JT Barnett - Brand Building on TikTok & Navigating The Creator Economy In 2023

Welcome back to the Casey Adams Show. I am very excited to announce today's sponsor of the pod because if you don't know, over the past year I have been taking my health very seriously. From running my first marathon in Honolulu to getting an ice bath and plunging every single day to a product that I've been using every day. And that brings me to today's sponsor. Today's episode is brought to you by Athletic greens. I consume AG1 daily, taking it before my morning workout, and it gives me the energy to tackle the day. AG1 Simplicity makes it a convenient supplement choice as it only requires one scoop of powder mixed with water daily. Each scoop is loaded with 75 top quality vitamins, minerals and whole food ingredients that provide gut and mood support, increased energy and improved skin, hair and nail health. If you're looking for an easier way to take supplements, Athletic Greens is giving you a free one year supply of vitamin D and five free travel packs. With your first purchase. Go to athleticgreens.com CaseyAdams that's athleticgreens.com CaseyAdams check it out and enjoy today's episode. Welcome back to the Casey Adams Show. Today I am joined by a good friend and someone that I truly look up to when it comes to everything. Content creation. J.T. barnett. Thank you so much for coming to show, brother.

What up, bro? I'm stoked to be here. This is gonna be fun.

Thanks so much for making this happen. I know we've been trying to make this happen for a while now, so we have. Let's do it. You were in Australia for the past handful of weeks. It's January 2023. How does it feel to be back?

So good. I think like, I'm such a routine person and like we've curated similar to you, we've curated our home to be like a place where we just like feel like we're in our optimal routine. So beginning of the year, I feel like you want to be. It's very cliche to say that you're like trying to like have a fresh start, but I feel like the beginning of year you want to get off to a good foot. So I'm happy to be back now and be like back in our routine.

I love that. It's so funny say that because I interviewed this guy earlier and he was, we were talking about sports and how it relates to business and entrepreneurship and he's like, you know, and he said like, oh, a cliche. But day one of the year of the month is like game day, right? It's like when things are beginning, when the scoreboard starts. And I totally get that. Well, I'm excited to dive into your story today. We've known each other for a while now. We've been working out a handful of times when you were here in la. And I've always been so amazed to see how you do things when it comes to the content side of it and how you've built your business. But most importantly you as a person. One thing that I've been thinking about a lot is just this idea of success or views. They don't change you, they amplify you. And I feel like your message is such an important message to amplify and your content has done that so well. But for everyone that doesn't or that may not know the type of content you put out and your business, I'd love for you to provide a high level overview of what it is that you do and the content you put out.

Yeah, well, do. Thank you for saying that. I appreciate that the content that I put out is technically educational content. And I think the intersection of everything that I'm doing right now is, is the intersection of, of business and people. And I think the, and I think the, the like the nucleus of that is content. Because every person right now that is a creator is trying to become a business and every business is trying to act like a creator. So I think that like, I've just kind of found myself like, I really relate to people and I really enjoy meeting new people and like hearing what they're up to. And so now the fact that something that I have had skills at or knowledge at, which is content, can help the conversations that I'm showing up to has like made me really enjoy my work. So the content that I put out is all like educational content around literally the world of content. So how to monetize your account as a creator or really take it seriously, which doesn't have to necessarily be monetizing, but just like how to take yourself seriously as a creator. But then on the flip side, it's also businesses trying to take them serious themselves seriously as a creator because most businesses are even more lost than a random individual on the street. So yeah, it's the intersection of business and content and people. And I'm like really enjoying it. And so I've had a lot of fun over the last couple of years getting to like put more stuff out there.

That's so awesome. And you know, I, I, since we met, just your whole philosophy on TikTok as a medium has been Such an important part of what you talk about. And you've helped so many brands not only dial in their TikTok strategy, but have helped creators work for different brands with what you do.

When.

When was it that you got on TikTok and what was your initial reaction? And where do you see it today?

Yeah, dude, get. The thing that Got me on TikTok was probably seeing people like Gary Vee talk about it in like 2018. I think it was even, like, musically. And he was saying it now just became TikTok. You guys should look at this. And I. I'm a dude that just likes being on the cutting edge of things. I think that's something that I'm learning even more and more. I get very fascinated with cutting edge things. I learn by doing. I can't just, like, read an article and then, like, absorb the knowledge. I have to, like, I get like a spark from an article or a. Or a video or something. And then I'm like, I got to, like, test this out.

Yeah.

So I think I heard that and then I downloaded it and I was like, all right, let me check this out and see. Like, what is. What is this all about? And when I downloaded it, everybody was already on, like, Instagram was the thing at that time, 2018, everybody's like scrolling on Instagram, posting on Instagram. That was what I was doing. That was my career. And I scrolled on TikTok and I was like, fuck, this shit is like, so sorry for cursing. I was like. I was like, this stuff is like, you're. I'm leaving. I'm saving videos to my phone. I'm learning and I'm laughing a lot. Like, genuinely, like, laughing. And like, you don't get that as much. You weren't getting that as much on Instagram in 2018. I didn't feel like the stuff that I was consuming was making me feel like I was going to school. I was seeing, like, friends and stuff. But it honestly, like, it was very like, if anything, it was making me feel worse. It wasn't making me feel better. TikTok, when I would scroll and I would feel better. And so that was the first thing that intrigued me. Then everybody was talking about the organic reach. So it was like you could post a random video and get a million views. In 2018, I literally posted a video. I played hockey, so I have a retainer. I literally posted a video of my retainer, me losing my retainer and finding it again. And it got like 400,000 views. And I was like, this Is this is odd? Like, first I was like, is this fake? But then I was like, but these are, like, real comments that are coming in too, so this has to be real. So then I started taking a little more serious, started posting a little bit more, and then, lo and behold, I was like. I had, like, kind of the epiphany of, like, this is real. This is not a joke. This is something that I want to really pay attention to. And that was when I decided to start taking it serious.

