"Dynamax Your Career With An Eternabeam Mindset" ft. Jason Hopper | TRAINER'S EYE #184

TRAINER'S EYE #184 - Jason Hopper 

[00:00:00] My name is Jason Hopper, and this is my Pokemon story.

Welcome to As The Pokeball Ball Turns, where every voice, every journey, and every memory brings us closer to the world of Pokemon. I'm David Hernandez, and I am joined by Jason Hopper, a career coach from Jewish Family Services of Greater Dallas. Here to give us tips on how to actually [00:01:00] make a career with Pokemon A reality.

Jason, welcome to As The Pokeball Turns. Thanks for coming on. Thanks for having me, David. I'm super stoked. Absolutely. And you know, before we dive into this interview, we talk about Pokemon. How about you give people insight on what you do outside of Pokemon? Like I said, to your career coach, what does that mean for those who don't know?

What I do here at JFS in Dallas is I teach my clients how to meet their career goals, whether it is getting their LinkedIn optimized, getting their resume formatted correctly, do a lot of job search strategy interview techniques. I help my clients create what will be success stories for the interview, which will evoke a motion and or relatability, which in turn then makes you memorable in the interview.

Been a job coach for a total of 12 years actually. And that's kind of pretty much like what I do here is ba, you know what I do, David, what most of my day I just listen to people's stories and then offer advice based on what I know is happening in the [00:02:00] marketplace and what is working for other clients as well.

And you know what, that's so similar to what we do. 'cause here at Pass The Pokeball terms, we listen to stories, they come from all different walks of life, they all different experiences. And of course you're here to share your experience. So let's talk about your Pokemon experience. Where does your first experience with Pokemon begin?

You know what, so back in the day I was dating a, a gal who was super into Pokemon cards, and that meant that I was now also super into Pokemon cards. Uh, I learned how to play, uh, I learned how to actually play the game, and we did, like comic bookstores would have. You know, tournaments and stuff, and we would, we would show up and do that and, you know, we, I didn't stay with that, that person, and I just kind of kept my cards like in storage.

Then what happened was kind of cool. Uh, our son, when he was like five or six or six, seven, he got into the collection phase [00:03:00] where he collected pretty much everything, rocks he collected, coins he collected. Pokemon Go cards. Mm. And it was really cool to kind of like revisit that with him also too, because, uh, you know, I'd seen the anime.

With Ash running around dodging Team Rocket and James and Jesse. Uh, so you know, all that was rerun on Netflix and then I was able to, you know, return to it and watch it with, with my son when he was, when he was younger. And then when he got a little bit older, I got him onto a phone and we, me and him started playing Pokemon Go.

You know, you mentioned how you got into Pokemon cars because of, of course, the ex relationship. But looking back on it, what do you think? Allowed you to kind of engage in that trading cards. 'cause you could have easily been one of those spouses or one of those people who said like, no, that's too young.

That's not my thing. That'll be your thing. But you actually decided to engage with her with it and even entertaining, even start collecting the cards. Yeah. Great question. So. [00:04:00] I, since I was a kid, uh, I've been a comic book geek. I have thousands of comic books that I've collected over the years, so it wasn't like a huge leap.

It wasn't like a, you know, oh, that's a kid thing, you know? I really do think that you're only as young as you feel. Mm. How old do you feel? So I just turned 53 this year and I, I, I'm not gonna say, I'm not gonna lie, David, and say I feel like I, I'm in my twenties, but I'm gonna say easily, I feel like I'm in my thirties for sure.

Okay. For me, I feel like I'm in my fifties, so maybe we swap bodies at some point. So you talked about how, you know, your kid got into the collection aspect, you know, first with rocks and then with, I forgot what else? The, all, all over the place basically. What was that kind of dynamic with y'all trying to dive into Pokemon together?

Specifically when he got into The Pokeball? Go TCG, do. It, it wa you. The other thing, he was collecting pretty heavy at the time, five nights at Freddy's Plushies. Oh. [00:05:00] Um, what we would do is, because it was new to him, right? Mm-hmm. I originally had downloaded Pokemon Go back in 2016 when it first came out.

Mm-hmm. Everybody had downloaded it. Right. Um, I didn't do a whole lot with, in fact, strangely enough, it was my wife, who one day we were talking and she's like, have you seen this Pokemon Go? And I'm like. What are you even talking about? I don't know. I don't know what you're talking about. And she pulls up the app and of course at the time the ar piece of it was super big, right?

