Tom: Hey, everybody.
Welcome to Impact Theory.
You are here my friends, because you believe
that human potential is nearly limitless but
you know that having potential is not the
same as actually doing something with it.
So, our goal with this show and company is
to introduce you to the people and ideas that
will help you actually execute on your dreams.
All right, today's guest grew up on the South
Side of Chicago amid unimaginable violence
and dreamed of one day working at Nike designing
shoes for [00:00:30] his hero Michael Jordan.
Virtually everyone told him that this dream
was ridiculous for somebody like him.
But he refused to listen, making his mom take
him to shoe stores not so he could buy something,
but so that he could sketch the shoes and
see if he could improve on them.
Nothing came easily for him, but just as Jordan
put up 1,000 shots a day to improve, he began
doing 1,000 sketches a day.
He persisted, and after several rejections
he got a design internship with Nike becoming
the first African American to do [00:01:00]
so.
Insanely hungry to make a name for himself,
he took all of the projects nobody else wanted.
His assignment to reinvent laces ... The most
boring job in shoes ... was actually meant
to haze him, but he crushed it so hard that
it resulted in him being awarded multiple
patents and attracting the attention of Nike
founder, Phil Knight.
He also poured himself completely into another
[inaudible 00:01:22] and orphaned project
known as the barbecue shoe for dads, and turned
it into the Monarch, the highest grossing
shoe in Nike's [00:01:30] history.
While it normally takes roughly 15 years to
become a senior designer at Nike, he did it
in 5.
He went on to design shoes for Carmello Anthony,
Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Eminem, and
of course the king himself, Michael Jordan.
Not satisfied with being a great designer
however, he went back to school and received
his master's degree in business from Stanford.
And, when he returned to Nike he worked his
way all the way to Senior Global Design Director
for the Jordan brand.
Having fulfilled his dream and wanting to
help his son [00:02:00] overcome some health
issues, he departed Nike after 14 years and
has now embarked on his entrepreneurial journey
co-founding Super Heroic Ink, a company focused
on creating quality play products for kids.
So please, help me in welcoming the real life
Lucious Fox, the media designer at Stanford's
d.school, and CEO of Super Heroic, Jason Mayden.
Jason: [crosstalk 00:02:22].
Tom: Dude, your story is [00:02:30] an insane
tale of what happens when you are willing
to work yourself nearly to death.
Jason: Yep.
Tom: How did you get the mentality, man?
Like, that's crazy.
Jason: Yeah, there's several things that I
fundamentally believe are true in terms of
difficulty and what it gives you.
So for me, being born on the South Side of
Chicago in a blue collar environment you don't
make excuses for yourself.
There's no such thing as anyone starts life
behind the start line.
I look at myself as equal to everyone that
I'm in a room with, and [00:03:00] the separation
between where I want to go and where I am
is my work ethic.
So, my mindset is always that anybody can
be great.
I want to be the greatest ever at what I do.
So, everything I touch, everything I pour
my time and talent into I don't think about
about being great.
I think about how can I be the greatest.
And, that takes a huge amount of introspection.
It takes a huge amount of self-reflection
and honesty.
It also takes humility, because you have to
ask for help in order to be the greatest.
Tom: [crosstalk 00:03:25] I've never heard
anybody say that before.
That's really ... It takes humility to be
the greatest.
[00:03:30] That's interesting.
Jason: It does.
Tom: So, you and I must have grown up roughly
at the same time.
So, I'm not a fan of sports at all, but I
had Michael Jordan hanging above my bed.
Jason: Yep.
Tom: It was that shot of him dunking the moon.
Jason: Oh, yeah.
Tom: You remember that?
Jason: Yeah, yeah.
Tom: There's something about the are where
you could see somebody becoming the greatest
of all time in real time, right?
Jason: Yep.
Tom: He just transcended this sport, captured
everybody's imagination.
How much of your mentality was being literally
in Chicago [00:04:00] at that time while he's
the living legend at the height of his prime?
Jason: I would say 100%, 100%.
I mean, he didn't make excuses.
You never saw Michael get on television in
post-game interviews and complain about the
defense grabbing him too much or the referee
is not giving him a call.
He understood that there's a difference between
a response and a reaction.
A reaction is very emotionally driven.
It's not calculated.
It's not thoughtful.
A response is strategic.
It's intentional, and it's meant to have a
person understand your true [00:04:30] disposition
or reaction to whatever moment that you're
in.
Michael was a very calculated, analytical
person.
And, I saw him come into my city and create
a name for himself, but also contribute off
the court by giving us a tangible example
of what it means to overcome every single
obstacle possible.
So once again, growing up in that era seeing
great athletes like Michael, seeing great
athletes like Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders ... Like,
these were multidimensional people.
For the first time, we saw the emergence of
the athlete as a brand ... A human that was
now a walking [00:05:00] brand.
I figured, "Okay, if he can do that for basketball,
then why can't I do that for sport in design?
Why can't I be that person in my industry?"
So, his work ethic, his ideals, his principles
I learned from them and I just applied it
to my craft and my sport, which is design.
Tom: How did you learn to deal with suffering,
which is something you've talked about being
necessary to get across the finish line?
Jason: I encountered suffering at a very early
age, at the age of seven when I was in the
hospital with septicemia, which is severe
blood infection.
It was at that time [00:05:30] in the hospital
where I had to play with children who were
terminally ill, children who were in intensive
care, children who weren't going home.
And, I realized, "You know what?
There's always someone who is going through
more than you.
There's always someone that has real significant
problems while you may have an inconvenience."
And so, while I looked at myself as having
a health challenge and suffering, I still
felt that that was just an inconvenience.
It wasn't terminal leukemia.
It wasn't a brain tumor.
It wasn't a heart transplant.
It was something that I can overcome.
So, I look at suffering as [00:06:00] a way
to keep me humble, because ... You think about
the archetype of a super hero they always
have an obstacle to overcome.
There's always the height of climax, and I
don't believe that I'm so great that I don't
have the ability to go through difficult circumstances.
I think it's necessary in order to realize
your greatness, because when you're tested
you are given the ability to have a testimony.
So, you can't have a testimony without a test.
In my life I've been tested significantly,
and each time I've developed a new skill set
or a new muscle to help [00:06:30] me run
this race.
Tom: Do you like hiphop?
Jason: I love it.
Tom: Do you write?
Jason: I used to.
Tom: Because, you have a way with language.
There's so many ... I'm actually not sure
if I've ever taken more notes on anyone ... Anyone!
... than you, because you have all these phrases.
Like ... Oh, god ... I would rather try and
fail than fail to try.
I mean, there were so many things where there
was lik a rhythm, a cadence.
Is that a way for you to remember things?
Do you [00:07:00] just have a natural love
for language?
Where does that-
Jason: No.
You know, where it came from is I was an insanely
shy child, and I read a lot of comic books.
And comic books have very short, punchy statements.
And, I realized that the escapism that came
from reading a narrative that was written
with the intention of helping you understand
the hero's journey, was different than reading
a traditional book.
A book is to teach you something.
A comic book is to make you feel a certain
way.
It's a reflection of society.
So when I speak now, I think about, "How [00:07:30]
do I want people to understand how I reflect
back the ideals and principles of a young,
black male growing up in the world today?
