Building Your Personal Brand

56:38

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

people, months, linkedin, big, building your personal brand, portland, blazers, mom, experience, grew, happen, learned, journey, damon, man, year, brothers, community, called, life, meet

SPEAKERS

Jordan Mendoza, Damon Pistulka

Damon Pistulka  00:01

All right, everyone. Thank you once again for joining us on exit theory live with me today. I’ve got Jordan Mendoza. Thanks for being here, Jordan.

Jordan Mendoza  00:13

Hey, Hey, everybody. Hope you all are doing well. Damon, thank you so much for having me. Yeah,

Damon Pistulka  00:19

it’s awesome for us to finally get here and talk a little bit. You know, honestly, we were talking before this, we probably could have talked an hour, and then got on live and talk. Well, but it’s awesome to get get you on Jordan. I mean, I’ve, I don’t, I didn’t go back and see when we actually connected, but it’s been a while.

And it’s been cool to watch your progression over the last, you know, year and a half, or whatever it is that that we’ve known each other on LinkedIn, and see your audience grow. And then you start your podcast and how that changed what was happening. And really, you know, up until recently, in your motive, what was it the third most influential? Filipino in? on LinkedIn?

Jordan Mendoza  01:08

Yeah, on LinkedIn for inspiration and learning.

Damon Pistulka  01:11

Yeah. Yeah. That’s awesome. Dude, that’s awesome. So I mean, let’s just start there. Did you ever think that into your life is that that would just happen to you?

Jordan Mendoza  01:22

No, absolutely. Not? No. No, I mean, I think in school, I probably had been the third most likely person not to ever get a job, you know? That’s right. Yeah, in high school. So yeah, to get that type of recognition by, you know, prestigious magazine marketing in Asia. I mean, that’s, it’s such an honor, I’m humbled.

And, you know, my father’s from the Philippines. And, you know, I was very fortunate at 16, to be able to go to that beautiful country for the, for the first time and an experience so much for for three months, you know, and, and, you know, from landing in Manila, and walking outside to the terminal and seeing so many people and vehicles, and they have these vehicles called jeepneys.

They’re like a 2025, passenger Jeep. And, you know, a bunch of people came out, and they were all related to me, and I didn’t know any of them, you know, so having an experience like that, and meeting family for the first time in a, in a new world, you know, it was, it was a culture shock for me, right going there. And, and then, you know, when you navigate through the city, it’s very similar to a standard city, but when you get out side of the city, the roads get a little smaller.

And then people are actually playing chicken with the, like vehicles to share the road. So if you it’s like, Alright, well, who’s gonna go and then you have to move over? Or they’re gonna they’re gonna hit Yeah, you know, and, and there are some farm animals that just sort of cross it, you know, so it gets very treacherous. And then, you know, we actually had to take an eight hour journey from the airport to the village where my grandparents lived. And it was about only about 150 miles, but you can imagine Damon, the terrain Yeah, take eight hours to get power. And so you’re going to

Damon Pistulka  03:23

the island, you know that. It’s not that big. Yeah. We are.

Jordan Mendoza  03:29

Very, very far up north in Luzon. Luzon is the main is the main island where Manila? Yeah, so eight hours north of there is where I went, you know, and so, I get into this village, and it was like, you know, a scene out of the Jungle Book, right, you know, that those same types of trees and mangoes, and all the all these fruits that I wasn’t used to seeing, right? This where I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, I grew up in Portland. And so it was it was all a really, really cool experience. But I soon realized that, you know, these people didn’t have a whole lot of money, but everybody was happy.

You know, I learned that at 16 that like, Man, these people are, they don’t have much at all, you know, I could come with what I thought maybe five bucks and there, they’d be so excited because they could get so much with that, you know, and so I, I learned a lot while I was there, especially getting back in going into the place where I and I actually grew up really poor. But it didn’t seem like it when I got in when I got back, you know? Yeah, that was a that was a really cool experience to have that. And so to get an honor like this, especially being able to go there, and I went again for a family reunion in 2003.

And I got to meet, you know, 400 family members that my grandma, my grandma and grandpa both had, I think 13 and 14 brothers and sisters and so I mean just tons and tons of family I got to meet then And so yeah, to get recognized. To be the, you know, top three, you know, for inspiration learning. I mean, if I don’t know who would not be honored by that, you know? And and I would never have guessed that that would be something that would happen ever. So, yeah,

Damon Pistulka  05:16

that’s cool man. And it’s a great story to it. It is. And, and I think you bring up something that I think about a lot. And that is, in our lives, we get so caught up about a lot of things, whether it’s the car I drive from, am I good enough to do I have the latest phone or, or I don’t just all these kind of things. And when you really break it down the family and friends and just being healthy. Are is is so much farther than then the rest of the world. And I think that’s what they that’s what they they really understand in some of these places where they don’t have a lot of money.

And, and you know, I grew up on a farm in South Dakota. So picture this, it was 100 miles, I think to the to the nearest mall. Yeah, and you know, stoplights and stuff. And that it at that point, we didn’t have much money, but we never knew it never knew it didn’t cross our mind whether you had money or not. Because you always had, you know, you had food. You had some clothes, and you have your family. And that’s really, I think, what, what you may have seen and and yeah, oh, 100

06:45

Yeah,

Jordan Mendoza  06:46

I mean, you know, I’ll give you some context here. I mean, I show up in the house is called an ABA gotten and I’m in I believe it’s, you know, the old house or something like that is what it Yeah, the translation is, but I get there, and I’m like, Hey, can I have a glass of water? You know, and they’re like, Yeah, you got to go outside to the pump. And you take the glass, and then you, you know, pump the water. And I was like, Alright, this is Alright, this is interesting. So I go out, and I start doing it. And of course, I don’t know if you’ve done that before. But the first time you do it, nothing happens. You know?

