The Code To Winning - LIFE, LOVE & LEGACY: JANAE THOMPSON ON BUILDING BEYOND LOSS || JANAE THOMPSON || EPISODE 047

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

In this episode, I sit down with Janae Thompson — Entrepreneur, Boy Mom to four, Business Owner, Widow, Writer, Blogger, and lover of all things beautiful.   We dive into her entrepreneurial journey: when it began, how she met her husband Grant Thompson, and how together they scaled and grew their business while raising four boys. Janae opens up about the devastating loss of her husband, navigating life after tragedy, and the lessons she’s learned about resilience, business, and family.   Grant Thompson, creator of The King of Random, built his YouTube channel to over 6 million subscribers before discovering how to scale his work and reclaim his life . Grant tragically passed away in 2019, the channel continued to grow and now reaches over 12 million subscribers with new hosts carrying on his vision.   Janae shares what life was like during the most stressful periods of their journey, and beyond loss. How life has been running business after the loss of her husband. This is a story of love, perseverance, entrepreneurship, and building a legacy that outlives you.

Back to the story when we met on my bookshelf was the book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. We spoke about that. One of my favorite books, I call it like my blueprint for life and business, because I read it at like 11th grade. My dad gave it to me and it's a life-changing book, but sorry, continue. Yeah, no, it's just such a great book to help shift your perspective into, like, you can buy assets or you can buy doodads, you know, and one builds your net worth and one depletes it. That's really giving me a lot of emotional depth as a person because I kind of like to think.

of it as the more you feel, the more you're capable of feeling. And so the lower you go in sadness, depression, grief, anger, it creates this greater capacity. So like if your capacity is this big, but then you drop down here, the capacity size is bigger, which then means like when you feel joy, it actually gets bigger on this side too. And so your capacity to feel increases exponentially in that particular lesson that I've learned through all of this, the facets of my personality and who I am and what I'm capable of and how strong I can be and how vulnerable I can be and how happy I can be and how sad I can be have really blown me away in what I'm capable of as a human being because I didn't know that I was capable of that month. At the beginning of this

whole era of YouTube and online content creation, we were at the very beginning of that. There was no such thing as a YouTuber for my whole life growing up. And even when we started our YouTuber business, YouTubers didn't exist yet. We just started making videos and throwing them up on YouTube thinking, this will be fun. Like we can document these projects we're making. And then we kept getting all these subscribe, subscribe. You have a new subscriber email. And Grant was like, can you turn that off? Can you make it so subscribers can't subscribe? Like, I just want to make the videos because I want to have this record of my life and these projects I'm doing. And again, it's one of those things where if you have the mindset of looking for what can I create out of my life.

And I would say even not chasing a dream for what income it can create. It's of course important to create income. But that was not our original objective. It was like, what do we love doing? And let's just do you. The Code 2 winning insights you need today to seize the world tomorrow. Today we actually have an amazing guest in the studio. She came all the way to Salt Lake City for just two days.

So we have one hour in those 48 hours that she did as designed for us to be able to introduce and actually have an interview with her today. I'm going to give you a brief introduction of our guest. She goes by the name of Jeney Thompson. She's an entrepreneur. She's a boy mom, a business owner, a widow, a blogger, lover of things. She also has a blog called Follow the Energy of the Day. She's also one of the co-founders of one of the biggest YouTube channels,

The King of Random. We're going to talk a lot about the entrepreneurial journey, her transition, her story. For those that are very curious about figuring out how to build a business, how to build a massive YouTube channel as well, this is the episode for you. So without further ado, our amazing guest today, Janay Thompson. Hey, thank you so much.

And it's such an honor to give you one of my 48 hours. I'm grateful for that. Thank you so much. It was the last minute thing, but I'm glad you made the time to join us in the studio today. I want to just dive directly into it. I've only known you for like just probably two, three months. We have a mutual friend that introduced us through FaceTime. I went to go visit her.

But I realized we have some common ground. And I would say when I first met you, KG, it was like instantaneous. Like your energy was amazing. And I was like, this guy is cool. And, you know, I love it when that happens when I meet someone. And it's like, oh, there's something really special about this person. And, you know, so far in the short amount of time I've known you, I've been correct. So you're a very special guy.

And, yes, the common ground we have is a really unfortunate common ground. Don't make me blush. You've ever seen a black man blush. You've got to look deep. You'll see those pink cheeks, but pause. But yes, so I want to touch on that. I want to start off with that. Unfortunately, yeah, we're in a very similar situation,

but I want to talk about your story right now. Grant, I've been watching actually a lot of videos of your husband. I never knew much about him, but I got to see the personality and the exciting. I got to see how this channel blew up to one of the biggest YouTube channels in North America, and it's still one of the biggest channels right now. Can you talk a bit about the transition and your journey, how you met him and how everything ended up being unfortunate as well, please?

Yeah, how I met him, I basically went over to his house. No, let's see, let me back up. We met at church, and I said, I'll show you mine if you show me yours. And I was talking about his house because we lived in the townhome complex together. Thanks for clarifying. Yeah, you're welcome. We had both bought townhomes and we were neighbors, and I had just moved to the area. And I was really curious to see, like, what the other townhomes looked like inside.

