Episode 8: How to find your purpose and build a 6 figure business with Josh Brnjac

Narrator: Welcome to the Unfair Advantage Project – unique perspectives, practical insights, and unexpected discoveries directly focused on giving you the unfair advantage. Introducing your hosts, Nadia Hughes and Terence Toh.

Terence: Welcome to the Unfair Advantage Project, I’m Terence Toh. I’m the Founder and Managing Director of StrategiQ Corporation and I have my co-host with me today.

Nadia: Nadia Hughes and I am Director from Smart Business Solutions.

Terence: And today we’ve got a very interesting guest Josh Brnjac from Brnjac Creative. Welcome Josh.

Josh: Thank you for having me.

Nadia: And we met at a, just a networking event.

Josh. Yeah.

Terence: And I saw you do a presentation and there are a few things that stood out to me. The first thing is obviously, to most people, your age.

Josh: Yes. That’s true.

Terence: Very young entrepreneur. And I was really impressed by that. I think most of us. And I’m sure we’re go over this. At 16 we’ve got the entrepreneurial spirit that you’ve displayed so far so really impressed by that. But to begin with, maybe just tell us a little bit about yourself. Who is Josh Brnjac and what you get up to?

Josh: That’s a good question. Yeah. Well thank you so much for having me. But yeah, I really never saw myself, like obviously because of my age, as well. I never saw myself in business. I just knew from as young as I could remember. Like always wanting to be known through one thing or another, for something that was greater than myself. If that made any sense. And in a really basic form obviously when I was younger. But then that sort of developed. And then I went through this, obviously we’ll chat more about it today. But I’m originally from South Africa and moved to Australia with my family at the age of six or seven. And obviously immigrating to new countries does a lot to as a family but also mentally, financially and all of that. And I remember going through this time where it was a sort of low, the stock time, but also, we’re reconnected back with that, not purpose but this little I think nagging which I think is a conviction now within myself from a young age to be known for something greater than myself. So out of that time, I decided that my purpose was to resource other people, projects, communities, and ventures that positively impact or eventually positively change the lives of other people. So, I didn’t know what that looked like but I knew I wanted to do that and that was good enough for me at the time. I knew I wanted to wake up and actually do that. So, the first thing that, that sort of aligned with that purpose that I decided at around the age of 12, was a photography business. I sort of found the passion and the love of photography. And then there’s always this thing I had for business and decided to merge the two into really basic photography business. In like five or six, that sort of evolved over time and to what’s known as locally Brnjac Creative which is a creative agency and that’s taken me on a on a world of experiences which has been really really exciting. And I think, especially in Australia, we have so many opportunities like that especially for young people. So, I love being able to share my story and see what other young people are doing in Australia because it’s pretty amazing. And then out of that in the creative agency was just visual content creation. And I developed this passion for working with online retailers, in fashion specifically. So, I started to different business ideas online that were both in two different industries and both sort of miserably failed when they started. Or should I say before they actually release. That’s even something in fail but it didn’t. Fail in the most miserable way failure can happen I guess. But I’m like well if I fell two times why not fail a third?

Nadia: That’s pretty strong.

Josh: Yeah. And then I started the business called Gentlemen Australia which is an online fashion retailer focused on eventually changing the way millennials shop online. But decided to start it for first just an online fashion retailer that would sell fashion and independent fashion labels, as well as bigger fashion labels, to the millennial market both men and woman equally. So now we’re here today and I am running those businesses both full time and dropped out of traditional schooling in Year 8 and out of online schooling earlier this year. And pursuing both businesses full time and seeing whether those both will take me to success. That’s a little bit tiny bit about myself and businesses.

Terence: That’s because and I think there’s actually you’ve given us a lot to explore from there. There’s one thing I just want to come back to because I really want to kind of go through your journey and some of the key moments were for you to get from the age of 12 trying to start to get out there and start doing stuff which is pretty cool. But one of the things that I really noticed you spoke about, and correct me if I’ve got this kind of slightly wrong, you spoke about purpose. You said be really strong on purpose and you kind of said that you didn’t just find purpose, purpose found you. From my memory. I thought it was a really strong idea, that purpose has found you. But I guess what interests me is how do you think that happened? What makes that happen especially at that early stage in your life?

Josh. That’s really true. So, yeah. Like what you just touching base on, there is that, I have the sort of thing that I found in my experience is that we don’t choose dreams, dreams choose us.

Terence: Yeah.

Josh: And that’s been really apparent for me especially in the past few months of doing business and everything that’s happened. And I think the reason why I found it from a young age is because, and this is a really interesting question I was actually talking about on last night, and it’s asking yourself what do I love? Like what do I really love to do? But the problem is people stop there and that’s just one side of the equation. But the most important thing as well, and I think even more important than asking yourself what do I love is, well what do I passionately hate? And I was like I didn’t know I was asking myself that but I was. And out of that, you sort of see huge changes in our world, looking back on history, and you see that people have changed and society massively. Not only for a love of let’s say world peace or everyone does getting along but of let’s say hate for injustice or hate for poverty like Martin Luther King who hated the battles between the white brother and the black brother I was talking about the other night. But out of that, you turn that change into, what I said before, a conviction. And he found what he passionately loves but that wasn’t enough. He found out what he then passionately hated and used that to drive the love in to creating change that would then turn that let’s say Martin Luther King, that oppression, and that injustice into something that the world remembers for many years and decades later which is a really profound way I think to look at how this generation and many generations to go. How people have changed the course of our world in a large way is that they found out what they passionately hate and then created this conviction out of. And when you go back to the topic originally is that dreams choose us. I think when you really find out what you passionately love and what you hate, is that you begin to notice certain ideas and opportunities a lot more. So, all these experiences and these opportunities add up. And there seems to be dreams or certain things that fall into place even a slight, really slight way. And then you begin to pursue it and push forward and pushed past challenges. And you begin to find out as you pursue them, they were already there and predestined before you knew they were there. That’s a huge, I guess you’d call it a revelation that I found out, but also something I try to share is that I’ve never had this sort of grand idea and master plans. It’s just all happened along the way. And that’s just all been opportunities and ideas that I’ve come across but it came out of a time where I found out what I loved as well as what I hate and used that.

Nadia: Can I ask you to elaborate on that? So, if I ask you directly Josh, what is it you hate passionately that drives you to success? Just tell me.

Josh: What I really passionately hate today is the statistics that has recently come out specifically for Australia. And it’s that youth suicide has reached a 10 year high. And that’s just been, if you think about it a decade where our world has become more and more connected than ever but, yet it’s become so apparent that young people, the main users of this technology and this innovation have become even more and more, lonelier which is so shocking. But the thing that I passionately hate out of that, and I think from my experience as well is on the topic of suicide, is it comes from the space of just being purposeless and feeling like your life doesn’t amount to anything or you’re pushing your life in a purposeful direction. One of the problem I think there’s a huge problem with our generation is, and as young people today is that we’re so connected but so lonely. And then out of that is we don’t find our identity. And the danger from that is we become purposeless and we don’t actually pursue what is meaningful but rather what is expedient in the moment or provides us joy in the moment.

