The Business of Snoop + Imposter Syndrome

Business Brain, episode 480 for Casual Friday, September 1, 2023. Greetings, folks, and welcome to Business Brain, the show where we take a topic or a few topics, we dig into them, we dissect them, we analyze them so that we can tune our business brains together and keep on living those charmed lives that we always love. Sponsors for this episode include Zinch, which is. Oh, easy for me to say. Zinch, which is a direct lender that makes financing fast and simple. They are waiving their $250 application fee for you because you're a business Brain listener at financing that works.com and Miro, which is this awesome visual platform to connect and collaborate. And your first three Miro boards are free forever when you sign up@miro.com podcast. We'll talk in depth about both of those in a little bit. For now, here in Durham, New Hampshire, I'm Dave Hamilton.

And out here in sunny California, I'm Shannon Jean.

Yeah. Go to any concerts lately, Shannon?

I have, actually. So I have an interesting story and observation about a concert I went to last weekend. So we have these lawn season passes at our local amphitheater. Yeah, it's great. It's, you know, a couple hundred bucks and you get to go to just about every show during the summer. And what I really like about it is you go to shows that you normally would not buy tickets to. Right? Yeah, of course. So my wife and I and her brother and his wife, we often go and a few other people we know. So last weekend was the Snoop Dogg High School Reunion Tour.

Okay. Yep.

And I thought, well, we have to go to this, right?

Yeah.

And not that I'm, I, I could tell you any Snoop Dogg songs, although I know some of the melody and I know some of the stories behind a few of them. I said, we got to go to this, this will be, this will be fascinating. So we, we, we went and it wasn't. It was a incredible experience in the, in many ways. And the one thing that stood out to me was the group of guys there was like, Too Short and Warren G and Wiz Khalifa and a couple of local guys. They were or they have monetized their stories. The storytelling concept of, you know, some pretty rough stories coming up in, you know, out of not great areas and making it and, you know, this kind of stuff. And as I watched these and listen to these guys come out and do this stuff, I just saw everybody eating it up and, you know, this huge crowd of people that were lots. And here I thought I was I was not the oldest person there.

Right.

Which is often the case. And, and the demographic was vastly mixed, which was, you know, fascinating too. And these people, it's a story of, you know, getting out of these bad experiences and, and thriving and succeeding. And now we're going to talk about it and how we did it and why, you know, there's a lot of bravado in those songs, how I'm the best and this kind of thing. And, you know, you can jump on Twitter and see similar conversations about people that I've made it. I started businesses, now I'm coaching or I'll help you be a creator. But it just got back. It just really hit me, you know, I've talked about this for years on the show is the power of that story. And, and if, and even if you haven't written all of yours yet and none of us have, but how do you want that story to be told and how do you want it to. What do you want it to look like at the beginning, the middle and the end? It's. You get to make that decision, which is a hugely powerful thing. And these guys have done it and they did a great job. There was a lot of commerce going on. I did a breakdown on the, the business of Snoop up on Twitter. And you can go up there, millions of dollars pass through that venue that night. And so I broke it down. Whether I'm right or wrong, if, you know, the concert business, go up and tell me what I got. Right or wrong.

No, it is fascinating. Well, because, you know, music artists are not. There's not nearly as much money in selling your recordings as there used to be. Right. I mean, that's just a fact of life now that we're in the digital age. Right. You don't have to package it up as a 10 song record anymore. Right. You know, it used to be that was the most efficient way to get it out. It was also an industry that sort of controlled itself and was able to like soak money out of the consumers. And now the consumers sort of drive that industry. Right. Like it was consumer hostile for a while, I would say. I know there's a lot of nostalgia there. We miss holding, you know, the record albums. Forget about the argument about whether it sounds better or not. I'm not going to get into that right now. If you think it sounds better to you, then it does. Like that. That's fine. But, but the, because the co. You know, cognitive bias is totally fine when it comes to something subjective like audio quality. You're wrong but it's fine. But, you know, holding the, the album sleeve and, and getting the liner notes and all of that, like, there's definitely, I mean, there was an enjoyment of that. You could immerse yourself in it.

Experience.

