In this episode of the B2B Marketing Methods podcast, host Terri Hoffman, CEO of Marketing Refresh, chats with Jason Lee, Vice President at Exponent. Jason discusses the role of Exponent in enhancing the value of private businesses by providing wealth management services. 

The conversation delves into Jason's journey from the health to the wealth industry, his personal story, and various strategies he employs for building credibility and relationships, particularly through LinkedIn. Jason emphasizes the importance of maintaining a personal brand, mastering the art of getting people in a room, and trusting the process. They also explore Jason's personal initiatives, including his faith-based leadership and mentoring men.

This episode provides valuable insights into blending personal authenticity with professional strategies for successful B2B marketing and business development.

To learn more about Jason Lee, connect with her on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonleeexponent/

Or, email him at: 

jlee@exponentx.net

To learn more about Terri, connect with her on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrihartley/

To connect with Marketing Refresh, visit: MarketingRefresh.com

Introduction and Guest Welcome

Jason:

Thank you for having me.

Terri: Yeah. So we've got some pretty exciting things to talk about today, especially with Jason's role and some of his past experiences. We're going to be talking about how he uses LinkedIn to build his own, credibility in the market. We're going to be talking about, a really cool phrase, mastering the art of getting people in a room, which is kind of a fun concept.

I'm really looking forward to hearing more about that. Building relationships and really making that first. Trusting the process. I feel like that's like a LeBron James phrase. I like bringing that in.

Jason: Yeah.

Terri: To the marketing conversation.

Jason: Kobe, Kobe Bryant.

Terri: I love Kobe Bryant.

Jason: Bryant. Kobe.

Terri: Cool and then he's got some really cool personal initiatives that we're going to talk about. One thing that Jason and I share is we are both faith-based leaders, and so I can't wait to get into that part of the conversation too.

Jason: Neither can I.

Jason Lee's Career Journey

Terri: Let's start with you introducing yourself, Jason. Tell us, you know, elaborate a little bit more on your company and how you got led into that role.

Having gone from health to wealth, I went into a traditional investment advisory firm meaning stocks and bonds, life insurance, that kind of thing. And then I actually had a really rough season. Went through a divorce, went through some things. So the combination of trying to start a new career and going through all that kind of led me out of the business for a while back to health.

And then, a guy that mentors me, his best friend's my boss, we were at a men's retreat, and, I was telling him a little bit about my testimony and he said, well, why don't you come talk to me? And I said, man, I don't want to do, chasing, IRAs and all this other stuff. Like, I felt like I don't have the bandwidth or the trajectory to do that, you know, it's a long cycle.

He said, man, we really do cool stuff for business owners. I think you might enjoy that. Sounds like you really look like entrepreneurs. And that's what I was telling him I was passionate about. And so came into his office, had the discussion. He kind of gave me a peek under the hood of what it is that they do and how they help people.

Exponent's Services and Client Focus

Jason: And so, what we do, who we serve is the person, you know, whose name is on the front of the building. And so, we're a wealth management firm, meaning at our core, but when people hear wealth management, I think the default is to think, okay, stocks and bonds, right?

You know, life insurance, we do all of that. That's our bread and butter, but we lead, right? As an example, we lead every day we go into the marketplace with their business as our priority. And the reason being is it is typically their biggest asset, usually amongst all. I was just with a guy who's, growing his business.

We can't rope him in. We've been working with him for two years, you know, and so where like every time he sits down and he is like, okay, I've got a million dollars coming in this year. And so we're like, finally we're going to manage money. And then he is like, okay, I can't do that. I've got, we're going to grow here.

Most people forget that talent's probably one of the second biggest asset. Ask a business owner, what's more important, a 10% return on their portfolio or making sure that their top three people don't leave them.

Right? And a business owner will be like, I'll take my top three people all day. People, versus the ROI on my, on my portfolio.

So we specialize in that. And then helping them figure out how to, what's that exit going to look like someday? So we're investment bankers, CPA wealth licensed, so, securities license. So we kind of do all of that across that piece. And my role specifically, I'm a securities license advisor, but we've built our firm a lot, like a lot of service companies where we have specialists.

You have a wealth team, tax team, insurance team, planning team, and then me, I kind of lead as the, the spear tip when it goes into getting into the clients, servicing the clients, becoming their liaison, their relationship guy,is kind of my role.

