Full Transcript – Jason Feifer – Wild Business Growth Podcast #207

This is the full transcript for Episode #207 of the Wild Business Growth Podcast featuring Jason Feifer – Editor in Chief, Entrepreneur Magazine. You can listen to the interview and learn more here. Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.

Jason Feifer 0:00
Now I have a new set of challenges. I have a new set of opportunities. And this is exciting. Let’s go

Max Branstetter 0:22
Hey, you welcome back to the Wild Business Growth Podcast. This is your place to hear from a new entrepreneur every single Wednesday morning who’s turning Wild ideas into Wild growth. I’m your host, Max Branstetter, Founder and Podcast Producer at MaxPodcasting. And you can email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast. This is episode 207. And today’s guest is Jason Feifer. Jason is the Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, a role he has held since 2016. And before that, he served as an editor at Maxim, Fast Company, Men’s Health, Boston Magazine, he did a couple of things before that as well. And he is also the author of the brand spankin new book Build for Tomorrow. In this episode, we talk what entrepreneurship means to Jason, what he’s learned from being Editor in Chief at such a thought leading magazine and media company, and some of his favorite bits of entrepreneurial advice and entrepreneurial wisdom from some of the coolest and most inspiring entrepreneurs he’s ever come across. It is short and sweet with J-Feif. Enjoy the show.

All righty, we are here with Jason Feifer, Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine. And I would venture to say pun intended, as someone interesting person himself. Jason, honored to have you on how you doing today,

Jason Feifer 2:08
I hope to live up to somewhat interesting.

Max Branstetter 2:11
Exactly, well, somewhat, we’ll maybe get there over the course of this interview. But well, we’re definitely super excited to talk about entrepreneur and talk about your journey as well as your book, which is at the time of this recording hot off the press. Yes, sir. To start off, what is it about entrepreneurship that continues to fascinate you?

Jason Feifer 2:31
Well, to me, entrepreneurship is not a particular career or a kind of person. To me, entrepreneurship is a mindset. It is about having a vision and seizing it, it is about being willing to go through the absolute gauntlet that is required and often lonely, crazy problem solving your way through walls kind of gauntlet, I love that people have started to use the word entrepreneur to mean so many different things. Because I think ultimately what it means is that lots of people are finding that no matter what it is that they do, whether they are running a business, or they just work somewhere where they work for themselves, or whatever it is they do, that they are able to adopt that view of the world, that belief in themselves. And we together collectively are only better when more people think like that.

Max Branstetter 3:25
I that was actually a trick question. I thought you actually hated entrepreneurship. And this was all just like a slog miserable for you.

Jason Feifer 3:31
I couldn’t last I have a long track record of losing interest in things that are worth losing interest. And this is the longest I’ve stayed in any any one role or any one kind of place. I usually move on pretty fast.

Max Branstetter 3:44
I thought you’re gonna say this as long as you stayed in any interview. I’m like, Oh, happy to meet you after a couple minutes. Speaking of those previous spots, I mean, your career in I don’t know if you prefer journalism or publishing or I know you love the word content. Yeah. Content. Right,

Jason Feifer 4:00
I definitely hate I’ll take journalism media is a fine one. Whatever

Max Branstetter 4:04
media, sure, perfect media, podcasting, extraordinaire. You’ve had some awesome stops at Maxim, Fast Company, Men’s Health, even before Entrepreneur Magazine, if you can go back in time and picture yourself in those different chapters. Was there any sort of moment or spark for you in those different stops that you could foresee yourself taking more of that entrepreneurship path?

Jason Feifer 4:26
Well, I would have never predicted getting to Entrepreneur Magazine, particularly, I’d be very honest with you. It wasn’t a magazine that I read or paid any attention to. But I think that’s the power of being open to the journey. You don’t know where it is that you’re gonna go and you don’t know what is going to be the great opportunity. What you really want to do is focus on just creating as many opportunities as possible. So during my career in media, I’ll tell you what I always did is I always thought about and I didn’t always have the language for it, but this is what I always did. I did what I now call work your next job and working next job goes like this. I believe that in front of you, me everyone listening right now, we have two sets of opportunities: Opportunity Set A, Opportunity Set B. Opportunity Set A is everything that’s asked of us. So we show up at work and we have to do things we are judged by the way in which we do and accomplish those things. We have bosses who have expectations, that is Opportunity Set A do gooder, those things, Opportunity Set B is everything that is available to you that nobody is asking you to do. And that could be something that your job could be a new team to join, it could be a new thing to learn. It could be something outside of your job. You might say, you know, I really love listening to podcasts. I love listening to this podcast, maybe I should make my own podcast. And I’m telling you that whatever the situation is, Opportunity Set B is always more important, infinitely more important because if you only focus on Opportunity Set A, you are only qualified to do the thing that you are already doing opportunities at these where there’s growth. So to me in particular, at every stop along the way, I freelanced, I pushed myself to create different things. You know, I, it took different forms. When I was a Fast Company, I got very involved in the video department. Nobody had asked me to do that. But I also on my own sort of creating these viral websites that got me a lot of attention and press and it was fun. And what I was really doing now to look back on it was I was just kind of teaching myself new things. How do I better understand the way in which ideas spread? How do I better present myself on camera? How do I reach audiences in different ways. These are questions that should always be asked. And these are ways in which I was able to expand my abilities so that when the opportunity the big one came, which in this case for me so far has been being Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, I was I was prepared for it.

