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Meet Jerry Dean Hocek
A Message for the Youth Leadership Advisory Board (YLAB) Students
The Youth Infusion Media & Mentorship (M&M) Lab is an innovative workforce-development and digital-skills program designed to equip young people with the technical, creative, and entrepreneurial tools they need to succeed in today’s media-driven world.
Students meet every Saturday from December through April, building their skills and preparing to attend the NEPA Youth-Led Leadership Conference, where they will elevate the conference experience through digital storytelling and on-site interviews.
Through a powerful partnership between Youth Infusion and filmmaker/marketing professional Jerry Dean Hocek, students gain hands-on experience in media production, content creation, digital marketing, and storytelling. Participants learn how to plan, film, edit, and distribute high-quality media while also developing transferrable skills such as communication, strategic thinking, project management, and teamwork.
This program prepares youth for real-world opportunities by combining professional mentorship, career-aligned skill building, and community-driven creative projects. Participants collaborate on meaningful media initiatives that support local nonprofits, businesses, and community causes while gaining portfolio-ready experience and exploring entrepreneurial pathways.
Core Components
- Hands-on training in video production, editing, marketing, and digital storytelling
- Mentorship from experienced media professionals and community entrepreneurs
- Career readiness through real client projects and professional deliverables
- Entrepreneurship development, empowering students to launch creative income-generating initiatives
- Community engagement, using media to uplift stories, promote local programs, and create positive impact
Program Outcomes- Participants leave the program with:
- Marketable digital-media and communications skills
- A professional portfolio of completed media projects
- Increased confidence, creativity, and leadership abilities
- Awareness of career and entrepreneurial opportunities in media, marketing, and communications
- A strong network of mentors, peers, and community partners
- A pathway to future employment, business development, and post-secondary success
21 WEek Workshop
This is a hands-on, interactive mentorship program conducted by entrepreneur and marketing and sales professional, Jerry Dean Hocek. You will engage in creating and distributing marketing media content from the FIRST DAY of this program by executing the necessary action/process required to accomplish this in order to g
Week 1 — The Modern Attention Economy
Description: Kick off with this core principle: attention is the real currency. Learn how today’s platforms capture attention, why attention shifts, and what it means for creators and brands. A breakdown of underpriced attention, relevance, and cultural trends.
Week 2 — Self-Awareness: Finding Your Personal Advantage
Description: Explore their strengths, weaknesses, interests and storytelling angles. Inspired by Jerry Dean’s emphasis on self-awareness, this session helps each participant define their “voice,” niche, and the role they want to play as a creator or marketer.
Week 3 — Storytelling 101: Authenticity Over Perfection
Description: Overview of storytelling principles: relatability, vulnerability and narrative arc. Participants learn that authenticity beats polished corporate messaging every time. Exercises include rewriting ads to feel more human and compelling.
Week 4 — Content Is the Variable of Success
Description: Deep dive into how content drives everything in modern marketing. Participants learn the philosophy of volume + quality + contextual relevance.
Includes:
- Why quantity and iteration matter
- How to produce without overthinking
- The “document, don’t create” framework
Week 5 — TikTok, Reels & Shorts: Short-Form Domination
Description: Hands-on training with short-form video creation. Participants learn platform culture, viral formats, hooks, pacing, and editing basics. They produce 3–5 videos each to build their creative confidence.
Week 6 — Long-Form Strategy: YouTube, Podcasts & Streams
Description: Contrary to popular belief, long-form is thriving. Participants learn how deep storytelling builds trust and brand depth. Includes scripting essentials, interview basics, podcast setups and YouTube topic strategy.
Week 7 — Idea Generation: Turning Everyday Life Into Content
Description: Using Jerry Dean’s “document vs. create” method, participants learn how to extract content from daily life, personal challenges, passions, and behind-the-scenes moments. Includes a workshop on crafting 30 content ideas in one hour.
Week 8 — Branding: Designing Who You Are Online
Description: Focus on brand identity, aesthetic consistency, colors, typography, tone, and personality. Participants create simple brand kits and mood boards. Emphasis on not faking a persona — branding must back reality.
Week 9 — Social Media Strategy: Context Over Content
Description: Participants study each platform’s culture and what performs best on each. They learn that context is key — the same video shouldn’t go everywhere unchanged.
Includes a breakdown of:
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Snapchat
- X (Twitter)
- LinkedIn (yes, even for participants)
Week 10 — The “Jerry Dean Content Model”: One Piece → 30+ Assets
Description: Participants learn how to turn one long-form piece of content (podcast, talk, vlog) into dozens of clips, quotes, graphics, and posts. They practice content repurposing and system-building for efficiency.
Week 11 — Creative Execution: Filming, Editing & Production Basics
Description: Technical crash course in filming with smartphones, lighting basics, sound, and editing with popular apps. Emphasis on speed, practicality, and not letting “professional perfectionism” kill momentum.
Week 12 — Designing for Impact: Thumbnails, Captions & Visual Hooks
Description: Deep dive into scroll-stopping visuals. Participants learn graphic design essentials, thumbnail psychology, font choices, text overlays, and attention-grabbing caption strategies.
Week 13 — Influence & Community: How to Build Real Engagement
Description: Principles of community-building: reply to comments, take DMs seriously, show gratitude, and be present. Participants practice engagement tactics and learn the difference between audience and community.
Week 14 — Personal Accountability & Work Ethic (Without Burning Out)
Description: Jerry Dean’s mindset training: consistency, micro-speed + macro-patience, and managing expectations. Includes exercises on discipline, building routines, and creating a content schedule that feels inspiring, not overwhelming.
Week 15 — Empathy in Marketing: Understanding Your Audience
Description: One of the most underrated concepts: marketing = empathy. Participants learn to understand what people value, how they feel, and what problems they’re trying to solve. Exercises include creating audience personas.
Week 16 — Paid Media Basics: Ads on Social Platforms
Description: A beginner-friendly introduction to running ads on TikTok, Meta, and YouTube. Participants learn when to use paid media, how to target audiences, and how creative impacts cost efficiency. Hands-on experimentation with simple boosted posts.
Week 17 — Analytics: How to Read the Numbers That Actually Matter
Description: Forget vanity metrics. Participants learn how to interpret analytics to guide content improvement. Focus on retention, click-through rate, repeat engagement, and how to use data to experiment smarter.
Week 18 — Collaborations, Networking & Real-World Relationships
Description: Jerry Dean’s philosophy on relationships: Give more than you take. Participants learn how to reach out to creators, propose collaborations, cold DM effectively and bring value without expecting immediate returns.
Week 19 — Entrepreneurship 101: Turning Skills Into Opportunities
Description: Transforming marketing skills into side hustles:
- Editing for small businesses
- Running social accounts
- Making content for local shops
- Freelancing fundamentals
- Creating digital products
Participants explore how to monetize without sacrificing authenticity.
Week 20 — The Future of Marketing: AI, Culture & Emerging Platforms
Description: Participants are introduced to trends Jerry emphasizes: AI tools, cultural timing, new platforms, decentralized media, and “web attention pockets.” They learn how early adoption creates leverage.
Week 21 — Capstone: Build & Launch a Real Marketing Campaign
Description: Throughout the course of this program and especially in the final week, participants design and publish a full marketing campaign for a personal project, nonprofit or local business. This includes content creation, branding, analytics setup and a presentation of results.
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