What If Being Yourself Is The Strongest Brand You’ll Ever Build (Episode 354)

What If Being Yourself Is The Strongest Brand You’ll Ever Build (Episode 354)

We turn a video failure into a clearer message about resilience, authenticity, and why one honest story can outweigh perfect production. Nicole Bobek’s new memoir anchors a talk on recovery, personal brand, and the real-world impact that analytics often miss.

• gratitude for global listeners and growing reach
• what breaks behind the scenes and how we adapt
• highlighting Nicole Bobek’s book and life story
• addiction, domestic violence and recovery themes
• choosing authenticity over polished branding
• recognition without endorsements and why it matters
• measuring impact beyond analytics and follower counts
• trying new things to avoid regret and build courage
• focusing on helping one person at a time
• closing thanks and clear next steps

You can smash that subscribe button, like, follow, share, thumbs up. All those things are free to do, and it helps us get closer and closer to helping those 3 billion people and more over the course of my lifetime and beyond.

Chapter Markers

0:00 Gratitude And Global Reach

3:20 Life’s Weight And Perspective

5:10 How The Show Actually Gets Made

6:50 The Episode 353 Video Failure

8:20 Why Highlight Nicole Bobek’s Book

10:45 Reading The Book Description

13:30 Authenticity Over Advertising

16:30 Being Recognized And Staying Grounded

20:00 Impact Beyond Analytics

23:30 One Listener At A Time

26:00 Courage To Try And Avoid Regret

28:30 Thanks, Next Steps, And CTA

#BeYourself #PersonalBranding #AuthenticityMatters #SelfDiscovery #BuildYourBrand #StrengthInAuthenticity #UniqueIdentity #EmpowermentJourney  #BrandWithPurpose #LiveYourTruth #MindsetShift #InfluenceAuthentically #TrueToYou #SelfExpression #justiceforsurvivors #justice4survivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #Jesusaire #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #VoicesForVoices354

Chapters

• 0:00 Gratitude And Global Reach
• 3:20 Life’s Weight And Perspective
• 5:10 How The Show Actually Gets Made
• 6:50 The Episode 353 Video Failure
• 8:20 Why Highlight Nicole Bobek’s Book
• 10:45 Reading The Book Description
• 13:30 Authenticity Over Advertising
• 16:30 Being Recognized And Staying Grounded
• 20:00 Impact Beyond Analytics
• 23:30 One Listener At A Time
• 26:00 Courage To Try And Avoid Regret
• 28:30 Thanks, Next Steps, And CTA

