Blaze Your Own Trail - Swimming Against the Current With Ted Phaeton

Episode Date: September 10, 2021

About Ted: Ted Phaeton is a Morning Meteorologist based in Charlotte, NC. Ted is also a member of the National Weather Association and received his NWA Television/Radio Seal of Approval in December of 2016, making him a certified meteorologist with the national organization. As if speaking four and a half hours a day on air wasn't enough, Ted is also the host of the "No Rain... No Rainbows" Podcast inspiring listeners to overcome adversity and live their best lives.  As the founder of The Modern Man, a men's networking & empowerment group, Ted hopes to help build men in their communities to reach their full potential. Ted's mission is to help men establish meaningful relationships, network with like-minded individuals, and build a support group that will help them excel in life, business, and relationships.  In this episode we discuss: Ted's upbringing What sports he played Some lessons her learned at a young age His love for gaming Getting into computer science  A pivotal moment in College Life after School The Modern Man  And more! Connect with Ted: https://biolinks.heropost.io/tedphaeton Thanks for listening!!  Connect with Jordan: LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanjmendoza/⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/therealjordanjmendoza/⁠ Clapper: ⁠https://clapper.vip/jordanjmendoza⁠ Join my Facebook Group: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/linkedintrailblazers⁠ Website: ⁠https://www.blazeyourowntrailconsulting.com Installing strategic sales systems & processes will stop the constant revenue rollercoaster you might be facing which is attainable through our 6 Week Blazing Business Revenue Coaching ProgramBook a discovery call with Jordan now to learn more! Are you an entrepreneur?Join my FREE Group Coaching Community where we have live calls, Q&A and more! Our Trailblazer Ecosystem also enables you to network with other entrepreneurs and creator hub eliminates multiple subscriptions and logins creating a one stop shop to take action!Use code: FOUNDING100 for 12 months access FREE and Founding pricing for life! (While Supplies Last)Join now! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Are you ready to find out how to blaze your own trail? Welcome to the Blaze Her Own Trail podcast with your host, Jordan Mendoza. In this podcast, Jordan interviews people from around the world to find out about their journey to success. If you're looking for valuable content with actionable advice, you've come to the right place. And now your host, Jordan Mendoza. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Blaze Your Own Trail podcast. My name is Jordan Mendoza. I'm your host and I've got a very special guest today.

His name is Ted Faiton and I'm going to give him just a second to tell you who he is and what he does today. Hey, Jordan, first of all, I appreciate you having me on the podcast. Shout out to all the listeners and everybody watching out there. It's a pleasure to be here. My name's Ted Fayton, as Jordan mentioned. And I'm a morning anchor for Fox Carolina News in Greenville, South Carolina. I'm also a podcast host myself, the No Rain, No Rain, Rainbows podcast. and I'm the founder of the modern man,

which is a men's networking and empowerment group that was started here in Greenville, South Carolina, and that's really become a passion project of mine these last couple years, just working and focusing on helping men grow to be their best selves and members of society. I love it, man. I love all the things that you're up to.

I mean, what an eclectic mix, and it just shows that you've got a lot of energy, you got a lot of passion for what you do, and you like to serve other people, which is phenomenal, man. but this is my favorite part of the show because we get to rewind and we get to find out about little Ted, right? So one thing I like to do, man, let's rewind. Let's go back to the adolescent years, you know, elementary through high school.

And let's find out what kind of kid were you? Were you into sports? Were you more into academics? Let's give the audience some context about Ted here. Yeah, well, shout out to my mom and dad for putting up with me as a little kid first and foremost. I was a little bit of a troublemaker. I was into sports. I played high school football.

I also did track and field. I did wrestling for a little bit. But for the most part, I actually ended up becoming a gamer towards my later years in high school. And I mentioned that because that was a big thing that really brought me into computer science, which was fun fact, the first major that I started in with college. But as a kid and as an adolescent, I was a curious kid. I, in hindsight, can look back and say I had some identity issues. I went to mostly Catholic schools, and I was pretty much, you know, being a black guy,

he's predominantly surrounded by whites in class every day. I had a hard time fitting in. With my vernacular, the way I spoke, I was a little too white for the black kids, too black for the white kids, and really didn't really find my fit throughout my adolescent. I spent a lot of time wondering why I didn't fit in until I had the revelation that I'm supposed to stick out, and that's kind of made all the difference moving forward. But yeah, as an adolescent, jumped in a lot of things, tried a lot of things, and definitely kept my parents on their toes.

Awesome. I think we all did, right? We all kept them on their toes, and some of us are still doing it, you know? So let's think about sports for a second because, you know, you played a few different sports, right? Like, you're definitely an athlete if you played all three of those because, you know, some of them in themselves are hard, right? So I would look at you like an athlete.

So what would you say are that maybe the top one or two lessons? that you learned in sports that really translate to everything you've been building, man. You've been doing a great job at building your personal brand. You're an anchor, you know, meteor, all these things. So what lessons do you think you can think about that have really helped you along this journey? Love the question. And I'm going to just answer very authentically. So I didn't start playing sports until high school.

