How to Move and Live with Passion

Kwanza Jones 00:00
Hey, everyone, it's Kwanza Jones here, and I am SUPERCHARGED today with Jody, but I'm gonna have you introduce yourself, Jody.

Jody Jacobs 00:08
All right, my name is Jody Jacobs.

Kwanza Jones 00:11
So to all of our SUPERCHARGED family out there, Jody is here with us. And he is in our spinning chairs, our SUPERCHARGED spinning chairs, as he will demonstrate for those who are actually viewing it. What that means is we're gonna move, we're gonna twirl, we're gonna circle, we're gonna do a few things, we're gonna try to keep it together.

Jody Jacobs 00:26
Yes

Kwanza Jones 00:27
Because it's just like, sometimes when It gets so excited, it's just like, you start spinning in them, like I gotta hold on just a second, you know, and we go from there. So it's just sort of loosens things up a bit, just in case there are any guests that are a little too stiff.

Jody Jacobs 00:39
Absolutely.

Kwanza Jones 00:39
You cannot help but smile or laugh when your chair is going all around. Okay. I’mma grab that really quickly and go from there.

Jody Jacobs 00:47
Absolutely.

Kwanza Jones 00:48
So let me tell you why I'm so excited about this episode that we are doing. Would you like to know why?

Jody Jacobs 00:55
Why is that?

Kwanza Jones 00:55
Well, it is because the whole concept of this is about passion.

Jody Jacobs 01:00
Yes

Kwanza Jones 01:01
It's passion, passion, passion, and it's about being passionate. And when I met you, I was like, Oh, my gosh, Jody has got to be on this podcast, because he knows something about passion. So I've been doing a lot of different interviews, because you know, it's a growth period for the company right now, which is wonderful. And there are certain times when I'm going through the interview process, where I will ask, well not certain times, I asked it all the time, trying to find out what people were passionate about what moves them, what motivates them, what drives them. I'll have colleagues of mine who are sitting in on some of the interviews, and they're asking their questions too. And I always say, when we are reviewing candidates and trying to decide who we're selecting for various positions, that there's got to be something more than just the money, it cannot be just about the money. And you can never pay people to be passionate.

Jody Jacobs 01:53
Absolutely

Kwanza Jones 01:54
That's it. Because at the end of the day, if you're not passionate about it, no amount of money someone pays you is going to make you passionate about it.

Jody Jacobs 02:00
Absolutely.

Kwanza Jones 02:01
And that is why I am here with you today, because we met just to give all of our listeners and viewers a little bit of background, Jody and I met on the set for a photo shoot that we were doing. Jody was working with the styling team. And I was talking just because I always love knowing what drives you, what motivates you. And it's SUPERCHARGED, because it's about fitness, confidence, community and building those things. I want to build that community, I want to build those partnerships, I want to build those networks. So part of the community building is opening up my mouth and talking to people. And I was talking to you. And when I spoke with you, and you were there assisting with the styling team

Jody Jacobs 02:43
Yes

Kwanza Jones 02:43
I asked the question, so where are you from? And what brought you to LA and then you just laid it on me. So I want you to give our listeners three things about you that show how you have lived and move with passion.

Jody Jacobs 03:02
Three things about me that shows that I have lived and move with passion

Kwanza Jones 03:07
And continue to

Jody Jacobs 03:08
And continue to. I think part of it is because I've learned to take the unconventional path.

Kwanza Jones 03:13
Okay.

Jody Jacobs 03:14
And kind of like I was sharing with you yesterday. I started off in engineering, I have a degree in electrical engineering.

Kwanza Jones 03:19
Cool, Okay.

Jody Jacobs 03:21
And I did that career for about 8, 8-9 years.

Kwanza Jones 03:24
Wow.

Jody Jacobs 03:25
And did really, really well.

Kwanza Jones 03:27
And you were in corporate America.

Jody Jacobs 03:28
I was in the whole corporate America thing. Doing that traveling the world, leading projects I was I was actually a senior engineer when I left.

Kwanza Jones 03:36
Okay, good, see. And we are not talking little small baby companies, large, large organizations

Jody Jacobs 03:42
Large organizations, I don't know if I can say the name. I was working for this company

Kwanza Jones 03:45
Of course you can say it, it's your background experience.

Jody Jacobs 03:47
Yeah, I was working for this company called Three M.

