Overachievers: This Is Your Wake-Up Call!

Course is a word that you can interpret a lot of different ways. Yeah, I like to think of it as any kind of learning experience. So anything where someone needs to learn something in order to get a result or a transformation. So in my world, that's most commonly experts, authors, leaders, like thought leaders, right? And they have this knowledge in their brain and they need to turn it into a predictable, repeatable process that someone else then go and get the result that they've received.

Welcome to the Speakeasy Mastermind Podcast, where the real conversations happen behind closed doors with the boldest entrepreneurs, creators, and growth minds in the game. No fluff, no filters, just the raw strategies, personal stories, and mental models that move the needle. I'm Eric Berman. Now let's get into it. In this next episode of Inside the Speakeasy, you're gonna learn what it takes to go from studying relentlessly in the library, if you know what I mean, where you are feeling like Am I just a nerd out there? All the way into getting thrown teaching into one of the hardest schools in the nation, dealing with some of the most difficult youth and surviving that and taking those amazing skills and becoming one of the world's best course creators and what goes into creating courses and how you can leverage that to ultimately having a vision board marriage. And you're going to hear that fun story. Welcome to today's episode of Inside the Speakeasy Mastermind Podcast. And I am so pumped and excited to have one of my newest besties, person that I love working with, and we hang out all the time, and you've been such a help. I say you and, you and your amazing husband, Miss Jasmine Jonte. Welcome today to the show.

Thank you for having me. Yes. One of my newest besties. It's always fun doing a podcast with someone you actually like talk to on a regular basis. Cause it's just easier, you know?

I mean, you and I've got to know each other probably a lot more over the last, what, maybe since Flight Club. So probably 3, 4 years. And then more recently since, uh, you raised your hand and said it's going to be a heck yeah to come lead our Scottsdale chapter. And you've been absolutely crushing it so much that you've kind of come on board to be sort of helping me being one of my right arms as we continue to build out and do stuff, literally with a lot of the other leaders out there to make the overall community a lot stronger. So that's been wonderful getting to, you know, meet you, learn more about it, but I don't want to talk about Speakeasy and what you're doing there. I really want to talk more about you and how we got here. And I've got to learn a lot about you and the things you could teach, especially to the group and learn. It's awesome. So for those that don't know, Jasmine is amazing when it comes to course creation and we talk about human design and all sorts of other things. And we're going to talk about what you've learned there and how anybody out there should be doing a course and how they could rock it, the course and crush it. But before we get into that, I want to back up a little bit and talk about Jasmine. And then, you know, you talked a lot about how you were a nerd starting off in England. You were born out in England. I don't hear the accent. So what happened and how long were you there? And tell me about the childhood before you became an amazing marketer, businesswoman, course creator. Let's walk us through.

So I was born in England. I was born in London, in an area of London called Hackney, which is like— in the '90s, when you would say Hackney to people, they would be like, oh no, Hackney. Like, it was a dodgy area. Like, it was not— you, you did not want to be from Hackney. Yeah. And so that's where, like, I was born, and that's where I lived until I was like 5. So my mom is English and my dad is American. They always kind of knew they were going to go back to the States for the purposes of my education and my brother's education. They just didn't know when. And yeah, so I turned like 5 and a half, 6, and they moved us back to the United States. And when I got to the US, the first county in the entire country that gave every student a laptop. Whoa. I went from this juxtaposition of like going to school in Hackney where it's just not— it's just like inner city schools here, right? It's just like not a good place, it's not a good education.

And then one of the best counties in the entire United States, like calling home, say, oh my God, my daughter's got laptops, you guys got to come with me. And they're just—

it was nuts. Yeah, it was really crazy. And so I realized at a very young age, like, what privilege is and how education can impact your life. Oh, and then I should say, at age 8— so we moved when I was like 5 and a half, 6— at age 8, I went back to the UK as a solo traveler. What? Little kid. Because I still had family and friends, everyone back in, you know, that I grew up with.

So they just throw you in a plane, you're like rolling solo as an 8-year-old on a plane, and like everybody's like, hey, where's your mom and dad?

