The G.E.M. Series Episode 18: 
[00:00:00] Blake: Welcome to the G.E.M series powered by rocket level. On this podcast, we empower entrepreneurs to succeed by setting big goals, executing like a pro, and having a fearless mindset. The G.E.M series is all about investing in yourself. We're here to share the path to getting what you want out of life. By sharing the stories of entrepreneurs who have.
[00:00:21] Themselves providing thorough research from our team on what careers and habits are yielding the best results and discussing the mindset it takes to overcome the obstacles that all future entrepreneurs will face investing in yourself, starts with putting in the work every single day. And this podcast is here to help you do exactly that.
[00:00:39] My name is Blake Chapman. I'm the vice president of the ambassador program here at the rocket level. And I am thrilled to be your host for the G.E.M. Welcome to the G.E.M series. Everybody. I have a very special guest today. Uh, we got Brendan from the G.E.Mmaster talk, Brendan, how are you doing today? 
[00:00:57] Brenden: Very good. Blake, how are you?
[00:00:59] Blake: How are you? Hey, I am doing wonderfully. I, uh, you know, just have been really excited to get to talk to you. Uh, so for anybody that isn't familiar, Brendan is the founder of master talk. He, uh, coaches, ambitious execute,ives and entrepreneurs, uh, to become top 1% communicators in their industry. And, uh, you know, I've been watching some of the YouTube videos on the channel called master talk and they are just incredible, uh, with the goal of providing some free access to communication tools for everybody in the world.
[00:01:28] Um, Brendan. I'd love, uh, for you to take a moment to tell the audience a little bit more about yourself, cuz obviously me reading a short bio can't encapsulate, everything that you do. So could you just share a little bit more about 
[00:01:40] Brenden: that's for sure. Blake and you got most of it? Honestly, I would say the only piece is, is how this all came about, which wasn't in college.
[00:01:47] I went to business school Blake and I did these things called case competitions. They give it like professional sports, but for nerds. So while other guys, my age were playing rugby or soccer or baseball, I wasn't really one of those guys. I did presentations competitively, and that's why I learned how to speak.
[00:02:07] But then what happened was, as I got older, I started coaching a lot of the kids in college on how to communicate too. Cause we needed someone to help them win competitions. And I accidentally developed a skill in coaching, other people, and how to communicate an idea. So I started master talk the YouTube channel because I realized that everything I was teaching them wasn't available for free.
[00:02:32] So I started making videos and then a few years later turned to something. I never thought it would, to be honest. 
[00:02:37] Blake: That's absolutely incredible. A couple of things that I really liked about that one. It seems like you have a natural drive to wanna help people, let’s pause there for a second. I, what made you want to help out some of the younger kids, uh, you know to help level their game up too?
[00:02:54] Brenden: Yeah, for sure. But like, I, I think that's more, just a philosophy that I have in life. I mean, life is short, we're all gonna die anyway. So we might as well figure out what's worth standing for, and in my earlier life, I wasn't that way maybe 10, 15 years ago. And, and the reason was, was very justified cuz I was just focusing on retiring my mom, cause my parents were both factory workers.
[00:03:14] And the main reason I did these case competitions wasn't to become a public speaking guru or coach or whatever the goal was really to. Get a high-paying job in corporate. That was the goal. That was the focus. It wasn't to be a YouTuber to share my knowledge and save the world. Like I was focused on saving myself and, and my family.
[00:03:33] And I feel a lot of it should start that way. But when you fill up your cup realize that the game that you're playing has a finite end, cuz it doesn't take a lot of money to secure your family. Like if you live below your means, you're smart with your money. If you're making 70, 80 grand a year and you don't have kids and you don't have a mortgage, like.
[00:03:51] Things get sorted out quickly. So then I started to ask this of the bigger questions of life. Well, then what's the point of life? Like, do I just work at a job for 40 years? And I realized that this was a gift I had and I feel I'm the only person in the world who can help the world with this.
[00:04:06] So I went for. 
[00:04:08] Blake: That's nice. And, you know, I, I think a lot of people are sharing that sentiment right now, more than ever, you know, they're, they're digging deep to find what they want out of life and trying to make sure that they marry their skills and, uh, you know, find the right fit for them so that they can bring the most value and live the most, you know, incredible life that they possibly can.
[00:04:30] Uh, so. Tell me a little bit about the early days though. Like what drove you, you know, whenever you were doing these case competitions and you wanted to go to this corporate job, like, what was, yeah. What was life around then and, and what kind of drove you, uh, you know, to keep getting better and keep getting better and, and all of that, was it always just the corporate job or was there, you know, was there any kind of mindset stuff that came into that with like parents or colleagues or anything?
[00:04:56] Brenden: Yeah, for sure. Blake, you know, for me, the goal was centered around how do I secure myself financially? That was the focus back then. That's why I did these competitions. Cause when I was 19 and I started to meet a lot of the students who had jobs, where I wanted to work, cuz I didn't have a network back then.
[00:05:12] One of the companies I worked at was a company called price Waterhouse, Coopers mm-hmm it's like a, it's like an accounting. And I thought they were a water bottling company. That's how lost I was when I started working there. I mean, not, I mean, I knew, I knew they were in accounting from when I started working there, but when I first heard about it, sure.
[00:05:28] That's what I thought it was. So that's really how lost I was. So I would start asking a lot of these interns who were two, or three years older than me who had landed jobs there. And I asked them like, what, what did you do? Did you get good grades? Did you study and they all just looked at me in confusion?
[00:05:43] They said, no, you got a network. You gotta do case competitions. I was like, what's a case competition. They said, oh, you gotta give a presentation. I was like, what the hell? So I started doing these competitions, but then I developed an unhealthy obsession with them. Cause I'm just really naturally, really competitive.
[00:06:01] Sure. So I just, and that's how I accidentally got super good at this. And then, later on, I was able to leverage it to help other people. 
[00:06:09] Blake: Wow. That's, uh, that's pretty amazing. I gotta be honest with you. This was doing a little bit of prep for, the call and learning a little bit more about you. This was the first time I had heard of case competitions and it's pretty fascinating.
[00:06:22] It looks like it could be a pretty high-pressure scenario. Do, do you think you, uh, learned anything from being under those high-pressure scenarios and yeah. What, how do you bring that into what you're doing now? You. 
[00:06:32] Brenden: Oh 1000%. I credit almost all of my success to that case competition. And it was very high pressure.