Kwanza Jones 03:49
Which, right. So for those of you who don't know, Three M, have you ever used a Post-it and I'm not talking about the digital Post-it on your computer or laptop or the Mac it says Post-it and you can start doing that? I'm talking about some of those physical Post-it that you see. Yes, that is Three M, amongst lots of other things. I use that example because that's one of the most well known products

Jody Jacobs 04:09
Yeah, that's really what they're known for.

Kwanza Jones 04:11
Yeah

Jody Jacobs 04:11
The division I was working with, was actually their pharmaceutical division.

Kwanza Jones 04:14
I love it.

Jody Jacobs 04:15
And most people don't even know that they even make pharmaceutical products and they even have their hand in that industry, but they do. And so my job was to lead manufacturing projects overseas and here in the United States

Kwanza Jones 04:28
So what were some of the countries there?

Jody Jacobs 04:29
I traveled to London a lot to work. I traveled to Switzerland, a lot for work. And we also had a couple of projects that I worked with our sister company over in Patibie France

Kwanza Jones 04:40
Alright, so yes, you know, you got around.

Jody Jacobs 04:42
Yeah you know, I moved around a bit, but it was a great great opportunity. I did really, really well. And these were multimillion dollar projects that I was leading at the time, but I also knew that there was something missing and

Kwanza Jones 05:00
And that was eight years in you said.

Jody Jacobs 05:01
That was about eight years in and I was like, you know what, I think I want to try something different. I want to be a little less technically focused

Kwanza Jones 05:07
Okay.

Jody Jacobs 05:08
And I was on the path to get an MBA. So I'm signing up for everything and everything together. And then I had a friend

Kwanza Jones 05:16
Taking your G meds already or no?

Jody Jacobs 05:18
I had signed up for everything.

Kwanza Jones 05:20
Okay.

Jody Jacobs 05:21
I was like, right there, like, right there. But one of my mentors and friends was the State Farm agent.

Kwanza Jones 05:28
Okay.

Jody Jacobs 05:29
And he owned a State Farm agent. And then at the time, he was one of the executives for State Farm. And so for years and years, even when I was still in college, when we met, he was like, you should, why don't you become a state farm agent. I'm like, insurance, engineering.

Kwanza Jones 05:43
I don't see the connection, what?

Jody Jacobs 05:45
I don't see. But when I started to share with him, you know, how I wanted to be less technically focus, and you know, perhaps own my own business one day, he said. You should really take this seriously. So I did, I went through the entire interview process, made it through the interview process, which is pretty stringent.

Kwanza Jones 06:01
Right, well, yeah, I've got a friend who's a State Farm agent, and it's no joke

Jody Jacobs 06:05
It's no joke

Kwanza Jones 06:06
People are thinking, oh, you're selling insurance? It's like, No, no, it's not. It is not what you think, it's not just insurance. Right.

Jody Jacobs 06:14
No, it's not insurance, it is literally running a complete operation.

Kwanza Jones 06:19
Exactly.

Jody Jacobs 06:19
A complete operation, like I was, you know, you're the CEO, you're HR, you are an operations manager, every single thing. Got in, got everything set up, got my office set up and I did that for about maybe five years, right at five years.

Kwanza Jones 06:33
Wow.

Jody Jacobs 06:34
And did really, really well, and went through the highs and lows, you know, of owning a business.

Kwanza Jones 06:38
But you are owning a business, right?

Jody Jacobs 06:39
Yeah. And trust me, it was a hustle. Like, I started with zero clients and built a nice sizable book of business.

Kwanza Jones 06:47
I love it.

Jody Jacobs 06:47
And it was, it was a great experience. But then I started to get that feeling, and I was like, ah there is something about this, just, you know, just isn't, just isn't it? So it's like, Okay, well, where, where's this, this path leading me to? And so one of the things that I was doing, I had a lot of friends that will come to me and say, well, Jody, you own a business, help me, help me start a business or help me put a business plan together, a company plan together. And so I would do that. And oftentimes people would, they would stop and start and stop, or I would do all this work. And they wouldn't do anything at all. And I'm doing this for friends. And I'm like, well, I put it, I took out the time to do this for you, and you're not doing anything. And so I started to see that it's something in this person, it's something in you that's keeping you doing what you said you didn't want to do. And that literally sparked something in me. And I literally just started writing and just systematically started kind of putting some things together, is like.

Kwanza Jones 07:40
You drew on your engineering background, system, logic, processes.

