073 - Mikal Abdullah: Problem Solving With a Jiu Jitsu Master
Mikal Abdullah is an entrepreneur, Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu coach, and competitor, founder of Aces Jiu-Jitsu Club, U.S. Army Veteran, and professional fighter. Mikal’s diverse background makes for some very interesting conversation in this latest episode. Emily and Mikal talked about an array of topics including: entrepreneurship, problem-solving, branding, the military mindset, leadership, and more.
How does the philosophy of Jiu-Jitsu apply to solving other problems? Mikal Abdullah is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach, competitor, founder of Aces Jiu-Jitsu Club, U.S. Army Veteran, and professional fighter. Mikal’s diverse background makes for some fascinating conversation about an array of topics, including: entrepreneurship, problem-solving from a martial arts approach, branding, the military mindset, leadership, and more.
After honorably serving in the U.S. Army, Mikal started training Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. He has competed and won in competitions around the world. Mikal now owns an industry-leading group of companies, including facilities, gear companies, and now an online training academy. Mikal also enjoys helping other business owners and entrepreneurs to reach their goals.
Topics:
Mikal Abdullah is an entrepreneur, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coach and competitor, founder of Aces Jiu Jitsu Club, U.S. Army Veteran, and professional fighter.
02:00: Meet Mikal Abdullah, BJJ master
03:13: What is the purpose and thought behind Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)? Why do people practice it?
04:40: Overcoming obstacles: you have to be in a clear frame of mind on the mat and in life.
07:09: What can people’s actions and tactics on the Jiu-Jitsu mat tell you about how they handle problems in real life?
“We call it a Jiu-Jitsu handshake...when you start to roll with each other, how they handle obstacles is how they handle obstacles. If they shy and wilt under pressure, then that is how they handle things.” - Mikal Abdullah
07:53: What do 360 reviews and rolling on the mat have in common?
“One of the greatest superpowers you can ever have is the ability to see yourself as others see you. The other is to see yourself the way you truly are.” - Mikal Abdullah
09:24: While perception can be a weakness, it’s also very important to be aware of in business, relationships, and Jiu-Jitsu.
10:39: Middle of funnel, top of funnel marketing, and Mikal’s company, Aces Jiu Jitsu Club International.
“When it comes to middle of funnel marketing, I think that community is a big deal. Conversations are king.” - Mikal Abdullah
13:00: Some aspects of the military can be incorporated into your marketing strategy. AARs or After Action Reviews allow for you to sort mission aspects for review and posterity. This inspired Mikal’s strategy of tagging conversations for review in defining the customer journey and their marketing/selling process.
Mikel’s marketing background is focused on top of funnel and middle of funnel strategy. “Branding is always adjusting or evolving.” - Mikel Abdullah
15:20: Branding: much more than just logo design
“As humans, when we use a compass to find a bearing and identify where we want to go and where we want to be, we often start walking, and we start moving in a curve or a zig-zag. It’s important to do a repeated check-in on where we are. For us, our branding is always adjusting or evolving.” - Mikal Abdullah
19:04: How do you form a subconscious or unconscious connection to your target audience? The ultimate success is connecting with your customer on this level.
20:26: Netflix, subscription businesses, DTC and virtual offerings. How did Mikal’s company Aces Jiu Jitsu pivot at the onset of the pandemic?
24:30: Harness the power to scale your business. Sometimes entrepreneurs aren’t thinking big enough at the beginning of their business journey.
26:17: The worst interview question: where do you see yourself in five years? Sometimes that can be a limiting approach to conversation and goal setting.
30:10: Words and language matter.
“We are attempting to communicate so many ideas in just a few words, and it’s so important to be effective and efficient so that you don’t have to go backward and correct things, or correct them as little as possible.” - Mikal Abdullah
34:00: Mikal‘s book recommendations
046 - How NLP Improves Your Communication and Marketing - Corina Frankie
NLP skills enhance your communication, performance, and relationships. How can we apply these principles to designing voice applications and marketing?
#Voicefirst terminology note: when we say “NLP skills” in this episode, we are not referring to natural language processing or Alexa skills, unless specified.
Corina and Emily discuss Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) in relation to two applications:
From an introspective or self improvement lens, NLP can help you update the operating system of the mind to be more effective in communicating especially in business and sales.
From a marketing and voice technology perspective, a deep dive into language processing is paramount to build effective voice experiences for consumers. As we design more experiences based on voice with assistants like Alexa, Google, Siri, and Bixby, marketers and designers have to harness the power of language more effectively than ever.
Corina Frankie, CEO & Founder of Brand Besties and Certified NLP Coach
Show notes and timestamps:
02:25 “NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) is collection of practical techniques, skills, and strategies that lead to excellence.” -Corina
NLP helps businesses align their values and organization to build rapport with clients and staff and better understand needs and motivations of their customers
03:45 Effective questions lead someone to the answer they may already have
04:10 Language matters - how we communicate and interact with ourselves and others
04:30 NLP helps us understand how the brain works: how do we process information on the inside that comes to us from outside events or experiences? The internal representations we make about an outside event are not the event itself.
05:00 What does it mean if your boss gives you more work than your coworkers? The internal representation (processing) is not necessarily the reality of the event.
06:00 How do we create the thinking we have? Where are customers, clients, and staff coming from in specific situations?
06:20 How do we get someone to want to buy something?
Corina Frankie is a speaker and coach based in Austin, Texas. She specializes in NLP training.
06:40 Everyone has a pain or need. A business tries to solve it. But everyone sees their pain differently.
07:00 Car buying example: do you see, hear, or learn about the car by grasping it?
07:20 Visual, auditory, or kinesthetic apply to a buying decision - are you applying these across messaging to align with your customer?
08:00 Mismatch of enthusiasm and energy (current model of someone’s world) is jarring and can ruin a sale or negotiation
08:40 We are hardwired to mirror each other - this helps
10:00 With Alexa skills or Google actions and other voice apps brands need a consistent, holistic sonic identity to match the rest of their positioning
11:00 NLP 4-Mat System:
The basic premise of the 4-Mat system is that we all have different learning styles. Some people are motivated by Why? questions. They want to know why they are listening to this talk. Others by What? questions; they want information…and probably lots of it! The How? people want to get on and do an exercise, get their hands on it and try it. Then there are the What if? people who want to know how this material applies to their life, workplace or environment.
12:10 The Charisma Pattern plays on kinesthetic, visual, and auditory pattern) - with a voice skill, how do you create a feeling or experience with the way you speak?
13:20 Corina demonstrates slowing down and dropping her voice- like the recommendation for the late night FM radio DJ voice from Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss (highly recommend this book! Click here to order on Amazon.)
14:02 People will tell you their primary representational system if you just listen to their language - pay attention to predicates and verbs people use
14:45-16:04 Corina asks clients their vision for an experience she will create with Brand Besties - she listens for their predicates to find out if they are visual or kinesthetic so she can close the sale by speaking their language, e.g. “Picture this…” vs “How does this feel?…”
16:20 Feeling predicates sheet (PDF)
Connect with Corina Frankie:
Brand Besties - Event Staffing and Promotional Modeling Agency
More about NLP training, coaching, and workshops: email corina (at) corinafrankie (dot) com
Twitter: @CorinaFrankie
Instagram: @CorinaFrankie
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