And you're like, unaccompanied minor. That was me. All right, awesome. I loved it. I mean, even as an 8-year-old, I was independent, so I was like, let's go. And when I went back as an 8-year-old, I went to school for a day and it became even more crystallized, like, holy cow, my schooling in the United States in that county is completely different than the schooling in the UK. And I thought to myself at 8 years old, I was like, what would have happened to me if we never moved?

Wow.

And that is where, like, the passion and the belief in education and what it can provide, like, that was when it was crystallized.

Yeah. Well, you gotta also give yourself some credit. I mean, at that young age, just to have the wherewithal to understand that this was a really cool opportunity and be thankful for that, you know, which goes to the genius you were back then. But okay, so you're there and you said you kind of used the word nerd. So what made you think that you were a nerd? Walk me through that.

I was never good at sports. I was never really athletic, but I was smart and I knew I was smart. And you know, like there's stories of summers in Virginia where I grew up and my whole family would go to the pool and I would be like, just drop me off at the library and pick me up. Clean up after you're done. Like, I don't want to go to the pool. I just want to go read some books. So like, I mean, like, super nerd, very introverted, very like, I just want to learn. I want to learn from cool people. I want to do cool things, but all related to like academia, not necessarily related to like socialization.

So it never bothered you? You leaned in, that you felt like, you know what, I'm going to be an athlete on school and academia, and that's going to make me my superhero?

Yeah.

You had confidence. It wasn't like it bothered you through that?

Yeah, no, I was like, I mean, I had this like saying in high school. I was in the math and science center because again, nerd. And we had this saying, embrace the geekiness. Like embrace the fact that you're kind of weird and, you know, like a super nerd, just like embrace it and love it. And like all these other people, they can do what they want and that's fine. Like I was a band kid, you know, but I wasn't just a band kid. I was like super band kid. I was like drum major band kid.

Wow.

I was a drum major. So like conductor. Yeah. So like, I like on the field where the marching band is, I would direct them.

So they call it— well, of course. I mean, you're already a natural leader. See, I mean, you didn't realize you had natural leadership skills. You look back and say, wow, I led the orchestra and you conducted, and there you go. I mean, you ever think about that when you look back and say, wow, I actually was kind of a natural leader?

Always. Yeah. And I don't know how much that was natural or just my parents were always, you know, how we hear in personal and professional development, just get the outcome, just focus on the outcome. My parents, like, that's how they raised me. And they raised every Saturday I would wake up and my mom would be like, what are your goals for today?

Wow.

What are you gonna accomplish today? And they would write like motivational sayings on the mirror and stuff. So I'm like very blessed in that my mom has always been very personal development focused and my dad has always been really results driven and process driven. And I just like could kind of pick up those skills.

I think, well, it's both sides. And fortunately you were the kid that didn't get repelled and annoyed by that. Like you kind of embraced it, which was cool. 'Cause it could have gone the other way. And you lean into that. It's funny because I always talk about having learned when I was— my first gig out of college, and I was— it was 6 a.m., 6 to 7 in the morning as we were doing the startup was either Brian or Tony, you know, Brian Tracy, Tony Robbins every morning. That was our breakfast. And actually what's funny is that if you were late and you showed up at 6:01, you were on the breakfast board and you had to bring in breakfast on the list for the rest of us. But what I found is that personal development and goal setting, which you got really early, I didn't get till I was 21, 22. And I always looked back and said, this is the stuff they should be teaching in school. Like, why am I just learning this now? And I got so inspired and motivated by it. And you got that early on. So I think you're really fortunate and blessed and probably looking back, you're stoked.

So stoked. And I also realized like, because I was indoctrinated into that so early, like inside of every virtue is a vice. And you know, the achiever syndrome is something that I have, which is great on many levels. And on others it is like. Jonte, you gotta like take a break and take care of yourself.

Right, right.

Right.

Burning out, pushing yourself too hard.

I can't even tell you how many times.

Got it.

So it's one of those I've really had to learn and I probably didn't really learn it until my thirties, how to like know my signs of when to slow down, when to pull back and seeing rest as productive.