And a lot of it was because my parents wanted me to focus on academics. So I had a lot of frustration when I first started specifically. specifically in football because I was behind everybody. And I think the biggest thing I learned in football, being able to make the JV team, which was one of the hardest teams to make at our school. And for a little backstory, by the time we got to Varsity, it was our fifth year in a row winning the championship. We were a pretty dominant football team.

So to make the JV squad, which is really the school's vetting process, was a big, big accomplishment. But I did that kind of starting fresh, right? a lot of the kids I was playing against, they've played for years, they had some experience, they played freshman. So I was kind of kind of swimming against the current. The biggest thing I learned was having a mentor, my cousin who taught me how to play football that summer prior to tryouts was huge and also putting in the work. I spent every weekend the summer before my sophomore year in high school practicing football with my cousin. And by the time I tried out, I was able not not only to keep up with some of the kids, but actually make the team and be a recurring special teams player on the squad.

So if it wasn't for having that mentorship, if it wasn't for putting in the work early on, I probably not would not have made the team. I probably would not have had a great career in high school at football and really kind of came out of my shell because that was the big change. Once I joined football, anybody that knew me freshman year of high school, I was a shy, quiet, really introverted kind of kid, football opened all that up. Football made me outgoing. Football is where I learned my gift of gab. And to this day, I can always accredit where I am today for kind of those building blocks that started that summer before my sophomore year. I love that, man. And for everybody that's listening, those two lessons, I mean, those have probably paid dividends for you, Ted, you know, along your journey. Having a mentor and putting in the reps, like what great advice that is, right? What lessons that you can take?

I would have to say that those two things really help shape you, right? Because someone's investing in you, man. They're spending time that they don't have to spend in you. That's an investment. And then you made an investment in you to actually grind it out and put in the work every day. And there's so many people that need to hear that message that are listening to this, that are going to watch this because most people want things, but they don't want to do the things to actually get the things that they want.

Yeah. Here's a story. this kind of goes off of that. There was this, this player named Ponziika. I hope he's listening. I hope he's still watching. He in, I mean, we're, we're talking high school kids. So six foot four, 240 pounds. That's a big high school kid. For comparison in high school, I was about five foot seven, 135 pounds soaking wet. That was me. That was exactly me. Yeah. But I was always out there. And just to give credit to the young Ted's resilience and I guess my hardheadedness and my stubbornness, I'm never going to forget we had a play where I had to run and block somebody.

It was an interception and I was running to block somebody. And here's Ponziika running towards me. And I remember putting my arms up and just running like right into his gut. And obviously I bounced off, but I knocked the wind out of him. And I remember the coach coming up to me and A, telling me I was crazy for running head to head with someone nearly twice my size. But second, he's like, I like your heart. I like the fact that you're not afraid of the guy who's bigger than you fast than you or anything like that. And that's really the game I played in high school, right?

I was surrounded by guys who were bigger than me, who had more experience than me, who honestly, one of our players that the dad was a coach. They had all the tools that I didn't have. but what I was able to do was I was able to play on my strengths. I was little, so okay, if I had the ball and you were going to tackle me, you better get low. If you were going to truck me, I was going to hold onto your ankle, and you weren't going to get past me, right? I used the tools I had into my advantage,

but the thing I had out there that I could probably compare to anybody else on that roster was I had the biggest heart, and I had the willingness to get another weapon, to go out, try again, and that really made all the difference for me. Yeah, man. And that actually shows a lot to your team, right? Oh, yeah. Because you're willing to, like, you know, being a dog fight, you're willing to, on special teams, you're probably the gunner, right? You're running down the field and you're trying

to hit that person as hard as you can, right? And your teammates, man, they feed into that. And that gives the team energy, you know, that gives everybody energy. So that's awesome, man. And let's talk about gaming for a second. You know, I've never talked about gaming on the podcast. And a lot of people don't, I don't think. any listener knows this about me, but I was undefeated at the nickel arcades with like killer instinct, Mortal Kombat 2, like, you know, like street fighter, nobody could beat me. I would go, I would go to the nickel arcade with a dollar and I could stay there all afternoon and kids would just line up and I'd be beating them. Yeah. Okay. And so when that translated over to like

Nintendo 64 and all those systems, I started crushing it at those games then. Yeah. But you know what? I'm disappointed about like people weren't making millions back in the 90s like man I would have love to have that as like a career because I was good back then and and now I'm terrible. Yeah. So what are your thoughts on that where you know you got into gaming? First off, did you get good? Were you one of the good players? And then what are your thoughts on the whole e-sports thing and all these, all the money that's

there now? It's so crazy. Yeah. Well, so I never got great at gaming. I got good enough to hold my own. To this day, I think I can hold my own. I'd be an asset to a team, but I am nothing like some of these e-sports athletes that you're seeing. Yeah, I say athletes, but it's really become an industry that is eclipsing some other industries that you might not have ever seen.