Nadia: If you were to talk to any of the despondent teen out there, what would you be telling him/her who is just sitting there so late and then suddenly stumble across this podcast and it’s your opportunity to describe them how do you see and can help them out of it.

Josh. Yeah. I think what I touched based on that before, for me the most powerful thing was, because people say a lot of the times, people have really changed the course, like I said before, because of things in a huge way. We all see them as those once in a sort of generation geniuses and those Albert Einsteins or those are Steve Jobs or Nelson Mandelas. But really, they’re ordinary people like us. They’ve, all they’ve done is…

Nadia: Extraordinary things.

Josh: Exactly. Ordinary people do extraordinary things. But how do they get to that point? And if you really study deep into a lot of these people, you find out that finding what you love is one thing, and it’s hard at times to find what you love especially when you’re in that dark place. And if you can’t find out then find what you passionately hate and then out of that find what you done obviously stay in that hole forever.

Nadia: So, you’re basically introducing hundred eighty-degree view.

Josh. Yeah.

Nadia: So, if you can’t find your passion and your purpose and everything, find you what you completely don’t want to do in this world.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: And then from it potentially will lead you to a point of reference.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: And you will project into hundred degrees…

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: to what would be opposite of this hatred. Is it correct?

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: So, tell me your hundred eighty-degree exercise you have done. You found you passionately hate. I understood it. This completely controversial loneliness of people despite of all the means of staying and availability of connection and infrastructure for them to be constantly talking. Yet they’re losing identity, they’re losing purpose, they’re gasping for air because they can’t, they’re all faceless now.

Josh: Exactly.

Nadia: They all look the same way. Pouted lips, hip out if it’s a girl.

Josh: Yeah, wow. That’s so true.

Nadia: If it’s a guy, I don’t know what they’re showing their muscles about. But they’re flexing something.

Josh: They’re flexing. Yeah.

Nadia: This is what my biggest thing for me. So, you found it. You hated the teen’s suicide. What didn’t you hate? What? How did you project 180-degree for yourself?

Josh: That’s a really amazing question. I loved seeing people who have gone, and there will always relate what you hate and what you love. But going 180 degrees from that, you see people who have gone against the odds in their life and have gotten themselves to a place where they never should have been according to statistics. So, the success, are not only the successful people. I mean I’ve been so inspired in the creative agency by working with not only really huge clients but mostly, actually mostly, really small clients that have consistently kept to their art and their craft. Like your local family-owned bakery or café. They may not be making the huge difference all across the world but they’ve stuck to this craft and this art for 30 years and they’ve perfected that. And out of that, like what cafes and spots like that create a hub for the community, so, out of that what I love is people who have taken life suffering. Because we’re all going to go through a point of suffering in our life one time or another. If not today then next month or next year. And a burden and responsibility of life and actually taking it on with both hands and gripped it and created something amazing or change.

Nadia: If I ask you again a very confronting question, what’s your point of suffering in life?

Josh: What’s my point of suffering in life? That’s a good question. So, I think…

Nadia: The most probably strong feelings of suffering have you ever experienced.

Josh: The strong feelings of suffering. So, I think in life we never have, and I mean I’m speaking from a 16 years old perspective.

Nadia: That’s very valuable perspective. Because we will interview you at 17, at 18, 19 so we will seem to have a perspective growing.

Terence: To see what the difference is.

Josh: Of course. That’s really true. But the biggest point of suffering for me in my life has been a 12-years old. Being on the brink of suicide solely because I felt so purposeless.

Nadia: At the age of 12…

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: having your family around, how many siblings do you have?

Josh: I have one sister and then I have a family. And I mean my family, having come from a background of wealth but I haven’t come from a background of poverty either, my trying to convey that at all. But obviously my family has been so supportive in everything. But obviously when you immigrate as a family, at that time we were all going through our own things and obviously were fighting through with the family.

Nadia: I actually can resonate, I don’t know about you Terence but I’m an immigrant and I can resonate. When you are back then, you are somebody and you have the name, you had a really strong connections and purpose and you’re doing exciting jobs. And then suddenly you’re coming over and people look at you and their little dog speaks English than you do. And you’re reduced to doing very menial tasks to just try to get by in. And you do lose this. But it’s also builds you up as a human…

Josh: Put a lot of strength. Yeah. Put a lot of strength.

Nadia: that’s where I think from you feeling suicidal, you probably also felt hang on I can get over this as well.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: This is a feeling…

Josh: The hundred eighty-degrees. Exactly like you said.

Nadia: It’s a very fleeting feeling was or was it the persistent feeling for a period of time? Because somebody now, you would be saying to them at the age of 12, I experienced this urged to suicide. Was it a fleeting moment or did you have this persistence hopeful thought for a period of time?

Josh: Yeah. I am in a lot of cases, I like to dream big. I approach a lot of things really practically in a step by step. So…

Nadia: At the age of 12?

Josh: Yeah. I mean in a very basic form…

Nadia: How do you get out of this?

Josh: Gosh. Yeah. So, yeah. Like you said…

Nadia: Oh, you’re talking to a Russian mum. Give me this information.

Josh: You’re right. No, because like you said in the first question Was it like just a fleeting moment? Was it just like I just want to end it? But no, it was for about probably five or six months. That’s what I mean horrible. But the problem would you get yourself in that hole, is that more and more deeper you dig the hole for yourself, as the harder it is to go because you’re digging it deeper and you’re not making anything better for yourself. And like I said, I’m normally a practical person but then base everything on emotion which is a very bad thing to do. Because when you’re looking at everything emotionally, it’s all, you’re basing things on emotions rather than facts which most of the time, not all of the time, is not a great thing to do when you’re in that kind of spot.

Nadia: You’re talking to a mother of 16-year old boys so, I’m taking it extremely personal. And what you’re saying resonates with me. It hurts me now to hear that such a young person at such a young age, feeling these completely devastating, I don’t know how to say it, it’s devastates me to know that people can suffer so deep in such a young age. And your parent probably missing the scenes. Are your parents aware of what’s happened to you?

Josh: Yeah of course. When you’re in that spot you can only be supporter to a certain extent. They did absolutely everything they can and they’ve been, I mean I wouldn’t be able to be here today without my parents so they were absolutely amazing. But like you said with the young people, it’s shocking a lot. And I think a lot of people are shocked by my story. But the unfortunate side of that is, and I don’t want to get all depressing here.

Nadia: No, get depressing. We will flip you hundred eighty-degrees.

Josh: That’s really true.

Nadia: It’s all doom and gloom for now, we will just elevate.

Josh: But, and it’s going to what I hate. But…

Nadia: When they don’t understand you, who you are.

Josh: Yeah, exactly. That’s not uncommon for young people now which is really sad. It only happens. It’s not common for ages, sort of obviously 12 to 14. But when you go over 14, those numbers, I think they’re triple.

Nadia: Well I guess it’s hormones as well.

Josh: And hormones as well. And everything going into high school and everything like that.

