In this solo daily vlog, John Pierre (co‑founder of Empire Blueprint) updates his YouTube audience on Day 10 of his "Corporate Cowboy" journey. He outlines three primary goals for the day: (1) close an eight‑week‑old sales opportunity by simplifying the pitch and making a concise, honest conversation; (2) refine Empire Blueprint’s HR and onboarding processes by turning interview data into actionable, live KPI‑tracking tools; and (3) spend intentional time with his team, emphasizing vulnerability, open communication, and a people‑first culture. He shares concrete lessons—keep sales talks simple and black‑and‑white, build HR systems that reflect employee‑provided strengths/weaknesses, and lead with transparency and care. Throughout, he balances excitement, stress, and faith, ending the vlog by looking forward to a weekend break at the beach and promising a return on Monday.
Chapters
Good morning, YouTube family. Today is Friday, September 13th. Holy crap, it's Friday the 13th. I don't know what that means, but anyways, let's keep going. Today is day 10 on my journey of becoming the Corporate Cowboy. For those of you who don't know me, my name is John Pierre. 2 years ago, I set out on a mission to become the very best version of myself. Since then, I've become the co-founder of Empire Blueprint, a digital consulting firm, and I am blessed to live at Elysium Hill, which is 100 acres of beautiful farmland. Hence the name Corporate Cowboy. For anyone wondering, how do I do it? Well, I just keep on working and I just keep on getting it done. Today there's 3 things that I'm trying to get through. I've got 3, 3 really big goals. I'm going to share them with you. Then we're going to catch up with each other in the afternoon and see how I went. The first one is closing a sale that I've been working on for the past 8 weeks. I'm changing my language around it and I really want to see if this is going to work. The second goal is making sure that our HR our HR learning systems, our HR process keeps getting refined. It keeps getting improved every day to make sure that when somebody is new to our team, that they are part of the team and that they know what is expected and the path is clear. The third goal for today, guys, is to spend time with my people. My people are everything to me. They are my work family. They are my family on all accounts. I spend so many hours here with them that they're everything I have and in the most part, everything that I've created. This is the life that I've wanted for myself. I want to check in on each one of them, see how they're feeling, what they're doing, how their lives are progressing, how their work lives are going. Make sure that we're keeping and creating this environment that ensures and that they know that they are valued, they are cared for, and that we want them to be their best and we're there to support them on their journey. I can't wait to get through the day. I'm feeling super excited. I am also super stressed and tired. You can see it right here as always. As always, till then, think your hardest, work your best, and know that God will take care of the rest. I never know how to begin these things, so let's just get into it. Oh, hey, Emma. We're going to speak about— we're going to continue speaking about a sale that I was trying to close for 8 weeks. The lesson I learned today was really, really simple, yet every day I keep getting humbly reminded about the importance of keeping things— I mean this in like the most sincere way— keeping it as simple as possible. Hey, I had been trying to get this client for 6 to 8 weeks, and every time I talked to him, I'd feel the conversation was either long-winded, not on the point that I wanted to get to, or we'd go off on a different tangent. I ended up just calling him and saying, hey, the fact is, like, black and white. I just made the facts so clear and they were simple. If you don't get in now for what you know you need to do, you're going to miss the window and the opportunity because Christmas isn't that far away. And that would mean that you lose 3 months now and 2 months in the new year. So you're going to be 5 months behind schedule, right? 5 months behind schedule because of one decision that you know you should make, but you're refusing to make, or you're not feeling comfortable in making because you're busy. What do I do to make that decision a no-brainer? And really what all it was, was being able to have that open dialogue and say, hey, like, I feel your pain. I know you're busy. I know you're flat out. But that's the whole reason we exist, is to save you time. At the end of that, I think it was like a 7-minute conversation after hours, mind you. And I can appreciate that's not everyone's cup of tea. And I, for the most part, haven't done it. But I called him when he was relaxed. I called him when I was relaxed. We just had a chat. Hey, you need this. We can offer that. How about we get it done? And so we did. The end of 7 minutes was, JP, I really like this style. I like where you're going. Yes, let's get it done. Send me the paperwork. We'll get it done in the morning. So the simplified lesson there was keep things as basic as you can. Always bring it down and distill it to the truth that is, I have what you need. This is what it is in black and white. Let's just make it happen, Mr. Customer. HR. Today we set our sights on internally. We set our sights on making sure that what we come up with as a team for our staff is paramount. As we keep growing and scaling, it is becoming so apparent to me how much effort, time, and resources have to go into the well-being of our people. Building out systems, building out forms, building out question sets, but not just building out forms for the bloody hell of it. Actually speaking to our team, saying, hey, when we onboard you, what should we be asking? When we hire you and we ask you these questions, what would you like us to do with that information? Strength and weakness test or analysis, you can call it. Opportunities and threats, where people see themselves in 5 years, their, their history, what they actually want to do in the day-to-day in their workplace, what they're really good at and what they suck at. We ask these questions in interviews. Anyone of us who's hiring staff knows innately that we should ask people, what are you great at? What are you not so great at? What do you love doing? What are you the best at? What do you really wish that you just never ever had to do ever again? Yet we ask the data and it just kind of like gets parked. We put on the contract and we shelve it. We're making a conscious effort at Empire Blueprint to bring those things into daily existence so we have a reference point so that when we are setting our KPIs for our staff and we're working towards a common goal, we all have something to measure against. It is live, it is actionable, and the best part, it's actually built on what the team member said when they got hired. They're responsible for their actions and words, and we're there to support them the whole way. Naturally, after talking about HR, we would lead into people. As you would have heard this morning, all I wanted to do was be with my people. I have missed them. Things are changing at a really fast pace. Most people would tell you, who cares how you feel? Put on your game face, get to work, and just get it done. Now, whilst I agree with that logic and I sincerely believe that is true, I cannot discredit the value and the respect that I'm earning with my team as a collective and as individuals through practicing this one rule and this one belief, which is there is strength and an immense amount of strength through vulnerability. What I learned today was when I shared with my team, hey guys, I'm tired, but we've got a job to do. Take it easy on me, but let's get through it together. Creating that baseline and establishing that rule because we all shared the same vision and being open and transparent and forward enough to say, hey, these are the facts. Like, I've just got a lot to do. Can you help me with this? So this is the moral of the story, and I hope this is right. Have a team that believes in the vision. Be open with the team. And care for the people above everything and anything, because it is them who will help you get to where you want to be. And it is your responsibility on your way there and when you're there to make sure that you pay that forward and respect them as much as they have supported you. That's a wrap for today. It's been an epic day. It is the weekend. I can't wait to get out of here. I'm headed to the beach to take a break. I'll see you all on Monday morning.
