Branding, Business & Owning Your Voice with Daniel G

All right, everybody, welcome back to On Brand. I am your host, Melissa Dugalecki. And we have an amazing, incredibly valuable guest today, my good friend. I'm sure many of you have seen his content on social media, but you're going to get a peek at some of the behind the scenes and getting to where you are now. Please join me in welcoming Danielle G. And we also.

I just forgot as you were doing this, we did an event together in Tulum. We did your event. We did about that.

Yeah.

That was like, the best event probably Tulum's ever had. Hands down, like, the most valuable. I just thought of that actually, right now that you held that event in Tulum, that's not that easy to do. And it was packed out.

Yeah.

And there's so many good speakers. Me, you, Gerard, Eric.

Yeah.

That was such a good event.

Thank you.

That was a good freaking event. Now that I thought of it, I'm like, you know, because I'm. I'm so used to doing these massive events filled of like, two, three thousand people, which we'd be physically impossible to do in Tulum. Then you got all these people in Tulum just floating and levitating. So, like. Like, people don't understand how hard it is just to pack out a room in a normal city. In a normal city. Like, we're just saying Kentucky, Florida. And then you go somewhere where Tulum. Everybody's levitating. That's not an easy job to pack out a room. So, yeah, that was fun. That was really fun.

It's funny, I always say, just to add on to that, when people in Tulum, like, you can't get people to commit to something because the answer will be, well, I just have to see what feels like aligned in my body when I get up. I got to see how it feels aligned.

And you're like, yeah, is it a yes or a no?

Yeah.

They don't even give you a maybe.

You're gonna build your business on that.

Yes.

Do I wake up feeling aligned?

Are you ready to get started? They won't even give you a maybe. I need to think about it.

Yeah.

There should be a whole thing about Tulum objections.

Oh, my gosh. We could do. We could riff on that. 100.

Imagine Tulum objections. So are you ready to get started? You know, I don't think the divine timing right now is calling. It just has to be, you know, spiritually aligned with what time of the month of is. Where's the stars? Oh, here we go. The stars.

Oh, my gosh. I literally had Somebody who I was coaching in their business. And I pretty much stopped taking Tulum clients because it was just, I am very rigorous. It's why I think you and I get along very well. We're very consistent. We're very rigorous. Like, you show up.

Yeah.

I don't care how you feel. Right.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I think that's actually to talk about brand. That's part of both of our brand. But I had a client who was very in scarcity because they were broke, gave an action plan, checked in on it, and they said, oh, my soul felt called to the beach today. And I'm like, is yours to pay your bills, buddy? So speaking of brand, Daniel, a lot of people, if they have seen you on social media or they've seen you at live events because you train globally.

Yeah.

You know, and you have built such a powerful brand as a master sales trainer in the world. But I've known you for seven years.

Yes.

But your story goes back even further than that.

Yes.

So somebody listening who maybe sees this massive gap between where they are and where you are. Right. Or maybe somewhere in between. Can you take them through a little bit what it looks like to build a brand? Like, it doesn't necessarily mean you have a videographer, shooter, Steve following around.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I mean, the first thing was like, I was. I had to get. I think I had to get very clear on like who I was and my. Who I wanted to attract within. Because people know I'm in sales. But you could be like, oh, I'm gonna be a sales trainer. And then you start putting out sales content and then you're a little bit loud like myself. And then people don't like it. You're like, I'm stopped doing branding. So the reason why I kept going with my brand, it's a super crystal clear on like, okay, I want to attract people that want to make millions in sales and not people that just want to make 2000. I'm not going to speak to that person. So those people aren't going to like me. And I'm already okay with that because I was crystal clear on who I was going to serve. Even within the sales space. I'm like, this is the Persona of the individual. Not just like, some people are like, okay, what niche? I'm like, do you even know the Persona of the individual that should be listening to you? Right. Because if not, you're going to try to please the whole crowd and you are going to go insane trying to build a brand, trying to make everybody Happy. It's just never going to work. It's like building a business. So I was criticized in the beginning for having such high energy, but then I said, okay, well, I'm going to serve the people that either like high energy or want high energy. And that's all I focus on. I'm like, today I got on camera, I'm going to serve somebody that likes high energy people or wants high energy. I'm going to mix, obviously in sales skills to it. But yeah, I mean, I knew the first thing was I knew who I served it. And it took me about like a year and a half to two years to really, like, just be comfortable with being me on my brain and be like, hey, this is who you're going to serve. You're never going to have unanimous love, so you're going to show up every single day. There's never going to be unanimous love. And we have to realize the biggest people inside of the world will get more hate than the average person. Like, that is just it. The president of the country is going to receive more hate, right? They're always going to be the most loved and the most hated the bigger you build, right? So taking it back, I started my brand. I mean, it's interesting because I was really on camera since I was like 14. No, no, 14. Seven. Sorry, 14. Like, yeah, I started doing more on camera. But seven, I started seven or eight. I started my own yes. Series on camera. And. And then When I was 10, 9 or 10, I started my first YouTube series.