Nadia: High school is cruel in Australia.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: It’s just so cruel. Did you…

Josh: Oh yeah.

Nadia: How did you find this jungle?

Josh: Oh it’s…

Nadia: Coming from South Africa would be handy to have a few tools.

Josh: It’s an interesting, yeah, handy to have some tools. It’s an interesting ride but most of all it’s just the culture shock. Going from one culture and having these sorts of pre-conceived ideas of what Australia’s going to be like. And then coming into it. And Australia being nothing like that.

Nadia: So, you were expecting cattle and kangaroos and this life as we call it.

Josh: I guess that. Yeah, I guess that.

Nadia: And then suddenly what you’re dealing with are aggravated teenagers.

Josh: Yeah. Because you’re moving from a country that, a third-world country. We trying to get out of all that chaos and South Africa was going down, Oh, my gosh I’m going down. And then coming to a country like okay let’s have a tiny bit easy. And we do, we definitely do have it easier in Australia. But in other areas it’s, it’s a big culture shock. Definitely.

Nadia: What shocked you the most? I’m just being selfish here Terence in sharing this immigrant story. I want to start.

Terence: No, it’s alright. I guess I’m the only non-immigrant here but…

Nadia: Yes.

Josh: Yeah, yeah.

Terence: But I grew up as a…

Nadia: You have amazing story.

Terence: as minority group, in a very poor area which I’m relating a lot.

Nadia: But Terence your story blew me away and I think we need to have a podcast about how you’ve gone from where you have been. But its…

Josh: Gosh. I want to know it.

Nadia: And you will be.

Terence: Nadia was surprised of my story when I told her.

Nadia: I fell off the chair. Twice. So, let’s have a chat about this contrast because Australians love to hear how different they are. They also like to know how cool they are, much cool than the rest of the world. And that’s what their expectation when they pose a question to you. They expect you to talk about slums.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: And since you migrated, you just become a completely different person. And they feel a little bit benevolent.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: So that’s how, what the entire feeling behind it. So please, let me know what’s your shock was.

Josh: Yeah. Well first of all, coming from a country like South Africa and you see the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. But you come to a country like Australia and you see they have so much but Australians give a lot. That’s the first thing I just want to say is Australians are known across the world, and I’m not just trying to speak them up for the sake of it, but are known for giving. So that’s a huge thing that we don’t have back in South Africa. So, it was a good culture shock. There was a lot of good culture shocks. The biggest culture shock that was bad to me or negative culture shock, I guess being in school because I was going through different things at a much younger age. It was the, how people or how many kids my age were so unaware of what was happening outside of the country and the rest of the world. Like poverty and everything like that. Like. I think maybe just the education and that. Like I think I got a lot of questions when I moved first to Australia. They’re like did you live in a hut or in the desert and stuff? I was like no, I didn’t. Didn’t live in the…

Nadia: It was made from cow’s dunk, yes.

Josh: Yeah exactly. Lived in normal house. It’s called normal but it was just obviously…

Nadia: It has fences around.

Josh: Yeah. Lot more fences.

Nadia: And wires.

Josh: Yeah. There’s huge fences. But yeah. That was probably the biggest culture shock was just me going like oh my gosh how do people not know about what’s happening around the world? But I mean I’m not, I don’t blame them. Because I mean that these young kids are like why don’t you know this? And they’re like and you’re or you’re five six but yeah. I think that was the biggest shock.

Nadia: So, they are living here and we are now living in a very happy bubble. We are not touched by the misery of the world that’s why they can afford kind of news they’re having on Channel 9 about a cat gets stuck in the drain and some other things which is. Or somebody drives into the lounge room few times a week. We have these kinds of news. They can’t afford it.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: They’re a happy nation. And we are, now I’m a citizen. It’s a very happy place to be worried about cats and dogs…

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: and this type things while the rest of the world is probably pulling parasites out of their orphan’s eyes…

Josh: But directing. Like you said, like the bubble, directing to that a tiny bit. It gives us such an amazing, and especially young people, it gives us such an amazing platform an opportunity to be able to then go on to the rest of the world and make the change in the area of struggle.

Nadia: You’re just amazing that you have perspective. And this is what the noticed about Australians. I’m being an accountant, I see Australia and Terence is seeing it this way as well, that’s why I actually can relate to everything he says. Australia is a country of opportunity.

Josh: Yeah, it is. Totally is, yeah.

Nadia: But people who’ve never been outside of Australia, they have a lot of whinging happening. They’re not happy. They don’t think that businesses, the environment here is really good here for businesses and everything. Because you have perspective you came here and you’d realize at the 12 and that’s it’s a country of some opportunity after going through some traumas…

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: psychological trauma. But. And you’re now taking your chance of basically exploiting these opportunities.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: And this is what I think a little bit of. Would you say it’s probably the reason why you’re the way you are at the age of 16?

Josh: Yeah. Definitely. No, I…

Nadia: Appreciation.

Josh: I think it’s perspective. I think you’re totally right. And I think it’s just about getting that perspective and then deciding your purpose out of what you want to do with that opportunity. Then it’s up to you as an individual to…

Terence: Part of it is actually what you choose to see. You ought to choose to see the opportunity or you choose to see the lack of opportunity.

Nadia: Exactly. That’s perspective.

Terence: But pulled you out of that. At the age of 12, what got you out of that to where you see yourself today? I mean do you see that things have improved a lot?

Josh: Oh Gosh yeah.

Terence: Yeah?

Josh: Yes of course.

Terence: So, what pulled you out? At the age of 12, what pulled you out of that?

Josh: Yeah, that’s a good question because you dig yourself a deep hole. I think it was out of that asking myself. Because when you go to that time, you can approach this in a much better way. But the positive of it is that you ask yourself life’s questions like What is my purpose here? What am I here to do? And obviously 12 years old you’re asking that and much more simple.

Nadia: So, what a question? How does a question in a simple form sound?

Josh: It was more like well what am I going to do with my life? If I really want to live more then what do I want to do? When I wake up what I want to do?

Nadia: And so, 12 years old, did you have an answer for that?

Josh: Yeah, so I didn’t for the first like 4 or 5 months. And then probably I started to get an answer. And that was to be able to positively impact other people’s lives. Because I think I slowly, I think other people as well, but I got myself out of that hole. And the way I got myself out of a hole was sort of taking it day by day but deciding when I was fully sort of out of this sort of hole of my own thoughts and use what I had to be able to the opportunity that I had around me to then be able to, I think give it forward and pass it forward and impact other people.

Nadia: Have you read anything around this time? Did you look into books? Did you look for inspiration?

Josh: That’s a good question. So, when I would get a bit or getting the DPA

Nadia: Don’t worry, it’s fun.

Josh: No, no. I’m happy

Terence: …what happened on this podcast.

Nadia: You will float, nobody drowned yet.

Josh: No, I really appreciate you sort of going deep into that because that’s a really vital part of everything I guess. I think it was for me being brought up my life in a Christian family. So, it was for me sort of finding my own, my own stance on faith during that time. My own faith in religion as well. And then out of that, I think a 12-year old said if it doesn’t do anything else for you what it does do for you is it teaches you a much firmer and deeper moral stance on things.

