Tamara Littleton 00:00
This is the Genuine Humans podcast brought to you by Social Element. I’m Tamara Littleton
Wendy Christie 00:18
and I’m Wendy Christie.
Tamara Littleton 00:19
In our podcast. We’ll discover the stories of the leaders behind the brands and the trailblazers who are making a real difference in our industry. We’ll delve into how they got to where they are today,
Wendy Christie 00:33
and we’ll hear about the genuine humans who supported and influenced them along the way.
Tamara Littleton 00:43
Welcome back to Genuine Humans, and I’m here with my co-host, Wendy. Wendy, is it sunny in Aberdeen? How are you doing?
Wendy Christie 00:51
I am doing well, and it is not. It is not sunny in Aberdeen. It is raining. But hey-ho, you can’t have everything. I’m just back from a week in Barcelona, so I can’t complain about a bit of rain.
Tamara Littleton 01:00
It’s all about the balance, well, I feel bad for asking now, but –
Wendy Christie 01:03
No, no, no, I’ve had a week in sunny Spain. I’m delighted.
Tamara Littleton 01:08
Well, it is also sunny here in London, and I’m delighted to introduce our next guest, who is not in London, but I’m very delighted to welcome Jayvee Nava Brady, who is the director of community at Bubble, so welcome to Genuine Humans, Jayvee.
Jayvee Nava Brady 01:26
Thank you so much, Tamara and Wendy. It is an honour to be part of this podcast. So, thanks for having me.
Tamara Littleton 01:33
Fantastic. Well, one of the first questions that we like to ask our guests, Jayvee, is, how did you get to where you are now. So how did you get to be the Director at Bubble of Community? And could you give us a little flavour of your sort of career path up until now?
Jayvee Nava Brady 01:50
Yeah, for sure. So I started working at a very young age, and this kind of stems from my mom saying, “if you want something, you have to work for it.” And so as a teenager, growing up at the East End of Long Island, where a lot of people you know, spend their summers out there, and really the bulk of the locals, make their sort of money during those three months, or I would say, from Memorial Day weekend at the end of May through Labor Day weekend, which is in September. And so my mom’s boss had put me in touch with a woman who owns a spin studio. Her name is Marion. It’s called ZoneHampton, and it’s right on the main street in town, and she was looking for someone to help her with her spin studio, really, to just check people in, you know, give them towels, there’s rental shoes.
Jayvee Nava Brady 02:46
And that was really, I think, looking back it was my first time, seeing what community was like and how to provide good customer service. But, you know, back then, I was like, great. I’m working on the weekends, and I’m making money, and this is exactly what my mom told me to do. But I think the exposure and also seeing sort of the same clientele come back again, looking back now, I’m like, what was it about this company? What was it about the experience that made the same type of people come back and they start to make connections with each other. And so for me, I want to make sure I’m providing good service. So, giving them the right shoes, making sure that everybody has a towel in the water. I was the towel girl, and I really enjoyed that. It made my weekends feel productive, but also the social aspect of it, and getting to know the clients and the customers. And so I did that for a couple more years, so just on the weekends.
Jayvee Nava Brady 03:50
And then Marion decided to hire me full time when I was able to, but I was still, you know, I was hired full time, but I was working, obviously, part time with school and everything. And she opened up another studio in the city, which was two blocks away from where I went to college. So I was doing both, and I was managing, at this point, the studio in New York on the Upper East Side in New York City. And then I would spend the summers out in East Hampton.
So, I realised I’m like, okay, I’m seeing similar clients now, and most of the classes were full, most of the classes were sold out. And so my career kind of started as a towel girl. Then, you know, studio operations. And really, with studio operations, you have to figure out the right scheduling, you have to figure out the marketing. You have to figure out the customer service. So to me now looking back, I was sort of like, great. I had this management role, but I didn’t realise that all these different pillars that I needed to really fully understand to make sure that these studios are operating well, and that we’re continuing to provide the right customer service, and that I’m responding to people’s emails, you know, that were coming through.
And so I was doing that while also in college, and then the studio got acquired by a much bigger company. And again, looking back, I was like, okay, what’s an acquisition, right? It was one of those things where you learn stuff in school, but I was actually able to apply some of these things in real life or in the real world. And I’m dealing with that real time, and so I’ll probably take a pause there.
Jayvee Nava Brady 05:35
I studied economics in school. So, you know, growing up, I was sort of like, I want to run my own business, but being a studio manager sort of allowed me to think of it –
Tamara Littleton 05:46
It’s the best way to learn, isn’t it? Learning on the job like that?