And so I’m like, Am I doing this? Right? And you do it a few times. And then, and then there’s water, you know, so you’re actually you got to work for it. Yeah, it worked for the water. It doesn’t taste great. It didn’t taste that great either. coming straight from from the well like that, but I was like, wow, like, this is different, you know. And then when I when I found out the, the shower system, which was there was a bigger, a big bucket, and then there was a little bucket, and then you took the little bucket and you scooped up some water from the big bucket and dumped it over your head right there.

That was that was the shower, you know, and so being able to experience things like that, you know, for me, I was 16. So I had been to summer camp, you know, so it kind of had that feel to it. Like, like you were at camp. But But this was their life. Like this is how they live, you know? Yeah, this is their livelihood. So. So yeah, when you get to experience some of those things, you definitely become grateful. It changes your the, like the lens that you view life through, right. When you go through an experience like that.

Damon Pistulka  08:28

Yeah. Yeah. That’s so awesome. I mean, just because the family connection that you must, must, that must have built and then being able to go back and reinforce it and build it even further. And now you’ve got that.

08:43

Yeah. That’s for sure. That’s

Damon Pistulka  08:46

very cool. But we’ve got Canada design here today. Good to see a

Jordan Mendoza  08:51

Kenneth. KENNETH. How are you, buddy?

Damon Pistulka  08:54

Yep. Yep. And Andrew was on my partner Andrew, he couldn’t join us today. He was on earlier and then we’ve got I can’t pronounce his name, but I can’t pronounce his name, but it’s good. But he’s asking about your background. I don’t know what that is.

Jordan Mendoza  09:14

Oh, back. You talking about the toys behind me?

Damon Pistulka  09:17

Yeah, yeah, I’ve

Jordan Mendoza  09:18

got you know who this guy is? Right. We’ve got Sean Alexander. Yep. Yeah, yes. Former Seahawks.

Damon Pistulka  09:27

The putrid year that we lost.

Jordan Mendoza  09:30

Yeah. And of course the kid.

Damon Pistulka  09:34

Yeah. Yeah, up Junior. I’ve

Jordan Mendoza  09:36

got some some Michael Jordan, you know, I’ve got a bunch of collectibles. I’ve collected things for, you know, cards, whether it’s cards or like, you know, these type of figures behind me or sneakers like those are hobbies that I’ve always had since I was in high school. So I will get them and then I’ll sell stuff and then I’ll get stuff but a lot of the stuff behind me I’ve had it for for quite a while. So nice nice.

Damon Pistulka  10:02

Yeah and that’s that’s one of the things you said you grew up in Portland so that’s an interesting city for people that haven’t been there it’s it’s you know, it’s pretty as heck in the summertime The weather’s really nice but but you know big basketball at the time you’re probably there

Jordan Mendoza  10:23

yeah big basketball city. Yeah. The Clyde the glide behind me, you know, clad versa. Yeah, that those are those are the days that I really watched and, you know, went to a lot of games at the Memorial Coliseum with my grandmother and my mom, you know, watching Terry Ford or Clyde the glide, you know, drum career z, Buck Williams, Uncle cliffie, you know, passed away not, you know, in the recent years. Jerome Kersey, you know, but that, I mean, that was, that was the time when it was, you know, blazer mania, you know, really?

You know, I don’t know if you remember that they had a song and everything. So yeah, but I was actually on the news. I think I was 11 maybe I was in front of the Fox Theater and had my like a blazer starter jacket on. And the news happened to be there and they interviewed me and I was like, the blazers are neat. That’s all I said, you know, so I had my chance at fame and I failed, so yeah, it’s all good.

Damon Pistulka  11:26

Rice.

Jordan Mendoza  11:28

My rice? I don’t think so. I don’t believe so.

Damon Pistulka  11:32

I don’t know my crushes. So I couldn’t help you there. Yeah, it’s it is. I mean, I remember that in time because that had to be. What year was at about when they were definitely.

Jordan Mendoza  11:48

Yeah, late night, late. 80s 90s. Yeah.

Damon Pistulka  11:51

My roommate in college. When he graduated, he moved to Portland and went to went optometry school out here. And it was when it was at the peak of craziness. And he used to tell me about that. And I’ve had relatives that live there forever. But yeah, he was he would go to a lot of games. So

Jordan Mendoza  12:11

yeah, it’s good. So that was big in Portland. You know, my family was also big into wrestling. So Portland wrestling was like, you know, the local wrestling and yeah, a lot of the guys like, like the Rock’s dad. Yeah, he there Ric Flair. You know, Lex Lex Luthor, Lex Luger, Sting a lot of these guys from before they got big that went through wrestling. Yeah, it was it was cool as a kid to like, be there. I couldn’t even see over the ring, you know, had to stand on a chair on somebody’s shoulders. But I remember you know, being there and just kind of walking through and and experiencing that as a kid, you know?

Damon Pistulka  12:50

Well, that’s that’s funny. You say that? Because growing up in the Dakotas, you know, we had the Minneapolis rustling and that was big With what? Wow, I can’t remember that announcer guy with some but I remember Hulk Hogan when he was just starting out, you know? And, you know, super cuz he was a freak when that started. Yeah, as big as he was that time. But oh, okay, here. This is Andrew says Jordan. Crazy. Mike Reiss the announcer for the blazers.

Jordan Mendoza  13:20

Oh, yes. Okay. You had to say crazy. I wouldn’t have known it was crazy.

Damon Pistulka  13:27

Crazy by grace. Yeah. But yeah, so that’s cool. That’s cool. The wrestling in there. And then just being able to, you know, understand what Seahawks football is like, and really all about? I mean,

Jordan Mendoza  13:43

yeah, my mom, you know, you know, she was big into, into sports. You know, she, you know, I don’t know if you know, her story, but she, she was born with one lung and so like, you know, when she was born in 1958, the doctors basically said, you know, hey, listen to my grandmother, she’s probably not gonna live past 18 she definitely won’t have any kids. Like, that was kind of the hand that she got dealt.