Nadia: What religion are you?

Josh: Christian.

Nadia: Christians. So, did you go to school or how did you basically was unevolved in the Christian community.

Josh: With that faith. Yes, the church. So, it just grew up going to church with my family. It was just the sort of what I would call like a cycle of religion. You just, you go to church every Sunday. That’s what you do.

Nadia: Would you call yourself spiritual person or would you call yourself more like?

Josh: I think I would call myself a… I approach a lot of things I think spiritually but from that aspect of the stance I had from the age of 12 when I sort of found my faith and my own sort of feet on the ground. If that’s what you’d say in my Christian faith? Like I was saying if that doesn’t do anything more than teach you a moral understanding, which it did for me at that age that’s good, but I saw it could do, it did a lot more for me than just teach me a moral stance.

Nadia: Well it saved your life. By the sound of it.

Josh: Yeah. It actually did. It actually did. Because I think it was more the thing of hope. I had the sort of hope to stand and I think that’s also where my purpose came from it. And I don’t get a lot of opportunities to speak about this so it’s so cool to be able to…

Nadia: Please take this opportunity.

Josh: No, I appreciate it because it’s a different perspective. It just, it came from me out of that time and taking my stance on faith. But then also, like now were fast forward to this age, you look back on biblical stories and you look back at the deeper meaning of them and the historical significance of them as well. So, if they don’t do anything, even if you’re not a Christian or you don’t want anything to do with that faith, it’s even reading those stories and seeing their historical significance because the Bible hasn’t just been around for thousands of years just because people thought it was ludicrous but somehow it just kept on going. It’s obvious the played an important part in a lot of generations, lives. So, for me it was then going deeper into that. And I’m a huge reader so reading that. And yeah. But then also, like I mean fast forwarding to this age someone who has really blown up, there’s a guy called Jordan Peterson who’s a mazing psychologist. And he’s come from a background of clinical psychology for 25 or so years. And he’s blown up a lot in the political landscape in America on what’s happening. He has a really cool approach and how he navigates with his speeches and his lectures, how he navigates certain parts of the Bible but also of purpose and life and, simple sayings. Like here’s one saying called, something that goes along the lines of “clean up your own room before you go out and tell the world how to clean up theirs”. And it’s the significance of getting your own chaos of life in order and getting yourself in order and then being able to use that to better the world. So…

Nadia: So, how do you apply it in business?

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: This principle in business.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: Well Faith, basically the way the moral principles. So, what you took from Faith, you took moral principles of operation which makes you a better human being. I truly believe it does.

Josh: Yeah, yeah.

Nadia: Because it just shows a difference between right and wrong. It’s just.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: Practically it’s a guideline or a moral compass was for you. What I am asking is now you’re touching base of clinical psychology and you’re throwing it. So, you don’t exactly sound like a drop out kid to me. So, let’s just put it out there. So, obviously it’s comes to a point when I have to conclude that you might have done some self-education as opposed to traditional schooling. And this probably school’s bored. You found school curriculum boring and not very useful.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: Would it be a reason why you drop out? And I will comeback to…

Josh: Totally. Totally it was relevance. It was the relevance of the curriculum to what I was doing. Because I was doing out of school while I was running a business. I was running the creative agency like really, seriously full time in mid-Year 8 while still being at school. And it was learning all of the stuff, the stuff outside of school and then going back into school. Well for the most part, irrelevant curriculum and you like well I can learn so much being in the actual world.

Nadia: That’s the thing. It’s now very current. This thought and I hear it a lot. It’s when young people basically telling everything around us changes so fast yet the school we have the same curriculum probably with our grandparents. So, hundreds of years. Some subjects thousands of years. But this is where you did find yourselves that you’re not simulated at school or not getting the information and time becomes very valuable to you.

Josh: Yeah. And obviously that. Then you begin to learn the value of like the world, that this time is very valuable. What am I doing wasting it? That’s so true. But yeah, I don’t think all the blame should be put on education. But I guess…

Nadia: Oh, we’re not blaming anybody.

Josh: Yes, of course.

Nadia: We’re just comparing.

Josh: No, I’m coming from. Just shut the mic and I just kind of… I noticed from a student’s perspective as like we’re talking about the topic of opportunity is we need to find our purpose and then align our education with that purpose which is our responsibility. But then like you said, then the curriculum’s responsibility comes and the school’s responsibility comes in to. Then hold us to account, obviously, to a certain extent, that school should during our learning years. And then allow us to shape our curriculum about what we’re passionate about. So, when we move, we leave from school, these skills that we’ve left with are applicable to going into the workforce or business the day after you leave your 12. Yeah.

Nadia: Yeah. So, it wasn’t much relevant. What I do like the fact that you said align my learning with my purpose. That’s what you were doing. So, you were getting so much more outside the curriculum that you felt like it would be a waste of time to stay. So, what next step was you set up obviously to businesses?

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: And what I do want to come back, clean up your own home first. So, how did you apply it then when you were setting up businesses?

Josh: Yeah, that’s true. And I had a really amazing conversation with Terrence actually about this that night. And then were talking about this really amazing book called Essentialism. What was the author’s name?

Terence: Greg McKeown.

Josh: Yes. So, Essentialism. And that book covers sort of going into this saying no more than yes but it was going a lot more, deeper than that in the sense. And I’ll go back to the saying in a second. But in the sense of really defining your purpose and then aligning opportunities and your value of time to then not just being busy for the sake of being busy. So, the saying “clean up your room before you got out and tell the world to clean their own room” is that we have really strong opinions as young people.

Nadia: Oh, tell me that.

Josh: We haven’t even entered the workforce so it’s almost like a hold on.

Nadia: It looks like you’re bypassing the workforce and creating your own.

Josh: Yeah. Well that would be a cool thing. We haven’t entered s We’re still living with our parents. We still wander pretty much. Almost no responsibility, only a tiny bit of responsibility. But we seem to have a really good time telling the world how to live their life and you see that a lot now with those…

Nadia: You’re just saying these words and there’s a slight halo just above your head suddenly appear. Because not many 16-years old would realise that they hey, haven’t done much yet.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: Mum but I have the right to preach you how to live your life. It’s spot on. That they are so good at it.

Josh: Yeah. And that’s even like, you must have heard the quote from somewhere for, I don’t know if we touched on this when we talk about Terence but were talking about like just the habits of successful people and it’s just like simple things like making your bed in the morning. And that doesn’t seem like much and it’s seems like a dumb exercise. But it’s about getting this chaos into order and then going out into the world and then turning other pieces or bits of chaos into order and making change in that. And that’s put, I think that saying is around. It’s really stuck with me.

Nadia: Well that’s very good.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: And I think making the bed was one of the American Generals telling that’s how he starts his day.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: It doesn’t matter what happens during the day, he comes back to a made bed.

Josh: Yeah.

Nadia: It’s a psychological and apological.

