JONATHAN GARRISON: From Punk Rock to International Business

Jonathan Garrison was a VP at Goldman Sachs, a former General Manager of Dalian Wanda Group, an Executive Producer on the movie SOUTHPAW, and is founder and CEO of En Route Media.

#046 - From Punk Rock to International Business | Jonathan Garrison

This week's guest is Jonathan Garrison. Among his other career highlights, Jon was a VP at Goldman Sachs for almost 10 years in both the US and China, a former General Manager of Dalian Wanda Group, an Executive Producer on the movie SOUTHPAW, and most recently, the founder and CEO of a new venture called En Route. Jon’s story is very unique and seriously impressive, but what’s maybe the most impressive is how humble of a guy he is, considering all that he’s accomplished. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that this is probably the only interview I will ever do with someone who can just as easily and completely authoritatively discuss helping spearhead Goldman Sachs’s entry into China, the Dalian Wanda Group’s splashy self-introduction to Hollywood for the launch of Qingdao Studios, AND rocking the stage as frontman for his own punk rock band back in the days when you could still run into Henry Rollins in the crowd, or have someone pull you up onstage to belt out a song with him before tossing the mic and diving back into the mosh pit. This is a good one.

Of course I hope you listen to the whole interview, but moving forward I am taking a queue from my friend Fei Wu and am now going to bullet point my show notes with a rough timecode reference so that you can skip to the part you’re most interested in hearing - ideally for a second time. However you listen, though, I can glad that you do and I hope that you enjoy.

This episode of “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” is brought to you in part by our sponsor, Stackry. Stackry is the global leader in international parcel forwarding from the US to anywhere in the world. The way it works is that you shop at any US retailer, have your packages shipped to your Stackry address, and once everything has arrived, Stackry consolidates your stuff and ships it to you anywhere in the world, even China, saving you up to 80% of the shipping costs versus shipping things directly from the store. Stackry provides free storage, same day consolidation of your packages, and a tax-free US address for you to use. This week’s update is that I am now working to build my next Stackry shipment, so my story will continue! I need some things for Summer from the US, and Stackry makes it easy and cost-effectve for me to get them here in Beijing, but you can use their site and get your Stackry story started, too. Sign up TODAY via the link below, and use the offer code BIGFISH at the checkout to save 10% off your first shipment. 

And one quick program note that another special live episode from an Entrepreneur’s Organization event drops this Friday China time, so check back for that. 

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:
[3:30] - Jon Garrison intro / early days
[7:00] - From Utah / Boston / China intro
[11:00] - Goldman Sachs: from the US to China
[13:30] - Building a business and a life in China
[16:30] - Dalian Wanda group: Hollywood outreach & Qingdao Studios
[35:30] - Back to the US: Park City Studios
[37:30] - Back to China: En Route Media
[50:30] - Chinese cooking
[52:00] - Rock and punk roots: Sex Pistols, Black Flag, Agnostic Front, Dag Nasty, Slayer, and more

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SPONSOR:
Stackry “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” sign-up link: http://bit.ly/BigFish2018 or (if bit.ly doesn’t work for you) https://www.stackry.com/?utm_source=Big_Fish&utm_medium=Campaign&utm_term=10%25

Use the offer code BIGFISH at the checkout, and save 10% off your first shipment!

BD’s “My Stackry Unboxing Video": https://youtu.be/FvEWXxzZm3I 

GUEST:
Jon Garrison / En Route: http://www.enroute-global.com/

HOST / SHOW:
“Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigFishMiddleKingdom/
Brendan Davis on WeChat: BrendanDavis
Brendan Davis on Twitter: @VeritasInLux
Other links to LISTEN: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/podcast-links/