Jody Jacobs 07:45
Exactly. That's literally what it was, was like, okay, I gotta break this down. Like, how can I make this teachable? How can I really, like make this plain for people, and it inspired me to start writing a book.

Kwanza Jones 07:58
I love this.

Jody Jacobs 07:59
And then that's basically transitions, transition me to where I am now. Just like I got some points, like, you know what, alright, State Farm. It's been a great one. It's been a great season. But it's time to transition into something else. And I pursue that passion. And now it's time to move into something else.

Kwanza Jones 08:14
So your something else now is you're moving into your book project.

Jody Jacobs 08:17
My book project.

Kwanza Jones 08:18
Which is definitely a passion project for sure. You have to be passionate about it, to go through the process of writing a book.

Jody Jacobs 08:26
Oh, my goodness.

Kwanza Jones 08:27
You know, and all of the information that you want to share, because I'm assuming this is a nonfiction book. This is, is it motivational? Is it inspirational, what is your book about?

Jody Jacobs 08:35
It's motivational, it's inspirational. It's called space and opportunity.

Kwanza Jones 08:39
I love it, I've been waiting for the title.

Jody Jacobs 08:42
Space and opportunity.

Kwanza Jones 08:44
Tell us about this.

Jody Jacobs 08:45
Because I believe in the tagline of the book is there's nothing but space and opportunity between you and your success.

Kwanza Jones 08:48
See? Oh, say that again? Oh, yes, absolutely. One more time.

Jody Jacobs 08:54
There's nothing but space and opportunity between you and your success

Kwanza Jones 08:58
That's it, it's the mindset.

Jody Jacobs 08:58
Absolutely. Absolutely.

Kwanza Jones 09:01
So how did you come up with that title?

Jody Jacobs 09:02
It just came to me. It wasn't anything super methodical, but it was just like, okay, there's a gap between what you say you want to do and what you're really doing.

Kwanza Jones 09:10
Okay

Jody Jacobs 09:11
And I was like, space and opportunity. Boom, there it is.

Kwanza Jones 09:15
That's it, wow. So you've worked with multinational companies?

Jody Jacobs 09:19
Yes

Kwanza Jones 09:19
You've worked with, and State farm obviously, is a large organization too. But it still felt like a small business.

Jody Jacobs 09:26
Yes.

Kwanza Jones 09:25
When you were there, and you were running your operation within State Farm. And now you're taking the next path where you're doing the book, you're going into really changing people's lives, because what you were doing before when you were giving them advice, or helping them write their business plans or doing all of these things, but seeing that they weren't following up on it.

Jody Jacobs 09:45
Yes.

Kwanza Jones 09:48
What made you realize that there needed to be something there to like, flip the switch in them?

Jody Jacobs 09:53
Because I saw that, like there was like a dim light and there was a disconnection between, like, the what you're saying you want to do and what's really going on on the inside?

Kwanza Jones 10:04
Okay.

Jody Jacobs 10:05
I was like, I've got to figure out what that is and how to tap into that. And even for myself is like, Okay, well, what's the disconnection between that and so I would even search between myself with certain things. I was like, there is similarities between, you know, what you say you want to do versus what, what you're not doing or what you are doing.

Kwanza Jones 10:24
Yep

Jody Jacobs 10:25
And it all resolves in what's going on internally. And three pillars in the book that I talked about are faith, work ethic, and self-image.

Kwanza Jones 10:35
Oh, see, all of those things are critically, critically important. And I've had these conversations before with a number of different people, some have been employees, some have been other team members. And I always will ask, it's essentially five questions. What is it you want to do? What is it you like to do? What is it you're good at doing? What is it you are willing to do? Because the willing to do is really the critical key point. People can say, they want to do something. They can know that they're good at something, and you can be good at it, but not really want to do it. You know, you can want to do it, but not really want to do it. Because you're not willing to do what's necessary for you to do it. There are things you like, and you're like, yeah, like this, but I really don't want to, like, pursue this as something that I'm doing all the time.

Jody Jacobs 11:27
Exactly.

Kwanza Jones 11:27
So it's that willingness of where, that's the key where I think it turns on that. So when you talk about these three pillars, and the last part of the pillar, and I think it was self-image that you said.

Jody Jacobs 11:38
Self-image, absolutely.