Max Branstetter 6:53
You’re doing okay job. I mean, look, I’ll give a nice pat on the back, I appreciate that. It’s excited to hear about it. I mean, I love everything you’re all about with Opportunity Set B not only because my name starts with B – my last name, but because anything with growth and brainstorming it just like if you’re anybody who’s a natural entrepreneur, it kind of just lights a fire in your belly. And it’s fun to find different challenges to tackle and, and problems to solve. And for you. So this this big opportunity as we speak. So Entrepreneur Magazine, which kind of led the charge in the in the Editor in Chief department for many years there. Now that this has been a reality, you know, kind of year after year for you has been Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, compared to maybe what you would have thought it would be like 15-20 years ago,

Jason Feifer 7:37
I tend not to feel like I know what something is like. But here’s what I mean. Here’s the funny thing. And you’ll hear this from anybody who accomplishes anything that they set out to do or even didn’t set out to do, which is that once you get there, it feels a lot more ordinary than you maybe you thought on the outside. I loved once a the best selling writer writer Ryan Holiday wrote this post on I think on his blog, I don’t know. And it was about what it’s like being a best selling author. And he described the first time that his book hit the bestseller list and you know, his agent, or whoever called him to tell him that just happened. And he was out mowing the lawn. And he got the call. And then he hung up the phone. And then he stood there and he was like, Well, what Where are you now and then you went back to mowing the lawn? What else is there? You know, it’s like, it’s that lawn is not gonna mow, it’s not gonna it’s not gonna bounce out. And that lawn does not care at all that you have a best selling book. So the thing is, accomplishments are wonderful, but they are also just another notch along the way. They’re just another part of real life. And I think the problem that we have is when we set our expectations as such that we think that well, once I get this thing once I accomplish this thing that there’s like one thing that’s going to be a transformational moment for us. And it’s just it’s not how it is. It’s never how it is. So, to me every single time that I have reached some new milestone, I try to take a moment to celebrate and appreciate it, but then I always think well okay, now I have a new set of challenges. I have a new set of opportunities. And this is exciting. Let’s go

Max Branstetter 9:23
I’m never going to think about grass the same way again because you might care about that grass but that that lawn does not care about you

Jason Feifer 9:30
know sure doesn’t a lot doesn’t care at all about you.

Max Branstetter 9:32
What’s like your your guiding principle or like the impact you want to leave on Entrepreneur Magazine. As Editor in Chief, what do you strive to do?

Jason Feifer 9:42
I mean, organizations are living things, and not only are organizations living things, but they exist in an ever changing world. And I think that you’re foolish to think that the thing that you do is the thing that lasts. Instead, I think the best way to think about it is the thing that you do enables lasting. And so what am I proud of an entrepreneur? Well, what I’m proud of is that I’m part of a team that’s very much thinking about what does this company need to be Now, as I think there’s what every leader needs to be thinking about what what is, what do we need to be now, not? What were we before that we must maintain, but rather, what are we now? What are we to people now? How can we help people now? And if you solve for that, and you’re willing to continue to update your answer, because, I mean, hell I’ve been I’ve been at Entrepreneur since 2015. And I became Editor in Chief in 2016. And, you know, even the needs of the brand, and the needs of our audience are different from then to now. And the thing that I must push myself to do is to say, you know, just because I had an idea in 2016, about what belongs in this magazine doesn’t mean that it is the thing that I have to hold on to forever and ever, that even my hopefully good ideas are eventually going to become outmoded, and must be replaced with hopefully other good ideas. So I think of it like that. And then I think of in the time that I have, whatever time that is, how can I impact people so that when they are moving forward in their own journeys, they can look back and say, You know what, one of the things that really helped me was, was this, and if I’m a part of that, then that’s pretty powerful. That is

