Career Growth and Leadership Lessons: Success Happy Hour Part 1

[00:00:02] Speaker A: All right. [00:00:02] Speaker B: And we are live on recording. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Real Estate Makes us Drink. Brian Quinlan here from Daniels Real Estate. [00:00:13] Speaker C: Brad Nickham from Nest Mortgage Group. [00:00:15] Speaker B: And we once again have a guest. We, we're like guest after guest after guest. This has been really good. [00:00:23] Speaker C: I gotta tell you. This is a, this is a super special guest. To me though. This is amazing. [00:00:28] Speaker A: We're. [00:00:28] Speaker B: We're going to call this maybe more of a success happy hour as opposed to real estate content. Today's guest may not provide much there, but definitely going to talk about success, which is always important. Sir, who are you? What do you do? [00:00:42] Speaker A: Hey, my name is Chris Weatherford. So glad to be here. So glad to meet you. So glad to see you. Brad, you're half the man you used to be. Quite literally. I got tricked into being here tonight because I actually thought this was going to be like a karaoke event. [00:00:56] Speaker C: Oh, and he's a hell of a karaoke. [00:00:58] Speaker A: No karaoke. [00:00:59] Speaker C: Or we can't do that right now. [00:01:02] Speaker A: Maybe at least we can get us some pizza or something like that. [00:01:05] Speaker C: No, we can order food. [00:01:06] Speaker B: I like karaoke. [00:01:07] Speaker A: Just saying. I'll back up a little bit. Chris weatherford going on 29. So you're going to find the next part of my story to be a little bit unbelievable. Graduated with Brad in 1988, Wabash High School. Went to the military in 88. Traveled the world, quite literally. Germany, Haiti, Somalia, Africa, Colorado, Kansas, California, Missouri, all those places. [00:01:33] Speaker B: It's not hitting any of those places. [00:01:35] Speaker A: My cruise was a little bit different. So I got out in 1997 and decided to get a temporary job at a paper mill. And I've been in the paper industry for going on 28 years now. [00:01:46] Speaker B: Wow. [00:01:47] Speaker A: Yeah, it's been a great time. [00:01:48] Speaker B: So which paper company are you with? [00:01:50] Speaker A: So I'm with Paperworks Industries. We're headquartered out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and we're located across North America at seven different locations. [00:01:58] Speaker B: I can only imagine the Dunder Mifflin references. [00:02:02] Speaker A: Everyday jokes. [00:02:03] Speaker B: I mean, it's constant, right? [00:02:04] Speaker A: That's right. That's right. We all identify as one of the characters from the Office. And. [00:02:08] Speaker B: And which one are you? [00:02:09] Speaker A: Dwight. [00:02:13] Speaker B: Have you been Dwight for Halloween before? [00:02:15] Speaker A: I will be this. [00:02:16] Speaker C: That's fantast. Love it. [00:02:19] Speaker B: All right, well, at the beginning of the show here, before we get too far into our success happy hour, we talk beverages. I'm starting today. So the can on this is really the reason I bought this. [00:02:31] Speaker C: Didn't you get that tattoo today? [00:02:32] Speaker B: I like the can. Anyways, this is three Floyd's lager. It is Jinx proof lager. Specifically, the top of the can says it's not normal. [00:02:44] Speaker C: Neither are you. [00:02:46] Speaker B: It's a very cool looking can. So I've not had this one before. So here we go. [00:02:51] Speaker C: What do you got? [00:02:51] Speaker B: Cheers. [00:02:52] Speaker C: I've got Yayo Tropical Reposado. Yayo, Yayo. Sorry, I wish you were on the other show where you could help correct me all the time. [00:03:02] Speaker B: Great. [00:03:03] Speaker C: Reposado 1414. Sergio Cruz, master distiller, one of the best repos ever. [00:03:09] Speaker B: To me, not to be confused with Sergio Garcia. [00:03:12] Speaker A: That's right. 19 hole. [00:03:14] Speaker B: You have the same tequila he does. [00:03:16] Speaker A: I have whatever he feeds me. [00:03:18] Speaker B: I'll have what he's having. [00:03:20] Speaker C: He just finished a little fortaleza reperto. So now you've got a little game changer. [00:03:28] Speaker B: Jinx proof is all right. [00:03:30] Speaker C: That is some great tequila. Thank you. Sergio Cruz, he watches the show actually. [00:03:35] Speaker B: For real? For real. [00:03:36] Speaker C: Yeah. He also. [00:03:37] Speaker B: Sergio. Hola, Sergio. [00:03:40] Speaker A: Heard a lot about you. [00:03:41] Speaker C: Didn't take a whole lot of English you say more. [00:03:44] Speaker B: See? [00:03:44] Speaker C: Spanish. Is that it? What if you have to go to the bathroom? [00:03:52] Speaker B: That's. Where is the bathroom? That's not. I have to go to the bathroom. [00:03:55] Speaker C: I'm asking because I gotta go. [00:04:02] Speaker