Read The Transcript

Introduction 0:00
Welcome to the pirate broadcast, where we interview interesting people doing interesting things. Where you can expand your connections, your community. Kindness is cool and smiles are free. And let's get this party started.

Russ Johns 0:17
What a great day to have a pirate broadcast and bring interesting people doing interesting things. And today, we have Trevor in the room rocking and rolling here today. And we're going to be talking a little bit about what he's got going on, and everything that we can do to help the community. The pirate community is awesome. Thank you so much for being here. All the gratitude in the world. And if you're joining in, let us know that you're watching in and ask questions. make comments, engage with us. And if you're not connected with Trevor, now that he's a pirate, reach out and say hey, I'm a pirate.

Let's connect Trevor. So good morning, Trevor. How are you this fine day?

Trevor Houston 1:01
Good morning? I'm doing fantastic. How are you?

Russ Johns 0:59
Oh, better than average. You know, I was thinking about our call today and this pirate broadcast and there's still a lot of people that are looking out for how we can get noticed, how we can get seen and I was actually working on a course last night about the same thing and how I could give back to the community. And so I was thinking to myself, I had the pirate broadcast, that's five days a week. Then, also there's other people like yourself that also have shows and events taking place. And one of the things that you have going on is the...what's it called?

Trevor Houston 1:47
The Who You Know show

Russ Johns 1:50
So talk a little bit about Who You Know show.

Trevor Houston 1:52
Yeah, the Who You Know Job Networking show started about almost three years ago. Really it all started when my business partner and I...my business partner, his name's Mark Elder. We started volunteering in the community with job seekers. There's a lot of churches out here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area that have had these job seeker networking groups. They've been established for 20 plus years. So we kind of found out all this stuff existed and started volunteering and giving back and the one thing that we found though, is that they were all kind of siloed off in different churches and they weren't really unified. There was nothing there that was connecting these different resources. There were a ton of them out there, but they were all kind of siloed and so I decided to do the radio platform...it started radio and now we're TV, but we decided to go radio and to host a show to bring on different guests, to bring on the recruiters, the hiring managers, the career coaches, even job seekers, so that they can have a platform to to talk. The whole premise was to bring that network together. We wanted to be the platform that kind of brought it all together. So that's how I got started. and it's really just grown and a lot of really cool things are happening ever since we started and that was about three years ago.

Russ Johns 3:32
You know, it's interesting because I know there's a lot of people out there that when they don't have a job, when all of a sudden their job is ended for whatever reason...pandemic, market reduction, anything, job changes, things like that, restructuring. I've had that experience more than once and it's like, okay, somebody else made a decision in the organization. All of a sudden, my position is eliminated and that leaves an individual, especially if you've been there for any length of time, 10-15years. It's really about the idea of how do I get back into a mindset and an attitude that I can actually go out and have the confidence and know that my skills are valuable? I can actually go out there with knowing that because it's discouraging at times. So how do you coach people through this process? The confidence to go out there again and knock on doors?

Trevor Houston 3:29
100%. Mindset is one of the number one things. I think it's probably the most important thing. So, I'm glad you brought that up. A big mission that I'm on is to help elevate jobseekers mindset because we've seen everything. I've seen people just broke down crying. People committed suicide. I mean you name it. I've seen it and doing this for so long and mindset is it. If you're going into an interview carrying a bunch of negativity, carrying a bunch of, "oh, woe is me," or when you lose that that job, they say you go through the stages of grief, as if you had a death, right? One chapter of your life is kind of dying, right? It died and now you have to go start a new chapter in your life. So, you've got to have acceptance, you've got to be able to get back up. I tell people, "you know what you need to do?" You get one day and that's my blessing for people. You get one day, okay? Just scream, cry, yell, punch, the ground, throw whatever, throw a fit, whatever you need to do to make you feel good to get it out of your system. Because I think we all need that from time to time, we just need to be broken. Sometimes you need to be broken. Okay, but you get one day to be broken. You don't need to spend months. Go through that grieving process quickly. Get it out of your system and move forward. Get back up and start surrounding yourself with people who are going to speak life into you. People that are going to lift you up and to encourage you to start feeding your mind early in the morning. That's one of the first things you want to do. Get the word out. Start maybe reading the Bible, turn on inspirational things on YouTube.