Terri: Yeah, I can see that. Knowing your personality.

Navigating Compliance in Marketing

I'm sure that, create some wrinkles when it comes to what you may want to say or what you may think gives you the best foot forward as you're marketing yourself versus what is acceptable and allowable to say.

Leveraging LinkedIn for Personal Branding

Terri: So I want to start with LinkedIn. Like how do you view LinkedIn as a tool and how do you temper what I was just talking about on the client side as your thinking about your own personal LinkedIn strategy?

Yeah. it's a lot more red tape and I'm trying to differentiate myself. while I want people to know that's a piece of what we do, and I'm typically getting brought into clients for things related to completely different stuff that we do. So fortunately going into the marketplace has been a little easier than when all I did was make posts about the portfolio and the market and the return.

You know, that's completely different. Most of my stuff is around valuation talent and growing your team and, you know, things that people go, okay, wow, okay, this guy gets me as a business owner. Because those are really the things that are, more often challenged with and, you know, they look at the app investments like, oh yeah, when I have some leftover, I'll put it over here.

and, you know, they get a Christmas card and they call our advisor if it's up, but if it's down, but, or really they don't ever call them if it's up. They only call em when it's down. Right. But, yeah. that's usually how that works. But, my marketing is more driven around that.

I think what I've uncovered is, people are looking at these platforms and social media today is looking at platforms so that you can identify. Do I like that person, right?

Terri: Yeah.

Jason: Or would I do business with that person? I have people who meet me all the time and go, yeah, I know about you.

And I'm like, you don't really know me. You know of me. You know what you think about me. But I try to ensure that everything that's going out into the marketplace and my communication is going to point back to, you know, I'm not catfishing. Right? Yeah. When people meet me, they go, okay, I am this way.

Terri: Yeah.

That's awesome.

Jason: Loves his family. Loves connecting others, you know, so, yeah.

I hope that kind of answers the question.

Terri: It does, it really does because I think what I'm taking away from what you said is that you're using it more as a tool to build your personal brand and, to establish your credibility and also connect, like find a message about you that is genuine and true, that would then connect with a business owner. Who's part of your audience.

Jason: Absolutely.

Jason: Well, I would say this, it's never not been part of my DNA.

Terri: Okay.

Jason: So unfortunately, that's just who I am. So,

Terri: Yeah.

Jason: That being said, I'm always encouraging people, that are way too vanilla, that you've gotta step out of your comfort zone, especially in today's environment. Right. So people are trying to make a decision on who they're going to do business with, and they're typically going to need seven to eight touch points, of making a decision.

And in today's world, I'm not making the decision, based on the website. I'm going to the website, I'm going to the ratings on Google, I'm going to their reviews, and then I'm going to their social media.

Terri: Yeah,

Jason: Right? I just put a new tenant in my house,in one of my rooms.

Terri: Yeah.

Terri: Yeah.

Jason: You know, making decisions every day using all the different data that's out in the universe. And so if your data isn't out there, meaning if you're not communicating who you are and what you're about then, and people are left to guess what that is. They might pick somebody else because that person made it pretty transparent to figure it out.

Terri: Oh, I love that. I love that

Jason: Transparency is what people want. So why not just be who you are and then solve the problem? Here's the great news people who don't like me, I don't have to worry about pursuing those clients.

Terri: Yeah,

Jason: It's great.

Both (2): Cool.

Terri: Yeah.

Jason: Made that easy.

Terri: Yeah. You want to work with people that have a similar mindset, similar set of values, you'll have a stronger working relationship, I think, when that happens. Absolutely. Well, how do you see that?

Building Relationships Through LinkedIn

I mean, you kind of gave that business coach example, but,

Jason: Great question, so, I've been very fortunate through LinkedIn to have, built truly lifelong and meaningful relationships from it. Great example. one guy, he's a LinkedIn, savant, right?

He's out there growing his business. I cold called him based on a post he made five years ago, right? He made a post, we could solve the problem, got the courage, called his office, said, Hey, you've got a hundred people chiming in that they want to do business with you. How many of them picked up the phone?

He's like, your first one. I was like, then gimme the business. And he liked that kind of DNA and so, you know, we were able to do some of the business, but now we're very, very close friends. And, continue to sustain that.

Terri: I'm going to stop you for just a second, but I think it's really interesting.

Jason: Actually picking up the phone. Yeah. Yeah. Right.