How do I do it in a way that's succinct, articulate,
vivid, and colorful, but at the same time
respected and intelligent?"
And so, hiphop at its core became, I would
say, my Petri dish of experimenting with my
own tone of voice, and I try to model myself
after Nas, who's my favorite emcee.
His album Illmatic was like listening to Langston
Hughes over beats.
I mean, I'm a big fan [00:08:00] of jazz,
big fan of the written word, but something
about the way he writes, man, is so illustrious.
It's so rich.
It's so detailed, and I always tell myself,
"If I can design something that makes people
feel how I felt the first time I heard Illmatic,
then I've done my job."
Tom: That's something I find interesting about
really talented artist in general, and it's
really apparent with you is this concept of
being interdisciplinary.
You've even talked about like through data
analytics you've looked at what the future
Michael Jordan is going to be, and he's going
to be ... black [00:08:30] and Cuban?
I mean, it was like this fascinating sense
of intersection.
Explain to people ... And, I don't think they
have to be an artist, because I think a lot
about that in my own life.
How do you pull from all these different areas?
Why is that powerful?
How can you do it systematically?
What does that look like?
Jason: Yeah, I think a lot of that natural
ability to be a polymath has been labeled
as having ADD.
If you look at historically people that have
been masters in various disciplines, they
all had one thing in common: curiosity.
[00:09:00] Curiosity is something that starts
at childhood, but it's stripped from you as
you grow old, because they tell you, "Pick
a lane.
Focus on this.
Become that."
And, we subscribe to labels people place on
us, and that limits our potential.
So, I just fundamentally believe that I don't
let someone else place their limits on me.
My limit is the limit I set, and I believe
I'm limitless.
I believe that if you have a life and you
don't utilize it and you settle for just being
average than that's a waste of the gift of
life.
Every day I wake up ... When people ask me,
"How you doing?"
I say, "Man, I'm thankful I woke up today,"
because that's the first gift you're given
is [00:09:30] another chance to be great.
So I think, like you mentioned, people who
are multidisciplinary, people who are curious
and inquisitive the reason why they become
great is because they don't believe that they
truly have mastered their craft.
They don't feel settled in what they've developed.
They don't feel as if they're the best just
yet.
And for me, my mindset is that it's ... Right
now, it's daytime where we are, okay?
Which means, I have the advantage over my
competition, because they may be asleep.
But when it becomes nighttime, it's their
day.
So, I refuse for them to get ahead of me,
so I stay up when they get up.
Because, they may [00:10:00] be more talented,
they may be smarter but they won't out work
me.
Because, that's where excellence comes from.
It's the small things done well consistently
over time, and it's never the smartest.
It's the person who runs the hardest and who
doesn't quit that wins.
I'm just willing to push myself and breakdown
my own insecurities to build up my confidence
in my skillset.
Tom: Did you ever meet Tim Grover?
Jason: I did.
Yeah, one time.
Tom: So, Tim in his book Relentless ... And,
I've had the very good fortune of meeting
him and interviewing him.
He was the first person that really talked
about the darkness.
[00:10:30] So, I've seen so much footage on
you, you can't imagine.
And, you are so upbeat, and positive, and
bright, and sunny.
And when you're with your family ... Oh, my
god! ... literally it pours out of you.
You're so driven.
Do you have a foot in the darkness?
Do you know how to balance?
How does that work for you?
Jason: Yeah.
I mean, actually you have to have both.
So if there's extreme darkness, there has
to be extreme light.
There's duality to everything.
[00:11:00] So, I just tend to bias towards
what I want to see in the world more, which
is joyfullness, which is being present, which
is being thankful.
So that's what drives me, it's the things
people told me I couldn't become.
It's the negative circumstances that I come
from.
I don't let that limit me at all.
That's my catalyst, because I look at it like,
"Okay, why not me/ I've already overcome this.
Why can't I go and start a company?
Why can't I build something that's meaningful?
Why can't I create this new paradigm shift
in the way we look at the world as a big,
giant super hero training facility."
[00:11:30] Because, if I looked at it the
other way and started to take the count of,
"Well, I cannot do this because of where I
come from.
I can't do this because of how I look.
I can't do this ..." I wouldn't start anything.
Everybody [inaudible 00:11:41] wake up each
day doing subtraction.
I look at my life as addition.
I wake up and say, "What can I do today to
add to my skill set?
What can I do today to add to someone else's
joy?
What can I do today to serve someone else?"
So when you keep a mindset of service, your
problems and that darkness become smaller,
because you're not going to focus on your
own insecurities, your own problems.
You're going to figure [00:12:00] out a way
to amplify someone else's experience.
So, I go through life looking at people as
an opportunity for me to serve.
Because, when I'm waiting on my blessing I
can be a blessing, and that's how I balance
that.
When you focus solely on your darkness, everything
becomes about you.
You become selfish, and you could be driven
to a point where it becomes toxic.
And, that's why you see some people implode
once they get to where they're going, because
they look up and no one around them really
wants them there.
For me, I have this mentality that if everyone
around me if fed and no one is starving, then
I don't have to worry about people being villainous
[00:12:30] or hungry and try to take from
me.
So, the way I feed is through time, through
joyfulness, through good energy.
Because, sometimes all you need to do is tell
a person that they matter and show up.
That's the greatest gift is to acknowledge
people in a world that's so busy and so hurried.
To slow down, and be present, and to acknowledge
a person's existence is, to me, how you balance
out the darkness with the light when you're
driven.
Tom: I love that.
I think that's amazing, and as somebody that
ascended so rapidly through Nike ... To move
[00:13:00] through a traditional culture like
that in a way that's positive is pretty spectacular.
Do you think that was part of why you were
able to move so quickly, because people wanted
you to win?
Jason: No, quite the opposite, quite the opposite.
No, no, no.
Tom: At least you're honest.
Jason: Yeah, I never assume people want me
to win.
Just like anybody, man, I've had my setbacks
in corporate, setbacks in life.
You know, my strategy is very simple.
I'm very honest with myself, so I figure out
the ways people can tell me no.
And then, I take that no off the table, so
[00:13:30] the last thing they can say to
me is a yes.
And, what I mean by eliminating the way people
can tell you no is taking an inventory of
your weaknesses, taking an inventory of your
gas in your office, your defense, your skillset,
your mindset, finding someone to learn from
or going and put yourself through a class
to learn it.
So, I knew when I got to Nike that I was very
good at drawing.
Drawing and designing are two different things.
I can draw anything, but designing something
is very different.
It's a process.
It's strategic.
It's intentional.
It's driven through research and empathy,
and I didn't have that skillset.
[00:14:00] So, I went and I found people that
did, and I learned from them.
But then, when I learned from them I added
my layer to it, which was narrative.
That was my core differentiator.
I said, "Everybody else can do that well.
I tell stories really, really well, so I'm
going to double down on being known for this
one thing.
But, I'm going to go and ask for help from
other people."
The second thing I did is I didn't focus heavily
on building deeper relationships in my discipline.
I went to parts of the company where they
normally didn't see designers, so I spent
time at supply chain, and finance, and inventory
management, and compliance, and legal.
And, [00:14:30] I asked them how did their
job impact my job.
