Podcasts about north star

Ever feel like you're chasing success so hard that you forget why you even started in the first place? Or maybe you're hustling day in and day out but still hitting walls of burnout, doubt, or just plain overwhelm? I've been podcasting for six years now—600 episodes, countless conversations with world-class entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and just all-around inspiring humans. And throughout this journey, I've picked up some powerful truths that have not only changed my life but can change yours too. In this special milestone episode, I share six life-changing lessons that will help you put the Happy in your Hustle and create a legacy that matters.Here's a taste of the wisdom packed inside:-Balance beats burnout. The grind without harmony isn't sustainable. That's why I created the S.O.U.L.M.A.P.P.I.N system, 10 alignments that help you crush it both personally and professionally without losing yourself.-Relationships are the real ROI. Success isn't a solo sport. The right people in your corner accelerate growth, joy, and opportunity more than any single strategy ever could.-Clarity creates confidence. Without a clear target, you'll miss every time. Knowing your North Star for the next 90 days and aligning it with your long-term vision will give you the confidence to say yes or no with certainty.-Presence is the power move. Whether it's in nature, with your family, or during a podcast interview, being fully present is where true power lies. Presence first, performance second.-Purpose fuels profits. When your mission is bigger than money, the money comes anyway. Aligning impact with income is how you truly thrive.-Consistency compounds into legacy. Six years and 600 episodes prove this: showing up again and again builds not just results, but a lasting impact for generations to come.These aren't just theories; they're truths I've lived, lessons I've witnessed from epic guests, and practices I use every day to stay aligned while chasing big dreams.So, if you're ready to avoid burnout, deepen your relationships, get crystal clear on your vision, live more present, connect purpose to profit, and build something that lasts… tune in to the full episode now.Connect with Cary!https://www.instagram.com/caryjack/https://www.facebook.com/SirCaryJackhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/cary-jack-kendzior/https://twitter.com/thehappyhustlehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFDNsD59tLxv2JfEuSsNMOQ/featured Get a free copy of his new book, The Happy Hustle, 10 Alignments to Avoid Burnout & Achieve Blissful Balance https://www.thehappyhustle.com/bookSign up for The Journey: 10 Days To Become a Happy Hustler Online Coursehttps://thehappyhustle.com/thejourney/Apply to the Montana Mastermind Epic Camping Adventurehttps://thehappyhustle.com/mastermind/“It's time to Happy Hustle, a blissfully balanced life you love, full of passion, purpose, and positive impact!”Episode Sponsors:If you're feeling stressed, not sleeping great, or your energy's been kinda meh lately—let me put you on to something that's been a total game-changer for me: Magnesium Breakthrough by BiOptimizers. This ain't your average magnesium—it's got all 7 essential forms that your body actually needs to chill out, sleep deeper, and feel more balanced. I take it every night and legit notice the difference the next day. No more waking up groggy or tossing and turning all nightIf you're ready to sleep like a baby, calm your nervous system, and optimize your recovery, go grab yours now at bioptimizers.com/happy and use code HAPPY10 for 10% OFF.99 Designs- Need a killer logo, stunning website, or next-level brand design?Stop DIY-ing and start delegating like a boss with 99designs by Vista! Neurable- If you're looking to level up your focus, productivity, and mental well-being all at once, do yourself a favor and check out Neurable. You get a special hookup—just use the code HAPPY at checkout and get $100 off.

Welcome to another episode of Abundance Mindset Podcast, where Vinney Chopra and Gualter Amarelo dive into the principle of Hyperfocus—and why every investor needs a clear North Star.   Vinney shares how his guiding compass has always been family, faith, and abundance, while Gualter brings strategies for turning vision into action in real estate and beyond.   Together, they talked about:

QFF: Quick Fire Friday – Your 20-Minute Growth Powerhouse! Welcome to Quick Fire Friday, the Grow A Small Business podcast series that is designed to deliver simple, focused and actionable insights and key takeaways in less than 20 minutes a week. Every Friday, we bring you business owners and experts who share their top strategies for growing yourself, your team and your small business. Get ready for a dose of inspiration, one action you can implement and quotable quotes that will stick with you long after the episode ends! In this episode of Quick Fire Friday, host Michael Denehey interviews Kathryn McCann, General Manager of Marketing, Public Affairs & Social Impact at the Tasmania Football Club, shares the inspiring journey of building the club from her dining table into a thriving startup with 30+ staff and 215,000 founding members. She reveals how balancing speed with structure, creating a clear plan, and engaging deeply with the community played a vital role in their rapid growth. Kath also highlights the importance of storytelling, building trust, and staying focused on purpose. Her experiences offer powerful lessons in leadership, planning, and customer engagement that every small business owner can apply to succeed. Key Takeaways for Small Business Owners: Start with Purpose & Principles – Define a clear purpose, simple goals, and operating principles early to guide growth and avoid overwhelm. Build the Right Team – Surround yourself with skilled, high-quality people who can deliver and represent your business well. Engage & Listen to Customers – Actively connect with your community, listen to feedback, and implement it to build trust and loyalty. Our hero crafts outstanding reviews following the experience of listening to our special guests. Are you the one we've been waiting for? Balance Speed & Structure – Move fast enough to grow but create governance and systems that keep the business sustainable. Control the Controllables – Focus on what you can manage, execute with purpose, and let go of factors outside your control. Leverage Storytelling – Share authentic stories about your vision and decisions to connect with people and inspire buy-in. One action small business owners can take: According to Kath McCann, one action small business owners can take is to actively engage with their customers – listen to their feedback, build trust through genuine conversations, and use those insights to guide business decisions. Do you have 2 minutes every Friday? Sign up to the Weekly Leadership Email. It's free and we can help you to maximize your time. Enjoyed the podcast? Please leave a review on iTunes or your preferred platform. Your feedback helps more small business owners discover our podcast and embark on their business growth journey.

Discover how to build an “aligned empire,” a business and life that work together instead of against each other. Today's guest has mastered the art of balance—not just work-life balance, but proper alignment between career ambitions, family priorities, energy management, and personal fulfillment. Whether you are just starting or feeling overwhelmed by trying to do everything yourself, this conversation will provide a reliable roadmap for building something sustainable that honors your values and ambitions. Join us to learn more!Kasey D'Amato is a keynote speaker, executive coach, and strategic business advisor who helps business founders and corporate leaders navigate high-stakes decisions and transitions with clarity, confidence, and resilience, without burning out in the process. With over 20 years of experience across healthcare, entrepreneurship, and business consulting, Kasey brings a unique blend of business acumen, human behavior expertise, and emotional intelligence to her work. She has walked multiple career paths, including pharmaceutical sales, founding a global skincare brand, healthcare consulting, and executive leadership advisory. Kasey's mission is to impact one million entrepreneurs and high achievers, and her core message will challenge how you think about success. She believes a dream life is within reach for those who are willing to lead with intention. You'll discover Kasey's “3 Whos” framework that ensures you will never have to navigate your journey alone, and why she swears by 90-day experiments instead of massive overhauls. Kasey is known for her dynamic, actionable, and emotionally intelligent approach to leadership as she guides ambitious entrepreneurs and executives to think bigger, lead better, and align their next move with both performance and personal fulfillment. Show Highlights:Components of an aligned empireFind your Polaris Point™: This is your clear “North Star” that aligns business ventures with personal life goals. Every 90 days, take a step back, assess, and recalibrate your approach. 3 areas of alignment beyond the tactical tools of your industry:Self-leadership: mindset, resilience, clarity of purpose/mission, confronting limiting beliefs, and understanding that failure is part of the process (This is 80% of your success!)Team leadership: communication, expectations, measures of success, setting examples, and celebrating winsIndustry leadership: visibility, accountability, a focus on your superpower, and consistency in how you want to be knownDream BIG! “Dreams are free in the land of imagination!”Implementing 90-day experiments to make progress in specific areasCommon objections to having alignment partners:“I can do it all myself.”“I don't have enough time.”I don't have the money.”Hiring with specific growth goals in mindKasey's framework, your “3 Whos”:Who are your mentors and coaches?Who are your peers?Who are the members of your team?Kasey's biggest takeaways about your journey, guidance, and leaning on your 3 WhosResources:Connect with Kasey D'Amato: Website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Kasey's Decision Threshold™ Checklist.Connect with MegGet Meg's FREE download, Finding Your Perfect Match:

It's been five years since Mitch Consky, now The CJN's Local Journalism Initiative campus reporter, watched his father be diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and, within a few months, pass away at the age of 67. It happened in 2020, right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when health care access became nearly impossible. In the spring of that year, Consky, then 25, decided to move back into his parents' home in Toronto to serve as his father Harvey Consky's main caregiver. At the time, Consky channelled his skills as a journalist to document the period. Before his father's death in June 2020, the Globe and Mail _published an essay by Consky called “The Top of The Stairs”. Next came a book, _Home Safe. But Consky wasn't done paying tribute to his late father, and doing what he calls “returning the favour” to a parent to whom he owed so much. So he and some friends from university cobbled together a budget to turn the original essay into a 15-minute short film. Last month, his film aired on CBC TV, and it has since debuted on the free streaming service CBC Gem, after doing the rounds at film festivals. Ahead of Yom Kippur and the Yizkor memorial service, Consky joins Ellin Bessner on this episode of The CJN's North Star to explain why he hopes his autobiographical film will resonate with anyone who has watched a loved one die. Related links Learn more about Mitchell Consky's film “The Top of the Stairs” on CBC Gem (create free account to watch). Hear Mitch discuss his debut book “Home Safe”, published in 2022, on The CJN Daily. Buy the book. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here)

Episode #225 In this powerful Member Transformation episode, Coach Terri sits down with Kirsten Hopkinson to explore how fasting has become more than just a weight-loss tool—it's reshaped her identity, health, and outlook on life. Kirsten shares how she's lost 50 pounds since joining The Fasting Method, lowered her A1C from pre-diabetic to healthy range, and discovered the deeper “why” driving her journey. From morning walks and mindset shifts to overcoming old habits and finding strength in community support, Kirsten's story is about creating sustainable change and living with purpose. If you're ready to move beyond diets and into a lifestyle of self-care, resilience, and transformation, this conversation will inspire you to take the next step.    ✨ Ready to start your own transformation? Join The Fasting Method Community today and get the tools, coaching, and support you need to create lasting change. https://www.thefastingmethod.com/community/   Transcripts of all episodes are available on the Podcast page at www.thefastingmethod.com   Book a complimentary 15-minute coaching intake assessment with one of the TFM coaches https://www.thefastingmethod.com/coaching/   Connect With Us Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fastingmethod/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheFastingMethod Join our FREE Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/TFMNetwork   Summary Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 01:22 Starting the Journey 02:45 What's Different This Time 04:25 Finding a North Star 07:11 Power of Community 11:09 Struggles & Support 15:47 Beyond Fasting 17:35 Letting Go of Numbing Tools 19:13 Feeling Big Emotions 21:46 Transformation Beyond the Scale 23:19 Advice for Beginners 27:31 Picturing the Future 28:34 Redefining Self-Care 29:16 Closing Thoughts     Disclaimer This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before doing any fasting, changing your diet, taking or adjusting any medication or supplements, or adopting any treatment for a health problem. The use of any other products or services purchased by you as a result of this podcast does not create a healthcare provider-patient relationship between you and any of the experts affiliated with this podcast. Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

About Justina Blakeney Justina Blakeney is an artist, designer, bestselling author, and the founder and creative force behind the beloved lifestyle brand Jungalow®. She's known for her use of bold colors, lush botanicals, and eclectic style. What began as a tiny, plant-filled blog has blossomed into a global brand with heart - a certified B Corp rooted in beauty, purpose, and soulful living. Her latest creations include Grow - a transformative oracle deck and guidebook co-authored with her mom, Dr. Ronnie Blakeney. And, California Poppy, her first solo art show, a deeply personal collection of paintings exploring identity, nature, and resilience. She paints, she writes, she designs and dreams - crafting vibrant worlds that invite us all to get in touch with our wild inside. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, kiddo, two mischievous kitties, and a house overflowing with color, music, and life.   Summary In this episode of the She Designs Podcast, hosts Desha Peacock and Christine Martin have a candid conversation with Justina Blakeney, renowned artist, designer, and founder of the lifestyle brand Jungalow. Justina shares her journey of integrating her personal brand with her professional brand, the evolution of her North Star, and the importance of nourishment in her life and work. Justina shares about her collaboration with her mother on their soon-to-be-released Oracle deck and guidebook, Grow and how it's a gift to them both. She also offers insights on the current challenges for small businesses. She has one piece of marketing advice that you might be surprised to hear!   Show Notes 00:00 Introduction to She Designs Podcast 00:44 Upcoming Retreat in San Miguel de Allende 01:44 Special Guest: Justina Blakeney 03:28 Justina's Journey and Brand Evolution 10:31 The Concept of the North Star  19:02 New Beginnings and the Grow Project 30:16 Marketing Insights for Creative Brands 35:07 Final Thoughts and Farewell Photo credit: Dabito   Where to find Justina: Websites: https://www.justinablakeney.com https://www.jungalow.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinablakeney https://www.instagram.com/thejungalow Join our community! Follow this podcast and share with a friend! In the world of podcasts, reviews are everything! Please rate and review this episode on your favorite platform.  Visit our website to get the latest on episodes, behind the scenes info, and upcoming events & retreats.  Say hi on the gram!

Is twenty-one too young to say “I do,” or is the better question whether two people are ready to grow—on purpose, for a long time? We take you behind our four-week wedding sprint during an NFL bye week and share how intention, faith, and honest conversations helped us not just survive but thrive for over three decades.We dig into what readiness actually looks like beyond a birthdate: shared purpose, the humility to learn, and a clear-eyed plan for real life. From purity culture's “date to marry” lens to the practical guardrails of premarital counseling, we unpack how couples can set expectations around safety, boundaries, and non-negotiables. Money talk isn't romantic, but it's protective; we explain why reducing financial stress early can prevent combustible conflict later. And because communication makes or breaks connection, we break down our “mimes vs. detailed communicators” dynamic and the simple, repeatable habits that turned friction into alignment.Faith sits at the center of our story, shaping how we see each other and who we turn to when life gets heavy. We talk about seasons that stretch every marriage—kids, illness, loss, career change—and how community and small daily acts of care can hold you together when feelings don't. The big takeaway: age isn't the magic factor. A posture of growth, a plan for pressure, and a shared North Star are. If you're weighing marriage young, this conversation gives you a grounded checklist for readiness and a hopeful picture of what long-term love can look like.Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who's engaged or curious about marrying young, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway or question—we'll read and respond on a future show.

Today's guest is the one and only Bobbi Brown—the legendary makeup artist, entrepreneur, and author. Bobbi just released her very first memoir, “Still Bobbi: A Master Class in Leading an Authentic Life,” and it's a revealing look at her triumphs, challenges, family, and the values that drive her. Bobbi joins host Kerry Diamond to reflect on building brands, the lessons she's learned from both success and failure, and why her family has always remained her North Star. They also talk about Jones Road Beauty, her latest business venture that's changing the clean beauty conversation, and her passion for health and food. (She's a certified health coach!) Thank you to Square and Ketel One for their support. Learn more at square.com/bigSubscribe to our SubstackCheck out Cherry Bombe on ShopMyMore on Bobbi: Instagram, Jones Road Beauty, “Still Bobbi” memoirMore on Kerry: InstagramShop Kerry's favorite Jones Road products: MascaraLip & Cheek stickMiracle Balm

In this episode of 'Linch with a Leader', Mike Linch interviews Jay Brown, CEO of David Weekley Homes, exploring his personal journey, the impact of family and faith on leadership, and the importance of people in business. Jay shares insights on overcoming challenges, the significance of continuous learning, and the balance between work and family life. He emphasizes the need for leaders to love, learn, and lead well, and reflects on the legacy he hopes to leave for his children.Mike's Leadership Lessons from Jay:- Great businesses are great because of their people.- The journey to leadership often starts with overcoming personal fears.- Family plays a crucial role in shaping one's character and values.- Empowering employees leads to better business outcomes.- Time management is essential for effective leadership.- Continuous learning is vital for personal and professional growth.- Balancing work and family is a key aspect of leadership.- Legacy is about the impact you leave on others.Welcome to the Linch with a Leader Podcast, where you're invited to join the spiritual principles behind big success, with host Mike Linch.Subscribe to the channel so you never miss an episode: Watch: @linchwithaleader Prefer just listening? SUBSCRIBE to the podcast here:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0dJfeLbikJlKlBqAx6mDYW?si=6ffed84956cb4848Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/linch-with-a-leader/id1279929826Find show notes and more information at: www.mikelinch.comFollow for EVERYDAY leadership content and interaction:Follow on X: https://x.com/mikelinch?s=20Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikelinch?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==https://www.instagram.com/mikelinch/?...JOIN Mike for a Sunday at NorthStar Church:www.northstarchurch.org Watch: @nsckennesawTIMESTAMPS:00:00 Introduction and Background06:49 Lessons from Parenting09:24 Faith and Personal Growth12:07 Overcoming Public Speaking Fear14:43 The Importance of People in Business17:09 Leadership and Empowerment19:51 Maintaining Connection as a CEO22:46 The Three L's of Leadership28:05 The Importance of Time Management32:18 Balancing Work and Family Life39:15 Legacy and Impact on Family

Meta's CMO tackles balancing creativity with AI automation. Alex Schultz, CMO and VP of Analytics at Meta, shares his framework for marketing in an AI-first world where nearly 2 million advertisers now use Meta's generative AI ad creation tools. He discusses the "North Star goal" methodology for aligning marketing strategy, explains how to break out of automated campaign optimization traps through active testing and account resets, and outlines why human creativity remains essential even as AI handles more execution tasks.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if the version of success you've been chasing... isn't actually what you want?In this episode, Allison sits down with Ash McDonald, a former therapist turned soulful business coach and worldschooling mama, to talk about redefining success on your own terms.From building a half-million dollar business while traveling full-time to shutting it all down for five months to come back to herself, Ash shares the unfiltered truth behind her burnout breakthrough—and why peace, not profit, is her new North Star.TAKEAWAYS:Success isn't static. Ash shares how her definition evolved from chasing financial milestones to pursuing deep peace and alignment.You don't need a big team or massive hours to run a highly profitable business. Ash breaks down how she thrives in just 3 hours a day.“More” isn't always better. Ash explains how letting go of a $1M revenue goal led to more joy, more presence, and more actual take-home pay.Burnout isn't just about doing too much. Ash reveals how subconscious patterning and nervous system work can shift everything.Your business gets to fit your life, not the other way around. Ash's journey shows what it really looks like to build from radical self-trust and clarity.RESOURCES:Check out the blog post that accompanies this episode for additional resourcesSnag Ash's Burnout Breakthrough for 50% when you use code 6FIG at checkoutFollow Ash on InstagramVisit Ash on her on her websiteTurn months of overwhelm into one day of DONE. I've got 3 spots left for my Beta Email Funnel VIP Day — you'll get a full nurture + pitch sequence done in one day. Grab your spot here.Take the Annual Audience Survey! For every survey completed, Allison will be donating $5 to Eveytown for Gun Safety.CONNECT WITH ALLISON: Follow Allison on Instagram DID YOU HAVE AN 'AH-HA MOMENT' WHILE LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE?If you found value and are ready to take action from listening to this episode, head to Apple Podcasts and help us reach new audiences by giving the podcast a rating and a review. This helps us to reach more online coaches who are creating a thriving 6-figure business. Music courtesy of www.bensound.com

Meta's CMO tackles balancing creativity with AI automation. Alex Schultz, CMO and VP of Analytics at Meta, shares his framework for marketing in an AI-first world where nearly 2 million advertisers now use Meta's generative AI ad creation tools. He discusses the "North Star goal" methodology for aligning marketing strategy, explains how to break out of automated campaign optimization traps through active testing and account resets, and outlines why human creativity remains essential even as AI handles more execution tasks.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

https://constraintcalculator.scoreapp.com/In this episode, host Jordan Ross interviews Peter Tams, co-founder of Clever Digital Marketing, who scaled his agency from side-hustle beginnings in 2019 to breaking $10M+ in annual revenue within just three years of going all-in.Peter shares how niching down into the home improvement space, restructuring his team around client consultants, and making Net Revenue Retention (NRR) the North Star metric transformed his agency into a referral-driven growth machine. Alongside this, he dives into how Kaizen culture, infrastructure, and incentivized systems helped build a team that thrives and a business that compounds.If you're an agency owner stuck between $1–3M or dreaming of eight figures, this episode will give you a clear playbook on how to scale with focus, culture, and courage.Chapters – Why only 0.4% of agencies reach 8 figures – Meet Peter Tams & the early days of Clever Digital Marketing – From generalist services to specializing in home improvement – Lessons from niching down: depth vs breadth – Breaking $10M: the three anchors of growth – Specialization & hyper-focus as a scaling strategy – Creating long-term goals and 10-year vision planning – Transforming client success managers into client consultants – Referrals as a leading KPI & NRR as the North Star metric – Incentivizing the team with rewards & culture-building – The power of Kaizen (continuous improvement) in agency growth – Building infrastructure: reporting, onboarding, and L&D systems – Why 65% of their revenue comes from referrals – Diversifying channels beyond referrals for sustainable growth – Reverse-engineering metrics and building meticulous systems – Courage, persistence, and leadership through challenges – Staying two steps ahead in business & client relationships – Where to connect with Peter onlineTo learn more go to 8figureagency.co

Retired Ontario Justice Harry LaForme isn't entirely comfortable with the label of “ally,” which many Jewish leaders have been using to describe him since Oct. 7. After all, LaForme—who was the first Indigenous Canadian to be appointed to the highest court in any province—says he always felt a kinship with the Jewish people, ever since his family told him his First Nations people were one of the lost tribes of Israel. But over the last two years, the trailblazing lawyer and judge, 78, has become a frequently honoured guest in official Jewish spaces, earning thanks and praise for his outspoken condemnation of rising antisemitism here in Canada, and for his his support for Israel—which he calls the indigenous homeland of the Jewish people. It's a view that isn't universal in Canada's Indigenous community, and LaForme gets pushback for his stance. He's aware of the perceived parallels between the First Nations' centuries-long struggle to overcome the legacy of Canada's colonial-settler past and the Palestinian battle for their own land and destiny. But LaForme says conflating the two issues is anathema to his religious beliefs about peaceful reconciliation. That's why he's come out in strong opposition to Canada's recognition of the State of Palestine last week, the day before Rosh Hashanah. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner sits down with Justice LaForme to share his life journey, including a recent trip to Tel Aviv. Related links Read Justice Harry LaForme's remarks in Tel Aviv at the Irwin Cotler Institute's Democracy Forum in May 2025.  Learn what Justice LaForme told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights in May 2024 about antisemitism and Indigenous rights, together with Indigenous advocate Karen Restoule.  A new book by York University professor David Kauffman about the ties between Canada's Jewish and First Nations peoples, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here)

Saskatchewan is a far cry from the likes of Hollywood and people might think a film career is nothing but a dream. But Northstar Stonechild, professional stuntman, bullfighter and catcher for the Indian Relay team, is proof that the dream can become a reality. He joins Evan to share his journey into film and what advice he has for youth wanting to follow a similar path.

Send us a textWhat's the secret to achieving your biggest entrepreneurial dreams? It all starts with creating a crystal clear vision.Successful entrepreneurs know that without a compelling direction, you're just wandering. That's why establishing your North Star is crucial—it's that big, exciting vision that naturally pulls you forward. Close your eyes and visualize where you want to be in five years. What does your ideal business and life look like? The more captivating this vision, the more motivated you'll stay when challenges arise.But vision alone isn't enough. Like training for a marathon, you need digestible action steps that move you consistently toward your goal. You wouldn't start by running 26.2 miles; you'd begin with three miles and build from there. The same principle applies to your business goals. Break down your North Star into small, manageable tasks that compound over time.The final piece—and often the most overlooked—is accountability. Checking in with yourself regularly ensures you're making progress, but partnering with someone else dramatically increases your chances of success. When someone else knows your goals and expects updates, you're far more likely to follow through. This accountability system creates a rhythm of compounding wins that gradually transform your vision into reality. Ready to create the life of your dreams? Start with these three components today, and watch how quickly your crystal clear vision begins materializing before your eyes. To Reach Jordan:Email: Jordan@Edwards.Consulting Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ejFXH1_BjdnxG4J8u93Zw Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordan.edwards.7503 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanfedwards/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanedwards5/ Hope you find value in this. If so please provide a 5-star and drop a review.Complimentary Edwards Consulting Session: https://calendly.com/jordan-edwardsconsulting/30min

Click Here to Grab Vision to ActionExecutive paralysis, life “on fire,” and the quote that haunts ADHDers: “You can do anything, but you can't do everything.” In this Q&A, I show you how to measure focus (not guess), build structure while you're mid-chaos, and make better choices by pausing, returning to a North Star, and choosing one “anything” at a time. Expect self-compassion, practical tools, tiny experiments—and zero shame.