B: This is. Wow. I didn't realize we were a bilingual show. We're really branching out. We're going to bring on more tens of followers. [00:04:08] Speaker C: As long as we just stay by lingual, we'll be okay. [00:04:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Doing the last word, the last podcast. [00:04:14] Speaker C: Somebody says, is there any rules? And I said, no touching under the bar. [00:04:18] Speaker A: Hey, hey, hey, special guest. Anything goes. You told me no you're gonna be that special. [00:04:28] Speaker C: Oh, holy cow. [00:04:29] Speaker B: All right, so how does one get into the paper industry? [00:04:35] Speaker A: So for me, I had no intentions on it. [00:04:39] Speaker B: Who does? [00:04:40] Speaker A: Who does? Right? [00:04:41] Speaker B: And this is well before the office ever exists. [00:04:44] Speaker A: That's right. [00:04:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:45] Speaker A: I was cool before. They were right. So everybody's clear on that. So you never really think about what it takes to make paper until you actually see it. And once you see it, you're like, wow, how does this even happen? I mean, you throw out terms like in a paper mill, you might burn as much as 3.2 million cubic feet of gas a day. You might. Yeah, you might process upwards of 14 million gallons of water a day in a day in a paper mill. So there's some amazing facts. And the more I got into it, I mean, honestly, I love my job, but when I went there, the first thing I was thinking about is, hey, I got to get some benefits from my family. [00:05:20] Speaker B: Sure. [00:05:21] Speaker A: I just made a big, gigantic life change. And I swore that I would never do anything other than engineering until they built cars with wings. And as it turns out, I was wrong. So. [00:05:32] Speaker B: And we don't have. [00:05:33] Speaker C: We only ended up with batteries that don't work that great. [00:05:36] Speaker A: So, you know, the military I'd had had a wild career. I did a combat tour, did a couple of hardship tours, and anything like that, and have no regrets on it. Don't want to do it again, but no regrets. And in the military, everything is about people who. Who you can trust, who you can rely on, who you want to be around you and who you want to be around for sure. So when I got out of the military, I went to a factory. Total different lifestyle. It's like, wow, what am I supposed to do here? And I quickly realized that I wasn't just going to be the run of the mill guy. Doesn't mean that anybody who's doing the run of the mill stuff is doing something bad. There's just different seats on the bus for different people. Right. Know your lane, rise to that lane, Figure out how to do it and chase it. So it took me all of about a couple of weeks, literally, to figure out there was more for me in this business. [00:06:21] Speaker C: Okay. [00:06:22] Speaker A: And I pushed very hard to learn, and here I am. [00:06:25] Speaker C: You know, Chris said we went to high school together, and one thing you got to know about Chris and I is we rode a very different bus to school. Like, there was one time when this massive bus drove by my house. I was like, mom, did you see that big bus? That was amazing. That was a huge, extra big bus. And my mom said, honey, that's a normal bus. The one with, like, six windows. That's the one I wrote. [00:06:52] Speaker B: Did you ever get ripped out of your seat in math class and paddled in the hallway? [00:06:59] Speaker A: He did. He was known for that, as a matter of fact. Yeah, we all knew Brad. [00:07:05] Speaker C: I was a little bit of a troublemaker. [00:07:07] Speaker B: From what I heard, Brad was the guy you wanted to know because he knew where the parties were and where the fun was happening. [00:07:13] Speaker A: I'll tell you, I could probably tell a couple of stories. I'm not sure if they're ethical or not for this podcast, but, you know, Brad did always have your back, and I'll just leave it at that. Yep, but you did. Honest to God, I remember his car. I remember the sound of, well, I'll just leave it at that. [00:07:30] Speaker C: Van Halen. Halen coming out of the Speakers all the time. [00:07:34] Speaker A: Looked like Jon Bon Jovi, sang like. [00:07:37] Speaker C: David Lee Roth and jammed Van Halen all the time. And like Sammy Hagar better than all of them. [00:07:41] Speaker A: That's right. That's right. Awesome. [00:07:44] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Not the country guy I am today, right? [00:07:47] Speaker B: It's certainly not, but tequila was part. [00:07:49] Speaker C: Of my high school years. When I was 21, I saw that on podcast. [00:07:55] Speaker B: Your tequila show. It's really not a podcast. [00:07:59] Speaker C: Yeah, just a little show. I never know the name of it. I messed it up in the beginning. [00:08:03] Speaker