PART 1: Do you have the courage to do this?
Rey, welcome to this 5-part email series that I call, Triple Frontier. This email series will prepare you for your upcoming Roadmapping strategy session.
If you’re curious, the title of the series comes from the Netflix movie of the same name. The movie is about a group of friends, retired from the military, who come back together to run one last mission.
Not only is the mission dangerous (of course), but it ISN’T sanctioned by the US military. And it's in a remote part of Colombia.
Growing up, I’ve always been into crime drama TV shows and movies like Triple Frontier. My dad loved watching shows like NYPD Blue and Nash Bridges. And because I wanted to spend time with my dad, I would stay up late watching these TV shows with him.
Years later, I realized the lessons I learned by watching these TV shows with my dad. Lessons that taught me so much about the craft of storytelling.
It taught me how to search for clues that uncover the truth. How to be relentless in solving the puzzle. And how to look beneath the surface of what people wanted you to see.
Together, Rey, we’re going to go beneath the surface. Do you have the courage to do this?
2 years ago, I celebrated my 30th birthday with my girlfriend, Mirlotte. We celebrated by jumping out of a small airplane 10,000 feet in the air.
That's right, we went skydiving.
But, Rey, can I tell you I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was for this adventure?
“Here you go... you have to sign this before you can go skydiving.” This is what the receptionist said to us once we walked into the Miami Skydiving Center.
As I read the words on the paper, I slowly started to feel my heart inching up to my throat.
This "paperwork" was 5 pages long. And here's what it tells you:
“You might die jumping out of an airplane because your heart may stop...”
“The airplane may malfunction while you’re in the air and we're not responsible..."
“The parachute may not deploy after you’ve jumped out of the airplane..."
"You might die because of all of this, but by signing here, you're saying that you or your family will not sue us..."
*Scratches head*
Why did I want to do this again? You literally have to sign your life away in order to go have fun.
Walking to the airplane, getting inside, being strapped to my instructor, the plane taking off into the air with the door wide open -- all of it was a blur.
All I remember is sitting on the edge of the plane, my instructor explaining to me how we were going to jump and what I needed to do, and then...
Jumping out of a plane at 10,000 ft in the air! What was I thinking?!
OHHHHH MMMYYY GOSHHH!!
We were falling out of the airplane and we were falling FAST.
As we tumbled to the ground, I was in complete panic mode.
When is this guy going to pull the parachute? Has he already tried pulling the parachute and it's not working? Am I falling to my death???
Luckily, the parachute did deploy and after about 5 minutes we landed back on the ground - in one piece.
Thank God.
Even though I knew the airplane "may" malfunction or my parachute "may not" actually work or that my heart "may" stop beating midair, I still had the courage to say I'm going to go through with this experience. I need to step outside of my comfort zone.
I had the courage to go through the process. And I'm glad I did because I had just had one of the BEST experiences of my life.
Our first stop on this Triple Frontier is Dramatic Clarity. As we go through this process, there will be moments where it will feel as uncomfortable as jumping out of an airplane without a parachute.
In Dramatic Clarity, I am going to start by asking you a ton of questions. Questions that no one else has asked you or that you may not know the answer to.
I am going to dig DEEP into who you are. At your core. Even when you try to give me surface-level answers, I am going to push for a deeper answer.
Who are you?
What struggles have you had?
How did those struggles change you?
What do you stand for?
What do you stand against?
How are you different than the rest of the noise that's out there right now?
Why are you doing this work beyond making money?
Why do you care?"
Asking questions like this can be incredibly uncomfortable. One of my clients, Darnyelle, even talks about it feeling unnerving. "Unnerving to say the things you haven't wanted to say but you know you most needed to say."
Have the courage to go through the process. Have the courage to be open and be vulnerable. Have the courage to stand in your truth. Have the courage to authentically tell your story.
The one thing that you have that no one else can copy is your story.
It is your story and your truth that will give others an opportunity to intimately experience you in a way they've never experienced you (or anyone else) before. It is your truth they will fall in love with.
