Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brett Goldfarb. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Brett, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

One thing I would change about the education system is to focus more on inspiring its students. I graduated from high school less than two years ago, and I’ve already forgotten most of the curriculum. I don’t think everything taught in today’s school system is essential. What truly matters is learning how to learn so that when you discover something you’re passionate about, you know how to dive into it. The curriculum should be built to help students explore and find what excites them. We need to find ways to let students learn from experience, not just textbooks. Everyone takes history in high school, but according to the National Center for Education Statistics, only about 1% of students go on to pursue history as a bachelor’s degree.

There was a day during my freshman year of high school when I sat in my homeroom angry, bored, and unmotivated. The school’s curriculum did not let me explore my interests. As I sat there visibly frustrated, my teacher, Mr. Goldschmidt approached and we started talking about my future. He helped me shift my mindset from paralyzing frustration to realistic inspiration. I was stuck thinking about how much I thought school sucked, and how I would get through the next four years. Once I accepted that I had no control over this, then, and only then, could I start exploring some passion projects.

I was a kid who did not need much time for my homework. I was a quick learner and did not challenge myself with my course selection. This led to a lot of time, both at home and in class, where I could experiment with hobbies, more specifically side hustles.

My most successful hustle started at the end of my freshman year and continued throughout my junior year. My sophomore year was during COVID-19 and classes were online, the perfect opportunity for me to spend nearly all of my time running a business.

Before my fifteenth birthday, I began working at a pizza shop, right before the world shut down. Here, I was introduced to the world of sports cards by a co-worker. During our shift, I would ask him anything and everything about the hobby, which is what sports card enthusiasts call buying, selling, and trading cards.

There were many different aspects to the hobby. You could be a collector, trader, breaker, or a combination. A breaker is somebody who gets a box or boxes of cards and sells sports teams to collectors. Then the breaker would open the box(s) on a live stream and ship the cards to their rightful owners, based on who purchased the team in that break. For example, if someone wanted the New England Patriots cards from a box, but didn’t want to pay for the other teams, they would purchase the Patriots in a break. After all the teams are sold, the breaker opens the box on a live stream so people can see what cards get pulled. After opening the box, the breaker would ship the cards to the customers based on the player’s team. This was a very entertaining aspect of the hobby, and many people would watch these breaks, even if they didn’t buy in. This is what interested me the most about the hobby.

I started my business, Fhamcards, by creating my Instagram account. Here I would promote my business and host my livestreams. Up until this point I had tried many other side hustles; drop-shipping, print-on-demand, woodworking and I even tried to invent the “fidget watch”. Fhamcards was different. It felt different.

I spent the vast majority of my time searching for deals on boxes I could run breaks for, as well as engaging with other people in the community via Instagram. Once I found a box I wanted to break I would post thirty-two eBay auction listings, one for each NFL team. Then, I would market the listings as best I could.

After months of building my online community, I was able to stop posting my breaks on eBay. I upgraded to handle it all independently, selling directly to customers via Instagram. I created a buzz that had people messaging me, asking when the next break was going to be. As a sophomore in high school, I was able to create and manage a community with people of various ages from all over the country.

This hobby took over my life. It was the most passionate I had ever felt. However, when I would discuss my business with my teachers, they never seemed impressed and often downplayed it. A fifteen-year-old building a business that many nights brought in four figures somehow wasn’t impressive to them.

I mention this story because this experience taught me more than school ever did. If schools encourage students to explore passions instead of ignoring them, students will better understand what they want for their future. I am not saying give each student their own curriculum, but students could benefit from exploring ideas outside of the textbooks. The lessons I learned from Fhamcards have helped me in many different aspects of my life, which is why we should be encouraging experiences over homework. I took Fhamcards far, but who knows what I could have done with the support of my school.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

For anyone who does not know me, my name is Brett Goldfarb. I am a football fan who loves playing golf when the weather is warm, and snowboarding when the weather is cold. I am two years removed from high school, and after spending five weeks at Elon University in North Carolina, I decided college wasn’t right for me. Currently, I am the founder of an early-stage marketing company, BJG Creations. I am also participating in an online entrepreneurship program called Praxis.