And she ended up of course, you know, finishing high school in Portland, you know, in 76 of course, the blazers win and 77 they win the championship. So she was you know, 1819 when that was happening, been a blazers fan ever, you know, she was a blazers fan back then, you know, and, and so she got us all into sports. And, you know, even though she had one loan, she didn’t live in, you know, look at it as this ailment, she still made sure that she took care of us, you know, we didn’t have more lot. We were definitely poor.

You know, I remember using food stamps as currency. You know, that wasn’t an exciting thing to do, but you had to do it and collecting cans if he wanted candy, you know, doing all those things. But, you know, those experiences I think, you know, they, as I’ve got older and started actually making money and seeing the value of what was worth it. Like, wow, I don’t I don’t really need a whole lot to you know, I don’t, I don’t know, I don’t need a whole lot, you know, I just kind of can can live and when you can learn that mindset, I think it at a young age, it definitely helps you as you move down the road, you know.

But yeah, she was big into sports place blazer, you know, fan of course, and Seahawks fan, Oregon, big fan. I mean, you know, those were her, those were her teams and, and she was loud and proud and, you know, got us all into, into playing sports, I actually preferred to, like, do the fundraising over the playing, you know, when it came to baseball and soccer because I, I just like talking to people ever since I was little, so I rather do the sales and, and I’d be kind of just picking the weeds and looking for stuff in the sky when I was playing. I wasn’t really paying attention to the, to the game.

Damon Pistulka  15:56

Yeah, yeah, good stuff. And that’s, that’s, that’s great that, you know, the example that your mom set is something that I’m sure, you know, will stay with you forever, and you’ll pass it on to your children as well.

Jordan Mendoza  16:11

Yeah. 100% and gather your strength, man, and, you know, positivity and being optimistic and, and, you know, she, she lived to be 54 you know, and so, you know, they said 18 she said, skip that I’m just gonna, you know, I’ll show you. And she ended up having five boys. She wasn’t supposed to have any kids, you know.

So, I mean, all of these things are just, you know, miracles in their own right. And then, you know, and so, before she passed away, got to meet. You know, most of her grandkids Of course, we’ve had more since then. Yeah, as well. But, but yeah, man, she just, you learn a lot, right? People will leave clues. Right? And some are good, some are bad. And we get to choose which ones we’re going to follow.

But, you know, if, if I want to say who had the biggest impact? It’s definitely, definitely my mom, you know, actually didn’t meet my dad until I was 12. You know, that was a, that was a whole crazy journey and experience. One day, my mom says, Hey, do you want to go out to Washington, DC and meet your dad? And I was like, I don’t like I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. Yeah. Or so I said, Yes. And so I flew, you know, by myself from Portland to Minneapolis, St. Paul, I remember, like, it was yesterday, from there to Washington National Airport, and I land and there’s my dad and my stepmom and my brother that I didn’t know, never, never met before.

And I’m meeting these people for the first time. And so it was a, it was a weird experience right at first but and then kind of getting to know them and learning about culture and meeting my grandparents. They came from the Philippines to DC so I got to meet them during that summer. And you know, spending a couple months with them. It was really cool to start to see that side of this whole other culture. Right? Because I grew up with my mom, my mom was Irish and Chippewa Indian. So

Damon Pistulka  18:08

yeah,

Jordan Mendoza  18:09

I’ve got a very eclectic mix, you know, yeah, actually, my great grandmother was, you know, born on the reservation in, in Montana. So we actually, when my mom passed away, all of us boys inherited 20 acres each in near in Roosevelt County, Montana. So, so I’m pretty excited about that, where we want to build a house out there and just have this be kind of a, yeah, family vacation property, you know, so, that’s, uh, it’s nice that those types of things can get passed down. And of course, we’ll be able to leave that for for be able to leave that for my kids.

And, and, you know, so that’s, that’s an exciting piece of heritage, you know, so, I, you know, I don’t know much about the Irish side, but like, you know, the Native American and the Filipino sides I know a lot more just from, from the family ties and things like that. But, uh, it’s definitely cool to learn about your culture and, and, and some of the things that people had to go through and sacrifice in order to get to where they are, you know, learned about those journeys, because, you know, some of that, that runs in your veins, you know, that runs in your, in your blood and, and you can kind of see that stuff come out in you.

Damon Pistulka  19:22

Yeah, that’s for sure. That’s for sure. Cuz you, you, I mean, knowing you and seeing what you’re doing with your life now. I understand. You know, how your, how your mom, I can see how she played in this what I’m trying to say, and teach you those things because you don’t just do what you do without having a real strong work ethic and a family ethic behind you and family focus, I should say. To do what you do. I mean, you you’ve got five children now.

Jordan Mendoza  19:55

Five, yeah, yeah. Leave it or not. We have five right. So we have three babies. boys and two girls, and our youngest is five months. The next oldest, and these are both boys is four. And then the girls are nine and 12. And our oldest, believe it or not, will be 16 on December the 30th. So, so we have, we’ve got them kind of all over, all over the spectrum.

So if you’ve got a problem, if you’re a parent, and you’re watching this, and you have maybe one child, or maybe you’ve got two, and you’re and you’ve got an issue of them just add a couple more problems, and that’s what our life’s like, so, yeah, you know, it doesn’t, you know, having more, some people are like, well, you got more you got health room like, well, they kind of help you know, when they, when they’re, you know, incentivized, right. I don’t think there’s not many kids are like, hey, what can I do to help you out? You know, like, it doesn’t typically work like that, you know? But that is that’s good. wishful thinking. I do wish that sometimes, right. I wish that would take place. So

Damon Pistulka  21:02

yeah, yeah, that’s for sure. Well, I grew up I grew up as you did. With five in the family had four, three brothers and a sister. So not quite four brothers like you, but where are you at? In in with your brothers?

