In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Tayo (Teo) Rockson, a storyteller, cultural translator, and brand strategist known for helping changemakers communicate across cultures and with impact. Rockson shares a pivotal near‑fatal car accident in August 2012 that forced him to confront whether he was living his purpose; the experience led him to quit a sales job, move to New York, pursue an MBA, and launch his own podcast, which jump‑started his career. He explains his core mission—"use your difference to make a difference"—and highlights two recurring problems he sees: people often tell stories that omit diverse voices and fail to convey impact. His business advice centers on never shying away from sharing any story, no matter how mundane, because authentic storytelling builds community, a tribe, and ultimately thought‑leadership. Rockson reflects on personal growth, advising his younger self to let go of fear of failure and emphasizing that unfulfilled potential is the greatest sadness. He defines happiness as being unapologetically oneself and cites Robert Greene’s Mastery as his favorite book, extracting lessons about self‑knowledge, disciplined practice, apprenticeship, and challenging learned assumptions. He shares a favorite quote—"Become who you are by learning who you are"—and provides his online presence (tyrorockson.com and social media). The episode weaves personal narrative, professional philosophy, and actionable advice for entrepreneurs and communicators.
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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.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have a very special guest. His name is Teo Roxen. He is a storyteller, cultural translator, and brand strategist for changemakers on a mission to use his difference to make a difference. He's been named top 40 millennial influencers by New Theory and is also a 3x TEDx speaker, president and CEO of UYD Management, and the host of the podcast As Told by Nomads. So welcome to the show, man.
Thank you, man. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be on.
Of course. Thanks for hopping on. I very much appreciate it. And we'll dive in. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Best story from my life happened in August 2012. I was driving to work in my burgundy Toyota Camry when, you know, to work, and when I all of a sudden I got to the part where the road merged into the highway. And so I stepped on my accelerator pedal, gassed it up, got on the highway, 60 miles per hour like I was supposed to. I was cruising in my lane when all of a sudden my lane gets cut into half because the neighboring car loses control. Now, The neighbor's car loses control. I see it cut my lane in half. I'm swerving out of the way so I don't get hit. In the process, I smash into the left guardrail. Boom. And I smash into one car. Boom. Two cars. Boom. Right guardrail. Boom. Back to left guardrail. My car is perpendicular to the bridge, about to flip over. And I only have one thought at this moment. And it was this. Have you done everything you said you were going to do? Have you done everything you said you were going to do? Now, up until that point, I hadn't. I was this kid who was going to make a global impact. I was inspired by the late Nelson Mandela and Oprah Winfrey, but I'd somehow gotten lost in a world I never imagined by taking a job they gave me an offer because everyone else rejected me. So I took it, it was a sales job. And so at that moment, I smashed, I slammed into the brakes, tried to, my adrenaline was kicking in, I tried to get out of the car. And somehow I managed to scrape out of the car and my car was completely totaled. Two cars were hit, but I was okay. I was in one piece and there was nothing wrong with me. And that was the sign that I needed to do to step out of mediocrity. So I quit my job shortly after that. And then I moved to New York City to launch, to basically, you know, basically get my MBA and make New York City my campus. But I also launched my podcast and that's what ultimately launched my career.
Wow, man. Thank you for sharing that. That is a wild story. It is. The next question I have for you, Teo, is what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Within my expertise, at the core of what I do is I help people communicate better, right? So I do that two ways: helping people communicate effectively across cultures or help people communicate their messages with impact. It's all in line with my mission statement, which is use your difference to make a difference, which is as much a celebration of differences differences in cultural competency as it is a personal branding statement. And so within my industry, whether I'm doing diversity inclusion or helping people build businesses and build an audience, I find that a lot of people aren't telling their stories the right way. And when people tell stories, a lot of times they don't include people to allow them to be seen, heard, and represented the way they should be. And so those are the two things that I've noticed.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice, so not necessarily industry-specific?
Overall industry advice is never shy away to tell your story. I mean, no matter how mundane you think it is, there's always someone who can relate. And I can't express this enough. I mean, there are many times when I go on stage and I share a simple story that I think I've said a million times and it has no significance. It's always interesting because some people The audience need reminders and some people need to know that they're not alone. And so if you have, like what you do right now, the podcast, create a platform for people to tell their stories. If you have a platform to give people to tell their stories, do that, but also tell your stories at the same time because that's what ultimately connects you to an audience and a tribe. If you have a tribe and you provide value for them, then you start to get that, that rolling, the ball rolling in terms of community. And that's ultimately how you can sell or grow or just be a thought leader. Yes.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
It is gonna be okay. I think I was very, very impatient. You know, I had 85+ job rejections. I came here as a non-citizen. I was always thinking about next, next, next. And whenever failures happened, you know, I would be devastated. But I've learned You know, let go of your fear of failure, young Tyler, and understand that not achieving your potential is the greatest sadness that anyone can have in life.
Yeah. And then leading into that, in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Key happiness is being who you say you are and being unapologetically yourself. You know, that's ultimately what freedom is, being able to exist as you are and do what it is you say you want to do. Without worrying about conventions or living to someone else's expectations.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
The best book I've read is Mastery by John Green. And gosh, Mastery is so amazing. But you know, there's a quote which is kind of what I— sorry, not John Green. I said John Green. John Green is another author that I love. Robert Greene, that's what I meant to say. John Green by Robert Greene, and he was, um, there's a quote there that goes, one of my favorite quotes is, "Become who you are by learning who you are," right? And the things that I learned are trust your gut and find your discipline to master, then take an apprentice and get paid to learn, and then once you complete that apprenticeship, challenge everything you learned. So those are the things that I learned in the book.
And is that also, so my next question is, what's your favorite quote and why? So do you have a different one or is it that one?
Oh no, yeah, the quotes definitely become who you are. I learned who you are.
Gotcha. Awesome, brother. Well, listen, thank you for coming on. We really appreciate it. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
tyrorockson.com, T-Y-O-R-O-C-K-S-O-N.com. And if you just search Tyler Rockson anywhere online, that's how you find me. I'm on LinkedIn, I'm on Facebook, Instagram, wherever.
But yeah, awesome, brother. Thank you again for coming on. We appreciate it.
Pleasure's mine. Thanks for having me.
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