Mm-hmm. It's like, oh my God, he's right there in my living room. And um, and I was like, well, that's kind of cool. And so I downloaded it. I didn't do a whole lot with it. Uh, but when, uh, to answer your question, to get my son in it, like I'd been playing for a little while and then I was like, well, he likes the anime, and he's kind of into that, so, and he's into the cards, which those Pokemon Go cards ended up all over the house, like, like.

I don't, I'm not just saying like they're [00:06:00] in the floor. Like, I'm like, there's, you know, one day I opened up the refrigerator, there's one in the refrigerator. I'm like, what the hell is going on around, why is, why are there Pokemon cards in the refrigerator? Right. And even today, like I just found, I just found one, like, um, a couple of days ago, it was like in the corner of the, of the house.

I, with cats had knocked something over and I went to go, you know, pick it back up and I was like. There's a Pokemon go-kart here. Right. He, he doesn't collect it much anymore, but I, it, it was for me, what was super cool about playing the game with him is everything was just like a wonder. You know what I mean?

Mm-hmm. Like, it was all new. He, even one day we were walking through the neighborhood and he goes, and I'll never forget this, and I, I, I still think it's funny and we're catching Pokemon. And he goes, dad, dad. I am on the grind set, and I'm like, like, you're on the, you're on the grind set. What, what does that mean?

He goes, I got a [00:07:00] mindset to grind for Pokemon. I'm on the grind set. Oh my God. I'm like, that's brilliant. Right. It was just, it's just cool to see my son just so involved in it and playing and he sometimes there'd be times where he'd be, he would be like. I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go on a walk. You wanna go on a walk catch Pokemon.

He is like, I really feel like I should stay in today, but if you could take my phone and catch them for me, I'm like, really? Now I gotta walk around with two phones. It's like, I'll catch Legendaries for you kid, but I'm not just, we're wandering the neighborhood, catching stuff for you. Going back to when you talk about y'all finding Pokemon cards everywhere, I just imagine like, oh, there's a coffee inside my smoke director.

Oh, there's a Grindr next to my toilet fitting. And then, oh, there's a, I don't know, something in the fridge. And that's kind of cool how, even though those cards, obviously The Pokeball cards, they kind of became their own way of, I don't know, find the cards almost became like finding The Pokeball again, if that makes sense.

Yeah. Yeah. Kind of. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's an excellent, that's an excellent [00:08:00] analogy for sure. And, and you're right, because even like I, like I said, just even today, I'll find them just randomly around the house and I'm like, oh, cool. It's a, it's a shiny gengar right card, right. I was like, what did, what did he do with this?

And then I actually have, in my, i in my bag, I've got like a, like a man bag. Which mostly has snacks in it, to be honest with you. But, uh, I have a couple of cards that he had given me. He's like, dad, I really want you to have this, this Pokemon card. I'm like, oh, okay, cool. And I would, you know, just do it in the bag.

And I still have that just 'cause it's, it's kind of one of those things that he was sweet enough to think about me and he wanted, he really wanted me to have it. And so I'm like, all right, cool. Mm. Well, actually, since you know, we're on the topic of Pokemon cards, he's given you, it's almost like he gave you, he's like a professor and he's given you a starter.

What is your favorite Pokemon and what is his favorite Pokemon? Do you know? I don't know what his favorite one is. He, he stopped playing a couple years ago with me, uh, which is fine. I mean, he's, he's gonna be [00:09:00] 14 next month. It's just Cape. Kind of a thing he grew out of. Sure. Uh, I'm still fairly obsessed with all of the things.

My favorite, oh man, that's a hard one. I, I don't know that I have a favorite. I, I have favorite in di in specific, uh, categories. For example, I just mentioned Gengar. He's actually my favorite ghost Pokemon. Mm-hmm. I like the way, like he's got that evil looking grin that he has and I like the way he kind of just like, he like kind of waddles as he moves Uhhuh.

Right. And I just, I like that. I, I, I also like, I, I like, you know, I like the dark and ghost Pokemon more than I do any of the other ones. You know, like my, my friend. She, she doesn't, she plays sporadically, but she's like, oh my God, that Pokemon is so cute. I don't want cute. I want the ones that look mean.

