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I get my blood work done every 90 days and I swear it's the ultimate tip for health in the short term and in the long term and just feeling your best on he daily. So, today I'm going to try to convince you to do the same. Because there is a huge difference between being "not sick" and being truly healthy and if you aren't getting your bloodwork done at least once a year, you really don't know what's going on. Most people only get blood work done when something is wrong. When they feel bad. When they are exhausted. When a symptom won't go away. When a doctor orders it because something already happened. Instead of doing it reactively, we are talking about doing it proactively. How can you know what your body needs? What supplements or adjustments to your lifestyle… it's almost impossible without bloodwork. It tells you how your hormones are functioning. How inflamed your body is. How well you are absorbing nutrients. How your cholesterol is trending. How stressed your nervous system is. How your metabolism is working. How your immune system is functioning. Today's episode is about why doing blood work every 90 days can completely change your relationship with your health, how the top longevity experts think about tracking biomarkers, how it helps you personalize supplements and lifestyle instead of guessing, and how it allows you to catch problems early before they become a real problem.  Let's go! Your blood work is your internal dashboard. It's crazy that most people are driving their body blind!! I do full blood work every 90 days and I swear by it.  I'm going to break it all down today. Every 90 days I sit down with my functional medicine doctor, Dr. Singler, and we go through everything. We look at what's trending up. What's trending down. What needs support. What needs to be addressed. We adjust supplements. We talk about lifestyle changes. We sometimes talk about peptides. We look at stress markers like cortisol. We look at hormones. We look at inflammation. We look at cholesterol. We look at nutrient deficiencies. It's not just "do you have a disease." It's "what is your body asking for." And that quarterly check-in has become one of the most powerful forms of self-care I do. Today's episode is about why doing blood work every 90 days can completely change your relationship with your health, how the top longevity experts think about tracking biomarkers, how it helps you personalize supplements and lifestyle instead of guessing, and how it allows you to catch problems early before they become diagnoses. Because knowledge is power. And when it comes to your health, awareness is leverage. ***Why the Best Health and Longevity Experts Obsess Over Biomarkers When you listen to people like Peter Attia, Andrew Huberman, and leaders in longevity medicine, one theme is constant. You can't manage what you don't measure. They talk constantly about biomarkers. Blood markers. Hormones. Cholesterol. Glucose. Inflammation. Nutrients. Stress markers. Not because numbers are the goal. Because trends tell the truth. You don't need to wait until something is "out of range" to take action. You can see patterns forming. You can see directions your health is moving. You can intervene early. Longevity is not built by reacting to disease. Longevity is built by managing risk decades before disease shows up. Blood work lets you see inside the body instead of guessing from the outside. Energy, mood, sleep, weight, anxiety, motivation, focus, hormones, immune function… all of it leaves fingerprints in your labs. *** Why Every 90 Days Is a Sweet Spot Doing blood work every 90 days creates a rhythm. It's long enough for meaningful changes to occur. It's short enough to catch problems early. It's frequent enough to personalize your approach. This cadence allows you to: • See how supplements are actually working • Know if lifestyle changes are helping • Track hormones as they shift • Monitor cholesterol trends • Watch inflammation markers • Identify deficiencies before symptoms • See how stress is impacting your body It turns health into an ongoing relationship instead of a once-a-year appointment. Rather than living on autopilot, it becomes a quarterly check-in. "How is my body actually doing?" "What does it need right now?" "What needs to change?" ***The Power of Baselines One of the most underrated benefits of regular blood work is baselines. When you know what your normal looks like, everything changes. If something shifts, you see it faster. If you get sick, you have something to compare to. If symptoms show up, you're not starting from zero. Your baseline becomes your personal health fingerprint. This is especially powerful with hormones, thyroid, cholesterol, inflammatory markers, glucose, and nutrient levels. Medicine is often built around population averages. But health is personal. Your optimal range is not always the same as "normal." Blood work every 90 days teaches you your body. ***Personalization Instead of Guessing Most people take supplements blindly. They try what's trending. What a friend is taking. What TikTok says. What an ad promises. Blood work removes guessing. You stop throwing things at your body and hoping. You start making informed decisions. When I review labs with my doctor, we are not just looking for problems. We are optimizing. We adjust supplements based on what my body is actually showing. We talk about hormones. We talk about stress. We talk about sleep. We talk about hydration. We talk about inflammation. We talk about recovery. If cortisol is elevated, the conversation shifts to lifestyle, nervous system, sleep, slowing down, hydration, sauna, recovery. If something is low, we talk about absorption, nutrition, and targeted support. It becomes a dialogue with your body instead of a guessing game. ***Emotional Health Lives in the Labs Too This is not just physical. Your labs often reflect your emotional and mental load. Stress hormones. Inflammation. Blood sugar instability. Nutrient depletion. Your body keeps the receipts. Blood work gives you objective data to support lifestyle changes. Sometimes the answer is not another supplement. Sometimes it's rest. Sleep. Boundaries. Sunlight. Movement. Slowing down. It's incredibly empowering to see that connection clearly. It turns self-care into strategy, not indulgence. ***How I Do It and How You Could Do It The way I do it is higher touch and more expensive. I use a mobile blood draw that comes to my house. Then I schedule a long call with my functional medicine doctor to go through everything. We take our time. We look at the full picture. We build a plan. But you do not have to do it that way. You can ask your doctor to order labs. You can go to a clinic and make an appointment so you're not waiting forever. You can get a basic panel and build from there. You can even upload your results into ChatGPT and use it as an educational tool to help you understand what the markers mean and what questions to ask your doctor. This doesn't have to be complicated. It just has to be consistent. ***Why This Is One of the Best Investments You Can Make We spend money on convenience. On clothes. On food. On homes. On trips. On businesses. But nothing affects the quality of your life more than the quality of your health. Energy. Mood. Confidence. Focus. Longevity. Relationships. Joy. Blood work every 90 days is not an expense. It is intelligence. It is prevention. It is personalization. It is early detection. It is self-leadership. It is saying, "I care about how long I live and how well I live." ***Most people wait for symptoms to tell them something is wrong. But by the time symptoms show up, your body has usually been whispering for a long time. Blood work lets you hear the whispers. It lets you see trends before problems. Adjust before crashes. Support before burnout. Correct before disease. For me, doing blood work every 90 days has become a quarterly health check-in with myself. How am I really doing? What does my body need? What needs to change? What needs support? It keeps me connected to my health instead of disconnected from it. And I truly believe this is one of the most powerful forms of preventative self-care anyone can adopt. So if you take anything from this episode, let it be this. Don't wait for something to go wrong.  Start tracking your health while things are going right. There's nothing more important or worth spending your time and money on!

https://youtu.be/knpxJ7KATsU Joshua McMahon, President of McMahon Custom Homes and a business coach, is driven by a purpose he discovered the hard way: money wasn't his ‘Why.' His real ‘Why' is lifting others—helping people find clarity around their purpose, unlock their potential, and gain traction toward it. We explore Josh's journey from C-suite construction leadership and integrator roles to building his own company as an “evolved visionary.” Josh shares his Satisfaction Pyramid, explaining how customer experience is created upstream through brand awareness, team support, trade partner support, and training, which together produce the outcome every builder (and business) is chasing: customer satisfaction. Along the way, he breaks down why the construction industry struggles with talent, how coaching becomes a competitive advantage, and why McMahon Custom Homes wins through transparency, collaboration, and guiding clients to align budget with what truly matters. — Take 5 Steps to Satisfy Customers with Josh McMahon Good day, dear listeners. Steve Preda here, the Founder of the Summit OS group and the host of Management Blueprint. And my guest today is Joshua McMahon, the president of McMahon Custom Homes and a business coach. Although I don’t know how much time you have for that these days, josh. Welcome to the show.  Yeah, thanks for having me, Steve. We go a long way back, so it’s an honor to be a business owner and now be on your show.  Well, yeah, you are a business owner. In your previous, recent life, you was an integrator, a COO of a business. So you’ve been running construction businesses and have been C-level in other construction businesses, where we also collaborated. So we have been tracking each other’s journey, for sure. So, Josh, let’s start with my favorite question. What is your personal ‘Why’, and how are you manifesting it in your business?  Yeah. I think this is always a great question. And the real truth of this question, Steve, is that I didn’t know what it was for so long. I thought my personal ‘Why’ was just to make more money. And every time I made more money, I was just more miserable. I was never happy. So my ‘Why’ was never money. I really think my ‘Why’ is all about lifting others. And what I mean by that is I have this ability to extract other people's 'Why' and their purpose from them, help them better see that, get clarity around it and then help them get traction to go attack that 'Why'.Share on X And that’s really my ‘Why’, is to help other, lift other people to really achieve their greatness. So I get a lot of energy and joy from boosting others, and watching that untapped potential really take off.  That is fabulous. And I can see that, as a business coach, that's really very appealing to people when you can do that. How does it manifest in your construction business? You have these Custom Homes construction business, how does that help you there?  And this is where it was really born. So in the C-suite and as I grew in my business, the one part that you have to do is you have to know how to recruit. At least, I had to know how to recruit. And in order to recruit, you have to find the right talent at the right price. And what I was really looking for was that potential. I was looking for the right attitude—the right hunger. I was looking for those right pieces that I could make you a construction individual. I could make you a great construction manager, but I couldn’t fix those other things. And so when I could tap into that and take and help somebody see the vision of what I could do and what our company could help you do in your career, that’s where I was able to really take and 10X my recruiting ability, but also to really tap into that untapped talent that’s out there. Because, Steve, we have a hard time finding talent in the construction industry. Well, the talent’s out there. What’s making it hard is that we don’t recognize that talent, and we’re saying, you’ve got to be this perfect candidate. You've got to fit all these marks. You've got to check all the boxes.And I’m saying, no. I just need you to check a few boxes. I'm going to help you see how you can really fit into this organization and how we can help you thrive. So that's where my ability to see that in them, help them see that in themselves, and then help them tie it to our vision as a company. That's where it really gets a lot of fun.Share on X Yeah. It’s so interesting that it’s not just about doing the job, but it’s about being emotionally invested in doing the job. And how do you get your people emotionally invested? You have to find the motivation that they have inherently that you can tap into, and then you have to make your business attractive so that it inspires them, so that they feel excited to work with you there. That’s exactly what you’re trying to do. It’s like you’re not trying to fool anybody on anything, but to think people just get excited to come do work, or just do the job, or just collect the paycheck. If that’s your motivation, that’s the type of candidate you’re going to get. Then what type of culture do you have? So if you flip that and you say, “Hey, we want to help you  transform who you are, transform your career for the better, and it’s going to help us get to our vision. Well, Steve, that sounds like a win-win scenario to me. And that’s a really appealing piece. And that’s a thriving culture.  Yeah, culture eats strategy for breakfast, as Peter Drucker said. And especially in the age of AI, it's probably even more important, isn't it, that you have a great culture, because AI can copy everything, but it won't be able to copy your culture.  No, that's exactly right. I think AI is a great tool. It’s really going to help us magnify and improve our businesses. But if your culture is broken, AI is just going to magnify the brokenness of your culture, and then AI’s going to tell your people how to go find another job. That is probably true. I haven’t thought about that. So you developed this framework, we are a podcast of frameworks. I’m always looking for the framework and and you talked about this Satisfaction Pyramid framework. Yeah. Is this also something that helps create that culture? Tell me a little bit about this pyramid and how did you come up with it and what does it do?  Yeah, it’s an interesting thing, right? So you understand Maslow's hierarchy of needs. These are the things you need for survival and for happiness. And I've said, look, in home building, we've always talked about customer experience and customer satisfaction. We want people to be happy. And I'm saying, well, I don't know what that means. I don't know—if I hit my schedule, if I hit my budget, if I do everything on time, but they're still not happy—so what exactly am I missing? What's the missing link?  And kind of tying the hierarchy of needs to this triangle of customer satisfaction or happiness, I found that there are some really key fundamental pieces that we've got to lock into place to really get to the customer satisfaction and customer experience that we're seeking. For me, I think brand awareness is first. If your brand awareness is out there and it's really strong, people are going to gravitate towards it organically.Share on X That’s going to decrease your SEO spend, you decrease your marketing, decrease your turnover for people, because people want to be part of that. The interesting story on brands — and I don't know how true it is, I meant to look it up before this — but I saw something on social media about Tommy Hilfiger. And before he launched his clothing brand, he didn't have anything, but his brand was so far out in front of himself that people thought this was this great designer, and he hadn't designed anything. And it was all tied to that piece of brand. So if your brand is strong enough, you can do incredible things. So I think brand is super important.  Yeah. Let me just interject here. So probably 20 years ago, I was working with a company, and it was actually in the construction space. It was in the environmental construction space. And this company had an amazing brand. So the founder was a great thought leader, and he was blogging and talking in forums. And I really thought that this company's got to be a $50 million company. I mean, they're so powerful. And then they invited me to their board as a board member. I said, “Wow, this is such an honor.” This big company. And it turned out it was just a $5 million company. But the brand was so powerful that they looked much bigger.  Yeah. And that statement, that’s an appealing thing. So if you think of yourself as a high level achiever, an A-player, and you are gravitating to that brand, that’s what it’s going to do. You're going to bring in the right people, and then if you've got the right culture and the right other pieces, you're going to stick around with that company.Share on X So a $5 million company can look like a $50 million company and be really attractive to people that are interested in that type of world. Yeah. Super important. Love that story. The second thing for me is team support. This is where I really saw in my career as I grew. I can tell you, my first construction job at the construction management level, my VP of construction told me, and this is 20 plus years ago, I haven't forgotten it — he said, “My leadership style is to give you just enough rope to hang yourself.” And to this day, I have no idea what the heck that means. But what he did show me was he wasn’t going to support me. He wasn’t going to encourage me. He wasn’t going to help me grow. He was basically going to let me swim in the deep end. And if I made it, great. And if I didn’t, no problem — there's another guy behind me. And that’s the mentality of the construction industry. And what I said was, we do a great job of spending money for our sales team. Sales team needs training, we’ll spend the money on training. If the executives need training, we’ll spend the money on training.  But who’s training the middle managers? Who’s training the young men and women coming into the industry? Who’s training the people who don’t have the experience? There’s a big myth in that world. So I think from an internal standpoint — and mind you, coaching is a buzzword right now, just as leadership is — not everybody's a coach, and not everybody's a leader, and that's okay. But if you do have somebody who can coach on your team, and you can coach your team up internally, it’s a very big value add. And so for me, my coaching ability has been a real value add for people that I've recruited, for people I've had on my team, and people I've really invested in and helped grow.Share on X And quick story on coaching. I interviewed this young candidate, I mean, really good-looking kid. He had tons of talent, education, everything he needed, but no construction experience. Still, he had all the right soft skills. And it came down between our company and one of the big national builders. And typically, you’d go to the national builders, more money, more upside, more advantages. And he asked me, the last question he asked me, he said, “Why would I come work for you guys versus this other company?” I said, “Because they don't have me.” I said, I’m not saying this is an arrogant thing to say. I’m saying that I’m going to pour everything from me into you and help take you to where you want to go. You won’t get that anywhere else. Because when we’re done after three years, you can go anywhere you want. And that young man is currently making almost as much as I was making as a C-suite employee, and he’s out in the field running projects. And that’s only like a three or five year period. Like that’s incredible growth, but it’s because of the investment we made in him.  Yeah. There's this saying — I think it's Zig Ziglar — that people don't invest in their people, they don't coach their people, because they're afraid that they’re going to go away to the competition. And then Zig Ziglar asks, “Okay, but isn't there a greater risk that you don’t coach them and and they stay?”  Yes. This is always the thing. And I think a lot of people have a scarcity mindset where they’re so afraid of, if I pour into you, you’re going to go and you’re going to take it somewhere else. What I say is, I’m okay with that. Because when you go somewhere else, you're going to say, “Josh McMahon built me up. He gave me the foundation for my career. He put me in the position I’m in today. I have what I have because of my start. You should go there and get the training from him. There’s no sham e in that because, again, we go back to point number one: brand. That’s tight. That’s my brand out in front of our company that adds value to our company.  So I started my career at KPMG, and one of the ideas they had was this pyramid structure — up or out. But the idea was to take care of the people that even when they leave, they become ambassadors for you on the client side. And then they’re going to convince the client to hire KPMG to be their auditor. And I really like this.  It’s so special, right? Because what you, I mean, Steve, you think about this, we worked together two or three years ago. We still stayed in touch. Even though there’s no financial gain, we still help each other where we can because I want the best for you, as you want the best for me. And that’s what you’re really looking for.  Yeah, that’s true. And the thing about coaching is you have the double benefit, because the company benefits because it has motivated employees who are performing at the higher level than when they came in, and at a higher level than where you hired them, frankly. Correct.  And then they are building a career. So they are building a career equity for themselves. And actually that’s why you get a better ROI on these people, because they have more career equity, they have more skill level than what you have to pay them because you are growing them.  That’s exactly right. You’re building into those individuals that generational wealth that most of us are seeking, or think is out of reach. It's there. We just need somebody to believe in us, and that’s really that piece. The third thing for me, especially in construction, it’s the trade partners. And when I think about it, as a general contractor, look—I'm wearing a collared shirt. You're not going to see me on the job site swinging a hammer. I’m out there with the building plans. I’m verifying things. I'm scheduling. I'm doing more management-level work. That means my trade partners are carrying the lion’s share of the work that actually goes into place. And as a construction company, we don’t make money unless work goes in place.  So I have to do the same thing I'm doing with my internal staff with my trade partners. I have to build them up. I have to elevate them. I have to put them in a position to win.Share on X And this is very basic—schedule accurately. Treat them like people. Treat them with respect. When you go on the job, support them. Listen to their feedback. So if they’re sharing something that’s not working, listen to it with an open mind. And maybe we can do something different, or we can explain why we can't do something different, so they have a better understanding of the ‘Why’ behind what we’re doing. Yeah.  So the trade partners is my next big pillar.  And it’s harder to manage trade partners. I mean, I’m not in the construction, but it’s going to be harder because they are part-time with you. They have other commitments that they have to observe. They don’t wear your brand. They are being paid by someone else who may have a different corporate culture than your company has. And you have to bring them in part-time and make them as good as your standard.  Yes. The hard thing is you have to share with them your vision first. This is who we are. This is what we stand for. Share with them your core values. And then build them up and show them that they’re truly a partner in this. Most of us don’t treat them like partners. We treat them like subcontractors. We treat them like they're inferior individuals—less than me. And I think they can work for you part-time and do that. And you’re absolutely right. But if we treat them like people, we build them up, they’ll be there. Because I want to treat them in a way where, hey, you might be a great plumber, but you’re a terrible business person, and I can maybe help you better understand. I say this because I'm working with a young plumber who's bidding things, and he’s just all over the place. And I'm saying, “Hey, how did you come to this number?” “Well, I just know I need to make X dollars.” And I'm like, “Well, how do you know how much money you need to make? What's your break-even number? What's your overhead burden?” Starting to help him better understand how to break down the P&L, how to charge the right margin on the job so that you’re getting work as consistently as you want, but most importantly, so you can grow your business and continue to support my business as it grows too.Share on X Yeah, you want to create stability for them as well. And if you treat subcontractor well, then they’re going to prioritize you, won't they? So they have other customers that may not treat them as well. You’re going to get the most of the energy from them if you treat them well. And that’s also a huge benefit for your business. There’s nothing lost in that, right? Again, you’ve got brand ambassadors out there talking about, one, this guy builds a great house. He treats everybody great. You made the right choice buying with with McMahon Custom Homes. Because, Steve, if you’ve ever been on a job site, the trades will tell people what they feel, whether it’s good or bad. Yeah. So you are getting it no matter what.  Yeah. You go and you look at the construction site and ask around, and then you will get exactly the kind of general contractor you may be dealing with.  Yes. I mean, absolutely. We love to talk, and so you want people talking about good things and talking up your business and what’s happening in the field, and that’s extremely valuable. Okay, so step number one, brand awareness. We talked about that. Then supporting the team. Yes. So that they feel that they are growing and they are recognized as individuals, that you care about them. Yeah. Then the same goes with the trade partners. You support them even though they’re not your employees.  Yes.  What’s step four?  Yeah. Step four is training. Okay. And training, I think of training in terms of systems that you’re putting in place. Constant, never-ending improvement on those systems. Systems are not static, so training is a nonstop thing that we've got to continue investing in and keep helping to grow our team. So constant process improvement. Having KPIs in place, or metrics in place. And the reason for those metrics is simply where do we need to focus our attention? What levers do we need to pull? And then I go back to the training. So then we train up on metrics that maybe aren’t working the way that we want them to, or we’re not getting the result that we want to get out of them. That’s where the training really comes into place. And if we don't have that training in-house, what stuff outside of the company can we get them into? What type of training do they need to level them up? Because as I think about training, Steve, most of us think you’ve got to fit every box, you’ve got to be the perfect candidate. But you and I both know that I’m good at three out of the five things, and you’re good at two out of the five things. So we make a damn good team together. And that’s okay, and we need to better learn how to cross-train each other, level one another up, and then find those right tools.Share on X  Absolutely. Okay, so what’s the final piece of the flywheel?  Yeah. Well, I feel like if you're doing all these things, brand awareness, team support, trade partner support, and the right training, and you're doing this continuous basis, you're going to have customer satisfaction.Share on X That’s exactly what you want. You’re going to create that customer experience because look, at the end of the day, we’re only here because of the customer. If the customer’s not interested in buying my product, I don’t have a business. And so all of these pieces drive that customer experience. That’s what continues driving who I am. One thing I’m really focused on with customer satisfaction and experience is having good specifications written down. I think yes, we’re a custom home builder, but I have minimum standards that I want to achieve.  So I have the minimum standards. Now, if your budget says, “Hey, we can't quite reach that level,” well, we can certainly reduce our standard. And when I say reduce our standard, I don’t mean cut a corner. I mean change from, say, a Kohler faucet down to a Delta faucet. It’s still a great faucet. It’s still a great brand. Maybe just not the same brand that I would use at this level of home. Or we can go the complete opposite direction and elevate that standard. But just having that set in place, so that if I say, “Steve, this home's going to cost you $1.2 million,” and you're like, “Oh, great. Well, the other builder's $1.3 million, so you've got a better price,” okay, great. But what goes into the price? What are you getting for the price? So if I have those minimum standards baked in, I can tell you, This is what you're going to get for $1.2 million. Now we can go in and customize it and make it your home. Having clear expectations. How important are clear expectations even in our coaching business, right? And it’s not just clear expectations from me to you, it’s clear expectations from you to me. I need to understand what your expectations are. I need to know that I can achieve your expectations. And I think that if I believe I can’t, I need to be honest and say, look, I’m not the right builder for you. I’m not the right business for you. But here are..  Or maybe your expectations are not realistic. Sometimes, for the budget you have, you need to make some trade-offs. Maybe you can have this man cave, but you'll have to cut back on the kitchen, and you’ll have to discuss it with your wife. And that’s really key. So the thing that I love about being a custom builder is that my focus is on collaboration.Share on X If you say, “Hey Josh, the budget comes in at $1.2 million, but I really want to be at $1 million,” okay, great Steve. I’m here to collaborate with you and show you ways we can tweak things, pull this down, and future-proof your home. Because I want you to have the home that you want, and in two years you can probably afford that additional $200,000. I don't want to put you in a place where you can easily plug and play that versus oh, now I got to rip out all these walls. I got to redo this. It's not $200,000—it could be $300,000. So that’s where we can collaborate and really find the right pieces to put you in the best position.  That’s very interesting. This whole framework, the culture that you build here. Is this something that connects this whole framework, this idea that you have, how you’re projecting the culture out into the customer service? Is this why you started the McMahon Custom Homes?  It truly is. Well, two parts, Steve. One, I’m an entrepreneur at heart and I have fought this my entire life, and I’ve always thought there was something wrong with me. Why can’t I just get on board? Why can’t I just drink the Kool-Aid? Why can’t I just get in line? And two or three years I go into a company, I do great things, I start rebuilding things, and then I start to get that itch. And then I’m like, okay, I need to go somewhere else. And for a long time I thought it was, well, I’m just moving to a new company to make more money, which was true. I was making more money, but then I wasn’t happy. Again, it was never tied to the money, so it was really just that entrepreneur need. But the second piece was, I've noticed for ten years—a decade—that our industry is in need of a massive transformation. The antiquated way of doing business and how we do things. I think the builder suites and the stuff that we have at our disposal is really good, but it’s not what everybody’s looking for. But I couldn’t tell you, the owner, Hey, we’ve got to scrap this. We need to do this. Because ultimately, even as the integrator, my job is to bring your vision to life. And if this is part of your vision, then I need to bring this to life. And so I started to realize with my entrepreneur spirit and my own ideas, I needed to start developing my own home building business to start bringing some of that to life, to really satisfy who I am and do the things that I wanted.Share on X Yeah, this is so important because, as entrepreneurs, we have this frustration. We are somewhere and things are not going as well as you would like. And we don’t get to tell the boss how to do things because they have their own ideas and their own set ways, and then they just get irritated by all those ideas and they feel like we are just being disgruntled employees, and this frustration eats away at you. And at some point you say, okay, what the heck? I'm just going to rip the Band‑Aid off and try to figure it out, right? It’s very true. I mean, it’s funny now looking back on it because there were so many times where I just didn’t understand. I was like, “What the heck is the matter with me?” But you’re exactly right — you’re going to bang your head against the wall, and not everybody’s cut out to be an entrepreneur, right? I mean, it sounds really great being self-employed, doing your own thing, making your own hours. It sounds great.  But I tell you something, Josh, not everyone is cut out to be an employee either.  No doubt, Steve. So true.  So it’s the other side of the coin. I think many of us become entrepreneurs because we basically eliminate all the viable alternatives.  Yeah. Burn all the boats, right?  Yeah.  I think there’s so much value in this. The second time we really got introduced and got to work together, you introduced me to the book Second in Command by Cameron Herold. I’m a  Cameron Herold fan in the Second in Command book, and I read that book and I said, “Man, this is me. I can do this.” I love being more in the shadows, helping a visionary grow their business, and doing all that stuff. What happened was, I started to really enjoy being out there, networking, putting myself out, and getting in front of people.  And I was like, well, I’m a visionary. I can see what’s going on in the future. And I think I was more of a visionary than the person who said he was a visionary. So it was really like, then we’re clashing heads on which vision are we chasing. And I’m like, I got to get outta here because I’m steering you away from what you want to do, and that’s not fair to you.  I think there are two major types of visionaries. There are the born visionaries, and then there are the evolved visionaries. So you have the born visionary who is a visionary because they are just not able to execute, but they can come up with all the big ideas. And if they find people who can execute for them, they're in luck, and they might build a company. And then you have the evolved visionary who starts out doing the work, grinding, figuring things out, teaching themselves discipline and work ethic. And then they start to manage people because they’re doing it better, so they get more responsibility, and then they become an integrator or operator. And at some point, they want to come out of the cocoon and do it themselves. And maybe you’re that version of it, the evolved visionary.  You summed that up perfectly because that's exactly how this whole thing transpired.  Love it. So tell me about, what makes McMahon Custom Homes unique? Beyond the culture—is it the culture that makes you unique, or is there something else? From the eyes of the customer, what makes you unique?  I don’t know that it’s our culture that makes us unique. I think what really makes us unique is our process—how we do things. We start everything with an initial consultation, just myself meeting with the homebuyers. Typically, it's a virtual meeting where I want to learn more about your project. I’m interested in what you want to build, what your expectations are, what your non-negotiables are, and I just really explore everything under the sun about your project.  Then I'm going to ask the dreaded question: what's your ideal budget? Most—or a lot of—people say, “You know what, I don't want to give the budget. So I'll say, “Okay, what budget number scares you?” Because as a custom home builder, I’m going to help you design the home that you want for the price that you want. But I’m going to also share with you if it’s not possible. If you have a home design that's more than what your budget is, I'm going to share that with you in real time, as soon as I can. So I'm very transparent. And I learned this from working in my past, where we wouldn't share those numbers with clients. We had a client where we were a million dollars over their ideal budget. It was six to eight months of working with them and about $25,000 in actual costs. I don't need to tell you—the homeowner was not pleased, and the homeowner did not pay that bill.  So that was a major lost opportunity in the build, but also the opportunity cost and how much time we spent on it. I learned from that and said, “Hey, I don't want to do that. I don't need every buyer to be a yes. If I'm a good fit for you, and I'm a good builder for you, great—let's go.Share on X I want to build your house. I’m excited about building homes for people. But I don't need to build everybody's house, because for some people, it's just not the right fit. So for me, I'm your guide in this process. And that's what I really pride myself in. You want to build a home, I’m going to guide you through this process, help you with each step of the way. Help you with the county side, the field side. I’m here to guide you through that whole thing. We really work towards your budget, your ideal budget. We build it out. We’re very transparent. A lot of clarity on what we’re doing, where we can collaborate, where we can maybe say, Hey, instead of $80,000 tile package, we can get a $45,000 tile package. Because we’re really looking for what’s your vision for it.  Yeah.  What do you want to see? How do you want to feel? And we can help you pull that together.  Yeah, I think that’s very interesting, because I can see that there is value being created when you have an empathetic CEO who runs the business. You, in that case, who really gets to feel what the lifestyle of the individual is, what their vision is. You help them paint the picture so that you see it as well, and then you measure each element in proportion to their desires. Because maybe they want something like a really flashy countertop in the kitchen, but they really don’t care about what the deck is going to look like. Maybe it’s a stup*d example. And when someone buys, I don’t know, a standard home, then you are going to pay for stuff that you really don’t care about, and you are not going to get the stuff that uniquely is important to you. And with that approach that you’re doing, you are measuring everything to the right degree, and it’s going to be a perfectly balanced meal for the customer. That’s a great way of looking at it. That’s exactly right. And the deck versus man cave or versus this, that’s exactly the right way to look at it. A deck is a great add-on. It can be done anytime in the build. It can be done anytime. It's a minimal barrier to entry. Well, something on the inside of the house, the kitchen, the showstopper kitchen, that’s a different story, right? Because now you're impacting your life. You’re changing things. If we understand that the kitchen is a really prime target, then we want to make sure we commit enough money to that area. We want to make sure we commit enough design hours to that area. And maybe other areas are like, “Hey, minimum standard's great with us.” Perfect. Done.  Yeah. We only sleep in the bedroom, we don’t do anything else.  Exactly. Great point.  Which is a problem in itself. Anyhow, if someone would like to learn more and maybe learn your ideas—maybe they want to be coached by you, or they want to learn about McMahon Custom Homes, what it takes to align with your vision—and particularly if they're in Central Virginia where you work, where should they reach out and where can they find you? Yeah, so several different places. McMahonCustomHomesLLC.com is our website, so you can certainly find us there. We have an active Instagram account, McMahon Custom Homes. I have an active Facebook account, again, McMahon Custom Homes. I do have a LinkedIn account, McMahon Custom Homes, LLC. Also for myself, my wife and I host a bi-monthly podcast. We took a year hiatus, and we just started again in 2026. Our podcast is not on McMahon Custom Homes, but it's really about the construction industry, different things that you experience, and really just giving back and trying to help others learn from maybe stuff that we did or things that we’re experiencing. My wife is a designer. I'm the home builder, so you kind of get a good mixed bag. And that's Feed Me Your Construction Content, if you're ever interested in tuning into that.  Yeah. And if you would like to see what a collaboration between Josh and his wife looks like, then check out his website,  McMahon Custom Homes. You can check out his house, or their house, that they built together. And it’s a beautiful house.  Yeah. Thank you.  It's a good place to start. Josh, loved it. I loved your content. Really interesting how you created the Satisfaction Pyramid in construction. I think that parallel applies to other businesses as well. Obviously, the elements are slightly different, but brand awareness, supporting the team, supporting your partners, training your people, pouring into them, and then creating that customer satisfaction are important in any industry. So thank you. If you enjoyed listening to this show, make sure you follow us on LinkedIn and on YouTube. And stay tuned, because every week I bring an exciting entrepreneur or thought leader on this show. Thank you for coming, Josh, and thanks for listening. Important Links: Josh's LinkedIn McMahon Custom Homes website McMahon Custom Homes LinkedIn