Transcript

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 0:02

Hey everyone, it's Justin here, Voices for Voices. Thank you for joining us. If this is your first episode, or if you've been with us from the beginning, we uh are grateful to be with you wherever you may be, in the United States or across the world. Uh, we are just getting such great feedback and uh just incredible uh traffic, web traffic in the good way to uh all of our shows, episodes, uh watching, listening uh from all parts of the world. And it's really humbling uh to think that uh what we're doing is is having as big of an impact as uh we want to from the from the beginning. We we start out and you know we want to uh want to help people, we want to change the world, we want to uh be a light, we want to inspire, we want to share our experience, experiences. So hopefully you don't have to, or if you or somebody you know is or comes across uh an event or an experience, uh, like one of our uh over now 353 episodes that uh we we can maybe shed some light, uh have you laugh at uh me trying to sing some of these uh some of these songs, uh, you know, whether it's Justin Bieber or Imagine Dragons, uh and it's all in the name of uh wanting to inspire you and the people you know and love to uh give it a shot, whatever that is. You know, we we live once, uh, we're here on Earth for a very short time, as we we know. Uh we don't have to be told again, but I guess I just did that. So uh thank you for being with us. We love doing this, we love you, we'd love the support. Uh it's it's just it means so much uh to look at analytics in uh in the public forum that we're able to get. While we know there's a lot of analytics on the background on private servers, governments, uh that uh that that's happening, and that that that's okay. Uh we don't we don't care how you're listening, how you're watching. Uh if you are um ahead of uh the the country uh or a city or a state or a province or a mayor or state uh or uh uh country senator or representative. Uh we're here for everybody. And and so uh we we hope that we're able to bring some some enjoyment, some laughter, a lot of seriousness, because life isn't easy. We know it's not easy. We know that uh, well, I'll just talk about my myself here. So uh you know, growing up, you know, we think everything's I want to say like easy, uh, but the repercussions we we just go about life and we're just I guess uh I for me uh because I can't speak for others, you know we're trying to have fun, we're trying to meet new friends, uh and we'll just leave leave it there, but uh the repercussions uh don't seem to be as heavy and as much as when we grow up and we're we're adults. Um for me, uh when when we get to the point, when I got to a point where people started passing away and dying uh near near and close to me, like dad, as we know, um who's watching us from heaven, uh past uh last March 1st, uh uh gone way too long, got long gone way too soon. Uh it really puts things in perspective of what are we here for? And and and so we've had discussions and and talked about that. Uh but what I want to do a little bit on this episode is uh so when you look at the voices for voices, social media, it you know, it looks to be polished, uh or maybe that's my term. Um it takes a lot of work uh to to get things to where they are now. And when we're filming episodes, no matter where we're at, uh, you know, there's a process. So what you see in here is the final product. Uh what you don't see in here is once we we conclude a show, an episode or episodes, if we're doing you know a two-part series or what have you, um, is you know, the converting of files from one file type to another, and having that second file be the one that actually goes up and we we upload to uh for us, uh we use Buzz Sprout as our audio aggregating site, uh, and then YouTube and Rumble from the video uh video side of things, video TV uh side of things. And uh what happened with an episode actually is just the previous episode, uh now thinking about it, episode 353 with Nicole Bobek. Oh my gosh, such a powerful uh down-to-earth, transparent uh episode that we were able to film with with her. And uh, you know, you might be thinking, well, well, what's he talking about with you know these these files? Well, we ran into technical difficulties. So we we filmed the show as we always do. Uh want to have them both ways. We want to have you know the TV side and the video side as well as the audio side. And for whatever reason, and it could be user error, which is me, uh, or zoom or somewhere in between, the uh the video file did not come through, did not convert in the way that we were used to. And so I worked all uh literally half of a day because we fit we filmed around the the the noon lunch hour, Eastern time. And so we're trying to get that episode out because it's very important. Uh Nicole has a great book called The The Wild One, which we uh firmly uh support. Uh we want you to go out, want you to buy it. It's on Amazon, uh on on the paperback side and the Kindle side. Barnes the Noble uh has that in the uh the hardback. And uh Nicole mentioned that uh because of uh the uh the outreach and uh of the interest um as a top-selling book, uh that fans uh and and readers