Meet Rod Jones

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rod Jones. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rod below.

Hi Rod, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

Wow, that is a good question indeed. I think for me, it comes from putting in the time to develop the knowledge about the topics that I discuss. When I dig into something, I am a believer in putting in the needed work to bring the highest and best value to my viewers. The way to not suffer from imposter syndrome in my mind is to not be an impostor.

So when I started my social media channels around beer, I put time into learning more about beer as far as the product that it is, as well as the environment around it. I learned how to brew my own beer through home brewing and this helped me to not just learn about the brewing process but to also respect it. I was able to learn what to look for in grains, and hops, and learn the differences between them and the difference in their varieties. I was able to see how fermentation works and its process, which also was a great test of patience for me as well, lol.

I also read when I can, learning the history of beer and about the various styles and any other beer topics that I can find which allows me to increase my knowledge base. Things like this, I think provide a different view that comes through when sharing with my audiences. I think they realize this, which is why I have been able to grow and why they also come back to watch more. Being able to back up any details shared I think is the best way to overcome imposter syndrome.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

The main goal or mission of what I do through all of my social media is to provide details about beer in a fun and entertaining way while helping to educate the viewer about beer. I share this through many formats including my blog as well as the various social media channels.

It’s a fun and exciting thing to share I have found and knowing the history of beer, it may be literally one of the most important drinks created by man. Think about it, how many times in your life have you heard someone say, let’s talk about it over a beer? It is just a great elixir that dates back to 5000 B.C. as we know it now and at one time you had it provided to leaders of countries as a gift of diplomacy. The biggest beer festival, Oktoberfest, draws in large amounts of people from around the world each year. And to think, that festival started as a wedding celebration…that’s the power of beer and it’s things like this why I enjoy sharing the stories and other various digital creations.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Humor has always been something of an important quality for me, whether it is with what I do with beer or anything else. Getting someone to smile or laugh is always a win in my book. There are so many things nowadays that can weigh people down, so when they come to watch my stuff I want them to be able to kick back and relax and humor has always been a key to that.

Confidence also plays a key and for me, I have been in a field where communication is of high importance and when communicating, you have to be confident in what you are discussing, because if you are not then people will notice. This doesn’t mean that you have to know everything or to confidently fake it, but just have conviction in your communication and this greatly impacts your presence. And if you don’t know, you can still confidently say so which will also be appreciated.

As for a skill, I guess I could say having a thick skin can come into play. Being a digital creator where you are placing your thoughts and views out into the social media universe means you may also receive unwarranted responses which can be seen as not so polite, so to speak. The effect of trolls is something that many can face so being able to handle these scenarios is of importance for success. I wouldn’t take anything personally and just expect things may happen. Knowing it may happen can lessen the surprise of it. Fortunately, I have had limited experiences in this area but I do have other friends who have seen more and sadly a few had stopped because of it.

I would consider these types of things for anyone looking to launch a digital channel on social media, which I think personally, just about everyone should have.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I pretty much always enjoy collaborations and those looking to collaborate with me, can email me at [email protected] to discuss how to do so. What I look for in collaboration partners is making sure we are a match to do so.

For me, this would mean more collaborating with folks from around the beer world in some way: breweries, beer products, other digital collaborators in beer, etc. I can often receive emails from product partners looking to collaborate on items that don’t fit with my audience so for those I have to say no. But if it makes sens then I say reach out.

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