Russ Johns 6:09
Don't turn on the news.

Trevor Houston 6:48
No, you want to avoid things that are gonna...I mean, the news is scary right now guys. Let's just be honest about that. The news is scary. You see what's going on in the world? Especially if you're a job seeker right now. Yeah, there's so much uncertainty. But you know whtat? There is certainty in our Creator that has gotten you through all those situations in your life. If you've ever been in a situation, he's got you through it. So have faith, he'll get you through this one too. He's gonna get you through. And...

Russ Johns 7:25
eventually, it all works out.

Trevor Houston 7:27
It does and typically, it works out for your good. When you look at it and you come through the other end of it, and you're like, oh, man, you know what? Now I see what God had planned for me. I see what he did. I see why he put these obstacles in my way. A lot of times, if you embrace that journey, it will make you sharper on the other end, you'll come out a better version of yourself. You'll be sharper, you'll understand how to overcome these objections like you're going to just to be a better person version of yourself and come through on the other end.

Russ Johns 8:00
I think one thing that we need to do as individuals also in this...this takes place in our lives, any kind of change, it doesn't necessarily have to be a job loss, but any kind of drastic change in our lives. It requires us to think about, okay, don't take it personal. Just look at it as an event and experience and say, "what can I learn from this? What benefits can I pull out of this experience that's uncomfortable right now?" It's not bad. It's not good. It's just uncomfortable. We really have to focus in on some of the things that we're surrounding our lives with. Sometimes you need to change your environment. Sometimes you need to think and get a little more spiritual evidence in your life and think about what's really important. Am I spending time in the right place and doing the right things? Am I being the person I need to be in order to achieve the results I'm looking for? All of those things line up to to help us understand ourselves a little bit better. I think self awareness is a big part of that.

Trevor Houston 9:10
Self Awareness is huge.You need to know what areas you are good and strong in and you need to know what areas you're not. If I had to give some advice to job seekers, the one thing that I see all the time and I know it goes back to mindset. What I find is that job seekers tend to go into a scarcity mindset and for some, it is absolutely true. Like resources, financial resources might be completely scarce, you may be down to your last dime. So for some, that is a valid mindset. I meet a lot of people who fall into that mindset just because they're out of work, their income has gone. But they've got other resources, they've got things going on that they've been saving for their entire life. A lot of what's happening is that the baby boomer generation is getting let go. They're moving up that corporate ladder, they're getting up to the top where their nice salaries are real nice and cushy and these companies are cutting the top because that's where all the high salaries are. So you find senior level executives back in the search. So these folks, a lot of them, have resources, they have financial resources and things like that. But what happens is they get into that scarcity mindset of like, "Oh my gosh, I can't! I just have to conserve." It actually will hurt them in the long run and let me explain why. There are a lot of tools out there that you can apply in your job search that are not expensive, but they do cost a little bit...maybe 30 bucks a month, $40 a month, something like that and I see it all the time, they won't do it. Because they get into that scarcity mindset. What actually ends up happening is their job search takes longer because they're doing it the hard way. I'll give you an example, maybe you're not a resume writer, you're not an expert at that. This is where I'm saying, if you're identify the things that you're not good at, maybe that's not what your expertise is. We'll go hire someone who can do that for you. Who can sharpen it up? And yeah, you may spend a couple hundred bucks, but you're going to be way farther ahead if you do that.

Russ Johns 11:41
Well, consider it an investment.

Trevor Houston 11:45
Exactly. You're investing in yourself and I see that a lot of times and it goes back to mindset. Because they go into scarcity mindset. Now, I would challenge that mindset and look at it as like, okay, some people it's valid. It's 100% valid. You're down to your last nickel and dime. If that's you, that's not who I'm really talking to here. There are some people who have a million dollars sitting in an old 401k somewhere. You've got resources. So why would you have

Russ Johns 12:23
the ability to do a major work in your job search?