and and uh that would uh be interested in an audio version of that. Uh so that's become uh TBD to be determined. Uh and so what I wanted to do and why I wanted to do this episode uh was to share uh first off a video, um, because what would you what we did was we we uploaded uh so the audio is just as it was and as it always is. So there's nothing different with that. It is the video uh where it's so you have the video screen, but you're only hearing uh the uh uh the uh it the audio uh version you're not you're not seeing, which is a shame because it uh uh it was something that I wasn't used to. And I tried all kinds of things, tried different different programs and spent a few dollars on some programs that they say, oh, this can convert anything, and um well, everything except what what I needed to be converted. Um, and so what do we do? We just go with the flow. And so we have the audio uh portion of our our show with with Nicole uh that is out there, episode 353. Um, and and so I wanted to uh just do some highlighting of the the the show on video uh because there's uh you know so much interest in uh what what what what she has going on in in her life, the uh you know the ups and the downs as we know, they they really um say they really happen, but it they really do, they really happen. And and so the to uh to just give credence so you can actually see what we were what we were showing uh on on the screen yesterday um is is one of the the the reason why. So uh I'm going to be pulling up here momentarily um what had pulled up yesterday, so we can get uh get this on video. Uh so we're gonna do that, and then we're gonna go to Barnes and Noble, and we're going to go down here. Uh because we I feel I feel terrible about you know the fact that we weren't able to to make this uh make this happen from the video side. It uh I know we're not perfect, I'm not perfect, nobody's perfect. Uh, but what it what we were trying to do was definitely highlight somebody who has ups and downs, like we all do. Uh we're lying to each other, uh to ourselves if we say, oh no, I'm perfect. Well, none of us are perfect. Um, so we'll just we'll just uh you know go there. Uh and so what I'm gonna do is uh work on sharing the screen to to go ahead and all righty. So what we have here, hopefully you're you're you're able to see. Uh so we'll actually here, let's go here. There we go. So if if you uh have ever heard of Amazon.com, uh I'm I'm kind of saying that facetiously, uh more than likely we have. And and so the um episode 353 with Nicole Bobek, uh figure skater, uh just uh um just a great person who sh is sharing and has shared her story uh a ton. And so I'm gonna switch how I'm sitting here um as we kind of shift here. Uh and so what yeah, what you're seeing uh is the Amazon.com of uh Nicole Bobek's book called The Wild One. And and so hopefully you're if you're able to if you're able to be viewing, here's the cover. Um if you're listening, yeah, you would you you would have heard what we're talking about here today, because it's uh it's uh just a uh uh a summary summarization. Um and this is uh mostly for uh those uh that we we weren't able to reach on episode 353 on on the TV and video uh program side of things. And so uh Amazon.com, uh the title is Bobek, so that's my call last name. The wild one, and so there is uh there is the Kindle edition, and then there's the paperback edition. And I'm gonna do just like did yesterday, uh, is uh first say uh 21 reviews, 4.8 uh stars. That's awesome. That's that's that's amazing uh to to to be there. Uh the number one new release in ice skating and figure skating. And uh like yesterday, I'm I'm I'm going to, especially now that we have uh fingers crossed, you know, the video comes through after we finish the show. Uh, but I'm gonna read uh I'm gonna encapsulate and quote uh the description for uh for Nicole's book, and then we'll transition over into uh the uh the the second tab, which is the uh the Barnes and Noble uh print edition that uh can be purchased in the hardback. So here we go. There we're we're quoting uh the description for Nicole Bobeck's book, The Wild One. The quote, she was the wild child of figure skating. Graceful, rebellious, unforgettable. This is her story in her own words. Nicole Bobek didn't did not just skate, she soared, spiraled, and crashed in ways the world can never look away from. With a ponytail flying and a wink to the judges, she captivated audiences in the 1990s, redefining what it meant to be a figure skater. But behind a sequence and spotlight was a girl fighting battles far from the ice. Battles with identity, expectations, addiction, and the crushing pressure to be perfect in a sport that demands nothing less. Told in her unmistakable voice, honest, raw, defiant, and deeply human, Bo Beck, the wild one, is more than a memoir. It's a reckoning from the cold early mornings at the rink in the dark to the dark nights of her public downfall. Nicole takes us on a journey through the highs of Olympic dreams and the lows of criminal charges and courtroom headlines. She doesn't flinch from the truth, she owns it. This is the untold story of a skater who refused to be anyone but herself and paid the price. But it's also a story of resilience, grace, and