B: Tequila with Brad? [00:08:05] Speaker C: Yeah, something like that. [00:08:06] Speaker B: No, Tequila tasting. [00:08:07] Speaker C: Tasting Tequila and Brad. No. You know, high school was fun for me. It wasn't about school for sure. It was about great friends and great times. And to think, you know, Chris and I both in school were, you know, most likely to succeed and we. I was prettiest hair. [00:08:30] Speaker A: Yeah. Wow. I did have pretty hair. [00:08:32] Speaker C: I had pretty. [00:08:33] Speaker A: Some cool bandanas too. Oh, yeah. [00:08:35] Speaker C: I had some really cool, like, parachute pants. [00:08:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:08:38] Speaker C: Bon Jovi jeans. The cruise is right there too. There's. There's a picture, I think up here. It's got to be like right after high school. [00:08:45] Speaker A: Yeah, that was in Germany. That was in 1989. In Germany. [00:08:50] Speaker C: How old were you in 89? [00:08:51] Speaker B: I was 16. [00:08:53] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, wow. Nice. [00:08:54] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:08:55] Speaker B: Born in 73. [00:08:56] Speaker C: He wanted to hang out with us. [00:08:57] Speaker A: He's in good shape. [00:08:59] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:08:59] Speaker A: Thank you. I was guessing 30s. [00:09:01] Speaker B: Nah. 51, bro. Wow, thanks. [00:09:03] Speaker A: Good for 30s. [00:09:04] Speaker B: I do nothing to be this shaped. [00:09:05] Speaker A: Is this what you have to drink like that? [00:09:08] Speaker B: Apparently. [00:09:08] Speaker C: So you realize you're not getting laid? [00:09:11] Speaker A: No, I do realize that. I do. I told you I would settle for pizza. [00:09:16] Speaker B: Goes back to the buy. [00:09:19] Speaker C: It's bilingual. Yeah, right there. That's. That's an old school there. [00:09:26] Speaker B: Is there purple paint on your face? [00:09:28] Speaker A: You remember Zinka? So before. So I was. I was a skater. I raced BMX bikes for a number of years, and it was all about doing crazy to your hair and all that. I used to shave stripes in the side of my head. [00:09:40] Speaker B: Oh, okay. [00:09:41] Speaker C: Vanilla Ice, baby. [00:09:42] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. Before villain Vanilla Ice existed. All right, so again, cool. Before him. Anyways, I cut the stripes on the side of my head and I painted them different colors. And in Germany, I had two little sticks of Zinca left. And I said, why not? I painted my face. [00:09:55] Speaker B: Huh. [00:09:57] Speaker A: I knew you'd be impressed. [00:09:58] Speaker B: I very. [00:09:59] Speaker C: Another fun fact. We both married our high school sweetheart. [00:10:03] Speaker B: Oh, no way. [00:10:04] Speaker C: But I think you've been married a little bit longer than us because we were. We'll be 35 years in September and you're like 36 this. 36 years. [00:10:14] Speaker A: December. Yeah. Yeah. [00:10:15] Speaker C: So he wants ahead of us. [00:10:17] Speaker B: I can't help but notice tequila photos back here. You're wearing a Michigan shirt. [00:10:21] Speaker A: I am. [00:10:22] Speaker B: Michigan fan. [00:10:24] Speaker A: Tremendous. Grew up in Michigan. Actually lived in Michigan from 1970 until 1984. [00:10:30] Speaker B: Before I. [00:10:33] Speaker A: Are you a Michigan fan? I mean, why not? [00:10:35] Speaker B: I'm going to get there. But. But no. Have you seen the Netflix show on the cheating scandal? [00:10:44] Speaker A: I have. [00:10:45] Speaker B: I watched it last night. It's fascinating. [00:10:47] Speaker A: But do we call it cheating or do we call it strategy? [00:10:50] Speaker B: I think it's that they're getting called out for cheating. Based on what I've seen on that show. [00:10:55] Speaker A: Who hasn't done. Exactly. [00:10:57] Speaker B: They literally said that at the beginning. Every team does this. [00:11:00] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:11:00] Speaker B: It's nonsense. [00:11:01] Speaker C: It's a Bill Belichick. [00:11:03] Speaker B: No, no, no. When that story broke, it was equated or, or, you know, made similar to what they did. But. But no, it's literally reading the signs of the other team on the other side of the field. [00:11:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:19] Speaker B: You get a former Marine who was able to decode their signs. [00:11:23] Speaker A: Right. [00:11:24] Speaker B: Super studious in figuring the out and he was able to read their signs. Now question is, was he paying people to go to games to record? Seems like he was. So that part, I, you know, I would say cheating, but I guess so far no proof of that. But anyways, I'll say fascinating show on Netflix. I, I'd recommend that if you like sports, you don't even have to give a crap about