So I was like, can I come over? So, yeah, and I was like, if I can come see yours, I'll let you come see mine. And so, yeah, we just, I mean, we hit it off. It was a little bit, you know, we were young and both dating lots of people and, you know, like energetic. And so it was just kind of like, we were both looking for our, you know, life partners and wanted to go down the marriage road. And so we both had really similar goals. He was into real estate. I was into real estate. And I think from a young age, both of us were really into the concept of creating our lives on our terms. And, you know, one of the ways we both

had planned to do that, especially in the beginning, was through real estate. And so he was pretty impressed that, you know, this girl's buying her own house at age 23. And I was pretty impressed. I was like, this guy's running out his rooms. And, you know, he bought his own house. And, you know, he bought his own house already and he was 25, you know. And so I was like, this is, this is a guy I want to get to know. And then he saw on my bookshelf, he said, this is what really attracted him to me in the beginning. It was not my good looks. He actually said the first time he saw me, I was wearing this brown dress and he doesn't like the color brown in clothes and stuff. And I was wearing a brown dress. And he was like, so he's like, I hardly even remember you other than I didn't like your brown

dress and I was like, all right, good to know. Thanks. I won't wear brown anymore. Now I actually love brown. In fact, I'm going through like a huge brown phase. I'm decorating with everything brown because I just love it. But anyway, and I'm like, in my head, I'm like, oh, he would hate this. But I can do it because he's not here. And as you know, that's probably one of the things when you lose somebody, it's like you go through these different phases like, I'm going to do this because when they were here, they wouldn't like it. And then you go through other phases where you're like, I want to do everything that they would love. Anyway. So back. to the story when we met on my bookshelf was the book,

Rich Dad, Poor Dad. We spoke about that. One of my favorite books, I call it like my blueprint for life and business, because I read it at like 11th grade. My dad gave it to me, and it's a life-changing book, but sorry, continue.

Yeah, no, it's just such a great book to help shift your perspective into, you know, what's the terminology he uses? It's like you can buy assets or you can buy doodads, you know, and one builds your net worth and one depletes it. you know, and that concept just really stuck with me.

And I think he was looking for a woman who, you know, wouldn't be into the doodads and would support his goals and desires to buy assets. And so when we first met, it was like we were already on that same page together. And so, like, that was a big connector, which, you know, put me leaps and bounds above the competition as far as, like, the other girls he was dating because nobody had made the same life choices at that point that I had. and, you know, he said that was just one of the really attractive qualities. Now, for me, the attractive quality in him, like, and I tell him this, what attracted me to him initially was I just remember looking at his face, staring into his eyes, and I just saw this fire behind his eyes, like this passion and this incredible desire to create on his own terms and I describe it as like this fire and I just saw that and I was like wow this guy is

gonna make something of his life he's he knows where he's going and he's gonna get there and even if you know like it doesn't end up where he knows right now it doesn't matter because he's going to find a way to create what he wants and I just saw that within him and I was like that's him like that's who I want to be with wow wow and how long were you guys married because you have four beautiful boys right now. Yes, we have four beautiful boys. And let's see, we were married in 2007. He passed in 2019. So, and then we were together for a year or two before that. So how, I think it was like, I always get the, it was, I think we were almost on to our 12th wedding anniversary. And now it would be like 18 this year, I think. Yeah. So 12th.

years we were together 13 and you know from that day that we met we were pretty much inseparable until the day died i mean just like every day we were together so like even in our courtship it i don't feel like it was super traditional in that you know we would plan dates and meet up and go we would just wake up and go over to each other's houses and spend the whole day together and then go back home to our respective houses until we got married and then we moved in together so it was but it was really fun. And it was just like, as soon as we met, it's like, oh my gosh, I found my best friend.

And I think that makes such a significant difference. It's not just like marrying like a companion or like a partner, but actually like marrying your best friend. Somebody you can fight with debate with love, like understand, but knowing that the person always has your back all the time makes such a significant difference, you know. And I think I've admired like the, because one of the things I've come across when speaking to like my psychologist,

just ecclesiastically leaders, just people, support groups, is that I've got to understand the importance which I've embraced and I've loved to see from you where you have to move on with your life as well. And sometimes it's the hardest thing ever because I want to tell you, like in my experience, I just, it's hard because everything is being in comparison to that person.

Yeah. Every darn thing. Like, you can't even watch Game, I can't even watch Game of Thrones anymore because Game of Thrones was a transitional period for when we were dating, engaged, and getting married, You know, I can't watch White Lotus. I can't watch all these stuff.

But then I think instead of running away from it, you start like embracing it, but these are baby steps. Can you kind of walk me through how you kind of did that transition? Yeah. Well, and it's interesting the way you phrase that, you know, and everybody feels like it's this quintessential relationship. Key part if you can say, oh, they always have my back, you know. And we did. We always had each other's back. What I found is, you know, it's there's so many.

little things that you really take for granted and that person's gone. So it's like, I remember one time I was just driving on the freeway and I was like, I had a little hair on my lip. I was like, oh, what's the code to that safe again? And I was going to pick up my phone and call him because he would know. But then I was like, oh, I can't call him because it was after he'd passed away. And I was like, oh, that's so, like just all these little things every day that it, it's this pathway that you get very used to doing things one way.

and then all of a sudden that way stops. So it's like anything that I need, I call Grant, anything that I forgot. Or if I dropped the ball on something, it's like, oh my gosh, I forgot this, can you grab it? Or I just realized I need to do this. Can you do this to help me, you know, on this? Because this came up and I just didn't plan for it. Whereas when you ask other people who are not like just your person, it's this like, oh, can I ask you a favor? Is that okay?

And it's just so much more of an energetic. drain to ask. And that's what's been hard for me is to find ways of asking for help in my life because the reality is it's not good to do life alone. And when you lose your person and you have to expand your circle of support, it's so much more uncomfortable because the person that's just right so close into your circle, it's just so easy to ask them for anything. And when that's gone and you have to expand out and ask this person for one thing and then another person for a different thing and you don't have one person that can do everything for you anymore. That has been really hard for me to learn how to do that and to accept the help of other people

who I'm just not like living life with every second. And it's like, can I break you out of your life and can you come into mind for just a second to help me out? And, you know, most people are so willing to do that. It's not a hard thing or it's not putting them out like in my mind, I think it would. Whereas when it was my husband, it's like I can ask him to do anything and he'll do it. And it's not putting him out because we're so vested in each other's lives. But in this new scenario, it's like asking someone who's not vested in my life the way he was. It's a hard ask.

And when you're told no, it's also like, oh, man, okay. Like I respect a no, of course, but like my husband was always there for me. and it was never a no. Like, he might have been annoyed with things that I needed or asked for. It was, you know, like, help me out on this. But it was never like, nope, I just can't do that. Like, it doesn't fit in my life because our lives are separate. It was always like, oh, I can't believe you forgot that again, but I got you, you know.

