Island Roots, Global Reach: The Gertha Jean Story

"Yes Genius!" is a podcast that explores the power of affirmative thinking, celebrating the impact of saying yes to unexpected opportunities and the unknown.

This season of Yes, Genius will give you an opportunity to learn more about our 2024 Social Media Day Delaware speakers and panelists!

In this episode, Jess sits down with Gertha Jean to talk about all of the large life changing "yes" moments she's had that have led to her coming to the US, starting her business and joining us for Social Media Day Delaware 2024!

Transcript

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Welcome to Yes, Genius, a podcast from Epic Marketing that celebrates the power of affirmative thinking. In each episode, we explore the power of saying yes to unexpected opportunities, career changes, even the unknown, and the powerful results. This season, we welcome our speakers and panelists from Social Media Day Delaware. We hope you enjoy their yes stories and some digital marketing insights. Hello and welcome. I'm your host for this episode, Jess Burton. Joining me is Gertha Jean, the founder of BLB Global and a panelist for Social Media Day Delaware 2024. BLB Global is a high level brand storytelling consultancy that specializes in transforming industries often seen as boring, like insurance, compliance, and logistics, into visible and unforgettable brands. Through the power of storytelling, she has helped clients across various sectors achieve business growth and boost online visibility. Welcome, Gertha. Hi, Jess. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. I am so excited to have you here because I feel like we both deal with a lot of quote, unquote, boring industry. And I feel like I spend a lot of my time telling people that you can make them fun. And it is possible to have fun with branding and whatnot. Yes, yes. It's all how you see it and how you narrate your own story, you know, and I love it. Absolutely. So we're going to hop right into the questions. So my first initial question for you, the name of this podcast is Yes Genius. So you've talked about helping people overcome the fear of posting online and you have an irreverent approach that I hope you'll share with us. How do you say yes to making social media less scary and more enjoyable? Okay, so this is something that we do with our clients, right? And everybody knows that sometimes social media is scary. And I always give the approach when I talk to my clients, I say, you know what, let's give social media the finger, right? And how do you do that? Like how do you overcome your fear? And I was always raised to face your fear. So how do you give social media the finger? You post it. And that's the most scariest thing for people to do when it comes to social media to post it. And so what we do, we post it. We post that picture. We post that thought. We post that video. We post that blog. Whatever it is, start by just posting it. And then slowly, slowly and slowly, you're gonna realize that there's nothing for you to be afraid of. I think that is such good advice. I feel like in the day and age of influencers and curated content, what people are looking for is someone who is authentic. Yes. The best way to be authentic is to just share who you are wholeheartedly. Even if it is silly, even if it is, even if it doesn't feel perfect. I feel like that in itself makes it perfect for social. It is, that's what social media is imperfection. You know, I always tell people like half the stuff you see on social media are not real, you know, people don't show you behind the scenes. And if you're looking at that person and saying, hey, I want to be like them or I want to do them, then That's not a realistic goal. You know what you can be? You can be yourself. You can post what you want to post. You can post what makes your brand shine. And that's how your true authentic self and your brand shines through that. Absolutely. I think especially when you are the face of your business and you, whether you incorporate your name into your business or if you're an independent business owner, because I know a lot of, I feel like the people we buy insurance from, they use their names. Like I couldn't tell you, actually, that's probably bad. I couldn't tell you what insurance companies they work for, but I could tell you what his name is. You could look him up on Google. Yes. So 1 of the parts that I wanted to really dig into a little bit was you said you were raised to face your fears, which I am like the biggest scaredy cat there is. I jokingly, I say, I do everything scared because I just, everything is like, freaks me out. My mind immediately goes to worst case scenario. Yes. So Can you tell us more about facing your fears, being raised to face your fears, all of that? I grew up in the Bahamas, right, to Haitian migrants who did not speak English, right? So I grew up in an environment where it was very uncomfortable for me. And growing up, I realized that I had a lot stacked against me. But I had to have the mindset of, OK, am I going to live my life in regret? Or am I going to chase after my dreams and do what I want to do? Because yeah, it's scary. I'd rather wake up 1 morning and said, you know what, I tried this thing and it did not work, rather than wondering, can it work? Will it work? And just living in regret. So I know it's easier to say than done. And I always say, start off small, do something small, start off with small steps. And then gradually