The Best You Expo: Amplifying People’s Message & Connections

[00:00:00] Bernardo, I am delighted to be hosting you here. I had the pleasure of meeting you actually just a week ago at an event you hosted that I really, really appreciated attending called The Best You Expo. So for those of you who have not attended, it's a place where people who know a thing or two about how to make the best you all come together and share it.

And Bernardo, that was your brainchild as far as I understand. And I'm delighted that you're here. Would you like to tell us a little more about yourself?

Yes. Thank you and thank you for attending The Best You Expo. It's well, I'm an entrepreneur. I've been an entrepreneur for many years. I was born in London from Spanish immigrants, so hard workers. Lived in London till I was nine. Then I moved to Spain. I was brought up in Spain all my life.

Always interested in sales and marketing, although I used to do all sorts of jobs when I was a dj, used to work at nightclubs and all sorts of things when I was younger. But yeah,

That [00:01:00] sounds fun.

Yeah, funny enough, a lot of the things I think came to what I do today, you know? But yeah, always an entrepreneur, always interested in being my own boss and developing, you know, new ideas or things that were never created.

So I did that in real estate and I've been doing that I think in the personal development world, which is where I got into professionally. Although I've been very interested all my life in personal professional growth. I got into it in my early forties is when I changed careers and got into what I'm doing today.

Fun. If you don't mind me asking, and this is well outside of Elements of Community, but, but what is it that brought the idea out of you to create something like Best You?

Well, it was this idea that you know everyone, a lot of people use that common sentence or, you know, combination of words. The best you becoming the best, you becoming the best version of yourself. And I was already running events. I was running events for Dr. Richard Valor in London NLP Neurolinguistic Programming Events.

And I kind of started [00:02:00] identifying that, you know, the personal development world is very fragmented, where everyone's doing their own thing and there wasn't a platform that could bring everyone together. So if you didn't have a big profile or a big name, you didn't really, not saying you didn't have a stage, but it was more difficult for you to find a decent sized stage.

So, I came up with this idea of the brand, and it was always in my mind, it had to be multi-platform. It had to be global. We had to have different ways of communicating, engaging with people. So we launched a magazine, then we did the expo, then we launched the TV channel a few years later. So it was always about bringing people together, and creating a brand that, you know, for the people and for people who have a message for them to be able to share.

I love that. I actually really do. That's funny. So what you keyed in on was a bit of common language in this group of people in sort of the personal development. You said, there's an idea behind this common language that could be grown, that could be given some fertilizers, some space to grow in, maybe some light.

And let's turn [00:03:00] this, you know, from a seedling into something really big.

Yes. That was it. That that was the plan. That was kind of originally what created it all, and yeah, I mean, It's taken longer than I would've liked. Another pandemic obviously had an impact as well. Cause we were growing exponentially. Our events were getting bigger and bigger. So, you know, but it's, whatever's materializing now in 2023 was something that I thought of in 2015 or 16, I think. Yeah.

Wow. If you don't mind me saying, and I know now in 2023, it might be hard to see it. Although you may see it better than me I think that the pandemic is actually gonna catapult the industry. like, I think that people being forced to stay home and being forced to interact with Zoom, and spending more time in front of their screens than ever before, is gonna actually deepen their interest in becoming the best version of themselves and collaborating to get there.

So maybe that means [00:04:00] hiring coaches or maybe that means joining groups or showing up to expos. And, you know, we're still hungover from the pandemic. I think that's the right word. So we're still hungover from that, so we're not seeing that yet, but I think it's gonna explode in the next couple of years.

I think so too. I think so too. I think, you know, kind of, if anything I've always realized that I was always a bit of the head of the game with a lot of the things and, you know, maybe I'm ahead of the game again, you know, after the pandemic thinking that everyone got over it. So, yeah, I believe so.

I think, some people are still in some parts of the world in other parts of the world, it seems that people have got over it. But I definitely agree that, you know, there's still the degree of fear where people are still more comfortable to watch things from home. And if anything, kind of, I pushed the idea of the expert because I really believe that there's never been a more important time than now to really connect, you know, that human connection has been lost.

