In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews connector and entrepreneur Jan Winum. Jan shares a personal story of battling financial stress, depression, and paranoia, which led him to develop the opposite mindset of "pronoia"—choosing to view the universe as friendly. He explains his core philosophy of serving others: entering conversations by asking how he can help, echoing Zig Ziglar’s idea that giving what people want brings success. Jan offers his top business advice, a quote from mentor Jesse Elder: "be the price," meaning see yourself as the prize in any transaction. He distills his life approach into a two‑step formula—make friends, then help them—emphasizing that business should be fun. Drawing on Tony Robbins, he identifies growth and contribution as the primary human needs that lead to fulfillment and happiness. The book that impacted him most is Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now, teaching present‑moment awareness. Jan’s personal mantra, "Giving is the new selling," reframes sales as a giving mindset. He concludes by directing listeners to his online presence: LinkedIn, Twitter @Venom, and his website Gittens.com.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
¡Eh, eh, eh! All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Jan Winnem with us. He is a connector, and welcome to the show, Jan.
Thanks so much, buddy.
Of course, thanks for joining us. We'll dive in. The first question I have for you is, what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Right. Okay. So I actually had to think about that, uh, for a minute, but I have to go with my heart and tell you the story about how I actually developed paranoia at a time. I am, I was in a situation where I had, I had put myself in a situation where I was under immense financial stress and at the same time I had a depression, so wasn't able to basically crawl myself out of that situation. So my response to that was to actually develop paranoia and was even admitted to a psychiatric institution for, for a couple of occasions. So the valuable message I got out of that is something I have developed afterwards, which is the opposite of paranoia, which is pronoia, and it basically stems from Albert Einstein's famous questions where he says the most important question you can ask yourself is whether you live in a friendly or hostile universe. And today I'm blessed to say that I have made the decision that I'm living in a friendly universe.
Hmm.
Thanks so much for sharing that, man. I really appreciate that. And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Right, so I would say the most valuable thing you can do, or piece of information, is basically that you want to connect with a desire to serve people in their thing. No matter what level you're at, if you're able to enter a conversation from the point of view where you're looking at how can I serve this person, how can I help this person, and really connect with that innate desire to actually go and serve people, then you can basically have whatever you want. That's what Zig Ziglar said, right? You can have everything you want if you just give enough people what they want. So that's the most important information. That's how I'm working as a connector. I enter a conversation figuring out what is this person wants, needs, and desires, and figure out a way to serve them in that.
And it might tie in, but what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific, right?
Yeah. So that's actually a short quote I got from a virtual mentor of mine. His name is Jesse Elder, and I can highly recommend you check him out. He has this phrase where he says, be the price, and that's in terms of selling. So that's kind of a sales advice. If you can be the price, Meaning that whoever you're dealing with wins if they're dealing with you. You are the prize. And if you can enter a conversation knowing that you are the prize for this person, you can sell anything. So that's, that's the best piece of overall business advice I can give.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Yeah, so I would say business is supposed to be fun. So, uh, Basically a simple 2-step process I'm working on living by right now. Step 1, make friends. Step 2, help them. Right? And that's basically how I have lived my life personally. So what I'm doing now as a connector is basically doing that professionally as well. And really, that's basically what I would say to my younger self back then. Just have fun, man. Go out and make some friends and help them. And if you help them make money in that process, that's how you can make a living too.
I love that. And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Yeah, so I have to pull on Tony Robbins there. He talks about the 6 human needs, and he mentions the 2 most important human needs are the need to grow and the need to contribute. And I think that if we can find a way to grow as a person and contribute to the world, then I, I believe that's the way to, to find fulfillment. And that's why I'm actually an entrepreneur, because I can't think of a better vehicle to grow and contribute than through a business. So growth and contribution are the pathway to fulfillment and happiness.
And what's the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Yeah. So I would say that, man, it's so hard. There's so many amazing books, but I would say the one that has had the biggest impact on me is not a business book, yet it teaches you everything you need to run a business. It's the book called The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, and it's a spiritual book and it's— it basically teaches you The biggest cliché of them all, how to live in the present, in the present moment. And that's what I got out of it. I try to as much as possible live in the present moment and speak from my heart. So, so that's a book I would recommend to anyone to read.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
Yeah, so I have to do a blatant pitch here and quote myself because there's just so many amazing quotes out there. So I had to go with my own. Which is not really as much a quote as it is a mantra. And it's— my mantra is, "Giving is the new selling." And that's basically a mental note to myself to say, "Hey, you can make selling obsolete if you give instead." And that doesn't mean you're not accepting money. It just means you're not entering a conversation from, "How can I sell? How can I push? How can I get something out of it?" Instead, you're entering a conversation, how can I give? And if you do that, it will replace selling, and thus giving is the new selling.
Yes, I love that mantra. And the last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
Yeah, totally. So you can look me up on LinkedIn and on Twitter. I'm @Venom. Then you can check out the website. Gittens.com, which is short for giving is new selling. G-I-T-T-E-N-S dot com.
Perfect, brother. Thanks again for coming on. We appreciate it.
My pleasure, man.
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