Jayvee Nava Brady 05:49
Exactly, exactly. So then the company got acquired, and I remember it was, it was a time where Marion sort of felt that she needed to lean on me, because I think selling your company to another company, and it was also another boutique fitness company, it was, it was tough, right? Because there’s a lot of personal feelings around that. And for me, this feels a little bit more like work, like transactional, right? I just need to let them know how this works. And then the acquisition would happen. And with that acquisition, I was, I was part of it too, but when I joined, I wasn’t the person who knew everything anymore. And so they hired me to handle the front desk. And so personally it was, it was a lot, emotionally and going through that process of knowing everything to “wait, I should know most of these things, but I work for a different company now,” and so I learned a lot during that time as well.
Jayvee Nava Brady 06:55
And about six months later, they promoted me to manage the studios, which were the same studios that I was managing. And again, I was still sort of in college back then, so being able to be flexible with – I grew up out east on Long Island, and so I would spend my summers out there, and I would manage the studios I would come back to the city. Would also manage the studios in New York City, while all doing this, while being in school. And so I’ve always been busy. I’ve always sort of been, you know, managing and juggling a lot, which I like. And after that, I was at the company for about three years. And I remember at that age, I was like, “okay, I’m done with college. What’s next? Is this really what I want to be doing forever?” And I remember, you know, kind of having these thoughts that I want to continue to challenge myself. Not that the company wasn’t challenging me, but I felt like I needed to do something new.
Jayvee Nava Brady 08:06
And so I started networking and talking to people, and met John Foley, who is the founder and former CEO of Peloton, and because he would spend the summers out east. So he has been at the studio that I was managing, and so I spoke to him, and I remember it was he was renting out a house out east, and he shares this PowerPoint slide with me. And again, I had no idea what I was going into. It was like, hey, let’s meet you. You know, typically people would be for coffee or but he was like, “yeah, come to my home, or come to the home that we rented over the summer”. And I remember, yeah, just he was flipping through the slide two hours later, I was still there, and I had to be like, “can we pause for a second? May I use your bathroom?” I just remember the conversation just flowed so well. I was like, whatever he’s saying, I believe.
Tamara Littleton 09:12
You saw the vision.
Jayvee Nava Brady 09:13
Exactly. And so I remember, two years in at Peloton, I was like, “wait, everything that was on that PowerPoint deck, like the slides that he was showing me actually happened.”
Tamara Littleton 09:25
That’s so cool.
Jayvee Nava Brady 09:26
So I joined his company, and I was the eighth employee. I remember walking in, and this was a startup, right? So I didn’t know what to expect as well. And I remember joining, and I was like, “Is this a risk?” I was at a place where I was growing. I was continuing to grow. I was having more responsibilities, but I told myself that I wanted to challenge myself to do something new.
Jayvee Nava Brady 09:56
And so when I walked in, I was hired as director of studio operations, and what they needed from me was to open up the studio, so the studio wasn’t open yet, hire instructors and basically just figure out the studio production side, but also that is the content of the platform. So without the content and without the studio, without the instructors, there’s really no company or, you know, like, how and so we, at that point, they had kicked off their Kickstarter campaign, and they had already had some backers, and it was, I remember, I think it was like two weeks after I’d started, those people were getting their bikes. So they were like, “okay, Jayvee, they are starting to get their bikes. So if we don’t have content, then you basically have to figure that out.”
Tamara Littleton 10:47
Yeah, hurry up, please.
Jayvee Nava Brady 10:49
Exactly. I’m like, “okay, cool, where, where’s the studio?” And the studio, which we called the closet, so it was in the same office space, and they kind of made this studio thing with just drapes, like just it was dark as it should, and then there are two cameras, and it’s right next to, sort of the bathroom. So we’re recording a podcast, and we’re like, “uh, okay, is this the best thing, to have it right next to the bathroom?
Tamara Littleton 11:19
No one’s allowed to use the restroom for the next hour!
