IAM2111 – Founder Runs an Entertainment Platform That Redefines Dating Experiences

In this episode, we have Bretton Key, founder of MyDateJar, an entertainment platform that redefines dating experiences. He explains how he created unique and adventurous experiences for people, focusing on mental health and relationships.

Bretton credits the ability to put his thoughts on paper as monumental in his entrepreneurial journey. This process has allowed him to delegate tasks, set clear goals, and measure success, leading to the creation of a high-quality app that caters to user needs.

In addition, he emphasizes the importance of mentorship and seeking knowledge to communicate one's vision effectively. His advice to fellow entrepreneurs is to focus on quality and impact, rather than rushing the process.

Website: Bretton J Key

Website: My Date Jar

LinkedIn: Bretton Key

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Transcription:

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Bretton Key Teaser 00:00

My challenge and goal was to get people to figure out things that they don't normally get a chance to do every day. Maybe indoor picnic, pottery classes, ax throwing, bungee jumping, indoor skydiving. I wanted to be elements of adventure and then as well things that will speak to mental health, speak to just the different things that you are maybe dealing with in whatever relationship to your partner or even your relationship to yourself.

Intro 00:27

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:55

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Bretton Key. Bretton, It's great to have you on the show.

Bretton Key 01:02

Thanks for having me, Gresh.

Gresham Harkless 01:03

Yes, super excited to have you on and talk about all the awesome things that Bretton's doing. But of course, before we jumped in, I want to read a little bit more about him so you can hear about some of those awesome things. And Bretton is armed with a BS in Information Technology and a knack for IT management and is the innovative mind behind My Date Jar, an entertainment platform that redefines dating experiences. As a founder, he's shaking up the traditional dating scene, encouraging unforgettable moments over mundane routines. He's ready to dive into the world of unique connections with Bretton Key.

And I'm super excited to have Bretton on. I read a little bit before we hopped in. He's a US Air Force Reserve, and he's also a parent of 3 kids as well, too. But one of the things that really stuck with me is I heard from one of his interviews. He says dating is a never ending thing, and it should be equivalent to how people think of exercise and hydration. It should be something that's part of your lifestyle. And I think as much as I loved, and I'm excited to dive in and hear what he does, I think one of the things that he really said that stuck with me is that everything he does boils down to connection. So, Bretton, excited to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Bretton Key 02:06

I'm very much ready, and I appreciate you doing your research. That's some good stuff right there. I appreciate it.

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Gresham Harkless 02:13

Yeah, it makes it so much easier when you're doing awesome and impactful things. So, I guess before we jumped in, let's rewind the clock a little bit. Here's a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

Bretton Key 02:24

Okay, my story is an interesting one in my opinion. It sounds traditional where a lot of people were affected by COVID-19. That was a monumental time, not just for myself, but just really the world, everything changed. But for me in my personal world, it was the feeling of this unsurety and I was on the verge of losing my job. Everything in my personal life was just in flux. There was so many different challenges that I was facing. And through all those different challenges, I just kept having this idea that this vision literally kept coming to me like over and over and over again. And as a result of that actual lockdown period, that quarantine period where we really had to just sit still, I used that time to cultivate just my own personal skills and some interest that I had.

And I'm a tech geek at heart. I have a decade and a half experience of IT doing software development for these large companies in both private and public sectors and with the level of me not being able to provide for my family and lose my position even though I was killing it and not because there was anything wrong, it was just that we really couldn't physically go to the location, it made me challenge what do I think success looks like and what do I want to do with myself. And so literally the context of I wrote down a bunch of different random ideas inspired by my kids, friends, what I wanted to do from a romantic standpoint, all of it, and all of it together.

And literally, I had it in a glass mason jar, and it struck me like a lightning bolt from some conversations I had with some of my friends on the group chat that I didn't just have just some ideas I should make this digital and figure out a way to give that connectivity and that connection because the people that I'm associating with and talking to and friends and whoever's in my circle all literally have that same issue and especially at this certain time you couldn't go anywhere and you're trying to figure out how to keep things fun and lively, or you're trying to figure out how to even hang out with your plans. And I just wanted to be there to answer that challenge and be a solution towards that.

Gresham Harkless 04:32

Nice. Well, I'm obviously sorry to hear you had to go through those experiences, but I always remember the quote, there's no pressure, no diamonds. And I think sometimes when you get that opportunity to do that vision and you get the opportunity to create something from that, it's almost as if you, I don't want to say you need the pressure, but it feels like if you didn't have that experience, it sounds like you might not have created all the awesome things you've been able to do now.