Your story creates the leverage, influence, and impact you're seeking to have in your business.
I promise you after we get done, you’ll land safely on two feet. And you will have had one of the best experiences of your life.
Landing safely on the ground after skydiving.
One of my favorite lines from the Triple Frontier movie comes as all the ground rules have been laid out and right before the 5 men head out for their dangerous mission.
Tom Davis (played by Ben Affleck) tells his team this:
“Any man here that wants to walk away can do so... But it’s gotta be now.”
So Rey, here’s your chance to walk away now.
Here’s your chance to be honest and say, “Jude this isn’t the right thing for me right now. No need to send the rest of the Triple Frontier email series.”
Otherwise, if you’re in, continue reading the series below.
PART 2: Start With Why
An important part of us digging deeper is finding out more about WHO you are and understanding your motivations. What is driving you? What wakes you up in the morning? What gets you going?
Truthfully, I'm mining for gold here.
There are things deep inside you that you don't even find valuable or think is important to share. I want to pull those things out of you.
In order to do that I am going to ask you one question over and over and over.
That question is, "Why?"
Rey, every single entrepreneur on the planet knows WHAT they do. Most can even explain HOW their service or product is different or better.
But very few people can clearly explain WHY they do what they do.
I want to make sure you're able to articulate WHY you do the work that you do.
Watch the two videos below that go deeper into the concept of Start With Why.
Now, let’s look at a live demonstration of what happens when you Start With Why.
In this next video, you’ll see a singer who is asked to sing “Amazing Grace.” Then he’s asked to sing it a 2nd time, but this time he’s given a WHY.
PART 3: How to Bring Your Unique Story and Message to Life
In the last email, I shared two videos with you. The 1st one introduced you to the concept of "Start with Why.”
Then in the 2nd video, I shared a video that took the concept of "Start with Why" and brought it to life.
You watched Daryl, the man from the 2nd video, sing 'Amazing Grace’ two separate times in two VERY distinct ways.
Daryl knew the song very well. He knew what the words were and he knew how to sing it in the right tone.
And let’s be honest Rey - he didn’t even sound that bad the first time.
But what happened the 2nd time he sang the song? When he was asked to sing it again he was given a different perspective. He was given a WHY.
And because his perspective changed, the way he performed the song had changed as well.
There was one more thing that changed the 2nd time Daryl sang Amazing Grace.
Did you notice it?
STANDING OVATION.
There’s so much more to unpack that will lead us into our topic today.
Today, you’re going to learn more about Dramatic Demonstration of Proof™.
Dramatic Demonstration of Proof™ (or DDP for short) is a concept I came up with a few years into my film production business. I create documentaries for purpose-driven entrepreneurs helping them bring their stories to life. I’ve spent over 20 years studying the business and power of storytelling.
More specifically, studying and dissecting how celebrities from the sports industry (NFL, NBA, etc.) and the music industry have leveraged their stories to create cash cows. From what I’ve learned over the years, I gathered into a framework to help 7 and 8 figure entrepreneurs leverage the power of their story.
For about the next 10 minutes, let’s go behind the scenes of bringing Darnyelle Jervey Harmon’s story to life.
How Darnyelle Jervey Harmon Shares Her Unique Story and Message, While Closing Dream Clients
I didn’t help Darnyelle “make it big.”
When I met her, she was already running a multimillion-dollar consulting firm. She was helping other entrepreneurs scale up their businesses to the six- and seven-figure mark. She’d been featured on Oprah, NBC, and a dozen other major publications. Her business had won numerous awards. She had her own TEDx Talk.
Despite her success, Darnyelle felt something was missing—and she needed to capture that absent element. She was tired of people telling her that she’s “understated.” She was out to prove the doubters wrong.
One of the first things she said to me was, “There are some things you won’t know about me unless you experience me.” Bask in her presence for five minutes, and you’ll know exactly what she means.
Darnyelle is fun, energetic, passionate, and driven. She lives her faith out loud. She has an amazing ability to get people to open up, to feel, and to share. If you’re lucky enough to attend her mastermind or see her on stage, you get to experience this incredible side of Darnyelle.
