Today we’d like to introduce you to Jim Thompson.
Hi Jim, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
As a junior in high school, my history teacher, Mr. Huddleston, showed us the movie All the President’s Men. That’s when I knew I wanted to be a journalist. I never did write for The Washington Post, or even cover politics, but I learned how to create content and build teams that brought value. I was fortunate to be able to build audience teams at The Dallas Morning News, Fox Interactive, Billboard Magazine, and Hollywood Reporter, among others.
But it was after I launched a passion project called “The Great Unfamous Podcast” four years ago that I truly discovered my passion—interviewing people I respect, telling their story, and discovering one thing: who was the most impactful person in their life. This has brought me into contact with so many brilliant people I would never have known otherwise and allowed me to share their wisdom and the wisdom of their Great Unfamous mentors. It’s what led me to create a firm dedicated to helping founders tell their authentic story that shows how and why they make people’s lives better.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I don’t believe any road worthwhile is without struggles. I did have a hard time figuring out who I was later in my career, advancing to lead roles in media companies that required me to be somebody I didn’t want to be.
That’s when I had the good fortune to work as a consultant for Gary Vaynerchuk, helping lead his personal brand team. Gary and his team of 20-somethings changed my direction. To this day, those were the most talented, hard-working, creative, and caring people I’ve ever worked with. And they taught me how we write our own story.
We’ve been impressed with Bright Trail Customer Development, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
With the DNA of a journalist and an audience builder, I wanted to use those talents in a way that fulfilled me and helped others. That’s why I launched Bright Trail Customer Development—to provide one-on-one guidance to founders who struggle with all that’s required to run a successful business and often overlook the foundation it’s built on—them. Their personal origin, values, experience, and beliefs are what qualify them to help their clients. Telling that story in an authentic, personal way builds trust that unlocks the opportunity for a business relationship.
I help business owners sort their story out and convert it into a series of videos that explain where they came from, what they believe in, and how they help improve their clients’ lives.
I know this is the right place for me, because I’ve never been more excited to get up every day and get to work.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
That’s so hard to answer, but it might be going away for a week-long basketball camp with my three good friends and all the shenanigans we got into running around the Utica College campus as 12-year-olds.
Pricing:
- We help founders understand their brand story and content strategy starting at $1,500.
- We develop custom episodic video brand series starting @ $9,500.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://brighttrail.biz
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brighttrail.biz/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566729313884
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-at-brighttrail/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/thegreatunfamous
