speaker-0: This is a conversation, I feel like I always start off with like, I'm so excited about the conversation, but I really am, because Jeff is in the building today. He's in the combo room, and he is coming with, I feel like there's nothing like a creator in the trenches, and he's coming with all the experience, the knowledge, and what it's like to build not only a following, but a legit business that, and he's got a whole agency, he'll tell you all about it. But before we get into all that, I wanna welcome him and just let him get right into his story about how he decided to become a creator. Jeff, welcome to the Common Room Podcast.
speaker-1: Thank you for having me. Thank you for having me. Glad to be here. ⁓ And yeah, I mean, my name is Jeff. And ⁓ I have, you know, I've dabbled in a few things along my journey to get me to where I'm at right now. But ⁓ currently I'm the founder, I'm the creative director of a creative agency called Altara and basically everything from
speaker-0: You
speaker-1: social media management, content creation, ad campaigns, you name it, you know, we'll make it work, we'll do it. And it's growing, it's growing fairly quickly as well. So like that's a little scary, but. Yes, ⁓ my gosh. Yeah, it's one of those things where ⁓ I've kind of in the last few months decided to, hey, let me jump into this, let me actually get serious, let me.
speaker-0: Yeah
speaker-1: strapping and go hard for this vision and what I wanted to build here. You know, like you mentioned earlier, like building out the YouTube, building out, you know, the personal branding to it and then also like the business side of things and trying to develop a team and make sure that I'm establishing those foundations and the vision to it. Like those are all things that I am. First hand dealing with right now. I'm in the midst of it, but it's been it's been very enlightening. It's been ⁓ I've been able to learn a lot about myself even throughout the last You know few months few weeks few days Like I'm just I'm just continuously, you know growing and
speaker-0: What are you doing?
speaker-1: And yeah man, and yeah, it's been a blessing, I can't lie. It was, and it's still scary, but it was definitely scary at first, jumping into it and making that decision, but ⁓ all in all, it's been a blessing, it's been great, and yeah, pushing forward, man, moving forward.
speaker-0: Okay, so I feel like this is where I wanna start the conversation because a lot of people might have the spark, right? Especially at the beginning of a year or, you know, something, there's a pivotal moment that happens in their life and they're like, okay, I'm gonna start this thing. I'm gonna get serious about it. I'm gonna lock in and I'm going all in. And then life smacks you in the face, right? ⁓ I just wanna figure out how does one get grounded in, okay, this is what I'm doing and this is how I'm gonna do it. Did you have references? Did you have a mentor, somebody in your family? What allowed you to pick up this idea and then actually execute on it and stick with it and know that, hey, this is working or if it's not working, if I keep working it, it's gonna work out.
speaker-1: Yeah. I mean, I feel like it falls for me personally, and this is kind of just the way that I dove into it. But for me personally, I feel like it had to do with several different factors. So one, I've always, for as long as I can remember, I've just been like creatively inclined. I've loved putting things together, bringing ideas to life. at a young age, like years back, you know, if any of my friends and fam come across this or see this, like they'll know ⁓ at one point in time, I was trying to like pursue music and things like that. And ⁓ being that I was trying to do that at a young age, I wasn't, you know, didn't have the funding to back it up, wasn't, you know, what every young person goes through who's trying to chase a dream, I had to. learned those different skills myself. had to, you know, hop on Photoshop and try to create a cover art. had to, you know, set up my phone or a camera and try to do some kind of like video to market the track, this, that, and the third. And, you know, long story short there, like one thing led to another where I was growing those skills. I was building up the, the artillery, you know, for what I was doing creatively and I was able to land different jobs, positions where I was being able to use these skills. so ⁓ really as time went on, it was more of just like a refinement in my life of what the purpose was with me. And that's why, you know, that's why I mentioned it's like several different factors because it was like the The intriguing initial step, the curiosity of like, ⁓ I like this, I wanna pursue this, I wanna try it out. And that was able to build my foundation, give me the skills, give me the knowledge, give me the experience even ⁓ from having to do it myself, working with, you know, along the years, working with other creatives, other businesses to also bring their vision to life and things like that. Building up the experience. And that led me to the refinement, which is something that I still feel like I go through. But ⁓ over the years I've gone from like, okay, using these skills to try to serve myself to now I feel like I love serving other people. know, I've almost like truly found purpose in like using what I've learned, using the resources that I have. ⁓ here at our studio location to be able to build out other people's dreams, other creative dreams, bring, you know, different strategies that could bring growth or, uh, or streamlined, um, market for a business, whatever the case may be. Like, um, I've just, I found love in
speaker-0: more.
speaker-1: rather than trying to do it for myself, helping other businesses shine, other creatives shine, so that they can put their message out. And so I say all this because it truly is a driving factor. Like sometimes, and I've spoken with friends, I've spoken with families, and sometimes we don't think about that too much. you know, life is life and... Bills are bills and you know, responsibilities are responsibilities. Exactly, exactly. So some things just, you gotta do it, they gotta get done because that's the responsibility on your shoulder and that's life. But the other part of that is the purpose that you are fulfilling or finding within doing that task or within starting your own business or ⁓ working on that craft or doing a hobby, whatever the case may be, you know, it's like a higher calling for what you're doing. And that's where I found myself in. You know, I was dabbling with already with different media things, photography, videography. ⁓ You know, even at one point, and this was more recent, but at one point I even had like a clothing brand that I was trying to build up. And all of these things, all of these things that I was trying to like do for myself, I kind of found out in the midst of that process, what I really loved doing was like, I love meeting new people. I love starting conversations with people where they feel motivated and inspired to chase after what it is that they want. And that feeling is what drove me. And so ⁓ in going in the direction of Altara Creative, it was more of like a, you know, we've got to have a foundation and food needs to be put on the table. But ultimately I loved this idea so much because every move that we make is like, helping other people shine and building other people's business and giving them a step forward in a direction that's gonna lead to something sustainable or a better established brand or more visibility for their ⁓ business or their product or their brand. it's kind of like, it's almost in a way like the, message maybe, I think like the message has changed in which I'm trying to deliver these creative efforts and outputs, but the mission is still like there where it's like ultimately I'm sharing a story, I'm sharing my experiences and hopes that it inspires and motivates and helps somebody else. And so, ⁓ yeah, that's kind of like the foundation here for what drove me what put me in this direction and it was a combination of things I was already passionate about, which is one, know, I'm passionate about creating, about helping other people, starting conversations and using those skills, using the knowledge, the experience that I've gained over the years and tailoring that to my advantage. you know, to building something that I was truly proud of that, ⁓ that I'd be able to not only see the vision through, but feel good, you know, feel ⁓ proud, like I said, in fulfilling that vision, something that's sustainable. so, ⁓ yeah, man, yeah, it's kind of, that's what drove me. What I was already doing drove me. It's just that I had to kind of shift the mentality that I had, use the resources that were already in my hands, and just find the purpose within that to do what it is that I'm doing now and what's driving me to continue pushing forward.
speaker-0: I think for somebody listening, they are probably really resonating with the idea, and I know I am, with the idea of purpose, there is purpose, think, anchors and gives you a why that's a little bit deeper than, gotta make this money, or ⁓ I'm trying to use this as something that's gonna help me get to something else. ⁓ Purpose, I think, makes you go the extra mile to make sure that when you hand over that work to the client that you feel like it's got that extra little bit of love. You're like, ⁓ I put my heart and soul into this. You're like, you know what, I'm not gonna send this tonight. I'm gonna wait until tomorrow morning, just put one more eye on it, make sure it's good, and I'm gonna send it off. ⁓ That kind of energy, but for the people that are out here that are like, look, I gotta... ⁓ I got bills to pay. know, like, okay, how in the world am I gonna get clients? And I feel like you have been in the trenches, okay? You've been in the trenches out here and you've been documenting the whole process. love even how you're like thinking out loud and just sharing and processing even down to like when you're meeting with clients and how you're like... ⁓ two is better than one when you're bringing in other people with the work that you're doing. Talk to me about your process to build a book of business, to actually go from, okay, I'm doing the creative work, but I actually have to go out and pursue business. And not just post and say, hey, I got services. ⁓ Come call me and then inevitably when you're early on and you're following people don't call. So what is it that you've done that you feel like, man, this is working in terms of building your actual base of customers, recurring customers and a loyal customer base?
speaker-1: Yeah, mean, you know, almost in a way goes hand in hand with some of the things that I've mentioned, having to shift mentally, ⁓ having to tweak what I'm doing business wise. And really what it came down to is that I kind of honestly like forced, honestly, because it doesn't come naturally to most people. It just doesn't. We're not necessarily like wired this way, but I really had to work on like getting out of my head and getting the vision and what I was doing and what I was offering in front of the people that needed it. Taking action when there's not motion, when something is not moving, when things feel stagnant. That's like, that should be the trigger. That should be the sign to I gotta get the ball rolling myself. Like I have to act, I have to do it now, I have to bring the motion that it is that I'm looking for. And physically, I feel like many, whether it's entrepreneurs, whether it's creatives, like again, like I said, I did music a while ago, so it could be an artist maybe listening to this or someone who's maybe trying to turn their hobby, their craft into something that brings in extra revenue or that pays for their coffee weekly or whatever the case may be.
