John Osberg of OZmosis Consulting - Authenticity, Vulnerability, and Resonance - Episode 30

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John Osberg of OZmosis Consulting is the interviewee in the latest episode of the Smarter Business Podcast. In this episode, John discusses the importance of resonance, staying relevant with content, and that vulnerability is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength and courage. 

Here is a link to John Osberg's OZmosis Consulting: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ozmosis-consulting/


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Our goal with this podcast to deliver high-quality, actionable tips and advice from business leaders. Advice that will help you succeed. Oh yeah and that video bent - we are going beyond the typical business tips, we are going to explore the use of video with these business leaders too, from marketing to sales, to internal communications - how they use it and how it impacts their businesses. Thanks for tuning in. 

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Transcript

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(upbeat music) - Hello, welcome everyone to this episode of the Smarter Business Podcast. This is a business podcast with a Video Bent. We like to talk to business people who are using video in interesting ways, and get a little advice out of them. Today, we are talking to John Osberg of OZmosis Consulting. John, it's great to have you. - It's great to be with you, my brother. And big shout out to Vidwheel Creator Network and Vidwheel and to you and team. I sincerely can't thank you enough. And I know that's been, that drum has been beat about the digital world and the whatever other worlds. So, it's really cool to be with you, my friend. - Excellent, yeah. Well, I appreciate all the shout outs you give us. Every time I see you it's, you know, created with the help of the Vidwheel Creator Network, which is great. - It is, with your support. - Yeah. Well, let's talk a little bit about kind of how that all came together, right? Like, you have been on the podcast before, right. Episode 11 was you alone, and then you actually were a co-host with us for a while. Pre COVID, right? When we were in studio, I think you talked to Raj Suchak, you talked to a Pat Whalen, you talked to the Bills Mafia guys. - Del, Darren and Matty? - Yeah, yeah. And, so you can get some great episodes there. - Don't forget Gavigan. - And Gavigan, yeah, John Gavigan, right. And, now, you're a guest again in a different world, right. So let's talk a little bit about what your path has been through the pandemic and what you're up to today. - Yeah, man, thank you, Neil. Yeah. Big shout out to John Gavigan. Raj Suchak, The Bills Mafia crew, Del Reid and Dan Gigante, Matt Carlucci, and then of course, Pat Whalen too. And hey, I've got my dig mug, from the dig days in Buffalo, Niagara Medical Campus there, but you know, I want to rewind even further, Neil, which would be to December 2019. I remember, you know, how much I'd been getting into podcasting and how obsessed I was with podcasting how much it actually helped contribute to kind of what OZmosis really became at a truly visceral, you know, growth oriented level, like personal development is what I meant to say there. And, I remember reaching out to you and I've known you Neil for a long time, my friend, and you've been just that a friend, a mentor, a source of inspiration for me, about what give first really means, and not just saying it, but truly immersing in give first which is to give because it's inherently good and to give without expectation of anything back in reciprocity. So, I remember reaching out to you, Neil, you were very accessible, you were happy to talk with me. I was noodling around the ideas of podcasting, what that looked like, and I'll never forget, man. You're like, well, I've got the setup, I've got the studio I've got the know-how. And this is pre pandemic, obviously, because it was December of 2019. So, I just remember your willingness to share insights and for the opportunity to work with me, which then, of course, you know, starts with our first podcast which I'll never forget it being in studio, man. And it was one that when you said, "Okay, we're rolling." It went from like happy, go lucky, joking, no nerves, to all of a sudden, oh no, the camera's on. And I remember being nervous and screwing it up a couple of times, right. But of course you were great to, you were understanding, and you know, within a couple of iterations or tries, we were rocking it. Oh, and then you kindly featured me and then, you know, from there it was like, yeah, I think we have something here. I'd love to be able to not only bring in some great people but also then obviously host them again which you were really cool and kind to allow that. So, it goes back even further than just, you know, and I'm not saying you weren't saying that, but I wanted to make sure I colored that narrative (indistinct). It was really something, man. And honestly, I would not be, I'll make a bold statement right here in the first few minutes. OZmosis Consulting would not be seven months old without the help of the Vidwheel Creator Network. I would not be turning seven months old as a business, without the support of you Neil. And then, of course, Morgan, and some of the other team and supporters that you have in your network, but also your team. So, I would literally not be here without you. And I'm not saying that to be artificial. I say that with all the candor and authenticity in the world. So, the content that I'm shooting, the people that I'm talking to, the business that is coming out of the podcast and the content that I'm putting out there are literally creating business. They're