Episode Transcript

Michael Abernathy 0:00
Hey what’s up everybody? Welcome back to the am five minute rant. I’m your host, Michael Abernathy. And I’ve got a special guest here. Co Founder of Yes! Coffee. Jonathan Brandon.

Jonathan Brandon 0:23
What’s up, everyone?

Michael Abernathy 0:24
Welcome, bro. Welcome. How are you, man?

Jonathan Brandon 0:27
I Just stub my toe.

Michael Abernathy 0:28
Oh, sorry, You good?

Jonathan Brandon 0:31
Ya, I’m good.

Michael Abernathy 0:32
Cool. Well, let’s start jumping into this. I’ve got a question for you.

Jonathan Brandon 0:36
All right.

Michael Abernathy 0:38
You’re a co founder and a startup leader. And I want to know, in your opinion, what is the most important mindset to have?

Jonathan Brandon 0:46
I would, I would say it is to never quit. Keep moving forward.

Michael Abernathy 0:52
Why would you say it’s to never quit?

Jonathan Brandon 0:55
Because if you quit, you will die.

Michael Abernathy 0:59
Personally? In business?

Jonathan Brandon 1:01
In business and in life in general, if you Just give up and stop moving forward, even if you’re stagnant, you’re dead.

Michael Abernathy 1:09
Yeah, I agree with that. I think that stagnation is death.

Jonathan Brandon 1:14
Yeah.

Michael Abernathy 1:15
So the only time you actually stopped moving physically as a person is either when you’re in the process of dying or actually dying.

Jonathan Brandon 1:21
That’s good. Yeah, that’s true. That’s really true.

Michael Abernathy 1:24
Can you give us an example as you’ve been working with? Yes. And going through Yes. About how not quitting is really important and how it’s paying off for you?

Jonathan Brandon 1:32
Yeah. For instance, I’ve I have reached out to this local sparkling water company. I don’t know probably. I don’t know how many times but they have not received they have not responded to me once. So I’ve moved on. I’ve moved on to Topo Chico, they responded in like 15, 20 minutes, so I responded back. And they still haven’t responded back to me. It’s been a couple days, but I’m gonna I’m gonna give him some time. I’m gonna respond back. I’m not gonna let that discourage me. I’m gonna move forward. And I’m looking at you know, Perrier and Lacroix and in other in other like sparkling water companies to clean our palates.

Michael Abernathy 2:12
That makes sense. I well, well, that probably different episode, I want to know what you mean by clean your palate. But so it’s just like not quitting is really helping you move through the rejection in them saying “no?”

Jonathan Brandon 2:25
Yeah, I mean, it’s like in sales. I mean, you’re going to, you’re going to be told no more times than you’re, you’re going to be told yes.

Michael Abernathy 2:31
Yeah, that’s very true. Very true. What about in other aspects of the business or company? Where does not quitting come in?

Jonathan Brandon 2:39
Well, I mean, we can’t. So for instance, we cannot quit filming because we are a coffee social media company. So we cannot… If we stop if we quit filming, we will not have content. So we cannot produce anything. We can’t give anything to, you know, our viewers and, that would, and that would be another example of us dying. And we Just stopped producing.

Michael Abernathy 3:00
That’s interesting. Like the whole company. As you’re saying this, it Just seems to be as like in this is seems to be a general principle. Is the moment you quit. The moment the company disappears.

Jonathan Brandon 3:11
Absolutely. Yeah.

Michael Abernathy 3:13
Wow. Wow. Okay. So that’s your most important mindset. Do you have a secondary one that you believe is important?

Jonathan Brandon 3:23
Yeah, it would be to love yourself.

Michael Abernathy 3:26
Really? Why? Why love yourself.

Jonathan Brandon 3:29
Love yourself so you can love others. Yeah, because you can’t love others until you love yourself.

Michael Abernathy 3:34
How are you loving yourself right now?

Jonathan Brandon 3:37
I have gone on a on a pretty strict diet. And I am… I’ve gotten into working out again. I used to do it a lot when I was a teenager. And actually, since I’ve been working out, it’s been about two weeks, but I feel like a teenager again. My appetite has gone way through the roof. I don’t know if I can afford it. Honestly.

Michael Abernathy 3:57
No, I am currently on the get on fat program, as I call it.

Jonathan Brandon 4:01
Yeah, me too. Yeah, exactly.

Michael Abernathy 4:03
Yeah. And how does that translate like you actually losing weight and loving yourself? How does that translate into business? How does that translate into life other than, you know, the general, “oh, I’m getting skinny.”

Jonathan Brandon 4:13
It translates because I don’t think you can really be successful in business until you really love yourself. And that really, that even correlates to like, keep moving forward. Because if you don’t, if you don’t love yourself, then that rejection is really going to impact you and Just make you want to quit, but until you really accept yourself, love yourself. I mean, that’s really huge, that’s another huge one. Honestly, that probably should be the first is to love yourself.

Michael Abernathy 4:44
And then the second.

Jonathan Brandon 4:45
Should be never quit. I’m changing it right now.

Michael Abernathy 4:48
No, you can do that. So the first one is really to love yourself because you can’t love anybody else. Anything else unless, unless you love yourself.

Jonathan Brandon 4:57
Exactly.

Michael Abernathy 4:57
And then the second one would be not to quit.

Jonathan Brandon 4:59
Not to quit.

Michael Abernathy 5:00
Because the moment you quit you die.

Jonathan Brandon 5:02
Yup. Keep moving forward.

Michael Abernathy 5:03
Cool. Well, we’re out of time, surprisingly, and yet not surprisingly, because it’s five minute rant.

Jonathan Brandon 5:08
Yeah.

Michael Abernathy 5:09
And guys, I hope you got something from this and I will catch you on the flip side peace!