speaker-0: Minimal there. Can we write some? ⁓
speaker-1: Right. Exactly. Like, come on. there, there almost has to be like a mental switch between which, which I'm speaking personally, like this is where I was and where I'm at now of, wow, I have this great idea. I have this great product. I have this great brand, this great business, whatever the case may be. And going from. why are people not interested? Why are people not seeing this? Why are people not talking about it? going from now, it's like, I know I have the vision. I know I have the idea. I know I have the method. I just got to convince people. And that's like a, that has to be something that comes from me. I got to build through that. It comes through going and speaking with. business owners in my case, know, like I've actively, which I never used to do. And I feel like that's been a huge catalyst for me right now is actively once or twice a week. I'm setting time apart to stop into new businesses, talk with, you know, people who have a brand or are working on something creatively and just build out that relationship. Like, and not on anything salesy. Just make the connection, introduce yourself, ⁓ let them know what you do and that if they ever need help, you are there to help, know, just establishing that connection. And that alone has been huge. I've gone from a point of like, don't, there's no one chatting about it or I feel like people don't care about this to now I'm seeing that people care, but it's because I am taking that initial step. I'm getting the snowball effect. I'm starting the roll rather than trying to wait for somebody else to push that for me. that's huge. Need action behind what it is you're working on, what you're trying to do. It's not enough to just create the vision or the product or whatever the case may be. It's not enough. You've got to also be the one to share your story, why it matters, connect with other people who are also in that same boat, in the same field, on that same level, people who resonate with the story and with your message, and then convince them on why this vision is something that they should be a part of and why it matters, why it's important, and that slowly compounds. It just compounds and it starts again a snowball effect that just keeps on going and keeps on going. So gotta put some action behind, behind the vision. then, ⁓ and then mentally it's, it's a mental game, dude. It's like in, in the short months. I want to say like, maybe I'll October of 2025. So not even that long ago, this is, I want people to like hear this. Not even that long ago, October 2025 is like when I really buckled down and I was like, let's get this moving. Like, let me do something differently. Let me put some motion to this. Let me, let me push this vision forward. And there's been so many ups and downs, dude. It's, it's been like,
speaker-0: Tell me the story. What's an up and down that you've gone through?
speaker-1: Well, for one, for one, ⁓ this past month, for example, January, January was the best month I've ever had.
speaker-0: Yes.
speaker-1: It was, it was amazing from a business perspective. We saw an uptick in growth, huge percentage in growth, ⁓ numbers, you know, we, collected the most contacts in the month of January, people who were either, you know, warm leads or people who had from December, we had kind of placed into our like hot leads and now we're kind of like working through, ⁓ met the most people in January, built a lot of connections, which is important. And then ultimately was the month I made the most revenue with my business. Out of all the different ventures, yeah, that I've tackled throughout the years, like, you know, last month, this past January was, Amazing. So you got the high highs. got the high highs. Now we're in February and I had, you know, I had a client already, you know, I had a client reach out and let me know like, Hey, there, there's stats kind of going into March looking a little shaky. haven't had a lot of business, you know, things like that. And they're kind of already like alluding to the fact like, hey, we might have to put a pause on this. So there's moments like that where you're able to get them, you're able to lock them in, but then it doesn't always work out in the long term. Things might, you might hit snags, might hit obstacles, things like that. ⁓ So got notice on that. One huge, one huge client that we were talking to. in January, ⁓ just like, when was this? Like a few days ago, I think Tuesday or something, got back to us and was like, hey, we're not gonna move forward with this at the moment. ⁓ And so there's moments where like, especially as an entrepreneur owning a business or... trying to turn a vision into reality, there's gonna be moments where like, you feel like you got it, you feel like you see the gold trophy is right there, ⁓ but things come up, obstacles come up, and so there's very high highs and there's very low lows that mentally you gotta be able to push through. gotta, one, you have to have systems and... ⁓ just processes in place that help you navigate it. But two, it really is just a mental game of like, okay, maybe we dropped the ball here or maybe everything was perfect. The offer is perfect. The system is perfect. And it just didn't, it just didn't work out. And you got to be able to push through, pick up and know that there's a greater vision, a greater purpose that has to be fulfilled. Whether or not you hit this little roadblock or this obstacle came through. so, yeah, two very, very important things. Putting action behind what you're doing and what you believe in and then mentally staying strong. Staying strong, being able to, again, believe in what you're doing enough that whether you're hitting an obstacle or whether it's doubt, that's building up, because I mean, I struggle with that every day, especially in these beginning stages, building this out. Doubt creeps up on the daily. And if it was something that I was succumb to, I would not, I wouldn't even be here talking to you. So, you know, it's a lot of opportunities. It's a lot of ⁓ growth that can be hindered when when we listen to doubt and when we just focus on the obstacles and the roadblocks and we think that, all right, can't, you know, can't move forward. Like we got to keep in mind like, hey, you started this and as long as you keep pushing and pushing and working on it, you can see it through. You just got to be able to believe that you can see it through and make it happen.
speaker-0: Yeah, I think the doubt piece cannot be unpacked enough. feel like even because you're 29, right? If I remember. So I remember when I hit 30 and then like now I'm 37 and the journey between 30 and 30 like just
speaker-1: Correct.
speaker-0: thinking of like, I felt like, number one, I felt like you just are always gonna be a student to some degree. If you're a lifelong learner, you're gonna find some way to get back to zero to like learn something from scratch.
speaker-1: Sorry.
speaker-0: I feel like the doubt has always been there. And if I'm really, as you were talking, I was just thinking through like so many different phases of when I was at what I would consider the peaks of my career in different spaces, whether it was like doing music related stuff or whether it was ⁓ like I work in nonprofit as well. And so like when I've found success in moments. The doubt was always there. And so the question is, are you gonna do it despite the doubt? Because no matter what, you're the type of person to where, especially if you're doing something you haven't seen before, ⁓ and you might be the first in your generation to do it, first in your family, or whatever the case might be,
speaker-1: Peace.
speaker-0: So you're always going to second guess and think, I don't know if this is gonna work. by the time you finish him and Han, that's about two hours that you could have used to step forward. But let's help some people out of the rut, mentally. Let's give them some how-tos. I think there's one how-to in terms of you've been really intentional about building relationships and carving out time to meet with potential clients. even, I'm hearing you talking about like even categorizing your leads. Then I think there's another bucket of you actually creating content around what you're doing. So there's the, how is it that you go, but like what's your system, what's your method? And obviously we're all works in progress, know, perfection is overrated anyway. So I'm not asking you to act like, you you got the perfect. set up and scenario, but you clearly have something dialed. Like the quality of your content is stellar. Then you're able to sustain yourself when it comes to your business and you're seeing proof of concept and you're like growing and scaling. And so I think you're at that point now where you can say like, hmm, this is how I go about doing. Like what's your how in terms of building those connections and relationships and then let's give it to how you create space to create content. Because I can only imagine, it might feel like, man, I ain't got enough time in the day, like how do I do this? You know, like what's your how-to?
speaker-1: Yeah, mean, one thing again, that's working really well for me, but what I feel like for many, many people who are just starting out or trying to build something or launch something this year, 2026, what's working really well and the shift that I made from other, you know, resources that I was reading up on or videos that I was watching on YouTube from other people I look up to. The one thing that I kept hearing over and over and over and over again is that your vision and what you're building and even the content that you're creating, it's going to start doing really well the more personal, the more personalized that it is to you and your story and what you're doing. And I took that and I even applied it to what I'm doing through the business. And it's actually what landed my first client, is why I... Not that it's like, ⁓ this crazy method or whatever, but I so strongly believe in just one, being yourself, but also believing in what you're doing and what you're set on so much that you can just... ⁓ you can just appear as you are and be able to fulfill or complete the things that you have on your plate. so for example, I'll share real quick the first client that I ever ⁓ locked in on Retainer and still to now, a few months later, still have them on Retainer, doing very, very well. ⁓ They're finding a lot of social media growth and things like that. when I approached them, I was literally like, all right, I'm going to come in here and I'm going to share who I am and what I do. And should I approach it with, ⁓ we do all of this and we can make this happen and there's this many people on the scene. Like at that point, it was only me. It was only me. And so I'm like, all right, I could... could inflate this on so many levels and just see how it goes. But I was like, you know what, man? Like, let me just go in there, try to connect with this person, be myself, and see where it goes. I met with the owner. I went in. I told him, like, hey, this is, you know, this is who I am. This is what I do. This is what I'm looking to build out. And I've done... this and this and this, I could help your business with this and this and this. And if, if you want to be a part of this, let's, let's make it happen. You'd be the first person. And, and, and they said, yes, like I didn't need a second meeting. didn't need three different meetings. I, they said, yes, like on the spot. were like, wow. Yeah. Let's, let's make this happen. And that whole thing, like.
