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Interesting people, insightful points of view and incredible stories on what’s popping and not popping in marketing, tech, and culture you can use to win immediately. Brands, Beats and Bytes boldly stands at the intersection of brand, tech and culture. DC and Larry are fascinated with stories and people behind some of the best marketing in the business. No matter how dope your product, if your marketing sucks your company may suck too. #dontsuck
DC: Brand Nerds, Brand Nerds, Brand Nerds, back at you with another Brands, Beats, and Bytes podcast. And we need to thank you guys. We crossed an important milestone on, uh, on IG of followers and we wanna say thank you to all of our followers and also those of you all who take the time to listen to our podcast and let us know about it through other social media platforms. Thank you and uh, and respect. But on to our next guest. You guys have heard me use the term family before when we are interviewing someone and we know them from the past and maybe we've worked with them, but I will tell you this, we have a different kind of a family member today, LT. And it's a family member that comes from an HBCU called Clark Atlanta University, CAU. Many of you all may not know this, but there was a time where CAU was the number one producer of Black MBAs in the world. Number one. Number one. Myself and Jeff are two of those individuals who were blessed enough to matriculate through the hallways of CAU. And our next guest is also one of those to be blessed to matriculate through the hallways of CAU's MBA program. So Brand Nerds, she's family. She's family. And Larry, you know how much I love talking to family on this show. So can you break down a little more about who is this person in the Brands, Beats, and Bytes cipher today.
LT: Oh yes, DC Great setup. So DC We have Jeryn Turner in the house today. Welcome Jeryn.
Jeryn Turner: Hello. Glad to be here.
LT: Yeah, we're, we're really excited to have you, uh, and Brand Nerds. We have another stellar guest in the house today who is someone very accomplished in her career, and more importantly, is really living the full balance of life.
So, let's get into Jayn's background. So, after with honors from prestigious Spelman College, Jeryn embarks upon her business career Georgia Pacific in sourcing and procurement, where she meets none other than Jeff Shirley. Interestingly, Jeryn said Jeff plays a significant role in Jeryn's next step, which DC so wonderfully alluded to, where Jeryn decides to a attend CAU, Clark Atlanta University for grad school, which just so happens to be the same place as, as DC said that Jeff and DC both earned their MBAs. So after graduating CAU with an MBA in marketing, Jeryn joined Citi, which used to be known as Citibank.
Just wanna make sure the Brand Nerds know what we're talking about there. Jeryn. In their very prestigious management associate program, this prestigious development program designed for high profile MBA graduates with, who've been identified with leadership and management capabilities before they joined the program.
So Citi clearly did a great job identifying Jeryn. Jeryn spends close to 13 years at Citi in a variety of roles, starting as a management associate and ending as the SVP of retail Services, Client Communication, Strategy and Delivery Lead at Citi Jeryn is recognized for her exceptional work earning the Citibank 2019 LEA, which is Leaders in Excellent Award, which recognizes less than 1% of the organization. So this is a pretty big deal at at Citi. So you can imagine when you are a shining star, such as Jeryn, there are a lot of opportunities out there. And Jeryn decides to join Synchrony Bank as their customer communication strategy and optimization lead. In this position, Jeryn leads a global team specializing in strategy and transformation, including all processes from content development, inventory management, optimization and governance.
So, D, so with this stellar business career, that's reason enough to have Jerynon on the podcast, right?
DC: Absolutely.
LT: But wait, there's a lot more. The passion she exhibits professionally is also seen in her hobbies. Jeryn is an accomplished author as an attentive student of life. Jeryn's writing opens reader's minds to a different way of thinking, one that leads to greater understanding, awareness, and peace.
Jeryn's books include titles such as A Dream Come True, The biggest Star and her latest released in February of this year is, what Do You See? And the What Do You See? Companion Journal, which has been Amazon number one in four different categories. The Amazon best-selling book is dedicated to Jeryn's niece, who is an aspiring ballerina.
It discusses diversity, inclusion, and black history in a way young people can understand, relate to, and learn from. She wrote this book to commemorate this unique time we are living in when social demonstrations and the pandemic are the norm. To compliment the book, Jeryn created a self-esteem building journal with positive affirmations and mirror exercises.
In 2017, Jeryn was actually selected by The Author Show as one of the 50 great writers you should be reading. You hear that Brand Nerds. That's pretty, uh, special stuff. So no surprise. Brand Nerds, Jeryn is active in her community as volunteer for Openhand Atlanta, Atlanta Community Food Bank, sisters sister mentoring at her alma mater, Spelman College, and as Camp CEO for the Girl Scouts. Lastly and dare we say, makes total sense. Jeryn is a certified yoga instructor who specializes in restorative yoga. She likes this type of yoga because it focuses on mindfulness and relaxation, two things she believes everyone needs in these uncertain times. If you would like to learn more about all of this, please visit Jeryn's website at Jerynturner.com, and that's J E R Y N T U R N E R .com. Welcome to Brands, Beats, and Bytes, Jeryn Turner.
Jeryn Turner: Thank you, thank you, thank you. It's one thing to live it, it's a whole nother thing to hear it being said. And I'm like, wow, I wanna meet this person.
DC: Well, I got good news for you. You meet her every day when you look in the mirror.
LT: That's right.
Jeryn Turner: That part. That part.
DC: Yeah. Larry does such a, a wonderful job of giving, uh, our guests their, uh, their well earned and deserved flowers. And Jeryn, you're right. Uh, it's not often that we put down anything that represents a bio or CV and have someone else read it back to us. We typically write it and then we send it off and we hope someone reads some of it, right?
But, but, but we don't. Or put it in a program, but no one reads the thing. So, uh, congratulations on all of those accomplishments. I've got one observation and then a question. Here's the observation. Yes, I knew that you were a CAU MBA alum. I did not recognize that you went to Spelman College undergrad. So you spent your undergrad and graduate degree, uh, on the, on at, at the Atlanta University Center, which, uh, which I, I, I don't know how common that is, that someone does both undergrad and grad on the same campus. So how was that for you?
Jeryn Turner: It was coming back home.
LT: Oh. Mm.
Jeryn Turner: And I say that because I am not from Atlanta, Georgia, you probably can tell I do not have an accent. I grew up in Rochester, New York. I fell in love with what HBCUs and the AUC represents. Mm-hmm. There is someone who I've kind of modeled myself after, Jerry Devard, who also went to undergrad Clark Atlanta for her MBA. And when I made the decision to return home and go to Clark Atlanta, it was because I knew that the structure was gonna be there.
And I just, I, I totally believe you go to places where you know you can thrive. Mm-hmm. So I think that maybe sometimes people make the decision to do HBCU undergrad and a majority school for grad school. But for me, I thrive around love, support, and encouragement. And I'm speaking to the choir because you've also gone to Clark Atlanta University. They pulled something out of me that I didn't know existed.
LT: Wow.