Jayvee Nava Brady 11:21
Exactly. So we had bikes that were not actually Peloton bikes, because at that point, they didn’t have Peloton bikes yet, and they were just arriving two weeks later. But we had one, which was the instructor. So yeah, that was a very busy week, because I was like, “okay, I basically have less than two weeks to make sure that there’s content and fresh content on the platform, because people are going to receive their bikes, and we need to make sure that there, there’s content.” So as a startup, you just wear many hats, right? I was hired as director of studio operations, but you kind of just do what is needed to get done. And I remember former COO of Peloton, Tom, he was like, “we need people that would just get stuff done”, and I think there was the autonomy aspect, again, all reflecting back now of my experience, of all the little things that I experience, and things that I think helped to drive and inspire me to my next adventure, or my next journey, or just little things now that I’m like, wow, I really appreciated that, because that really challenged me. Or I really appreciated that because now when I’m in that position, you know, you kind of have to have that trust and empower your team and do it together.
Jayvee Nava Brady 12:38
So I did studio operations for about a year and a half, so I opened the studios. I was able to hire instructors, instructors that are all still there, actually. And about a year and a half in, I was sort of like again, another pivotal moment, I guess, in my life. And I said, I want to be able to provide more value to what we do. And I think studio operations and at that time, right, the team’s starting to grow. So I was wearing many hats, and now it’s sort of like, okay, we need to define roles and recipes. So it’s becoming a little bit more established based on the types of people that we needed. Because, hey, Jayvee can’t do 10 people’s jobs at the end of the day, but then, so I think with that type of change, then I’m like, okay, I’m sort of back to what I was doing before, right? Like, meaning I was running the studio, which was great for a different company, but I was like, I want to provide more value. And I remember at the time, now there’s maybe hundreds of people, Peloton members, and we were looking for someone to run the community. And that was really sort of community management, figuring out social media and some of the challenges, right? So some of the engagement stuff that we really needed to retain these customers, because that retention is very important. So I raised my hand and I said, I think I can do that job.
Jayvee Nava Brady 14:08
And I remember having the conversation with John, and he called me, and he was like, “are you sure you want this? This isn’t what we hired you for.” And I said, Yes. So, he was like, “okay, let’s try it out.” But he kind of had to give me the if this doesn’t work out then we’re gonna have to have a conversation type thing. Because I think for him, he was like, I hired you because you have done studio operations. You have the experience. You have the exposure with instructors you know how to run the schedule, and at the end of the day, that’s the type of experience that we want to have, but to people’s homes. And so I was like, “yes but I think when you think about the community aspect of it, that’s also as important, because we want to make sure that we’re hearing our customers and we know what they want, and we’re providing it.”
Jayvee Nava Brady 15:02
So I think I was seeing that I’m hearing the stuff with the studio. People are saying to me in person, but at the end of the day, we’re in a company that is serving people who are home, or, you know, who are taking these classes from home. So we need to figure out a way to hear their feedback, and not just through support channels, right, but on social and be part of the conversation. And at that time, too, there was a group that one of our, one of the Peloton members had started, which was on Facebook Group, so we were seeing their feedback, but the company, there was no connection or relationship or, you know, there’s no feedback loop that’s happening between the company and our users, our members. And so he was like, “okay let’s give this a go.”
Jayvee Nava Brady 15:50
And then I remember, because it was like there was a little bit of doubt from other people. I was like, I’m going to do my best to make sure that I do a great job at this. And it was not just sort of learning while doing the job, but I think what was so important was being the liaison between our customers, between the members and the team, because as I was trying to figure this whole thing out. It was looking at what else is out there and all the other great communities out there. I’m like, “where can I pull or like, which companies can I pull inspiration from?” And there were not that many at the time. And do you guys have an Instant Pot, which is like a pressure cooker? It’s called Instant Pot.
Tamara Littleton 16:38
Oh no, no. Just know, it’s like a pressure cooker.
Jayvee Nava Brady 16:44
They have this massive Facebook group. And I remember, and I was like, wow, this is a physical product. Like, people use this to cook, but yet, the community, there’s just, they were just helping each other out. It was, here are some recipes, here are some tips. And for a physical product to have so much engagement happening. I was really inspired by that. And for a physical, well, it’s both software and hardware for Peloton, but I was like, I want that similar type of engagement. I think we can get there, and I studied it a little bit, but really made it more about Peloton and what the customers are really asking and making sure that that’s authentic to them, and it feels organic that they’re not talking to a company, that it’s they’re talking to another member or user.