I got my first official job in marketing midway through my senior year of high school. I started as an intern at The Garden Continuum (TGC), a regenerative landscaping company. I still work with TGC by running their social media and other marketing projects. Before I had this internship, which graduated into my position now as a marketing assistant, I gained experience through marketing my side hustles. There were two main hustles where I learned the fundamentals of marketing, the first being the sports card company I talked about earlier, and the second was a sports podcast I recorded with my two friends. We recorded a total of thirty-nine episodes and sold custom merchandise through a Shopify website.

Today, I soak up as much information about marketing and business as I can through the Praxis program, YouTube, and other educational resources. At BJG Creations, I offer an inbound approach to social media marketing, which focuses on providing value to the consumer through the content we publish. I’ve broken this inbound approach into four categories: marketing strategy, social media management, content creation, and community development.

I’d like to highlight the last one – community development. Social media is one of the most powerful marketing tools ever created. Leading the way is Meta (formerly Facebook), which also operates Instagram. When Mark Zuckerberg was in the early stages of creating Facebook, it was only available to select schools, accessible through school-issued email addresses. Additionally, you could only connect with people from your school. Each campus ran its own server, meaning every school essentially had its own Facebook.

I mention this because the original purpose of Facebook was, at its core, to be social. Today, much of social media has shifted toward endless scrolling, with little thought about the content being consumed.

For small businesses operating in a local area, the approach to social media needs to be different. The goal isn’t to drive traffic from across the country—it’s to develop a community of people near your location and build a trusted customer base. This is what drives me the most, telling brand stories and cultivating real relationships with customers. Oftentimes, I see businesses use social media ineffectively with inconsistency and poor strategy. My goal is to help owners understand that social media can be a major asset to their company. It should be taken seriously, and not be just another task on your to-do list.

What sets me apart is the upside I can provide at an affordable price. I have built a strong foundation of marketing knowledge, and my expertise will only keep evolving. I am confident in my ability to execute, learn, and grow as a marketing professional. At this point in my career, I am prioritizing opportunities, instead of profits. It is important to me that I deliver for my clients, not just cash the checks they write.

I detail my journey from high school to where I am today in a blog I published on my site. I will link the blog here for additional information: https://www.bjgcreations.com/blog/finding-my-passion-laslx

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

A book that has influenced me heavily is Shoe Dog. It is the story of Nike and how it came to be, written by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. There were many important lessons you can learn from the book however two stuck out to me. The first is Phil’s loose management style. The way he managed his employees starting from his very first employee lived by the motto, “Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.” (Knight p.36) As someone who has worked in places with both strict protocol and loose management, I chose the ladder every day of the week. As an employee, it is liberating to have your own ideas and processes about getting the job done. As an owner, it is important to give your employees this freedom and have the humility to know that you don’t have all the answers. The only reason Google has Gmail or Facebook has the like button is because an employee(s) was free to explore new ideas and not be a mindless worker.

The second lesson that stuck out to me from Phil Knight and the story of Nike was their aggressive nature and attitude of always being on offense. Fortune certainly favors the bold. What scares me more than anything is getting complacent. Life is what you make of it, I want mine to be extraordinary so I need to do extraordinary things to make that happen. I know that is a bit of an intense response, but that is how I see it. Especially where I am now, I am too young to let life pass me by, both professionally and personally.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

My first client was received through an internship I did in high school, aside from that I have my network to thank for the rest of my clientele. My business is still in the early stages, because of this most of my clientele has come from my network. I am fortunate to have parents who have connected me well in my hometown of Framingham, MA. I plan to continue to leverage this, because it is an effective way to reach clients I can connect with on a personal level. As someone who is making a business out of developing communities and growing audiences for brands, it only makes sense that I have a meaningful relationship with my clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bjgcreations.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bjgcreations/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-j-goldfarb/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ-NZoFYBjlwQysxZ4CkFAQ