But we should name your show. What's your show? What's my show? Yeah. In the future. Well, I think most people are just their name. So it has to be like some kind of - Marcus Mayo Murphy. Marcus Mayo Murphy show.
33:46Yeah. I actually - Marcus Murphy show. I like it. I want to say one tiny thing that I took on partners in the beginning of my business. And I've also wanted a co-host for a long time. And a lot of that was because I never felt like I could fill the bill as an individual. And so I want people to understand that I don't have any part. I have some partners, but they serve all these different purposes. This new show is me. It's just me. I have rotating people that come through and be kind of personalities on the show. But I think that if you're going to have a show, it's kind of that dream I articulated earlier.
34:16you have to be okay with being the one in some ways. I don't think I was ready for that. And just so we're on the same page. So you're ready. Yeah. So Mayo, Marcus Mayo. I love it. Well, I am going to ask you a couple of questions because you've been so gracious and opening your home and doing this really cool co-hosting thing, which I think is such a brilliant idea. And by the way, everybody's going to love this. The reason why they love it is because there are really intimate relationships. So this person also feels really like they want it to be really great people and they like, really, it's very intentional.
34:48And so I know your next co-host is going to be, you know, almost as good as me, but I feel like they're - Yeah, they're small shoes to fill, I know. It's going to be hard. But let me ask you a couple questions because I think that you're always the one asking questions. I have known you for 14 years and I did write you that letter, but I want to tell you a story you don't know. Okay. You ready for this? So my wife and I, we were becoming photographers and I don't even know what that meant. I just knew that it was a really cool industry and there was business owners with cameras. Like that's what it felt like.
35:18And I was like, well, I can get down with this. I like this. But there was only one place to go if you were trying to learn both of those things and it was called WPPI. Do you remember WPPI? Yes. So this was like, by the way, this is a throwback, right? WPPI doesn't exist, does it? Is it still going? We don't know. Yeah. But back in the day, it was. It was like, it was the place for wedding and portrait photographers. Yes. But also like there was big time followings. There were a lot of photographers that wanted to check and see Jasmine, right? They wanted to hear you speak. And that's kind of the first time I was like, whoa, Jasmine's not my photographer for my wedding.
35:52She's like this personality who's sharing and opening her whole world to everybody about how she runs her business. And from that, everybody was like beating down the doors to hear you talk. So I want to share this. I was super poor. Gina and I just got married. We moved to Arizona. This WPBI was happening in Las Vegas. And I remember we had no money and we drove from Phoenix to Las Vegas. We changed in the parking lot to like put on clothes as we just drove. And we went to just bump into you, see your talk. And then we got back in the car and drove all the way back to Phoenix. Did not stay, had no money to stay, right?
36:29And the crazy part, the reason why I share that story is I think there is something about when you know you're supposed to be in someone's life, you do things like that, crazy, weird things like that. When I wrote that letter, this was before that, when I came and saw you, we didn't want you to know that we were like coming there just to see you. So we acted like we were there for everything, but I just wanted to come and be like, I gotta be a part of this person's life. And so I think that you're that kind of person. I tell that story because I think that a lot of people probably have that story.
36:55And I think that when we realized that we became friends, I think that, can I say this? I think that you're one of the most selfless people that I've met. And I think that that's why I want your people right now in this space to understand that because of how much you give. And it's not just about asking questions and doing this co-host thing. I would come from anywhere in the world to do this, like hands down. Yeah. So hold on. Don't do that yet because I actually do have a question. That was the statement. Tell me this. You've been doing this for a while. You've been in the - What's this? You've been doing being a Sherpa for a long time.
37:27Yeah. And you've been giving and giving and giving and giving. And I just want to ask you, because I think people should know this, is like, what can people do to help fill you up and to support you? And like, what are the ways that give you energy and life from this community? Because I feel like people would love to know how to do that in a way that fits in with your world. I think the answer, I'm certain the answer is a throwback to what Billie Jean was talking about. He talked about how what we do is we essentially make ourselves famous by what we share and the information we put out. And it's a strategy.