So, I humbled myself, because I knew even
though I draw this picture somebody had to
have the budget.
Somebody had to get this thing produced.
Someone was making sure they shipped and got
through customs.
How did my job impact theirs and vice versa?
In doing that, my name was now in rooms of
really big decision makers that never would
have interfaced with me had I only focused
on being cool with the cool kids.
Tom: Right.
Jason: And so, my strategy is very ... It's
methodical.
It's almost like I look at life like chess.
I'm thinking five steps out, and in [00:15:00]
order to do that I have to be honest with
what I'm not good at.
I learned that from Michael.
He always would say, "Turn your weakness into
your strength."
And, you know, they said he didn't have a
jump shot.
He developed a jump shot.
He didn't have defense.
He won defensive player of the year.
So, every year I do a tear down and I do an
inventory of what I did well, what I wished
I could have done better, and what I liked
about the experience in between.
So, that's like I like, I wish, I wonder.
Tom: You actually write these things down?
Jason: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
That's my New Year.
I don't do New Year's resolutions.
I do like New Year's inventories and say,
"Okay"-
Tom: I like, I wish, I wonder.
Jason: I like, I wish, I wonder.
I liked [00:15:30] that I did this.
I wish I would have done that.
I wonder if I tried that what would have happened.
That constant introspection is almost like
... In a lot of ways it's driven through my
love for stoic philosophy.
I'm a big fan of Marcus Aurelius and the book
The Emperor's Handbook.
He did a very great job of jotting down his
thoughts in an introspective manner about
his troops, and his country, and what he wanted
to be as a leader.
And, I try to do that with myself.
At heart, I'm part Lucious Fox and part stoic
philosophy.
Tom: [00:16:00] One thing I love that I've
heard you talk about was how Marcus Aurelius
... Even though parts of his army wanted to
assassinate him and they were coming for him,
he didn't respond emotionally.
He didn't freak out.
There was an acceptance of, "Okay, this is
human nature.
This is like the game that we're playing."
Is that a nonemotional mindset that you try
to use as well?
Jason: Yeah, yeah.
I mean, your greatest enemy is your inner
me.
It's the conversation you have in your mind.
So, all my [00:16:30] heroes are people who
have mastered themselves not a discipline,
not an industry but themselves.
Bruce Lee, he mastered himself.
Marcus Aurelius, he mastered himself.
Batman mastered himself.
These are people, real or not, who figured
out that the battle that's within is greater
than the battle that's in the world.
So, once you're able to fight that consistently,
and calm yourself, and control yourself, and
be methodical and specific about how you respond,
nothing will surprise you.
You're immovable at that point.
You won't waiver.
[00:17:00] You won't break.
And, I always tell my kids, "Yo, you can bend.
That's okay, but you will never break."
Breaking is when you feel like you can't come
back from something.
Bending is when you get punched, but you get
back up.
It's a palm tree versus a dry twig.
Palm tree will bend over but they don't snap
when the wind blows.
And so, people like Marcus Aurelius are important
in my life, because you don't see that anymore.
You don't see people who have stuff thrown
at them and they respond with logic.
Critical discourse is no longer a art form.
[inaudible 00:17:29] and [00:17:30] learning
how to have a healthy debate is no longer
a practice.
It's just, "I go out.
I say what I want.
I don't think about the repercussions."
Words are things, and they leave a residue
of positivity or negativity on the person
and on the place where you say those things.
So, I really focus on making sure that the
words that come out of my mouth they bring
life they don't destroy.
And in order to do that, I have to check myself,
which is a constant battle.
Because, sometimes I just want to have my
stream of consciousness and just rant, [00:18:00]
but other times I know that it's not healthy.
Tom: I really wish you were a rapper.
Jesus, dude.
You really have an amazing way with not just
words, you have an amazing way with concepts.
And, I'm going to assume that it's because
you read so much.
I know you're a big fan of history.
How do you pick what to read?
You are clearly well read.
How do you decide?
Jason: I always ask people what they're reading.
So when I meet an interesting person, whether
it's [00:18:30] on a plane, or it's in a meeting,
or if it's conversations like this, I'm like,
"Yo, what books are you reading?"
Because, that's the quickest way to learn
from others.
But, also I try to get outside of my comfort
zone.
I break my own patterns.
Usually I want to go to fashion, and art,
and design sections in book stores, or online,
or browsing when I'm shopping.
But, I'll switch it up, and I'll say, "You
know what?
Let me go into a gardening book.
Let me just read gardening.
I don't know why.
Let me try this out today."
Because, I feel like there is a red thread
that connects every single thing in this planet.
[00:19:00] We talk about the golden section
and we talk about divine mathematics how everything
has a ratio and a proportion to it that makes
us unified.
I believe the same thing is true in information.
When you search for a consistency across multiple
buckets of knowledge then you realize that
the human experience is a shared experience.
Whether you love gardening, whether you love
physics and finance, or whether you love art
and fashion, there's something about those
things that exist in a way that's consistent.
So, I'm [00:19:30] just a big fan of searching
for that.
I don't reject knowledge.
I'm open to other people's opinions.
Right now, I'm reading a book called How Children
Succeed, a very compelling argument about
our education system and having the framework
of, "Do you focus on mastery of a skillset
or do you focus on determination and grit?
Which one is more important for children to
have?"
At the same time, I'm reading a book about
quantitative easing and why that became a
thing.
So, I try to find right brain and left [00:20:00]
brain concepts and read them at the same time.
I joke and say that ADD is a super power,
because I have ADD.
But, it's the way that that gives me that
balance, you know something creative and inspirational
and something highly analytical and technical.
I kind of have to do both at the same time.
Tom: So, where do you come down on the argument
about kids?
Do you think it's mastering a skill or do
you think it's grit and determination?
Jason: I think it starts with grit and determination,
which leads to mastery.
Because, without grit you don't stick at a
task.
It's like, if you want to perfect your jump
[00:20:30] shot you get in the gym and you
keep shooting, right?
That's grit.
After a while, you master your jump shot.
So, I think you need both.
It just depends on which one is encouraged
and celebrated.
I think we've over indexed on celebrating
mastery, and we've under indexed on celebrating
discovery and what you get through play and
failure.
Because, failure is a gift, because you learn
what you don't know at that point.
So, in our household we say, "Either we win
or we learn."
There's no such thing as losing.
You only lose when you stop trying, so as
long as you keep trying you won't lose.
You'll be further than when you started.
[00:21:00] So, I can't tell people how to
raise they're children, but I purposely give
my kids a safe, controlled environment to
fail in so that they relate the ... You realize
what you're made of when you get hit in the
face for this first time.
It's like, "Oh, I'm still alive.
Yeah, I got my tooth knocked out, but I'm
still standing."
So, I try to do that for them in a controlled
way, so that when they get into the world
and they start to have that interpersonal
dialogue over, "Oh, should I quit?
Oh, man, I'm so scared," the voice that's
in their head is a positive one and [00:21:30]
they know, "I did it before.
I can do it again."
So, I think you need both.
It just depends on how you reward and praise
the grit versus the mastery conversation.
Tom: You said that introspection is a huge
part of your success.
Did you learn that?
Is it something that people can improve on?