Trevor Houston 12:26
Totally. You can take some of those resources, spend a couple thousand bucks total, right? Spend a little bit of money, invest in yourself. and what it'll end up doing is it will shorten that cycle. Instead of taking six months, it may take three months and ask yourself, what is that three months worth to you? How much money were you making per month? Let's say it's $10,000 per month. Well, that three months is $30,000. So would you spend 2000 to gain 30? Yes. So it's an investment. You've got to get back to employment as soon as you can. If you have the resources, outsource is what I'm saying you need to do. Outsource some of that work and get to the result faster.

Russ Johns 13:14
I think we all document and delegate that stuff as soon as you identify, hey, this is a strength, this is a weakness. I'm going to take my weakness and I'm going to delegate everything. I'm going to use my strength and that's what I'm going to invest my time in.

Trevor Houston 13:29
Bingo

Russ Johns 13:29
I want to give a shout out to some of the people here this morning. Gabriel, good morning. Thank you so much for being here. I don't know if you know Gabriel or not. He's actually in your neck of the woods, as well. He's got a show in the evenings called The Made from Scratch Broadcast. So, that's awesome. Sherry Lolly, she's a good supporter in the pirate community. Sherry, thank you so much for rocking it this morning.

Trevor Houston 13:56
I love that she's got all the the emojis in there. The pirate emojis. What's up, Sherry!

Russ Johns 14:02
She just slap tags her business. She's amazing.

Jeffrey E Burger says, "Good morning gents, providing value and giving back and a huge part of my vision to my holistic mental wellness business. Definitely a massive need to bringing awareness." There's a lot of challenges we have right now in the mental wellness. I think it's touched a lot of us that we know somebody or we have somebody that's in need of support that way.

Laurie Knudson says, "Good morning, everyone. it's Laurie. In case my name still isn't showing up..." Your name is showing up Laurie. "I have missed everyone. Thank you so much for being here. So fantastic." I appreciate that. Kathy Spooner, good morning. Jeffrey is going to be back saying "I've spoken to Gen X boomers, who have impacted 911 in 2008 recession, COVID 19 today. There are tools out there that people take notice of the benefits for what they're looking for. Yes, Russ investment in self. So let's keep that going, folks." Trevor's an amazing individual and a resource that if you're looking or you know somebody that's looking for work, reach out to Trevor, let him know that you're a pirate and let's get some help out there for individuals. "Hey, Russ, thank you so much. I love you". So for the Facebook users that don't see their name popping up, you can actually go to stream yard and except to be seen, I should post that on post that later on. Kathy, Sherry Lolly Gabriel, saying Sherry Lolly Good morning, my friend. Gabriel share. This is way the community goes back and forth. They have comments and connections in inside here. And Debbie Weems Hey, your LinkedIn expert on Facebook this morning, lol. Fantastic. Welcome to hear. Rick Henderson. from Rick. Good morning. How are you? My friend got to get you on the show. I think we've connected at some point in time. So, Trevor, let's talk let's shift gears a little bit and so how long have you been doing the employment side of the equation the volunteering and helping and assisting individuals getting back into their swing of the job market and moving forward on this stuff.

Trevor Houston 16:53
Yeah, started about five years ago, I was introduced to a local group where I'm at called Frisco Connect They meet at stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, and an amazing ministry. I mean, walk in the room and there's 100 jobseekers there. And, your job is just go in there and support encourage lift people. I mean, it's just an amazing ministry. What I saw was there was the baby boomer generation is what I saw, was struggling the most. And because, people that were, maybe millennials or even Gen X, they were in and out, they would be there and they'd get hired real quickly. But the baby boomer generation tended to take a lot longer. Their job searches are taking a year, year and a half. One of them was 28 months, and so what happens is, the longer that search goes, you start to mentally abuse yourself. You start to take all that rejection as if there's something wrong with you. And these are people that we're at high levels in their careers, senior level executives, and now all of a sudden, they can't get a job for a year, year and a half, two years. It wears on them. Oh, man, it beats them down. And so we've had people, take their lives and we've seen it all and so my heart goes out. I just I love these people. I love my community. Job seekers they have the hardest job out there.

Russ Johns 18:49
And you got to wake up and be positive every single day.