Love that. Yeah. I love that. And I know one of the things that's also in common, it might be slightly different, but I'm in a stage right now where it's a lot of, like, anger and betrayal. and I know you also feel very angry and upset, obviously for different reasons as well, but like somewhat similar. And so I still have a lot of that anger in me, which I haven't really released as much. I've been like trying to do a lot of different things. I've been embracing singlehood.

I've been like traveling and getting like my own personal therapeutic time, which has been a very good blessing. I think you and I spoke about that over the phone, the importance of actually embracing your U-time. how have you kind of like navigated yourself through that anger period to where you are right now? Yeah, well, that's... And does it get any better? Please give advice for that. That's a rough question because I feel like in a lot of ways, anger has become my companion. It's almost as if like that's what helps get me through the days and motivates me because

if the anger's not there, then what else am I going to feel? Well, you know, we, I think it's been widely taught the principle or the concept. that anger is a secondary emotion. So what's underneath the anger is really what you need to address. And if you never address that or if you're not willing to look at that and you just say, I'm angry, then the anger doesn't go away, at least in my experience. It just stays there. And so, you know, the times when I've said, I'm really angry, why am I angry? I'm angry because my husband left me. Like, yes, he died, but that doesn't change the outcome. He did leave. he didn't leave me, like, in the traditional sense of, like, you know, I don't want to be with you

anymore or you get divorced. Like, that's not how he left me. But the outcome is the same. And so, you know, sometimes it's like, I feel sad that he left me. I feel sad that I'm alone. I feel sad that I'm raising these kids by myself and it's really hard, you know, versus like, oh, this is like so not what I agreed to, but I have to do it anyway. and I'm just going to get through it. And that's kind of where the difference between, like, if I ruminate in the sadness, like, yeah, it is sad that he's gone, but that doesn't change the fact that he's gone.

So then I step into the anger and I'm like, but I just have to get through it. And so in some ways, it's a really good motivator for me to get through things. I'm not saying that's a healthy way to do it, but I'm just saying that's one of the mechanisms I have used to continue to be productive rather than, you know, like just sitting in my bed all day and crying because, you know, what's that going to get me? At the same time, through the anger, I've also learned to acknowledge the feelings that I have

and allow them to be at times when I'm capable of doing that. And I think that's really given me a lot of emotional depth as a person because I kind of like to think of it as the more you feel, the more you're capable of feeling. And so the lower you go in sadness, depression, grief, anger, it creates this greater capacity. So like if your capacity is this big, but then you drop down here, the capacity size is bigger, which then means like when you feel joy, it actually gets bigger on this side too. And so your capacity to feel increases exponentially. And

in that particular lesson that I've learned through all of this, the facets of my personality and who I am and what I'm capable of and how strong I can be and how vulnerable I can be and how happy I can be and how sad I can be have really blown me away in what I'm capable of as a human being because I didn't know that I was capable of that much. So that's kind of an indirect answer. And the answer is unless you just really address what's underlying the anger, what is really the feeling you're actually feeling. And then it's showing up as anger. That's how you get through it. And if you don't do that. And for me, the anger continually comes up in different aspects because it's like every single day that goes by is another thing that comes up where the loss of

my husband in my life and the lives of my children, there's another element to that that is a new loss every single day. So it's a new loss for me every single day. And that's what I think it's hard for people to understand when you don't actually experience it because like, you know, when I wake up and my son comes in and he's like, I lost my tooth. It's like, oh, that's so cool. And like there's another tooth that's gone. And now I have to remember to be the tooth fairy, which I suck at. Yeah, every morning my kids wake up and they're like, the tooth fairy didn't come again. I'm like, oh, yeah, I think she takes a holiday. And they're like, mom, you're the tooth fairy. And I'm like, yeah, that's probably true. You know, I don't, because I don't actually really

like the concept of lying to your kids about Santa Claus and the tooth fairy, but I'm not opposed to playing the game of like, oh, put a tooth under your pillow. But then, you know, I have to remember, and it's all up to me. And when you have a partner, it's like, did you get the tooth? Did you do that? You know, and that's all gone. And so it's like, then again, it hits me, oh my gosh, I have to remember that. My husband didn't see this, this transitional step in my child's life. As small as losing a tooth is, but it's still like our babies are becoming men. And this is the process of that. and you're missing out on all of it. And so it's like this reawakening of loss and grief every day.

And then that creates anger, you know. No, I'm grateful you mentioned that, which actually even segues to that question I was going to talk about. So my sister is one of my best friends. I have an older sister and a younger brother. And she's always been like, she's like my biggest chairleader, my biggest fan, but also the person that's experienced me going through like my biggest wins and my lowest lows.

So like being like a biggest sister and having that. And our friendship, she's like a daddy's girl. But when I say that she had two brothers and like her role model was my dad, like mine as well, my mom and dad. But then at the same time she has like just two boys. So I think it's one of those things sometimes I believe that people are just predestined for certain situations. Like she's a boy mom and she can only visualize herself as a boy mom because of just like

growing up in that environment at home as well. And I think I remember telling you that that's like my dream. I said I just want four boys and I need one lost princess. And I want this whole dear for life, she's not going to get married. She's going to stay with daddy and mommy forever. And like if any other guy even looks her direction, I'm going to jail because I'm going to be like, I better be careful what I said. I don't want to get canceled.

But anyway. You're going to protect her with that. Oh, my gosh. No one is coming near my daughter. So I need to have that four. That's why I have there four boys to bodyguard her 24-7 when I'm not there. So that's the thing. That's just the gamble I want to have, you know.

And do you remember what I told you about that? Yeah. Because she's going to have her own will and her own desires and she's going to be like, I'm doing my own thing, Dad. And she's going to run off and live her life and you're going to be like, ah, because this ideal dream that you have is never going to work because. How dare you today? She's going to be a person of agency.