Really?

Yeah. Like, people don't even know this. Like, I'm, I'm. I'm not going to even mention.

Yeah. Can we go find that?

No, you won't even be able to find it. But it's there, but you'll never be able to find it. Except for, like one person in my life, right? Unless somebody, like choked Steve and threatened Steve, but I don't even know if Steve can find it. But so I started going on YouTube just because I started to realize. Here's such a good lesson, actually, I've never even talked about this. I'm DJing. I started off as a DJ at 10 years old, right? I took a old DJ set of turntables and I figured out how to mix two turntables. I'm like, okay, I might be good at this DJ thing. So I saved up money and I bought a DJ setter. I took a loan from my dad or my mother of like 50 bucks or 100 bucks, and I bought these two turntables, started DJing. So I started DJing for, like, my family in my bedroom, and then I go to school, and then I'm like, hey, can I DJ at, like, the church choir? Whatever. So I started doing DJing, and then I actually get good. Like, I'm starting to get decent. Like, 11, 12. I'm actually starting to learn how to mix two beats in one. I'm starting to understand bpms. I'm actually starting to learn how to dj good. By 12, I'm djing like crazy. It's like my dream. Yeah. By. By. I was playing soccer and I was DJing, and then I'm thinking, I'm like, I started to ask my teachers. I'm like, can I DJ the school dances? No, no, you know, like, you can't do them. We already hired some guy. Can I DJ the prom? No. I'm like, oh, man, this sucks. And then I start to realize. I'm like, okay, if I can't DJ for the war market, how about YouTube? So I started to go on YouTube, and I'm like, holy geez. 70 people just viewed me DJ today. And to me, that's, like, where everything for me comes in now. Because I'm like. I'm like, you're forget your war market. Your war market doesn't even trust you. They didn't let me DJ my own prom. And then that's how it started, because I'm like, wow, 70 people watch me DJing. I'm like, all right, let's do DJing tomorrow. Let's do his prank video tomorrow. Let's do a soccer video. Because I'm like, so many eyeballs that I've never had. I'm like, this is so powerful. I'm thinking of this when I'm like, 12. Then the shift was. It wasn't paying me, obviously, YouTube at the time. So I got in sales when I was 14. I started to become really good at sales. I started to build up a great sales career. And. And at 21, the thought that I'm telling you right now, 22, 23. After 10 years of doing sales, the thing that I'm telling you right now started to hit me. I'm like, this is so boring. Nobody knows how good I am at this. I'm like, I want to show the world I killed the sales game. In the last eight years, I've never stuck with something for eight years. It was always like, soccer, magic, DJing, being a clown. I've done everything on YouTube. Everything. I'm like, nobody knows how good I am at the Sales thing. And I'm great. So I'm like, let me start filming it. So I. I go on, I'm like, I start seeing these apps, mirrors, Meerkat, Periscope, Snapchat, these first live streaming apps. And I started live streaming on Periscope and Meerkat and then Instagram Live and Facebook Lives. Free sales training, just like I would do on YouTube for DJing. And people would listen to me. Like, there would be like 20 people online, 10 people online. And I didn't. The beautiful thing about my brand was that I still had a job that was supporting me simultaneously. I could build my brand in sales. So I was doing it out of just like, with no scarcity, that I had to make money because I still had a vehicle producing me money. Right? So, like, if somebody's watching this right now and they're like, well, you know, I don't want to start because I have nobody watching me. I'm like, well, number one, that's the best time to practice when nobody's watching. Like, that is the best time process. It's like, it's like, you don't actually want to fuck up. Now in my position, one bad thing I say, maybe it can be ripped apart or, like, I just look dumb if a thousand people now are laughing me on a live stream.