Trevor Houston 18:52
Yeah. Hundred percent. And

Russ Johns 18:56
what about the other side of the equation, Trevor? I mean, You're an entrepreneur. Yeah, I'm an entrepreneur. I've been in corporate America, you know, I've been ejected from the ivory tower more than once. I've had things I've lost things. It's like, to me that's, you know, chapters in the book of life. the last the last time, it's like, Hey, I'm not going to go, I'm not gonna do this again. I'm just gonna start my own business. I'm going to keep going on my own business. And I've been doing that last, decade

Trevor Houston 19:29
I am a huge advocate for that huge advocate for that.

Russ Johns 19:33
And I think there's now there's a lot more opportunity for independent people that are specially skilled workers, like the senior executives, you know, some of these things that are going in and around companies or organizations or startups, they only need theexpertise, they need the wisdom, to be able to see around the corners to be able to see the things that they can't see. And I think there's a huge opportunity out there for the people that are willing to step it forward into that. It's not an easy environment to step into. So what are your thoughts and suggestions for people that are thinking about that?

Trevor Houston 20:10
Well, there's never been a better time, then it you know, 2020 let's put it that way. We've got all the technology that you can, you know, be an entrepreneur, you can start a business, create your LLC, get out there, the tools are there. The number one thing that is the biggest challenge is visibility? Any new business, I don't care if you're a doctor, lawyer, financial services, whatever the heck your business is, if your creating a candle, business? It doesn't matter. The number one thing in business is visibility. If you're not visible, you're gone. We have tools that exist today that allow you to be visible. And it can be hard, when you're first starting with social media and breaking through the noise. Be a lifelong learner. lifelong learner. There's never been a better time. I'm convinced of that.

Russ Johns 21:31
I, I actually 100% believe that because there are so many things that are taking place in these days and ages. That, that's, I mean, the pirate broadcast is an experiment just to prove that because I built systems around this, you know, I'm doing this five days a week. I'm reaching out, I'm booking guests five days a week. And, to me, it's like clockwork, it's like I enjoy the idea of getting up and having conversation with Trevor on a Monday. You know, it's like talking to about job search. And then throughout the week, I'll be talking to other people about different subjects and different topics. And it's hopefully valuable to other people. And, that's something that you can start from nothing. And if you want to pursue it, you can do that. And sometimes highlighting other people, brings you visibility.

Trevor Houston 22:21
We started the "whoyaknow show", right? That was massive because you are investing in other people. When you are interviewing someone else, you're highlighting them and you're investing in them. And you'll start to create these amazing relationships. Those those relationships will open up doors for you.

Russ Johns 22:52
It's all about the relationships, isn't it Trevor?

Trevor Houston 22:55
Well, that's why we call the show "whoyaknow show", job networking show It's not what you know, it's who you know. And people that you associate with can elevate you. They say you're the average of the top five people that you associate with. Why not try to elevate that circle? And if you're hanging out with, the Jerry Jones's of the world. If the top five people in your world were like Jerry Jones, Oprah Winfrey, a lot of successful people, you're probably going to be pretty successful just by default.

Russ Johns 23:44
Well, it changes the conversation too. It's all of a sudden when you're visible and you have some authority and you're talking about subjects that people are interested in listening to. And you can actually have conversations like this. It really changes the dynamic and who shows up in your world to

Trevor Houston 24:03
I've got to interview some pretty amazing folks. And it's, about to 10 X. I mean, we're just just getting started really. We've been doing it for we're in our third year, but there's something to consistency. Alright. I like what you're doing where you said you you're doing this five days a week?

Russ Johns 24:20
Yeah.

Trevor Houston 24:21
Five days a week. Okay. And how long have you been doing this?

Russ Johns 24:25
A be coming up on a year now. Okay, well, I got 230 episodes.

Trevor Houston 24:31
So when you did, what we did in a year, right? Because you're doing it every single day. We've got somewhere around the same amount of episodes, We do it once a week. You're doing it every single day. You're showing up every day. So you're 10 X'ing it. I like what you're doing. I think that's amazing. And it's the consistency.