Kwanza Jones 11:39
Okay, so self-image, to me, is part of that willingness. Are you willing to take a moment to really look inward, and really ask yourself those tough questions and really see for yourself, what is it that you're seeing about yourself? Where's that self-awareness? Because, anyway, go ahead? Because I could go on about this topic, talking about the three pillars.

Jody Jacobs 12:00
But it was good.

Kwanza Jones 12:02
I'm like, talk to me because it's so, I think that's, it's something that people, oftentimes people run away from themselves.

Jody Jacobs 12:09
Yes.

Kwanza Jones 12:10
And they run away from themselves, because they don't run want to really ask those hard questions. And they don't want to really dig deep to find the answers. It's so easy to say, Oh, no, this is I'm just doing this thing. And I'm going into it blindly. And I'm not really answering and asking for myself. Because that takes work to really like whether you're looking in the mirror, and you're asking yourself, or whether you're just sitting and thinking and spending some time asking those questions.

Jody Jacobs 12:39
Yes

Kwanza Jones 12:39
So for you, with self-image as one of your pillars, talk to me about that.

Jody Jacobs 12:44
Alright, so with me with self-image, it really goes into really becoming self-aware. Learning your inner voice that little, that little voice inside of you, like, getting familiar with that, like, is it fear talking, or is it, is it the inspiration that in you, that's talking? And learning the distinction, like between the two of those, because oftentimes we talk ourselves out of opportunities, and moments just because of fear, or because of what somebody else said. So really learning to hear your own voice above fear and above other people's voices.

Kwanza Jones 13:26
Yeah, which can be tough.

Jody Jacobs 13:27
Yeah. Listen.

Kwanza Jones 13:32
Inside, because you're always gonna have lots of noise.

Jody Jacobs 13:33
Yeah

Kwanza Jones 13:34
You know, and it's not even just external noise. It could be internal.

Jody Jacobs 13:38
It is yes, absolutely.

Kwanza Jones 13:38
Whether it's that fear that you're talking about, or whether its other people saying, no, you should be doing this, or this or this, maybe it's your friends, maybe it's your family, you know, you just never know. So how do you? How do you reconcile self-image with passion?

Jody Jacobs 13:54
Alright, self-image with passion. So the first thing it kind of go, it speaks to kind of what you were saying before is like, Oh, this is something I'm willing to do versus something I kind of want to do like love and those sorts of things, sorting that out. The other thing is trying it. Sometimes you just have to try it. Sometimes it's all jumbled up inside your head is just like you won't let me just try it.

Kwanza Jones 14:14
I say SUPERCHARGED is about action.

Jody Jacobs 14:16
Yes

Kwanza Jones 14:17
And that's defying. If you're not taking action, because so many people get caught up in, I've got to read this book before I go do this thing. I have to do more research before I go do this thing. I have to keep talking to other people before I do this thing. Some point you just got to go do the thing.

Jody Jacobs 14:31
You got to go do the thing, jump. Take the leap, jump

Kwanza Jones 14:34
That is it. So when you're saying just try, I resonate so much with the try. And I think part of the fear, the self-image and this is quite frankly, part of the faith too.

Jody Jacobs 14:45
Yes

Kwanza Jones 14:45
Is oftentimes people are afraid to fail. And I don't understand why.

Jody Jacobs 14:50
I do not.

Kwanza Jones 14:51
It's like why are you, why do you expect that you have to be perfect at absolutely everything?

Jody Jacobs 14:55
It's not realistic, number one. It's not realistic and my greatest lessons have learned from me failing. From me bumping my head.

Kwanza Jones 15:03
You gotta say that one more time, everybody, all you listeners and viewers, listen to Jody, he's got something important to say. Your greatest what?

Jody Jacobs 15:10
My greatest lessons have been for me bumping my head or failing. Because you learn you have to learn the lesson from it. It's like, I take it back to you know, when you were younger, and your mother may have told you don't touch the stove. It's hot. The stove is hot. When the fire is on. It's hot. And you hear that you're like, Ah, okay, but then you go and you go. Ah, you touch it like, you learn that lesson. I bet you won't do that again.

Kwanza Jones 15:38
Yeah, yes, it's that energy and that it's like SUPERCHARGED. Everyone talks about the SUPERCHARGED entity, entity, Lord help me Jesus please. SUPERCHARGED energy. And I talk about it not only just as a SUPERCHARGED energy that's there, but it's just the energy in general, when you're really you know, you're connecting, you know you’re focused, you know you're in sync, you know there's a synergy there. And you just know you're helping lift everything. And it's sometimes you hear people say, oh, vibrate higher, yes. All of those things.