you're gonna realize that your confidence is gonna grow. Your perception and things are going to change, but just start off small and facing those small fears. Start small, amazing. I'll tell you, start small. Amazing. Aside from all of that, is there any other advice that you would give to aspiring professionals, up and coming? I always think a lot of people have started talking to me a lot about they have kids or friends or nieces and nephews who are about to graduate or in the earlier stages of their careers, is there any advice that you would give people or give them about the importance of saying yes to those new and scary challenges or opportunities? Say yes when you're younger. When you start, when you get older and have kids and get married, them yes, they kind of change. But when you are younger, say yes. Explore. See what you like. See what you don't like. You have the opportunity, like the world is yours. And just by saying yes, you don't know where that opportunity may be. I said yes when I was about maybe 18, 19 to an opportunity to come here to the States. You know, it was scary to leave my family behind, to come to a whole new country, but just by saying yes, like, look where I am today. You know, So don't be afraid when you're younger or even starting a business or even have an idea just to say, yes, what's the worst that could happen? It didn't work, you know? Like that's the worst, that's the possible worst that can happen. It did not work, but what's the best that can happen? It worked. That's such a good, that is such a good thing to bring up. Cause I do feel like a lot of times when, you know, but easier said than done. When I find my friends or my siblings or people around me doubting themselves, I'm like, what's the worst that could happen? Yes. What's the worst thing that could happen? It just doesn't work out and now you're- Yeah, and it didn't work out and you're like, okay, You spend some time, energy, money into it, but it didn't work out, you know? And then now you learn from it. Exactly. That's it. Exactly. I think the, I have to give you kudos, saying yes to moving to a whole new country at like 18 is, like my mom moved here when she was 14 from the Philippines, and that in itself is hard, being a teenager is hard enough. yeah mean, you can uproot your life and move to a whole new country. And I'm assuming that you knew English or some English. Yeah, yeah. That made the transition a little easier. Yeah. But I think that that in itself is just 1 giant, like we could talk about that for 30 minutes. So aside from moving here, has there ever been, is there 1 thing in your career that has kind of happened that you either said yes to and it was unexpected or something happened down the line that wasn't expected because you said yes? 1 thing that I said yes, like I said, with BLB we are brand strategists, right? We work with boring industries and that stemmed from another business that my husband and I started, which is OIG, an insurance brokerage. And saying yes to starting this new business, And the reason we started is because our kids, we wanted to leave something behind for our kids. And we thought, you know, it would just pay the bills. You know, we would have a solid foundation. But we said yes a few years ago and it has exploded. Like our business has exploded internationally. We've met so many people. We've helped so many clients. It also gave birth to BLB Global, just by that 1 moment of saying yes to a simple thing that we were afraid to do. Because at the time, I would not suggest anybody do this, but at the time, both my husband and I, we quit our jobs. And there was no plan B. So this yes had to work and we took a risk. And it worked. It worked. I feel like I, I feel like we've done enough of these interviews where people are like, I don't recommend this. And I'm like, that seems to be like, it sounds terrible when you hear a lot that people are like, we quit our jobs. Like, I don't know, sometimes quitting your job sounds like a great journey. It does. But the reason I say that is because when we tell people that we quit our job, everybody's like, oh, I'm going to quit my job, I'm going to quit my job. But there has to be a plan. You know, that's what I mean. Like, don't quit your job, cold turkey, But there has to be a plan, and then you have to be able to put that work in. Absolutely. So I am curious, though, because your name obviously starts with a G, I don't know what your husband's name starts with. Where did the name BLB Global come from? Oh, BLB Global, backstory. And I love telling this story, so I'm glad you asked it. Thank you. BLB Global, it stemmed from my mother. My mom, as I said, she migrated from Haiti to the Bahamas, can't speak any English, never went to school, does not know how to read, does not know how to write. But she started a small unofficial business back in the Bahamas, right? Where she would buy like different merchandise, like different pieces, or somebody was going to the state, she would send, she would give them money and like go to Walmart and buy these different items. And then every Sunday, she would walk around the island and she would sell these things, right? And this is a lady who does not speak English, but that's how she made her living. And I grew up seeing my mom doing that. And then she branded herself because everybody in the island knew who she was. And so when I was 14, I said, you know what, I'm going to start a business. And I don't know what business is going to