Jason: Yeah, it's something learned.
One, because I'm a middle child, so I had
no choice but to ... That was my way navigating
like, "Man, how do I figure out how to get
out of trouble, and how do I [inaudible 00:21:57]
not being blamed for stuff?"
But, [00:22:00] I think people can improve
on introspection.
And, how I do it in my life is I ask myself
whether it's a circumstance where a person
doesn't like me or it's a difficult situation,
I always stop and say, "Well, what did I do?
What did I do to cause this?"
Because, I contributed to it.
People talk about the concept of haters and
how you should be happy when you have haters,
because it means you're succeeding.
I look at it like, "Okay, there's a reason
that person hates me.
There's a reason."
Now, I may not have to agree with it.
It's none of my business to even know why,
but I have to acknowledge it.
I don't have to accept it, but [00:22:30]
I do have to acknowledge it.
And if there's a little bit of truth in everything
and that person hates me, then I have to say,
"Okay, am I showing up as arrogant and cocky
and triggering an insecurity in that person?
Am I acting selfish or ungrateful and that
person's like, 'Jason should be more thankful
for what he has.'What is it about me that
makes that person feel that way?"
And then, that forces me to take an inventory
once again like, "You know what?
Yeah, that tweet or that image, yeah, that
was kind of cocky.
Or that thing I did, I could see how that
person could not like me.
Okay, I need [00:23:00] to take that into
account."
Because, it's none of our business what people
think of us, but we do have to acknowledge
that if there is something out there and it's
a chance for me to get better I'm all for
it.
So, if a person has something to say about
me, positive or negative, I look at it as
a learning opportunity.
And, I force myself to listen even if don't
agree, because it gives me a chance to improve.
If you want to be the greatest at something,
you have to be open to improving.
There's no way around it.
You can't say, "I'm good.
I'm done.
That's it.
I'm the best ever, and I don't have to develop
a new skillset."
No, man, every day I'm searching for ways
to add to my [00:23:30] game.
I use a lot of sports analogies.
So, one day I have practice on my jump shot,
then it's my post moves, then it's my defense.
But, that's how I look at design.
It's like, one day it's design research.
The next day is business modeling.
The next day is sketching.
However I can get better that's where I want
to go, that's what I want to do.
Tom: Were there other things that Jordan taught
you specifically about becoming the greatest
or just getting ahead?
Jason: The people you surround yourself with.
Everybody that you put in your inner circle
[00:24:00] should have one thing that they
do better than you that way you're always
a student.
So if you look at Michael's inner circle,
it's people that have significant skillsets.
They're the Michael Jordans of their industry,
and he learns from them.
Which, it's fun and weird to say like, "Oh,
Michael Jordan," but I've surrounded myself
with Michael Jordans of their industries.
And, he talks in that way.
I try to find people that I wish I had their
skillset.
I befriend them, and I hang out with them,
and I learn from them.
And, it keeps you sharp.
It gives you a different set of inspiration
points to [00:24:30] pull from.
So, his philosophy ... And, I agree with it
... is the greatest, I would say, leaders
on the planet are also the greatest curators.
They don't create a lot, but they curate thoughts,
and they put it together, and they put their
perspective on it.
I try to do the same thing.
I'm like, "Man, this person is amazing at
this.
This person is amazing at that.
How can I learn from them and then put my
spin on it?"
That's helped me so much by being a curator,
because it gives you an embarrassment of riches
in terms of information.
And, information is the greatest medium [00:25:00]
to use to create, and if you have a single
focus and your information is limited then
your outcome, the product that you produce
are always the same just different versions
of the same thing.
So by hanging out with people who have knowledge
in areas where I don't, I feel like I get
[inaudible 00:25:15] unique inspiration.
Most designers don't even know who Marcus
Aurelius is.
I learned about him from hanging out with
the person who was a retired general, and
he was telling me about leadership from a
military perspective.
Tom: How'd you end up with a retired general?
Jason: Man, it's so random.
I was in an airport in Santa Barbara, and
[00:25:30] I asked this old gentleman, "What
are you reading?"
He was reading that book, and I was asking
him about why did he read it?
He was like, "Well, son, this is how leaders
are born, through war."
I was like, "What do you mean?"
I started asking him like, "Well, why?"
And, after about five whys he was just like,
"Listen, here's the deal, I'm going to give
you this book.
It's going to change your life.
It's going to show exactly why leadership
is critical to do anything great.
Like, you have to learn what it means to be
a leader.
Leadership is not a position, it's a behavior,
and you can improve that behavior.
It's not like you get a title and now [00:26:00]
you're a leader.
Like, no."
You know, my dad always says, "If you're a
leader and no one is following you, you're
just a dude taking a walk."
So, he gave me the book, and the coincidentally
a young man that I was mentoring-
Tom: And the book was Emperor's Handbook?
Jason: The Emperor's Handbook, yeah.
Tom: [crosstalk 00:26:13] sorry.
Jason: And, the young man I was mentoring
sent me a copy of the book.
So I was like, "Okay, the universe is telling
me to read it."
Tom: Wow.
Jason: I'm a big fan of just talking to people
randomly all the time.
I hate seeing people sit by themselves and
no one acknowledges them, so I'm the person
that's like, "Hey, how are you doing?
Good morning."
Strike up a conversation [00:26:30] and just
put good energy into their world and walk
away.
And normally, I walk away with unique contacts,
or unique experience, or, in this case, new
knowledge.
I don't know, man.
I'm just excited about life.
I'm just a giant kid.
Tom: I was going to ask you how you stay open.
Like, one of the things that I think is most
critical ... Because, a lot of people have
encountered the same people and ideas that
you have, but they haven't been changed by
it.
Jason: Yeah.
Tom: And, that to me is like when people ask
me, "How do you get ahead?
[00:27:00] How do you be successful?"
It's like, "You have to open yourself up to
actually being changed.
Like, when you read a book stop and like really
think, 'How can I use this?
How do put it to work?'"
Is that something that's just always come
naturally to you, or was that an insight someone
gave you?
Jason: Yeah.
You know, I think it came naturally, because
I was, like I said, as a kid ... You know,
I joke about being a middle child.
I joke about being quiet, but when you're
quiet and you're smaller than everyone, and
you're an introvert, you can hear more than
everyone else, because you don't talk that
often.
So, [00:27:30] you pull in information, and
you can get better at it.
So, I learned how to speak publicly from watching
very confident, popular people.
Because, that wasn't me as a kid.
My older brother was the man.
Everybody, every girl, dudes, everybody loved
him.
I wasn't that kid.
I was the weird, little nerd who ... I was
like the black Loonie.
Yeah, it was great.
I mean, it worked out for me.
But, just by being quiet, and still, and being
invisible that became my super power.
I was able to see everything [00:28:00] and
learn, and I get better added to skillset.
So when it was my time to have something to
say, I felt more confident.
And so, I think it's not about being open
to change.
It's about acknowledging that you have to
change in order to grow, because no one is
comfortable in ambiguity.
That's a lie.
People say, "Oh, man, are you-" That's a lie.
I talk about it often, you have to be willing
to go into ambiguous situations but also acknowledge
that change is part of life.
You grow up.
You leave home.
You change addresses.