So back to some of what you were talking about, which is failing, and failing being one of the most important things you can do as a lesson to learning, what you should be doing or shouldn't be doing and just trying. So at times, I'll essentially call that foundational work, like, what is the foundational work you have to do? So I want to talk to you about your story, what was the foundational work you had to do to become an engineer?

Jody Jacobs 16:36
The foundational work that I had to do to become an engineer, of course, it was to go to school and to learn all of the math and all of the science and get the applications. And you know, you go to labs, and then you have to learn the processes. So that had a lot to do with it, but then that that kind of boils back to just some of the fundamentals, you know, even in like elementary school and grade school, really paying attention to some of those things, learning what you're naturally good at. And then when you're figuring it out, start applying yourself into more things. Okay, well, can I take an additional science class? Or can I get into this type of program, or learning how to maximize. You know, whatever, whatever that flow is, whatever that that that gift that you start to feel.

Kwanza Jones 17:23
So how did you overcome obstacles or challenges? Because the road to becoming an engineer is not an easy road, even if you're naturally gifted at this

Jody Jacobs 17:33
Yes

Kwanza Jones 17:34
Even if you're like, I like science. I like math. I like all of these various other things. I like logic, I like reasoning, all of those things. I was good at all of those things. I decided not to become an engineer, but I love all of that, I absolutely did. But what happens when they're things that you didn't like, but you still had to do the work?

Jody Jacobs 17:53
I'm so glad you asked that question.

Kwanza Jones 17:55
Okay.

Jody Jacobs 17:56
Because it literally took community.

Kwanza Jones 17:58
All right.

Jody Jacobs 17:58
It literally took community. It took

Kwanza Jones 18:01
Do you all hear that, community that the key fitness conference, and what community.

Jody Jacobs 18:06
Community

Kwanza Jones 18:07
Right, so tell me about that.

Jody Jacobs 18:08
From friends, study groups, I mean, you know, I didn't I wasn't acing every single class or every single test or quiz. So it took other people, you know, helping to encourage me, it took study groups, it really took and being open to that, yes.

Kwanza Jones 18:26
You know, and knowing when that it's not a weakness for you to go seek that out.

Jody Jacobs 18:30
It's so okay to seek that out.

Kwanza Jones 18:32
And it's just like, you have to ask, and so many people don't want to ask, and I'm like, you don't want to ask because you're afraid of two letters, N and O, one word, two letters. How is that going to stop you from going out and seeking what you need to know, or seeking the help getting the help that you need? Just like people stop themselves so many times because you're afraid of being told no?

Jody Jacobs 18:54
Right. You have to ask and you can't you can't be afraid of that word.

Kwanza Jones 18:57
Right.

Jody Jacobs 18:58
And it's just like, you know, back in school is just like, okay, you're good at this. I'm not as good at this. Okay, how can we partner with this?

Kwanza Jones 19:05
There, power partnerships, here we go. I mean, it's one of those things. So you talked about challenges and what you would do, especially seeking community, when you needed to get additional strength and resources in different areas.

Jody Jacobs 19:20
Yes.

Kwanza Jones 19:20
That was on your road to becoming an engineer. What about on your road to becoming an entrepreneur and your road specifically in terms of having your own business, which is what you had with State Farm? What were the obstacles? What was the foundational work and and what were the obstacles you encountered? And how did you overcome those?

Jody Jacobs 19:36
Okay, okay. The obstacles, well first and foremost, it was a completely foreign industry. So I mean, I'm in engineering, I'm running projects and managing a lot of things. But then running a small business and then running an insurance agency, that's sales base at the end of the day. It's service based, of course, but it's sales based as well.

Kwanza Jones 19:54
Because we're not making the sales. You are not doing your business for so long.

Jody Jacobs 19:58
The lights will not stay on.

Kwanza Jones 19:59
Right. Exactly, lucky the neighbor State Farm would not be there, you know. Okay.

Jody Jacobs 20:09
Right. But like, a lot of those obstacles was learning that, okay, this is a new space. And to piggyback on what we said earlier is learning to ask for help. So I was, you know, doing like information interviews with current agents. Um, I was doing talks with people just it was me, I was talking with people that had experiences with insurance companies, just to kind of see like, you know, what worked for them, what didn't work, work for them, just so I could better relate to my customers. And then the other challenge is dealing with people. So now I have a staff. So I have a whole staff of people.