Jordan Mendoza  21:16

I’m the second oldest. Yeah, actually, I have a total of six because my Oh, yeah, we married so I’ve got more so yeah, total of six brothers. So

Damon Pistulka  21:25

Oh, man, six brothers. Wow. So that, that I tell you what, it’s funny cuz I just giggle about it. Because you, you and I understand what it’s like growing up with six brothers. Right? Are we? Right? Yeah. You know, you grew up with one other brother or another sibling. And that’s something but when you grow up with a troop like that, man, the stuff that you get into when you’re under, you know, under the age of like, 14 the the times you know, cuz because like, I don’t know, if you guys ran into riding bikes and all that kind of stuff, or just just hanging out playing baseball and stuff.

Jordan Mendoza  22:02

Yeah, we did a lot of the, you know, on our street, we lived on Russell street in our street. We played a lot of wiffle ball. So we set up the basic you know, the bases and play wiffle ball, we play, you know, football, you know, tackle football in the street? Because that is a good, yeah. You know, you know, we go win it on Thanksgiving, we just pouring down rain as it does in Portland six months out of the year.

And we’re playing football in the bud. You know, there’s just those that you have to think that that you do and, and you don’t really, you don’t really mind what season it is, you know, because it’s all in. It’s always hoodie season, you know, and in Oregon, it’s always sunny season. So yeah,

Damon Pistulka  22:42

yeah, that is it’s like 11 months out of the year.

22:46

Yep.

Damon Pistulka  22:49

So, so did your mom. I mean, so does your mom have a lot of trips to the ER? Or were you guys pretty, pretty safe? Um, no, she

Jordan Mendoza  22:58

definitely. She definitely had a lot of trips to the hospital man. For sure. Yeah, not not from us from from her because of her.

Damon Pistulka  23:09

Oh, no, no, I was.

Jordan Mendoza  23:12

No, yeah, well, yeah. No, she definitely did. I’m trying to think and I’m like, yep, that knucklehead fell off the escalator at the mall. Yep, that happened. Okay. I broke my younger brother’s leg accidentally when I was, you know, I did that by accident. You know, so there, there definitely were crazy things, especially with boys. It’s like, and we watch wrestling. It’s like, you know, I mean, we’re almost encouraging us to fight. I almost felt like they were teaching us how to fight. You know, this is definitely bound to happen, right?

Damon Pistulka  23:44

Yeah. Yeah. Well go back to the fighting thing. My parents actually bought us boxing gloves. One one Christmas. Oh, wow. Oh, yeah. It was not good. And they remained for a lot of years. And nobody had to go to the hospital for that. But I always tell people because I and you’ve known this with the brothers, you understand it. My mother actually got so comfortable with us breaking a leg if there wasn’t a bone sticking out.

She was gonna go get cleaned up and get ready before she took us to the emergency room. And I literally saw her do it to my brother one time broke his arm clean medium, lay it on him lay it on a breadboard and down and said I’m gonna go get ready and you just sat here. It’s like, wow.

24:27

But you know,

Damon Pistulka  24:29

yeah, it’s it’s to the big but it’s awesome that the big family that you grew up with, I mean, you got to feel a lot of that now and it’s it’s how are you guys live regionally are you? I’m on the east coast.

Jordan Mendoza  24:41

And you know, the my four brothers are out in in Portland still. So it’s it’s definitely nice. You know, we go out there they come out here and so we kind of do the the back and forth visiting thing so we haven’t really found like a central place to meet in the middle of the US yet but you know, I don’t think we really know need it in men with technology now, like, we have played more yatse in 2020, than we did the previous 15 years, because we did it virtually, we did it virtually through zoom, we play family yatse games, and we hung out.

And, you know, we got to laugh. And you know, I mean, so if you want to be disconnected, you can be disconnected. But if you want to be connected, you can be connected. And so we all have a choice. And, and and listen, I don’t knock anyone from not wanting to be the one to stay disconnected. But, you know, you just figure out what works for you and your situation.

And, and then you roll with it. Right? I mean, that’s, that’s the best any of us can do, especially, you know, we are in a time that has nothing like this has occurred, right. So it’s new for everybody, everybody’s navigating the same water. So I think, you know, once that once we can understand that, but and you can inject that type of empathy in your business, right, in your relationships in your passer by moments with with other people, the better. You know, because everybody’s on the same playing field.

Damon Pistulka  26:05

Yeah, that’s for sure. And now, you, you over the past couple years, you I mean, this year, you started a podcast, we’ll talk about that again in a minute. But you really started coming on LinkedIn in force, like, last 18 months ago, or how long ago when you really started taking off, not taking off, but started putting the effort into LinkedIn.

Jordan Mendoza  26:31

Yeah. Well, you can just say, hey, when did you start showing up? Right, Damon, that’s very well, I wasn’t showing up, you know,

Damon Pistulka  26:38

yeah,

Jordan Mendoza  26:38

I didn’t know that I could, I didn’t have the, I wasn’t, you know, Listen, I’ve got a lot of energy. And I can teach, and I’ve done all these things, but not, not everybody’s always gonna crush it the first time they look into a camera and their speak, you know, when you’re speaking. And listen, I learned that really, really quickly that I needed to work I needed to get better.

And, you know, so looking back at that, and then, you know, identifying areas where you’ve grown. I mean, that’s what life’s all about, right? It’s seeing like, hey, how am I the same as I was last year? Or am I different, right? And I think, looking at it, looking at it scale versus it, like, today versus tomorrow is definitely, you know, a lot better, you’re gonna get a lot more realistic view, right?