You change jobs.
Change is a constant theme in our existence.
[00:28:30] The sooner you become comfortable
with that concept, you're free at that point.
Because, you're open, as you say, to letting
the universe, letting whatever it is you pray
to or believe in, divinely inspire you and
guide you in a way that forces you to remember
that it's not about you.
It's not about you.
This moment isn't happening by you it's happening
through you.
So, that's what I do.
I always tell myself, "This isn't mine.
This is something that was given to me, this
little moment.
What do I want to do with it?
Do I want [00:29:00] to covet it?
Or, do I want to create something that I can
share?"
And, I want to create something I can share,
so that helps me evolve.
It helps me stay in constant motion, because
I don't want to be stagnant.
I don't want to be a [designosaur 00:29:10],
so I have to evolve.
Tom: A designosaur?
Jason: Yeah.
Tom: I like that.
Do you meditate?
Or, do you just think while you drive?
These words are the result of a lot of hours
of thinking.
Jason: Yeah.
Tom: When do you do said thinking?
Jason: All the time.
I never stop thinking.
Tom: Do you carve out like quiet time or anything?
Jason: No, [00:29:30] no.
I would say, my quiet time is when I'm serving
other people.
That's my meditation is doing something for
someone else.
Because, when I'm quiet the way my mind works
is I need to create.
If I'm in a room and I'm trying to breathe
and close my eyes, I'm thinking like, "Oh,
man, I should draw that.
I should make that."
I wake up, and I start making it.
So in order for me to turn off my brain, I
have to do something that I won't benefit
from, which is literally helping someone else.
Whether it's a service project in my community,
jumping [00:30:00] on a phone with someone
who needs advice, or showing up at a friend's
house who is feeling a little bit down and
depressed, that's my form of meditation is
service.
And in doing that, it frees me from the burden
of having to be perfect, having to have the
answer.
So, when I come back to putting on my thinking
cap I'm [inaudible 00:30:18] in my thoughts,
because I've had that breather to focus on
someone else.
And, it's helpful.
It's a helpful exercise to give your ... Some
people do it through mindfulness.
They have the coloring books for adults.
My version [00:30:30] is, like I said, showing
up and serving people.
Tom: So, you're new company is about facilitating
play.
It has a heavy show involvement if I'm not
mistaken.
What do you do to stay ... Because, you've
said like, "I really want to be childlike.
I want the mind of a child."
What do you do to cultivate that?
Jason: Yeah.
Hang out with kids.
Tom: Literally?
Jason: Literally, yeah hang out with my kids.
I mean, they're my favorite people on the
planet.
I volunteer a lot.
I read a lot of comic books.
I look at the world in a childlike [00:31:00]
way.
Adults walk through cities and they look straight.
Kids walk through cities and they look up.
So, I walk through cities and I look up.
I try to see the world how kids see the world.
I try to look at everything with fresh eyes.
I never just get fixated on my destination.
I keep my head on a swivel.
I look for those moments of delight and joy
that exist.
Tom: What I find really interesting about
you is, if I were to take any three to five
minute segment of this interview you're going
to sound like different people.
From the moment where you were talking about
like, "I'm going to be [00:31:30] the best
in the world," to like, "I just want the mind
of a child, and I walk around and experience
things," that's really interesting.
But, what makes it the more fascinating is
you're not an empty dreamer.
You're not somebody who just pontificates.
When your brother ... I think you were high
school-ish ... worked at Foot Locker ...
Jason: Yep.
Tom: And, you would go and quiz him about
the shoes, the boxes, the everything so that
you could get a better sense of how you could
design shoes.
Jason: Yep.
Tom: And then, when you go to Nike ... You've
already talked [00:32:00] about like going
to the different departments, finding out
how it all puts together ... But, traveling
around to China, and finding out how to use
different textiles and materials, and you've
talked about spider silk and finding ... How
do you take all the ideas ... Like, you sketch
something out.
How do you go from this is just an idea ... And
most people stop here at the drawing ... to
weaving spider silk into made from a very
specific place in China that you know the
manufacturer.
You've been on the floor.
How do you bring it all together?
Jason: Yeah, so I think [00:32:30] ideas remain
ideas until you give them a deadline.
So I give myself forcing functions.
So, I have-
Tom: Forcing functions?
Jason: Forcing functions.
Tom: What's that?
Jason: A forcing function is an intentional
behavior that you do consistently.
So one example is, on my social media feed
I have this thing I started called 77 Days
of Joy.
So, now that I'm ramping up to launch my company
... It was 77 days from when I started this
first post ... I gave myself a forcing function
where one time a day I have to think about
something that I have [00:33:00] in my life
that brings me joy.
So as an entrepreneur, it's very difficult.
You have hard days, days you just want to
throw the towel in.
So, I gave myself this thing that I publicly
said, "Every day I'm going to post one thing
that makes me happy for 77 days straight."
Having that as a forcing function makes me
stop, think about what I'm thankful for, post,
and then I realize, "Okay, it's all good.
The day is okay."
So, I do this same thing with the design process.
I have an idea, and I'll be like, "all right,
how [00:33:30] might we make people feel like
they can fly?"
And then I say, "Okay flight, what's the principles
of flight?
It takes lift.
It takes drag.
Okay, the underlying principle is propulsion.
Okay propulsion, what does that mean for human
beings?
Is it the quickest first step?
Is it leaping ability?
Is it getting back on defense?
Is it heel to toe transition?
Okay, you know what?
That could be.
It could be quick first step.
How will we do quick first step?
We've got to reduce the weight."
So, it starts in this big, massive, hair,
audacious [inaudible 00:33:55], and then it
goes into the idea.
And then, I decipher the idea [00:34:00] in
very tactical and tangible steps.
And as I'm continuing this dialogue, I start
to see, "Okay, there's an example of a product
here that does it."
That becomes inspiration.
Then, I find the material vendor who made
that product, and I call them.
So, all I really do is I don't settle for
the idea.
The idea is not the reward.
It's taking the idea and seeing someone react
to it.
In order to get from A to B you need forcing
functions, you need deadlines, you need a
process.
And, its so crazy, because creative people
say, "Oh, I don't believe in the word process,"
but you need it.
You [00:34:30] need guardrails, because If
you don't know how to say no to stuff then
everything becomes and opportunity.
So my design process, like I said, I start
with the idea, then I dissect it, dissect
it, dissect it until it's very simple and
I can say it in one sentence.
And then, I try to bring it to life.
Because, if you can't say it to an 8 year
old and a 88 year old it's too complicated,
so that's my barometer.
Tom: That's interesting.
Jason: I explain it to my grandma, and if
she says, "Baby, I don't know what you're
talking about," I'm like, "Okay."
I explain it to my daughter.
Then, when she gives me the Tim Duncan face
like, "Dad, I don't get it."
[00:35:00] That's my barometers my grandmother
and my daughter, because they're very honest
with me.
So, if I can get both of them to understand
and say, "Oh, that's cool," then I did my
job.
So that's another thing, forcing functions
and trusted editors.
So, those tow things helped me get from my
idea to execution.
So, the trusted editors hold you accountable,
and the forcing functions push you to make
a decision.
Without those two then you're just spinning
your own wheel.