300 hundred restaurants in 22 countries might not sound like a billion dollar empire, but you would be wrong. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is… Well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients, so here’s one of those. [OG Law Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast. I’m Dave Young. Stephen Semple is here, and we’re going to talk about the building of another empire. And I’ve got to admit, I don’t know a whole lot about this one. I’ve maybe… Stephen Semple: Oh, wow. That’s exciting. Dave Young: We’re going to talk about P.F. Chang’s. I’ve maybe eaten at one of them, I would say less than half a dozen times in my life. Stephen Semple: Okay. Dave Young: And I think it’s just more of a convenience and proximity issue. I’m never really near any of them. Stephen Semple: So while they’re big, they’re not massive. They’re 300 restaurants in 22 countries, so they’re not like many of the other things we’ve talked about where there’s thousands of them. Dave Young: Right. Stephen Semple: So no, they’re not as prevalent. But look, 300 restaurants is still pretty successful. Dave Young: Yeah, that’s a lot. How did they get started? I’m not going to guess. I’m going to let you tell me. Stephen Semple: Okay. The business was founded by Philip Chiang and Paul Fleming. And Paul Fleming, you might recognize because he’s of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse fame. Dave Young: Oh, okay. Stephen Semple: They got together, and they founded P.F. Chang in Scottsdale, Arizona- Dave Young: That makes a lot of sense. Stephen Semple: … in 1993. Now, Philip spells his last name C-H-I-A-N-G. So at a certain point, he changed his spelling just to make it easier. Drop the I and make it easier. Dave Young: Drop the I and made it just… Spell it the way it sounds. Stephen Semple: … Spell it the way it sounds, make it easier for the U.S. market. And the company has been bought and sold a few times over the years, but the first acquisition from the founders, from Philip and Paul, happened in 2012 by Centerbridge Partners in a deal worth a little bit over a billion dollars. Dave Young: Wow. Stephen Semple: They did okay. They walk away with some cash. Dave Young: Now, was it before or after they started putting it in supermarkets? Stephen Semple: I do not know the answer to that question. Dave Young: Probably predates. Stephen Semple: I’m going to suspect after. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: But the story starts with Philip’s mother, Cecilia Chiang. Cecilia was born in Beijing in 1920 to a really wealthy family. She grew up in a palace in China, ate high-end food, full staff, chefs, the whole nine yards, part of the aristocracy. And during the Chinese Civil War and the Japanese occupation, her family fled China and relocated in Japan, and there, the family opened a restaurant. Now in the 1960s, she travels to the U.S. Cecilia travels to U.S. to help her sister who came to America because of the economic challenges in Japan, and her sister had opened a restaurant in San Francisco and needed help- Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: … and Cecilia came over to help her. But that venture failed, but Cecilia still remained in the U.S. And look, Chinese food in America at that time was not good. If you look at just about every food that has come to United States, the first people who brought it, whether it was Italian, whether it was Mexican, whether it was Chinese, the first immigrants were the people who were poor. Dave Young: Yeah. What years are we talking about here? Stephen Semple: 1960. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: So the first immigrants who came were the people who were poor, so therefore, typically the food is not the great food, it’s not made with the great ingredients. And so here she is, she’s looking around and she’s saying, “Look, there’s this poor Chinese food, all basically from the Canton region.” And most of it has been also turned into an American version, because basically, again, people were making it with whatever was available, so it really became very Americanized. Dave Young: Right. Stephen Semple: And Cecilia saw that, and what she wanted to do was introduce America to a more refined Chinese food, what she had experienced growing up as a wealthy person in China. So in 1961, she opens a sit-down restaurant with food from Northern China called The Mandarin. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: And it opens not in Chinatown, because here’s the thing that she recognized, context is everything. If she opened it in Chinatown, people’s expectation would be it would be the same as all the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown. Dave Young: All of them. Right, right. Stephen Semple: So what she did, she opened it on Polk Street, not far from Pacific Heights in San Francisco. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: Bit of a bold move, but she wanted to be seen as different, and that was how you did it. Dave Young: Makes sense. Stephen Semple: Now, the menu had some things that were unfamiliar, like pigeon, and it did not have some things that were expected like chow mein. And she struggled initially, because America was not really ready to try new things. Now, after two years of struggle came her breakout moment. The restaurant was visited by a guy by the name of Herb Kane, who was the most influential columnist in San Francisco history. He was a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. But here’s the interesting thing, not a food critic. And he comes in the restaurant, falls in love with it, and gives it a great review. And overnight, the place becomes famous. You couldn’t get into it. It was visited by the likes of Julia Child, James Beard. It was totally on the radar. And I actually think the review may have even been more powerful because he was not a food critic. Dave Young: Sure. Yeah. Stephen Semple: But it also goes to show you… We talk about influencers, influence and all these other things, most restaurants be like, “We’ve got to get the food critics in here.” This guy was just a columnist who came in to try out their food- Dave Young: Right. Stephen Semple: … and it made them famous. And one of the things he loved was Peking duck, and so today Peking duck is pretty normal, it was really new back then. And suddenly, authentic Chinese food started to pop up. This really started it. In the late 1960s, Chinese restaurants in the United States doubled to about 10,000 of them. 1966, the first sushi restaurant opens. She opens the second restaurant, and Philip… And we’re talking about Philip Chiang? Dave Young: Right, right. Stephen Semple: Philip, her son, joins the business, and opens The Mandarin Cafe in LA, where he starts modernizing Chinese dishes for American diners, so starts doing a bit more of a fusion, right? Dave Young: Mm-hmm. Stephen Semple: Now, it’s here that Philip meets Paul Fleming, from Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Dave Young: Right. Stephen Semple: And Philip starts to build a bit of a friendship with Paul, and wants to work with Paul, wants to leverage his knowledge. Because after all, Ruth Chris is an upscale restaurant, and there’s this rise of casual chains, but Paul is not super excited, because none of them are Chinese, nor is Cecilia. She’s like, “I don’t really want to do this.” Philip is determined, he stays in touch with Paul. So 1979, things really start to change, because the restaurant called China Coach is opened by Wolfgang Puck, and it grows very quickly to 50 restaurants. And it’s the early ’90s, and Cecilia is ready to sell the restaurants. Dave Young: Stay tuned, we’re going to wrap up this story and tell you how to apply this lesson to your business right after this. [Using Stories To Sell Ad] Let’s pick up our story where we left off, and trust me, you haven’t missed a thing. Stephen Semple: And it’s the early ’90s, and Cecilia is ready to sell the restaurants, which basically frees Philip to make the changes he wants to do. He cycles back to Paul. Paul’s now looking at it going, “Well, there is this place for this growth and all of this.” So they decide to start something new. And Philip wants to bring other Asian cuisines, he wants to take it beyond Chinese. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: So he wants to add other Asian foods to it. So he spends three years developing the menu, and they changed the spelling of his last name to make it easier. And in 1993, here’s the other thing I found really, really interesting, they chose to open in Scottsdale in 1993. And here’s where Philip learned something from Cecelia, she did not open in Chinatown, she opened somewhere where there was not Chinese restaurants. At the time in Scottsdale, it’s described as a Chinese food desert at the time. Virtually no Chinese restaurants in 1993. Now, many people would go, “Well, you want to open up somewhere…” Nope, open it in Scottsdale. Opening weekend, they had 1,000 people, some waited for hours. Dave Young: Wow. Stephen Semple: Lined up around the block. Now, what really made them successful is Paul brought his ability to be able to scale a business, upscale dining, and really grow the business. And this is what allowed them to quickly… They quickly drove to 200 locations in a few years. And in 2012, 19 years later, they sold it for $1.1 billion. Dave Young: A billion bucks. Stephen Semple: Yeah. And there was also a point in there where they went public, gave them a bump, and then they were sold, and business was taken private, and it’s changed hands a few times. Dave Young: Well, one thing I’ve always known is that they’re not like every Chinese restaurant you’ve ever been in. Even every small town in America has a Chinese restaurant that they always seem to almost even share the same menus. Stephen Semple: Same thing here. Dave Young: Right. And- Stephen Semple: No matter how tiny the community is, there’s a Chinese restaurant. Dave Young: And- Stephen Semple: But it would have those things like chow mein, and- Dave Young: [inaudible 00:11:43], and Kung Pao chicken, and… Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: She took those things that were very common and very familiar and left them off of her menu, which was a bold move as well. Dave Young: Yeah, because otherwise we’d all be going in there ordering the Kung Pao chicken. Stephen Semple: We wouldn’t be having the Peking duck. Right. We wouldn’t be having the Peking duck. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: So it was really interesting what she did, she leaned in to the difference in terms of opening it, because her mission was to bring this food, didn’t open in Chinatown, and left some popular things out, added some interesting things. But let’s face it, she struggled, and then there was the breakout moment. But here’s the part about all of this, now sometimes the trick is you have to be able to survive. If you’re able to survive, and you’re doing something truly remarkable, that breakout moment often happens. Now, advertising and promotion can accelerate that breakout moment, because it exposes people to this new idea, and entices them to come in. But if you do something… But it really and truly has to be remarkable. If you do something remarkable, and you do it really well, and if you can survive through the slow times, you get those breakout moments. Dave Young: Yeah. Yeah. It’s a really cool story. And the place has always felt… Yes, it’s Chinese, but no, it’s different. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Well- Dave Young: You can see the Ruth’s Chris DNA in the place, right? The- Stephen Semple: It’s funny, I had no… And I’ve been in a couple of P.F. Chang’s, and I had no idea the relationship with it. And as soon as I read that, I was like, “Oh, that makes…” It was sort of one of those. As soon as it’s presented that he was involved, it was like, “Oh, that makes so much sense, and I can see it.” It’s sort of funny how you didn’t see it, a lot of these things, hidden, and then it’s revealed, and suddenly it’s obvious, right? Dave Young: Yeah. In the last episode we talked about… I think it was one of the last episodes, we talked quite extensively about brand extension. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: And this is another good example of what we know would not have worked, and that would’ve been a Chinese restaurant by Ruth Chris. Stephen Semple: Correct. Correct. That’s a great observation. Yes. It would not have worked. Dave Young: Ruth’s Chris Chinese would not have worked. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: You couldn’t leverage the good name of a steakhouse into a Chinese restaurant. Stephen Semple: No. Dave Young: Because that would not work. But you can take the DNA from the steakhouse, the high-end ritzy steakhouse, and apply it in measured ways to a high-end Chinese restaurant. And that’s exactly what they did, they took the luxury part of it, and made a luxury Chinese restaurant. Stephen Semple: Yeah. How the food is presented, how the place is decorated, although it would be decorated regionally different, and how the staff are trained, and all of those… And how the kitchen is run. I bet you if you walk into the two kitchens, you’d go, “Oh, I totally see…” I bet you the methodology in terms of how the kitchen is managed and all those other things is probably exactly the same. Yeah, so you’re right. You’re taking the DNA, and then basically modifying the presentation of that DNA to fit that thing, and giving it its own identity. And the problem that people make is they’ll look at it, go, “Well, the DNA is the same, so why can’t you just name it same?” And it’s, again, it’s like you talked about before, those hidden barriers. We think about the places of steakhouse, what’s the expectation? The expectation is steak, fine wines, potatoes, shrimp, lobster. Yes, there’ll be also vegetables, and grilled things, and all this other stuff, right? Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: You could even put in an appetizer of Peking duck and it would be fine, but you can’t make it a Chinese restaurant. Dave Young: Yeah, I think- Stephen Semple: Just like you couldn’t go the other way. Dave Young: You and I should buy Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Stephen Semple: Why should we do that? Dave Young: Just so we could change the name to Dave’s Steve’s Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Stephen Semple: Yeah, I’m going to pass. As awesome in ideas that sounds, as amazing as we would be at running- Dave Young: Another brand violation. I can see it now. Stephen Semple: Is this like a restaurant? Dave Young: All right. Well, thank you for sharing the P.F. Chang story. Now I’ve got to find one near me, and… I don’t want the bag of frozen stuff from the restaurant, I want to go in. Stephen Semple: God, no. You want to go and do the restaurant. Dave Young: Yeah, I want the experience. Stephen Semple: And they are good. They are fine. Dave Young: Yeah, yeah, every time I’ve been, but I just haven’t been very many times. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: All right. Thank you. Stephen Semple: All right. Awesome. Thanks, David. Dave Young: Thanks for listening to the podcast. Please share us. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app, and leave us a big, fat, juicy five-star rating and review at Apple Podcasts. And if you’d like to schedule your own 90-minute empire-building session, you can do it at empirebuildingprogram.com.

Late ovulation isn't random—it's often your body's way of saying conditions aren't quite right yet. In this episode of Cycle Wisdom, Dr. Monica Minjeur explains why ovulation may consistently happen later, how stress, sleep, metabolism, thyroid health, and insulin resistance affect follicle development, and how to tell a temporary delay from a pattern that needs attention. Through Frida's story, you'll learn cycle-timed testing strategies and restorative steps that help bring ovulation back into a more predictable, fertile rhythm—without panic or overcorrection.If your cycles feel unpredictable or ovulation timing keeps shifting later each month, you don't have to figure this out alone. At Radiant Clinic, we specialize in cycle-informed, restorative care that identifies why ovulation is delayed and creates a clear plan forward.Schedule your free discovery call at radiantclinic.com to explore personalized care options.

At our Interactive Midweek Service, Pastor Femi Paul taught on Vantage Position, emphasising that victory is not only about effort but about positioning. A vantage position is a strategic location ordained by God that gives access to advantage, power, and divine intervention. From 2 Chronicles 20:17b, we were reminded that God's victory is revealed when we take our position, stand still, and trust Him to act. Using Luke 24:49 and the example of Elijah in 1 Kings 17, the message highlighted that promises are often tied to specific places, people, and timing. Those who abandon their vantage position risk missing power, provision, and divine instruction. Correct positioning means being with the right people, in the right place, at the right time, where God has commanded blessing and sustenance. Confession: I remain where God has positioned me. I access power, provision, and victory through divine positioning.

Today's West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy Podcast for our especially special Daily Special, Smothered Benedict Wednesday is now available on the Spreaker Player!Starting off in the Bistro Cafe, the Chief Judge of Minnesota, an arch-conservative, exonerated journalist Don Lemon from any criminal charges for covering a Church protest.Then, on the rest of the menu, the Alabama Neo-Nazis arrested on weapons charges planned to strike 'high value targets'; Trump's acting cyber chief mistakenly uploaded sensitive files into a public version of ChatGPT that triggered a DHS-level damage assessment; and, in a recent habeas petition, Ghislaine Maxwell dropped a bombshell claim that four potential "co-conspirators" and "25 men" scored "secret settlements" tied to Epstein's abuse, without facing any indictment.After the break, we move to the Chef's Table where the European Union opened a formal investigation into Musk's social media platform after his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok spewed nonconsensual sexualized deepfake images; and, the wife of South Korea's ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to 20 months in prison for corruption.All that and more, on West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy with Chef de Cuisine Justice Putnam.Bon Appétit!The Netroots Radio Live Player​Keep Your Resistance Radio Beaming 24/7/365!“It may be safely averred that good cookery is the best and truest economy, turning to full account every wholesome article of food, and converting into palatable meals what the ignorant either render uneatable or throw away in disdain.” - Eliza Acton ‘Modern Cookery for Private Families' (1845)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/west-coast-cookbook-speakeasy--2802999/support.

If you want to listen to the full episode (XYBM 148) from this clip, search for the title: "Ep. 148: How to raise Resilient Children without Hitting Them with Dr. Amber" — it was released on January 19, 2026.In XYBM 148, I sit down with Dr. Amber Thornton, a licensed Clinical Psychologist and author, to discuss gentle and conscious parenting and what it looks like in Black families. Dr. Thornton shares how self-regulation, emotional intelligence, and intentional parenting help children build emotional resiliency without fear, control, or corporal punishment. We explore conscious parenting, the long-term impact of fear-based discipline, setting expectations and routines early, and how healing misunderstandings strengthens parent-child relationships, closing with a direct message to Black fathers.Tune in on all podcast streaming platforms, including YouTube.Leave a 5-star review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ if you found value in this episode or a previous episode!BOOK US FOR SPEAKING + BRAND DEALS:————————————Explore our diverse collaboration opportunities as the leading and fastest-growing Black men's mental health platform on social media. Let's create something dope for your brand/company.Take the first step by filling out the form on our website: https://www.expressyourselfblackman.com/speaking-brand-dealsHOW TO FIND A DOPE, BLACK THERAPIST: ————————————We are teaching a FREE webinar on how to find a dope, Black therapist – sign up for the next session here: https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/black-therapistAll webinar attendees will have the opportunity to be paired with a Black mental health professional in Safe Haven. We have had 5K+ people sign up for this webinar in the past. Don't miss out. Slots are limited. SAFE HAVEN:————————————Safe Haven is a holistic healing platform built for Black men by Black men. In Safe Haven, you will be connected with a Black mental health professional, so you can finally heal from the things you find it difficult to talk about AND you will receive support from like-minded Black men that are all on their healing journey, so you don't have to heal alone.Join Safe Haven Now: https://www.expressyourselfblackman.com/safe-haven SUPPORT THE PLATFORM: ————————————Safe Haven: https://www.expressyourselfblackman.com/safe-havenMonthly Donation: https://buy.stripe.com/eVa5o0fhw1q3guYaEE Merchandise: https://shop.expressyourselfblackman.com FOLLOW US:————————————TikTok: @expressyourselfblackman (https://www.tiktok.com/@expressyourselfblackman) Instagram:Host: @expressyourselfblackman(https://www.instagram.com/expressyourselfblackman)Guest: @dramberthornton (https://www.instagram.com/dramberthornton/)YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ExpressYourselfBlackManFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/expressyourselfblackman

Ben once again published the wrong file yesterday. Matthew & Bob are having an emergency meeting to discuss. In the meantime here's the actual episode we recorded!It's like they don't like what we have or something. The brothers ponder the lack of trades and the news that it's not for a lack of trying. Then Matthew gives a quiz and accuses Ben of failing it. For the record here is Ben's recollection of how he did on the quiz:#1: Correct, because even though I said the wrong answer I knew what the right answer was but didn't want to say it. I also get credit for getting question 1-B right. So at this point I had a score of 200%#2: Wrong, but because I was at 200%, I'm still at %100.#3: Correct. %150#4: Correct. I'm not sure what the percentage is now, but I'm still acing this test.#5: Wrong. No one gets this one right. Stupid question.#6: Correct. I'm killing it.#7: Correct. I'm a stud.#8: Wrong. I don't want the listeners to feel bad, so I answer another incorrectly. Also, I didn't know the answer.#9: Correct. We cheated on this one because Matthew thought I was doing poorly, because he doesn't listen.#10: Correct.#11: Correct.#12: Wrong. Enrique Pequeno should have been the answer.#13: Correct.#14: Wrong.On the cocktail side of things Matthew is drinking a Final Ward while Ben is drinking a Tribute. Recipes below.Final Ward3/4 oz Rye Whiskey3/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur3/4 oz Lemon Juice3/4 oz Green ChartreuseShake all ingredients until well-chilled. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass.Tribute1/2 oz Cognac1 tsp Creme de Violette3 1/2 oz Brut champagne/sparkling wineSpray or rinse a chilled flute glass with the creme de violette. Stir the congac with ice and strain into the flute. Top with the sparkling wine.

Dave and Bethlie wrap up this first section of the Overcoming series focused on the subject of anger.  We're also celebrating and praising the Lord for our 300th episode!   What do you do with a child who has a tendency to anger Correct them Punishment - Every time anger has to be confronted with a negative consequence We recommend a spanking - every time Teach them keep it simple This is wrong This is how you should respond Disciple them Your child will need the power of God's Word and God's Spirit Your child will need to walk with God Model for them You must do right first You must learn to have peace in your heart  You have to model right responses to irritations and issues and life itself

This topic nearly broke Wippa but it was worth it to finally settle, once and for all, the scientifically proven best way to stack the dishwasher. We also wrap up everything coming out of the Australian Open, including Maddison Inglis’s run sadly coming to an end, Luciano Darderi’s brutal cramp mid–TV interview, and a real estate agent cashing in on the tennis fever sweeping the country. One of the world’s biggest YouTubers has launched his viral burger brand, MrBeast Burger, so we sent one of our producers to put it to the test. Plus, Wippa discovers a surprisingly effective way to deal with one of his kids getting a splinter and a runaway driver is caught and the driver will surprise you...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by AABP President-Elect Dr. Mark Hilton. Hilton provides some guidance on making obstetrics easier, especially for recently graduated veterinarians. The technique is called the Utrecht technique. This technique and being successful at dystocia calls is not dependent on the veterinarian's size and with practice, Hilton says that all veterinarians can become successful obstetricians with practice and proper technique. Hilton informs his clients that a cow in labor should make progress every hour, and if not making progress in that time frame, they should call the veterinarian for assistance. The key points for the Utrecht technique include:1.      Be sure that calf is in a normal presentation. Correct if needed while the cow is standing. If you need to manipulate, use an epidural and administer 10 cc of epinephrine IM to relax the uterus. 2.      Manually dilate the birth canal. Put both gloved and lubed arms in the vagina, clasp your hands and push your arms laterally to dilate the vagina. You can also ask the producer or caregiver to help you dilate the cow to allow you to rest. 3.      Put chains on the legs and apply traction. If you can get the carpi past the vulva, or you can feel room around the calf, Hilton says he makes the decision to pull vaginally versus a C-section.4.      Cast the cow and lay her in lateral recumbency.5.      Use a calf puller with traction, but only apply traction when the cow pushes and rest when the calf's shoulders are through the pelvis. The cow will rotate the calf while you are resting, or if not, you can rotate the calf so the pelvis of the calf is turned to go through the largest part of the dam's pelvis. If the calf is being delivered in posterior presentation, Hilton continues to use traction to quickly deliver the calf after the pelvis is through to prevent the calf from suffocating during delivery.  For more information: Midwest Beef Cattle Consultants, LLC. https://www.mwbeefcattle.com/educational-material  An easier way to deliver calves, Mark Hilton, AABP Annual Conference Proceedings, 2020.https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro20208085 

Hour 1 of Jake & Ben on January 26, 2026 Recapping the AFC & NFC Championship Games. Was Denver's decision to go for it on 4th down the correct one?  Top 3 Stories of the Day: Utah Football lands a new General Manager, Jazz get blown out in Miami, No. 13 BYU Basketball hosts No. 1 Arizona tonight. 

Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations Fu Cong says Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks about the Taiwan region challenge the international order and violate the basic norms of international relations.

Episode 274- State Police RPO Cover-Up  Also Available OnSearchable Podcast Transcript Gun Lawyer — Episode Transcript Gun Lawyer Transcript – Episode 274 SPEAKERS Teddy Nappen, Evan Nappen, Speaker 2 Evan Nappen 00:17 I’m Evan Nappen. Teddy Nappen 00:19 and I’m Teddy Nappen. Evan Nappen 00:21 And welcome to Gun Lawyer. So, our good friend, John Petrolino, who writes about many, many important topics, particularly as well concerning New Jersey, has an article that was in Bearing Arms. And I want to talk about what he’s raised here. The article’s title is “New Jersey State Police Tight Lipped Over Retired Police Permits”. (https://bearingarms.com/john-petrolino/2026/01/21/new-jersey-statepolice-tight-lipped-over-retired-police-permits-n1231288) So, what John has done is he’s used the New Jersey form of OPRA (Open Public Records Act), the Freedom of Information Act, asking the authorities in New Jersey for the number of permits issued to retired police officers. Evan Nappen 01:15 You may recall the then Attorney General Platkin did put up that dashboard and released the data of public statistics regarding carry permits, the number of permits issued. There’s been over 92,000 approved applications for carry permits in New Jersey, and of those approvals, 64,000 are non-expired permits. Now it’s interesting that the State puts out that data, but they don’t put out the data as to the RPO permits. The Retired Police Officer permits, and we want to find out how many folks carry that are not law enforcement, right? That are civilian. And let’s face it, Retired Police Officers are still civilians, even though they were formerly law enforcement. Originally carry was outside of being law enforcement and outside of New Jersey’s insane carry permit system back then, where you had to show “justifiable need”, which, as you may recall, meant showing of urgent necessity. This meant showing that a gun was necessary for you to defend yourself from death or serious bodily injury and that carrying a handgun was the only means that could do it. I mean, it was a standard that was so extreme that basically, if you’ve been shot and killed, you then qualified for a New Jersey carry permit. Evan Nappen 03:08 Now that went away thanks to the Bruen decision, and New Jersey jumped from less than 600 carry permits to now 64,000 valid permits and 92,000 valid, approved permits. But it does not include the RPOs. Now, RPOs had the ability to carry before Bruen, and during that time period when regular old civilians who weren’t retired law enforcement could not defend themselves with a firearm and carry in that manner, right? They were deemed to have to be victims instead of defenders. But now, for some reason, the State Police and such will not release the number of RPO permits. We’re not asking for names. John went forward here, and he didn’t ask for names. He didn’t ask for anything. He just wants to know how many? How many of the RPO permits are out there as well. This should be looked at in the aggregate with all the other carry permits that are out there, and yet that doesn’t happen. Page of 1 8 Evan Nappen 04:25 In December of 2025, John sent a request for the number of RPO permits, and it was denied. And the request was denied weirdly and strangely for reasons that just don’t make any sense. And I’m going to tell you. It makes you wonder, why is there a cover up? The reason they denied it, the reason the State Police have put in writing for the denial. Well, get a load of this. “Improper and Overbroad” was the main reason. Can you believe that the information is supposedly improper and overbroad? Why would wanting to know a statistical fact such as the number of RBO permits be considered overbroad? And why would it be considered in any way improper? It is strictly information. It is based on a record. It absolutely should be released. Evan Nappen 05:52 How come they are releasing the numbers for civilian carry permits, right? The 92,000. How come that’s not “improper and overbroad”? No, the Attorney General does it. Go ahead. Why? Tell me. Why do you think? Teddy Nappen 06:10 So, going back to because John also, if I recall, broke the story about denials where, what was it? Blacks were five times more likely to be denied to their carry. Evan Nappen 06:22 Yes, institutionalized racism. That exists in New Jersey. Teddy Nappen 06:31 So, add into the fact that you have the, well, here’s the trick. The Left have always been anti-police. That is a fact. They were the ones that wanted to defund the police. They were the ones for that. So, now we have the first factor of showing the absolute racism of the gun laws. But also the fact that they were supporting the only carry which, by the way, how much you want to bet they were all for the RPOs under all the Democrat Governors who allowed those carries to come into play. How much of that look, if it shows that there’s this massive amount of RPOs being issued. And because the Left are Marxists who absolutely hate police and hate law and order, this would make them look like absolute elitists and hypocrites. Evan Nappen 07:19 So, the fear is that, arguably, in the defund the police mentality, that if retired police are being armed, they don’t want any police armed, even if they’re retired, because of the perceived threat that they put out there that law enforcement creates toward minorities. In their view, not in my view. Not in my view. It’s the opposite. I mean, the fact is, they’re out there as protectors, defenders of the good people of our State. Every retired officer is somebody who’s not only armed, but also is experienced in armed defense, having served as a law enforcement officer. They’re a resource. They’re a positive benefit to our society. Yet, they’re probably scared of the politics. I mean, why else? What? There’s nothing about it that makes it “improper”. And it sure isn’t “overbroad”. It would be overbroad, maybe, if you want to know the name and address and Dox every carry RPO that’s out there. That’s not being requested. We just want the damn number. How many RPO carry permits? Teddy Nappen 08:41 Page of 2 8 It honestly reminds me, Dad, of that poster you had hung up. It was the joke where it shows if the Left could rewrite the Second Amendment. And I think, and I remember, you remember that. They crossed out, remember, they crossed out militia. And it says, like, military and police, employed police only. We’re kind of that logic where like, well, they’re not in the service, so why should they be armed? Not because there’s massive doxing websites, and that’s why ICE has to have their mask on for that exact reason. But. Evan Nappen 09:17 Exactly. Well, the fight is still ongoing and the question is raised. Why not just give us the number so we all know? And I would like to see a huge number of RPOs. I hope there’s lots of them out there. The more trained law-abiding folks that have firearms, the safer we are. And retired police are perfect in that regard. That’s exactly what we want to see. So, whatever their basis is, it just creates more of a conspiracy, and it just politicizes it so unnecessarily. It’s ridiculous. Release the number. Let us know. Let’s join in showing how many armed folks are out there. Maybe that’s another reason. They’re afraid that if that number, you know is even more, now, more and more people are carrying and suddenly the BITS argument they love to make right? Blood In The Streets. BITS. There’ll be blood in the streets with civilian carry, you know. No, it didn’t happen. And it’ll be the Wild West. It’s not the Wild West. And look at how many folks have carries when you combine the numbers. Maybe they’re afraid of that political aspect. But, you know, we have a right to know these numbers. It’s not a secret. It’s not improper. It’s not overbroad. Just let us know, and we deal with the facts. Evan Nappen 10:47 I also want to bring a couple very interesting things out that I’ve recently learned about. An important one here is the old “Bang or Bong – You can’t have both”. Well, shortly, at least a greater degree, you may be able to have both because President Trump, through his administration, folks, keep that in mind. Through the Trump administration, they have proposed, through ATF, revision of their regulation concerning the interpretation of what a “user of drugs” as a disqualifier, what it means. You know, for almost 30 years, ATF has said they treat even a single incident, a single past admission of marijuana use, or a failed drug test, or one misdemeanor marijuana conviction as evidence of a person being an unlawful user. They have now put forward an administrative reg that when it becomes finalized, which should be happening within the next few months, it will make it so that those things no longer will be deeming a person “an unlawful user”. And this should be of great help. Evan Nappen 12:25 From an article in AmmoLand, written by Dean Weingarten, which is entitled “ATF Finally Admits: One-time Drug Use Isn’t Grounds to Strip Gun Rights.” (https://www.ammoland.com/2026/01/atf-finally-admitsone-time-drug-use-isnt-grounds-to-strip-gun-rights/) It makes it really interesting here regarding that. In 2025, NICS denied 9,163 firearm transfers under the “unlawful user” category, okay? So, in other words, denials, denials of over 9,000 transfers, more than half of those denials, more than half, were single-incident drug inferences. Well, under this rule, those will no longer be denials. That’s over what? Four thousand people that will not be denied their gun rights, just in that one year, no less. Of people being denied over this nonsense. And furthermore, in this article, ATF admitted that 8,893 cases, it declined to investigate, prosecute, or retrieve firearms because of a single-drug incident. So, they’re denying individuals and not prosecuting. Yet, they’re using it as a base for denial. So, finally, we’re getting a reg of common sense that clears it up. Evan Nappen 14:05 Page of 3 8 And it even, to me, appears to go further. Now this may take a little bit more analysis, but in my reading of the reg, and I’m going to have to see how it pans out, it also talks about those that use drugs that are lawfully prescribed. That becomes an exemption. I’m going to be looking further into whether this reg also directly impacts individuals with a medical marijuana card. Because if it’s prescribed and it’s legal in the state and it’s by a lawful prescription, then maybe that, too, gets covered by this new regulation. It remains to be seen, but it sure seems like it. So, this is good. It progress in the right direction of helping protect our gun rights. And, of course, it’s happening under the Trump administration. It didn’t, this didn’t happen under, you know, the senile sock puppets for years. This is Trump, and yet it’s in the area of marijuana. I mean, oddly, it’s going to essentially remove what got Hunter Biden in trouble, you know. Now, of course, I don’t think he had a single individual use, but still. It’s that disqualifier that’s being addressed by the Trump administration. Evan Nappen 15:40 I also want to point out something that caught my attention, and I think it is just great when something illustrates the absurdity of the gun laws. As you know, we’re fighting over with the big, beautiful lawsuit with NFA over suppressors. Of course, there’s no more $200 tax, which is nice, and they have made it much more efficient online to be able to get federally registered through the National Firearm Act, when acquiring suppressors. And I appreciate the progress, but we all know that there shouldn’t be any NFA at all. It shouldn’t exist. There should be no registration of suppressors or silencers. And it’s so stupid the way silencers are regulated. And I just love this. Apparently, this fellow here, regarding the National Association for Gun Rights, registered a potato as a suppressor. That’s right, a potato. (https:// www.facebook.com/share/v/1Aadb9chUS/) It’s the classic potato silencer that they used to be, mythologically, I guess, accredited to the IRA even. A potato on the end of a gun will act as a suppressor, and to a certain degree, it does. So, he registered a potato, an actual potato, as a suppressor, and then proceeded to utilize it. The only problem with the potato silencer is it’s good for about one shot, and then you end up with a lot of mashed potatoes after you use it. But there you go. They did, in fact, register the potato as a silencer. Teddy Nappen 17:31 There’s a slang term for it, too it’s called a Paddy can. Evan Nappen 17:35 There you go. A Paddy can. Well, he registered a Paddy can. And you know, ATF, also, in the past, registered a shoelace as a machine gun, because you could wrap it around the trigger and the bolt. Then you could do a quasi bump fire deal with it. So, there is a bona fide, if you go on the internet, see a bona fide ATF registered shoelace as a machine gun. We have potatoes as silencers, and I think it illustrates just how stupid the NFA is. Evan Nappen 18:07 Hey, let me tell you about our friends at WeShoot. WeShoot, as you know, is a range where Teddy and I both shoot, and they have been lately featuring some biographies of their instructors. You see, WeShoot has fantastic instructors, and one of their instructors that they’ve taken a focus on is Todd Friedman. Now, their instructors are fantastic and Lieutenant Todd (Retired) is an elite tactical instructor at WeShoot. He has over 25 years experience with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. And he didn’t just serve there. He commanded. He was Special Operations Group, Range Master, PTC Certified Range Instructor. His training and background is really something. He’s completed all the advanced coursework and tactical shot sub gun, tactical rifle, tactical narcotics operations. He is an amazing guy, Page of 4 8 and this is just one of the many fantastic instructors at WeShoot. WeShoot is the place to go. Todd, by the way, also served as a Sergeant First Class in the New Jersey National Guard and supporting the prestigious 82nd Airborne Division. So, this is the kind of guy you want training you, you know, and we shoot has these fantastic trainers. You can take advantage of this by belonging to WeShoot. You can take these courses and really, really learn and hone your skills. You need to check out WeShoot at weshootusa.com, weshootusa.com. It’s a beautiful range right there in Lakewood, conveniently located easy to get to, right off the Parkway, right there in Central Jersey. You have this fantastic resource of a range. So, make sure you check out WeShoot. Evan Nappen 20:24 And of course, our friends at the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs have been very busy. They’ve been battling in the courts. We should see some more progress there, and I’ll be reporting on that. They’ve been keeping an eye on what’s going on in Trenton and letting us know about these fights we’re fighting. We’ve made an impact. We’ve made an impact. But man, it is a tough slog. And without the Association, we would be even worse. So, make sure that you join the ANJRPC.org, the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol clubs. anjrpc.org. They are the premier gun rights group in New Jersey. You need to be a member. You’ll get the email alerts, and you’ll stay on top of what is going on in the crazy state of New Jersey, where the fun just never ends when it comes to oppression of our rights and the fight for our liberties. Evan Nappen 21:22 And by the way, this is where I shamelessly promote my book New Jersey Gun Law, which is the Bible of New Jersey gun law. You’ve got to get a copy. Go to EvanNappen.com. It’s over 500 pages, 120 topics, all question and answer. It is the book used by everybody, and the only book that describes and explains the complex matrix of insanity called New Jersey gun law. Get your copy today. Go to EvanNappen.com. When you get it, scan the front cover. Make sure you get on my private subscriber base, where you can immediately access the archives for any updates. A new update will be coming out very shortly, the 2026 Comprehensive Update of these new laws that Murphy gave us as his farewell present. I’ll be talking about those and explaining those soon. Get your copy today and join in with the subscriber base, which is free, which is free, by the way. So, that your book stays current, and you’ll know what’s going on and be able to keep yourself from becoming a GOFU. Evan Nappen 22:35 Teddy, what do you have for us today? Teddy Nappen 22:38 Well, as you know, Press Checks are always free. And I want to remind everyone that the Democrats and the Left are, in fact, the real racists. No matter. They do not care what bounds they have to do. They don’t care about what lines they have to cross. They hate you, and they want to take away your rights. You know. Evan Nappen 23:06 Well, Teddy, historically, historically the KKK were Southern Democrats. That was a KKK. The Democrats. Teddy Nappen 23:15 Yep, and apparently. Page of 5 8 Evan Nappen 23:16 Well, it hasn’t changed, apparently. Go ahead. Teddy Nappen 23:19 Well, even better, they’re getting back to their roots. We had previously discussed how the they tried to do that whole argument against Bruen and even citing to like, you know, all the racist laws that would deny blacks their rights to carry and ability to possess firearms. Well, sure enough, from The Daily Caller by Harold Hutchinson. Justice Jackson defends Jim Crow laws during Second Amendment case hearing. (https://dailycaller.com/2026/01/20/ketanji-brown-jackson-jim-crow-law-during-2a-case-argument/) If you have that on your bingo card today, you win. So. Evan Nappen 23:59 Your bingo card is Judge Jackson defends Jim Crow racist Black Codes. Teddy Nappen 24:05 Black Code. Specifically Black Codes. Yes, yes. So, this is about the Hawaii challenge. Remember, they’re trying to attack Bruen. And this is our opportunity to really strengthen and end that insanity. Evan Nappen 24:20 Your talking about the Wolford case. Teddy Nappen 24:20 Correct. Evan Nappen 24:22 About sensitive places. Which is very important. That can have great impact on New Jersey, too. Teddy Nappen 24:28 Oh, we’re all very too familiar about the various sensitive places in New Jersey. But this was the part that caught me. During the forum, where the justices are allowed to ask questions and probe the issues of the facts of the case of the law. So, Justice Jackson then turned and decided to go on and say. I just laugh every time I read it. So, I guess I really don’t understand your response to Justice Gorsuch on the Black Codes. I mean, I thought the Black Code, this is Jackson, were being offered under the Bruen test to determine the Constitutionality of this regulation, and that, because we have a test, and that asks us to look at the history and tradition, the fact that the Black Codes were at some point determined themselves unconstitutional, it doesn’t seem to me to be relevant to the assessment that Bruen is asking us for anyway. So, can you say more about that? So to. Evan Nappen 25:35 Do you believe this person is a justice? Teddy Nappen 25:40 Well, I can, I can believe it, because Biden said it himself. He was going to appoint a black woman and regardless of that. So, just take a step back though. Let’s unpack that line right there. It’s not relevant to the fact the laws were found unconstitutional, not relevant to the fact of the constitutionality of the Second Amendment and the and the fact that you are citing, and this is the war on Bruen they are Page of 6 8 making, where they try to say history, text and tradition. Where does history begin? Well, to the Left, apparently, the history begins in the 1860s where you have the various Black Codes and racist gun laws, but you know, to us with the, you know, traditionalists and go and have a little bit further knowledge of history, go back to the very foundation of our country and when the Second Amendment was born. And not only that, this shows you the degree that they hate us and hate guns and are willing to pursue a second amendment oppression agenda, even to the degree that they will utilize unconstitutional purely racist laws of the past to justify prohibitions now that are themselves we can show utilizing institutionalized racism in their enforcement, no less. I mean, they don’t care, as long as they can get the guns and take away the rights. So what if they have to be on the side of racism? That’s fine with them there. Teddy Nappen 27:28 Well, and here’s the reason why I pulled from The Trace where, you know, they absolutely loathe Bruen. This is why they hate it, and this is why they don’t care where length they have to go they cite in. This is from The Trace. (https://www.thetrace.org/projects/bruen-tracker-supreme-court-gun-laws/) 1100 plus. The number of people with felony convictions have used Bruen to challenge the ban on the possession of guns. So, in other words, people that were lawful possession and have unconstitutional laws currently putting them in jail? Oh, now there’s a hammer that is Bruen that can actually help them defend themselves and not be prosecuted. Amazing. Well. And it goes back to race, because blacks are six to one felons to whites, and what is the left pushing? Oh, the disqualifier of a felon, you are sure, because it gets a racial discrimination. It’s six to one again, always pushing the one side of their mouth, claiming to fight for civil rights. Teddy Nappen 28:37 And yet, when it really comes down to the truest of civil rights, they immediately sell it out to pursue a second amendment oppression agenda, yeah, and also the fact they highlight, they highlight this rate of 48% of Republican appointed judges have struck down various gun laws under Bruen, as opposed to the 13 Democrat appointees. So there is political bias for that, you where they’re actually applying the law versus them ignoring the Constitution. But you know, that’s a separate but this is something I want to highlight to everyone. The fact is, if the Left ever take power back, and James Carville has said this, they will pack the court. He said, we’re going to pack the court. We’re going to make a gonna make Puerto Rico a state like everything they can to maintain power. Teddy Nappen 29:30 What are they going to do when they pack the court? Go ahead and read the dissenting of Bruen. I pulled the line right here from buyers, which all of them agree with buyers on this. They refuse, when considering the SEC refuse to consider government interests and just and the challenge to gun regulations regarding the compelling interest to be, in our view, when the court interprets the Second Amendment, it is constitutionally proper and in often necessary. Necessary to consider the serious danger and consequences of gun violence that lead states to regulate when you when they consider gun laws, they have to factor in the gun violence. You know, the propaganda they promote, race manufacturers on a daily basis, by the way, right? That’s what they have to consider when exercising. So whenever you want to exercise the First Amendment, always consider the hate speech. This is why Reagan said, you know, freedom is only what one generation away from being lost. You know, paraphrasing, but that’s what it means. If they get power, they get total power. We’re in for it, so be vigilant, folks. Make sure you vote. Make sure you do your part in our republic, in defending our rights. Page of 7 8 Evan Nappen 30:55 Hey, let me tell you about this week’s GOFU, which is the Gun Owner Fuck Up. We always like to talk about GOFUs, because these are expensive lessons, real cases, real individuals have learned. And I don’t want you, my listeners, to have to repeat these mistakes. And this one is, this comes up at any number of cases, even just this week. And here’s the bottom line on this GOFU, folks. Know what you have. Let me tell you what I mean by that. I get cases all the time where people end up with their property seized and their house gets searched. Now you may say, well, no one has searched my house. Yeah, except it’s so easy in New Jersey to have that happen. All it takes is just some allegation by any party. You don’t even get a chance to say anything till afterwards. After they do the search that red flags you, or puts an unjustified restraining order on you, or just your house has a fire, and the firemen come in there. We’ve seen this happen so many times, so many ways, and something gets discovered that you didn’t even remember that you had. Evan Nappen 32:17 Because remember, New Jersey has turned things into crimes where there was no grandfathering. If you had old magazines that held over 10 rounds, in other words, you could even if you complied with Florio way back in the day and made sure your mags only held 15. Well, if you’ve got 15 round Florio mags, you’ve got felony charges on your hands. Even though they were made compliant way back. Because now it’s 10. That’s just one example. If you have firearm that became non-compliant under New Jersey law and didn’t realize it, there’s just a multitude of things that New Jersey can screw you over with. Please make sure you know what you have and not have anything that you shouldn’t. Because it’s so easy to have boxes of accessories, boxes and you know, lo and behold, what’s in it? An old bump stock or an old large capacity magazine or a trigger crank, or any of the things that were legal, but then New Jersey unilaterally decided it is intrinsically evil and must be turned into felonies for possession. So, folks, know what you have. Evan Nappen 33:37 This is Evan Nappen and Teddy Nappen reminding you that gun laws don’t protect honest citizens from criminals. They protect criminals from honest citizens. Speaker 2 33:48 Gun Lawyer is a CounterThink Media production. The music used in this broadcast was managed by Cosmo Music, New York, New York. Reach us by emailing Evan@gun.lawyer. The information and opinions in this broadcast do not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your state. Page of 8 8 Downloadable PDF TranscriptGun Lawyer S5 E274_Transcript About The HostEvan Nappen, Esq.Known as “America's Gun Lawyer,” Evan Nappen is above all a tireless defender of justice. Author of eight bestselling books and countless articles on firearms, knives, and weapons history and the law, a certified Firearms Instructor, and avid weapons collector and historian with a vast collection that spans almost five decades — it's no wonder he's become the trusted, go-to expert for local, industry and national media outlets. Regularly called on by radio, television and online news media for his commentary and expertise on breaking news Evan has appeared countless shows including Fox News – Judge Jeanine, CNN – Lou Dobbs, Court TV, Real Talk on WOR, It's Your Call with Lyn Doyle, Tom Gresham's Gun Talk, and Cam & Company/NRA News. As a creative arts consultant, he also lends his weapons law and historical expertise to an elite, discerning cadre of movie and television producers and directors, and novelists. He also provides expert testimony and consultations for defense attorneys across America. Email Evan Your Comments and Questions  talkback@gun.lawyer Join Evan's InnerCircleHere's your chance to join an elite group of the Savviest gun and knife owners in America.  Membership is totally FREE and Strictly CONFIDENTIAL.  Just enter your email to start receiving insider news, tips, and other valuable membership benefits.   Email (required) *First Name *Select list(s) to subscribe toInnerCircle Membership Yes, I would like to receive emails from Gun Lawyer Podcast. (You can unsubscribe anytime)Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.var ajaxurl = "https://gun.lawyer/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php";

Today, we go deep on swimming but keep it relatively simple so you can work on things that matter and lock them in. We talk about some of the most important fundamentals regarding swimming: breathing, body position, and body control. There will be big wins in your swimming if you can master the basic principles of swimming. We also get into how you should be breaking up your week regarding form, intensity, and endurance. We'll look at getting a bigger return for your energy investment, why the hips are critical, why you're probably too tense in the water, and the soon to be famous Light Switch Test. Topics: Does op 20 swimming list hold up? Swimming and focus on the details Obsession over aero and watts but not swimming 90 Day Challenge Picking up swimming later in life Correct form + muscular endurance End of Ironman running form Uncomfortable doing hard swims? Efficient form for return of energy investment Day One - Pick one day for technique (AR) Day two - Focus on top speed and turnover Day Three - Longer swim for muscular endurance How to breathe Why to breathe every stroke Breath 2-4 Bilateral breathing?? Build a strong side Body position Head is number one Forehead down Body Control Head raises - body sinks A body drill with paddles Outside cues to get a better feel for the water Video from the front cue Splayed out? Hips way too open Hip control Steering wheels in swimming The Light Switch Test   Mike Tarrolly - mike@c26triathlon.com Robbie Bruce - robbie@c26triathlon.com

In this episode of JacquesTalk we discuss why it's important for college quarterbacks to throw 1K passes in college, who will play in the Super Bowl and what the hell is going on with the Buffalo Bills. We talk about what the Cowboys need to do to get back to the top of the NFL.