speaker-0: Yeah
speaker-1: shifted my entire perspective on how to approach this. Sometimes we're trying to be too, like you said, like too perfect. Sometimes we're trying to work out all of the different kinks, make sure that the messaging and that the product and that the this, that, and the third is on point. When in reality, you just gotta use what you have, say what you know. and approach it authentically and it's gonna work out and it's gonna continue building up into what you truly vision, what you're envisioning. So that was the case with me. It's the case with me and I will forever stand on it now because it's brought me so much more growth than all of the years that I spent trying to look perfect. in all, you know, all the years that I spent just standing on the, you know, wow, look at this that I've created and this is so amazing and so perfect, rather than focusing on the, this is all that it took to get here. This is the grunt work. This was the mud that I went through and that's what people resonate with. That's what people connect with because there's so many other people. going through the same thing. There's a lot of people who don't have the shiny object. They haven't fulfilled their dream or their vision yet. They want to know how to get through that. And the best way to show them, to tell them is to show them. So that's that perspective is what I'm aligned with now. It's how I landed my first client. It's how I've continued to land clients. Obviously I don't tell them that they're my first now. But like one of the major things that I still use, even with the clients that I've met with this past week, the potential ones, we just launched this a few months ago, but we're, you know, these are the testimonials so far. This is what we've been able to do. These are the numbers that we've generated. And I can't tell you how much that has worked in our favor. to be able to land new clients or build bigger retainers. Like it's been, it's been such an advantage. It's been such a blessing honestly to use authentically the story that is you and where you are at to be able to build out your vision and your business or even like you're saying your content because that's the other part of this and what you were asking. how to manage it all, how to balance it all. It's so much easier when it's just what you are just genuinely authentically doing, right? And I'm speaking for all of you guys listening, like I'm speaking like even to myself to this day right now. Like I, again, I was the type of person you might even be able to notice and see that within. my previous content on social media. Like if you guys go check it out, YouTube or whatever, I still have old videos posted up, old pictures, old content, old reels. And you can kind of tell like everything was very overly polished and it was only mostly the end product. was, it was what happened. What was the output? It was showcasing the outcome to all of this other stuff that I did. and it didn't really move the needle. What I'm doing now of just take a few seconds, take a minute to literally like, like even now, like even it can happen at any moment at any time, right? Grab your phone, set it up behind you or whatever the case may be or beside you, record your process, record. why you're doing what you're doing, why you believe in it so much, why did you do this step? why, you know, why instead of not putting your glasses this way, you put it that way? The most minimal thing, the most simple thing could be something that really resonates with other people. And so I feel like we don't think enough, we don't... We just don't believe honestly that like our story matters or like our process or our journey matters when truly that is probably what matters the most. It's not only going to be what resonates with the people you're trying to speak to anyways, but that's what's going to create loyal customers. It's what's going to create loyal followers. It's what's going to, it's what's going to convert a simple follower who's just watching content and just maybe likes the visuals or likes what you do to somebody who is invested in your story and why you do what you do enough to support you further than, you know, more than just a like or a comment who, who'd be willing to, ⁓ you have an event going on or ⁓ you're showcasing artwork or ⁓ you just dropped a song or ⁓ you just dropped a product. Let me go listen. Let me go buy. Let me go to that event. me, you know, so all of these things compound and all of these things start from sharing who you are and genuinely what you're doing and the struggles you're going through, the obstacles that you've hit and how you be, how you are able to navigate around that. And And yeah, man, that's just, that's kind of like, it's what's allowed me not only to, like you're saying, keep up with it because it's still crazy. It's a lot of work. It's, you know, a lot of different tasks to fulfill. If you are, if you're the person creating all the content, shooting all the content, editing all of the content, publishing all of the content, it turns into a lot, but you can make it a lot easier for yourself. if it's just already your day-to-day routine, what you're doing, rather than trying to fabricate some, ⁓ let me go and do this crazy setup right here and talk about this, whatever the case it may be, simply to try to sound or look more professional or look better. And then before you know it, you've taken... three hours to set up for a video that you recorded 30 seconds or a minute for or whatever the case may be. And so, you know, we just got it. We've got to and I'm speaking, you know, preaching to myself here. Like we got to find, we got to worry a little less about trying to be perfect and a little more about just being you. And if you want to showcase that. do it without going crazy. You know, it changes and it's different if we're talking about like, now we're at a point and we've built to a point where we have a team and there's people that manage this and there's people that can handle this part of the business or the vision, right? But especially in our starting stages, I feel like we should just be focused on creating great things. showcasing those processes, how you got there, how you're able to do what you do. ultimately, like in a way, is almost, some people might hear this and be like, but I don't want them to, you know, know everything that I know or be able to do everything that I do. But that's not the point. Ultimately, the point is like, try to give value back to other people. try to help other people who may be in those similar situations and may want to do that as well, connect with them in a way that gives them value and helps them do that. And every time you do it, like every time I create a video, every time I film a video, every time I post it out, it only drives me and motivates me a little bit more to, whenever I have the moment, whenever I have the chance, continue to do that because I always get friends, fam, random people messaging me and they're like dude this this helped a lot like I'm gonna I'm gonna take this tip I'm gonna take this advice I'm gonna go apply it and what I'm doing or thank you so much for ⁓ this whatever product or whatever the case may be or this template for like I'm I'd be sending templates out all the time because I use it a lot for my videos my photos things like that I have people ask me all the time and I'm just like Dude, here you go and go be great and make something amazing because I feel like ⁓ something that's really going to continue to motivate you, the creative, the business owner, you know, person chasing after whatever it may be. What's going to be very motivating and very uplifting for you is knowing that what you're doing is helping others improve and grow and be better. and live better lives. Like there's no greater feeling than that. ⁓ so, yeah, yeah, it really just comes down to like, know what you're doing. It's a lot of work. It's still so much work, but as long as you love what you're doing and it's serving a greater purpose, then you're going to find the ways to make it happen. And as long as you're staying true to yourself, being genuine, being authentic, don't try to be like Jimmy or...
speaker-0: Gotta love
speaker-1: or Chloe or Joe, you know, at the other end of the line or on social media or whatever the case may be, like, just be yourself and you're gonna find that a lot of people resonate with that and want to connect and want to grow with you as well. yeah, man.
speaker-0: think we gotta double click a little bit on customer acquisition. You really, I feel like, one, you have a lot of experience it seems, in at least getting the reps in, but I feel like that's the one piece for especially new business owners, where just getting over the fear of rejection, getting over, just letting the start stop you. And I'll share something that I thought about today, I was like, you know what? Me personally, was like, for my agency, was like, I need to be a bit more intentional about doing customer outreach. so I noticed, I'll tell a story, that I was like just cold emailing, like maybe around November, December, like when I just had time off on a PTO from work. And I was like, let me just, you know, just, I heard somebody say, just get to a thousand no's, you know? And so, Then I, instead of just sending cold emails, there were some businesses I was really interested in collaborating with, and I was like, you know what, I'm going to send them a pitch deck of, hey, this is, love what you're doing, would love to work with you. And I even did work for them. It was like, hey, this is work that you posted online. I would love to collaborate with you, and if you worked with me, I would. take you from this to this. And lo and behold, randomly, a couple weeks ago, I heard that from one of the businesses or what happened. So I'm wondering for those people who need to maybe consider lots of just options to just get out of their head, like what's been your experience? Are you like reaching out ahead of time? Like you've talked about like approaching business owners. Are you just like literally just driving down the street, pulling in a a place and just saying, I'm just winging it today. I'm just going like, what's your, you know, how do you prospect? How do you, ⁓ how do you go about getting a list of folks to,
speaker-1: Yeah, so it's been right now currently a bit of a combination between ⁓ some, you know, leads that are coming in from ads, some leads that we're still, you know, meeting and approaching locally. And that's really where it started with me. Like when I, a few months ago, was like, you know what, we're going all in. I went on Google and in even some of them like on Instagram that I had already like known or seen or drove by. I made a list of like a hundred different businesses, I think on my notes. Bunch of businesses. And I literally took like two, three weeks and I went to every single business. Like I went in person. I went with my iPad mini. looking so you know professional and everything. came I had some you know references and my portfolio and things like that let him know what I was what I was offering and again the very first you know the first person that I went to locked in and from there it was just like a ⁓ this this can happen like this we can make this happen and so I just I kept going, I kept going, and it was a lot of nos. I feel like I gotta highlight that regardless of which...
speaker-0: Thanks
speaker-1: ⁓ Avenue you take like regardless of whether it's your you're generating online leads or You have some kind of like funnel or system that's you know Bringing in people who are really interested whether you are reaching out in person locally ⁓ It's gonna be a lot of nos. It's gonna be a lot of even sometimes yeses like I mentioned earlier lot of yeses and then that drops to a no or whatever the case would be. But, um, but I honestly, really think for myself personally, I've had the most success building out the relationships and making a from, you know, for our business personally, like landing big retainers with the ones that I went to personally, opt by the local businesses. It's what makes up maybe 80, 85 % of the clients that I now have signed up. And then a few of those online leads are from like other locations. We have one that's from like Indiana. It's crazy, but like, you know, we, so it works, it generates, but we found a lot better results, lot better connection, ⁓ willing to pay more even when we're approaching them in person, making the connection, establishing the relationship. And then anytime, one of the people that I met with, I had to meet with them like three, four times before it was a yes, and before we were able to make something happen. And that was just me simply stopping by. grabbing a soda or something or it's a pizza shop so like I would go and just get a slice of pizza or get a soda and just be like hey like remember me y'all like yeah how you doing how's it going you know starting conversation hope you're doing well it got to a point where like I even knew like the cook's name I'm like ⁓ like a Steve back there well how's he going you know and you know and and then just like hey if you guys if you guys, they ever need anything, that offer's still on the table, like we can make something happen. And up to the point where it was like, they felt comfortable enough, they felt ⁓ like, it was like, okay, let's try this out. We kinda, we know this guy, you know, he got like three pizzas, it's worth it now. So, ⁓ you know, we sometimes don't think about it enough, but building...
speaker-0: It's
speaker-1: those relationships, starting conversation, making sure that it's genuine too, because the thing is like, obviously, you know, trying to grow the business, would love to land them as a client, but at the end of the day, we got to keep in mind, like if it doesn't lead to that, then at least you made that relationship. At least you know that person. At least you know that business. At least, you know, if you bought a few things or whatever the case may be to try to start the convo, at least you support it. And you never know, two, three, four years down the line even, that could come back. And it could be like, ⁓ like, Jeff from Altara? Dude, I remember he came in and he loves pepperoni pizzas. Like, ⁓ and what? He has an event like, or something like that. He's hosting a, he's host, I don't even know what, he's hosting a conference. Like, reach out, let him know, we'll supply all, we'll cater all of the food. You don't know how it'll come back to you and it'll be an advantage to you. so always be reaching out, always be connecting with people in a very genuine, genuine way, very authentic way. feel like people can tell when it's just very salesy, salesy, ⁓ when you're just trying to gouge them for some, you know, some bread or a package or some money. but again, when you're approaching it with like a Hey, like this is what I do. Would love to help with you guys, but like regardless, I just wanted to start the conversation. ⁓ People will see like, okay, he's not pressuring, he's not doing this. If it leads to that, that's cool. And yeah, and yeah, I think my approach is that way. And it's worked really, really, really well. Even now, like one of the things that I do to build up my leads locally is like, I'll go in to a random shop and I do it all the time. Now at first it was like very scary. So that's the other thing we should mention here. Like would, I would be so nervous in the car in front of the business. I'd just be like, dang, these people are just gonna be like, no, right away or like this. And it's, it's happened a few times. It there's, yeah, there's, there's some stories that I have where like, I've gotten hard nos, I've gotten people like, like, nah, get, like, get out of here, we don't need that. Happens a little bit more with the Hispanics, my own P, it'd be your own.