[00:06:37] Just to give you a context, that's why I'm sure the next question you probably think is like, why the hell would anyone volunteer to do these things like to give you an idea? Blake, there are like 8,000 students. Let's say my business faculty, but only 80 people were in the case competition program. So 1% of the entire faculty.
[00:06:56] So it's one in a hundred students are in this program. So it's a very tiny group of individuals. So, how does this work? A business gives us a problem. Let's say Walmart or Nike. Students have three hours to read a 20-page case with no internet access, develop a strategy, and a solution, make slides, make financial statements, do an analysis, find the solution and present all of it at the end of the three hours.
[00:07:21] But at the end of the three hours, there's no practice time. You go straight to the judges right after who are generally executives of the company. Wow. And the reason these things exist, Blake, cuz it's a very small community. Only people who have done business school even know might even know what they do.
[00:07:35] Is because it's a recruiting tool for the best companies in the world. So think Amazon will spend 30, $50,000 to sponsor one of these cases and their executives sit on that board of judges and go, I want that kid. I want that kid. I want that kid. And they start giving them job offers and interviews before anyone else does.
[00:07:56] Blake: Wow. So it's, uh, it's like a straight pipeline to getting the corporate job that you want, essentially, trying to find the best of the best. 
[00:08:03] Brenden: You got it. That's why most people who end up doing these competitions, uh, end up getting three or more job offers at of university. And I was no exception for sure.
[00:08:12] Blake: So fast forwarding, I guess, past case competitions a little bit. What did it look like once you cuz I mean, you did lay in that corporate job, right? You did, you did get that goal. 
[00:08:23] Brenden: Yeah. So what happened after Blake? And to be honest, I loved my job. I was an IBM consultant in tech, for two and a half years.
[00:08:29] Yeah. Before I went full-time on master talk. But what happened was a few things. One, I just started making videos in my mom's basement. I started master talk cuz I needed something. Interesting to do outside of work. Yeah. Not to say work was bad, but it wasn't that same competitive thrill that I was used to in competitions.
[00:08:46] Mm-hmm cause when you do these case competitions, it's like when a professional athlete retires from their sport. Sure. Right. Think of like an NBA player who's like done with basketball. Well, one day 10,000 people are streaming your name, but then the next day you're just like, nobody cares.
[00:09:03] And so this was the same thing, except 10,000 people. It was probably more like a hundred or less than a hundred in my case where, where I kind of just said, okay, what, how do I recreate that competitive environment? and I realized there was no replacement. So I decided to create my own game through master talk.
[00:09:19] Cause I felt I found a void in the marketplace. So I was just making these videos for fun. I was finally making money for the first time in my life. So I retired my mom and paid off all of her family debt. That is, and we were finally quote, unquote wealthy. Thank you. Wealthy in, in our, in my life. So I just started saving a bunch of the money.
[00:09:37] It's like I was buying a BMW with, my friends where I was just saving and stacking and I just said, okay, what's the bigger game here. And then I met my business partner nine months into making YouTube videos. And he's the one who advised me on how to turn this into a business, which ended up being coaching a technology executive for money, and they're willing to pay thousands of dollars to have access to me.
[00:09:57] So I just shifted, I pivoted and I said, am I because I think what shifted Blake was mm-hmm before I was so focused on money. Because when you're poor, it's normal. If you don't have a lot of money, that's all your focus. You have a scarcity mindset. Sure. But later in life, you realize, and some people learn it at 50 years old, instead of 26, as I have is time is way more valuable than money.
[00:10:20] Cuz even if you're a billionaire, you can't buy your time back. So I asked myself a more valuable question, which is how do I wanna spend my time? And the answer just became obvious at that point that I had to quit my day job and, and do master stuff full. 
[00:10:33] Blake: That's pretty empowering, to be able to ask yourself that question, uh, and execute on it.
[00:10:39] I feel like there are a lot of people that are in a similar boat, but for some reason we just, we drag it out. Uh, what kind of prep work did it take? So I guess you kind of detail some of that. So you saved up money, you got advice from people around you? Uh, yeah, I mean, Tell me a little bit more. What was, what was the, what was kind of the fears that went into making that kind of shift or, uh, you know, what was it like speaking with your family?
[00:11:03] Anything like that? That came. Oh, 
[00:11:06] Brenden: yeah. Like a ton of those. I mean, let's, let's launch your list. All of it. So the first one was, that it was very risky for me to quit my day job. It's been 13 months that I've been full-time now and now it's, it's not a bad decision. Congratulations. We're fun. yeah. Thank you, man.
[00:11:19] But I side hustled master talk for two and a half years at IBM before I quit. So that's important to mention, you know, I found a lot of entrepreneurship these days in media, it's like, just jump and burn all the boats. I was like, yeah, well, you gotta feed that family to family to feed. You don't wanna burn anything else.
[00:11:34] The whole house is going to burn with it. So I wanted to recommend that. Absolutely. I would say the first thing. I'm the most risk-averse person you'll ever have on your show in the sense that I did a few things for a quick corporate one, I already had a product that was making money mm-hmm so my coaching business was already doing well.
[00:11:50] I wasn't making a million bucks a year, but I'd replaced 20, 30% of my income. Yeah. And I was doing master truck 20, 30 hours a week. Blake while I was doing IBM, which was 60, 70 hours a week. Right. So, I'd already done a good job there. The second piece is I was willing to. my side hustle. Part-time a lot of people they wanna go full time.
[00:12:13] Mm-hmm and they're not willing to work on the business while they have a day job. And those people just won't win an enterprise. Yeah. And then the third piece was I had a nine-month emergency fund. Like I took a very little risk. Once again, I was only the only breadwinner in the family. So I spent two and a half years just keep producing YouTube videos.
[00:12:31] I took 25% of my salary that was making an IBM funded, my best friend, so I could professionalize my videos. That's why my videos look all cool now. And that's, that's how I was able to quit. So yeah, I took a very little risk, but I will be honest when I say Blake, I got lucky in the sense that my gift, is my talent.
[00:12:49] You could charge a lot of money for it. Mm. Whereas my best friend's a painter and he made it, but 
[00:12:54] Blake: it took him a lot longer. That would be quite a, quite a grind. I mean, I love that you have some real hard truths in there. Uh, one is that, I mean, gosh, if you are in a position where you want to try something else, I mean, it is a big risk to just assume that you're working, you know, gosh, even if you're working 40 hours a week, I mean, that's nothing like, you're probably not.