Because, you know, day to day, you can see growth, but year over year, you can see can see a lot of exponential growth, but it really took other people, you know, Brian showman, I think, you know, link, so he, I mean, that guy’s a long distance mentor for me, he would hop on a call with me and say, Man, why aren’t you creating videos like you need, people need to hear what you have to say. And so you put the confidence in me, that was probably there, but I didn’t see it.

And he was able to extract that in and he said, Listen, you don’t understand you’re gonna have a bigger brand than me like this is these are the these are what words are powerful people, right. And he plugged the words into my head. And I believed him for some reason. And so I start going up and creating and, and I’ll be honest, the first video I posted I did go back every two seconds to see who viewed it. And there was five views they were all made. Damon there’s there was me every time going back.

And I was so worried about the metrics. And then I was like, Alright, Jordan, just just create, just focus on what you can talk about, right? I don’t ever want to go on LinkedIn and try to sell a product or service, I do want to teach, I do want to train and coach and mentor, I want to do all of that. Right? If a transaction or a relationship develops down the road, that’s, that’s fantastic, because that’s what life’s all about. Right? I my intention is to go and talk about an area of expertise and and try to help somebody, right, because if I can impact at least one person, you know, a day and this is something Brian showman really gave me this lens to look through his that was his mission.

I want to inspire one person today. That’s 365 people a year. Yeah. And if you look at it through that, and you reach more than one a day, then you can just continue to expand and double it and triple it and and so, you know, when I create started creating content, and it would have all these people actually spending their time, taking time out of their day to thoughtfully comment on something that I did.

I learned really quickly that I needed to respond and say, Wow, thank you or have a calm another sidebar conversation because that was what I learned to love was actually what was happening in the comment section. I was way more invested in that then who actually viewed it or anything like that, because that’s where the relationships get built.

That’s where the conversations can help. happen, you know, there’s a lot of things that can happen there. And I’ve learned a lot there too, like, hey, someone gave me their opinion, like, Wow, I didn’t think about it that way, you know, so it’s changed my perspective. I’ve also had trolls Come on my content and took offense to it. Like, I probably should, but I learned that I shouldn’t you know, so we go through all these things in these points. And so my journey was learning every day like learning about, alright, I put this content out, I asked this question, this was the type of response.

This is the type of impact this is hat, you know. And so I just started kind of looking at that. And then before I knew it, December, this was in April and December rolls around, and I had a mass 20,000 followers, and I was so blown away because I was like, Man, that’s like, more than can fit in the moda Center, the former rose garden in Portland like, that’s, yeah, more than and so when I tried when I put that, and I quantified that I was humbled, and I’m honored and blown away. I’m like, Where did all these people come from?

Yeah, like, what, what is so interesting about, you know, the, the, the content, so, and still to this day, I’m like, man, I still don’t get it sometimes, you know, you’re like, what, Where’s everybody finding this at? Right? But it kept growing, you know, and I decided to launch a podcast, and that had so much support. And, you know, you know, getting guests from people that I’ve connected from on LinkedIn, and then having other people introduced me, and I remember the early days of the show, where I’m really doing a lot of cold calling and dming people on Instagram and on LinkedIn.

And, and then now I have, so I have publicists that send me their clients to come on the show, and, and people that send me people and, and so now it’s, it’s harder to get right. So that I’ve just loved the journey and kind of going through all of this. Because I’ve grown a lot, I know, we kind of talked off air, but I feel like I’ve got a PhD in so many topics, because through the the creating my own content, and seeing that support is, is kind of one end of the spectrum, but and then, you know, creating content with a guest, and having that conversation and you’ve heard the show.

So the whole goal of the show is to take a dive into someone’s journey from birth, and then fast, and you come back to today, right? Because we learn so much from other people’s stories, and from their journeys, we get we, we have that emotional connection to them, once we learn that, and so when we hear about who they are, from a front facing perspective, it’s like, Wow, that’s awesome, too, you know, but it’s really about who they are, you know, and that’s what I that’s kind of what I love about is I get to learn from, you know, through their journeys and, and one thing that’s unique Damon,

I don’t know if you knew this about the show is I don’t do any, I don’t do any scripting, I do nothing. I literally say, All right, we’re gonna rock and roll. And I freestyle, the entire interviews are freestyle. And my questions are based off their, their response.

Damon Pistulka  33:09

Yes,

Jordan Mendoza  33:10

fingers, what I’m going to say that you see what I’m saying? And so I love it that way, because I love organic, like, we’re right now we’re having this organic. I’m in my basement in Atlanta, and you’re out in the US, right? And, I mean, we get to have this conversation organically. And that’s really where the magic happens. Exactly right. When we’re just having a conversation versus You know, I’ve had some that I’ve been a guest on and I’m like, Man, this is the application process here. You know, this is a lot of there’s a lot of work I’m doing to get on here.

I thought I just wanted the microphone and the headset, you know, that’s, that’s what I’m jumping on, you know, but again, but I get it everybody’s everybody’s different. I gotta, you know, respect the process, but I’m just more of a just go with the flow, you know, freestyle type of guy so yeah,

Damon Pistulka  34:01

yeah, that’s, that’s great. Cuz, man, you I just I just giggle and grin when I hear you talking about your podcast because I started a long time after you did obviously but it but I’ve had a similar situ experience. Every time I meet somebody even sitting here with you we’ve talked before and other things and but every time I meet someone, you learn more about them, you get to understand who they are and what they’re about.

And you really get that and then that just that just gets me so fired up. I want to go and get the next guest on I want to talk to them because I want to learn from them. And I want everybody else to see how cool they are and why. Why they’re special and all that and it is just a blast.