DC: Uh, Dr. Davis would be very happy to hear this. Mm-hmm. Uh, I'm happy to hear this. I know Larry and Jeff are also happy to hear this. You mentioned Jerry Devard. Jerry Devard has been a mentor of mine. Uh, for, for many years. We do not talk often now, but she's still my sister and I'm sure I'm her brother. Uh, but she helped me, um, during my first internship. So we think a lot of Jerry Devard around here. Uh, that, that's, uh, that's wonderful. Wonderful. And for you Brand Nerds out there who are making, uh, decisions about grad school and some of you may even be in undergrad. Um, here is my plug to say something about HBCUs and Jeryn is a, um, is a living manifestation of this.
She said CAU pulled something out of her that she didn't even know she had. And so for you Brand Nerds out there where you already know what path you're on, you've been doing it since you were like seven years old, then you may not need to go to an HBCU. You can go some, you can go somewhere else. But for, for you Brand Nerds out there that are going, I know something's inside of me. That's great. I just am not certain what it is. This is why you go to an HBCU because they will help you discover what that is inside of you, and then they will help polish that diamond so that all the facets begin to shine when you step out. So that's the first thing about, um, HBCUs and you going undergrad and grad. But then the second thing, Jeryn is, uh, you being an author, which Larry has mentioned, um, I've, I've got a, um, a former business partner of mine, uh, who I think really highly of. His name is Neil Nelson. And when, uh, he and I co-founded a, uh, a media company together, he and I and a couple other folks, and he would often say it's much harder to go from zero to one than from one to 100. Yeah. All due respect to Drizzy. All due respect, zero to one is, is the, is the really hard thing to do.
LT: Yep.
DC: And when you're, when you were a first time author thinking about becoming a first time author, author, that's zero to one. What was going on with you, Jeryn, to motivate you to go from zero to one and write your first book, and then what was your process?
Jeryn Turner: Mm-hmm. What was going on with me is I was getting all of this wisdom, I was getting all of this advice, and I think for the first part of life you emulate, so you find someone that you think is doing what you wanna do and you're like, okay. I think I'll have success if I follow their blueprint. Okay. The reason why I wrote that book is because I wanted my story to be told in a different way. Mm-hmm. And I wanted the opportunity to pull in all these sources and put Jeryn's stamp of approval on it. So that really was my motivation. And it's interesting, if you talk to most authors, you write the book for yourself and then when readers find it and find value in it, it's almost like a shocking thing.
Like, oh, you read it and you relate. Ah. Cause it's, it's such a vulnerable experience where you just pour your heart out.
LT: Right.
Jeryn Turner: Especially with the first book, A Dream Come True. It's a coming age, um, story of a mother and daughter experience, which I think is very appropriate that this, we're about to celebrate Mother's Day weekend on Sunday.
Yeah. But I won't go down that path cuz you asked me what was my process. I had always journaled. And I started journaling in high school and I never shared what I wrote with anyone. Hmm. And a really good friend of mine, uh, Nikki Scales from Spelman used to always say, you have to share this. There's something there, there's something amazing in your writing. And I was very shy, and you may find this super hard to believe, but at Spelman I was not only a Brand Nerd, I was a nerd, nerd. I didn't out much. I was very quiet. And so when I say Clark pulled something out of me, they pulled out my voice and identifying my platform. So the process was, was at a local bookstore saw sign that says, have you ever thought about writing and publishing a book indicating the difference between the two?
Cause I think a lot of people have manuscripts that never see the light of day. It said, come to this workshop for a weekend. And in a weekend you'll be able to do this. And I'm thinking, yeah, right, like, y'all, y'all promote this. But I've been working on, um, it was a spirituality cliff note version for like two years at that point. And I was like, yeah, my book's written. I'm just gonna go here and, you know, see what he's talking about. Well, I get there, the cliff note version of spirituality still has not been published, but A Dream Come True came out. Oh. And my main process was following his rules, his suggestions, pouring up my heart over three days, and with six months of that actually publishing the book.
LT: Wow.
DC: Wow.
LT: So in other words, the book workshop was the opposite of what you expected. You thought it was some bs it sounds like before, right? And then you went to it and go, wow.
Jeryn Turner: Exactly.
LT: So you would, you, it's like you almost had raw notes. And then you went to the book bookshop and it focused you in a way that you wouldn't have had be without him.
Jeryn Turner: Yes, and I threw away the script. This is something that I believe in. Some of us keep telling our same narrative. I threw that away and got real and got humbled by the experience. And there was all this other stuff that needed to come out. Just to give you a little, uh, taste in the guy who does this is Tom Bird. You do yoga, you journal, you get in touch with your feelings, and then he just says, write. And even if you can't think of anything to write, literally write, I can't think of anything to write. But the one thing that I learned is we did everything by hand. Because there's a connection with the brain where you are more honest and vulnerable when you actually use pen and paper.
LT: Wow.
Jeryn Turner: We then switched it to the computer, but that was day two. By that time, I mean, my arms hurting. I, I don't think I had written like that since grade school. And it really allowed me to get in contact with just a lot of things that I didn't even know needed to be expressed. And the process was, um, very deep in, in regards to the type of book that got produced, but also the process that I did take to get to, um, writing that book.
Hmm.
LT: D, I have two quick question for Jeryn. One is you mentioned that, um, he said throw out everything and get real. Can you elaborate on that more?
Jeryn Turner: Yes. So everybody knows, especially when you get an MBA, and when you think about branding, you have an elevator pitch. You know what to be said in the moment. You know, gimme your two second line. What are you about Jeryn I can just it out. But in that session, it was less about what you've rehearsed and what is at the root of your soul. And so it was an opportunity, like I said, to really go deep and not to say your elevator pitch doesn't match who you are.
Right. Oftentimes it does. Right. But it was that point to disconnect. We didn't have any phones. My family and friends knew like, I'm going away for three days. They probably didn't know where I was going or what it was even about. Um, but it gave me a time to just be very centered on me in that present moment and magic was created.
DC: Wow.
LT: And other quick question, do you still hand write your books or do you, or do you go back to the computer?
Jeryn Turner: Combination of both. Okay. So children's books are a little easier to get out. Right. Um, but I do a combination of both. I also doodle, but I do start with the concept and then see where these ideas come from.
I tend to write about to tough topics or complex topics that maybe you don't know how to really broach the subject. Um, the children's grief book was about the friend that I said was my biggest supporter. Unfortunately, she passed away unexpectedly, so that was a very hard book for me to write.
LT: Oh, yeah.
Jeryn Turner: But once I produced it, the response I got from everybody was, we need to have a way to talk about grief and what is the, you know, what does that process look like? So I do do a combination, uh, Larry of writing, starting with the concepts, and then I will switch over to the computer.
LT: Really interesting. Sorry D, I just back, I think this is super fascinating.
DC: Yeah. So Jeryn, um, I am also an author. Um, I have not been number one on anyone's list. Alright. So I, I may be a number 1 million, but a number, number one. Uh, but I can relate to the vulnerability as a part of the, uh, process in writing an authentic book.