Right?

It's nice to practice when nobody's watching. So. And that's what I was doing, really. There was only, like, five people watching my social media. And then, yeah. So I started. I started building out a brand and. And. And, you know, I didn't have the intentions of making money in it first. I was really just saying, like, oh, I wish there was a kid watching me and figured out how great the sales career was. And I just gave. My formula was I just gave everything away for free. So I do all my sales training on Instagram Lives and Facebook lives for free, and people started picking it up. And then somebody said, can you do an event? And I just started to roll from there. Like, I've been doing live streams till today for seven, eight years straight. Never take a day off of a live stream. And that was just my thing. I liked live streams because I felt like it's so engaging for people. Like, they're like, wow, I'm with this individual. And I said, people are bored. So how do I just become the media outlet? Because nobody watches TV anymore.

No.

So I'm like. And TV hated me. Like, especially when I got in this game. I got on my first television show, and they said, hey, you'll never be back in the studio. I said. I said, why? They said, it's just, like, really wasn't our style. And I understood it, and I said, okay. Instead of trying to get a media outlet, why don't I just become a media?

Become it?

Yeah, it's.

You know, that is so. I can't believe I've never known that about you.

Yeah.

Magic tricks.

Yeah, I was a clown. I was a serious magician.

Did you have a DJ name?

Yeah, two. My first DJ name was called do you know what a guido is?

Yes.

You know what a guido is?

Yeah, it's like a nickname for Italian.

Like, Italian cool guy, right? Yeah, like the guido with the spiky hair. So you remember Jersey Shore? Of course.

Of course.

Okay. Because I talked to the young kids. They're like, what's that? Right? I'm like, dude, this is legendary.

We lived for Jersey Shore.

Exactly. So I was Pauly D. Oh, yes. I was him.

Yes.

No, no, I need to pull up a picture. I was Pauly D. Spiked hair, blowout. Every spike was perfect. Tanned, couldn't like. It's just picture perfect. Tight shirts. DJ and I. My first name, when I got into the market. Market, I was like, 14. My name was DJ Gui. So think of a Guido, but it was G W. So Guido is spelled G U, I, D, O. Yep. My name was G W, E. So Gui and dough spelled like the Pillsbury Doughboy.

Doughboy. Like, do you G H?

Yep. With. With a dope boy holding a record.

I'm so getting you a soccer jersey.

Yeah. Guido. If you go into my city, people don't say, yo, what up, Daniel? I swear, people say, yo, Guido, stop it. Yo, if I'm in the mall now, if somebody sees me in the mall and they're from, like, a high school, it happened like this Christmas. Somebody's like, guido. And right away I turned around. That was how I was going. I used to go to high schools and DJ in high schools, like, I was pretty well known in just my little small city. I went to every single high school and DJ'd inside of high schools. I was DJ Guido. And then I became a little bit more mature when I was, like, 17. That was like my DJs high school name. And then it just became like, DNG. DNG. That was like my producer name. Because I'm like, no, I'm gonna be a, you know, a producer and do these big festivals, etc. But, you know, I would have to, like. I was actually like, my trajectory of my. My people don't know this. Even in my music career, I was doing extraordinarily well. Like, again, I never talk about this, but at 18, not only am I producing music, I DJ'd at every single nightclub inside of Toronto, Canada.

Wow.

Yes. And I was underage doing that, like 16, 17, 18 with big DJs we're talking about, like, Hardwell, Steve Aoki. I had to open up for these guys. And just because I was good at sales, I knew how to get my foot in the door and be like, hey, let me do the opening set.

Right.

The thing that I love, that I tell people inside of business, I'm like, this why business and marketing is so cool that like, you could even be the third best DJ in town, but you don't make money. But if you're the third best brander, marketer, sales company, you make so much money.

100%.