Terence: Yeah. Cool. So, I’m really interested in how you, now all this back full story, you’ve gone extremely mature for a 16-year old, I’ll say that. But I don’t think I was anywhere near that mature at 16. In fact, I’m sure of it.

Nadia: Are you sure you’re on the same level now?

Terence: Well, I’m going to up from that mature now. Yeah. Is that what you’re trying to say?

Nadia: Yes. I do try to say.

Terence: I think you’re probably right. And you’ve translated all this in to a couple of pretty serious business. Right? So, tell us about that.

Nadia: Well let’s first of all, for our listeners, give a bit of value to your business. Just describe to us how, what type of clients you just need to…

Josh: Of course. Our first startup was Project Creative. So that was, started as an agency. So, we moved from myself as a photography business wanting to grow it into a company, into an agency type structure in probably early 2017. And it was my goal to sort of just focus solely on what I love – video and photo content creation. So, it would be a visual content creation agency just focused on exactly that for our clients. But the difference I want to Brnjac Creative to bring was to tailor-make packages and the final product, which in this case is visual content photos and video, to the client specific campaign or their marketing needs rather than just a set of pretty pictures in the end. And I managed to develop a system and a workflow of that, technically speaking and then also the actual field working with clients which was really exciting. And then Brnjac Creative sort of, to today, we’ve sort of worked with over, in the past year alone, 250 clients across Australia merging into the international orders. And this range, my clients like Euler, Clear and Family Bakeries in cafes all the way to high clients like Mercedes Benz and Holden Australia. We’ve just done some work with Qantas. And yeah, on over 100,000 dollars-worth of content creation projects in the past year. And I think it struck a note somewhere. I think I contact the responsibility for it because I was just looking at what clients weren’t getting from your normal photographer or video or videographer and I was saying but what could we do to make something that was suited to client’s needs rather than just some pretty pictures for them?

Nadia: Can you give me a little example when you’re connected with the photography to particular event. Just use a live example which… I would like to see what you have seen is not happening and you offer some angle with your photography which…

Josh: The campaign with Holden Australia was pretty memorable because basically we were marketing, or they were marketing, to a really driving in on the Mornington Peninsula. But all these images were from these beautiful international locations and were like oh the agency here I was working with, who are working with Holden Australia, it was like it’s not reaching people locally because they don’t associate themselves with driving in that location. So, we decided to do this campaign just focused, just on showcasing Mornington Peninsula. So, the cars would be, obviously the focus of the shoot like the new range of cars. But the Mornington Peninsula locations would be the stars of the images, the actual background of it. And that exactly happened. And it’s just one of those things that just all worked out when the shoot came.

Nadia: What was the price-winning location which really?

Josh: Really, I love the main locations. I loved were driving through the forest, through sort of Red Hill on shore there were some. It’s just so sort of iconic and local to Mornington Peninsula right on our really front doorstep. Yet, it just seems like something else when you go in this forest. Because I do a lot of landscape photos as well. I can’t get over how amazing the spot we live in. And we have this sort of great ocean road type coastline from the Mornington Peninsula down Sorrento Way. And then on the other side you have this deep forest in Redhill and Merison and Flinders and stuff. So, yeah, we’re showcasing the Mornington Peninsula. But then out of that, there started to connect. I’m looking from results from the campaign, it started to connect with their client-base a lot more because they said oh we went there on the weekend or oh we went there just up the other day. So, that was really cool. And you sort of show people what they already have in their backyard with a product you want to sell. So, that was one really memorable campaign with the creative agency.

Terence: Quite clever cause you’ve kind of taking, it’s as if they’re trying to make the car the hero of the shot. And I think you just kind of alluded us before and you’ve made the area…

Josh: Yeah.

Terence: the hero of the shot. And you’ve really kind of connected the two together.

Josh: Yeah definitely.

Nadia: Is it basically the reason how these car fits into the local environment?

Josh: Yeah exactly which is where people…

Nadia: the position within…

Josh: Which where local buyers are going 90% of the time is locally. Yeah. They don’t buy a car to go overseas and drive it. Yeah.

Terence: But you’ve done the first thing that any business should probably look at doing, and that is solve their problem.

Josh: Yeah, that’s true. First thing to do is solve a problem.

Terence: So, if you’re out there trying to start a business, the first thing is get out there and solve something for someone for a very specific person or market or whatever the case is. Be as specific as you can. That’s pretty cool.

Josh: Yeah. And then Gentleman’s Australia, the A Gentleman Australia as well as a different model because it’s still evolving into that.

Nadia: So, it’s the novice fashion.

Josh: Yes.

Nadia: You’re pretty well-dressed. Are you dressing yourself…

Josh: I’m very casual today, I’m sorry.

Nadia: It’s alright, we forgive you. It’s just. Is it the passion for clothing, where does it come from?

Josh: It is a passion for clothes. And it came from working in the creative agency, working with online retailers and seeing what, not with the online retailers that I was working with, but online retailers in general. We have a few really large ones in Australia that focus on really large brands. So, it was shining light on independent brands as well as at a lower price point, at a cheaper price point. So, that’s the goal with Gentleman’s Australia. But the overall goal with Gentleman Australia is to turn the focus more on to software and becoming a platform rather than just a simple online fashion reseller basically. And the goal of that is to bring a collection of clothing on a platform, walk fashion and fashion accessories that is tailor-made to the actual person using just a phone as a measuring tape, no measuring tape or anything included. So, the phone based on an image and also actually sliding, actually guiding the phone through your arms and obviously through your chest.

Nadia: So, there’s some technology some app allows you to do it?

Josh: Yeah. Absolutely incredible when you see it. This technology is already out there but I don’t think has been fully utilized yet. And we’re really not taking advantage of it because there’s such a difference between getting a T-shirt or let’s say a suite. That’s where we’re wanting to go into. A suit that’s say a medium from your David Jones or something or going to a tailor and getting a suit that perfectly fits your size. It’s a different feel. So, that’s where we wanted to go, it’s to making tailored clothing at a mid-level consumer price point.

Nadia: I like the idea of being measured by our own phone.

Josh: Yes. It’s scary but it’s really cool. It’s actually really cool.

Nadia: Do you do it naked or do you do it on clothes?

Terence: laughs

Josh: No, you just wear like for example suits, you just wear like a normal T-shirt if you really want to get exact like a French-cut shirt with the little cufflink areas at the end. And then you measure it so you can get the exact measurements of what the blazer or the pants would look like on you. But the reason why we haven’t sort of really focus on releasing that software yet is, number one getting the customer base right because it’s so new for me. And, also number two is getting actual live previews of what you would look like on the suit or what you’d look like in the clothing because what I’m trying to do with that, software in itself is cool, but I’m trying to bridge the gap between going to a shop and trying on sort of a suit or piece of clothing and feeling it and seeing if it’s right size to the disadvantage of going online and just buying clothes, piece of clothing and hoping it fits you. If it’s not your right size, trying to hustle…

Nadia: The measurement has to come with this instruction, do not suck your tummy.

Josh: Exactly. That’s true.

Nadia: Oh, it’s fascinating because it is, there a, this gap because we constantly see what was ordered online, how it looked online and how it actually looks.