Jayvee Nava Brady 17:41
And so with the feedback loop that we’re talking about, trying to figure out what is best, also with our internal team, so figuring out how the product wants to, like, get feedback from the group. Because when you have so much feedback, you’re like, how do I synthesise all this like, how do I know what’s a priority, and so I think when I say like, I’m in a position where I have all this feedback and I’m we’ll we’re building these connections and relationship with our customers, there’s so many more things that I think has to happen behind the scenes in order for us to really make sure that that translates well, or that we are making sure that the customers feel like they’re being heard. Because I think every company would say, hey, you know, customers come first. We listen to their feedback. But it’s really about the actions that you’re taking that makes it different.
Tamara Littleton 18:41
And it’s the difference between having a sort of, you know, customer service feedback and sort of engaging with your customers, versus creating a group of avid fans. And I think, you know, that’s, that’s what you created at Peloton.
Jayvee Nava Brady 18:55
Exactly, and I think that’s what I really loved about community, because every day is different. You never know what they’re gonna care about, right? And so you can be very prepared. And I think that also made me, I think looking back, I’m like, now with every sort of campaign or any launch, I’m like, let’s figure out the worst case scenario. Let’s come up with all the messaging. Let’s figure out everything that we can sort of control, because tomorrow, something might come up, and we just have to figure it out, but at least we have figured out the right process so that we know who’s involved, or who needs to be involved to help with that.
Jayvee Nava Brady 19:31
So yeah, so I started sort of just managing the community, and then it started to, you know, people are building strong connections online. Then events started to happen. And then I talked about, sort of the messaging aspect and component, and making sure that everyone’s prepared with approved messaging or the right messaging across support, sales, community teams. And then we also, as the company, matured a little bit more. And, you know, we have celebrities and government officials and athletes who started using the product. So I also needed to figure out a team that supported that and make sure that we’re providing white glove service. So my team became four different departments under community which was community management, engagement, and that’s both on the groups and social media events hosted annual user conferences. It was called Peloton Homecoming. And then the team that was project managing across brand products, and then our team and support to make sure that we’re figuring out the right messaging. And then another team that sort of figured out how we can provide support to quote, unquote, VIPs and making sure that they have the support that they need when they need help.
Jayvee Nava Brady 20:52
So, I was at Peloton for nine years. I did community for seven of those years, a little bit over seven years, and then after Peloton, I was like, I don’t know if I can do a startup again. I was like, that was a lot. Nine years felt like a lifetime, but there were so many things that I learned, and I was growing with the company as well, and also with Peloton being, you know, being the eighth employee when I joined to then being a public company as well an IPO in, you know, four and a half years later, after I had started, was something that’s so unique. And so after that, I was like, okay, I need to just take a break and figure out what I want. But then you’re I was so used to like, just go, go, go, and just being always like, what’s going to happen with the community to now, okay, now it’s time to figure out what you want to do. So I consulted for a bit, for about six months, working with smaller companies and startups specifically on figuring out their community strategy. But then I felt really lonely doing that. So shout out to freelancers, you know, consultants and, you know, working independently, because it’s, it’s, it could feel really lonely just working on stuff. Like, it feels fulfilling to do the work, but it feels different when you’re working by yourself versus working with a team,
Tamara Littleton 22:19
Yeah, for sure.
Jayvee Nava Brady 22:20
So I ended up joining Bubble about almost two years ago now, and they, you know, Bubble is a AI powered visual development platform, and I’m running their community, and they have a huge global presence and community that are very passionate about the product, and so what I do now is very, similar to what I what I did at Peloton, so community management, events, and also what’s actually new that I kind of figured out at Peloton, but really have a more strategy in terms of, how do we highlight some of these, like super fans and power users, so figuring out different programmes.
Jayvee Nava Brady 23:03
So we have the Bubble ambassador programme that we launched last summer. And so I think part of that is, you know, when at Peloton, you had your influencers, you had the fitness instructors who acted as brand ambassadors. And so for a SaaS company like Bubble, how can we continue to amplify that word of mouth and create, you know, continue to create and scale the community, and it’s through highlighting some of our users as brand ambassadors too.
Tamara Littleton 23:35
Fantastic. Well, thank you so much, and it’s lovely to go back down memory lane, because, of course, we were supporting you on the community back in the day with Peloton as well. And it’s kind of just great to hear how instrumental you were to the launch at the beginning. How, how, how cool is that? So thank you for sharing your story and I’m excited to see where Bubble takes you as well.
Wendy Christie 23:59
Yeah, thank you. It was really fascinating as well, just to hear the story of, you know, such a big, well-known brand right from the very beginning. Just really interesting. Thank you. Speaking of memory lane, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go a little further back along memory lane. There were some themes that were coming out there, looking for your next challenge, that sense of preparedness, that sense of that drive to add value. When you look back over your childhood, can you sort of recognise where that came from and you just talk about what you were like as a child?