Kiera is joined by Dr. Hunter Bennett of Bonita Endodontics to dive into the ins and outs of dentistry partnerships, including hiring for passion, splitting tasks, going DSO, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I am like beyond excited for this podcast. This is all of my worlds combining into one in such a beautiful, magical way. The guests that I have on today actually is a throwback to my Midwestern days. So I met Dr. Hunter Bennett at Midwestern when he was a pre-dentist ⁓ in the sim clinic of good old Midwestern University in Arizona. ⁓ That school is better known as the Harvard of the West and Hunter was a dental student there.   And then he went on for endo residency at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2017. Following his residency, he returned to Arizona and practice in the mountain town of Prescott for two years. In 2019, he moved his family across the country all the way over to Florida. He is married to his beautiful wife, Lacey. They have five kids from 12 to seven months old, 12 years old to seven months old. Hunter is busy. And the reason I wanted to Hunter on is because yes, I love a good throwback to Midwestern. Like it is truly the highlight of highlights, but Hunter has gone through   being an associate, being an owner, selling to a DSO. And I wanted him to come on and give perspectives of all of those, because I think so many dentists are questioning, what's my path? What's in front of me? And Hunter is kind of like, I feel like you're the buffet of dentistry. So like, which one was actually best for you? And I'm really excited for that. So Hunter, welcome. I'm so proud of who you are. I'm like, mama bear heart over here. Just so proud of you. Welcome to the show today. How are you?   Hunter Bennett (01:25) this is so good. I'm so excited. I love the buffet of dentistry. That's like maybe the nicest name anybody's ever given me. I love it. It's so good.   The Dental A Team (01:31) Hey, you're welcome.   You're welcome. And how fun is this? As we were like prepping, told you, was like, Hunter, it's just like you and me, Sim back in Sim clinic. Like we're over there. Like you're prepping your like class ones, classes. I still remember you walking up with loops, gloves on. You knew I'd smack you with a ruler. Like not really smack guys. I was nice in that. But if those gloves did not come up at Sim, like take those off. Kiera, come on. Do I really have to? Yeah, gross. I'm training you. Do not have cross contamination. So welcome back to Sim. It's so good to see you again.   Hunter Bennett (01:59) I   haven't forgotten that I changed my gloves just literally all the time all the time so I appreciate it. It's how this has come full circle though truly I mean like and you haven't changed like you're still the same person just awesome and you're just always that bright personality that bright in the lab so and it's cool just to see how far you've come I'm really proud of you it's awesome.   The Dental A Team (02:19) Thank you, thank you. I think it's serendipitous because the whole reason I built the company was for students like yourself. I think the love, I feel like emotions coming on and I don't wanna cry. Like I genuinely just love the Midwestern students so much. I like just so proud of you guys. I watched your journeys. mean, shoot, how long has it been since we graduated? Like I left Midwestern in shoot, like 2015, 2016 realm.   Hunter Bennett (02:44) That's where   I was. I think you got hired like when we got there. I think that that was your first year was my first year in the sim. And then you, I think you left with us too. So yeah, we kind of went to dental. We basically went to dental school together essentially. So yeah, you're basically a classmate. Yeah. 100%.   The Dental A Team (02:47) I did.   I think I did.   We did and helping you guys learn x-rays. Honestly, Dr. Smith   and Dr. Morrow did tell me that I care if you ever want to come to dental school, we don't even care. I didn't like confess this on like to the world. They didn't say all these words, but it basically was like, hey, we don't care what your death scores are. Like we'll accept you no matter what. I'll be that student. But then I decided I just love helping dentists. I love helping you guys. I love being that teammate to you. Like I was able to be in sim. I love seeing you succeed. I love being that support.   Hunter Bennett (03:06) Yeah, they won't care. They won't care.   Just get in. ⁓   The Dental A Team (03:23) that person that's there. Like when you're having those bad practicals or you need to chat shop or whatever it is. it's just real fun. And again, like mama bear proud of where you are and what you've done. and I ran into each other at the Dennis Money Summit together. And that was a throwback. You, Jeremy Mahoney, was like Midwestern crew was back together and just a fun time.   Hunter Bennett (03:28) Yeah.   You don't even, you   don't realize how huge our little side conversations were to me. And I texted you a little bit about this, but like, we don't have to get into all of that, but like just those few conversations literally changed my life. And I'm not exaggerating. I'm not exaggerating. So we can talk about that later, but ⁓ yeah, I so appreciate you and some of your insights and watching your journey and your presentation was just so off the charts.   The Dental A Team (04:03) Yeah. ⁓   Hunter Bennett (04:10) Everything about it was so good. Your stage presence, the delivery, ⁓ the message. I still can remember a lot of the stuff you said. So, ⁓ yeah, good job. It's just, I'm not surprised you are where you are. And like I said, it's been fun to watch and I'm just grateful for the opportunity to connect again. So, but yeah, you literally was life-changing for me. I'm not exaggerating.   The Dental A Team (04:18) Thank you. Thank you.   Well, that makes me really happy. And thank you. And we'll say that that's the dessert of the dentistry buffet here. So we'll save that conversation for our dessert. ⁓ But I think what you just said is what Dental A Team's purpose is like my purpose is life is my passion dentistry is my platform. And so I feel so blessed and lucky that dentistry brought all of us together and but able to help you have your dream life to be able to give conversations about that.   Hunter Bennett (04:34) Okay.   Sure.   The Dental A Team (04:56) At the end of the day, if businesses aren't serving our lives, then what are we doing? And I'm really getting sticky on that. I'm really starting to hunker down on that harder because I think it's so easy to obsess about the profit, the numbers, like what route should I go? But at the end of the day, if it's not serving the bigger purpose of our life, of our family, of who we want to be, I really think it's a good time to question that and to ask to make sure the star we're headed towards is truly the North Star that we actually want to achieve.   Hunter Bennett (05:01) percent.   The Dental A Team (05:23) So I'm really grateful and yeah, I'm just excited for you to share with our audience of Hunter Bennett going through a associateship, residency, ownership, DSO, and then cherry on top of side conversation that we had. ⁓ and just know that all conversations, I think it's a good Testament. They're just, they're genuine. Like, I just want you guys to succeed in whatever path that looks like. And if I can be a guide in any of that rock on, that's what I'm here for. So just like I used to give you teeth.   help you learn to take your gloves off. I'm here to help you make life choices and better practice decisions too.   Hunter Bennett (05:58) Absolutely. You're crushing it. Well, so yeah, yeah. Pros and cons. So I think, you know, before diving into that decision, I think it's really important. Like the big part of my journey was I've just learned so much along the way that my first job was in a place where in Prescott, like that's where I wanted to like, was like, okay, this is, I'm going to be in this town until I die. Like I'm so happy here.   The Dental A Team (06:00) Okay, take it away. Walk me through. Walk me through the pros cons. Let's hear about it.   Hunter Bennett (06:24) And I was in an amazing practice. Like he was such a good practice. the guy that I replaced, ⁓ Nate Duesnup, he, my coming there sort of sparked his leaving because that he had been trying to get in that practice as an owner for quite a while. He'd been there seven years. so my coming sparked a lot of those conversations and they didn't really come to an agreement per se. so ⁓ Nate went and bought a practice in Florida. I, you know, I kind of found that out along the way and I showed up and then me and Nate became friends.   But I knew within probably the first two months I wasn't going to stay at this practice like long, long, long term. Um, it was very clear to me that there wasn't going to be a pathway to partnership. I was a business major. I always planned on owning practice. Um, but this was a really good opportunity. I'm really, really grateful for, um, just that, that chance that I had, but I knew immediately, like I wasn't, um, I wasn't seen as a partner, you know, which is very like, wasn't, I was just an associate and I felt like I just had way more to offer.   The Dental A Team (06:59) you   Hunter Bennett (07:22) I was, I was probably as much of a gung ho person as, as you can be coming out of residency as far as trying to be an owner. ⁓ but I was willing to like sort of sweat my way in if that's what it took just to be where I, where I wanted to live. ⁓ so long story short, like I learned pretty quickly that wasn't going to happen. So started just taking a bunch of CE, ⁓ traveling and then became good friends with Nate. Nate's like, Hey, just come check out Florida, you know? And, ⁓ so yeah, I went out there and, and, ⁓   The Dental A Team (07:35) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (07:52) If I've ever had a prayer answered as clearly as that, that was it. I mean, was, was clear as day. That's where my family was supposed to be. I actually served a mission for my church in Florida. I never planned to go back. ⁓ And that's ⁓ Tampa. So they actually, yeah, it was inside my mission, but I live in Naples and so didn't spend a ton of time in Naples, but yeah. So anyways. ⁓   The Dental A Team (08:03) No way. Same place?   Yeah?   I know Naples. I consulted a practice in Naples.   It's a beautiful place. Yeah, it's awesome.   Hunter Bennett (08:16) Yeah, yeah.   It's a, it's an awesome place and, ⁓ coming here was, it was definitely not like what I envisioned, but the practice was and the partnership was, and we experienced just like when I got here, he had bought the practice and the old owner was staying on like 50 % of the time and Nate was just grinding, you know, expanded the office. He had already done a lot of the footwork to get us to seven ops and.   We grew so fast, like we tried to find associates, like within my first six months, I didn't even bought in yet. We were already interviewing for associates and we couldn't find anybody that we just really wanted to send offers to. But yet we were just like in the chair all day. And I'm sure you hear this all the time. Like, I'm sure you get this all the time, Cary. It's like just grinding and grinding and then like you get done and then you're dealing with, you know, assistance and days off and they want to raise and, and just drama.   The Dental A Team (09:01) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (09:12) Taxes, know workers comp I mean you name it like all the things that come after work that are so stressful and Having a young family and and then just like like responsibilities outside of work like, know for us like there's a lot of stuff going on at church ⁓ At home. I was coaching my kids. So again, I think a lot of people that are listening can relate to this lifestyle and I think   The Dental A Team (09:14) Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (09:36) I as as I prepped for this conversation, we had a couple options. One option was to bring in a consultant, which we had thought about, and we already because we both came from the same practice in Arizona that had used a consultant, we felt like we sorta. We already knew how to be efficient. We already had a ton of systems in place. I think we struggled a little bit culturally. And I think frankly, this isn't a. You didn't put me up to this, but like had we hired someone like you like honestly, we may not have gone to DSO route. Frankly, like.   The Dental A Team (09:50) Yeah.   Sure.   Hunter Bennett (10:05) Cause all the things we were struggling with, think could have been dealt with in a different way. But we saw the DSO route as, as an option, you know, um, and there's, mean, we went back and forth and like, that's all we would talk about. We'd get done and then we talked about it for like an hour and then we'd go in cycles and circles. And this is the pro, this is the con. And ultimately we landed on, you know, um, this is just a really good way to sort of bring some balance in our lives. And I'll be honest with you. I, I hated, hated.   The Dental A Team (10:10) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (10:35) hated like the first six months, the transition period for us was particularly hard. We have a very unique practice. But I'm in almost four years now, and I will say like, I feel like it all happened for a reason. And it's really allowed me a ton of flexibility in my life, and my lifestyle has improved a ton. So kind of what you described as sort of your purpose and letting people   The Dental A Team (10:40) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (11:03) kind of see like what is your North Star? Like what is your real purpose? ⁓ I don't think that would have been, I don't think I would have been able to discover that had I continued on the path that I was on, honestly. So a DSO I think is good. First of all, when you talk about like a DSO, it's like a swear word, right? Because there's so many types of DSOs and there are some bad players out there for sure. And so like deservedly so, there's a lot of companies that should have a bad name, but there's also some really good ones.   The Dental A Team (11:14) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (11:33) And that was one   thing, like we interviewed around and we met with a lot of different groups and talked to people from different groups. And I think there's a lot of good groups out there, but I'm actually quite happy with our group overall. And it's been four years and I will say like a lot of the turmoil I felt in that first six months was just the change, know, the change in trajectory, like giving up. I still run my practice. The thing is like, no one knows that I'm in a DSO. Like people know like my referring doctors now, but like they don't care.   The Dental A Team (11:44) Mm-hmm.   Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (11:59) Because nothing changes like nothing I run the way I want to run it and that's very unique to my group. I would say we hire we fire we make days off like we do pretty much anything we want we bought you know, we can get equipment so I Feel like my day-to-day really hasn't changed and I know that's not true for every DSO I think DSOs can be compared to like like restaurants for example. It's like ⁓ don't go out to eat because it's not healthy It's like well, I mean generally speaking probably true, but there are some healthy options out there   The Dental A Team (12:00) Right.   Mm-hmm.   Totally.   Right.   Hunter Bennett (12:29) And   ⁓ that's kind of how I see DSOs is like I do think there are some healthy options out there and it totally depends on personality. So. ⁓ I will say like the pros for me so far and you can ask me like maybe some more specifics, but yeah, yeah, so I'm so. Yeah, like that's that's just the general story, but I will say like you know this far in like that's kind of the general gist of my experience and if I could do it all over again, I I probably would. ⁓   The Dental A Team (12:37) Mm-hmm.   I'm going to ask some questions. I'm like plunging behind. I've got a decent amount. I'm excited for it.   Hunter Bennett (13:00) I say though, like I am very curious to see what it would have been like to have hired, you know, like to bring you in and just say like, all right, come in here. And a couple of my assistants were like, don't bring the consultant, don't hire a consultant. And I don't think that really influenced me as much as I felt like, honestly, I just felt like I didn't need one, but looking back now, I think that definitely would have been a really good option. So I think you either go the DSO route or you bring someone in. But again, I talked to dentists, I work with a bunch of different dentists. I talked to a bunch of guys all the time, every day.   The Dental A Team (13:08) Mm-hmm.   Yeah.   Sure.   Hunter Bennett (13:30) And they haven't had such good experiences with consultants either. So I'm sure you'd get the same thing, you know, but.   The Dental A Team (13:33) I do. That's   one of my first questions when I walk into an office. Tell me what you think about consultants and it's a rip. And I want them to, because why not? Like let's get it on the table. And I think, I think the difference with us consulting versus others, because consultants are going to be there's good and bad, just like there are of DSOs, just like there are of marketing, which is like there is a people. I think the difference is one,   Hunter Bennett (13:39) Yeah, yeah, totally.   The Dental A Team (13:58) I come a team member first. So like my job is to help dentists and I'm a business owner and a multimillion dollar business owner second. And so when you combine those two perspectives together, I very much understand the business side of it. And it's not just theories and ideas. It's true, like hard knocks, ⁓ hundreds and thousands of offices and team members of what are the processes. But second, like I don't hire MBA students. I don't hire people that are just like,   you know, they, want to be a consultant. hire people that have a passion for it. They've been in the front and the back office. So I think teams, that's why I actually named it Dental A Team. want it to be dentists and teams because so many consulting companies either focus on the dentist or they focus on the team, but not both. I'm like, but you have to get both on the same page. And teams are freaked out by consultants. Consultants come in and fire. Consultants are stressful. Consultants are rigid. They make you do it this way. And my thoughts are no one, it's you with your vision.   Hunter Bennett (14:42) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (14:55) it's what do the numbers tell us and the profitability and three based on those two pieces, what are the systems that we need to improve based on like the problems in the practice too. And when you go about it that way and my job is to make life easier, not harder. I think when you go about it that way, teams are not as scared. And that's also why we built the podcast. So teams could hear us. They could learn like, what do we talk about? Because I think a lot of it's just the unknown. And so I, that's going to be like my two cents for a consultant, but I'm going to like back up for you Hunter on, have questions for you.   Hunter Bennett (15:24) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (15:25) I have question marks all the way around. One, think actually excellent point on the associateship and doctors listening, Hunter, you said you were a very equipped, very eager associate. You have a degree in business. I mean, you've got like the little gold star around you, a prime, ⁓ an associate prime for partnership that I think so many doctors are afraid and they don't know how to build partners in that they actually miss a lot of golden opportunities. And so   I like that was one of the nuggets I picked up from your story of like, I don't know who the doctor was and I'm not here to judge. They have their own story, their own reasons. But I think when doctors have great associates like yourself, you're destined to like, I know you're going to own a practice. When you come in with that type of acumen behind you, you're going to own a business. So either I can be smart and snag you and partner in with you and have you help me build and create it. Or I can let you go and you're either going to become my competitor or you're going to go somewhere else. And so there's no right or wrong.   but I think so many owner doctors, do see this. They're afraid bringing on a partner, you do like take home less pay. Like with air quotes, you get paid upfront, but you're like day in, day out is less. ⁓ But I really wanted to highlight that because I think like, well, it all worked out perfectly for you, Hunter. I think doctors listening to this could definitely learn from that. And it's okay if you don't want a partner. Some people are adamant of no partners. They don't want to give any of that up. They don't want to give away the control. That's okay. Don't hire someone like Hunter.   Or be okay that he's gonna probably leave you in about one to two years. And like any thoughts around that? They do.   Hunter Bennett (16:50) Yeah. I think everybody goes through that. Yeah. No, a   hundred. Like I have a ton of thoughts about that because it's, it's, I do, because I mean, I hear it all the time, like every week where Dennis is like, well, I'm just going to plug in an associate and then I'll just take some time off. it's like, that's not really how it works because you have to decide in like Jeremy Mooney, for example, like I talked to Jeremy all the time. He's one of my best friends and you sort of, I know it, I feel like every time I talk to him,   The Dental A Team (16:57) Talents.   Hunter Bennett (17:19) And he wouldn't mind me saying this, like just inevitably what happens is when someone doesn't buy in all the way or they just treat it like a job, like they come and go, you know, and that's, that's the price you pay. And so as a specialist, like we have to maintain relationships and referring offices. if associates are coming and going, that is such a, it's it's a rough look. And then for a dental practice, it's the same thing where patients, know, patients come to me they're like, I went to this practice and I saw the third doctor in my third visit, you know, and it's, they don't like that turnover.   And so what you make in money you pay for in stress and headache, I think on an associate, like when you're making money on your associate, not to mention all the headaches that come with training, reviews, stuff like that. ⁓ And so, yeah, I think ⁓ I totally see both sides of it. And the doctor that Nate and I both work for, he's got like four associates now and he's crushing it. So like, good for him. know, like that's, he's doing really, really well.   The Dental A Team (18:14) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (18:16) ⁓ Me and eight are like best friends and we have this relationship that like will be friends for life like he's like he doesn't have any brothers like I'm like his brother he's like my third brother, you know, it's just We just have this amazing relationship that I wouldn't trade for anything, you know, and not all partnerships are that way I think we've been super super blessed and super lucky that way but when both partners are both givers and you both want to just work hard and you have their back no matter what like you can find that man like   The Dental A Team (18:21) Mm-hmm.   Agreed.   Hunter Bennett (18:44) whatever money you give up by being a partner, you'll get back in like that, just sitting down at the end of the day and having someone to talk to that you're equal in business plan with, to take risks with, to, you know, even just to have like that comfort of talking to someone, you know, like you you get done with a tough day and just having that person there is, is priceless. I don't think you can put a price tag on that. So I wouldn't give up my partnership with Nate for anything, you know, and, and,   The Dental A Team (19:00) Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (19:09) Yeah, and and I think that's quite unique like in our DSO like no one really knows like we have like 400 partners I think now and Like when they think of Nate they think a Hunter or when they think a Hunter they think about Nate like we're just known like you usually don't see one without the other so to the doctors out there that own if you can find someone like that or someone even remotely close like man and someone that's gonna stay long-term like you eliminate so much stress and so many headaches by being open to having a partner and then if you have associates that might come and go   The Dental A Team (19:20) Awesome.   Hunter Bennett (19:38) And you want, you have the space and the availability and you want to do that, that's an option. But if you feel like you're drowning and you can find someone that's a really good business partner, I definitely see the value. Cause Nate and I, spent the better part of two years looking for associates to work for us. And again, it's that whole thing of like, well, man, I don't think they're going to be, I don't think they're going to have the personality that we need. But you know, then you hire, then you interview the really good ones. You're like, well, they're going to want to be a partner so we can't hire them. So you're just always playing that game of like.   There is no perfect answer. You know, you don't, you don't have like a unicorn associate that's just, and maybe there are a few where they just are just a total 10 out of 10, but then they just don't want to own. just want to show up. So it's pretty rare. They will. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (20:17) Totally. And some will. It is.   But okay, that actually led me to my next point I wanted to dig into because partnerships, some are magical like you guys have and others sink ships. So I want to hear how did you get into the partnership? Like what, what does that look like? How much did you both bring? Like as much as you want to get into the nitty gritty with me, because I think partnerships are so challenging to do well and to hear that you and Nate have a great thing. So I'm almost like, okay,   Hunter Bennett (20:24) Yeah.   Yeah, totally.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (20:46) There were some tips about associateships and bring us and I agree like, welcome down, like have these people with you. They're going to grow your business. I could not do a Dental A Team does without incredible consultants. And while none of them are partners per se, a lot of them, I've given them opportunities to do different pieces, tip from the get-go. We talked about, offered her to be a partner. She's like, heck no, I want nothing to do with that, but give me my time and give me my life with my child and girl I'm with you forever. So get read, there are different things, but I mean,   Did I give up money when I first brought in all these other consultants to help out? The answer is yes. But I look at it now and it actually like makes me so giddy to see there are so many practices we're impacting that me as a solo person could not serve at that level. So that's, think the beauty of like, yes, there's a dip, but there's also growth in and serving that you can do at a higher level. So with that said on associates, now we're moving into partnerships. Walk me through Hunter. I want to know the like ins, outs, good, bad, like partnerships. I'm sure you guys have had.   some knockout drag outs. I'm sure you guys have had highs and lows in partnerships. I'm sure you like, but I'm curious, like, how did you guys structure it to make it great for both of you? And then I'm to go into DSO. So I want to know partnership though, because like, it's my buffet. I'm choosing an associate now buying and being partners in DSO.   Hunter Bennett (21:57) Yeah.   Yeah,   yeah, for sure. think the key was ⁓ for me and Nate, like we're both givers. And so, you know, we never have fought over money. you know, there's just never, we've just been lucky to not have that. We're very similar because we kind of cut our teeth in the same practice. We had the same philosophy too. Like just we're very, very efficient. both work super, super hard.   The Dental A Team (22:25) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (22:26) So we're both hard drivers that way. We're both very perfectionistic Like we we both do the same type of root canals like we we kind of have the same treatment philosophy, you know, ⁓ And granted he's seven years older than me So like Nate you I have to give him a ton of credit because he's just been super helpful clinically and like I felt like after years like I was actually I wasn't at my prime prime for sure But like I was I was I was cooking I was doing pretty good and he helped bring me up to where I am   The Dental A Team (22:50) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (22:53) Now, you know, I've been here like seven years now, but like that first year, like he still just helped me, you know, deal with some of the tougher cases. Naples is just a place that tough cases. But the thing that, thing, yeah, it's old people, retired, calcified, whatever stuff from Europe. That's like totally, totally crazy. But ⁓ he was just so patient. And so just, man, he was just so happy to have me here. Cause he was like, he was burning out. Like he was so tired. And so he was just grateful I was here. He always told me that.   The Dental A Team (23:01) Right? is. It's a good place for business.   Hunter Bennett (23:20) The way we structured it. I worked for him for a year and I was supposed to buy in after the first year, but COVID had hit. so banks weren't like, they were like, hold on, chill out. Like it was literally like March I was supposed to buy in. And so like, you know, we were like, me and him were like alternating days and like, you know, like sharing N95s cause that's all we had. And I mean, that's a whole nother thing. So that delayed the buy-in like six months. And during that time, like, yeah. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (23:27) ⁓ huh.   Yeah.   And hold on, before you go to that, when you moved out there, was it part of   your contract and agreement that you were going to buy in in a year? Was it 50-50? Were those things like in place? Were those like in your contract? Okay.   Hunter Bennett (23:51) Yeah, one year. Yeah, yeah, it was all agreed to.   And you know, I actually don't know if it was in, so the thing was like, when I was in Prescott, I went to the same church that Nate had gone to, like I went to the same congregation. So everybody that knew him just absolutely loved him. Like he was like the cream of the crop. Everybody was just like, you know, like I felt like I was partnering with like, you know, just this.   The Dental A Team (24:10) Mm.   Hunter Bennett (24:18) Completely amazing person which he is so I had no doubts. Yeah, it's like the Michael Jordan like not even I don't even know like analogy would be like Muhammad Gandhi like he was like just such this Just a good dude, you know and so I didn't have a lot of reservations as far as our agreements go and then just again, maybe not the smartest thing but like I don't know it may have been in the writing but I don't really remember and I wasn't that worried about it because I guess naively I trusted him and just felt like it would work out but this was all verbally agreed to   The Dental A Team (24:18) Michael Jordan of dentists.   Wow.   Because I do know for some people   like some people have it's the verbal agreement. I'm sure   Hunter Bennett (24:47) I would, mean, he would have been willing to, he would have been willing   to, and maybe it was, like it might have been in our first contract. I had David Cohen write it up, I had to go back and look, but he did our partnership agreement too. He's awesome for anybody that needs an attorney, but yeah, I've sent him a ton of people. But that was the thing, like we had all that agreed to, then the other conversation that I know a lot of people don't have, and a lot of people hold resentment about is how you're gonna   The Dental A Team (25:00) We do love David Cohen. We refer to him quite a lot.   Hunter Bennett (25:17) split profits. And so we decided early on, it's like, eat what you kill. Like if you do, so the way I did it, I, we, sort of calculated a rough guesstimation of what our overhead was. And then we gave ourselves like, we would do, okay, you get this percentage. We each get this percentage of our production. And then let's say it was like 45, 55, then we split the profits that same way. Whatever's leftover, we're going to split by that same amount. And frankly, like, I don't think we were ever correct.   The Dental A Team (25:18) Totally.   Mm-hmm.   by the amount that you produced? Is that correct? So,   okay.   Hunter Bennett (25:45) collected. we're   fever like our collection is same as product like we're yeah, so it's the same number but Yeah   The Dental A Team (25:50) Right. So sorry, let me back this up. So you guys go produce   and let's just use numbers. Usually in GP, it's 30 % of what you produce. Usually in specialty, you're like 40, 45 % of what you produce. Like let's just use some like loose numbers, hypothetical.   Hunter Bennett (26:03) Sure.   The Dental A Team (26:04) Nate, you produce, you're welcome. We've got this. So let's just say you produce 100 grand in a month. Nate produces 100 grand in a month. Let's say you guys are both taking 30 % your specialist. So giggle at me because I know you're not 30%. You both would be taking 30 grand of that leaving. We've got 70 from each of you, but we have overhead in that as well. So we've got to take our overhead out of there. So we've got 70, 70 hypothetical we're going to take. Let's just do let's leave at the end there's 60,000.   Hunter Bennett (26:21) Yep. Yep.   Yep. Yep.   Say 50.   The Dental A Team (26:33) 60,000 of profit   Hunter Bennett (26:34) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (26:34) at the end of it after you guys have produced 200,000, collected 200,000, you both have been paid your 30,000 each. Of that 60,000, how was that split? Was that a 50-50 split or was it based on like, let's say you produced 100 grand, but Nate produced 200 grand. Did the 60,000 at the end get split based on production amounts or was that like, how was the profit split?   Hunter Bennett (26:54) Correct.   Yeah, so we would just split the profit exactly like you described in the latter example where it's based on what you produced that month or collected that month, then we would split the profits that month. And I just had a spreadsheet, I did all the math. And so we would just work it out between the two of us. And we never had an issue. I would just plug it and just plug and chug and it was never an issue. And truly like...   The Dental A Team (27:09) Nice.   Hunter Bennett (27:19) We were never more than like 52 48, you know, that might've been like, ⁓ you know, I don't remember a month ever being off by more than 2 % or 4%. So it really wasn't a big battle. And one thing too, that I told Nate going into this, and this was for me, I had to just like, was president of like my business school, like my junior year president of the whole business school, like the vice president of all business school, my senior year, like   The Dental A Team (27:23) Thank you.   interesting.   Hunter Bennett (27:45) I was used to being leadership positions. I was used to sort of being in charge. But I knew coming here, he was there first. And I told him, was like, I know you're going to be the alpha. All the referrals know you. I'm just going to have to take that backseat role. And I think me just acknowledging that and accepting that was so important because I had no ego. I didn't have to prove that there was no competition between me and Nate. We were 100 % on the same team.   The Dental A Team (27:56) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (28:12) ⁓ Again, and maybe that's unique to a specialty practice because you're kind of working together maybe more than you would in a GP office. I don't know. ⁓ Or maybe you're competing for patients a little more. I'm not sure. I've never worked in a GP office. But the dynamics for us is like, we're just, there's like all the referrals. It doesn't matter which doctor you want. Like you're getting your next available doctor unless there's a few exceptions. So we were very good about having no egos. And that was really important to our partnership too. But   financially it was quite easy for us and convenient just because our numbers were pretty similar. Or if he took a couple weeks off, then obviously he'll still get his collections from that month, but then I would get a little bit bigger chunk of the profit. But then when I took my time off the next month, they would just work itself out. so, ⁓ and he was always, like I said, he was always at the end of the year, Nate always produces just a little more than me. And I was just okay with it. You know, I was like, whatever, hang on.   The Dental A Team (28:46) Mm-hmm.   Sure.   Sure.   Hunter Bennett (29:06) And this I think is the desert that we can talk about later because how do we   The Dental A Team (29:07) Fascinating. Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (29:10) measure success? How do we measure fulfillment? And when we tie it to profits and numbers and income, it's just not super healthy. And I've had to learn that. Like that's probably been one of my biggest paradigm shifts over the last year, year and a half and sparked by your presentation and the conversations that we had. So.   The Dental A Team (29:27) Well, that's fascinating to me and thank you. That's a huge compliment. ⁓ I'm fascinated by that partnership split and the fact that you both were eat what you kill. I actually love that because then you got two very motivated partners. Also, you don't accidentally get one partner who's not pulling their weight. I know a lot of times ⁓ and I think the difference that I sometimes see in GP versus specialty is sometimes I have a super producer in GP.   So one who's doing hybrid and implants and all these different cases. And then I've got another doctor who's doing bread and butter. Well, obviously the super producer is going to produce more, but you need the bread and butter dentist to be taking care of all those profie patients and all the day in day out. So you can super produce. So those ones, often will see that it's more going to be a 50 50 split, but I do oftentimes see the super producer gets a little annoyed because they're like, if they're not both givers.   ⁓ I've seen this wax hard on partnerships just in the fact of you look at the numbers and what are you putting up on the board? But I think those partners really have to look at this. It's the ultimate whole. And if the ultimate whole of the business is doing well, both parties are winning. And they have to just see that they bring different strengths to the table, just like in a marriage. And we're not looking at dollars on the board. We're looking at collective as a practice. But that is one where I do watch. And so I do think in specialty, that might be something I had not thought of.   but I love to hear how you guys broke it down, how you picked it apart. And also the fact that there was no ego on taking a patient. Cause I do sometimes see that in partnerships where, if I'm going to get what I kill, I want more of these patients. I want to take them on because that's going to impact my production. But at the end of the day, you guys are still doing well on the profit side. So fascinating to me to hear how it was set up, how you guys got into it, how the buy-in was, ⁓ and then moving forward. And I'm guessing Hunter, I don't know Nate.   Hunter Bennett (31:01) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (31:18) But I'm excited. I mean, I have a quote over here by Gandhi. So when you said that I was like, well, perfect. ⁓ But my hunch is typically in a partnership, I see someone who's like yourself, who's really big into business, like they know the numbers, they have the business acumen. And usually the other partner tends to be more of the people side or this is like, you usually have a separation. So I again, I don't know Nate, but my guess would be not to say that you're not great with team members to   but I'm guessing you're very business savvy, you're very system savvy, and he's gonna be more people savvy and relationship savvy. Again, I don't know, maybe both of you had that, but I'm curious, did you see that dynamic in your partnership that maybe blended you guys really well coming together?   Hunter Bennett (31:54) Yeah, no, that's a really good point and we do compliment it. You're pretty much spot on. would say Nate definitely like is a lot more of a calming, know, I'm kind of like people tell me I'm just fiery, you know, like we've had different.   The Dental A Team (32:07) You   I do remember you walking   up. You wouldn't even shut your light off on me. Like you were busy. You were down to business. Like, here, I need these things in the most respectful way. ⁓   Hunter Bennett (32:14) Yeah, I'm   Pretty pretty focused. Yeah, pretty focused I would say and so I would say there is that little bit of balance But Nate's not a dummy like he was harvard number two in his class at harvard like he's super smart and so He would always lean into me for the business stuff just because I had a degree and I could speak the language and accounting and depreciation and all you know, like that stuff I think sort of intimidated him more than it needed to because once you explain it, know, you know But because he hadn't trained that way like he would sort of lean into me and that stuff   The Dental A Team (32:33) or.   Right.   Hunter Bennett (32:43) But even having someone to talk about because he'd already dealt with the accountant. He already dealt with workers comp. So I'd be like, hey, how does this work? Cause I'd never done it. So he'd explain it to me. And then as a team, we would work it out. You know, as a team, we would make big decisions. So yeah, I mean, you'll both bring different things to the table. And it's actually good that you can be different. I had another opportunity to partner somewhere else before Nate. I was way too much like that guy. I was like.   The Dental A Team (32:49) Thank   Yes.   Hunter Bennett (33:10) This isn't gonna work. I knew right away like I said, you know I went and visited the practice did the whole thing sent like a follow-up email and I think we both knew it's just like yes, isn't gonna work and The negotiations didn't go very far and it was fun. It was like we're still friends and we keep in touch So I think it's important to like you think ⁓ we're so alike man That's not always like the best thing. And so our differences are actually probably what what bring us together and make us strong ⁓   The Dental A Team (33:19) Mm-hmm.   Yeah.   No.   Hunter Bennett (33:37) Yeah. And so that's, that's like a, that's a super fair point about that. And again, a lot of it's just been serendipitous. Like that just happened to fall into place. It just, it's just worked out that way, but it's, it's like a marriage. That's the perfect thing. It's like, it's like a marriage without all the benefits per se. Like you just, you're just like, you're just, you just get the hard part of them. Yeah. You just get the hard, you get the hard part of the marriage where you have tough conversations, but again, you just take them head on. And when you have no ego and, or a limited ego, and when you just want your partner to succeed, like   The Dental A Team (33:38) Yeah.   You get the profits benefit.   Hunter Bennett (34:08) You can't really fail in my opinion. ⁓ even when it came to like negotiate, like I had six months of partnership income that I was missing out on, but then there's the COVID thing. And, at the end of the day, said, Nate, like what number, like what, what, what do want me to do the whole valuation? I didn't really care. I was willing to pay whatever I didn't. To me, the relationship was way more important than any number. And so we just came to a number that we both felt good about based on the valuation, but I was flexible and frankly, I didn't care because it was so important to me. And, ⁓   The Dental A Team (34:09) That's awesome.   Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (34:37) And we came to what we thought both was fair and it's been, it's been a dream. you know, and those, we're like best friends and those conversations can still be a little awkward and a little hard, but they don't have to be. And they, they were always fine. You know, um, if there's a book I could recommend, talk about it all the time. It's Crucial Conversations. Um, one of my favorite books of all time. think everybody should read it before you get married. You should read it like in college. Like I think it should be required reading before you graduate college.   The Dental A Team (34:50) Right.   Hunter Bennett (35:04) But that's one book that's just helped me a ton. As a leader, business owner, as a partner, ⁓ husband, it's just helped me a ton.   The Dental A Team (35:05) Definitely agree.   I love that. I also love that you guys just, I think when you said like it just works and it was serendipitous, I think that's something to look for in a partnership. I think if anybody's looking at partners, if it's hard and it's just not flowing, don't force it to work. ⁓ The best partnerships I really do see where they kind of fall into place this way, they're aligned, you hire people that are complimentary to you, not just like you, because you do need the two halves to a whole.   Hunter Bennett (35:29) Hmm.   The Dental A Team (35:39) to make it really great. And then I think you guys have done a good job of keeping egos in check. think you guys, what you said Hunter, that I hope all partners listening to this or potential partners, you want your partner to succeed and that's your ultimate goal and that's what you're driving for. when Jason and I learned that in our marriage, where like my greatest success is Jason's success, it went from a like, what are you giving for me? And what am I getting out of this relationship to a like,   I want Jason to give me five stars because he's a raving fan because like I am, I'm doing all that I possibly can to make sure he's succeeding and his life is incredible. And when both partners are in that, it goes away from you and it goes to them and to make sure that they're succeeding. And I really do see that that works great in marriages, partnerships. So I'm obsessed with that. Kudos to you guys on that. I love that also Hunter, I hope people buying in.   the partnership and having that, I say the way you start a partnership is how you're going to end the partnership. I love Hunter that you came in as the quote unquote junior partner, but you, leveled yourself up to be an equal partner to him. And I'm really proud of you because I think a lot of associates are stay very timid. They say very junior. They act like they don't know anything rather than being like an equal partner. And I'm like, no, no, no, if you're going to be a partner in this, you need to be a partner and bring your weight. So kudos to you on that.   Hunter Bennett (36:49) Yeah.   Totally.   The Dental A Team (36:57) And then I also just really love that you guys have just had multiple conversations that you just have blended it so beautifully and that you said you were willing to pay whatever he wanted. Like, of course, you're going to be fair. You knew the numbers, but the partnership and the success was more important to you. And I think when you go into it and that's how you start your partnership, I can tell why you guys are actually really great partners. So great job and thanks for highlighting that. And now I want to know about selling to a DSO because I do agree. ⁓ Having a consultant.   oftentimes makes it where you don't have to sell to a DSO. And we do that sometimes. Sometimes I'll grow the practices for you and it's like, well, why would you sell to a DSO when they're just gonna come in and grow your business anyway? Like, let's do this on your own. I had a doctor who we were chatting and he's like, yeah, Kiera, they're gonna give me five mil for it. And I said, cool. Next year, you're probably gonna do five million on your own or within two years. So you can pay them out and they're just gonna do what you were already going to do. And agreed, a lot of that stress comes.   Hunter Bennett (37:36) Yeah.   Yeah.   The Dental A Team (37:55) from that, but Hunter, you said something in the very beginning that struck me when you said you sold to the DSO. You said your life has exponentially gotten better. Your work life balance has gotten better since selling to the DSO, but you also said that you're doing pretty much all the same things you were doing as a business owner. So I'm super curious. How did your life get better while you're still doing, like you were like, I'm still hiring, I'm still firing. And I was like, so what was the perk of selling to a DSO and helped me understand how your life got better?   Hunter Bennett (38:19) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (38:23) And then I also want to know about your cell deal too, if you're open to that.   Hunter Bennett (38:27) Yeah, for sure. don't, um, I probably should have illustrated the point that it's not like we didn't just get overwhelmed and all of sudden decide, okay, we're not, we're just going to throw up our hands and sell. Like we had hired a different office manager who was like, went through like Gary Katas's training. Like, like she was phenomenal. She was amazing. In fact, like she was a lot like you in a lot of ways, just really great personality, new dentistry. And I thought she was going to change our lives, you know, and she is awesome. Like she's an amazing person.   But it didn't end up working out. She left the practice that was being transitioned to a new doctor. So she came with us for a few weeks and it was going okay. And then they had a big crisis back there and she's like, is it okay if I just go back and help for like a week? And we're like, yeah, do what you need to do, you know? And then that doctor offered her equity in his practice. And so she ended up staying there, whatever. Yeah, whatever, it is what it is. And so my point is, like, I feel like we tried a different office manager. We tried restructuring and we tried.   The Dental A Team (39:15) I mean, good deal.   Hunter Bennett (39:25) The only thing we didn't hire a consultant, we definitely talked about it, but we didn't, I think in some ways I was probably just a weak leader in that way where I was maybe a little bit too proud to just get the help that we probably needed and instead just went a different route, you know? And so hindsight's always 20-20, but that just to create a little bit of the background to the story though. So it's not like we just, you know, all of sudden decided, you know, we're gonna,   The Dental A Team (39:47) Of course.   Hunter Bennett (39:55) just sell. So we had done all this other footwork. Sorry, what did you want to know about like the structure of the deal or what? Yeah. Okay. So when we, so when we, you know, after having done all this, we kind of, we had interviewed all these doctors, we had one kind of in the holster, maybe you can associate and we were just like, we were interviewing people, but we was just so, we were just tired. It's just like when you're doing root canal, it's like from like seven to five and you don't even have time to use like the bathroom.   The Dental A Team (40:03) I do, I do want to know structure of the deal. Yeah, tell me it.   Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (40:25) get a drink of water. It's just, we just burned ourselves out because we were chasing something and I don't even think we, we just wanted to change growth. Like we just wanted to, we just wanted to grow. We just always said all the time, were just grow, grow, grow, grow, grow, grow. And so we just kept the pedal to the metal. Excuse me. And I would say we just sort of outgrew ourselves and not that the wheels ever fell off, but like the culture in our practice was okay. Like we had good people, but we did have some of the wrong people on the bus. ⁓   The Dental A Team (40:27) Yep.   Hunter Bennett (40:52) And so when we started talking to DSOs, they saw our numbers, they saw our trajectory and we knew we had a lot of leverage. It was 2021. So the market was just red hot. We got a really good evaluation. We got a really good multiple. they were, you know, and so, you know, I actually talked to Matt Molcock, you know, he's my advisor and, ⁓ and just, I talked to my mentors, Dr. Jones, like, you know, ⁓ just people that I really respect. He's the man he had started nine, nine different endo or worked in or started nine different practices and   The Dental A Team (40:59) I see. That is hot.   Mm-hmm.   Aw, Dr. John.   Hunter Bennett (41:19) And his advice to me was like, you know, like I would do it if I were you. And so a lot of people would just had kind of encouraged me. And so at that point, me and Nate said, you know, we, and we got opinions both ways. And at the end of the day, our conclusion was it doesn't matter. Like, if I'm being honest, like that was kind of our answer to a kind of a joint prayer was like, it's not going to matter. Like it just, doesn't matter which way you go with this. ⁓ for the things that are truly important, it's not going to matter what you do.   The Dental A Team (41:35) Agreed.   Hunter Bennett (41:46) And so we, we, we decided to do the deal and I will say, like I said, the first six months were rough, but to the credit of my, company, like the group that I'm with, like our team and the people that we work with, they're phenomenal. Like I've never like had a, they, they just always bend over backward to accommodate us and help us. And we've done our part. We've grown like crazy, you know, are there times where I'm like, man, we could have done this on our own and, ⁓ our   The Dental A Team (42:06) Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (42:12) whatever, you know, and you look at your paycheck now because now I'm paid on a percentage and I have equity in the company. And so you're just waiting on a recap. And that's a whole, again, talking about, we can get into this too is DSOs have so many different types of structures. Ours is not like a joint venture. So we don't, we don't profit share in ours. It's all in our equity. so equity events are like super important for us. and so Scotty Hudson Smith is our CEO and he's the one that did smile docs. they, he's done it three times.   The Dental A Team (42:21) Yep.   They are.   Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (42:41) He came to our dinner like the night that they were recruiting us and he wasn't officially the CEO yet But like he was sliding in that role. It just hadn't been announced I think it was like the next week or something, but he came and he just sort of created the vision for us and we just honestly we a little bit of a feeling and sort of that answer like it's not gonna matter and Now looking back Are there days that are where I have resented like seeing what I produce versus what I take home sometimes?   But I've got to remember they give you five or six years of your profitability upfront. And I've been able to put all that to work, you know, for the most part, I've done pretty well with that. Like not like home run, like you, you know, it's not like crazy stuff, but it's fine. I'm diversified now. Um, it's not all in my practice, but I do have a bit still in equity quite a bit. we did a 70 30 split. did 70 % cash, 30 % equity in the group. Um, and I just,   The Dental A Team (43:09) Sure.   Sure.   Right.   Nice.   Hunter Bennett (43:36) Some groups will give you flexibility, some won't. That's just the number that we wanted and they agreed to. And looking back, I'm still glad I did it that way. I actually had an opportunity to buy more equity about a year in, which I did. And so I bought more. And so that allowed me to just be a little bit more leveraged into the company.   on a bigger scale, like me and Nate work real hard for each other, but now you just got all these partners that are counting on you. And I think the mojo and the culture in our group is quite good. So.   The Dental A Team (44:04) Yeah, that's it. That's actually really, really good to know because I think so many people wonder about DSOs. And so what did the DSO take off of you guys? Because I know there's some people that get scared of the equity. Like they get scared of equity because some DSOs have actually gone under. And so I actually love to hear that you were a 70-30 split, then you were able to buy in more if you wanted to, because if it goes under, that is your retirement. And so I love that you were able to put money into work so your retirement's not solely like   Hunter Bennett (44:12) Yeah, that's what you asked.   ⁓ Yeah.   The Dental A Team (44:31) vested into this company. I really am big on that when DSOs do purchase, but what did they take off your guys's plates going in as a DSO?   Hunter Bennett (44:31) Totally.   Yeah, sorry, that's what you asked me and I kind of got off track there, but...   The Dental A Team (44:40) That's okay. I wanted   the deal. I wanted the deal. I actually wanted to know that a lot.   Hunter Bennett (44:44) So we skipped to the deal,   but going back, like the thing that they've helped with the most, would say is like, just as an example, like, like, ⁓ there's like this employment tax, you know, that we'd always get these letters about every year with Florida and we'd call them and then I spent an hour on the phone, finally getting to someone. And then I had already canceled it, but then they automatically renewed it for it. And so it's just like, that's like one example, work, workman's comp. ⁓ even just like we had an office book for like policy.   And again, this might speak more to maybe my lack of strong leadership where when a team member says, well, I understand that's the policy, but this is what I have going on. And then when you bend the rules for one person, then it sort of just creates this culture of favoritism. And again, that was probably partly being a new owner and then a people pleaser. and something I've worked on a lot. And again, I'm not the same leader I was even five years ago, you know, four years ago when we sold, but, ⁓ having seen that now they, because there are just   The Dental A Team (45:34) Totally.   Hunter Bennett (45:40) company policies in place. And again, it might be a little maybe feel corporate, but now you sort of see the reason why things are corporate because otherwise people, if you run it like a small business and you do those little things here or there, all it does is create resentment within your team. And so ⁓ I will say just having a really, we've gone through like, man, we hired like two or three different office managers through the company that they helped us hire. And finally we hired internally and she's   The Dental A Team (45:53) Totally.   Hunter Bennett (46:09) man, she's phenomenal. she has just totally, she was at our front desk, she wasn't in dentistry, she came to the front desk and really for first couple of years she was pretty quiet. And then when we interviewed, we're like, we need to interview, are you interested? And she said, yeah, like I would. And she's absolutely just crushing it. And so she is a big reason because we finally, you know, like it's just a good fit for her, you know? And our old office manager is still with us and she's amazing, she's amazing. And she's just so humbly taking the role. She's she's like,   The Dental A Team (46:10) Amazing.   Yeah.   Hunter Bennett (46:37) just want to be in the front and she's the best front office person in the world. You know what I mean? And that's she didn't want to be an office manager and so it's kind of worked itself out and but I don't know if we would have made those decisions without being sort of forced into it with it with our structure in the corporate, you know in the corporate group. If I'm being honest, you know, there's a couple things like we were salary like we just paid our girls salary for example and so there was always sort of this resentment because here it's very seasonal.   The Dental A Team (46:39) Mm-hmm. Yeah.   Totally.   Yeah.   Mm-hmm.   Hunter Bennett (47:06) So during winter, like our population in Naples doubles. And so the girls are working more hours. So they might work 42. I don't know if I should say this is, I guess it doesn't matter because I don't do it anymore, but they might work 42 or 44 hours one week. But in the summer, they're probably working 32, 34, 36. Or I'd just say, go home or whatever. So over the year, it just worked out. so they came to us, like, you can't do that. And so was like, so then we had to switch to hourly, which I really resented in that first six months. I was so mad. But now looking at it, it's actually the   The Dental A Team (47:06) Right.   Right.   You   Hunter Bennett (47:35) It's actually the fair way to do it. You know, it actually makes sense. ⁓ they like our, always get.   The Dental A Team (47:38) It is. So it sounds like you just got a lot of like,   you got like a lot of company backing is what I feel like it is like the structure of a business. Yeah. Yep.   Hunter Bennett (47:44) Totally, it's just more structure, more structure. I didn't have to be the bad guy, I guess. I sort   of get to say that's just how we do it. And so again, I think now, like the older version of Hunter sees that as, well, man, were kind of, you could have been a stronger leader, but I didn't know what I didn't know. ⁓ But now again, too, like looking at it, like this is exactly the path that I'm supposed to be on and it's fine. And truly like...   The Dental A Team (48:01) Totally.   Hunter Bennett (48:11) There's so many reasons to join a DSO. Some people are looking for an exit. Some people are looking for a lifestyle. And for me, it's just worked out that I, don't know what I was looking for besides relief from all the pressure I felt and, um, and it's worked out, you know? And so I still make enough money that I can do the things that I need to do and want to do. And if the equity works out, that's a cherry on top. And if it doesn't like it's okay for right now. And if I want to do something later,   I can do something else, you know, and that's the other thing too, like with, with the DSO is if, if you want to leave at some point you can. And I don't really have plans to leave per se, but like I, now it's an option. Whereas if I own the practice, that was one reason too, with me and Nate, who part of our thought process was, well, we're from the West in 10 years. If we want to sell in 10 years, who's going to buy us? Are we going to wait 10 years? Why don't we just do it now and grow with the DSO? So that was a big part of it too, is like, what is our exit? And so even though I'm only, I'm not, I'm 40 next year.   The Dental A Team (48:38) can.   Totally.   Hunter Bennett (49:08) I still was sort of planning an exit at some point because the practice was so big and we couldn't find a partner. So maybe that gives some insights retrospectively into our thought process because we did the same conversation every day for six months. But looking at it now, like that's what they've taken off our plate is all those little nuances that are just so mentally exhausting that now when I come home, I can just be present with my kids. I've changed my schedule. Like it's totally benefited my life.   The Dental A Team (49:14) Totally.   Hahaha!   Hunter Bennett (49:38) Lifestyle wise but it's not perfect but I would say an overall net positive, you know If you're not just looking at money, you know If you're not just looking at your month to month income I would say that's like the only downside is I don't make as much money as I used to but my lifestyle is way better so   The Dental A Team (49:43) That's amazing. Sure.   And so we traded a few things, but who knows it can pan out as well to where you actually make more in the future. That's not a given, but like today you're at least in a good space. You've traded ⁓ like money for time. And I think that that's one of the most beautiful things, which ties to, as we like quickly wrap up. I love that you just talked about all the pieces of DSO. I love that you have a great experience. I love hearing the pieces that they were able to take and agreed a lot of businesses actually need to sell to a DSO because they've grown too big that there's not a buyer for them. And like that is   Hunter Bennett (49:57) Yeah. Good.   Yeah.   The