speaker-0: I'm be your old people!
speaker-1: It'd your own people, But the thing is, again, it's also been the most effective for me. The highest percentage of leads we've been able to lock in. And ⁓ you're gonna feel scared. You're gonna feel nervous. Doubts are gonna creep in. ⁓ I'm gonna step in here, I'm just gonna waste my time. It's not gonna lead to a yes in, you know, anyways and then just drive off. But you never know what you, you know, what you don't try. You won't know if you don't try. So it's just getting in the headspace of like, hey, if you look at it from a perspective of I'm just stepping in here and I just, I wanna make the connection. I just wanna establish it. Don't even. approach it necessarily as you trying to make a sale or you trying to get a client like The the model that I've been following now is I'll stop in somewhere like even if it's just to grab a drink or a snack I'm on the road all the time and so I'm constantly just trying out new Shops grabbing a bite or whatever the case may be a pizza. Just go in and be like hey like ⁓ You know, you're the manager or is the owner around and some most times they'll just be like, ⁓ yeah, like it's he's right here or ⁓ yeah, let me call him. Then at that point, or if he's not around, if it's just a manager, like, Hey, ⁓ my name is Jeff. Like I just wanted to stop him for a bite, but, ⁓ I'm from Altar creative. We're a social media management and you know, content creation agency. and just wanted to say hi, say what's up, drop off my card. If you guys. you know, ever are in need or want to chat, then we can do so. Usually they'll kind of say, ⁓ yeah, awesome. Nice to meet you. ⁓ or, ⁓ yeah, we've been, you know, we don't, we don't do social media too much, but we've been trying to take a look at it. Sometimes it's, yeah, we, we have a person who handles it, things like that. And if I don't hear that they like don't necessarily have anybody handle it from there, I'll just ask like, I'm giving y'all the blueprint right now.
speaker-0: The end.
speaker-1: You know, I'll just, I'll go from there. I'll go like, ⁓ like, you know, is there anybody who's, is there anyone who's managing your social media right now? Or is there anybody who does marketing for you guys? And that, that right there, it'll just continue building out the conversation. Sometimes it's a, now we already have somebody handling it. Other times, most times, actually, most times it's. No, like, no, we don't really have anyone dedicated to that or it's somebody from the family who's like running it and does that or ⁓ there's a guy or a company somewhere that every now and then he'll pull something out, whatever the case may be. So those are moments. And I know this is super niche to me, but like those are moments where you can identify those and then continue to build out that relationship. ⁓ awesome. Like let let jot down my number or let's set up a meeting and talk about that further. Like, I have some ways that might help you. And these not only come across so much better when trying to land these clients or make a sale, but it's so much more genuine. No matter where the conversation leads, if it's a no, and it's like, no worries, no worries. Just wanted to say hi, drop, you know, give you a card. ⁓ Still want a slice of pizza. It's ideal. you know, too many times, especially in my line, it's approached ⁓ on like a very hardcore sales, can't receive a no type deal. Like I don't, I'm gonna be honest, I don't really believe in it. And it's something that I've seen growth and I've seen ⁓ sustainability so far without having to be that type of person. So. If you feel scared, if you feel like you got doubts, if maybe it's something that's hard to do, it doesn't have to be. It could be something very easy if you just approach it naturally, like starting a conversation with a friend and letting it lead to what it leads to. yeah. ⁓
speaker-0: Yeah, I think this by far, I know we were talking initially about how you were documenting your journey, but I think this is so helpful for people to, there's a word that's been coming up in previous episodes where we're talking about going from creators to creatorpreneurs. in order to own something and in order to actually build a business, you have to, at some point, you have to sell, but I think, to your point, it's like sometimes it's like I don't want to be salesy, I don't want to come across as the problem, just like trying to get something from somebody. But I love the relational, first approach you have to building your business and meeting new clients. And I think that is just super helpful for people who will be listening to this to get out of their own way, you know, and just see how is it that I can get my first client? even if I can give you my first client, think this method that you're talking about really, nine times out of 10, if you're passionate about the businesses you want to serve, you might already shop with them. You might already be meeting these owners, and so you can then make it a muscle, almost like muscle memory to just almost connect with the owner of the local businesses that you shop at and that you patronize.
speaker-1: Exactly.
speaker-0: I think that is absolutely golden and it takes zero effort. Well, I say zero. But it takes no additional effort other than when you're standing at the checkout counter to say, is the owner around?
speaker-1: Exactly.
speaker-0: key to unlock literally opportunity everywhere. Before we go.
speaker-1: Right. and no, and, just to, to, to build on that a little bit further, it's like, it doesn't always have to be like that. Like that's the other thing. It's great at the beginning. And I feel like for me, if I were to, you know, try to get other people on the same journey or whatever the case may be, like I would tell them, like, it is a great foundation that you can establish for your business and your model. because not only is it fairly easy to do, like usually most of us, have even family and friends that have a business that you can approach and just chat with them and see where it goes. Or you can stop into where you are, like you're saying, you already shop at locally and just start the conversation. going down this route is going to benefit you even more because those are the people that are going to put... on for you when you're trying to reach other people. right now, currently we're running ad campaigns and in the ads, in the funnels that we're leading those viewers to are the testimonials from the first three clients that I got who are local, like local people that I used to chat with or that I would go to here and there. so start, you know, It's small as some may see it. Like starting small is not a bad thing. Aiming, you know, narrowly is not a bad thing. Start with what you're comfortable with, get it moving, and then grow from there and build on that. ⁓ So yeah, man. Yeah.
speaker-0: So before we go, I want to just look down the road a little bit. And if you could say, five years from now, 10 years from now, you're a young guy, so you can further down the road. But you're like, man, I really want my legacy to be this. And obviously, legacy is like a big thing. But I really feel like it's helpful to know, like, You talked about the passion and the purpose behind what you do. Like, looking down the road, what do you see and hope your legacy is if you've gotten all the success, all the clients, all the things that, if you have money coming out of your ears, clients coming out of your ears, and you can't do another thing, you're like, this is what I want people to say about me when I'm not in room. What is that? ⁓
speaker-1: ⁓ I honestly all in all I'd love for people to say that I was some kind of help or inspiration or motivation in their life for what it is that they're doing what it is that they're chasing after ⁓ it's why I do what I do now it's why I do what I do now and It's what I would love to continue doing being of service to others, providing others with assets, with resources, with information, with knowledge that will help them chase after their dreams and do what they need to do. ⁓ or just motivate them enough to get started alone. Like a lot of the content that I create or that I feel like I build on is just simply starting like just take the idea and take the first step and make something happen. so that, you know, that's how I want to be remembered, man, as the as the guy, the person, ⁓ Jeff, like, man, if it wasn't for Jeff, I would have never started this business. If it wasn't for Jeff, I would have never made these songs that that are now triple platinum or whatever the case may be. And it doesn't even have to be anything crazy like If it wasn't for Jeff, you know, I would have never lost weight. I would have never taken care of myself or I would have never tried this or tried that. I think that that'll be huge. It'll be ⁓ big. It'll be so, so worth it at the end if that's what I'm remembered by. Someone who was just ⁓ not even necessarily a leader, but just a resource of other people's inspo and motivation to pursue who they want to be in life.
speaker-0: Absolutely, Well, just know you're already checking some of those boxes. So inspired by what you're doing. Yeah, thank you. Where can people find you? Where do they need to follow you? I know I follow you on YouTube. That's where I first stumbled on your content. But let everybody know where to find you and how they can keep up with
speaker-1: Yeah, you guys want to keep up with me? I'm everywhere at Jeff Cabreja, think. Yes. Yeah, my handle everywhere personally is at Jeff Cabreja. You guys can check out what we're doing with the agency over at Altara Creative. ⁓ And yeah, some big stuff on the way. mean, right around, right along that line of, again, looking to ultimately help others and... do something different even for my city locally here. We were currently working on a give back project that we want to launch in December, like around Christmas time. ⁓ But we are putting funds aside and we're looking for support from other community, you know, leaders here, businesses that are established to do a huge, huge give back to. ⁓ Ultimately, a lot of the homeless, our homeless population is growing here in Reading. And so ⁓ we'd love to put food packs, give hoodies, clothing out to some of the people out here who are in need, some of the shelters in our community. And so that's like one of one of my biggest goals for this year. Aside from growing the business, I want to be able to use it to to do this get back. haven't necessarily seen anybody do something like that here in Reading. so follow along the journey, y'all. I'm going to be announcing it sometime soon. And so for the rest of the year, it's something that I'll be working on to do here in my community. So y'all want to check that out? Jeff Cabreja.
speaker-0: Jeff, thank you so much for coming to the Combo Room. You're welcome anytime. All right,
speaker-1: Yeah, we'll have to like, you know, year down the line, revisit, see where we're at then.
speaker-0: Yeah, we got to check in after the Christmas thing.
speaker-1: Yeah, that'd be great. That'd be fire. Yeah.