Yeah. And. And there's also nostalgia in that. A lot of that is lost now. And so parts of it were certainly consumer friendly, but in general, it was consumer hostile. It was like, you know, we're going to sell you on the hit single on the radio and make you buy that plus 10 other songs in order to have it at home. And, and so in that, that revenue stream was lost, others now make up for it with, you know, t shirts costing a fortune and the whole merchandising. And even concert tickets are way more expensive, even compared to inflation, than they used to be. And it's for that same reason. It's like, well, you know, the records used to pay for the tour. Now it's the other way around.

Other way around, yeah. So check it out. I'll link it in the show notes. But if you go to Twitter or X, just my name, Shannon Jean, and you can take a look at the breakdown on the, on the money and give me some feedback. I'd love some comments on that.

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Look, Zinch is waiving application fees for everyone that listens to business brain. Here, this, that's a $250 value for just minutes of your time. So go straight to this special URL. Financing that works. Com Again, that's financing that works.com loans made or arranged pursuant to a California finance lender's law license. And our thanks to Zinch for sponsoring this episode. Shannon, I mentioned that I was at Podcast Movement in Denver last week. Now that's right. Yep. Now I have been podcasting for over 18 years. Right. In. In many people's estimation. You know, I'm one of the OG podcasters. That's what, that's what I get called sometimes. I don't. I've never seen myself that way. I understand that from like logically, from a time span, you know, view. I. That. That is correct. Right. It's just, just a fact of the industry. But I know a lot of people who started before me. Right. I mean, okay, I wasn't the first by any stretch of the imagination. You know, I was in the first year, barely. But that's about as, as much as I can lay claim to. Right. You know, and so, but, you know, I come to these shows and when I walk in the door, even when I'm on my way there, when I'm planning my trip there, I feel like an imposter sometimes, Often. And, and it's, you know, yes, I was there at the beginning, but the industry has grown around and in, in some ways past me right there. There are companies doing things that I never even dreamed about doing in podcasting and, you know, business being created and sold and, and values being created that, that I'm just not participating in. And, and so, like, and there are people who are much podcasters who are much more well known than me, despite them being, you know, quote unquote, newer to the scene. Right, okay. And all of those things are okay. Like, it's fine. In fact, I often say that I love going to, for the education side of these conferences, I love going to the podcasting 101 sessions because, you know, the person that's, that's the expert there, they've been podcasting three or four years, they're teaching a bunch of beginners. It's entirely likely that I'm the person in the room who's been doing this the longest by far. But I always learn something because I have habits, right, that I've developed. Things change and things have changed. And so people that started in the last five years don't bring any of the baggage, the tech baggage or habitual baggage that I have, right? So I can always learn stuff. And that part of it's great, but I am always, I never trust myself when I'm going into these things to be like, okay, yep, I, you know, I, I'm an industry veteran. I've seen some things I can, you know, I have a perspective that matters. I, I, I have not, in a number of years, I have not pitched to speak at these events. And I, I, that is something that I certainly could do. People value my opinion, but I, I just have this imposter syndrome. And, and then after I get there, after a day of meetings with both new people and, and people I know, but more importantly new people, I realized that I do belong there. Right? And, and people are like, oh, this is amazing. Like, it's so great to see you. I get wind up getting introduced as, here's Dave, one of the OG podcasters.

You should, you're that Guy.

That guy. Right. I'm that guy. Yeah, exactly like Jeff was talking about Wednesday. But I like, I, But I don't. It takes getting there and sort of being. Throwing myself into it against, you know, all of my better judgment to, to get there. So I like, yeah, I don't know what to do about this.

So I have a lot to say about this because I have similar feelings and stuff like this happens to me frequently.

Sure.

Number one is. And as I told you in Slack, I don't know that it's a bad thing. I think it could be that imposter syndrome can kind of motivate you to keep striving to do better, to keep your name relevant. And that's fair.

Yeah, Yeah.

I think that. I think there's a part of that and whether I'm rationalizing.

No, certainly if I go into this and, and think, well, I've been doing this 18 years. Yes, you. I deserve your respect like that. Yes, that's. That. I know. True. Right. And also is. Is really bad. But, but I don't know that the level at which I, I believe.

Would it be debilitating. Right. Yeah, well.