When no one wants your Meat Slingshot, what do you do? Make a better flying disc and name it after a pie plate, naturally. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is… Well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients. So here’s one of those. [ECO Office Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders Podcast. Dave Young here with Stephen Semple and today’s topic, Wham-O. It’s from Wham-O. In all the toy stores, I’m trying to think. Slinky wasn’t Wham-O, was it? Stephen Semple: No, Slinky was not Wham-O. Dave Young: Yeah. I’m trying to think of what Wham-O was. Stephen Semple: Frisbee’s. Dave Young: Frisbee’s. Stephen Semple: Hula Hoops. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: All sorts of crap, right? Dave Young: I didn’t realize the Frisbee was a Wham-O product. I mean, I remember the name. I remember the ads and it’s a cool name. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Well, it’s so funny. Wham-O was Frisbee, Hula Hoops, Slip ‘N’ Slide, Super Ball, all of those- Dave Young: Probably lawn darts. Stephen Semple: All of those sorts of things were Wham-O. But what I find funny is before getting on, we were talking about this whole thing of sounds and things like that and communication. And then all of a sudden it’s like, “Oh, we’re going to talk about a company whose name actually has that real kinetic feel of Wham-O.” Dave Young: Mm-hmm. I love a name that is also a sound. And if we have time, I’ll tell you about a client I’m working with that we changed the name of the company to make it a sound. Stephen Semple: Oh, that’s cool. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: That’s awesome. Oh, the other ones that they did, Hacky Sack and Silly Strings was a couple of the other ones. Dave Young: Were they responsible for lawn darts? That’s my question. Stephen Semple: I’m not sure if they’re responsible for lawn darts. So since it didn’t come up- Dave Young: Maybe not. Yeah. Stephen Semple: … I guess probably not. The company started in 1949 out of, basically a lot of these things out, of the garage in South Pasadena. And it was Richard Knerr and Arthur Melin, who are basically two university graduates, started this company. And their first product was a slingshot, was a wooden slingshot made from ash wood. And the name Wham-O was actually inspired by the sound of the slingshot hitting a target. Dave Young: You release it… Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yeah. Dave Young: Very satisfying. Stephen Semple: But here’s the funny thing is, it wasn’t originally… The idea behind making it was not actually a toy. They loved training falcons, and it was to train falcons for hunting. Dave Young: A slingshot? Okay. Stephen Semple: They would shoot the meat into the air. They got frustrated that the regular slingshot wouldn’t fire it the way they wanted to do it, so they made their own. Dave Young: So they made a meat slingshot. Stephen Semple: Made a meat slingshot. Dave Young: It turns out there wasn’t a huge market for meat slingshots. So you pivot and put it in the hands of children eventually. Stephen Semple: It’s the 1950s, dude. Dave Young: Uh-huh, that’s right. “You’re going to put an eye out.” Well, somebody already did. Stephen Semple: Be careful with that hamburger you’re firing out. Dave Young: But that was their fault, not ours. Yeah. Those were the days, right? Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: When the manufacturer could say, “Well, that’s your fault. You shouldn’t have been an idiot.” Stephen Semple: “What’d you expect a rock to do?” But again, so many businesses, it started with them just solving their own problem. And their own problem was they wanted this thing. But what they found out, they created one that was so good that all of a sudden was like, “Wow,” people became interested in this. Dave Young: It the wrist rocket? Stephen Semple: You know what? I was able to find- Dave Young: I don’t know if that’s the same kind of- Stephen Semple: I wasn’t able to find pictures of the original thing around, because it didn’t do particularly well, but it kind of put them onto a path. Because very quickly they added blow guns and boomerangs. Dave Young: Nice. Stephen Semple: Right? But the whole idea was these types of things. And they get to the stage with these various products. So they’ve got the slingshot, they got the blow gun, they got the boomerang, they got these little niches going on and they’re selling basically $100,000 a year of this stuff. But they’re thinking to themselves, “If we’re going to really make this a business, we need a bigger idea.” And I’m going to say, if you’re going to really make this a business, you need an idea which is not going to put somebody’s eye out. Dave Young: Probably. This is, again, like you said, the 1950s. Stephen Semple: 1950s. Really, no seat belts, like, “Come on now.” Dave Young: The BB gun’s already invented. Stephen Semple: You know, it’s funny, when you think back to how we were with safety and things like that, one of my really fond memories… Now this wouldn’t have been the ’50s, this would be the ’70s, but one of my really fond memories of being a kid was we’d be hauling stuff somewhere and we had this old green wood trailer with oversized tires on it that bounced like crazy when you’re driving down the road. And one of the funnest thing is we would go somewhere and coming home, all the kids would pile into the trailer in the back as we’re driving down the road. Dave Young: You’d be the ballast to hold down the sheets of plywood. Yeah. Well, who needs tie downs when you’ve got 200 pounds of children? Stephen Semple: And the weird thing is, it’s not like anybody thought that was weird. Dave Young: No. Stephen Semple: That was what you do. Dave Young: Yeah. And if you weren’t on the trailer, you were sitting on the edge of a pickup with your back to the road. Stephen Semple: Exactly. Exactly. Anyway, back to Wham-O. They’re needing a bigger idea. And while they’re on the beach, they come across this flying disc called Whirlaway. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: Right? And they decide… They also found another one called Pluto Platter. So it didn’t work. It wasn’t really selling. And so Wham-O, they buy the rights to this. They go, “Look, we’ll buy the rights to this.” They make a few couple of design changes. And Morrison saw this people also tossing these metal pythons, right? Dave Young: Oh, okay. Stephen Semple: And so that was actually where he came up with a little bit of the design change. He kind of looked at that and went, “Oh, this is much better than this Pluto Platter thing.” Dave Young: You drop the edge down and balances itself a little bit better. Stephen Semple: Yeah, yeah. And one of the pie plates they came across, guess what the name of the pie plate was? Dave Young: Frisbee maybe? Stephen Semple: Bingo. Dave Young: Yeah? Okay. Stephen Semple: Frisbee. Dave Young: Okay. So they buy that too or just- Stephen Semple: They just trademarked that because it wasn’t trademarked. So they went and trademarked the Frisbee name. And in the first two years, they sell a million Frisbees. Dave Young: Wow. Stephen Semple: Right? And what they did to promote it, so here’s the really cool idea, they go to university campuses and they also gave it to people and people, guess what, immediately found on university cool ways to do tricks and stuff with the Frisbee. So that then got it going. And look, this was pre social media days. Imagine what you’d be able to do today in terms of demonstrating all this crazy stuff on social media. Dave Young: Well, you’d have to get people off their phone. Stephen Semple: Yeah. But what they have now is they have a way of creating ideas. And what they realized was they had to look for things and just make them better. So they created this open door policy. They would listen to anybody, “Come pitch an idea, we’ll listen.” So the next one was a neighbor had come back from Australia with this bamboo exercise hoop, and you had to use it doing a movement like a hula dancer. Dave Young: Yeah. Okay. Stephen Semple: And so they do a handshake deal. And if it’s a hit, we’re going to give you royalties. And instead they make it out of this lightweight, colorful plastic, and they put little beans inside so that it makes a sound. Dave Young: Absolutely. Stephen Semple: It also has a little bit different feel to it. They took this idea to parks and they demonstrated it. And what am I talking about, Dave? What’s the name of the toy? What’s the name of the toy? Dave Young: Oh, it’s the Hulu Hoop. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Bingo. Yeah, it’s the Hulu Hoop. And in 1958, they launched the Hula Hoop, and it’s the biggest toy fad in history. And I think it still is. Dave Young: Oh yeah, I think. Stephen Semple: I think it still is. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: And they were farming out the product they couldn’t keep up with production. Now, here’s where a little problem happens for them. Remember that handshake deal? If this is a deal, we’re going to pay your royalties? Dave Young: Yeah, yeah. Stephen Semple: They didn’t pay any royalties and they got sued. Dave Young: Shoot. They should have paid the royalties. Stephen Semple: On top of that, knockoffs happened, right? Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Because it was pretty easy to copy and people were making it cheaper. And then by the end of 1958, they actually reported a loss because of so much of this competition going on. Dave Young: Really? Okay. Stephen Semple: Yeah. So they stopped production. They’ve got growing debt. They’ve got a warehouse full of unsold product. So they need to find another hit. Because what they’ve noticed is in their business model is the toy gets hot and then it drops off. So what they suddenly realize is they need to constantly be looking for these new ideas. So Robert Carrier is a guy from the upholstery industry and he came home one day to see his son sliding on the concrete driveway because it was wet. Again, remember, ’50s, right? Dave Young: Sure. Anything to entertain yourself as a kid. Stephen Semple: He takes some Naugahyde, incorporates a hose and holes, and now you’ve got… Dave Young: The Slip ‘N’ Slide. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Right. So basically the guys at Wham-O come across this idea and they replace it with vinyl plastic and you’ve got Slip ‘N’ Slide. Dave Young: Yeah, yeah. Stephen Semple: And when they launched Slip ‘N’ Slide, it sold like 3000 units in the first few months. Dave Young: Mm-hmm. Stephen Semple: Right? Another inventor comes and sees them, Norman Stringley, who’s a petrochemical engineer who specializes in rubber, and he makes this really dense, high bouncing ball that could also spin in reverse. Dave Young: Okay. Yeah, the Super Ball. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Bingo, the Super Bowl. Dave Young: Mm-hmm. Stephen Semple: Smash hit, six million sold in 1965 alone. Dave Young: Well, and I think it was just a couple of years before that with the Absent-minded Professor and Flubber. Do you remember Flubber? Stephen Semple: Yeah, right. Dave Young: So that was like Super Ball was having a ball made out of Flubber. Stephen Semple: Yeah. And I don’t know whether this is true or not, but seemingly the whole Super Ball thing was also part of the inspiration for creating the name of the Super Bowl. Dave Young: Really? Stephen Semple: Yeah. And again, this is one of those ones I could not find confirmation of it. It may just be one of those things that’s a great story that now is part of the world out there. Dave Young: Yeah, the zeitgeist. The zeitgeist. Stephen Semple: The zeitgeist, yeah, that’s it. And then in 1959, the Wham-O Bird Ornithopter, which was this aluminum spars and all this other… and brightly painted look like a hawker or an owl. And it was rubber bands. Remember those things, they were rubber band powered? They were about like three bucks and they made 600,000 of those. And then- Dave Young: It was brightly painted so you could see it up in the tree when it got stuck. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: And now you’re like, “Oh shoot.” Stephen Semple: And then they created the Wheelie Bar, which was something that was great for attaching to a swing bicycle. And the air blaster and the bubble thing. One of the things that they just did was they realized they needed to just continually be making new ideas because the cycle for their types of toys, they would go really popular and drop off, really popular, drop off, really popular. In 1969, they did Silly String. Remember Silly String? Dave Young: Sure. Yeah. Stephen Semple: Right? The Hacky Sack in ’83. So just on and on and on and on, they would do these things. And in 1982, I was never able to find the price that Wham-O was sold for, but Wham-O was sold to Kransco Group Companies in ’82. And then in ’94, Mattel bought them. Dave Young: Wow. Stephen Semple: Then in ’97, Wham-O became independent again. Dave Young: Oh, really? Stephen Semple: And then in 2006, they were sold to Cornerstone Overseas Investment Limited for $80 million. Dave Young: Stay tuned. We’re going to wrap up this story and tell you how to apply this lesson to your business right after this. [Using Stories To Sell Ad] Dave Young: Let’s pick up our story where we left off, and trust me you haven’t missed a thing. Stephen Semple: Then in ’97, Wham-O became independent again. Dave Young: Oh, really? Stephen Semple: And then in 2006, they were sold to Cornerstone Overseas Investment Limited for $80 million. So the one thing I can find to put a value to Wham-O was they were bought, they went independent, and then they were sold again for $80 million. So I always like to try to go, “What was this company worth?” Dave Young: Those guys probably left when it got sold the first time, would be my guess. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Dave Young: But here’s my observation of this. These guys weren’t making games. Stephen Semple: Oh, interesting. Dave Young: Hacky Sacks sort of became a game, right? Stephen Semple: Mm-hmm. Dave Young: Because you could play it with several people. You’d have people in a circle all smacking the Hacky Sack. In fact, I have one. I thought it was laying back here. It’s sitting on my desk or around here somewhere in this stuff. Stephen Semple: Cool. Dave Young: But it’s one of the little original leather ones. Stephen Semple: Nice, yeah. Dave Young: But my observation is this is a stretch. Okay? Stephen Semple: Okay. Dave Young: This is just me following a trend. Stephen Semple: Do I need to sit down? Do I need to sit down? Dave Young: No, I don’t think so. I don’t think so. I think, in fact, knowing you as well as I do, I think you’ll jump right on board with this. Stephen Semple: Okay. Dave Young: These guys were making fidget toys. These guys were making things that you could do yourself just by yourself, right? Stephen Semple: With the one exception being- Dave Young: And it’s not necessarily Hula. Stephen Semple: Frisbee would be the one exception, but Hula you could do yourself. All these other things you could do yourself. Dave Young: And people figured out how to make Frisbee golf courses and then you could play that by yourself. Stephen Semple: Oh, that’s true. Oh, that’s true. That’s true. Dave Young: You’re just throwing towards a goal. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: But they didn’t make Frisbee as a game. They made it as an activity. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: So you could say they’re activities, but they were also things that you could just go do this activity and just be outside playing with something and be out on the driveway bouncing your Super Ball or- Stephen Semple: I remember having a Super Ball. They were fun. Dave Young: … holding your Hula Hoop, or shooting at things with the original slingshot. Stephen Semple: With the meat? Dave Young: The meat slinger. They had to quickly have pivoted from that, because I don’t think falconry ever got huge, right? They were looking at things that were just kind of cool. And I say fidget toys because even as we record these things, I have four or five things on my desk that I always have in my hand and I’m always just doing something, right? Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: It keeps my brain focused on this conversation instead of wandering all over the place. Stephen Semple: We just didn’t have the terminology fidget toy, right? Dave Young: Well, here’s the other thing. If you want to take it a step further, ADHD wasn’t known about then. Stephen Semple: Correct. It was around, but we’d had- Dave Young: Sure. Lots of kids with ADHD that needed… Just take your Super Ball outside. You could kill a lot of time goofing off with a Wham-O toy. Stephen Semple: Well, and a great example of that is I was only diagnosed a few years ago as having ADHD. Dave Young: Yeah, same. Mm-hmm. Stephen Semple: So gone through my entire life with it, not knowing… Mind you, if I look close enough, the science were there. Dave Young: Well, sure. Yeah. When I told people, I think mine was almost 10 years ago, but anytime I’d tell somebody like, “Wait, you didn’t know? You didn’t know.” Stephen Semple: No, I was distracted. I didn’t notice. Dave Young: The rest of us knew. “How long have you been having these memory problems?” “For as long as I can remember.” Stephen Semple: So not long. Dave Young: I don’t know. Stephen Semple: But the one thing I want to tie back to on Wham-O, and it’s a great observation that that’s what they were basically creating, is the thing that they noticed very quickly was this was their natural business. Their natural business was you create something, it’s a hit, and it falls off. And they just bought into it. They said, “That’s the nature of this business.” So what you need to do is continually be looking for these new ideas. Dave Young: A new thing. Stephen Semple: So this is reason why we didn’t talk very much about… They literally had this open door policy. If you were an inventor of a toy, you could come see them. And look, they looked at a lot of crap, but at the same time that they knew that they had to constantly be out there, it’s not about, “Oh my God, we’re making all this money from the Hula.” What they learned from the Hula, because it almost killed their business, is they need to be constantly looking for that next idea, that next idea. And it’s not about, “Oh, it’s dropped off. We’ve got to revive this with marketing.” Toy, especially in those days, had this natural cycle that it went through. They bought into, “This is the way it is, so we got to constantly looking for new ideas, fill in that pipeline and creating it. And then also recognizing when this thing drops off, we’ve got to manage that drop off.” I really like the fact that they just really saw their business for what it was and said, “Okay, given that’s what it is, this is how we have to manage things.” Dave Young: Yeah. And honestly, this fits it so well because the inventors are probably… They’re just figuring out something that they enjoyed. Right? Stephen Semple: Bingo. Dave Young: I made this little thing. I made this little thing out of paperclips and look what it does and it’s kind of fun and I think you could take it to the next level. And I think there’s lots of things like that. And so they were filling that need of these inventors who were probably just solving their own little attention problem. Stephen Semple: Well, great. Oh, I discovered my kid was doing this and I did this and they’re now having fun with it and all the neighborhood kids are coming over and doing it. Dave Young: Frisbee was a way to play a game of catch without needing a glove and a ball or pretending you’re playing baseball, right? And so if you weren’t a baseball player, you probably didn’t run around with a glove and baseball anyway. So it was a way to… And most of these toys, you didn’t need anybody else. Stephen Semple: You didn’t need anybody else. Dave Young: Frisbee you did, but it was just a game of catch. Stephen Semple: Right. And also what they recognized was people would very quickly, like with Hula and Frisbee and all these things, people would very quickly figure out their own ways to make it fun and do strange things. Dave Young: Gamify. Stephen Semple: Which then also made it more… People gamified it on their own and will gamify it on their own. Give kids a bunch of stuff, they’ll gamify it. Dave Young: I’m sure it wasn’t too long before there was somebody, the first person in the Guinness Book of World Records for Hula Hoop. Stephen Semple: Oh, for sure. Dave Young: Right? Stephen Semple: Oh, for sure. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Dave Young: Because you just see how long you can do it, you see how many spins you can do it. Stephen Semple: Yeah. And again, the interesting part to me was it didn’t start as, “Hey, we’re making this toy.” It was, “we made this thing,” and then they started to discover that it was fun. It was just fun on their own firing without the falcons and now it’s a toy. Dave Young: Yeah, I love it. I love it. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: The story of Wham-O. Stephen Semple: Wham-O. Dave Young: Wham-O, it’s a sound. Right? I know this is an audio podcast, but just do a Google search for the Wham-O logo, right? It’s a sound. You can hear it when you read it and you can see that it’s in motion, right? Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: All of these things had that in common too. Everything was about motion and something moving, some kind of action. Stephen Semple: Well, the other thing that’s really smart about the Wham-O logo is it’s that it’s colorful. But the other thing is the way they’ve done the Wham-O, if you really look at it carefully, it’s the letters at the beginning are big and it gets smaller, which is kind of how you would say Wham-O, right? Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: If you actually listen to it, the sound drops off. And even the way they drew it, they were drawing upon the common way in which comics convey this. And if you think about it at the time, you would have had also things like Batman with the, “Pow!” Dave Young: Absolutely. Yeah. Stephen Semple: So they were also tying into a popular zeitgeist of communication, which is really brilliant. Dave Young: That probably was also attractive to the same kids. Stephen Semple: Correct. Dave Young: Right? Stephen Semple: Oh yeah, correct. Dave Young: And they would recognize it. They would see the language of the comic book and the logo of Wham-O. Stephen Semple: Bingo. Immediately, mm-hmm. Dave Young: The way it recedes, it’s not that it gets smaller in your brain, it’s that it’s getting farther away. Stephen Semple: No, but that’s what I meant by just trying to explain since we’re on a podcast that the lettering gets smaller. Dave Young: But it gives you that feeling of motion. Stephen Semple: But in our brain… Bingo. Dave Young: Mm-hmm. Stephen Semple: Yes. Yes. Dave Young: So they managed to put sound, color and motion into a static logo. Stephen Semple: Correct. Correct. Dave Young: And that’s a super cool thing to do. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yeah. Really, really amazing thing to do. Yeah. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah, it was very cool. Very cool. Dave Young: This is a long episode. Do you want to hear about this client I mentioned at the beginning? Stephen Semple: Go ahead, Dave. Dave Young: Short story. And this is a air conditioning client in Tucson, and his company was named Tailored Mechanical. Stephen Semple: Okay. Dave Young: I think he listens to the podcast, so he’s probably going to hear this and go, “Oh my God.” But we’re in the middle of rebranding. And we asked him when he became a client, like, “Are you okay with us recommending a change in the name of the company?” Because Tailored Mechanical doesn’t exactly tell you that they’re an air conditioning repair company, right? I’m not sure what they do if you tell me mechanical, right? They’re not auto mechanics and they don’t fix elevators and things like that. I don’t know. But anyway, his name’s Chris Plunkett and his wife’s name is Scarlett. And so we gave him a couple of new name suggestions, knowing the one that we really wanted him to pick. We gave him one that had air conditioning in the title, just the typical thing. And then we’re like, “I mean, your wife’s name is pretty cool. You could call this company Scarlett. There’s no other air conditioner company named Scarlett. That would be a cool name.But, dude, everybody already just calls you Plunkett because it’s a sound and it’s fun to say. And so that’s the name of your company, Plunkett.” Stephen Semple: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Dave Young: And the logo is like Wham-O, it’s got motion in it. Stephen Semple: Nice. Dave Young: It’s bigger at both ends because there’s a pa-pa. There’s two syllables and they’re both kind of consonants, Plunkett. And so that’s going to be fun and we’re going to have fun with it. Stephen Semple: That will be fun. Dave Young: It’s almost going to feel like a Wham-O kind of a brand, but the whole goal… Remember the whole goal with companies like this is, we just need to make him memorable, right? Stephen Semple: Yes, yes. Dave Young: And anyway, I love the Wham-O story. I love that this is the kind of smart decisions that people can make that closely make their brand memorable. Rememberable is even a better word. It’s not a word. Stephen Semple: Yes. Yes. That’s awesome. That’ll be a fun campaign. Dave Young: Mm-hmm. Stephen Semple: You should send me some of the ads and we should put them in on the podcast. Dave Young: Yeah. I mean, we haven’t even got to that stage yet. We’ve just got the trucks wrapped and people are looking… Stephen Semple: When you’ve got that, send it along. We’ll put them in the podcast. Dave Young: You don’t know what we’re doing to make the trucks also have motion even when they’re sitting still? Stephen Semple: What are you doing? Dave Young: They’ve got the big logo on them and they’re brightly colored. They’re different colors on both sides. And we’ve put NASCAR style numbers on the doors. Stephen Semple: Oh, nice. That’s fun. Dave Young: Big, big numbers. Stephen Semple: That’s fun. Dave Young: And people scratch their heads. It’s like, “Well, it’s just science. Trucks go faster if they have numbers on them. Have you never watched a race?” Stephen Semple: That’s just science. All right, David, that’s fun. That’s fun, man. Dave Young: It’s fun to have a client that lets you do fun things in the aim of creating entertainment, and that’s the currency of attention. Stephen Semple: Yeah, that’s awesome. Dave Young: Thank you, Stephen. Great. Stephen Semple: So much fun. Thanks, David. Dave Young: Thanks for listening to the podcast. Please share us, subscribe on your favorite podcast app and leave us a big, fat, juicy five star rating and review at Apple Podcasts. And if you’d like to schedule your own 90-minute empire building session, you can do it at empirebuildingprogram.com.

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Welcome to the Civilian Medical Podcast episode 081       Opening: “You never know when you'll be the First Responder” Core framing Most cardiac arrest victims are not found by EMS. They are found by bystanders. “The first five minutes are up to the bystander, and that determines survival”     Why the Guidelines Changed Key point The American Heart Association didn't change CPR because civilians were doing it wrong— they changed it because stress breaks memory. 2020 vs 2025 framing 2020: Correct, but cognitively complex 2025: Correct and easier to recall under pressure “In emergencies, complexity kills time—and time kills.” When you learn CPR, you are not learning it to save a stranger; it's most likely to be a family member.       The Big Shift: One Model for Every Emergency Chain of Survival 2020 Different chains depending on age and setting 2025 One chain. Every person. Every place. “If you remember one thing: recognize → compress → shock.”     Choking: What changed 2020 Abdominal thrusts emphasized Back blows inconsistently taught for adults 2025 Adults & children: 5 back blows → 5 abdominal thrusts Infants: 5 back blows → 5 chest thrusts Why EMS cares Rhythm matters under stress. “Think of it like CPR for choking—structured, repeatable, automatic.”     Opioid Overdose 2020 Naloxone discussed, but not central 2025 Naloxone clearly included without replacing CPR Key teaching Naloxone does not restart a stopped heart. CPR and AED always come first. Soundbites “Naloxone wakes breathing—not circulation.” “Narcan doesn't buy you out of CPR.”       What EMS Hopes You'll Stop Overthinking CPR Quality Unchanged science Push hard Push fast Don't stop unless you must 2025 emphasis Start early > start perfect “You cannot make them more dead.”     Dispatcher CPR: The Invisible Teammate Why this matters Dispatchers now teach off the same simplified framework Civilians who know the 2025 model cooperate faster “The guidelines were written with the idea that the dispatcher is on speakerphone.”     What This Means for You (Practical Takeaways) Actionable conclusions You don't need to be a healthcare provider to do CPR You need the right equipment and the right training What training is Dietrich doing in his community? “Confidence saves more lives than certification.” “You don't rise to the occasion—you fall to your level of preparation.” Final line “If EMS could speak to every bystander before an emergency, this is what we'd say: You already know enough to save a life; do CPR.”     Medical Gear Outfitters Use Code CIVILIANMEDICAL for 10% off    Skinny Medic - @SkinnyMedic | @skinny_medic | Medical Gear Outfitters   Bobby - @rstantontx | @bobby_wales   

