Meet Bradley Barks

We were lucky to catch up with Bradley Barks recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Bradley, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

My confidence and self-esteem took a rather exorbitant amount of time to build over many decades! Growing up having a speech impediment, I always felt like I wasn’t enough and broken in some way. It took many, many years for me to look back on my experiences and realize it shaped me into exactly who I needed to be to get to where I’ve gotten to today!

But—of course—that didn’t happen automatically. It has primarily developed through deeper self-exploration, trying new things and putting myself out there, and breaking out of my comfort zone. Reading books, following YouTube channels and staying positive has been hugely beneficial.

Being more internally focused and interested in computers helped me develop that strong interest at a young age as well, and I’ve continued to develop those skills to become the entrepreneur I am today!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My name is Bradley Barks, I’m 36, and a lifelong entrepreneur. I’ve worked on dozens of different projects and with many companies during my career, but I’m currently the owner of the classroom headphones brand Barks Headphones. We offer bulk headphones for K-12 classrooms that fit any budget. It’s been an incredibly exciting journey developing a brand that supports both teachers and students with thoughtfully designed headphones that last. They’re truly build for the classroom.

It’s been a special journey being a small, family-run business that’s withstood the pandemic and has been in business for over five years now. My Mom is Head of Customer Success and takes care of all of the customer support for our brand. My Wife plans, shoots and films our Social Media and creative. We have plans to develop two new classroom headphone models this year, and currently offer two main models as we speak. We can’t wait to keep expanding our product line!

Our biggest focus has always been on two main things. #1, offering the best, most durable product. And, #2, striving to offer the best customer service in our market. We want our headphones to last and our customers to always feel extremely supported. We’re looking to earn new business and make connections with schools and their administrators that last for years to come!

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?

#1 would be a focus on always improving and striving to get better, but from a place of being content with who you are at the same time. It’s a tough balance, but I always like to think about it from the perspective of “I’m doing great, and I’m looking to do even better”. It’s about having appreciation for what you’ve achieved, being grateful for what you’re working on now, and constantly finding ways to improve as time goes on. It’s also helpful to keep setting higher goals as you achieve your current ones. You’ll need to find the right balance for yourself, but once you do you’ll be unstoppable!

#2 would be the skill of putting yourself out there and expanding your comfort zone. This is something I fight against even to this day! We all want comfort and to be comfortable, but the growth is all outside of the comfort zone! For me, this was mainly socializing. It took a lot for me to go out, attend networking events and be more social, but the more I did it the better I got at it. The more comfortable I got, the better results I achieved, and the better I felt about myself in the process. Think about what your keystone habit or skill is and strive to improve it by breaking out of your comfort zone!

#3 would be having clear goals and understanding exactly what you want to achieve! Of course, this will change over time, but the more you’re willing to sit down, think deeply and plan out your vision for your life, you’ll be much more likely to actually achieve your dream life! Otherwise, you won’t have a strong enough set of goals to pull and push you toward achieving them. Take the time to brainstorm and come up with what your next year looks like. What goals do you have? What would you like to achieve? Set them and start striving! Track them over time and keep improving! You’ll get there.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

It’s quite “out there” as far as books go, but one of my favorite that has been the most impactful in my life has been reading “Reality Transurfing”. It’s a fantastic read that will expand your mindset and help teach you how to shift your reality to experiencing what you desire most. There’s both practical and esoteric examples and suggestions that will get you thinking deeply about what you want, why you want it and how to “achieve” it. I put achieve in quotes for a reason, because you often “have” some things that you “want” already! You’ll have to pick up the book and flip through to get a better understanding!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Tyler Barks Photography

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