[00:13:17] I mean, I hate to put it out there. I wanna promote work-life balance, of course, but if you're trying to become the best at something, you can't, you, you're not just putting in 40 hours a week at what you're doing. So to think that you could just switch and just randomly start running your own business, it's just unrealistic.
[00:13:33] Um, even your kind of talk about the same way that athletes are, uh, you know, They get addicted to almost like the high of, uh, of, of thriving at the top of their game and wanna find something new later on and, and how you were doing that with your videos. And I, uh, I think that hat almost kind of can get tied back to the pivot, just in the sense that, you know, if an a, if an athlete were switching to another sport, we've seen how that went with Michael Jordan, you know?
[00:14:00] Um, and he didn't, he didn't do the prep work. He didn't remove the risk. Um, so I actually, I love that because there are too many people out here saying just rip the bandaid off and do it and don't get me wrong. I think you should go for it. But at the same time, be real, right. I mean, Yeah, it sounds like that's something that, uh, that, that you had a, you did a good job of with yours.
[00:14:23] Brenden: Yeah, man. I'm glad you noticed that as well. I grew with the point, not MJ though. He was already pretty successful. It didn't matter. yeah, it didn't matter in his case, but I, but I think, but your point is still valid by the way, Blake, but I would say, the key here. I would say that the overarching principle cause cuz, I hate coming on shows and just saying, this is what you should do.
[00:14:44] So let me go through some principles that any human being can do, but they just don't regardless of their situation, mm-hmm even if they're a single mother with seven kids and my heart goes out to those types of individuals. Sure. But the principles I'm gonna share right now, Blake, apply to everybody.
[00:14:58] Yeah. The first one is people don't make their purpose, their priority. Mm, that's just the most important thing. You know, a lot of people make their lifestyle, their priority, especially with the money that I was making at IBM. I could have easily bought all the nice, shiny things that I wanted. Mm. I mean, not that I wanted, excuse me, that I could have bought, but I would rather have more leverage.
[00:15:15] I just wanted more capital, to follow my dreams. Whereas other people care a lot more about shiny objects. What do other people think? I think that's one piece is that they don't make their prop purpose, their priority like me. And I'll always say this on record. If I go to zero financially, I'd work at a coffee shop to make master talk work.
[00:15:32] Mm-hmm I don't care. Yeah, chances are, I'd probably just be able to get another corporate job cause I've built the right relationships. Not that I need it anymore, but it's more of a mindset mm-hmm cause that's how much I care. The second thing that I'll mention. I still live with my mom and my sister. Yeah.
[00:15:44] That's amazing. And the reason is. Right. The answer's simple. It's nothing to do with finance. I mean, some of it has to do, but like I could live on my own. Like it's not a problem. Yeah. It's just, and this is a decision we made as a family that I think most people just don't do culturally, but I guess in my culture, it's very, it's different, I guess.
[00:16:00] Or Asian culture is why pay for three mortgages when you pay for one. and just split the mortgage. Like, let, let's assume everyone's listening to this and his average income. Okay. Let's say 50 grand a year. Okay. Well, if you have three family members who make 50 grand a year, and you're smart with your money, your household, income's 150,000 mm-hmm and I know exactly what people are thinking right now.
[00:16:23] They go, well, Brenda, I have a good relationship with my mom. I don't have a good relationship with my dad and I go, okay, perfect. Why's just do this with two other friends. Like, this is what, one of my coaches tells me all the time. You can either there's trip types, people in the world. Like you either make an excuse to do something or you make an excuse not to do something.
[00:16:40] So if I had a terrible relationship with my mom, my sister, which isn't the case, I love 'em to death. They're awesome. I would just do this with two buddies and just make 50 grand a year or two other people. And we'd split everything. I'd still be rich. It doesn't matter. I'm not that I'm rich now, but you get what I mean?
[00:16:52] Absolutely. It's just, that most people aren't willing to do that. Yeah. 
[00:16:55] Blake: That's, that's some of the bare minimum sacrifices that you just have to make to do something. And I think that's probably part of what's wrong with not to go into a big societal, uh, kind of, kind of rant here, but I mean, people are focused on, on all, all-flash and, and no substance and it's holding a lot of people back and it's, I think it's, uh, ultimately preventing a lot of people from, you know, again going after their purpose, like you're talking about, so.
[00:17:22] Okay, man. I, that, that just gets me so pumped up thinking about, you know, I love having conversations like these with people like you that are, you know, are, are going in there or have done it and are, uh, making things happen for themselves. And a lot of other people. Do you remember what your initial, maybe one of your very, even at a young age, what was your first sort of goal that you were like, you know what, I'm gonna do this, no matter what, from a very, a very early on age?
[00:17:47] I I always like to ask that. 
[00:17:50] Brenden: Yeah, man. It's a great question. You know, it's funny Blake, how, how much goals evolve, you know, today, today, my goal is, you know, T BCC, T L it's like something Mike coach taught me, which is like an abbreviation for what you want, which essentially stands for the best communication coach that ever lived.
[00:18:06] That's what I see as my goal. That's what that abbreviation stands for, but I did start that way. You know, my first goal, probably I think in my earliest life was saving 50 bucks to make a VI and buy a video. That was my first ever goal that I can remember, like making 50 bucks online. I used to do like surveys and stuff, falling get paid two bucks or something.
[00:18:25] And I would just save up all this money. Cause remember back then, for me, 10 bucks is 10,000, right? so, my parents could never afford video games and stuff like that for me. So I would have to save up and they wouldn't let me work either. Cuz they wanted me to focus on my studies mm-hmm so I found a way to make money online.
[00:18:40] I, I went on this website called Amazon mechanical turn a long story behind that. And I was like 15 years old pretending to be my dad that amazing. And I made like two grants. That's awesome. Just like, yeah. Two, like make you like seven bucks an hour, three bucks an hour. And I would buy a shit ton of video games.
[00:18:56] That's 
[00:18:56] Blake: crazy. That's that is so cool though. I, uh, I remember having, having stuff like that as a kid too, was just, oh my gosh, your money went so far. And, uh, I, I did a little bit of the online surveying stuff too. I have a, I, I have a hunch that probably in the same kind of age range give or take. Um, yeah, so that's what I'm saying, 28 and, uh, yeah, it's, it's so funny to remember that era of like, just wanting something so simple, like a video game and going after it.