I would compare e-sports to like the NCAA, right? Like nobody anticipated it being this big. My thoughts on gaming is this. There's a lot of people, my nephew included, who want to be a. a Twitch streamer who wants to be a professional gamer. They see a 16-year-old wins a Fortnite tournament making $3 million. That's amazing. But just like I played football and I could realize my stats, senior year graduating,

5-7, 135 pounds, I am not a D-1 football athlete with just that size and those stats. I'm not an NFL athlete. I understood where I was in the pecking order, if you would. And I would say the same thing for e-sports. If someone out there has the ambition of being a professional gamer, there's a lot of, I guess, self-awareness that has to go into that. If you want to be a Twitch streamer, there's a lot of self-awareness that goes in that as well. Are you entertaining? This is exactly what I told my nephew.

When he said he wants to be a Twitch streamer, I said, all right, Jackie, are you good? He's like, eh. I'm like, all right. Are you entertaining? He's like, uh, I'm like, well, you got to be great. were entertaining because those are the only two reasons someone's going to watch you. They either want to learn something or they want to be entertained. So he's starting to break that down and find out exactly where it's going. But I also wanted to open his eyes up, right, and say, hey,

there are other avenues in e-sports that you can get into. And this is me kind of showing my passion, right? I mean, my little escape is Call of Duty. Love Call of Duty, Warzone. That's my game. Battle Royale. I know Fortnite has done it. Apex Legends. So, okay, James. Jackie, if you have the ability to communicate, if you understand the game, what if you commentated on those that are great? I mean, just like you have sports commentators, right? What if you commentated on what's happening on the playing field? What if you commentated what's happening on the map? Let someone who might not be as familiar with the game, watch, hear your voice, and guide them through what's happening and educate or entertain them through that

aspect. So when it comes to e-sports and gaming, I'm still a big fan. I still enjoy it. Now that I'm older and I have some some priorities. I don't game nearly as much as I used to would like to or want to, but I do still understand and respect the industry. And I'm excited to see where it goes because I think there's a lot of opportunity that's going to be made here, not just in 2021, but in the future with it, man. Yeah, man. There's definitely a lot of opportunity. I mean, it's opened up so many new revenue streams, right, from a branding perspective, from a sponsorship perspective. And yes, it's changing people's lives. But I think, you said it best when you said it earlier you got to put in the reps right you can't just be you can't

just see some guy and be like i'm gonna go buy all that stuff and i'm gonna have the same results as that person right like you know so i'm glad that you gave you know your nephew that context because that's super valuable there's plenty of kids that aren't getting that whose parents see that four million dollar check and they go drop 3k and set up this amazing space but but the kids don't have talent you know what i'm saying and so it's creating this false narrative that they can do it. And so I love the approach that you took because you're just being realistic. You just asked the two questions. Are you entertaining and are you good? If you can't answer both of those, let me tell you about another route you can go, right? And so, but you're being more realistic.

And he should appreciate that. You know, if he ever listens back to this, he should appreciate you sharing that with him because that's going to help him way more than the other route. And I do want to kind of let the audience know exactly what gaming has done for me in my life because I think the value we get out of something isn't always linear. So for me, gaming, and this is sophomore year, right? I was playing football on the weekends. I'd probably maybe spend a few hours playing video games. I ended up playing with these guys consistently who are a lot older than me.

And this is before, I guess, a lot of kids nowadays, they talk about Discord and all that. This was a different program that I used to talk on the computer with these other guys. But what they did was they would always tell me how they're upgrading their computer. And I was like, well, I just have this Dell. I can't play the game as fast as you guys do. So how can I upgrade my computer? Long story short, they walk me through how to upgrade a computer. I told my dad I wanted a computer that was $1,500.

He said his budget was $1,000. I found the pieces of the computer and told them for $900, we could buy the individual parts and I would build it myself. And I'm not lying to you when I tell you that case, that I built that computer in over 15 years later is sitting right next to me in my home office. So obviously the computer has been reworked over and over again since, but the mentorship of those guys teaching me how to build a computer is really what led me to not only build my computer but seek a degree in computer science at Penn State, which didn't pan out, but

that was kind of my first step, kind of moving on into the next level of my career, if you would. Yeah, that's amazing, man. And we definitely want to get into college here next. But, you know, now you have a skill set. Yeah. Like that's invaluable, right? Because that, like, you literally, if you wanted to make that a side hustle and say, hey, I'll build your computer for X.

Like, you know what I'm saying? Like that, you know what I'm like? That's literally you've monetized and you can monetize that expertise. And you learn that in what year? What year was this? That was 2000. Oh my gosh. 2005, 2004.

Man, so like, and you still know it today. Right? So you form these bonds. You learn some skills. You've built a couple computers. And now that never leaves, man. Like, that never leaves you because it sounds like you've added some new chips. You've added a new video card.

Right. So again, you're sharpening that skill and you've had it for so long. But now it's like, man, like, why not monetize that? and turn that into some type of service because especially you're such a great communicator. You'd be a great coach. You could build a system for people to follow. Does that make sense? That was my exact thinking too.

