Edwin Mejia Jr of Generation Iron Brands & The Vladar Company: Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A CEO

An Interview With Doug Noll

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The digital media industry, including the streaming content world is heavily influenced by technological advancements. We also always continue to grow when we invest in improving our platform, new technologies related to content creation, distribution, and engagement. We are a digital first brand leveraging our library of content, news and new technology to enhance the quality of our programs and services.

As a part of our series called ‘Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A CEO’ we had the pleasure of interviewing Edwin Mejia Jr., founder of Generation Iron Brands & The Vladar Company.

Edwin Mejia Jr. is the founder of Generation Iron Brands and The Vladar Company, two fully integrated media companies involved in producing and distributing media for film, TV, live events, digital platforms, publishing, news and entertainment. Mejia has produced and distributed over 30 titles and leads business development, production, acquisitions, as well as manages content strategy and worldwide multimedia IP distribution needs. Today, Generation Iron is a leading multi-media publisher in fitness and strength sports reaching millions of readers. He currently serves as chairman of the board for BronxNet TV.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I was born in the Bronx and raised in Flushing, Queens, NY. Son of Dominican immigrants, I started my journey working as an intern in Smith Barney’s Asset Management Group during my sophomore year in college at Pace University. After two years of collegiate sports I realized very quickly that in order for me to land a job at a top investment bank upon graduating college I needed experience in the finance world. I had no friends or family in the finance world to guide me. That was my goal.

Six months prior to graduating, I was offered an analyst position at Lehman Brothers. I spent over six years working on Wall Street in finance with Lehman Brothers, Smith Barney and Fidelity Investments. During his six-year tenure in finance, I managed over $4 billion of Commercial Real Estate Holdings, the funding of warehouse lending lines of credit for Lehman Brothers and managed a portfolio of over 700 private and institutional accounts at Smith Barney.

I learned a substantial amount and met brilliant people. I quickly realized I wanted more, my artistic ambition grew and I was inspired by my college buddy who was directing his first feature titled, Last Day of Summer. I ended up putting in my two weeks notice in at Lehman in May of 2008 and then went on to help my buddy Vlad Yudin, who became my business partner and well-respected film director to produce my first two films. Big Pun The Legacy, a music documentary, and Last Day of Summer, my first feature film. Music studios at the time had a lot of challenges with promoting and marketing music catalogs, so we knocked on every door we could, rejection after rejection, and found a way to produce a few music biopics with studios like EMI and Sony Music to get started. Fast forward, over the past ten years, I have been responsible for developing an extensive production slate, producing, distributing, and marketing a catalog of over 30 titles. I currently lead business development, in-house productions, co-productions, acquisitions and manage the company’s worldwide multimedia IP distribution and content licensing needs.

In 2013, I was responsible for producing the hit film, Generation Iron, alongside director Vlad Yudin and Jerome Gary (Pumping Iron). The film was among the top 10 highest grossing documentary at the box office. I negotiated all the domestic and foreign sales on the title. I then went on to Executive Produce the Mr. Olympia Live Show in Las Vegas along with the Arnold Classic Broadcast in Columbus, Ohio. In 2014, I helped found The Generation Iron Media Network, now a leading independent multi-media strength sports publisher and producer in the world. I now lead a team out of New York that is part of a vertically integrated company that owns and operates several lines of business including original programming, content licensing, content marketing, podcasting, publishing, gym franchising, and operates media brands such as Strength Wars and Generation Iron Gyms.

Since 2015, I have produced titles such as The Hurt Business with Jim Czarnecki (Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11) and narrated by Kevin Costner; The Generation Iron film installments 1,2,3 and 4, Ronnie Coleman The King, Dorian Yates The Original Mass Monster life story biopic; KAI, the Kai Greene life story biopic with Matt Maxson (The Last Dance), Jeremy Scott The People’s Designer (Matt Kap producer of Valentino), and many others. Today, Generation Iron is a global content producer, distributor and multi-media publisher working closely with talent, consumer brands in fitness, strength sports and health/wellness.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

I can think of a few interesting and intriguing stories I can mention. One was meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger early on in my career. It was quite an honor but I never expected to also work with him. We met Arnold on the set of our film Generation Iron, a film we produced with Jerome Gary, one of the original producer’s of the popular film, widely known for discovering Arnold titled Pumping Iron. His role and interview in our film proved to be pivotal for us because Arnold is the most respected and celebrated bodybuilder of all time.