Terri: And then figuring out how to take that to actually meeting in person and building a relationship.

Jason: So one of the things that I do, is I actually, so aside from that, using another tool, I, so I have my brand going, but then behind that brand. I have, in sales navigator, almost a thousand CFOs. I have almost a thousand business owners that I've targeted that are in this space.

So I'm actually constantly dripping, never sell stuff, right? For example, I just left Washington last week, or no prior, the week prior, to, with the construction association talking about matters that were important in Washington for the industry. So guess what? I've got the bullet points from that discussion and those bullet points are going to go out.

When I do cold, call them, I say, Hey, Terri it's Jason Lee. And they go, oh yeah. Oh, oh, hey.

It's not cold.

Terri: Right?

Jason: They've gotten an invite. They got that note from me. Did you ever read that stuff I sent to you about the, work we were doing in Washington?

Okay. Well, is it okay if I take to tell you what I, what I do actually for a living? Can I kind of take a second to share you that video? And there's so much more.

Terri: Yeah. You're giving them value before you try to talk to them about what you sell, so to speak.

Jason: Hundred.

Terri: Yeah. No, I love that. I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I wanted to, I wanted to point out those. No, that was

Jason: Well that is the second part, which is the, okay.

Terri: Good.

Sales and Marketing Synergy

Terri:And I think that's really an a key way that sales and marketing are really overlapping more and more, right? Because I use Sales Navigator every day too. It's such a powerful tool, to make sure that you're really reaching out to people that fit your audience, and that you can serve. Then figuring out how to message to them and how frequently to reach out, how much time you should leave in between, how to sequence that.

You know, those are typically ways that a marketer would add value. And I think that a person who's in a development role now has to have those skills to be effective, right? You've gotta figure out how to fuse those together and kind of build that skillset for yourself. So that you don't always have to lean on a marketer, and a marketer doesn't always have to lean on a development person.

Jason: Yeah. In the perfect world, the two of them are working in collaboration, right?

Terri: Right.

So I didn't have time to wait to figure that out. So it was like, okay, I'm going to go figure out marketing now. Since then, I've added in an assistant who helps me do that. So I've built kind of that in. And then recently as an organization, we've brought in, an actual marketing professional for the firm.

And so figuring out how can we take some of the work that I'm doing at a sales and marketing level, and then peel that into an organizational level. The real fit for me would be, you know, what would be the best fit is if, as a company, if you actually bring marketing beside your sales team and say, okay, how can we work this efficiently with all the tools?

And you know, they don't want to pick up the phone and make that call. So I'm at my best doing that, not building lists, but early on, as a solopreneur essentially, you're doing it all, right. So I was, you know, staying up night, putting the list together. Then, I eventually would make enough money, I could hire somebody, paying them to do it.

But would you want to do, if I got out of this today and bought a business, one of the things I would do is grab my marketing team and then my sales team and said, Hey, we're going to get you guys on the same page. Like, how do we have you guys working to roll in the same direction?

Terri: A lot of times that's not happening. Absolutely. I think that's a key challenge, especially in the B2B space, is, it's hard to determine where the lines are between what sales is responsible for and what marketing is responsible for. And instead of trying to figure out what's different, it's really identifying the shared goals and then how you split the responsibilities to reach, because they really are shared goals, right?

You know, like what their typical job description has looked like traditionally and how those fuse together and who does what, in order to maximize time to reach those goals. I mean, I hear that all the time from companies.And then on top of it, how do you even measure if it's working? I mean, that's like a whole other podcast episode that we could do.

But it sounds like from what you're saying on a surface level, you are seeing that this strategy is working for you and it's getting you into the right conversations and positioning you correctly. Would you agree with that?

Jason: Yeah, I mean, I don't know if what the challenge is when you're kind of on, you know, and I'm only saying this because I don't have a benchmark, right?

So I could say, yes, what I'm doing is working because I'm better than everybody. You know, like, so I'm beating people right here. I'm beating myself every month. Has my business grown every month? Yes. Have I gotten enough clients? Yes. We do sales contests and stuff. Do I win those? Yes. So yes. It's, I guess it's working, right? Yeah. Could it be better? I mean, maybe, you know. Right. Am I constantly refining it? A hundred percent.

Both: Yeah.

Jason: Right. Especially now, right.