Wow, it's so crazy. And I feel like things just changed so fast, 2018 to now. And like, that truth of TikTok is the next thing. As you said with Gary, that's when I first heard about it, 2019. And it's been crazy to see it take over. But I want to dive into your background. You know, you. You put out a post recently on LinkedIn talking about your career, as in as a hockey player, where, for those that might not know about your journey, you. You moved out at 15, if I'm not mistaken. Right?

Correct.

What was that journey like in your life? Why did you move out at 15? And how was hockey? Why was hockey such an important part of your life?

Yeah, so my dad was a hockey player who retired and then became a hockey executive. First an agent and then an executive. And so when I was born, I was literally, like, bored on the skates. I was born in Los Angeles, but I was born, like, to be. I was born and was immediately, like, kind of like ushered into playing hockey. And I fell in love with it. And for most people, if. Especially if you're in the United States at that point, college hockey was not equal to the hockey that you could find in Canada. So you have to make a decision. Do you go to college and play in the US or do you go and play what's considered semi pro in Canada, which is age 15 to 20? And a lot of players in the US will risk it. They'll forego college and they'll go play in Canada because there's a higher percentage of those players that go to the NHL. And so when I was getting closer, I got. When I was getting close to that age, at around age 13, I got drafted to go to that league. 13? Yeah. You get drafted at 13, bro. And I'm like, and my brother right now is. Is. Is around that age or getting closer to it. And I look at him, like, literally like he's a baby still. And I. And it's just crazy for me to. It's crazy for me to Think about like that, that was the age that I was at when it happened. So you're. I'm around 13, I get drafted and then at 15 is when you actually can go and play. You can start playing at 15. So towards the end of my 15 year old year, I moved up there. And I was talking about this before from la, I was living in Arizona. So I grew up in Los Angeles and then I moved to Arizona. I was 10. And from 10 to 15, I lived in Arizona. And it's just crazy how it happens because for me it was really challenging. It was, it was so bittersweet because it was so shitty in the sense of I'm leaving my family and I have five brothers and sisters and I'm close with all my brothers and sisters and I'm close with my mom and my dad and I love my friends. Like, you see me here. Like, I love, I love people. You got your squad, I got squad. Squad. And I love hanging with people and I love like meeting people. So I had that in Arizona. I had like a good group of people, people. But I also loved hockey and I loved what I was doing and I loved the pursuit of trying to fulfill that dream that I had as a kid. So I moved away at 15. I decided, I decided to go. And when I left at 15, it was really tough. So you move, you move to Canada. You really, you literally like show up.

You'Re in high school.

I did my freshman year in Arizona. I left after my freshman year. So I left going into my sophomore. In freshman summer, I knew I was moving away, so. Yeah. So also that's crazy. I had just met a bunch of people freshman year. I love my school, I love my friends, I love like the new groups that I'm hanging out with now. And like, everybody knows like high school, if you have a good experience in high school, like high school is a fun time of your life.

It's like foundational of what you learn, the people experience.

For sure. For sure. So I, I left and I. And the Canadian. And for most Canadians, it's, it's, it's like a rite of passage, but it's just so much more normalized because hockey so big there that it's like a lot of guys will leave their hometown and move to a different city in Canada.

Yeah.

Granted, most of them aren't leaving the country, but they're moving to a different city to go live with like a billet family or a host family to pursue their, their career. It's like a normal thing. Wow. And so that was what I did. And I ended up playing from 15 to 20. And I. And I'll say this like, it was. It was foundational for me because I learned so much about myself and about the things that I wanted and the things that I didn't want in those years. And I wouldn't trade it for. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I would do it all the exact same way. Even though it was really tough leaving family and all of that, because I got to pursue something that I love and ended up actually achieving that, and so it was worth it. But, yeah, it was definitely a challenge. Leaving family at 15, that's.

That's crazy, because I. I play. I grew up playing hockey as well. I put on a pair of skates at three, but mainly roller hockey. Then I played ice. And coming from Virginia, I actually have two friends now that I played with that ended up making it to the NHL. One's on the Rangers, and then one recently got drafted. But I like thinking about that process and the commitment it takes. It's exactly what you're talking about, right? It's like traveling and moving to different cities to pursue this different opportunity at 13, when you get drafted. We even, like, dove into this before as friends, you know, we've known each other for so long. Like, was that your. Like, did you want that at the time in terms of, like, hey, I'm. I'm 10. I'm 11. I'm 12. Like, did you know that at 13 you're gonna get drafted and you have to make a decision to leave high school at 15? Like, was that in your plan? Or, like, what were you thinking back then? Because, like, that's such an early age, as you're saying, to make a decision to leave the country, not only leave the state or leave your hometown or leave your family, believe the country. And I think it speaks volumes to, like, how you are now as a person and what that experience did for you in your life.

Yeah, dude, it's fun. This is. This is the thing that I've talked a lot about in therapy because I've. I've been trying to, like, I've tried to, like, understand it and be like, did I really want to leave or did I want to stay, bro? I think I wanted to leave. Like, I think that I, I, I. I really think that I. I love my group of friends, and I love my. My home base and all of that, but I think that there was a part of me that knew that it was something that I needed to do because I really wanted to pursue the career. And so even though I was 13 years old and it. There's. There's a debate that, like, it should be up to me or not. Like, my parents had to say on it. Yeah, I know that. I genuinely wanted to pursue it. I don't think that I was conscious of how challenging it would be leaving family. Like, I don't think that that was. That was. I was aware of that, but I. I wanted to go. I was ready for it.