Max Branstetter 11:28
pretty, pretty powerful. And one of my favorite things in the world that are pretty, pretty powerful when you do them, right are podcasts, if you’re craving more insight on how to podcast effectively, have fun doing it, and have it pay off for your business, you can go to MaxPodcasting.com and scroll down just a bit and go to the Podcasting to the Max newsletter, you can sign up there. It’s full of podcasting tips, puns, and behind the scene, priceless moments just to throw another P in there for alliteration from the Wild Business Growth Podcast. That’s MaxPodcasting.com. And go down and sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter. Now, let’s change it up a bit. In your comments on changing and thinking about the future and kind of dealing with change and being agile, from that perspective, transition swimmingly to your brand new book. So congrats, Build for Tomorrow. I’m honored you let me write the foreword. That was very kind of you. Yeah. Jason. I know, I didn’t even know. Exactly crazy I paid you Build for Tomorrow. So what is that we’re not gonna give away too much here. But super exciting, obviously, big, highly anticipated release. What is one main takeaway that you really want people to take away with them from reading this book?

Jason Feifer 12:50
Well, I’ll tell you what the book is structured around, it’s structured around this observation, that change happens in 4 phases. This is what I came to realize, while I was watching everybody go through the pandemic, because the pandemic was many things, obviously, some good some bad, or many bad view. But what it also was was a fascinating experiment, because it caused everybody to go through the same change at the same time. And then you got to see what people did as a result. And some people reinvented themselves, they reinvented their work their lives, their business, and others, not so much. And I wanted to understand what was going on and what enabled some people to get ahead, not just in the pandemic, but in any moment of change, personal, large, small, whatever it is. And anyway, I came to realize that change happens in four phases for everyone. One panic to adaptation, three, new normal four, wouldn’t go back wouldn’t go back being that moment where you say, I’m so happy that I have this new invaluable thing. And I wouldn’t want to go back to a time before I had it. And everybody I’m telling you, everybody goes through that every buddy doesn’t matter how successful you are. Everybody goes through those four phases. The difference is how fast you can go through them. So I guess what I want is I want people to take seriously their own experience of change. And to recognize that there is more ahead, there are greater things ahead. But you need to be willing to get through the hard stuff to get to the great stuff.

Max Branstetter 14:26
What like clicks in people’s head, when they reach that point of wouldn’t go back?

Jason Feifer 14:32
Well, it’s funny, I don’t know that people who sometimes even recognize that they’re there. But I think that we’ve all had this moment where we’re doing something and we say, you know, this, I couldn’t have could have anticipated this, but this is better. This is a better way to do this thing than I had before. And what it should do is it should inspire you to push beyond to push more to say, My God if I have this new thing as a result, then what would happen if If I also start to reconsider these other things that I’ve been doing, or maybe I’m not so afraid of taking these risks anymore, this is a gradual process for people. But what you should see in yourself is resilience, that you should recognize in yourself that you went through something, and you got somewhere. And that doesn’t mean that the journey is over. You know, I mean, it’s much like Ryan Holiday, getting a phone call about being a bestseller, and then going back to the go back to the lawn, like when you get through these phases of change, and you reach a wouldn’t go back moment, I will tell you wouldn’t go back is also just the starting point for panic, because change will come again. And I in the same way that, you know, I took over Entrepreneur Magazine and came up with all these new ideas, and they were good, and now some of them are being challenged right by new needs new ideas. We’ve been doing this for a long time, it’s time to start to think about something else, you know, whatever it is. And what I do in those moments, is I look back and I say, you know, what, got me here is a willingness to have rethought things. And that means that I’ve done it, I know how to do it. I could do it again.

Max Branstetter 16:19
Perfect. Well, I’m super excited to Build for Tomorrow. And I think you’re so incredibly well-spoken. And an audio format always comes across great. It comes across in text in the magazine as well. And I’m sure we’ll come across, come across swimmingly. Just overuse the word in book form, as well. So really, really excited for you. Congrats again on the launch. Let’s wrap up today with some Rapid-Fire Q&A. Are you ready for it?

Jason Feifer 16:45
Yeah, no, I appreciate all those kind words. Yeah, let’s hit it.

