Seven years ago, I was just a kid with a hunch.

Brands didn't understand Gen Z. 

I saw the gap and knew it had to be fixed.

But the thing about being an 18 y/o dropout with no experience, clients, or money?

No one gives a shit.

I had to go prove it.

I scratched. Clawed. Worked like hell to just get a chance.

I got a shot and took it.

Trndsttrs was born. 

The idea became a team.

A team that would prove our thesis brick by brick. 

The stakes grew and so did the team.

We helped McDonald's navigate COVID. 

We launched your favorite brands on TikTok and hacked the algorithm.

We changed the vertical content game forever. 

We helped brands break through the noise. Built creator partnerships that mattered. And ran campaigns that didn't sell into culture, but shaped it.

We built, pound for pound, the best Gen Z team in the world.

But here's what they don't tell you about building something from scratch:

You don't just learn how to solve problems. 

You learn to spot the ones that keep coming back.

For years, we solved the same problem over and over again.

Every campaign, every deal, every strategy—it all pointed to the same gap.

The brand <> creator ecosystem is broken.

We worked around it. We filled the gaps ourselves.

Until one day, we realized we weren’t just filling the gaps.

We were building the solution.

Now I find myself building RoC (return on creators).

Not a new idea—it’s the culmination of everything we’ve built, everything we’ve learned, and every challenge we’ve solved along the way.

This is our moonshot. Beaten and battered grapes forming our magnum opus.

I'll continue to operate with Trndsttrs as the premier social commerce agency—partnering with a select group of brands to drive results on the fastest-growing commerce platforms in the world.

Jake Bjorseth

My brother sends me 2-3 business ideas a week. 

Today’s was a portable gym brought in a u-haul like truck to your house… 

The other day it was a social media app exclusively for bodybuilders. 

I think AI was included somewhere in there…

On a totally unrelated note, is anyone hiring?

Social Commerce + Creator Marketing | Mom's Favorite Son

If you’re pushing content on LinkedIn to get likes and comments, you’re missing the bigger picture. 

98% of your content viewers will never engage. 

And the “big dogs” don’t ever do anything public here. 

Play for likes and followers all you want. 

But the true value here is the lurkers that are keen to do business and won’t ever comment “strategy” for you to send them a PDF. 

Ignore the “seen” audience, that’s just a drop in the bucket. 

Play for the unseen market

The older I get, the smaller my world feels.

And I'm questioning whether that's wisdom or weakness.

I haven't a clue what is going on in Iran.
Didn't watch a second of the State of the Union.
Not following the market or any news channels.

It bothers me, because I used to care deeply about it all.

I felt a greater burden of the world's problems were my direct responsibility to at least follow and have perspective on. 

Now?

My attention is entirely on my direct world view.

The team I lead.
The brands trusting us.
The technology and platform we're building.
My close friends, brothers, immediate family.
My fiancee I'll marry in 86 days.

My world has narrowed greatly, and with it, so has my bandwidth for what penetrates my skull of, for lack of better term:

Giving a shit.

The closer I get to a family of my own, the greater concern I have for my immediate perimeter. 

Build well.
Lead well.
Provide well.
Protect what's in my care.

Is this clarity tied to wisdom, maturity, and having real stakes in my own life for the first time?

Or is this unempathetic convenience? The death of my own altruism?

I tell myself it is focus... prioritization of what matters.

I just hope greatly it's that and not indifference.

PepsiCo just tested something way bigger than a TikTok campaign. 

Frito-lay launched “Flavor Swap” exclusives directly on TikTok shop. 

• Cool Ranch Dorito flavored Ruffles
• Cheddar Sour Cream Ruffles flavored Doritos
• Lays BBQ Chip flavored Cheeto 

Influencer collabs featured on the package for each:

• Dude Perfect
• Speed (streamer)
• Madison Beer

Since launching Feb 13, the results are pretty wild:

$850k in direct Revenue
1,000 active creators promoting
$18 per unit price 

Now even $1M/mo means absolutely nothing to Pepsi. 

But what matters is generating a buzz and signal ahead of their retail rollout. 

These new flavor swaps officially hit the stores Mar 1 now launching with 20M+ conversion intent impressions already established. 

Could this be the new CPG retail rollout?

No alternative text description for this image

In the AI arms race, every brand needs to figure out how this will impact the creator economy.

Who are the 5, 10, or 100 creators that your brand can consistently work with across product collabs, UGC, ad-content, and affiliate marketing?

AI will ruin creator outreach forever, with any halfway decent creator receiving invites to collaborate in all of their DMs and inboxes with hundreds of opportunities.

AI creators and AI-generated content will become such a large percentage of content online that truly authentic content will be prized like Art. The value will only go up. 

You do not need more content creators. You need the right handful that actually matter.

