About Me

If you’re new here — as you can see, I NEED to update this page (5/5/2021)

My name is Jordan and I am the creator, owner and writer of JordanBarta.com. I was born and raised outside of Portland, Oregon. I was your typical kid growing up; playing sports, skateboarding and lifting weights. I started playing Football in the 5th grade. The reason I bring up Football is because that sport has done so much for me. It has taken me all over the world!

My Offensive Line
My offensive line ’06

At the age of 18, I decided to continue pursing football beyond the high school level. With the help of my Uncle, we sent out some football film to schools. I played defensive end and wasn’t the biggest guy… so I didn’t get many looks from Division I schools. I spoke with a handful of Division III schools in the pacific northwest, but I really wanted to move to the sun. I wanted to live in California.

My Dad & I at my high school graduation
My Dad & I at my high school graduation

One day, at the Oregon State High School Wrestling Champions, I got a call from a coach at California Lutheran University. I had no idea who he was, what he wanted or how he got my film! Next thing I know, I’m on a plane to go check out the campus and talk with the coach. Keep in mind, this is before people were putting their film on YouTube or Huddle. Nobody really tells you how to get your name out there… and I had no idea what to expect. There is no course to prepare you for the journey of being recruited for college football.

My guys after a great win! '10
My guys after a great win! ’10

Long story short, I fell in love with Cal Lu and played 4 years of college football for them. It was such an incredible experience and I learned so much in my four years at CLU. While in college, I worked for the school, I did internet market, affiliate marketing, social media marketing… you name it! I was online all the time for different groups promoting their brand. I also learned a lot while working for different start ups.

After I graduated in April 2011, I worked for a local private gym selling expensive gym memberships. Not really sure what I wanted to do yet…

Graduation day! '11
Graduation day! ’11

I decided that I’d try and play some more football! I couldn’t get any looks from the NFL or CFL… but I uncovered some opportunities within arena football. I told myself, “If you’re going to put your body through hell again, you better go see the other side of the world.” A few weeks later, I found a team in Finland that needed a defensive end. Four months later, April 2012, I was on a plane to live in Vantaa, Finland (20 minutes north of Helsinki). I spoke with the coach twice on the phone, a few times through email and signed the contract. I’d never been to Europe and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

The crew made it to Finland!
The crew made it to Finland! ’12

Man O Man, I had such an incredible time. I developed relationships with life long friends and created many great memories. After roughly 5 months in Finland, it was time to go home. I moved back to Thousand Oaks where I would walk into a manager job at Abercrombie.

When I say ‘walk into a job’, I literally mean it. I was walking around the mall with a friend and was approached by someone asking me if I wanted a job. I’d been back in the area for a few weeks and hadn’t found anything I liked yet, so why not get some managerial experience?! I took the job right before the holiday season… which was miserable!

I got the experience I was looking for, which was the important thing. I went through their manager in training course which lasted 12 weeks and became an assistant manager. It was a very good learning experience, I can tell you that! Side note; be extra nice to people working in retail. They honestly don’t want to be there! Fast forward a few months and I was antsy to play football again. I hopped back on the internet, updated my profile and started contacting some teams. I still remember exactly what I was doing when I got THE email!

I was at Abercrombie, standing by the register when I got the email, “We want to sign you, can you skype tonight?” I was so excited. I called my dad right away to see what he thought. I skyped with the coach and said I need a few hours to think about it. Next morning, I skyed with one of the Americans and then again the coach… and boom, I was in! I put my two weeks in and then was off to Germany!

Oktoberfest '13
Oktoberfest ’13

When I first got there, I lived in Munich, on one of the coaches couch. It was pretty comfy and he’s a nice guy. After a month of that, I moved in with the other American to a town about an hour north called Peutenhausen. The house was a renovated hotel, so there were 6 rooms. We had German roommates too, which was funny!

Touchdown!
Touchdown!

We had a heck of a season and finished 2nd in the league. Once again, I made some life long friends! I lived in Germany for 7 months and traveled all over the place. My Mom and Dad came out for 2 weeks and we drove around the countries. It was absolutely amazing how much there is to see. When you enter a new country, you feel like it’s a whole new place. The appreciation I developed after living there has helped shape me as a person. I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to do these things all because of Football!

Moving back to the states after 7 months abroad is a tough pill to swallow. (more to come)

My first official post, on my brand new website, with my very own name! Wow, who would have thought! (Not Me) I’ve owned and operated many websites in the past but I was using them for affiliate programs and didn’t really care about the content I was posting. Now that my name is attached to my content, I really care what I post.

I’ve always known that I needed to be blogging… but I didn’t know what I wanted to blog about. It wasn’t until I read Keenan’s book, “Not Taught”, that I KNEW I had to start writing. I reached out to him personally and began a dialogue around my topic of engagement. His response on Twitter is really what drove me to push myself out of my comfort zone!

I’ve read through his book once and I’m going to read through it again. Depending on when you’re reading this, I will have added my favorite lines from his book. He has a gift for authentic writing and I highly suggest you read it!

Another author that helped push me over the edge is Tim Ferris. He is the author of “The 4 Hour Work Week”. Especially the line, “If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think. Unreasonable and unrealistic goals are easier to achieve for yet another reason”1.

This really resonates with me because I’ve always thought “Who’s going to read my writing? Will they like it? Will I quit after nobody comments?” As far as I can tell, there aren’t a lot of people that are willing to read sales specific books and comment on their favorite pieces. The writers of these books are obviously successful. So why not add some personal flair to their writings?

The mission of this blog is to take successful books and write about their writings. I will comment about the passages that resonate most with me. I want someone to get the Ah-Ha Moment in my writing like I got while reading the book.

  1. Timothy Ferris. The 4 Hour Work Week. Page 50.