speaker-0: So I'm gonna put it in the calendar, we gonna circle up. man, thank you so much for coming through. I appreciate your yes. Hopefully you have a great one. Talk soon.
speaker-1: You as well Mark. Thank you. Peace.
speaker-1: Thank you for having me. Thank you for having me. Glad to be here. ⁓ And yeah, I mean, my name is Jeff. And ⁓ I have, you know, I've dabbled in a few things along my journey to get me to where I'm at right now. But ⁓ currently I'm the founder, I'm the creative director of a creative agency called Altara and basically everything from
speaker-0: You
speaker-1: social media management, content creation, ad campaigns, you name it, you know, we'll make it work, we'll do it. And it's growing, it's growing fairly quickly as well. So like that's a little scary, but. Yes, ⁓ my gosh. Yeah, it's one of those things where ⁓ I've kind of in the last few months decided to, hey, let me jump into this, let me actually get serious, let me.
speaker-0: Yeah
speaker-1: strapping and go hard for this vision and what I wanted to build here. You know, like you mentioned earlier, like building out the YouTube, building out, you know, the personal branding to it and then also like the business side of things and trying to develop a team and make sure that I'm establishing those foundations and the vision to it. Like those are all things that I am. First hand dealing with right now. I'm in the midst of it, but it's been it's been very enlightening. It's been ⁓ I've been able to learn a lot about myself even throughout the last You know few months few weeks few days Like I'm just I'm just continuously, you know growing and
speaker-0: What are you doing?
speaker-1: And yeah man, and yeah, it's been a blessing, I can't lie. It was, and it's still scary, but it was definitely scary at first, jumping into it and making that decision, but ⁓ all in all, it's been a blessing, it's been great, and yeah, pushing forward, man, moving forward.
speaker-0: Okay, so I feel like this is where I wanna start the conversation because a lot of people might have the spark, right? Especially at the beginning of a year or, you know, something, there's a pivotal moment that happens in their life and they're like, okay, I'm gonna start this thing. I'm gonna get serious about it. I'm gonna lock in and I'm going all in. And then life smacks you in the face, right? ⁓ I just wanna figure out how does one get grounded in, okay, this is what I'm doing and this is how I'm gonna do it. Did you have references? Did you have a mentor, somebody in your family? What allowed you to pick up this idea and then actually execute on it and stick with it and know that, hey, this is working or if it's not working, if I keep working it, it's gonna work out.
speaker-1: Yeah. I mean, I feel like it falls for me personally, and this is kind of just the way that I dove into it. But for me personally, I feel like it had to do with several different factors. So one, I've always, for as long as I can remember, I've just been like creatively inclined. I've loved putting things together, bringing ideas to life. at a young age, like years back, you know, if any of my friends and fam come across this or see this, like they'll know ⁓ at one point in time, I was trying to like pursue music and things like that. And ⁓ being that I was trying to do that at a young age, I wasn't, you know, didn't have the funding to back it up, wasn't, you know, what every young person goes through who's trying to chase a dream, I had to. learned those different skills myself. had to, you know, hop on Photoshop and try to create a cover art. had to, you know, set up my phone or a camera and try to do some kind of like video to market the track, this, that, and the third. And, you know, long story short there, like one thing led to another where I was growing those skills. I was building up the, the artillery, you know, for what I was doing creatively and I was able to land different jobs, positions where I was being able to use these skills. so ⁓ really as time went on, it was more of just like a refinement in my life of what the purpose was with me. And that's why, you know, that's why I mentioned it's like several different factors because it was like the The intriguing initial step, the curiosity of like, ⁓ I like this, I wanna pursue this, I wanna try it out. And that was able to build my foundation, give me the skills, give me the knowledge, give me the experience even ⁓ from having to do it myself, working with, you know, along the years, working with other creatives, other businesses to also bring their vision to life and things like that. Building up the experience. And that led me to the refinement, which is something that I still feel like I go through. But ⁓ over the years I've gone from like, okay, using these skills to try to serve myself to now I feel like I love serving other people. know, I've almost like truly found purpose in like using what I've learned, using the resources that I have. ⁓ here at our studio location to be able to build out other people's dreams, other creative dreams, bring, you know, different strategies that could bring growth or, uh, or streamlined, um, market for a business, whatever the case may be. Like, um, I've just, I found love in
speaker-0: more.
speaker-1: rather than trying to do it for myself, helping other businesses shine, other creatives shine, so that they can put their message out. And so I say all this because it truly is a driving factor. Like sometimes, and I've spoken with friends, I've spoken with families, and sometimes we don't think about that too much. you know, life is life and... Bills are bills and you know, responsibilities are responsibilities. Exactly, exactly. So some things just, you gotta do it, they gotta get done because that's the responsibility on your shoulder and that's life. But the other part of that is the purpose that you are fulfilling or finding within doing that task or within starting your own business or ⁓ working on that craft or doing a hobby, whatever the case may be, you know, it's like a higher calling for what you're doing. And that's where I found myself in. You know, I was dabbling with already with different media things, photography, videography. ⁓ You know, even at one point, and this was more recent, but at one point I even had like a clothing brand that I was trying to build up. And all of these things, all of these things that I was trying to like do for myself, I kind of found out in the midst of that process, what I really loved doing was like, I love meeting new people. I love starting conversations with people where they feel motivated and inspired to chase after what it is that they want. And that feeling is what drove me. And so ⁓ in going in the direction of Altara Creative, it was more of like a, you know, we've got to have a foundation and food needs to be put on the table. But ultimately I loved this idea so much because every move that we make is like, helping other people shine and building other people's business and giving them a step forward in a direction that's gonna lead to something sustainable or a better established brand or more visibility for their ⁓ business or their product or their brand. it's kind of like, it's almost in a way like the, message maybe, I think like the message has changed in which I'm trying to deliver these creative efforts and outputs, but the mission is still like there where it's like ultimately I'm sharing a story, I'm sharing my experiences and hopes that it inspires and motivates and helps somebody else. And so, ⁓ yeah, that's kind of like the foundation here for what drove me what put me in this direction and it was a combination of things I was already passionate about, which is one, know, I'm passionate about creating, about helping other people, starting conversations and using those skills, using the knowledge, the experience that I've gained over the years and tailoring that to my advantage. you know, to building something that I was truly proud of that, ⁓ that I'd be able to not only see the vision through, but feel good, you know, feel ⁓ proud, like I said, in fulfilling that vision, something that's sustainable. so, ⁓ yeah, man, yeah, it's kind of, that's what drove me. What I was already doing drove me. It's just that I had to kind of shift the mentality that I had, use the resources that were already in my hands, and just find the purpose within that to do what it is that I'm doing now and what's driving me to continue pushing forward.
speaker-0: I think for somebody listening, they are probably really resonating with the idea, and I know I am, with the idea of purpose, there is purpose, think, anchors and gives you a why that's a little bit deeper than, gotta make this money, or ⁓ I'm trying to use this as something that's gonna help me get to something else. ⁓ Purpose, I think, makes you go the extra mile to make sure that when you hand over that work to the client that you feel like it's got that extra little bit of love. You're like, ⁓ I put my heart and soul into this. You're like, you know what, I'm not gonna send this tonight. I'm gonna wait until tomorrow morning, just put one more eye on it, make sure it's good, and I'm gonna send it off. ⁓ That kind of energy, but for the people that are out here that are like, look, I gotta... ⁓ I got bills to pay. know, like, okay, how in the world am I gonna get clients? And I feel like you have been in the trenches, okay? You've been in the trenches out here and you've been documenting the whole process. love even how you're like thinking out loud and just sharing and processing even down to like when you're meeting with clients and how you're like... ⁓ two is better than one when you're bringing in other people with the work that you're doing. Talk to me about your process to build a book of business, to actually go from, okay, I'm doing the creative work, but I actually have to go out and pursue business. And not just post and say, hey, I got services. ⁓ Come call me and then inevitably when you're early on and you're following people don't call. So what is it that you've done that you feel like, man, this is working in terms of building your actual base of customers, recurring customers and a loyal customer base?
speaker-1: Yeah, mean, you know, almost in a way goes hand in hand with some of the things that I've mentioned, having to shift mentally, ⁓ having to tweak what I'm doing business wise. And really what it came down to is that I kind of honestly like forced, honestly, because it doesn't come naturally to most people. It just doesn't. We're not necessarily like wired this way, but I really had to work on like getting out of my head and getting the vision and what I was doing and what I was offering in front of the people that needed it. Taking action when there's not motion, when something is not moving, when things feel stagnant. That's like, that should be the trigger. That should be the sign to I gotta get the ball rolling myself. Like I have to act, I have to do it now, I have to bring the motion that it is that I'm looking for. And physically, I feel like many, whether it's entrepreneurs, whether it's creatives, like again, like I said, I did music a while ago, so it could be an artist maybe listening to this or someone who's maybe trying to turn their hobby, their craft into something that brings in extra revenue or that pays for their coffee weekly or whatever the case may be.