Wow, that's. That's crazy. And, like, when you were away, how often were you seeing family? Were you traveling back often? Did they come to you or what did that process look like?

Yeah. So, dude, this is where I'm like, it's. It's crazy because I. My family visited me one. So you get a Christmas break. My family visited me one time other than the Christmas break. So I saw them twice throughout that. And you're gone for about eight, nine months. Wow. So you see them twice. My dad maybe came up, like, by himself because my dad traveled still for hockey, so he would come up periodically. But I didn't see my brothers and sisters more than maybe one or two times per year, those five years.

Wow.

And I didn't see any of my high school friends other than that Christmas break and then summer, so the Christmas breaks, like, a couple of days. So it's just. It's not, like, dire circumstances where it's like I was in a, you know, a prison cell or anything. And granted, I was. And I was, like, pursuing something that I love. But the. But as a person, as, like, a young kid who is, like, so emotionally connected to all of the things that I was. It was a thing that was challenging for me and for my youth and for my development. But I say all that to say, dude, I, like, I look at everything as, like, it happened. It's happening for you. Like, I really believe that everything that's happening is happening for you. And so as much as I could complain about, like, the circumstances I was in, any circumstance that I was in has led me to where I'm at right now. So I'm like, fuck it. It was for me. It happened for me.

Yeah.

And I'm glad that it happened.

That's great. I love the quote. It's like, things don't happen to you. They happen for you.

For sure.

Spot on. So when did this idea of pursuing a career, social media content, when did you even start thinking about wanting to do that? You know, you're 15 to 20. You're playing hockey. How did you transition and what sparked that transition or creative mind to say, hey, I want to go do content, get into social media.

The three things I was passionate about as a kid were creativity, sports in the Internet. Let me break these down. The creativity stuff was my parents put me in all music instruments. Since that time, I was like three. Piano, guitar, drums, bass, everything. I played all of it. Growing up, I was an artistic kid. I liked, like, making art. Like, I liked, like, messing around and painting and just doing different things, drawing different stuff like that. And I liked making. I liked using cameras and video. So I liked filming, like, little videos with my friends and. And taking photos and stuff like that. So creativity, sports, obviously hockey. And that was like my number one thing. And then the Internet, like, when I was like, I was born in 1992, so by the time I'm getting into like, fifth, sixth grade, like, like AOL and AOL, instant messenger was a thing. MySpace was a thing.

You were on MySpace, dude.

MySpace was my foundation. MySpace was my foundation.

So.

So my old. I have a brother that was four. I have a brother that's four years older than me, and he, like, showed me, like, what the Internet was, and I became, like, super fascinated with it. So, like limewire and Napster, MySpace, AOL, instant messenger, those were all things that I spent a ton of time on. So then you look at, like, the trajectory of. Then I move away from home, and now I can't be in the same proximity as people, but I can be on the Internet with those people, with things like MySpace and instant messenger and all of those. So it makes sense to me why I fell in love with social media then, because it was my way to connect with all the people back home still. So I would be, like, at the rink with all my team, then I would leave and I would log on to Facebook or MySpace and I would be like, I'm back. Like, I'm with the. I'm like in the same kind of group chats and all of that with them. So that was the thing that led me to. So that was the thing that led me to social media. And then by the end of my career, Instagram had come out. And when Instagram came out, it was the first visual platform that you could actually build a career off of. Before that, there was things that you could post on Facebook, had created likes so you could actually get, like, recognition. But people weren't doing as many, like, brand deals and stuff on Facebook. You didn't see influencers on Facebook. You would follow your Friends. Instagram became the first thing that you actually would see people that you didn't know living a lifestyle that you could follow and engage with and, like, actually, like, keep tabs on. And so I saw that. And then towards the end, like, the last year of my career, my girl, my girlfriend at the time, who's now my fiance, started building an Instagram profile and, like, actually, like, building a career off of it in fitness, health, and wellness. And so I saw it being done firsthand as a career. And so when I saw that, I was like, oh, so she was.

Sammy was doing this, and you saw what she was doing from a social media perspective.

Yeah, So I had. I had already. I had already been doing Instagram myself, and I was. I was always the guy on my team, like, again, growing up, creative, Internet and sports. So I was always the guy on the team that brought those two other areas to the locker room. I was the guy that introduced people to Twitter on the team, introduced people to Snapchat, would show them what it was. I was the guy that was talking about different things creatively. I was messing around with clothes and making different designs. And so I would. I would show them, like, Instagram, and then I would start posting on Instagram, and I would talk about, like, the things that I'm into. And, like, I would document a little bit of my hockey career. Not to the extent that I wish that I would have, because hockey is very kind of conservative, and, like, you just don't. You don't brand yourself that that much. So I wouldn't post, like, everything about my career, but I would post enough to where in the hockey world, people kind of took notice that I was the hockey guy that did a lot on Instagram. So then I met Sam, and I was still doing a lot of that stuff. And then she was already doing it from more of a modeling lens. But she had a big background in health and wellness. She was really interested in it. So then she started doing it in health and wellness and just saw it. I saw it click. I saw it start to build. I saw her take it seriously and what could happen if you did take it seriously? And then when I saw that, I was like, I'm good. Like, I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm at the point of my career where I'm good, I'm good to be like, to close this door and move into something else. And then content became the whole thing.