football. I think you have to like sports to kind of maybe enjoy the show. [00:11:50] Speaker A: But it's interesting. [00:11:51] Speaker B: It's a fascinating documentary. [00:11:53] Speaker C: Whenever I think of cheating in football, I think of Brady and you know, he's going to be debuting as an announcer. There was a lot of hype about it, but it's kind of deflated since they first started. [00:12:08] Speaker B: 300 and something million dollars he's getting and has yet to call a game. So it's gonna be similar to our. [00:12:16] Speaker C: I, I called it. I called it last week. I told Brian that our future has been laid out for. [00:12:21] Speaker A: Correct. [00:12:22] Speaker C: Just a. I'm gonna say not a dual lane highway, but the autobahn. Right. Of exactly where we're going. [00:12:28] Speaker B: Fast forwarding to the future. [00:12:30] Speaker C: Our future is the same as the Kelsey brothers. We're going to get a hundred million dollars to move this podcast to Amazon. [00:12:36] Speaker A: I believe it. It's coming. [00:12:38] Speaker B: I believe it. [00:12:38] Speaker C: It's coming because what I tell you, you believe it. [00:12:41] Speaker B: It'll happen. [00:12:42] Speaker C: No, I said if you can't see it, you can't be it. [00:12:45] Speaker A: That's for sure. It's on a T shirt too. [00:12:47] Speaker C: Can't see it. [00:12:48] Speaker B: You can't be it. [00:12:49] Speaker C: We can't see it. I see it. I see Jeff Bezos, like, going, Brad, you can order as much this week. [00:12:56] Speaker B: Well, Jeff, you've got me as a podcast. Don't I get all this for free? [00:13:02] Speaker C: Oh, that'd be so amazing. And really, I just want a bottle of tequila for free. [00:13:08] Speaker B: I'd take someone sending me a six pack of beer for free, you know? [00:13:11] Speaker C: Yeah, there you go. I think if you keep bringing different beers, if you get that tattooed on you, that's cool. And you show on the next show. That is a tattoo. [00:13:19] Speaker B: Okay. [00:13:19] Speaker C: Right where your heart is. That. [00:13:22] Speaker A: That's. [00:13:23] Speaker C: That'd be bad. [00:13:23] Speaker B: Two to three Floyd's people. If that's what it takes to get. I'm free beer for life. Because I significantly dislike tattoos on me. Why? Because I don't like the pain, and there's zero chance I'm gonna enjoy the pain of that at all. [00:13:41] Speaker C: That's why I don't have one I want. There you go. [00:13:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Wow. How about that? Three dudes. [00:13:46] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:47] Speaker A: So we're not cool, right? No, I mean, mentally. I have one. I have barbed wire on my arm right now. You can't see it. [00:13:53] Speaker C: Don't you have to have that mentally? I have the Kenny Chesney guitar palm tree here. [00:13:59] Speaker A: Really? [00:13:59] Speaker C: And an agave here. [00:14:01] Speaker A: I can see it. I can see it. [00:14:03] Speaker B: I've never pictured a tattoo for me. [00:14:05] Speaker C: I think if you ever. If you, like, came. [00:14:08] Speaker A: This. [00:14:08] Speaker C: Is this what I'm picturing you walking into the. Into your kitchen. Right. You just got home from the podcast, and you're all hot and sweaty from all the work you've been doing? [00:14:16] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:14:16] Speaker C: You rip your shirt off. [00:14:18] Speaker B: Yeah. I do this all the time. [00:14:19] Speaker C: Over your heart. Stephanie's gonna be like, oh. Oh, my God, dude. [00:14:23] Speaker B: Instant. It's gonna happen. [00:14:25] Speaker C: Instant love. [00:14:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:27] Speaker A: Is he gonna say 5% alcohol on it or 5.7? Whatever. [00:14:30] Speaker B: If they're buying me a lifetime of beer. Whatever. [00:14:33] Speaker C: They want it to be changed with whatever. [00:14:35] Speaker B: That's right. [00:14:36] Speaker A: The color changes and. Honey, should we drive home? [00:14:39] Speaker B: It's hope. [00:14:40] Speaker A: No, it's. [00:14:41] Speaker B: It's my own breathalyzer. It's a skin Elyzer. [00:14:45] Speaker C: I love it. [00:14:46] Speaker B: That's fantastic. This. This show just took a turn. [00:14:49] Speaker C: Yeah. For the better. Okay, so this is a couple reasons why I wanted to have you on. Is Our. Your story's amazing. And that. That you went and you served and you came home and you went into a factory in a small town where I'm from too. And a lot of people never get to the point of success, right? They. They go to work at that factory and they chug away and they hope they don't get laid off and they hope they don't lose their pension and they retire and they have this just normal life. Not that that's bad. I started out, no, not a bricklayer. And I look back at that and think, I could have had