Junaid Ahmed 0:10
Thank you for tuning in to hacks and hobbies with your host Junaid in season two of hacks and hobbies were visited by our amazing guests coming from all walks of life, what to learn their story, their struggles and their journey on how they got to where they are today. So stick around.

In this episode I get to speak with Jamie Bernard. How did I meet Jamie Bernard? Well, it just so happens that I was watching this live video of Ask Gary Vee show or Gary Vee was interviewing Lily sink. Now in the show, what happens is it called caller will call in or Gary will reach out and call one of the any of the people who are dropping a phone numbers in the chat. And they'll call them and talk to them. So they happen to call this one lady thing is Nikita or can remember her correct name, but she missed the call. And then the next person that call was Jamie Bernard. And Jamie picked up the phone who was just getting ready. And that was just an amazing conversation they had going through the struggles of what Jamie's gone through. And then being Lily thing and Gary that they are, they were they're like, dude, we totally get you. We're going to back you up. We're gonna support you in any way we can. So I got I had the opportunity to reach out to Jamie and be like, hey, Jamie, that was awesome. I'd love to bring you on the podcast and that's how I got Jamie Bernard. Jamie, thanks so much for getting the time and getting on the podcast.

Jamie Bernard 2:00
No, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.

Junaid Ahmed 2:04
Sweet man. So that was that was one of the exciting like, I could feel the feeling that you are. When you when you got the call. You're like, oh my god oh my god

Jamie Bernard 2:18
you nailed you nailed that intro because just like you just scrolling through and catching that live it was the same for me. So I just happened to catch them both on live together and then again, them calling me was all by chance. So again, I beyond grateful and beyond blessed. I mean, that was an amazing call.

Junaid Ahmed 2:37
It was it was absolutely amazing. So what I did is I was like I since I was on LinkedIn, and you had dropped your phone number on Facebook. I was like, Okay, well, how do I get Jamie's number and who's who's this Jamie? Like, we didn't know the full name anything. So I went to the live on Facebook and I'm like, All right, I'm scrolling through all the things. I'm like, all right. There's Jamie. Let me message him and You know, and then so we had the connection through Gary because it's all the mindset and people who watch Gary Vee and Lily saying and watching them grow their base and bringing their originality to the world. It's just it's just breathtaking. It's incredible. How you. So tell me, you know, I think what's

Jamie Bernard 3:24
great is that

yeah, I think I think what's great is that

there's so much creativity that comes from both Gary and Lily, and they're on complete different spectrums of the world. So Gary, such a businessman, but he adds so much creativity into everything that he does. And then Lily is an artist. He's a performer, you know, so I think this is why that call was so so so meaningful to me because I learned business and then I learned from an artist that I'm inspired by, you know, so it was it was really great, really, really creative. And what's been fun is that, not only you getting I appreciate you reaching out so much I just didn't realize how impactful that call was because I've gotten, and I can say, hundreds of messages in a week, just from people saying like, Hey, man, this was this was amazing. Thank you so much. We needed to hear that. So this year, I'm just beyond grateful.

Junaid Ahmed 4:14
That's amazing. And, and, you know, a lot of times, we as creators, we as business owners, we as human beings, we hold back a lot of the question, we're like, oh, that's a stupid question. Why would I ask something like that? Or even like, Oh, I can go and research. But then when you get the opportunity to ask those questions, you know, it's, it's helpful to all the other people that are watching and I'm sure there was 1000. There was like, 2000 people, just on LinkedIn live. I think it hit like three years now, one point, and I'm sure there was a lot more on Facebook and Instagram, because they like to, you know, get everywhere and it's everywhere. Absolutely. So tell

Jamie Bernard 4:57
us it's funny because I didn't even realize that it was online. Live. I'm ready to stand myself. I had no idea. Yeah, this is great.

Junaid Ahmed 5:05
Yeah. So tell me a little version of your story and a lot of people that watch the show, probably, you know, a lot of managers that listen to my episode, my podcast probably didn't get a chance to see that. So tell me to sell. Tell me a little bit about your journey and how you got started. And, you know, what are your passions and as an artist and as a business owner and entrepreneur.

