Allen Brouwer

Marketing, Entrepreneurship, High Performance

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Boat Day With Mike! Vlog Episode 5

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Boat Day With Mike! Vlog Episode 5

It’s Boys’ Boat Day!

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Transcript:

Good morning everyone.

Today is a very exciting day. It’s Monday, right before 4th of July. It’s July 3rd. And today I’m going out on the boat with my buddy Mike. We’re gonna do a boys’ boat day.

Before that, I have a lot that I have to do, because he’s coming in a little bit and I still pretty much need to get a whole entire day worth of work done before he gets here.

So, enough dilly-dallying, let’s get started.

Guess who just showed up.

Yo!

There he is.

What up? Let’s get it.

Let’s do it. All right everyone, we just got to the marina. Jumping on the boat. Mike beat me to the boat because I was on a phone call with Cathryn and my buddy Nathan. And now it’s time for Monday with the boys.

With the boys!

How could I forget, the American flag.

[Mike] You gotta do it.

Got to.

[Mike] Put it in there.

America. ♫ Maybach music. ♫

Oh, time for a shot gun.

Alright, day is over. Tough day, tough day.

Been a tough day at the office, on our way home. Drop Mike off, back at his car and, Mike how was your day today?

It was a solid day, I had a few iced teas, a cigar. It was nothing but sunshine and rainbows, it was great.

Sunshine and rainbows.

Right.

Nothing you could ask for.

That’s it man, that’s it man.

So, this is Mike and Allen Show, signing off and see you next time.

Photo by Jonathan Smith on Unsplash

 

Meeting My First Stalker (It’s a guy) [VLOG Episode 4]

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Meeting My First Stalker (It's a guy)

I'm traveling to Austin to meet some of the most amazing people I know!

I’d be meeting with Cathryn, my cofounder of Best Self, and we’ll be catching up with Josh. Plus, we’re going to meet our stalker! Kidding! He’s not really our stalker. He is an avid user of the Best Self journal.

Click play to check out my Austin adventure!

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Transcript:

Good morning, everyone.

I’ve got my vest, I’ve got my bags, and that means one thing.

We’re traveling.

(relaxing instrumental music)

So my flight started boarding five minutes ago. I got all backtracked. I thought I was flying American, so I went to one terminal, and I’m really flying United, which is all the way on the other side of the airport, and I had to catch a train. The train was only running 15 minutes at this hour. Let’s see if I get it.

(relaxing instrumental music)

I just landed in Austin. Now I’m waiting for Cathryn to get here. She was gonna be here in about two hours. Then I’ll rent a car and we’ll hit the Airbnb, and then meet up with our old ads manager Josh. We’re still good friends with him.

What did I get accomplished on the flight?

I got accomplished the talk, and the outline and the structure and the framework that we’re gonna do for this weekend, so pretty excited about it.

I’ll let you guys know how it goes, bye.

So I just realized Cathryn’s not getting here for another two hours so what I might do is go rent a car and go find a Starbucks or a coffee shop, so let’s go do that instead.

(relaxing instrumental music)

All right, got the rental, gonna go grab the vehicle right now, and I just realized I was on the wrong escalator. I have to be on that one, not this one.

(relaxing instrumental music)

All right, we just got the rental. They upgraded us to a standard size. I’m not mad. So now I’m gonna jump on a call with my marketing team and go over a couple of the things that we have on our agenda for this week. Today is actually Jess’s last day before she goes on vacation, so what I want to do is chat with her a little bit and make sure that we have everything in place before she departs, and that everything runs smoothly with the transition, so let’s start this thing.

(relaxing instrumental music)

Guys, we met up with Josh.

What’s up guys.

And we found Cathryn.

Josh made me lose the vest. It was good advice ’cause it’s hot here.

Yeah.

Josh, where are we eating?

We’re eating at Elizabeth Street Cafe. They have really good Vietnamese food.

Mmmm.

Really? Elizabeth’s not really a Vietnamese name.

Yeah, I wouldn’t think that.

Yeah.

(relaxing instrumental music)

We just got to, what’s this place called, Josh?

It’s called Perla’s.

Perla’s. We’re having a couple drinks. We migrated here after lunch.

We met up with James.

Cathryn, what would you consider James, a brand champion?

[Cathryn] Yeah.Brand champion, that sounds about right. Ambassador, brand ambassador.

Oooo.