Let's lean into that for a little bit, because again, I know we all wanna get into the, some of the stuff you're doing now. It's great. But this is also interesting cuz I have a feeling a lot of us suffer from the same syndrome. Of self-included. So what do you do? How do you notice those signals?

I have some internal cues that I've just learned to listen to. Like, for instance, it's very odd, but there's this phrase, "I think I need to be done now." And so usually every day toward the end of the day, like last night I went until 6:30. We had a team member who had to be out last minute, and I had to pick up some things that I don't normally pick up. But, you know, that's what you do sometimes.

Yep.

Right?

Yep.

And so last night I was like getting this stuff done that needed to get done, and 6, around 6, it was 6:31, I remember the clock, like this internal phrase, I think I need to be done now. And now I listen to it. I didn't used to listen to it. And so sometimes that phrase happens at like 4 o'clock, and sometimes it happens at 6, and sometimes it happens at 9, and sometimes it happens at 10, and I need to take a break for an hour. So I think that's like one thing is like that internal cue with myself and just continuing to listen to it lets my body know that I'm listening to it. So then it doesn't go into this mode of like, oh my God, we're never gonna get a break again. So like, break, like literally something will break so that she takes a break.

Yeah. And what have we noticed by doing that? What's the effect of that?

I think that it gives me more of a capacity to go for it, like whatever that it is, because I know I'm not gonna burn out again.

Yeah, that's great. That's great. I know. I feel like just sometimes just getting outside and seeing some sunshine, you're just like, oh, I needed that for 5 minutes, especially the Zoom world right now. And it's just constant one after another. It's brutal.

Back to back. I know it's wild. So I've started to take more phone calls. I mean, this is really because of you, because you'll call me on the phone, which you're one of the few people who actually calls me on the phone. What's great about someone calling you on the phone is you can go outside, take a walk while you're on the phone. So now I'm doing it more intentionally when people are like, hey, let's do a connection call. I'm like, great, I'll call you.

Yeah, yeah. And that's great. Like, I just did that this morning. Like, I got a calendar invite and now every time I get a calendar invite, I literally ask myself, does it have to be Zoom? Like, if I know this person, we're not doing any demos, like, okay, phone call. I just did that this morning. I'm like, yes, I could do a phone call.

All of my Speakeasy connections. So new guests that want to come or current members, I always do all of that on the phone. There's nothing I have to show you on the internet. Like, we just need to have a conversation.

I love it. Okay, so let's go back into that, into your career here. So you're achieving, you're crushing, you're nerding out in high school and others, as you call it. I don't, I think that's a little harsh on yourself, I think, but it's okay. I understand. Just because you didn't go the athlete route and the others, you just loved the learning. What was like the first gig? I mean, you, then you went to school and then what did you start working on? How'd you find your way into course and being an amazing course creator?

Yeah, so I actually, before I became in the digital marketing online business space at all, I was a teacher. And I taught in the lowest performing school in the country in Detroit, Michigan.

Oh God. Okay.

So this is like my arc, right? Of like, I grew up in Hackney, I saw what was happening in education. I knew it wasn't just in the UK. I knew it was probably worse here. And I learned about the education gap that, you know, students, all students in the United States do not have access to a good education.

Yep.

And I was like, if my parents hadn't moved me. I felt this like almost like need to give back to like repay the gift that I was given.

The achiever in you, you're like, okay, I'm gonna make it as hard as possible and go help, you know, this other group. Yeah. Okay. Keep going.

Now I didn't try to be at the lowest performing school. That's just kind of what happened.

How'd you land in Detroit?