Jamie Bernard 5:31
Absolutely. So my name is Jamie Bernard. I'm 25 years old and I live in Miami, Florida. The call with Gail Perry and Lily I the calls that I was asking their opportunity to my business, which is a fitness studio that opened when I was 19. So I'm a dancer. So this was a big part of the call with Gary was just in saying, Hey, you know, how do I get out of my bubble? my comfort zone? How do I stop being afraid of other people's judgments? Because I feel like that's what I've been living in since I was 19. That's counting Suddenly, you know, building this business afraid of everyone's judgment. And again, I'm very young, and I've always hold on to that. But the start, I was 19 years old, I walked into a fitness class here in Miami. And literally, my life changed that same day, from one day to the next. I was taking a class with my mom, the manager of the gym, some dancing and the class contacted me after the class saying, Hey, are you a teacher? Are you this? No. So that basically led to them like hiring me the next day basically. And then giving the classes all around the city of Miami. So I was teaching seven classes a week in seven different locations all around. My it was intense. So that's kind of where I got started in the fitness and dance industry, which then led to which what I talked about with Gary as well. So I did that for about two years traveling with a big name Jim here, and then I got discovered from FIU. So that's one of our biggest universities here in Miami. So that was kind of a life changing moment as well because they were the first people to sponsor my brand and kind of pick up on the experience that we were bringing to Miami. So they helped me build my very first gym on my own. So this was me at 20 years old now. lyst Exactly. So this was a crazy experience was a crazy ride. So I've been in the fitness and the business world with this, you know, since I've been working, let's say since 18. So I had a lot of questions to ask, but that was basically the start of it. And that's why I was so grateful to talk to Gary, and I'm grateful to talk to you as well. Yeah, man

Junaid Ahmed 7:29
does, that's, that's beautiful. It really helps, right? When when you have people that believe in you and and say, you know, we're going to help you start this up and, you know, the team that helps you build your first studio, right? That's like somebody believing in you. And like, you know, you've got the talent and I'm sure you're probably dancing before. That first time that you went with your mom, right?

Jamie Bernard 8:00
That's so funny because I,

I actually wasn't so Oh really? Okay. I can say I was a performer my entire life. So I went to one of it was actually the best performing arts school in Miami. So I was there for theatre. So it was an acting kid my entire life. And up to that point, I was doing like commercials, and here and there. But dances never really my thing. I did musical theater, but dance came after. So this was unlocking a blessing for me to

Junaid Ahmed 8:25
for sure. That's amazing. So when you were in theater, when you were taking, going to school, you know, going theater and whatnot, right? There was no dancing roles whatsoever. But did you dance at home, not in a professional manner, but just for fun?

Jamie Bernard 8:43
Absolutely. And I think that's the funny part is that I've always had this energy in this like this needs to create, but dance was always the one thing that I was afraid of being judged on. I knew that I got into this amazing school for theatre and you gotta Act I knew that I was getting, you know, my accolades and in my craft here, but dances that I was afraid of. So it's funny that six, seven years later Now, this is what I do for a living.

Junaid Ahmed 9:10
It's fun. It's amazing, right? Because when you take the leap, and you go to the unknown, your mind basically sets up, like opens up all the doors where it makes it possible for you because you've made up your mind. And you've put out into the Yeah, you put out to the universe that hey, this is what I want to do. Even though I'm scared, I'm still going to take that leap. And

Jamie Bernard 9:38
that's exactly what I did. That's exactly what I did.

Junaid Ahmed 9:42
That's so awesome. Dude, that's awesome. I love it. So you said you're in a funk. Tell me a little bit different. You know what if you don't mind, you know what, what happened and how, what change?

Jamie Bernard 9:55
Definitely so this is this is actually so fun for me because I I don't This is anything that I really anticipated talking about. And then the Gary thing happened last Monday. And then it made me realize, wait, Jamie, this is something you have to like overcome and have to kind of get through in order to move forward. So I think that again, this story is seven years long cut down into, you know, many minutes as we have. But yeah, I've been doing this since I was 19. So for me from 19 to 24, my brain was just very much doing the same thing, trying to grow the same business and really be invested. So there was no day job that I was doing and then going to do this at night, but this was the thing I had and I had to make it exactly. So during this for this long I really I put myself into a bubble. And I could say that maybe overworked overtrained and myself mentally and physically. And I just reached a point where I said no, this is this is not what I want to do. I'm done. So this was this is where the funk began. I just reached a place of like, I want to. I don't want to use the word depression, but I'll say that I was extremely, I was extremely unhappy with where I was. So from one day to the next, this was two years ago. Now I closed down my studios. So I typed up a letter saying, I sincerely apologize, no more memberships will be charged and our doors are officially closed. And in six days later, I packed up my bags, and I'm just Salt Lake City.