There's been, you know, the pandemic has impacted to a degree whereby now people are comfortable just to do a Zoom meeting instead of going to meet face-to-face for a coffee. And I get that. There's many [00:05:00] advantages around that. But on the other hand, there's nothing like that human connection of being able to be surrounded by similar, you know, like-minded individuals. Great energy. But also, I agree with you too. I think, I personally believe that the next three to five years, I believe, you know, the whole. In general, I think people are gonna really start focusing on finding ways for them to become better humans. And that is really all about elevating consciousness.

Consciousness is becoming aware of your surroundings and what's happening around you and being part of the solution. You know, and that's kind of one of the things I always say, and the reason I put this around is because the world needs leaders. The world needs leaders, and the world needs people to step up. To hold a responsibility for whatever reason they here on the planet, to dig into it, and to explore that. And that's kind of what I believe in. So, absolutely.

That's so cool. Amazing. And so what you've done is you've built a community. You've built a community of people that are focused on helping other people become the best version of [00:06:00] themselves from all sorts of different ways. Technological solutions like you know, brain Tap and NewCom, which are really powerful technology solutions.

And then coaches and, you know, educators and trainers and writers, and keynote speakers. And, and I got to interact with a lot of really focused people looking at all of the different ways each and every one of them could better and more fully impact the people around them to drive forward, to drive towards more value, better value, better me.

Yeah, no, I was just saying that, that is the responsibility that we all have is for us to be able to do more, and to connect. So, I'm excited of where the industry is going. I just think that, you know, a lot of people need to realize, I mean, I use this simple fact, I mean, a lot of people that still choose to stay at home, if they think about it, I'm in my fifties.

I spent three years technically at.

You are not. Come on.

Yes I am, I am. I look 70, but now I'm only 50. But if you think about it, I mean that represented [00:07:00] 5% of my life. So I think at the moment people start identifying. It's like understanding that we spent 11 years watching tv or we spent 25 years you know, sleeping or so come on.

You know, we have a limited time within our life and timeframe to do things, to create things, to be things, you know. So, that's why I do it because there's not a financial reason attached to it. Apart from a lot of work, stress and energy in putting these events together.

Yeah. So in order for this to be successful, you've actually had to build basically two communities. There's a community of providers, service providers, people that are of service to the world in some way. And then there's also a community of consumers, and not the rampant American consumer version, rather people who are in the market to buy and receive some of the services that are being provided by that service provider community. Tell me about building those communities.

[00:08:00] Yes. I think, it's that, it's, you know, the thing is, is that these different communities, okay, so am I within the community or you know, someone that's sharing a message. Or am I in the community of people that is looking at learning? And I think a lot of people that are in the personal professional growth understand that they are interconnected.

You know, we're all part of both communities because as an individual, I want more skills. I need more skills. I need to learn new things. I need to be open to new things. So, as a coach, as a mentor, as an author, I'm looking at new ways of how I can learn. And then there's also that transition.

Okay? So if I'm in the community or people that wanna learn, then, you know, but I still haven't taken that step forward for me to become a leader, to share my expertise. The moment I do, then all of a sudden I become part of the other community. It's all very interlinked. We're all on the same boat. We're all looking at the same ideas.

Anyone that's a coach should be learning. Anyone that's looking at learning should potentially become a teacher too. You know? Even if it's to their kids. [00:09:00]

They're kids, their best friend, you know.

Best friends, their business partners, colleagues, whatever. Yeah.

Yeah. I love it. How did you start putting together both of these two communities?

Well, I think it was really, it's just that simple sense of, you know, speakers wanna speak and share their expertise and coaches and authors wanna talk about their products. And then there's people that you know, wanna learn. So, it's that simple idea of bringing them together.

But then, as I said, what's beautiful about it is that you get to see people starting to take action and evolve, and then all of a sudden they write a book and now they wanna start sharing the stage. So, you know, over the years we've provided a platform to many people that came as an attendee, we're part of that community.

And then a few years later, they're on stage sharing their expertise, and the cycle goes on, which is lovely.