Don't shatter my dreams like that. I need to have my princess. I'm here to shatter your dreams, tell you anger's always going to be there. You're going to have a princess and she's going to want to grow up and leave. That's the reality. you know. Which segues actually. So how have you embraced motherhood?

I think you kind of answered that like in the previous question that I spoke to and I asked you. How have you embraced that through the transition that you've experienced like by losing your husband? That's, I mean, that's a hard question to answer because I don't know that I've embraced it. I've had to do it, right? And I feel in some ways I've become a much stronger mother than I was before because

I had a counterpart. So I didn't have to rise up to this level of intensity to create, you know, the outcome that I need inside the home and, you know, getting kids to listen and doing chores and things like that. And so, like, I've become a much stronger personality in that way. There's pros and cons to that. You know, a lot of people have said, oh, you've stepped into your masculine. And I'm like, you know, you can say it however you want. I don't like to think of myself as stepping into trying to be a man because that doesn't work for me. And I've tried really hard to, embrace my femininity through this whole process. Because I want to be that mother that's loving and just like embraces my kids and just holds them to my heart and exudes love. Like that's the mother I want to be. And then in the home, I still have to be, okay, are your chores done? No, you can't do this.

This behavior is not appropriate, you know. And so I have this, I mean, I kind of even transitioned into my mom voice, you know, that's much more authoritative. But that's just out of necessity. is it really the mom I want to be in my mind? It's kind of like you with your daughter. I have this dream of the mom I want to be that's like loving. And I always wanted to have a daughter. And I imagined we'd have tea parties and play Barbies and like all the things I did growing up. And then I had these four boys. And that was a shock to my system because, you know, in the home I grew up in,

it wasn't like rough and tumble. It was more like there was me and my sister and we had two brothers in between us. And it just wasn't like a, like more of the traditional boy style. My brothers were just more into things that were, you know, more academic and intellectual and that type of thing. And my boys are just like all over the place, climbing all over everything, don't want to have anything to do with school.

So it was just very different from how I grew up. And it was very similar to how my husband grew up because he was one of four boys. And so again, I was like, okay, you're telling me that like I'm going to give birth to these four boys. All I wanted was a girl, which I'm so happy with my four boys. I love them. And my husband has all this experience growing up with boys.

And then he gets taken for me. And I'm left to raise these four boys by myself when I wanted to be a girl mom. You know, and I'm just like, how did this happen to me? Now, of course, the mom that I am to them in some ways, like when I just step back and look at myself, I'm like, it's unbelievable. I'm showing them how a strong woman behaves in her life. I'm showing them unconditional love. I'm showing them what it's like to be with a woman who knows who she is and is really strong.

And I hope they each find a partner one day that can exemplify those things. I'm not perfect. I yell at my kids and I do things that I don't love. But that usually comes out of overwhelm and exhaustion, like when that outcome is present in my life. And, you know, I like to think in my mind if I had a partner and if it was more like supported in my child rearing, that would hardly ever happen and I'd be the perfect mom. But again, it's these stories we tell ourselves that, no, that's just not true. Like who you are now is what you are, regardless of, you know, other circumstances in your life. Because in the end, your relationship with yourself and

who you are and how you react in every situation is a reflection of you. It's not your life circumstances. It's not if you're married or not. It's not if you're a good mom or a bad mom or, you know, a good partner or a bad partner. It's just you. It's just a reflection of who you. It's are and how you've developed as a human being. And so there's nothing and no one to blame your reactions on in your life and your results in your life. It's just you. And that's one of the biggest things I've learned through death is learning my life is about me. I love that so much. And just to add on that as well, so you better be careful what you ask for because the older they get, the more they become mommy's boy, and I'm in a testament of that. So I'm at the point. I literally call my mother,

I think, yes, I speak to her every day. And then I think she forgot to say, I love you back. I had a FaceTime her back and say, excuse me. Like, you forgot the magic words. Like, I'm so sorry, I was busy. I love you. I love you, son. I'm like, can you say it again?

Just to make sure. I am a big time mama's boy. But it wasn't always like that. I had too much energy. I was so obnoxious. I was so naughty. One last story before we move on to business. But one story that I had with my mother, she was a strict mom.

Like, my dad was a more calm one. But I was so naughty. And so what happened is like there was a bunch of my friends. I think I was like eight or nine or ten. I can't remember how old I was. But I was just like throwing a tantrum. And she asked me to do something. And I think I just took something.

And I just threw her on the floor. And then she started like looking and chasing me. In school. I was in school, by the way. So you're a public setting. This was an embarrassing setting. And so then she started running and chasing me in high heels. Oh my gosh.

Based on a true story. And she couldn't catch me. So I started running faster and faster. My mother took off her high heel and threw it towards my head and hit me. Oh my God. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life, but it was a lesson learned because in Africa, you don't disrespect your parents, especially your mom. And so I had to just share that.

I know she'll probably be very embarrassed after seeing the story I just shared, but mom, I still love you and I'm still a mama's boy, but that was crazy. Anyway, segueing into business right now, the entrepreneurial space, the exciting part. So judging from your story, you were always an entrepreneur, and that's how you also made your husband. You guys were like-minded. You had one golden mind as well. Can you kind of segue? You said you bought property.

What were you in when you started in the entrepreneurial space, if you don't mind me asking? Yeah. I would say, so we both had nine to five. I think that having a supportive basis of, you know, regular income, regular schedule is really important. Even in an entrepreneurial setting, you know, some people, don't like that. But for us, it worked really well in the beginning because we had benefits. We had, you know, more of a regular nine to five. And then we had these side hustles. And real estate was kind of the first thing for both of us. And then we kind of segueed into hard money lending because we realized,

well, instead of like buying the house and fixing it up ourselves, what if we just lend the money, let somebody else do all the work, and then just take a percentage. And so, you know, that was kind of our second thing. And in the first year we did that, Now, keep in mind, this is, you know, back in the mid-2000s, late 2000s, but my husband had a job and he's a commercial airline pilot. And the year that we kind of started our hard money lending business, he made $40,000 as a pilot, okay? Contrary to popular belief pilots don't make a lot of money. You can make a lot of money, but he was a first officer in a regional airline. and, you know, his first year, I think he made $20,000.