Junaid Ahmed 11:27
So this was religious country.

Jamie Bernard 11:30
Exactly, exactly. One of the weirdest, weirdest, weirdest decisions of my life. And no one really understood why or what I was doing. And so it's a salt lake city and I said, Hey, just take a break. I knew no one there. And I just kind of like mentally rested and I realized, wait, this is what I was doing back home was right. That's what I love to do, to kind of try to talk myself back into it. But long story short, I think it's been a cycle. It's been a cycle of me learning what makes me happy with running my business and with dance and with being an artist and then learning what doesn't and learning what scares me and just not letting that fear of something turn into a depression or an unhappiness. So that's kind of that's kind of where my journey has been. So I moved away, took some time off, I came back to Miami, and I'm just grateful for this as well. That someone can leave their city come back, pick up where they left off, and then off like it never happened, which is what my father has done for me. They've been incredible, incredible. Incredible.

Junaid Ahmed 12:36
That's amazing. It's almost like you took a sabbatical. Exactly. Exactly. Because those and I was just looking at a post earlier today. And you know, this person was like, you know, to post or not to post. I'm on vacation right now, but should I make this post and let people know what I'm up to? And then I started thinking, you know, taking a vacation or taking a sabbatical is almost like going to sleep. Because, sorry. I was just saying it's necessary. Absolutely. It's so necessary because you're your mind, you can be up for 24 hours. And you can do all of these things done, but then the toll is going to take on your body and your mind is irrecoverable. So when you take a break, right, when you go to sleep at night, all those short term memories, all the things that you did out all day long, they get saved into your long term memory. It's like you're archiving all the good stuff, right? So taking that break, and like you mentioned, you know, you took that break, and you figured out what you really loved and what you didn't like. Running a business. is not is nothing like doing what you like, should live people love to live right businesses, they like to create a business and then hand it off. You know, they just love creating business. The balls want to focus on the art. And you being an artist, you're like, Kate, what? Of all do I want here? Yeah, what do I want? For five years of doing it?

Jamie Bernard 14:18
Exactly. Exactly. And that's my biggest thing is that I had to learn to balance both, you know, is what do I want? But what do I want? It really requires me to learn and understand how to run a business as well. They have to go hand in hand. But that break helped helped a lot.

Junaid Ahmed 14:35
That's awesome. Yeah, man. So what's really powerful about all of this is running a business. And we've seen other businesses and how they kind of run. It takes a team. Absolutely. We cannot do it alone. I mean, absolutely. And I've been saying this for the past couple of weeks. You know, people, those people that say, you know, I wish there was more than 24 hours in the day. That's it of them. There are more than 24 hours in the day. Gotta hire two more people, you got 72 hours and delegate delegate. Exactly. That's

Jamie Bernard 15:12
so funny. Um, so it's funny because I think that this journey has it's taught me a lot. So when I was 19 and 20, I was writing checks for people that were 3233 34 as their boss, so it, it was very, it was a very, very weird feeling. And something that I've always had a problem with is delegating. I've always wanted to do it on my own. Yeah, I'm becoming a perfectionist, which is again, bringing it back to the end, Jerry, I am a huge fan of hers. So I watch her content enough to know where she complains about that so often, she has a hard time delegating because she This is a perfectionist, and I'm very much like that. So I learned I mean, I'm I'm learning, I'm learning and now I'm realizing Jamie can't do everything by himself. So I have a great team of people around me. And hopefully I'm going to continue to grow this team because I have learned that there's no way I can do this by myself.

