Jaebadiah Gardner is the founder of GardenerGlobal, Inc. and Onpoint Real Estate. We read his book Believe in Yourself as the 3rd installment in our Denkyem Reads series. Believe in Yourself is an unfiltered look at an entrepreneur’s journey. It captures the wins and the struggles in Jaebadiah’s journey with a sense of humor and a great amount of gratitude. Throughout the book, readers get an understanding of how “a lasting company that focuses on investment, partnerships, and community” was built.
We read Believe in Yourself looking for alignment with Denkyem’s core values: Community, Confidence, and Centering Black Voices.
Community: Relationships are at the foundation of Jaebadiah’s work. This isn’t an entrepreneur who claims to be solely self made. Jaebadiah was made from a good amount of accepting help, offering support, and making connections. He believes“If you want to go further, involve yourself deeper”. An entire section of Believe in Yourself is dedicated to relationships. Time is valuable, and Jaebadiah thinks that a good portion of it should be devoted to building your community. Once built, your community is a place that you can tap into for support- but you have to be willing to do it. A challenge that Jaebadiah admits was hard to execute early on. He provides several different phrases you can use to ask for help within conversations. “Put your pride aside and be vulnerable in a professional aspect”.
Confidence: Jaebadiah Gardner is not short of confidence. His chapter on Desire, Dedication, and Discipline is aligned with what we believe about self-confidence: it leads to the self discipline that’s needed to create a productive cycle. A large part of Jaebadiah’s self discipline comes from being willing to learn his business from the ground up. There is no part of his business that he hasn’t done himself at one point or another. From the software, to fixes on his property- he’s built an intimate understanding of how each aspect works. This hands-on approach lends to the confidence it takes to then lead a team who can take on some of those tasks for you.
Jaebadiah is transparent about the adversity that has pushed him to where he is, but he doesn’t rely on negative energy to get him anywhere. To him, having a positive attitude is what’s going to maintain the momentum. He advises to keep your optimist tank full, because you’re going to need it on the journey. “Believe in yourself” is a phrase that was planted into his conscience in high school. Like previous authors in our series, Jaebadiah believes in the power of words and phrases, and their ability to lead you in the right direction.
Centering Black Voices Jaebadiah’s story is incredibly important. Not only for being an African-American Mexican-American businessman, but for his ability to show up as himself. In the chapter “Streets is Watching” he shares about how he blends his personal brand and business brand to create an outward facing persona that is both positive and real. He guides readers through the art of sharing just enough without falling into oversharing. His approach is strategic while also not allowing the world of social media to create unnecessary anxiety. Showing up with a consistent story about who you are and what you are about will help you build trust with your customers and your colleagues.
Join us next month in reading, Financial Finesse By TaShara Ramese.
Come by our blog, The Den, to read our thoughts on the books. Join the conversation on our social media @denkyemcoop by using the hashtag #denkyemreads. All author’s opinions are their own. Denkyem supports diversity within the voices of our community and encourages individuals to research the advice given in these books.