I love it. Yeah. That's amazing. It seems like to me anyway, it seems like you started with, again, I, you know, I always look through the lens of my elements of community. It seems like you started with the purpose, the common purpose, and you [00:10:00] started creating a language around that, we already talked about it.

You found the language of best you in the way people were talking. You grabbed it, you created a purpose around it, and then you started creating a whole story around that purpose. Am I picking it up right?

You are, you are. Yes. That was the intent behind it. That was a purpose behind it. And, you know, to a degree, all I am is a conduit. You know, I'm simply someone that has said, Hey, let's do this. And then it's just been great to have over a thousand, well, 1200 speakers now, kind of, you know, buying into that dream and to that vision.

But it's just been, it that was the purpose of it. But, you know, kind of, I hope that, if anything, for me, it's more about how can we reach more people? How can we connect with more people? How can we take it global? It's always been about reaching more people, that's been my intent and that's why we'll record all the talks.

That's why we put it on the TV platforms so we can really create, you know, more awareness around the world. And we've made it accessible. We were doing free tickets, so, you [00:11:00] know, there really is no reason not to get involved.

Yeah, it's, that's a price that's hard to say no to.

Absolutely.

Amazing. And while you've been putting this together, are there any special things that you did, and it seems like very simple. It seems like the answer to this is no, but I gotta ask, are there any special things that you did to help this grow a little bit faster? Build engagement, you know, drive interest faster, deeper?

Oh, I think if anything, it was really around this idea of asking speakers to, and speakers and sponsors and coaches to share this same vision for them to be able to invite their communities, you know, and it's always a challenge because, you know, we ask them to promote and then if they do or they don't, this is a different story, but it's quite simple really.

You think about it, we had 150 speakers. If each of the speakers invited a hundred people, it's 15,000 people, if each of them invited [00:12:00] 50 people, it's seven and a half thousand people. So to a degree, although I market and push and promote and do everything I can, it is an event that we can all bring a lot of people together, and it makes more sense for us to bring a bigger number of people than it does for someone to have maybe a small event with 60, 70 people plus all the expenses in promoting, and producing it.

So, you know that was something that's obviously helped really position the brand because you know, they started sharing with their communities and all of a sudden we were having very big attendance over the years.

There's competing priorities there. Let me put some words to it, and then of course you'll grow cuz you have much more experience in this than I do. Priority number one, that's my audience and I don't wanna share it. And I bet that there's a lot of that going on. And here's the problem with that, right?

Priority number two, let's look at this from a collaboration perspective. And part of that is what you just shared. Like, if you're gonna hoard your audience, then you have to pay for your own event, and that's expensive. But there's more than that. [00:13:00] How much more impressive is it to my audience for me to be standing on a stage in front of 15,000 people than it is for me to be standing on my stage in front of the 60 of them.

It's much more impressive those 60 people in my audience who show up among the rest of the 15,000 that were invited by all of the other speakers as well, are gonna look at me standing on that stage and they're gonna listen much more intently than if it was just the 60 of them in the room, number one.

Number two, how much more valuable is it to me, me personally, standing on that stage to be able to deliver my message of impact to 15,000 people rather than just the 60 that show up when I call. Right. Those two priorities are vastly different priorities. It's my audience and I'm not sharing it versus the power of collaboration.

You wanna jump in?

So, no, that is it, is the essence, is that, isn't it? It's the fact that, but it's that scarcity. It's the scarcity of ideas [00:14:00] of, you know, people thinking. But if anything, I think the beauty of it is exactly that colonization of, you know, people coming from one community to the other.

So one thing that I've been thinking about while I've been listening to you here is that your style of leadership which I personally admire, seems like, and tell me if I categorize this wrong, it seems to me like you provide exactly as much structure as is required and no more. And if, again, tell me if I got this wrong, but it seems like you would consider a great leader to be somebody who picks up on something that's important and continues to carry it as long as it needs to be them, and is willing to pass that, let's call it the mic, pass the mic to the next person when that person is ready to speak, and take it.

Yeah. I believe so. I think, you know, if anything, the event's never been about me, and I.

Yeah.