Jayvee Nava Brady 24:35
Yeah, of course, I think it’s always nice to reflect, because I’m like, why am I like this? Or like, what is it about me? You know, when you’re when I’m put in sort of different work situations, and I’m like, or when I’m just working in general, and I realise it’s growing up. And I think I mentioned this, I always wanted to try new things, and I. Sort of feeling, sort of, and I don’t, I don’t want to say, feeling busy, but constantly trying things out, constantly, sort of like doing sports so or like doing sports that I’ve never done before. Some people, you know, grew up playing soccer since they were four or five, and sort of continued on in college, but I played lacrosse in high school as a goalie. I don’t know why, but there was something about, you know, sort of that being part of a team. And I think when I look back of like the themes, as you asked Wendy, that’s how I can bring my best self, or like how I can get that feeling of we’re working on this together, we’re part of a team, and so yeah, like in high school, I did theatre as well, and I did sports. So it’s sort of like an all year round, doing stuff.
Jayvee Nava Brady 25:50
And as I mentioned, as well, when I was working at Zone Hampton and also Flywheel, I was going to school, and I also actually did theatre for a bit, but I think part of that is wanting to, sort of learn something, or continuing to want to learn new things. And sometimes when I learn new things, I want to be really good at it. And so I think, yeah, I think growing up shaped how I am today, in terms of being open to trying new things. And sometimes, yes, you don’t have to be the best at it, but if you really enjoy it, why not try to be really good at it? And so I think, yeah, I’m able to balance that out, or just be able to multitask. But I think part of it is telling myself that I can do it, and even if other people doubting me, I want to also prove them wrong and say no, I’ll figure it out and do my very best to do that.
Wendy Christie 26:54
Cool. I love that and and did you have any idea when, you know when you were quite a small child, say what you wanted to be when you grew up.
Jayvee Nava Brady 27:02
My mom was a teacher in the Philippines, and so I wanted to be a teacher because she was a teacher. But I also remember growing up playing with the cash register, like a toy. And I was like, wow, this is so cool. Like, I want to be like a cashier when I grow up. But I think part of that too is sort of the business aspect of like, you know, doing that. So, so, yeah, I did not fulfil my cashier dreams, but
Wendy Christie 27:31
There’s still time. Jayvee, you can still do it.
Jayvee Nava Brady 27:35
I can still do it. You never know. But yes, those are, I would say, the two paths that I wanted to be growing up.
Wendy Christie 27:43
Lovely. And who did you look up to?
Jayvee Nava Brady 27:46
There are so many people that have influenced me, or I just find inspiration from reading Brene Brown’s book. Brene Brown is a researcher, but also a fantastic speaker, storyteller.
Tamara Littleton 28:06
Big, big Brene fans here.
Jayvee Nava Brady 28:07
Yeah. And I think not only did she help me with personal stuff, but I would say with work as well, building community is there’s a lot of you know, the authenticity part and the connections and fostering those connections, and I think as somebody, and you know, who is figuring things out within the community space, and again, back then there were, you know, community could be internal community, right? Or meaning like people team, or it could be very much support heavy. So being in a community space where it is a lot of making connections and having constant conversations and building that engagement online, but also figuring that out offline. So, through events, I think there’s something about it that helps shape how we are as people and as humans, and how being able to be vulnerable, I think, allows us to build that trust as well. And but I think being vulnerable also, we have to be authentic to who we are. And so I think when I was at Peloton, I think a lot of that, which is how we show up as a brand, how we show up as a company, how I show up to the community. And I think there are many times where I’m inspired by what the community is doing, and I want to make sure that we’re supporting them or facilitating these conversations and continuing to form that, because at the end of the day, a lot of companies can replicate the product or the service that you’re providing, but what they can’t replicate is how loyal and how passionate your community is about your brand. So Brene Brown, I listened to a lot of her TED talks as well.
Jayvee Nava Brady 30:01
But in terms of, I think showing up in the workplace as a woman Sheryl Sandberg with Lean In, her book, and I think her career path is also very inspiring to me. In terms of, you know, how she helped shape so many well known brands as well. And I think it might not be, for some it might not be the perfect way, right, or, quote, unquote perfect, but I think there’s little bits and pieces that I can take from her leadership and her experience as well.