[00:19:22] But I think that there are principles there, right? I mean, you see an obstacle that you. Otherwise could just admit defeat and just beg your parents and then hopefully they'll give it to you or you could go and hack it and make it happen for yourself. Do you know? 
[00:19:39] Brenden: Hundred percent. Like for me, it's all, I think Joe Rogan explains this better than I do, but I'll kind of rehash what he says.
[00:19:45] It's like the idea of winning in a small way. When you start winning, you feel you could win more. Except the problem is a lot of people don't have a single w on their scoreboard or they don't reflect on the W's on the scoreboard. So everyone should be doing this constantly like, what's something that you've already accomplished in life.
[00:20:04] Don't just focus on what you want. Focus on what you've already achieved. And if you start making that list, it creates momentum and builds up your confidence over time. So when I started the YouTube channel, yeah, I'm some, some kid in a basement it's like, okay, but my goal back then wasn't a billion subscribers or a hundred thousand subscribers or something crazy.
[00:20:21] I was like, can I post every week something valuable? So I did. Bit by bit. Can I get better on camera? I did. When I did my first podcast, can I be good at this and oh shit for like the first a hundred or something. And then over time it's like, get better at better. And then I would set harder and harder goals cause I would keep smashing through goals and now the goals are a lot bigger, but I know I could handle them now cause I started winning.
[00:20:45] Blake: Absolutely. Absolutely. Filling your tank up, you know, I mean, that's really that I, I like to think of that too. I also like it. I love thinking about failures as well. You know, I, uh, I've learned that in, you know, being an entrepreneur or achieving anything in. Uh, for me, I, I kind of, I kind of crave, not that I want to fail, but when I do reach a failure, I've found that it's productive to look at it as reaching your threshold and then learning that you have to train to be able to execute it better.
[00:21:14] Next time. Tell me a little bit, uh, what were some of your, have you ever experienced like a failure where you're like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to pull me back, pull back from this or anything that you, you, you know, going through this process, cuz there's just so many things to take into consideration when you're getting going on something like this?
[00:21:32] Brenden: No, I've never failed before. I was like, 
[00:21:35] Blake: I will honestly be like, that's a flex. If you say that, whatever, go for it. Go for it. Never 
[00:21:39] Brenden: failed. No, dude, I don't, I don't, I dunno. I don't know. Single, unless like you've done nothing with your life, then, 
[00:21:46] Blake: then pushing yourself, then you're not pushing yourself. You know.
[00:21:50] Not. 
[00:21:51] Brenden: yes. A couple of things I'll sound like failures, but let me start with the biggest one. Luckily I haven't made big, big, stupid mistakes in my life, mostly because I just, I take the advice that people that are older than me, because they're trying to tell me something like, Hey, don't get married early.
[00:22:06] Don't have kids early. Don't yeah. Well, I listen to that. Do I haven't made those mistakes? So, but, but yes. So with mass talk, I would say one of the brilliant ideas I had, I'm being sarcastic here for those who listen haven't caught on so far is I said to myself if I emailed all the university professors in Canada or college professors, and I shared them, my YouTube videos, it would create an unlimited distribution.
[00:22:31] Ah, because they would watch my videos and go, this is good. And then shirt with the students forever. That sounds good. Oh, you're such a smart guy. Sounds great on paper, 50,000 emails later, and I'm not joking with the number 50,000 emails later. Blake, I realized quickly that university professors do not like
[00:22:53] They don't like kids that, so I got so many rude emails, like disgusting emails. From these professors going, you suck. First of all, you don't call me my first name. Wow. All this is like criticizing my YouTube video. Like it was horrible, but I, but the mistake was Mo and I'll tell you why, because I was a stubborn guy, stubborn, stubborn, stubborn, right.
[00:23:17] Cause I should have stopped her for 500. Why did I keep sending 500 emails every day for three months during the summer? Just literally me what I did. That's why it's 50,500 emails a day. Oh my gosh. 400. I should have stopped. And if I had known as an example, Blake, that podcast guesting, what we're doing right now is a thing I would be way more successful.
[00:23:37] Cause I would've emailed 50,000 podcasts. Those and I would've been on like 5,000 podcasts. , you 
[00:23:43] Blake: know, um, that's funny that that kind of reminds me of a scenario that I, I I've been thinking about recently where, you know, just essentially. I just realized you gotta have a plan a but then behind that plan, you gotta have a plan B and a Plan C you know what I mean?
[00:23:59] And I think that's where a lot of my, what I would call failures have, have come from is only putting all my eggs into one basket and like being so passionate about something, because I think that. That's a risk of having the personality type of like going, go, go, and determined. And, uh, I'm, I'm pretty stubborn myself, you know?
[00:24:21] Uh so I, I think that's, uh, I think it's pretty cool though, seeing that you push through and like, You did what you said you were gonna do. You're like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna make this happen. Like regardless of the outcome, as you learned, you learned, and then you also, I'm sure that from that it's weird, I'm sure you gained some other skills and things like that along the way.
[00:24:44] Brenden: Absolutely Blake. You know what I always like to say to build on your point is you gotta marry the vision, not the tactic behind the vision, right? So marry the why not the how, so, what that means is your, why went clear at the beginning? So when I started my master's, I had no idea I wanted to be the best.
[00:24:59] Communication. I was just making videos for fun, but now that my why is solid now I'm flexible on the how so I'm gonna try different strategies, like multiple led bullets to see what works, which brings me to the most important point about failure, Blake, that I'd love to share. And the most important piece is that the relationship that we have with failure when we're successful people is very different than the relationship with failure that unsuccessful people have with failure.
[00:25:26] What do I mean by this? Let's say we take sales as an example. So it's an unsuccessful person who might try to do five calls or six strategy calls. Let's say none of them gets sold and they go, oh my God, life is over. I gotta try something different. Whereas the successful person let's say does 10 calls and one of them sell mm-hmm whatever the price is.
[00:25:46] Let's say it's a thousand bucks. Okay. And they go, wow. One out of 10. So for the successful person, they. Okay. So if I do a hundred that's 10 sales, if I do a thousand, that's a hundred sales. And if I do 10,000, that's a thousand sales times, a thousand bucks million bucks. Okay. Let me just ring 10,000 mm-hmm right.