Kwanza Jones 20:46
Oh, yes.

Jody Jacobs 20:46
So really learning how to manage that. And manage different personalities. And that was probably one of the hardest things to learn in ramping up a business. So it's just like, alright, you got the keys, let's go. You hired a staff. Let's go. Now, let's, how’re we gonna plug all of this in and make it work.

Kwanza Jones 21:05
Right. And that's interesting, because even when you're talking about, when you have a team, and when you have a staff, and when you're trying to build something and your instance, you were trying to build your State Farm agency. What was the role of passion for your employees? What role did that play at all? In terms of you trying to motivate them or not motivate them. Could you tell a difference when people were passionate, even if they weren't passionate about, oh, selling insurance, but passionate about the work that they were doing whatever it was, what role did that play, if at all?

Jody Jacobs 21:36
Absolutely. So for me, and then really the selling point to one of the biggest selling points for me to own a State Farm agency was actually helping and being there for people. So that's, and that was a legitimate, fundamental thing for me. So anytime I would bring somebody on. It wasn't just sales for me. It's just like, yes, okay, we get it. But I need you to care about people, I need you to be A1 with customer service, period. And then everything else you can figure out and fall into place. But if the customer service isn't there, then we're all in jeopardy.

Kwanza Jones 22:12
Exactly.

Jody Jacobs 22:13
Yeah.

Kwanza Jones 22:13
It's like you have to have a passion for people, you know, at least being able to engage with them. Because you can't fake that.

Jody Jacobs 22:20
At all.

Kwanza Jones 22:21
People can tell and especially when you're trying to sell something to them. You're selling, people don't like to be sold to.

Jody Jacobs 22:28
Nope.

Kwanza Jones 22:27
Although we're sold to every day all the time. It's just like people have to sell themselves when they're in an interview. People have to sell themselves when they're pitching a company to investors or things of that sort. You're writing your book, you've got to sell it to the people who are going to be, not listening to it, you do an audio book. Those who… you have a great voice so you absolutely should. But even selling to those who are going to be reading it. So you have to really care and be passionate and let people know. That’s it. If not, if it's a sale, it's just a sale. It's like, Oh, you just don't have that connection.

Jody Jacobs 23:04
Right. And people feel that and I know I build it cuz I'm like, ahh you’re trying to sell me something.

Kwanza Jones 23:10
Right that's exactly it. So you talked about foundational work you put in to become an engineer, you talked about foundational work you put in and building your own business. And now talk to us about the foundational work you're doing becoming an author.

Jody Jacobs 23:25
Yes

Kwanza Jones 23:26
And transforming and changing people's lives as an author.

Jody Jacobs 23:29
Yes. So the foundational work with transitioning from State Farm to being an author. One of the biggest things is like time management. So now I have all of this time.

Kwanza Jones 23:39
Yep.

Jody Jacobs 23:40
But it's like, how do you manage that time. And how do you maximize? Because you know, when you're writing, you want to be inspired.

Kwanza Jones 23:47
Of course

Jody Jacobs 23:48
You want to be in an inspirational mindset. So it's just like, learning when that is for me, where that can be for me. And then putting pen to paper, basically.

Kwanza Jones 23:58
Yeah. So that's your foundational word.

Jody Jacobs 23:59
Yes

Kwanza Jones 24:00
Managing your time. You all listen to this, manage your time, that's a good foundational piece of advice for everything, whatever work it is you're doing

Jody Jacobs 24:08
Yes

Kwanza Jones 24:08
Putting pen to paper, which is what I hear as action, you got to take a step and make the action to actually do the thing that needs to get done.

Jody Jacobs 24:16
Absolutely.

Kwanza Jones 24:16
Because if you don't do it, it's not going to get done.

Jody Jacobs 24:19
Yes.

Kwanza Jones 24:19
You got to have some forward action where you're always just going and doing it one step at a time.

Jody Jacobs 24:23
Yes

Kwanza Jones 24:25
That's the foundational work.

Jody Jacobs 24:25
Absolutely.

Kwanza Jones 24:27
That's, I absolutely love it.

Jody Jacobs 24:28
It absolutely is. And one other thing would be that I even moreso learned is creating an environment or making sure that I placed myself in an environment that was inspiring, or that breeds inspiration for me since this is… because if I'm not in a good place when I'm putting things together, or the surrounding environment isn't, then what I'm putting pen to paper is it's going to be skewed in a way. And so that was another thing that I actually had to learn.

