# Julian Rivera: Likability Is a The Most Underrated Superpower in Business

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/burning-the-ships-6706781/julian-rivera-likability-is-a-the-most-underrated-superpower-in-business.md
Podcast: [Burning The Ships](https://stenobird.com/podcast/burning-the-ships-6706781)
Published: 2026-04-05T20:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.com/podcasts/608bcapital/2680888
Audio file: https://content.rss.com/episodes/239464/2680888/608bcapital/2026_04_01_17_23_08_60ed9b2b-09b1-4c5f-9e5c-7d5aaf991191.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/burning-the-ships-6706781/episodes/julian-rivera-likability-is-a-the-most-underrated-superpower-in-business
Duration seconds: 3038

## Resource

In this episode of Burning the Ships, I sit down with Julian Rivera — Virginia Beach-based DJ, realtor, and co-owner of Iron Valley Real Estate. Julian has never waited for permission to get in the room. He has just kept showing up, adding value, and letting the opportunities find him. Julian walks us through one of the most layered career journeys we have had on this show — from managing retail stores at 20, to driving comedians like Kevin Hart and Chelsea Handler around Hampton Roads, to burning the boats on corporate radio in January 2020, just one month before COVID shut everything down. Through all of it, one thing has stayed constant — his likability, his consistency, and his refusal to stop evolving. Key Talking Points of the Episode 00:00 How Jason and Julian met at the TRIG ambassador summit 00:41 You are the brand — whether W-2 or full-time entrepreneur 04:15 Growing up in Virginia Beach and going all in without a plan 05:49 Turning down a Jimmy Choo opportunity in New York to stay local 06:37 DJ'ing since high school and building it into a real business 07:08 Working every role at the Funny Bone Comedy Club and what it taught him 07:51 Driving Kevin Hart, Chelsea Handler, and Tom Segura on press runs before they were famous 10:16 Winning Commercial of the Year for Virginia and going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 14:31 Burning the boats on January 30th, 2020 — and COVID hitting one month later 15:07 Pivoting to real estate during COVID with zero distractions and total focus 17:13 Rookie of the Year in 2021 and Diamond Awards back to back ever since 19:30 The leadership lesson that changed everything — stop fixing weaknesses, build on strengths 28:11 The go-giver approach that opened every door in his career 29:43 Why you never know who is watching and why…

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## Transcript

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