Josh: How it actually looks. Yeah exactly.

Nadia: I think this would be your campaign.

Josh: Yeah. You’re actually. Alright they don’t.

Nadia: You’re welcome.

Terence: So, one of the things that I noticed and very quickly when I connected with you, you’ve got you’ve got a huge Instagram following. You’ve got a great presence there. Is that your main kind of social media channel?

Josh: Yeah. So that’s a good point to touch on because that’s where Brnjac Creative is actually heading. We’ve moved from a solely physical-based and serving agency to now just solely online. We just serve clients through Instagram and Facebook content creation. So, yeah Instagram is the main channel. It’s really exciting. Like Instagram the other day has just released an external YouTube competitor called Instagram TV. So, there’s some huge unexplored territory there and also on the Instagram influence industry, there’s a lot of unexplored territory. Yeah.

Nadia: Terence we are going to Instagram TV.

Josh: Yeah.

Terence: So, how long have you been growing that for? And how did you get, I think you’ve got when I’ve looked at 31,000 followers or something like that. So, you’re doing quite well a lot better than me. That’s for sure. My photos aren’t as good as yours that’s the problem. And so, tell us about how you grew that, I mean, and how long has it taken you to grow?

Josh: Yes. I started the, I think the Instagram account, I haven’t kept a great track of it but I started the Instagram account probably two, one and a half to two years ago. And I first focused on the first rule of Instagram, the golden rule. That would-be consistency and getting a set style for your account that you won’t veer away from too much. So, that set style paired with consistency which I find as posting every second day not every single day which really allows you to cull yourself to the rarely the best content that you have. And then with that actually responding to your followers and your engagers and engaging back with them. But most importantly, reaching out to new people through Instagram. It’s the same thing as going to a networking event or going somewhere, to a presentation site to be able to connect with new people, you can do the same thing on Instagram on a much larger scale through the use of hashtags and locations. You can find, like for me when I was growing the photography business, I really wanted to target tourism clients. So, I went to a lot of tourism hashtags and locations locally, actually and found a lot of businesses but a lot of individuals as well and connected with them by just leaving like a quick one or two second comment or say 20 or 30 second takes right rather quickly. Oh, this is an awesome shot. Where was this the specific spot? If you’re at beach or something or if you’re connecting with a business like what’s the specific service? And just asking them on a post. That’s the second rule, it’s ask them a question because it invokes a response. It’s human nature to reply to a question when it’s asked even when it’s over Instagram. So, yeah. So, just…

Terence: So, what kind of questions would you ask?

Josh: Most of all the most common questions like amazing spot, where was the shot taken? Like enough for me genuinely, like I found so many spots other than hidden spots in Sorrento and Blairgowrie. For coastal shots, I was genuinely getting a lot of value from them but then it sparked up a conversation like oh your photographer locally and they go on your account. You get to a point where you get like a consistent amount of comment on your posts which is cool. But what you want to do is when you’re growing up following and when you’re growing the, most importantly that engagement-based, the likers and the commenters, is you want to keep on engaging back to those consistent people who always like and always comment on your post by direct messaging them or keeping in constant contact. Because what that does is, when you post and you post they will, I’m not going to say this right reciprocation.

Terence: Yeah, yeah.

Josh: Is that reciprocation?

Nadia: Yeah.

Josh: It’s all comment back and then you comment back and then you’re both benefiting one another. If you do that with enough people, it creates a pretty huge effect. I do that through the use of what’s called an Instagram pod. If you don’t know what that is, just Google it Instagram pod or Instagram engagement group. So, it’s basically a group of anywhere from 5 to 20 people. Biggest group I have is like I think 60 people but that’s divided into tiny groups. We all support each other in the group and when someone posts, everyone goes on their posts and engages with it. And what that does with Instagram’s algorithm is, Instagram’s algorithm doesn’t show photos based on the time they were posted anymore. It shows photos based on the engagements they received in the shortest amount of time. So, the photo that received the most engagement in the shortest amount of time will show at the top of your feed. If you scroll through your feed you’ll notice that the most relevant photo. This is how Instagram tries to show more relevant content to you. So, that’s why the art of reciprocation works really well as well.

Nadia: Can I be in your pod?

Josh: Of course, you can.

Nadia: Which pod would you locate me?

Josh: If you feel free to direct message me, I have lots of pods which anyone can be in.

Nadia: I want the most attended one. I don’t want the…

Terence: I don’t think we should be announcing them on the podcast. But…

Josh: Yeah, it’s true.

Terence: But maybe after that.

Josh: That’s coincidence.

Terence: So, this comes back to, I went to a digital marketer event earlier this year. I don’t know if you’ve heard of digital marketer. They run traffic conversion summit, a huge event in San Diego. I think is close to 6,000 digital marketing type people there. There’s a lot of geeks kind of floating around all of us were there. But, one of the things that they said and it really it’s such common sense that it’s easy to forget about it. With social media, it’s a human to human conversation. And so that’s really actually what you’re talking about reciprocal. Yeah, this reciprocation kind of idea. It just comes back to creating relationships.

Josh: Yeah.

Terence: Really. And human to human interaction and conversation.

Josh: So true. It’s the same in everyday life. For networking, exactly what you said. Because people will be kind to those who have, most of the time, be kind to people who have been kind to them. So, yeah. That works the exact same for Instagram and that’s the fastest thing that has grown my Instagram.

Nadia: So, Instagram tagline scratch my back, I will scratch yours.

Josh: Exactly. That should be the new…

Terence: #scratchmyback

Nadia: Yeah.

Josh: #scratchmyback

Nadia: Yeah. Come on quickly register that.

Josh: Copyright that.

Terence: So, what’s the future hold for you now? Well where are you headed?

Nadia: Oh, let me give you a crystal ball so we can… It’s a very loaded question.

Terence: So where…

Nadia: Where would you like it to be headed?

Josh: That’s good.

Nadia: Relieved with that.

Josh: In a business sense, my businesses that I’m doing obviously they’re very separate in the industries they’re in. They’re all of vehicle and a means to an end in achieving my purpose. The overall riding purpose which I recommend we all have. And my purpose is to resource other projects, people, communities, initiatives, and ventures to positively impact other people’s lives. So, what my focus is at the moment is growing these 2 brands. And actually with Gentleman Australia more, is diversifying it into actually more brands under that Gentleman Australia brand as well as sort of educating myself more in software. I work with three awesome software developers. I mean, we’ve been able to develop some pretty cool stuff for Instagram as well as for this Gentleman Australia. So, it’s exploring really. This is very vague but it’s exploring the possibilities for what’s to come with Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality in fashion. And also for.

Nadia: So, people will be wearing virtual suits?

Josh: No. Physical suits, actual suits.

Nadia: I’ve got excited for it.

Josh: But actually… I think that’s a cool idea and you trademark it as well. Yeah. But finding the measurements.

Nadia: Just let’s hope there’s no foul for that.

Terence: That’s going to be a highlight.

Nadia: That’s right.

Terence: People walking around thinking they’re wearing suits but they’re actually naked.