unshakable love for the ice. Nicole Bobek's comeback isn't just about skating, it's about survival and finally peace. So just came out earlier this month. Uh, we recommend that you go purchase it uh on Kindle or Paperback, or we uh also recommend uh if uh if you uh if you like the the hardback version of the books to head on over to Barnes and Noble and you can grab yourself the hardback version. So we we highly uh recommend that this uh this book. Uh we talked about so I'm gonna go back to this stop share for the time being. Okay, there we are. And so we wanted to wanted to show that because I wasn't able to be shown on our uh the the TV and video uh program yesterday. So uh we're happy to be able to to to do that because um you know if you're spending time with us and uh you know busy days and just a lot of things to do, we we very much appreciate everybody, all of our guests' time, but especially uh Nicole's uh and and then to have the the snafu with uh the the video and TV file. Uh just feel awful about that. Uh so the book, it's amazing. Uh we we recommend that. And and you may also have uh if you did uh listen, uh we're gonna have a little bit of uh a little bit of duplication, but it's uh because we're we want to try to bring this all together. And if if you uh have social media, maybe you do, maybe you don't, I don't know. Uh some people do. Maybe do. Uh Nick Nicole has a pretty uh pretty active Instagram account. And then there were a couple of different posts, uh, social media posts on Instagram, on Nicole's uh account that really caught um really caught my attention as uh was uh preparing for our our show. Um and and so I'm gonna uh talk about those uh just to just to reiterate you know where we're we're at. And so the first one is uh actually just a couple weeks ago it was posted. Uh and this is on Nicole's uh, or actually this is on her threads account. So it may also be on her threads and uh Instagram. Uh I wouldn't I was checking uh the different the different uh social media platforms just to see if there was uh anything that we we may be able to talk about. But regardless, on on uh on Nicole's uh threads account, uh she says in quote, we all have some skeletons in our closet. If you want to know some of mine, be sure and get the book. Um not only is she a figure skater or is she an Olympian, uh, she's a mom, single mom, uh uh going through recovery, you know, as uh as I am, as uh a lot of people that uh a lot of guests we have, and and that's hard. And so I'm making you know the addiction awareness, and then uh fortunately, you know, uh in Nicole's case, there was some domestic violence. So uh domestic violence is never never accepted, no matter who's doing what. It just it's just not uh and then the let's see here. Here we go. Okay, so this was the other uh one, and I don't know, yeah, because I have the the background how we have it. Uh uh and one of the reasons why we we wanted to at least give it a shot and try to reach out to Nicole about coming on the show was you know, we're obviously the organization voices for voices. Uh we know how raw and unfiltered I am and and our guests are uh when they come on the show. And and so when I saw this particular post that I'll just get ready to read, uh it really just literally clicked as far as uh how authentic we can be just as individuals and just being our own selves, that we we don't always have to be uh you know here advertising or selling a brand, like a shirt or um uh or a uh a type of uh a type of phone, uh uh a type of soda, uh water, what have you, that we can just be ourselves and be our authentic selves. And so this is also that was pulled from uh Nicole's uh threads uh post. And uh she says in quote, in 1995 and still today, I'm the only figure skater who got a two-page spread in the Vogue magazine, and no, not advertising for a company or a clothing line, uh, strictly for being who I am and was. And then obviously we don't uh want to want to support Nicole and and uh her movement of coming and talking about some uh you know as we we we talk about on our our show, it's just being who we are, that we don't have to be representing a brand and yeah, those things are nice, getting those endorsements are nice. Uh we can't can't lie about that. Uh but when we're recognized for just being ourselves, like that that post uh that Nicole made about the Vogue uh two-page spread uh as the the only figure skater that got a two that got and had it and or had a uh past present so far, uh a two-page spread in the Vogue magazine where it's not where she wasn't repping a brand, she was repping her own self and her own personal brand, which is just her being herself, and that really resonated and resonates with me because we talk about personal brand and how important that is, regardless, you know, if we're a championship athlete or uh ultra successful actor, actress, or uh CEO, or whatever you want to want to call it, that uh being recognized for just who we are is I think one of the best things to to happen to an individual. Uh so that's why you don't see me uh in us. Uh you know, we've we've done some while we're traveling. Sometimes we'll do uh a uh a promo on uh I think I did one on MMs and uh Beef Jerky and when was uh was traveling uh a few months