So I wrote a book, uh, I began writing a book, writing as you did when I was actually in the basement of my best friend's home. And that best friend is Jeff Shirley. On October 16th, 2003, and I remember the day because it was the day of, of my first separation to my now former wife. So this is the first day, and I went to stay with Jeff and his family at the time, and I was in their basement.
And as I was in their basement Jeryn, um, I thought to myself, I do not want my daughters, three daughters, Hmm. Hailey, Lauren and Sydney to experience the agony that I'm feeling right now as their father not living with them. And I did not know whether I would, uh, my former wife and I would reconcile. We ended up reconciling and then divorcing later, but I, I didn't think we would reconcile Jeryn. And so I began writing to them. To them. I was not write, as you said earlier, I was not writing the book for an audience. I was not even writing it for me. I was writing it for them. And then eventually I went on to, uh, publish it and put it on, um, Amazon in a, in, in a digital form. But I can completely relate to both the pan and what that does in terms of, uh, vulnerability and, uh, and authenticity.
So this, this is, uh, something that I, I have a connection to. Congratulations on your success as a, as an author and your process. So with that, we will now move to, uh, Jeryn. We have a sponsor for our podcast, and Larry does, uh, the honors of telling our Brand Nerds about our sponsors. So, Larry, can you talk with our Brand Nerds about our sponsor today?
LT: Love to D, our our friends at Specificity. So hey, Brand Nerds back here to talk with you about Specificity and Brand Nerds, we know many of you are immersed in digital marketing or simply involved in it. Either way, if you want to optimize your digital marketing to maximize results, we have the solution for you in 2021.
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Now you know why you may be a 22 year old female playing your favorite game app on your phone, and all of a sudden you're being hit with an in-game ad for Rogaine, that's serious money down the drain. Here's where Specificity comes in to save the day. So Specificity does not track or no user's personal data such as name, social security number, et cetera. Specificity uses device ID numbers similar to a VIN number on a car. So they track what users are doing without knowing their personally identifiable information. Working in harmony with the post privacy update. So now with Specificity, both the consumer and the advertiser are happy. Since consumers see digital ads that are relevant for them and advertisers serve ads to people that are receptive to the message.
Let's give a real life example. If Jeff's old brand, Lunchables wanted to use Specificity, they can serve ads to only parents. Not just any parent. They can dial into serving ads to only working parents of children six to 12. Additionally, if they wanted to, they could also not serve ads to any parents who are vegetarians or other similar dietary restrictions who would not be prone to buy Lunchables. Bottom line is this would enable Lunchables to be incredibly efficient in serving their message only to those who would be most receptive and doing it in a way that completely respects said consumers privacy. Since they do not know or learn any personal information about these people, the bottom line is in 2023, we believe no one else out there can deliver better digital marketing results than Specificity.
We have introduced Specificity to many clients, and everyone is super happy since each client has been more successful with their digital marketing efforts than they were before. For more information on Specificity, please visit their website at specificityinc.com. Again, specificityinc.com. That's S P E C I F I C I T Y I N C .com. Their website is also on our show notes. If you want to improve your digital marketing results, go check them out.
DC: Thank you, lt. All right, Jeryn. Next segment of the podcast is called Five Questions. I Ask a question, Larry asks a question. We go back and forth until we arrive at five, and I have the honor of kicking this off.
Jeryn, take yourself back in time and conceive of a experience you had with a brand where when you started to engage with this brand, either wear it, smell it, see it, listen to it, experience it. You were like, oh, oh, I love this brand. Oh, I just love this brand. I cannot do without this brand. I have to have it. Okay. What was this first branding experience for you?
Jeryn Turner: Great question. And as a marketer, I would say the first brand that I know, not only identify, but immediately fell in love with, and this is gonna touch on me being a sneakerhead, is Nike.
DC: Nike. Mm-hmm.
Jeryn Turner: Nike has always been in vogue about the culture. It always has been synonymous with not only fashion and form, but performance. And I remember, um, being young and coming home and saying, I need these pair of sneakers now my parents are interesting cuz they're always about hard work. And if you want something, you know, what's your skin in the game? But I have been a fan and a brand lover of Nike for years, even now, like, um, I, I tend to love just to go to the Nike outlet. Because I know not only are they gonna have something eccentric that speaks to my very, sometimes over the top fashion sense, but it's gonna be something comfortable that I can rock no matter if I'm going to the High Museum for an event. The botanical garden. Mm-hmm. Or coming back home to Spelman or Clark Atlanta. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
DC: Loved it. That's a good one. That's a good one. And, and, and I like the fashion form and, and the performance. And the performance. How, how old were you when this, when the Nike bug, uh, had you become a brand lover?
Jeryn Turner: I had to be probably in high school. Where? High school. Ok. Where he pulled me in and just kept me and it was like a basic, um, sneaker. And then I was all about the Air Force Ones I love a good Jordan and like when I look at my style, yes. I wear heels. But y'all know in Atlanta it's a lot of walking and I actually do a lot of walking for health reasons. I can be in a pair of Nikes and feel like I can leave the trails and still meet up with somebody for brunch or lunch.
DC: Ah, got it.
LT: That's almost a, that's almost like a a, a great little ad right there, isn't it?
DC: It's, it's, it's, it's, but it's
Jeryn Turner: always thinking like a marketer,
LT: but it, right. Jeryn you are because you are one. But that, that's, that's so true. Jeryn. Um, and you, you described that so well. What's interesting to me is, the pull that Nike has. Right? We've talked about Nike a lot on our podcast, back to the Colin Kaepernick situation, and how that just strengthened the connection that Nike had because they really understand their consumers, right? And, um mm-hmm. And so it's a real emotional connection the way you described it, and it's for a, a really long time they've had you, right?
Yes. That's what, that's what's really interesting about Nike is that, you know, when they pull people in, man, they got you. Um, I think I told this once on the podcast. I'm gonna tell it again. Uh, Jeryn, I did a lot of work with Nike back in my Coca-Cola days with Powerade and Nike. We did a lot of stuff and I was told this story that Jason Kidd, the Hall of Fame basketball player, when he was drafted, his agent was, uh, negotiating with Adidas and Reebok and Nike. And, um, so it got a little heated with Nike and Jason had worn Nike's his whole life again. Emotional connection, whole life. You know, he's 20 years old at the time when he was drafted and he saw this potentially going off the rails, and in the middle of the meeting he pulled his agent out and said, Hey man, do not mess this up. I know you're trying to get the best dollar from me, but I can't not wear Nike's. You better make a deal with it.
DC: That's funny. That's funny. That's the All right, El, we have, that's a great connection. Yeah. Uh, next question, brother.
LT: Let's do it. Okay. Jeryn. So who has had or having the most influence on your career?
Jeryn Turner: Another great question. Um, I will always give credit to my mentors. And we've already mentioned Jeff Shirley's name.