So I got into this program called Teach for America. It's an AmeriCorps program where they place really high performers where, I mean, it's harder to get into Teach for America than most other programs. Okay. It's like you have to be able to demonstrate leadership and you have to be able to demonstrate leadership in numbers. And so like in college I did things like I grew groups 300% or whatever. And so they were like, oh my gosh, this girl's a leader. They accept me. And when you get into Teach for America, you, they have like regions all over the states and you rank your regions. And so like San Diego is top of my list. I really, they have a region in San Diego and there's some others. Detroit was like number 5 because it was close to where I went to college. And so I knew I had at least a little— within a day I could get to people I knew. And that was my goal is like, let me have a little bit of a, of someone there that I can help me. So I got into Detroit because that year they did this huge turnaround effort where they took the lowest 15 performing schools, took all of the public teachers out of there and did a turnaround with charter schools and this whole new initiative. Of those 15 schools, the 3 lowest were contracted out to a charter school from Ohio that had really great results. Of those 3, the one with the lowest test scores was where I was placed. Lucky me. So I had, you know, first graders. I taught first grade who had never been to kindergarten, who didn't know how to write their name, who didn't know what a capital A versus a lowercase a was. I had 28 of them and I had no recess break. I had no lunch break. I had no breakfast break. I had no planning period. It was me and them. From like as soon as they got there until they left. We went for months without a principal. We had parents punching teachers. Like, oh my God, when all these entrepreneurs in our community say, gosh, like entrepreneurship is so hard, I just call bullshit. I'm like, no, it's not. You get paid a really great salary. Like, you get to do work you love. You get to travel. You like have time freedom. Like all this stuff. Like This is not hard.

Unbelievable.

Wow.

I mean, I knew you did teaching, but I didn't know it was like this. So this is really interesting. So you're in there and it's like a movie. I mean, here comes the teacher walking in. You know, I can imagine these little kids, 6 years old, probably arms folded and just miserable. And you know, who knows what their lives are back at home. How did you do it? Like, we could probably talk hours about this, but give me the summary on this.

It just like pure resilience. It's like you just show up. Every day, day in, day out, you get it done because you're right. Like most of my kids, not most of them, but some of them would come in from the weekend and they haven't eaten since lunch on Friday.

Oh my God.

Like that, that's the level of student and family that I was serving. And so you just, you just show up and you do your best. And even though, I mean, I felt so inadequate. Can you imagine like first year teaching? That's where you teach. Like I was 21 years old.

Oh my God.

I was 12 hours away from home. Like, it was hard on every level imaginable.

I can't imagine they're paying you very well either.

$38,000 a year.

Oh my. Okay.

So all of that was happening in it, but it was like you just had to show up cuz you had these kids that needed you.

Jesus. And you're, I mean, you're naturally an achiever, you're a giver, so you're just like, okay. I mean, so walk me through the transformation. Now the year ends.

Mm-hmm.

I mean, how rewarding was that? What happened?

I cried. I just cried. I mean, I just remember like the end of that first year, just head on my desk, just like cried my eyes out. I was like, I can't believe I did it and all my kids met their goals. So the goal is for them to have a year and a half worth of like learning inside of a year, and they did that. Wow. So, and in math, I think I was almost at 2 years of math. I was better at teaching math than reading for whatever reason. And so like I did the thing, I met my goal, I served my kids, I showed up, and then I stayed for 3 more years.

Wow. I mean, the reward ultimately, you're just like, I imagine that's probably a big part of what kept you is this is hard work, but look at the outcome. Look how many lives you're affecting. Yeah. Well, good for you. That's amazing. That shows a lot of, you know, for those that don't know Jasmine, I mean, I mean, just listen to that story. So what got you to leave? I mean, I know how tough that had been. So now you're 3 years later, then what?

So in my 3rd year, I started doing an MLM. I did Beachbody. And that was like my introduction into business because I didn't grow up with like a parent who had a business or a friend's parent who had a business. Like, I didn't even know that was a major. Like, I just wasn't business-minded. I just didn't get it. You know, my mom's a nurse, my dad's a chef, so I thought you go and you do a service and like, that's a career. And so the MLM really opened me up to this possibility. And that was end— like toward the middle of year 3, I taught for year 4, and at the end of year 4, I was like, I cannot do teaching anymore. And so I went all in on the MLM. And it took me like, I want to say like 3 or 4 years of doing a bunch of things. Like I ran masterminds, personal development-based masterminds. I did health coaching programs. I did online, like teaching kids online. Like I tried, I don't even know how many different kinds of offers and businesses until 2020 when I built— no, end of 2019, I built my first program for someone else. And that's when everything unlocked. It was like, this is easy for me. I'm really good at it. It uses all my skills and I can create an impact through their impact. So that was really like the unlock, but it took me like years. Like I left teaching in 2016 and it wasn't until, yeah, middle of 20— no, end of 2019 that I landed on this offer.