be, but I want to honor my mother. And so BLB stands for my mom. It's Bibi Lorena Brave. So that's BLB. Global. She was local and now I'm taking her global. I love that. So it seems like your mom is 1 of, is a very influential person in your life. And I know that your husband also is like the number 1 super fan and is ready to go for anything that you throw at him. Yes. Aside from those 2, do you have any other people in your life that have really influenced who you are and how you kind of got here? I would have to say my oldest sister. I'm keeping it in the family. My oldest sister, she sacrificed so much for me to be here. And so she's been a huge influence in my life. No matter what I'm, whatever I want to do, I'm like, darling, I want to do that. She's like, okay, let's do it. So she's been a huge influence in my life just for the sacrifice that she's made so I can be where I am today. As an older sister, that really hits me right where in the fields. I jokingly like but seriously tell my siblings all the time like listen I was raised by different parents than you 2 were. The rules I had were much different than the ones that you had. So kind of digging into BLB Global and all the work that you've done, do you have any kind of favorite stories to tell about a client or a project that you worked on? Oh, 1 of my clients, right? I'll keep it short. 1 of my clients, because like I said, we specialize in working with industries that people think are boring. Like, you know, if you have a marketing or whatever, I'm like, if it's exciting, I'm like, but If you come to me, you tell me, I do insurance, I do manufacturing, I do taxes. I'm like, oh my goodness. So 1 of the clients that I worked with is a tax insurance firm and they wanted to more branch their appearance than their services, right? And so we were able to go ahead and strategize a whole branding, not just their social media, but their just whole brand in general. And we were able to change the narrative with their industry. And so now it's like, they're saying that people are calling them. I mean, they're calling for taxes, but they're calling and saying, hey, I saw your social media posts. I love it. Where are you going to be next? So it's more of that engagement with the client. So I love hearing that story where you're also bringing in clients, but you're building a community outside of your services. Absolutely. I think it's always, and maybe because I work in social media, I do find myself, like, if I go to my dentist's office or the chiropractor or whomever, I'm always like, oh, I really love that post you guys put up about, insert topic here, because I feel like that kind of stuff gets back to them and people like to hear about the good things they're doing. So I was curious is there any has there ever been any kind of like funny thing that's happened on a project. Like, you, I, like, I just think of, like, I'm trying to think of something that we did. Like, we 1 time did something where we, I did, like, an entire campaign and it was for the complete wrong event. And when I sent And when I sent it to them, they were like, this is not what we were talking about. I'm like, I'm like, what do you mean? I would say the most funniest thing or thing that ever happened is mostly like behind the scenes. More of like if you're shooting a video or something like that. And a lot of the clients aren't used to being in front of the camera. So you kind of have to like coach them. And it's like 1 minute you're like, they're like, oh, having a great conversation. As soon as you put that camera on, you're like, hello, my name is Bob. And I'm like, wait, what just happened here? You know? So that's more of the funny thing. It's just how they switch. It is crazy how you need to like almost like pull it back out of them. Like without the camera, you're like, this is great. Like we'll just put this on social media. And it's not even a camera, you just pull out your phone, Exactly. And that's the thing too. Like, when you work, A lot of businesses that we work with, they're serious businesses. So I'm like, yeah, your service and your product may be serious, but you don't have to be serious because you don't know who can relate to you as a person who's talking, like as a real individual. Because people can recognize fake, you know? And that's what's going to make you stand out versus the person who's saying, hey, come get my taxes, versus, listen, this is what just happened to a client of mine. That's going to make you stand out, and that's the authenticity that people want to see. So I'm like, don't pretend to be who you're not. Be you. Absolutely. Do you find that there are kind of other misconceptions when it comes to brand storytelling for boring businesses. You have to be boring because your business is boring. I'm that there are other things that kind of fall in line with that. And what gets me is a pattern that I see is that everybody, like I said, like everybody's looking at what they see out there in social media or different content and they feel like they have to copy it, right? And 1 thing that I always tell everybody, your product, your service, that's your product or your service. That's not your brand. People are going to buy from the brand. Like for example, with O-Wig, Of course, our service is insurance, but our brand is educate, right? We educate our clients and we do it through different ways. So find ways to use your brand to stand out and don't focus on the services. Like I know you sell