Wow. I'm curious. When you say close that door, I think that's such a powerful moment. That happens in. In people's lives. Right. Like, for me, when I got injured as a football player, neck brace for six months, that was a door that just slammed shut in my face. I got injured and the rest is history. And I could never play football again. I just had to stop. And it just really created this new path of, like, you know, that opened up this new door of opportunity of, like, where do I spend my time, what do I want to consume, content, et cetera. When you talk about that transition of closing that chapter and taking it seriously, what were some of the early things that you did from a social media perspective that laid the foundation of how you think about it when it comes to maybe people you follow or influences that. Like, people that influenced you and more so the content that you started putting out back then when you were just getting started. Because I think, you know, people watching this or listening see your content today, and it's like, oh, wow, a whole production and you have all these, like, epic edits and you're so consistent. Like, where did that start?

Yeah, I think, like, you were just saying when the. When a door is closed for some people, it's like the slam of a door and it's a single moment. And then for other people, it's like, it kind of like halts to stop and there's like multiple. It's like a bumpy stop. So for me, it was kind of like a bumpy stop. It wasn't just like a, I'm done with hockey, I'm ready. It was like, when I got done playing in Russia, I was like, well.

You played in Russia.

I played in Russia.

I didn't know that.

My last. My second to last year, I was playing in Russia and I was playing for the Russian army. And this is the equivalent of the NHL. So I'm at, like, the high. It's like the highest of the high for me.

Wow.

Yeah. So I was like. So I played four years in the US and then I went overseas and played in Russia for my fifth year. And the Russian team was like, a step up from where I was playing in the US it's the equivalent of the NHL. And when I was over there, I was like, oh, I've reached, like, the pinnacle. So, like, like, I can check this box that, like, I've. I'm not going to play in the NHL, but I'm going to play. I played in. I can say I played in something that was the equivalent of it in Russia, which is the next best league in the world. And when I got There, I checked that box. But I was, like, hungry. I was like, I'm going to like, I think I could play in this league at least for a couple more years, or I could go back in the US and take another crack at the NHL or at least the next leave below it. I went back home and again, this is like the grind, like the halt to stop. I went back home and my agent was telling me that he was going to have a contract for me. So the whole summer I'm like, ready that I'm going to get a contract. I was like, in touch with him. He's like, we're going to be good. Don't worry about it. By the end of the summer, there was no contract and we hadn't prepared for anything the next leagues below. So not only did I not get a contract in any of the top leagues in the U.S. but even the next leagues below were like, hey, we've already allocated all of our budget. We've already, like, signed all these guys. We have a full roster. Like, you can come and try out. So I went from being in the top league in Russia to coming back to the US and having to try out in a lower league. And it was like. And that, that again is like one kind of like one of the bumps in the stop. I was like, ah, all right. Like, I've scratched the itch that I wanted to scratch. Like, I'm not enjoying this. I don't want to play in a lower level again. Like, maybe this is, like, intentional again. It's happening for me. Maybe this is like the fucking time for me to stop and, like, try something else. So I. I ended up going to one of those tryouts and when I was at the tryout, the team was like, look, dude, like, we like you a lot. Like, we literally can't afford your budget and we can't afford your contract and we have too many people. Like, we can't keep you. So I got cut from one of the lower level teams. So, bro, I'm just going from like, boom, boom, boom, boom, like, rejection, rejection, rejection, rejection. And to the point where I was like, all right, like, maybe I'm just going to stop right now and not even try it again. And then I got a call to go to France, and when I got a call to go to France my last year, France is like a very, like, casual league. It's not like a. It's like more like guys go play, they have fun, they tour, they travel a little bit. And it's not like you're progressing anymore. So when I got that call, I was like, all right, this is the end for me. I'm going to go to France. I'm going to. I'm going to play. I'm going to have fun while I'm playing, check out a cool country, and I'm going to be able to work in the time that I'm not playing, and I'm going to figure out what I do next. So that year, I had already met Sam, so I went to France. Our whole first year of dating, I was living in France. So we did long distance all year. One way. Yeah. She visited me one time while I was over there. So we saw each other. We. We hung out before I went over there. I was gone for. I think I was gone for six months. And she came and visited me in the middle. So for about four months. At some point we didn't see each other. And then I. And then, like, that was when I. During that time in France was when I was watching, she was doing Instagram. She was like, really taking it serious. She was like, this is going to be a business. I'm not going to. I'm not messing around with this. I want to take it serious. I'm going to have a schedule. I'm going to, like, treat myself right. I'm going to, like, take care of this. I'm going to work with the right people. And I saw her build a business in literally a span of a year. And so it made that. It definitely made the Segway for me of, like, being done with hockey easier, seeing it be done. And then when I was done, I was like, cool, I'm coming back. I love working out. I love training. That's been a big component of my brand. I'm going to come back, I'm going to work out really hard. I'm going to film all my workouts, I'm going to post workouts, I'm going to get brand deals, and that's going to be the. The money that I make until I figure out what I really want to do. That was what I did.

Wow. I didn't know. So France, Russia. Any other countries that you played in?

When you're in Russia, you play in China. You play in. So I played in all the, all the countries that you play in. Russia, China, Kazakhstan.

That's great.

Ukraine. Yeah, like, all, like all the ones that are surrounding there. But I lived in Russia and I lived in France. Wow.

That's actually insane. I didn't know all of that.

Yeah.

So how did you and Sam meet?