What happens when an entire company learns to see its work as a system? In this episode, Travis Timmons reveals how his team uses Deming-inspired pre-work, collaboration, and the Red Bead Experiment to make their offsite energizing and impactful. It's a practical, engaging look at how clarity and shared purpose can transform improvement efforts and build a happy workplace. TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.2 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz and I'll be your host as we dive deeper into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today I'm continuing my discussion with Travis Timmons, who is the founder and owner of Fitness Matters, an Ohio-based practice specializing in the integration of physical therapy and personalized wellness. For 13 years he's built his business on Dr. Deming's teachings. His hope is simple. The more companies that bring joy to work through Deming's principles, the more likely his kids will one day work at one. The topic for today is bringing systems thinking to your next team off-site. Travis, take it away.   0:00:41.5 Travis Timmons: Hey Andrew, great to be with you again. And, yeah, looking forward to sharing a little bit about how we're preparing for our next annual team meeting. And focus for this meeting is going to be, well, a little back story, we had three of our newer leadership members attend some Deming learning, some Deming education. And the biggest comeback, the biggest aha moment they had was they now better understood what I meant by the system view and systems thinking, which got me thinking, boy, it would be great if more of our team fully understood what the system meant, how to visualize it, and then how that further dives into the Deming System of Profound Knowledge. So that's what we've been working on. Our offsite is January 30th, so about a month away. We're about six weeks into preparation for that, kind of going back and forth on what needs to be in there. And the biggest thing, the first exercise, they're going to have homework to do coming into the meeting. We're going to have them kind of diagram what they think the system is. What is the Fitness Matters system? And we're going to prime them a little bit.   0:01:51.7 Travis Timmons: We're going to be doing it via a fishbone chart is the method we've decided to do that with. So, yeah, very excited about that. And it's a great way to get the team working on the work together and making sure they have an appreciation, as Dr. Deming would say, an appreciation for the system. And if you don't know what the system means, it's hard to appreciate it. So, trying to make more team members understand that.   0:02:14.7 Andrew Stotz: And what you're describing, I think is like pre-work that you're asking them to do?   0:02:21.1 Travis Timmons: Yes, yeah. So we'll have we've been spending the last few weeks on making sure we get the right questions in there because we want them to come in prepared but not feel like it's overwhelming or not feel like it's too heavy, if you will. But we want them to do the work so that they can come in and we can dive deeper once we get into some of the teachings and making the visible system of what everything looks like for them. So, that's kind of what we're working on.   0:02:49.1 Andrew Stotz: Did you guide them on, "Here's a fishbone chart, here's how to use it," and then, "Here's the system"? Or do you want them to just understand the fishbone chart and how to use it, and then, "Okay, don't talk to anybody else, you come up with what your vision of the system is"?   0:03:05.0 Travis Timmons: Yeah, so we have a total of seven locations. So what we are going to put in the homework is a one-page definition on what a fishbone is, how to use it and maybe pre-fill in a few of the primary bones, if you will.   0:03:20.3 Andrew Stotz: Yep.   0:03:20.8 Travis Timmons: Just to give them a primer. But we do hope they work together around the lunch tables and the break rooms, and the local leadership will be there to kind of guide them. Because that's where a lot of the collaboration and culture starts to happen and continues to build. So yeah, there'll be some learning about what is a fishbone, how to use it, because several have probably not used one before. And then we'll prime it a little bit, but then we want them to work on it, kind of kind of work, struggle a little bit to see, like, "All right, what's been invisible to me that happens behind the scenes, and it just happens." And make sure that then we can kind of dive deeper into when we say somebody has a good visit at Fitness Matters, how does that happen? And it's everything from first contact to insurance, to in the clinics, to how they pay their bill. So, just making sure that somebody understands what piece of the puzzle they play and then how it all works together. So we don't have silos, is one of the things we try to avoid, having silos within the organization.   0:04:25.8 Andrew Stotz: So, just so that the listener and viewer can implement what they're learning from you just to be clear. So, you're giving them the fishbone chart, teaching them about it, maybe filling in some of the main bones, as you said. And then just to be clear, you talked about them discussing things. Are you saying when you're working on your fishbone, talk to others about it and try to figure that out together?   0:04:51.7 Travis Timmons: Yeah.   0:04:52.5 Andrew Stotz: Okay.   0:04:52.6 Travis Timmons: Yeah, we want them collaborating and there's going to be people who wear different hats in our company. Some are physical therapists, some are Pilates instructors, some are client care coordinators, some are billing managers. So it'll be interesting to see what they bring to the table. And part of it is we don't want them to struggle. We want to kind of prime the pump, but we also want them to see the big picture. So that's why we're doing the fishbone methodology is so we can see it when we get to the actual team meeting. And then we're going to work with them on, then you can do fishbones of individual processes or individual pieces of the system.   0:05:33.1 Andrew Stotz: And, I mean, the reason why I'm asking this is because something like a system, for some people, they understand it, but for other people, they'll just get lost. And then what they bring to the meeting is not really some deep thinking on the topic, but, "Here's my best idea of what you meant."   0:05:50.1 Travis Timmons: Right. Right. Yeah, and we assume like some people may not have the opportunity based on how their schedule works to do much interaction and collaboration, others will have more. It'll be interesting to see what each location comes up with. Our hope is it's similar because we do spend time with the onboarding process talking about Dr. Deming, but we don't currently have a full fishbone diagram in our onboarding manual, for example. And that might change after this offsite. We might add that. You might find that that's a very good idea.   0:06:23.8 Andrew Stotz: Okay, so you got them working on their pre-work, which is the systems thinking, lay out your system in a fishbone chart. What's next?   0:06:35.0 Travis Timmons: So they'll have about two and a half weeks to work on that, heading up to the team offsite. And then we have a four and a half hour agenda for the team offsite. And first part of the phase is we're going to have them break out into groups, six groups. We have a total of 50 people there. So, six tables, and we're going to have each of them with posty notes. We're going to have the fishbone, like the bones there, and they're going to use posty notes to kind of fill in the system. That'll kind of be activity one. We're going to talk about what their learnings were from the homework, what were their aha moments or things they hadn't considered or complexities they didn't realize existed. Talk about that for about a half hour, 45 minutes. And then we're going to take a little break and come back and Kelly Allen's going to be there. He's going to walk our entire team through the red bead experiment, which is one of my favorite in-person Deming exercises. So we're going to go through the Red Bead experiment. And if people don't, that's probably too long of a conversation to explain what that is on this conversation, but opportunity there then to show where there are kind of defects in the system, if you will. So the big thing we're working on for this team offsite beyond system view is how do we improve arrival rate? So what arrival rate is in our industry is how many of our scheduled visits, whether it be for personal training, Pilates, physical therapy, how many of the scheduled visits show up? So a lot that goes into why do they show up? Are they scheduled appropriately? Do they understand their billing? Do they have a good experience? Is it easy to do the scheduling? So that's what's going to be our example of a red bead in the Red Bead experiment. So yeah, going to spend about an hour on the Red Bead experiment. And then myself and our director of operations are then going to, at the end of the red bead, when Kelly debriefs what we just saw happen and people feel the angst of people that, you know, put the paddle in and keep pulling out red beads, even though they were offered bonuses and they just can't quite do it. Talk about how that correlates to our system.   0:08:55.9 Travis Timmons: What are our red beads and what can we impact within the system to have a positive impact on less red beads in the system?   0:09:05.5 Andrew Stotz: And just to go back to one thing, you mentioned a total of 50 people. Is this a total, this is a total company offsite or a leadership team offsite?   0:09:13.5 Travis Timmons: It's going to be the entire company. So what we've found is, I think there's just so much value in everybody on the team understanding what's happening. They don't have to be an expert in all of it, but they need to, using Dr. Deming's term appreciate the system.   0:09:30.9 Andrew Stotz: Yep.   0:09:31.4 Travis Timmons: And appreciate the complexities and appreciate their role in it and everybody else's role. And it also allows some opportunities for sure. There's going to be team members that could be brand new to us six months in. When we make everything visible, they're going to have some fresh eyes and point something out to us that we've always done it that way. So we're going to, let's keep doing it that way and they're going to point it out to us and say that's not a good idea.   0:10:02.7 Andrew Stotz: And you've chosen four and a half hours. Sometimes you could look at that and think, that's a long time. And other times you look at and think, that is such a short amount of time. How did you come upon the time?   0:10:15.2 Travis Timmons: So, a lot of feedback from the team, to be honest with you. So there were, early on there were years where we would do an all day. And I got feedback that, hey Travis, we know you love all this stuff. We don't love working on systems quite as much as you do. So how about a half a day? So a half a day seemed to be about right as long as we did the pre-work. So what we found is if we didn't do the pre-work, then there's just so much wasted time getting everybody kind of up to speed on what we want to work on that day. So the team is all kind of, we come to a mutual agreement of like, hey, if you guys will spend extra time on putting the pre-work together, you'll agree to do it. And then we'll agree to have a four and a half hour all-in meeting, gas pedal down and then we're going to, you'll have a celebration dinner at the end of the meeting. So that's what we do.   0:11:08.6 Andrew Stotz: Sounds like you're still getting eight hours out of them. I mean, when you think about it, it's hard to go into something without putting some time aside. And what I'm hearing here is that this is also a very narrowly focused event and that I could imagine the mistake that many people make is, oh, we want to talk about that and we want to talk about that. And don't forget about that. We got everybody together, we might as well talk about that.   0:11:37.0 Travis Timmons: Yeah. Yeah, it's hard to narrow it down to, okay, what are the two or three things that we need to make sure we accomplish in this meeting? So one of the things we have in our meeting, I learned this from Kelly and Ray Kroc, another mentor of mine. We have a big whiteboard that we call the parking lot. And if somebody brings up an idea that's a good one, but we don't have the time to tackle that day, we just go right on the parking lot and tackle it later in the year. But yeah, that's part of leadership's responsibility and feedback from the team is, all right, we got four and a half hours. What are the top one or two things we need to work on as a team? And then that pre-work from a culture standpoint, people tuning in if they're listening to this, one of the things I'm sure everybody hears, you have to have a culture where people have a voice. That's probably one of the things people get most frustrated about when we hire from other organizations. They don't have a voice. They just got to show up and whatever happens, happens.   0:12:42.5 Travis Timmons: And that can suck the life out of you pretty quick. So I've never had anybody do anything other than be excited about the homework. You'll see them in the break room talking about it. It just brings a lot of energy. And folks that have never done an offsite with us before, I always get the question, what are we going to talk about for four and a half hours? What could we possibly talk about for four and a half hours? And then at the end of that they're like, that was amazing. We didn't have enough time. So, kind of a delicate balance there, but we've landed on four and a half for our current size and what we try to accomplish.   0:13:20.9 Andrew Stotz: And the next question is I've sat through a lot of offsites over the years and you end it by going, that was awesome, now let's get back to work.   0:13:32.4 Travis Timmons: Yes. So we always do a wrap up on what are the deliverables. We let them know up front kind of the expectation of we may, we'll probably not have everything fully decided at the end of the day. The purpose of the day is to get feedback from the entire team. And then my goal, and we'll tell them this up front, or I should say aim, not goal. We'll get in trouble with Dr. Deming there, but is to have two to three PDSAs to walk away with. So we wrap it up, kind of report back on what we've all been working on for the day. And then we let them know we're going to report back in the coming one to two weeks on big picture items and then kind of continue to give the team feedback on here's what we did, here's what we worked on, here's what we're now going to implement. Because you're right, you go to a lot of these meetings, a lot of good ideas are tossed around and then absolutely nothing happens. And then when team members see that happen a few times in a row, then they just stop working on the work. So, yeah.   0:14:41.0 Andrew Stotz: I have a client of mine that he does offsites. I think it's every six months. And he does it only with his management team that's to be clear. And that's about roughly 15 people for his business. And he picks a pretty unique location each time. So it's... And it's usually a couple of days, which I would say with a management team, you maybe make more sense than with the whole company. But he has something interesting that kind of ties in with your work. He has me come occasionally and give a presentation and talk about either Deming or some other principles. But in the mornings at 7:00 A.M. they all meet at the gym. And he has trainers and then they go outside usually, if they're at the beach, they go to the beach. And then they have activities that they do together where they sweat and exercise all of them together. And I just felt like that was so unique. And I felt like, I don't know, if I was an employee, I would be like, oh, I don't want to, why do I have to?   0:16:03.4 Andrew Stotz: I could imagine that feeling, but I just felt like he really left the whole event every time as people really connected. And I just thought that was an interesting activity, it just made me think about.   0:16:17.8 Travis Timmons: Yeah. Yeah, no, I think one of the things I've learned over the years is the less I'm up speaking to the team and the more the team is working on breakout. So I plan on out of the four and a half hours, I hope to not be speaking to the team for more than 20 minutes. And just let the work happen because if I'm up there talking for three hours and they're just listening that's another great way to probably kill morale if they're not working on the work together.   0:16:49.6 Andrew Stotz: And so just to rehash what you're talking about, about a four and a half hour meeting, you got pre-work. It's focused on one thing, which is understanding the system. Then you're going to have people talk to each other with this pre-work and then come to it with their own ideas. You're going to put them in groups and do post-it note types of things to try to figure it out, you're going to do it in groups, I'm assuming, for the post-it notes? Is that what you said or is it everybody?   0:17:18.3 Travis Timmons: Yeah, we're going to have them stay with the same group of six because as we work through the process of the larger fishbone, then there's six key elements or six key pieces that I want to make sure we identify. And then I want to have, later in the day, we're going to do a fishbone specifically of each part of that and see if we can identify two to three PDSAs out of those six that we really can have a big impact on whether it's through technology optimization, better training opportunities, better defining operational definitions. Those are the three key areas that I'm assuming based on where I'm seeing things from my seat. That's, I hope, the direction I think we're going to go. But we'll see what the team comes up with.   0:18:09.3 Andrew Stotz: And one of the things that inevitably comes up with the concept of systems thinking is what's a system? You know, come on, for me, it's this and that and for another, it could be the whole world and we could, you know, how do you help them understand system, but also how do you guide what is the system?   0:18:33.9 Travis Timmons: Yeah, I mean, it's tough, right? Because there are things that are fully under our control within our system, like the software we use, the people on our team. So we talk about things in and out of our control. Things out of our control are health insurance companies. Right? But they're part of our, they are part of our system. We interact with them every day, but we have zero real control over decisions they make. Referral sources are another example of... So we talk about the inputs that are coming into our system but not part of Fitness Matters. So it's internal and external conversations, we get into that quite a bit. And then individual...   0:19:13.5 Andrew Stotz: What about people that are trying to narrow it to say, my system is a much smaller thing. How do I think about system?   0:19:24.0 Travis Timmons: Yeah, yeah, we get into that a little bit because you get a lot of that, right? People just want to optimize what they do and everything else will be fine. That's one of the hopes of making the system visible. We get into tampering, system capability and tampering is one of the ways we address that.   0:19:42.7 Andrew Stotz: Right.   0:19:42.8 Travis Timmons: So if somebody says, hey, I just want my little world to work this way and if the front desk could put patients on my schedule this way and I could make my schedule work this way, and I want a 15-minute break here and like, it's like, no, no, this has to work well for everybody. And when they understand an appreciation for how it all works together, then we found they're much more on board with working on being a part of a team, getting their head up a little bit and looking around and understanding patients don't come in just because you're a great therapist or you're a great Pilates instructor or just because the front desk process goes really well. They come in because everything works. And patients and clients can feel that. So we really try to educate them on just kind of that feeling of, is everybody here getting along? Does it feel professional in here? Does it feel like they care about me when I walk in? And it can't just be one person out of 15 in a building caring about them and paying attention to them as the client.   0:20:50.3 Travis Timmons: So I don't know if that answers your question, but we get into kind of why that system visibility is so important. And for them to be successful, the entire system has to be successful. And if you optimize it for one person, that just doesn't happen.   0:21:05.5 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, I like the system visibility that just brings that awareness. One other question is, you talked about a target, how do we improve the arrival rate and how many scheduled visits show up? You've already decided this as a core metric for the business before you've gone into this offsite. It's not something that's up for discussion in this offsite. Correct?   0:21:30.0 Travis Timmons: Right.   0:21:30.4 Andrew Stotz: Okay.   0:21:30.6 Travis Timmons: Yeah, it's the, kind of we... You know, there's a book out there, the One Thing, I think it's called. It's sort of like, what's the one kind of aim or target that we think we need to, from a system view, have a positive impact on in 2026? And that arrival rate is something we study weekly, monthly, daily, really. So we know what historical trends are. And if you look at a control chart view from Deming, the same thing happens every month. And it's like, okay, we have to do something different with our system if we're going to move that. And what are those two or three things we need to do? But yeah, to answer your question, myself and the leadership team came up with like, that's the one thing we got to tackle this year. We have to move that one because it's really been the same basic number, that arrival rate percentage since COVID hit. We really haven't had that fully recover since COVID. And it's like, okay, we've got to get that. We're already ahead of national average by a long shot but we can do better, I feel confident of that. So that's what our metric is.   0:22:47.0 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, that's interesting because you start, I'm sure with, how do we improve ourselves internally so that the experience internally and all of that. How do we have best practices in what we do? But then this one is, okay, how do we accelerate this pipeline feeding into our business? How do we make sure it's as smooth and as efficient as possible from the moment that somebody starts working with us? The easy stuff for us, meaning you, is doing the work at our location.   0:23:22.1 Travis Timmons: Right. And one of the things, just to make sure our team understands again from a system standpoint and Dr. Deming talks a lot about psychology, but we could have a great onboarding experience for a patient. First two or three sessions could be amazing. Greatest physical therapist, greatest personal training experience they've ever had. And then they get their first invoice and they're shocked or don't understand it, and then they stop coming in. So just making sure everybody understands all that goes into, again, our operational definition of a good visit means the entire system has to go well. And most people have a hard time wrapping their head around until they are shown it. I didn't fully appreciate it till I was shown, so, when you see it all come together I think they'll have a better appreciation for why we spend so much time making sure their benefits are understood by the patient. Because patients don't understand health insurance. They just don't. Everybody says, well, it's their responsibility. I'm like, well, that's nice, but they don't understand it. So, that's part of our system too, to your point earlier. Like, that's part of our system, patients don't understand their health insurance.   0:24:43.0 Andrew Stotz: One of the great questions to think about on this is, what if we never lost a customer? You know, what would our business look like today if we never lost a customer? You know, it may be that they're in the physical therapy business, the process is run, the person is improved. They don't need to come back. Great. You haven't lost them, you've achieved the goal. But we... And in the case of my coffee business, we lose a lot of our customers to competitors, and we're constantly back and forth, taking them from competitors, they're taking them from us. Whoever's gaining market share is getting a little bit more than the competitors because of what they've done. But what if we never lost a customer?   0:25:38.4 Travis Timmons: Yeah, that's a great way to look at it. And that's one of the other metrics that we really measure. And that's why arrival rate is the thing we're going after because there's a strong correlation between arrival rate. So they might cancel a visit but then come for all the rest, or they might cancel two, but then come for all the rest. Strong correlation to arrival rate and a high outcome and they go home and they're better, to your point.   0:26:04.3 Andrew Stotz: Yeah.   0:26:05.7 Travis Timmons: But the industry data right now is pretty poor in physical therapy, for example. Current data shows that 80% of patients that start don't finish their plan of care. That's horrible. [laughter]   0:26:19.8 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, it's not just that industry. I mean, I do a lot of courses that I moved online and if you do just a standalone on demand course, the average in the industry is 90% of people do not complete that course.   0:26:36.0 Travis Timmons: Wow. Yeah.   0:26:36.8 Andrew Stotz: And so I asked the question, how do we improve that? And I was able to get to about 50%, but it was basically designing a cohort-based course, guiding them, dripping content, holding their hands, holding them accountable, having all of those different things, but then my goal in my teaching is to deliver the transformation. It's not just to deliver the information. And this way I was able to get closer to my objective, which is the transformation, not the information. So, yeah. Well, if you want to wrap up, any last things you want to say about it and then we'll wrap up this great discussion.   0:27:20.4 Travis Timmons: Yeah. No, I mean, it's been fun working on this offsite. I think one of the things I've learned through the Deming journey, and preparing for these offsites as a leader, a lot of the work... Most of the work happens before the offsite. And I've been to offsites, I'm sure you have too, where there's a very little preparation put in by leadership. And just some slide decks put together. So that's one of the things I've found through the Deming journey, is appreciation and who's responsible for the system, at the end of the day, it's me, something I take very seriously. So the pre-work and having a process by which to, by what method, something I've heard many, many times, by what method are you going to have this offsite? But the pre-work, if somebody's out there looking at kind of starting offsite or they have had offsites and they haven't gone well kind of to your point earlier for your online learning modules or consulting that you do, it's like, but what's the outcome? So if these meetings don't produce meaningful outcomes, then it's a waste of time and resources.   0:28:42.8 Travis Timmons: So we take this very seriously leading up to the meeting. It's hours and hours and hours of prep time. And then the offsite day is kind of almost relaxing for me. I'm just capturing data as the team comes in, so it's fun. It's a lot of fun. Then we leave with a PDSA or two.   0:28:59.4 Andrew Stotz: This is great. Well, I really appreciate this discussion and getting down into the weeds is I think very valuable for all of us as we all try to continue to implement the teachings of Dr. Deming. So, Travis, on behalf of everyone at the Deming Institute, I want to thank you again for this discussion. And for listeners, remember to go to deming.org to continue your journey. This is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming, which is, "People are entitled to joy in work."

Like many of us in 2026, The Corinthian church lived beneath their potential, but the Apostle Paul's tender but tough letter woke them up and pushed them forward. Rev. Rufus Smith continues our Corinthians series with commentary on todays negative use of cliques and splits.Stay connected with Hope Church Memphis:Website • HopeChurchMemphis.comInstagram • @Hope4MemphisTikTok • @Hope4MemphisFacebook • @Hope4MemphisPrayer • HopeChurchMemphis.com/PrayerGiving • HopeChurchMemphis.com/Give

Sponsored by Charity Mobilehttps://www.charitymobile.com/rtt.phpSources:https://www.returntotradition.orgorhttps://substack.com/@returntotradition1Contact Me:Email: return2catholictradition@gmail.comSupport My Work:Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/AnthonyStineSubscribeStarhttps://www.subscribestar.net/return-to-traditionBuy Me A Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/AnthonyStinePhysical Mail:Anthony StinePO Box 3048Shawnee, OK74802Follow me on the following social media:https://www.facebook.com/ReturnToCatholicTradition/https://twitter.com/pontificatormax+JMJ+#popeleoXIV #catholicism #catholicchurch #catholicprophecy#infiltration

Sermon Summary: Judges – Session 2 (Tested, Disciplined, and Delivered) 1. God Allows Opposition to Test Obedience God left certain nations in the land to test Israel's obedience and to teach a new generation how to engage in battle. The presence of adversity was not abandonment, but training. God was preparing His people to live faithfully in a fallen world where conflict is unavoidable. 2. Disobedience Leads to Ongoing Conflict Israel's failure to fully obey God resulted in long-term consequences. Because they refused to drive out the nations as commanded, God allowed those enemies to remain. Their compromise forced them into repeated cycles of struggle, discipline, and deliverance. 3. God Uses Discipline to Correct, Not Destroy When Israel served false gods, God allowed oppression to get their attention. This discipline was not rejection, but loving correction. Scripture shows that God chastens those He loves, using difficulty to turn hearts back to Him. 4. Crying Out Brings Deliverance Each time Israel cried out in repentance, God responded with mercy by raising up a deliverer. Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, and later Deborah were instruments of God's grace, proving that repentance always opens the door to restoration. 5. God Delivers Through Unlikely People God used unexpected individuals—a left-handed man, a woman judge, and even a tent-dwelling woman—to accomplish His purposes. Victory did not come through human strength or status, but through God's sovereign power working through yielded servants. 6. Unequal Alliances Lead to Idolatry Israel's intermarriage and alliances with the surrounding nations caused them to adopt foreign gods. This mirrors the New Testament warning against being unequally yoked, as compromise always leads to spiritual drift. 7. Leadership and Willing Hearts Bring Victory When leaders led and people willingly followed, God brought victory and peace. When people hesitated or refused to engage, they missed out on what God was doing. Participation matters in God's work. 8. God Is Patient but Not Indifferent Israel's repeated rebellion reveals the depth of God's mercy—but also His justice. God continually forgave intentional sin when His people repented, proving that grace is greater than failure, even when failure is repeated. 9. The Cycle Continues Despite seasons of peace, Israel repeatedly returned to sin once deliverers died. This reveals the danger of living on borrowed faith rather than cultivating a personal, enduring relationship with God. 10. Final Call The sermon challenges believers to: Learn from Israel's compromises Respond quickly to God's correction Cry out in repentance rather than pride Stay yielded and obedient The central truth is clear: God allows testing, disciplines in love, and delivers in mercy—but obedience determines peace.

The Henry and Lisa Manoucheri Parsha Shiur Parshas Va'Eira (2026 - Teves תשפ״ו)  On the Precipice of Security? Plus -  HaShem On Demand & Understanding The CORRECT Responsibilities 

Podcast SEO and monetization strategies tailored for local businesses is today's episode discussion. Favour Obasi-ike emphasizes the importance of metadata, noting that elements like podcast titles, descriptions, and author names serve as critical search signals for discovery.By treats these fields as structured data, creators can establish local authority and ensure their content surfaces in specific user queries across platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts.The source further highlights the compounding value of backlinking, explaining how consistent episode releases create a vast network of searchable links that drive traffic back to a brand's website. Ultimately, the text argues that a well-optimized podcast acts as a long-term intellectual property asset that builds credibility and solves audience problems through searchable, evergreen audio content.In the 2026 search ecosystem, local visibility is no longer a matter of chance; it is a matter of engineering. This episode serves as a strategic blueprint for local businesses to command "page dominance" by transforming audio content into a high-authority digital asset. By deploying a "spread map" strategy—scaling influence from local roots to international authority—business owners can ensure their brand is the definitive answer to specific consumer queries.The objective is to move beyond the "hobbyist" mindset and treat podcasting as a capital-efficient SEO machine. We explore how to build an "engine" that runs independently via technical metadata and RSS syndication, allowing your brand to reside permanently in the search database.Key Takeaways for Local Business Owners1. Metadata is Your Search ID: Your title, author field, and description must match the exact phrases your customers use. If your "ID" doesn't match the search query, the algorithm cannot process your "legal documents," and your business remains invisible.2. Exploit the 50x50 Rule: Syndication is a volume game. By appearing on 50 platforms, you create thousands of high-authority backlinks. This sheer volume of structured data makes your brand unavoidable in local searches.3. Implementation over Information: ROI is the result of action, not note-taking. Podcasting is a long-term index fund for your brand; the earlier you start the "audio documentation," the more interest your digital legacy accrues. Move from "doer" to "architect" today.Need to Book An Appointment?>> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Book a Complimentary SEO Discovery Call with Favour Obasi-Ike⁠>> Visit Work and PLAY Entertainment website to learn about our digital marketing services>> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our exclusive SEO Marketing community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠>> Read SEO Articles>> ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the We Don't PLAY Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠>> Purchase Flaev Beatz Beats OnlinePodcast Timestamps[00:00:00] – The Spread Map: Establishing the strategic journey from local business to international brand authority.[00:03:00] – Statistical Authority: Reviewing personal benchmarks (600 episodes, 156 countries) as a model for growth.[00:06:00] – The Harry Potter Paradox: Why naming your show for the "benefit" is the only way to be found before you are famous.[00:10:00] – The Psychology of Blue Links: Why "Blue Links" signify trust and confidence in the search results.[00:14:00] – Spotify Signal Case Study: Using the phrase "workout habits for men over 40" to identify exact-match search signals.[00:22:00] – Compounding Link Math: The 50x50 breakdown of how to generate 2,500 links across platforms like SiriusXM and iHeart.[00:31:00] – The Celese Interaction: Overcoming ADHD and task-paralysis by choosing documentation over perfection.[00:45:00] – The Legacy Challenge: Transitioning from a task-based worker to a legacy-based brand architect.The Mathematics of Syndication & The "Compounding Effect"Strategic dominance is a function of Depth and Cadence. While frequency is important, "Depth" is determined by your average episode length. A 60-minute episode provides sixty times more data points for an algorithm to index than a one-minute clip.The true ROI of podcasting is found in the Compounding Link Formula:50 Episodes (One year of weekly audio documentation) x 50 Distribution Platforms (Apple, Spotify, SiriusXM, Podchaser, Castbox, iHeart, etc.) = 2,500 High-Authority BacklinksThis volume creates a "digital balloon that never pops." As you add more helium (content), the structure becomes stiffer and more secure. To maximize this, maintain a Cadence (release cycle) closer to "1" (daily). A faster cadence spins the RSS feed more frequently, signaling to search engines that your brand is an active, relevant authority.The following 15 monetization levers are the tactical parameters required to convert conversational documentation into long-term ROI and a lasting digital legacy.Episode Breakdown on the 15 Monetization StrategiesPART 1: CORE DISCOVERY METADATA (Your Digital ID Card)1. Podcast TitleExecution: Match the show name to the specific topic or core benefit your audience seeks.So What? Listeners search for solutions and interests, not your name. A descriptive title ensures discoverability in search before you have a famous brand.2. Podcast DescriptionExecution: Exploit the full ~4,000-character limit as a "Search Bank." Use refined keywords, clear value propositions, and a strong call-to-action.So What? This is your show's primary Search ID. If it doesn't match user queries, algorithms can't "read" or rank your content effectively.3. Author/Host FieldExecution: Strategically expand your name with professional identifiers (e.g., "Alex Chen | Venture Capital Analyst").So What? This data feeds APIs and LLMs, establishing your niche authority within recommendation systems and digital assistants.4. Genre & Category SelectionExecution: Use platform hierarchies (e.g., ListenNotes, Apple) to select precise Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary categories.So What? Correct categorization moves you from competing with millions of general shows to dominating a specific, interested listener ecosystem.5. Episode TitleExecution: Adopt a clear, "Guest-First" or "Topic-First" naming convention (e.g., "Dr. Sarah Lee: The Neuroscience of Sleep").So What? It maximizes clarity for listeners and SEO. A guest's name at the front captures their audience and amplifies "link juice" to that episode URL.6. Episode DescriptionExecution: Implement web-style formatting: use H2/H3 headers, bullet points, timestamps, and hyperlinks to key resources.So What? Structured data helps both listeners scan and bots "dissect" your content, boosting engagement metrics and canonical linking power.PART 2: VISUAL & TECHNICAL EXECUTION7. Podcast Cover ArtExecution: Command professionalism with compliant, 3000 x 3000 pixels, visually simple art that is legible at thumbnail size.So What? High-quality, optimized art provides an immediate competitive edge against the significant portion of shows using amateur visuals.8. Episode Cover Art (Optional but Powerful)Execution: For key interviews, create guest-centric visuals that differ from your main show art.So What? Visual differentiation in a subscriber's feed signals unique, fresh value, increasing click-through rates for specific high-interest topics.9. Ad Roll PlacementsExecution: Strategically engineer ad breaks: pre-roll (for direct response), mid-roll (for highest attention), post-roll (for brand storytelling).So What? These are primary monetization vehicles. Placement affects listener retention and ad performance by capturing attention at different psychological stages.10. RSS Feed ManagementExecution: Balance your public RSS feed with private, gated feeds (via platforms like Hello Audio or Supercast) for bonus or premium content.So What? Private feeds enable direct community monetization and foster loyalty by delivering exclusive, "trust-based" content to high-value subscribers.PART 3: DISTRIBUTION & AMPLIFICATION11. Email & Affiliate LeverageExecution: Use automated tools to turn podcast transcripts into newsletter content that drives traffic to affiliate offers or key resources.So What? This captures high-intent listeners where they live (their inbox), converting passive listening into measurable action.12. Social Media DistributionExecution: Systematically cross-post short, thematic audio clips (with captions and video) to platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram.So What? It transforms one hour of recording into weeks of "top-of-funnel" awareness, building connection volume and attracting new audiences.13. Backlink GenerationExecution: Understand that every major hosting platform (Spotify, Apple) creates a backlink to your website from your show profile.So What? This generates vital "link juice" from high-authority domains, strengthening your primary website's search engine ranking.14. Website Integration & AnalyticsExecution: Host a dedicated podcast page on your site and connect it to Google Search Console.So What? This allows you to track how people find and interact with your podcast via search, providing data to refine your topic and keyword strategy.15. Sonic Branding (Musical Intelligence)Execution: Deploy a distinct instrumental theme for each season or series.So What? A fresh sonic identity signals a new "era" or focus for your show, boosting production value and maintaining listener retention through auditory novelty.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For an ad-free version of this podcast, subscribe for free at BillReiter.Substack.com, or become a paying subscriber for added benefits. In today's pod, Bill and the guys predict this weekend's NFL action, discuss the most wide-open field in memory, get into Kyle Tucker's Dodgers move, and explain why an MLB lockout is exactly what the sport needs. Plus a crowded Bum Of The Week field.

Remove These Foreign Judges! Trump Warns Cuba “Make a Deal Before it's Too Late” SUBJECT TO THE JURISDICTION!—Judges Pretend This Doesn't Exist! The 14th Amendment doesn't say “born here, period.” It says born here and subject to the jurisdiction thereof—a phrase with a precise, debated, and documented meaning at ratification. That meaning was exclusive political allegiance to the United States, not mere presence. Courts and media pretend this language doesn't exist because it's inconvenient. But constitutional text isn't optional. If judges won't enforce the words as written and intended, they aren't interpreting the Constitution—they're rewriting it. And when that happens, citizenship stops being law and becomes politics. Watch this video at- https://youtu.be/rr04f0Oktn4?si=m8oTn6Yfu0KR3d0l The Andrew Branca Show 274K subscribers 8,788 views Jan 14, 2026 "BRANCA FOR SCOTUS" MUGS! https://thebrancashow-shop.fourthwall... JOIN OUR COMMUNITY! Exclusive Members-only content & perks! Only ~17 cents/day! $5/month:    / @thebrancashow   00:00:00 — Judges Blocking Trump Were Born Abroad 00:01:00 — Birthright Citizenship Isn't Automatic 00:02:00 — “Subject to the Jurisdiction” Explained 00:03:00 — Political Loyalty Is the Real Test 00:04:00 — What the 14th Amendment Actually Meant 00:05:00 — Foreign Nationals ≠ American Citizens 00:06:00 — Judges With Dual Allegiances 00:07:00 — DEI Replaces Merit on the Bench 00:08:00 — Confirmed by the Skin of Their Teeth 00:09:00 — Identity First, America Second 00:10:00 — Cultural Americans Pushed Aside 00:11:00 — This Is How the Courts Were Captured Visit Here: https://lawofselfdefense.com/getthebook "You are wise to buy this material. I hope you watch it, internalize it, and keep it to the forefront whenever you even think of reaching for a gun" -Massad Ayoob (President of the Second Amendment Foundation) The #1 guide for understanding when using force to protect yourself is legal. Now yours for FREE! Just pay the S&H for us to get it to you. ➡️ Carry with confidence, knowing you are protected from predators AND predatory prosecutors ➡️ Correct the common myths you may think are true but get people in trouble ​➡️ Know you're getting the best with this abridged version of our best-selling 5-star Amazon-rated book that has been praised by many (including self-defense legends!) for its easy, entertaining, and informative style. ​➡️ Many interesting, if sometimes heart-wrenching, true-life examples Get Your Free Book: https://lawofselfdefense.com/getthebook   You Won't BELIEVE What Just Happened in CUBA!!! https://youtu.be/x_wZU1D74PA?si=53OZ0TrVKSGFwa2J Dr. Steve Turley 1.51M subscribers 483,268 views Jan 13, 2026 ► Click https://offer.sierramadreresearch.com... to Get Free Shipping & 59% OFF the Emergency Sleeping Bag Now! The content presented by sponsors may contain affiliate links. When you click and shop the links, Turley Talks may receive a small commission. ——————————————————————— ► Subscribe to stay updated on breaking news, cultural trends, and conservative commentary:    / drsteveturleytv   ————————————————————————— ► Check out our OFFICIAL Clips channel here:    / @turleyclips   ————————————————————————— WATCH NEXT: Trump Is Doing Something HUGE with CUBA!!!    • Trump Is Doing Something HUGE with CUBA!!!  