Effective Use of AI in Marketing

Jason: With AI and figuring out how to make it more efficient and do those type of things. And then there's this slippery slope, right?

It's just something I wanted to start doing, right?

Terri: Mm-hmm.

Jason: So it was small, but like, I don't have to overthink that. So what I do is I take the notes from like let's say we met in a group, in a setting together, and I would ask you questions as my referral partner, like your unique value proposition, these type of things.

My note takers, taking those notes. So when I get done with that, I go to my note taker and say, Hey, gimme a little post about Terri and all of her things. So it would do that. And then, you know, I got to where I was asking ai, okay, cool, throw in some emojis and stuff, and it got really out of control. So what would happen was out of efficiency, I would do that until I got the feedback from my wife, who's my best partner.

She said, Hey, dude, like that's way over the top, right? And I'm not really paying attention to it, but I was like, okay. Now I'm, here's the truth, I should totally use AI to write that, because it's not stealing a voice. It's like, Hey, we just had the conversation give me Terri's unique value prop.

Too many hearts and moons and this and that kind of crap. And then it can kind of get where it's like, okay, that that does look a little obnoxious. So, you know, I asked, Hey, tone this down. So now it starts to tone that down. Now when I write something about, valuation, you know, I might craft that story and clean that up, but I've gotta be careful, you know?

Okay. Hey, go give me some bullet points around what's happening in the valuation market in some articles. Okay. I need to go get those, but the core of that needs to still be me. Right.

Terri: Right.

Jason: So it's acquiring how to do that.

Terri: Yeah.

I think you're, from what you're describing, I think you're using it in all the proper ways.

Jason: The way I've looked at it, right? Is if I'm going to use it and was to do that, it's like if I was a professional, whatever, and, I'm the CEO of a business and I'm super busy and I'm writing articles. I'm not going to proofread all that and do that stuff. I'm going to give it to my assistant, say, right, clean that up.

You know, or what do they call it? Copywriter or something. Now I'm going to give it to copy and say, copy that and get it out.Nobody's sitting there at, million dollars an hour level going. Did I get the right eye? Did I use "re" or with apostrophe or you know, right.

My wife would be like, yours are wrong. You know, like, you're wrong. Kidding.

Terri: No, I think that's exactly how people should be using it at this stage. And it's the whole, you know, the large language models are evolving, they're growing, they're going to start to get capable of more.

Jason: Yep.

Terri: Very cool.

Content Creation and Posting Strategy

Terri: I guess one more question about LinkedIn. Do you have a regimen in mind about how often you want to post. and how you manage,

Jason: About three days a week.

Terri: Making the posts? The other part was how you go about, do you think, oh, I'm going to plan out two weeks at a time, or do you just kind of do it as the idea comes to you and then make the post?

Jason: Great point. Typically on Monday mornings, it's when I'm usually my sharpest, coming out of the weekend refreshed. So I'm typically writing content. Also no one's working like not, not working, but everyone's just slammed Monday mornings.

My admin then pulls that and we'll clean it up, do whatever. And then, I'll usually have that going out now.

You know, between all that there's, you know, I'm going to a networking event tonight and I went to a deal yesterday and I took pictures with everybody. So like that post I think will go out tomorrow morning probably.

And I'll whip that out from my phone real quick, you know?

Terri: Yeah.

Jason: Hey, had a great time at this event. So a lot of those are on the fly as they're happening. And then a lot of content that you'll see on my page over the course of a week, is usually by week and in some instances a couple of weeks in advance.

Yeah. And then we'll go write about it and you know, get it out.

Terri: Yeah. I love that. Do you go back and look at the metrics on your LinkedIn profile to see what's working for you? Or do you just kind of have a sense as you're looking at your own feed?

Jason: Yeah. You know, it's just from, it's just based on the feed. I will say this, and I'll say this right now, it sucks because, I don't know what they've done, right. But now when I go into my feed, everything on my post asks me if I want to boost it. So that used to not be the case. But now I, you know, maybe I got in trouble. I don't know what they've done to me, but now they want me to boost everything. Right.

Terri: Yeah.

That wasn't to try to get views. That was just my heart, Hey, you know, here's what's going on. that is like, I don't know, like the 10,000 views and, you know, so something like that goes kind of viral, but I'm not worried about my brand. They're like, it was, let's pray about that.