speaker-0: Minimal there. Can we write some? ⁓
speaker-1: Right. Exactly. Like, come on. there, there almost has to be like a mental switch between which, which I'm speaking personally, like this is where I was and where I'm at now of, wow, I have this great idea. I have this great product. I have this great brand, this great business, whatever the case may be. And going from. why are people not interested? Why are people not seeing this? Why are people not talking about it? going from now, it's like, I know I have the vision. I know I have the idea. I know I have the method. I just got to convince people. And that's like a, that has to be something that comes from me. I got to build through that. It comes through going and speaking with. business owners in my case, know, like I've actively, which I never used to do. And I feel like that's been a huge catalyst for me right now is actively once or twice a week. I'm setting time apart to stop into new businesses, talk with, you know, people who have a brand or are working on something creatively and just build out that relationship. Like, and not on anything salesy. Just make the connection, introduce yourself, ⁓ let them know what you do and that if they ever need help, you are there to help, know, just establishing that connection. And that alone has been huge. I've gone from a point of like, don't, there's no one chatting about it or I feel like people don't care about this to now I'm seeing that people care, but it's because I am taking that initial step. I'm getting the snowball effect. I'm starting the roll rather than trying to wait for somebody else to push that for me. that's huge. Need action behind what it is you're working on, what you're trying to do. It's not enough to just create the vision or the product or whatever the case may be. It's not enough. You've got to also be the one to share your story, why it matters, connect with other people who are also in that same boat, in the same field, on that same level, people who resonate with the story and with your message, and then convince them on why this vision is something that they should be a part of and why it matters, why it's important, and that slowly compounds. It just compounds and it starts again a snowball effect that just keeps on going and keeps on going. So gotta put some action behind, behind the vision. then, ⁓ and then mentally it's, it's a mental game, dude. It's like in, in the short months. I want to say like, maybe I'll October of 2025. So not even that long ago, this is, I want people to like hear this. Not even that long ago, October 2025 is like when I really buckled down and I was like, let's get this moving. Like, let me do something differently. Let me put some motion to this. Let me, let me push this vision forward. And there's been so many ups and downs, dude. It's, it's been like,
speaker-0: Tell me the story. What's an up and down that you've gone through?
speaker-1: Well, for one, for one, ⁓ this past month, for example, January, January was the best month I've ever had.
speaker-0: Yes.
speaker-1: It was, it was amazing from a business perspective. We saw an uptick in growth, huge percentage in growth, ⁓ numbers, you know, we, collected the most contacts in the month of January, people who were either, you know, warm leads or people who had from December, we had kind of placed into our like hot leads and now we're kind of like working through, ⁓ met the most people in January, built a lot of connections, which is important. And then ultimately was the month I made the most revenue with my business. Out of all the different ventures, yeah, that I've tackled throughout the years, like, you know, last month, this past January was, Amazing. So you got the high highs. got the high highs. Now we're in February and I had, you know, I had a client already, you know, I had a client reach out and let me know like, Hey, there, there's stats kind of going into March looking a little shaky. haven't had a lot of business, you know, things like that. And they're kind of already like alluding to the fact like, hey, we might have to put a pause on this. So there's moments like that where you're able to get them, you're able to lock them in, but then it doesn't always work out in the long term. Things might, you might hit snags, might hit obstacles, things like that. ⁓ So got notice on that. One huge, one huge client that we were talking to. in January, ⁓ just like, when was this? Like a few days ago, I think Tuesday or something, got back to us and was like, hey, we're not gonna move forward with this at the moment. ⁓ And so there's moments where like, especially as an entrepreneur owning a business or... trying to turn a vision into reality, there's gonna be moments where like, you feel like you got it, you feel like you see the gold trophy is right there, ⁓ but things come up, obstacles come up, and so there's very high highs and there's very low lows that mentally you gotta be able to push through. gotta, one, you have to have systems and... ⁓ just processes in place that help you navigate it. But two, it really is just a mental game of like, okay, maybe we dropped the ball here or maybe everything was perfect. The offer is perfect. The system is perfect. And it just didn't, it just didn't work out. And you got to be able to push through, pick up and know that there's a greater vision, a greater purpose that has to be fulfilled. Whether or not you hit this little roadblock or this obstacle came through. so, yeah, two very, very important things. Putting action behind what you're doing and what you believe in and then mentally staying strong. Staying strong, being able to, again, believe in what you're doing enough that whether you're hitting an obstacle or whether it's doubt, that's building up, because I mean, I struggle with that every day, especially in these beginning stages, building this out. Doubt creeps up on the daily. And if it was something that I was succumb to, I would not, I wouldn't even be here talking to you. So, you know, it's a lot of opportunities. It's a lot of ⁓ growth that can be hindered when when we listen to doubt and when we just focus on the obstacles and the roadblocks and we think that, all right, can't, you know, can't move forward. Like we got to keep in mind like, hey, you started this and as long as you keep pushing and pushing and working on it, you can see it through. You just got to be able to believe that you can see it through and make it happen.
speaker-0: Yeah, I think the doubt piece cannot be unpacked enough. feel like even because you're 29, right? If I remember. So I remember when I hit 30 and then like now I'm 37 and the journey between 30 and 30 like just
speaker-1: Correct.
speaker-0: thinking of like, I felt like, number one, I felt like you just are always gonna be a student to some degree. If you're a lifelong learner, you're gonna find some way to get back to zero to like learn something from scratch.
speaker-1: Sorry.
speaker-0: I feel like the doubt has always been there. And if I'm really, as you were talking, I was just thinking through like so many different phases of when I was at what I would consider the peaks of my career in different spaces, whether it was like doing music related stuff or whether it was ⁓ like I work in nonprofit as well. And so like when I've found success in moments. The doubt was always there. And so the question is, are you gonna do it despite the doubt? Because no matter what, you're the type of person to where, especially if you're doing something you haven't seen before, ⁓ and you might be the first in your generation to do it, first in your family, or whatever the case might be,
speaker-1: Peace.
speaker-0: So you're always going to second guess and think, I don't know if this is gonna work. by the time you finish him and Han, that's about two hours that you could have used to step forward. But let's help some people out of the rut, mentally. Let's give them some how-tos. I think there's one how-to in terms of you've been really intentional about building relationships and carving out time to meet with potential clients. even, I'm hearing you talking about like even categorizing your leads. Then I think there's another bucket of you actually creating content around what you're doing. So there's the, how is it that you go, but like what's your system, what's your method? And obviously we're all works in progress, know, perfection is overrated anyway. So I'm not asking you to act like, you you got the perfect. set up and scenario, but you clearly have something dialed. Like the quality of your content is stellar. Then you're able to sustain yourself when it comes to your business and you're seeing proof of concept and you're like growing and scaling. And so I think you're at that point now where you can say like, hmm, this is how I go about doing. Like what's your how in terms of building those connections and relationships and then let's give it to how you create space to create content. Because I can only imagine, it might feel like, man, I ain't got enough time in the day, like how do I do this? You know, like what's your how-to?
speaker-1: Yeah, mean, one thing again, that's working really well for me, but what I feel like for many, many people who are just starting out or trying to build something or launch something this year, 2026, what's working really well and the shift that I made from other, you know, resources that I was reading up on or videos that I was watching on YouTube from other people I look up to. The one thing that I kept hearing over and over and over and over again is that your vision and what you're building and even the content that you're creating, it's going to start doing really well the more personal, the more personalized that it is to you and your story and what you're doing. And I took that and I even applied it to what I'm doing through the business. And it's actually what landed my first client, is why I... Not that it's like, ⁓ this crazy method or whatever, but I so strongly believe in just one, being yourself, but also believing in what you're doing and what you're set on so much that you can just... ⁓ you can just appear as you are and be able to fulfill or complete the things that you have on your plate. so for example, I'll share real quick the first client that I ever ⁓ locked in on Retainer and still to now, a few months later, still have them on Retainer, doing very, very well. ⁓ They're finding a lot of social media growth and things like that. when I approached them, I was literally like, all right, I'm going to come in here and I'm going to share who I am and what I do. And should I approach it with, ⁓ we do all of this and we can make this happen and there's this many people on the scene. Like at that point, it was only me. It was only me. And so I'm like, all right, I could... could inflate this on so many levels and just see how it goes. But I was like, you know what, man? Like, let me just go in there, try to connect with this person, be myself, and see where it goes. I met with the owner. I went in. I told him, like, hey, this is, you know, this is who I am. This is what I do. This is what I'm looking to build out. And I've done... this and this and this, I could help your business with this and this and this. And if, if you want to be a part of this, let's, let's make it happen. You'd be the first person. And, and, and they said, yes, like I didn't need a second meeting. didn't need three different meetings. I, they said, yes, like on the spot. were like, wow. Yeah. Let's, let's make this happen. And that whole thing, like.