Kwanza Jones 24:57
Hmm. Okay. You're an author. You're an engineer, but you are not doing it anymore, but you're an engineer, you put in all that work all that energy all that time. So yes, you're still carrying out some of the processes in a sort of different way than before. You are a business owner. So you've learned lots of lessons along the way, you're an author, because the book is almost done, you know, you're writing it, it's there. So look, it's happening.

Jody Jacobs 25:24
Absolutely

Kwanza Jones 25:26
So I met you at a shoot. And you were doing things with the styling team. Talk to everyone about what is it you were willing to do? Because as an author, you're not immediately finished with your book, you're not immediately selling all your books, whether you're doing them as eBooks or physical books, or a combination of both. So what are you willing to do? What are the things foundational work, and what are the things that show people that no matter what, when you're passionate, you still can do it, even if it requires you to do other things?

Jody Jacobs 25:59
Absolutely. Another great question. So yeah, so we met and I was assisting a friend named PJ styling.

Kwanza Jones 26:06
Yes, amazing. PJ, like everyone, it's just when the right people come together, and it's the it's that community.

Jody Jacobs 26:15
Yeah

Kwanza Jones 26:15
You know, anyway, go ahead.

Jody Jacobs 26:17
Absolutely. So yeah, once I left State Farm. I, you know, I had a nice amount that would, you know, take care of me for a little bit of, it's like okay, if this book is the new thing that you want to do, and you're passionate about, and you want to put time into it, to do it, right, you still have to eat, you still have to put gas in the car, you still have to be carnal, like all of those sorts of things. So the thing that I was willing to do is to take, maybe what one may consider based on my background, a non-conventional job

Kwanza Jones 26:41
I love it, even the language you were using. I decided to take a non-conventional job. And so you decided to take that non-conventional job. And we are here because you decided to take that non-conventional job, sitting here doing this I am SUPERCHARGED podcast, because we're so aligned with some of the things that we're doing. And it's just like, oh, my gosh, this story has got to be told, and we've got to have people here, we have to just like spread it as much as possible. Because it was a non-conventional job.

Jody Jacobs 27:14
Yeah.

Kwanza Jones 27:13
Because you were willing to go say, okay, I'm realistic about the fact that I've got to write, I have to do all these things, I still have to pay the bills, you still have the car note, you still have the rent, it's just like life. You still have all of that. But it does not dim your shine towards writing what you need to write. If anything, I think it strengthens it even more, because that's how you're showing, you're walking the walk, not just like saying, okay, I'm ready to get in, and do as I say, not as I do. Like right now. So your non-conventional job was in this instance, assisting on a shoot.

Jody Jacobs 27:48
Assisting a shoot. So somebody that was, we can say a boss, is assisting somebody else in their business

Kwanza Jones 27:54
Right, exactly, you know, but it's, it's community and its partnerships, and it's elevating everything. And it's showing people that you can put the foundational work. And most importantly, it's showing everyone and all of you all who are here listening and who are watching to is showing that you can do it.

Jody Jacobs 28:12
Absolutely.

Kwanza Jones 28:12
And that to me is the core thing that no matter what, here it is, you've worked for a major, major company Three M is not shabby, there is nothing about Three M, like look, please, and to even get the job working there. And to have been there, project management, and being there for eight years. Just like being in LA, which is where we are now, everyone always thinks about entertainment a lot. They think about, we've got entertainment, we've got music, we have media, we have all of these various things. And so some people don't think about the more traditional routes, which is okay, let me go get this job. Or I'm going to do this interview. And let me do something in a non-creative field. You were doing things in the not traditional creative field. You were putting in the time as an engineer working at Three M, you were putting in the time, once again, State Farm, a very well-known company, but you were running your own business there. And now you're going out and you're stepping out and you're showing that you can do it and you can go from passion to passion to passion, and you can be successful doing it.

Jody Jacobs 29:19
Absolutely.

Kwanza Jones 29:19
So what are the words you would leave our listeners and our viewers?

Jody Jacobs 29:25
Just don't be afraid, take the leap of faith. First and foremost, just jump. Take the jump. The other thing that I would say even if your path is is unconventional, that's okay. If it doesn't look like somebody else's path, that's okay. Like engineer to insurance to writing a book, assistant styling like it's unconventional. But I have joy and I'm happy on the inside.