[00:26:04] So it's just, so it's a different relationship with failure than the unsuccessful person who just gives up after six. Right. And that's the way that I view it. So for example, on YouTube, my first thousand subscribers, and not a lot of people know this, you know, people think that the algorithm just saved me.
[00:26:20] Yeah. You look at my count now people go. Yeah. Yeah. It's all. Brendan's talent, whatever I begged for my first. Hmm. I was on my knees, Blake. I went to, my university students. I had coached for free for four years and I literally. Verbatim guys, I've been coaching guys for four years. All of you guys got multiple six-figure jobs at university.
[00:26:37] And I didn't ask for a penny. So here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna share my YouTube videos with a bunch of people and they all oblige and I hit a thousand. 
[00:26:44] Blake: That just happens. So cool. I mean, it's just so important too. Like, I love the difference between that. You mentioned about, you know, being a successful person or an unsuccessful person and kind of the mindset that goes into that.
[00:26:58] Um, cuz I can't tell you how many people where I'm like. I'm like, man, you know, I, I, I know tons of people in sales and, uh, you know, it's, it is funny though, getting started. It's like, Hey, even if you can't reach a cold prospect like you're telling me that out of all of your friends and family, there's not a handful of people that could probably help you make your quota.
[00:27:19] There's not something. And I think people neglect that side of it, you know, of, of just ex expending all their options.
[00:27:29] Brenden: a hundred percent men. I mean, I mean, think about the show that we're on right now. I still have that mindset today. Even if I don't need to be on podcasts anymore, because the priority is not the sale. The priority is if somebody reaches out to me, that means the likelihood that they already like my work that they've seen, my work is high, which means it makes a lot more sense for me to build relationships.
[00:27:51] Because for me, it's more about the host, not always the audience. It's like if you build the relationship with 10,000 hosts, even if they're the only person listening to this, it might be more obvious in your case, but let's say there's the only person, man. I would still do it because this is irreplaceable.
[00:28:07] Like there's a very big difference between you see me on a YouTube channel. You go, oh, this, this cool is got all this, this cool. This guy's cool versus, oh, Brenda's not a pompous guy losing a suit. He's pretty real. I like this guy. I'm gonna share my YouTubers. Mm-hmm with a hundred people and that's how you build the following.
[00:28:24] And that's how you build a community around you, especially when times get tough. The only com thing that never gets commoditized is brand. 
[00:28:32] Blake: Absolutely. Like Gary says, I could not agree with you more. Um, so tell me a little bit about when you got your first taste. Man, this master talk is, is popping off right now.
[00:28:43] Like when was, did you ever have a moment like that in particular where you're like, I think I'm really onto something with.
[00:28:51] Brenden: To be honest, I'm still waiting on it. I'm kidding. I, I would, I would say the one, honestly, I thought the master was a really stupid idea. I mean, think about it, Blake. Let's be honest here. 22-year-old kid mom in, in mother's basement with no money with the phone making videos on public speaking communication.
[00:29:11] Hey, who's gonna watch that. Like what, right. Does it make 
[00:29:15] Blake: any sense? I, I would watch you. 
[00:29:19] Brenden: Yeah, there you go. So I didn't know that like I, cause we didn't know each other when I started the channel. So, for me, the only thing I was going off of really was the 25 students in my programs that not coaching pros, but like those case competitions yeah.
[00:29:33] That I knew would watch it. I never thought it would get this big, but I think, the other piece around. Is knowing where the success like starting with those little beats and always keep pushing towards the goal. But the other piece is what happened 12 months into the master talk was I made my first executive coaching sale.
[00:29:54] That's when I realized I had legs. Right because I never thought someone would pay me thousands of dollars for coaching back then. Even if I knew I could get the result back, I just didn't have, the money mindset around that. But when somebody bought a service, like I was just on a call, I had no idea what I was doing on the sales call.
[00:30:11] They just loved my video so much. They just bought it. I, I saw them. I even bank account. I was like, shit, my business. Partner's right. If, if I sell like 25 more of these people, I'll replace all of my income at IBM. Yeah. And that's when it clicked for me. I could do 
[00:30:26] Blake: this. I can make this work. That is so, so empowering to think about that moment when you realize you're like, man, I think, I think I found my, my calling here, you know, at least for the I'm sure you'll do all kinds of stuff in your life.
[00:30:39] Cuz people like us, they just, uh, You know, it never stops. You're always looking for the next, the next thing. So who knows. Um, but, but for the foreseeable future, it's gonna be exciting to continue seeing, uh, master talk and what you're doing, take it to the next level. And, uh, you know, it's so, so, so cool.
[00:30:58] Whenever people have that moment and, and, uh, start seeing it cuz you know, that's even whenever they talk about startups or anything like that, That's when people are like, you know, when the product is viable is once you see somebody make that initial purchase. Right. Cause you're like, like somebody, I don't know, bought this, like that's crazy, you know?
[00:31:22] Brenden: Absolutely man like going from, especially with us, it was really quick. Because I went from January 2019. I started the channel in my mom's basement. And nine months later I made my first kind of a hundred dollars an hour when I was like charging low, like for coaching. And I was like, oh, whoa.
[00:31:40] Like, even at that rate, if I get like a hundred clients, I'll make like $10,000 a month, like, this is crazy. So, so yes. So 
[00:31:49] Blake: do you have time for anything else when I'm in this process now? Uh, cuz I've found some people are like, oh my gosh, I, you know, I have like a hundred hobbies and this is like the thing that I do nonstop.
[00:32:01] And then I have other people who I talk to and that are like, honestly I dedicate like all of my resources back into this right now you.
[00:32:12] Brenden: Yeah, I think it goes back to what you said brilliantly earlier in the podcast, but I feel some people missed it. It was the, you kind of talked about work-life balance and how that's important here. Here's my definition of work-life balance. Cause let me, let me kind of put a, a stick in the, in the coffin here for me, the definition of balance mm-hmm is to create your damn balance, right?
[00:32:32] Cause I'm like super open on record. I work 12 to 14 hours a day. Easily. I'm either doing interviews. I'm either on sales calls, I'm other coaching clients, but when I'm on vacation, I go hard on that too. So like I'm going on vacation Saturday, nine days, all my meetings are canceled. Like no one can touch me for nine days.
[00:32:50] Right. So, for me, what's work, and life balance is, look, I can't, I delivered to my family. I was like, look, I'm busy. All day. That's why I live with them. Or also I would never call my mom. I know myself well, right. I know I'd never call. So instead of just living somewhere else, just stay with her. So it's integrated into my life.