back. And and those weren't paid, those were just I I just thought it'd be neat to do that. Um but other than those, we really have voices for voices. The we're repping the brand of voices for voices, but we all have a voice, and and so we're really just repping ourselves. I'm just repping myself right now. No logos on on this this this shirt. Yeah, you might see in the background, the background, you know, voices for voices, and then you know, the two two uh kind of pamphlet books that I put together, one on my mental health journey and one on kind of uh you know getting uh getting a career started, uh applying to jobs, resume building, etc. Um, but we don't do a whole lot of brand repping on on our shows because I want to stay true to who and what voices for voices is, not only for the shows, but for out in the public, because more and more uh I'm being recognized. Uh not that people are you know running up to me in the in the paparazzi stuff happens uh when when we're out kind of in uh let's say La La Land LA and in that where uh there's actual you know uh a following and people are able to find out your your you know your travel plans and then they're there with cameras and asking questions and and that uh but more and more um and I'm not just saying this just to say it, but more and more I'm being recognized uh out in public uh because of the different stands that we have and are taking as an organization and as an individual. And it makes me feel good that it's it's about literally just being a human being and talking about human being stories and things we've gone through, things our guests have gone through, things our country, our world has gone through. Uh, we talk about spirituality, uh religion. You don't have to you don't have to have a religion or uh that's just something that we talk about. And and so if you have a higher power or higher authority that you kind of think about at certain times, um you know we we realize everybody's different, everybody has their thing and their things, and so we're just bringing it from our our perspective, and so uh that's that's kind of where that is. But but yeah, being recognized and known, it's it's it's I don't say it's crazy, but it is it's kind of crazy because go from just being like this you know average person uh and and now um being recognized, you know, at at church and um grocery stores from time to time. Uh my my my family, my mom's being you know uh caught up with uh at church and different things of uh people are tuning in, and I guess that's the thing, the biggest thing, and one of the hardest things is when it looks like nobody's watching, when it looks like nobody's listening, not that we want every single person, because it's not the never gonna happen that every single person is gonna love us. We know that. Um, some are gonna like us, but I'm gonna shift positions again, so you're gonna see a little bit of movements. Apologize for that. Uh trying to get more comfortable. There we go. Uh and so it it's it's nice to just be a human being and talk about human being things and stories. And yes, uh, there's a lot that we talk about that's deep and it's uh hard to talk about, hard to fathom. But I look back and think, well, what am I doing here on earth? And I've talked about this before, and I'll continue to talk about I'm not here to just punch keys on a keyboard, I'm not here to just do uh, I don't know, kind of in the box type of work. I'm here to help change the world. I'm here to help people. Uh it's not about the money, because trust me, Brian, uh there's not a whole lot of money in what we're doing right now. And And so that's the part that I'm happy about is you know, I growing up, and you know, there'd be this saying that we would I would hear in college and other places that you know do something that if you weren't getting paid, you would still do. And let me tell you, this is this is it for me. It's voices for voices. It's being my authentic selves. Have good days, have bad days, have good experiences, have not so good experiences. Uh and so the fact that there's notoriety and and and uh people are starting to recognize and hear and how they're hearing, how they're listening, how they're watching. Uh again, because of you know privacy settings we have on our phones and our devices and our computers and our laptops, netbooks, I whatever, whatever uh device that we do use, a smart TV, uh to watch and listen. We do know that there's you know, not everybody has Spectrum or you know, uh YouTube TV or or Hulu, you know, some uh or ATT. Uh that some people live in certain areas of the country and the world where they they need to they don't have access to to that type of internet connection. So they have to use what's called you know private servers or private routers. Uh and I think Starlink uh with Elon Musk may be one of them too, uh where the analytics uh between you know the privacy settings on our devices and depending on where people are at. Uh for for example, there's areas of the state of Oregon that if you want internet, if you want C V and that you have to do it yourself. You have to you know get it get it your own private server. Um and so we know our analytics aren't picking up a lot. Um and our public servers aren't picking