Huh? He was a mentor. Um, when I worked at Georgia Pacific, he stayed in my corner and has still been a mentor. So when I listen to and think about this question, it's not one person. It's a series of people who have developed me to be the person that I am today. And mentoringship has been and had such a significant role on in my life, and that's why I pay it forward with both Girl Scouts and, uh, Spelman to also mentor others. But I mention it and respond to that question in that way because similar to Clark seeing something in me that maybe I didn't see in myself, mentors have been individuals I can come to to review an assignment before I present it. I've also tapped in with them to say, Hey, they want me to do this job. I don't know if I'm really feeling it. What do you think? And you guys mentioned when I came to Citi, I was a management associate and the, the program was designed for you not to get comfortable. After a year and a half, you got tapped and you did something else. So that is why the role of a mentor was so important to me to keep checking back in. Like, if I do this role, am I gonna be on an island or people are gonna forget me? And how do I keep my exposure, um, across the business so that people still know what I'm passionate about? And mentors have talked me off the ledge. They've encouraged me. And most recently, um, a great mentor at Synchrony has literally pushed me in the deep end like, yeah, you pushing back on this, I think this is actually the right move for you. And I think when you connect with people who you number one trust and who believe in you, they will give you the best advice. And so to answer that question, it's not one person. It's a series of people who have been my strongest mentors. And also to give a major shout out to my mother. She not only has been my mother, but my mentor and has been a great example for how you can change and evolve and how taking in all this knowledge, um, even outside of work, I credit her with a lot of my growth within the yoga and the author space because she's been in a great example of reinventing yourself over time.
DC: Ooh,
LT: love it. Do you got a shout out, mom? What's your mom's
name?
Jeryn Turner: Dr. Cecilia Griffin Golden.
LT: Oh wow. That's awesome. Yes. Mm-hmm.
Thank you, Dr. Golden. Is that what she goes by?
Jeryn Turner: She does. Okay. Even to my friends and potential dates and courters I'm like, how are you having him refer to you as Dr. Golden? That's a whole nother conversation.
DC: Well, I, I am hearing, uh, one of my favorite songs at that I, that I would offer up as one that she might consider as a theme song, and that is Golden by Jill Scott.
Jeryn Turner: 100%. Yes. Hundred percent.
LT: Living My Life Like it's Golden. That's right.
DC: That's right, Larry. All right, Larry, shall I go to the next one?
LT: Please do.
DC: All right. Jar, you, uh, have been, um, Doing big, big tings. Big tings. Uh, at least since undergrad, maybe even before then. But undergrad, you, you graduate with honors, you go to CAU, you have something pulled out of you. You go to Citi, you're in this esteemed, uh, uh, management and leadership program. You grow, well, actually you go to Georgia Pacific, then you go to uh, uh, uh, Citi actually was Citi first, right? Was it City?
Jeryn Turner: Mm-hmm.
DC: Citi person in, uh, Georgia Pacific. Thank you. And you are now an accomplished author in addition to being an executive professional and in the, uh, yoga space. So you have, have had many Ws many wins, but this question has little to do, actually, nothing to do with any of your Ws. This, this, this question. Uh, west side, west side, uh, this is about the Ls, the, the L. And what we want you to share is your biggest F up. So the one that you is, this is on you now. Jeryn, no one else. You effed up somewhere you've left up, and then what you learned from that F up.
Jeryn Turner: Yes.
And everybody has them. We just don't talk about ' em.
DC: Yeah. No, we know. No. We we keep them tucked away. Yeah. But we like to bring them out on Brands, Beats, and Bytes like, no, no. Look, let's put some light on. Let's examine this thing right here. Let's examine it.
Jeryn Turner: Yes. I'm gonna start calling this the therapy podcast. That's fine.
DC: We like that. Yeah.
Jeryn Turner: But within that question, it is a mess up around analysis and analytics. Okay. Um, it was dealing with a partner who was a difficult partner. Whenever you have the partner, partner knows best, you almost don't even feel empowered, um, as the supporting company that's working with them because they literally can change their, their mind day in and day out. But there was a project that required supply chain analysis, and I already did not have the best experience and relationship with the person I was working with. And I was flat out intimidated. I didn't feel good about the assignment. I didn't feel good that we really asked the right questions in the partner meeting, but I was already told you're gonna be seen and not heard. It just wasn't a good experience to start with. But going back to the question analysis needed to be done to prepare us for a partner meeting, we get in the meeting, the analysis is just flat out wrong. So Jeryn was to do the analysis. Jeryn missed the mark and was
DC: Oh. Oh, okay. Okay.
Jeryn Turner: Yes. And was, were the calculations, the formulas with all those wrong? No, but it did not meet the objective for the partner. And as I mentioned before, the partner could be fly by night. He may have changed in his mind between when we first met and when we got into that meeting.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And my manager, let me take the complete fall and Oh, everything was on me. Yes. Yes.
Okay. And everything was on me.
DC: This is a good one. This is a good one. Okay.
Jeryn Turner: This is, it is a good one. And I remember walking out, defeated or feeling defeated. And being like, what could I have done better? Because the one thing about me, if y'all ever have the opportunity to work with me, my self-awareness is probably to my detriment sometimes. I always put it back on me, right? Even if other people could be to blame or have played a role, I always think Jeryn, you should have known better. You should have done better.
And I have high intuition, so I'm like, how am I even in this situation? Right? As I mentioned, we didn't have an outlined strategy. We didn't have an outlined vision. And not to get biblical on you with no vision the people are gonna perish. And I was in the situation perishing.
DC: Wow.
Jeryn Turner: So I have this experience. Um, I then took it as an opportunity to talk with the manager, have a come to Jesus meeting to say, okay, what are you looking for? And more importantly, what did we miss? And I said we, because we were a team. Mm-hmm. And even though he threw me under the bus, I still was trying to play in on that emotion where as the manager, you should have also identified and took some accountability for all that went down.
Mm-hmm. In the end, we got past it. Um, but there was a lot of lessons I took from that. I'm a people manager now. I have, uh, a global team as you guys mentioned. I never present anything that I have not seen and reviewed and approved myself. I have a very large team. It may take 10, 15, 20 minutes before a meeting, but I'm never gonna say this is what the team put together if I have not given my sign off and blessing.
Mm-hmm. And although it was a bad season in my life, Um, because I started to feel like I had to question everything I did, and there was a lot of doubt. It did make me become a much better manager. And then going back to alignment, every meeting I have, I close it with, these are the notes I took. These are the follow ups, this is the vision I heard, and these are the next steps.
Do you agree with this? Mm-hmm. So I put everybody in a situation where I need your, not only verbal nod, but sometimes I'm sending it for attestation.
LT: Mm-hmm.
DC: Good one. That good Learning. Good learning. Uh, Larry, any reflection on this? I have one.
LT: Please, please Go.
DC: Jeryn. You said something that I like the brand nerds, uh, to, uh, to take note. And you, you described this situation, um, of your missing the mark as a bad season. So a bad season brand nerves does not mean a bad career, it means a season, right?