But you don’t see that side of Darnyelle if all you ever read is that she grew her business by 10,000%. It bothered her that people might choose not to attend one of her events if all they see is her success and think, “That’s her. This is me. There’s no way I can obtain that for myself.”
Darnyelle stands by one simple truth: You need to see and value yourself the way God does. She wanted to share that message.
The world was about to experience all of Darnyelle Jervey Harmon, MBA in a 3-dimensional way.
“If people only ever see the ‘highlight reel’ of your successes, there’s a chance that they talk themselves out of taking action with you, because they see their struggles and hurdles and don’t believe that someone like them could have success like you.”
- Darnyelle Jervey Harmon, MBA
Let’s start at the beginning. Darnyelle’s financial goal was to grow her business to $10 million within three years. But that was less interesting to me than hearing her “Why” behind achieving that goal.
I’m not interested in the surface reasons you’ve told yourself (e.g., “to make an impact)... I’m interested in the truth that makes you cry when you think about it. The raw, powerful, emotional “Why.”
I pushed Darnyelle on this. I challenged her to dig deeper.
“Jude likes to go deep and be substantive. But it’s sometimes unnerving, to say the things that maybe you haven’t wanted to say… the things you most need to say. What I love about him is that he’s a catalyst that brings that out of me.”
- Darnyelle Jervey Harmon, MBA
What I learned after this deep exploration is that Darnyelle’s story is one of transformation. First, her own transformation. Her faith, her message, and her business have all evolved and grown since she first launched Incredible One Enterprises. And then the transformation she provides for her clients. The way she touches and changes their lives.
As proof, I showed her 283 client testimonials that already lived on her website. While many of them mentioned ROI and revenue growth, the vast majority included words like “transformational,” “changed my life,” and “gives so much.”
Here was Darnyelle’s purpose in black and white. She’s not chasing money. She’s chasing purpose. And her purpose is to help entrepreneurs experience financial and spiritual abundance.
So I said, these written testimonials are amazing, but they don’t dig deep enough. That moment was a lightning rod of inspiration for Darnyelle.
“I knew about the transformation my clients were experiencing, but I wasn’t highlighting it. If you looked at my website at that point in time, the thing you would have gotten was that I could help you make more money, not that I could literally change your life.
I believed I was a business coach… it took Roadmapping with Jude to realize that’s one of my skill sets, but it’s not who I am.”
- Darnyelle Jervey Harmon, MBA
When it came to Darnyelle’s “Next Level Everything” Docuseries, this wasn’t the first time she’d sat in front of a camera to tell her story.
But those early attempts suffered the same problem as the testimonials on her website—they didn’t go deep enough. A rags-to-riches story is good, but it doesn’t pull back the curtain and show us who Darnyelle really is.
To tell that story, we needed to get vulnerable.
See, Darnyelle talks a big game about putting your complete trust in God. But it’s one thing to talk the talk, and another thing entirely to walk the walk. Darnyelle does both.
We see this in Part 1 of her Docuseries, “Next Level Vision.” A scene of her teaching a room full of people is juxtaposed against her desire to start a family. We hear the message… and then we see her living that message out as she prays fervently in the nursery.
There is a level of intimacy that you can’t manufacture when you get to peek “behind the scenes.” As viewers, we’re along for the ride. We experience the jubilation of Darnyelle learning that she’s pregnant. Then we feel the heartbreak of her miscarriage.
Darnyelle has always been transparent with her community, but this was Transparency (with a capital ‘T’) times ten.
More importantly, the story isn’t framed as a pity party. Instead, it’s a testament to the power of her belief and faith. It took tremendous courage to share that intimate secret, and her story is stronger for it.
“I was at a point in my life, my journey, where I knew that the only thing that was ‘missing’ was me being completely transparent and vulnerable with my audience about my journey. Jude’s care for me, my brand and my process gave me the level of comfort I needed to lean into sharing those parts of my story.”