And I hope that, you know, someone comes in and takes the whole [00:15:00] responsibility away from me at a later day, you know, because I'll be happy to do that. It's the best you expo, and as lots of other expos or similar events, you know, they grow in time and you know, and they become then standalone events, you know, and there's so many examples or like big concerts as well.

So for me it's really been about providing the platform and providing a place for people to connect. As I said, you know, we grew exponentially. The pandemic obviously had an impact on us, a big one, and now we're kind of kickstarting a game where we left it in 2020. But yes, you know, I've never wanted any, obviously it's my event and I'm there, but I would love to see exposure around the world.

And I would love Joe Blogs to run the best you expo in Germany or Pizza Kartoffel in Finland or whatever, you know, kind of, I would love them to run, excuse me, best you expo around the world. So then they would provide the local speakers and influencers, a platform for them to share. And then the idea is same thing, based on the [00:16:00] same thing.

Let's record these talks, let's put them out there so tens of thousands of people can see them. Again, I think with a lot of the things, and I'm not saying that I'm ahead of the game because, you know, kind of look, I'm no creator, but a lot of speakers still focus on having 50 people in the room, or 300 people in the room.

Well, who cares if you have 60 people in the room, if there's 10,000 people watching this talk of yours in months and years to come because, you know, there's no life shelf on it because there isn't, you know, there's no life shelf on education and teaching skills, and things that are always valid, you know?

So, as I said, I consider myself a conduit. I consider myself the driving force who makes it happen. But as far as where it goes or where it can go, it's our event. It's never been my event, you know, so I always invite speakers, coaches, trainers, authors, anyone or entrepreneurs that would be interested in kind of talking to me to, hey, let's talk, let's make it happen wherever we can.

I love it. I'm gonna call a little bit of extra attention on something you dropped in there cuz I agree. I think it's something that people don't [00:17:00] pay as much attention to as they should. And that is, who cares how many people are in the room. When you create something of value, something impactful, something important, something that people need to hear and in fact also want to hear, and you put it up online and all of a sudden the 60 people in the room tomorrow becomes 120, cuz 60 more watch it.

And the next day it becomes 180, cuz 60 more watch it. And as you keep adding days, that 60 people a day. How many days before you have 15,000? How many days before you have 50,000 that have seen that thing have been impacted by your message? Even without the vanity metrics of 50,000 people who have watched your video? How powerful is that when you as a speaker, when you as an entrepreneur have had an opportunity to share a platform that there will be 50,000 people who are potentially impacted by your message. I love that you brought that up, Bernardo, and I just wanted to add a little bit of spice on that so [00:18:00] that people really let that settle in.

Thank you. Yeah, I think a lot of speakers are still thinking in the 1970s way in the 1970s fashion, you know? So for me it's about getting as much attendance as we can live, then giving people the option to watch it online, you know? Also based on, if they're not local. Cause if they're local, they should get up and go and see it or watch it, attend it, and then, you know, put it out there.

I mean, we in particular with our talks, we create, we put it on the tv on our TV network, which is the Best You tv. We put it on our Best You online platform, and then we create podcasts from them. So, it's all of a sudden, you know, got so much more reach than it would with just a normal talk. So anyway, that's been in my approach since we started the Best you.

I love it. Yeah. Powerful. Thank you. So, I've picked up a kernel of common language in the conversation that we've had, and we talked about that, where your name came from, the best you. We've picked up a [00:19:00] kernel of the purpose that you built around that the purpose of really becoming, and this is kind of cool, not everybody is in a situation where they can actually build a purpose that is itself a name.

But what you have done is exactly like, South by Southwest, which is a powerful, powerful expo. If all you heard was the name, would you know what the purpose is? No. But what you've been able to do is build a purpose into the name, which is really quite powerful.

Thank you.

How else do you incorporate the elements of community in the way that you make this a successful?

Well, I think if anything is simply by trying to provide people with this idea of hope, you know, of there's more to life. There's something that we can do. And if anything, it's just, again, those connections that people make. You know, a lot of people sometimes under estimate.