insurance. I know you sell taxes. Not every post or thing has to be about insurance or taxes. You know, it doesn't have to be about your service or product, but about what does the brand stand for? What are your core values? What are your mission? And how do you relate that to your clients? And that's how you're gonna get your clients to do that. And 1 of the things that we specialize in too is storytelling. I love, love when I was a kid when my sister would tell me stories, and I felt some type of emotional attachment to that story. People want to know your story. A lot of companies are not sharing their stories. They're sharing their services and their product. But I want to know, like, why did you start? You know, I want to know what your clients think about it. I want to know what is what, what made you think of that concept, that idea. I want to emotionally connect with your brand. And obviously that's going to cost me to buy your service and your product. Absolutely, I think that that's such a great point. We do with all of our interviews, we do a little this and that And since we're talking about storytelling, we kind of pulled some this or that that are based on storytelling. So I wanna see what you think about these different things. So the first 1 is about storytelling approaches. So do you prefer character driven or plot driven? Plot driven. I like plot driven. Do you, for some brand awareness, would you do you prefer short form or long form content? Long form. I'm long form so I can break up to short form. And that is where you know that someone is a professional when they say I can get the short form from the long form. Yeah. Obviously you specialize in boring businesses. I'm gonna air quote that all this entire time. Do you prefer to use humor or kind of a more serious tone to connect with audiences? Humor, Humor. And then do you prefer, and this 1 I'm kind of on the fence of, do you prefer customer testimonials or case studies? Customer testimonials. I like to hear what people think. Fair, very fair. The final 1, do you prefer when you're highlighting brand values, do you prefer a behind the scenes look or more of like a hero's journey? Behind the scene, behind the scenes. Everybody wants a peek behind the curtain. Yes. I want to know what's coming on. I tell everyone, I'm like, everybody's nosy. Yes. If you can let them be a little bit nosy, they'll love you forever. Yes! All right, the next part is rapid fire questions. Okay. So we're going to roll through these and you just have to answer with whatever pops into your head first. Okay. So the first 1, if you could have any superpower, what would it be? Fly, I wanna fly like Superman. Oh, that'd be amazing. You get everywhere so much. I know. Would you rather celebrate a good cause or get your hands dirty for a good cause? Get my hands dirty for a good cause. Me too. What was your favorite subject in school? Literature. Ooh. What does your ideal vacation look like? Oh my goodness. Somewhere where I don't have to cook or clean. I just lay in bed and they just bring me the food. I'm a cruise. I say cruise. Oh, that's a good 1. I cruises are nice. I like waking up in different places. Describe your style in 1 word. Energetic. Love that. And then, the final 1, finish the phrase, I can't live without. My family. I know, my husband and my kids. I'll make sure that I send them an email before Mother's Day. Big listen, remember right? So The final part of our podcast is always Chatbot Says. So we have asked ChatGPT, or a version of an AI chatbot, what they think the title of your future memoir should be. I can't wait. We basically put your bio in and we ask it to do that. And we come up with some fun stuff. We also come up with some, some crazy ones. So these were kind of our top choices. The first 1 is 1 Way Up, The Inspiring Journey of Gertha Jean. OK. The second 1 is The Insurance Queen, Gigi's Rise to Business Startup. Royalty. Yes. The third 1 is Island Roots, Global Reach, The Gertha Jean Story. Oh, that's nice. I might have to steal that 1. And the last 1 is no excuses, Gigi's journey from possibility to prosperity. Oh wow, they did good. Right? They're good. Do you have a personal favorite as of right now? I think what was it, the Local Roots Global Reach? Island Roots Global Reach, the dressagee. I do like that 1. I like that 1. See that as like a coffee table book. Big heavy coffee table books with like really pretty pictures in it. I like that 1. Perfect. I would like to thank you for joining us and sharing a little bit about yourself and your story. I would also like to thank you for being a part of our inaugural social media day. It was amazing. Amazing. I hope you made a ton of connections. If people would like to connect with you, where can they find you? They can find me on all social media platform. I'm active on LinkedIn, Gertha Jean, or they can find me, they can look for BLB Global, and that's on all social media platforms. Awesome. Thank you so much. Oh, I'm sorry, and our website. I forgot the website. Yes. Www.blbglobal.net. Perfect. Yes. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you, Jess, for having me. I had A blast. Thank you for listening to Yes Genius, a podcast from Epic Marketing. Join us again to hear more unique stories. In the meantime, Find us on social media or online at epicmc2.com. You can also connect with Delaware's digital community at socialmediadayde.com. Don't miss out. Remember to follow or subscribe wherever you get your genius content.