MAFIA MOMENTS: Building a Personal Brand with Devon Levesque

In this episode of the podcast, we discuss building a personal brand with Devon Levesque. We discussed:

(00:00) Intro 
- Devon introduces the importance of building relationships through shared experiences and challenges, like climbing mountains or doing hard workouts together

(02:47) Devon's early life and career
- Attended military academy in high school, played sports in college
- Started promoting and bartending at bars/clubs to make money, brought in hundreds of people
- Dropped out of college to pursue managing a hotel nightclub at the W, hosted famous athletes and built connections
- Brief stint in the restaurant industry that didn't work out

(09:03) Transition into personal training
- At age 24, decided to become a personal trainer after advice from a friend
- Got first few clients in an apartment building, got a quick online certification 
- Built up a successful training business working with high-profile clients in NYC
- Key insight: high-powered people like being pushed hard and told what to do by an authority figure
- Eventually sold the training company and meal prep business 

(14:09) Lessons learned in early career
- If something seems too good to be true, it probably is - success doesn't come that easy
- Diversify your revenue streams 
- Work with people you love and enjoy the journey, don't get caught up in the rat race
- Be present

(16:44) Transition into brand building and investing
- Always interested in the psychology of marketing and consumer behavior 
- Started providing more value to brands beyond just social media posts - capital, distribution, events, etc.
- Formed DML Group to invest in and grow promising consumer brands
- Brought together experienced advisors like Ryan Loen who have successfully exited major brands
- Invests in brands they believe are category leaders - Super Coffee, Alipop, Beam, Promix

(21:01) Devon's superpowers
- Ability to ask the right questions and connect the right people together
- Stems from his background in creating networks and communities 

(23:04) Keys to brand success
- Having the right partners in place - legal, distribution, formulation, marketing 
- Authentically communicating the founder's vision across all touchpoints
- Devon will only work with a founder if he feels he could grab a beer with them and deeply connect

Key Takeaways:
- Building genuine relationships through shared challenges is powerful 
- Don't expect overnight success, diversify revenue, and enjoy the journey
- Provide real value to brands beyond just promotion
- Invest in authentic founders and category leading products
- Align all partners to communicate a consistent brand vision