I remember being 18 and I literally had it written on the piece of paper because again, my dad spent $900. I built a $1,500 system. And I started mapping out how many computers do I need to build to make X amount of dollars and I had it all kind of laid out. And the only thing that that stopped me from really. going head first. And I blame myself, no other excuses, but it was the insurance of the computers being built. For me, I never got over the hump of each individual parts warranty for a complete

build. That was the one thing I didn't get through because I would have need, I would need so much startup capital to kind of cover my back on that if I was building computers for other people. But to your point, my entrepreneurial mind at age 18 was like, okay, how do I replicate this, serve people with this, and make an income. Love it, man. So you finish up school, right? You go to Penn State. You thought it was going to be the computer thing, right?

So did you end up finishing with a degree in computer science, or did you end up changing your major kind of midway through? What happened next? Yeah, so this was a juke. I applied to colleges, got into Penn State's computer engineering program. It was a very prestigious program. But at the time being a college kid or becoming a college kid, my parents gave me a choice. Go out of state and I don't get a car or I can go to school in state and get a car.

Well, 18, what choice do you make? Right? I want a new set of wheels. So I actually didn't go to Penn State, but I went to SUNY Albany for computer science. That is not computer engineering. And I used to be ashamed to say this. I used to hide this. I say it proudly now.

at the end of my freshman year at SUNY Albany, I had a 1.9 GPA and I was on academic probation. And again, that was not a reflection of my intelligence. It was a reflection of my effort. I was too busy skipping class, focusing on other things, partying and things like that, and never really focused on what served me. So after freshman year, I needed to escape, right? Had a couple friends. We went on vacation and we're looking out of the beach and I see a bird dive into the ocean. And I just start telling my friends about the tides and the sun and things like that. I'm just kind of just spitballing. And my friend stops me and says, Ted, how do you know all this?

And I just said, hey, well, I've always been good at science, love science and Earth science specifically. And I just like it. And he looks at me and just says, you know our school has a great meteorology program? And I looked back at him. I said, I'm going to go ahead and do that. So I go home. I apply to all the weather classes. And when I get to Sudi Albany, now my sophomore year on academic probation, 8.15 a.m. class.

Because you know, as a younger classman, you go to all the worst classes. And the first words out of the professor's mouth was, you know, who's Ted Fayton? And I'm sitting in the back like, oh, this is me. He says, you're the wrong class, but stay here. And tell me if you still want to do this. afterwards. So for the next 45 minutes, Jordan, I'm sitting there listening to this professor, talk about physics, thermodynamics of the upper atmosphere, and all these things that are just going over my head, right? I have no idea what's going on. So finally, he pulls me in his office

after the class and says, Ted, in order to sit in the class you were in, you had to take physics one, physics two, chemistry one, chemistry two, calculus, all these prerequisites, right? And he's like, what are you doing here? I was like, well, I need to make a change. I want to do broadcast meteorology. He says, oh, you're going to have to do five years. So that's not going to work. Call my dad, because that's not going to work. He says, well, if you want to do broadcast meteorology and graduate in four years, what I need you to do is I need you to take all these classes. You need to take physics one and physics two this summer. No summer break for you. You can't get below a 3.0 GPA in any of these classes and you need to pull your whole GPA to an accumulated 2.5 before you can declare a major.

So I looked at him, I said, is that all? He said, yeah, that's it. Three years later, we're walking across the stage. I get my diploma. He tells that same story. And the kids that I'm graduating with, they're joking around and they say, oh, yeah, remember that kid, our sophomore year that the professor called out at the beginning of the class, that poor kid in the back. I never saw him again. I was like, yo, that kid was me. So here I am again in college in a situation where I had to show up with a whole bunch of people who were already studying weather. I had to kind of do the work, coming from behind, catch up just to graduate with all of them. And when they looked at me and they said, that was you?

I smirked and I said, hey, and you won't. This not the last time you're going to see me either. 100%. But you've already, you already did that same thing. Just a few short years earlier with football. Yeah. And getting that meant, that meant, right? You already did that.

So for you, the reps were going to be the easy part. Yeah. Because you already paid those, I mean, because you did that with football. And now this is just with learning. And everything I've learned about you right now, you love to learn. So you were like, that's it. Like, that's all I got. Okay, cool.

So that's awesome, man. But that shows, again, your perseverance, your determination. You're not giving up on yourself, man. And man, there are so many people listening that don't have that right now, that, you know, that don't have that determination. And, and, man, that's something I want for everybody is to have that self-starter in them that also believes that they can do it. So, so, man, I got to ask, where did that come from? Like, so let's hear it from mom and dad. Were any of those a shining example of not giving up, man? Did they go through anything, like, in their life that you heard them say that just really resonated with you? and you wanted to bring those attributes along your journey? Yeah, I'd say both my parents, right? And it's not so much what they said. It's what they did.

And I mean, their story alone, I tell people all the time, you know, I'm trying to live a life in which my story would be told. And if my story's told, it doesn't start with me. It starts with my parents. For context, for the listeners and the viewers, both my parents are from Haiti. And they moved here. my mom moved here in her 20s. My dad moved here right before his 30s. My dad grew up in a very small city in northern Haiti

where they would have to walk to get their fresh water. They wouldn't have power 24-7. He would have to play soccer in the street with a little bottle cap or a little orange where the sewers were. And sometimes my dad jokes, he's like, if we only had one bottle cap and the game was to one, if somebody scored in the first five minutes, they'd be mad because the game was over.