Jayvee Nava Brady 30:38
But yeah, I think when I when I look, when I’m in social settings, or when I look at different brands, and when I meet certain leaders, I don’t want to be the next so and so, right, I think I want to be me and and, you know, but I can help shape my experience and my growth and my perspective based on and how I show up as leader as well, based on, you know, all these leaders and women that have sort of paved the way or have inspired me.
Wendy Christie 31:09
Lovely. Thank you. And thinking about the people who you’ve worked with over the years coming a bit more up to date now, which genuine humans have influenced or supported your career. Is there anyone that you’d like to acknowledge while you’ve got the platform?
Jayvee Nava Brady 31:24
Yeah. I mean, I feel like there’s so many people that have helped me and who are still very genuine and clearly took a chance on me, but also helped shape who I am today. So the first one would be Marion, because if I didn’t meet her when I was, you know, a teenager wanting to just have some work experience, because my mom told me to, I wouldn’t have experienced years of customer experience and really thinking about the customers and what makes them come back. And of course, John Foley, who you know, sort of also took a chance on me, right, not necessarily knowing who I am, and based on our our two hour conversation, and I feel that you know the same as what I saw in him, in terms of his vision, he saw that I could also have a very massive or huge influence to the company, and that I’m able to be flexible with with what is needed for the company, and also my former manager, Brad Olson, who helped shape who I am, also as a leader and how I show up. So I think working for a startup, it’s very, you know, get stuff done, and then all of a sudden you’re in a leadership position where you’re like, can I still get stuff done? Can I still be part of the execution piece? But I think he really helped me with, you know, the delegation piece, like being able to also have the same impact, but then also growing and managing a big team, and, of course, working with the Social Element as well, so not just internal team, but working with third parties who also have a huge impact and influence to the company, right?
Jayvee Nava Brady 33:17
So, yeah, I would say, like those were the three that I want to give sort of a shout out to, because they really helped shape who I am today. And there’s obviously a lot of peers that have supported me as well through good and bad times and, yeah, and for that, I want to thank them.
Tamara Littleton 33:36
That’s your very own community, isn’t it?
Jayvee Nava Brady 33:38
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Tamara Littleton 33:40
So I’m so interested in what you were saying about events, it was quite a key part of Peloton and, and I know that that’s a big part of Bubble. So let’s bring you back to Bubble. And you know, what initiatives are you taking, what lessons have you applied to, you know, from Peloton, from from your sort of previous experience and, and what you’re doing at Bubble and is it? Is it called Bubble Con that you’re doing as well?
Jayvee Nava Brady 34:05
Yes. So yes, the user conference is called Bubble Con at Bubble at Peloton, it used to be called HRI because it was coined, or, yeah, by the community it’s a home rider invasion. So we’re like, yeah, I’m not sure, as a brand, if we can fully support the word “invasion”, but for them, they were like, “yeah, nope. It’s called HRI.” And we tried to rebrand it as, you know, Peloton Homecoming, but you know, our early users still called it “nope, it’s HRI. Yep, we’re going to an event called HRI.” So I guess that’s one learning as well, which is, sometimes, when it comes from the community, they really, you know, feel passionate about calling it that, but I think at that point most people also called it homecoming.
Jayvee Nava Brady 34:56
And so in terms of events, and what I learned that I’m sort of applying to Bubble. Well, first of all, when you’ve put together an event for 3000 people in person in New York City, you’re naturally just going to be like, okay, let us see, the full brief, making sure that every single person that’s working on this we understand, you know, roles and responsibilities. Who are the decision makers? And so I think, from a planning standpoint, you know, I’m bringing in, years of experience and managing 1000s of users for an event.
Jayvee Nava Brady 35:37
And so I think, you know, joining Bubble again, almost two years ago now, they were like, “oh, we want to have this user conference in three months,” and they were like, “and we want it to be hybrid.” So I personally have never done a hybrid event before. So again, going back to me being like, I love a challenge. Yeah, I was able to do it in three months. And I want to give credit to the experience that I had at Peloton in terms of preparing me for it, but I think at the end of the day, that was me making sure that, you know, we got this done in a way that it’s also authentic to the community that I’m now sort of overseeing.