LinkedIn Business Valuation Insights

Jason: But then like I did a business valuation posts that I thought was pretty cool, right? Like it made sense and it was, it was not bad. Right? Posted it yesterday. I'm at like seven hundred .

Terri: Yeah. So, yeah.

Jason: I don't know what that is.I'm pretty sure that LinkedIn says, Hey, I know what you're trying to do here. You need to gimme some money.

Terri: Yes, that would be my suspicion just from patterns I see for myself and with our clients is, LinkedIn's in business to make money and so.

Jason: Oh, absolutely. I don't fault for it.

Terri: Yeah, but you don't have to do it.

Jason: I'm debating, right? Like, so that's probably the next step is trying to figure that out.

I'm not going to spend tons of energy trying to figure out how to crack code to not pay. It probably makes some more sense just to pay for it if I think it's going to bring me value. The other question is does that stuff really bring you, there's a lot of noise out there. So for me I think it's a consistency thing that needs to be done.

Terri: Okay.

Jason: But I also don't have like a rhyme or, you know, I definitely wouldn't say that I'm, I mean, I'm not an influencer, right?

So, I mean,I don't have like this massive following or anything like that, so I don't think I'm an expert there. Right. I've done pretty good at being able to sell through LinkedIn and build great relationships and have a pretty expansive network.

Terri: Yeah.

Jason: But you know, I'm not making a million dollars a month on my awesome social media impact, you know?

Mastering the Art of Getting People in a Room

Terri: And maybe that's a good transition to, one of the other topics that we wanted to talk about, which is. I think you called it mastering the art of getting people in a room.

Jason: Oh yeah, absolutely.

Terri: I want to hear about that. That's like a really cool phrase.

Jason: Well, getting them in a room. Right. So, one of the things that I've seen that's worked for me is, like we did an event together, and Russell Smith, you mentioned him, he's great at this, but it's getting with some peers or getting part of some local organizations that serve the people that you're trying to meet and then putting on.

Having a consistent flow. And now at my organization, we're actually doing monthly, luncheons. So having different things that you can get somebody to and so when I had mentioned earlier, I create these kind of LinkedIn drip things, lists. So over time those lists are getting consistent things, you know, and what happens is,

Well, they've also got, you know, like I have two prospects right now that are, proposal stage from events that they came to that I had been dripping to get that, you know, oh, I can't make this one, but I'll make the next one that's been happening for over a year now. And again, because they, they, when they do that, they click on my stuff, check on the event. Where do they go? They go to my page. I see that. They view my profile. Then they go and scroll my, I'm sure they scroll through my stuff to figure out who I am, because when I meet these people at that event, they feel like they already know me.

Terri: Yeah.

Jason: I was saying earlier, going back to the original discussion, the people that I've met at these events, and a matter of shaking their hands, I've already decided, and they've decided, like this is my kind of person, right?

Terri: You've built the relationship that way, and then you can build it in person once they attend an event. You know, it's like a really crazy statistic is that in the B2B world, only 5% of the people that you're talking to or have as part of a, a list like you described, only 5% of them are actually in the market for what, any provider does at that moment. So,

Jason: Right.

Terri: if you keep that in context with the strategy you're describing, it's like 95% of the people you're reaching out to, they're not ready to talk to you and they, they don't have the pain that connects with how you can help them.

And at some point they're going to reach that point.

Jason: =I either want you to do business with me, become my friend, or call the cops on me one of three. So

Terri: yeah,

I have a feeling that third one's never happened.

Jason: Well, or tell me to just kick rocks, right?

Terri: Yeah, there you go.

Jason: I'd rather. Hey, hey, you know, I'm never coming to anything you invite me to. So then I'm like, okay, finally, I'll quit sending it to you.

Terri: Yeah. So, okay.

Trusting the Process in Business

Terri: That hopefully maybe ties to the Kobe Bryant trusting the process concept, right? Because we're talking about having to be consistent and relentless and sticking with the process that you developed.

Jason: No, I think you're, nailing it, right? So, it's really hard and, okay. So in my business, I can get four prospects and in each one of those prospects, one of those prospects becomes, or let's say for new clients, so they become new clients. So it's hard to dictate from those clients what's going to happen from an actual compensation perspective.

And what I mean by that is some people might be completely reinvesting in their business for the next five years. And so you do all this work, you make them a client, and then you're just kind of riding beside them and you're not managing any money, any life insurance. There's nothing.But you're taking great care of them, right?