a great career. I just stayed as a union bricklayer. So I'm not saying that at all. But for the guy that comes in, that's working in that factory, similar to me when I was working as a bricklayer, going, and I just want more out of life. [00:15:35] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. [00:15:35] Speaker C: What advice do you give even to a guy that's maybe working right there in your plant doing the. The hardest. Because if I know factories, right, You. You start off in the hardest grunt type, ugliest, yucky work. [00:15:49] Speaker A: That's right. [00:15:50] Speaker C: And then tenure moves you up a little bit and up a little bit and up a little bit, right? So I'm sure your factory is probably the same, right? So what do you tell that guy that's in that hardest part? Least amount of income that maybe doesn't see a step to. And tell me if this is wrong. Vice president, Operations for North America. [00:16:13] Speaker A: Senior vice president, Senior vice president. That really means something. When you can say for sure. I think it refers to my age. [00:16:20] Speaker B: But I don't think it's fine. [00:16:22] Speaker C: No, we're not. We're not old yet. [00:16:24] Speaker A: Yeah. So you made a comment earlier that, you know, it sounds a little cheesy. Maybe it's just the way you said it. But anyways, you made a comment earlier about you got to see it. And if you can see it, you can be it, right? That's. That is in fact, the absolute truth. And when you're living in that moment, it's not very easy to see that because you're dirty, you're sweaty, you're hot. [00:16:43] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. [00:16:44] Speaker A: You know, you're working in the middle of the night, it's like, how could anything be beyond this point in my life? But you just see it, you envision it. And even if you're not doing something consciously every day to get there, it's in your mind and you are inadvertently working towards that. You've heard of, like, dream boards and things like that. You put next to your desk. You know, you glance at it every now and then, right? That's in your mind. And you suddenly see that as something you have to get. And once that's in your mind, you're going to keep working until you get there. For me, I alluded to it a little bit earlier. When you're in the military, I don't know what to do with my hands, but it's okay. [00:17:17] Speaker C: You do this. You do this. [00:17:19] Speaker A: In a second, I'm going to start doing the robot. But anyways, it's all about people, right? It's. It's all about people. And I love people. I know you guys love people. You wouldn't be. [00:17:29] Speaker B: That is a common theme from our guests. It is about people. [00:17:33] Speaker A: No, no, I. I really appreciate that. I have tremendous amount of respect for it. Because there's a different seat on the bus for everybody in life, right? And it doesn't make a difference if you're sitting in the front or in the back of the bus. That seat is made for you. And understanding what your capability is, what your demonstrator performance is, and staying in that lane to get to where you want to go is absolutely crucial. You've got to understand what your capability is and align that with what, that little dream pictures on your board next to your desk and just work, work, work towards it, and you'll get there. [00:18:04] Speaker C: So in the workaday world, right, you're in there working. How did you interact with the. The senior executive staff and the senior people that were around you? Because I hear this common thing, right? And we all know the guy, man, I ain't kissing ass nowhere, man. You know, this is my. This is my road to hoe, whatever, right? And I've never looked at it as kissing ass. [00:18:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:33] Speaker C: I've always looked at it as going the extra mile. [00:18:36] Speaker A: That's right. [00:18:37] Speaker C: So in. In your everyday workaday world, how did you see yourself putting yourself in a position for people to know who you were as an employee? [00:18:46] Speaker A: So it's a good question. And to that point, you know, you got to make a decision very early on. Do you care about what people think about you? Right. You are who you are, and you demonstrate who you are in front of people. And that's just it. That's who you are, Right? If you live beyond that, above or below that, you're not being true to yourself. So regardless of what anybody thinks about you talking to that person or kissing ass, what does it really matter? Is that person writing your check at the end of the day? Is he going to be the one that says, here's a bonus? He's not. He or she is not. [00:19:17] Speaker C: Right. [00:19:17] Speaker A: You have to just, you know, charge after it and leave all those other thoughts behind. [00:19:22] Speaker