Josh: Oh, well.

Nadia: The keen is naked. That’s a famous thing. Well look…

Josh: Yeah, yeah. Cool.

Nadia: It’s a famous one. So, you can have it. Let’s try. Come on. And so, what are you working on really?

Josh: Yes. With Gentlemen Australia, I’m working on really driving the artificial intelligence and virtual reality software side of it so we can create a platform delivers tailored-made fashion at mid-consumer price point. And then with Brnjac Creative we’re focused on reaching, through multiple pages, a combined following just through Instagram and Facebook of 5 million, genuine followers, by the end of the year. Over those two platforms to then be able to branch out into a few more things.

Nadia: It’s amazing…

Josh: and bring agency online.

Nadia: it takes person from South Africa to create Australian fashion. Do you find people here dressed well?

Josh: I think Australians are some of the most well-dressed. I actually have to ask Terence a question about how he pulls off these, what do you call these?

Terence: Oh, these tops?

Josh: Yeah, these tops. Because I don’t think I can. So, I’m going to stop.

Terence: It’s a long sleeves top, right?

Josh: Yeah. It’s the long sleeves top. I don’t get them. I can’t do them.

Terence: Alright. So, my secret to clothing is have less. So, less is more and less but better.

Josh: Yes.

Terence: Less but better. And only keep the stuff that you love. So, I actually, I went through and do this with everything in your life, right? So, here’s my hot tip for this podcast. You can do this with everything in life.

Nadia: How to look hottest Terence?

Terence: With your clothing but with everything. With your friends? It may sound harsh but…

Nadia: It’s 20:80 rule. Always 20…

Terence: But with the people that you’re hanging out, with the things that you do, right? Get rid of the things that you don’t love. And that kind of comes back to one of the things that you said. Earlier you said you kind of figured out what you passionately hate. I don’t know now if we have to be quite that, go for that far.
Josh: What clothing do you passionately hate?

Terence: But if you’ve got clothing you passionately hate, you hurt yourself wrong. Right?

Nadia: Male dress in gowns. I’m passionately creative.

Terence: Let’s get rid of the clothing that we don’t really love. Let’s just get rid of all that stuff that we don’t really love and just keep the stuff that we really do love. Right? And just have that.

Nadia: And wear to there so it has holes in them.

Terence: Well correct. Well that’s fine too. But you can do that with pretty much anything in your life. And I’ve done that in terms of my business in terms of probably my team to a degree. I work with the people I love to work with. I’ve done it with my clients. I work with clients that I love to work with. I guess I’ve got a really great circle of friends. They don’t have to be really wealthy or particular type of person for me to be friends, I’ve just got to really enjoy hanging out with that person. We’ve got to have things in common with. And one of the other things that we spoke about, I think in Lisa’s podcast, Lisa Stephenson was things around you should give you energy. They should really increase your energy levels. If they drain your energy levels then it’s time to have a good look at those things and start moving them of.

Nadia: What gives you energy?

Josh: Gosh that’s a good question.

Nadia: When do you come home and go bang it was really good day.

Josh: Yeah. I touched on this the other night. I was talking to a group of sort of other creators and I think the thing that gives me the most fulfilment, and in effect energy is that, I think is artists and also rarely specifically business owners. And we get this if we really love what we’re doing. And we get this fulfilment out of seeing nothing, in seeing this limitless potential that we have in our minds, and these dreams that we have and then translating that into a physical real thing. Like you see an artist with a paintbrush and a canvas. That’s what we as entrepreneurs can do and business owners is. We take these dreams that everyone think is crazy and then we actually convert them into a reality for ourselves and that infects actually positively impacts other people if done right.

Nadia: I know there is an entire bureau somewhere in America which is basically committee of impossible. I don’t know the exact name for it but that’s the way I define it. They are people are paid to produce ideas which cannot be done.

Josh: Wow. Really?

Nadia: Yes. And basically, what do you think is impossible now and they brainstorm it and then hire other bunch of nerds who will make it happen. So, I think it’s really hundred eighty-degree flip.

Josh: Yes.

Nadia: You’re getting a lot around this geometry. Tell me about your dreams now which sounds real, a little bit crazy because you want to just put a handle on it. And later on, when it’s all happened, it was you who said you were going to do.

Josh: Okay. Well…

Nadia: Let’s do few crazy dreams.

Josh: The crazy dream. The crazy dream is for the creative agency side. I think Gentlemen Australia, I’ve had my share of, for a few months, my share of sort of crazy dreams and crazy failures. It’s been a few crazy months for Gentlemen. For Brnjac Creative, the goal with that is to become one of the biggest agencies that control some of that run, some of the biggest accounts on Instagram when combined the following. Because I think specifically with influence industry and where Instagram is going, that’s why Instagram TV and their platforms are so exciting now, it gives creators an opportunity to create really purposeful content but also accounts to create a platform within create platforms within Instagram to share the content and really do some amazing things through just an Instagram account because becoming the new television for young people. People scrolling through their phones more and more than they are switching on their TV rapidly. So, why not make the content that they’re seeing purposeful rather than meaningless?

Nadia: And another question. When you went into business, you dropped out of school and went into business, did you have coaches around you? Where did you get knowledge to do it?

Josh: I think the one, not the biggest regret, I think one of my regrets was not actually having a coach because I navigated it all pretty…

Nadia: Painfully?

Josh: Yeah. Painfully. When you don’t see where you’re going, like just being blind with it, and just taking a shot in the dark and say like will this work? And a lot of obviously…

Nadia: There was a fog. Does that the light?

Josh: Yeah, exactly. But a lot of the coaching, the direction that I did get was from obviously reading, in YouTube and podcasts, actually. So, yeah. Those three things have actually educated me on 99.9% percent of everything.

Nadia: If I put you back to a point zero when you’ve just started, what would you be making different?

Josh: Oh. What do I change with what I’m doing today? Yeah. That’s an interesting question. I think I would dream. There’s a quote that goes something like “We tend to overestimate what we can do in a year and then underestimate what we can actually do in five.”. And we sort of set these huge goals for, unattainable goals for the next 365 days, the next year. And then we overwhelm ourselves so much with the, just mammoth the size of that goal, that we don’t actually focus on the day-to-day tasks of reaching that goal. And I think the cool thing with looking into five years, even if you don’t pursue that goal for five years, is you see this day-to-day operation or you try to make this day-to-day, you convert this huge audacious goal to a week-to-week and eventually a day-to-day what you need to do in order to find that goal and reach it. So, I think it was converting, and that so probably a problem, I’d say that I’m still navigating is converting these huge audacious goals that you have in your mind. And then putting them to paper, it’s easy. But then diverting what you’re going to do today to get closer to that goal is the hardest part of it because that’s the most meaningful thing to do. But out of that, you become really focused on what’s going to give me an output that draws me closer to that goal and what’s not. And you don’t try to do or limit what’s not as much as possible.

Nadia: It’s pretty powerful because you are looking into a short term and you’re looking at the long term and you got this perfect formula that you… You’re quite right. People get disheartened by not achieving this 365, that they lose their wind in their sail.