Right. But he's also all reinvesting in the business is a construction. They've got bonding issue, a bonding requirement. There's all these things that says, Hey, I, I've got a lot of opportunity to be a big opportunity for you, but when that's going to happen, I don't know. Like, so when I, so why I say that is, is unlike in the fitness industry, or even in some instances where you're like, okay, you know this, this product sells this. If I sold software, it's like, okay, sell this. Talk to this many people, equate this many opportunities. Our software costs this much a month. Here's how much you'll sell in software. Yeah. Like I could get four people and make $50,000 off them, right? I could get one person to make 200. And so there's all these different variations that go into that. So I ultimately had to let that go.

Terri: Yeah.

And so it's not like I'm selling I'm trying, I've got one hammer and everything's a nail. You know, I'm trying to hold their needs, especially as fiduciaries to what they need and then we provide the source, right? The resource.

Terri: Yeah.

Jason: Sometimes that's good commission.

Sometimes that's not, so that's okay. Whatever they need. Now, I'm saying that to say this, but the one thing that's never questionable is the behaviors that I have to do every day.

Terri: Got it.

Jason: Be doing all those behaviors and sometimes that's typically how it works.

It's like behavior, behavior, behavior, behavior, behavior, and then nothing. And then bam. Five new opportunities, you know?

Terri: Yeah.

Jason: And one guy that I did invite to that event finally dripped on and we finally talked and he wasn't ready then. And now I'm getting a phone call. No, I had a guy call me. This is so cool. I had a guy who called me who didn't do business because he's not been able to get to the threshold

They like, they're making money, but then they're like. Okay, but I've gotta reinvest in the business and I gotta do the, like it's a, because I think they're so focused on building, they're never able to stop and say, okay, I need to think about my legacy with this. What's this going to do if I was to die? What happens to all these moving pieces until something urgent happens?

Then they stop and pause. Or until they actually go, well, I'm actually got some money. So a lot of guys do that. This guy, after three years, we dripped, hung out dinner, gun shoot, you know, and at this event. Calls. I get a call from him and he makes an introduction to a guy who was selling his business this year and they were at lunch and he was telling him what he was going through.

He says, well, you need to talk to this guy. That guy's a client, the guy that's selling his business. So,

Terri: Wow.

Both: Yeah.

Jason: Okay. Cool. Alright. Yeah, that's, you know, but it's so weird, right? But I'm like, okay, well, I've hit pains, I've hit these things. He just can't emotionally get there. But he sent me a referral.

Terri: Right?

Jason: Yeah.

Terri: And so I, knowing that you have a fitness background too, and you have a strong faith, it's like really, there's a lot of ties between what you're saying.

Trusting the process is, like when you said that phrase behavior, behavior, behavior, it's like you have to trust that the right behaviors in daily practices are going to lead you to the outcomes that are meant to be, you know, that are either part of god's will or part of what the universe is wanting for you.

Yeah. You know, whatever your, your belief system is, it's like the same I have found through my own personal fitness journey. It's like. If I know I get certain amount of steps a day, I hit certain macros I'm doing weight lifting certain number of times a week. I'm going to hit the goals that I want.

Jason: Well the goals too will start to wear on you emotionally over time.

And I think that if you seek joy in the process, that's the growth, right? Like, for me, bodybuilding for years was less about getting to the stage. It was the discipline, it was the structure. It was the daily routine. And even though I've battled injuries the last few years, the routine's never changed, you know, and it's hilarious.

Like I've been, I used to work to get on stage. Now I try to work to try to make sure I can swing a golf club without hurting. You know, it's just different things. Yeah. I mean, you mentioned our faith, but, you know, I lean, I lean on two things, right. The process for me is, is around, Colossians and I'll, it is 3 :23- 24, but it says we're going to all things if working for the Lord and not for human masters.

So the process is working and so if the work is getting better, getting, you know, getting your butt kicked. But I'm doing it for God, so I don't really have to question whether. And then the other one, and this is like my anchor verse from my life, is Proverbs 3: 5-6. It says, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean that on your own understanding and he'll show you, which path it takes. So it's like, okay, so the outcome is trust the process.

Terri: Yeah.

Jason: So. I mean, that's, it's not hard at that point in time.

Terri: Yeah.

As a marketer and as a professional, you're, you're always going to question if you're getting it right.

Terri: Mm-hmm.