up a a lot. There's with the private servers, there's a lot of analytics that we're not, yeah, we're not getting. And so yeah, it's it's crazy because one would think that, oh well, you don't have millions of followers and watch listeners or viewers. Like, yeah, that's what the analytics look like on the outside. Uh and then there's certain events, certain things that I've viewed and heard, and and that myself, and that uh that really show otherwise, that show that there are a lot of numbers out there that we're not seeing. And that's completely okay with me because I want to remain the same now as I as I will in the future. And again, we don't know when our last day on earth is gonna be. So for me, being able to talk to you, to whether you're watching or listening, whether you've tuned in for one or two seconds of any of our shows, uh, or or you've been with us from the beginning, just the mere fact that we are so in the in the public domain and the public analytics that we have, we are over 85 countries that we've reached. And yeah, some might be VPNs too, uh, but not everybody has a VPN. And so not not only you know hitting that you know, 90 countries across the world, uh, but over 150 cities across the world. So when you boil that down, and we talk about uh we talk about this, and I'll talk about it again. That uh one of my favorite bands growing up, and still to this day, is uh the their music's changed a little bit a little bit, obviously as as we get older and you know our tastes change. Um, but the old school third eye blind uh album has a song uh on the their debut album called Jumper, you know, saying, you know, in the in the song of, you know, wish you'd step back from that ledge, my friend. Um, and that's what we're we're trying to do, is if we can inspire, if we can even just get one person, and I know we have, um, but that's how I'm taking this day by day, show by show, and everything we do is as long as I can connect and we can connect with one person, maybe it's today that helps them, maybe it's tomorrow, maybe it's a week, a month, a year, or maybe it's somebody that they know that they're able to say, Hey, look, look at this show. Uh, this guy here, he's trying to sing, you know, one of Justin Bieber song, uh, or Imagine Dragon song. Um, and it makes them laugh and chuckle. That that doesn't that doesn't offend me. It's about life and just being ourselves. And you know what? I just did it, I do it, and I do it again. And so there'll be other kind of bonus episodes and where we do that, and that's probably one of the funnest things I I get to do is those, uh, because I know how it makes me feel, even though I know I'm not a singer and not an artist, and you know, this hugely successful at all. Um and I don't think I'll ever will be, but just when I do it, it just makes me feel good. It's like, okay, that's something new that I did, and so I just feel good. I'm like, yeah, well, I tried it. And so it kind of comes back to that at the end of the day, you know, we're we're gonna be able to maybe think about like, oh, I regret this, I regret not doing this, or not trying this, or that, or the other. And and so I don't want to look back and have as few things as possible uh to say that oh well, I wish I would have done that, or I wish I would have done this. And so I'm really trying to do those things, not just for that, but for now, for people like you that are watching and listening. I just can't get over the huge responsibility that I have and we have at Voices for Voices, that because we're reaching so many people that we we know we're reaching, and we know there's a lot of people that we're we're reaching that we don't know about, uh it's just it's just an honor and a privilege to be able to do this. And so we again we want to thank you for watching. Thank you for listening. Head back to episode 353. Uh if if uh you know the audio is the the the way uh that that you uh you know consume your content, uh you know, consume your your podcast, or check out this episode 354 about Nicole Bobek, about her story, her experiences, her book, the fact that she was she wanted to put put the uh you'll put these uh ultra personal experiences uh out there. And and so that that's one of the reasons we wanted to to do this, to pay our respects. Um she's healthy, so I don't mean pay our respects to giving her the uh the the TV and video show that she deserves that uh we weren't able to get her on episode 353. So uh we're we're just so grateful and humbled that we had the opportunity to talk and listen and see and speak and uh and and and just connect with another human being. And so that's really all we're trying to do. So from Nicole uh to myself, Justin on Hayes here at Voices for Voices, we want to thank you for joining, you're watching, listening. You can smash that subscribe button, like, follow, share, thumbs up. All those things are free to do, and it helps us get closer and closer to helping those 3 billion people and more over the course of my lifetime and beyond. So thank you for letting us come into your lives for however long or however short amount of time that is. So, until next time, let's celebrate all of our voices and let's please be a voice for you or somebody in need. Bye bye for now.