creating opportunity. They're creating interest in the people that I'm working with, the companies I'm working with, the community organizations I'm working with. So, the power of video, and this is where I'll finish. But the power of, at least with this particular topic, the power of video truly is immeasurable. And it's, there's a few reasons why that maybe we unpack, but I will be also candid and say that I knew video was cool. I know people are kind of lazy and they don't want to really read. So, they'd rather watch these videos, you know, whatever six to seven minutes is the sweet spot. But I did not know it until I really got involved with the network and started to do my own thing and teach myself how to create content, but also have the ideas for what's gonna be resonant relevant content. So, yeah, man, this has been a fun ride and here we are April, 2021 or whatever it is. I know you'll release this in may, but I'm just so grateful and so energized, which you can tell already. - Yeah, yeah. Well, that's good. We like the enthusiasm and congratulations on seven months and, yeah, I mean, I appreciate everything you put into the Smarter Business Podcast back when we were in studio. And yeah, I think it seemed like a perfect fit when we started talking again, mid pandemic, about how you could start doing some creation and so on with content creation and we were just spinning up the creator network. So, I think you're a success story, right? Like, you're making your own stuff. You've moved, you know, pretty far down the path in terms of, you know, learning how to edit, learning how to shoot things properly or master with your gear now, right. I see different setups all the time from you you know, kinda tweaking our basic setup to work with your situation. So, I think it's excellent. - I appreciate that. - And, you know, let's keep rolling, right? Yeah. - Let's keep hammering, Neil. Let's keep, (indistinct), let's go, man. I mean, seriously. And I want to acknowledge you too, just really quickly. I don't want to steal it back but I want to acknowledge you in that, you know, the absolute, the resilience, the perseverance the courage to face adversity head on, which was, you went from a lot of on-prem shooting and obviously the studio, which by the way, I brought back into the full now with vaccinations and all that. - Right. - But, for you to be able to take your business, which was, I don't know the percentage, but I have to think it's greater than majority of your business revenue was in-person stuff. You know, working with incredible companies like ACV to name a few. And there's a lot of other ones. But, you know, for you to do that, man, you yourself are a success story as a business owner free of the network, free of anything else, in that, you have the ability to pivot to be malleable. And again, to be courageous enough to then pivot your business from on-prem to strictly virtual now and coming up with these kits, it's ingenious. And I'd be curious to know who else is doing it. 'Cause I don't know anyone else that has a podcast in a suitcase, which is over here to my left. - Right. - So, again, acknowledgement and kudos my friend. Not to make the bag massage (indistinct). (Neil laughs) Man, seriously. - Right. Well, thank you for that. And, yeah, I mean it was, you know, necessity is the mother of invention, right? Like I've found myself with no way to do any of that on site shooting, studio was closed. And, on top of that, I do a lot of childcare these days. So, I don't have, like even now as things are starting to open up, I have to kinda stay in a similar space here where it's all virtual. But on the plus side, we just wrapped a big project through Techstars that was based out of Japan. Never could have done that with the old like setup. We've had guest center meeting from out of town, Houston, Vancouver, you know, up in to New England and down into Georgia and stuff. Those possibilities were maybe there in some capacity, but they weren't as, I wasn't taking advantage of them for one, and they were, I feel like that's the big shift that we're able to somewhat, you know, be in line with and help kind of push forward as people who have realized how much more there is out there outside of their geographic area or, you know, more access to clients, to guests on podcasts, stuff like that. Like, there's just so much out there. The world has become smaller, I guess, right? So, well, I'll get right into the main kind of, I tie in all of these podcast episodes now to what we have going on with the Vidwheel Creator Network. In this month, it is actually going to be all about generating content ideas. And that was part of the reason I thought you'd be a great guest for this episode, right? You are cranking out a ton of content. - Thank you. - So, I don't know, like what's the process? How do you decide what to put out there? What types of things are you putting out there? You could tell the audience about that and we'll kind of go from there. - Yeah, now a great question. And I know we pile on before this before we hit the record button, but, you know, the old adage is Cassius King. Now it's content is king. It was always, not always, but it was content is king for a while, but now it's like King is in caps and bold, in that kind of mantra because of the pandemic, because of the virtual center world we live in that's dominated by the screen and the video and the camera. And, yeah, so, you know, for me, it's like, okay, like there's a couple kinds of thoughts that I have or filters that I run through my decision making in creating content, Neil, you know, we start with this as resonant relevant. Is it going to speak to my brand and to the brand that I'm putting out to the world? But also, things like have a notebook at your