When I started at the Coca-Cola company as an assistant brand manager, Jeryn, the role of assistant brand managers at that time, um, were to do monthly reports. So in the reports were all the numbers and projects for the brand at that. Uh, during that, uh, that time, the, the prior month, um, you got to do, uh, research work with the research group, so mostly analytics.
Mm-hmm. Uh, you didn't get to do big stuff. You did mostly that kind of stuff. Now, for a person who has dyslexia, didn't know it at the time, ADHD didn't know that at the time, or dysgraphia, also didn't know that at the time, to put me at the point of doing a month report. Is like asking for an accident to happen every month.
Mm-hmm. And that's basically what happened, Jeryn, mm-hmm. My monthly reports were in the, in the words of the inevitable Charles Barkley. Terrible. They were terrible. Or, so I had not just a bad season, but every month I had a bad season every month. But I did not allow that to dissuade me with regard to my career. So I'm really glad that you, you noted this as a, uh, as a season, not a, a career. All right. Uh, Larry, next one. Yeah. Yeah.
LT: Just one quick comment and then, oh, the next, next. Uh, I love Jeryn's uh, awareness of self. Mm-hmm. Um, because that's a huge thing. Uh, Brand Nerds in life, like awareness of self, uh, is everything.
Uh, go into the next question. This is Jeryn, question four here, regarding technology and marketing. You have really seen the rise of tech through your career. We can't help but seeing that with, uh, with all our careers if you've spent any more than five years in your business career. So, can you tell us where you think marketers should lean in or best leverage tech or areas that they should be leery?
Jeryn Turner: Yes, and for this question, technology has a huge role. I have been in some very interesting positions where the lack of technology has made my job that much harder and one area that would benefit communication strategy, but also because I'm right there with other marketers and people who, um, work on the brand side. Is a content governance structure. Hmm. A central repository where no matter what is getting sent to the customer, we have an organized structure that has what it is, what is the primary identifier, who's ultimately owning it, as well as how it's used for a couple of reasons. We're all marketers, we're all in the brand space.
For you to understand how you are being perceived by your customer, you need to know how many times you're interacting with them. You also need to make sure that what the message being said on the brand and the marketing side and operations is consistent. So there's some, you know, root, there's a root of what companies need to have, and I say content governance because that has been a struggle that I've had.
To try to get that type of technology in my current role. Um, not to say that communications is not important, but content governance is not necessarily a revenue generator. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And we're not, you know, saving the company from any fine. So it's not cost savings, it's more of an efficiency optimization tool.
And so the absence of that has been something that I've had to work around and do things in a manual way or do things in Excel, but with companies of the size that we support technology and the investment of technology from a brand marketing perspective is very important. And for me, content governance has been a tool that I would've wanted and still fight to have that has been missing.
And the absence of that technology has been something that I've had to definitely work through.
LT: Ooh, this is some D, we've never heard this before. This is deep. No, no. So, so Jeryn, do I understand you correctly that you still don't have the right tech for content governance? Is that what you're still trying to identify something that will help you here?
Jeryn Turner: Yes. I have Excel, but Excel is not able to. Properly managed version control, right? And then even if we upload it on a SharePoint or we have a souped up SharePoint, that still is not the type of tool that we would need, um, to even do an assessment to say, Hey, are we meeting the mark in these areas? Now, what I tend to do is individually meet with key stakeholders, and as you can tell, I'm gonna get the job done.
I mean, if I have to work with an advocate, that's what I'm gonna have to work with. But I'm gonna get the job done, right? But the absence of the content governance tool, um, is something that has been a real consideration for me to, so to answer your question, we don't have a massive tool, but we're working towards that end goal.
LT: Well, Silicon Valley, your Brand nerds out there, there's opportunity here with, uh, I dare I say, uh, Jeryn's on the leading edge of this, but other folks are gonna need this as well. So that's really, really cool that you identified that. D, anything to add before we go to the next question?
DC: Yeah. One and, and analog. I grew up in Detroit, Brand Nerds, you know, that, uh, Jeryn, I don't think you knew that I was, uh, uh, Detroit native, uh, as is, uh, Jeff, but in the car world, which is a big thing in Detroit, anyone that grows up in Detroit, they learn about cars pretty early. When we think about our vehicles, even today with all of the tech, if something goes wrong, we are thinking, okay, what's wrong with my engine?
Or, oh my, I hope nothing's going on with my transmission. Or, uh, that the electronics in my car is, there's something going on with the electronics in my car. Well, something's not working. What we don't typically think about, and this is where I'm going to, uh, what, uh, where Jeryn, where you are is at, we don't think about this little thing called a catalytic converter.
And the catalytic converter is something that filters out like byproducts and gases and things like that. It burns them up so that they do not go through, uh, the engine. So think, think of it as sort of a waste management, uh, device for, for your car. That's a catalytic converter. Now, just because you don't know about it doesn't mean that it's critically important.
And if you don't have that little thing, that car's not gonna run optimally. So what I, my analog, Jeryn what you're saying is that you've got the engine, you've got the transmission, the electronics look very fancy, but sometimes you just need to have that catalytic converter. Yeah. Doing some things. Yeah.
Gotta have it doing some things. So that's my takeaway. That's it.
LT: That's great.
DC: Cool. Uh, uh, I'm going to the final question. Jeryn, what are you most proud of?
Jeryn Turner: There's a lot of things that I'm proud of, but this is gonna be so not a resume answer because y'all read my resume earlier and there's a lot of things that I have done in the space of this is what has been structured.
This is how you've met the need. What I am most proud of is my ability to create things out of the unknown. Hmm. And this is in my own health story. I was diagnosed with the, uh, rheumatoid issue. I self healed. This is seen with the books. My mom has so many books in her, but she has not published one just yet.
So even navigating with book space is, once again, going back to I felt something I was passionate. I didn't know what it looked like, but I trusted myself to create it. And that is what I am most proud of, even in the yoga space. Um, restorative yoga, I don't probably look like many yogis that you probably have interacted with.
I think I'm changing the face of what yoga looks like and making it acceptable in something that everyone should gravitate towards. But when I think about myself, there's always that, uh, exercise. People say, you know, what would you say to your younger self? Right? And I would say, continue to believe in you.
Like continue to circulate the truths that you know exist and find the source of those truths. Continue to tap into that intuition, um, and be inspired by life. And that's why when I think about pride, it's one thing to just follow the rules. It's a whole nother thing to create something, um, that did not exist.
It almost makes me think about black girl magic. I think I embody that. Hmm. Um, because you give me something, I'm going to figure it out. And a lot of it is just process. I mean, you ask somebody, well, how do you come to conclusions? You're gonna assess the situation, you're gonna analyze it, you're gonna step back, you're gonna process, and then you're gonna have a recommendation.
But I think over time, another area that makes me so proud of myself is I began trusting myself and my inner voice. Mm-hmm. And the results that I got from corporate America gave me the confidence to be able to do it outside of corporate America.