The film was widely credited for being a sequel of sorts to Pumping Iron and our success on that film opened many doors for us in the strength sports, bodybuilding and fitness world. It ultimately allowed us to grow Generation Iron into a multi-media network and brand that reaches millions of readers/viewers and listeners. We started cultivating that audience and producing premium content in the strength sports space. This also led to producing the Arnold Classic Broadcast event to a live audience worldwide. And we eventually executive produced the Mr. Olympia Show in Las Vegas for a few years.

Since then, our platform has grown to become the leading independent strength sports content platform in the world. Our library features the most prominent names in the fitness, combat and strength sports. We also bridged our premium content with service-minded coverage. This means expert driven workout tutorials, tips, reviews on top brands, contest coverage of the latest fitness events and bodybuilding shows and daily coverage of trends in the worlds of health and wellness. Our content has really motivated us to continue providing the tools people need to live life stronger, well-informed and entertained.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Our very first office in NYC was an editing suite we were renting at a studio called Post Works. It was a small room dedicated for editing films/content/docs and we were leasing the space to finish one of our projects. We ended up converting the editing room into our office space to take advantage of the cheap rent in Manhattan. We continued to extend the term on our lease for the first two years until the landlord realized we were no longer using the room to edit our films which was its intended purpose, but rather using it as an office space. We were soon kindly asked to leave our space and our journey for new office space in New York city started.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I am grateful for my business partner and director Vlad Yudin. He put a lot of trust in me and really believed in my ability to help produce our projects and build our business. Leaving a stable full time job and career in finance to work in film and media on our own was a massive risk. Especially during a time when we were facing a recession and entrepreneurship was not as popular as it is today. We had no real help, financing, investors or backers. We essentially used the profits from our first two features to reinvest into our working capital and continue producing projects.

Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader?

As the head of distribution and content licensing at Generation Iron and Vladar Films, we often faced a challenging decisions regarding the licensing of our content, films and original programs early on. We soon realized it would be a mistake to license away all rights to our programs to studios and networks. Our long-term sustainability and growth really hinged on our ability to distribute, market and sell our own content directly to our growing audience. Therefore, very early we made the difficult decision to turn down substantial license fees and retain rights to our catalog This allowed us to begin establishing our own output deals with networks such as Prime, Netflix and Google. Retaining rights to downstream revenue windows and bifurcating the rights to our content meant having more control and evergreen ongoing royalties for our growing catalog.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a CEO or executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what an executive does that is different from the responsibilities of the other leaders?

As an executive in a multi-media publishing and content distribution. I have to say you must wear many hats and work on crafting a comprehensive content strategy that spans different media formats. This role involves understanding audience behaviors, integrating content across different platforms, and developing monetization strategies that capitalize on the strengths of each our mediums. This also means working as a content marketer, sales/partnerships, content quality, monetization strategies, content acquisition and strategy.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive? Can you explain what you mean?

There are many myths that any executive or CEO can face. Personally, the idea that executives or CEOs always hire the right people is a huge myth. I can take responsibility for making mistakes in the hiring process but also learning from them. There is also this myth that executives have full control over everything. That is never usually the case in many businesses, small and large. Lastly, the idea that executives are always focused on the big picture is not accurate. I see myself involved in the day the day operations of our company.

What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

The biggest difference is that I realize my actual job essentially involves me learning and improving each day. Multi-media production, distribution and publishing is constantly evolving. I find myself learning to become a better leader by investing more of my time in learning key skills, new innovations and technology.

Do you think everyone is cut out to be an executive? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful executive and what type of person should avoid aspiring to be an executive? Can you explain what you mean?

Personally I feel everyone has to be executive of their own life. I do think a strong and effective executive shares several traits that create long-term success, such as communication, decisiveness, strategic risk taking, adaptability and resilience.

What advice would you give to other business leaders to help create a fantastic work culture? Can you share a story or an example?