Sam and I met through Instagram. I knew people that she knew, so it wasn't like. I have no problem admitting that I sent her a message, because I think that's literally how everybody meets now. And I have no shame in that at all. But I knew. I knew. I knew who she was through people. We had mutual friends, but we had never met. So I sent her a message. And when I sent her a message, I was in the Russia era, so I was literally, like, no interest in having, like, a serious relationship. I genuinely was, like, looking at. Looking for, like, I was looking to, like, be friends. And she had posted something. She was. She. She posted. Posted herself getting baptized. And at that point, I was, like, involved in the church. And so I was like, this is really cool. And she. And so we started talking, like, very casually. We stopped talking for a little bit. I went through the whole thing of, like, my hockey, like, really ending. And then when I came back to the U.S. she. We ended up meeting up in person, and then that was it.

Wow, that's so cool. How long has it been now because you guys get engaged and almost.

I think we're going on seven years.

Wow. Congrats.

Thank you.

It's so exciting. It's been so cool to see.

Thanks, bro.

You guys, since we've known each other.

Dude, I think, like, I honestly feel like relationships are. Relationships are at. Bro, relationships are the core of everything. And I'm not just talking about, like, the significant other, which I think is, like, the most important relationship that you pick, but friendships and relationships with your family and relationships with your community, relationships with the content that you watch and the people that you follow. Relationships are the driving factor of your life. And so for me, I continually get another example of that every day that I live. I'm like, do you, dude, this person has been impactful to my life? Or like, Sam, like, been enormously impactful to my life. The people that I consume the content from, I'm like, these people that I follow, they're, like, genuinely helping my life. So I just look at, like, everything as, like, relationships are a very core part of what I do, which is why I have the importance of them that I have.

I love that. And, you know, I think it speaks volumes to just what you do. For example, I know, like, when we first started hanging out a lot more here in la, you've been hosting, like, coffee meetups at little lunch, and, you know, you did the home workout. We'd all get a whole group of guys come over and You've always been such a community builder in my eyes as a friend now, and you're so great at it and it just comes so natural, at least you know, to me, looking inward maybe that you know, you to build that up. But why and when did you really start taking community seriously? Because you've built an incredible community on, on social. I literally, I'll see your content of friends sharing it on their story and talking about certain topics and people just feel a part of it in terms of what you're building and how you're building it. Why is community so important to you and when did you start taking that part seriously?

I think it was instilled. Community was instilled with me because I was a middle child of a big family, so. Middle child of a big family. You're always playing the, like you're, you're, you don't want to side with one side, you don't want to say with the other. So you're kind of the mediator and you want everybody to kind of be happy. So you kind of just like you're, you're looking out for other people. You want to like appeal to other people's needs and like bring people together. So a lot of middle, A lot of middle childs are kind of like the glue. They kind of like pull people together. So I think that that was my initial test at it. But then I think as I got a little bit older, I genuinely found that I loved people. Like, I enjoyed. I just get like some. My body lights up when I meet somebody that's doing that. Something that I find cool or has a unique trait to them or a unique personality. Like, I genuinely feel like, like a fuck yeah energy. Like fuck yeah. Like this person's cool. Like it's fucking great to meet you. And so that has lit me up and, and I think that the. I also kind of like the same in line with my business. I like strategy. So I like seeing people, a group of people recognizing their skill sets, knowing other people that they might mesh with based on those skill sets and strategizing how can I get these two people together? It like comes to me very naturally. And so I think that that's something that's been really fun for me in Los Angeles is like now a lot of the people that we meet are working in same fields and are so like minded. Like I've been so, so grateful to meet so many people in LA that have been genuinely incredible people. So opposite of what the connotation to Los Angeles is. And so When I meet people, I'm like, dude, it's so great to meet you. You gotta meet this person. You need to come to something like little lunch, to one of these meetups or a workout because you're gonna vibe with this person, you guys are gonna hit it off.

Yeah. So when it comes to creating community, something like little lunch or doing the at home workouts, when did that become a priority in your life and what has that turned out to be or the outcome of doing things like that for you?

Yeah, I think like the, when you think back to like our ancestors and the tribes and how just like everybody was like so close knit and everybody looked after each other, I honestly feel like internally I'm trying to build some sort of tribe. Wherever I'm at that, it's like everybody knows each other. And my long term vision with this is like one of my biggest purposes I think is when I'm going to be a dad. And one of the things that I really want is like, I don't, I don't want the life of like a dad or I don't want the life of a dad to be just with my wife and our kids and be estranged from everybody else in our community and be estranged from all of our friends. My vision is like, I want my kids to grow up seeing all of my friends around and seeing the relationships that I have with them and how they're impactful and them knowing my kids. And I think that that is like. And I. And I think that that's very valuable to a kid to witness. And so I want, I just kind of feel like I want to build a tribe and it doesn't need to be like actual like a formal thing. But I just like, I feel like that like I'm looking, I'm always like wanting more people to come into the community and like meet them. And so the way that it started in Los Angeles was I, Sam's group of friends during COVID I actually like majority of my group of friends during COVID left, so I didn't have like that same group of friends. So I kind of was like, I'll go hang out with your friends and like see what they're up to. And I ended up meeting Casey. And so when I met Casey, he had already known other people that I knew. So we had mutual friends, one of them being Dan. And I was already working out with Dan through another friend that I didn't even know. Any of them were connected and so they were, they knew each other. So then I was like let's hang out, the three of us. And then we hung out, the three of us. And then Sam and them knew Amanda. Who? Amanda and Jared were the founders of Little Lunch. So we were like, why don't we support them one day and, like, go and check out their cafe? And I have been doing these things on Saturdays because I don't drink. I don't drink alcohol that often. And a lot of the people that I was hanging out with before would go to bars on Saturdays and watch college football and drink. So I'd be like, I don't really feel like doing that. What do I do? So I started taking meetings on Saturdays. Be like, if people want to meet and they're free on a Saturday, let's do it. I would back up meetings, like, and I would start doing them where I would walk. So I would go on Abbot Kinney, and I would meet somebody at 10am and I would walk with them back and forth, and we would chat. Then I would stop, and at 11am I would meet another person. I would walk back and forth, and I would do it 10:00am, 11:00am, 12. I would literally be there till, like, 2:00pm and I would have five meetings, and I would have walked, like, 15, 16,000 steps, just pacing back and forth on Abbot Kinney.