DC: Mm mm Oh, that's strong. That's strong. Uh, Larry?
LT: I, I, I've got nothing to add to that. Yeah, nothing. That's amazing.
DC: Okay. I've got a question. Mm-hmm. First, um, Jeryn, I'm a praying person. I believe in the power of prayer. So I am going to, uh, drop some prayers on you, uh, later today, and your health and your journey. You mentioned, um, some self-healing. Were you, uh, healing yourself, uh, exclusively by yourself or were you using self-healing strategies along with, uh, traditional medicine?
Jeryn Turner: Great question. And now you're really getting into my sweet spot. It was being diagnosed and I accept all prayers. But then my testimony is I'm fully recovered. I'm on no medicine for the rheumatoid issue. It's not even detected, but okay. The doctor said, oh, we see something going on. And I was feeling fatigued and just run down. And it was physical and it's emotional. Mm-hmm. So I'm gonna keep it get real, real. This was a combination of going to therapy. It was finding non-traditional and holistic healers. It was examining my diet. I've been gluten free for over 10 years. It was juicing more. It was getting more in touch with supplements and identifying that food has energy and by understanding if I felt like this what I should eat or what I shouldn't eat. Mm-hmm. Uh, I ended up adopting a low histamine diet and some of my friends are like, here Jeryn goes again. But then they pause because I don't even look the same. Within two months after going gluten free, I dropped 25 pounds. Wow. And I don't say that to be vain, it's just mm-hmm. Once again, a data point with results. And I started feeling emotionally better and I started taking my health in my hands. So, to answer your question, uh, Darryl, it was having, you know, traditional doctors. But I have medical intuitives that I work with. Um, I go through and have, uh, dieticians and people who give me a lot of nutritional advice. And the restorative yoga has been a game changer to be able to sit and identify what I'm feeling, not pushing it away, not rushing to the next thing, but really saying, well, why are you upset? Because if you don't identify that, you start doing mindful activities. Oh, I just, you know, somehow I ate a whole bag of chips and it's like, no, you probably just had an argument with somebody, didn't own your voice, didn't communicate, and now you're literally stuffing your feelings. So it was a lot of things where I just had to be honest and it was a pivotal moment in my life. I'm very proud of that as well. Health and the restoration of my health and helping others to be healed is something that I am super, super proud of as well.
DC: Jeryn, thank you. Our best podcast are those where the guest is vulnerable and transparent, and you are both. Thank you very, very much for that answer and allowing us to just take a peek into, uh, your life. Thank you for that Jeryn. Yeah, thank
Jeryn Turner: You're welcome.
LT: Yes. I, I echo that Jeryn. We talked about this in our pre-meeting and you, you're, you're amazing this way and, and I know our Brand Nerds are gonna, uh, be soaking this up in a big way.
DC: Absolutely. All right. LT, what's popping, brother?
LT: That's right, Jeryn. What's popping? This is our chance to shout out, shout down or simply air something in and around marketing today that we think is good fodder for discussion. And Jeryn, we've, we had our pre-meeting and you have a great topic you wanted to introduce. You wanna go forward with that?
Jeryn Turner: I do. And it's almost as if. You know, I believe in no coincidences, but what we just talked about is a perfect segue. It is. So what's popping is balance in the boardroom, you probably are all like, well, what is that? Who coined that? I'm gonna say it's self coined by Jeryn Elise Turner. You know, self plugged there. But what's popping is you have to be balanced before you go into the boardroom to bring balance in the boardroom. And as a national,
LT: Hey Jeryn please say that one more time, cuz that's really deep.
Jeryn Turner: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. You know, sometimes you have to have those pregnant pauses to let what you're saying be soaked up. So balance in the boardroom, you have to be balanced before you even walk into the boardroom to create balance in that space.
LT: Love it.
Jeryn Turner: And how I've had this concept re started in my life and popping up in different areas is once I began to change, I really saw my career changing and even roles that I questioned if I was the right candidate.
It was always validated that we are selecting you because of your demeanor, because of how you interact, because of how you, um, are perceived by others to do things with high character and high grace. Um, one very good experience and role at Citibank was Chief of Staff, and I distinctly remember the COO saying that there's other people who may be more qualified, however, not too many. He's like, you have a stellar resume. You've gone to great schools. He said, but I am picking you for the role because you'll compliment me. And I bring that up because when you think about balance in the boardroom, you can't have everybody be type A. You have to almost assess what is needed in those experiences and create that balance.
But going back what you said, uh, Larry, about my self-awareness, this is something that has allowed me to rise to the top, and it's not even a competition. I think my biggest competition is my former self. Mm-hmm. Or who I am on days where I'm not aligned or not in the zone. So I compete with myself more than anyone else.
But what's popping is that concept. It's something I'm working on. It's something that will be the title of my next book, but Balance in the Boardroom does change the dynamics of what is being discussed. And it does put the onus back on you to be the balance, to be the calming force and to center what is already oftentimes a very high volatile and high emotional place.
DC: Woo,
LT: Man, I'm loving this. Dee, you have any reaction to that?
DC: You go, brother.
LT: Okay. So Jeryn, man, I love you're bringing this up. Uh, it is an evergreen topic, but something that I think in 2023 that I feel like there's so many, and you've talked about this in, in your writing, like there's so many, I'm gonna put outside noises, right?
That, uh, try and knock us off a lot of this balance that you're alluding to. And so, the practice of yoga, the practice of your life and writing and everything is all about balance. And so what you're really saying is if you don't have personal balance, then how could you really positively impact others?
And, and that's so deep when you're managing people or if you're, guess what? When you were at Citi and you've, you first entered the program and you were a management associate, you still have impact on all those around you. And so having the balance is so important to everything and balancing yourself. But dare I say Jeryn, one of the things that, you didn't say this, but you live this. You know, you're an incredibly successful business person, but you're also an author and oh, but you're also a, a, a, a yoga instructor. So you, you're not spending, you can't be spending 18 hours a day at work because you couldn't do all those things.
And, uh, you know, I, I see a lot of folks, and we, and you know, you've been in very, uh, high stress, fortune 50 environment at Citi, uh, DC, Jeff, and I have been in that as well. And you see a lot of folks who spend the, all their time at work. And invariably it might do well in the short term, but if you're really thinking long term, if you're really thinking about a full life, that's not the, the path for success. So I've said a lot, but that's what I'm getting from you. And it's, it's so, it's, it's platinum gold.
Jeryn Turner: Mm-hmm. Well, thank you. Thank you, thank you. And you summarize that very, very well. But I agree. Um, you, you know, know that myself. Yeah. And I think that's something that comes from yoga. I didn't bring this in the conversation, but just like Daryl, I am a praying individual.
I was raised in the church. That was probably my beginning structure. Hmm. To know I had a bigger, bigger purpose. And knowing that made me tap into my passions. Um, and it's created a lot of balance. I think sometimes corporate and for a certain period of time, Larry, I did not want them to know about all of my extra things.