Russ Johns 24:58
Yeah,

Trevor Houston 24:59
There's so many Many people that are that start stuff like this and don't see it through, because it gets hard, it gets challenging. I mean, to do it every single day. I mean, I do it once a week, and I know what it's like to do it every day,

Russ Johns 25:16
well, five days a week,

Trevor Houston 25:17
you are putting in work, What you are doing is work, you are putting in a lot of work to make this kind of stuff happen. So your audience should appreciate the fact that you're showing up every single day, or every weekday, and you're putting in a lot of work. And that's why people stop. That's why they're not consistent is because it's a lot of work. And after a certain amount of episodes after about 15 episodes, they decide that this is hard and they stop what their doing because it is hard.

Russ Johns 25:47
Well, I think not only do they say this is hard is that it's a long game. It's not an overnight success, you know, you're just gonna all of a sudden, hey, you know, get Vanderchucks status, you're not going to do Tony Robbins efforts, you're going to get one viewer at a time, you know, here and there and you're going to build your audience slowly build a community, develop relationships and continue, I enjoy getting up in the morning and bringing something to someone else, you know, highlighting somebody in the community that, that I may not know, you know, we've never had a conversation before Trevor. I mean, we know each other online. And that's an introduction to have a conversation. Okay, well, let's have a conversation. Let's have it. Let's publicize it, so others can enjoy the conversation.

Trevor Houston 26:39
I love that. I tell people all the time, if you're going to have if you have to network, this is what I tell my job seekers. Like, if I'm having a network as a job seeker, to connect with people to try to open those doors to get my resume to the hiring manager. That's the ultimate goal. Well, if I'm having a network, let's do it on zoom or some platform like that. Let's interview each other, let's record it.

Unknown Speaker 27:06
And so to be able to take an interview like this and chop it up and have a bunch of little pieces of micro content for a job seeker or for anybody, it's super valuable, it's huge.

Russ Johns 27:55
Hey, I want to I want to give a shout out to a few more people here that are in the in the room. I want to be Be able to say hi, Donna Peters is in the room. The me suite. Fantastic. Wendy,

Trevor Houston 28:08
Wendy. Hello,

Russ Johns 28:09
Iris. How are you Wendy. She's a great author and she's been doing a lot of children's books. Trevor, you are exactly correct after 27 years as a software engineer, was devastating, but turned to be a solo entrepreneur and has been so rewarding for me. I hear you.

Trevor Houston 28:28
That's awesome. Jeffrey, good job.

Russ Johns 28:32
Turn it around, make lemonade. Make lemon pie make lemon juice make lemon tortes Wendy huli Good morning, friends. I missing you around. So Rick Henderson. It says back I agree. Now is the time to invest in yourself and build a dream into something significant.

Trevor Houston 28:51
I love that. You know, Dream, dream big. When did we stop dreaming as kids you wanted to be an astronaut, you want to be a firefighter or whatever your dreams were a movie star, and then all of a sudden, we just stopped dreaming life took us in a direction. And we just decided, well, that's what I'm gonna do. And they just continued to do it, And maybe 70% of Americans are unhappy with what they do for a living. Yeah, we only have one life to live and you spend a big portion of your life at work. If you're not happy, change and enjoy it.

Russ Johns 29:35
Enjoy it.

Unknown Speaker 29:36
Do something about it. I love what Gary Vee says all the time. He says, you want your words for motivation. He says you're gonna die, do something about

Russ Johns 29:47
Technically speaking, you're gonna be dead a lot longer in the big picture than you're alive. So make the most of it.

Trevor Houston 29:52
Yeah, go get happy. Whatever you need to do to make that happen. And that's where that awareness key comes in what you were talking about. You have got to know what makes you happy.

Russ Johns 30:03
Yeah, Jeffrey says Russ is consistent and persistent. Awesome. Yes. It's a long game for sure. Absolutely resonate with what you're both set talking about today. Powerful information. Thank you so much, Jeffrey. And then Ken, Ken's an awesome individual. He's a pirate as well. passion and commitment are key ingredients to success. Thanks for what you do, Russ Johns'. Great points. Trevor. Thanks. Kenyatta's here. Good morning, Gabriel. Donna Peters, Rick Henderson, Sherry Lolly. The pirates are in the room. love the idea of outsourcing surround yourself with what experts say to raise your game. That's a great piece of advice. Donna. This is why I do what I do. Laurie is awesome. Connect with Laurie, make sure that you're doing these things. Well, Trevor, that's part of the game is make the connections tell that it's covered. To make connections, you know, reach out to people ask questions, ask better questions. And don't be afraid to ask for help. You know, I think a lot of our society is this independence, this strong independence, and I can't show any kind of weakness at all. And I have to be this certain way to certain people all the time. And I think it's really, not necessarily to our advantage to think that way.