Kwanza Jones 29:52
And it's your path.

Jody Jacobs 29:53
And it's my path.

Kwanza Jones 29:53
It doesn't have to be anybody else's path but your own.

Jody Jacobs 29:56
Exactly.

Kwanza Jones 29:57
I love this. I absolutely

Jody Jacobs 29:59
You learn from every piece the journey.

Kwanza Jones 30:01
And that's worth saying.

Jody Jacobs 30:03
Learn from every piece of the journey

Kwanza Jones 30:06
That's say, I think that's the best place to end it because, one, it is a journey, two, you have to be open to learning and you have to know that you can learn. Because some people, I always say, by the time you think you know, all there is to know, you may as well just go, you know, just lay down and depart us like here, because there's always a way to keep learning.

Jody Jacobs 30:28
Absolutely

Kwanza Jones 30:28
Keep trying and keep growing. It's just, that's, that's life at the end of it, we are, what we learn, we are who we know we are, who we connect with, and it's just a joy. It has been so wonderful to talk to you. So here's what we're gonna do as we leave, because we usually do it SUPERCHARGED we do these things called dance breaks.

Jody Jacobs 30:47
Okay

Kwanza Jones 30:46
So we're gonna do a dance break and why we do this dance break, with SUPERCHARGED, it's about fitness. It's about confidence, and it's about community. And a dance break is a just big way to like jumpstart and shake it all out and have an understanding that it is about action. So somebody hopefully has some song we can dance out to. Hey, okay. So this one is a song, and it's called the Zaza and this way, because what did you say, learn in the journey?

Jody Jacobs 31:14
Yes

Kwanza Jones 31:15
It’s all about learn everything on your journey. So we're learning everything on your journey. You can show me a little dance move, I can show you a little dance, we’ll just do a quick dance break.

Jody Jacobs 31:22
Alright

Kwanza Jones 31:22
Oh oh we are about to get to a chorus. Okay, so listen to this, we're going front to the back. Here we go. So flip it front, flip it front to the back

Jody Jacobs 31:35
Alright.

Kwanza Jones 31:35
Flip it front to the back. Now like go on track.

Oh my god. See the Zaza is a new song that our SUPERCHARGED team has just written and we're just about to release it. So you've just learning some choreo that we haven't even created yet. And I think you just did some things that inspired us. So we just made like, do the Zaza.

Jody Jacobs 32:15
I love it.

Kwanza Jones 32:15
Okay, please tell our listeners where we can find you.

Jody Jacobs 32:19
Yes, they can reach me on social media.

Kwanza Jones 32:21
OK

Jody Jacobs 32:22
Especially on Instagram. I am @IamJodyJacobs and that's Judy with a Y.

Kwanza Jones 32:28
I was going to say, spell it.

Jody Jacobs 32:30
Yep, J O D Y J A C O B S, and then they can also reach me via email at Jody@spaceandopportunity.com.

Kwanza Jones 32:41
Okay, so everyone, SUPERCHARGED all of our SUPERCHARGED society members, all of our listeners, all of our viewers, please reach out to Jody, because space and opportunity between those things is where you are going to find power. And Jody can help you get there. Read his book. Look out for it. It's coming soon. We can't wait for it. So you've got to come to our SUPERCHARGED summit. It's on October 27, Saturday.

Jody Jacobs 33:07
I'm there.

Kwanza Jones 33:08
You're there?

Jody Jacobs 33:08
I'm there

Kwanza Jones 33:09
Here in LA.

Jody Jacobs 33:10
Here in LA.

Kwanza Jones 33:10
Ok, we'll be there, we will see you.

Jody Jacobs 33:12
SUPERCHARGED.

Kwanza Jones 33:12
Oh, SUPERCHARGED indeed. Bye

[00:00] Introducing Jody

[02:08] How I met Jody

[02:55] Three things about Jody that shows how he lives with passion

[08:35] Jody talks about his book project

[10:25] Jody explains the three pillars in his book

[13:48] How do you reconcile self image with passion?

[14:51] Don’t be afraid to fail

[16:28] What was the foundational work you had to do to become an engineer?

[17:49] What happens when there were things you didn’t like but still had to do the work?

[19:25] What were the foundational work you had to do to become an entrepreneur?

[21:16] What was the role of passion for your employees?

[23:21] What are the foundational work you’re doing as an author?

[28:10] You can do it

[30:00] Learn from every piece of the journey