Right? Cause I did not trust them, to not use that against me. Right. To say, well, you're not passionate about work. Right? Where you're not bringing, you know, all of yourself. Let's keep it real. We need boundaries. And I think going back to balance in the boardroom, another sub bullet point to that is creating boundaries, right?
Whether you have children, whether you have a spouse, you are not just someone who's at work all of the time. So to really know thy self is where you start to not only bring balance in your life, but that is step one to then bringing into the boardroom.
LT: Uh, I just wanna say this, Jeryn, I'm also a praying person, and funny enough, I'm Jewish and, uh, I don't consider myself a religious person, but I consider myself a spiritual person. And I feel like that's between me and the Almighty. And, um, and I am also a praying person, and I've never said this on the, on the, on this podcast, wanted to put that out there as well. But man, you, you've, you've opened up the aperture for, for us and our Brand Nerds in a way that's just incredible. D, I've talked too much. Love to hear your thoughts.
DC: So you, you've not talked too much, my brother. At the segue from the prior section where we were going through the five questions you said, and then we going into What's Popping. You said, oh, I don't believe in coincidences. And then you went into, um, this balance in the, in the boardroom. One of our good friends, his name is Jimmy Smith. He is the renowned Jimmy Smith, uh, one of the most accomplished people in the history of, uh, of advertising. In fact, he's either in London now or was recently in London judging some, uh, awards show, um, not, um, some awards platform. Uh, anyway, Jeryn he doesn't call them coincidences. He calls them cointy- dinks. All right. So I too do not believe in coinky-dinks.
LT: Me three.
DC: Yeah, when you said balance in the boardroom, I'm gonna come back to it later in the close and tell you what I wrote down before you said any, before I even read these words, but I'm gonna deal with these words right now.
Balance in the boardroom is the what? When I hear a what? I start thinking about the why, which you got to. So Brand Nerds, my why is, Hmm. How do I know that there's light? Because there's dark. How do I know that there's hot? Because there's cold. How do I know there's good? Because there is evil. So that's how I know the difference between these two things. There are two of them, always, always two of them. And Jeryn, when you talked about the person who selected you, and the reason why, uh, they selected you is that you compliment me, again, this person had some knowledge of what complimented them. Mm-hmm. And when you said, uh, uh, know, uh, know thyself, I swear, uh, Jeryn before you said that I'd already written down this quote, uh, from Socrates, is, uh, "To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom."
That is why being balanced in the boardroom is important. But you can only do that if you know thyself. If you do not know yourself, then you don't know what to compliment. You don't know what to pick as a compliment, cuz you don't know what side of the leisure you're on. Right. And when you load too much on the, on the wrong scale of the Libra, you are in trouble. Mm-hmm. But you can only know what to put on the other side if you know what balances you. So that's my, uh, connection to that. That's deep Jeryn. It is. Thank you. Thank you for, uh, for offering that.
LT: Woo.
That was awesome. D mm-hmm. Man, I think we're, this is so great, Jared. I think we are right now at our show. Close and uh,
DC: Already?
LT: Right. This has been awesome. Uh, mm-hmm. So, Jeryn, I think as, uh, as we shared with you, uh, in our prior meeting, uh, we DC and I deposit learnings and we of course will, uh, would love to hear your thoughts at the end here. Um, I've got so many D so I usually try and call it down, but there's run it much rich stuff.
I've got 10. Alright.
DC: Run it,
LT: but I'm gonna do 'em quick. It all starts with self-awareness. That's been a throughput for the entire, uh, podcast with Jeryn. It really starts with that brand or self-awareness is so huge. So, so, and part of that, number two, you go to places where you know you can thrive. And Jeryn said she thrives around love, support, and encouragement. Well, who doesn't thrive around that, right? That's number two. Three, like Jeryn with writing, throw away your script and be real, not just in business but in life. Four, consciously obtain and keep mentors and also pay it forward with mentorship yourself. Five, like Jeryn and her f up, always ask yourself, what could you have done before you think about putting the blame on others?
Six small big thing. Brand Nerds can be huge. And this one is, I believe Jeryn summed this up so well and I wanted to, to, uh, really call it out. Like Jeryn, when you're in business meetings, close your meetings, making sure there's agreement on alignment and next steps. Small little thing, but can be a huge thing.
Seven. Getting in touch with who you are, like Jeryn. Again, that's self-awareness, but really getting in touch truly with who you are. Eight, trust yourself, your inner voice. Believe in you and tap into your intuition to live your best life, not your parents, not your spouse. Your best life. Nine. Demeanor, character and attitude play a huge role in your success.
Guess what? Brand Nerds. We all of us, control all of those things. And last one, balance. And as part of balance, you need to set up the boundaries for it. Those are the 10.
DC: Now, uh, to that, I say that part, Mr. Taman, that part. Jeryn, I don't know if you've listened to any of our, uh, podcasts before, but at the end, uh, I make an attempt to express what I have picked up from the human.
Before me and sometimes Jeryn, it isn't until the very end where it all comes together for me. But in your case, it was early. Uh, it, it was really early. In fact, uh, even before we were done with the five questions, something hit me, and I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, um, but I'm sure you know it as a marketer.
So 95% of communication is non-verbal. No words, just gestures. Mm-hmm. Facial movements, eye blanks, that kind of thing. So you have communicated a lot to me, and I'm going to attempt to encapsulate what I've picked up from you. And I'm going to attempt to share with you what I believe is. One of the special things, the special ingredients that you are adding to us in this journey called life.
When you, when I turn this page, cuz Larry does the, um, the scripts and, um, I, I don't read them, but I use them during the, uh, during the, uh, session. By the way, that's not to say that Larry doesn't do great scripts. He does, but I am far more of an extemporaneous, uh, kind of a person.
LT: He's backtracking jerry, but that's okay.
DC: No, no, no, no, no, no. I know. I'm just, I'm just, and I saw this balance in the boardroom. I, and I was, I looked back at my notes and I said, well, damn, so here are my observations. The first one is you talked about Spelman and CAU. So undergrad and grad. As you went to this writing workshop, you talked about a pen in hand and a computer.
So you started with the pen in the hand and the computer. Then in the workshop itself, you talked about, and, and as you would write your books, you talked about writing them for self. And if the audience says, Hey, you're just cool, but it's self and audience. When we ask you about your favorite brand, you said Nike and you talked about the fashion and form and the performance, and then you said the trail, when I wear them, I it be on the trail and I can go have a brunch and, and, and I can go have a, have a brunch.
And then you started on the tech question that Larry said, you said, well, you know, I got some tech stuff and I will do a manual spreadsheet. I, I will blaze a, a spreadsheet in Exel. And then you started to get a little deeper, not that those things were not deep already. When you talked about your health, and I wanted to get a question to you on this and you answered it, you leveraged a combination of holistic healing and traditional doctors.