So he was up, which is poverty line, right, even back then. And, you know, he'd moved up, so he's up to $40,000 a year. And I had a job as a marketing director for some local music groups, and I was making $30,000 a year. So between us, you know, we had our salaries, and it was $70,000 a year. And then we did this hard money business. So we're spending our 40 hours a week, making $70,000 a year between the two. of us. And then we did this hard money business that took, you know, a couple hours a month. And that year it made $80,000. So it essentially surpassed both of our incomes from our nine to

five together. So that was kind of like, wow, you know, on an hourly basis, we're making way more in this business than we are in our nine to fives. But at the same time, having the stability of a nine to five allowed us to feel like we can really explore. what we want to do is entrepreneurs, you know. And so, you know, between the hard money lending and the real estate and we had some rental properties, so that created income for us, you know, we just thought, oh, real estate's the way to go. And then we would invest in other things like gold, silver, stocks, not a lot of stocks. We actually lost quite a bit of money in the stocks in those first couple years, like exploring that. So you have to be really careful. The gold is doing very well now,

because I still have the gold we bought back in 2005 and six. And I'm like, oh, I'm glad I didn't sell that. But, you know, just having a mindset of like, what are all the different ways and avenues that I could use my resources to create more wealth for myself? I feel like that's kind of the mindset that we had. And from that place and thinking in that way, you know, at the beginning of this whole era of YouTube

and online content creation, we were at the very beginning of that. There was no such thing as a YouTuber for my whole life growing up. And even when we started our YouTuber business, YouTubers didn't exist yet. We just started making videos and throwing them up on YouTube thinking, this will be fun. Like we can document these projects we're making.

And then we kept getting all these subscribe, subscribe. You have a new subscriber email. And Grant was like, can you turn that off? Can you make it so subscribers can't subscribe? Like I just want to make the videos because I, I want to have this record of my life and these projects I'm doing. And again, it's one of those things where if you have the mindset of looking for what can I create out of my life.

And I would say even not chasing a dream for what income it can create. It's, of course, important to create income. But that was not our original objective. It was like, what do we love doing? And let's just do that. And we did it. and it turned into something that created a really nice income for us. And so, you know, as our YouTube channel grew and we transitioned into that became our main

source of income and it, you know, just kept growing and growing. We then transitioned all of our businesses into that and put most of our time into YouTube and making the videos, which, you know, again, now that he's gone, we kind of put all of our eggs in one basket and taking him out of the picture, it's been hard for me to put the pieces back together because he was the face of the channel. We've tried, you know, lots of different things and have other people host. And it just has never been the same. And that's just part of the reality of a business is sometimes it has its time and then it's over. And, you know, I haven't figured out the secret to create success in that business without him. And it's not for lack of

trying. But that has also caused me to say, okay, if this isn't going to be our family source of income, now what do I do? And, you know, again, I've gone back to some of the things that I did before. Like, I've bought some more real estate. I have them on Airbnb now. They're doing really well. And I found that I really love to decorate and renovate and create spaces that have really powerful meanings within them.

And so when people go stay in my Airbnb's, you know, they'll comment, like, this was such an amazing place. Like, I felt so safe or I felt like it was just so legit. luxurious or it just felt so beautiful here. And I'm like, thank you. That's the intention with which I created the space. And I'm glad you enjoyed it and you got my message. And so that's been another way for me to creatively kind of express things that are important to me and what I like doing without my husband here because I've had to go back and figure out, okay, what am I going to do? What do I love? What do I want to do on my own? And then it can fall back into, well, if,

he was here, he'd help me with this and this and this, and then it goes back to the anger. And, you know, but then I have to remember this is about me and what I want and what I want to create because the past isn't going to change. And I have to move forward. And in that, I need to discover and rediscover what it is that I love as a human, just me, because that's what's left. I love that so much. And just I want to touch on almost actually everything you said, but to start off, by the way, gold is doing super well. I've always followed obviously commodities, indices, stocks and all that.

I'm never a big fan of stocks. I'm 2016. I had a mentor. I was in South Africa at that time, I think it was the last year I was there. But we were doing a lot of trading as well, like full-time while working in my dad's law firm. And we were big in Forex. I don't know if you do the Forex, foreign exchange. So it's pretty much you buy one currency, but when you buy the other currency, you automatically sell the other currency. And the reason of my 2016 was my favorite, it was the time where it was elections for Europe. It was the time French president was coming through.

It was also Brexit, which was like the biggest time for our, like, group of friends. Because what happened is they were trying to vote to exit, like, the European Union and the memorandum passed. And like, as soon as it passed, the British pound tanked. And so my mentor that day, he said literally in the morning, this thing is going to pass. The British people, like a majority kind of like want to exit Europe, you know.

Theresa May was the prime minister at that time. And he's like, buy the US dollar, sell the pound. And he made just in that one trade, I think, $120,000. It was the most ridiculous thing. So it was all of our biggest wins. And then obviously the U.S. election happened in like November, 4th or 5th as well. But then I look at all the stuff that we spoke about in terms of the entrepreneurship, like rich dad, poor dad, and just to kind of get back to what you're saying, I've always been a

big passion of like that whole cash flow quadrant when he speaks about employees, small business, big business and like the investor. And to get back to what you were talking about, I watched that channel because I wasn't even aware of it. I'm like, gosh, like the views are great, but just the authenticity of like just the excitement and enthusiasm. But what I was doing while watching that I was just seeing how engaging the content was as well, how people just loved, you know, king of random. And these are old videos from like years back when I never even knew like YouTube was a thing.

Yeah. Which I want to ask, you've seen the transition. What was the hardest part in building that YouTube channel, being a co-founder and seeing it like firsthand? I think the thing that was the most surprising is just how much time it took and how intense it is. to build a business. So, you know, from the outside, it looks like, oh, you know, you made a five minute video. It probably took you like, what, five minutes? Because it's a five minute video.