bedside you know, have a, maybe there's a little note pad in your shower. In your bathroom, I mean. Maybe not the shower, but the bathroom. Because when you start to find like what it is you're meant to do on this earth, your mind starts to kind of regenerate the creativity and imagination that we may have lost when we were younger. And, so for me, I have these ideas constantly flowing Neil, and I'm always trying to iterate I'm taking notes on my phone. I'm doing reminders like we did before this we started recording and put a reminder word for something with the Vidwheel Creator Network, Mighty Networks Platform. So, yeah, I would just say to folks who are trying to get better with content, the other thing too, is start to sample others content, you know. See what's good at what they do, it's Bruce Lee, right? Take what's useful discard what's not and uniquely make it your own. So, you see other podcasters, you see other people that are putting content even if it's free off video or podcasting, but something that resonates that sticks with you, take mental stock of that mental note of that, or even write it down, and then that'll help you when you come to a point where, okay, in my business life in my community life, I want to create content. Well, where do I start? And so having the notepad to be able to track some of those thoughts that come to your mind as you go through life, checking out people's podcasts or their content on different platforms, and then obviously knowing your brand and your voice and how can you stay, can grow with it. Those are some big takeaways. - Yeah, yeah. Excellent, well done. That's a great tip. Because we already brought them up earlier, I'm gonna bring up Dan Gigante. I've seen him like, you know, he's got a nice little idea notebook or at least, use to always have it on him, right. You've got yours. That's an actual excellent piece of advice, because it's like the worst possible scenarios, you're like, you know, you set up a social media schedule or a video schedule and you get to the morning of, and you're like, now, what am I going to talk about? Right. Like when you're trying to generate it right then, that's when it can be hardest. And if you have that little idea book, you can go back and be like, oh, yeah, that was a good one. Right. - If you fail to prepare, you're preparing to fail. Right. That's another adage. - [Neil] There you go. - As it relates, as it lends itself to content generation, content strategy, content management, it's so powerful. You just never know, Neil. You never know that one little thing. Like you might say to yourself, oh, this is gonna be dumb content. Or, this is going to be a dumb, maybe not dumb, but you might poo poo it or whatever you want to call it. You might dismiss is probably the word I was looking for. But you really, and it's happened to me so many times where I just, you know what, I'm gonna put that out there. I'm gonna comment there and tag that and then something can happen out of it. Even if it's just, again, a human, like we talked about give first, something that helps someone for the inherent good of it. Being the act of just creating goodness, right. So, yeah, you just never know. So, share, share, share. - Excellent. And I do want to touch on one other point the head when in that last answer, which was kind of built around knowing your voice and kind of having that strategy in place. That is one of the pieces that I think is totally overlooked, right? Like if you know what your company says and what they stand for and what their messaging is, you don't end up in those situations where on, to go back to that, oh, I'm supposed to post something now or I'm supposed to create a video now, what's it gonna say? That type of a situation just doesn't happen with the same frequency, if you're really clear on that messaging in that voice. So, that was also a great point by you. - Thank you. And adding one more piece to that, you know, the enemy of all execution is complexity. So, if you make things harder, for me, I mean, again, on error, more candor and accountability or whatever, candor is the word, you know, there was a point in time and it wasn't long ago, where, you know, I'd have people that would reach out to me, you know, friends, mentors, whoever, just interested individuals, and say like, well what is it that you do? Or John, when someone asks me about what you're doing how can I give them like five to 10 words or one sentence? Right. And, so before verbatim, it was, you know, with all these emojis in my headline on LinkedIn, supercharged, connector, collaborator and champion of brands causes and humanity, you know, and that's a mouthful, that's a lot. Like what? So, over time, again, back to the iterative process, the notepad, the thoughts, the consuming of other content, the conversations that you have, finally, it stuck with me one day in February. I was out running in the snow like an absolute maniac would, and I heard this one thing on this Marcus Elevation Taylor, as a motivational guy. And he says, my agent of this or that. I was like, wait a minute, agent of transformation. And then obviously I iterated even further via OZmosis 'cause osmosis is the gradual bringing together of particles. - Right. - This knowledge, well now it's via OZmosis. So, I'll tell you, man, it's a beautiful process when you step back and look at just evolution of anything, our lives, our online appearance, our mindset, It's cool, man. It's cool. - Well, then it's all tied to being willing to take those next steps, right? We talk about incremental change within the Creator Network all the time. Like if, and, I think we may have even, started with this, or this might have been one of your posts recently. But, your first video is not gonna be your best one, right? You