This recap episode reflects on the soulful conversation with tarot reader and spiritual mentor Frances Naudé, unpacking why tarot is best understood as a self-reflection tool. Brad and Lesley explore how intuition is often quiet, subtle, and easy to overlook, and how tarot can act as a structured way to pause, journal, and build self-trust. This grounded discussion invites listeners to see intuition as a daily practice—one that supports clearer decisions and more aligned action over time.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:Tarot as guided self-reflection rather than fortune telling.How intuition shows up quietly and builds through daily repetition.Using tarot cards as structured prompts for journaling and self-awareness.How tarot shifted from a self-reflection tool to feared over time.Training intuitive trust through small, low-stakes daily decisions.Episode References/Links:Cambodia Retreat Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comAgency Mini - https://prfit.biz/miniContrology Pilates Conference in Poland - https://xxll.co/polandContrology Pilates Conference in Brussels - https://xxll.co/brusselsPilates on Tour in London - https://xxll.co/potSubmit your wins or questions - https://beitpod.com/questions Online Pilates Classes - https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/youtubeFrances Naude's Website - https://www.francesnaude.comFrances Naude's YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@francesnaudeFree Intro to Tarot Online Course - https://beitpod.com/intrototarotEpisode 157: Kate Wind - https://beitpod.com/bitysiep157 If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  There's another way to figure out what's going on inside you, and tarot doesn't actually tell you anything new. It echoes what you already know and maybe what you're ignoring. When you draw a card in tarot, the card has some sort of meaning. Lesley Logan 0:18  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Brad Crowell 1:02  Take it away. Lesley Logan 1:02  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life are going to dig into the soulful, soulful, soulful. Brad Crowell 1:10  The soulful.Lesley Logan 1:11  The soulful convo I had with Frances Naudé in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, feel free to pause this now and go back and listen to that one, and then come back to this. You guys, this is the episode that kicked off my hobby. This is the one.Brad Crowell 1:27  And as a bystander of said hobby, I am going to tell you, Lesley has been incredibly consistent with this hobby for, what, four or five months now? Six months? Lesley Logan 1:38  Well, when I interviewed her. Six months? Brad Crowell 1:40  I don't have any idea. Lesley Logan 1:41  From the time that this, they listen to this, and then the time I interviewed her, I think we're at six months, four months. At any rate, I went full in on it, like the ADHD woman that I am, where you buy all the things my life makes so much sense now that I know that that's part of ADHD. You just buy. Brad Crowell 1:58  July. Lesley Logan 1:58  July, right. Brad Crowell 1:59  July. Lesley Logan 2:00  So, and this is January, yeah. So I bought all the things that one would need to study, a tarot, three different study guides and a app. But unlike all the other things that I have tried out, I have still been using all of the things, yeah. And there's a deck in every room. You can draw a card at any time.Brad Crowell 2:19  And you're, you know, reading about it, writing notes and being consistent, it's been great.Lesley Logan 2:25  I really like it, and so by the time you listen to this, I will have started drawing a card for each day so that I can do self-reflection daily. Yeah. So anyways, there we are. But okay, Brad's like, I know. All right, so they don't know. Brad Crowell 2:40  They do not know what is today.Lesley Logan 2:42  Today is January 15th, 2026, and it's Wikipedia Day. Brad Crowell 2:47  Wikipedia Day. Lesley Logan 2:48  So, and just so you all know, you can start getting ready, because my birthday is coming up. It's not yet, but it's coming up January 15th isn't it? Well, they don't know.Brad Crowell 2:57  Just making sure that everyone else, that has nothing to do with Wikipedia Day, but Lesley is preparing for her birthday.Lesley Logan 3:03  If they're gonna send anything, the time is coming down, because it's 11 days away. Brad Crowell 3:07  If they're gonna send something, send it to Wikipedia instead. Lesley Logan 3:11  No. Brad Crowell 3:12  Yeah. Send money to Wikipedia instead.Lesley Logan 3:14  No. Send money to your local SPCA group, not the major one that does the sad commercials, you're local one, okay, or you can send it up to Nevada's, and in my name, they'll, they already know me. Lesley Logan 3:25  Okay, so January 15th is an occasion that celebrates the birth and formation of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. Almost every single person in the world knows what Wikipedia is. When we search for something, a Wikipedia link is the first thing that pops up on our search engines. Brad Crowell 3:40  More often than not. Lesley Logan 3:41  It is also a popular site since it provides in-depth information and presents everything in a user friendly way. I love Wikipedia because of like, who is that person married to? You can just go right to that part, like, it's like a here's the bullet points. Okay, in-depth information and presents everything in a user friendly way. So without further ado, let's dedicate this day to the information provider that has been feeding us with the knowledge since day one. Happy Wikipedia Day, and surprise, I should have a Wikipedia page now. It's been a multi year journey. I think how I don't know how long Brad has been working on this project to gather all the information and create this page. I'm really excited about it.Brad Crowell 4:17  It's because I wanted to create a Wikipedia page that we hired a press person. Lesley Logan 4:22  Years ago. Brad Crowell 4:23  Years ago. Lesley Logan 4:23  Yeah. And by the way, how long? Like, there's rules, like, not everyone could just have a Wikipedia.Brad Crowell 4:28  Yeah, no, it's, it's not, you can't just write a story and put it up there. Everything has to be validated and, you know, credible and linked to other things. It's, you know. Lesley Logan 4:28  Because, like, you can't just go. Brad Crowell 4:29  It's intentionally factual and historic.Lesley Logan 4:39  Like, Charlie next door just can't go, like, I'm gonna make a Wikipedia page for myself. Brad Crowell 4:47  I mean, he could, but then the moderators would take it down the next day. Lesley Logan 4:50  Right. Brad Crowell 4:51  Yeah. Lesley Logan 4:51  Right. Brad Crowell 4:53  Right. And, I mean, it's also, you know, you can actually go onto Wikipedia and make any change you want to any page on there. Surprise, you can do that. That, but then it will be reviewed and either changed back or corrected or updated or whatever, or again validated. So, you know, the pages that are constantly growing, it's because there's external like verification for the source of this new information that's being added. It's very intentional. And the reality is, we didn't have the links back, the backlinks, to be able to say, well, Lesley did this. Lesley did that, or whatever, whatever, whatever.Lesley Logan 5:31  Because you can't just go, I did these things. They have to go. Where is the proof? Somewhere else that someone else can validate. You know that you did those things. Brad Crowell 5:38  Exactly. Lesley Logan 5:38  Yeah. But I'm now old enough. Brad Crowell 5:39  Congratulations. Lesley Logan 5:39  I'm famous enough, yeah. And if you want to, you know, look, Wikipedia does a thing every December where they want money, because they actually are free for you to use. And they need, they do a money drive every year. So if you want to give them their money, they're a worthy cause, yeah.Brad Crowell 5:52  I mean, I think I give them $3.50 a month through PayPal. Lesley Logan 5:57  Oh, well, that's so fun. Brad Crowell 5:58  I've been doing it for years. Yeah. Because if everybody does every time they do their drive every year, they say, if everyone just gave $3 then we would have all our bills paid for, right? And I was like, well, I can do $3 a month. How about that? Yeah.Lesley Logan 6:12  That's so thoughtful. Anyways, Brad and I are driving back from Palm Springs today. Brad Crowell 6:12  Right now. Lesley Logan 6:12  We were on vacation. Yeah, we went on vacation, and we're driving, and it's beautiful. We're probably picking up more cactuses because there is a cactus shop on the way from Palm Springs. Well, at least the way we go from Palm Springs home. So we'll have to see which cactus where we don't have yet that we want more of. And then, right now, the early bird discount for the retreat that is this year is happening.,Brad Crowell 6:12  Yeah, for Cambodia. Pilates Retreat. Lesley Logan 6:18  So if you've got an email about it. You are one of the few people who got it, and there's way too many of you on the waitlist that we could take on this year's retreat. So you definitely want to snag your spot before they're all gone, before the discount ends. Brad Crowell 6:49  Yeah, and no lie, we've already had people sign up. We had, like, secret invitation to some people, and so some spots were already snagged, and then we're already halfway through the early bird, so definitely, if this has been something that's on your radar, do not wait on this. Lesley Logan 7:06  You want to come. Brad Crowell 7:07  Yeah, go to crowsnestretreats.com for more information. But for those of you who are on the waitlist, check your email.Lesley Logan 7:14  Yeah, and if we are in your spam you need to tell your your spam folder that we are important people.Brad Crowell 7:19  Yeah, hello. We've Wikipedia page. Lesley Logan 7:21  Right. What does it take to get out of the promotions folder? Damn it. Okay.Brad Crowell 7:26  All right. Next month, February. Lesley Logan 7:28  Is Agency Mini, and it is for Pilates instructors and studio owners who work for themselves or want to, and they want their business to actually not just make the impact that they want to make, but also more than pay their bills, to have to align with their values, align with their goals, feel like they're more in charge of it all. And it's just a really beautiful program that we do. It's three days of your life, and it has replay access. And we've made some additional changes to this one from last time. So you're gonna want to go to prfit.biz/mini to sign up for the waitlist, because those on the waitlist will get the early bird. The early bird is coming up pretty close, because if it's happening in February, we always do an early bird a couple weeks out, so you don't want to miss that. After Mini, in March, Brad and I are going to go to Poland and then to Brussels. So there's a Contrology Pilates conference in Poland. xxll .co/poland I'm teaching alongside Karen Frischmann there. It's going to be a whole lot of fun. We've done it a couple years before, and then we're gonna be at the Pilates and Friends or the Vintage and Friends event at Els Studio Pilateles in Brussels xxll.co/brussels there are private and group classes, and then there's also these amazing workshops. Oh, and one of my dear friends who I haven't seen in years, is going to be at the Brussels one as well, so I'm super excited to teach alongside him again. It's been, it's been since, like, we were together at Jay's studio, so awesome. And then in April, Brad, so after that, Brad and I are gonna do a little second honeymoon, why not.Brad Crowell 8:53  Well, to celebrate our 10 years of marriage, that's one.Lesley Logan 8:56  Yeah, well, yeah. But like, why not? Is like, of course you would, yeah. And then we're going to be at the P.O.T. in London. xxll.co/pot will get you the information up at the London stuff. The lineup is amazing. It's our first time doing a P.O.T. in London. So that's really exciting. And that's actually also, by the way, these events are the only events outside our tour that you can hang out with us other than the retreat. That's it. Closing the schedule guys.Brad Crowell 9:23  Whoa, whoa, whoa, all right, before we go any further, we had an audience question, and today's question is from YouTube, from The Alternatives to the Pilates Teaser for Lower Back Issues video, Kelly asks, hey, actually, it's kellynyhan7909. Hi, Kelly. She said, Hey, could you share a class that is using a floor or standing using the floor, slash standing and a chair? Could you share a class? If that's possible. I've gone through the list of mat exercises and created my own ie side twist sitting and saw but I'm wondering if more for an aging population. It, if it would be good for all i also use the standing exercises from another video for the 100, the roll up, one leg, single leg, circle marching, etc. Lesley Logan 9:49  Great. So. Brad Crowell 9:50  You're gonna have to break down this question for me, because I don't actually have an idea what this question actually is.Brad Crowell 10:08  So, the idea, so she definitely asked a question has nothing to do with the video, which we tell people that they can do anytime they want. Brad Crowell 10:21  True. Lesley Logan 10:21  So what you want to look at, Kelly, on the YouTube channel is we actually released a entire long form video about how to do Pilates at work. So there's going to be some great suggestions. You can draw some inspiration from there, if not use them completely. We also have on the YouTube channel a standing workout. There's a whole workout you can do standing. There's a wall workout, a real wall pilates workout. And then over on OPC, Mindy created a really great stretch class using a chair. And you can use she was on a Wunda Chair, but Brad was on a regular chair, and it spliced in there. So I would definitely grab that workshop, or maybe it was a stretch class. It was another legacy tab, and that's what I would do. And the other thing I would just give you permission on is, after you've done all that, that's a lot of movements, right? A lot of exercises. And our bodies actually only do so many different movement directions. And so you don't have to keep getting creative. You actually need they can get more curious and more connected. So I would get all those inspirations together, find out the ones that work best for the population you're working with, and then make them get better at it. And if they if that's not just time that's going to help them, then what other exercises outside of those things would help them? What props, what tools, you can use the Accessories Deck and OPC to help you with that. So yeah, I understood the question. Brad Crowell 10:21  Great, amazing. Lesley Logan 10:21  Probably a good thing, since I'm answering it, go to beitpod.questions to send yours in.Brad Crowell 10:50  Nope, beitpod.com/questions Lesley Logan 10:50  beitpod.com/questions and then submit your questions and maybe send up send a win, too. Something to celebrate. Brad Crowell 10:50  Yeah, send us your wins, y'all. Lesley Logan 11:49  You can also text us at 310-905-5534. Okay. Frances Naudé.Brad Crowell 11:58  Yeah, stick around. We will be right back. Brad Crowell 12:01  Okay, now let's talk about Frances Naudé. Frances Naudé is a Reiki Master, tarot reader and spiritual mentor who helps people reconnect with their intuition and live in alignment with their true selves. She's also the creator of the Four Noble Tarot Deck. Tarot Deck.Lesley Logan 12:19  You can see Tarot. Deena says, tarot. Brad Crowell 12:22  Oh, okay, and offers free tarot readings and energy guidance.Lesley Logan 12:28  Frances might say tarot, but.Brad Crowell 12:31  On YouTube, along with regular insights on Instagram from her global community, for her global community, that she affectionately calls The Soul Fam, guided by her belief that intuition is our greatest tool, Frances teaches others to trust their inner wisdom and lead with joy, courage and authenticity.Lesley Logan 12:50  Oh, my God. I was just so excited. I was like, okay, I have so many questions. Tell me everything.Brad Crowell 12:55  I really enjoyed your one question about the history.Lesley Logan 13:00  Oh, are we gonna talk about that today, or is that not in today?Brad Crowell 13:03  We are gonna. Lesley Logan 13:04  Skip it today? Brad Crowell 13:05  Well, no, it's not, it's not on here, but I thought it was very interesting. So yeah, let's just talk about it. Lesley Logan 13:09  Let me tell you something, because I think there's more to the story. And obviously we had a short period of time, so I asked her where tarot, tarot came from, right? And she's like, like, how controversial we want to be. And I said, I want to know the truth. And so she said the church, the church had it, and then the church. Brad Crowell 13:26  She said it was around before the church, but she said the church basically, adoted it. Lesley Logan 13:30  Well, they appropriated it. That's a better word for what the church does, and they appropriated it. And then, you know, you would go to the church to get support over something you were thinking about contemplating, and then they would help you use it as a self-reflection tool. Because the printing press wasn't big, and only rich people could have tarot decks painted for them, right?Brad Crowell 13:50  Right. So can you just say that one sentence? They would help you, using the tarot, tarot cards as a self-reflection tool. They would use tarot cards as a self-reflection tool. Lesley Logan 14:04  Yeah, well, and that's like, that's gonna go into what I love about what we talked about. Brad Crowell 14:13  But let's keep going with the history. Lesley Logan 14:09  Okay, so then the printing press became a thing, and so then people could just print their own tarot decks, and then they didn't need to go to the church. And so obviously that was like, not gonna work for the church, because then they'd be obsolete. So they made tarot decks be like. Brad Crowell 14:25  Well, I'm sure you tithe to have your reading or whatever, to have your self-reflection, so effectively it was costing them money. So what did they do? They made, they demonized tarot decks. Lesley Logan 14:35  The same thing they did with women healers. They demonized those too. They demonized. That's why the reason we have witches, witchcraft, all these things, is like, oh, that one point it served the church, and another point they decided to get rid of it, because it would mean they didn't have as much power. And now it became a witchy pagan thing. And let me tell you, after I heard this, I felt like my whole life was a lie. I was like, oh, my God, everything. I've ever been told that is evil and bad was actually good. It's all been good, right? You know. So anyways, we can talk about the witches they burned on another day. But I talked to Kate Wind, who we've had on the pod before, and I said, Kate, how come I didn't know that tarot decks came from the church? And she said, well, the church, we think the church took them from the Romanians, like, which the word you don't use anymore, but like Romanian gypsies, for lack of a better, like, what we're gonna call them. However, there's also some information that could have been from India as well. Brad Crowell 15:43  Interesting. Lesley Logan 15:33  But you know what? Just like we've been to Cambodia, and you're at the temples, and they're like, exactly the opposite of Machu Picchu what is what is. Brad Crowell 15:43  They're opposite on the globe. Lesley Logan 15:45  Right and so and so, it's like, to me, when I hear these things could be at the same time. It's like, because there was this human knowing that there's another way to figure out what's going on inside you. And so tarot doesn't actually tell you anything new, it echoes what you already know and maybe what you're ignoring. And so when you draw a card in tarot, the card has some sort of meaning. We'll just talk about like the upright position has some sort of meaning, right? And what you're supposed to do is reflect upon that meaning in your own life. And so I've been studying in different ways. Like I was talking to one of my besties on the phone yesterday, and she was talking about how she's doing this inventory in her life, and she's letting go of people who don't like ping back her serve, right? You know, like you gotta, it's gotta be or that she's not pinging back on them. And I was. Brad Crowell 16:36  It has to be mutual. Lesley Logan 16:37  It has to be mutual. Get this, one of the card I was studying yesterday was the moon, and the moon is this card where you're like, okay, what in my life is an illusion? Where am I? Where am I off the I'm on the wrong path. Where am I needing to let go of some things.Brad Crowell 16:53  Sorry, did you say where am I lying to myself? Lesley Logan 16:56  Yeah. Brad Crowell 16:56  Oh, recurring theme from last week's.Lesley Logan 16:58  Yeah, right. Same, same, exactly, well. And by the way, you are just doing the exact same thing you should do with tarot, which is, like you did something today. We recorded last week's show, and now you're learning about this card, and so you're using it as a way to think differently or think deeper about, self-reflection. And so I'm telling you guys right now. I mean, Frances said so many more amazing things, but like, this is the thing, if my therapist had told me pick up a tarot deck and journal, I would have been, my life problems have been solved a long time ago. Because I, this has been like, what am I supposed to reflect on? You know what I mean, like, is that not like the question you, like when people say self-reflect, like you have to do self-reflection. Like, do you ever wonder what that means? I just don't. I was like, what does that mean, though? How do I do that?Brad Crowell 17:46  Yeah, sure, but I mean, I don't know that. I usually, I'm, if I'm self-reflecting, it's because there's something that is wrong, and I'm I'm probably self-reflecting about that thing. I'm not just generally self-reflecting. Lesley Logan 17:59  Okay, well, that's good, but also you're that sounds like you're only doing it when something's gone wrong. You're not doing it when something's gone right. Brad Crowell 18:04  Well, sure. Lesley Logan 18:05  Right, and so in tarot, you could have something going well, or you could or it could be, like there could be you can use it as a yes, no, decision maker like to help you make decisions in your life. But like, everything is about it has guidance and information and the symbols, and, like we talked about that, and it helps you kind of understand, it actually helps you have empowerment. That's what she said. She said it really is all about empowerment and helping people be able to navigate their own inner wisdom and then apply it forward. And I think that's the coolest thing about it. It's like a lot of us have so much goodness, and we can only give it to our friends. We can never give it to ourselves. Brad Crowell 18:38  Yeah. So this is where it's interesting for me, right? Because, like, first off, I think that, like this interview, I found very curious. I actually really like listening to Frances. I think, I think it was revealing. There was also some things that were, like, definitely a double woo on the woo scale that I was kind of like, you know, but, but here's where I also think. Lesley Logan 18:59  Brad, remember, we went to two woos, starting 2025. Brad Crowell 19:02  Okay, but let's, let's, then she's in the 2.5s. So, so here's the thing, she also is not just doing tarot. She's also doing Reiki, right? And yoga. She's a yogi as well, like energy work, all that kind of stuff. So there's definitely she's got a lot going on. And so her answers were not exclusive to tarot. Right? And that's where, like, sometimes I was kind of going, well, you know, like, I've actually, you know, had Reiki performed on me and all that kind of stuff in the past as well. So I don't, I don't discount energy work. I think that it's, you know, we all have, we literally have a scientific magnetic field. I get it. I understand that it can be influenced with things and all the stuff. So I don't, I'm not saying no to that, either. But what I, I think that, having grown up in the church and having been like, told that like, you know, basically, tarot is the devil, you know, and looking at it like you know, effectively, it's almost like fortune telling, like, you know, you look at tarot, it's always in movies put alongside somebody with a crystal ball reading your future, and it's always portrayed as utter bullshit.Lesley Logan 20:10  Yes, I think that was part of the programming. So we would avoid it.Brad Crowell 20:13  I think so, too, you know, but, but that's just the that's where I'm coming from with it. That's the worldview that I've had my entire life, until I'm, you know, watching you do this, and listening to her talk about it. So, you know, I think that there's still that weirdness around well, when I'm having somebody else read my tarot cards, you know, this is not fortune telling, right? And I think that's what we should be very clear. They're not just making shit up. Lesley Logan 20:39  Correct. And even when you have, when you do go get a reading like Kate does them. Brad Crowell 20:43  Is it a back and forth, like you're, you know.Lesley Logan 20:45  You didn't have, you didn't get one from Lindsay? You didn't get one from Lindsay? Eric's place years ago.Brad Crowell 20:51  Maybe I can't remember, I think I did, but I can't remember. But, but the, but, like, the question I had, like, it's not like I'm sitting there in silence. They're flipping cards and telling you what's going to happen. It's more of a conversation and the person is helping you come to these conclusions.Lesley Logan 21:05  It probably depends on the on the facilitator, but essentially, the tarot readings I've had is I had one I didn't really like. I actually asked Kate about it, and she was like, she feels like she's being a little more predicting, versus like, asking you. But the one that Lindsay did, Lindsay (inaudible). Brad Crowell 21:21  She didn't do this. I think I remember it. Lesley Logan 21:21  She did a reading with me, and she pulled these cards. And I don't remember the type of spread it was, but it was basically okay. So in the past, right? She had, like, a past, present, future spread of some sort. And so in the past, she's like, okay, in your past, you had x, y and z, that is currently affecting where you are presently. So what's going on in your present life was like, let's just say you drew the full card, which is the car. Like, this is the person's like, going off doing something. They're not probably prepared for it, but they're excited. And they are like, are just going for it, right? But there's these mountains in the way. They're gonna be obstacles, but they have clear skies ahead, because there's gonna be something amazing, like, that's the full so in your past, you had this opportunity to do something amazing, and that sets you off on your present and then the present card, it could be the moon, okay? But presently, you have some illusions. You might be misaligned, and you know, like this. And then in the future, oh, the future, you've got an emperor, right? I'm just picking cards that I remember by. Brad Crowell 22:22  But the idea here is that there's, like, different positions, and one position is past, one position is present, one position is future. Lesley Logan 22:29  If you do that, yeah. Brad Crowell 22:29  And then, and then the the cards help you reflect on different things from your past, from your present, from your future. Lesley Logan 22:30  Yeah. So then you can ask your and then there's self-reflection questions like, okay, what does this make me think of is there a decision that I need to be making right now that I haven't been making? Is this, is there, is there, like, you could be doing a financial spread, and then the cards could be, you take all the meanings of the cards and it's a financial spread, and you're like, oh, if you get this one, like, there's one card that, if you get it, it's like, oh, you should take more drastic, dramatic action in your investments, right where you could draw a different card that's saying, oh, you should be more careful.Brad Crowell 23:07  But this comes down to the predictive, not the reflection. And that's where, like, that's where. For me, this is weird.Lesley Logan 23:12  So I'm explaining to it in a way that, yes, I could hear how you're saying it's predictive, where you would then take it as going, oh, okay, where can I be more aggressive in my financial investments. Where have I been too like, maybe you got the card upside down. Where have I been too aggressive in my financial investments? So you take the card's meaning , and then you apply it to your life based on the spread you're doing. And this is why we couldn't, didn't have the time to get into this. Brad Crowell 23:38  So it's like in the present, and then the whatever the card is, maybe the card is saying, let's talk about how this, you know, this, you've been too aggressive, or let's talk about how you've been not aggressive enough.Lesley Logan 23:49  You could actually draw a card that is all about intuition. And so then the question is like, okay, what is my intuition saying I should be doing today, or I should be doing right now, like you're.Brad Crowell 23:58  But this is what, okay, now that we're talking about it clarifying in this way, it's bringing me even more on board, because it effectively is almost like talking points. Yeah, each card represents a different talking point, a different analytical way of looking at your own past, present and future. Lesley Logan 24:16  Correct. If you do that spread and so what you are supposed to do is listen to them explain what each card means and the position that it's in, and then go and apply it. Meaning, like, reflect upon it and go, okay, it like, let's say you're doing a spread that has to do with your your career, right? You, right now, Brad, are currently doing a lot more sales in the in our business, right? You could end up with, like, doing a spread where it's in the future, it's showing you as having more leadership roles. Okay? So then it's like, okay, well, if in the future, I might having to take on more leadership roles in this business, then you know, what do I need to be doing today to prepare myself? How much of how, what does that feel like for me? Do, if that is something I was going to take on, what would I like to learn about myself? What would I want to do? What should I be doing now? So that can be even a possibility, right? So, like, it just reflects upon different things. And also, it's not predictive. It's just they're all each card, what it represents is more. It's like, not, I don't want to distill it down to a vibe, but it's a vibe, right? Like, and they represent different feelings. There are some cards that, like, the cups are all about emotions. So when you draw Cups cards in your spread, and maybe it's a day spread, maybe you just do one card a day, you might draw the 10 of Cups, which is all about relationships. So then it's like, Okay, today, where can I invest more in my relationships? So for me, I prefer the Day card, because it's like, okay, it's like a focus for today, but you can use them.Brad Crowell 25:50  It's almost like a journal prompt, you know it's like, it's like a preconceived 365 day journal prompt.Lesley Logan 25:56  Correct, I bought a whole journal that does one a day, and they have stickers. And I was like, fucking in. I'm doing it. I got stickers for I got a tarot card sticker. Brad Crowell 26:03  This is cool. I like this even more now. Lesley Logan 26:05  And so and so, for me, the way I've been studying it is, like, the card I'm studying, I'm literally going, how today did I see did, like, when I was studying, like, the Empress, like, oh, how today was I, like, using these things that she has or, or I wasn't using these things. Oh, there was that moment today where I outsourced my intuition to this person over here. So it just helps you reflect upon yourself and get to know yourself more. And the thing is that we all need if we want to have self-love, prevent burnout, be it till we see it. If you don't know yourself like you, you don't know how to listen to yourself, then it becomes really hard. So I have really got obsessed with it, because I'm like, oh, this is a way for me to have a conversation with myself that is somewhat guided and that it's whatever card I drew, whatever card I'm learning from that day, and that allows me to reflect upon today or my past or whatever, and uncover and almost like an onion, peel back another layer without outsourcing my agency.Brad Crowell 27:06  Well, I was just talking about this. Well, first off, that's really cool, and I and I agree, I think it's awesome that this is like, you're not outsourcing, you're not nothing wrong with going to see a therapist or anything like that. That's not what I'm talking about. But it's nice that this is something that you can do on your own. And I was just talking about this with someone about self-reflection, and I love that this is effectively a self -reflection practice.Lesley Logan 27:29  Yeah, that's and that's like, I really was so pleased that Frances explained it in that way, because correct, like you, I went to a tarot reader thinking they're gonna tell me what could be coming up in the future, and I forgot the time that Lindsay did it. And more was like, okay, you've been through X, Y and Z according to your past. You're it's currently affecting in this way and presenting in this way. And in the future, this could be coming up, and you should be aware of it. And it's like, so that sounds predictive, but also I still have to be the one who goes and does the thing. So I need to reflect upon, what did I learn in the past when it comes to that area that this card is representing? What am I currently going through that this card is highlighting, and then this future card is sharing, is putting this as a thing to be looking at. Doesn't mean it's predictive, but like, if that, like, what do I, where's the gap? What do I need to know? What does that, what feeling does that bring up in me? You know? So it's not, it's more of a guide, it's just a guide. I really like it. And I, and I am so pissed that I this was it took me 43 years of my life to know this is something I could use. I'm so grateful for Frances.Brad Crowell 28:38  Well, nothing like a little anger to make motivate you to learn.Lesley Logan 28:41  Yeah. Oh, and also, people keep asking if I'm going to do a reading, and the answer is no.Brad Crowell 28:46  Okay, so here's the deal that's funny that you say that, you know, how do you you know, I just want to briefly touch on this before we move on to some great Be It Action Items. But because I just hijacked your whole conversation and asked about the process and the belief behind it and how it works, which I am glad we did, because I feel like it was good to clarify that I had also written down some notes about the conversation you had with listening to your own intuition, right, because you asked her questions about how did you know that you could do this full time as a career? How did this turn into a career? And I'm gonna skip a whole lot of my notes, but ultimately, she said, you know, pursuing the unconventional path requires being your own staunchest supporter. Because you were talking about, how was it like at a family picnic with people like you're doing what now are you can I like, pray for you? Lesley Logan 29:32  Oh, I could only imagine. Brad Crowell 29:32  Yeah, right. And so.Lesley Logan 29:32  When I told people I was a Pilates instructor, that was already weird. Can you imagine telling them that you're doing Reiki and tarot?Brad Crowell 29:40  Right. So, you know, and what she said, It's not that you have to have the it's not that you have the confidence already. It's that you trust so deeply that you're that what you're doing is what you're supposed to be doing, which is listen to it, to your intuition, right? She said, you do it scared anyways, which is being it till you see it? Right. And she said that builds your confidence. So I just wanted to make sure we got that in. I thought that was really awesome. But stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna uncover these Be It Action Items that we got from Frances Naudé. Brad Crowell 30:09  All right, welcome back. Let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Frances Naudé? She said you have to learn how to hear and trust your intuition. Learn how to hear and trust your intuition. And she said, here's a three-part practice for building your intuitive muscle. And this is great, because learn how to hear and trust your intuition is not helpful for me, but here's three steps. Here's how you do that. Start with small daily decisions, things that you do every day, like choosing your tea, picking produce, or selecting which pair of underwear to wear, because that's what she does. She picks it up and she goes, is today, this pair of underwear day, or that pair of underwear day? And she's building this intuitive muscle, you know, like listening to herself, feeling it out, right. And she said, why does she do it then? Because it's something she repeats every single day. She has to make a choice right then, and so she's.Lesley Logan 31:04  I'm obsessed with it, because it goes in line with how habits are created. Brad Crowell 31:08  Hundred percent, yeah. She says, pause and feel after you make the choice, stop and notice what does it feel like in your body, and what energy do you have when you've made that decision. Then recognize the nature of intuition. So this is step three, recognize the nature of intuition. It's quiet. Often feels like a passing thought can lead you down paths that challenge your comfort zone and beliefs. She said, your intuition often will not make logical sense. It might not actually be loud. People always expect these really big moments, but intuition is often really quiet. So she basically, she's reminding us that daily awareness practice will help you build trust in your own guidance long before the big decisions show upLesley Logan 31:48  And to the next step, then ,you have to do that first. You guys don't get to skip ahead, do that first, the next step is to define your highest self. So this is the person we're being it until we see, right? This is a place that exists without ego, she said, without fears, worries, anxieties, and without other people's stories. So yeah, get rid of the other people's stories that are in your head, telling you who your highest self is. And then she encouraged you to clearly define who that self is and live by it. And she, Frances actually shared her three pillars of her highest self, which are, she lets joy lead. She does not let fear get in her way, and she lives in unity with all that's around her. I think that that's those are really tough things to kind of do, because we all want to control how things are. But if you let joy lead hence the going back to last week's episode, I love that these are back to back episodes, and then not letting fear get in the way. That means doing things scared. You know, going back to last week's episode. So so she also said, when you combine a strength and intuitive muscle with a clear vision of the highest self, every decision you make, you are walking that aligned path, even when the noise gets loud. And I just want to say that one more time, when you combine a strength and intuitive muscle with a clear vision of that highest self, every decision you make, you're walking that aligned path. So that's what I want for you guys. And I'm really, really like, I hate how long it took us to get this episode out, Frances, because, like, I've been working so hard on my tarot, but I really am super excited that it's coming out this time of the new year, when people can actually, like, instead of going new year, new me, it's like, what, what, who are, is your highest self. That should be the thing that you're thinking about. And then what can you do every day to walk in alignment with that? And that's going to help you with all the ups and downs and highs and lows. I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 33:31  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 33:32  Thank you, Frances Naudé. Y'all, how are we gonna use these tips in your life? What were your favorite parts? Make sure you tag Frances. By the way, you guys, she does a weekly drawing every single Monday. It's quite fun to attend live, and I'm sure you can get to know more about her. And look, I probably got some of this information wrong, but this is my interpretation of it. I'm sticking with it. Don't take it from me. All right, until next time. Be It Till You See It.Brad Crowell 33:52  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 33:54  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 34:36  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 34:41  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 34:46  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 34:53  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 34:56  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

As agency owners settle into 2026, it’s easy to operate on autopilot—chasing the next tactic without reconnecting with what made the business work in the first place. In this episode, Chip and Gini make the case for looking backward before charging forward. Chip admits his first agency started because “consultant” sounded better than “unemployed.” But the real question isn’t just why you started—it’s why you decided to keep building. That motivation should be informing your strategy today. Gini shares how she once believed she wanted a large agency with hundreds of employees and global clients. When she hit 30+ people, she realized she’d built something she didn’t enjoy leading. She was buried in HR issues instead of doing the work that energized her. The Great Recession forced a reset, and she restructured the business around her strengths. Her advice: figure out what brings you joy in the business, and protect time to do more of it. Otherwise, you risk drifting into micromanagement or burnout. The episode also digs into practical growth tactics from the early days that still work. Gini recalls how she built her pipeline by developing relationships with business development leads at large agencies. When prospects came in below their fee threshold, they’d refer the work her way—a principle that remains just as relevant today. Both hosts encourage owners to revisit their “things I’d never do” list from when they started. It’s worth checking whether you’ve quietly drifted into those same patterns over time. Key takeaways Chip Griffin: “Agency owners often ask me, what should I do next? And the answer is very different depending on what you’re trying to accomplish with the business.” Gini Dietrich: “We say this to clients all the time, go back to the basics. It works. And it works for your agency, too.” Chip Griffin: “You need to do what’s right for you. And so, I think that the key to that is really going back to your roots, understanding what motivated you to get started, what drove that success in the early days.” Gini Dietrich: “You want to focus on the things that you are great at, and the things that make you the happiest, and the things that are most motivating to you, because that’s how your business will grow.” Turn Ideas Into Action Write down why you started your agency and what drove your early success. Block 30 minutes to identify patterns from those early days that you could leverage again for growth or business development today. Identify one thing that energizes you most about the work—then carve out time to do more of it. Even if it’s behind the scenes (like strategic brainstorming or quarterly client reviews), injecting that spark back into your role helps prevent burnout. Make a quick list of “things I swore I’d never do” when you started. Check whether you’ve drifted into any of those patterns on inertia—and decide if it’s a learned lesson or a habit worth breaking. Related Do you remember why you started your agency? Why one-size-fits-all advice doesn't work for agencies View Transcript The following is a computer-generated transcript. Please listen to the audio to confirm accuracy. Chip Griffin: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast. I’m Chip Griffin. Gini Dietrich: And I am Gini Dietrich. Chip Griffin: And Gini, I’m thinking way, way back, way back decades now to why I started my agency. Gini Dietrich: Oooh. Decades, huh? Chip Griffin: And I can’t remember ’cause I’m too old now, so. No, Gini Dietrich: you can too remember. Chip Griffin: Well, I mean, the honest answer is that I started my first agency was because I was unemployed. And it was better to describe myself as a consultant than unemployed. Yeah. Sure. And then than accidentally started accumulating business. Yeah. But I, but I do think it, it is a helpful exercise for us to go back and, and think about why we started the businesses or, or maybe not, in some cases, like mine, because I was unemployed, is not the greatest explanation. So you know more why did I decide to, to, to build it into an actual business. Gini Dietrich: Why? To keep going. Yeah. I think that’s good, especially as we’re, we’re thinking about starting out the new year and remind ourselves, you know, of the reasons that we started this. Some of us do it because we’re, we’re unemployed. Some of us did it because we found a better, we, we think we had a better way of doing things. Some of us did it because we have a problem with authority. Some of us did it ’cause we’d make terrible employees. I mean, there are lots of different reasons, but I think reaching back into our archives in our brains and thinking about why we did it or why we, I think that you’re right, why we continue to do it is a, is a really good exercise. Chip Griffin: Yeah, I mean, I, and, and I’ve said over and over again over the years that, that I think too many agencies operate on inertia, as opposed to any kind of a, a fundamental strategy. And so, you know, it’s very easy to say as, as I’m sure many people ask you as they do me, well, what’s the, what’s my next step? Here’s where my agency is now, what, what should I do next? And the answer is very different depending on what you’re trying to accomplish with the business. So trying to think back to those early days and what motivated you to start the business. Evaluate it because it, that may have changed, right? You, you may have started it because it served a particular need in the moment, and maybe it’s different today, but thinking about that and thinking about what you really want from the business is usually a better way to come up with strategic decisions than it is to say, well, what do other agencies like mine do when they get to this stage of growth or to this challenge? It’s, you really need to to match it up because otherwise, what’s the point of taking on all of that risk and stress of being a business owner? Gini Dietrich: Yeah. I mean, a really good example of that is I really thought I wanted to build a great big agency with hundreds of employees and, and clients around the globe and all of the, all of the things. And as I started to grow and we got to about 30 ish, 33, 32 people, I realized that’s not what I wanna do. Right. It was not enjoyable. I had built a company that I was not thriving in, that I didn’t enjoy leading. You know, I was dealing mostly with HR issues and not doing the work. And so the, the Great Recession did afford me the opportunity, unfortunately and fortunately to kind of take a step back and, and think about what kind of business do I want to have? And what kind of business do I want to lead? And while we’re back up to that same size, it’s a different structured business that allows me to focus in on the things that I do best and do the things that I enjoy versus HR ’cause that is not something I enjoy at all. Chip Griffin: I, I think I’ve yet to meet an owner who likes, enjoys doing HR or accounting or those sorts of things. Not fun. There are some who do it well. But don’t enjoy it. But I, I don’t think I’ve found any that actually enjoy doing it. So, but, but I think that, you know, as you think back to those early days and you think about what motivated you, it can often help you to figure out, you know, what is, what is that spark that you need in the business for you to either continue enjoying it for a longer period of time or bring back some of that, that joy that you had in those early days. Because I know a lot of agency owners these days are, are frustrated and, you know, trying to figure out how to change things for the better. And I think part of the way you inform yourself of that is by thinking back to those early motivations and figuring out how you can inject more of that into your business today. Gini Dietrich: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think it’s, I think it’s really important to do that. And I think there, you know, for me personally, I get really passionate and enjoy my job when I’m learning and doing new things. So artificial intelligence, of course, has been a great big thing for me because I’ve really enjoyed learning it and understanding it and implementing it into my business and then taking it to clients. You know, last month we launched the PESO operating system, AI edition, where the AI prompts you instead of you prompting it. So it will say, what are your business objectives? What are you trying to achieve? What are your audiences? What are your messaging? And then it builds a PESO program for you that’s fully integrated versus you saying I need you to act like a marketing director who can, who understands PESO and can build this and this. It’s that. So I like, those are the kinds of things that really get me excited. And building those kinds of things gets me excited and motivated. So it’s, it’s easy because I understand that about myself. It drives my team crazy ’cause they’re like, oh, she’s got something new. Or my, their favorite thing is, I had an idea. And they’re like, oh no, no, not again. But that’s what keeps me, yeah, that’s what keeps me motivated. So finding a way to understand what brings you joy in the business, I think is incredibly important. So that without exhausting your team, of course, but doing it in a way that keeps you motivated and, and not burned out. Chip Griffin: Yeah. One of the things that always used to, to drive my teams nuts was I would say, you know, over the weekend I was playing with this new thing. And, and you could just see the looks on their faces and they’re like, oh, this is a lot more work for me now. Gini Dietrich: This is gonna be fun. Yep. Chip Griffin: This is, yep. Yep. They, they never seemed to appreciate it the way that I had hoped they would when I came to them. Correct. With these, these brilliant brainstorms of mine. Gini Dietrich: Yes. Chip Griffin: I, and I think as, as you know, founders of agencies, most of us come in with some sort of that. Idea that, that we want to be creative or strategic or those kinds of things. And as we end up in more of a management role, we have less and less opportunities to do it. So I, I think that, that rather than giving up on that dream, we need to figure out how we can sprinkle enough of that in there to keep ourselves motivated. We can’t give up the, the management piece. We can’t give up the business development piece. Many of us would like to. But the, the reality is that, unless you’ve built a fairly large agency, you just don’t have the ability to pull yourself out of that, as a solo owner. But it doesn’t mean that you have to give up on those things entirely. You can carve out a piece of time to work on that, and if you are structuring your role in such a way that you’re enjoying what you’re doing, it also means that you’re frankly less likely to be doing the, the, the bad things that founders of businesses can do, which is micromanagement and tinkering with things that you don’t really belong in because you, because you’re not occupying yourself with the things that really motivate you. And instead, you’re continuing to try to do every aspect of the business. And that’s where you start to, to run into team morale problems quite often. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. You know, I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over the years is that, yes, I can do the work, and yes, I can probably do it pretty well, but is it really something that I should be focused on? And if not, is it something that I can pay an expert to do because in the long run, it’ll cost me less money, less time, less resources, all of the things. And I know as small agency owners, it’s really hard to say, gosh, I’m gonna have to spend $2000 or $3,000 a month on an expert. When in fact it might save you, you know, 15 or 20 grand on the backend. So I think you have to think about these things as investments in your business and investments in your time so that you can focus on the things that, that you are great at and the things that make you the happiest and the things that are most motivating to you, because that’s how your business will grow. Chip Griffin: Absolutely. And if, if that happens to be being creative and strategic, then, then you can, you shouldn’t be doing it day to day in all likelihood for clients. Sure. But you should find ways to do it either as part of, you know, quarterly or annual client reviews. Or internal brainstorming sessions that you’re engaging in. There’s a lot of things you can do behind the scenes to be useful and, and to, to exercise those muscles in a way that that gives you satisfaction. But doesn’t put you on the front lines so that you’re, you know, now the, the one that the, the client decides they’re gonna call every time they’ve got an issue. Because that, that ends up eating up a lot of your time in a way that probably you’re not going to enjoy. So sometimes it’s doing things behind the scenes that gets you the, the most value, or doing annual in person with the client. But they understand it’s special that you’re here, this is not. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. This is not something they can or should expect every week. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. You know, I, I know I’ve talked about this before on the podcast, but we do quarterly planning with our clients. We do a quarterly look back, and then we, you know, say, okay, based on metrics and data and all that and your priorities, here’s what we’re suggesting for quarter two or in the next quarter. And that has afforded many opportunities. A, for me to, to work in my where I’m, where I’m strong, but it also almost always gets us more money. So when you’re, when agency owners are like, oh, should I do a cost of living raise every year? Should I increase by 10 or 15% every year? That kind of goes away because you are getting new projects every quarter based on the the plan and the strategic strategy and creativity that you’re providing to the clients every quarter, because they’re like, oh gosh, yeah, we should actually do that. And some, and sometimes they’ll say, we don’t have extra budget. Can we move some things around? Which is okay, but most of the time they’ll say, you know, we, we have a little extra budget. Let’s focus on doing that. We have to launch a new website. Here’s some extra budget for that. We have to do a series of webinars to maintain our CEUs. Let’s here’s a little extra budget for that. So there are things and opportunities for you to, for lack of a better term, term upsell when you’re doing these quarterly meetings versus waiting for the annual. Chip Griffin: Yeah. And, and so, you know, finding a way to, to inject yourself in those things is a valuable exercise. Absolutely. From that, look back to the early days. But the other thing that that can be helpful in looking back to your early days of your agency is, you know, what helps drive your early success? Because a lot of times when we’re trying to find solutions to our current growth issues, we can find clues in some of those early days and mm-hmm. A lot of that, you know, in the early days of, of most agencies, it may be that low hanging fruit from personal networks and things like that. But there are usually other patterns that you might be able to see there that might help you to understand what are, what are the basics that you need to go back to? How do you, how do you employ some of those rather than, than focusing on, you know, all of the fancy new things that you see, you know, some, you know, genius podcast hosts talking about as far as how to grow an agency and instead say, Hey, this is what worked for me. Yep. Because you may find something that works again today. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we say this to clients all the time, but going back to the basics. It works. And it works for you too, so absolutely you should think about those kinds of things. Chip Griffin: Yeah. I mean, you didn’t get here by accident. Well, maybe you got, maybe it’s a little bit of an accident sometimes that happens. Maybe, yeah. Some of it. But, if you’ve had any longevity at all, even a few years of longevity as an agency owner, there are patterns that you can find usually that started in those early days. That you can lean into for understanding and rather than trying to do something wild and different, focus on the things that you know, you’ve proved can work for your business. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. One of the things, if I were to dig back into the archives, one of the things that worked extremely well for us is I had developed relationships with people who did business development at the large agencies, and what I found is that if they had an RFP or a current client or a prospect come in and say, we only have a quarter of a million dollars to spend. They’re not even gonna look at that. And so they started just referring that business to us, which is how I grew the business. Mm-hmm. So if I think about that now, how could we replicate that kind of, you know, pipeline development? It was extremely effective. And I, I gift that to all the listeners too. Like there are larger agencies in all of your cities that they have a certain threshold, and if any something comes in below that, they are happy to refer business. So there is, there is one way for you to start thinking about how am I going to, you know, keep myself motivated? How am I gonna keep my pipeline full? How am I gonna keep cash coming in? That’s one of the things that you can think about. Chip Griffin: Yeah, and thinking those things through. I mean, sometimes it’s not a one for one where you did exactly the same way you did it originally, but you take that nugget of an idea. And you know, things like, finding other people who can refer you business that’s not quite a fit for, for them, but might be for you. It’s a good reminder to be out there and having conversations with your peers. With people even that you might perceive sometimes as competitors, because there are often opportunities. In the work that I do with agencies, it’s not uncommon for some of the other consultants in the space to refer clients to me that are a better fit for my background and the kinds of agencies that I work with and vice versa. Because you know, we all have our specialties. And as an agency you have your specialties, so it is very common for many agencies to have grown this way. So certainly something to be looking at today, particularly if you’re struggling to find that new business in 2026. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, I think I really love the advice of thinking back to how you got to where you are and some of the things that you did, and going back to basics a little bit, because those are the things that are going to continue to work. And to your point, maybe tweak a little bit to make a more, be more effective in ’26. Chip Griffin: I mean, it also puts you in the right mindset, I think, because if you’re thinking back to those early stages, that tends to be when many agencies have the most growth, when things are most exciting. And so if you can try to bring back even a sprinkling of that, that can be really helpful. Particularly when times are tougher, or you’re looking for the inspiration to take things to the next level or whatever challenge you may be facing today, those lessons can be extremely valuable and also motivating at the same time. Gini Dietrich: Absolutely. Yeah. I used to, I used to get mad at companies that would hire big PR firms for like brand awareness and, you know, sending news releases and they didn’t get any coverage. They didn’t get any results. And I would get, I would get angry and I would call the company and be like, you’re so stupid. I would never do that today. But I had such a, I was just so naive and passionate about what we were doing, that it didn’t bother me to call and be like, we can do this significantly better for you. And in some cases they laughed and hung up on me. And in some cases, like we became agency of record. Like we took AOR away from Fleischman Hillard one year from a big, big company with a big, big company. And it was because I made a phone call where I was like, I can’t believe that you’re spending this kind of money and getting these kinds, these lackluster results. They were like, all right, let’s listen. I don’t think I would do that today, but it worked. Chip Griffin: Right. But, thinking back to those things can help you do two things. One is to think some of the positive things that you can do or the affirmative steps, right. That you can take. But the, but sometimes looking back to, to how you got started can also be reminders not to do certain things. Gini Dietrich: Sure, sure. Chip Griffin: So, particularly if you’ve started an agency and maybe you worked at an agency previously when you started, you probably had this laundry list of things. I would never do these things as an agency. And I, I think back to my first agency and some of the agencies that I had worked with previously, you know, did a lot of what I felt was nickel and diming of you in terms of back in the day charging you for faxes and photocopies. Sure. Yes. And all sorts of little expenses. And so, you know, I was committed back then to making sure that my invoices were always clean and simple and fixed, and I just worked in the cost of all of these things. Into my total cost of doing business so that I never had to aggravate a client. Fast forward to today. If I found myself doing that, I, by looking back, I would say, wait a minute. Let me think about that. Am I, am I being true to what my vision was of the business? And if not, is that because I’ve actually learned something and it does make sense to do what I thought was wrong back then. Because I mean, you can learn and grow. There’s nothing wrong with that. Sure. Or have you just fallen into the trap because you walked around and you saw other people doing it. So you said, well, I’m gonna start charging for faxes too. And if you’re charging for faxes in 2026, by the way, Gini Dietrich: we have a problem, but Chip Griffin: we have a huge problem because, what the heck are you using that fax machine for? Let alone that you’re charging for it. And by the way, where did you find a fax machine? Because I haven’t seen a fax machine in person in a really long time, except maybe like at the back of a doctor’s office. The, you know, Gini Dietrich: the bank and the doctor’s office. Yeah, I think that’s it. Chip Griffin: Well, I haven’t, I don’t, I kind, I haven’t been inside a bank in a long time, but Gini Dietrich: yeah, Chip Griffin: everything’s, everything’s electronic now. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. There’s no need for that. Chip Griffin: But yeah, think, think back to those, those motivations that you may have had that rather than I want to do this, it was, I never want to be the kind of agency that does this. Because it, it is really so easy to fall down those rabbit holes over time without even realizing that you’re just, you’re doing the same things that, that you didn’t ever want to see when you started your business. Gini Dietrich: Yeah. And I think it’s so easy to sit on social media, and you’ll get served ads from experts who say this is the way that you should do things. And in some cases it might work. And in some cases you might be like, there’s no way. And I think it’s really easy to listen to somebody and say, yeah, but we went from $3 million in debt to making $3 million a day, like, you know, these wild claims. And then you kind of get sucked into that. I think if you’re really true to who you are and what kind of agency you want to build, that’s going to enable you to say, this just doesn’t feel right to me. I’m not, I’m just gonna… great if he’s really making $3 million a day, I need to just bypass this one. Chip Griffin: Because you need to do what’s right for you. And so, I think that the key to that is, is really going back to your roots, understanding what motivated you to get started, what drove that success in the early days. And by understanding the, the early months or years of your agency, the more that you can inform some of the decisions that you’re making going forward one way or the other. Gini Dietrich: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Think about it. It’s a good way to start ’26. Chip Griffin: Nice positive way. We, we managed to get through an episode here without beating up on our listeners. We didn’t start the year on a negative note, did we? We started positive. We did. Think about, we think about what has worked for you previously. Yes. And do more of that. Do more. So we will do more of this on a future episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast. But in the meantime, I’m Chip Griffin. Gini Dietrich: I’m Gini Dietrich. Chip Griffin: And it depends.