But, you know, that's what my dad came from. My mom, she came from Porter Prince, Haiti, which is the capital. And she had a little bit of a different lifestyle. My grandfather and my mom's side was a businessman. But my mom knew her way out was education. So she studied nursing. My dad knew his way out was education. So he got a law degree and an accounting degree from Haiti.

Well, when my dad comes to America, those degrees don't do anything for him. He worked every odd job he could before becoming a job. retirement consultant. My mom, she was a nurse, a psychiatric nurse for 30 plus years. And, you know, growing up seeing the whole, oh, if you want to be rich, work harder. I never bought that because I watched my dad wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning, go into the city, come back at 6 p.m. I watched my mom work from 7 o'clock in the morning, sometimes put overtime to 11 p.m. all just so we can go to Catholic school. And they were the hardest working people I know. They, I mean, they're both retired now well deserved, but I saw them bust their butt every single day, put food on the

table, and they put that work in for me to have just a chance at the same opportunity of other people that were considered my peers. So seeing that firsthand, watching them make that work, I think, I mean, just was instilled. We always say, hey, you know, your kids are going to do what you do. They're going to listen to what you do, not what you say, if that makes sense. It's a saying like that, right? And that's literally what the example was for me, seeing my parents make it work. And the irony there is they want me to settle down. They want me to stop.

My parents are like, Ted, you're good. Like, you have a good job. Why don't you just relax? Stop busting your butt to try and do more. And I'm like, no, mom, you did this to me. You handed me the torch. I'm not just going to stop. I'm going to keep running with it and see where this thing goes.

So honestly, my mom and my dad have both been shining examples for me in terms of that work ethic, in terms of getting into a situation where you might think you're behind. And you're going to see that trend a lot with my story. I've been in a lot of situations where imposter syndrome hits, right? I'm in a spot where I might not feel like I belong. Well, how do I belong? Let me see, okay, I'm in Rome, right? Do as the Romans do.

Move as the Romans Rome, right? Read what they read, talk how they speak, and then find out. what this environment's actually made of and fabricated with and then make it your home. And that's kind of just been my way of adapting to the different challenges I find myself in. Really, it's kind of just a growth chameleon until I finally grow into the arena that I find myself in. I love that, man. And thanks for sharing that context.

Shout out to mom and dad. If you listen or watch this episode, you guys did a great job setting that example because, I mean, we saw it through football. We saw it through college, right? And then I'm seeing it now. I mean, you're an anchor slash meteorologist and you've got a community you're building and you've got a podcast, right? So they paved that way.

But listen, none of it would happen if you were sitting on the dang sidelines, bro. Right? Like none of that would have happened if you did not take action. So kudos to you for that. So let's talk after college. You know, the aspirations now. You did all the work to be that meteorologist. So, you know, I would love for you to share.

share a quick tidbit. So what's the, what's the biggest misconception around weather that people, that's out there that when you heard the real answer, you were like, seriously? Yeah. Like, is that, is that really true? Like, because there's got to be something, right? Yeah. Oh, man, I'm trying to think. Well, I mean, I love it. Everybody likes to joke saying, hey, the weather man's always wrong, right? But I would, you know, and I'm not trying to just defend the weatherman, but we know, we're actually right more than you think. I think the biggest misconception for people with just weather. And I think this is actually just a reflection and just how we are as people, right? It's like, oh, the weatherman's wrong again.

Well, imagine just for a second how vast an area that the weatherman's actually forecasting for. And how many people are included in that realm. When he says 20% chance of rain, the funny thing is, here's the big misconception. If you're looking at a map or if I'm giving you the seven day and I say, hey, 30% chance of showers tomorrow. I'm 100% confident it's going to rain. Like Jordan, I will put money on the table. It is going to rain tomorrow. I guarantee it. I know it's going to rain. No problem. But I'm going to tell you 30% chance. Why? Because in my situation, I'm forecasting for the upstate of South Carolina. I'm forecasting for northeast Georgia. And I'm forecasting for western North

Carolina. So if someone's sitting in Georgia, they're looking at sunny skies, they're out in the lake, enjoying the day, while somebody in North Carolina is getting rained on. Now, was the weatherman wrong or was the weather man right? You're right, right? But for about 30% of that map, right? That's kind of how you, right? So that you were right, it's just it didn't hit everybody or it didn't hit everybody yet. Exactly. Right? Because the day is 20, 24 hours. The day is a long time and it may not rain in the morning, but they may get sprinkles later in the day. Yeah. And the way the percentages work is like, hey, at any given time, you have a 30% chance of rain. So, hey, if it rains maybe for 10 minutes that day and the rest of the day it's dry, I mean, that's what I meant by 30%.