PIP it and then you kind of improve on it. And it's the same with pretty much every aspect of business, right? You have to be willing to get out there and do some things in order to find out whether it's worth working, where you can improve and go from there. So, yeah, your tagline is a great example of that. You always have to be willing to go and revisit and improve and that's just the whole growth mindset thing. So... - When you're willing to share your story, whether it's literally just the content you're putting out where it's new that you're new to it. And, hey guys, like it's my first video. I'm figuring things out, like looking for feedback or whatever it is. - Right. - I wanna make sure this is very clear to anyone. And I'll even coaching myself on this when I say the statement and I say all the time, people think vulnerable, I don't wanna generalize. People may think that vulnerability and sharing kind of like your warts or your struggles, is actually, you know, weakness, but it's truly the opposite. So, when you're willing to share and you are vulnerable, right? That's a big word there. Dr. Brene Brown, she talks about vulnerability. That is where you actually show yourself to be the most courageous, strongest, because you're sharing your inadequacies, nakedly, if you will. And you're saying, this is me, this is what I'm doing. And a lot of times, or not a lot of times, I think hopefully most times people will recognize that and they'll give props or credit where credit is due. And then you're gonna solicit feedback. And maybe you inspire someone else to share their inadequacies or whatever. And this might be going to inspirational or motivational, but with video at the forefront, if you're putting out video and you know it's a little off, put a video out and ask for the community to get, what can I do better here? What can I, what am I doing wrong? Or, you know, what do you think is great? Or any insights and tips or tricks will be helpful. So, I just wanted to call on that too. - Yeah. And I'll go even one step further on it. It doesn't even have to be other folks, right. You can be self evaluating on a lot of that stuff. That used to be, even with our production company, that used to be a goal is that, you would reflect on a video that you made, right, and these were professionally done, but there's always tiny little improvements that you can make on anything. And you have to self-reflect and say, the next video we're going to tweak that one little thing and it's gonna be even better, right. And, that is, yeah. I'm trying to think where... - Kaizen. - Yeah. - Kaizen, it's a Japanese word that means continuous small improvements every day that over a long period of time will add up to greatness. - They add up. Yeah, yeah. So, that's a good one. See we're getting, we're right in your wheelhouse here with all this motivational growth stuff. (all laugh) - People are gonna be like, this kid is extra juice, but the fun fact is I did not have much coffee today. I'm actually weaning off the coffee. So, people are gonna think, man, this dude's out of his mind, too much caffeine, but it's really not. It's just life, man. Breathing in life, living the dream, literally. So, yeah Neil, you're the man baby. - So, this is off script. This isn't in the notes. But a lot of that seems to be a very common thing that a lot of people have sort of stepped into, maybe during the pandemic or maybe it's just coincidence, and then the next kind of comment that a lot of those same folks have had, is they're drinking the mud water. - Mud water, no. I think that's more like thinking like mushroom coffee. - Right, yeah, that's what it is. It's like a mushroom coffee thing. But that's... you know. - It's funny you say that. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Go ahead. No, you go ahead. Sorry. - It's more of a replacement, right? So, but that's, I don't know, that's come up a lot recently. A lot of people like the mud water. So, but that's not you, you're just cutting out caffeine and coffee or something like that. Yeah. - I'm excited to say this out loud 'cause it's more accountability and like we'll call a lot of attraction. I've yet to really release this, but I'm on day two of veganism. I am working towards abstaining from caffeine which I've only been a caffeine drinker, maybe through coffee, maybe a year and a half, two years of tops. And, I just see when you talk about that self-examination, right. That, you examining yourself daily, you know, even in real time, minute by minute. And, I know that caffeine juices me more than I need to be. I'm in hyper-drive, I'm in overdrive. - [Neil] Right. - And right now it would seem like I did have a lot of coffee, but it's just that I'm excited by this conversation and I cannot help myself. And, I used to actually, and I won't name names, but there were people that would say that, you know, Johnny you got to learn how to channel your energy. You gotta be better with it. This world needs energy. This world needs transformation. This world needs positivity, even neutrality, and it needs resilience and passion. - I'm gonna hit you with one question. One last question. 