In this episode of The Retreat Leaders Podcast, Shannon Jamail sits down with Amity Cooper, a licensed mental health professional turned ranch retreat host in Colorado. Together, they dive into the world of nature-based retreats, horse-led healing, and the business foundation every retreat leader needs to succeed. Amity shares her transition from private practice to owning and operating two stunning ranches—1890 Ranch and Wayfinding Ranch—spanning 80 acres. With a clear North Star guiding her work, Amity emphasizes that profitable, sustainable retreats start with purpose. They unpack what it means to align your retreat business with your life goals, why planning 12+ months out is crucial, and the behind-the-scenes systems needed to avoid burnout and cancellations. Whether you're a venue owner or aspiring retreat host, this conversation is a must-listen for those wanting to build impactful and intentional retreats. Connect with Amity: www.the1890ranch.com  https://wayfindingranch.com/    The Retreat Leaders Podcast Resources and Links: Learn to Host Retreats Join our private Facebook Group Top 5 Marketing Tools Free Guide Get your legal docs for retreats Join Shannon in London  Join our LinkedIn Group Apply to be a guest on our show   Thanks for tuning into the Retreat Leaders Podcast. Remember to subscribe for more insightful episodes, and visit our website for additional resources. Let's create a vibrant retreat community together!   Subscribe:  Apple Podcast | Google Podcast | Spotify   ----------- Introduction & Guest Welcome (00:00:02) Shannon introduces the podcast, herself, and welcomes guest Amity Cooper, highlighting their similarities as venue owners. Amity's Background & Ranch Story (00:01:46) Amity shares her journey from mental health professional to ranch and venue owner, and her motivation for creating retreat spaces. Is Hosting Retreats Right for You? (00:03:21) Discussion on evaluating if hosting retreats aligns with your lifestyle, goals, and business vision. Finding Your North Star & Why (00:04:18) Importance of identifying your purpose and motivation before starting a retreat business. Retreats as a Business, Not a Hobby (00:07:07) Emphasizing that retreats are a serious business venture requiring a clear purpose and resilience through challenges. Pitfalls of Poor Planning (00:08:30) Warning against casually throwing together retreats without a clear plan or purpose. Vision vs. Implementation: Roles & Systems (00:09:31) Clarifying the need for systems, clear roles, and balancing vision with practical implementation. The Importance of a Business Plan (00:10:15) Stressing the necessity of a detailed business plan for each retreat, including logistics, budget, and marketing. Venue Owner Perspective: Spotting Unprepared Hosts (00:11:35) How venue owners can quickly identify hosts who lack planning and the importance of mutual fit. Booking Timelines & Commitment (00:13:19) Why venues require advance bookings and the risks of last-minute cancellations for both parties. Preparation vs. Spontaneity in Retreat Planning (00:14:56) Contrasting well-prepared hosts with those who approach retreats impulsively, and the consequences of each. Recommended Planning Timeline (00:16:06) Advice to start planning retreats at least a year in advance, with venue outreach 9-12 months before the event. Marketing & Booking Windows (00:18:06) Guidance on when to begin marketing and booking, emphasizing the need for early and thorough preparation. Learning Before Leading: Work Exchanges & Attending Retreats (00:19:49) Encouragement to gain experience by working or attending retreats before hosting your own. Amity's Ranch Offerings (00:21:06) Amity describes her two ranch properties, their features, and the types of events they host. Closing & Resources (00:23:59) Shannon thanks Amity, recaps key takeaways, and shares where to find more resources and information.