Mm-hmm. I want the ones that look like, you know, they can show up in my nightmare and destroy me. Right. Those are [00:10:00] the kind, those are the kinds of Pokemon, like, I like. Mm-hmm. Like, like the, like the, the dark ones and the, the ghost ones and the, and the, and some of the fighting as well. Um, yeah. I'm looking for, I'm looking for the ones that are.

Sinister looking, you know, what's the most sinister Pokemon you can think of that you've seen? Ooh, um, you know what I, and I'm, I'm te I'm terrible at names, man. Sure. I'm pro. I think I said, I said Zappa dose a minute ago. I'm like, no, it's just Zap dose. I like, I'm gonna get all of them wrong. I, my friends give me a hard time, uh, when we go to do raid Hour, and I'll say whatever it is.

So my friend will be like, do you mean and he'll correct me. I'm like, yeah, you know what I meant? Like, I just don't know. Uh, eternity is was pretty, was pretty cool. Mm. So you like that one? Yeah. You know what, when that came out, uh, when it came out, we did, we did parades and I got enough, I, I was lucky enough to have one that had three stars, so his IVs were pretty good.

Mm-hmm. And, uh, I was super stoked about it. Like, I, I think I powered it up, uh, [00:11:00] on the max move like twice, and then I just like kept powering the thing up, um, until I didn't have any more, uh, candy. But he's like in my top 10, Hey, you, yes, you with the ears. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back. Love hearing real stories from real trainers.

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Head on over to patreon.com/ As The Pokeball turns and join our community today. Well, you know, we talked about Pokemon Go a lot and you know, you talked about how I think your wife got you into the game. Did y'all like choose the chain teams? Would y'all go out and catch together before? Like, what was that like for y'all?

You know, it was funny because like I did not do a whole lot wi with it. Mm-hmm. When I [00:12:00] downloaded it originally in 2016, she played just a little bit, but like, there wasn't like any kind of a plan thing. It's like we'd pulled up her account, she'd since deleted it, we had to go and reinstall it. Uh, Tony's cousin, uh, was coming over and there was a, there was an event.

Uh, so I went and I get, got into her, I got into her account to see like what kind of months that she actually had. And they were all like starters. They, she had like a bulbo and, and like a, and like a, a peak at like, she didn't have anything like evolved and that was super cool. I'm like, you just, you got like crappy Pokemon dang what?

What happened actually, so I, I, I would play just maybe once every two or three weeks back. Then I was fortunate enough to catch like it was like 2019 and back then. Legendaries would just spawn like, like in the wild. Mm-hmm. And my family was on a trip, we were in Hawaii. I was like, I [00:13:00] wonder if there are any cool Pokemon here.

And I pulled up the app and right in front of me was a hoho. And I had never seen that before. I'm like, oh my God, what is that thing? And I, again, I didn't play a lot, so I didn't at the time know anything about Legendaries or, or anything like that. I just know, I'm like, man, that thing is huge and it looks super cool.

I think I threw like. Every berry and ball at the damn thing. And then I finally did, I did catch it, uh, and was super stoked to have this, have it because I'd never seen it before. I still get that way, David, when they release new Pokemons. Mm-hmm. I don't know, they may not be all that exciting. I was like, well, I gotta have that thing that that looks, I gotta get that.

And it's like, I did, but like really? I don't think he's gonna be good in PVP. It's just, but, but I, but, but you know what they say, you gotta catch 'em all right. But it sounds like you still resonate with the, i the idea of wander and the idea of freshness and you're like, if it's, even if it's [00:14:00] something that's not exciting overall, it's something you've gotta have and you kind of wanna have that experience, like you compare to time that ADA or to any other black coho specifically, just getting that feeling kind of in a way.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. You know, you see that new Pokemon spawn and you get that, that dopamine hit and you're like, oh my God, I gotta get that thing. And then of course you catch it. And you're like, well, the IVs are okay. I need to get one that has better IVs for the hundo. Right, right. And then you, you keep grinding until you get one that I did some remote rating and I caught one that was shiny and I'm like, oh my God, that looks super cool.

Mm-hmm. And then, and then for the event, I'm running around and you know, catching 'em as well. And then. Like, and they caught like another shiny that was, had better IVs with it. I'm like, Ooh, we'll keep this one and trade the other one and just, you know, I, I wanna keep going until I get the ones that are decent, right?

