Michael Janda - The Relationship Game: Building Real Personal Brand Connections

Michael Janda is an award-winning Creative Director, agency veteran, and author. He founded Riser, his own creative agency, which boasts high profile clients such as Google, Warner Brothers, FOX, NBC, National Geographic, and Disney.

We talk about:
● Having things you can be known for: the story of his thing with bobbleheads
● His career trajectory: from building a successful website that generated 10 million worth of venture capitalist seed money, to getting his computer as his last pay, to landing a Creative Director job at FOX, and how he eventually lost it all after the 9/11 catastrophe
● What he did to pivot his career after all that and how he eventually decided to build his own agency
● The Relationship Game: how he got freelance gigs from connections from his old positions and previous colleagues who went on to work for new companies
● The logical move to Salt Lake City from LA that allowed him to offer more affordable prices while being in a setup that was more conducive to remote work
● What he means when he says Riser was the #1 third bid option for the entertainment industry
● His book "Burn Your Portfolio" and why he felt he needed to write it
● How he feels about soft skills and why being the best designer isn’t good enough
● A speaking engagement in Moscow that awakened an impostor syndrome moment for him which led to his leap to becoming a content creator
● His Instagram that’s a poster child of great visual branding
● His private coaching service and why he thinks creative entrepreneurs need confidence most these days
● His personal manifesto of succeeding through real relationships and adding value to people’s lives one person at a time

Mentioned in this episode:
Burn Your Portfolio by Michael Janda: https://www.amazon.com/Burn-Your-Portfolio-design-school/dp/0321918681
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671027034

To connect with Michael, head on over to his channels:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morejanda/
Website: https://michaeljanda.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/morejanda/

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode of the podcast, head on over to the following links for more of my work and some valuable resources to get you started on your own branding initiatives. Until the next episode!

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The Brand Design Masters Podcast is targeted to entrepreneurs, designers, creative professionals and anyone interested in brand strategy, business planning, graphic design, personal branding, trends and marketing.

Philip VanDusen is the owner of Verhaal Brand Design, a brand strategy and design agency based in New Jersey. Philip is a highly accomplished creative executive and expert in brand strategy, graphic design, marketing and creative management. Philip provides design, branding, marketing, career and business advice to creative professionals, entrepreneurs and companies on how to build successful brands for themselves and for the clients and customers they serve.