It's almost if you're rolling the dice. If the die were only to have three sides, right? If you're rolling it all day, sooner or later, it's going to land on that on that raindrop. Okay, another weather question. Yeah. This would just be, I'm just curious about this, and I think the audience will get a kick out of it. How long did it take you to master the green screen? Like, you know, because I'm always seeing the, you know, the weather beat and they're like pointing. And I'm like, bro, you're not pointing at the right thing that you just said.

Like, does that, does that, does that take a while to get used to? It definitely is, it's hard, right? So I would say, um, initially it took maybe a couple hours, actually. So when I first stepped in front of the green screen, it was my internship, and I literally stood in front of a green screen and just did weather forecasts over and over again for like an hour, hour and a half. It wasn't until day two that I actually knew what I was pointing at. But even if I were to stand in front of a green screen right now, I mean, I haven't done it for a few months or about six months to a year now. It's going to be a little bit of an adjustment. I'd say it's kind of like riding a bike.

You'll be wobbly at first, but you'll get your bearings. You only need to learn it once, but probably just a couple hours to kind of learn. Awesome, man. And so you shared some context at the beginning that, you know, you went from meteorologist to anchor. And you said that that's not usually a route that most people go. So share one reason why. And then what was that transition like for you? And I'm sure you probably had people in your ear that were like, no, wait a minute.

No, you're a meteorologist. You're not an anchor. Like, why would you do that? And I know with you, you're like, challenge accepted. You don't think I can do this? I'm going to, I'm going to do it. So what was kind of, you know, the biggest thing with the switch and then share with everyone how that transition is gone?

Yeah. So I'd say the switch was just pure circumstances, right? I'm a very, I break down things logically. And at the time, I was a weekend meteorologist in Greenville, South Carolina. I was only on air Saturday and Sunday. I'm 25 years old, 26, and I'm looking for an opportunity. And I remember having the conversation with my agent, having the conversation with my boss. And just they were like, hey, what are you looking for?

I said, I'm looking for a challenge. I don't want to work weekends anymore. I'd like more pay. And I want more on air time. So I was speaking to a few stations interviewing here and there. and just by chance, our morning anchor, his contract was up about two months before mine. And he announced that he was leaving. So then they came to me and said, how do you feel about anchoring?

Right. It would be Monday through Friday. It'd come with a pay increase. And you'd be on air not only five days a week, but four hours a day for five days a week. You're talking 20 hours a week of me working on my craft. Yeah, that's the kind of experience. Those are the kind of reps I'm looking for, right? So the biggest thing is I have to anchor.

I have to read a prompter. And for the listeners and the watchers, I was the kid in high school that when we had to read out loud, Jordan, I would count the paragraphs until my turn and I would read the paragraph over and over again to try and memorize it because I was so terrified of reading out loud. And, of course, somebody in the room would be an overachiever and they'd read two paragraphs and completely throw me off,

and then the whole class has to sit there while I stumble through the whole entire paragraph. So that was me in high school. So when they said, hey, do you want to anchor? I was terrified. And I think my exact answer to my boss was, that scares the crap out of me, so I probably should do it. And she said, okay, we'll start. We'll have you kind of ease into it, which, I mean, in the news world,

when you try to ease into something. Breaking news happens. Somebody's sick, and then I'm anchoring a show by myself for a half hour on this terrible breaking news story. So I was thrown in the fire. But I had to do it. I had to do it because it was what I asked for.

I mean, I asked the universe for a challenge. I asked the universe for Monday through Friday, and it gave it to me in the package of anchoring. Now, some of the, I don't want to say naysayers, but some of people who cared about me, cared about my career, were worried about me splitting my skill set. Well, Ted, are you going to be an anchor or a meteorologist? No one's going to know where to place you.

You've never anchored before. Is this a smart decision? This could kind of pause your career as a meteorologist because, you know, I was moving up pretty quickly in terms of market. And all those were concerns. I can say this. I started anchoring about a month and a half in. I remember looking in the mirror thinking I made the biggest mistake of my life.

I'm learning a new skill, wasn't doing well. It was very difficult. I was stumbling through my scripts. I was not delivering confidently. I had no idea what I was doing. Shout out to my team, but it wasn't the most gracious reception. Because, I mean, hey, there were other people in that building who had anchoring experience that wanted that. job that didn't get it, you know, that put a target on my back. And then when I'm sitting there,

I'm not doing a stellar job. I'll be the first to admit, shout out to all the viewers that put up with me for the first six months learning a new craft. Because not only was I learning the new craft on their time, I was learning a new craft with them watching each and every single day, with my co-anchor, my team watching me every single day. And it wasn't until about six months in, where I started really getting that progress and maybe a year later where I was really able to start building my style and building my comfort. And now hindsight, what used to be quite possibly what I thought the death of my career has now been a decision that I am 100% thankful that I made because with hindsight being 2020, I've ended up exactly where I've

meant to be. I love it, man. And I love you sharing the journey, right, because in the process, because, you know, every listener that's going to hear this or watch this has been the new guy before or the new girl before. You know, like, we've all been there. And so when I'm coaching, like, people, whether it was in the corporate world or coaching clients, I tell them that. I'm like, listen, if you're creating content on social, tell them this is your first video. Because more people are going to go to bat for you because they're going to remember when it was there, right? So, like, if it were me, I would, I would have milk that new guy syndrome, like, for the first six. month like hey remember I'm the new guy hope your days go like you know what I'm saying