speaker-0: Yeah
speaker-1: shifted my entire perspective on how to approach this. Sometimes we're trying to be too, like you said, like too perfect. Sometimes we're trying to work out all of the different kinks, make sure that the messaging and that the product and that the this, that, and the third is on point. When in reality, you just gotta use what you have, say what you know. and approach it authentically and it's gonna work out and it's gonna continue building up into what you truly vision, what you're envisioning. So that was the case with me. It's the case with me and I will forever stand on it now because it's brought me so much more growth than all of the years that I spent trying to look perfect. in all, you know, all the years that I spent just standing on the, you know, wow, look at this that I've created and this is so amazing and so perfect, rather than focusing on the, this is all that it took to get here. This is the grunt work. This was the mud that I went through and that's what people resonate with. That's what people connect with because there's so many other people. going through the same thing. There's a lot of people who don't have the shiny object. They haven't fulfilled their dream or their vision yet. They want to know how to get through that. And the best way to show them, to tell them is to show them. So that's that perspective is what I'm aligned with now. It's how I landed my first client. It's how I've continued to land clients. Obviously I don't tell them that they're my first now. But like one of the major things that I still use, even with the clients that I've met with this past week, the potential ones, we just launched this a few months ago, but we're, you know, these are the testimonials so far. This is what we've been able to do. These are the numbers that we've generated. And I can't tell you how much that has worked in our favor. to be able to land new clients or build bigger retainers. Like it's been, it's been such an advantage. It's been such a blessing honestly to use authentically the story that is you and where you are at to be able to build out your vision and your business or even like you're saying your content because that's the other part of this and what you were asking. how to manage it all, how to balance it all. It's so much easier when it's just what you are just genuinely authentically doing, right? And I'm speaking for all of you guys listening, like I'm speaking like even to myself to this day right now. Like I, again, I was the type of person you might even be able to notice and see that within. my previous content on social media. Like if you guys go check it out, YouTube or whatever, I still have old videos posted up, old pictures, old content, old reels. And you can kind of tell like everything was very overly polished and it was only mostly the end product. was, it was what happened. What was the output? It was showcasing the outcome to all of this other stuff that I did. and it didn't really move the needle. What I'm doing now of just take a few seconds, take a minute to literally like, like even now, like even it can happen at any moment at any time, right? Grab your phone, set it up behind you or whatever the case may be or beside you, record your process, record. why you're doing what you're doing, why you believe in it so much, why did you do this step? why, you know, why instead of not putting your glasses this way, you put it that way? The most minimal thing, the most simple thing could be something that really resonates with other people. And so I feel like we don't think enough, we don't... We just don't believe honestly that like our story matters or like our process or our journey matters when truly that is probably what matters the most. It's not only going to be what resonates with the people you're trying to speak to anyways, but that's what's going to create loyal customers. It's what's going to create loyal followers. It's what's going to, it's what's going to convert a simple follower who's just watching content and just maybe likes the visuals or likes what you do to somebody who is invested in your story and why you do what you do enough to support you further than, you know, more than just a like or a comment who, who'd be willing to, ⁓ you have an event going on or ⁓ you're showcasing artwork or ⁓ you just dropped a song or ⁓ you just dropped a product. Let me go listen. Let me go buy. Let me go to that event. me, you know, so all of these things compound and all of these things start from sharing who you are and genuinely what you're doing and the struggles you're going through, the obstacles that you've hit and how you be, how you are able to navigate around that. And And yeah, man, that's just, that's kind of like, it's what's allowed me not only to, like you're saying, keep up with it because it's still crazy. It's a lot of work. It's, you know, a lot of different tasks to fulfill. If you are, if you're the person creating all the content, shooting all the content, editing all of the content, publishing all of the content, it turns into a lot, but you can make it a lot easier for yourself. if it's just already your day-to-day routine, what you're doing, rather than trying to fabricate some, ⁓ let me go and do this crazy setup right here and talk about this, whatever the case it may be, simply to try to sound or look more professional or look better. And then before you know it, you've taken... three hours to set up for a video that you recorded 30 seconds or a minute for or whatever the case may be. And so, you know, we just got it. We've got to and I'm speaking, you know, preaching to myself here. Like we got to find, we got to worry a little less about trying to be perfect and a little more about just being you. And if you want to showcase that. do it without going crazy. You know, it changes and it's different if we're talking about like, now we're at a point and we've built to a point where we have a team and there's people that manage this and there's people that can handle this part of the business or the vision, right? But especially in our starting stages, I feel like we should just be focused on creating great things. showcasing those processes, how you got there, how you're able to do what you do. ultimately, like in a way, is almost, some people might hear this and be like, but I don't want them to, you know, know everything that I know or be able to do everything that I do. But that's not the point. Ultimately, the point is like, try to give value back to other people. try to help other people who may be in those similar situations and may want to do that as well, connect with them in a way that gives them value and helps them do that. And every time you do it, like every time I create a video, every time I film a video, every time I post it out, it only drives me and motivates me a little bit more to, whenever I have the moment, whenever I have the chance, continue to do that because I always get friends, fam, random people messaging me and they're like dude this this helped a lot like I'm gonna I'm gonna take this tip I'm gonna take this advice I'm gonna go apply it and what I'm doing or thank you so much for ⁓ this whatever product or whatever the case may be or this template for like I'm I'd be sending templates out all the time because I use it a lot for my videos my photos things like that I have people ask me all the time and I'm just like Dude, here you go and go be great and make something amazing because I feel like ⁓ something that's really going to continue to motivate you, the creative, the business owner, you know, person chasing after whatever it may be. What's going to be very motivating and very uplifting for you is knowing that what you're doing is helping others improve and grow and be better. and live better lives. Like there's no greater feeling than that. ⁓ so, yeah, yeah, it really just comes down to like, know what you're doing. It's a lot of work. It's still so much work, but as long as you love what you're doing and it's serving a greater purpose, then you're going to find the ways to make it happen. And as long as you're staying true to yourself, being genuine, being authentic, don't try to be like Jimmy or...
speaker-0: Gotta love
speaker-1: or Chloe or Joe, you know, at the other end of the line or on social media or whatever the case may be, like, just be yourself and you're gonna find that a lot of people resonate with that and want to connect and want to grow with you as well. yeah, man.
speaker-0: think we gotta double click a little bit on customer acquisition. You really, I feel like, one, you have a lot of experience it seems, in at least getting the reps in, but I feel like that's the one piece for especially new business owners, where just getting over the fear of rejection, getting over, just letting the start stop you. And I'll share something that I thought about today, I was like, you know what? Me personally, was like, for my agency, was like, I need to be a bit more intentional about doing customer outreach. so I noticed, I'll tell a story, that I was like just cold emailing, like maybe around November, December, like when I just had time off on a PTO from work. And I was like, let me just, you know, just, I heard somebody say, just get to a thousand no's, you know? And so, Then I, instead of just sending cold emails, there were some businesses I was really interested in collaborating with, and I was like, you know what, I'm going to send them a pitch deck of, hey, this is, love what you're doing, would love to work with you. And I even did work for them. It was like, hey, this is work that you posted online. I would love to collaborate with you, and if you worked with me, I would. take you from this to this. And lo and behold, randomly, a couple weeks ago, I heard that from one of the businesses or what happened. So I'm wondering for those people who need to maybe consider lots of just options to just get out of their head, like what's been your experience? Are you like reaching out ahead of time? Like you've talked about like approaching business owners. Are you just like literally just driving down the street, pulling in a a place and just saying, I'm just winging it today. I'm just going like, what's your, you know, how do you prospect? How do you, ⁓ how do you go about getting a list of folks to,
speaker-1: Yeah, so it's been right now currently a bit of a combination between ⁓ some, you know, leads that are coming in from ads, some leads that we're still, you know, meeting and approaching locally. And that's really where it started with me. Like when I, a few months ago, was like, you know what, we're going all in. I went on Google and in even some of them like on Instagram that I had already like known or seen or drove by. I made a list of like a hundred different businesses, I think on my notes. Bunch of businesses. And I literally took like two, three weeks and I went to every single business. Like I went in person. I went with my iPad mini. looking so you know professional and everything. came I had some you know references and my portfolio and things like that let him know what I was what I was offering and again the very first you know the first person that I went to locked in and from there it was just like a ⁓ this this can happen like this we can make this happen and so I just I kept going, I kept going, and it was a lot of nos. I feel like I gotta highlight that regardless of which...
speaker-0: Thanks
speaker-1: ⁓ Avenue you take like regardless of whether it's your you're generating online leads or You have some kind of like funnel or system that's you know Bringing in people who are really interested whether you are reaching out in person locally ⁓ It's gonna be a lot of nos. It's gonna be a lot of even sometimes yeses like I mentioned earlier lot of yeses and then that drops to a no or whatever the case would be. But, um, but I honestly, really think for myself personally, I've had the most success building out the relationships and making a from, you know, for our business personally, like landing big retainers with the ones that I went to personally, opt by the local businesses. It's what makes up maybe 80, 85 % of the clients that I now have signed up. And then a few of those online leads are from like other locations. We have one that's from like Indiana. It's crazy, but like, you know, we, so it works, it generates, but we found a lot better results, lot better connection, ⁓ willing to pay more even when we're approaching them in person, making the connection, establishing the relationship. And then anytime, one of the people that I met with, I had to meet with them like three, four times before it was a yes, and before we were able to make something happen. And that was just me simply stopping by. grabbing a soda or something or it's a pizza shop so like I would go and just get a slice of pizza or get a soda and just be like hey like remember me y'all like yeah how you doing how's it going you know starting conversation hope you're doing well it got to a point where like I even knew like the cook's name I'm like ⁓ like a Steve back there well how's he going you know and you know and and then just like hey if you guys if you guys, they ever need anything, that offer's still on the table, like we can make something happen. And up to the point where it was like, they felt comfortable enough, they felt ⁓ like, it was like, okay, let's try this out. We kinda, we know this guy, you know, he got like three pizzas, it's worth it now. So, ⁓ you know, we sometimes don't think about it enough, but building...
speaker-0: It's
speaker-1: those relationships, starting conversation, making sure that it's genuine too, because the thing is like, obviously, you know, trying to grow the business, would love to land them as a client, but at the end of the day, we got to keep in mind, like if it doesn't lead to that, then at least you made that relationship. At least you know that person. At least you know that business. At least, you know, if you bought a few things or whatever the case may be to try to start the convo, at least you support it. And you never know, two, three, four years down the line even, that could come back. And it could be like, ⁓ like, Jeff from Altara? Dude, I remember he came in and he loves pepperoni pizzas. Like, ⁓ and what? He has an event like, or something like that. He's hosting a, he's host, I don't even know what, he's hosting a conference. Like, reach out, let him know, we'll supply all, we'll cater all of the food. You don't know how it'll come back to you and it'll be an advantage to you. so always be reaching out, always be connecting with people in a very genuine, genuine way, very authentic way. feel like people can tell when it's just very salesy, salesy, ⁓ when you're just trying to gouge them for some, you know, some bread or a package or some money. but again, when you're approaching it with like a Hey, like this is what I do. Would love to help with you guys, but like regardless, I just wanted to start the conversation. ⁓ People will see like, okay, he's not pressuring, he's not doing this. If it leads to that, that's cool. And yeah, and yeah, I think my approach is that way. And it's worked really, really, really well. Even now, like one of the things that I do to build up my leads locally is like, I'll go in to a random shop and I do it all the time. Now at first it was like very scary. So that's the other thing we should mention here. Like would, I would be so nervous in the car in front of the business. I'd just be like, dang, these people are just gonna be like, no, right away or like this. And it's, it's happened a few times. It there's, yeah, there's, there's some stories that I have where like, I've gotten hard nos, I've gotten people like, like, nah, get, like, get out of here, we don't need that. Happens a little bit more with the Hispanics, my own P, it'd be your own.