38:03And then he says that there are players like Kobe who could leverage media to make it part of that. And I don't know if it's in me. I don't know if it's the industry. I don't know if it's who I am that would be able to go behind that and get media back to money. I just think that there's like this massive massive massive tectonic shift that I think I could be a part of why am I crying no gangster here no I feel like okay so you ask what can people do yeah it's like when you share it when you share it because the show isn't monetized we do all of this as a labor of love like we just want to give to people and be like you are the captain of your ship like go ahead and do it like how do we take our failures and turn them into lessons.
38:44And I'm like, my whole life, that's the only thing I want to do. And so anyway, okay, okay, got it together, got it together, got it together, is when people share the show, when people leave reviews, and when people do that, it's just like, damn, that 30 second review really has an impact for what we do in the back end. So what do I want people to do? Share it. Because if you got one thing from it, somebody else can get one thing. And that's how we make an impact. So even if the media dollars aren't necessarily there, there's a group of people who can become the media. Like, that's what I'm about.
39:12Like, you can take the girl, the hood, you can't take the hood out of the girl. You know, it's like, come on. Like there's like, there's, there's a resistance, there's a movement, there's a thing, like there's a big, and I hate saying this because it sounds like I have a chip on my shoulder. Maybe I do, but we can give a big middle finger to the way that things are done. Right. And it's like, if I can become a pioneer of being like, that's the system, let's fricking break the system and make anybody somebody. And like, to me, I'm like, I do that. And I'm like, oh dang, game over. Yeah. But it misses, don't miss it because the reason why this is welling up and this is emotional because it's a grind.
39:40Like you've been doing this and sharing for so long. Right. Yes. So the reason why I bring it up is like one, I'm the greatest talk show host of all time. Right. And I got jazzed with a cry. I'll be very, I'll be very serious. I'll be very serious. So you, the one thing I was, I love that people can share. I love that this is a labor of love. It takes a very long slog, the dig process for this, for you to be able to do that for this long. And so the last question I'll have, and I'll just leave it here because we've been talking for a long time. What is it that makes you keep doing this? And let me say this, because there's an evolution happening.
40:17Like I've seen it, I'm watching, like, here's the crazy part, we talk, but I've seen this, there's a next phase of this whole thing. And it's not the podcast. It's not courses. Like you could give all of this away forever and you will, because that's who you are. But I could see that there's like a, you're coming out of your skin, something's happening. Can you share any of that with us? Could you share like the fact that do you feel that like you're kind of transitioning into something else? Yeah. I don't know what it is. It's been, you know, 2022 was, dang it. It's like the worst. It was the worst.
40:56And I knew that you have to be broken to change. And 2022 broke me. And so when I started 2023, my word of the year, like I never choose my word. The word comes to me. My word of the year was rebirth. And so I knew I was being called to change. I know I'm being called to change. And I'm very uncomfortable building in public when you don't know what you're building. Marcus, it's been hard, man. And so when I texted you in Santa Barbara and I'm like, I'm becoming a new thing. I don't know what I'm becoming and I need a space to create it. and I can't create, I can't paint in my apartment. I got to paint in the front lawn.
41:36And you don't know what you're painting, you know? And like, that's, it's hard. It's really hard. Yeah. But here's the cool part is that, you know, it's funny when we were listening to Johnny talk about like where he starts on a canvas. Yeah. Yes. I told you the whole word. Well, I saw your whole body movement change and your face change because I think that you're this close to the canvas right now. And it's really cool because I think the next best thing and the next evolution and how, why you're like jumping out of your skin because you're in this crazy growth mode and everybody's just kind of coming along for it is that you're going to probably step back and look at what you've been painting.
42:14Does that make sense? It does. And I feel like when you hear things and you don't want to listen. And so JD was the first to say, I think you need a break. And I'm like, no, I think I need to work more. I need to do more. and when Johnny had said, you know, you take a step back. And I think hearing all of it is I do need to take a step back. But my concern is that I come back from the break and people say, so what are you going to paint? And I'm like that expectation of taking a step back and then like having the courage to go back and put your nose against the canvas and say, I still don't know.