So somebody says, hey Jasmine, can you help me build this course out? You had your first sort of client without even knowing that. Next thing you know, you're backing into a service business here.

Yeah.

And you're like, wow, that was fun and easy. The joy— they obviously loved what you built and you're like, wow, this is easy for me. I love this.

Yeah, totally. It was like, what do you mean people— I didn't understand people struggled with it. Like I was building my own programs. I would build like 4 courses, 4 masterminds at a time. Like I was just like a wizard. Like I could just pump content out because it was so easy for me. And then, yeah, I built it. I bought this program on how to market and sell because that was always my gap. Was like, I don't know marketing, I don't know sales. I come from a teaching background. And I got into this program, Eric, it was so bad. It was just, this dude had gone on a walk, he'd voice recorded himself, and some VA in the Philippines dubbed slides over top. I mean, it was just so bad. And I was like, you know what? Like, I cannot believe this dude is making multi-millions of dollars from this really terrible product. And it was just this, like, some— this is just wrong, you know? Like, it, yeah, it just ignited that fire in me. And at the same— around the same time, my own offers just weren't working. And so I'd put a post out on Facebook, I'm doing ghostwriting for courses, anyone need help? Like, total shot of cock across the bow, had no idea. And it was like my first 10 clients came in a week. It was like so fast.

Oh, wait a second, this is sales. You just go market and sell.

I know. Well, it was offer though. Yeah, offer. Yeah. And then it just Okay, let's do that. And it's just been moving and grooving ever since.

Amazing. Okay, so let's talk about, because you hear course, let's get in the weeds of that. And I want to, you know, for the audience listening, you know, we can teach a few things here. Like when you talk about course creation, who needs it? What's it for? What are you finding as success out there?

So course is a word that you can interpret a lot of different ways.

Yeah.

I like to think of it as any kind of learning experience. So anything where someone needs to learn something in order to get a result or a transformation. So in my world, that's most commonly experts, authors, leaders, like thought leaders, right? And they have this knowledge in their brain and they need to turn it into a predictable, repeatable process that someone else can then go and get the result that they've received in their life.

Right.

But that can also be like team training. That's also a learning experience that you want someone to get a result from. It can be, you know, live events, like that's a learning experience you want someone to get a result from. So when I say course, most people think self-paced online program, and that is the majority of what we do, but it's really everything surrounding the curriculum. It's also the experiential elements as well.

Right. And I imagine there's some magic sauce in there. Like, so I guess the question, you know, who do you feel I imagine a lot of people just have content. Hey, buy my 3-hour stale, I wouldn't say stale, but like my 3-hour self-directed, just download my videos and watch that. Right. That's pretty standard. And you look at that and say, ah, opportunity, because that's boring. And if you just did this and this and let me kind of put my fingers on this thing, you're going to have a much better outcome of product than that. So is that fairly accurate? And what are you doing to make that standard what a lot of people do? Or what do you see a lot of people doing that you feel they're making a mistake and they can be doing?

Yeah, most, especially if it's like a self-paced online program.

Yeah.

They're just like telling content as if it were like a YouTube video or something. Like they're not actually giving them direction in terms of these are the things you need to do. Very specific, actionable, tangible results. Like if I had a video camera on inside of your client or your student's office, what would I see them doing? What are the exercises they would have to tick off in order to move to the next stage? Like that's the level of granular we wanna get. We wanna get really specific so that they know what done looks like and what success looks like.

Right.

And so that's one thing is many experts are just, they're giving their content, which is valuable, but it's the student's job to do the work. It's our job to make the work easy to do.

Right.

So if we're not making it very specific, tangible, and actionable, it's really hard for them to take this knowledge that you have and then translate it into what they need to do next. Right.