What happens when a sales-focused CEO challenges everything we think we know about growing a business? Kyle Wilson doesn't just question conventional wisdom, he turns it upside down.Kyle built Yellow Diamond Logistics to $50 million in just four years by focusing on what many founders try to avoid: doing the sales himself. His secret? Identifying his highest-value activity (sales calls) and systematically delegating everything else. This laser focus created extraordinary results that most companies only dream of achieving.In our conversation, Kyle delivers a provocative message for today's business leaders: personal relationships are making a comeback while digital marketing effectiveness continues to decline. "I truly think personal relationships are back," Kyle asserts, explaining how in-person connections create trust that simply can't be replicated through digital channels. He challenges listeners to examine where their top customers actually come from; a simple exercise that often reveals surprising insights about what truly drives business growth.Now leading his second successful venture, Thrive Modal, Kyle shares why he believes hiring global talent isn't just about cost savings: it's about creating mutually beneficial relationships that transform both companies and lives. His passionate commitment to connecting Filipino professionals with US companies stems from personal experience: "I really do wake up every day and know I could not have done it with an American staff," he explains, crediting much of his success to the dedication of his global team members.Perhaps most surprising is Kyle's candid revelation about how sobriety accelerated his business growth. Being "100% present" from early morning until late evening has allowed him to maximize networking opportunities while maintaining the focus needed for effective leadership.Ready to rethink your approach to scaling? Visit thrivemodal.com to discover how Kyle's team can help you tap into global talent that might just transform your business trajectory. In this podcast you will learn how:• Defining elite success as creating value for everyone in the organization, not just personal achievement• Identifying your highest-value activity and delegating everything else• Why in-person relationships outperform digital marketing strategies for most businesses• Looking at where your top five customers came from to guide future growth efforts• Taking calculated financial risks as an essential part of entrepreneurship• Building a company with global talent that creates opportunity for everyone involved• Finding your North Star and helping employees connect with their deeper motivations• How sobriety and 100% presence accelerated business growth• The importance of CEO coaching for sustainable business successHighlights:0:00Welcome to Think Like a CEO1:48Kyle Wilson: Sales-Focused CEO5:35Personal Relationships as Competitive Advantage11:00Taking Financial Risk as an Entrepreneur16:35Building a Business That Makes More27:15The Power of Global Talent31:10Episode Closing and Call to ActionInterested in 1:1 Coaching?Kristin partners with high-performing financial advisors, leaders, and business owners who are ready to lead with more clarity, focus, and intention.Clients often come to her with a strong vision, but they aren't sure how to close the gap between where they are now and where they want to go. Many are navigating a season of growth, stepping into expanded leadership, or realizing they've outgrown their current systems and ways of working.They know they're capable of more and want a strategic thought partner to help them get there, someone who will ask the tough questions, create space to think deeply, and offer a...

Host Gregg-Brooke Koleno sits down with Jayson Mamaclay, Vice President at Norman Professional Services (NPS), to explore how entrepreneurs can take off the armor, get honest about money, and design a business that truly serves their lives. Jayson's path, from PwC CPA to organizational design and DEI work, to escape-room owner and Goldman Sachs 10KSB alum, now fuels his mission at NPS: helping owners align the pro forma with the personal “why.” Together, we dig into treating your company as an asset that should create value, freedom, and joy; using a clear North Star to reverse-engineer decisions; and unlearning the “grow at all costs” myth in favor of a business that fits your family and legacy. Jayson also shares why early succession and exit planning preserves both momentum and meaning. Outside the office, Jayson volunteers with Games Done Quick, whose latest marathon raised $2.4M for Doctors Without Borders, a masterclass in teamwork, shared mission, and community impact. He leaves listeners with a powerful charge: your influence is a +1 fingerprint—make it intentional. You'll learn: • How to build numbers around your values, not just your revenue goals • A practical way to architect your dream business (and spot misalignment) • Why succession planning should start while you still love the work • Community lessons from large-scale philanthropy you can apply to your team Connect with Jayson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaysonmamaclay/

In this conversation, Mike Linch discusses the impactful leadership style of Johnny Shelton, a life coach for the Baltimore Ravens. The discussion emphasizes the importance of presence in leadership, the need for encouragement, and understanding people beyond their roles. Mike shares insights on how leaders can connect with others by genuinely getting to know them and celebrating their uniqueness.

