Welcome to week 2 of Season 7! As we roll into 2026, now is the perfect time for you to hone your personal brand, starting with Step 1 of the Lead With Your Brand system. Before continuing the conversation with Disney legend, Bob Gurr, Jayzen introduces this critical step: Define your audience so you can SuperServe your SuperFans.

In a crowded, fast-changing workplace, professionals who try to appeal to everyone become interchangeable. Momentum comes from focus. Jayzen reminds listeners that opportunities don’t flow through resumes—they flow through relationships, and relationships are built when people feel deeply understood. Great brands grow by being intentional about who they serve. Careers work the same way.

By identifying the people who already trust, advocate for, and champion you—and understanding what they want, need, and care about—you create clarity around how your brand shows up and why it matters.

This step sets the foundation for becoming a super-premium brand, not a commodity.

• If you try to be everything to everyone, you become nothing to no one

Focus creates differentiation and demand.

• SuperFans drive opportunity

Promotions, referrals, and influence come from people who trust and advocate for you.

• Career Audience Avatars are about mindset, not demographics

Your most powerful supporters share values and behaviors, not necessarily titles or industries.

• Knowing your audience sharpens your brand

Clarity allows you to show up with confidence, consistency, and relevance.

• Super-serving the right people attracts others

When you focus on your core audience, broader opportunity follows.

This week, Jayzen is thrilled to continue the conversation with one of his personal heroes, Disney legend and former Disney Imagineer, Bob Gurr. Originally trained as an industrial designer with a love of cars, mechanics, and motion, Bob’s career changed forever when Walt Disney invited him to help build Disneyland. What started as a small design assignment quickly grew into a defining role.

As Bob famously says, “If it moves on wheels at Disneyland, I probably designed it.”

He’s the creative force behind some of the most iconic attractions in theme park history, including Autopia, the Disneyland Monorail, Matterhorn Bobsleds, and the Haunted Mansion Doom Buggies. Over his Disney career, Bob completed more than 100 projects directly for Walt Disney, becoming known for his fearlessness, curiosity, and ability to say yes to challenges no one else wanted.

After leaving Disney, Bob didn’t slow down—he expanded. He went on to design 150+ major projects for other clients worldwide. Now 94 years young, Bob remains an active speaker, creator, and cultural icon. His story is a living example of what Jayzen teaches: competence, curiosity, persistence, and fearlessness build a brand that lasts decades—not job titles.

Guest Bio

Bob Gurr

Legendary Disney Imagineer

Imagineer Bob Gurr has always been a man on the move. And for nearly 40 years, he’s helped move many a happy Disney theme park guests aboard vehicles and ride conveyances of his own design. As he has often quipped, “If it moves on wheels at Disneyland, I probably designed it.” And he certainly has, developing more than 100 designs for attractions ranging from Autopia to the Matterhorn Bobsleds to the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Monorails, and more.

For nearly five decades, Bob worked transportation magic developing the Disneyland Monorail Trains, the memorable Flying Saucers attraction in Tomorrowland, as well as the antique cars and double-decker buses of Main Street, Ford Motor Company’s Magic Skyway, which premiered at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, and more. Bob also designed the mechanical workings of Disney’s first AudioAnimatronics figure – Abraham Lincoln featured in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

In 1981, Bob retired early from Imagineering in order to launch GurrDesign, Inc., and three years later, joined creative forces with two former Imagineers to form Sequoia Creative, Inc. The firm, which specialized in “leisure-time spectaculars” and “fantastical beasts,” developed King Kong and Conan’s serpent featured at Universal Studios, Hollywood. Among his other mechanical feats, Bob was instrumental in creating the mysterious UFO that soared over the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. He also consulted on the T-Rex animated figure featured in Steven Spielberg’s motion picture Jurassic Park.

Bob Gurr practices a favorite life philosophy as quoted in the words of Malcolm Forbes: “While alive, live!”

Links

To book Jayzen for a speaking engagement or workshop, visit Jayzenpatria.com

Happy New Year and welcome to Season 7 of the LEAD WITH YOUR BRAND!™ Podcast.

Jayzen Patria kicks off the new season with a clear and urgent message: the rules of career success have changed—and your personal brand is non-negotiable in 2026.

Economic uncertainty, rapid AI adoption, shifting corporate priorities, and nonstop disruption have created a perfect storm in today’s workplace. In this environment, companies are no longer looking for interchangeable workers. They are looking for standout talent with a clear, trusted, super-premium personal brand.