Mm-hmm. You know what interesting for me and how I got into, uh, playing Pokemon [00:15:00] Go was when the pandemic hit. Because the pandemic hit and we were all in quarantine, and it was a very weird time. Right. Um, they're like, don't go outside. Don't leave your house. If you see your neighbor, don't even look at him.

Look away. Like, like, it was like craziness. And so one of the things, or one of the hobbies that I have is I'm a home brewer. Me and my, me and my two buddies would make beer. Mm-hmm. Like every other weekend or so. Well, we can't do that because we're all in quarantine now. So I, I literally had nothing that was just for me.

Mm, right. Yeah, I, I just had nothing at all that was just mine. And so I don't sit still. Well, I have a lot of energy and I started out like just walking around the block. I remember, I remember, you know, I just do a lap, one lap around the block. I'm coming back like, oh my God, I'm so tired. I don't think I can go anymore.

Right. Yeah. Now I, now I walk like [00:16:00] five to seven miles a day. Oh, wow. That's a lot. Yeah. And I remembered that the game rewards walking. Mm-hmm. Right. You get to hatch those eggs and then, then, then the more you walk at the end of the week, you get different rewards or better rewards. And so I'm like, okay, cool.

And so then I just started playing the game again. I, and now I just, I play hours a day. I mean, that's just how it starts. 'cause even for me, like, you know, not during the pandemic, just for me for walking in general, you know, I used to walk a lot. That's just how I got around for a bit. And the more you do it, the more you kind of get into it.

But just like with you, when Pokemon Go came out, I started with just around my block. Then I went to like, I expanded kinda my horizons, you know, I went like a further block or down a mile. And the more you keep doing it and just like you said, the game rewards it, it's kind of like you get to kinda expand your world and maybe even find rare Pokemon that way.

Yeah, for sure. You know, and I, you get your daily incense to see what you could catch and like, going through it, it's just like, you [00:17:00] know, I, I've got everything mapped out in my, in my, uh, neighborhood. I know how, how long it takes me to do the, the route that I normally go on and everything. Mm-hmm. And it's just like, while I'm walking, I'm catching Pokemon.

In fact, we went, we went on vacation to Estes Park, Colorado just a few weeks back. We were gonna go hiking. In the Rocky Mountains. Mm-hmm. And I'm hiking and I'm looking at the nature and I'm looking at these rocks and Is that a bear over there? Oh, okay. It's not a bear. But at the same time, I'm also playing Pokemon Go.

And, um, there was like a, like at the base of the, the trail, there was a gym that was already yellow. And so I threw one of my Pokemons in there and I'm just cashing things on the, on the, on the mountain. There's a stop up there on the mountain and my and my wife, she finally looks at me and she goes. Are you playing Pokemon Go?

And I'm like, yeah, in fact, I just spun a gym right here. There's like stuff to do in catch up on this mountain and she's looking, gonna be like, we're supposed to be hiking and [00:18:00] enjoying the nature. I'm like, I'm enjoying the nature, but I'm also enjoying playing Pokemon Go. You can do both. You can do both, right?

I can like, you know, oh my God, I can do both. Uh, what did your wife say? Did she allow to keep playing Pokemon Go? She said Put the game up and let's keep hiking, kind of thing. No, she just kind of looked at me like she gave me that look. Like really, really, she needs to be real. She needs to be reawakened and introduced to Pokemon Go.

You know, I tried to get her back into the game a few months ago. Uh, I'm like, Hey, you know what you, because I was like. You know, you know what you could do is you can start playing and like you, you haven't played in years. So like every Pokemon you see is gonna be a new one, and you're gonna be excited and you're gonna have that, that, that, you know, that dopamine hit, you're gonna be like, wanna catch 'em all?

And, and she's like, she just looked at me. She's like, I don't, I don't think I'm gonna do that. I'm like, okay, that's fine. That's, that's fine. And like, and she, she know, like, she knows, in fact, this is how, this is how [00:19:00] Friday night usually goes. She goes. Do you have any Pokemon events this weekend? Because she knows I'm gonna schedule anything else around like Dynamax, Evie this weekend or go fast.

I told her I, I, when it was go wild night, I said, I'm like, okay, I'm leaving at, it was like 12, it was noon. I'm leaving, uh, I won't be back until probably like six. And she's like. Okay. Okay. She, she already knows like, this is what I do. This is, I, I, I don't know. I would say I'm a professional Pokemon player, but I do really love playing the game.