because then people are oh it's an immediate kind of like icebreaker you know when you mention that so I know that's not in your character but like for me I would have milked it I'm the new remember me Tate Ted the guy that can't say stuff right like oh yeah hopefully I don't get this wrong let me read the script you know like I would have just added injected kind of the goofiness into it because that's what I do when I'm not feeling confident I just kind of make, try to make up jokes. You're like, I'm just going to get this down and I'm going to learn this and get better at it. So appreciate you sharing that, man. And so, so let's hear about the show, like what inspired you? And did the show or did the movement, the community,

start first? I'd love you to share the audience some context. Yeah. So the show and the movement kind of started hand in hand. And the funny thing is, the name of the show is called No Rain, No Rainbows, right? And that kind of has been my life model for a long time. And it actually started while I was going through this whole anchoring process. Anchoring beat up my confidence like no other. I left work just drained and not feeling competent or confident in anything. So I needed an outlet of something that can maybe regenerate some of that confidence. And that's where the origin of No Rain, No Rain, Rain, No Rainbows came from. It was a podcast. about getting through your hard times to reach your rain, no rain, no rain, no

rain, no rain, actually came from me getting into the weather industry. After I graduated college, it took me three years to get in there. At some point, I was depressed. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, so all that conspired. And then when I finally got my job as a meteorologist, and I was furnishing my apartment to kind of start my dream job, I found this little plaque that said, no rain, no rain, no rainbows. To this day, that little plaque is still hanging outside of my office. But I'm learning how to anchor. I'm having a hard time and I wanted to find something to balance out the negativity that I was feeling every single day with the news stories that we're covering. So I figured, let me start talking to entrepreneurs. Let me start talking to people in the area who

are living a happy, successful life, people who are really going after it and living what seems like their life purpose, right? And kind of unpack what it took to get there, right? We say, hey, you can't get the sunshine without the rain. You can't get the rain. So I started doing that. And one entrepreneur who I reached out to, literally, I imagine his ad was served to me because he was using a lookalike or he was using the marketing from Gary Vaynerchuk, right? I was a huge Gary Vader-Chuck fan.

I'm following all this stuff. And then all of a sudden this entrepreneur pops up that's in Greenville, South Carolina. So I DM him. I didn't ask for anything. I just said, hey, I see your show. I see what you're doing. I love the hustle. You're in Greenville, South Carolina.

So am I. Keep it up. So he reaches back and says, hey, let's grab coffee because he saw I was doing a podcast, which I think the listeners and anybody watching, if you have a business or you want to reach out to somebody, having a podcast or having a publication of your own is a great credibility booster, right? You're actually providing something to an audience.

So me and him sat down. And he was the first person I told out loud about this, this just idea and this thought I've had where, you know, I've had mentors my whole life. I've had men guide me my whole life that helped me guide through some difficult things. You know, I was lucky enough to have my mother and father in the household growing up my whole life, some friends in college and things like that. And I was like, I just want to build a group of men like helping each other out.

Like, you know, just like modern man helping each other out. like a week later that entrepreneur says hey ted let's do this modern man thing i said okay he's like um i got a camera guy and i got my friend you call your friend let's let's do it so four of us sit down we set up the cameras and i kind of just i laid out the questions and i led a discussion about what it meant to be a man in today's society and it ended up the the camera guy had to stop us Because it's like, guys, we're like 90 minutes in. Like, do you want to stop? So we did that and that was the first episode, right?

And it was just a subset of No Rain, No Rain, No Rain, No Rainbows. It was like, hey, no Rain, no Rain, no Rainbows series presents Modern Man. Well, Tyler Harris is the name of this entrepreneur. He calls me again, says, hey, when are we going to do it again? I said, oh, well, I got some other guys I'd love to talk to you. Let's do that. So we did that. The next thing you know, every month we're having this sit-down discussion.

talking about what, you know, what it means to be a man in today's society. All the while I'm doing the podcast weekend and week out. And while we're talking, we're thinking, okay, hey, you know, what do men need? What are we fighting? And it's like, okay, yeah, men need space to kind of come together and talk about it. Same entrepreneur. And this is, again, you see the mentorship. You see the reps as we're doing this every month.

And he calls and then he puts the challenge on me. I'm never going to forget this phone call. He's like, Ted, I think we should do a live event for modern man. And I was like, I was just whiteboarding. a live event for modern man. And he's calling me at the beginning of May. And I was like, so what do you think? Like, you know, maybe put something together,

maybe by August, September, we could have an event or something. He's like, why not June? Again, this is, this is May. So I'm like, um, sure. Yeah, we could, we could do June. Jordan, I was able to get sponsors, a caterer, uh, a speaker. We had a stage. I had to solve the problem of how do you project the audio to an audience while also recording

the value of all these things in 30 days. And we had 55 men show up, partaking a discussion, join a Facebook group. And that for me was, A, we started being part of the solution, not part of the problem. But B, that was also when I knew and I understood talking to these guys afterwards and just all of them say, hey, when are you going to do this again? when are you going to do this again? Dude, this is great. That's when I knew. I said, okay, modern man can't be a subseries of no rain, no rain, no rainbows anymore. This can't just be something that comes out once a month. This has to be a culture of its own. This needs its own space.