'Cause we, I kind of thought this might happen, John, but we're over typical time. (giggles) - Talk it up to the power of OZmosis, Neil, baby, let's go. (Neil laughs) - I'm going to hit you with one more question, which is the question that ties all of these episodes together. I didn't put in our notes what you said last time. So, you can repeat if you want and I won't even know, probably. But what is one thing that you've done to make your business or a client's business smarter? - The first thought that comes to mind, Neil, is whether it's literally through OZmosis or through intentional conversation, discussion coaching, bringing an element of humanity and realness to what you're doing. You know, everyone will say to me, "John, what keeps you motivated? What keeps you inspired?" And it's those that are on the other side of the question that keep me motivated inspired that are curious to know that, because when you really inject your life with an element of realness and authenticity and candor, and authenticity gets thrown around a lot. But, again, candor, vulnerability and just humanness, humanity, whatever it is. When you can inject that into your life, and then of course, into the content you're putting out, you're gonna magnetize yourself. And that's the bit I coach on it too. So, magnetism, right? So, people don't, they don't want to see the guy or the girl that is constantly on the mountain top, constantly out there killing it. And they're, you know, it's almost like that really curated content feed. - [Neil] Right. - Which more and more people are talking about, right. It's like, you know, if you're always posting the vacations you're on, and whatever this that are always so ultra great. I'm not saying you should be, you know, posting about how crappy things are going or whatever like all the time. But it's that balance, right? Life is all balanced. And so, if you can balance out the good with the bad, because the bad will, again, it will magnetize you to where it's like, you know, you want to see that person that is real. They're not just talking. They're not a talking head. There's nothing worse than, and this is where I kind of finish, there's nothing worse than when you connect with someone on a social platform, let's call it LinkedIn, that's where I keep going to. And then you meet them, whether it's virtual now or if it was in person. And it's like, you're not the same person. - Yes. - Not whether it's the picture, right. You know, and that's another topic, but more importantly, right, or more broad strokes. It's like, you have this energy, this essence, whether good or bad or whatever it is, online, but then in person, it's totally different. - Yeah. - So that working gruent, and I might be making up a word, but the element of congruence and realness are two of the biggest things I think that will make your business smarter, make you smarter. And then for me through OZmosis, it's making the people I work with and serve, you know, I would like to think smarter in a sense that they're doing things differently with how they amplify their messaging and their messages to the world. - Right. Yeah. And like, you know, we always, we call it what it is. It's authenticity, right? Nobody's life is vacation all the time. Like, you know, driving fancy cars and stuff like that. Authentically, if you have all that stuff, you probably have put in a lot of hard work or I guess maybe family money or something, but, you know, whatever. - Hey, (indistinct) money. (all laugh) - But the authenticity is almost gotten a little bit of, you know, it's become so much of a buzzword that I think people even avoid it at this point. But it is truly what we're talking about. Like, authentically, it's not all vacations and Lamborghinis, It's, you know, there's a lot of hard work. And your struggle with that hard work, right. And so, to put it out there in a real way a way that people relate to, is very important. And I think also it's been very much amplified by the pandemic because everybody's at home, you'd see the news anchor with the kid that walks through the background. Like that kind of stuff is real, that's really happening. And like, it used to be sterilized, right? Like you and I did it. You'd go into that empty studio. You get the sound and the lighting is perfect as possible and nobody's gonna disturb you. And there's less of that. That it's more of a window into people's lives I think right now. Which I don't hate. (laughs) So... - That is well summarized. And by the way, you have a great voice for video and radio and content. - Well, yeah. Thanks. (laughs) Thank you. - It's good, man. (indistinct) (all laugh) - The radio voice, right? Yeah, I've been told that, but you know what my biggest problem is? I don't enunciate well enough to like truly be VO or anything like that. So, that's my own self evaluation. - 'Cause you're real. Okay, so you're self evaluating because you're real. - Right, right. - So, like you're not gonna sit there and be like, hi, this is Neil Carol with the Vidwheel Creator Network. - Yeah. - Because you're real and you're self examined. So there you go. - And I can do the movie announcer voice. Yeah., if I ever want to go that route, I guess, right. But I'm not gonna do it now. - Come on, You can't say that without doing it. Come on, give us a little something. - No, no, no, no, no, no. We're not going down that path. - We've already spent a lot of time on these. - We've already gone over time. See that'll be my excuse. I would like to say, thank you, John, for being on. I know we've tried to get this hooked up for a while, and I had to kind of slot you into a good theme with the Creator Network. It's been great to see you grow within the network. It's been great to see your content incrementally improve, like we've talked about. And, yeah, thank you for all you've done for the network itself. And to all the viewers and listeners, thank you for taking the time to sit down with John and I, and if you like some of the content you heard today, if you'd like this idea of video and business and their marriage, subscribe to this podcast video podcast. Yeah, if you're on YouTube, we've got the subscribe below. If you're on your typical podcast platforms, you know, go ahead and subscribe. And these come out monthly. So, thank you, John. - Thank you. - Excellent, have a good one. - Thanks, Neil. Thanks everyone. (upbeat music)