Well, you mentioned how earlier when you started walking around your neighborhood, you know, you were huffing and puffing. So I'm gonna assume that you probably didn't do that before Pokemon Go as much. If that was the case, do you feel like Pokemon Go allowed you to kind of explore and maybe even see things in your neighborhood that you didn't see beforehand?

Oh yeah, for sure. And what was interesting is I'm [00:20:00] wandering around the neighborhood and I'm able to see. Different parts of the neighborhood that I normally wouldn't because I didn't, I didn't know exercise at all. Sure. Like I was not at all healthy. I've lost a good bit of weight since then. Since I started.

I still kind of got a dad, Bob, but I'm all right with that. But what was interesting too is when I started in 2020, it was just me. Right. Like I'm just walking around solo catching Pokemons, trying to tear down the red gyms. 'cause those people in that neighborhood, they're, they're not very nice players.

And then I ran into like this mother and daughter that were playing. And I think one of the things that I like the most about the game is. That community, right? It's like, I don't know her or her daughter. I'm just rolling up on 'em for the first time. What they were doing was, I just on my way to the park had dropped a Pokemon in a gym, and uh, they're sitting there and they're looking and, and Tommy.

That's the [00:21:00] mom. And she's like, Ooh, that person's only been in there for like 15 minutes. Let's not kick them out. That's not very nice. And I'm walking by, I'm like, y'all aren't gonna kick me outta there are you? And Tommy's like, oh, no, no. We would never, we, we, we, we would do that. I'm like, you can, it's fine.

I've already got my coins today, whatever, you know. And so then I, you know, kind of talked to them for a little bit and off I go to keep walking, right? And then I ran into them again another day. And then it's like. You just get more and more people and you could, like, I was, I did go fest at the, at the mall and, uh, with my, with my buddy Matt and, and him are walking and catching, doing all the things.

All of a sudden this random guy walks up to us and he goes, Hey guys, have y'all got any shiny yet? Like, and now he's our new friend and now we're walking around with this other guy, uh, for the rest of the afternoon. It's like, it's that. It's a game that it doesn't matter what your age is, it doesn't matter what your race is.

It doesn't really matter how you look or [00:22:00] present or carry yourself. It's the type of game that, oh, you're playing the game. You're one of us now. Right? I don't know a whole lot of other games or activities that lend to that. Again, community. Where you are hanging out with random people that show up. And now it's like my crew, you know, we meet at the park at for a raid hour every Wednesday, and we'll get connected all, you know, to do the ax ev later this weekend.

And what's interesting is I know all kinds of things about these people. Like we, you know, we, we started out like strangers just playing the game. But while we're sitting around talking and playing the game, we're talking about. Work and life, and Tommy's like, I'm gonna kill my son because he's got all these assignments due and is failing.

And like, I'm like, okay, I, I feel you. I'm in the same boat with you with my kid. Uh, I think it's just a whole different animal. Like I said, you could just wander up to any player and just strike up a [00:23:00] conversation with them and now you got a brand new friend. Mm-hmm. And because of the so easily accessible way to play Pokemon Go, it's easy to kind of just build those friendships and as long as you're consistent and that's the key thing, it's consistent.

You kinda get to know these people. You got, they get to come you and kind of makes that pathway way. And that's how, you know, you kind of make your own community. It may not be a big one, but you don't have to have bigger numbers to have a community, if that makes sense. Yeah, for sure. And it doesn't, it doesn't hurt that, you know, a lot of my friends have alt accounts as well.

Oh, I didn't say that. They're not supposed to have alt accounts. Just one. They got multiple personalities. That's what I call it. Yeah, yeah. Right, right. I remember. Like, I remember, I didn't know that because it says, and, and I'm, I'm a rule follower. Mm-hmm. I really am. And it says in the rules, you may only have one account, right?

Mm-hmm. And I, but I've got like. Um, where I got a lot of my friends when I first started playing, 'cause it was just me. I had no friends. And what I did was I posted my trainer code on now X it was Twitter back then, and [00:24:00] all these people from Japan started adding me as friends. Mm-hmm. And like I woke up the next morning, I had like 20 friends and I'm like, oh my God, I gotta shut that.

I gotta turn that off. 'cause it's cra it got crazy. And like, then like, they would invite me to raids and I was like, in my head I'm like, I always like that these two players are always together. Like it's cool that they're friends, they're hanging out. And then like, it it, like later when I found out about multiple accounts, I'm like, it's the same guy with two accounts.