In our world, when we talk about brands, Jeryn, we talk about art and science. This balance of, of art and science makes the best marketers. In your case, I think your gift to us as humans is you are an inspiring analog soul in a digital world. That's what I think you are, Jeryn. You remind us that with all of these newfangled pieces of tech around us, all of these different ways that we can efficiently get things done, all of these ways we could connect through technology.
All of that's digital. That's good. But you got an analog thing going on. You got an analog thing going on. And, um, I, I say this that, um, I use many different music platforms, Jeryn. I love music. Love music.
Jeryn Turner: Me too.
DC: So I got Apple, I got Spotify, I got Pandora, you too Jeryn. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I, I have all of those things, but there is nothing like the sound to me of music where I hear the crackle of the wax against the needle.
There's something about that analog sound. That touches my soul. Yep. And that is what you have, and that is what I believe you are Jeryn. So that is my takeaway from our time together today.
Jeryn Turner: Wow. And thank you. And I love the, I love the description. That's been the first time I've ever been described like that, but it's almost like the drum roll because the best closing takes in everything that we've talked about.
And I love how you led into that, this, and, you know, you have this and that, and I love how you've described me in that way.
LT: All
Jeryn Turner: earned.
LT: So, Jeryn. Is there anything you wanna, before we, uh, before we close out fully here, is there anything you wanna share with us, uh, that you wanna reiterate or anything about the conversation that you, uh, want to highlight?
Jeryn Turner: Yes. So first off, thank you so much for the invite. Um, grateful to share just an honest time with you all today, and it has truly touched my soul in many different ways. Um, paying it forward, trying to figure out and identify the main nuggets, which you both are phenomenal at. You know, sometimes you tell the story, but one of, uh, the directors I work with is always like, lead with the headline.
Yep. So I love how you've summarized a lot of wealth of knowledge and some very tangible and tactical takeaways. Um, so grateful for the opportunity, grateful to be here. Um, as you guys both have mentioned, I am an author of four books. Um, little Plug. All books are available on Amazon. The benefit of having the name Jeryn Elise Turner, specifically Jeryn, is that it's a very unique name.
Yeah. Um, I feel like I've grown up to have that kind of uniqueness and if I'm gonna be on the stage, let me shine. Yep. So definitely check me out on Amazon. Definitely my website with la which Larry, you've already provided. Jerynturner.com. I'm on LinkedIn, I am on Twitter. I tweet a lot because these nuggets that I have, I'm always sharing and putting out there, same with Instagram and Facebook. And one thing that I will mention, um, in closing, because for me, I have been on the receiving end of so many sacrifices. I would not be here today without my ancestors, specifically my grandparents, my great-uncle. There's been so much love that has been poured in into my life that I always say, okay, nothing I do is in vain.
And how do I take that to help others? And, um, my mom was my parents, I should say. Not to give it all to my mom, but my parents are phenomenal individuals, but both me and my brother are in the creative space, and he's recently lived with me. And the reason why I bring that up is as I was talking with you all, yes, my life has had a lot of accomplishments and I've met a lot of my goals. But now to be able to pour into my mentees, to collaborate with my brother, whose brand literally summarizes who I am at my core Fly Revolutionary Hustler, fly from a brand perspective. I always talked about Nike. Revolutionary because I am changing as I grow. Mm-hmm. And hustler because how many yogis, authors and executives that, you know, that still show up with natural hair and keep it popping.
So I just wanted to say that, um, because it does go to where we are in this generation where so much has been done to get us here. I just hope mm-hmm. We all claim spaces and say, this is what I want to do, not this is what I've been told to do, but this is what I wanna do. And why you do that, helping others.
So I think we all are fly revolutionary hustlers and F R H is more of a brand than a mindset. But I definitely wanted to mention that to kind of encompass everything that we've talked about, but also to kind of bring my puzzle pieces of my life together.
DC: Ooh. Hmm.
LT: You gotta trademark that.
DC: Mm.
Jeryn Turner: And which one? FRH?
LT: Fly. Revolutionary Hustler. That's amazing.
Jeryn Turner: So he has his own brand. That's our brother. Yeah, that's my brother's brand. You can find him on Spotify. It's music. But it is that soul lifestyle music where you can see yourself in music and in the images that he portrays. So I already, I agree with you, Larry trademark it cuz he has trademarked it.
LT: Awesome.
Jeryn Turner: But I also come from a brand nerd perspective, but also paying homage as a fly revolutionary hustler.
LT: Ooh, that's a great close right there, D? Don't you think?
DC: It it is. Uh, Larry, it it is. I wanna do. Two things before we close. Uh, one Jeryn, can you mention your book titles? We're gonna put that in the show notes and also your website.
Just tell them how to spell it cuz you spell your name. Uh, you have a unique name. And then I want to do something that we've never done in the history of our podcast, but you go first please.
Jeryn Turner: Hopefully that means invite me back, but that's just because I like talking. Uh, four books. Yes. A Dream Come true. The second book, The Biggest Star, the third book, What Do You See? And then the fourth publication. The what do you see journal. My, uh, website is www.jerynturner.com. So JerynTurner.com.
DC: Thank you. Jeryn. Yes. Now for the first ever it's gonna Trip's. Gonna trip Larry and uh, and Jeff and Hailey and Jade out. Inspired by what I have heard from you today. Uh, Jeryn. I would like to close with something as a, um, uh, to honor you and to honor the women like you. And it is a poem by Maya Angelou, Rest in Power, called Still I Rise, and I'm going to read this poem in its entirety. So here's the poem. All right, here's the poem.
"You may write me down in history with your bitter twisted lies. You may trod me in the very dirt, but still like dust, I rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? Because I walk like I've got oil wells pumping in my living room? Just like moons and like suns with the certainty of tides, just like hope springing high. Still, I rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bow head and lowered eyes. Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries. Does my hautiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard cuz I laugh like I've got gold mines digging in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words. You may cut me with your eyes. You may kill me with your hatefulness, but still like air I rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise that I dance like I've got diamonds at the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history shame. I rise up from a past that's rooted in pain. I rise. I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide welling and swelling, I bear in the tide. Leaving behind Knight of terror and fear. I rise. Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear. I rise bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave. I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise. I rise. I rise.
LT: Yeah. That is awesome. That is an amazing close. I love it that you did that, Dee, and you read it perfectly. So with that, Jade, uh, we're going to the real show close. Thanks for listening to the Brands, Beats and Bytes recorded virtually on zoom and a production of KZSU Stanford, 90.1 FM radio worldwide at kzsu.org. The executive producers are Jeff Shirley, Darryl "DC" Cobbin, myself, Larry Taman, Joseph Anderson, Jade Tate, Hailey Cobbin, and Tom Dioro.
DC: The Podfather.
LT: And if you are listening to us via podcast, it would be great if you can please rate and review us. Additionally, if you do like the show, please subscribe and share. We hope you enjoyed this podcast. And we look forward to next time where we will have more insightful and enlightening talk about marketing with another great business leader as our guest.