And it's like, no, it took us days, hours, like hundreds of hours to create these videos. And so, you know, being a YouTuber looks really glamorous on the outside. And I mean, if you watch YouTubers, they will lament about this very same thing. You know, Mr. Beast has a lot of content around how hard it is being a YouTuber and producing the content that he produces. And, you know, we felt that way for a lot of the time. In the beginning, it's really new and fun and exciting and you want to like really put all your time and it's a passion project. But then it becomes like a grind because you have to do all these steps. And in order to share your passion, you have to do all these clerical things, all these logistical things. And so,

You create a job for yourself in a lot of ways. Now, that's not the way it is with everything, but, you know, as an entrepreneur, you have to understand that you're not going to work 9 to 5. You're going to work 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. or 12 a.m. You know, like you're going to have 18-hour work days, not 8-hour work days. And that's the nature of truly being a successful entrepreneur. And there's lots of people out there that will preach. You can do this in two hours a day or whatever.

And I think you can get to a point where that's the case and you can automate things and you can delegate and you can. But in the end, like when it all falls on you, it all falls on you and the responsibility is always there. And if somebody doesn't show up for their job or to do their part, you have to step in and, you know, pick up the pieces. And as an entrepreneur, it's exciting to have that responsibility. It's exciting to have that control and the ability to just be all powerful in the creation of this. but then on the flip side of that, it's all dependent on you. And that's a big responsibility. Oh, I love that so much.

Every Friday, Wednesday I meet with my media team and every Friday I have my YouTube partner manager. We discuss things. And he always gives me like numbers, how are we doing impression-wise. And right now we just surpassed 27,000 subscribers. Which is amazing. Congratulations. Thank you so much.

And he kind of scolded me yesterday because I was like. like, we should be more, we should be more, we should be more. Like, I was like, I'm getting such great guests. Because I know the hours I'm putting in. I'm so invested in this thing. I love like Monday to Saturday I'm always in. You know what I'm saying? But then he kind of walked me through the journey.

He'll be like, hey, listen, like yesterday is like we touched 12,000 because we're doing about three different campaigns. We are marketing, like even through Google Maps right now. We're doing performance max. He's going all in. And he just want to let me know, like, listen, everything is about timing. Everything is about like being patient. And I was like, I'm not patient enough.

I need to get there. It's not even about the end goal. It's about having a reflection of the effort that you're putting in. What advice would you give me? Not necessarily about building a big YouTube channel, but like about just enjoying the journey sort of enduring to the end. Well, I think that is a common vice among all entrepreneurs is a lack of patience. Because we like to get things done and we like to do them and we know the power of making it happen.

and I've definitely had to learn a lot of patience. In some ways, I have a ton of patience, and in other ways I'm just like so impatient. It's unbelievable. And so learning how to mesh this skill and in some ways disability has been the journey in itself for me. I still have to just sit down and force myself to enjoy things. And it's a hard thing. And part of that is just my mindset and the way it was.

works. It's, it almost feels like it's a handicap in some ways because I look at other people who just go to work and come home and just let it all go and they can relax. And I look at that with envy sometimes. But, you know, again, it's a practice. And as an entrepreneur, you teach yourself how to behave. You teach yourself how to act. You teach yourself. And so again, it's something that I've taught myself. And in that, I've discovered things that I truly, truly love. Like I love taking a home and pulling everything out of it and just making it a space that is totally unrecognizable to what it was before creating this transformation. And, you know, the first time I renovated a house was about a year after my husband died. And we had renovated homes together. But, you know, I let him do

most of like, especially like the grunt work and, you know, the dirty work and stuff. But I was involved in the process, but we were involved together. And so for me to take on all of that responsibility myself without having any opinions on, well, I don't like this color or I don't want to do this or this would look good and just like really reaching inside of myself and saying, what do I really love? Like, what do I really want to create? And I think as an entrepreneur, when you ask yourself those questions and then like allow yourself space to answer it, then that's how you find the answer to being patient and enjoying the journey is what is it that you really want? What is it that you really love? What is it that brings you joy? And through that

process, you find the answer to that. And then everything you're doing becomes enjoyable. Absolutely powerful. And one of the things as well that I really admire and like about you is that you didn't necessarily fulfill your Utah stereotype of just being like a housewife. Of course, you had the option of having both, but you already had that entrepreneurial background, which made it super easy that in the unfortunate passing of your husband, that when you took over the businesses, that you already had that experience. I feel like sometimes when there's a level of expectation, when people are a, have a husband and the wife,

I mean the husband passes on, the wife has never had that responsibility before. It can be a bit of that burden. Like, oh my gosh, I'm already grieving. Now I've got to do all these different stuff. What the heck do I do? And I think that's the benefit, at least if we're trying to look for a blessing in the situation, that at least you had that entrepreneurial experience

and that background to be able to continue the. businesses to thrive even beyond that. Can you edit a bit about that as well? Yeah, well, again, this goes back to how you choose to live your life. So when we first got married, Grant was like, I really want you to stay at home with the kids and, you know, let's divide up our responsibilities. I want to bring in the income. I want you to be the support and I was like, great. You know, that's what I wanted. And I took that on within myself as like, this is now my job. This is now my responsibility and I'm going to treat it as if it were a job. And so I, you know, created systems for our meals and for our laundry and for how things worked. And through that whole process,

you know, I still was available and helped support him through the process of building our businesses. And so it's not like I was totally ignorant to what he was doing. He was not totally ignorant to what I was doing. It was very much truly a partnership of, okay, these are the million, bazillion, jillion things that need to be done in our lives. How do we divide it up? And sometimes I would do more in this area and he would do more in that area. And it's like we could flow between responsibilities in a lot of ways, you know. And so it was never like, I only do this and I only do that. It's like, I will be responsible for this and I will be responsible for this. And if I need your help, I can ask for help in any of the responsibilities because it wasn't this definitive

this is what you do and this is what I do. It's this is what I'll be responsible for, which means I will make sure it gets done and delegate it, but we can help support each other within our responsibilities. And so, you know, again, it was a mindset for me, and not everyone has that, but that's also where you have to ask yourself, what are my values, what's important to me? And, you know, especially as a couple, define those things for yourself, for the family, and for your business. What's your current wire right now? What keeps you going? My current wire. Your current why? Oh, my current why. Okay. I mean, I would say my kids, you know, obviously I am raising these four boys and I have to be their sole provider and nurturer and, you know, all these things. And but, but ideally I don't want that to be my why.