I mean, you never know. They might be two friends, you know, or they might be a couple and they just happen to be together all the time. They could be. It could be. I, I, you know, I think that's, that's always amazing when you have like whole families playing. Mm-hmm. You know, it's just, it's, it's just, again, it's, it's a, it's a game that is a cultural phenomenon.

Seriously. I do, I do believe that. Where. You could just start talking, get connected to almost anybody, and they've made it so much easier. Right? It's like all you gotta do is you jump into a raid with somebody, you win the damn thing, and then it's like, oh, just [00:25:00] add friends. Mm-hmm. And you got new friends, you know?

Yeah. The last thing I wanna talk about is something we've talked about outside this podcast and it's about the community aspect on how if you're looking for a job, especially you know, with all the unemployment, how Pokemon Go can kind of be a bridge to that. Could you like enlighten, like what that would look like and how to kind of tap into The Pokeball Go community for not only myself, 'cause you know, I'm looking for a project management kind of job, but for other people who might be on the same boat, who are trying to look for jobs, they're putting applications and they're not getting anywhere, and how they could tap into maybe The Pokeball sphere.

So, you know what, when the game came out mm-hmm. I saw on LinkedIn what people were calling themselves as Pokemon Go consultants. And they were going into businesses and saying, Hey, what I can do is I can set up a stop or I could set up a gym here for you. Uh, and people will. They will wander into your store.

They will come and, and, and buy stuff from you. Right? And that's, we both [00:26:00] know that's not exactly how that works, but people were, people that don't know, they're like forking over money for people to. You know, work on creating gems at their, at their local business. I, so one of the things that I coach on with my clients is networking and following the 80 20 rule, meaning 80% of everything that you should be doing in a job search is nothing but talking to people.

That's it. And now you're like, well, where are we gonna find people? Well, I mean, wherever there's people and I, I think David, when you get in into your head, when you understand. That the very next person that you speak to could potentially be the unlock to your next great opportunity. Things get really, I'm not gonna say fun 'cause nobody wants to, nobody wakes up every morning like, oh, I get the job search today.

No, no. That's not a thing like, but I do think. You know, having that community or you know, being able to talk to [00:27:00] people, tell them your story so that they know who you are, what you're trying to do, what you know, and you've got a group of people that are already going to like you because you like Pokemon Go.

And now it's just a matter of showing up to events through campfire or you know, just however that's going to manifest itself. And you just tell your story. And when you do job search stuff and you're spending most of the time doing nothing but talking to people, what tends to happen, you build that community.

And today's job search is really all about who knows you and who they know. Because the more visible you are, the more that people know what it is that you're trying to do, the better off you're going to be. Again, I, with just with my, my meetup, I know so many things about all these people. Um, just because we sit and play and talk, you know?

And like if [00:28:00] I was, you know, if, if I was looking for a job, that would be the first place I would go is tap into that resource. And the other thing too is like everybody that's playing the game, their occupation's all different. Like one person in my, my griz in hospitality, one person is, uh, does commercial HVAC repair.

One person is insurance, one person is a, a controller. My friend wheezy is a, is a controller. That's, if y'all don't know, that's like one step under a CFO, basically. Uh, so you know. People come from all over the place and you never know who somebody's gonna know. And typically with just any networking type of a situation, what happens is you start talking to people, you start telling your story, and then nothing happens until two weeks go by three weeks, eight, maybe, you know, maybe a month and a half, three months.

And then somebody in your group is talking to their brother. Who is like in a mid-size company [00:29:00] and frustrated because they can't get anything done because their project manager quit and they're like, oh my God, you, you need to talk to David because he says he wants to be a project manager. And I'll vouch for him.

He's a great guy. And now you've got the lead. Right. That's usually how all these things work. Uh, especially if you're just running around all over the place, doing nothing but talking to people, it's going to pay off. It, it, it will. I, I think with job search, uh, oftentimes what the problem is in it, and it's hard job search is hard in itself.

But people don't understand it. I think the, the, the thought of the idea of job search is that I'm going to get online, I'm going to apply to 10 jobs today. The recruiter's gonna see my application. They're gonna call me. I'm gonna get the interview, I'm gonna get the second interview, and I'm gonna get an offer.

No you're not. That's not how this works today. It used to work that way, but it doesn't work that way now and what's happened, it's not anybody's fault. 'cause job [00:30:00] search changed and nobody told the job seeker. So now people that are looking for work, they're not doing anything but running around and applying to jobs.