C: Hmm. [00:19:22] Speaker A: That's. [00:19:23] Speaker C: That's powerful. Because, you know, a lot of us worry about what other people think of us. [00:19:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:28] Speaker C: And I've said for a long time, I gave that up years ago. Because what I figured out is they're not thinking of me. [00:19:37] Speaker B: No, they're not. [00:19:38] Speaker C: They're spending a lot of time thinking about what I think of them. [00:19:41] Speaker A: That's right. [00:19:41] Speaker C: So while I'm worried about what they think of me, they're not thinking about me. They're thinking about what I think of them. And I'm not thinking about them. I'm scared about what they're thinking of me. [00:19:47] Speaker A: That's right. [00:19:49] Speaker B: So funny connection. And you can do a shot at this point because I'm gonna allude to a teaching story. So, boom. Teacher. [00:19:57] Speaker C: You have to do a shot when you're teaching. When. Not you. When you're watching. You have to. [00:20:04] Speaker B: When I was a math teacher, sixth grade math, what I taught for 12 years. [00:20:09] Speaker A: How do you figure? [00:20:10] Speaker B: I did not have. [00:20:11] Speaker C: How do you figure? Thank you. [00:20:14] Speaker B: Well done. So I did not have a lot of classes where I had students do presentations. However, being on a team, you know, they'd go from my class to another class and I might see them again later or whatever. And of course, if they had a presentation, they had to do in language arts or social studies or science. A lot of anxious times in the classroom as the students were very consumed with their presentation and how they were. [00:20:38] Speaker C: You know, what they were going to. [00:20:39] Speaker B: Say and practicing over and over again. And I distinctly remember for the last few years, I just started to give this advice. No one cares. They're not listening to you when you're up there presenting. They're sitting in their seat, running through the presentation that they're about to give in their head. The only person listening is the teacher, your boss, the one person who's writing your check. Same idea. You know, you only have to impress that person. Most of the other people could not give a shit what's going on with you. They're just there to collect a paycheck, too. [00:21:16] Speaker A: That's a step within your journey. I totally agree with you. I would take it another step farther than that. Not trying to one up. [00:21:22] Speaker B: No, it's okay. Sixth grade, it's beyond that. [00:21:26] Speaker A: It's gone. [00:21:27] Speaker C: He never made it to teach in eighth grade, man. [00:21:29] Speaker B: So. [00:21:30] Speaker A: So as we develop in life, right. And we've decided now that we want to be influential people, we want to be leaders, we want to be that guy in front of the room, whatever. We learn how to talk to people. [00:21:40] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:41] Speaker A: And at first, it's all about, man, I just got to get this message out of my mouth. I just got to get that message out of my mouth. But it doesn't stop there. You master that art. And then the next and even more important step in that is how those people are hearing what you're saying. Because if you're truly saying something that you want them to hear, you need to validate that they're hearing it. If not, you can't expect them to walk away from that room absorbing anything you just said. [00:22:03] Speaker C: Right. [00:22:03] Speaker A: And if you're a manager or a leader and you want them to do something, you got to validate. They know exactly what you just said. So getting that message out there, making sure they hear that message the way you intended, is priceless. [00:22:16] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:22:17] Speaker C: And I would say, as the person that's trying to get to there, Right. As you learn it, if you talk to somebody else about it, the minute you start to teach something that you've learned is the minute that that really becomes a part. I mean, that's when this stuff becomes really something important. When you can teach something that you want. [00:22:37] Speaker A: That's right. And you start to see the impacts of that extra time you took to bestow that knowledge upon somebody else. And it just spreads and it grows and people want to do it more, and people want to learn more and you feel better about it and you want to do more, and it just explodes. [00:22:52] Speaker C: So how much. How much do you learn and how much do you gain from people that have no idea that they're telling you something that you. That you learn something and gain from them, People that, you know, maybe is that guy of lowest on the totem pole, first day at the factory. To a guy that's been there 15 years, you know, doing the