I quit because I'm like, there's no money in this right now. And I got to pay bills and I'm dropping out of university. That's why I quit DJing in soccer. Right. But I always knew getting back, I always knew I wanted to be in some sort of entertainment. And what people don't understand by social media today. Cause it's on branding that the perfect flow of social media is balancing in our area. Entertaining and educating 100%. Always wanted to, like, somehow captivate the audience attention. I just didn't want to be a sales trainer. I'm like, okay, how am I going to entertain these people? What am I going to do to have fun with these people? Right. And people were like, weirded out by first. I'm like, no, people are, are bored. You need to entertain people. People want to be entertained 100%.

Yeah. They start to tune it out. Right?

Right.

They don't want to feel like they're just being lectured to. You know, you said a lot of really powerful things I think related to brand and marketing and business in general in there. And I think, you know, I'm going to try and remember all of them, but we'll just, we'll just flow. But one of the things you said in the beginning was how your warm market will overlook you or almost take you for granted. And like, God, what a life lesson that is. Yes, right. And a lot of times people wait to put things out there until they feel more validated and they're seeking for validation, giving away their power essentially into a warm market that's never going to provide it, rather than just putting it out there and building their own stage. Building their own audience.

And so it's so much harder to convince the war market because they judge you for who you were last year.

Right.

Last week.

Right.

So, like, that's Daniel G. Say if I go be like, I'm a sales trainer now. That's Daniel G. The soccer player.

Totally.

You know, like, I will go home. Melissa. I thought. I think I made this joke to you once. Like, that I did. Well, I'm like, I will go home now. And people be like, so, like. Like, what's up with, like, the sales training thing you're still doing? I'm like, I just did a world tour. The you talking about? I just did, like, a hundred stages, filled the five to 10,000 people, and you're still asking me, what about that thing? Like, because that's My warm network 100. My warm network. I'm gonna go home, and they're gonna be like, hey, man, do you want to go get some beers to go to the club to go pick up woman? I'm like, I have 5 million followers. You think I need a pickup? Woman, where are you? And I tell my audience this because I'm like, guys, you will never. Your war market will always look at who you were for the last five to 10 years. So they'll have the highest judgment towards you. It's harder to convince them. It's like you're selling uphill when all you got to do is figure out your brand, figure out where your people are, and sell downhill.

Oh, my gosh.

Like, just sell with the stream. It's like, you know what? I feel like it is sometimes when you go after your warm market, of course you have the highest rapport with them because you have the highest relationship. So they'll answer you right away. They'll respond to your message on Instagram right away because that's your friend. So that's why we're told, message your friends, promote your friends, blah, blah. The problem is your friend might not be your ideal customer 100%. And what I tell people is that I'm like, okay, imagine you have a health shake. Right? And I'm like, you might be convincing Bob, your uncle, to buy your health shake that is not into fitness at all, and he drinks Coke for his whole life is he might be a good customer for you one day. Yes. And you love him and you're trying to change his life. Yes. But there's another girl, Nancy, that's already on health shakes that would love something that doesn't have toxins and chemicals in it. And you just Sell downhill with the stream, against, against the stream. So you just go where your audience is like, you know, like, that's why I always say I'm like, your audience. Is your audience that you're scared about. Like, most people actually don't start a brand, not because of what strangers think. It's about what, you know, this, what their two closest friends think about.

Right. 100% or what they're passionate about. And I think that's one of the biggest mistakes I see is that people make it about them versus, like, what serves, you know, like what they're interested in. And that could change on like a daily basis, you know. And so it's like when you're building a brand and you're building presence, so much comes down to trust and how people experience you. And if you're constantly like pivoting and doing all these different things, it's gonna be very hard to trust your brand. And I feel like so many people don't actually market test to your point of like going with the stream. Like, they don't even look at the stream.

Yeah.

They just look at where they wanna go and they wonder why it's so hard. But if you just market test and get out there and get clear on what people like, as long as it's authentic. Like, I'm not gonna go out there and put out some divine manifestation abundance thing just because it's popular. It's not me.

Sure.

Right. But I just think it's. People make it harder than they have to.