Tom: Do you have a certain process for ... [00:35:30]
So, we've got our guardrails.
We have a deadline, so it's not just a dream
it's now a goal.
But, it involves actually going out and figuring
out textiles.
It goes from, "How do I actually translate
this?"
... I'm actually maybe more fascinated about
what lead you in to your brother's store,
because you had no resources ... then, when
you're with Nike and there's enough energy
where you go around the corner and just say,
"Hey, where do we source spider silk?"
But, how did you break down that process before
you got to Nike of [00:36:00] just ...So,
maybe forget the shoes.
But, you convinced your college not only to
let you into a degree that they didn't think
you were ready for, but you convinced them
to let you do your own major that didn't actually
exist.
How do you ... Like, who do I talk to?
What do I say?
How do you go through that process of breaking
these things down into executable steps?
Jason: Yep, great question.
It starts with the [00:36:30] willingness
to put yourself out there, ask the question
that's uncomfortable.
At CCS when I started my own major, everybody
that went to that school wanted to do cars.
I was like, "I can't afford a car.
My car is footwear.
That's my mode of transportation.
So, I want to take those principles and apply
it to this discipline, but there was no way
to do it.
And I figured, I had never seen someone create
their own major, why not me?
Why not just try?
Tom: Right.
Jason: That's it.
I mean, there's no secret sauce.
I know what I want to try, and I go and ask
the person that I think can help [00:37:00]
me.
And if they can't help me, I say, "Well, could
you tell me who can?
Can you refer me to someone else?"
Normally, people will.
If they don't want to help you, they'll push
you off on someone, which may be the biggest
blessing ever.
Or, they'll connect you to someone tat can
help.
So, it's just about putting yourself out there
and going to the person you have access to.
You don't have to have access to the right
person.
You just have to have access to a person that
you feel comfortable sharing your idea with.
That person may know someone.
And if they don't, now you have a person who
at least is going [00:37:30] to help you think
through how you move forward.
So, I search for the experts I have access
to.
So, my brother was a expert at footwear.
He was what I had access to.
He worked at Foot Locker, which was, to me,
the closest thing to the footwear industry,
right?
So, I went to him.
He's my expert.
"Can I see the product?
Can I learn about it?"
Then I learned about the concept of a sales
rep.
"Oh, the sales rep works for the company?
They actually ... Oh, okay.
Cool.
Let me talk to the sales rep."
And then, the sales rep said, "Yeah, you know,
we have this department called HR where you
can get an internship."
"What's a internship?"
"Oh, we give college kids [00:38:00] jobs
during the summer.""So, I'd have to go to
college?
Okay.
Well, which colleges?"
"Well, I don't know," and then I'd ... So,
you can see how it builds on itself.
It compounds on itself.
But, I tell people, "Start where you're at.
Use the people you have access to and keep
asking them questions, and ask them to connect
you to one person that they know.
And then, you see this hockey stick effect
where you get exponential contacts, exponential
opportunities, exponential networking all
through starting with what's in front of you.
So many time people get discouraged, [00:38:30]
because they feel like they need to jump to
the most visible person, the famous person,
the powerful person.
But, the person at the front desk, the admin
of that executive is more important than the
executive.
The admin controls the calendar.
Talk to them.
Get to know them.
Ask them how you should approach it.
And then, he or she will put you in touch
with the right person to grow you and groom
you.
Tom: All right, super random right turn here
... You've talked about your friend who got
shot as being the starting gun to your life,
but I can never quite figure out why.
Jason: [00:39:00] Yeah.
Tom: Why do you see that as the starting gun
for your life?
Jason: Well, I mean where I grew up, and where
kids are still growing up, they don't believe
that being 21 is real thing.
You're basically living to make it to the
age of 16, and anything after that is kind
of like, "I don't know what happens next."
So at the age of 14 when I saw that, it made
me realize several things.
One, I didn't want that to be my outcome.
Two, that no matter where I am [00:39:30]
in life, no matter what's going on, no matter
what disagreement I have with a person violence
is not the answer.
So, I wanted to be a person of peace, a person
of great compassion and love.
And, I knew I needed to figure out a way to
get myself out of an environment that would
turn my heart cold.
So, if stayed there and I started to accept
that as my reality and I normalized this extreme
violence, I normalized how people were systematically
put in socioeconomic situations where they
started to have [00:40:00] these savage behaviors,
and I accepted that as my reality, I gave
up on my life.
Going back to the age of seven when I was
already spared once, I felt like it would
be a waste of this gift I was given if I sat
here and I settled for this as my reality.
I told myself, "One of us has to make it out.
Why not me?
And if I make it out, I'm not going to pretend
like I'm not from there.
I'm going to celebrate it to let people know
that yes things go wrong in this community.
Yes, there's violence.
Yes, there's poverty, but there's also beauty,
there's creativity, entrepreneurship, possibilities.
[00:40:30] We just have to look at it a different
way."
The children in this neighborhood, the people
I grew up with, they're not bad people.
They just don't have hope.
They don't have resources.
So, when you don't have any hope, you don't
have any resources, and you're angry because
the world walks right by you and blames you
for your circumstances ... Even though you
didn't create them, you were born into them
... you lash out in a way that's self-destructive.
And, that's what Chicago was for me.
It still is like that ...Very limited jobs,
very limited opportunities, and it results
in a lot of activity that is negative.
[00:41:00] But, I just use it as motivation.
Because, if I can make it through that, if
I can see that and I still see the world for
what it could become and I still have a growth
mindset instead of a fixed mindset, then I
make it possible for someone else from my
neighborhood to succeed.
Because, everything I do is not for my own
benefit.
I just believe that I have to live a life
where I find the person who's going to replace
me at my job.
And whether that kid is from Chicago, or from
Columbia where my wife is from, or from Bangladesh,
or from Japan, I don't care.
But, my life's story should be an example
of what's possible when you [00:41:30] just
fully believe in yourself without any fear.
Because, I don't look at it as me running
from Chicago.
I was running towards what I believed I could
be in my life, which is the exact person I
am today.
And, I didn't want to waste my life, because
I knew that it would be disrespectful to my
two friends who would never have the opportunities
that I had.
There was moments where one of them who was
involved in that situation ... Right when
I moved and went away to college he pulled
me to the side and he said, "Listen, I'm going
to die in Chicago, [00:42:00] but you, you're
not.
Like, you're different than us.
You need to go.
You need to do something with your life, because
none of us will."
For some people that's a heavy burden, but
for me I took that as like that's my mission
to not waste my life, to not waste my gift,
to not waste my blessings.
Because, they didn't have the same opportunity.
So, my mission is not to broken adult.
It's to build stronger children.
Because, those stronger children grow up to
be broken adults, and they grow up to do the
things that my friends did.
So, all I'm doing with every project I work
on is trying to save my friends before they
turn into [00:42:30] those two people.
Tom: Wow.
Wow.
You've said that minorities and people that
grow up hard have some of the same skills
or develop some of the same skills that the
most successful entrepreneurs have to develop.
What are those skills, and why do you think
that becomes such a great proving ground?
Jason: Yeah, I think when we talk about start
up culture we talk about being lean, and efficient,
and being scrappy.
I call that being broke.