And men need to continue these conversations more than just once a month. They need to have this continuous and build those relationships on their own. So here we are about a year and a half later, we have a business plan now. We've done multiple live events since. We still have the deposit on our next live event. COVID has kind of curbed a lot of that, but we've done a virtual event. We continue to put out content and actually just recorded a couple more episodes with these guys literally last Friday before recording this. And that's just been something where continuing to just follow the path where it goes. I show up each and every single day, write the to do list on what needs to be done with modern man what needs to be done with the podcast

and i just keep pushing forward keep taking that next step hoping it's in the right direction i love it man you know and i and what i love about this about your whole journey is it's literally predicated on two things if you don't know the answer find someone that does and put in the work you know so for every listener that's out here i mean those two ingredients man like they will take you so far in life, once you realize that you don't have all the answers, but there's someone out there that might, and that you can't get anything done without actually doing it, you know, those are two big ingredients that will make you successful as Ted has shown us folks in everything that he's done, right? Again, but like you put in the dang work. Like, that's the difference, you know? And I tell

people that all the time, I'm like, I have clients that are like, hey, I'm like, hey, well, where's your video? Like, where's this? You're supposed to do this? And they're like, yeah, Yeah, I didn't. I'm like, okay, well, you don't have time. So now you're not going to get the result. So you're just putting yourself behind the eight ball. Yeah. You know? And but I love what you're doing, man, because you're creating a culture of inclusivity. You're creating a culture of vulnerability. You're creating a culture of, you know, the society looks at men one way and you're changing that narrative, man. So I applaud you for that. You know, I want to be involved in whatever way that I can. So we'll definitely talk off air of, you know, whether that's me coming up for an event or. being part of your group man I would be honored to be a part of it because that's something that we all need man we all need an accountability group we all need people that we can say things to and not feel judged about saying them you know we all need that in our life yeah so this has been

a phenomenal man learning about your journey I know that everyone that watches or listens they're going to get value out of this episode and I would love to resource them on on where they can find you and get involved because there's going to be people that say man like I know someone that could really benefit from your show or from the community. So feel free, man. The stage is yours. Yeah. Jordan, I appreciate it.

And I really do hope the listeners got some value out of this episode. I'm always willing to talk via DM on Instagram. My handle is at FaitonFhant forecast. That's P-H-A-E-T-O-N, the number four K-A-S-T. Actually, that's at the real Faiton forecast. I'm sorry. I was hacked a year ago. And I had to start over from scratch.

yet another thing I had to kind of just lean into. But you can get my podcast on my website, Thaeton Forecast.com. You can learn more about the modern man at the modern man show.com. We also have a closed Facebook group. Sorry, ladies, it's for men only to join the closed Facebook group, but we also have a Facebook page, which is public, and a YouTube channel, which is public.

You can find that by searching The Modern Man Show. And that, again, is public domain for men, women, everybody to kind of learn from because that content we put out, it's not unique to just men. Some of the things we're unpacking and we're learning as we go through these discussions is certainly not unique to just men. It's really everybody needs to hear it. When someone says, why do you do the modern man and not the woman? It's like, because I'm a man, I can't really speak to women's problems. So anybody out there hoping to start a group like that for women, I am 100% behind you, rooting for you and here to help you in that reform as well. So those are my

handles and I'd love to connect. Perfect, man. And folks, as always, that'll all be linked down in the show notes. So all you have to do is drop down there. Click, get in touch with Ted. He's a great guy, as you guys know. You guys got to hang with them and learn more about him. So Ted, I would love, you could just leave the audience with a quote that, man, maybe it's written on your wall or your whiteboarders or somewhere close by that that really helps pick you up. What would that quote be? Oh, man. So the one quote that, that I keep thinking of is it's yours is the earth and everything that's in it. And that's a quote that I've had with me.

It's part of a poem. It's the if poem by Rudyard Kipling. And again, leaning into the theme of manhood and everything. My dad gave me that poem when I first was moving out of the house. And it pretty much just to me speaks of the possibilities of what's out there. And the line right before that says, if you could fill 60 seconds with if you could fill in the minute with 60 seconds of distance run

in translation if you can give all your effort it if you could put everything you have into what you're doing yours is the earth and everything that's in it and that's kind of how I live my life put the effort in do your best don't let perfect stop you from progress and just keep pushing forward and you will find that the things that you truly want in life the things that you want to obtain are within reach. You just got to take that next step and go for it. Awesome, man. What a beautiful quote. Thank you so much for sharing. Thank you so much for your time. And you are a trailblazer, my friend. That's why you were on the blaze your own trail podcast. Have an amazing week, brother, and we will talk to you here soon. Jordan, thank you.