I want the why to come from within my heart that I'm creating my life for myself and my boys are obviously a part of my life. And again, this goes back to my life is about me. I'm not defined by being a mom. My kids are going to grow up. They're going to leave. They're going to be their own person. And however they end up and whoever they become, it's not my responsibility to create that. It's theirs.

So how can I guide them on that journey? And so I think my real true current why is, you know, on the logistical end, supporting my kids, making sure they have the life that I want to give them. But really underneath all of that is who am I. becoming that I am so connected with myself. I know who I am. I know what I want. I know how I operate. And within that space, any decision I have to make logistically for my kids or my business, it just comes easily because I really truly am so connected with myself. I know what I want, where my priorities are, and how I operate as a human being. And so that's really,

maybe it's at like a level of enlightenment that I guess I'm looking for, but, but I'm really just searching for the answer to who am I really, who's Janae, who, like, what is really important to me, what am I really good at, and how do I know myself? And it's the, my why is the process of that discovery. And just to, I mean, kind of add on that, I 100% concurrent. And that's why whenever I see, um, you watch the tutorials and the plane and they, speak in case of an emergency. They're always stressed on the importance of always putting a mask on your face first before even putting on the younger ones because if you can't protect yourself,

how are you going to protect others as well? So you and embracing you and Janée and the person that you are is such an underrated feature or like trade the people like try and like forget and blow past and doing and I'm grateful you kind of like touch them that as well. Actually let's actually get to these questions that I that I had prepared. So we've been going off of just free flow. It feels like a Trump rally. Well, hey, you know, as an entrepreneur, I think free flow is one of those things we all just really like, at least for me. It's hard to make plans because I don't want to have to stick to them. If something else comes up, I want to just be able to free flow.

Awesome stuff. I'm grateful. I actually called you, I think two days ago, and you gave me some very important advice and stuff. And sometimes also always good to get insight from people that have been through what you've been through, and especially if it's something super new, for our viewers out there, in case somebody's experienced like a loss, a death, a divorce, abuse, something that is just going to be transformational and it's going to be different in their life, what advice would you give them if they're trying to upscale their business after experiencing a loss? You know, for me, I wish somebody would have just told me you don't have to do it all

yourself and the way you feel is the way you feel and just acknowledge it in the moment. So, you know, I would wake up after my husband passed away. And on some days, I would be like, oh my gosh, I don't think I can get out of bed. But like I have to do this and I have to do that. And I have to, you know, I would put on myself all these responsibilities to just go on living life when my life was not anything like what it looked like before. So it's like I was trying to force myself to try and pretend that I could still function the way that I could before. my loss. And I wish somebody would have just told me like, it's just okay to feel the way you feel and not to force yourself to do things contrary to how you feel because you're going to feel

that way no matter what. And if you just sit and allow the feeling to be and be okay with it, it's going to help you get through it versus fighting it, fighting it and trying to force on yourself, you know, productivity, getting out of bed, doing different things when, you know, it's not that I'm advocating for just stay in bed and cry all day. Like I said in the beginning, that's not what I want. But I feel like I just tried to force my feelings away and tried to push through things and tried to look strong and tried to be strong, tried to be strong. And I was strong, but in my mind it's like I have to show up like I'm fine to make it look

like I am okay versus just showing up the way I am and that being. okay. Gosh, I like that. And I think that's, it's been the hardest thing because sometimes you feel like, am I actually okay or am I faking to be okay? Like, am I trying to find a void? I'm trying to fill stuff up. Am I embracing the thing? Am I just avoiding it? Am I running away from the problem? It's all these different stuff that you seem to face, but it's so hard to actually figure out and identify what it actually is. So I'm grateful for that. So it's the year 2035. Oh, wow. Okay. Right. And it's 10 years from now and your son happens or one of your sons is like, it's going to be KG, a mama's boy and they're going to be watching this episode. What message would you want them to see and know about their mother's journey in 10 years from now?

Oh man, that's like an emotional question. It's like thinking about my kids growing up. And, you know, I think, I think that I'm trying so hard to give them this life, you know, and I'm not showing up in a way that I think they think I'm the mom that they want, but they don't understand everything that I'm doing and trying to give to them. And I think that, oh, geez, the questions, I think that what I want them to know and to realize is to just like see wow my mom really did love me my mom really did take care of me she tried so hard and I know it was hard for her and I didn't see that then but I see it now and I just I love her so much I mean that would be the ideal and that's nothing like oh you know like I've helped them

get into their first real estate rental properties and their cash flowing now and it's so awesome like all of those things are just a byproduct of what I said before is who am I as a person and can I be that for myself so I can show up in the best way I'm capable of for them? And I would just hope that they know that I am trying to show up in the best way that I'm capable of. And sometimes it's not that great. And again, like, I can just accept that and it's okay. But as long as I'm giving them everything I'm capable of, that's what I want them to know

is what I'm giving them. Thank you so much. And I appreciate that. And I think the only thing I want to say and advice I'd give you on that is the fact that I think I know after my teenage stage is when I became closer to my mom. But throughout then, I was a very unpleasant person to be around. Yeah, the teenage years are hard. I was very unpleasant. Sometimes my dad would have to, like, you know, put me in order as well.

But, like, I'm grateful for sharing that. And yeah, I had to ask that question because I feel like sometimes we always live in the moment. not knowing that everything is about a journey and especially like enjoying the journey because it's very hard, especially when you feel like you're alone at times, you know, because the alone part is what the hardest part about grief. It's not about like people can be there and stuff, but it's the alone. Like, what is my person? Like I haven't got a call from her like today.