And eventually you will start to feel bad because you get those auto-generated rejection emails that are. You know, not sent from a human. And you start to self-doubt. And then you start to worry about your value and what you can provide to a, uh, employer. And then oftentimes loneliness and oppression sets in.

And I could tell you just, I'm done this for years, that job search is a mindset game. If you don't have the right mindset going into it. You will not be successful. I tell my clients all the time, I could teach you everything you need to do to be successful, but if you do not have the right mindset, none of it will matter anyway.

I think you touch on something that's important is, you know, mindset is everything. Yeah, whether you've been through, down and out, like, you know, I've been through times of layoff. You know, I was out of work for a couple months, sometimes [00:31:00] even six months, and it's easy for that to kind of eat at your self-esteem.

It's easy for that to eat at who you feel like you're valued with and it's important for, one thing that helped me the most was developing some kind of ritual that kind of grounded me that to make me realize that. What I'm going through when I wasn't having a job is just a season. It's not who I am. It does not define me.

Yeah, so for me, I like music. Music is what kind of grounds me. It's what kind of gets me going. So I found songs that kind of either motivated me or uplifted me. It, it was different ones or different seasons, and I just found those songs and I would listen to 'em before I got started with anything else, like it is the most important part of my day.

I listened to songs on how I'm feeling that day, and especially when I was job searching. I always started that with breakfast. There was breakfast and it was listening to music and you've gotta find that ritual. Whatever it is, maybe it's a walk, maybe it's, you know, writing stuff down, whatever it is to kind of get your mind in the right place.

Because if you're not in the right place, you're [00:32:00] gonna start doubting your stuff. You're start gonna start, you know, not believing yourself. And it shows, especially in the interviews. So that's my encouragement to those out there, to always find the right mindset. Yeah. I love that too, with you with music.

'cause I'm a big music guy as well. I, I, I don't even know how many songs I have downloaded on my phone. Same. Couldn't even tell. I'm gonna guess like six to 800. I don't even know. Uh, but like, you know, you, you, I, I have hype music right. Before I come in here. I'm, again, I'm pretty high energy, but like, I wanna get pumped up before I get in and get my coffee, you know?

Mm-hmm. I have a motivation playlist and it all has music that pumps me up or gets my blood going. It's, that's usually what I listen to. What's on it? What's on it? Uh, different songs. So I've got a lot of different artists on there. It's not just one. I have all good things, like for the glory. I have sleep when I'm dead by Autumn Kings.

It's My Life by Bon Jovi. Have a Nice Day by Bon Jovi. Those are kind of my anthems. I've got a lot of wwe [00:33:00] e songs from the, okay. Stuff like that. It's just a whole bunch of mixture stuff. Eminem, of course. Let's see. Lose Yourself is classic. Lose Yourself. Yes, rap God. Like stuff that just kind of gets me going.

Remember they named by four Miner, if you know of them? They use kind of a small one with Lincoln Park. Mm-hmm. But this just like, like I said, I just find songs that kind of mean the most to me and that gets me going and that's just the ones I listen to. It's just a whole different playlist and I encourage everybody, like, if you like music, make a playlist.

You'll be surprised by how much of a difference it makes. Yeah. 100%. Yeah, I agree. Well Jason, that is an interview. Thank you for coming. Eyes, The Pokeball Turns. Before you go, if people want to connect with you, if they wanna find out services from where you work from, where can they go? By all means, please plug away.

So if you need help in your job search, you can call me at nine seven two four three seven. 9, 9, 5 0 extension 3, 7, 9. Leave a message and myself or somebody from the [00:34:00] team will get back to you to start that process. With virtual, I can take clients anywhere. You don't have to be in Dallas. I've got a client right now in, uh, Los Angeles.

I've got a client that's over in Washington DC like you could be from anywhere. And we're, you know, more than happy to, you know, work on helping you, uh, through that. Yeah, just call, leave a message and we'll. We will get back with you and start you in the process. 'cause again, job search is hard and if you have somebody that helps, can help you out, make it easier, that would be awesome.

Thank you for listening to As The Pokeball Turns, if this story resonated with you, share the podcast with a fellow trainer and don't forget to follow us. For more voices, more journeys, and more memories. I'm David Hernandez. And remember, your next Pokemon adventure begins here.