[00:33:08] Right. But when I go on vacation, I go hard on it. So, the answer to your question, Blake is to figure out what balance means. Yes. For. Right. So it's all about, and don't judge. Well, no, yeah. People's not you, but, you know, the audience right. So, and don't judge other people, cause it always feels so I'm all with it.
[00:33:32] but right. So, it's all about doing, doing your version of balance, and not judging other people's balance as well. So for me, what does that look like? I spend 99% of my time on master talk because I'm seven years into coaching. I'm still one of the youngest coaches in the world, and I'm the youngest with an except with, um, an established that's the right word, a communication YouTube channel.
[00:33:59] If I just stay consistent for another 10 years and I just keep doing the right decisions, being nice to everyone, I'm going to be the world at 36. So I'd rather just keep doing this. Yeah. And it's gonna help a lot of people. My God, like I've already had the opportunity to coach so many, like even at, at this point in the game, I'm already helping like crazy people, insane people.
[00:34:20] So if I just, if I just keep going like this, I could do something that Dale card 
[00:34:24] Blake: is amazing to think about getting to reach so many people. And, and I think, I don't know. It's like what, Gary, it's funny. I, I think I see people like make memes of Gary V about you're so young. You're so young.
[00:34:35] You, I dunno if you've ever seen, so like, but like, But I, I love, I love the, oh, I'm a huge fan. Yeah, yeah. You know, I, I think it's so cool that you got such a jump on the ball, um, and showed that, you know, time is like you said earlier time is the most precious thing. So we. Can't waste time.
[00:34:52] If we're trying to go after what our, real purpose is in life. Um, yeah. Yeah, 
[00:34:58] Brenden: man, like a lot of people just to build on that, you know, they always say, uh, you know, take your time, be patient. You know what? I always tell young people, Blake, I always say, don't lose your lead. Don't lose you late. If you're, if you're high, highly conscientious.
[00:35:12] I don't, I didn't pronounce that correctly, but if you've got a high degree of conscientiousness and you're in your twenties, yeah. It's a crazy world. And you've already figured out life and your purpose. Don't screw that up. You're like ahead of, uh, 99% of the. I don't know anyone who has started YouTube. I wish I helped other people, but like, I don't think anyone's gonna start a YouTube channel.
[00:35:31] Who's younger than me on communication in public speaking. So I could create something magical. 
[00:35:36] Blake: So yeah, I that's great spend time. What makes you wanna, like, what gives you that drive to wanna be not just being like, oh, I want to continue growing, but I literally wanna be the best in the world, you know?
[00:35:48] where, where does that come from? You think.
[00:35:53] Brenden: Yeah, for sure. I mean, part of it was probably my hatred towards my dad. I mean, I lived, I lived in a very dysfunctional household. That's one of them. Yeah. So I always wanted to prove him wrong, but you know, later in life, when I healed from that, I think for me, everyone in life is motivated by different things.
[00:36:09] Blake, like some people, you know, they like. Kayaking every weekend or going on a picnic with their family and friends. And that's all cool, but I'm very similar to Gary. He's a bit more intense than me. Mm-hmm cause he has like 700 people on his payroll or something that's but for me, it's like, I love the game.
[00:36:30] Like I just love like the willingness, the ability to do something great with our life. So even if I had more money. The only thing I would change is my lifestyle. I might buy green juice every morning. That's delivered to my house. I might do that, but I won't like doing anything crazy extravagant with the money.
[00:36:49] I think it's more about doing something great. That's one piece because life is short and I get to create something cool that no one else can create that's one piece, but the other piece is the story I'm happy to. That motivates me every day and the stories around TikTok. So I was watching this TikTok the other day, Blake.
[00:37:08] And it was with Taylor swift. Yes. Right. So Taylor swift, obviously the musician. So she won an award called women of the year by a billboard in 2014. And she's on that stage, Blake, she looks at the crowd and says your future woman of the year is 11 years old. Right. She's sitting in a choir, she's learning how to sing and we need to take care of her.
[00:37:31] And then the TikTok flips. And then it's seven years later and Billy Eilish becomes the youngest inductee in Billboard's history and wins woman of the year. The age of. Chills. And she gets up on the stage study that's yeah. Yeah. I'm not even done yet. I'm not done yet. Right. And she's got a big bulky jacket.
[00:37:52] She's got her big glasses. She stands up on the stage and I'm gonna quote her a little bit. She goes, oh yeah, what's up guys? I don't know how I won this war. Am I even a woman yet? And she's like making fun of herself. She's like, oh my God. Like Taylor had all these speeches. And then towards the last two for the TikTok kind of off.
[00:38:09] She looks at the crowd and goes, you know, it was 2014 and I was watching Taylor's swift speech and I was 11 old. Wow. And I was playing choir and I was learning how to sing and I had big aspirations to be a singer. So the only thing left I have to say billboard is thank you for taking care of it. And then she walks off the stage.
[00:38:33] And the reason that story always touched me, Blake, is I thought about the next Elon Musk. Cause when Elon was 15, yeah. Nobody gave a shit about him cuz he didn't have any money. Mm-hmm right. He was like some kid in South Africa like nobody cared about him. So I said, what about the next Elon? Like as were me and you were talking, we're having this conversation.
[00:38:51] Mm-hmm the next Elon is born is alive. It's 15 right now. And might be in Cambodia, might be in Thailand and nobody's taking care of it. With their communication skills. And I realized I was the only 
[00:39:02] Blake: a person who could do it. So, that is such a powerful mission. And it's so weird how stuff just likes.
[00:39:08] You never know what's gonna stick in your brain, but what I really like is that you, you follow your intuition, you know, um, because it is telling you something and it is drawing you in the right direction, you know, generally speaking, uh, I, I, it seems like if you trust you're, your internal compass about what you're supposed to do, it will take you to that, to that next level that you're trying to get to.
[00:39:33] Um, Yeah, that's, uh, that's such a crazy story to hear. Um, so what is, you know, I guess I would love to hear, you know, something that, uh, basically maybe, maybe why some of the people that are starting to get into public speaking more and more frequently, like. Why do you think it's so in demand right now?