we unpack the Charlie Kirk assassination questions, sift media narratives vs. facts, confront the censorship creep dressed up as “hate speech”, and revisit the Epstein files as a litmus test for elite accountability. We also tackle geopolitical pressure points (including the Israel debate), analyze digital forensics around chats and “confessions,” reflect on memorial optics and power plays, and—most importantly—chart a path where faith becomes the compass for clearer thinking and better action. Where I've been, why I'm back. We open with a candid reset: how the mission blurred, why the mic went dark, and what brought it back. The answer is both personal and public—a resolve to tell the truth in a way your kids could replay someday and still find courage in. The assassination lens—questions that won't die quietly. We examine the lone-gunman storyline, angle-of-shot disputes, timelines, and the now-infamous chat fragments. Not to force conclusions—but to keep the questions precise, persistent, and public. Media narratives vs. receipts. Next, we pressure-test official statements, “fact checks,” and neatly tied bows. If an explanation demands your blind trust, we'll ask for the evidence—and show you where the holes still are. Free speech, relabeled. Then we move into the censorship fight: how “hate speech” framing is being used as a lever to silence inconvenient opinions, and what stress-tests (big and small) reveal about who holds the switch. Geopolitics, incentives, and the unmentionables. We engage the Israel debate and broader foreign-influence questions with sober skepticism and documented context—because real analysis follows incentives, not hashtags. Epstein as the honesty test. We revisit the files, the evasions, and the convenient amnesia. If leaders won't tell the truth about this, why trust them on anything harder? Forensics & ellipses. We decode the chat logs and digital “confessions,” highlight linguistic oddities, and separate what's provable from what's theatrical—so speculation doesn't drown the signal. Memorials, optics, and power. We assess the staging, speeches, and symbolism—not to snark, but to understand how grief, politics, and influence collide in public rituals. Faith as compass. Finally, we pivot from critique to construction: Scripture-anchored principles that make life better—and make activism braver, wiser, and harder to co-opt. That's the new North Star. Call to Action If you believe truth still matters, subscribe now and turn on alerts. Watch full episodes on YouTube, get deeper dives on Substack, and follow along on social for clips, receipts, and live Q&As. Your listens, shares, and reviews keep this mission moving—thank you for riding with me. All the Links One tap to everything: https://linktr.ee/theaustinjadams   Support My Business: Https://roninbasics.com ----more---- Full Transcript  Adams archive. Hello, you beautiful people and welcome to the Adams Archive. My name is Austin Adams, and thank you so much for listening today. On today's episode, we're gonna talk about where the heck I've been for over a year, because this is my first podcast back and I cannot be more excited about it. So we'll talk about what happened that caused me to drop off the way I did off of social media, off of my podcast. Uh, it has to do with obviously some of the. Political situations that are happening, some of the infighting, kind of just finding my own way and my own mission again. And so I'll tell you all about that journey and actually how I was affected by Charlie Kirk, and he inspired me to grab the microphone back and begin to continue my journey of speaking out for that mission. So then we're gonna talk about all of the happenings with the Charlie Kirk assassination. Absolute tragedy. It has now been. 13 days, almost two weeks since the event happened. And we're gonna talk through all of it. We're gonna talk through Charlie Kirk's character. We're gonna talk through some of the learnings that I had from Charlie Kirk, and all of the clips that we've all been seeing over the last couple of weeks. Uh, we're gonna talk about, um. All of the questions that I have surrounding his assassination. 'cause I have a lot of them. I have gone through and had analyzed many of the previous, uh, assassinations that were super high profile and politically motivated in the past. And through that lens I have a lot of. Questions a lot of them. And so we'll walk through what all of those questions are. We'll walk through what the actual narrative that's being given to us by the government is we'll talk through what are those current plot holes, who is talking about them. And even more importantly, who's not talking about them. We will talk about, uh, and when I say that, I'm mostly sa saying, you know, cash Patel and the FBI and the, you know, the governmental agencies that are responsible for this. Although, I would say one thing we're gonna talk about too is that Cash Patel actually came out and, uh, kind of, uh. Called it what he saw a lot of people talking about. So we'll go through the FBI director's tweet that actually broke down a lot of the conspiracies, so we'll, we'll go through that as well. Then we're gonna talk through what, what could be the political motivation to this? Who could have, this is actually been, if it's not the guy they're saying it is, if it's a patsy, who could it have actually been? Right? A lot of people are throwing out the word real, and I don't know if that's the only name that we should be throwing out in the political landscape that we're in. I have a couple other theories. So then we'll talk about how freedom of speech has been under attack since this happened, and why that's the worst possible reaction you could have ever had to Charlie Kirk's assassination. And then we'll talk a little bit about the memorial 'cause I have some weird thoughts about that, including some thoughts about Erica Kirk, although she had an amazing speech. So nothing to take away from that. But I got some questions guys. I got some questions and I'm here to talk about it with you. So stick around and before I forget. Leave a review, hit that five stars, subscribe. If this is your first time here, thank you so much. I appreciate you from the bottom of my heart. If this is the first time listening to me in over a year, I appreciate you too. I'm so glad to be back. Thank you for listening, and without further ado, let's jump into it. The Adams archive. All right, let's jump into it. So the first question you might have is, where the heck have you been to Austin? Good question. Let me answer that for you. So about a year ago, um. With all the situations that was happening politically, Trump kind of looking like he was getting into office and I kind of lost my mission in, in what I was doing this for, right? We go all the way back to the very first episode. The goal of this podcast was to give my thoughts in a way that I thought that my children, my grandchildren, could hear my opinions as to certain current events and previous historical events. And if nobody ever listened to it, that would be pretty cool to me if my children listened to it and got to hear their dad, their grandpa, their whatever, talk about these events, first person, and not have to take it from some textbook that was written for them without any additional narratives around what actually happened. So that's where this started. Then that turned into me being, uh, very politically motivated in, in a lot of the things that I saw that I think were against the better good of our country. And being the patriot that I grew up being, uh, I wanted to correct those and speak out about those things and, and give my opinion on those things and be a voice for people like you who maybe didn't have the time or the energy or the effort to be able to do these types of things or, um, you know, maybe the, the, I don't know. I would say hopefully not. Uh. You know, eloquence to be able to do so. Um, so that was some of the reasoning behind what I did this four, right? If nothing else, my children could listen to it and they would think that's pretty cool. And I would think that's pretty cool. And along the way, a lot of you guys also cared about my opinion. And so I found myself in a situation where I continued to continue, continued to talk about current events. And I found, found myself getting washed out a little bit, um, because. It felt like we were winning, right? It felt like the war was kind of won. It felt like we overcame the, uh, the wokeness that was ingraining itself into our society, and, and the, the pendulum had swung back. And so I didn't feel as motivated to take the time to speak out about those things as, uh, energetically as I had previously. And so. From there. I also have a business or multiple businesses. I have a family, and so I decided to put my time, energy, and effort into that. But now I realize after tying this into the full narrative here, where that went wrong, right? There is a bigger picture here for those children who will be listening to this, for those grandchildren who would be listening to this. And what I would say to them is, let your voice be heard. Your voice matters, and. But I think there's a reason, there's a, there's a way that I kind of went wrong with what I was doing before, and hopefully I can correct that. It fell very much into the right verse left category right. What I found to be really interesting watching a lot of the clips with Charlie Kirk is that he wasn't just taking his finger and wagging it at people and telling them what they were doing wrong. He was telling them how they could do better and then pointing them in a direction that would help them do so. And by a direction, I mean up towards God, towards Jesus, towards the Bible, towards biblical teachings and how they can improve their life. If they followed these teachings, your life will get better. They don't just tell you, you shouldn't do that thing, right? You should, well, maybe you shouldn't do that thing, and let me show you how this can help you to improve your life, not only in this facet, but in others. And so I think that was something that was missing from my approach before where I don't think I gave enough positive. Answers to the negativity that I found myself having to bask in every day. Right? There was just so much negativity, whether it was the trans stuff, whether it was the, the political landscape or the wars that were breaking out or all of these things like the, the, it just was so heavy and so negative constantly without the guiding light to push people towards. That was what Charlie Kirk. Was able to do and the impact that he had. And what we saw is that the, the biggest theme about Charlie Kirk wasn't his socioeconomic beliefs, his his beliefs on the tax regulation or his judicial beliefs on certain laws and regulations. Like it wasn't, it was none of that. Right? The reason that Charlie Kirk had such a big impact was because he pointed. People up, he ported them towards something better, even if he was critiquing something that they were doing. And usually this morality that he found himself holding was based fundamentally in those teachings that he learned from the Bible. And I, myself, as you, you may know from the years that you've been listening to me, wasn't as, uh, entrenched in my faith as maybe I am now. And I'm glad to say that I, I'm there. I found it. I've, over the last couple of years, I, I have been able to. Read more about the Bible, read more about Jesus, read more about Christianity, and have been able to find something for myself and my family that has made me a better man and have made me a better leader for those around me. And so, um, yeah, that's what I got to say about it guys. Like it was so negative and there was no better way, right? It was just, this is bad, this sucks. You guys are terrible. This is not good for humanity. It was never like, Hey, but check, check this thing out over here. This is pretty cool guys. Like this could actually help you improve your life. And, uh, and so I'm, I'm happy to say that I've found that, and, and the, the way that I plan to approach this moving forward is not that of like left verse right. It's not blue verse red and it is truly about good verse evil. That is what this podcast will be about. If I see something that I think is morally wrong, I will call it out, whether it's on the left, whether it's on the right, whether it's nothing to do with politics, I will call it out. That is the goal of this, and so if you don't like that, if feel free to leave now, that's perfectly fine with me. That's perfectly fine. I will find my tribe, although I have an inkling to think that the people who have been listening to me are also on the same wavelength as me, and for so long I have also criticized Trump and, and the things that he's doing. And, uh, I will continue to do so if those things I believe are morally unethical, including the Epstein files. Right in including the preemptive strike on Iran, including like some of these things that we've been talking about that I've been calling out for quite some time. That is going to be the theme of what we're doing here, guys. Okay. So with all that being said, I found a better way and I am so thankful that Charlie Kirk kind of paved the way for this type of discussion. And, uh, happy to say that I'll be picking up the mic myself along with many, many other people to hopefully continue his legacy. All right. With all that said, let's talk about the event with Charlie Kirk. Right? And one of the things that he taught me is that politics is the battleground for morality, but it's not the only battleground, right? There's so many other things that we need to discuss and talk about, including the health movement, including, you know. So many different topics. And so there's been a complete illusion of choice, right? It's not left versus right. It's not blue versus red. It's good versus evil. And what we saw with Charlie Kirk was absolute evil. And where that came from, we're gonna get to the bottom of it. Alright? So the mainstream narrative with Charlie Kirk is that there was a lone gunman who acted alone, who assassinated Charlie Kirk because of his beliefs on trans ideology. That seems to be the narrative, right? That's the writings on the bullet, right? He, he took himself onto the top of the rooftop and took a shot from almost parallel to Charlie Kirk, and it went into his neck and didn't have any exit wound, and Charlie died right there on the spot. And then, then some weird stuff happened and occurred that we'll talk about too. So one of those things being. One thing that I seem to have the biggest problem with here is that so many people, Donald Trump, k Patel, uh, even Erica Kirk, during the Memorial service, everybody is out there saying that. Anybody who tells you that this is case closed at this point, September 23rd, 2025. Anybody who tells you that this is case closed with Charlie Kirk's assassin, we should stop. Looking at other, other, pulling on other strings, looking in other directions, asking questions that aren't anything to do with this man, Tyler Robinson, then you should be suspicious of them. One, he's made no confession. Why are reacting like this is the guy if there's no confession? He hasn't been tried by a jury. It's not even the court of public opinion at this point because it's not the public's opinion. It's the court of government opinion. We're being told by everybody in the government right now that this is the guy stop asking questions case shut. He did it. Gonna get the death penalty. Doesn't that seem weird in a society that you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty? That is how this is supposed to go. The government does not get to jump on a news cycle. Say he did it. We know he did it. We don't have the evidence yet besides these discord, discord, uh, discord chats that Discord says didn't exist. Right. And we'll look at those chats together 'cause those are super suspicious. So he goes on the roof, he shoots him, then he gets off of the roof right after dissembling his rifle, which would take more than a minute to disassemble. Big pothole there. Right shot shot him with a 30 out six into the neck, but it apparently had no exit wound. Very weird, right? According to the surgeon that worked on him, according to the PR agent, that works for Turning Point, that's the case because of his bone density. Okay? Anybody who knows anything about guns would tell you that a 30 out six caliber rifle, right, a 36 bullet would completely have an exit wound. No situation where that doesn't occur. That is meant for big game, right? No way. That's the case. So shoots him, jumps off there, goes into a forest, goes, walks through the back area of this, you know, of UVU, takes his rifle, puts it into his backpack while he is on the roof, jumps off the roof, goes into the woods, wraps, reassembles his rifle. Wraps it in a towel, leaves it in the middle of the woods. Just the murder weapon. Right? Just the murder weapon. The one thing that you probably don't wanna leave, the one thing decides to leave it in the towel there. Okay. Then goes to his car, seems to do something for several hours, including go to a McDonald's or a Dairy Queen, I think was where the picture was taken. The same day and then lingers allegedly around where he left his rifle during a huge lockdown, right? Helicopters, tons of police presence lingers around there for like six or seven hours according to the timelines, waiting for the perfect moment to jump in and get his rifle weird. So let's look at those text messages and see what they're telling you was said between them. And this is him and his boyfriend slash trans lover that he lived with. All right, here we go. Here are the text messages. Now, some of the biggest questions people have about this is the type of language that they're using, right? Some of the specific words here come from this bottom paragraph. Now, one thing I'd like to point out that I thought was brilliantly pointed out by. Candace Owens producer or somebody that was on the set with her is that there is a ton when it comes to the Tyler Robinson text messages. There is a ton of ellipses, ton of them. Every single sentence it seems like right ev, above each of these individual text message, ellipses, ellipses, ellipses, ellipses, ellipses. That's not written. That's saying that they cherry picked different statements from different parts of the conversations and omitted others. That's not evidence being given to the public. That's doctored evidence being given to the public. And by the way, there's no timelines here. You know how every single texting platform since a IM has told you when a message came through. They're not telling you that here. Pretty suspicious. Now, if you get to the bottom of this doctored conversation that apparently happened on Discord, but Discord said didn't happen on Discord, you would see this, this writing by Robinson to his trans boyfriend, roommate, lover. And what people are saying about this, by the way, is that it sounds like. They put something into chat, GPT saying that, oh, write a conversation between two people in their twenties where they're talking about, you know, X, Y, and Z. Right? What I would do if I was writing this, if I was the FBI writing this, right? If I was the FBI, writing this conversation between Tyler Robinson and his boyfriend, trans lover, here's the prompt that I would give it. I would say. Write a conversation between two Gen Z men. Both are gay, one is trans, and make it check these evidence boxes. One, he used his grandpa's rifle. Two, he left it in the forest. Three he wrote on the bullets. Four, he X, Y, and Z. Right? Write down the line. Here's exactly what the evidence that I need you to integrate into this discussion. That's what this looks like. Now, what other people are saying is that it doesn't look like people took the, the prompts that they put in said between people in their twenties. It sounds more like they said people in the twenties, like in the 1920s, makes it so much more believable with the way that they're talking. So some of the questions, some of the su suspicions that people have around this are this particular statement which says, I'm wishing I had circled back. This is talking about how he left the, the gun within the forest. I'm wishing I had circled back and grabbed it as soon as I got to my vehicle. Vehicle. Kind of a weird term for a 20-year-old male to use and not somebody who's. Federal law enforcement, which is what it much more sounds like. I'm worried ab, I'm worried what my old man would do if I didn't bring back grandpa's rifle. I don't even know if I, it had a serial number, but it wouldn't trace to me. I worry about my prints. I had to leave it in a bush where I changed outfits. Outfits another weird thing for a 20-year-old male to say, most guys don't change outfits. They change clothes. Most guys don't drive a vehicle. They drive a car. Weird. Didn't have the ability or time to bring it back with me. And I also should probably give you where these ellipses are. 'cause we've already had three in this singular sentence where they're jumping around and cherry picking statements anyways, uh, and changed outfits. Didn't have the ability or time to bring it with me. Or to bring it with ellipses, I might have to abandon it and hope they don't find Prince. How the F will I explain losing it to my old man, the old man and grandpa. Thing's kind of weird. Kind of weird. Maybe some people say that. My old man, like it's still going back. It sounds a little, little off to me right now. There's a bunch of other things in here, but the biggest thing is the ellipses. The biggest thing is the vernacular. The biggest thing is how weird and off this sounds for a 22-year-old. Guy to speak this way. Okay. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he's weird. Probably is. Now, let's look at the tweet from Cash Patel. All right. He wrote this, I think it was two days ago now, on the, yep, the 21st. He wrote a direct. Response to all of the cons, all of the conspiracies, right? Cash Patel says, Hey, I'm going to address these conspiracies. So Cash Patel wrote this tweet addressing these conspiracies, and here's what he had to say about it. As the director of the FBII am committed to ensuring the investigation in the Charlie Kirk's assassination is thorough and exhaustive. Pursuing every lead. Pursuing every lead. Um. To its conclusion. The full weight of America's law enforcement agencies are actively following the evidence that has emerged, but our efforts extend beyond initial findings. We are examining every facet of this assassination. We are meticulously, and I'm gonna break down each one of these for you. 'cause he says all of the different conspiracies, not all of them. He points out some of the inconsistencies in their reporting, and I'll go through what each one of them are broken down into it in detail. We are meticulously investigating theories and questions, including the location from where the shot was taken. The possibility of accomplices, the text message, confession and related conversations, discord chats the angle of the shot and impact how the weapon was transported. Hand gestures observed as potential signals near Charlie at the time of his assassination and visitors to the alleged shooters, residents, and the hours and days of leading up to September 10th, 2025. Some details are known today, while others are still being pursued to ensure every possibility is being considered. So let's go back up and let's talk through each one of these individual things that he's addressing. One is including the location from where the shot was taken. Okay? And I'd like to remind you guys when it comes to Charlie Kirk's assassination, we've been training for this, we've been studying for this. We have an entire society. Who has spent five years uncovering government conspiracies. Now they think in real time they can pull one over on us on a, with a huge world stage assassination. And we're not gonna figure this out. Like guys, we've been training for this from C-O-V-I-D-J-F-K assassination, MLK assassination, right? All of those, we know when there is a lone shooter. That lone shooter. A lone shooter is never usually the person that actually conducted the hit. That's what we call a patsy, the fall guy, right? We know this. That's the formula of these conspiracies, right? That's what happened with JFK. That's what happened with MLK, right? We go back and back to each one of these major assassinations or assassination attempts, right? You go back to the assassination attempt by Trump, which. Weirdly enough, we know far more about Tyler Robinson at this point than we ever figured out about Trump's assassinator, right? Or attempted alleged assassin. Kind of weird, kind of weird that Trump's not even asking questions about why this guy tried to kill him. Kind of weird. Trump. Trump, the guy with the biggest ego in the world. We all know it. Is not even trying to figure out why this kid tried to kill him. You know, the one that was in the BlackRock commercial, kind of weird and everybody just dropped it. Everybody dropped it. Nobody's asking questions about that anymore. We're not even exploring that. That conspiracy over done case closed, shut, bye. But we have been studying for this. We have been. We, we were born in the dark. You simply adapted Bain. Right? We have been studying for this. They think they can pull one over on us. They think you're stupid, just like they've thought for a hundred years. Just like they thought they did when they pulled off JFK, just like they thought you were when they pulled off MLK. Right? Just like they thought when they were doing Operation Northwoods or MK Ultra, or. Any one of these things, right? Go back. I got a whole list of episodes for you to listen to on government conspiracies, but guess what? We're too smart for this now, and we are in real time uncovering exactly where the potholes are, which took us 50 years with the other assassinations. We're gonna figure this out guys. We're not gonna let this go. So here are some of the things that Kash Patel pointed out. We are meticulously investigating theories and questions, including the location from where the shot was taken. Right? Question number one, was the shot actually taken by the man who was running across the top of the building from the location that was directly in front of Charlie Kirk? Well, that would be kind of weird if it was actually a 30 out six cartridge because the location. Everybody's thinking is probably more likely an exit wound, which usually, and everybody saw that video, everybody has PTSD from it. It was horrible to see. That's usually where you see that type of blood amount coming from the body. Not an entrance wound, the exit wound. So that would mean that he wasn't shot from straightforward and it hit here. He was shot maybe from this direction, which is what people are exploring. There was another location that people seem to think there's even videos online where people are slowing down and saying that they saw a bullet from that direction, right? Or I guess the direction to Charlie's right from where he was facing right and up instead of directly in front of him. So people are slowing down that footage and seeing that. So that would mean that there was not only one person on the roof over here, but potentially one person on the roof over here. Not only that. There's also another theory because they seem to have cemented over the patio area that he was shot on, right? All of that, that, you know, the crime scene within 48 hours, they went and covered the entire thing, kind of suspicious. But what people saw when they were covering that with. That there was actually immediately behind, and I saw this on X and I didn't even believe it. I thought this was AI being used to put fuel on the fire of the conspiracies with Charlie Kirk. I didn't believe this one until Candace Owens came with receipts and said there is a trap door behind where Charlie Kirk was sitting. That image is real weird. Very weird. So the question being asked there is, could that person have shot him from that trap door behind him? Seems crazy. Seems super wild. But guess what? People are crazy. Governments are crazy and they've done wild stuff forever. That seems like a pretty clean way to make this happen. Barely gotta even open it, right? Other people are looking at the microphone. Trolley's shirt and seeing how that completely moved. Right. Some people are thinking that it's a, you know, do you wanna get really into the weirdness? I don't agree with it. And I, I think this is, uh, kind of a gross conspiracy where they're saying that it was like some sort of, um, device that would shoot out the blood. Right. But other people are saying, is that where the bullet came from? There's a microphone on him. Right, so, so many questions about it. Just from that first, first statement, so many different theories, so many different possibilities, and I'm sure there's thousands of others possibilities just from that first statement that we're not even thinking of yet. The next question is the possibility of accomplices. Now, this is a weird one. There is a man, there was a man, an old man on the scene after Tyler Robinson allegedly pulled the trigger. Who raised his hand, threw himself in, into the, the, the police and said, I did it. I shot him. And that guy later going to jail for child pornography on his phone. Surprise, surprise, then says, I just did that 'cause I wanted the guy to get away. Hmm. That seems pretty weird to me. Does it not? That seems pretty weird. What person in a situation like that, they hear a gunshot. They, they, let's start from the beginning. They go to an event for somebody they dislike. Now, that's not out of the norm, especially for Charlie Kirk. He invited those people out. He wants to debate those people perfectly fine. Makes sense. Maybe he went to the location for that. Okay. Let's say that then gunfire rings out. In the midst of the chaos, he sees Charlie Kirk get shot. He decides I'm going to not only say that, you know, I'm, I'm gonna raise my hand, say that I did it, which means that he thought through, not only that, but he thought through the idea that, well, I'm probably not actually gonna go to jail for this. If I say that I do it right now, that's also gonna help that guy get away. And that means I'm gonna get away with, or I'm gonna get out of here because there's no real evidence to indict me. Because he's basically saying, I'm gonna be the fall guy for this. Right. Weird. Who thinks to do that during gunfire? Super weird. And who thinks through that far and says, well, I know they're not gonna be able to indict me. I know they're not gonna be able to charge me, even though I'm admitting to it in this moment. It's really just gonna allow that shooter to get away. And by the way, I care so much about that shooter. I don't want him to go to jail for this. I'll be the fall guy all in within a minute or two of this shooting happening. Five minutes, whatever. It's. Super weird. Now other people are saying he was on a discord chat with other, uh, 20 other people and there was a Utah L-G-B-T-Q-I-L-M-N-O-P, something about, uh, gun owners or learning to use guns within that community. Okay? Pretty weird, right? 20 people in the Discord chat. Only Discord still says that they have nothing to do with this. Still says that they don't have the the, the messages. The next one is the text message confession. We just went through that. Super suspicious. The next one is related conversations, discord chats. Okay. The next one is the angle of the shot in the bullet impact. We need an autopsy. The third one is fourth one, fifth one, whatever it is, how the weapon was transported. Was it taken down in real time? That took him an entire minute. Well, that's weird because he jumped off the building within 15 seconds. So how did he take that down? Put it in his backpack, like disassembled a rifle, which takes about a minute. That rifle specifically puts it in his backpack, a backpack that wouldn't fit that rifle. Also suspicious, then gets into the woods, changes his clothes, reassembles his rifle, wraps it in the towel. Throws it in the bush. Yeah, nothing makes sense about that. Okay, good. And then visitors to the alleged shooters residence in the hours and days leading up to September 10th, people were saying with around Tyler Robinson's, uh, location where his house, where he lived with his boyfriend that he had out of state plates visiting his house in the days and weeks leading up to the shooting. Okay, so there's everything Cash Patel is addressing within his tweet about this, but at least he's addressing these things. Now. I don't know if he really had a choice in this environment, right? Anything that Charlie or that that Kash Patel says at this point, I'm just super suspicious of because I've seen him lie about Epstein so many times at this point. Why would we believe anything that he has to say about the assassination of Charlie Kirk? Why would we believe anything? He has lied to the community. He has lied to your face. He has lied to the American people so many times about Epstein. So many times, right? We still don't have answers of why the security footage was cut at the exact time that Epstein was. Suicide. Still don't have that answer. Right? And we'll get into the reasons why. I think, you know, this happened in just a moment, but these are some of the questions that people have, right? So now who, if not he, if not Tyler Robinson, who could it be? Now there's a whole online community of people pointing the finger. It is real. And the reason for that is somewhat legitimate. Everybody. Everybody who has been watching Charlie Kirk over the last several months has seen that Charlie has been criticizing Israel, has been super skeptical, whether it's about what they're doing in Gaza, which he called an ethnic cleansing, literally word for word, just a month ago, to tying Mossad to Jeffrey Epstein, which he said just a month, a month and a half ago. With Patrick Beda, his podcast, I believe it was, and then hosting AM Fest, where he had Dave Smith debate somebody, and not only debate them, but demolish them on the topic of Israel. And how what they're doing is wrong and how it's a genocide and how it's horrible and atrocious. And then he also spoke about how he believes the Mossad and Israel are blackmailing all of the politicians in the us, not all of them, but many of them. And he also spoke about APAC and how he thinks that, you know, they should be registered under Farah, which is also quite interesting. Something that JFK talked about almost in the weeks prior up to him getting assassinated. Then you get into the situation with the Hamptons that Candace is talking about, which is the fact that there was a meeting of influencers, and by influencers, I say all of the traditionalist, uh, corporate influencers in this space, right? All of the Zion. Pr you all of the Zionist daily wire. Um, and then you have some people sprinkle in there that aren't that. But a lot of it had to do with the, you know, the, the entrenched corporate influencers that have been propped up by those types of organizations. And meeting there with Charlie. And originally the idea was that they were gonna talk about menani, the, the, you know, New York, um, mayor. And then it turned into a somewhat. Very serious, uh, cornering of Charlie Kirk about Israel and how, what he's doing wrong. And then that led to a final Stitch effort by Benjamin Netanyahu of offering Charlie Kirk $150 million to Turning Point USA. Why would he do that? Why would you offer $150 million as a country to a foreign country's, uh, media company? Well, for influence. To turn it into a propaganda arm for you, and guess what? Charlie Kirk said, no. Guess where we're at now. Just a month later, he's dead. Makes pretty logical sense, right? That's one of the theories and that's a fair theory, but I don't think it's the only theory that we should be pursuing a question that I have. Who else is gaining off of this? Who is gaining something from this assassination? And maybe we marry these two ideas, right? Every assassination in the last a hundred years was not done by a lone gunman in this political sphere. And there was always some, some of these two, one of these two organizations or groups, Masad, CIA, that's it. Now, it's not to say that there's other foreign governments that aren't doing these things and doing it in different locations, but all of the prominent ones that we know of likely allegedly had to do with one of those two organizations or both of them. So when we look at this situation, the fact that nobody is calling out the Trump administration or the CIA or our local domestic government being a part of this. Seems like a big hole to me. Why? Why would they do this? Who's set to gain from it? Well, Trump has a 39, a 39% approval rating. Right now. Trump has lost much of his base because the litmus test for him being truthful and honest and really wanting to improve American politics and drain the swamp, as he would say was Jeffrey Epstein. Then he went on the gaslighting tour telling us, Jeffrey Epstein is a hoax. It doesn't even really exist. He didn't traffic it to anybody. He was backed up by Dan Bongino. He was backed up by KS Patel. He was backed up by Pam Bombi. Right. Who also said that there was 10,000 hours worth of tapes of horrific things that they found, but then retracts that later. Right. That was the litmus test. That's how we knew if he was being honest or not, and he wasn't, and he lost his base. He lost me. I tried to convince everybody that I talked to to vote for Trump. I would not do that again at this point because he's not being honest and he's very likely a part of the Epstein files. I've reported on that before. Several times. He was on the flight logs, right? He, there's 17 different separate pictures of him at different times. He drew that picture for his birthday and gave it to him. Kind of suspicious and weird. Um, lots of reasons. Lots of reasons. So now with a 39% approval rating, you see what happened at the memorial service, which looked like to me more of a Trump rally when Trump got out there, right? Walked out with his WWE walkout song and fireworks shooting down and a a, a live musician singing. I'm proud to be an American. Right? Not amazing grace. Not, not anything glorifying Charlie Kirk's legacy. I'm proud to be an American. The same song Trump came out to, to his rallies and he treated it like a rally. Majority of the statements that came out of Trump's mouth were not about the legacy of Charlie Kirk. Now he ended most of his sentences trying to tie it back, and Charlie would agree with me on this, that we've done a great job on X, Y, and Z. Right? Then gives his big reveal about vaccines. And Tylenol and autism, right? Uses this as his podium to come out and try to gain public approval again, and we'll get more into detail on that in just a second, but I just thought that's weird. But first, before we jump into that, let's talk about this bringing up Pam Bondy's name is The Situation with Hate speech, let's watch Pam Bondy's own words when it comes to the difference between hate speech and free speech. According to her, here we go. There's free speech and then there's hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie in our society. Do you see? More law enforcement going after these groups who are using hate speech and putting cuffs on people. So we show them that some action is better than no action. We will absolutely target you, go after you if you are targeting anyone with hate, speech, anything, and that's across the aisle. There's free speech and then there's hate. So let's be clear what she's talking about there, because she, she came out and said, oh, I was, I was speaking about people who are making threatening remarks. No, no. That's not what hate speech is. Right? There's laws around making violent threats, right, that are credible. But when she's talking about this here, what you have to understand when you have Republicans clapping right to the sound of her saying that they're gonna go after people for hate speech, especially in light of like this Jimmy Kimmel switch of hands where they made it seem like they were actually gonna get rid of him, but they actually didn't. Right. What they were doing is called a shock test, right? They were trying to figure out what would the public's response be if we go after people on mainstream media and get rid of their platform by leveraging, you know, the tools of the federal government, right? Because that's what happened here, is that. Apparently Trump went to the FCC Board and put pressure on them, and they went to A, B, C, and to Disney and to all of these affiliates, and they basically got him pulled off. Right, but the, the point of that was not to actually pull him from the air because today's Tuesday the 23rd and he's going to be aired again already. They were trying to figure out exactly what your response would be. Republicans, Democrats, both sides of the aisle, libertarian, everybody. They were trying to figure out what the response would be, and you guys, maybe not you, but you guys failed right on both sides of the aisle. Right. We were so against hate speech when it had to do with COVID, when it had to do with, uh, the Black Lives Matter riots when it had to do the L-G-B-T-Q-I-E, letter P, whatever, right? We were so against it until it's time for us to, right. The Voltaire quote, uh, I wholly disagree with what you have to say, and I will put down my life to defend your right to say it. Something like that, right? And so the idea. That they were testing you, they were trying to figure out how you would respond, right? And they did that. And now he's gonna be back on air. And now they know that you'll crumble under pressure. And again, maybe not you, but the general public. And so we have to be clear here. This hate speech that Pam Bondy is talking about is not going to be about Charlie Kirk. This had nothing. This statement has nothing to do with Charlie Kirk. They tried to make it seem like that with Jimmy Kimmel. Interesting timing. But it has nothing to do with that. What it has to do with is going to be your criticism of who Take a guess Israel. That will be the new shadow banning crusade. That will be the new lose your platform, get banned from Instagram, Twitter, x, TikTok, all of them, right? That is gonna be the new battleground that will have to be fought on for free speech, right? It's no longer COVID. It's no longer LGB, whatever. It's gonna be Israel. That's what these laws will be used for. And guess what? If you're under 30, if you're under 40, and even if you're on the right, generally statistically, you don't agree with what's happening and what Israel's doing, and so they will come after you. That's what she says at the very bad, at the very end of that clip on both sides of the aisle. Well, what are both sides of the aisle saying that they don't like? It's about Israel. That's gonna be the anti-Semitic hate speech that's going to cause you to get banned on Instagram or TikTok. Right? Trust me. Lost my TikTok. Totally banned from TikTok and lost my Instagram platform for, from growing for like two years during COVID because I was speaking what the truth if they, if they knew that you were lying, they wouldn't have to silence you because the truth eventually comes out. Right. They wouldn't have to label you because they know that what you're saying, right? They don't have to say you're anti-Semitic or you're anti-vax, right? They called you anti-VAX when they didn't like the facts of what you were saying about vaccines, right? They called you vaccine hesitant, right? All of those situations, this will come around to bite you. So if you are the person clapping to this, realize this is not. For what you think it is and it is always and will always be a Trojan horse for the government to gain more power. And guess what? That's what we're against here. Right? Right. That's what we're against here. We do not want to centralize more power to the government to tell people what they can and what they cannot say or think, or this is not the minority report. We're not able to handcuff people for thoughts or words. That is what our forefathers, the founding fathers said explicitly, the freedom of speech is what everything else is built off of. The First Amendment is protected by the Second Amendment, and all the other amendments have to be protected by the First Amendment. That's it. So disgusting, not something I support. Absolutely not, and just further makes me dislike Pam Bondi. All right. Now moving on to the Charlie Kirk Memorial, which I think is important to this to touch on too. There were some beautiful moments. There were some kind of weird moments, right? Some things to do with Erica Kirk that some people are now pointing out is kind of weird. We'll talk about those. Uh, so some of the things that I would like to point out that were positive about this one, I do think it's incredible that we're having a national discussion about our faith. One Nation under God, one nation under God. I think it's amazing that you had all these Christian artists out there singing the gospel. Pretty awesome, pretty cool, all the biggest ones, right? Brandon Lake was there, right? You had all these huge artists there that were, were singing amazing songs. Uh, and then you had almost every politician that was there mentioned. God, Jesus. Right? The believing of Charlie Kirk and what had brought this, this new rising of Christianity within our country. But I do think that there was some bad faith actors leveraging that name, right. Leveraging the name of Jesus in a way that I find to be disingenuous. Right? I also didn't like Jack Poso ex's talk where he was basically doing some sort of weird, like. Rally cried. His, like thinking it was like his coming out party for, for himself to take the stage and not just like honor the, the legacy of Charlie Kirk. I do think that the, uh, you know, Tucker Carlson had some amazing highlights, one of which was talking about exactly what we were talking about earlier, where he was pointing out that, you know, the, the, the very similarities of the story of Jesus and him being crucified for saying things that. A specific party didn't seem to like him saying and was alluding to that being the exact case here, which I thought was interesting. Uh, especially in light of Candace Owens and him being the one that was given a platform to speak at this event and still platforming, platforming stupid word, but still talking about that in an open discussion for this specific party, right, of people that he was claiming might have something to do with this. Right. Tucker's moment was amazing. You should go listen to his entire speech. I thought it was incredible. Uh, now when we get into, uh, Erica Kirk's moments, you know, the, the fact that she was able to stand on stage, I'm not this good of a man yet. The fact that she was able to stand on that stage 10 days after her husband was assassinated, and forgive the person that she's saying assassinated him or believes that assassinated him. Man, that was unbelievably powerful. Unbelievably powerful and incredible. And, and I also loved the part of her statement. You know, often when it comes to Christianity and people getting into Christianity, especially women, they seem to have this negative idea of Christianity based on the idea that they should be subservient or servant to their serve, their husband. And there's this complete wrong way of thinking about it that I think Erica addressed perfectly, which was that you are not his employee. Do, do treat your wife as if she is your partner. You are partner. She is your partner, you are her partner, and she's not your employee. She's not your slave. Right? And I thought that was a great way to address the women of this nation who are maybe interested in Christianity in their Christian faith and exploring it further, but finding some distaste for the way that some people misrepresent the biblical teachings in the way about the way that you should look at your wife and the way that she should, uh, you know, kind of. Allow you to lead your family, right? That doesn't mean that you take advantage of her. And I thought that was a great statement that she made as well. Now, a couple of things that I thought was weird about this, weird about the, the, the situation at the, uh, the memorial service, one being. Trump came out to Charlie Kirk's memorial, like he was about to storm John Cena in the WWE Fireworks and sparklers and music being sang by somebody in the background. God bless America, the whole three minutes, not a little excerpt, the entire thing. And then Trump walked on stage and had the audacity for 30 to 40 minutes, however long it was to barely touch on the legacy of Charlie Kirk. I thought this was completely distasteful. I thought it was gross. Everything that Trump talked about was himself. It seemed like he took that opportunity as a moment for him to try to win back the popularity of the people with a 39% current approval rating to try to, Hey guys, also, you know, this guy died, but also I'm amazing. Look at all the great things that I'm doing. And Charlie thought so too, and that's exactly how he stated all these things was like he would do a whole thing on what he's doing. That's great. Right. The, the vaccine or the autism thing with Tylenol. And then he would, and Charlie would, Charlie would love it. Charlie would love it. He would just, he would put an exclamation point that was about Charlie. He would tie him into every single statement, but none of the statements were truly about Charlie. Maybe the first five minutes, I thought that was gross. I thought it was distasteful. I don't think that was the right platform. This is literally something to honor the legacy of a great man, and you took it as an opportunity for you to grandstand at this man's podium over his casket. Figuratively speaking to talk about how amazing of a job you're doing when you know the general public totally disagrees with you on that. Starting with the Epstein files, it was gross. It was weird. Not the place, not the time. The next thing that I thought was weird was the ending, and, and I'll preface this with I'm. I am not going to, I'm, I'm going to preface this with the idea that I don't believe there's actually something, well, I'm not gonna say that I don't believe it. I don't have any credible evidence that there's something here yet. But there's something weird about the way that Erica Kirk went about her, the ending of that. Like, it was very pageant esque. Right. And she was Miss Arizona, right? Like she was in that environment. So maybe that's just the, the. Muscle fibers, the fast twitch muscle fibers, they're the muscle memory that turns on when she gets on a stage and starts public speaking, which is super fair and, and also we'll also preface this with the fact that if you tell anybody that they need to stand in front of a 10 million people and give a speech about their dead husbands who was assassinated, who died 10 days ago, and also do it next to the president, they're probably gonna act a little weird. But there's a lot of people in the public who are starting to ask questions about Erica Kirk and if she's, uh, in any way, shape, or form, not thinking either in the best interest of Charlie's legacy or something of that sort. I dunno. I don't necessarily agree with it. I did think there was a few weird points. One being at the very end with the hug with Trump, it looked very pageantry. It looked very like, uh, like a photo op. Not like you're literally actually grieving your husband's death and then you so happen to hug the president and lay your head on his chest and like weep in this weird, pageantry way. I just didn't like it. I thought it was weird. I, again, I'm not trying to be disrespectful to her. I have the, the utmost respect to her and her family. I just thought it was weird and a lot of other people did too. I'm not the only guy. Now, this started a whole thing around Erica Kirk and people digging into her background. One of the things that people are starting to point to, and I have found no evidence of this, no proper evidence that supports this, and I looked, but people are saying that Erica Kirk had this. Nonprofit that she started like 20 years ago, almost. Not sure how that's possible with her being 36 or so, 37. Uh, she started this thing called the Romanian Angels and where she set up an orphanage in Romania. And uh, there was some people alleging that locals were saying that they were in some way, shape or form trafficking children or selling them through some adoption channels in the US or. Something of the sort like that I found no evidence of that. But how many people do you know at 19, 18 years old start a Romanian, uh, children's orphanage and work with the US military to do it? Uh, I also saw some. Allegedly, I have not seen any, any validation of this. Some people saying that her dad was, had some ties into, um, like the military industrial complex in Raytheon. I saw some other people pointing out that a, she was a casting director during the time, uh, or not a casting director, but there was like some, she claims to have been in some way, shape, or form a part of the, the movie industry or some sort of like a casting person that would find talent or would, there was something around that, that idea. And people were saying it's kind of weird that at the same time that. Donald Trump owns the Miss USA pageant. She also is a part of Miss Arizona and he's also friends with Jeffrey Epstein. I don't see a connection there. Doesn't make sense to me. And then last but not least, her and Charlie met in Israel of all places. Somewhat interesting. They met for a job interview. He went to interview her, said he didn't wanna hire her, he wanted to marry her, or something along those lines. Great background story. Beautiful love story. Uh, and again, what I'm saying about majority of this is there's no substantial evidence that supports any of these theories at all. I don't. I do not think that there's anything to the Romanian Angels thing at this moment. I don't think that there's, it is kind of a weird coincidence with the Miss Arizona thing and then them meeting in Israel at the same exact time. Kind of weird, but again, doesn't lead me to believe anything. I just had a weird gut feeling when I saw her on stage. And again, that maybe is just the, the muscle memory kicking in with her pageantry and the way that she was on Trump just seemed awkward and weird and like very forced, very photo oppy to me. Uh, I dunno, time will tell. A bunch of people are looking into it a hopefully, and, and you know, all likelihood is that she's a great person because Charlie wouldn't have married her if that wasn't the case. Some people just come off super genuine and some people don't know how to go in front of a crowd like that without, you know, turning on a different mask. Uh, and I'm my gut feeling she's probably a great person and she also probably is used to being in a pageant and has those muscle memories when she gets on the stage and speaks in front of millions of people. That's what makes sense to me. All of that being said, this whole thing's weird guys. It stinks. There's something going on here. There's more than what they're telling us. We need to figure it out. Is it Israel? Is it the us? Are they trying to stop somebody from speaking out and building a large organization of youth, right? The next 20 years from now, the people who are under 30 right now that are completely against Israel are gonna grow up and they're gonna be the next stage of politicians. And how easy are they gonna be bought off when they think Israel is the literal state of the devil? Right. So something weird are going on here. Never let a good crisis go to waste. That's what we're seeing with Pam Bondi and Freedom of Speech, right? That's what we're seeing with the Shock test with Jimmy Kimmel, and we still don't know what's gonna come out from Cash Patel, but I'm glad that he addressed all of those points. Again. All that being said, thank you for being here. I'm excited to go down this journey with you and continue to bring you the truth. Continue to call out things where I see fit and I will see you next time right here on the Adams Archive. Thank you Adams Archive.

**Originally published on October 16, 2024**This replay features the brilliant Liza Adams - AI advisor, fractional CMO, and one of the top 50 CMOs to watch in 2024. We talked about her journey from Manila to Michigan, why gratitude fuels her leadership, and how she's spent 20+ years helping B2B tech companies elevate marketing from “tactical” to truly strategic.Liza's perspective on AI, trust, and building defensible moats is refreshing and practical - I left this convo inspired and with about ten new quotes for my wall.- Jane-----------In this episode of Women in B2B Marketing, host Jane Serra sits down with Liza Adams, AI advisor and fractional CMO. Liza shares how her engineering roots shaped her early entry into AI, and why she's passionate about marketing's role as a strategic driver of business growth (not just the “campaigns and events team”).This episode covers:Liza's journey from immigrant roots in the Philippines to tech executive in the U.S.Why marketing must reclaim its North Star: deep customer understandingThe three passions guiding her career: elevating marketing's strategic value, championing diverse voices, and using business as a force for goodPractical frameworks for evaluating product-market fit and building defensible moatsHow AI can shrink research cycles, spark alignment, and elevate marketers from tacticians to strategistsTrust as the ultimate differentiator - why “brand building” is really “trust building”Examples of how teams are using custom GPTs to boost productivity and decision-makingHer advice to CMOs in today's “pressure cooker” environmentLiza also shares the golden rule of modern marketing: be an amazing human first, then an amazing marketer. (yesssssss!!)Key Links:Guest: Liza Adams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizaadams/Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/ Discussed in Episode:Disrupt or Be Disrupted: AI's Verdict on Your Product's DefensibilityCompetitive Defensibility Analyzer GPT––Like WIB2BM? Show us some love with a rating or review. It helps us reach more listeners.

De Soi is one of the breakout stars of non-alc cocktails — selling more than a quarter million cases per year across all channels. Under CEO Scout Brisson, the brand has climbed to the #1 fastest-growing NA cocktail brand in mass channels, growing nearly 500% YOY, per SPINS data, with distribution in 6,000+ doors — and a new national partnership with Southern Glazer's set to take them even further.So what's driving this rocket ship? In this conversation, Scout pulls back the curtain on the operator mindset behind De Soi's rise. She shares why velocity — not awareness or impressions — is the brand's North Star metric, and how focusing on the fundamentals of execution is what keeps the shelves turning.We discuss:How De Soi overcame early Amazon challenges and built a winning channel strategyWhy Scout says “influencer marketing is dead” — and how local IRL businesses are becoming the new influencersThe flavor development process with co-founders Katy Perry and Morgan McLachlan, and how they balance sophistication with mass appealFundraising lessons, including how to convince skeptical investors in an emerging categoryScout also speaks candidly about setbacks (including a major production issue and retailer loss in the same week) and the resilience required to keep building in a fast-changing category.For drinks entrepreneurs, this episode is a case study in scaling a non-alc brand — full of takeaways on growth strategy, retail execution, and building a category leader from the ground up.Last Call:Hiring in the drinks industry looks very different than it did even a few years ago. In this sponsored Last Call, Rachel Doueck of Force Brands shares what every founder should know about scaling teams today:

Send us a textWelcome back to Management Material with Catherine Van Der Laan! In this episode, Catherine discusses the critical importance of leading with a clear and inspiring vision, especially in today's rocky and inconsistent world. She shares insights on how a well-defined vision can motivate your team, attract the right talent, and transform your organization's performance. Learn how to articulate a vision that gives people purpose, fosters commitment, and drives success, even when facing challenges like a disengaged workforce or rapid technological changes such as AI. Catherine uses real-world examples, including an executive coaching client struggling with high employee turnover, to illustrate how a vague vision like "grow" can lead to disengagement and a lack of direction. Discover how to identify your audience, define the specific change you aim to make, and filter that up into a guiding vision that serves as your North Star. This episode offers practical advice on how to make your mission obvious, keep your team motivated, and attract people who are genuinely interested in contributing to your organization's impactful change in the world.Book a complimentary management coaching conversation at https://calendly.com/catherine-vanderlaan/free-60-minute-leadership-consultation Email me at catherine@managementmaterialcoaching.com to ask a question or get in touch.Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/managementmaterialcoachingFind out more about Management and Leadership Coaching at https://managementmaterialcoaching.com/

The stars appear to rotate in the sky, raising the question of how birds can use stars to navigate during migration. Ornithologist Stephen Emlen brought Indigo Buntings to a planetarium, tracking their movements as the simulated night sky changed above them. The buntings oriented themselves using star patterns that appear to rotate the least — especially the North Star, Ursa Major and Cassiopeia.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

“It's not about you, but it's all about you. If you're able to think that way, you'll get feedback when you need it without asking for it and you'll be amazed how many problems just go away.”   It's AFL grand final week so we're bringing you a Best of Series episode from 2019 with Neil Craig, former AFL Head Coach, on high performance environments, your North Star and decision-making under pressure.  