[00:43:00] I call that being [inaudible 00:43:02].
When you grow up ... I always joke, because
I have some really, really, really successful
friends that are entrepreneurs, and they say,
"Yeah, man, it was so hard, man.
It was for a long time we were eating Ramen
noodles."
And I'm like, "Bro, I grew up eating Ramen
noodles.
That was what I ate, so you ..." We've almost
turned struggle and entrepreneurship world
into this badge of honor.
Like, unless you eat Ramen noodles then you're
not scrappy.
Tom: Right.
Jason: So while we celebrate that as an [00:43:30]
entrepreneurial trait, we also demonize it
for people who don't have a lot of things.
We say, "Oh, why don't you just pull yourself
up by your boot straps?"
"Oh, why don't you go out and you fight for
it.
Get a good education.
Get a good job."
It's like, "Yeah, but what if I have to choose
between reading a book and learning or getting
a job picking fruit, because I'm 14 and my
family needs me to contribute to the overall
household finances?"
Tom: Right.
Jason: So, the best entrepreneurs that I've
met have come from other countries where they
didn't have anything, and so when they talk
about, "Hey, here's [00:44:00] a million dollars.
Be scrappy."
They stretch out a million dollars for a really
long time.
They take on multiple jobs.
If they don't know how to do something they
learn it themselves.
That's exactly what happens, at least in my
humble opinion, for people who don't grow
up with a lot or people who are often regarded
as a second class citizen or a minority ... Whether
you're a woman, or a person of color, or a
person with a disability.
Because, I think we don't talk enough about
disabilities as a minority group.
They're severely overlooked.
You have to have a sense of resilience.
You have to have a sense of self-confidence
and fearlessness [00:44:30] when you're in
that environment, because it's bold to come
from nothing and say, "I'm going to become
something," with no evidence of your greatness,
no family name, no money, no degree.
And, you say, "I'm going to be something bigger
than what this world tells me I can be."
That takes a huge amount of ... Yeah, I want
to say the word, but I-
Tom: Balls?
Jason: Yeah.
Tom: Would that be the word?
Jason: Yeah, I was trying to find a more eloquent
way to say it, but balls.
It just takes that, and I think it's the same
thing with an entrepreneur.
Whether you come from a family that's well
off to start, anything that hasn't [00:45:00]
been done before ... To put anything new into
the world, it's hard.
It's really hard.
So, there is no difference between, I would
say, an entrepreneur and a person who comes
from a impoverished background, because it's
the same thing.
You're overcoming the odds.
Tom: Right.
Jason: That's it.
I'm a unicorn, because I made it out of Chicago
not because I have a billion dollar company.
That's the thing that people need to realize.
I'm a walking miracle.
The fact that I'm a young, black male, I'm
stable, I have my wife and kids, I'm doing
something positive ... In the eyes of society
I'm not supposed to exist.
But, [00:45:30] that's a false narrative,
because I know millions of dudes like that.
Same thing with entrepreneurs who are successful.
"Oh, man, this one person built this billion
dollar company.
Man, that's ... Man, you're a unicorn."
Like, "No, but what about the person who did
the 100 million dollar company?
Or the person who exited for 50?
That's still successful.
Tom: Yeah.
Jason: That's still success, but, like I said,
we've romanticized it.
We want the most extreme versions, like the
kid who grew up in a cave and became a CEO
or the person who exited for 20 billion.
But, there are these different levels of success
[00:46:00] in between that we need to acknowledge.
And so, that's why I talk about the similarities
between people who are impoverished and people
who are overlooked in [inaudible 00:46:08],
because it is the same things.
You're overcoming the odds.
Tom: Right.
So, what advice do you have for the kid that
has to take the job picking berries?
What do you tell them?
Jason: I tell them that use it as building
blocks.
So, how I started an entrepreneurship was
I used to cut grass and shovel snow.
I'm not a fan [00:46:30] of gardening.
It's not my thing.
It was a means to an end.
I wanted to buy sneakers.
I needed to pay for my own school clothes
and take care of myself, so I found a way
to work.
But, what I found in that experience was how
to talk to people, how to set my prices, how
to negotiate, how to schedule, how to organize.
So, don't look at it as a burden like, "Oh,
I've got to do this for my family."
Look at it like, "Okay, what skillset can
I learn from this that's transferable to something
else?"
So if you're a kid that has to wake up at
4:00 in the morning or 3:30 in the morning
to go and help your [00:47:00] family pick
fruit, think about it this way ... Okay, you're
picking fruit.
You're waking up early.
[inaudible 00:47:05] journey, are there areas
of improvement that you specifically are uniquely
gifted to disrupt?
Is it, "Hey, maybe there's a system where
me as a child of a migrant worker ... Maybe
I get a different type of reminder on my phone.
Maybe I can create an app.
Maybe I can do this.
Maybe I can do that."
Look for ways to leverage your circumstances
and turn them into opportunities, and that's
all I did.
The fact that I had to shovel snow and cut
grass [00:47:30] to buy my own school clothes,
I started to realize the value of money.
I realized that not everything I paid for
was really worth it, so I'm very particular
about craft and how things are made.
Because, I think about that when I make a
product.
Somebody worked really hard to save all that
money, and this may be the first time they
can afford something that I worked on.
I have to have a good quality product.
Tom: I love that.
Jason: I have to figure out something that's
more than just a shoe.
It has to be a story.
So, all these little things it's just reframing.
Man, it's not a struggle.
It's an opportunity.
It's not a problem.
It's a possibility.
[00:48:00] I don't have a fixed mindset.
I don't feel sorry for myself.
I look at it as a opportunity, so we got to
kero encouraging these kids like, "Yes, you
should climb, but also ask you're climbing
don't put your joy in the future.
Find joy in the moment.
Even if it's the most hard, labor intensive
work, demeaning work possible, find joy in
that work.
Because, that will help you in the future
when you're a leader, because you'll be able
to say, 'Man, I get what it's like to be a
janitor, because I was a janitor.'"
Like, I've cleaned toilets.
I was [00:48:30] a mover, a janitor.
I know what that's like, so I treat those
people with so much respect because I know
what that person is doing.
And, that's given me a very unique sense of
empathy for my users when I create products.
So, my whole thing, I guess in summary, is
look at your struggle as immersive empathy.
Put yourself in this position to learn, and
then figure out how you can help other people
from your struggle.
Tom: "Look at your struggle as immersive empathy,"
that's amazing, amazing.
All right, really fast ... We're running out
of [00:49:00] time, which I'm horrified by.
I could go on with you forever.
Are you actually thinking of running for mayor?
Jason: I am.
Tom: Of Chicago?
Jason: I am.
Tom: So, tell me about that.
Jason: As you can tell from my life story,
I'm not a person that complains.
I'm a person that tries to bring solutions.
I think mayors or city officials of the future
have to understand three things: the technology
environment, which is why I specifically went
to Silicon Valley to have credibility; Two,
how to build from scratch, so entrepreneurial
endeavors ... I think [00:49:30] mayors have
to reinvent cities completely in this next
generation.
Like, we're going to have a very unique American
population that will be more transient.
They won't buy homes.
They won't drive regular cars.