Ooo, I like ambassador. James is an avid proponent of BestSelf and everything that we put out, including our products and content and-

[Cathryn] And he uses the Self Journal every day.He has one with him. He has his own with him, and he’s actually a big support pillar in the BestSelf alliance.

Why don’t you just tell us about your experience?

I got the journal when I was really trying to establish my goals and figure out, I do writing, so, figure out what I wanted to do with that and to make it so that I was actually productive as a writer, ’cause I’ve been writing since 2004, and I think that’s a lot of story of a lot of people, like, it’s been 10 years and I still haven’t published anything.

That’s not useful, so that’s what I really wanted it to do is to get me to the point where I was publishing. So many people, not so many people, but I’ve had at least a few people send me private messages where they’re like, “Your share made all the difference in the world to me,” and I’m like, “God, that’s great.”

[Cathryn] Wow. The group that you guys made, it’s just so many positive people in there, and there’s so many people that give so much great information that it’s, I think somebody said it once where they were like, “I bought the journal, and it was valuable, but then I joined the group and it was like 10 times more valuable now.”

[Cathryn] Yeah. And I was like, yeah-

[Cathryn] We need that testimonial.

I agree with that, you know?

(relaxing instrumental music)

It was so good to see Josh today.

I love Josh.

Yeah, it was good to see you guys.

We were bust (beep)

Check us out.

(Cathryn laughing)

That’s gonna be bleeped out.

That’s not a plug, I swear.

Yeah, always plug, always plug.

(laughter)

These two are as cool as you think they are.

It’s totally true.

Aww.

Yeah.

Pretty much-

We are.  Authentic to the core.

Authentic.

Yeah.

They did not bribe me with drinks and food to say that. Exactly who you think they are. Just saying. I bribed myself.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Josh, always plugging, always giving his affiliate link.

[James] I think I’m headed this way, guys.

Be good, dude.

Yes.

Thanks for…

[Josh] Nice to meet you.

See you again.

Take it easy, dude.

Yes.

I got it.

Don’t give her the keys to drive.

Josh. Josh. Love you, dude.

Love you guys too.

It’s always good, Josh, it’s always good.

Yep.

Bye.

Good morning, everyone.

Cathryn and I had a successful morning. We went over our talk and our presentation and now it’s just after 11, and we’re gonna go into the AppSumo office, so follow us.

(relaxing instrumental music)

So we just left the AppSumo office. It was pretty cool. They actually merged two townhomes and apartments together to create their pretty swanky place. They have boardrooms where they rate the best tacos in the area and a game room and all that stuff. It was pretty cool.

So we’re actually gonna get some food and then work on our presentation a little bit more. We may meet up with them for Happy Hour.

What’s up, everyone?

It’s another beautiful day here in Austin, actually-

[Cathryn] It’s not at all. It’s not at all, it’s raining. But that’s okay because that means the heat’s not so terrible.

Cathryn and I worked on our presentation this morning. We’re feeling rock solid about it. That’s why I’m dressed in a collared shirt because I’m going to be presented, presenting.

Running a little bit behind. Now let’s head to the event and venue.

(relaxing instrumental music)

All right, we’re just getting in. Cathryn reminded me about the name tag, so that’s good. I think we go this way.

(whispering) We’re taking the stairs.

(normal voice) This is Cathryn’s workout for the day.

(laughs)

(relaxing instrumental music)

Just bumped into John Logar. Good friend of ours.

(whispering) And now we’re in.

(normal voice) Do need some water.

Cathryn’s brand new MacBook doesn’t have the correct port to display the presentation on these big screens. They don’t have the appropriate dongle for it, so what we’re going to do now is do a little switcheroo with laptops and presentations, so hopefully the formatting’s the same, fingers crossed.

This is how it goes.

(relaxing instrumental music)

So we just wrapped up the first day of the conference here. Cathryn and I did two presentations. We fucking killed it, let’s be honest.

[Cathryn] It was pretty good.

Yeah. (clicks tongue)

(Cathryn clicks tongue)

Cathryn, what can you tell us about the presentation that we did?

That it was good. I thought the first one was better. It was more in flow, but they were both good.

Yeah, they were both really solid.

We had like five minutes between each one, right?

Yeah.

Five to ten minutes, so.

I really enjoyed putting this whole presentation together and actually delivering it. It really got us excited about our business and sometimes we get so jaded about what we’re working on day to day, we forget how far we’ve come and how quickly.

We loved it.

Now we’re gonna go relax for a little bit before we go meet up with my buddy Ben.