Josh: Exactly. Yeah for one year. And then the life, one year doesn’t become that much. But if you let it, it can go over so many years.

Nadia: It’s a very profound understanding of a lot of business concept in such a young age. I think you set yourself up for quite a success.

Josh: I really appreciate that.

Terence: You kind of saying focus beyond the immediate future because it’s all like…

Josh: Yeah. The short term, the delay gratification. See what you can delay. The gratification of now. Whether that be the newest car or the new thing and that’s been the biggest thing for me just to invest and save into the future and not just spend it all on and look good in the moment. And then in the future suffer.

Terence: Yeah.

Josh: Suffer because of it.

Terence: Yeah.

Nadia: It’s again very powerful concept of overcoming… Craig Harper one of the strong ones of overcoming this instant gratification for longer term. And this is obviously one of the vital ingredients of success. This ability to sacrifice for bigger goal.

Josh: Yeah. And like Terrence said, and like you said as well, the 80:20 rule. That’s such a powerful and really quick way in determining what’s useful and what’s not. Because like 80% let say your wardrobe. Eighty percent of the clothes, and I can say this as well, in your wardrobe you don’t even wear. But then 20% are the ones you do wear and then you see there’s…

Terence: All the time.

Josh: Exactly, all the time. And then you see there’s Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg of the world that never embrace that maybe a bit too on the extreme side, but they’ve done it. And have just made their wardrobe that entire 1%. And it’s like they wear the same thing every single day, no matter what. It’s crazy. Yeah.

Nadia: They can afford it.

Terence: It’s actually, it helps them to avoid decision fatigue.

Josh: Exactly.

Terence: So, it’s basically the reasoning behind it is that that’s one less decision they’ve got to make every day. It’s actually to go out of their way to make less decisions and less of those decisions that don’t really make much of a difference their life. I mean if they wear a white shirt or white T-shirt or a black T-shirt, right? I don’t think anyone’s going to really care and it’s unlikely to make much of a difference in their life especially on that particular day. So, why have to make that decision? Just take that decision out of it and then all of a sudden, you’re free to make another decision. And decision fatigue is I think a well- documented thing these days. And the more decisions you made, the worse your decisions get. Right? So, by the end of the day you’re sitting there making all these really bad decisions because you’ve tried to make at the start of the day what would I have for breakfast, what I wear, who am I going to call. And that’s brings me back to something I talked with clients about quite often is, why you’re looking at your emails first thing? Because that means all of a sudden, you’ve got to make all its decisions about what you’re going to do during the day. Best way I’ve ever heard emails put is a to do list that everyone else gets to add to. Right? And I think I’ve got to attribute that to I think James Schramko said that. And so, why are you looking at your e-mails to begin with? And then all of a sudden, you’re overwhelmed before you even get an opportunity to get started. So, before your day start, you already overwhelmed, you’re feeling like you are behind the eight ball already.

Nadia: So, basically the emails suck you dry and then you left to do your most important things and this is waste of energy.

Terence: Correct. And your most important work should be done when you’ve got the most energy, when you’ve got the ability to actually focus. It is a mistake that I see often people leave that to last and then all of the sudden their most important work suffers and possibly never even gets done.

Nadia: So, create in your PJs. Don’t worry about decision making. And don’t…

Terence: Oh, create in your PJ. I didn’t say that, Nadi did.

Nadia: Well it was obvious. It did come with accent. We are creating podcast for our entrepreneurs and we are very hopeful of being useful. Filling this gap of knowledge in the market. Filling the gaps of things we wish we knew when we, Terence and myself, started the business. And this is what we try to achieve with this podcast. And your most valuable tip if I did ask you. When somebody is starting up something, what would you call it?

Josh: The biggest thing from, I’ll give 2. Can I have 2 if that’s okay?

Nadia: Possibly yes. Actually, I will be generous today. Can you give three?

Josh: No problem with that

Terence: You give her many accounts with it.

Josh: The first coming from sort of like a purpose point of view I’d give is, and I’m going to sound like to someone who just goes on and on repeating themselves, but the biggest thing for me in business and myself is finding out what I passionately love as well as what I passionately hate. The reason because of, the reason why I repeat and emphasize that so much is because it creates conviction. But then out of that, that conviction helps you to make decisions much more clearly because you have first a much more, deeper moral standing and also you know what’s going to produce a greater output and relevance to your life purpose that you’ve decided that you want to wake up every day and do. The second, on a practical viewpoint, is that to get out of the equation that time equals money for your… As you start to build a team and as you start to sort of grow, at the side of the business it’s obviously extremely important. When you’re starting and when you’re in your early formative stages, run the business as hard as and obviously as smart as you can work. But as you build the team and as you begin to outsource the work that doesn’t require your hand in it, begin to realise that me answering this email, like you said, me taking away my focus when I could be doing or putting work toward a much greater project is my time and my value as well. So, realizing your value was not just a certain hourly rate per an hour that’s why you see like a Jeff Bezos, if that’s the right way to say it, Jeff Bezos. He made, well close to 108 million dollars on average a day last year. And that’s unheard of that’s because his time didn’t equal, his equation wasn’t time equals money. And obviously Amazon exploded. But that was a really profound way to look at things as you sort of see the huge successes don’t pay, pays an important of oh this is my hourly rate. At the start it’s really important because you realize your value. But then as you grow, you begin to lift yourself out of that equation and take yourself to the next level. That’s the second practical. So, I think it was just the purpose and the practical. That’s the 2 that I wanted to tell.

Terence: And I would phrase that as focus on highest value activity.

Josh: Yeah. I couldn’t have said it better. That’s amazing. Yeah.

Terence: That’s cool. So, I think we’ve had a great discussion so far today. And I’m really kind of looking forward to see where you get to in the next year or the next couple of years. So, I’d love to invite you back on the podcast at some stage. I guess. Thanks a lot for sharing with us. We’ve covered a lot of ground here and there was some stuff in your story that I must admit that I didn’t realize. You touched on it very briefly but being on the brink of suicide at the age of 12, that’s big. And it’s great to see that you’ve really bounced back and you’re doing some great things now. So, how can our listener find you and connect with you?

Josh: Yeah. Well the best way to be, I love to connect with you on Instagram which is just jb.aus. So, that’s jb then dot aus. That would be the best way.

Terence: Okay, just on Instagram. And we’ll put a link and maybe, well we can find some links to your website.

Josh: Perfect. That’s just jb.aus.com. Yeah. Awesome.

Nadia: Thank you very much. It was extremely interesting podcast for me. And I do find you a very deep young man with a lot of potential. And most important a lot of realized. Some of that realized potential already seen at such age. Knowing already the taste of failure, knowing already the taste of depression and knowing already taste of success as well which is makes it’s quite an interesting palette that you’ve got.

Josh: Thank you so much for having me. It’s an honor.

Terence: All right. Thanks Josh.

Nadia: Thank you.

Narrator: Thanks for listening to the Unfair Advantage Project. For more curated resources visit us at unfairadvantageproject.com.