We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jordan Calderon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jordan, thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?
To me, taking risks is a part of what makes life exciting. Risk is my best friend, one who has been with me for years, constantly putting me in situations where it’s do or die thinking about my next move, while also keeping me from falling into a perpetual state of boredom.
Risk has enabled me to step out of my comfort zone and make my own opportunities, rather than waiting for them to come to me. And the type of risk I’ve found I most enjoy is the risk of starting a business.
I first developed this passion when I was around 5. I used to pick plums off a plum tree with my father and sell them at our local community pool. We started small, but shortly after I noticed our little business became a neighborhood hit, and that’s when I discovered I had a knack for conducting business.
Fast-forward 13 years later to my first year of college, where I took my first massive risk in the form of a first business. The company was called College Clout, and although we had no idea what we were doing, we did it anyway. A few months after the launch, my co-founder dropped and I was left having to turn to YouTube to learn the works of marketing. Finally, I ended up merging with a similar company run by college students in the Midwest, and turned my $500 initial investment into a nearly fully automated, profitable nationwide business.
After that, I only grew hungrier for more, I needed to take more risks, and I did. Thankfully those risks played out and I am now running my own successful digital marketing agency, StratDev Digital Marketing, my website design business, ReThink Design, and my personal wine business brand, Jordan Alexander Wines.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m the founder of StratDev Digital Marketing, ReThink Design and Jordan Alexander Wines.
I’ve been interested in businesses ever since I was a kid. It was during my teenage years that I began to research tactics on how to build successful brands. I taught myself the technicalities behind website design and development, SEO and paid media. I also focused on learning what makes consumers “tick” and how to build a strong digital presence through creative content and storytelling.
At 18, I started attending UC Santa Barbara to study Economics, but I quickly realized I was pursuing a major that was solely based off of theory was not right for me, so I moved onto creating my own business. That’s how College Clout, a college apparel company, began.
After selling College Clout, I founded StratDev, a full service digital marketing agency. When I first started StratDev I had my fair share of failure, but due to hard work and dedication I can now say we are a success. We have won many awards. We’ve won the MARsum® Top 100 Agency Award, and have been ranked consistently as one of the top agencies by Expertise.com, and have great reviews all over the internet. StratDev is now set on the mission of enhancing client experiences with agencies. We take time to fully research their prospects, and learn their business from the inside out to best formulate a customized marketing strategy fit to their needs. With experience marketing for companies in the healthcare to tech startup space, we pride ourselves on delivering consistent and high quality traffic, leads, and conversions through meaningful content.
And after also founding ReThink Design, my conversion rate optimization specialized firm, I decided to follow another lifelong dream of mine and founded Jordan Alexander Wines. It started out as a New Year’s resolution in 2021 that quickly became a reality. The idea came when I realized it was nearly impossible to find high quality, private reserve wine at a reasonable pricepoint. After soughing out the best wineries in California to find the perfect wine I finally partnered with Savage Cellars in Ukiah, California – just outside of Napa – to provide our customers with top quality, private reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay wine. Jordan Alexander Wines uses grapes from exclusive lots on the vineyard to craft a unique, crisp, and delicious wine perfect for any special occasion.
None of my achievements were easy to achieve, but I’ve learned that with a lot of hard work (and lots of time blocking) that nothing is impossible. I don’t know what the future holds for me and my businesses, I just know this is only the beginning of a very long yet exciting journey for me.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I’ve learned a lot throughout my journey and different experiences, so if I have any advice to give, it’s the following:
Understand that entrepreneurship isn’t for everybody. It’s perfectly fine to have a 9 to 5 job. You have to be very risk-seeking to become an entrepreneur, and need to be able to deal with consistent failures (probably more failures than successes). It’s not for everybody, and even though money culture says otherwise these days, a 9-5 is perfectly okay.
But if it is for you, and this would be my second tip, make sure that you protect yourself before you start by forming an LLC for any brand you start, plus business insurance or any business licenses that you need. Don’t go head first into putting liability on yourself. Save yourself the headache.
And my last tip would be about time management and time block. You have a very limited time in the day to do a lot of things, so make sure that you schedule a time accordingly. With that being said, make sure that you also have a work-life balance and are able to enjoy life. Your work does not need to take over your entire life. I’ve learned this firsthand.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
I’ll leave you with my favorite quote by Ben Horowitz, “If you’re going to eat s***, don’t nibble”.
Let those failures drive you. Don’t be afraid of failure, but invite it. You can’t grow with any learning lessons, right?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beacons.ai/jordancalderon
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsjordancalderon/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-a-calderon/