Wow.

Taking meetings because it was some. I wanted to make my Saturday productive.

Yeah.

And I would. And I didn't feel like drinking, and I wanted to do something that would benefit me. So I'm out in the sun, I'm walking, I'm taking meetings. I got to meet some incredible people. And at the end of that, literally towards the end of that span, Jared and Amanda had started Little Lunch, which is at the end of Abbot Kinney. So they were like, why don't you come and park at Little Lunch and then walk Abbot Kinney from Little Lunch? So I went there and we started. I started. It started with that. I started parking there and walking up a kidney's taking my meeting still and then ending back at Little Lunch. But then it ended up being, like, the person I would meet with. Would we get there and be like, do we need to walk? Let's just sit. Then we just started sitting. So then just started being like, let's just sit and take a meeting. And then the next person would come, and it'd be like, now there's three of us. And it just kind of, like, organically developed into, like, more and more people coming. And then I started actually, like, really endorsing it and being like, yo, come to Little Lunch. You need to meet people at Little Lunch. Now, the, the. The stuff with Little Lunch is now we're actually trying to find our own place to, like, really branded and, like, really do it. But I still am trying to, like, organize meetups consistently and like, just meetings of people that are just good people.

Yeah. So powerful. Like the way you've done that over time. And I think, like, for me, a version of that is the podcast. Right. Like, bringing people together, having conversations with people. It's always been such an important vessel of my life that just creates so much that you can't even predict. Right. When it comes to just interacting with more people for really no intention but to get to know them and see if there's anything that you can help them with. Right.

For sure.

I want to talk about and then shift the conversation. Just all things creator economy. I know you've. You have so many interesting views on it, and you are such a huge advocate of where the creator economy is going. And of course, if you're in the space, you see all the time polarizing opinions of, you know, creator economy is booming. Sometimes you see like, oh, funding's drying up for certain things. What is your overall stance on right now on all things creator economy moving into 2023?

I think anything that gets overhyped eventually has some sort of correction. So I think that creator economy as a whole will have a little bit of a correction. Because last year, and I would say for the last, like, two, three years, it's been so hyped up that there's been so much money poured into it without the understanding of what creators actually need and what they actually want. And so there's been a lot of companies that have been built that are tools and products for creators that creators don't even need. Like, you don't need that much as a creator. A lot of the stuff that I talk about is like, literally film it on your iPhone, edit on your iPhone, you're good. You can be a popular creator doing that.

Yeah.

So a lot of the stuff that has been built, whether that's. Whether that's tech or hardware or a physical good or whatever it is, a lot of it isn't. Hasn't been needed. So now we're starting to see, like, it's going to tip back a little bit to where it's like, what is the stuff that creators actually need and what is the stuff that creators can actually provide that companies need or that the world needs that creators can provide? The main thing for me is every creator that is able to build a community that genuinely cares about them will withstand it all. They'll be okay. They will withstand it all. They'll make it through. If they have a. If they actually have people that care, genuinely care about them, they will make it through. You will see a lot of these viral creators, enormous creators on every platform that have, that have been popularized because they were affiliated with a certain topic. When that topic goes out of style, that creator is not going to be popular anymore. Yeah, they're going to need to pivot or you just won't see them as much. So what I look at and what I try to tell people is like, get clear on who you are. Get clear on the stuff that you genuinely care about and then post that and like, push that. Because if you get people that care about you for those reasons, then you actually have genuine followers that will follow, follow you around the different things that you care about. But if you just are, do. If you just appeal to and you just follow the trends or the numbers, it's just a flash in the pan. It's just something that you. You might get it for a second, but it's not authentic to you. So then it's gone in a moment.

Yep.

Or as soon as that trend is gone or the thing that you tried to ride is gone, you're gone.

Yeah, you know, that's powerful. And speaking of, you know, building off of authenticity of who you are, where do you recommend people start nowadays? You know, there's so many different pieces of advice where, you know, post X amount of times, start on TikTok, go all in on this platform, try to do everything. But there's, there's so much to do as a creator. Right. If you actually want to do it, like the best creators, like, you look at someone like Gary Vee, like, he has a team, you know, 30, 40, 50 people that are operating things from the blog to the podcast to TikTok to LinkedIn, just, it's a whole operation. Where do you suggest people start? If they are listening to this podcast and they're saying, hey, I want to start creating content, moving into this year, but there's just so much to do. Where do I begin?

I think to start out as a creator today, I would pick one platform that I feel I'm the most natural with all of them. If you're good enough, you will get organic reach. Even though Instagram Reels and TikTok and YouTube shorts might have like, optimal organic reach right now, where it's just super organic and easier. If you are Talented and you have something to share that the audience will want to watch. You will get the organic reach on these other platforms. So pick one that you feel comes most natural to you. If that's writing, write, you do Twitter, you could do LinkedIn. If that's photographs, take photos. If it's video, do video. If you like talking to the camera. Talking to the camera, or do a podcast. But, like, pick one that comes natural to you and try to master that. Try to go really hard in that and build an audience in that. Because it's much easier to take one really, really engaged audience and push them into other places than it is to build on every single thing simultaneously as one person. When you get to a place like Gary or like Alex from Ozzy is doing right now.