You go to an event wanting to see some speaker, you're [00:20:00] sitting in another room and all of a sudden you listen to something else or someone says something and it has a phenomenal ripple effect. So that kind of is something that's lovely to see because a lot of the times, I don't necessarily see what impact it has maybe in the community, but years after it does or it happens, or I hear about it, you know?

Or a person approaches me, hey, I came four years ago and here I am now, you know? So, that's kind of what I understand it does.

That's really cool. The ripple effect. I love it.

Mm-hmm.

That, and the way that you talk about that could sort of fall into a couple of the different elements of community. It could be value, could be the value that you provide, the value that people receive when they show up, and sort of the value that they provide when they show up as well.

It could also be, it could be sort of that, that common heart. It could be the sharing and caring and doing the work that we do with pride, and with honor.[00:21:00]

It could be. Definitely.

Yeah.

Yeah. I think at the end of the day, you know, the language that is there is this common belief that, you know, we can become better humans, we can do more. And it's clear to see, you know, when when you attend an event like ours and normally you have thousands of people there, you know, the energy's electric.

So you can just really feel that common denominator with that same intent.

Yeah. I mean, it was powerful for me. You know, I was surrounded by a bunch of really deeply motivated changemakers people who were showing up every single day to make the world a better place, not just themselves. And yes, they want to participate in this community. They want to show up for themselves here as well.

But also for everyone else, it's that sharing of value that motivates these people. And I think that's a community [00:22:00] I want to continue to be a part of.

Yep. Well, thank you and absolutely, that's the intent. We'll keep going.

Yeah. Let's keep going. Bernardo, this has been an amazing conversation.

Thank you.

I typically close out my conversations with three questions. The first one is the obvious. Where do people find you?

Well the flagship event is called The Best You Expo, so it's the BestYouExpo.com. My webpage is Bernardo-Moya.com. I'm all over Google, so I'm pretty much can be found. And yeah, I mean, you know, I'm quite active in Instagram. I share quite a lot in stories, my recent book, and so yeah, I'm around.

You're around. And congratulations on your recent book.

Thank you.

The second two are the fun ones. And these are by the way, how I bribe people to stick around for the whole episode. So, the second question is there any question that I have not asked you yet, but you wish [00:23:00] I had?

No, I, no, I don't, I don't, I mean, I try to stay very centered, and I'm a non-judgmental kind of guy, but I believe every single thing happens for a reason. And the same as every single thing happens for a reason. Everything is pre-established by the universe, by God or whatever. It happens because it has to happen.

The questions that you asked me today were the questions that were meant to be asked.

Mm-hmm. Including that one?

Including that one.

Awesome. And then the third one is what is the most impactful thing that has ever happened to you?

Well, there's been quite a few to be honest. I'm a guy that's hit rock bottom quite a few times, and I don't know. A couple of things. I think the loss of my dad at 15, the recent loss of my mom three years ago, you know.

Condolences.

Yeah. And then losing, you know, kind of a couple of businesses [00:24:00] that went down.

I was broken. I had to start all over again at the age of 26 and 40. Separation of my wife, you know, my former wife. I don't know, you know, but I've known more than anyone else. But you know, I've had my ups and downs. My down moments have been very dark. But yeah, it's who I am.

Yeah, I love it. Those are pretty impactful moments.

Yes, they are. There's a few there.

There's a few there. I have not lost my parents yet, so I don't share that pain with you, but I have lost some businesses, so I do share that pain with you.

Yes.

Yep. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Do you have any party words?

No, no. Just thank you Lucas. Thank you so much for the opportunity. And no, just really just tell everyone that, you know, kind of. We are already winners. You know, we've been put on this planet for a reason. We are here because our parents and great grandparents and multiple generations before us got [00:25:00] together.

So, many different things and circumstances had to happen. And so much information is in your DNA that's been transferred to you from thousands and thousands and thousands of years ago. So you are obliged. We're all obliged to become the best version of ourselves and you have to do it while you can and you have to push yourself as much as you can when you can.

So that's my last final words.

Love it. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Lucas. Thank you so much.

Thanks for joining us this week on Elements of Community.

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