Jordan Mendoza  34:45

Yeah, none I agree man and you know, and then just just learning right because you start to see the things that you want to adopt or plug into your business. They it starts adding value in your Like, wow, what they talked about works, right? So you become an even bigger promoter of the guests because it’s like, wow, you know, they added so much value in this time for me, and I’ve learned and now I’m using this information and I’m executing it, you know, I’m applying it to my world, and I’m having results with it. You know, that’s, it’s, it’s such a, it’s such a cool process to, to be on that journey where you’re, you’re learning as you’re, as you’re having fun at the same time.

Damon Pistulka  35:27

No doubt, no doubt. So you’ve been, you know, gone going to, we talked about your podcasts and things like that, now, you’ve been in. And this is honestly, that’s the only note I wrote down is the one I’m just going to ask about. And that’s what we started talking about, before we get on, you’ve been in training and people in leadership and other types across a pretty large organization for a long time now. So

Jordan Mendoza  35:53

yeah, yeah, I’d love to tell you that the that journey, right, because it didn’t start here, right. I didn’t start in leadership, teaching and training. I actually started as a resident in an apartment building, right? And people watching this or, or listening to this, if you’ve ever rented an apartment, right? That was me, I was just me and my wife in our six month old were renters.

And I went to get a package from the leasing office. And I did this, often I would go in, and I would just talk to them just because that’s how I am I just talk to everybody, no matter who you are. It’s just, I think I was when I was born, I just was already talking.

Yeah, that’s what my mom told me anyway. But, uh, so I just would talk to them. And they’re like, Hey, have you ever thought about doing leasing? And I said, What is that? Yeah. And do you offer benefits, you know? And they’re like, well, it’s just, you know, how we took you on the tour of the apartment. And we showed you around, and we pointed out these features and these benefits, and then we had you fill out the application and, and then we called you and let you know your bread.

So they just kind of walked through the steps. I was like, I was like, Yeah, like, that’s like sale? That’s easy. Yeah, I could do that. So I applied. And I remember the interview. And I remember very distinctive, Lee Damon, because I got the question that we always get. And it is, you know, where do you see yourself in five years? And yeah, I remember my response is the cocky 25 year old that I was was luck to have your job. And the guy said, well, you don’t even have this one yet. So don’t get your hopes up.

But he still hired me. So I guess he saw something. He saw something in me right. Maybe. Maybe he wished he would have said that in his interview? I don’t know. But you saw something there. And so they did hire me. And I picked it up quick man, I got promoted in six months from leasing apartments to becoming an assistant property manager, which I needed that job name and I hated it. I’m not a numbers guy. I’m not a sit at the desk and type all day type of person I need to be out in and out and about and communicating.

Right? So I get this role and I kid you not I work my tail off so that I could get promoted as fast as possible. I work so hard, Damon that I got assistant property manager the year and I hated every moment of the job. What would you knew now nobody knew right? I was still smiling. And when I came to work, I had a goal. And so my nine months into the role, I get promoted to a property manager. Right? This is, you know, 16 months door to door, I mean, doesn’t happen in the industry. So it was crazy. And I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t I got this. I literally thought I was getting fired this day. I got a call.

They said hey, can you come meet us at this community? It was the regional vice president and the regional manager. I was like, yep, my called my wife. I was like, hey, might want to get the newspaper out. Because I may be getting fired today. I didn’t know what was gonna happen. And oh, my there. And it was even more ominous, because the person that work there was not there. When I arrived. I was like, oh, yep, I’m done. He’s gone. I’m gone, you know, and take a seat and said, hey, you’ve been doing a really great job.

And you got, you know, assistant Property Manager of the Year and we want to promote you to manager. And I was like, seriously? Like, yeah, here’s the keys and you’re gonna do great. We’ll see you later and they left. I’m sitting there cold. My wife, um, she’s like, you lost your job, like, know that they promoted me. And, you know, I’m like, I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t, they gave me the keys. You know, I’m here at this place. So I remember getting on the phone and calling people that I managers I built a relationship with.

I’m like, Hey, I’m over here managing this place. Now. No, you don’t know No, congratulations. Yes, I just need to know what how to do these reports like, I need to know how to do this, because I did not know what you know. And I think when we’re put in those situations, when we’re thrown into the wolves, as they say, sometimes that’s the best thing that can happen to you. Because it’s either you’re gonna, you’re gonna leave, or you’re just going to step up to the plate, and you’re going to figure things out.

And be as resourceful as you can, you know, and, and so I was, that was my first community, it was very unique, because it was a one person community, so I was the least or the assistant, the manager, thank goodness, I knew the first two roles, yes, I at least I at least knew those ones. So I could do that I was even sometimes had to go and go use a plunger because I had one service technician. So I wore a lot of hats at that place. And there was such a was there almost a bit, maybe 10 months, I got promoted, again, to manage to communities.

So now I’ve got you know, 189 unit high rise built in 1942 at a 50 unit mid rise built in 98 in a very small pool, that you and I would probably cover the whole distance of it standing standing there, you know, so not a very big pool, no fitness center, no, like, no MIT no washers and dryers, there’s, you know, I’m saying so like, very, very basic, you know, sea level kind of places. So, uh, managing these two communities in, man, I had employees now. That’s, that’s different, right? That’s different, what, you’re now responsible for other people and managing those and the different personalities.

And, and so, you know, that was a big learning experience. I, you know, had some associates that I didn’t get along with, and ones that I that I did and, and so you go through those experiences, and I was there for about eight months. And then I got promoted, again, to manage the very first real property a lease up in the state of Virginia. And, and, man, when I tell you going from those two communities, one thing I didn’t mention is there were a lot of housing assistance programs.