Junaid Ahmed 16:10
Yeah, man. Yeah. numbers. So, so true. And, and, and that's how I was able to. I mean, I'm just saying boat man, I've been an artist for, you know, past 20 years being a designer. And for the longest time, I was, like, holy people do so many things at the same time. And I've found, you know, found ways to do it. You know, staying up late getting doing all these things, and getting into new things all the time. And I realized, you know, I love getting getting into new things and learning about how things work. The internal stuff like Iron Man, you built this part, our first Iron Man suit, in the caves of, you know, your rocket Iraq or wherever the city was. And I like tinkering. So as I realized, you know, that's, that's the stuff that I'm really good at. And I'm good at other things like, I was able to edit my up episodes pretty easily. But then as the load started, you know, getting higher and higher. I'm like, I cannot spend three hours per episode. There's no way I need to delegate. Exactly. Absolutely.

Jamie Bernard 17:26
never learned. I've learned this the hard way. Maybe so.

Junaid Ahmed 17:30
But dude, just you like you said, You're still young. You've still got a little, you know, time. You've learned at a very early age, which is very, very awesome. When I was nine, TechCrunch was thinking, yeah, man when I was 19, I was just going to college, I think. So when I moved to the States, I was 19. And I just started going to college, and I was nowhere near running a business. I mean, it was everything was all pretty new to me. I but I knew that I love technology. And you too. I love to get into and open things up and you know how toy works. So that's where my passion lies. It was really a great place. So this is

Jamie Bernard 18:14
this is something that I'm I've been thinking on and I haven't I'm just bringing it up because I haven't reached my final thoughts on it. Since I did the the Gary Vee since that entire thing happened, I've been re watching it maybe once a day, just to read gather the information. And there was something that he said. And he mentioned, maybe you don't have to be the owner of a gym. Yeah, we're running, running this part of the business. And for me, I didn't really understand and I still don't, which is I'm like nervous to really comment on it. But what I realized is when I was 19, I was also in college, going to school for videos. So I had to kind of figure it out at the same time that I was going to school for it. And then I learned that there's no way that I can do both. Mom. So that's when I started, you know, got my AA and then I focus full time on running this business. But with that being said, I realized that,

Junaid Ahmed 19:10
hey,

Jamie Bernard 19:12
I see bigger. Or maybe it's just the vision that I hadn't realized in myself for my brand and for my business, I see bigger for myself than just a gym. So then I haven't gotten the thoughts yet, but maybe Gary, of course Gary's right. But maybe I don't have to be the owner of a gym, you know, I'm really influenced by fitness and by dancing by the arts. So maybe I'm putting myself in my own bubble and my own square. That's what I've been doing for the past few years. You know? It's interesting.

Junaid Ahmed 19:41
Yeah. But no, you're right, man. You you you've You're almost there. You gotta figure it out. Man. This is awesome.

Jamie Bernard 19:52
So, what do I get on Sundays, but I know

Junaid Ahmed 19:55
right? On Sundays, and that's, that's a part of life, right? I mean, In the mornings were all a bit uppity, but at nighttime, like depression sets in, or you know, you just start feeling down because it's dark outside, like our brains are telling us like go to sleep, go to sleep. Right? I'm working more, you know, just one more hour, you know, one more show or one more something I get, I can get done. But then and Exactly. And it's been so hard for me to let go of these things too. Because I mean, I've got three kids, and you know, I've got all these things that I'm doing. So I'm like, okay, sure, I need to get this done. But I also want to spend the quality time with my kids. So I'm set aside the time I'm going to you know, from this time to this time, I'm spending time with my kids. Again, forget about everything else, be the dad and then when it's business time right it's time right so it's it's so hard to like compartmentalize and you know, you should About that word and TV show and these FBI agents, whatever, you gotta compartmentalize. But yeah, it's true. It's it's so true. And this is

Jamie Bernard 21:09
why I applaud you. I applaud you, because I can't imagine also, again, you're raising your kids. This is amazing. Because I've always said to myself that I can't imagine having to take care of another person on top of trying to figure out all of this. So this Yeah,

Junaid Ahmed 21:26
amazing. Yeah, man. That's where the delegation comes in. Right?

Jamie Bernard 21:31
Absolutely, absolutely.

Junaid Ahmed 21:33
Awesome. So now it's time to ask somebody question that I asked my guests. What is one of the hobbies that you wish you got into and? Right, I think that

Jamie Bernard 21:45
definitely, I think I would love to and I've always wanted to take up photography. Um, I think that I'm, I spend a lot of time on the other side of the lens. So Dre, I was acting and then I did commercial work and jumped into modeling when I was you know, Turning 21

I always wanted to do the other and I wanted to see the other end of that other angle. So that's, that's one.