[00:39:54] Cause I, I mean, I can think of tons of reasons. Um, but I'm sure you have, uh, discussed this directly with people. What are the big things that people are getting out of it right now? You think
[00:40:08] Brenden: for sure, Blake, there's a couple of big categories, but I would say the big one mm-hmm is a lot of us are starting to become our own media C. right. So whether, and that's not just for business owners, that's also for people with corporate careers in the sense that when you have a personal brand yeah.
[00:40:24] When you showcase content organically on LinkedIn and different socials, people know who you are, you just get more job opportunities. So that's one piece. The second piece is that communication is essential to leadership positions. Whether you own the business or you're a VP in the business, you got to know how to communicate effectively.
[00:40:44] Or else you won't be able to climb the ranks. And the third piece is, in my opinion, anyways, communication, and public speaking. What we're doing right now is the quickest bridge to trust. Cause at the end of the day, the most important currency in business or sales is trust. Then, when you see me on YouTube it's one level of trust, cuz you, you listen to the videos it's, it's great and you're getting value.
[00:41:06] But then when you're on a podcast with me, it's a different level of trust because we're con conversing, we're having a conversation. And then there's the level of trust. Even above that, which is we meet up in person, we have lunch mm-hmm right. Which, and nothing beats that it's really hard to replicate that.
[00:41:19] But, the idea is you're always about bridging trust and public speaking allows you to bridge trust at scale. Because if you are on a media or social or speaking, you could build trust with hundreds or even thousands. That is pretty 
[00:41:36] Blake: crazy to think about building trust at scale. Um, I mean, if you took that to a pitch meeting to somebody, I don't know how they, how they would be like, well, I don't know how do I, how I could say no to that?
[00:41:48] You know what I mean? Uh, being able to empower, uh, you know, and, and build, build trust at scale is, uh, is, is a really powerful language. Um, I was wondering also, whenever you are doing some of these public speakings, uh, you know, seminars and, and teaching people, what are they, what are the biggest hurdles that you typically see people trying to, to overcome?
[00:42:11] You know, uh, cuz is it, is it nature versus nurture, you know, with some of this stuff, like what is what I would love to hear a little bit about.
[00:42:24] Brenden: For sure, man. Absolutely. I would say for me, funny enough, it's motivation. You know, a lot of people think it's fear. It's not fear. It's motivation because if you're motivated to do something, you'll push through the fear and you'll do it because I had a lot of fear when I started the YouTube channel.
[00:42:40] So why did I overcome it? Going back to the story we talked about earlier, I did it for the 15-year-old girl who couldn't afford me. Yeah. Obviously, my clients who pay the bills are executives, but that's really why I did it. So I pushed through it. But now that the, the more important question becomes, how do we get motivated through communication and the answer oddly enough, is to dream about it.
[00:43:00] So what does that mean? We dream about our business. Our health, our finances or relationships. When was the last time you dreamed about our communication skills? Mm-hmm and the answer is never none of us ever do it. So what's the question to fix this. The question is so simple. How would your life change if you were an exceptional communicator?
[00:43:22] Really reflect on that question because communication is so much more Blake than just getting a promotion at work. It's the way you talk to your family. It's the way that you are food at a restaurant. It's the way that meet strangers when you travel, it's every moment of your life. And once you realize communication is about leading a more fulfilling life, then you'll be on the right track to mastering 
[00:43:45] Blake: communication.
[00:43:46] Cause you'll find out why it's important. I love that. It seems like you're just truly, uh, cuz I get this way too, truly obsessed with what you're passionate or passionate about, you know, cuz I'm like you've considered every option. How do you get to a point where you're. Keep peeling back, the onion and stay curious with this kind of stuff.
[00:44:09] Brenden: That's because of smart people like you, Blake, who ask me good questions. So that's, that's a, a technique I teach. Let's turn it into a lesson for people. I call it question drills that I teach executives that people can just literally do at home. So the principle is you're right. Blake. Most of us are reactive to the questions we get asked in our life.
[00:44:29] Whether it's from our family on a podcast. We just like, again, for example, it's super funny. When I started, uh, when I started podcasting, somebody asked me a brilliant question. Where does the fear of communication come from? And I was like, I don't know, Los Angeles, San Diego. You tell me that yeah like Denmark.
[00:44:48] I don't know. Yeah. So, so I started, uh, I didn't know the answer, but obviously, now I do, but I think the key is. Every day for five minutes, all you have to do. Guess one question that you think the world will ask you about your expertise or business, your offer, or what you're selling people, and write out the answer to that question.
[00:45:08] But if you do that once a day for a year, you'll have answered 365 questions about your business, except I've done that. I mean a ridiculous amount of times when I started the business. Cause I didn't know the answer to a lot of questions. Cause I was, I was the youngest person in the industry at the time anyways.
[00:45:27] So I just had my friends rip me apart. They asked me every 
[00:45:31] Blake: question about really, really a great exercise that I think a lot of people would benefit from doing because you know, also the thing is, I'm sure you have kind of your first initial ones that you can think of right off the top, but bringing in other people is, is so crucial.
[00:45:44] I think because they probably think the ones were you. shit, man. I, I don't, I don't know exactly. Let me chew on that for a second. Um, do you have a pretty big support group that kind of helped you get to where you're at right now?
[00:46:01] Brenden: I. To, to absolutely Blake. And by the way, like, I, I consider everyone who even takes a remote interest in what I do as my support group. Like you're one of them. And the reason is that there's always something, whether it's in a super small way or in a big way, There's always something I can learn.
[00:46:18] Like the biggest thing, I got from you today was how you compared my curiosity to an onion. I never thought of it that way. How, like you're like peeling back and most people just kind of stop at one. I thought that was super fascinating, but yeah, I got a village supporting me. I mean, I'm happy to list out a couple of things.
[00:46:34] My logo was not made by me. I was literally, I had 20 subscribers. I was eating abe with my French friend, met. Matthew in English and we were eating and he was like, literally, dude, you need a logo. And I was like, Ted, we were like, ha like eating burgers. Yeah. I just said, dude, I got 20 subscribers. What's a logo.
[00:46:53] Like, who needs that? And he just made me one master taught the name. It's trademarked in my name, but my friend came up with the. He said I think you should call it master tongue. I realized it wasn't trademarked that and the guy who does all my video production is my best friend. Right. That's why he doesn't charge me a lot of money.