Yeah.

When you get to that place and you have a team around you and you have funds to back it up and like really build, then yes, you can take on all these platforms simultaneously because you have somebody that's taking one thing and redistributing it contextually. But when you're by yourself, like to try and take on three, four, five platforms and go hard into them, it's. That's five different psychologies that you have to be thinking about every single time that you're posting. It's just too hard. Pick one, go hard into it, and then you can redistribute.

When it comes to picking one, obviously, I know you talk a lot about TikTok. What do you think the current state of TikTok is versus something like two years ago? How has it changed? How has it shifted and. And do you see it continuing to, you know, shift over time or just what's your overall thesis on how a brand or an individual should think about TikTok moving into this year?

TikTok is going through a little bit of a change right now because us as consumers are going through a little bit of a change right now. That's happening because for the last two years we've all been obsessed with these discovery style feeds. We were on Instagram for so long seeing the same bland friends and just people that we knew and we wanted something that was interest based, that was stuff that we didn't know but that we thought we wanted or that we would enjoy. Like a stumble upon kind of style of content.

Yep.

So Tick Tock comes out and it provides that and all of a sudden everybody's hooked on it because it's like, this is refreshing, this is fun. I didn't know what this. I didn't know this person before and now I'm finding new people and I'm not having to just see with the people that I see on the street every day.

Yeah.

So it becomes addicting. And everybody is now spent two years where all you're doing is scrolling on a feed where you don't know the people and you're getting new stuff every day. There's a tipping point where that becomes tiresome and you get kind of like burned out of just always seeing new things that you don't have a real deep relationship to. And so I think there'll be a tip back and this is where I'm saying that it's going to go through a little bit of a shift. There'll be a tip back towards wanting to genuinely know the person that you're and choose the people that you're following. That doesn't have to be friends and family, that could be creators, but there's going to be a tip back towards following and getting to being able to consume content of your choosing that can be on TikTok right now. It's not because they haven't, in my opinion, they haven't done a good enough job of, of productizing the following page or the other pages that you see the people that you already are following. Yep, that could be on YouTube with like actually searching people that could be on Instagram. But I think people are still. People still have a little bit of like a guard up against Instagram right now. So I don't know. I think we're like, right now we're kind of in a limbo. If you asked me this a year ago, I'd be like, TikTok is the place where everybody is scrolling and consuming and loving. I think right now we're going through a little bit of shift where people are kind of wanting to crave a little bit more of a relationship with the person that's on that end of the screen. That could be TikTok. Maybe some people are enjoying the following tab. That could be Instagram reels or Instagram, but it could be also short YouTube shorts. But YouTube shorts is also a very discovery style of feed. So that's the way that, that's my prediction for this year is people will go back to trying to find a little bit more relationships. And hopefully, in my opinion, like, because I love the platform, hopefully TikTok does a good job of productizing that. So it keeps people on the platform and gets them to consume the people they want to consume.

So interesting, like hearing the perspective from you. I haven't even heard that said. Like you just said it. That's very, very, it came to me.

Like, it came to me like two weeks ago. I'm like, why? Because I, I love tick tock. Why do I not and why am I not enjoying this? Just like scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. I was like, I actually feel like I like, I'm not wanting to see brand new things every day now. I actually want to see similar people. Like, I, like, I followed so many people that I love their content.

Yep.

I want to see their content and I want to see that, that, the stuff that I, from people that I know. So if I'm feeling that way, for sure other people are feeling that way and then that kind of click for.

Me, I mean I can back that up for sure. Like I, I go on TikTok, but I, I, I still use Instagram and I have used Instagram way more just in terms of like, I, I like what I get and I, I like who I follow. And it's like a, a sense of like, you know what you're about to get on TikTok. I love it as like an exploratory type of platform, but you know, I think you're spot on with that. I want to talk about YouTube. You just launched your YouTube channel. Congrats.

Thank you.

What are you excited about about YouTube specifically? And you know, as a creator that's launching a new platform, that's, as you said previously, that's, you know, you've dominated TikTok. You have an incredible audience, a community on Instagram, you do awesome things on LinkedIn. YouTube's this whole new path for you. Why did you decide to launch a YouTube channel now and what excites you about it moving forward?

There's two things that really excite me about it. The first and main thing is the longer the content is, the deeper you can go with the relationship. And there's, it's not just the length, it's also, there's another component of a YouTube video which is that it's visual that podcasts don't have because podcasts are really long but you can't see the person. So in a, unless it's a video podcast, but in a YouTube video where there's actual like visual to watch and audio and it's long, you can just, you can engage with the consumer so much deeper and build a relationship so much quicker than you can in a 60 second timeframe on something like Instagram or shorts or TikTok. And so just the ability for me to spend longer time with the people that are following me. I'm really excited for because I think that I'm better with longer form. A lot of my thoughts and a lot of, like, the things that I talk about and the practices that I have are just really hard to digest in 60 seconds. Like, it takes multiple times to hear about the way that I look at it or me to like, explain why I look at it some way. Like we like the way that I just got to that TikTok idea. Now I'm viewing this year. Took me like a minute and a half, two minutes to explain. It's just you can go deeper with longer format of content. So I'm really excited to go deeper. The second thing is I'm really excited for the challenge because I now feel like having my experience with both Instagram and TikTok and now just having a better grasp on the whole landscape of content. I feel like I'm at a place where I'm confident in me going into YouTube and doing a really good job with it. So I want the challenge of will I understand that. Can I understand this platform and understand what it prioritizes and how to build on it? And can I build something and actually get people to notice? So I'm really excited for that challenge. And, you know, now we're a weekend. So here we go.