Junaid Ahmed 22:07
Nice. What about you? One thing that I wish that I got into was to play a musical musical instrument like a guitar. And it's, it's probably I never got into it. I mean, I played the bass one time a few times, but I never got into it, mainly because I just, I just focused on singing. And I did that and yeah, man. Alright, cool. You had a question?

Jamie Bernard 22:41
Oh, no, go ahead. And sorry.

Junaid Ahmed 22:42
Awesome. So next question is what is your favorite movie or TV show?

Jamie Bernard 22:47
Favorite TV show? Um, I would say Black Mirror Have you heard of that show? I have. So I that's my it's my favorite show. And I'm not really sure why I just think that I love I don't like continuity. I like that every single episode is different. I like that it's making me think those are my type of shows.

Junaid Ahmed 23:08
Yeah. Nice. You should check out Adam ruins everything.

Jamie Bernard 23:13
Oh man. I've watched

that guy.

Junaid Ahmed 23:20
Let me tell you about summer vacations.

Jamie Bernard 23:23
And again Never go on a summer vacation again.

Junaid Ahmed 23:25
Exactly.

This is hilarious. All right. All right. This one is a very new one. They've been asked my guests and it's it's kind of ties into the favorite movie. What movie would you choose if you got to play a character in it? Whoo whoo. That's a good one.

Jamie Bernard 23:49
Man. I don't know why I just off the top of my head. I'm gonna say Titanic because I think a black man playing

Junaid Ahmed 24:00
That would not change it up. Yeah, change it up. Exactly, man. Awesome. That's awesome. All right, who is your favorite superhero?

Jamie Bernard 24:12
I'm gonna get in trouble for this one.

So I I know nothing about superheroes.

I don't know Marvel, DC. So that's a man.

I'm gonna I'm gonna say Iron Man because I think he referenced

Junaid Ahmed 24:29
he is he is. He is amazing, man. Holy smokes man. Robert Downey Jr. Just played the part. Is that your favorite? Yeah, he is my favorite. It's it's just my mind blowing every time. Every time I see it's like, wow, this guy's amazing.

Jamie Bernard 24:50
All right, last amazing. Yeah,

Junaid Ahmed 24:52
yeah. Last question. If you were a board game, what would it be?

Jamie Bernard 24:58
that was important game. Let's say that I would be the game of life. And I love that game. Yeah. And I feel like that's currently where I'm at. I'm realizing that you know, you can start over again and

try again, you can try again, you can try again. And again. I don't know why, man, I'm here getting serious again. But Gary's kind of helped. Help. Not even only Gary, but I guess a lot of people around me have helped instill this thing in my mind that I just turned 25 two months ago, and in my head, I'm thinking, Oh, man, I'm so old now. Man, come on, like, you know, we want it to be at 25 like, right? So I guess it's, it's being okay with like, this is a long game and it's okay to start over. Oh, yeah.

Junaid Ahmed 25:44
Absolutely, man. Absolutely. There was a book I was reading about thinking big. And, and that and even Gary Vee says, you know, he's like, if you're 40 you can still change and do something different. done what you've been doing for the past 20 years. Like you've only been working 20 years, you know, it's that's not a lot of time. Especially. It's so that's that's awesome, man. Love it. Cool, man. This was really, really good to know you, Jeremy. Jamie. Think Jamie, thank you so much. Thank you. Yeah, man, it was. It was definitely a pleasure. Thank you so much. This was awesome. You gotta man. I will let you know when the episode goes out. Oh, yes. Where can my audience find you?

Jamie Bernard 26:37
O Absolutely. So your audience can find me on Instagram at Jamie r Bernard. That's JAMIER Bernard, and Facebook as well. Things like that.

Junaid Ahmed 26:48
So cool. Perfect, man. Thank you so much for your time. Have a great day.

Jamie Bernard 26:54
Thank you so much as well Same to you have a great one.

Junaid Ahmed 26:59
Thank you. you for listening to hacks and hobbies. You can find additional information on the guest today on their website hacks and hobbies. com. Please feel free to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss out on upcoming interviews with amazing guests.

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