Jayvee Nava Brady 36:21
So I would actually say the planning part is the easiest, because it’s sort of like your playbook of putting together a timeline, figuring out who’s responsible, figuring out how we’re going to message this and how we’re going to market this. What platforms do we need to know, use for ticket sales, capturing ticket sales. But I think the one challenge that I, you know, wanted to really emphasise was I’ve done events at Peloton where I knew the community, because I was there for many for, you know, many years now, I’m joining a company, and I have to put on a community event, or a company event that it’s for the community, and have only been here for a couple of weeks. For me, it was important that I meet with the community. So I actually met about 15 or 20 users in my first month to just get to know the company, get to know them, and then the internal and, of course, the internal team as well, and people who have been there for a really long time, and meaning tenure wise, have been at Bubble for a really long time, because that also helped me in terms of understanding like, what did it used to be like? Which direction are we going now? And as someone who has been also been in their shoes working at Peloton for many years, I wanted to hear from them in terms of, what was it like before, or like what how is the community sort of responded when you did x, or when we think about sort of events, have they been wanting this? Is this something that they are also organically doing themselves? And so I learned a lot, not just from having to execute an event in three months, but also learning the community, by speaking to users, and by also speaking to the internal team.
Jayvee Nava Brady 38:09
So then I am able to put on an event that doesn’t feel like this doesn’t feel very Bubble. It must be Jayvee, because she joined this feels like Pelaton, that was the last thing that I wanted, and it was a success. I think, you know, all of our users were like, we’ve been wanting this for the last five years. And I think just hearing that feedback as well, and also the internal team having an opportunity to meet our users in person also helped them with connecting, or feeling more connected with what we do as a company, and the lives that we are changing because their businesses run on our platform. And so being able to see the passion in person was awesome. It was great. And I think it just helped us say we’re so excited, you know, we’re looking forward to the next event. And to me, I’m like, there’s a lot of feedback and learnings when running an event, and the one thing that I feel makes me realise that it was successful is when people say, when’s the next one?
Tamara Littleton 39:12
Yeah, that’s such a good sign, isn’t it?
Jayvee Nava Brady 39:14
Exactly. So, yeah. So running events, you know, at Bubble now, and figuring out how we can support all of these events that are happening around the world. And I think I had mentioned to you that we just did a regional activation in Brazil, so that’s something that, again, I didn’t necessarily have experience doing at Peloton. I’ve never been to Brazil either, and so there’s a lot of learnings in terms of just their native language and them just being proud of their country. So I’m like, how do we amplify that local pride and make sure that this feels also authentic to our community who are in Brazil, so leaning into or and leveraging our Bubble ambassadors who are based in Brazil also helped me with shaping the event, and so we just did that two months ago now, which is crazy, or a month and a half ago, and we had, we sold out the in person element of the event in two weeks. So 200 tickets, and there’s 100 people on the wait list, and then there were about 600 or 700 attendees who tuned in online. And that’s, again, it was sort of a test. It was an activation. So for us, it was a regional activation, and making sure that our users feel that we’re coming to them and that we’re supporting them by going to Brazil. And we want to do that a lot more in the next couple of months, because I think it is a very scalable and cost effective way of doing events as well.
Tamara Littleton 40:47
Fantastic. And I know that Wendy and I, coming from the background, that we’ve come from a real sort of fans of community and community based marketing, and just sort of hearing what you’ve got to say. It’s so wonderful to sort of hear it directly from you, but I think it’s now time to move on and get to know you even better. So we’re going to move on to the quick fire round. So I’m going to let Wendy kick start this section now.
Wendy Christie 41:14
Thank you. Jayvee, what’s your idea of a perfect weekend?
Jayvee Nava Brady 41:19
Okay, that is such a tough question for me, for some reason, because I think I honed in on the word perfect. Like, what is perfect? What is it? What is it that makes it sort of perfect? And I think any sort of weekend that I spend time with my loved ones is perfect with a balance of me watching some series on Netflix.
Wendy Christie 41:42
Cool. What are you watching at the moment?
Jayvee Nava Brady 41:45
I just finished Siren. Have you heard of that?
Wendy Christie 41:48
I will check that out. I’ve heard of it, but I haven’t seen it.
Tamara Littleton 41:52
Yeah, it sounds a bit scary to me.
Wendy Christie 41:53
I’m not good with tension. If it’s too tense, I might not. Okay, so on a different note. So imagine you’re walking on stage, maybe to do your own TED Talk. When there’s an intro track playing. What would it be?
Jayvee Nava Brady 42:10
Please don’t make fun of me, but my answer to that would be, All I Do Is Win by DJ Khaled.
Wendy Christie 42:17
Love it. You know that’s really gonna get you fired up. How would your friends describe you?