Photo by ANDRIK ↟ LANGFIELD ↟ PETRIDES on Unsplash

I Talked About The Power of Daily Action & A Lot More with Jon Nastor of Hack the Entrepreneur

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I Talked About The Power of Daily Action & A Lot More with Jon Nastor of Hack the Entrepreneur

What you do everyday matters. Little by little, your actions add up.

I talked about the power of daily action, strategic partnerships, how we continuously grow Best Self and my journey from selling paper guns in the school yard to where I am now.

I hope my story helps motivate you to keep going and that the lessons I’ve picked up along the way can help you on your path to success.

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Run Your Business with Processes (and Grow it with Vision) | Allen Brouwer | BestSelf

Transcript:

Photo by Teddy Kelley on Unsplash

Sneaking My Camera Into A Class [VLOG Episode 3]

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Sneaking My Camera Into A Class [VLOG Episode 3]

I met up with my business partner Cathryn in NYC.

And our day was pretty hectic. Check out how it all went down!

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Transcript:

Good day everyone.

It is a little later in the afternoon today. This morning did a bunch of work. I leave in a couple days to go speak at that Austin event with Cathryn. So right now I’m heading up to the city, to meet with Cathryn, so we can go over our presentation, and our talk that we’re going to give at this conference. And we also have another NLP class tonight on The Art of Public Speaking. And I’m gonna try to sneak this little thing in there and give you guys an inside scoop.

Let’s go.

(upbeat music)

Alright guys, I just got off of the bus. Now I’m on my way to go meet up with Cathryn. We’re gonna go meet up at one of our favorite restaurants. What I was working on the bus is the swipe file for the talk and presentation that we’re going to give. The swipe file consists of our entire hiring process or our entire customer flow and experience. Our onboarding sequence.

I have a lot of work to do before we actually present to provide a lot of value and give everyone pretty much exactly what we do in our business to grow it and scale it the way we do. Once we go live with that I’ll be able to share a little more details with all of you.

But let’s go find Cathryn.

(upbeat music)

What are we talking about?

We’re talking about Austin. Yeah. Hard talk.

And getting excited for the talk and presentation that we’re gonna do. So we just got on break at the NLP class and I really love it, cause what we talk about in there relates to more things than just public speaking. It relates to how you message and frame your business to your customers or your product or your service to your customers or clients. How you discuss one on one conversations.

There’s so much happening. It’s really beneficial. One thing that I like about it is that it’s really hands on. We split up in groups and actually do the work in real time.

And here’s Cathryn.

(upbeat music)

So Cathryn, what do you like about this NLP class so far?

I like that we get to do hands on stuff. We, you know, learn something and then we just do it right then. Cause then it sticks in our head. It also helps us get to know the other people there. It’s fun. Yeah. Cause otherwise it’s just sitting there for four hours. Sitting there for four hours being lectured to. Yeah. Who the hell wants that?

(upbeat music)

We just wrapped up the NLP training for this evening. It was really hands on tonight. We used a lot of brain power. A lot of thinking.

Allen’s not used to that.  

(laughs)

I’m not used to that at all. Cathryn and I, we’re exhausted right now. I’m ready for a drink. We’re ready for a drink. We’re gonna go grab a drink and yeah.

(upbeat music)

Alright party people. Had an awesome time in the city today.

First half of the day was good. Got a lot of work done. A lot accomplished. I had some meetings with my team. Had a call with my buddy John. Then worked on the presentation with Cathryn this afternoon. Then handled the NLP training program, and back to: am drop-off. Gonna do it all again tomorrow.

I just wanted to recap today.

It was such a good day and I always try to figure out what my key take aways were from the day before I go to bed at night. Because there’s always some value to learn no matter whether you’re working online or you go and meet up with your business partner, or you’re taking a course, or you have a call with a friend.

The biggest take away from me today is being prepared and how preparation can set yourself up for success. Learning this directly from the NLP class and the public speaking class is prepare for random questions. Prepare for curve balls. Prepare for controversy. And if you prepare correctly you’ll be able to handle any situation that’s thrown at you.

So please like this video. Subscribe and share it with someone you think would benefit.

I’m Allen. Thanks for watching.

(upbeat music)

Photo by Jonathan Pease on Unsplash

Talking Warren Buffet with the CFO of Time Inc. [VLOG Episode 2]

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Talking Warren Buffet with the CFO of Time Inc. [VLOG Episode 2]

Another busy day in New York!