And then there's this ongoing sort of, as we all know and get frustrated, You know, people buy a lot of content, but they don't consume it. Just sits out there. And part of what you're arguing is, well, yeah, because part of it is you're not giving them in a fashion that's gonna get them to want to consume it in a fun, engaging, transformative way.

Yeah.

Thus the course. And a lot of people stop at the point of really being a more expedient, hey, let me just give you a bunch of content and you go read it.

Yeah. Like there's this shift, right? Like more used to be more. In the world of content when content was new. We're not in that age anymore. Like we're in the age of Netflix, we're in the age of TikTok. All of the research right now is pointing to 6 to 8 minute videos being the ideal length.

Okay.

For online programs.

Okay.

6 to 8 minutes. That means like you need to cover your teaching point and you need to give 'em something to go do real quick in 6 to 8 minutes. And so it's about being very strategic and directed with what you're telling them.

Right. So you're saying 6 to 8 minutes now would be, becomes lessons, right? Just do that one lesson. Get your achieve your desired. Okay. You feel good. Cause you finished that lesson. There's that shot of whatever it is to get people excited that they did it. And then they can go to the next one, the next one kind of thing. Give me an example of intuitively, this sounds, it makes sense as I talked to you through this and I've heard about it, but like what kind of data or what have you seen in differences for some of your clients who just went from here's some videos, go watch it into, okay, Jasmine puts it, is putting her magic on it. And now they have this beautiful course. What sort of the differences you've seen?

Yeah, I've seen like one of our clients, his name's Anthony Bompiani. He's a former judge. Okay. So he goes by Judge Anthony and we built one program for him called Narcissist Silver Bullet. So he had like divorce mastery. He had custody case mastery. He had some of the bigger programs, but this was specifically about narcissists. And he said the fact that it was, I don't have exact data for you, but the fact that it was broken down in a way that his other programs weren't. Meaning his other programs were this typical like hour-long module. He's teaching, there's slides, but it, he didn't do it with an instructional designer. He just got in front of a camera and kind of recorded it.

Yeah.

The consumption was a lot higher and that the ascension was better and that people were just more excited to buy it because on the sales page it was clearly indicated, this is what this learning experience is like. So he was already doing really well with like the older kind of model because his people are in such pain. You know, like if you're going through a divorce, like there's such a high level of pain and you're paying lawyers' fees and like, it's a really juicy, sexy offer.

Right.

But with this one, it wasn't as juicy as sexy as like a divorce mastery or a custody case mastery. Cause it's just about narcissism and like overcoming narcissists. And yet still like it didn't outperform. In all levels, but inside of the learning experience, it does.

And I can imagine the consumption rates go way higher, right? It's in the court.

Yeah. Yeah.

God, it's so interesting. And I think, you know, I love what you're sharing because especially a lot of people in our community have this kind of content, are experts and have it. And I just feel like it's almost like they take their content to the 10, 5-yard line, as they say, and like just do the last step and make it a little bit better. And as we all know, if people actually consume your content, They're gonna come back, buy more, and tell their friends. And if you just give 'em a, yeah, if you just give 'em the content they don't, then what's the point? So what's going on with AI in your world? I mean, it's affecting everything. How do you see it affecting courses?