So I had all the reports as like, 16 reports I was doing every month, I mean, all of these things that, as you could probably tell, not not my strength, right, those things I’m very, very self aware of. That’s not what I’m good at. But I’m doing it right, I am pushing through it. And so I get this promotion. And when I tell you, Damon, the community that I went to, it was like a vacation. No one lived there yet that was brand new. And, and so we were just serving the traffic that would come in and, you know, leasing the building up. And we leased it up in a record time. And in six months, you know, which was, which was crazy.

It was the fat lease up, ever, you know, so I went through that experience. And then we ended up making a move, we made a move down to Georgia, my wife was was homesick. And so we moved down to Augusta. And so I actually left the company and found a job down there, I was essentially hired to come put out some fires on a community that was kind of going under and a lot of drugs a lot of riffraff a lot of things like that. So I I got hired, they had, you know, local police officers that work with me to kind of, you know, get some of this stuff out, you know, and, and so that was a crazy experience, and, you know, going and managing that.

And there was an incident that actually happened, you know, three or four in the morning, there were gunshots, a couple buildings down, we actually live for the agreement, we were living on site, and we had two kids by this point. And, and that was the final straw man it was you know, someone broke in somewhere and shot somebody and the guy got was paralyzed.

And, and so I resigned, you know, and it was tough, I almost ended up, you know, selling Mercedes, like that was, you know, I had the sales thing, right. And so I was looking for work, and that was the, the thing that was I literally went through the training, like went through this training and and I was literally in the last day of training and I remember the guy saying, Hey, you know, if you don’t get the job here would would you have you know, $1,000 to pay if your your car broke down tomorrow or something.

And I remember I was so cocky, I was like, Oh yeah, I would have that. I would have that money and I’m driving back from this, this thing. And it was one of those stops where everybody stops and you just don’t know what to do and you try to swerve and so I swerved and ran into a tree and a fence and luckily no injuries but I had that 1000 bucks I didn’t have it anymore because I had to pay $1,000 for for the car, you know, so I was like yeah, my words on this. And and so I was like maybe that’s a bad omen.

Maybe I shouldn’t be working there. Until I called the company back and I said, Listen, this is, this is what happened, is there any way you can get have a position for me, you know, and they said, don’t worry about it, we’ll find a spot for you here in Atlanta.

So I went back to my old company, they had a spot for me, I was now managing the largest community in the portfolio 558 units, a team of 17. Right. So, whole different experience managing a large group of people and, and during that time, you know, that I was managing that community, things were going well, we were carrying the weight of the market. And then in November of 11, my mom got sick. And, man, that was, that was tough, man, that was a tough time in life.

I, you know, thinking back to that time, you know, I had to fly to Portland a lot, because I was, you know, even though I’m not the oldest, I was the one that was taking care of things. I’m the one that’s, you know, been in the, you know, in the workforce, you know, all all these things. And so I was, it kind of all got put on my shoulders, it was a lot to carry on, and flying back to Portland and back. And so I look back, and I’m like, Man, you know, I got demoted. You know, because my was not performing. Well, I know, I look back, I’m like, why I know why I wasn’t performing well.

Yeah, exactly. But, you know, those things, those things happen, but and I look back, and I’m like, Wow, it was, it was still good. Because I did need relief, I did need less, you know, I needed left to have to focus on because anyone that’s ever had a parent, you know, who’s sick or a relative, it’s, it’s a very trying time, especially with my mom, I was so close to her, we talk twice a day, you know, so not be able to talk to her was like, foreign? You know, it did it was, it was not real. So, so that was that was a tough experience.

And, you know, she passed away, man, I remember feeling like, I hit rock bottom, like I will my life was over, like, what was I gonna do? I don’t have Mom, you know, I remember feeling those emotions. And, you know, a handful of months later, a job opens up for a train Learning and Development Manager. And it’s same company, but in DC, it’s going to bring us back to the DC area. So I apply for it. And I didn’t think I was going to get it, you know, there’s other candidates that were have college degrees, I don’t so more qualified, you know, should probably have the role.

And somehow I ended up getting this, this role. And now I’m known the corporate environment that I’ve been in for the last eight years. And, and, and so I get the opportunity to build training content and facilitate training and teach a six month leadership program that’s predicated on MBTI. And we dive into strengths based leadership and motional, intelligence, change management, conflict resolution, you know, how to manage high performing teams, so I get to take people on a six month journey, and they have coaching sessions with me every single month. And, you know, to hear people say that, that their life has changed at the end of it.

I mean, there’s, there’s nothing better, there’s no better feeling than that be able to have a transformative impact on someone, you know. And so, you know, I get so much out of that. And so, I think, you know, that program really helped me really helped make LinkedIn a little easier, because I was used to doing that in front of an audience speaking and eight hour, eight hour sessions, you know, so I was like, man, why can’t Why am I so afraid to do this one minute clip, but I can sit there and speak for eight hours in front of, you know, 20 people, what’s wrong, what’s happening?

But listen, it’s a different type of speaker, you know, it’s different. So, but but it’s, it’s, you know, we all go through those journeys, man, we all go through, you know, experiences, and I can tell you that, no, Japan, this a teaching is learning twice. And so I feel like, every time I’m teaching, I’m learning again, and that the contents becoming fresh in my mind, you know, and I get to keep carrying that on, but also we get to transfer that information to somebody else that will hopefully transfer it over to somebody else. Right. And so it just keeps you keeps multiplying, multiplying.

Damon Pistulka  49:18

That’s Sure. Yeah. Yeah. That’s, that’s cool. It’s cool to hear, hear it hear your journey and how you came, you know, because because it is it’s about as we talked about, with your mother, excuse me, that that work ethic that and that, you know, just go out and get it done that she you watched her do that’s what you’ve done. Yeah. And that’s so cool.

