Tyrone Webb Jr., CEO of TWJ Branding & Marketing, grew up in Newark and now advises brands to ditch polished content for real day-in-the-life footage of executives. His core business rule: start slow, define your own timeline, and work for yourself instead of copying others.
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All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner, and our guest for today's podcast is Tyrone Webb Jr. He's the CEO and founder of TWJ Branding and Marketing. Tyrone is a New Jersey native but currently lives in Atlanta where he is involved in numerous activities. So welcome to the show, man.
Thank you for having me. Of course. And again, happy New Year's Eve.
Yes, happy New Year's Eve. This is a special day for episodes. I'm very grateful to have you on. So the first one I got for you, man, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Wow, I would say probably when I tell the story about where I grew up from, Newark, New Jersey, and it's not a pretty city. I think Newark has a really big reputation, a negative reputation. And when I tell people that I'm from there, I always get a gasp or like, oof, like, wow. But, you know, it's one of those places where a lot of people don't make it out of high school or they don't even make it to college. And I have to say, like, that's one of the most inspiring stories for myself because I watched how hard my parents worked to make sure that my sister and I were going to make it out and just have a strong, successful life and career.
And then what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
I would say right now for marketing is— and, you know, just Based off how this interview goes, you might, but to be as authentic as possible. There's no more of the traditional marketing where everything has to be perfect. There's no more of the reading a teleprompter. People want to see the real you and I, when I work with my executives at my full-time job, it's not always about the job or the products. It's what are you doing? What's the day in the life of the executive? Let people see the real you and what, You really do when you take the mask off.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, man. And then what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
My overall— start slow. You know, it's a crawl to walk. I think a lot of people try to rush and feel like they need to be where Oprah is by tomorrow. And you have to define your own timeline. You have to work for you, not for your parents, not for your friends, not for anyone you see who you might admire, who you take as an inspiration. If you're doing this for you, then you have to abide by your own rules.
And then if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Um, wow. I'm a person that lives with no regrets. I guess If I had to give advice to my younger self, it would be to continue the course, you know, and to trust more, trust more, just continue the course. I wouldn't change anything for my younger self because I'm very happy that I am where I am and I'm very satisfied and fulfilled in my life.
And then in your opinion, then what is the key to happiness?
Ah, Self-love. You know, when you make yourself happy, when you make yourself— again, it goes back to what I said about the business. When you take off those expectations of other people and you love yourself for you, that's the key to happiness. It's no more of that trying to live for your teachers. You know, your teachers when you're young, they might say, oh, you'll make a great lawyer. And that sticks with you. And you may not even want to be a lawyer. Or your mom may say, you know, you'll be a wonderful doctor. You always love taking care of me. But there's other ways of being a doctor. You know, there's just not that one way of going to medical school anymore. I mean, you can be a healer in so many different formats. So self-love, loving yourself and taking off those expectations and those titles that other people put on you.
And then what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
I got to go with Harry Potter. And I go with Harry Potter because— Although he was the one, he still needed help. And he wasn't afraid to ask for help. And although his friend, he might have resisted his friend's help, they still showed up. And there's nothing like teamwork. There's nothing like your friends. There's nothing like family. So Harry Potter for sure, because it really unlocks a lot. I mean, once Harry realized that he was able to unlock all his power and really truly dive in and align to who he truly was and then to have his friends help him with that, which is such a— it was just a beautiful story.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
Favorite quote? I don't know if I really have one. I think I bounce back and forth between Steve Jobs and probably Oprah, but those two in particular because they danced to their own rhythm and to their own drum. You know, there wasn't a— no matter how crazy Steve looked when he first ran Apple, he got fired, humbled himself, still went back, didn't care what the media said. Same thing for Oprah. They told her she would never be anything great. She proved everyone wrong. She was fired from her first job. She kept going. And I may not have a favorite quote, but I do look to those two people as an inspiration because they align their life and build their lives for them and not for anyone else.
Yes, man. Dude, thank you so much for coming on. The last one I got for you before we let you go and get to your New Year's Eve festivities is where can our audience find you online?
Sure, yeah, you can find me at www.tyronewebbjr.com. That's T-Y-R-O-N-E-W-E-B-B-J-R.com. Or you can find me on LinkedIn, Tyrone Webb Jr., or Twitter, @TyroneWebbJr.
Perfect, man. Thank you again for coming on.
Yes, thank you, Tyler.
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