Leading Into 2026: Executive Pastor Insights Momentum is real. So is the pressure. This free report draws from the largest dedicated survey of Executive Pastors ever, revealing what leaders are actually facing as they prepare for 2026. Why staff health is the #1 pressure point Where churches feel hopeful — and stretched thin What worked in 2025 and is worth repeating Clear decision filters for the year ahead Download the Full Report Free PDF • Built for Executive Pastors • Instant access Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re sitting down with an executive pastor from a prevailing church to unpack what leaders like you shared in the National Executive Pastor Survey so you can lead forward with clarity. In today’s episode, we’re joined by Kayra Montañez, Executive Pastor at Liquid Church in New Jersey. Liquid is a fast-growing multisite church with six campuses stretching from Princeton to communities just outside New York City. In this conversation, Kayra helps unpack one of the biggest concerns surfaced in the National Executive Pastor Survey: the growing gap between attendance and engagement. While many churches are seeing people return, far fewer leaders feel confident that those people are truly connected, discipled, and serving. Is your church seeing full rooms but thin volunteer pipelines? Are you unsure how engaged people really are beyond weekend services? Kayra offers practical insight into why that gap exists—and what churches can do to close it. Attendance is up, engagement is unclear. // Kayra begins with encouragement. Across the country, churches are seeing renewed spiritual openness. People are coming with expectancy, ready to encounter God. At the same time, many leaders sense a disconnect between attendance and belonging. Kayra identifies several common gaps: people attending without joining “people systems” like groups or teams; online attenders remaining anonymous without a clear bridge to community; seasonal attenders who show up for Christmas and Easter but never return; and potential volunteers who are open to helping but hesitant to commit long-term. These patterns aren't unique to Liquid—they're widespread across the church landscape. From prescribed paths to personalized journeys. // One of Liquid's biggest shifts has been moving away from a rigid, one-size-fits-all connection pathway. Kayra compares the old model to the video game Mario Brothers, where everyone must follow the same prescribed path or “die.” Instead, Liquid now operates more like Zelda: a choose-your-own-adventure approach that honors people's seasons, needs, and interests. Rather than telling people where they must plug in, the church focuses on learning what people actually want and helping them find a meaningful next step. Connect and Conversation. // This shift comes to life through a monthly experience called Connect and Conversation, hosted at every campus after the final service. New and not-yet-connected attendees are invited to a meal where they sit at tables with others like them and facilitators. The event begins with relational icebreakers to help people connect naturally, then moves into guided conversation around what attendees are looking for—community, care, serving, support groups, or spiritual growth. Facilitators take detailed notes, which drive personalized follow-up in the weeks ahead. Kayra describes it as “high-touch, concierge-style ministry,” and the results have been significant movement from attendance into engagement. Measuring what matters. // Liquid tracks what happens after people attend Connect and Conversation—not to claim direct causation, but to see correlation. They monitor whether participants join groups, teams, or discipleship environments in the following months. That data has helped the church refine pathways and remove unnecessary friction. Kayra encourages leaders to examine two key metrics: how many first-time guests take any next step within 30 days, and what percentage move into a people system within 60–90 days. These numbers often reveal where engagement breaks down. Reimagining discipleship. // One surprising insight at Liquid came from surveying the congregation about small groups. While relational connection mattered, the top desire was biblical literacy. In response, Liquid “blew up” its traditional small-group model and launched a new midweek Bible study format called Deep Dive. Rather than prioritizing relationships first, these environments put Scripture front and center, with connection as a natural byproduct. The pilot—an in-depth study of Revelation—drew hundreds of participants and revealed a deep hunger for understanding God's Word. Rebuilding volunteer momentum. // Like many churches, Liquid faced a volunteer crisis as growth outpaced serving capacity—especially in kids' environments. In response, the church launched a short-term campaign called For the One, built around a “try before you buy” serving model. New volunteers could serve a few times with a shortened onboarding process (without compromising safety) and then decide whether to commit long-term, scoring exclusive team swag. More than 400 people stepped in to serve, helping stabilize teams and reignite volunteer culture. Short-term fixes and long-term culture. // Kayra emphasizes that engagement is both a systems problem and a culture challenge. Churches need short-term solutions to address immediate gaps, but long-term health comes from storytelling, celebration, appreciation, and consistently casting vision for why serving and community matter. Engagement doesn't happen accidentally—it's cultivated intentionally over time. To learn more about Liquid Church, visit liquidchurch.com, or connect with Kayra directly via email. Watch the full episode below: Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. We’ve got a special episode on today where we’re diving into some of the results from the National Executive Pastor Survey. And today we’re super excited to have Kayra Montañez with us from Liquid Church in New Jersey. Rich Birch — And today we’re talking all about engagement. One of the things that jumped out, well, one of the top tier results, kind of concerns that came out, 10% of executive pastors in the open questions, expressed fear around discipleship death depth and volunteer sustainability. At the same time, nearly 12% said they lacked really visibility into participation and involvement data. Another 6% pointed specifically to volunteer and team metrics really being an unmet need, not knowing where they are. Rich Birch — So what does that all that mean? Roughly one in five executive pastors are entering 2026 this year, wondering really how engaged their churches are. And Kayra is going to solve all that for us. So Kayra, welcome to the show. Tell us about Liquid. Tell us a little bit about the church. Kayra Montañez — Well I appreciate the vote of confidence but I’m not sure about that. But, Rich, it’s always so great to be with you and to be a guest on your podcast. Thank you so much for having me. So yes, we are in New Jersey. So our church is called Liquid. I get the incredible privilege of serving there as one of two executive pastors. And we are a multisite church. We have six campuses. If you and know anything about New Jersey, one of them is the furthest one is in Princeton, New Jersey – a lot of people know Princeton. Kayra Montañez — And then probably the closest one that we have up north is closest to New York City, about 30 minutes from the city. So that kind of gives you the breadth and width of how we’re trying to saturate the state of New Jersey with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is our mission. Rich Birch — So good. And Kayra, I really appreciate you jumping in on on today’s conversation, particularly in this area, because I think, man, have so much to offer. You know, so many of our churches, we feel like the volunteer pipelines are thin. How are we getting? It’s like people are underutilized. Maybe are our follow-up process are like overly complex. And you’ve done a great job on on this area. So let’s just jump right in. Rich Birch — Where do you see some of the biggest gaps today in churches, whether it’s Liquid or other churches you interact, between, you know, getting people to attend church attendance and actual engagement. There’s a gap there. what What’s driving that? What do what do you think drives that gap in our churches? Kayra Montañez — Yeah. So I see a couple of things. But before I get to that, you know, I just really wanted to start with something really encouraging because it’s not in my nature to be discouraging. So one of the things that I have noticed, in fact, I was actually spending some time with other pastors from other states in the U.S. And we were talking about like, hey, what is the Lord doing in the in the Big C Church? What are you experiencing in your context? Rich Birch — So good. Kayra Montañez — And one of the things I think that was a theme for all of us is it feels like we don’t have to work as hard to get people to come and be ready for what the Lord has for them. And that feels very exciting. Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — And that’s like a theme that I’m seeing repeated across the entire nation with all of my pastor friends from different locations. Having said that, there are still things that we have to do to get people from going to just attending to engaging, like you were saying. I think there’s a couple of things that I saw. Kayra Montañez — One of them is a big one, I would say, is like this idea of, attending versus belonging, right. So like first people actually want to come, but they don’t actually join people systems. So they come in person, they come online, but they don’t actually join any kind of people system. So when I say people system I’m thinking about groups, or dream teams, a support group, a class. That’s actually something that we started seeing a lot post-pandemic, and I would say it’s still here. So that’s one gap that I see. Kayra Montañez — The second gap that I see is digital versus relational. So obviously, we at Liquid have spent a lot of, we’ve invested a lot in our digital ministry, and we really believe online and in-person can both thrive at the same time, and we’re seeing that. Kayra Montañez — However, online services, while they can remove barriers, which is good, it also helps people stay anonymous unless there’s a clear bridge for those people to actually join in-person community. And so churches that haven’t figured out well how to do that will continue to see a gap between people who are attending, whether it’s in person or online, but not actually engaging. Kayra Montañez — There’s also the people who just come for big events, right? Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — We’re approaching one of them, even as we film this podcast, next week is Christmas Eve. So we joke at Liquid, we have the CEOs, they come for Christmas, Easter, and other big events, but they don’t actually have a weekly rhythm of attending and engaging. Kayra Montañez — And then there’s people who I would say are curious about serving and for the most part are open to helping, but are not really ready to make a serving commitment and actually take on a very consistent role. So I would say across the breadth and width of churches, that’s probably something that would hit most people, no matter where you are. Rich Birch — Yeah, for sure. Kayra Montañez — Definitely we experience all of them at Liquid. Rich Birch — Yeah, I there was a lot there, in which I appreciate. and i appreciate the way you’ve kind of diagnosed. I think there’s multiple ways to kind of um diagnose or kind of pick apart – Hey, here are different aspects here, or different ways that we’re seeing this kind of attendance versus engagement question. So maybe, you know, pick apart those attending versus belonging. What has Liquid done? What are you doing to try to help move people from just attending, actually getting into those people systems? What does that? What are you learning on that front? Kayra Montañez — Yeah. You know, we’ve had a major shift at Liquid, I would say, in the past two years. The best way that I can explain this is with a gaming analogy, because I have teenagers and they love gaming. Rich Birch — I love it. Kayra Montañez — So if you um go back to when we used to play Mario Brothers, you remember Mario Brothers? Rich Birch — Sure, yeah. Kayra Montañez — Mario Brothers has prescribed path where if you did not follow the path, at some point Mario would die. Like if you stayed behind and the camera kept moving, the character would die. You remember that? Rich Birch — Yes, yes. Kayra Montañez — And that’s the way that a lot of churches, even today, approach helping people connect. There is a prescribed path for you, and we’re going to tell you what you need to do and what you have to do. Then Zelda came into the scene and Zelda is like, hey, choose your own adventure. You can start your adventure anywhere you want. Rich Birch — Right. Kayra Montañez — And so I feel like Liquid, we’ve shifted in that. We used to be Mario Brothers, like, hey, here’s a prescribed path for you. Here’s all the things that you have to do to connect. Whereas now we’ve shifted over the past two years into like, hey, we have a lot of things that we can offer you. And there are many different things depending on your season of life, on your felt needs, on what you’re looking for, on what you’re interested in, on what makes your heart beat. Tell us what you want to do and we’re going to help you. Kayra Montañez — And so in order for us to understand what is it that people want, we created an event that we do every month called Connect and Conversation. And the whole idea and the way that we market it is if you’re new to Liquid, or if you are not new, but you haven’t connected yet, you haven’t found your people, you haven’t found something that you want to be a part of, come to this event. Kayra Montañez — We feed you. We get to know you. And then we follow up personally with you. It’s very high level concierge, kind of a follow up system, where after we connect with you, we ask you, hey, what are you actually interested in? What are you looking for? Because your needs as an empty nester who’s been married for over 25 years, you’re parenting adult children who are already married are very different than mine who have two team have two teenagers. Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — One of them is about to go to college, right? Rich Birch — Yep, yep. Kayra Montañez — And so that has actually produced incredible fruit from getting people who are attending. Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — Now I’ve actually offered them something they’re interested in, which is making connections with people. And then from there, we follow up to offer, what do you need? Rich Birch — That’s so cool. Kayra Montañez — And everybody has different needs. Some people just wanna join teams because they’re just like, I just wanna serve. Some people, they really just need a lot of care. And so maybe they need a support group and we’re gonna offer that to you. Kayra Montañez — Some people may need marriage mentoring. We’re gonna offer that to you. So it really depends. And what we’ve seen is people taking significant next steps once they go out of that event. And that has really changed the past. In the past, we would only be marketing teams and groups, role and relationship, join, ah you know, get into a role and connect with a relationship. And while that’s still good, I’m not saying that’s not good or not needed. Rich Birch — Right. Kayra Montañez — It’s not the only thing that people are looking for. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s interesting. Can we, I’d love to dive just a little deeper on on that because I think there’s ah a really key learning there for lots of us. This idea, and you didn’t say it this way, but where my brain went to, you know, I think we have, we have for sure in the past done the thing where it’s like we have these giant funnels that we’re pushing everyone through. Rich Birch — And and the only question we’re really asking is where do you fit in our funnel? Kayra Montañez — Correct. Rich Birch — Like where, You know, and we and we push and literally, and this is no, you know, kind of slam on other systems, but it’s like, this is the, you know, step one, step two, step three, everyone do step one first, then you do step two, then you do step three. Rich Birch — So the the connecting conversation, that feels like highly, like it’s volunteer intensive. You got to get a lot of volunteers in there because it sounds like you’re having one-on-one conversations or something close to one-on-one. Unpack what that looks like. Maybe as a guest, if I arrive at that, what do I actually experience when I show up there? Kayra Montañez — So you you can register up until the time that we have the event. Rich Birch — Yep, that’s great. Kayra Montañez — So we do math you know magical math with the food and and the preparation so that we can just accept people who are going to come on the day of. Because we promote it, obviously, every week. And then the day of, we actually promote it. We get most people to show up the day of the event. Rich Birch — Right, okay. Kayra Montañez — So people will come. There’s going to be a lunch. And then they’re going to sit at a table with about five other people who have a facilitator at that table. Rich Birch — Okay. Kayra Montañez — And that facilitator is actually going to lead them through a series of relational icebreakers because the event is designed for you to first connect. You want to meet other people who are just like you. Maybe they’re new or they’re not new, but they haven’t connected yet with somebody. Rich Birch — That’s good. Kayra Montañez — And so there’s going to be a lot of relational icebreakers you know during the first part of the event. And then after that, we get into like, hey, what are you looking for? What are you hoping to get out of? What do you need? What are you interested in? We make notes. Rich Birch — How can we help? All that kind of stuff. Kayra Montañez — That facilitator takes really good notes based on what people are saying. And then the follow-up begins. Rich Birch — That’s so cool. I love that. That’s what a great learning. You know, I think so many times we’ve seen that step and for sure that echoes what I’ve seen in in a number of churches. There’s really a trend away from the class being the first step. Rich Birch — It’s like the stand that we used to do that thing where it was like, okay, someone stands up at the front and they’re going to talk for 50 minutes about why we’re such a great church. And, ah you know, that really has gone away. I would I would echo that, that we’ve seen that as ah as a best practice for sure. So let’s talk… Kayra Montañez — When we do measure… Rich Birch — Sorry, go ahead. No. Kayra Montañez — …oh sorry, as I was to say, we measure the activity of everyone who goes to Connect in Conversation and what they do. Rich Birch — Oh, that, tell me about that. Kayra Montañez — And so there’s, or ah how we say it at Liquid is it’s correlation, not causation. Like I can’t prove that if you go to this event, your next steps were a direct result of this event… Rich Birch — Yes. Yes. Kayra Montañez — …but we can correlate that because you came to the event you actually took these next steps, if that makes sense. Rich Birch — Yeah. Kayra Montañez — So we’ve seen tremendous, tremendous engagement grow because of that. Rich Birch — And that’s on Sundays. You do it on on campus after the last service, that sort of thing. Kayra Montañez — Every month. Yes, every month at every campus after the last service, we promote it up to the day of the event… Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Kayra Montañez — …and we do it rain or shine. Whether it’s five people or 10 or 50, obviously at our largest location, sometimes we have about 100 people show up every month to these events. Rich Birch — That’s great. I love that. That’s a great. You’re coming in hot, Kayra. Great learnings, even you know, with friends, we’ve got through the first question. Rich Birch — So yeah, and we’re, you know, it’s fantastic. So one of the one of the things I’d love to hear a little bit about, um you know, that when we look in the data, people’s anxiety, there’s there seems to be some anxiety around or concern around discipling people. We offer these discipleship pathways or engagement pathways. And it’s like, we do this stuff, but then people don’t actually take advantage of it. It’s like, we do, we offer small groups, but people don’t do them. Or people we offer classes and people don’t actually engage on them. Rich Birch —What are you doing to try to move to, to ensure people are actually engaging with the various pathways that you’re developing at Liquid to actually get them to use them? Kayra Montañez — So this is a very interesting question in this particular time because at Liquid we’re just about getting ready to or just ready to ah blow up small groups basically. Rich Birch — Oh, nice. Okay. I’d love to hear more. Kayra Montañez — Yeah, so I would say that small groups was the one metric that did not recover for our church post-pandemic. So even though our volunteer pipelines at times felt thin, we were able to have incredible momentum around that. We can talk more about that later. How did we do that? We recovered in attendance and giving, baptism, but we were not able to crack the code on small groups. We were at an all-time low, about 20% our church… Rich Birch — Oh, wow. Yeah. Kayra Montañez — …was engaged in small groups, pretty low. And so we started surveying people. Rich Birch — Yep. We’re like, what is it that people actually want from the small groups? Like, what is it that we’re not offering that they’re looking for? And the one, it was shocking to us that the number one thing, I mean, it shouldn’t be shocking because we are a church. Kayra Montañez — The number one thing that people wanted was to understand the Bible. So for the first time ever, we have uncoupled relational connection from biblical literacy. In the past, our small groups, the thing that was in the driver’s seat, I would say, was the relational connection. We wanted people to connect, to join a group so that they could make friends, do life together. We used to um promote it that way, if you remember. Do life together. Where are the people that you’re doing life together? Rich Birch — Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Kayra Montañez — For the first time ever, we’re actually putting biblical literacy in the front seat and relational connection on the passenger seat. So you will actually make connections, but that’s not the goal of this process right now. The process is for you to actually understand and read and study the word of God. In fact, our new tagline is to know the word of God so that you can love the God of the word. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. And is that so if you change the the container that that fits in or are you changing the like, like… Kayra Montañez — We did. We changed the container. Rich Birch — So what’s that look like? Kayra Montañez — So right now we’re offering people different levels of biblical literacy. Kayra Montañez — The biggest vehicle that we’re that we just piloted this fall through the book of Revelations, if you can believe it. So we’re like, why not start with the hardest book of the Bible? Rich Birch — Yes. Kayra Montañez — And what we did was we created a Bible study midweek on a Wednesday night where people would go in person and study the word of God in tables with other people. Now, obviously there’s facilitators who have been trained and vetted. And once you join a table, that was kind of like the table that you were going to go on this journey with, but it’s not a small group. It’s a, it’s a short term. It was 10 weeks. We went through the entire book of Revelations, 22 chapters. We would do homework in order to get ready for this midweek study, we would come, we would have a conversation around what did you put in question 10? Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — What did I write? This was hard, I don’t understand. And then there was teaching. Kayra Montañez — And we also piloted doing that same thing with our high school students so that parents could actually come with their kids on the same day, drop their high school kiddos in their own cohort, and then they would go to their own biblical midweek you know Bible study. Kayra Montañez — And that was, too, a great success. So we are trying to figure out like what are the appropriate levels of biblical literacy that we can offer a congregation… Rich Birch — That’s so good. Kayra Montañez — …that is increasingly illiterate in biblic in in the Bible. Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — And deep dive, make no mistake, is the highest level. So that’s not for everyone. And we understand that. And so the parts that we’re trying to figure out is what’s like the appropriate next level to that for somebody who’s not willing to come in person 10 weeks to do homework and study, you know, the actual Bible. Kayra Montañez — But, it was fascinating to just uncouple those two things for the first time. And I would say it’s in the right frame of, in the right approach. You’re still making friends. Rich Birch — Yes. Kayra Montañez — You’re just not, that’s just not being the driver. Rich Birch — Right. Yeah, I do wonder. So we for sure have seen that. I’ve seen this conversation. I don’t claim to be a small groups expert. I never have. Kayra Montañez — Me neither. Rich Birch — Like for 20, 30 years, it’s always been a mystery to me. I’m like, it’s like hard. It’s a hard system to run and to to build. And, but for sure, post COVID it it is, I would say that’s a universal concern that it’s like, whatever we used to do, I see this all over the place, whatever we used to do to try to get people into groups, we don’t do that anymore. We’re doing something completely different. I happen to be at Liquid this fall. I think you were speaking at a conference when I was there. Bummer… Kayra Montañez — I was, I missed you. Yeah. Rich Birch — And I saw the deep dive. I think that’s what it was called. Kayra Montañez — Yes. Rich Birch — Deep dive that night. And I remember, i remember thinking, I was like, Whoa, this is like, ah this is incredible. Like, you know, I don’t know how many people were there that night. There was a ton of people all lined up and ready to go. I’m like, that’s, That’s cool. I love that. Rich Birch — Well, let’s pivot. You kind of flagged it there, the volunteer piece. Kayra Montañez — Yes. Rich Birch — I’d love to know what you’re learning on this front, you know, to rebuild volunteer culture. We had this kind of, I don’t know when we’ll stop saying post-COVID. I don’t know whether we’ll be like that generation that was like after the like war or like after the depression where like for 40 years we’re going to be talking about it. Rich Birch — But it does still feel like we’re post-COVID. I don’t know when that is. But what have you done to kind of restart? How what’s going well on that front externally? Liquid feels like a incredibly volunteer you know robust culture – help us understand what’s that looking like what are you learning these days? Kayra Montañez — Sure. Yeah. I mean everything you said is still very much a factor. I mean, we are constantly having to work at this. This is never going to be a problem that I feel we’re ever going to solve. It’s really a tension that we’re managing. And sometimes tension feels better and sometimes it doesn’t feel good. Rich Birch — Right. Kayra Montañez — In fact, this year, I would say in March, we probably had like our biggest crisis in the broadcast campus where our church growth so far outpaced the amount of people that were serving that we were finding ourselves having to close rooms for Liquid family… Rich Birch — Ooh. Kayra Montañez — …not because we we hit ratios, but because we didn’t have enough volunteers. And that doesn’t feel great… Rich Birch — No. Kayra Montañez — …especially if you’re a new here family, right? Rich Birch — Yes. Kayra Montañez — And so we were like, all right, we need to do something really aggressive. And the best way that I can explain it is we did like a try before you buy. Rich Birch — Okay. Kayra Montañez — Very low approach… Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — …low hanging fruit. We said, hey, we we casted a vision, right? It’s never about we need volunteers, but we actually told a really significant story of where’s all the fruit that the Lord is bringing to this church, all the spiritual fruit that we’re seeing, like people are getting saved, people are getting baptized, they’re coming to get to know Jesus, they’re studying the Bible. Kayra Montañez — It was incredible. Kayra Montañez — But we need people to use their spiritual gifts. And so we came up with a campaign called For the One. And everything was geared for that one person. Like, who’s who are you going to go serve? Who’s the one that you’re going to go serve? Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Kayra Montañez — And the try before you buy was, we’re going to give you a hoodie. We designed a hoodie. It was called, it was, you know, at the tagline For the One. And the key is you only get it after you serve a couple of times. Rich Birch — Okay, that’s cool. Kayra Montañez — So this is the try before you buy. You know, you’re going to try it out. Rich Birch — Yes. You’re not going to go through the whole background, pipeline, covenant process because we need people now and we need them quick. Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah. Kayra Montañez — So you’re trying before you’re buying. But if you like it and we’re going to make sure that first serve experience is incredible for you, then we want you to buy it. Rich Birch — That’s so good. Kayra Montañez — And we’re going to reward you by giving you swag that’s limited, exclusive. Not everybody’s going to get it. Rich, you would be surprised. Like I’m still to this day, i have been at Liquid, it’ll be 13 years in April. And I am still shocked by how much people, the gamification of playing to people’s particular interests… Rich Birch — Yes. Yes. Kayra Montañez — …whether it’s FOMO, they don’t want to miss out, whether it’s the idea of collecting exclusive apparel. Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah. Kayra Montañez — There’s something here for everyone that just draws people out. Rich Birch — It’s true. It’s true. Kayra Montañez — We had over 400 people sign up for the one. Rich Birch — Wow. That’s amazing. That’s great. Kayra Montañez — It was incredible. And we were able to tell amazing stories of people who were coming and showing up and serving, whether it was our special needs kiddos or high school whatever you want to call it. We had it. And and I would say the appeal of a try before you buy, how can you shortchange without? So this is key. You don’t want to reduce the quality. But you do want to shorten your pipeline so that you can get people quicker to try it. And then once they actually feel like, hey, I really enjoy this, now we’re going to get you through the whole, you know, rest of the process, right? But you can still serve while we do that. Kayra Montañez — So that was a huge thing. And then obviously, you know, like the free apparel swag, that always is a nice incentive to give to people. So that was huge. Rich Birch — It’s true. Kayra Montañez — It was very successful. And that’s what I would recommend is like, hey, can you run, try before you buy little events with like swag, and like you you get you have people serve for a limited amount of time. Like you don’t give them the swag immediately. You make them work for it. Rich Birch — Right. Yes. Kayra Montañez — They got to serve three, four times before you give it to them. Rich Birch — Yeah, we did a similar thing last summer. Our kids ministry team did a similar thing last summer where we did the summer serve, which we hadn’t done in in actually a number of years. And they they pulled that out and did summer serve. And it was the same thing. If you signed up, you got a t-shirt, a specific t-shirt for that. Rich Birch — And then you, there was, they basically were asking you to serve once in June, once in July, once in August, like once a month, just for the summertime. And if you served, um I forget exactly what the ratio was, but it was, you got entered in a draw for however many times. And basically, so if you served all three, you got like 10 times the number of draw things to win. And it was all this stuff that you, you could win. And it was like really great gifts. Kayra Montañez — Yes. Rich Birch — And you would think that that should not motivate people. Kayra Montañez — But it does. Rich Birch — But it does. Kayra Montañez — It does. Rich Birch — And and you know and it was and, you know, they did it in really fun, you know, hey this is going to be a fun thing to be a part of. Talk to me about the, because there’s a friction thing there to learn around trying to reduce the friction the kind of onboarding friction, I think over time that stuff can become, you know, it’s, it’s the, we actually are like our, we can become just too hard for our people. Kayra Montañez — Yeah. Rich Birch — What did you learn through that process in, in trying to find that balance of like, we want to make it easier to onboard people, but we still want to, is there any kind of lessons from that when you look back on that? Kayra Montañez — To me, the the lesson really is, again, there is a tension between you can’t shortchange, especially when it comes to kids. I can’t emphasize this enough. Rich Birch — No, yeah, absolutely. Yep. Kayra Montañez — Like I oversee all of these ministries and it would be not on my watch will will this happen, right? Rich Birch — No, yeah, yeah. Kayra Montañez — So we have to make be very sure that we’re not shortchanging the safety procedures. Rich Birch — Yeah. Yep. Kayra Montañez — At the same time recognizing these things can take some time, right? Like we ask people to get a background check, they have to be interviewed, they have to sign a covenant, they have to have a reference. I mean, these things this is a lengthy process. Rich Birch — Yes. Kayra Montañez — And I stand by it. We have to do that. Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — At the same time, can we actually live in a world where we are marrying our need to have someone in the room while also still doing all of these things simultaneously, not actually waiting for all of this to happen so that then they can come. Kayra Montañez — And that’s kind of how we figured it out. Our Liquid family pastor came up with a process where she’s like, okay, we can shorten it this time. They’re only going to do these three things, not four, not six. But while they’re in the room trying it, we’re going to continue to do the other remaining four. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. Kayra Montañez — It’s messy. It’s not always the best thing to do in an ideal world. You are not doing that. But when you’re faced with crisis, then you need to come up with, you know, resourceful ideas. Kayra Montañez — And so what I would say about the volunteer pipeline is this. There are short-term problems that you have to solve while you’re still working on this very long-term. Like this is a culture that you have to create. Rich Birch — Yeah. Kayra Montañez — And in order for you to create a culture, you have to tell stories. You have to celebrate what you want to be repeated. have to make people feel thanked, encouraged, appreciated, seen. You those are all long-term things that you have to be doing all the time. This is like nonstop. Rich Birch — Yes. Yes. Can’t take the, you can’t take the gas off that pedal for sure. Pedal off that gas. Kayra Montañez — Correct. You cannot take your foot off the the pedal. But at the same time, there are things that are short term that you really do have to also do. And sometimes that will require teaching from the stage where you’re actually envisioning people about why this matters so much. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Kayra Montañez — And this is what we did in March with the For the One. So I would say it’s it’s both/and; it’s not either/or. And so if that’s helpful, that’s how I would approach it. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s super good. That’s good. If there was a church that was, if you were sitting across the table from an executive pastor, maybe you’re at a conference or someone drops in your office and they’re, they’re feeling really stuck on this engagement issue. They feel low. Like it’s people were, maybe it’s groups, it’s teams, it’s all of it. Like it’s, we’re not moving people through any kind of pipeline. Rich Birch — What would be some of those first steps or first recommendations, first things you’d have them look at, maybe like a diagnostic or a first couple of things that you’d have them think about in this area? Kayra Montañez — Well, I would say if there’s a way for them to know of the people who are attending and maybe they figure this out with new here, how many of those people take one next step within the first month? Rich Birch — That’s good. Kayra Montañez — That would be one diagnostic that I would first see if I can do with the data that I have and the data that they collect and they actually figured that out. Rich Birch — Yep. Yeah, that’s good. Kayra Montañez — If they’re able to do that, then the next diagnostic would be what percent actually move into a people system… Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — …whether it’s a group, a deep dive experience, a dream team within 60 to 90 days, right? Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — Because if you do that, you’re going to find the blockage. You’re actually going to discover Maybe our attendance is fine. We don’t have an invest and invite problem, but maybe what we have a problem with is our conversion rate. And so then you can start to identify what is it about our conversion that we need to fix? Kayra Montañez — Is it that we have ah unclear on-ramps? Or is it that our processes are too high friction? It’s too hard people to get involved. If you actually find like, no, actually people are taking next steps. Great. But they’re not sticking to it. Then you have a different problem. Then you can actually diagnose… Rich Birch — Yes, yes. Kayra Montañez — …oh, maybe the first serve experience actually wasn’t sticky enough. It wasn’t welcoming. Maybe there were issues with scheduling. Maybe we didn’t give clear information. So you can kind of figure out what the problem is based on how you’re measuring it and what you’re discovering. That’s how I would start if I didn’t know what the problem was. Does that make sense? Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. That makes total sense. And, you know, it it definitely aligns with one of my bugaboos that I constantly driving with executive pastors. When you look at the actual numbers—I and I have not run into a church yet that this is not the case—most churches actually have a front door problem. They don’t have a back door problem. They their actual problem that we think we feel like, oh, like people aren’t sticking and staying in groups, they’re not staying and volunteering. But statistically, that’s actually not true. When most of the time, if you look at, okay, all the people that end up in a group, what is the kind of churn rate on that? Whatever that number is, I’ve never seen a church where it’s higher than the people we’re missing on the front end with exactly with what you said is how many people are removing from new here to taking the first step in the first month? Rich Birch — Because that you lose a ton of people in that door right there. That is a, you know, by a multiple of 10 or 20, like it’s a lot more that we’re missing out. And, you know, generally in most churches… Kayra Montañez — And can I just [inaudible] to that? Rich Birch — Yeah. Kayra Montañez — Because I just want encourage people, like, figure out a way to target your new here audience. Rich Birch — Yes. Yes. Kayra Montañez — So at Liquid, for example, if you come for the first time, not only do we encourage, highly encourage you to tell us that you’re here for the first time because we give you an awesome gift. Rich Birch — Yes. Kayra Montañez — Lots of churches do this, but then we survey people who came for the first time. Rich Birch — Yeah. Kayra Montañez — And based on what they answer, they receive a custom follow-up process for the first 30 days. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. Yeah. Kayra Montañez — We don’t, so in that regard, like it is worth to look at that. Rich Birch — Yes. Kayra Montañez — Because you’re going to find out a lot of information and a lot of data about what people are choosing to do, where are they going, why they’re not sticking to it or why they’re not even going in the first place. Rich Birch — Yeah. Kayra Montañez — Like I’m shocked that I’ve been to churches sometimes to speak and they don’t actually really do like a new here call out. Like they don’t. Rich Birch — Yeah, I was going to say that. You said, oh, churches do this. Kayra Montañez — Maybe not. Rich Birch — And I’d be like, Kayra, I’ve been to way too many churches where they don’t do any of that. And they’re like, well, we’re not really sure. And I’m like, this is a solvable problem. We can fix this. Kayra Montañez — Yes. Yes. Rich Birch — There’s like real things you can do here. Actually, I worked with a church last year, a fairly large church in 2024, where they were experiencing some of these issues and so and I was like I basically said the same thing I just said, I’m like you’re losing people on the front end. And they’re like they’re like well we do a gift. And I’m like no you don’t. And I said there’s a and there’s a few things to fix around that. In 2025 the year we just ended, they received we made a few changes it’s not about me there’s about them they made a bunch of changes, they ended up receiving 5,000 more first-time guest contacts than they did 2024. Kayra Montañez — Wow. Just like we’ve always told it to do. Rich Birch — Now they did not grow by people but it’s just by focusing on that, right? Kayra Montañez — Amazing. Rich Birch — It’s just by like saying, hey, how are we what are we going to do to ensure that that step goes well with folks? So anyways, there’s huge opportunity there and in lots of churches. Kayra, you’ve been incredibly generous to give us your time at this time of year. As you’re thinking, kind of last question, as we’re thinking about 2026, what are some of those questions that are floating around in your head as you think about Liquid, as you think about the future? What are some things that you’re wrestling with that you’re wondering about that you’re contemplating as we go into this year? Kayra Montañez — Oh my gosh, Rich, so many. After this conversation, you know, I really am interested to see what’s going to happen with our discipleship model since we just blew it up. Rich Birch — Yes, yep. Kayra Montañez — I’m helping all of that and changing the way that we even onboard leaders. Like I’m really invested in seeing this through. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. Kayra Montañez — I also totally unrelated to this, but we just launched, I think in the survey, one of the questions that was asked was what’s the best idea that you had in 2025? Rich Birch — Yeah, yeah, right. Kayra Montañez — And I was like, well, I feel like one of our best ideas was to use AI to launch a Spanish service. And I am really invested in that in seeing like, how do we continue to grow that service? How do we continue to grow that ministry? We’re launching new ministries in 2025, or 2026. So that always feels exciting and daunting. Kayra Montañez — So there’s just the work never ends. And there’s always it is an exciting and fascinating time to be in the church. I’ll say that. Rich Birch — I would agree. I totally would agree. Yeah, it’s the best. I would think, literally, I think this is the best season that I’ve been involved in ministry for sure. Rich Birch — For folks that don’t know what you’re doing with Spanish ministry, give us the 60 second, explain that again. Because I think I keep pointing churches to you saying, have you heard what Liquid’s doing? You go talk to them. So tell us about that. Kayra Montañez — So basically we have a Spanish service. We do have live hosting in Español. We have live worship in Español. But then we take our English message and we pass it through an AI service called Heygen, which actually uses the communicator’s voice and matches the words to their lips and they’re just preaching, they preach it in Spanish. Even if they’re not bilingual, they will preach it in Spanish. And it’s like you, Rich, are speaking in Spanish. Your words match to your voice. Rich Birch — Yes. Yeah, it’s it’s amazing. Kayra Montañez — People get to hear the the gospel and the message in their language. So it’s been fascinating to learn who we’re reaching, who’s coming, who likes that kind of a thing. You know, as a Spanish speaker myself, I’m like, would I go to a service where the message wasn’t actually authentic Spanish and it’s an AI generated? Kayra Montañez — I believe in the quality of our communication so much that I actually have to say, yes, I would. Because like last year, this year, we took our entire church through the book of Revelation. Tim spent 25 weeks teaching us the hardest book of the Bible. Kayra Montañez — The fruit that that endeavor produced is incredible. And so when I think about what we’re doing, I’m like, I believe in that so much that I do think this is a this is a thing that’s actually good to do. Even if people would who would think like, why would they go to that and not like an authentic Spanish speaker? Rich Birch — Yeah, interesting. And that, and you’re, you’ve been a year, that’s been basically almost a year you’ve been doing that now. Kayra Montañez — A year. A year. Rich Birch — And, and you’re be continuing to do it. So obviously something’s working. There’s some sort of version of like, Hey, we’re, we feel. Kayra Montañez — We’re continuing to do it. we’re seeing We’re seeing the fruit. We’re seeing baptisms, people giving their life to Christ, getting baptized, showing up and joining teams, um reaching families. We’re reaching multigenerational families where the parents go to the Spanish service, the kids go to the English service because it’s simultaneous, right? Well, the English is going on, the Spanish is going on. So families get to decide. It’s just really interesting to watch. Obviously, it’s been challenging in the U.S. to grow a Spanish service because of everything that’s been happening. Rich Birch — Yeah, yeah… Kayra Montañez — But it’s just been really fascinating to see like the dynamics of who we’re reaching, who’s is sharing like who’s excited about it, and then using technology to further the gospel. It’s always exciting. Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s fantastic. I know I was goofing around with Heygen a little bit. And the part that actually, this was you know almost a year ago when you guys started doing that that, one of the tests I ran that actually convinced me was, so I was like taking videos of me and I would send them to like a friend who speaks Spanish. And I sent to a friend who speaks, you know, a couple of languages that it was doing, but then I did the reverse. There’s a great church, Nouvelle Vie. It’s a French speaking church, large church, be very similar to Liquid, but they’re French speaking. And so I took one of the, the lead pastors from that. I took a clip of his message and translated into English. And I was blown away. I was like, Oh my word. Like, Kayra Montañez — It is getting better and better every day. Rich Birch — I was I was shocked. I was like, oh, that that is, yeah, could I tell? Yeah, but this guy’s an incredible communicator. And you know similar to you and Tim and the team at at Liquid, I’m like, I could see that work anyway. Rich Birch — So that’s exciting. Kayra, it’s so great to see you. Kayra Montañez — Thank you, Rich. Rich Birch — Thanks so much for having time with us today. If people want to connect with you or with Liquid, where do we want to send them online? Kayra Montañez — Sure. So my name Kayra, K-A-Y-R-A at liquidchurch.com. Happy to connect with anybody have questions. Rich Birch — Thanks so much. Thanks for being here today.