Today, we're joined by Thomas Scott, CEO of Wrike, an intelligent work management platform where anyone can build, connect, automate, and scale workflows. We talk about:How personalization is accelerating the pace of software adoptionCo-creating the future with early adoptersMeeting customers where they are, because AI is not monolithicIdentifying & understanding information gaps in order to deliver value to customersSetting a North Star for your role in the industry & staying focused on solving customer pains

As a U.S. Air Force Academy cadet, now-Capt. Garrett “Kap” Kauppila '19 experienced a life-changing moment involving his older brother. SUMMARY That trial taught him success doesn't involve rank — it's about being present, showing gratitude and supporting others. Hear his powerful story on Long Blue Leadership. Listen today and be a better leader tomorrow!   SHARE THIS PODCAST FACEBOOK  |  LINKEDIN   "KAP'S" LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS Never take moments with loved ones for granted - cherish every interaction. Treat everyone with equal respect, regardless of rank or position. Find your authentic leadership style - don't try to imitate others. Root yourself in gratitude to increase your overall happiness. Fill your own "glass" first before trying to pour into others - self-care is crucial. Wake up early and accomplish tasks to get ahead of your day. Pursue what truly matters to you, not what others expect. Be willing to invest in yourself and sometimes work for free to prove your value. Ask "why" to understand the root cause of people's challenges and needs. Leadership is about showing genuine care, being consistent, and helping others increase their opportunities.   CHAPTERS 00:00: A Life-Changing Moment 01:04: Lessons from Adversity 08:30: The Importance of Gratitude 11:07: Finding Purpose in Leadership 11:28: The Journey to Teaching 17:57: Building Authentic Relationships 24:50: The Power of Self-Discovery 33:47: Investing in Yourself     ABOUT CAPTAIN KAUPPILA BIO Capt. Garrett “Kap” Kauppila '19 is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, where he distinguished himself both academically and athletically. A native of Rocklin, California, he played defensive back for the Falcons and maintained strong academic performance throughout his time at the Academy. After graduation, Capt. Kauppila has served in the Air Force in various capacities, including as an instructor. His leadership approach is informed by both the discipline of his military career and his commitment to continual self‑improvement. One of the pivotal moments in Capt. Kauppila's life was when his older brother, Kyle, suffered a near‑fatal motorcycle accident leading to a stroke. During that time, Garrett balanced intense emotional and physical challenges—on top of his duties and studies—taking time off, helping with his brother's care, and eventually returning to finish strong at the Academy with a 3.85 GPA. This period deeply shaped his philosophy of leadership: the idea of the “glacier theory,” which emphasizes looking beneath the surface to understand people's motivations and struggles, and recognizing that many uphill battles are won by small, consistent adjustments.      CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@usafa.org Ted Robertson | Producer and Editor:  Ted.Robertson@USAFA.org    Ryan Hall | Director:  Ryan.Hall@USAFA.org  Bryan Grossman | Copy Editor:  Bryan.Grossman@USAFA.org Wyatt Hornsby | Executive Producer:  Wyatt.Hornsby@USAFA.org      ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS   TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS Guest, Capt. Garrett "Cap" Kaupilla '19  |  Host, Lt. Col. Naviere Walkewicz '99   Naviere Walkewicz As a cadet, Kap had just began his first season as a defensive starter for Air Force football when his world was turned upside down by a crucible moment.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Sept. 17, 2017, will forever stay with my family. I ended up getting a call that my brother, that he's not breathing, and it appears that he's no longer with us. I had about 45 minutes to an hour window where I thought that was completely the case. Again, the last I heard he was evacced on a helicopter. He got in a motorcycle crash and didn't know the extent of the details. Was in the Sierra foothills in northern California, and that's all I knew. That changed the trajectory of our entire lives. Naviere Walkewicz My guest today is Capt. Garrett “Kap” Kauppila, United States Air Force Academy Class of 2019 — a man whose leadership journey was shaped in a way few of us can imagine. Kap learned about the fragility of life, the danger of taking even a single conversation for granted, and the importance of showing up with passion and gratitude every day. That perspective now defines Kap as a leader and as a mentor to our cadets at the Air Force Academy. In this episode, he shares the lessons learned in the hardest of circumstances, the power of authenticity, the discipline of not taking life's moments for granted, and the conviction that true leadership begins with respect for others, no matter their title nor rank. So stay with us, because Kap's story is more than a testimony of persistence and staying power. It's a call to live and lead with purpose. Kap, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. Capt. Garrett Kauppila Thank you very much.   Naviere Walkewicz We're so excited to have you. We want to go right to the moment your brother was in a motorcycle crash. Tell us about it. Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah. So, Sept. 17, 2017, I ended up getting a call that my brother was dead. That was the simple phone call — that he's not breathing and it appears that he's no longer with us. I had about 45 minutes to an hour window where I thought that was completely the case. Pretty surreal moment. You know, I can't say that I remember every detail of that feeling, but time had passed. I was trying to call people and figure out who could be there, who could be around. My uncle was the first one to arrive at the hospital. And again, the last I heard he was lifeline evacced in a helicopter. He got in a motorcycle crash. They didn't know the extent of the details. He was in the Sierra foothills in northern California, and that's all I knew. Lifeline evacced, unconscious, not breathing. He ended up surviving. He woke up in the hospital. My uncle was there. I end up getting a phone call, and I got the chance to speak to my brother on the phone, and I talked to him, and at first, I mean, I'm just in panic, you know? “Oh my God, he's calling. He's actually alive. Oh my gosh.” I got to get on the phone with him, and he seemed normal, beyond normal. And I had this realization that results matter less than expectations sometimes. If I expected that he was alive, I don't, they would have the same relief. But because I had the thought that he wasn't, that feeling will live within me forever. So, you know, I get the chance, we're talking on the phone. He's actually telling me about my game, and he was so excited to watch him play. Ask him about his day and his accident, what happened. He had no idea, right? When traumatic things happen in your life, sometimes it creates just a blackout. Even before, he didn't remember, you know, sometime before the accident happened. So he couldn't tell you what happened, how it happened, any of those details. But we went back and forth, kind of talking and exchanging a couple laughs, in fact. And I actually got a phone call then from Coach Calhoun who was kind enough to reach out to me just to tell me that, “Hey, you know, Kap, if there's anything we can do, I know there's a lot going on.” When he called me on the phone, it's not typical for a player to just get a rogue phone call from the head coach. So in that moment, I'm on the phone  with my brother, we're laughing, we're enjoying time. It feels normal for all intents and purposes. I think I took it for granted. I think you go from this feeling that he is not with me to he is completely normal, and that dichotomy, that strong polarization of feeling that I had led to, I guess, complacency. I took him for granted in that moment, I perceived, and, you know, if I could have gone back, I never would have answered the phone call. I appreciate and love Coach Calhoun for calling me, but I just would have soaked in that moment with him. And I didn't even think twice, like, “Oh yeah, Kyle, Kyle, I'll call you right back.” I called my brother's name. “I'll call you right back.” He's “OK, no worries. Just call me back. Cool.” Hung up, you know, answer the phone with Coach Calhoun. He was so lovely, just supportive, just saying, “Hey, we're all here for you. Anything you need, just let us know. You, your family. Anything.” You know, wonderful. I go to call my brother back. OK. “Hey. You know, he's asleep.” “OK, no worries.” You know, it's been a long day. He's exhausted. Little did I know that that was the last conversation that I would have with him for a year. He had a stroke. He then was induced into a coma. My brother was in a coma, for, if I remember, right — I don't remember if it was a day, two days, it was a couple of days, and that was the last I spoke to him. And then it was, is he gonna survive? And I just hung up the phone. I did not say “I love you,” which is something I always think that I say to my loved ones, and I didn't say it in that moment, and I'll forever regret that, because I never knew if I'd say it again. And so that was very, very difficult. I was here at the Air Force Academy now, and I was, you know, I guess I was ecstatic after my first start, preparing for my second. And then life came at me quickly. It was, “What am I… I need to go home. I need to be gone.” Process the paperwork for administrative turn back, you know, thankful for people in my life that helped support me in that, namely, Col. Harding, Coach Calhoun, were pivotal. Also Col. Pendry was pivotal in that process for me. But we processed that paperwork and then I called my parents. I'm like, “Hey, I'm coming home. That's what we're doing?” My parents said, “He can't do anything here. He's…” for lack of better word, I hate this term, but he was vegetative. There was no movement, no speaking, there was nothing. So there was nothing I could necessarily do to support them in that exact moment. So my parents were like, “Hey, continue your dreams. That's what he'd want for you right now.” So that's what I did. And I spent the next couple of days still trying to exist and be normal. You know, it was actually near prog, you know, tests are ramping up. I'm pulling all-nighters. I can't sleep. I don't know how he's doing. We end up playing a game the next Saturday against San Diego State, who's actually ranked No. 22 in the country at the time. And it was at home. I dedicated that game, you know, I remember posting something on my Instagram saying, “This game is for my brother, with my brothers.” And so it was kind of that moment I realized that it's OK to play for the name on the front of the jersey and the name on the back of the jersey — both matter. And I'm really thankful we have our names on the back of jersey, because at the end of the day, that's part of the reason we do what we do. It's part of what keeps us motivated. And in that game, things are going up and down. The game was crazy. It was a monsoon. We had a two-hour delay. My parents are watching from the hospital bed, in fact, and I end up blocking a punt in the fourth quarter. And on that play, I snapped my collar bone clean in half and I thought, “OK, maybe I'm just being weak. Let me keep going. I'll keep playing. Try to tough it out.” I kind of play the next series. In fact, I do something that harms our team. I'm not fully there. I'm in a lot of pain. I can't really tackle the right way. Ended up coming to the sideline and I remember telling the coaches that are the medical trainers, I was like, “Hey, I snapped my collarbone.” But he was, “OK, don't be dramatic.” He knows what that looks like when people traditionally do that. He felt under my shoulder pad and was like, “Oh my God!” We're talking nearly compound, like the corner of my bone is up in my trap situation. That moment, life was like, “All right, time to go home.” You know, call it what you want. Call it bigger purpose, whatever that may look like. It was time for me to go home. It was a difficult time. It was a very, very difficult time. And I couldn't be more thankful to have had the opportunity to go home and handle what I needed to handle. Sometimes nothing makes sense until the bones are right. Not to make that pun, right — the bones are right. My collarbone had everything to do with the core of my family. There's no way I could have succeeded in my life as a cadet… when the big things are wrong, none of the little stuff is gonna matter. So had that opportunity. You know, I became my brother's, his word, not mine — he called me his parrot because I knew him so well that I knew what he was thinking and feeling. He didn't speak, my brother, when he got out of the coma. They didn't know if he would speak again. He didn't speak, in fact, until the next the next spring, so not quite a year, but it still wasn't conversational at that point in time. So I was his parrot, as he would say. Yeah, not his parent. My older brother would never let me claim that title. But yeah, I was his words. People would look at him and ask him a question, and he would look at me and give me a demeanor, and I was like, “You know, here's what's going on, here's what he's feeling, thinking, etc.” He doesn't have memory of those about three months of his life, which is pretty surreal to think. So that was a moment that turned my world upside down.   Naviere Walkewicz Yes. I mean, literally, I just, I'm thinking through all of that you shared. It was a series of things that happened. I mean, my goodness, I guess the first question that comes to my mind as I was listening to you and soaking in that story is, how did you change in that moment? Because you went on a phone call, from being on a high to a low, complacent to like — what literally changed in you because of this? Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah, the moment that I realized that could be the last conversation I ever had with my brother, I didn't say I love you — that made me never take another moment for granted. And it's the littlest things in life that it's so easy to take for granted. And that's a cliche statement, but genuinely, I don't take for granted the ability to use my right hand. I don't take for granted ability to write my name. My brother can't use his right hand, right? He's my older brother. He turns 30 here in a couple weeks. Actually, he's still working on reading and writing. Those are things we take for granted every single day that I no longer do, and I hate that it came at his expense. I don't believe everything in the world has to happen for a reason. I don't think that he had to go through this at his expense for me to learn these lessons, but I know that I can find a reason for why everything happened, right? I can take a positive away from things about our relationship, about our family, but I don't believe it had to happen at his expense. It happened to happen at his expense. So with that, we have to take in our sphere of influence what is now in my control, something I talk to cadets about all the time. There's a lot of things happening in life. There's a lot of things happening around you that aren't necessarily what you wanted. They're not in your control either. But the reality is, where are you at now? Where are your two feet? And how can you come to play? What can you do with your present resources, your tools, your current situation? And so in those moments, I went home, and my mom would always tell me the Air Force Academy impacted me. I didn't realize it, but in her eyes, my ability to come home and step into the figure that I became for my family in that role, while I didn't feel like it was in shambles, unfortunately, after my brother's accident, a couple weeks later, my grandfather passed to a heart attack. It was just like one thing after the next, between his accident, my injury, and then my grandfather passing. My dad was with his father, now I was with my brother. My mom is trying to provide for our family and still make sure our house doesn't get foreclosed, while also trying to support all of us. And so she's always appreciative of my presence and being able to do that. I'm always thankful that the Air Force Academy supported me in being able to do that, because those moments, I will say, stay with me for the rest of my life, and I never would have been the man that I am if I hadn't had those experiences with him. He then proceeded to live with me for three years in Los Angeles. My brother and I are very, very close. So, again, it happened at his expense and I'll never be grateful for the fact that it took that experience for me to learn these things. So I asked for everybody to hear that story, or hear others like it, and try not to take the loved ones, the people in their life for granted, no matter how big or how small the moment they feel. But also take for granted the ability to do the littlethings you do in your life.   Naviere Walkewicz Talk me through — how did you end up at the Air Force Academy now as one of the management instructors?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah, so the GSP slot was with the intention of — the department releases you from your assignment. You do grad school, and I would do one operational assignment, intervening tour, as they like to call it, and then come back to the Academy to teach.   Naviere Walkewicz Talk about when you knew that this was your passion — teaching.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah, that started long before. It didn't happen when I was here. I had a teacher that greatly influenced me. His name was Mark Hardy. He was my AP microeconomics teacher in high school. As a 17-year-old, I had never had someone that influenced me so much in terms of, just like the charisma that he had, the consistency, the man that he is every single day. It inspired me to want to be the same for other people's lives. And I think it's easy to not appreciate that, the weight that someone can have, especially as a teacher, right at the high school level, how many lives it's actually impacted. And he had like 240 students that year. He's been there for decades, right?   Naviere Walkewicz And he still made that influence on you, where you felt a connection.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah, 100%. And I remember, every single day I came into the classroom, he had music on. He would shake your hand and he knew all of our names. He'd have us all switch seats. Ask my students — to this day, that is still what I do. And every single time there's test, I play The Final Countdown. That came from Mr. Hardy. So, that's my thing. I make them all move seats, know each other, know each other's names. I know all their names on Day 1 when they show up. It really freaks them out at first, but I think it's something special. It says you care. I know in life, people do not care about what you know unless they know how much you care. Another cliche, but my way of doing that is by the first day of class, I shake all their hands and say hello to them by name. They're like, “Have we met?” I'm like, “No, we have, not, but now we have.” And I think that they'll remember my name too, right? And so oftentimes, when you're the teacher, it's easy for them to remember you. It's not as easy for you to remember them. So you make that initiative, you show that that's your intention on Day 1, and it resonates with them. To me, that's a style of leadership. I think it establishes — I look power structures, and there's kind of a couple core power structures. There's five main ones. There's legitimate power. There's like, reward-based power, coercive power, there's expert power, and then there's reverent power. So then the ones I really focus on, I fixate on and I think about all the time, is this idea of expert leadership and reverent power. And this idea is that if you're an expert, people listen to you because you're knowledgeable. That's worth something, to have you on the team, right? You're the expert of a topic. What's even more powerful than that is if someone follows you, believes in your message for the sole purpose that they admire you. There's something about you that exhibits, you know — they see themselves in you. They want to be like you.   Naviere Walkewicz Like you did for your AP economics teacher.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Absolutely. Mark Hardy, he had reverent power to me. He was someone that I looked up to, and now I hope I exhibit some of his traits of caring about people first. If you can show people you really care — you're gonna make mistakes — but if you stay consistent in your path, you have a motivation, you have a North Star that you're going towards and you do so with conviction, early on, you're gonna threaten people. Early on, you're gonna get haters. But as time goes on, as people are looking for that guiding North Star, if you're unwavering in who you are, I do believe people would want to join that train. If your tracks stay true, people eventually look and say, “You know, you get what you expect. What he says is what he does. And I believe it.” And eventually, that's the path that I want to lead others down. And so I think if your morality is guided the right direction, along the way, people are gonna hop off board, but you're gonna get a lot more people joining. And so that reverent power, that true leadership that says if we took the uniform off, this person would have respected you the exact same, that is what I put weight on. It's not a matter of rank. In fact, generally speaking, what is a captain at the Air Force Academy? There's not a lot of legitimate power, right, if we're being frank. So we're not at a normal base around the main squadron where that may be a significant leadership role. So I think that what it comes down to is treat everyone the way you want to be treated. Respect all, fear none.   Naviere Walkewicz Wait, say that again.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Respect all, fear none. And the idea is that I genuinely don't believe I treat a four-degree different than I would treat my boss, who's an O-6. They walk by my office, it's, “Yes ma'am, how can I help?” “Yes sir, how can I help?” You know, “What's going on?” It's absolute respect, but it's not… You know, you're not treating people as though they're different than, less than, etc. They're all the same. If you treat everyone — you have a standard to hold everyone… You know, hold yourself to the level of responsibility that you treat everyone with respect but not fear. I remember sitting down — we actually, you and I… You did the run back from...   Naviere Walkewicz Oh, march back?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila I did the march back. You did the run back with Arden. And I wasn't willing to run at that moment, but I remember we got back and got to go to Mitchell Hall with the basics, and they asked me for a piece of advice. And it sounds too light hearted, but it's just true. You know, the basics, they're being led by our rising two-degrees. Do the rising two-degrees actually believe that they are in a place where they should have that much power over people? They kind of laugh about it. They know, “Whoa, this is weird that I have so much control over human beings.” Here comes the two-degree, which was me, right? I was the 19-year-old. And there I am leading a flight and basic training. It's almost comical to them that they have the ability to do that. So what I told the basics is, I was like, “Hey, guys, just so you know, guys, gals, right? Respect them. Be respectful. Never waver on that, but you don't need to fear them. They too struggle with things. They too have pain, have life happen to them.” And by the way, same with me, I'm a captain. What does that mean? I promoted twice. Woohoo. I promoted twice and didn't get in trouble. I mean, I'm not that different from them, right? They're all gonna graduate from here too. They're gonna end up in the same shoes as I am. So, no, anyway, my perspective is just that I'm a captain. Whoopty doo. I too have things I'm struggling with in my life, that I'm I'm working on every single day, trying to be a better version of myself. So I ask for their respect, but hopefully don't have to ask for it, because I'm already showing them that, reciprocating that. And so I think it becomes a natural state of your existence in the rooms that you're in.   Naviere Walkewicz So I have to ask, have you had a cadet that you've seen or has come to you and basically views you as having that reverent power? Have you had a cadet share a story, or have you actually witnessed someone kind of taking on things that have come from you? Capt. Garrett Kauppila It's a great question. I've had a had an interaction yesterday that meant a lot to me. Incredible, incredible person, leader. And we were talking about, you know, she was preparing for GSP interviews. She's a stellar student. She's a great military leader.   Naviere Walkewicz And what does GSP stand for?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Graduate School Program. We're very creative, as you know, at the Air Force Academy. Graduate School Program, but for the Management Department, which is the same slot that I earned in December of 2019. And so she came in to talk about it, and they're going to teach the department something about leadership, right, about their experience that they're having, and how they would use that experience to reflect on their cadets as if they want to be an instructor. At the end of the day, it's a grad school slot, but we're hiring someone to be our colleagues, right? Work with us to inspire the next generation of cadets. And we sat there and we talked about this idea of how much she cares, and she talked about a story. She was the squadron commander in basic, right? Which is not the flight, but like the whole, the five flights. So she was leading the squadron, and this year — I think it was the first time they actually were six weeks in that role. It wasn't three weeks and then transition. They wanted to create some cohesion.   Naviere Walkewicz OK, so putting a lot of effort and the focus on the sponsor, or excuse me, squadron.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila So the squadron commander and the director of operations stayed for all six weeks of basic. So she was the person for those five flights of basics. That was their leader for the whole six weeks. And she's not a large presence; she's not an intimidating person. But she's a caring, charismatic leader, and because of that, when she says something, people listen and it carries weight. And she told me she came to me because she felt as though I exhibited those same things that she feels within herself. It's funny because sometimes presence, like someone has a larger presence or a smaller presence by stature, they utilize that to try and create coercive power, legitimate power. I try to drop the sword and shield as soon as I meet anybody, right? Try to make it as calm, as comfortable as you can. And so when we were talking about that more, she told me a story that she was actually on the obstacle course trying to do everything with her basics. That's the type of leader she is. She tore her ACL and her basics watched her fall off the equipment in pain and struggle. I was like, “Gosh, were you not thankful that you are a kind, charismatic, caring leader — that's your leadership style?” Because they reciprocated that immediately. Could you imagine if she was just demeaning, demoralizing.   Naviere Walkewicz Right. They'd be like, “Ha ha. She got what…”   Capt. Garrett Kauppila That's how it would feel. It would absolutely feel that way, if that was the way that she led. And she remembers going back, she said she went back to the lightning shelter and sat there with other basics that were broken, and sat down and said, “How are you guys feeling?” They felt out of place. They felt bad. They weren't able to contribute and support their classmates and whatever. She goes, “I get it. I really get it.” You know, it's so easy for us to think we know someone's story, to call someone an F-18 pilot. I don't know if that term existed, right? That idea that you are skipping out of things. Do you really know? Do you really know what's going on? You probably don't. I know I was fresh out of knee surgery, actually, when I showed up to basic training. I  had gotten knee surgery my senior year of high school and it's probably the reason I ended up here. You know, end up, you know, some other things fell by the wayside, and I came to the Air Force Academy. You know, people can say anything they want, but I don't want to connect them to my office to work with me. They say, “Hey, Capt. Kap. Can we do this, this, this, or can we change this class and change this major?” So I can. And sometimes I just want to say, “No, you can't do that.” But instead, I don't, I don't say that. I say, “Why? Why do you want that?” And what I learned by asking why, and asking why again, is there is a root cause of these things. And when we address the root cause, because you actually care enough to ask them, we can actually fix the problem, and we don't need to do any of those things. And so you get to the root of what something, what someone really has going on in their lives, and it's just proven to be so worth it for me. Every single time I get the chance to do it, I've learned that if I can pour a little bit into someone's glass — OK, first of all, don't pour from empty glass if you're empty within yourself, right? Like I was when I left to go home and be with my family — I didn't have energy for everybody else in that moment, trying to pour from empty glass is — that's not a sustainable effort. Fill your glass, make sure your people, your family and yourself are squared away and good to go. At that point when you have an abundance of water in that glass, pour from it, it's the most rewarding thing in the entire world. And I realized this. And you know, I think everything in my life getting up to that point created this, whether it was the highs of life, the opportunities presented to me through the Air Force Academy, through travel, through football, whatever that may have looked like, but then the lows of life that rooted me in gratitude, what I realized is happiness, and this is my little theory, that happiness is a box. I consider it a box of happiness. The amount of happiness you actually feel in your life is the area of that box. So, many people are predicated, they're so focused on raising the ceiling of the box. Raise the top. The problem is, if your gratitude dissipates along the way, the area never increases. So what happens is, oftentimes, people create more opportunities for themselves in their life and they take for granted all the places they've been and all the places they were. And so because of that, the gratitude dissipates as your opportunities increase, you never become happier. And they wonder why it's not so happy at the top and cheery…  Because they weren't rooted in gratitude. If they never leave the ground and they keep the base of their box, in fact, they continue to drive that base of the box down into the ground while they create more opportunities, you will have more height to your box. What about the width   Naviere Walkewicz I was gonna say, what about your gratitude being wider?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Now I've got a long, skinny box, right? That's not a lot of area. This is the people you get to share with, the friends and the family, the people you get to support and give back to. Right? You create opportunity. You root yourself in gratitude so you understand the people to your left and right. And now I believe it's your job to share it with them, expose them to it, so they can increase their opportunities. So they never leave their feet on the ground and they keep their gratitude. My job, I believe in — I'm a utilitarian, right? It's a philosophy concept. Increasing the ultimate world happiness — if there was some world happiness meter, an arbitrary meter in the world, if my actions are going to raise it, I want to do that. If they're going to diminish it, I'm not going to do that. So if it benefits me and hurts five others, I'm not going to do it. But if it benefits five others and it may take time out of my day, that sounds like a win, right? So I realized in every moment I'm with a cadet at a highly adaptable state of their mind — high brain plasticity. They're thinking, they're growing. They don't know quite yet who they are. They haven't lived on their own, haven't cooked their own meals, right? I was the same. I was no different. There was a moment that you realize how precious this moment in time is, they are. And I'm teaching firsties right now. They are about to go create everything that they are. But, I mean, you've met people you haven't seen five years, 10 years, 20 years since graduation. You're such a different person, right? At that time, when the leave the Academy, they really find themselves. So I don't take for granted conversations that I have, the moments I share with them in the classroom. I tell them my gratitude every day: “Thank you for letting me do what I love.” I say that to them almost every single day: “Thanks for allowing me to be here.” They're like, “I have to be here,” but that's not the demeanor that I dress it with, right? So root myself in gratitude and I just pour into them as much as I physically can. Maybe it's selfish of me. In fact, maybe I do it for myself. Think about it this way. I realize that pouring into people actually makes me happy. It really does. So maybe I pour into some people because it makes me happier. What if everyone was that selfish? If they actually knew what makes them happy? How many people go create massive success in their life, but they don't ever give back? And they find out, later on, they create these companies, they see all these things, and then they come back and go, “I really want to give back to my Air Force Academy. I really want to come back and teach in the classroom.” Heck, I remember sitting the NextGen Advisory meeting, you and I were in there with individuals highly successful, far more successful than I, and many of them were saying, “All I want to do is come back to the Academy and teach.” Gosh, what a moment for me to realize and to be introspective on the fact that I can't take this for granted. They can do all these things of all this success. People are oftentimes trying to chase someone on a ladder and try to be like them and have their success. And really, they're just trying to do what I do every day, and they want to do it for free. I get paid to do this job. What a blessing that is. And so those are the moments that help you to sink your — or dig your heels in and say, “I'm here.” Gosh, imagine me as a two-degree. You told me you're gonna get the Air Force Academy teaching the exact subject you want to teach, finance and investments. I bet that's a dream come true. Well, I can't be here now and forget about that, because then I'm gonna miss this moment. I'm gonna move on and wish I had it back. Don't put yourself in that position. Naviere Walkewicz You said something really interesting. It was about — I think it was something to the effect of you can't have something extrinsic, like chasing some kind of like opportunity and make you happy, right? It won't fulfill in like an intrinsic unhappiness or a hole or something. So how do you — how does that translate, I think, as you're helping to lead others and help others to think that way, as they progress? I know you talked about being rooted in gratitude, but is there more to it than the gratitude piece, right? Like, how do you also make sure that you're thinking about the intrinsic pieces? Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah, so I think that I have a great opportunity while I'm here. I get the opportunities to work with and see a lot of our recruits coming into the campus, and I get to speak with them and families. Get to see the excitement they have to eventually, one day, hopefully, arrive at the Air Force Academy. I get to work with a lot of cadets every single day, thankful to do it, and I get to see a lot of cadets. Sometimes that attitude changes. The gratitude they once felt, they become skeptical, it becomes challenging. They can't see the forest above the trees. They're caught up in that moment. But I also work with a lot of grads. I'm thankful to work with the Bolt Brotherhood and thankful to work with the NextGen Advisory Council, and have a lot of touch points to our grads. And I've never yet met a grad that is not grateful that they had gone through the Air Force Academy, that they graduated from the Air Force Academy. I've never met one that regretted that experience. I know a lot of recruits that are excited as hell to be here. I know a lot of cadets that are questioning their decisions at times. I know a lot of grads that would do anything to ensure that their loved ones or other people know about the Air Force Academy and what it did for them in their lives. And so what I asked of them is just to reflect back and remember themselves and how excited they were to have the opportunity to earn that appointment to be one of the, you know, 10, perhaps, you know, applications that had the opportunity to say that they were accepted and that they were gonna attend the Air Force Academy. Remember that pride they felt when they got their congressional nomination right? Imagine the feeling that parents feel when they drop them off at IDay, right? All of those feelings, they're real. You can't let them dissipate so quickly. Naviere Walkewicz Well, I mean, Kap, this has been amazing. There's a couple more questions I want to ask you. The first one is, because you're so passionate, and obviously you take care of yourself, how do you how do you feel your glass every day so that you can pour into others? What does that look like?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah, for me, I have to stay busy. And that's the part of me that, you know, when I was younger, I was smaller, I think that's never changed. I have to remain busy. I tell people all the time, if they apply — because we've all had that experience of leaving the Air Force Academy and realizing, “Wait the people at the Air Force Academy are really fantastic. There are such high-quality people, intellectually, emotionally. In all ways. You go into society, it can be a little sobering, a little like, “ Whoa. We are not the Air Force Academy anymore. These people don't operate on the same frequency." That's not within our service, that's just in life, that's going around day to day. So I tell cadets all the time, “You have proven yourself that you can do this. You can commit to your goals. You can complete these long hours, these long days. Life will only get easier in terms of your time commitments.” Now, kids and things like that could change that, but at the end of the day, they prove themselves they can do it. I challenge them to continue on that trajectory when they graduate — not to let off the gas and continue to find things that actually make them passionate. OK, it's so easy for me to wake up every day with this passion, with this desire to do what I do because I love what I do. It doesn't feel like work. So biggest things for me in order to stay ahead, whether that be health, whether that be my sleep, whether that be my accomplishments, whatever it may look like — your leadership ability — I have to wake up and accomplish something. Wake up in your day and accomplish a task. I like waking up before everyone else. I did start doing that as a cadet; I'd finish ball practice and realize I have no mental capacity. I cannot do homework. It is 8 p.m. and I'm exhausted. So what did I do when I was exhausted? I went to bed. I put on my eye mask, my earplugs and slept like little baby angels, right? My hands crossed over my chest, right? And people always make fun of me. “Why are you always in bed at 8 p.m.” “Well, why are you always in bed when it's 4 a.m.?” What I realized was there's a time of day that no one can schedule anything on my schedule. No one's scheduling anything from 4 to 7. Just the reality. So if you wake up early in the morning and you accomplish tasks, now, I'm not getting up at 4 in the morning, usually it's about 5, but I accomplish tasks early in my day. I get ahead of my day, and I prioritize fitness, I prioritize my health, I prioritize my sleep. We can't possibly learn, lead, network, meet people, accomplish. I mean, we're gonna get injured. We're not helping ourselves.   Naviere Walkewicz For less money, though, we can do an eye mask, because I also sleep with an eye mask. It's a game changer. Capt. Garrett Kauppila Read reviews on Amazon. Like is this easy stuff, right? I love classical conditioning, the idea that earplugs, eye mask mean sleep; earplugs, eye mask means sleep. Eventually you put in your ear plugs, your eye mask, whatever does your body do? It goes to sleep. Your brain turns off and stops thinking, because that's your routine. So I go to bed early, I wake up early, and I love to accomplish tasks early on in my day. By the time I arrive in the classroom, we're a couple hours in, right? The brain is operating. We're fully awake. We're ready to go. So I challenge people, if they want to achieve more in their life, they need to learn how to achieve more in a day, and once you learn how to achieve more in a day, learn how to achieve more in a week. And now can you make it sustainable. Some people have — they're 75 hard. They can do these things for a period of time. Their new year's resolutions — we love the gym in January, the first week of January. March…   Naviere Walkewicz Everyone gets the gym back.   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Yeah. And then all of a sudden, the gym is empty by February, right? You know how that goes. So it's like, do you actually mean this, or do you think that you want to do it? So I think if you can accomplish — learn how to accomplish more in one day, do it again the next day, and then repeat it the next day. But in order to do that, you have to be pursuing something that is yours. It can't because my family wants me to. It'll never be sustainable. It can't because someone else thinks it. It can't because I saw it on the internet. It has to be because Naviere Walkewicz wants to do this right. She wants to do this for her life. And so Kap wants to be this person. I want to strive for more and be the best version of myself. My mom tucked me into bed every single night when I was a little kid, you know — 4-year-old, 5-year-old — and she always said, “Hey, Garrett, the only thing you can do is be the best person you can be.” That's all you can do. That's your sphere of influence. So I try my best to be the best person I can be every day. That way I can be consistent, and people can always look to me and know what you see is what you get. You know that if I hop on the call, if I show up in the classroom, you know exactly what you're gonna get from me. I'm not gonna waver on that, and I think that's worth a lot so that someone can look to you and be admired by you, and hopefully you can exhibit reverent power. Naviere Walkewicz Well, I would ask you, what would you recommend to others and what they can do to be better leaders every day? But it sounds like you might give them the same example you just gave, because you're gonna practice what you preach. Is there anything else you might offer then for our — I mean, you do this with the cadets regularly, but just for anyone listening as they're trying to develop themselves as a leader or be a better, more reverent leader. What else might you offer that they can do each day themselves just to turn that dial a little bit? Capt. Garrett Kauppila Find who you really are. You can read all the books. You can read all the headlines. You can hear from me right now. You can hear from everyone else in this podcast. But if it's not you, it won't be true. You won't be able to make it sustainable. It won't be consistent. You will not be able to replicate those actions. OK, I love football so I love football analogies. You can be Nick Saban and Bill Belichick and have success by not being a player's coach or being a little rough around the edges. Or you can be Sean McVeigh and Dabo Swinney, who, if you don't know any of those people, they are younger in personality and in age. They have handshakes with their players, that's who they are trying to be. Don't try to be the other one, though. If Nick Saban tried to be cool with his players and have handshakes, now you're fake. Now you're just fake. Either one can prove to be successful, but you need to find who you are. And so if you don't know who you are, stop telling other people who they are, right? You have time to go. Your glass isn't full yet. Stop pouring it out. Right? Fill this thing at the top. Doesn't mean be selfish. It's the most selfless thing you could ever do is to pour into yourself, fill your glass so you have an abundance to give to others. If you give yourself a full glass and learn how to make it, you know, replenishing — this is some… we're talking like Red Robin fries here, like truly bottomless glass that we can pour from…   Naviere Walkewicz Do you eat Red Robin fries?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila I actually have not. But I'm not opposed to eating unhealthy in there, right? It's all aboutcalorie deficits. I just gotta work out more, I guess. But anyway, so my point is, if you don't know who you are, go find that first. That's the most important thing. Naviere Walkewicz How do they start? What's the first step in that? Because you just said you can read all the books, but if you're not this person, that's not you. How do you find out who you are?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila You find out who you are by finding out what you actually care about. Learn what you really care about. Think about the times you're at peace. Think about the moment, if you could do anything in the world, money didn't matter, what would you be doing? OK, it sounds really cliche. The reason I teach finance, I teach investments, is to provide I believe that finance is a tool to allow you to be happy. I would never subsidize happiness for money. I believe that you have your finances together and they're squared away, and you are investing properly, doing all those things to take care of you, your life, your family, your stability. You can be present where your feet are, and you can make decisions based off what you really want to do. If you find what it is that you are passionate about, we'll find a way to monetize it later. I truly believe that. I think that we have a role for everyone in this life. Whatever it is that you really care about, find a way to be the best at it. Stop being complacent with being, you know, average. I don't care what it is, I don't care what your job is. Be the best at it, and you will find a way to monetize it. This is a silly story, but I learned so much from it. There was an individual who reached out. He's a content creator, does videography. I actually don't remember the gentleman's name, but he was reaching out every single day to Tyreek Hill. He wanted to video — now, Tyreek Hill is not someone we'll resemble for leadership qualities. That is not what I'm saying in this conversation. However, he was reaching out to Tyreek Hill because he's his biggest fan and he wanted to film videos, take videos of Tyreek Hill to create cool content videos, hype videos, etc. One day, Tyreek Hill's manager saw the message and told him, he said, “I'll come out for free. I will come out for free and do this for you.” What I learned in my life, throughout my time so far, and I have so much more to learn as I go forward, is if you're willing to invest yourself for free, the person that does more than they're paid for will soon be paid for more than they do. If you are willing to put yourself out there and prove to others that they need you, once they realize they want you, now you can charge them for it. So, what he did is say, “I'll come out for free on my dime.” Nothing to it. “Well, OK, sure. This guy wants him out for free and work with me and create videos for me. It sounds fantastic.” Well, then he does such a good job, he's like, “I want to hire you.” Oh, well, now it's gonna cost you, right? That individual ended up being contacted by the NFL because Tyreek Hill took his phone out of his hand, did it back up with him, created one of the coolest videos ever seen on, you know, terms of a game day touchdown celebration. That individual has now gone on to make tons and tons of money. He runs a company. Only happened like two years ago. The point in that story is he offered himself for free to show off his talents, but first you have to invest in yourself. You have to get great at something. Get great at something. Figure out what it is you really want to do and offer yourself for free. And once people realize that they want you, now you can charge them for it. Charlie Jackson, football coach, Air Force Academy grad, Class of 2000. He told me stories in Los Angeles Air Force Base. He was at Los Angeles Air Force Base. His dream was to coach in the NFL. He wanted to coach at the highest levels. And you can go coach a high school, get paid a little bit of money, and then spend decades to work your way up. Now that wasn't what Coach Jackson wanted to do. So he offered to be a free intern at UCLA. “I'm gonna work for free.” And he happened to just sit next to a couple of unpaid interns, one named Kyle Shanahan, head coach of the 49ers. The other is the current GM for the Washington Commanders. Those were the three unpaid interns in UCLA's office. Well, he offered himself for free. He tried to show him that they needed him. Once they realized they wanted him, now, they needed to hire him. He ended up on a quick path coaching at the Atlanta Falcons. He's now coached many other places here. He's now come back to Air Force. How do they always come back to Air Force? It's because they love it here. Something about this place is special. The same reason you're back here, same reason I am too. So I really, I really challenge everyone to find what is their truly love and find a way to be the best at that. Whatever it may be, there's a way to monetize it. Naviere Walkewicz This is amazing. Was there anything that we didn't touch on today that you want to share with our listeners?   Capt. Garrett Kauppila Thank you. I appreciate it.   Naviere Walkewicz Thank you. Thank you.   Naviere Walkewicz As we wrap up today's conversation, I keep coming back to Kap's reminder, don't take for granted the things that matter most. That lesson first struck him in the hardest way when he thought he lost his brother, and it's become the driving force behind how he lives and leads today. Kat also shared another truth worth carrying with us be the best version of yourself, not someone else's version of you. That conviction shows up in how he teaches cadets, how he respects others, regardless of rank, and how he purchase every day with passion and gratitude. So here's the takeaway, Leadership isn't about chasing titles or timelines. It's about showing up authentically, valuing every moment and lifting up the people around you. The question we can all ask ourselves today is, what or who am I taking for granted, and how can I choose to lead with more gratitude and authenticity, starting right now. Thank you for joining us for this edition of lovely leadership. If Cap's story resonated with you please share it with someone who might need it and don't forget to subscribe, you'll find longer leadership on all your favorite podcast platforms we don't want you to miss what's ahead this season. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99.   KEYWORDS Leadership, gratitude, authenticity, adversity, Air Force Academy, personal growth, mentorship, self-discovery, resilience, life lessons.       The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation      