Jayvee Nava Brady 42:25
All right, so I asked my friends, Grace and Val, and then my sisters, Justine and Joanne. So Grace shared “I would describe Jayvee as your instant best friend from the initial conversation, it felt like we had been friends forever. This ease stems from her genuine and warm nature, and it also explains why she’s so damn good at building and scaling global communities for major brands. She understands what individuals are looking for and helps establish meaningful connections that then scale to dedicated communities.” Thank you, Grace. And then my friend Val, Valerie, she said, “Jayvee is the kind of person who lights up every room with her bubbly energy and infectious laughter. She’s always up for an adventure full of life, and she brings out the best in everyone around her.” And then my little sister, Justine, she just said, “you’re very logical and wise, good at giving advice and caring.” Don’t we think that that’s such a little sister-like description.
Wendy Christie 43:23
It’s not what my little sister would say. But –
Jayvee Nava Brady 43:27
then my older sister Joanne, she used Chat GPT, and it said “highly goal oriented and self directed, with a strong sense of autonomy and firm personal convictions, driven and independent thinking. Who values personal judgement over external output.” I’m like, thanks for letting me know that this is how Chat GPT described me.
Wendy Christie 43:52
And how did you find that exercise?
Jayvee Nava Brady
I think it was. It’s not something that you typically ask people to provide to you. So in a way, it did feel for a second awkward to ask my friends to, you know, ask how they would describe me. And I mentioned some of them said, you know, what is it for? And so I think that seeing your friends describe you or share how they would describe you. I don’t know, it just made me feel, there’s some awkwardness to it, but I felt good hearing that, and it made me smile and it you know, there, there are things that you hear from like your performance reviews, right? They’re like, here are your strengths, and you’re like, Thank you, but it feels transactional when you when you hear that from work, but when you hear it from your friends and loved ones, I’m like, please send this to me every single day, because that would just make my day. And I think the learning from it, honestly is we should be sharing more of these for. Compliments, or just saying we got you, or like we support you, or you’re you can do this, and you make you know, people laugh, or you light up the room and it is something that I was almost. It was unexpected, because the feeling of it was not normal. But I want to normalise that, and I think not just for me to take, but also to give. So I love that that’s one of your questions.
Tamara Littleton 45:27
I think you’re right. The world would be a better place if we all complemented each other a little bit more, actually. So we can all strive to do that. So let’s talk food, a big favourite of mine. But what’s your favourite restaurant or food experience?
Jayvee Nava Brady 45:42
Okay, favourite restaurant in New York City. There’s this place in the West Village called Frevo. And I went there before they got their first Michelin star, and I remember thinking to myself, this is one of the best foods that I’ve ever had. But it wasn’t just the food, it was also the experience. And I don’t know if it is just me being in community, but I feel like when you think about going to different restaurants, it is the service that you get. It is the full experience. And of course, the food has something to do with that, but I, you know, want to give them a shout out, because they really take care of every single person that goes there, and the quality that they provide is great. Hence, now that they have a Michelin star, if I am not looking at different restaurants and I’m looking at just like I’m thinking about just food, I have to say my mom’s cooking. She makes really good Filipino food. So shout out to you, mom,
Tamara Littleton 46:43
Fantastic. And if you could wake up tomorrow with one new skill or ability, what would it be?
Jayvee Nava Brady 46:50
Given that I was just in Brazil, and I really wanted to be able to speak Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, fluently, the skill would be to be able to understand different languages.
Tamara Littleton 47:03
Wonderful. Jayvee, it’s been so brilliant to have you on the podcast. We’ve been wanting to make this happen for a long time now. So thank you for coming on and before we go, is there anything that either we wish that we had asked you, or perhaps any closing thoughts that you want to share with the audience.
Jayvee Nava Brady 47:22
No, thank you so much for having me. The Social Element team is great, and thanks for having me be part of such a beautiful podcast, because I’ve listened to a lot of your other guests as well. And I think this is such a great and unique way of understanding, sort of what we do, but kind of going a little bit deeper and understanding why we are who we are. And yeah, thank you so much to you, Tamara and Wendy, for having me, and to the entire Social Element team for all of their help when I was at Peloton, because those were some really busy times, and you guys were right in it with me and the team when we needed you.
Wendy Christie 48:10
You’ve been listening to Genuine Humans brought to you by Social Element. If you loved what you heard, remember to rate, review and subscribe.