Grains closed slightly higher while cattle fell $1-$2. Mike Castle with StoneX recaps Wednesday's trade. Topics: - corrective grain action - ethanol record - soy crush tomorrow - fertilizer stories to watch - beef takes a breather - keys for the rest of the week

Aujourd'hui, Charles Consigny, avocat, Didier Giraud, éleveur de bovins, et Fatima Aït Bounoua, prof de français, débattent de l'actualité autour d'Alain Marschall et Olivier Truchot.

Time for the Insurrection Act. TRUMP MUST ACT!, George Orwell was Right About Women. George Orwell was right about women https://youtu.be/GrQRM5X6eNE?si=LqhdkT8hRphdQ0rp Better Bachelor 479K subscribers 345,122 views Jan 9, 2026 Join us on Locals for Saturday Night at the Movies every Saturday Night 8pm EST! Join the patriarchy today - every supporter makes a feminist cry. Visit us on Betterbachelor.locals.com and see more content and join an amazing community of like minded people with free speech forums, memes, and unique content and live streams for just the cost of a cup of coffee. Locals: https://betterbachelor.locals.com/sup... On Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/Oddmanout For a one time Support/Donation https://betterbachelor.locals.com/sup...   This Is Exactly When the Insurrection Act Applies! TRUMP MUST ACT! https://youtu.be/Rw8bIfRPkVI?si=-6TgT01_mpEc4Xbe The Andrew Branca Show 274K subscribers 38,991 views Jan 10, 2026 "BRANCA FOR SCOTUS" MUGS! https://thebrancashow-shop.fourthwall... JOIN OUR COMMUNITY! Exclusive Members-only content & perks! Only ~17 cents/day! $5/month:     / @thebrancashow   Visit Here: https://lawofselfdefense.com/getthebook "You are wise to buy this material. I hope you watch it, internalize it, and keep it to the forefront whenever you even think of reaching for a gun" -Massad Ayoob (President of the Second Amendment Foundation) The #1 guide for understanding when using force to protect yourself is legal. Now yours for FREE! Just pay the S&H for us to get it to you. ➡️ Carry with confidence, knowing you are protected from predators AND predatory prosecutors ➡️ Correct the common myths you may think are true but get people in trouble ​➡️ Know you're getting the best with this abridged version of our best-selling 5-star Amazon-rated book that has been praised by many (including self-defense legends!) for its easy, entertaining, and informative style. ​➡️ Many interesting, if sometimes heart-wrenching, true-life examples Get Your Free Book: https://lawofselfdefense.com/getthebook

This podcast shows you how to fully recover from OCD.Each episode breaks down the exact techniques and nuances that stop rumination, reduce compulsions, and help you retrain your brain out of the OCD cycle. We cover every major OCD theme, including:Pure-O OCDRelationship OCDHarm OCDReal Event OCDSO-OCD / Sexuality OCDReligious / Scrupulosity OCDCleaning & Contamination OCDPhysical CompulsionsAll other OCD subtypesMy goal is simple: clear guidance that actually works, explained in a way that is calm, direct, and easy to apply immediately.You can fully recover from OCD. Don't give up — you're not stuck, and your brain can change.

Planned giving won't grow if we keep rewarding gift officers as if it doesn't exist. When incentives focus only on cash and pledges, we unintentionally steer MGO's away from the very conversations that unlock transformational wealth. This episode tackles the internal challenge head-on: how nonprofits can count planned gifts (without violating accounting rules) in ways that motivate the right behaviors. Change the incentives, and you change the outcomes.

Peyton Fry, Founder and owner of Glass Raven, discusses the complexities of patient access to healthcare and how healthcare systems often fall into the trap of measuring efficiency in ways that are financially beneficial for providers but are detrimental to patient care. Glass Raven helps organizations define key metrics of good patient access and the implementation of technology and AI to address the defined problems. This data-driven approach focuses on the populations most likely to benefit from improved patient access to care and informs a tailored, context-aware strategy for each healthcare system. Peyton explains, "Glass Raven focuses on providing services in patient access spaces and operations for healthcare systems. We typically work with medium to large healthcare systems and help them really get a feel and eyes on their own operations and what patient access means to them. Oftentimes, that starts with just defining what patient access is for a given space and then looking into call centers, referrals, and capacity to make sure that patients who want to be scheduled can be scheduled and that healthcare systems can control costs and gather the revenue from that."   "I think patient access has been around for a long time. I think it probably falls under a lot of different umbrellas, which is part of the problem. If I started my career, I found that there just weren't many experts who focused on patient access as a discipline. I think that's because your patient access strategies will change depending on your payer mix. It'll change depending on your size and your capabilities as a system. So I think it's really hard to find the blueprint that someone else has used and move it from system to system. It's almost like you have to reinvent the wheel." #GlassRaven #HealthcareAccess #PatientExperience #HealthTech #AIinHealthcare #HealthcareOperations #DataAnalytics #HealthcareInnovation #PatientCare #HealthSystems #DigitalHealth GlassRaven.Health Download the transcript here

Peyton Fry, Founder and owner of Glass Raven, discusses the complexities of patient access to healthcare and how healthcare systems often fall into the trap of measuring efficiency in ways that are financially beneficial for providers but are detrimental to patient care. Glass Raven helps organizations define key metrics of good patient access and the implementation of technology and AI to address the defined problems. This data-driven approach focuses on the populations most likely to benefit from improved patient access to care and informs a tailored, context-aware strategy for each healthcare system. Peyton explains, "Glass Raven focuses on providing services in patient access spaces and operations for healthcare systems. We typically work with medium to large healthcare systems and help them really get a feel and eyes on their own operations and what patient access means to them. Oftentimes, that starts with just defining what patient access is for a given space and then looking into call centers, referrals, and capacity to make sure that patients who want to be scheduled can be scheduled and that healthcare systems can control costs and gather the revenue from that."   "I think patient access has been around for a long time. I think it probably falls under a lot of different umbrellas, which is part of the problem. If I started my career, I found that there just weren't many experts who focused on patient access as a discipline. I think that's because your patient access strategies will change depending on your payer mix. It'll change depending on your size and your capabilities as a system. So I think it's really hard to find the blueprint that someone else has used and move it from system to system. It's almost like you have to reinvent the wheel." #GlassRaven #HealthcareAccess #PatientExperience #HealthTech #AIinHealthcare #HealthcareOperations #DataAnalytics #HealthcareInnovation #PatientCare #HealthSystems #DigitalHealth GlassRaven.Health Listen to the podcast here

It's kind of surprising how many movies there are with the premise "Stuck in a house with a wild animal." And considering that all three of these are pretty good, it's kind of surprising that there aren't even more of them. PROPER EDITED VERSION! LINK (1986, Richard Franklin) BURNING BRIGHT (2010, Carlos Brooks) CRAWL (2019, Alexandre Aja)

In this interview recap, Lesley and Brad explore June Suepunpuck's insights on joy, identity, and the courage it takes to pause and reassess the life you're living. They reflect on career versus calling, destination addiction, and the role grief plays in meaningful transformation. This episode is a reminder that sustainable joy grows from self-awareness—and the willingness to be honest with yourself.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:Understanding the why behind the dream and its impact on fulfillment.The difference between building a career and honoring a calling.Why addressing grief is a necessary part of finding real joy.How to identify one good thing about today even when you're struggling.How to actively question whether the life you are living brings you joy.Episode References/Links:Pilates Journal Expo - https://xxll.co/pilatesjournalCambodia Retreat Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comAgency Mini - https://prfit.biz/miniContrology Pilates Conference in Poland - https://xxll.co/polandContrology Pilates Conference in Brussels - https://xxll.co/brusselsPOT in London - https://xxll.co/potHow To Find Joy Podcast - https://howtofindjoy.buzzsprout.comJune Suepunpuck's Website - https://www.joyguidejune.comSubmit your wins or questions - https://beitpod.com/questionsOnline Pilates Classes on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClassesEpisode 559: David Corbin - https://beitpod.com/ep559 If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  You learn from what you did, and you do better the next time. And we have to allow for that, and we can't be so afraid of people who could take advantage on either side that we don't do anything at all. Lesley Logan 0:11  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 0:50  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the delightful convo I had with June Suepunpuck in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, feel free to pause us now go back and listen to that one. Brad was obsessed with it. He interrupted my work three times a day to tell me how much he appreciated it. So you should go listen to it and then come back and join us, or keep listening and then go listen to that one. Lesley Logan 1:15  Today is January 8th 2026, and it's War on Poverty Day. Brad Crowell 1:20  War on Poverty Day. Lesley Logan 1:21  Okay, ready for it. Annually, on January 8th, we reflect on the impact of the legislation first introduced in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson that collectively expanded economic opportunity through anti poverty, health, education, employment policies. I mean, we can't cosign on this more, I think. Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty was primarily established by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.Brad Crowell 1:46  This is a this is a bit nerdy here, but there's a reason to give a little (inaudible). So the EOA.Lesley Logan 1:51  We're gonna rant in a second with some of you like that. But we got to get you on the same page with us. So created the Office of the EO,Brad Crowell 1:59  the Office of Economic Opportunity. So the EOA was the Act created the OEO. So the Office of Economic Opportunity. Lesley Logan 2:07  I guess I thought it was in a office of, like, OEC, but anyways, I don't know what I'm talking about. So I could never work in government, because I get confused with the letters real quick. So Office of Economic Opportunity, OEO, that's like a song, oh, e, o, oh. Anyways, to oversee new programs, I did not take my focus meds today. Key initiatives include the job corpse head. Key initiatives included the Job Corps, Head Start and community action programs, along with funding for vocational training, college work study and local development. Subsequent legislation and programs expanded on this foundation, including the permanent Food Stamp Act of 1964 and the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.Brad Crowell 2:31  Yeah, so it's possible that you might have heard of the Job Corps. You probably heard of Head Start. You may or may not have heard of community action programs, but you've definitely heard of food stamps, and you've definitely heard of Medicare and Medicaid, right? So all of these came out of LBJ's, War on Poverty program, which included the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and.Lesley Logan 3:08  And if you have, if you're not, if you never had experienced like food stamps or Medicare or Medicaid, right? Medicaid is for the babies and Medicare is when you're older, if I'm correct, if you haven't ever had experienced that it might be really easy to not know how people are served by that, how much they're served by it, like, how do they get that? And so if you have any reasons to go, I can't believe they're paying this much on food stamps, I highly educate would educate yourself on how hard people have to work to get these things.Brad Crowell 3:33  Well, we're talking about, we're talking about poverty here. Right? And so, you know, the reality is that it's a it's, it's actually really, really challenging to get out of poverty. Right, 10% of our country currently 11, it's moving up to like 11% or something, is in the place where we would consider them in poverty.Lesley Logan 3:51  Yeah. And if you want to know what that is, I think the US government considers you in poverty if you make under $20,000 as an individual, which, by the way, is $0 like that. How I don't even know where you're living, that you can afford the food at the grocery store and gas and any part of life. So you know, if you are in that place, a lot of people are working full time jobs ending poverty. Brad Crowell 4:15  For a family of four in in the United States in 2025 the Federal Poverty Level is an annual income of $32,150 or less. Lesley Logan 4:24  How do you feed how do you feed four mouths on that amount of money? Brad Crowell 4:24  For the whole year. Lesley Logan 4:24  Yeah, I don't even understand that. Brad Crowell 4:24  Like that's enough for the food. What about. Lesley Logan 4:24  Well. And then we, and then there's these people have the nerve to tell those people, well, they should just eat healthier. How are you affording lettuce and eggs on that amount of money? And then also. Brad Crowell 4:40  You're able to afford a fast food meal because it's $1. Lesley Logan 4:43  Because it's $1. Brad Crowell 4:44  And that's why it's crap.Lesley Logan 4:45  Yeah, so let me just finish our notes, and then we can (inaudible). One definition of poverty is not have enough resources for your basic needs, and it's a huge impact on people's lives in society. It's a huge impact on society. People think all the time like, oh, I don't want to pay for immigrants to have health care. Well, you don't, but you certainly pay when they go to county, when you go to them, they go the hospital, you pay. So, like, we have, we, I actually don't think a country can be rich if you have all.Brad Crowell 5:09  Let's just make a distinction there. We're not paying for, we're not paying for immigrants to have health care, in the sense of, like, are they on insurance going to the doctor. If they go to the emergency room, yes, right, if they go to jail, yeah, we're paying for that, too. Lesley Logan 5:25  And by the way, if you were traveling a different country that happens to have healthcare for all of their people, you also don't pay like my friend, yeah, as a visitor, my friend had an emergency surgery. They fell in the Netherlands in a race, and they did this crazy surgery that would have costed her so much money, no bill. Anyways, that's another day, another day's holiday. So recent studies show that suggests that the poorest states have a poverty rate of up to 18%. I think we can guess what states those are. Poverty can happen to anyone. This is very important. Poverty can happen to anyone, whether it's students who rely on scholarships to claim their right to education, seniors struggling with rising health care costs, or large families struggling to get food on the table. Poverty is a problem that over 40 million Americans are fighting against on a daily basis, and we'll just say as of 2024 we were down to 10.6% from 19% of our country beneath the poverty line in 1964.Brad Crowell 6:18  Yeah, so in 1964 so effectively, like, if you go back and look at the 30s, where there was the Great Depression, they did all of these government programs to help the country, because everything was in the toilet, right? Well, 30 years later, in the 60s, there was a 19% poverty rate, and it was a problem. And so how could they address these problems? They they put into like, that's how LBJ ran on the war on poverty, and he started to implement these things to support the country, right? And it's taken a long time for us to get down to 10% poverty, 10 and a half percent, yeah, you know. And that was what was happening as of last year. And now things are shifting in the wrong direction. Lesley Logan 6:57  Yeah. And there. And also, by the way, we were, we were recording this before the Thanksgiving holiday. And so what we do know is, on January 1st, everyone's healthcare bills are going up. Ours, we are very lucky that ours only went up 3000 for the year, for the two of us.Brad Crowell 7:09  Yeah, it's, well, it's 25%. Ours went up 25%.Lesley Logan 7:12  Yeah, that is insanity. That is insanity. And can we afford it? Sure, we're just gonna invest less in our retirement, I guess. Like, you know, it's not like, it's that money just doesn't come from somewhere. And what I also know is that there are people in certain states that theirs is going up 48%, and some people are making $85,000 a year. Their health insurance is going to cost $44,000 a year. So we're going to see poverty go up. And if we don't start thinking about it as a way that, like, I think that a lot of people think about people taking like they get these things, and they're taking from the government, and that's coming from your tax dollars. But if we don't help people get ahead, they will always be taking in different ways, right? And so your crime will go up. Why? Because people have to sleep and eat and be warm like they just have to. So we have to think of it as a holistic thing. And I really think that I love what LBJ did, and I love that we're honoring this. And I think like we could be doing so much better by now. I feel like if LBJ was alive, I would hope he'd be disappointed that we don't actually have preschool for every child in the US for free, like Head Start in Vegas, my nail tech, it's a lottery. So some of her kids got Head Start, and some of her kids didn't. And she's like, Lesley, I can tell you a difference in my children my kids can read levels above where their greatest and some of them are behind and and she's like, I can't, I can't teach them that that's not something I didn't teach them, that they learned that at school when they got to earlier. So I just think that we could be doing a better job, and especially, like, we should be thinking about people who'd have less than us and not, how do we give them more? Like, yes, any more money, but how do we actually set them up so that they can do other things? They need trainings, they need childcare. They need it to be they need busses to be free, you know, like, there's just different things we can do. So anyways.Brad Crowell 8:58  Yeah, it's that this is this is a tough thing, you know, like, if you look at the I'm not going to keep going, because I could keep going on. But this, this is definitely a challenging thing. I'm, you know, I'm glad that we have attempted to address it over the years. I don't admit, I don't, I can't, I can't convincingly say that we've done an amazing job of the process of doing it, you know, like, but I, but I think the intention is the right intention, and we should be always looking for ways to make it better. Lesley Logan 9:22  And also, I think, you know, that's exactly the right line, like we're just always looking for ways to make it better, you're going to have people who are going to have nefarious acts that they're using the money for or not doing it correctly. You cannot always be thinking only about those people, because they're always a small percentage. You have to be thinking about the greater good. And then when you figure out how people are usurping the system or doing different things. Okay, you make changes.Brad Crowell 9:43  Well, let's, let's talk about this like I think this is important, because there's always going to be someone taking advantage of the system. But I think even defining it as a percentage seems misleading, because I would imagine the numbers are minutes. We're talking 40 million people in the United States are considered poverty line or below. 40 million people. So even if 10,000 people are taking advantage of it, that sounds like a lot of people, but the percentage is microscopic compared to 40 million.Lesley Logan 10:05  Correct. And also, I wasn't even thinking about the people like this is, right, I think people are thinking about the people on food stamps or whatever, like the Reagan years of all that disgusting rhetoric, but I was actually thinking about, like, the companies that are pretending to help people, to get the government money to do these things, I was actually thinking about like, you know, there are people who can say, Oh, I'm going to do these things with this program and get that money, but I think you just you, you learn from what you did, and you do better the next time. And we have to allow for that, and we can't be so afraid of people who could take advantage on either side that we don't do anything at all? Brad Crowell 10:43  Yeah. Okay, well, hey, thanks for joining us on that journey. That was a journey, that was a history lesson. Lesley Logan 10:48  I just get really upset about this. I was poor. I was so poor, you know. And I was, I guess I was lucky that my parents weren't on any of these stamps, whatever, because they had family to help. But, like, this is how my life started, so I can't even imagine, was, like, if they didn't have that help.Brad Crowell 11:02  Yeah, yeah. Well, I appreciate your passion, and I think it's important. I love it. I really do. I mean. Lesley Logan 11:09  Well, I mean, like, I would, I would not have gone to college had my best friend's parents not cosign a student loan. You know, like, I happen to have those people, and that's why I get to be where I am today. So I'm, I think that, like, I think a lot of people don't realize how close they were growing up, or people in their lives were to being poor, like impoverished. So, January, hi.Brad Crowell 11:30  Let's talk about upcoming events. We're shifting gears. Lesley Logan 11:33  We're home, today we're home. Brad Crowell 11:34  It's January. Today is the eighth we just we are pulling in from tour tonight. Lesley Logan 11:39  We are fixing the roots, changing the nails. Well, they're my nails, but they're getting new they're getting an update.Brad Crowell 11:45  Yeah. And then tomorrow. Lesley Logan 11:45  We drive down to Huntington Beach. Brad Crowell 11:45  We hit the road again. Lesley Logan 11:46  We're leaving Bayon, we're leaving Bayon, and we're we're driving to Huntington Beach for the Pilates Journal Expo. You can go to xxll.co/pilatesjournal. I don't know why I stuttered there, but I thought I said them. That's completely wrong. xxll.co/pilatesjournal. So if there's any spots left, you should totally join us there. There's like, the lineup is insane. Brad Crowell 12:08  Yeah, it's gonna be awesome. Lesley Logan 12:09  The lineup's insane. Then, oh, you know what? We'll tell you this, but I'm pretty sure tomorrow it releases. So you want to get on the waitlist for next year's Cambodia retreat, because.Brad Crowell 12:20  No, this year's. Lesley Logan 12:21  This year's, oh, it's this year. Well, you need to change that copy, my friend. You want to get on the waitlist for this year's Cambodia retreat details. We'll be having early bird presale right now. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, it starts tomorrow, but only for those on the waitlist, crowsnestretreats.com is where you go. Brad Crowell 12:40  I thought it was the 12th, but it could be the ninth. Lesley Logan 12:43  I think it's the ninth. Brad Crowell 12:44  Anyway, get on the waitlist, crowsnestretreats.com you'll find the waitlist there. Lesley Logan 12:46  This is what happens when we're recording early. Okay, then next month we have Agency Mini. It'll be happening this year's February, and you want to get on the waitlist for that, for it prfit.biz/mini who is it for? It is for the teachers, Pilates teachers and studio owners who work for themselves or want to, and they want to have ease in their business, without the overwhelm, and they actually want to be in control of things and not feel like they're always like reacting, because that's annoying in the business. So pfit.biz/mini we only are doing Mini, I don't know, maybe twice this year, but for sure, one. Brad Crowell 13:17  The plan, the plan is two times in 2026. Lesley Logan 13:19  Okay, great. Well, you don't want to miss this one. You'll go, oh, I'll do the next one because that could be, that could be the fall. I don't even know what it's going to be. Oh, it's going to be the fall. We could find out on the flight.Brad Crowell 13:26  Yeah, end of Q3 beginning of Q4. Lesley Logan 13:30  And then. Brad Crowell 13:30  So, but the point is this, why wait another six months? It's, we're talking it's early it's going to be early bird. Lesley Logan 13:38  By the way, it's only $25 when it's early bird, and it's $65 full price. If what we teach you makes you an extra. Brad Crowell 13:43  $25 Lesley Logan 13:46  Over six months. No, I was gonna say, do the math like, okay, six months is what? 26 weeks? 26 weeks, right? 24 weeks this I'm not a mathematician, so 24. Let's say, let's just say, all we do is make you an extra $100 a week. That's $2,400 you're fucking welcome, for 25 bucks go to prfit.biz/mini then in March, Brad and I are taking off to Europe for a month. I'm teaching the Poland Controlology Pilates conference with Karen Frischmann, xxll.co/poland and then the next week, where Karen and I are in Brussels. Brad's joining us along for the ride. xxll.co/brussels we're super excited about both events are selling really fast. I think our sessions are very much taken in Brussels, but there might be some spots left in Poland and then, okay, we've been saying, like, I don't know if we can announce it yet. I don't know. Well, here's what I do know. As of December 2nd, it was official to announce that we were going to be in London. So it's a few can now buy your ticket. And I don't know if the early bird is happening still or not, because I don't know anything, but I do know we'll be there. And I have workshops, I have a booth, you going to want to go to xxll.co/pot, so go there. Okay. Brad Crowell 15:00  Awesome. Lesley Logan 15:00  We have an audience question. I promise not to take too long.Brad Crowell 15:02  We sure do. Yeah. Instagram, (inaudible) reached out asking if OPC has a certificate of training online, and she said she wants it to be a Pilates instructor, mostly for knowledge. So she's not trying to be a teacher. She wants it as a practitioner to know specifically for herself. Do we have any recommendations? Lesley Logan 15:24  Well, I love this question, because I always want to do this with Anthony for yoga, like I always wanted him to teach a yoga training, but just for people who just wanted to learn it better and not be a teacher, because almost every teacher training that I've ever heard of in life is going to teach you how to teach it. And so what I would say is I don't know of a program that does that, especially online, that's going to be solid that I know about. I know that the Pilates Center out of Boulder does have online trainings, but again, they're going to train you to teach it, and there's going to be requirements for you to teach it. So what I would probably also just encourage you to do, because this is something that I realized now that we've trained with Anthony for over 10 years, is that the more you just do classical Pilates with us at OPC, you will become more educated and knowledgeable about the practice, especially for your body. So what I would actually suggest, and I know this sounds like a shameless plug, but seriously. Now at OPC, we follow Joseph Pilates' orders on all the pieces of equipment. And yes, there's other equipment that we don't talk about in OPC classes, but you can always ask us about them. And you can take advantage of the FFF and submit videos of you doing exercises, and I will give you specialized feedback for your practice so you're more knowledge about your body. You can come to the live class every month, and ask questions for your practice, and I will answer that for your body, and you can get the flash cards. So you do those things.Brad Crowell 16:46  So do, do we have a certificate of training online? No, but I don't know that you need one the tools that we've created will will support you in your goal, yeah, which you know we're assuming is to further your personal practice. Lesley Logan 17:01  And if you're like, I don't want to pay you a dime, LL, great. Our YouTube videos are free. Go have fun. You can do it between the flash cards and the YouTube videos. You can really understand it for your practice. You don't need to pay thousands of dollars for training where you only want half of the information. That's what I would do. If you would like to ask me a question. You can go to 310-905-5534, you can text us, call us, or you can go to beitpod.com/questions and send one in. Brad Crowell 17:24  Love it. Lesley Logan 17:25  And you can send your win in because I really love seeing those. All right. Brad Crowell 17:29  Stick around. We'll be right back.Brad Crowell 17:31  All right, now, let's talk about June Suepunpuck. Okay, June is a joy guide. She's a speaker, and she's the host of the How to Find Joy Podcast. She helps high achieving, heart-led leaders who have reached the top and still find themselves asking, is this it? Or what's the point? With a background in psychology and tools like human design and nervous system healing, June guides people through the process of reassessing their goals, addressing destination addiction of finding fulfillment in daily life rather than in the next achievement. This conversation lit me on fire because I, I'm I'm telling you, we've had a handful of other guests that talked about joy, and we had the doctor who was doing the research on it, and I was, like, really intrigued by that, but I don't know this. I really connected with the way that she talked and spoke and the things that she dug into. So I'm very excited to discuss this. So tell me what you loved about this convo.Lesley Logan 18:33  Okay, so we, I mean, there's so many different things, but like, I really love that she found a way to articulate the difference between, like, a career versus a calling. And that, like, you know, once you figure out what your calling is, it becomes, oh, it becomes really clear, like, this is the point. She said, like, this is the point, why we do it. I also love that she emphasize differentiate, differentiating between career versus calling, because it's, like, the important, because it's a why behind the dream, and it will determine if the result, the resulting fulfillment, will be fleeting or sustainable. So because if you're not clear on the dream, then it's really easy for us to, like, have an achievement, and then literally, three minutes later, go on to something else and a whole other feeling, like we've all done that, right? We're like, have this amazing high. And then you need a text message like, oh, fuck, right. And then, like, the high is gone. Where'd the high go? It's just totally gone. So, you have to have that clarity. Because I will say, like, I feel like I'm very much doing my calling. And the more I get clear on, like, not just what we what I know, I've always known what we're doing and why we're doing it, but the more you work on it, the more you're like, oh, I can make this better. Oh, we this could be the next thing that we do. And even on the hardest days you feel fulfilled, is more sustainable than like, going with the highs and lows of the business, like, I can have a good day only when the business has a good day. Brad Crowell 19:52  Yeah, I think, I think, like to clarify the career versus the calling thing. You know, it's put it into context, I think. She specifically meant. Mentioned her the influence of her parents on her college direction, you know, which is very typical for a first generation American, right? Her parents emigrated here. She was born here, and then what did they tell her, you got to be a doctor, basically, right? Lesley Logan 20:17  I know I had friends whose parents like, you can do whatever you want. I'm like, what? I'm not a first generation American. I was the first person to go to college like you figure out a degree that pays this bill back. That's what you have to do. Brad Crowell 20:28  Well, the the so for her, she, you know, it's like, now, go pursue your goals is what she said. And I listened to that part twice because I thought this is really interesting, you know, because she started saying, well, are these actually my goals? I don't know that these are my goals. I don't know. Am I excited about this at all? Right? This is going to put me on a career path that's going to make me probably the money that, you know, my parents want me to have, which is great, or the whatever that my parents want to have, awesome. But you know, is this my calling? And the answer is most likely no. So career versus calling in that sense, right? And she said, why are we doing the career? What is it about it? Right? We're, we're been told, Well, that's going to get you the financial independence, the house, the car, the money, the whatever, you know. And then, because you're in a parent child relationship, you know, how are you supposed to say, No, that's tough, right?Lesley Logan 21:20  Yeah, oh, I don't think, I don't even know that you she had the opportunity to you just, you don't have the life experience to know you can.Brad Crowell 21:27  Yeah, sure, and, you know, and then and then, and then, and then, what happens? Then, like, you know, you have your midlife crisis, and you're like, I hate everything about what I'm doing, you know, because once you've gotten the money, once you've had the time in the career. Does it make you happy? Probably not. Probably not. So now you're disenchanted, because you're like, Well, what the hell I thought that when I got here, it was going to be different. I was going to feel happy and fulfilled and better and ready to go, and I'm not. I don't feel that at all. So now, why am I doing it? And that's when people blow up their lives. And I really appreciate it when you and her were both talking about this moment where kaboom, right, quit everything, all of it, or it fell apart around you, you know, like in your case, it started with one decision you made, and then all these other things happening on top of it.Lesley Logan 22:13  Yeah, I like detonated something, and then like that detonated a lot of things. Brad Crowell 22:13  Yeah. So, you know, and I appreciated you sharing your story then, because I thought that was really, really awesome. But you know, the differentiating between the career versus the calling is important because of the why behind the dream and really knowing the dream. How do you know your dream? You need to know yourself, right? And that's, that's really tough.Lesley Logan 22:39  Yeah, I mean, like, I think that's where people are really struggling, is, like, getting to know themselves. I don't think, like, I think that a lot of people have been being, especially women who listen this podcast, right? Like, like, they have been trying to be the perfect daughter, perfect wife, perfect sister, perfect employee. Like, don't take up too much space. And like, now they're, they're 40s plus, and they're like, I'm fucking tired of that. But then it's like, okay, what? Okay, then, who am I? Right, right? Yeah, you know. So it's not, it's not the easiest thing, but I think it's the most essential thing to figure out.Brad Crowell 23:12  Yeah, yeah. 100% and, and, you know, so, and then there's a couple of other paths here, right? If you've hit that point of, like, I hate what I'm doing, you know, and you make a change, you know, there's, it's terrifying, it's scary. There's all these things. And that's when I, when I was really, you know, intrigued, because she said, yes, I coach people on finding joy. But I'm actually also like, a grief coach too, because when you make a change, there is grieving that happens. It just does, like, there's no way around it, right? And so what I really liked, when she was talking about this, she said, you can't it's kind of like what Anthony said, you can't have, you know, war without peace. You can't have light without dark. You can't have good without bad, right? You can't have these things. You need that polarity and joy was, was reiterating that. She said experiencing deep grief is actually necessary, because you wouldn't have understood how joyful you can be if you haven't personally experienced those dark places. I mean, I personally connected with this in my with my journey, with my story, where my, you know, I thought I was happy with my my old relationship, everything went to ship, and then I was incredibly set right, and now I have this marker in my life where I'm like, I am so much in a different place from where I was after that. And I can, I can measure against that and go barometer of in the shit versus not even close to that anymore. I am very happy today with who I am now because I had that negative experience, so.Lesley Logan 24:52  Yeah, I do think like and I think, I think it's really easy when you're in the grieving part to just go, Well, this is all happening for a reason. Correct it is. It doesn't mean you don't, you skip the part where you feel it, you know, like, and I also think it's really easy for us to want for others to not feel those things. We're like, trying to help people out in our lives from like, we try to make sure they don't make the same mistake as us. And so then we end up telling them things that make them just like, doubt what they're doing, and it's so important that, like, I remember one of the coaches we had said you can't take someone's rock bottom away, and I think that, like, you've got to be there for people when they hit it, but you kind of got to let people experience it, otherwise they're going to hit it again.Brad Crowell 25:34  Yeah, but I think there's a second step here, and I think I agree with you 100% and I think it's important for you can't take away someone's rock bottom, no, because otherwise you're just enabling them. And they're gonna they're never gonna change or learn or transform. But there's a second part of transformation after you hit the rock bottom, you have to address the grief.Lesley Logan 25:54  That you will that goes back to what June was saying. You have to. A lot of people, don't, I think they just like, want to skip over to the feeling good part.Brad Crowell 26:01  Right. And, and addressing the grief is where the self-reflection happens, the the analysis of, where were you and that you know, where were you before the shit? How did you get into the shit? Like, how do we not want to be in the shit, and now that we're now, how do we get out of it, right? And, and there's a lot of, that's right.Lesley Logan 26:01  Who do we need to see or who are you going to ask for help or. Brad Crowell 26:24  Self-reflection. Lesley Logan 26:25  Yeah, I will. There you go. That goes back to the same other thing as, like, people don't know themselves. This helps with that, because you, you, well, it's inside you, but you can't always articulate it, like, sometimes it comes out better in a journal.Brad Crowell 26:40  Yeah, sure. I mean, there's a lot of different methods to to get it out of your head, get it out of your you know, subconcsious. Lesley Logan 26:45  There was that one guy who tries to grab a journal, but close your eyes and just write what was coming up with your eyes closed. Lesley Logan 26:50  Oh, that's interesting. Lesley Logan 26:51  It was like David, somebody on the pod, like David Grove Gore Groban. Starts with a G. It was in the last 100 episodes.Brad Crowell 26:51  It's in the last 100 episodes.Lesley Logan 26:51  But I liked it. I like the idea of that, like there's different ways to do self-reflection. And when you self reflect, it allows you to know yourself, which allows you. Brad Crowell 27:08  Corbin. Lesley Logan 27:09  Corbin, not Groban, okay. So you can the more you know yourself, the more you're gonna understand, not just like your calling, but also how you experience joy and grief. Yeah.Brad Crowell 27:22  Yeah, awesome. Well, anyway, I, I, I would suggest going back and watching this episode again or listening to this episode again. Really, really awesome. Lesley Logan 27:30  She's so authentic. I really enjoyed her. Yeah.Brad Crowell 27:33  Yeah, and also very willing to be transparent. That's great. Lesley Logan 27:37  Yeah I was like, whoa. So, like, I so appreciate her transparency, because usually people come on and they like, be her like, they, like, they, they, for lack of better word, like, like, they whitewash the experience. Like I was here and now I'm here, and it's like, okay, but hold on, how do we get here? And they like, are so good at like, going around it? And she's like, nope, this is the it. This is how it was. And I, I really enjoyed that.Brad Crowell 27:58  Yeah. Well, stick around. We'll be right back, because we have some great be it action items from June. Brad Crowell 28:05  Welcome back, welcome back. Let's talk about those Be It Action Items that we got from your conversation with June. So what bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from that convo? She suggested journaling, but she gave some very specific journaling tips, which we love here. Lesley Logan 28:25  She's a fan of the show, so she knows the rules. Brad Crowell 28:27  Although, yeah, yeah, absolutely, although, ironically, she was, she was myth-busting the perfectionism. I was really interested in listening to her first season of her podcast because she was trying to, like, break down the steps of how to be joyful. And in season two, she's basically already decided there's no one way to do it. And this entire way that I thought that I was creating in season one, I don't think I agree with myself anymore, and I was laughing about that. So sorry, perfectionist, but this, I thought, was a very actionable tip. She said, identify one good thing about today. One good thing about today. It's not a gratitude journal. This is she because she believes that gratitude is very hard to reach when you're struggling. So you're just identifying one good thing about today. You're focusing on only the one good thing, such as, I woke up tonight, or I woke up today. You know, provides a vital step on the path towards joy, even when deeper feelings of appreciation or joy feel very out of reach. So thought that was a great simple like just baby step kind of a thing to to support, especially if you're looking at everything as scary or frustrating. So, yeah. What about you?Lesley Logan 29:36  Okay. This is huge. I think this is amazing. Ready? Stop lying to yourself. That's what she says. Be It Action Item. We've never had anyone say this. And I was like, yeah, actually, that's probably the best way to be it until you see it. Stop lying to yourself. Where are you lying to yourself in your life? You need to get honest. You must figure this out. And she said, actively question the life you are currently living by asking, are you living this life that is your dream? Is it expired? Does it still even bring you joy? And so there's ways to find yourself and discover this new version of yourself that can support by reaching you can get support by reaching out to her and get support and go to therapy. But I love this, like, where am I living? Is this the life that I wanted to live? Is it the life that I wanted to live while did it expire? Did I did I move on from a new life to a new life? Does it even bring me joy? We only get this one life, you know, that's what we know.Brad Crowell 30:29  I remember this made me think back to my childhood dream, where they're like, what do you want to be when you grow up? You know, and everyone's like an astronaut, firefighter.Lesley Logan 30:38  My sister said, an adult. Brad Crowell 30:39  Brilliant. I told everyone I was going to be a professional soccer player, and I was preaching that since I was, like, six years old and. Lesley Logan 30:48  You mean, you could have done it, babe. Brad Crowell 30:49  I could have done it, except that when I got into high school and I was 75 pounds, it was pretty tough for me to be able to muscle people off the ball. So it became pretty, pretty quick that physically, it was gonna be really challenging for me to be able to compete. Lesley Logan 31:04  But look at you now. Brad Crowell 31:05  Look at me now. Lesley Logan 31:06  You, maybe you're, maybe you're a late bloomer.Brad Crowell 31:09  Pro soccer. Here I come, 43 I got this. Lesley Logan 31:12  Require you to be so consistent. Brad Crowell 31:15  But I, but I, yeah, which, which you know that's, well, that's my MO, consistency, but, but here's the here's the reality is that I also wasn't really enjoying it in my teens as much anymore. When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was soccer. I loved it. I went out, I juggled, I did the backyard thing, all that stuff. I was excited about it. But when I got in my teens, I was not as excited, not as enthusiastic. I was doing it because I thought I had to. So, you know, it was interesting to shift. Same thing happened with my music career, where I was like, I define myself as a musician. This is the only thing I actually ever want to do with my life. And then years later, I was like, well, I kind of want to do other things too. You know, is this really giving me the joy? And there are definitely pieces of the music element that I missed, don't get me wrong, for sure, but also too, I'm so grateful that I was willing to redefine who I am, how I am, because it really wasn't bringing me the joy that I thought it was and or that it initially did. So yeah, yeah, stop lying to yourself. Very, very tough. Lesley Logan 32:14  I love it. I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 32:15  And I'm Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 32:16  Thanks so much for listening to this, you know, our rants, to our favorite takeaways, to our episodes. Who are you going to share this episode with? I would certainly share June's first and then this one. And because your friends need to hear it, they need to hear these Be It Action Items. They need to hear these things and it allows us to have not just friendships where we cheer each other on, but friendships we can hold each other accountable. So we can be it till we see it together. So you know what to do, until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 32:46  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 32:42  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 33:24  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 33:29  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 33:34  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 33:41  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 33:44  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome to the ARCC podcast where I have 15-20 minutes to catch you up on the mission, vision, and conviction of ARCC and how and why any of that matters to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Larry Page said in the early day, a guiding principle is Do No Evil. I wonder if we can say that today or is it just business as usual? Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients. So, here’s one of those. [Out of this World Plumbing Ad] Dave Young: This is the Empire Builders Podcast, by the way. Dave Young here, Steve Semple there. I wonder, Stephen, if we could do this whole episode without mentioning the name of the company that we’re going to be talking about. I ask that for the simple reason of they already know. They already know what we’re talking about. They already know we’re talking about them. They probably knew we were going to talk about them. Stephen Semple: Because of all the research I’ve done on my computer. Dave Young: No, because they’re listening to everything. They probably already know the date that this is going to come out and how long it’s… I don’t know, right? When they first started, and I don’t think we felt that way about them, and I can remember back in the early 2000s, just after the turn- Stephen Semple: In the early days, they had a statement. Larry Page was very famous. Dave Young: Yeah, “Do no evil.” Stephen Semple: “Do know evil. Do no evil,” and that was a very, very big part. In fact, in the early stages, they made a bunch of decisions that challenged the company financially because they were like, “This is not good experience for the person on the other end.” I wonder if anybody’s guessed yet what we’re going to be talking about. Dave Young: Well, then you go public, and it’s all about shareholders, right? It’s like the shareholders are like, “Well, we don’t care if you do evil or not. We want you to make money.” That’s what it’s about because you have [inaudible 00:03:01]. Stephen Semple: All those things happen. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: This company that we’re talking about, we’ll go a little while before we’ll let the name out, was founded… On September 4th in 1998 was when it was actually founded. Dave Young: Oh, ’98. It goes back before the turn of the century [inaudible 00:03:14]. Stephen Semple: Yeah. It was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who met at Stanford. Interesting note, the Stanford grads also created Yahoo. Dave Young: Okay, yeah. Stephen Semple: That’s giving you another little clue about the company that we might be talking about. Dave Young: In the same geek club. Stephen Semple: Yeah, so 1998. I was thinking back, one year after I graduated from university, Windows 98 is launched and, believe it or not, the last Seinfeld episode aired. Dave Young: Are you kidding me? Stephen Semple: No, isn’t that crazy? Dave Young: ’98. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: I mean, I was busy raising four daughters in ’98. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Today, this company, as you said, because you didn’t want me to name the company, has more net income than any other business in US history. It has, now, I got to let the cat out of the bag, eight and a half billion searches a day happen. And yes, we’re talking about the birth of Google, which is also now known as part of the Alphabet group. Dave Young: Alphabet, yeah. It’s funny how they got to get a name that means everything. Did they have a name before Google? I know Google was like… Oh, it’s a number really, right? It’s a gazillion, bazillion Googleplex. Stephen Semple: As we’ll go into a little bit later, they actually spelled it wrong when they registered the site. That’s not actually the way that the word is spelled. I’ll have to go… But yeah, the first iteration was a product called BackRub was the name of it. Dave Young: Backrub, okay. Stephen Semple: Alphabet also owns the second largest search engine, which is YouTube. Together, basically, it’s a $2 trillion business, which is larger than the economy of Canada. It’s this amazing thing. Going back to 1998, there are dozens of search engines all using different business models. Now, today Alphabet’s like 90% in the market. Up until this point, it’s been unassailable, and it’s going to be really interesting to see what the future of AI and whatnot brings to that business. But we’re not talking about the future, we’re talking about the past here, so back to the start. Larry Page was born in Lansing, Michigan. His dad is a professor of computer science. His mom is also a computer academic. This is in the ’70s. Between 1979 and ’80, his dad does a stint at Stanford and then also goes to work at Microsoft. Now, Larry and Sergey meet at Stanford, and they’re very ambitious, they’re equal co-founders, but Larry had this thing he also talked about where he said, “You need to do more than just invent things.” It wasn’t about inventing things, it was about creating things that people would use. Here’s what’s going on in the world of the web at this time to understand what’s going on. Here’s some web stats. In 1993, there’s 130 websites in the world. In 1996, three years later, there’s 600,000 websites. That’s a 723% growth year over year. The world has never seen growth like that before. Dave Young: Right, yeah. It was amazing to experience it. People that are younger than us don’t realize what it was. Josh Johnson, the comedian, has a great routine on trying to explain to people what it was like before Google. You needed to know something- Stephen Semple: What it was like for the internet. Dave Young: Yeah. You had to ask somebody who knew. If you needed the answer to a question, you had to ask somebody. And if they didn’t know, then you had to find somebody else, or you had to go to the library and ask a librarian and they would help you find the answer- Stephen Semple: Well, I don’t think it’s like a- Dave Young: … maybe by giving you a book that may or may not have the answer. Stephen Semple: Here’s an important point. I want you to put a pin in that research. We’re going to come back to it. I was about to go down a rabbit hole, but let’s come back to this in just a moment, because this is a very, very important point here about the birth of Google. Larry and Sergey first worked on systems to allow people to make annotations and notes directly on websites with no human involved, but the problem is that that could just overrun a site because there was no systems for ranking or order or anything along that lines. The other question they started to ask is, “Which annotations should someone look at? What are the ones that have authority?” This then created the idea of page rankings. All of this became messy, and this led to them to asking the question, “What if we just focused on ranking webpages?” which led to ranking search. Now, whole idea was ranking was based upon authority and credibility, and they drew this idea from academia. So when we would do research, David, and you’d find that one book, what did you do to figure out who the authority was on the topic? You went and you saw what book did that cite, what research did this book cite. The further you went back in those citations, the closer you got to the true authority, right? Do you remember doing that type of research? Dave Young: Yeah, sure. Stephen Semple: Right. They looked at that and they went, “Well, that’s how you establish credibility and authority is who’s citing who.” Okay. They decided that what they were going to do was do that for the web, and the way the web did that was links, especially in the early days where a lot of it was research. Dave Young: Yeah. If a whole bunch of people linked to you, then that gives you authority over the words that they used to link on and- Stephen Semple: Well, and also in the early days, those links carried a lot of metadata around what the author thought, like, “Why was the link there?” In the early days, backlinks were incredibly important. Now, SEO weasels are still today talking about backlinks, which is complete. Dude, backlinks, yeah, they kind of matter, but they’re… Anyway, I could go down a rabbit hole. Dave Young: Yeah. It’s like anything, the grifters figure out a way to hack the system and make something that’s not authoritative seem like it is. Stephen Semple: Yeah. It’s harder that you can’t hack the system today. Anyway, but the technology challenge, how do you figure out who’s backedlinked to who? Well, the only way you can do it is you have to crawl the entire web, copy the entire web, and reverse engineer the computation to do this. Dave Young: Yeah. It’s huge. We’ve been talking about Google’s algorithm for as long as Google’s been around. That’s the magic of it, right? Stephen Semple: Yeah. In the early days, with them doing it as a research project, they could do it because there was hundreds of sites. If this happened even two years later, like 1996, it would’ve been completely impossible because the sheer size to do it as a research project, right? Now, they called this system BackRub, and they started to shop this technology to other search engines because, again, remember there was HotBot and Lyco and Archie and AltaVista and Yahoo and Excite and Infoseek. There were a ton of these search engines. Dave Young: Don’t forget Ask Jeeves. Stephen Semple: Ask Jeeves? Actually, Ask Jeeves might’ve even been a little bit later, but yeah, Ask Jeeves was one of them once when it was around. Dave Young: There was one that was Dogpile that was… It would search a bunch of search engines. Stephen Semple: Right, yeah. There was all sorts of things. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: There was another one called Excite, and they got close to doing a deal with Excite. They got a meeting with them, and they’re looking at a license deal, million dollars for BackRub, and they would go into the summer and they would implement it because they were still students at Stanford. They got so far as running for the executives there a side-by-side test. They demo this test and the results were so good with BackRub. Here’s what execs at Excite said, “Why on earth would we want to use your engine? We want people to stay on our site,” because, again, it would push people off the site because web portals had this mentality of keeping people on the site instead of having them leave. So it was a no deal. They go back to school and no one wants BackRub, so they decide to build it for themselves at Stanford. The original name was going to be Whatbox. Dave Young: Whatbox? I’m glad they didn’t use Whatbox. Stephen Semple: Yeah. They thought it sounded too close to a porn site or something like that. Dave Young: Okay, I’ll give them that. Stephen Semple: Larry’s dorm mate suggested Google, which is the mathematical term of 10 to the 100th power, but it’s spelled G-O-O-G-O-L. Dave Young: Googol, mm-hmm. Stephen Semple: Correct. Now, there’s lots of things here. Did Larry Page misregister? Did he decide purposely? There’s all sorts of different stories there, but the one that seems to be the most popular, at least liked the most, is that he misspelled it when he did the registration to G-O-G-G-L-E. Dave Young: I think that’s probably a good thing because when you hear it said, that’s kind of the first thing you go- Stephen Semple: That’s kind of how you spell it. Dave Young: … how you spell it. I think we’d have figured it out, but- Stephen Semple: We would’ve, but things that are easier are always better, right? Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: By spring of ’98, they’re doing 10,000 searches a day all out of Stanford University. Dave Young: Wait, 10,000 a day out of one place. Stephen Semple: Are using university resources. Everyone else is just using keywords on a page, which led to keyword stuffing, again, another one of these BS SEO keyword stuffing. Now, at one point, one half of the entire computing power at Stanford University is being used for Google searches. It’s the end of the ’98 academic year, and these guys are still students there. Now, sidebar, to this day, Stanford still owns a chunk of Google. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: Worked out well for Stanford. Dave Young: Yeah, I guess. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Now, Larry and Sergey need some seed round financing because they’ve got to get it off of Stanford. They’ve got to start building computers. They raise a million dollars. Here’s the interesting thing I had no idea. Guess who one of the first round investors are who ended up owning 25% of the company in the seed round? Dave Young: Stay tuned. We’re going to wrap up this story and tell you how to apply this lesson to your business right after this. [Using Stories To Sell Ad] Dave Young: Let’s pick up our story where we left off and trust me you haven’t missed a thing. Stephen Semple: Guess who one of the first round investors are who ended up owning 25% of the company in the seed round? Jeff Bezos. Dave Young: Oh, no kidding. Stephen Semple: Yeah, yeah. Jeff Bezos was one of the first four investors in Google. Dave Young: Okay. Well, here we are. Stephen Semple: Isn’t that incredible? Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Now, AltaVista created a very interesting technology because AltaVista grew out of DEC computers who were building super computers at the time. They were basically one of the pre-leaders in search because what they would do is everybody else crawled the internet in series. They were crawling the internet in parallel, and this was a big technological breakthrough. In other words, they didn’t have to do it one at a time. They could send out a whole ton of crawlers, crawling all sorts of different things, all sorts of different pieces, bringing it back and could reassemble it. Dave Young: Got you. Stephen Semple: AltaVista also had therefore the most number of sites indexed. I remember back in the day, launching websites, like pre-2000, and yeah, you would launch a site and you would have to wait for it to be indexed and it could take weeks- Dave Young: You submit it. Yeah, there were things you could do to submit- Stephen Semple: There was things you could submit. Dave Young: … the search engines. Stephen Semple: Yes, yeah, and you would sit and you would wait and you’d be like, “Oh, it got crawled.” Yeah, it was crazy. We don’t think about that today. [inaudible 00:15:57] websites crawl. Dave Young: You’d make updates to your site and you’d need to resubmit it, so it would get crawled again- Stephen Semple: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Dave Young: … if there was new information. Stephen Semple: People would search your site and it would be different than the site that you would have because the updates hadn’t come through and all those other things. In 1998, Yahoo was the largest player. They were a $20 billion business, and they had a hand-curated guide to the internet, which worked at the time, but the explosive growth killed that. There was a point where Yahoo just couldn’t keep up with it. Then Yahoo went to this hybrid where the top part was hand-curated and then backfilled with search engine results. Now, originally, Google was very against the whole idea of banner ads, and this was the way everyone else was making money, because what they knew is people didn’t like banner ads, but you’re tracking eyeballs, you’re growing, you need more infrastructure, because basically their way of doing is they’re copying the entire internet and putting it on their servers and you need more money. Now, one of the other technological breakthroughs is Google figured out how to do this on a whole pile of cheap computers that they just stacked on top of each other, but you still needed money. At this moment, had no model for making money. They were getting all these eyeballs, they were faster because they built data centers around the world because they also figured out that, by decentralizing it, it was faster. They had lots of constraints. What they needed to do at this point was create a business model. What does one do when one needs to create a business model? Well, it’s early 1999, they’re running out of money. They hire Salar Kamangar, who’s a Stanford student, and they give him the job of writing a business plan. “Here, intern, you’re writing the business plan for how we’re going to make money. Go put together a pitch deck.” Dave Young: I wonder if they’re still using the plan. Stephen Semple: What they found at that point was there was basically three ways to make the money. Way number 1 was sell Google Search technology to enterprises. In other words, companies can use this to search their own documents and intranets. Dave Young: I remember that, yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Number 2, sell ads, banner ads, and number 3, license search results to other search engines. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: Based upon this plan, spring of ’99, they do a Series A fundraise. They raised more money, and they also meet Omid [inaudible 00:18:22] who’s from Netscape, and he’s kind of done with Netscape because Netscape had been just bought by AOL, and they recruit him as a chief revenue officer. Omid tries to sell the enterprise model, kind of fails, so things are not looking good on the revenue front. It’s year 2000, and the technology bubble is starting to burst. The customer base is still growing because people love it, love Google, but they’re running out of money again. They decide to do banner ads, because they just have got no money. Here’s the interesting thing is, in this day, 2000, I want you to think about this, you have to set up a sales force to go out and sell banner ads to agencies, people picking up the phone and walking into offices, reaching out to ad agencies. Dave Young: Yeah, didn’t have a platform for buying and selling… And banner ads, gosh, they were never… Google ads, in the most recent memory, are always context-related, right? Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: But if you’re just selling banner ads to an agency, you might be looking for dog food and you’re going to see car ads and you’re going to see ads for high-tech servers and all kinds of things that don’t have anything to do with what you’re looking for. Stephen Semple: That’s how the early banner ads work. Hold that thought. You’re always one step ahead of me, Dave. Dave Young: Oh, sorry. Stephen Semple: Hold that thought. No, this is awesome. Dave Young: I’m holding it. Stephen Semple: What I want to stress is, when we talk about how the world has changed, in 2000, Google decides to do banner ads and how they have to do it is a sales force going out, reaching out to agencies, and agencies faxed in the banner ads. Dave Young: Okay. Yeah, sure. It would take too long for them- Stephen Semple: I’m not making this up. This is how much the world has changed in 25 years. Dave Young: “Fax me the banner.” Stephen Semple: Salespeople going out to sell ads to agencies for banners on Google where the insertions were sent back by fax. Dave Young: For the people under 20 listening to us, a fax machine- Stephen Semple: Who don’t even know what the hell a fax machine is, yeah. Dave Young: A fax machine, yeah, well, we won’t go there. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Now, here’s what they do. They also say to the advertisers at this point, “Google will only accept text for banner ads for speed.” Again, they start with the model of CPM, cost per a thousand views, which is basically how all the agencies were doing it, but they did do a twist on it. They sold around this idea of intent that the ads were showing keyword-based and they were the first to do that. What they did is they did a test to prove this. This was really cool. They set themselves up as an Amazon affiliate and dynamically generated a link on a book search and served up an ad, an affiliate ad, and they’re able to show they were able to sell a whole pile of books. The test proved the idea worked. And then what they did is they went out and they white-labeled this for others. For example, Yahoo did it, and it would show on the bottom of Yahoo, “Powered by Google.” But here’s the thing, as soon as you start saying, “Powered by Google,” what are you doing? You’re creating share of voice. Share of voice, right? Dave Young: Well, yeah, why don’t I just go to Google? Stephen Semple: Why don’t I just go to Google? Look, we had saw this a few years earlier when Hotmail was launched by Microsoft where you would get this email and go, “Powered by Hotmail,” and you’d be like, “What’s this Hotmail thing?” Suddenly, everybody was getting Hotmail accounts, right? Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: No one has a Hotmail account, no longer they have Gmail accounts, they hardly have Gmail accounts anymore. Dave Young: No, I could tell you that we’ve got a lot of people at Wizard Academy that email us off with a Hotmail. Stephen Semple: Still have Hotmail accounts? Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: Oh, wow. So it’s still around? Okay. Dave Young: And then some Yahoos, yeah. Stephen Semple: Wow, that’s amazing. That’s amazing. Well, still- Dave Young: Yahoo, the email, not the customer. They’re not a Yahoo, but they have an account there. Stephen Semple: In October 2000, they launch AdWords with a test of 350 advertisers. And then, in 2002, they launched pay-per-click Advertising. And then 2004, they go public. Now, here’s one of the other things I want to talk about in terms of share of voice. They had a couple things going on with share of voice. They had that, “powered by Google,” which created share of voice because… We often think of share of voice as being just advertising in terms of how much are people knowing about us. I remember knowing nothing about Google and then learning about Google when Google went public because Google dragged out going public. They talked about it for a long time, but it meant it was financial press, it was front page news. It got a lot of PR and a lot of press around the time that they went public. That going public for them also created massive share of voice because there was suddenly a whole community that were not technologically savvy that we’re now suddenly aware of, “Oh, there’s this Google thing.” Dave Young: And they’re in the news, yeah. So I’ve got an idea for us, Steve. Stephen Semple: Yep, okay. Dave Young: All right. Stephen Semple: Let’s hear it. Dave Young: Let’s pick up part 2 of Google at the point they go public. Stephen Semple: All right, let’s do that. That’ll be an episode we’ll do in the future, yeah. Dave Young: We don’t do very many two-parters, but we’re already kind of a lengthy Empire Builder Podcast here. Stephen Semple: Oh, yeah. I was just taking it to this point, but I think that would be very interesting- Dave Young: Oh, okay. Stephen Semple: … because look, Google is a massive force in the world today- Dave Young: Unbelievable, yeah. Stephen Semple: … and I think it would be interesting to do the next part because there’s all sorts of things that they did to continue this path of attracting eyeballs. Dave Young: We haven’t even touched on Gmail yet. No, we have not. We have not. Stephen Semple: Because that happened after they went public. Correct. Let’s do that. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: Here’s the lesson that I think that I want people to understand is share of voice comes from other things, but we’re going to explore that even more in this part 2. I like the idea of doing this part 2. They really looked at this problem from a completely different set of eyeballs, and this is where I commend Google, from the standpoint of there’s all this stuff in the internet and what we really want to know is who is the authority. They looked at the academic world for how does it establish authority, and how authority is established is how much is your work cited by others, how much are other… So, now, Google has of course expanded that to direct search and there’s all these other things, but they’ve always looked at it from the standpoint of, “Who in this space has the most authority? Who is really and truly the expert on this topic? We’re going to try to figure that out and serve that up.” Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: That’s core to what their objective has been. Dave Young: We could talk about Google for four or five episodes probably. Stephen Semple: We may, but we know we’re going to do one more. Dave Young: All right. Stephen Semple: Awesome. Dave Young: Well, thanks for bringing it up. We did mention their name. Actually, if we just put this out there, “Hey, Google, why don’t you send us all the talking points we need for part 2?” There, I put it out there. Let me know how that works. Stephen Semple: My email’s about to get just slammed. All right. Thanks, David. Dave Young: You won’t know it’s from them though. You won’t know. You won’t know. Isn’t that good? Stephen Semple: That’s true. That’s true. Dave Young: Thank you, Stephen. Stephen Semple: All right. Thanks, David. Dave Young: Thanks for listening to the podcast. Please share us, subscribe on your favorite podcast app, and leave us a big, fat, juicy five-star rating and review at Apple Podcasts. And if you’d like to schedule your own 90-minute Empire Building session, you can do it at empirebuildingprogram.com.