[00:47:10] And I have my village of university people I used to go to school with who did these competitions with that's uh, 
[00:47:17] Blake: so crucial. I also think that having the right mindset about how. Viewing the world allows you to feel that support sometimes. And I guess what I mean by that a little more specifically is I had a guest on gosh, a few weeks ago and she told me that her.
[00:47:34] Natural desire to help and, you know, put her, push your comfort zone whenever, you know, forming relationships with people is because she almost has lenses on that. Allow her to be able to see potential opportunities in anything that she does not being advantageous, but knowing that all of this stuff stacks up, you know, and it, and it lends itself to getting you to a better place than you were at before.
[00:47:57] Um, and you know, I, I think that's, uh, pretty poignant too, to what you're talking about too. And that. You're like, Hey, I'm working with my best friend. I, uh, you know, I'm working. I consider everybody that I work with a supporter and, uh, it, you know, it's just so I, I feel it's so essential, you know?
[00:48:19] Brenden: Oh yeah. Like, you know, the whole Steve jaws mentality of being an asshole to everyone around you. Yeah. That might work for Steve. But I think in, in most scenarios, especially in the business that I'm in mm-hmm, in media. And I would argue the business that you're in, cuz you're technically in media as well.
[00:48:34] Yeah. Yeah. You just need to be the most generous person in the room. I've always found there are limits to generosity. You don't wanna be taken advantage of, but I think the biggest part is you always wanna assume good intent and always do good by people. If you're able to. You know, like, you know, like Gary's a good example of this.
[00:48:49] Like when he started his brand, I'm sure he would say yes to every podcast. Oh, of course. Yeah. But then at some point, it's just, it's just too much. You just wouldn't be able to live. Right. So, I think it's all about balancing that, but the principal's the same. If you're just a good, generous person, you'll get the retention you need.
[00:49:04] I have, I haven't a single person put on me since I've started matron, not a single person. Right, right from my three original people. They're 
[00:49:11] Blake: all still working. So what's the favorite thing that, uh, you get out of, you know, what you do right now, or what's the favorite, your favorite thing that you do currently?
[00:49:24] Brenden: I would say, I mean, definitely my favorite part of, of my life, in general, is coaching clients. Just seeing the transformation live in person. But I would, because just seeing them go from a to a, to. Is super fun. But I would say that the thing that excites me the most is the uniqueness of purpose.
[00:49:41] Like I've found a purpose for myself that I don't think any human being on the planet has right now. Yeah. Which is like the next Elon is like a seven-year-old girl. And I'm the one who's gonna like it, it's super cool. I feel like a superhero in my mother's basement in, in Montreal. 
[00:49:57] Blake: No, I think that's just, I think that's, uh, uh, It's.
[00:50:02] I was thinking about this the other day, cuz I was like, man, whenever I feel a sense of purpose in my life and like a new goal that I'm determined to go after, it's almost like it almost is superhuman in that I feel like you're, you're injected with almost infinite energy. And it's like, I'm gonna bull out bulldoze through whatever, not in a harmful way, but I'm just gonna keep pushing, you know, I have obstacles.
[00:50:26] I'm gonna keep going no matter what I, uh, so yeah, I, I think it is like, kind of like having a superpower in a way. Um, and what, in closing out here, I, I always like to ask the same question at the end. What would you tell anybody else that, uh, is trying to do something along the lines that you do? If you did have any advice to share.
[00:50:49] It's been an absolute pleasure for 
[00:50:50] Brenden: sure, man, for sure. This is great by the way. Thanks for having me like super fun. Yeah. Yeah. This is super cool, man. I, I would say this is kind of my closing remark. First of all, I would say congratulations to anyone who's listened to 52 minutes of the podcast. You're someone who's committed.
[00:51:05] Right to get to the next level. So here's the advice that I, I usually would share at the end for people who make it this far. And the advice is simply this be insane or be the same. If you wanna be like everyone else, that's fine. But if you wanna do something great with your life, you need to realize the people who do the people who do crazy things, the people who do exceptional things are often crazy.
[00:51:33] Don't you find it odd Blake that I started YouTube shut out the edge of 22. My mother's base with no money. Not on pranks, not on skits, not on a wrapping career. Like most kids do but on executive communication tips. And then I went to coach these CEOs. For some reason, they started paying me. Yet? No, I still live in my mom's base, by the way, all my clients know this.
[00:51:57] It's not like a secret, right. I live in my mom's basement. I karaoke in eight different languages. I'm in the 0.5, not in the 5%. I'm in the point, 5% of top listeners on Spotify for Justin Bieber. And I go clubbing with my family. How does any of this make any sense at all? Play mm-hmm and that is the point.
[00:52:17] When every decision in your life makes sense to the only person that it should, which is you, you're probably making the right decisions. So be insane or be the same would be my cloud closing remark. 
[00:52:31] Blake: That is such good advice. Everybody who made it to the end here, I mean, be insane or be the same. Remember that, you know, I think you might, I, I, I have a feeling that you're gonna get some.
[00:52:43] Some cold followers here and, and, uh, I'll, I'll send you, uh, if anybody sends me any tattoos that they get that quote on them somewhere 
[00:52:50] Brenden: oh, let's hope that this will I'll keep you posted 
[00:52:54] Blake: no, but, uh, Hey, it has been so, so cool. Getting to talk to you. You pumped me up, man. Uh, I, I, uh, I'm excited to see, uh, everything that you're gonna be doing in the future.
[00:53:03] Tell, can you tell the audience a little bit more about anything that you've got on the horizon or any place that they can check you out? 
[00:53:09] Brenden: Like happy to do that, man. So two ways to keep in touch. The first one is master talk, the YouTube channel, just type master talk in one word, and you'll have access to hundreds of free videos and how to speak.
[00:53:20] And then the second way to keep in touch is a free training I do on zoom that's live and interactive on coms. So I'm doing as facilitating it for free. It's interactive. It's fun. And if you wanna register for that, go to rockstar, communicator.com. 
[00:53:36] Blake: Beautiful. Brandon. Thank you again for your time. It's been a pleasure like Westman pleasure was smart, everybody.
[00:53:42] This is the gem series until next time, have a beautiful day.
[00:53:51] Thank you for joining us on this episode of the G.E.M series, the podcast for anybody dedicated to investing in themselves. If you'd like to see the resources mentioned in this episode, learn more about what we are up to at a rocket level, or come over and join our team. Just click on the links below until next time.
[00:54:07] This is Blake Chapman, and remember to be awesome and do awesome things.