Bretton Key 04:52

Yeah, it really was. That time frame literally challenged everything that I held true. I reinvented myself as well in this time frame, And I just wanted to see myself be in a different state. I wanted to, one, be an example for my kids and my community and those around me, two, just a simple question of, why am I doing all these good things for these other people and I doing it for myself. And that went down this whole exploration and this journey that I'm still on to this day.

But those kinds of questions and these kinds of issues just really pushed me out my comfort zone and really gave me the tools and showed me if I was actually really about this. There's not a lot of people can stick with it now realizing it and knowing that the odds are usually against small business or entrepreneurs in certain elements, in certain fields, the odds were stacked against me, but here I am now going into my third year and things are looking good.

Gresham Harkless 05:52

Nice. I love that. So I want to drill down a little bit more and hear a little bit more on how you're making that impact and connections. Could you take us through everything you created and how you're making the dent in the universe so to speak.

Bretton Key 06:02

Sure, so one thing I thought about was constantly we're being surveyed and asked all these different questions about our preferences and what we like and what we don't like. And one thing I wanted to do was take away that off the plate. I wanted to take away that extra decision. We have so much decision fatigue in so many different ways, especially if you are a person who has a family or you are a professional with your career. You've got to think about so many different things out the day. So one, I wanted to allow you to decompress.

And the items that I'm offering are really randomized events and activities that allow you to just step out of your comfort zone or whatever mood that you're in or whatever comfortability that you are in with either if you're in a relationship or if you're flying solo. All of this was designed to give you a clear path to fun things that you would do. So for example, one of my favorite experiences that I created in there is called the CHOP competition. And if you are a Food Network person, if you've ever seen the show CHOP, it's literally doing that element in your own home or going to some location that kind of allows that experience to happen.

So I essentially either give you a direct description on how to make it happen or depending on the kind of experience I give you a direct location and a clear path to go there and also highlight that business who's offering those unique experiences. To close that thought really that is not really geared towards a restaurant per se. There are some in there but restaurants have been conquered in so many different formats and so many different ways. My challenge and goal was to get people to figure out things that they don't normally get a chance to do every day. Maybe indoor picnic, pottery classes, axe throwing, bungee jumping, indoor skydiving.

I wanted to be elements of adventure and then as well things that will speak to mental health, speak to just the different things that you are maybe dealing with in whatever relationship to your partner or even your relationship to yourself. That's how the offerings themselves are aligned. And then to couple it, one of the biggest things, again, with connectivity is communication itself, being able to talk to people, especially if you haven't, if it's been for a long time, or even if you haven't known a person for a long time, how do you make that initial bond or connection? So we also offer a card game that goes along with it.

And it's full of icebreakers and challenges and trivias and fears and they're really they seem very benign or random but they're really not there actually is a lot of psychology and themes and it's designed to spur a conversation and to go down a rabbit hole conversation. So providing essentially a platform for you to find something to do. And then once you do it, I'm also trying to help you with enriched time and better quality.

Gresham Harkless 08:48

Yeah, I love that. What you're doing is impacting the people that are going on those days, and the people that are within those businesses or organizations, and really being able to see that and bring that together. Do you feel like that's part of your circumstances?

Bretton Key 09:01

I do, but one thing I had mentioned as well is that the ability to put my thoughts on paper has been monumental. And I have several different planners and different books for different capacities. So the good news in all of this is that this entrepreneurial journey challenged me personally to do inventory on myself and how I thought and my mindset and it made me realize when I started writing down these ideas or these goals that I had how much I knew or how much of a gap that I wanted to fill. And it's also helped me to recognize, and that secret sauce, when I put it on paper, the things that I can delegate and the things I can take care of myself. And also, it allowed me to have a clear measurable and metrics and goals and things that I can actually see like how this is working and if I can't measure it then I can't tell what is actually working.

So the secret sauce I have was the ability to transpose what was going on inside the brain to paper, dry erase board, napkins, you name it. I use whatever I can of whatever mediums available to record these thoughts. And I realized that as the thoughts are stronger or becoming more clear, therefore that was around the take or that's the next step or the next item. And it helps me to not second guess myself or have the doubt that entrepreneurs sometimes have in the year trying to figure out if you're going in the right direction. So that's been the secret sauce.

Gresham Harkless 10:24

Love that. And it sounds like this could be part of your CEO hack, which is like an Apple Book habit, something that makes you more effective and efficient. It wasn't those incubators being able to learn from others and realize that there was I guess more to be learned there was more that you think be challenged with to get to that next level.