same job as you, as you work with people throughout all over the North America like you do, how much do you really learn and gain from all those other people? [00:23:23] Speaker A: A lot. Okay. And I'm going to tell on myself a little bit because at a younger point in my life, I really wasn't the guy that listened as good as I probably should have. I didn't take my own advice that I just gave to. Yeah, right. But really good at giving advice. Yeah. So I was very judgmental, like, oh, my gosh, I don't want to hear what this guy has to say or this girl has to say. I already know. I already know. But in the middle of the night when I had to know what they were trying to tell me and I fell on my face. I was wishing they were right there next to me. So I took that medicine. I took that pill very quickly, and I've kept it with me for the rest of my life since then. [00:23:59] Speaker C: It's amazing how much you can gain from other people if you. I mean, I talk a lot. Brian knows that from the show. If you watch it all the time, you know that. [00:24:07] Speaker B: Amen, sister. [00:24:08] Speaker C: But it's sometimes if you shut up and listen. [00:24:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:11] Speaker C: There's actually a book I want to write for salespeople called Shut up and Listen. God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason. But it is a point where, when you're dealing with other people, that you have to turn off your brain and listen to what they're saying and let that hit you. And you can learn so much from all people. It's pretty amazing. [00:24:29] Speaker A: We talked a little bit about this on the phone the other day, and I love this phrase that it took a long time for me to really absorb what it means, but you need to meet somebody where they're at. [00:24:39] Speaker C: Oh, that's big. [00:24:40] Speaker A: Because we're all different, right? I don't know what you guys do. You don't know what I do. But if you come at me, talking to me like I do understand it, I'm lost. [00:24:47] Speaker C: Right. [00:24:48] Speaker A: You need to. You need to sometimes get down, you know? And down doesn't mean a bad thing. You need to get down to somebody else's level so you're on a level playing field. And then you both come up together at the same time, right? Yeah. [00:24:58] Speaker C: And educational or knowledge level, up or down doesn't mean it's bad. [00:25:02] Speaker A: That's right. [00:25:03] Speaker C: It's meeting them where they're at. [00:25:04] Speaker A: There's a seat on the bus for everybody. [00:25:06] Speaker C: Okay. So, you know CEOs. The average CEO will read or listen to 60 books a year. [00:25:14] Speaker A: Wow. [00:25:16] Speaker C: How much book do you spend your time in? Reading, listening. And what kind of books would you say people should listen to or read? [00:25:24] Speaker A: Playboy, Count magazine anymore? Jeez. Social media. I don't know. Do you? I don't know. [00:25:34] Speaker C: I actually don't have an idea. [00:25:35] Speaker A: I know. [00:25:36] Speaker C: I know the house went into foreclosure. [00:25:39] Speaker B: I know there's no physical magazine that is published anymore. Beyond that, I'm not sure. [00:25:43] Speaker A: So I think the robe is still. [00:25:44] Speaker C: Having a good time. [00:25:51] Speaker A: So I know a lot of people that like to read, you know, and they get great enjoyment out of it. I get great enjoyment out of it too. But admittedly I probably have four books open right now and I don't ever finish one at one time. It seems like before I skip on and go to another, I might be reading about bourbon. [00:26:10] Speaker B: Three books open next to my bed right now. [00:26:12] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah. It might be bourbon, it might be bikes, it might be cigars. It might be us politics and how Trump's going to win the next election. Are we allowed to say things about politics? [00:26:22] Speaker C: Well, you and I are. [00:26:23] Speaker A: What I meant to say anyways. Yeah. Lots of books, lots of listening. I mean, every day. I was just telling you guys before the show, I get on my bike every morning at 5:30 in the morning and I'll do at least 10 miles and I watch your gut. Yeah, I'll watch your guys's podcast and rest in the blue hat, man. [00:26:43] Speaker B: Fred challenging you, Fred. [00:26:45] Speaker C: Yeah. Bike in the morning at 5:30. [00:26:47] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:26:48] Speaker B: I will say Fred is our. Our most frequent commenter. [00:26:52] Speaker C: He is. [00:26:53] Speaker B: So if you're watching, feel free to throw a comment out there. It does help the growth. [00:26:56] Speaker A: I gotcha. [00:26:57] Speaker C: Will do, Fred. Fred is one of my good friends. I've known Freddy for years and we actually. You. [00:27:05] Speaker