Trevor Houston 31:30
Well, it's also, I agree with what you're saying, but it's also uncomfortable sometimes to ask. Fear, I think is the main thing holding people back from asking, there's this feeling that they may be told no or they may be rejected just trying to talk to someone. And usually people withdraw because it's out of their comfort zone.

Russ Johns 32:31
It's the lizard brain mentality.

Trevor Houston 32:34
Yeah, we got to get out of our comfort zone. Because that's where growth happens because that person could change your life. So I recognize now that when I get that tingly feeling, I recognize it, and I embrace it. I understand what it is. And fear keeps you isolated, keeps you stuck, keeps you from making those bold moves, from going and introducing yourself to a Jerry Jones. Because you're afraid you're gonna say the wrong thing. Your fears and anxieties will keep you stuck. And so we've got to get past the fear zone, we got to get to the learning zone and in the growth zone, and the growth zone is where we find our purpose, we find our mission, we're able to live out our dreams, and if you don't go out there and make bold decisions you can be stuck and stay in the same place. I used to struggle with with public speaking. That was my number one fear. And it kept me from a lot of great things, but I had to overcome it. I knew it was holding me back. I had overcome that. And now I love it. I was watching an interview of Amelia and Nettie. And this girl, she was lighting up the room. She was just on fire. And I managed to go talk to her it was a little bit intimidating because she was just great. And just got up my nerve and went and spoke to her, now she is going to be on my show.

Russ Johns 35:03
all of those opportunities would evaporate

Trevor Houston 35:06
You have one shot, like Eminem song, right?

Russ Johns 35:15
So what's the big push for the next future for Trevor? Right now just develop the show and continue to help individuals.

Trevor Houston 35:23
Right now, a big mission I'm on is to elevate the level or caliber of guests that we are inviting on the show. I'm in the process right now of working to get Elena Cardone on. There's just some big names that I'm trying to get on the show and it will take some work to achieve my goal. I really want to be if you can imagine the Tony Robbins of job search. There's a lot of Tony Robbins type of motivational speakers for business owners that are trying to 10 X someone's business. That stuff exists but not for job seekers. So, what I want to do is I want to be that level of energy and to have that kind of a high impact meeting, where job seekers come in broke and they're there on the bottom, but they're gonna leave on the top feeling that they can accomplish the world they can take on the world, that they have what it takes, and they have the tools now to actually go home and apply. And so that's kind of my goal, my mission. So right now I'm trying to learn from those people. I'm trying to learn from Grant Cardone and from Tony Robbins and from David Meltzer, and Glen Lundy, and some people that are doing some amazing things. I'm just learning. I'm a sponge, because I want to be able to bring that same kind of energy to an audience that really couldn't afford to go to a conference like that. I'm gonna do it for free. I'm gonna bring it to that audience for free. I'll make the money up in the back end. I'm not worried about the money. If you provide enough value, money will come.

Russ Johns 37:12
The money will show up. Well, Trevor, it's been a pleasure. I love the fact that you're doing what you're doing. And if you're not connected in the pirate community, get connected. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, you know, wherever you can chase us down and connect.

Trevor Houston 37:31
I will.

Russ Johns 37:32
Reach out, Trevor, make those connections, subscribe to the podcast, subscribe to the YouTube channel. And stay connected with the community because as you can see, It's very open and willing to assist and support those that need help. So I I know that you know, kindness is cool. And smiles are free. So you can enjoy the day. Trevor, thank you so much for being here.

Trevor Houston 38:00
Thank you.

Russ Johns 38:01
We'll be back again soon. Appreciate you. Take care, everyone.

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