Bretton Key 10:41

That mentorship belonged to that was actually even the biggest thing being able to talk to people in a space who a lot of them didn't look like me or some that did, but it was the fact that they were able to talk the language that I've been trying to learn how to communicate. The toughest thing in all of this, especially when you really are driven and trying to have growth, is being able to communicate your vision and your mission to people who have no stake in the game or don't know what the heck you're talking about, or she don't wonder like why should we even add it to them.

And so the mentorship and just some of the people who have poured into me to listen to my thought to either help me to flush it out more or give me other elements to think about that allowed me to again tackle another area and the one thing that I do as a result of that is that I'm constantly seeking the knowledge, or I'm constantly seeking whatever tools or resources and service available that allows me to mitigate it because it's not a speed thing, it's a quality thing. And it's the quality of my offerings, it's the quality of my thoughts, it's the quality of how I communicate my ideas, it's the quality of how I communicate my passions for this, is the difference maker day in and day out that allows us to start to keep going and keep advancing.

Gresham Harkless 12:03

Yeah. And I almost wonder if that could be like your CEO nugget, your word of wisdom or piece of advice, something you might tell your favorite client or even your younger business self is to maybe not be in such a rush and to focus on the quality and the impactfulness that can come from that.

Bretton Key 12:18

That's actually what happened. I don't, most people don't realize, but there's two versions of my app. The original version would be considered a prototype or the MV that was a really great springboard. And I'm really thankful for that because with me not rushing the process, I was able to garner over $1,000 and 900 some active users without any major marketing or some push. It was just really organic and being able to be on some publications and different things and opportunities that I was able to capitalize on or being a person.

But the good thing about that was because I didn't rush that process, I was able to really deep dive into what my target audience really needed. And once I stripped away some of the fluff or some of the things I thought were the things that matter and I did more of a leaner approach towards it, that's where the magic happened. And I'm very thankful because now I have a version of the app that's available that supersedes what I had even originally thought and actually over delivers on certain context and concepts and things that the user base wants.

And I even have more down the road, but again, it's not the time yet. And it's not necessary just yet. Right now I'm trying to build up the community of it. I'm trying to build the quality of the offerings. I'm trying to build up the uniqueness and the level of trust and credibility so that when people use it, this doesn't seem as something novelty. I want this to be integrated in your weekly or daily routine and have multiple touch points on what you want to see and that's available, so yes.

Gresham Harkless 13:57

I love it. So now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And our goal is to have different quote unquote CEOs on the show. So Bretton, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Bretton Key 14:08

Being a CEO means to me accountability, intention and value, accountability of myself and accountability to those who I'm trying to serve. The intention is to serve them in a way where I want their relationships to be better, to be more fruitful and long-standing, and then always again delivering the value. And this value is not always just to my end users. I'm like, me and you are using the app. This is also referring to the businesses that I'm trying to engage with, because they need a voice and they need a platform as well to thrive and to do things as well. So they can also give back to their communities or give back to whatever that they're trying to accomplish. So those are my levels of what it means for me to be a CEO.

Gresham Harkless 14:51

Nice. I love that accountability, intention and value. Truly appreciate that definition. Of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I want to do now is passion, like so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know and of course how best people get a hold of you download the app find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.

Bretton Key 15:08

Okay so if you want to find out more about me or just really connect with me on a one-on-one basis I'm here for you and not necessarily so you can go to brettonjkey.com. That's my whole name, brettonjkey.com. And right now, if you download the app, it's free to download, but I'm doing something even crazier. I got kids to feed and going to college soon. But again, I'm really committed about giving people authentic and really fun experiences. So I'm doing a challenge called First of 5K. So if you download the app right now, the first 5,000 users, you get unrestricted access to the app for free for a year. And only thing that if there is a cost is that if you happen to find an event and it has like a ticket that to pay for that ticket or to pay for that exact experience, that's the only thing you're paying for. That's not going to me, that's going directly to that venue or that business to help them out. I truly want to hear and be a part of your story.

Gresham Harkless 16:06

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I truly appreciate that, Bretton. We will have the links and information shown us as well too so that everybody can follow up with you, download the app, and take advantage of that offer that you've provided. And I hope you have a phenomenal day.

Bretton Key 16:17

Thanks, Gresh. I appreciate you. Thank you so much.

Outro 16:19

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CBNation and Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us a 5-star rating. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless, Jr. Thank you for listening.

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