- Darnyelle Jervey Harmon, MBA
Dramatic Demonstration of Proof™ digs deeper than client testimonials and ROI numbers. It gives your audience a 3-dimensional view into who you are, what you stand for, and the transformational impact that you provide.
Darnyelle’s faith-focused masterminds are utterly unique and wholly integral to who she is. We focus on that, and we illustrate that Unique Mechanism with a Live Illustration of her living that faith.
Meanwhile, her overarching story is about transformation. The Darnyelle we experience in Part 1 is not the same Darnyelle who emerges in Part 5.
We’re privy to her childhood, her private hopes and dreams, her struggles, and—of course—her triumphs. And by the end of the series we see her having this same transformative effect on the people at her live events.
We bear witness to entrepreneurs literally breaking through their barriers, and we see Darnyelle in her element—empowering her community of powerful women to take their businesses to the next level.
“Jude’s Docuseries is like a soap opera—it gets you invested and leaves you wanting more. I still get people asking me, ‘Is there going to be another episode?
I’ve seen my fair share of nicely edited videos, but nobody weaves a story together like Jude. You hire him when you want your story told through the lens of extreme inspiration.
Darnyelle’s story isn’t a flawless rags-to-riches inspirational piece. Instead, it’s a demonstration of her faith, her process, and her ability to lift up those around her. When you watch her film, you can’t help but be moved and inspired—the public reaction is proof of that.
Within days of an episode’s release, one prospect said, “Darnyelle, I am so moved by your words [and] God’s words. I’m a single mom that started a Credit Repair business with $422 in the bank. Now here I am, 322 clients later. I need a God-driven woman like you to teach me [and] help me grow my business.”
Another client said, “I was already thinking about working with you, but once I saw that video, I knew I needed to just make it happen.”
Just like that, she closed $36,000 with almost no prior interaction.
Do that 27 more times (easily doable within a couple of months) and she’s made a million dollars.
And that’s just the start. A rebrand of Incredible One Enterprises has put a heavier focus on rolling out her Docuseries to a cold audience. More exposure will mean more revenue… but more importantly, it will mean that more people get to experience Darnyelle and hear her unique message.
Below is the Next Level Vision episode from Darnyelle’s Docuseries. It’s not mandatory viewing but I’d encourage you to watch it to fully understand why her audience is moved by this episode.
PART 4: Can 1 docuseries be worth $1 million?
Yesterday, I introduced you to the Dramatic Demonstration of Proof™.
It’s not the next BIG thing and it’s not some revolutionary system that will change the course of your business forever. (Well… maybe it might if you began to look at everything through a DDP lens.)
Instead, it’s simply my understanding of the power of what happens when you combine your story + a dramatic film + marketing.
It’s the power of bringing your powerful unique message to life in a way that eliminates skepticism, eliminates doubt, and allows you to stand out in a world that is currently filled with noise.
I wish I could say, all you have to do is come up with a great message, then create a really slick, cool video and... (wait for it.. wait for it…) it’s going to go viral!
But that’s not how it works.
I’ll admit I didn’t always understand the power of video storytelling. I fell in love with crafting stories and bringing those stories to life through an engaging film.
It wasn’t until 2011, when I started working with Keyshia Dior, an entrepreneur who had recently started a cosmetic business selling colored lipsticks. Yes, that’s right. Think blue, purple, green, and yellow lipsticks.
Keyshia wanted to document the entire process of building the company from the ground up. What she was doing behind the scenes, how she was traveling from place to place to promote her new brand - she wanted to show it all.
Seeing the results from producing her documentary series changed my entire perspective and approach on producing films for entrepreneurs.
In 2010, Keyshia launched KA’OIR Cosmetics with a website, photos of the product, and Part 1 of a documentary series called “Building the Brand.”
Within 12 months, KA’OIR Cosmetics was able to gross $1 million in sales.
Read that again. $1 million in 12 months.
From just having a website, photos of the products, and a documentary (a video) that showed the process of building the brand.
How did she do it?
Two things:
Keyshia understood the story you’re telling matters more than what you’re selling. She understood starting with why would help her better position her brand. A brand that no one had heard of before.