42:47And I told JD, I'm like, I'm not ready for that pressure. I'm not ready for that pressure to come back and say, this is the thing that we're building. And so I'm going to take a break. Like, I know I am, but I'm putting up a lot of parameters to say, like, I'm taking a break without expectation. And I need that for me. And I don't know. I don't know if we're going to get to the end of the year. You know, we're recording this. It's debuting. It's August. And I don't know if I'm going to know what I'm painting by the end of the year. And I've had to come to that level of acceptance. It's okay. I don't know.
43:15Yeah, well, I'll say this. I'm proud of you. Thank you. I think that it takes a lot of courage to be able to step away from that, to be able to gain a perspective. the part is is like there's always going to be an anticipation for what jasmine does next sorry like you're going to have to have that but what you do you have way more control of like understanding how it fits in and you get to now paint whatever you want so that's the cool part is freedom in that but i just want to tell you i think i'm proud of you thank you very excited for you and just to be here in this space together and be able to experience kind of the evolution is amazing.
43:48Thank you. So one thing that we learned was that community is important and people who just give you the space to be. And so it took you a lot of work to get some of like a really talented, amazing friends down here. It took you a lot of work to get down here. It's on your time and your dime. And I think I'm going to look back. Like I know what in me, Marcus, like I know what in me, I know there's something like big in me. Yeah, I see it. And I'm gonna look back and be like, it was the community who shut up. So I just want to say thank you. Dang it. I love you. I love you. I'll give you a cry.
44:21All right. Well, see you guys later, everybody. It's been really fun. What a way to wrap it. But seriously, though, this is awesome. Please keep doing this. Bring in really interesting people. Biggest fan. Thank you. Thank you. You want to close this out? Everyone, thank you so much. It's a complete honor and privilege to be involved with friends who are doing amazing things in the world. And so I just feel like I hope you got something from my really cool friends that we got to be on your show. And until then, you know, please join the conversation, be a part of the community and continue to watch and share this to get the message out there.
44:56Thank you. Thank you.
From the publisher
“Jasmine, you need to take a break…”
JD (my husband and business partner) said these words to me a few weeks ago.
I immediately replied, “No. I need to work more. I need to do more.” (Can you relate?)
It was while recording this podcast series with my co-host Marcus Murphy, I realized it wasn’t the work that was keeping me from stepping away, it was the pressure of coming back and people asking what I was going to do/accomplish/create/build next.
That’s right, the expectations of returning kept me from taking time away to just…be.
(Spoiler alert: I ended up taking the break.. AND, I put up parameters and said, “I'm taking a break without expectation and I need to do this for myself.”)
In this conversation with Marcus, you'll hear me process the uncomfortableness of taking a break without knowing my next move. You'll also hear us both share candidly about how we got to where we are today, in hopes that our journeys will inspire and encourage you.
Click play to hear all of this and…
[00:02:02] Marcus’s transition to becoming a CEO of a tech company and developing his company, The Five Percent.
[00:06:04] Why Marcus believes in observing the market to build a business
[00:09:33] How building your own brand helps you take control of your own circumstances and improve your organization.
[00:10:18] How Marcus decided to focus on professional athletes as his niche.
[00:17:24] How to create awareness around your brand, build recognition, and engage your audience.
[00:18:21] What skyscrapers and athletes have in common - and how to apply it to business
[00:22:04] Marcus’s goal of building awareness for his business and how he plans to make this goal a reality.
[00:27:23] The value of being “a sherpa” and helping others navigate their own path to success.
[00:31:17] The responsibility and significance of being a minority founder in the business world.
[00:33:43] My journey and challenges of transitioning from consulting to becoming a CEO.
[00:42:50] Why I plan on taking a break and how I’m handling the expectations upon returning.
Marcus spent the last 15 years building the foundation for a life of serial entrepreneurship. In 2020, he left his dream job as a senior member of the executive team at DigitalMarketer. He literally cried himself to sleep the night he made this decision... but it was the right one. Marcus is currently the co-founder and CEO of The Five Percent, an international community geared toward inspiring, equipping, and facilitating actionable content for emerging entrepreneurs.
For full show notes visit: https://jasminestar.com/podcast/episode367
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