Max Branstetter 16:48
Of course. Alright, let’s get Wild. Let’s hit it. Who’s someone in the entrepreneurship space that maybe it’s like a “celebrity entrepreneur” someone who you’ve been, you’ve met through your journey at Entrepreneur Magazine, that you’ve just been like, wowed by their presence, like the second they walk in the room, it’s kind of like, holy cow, like we’re dealing with someone here. Oh,

Jason Feifer 17:09
I mean, I meet so many people like that. So many incredibly impressive people. And I’ll tell you, the thing that I usually end up taking away from those experiences is, it’s like a single idea that I just find really powerful. So, for example, had a great conversation with Ryan Reynolds. And the thing that I’ll repeat forever is when he said to me, in order to be good at something, you have to be willing to be bad. And I thought, That’s a brilliant way of thinking about it. That’s totally true, right? We go through any moment of change, we try something new, we are not going to be good at the start. The difference between someone who’s going to get too good. And someone who’s not is that the person who’s going to get too good is willing to be bad at the start of it. Talk to Malcolm Gladwell, Bestselling Author, Podcaster I had asked him what what is a Malcolm Gladwell project to him, how does he know what is a good Malcolm Gladwell project or idea or whatever? And he said to his the best of his ability, of course, it’s impossible to completely be agnostic, but like, to the best of his ability, he tries not to filter himself like that. Because in here, here were the words he said, I jotted it down as soon as he said it. Self conceptions are powerfully limiting. If you think of yourself as one thing that you’ll turn down all these other opportunities, as powerfully limiting. I loved it, I wrote it down. I tried to embody it. So I have a lot of moments like that.

Max Branstetter 18:32
That’s amazing. Two peas in a pod, Ryan Reynolds and Malcolm Gladwell. What is something rather quirky about your personality that somebody coworker, friend, family, somebody calls you out for but to our,

Jason Feifer 18:44
I’m sure that there are all sorts of things. I’ll tell you a quirky thing about myself, I don’t know. It’s not a personality thing is that I don’t have a sense of smell or taste. So this leads to a lot of questions. People have many Yeah,

Max Branstetter 18:55
we might need to double the length of this interview now. Yeah,

Jason Feifer 18:59
it’s not a COVID thing. It’s been it’s been like that forever for me. And so you know, I don’t really have a particular interest in food. A chocolate ice cream is the same as vanilla ice cream. But yeah, that’s that’s the kind of quirk of me that my friends know.

Max Branstetter 19:12
Is that something you were born with? Or is that like a recent thing?

Jason Feifer 19:14
We don’t really know. It was it was probably not something I was born with. But it’s probably something that happened very young. It was it was it was probably a head trauma when I was really young, because that happened. There was no way to know for sure.

Max Branstetter 19:28
You mentioned that when you meet like a Ryan Reynolds or Malcolm Gladwell. There’s like one quick phrase or sentence that you kind of take away. What would somebody take away from you? What’s Jason Feifer’s one line?

Jason Feifer 19:40
The funny thing is that if you put things out into the world enough, you discover that you are not in control of the thing that people receive. You can do your best, but ultimately, people will take whatever you put out into the world and they’ll make it their own and they’ll find the value for for it and themselves, it’s so funny out, I’ll write a newsletter, because I have this newsletter and and then somebody will respond to me. And and they’ll say, this, this line just really hit me today like, this is exactly what I needed to hear, right. And that line was like, two thirds of the way down. And it was so like random. I wasn’t even thinking about it when I wrote it, write it like wasn’t the main point of the newsletter. And that’s just the way it is. So you know, I don’t know, I think the answer is if you’re taking anything away, then to me that’s success. Perfect. Well,

Max Branstetter 20:32
Jason, congrats again, thank you so much for coming on. I know you gotta run. Last thing here. I mean, you already you already did the final thoughts. So you kind of jumped the line for that. But where’s the best place for people to get your book and then if anybody wants to connect with you, personally,

Jason Feifer 20:45
yeah, the book is called thank you for asking the book is called Build for Tomorrow. And you can find it think of a place that you know where the carry books, and you can find it there. So anywhere you carry books, and if you can’t, for some reason, think of a place that carries books, then JasonFeifer.com/Book will definitely do the job for you. And and you know, I’d love for you to pick it up and then you can reach me through JasonFeifer.com. JasonFeifer.com has all contact info it has a you can click on this button called free training which gets a free audio guide that I have to adaptability it kind of teaser for the book, and and all sorts of other stuff. So please feel free to reach out and I hope you grabbed the book.

Max Branstetter 21:26
Book it. Thank you so much, Jason, for coming on the podcast for doing just a little bit in the world of entrepreneurship. Being so entrepreneurial yourself. It’s very tough to to use, say the word entrepreneur over and over again, it’s it’s like a tongue twister. So thanks for for bearing through that. And thank you Wild Listeners for tuning in to another episode. If you want to hear more Wild stories like this one, make sure to follow the Wild Business Growth Podcast on your favorite app and tell a friend about the podcast and go check out some incredible stuff that Entrepreneur Magazine puts out because it’s incredible stuff from Entrepreneur Magazine. You can also find us on Goodpods where there are fantastic podcasts and podcast recommendations and people and for any help with podcast production, you can learn more at MaxPodcasting.com and scroll down just a bit and sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter. Until next time, let your business run wild. Bring on the bongos!