Birthday Reflection: Lessons From Year 27

I turned 28 this past weekend.

Yesterday I spent some time reflecting on how far I've come as a creator.

At 22 I had no idea what being an influencer really meant at the time — but still wanted to be one.

*Facepalm*

I studied people like Lewis Howes (who I now work for), Sophia Amoruso, and Gary Vaynerchuk. I had so many questions. How do you build a strong personal brand? How do you make money online? How do you grow faster on social media? How do you stand out?

A lot of those questions went unanswered even after months of asking and researching.

It was hard to find the answers online if you didn't know where to look. It still is.

And here's the main issue that I've found — it's hard to find the right answer because there are so many RIGHT answers and so many different ways to go about growing as a creator.

That's why I wanted to dedicate this newsletter to some of my key learnings over the years. Not necessarily around how to grow or monetize, but important lessons that I've learned along the way.

Check Your Ego

As you build influence, it's hard not to develop an inflated ego. People will frequently tell you how great you are, how much they love your stuff, and what you mean to them. And (probably after months/years of no support) it will feel nice when people start to appreciate you. Real nice.

Remember that you're no better than anyone else just because you have more followers. Or just because you are a good creator or a smart (fill in the blank). I feel weird saying this but it's something that I went through. You think you're not paying attention to it or that it's not going to your head, but it's so hard if you don't have a solid foundation. Surround yourself with a strong support system. People that are going to keep you in check. And continuously do the work on yourself.

Community is #1

I've built my entire career on this — but it's something that I've done a terrible job with as of late. I've been on a hiatus for almost two years. A year of rediscovery and healing after my brother passed and closing down my company. And now I've been working with Team Greatness for almost a year. I haven't created as much as I used to and most importantly I haven't invested in my community like I used to. Part is that because I want to pivot quite a bit, but nonetheless this will be the most important thing for me moving forward (just like it has been in the past).

You have to really care.

This is something that I think is overall lacking in the influencer and creator space. Especially for those that sell products. If it's just about the money it won't last long term. You have to care about the people you're creating for. Otherwise, you will lose touch with them. And that will result in a loss of two of your resources: influence/relationships & potentially wealth (I touch on these in the next point).

If you want real influence, you need one of these

If you want real influence you need at least one (but you become more influential as you gain others). Influence (relationships + trust), Money, Resources. You have to build up at least one. The thing is that you don't want to just rely on one of those. If sh*t hits the fan and you now have no capital... do you have relationships to lean on? Do you have other resources to lean on? I don't remember what book I read about this in (maybe Strategy of War but don't quote me on that). But it's true. The more diverse the better.

I started with relationships. Because I was a broke first-time entrepreneur buying my groceries with change. I didn't have any other resources or come from a wealthy family or anything like that. If you are starting out with money, you can invest in a team, ads, etc. and grow a lot faster than someone that doesn't. If you already have powerful relationships you can propel yourself forward quickly as well. If you have resources (camera, audio equipment, design skills, etc) you can grow faster than someone that doesn't.

Take inventory of what you have and focus on whichever makes sense for you. And remember depending on what you invest in, that will change how you are able to show up

"Whatever you're doing right now, you're getting better at."

Do more of the things that you want to get better at.

What's your ideal lifestyle?

I've found that the lifestyle is typically what people really want. So what does that ideal lifestyle look like for you? What's important to me is that I can pick up and do whatever I want and not have money be a barrier. To be able to travel & have fun. To be able to stare at the wall and just think and not be pressured to work. To be able to create on my time and give back to the world. That's my life. The WHAT and the work should support your lifestyle.

Mental & Physical Health

No job, business, or piece of content is worth your mental or physical health. Period.

Scale What Works

Once you find something that works, milk it. Scale it. Use it as a launching point to test other things but prioritize the thing that works. Something that I consider a mistake, was my desire to move away from LinkedIn (even though it was — and probably still is my most successful platform). It's made me the most money, brought in the most opportunities, etc. than any other platform. If I could go back I would have poured everything I had into LinkedIn at least for a few more years than I did. My focus is back here now (as well as a few other platforms of course).

Watch the Numbers

Track & Test. This is my favorite part of content creation. It's like a game.

What if we tried this?

What if we put this hook in the video?

What if we removed this?

The more you track, the stronger your tests can be.

Surround Yourself with Smart People

Learn from those smarter than you. I have a consultant that I work with at Greatness. I've learned more from him and his team than I could have for years on my own. It's also just been helpful for me to see my strengths through the eyes of someone else. I've had, and still have, many people like that in my life. Without those people, I don't know where I would be in my life as a human or creator.

Aha Moments

Your journey is going to be filled with so many aha moments. Don't worry too much about having it all figured out from the start. Dots will connect for you in ways you never thought possible. You'll look back and be inspired by the fact that a younger, less experienced, you... was able to do the things that you've gone on to do. Just keep taking steps and moving forward.

The more you create, the more you'll develop your own beliefs. I just want to reiterate that these are mine. This newsletter is my blueprint — it doesn't have to be yours — find what works for you and feel free to take from me where it makes sense for you. Thank you for reading! :)

About Me — Quentin Michael Allums

I spent the majority of 2016-2020 building companies, growing personal brands, hosting events, and helping brands tell powerful stories through video. Early 2021 I accepted a position with Greatness Media (School of Greatness, Lewis Howes, Etc.) leading the marketing team & that’s what I’m doing now! I'm also the host of the Stupid Deep podcast, a narrative show that explores the power of stories and how they shape us.

I was also one of the first video creators to use LinkedIn. Collectively my videos, thoughts, podcasts, and writing have been viewed over 10 million times across platforms. I spend most of my time (outside of my day job) speaking, creating, running experiments, learning about everything video games/esports, and petting way too many dogs.

That's me. And this is the 'Dear Strange People' newsletter. Smash the subscribe button if you want to keep up with this journey. I appreciate you!

Mad Love,

Quentin-Michael