Drew shares the full story behind walking away from a $100,000 in-house media position and how that decision led to earning 50% more while staying freelance. He breaks down the red flags that made him trust his gut, the corporate culture problems he encountered, and why alignment with your values matters more than security. This solo episode dives deep into the importance of knowing your North Star and making decisions that serve your long-term creative and personal goals.Key Topics & Timestamps00:00 – Why Drew turned down $100K and made 50% more staying freelance01:27 – Red flag #1: Meetings about meetings and corporate culture chaos01:50 – No real game plan: throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks02:34 – The pressure campaign: formal emails, office meetings, and coffee chats03:17 – The deal breaker: written approval required for any outside freelance work04:50 – What happened to the colleague who took the job (spoiler: it ended badly)05:27 – The importance of trusting your gut and staying aligned with your values06:40 – How saying no opened doors to building multiple revenue streams07:35 – Drew's current North Star: maximum money, minimum time, maximum family timeTakeawaysTrust your gut when red flags appear, even when the money looks goodCorporate culture problems rarely improve after you're hired full-timeAlignment with your values and goals matters more than short-term securitySaying no to the wrong opportunities creates space for the right onesYour North Star evolves as your life circumstances changeWrite down your goals and priorities to stay clear on your directionConsider practices like morning pages from "The Artist's Way" for clarityResources & LinksThe Artist's Way - Julia CameronUpstate Podcast Studio: www.upstatepodcaststudio.comConnect with DrewNo Set Path Newsletter: https://thedrewenglish.substack.com/Drew's IG: https://www.instagram.com/drewenglishhDrew's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewenglish/Drew's Website: www.drewenglish.com

In this exclusive interview, Yungblud opens up about his life-changing friendship with Ozzy, how he and Aerosmith got together to work on new music and more.

In today's episode, Nicole explores the four distinct energies that Secret Witches often move through when making life choices - Scarecity, Frenzy, Resistance, and Soul. These subtle but powerful states shape how we choose our path as witches - whether from fear and urgency, or from deep alignment with our inner truth. This episode is an invitation for the woman standing at a threshold, longing to say Yes to her magic, but unsure how to discern a Soul Yes from a shadow-driven No. Nicole lovingly unpacks how to begin choosing life from Soul alignment, not wounding - sharing the felt difference between reactivity and resonance, and how to listen to your body as a compass. She offers practical tools and powerful reflection to help you notice (and lovingly welcome) the fear that drives your decisions - and guides you home to the part of you that knows how to choose from truth. If you've been hovering between longing and fear, wondering whether to trust the call of your Witch, this one is for you. What You'll Learn from this Episode: Choosing from fear is not wrong - it's a learned protection. Scarecity, Frenzy and Resistance are old survival patterns, not your truth. And they're not stop signs - they're a call to heal Our Soul Yes won't always feel easy - but it will feel true. It may come wrapped in fear, but underneath is resonance, aliveness, and a deep body-knowing We are always choosing - whether consciously or unconsciously - and recognising that is the beginning of reclaiming our power Soul alignment is rarely comfortable - but it's deeply alive. Our body may tremble, the mind may question, but if it's truly soul-aligned, it will nourish us, not deplete us Resistance isn't a No - it's a sacred pause. It often arises when our soul is whispering Yes, but our wounds aren't yet sure it's safe to trust it. That's normal - and that too can be loved, and chosen differently We don't need to wait until we are fully healed to begin. Choosing from soul is the beginning of our healing. This is how we stop searching for the remedy and become it. Resources and things that we spoke about: Our Links: Watch our Meet your Witch Ceremony Replay held last September 18th - It is entirely free - just click "Enroll" on the "Threshold Replay" and sign up to our free space in the Apothecary Membership to watch - https://secret-witch-3d0a0f.circle.so/courses Join our Apothecary Membership for the live Create Space for your Witch ceremony on 25th September: www.nicolebarton.co.uk/membership  Social: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nicoleamandabarton  Facebook Group - Secret Witch Sisterhood: www.facebook.com/groups/secretwitch  Instagram - @iamnicolebarton Instagram - @archetypalapothecary You Tube - https://www.youtube.com/@secretwitchsociety Tiktok - @archetypalapothecary Free Moonlit Apothecary Love Letters: www.nicolebarton.co.uk/moonlitapothecary  Resources: Book - Martha Beck - How to Find your North Star - https://a.co/d/96CMFm3 Thank you for listening, we'd love to know what comes alive for you in this week's episode, so please let us know. If you loved it, there's a fresh episode every other week - subscribe so you don't miss it! Thank you, Nicole and Team Secret Witch xox

Are you navigating perimenopause, menopause, or other midlife transitions and feeling disconnected from your sexuality?  In this illuminating episode, Amanda speaks with world-renowned sexologist Dr. Juliana Hauser about experiencing this chapter not as a decline, but as one of your most sexually sovereign yet. Dr. Hauser shares her personal journey through a hysterectomy, introduces the concept of "agency" as your North Star through change, and offers a refreshing perspective on holistic sexuality that goes far beyond just having sex.  You'll discover how to develop tolerance for ambiguity, communicate with loved ones about what you're experiencing, and redefine pleasure on your own terms.  Whether you're feeling overwhelmed by hormonal shifts, questioning your identity, or simply curious about reclaiming your sexual confidence, this conversation provides both practical wisdom and permission to embrace the full spectrum of your sensual self in midlife. You can find out more about Dr. Juliana here.

Throwback wisdom from Coach Josh Graves. In this episode, Coach Josh unpacks the power of starting with the end in mind, keeping your goals top of mind, and how his “Big Five” framework serves as a North Star in business, fitness, and life.Follow us on Instagram: @fitness.on.fireSubscribe to our YouTube Channel: @FitnessOnFireTV

Send us a textWhat truly sets exceptional financial advisors apart? Is it technical knowledge, investment returns, or something deeper? In this deeply personal conversation, John Evangelista shares the journey that transformed him from a young advisor at American Express to the founder of a specialized wealth management firm serving university faculty and staff across the country.John's story isn't just about building a successful practice—it's about making the courageous decisions that defined his career. After selling the majority of his client book in 2003 and starting over with just 14 families, he discovered that clarity of purpose would become his North Star. Despite being told his idea to specialize in serving university employees was "the dumbest idea ever," John persisted, building a thriving firm now registered in 19 states with clients from Yale to USC.The most powerful revelation comes when John reflects on what he's learned after three decades in the business: "Great clients can help you create a great revenue stream, but great relationships create a great life." This philosophy has transformed how he mentors the next generation of advisors, teaching them to count relationships rather than just client numbers. The depth of these connections became painfully clear when John flew to Hawaii to say goodbye to a dying client who told him, "All I feel is love."For those facing their own challenges, John offers two transformative principles that guided his journey: "Surround yourself with the best team possible" and "Don't be a prisoner of your past." These insights helped him overcome early setbacks, including his parents' divorce and other career disappointments, to build both a successful business and a fulfilling life that includes raising bees and producing honey now sold in stores.Whether you're in financial services or any profession where relationships matter, this conversation will remind you that technical skills alone aren't enough—it's the human connection that truly changes lives. "Good financial advisors change their clients' lives, but great financial advisors change the world."Support the showhttps://bamboolab3.com/

On Sept. 19, Prime Minister Mark Carney's government unveiled a series of planned changes to Canada's criminal code. They, in part, crack down on the explosion of hate crimes across the country over the past two years since Oct. 7, mostly against Jewish people. The new bill is called the “Combatting Hate Act” and still has a way to go before it is passed and takes effect. Ottawa intends to make it a crime when hateful protesters try to scare and intimidate minorities, including Jews, from accessing their community buildings, including synagogues, Jewish Community Centres, Jewish seniors homes, Hebrew schools and even cemeteries. The new law would also, for the first time, outlaw the public display of the Nazi swastika and the SS symbol in Canada, as well as other terrorism signs, if the people waving them are wilfully urging hatred against an identifiable group. Many Jewish leaders are applauding the gesture as a strong signal that the Carney administration is keeping an election promise while putting a strong emphasis on fighting domestic antisemitism–that even while Canada announced on Sept. 21 it has formally recognized the Palestinian State, the government does not want to drag Middle Eastern politics onto Canadian soil. So what's in the new bill? Will it make it safer for Jews today, as the High Holidays begin? The short answer is: no. On today's episode of The CJN's _North Star _podcast, hate crimes legal expert Mark Sandler—founding chair of the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism—joins host Ellin Bessner to break down the proposed reforms. Also joining is Ezra Shanken, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, who personally met with the prime minister in Ottawa just days before the announcement. Related links Read more reaction to the proposed changes to the Criminal Code to outlaw terror symbols and the Swastika, and better define hate and intimidation outside Jewish buildings, in The CJN. Learn more about why Canada banned the Irish band Kneecap from performing next month, in The CJN. Why B'nai Brith Canada lobbied Whitby, Ont. to agree to ban the Swastika, on The CJN Daily (now “North Star”) podcast. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here)

As we continue our Stretched series, Mike gives us some Godly wisdom to help us navigate through times when our finances are stretched.