The most important advice I can give to create a solid work culture is to prioritize constant collaboration, communication, recognizing achievements and contributions and simply listening for constructive feedback. In my case, we have monthly meetings to listen to new feedback on what we all feel we can do differently as an organization and team. We currently have over 10 productions to manage at any given time, therefore it is critical we discuss priorities of each of the members of our team first.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I am proud to serve as chairman of the board at BronxNet TV. BronxNet is an independent not-for-profit organization serving the people of the borough of the Bronx, New York, through the provision of media production training, access to technology, and cable television channels. BronxNet’s ultra-local programming helps connect the people of the Bronx with the world, while their training programs and partnerships are a part of community development. My experiences with production, content marketing and distributing multi-media content help guide the mission of BronxNet in meaningful ways. I now work with a distinguished group to create positive changes at BronxNet TV.

Fantastic. Here is the primary question of our interview. What are your ‘Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A CEO’
and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Hiring and building a strong team will be extremely difficult but crucial to success.

Nurturing talent and being able to find good talent is a skill. The team and the individuals you bring on to work with you will become your most valuable assets. You must surround yourself with talented individuals who complement your skills and bring diverse ideas, processes and perspectives. Investing in team development and in their skills will contribute to the company’s success.

2. You must adapt and innovate.

The digital media industry has evolved rapidly due to technological advancements, tons of premium entertainment options and changing consumer preferences. Readiness and being able to adapt and innovate is important. I find myself constantly learning, staying informed on industry trends, and managing our content strategy initiatives often to stay ahead of the curve in the content marketing and distribution space.

3. Effective sales & communication.

As a leader, manager or CEO, you are constantly selling and communicating with others with whom you want to collaborate. Being able to articulate your vision, strategy, and long term expectations is crucial. Clear communication and vision helps build trust and helps execute strategic plans.

4. You must always understand and cultivate your audience.

One of the single most important factors to our evergreen content success has been our audience. Understanding the preferences, and needs of our target audience has been fundamental to creating and publishing new content that engages our audience. You must spend time analyzing data to stay informed about what your audience consumes and adjust accordingly.

5. Invest in your platform’s technology.

The digital media industry, including the streaming content world is heavily influenced by technological advancements. We also always continue to grow when we invest in improving our platform, new technologies related to content creation, distribution, and engagement. We are a digital first brand leveraging our library of content, news and new technology to enhance the quality of our programs and services.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

In my case I would be focused on fostering a community filled with education in health, media training, technology training, global empathy and understanding. I would also encourage working with international organizations to break down barriers, educate, promote open-mindedness, and encourage people to connect with and understand one another across cultural, social, and geographical divides worldwide.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated. — Maya Angelou. This quote has always spoke to me. As an entrepreneur, there have been so many moments where I just wanted to give up. In our business, there were many instances where we had to pivot, change and innovate in order to grow our business. We saw this vividly in the publishing world and see how streamers transformed the film/TV model.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

There is. That person would be Alex Rodriguez. Alex Rodriguez has become a role model for many including myself. To me Alex exemplifies someone who grew up similar to many I know and took advantage of the right opportunities to transition from sports to the business world and is notably successful. His ability to navigate this transition and establish himself as a successful entrepreneur, real estate investor and professional team owner reflects adaptability and strategic planning.

I commend him for giving back to his community as well. He has become an example in the business community and has become a great example to many fathers balancing work and life.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

About the Interviewer: Douglas E. Noll, JD, MA was born nearly blind, crippled with club feet, partially deaf, and left-handed. He overcame all of these obstacles to become a successful civil trial lawyer. In 2000, he abandoned his law practice to become a peacemaker. His calling is to serve humanity, and he executes his calling at many levels. He is an award-winning author, teacher, and trainer. He is a highly experienced mediator. Doug’s work carries him from international work to helping people resolve deep interpersonal and ideological conflicts. Doug teaches his innovative de-escalation skill that calms any angry person in 90 seconds or less. With Laurel Kaufer, Doug founded Prison of Peace in 2009. The Prison of Peace project trains life and long terms incarcerated people to be powerful peacemakers and mediators. He has been deeply moved by inmates who have learned and applied deep, empathic listening skills, leadership skills, and problem-solving skills to reduce violence in their prison communities. Their dedication to learning, improving, and serving their communities motivates him to expand the principles of Prison of Peace so that every human wanting to learn the skills of peace may do so. Doug’s awards include California Lawyer Magazine Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America Lawyer of the Year, Purpose Prize Fellow, International Academy of Mediators Syd Leezak Award of Excellence, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals Neutral of the Year. His four books have won a number of awards and commendations. Doug’s podcast, Listen With Leaders, is now accepting guests. Click on this link to learn more and apply.