So, you have to redesign the city, so you
need a entrepreneurial mindset as a mayor
... Thirdly, being independently wealthy,
which is why I started a company, because
I don't want to have to take money from people.
I don't want private interests fueling how
I go about governing a city.
I want it to be about the people completely.
So, all my moves are very specific and strategic,
because I need to signal [00:50:00] when I
do run for mayor at whatever period that I've
built business.
I understand technology, and infrastructure,
and where our country is headed.
And, I'm not doing this for the money, or
the power, or prestige.
I'm doing it because it's the right thing
to do.
So when I go back and I run for mayor of Chicago,
I'm excited because I see the city as the
world's most open air, beautiful, architectural
museum.
So, what the beautiful thing about museums?
You see something, you learn something from
it.
So, I want to turn Chicago into a open air
learning environment.
Everything should be something [00:50:30]
you can interact with and learn from.
So, when you want to have a smart city it's
not just streetlights and parking meters.
It's everything.
The school system, the water, the economic
opportunities, the food, everything has to
be interactive.
Everything has to be part of a big ecosystem.
So, I'm excited, because I put my goals out
that so that I hold myself accountable.
So when I do run for mayor, nobody will be
surprised.
People may laugh when they hear it.
you know, how's a kid dressed like this going
to do it?
But, people have laughed before, and I've
done it before.
So when I do [00:51:00] run, I plan on winning.
Tom: One thing you said about living your
dream out loud naysayers that I found incredibly
moving was you said, "You have to get numb
to the criticism before you can ignore it,
and to get numb to it you have to like hear
it."
That's really moving to me that you're putting
it out there not because you think that, "Oh,
I'll put it out and everyone's going to rush
to my aid."
You're putting it out, because you know that
some people will help some are going to attack,
and you've got to get very used to that.
You've got to be very resilient to fight your
way through it.
I also loved ... You called [00:51:30] naysayers,
"they're like defenders trying to stop me
from scoring."
What do you mean by that?
Jason: Yeah.
I mean, the goal, whether it's metaphorical
or if it's literal, for me is to finish my
race, meaning my life, sprinting across the
finish line.
I'm not going to limp across the finish like
beat up.
I'm going to sprint across the finish line
of my life.
And so, the people who stand in front of me
who try to stop me I love it, because I was
a running back.
So, I'm going to run through you, over you,
around you.
[00:52:00] Please, please, please, step up.
Please, get in front of me.
Please, try to stop me, because that's the
only way I get better.
And, the reason why I say my goals out loud
... I explain it to my like, "The thing about
something that is scary ... Because it's scary
to say you want to run for mayor.
People can make fun of me for that, but then
that fear won't conquer me if I say it's a
human being, another person.
That's the hardest thing is to talk about
something you're afraid of to another person
and look them in the eye and say, "I don't
know how I do that.
Am I smart enough?
Am I qualified?
But my dream is to be mayor [00:52:30] of
Chicago one day."
That's scary to say.
But, the one thing that that does for me is
when I say it and that person doesn't laugh
at me, that person doesn't look at me crazy,
that person doesn't say, "Ah, dude, you're
stupid," then I've conquered my fear.
You have to get it out of your head in order
to conquer it.
You cannot conquer what you do not acknowledge,
and I acknowledge my fears and insecurities
in front of other people so I can conquer
and master them and move onto the next thing.
And so, when I think about haters and defenders
and all that, it's like, "Man, the only reason
they can win is if I don't talk about what
I'm afraid of."
When I say that first, [00:53:00] then what
do they have?
What could they say?
What could they say about me that I haven't
already acknowledge?
So, it removes the fear, and fear is what
stifles so many people from trying to do anything
great in life, fear of failure, fear of rejection.
So, I address it.
I conquer it, and I move on.
Tom: I love that.
All right, before I ask my last question where
can these guys find you online?
Jason: They can hit me @JasonMayden on every
social platform.
I'm pretty simple.
J-A-S-O-N-M-A-Y-D-E-N on Instagram, on Twitter.
Facebook is just my regular [00:53:30] name.
I'm a regular dude.
There's no special like JNasty59 ... None
of that stuff, none of that stuff.
I'm just very conservative with my naming
on social, so pretty easy to find me.
Tom: All right, fair enough.
What is the impact that you want to have on
the world?
Jason: The impact I want to have on the world
is to encourage, enhance, and enable pure
physical play for every child.
And, I qualify a child as anyone with imagination.
So, if I could have everybody feel like their
best play memories are inspired and encouraged
by the work that I do in my [00:54:00] life,
then that's a life worth living.
Tom: Wow.
That's amazing.
Jason, thank you so much for coming to the
show, man.
Jason: Thank you, [inaudible 00:54:04].
Tom: That was incredible.
Jason: Appreciate it.
Thank you, [inaudible 00:54:06].
Tom: All right.
Guys, he may not have a fancy name, but I'm
telling you until he cuts his hiphop album
I will not be satisfied with life.
And, I think that it will be an amazing platform
for him to run for mayor off of the success
of a hiphop artist.
And, I say that I'm actually only mildly tongue
in cheek.
I'm deadly serious.
Like, go back listen to this episode.
I always tell people to listen to things on
[2x 00:54:29].
Especially me, I can't [00:54:30] stand myself
at [1x 00:54:31].
But, go back and listen to this one again
on 1x.
He threw away as a offhanded comment like
86 of the most powerful phrases I think I've
ever heard in my life, not the least of which
is immersion empathy.
Go back and watch it again.
It's incredible.
I was freaking out.
You gave me the chills.
Literally, this guy is amazing.
And one of the things we didn't even get a
chance to talk about, if he had stayed at
Nike I swear Phil Knight would be sweating
right about now [00:55:00] that he was going
to take his job.
I mean, just that level of ascension so quickly
through a company is literally magical.
To have made it your dream and to be a kid
from the South Side of Chicago that has a
vision of where he's going to go ... He put
a picture of the Nike campus on his ceiling
at college to remind himself that it was a
real place and it wasn't a fantasy land, and
that if he worked towards it he could actually
make it real.
To have that level of execution to go in and
talk to your brother and look at the boxes
that the shoes come in ... To go and talk
to the sales agent and figure out what that
means and ask one person to the next to the
next ...
He got [00:55:30] rejected from Nike multiple
times, kept coming back.
Literally, forced that dream to come true.
Meets Jordan in his first week there, if I'm
not mistaken.
Drinks everything he can from Jordan, learning
at all times like a sponge, learning introspection
... Even just the first three minute talk
that he gave at the beginning of this is transformative
if you let it be.
Guys, this is one of the most incredible stories
of somebody setting their mind to something
and making it real.
Starting from nowhere USA and literally making
it happen.
[00:56:00] Watch this one again.
He's got a lot of amazing videos out there.
Go check them out.
You won't regret it.
All right, this is a weekly show.
If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe.
And, until next time, my friends, be legendary.
Take care.
[crosstalk 00:56:11].
I'm buying that mother fucking hiphop album
[inaudible 00:56:14].
Hey everybody.
Thanks so much for joining us for another
episode of Impact Theory.
If this content is adding value to your life,
our one ask is that you go to iTunes and Stitcher
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Thank you guys so much for being a part of
this community.
And, until next time be legendary my friends.