Tyler Watson

Kinder's Premium Quality Seasonings & Sauces

Enterprise & Emerging Categories

Spanglish Asadero

Dan-O's Seasoning

Led the transformation of Dan-O’s from a Kentucky flea market booth into one of the most disruptive challenger brands in the category--driving growth and distribution in Grocery, Mass, Club, Hardware, Value/Dollar, and other key brick-and-mortar channels.

🌶️ Bain & Co.’s Insurgent Brands List (2024, 2025)

SVP, Head of Sales

The UPS Store

Franchise Sales & Business Development

Sales & Business Development

Relax The Back

Sales

The Medical Institute of Kentucky

Area Director

Admissions Representative

The Walking Company Holdings, INC

General Manager

Shoe Store

Slangin’ soles at Tradehome and Knotts Shoes 👟👞👡

Shoe Dog

Back of House

Dishwasher

By the time I reached 16, I was a new dad and a high school dropout.

For the next two years, I was stuck washing dishes in the back of house.

One day my shift lead—who would later become my wife—proposed a new path. She suggested I try my hand at selling shoes at a store in the mall that was hiring.

From the moment I stepped onto a sales floor, I was captivated, and I steadily ascended the ranks in retail management over the next couple of years.

However, I kept hitting a ceiling due to my lack of experience and education, which prompted me to reinvent myself repeatedly.

I continuously expanded my skillset—transitioning from managing retail stores and higher ed campuses to selling and supporting franchise businesses.

During this journey, I gained profound insights into the psychology of consumer behavior and got pretty damn good at talking to folks. 

Now I’ve found a home in the CPG space as a sales leader and pioneer with an aspiration to help build disruptive brands that redefine innovation from wall to wall.

I’d be honored if ya follow me as I continue writing an underdog story! 🌶️

Vice President of Sales

I was 28 years old, smilin’ and dialin’ butcher shops and marinas for a few cases of seasoning when I started posting on here…

I had a history of short stints in scrappy sales gigs—none of them in CPG.

1,800 LinkedIn connections. Very few—if any—were relevant to what I was doing.

No college degree. Didn’t even finish high school. 

Two young kids and a pregnant wife working her ass off in hair salons so I could prove I was “built for sales.”

I asked myself, “what’s so special about any of that?”

The answer was simple—all of it. 

So I committed to sharing the hardships publicly… the stuff most people won’t, for fear they’ll be judged or “found out.”

Being a teenage dad
Addiction (drugs and alcohol)
High school dropout
Getting fired multiple times 
Rehab, jail, probation
Anger issues I’m still working on

The list goes on and continues to grow—even today. 

But what if I told you that people who’ve never met me feel more deeply connected to me because what I’ve exposed publicly is what they’ve been battling in private?

It’s often the things we’re told we should be ashamed of that connect us with our fellow humans on a much deeper level.

Shame loses its power when you say it out loud.

From dishwasher to disruptor. Follow me for the underdog story. 🌶️

We study. We fly. We land. 
We shop. We prep. We cook. 
We feed. We partner. 

All the things I love most about being in the flavor game. 

This week we met with the Grilling team at Lowe’s—and cooked the entire menu on a stovetop, crockpot, and air fryer.

Most would call it a disadvantage when you’re selling to a grilling occasion.

But what it proved is the real power of Kinder’s—utility away from the grill. 

Something you can still reach for when you’re outta pellets or propane… 

…when the weather turns…

…or when the grill at your Airbnb sh*ts the bed before your meeting 👀

Something you can count on, no matter your circumstances. 

That’s Kinder’s 🌶️

The most underrated place to sharpen your emotional intelligence (EQ)…?

Your neighborhood HOA 🏡

People don’t play about where they live—so it sharpens you for environments where the stakes are higher.

Walking the dog. Taking your kids to the playground. Sitting at the pool. You’re gonna hear opinions.

Nowhere’s safe. Keeps ya on your toes.

🏠🏠🏠

My top takeaways from nearly 4 years of public service between being a City Commissioner and an HOA President…

🧰 Open Forum has taught me to separate listening from solving. I’ve realized people move faster when they feel heard. And I like fast.

🧰 Making motions often signals the start of something new—so it’s a great moment to assign ownership and hold one another accountable to follow through. (And asking “all in favor?” never gets old.)

🧰 It requires a Change Agent’s mentality to really press in for policy change—no matter how small. If people feel 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 though, a little sense of urgency is actually exciting.

🏠🏠🏠

It’s not a job I need, but a responsibility to steward tough topics that deserve attention.

Those topics are almost always emotional because they feel personal to everyone—it’s where we live.

And when emotions are high, logic is low. 

I often walk away from our meetings feeling like I conducted myself poorly.

Not enough patience. Too harsh. Not clear enough.

And sometimes, I’m immensely proud.

But every time, we move something forward.

Progress over perfection.

#HOA #community #leadership

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The Battle

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