Jason: But the joy is like, like for example, this, this LinkedIn thing. Okay. It's not working like it used to. Well, I, I'm not going to go in my brain and say. Well, I guess I'm never going to get any more business from LinkedIn.

You know? It's like, okay, well crap, I guess I gotta figure out how to like fix that, right? So am I going to pay for that? Am I going to try to circumvent it by creating another content? Are there other places to go with marketing?

Terri: Right.

Jason: You know, or do I, it's just, it's a never ending puzzle.

Terri: Yeah, no, it, I think that's exactly right.

And I think you can't. Whatever you're trying to pursue, you can't lose faith in the process. And I think that's what you're saying is like, stay committed. But that doesn't mean that you won't have to make adjustments along the way. Because you've gotta keep up with how the way the world operates where people get information.

Terri: I want to shift gears in kind of a big way and talk about living in your calling. That was something,

Jason: Oh, cool.

Terri: You know, that we had in our discussion notes to talk about. I just want to give you a platform to talk about that.

Tell me what you mean by that and how you live that out.

Jason: Well, you're asking, so lemme first of all, start by saying this, I'm one of those people where my profession is not my calling and and I see people who actually are in their calling, in their profession and I love it when they're there.

Right. Like it, it's so cool to me. And what I mean by that is there's people that I know, my friend Catherine Brown, she's a gatherer and a connector of people. And so when she's out in the marketplace, she started her own networking thing and Good Human Growth Network. When she goes out and does that, you're seeing her in her calling, like she's required for that and now she's living in it.

Terri: Yeah.

Jason: Like, he's a, he's got this guru financial mind, you know, so, you know, he nerds out in what we do, right? He's in his calling. Is more in alignment with just, you know, I was asked yesterday what success looked like twice actually, what success looks like to me.

So I'm able to do that. And then from that, somehow business finds its way back to me. I guess it, it's just establishing what it is that you care about. And it took me losing a lot of stuff and thinking that what I cared about was like money and success and position and life and all these other things.

So I had to kinda like experience the loss, a lot of that, to then bounce back and go, what I really like is just people and impacting them and being in their lives. So yes, I like money too. It helps me have an impact in other things that I want to do, but at the same time, if I'm not pouring into people and having people pour back into me and fill my cup, then I'm not living in my calling.

Terri: Yeah.

Jason: But culture, you know, as long as those things mirror and match, then I'm in my calling, you know? And so I think a lot of people times you're looking for their job to give them fulfillment. I'm like, find your field of wherever you're at, wherever you've been placed, figure out what it is that's really your calling, you know?

For me, personally, at its core, it's discipleship and men. Because I experienced that personally and it changed me. And so that's where my heart lies. The organization, I'm a part of, that I serve in, yes, I'm there to get business, but these people have become my friends.

It's because I'm actually, when I leave the house every morning I wake up super early, I come home and I'm not exhausted. Because I, I was working all day.

Terri: Right?

Jason: I'm, you know, working, but I was, you know, growing, developing, getting to impact people so. My encouragement for those that are listening would say is if you're, if you're waiting for your job to fill your cup, ask yourself what it is that you really need to fill your cup.

Then ask yourself, okay, well I'm here now, so find a way to fill it where you're at.

Terri: =It sounds like you've found a really good overlap between those two things that you just described and =helping business owners, connecting them, whether you can serve them or not, knowing that you're helping them and connecting them with the appropriate resources seems to like really fill your cup.

Just helping people. Yeah.

But the two people I was with were, I pursued him for business. He really wasn't ready for that, but then in our discovery, I found out some issues he was facing. So I made some introductions to the challenge that he had, and he's worked with him first. But he is like, Hey, I've gotta get this done first and I gotta get this done and then I'll get to you.

So, but it was hilarious you know because it was ironic we just happened to be at the same event at the Astro together and then one of them was like, yeah, we're getting started now. And he kind of told me what he needed to do, what was his priority. So it's kind of unfolding the way that he did.

And I'm like, you know, I sent him a text of a picture, but I'm thinking like, dude. Come on.

Jason: Time now. You signed up with them. It's my turn. So,

Terri: Yeah. You know what I love? I love that you're, I guess not afraid is just the best phrase that comes to mind. I like that you're, persistent about asking for the business, right?

Because if you don't ask for it. you've just decreased your chances of getting it right, but you've gotta have that confidence in what you can do.