The Growing Tax Strike Movement. Thousands Refuse to Pay Taxes. The Scam That Revealed How Broken the AMERICAN TAX System Is! The Minnesota daycare fraud didn't just steal billions — it shattered the social contract. People work, pay taxes, and expect basic enforcement. What they got instead was a system with no guardrails, no urgency, and no accountability. When fraud is tolerated at scale, trust collapses — not just in government, but in the entire structure holding society together. The Attorney Andrew Branca Show Watch this video at- https://youtu.be/g0mXFO2pR9Q?si=JxivmHepuasTK1BN 273K subscribers 28,067 views Jan 3, 2026 "BRANCA FOR SCOTUS" MUGS! https://thebrancashow-shop.fourthwall... JOIN OUR COMMUNITY! Exclusive Members-only content & perks! Only ~17 cents/day! $5/month:    / @thebrancashow   00:00:00 — The Social Contract Is Broken 00:01:00 — Congress Holds Power and Does Nothing 00:02:00 — A Nation Captured by a Tiny Bottleneck 00:03:00 — The Unelected Fourth Branch Runs Everything 00:04:00 — Paying Taxes as a Humiliation Ritual 00:05:00 — Middle-Class Labor Turned Into Loot 00:06:00 — When Loyalty Becomes One-Way 00:07:00 — First World vs. Third World Systems 00:08:00 — Taxes Now Mean More Fraud 00:09:00 — Competing With Handouts and Scams 00:10:00 — Why This Moment Feels Different 00:11:00 — The Awakening No One Can Unsee Visit Here: https://lawofselfdefense.com/getthebook "You are wise to buy this material. I hope you watch it, internalize it, and keep it to the forefront whenever you even think of reaching for a gun" -Massad Ayoob (President of the Second Amendment Foundation) The #1 guide for understanding when using force to protect yourself is legal. Now yours for FREE! Just pay the S&H for us to get it to you. ➡️ Carry with confidence, knowing you are protected from predators AND predatory prosecutors ➡️ Correct the common myths you may think are true but get people in trouble ​➡️ Know you're getting the best with this abridged version of our best-selling 5-star Amazon-rated book that has been praised by many (including self-defense legends!) for its easy, entertaining, and informative style. ​➡️ Many interesting, if sometimes heart-wrenching, true-life examples Get Your Free Book: https://lawofselfdefense.com/getthebook   Trump Draws the Line: REMIGRATION! – Overton Window Shatters! The debate just moved. What was once unspeakable is now unavoidable: societies without enforcement lose trust, and trust is the foundation of civil order. The real choice isn't between perfect outcomes—it's between managed resolution and unmanaged collapse. Borders, enforcement, and consequences aren't cruelty; they're the minimum conditions for a functioning social contract. Watch this video at- https://youtu.be/mGH8AuVHsIs?si=jnlEstRmCZfYFOhH The Attorney Andrew Branca Show 273K subscribers 59,843 views Jan 4, 2026 "BRANCA FOR SCOTUS" MUGS! https://thebrancashow-shop.fourthwall... JOIN OUR COMMUNITY! Exclusive Members-only content & perks! Only ~17 cents/day! $5/month:    / @thebrancashow   00:00:00 — “Re-Migration” Enters the Mainstream 00:01:05 — Why Words Aren't Enough Without Action 00:02:10 — Demographics and the Question No One Wants Asked 00:03:15 — Elon Musk Steps Into the Fight 00:04:20 — The Overton Window Shatters 00:05:25 — White Guilt as a Political Weapon 00:06:30 — DEI and the Long Economic War 00:07:35 — Cultural Citizenship vs. Paper Citizenship 00:08:40 — Britain as a Warning Sign 00:09:45 — The Social Contract Is Breaking 00:10:50 — What “Mass Deportations” Really Means 00:11:55 — A Civilization-Level Choice Visit Here: https://lawofselfdefense.com/getthebook

MAGA Is Tired of Talk—Where Is the Action? Andrew Branca. ACU New Talent Alert. MAGA: people are tired of slogans and social-media clips. They want to see action, timelines, measurable results — not trailers, hype videos, or press statements saying “we're just getting started.” Supporters understand courts will fight back. They understand judges will interfere. What they don't accept anymore is pre-emptive surrender. Announce the action. Force the challenge. Make the courts own the obstruction. That's how political capital is built. Movements don't die from opposition — they die from paralysis. If enforcement becomes theater, trust collapses. And once trust is gone, slogans stop working. Watch this video at-  https://youtu.be/QgZ_AWe389I?si=WrgSFImSLGWquXXx The Attorney Andrew Branca Show 272K subscribers 9,447 views Dec 31, 2025 "BRANCA FOR SCOTUS" MUGS! https://thebrancashow-shop.fourthwall... JOIN OUR COMMUNITY! Exclusive Members-only content & perks! Only ~17 cents/day! $5/month:    / @thebrancashow   00:00:00 — Where Is Trump? Enough Talk 00:01:15 — Social Media Isn't Action 00:02:30 — Mass Deportations or It's Over 00:03:45 — Judges Will Block — Do It Anyway 00:05:00 — MAGA Wants Results, Not Trailers 00:06:15 — Minnesota Fraud Exposes the System 00:07:30 — This Is Economic Warfare 00:08:45 — DHS “Investigations” Look Like a Joke 00:10:00 — Elon Musk Keeps the Battlefield Open 00:11:15 — Audit Visas, Revoke Citizenship 00:12:30 — Cultural Americans vs. Paper Americans 00:13:45 — America First Needs Fire Now Visit Here: https://lawofselfdefense.com/getthebook "You are wise to buy this material. I hope you watch it, internalize it, and keep it to the forefront whenever you even think of reaching for a gun" -Massad Ayoob (President of the Second Amendment Foundation) The #1 guide for understanding when using force to protect yourself is legal. Now yours for FREE! Just pay the S&H for us to get it to you. ➡️ Carry with confidence, knowing you are protected from predators AND predatory prosecutors ➡️ Correct the common myths you may think are true but get people in trouble ​➡️ Know you're getting the best with this abridged version of our best-selling 5-star Amazon-rated book that has been praised by many (including self-defense legends!) for its easy, entertaining, and informative style. ​➡️ Many interesting, if sometimes heart-wrenching, true-life examples Get Your Free Book: https://lawofselfdefense.com/getthebook   The ONE Immigration Rule Everyone Pretends NOT to Understand! https://youtu.be/zIngEKRz4G8?si=3fNqx6CskJHD0ZO5 The Attorney Andrew Branca Show 272K subscribers 25,819 views Jan 1, 2026 "BRANCA FOR SCOTUS" MUGS! https://thebrancashow-shop.fourthwall... JOIN OUR COMMUNITY! Exclusive Members-only content & perks! Only ~17 cents/day! $5/month:    / @thebrancashow   Visit Here: https://lawofselfdefense.com/getthebook "You are wise to buy this material. I hope you watch it, internalize it, and keep it to the forefront whenever you even think of reaching for a gun" -Massad Ayoob (President of the Second Amendment Foundation) The #1 guide for understanding when using force to protect yourself is legal. Now yours for FREE! Just pay the S&H for us to get it to you. ➡️ Carry with confidence, knowing you are protected from predators AND predatory prosecutors ➡️ Correct the common myths you may think are true but get people in trouble ​➡️ Know you're getting the best with this abridged version of our best-selling 5-star Amazon-rated book that has been praised by many (including self-defense legends!) for its easy, entertaining, and informative style. ​➡️ Many interesting, if sometimes heart-wrenching, true-life examples Get Your Free Book: https://lawofselfdefense.com/getthebook

I'm starting 2026 at the heart of everything I teach: the shift from problem-focused to possibility-focused parenting. This solo episode dives deep into the work I've been doing with parents for nearly 20 years—understanding why your tools disappear when emotions run high and what actually bridges that gap. I'll unpack the neuroscience of focus, share the embodiment practices that ground my approach, and explain why self-regulation isn't just another task—it's the core of transformation. This isn't about New Year's resolutions or fixing your teen. It's about the daily practice of becoming the parent you want to be, one intentional moment at a time. For full show notes and more, go to: https://www.besproutable.com/podcasts/eps-636-create-dont-correct-in-2026/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

College & Cocktails: Iowa and Minnesota at Utah College gymnastics is back, and College & Cocktails returns with its live post-meet breakdown of the Canadian Excellence showdown featuring Utah, Minnesota, and Iowa. Recorded immediately after the meet, this episode covers early-season judging trends, start value controversies, standout performances, and what January scoring can (and can't) tell us about the rest of the NCAA season. In this episode: Did the right team win? Avery Neff's breakout meet and a start-value judges' conference Utah's depth, Minnesota's beam strength, and Iowa's returning veterans Superlatives: Simone of the Meet, Artist of the Meet, Assassin of the Meet Early-season judging inconsistencies and ...dun dun dunnnn altitude effects! Fantasy gymnastics implications and lineup strategy Audience Q&A on winter break training, international eligibility, and college gymnasts with named skills Corrupt or Correct: re-judging controversial routines College & Cocktails is GymCastic's live, behind-the-scenes NCAA gymnastics show — recorded in real time, rated TV-14, and fueled by strong opinions, expert analysis, and the Spencer with a cocktail. This episode is part of our weekly Friday night College & Cocktails series. Full episode with live Q&A are available to Club Gym Nerd members. Join here. 

Send us a textThe Miami Dolphins are at a crossroads, and this next hire could define the future of the franchise. After Chris Grier was fired mid-season, reports suggest the Dolphins are turning to Troy Aikman to help identify and evaluate the team's next General Manager. In this video, we break down why the Dolphins have to get this hire right, what Aikman brings to the process, and how this decision could shape the Dolphins' long-term success.We also preview Dolphins vs Patriots, diving into key matchups, coaching decisions, and what Miami needs to do to win against New England. From front office leadership to on-field performance, this is a massive moment for the Dolphins organization and its fans. If you're a Miami Dolphins fan, a New England Patriots fan, or an NFL fan following league-wide storylines, this episode covers everything you need to know.Support the showSubscribe and like for more GTD content! Patreon: https://patreon.com/GoTimeDolphins YouTube: Go Time Dolphins Twitter: @GoTimeDolphins Instagram: @GoTimeDolphins Email: gotimedolphins@gmail.com TikTok: @GoTimeDolphins #MiamiDolphins #FinsUp #NFLDraft #NFLUK #TuaTagovailoa

Find out how to fix your posture in just a few minutes each night. In this video, I'll share a few simple posture-corrective exercises that can help you fix bad posture for good!

Are you a grandparent unexpectedly thrust into the role of primary caregiver for your grandchildren? Do you feel overwhelmed by the challenges of parenting again while navigating the complexities of legal, financial, and emotional support? In the "Grandparents Raising Grandchildren" podcast, renowned parenting expert Nicholeen Peck shares powerful strategies to simplify your parenting experience and bring harmony to your household.Discover how the innovative "Teaching Self Government" approach can free families from emotional bondage and inspire grandparents to create a nurturing environment based on calmness and self-governed relationships. Nicholeen reveals the four essential skills that can correct 99% of behavioral issues, empowering you to foster a home where your grandchildren can heal, grow, and thrive.For more information about Nicholeen Peck and the "Teaching Self-Government" principles, please visit her website.Join host Laura Brazan and special guest Nicholeen Peck as they explore practical routines and time-tested principles to help you master your parenting journey. If you're a grandparent raising grandchildren, this episode is your key to unlocking a more peaceful, purposeful, and rewarding family life. Tune in now to learn how you can transform chaos into connection and rediscover the joys of grandparenting.Send us a textKids on the specturm have the most imaginative minds. They can say the silliest things. My world can get way too serious. Sometimes the best thing to do is "get on the train" with them! Here's another fun Self-care tip with Jeanette Yates!Thank you for tuning into today's episode. It's been a journey of shared stories, insights, and invaluable advice from the heart of a community that knows the beauty and challenges of raising grandchildren. Your presence and engagement mean the world to us and to grandparents everywhere stepping up in ways they never imagined. Remember, you're not alone on this journey. For more resources, support, and stories, visit our website and follow us on our social media channels. If today's episode moved you, consider sharing it with someone who might find comfort and connection in our shared experiences. We look forward to bringing more stories and expert advice your way next week. Until then, take care of yourselves and each other.Want to be a guest on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Nurturing Through Adversity? Send Laura Brazan a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/grgLiked this episode? Share it and tag us on Facebook @GrandparentsRaisingGrandchilden Love the show? Leave a review and let us know! CONNECT WITH US: Website | Facebook

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