Yeah. I think sometimes it's like it might not even be. What. Because it doesn't have to be. People make millions and they're not passionate about. About selling chairs. But there's a guy that made million off selling these chairs. You asked him if, are you passionate about this? He's like, no, man. I found a need and I just knew how to promote market and brand. It's all from, like, money is exchanged from one hand to another hand when a problem is solved. I always say so. I think it's more so of like, what do you think you could be good at talking about? Like, where do you feel like you'll be a fountain? And what do you think drains you? That's. That's the differentiation. Like, when you're making content, can you talk about it? Like, can you pour into it? That's a fountain. That's a good concept. If you feel like you get drained when you make your content, then that might not be. You don't have to be passionate about it. But that might not be your content, like, but if you feel like you could talk about it, right? But you're not passionate about it. But you could talk about it, right? Like, you could pour into the subject. Like, I. People think I was passionate about sales. I try to tell people I was not passionate about sales. Majority of the days. I'm not.

Right.

People are like, what? I'm like, I'm fucking good at it.

Yeah.

People are like, wait, what do you mean? I'm like, yeah, see, if you went off passion, you're going off your feelings and your feelings, you got to decide if you show up or not, right? It's like, I'm good at fucking sales training, and I know that. I'm like. I'm like. I just looked at people. I'm like, oh, I can articulate that message better now because I'm good. I have to do it.

Right?

That's it. That. That was like. I grew up in sales, and I was not passionate about sales. Then I watched these sales trainers. I'm like, wow, he sucks.

Yeah.

I'm like, he's so bad at communicating, this crowd. I'm like, five years. I'm sitting down. Like, I'm too young. I'm, like, 18, reading these books. I'm like, too young. Don't shut your mouth and keep selling, Daniel. I'm like, but this guy sucks. I want to get online. I want to train it. You're too young. And then finally, I just said it.

It.

I'm like, dude, I don't like this guy the way that I'm not even passionate about it. He. I just feel like there. I can do a little bit better. I feel like there's a market that would want to hear me. See, I wasn't passionate about his passion mode, DJing and soccer.

That's how I opened it up, right.

I opened up the pod saying, hey, I'm passionate about DJing and soccer.

Right.

Or whatever the case is.

Right.

I am not a DJ player.

Right.

You know what I mean?

I always say that, like, I'm super passionate about charcuterie boards.

Right.

I love them.

Yeah.

I will make the meanest. Oh, you have no idea. I will make them, like, it's. I will take. You're being serious? Oh, I'm being dead serious. Okay. Like, any of, like, my inner circle. Yeah. Would be like, oh, yeah, no, absolutely. People send me charcuterie board content on social media, like, my friends all the time.

Wow.

So I'll take, like, an entire tabletop.

Wow.

And, like, parchment paper. It's not even a tray.

You better not talk shit, Melissa, because our next Hallum retreat, you're doing this.

Oh, no. 100. I'll do it for my. I'll build one in here for the Miami event.

Dope. Okay.

Yes. So it's my thing, but I always, always use that as a teaching example. Like, one. I don't want to get into overhead costs. So, yes, there's that.

Right.

But to, like, it doesn't really solve a problem. Right. It's. It's. Sure, it's nice to have or whatever, but, like, my going to charcuterie business, because I'm passionate about it.

No. Right.

I also think there's something really valuable when you keep your passion separate from business.

Yes.

Like, they're almost a little bit more sacred.

Right?

Because, like, you're almost reserving this private time, this separate. Like, you know, not that I feel like either of us really work or live. Like, to me, work is just creation. I don't even call it work.

Yes, yes, but one.

Yeah, but those. Like, if I. If I do something that I do.

Agree with you on that.

You know what I'm saying?

Yeah. It's like sometimes you're like, yeah, like, when I. When I play soccer, I go. Like, I'll go. Like, people don't know this, but, like, when I'm done an event, I'll go DJ at a club in, like, Europe. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I'll. When I. We're in different countries, I'll be like, yo, can I DJ for an hour?

See, we gotta get footage on.

And then my passion, like, kicks in. Steve's been with me. I've DJ'd at least in, like, five clubs with Steven Europe. And, and, and it's cool because you could separate business.

Right?

And then people see me and they're like, oh, you just don't do sales. I'm like, yes, I have a life. Like, you know, but I, I. It was like my obligation just to show up every single day and, and be my. You know, the way I see it, it's like, if you. The problem with this. I just had a conversation, somebody with branding, and somebody said, like, well, man, how do I feel motivated to do every single day? I'm like, well, how about if it just had to be done part of your daily method of operations, and it was the most important task of your business, it had to be done. The problem with branding, with most people, it's optional, right? So how about if it just wasn't optional? It's like most core computer.