She understood that it wasn’t enough to launch everything and then sit back and wait for people to find her. Any way that she could, she was sharing her story with EVERYONE.
Here’s how she did it:
Look closely, did you notice the most critical piece? She didn’t just do this once, she kept this up for months.
She was marketing one piece of content through multiple channels on multiple platforms multiple times.
She leveraged 1 film to help her create $1 million of gross revenue in 12 months.
For me, this is where Roadmapping was born. With Keyshia Dior's project. This is where I understood the true power of how your story + film + marketing creates the perfect system for exponential results.
I knew how to craft a story, I knew how to bring that story to life, but this 3rd piece - sharing the story so that it spreads like wildfire - I had to learn this. And I had to learn that this is what makes it all work together.
What’s that famous saying? "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”
In the same way, if you have a powerful story and you’ve created a dynamic Dramatic Demonstration but no one sees it, does it even matter?
Think about how most entrepreneurs work on content. Not just video, but any content, such as a blog, an email, a Facebook Live.
They create it, upload it, share with their audience once and then move on to the next piece of content. So it’s a never-ending game of creating new content just because it’s a new day.
But there’s a better way. A more simple strategy for leverage.
Let’s back track for a second. What is leverage? What does it look like in action?
On a very elementary level, leverage is a tool, skill, or strategy that helps you over and over and over and over. It only requires you to create it or purchase it once and then it works for you over and over.
A forklift is leverage. It helps you pick up something. Or it helps you move something heavy to another area, without you having it to exert much physical effort.
A coffee machine that you use at home is leverage. You put in water and the ground coffee then you walk away and by the time you come back, a cup of coffee is already made.
A car is leverage. Or even a plane is leverage. It gets you from where you are now to where you’d like to go. It’s the fastest most reliable vehicle for saving you time, energy and money that also helps you grow.
The DDP films that we will create together is your leverage. The goal is to maximize that leverage as much as possible.
Without properly marketing the Dramatic Demonstration, the work we’re doing together will fail.
Below is a screenshot of Keyshia sharing Part 3 of the documentary series on October 19, 2017.
Part 3 was originally uploaded and shared with her audience on December 25, 2012. Almost 5 years later and Keyshia is still sharing her documentary series.
I strongly believe in Depth vs Width. We're not going to be playing the Volume Game. (You know the Volume Game - pumping out as much content as possible without any real strategy or thought)
Depth vs Width is about creating the most impactful stories that will provide the highest return on your investment and the highest impact on your mission.
Dean Graziosi, serial entrepreneur and investor, learned this same principle after selling 750,000 copies of his book, “Millionaire Success Habits.” Listen to what he has to say here:
I’m hoping that by now you notice the power of the work we’ll be doing together. It's start with the right strategy and executing on that strategy to create extreme leverage for your brand.
One last thing I’ll leave you with.
10 years later, Keyshia has leveraged her story to create 3 multimillion-dollar brands.
It all started with leveraging the power of her story.
PART 5: Short, sweet and simple
We’re a few days away from our Roadmapping session and the closer it gets, the more excited I get!
So far, this journey has been about preparing you for what we're going to talk about in our Roadmapping session.
Here's a quick recap of everything we've talked about so far:
Email 1 - Have the courage to go through this process. To be vulnerable and open. To authentically tell your story.
Email 2 - "Start with Why" and a live illustration of start with Why.
Email 3 - Dramatic Demonstration of Proof™ - how to bring your message and story to life
Email 4 - What it takes to integrate your story into your marketing system, and spread it like wildfire. Creating extreme leverage for yourself and your business
And now Email 5, the final email.
This email is short, sweet and simple.
I want to take an entire email to simply say...
Thank you.
Thank you for deciding to take me along this journey with you.
Thank you for reading every email and every video that has hit your inbox.
Thank you (in advance) for going through this process and for standing in your truth.
You've set a bold vision for 2021 and 2022. It's a blessing to be able to serve you as you serve others and impact their lives.
So again, THANK YOU. I don't take it lightly.
Let's get to work!