Meet Jayden Cochran

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

Hi Jayden , so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?
I use “being the only one” in the room as an advantage to let people learn about me and for me to learn about them. I learned to connect with people by asking questions about them and seeing what we have in common. I am also not afraid to tell them about myself. I find it really helpful when you have a quick line or “ice breaker” to say to people to make them feel comfortable. My go to line is “Hey, don’t I know you?” It is something my mom said I would use all the time at the playground when I wanted to play with the other kids. I think I learned it from having to get familiar with meeting new people all the time from being a military kid.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a self-published author and entrepreneur. I wrote my first book at the age of 12 during Co-vid. My mom, Candice J Limitless, is the one who inspired me and really gave me the courage to think about doing a book. And if I am being totally honest, my parents told me I had to do something productive with my extra time or I would have to do more school work while we were out during the pandemic.

So, I had been dealing with bullying at school and feeling out of place. I used what I was going through and experiencing to write my book. I saw my mom write her first book and it really helped some people. I figured why not ask her to help me write one as a way to get out what I was feeling. And I thought it would be pretty cool if it could help some kids, too.

I think the best thing about my book is that it helps bring light to using those bad experiences as a way to grow. I experienced bullying, but I didn’t let it stop me from being myself even though it was hard as heck. And something my mom told me that I thought was weird is that my book had the potential to even help adults who were experiencing being bullied for being who they are or being different. It was something I didn’t think about, but when you have people always trying to tell you what is best for your life then I guess it could seem like they are bullying you into what they want you to do. My book teaches kids and adults how to keep being true to who they are even if other people around you don’t like it or understand them.

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 definitely know one skill that comes to mind that has been really helpful and still is highly important on my journey. It is having built resiliency. I learned this skill from having a dad who is active duty Air Force, and having to deal with my dad deploying. Also, coping with having to leave family and friends behind when we moved. I don’t think some people realize how hard that can be on a kid, but I had to figure out how to make the best of it. The second skill is knowing when to pick and choose my battles, something that I am still working on. In my book, I talk about getting bullied. I had to know when and learn how to stand up for myself, but also be okay letting my parents know when I needed some help figuring it out. The third skill or I guess I’d say quality, it is knowing what kind of person I want to be. You know, like your morals and values. My parents always talk to me about making sure my actions line up with the type of person I am or want to be. I still work on this quality because not everyone will agree with the kind of person you want to be and you have to learn to be okay with it. They may try to get you to believe something is wrong with you if you don’t think exactly like them, talk or dress like them. In my case, I was picked on because I liked to read a lot and I enjoyed watching anime, which got me into art because I liked drawing the characters. My parents also keep reminding me that I don’t have anything to prove to anyone and just be the version of myself that I am proud of. So the best advice I can give someone on their journey is really to be themselves. I know it may sound cliche, but when you try to be someone other than yourself, you’ll keep changing yourself for everyone and you’ll end up miserable. If you are you, then you might as well like who you are.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
It is funny that you ask that. I wouldn’t focus on it being “the last decade” because one habit I am starting to practice is to just make the most of each day. I figured by making the most of each day by doing at least one thing towards my goals & finding enjoyment in it will ultimately lead a pretty productive and amazing decade. I will say it can be a bit challenging learning to pace yourself on all the great things you want to do. At the same time, I think that is why it is even more imperative to do the things that interest you and that you love because it helps keep you focused on making progress toward whatever your goal is.

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