Where are you, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And I would take that a step further within that being alone feeling. I've learned that there's very much a difference between being alone and feeling lonely. I really like alone time, mostly because I don't get a lot of it in general. And it's different for everybody because you know, you guys don't have kids. And so you don't have things that are, you know, constantly interrupting your alone time.

And I think the more alone time you have, the more lonely you're prone to be. But it's also really difficult to be surrounded by people in chaos and noise and feel lonely. So what I've really tried to focus on is not feeling the, depths of despair that come with the feeling of loneliness, whether I'm alone or surrounded, and really embracing the time when I am alone to build myself and do things that nourish me. And when I'm with people, embracing that time with them. And within that, I've found that I don't fall into the depths of despair and grief that come with the feeling of being lonely.

Oh, wow. Absolute nuggets right there. Yeah, no, that's actually amazing. I like that you mentioned that. So if you were to look at success right now compared to when you started your entrepreneurial journey, because right now you're 29 years old, 28. Oh, yeah, thanks, KG.

Just a decade or two older than that, but, you know, who's counting? What would you say success is right now for you, if you were to define it? Yeah. So after my husband first died, I really jumped into taking care of the business and taking on the phone calls and the meetings. And I mean, about six months after, the first six months, I just really couldn't function very well. But then after that, I was like, oh, I got to pull myself out of this and really like engage, right?

And so part of that at that time was, you know, how busy am I at? How busy am I? How much? How productive am I? And I kind of measured my success on that. Now I measure it on how do I feel? feel, you know, do I feel like I am a successful person? Do I feel like I'm creating a world that I'm happy in? And that's what success is. And, you know, neither of those answers are tied to money,

although, you know, having an income that allows you to live the life you want is part of that success. And it's a natural byproduct of giving your best work to the world and doing it in ways that create income flow to you. But I don't define success by money. I define success by how. I define success by how I feel. And so when I feel peaceful in my day and when I wake up and I have a plan for the day and, you know, I do my workout and I make healthy food for my kids and I love them and I get work done that's meaningful to me. That's a successful life. And the more I can include in that day, things that bring me joy like the other day. I just went out to the lake and I got in my canoe and I was just like rowing because I just wanted to do that, you know, and it wasn't part of my plan

that day, but I was like, I just need to get away from the house. And having the freedom to make those choices is a big indicator of success for me as well versus like I have to do these things on this schedule and feeling like I'm a slave to an agenda. And so having the freedom to make those choices and feeling like I'm creating a beautiful life for me and having the income I need to support my life so that I can live in a way that allows me to have freedom. That's what I really truly define as success. And that's something I can build on each day and create more of in all those areas. Oh, thank you very much for sharing that. Do you have a mentorship program? Do you have something you've started out? Because I feel like you have a story that people can try

and resonate with and just very uplifting in a women's society or something. Have you? Have you? ever considered that or you currently have that right now? Yeah, no, I don't have a program per se, but what I'm actually working on building right now, I have a podcast called The Becoming Young podcast, and because I'm in my 40s now and I'm... Oh, you're in your 40s? Yes, I am. In dog years? Thank you, Katie. I will tip you after this. You know, like creating a very healthy life as you get on in years so that you can enjoy the success you've created in your younger years has become one of the most important things to me. And so I am in the process actually right now of creating a wellness program for women.

And I do one-on-one coaching just, you know, like whatever you want to work in, especially within the health and wellness world and women's health. And, you know, I have a whole story around diet and exercise and how I came into this way of living within my body and feeling really good about it. That's a whole other story, a whole other podcast. But, you know, I've coached women in the past on that. And, you know, I used to have a personal trainer license. so I did personal training for a time in my life. But I think another one of my passions is teaching women and being in the wellness world

specifically for women and optimizing your health. And so we do have a 12-month program that we're just about to roll out my co-host on my podcast. We do that together. But then me personally, I love to help coach women through their own health journey. Oh, wow. Love that very much. And so then we are on time right now. So I want to ask a very, I think I asked, the last two questions I asked were very similar,

but because it's called the coat-winning insights people need today to seize the world tomorrow, if you were to define just the term winning, what does that mean for you? I'm a little caught up, seize the day, say that again, seize the day so you can win tomorrow. Is that what it was? Coat winning, insights you need today. Insights you need today. To seize the world tomorrow. To seize the world tomorrow.

Okay, I love that, except that tomorrow doesn't exist. So insights that you need today, I love that because being present, you get all the insights that you need to create a better tomorrow, even though tomorrow never comes because all you have is today, right? And so now to preface that and the answer, the answer is being present and truly understanding what am I doing right now and is it what I really want to be doing? And if it's not, how do I change that? And so, you know, I feel like a lot of people fall into, I should do this, I should do that, you know, and then you're shitting all over yourself. And so it's, I just, I don't know if this

is answering the question because I feel like my objective in my life is to be present because now is all we have. And if you've lost someone, you've, you know how truly true that is. And it's hard to remember the past and not be a prisoner to that. And I think it's also equally as difficult to feel like I want all these things in my future. So what do I have to do to get them? But then you become a prisoner to a future that doesn't exist. And so again, like going back, the insight that you need to create all the success you want is to know how to be present.

Wow. Thank you very much. If you could look into the camera there, not by honor, but by the camera. Right, right there. And you could let our viewers know where they could get a hold of you if they want to try and listen to your podcast, jump in the wellness program or anything you might have. We'll leave everything in the description section. It can let our viewers know as well, please.

Yeah, so it's the Becoming Young podcast. That's on YouTube. Our YouTube channel that Grant and I did, the King of Random, that's the name of the channel or TKOR. My Instagram is Geneva late. I do a lot of wellness tips there, and that's probably where I'll be marketing a lot of the offerings that I have for, you know, one-on-one type things and different things that I'm doing with women. But I would say those are the best places to find me. Awesome stuff. The

co-winning insights you need today to seize the world tomorrow. Janay Thompson, thank you so much. Yeah, thank you.