Let's go. That's exciting.

Yeah.

What can the people listening or watching expect from your YouTube channel if they haven't checked it out already?

The. It'll be a lot of educational content at first. Like, a lot of like, searchable things that you'll want to know. Like, like, I'm. I'm really intrigued right now in finance and in like credit cards. And I think creators don't understand finances for the vast majority of them. So how to, like, set up a business as a creator, an LLC or. Or what credit cards to use with that business. Obviously I will also talk about content strategy since that just comes. So that's just like a natural thing that I integrate. So, like what platforms and why and how to use them, that'll be another thing. But it'll. It'll start with searchable stuff, but then I want it to phase into stuff about me. I think that just like high level, the way that I think on YouTube is I think I first want to build a little bit where people don't necessarily need to know me to find my content valuable, but once they find it valuable, then they want to know me.

Yeah.

So the first thing is I want to Provide a lot of value. So I'm learning what the stuff is that people really are trying to figure out, and I'm going to give them that. Once I give them that, I'm going to say, look, I do a lot more shit in my life. If you guys want to know about what. How I live, what I'm like, what I do at home, how we've built this house, how we've built my business, my wellness routine, my friend groups. Like, I'll take this wherever that's where I want to go, but I'm going to take it there when my audience asks for it. So first it'll be searchable stuff. And then if any of you guys go and you want to see other stuff like that, ask me, and then I'll take it there.

I love that approach. Very cool. Couple more questions, jt before we wrap up. Like, thinking back on your career content, hockey, and that transitionary point. If you were to give yourself a piece of advice, if you were restarting today with all things social, what would that advice be and why?

I think at every age, the advice that I would give to every single age of myself would be get closer to yourself, Put blinders on and listen to your own intuition and follow that. Because I feel like there's so much noise and there's. And especially with social media, there's so many different things telling you what to do and where to go and what way to do it, which can be good at a time. But I think a lot of people don't spend the time to actually get close to themselves. Physically, mentally, spiritually, all of it. Like, really get close to yourself, work on yourself, and then listen to, like, what your intuition is telling you. Because I. I knew all this stuff was gonna happen. Like, literally, if you would have. If I. When I was a kid, I knew I was gonna be working with people. I knew I was gonna be happy. I knew I was gonna be building communities. I knew that I loved family and wellness and, like, all the stuff that I'm doing right now. If you would have asked me when I was 16, what am I gonna do? It would have been that hockey would have probably been part of it as well. But the nucleus was always this. Even when I was playing hockey, the nucleus was still people. I love teammates. I was the guy on the team that loved teammates. So I would say the advice that I would give to everybody is like, take the time to get to know yourself and then listen to your intuition, listen to your gut, listen to, like, the. What if it's your higher self, whatever it is that the way that you look at it, like the best possible version of you listen to that and then follow that.

That's incredible. And it goes back to what we were talking about before, before we started the show. You know, we have all these books around this room that, where I record in the studio and it's like for a time, and I have done this before as well. It's like you reach a level of input and consumption that it's like, who am I really listening to? Is it six people put into one opinion that's formulating as my own or am I really listening to myself for sure? And I think I fall into that trap every now and then, as many people do, where it's like, okay, I need to take a step back and not necessarily consume less, but just create my own thoughts and create it from a point of not, not. Oh, I got this idea from someone, which is great, but I think it's a powerful thing what you just said. It's just like really listening to your intuition.

Well, here's a fun fact. Information can become addicting because every single new piece, particularly self help information, can become addicting because every single new piece of information that you absorb is like the thing. This is the thing that's going to finally get me to the place that I've known I've always needed to be at. And so what ends up happening is you find what you think is the thing and then you only try it for a day until you see another thing. And then you see another thing, you're like, oh, but wait, I need to incorporate that thing. And it just becomes this cycle of self help, of improvement, of like, you're never at a place where you're actually like at the place that you want to be at and you're just always like searching for more. And so when I was reading a lot of books, I got to a point where I was like, I've literally said to myself like eight times like, oh, that was it. That was the book. That was the book. And you just kind of get to a point where I got to a point where I was just like, I'm going to put the books down and I'm going to see what happens when I'm not reading anything. And then that's when I started to like, hear myself more and started to be like, oh, okay. Like there's things from every one of these books that are now instilled in me and there's pieces of all of them. Like I Super grateful for. But I'm not taking any book. Black and white. I'm listening to me, and then that's what I listen to.

I love that. Well, before we wrap up here, last question is just moving into this year, moving into this year, what are you excited about and what are you looking forward to?

Community is another one that I really am excited to get back into the swing of our community in la. I feel like the last couple of months with holidays and everything, people kind of travel and are doing their thing. So really excited for that. YouTube is something that I'm heavily, heavily excited for this year. And then the third thing would be I'm getting married this year, so I'm really excited for that.

Huge.

Yeah, that's gonna be really fun. So I'm excited for the process of that and planning that with my fiance and, like, building that out as a project to, like, have a lot of fun with. And then we'll see what happens from there.

So exciting. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show today, brother. Where is the best place that everyone listening or watching can follow? You can learn more about the YouTube and just stay along for your ride.

Everything is J@JTBarnett. If you search that, you'll probably find me on YouTube. I think there's a period at the end of it because that one was already taken, but J.T. barnett, I always appreciate anybody that listens. Send me a message if there's literally anything I can help with. I'm here to help and grateful for having me on.

Absolutely. And I'll make sure to link all that down below and everyone that's watching or listening. Thank you so much for tuning in today. And jt, once again, thank you so much.