I think it's on the whole really positive. It means that in terms of the curriculum development, we can just go so much faster. Just like writing a sales page is a lot faster now cuz you have AI to support you in that writing curriculum as well. So video scripts, building slides. Workbooks, like all of that stuff. If you wanna DIY it and just like, let's say get a beta out or zhuzh up a couple lessons, it's, oh my gosh, it's so much faster. Even just with something like a ChatGPT, if you know how to prompt and use it, and if you have it trained on your methodology and your brand and all that good stuff. So that's like one way is just the actual development of the program. The other big way, which like we're doing in Speakeasy Mastermind, right, is creating AI tools that support your students in moving faster toward the transformation that they want to receive. So like one of our clients, Idalia, we're talking to her about doing a— she's like an influencer PR maven. She helps models get into Fashion Week, for instance. Okay, so inside of her world, Instagram is really important, and she does these Instagram audits for all of her clients, and it's a bestseller. Everybody loves it. But for her now, we can just create an AI agent that does the Instagram audit, produces the report for her, and she can have a much better client experience. She can embed it into her other programs, like her big, you know, her signature program. It can be an element of that. She, so it's this one tool that yes, she's using in her education and course content, but she's also using it on the agency side of her business. So it's like one thing we do one time that has all of these really cool use cases. To help students get results faster. Because I really think, I know this to be true, that the most successful businesses have the most successful students. Like if you're looking at our thought leader world, people are like, oh, I want to get more leads. I want to get more sales. Well, there's 3 ways to grow a business, right? Jay Abraham 101. Get more leads or, you know, more sales, higher transaction value, and increase referrals and retention. And everybody's always focused on leads. And like, I think you probably have all the students you need. You just need to have better programs they ascend into. And do that, you know, one of the ways to improve your programs is to use these really cool AI tools to make it easy for your students to be successful.

Love it. What AI tools are you enjoying right now?

Personally, we are like a ChatGPT company. I tried out Claude and it just is not working for us. So we're loving ChatGPT. Everything we did at Speakeasy Mastermind Mastermind with Delphi and just my own working with Delphi has been amazing. Like, I love that platform. So those are probably the two that I'm like most excited about right now.

And probably using what, Gamma for your slides and, and a lot of your courses or inside?

So here's the thing is I'm kind of an aesthetic snob.

Yeah.

And Gamma just doesn't do it for me. Okay. So, you know, we have premium bespoke services and our clients who come to us, like Gamma is not the vibe. So we're still doing all of our, we have processes and we're using AI to make it faster for us to have handoff between instructional designers and graphic designers and things like that. But we're not using AI to generate graphics right now just because it's, it's not pretty enough.

Yep. No, I get it. And then as in running an agency, because we have a common bond there, is are you finding AI ultimately what helps you get stuff done faster, more efficient, and more, not necessarily cheaper, right? Just get more deliverables quicker type of thing. Is that sort of the way you're making it happen?

Yeah, that's really how we're using it. And then, like I said, we do build AI tools for clients. So if a client like wants an AI agent, if they want a bot, if they want a coach clone in something like Adelphi, we'll do that too. But yeah, on the agency, like internally, we're just using it to move things through faster.

A lot faster. Yeah. So for other agency owners listening, yeah. Well, very cool. Any other comments about the world of course creation, tips, tools, ideas? Other than everybody should be looking into this as an option.

Yeah. I mean, for sure. Yeah. I think it's, uh, there's a right time to do it. There's a wrong time to do it. And you gotta kind of balance like what's your real outcome. Like if your real outcome is to have something super polished and professional and have clients that turn into more clients, then like definitely spending time doing it is the important thing. But also like there's time for a beta test.

Yeah.

I'm not the kind of person who's like, you absolutely always need to make your course like whiz bang, 100% perfect. Like, no, like I'm also a business owner and I get that's not always the goal. So I think more than anything, when it comes to if you're going to install or revamp programs inside of your company, like what's your ultimate goal with that?

Yep. Yep. That makes sense. And even our, you're my go-to when it comes to courses, even our own Speakeasy Mastermind Mastermind onboarding now is authored by Jasmine here for those that are going through their onboarding into learning all the tools within Speakeasy Mastermind Mastermind. Before we end, tell me about this amazing love affair you have with dogs.

Oh my gosh, we don't have enough time, Eric. You know me and doggies. They're my favorite.

You had that happen. And I know you just, yeah, you just take care of them as much. Yeah.

You know, I've always had dogs. My girl Juniper Olive, she left her body last April and I adopted her in my third year of Detroit.

Okay.