I mean, it’s so cool to see you do it and then and then to see how it’s evolved to even when you think about when she was when she was ill and that and how in your career wise it’s set you back but it probably grounded you and really opened the opportunity that was there for you for the last Yours. Yeah, you probably wouldn’t even thought about going to that other opportunity had you not had at all the things not happen when you’re when your mother was ill, and he wouldn’t have been in the situation to, to take the the job that you have now?

Jordan Mendoza  50:15

Yeah, yeah, man, everything definitely happens for a reason, right? It’s

Damon Pistulka  50:20

scary, isn’t it?

Jordan Mendoza  50:21

Yeah, you know, it’s so crazy too, because, you know, going, having the show, right is you become a lot more open right with people, you become more vulnerable. And so you start to share your stories and your experiences with people and, and man, that’s been a big unlock as well just kind of, you know, because I’ve had some, you know, pivotal moments in my life when I was younger, and, you know, those experiences went, when I look back and look at what the value of those experiences are, well, they’re only valuable if I share, they’re only valuable if people can hear them and hear what the experiences were like, right.

So I have learned that I need to actually, you know, harming the situation by not sharing it with other people, you know, it’s almost not giving it what it needs to actually have, you know, because people find strength in it. You know, I mean, we’re in a, we’re in a day and age where there’s so much so many bad things that are happening, but this isn’t the first time that these things have occurred, right. These things have been, you know, happening forever.

We’re just in a day and age where the information is accessible a lot quicker. At your, at your fingertips. So. So yeah, man, I’ve found a lot of power in that. But that also, you know, has had a lot of people that reach out, they’re like, Wow, thank you for sharing that. Like, I’ve went through something like this, right? And then that opens up conversation and dialogue, and you end up helping someone or they end up helping you right. So it’s just amazing when, when you actually start to to share more about who you are versus less, you know,

Damon Pistulka  52:05

yeah. Yeah, that is it is I tell you that you said it’s only valuable if you share it in your experiences. And I wrote that down. And I’ll tell you, if I get one thing for the podcast, people see me, I’m sitting here writing like this, you know, why I started journaling this year.

And I thought he would talk to me two years ago and said, hey, you’re going to be journaling, and you’re going to be, you know, you’re going to be visualizing And next, you know, you’re gonna have this morning routine you’re doing, I said, You’re full of shit. But now that I’ve done that, I listened to what you’re saying. And I listened to the things that come out of you, and it resonates so much. You’re exactly right, man, you have to, you have to let that out. Because even the bad that you’ve that you’ve experienced, is valuable to someone else.

52:53

Yep. 100%.

Damon Pistulka  52:55

It just is. And while we got Robert Murray here from from Alaska, man,

53:01

the Navy.

Damon Pistulka  53:03

Yeah, good stuff. Good stuff. But, you know, it’s it’s incredible to get to sit down and talk to you. It really is. I just love I love

Jordan Mendoza  53:12

it, man. I know, we’ve been on some like calls where there’s been multiple people on that. Never a you know, one on one face to face. So yeah, definitely. Then awesome.

Damon Pistulka  53:23

It’s good stuff. Good stuff, man. Well, the next time I’m in Atlanta, after this Job’s over, we’ll definitely definitely get together, man. We’ve got a little bit, a little bit of business to take care of. So what do you think the Seahawks? how they’re going to end up this year?

Jordan Mendoza  53:42

Man, so looking at the rest of our schedule, I don’t see I don’t see too many more losses. So I mean, I definitely you know, I would I would love to, you know, have the buy that would be that’d be ideal. Right? Like, have that that’d be reminiscent of the Super Bowl year, so and in the year after, so that that’d be awesome. But of course playoffs. I mean, that’s, you know, you definitely want to strive for that.

But listen, I mean, the team has just been been executed. I mean, you look at that game. You look at all the the history that was that was made in it between Jamal Adams and his accent. He’s done missing a couple games. And, you know, Russ has just been cooking, right? So you see all these things, and things are starting to come together at the best time.

You’ve got Dunlap coming back. We’ve got Rashad Penny coming back first time this year, you know, so there’s just a lot of pieces that are moving. You know, Tyler Lockett is slowly approaching 1000 yards which is the second guy and between Haydn, Carson and then getting a younger, fresh, fresh legged, Rashad penny. I mean, we’re looking good and our tight end guys are looking good with the exception of of Olson that’s just unfortunate what happened to him but but you Man, you know, I’m always willing to talk Seattle Seahawks football. So yeah,

Damon Pistulka  55:06

yeah, it’s tough man. And I was like to bring that in the end, you know, cuz I was the Oakland Raiders fan which I gotta say, Oakland is doing well.

Jordan Mendoza  55:17

They’ve got it, you know what you don’t their tight ends looking really great. You know, Darren and you know, in cars plan well, you know, rug, you know, I mean, they’ve got some good they’ve got some talent there, you know, and they do have a guy at the helm that has been known to to do some good coaching and john deere in so yeah, they’ve got some good pieces in place. So

Damon Pistulka  55:41

yeah, that’s good stuff. Well, Jordan, thanks so much for getting on today. You know, it’s been a pleasure to talk to you and and and really let you share who you are a bit more and that you know your story, man, it’s it’s awesome. I always inspired by your stuff loveless and your podcast. If people are now good, you know, Blaze your own trail podcast. If you haven’t checked it out, man. Get on listen. You’ll you won’t be disappointed.

Jordan Mendoza  56:09

Yeah, season three is going to be released soon. The first five episodes will be available soon. So I’ll probably post some content on all social media platforms. So thank you so much for having me. Man. This has been great coming on and I’ll have to get you on my show.

Damon Pistulka  56:25

Oh, that’d be awesome. You just tell me when I’ll be there. Alright. Thanks, everyone, for joining us. Thanks again, Jordan. And we’ll be back on Thursday. Thanks there.