speaker-0: I'm be your old people!
speaker-1: It'd your own people, But the thing is, again, it's also been the most effective for me. The highest percentage of leads we've been able to lock in. And ⁓ you're gonna feel scared. You're gonna feel nervous. Doubts are gonna creep in. ⁓ I'm gonna step in here, I'm just gonna waste my time. It's not gonna lead to a yes in, you know, anyways and then just drive off. But you never know what you, you know, what you don't try. You won't know if you don't try. So it's just getting in the headspace of like, hey, if you look at it from a perspective of I'm just stepping in here and I just, I wanna make the connection. I just wanna establish it. Don't even. approach it necessarily as you trying to make a sale or you trying to get a client like The the model that I've been following now is I'll stop in somewhere like even if it's just to grab a drink or a snack I'm on the road all the time and so I'm constantly just trying out new Shops grabbing a bite or whatever the case may be a pizza. Just go in and be like hey like ⁓ You know, you're the manager or is the owner around and some most times they'll just be like, ⁓ yeah, like it's he's right here or ⁓ yeah, let me call him. Then at that point, or if he's not around, if it's just a manager, like, Hey, ⁓ my name is Jeff. Like I just wanted to stop him for a bite, but, ⁓ I'm from Altar creative. We're a social media management and you know, content creation agency. and just wanted to say hi, say what's up, drop off my card. If you guys. you know, ever are in need or want to chat, then we can do so. Usually they'll kind of say, ⁓ yeah, awesome. Nice to meet you. ⁓ or, ⁓ yeah, we've been, you know, we don't, we don't do social media too much, but we've been trying to take a look at it. Sometimes it's, yeah, we, we have a person who handles it, things like that. And if I don't hear that they like don't necessarily have anybody handle it from there, I'll just ask like, I'm giving y'all the blueprint right now.
speaker-0: The end.
speaker-1: You know, I'll just, I'll go from there. I'll go like, ⁓ like, you know, is there anybody who's, is there anyone who's managing your social media right now? Or is there anybody who does marketing for you guys? And that, that right there, it'll just continue building out the conversation. Sometimes it's a, now we already have somebody handling it. Other times, most times, actually, most times it's. No, like, no, we don't really have anyone dedicated to that or it's somebody from the family who's like running it and does that or ⁓ there's a guy or a company somewhere that every now and then he'll pull something out, whatever the case may be. So those are moments. And I know this is super niche to me, but like those are moments where you can identify those and then continue to build out that relationship. ⁓ awesome. Like let let jot down my number or let's set up a meeting and talk about that further. Like, I have some ways that might help you. And these not only come across so much better when trying to land these clients or make a sale, but it's so much more genuine. No matter where the conversation leads, if it's a no, and it's like, no worries, no worries. Just wanted to say hi, drop, you know, give you a card. ⁓ Still want a slice of pizza. It's ideal. you know, too many times, especially in my line, it's approached ⁓ on like a very hardcore sales, can't receive a no type deal. Like I don't, I'm gonna be honest, I don't really believe in it. And it's something that I've seen growth and I've seen ⁓ sustainability so far without having to be that type of person. So. If you feel scared, if you feel like you got doubts, if maybe it's something that's hard to do, it doesn't have to be. It could be something very easy if you just approach it naturally, like starting a conversation with a friend and letting it lead to what it leads to. yeah. ⁓
speaker-0: Yeah, I think this by far, I know we were talking initially about how you were documenting your journey, but I think this is so helpful for people to, there's a word that's been coming up in previous episodes where we're talking about going from creators to creatorpreneurs. in order to own something and in order to actually build a business, you have to, at some point, you have to sell, but I think, to your point, it's like sometimes it's like I don't want to be salesy, I don't want to come across as the problem, just like trying to get something from somebody. But I love the relational, first approach you have to building your business and meeting new clients. And I think that is just super helpful for people who will be listening to this to get out of their own way, you know, and just see how is it that I can get my first client? even if I can give you my first client, think this method that you're talking about really, nine times out of 10, if you're passionate about the businesses you want to serve, you might already shop with them. You might already be meeting these owners, and so you can then make it a muscle, almost like muscle memory to just almost connect with the owner of the local businesses that you shop at and that you patronize.
speaker-1: Exactly.
speaker-0: I think that is absolutely golden and it takes zero effort. Well, I say zero. But it takes no additional effort other than when you're standing at the checkout counter to say, is the owner around?
speaker-1: Exactly.
speaker-0: key to unlock literally opportunity everywhere. Before we go.
speaker-1: Right. and no, and, just to, to, to build on that a little bit further, it's like, it doesn't always have to be like that. Like that's the other thing. It's great at the beginning. And I feel like for me, if I were to, you know, try to get other people on the same journey or whatever the case may be, like I would tell them, like, it is a great foundation that you can establish for your business and your model. because not only is it fairly easy to do, like usually most of us, have even family and friends that have a business that you can approach and just chat with them and see where it goes. Or you can stop into where you are, like you're saying, you already shop at locally and just start the conversation. going down this route is going to benefit you even more because those are the people that are going to put... on for you when you're trying to reach other people. right now, currently we're running ad campaigns and in the ads, in the funnels that we're leading those viewers to are the testimonials from the first three clients that I got who are local, like local people that I used to chat with or that I would go to here and there. so start, you know, It's small as some may see it. Like starting small is not a bad thing. Aiming, you know, narrowly is not a bad thing. Start with what you're comfortable with, get it moving, and then grow from there and build on that. ⁓ So yeah, man. Yeah.
speaker-0: So before we go, I want to just look down the road a little bit. And if you could say, five years from now, 10 years from now, you're a young guy, so you can further down the road. But you're like, man, I really want my legacy to be this. And obviously, legacy is like a big thing. But I really feel like it's helpful to know, like, You talked about the passion and the purpose behind what you do. Like, looking down the road, what do you see and hope your legacy is if you've gotten all the success, all the clients, all the things that, if you have money coming out of your ears, clients coming out of your ears, and you can't do another thing, you're like, this is what I want people to say about me when I'm not in room. What is that? ⁓
speaker-1: ⁓ I honestly all in all I'd love for people to say that I was some kind of help or inspiration or motivation in their life for what it is that they're doing what it is that they're chasing after ⁓ it's why I do what I do now it's why I do what I do now and It's what I would love to continue doing being of service to others, providing others with assets, with resources, with information, with knowledge that will help them chase after their dreams and do what they need to do. ⁓ or just motivate them enough to get started alone. Like a lot of the content that I create or that I feel like I build on is just simply starting like just take the idea and take the first step and make something happen. so that, you know, that's how I want to be remembered, man, as the as the guy, the person, ⁓ Jeff, like, man, if it wasn't for Jeff, I would have never started this business. If it wasn't for Jeff, I would have never made these songs that that are now triple platinum or whatever the case may be. And it doesn't even have to be anything crazy like If it wasn't for Jeff, you know, I would have never lost weight. I would have never taken care of myself or I would have never tried this or tried that. I think that that'll be huge. It'll be ⁓ big. It'll be so, so worth it at the end if that's what I'm remembered by. Someone who was just ⁓ not even necessarily a leader, but just a resource of other people's inspo and motivation to pursue who they want to be in life.
speaker-0: Absolutely, Well, just know you're already checking some of those boxes. So inspired by what you're doing. Yeah, thank you. Where can people find you? Where do they need to follow you? I know I follow you on YouTube. That's where I first stumbled on your content. But let everybody know where to find you and how they can keep up with
speaker-1: Yeah, you guys want to keep up with me? I'm everywhere at Jeff Cabreja, think. Yes. Yeah, my handle everywhere personally is at Jeff Cabreja. You guys can check out what we're doing with the agency over at Altara Creative. ⁓ And yeah, some big stuff on the way. mean, right around, right along that line of, again, looking to ultimately help others and... do something different even for my city locally here. We were currently working on a give back project that we want to launch in December, like around Christmas time. ⁓ But we are putting funds aside and we're looking for support from other community, you know, leaders here, businesses that are established to do a huge, huge give back to. ⁓ Ultimately, a lot of the homeless, our homeless population is growing here in Reading. And so ⁓ we'd love to put food packs, give hoodies, clothing out to some of the people out here who are in need, some of the shelters in our community. And so that's like one of one of my biggest goals for this year. Aside from growing the business, I want to be able to use it to to do this get back. haven't necessarily seen anybody do something like that here in Reading. so follow along the journey, y'all. I'm going to be announcing it sometime soon. And so for the rest of the year, it's something that I'll be working on to do here in my community. So y'all want to check that out? Jeff Cabreja.
speaker-0: Jeff, thank you so much for coming to the Combo Room. You're welcome anytime. All right,
speaker-1: Yeah, we'll have to like, you know, year down the line, revisit, see where we're at then.
speaker-0: Yeah, we got to check in after the Christmas thing.
speaker-1: Yeah, that'd be great. That'd be fire. Yeah.
speaker-0: So I'm gonna put it in the calendar, we gonna circle up. man, thank you so much for coming through. I appreciate your yes. Hopefully you have a great one. Talk soon.
speaker-1: You as well Mark. Thank you. Peace.