And when you get into Teach for America, there's like a requirement of 2 years. Okay. Like you have to stay for 2 years, but in the region that I was in Detroit, you had to stay for 3 if you wanted a certification that transferred out of state. So if I wanted to go back home and teach in Virginia, I had to stay for 3 years. And I was so angry when I learned that. I was like, I can do 2 years. And then they told me it was 3 and I didn't have a choice and they couldn't transfer for me to another region. I was just like, why is this happening to me? You know? And I adopted her in year 3 and it all made sense. And I think, you know, I just, I want to be a dog when I grow up. Like, I want to be that present for people and that playful with everyone and like just believing the best in everyone no matter what. And, you know, I think it's not a coincidence that dog is God spelled backwards. I really think that they're angels on earth. And I just don't know. I mean, like, look, I've got like a little doggy tape, like, and they're just everywhere because they're just so inspiring to me. In the Flight Club manual, they have that question that's like, who's the hero you would want to meet, or like, who's the hero that inspires you that you want to be? And people put Les Brown and Tony Robbins and Nelson Mandela, and I'm just like, dogs everywhere.

Oh, it's everywhere. Snoopy. Now, does that mean you were a dog in your previous life, or you think your next life?

I think previous life because I have a theory that we come through the animal kingdom before we incarnate as humans. So I think that's why many of us have certain affinity for certain animals is because we likely had an incarnation as that animal.

Okay. I like that. So anybody out there who's a dog lover as well and wants to dog out, definitely you can, you know, talk dogs in courses with Jasmine. And then obviously, you know, here's a fun question. So your, your amazing husband, who I'm also, you know, friends with and got to know really well, Brad, on which date did you actually bring up the fact that he has to be a dog lover? Or then what did you discover that he also liked dogs? I mean, this is important now when you're on date 1, 2, 3.

Oh no, it was before. So Brad, the short story for me and Brad is he was my coach first.

Okay.

And he had an in-person event. I went, and on the first day of that event, he fired me as a client. And he said, hey, like, your contract is complete after this event. Now we can just be friends. And I was very confused and angry because I wanted to work with him longer. And then that night he asked me out, and I was like, okay, it all makes sense now. So in his words, he says, I fired her as a client so I could hire her as my girlfriend because I have integrity. That's what he says.

Yes, that's a good story.

Yes. And so that night we went out, and the thing was, we weren't attracted to each other at all. Like, I knew he was him, which, if you know him, you know what I'm saying. And I knew I was me. And, but we both had this vision for finding partnership. And so I had a vision board of what I wanted in a relationship. And so did he, and they were on our phones. So he takes his phone and I have mine and we just pass them and I read his vision and I'm like, well, I'm all of these things. And he reads mine and he says, well, I'm all of your ideals. So I guess let's try this thing.

The vision board stated it must be, so therefore it is.

And we just kind of, we arranged our own marriage. Because that was like really the energy of what it was. And on that night I said, I have a dog. And he said, well, does she bark? And I said, no. I was like, she is the best dog in the history of dogs. And he said, sure. Okay. He liked dogs, but he had never been a dog dad. And then when he met Juniper, he realized I was right. And she was the best dog in the history of dogs. And now he sings songs to our current dog Kona every day, multiple times a day. And he has really. Embraced it.

And that was probably the final test, because if he failed that one, it'd be no Brad. So on that, I mean, he had to— that's good. He didn't know that was the final test that you were looking at from the ultimate course creator. And on that note, is there anything at all you'd like to wrap it all, or any final words of wisdom?

Words of wisdom? Just keep on keeping on, people.

Keep on keeping on. Work hard.

Yeah, business is hard, but it's not the hardest thing you've ever done. I guarantee it. So keep on keeping on. You got this.

The next day you're frustrated, I want you to visualize being in that school in Detroit that Jasmine went through, and you'll realize that life ain't hard. Well, thank you so much for your time today. It was great to hear these stories and learn more about you. And I appreciate everything you've done for the community and as our friendship, and look forward to our next chat.

Yeah, my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

And that's a wrap from the Speakeasy Podcast. If something sparked for you, don't keep it to yourself. Share it, review it, and pass it to the one person who needs to hear this right now. Want in on the Real Mastermind? Tap the link in the show notes to apply. Bye! Until next time, keep scaling, stay sharp, and don't be the smartest one in the room.