Jia Jiang Shows Rejection is Only Scary if You’re Not Used to it

“Jia’s passion, energy, and willingness to share personal examples of both fearing rejection and overcoming that fear encouraged us all to step outside our comfort zones and adjust the way we think about and interact with the world around us.” – Citi 

One of the most viewed TedTalks is Jia Jiang’s 100 Days of Rejection. It’s a video that serves as a pep talk for moments where you feel, well, rejected— Like when you didn’t get the job, you got stood up on that date, you didn’t get invited to that party, or you didn’t get into your dream school. 

Everyone experiences rejection, but it’s human nature to run away from it because it makes us feel negative emotions like fear, disappointment and embarrassment. Jia spent years running from rejection, only to find that the only way to overcome it was to not only face it, but embrace it. 

Jia came up with the idea to spend 100 days putting himself in situations where he was likely to be rejected, like asking a stranger if he could borrow $100 and attempting to buy fresh fruit at Jamba Juice. He recorded each experience and uploaded the videos to YouTube and his blog, where they went viral. 

After his first day of rejection, Jia realized that instead of running away, he needed to stand his ground and ask questions to understand why he was being rejected. What Jia quickly came to realize was that rejection had little to do with him, and everything to do with the circumstances and needs of the other person. 

Now, Jia is a Top Inspirational and Emotional Intelligence Speaker and Winner of the Toastmasters Golden Gavel Award, which is given annually to honor the best keynote speaker in the industry. Jia is also a bestselling author of Rejection Proof and developer of the iOS app DareMe, which allows people to try out Rejection Therapy on their own. 

Not only does Jia offer motivational keynotes on overcoming rejection, some of his other speech topics include resilience, strategy, sales, training and development. He also has a keynote on breaking out of stereotypes to become an influential leader. 

To book Jia Jiang or one of our other engaging motivational speakers for your next event, please contact us at info@bigspeak.com