Cathryn and I met up with our buddy Nathan, and we just got introduced to someone really interesting.
Check out the rest of my day in NYC!

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Transcript:

What's up everyone?

Today’s gonna be a fun day. I’m on my way to go meet up with my buddy Nathan. He’s in New York City and it seems like every time he’s in New York City, we get together and we have fun, we grab a bite to eat, and collaborate, and talk about business and growth. And actually, Cathryn and I, we’re gonna go meet with him. We’re working on a collaboration together. Can’t really tell you anything about that right now, but in the future I’ll probably share.

So, let’s go meet up with Nathan.

(slow techno music)

So, the bus was an interesting experience today. My seat wouldn’t go back, but it seemed like the guy in front of me’s seat would go even further back than normal. So, it resulted in me having my knees crushed in.

Anyway, Nathan texted me.

So, instead of meeting in midtown, we’re gonna go meet downtown. So, I have to get an Uber down there.

(slow techno music)

So, I just got to the spot that Nathan told me to meet him at and I thought we were meeting for breakfast, but turns out there’s a Sales Machine conference happening. I’m not sure what he has planned for us, but I’m sure it’s interesting.

Let’s go find Nathan.

(slow techno music)

Cathryn and I just got out of this epic meeting with Nathan and the old- CEO of Time.

– CFO of Fortune.

– Fortune, no, of Time, I think, right?

– Of Time, Inc. which owns Fortune magazine.
– That owns Fortune.

Holy crap.

That guy was, I understood, like, half of what he said.

(laughing)

It was very interesting connecting with him. He consults for huge huge multi-million and billion dollar companies.

Actually, Cathryn and I are collaborating with Nathan on something in the future
that we’ll probably explain more about after we, after,

After it goes live.
after it goes live.

I’m just like, sitting, staring at the sky, like, “Oh my god.”

“Are we in the same room as this guy?”

He’s talking about hanging out with Warren Buffett. He’s like, “Oh, Warren’s cool,” and I was like, “What?”

He’s like, “Oh yeah, Warren’s a good singer and a dancer, blah-blah, good
singer and a good dancer.”

– “I liked hanging out with him,”

and I’m like, “Can I hang out with him?”
– Yeah.

Great meeting so far and now I have a meeting at 11, and then Cathryn and I
are gonna meet Steve, the CEO, or COO.

– What?
What?

We’ll see you guys in a bit.

(slow techno music)

So, Cathryn and I just got to her second apartment.

– I just have so many.

Cathryn and I just got to her place, so we can, so I can jump on this call. Running a little bit behind, but it’s a friendly call, so he’ll understand.

And the meeting that we were at before was totally worth it, extending our time there.

We got a lot of value out of meeting Eric and we always get value from hanging out with Nathan.

(slow techno music)

So, I just wrapped up my one hour meeting. It was actually, we scheduled 90 minutes, but we were able to knock it out within one hour. We got a ton accomplished and now I’m starving. So, I’m gonna meet Cathryn downstairs at the coffee shop, we’re gonna grab a cup of coffee, and then go meet up with Steve, our operations manager, for lunch.

Let’s go.

(slow techno music)

So, we just wrapped up lunch with Steve, who you can see right here.

Steve, say hi.
– Hello.

Had a great meeting with him. It’s noisy out here. Now we’re just gonna wrap up the day.

Actually, Cathryn and I are a little tired, so we had another meeting right after this, but we ended up postponing it for tomorrow. Now it’s time for me to head back home.

(slow techno music)

Alright, guys.

Actually, big takeaways for today.

The meeting with Nathan. Nathan always reminds me how important it is to be a connector. Meaning how important it is to see what someone’s unique traits,
or skills, or business is, and then match that with someone else’s strengths, skills, and business, and pair those people together. That is such a big part of business and success. I always get reminded because Nathan does it so effortlessly.

Another thing that I learned from Nathan and Eric this morning was making sure that you have the team and the infrastructure to handle any new projects that you want to go after.

So, maybe you acquire a business and you bring that business into the fold of your team, but now your team is spread too thin to not only work on the core business that you have, but now also work on the new business that you have. So, if you have the infrastructure to bring on a new business and make it successful, by all means, do it.

But if you don’t have the team or the infrastructure, maybe you have to think about bringing on a team or infrastructure in order to help that business accelerate and grow to where you want it to go.

Image Credit: Nicolai Berntsen

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