Send us a textHanneke Antonelli shares her expertise on scaling service-based businesses without sacrificing freedom or working twice as hard. She reveals the five proven steps that fuel immediate growth while unlocking more free time for business owners who feel stuck in day-to-day operations.• Giving yourself a promotion from operator to leader is the first crucial step in scaling your business• Stop doing everything alone and recognize when you have B-players on your team holding you back• Invest in accountability and support to achieve your goals faster and easier• Release control and allow your business vision to become bigger than yourself• Let go of the belief that you must work twice as hard to double your income• Create a clear strategic vision that serves as your North Star for decision-making• Celebrate your wins instead of constantly moving the goalposts• Develop standard operating procedures as living documents that evolve with your business• Understand the Scale Freedom Framework: Strategic vision, Collaborative leadership, Aligned team, Leverage financial strategy, and Efficient systemsHanneke Antonelli is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur, best-selling author, certified life coach, and exit planning advisor. Being a Sassy South African and Wall Street Veteran with a degree in finance, her clients often lovingly refer to her as their business fairy godmother. Hanneke uses a no-BS approach, hardcore business strategies, and extensive coaching skills to help her service-based clients scale their companies to a million and beyond while creating more freedom and joy!Website:  hannekeantonelli.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannekeantonelli/Resource - Business Acceleration Assessment: Join my events community for FREE monthly events.I offer free events each month to help you master your business's growth through marketing, sales, systems, and offer strategy. Join the community here! Are you tired of prospects ghosting you? With a Gateway Offer, that won't happen.Over the next Ten Days, we will launch and sell our Gateway Offers with the goal of reaching booked-out status!Join the challenge here.Support the showApply for the Tiny Marketing Club >>> Join the ClubCome tour my digital home :) >>>WebsiteWanna be friends? >>> LinkedInLet's chat every Tuesday! >>> NewsletterCatch the video podcast on YouTube >>>YouTubeJoin my event group for live events >>> Meetup

Step inside the North Star Underground Railroad Museum with President Jacqueline “Jackie” Madison of the North Country Underground Historical Association. We trace the Champlain Line of the Underground Railroad through the stories of real people and places—John Thomas's journey to freedom, the Quakers' moral stand, and local heroes like editor Wendell Lansing. Jackie walks us through can't-miss exhibits (the object-theater “John Thomas Room,” the life-size “Germinal” sculpture) and the power of docents in small, mighty Adirondack “pocket museums.” Immerse yourself in the unique experience of visiting the museum near Ausable Chasm. Discover community programs, Juneteenth tours, and easy ways to support the museum.For more information about the episode and links to the places we mention, visit adktaste.co/talks42.Love the show? Rate & review us—it helps other Adirondack lovers find us to discover more ADK insights.Subscribe and never miss our insider stories about the best people, places, and history of the Adirondacks.Share this episode with someone who loves history, travel, or the Adirondack Park. Let's build a community of Adirondack enthusiasts and spread the love for the Adirondacks together!Have a burning question about the Adirondacks? We'd love to hear it! Send your questions to info@adktaste.com or use the form available at ADKTaste.com. We might just answer it on air!ADK Talks is brought to you by ADK Taste. We provide insight on the best places to stay, shop, eat and experience in the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park in upstate New York. Visit our website, ADKtaste.com, and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Decode the symbols hiding in plain sight with Mario Garza (Symbolic Studies). We go deep on color magic and music/synesthesia, the rainbow's “rule of seven,” Tarot (Temperance & the Chariot/Cancer link), Sagittarius/Chiron & the wounded-healer, the world axis (North Star, Ursa Major/Minor), Masonic pillars & keystone, labyrinth vs. maze, Jacob's Ladder & dreams, Saturn/Golden Age, the Black Cube/Kaaba and the return of the center. If you've ever pointed at an image and yelled “Illuminati!”—this is the episode that teaches you to read it instead. Symbolic Studies (Mario) — full link hub at SymbolicStudies.com.NEPHILIM DEATH SQUADPatreon (early access + Telegram): https://www.patreon.com/NephilimDeathSquadWebsite & Merch: https://nephilimdeathsquad.comSupport Joe Gilberti: GiveSendGoListen/Watch:Spreaker: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/nephilim-death-squad--6389018YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NephilimDeathSquadRumble: https://rumble.com/user/NephilimDeathSquadX: https://twitter.com/NephilimDSquadInstagram: https://instagram.com/nephilimdeathsquadContact: chroniclesnds@gmail.comX Community – Nephilim Watch: https://twitter.com/i/communities/1725510634966560797TopLobsta:X: https://twitter.com/TopLobstaInstagram: https://instagram.com/TopLobstaMerch: https://TopLobsta.comRaven:X: https://twitter.com/DavidLCorboInstagram: https://instagram.com/ravenofndsSponsors:Rife Tech – https://realsrifetechnology.com/ (Code: NEPHILIM for 10% off)Purge Store – https://purgestore.com/ (Code: NEPHILIM for 10% off)Credits:Intro Animation: @jslashr on XMusic: End of Days by Vinnie PazBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/nephilim-death-squad--6389018/support.☠️ Nephilim Death Squad — New episodes 5x/week.Join our Patreon for early access, bonus shows & the private Telegram hive.Subscribe on YouTube & Rumble, follow @NephilimDSquad on X/Instagram, grab merch at toplobsta.com. Questions/bookings: chroniclesnds@gmail.com — Stay dangerous.

What does it really take to build a brand that moves people? In this conversation, Jeff Zwiefel (former President & COO of Life Time) pulls back the curtain on the principles and systems behind one of the most trusted names in fitness. We unpack how a clear North Star, codified standards, and aligned teams create a consistent experience at scale, without losing soul. If you're a studio owner, program director, or instructor leader, this episode is a blueprint: start with purpose, translate it into the way your experience is taught and hosted, build systems for reliability, hire and train for alignment, and innovate only when it serves the mission. Jeff's insights validate everything we teach at Fitcarma about turning brand into an operating system, so your promise is felt in every class, every interaction, every location. What you'll learn Why a North Star is the foundation for scale and trust The tenets of a Life Time–level experience (and how to translate them to any size studio) How standards, training, and culture make consistency teachable What “innovation with integrity” looks like (evolve without diluting your identity) Discover your North Star Ready to lead with clarity? Apply for a North Star Brand Strategy Session with Fitcarma and turn these principles into your playbook: fitcarma.com/northstar. Build a brand that moves people, and give your team the structure to deliver it every day.

In this episode of Crazy Wisdom, Stewart Alsop speaks with Samuel, host of The Remnant Podcast, about the intersections of biblical prophecy, Gnostic traditions, transhumanism, and the spiritual battle unfolding in our age. The conversation moves from Dr. David Hawkins' teachings and personal encounters with the Holy Spirit to questions of Lucifer, Archons, and the distortions of occult traditions, while also confronting timelines of 2025, 2030, and 2045 in light of technological agendas from Palantir, Neuralink, and the United Nations. Together they explore the tension between organic human life and the merging with machines, weaving in figures like Blavatsky, Steiner, and Barbara Marx Hubbard, and tying it back to cycles of history, prophecy, and the remnant who remain faithful. You can find Samuel's work on The Remnant Podcast YouTube channel and follow future updates through his Instagram once it's launched.Check out this GPT we trained on the conversationTimestamps00:00 Stewart Alsop welcomes Samuel of The Remnant Podcast, connecting through Dr. David Hawkins' work and reflecting on COVID's effect on consciousness.05:00 Samuel shares his discovery of Hawkins, a powerful encounter with Jesus, and shifting views on Lucifer, Gnosticism, Archons, and Rudolf Steiner's Ahriman.10:00 They trace Gnosticism's suppression in church history, Frances Yates on occult revival, the Nicene Creed, Neoplatonism, and the church's battle with magic.15:00 Discussion of Acts 4, possessions, Holy Spirit, and Gnostic inversion of God and Lucifer; Blavatsky, Crowley, occult distortions, and forbidden knowledge in Enoch.20:00 Hawkins' framework, naivety at higher states, Jesus as North Star, synchronicities, and the law of attraction as both biblical truth and sorcery.25:00 Transhumanism, homo spiritus, Singularity University, Barbara Marx Hubbard, hijacked timelines, Neuralink, and Butlerian Jihad.30:00 Attractor patterns, algorithms mimicking consciousness, Starlink's omnipresence, singularity timelines—2025, 2030, 2045—and UN, WEF agendas.35:00 Organic health versus pod apartments and smart cities, Greg Braden's critiques, bio-digital convergence, and the biblical remnant who remain faithful.40:00 Trump, MAGA as magician, Marina Abramović, Osiris rituals in inaugurations, Antichrist archetypes, and elite esoteric influences.50:00 Edward Bernays, Rockefeller, UN history, Enlightenment elites, Nephilim bloodlines, Dead Sea Scrolls on sons of light and darkness, Facebook's control systems.55:00 Quantum dots using human energy, D-Wave quantum computers, Gordy Rose's tsunami warning, Samuel's book As It Was in the Days of Noah: The Rising Tsunami.Key InsightsThe episode begins with Stewart Alsop and Samuel connecting through their shared study of Dr. David Hawkins, whose work profoundly influenced both men. Samuel describes his path from Hawkins' teachings into a life-altering encounter with Jesus, which reshaped his spiritual compass and allowed him to question parts of Hawkins' framework that once seemed untouchable. This shift also opened his eyes to the living presence of Christ as a North Star in discerning truth.A central thread is the nature of Lucifer and the entities described in Gnostic, biblical, and esoteric traditions. Samuel wrestles with the reality of Lucifer not just as ego, but as a non-human force tied to Archons, Yaldabaoth, and Ahriman. This leads to the recognition that many leaders openly revere such figures, pointing to a deeper spiritual battle beyond mere metaphor.The discussion examines the suppression and resurgence of Gnosticism. Stewart references Frances Yates' historical research on the rediscovery of Neoplatonism during the Renaissance, which fused with Christianity and influenced the scientific method. Yet, both men note the distortions and dangers within occult systems, where truth often hides alongside demonic inversions.Samuel emphasizes the importance of discernment, contrasting authentic spiritual awakening with the false light of occultism and New Age thought. He draws on the Book of Enoch's account of fallen angels imparting forbidden knowledge, showing how truth can be weaponized when separated from God. The law of attraction, he argues, exemplifies this duality: biblical when rooted in faith, sorcery when used to “become one's own god.”Transhumanism emerges as a major concern, framed as a counterfeit path to evolution. They compare Hawkins' idea of homo spiritus with Barbara Marx Hubbard's transhumanist vision and Elon Musk's Neuralink. Samuel warns of “hijacked timelines” where natural spiritual gifts like telepathy are replaced with machine-based imitations, echoing the warnings of Dune's Butlerian Jihad.Technology is interpreted through a spiritual lens, with algorithms mimicking attractor patterns, social media shaping reality, and Starlink rendering the internet omnipresent. Samuel identifies this as Lucifer's attempt to counterfeit God's attributes, creating a synthetic omniscience that pulls humanity away from organic life and into controlled systems.Finally, the conversation grounds in hope through the biblical concept of the remnant. Samuel explains that while elites pursue timelines toward 2025, 2030, and 2045 with occult enlightenment and digital convergence, those who remain faithful to God, connected to nature, and rooted in Christ form the remnant. This small, organic community represents survival in a time when most will unknowingly merge with the machine, fulfilling the ancient struggle between the sons of light and the sons of darkness.

Many usage-based companies like Twilio don't disclose ARR as their North Star metric. So, what do they track instead to communicate growth and efficiency to investors? In episode #314, Ben Murray shares his research from 10-Q filings, press releases, and earnings calls to uncover the seven most common financial metrics that usage-based companies highlight. From revenue growth and gross margin improvements to AI adoption and RPO (Remaining Performance Obligations), you'll learn what matters most to analysts, investors, and acquirers when ARR isn't the headline. This is a must-listen if you're building a usage-based business model and want to understand how to position your company for valuation and fundraising success. What You'll Learn Why many usage-based companies don't lead with ARR or MRR. The 7 key metrics How AI adoption is becoming a narrative driver in earnings calls. Why RPO is gaining importance as a measure of forward visibility and future revenue. Why It Matters For Investors: These metrics provide confidence in growth and scalability, even without ARR disclosures. For Founders: Tracking and segmenting these numbers helps communicate the right story to Boards and potential buyers. For Valuation: Metrics like RPO and NRR are increasingly driving company valuations in usage-based models. For Finance Leaders: Understanding which financial systems and SaaS metrics to track ensures more effective reporting and better alignment with investors. Resources Mentioned The SaaS Metrics Academy: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/ Quote from Ben “If usage-based companies aren't tracking ARR, what are they tracking? The answer is seven key metrics that investors want to see — from gross margin to RPO.”

Abdel is a Starkware engineer who, over the last 7 years, went from building EIP 1559 on Ethereum to becoming a Bitcoin maximalist who wants ZK STARKs to happen. In this episode, we talk about his journey & some of Bitcoin's cultural issues. Time stamps: 00:00:59 - Sponsors: Sideshift, Citrea, Bitcoin.com News, LayerTwo Labs, NoOnes.com 00:01:38 - Abdel's unique journey: From Ethereum core dev at ConsenSys to Bitcoin maximalism 00:02:17 - Early Bitcoin curiosity (2011-2012) vs Ethereum's "world computer" appeal 00:03:51 - Fintech background: Working for banks before fighting them 00:04:31 - Always a Bitcoin + Ethereum maxi: Building unstoppable systems 00:06:07 - North Star vs "Nostr": Unstoppable vs compromised systems 00:06:23 - Fintech to DeFi? Payments focus, not advanced trading 00:07:29 - First Ethereum contributions: Smart contracts 00:09:09 - Deep dive: Championing EIP-1559 (fee burn, ultrasound money) 00:11:03 - EIP-1559's governance risks: Changing monetary policy on the fly 00:11:16 - Ethereum's slippery slopes: DAO hard fork to fee burns 00:12:12 - Ethereum as anti-Bitcoin experiment: From colored coins to rollups 00:13:48 - Ethereum Classic hopes; market follows narratives, not fixed supply 00:14:28 - EIP-1559 process: 2+ years of debate vs Bitcoin's immutability 00:15:59 - Boiling frog with Vitalik: Accumulating compromises (trusted setups) 00:18:28 - Ethereum precedents: Premine, PoS migration, rushed upgrades 00:19:14 - Social layer strength: Protects core principles vs nation-states 00:19:41 - Non-tech users in governance: Better than dev-only control 00:22:32 - Educating the social layer: Privacy warnings in Bitcoin tools 00:24:26 - Risks: Bitcoin (tech obsolescence) vs Ethereum (social dilution) 00:26:49 - Bitcoin meetups: Ideology & tech vs Ethereum's builder focus 00:28:00 - Shocking anti-Bitcoin sentiment from Ethereum side 00:29:52 - PoW beauty: External entropy, fair distribution (not Ponzi) 00:31:44 - PoW vs PoS: Tolerating Ethereum's PoS for decentralization 00:34:20 - Bitcoin's privacy crisis: Needs scale + affordability 00:36:43 - Sponsor: Layer2 Labs (Drivechains for sidechains like Zcash fork) 00:38:02 - Sponsor: Citrea (ZK rollup on Bitcoin via BitVM2) 00:40:09 - Citrea drama: Unfair criticism amid filter wars 00:42:40 - Citrea vs Alpen: First-to-market wins (garbled circuits delay) 00:46:01 - Video game analogy: Duke Nukem Forever vs pragmatic launches 00:47:25 - Lesson from Ethereum: Optimistic rollups dominate despite ZK superiority 00:48:56 - Dev events vs mainstream: Bridging tech narratives to plebs 01:10:00 - Fragmentation in Bitcoin community, why plebs dismiss innovation 02:30:00 - Off-topic: Immigration in Europe (Romania/France parallels, economic pressures) 02:38:16 - Bitcoin as catalyst: Inflation from crises drives adoption 02:39:46 - Decentralization as development sign: Small-scale consensus 02:42:11 - New chains start centralized; trust incentives lacking in L2s 02:44:41 - Starkware as bridge to Bitcoin: Pre-existing interest 02:45:57 - Elevator pitch: STARK proofs for Bitcoin (open-source, battle-tested) 02:48:21 - Endgame: Verify STARKs on Bitcoin for programmability + privacy 02:49:52 - Meme magic: One STARK proof is smaller in size than a photo, costs less than a Big Mac, can be verified in a blink 02:52:29 - STARKs vs SNARKs: No trusted setup, quantum-secure, hash-based 02:54:31 - Experiments: Cashu with STARKs (private programmable e-cash) 02:58:37 - Nostr DVMS: Verifiable AI/services in permissionless marketplace 03:01:16 - Cashu origin story: Bar chat with Calle to Jack Dorsey endorsement 03:03:16 - Cashu honesty: Not scaling, but privacy bridge vs custodians 03:06:25 - Nihilism in Bitcoin: Mental gymnastics vs Ethereum's build-first ethos 03:07:48 - Permission culture: Asking nodes for ZK proofs/Lightning channels 03:08:27 - Event split: Dev confs (BTC++) vs narrative fests (BTC Prague) 03:10:29 - Why invest without understanding? Newbie wave acceleration 03:11:23 - Niche value: In-between content bridges extremes 03:13:48 - Who listens matters: Robin Linus' DM is more important than mass views 03:16:07 - Still early days: 16 years in, aim for 1B daily users 03:16:39 - Special word: "Grinta" (grit mindset) for full listeners 03:18:14 - Outro: Thanks & next: Shai on PoW improvements

In this episode of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast, Kayleigh is joined by Dr. Ono Nseyo, an OB-GYN practicing in the Bay Area, for a deeply honest and inspiring conversation about patient-centered, trauma-informed care and what it means to show up as both a clinician and a human.Dr. Nseyo shares her journey from growing up as the daughter of Nigerian immigrants to becoming a physician passionate about addressing health disparities and providing care that honors dignity and autonomy. Together, Kayleigh and Dr. Nseyo explore what happens when healthcare providers reject the pressure of rushed, 10-minute appointments and instead prioritize listening, presence, and human connection.This conversation explores:

It's EV News Briefly for Monday 15 September 2025, everything you need to know in less than 5 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show. Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the EV News Daily Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/EVNewsDaily GLOBAL EV SALES RISE AUGUST 2025 https://evne.ws/4gpyec9 FORD'S FOCUS-SIZED RECOVERY PLAN https://evne.ws/4meLq4M EUROPEAN AUTOMAKERS SEEK 2035 FLEXIBILITY https://evne.ws/3Vi2snC TOYOTA BUILDS EV SUVS IN KENTUCKY https://evne.ws/4nvokI6 STELLANTIS CANCELS ELECTRIC RAM 1500 REV https://evne.ws/4nftZCk NISSAN MICRA LIVE EVENT SHOWCASES NEW SUPERMINI EV https://evne.ws/42g5jS7 GM REAFFIRMS EV-ONLY FUTURE, SLOWS TRANSITION https://evne.ws/42g5jS7 AMAZON TESTS GM BRIGHTDROP DELIVERY VANS https://evne.ws/42xweZr VOLVO CEO EXPECTS OTHER BRANDS TO FAIL https://evne.ws/46JM199 CHINA AUTO INDUSTRY THREAT TO GLOBAL MARKET https://evne.ws/3K1F6QR HYUNDAI-LG GEORGIA BATTERY PLANT STARTUP DELAY https://evne.ws/42qMDif SCOUT CEO ARGUES FOR DIRECT SALES STRATEGY https://evne.ws/3K1vNjS MAINE DISTRICTS FACE ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUS SERVICE ISSUES https://evne.ws/46kbFAN GLOBAL EV SALES RISE AUGUST 2025 Global electric vehicle sales reached 1.7 million in August, marking a 5% rise from July and 15% year-on-year, with BEVs and PHEVs contributing to a strong year-to-date total of 12.5 million—25% higher than 2024. Europe led growth, North America hit a record as buyers rushed to secure tax credits, and China saw robust, if moderating, expansion, while BYD cut its sales target but expects significant overseas volume. FORD'S FOCUS-SIZED RECOVERY PLAN Ford will launch a new mid-sized crossover in 2027, built in Valencia, Spain, reflecting a shift toward affordable EVs following Fiesta and Focus factory closures. The model will compete directly with the likes of Tiguan and Sportage at a mid-£30,000 price point—aiming to recover relevance with lower emissions and competitive pricing without expecting past market share highs. EUROPEAN AUTOMAKERS SEEK 2035 FLEXIBILITY European automotive leaders are calling for flexibility in the EU's 2035 ban on petrol and diesel cars, citing tougher global supply chains and increased reliance on Chinese battery suppliers. Automakers advocate for hybrids and transitional support beyond 2035, while member states like Italy and France push for exceptions, highlighting the division over the full fossil fuel phase-out deadline. TOYOTA BUILDS EV SUVS IN KENTUCKY Toyota will begin producing its first electric vehicles in the U.S. next year, including two three-row SUVs at its Georgetown, Kentucky site, part of a $1.3 billion investment focused on domestic EV growth. The move aims to serve rising American demand, add jobs, and advance Toyota toward carbon neutrality by 2050, while balancing hybrids, plug-ins, and full EVs. STELLANTIS CANCELS ELECTRIC RAM 1500 REV Ram has scrapped its planned all-electric 1500 REV pickup in favor of a plug-in hybrid model, citing weak demand for battery-only trucks and financial constraints at Stellantis. The new Ram REV, featuring a gasoline generator with over 690 miles of range, appeals to users needing greater towing and long-distance capability, while Stellantis refocuses on hybrids and profitable platforms. NISSAN MICRA LIVE EVENT SHOWCASES NEW SUPERMINI EV Nissan unveiled its fully electric sixth-generation MICRA in Rotterdam, built on the dedicated AmpR platform, offering two battery sizes, 198–260 miles WLTP range, and advanced handling and tech features. Starting at £21,495 in the UK with government support, deliveries begin January 2026 as MICRA leads Nissan's European EV lineup expansion. GM REAFFIRMS EV-ONLY FUTURE, SLOWS TRANSITION GM CEO Mary Barra reaffirmed the company's long-term goal of going all-electric by 2035, positioning it as a strategic "North Star". However, she acknowledged that the full transition may take decades due to industry complexity and evolving market and regulatory challenges. AMAZON TESTS GM BRIGHTDROP DELIVERY VANS Amazon has started testing GM's BrightDrop electric vans alongside its existing Rivian fleet, part of its strategy to deploy 100,000 electric delivery vehicles by 2030. The pilot comes as GM faces production slowdowns, offering a chance to boost BrightDrop's visibility and demand while Amazon diversifies its supplier base. VOLVO CEO EXPECTS OTHER BRANDS TO FAIL Volvo recently rehired former CEO Håkan Samuelsson, who affirmed the inevitability of electrification and predicted only a few Chinese brands will dominate globally in the next decade. He expects legacy automakers will struggle, with survival dependent on agility and partnership with advanced firms like Geely, as newcomers like Tesla and BYD reshape the market. CHINA AUTO INDUSTRY THREAT TO GLOBAL MARKET Industry experts at the Detroit Automotive News Congress warned that U.S. automakers are underestimating the competitive threat posed by Chinese brands, whose EV market share in China surged to 50%. Fierce home competition is fueling aggressive export plans, targeting Europe, Mexico, and North America, with cost and technology advantages challenging established automakers. HYUNDAI-LG GEORGIA BATTERY PLANT STARTUP DELAY Hyundai and LG's Georgia battery plant faces a two- to three-month startup delay after a major U.S. immigration raid detained hundreds of workers, most employed by LG suppliers. Hyundai will offset production impact by sourcing batteries from other facilities while both governments negotiate skilled labor solutions for future projects. SCOUT CEO ARGUES FOR DIRECT SALES STRATEGY Scout Motors CEO Scott Keogh stated the company will pursue direct sales, comparing traditional dealer model unfavorably to buying directly from Apple and advocating for a seamless brand experience. He dismissed dealers as a distraction, reinforcing direct-to-consumer as the company's strategic retail approach. MAINE DISTRICTS FACE ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUS SERVICE ISSUES Maine school districts have seen electric buses sidelined due to unresolved service issues, with manufacturer Lion Electric's bankruptcy halting repairs and parts, leaving districts stuck with non-functional vehicles under federal grant terms. The state faces mounting frustration, a federal lawsuit against Lion, and reliance on emergency replacement options while the EPA oversees the troubled program.

In this episode of Linch with a Leader, Mike Linch sits down with Johnny Shelton, the team chaplain and life coach for the Baltimore Ravens. Johnny shares his powerful journey from growing up without a father, to playing college football, to surrendering his life to Jesus, and ultimately being called to serve some of the biggest names in professional sports.You'll hear how Johnny walked away from corporate America to pursue God's calling, what spiritual leadership looks like in high-pressure environments, and how the Ravens' culture of character and faith fuels their success.Whether you're a coach, leader, pastor, athlete, or believer navigating purpose; this conversation will challenge and inspire you.Mike's Leadership Lessons from Johnny:- Leading with the ministry of presence is crucial.- Adversity shapes character and prepares us for our purpose.- Faith can transform lives and perspectives.- Transitioning from sports to business requires adaptability.- Presence in leadership fosters trust and connection.- Leadership is about serving others, not just directing them.- The importance of character in team selection.- Genuine relationships are built on trust and service.- Leadership lessons can be learned from observing others.- Purpose in life is about loving and helping others.Welcome to the Linch with a Leader Podcast, where you're invited to join the spiritual principles behind big success, with host Mike Linch.Subscribe to the channel so you never miss an episode: Watch: @linchwithaleader Prefer just listening? SUBSCRIBE to the podcast here:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0dJfeLbikJlKlBqAx6mDYW?si=6ffed84956cb4848Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/linch-with-a-leader/id1279929826Find show notes and more information at: www.mikelinch.comFollow for EVERYDAY leadership content and interaction:Follow on X: https://x.com/mikelinch?s=20Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikelinch?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==https://www.instagram.com/mikelinch/?...JOIN Mike for a Sunday at NorthStar Church:www.northstarchurch.org Watch: @nsckennesawTIMESTAMPS:00:00 Introduction and Connection05:44 The Roots of Passion and Adversity08:32 Finding Faith Through Struggles12:48 The Turning Point: A Life-Changing Experience16:21 Transitioning from Sports to Business19:58 Embracing a New Calling in Ministry21:48 Lessons Learned in College Football Chaplaincy25:24 Living Offendable: The Path to Understanding26:57 A New Chapter: Joining the Baltimore Ravens29:39 Evolving Perspectives: NFL Players Today31:14 The Power of Prayer on the Field33:19 Behind the Scenes: The Real Lives of NFL Players34:54 Spiritual Foundations: The Ravens' Success37:05 Leadership Lessons from Coach Harbaugh39:58 The Role of a Chaplain: Serving with Purpose44:16 Finding Purpose: Love, Help, and Discipleship#ravens #baltimoreravens #nfl #christianleadership

Your anchor, your North Star, your wings, and your why – in today's episode, John is sharing a lesson that will help you find the foundation of all these things: your purpose. Discover practical steps and powerful insights for living every day with intention and discipline.  After John's lesson, Mark Cole offers his perspective on how to apply it to your life and leadership.  Key takeaways:  Finding your why gives you direction. You discover your purpose through your passion and your giftedness.  Purpose puts steel in the backbone of discipline.   Our BONUS resource for this episode is the How to Live with Purpose Every Day Worksheet, which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from John's teaching. You can download the worksheet by visiting MaxwellPodcast.com/Purpose and clicking “Download the Bonus Resource.”  Take the next step in your growth journey and become a Maxwell Leadership Certified Team Member. Click here to speak with a Program Advisor today!  References:  Watch this episode on YouTube! Enroll in the Every Day with Purpose online course for $49 (reg. $199) Accountability Makes You Better Podcast Episode How to Improve Every Day Podcast Episode Are you a young leader? Take our Next Generation Leader survey and receive The Mentor's Guide to Everyday Challenges for FREE! Learn more about the 5 Levels of Leadership Workshop for your teams! Join the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team Shop the Maxwell Leadership Online Store