Your personal brand is no longer about self-promotion. It’s about career ownership, relevance, and long-term opportunity.

In this episode, Jayzen breaks down why your brand determines:

• Who gets a seat at the table

• Who gets trusted with new opportunities

• Who gets paid more—and why

Key Takeaways:

• Are you coffee or are you Starbucks?

Commodity professionals are interchangeable. Super-premium brands are sought out, trusted, and paid more.

• Great work alone isn’t enough anymore

If people don’t know your value, they can’t advocate for you, sponsor you, or amplify your impact.

• Your brand earns you a seat at the table

Opportunities flow through relationships. A strong brand expands your network and builds an army of champions.

• Your brand future-proofs you in an AI world

Roles will change—or disappear—but a trusted brand allows people to follow you into new, undefined opportunities.

• Compensation is brand feedback

Salary, bonuses, and promotions directly reflect how valuable your brand is perceived to be.

• A brand is not a logo, outfit, or tagline

Your brand is your unique DNA—the sum of experiences, behaviors, and expectations others associate with you.

Jayzen grounds it all in one core truth: Your brand is the expectations people have of you—and expectations drive opportunity.

To start the year, Jayzen is thrilled to welcome one of his personal heroes: Disney Legend and former Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr.

Originally trained as an industrial designer with a love of cars, mechanics, and motion, Bob’s career changed forever when Walt Disney invited him to help build Disneyland. What began as a small assignment quickly evolved into a defining role in theme park history.

As Bob famously says, “If it moves on wheels at Disneyland, I probably designed it.”

Bob is the creative force behind iconic attractions including Autopia, the Disneyland Monorail, Matterhorn Bobsleds, and the Haunted Mansion Doom Buggies. He completed 100+ projects directly for Walt Disney, becoming known for fearlessness, curiosity, and saying yes to challenges others avoided.

After Disney, Bob went on to design 150+ major projects worldwide. Now 94 years young, he remains an active speaker, creator, and cultural icon.

His story perfectly reinforces Jayzen’s message: competence, curiosity, persistence, and fearlessness build a brand that lasts decades—not job titles.

To book Jayzen for a keynote or workshop: JayzenPatria.com

Happy New Year! As 2025 comes to a close, Jayzen Patria reflects on a transformative year and shares the most powerful career and personal brand insights from some of the podcast’s most memorable guests. This special year-end episode blends Jayzen’s own career advice with standout moments on leadership, adaptability, curiosity, authenticity, and knowing your value—all designed to help you hit the ground running in 2026.

If you’re looking to pause, reflect, and reset your career strategy for the year ahead, this episode is your playbook.

“Find a hole and fill it.”

In a year defined by economic shifts, AI disruption, return-to-work changes, and constant uncertainty, Jayzen challenges listeners to:

• Take stock of your towering strengths
• Reconnect with your passions
• Identify the needs of your boss, company, and industry
• Tailor your current role—like tailoring clothes—to better fit who you are and the value you bring

Your brand isn’t about you. It’s about the value you deliver to others.

Career advice for 2026 from past guests includes:

John Pagano — VP of Editorial, Nickelodeon Digital Studios

Don’t be afraid of the future. Stay resilient and keep moving forward, even when the path isn’t clear.

Gina Woods — Co-Founder/Owner, Donna’s Recipe by Tabitha Brown

Be ready to pivot. Embrace change and learn to enjoy the ride.

Liz Randall — Head of Operations, Strategic Development, CAA

Stay curious. Curiosity keeps you current and relevant.

Tina Shaw — Creative Director, Activision

Protect your curiosity. Your brand travels faster than your résumé—don’t wait for permission to lead.

Jennifer Kaplan — Founder & CEO, Evolve Public Relations and Marketing

Focus on your niche and remember: perception is reality.

Victoria Boston — EVP & Chief Customer Experience Officer, Tech Network Inc.

Know your worth. Ask for what you want—no apologies.

Brett Lemick — Creative Studio Manager, Ryanair

Every room needs your version of “you.” Find the tables where you truly fit.

Iva Chen — CEO, IOC Design & Consulting

Do work you love. Passion fuels energy, excellence, and fulfillment.

Emily Chang — Bestselling Author & Executive Leader

Define your own winning formula and don’t follow someone else’s version of success.

Be sure to follow for the latest shows in 2026 with some incredible guests, including:

• Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr
• Entertainment insider Dave Karger
• CEO of the American Red Cross, Cliff Holtz
• 
  

Links

To book Jayzen for a speaking engagement or workshop, visit Jayzenpatria.com