Terri: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that.

Men's Mentoring and Role Models

Terri: Talk to me about men's mentoring. Because I, I assume it kind of fits with what you were just talking about.

Jason: Uh, well, for me it's just real simple. I think we have a systemic issue. I know I am a byproduct of that. Where, either lack of male role models, and I had good role male role models in, in my early twenties in the fitness industry, which was great. But that being said, one thing that was missing was kind of a balance of, from a role model perspective. And if you go back in, you look at number of the challenges today, I think there's a masculinity issue that's out there that's, that people are, are struggling with.

Terri: Mm-hmm.

Jason: And that's shaped that way. Right, like I'm not trying to be obnoxious here, but I'm just saying. Sadly, you know, if a woman is sleeping with a bunch of girls and she's young, they're going to call her a, a bad name. If a man's doing it with a bunch of girls and he's young, he's a champ.

Right? And so that's a problem. Yeah. And so because of that culture. It becomes who has the most stuff? Yeah. And then that guy's not chasing the most stuff. And somewhere along the way people figure it out and it's usually when they get their own daughters and their own family and their own stuff. And they're like, wait a minute, that's not going to work, because I don't want any of it, her or them.

Right. So then they pivot and shift. Sadly, a lot of men don't have that resource. They just don't have it. A lot of guys have a lot of acquaintances, but very, very few friends.

Terri: Yeah.

Both: Real friends.

And somebody that's like, no, you're not. That's just, so if you go, a lot of that's deeply rooted, it's a problem and so I just, I, I guess essentially just because I've had people come into my life and change my life over the last decade by caring and loving for me, as, as males.

Terri: Yeah.

Jason: You know, older one men who said, Hey, this is how you need to do this, and taught me how to run a budget, taught me how to run my house, not run my house.

Terri: I know what you're saying.

Jason: Not just, you know, taught me how to love better.

Terri: Mm-hmm.

Jason: Taught me how to care, how to be more disciplined.

Terri: Well, do you have a formal way that you mentor men? Or is it just kind of through building relationships one-on-one?

So it's not a hierarchy, but through a lot of that, there are some structural ways to go about it. The question is, is there a formal way? Yes, I'm part of a men's ministry that actually has a structured way of going through that and doing life with another man and that's something that I do.

And then at the same time, the informal component is being intentional, right? So meaning I have, you know, I'm intentional about my friendships, you know, I mean, if people are my life, as much as I can. Sometimes I'm just buried, but I try to make sure every week I try to print 10, 20 names and then just have those names and call them and check on them, you know, just when I'm in the car, you know, things like that, that says you're important to me, and then try to spend as much time as I can.

Terri: That's awesome. Wow. I love that. That's a really good practice.

They need to have some. Yeah.

Terri: I love that. Wow.

Conclusion and Upcoming Events

Terri: We're at the top of the hour. Jason, time flies.

Jason: Awesome.

Terri: That was a really awesome conversation.

Jason: Well, I've enjoyed it.

Terri: And then one of the things that you and I are both involved with, is the Gulf Coast Industry, association event that's going to be happening in September.

I'm going to include some information about that in the show notes Because

Jason: Cool.

Terri: But, I'm really looking forward to that. Our company is going to be exhibiting there. I know you're a big part of that association and,

Jason: Great organization, great place to exhibit, great opportunity. It's a signature place and signature event for that region.

So I encourage any of your listeners to be a part of that at the Economic Alliance, Houston board region.

Terri: Cool. And Jason is also the host of their podcast, so.

Jason: Yeah, thank you.

Terri: Yeah, we will include a lot of links in the show notes so that, people can learn more about that.

Jason: Best way to reach me, find me on LinkedIn, Jason Lee, Exponent Prosperity Advisors,you'll see me on there. And then also, you can email me directly, J Lee, L-E-E, at, E-X-P-O-N-E-N-T x.net.

So that's exponent x.net. Make sure you get the X there, because a lot of people miss that exponent X net. So send me an email. I'd love to chat with you.

Terri: Okay, well, I'll include those links too, so people can just click on that as they're watching or listening to the episode. But thank you so much for all of your time today.

I got a lot out of this conversation personally. I'm really looking forward to it.

Jason: Great. Yeah, you're easy to talk to. I appreciate you.

Terri: Absolutely. Take care.

Jason: Yeah, you too.