And the fact like, and it's not like I get there and I shake in my room, like, oh my gosh, I can't go out and do this. Like, that would be bad. And if there are people like that, like, I hope that they can get past that for sure. It's more that I like. I definitely. It would be good for business if I were to be speaking at these things. And I just have. Have stopped submitting now. I was also told in actually in very specific terms. You know, I submitted to speak at a few of these a number of years ago, and I was told in. In very specific terms, well, you are a older white male, so we. You are therefore going to be, you know, you're. Someone else is going to be chosen above you that is not older white.

And that's a whole different episode right there.

It is. But. But it was like, I get it, like, they need to show diversity on their panels. It's like, well, but I do have things to say. And the reason I have things to say is because I was there in the beginning. And just as a byproduct of how things were, most of us that were there in the beginning were. Are now older and we've always been white and male. So like, you know, it's just like. But, but I think that's part of why I don't submit. But it's not the Only reason I haven't submitted, like, I really just need to do this and take my lumps. If they don't take a session, I submit. Well, just try again. Like, just keep going.

That's right.

Until they can't. Until they can't ignore me. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And so I think it's. I think it's good to be self aware. You have that humility. And I, I think it's a. Such a common thing. You know, it's funny because about the same time you posted that, you know, and I've been talking about trying to grow my presence on Twitter and build this, you know, personal brand, and I really feel it there. And I, And I, I. But I posted this, you know, the other day. I said, wow, my typical thought process here. You know, I started. I've started six business. Six businesses. I've sold like three of them. I've got all kinds of good stuff to share. And then I keep looking at everybody else in a half hour, I'm like, man, these guys are killing it. Nobody wants to hear from me. I don't. You know what, yeah.

What value do I have here? Yeah, exactly.

And then, and then a half hour later, I get a bunch of followers, I get some good responses, and I'm like, okay, I'm back. Yeah, yeah.

And this is an hour.

Yeah, yeah. It's all within like 60 minutes. And, yeah, I don't have a solution. You know, I try to pump myself up a lot. You know, being able to manage your ego is a really good framework to have. Taking it up and taking it down.

Taking it down, yes. Using it as a tool. Yeah. Not letting it run you. Yep.

You got it. Yeah, you got it. So it's, it's tough. And, and you know, there's these. I've been seeing these graphics where, you know, if you focus on the day by day, you know, it's just up and down and up and down. But over time, it's like the stock market, you know, it does trend upward. It's. The key is to keep going and keep doing it and to find support wherever you can. You know, like, I know you posted to me in Slack and I responded right away. And then we're talking about on the show. So collaboration with other people, I think really helps you get over this stuff and being authentic and building in public, they call it on Twitter.

Yeah, well, that's what I'm doing right here. Here we are.

Yeah, me too. Me too. You know, and also admitting you're like, well, I don't you know, tell me. And I think we try to do that here. And it's like, hey, you know, send us your feedback at Feedback to businessbrain show to tell us, did we get this right? Did are we wrong? You know, what are we missing about this topic or whatever. Yeah, that's critically important to helping get through imposter syndrome, because if you sit in your bubble and listen to your inner judge, you can convince yourself of just about anything good and bad.

Yes.

Yes. So you have to bust out of that. I'll leave you with one quick story. You know, I love Beck, the music artist, and he has this song called Loser, and he says this phrase that I just cannot say, and it says, you know, instead. And I changed the word from I'm to your. So when I sing that song and he comes to that phrase, which is a great phrase, I say, you're a loser, baby. I could never say the word I'm. I just can't. I can't let that come into my head.

Yeah.

And so for years, I've just, you know, that song is, I don't know, 20 years old.

Well, and the Beatles. The Beatles have a song that has exactly that same phrase as its title. So with the word I'm, so. Yeah, exactly.

No way can I think like that.

Yeah.

And so, you know, you get to change however you think of these things and all that stuff. And. And. But we'd love to hear about your stories of imposter syndrome. Tell us, you know, how you've overcome it or maybe you don't have it. Maybe.

Yeah, maybe we're the only ones.

I doubt it.

I doubt it. Yeah, but.

Feedbackusinessbrain show and get enter to win a MacBook when you send in your email.

Yeah, absolutely. Like he said, feedbackusbrain show. Check out zinch@financing that works.com and also miro.com podcast. Keep living that charmed life. Have a great weekend and have a great long weekend in the US and we'll see you next week.