A: You. [00:27:05] Speaker C: You'd actually be the second non real estate guest because Fred was really the first. [00:27:09] Speaker B: That's true. [00:27:10] Speaker C: Fred. [00:27:10] Speaker B: No. Stephanie Council. Stephanie and Reuben. [00:27:15] Speaker C: No. [00:27:15] Speaker A: Damn. Reuben. [00:27:16] Speaker C: Real. Never mind. [00:27:18] Speaker B: Blew that up. [00:27:19] Speaker A: Wind out of the sail. [00:27:20] Speaker C: Knocked that down really quick. But yeah, Fred's a great friend. You've met Fred at Casino Night. [00:27:27] Speaker A: Okay. [00:27:27] Speaker C: Fred and Peggy. Oh, just tremendous bundle of energy and have a bunch. [00:27:31] Speaker B: Love Fred. [00:27:32] Speaker C: Yeah, he's awesome. I talked to him today, but I haven't seen him in a while. [00:27:35] Speaker B: They're traveling somewhere. [00:27:37] Speaker C: Yeah, he called me. He called me from Bucky's. [00:27:41] Speaker B: There was a Facebook picture. [00:27:43] Speaker C: It was I love Bucky's and hate it at the same time, but I did just pee in the cleanest restroom. [00:27:48] Speaker B: Seriously? That's the truth. Love it and hate it at the same time. [00:27:52] Speaker C: He said there's got to be 500 people in here. Peggy, how many people do you think in your Peggy's? Like at least 100. [00:27:56] Speaker A: Are you serious? I've not been. [00:27:59] Speaker C: Oh, you've never been? [00:28:00] Speaker B: Oh, it truly is an experience. If you ever drive by one, just go in. Just get the experience. [00:28:05] Speaker A: I seen a sign in Michigan. It said 630 miles to Bucky. I'm like What? [00:28:10] Speaker C: Yeah, Try our beaver nuts. [00:28:11] Speaker B: That's good. [00:28:13] Speaker C: We literally driving i10 heading to Arizona or no, heading to Texas. We were. We did a month in Texas, and we seen this sign, you know, 800 miles to Buc Ees. Try our Beaver nuts. And I'm like, I don't know if those are nuts cooked by a beaver. [00:28:29] Speaker A: Or boy beaver treat. [00:28:31] Speaker C: But we just kept driving, and then we're through, you know, Arkansas. And they're like, you know, 130 miles to Buc EE's and then 80 miles to Buc EE's and cleanest bathrooms in Texas. And that's when there were. All the BUC EE's were in Texas and maybe one in Arkansas that was being built. So it was still a Texas company. We're in the motorhome, and I'm needing to get gas, you know, and I. I look and there's, I think a thousand gas pumps. [00:28:58] Speaker B: There are so many. [00:29:00] Speaker C: It was just lined up, and I was like, ah, that is, like, perfect for a motorhome. [00:29:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:05] Speaker C: And then you walked in there, and they're. They're banging out this barbecue. And all of a sudden you hear him say, fresh brisket on the board. You go get a brisket sandwich. Some jerky. Oh, it's amazing. [00:29:18] Speaker A: Is it really? Okay. [00:29:19] Speaker B: There's literally a wall of jerky that says it above all the jerky in their packages on the wall. Wow. And they're making fresh food? Pretty much. [00:29:30] Speaker C: You can taste any jerky you want. They'll go get it. [00:29:32] Speaker B: You can taste it pretty much any time of day. There's food being made. You could buy, you know, souvenirs at BUC EE's. And he's not wrong when he says a thousand. Well, I guess maybe wrong a little bit. [00:29:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:46] Speaker B: There's a whole lot of gas products. [00:29:48] Speaker C: At least a hundred. [00:29:49] Speaker B: Yeah, no doubt. Definitely more than that. [00:29:51] Speaker A: Can you charge a Tesla? [00:29:53] Speaker C: Probably, yeah. The newest one in Sevierville, Georgia. Well, it's not the newest one. There's one just opened now, 65 by Bowling Green. The one in Sevierville, Georgia, has a whole area for charging. [00:30:03] Speaker A: It's. [00:30:04] Speaker C: And that's the biggest buckies in the United States there. On your way to Pigeon Forge. [00:30:07] Speaker A: Very cool. [00:30:08] Speaker B: Okay. [00:30:09] Speaker C: Yeah, Biggest up on it. We haven't been there. The line was about a mile and a half before you got to BUC EE's. And I was out of gas, and I looked at Tony. It's like, we're going to shell. Oh, we're going up that road. [00:30:20] Speaker B: Yeah, that's rough. [00:30:21] Speaker C: Yeah. Bucky's is amazing. [00:30:22] Speaker B: It's worth the stop. [00:30:23] Speaker C: The nuts are like almonds and cashews that are all like. Like, you see. [00:30:28] Speaker A: Are they hot? [00:30:29] Speaker B: Beaver nuggets. [00:30:30] Speaker C: Beaver nuts. [00:30:31] Speaker B: Beaver nuggets. [00:30:32] Speaker C: You were thinking of saucy nugs. [00:30:34] Speaker B: No, no, no. [00:30:35] Speaker A: They're. [00:30:35] Speaker B: They're like. They're like that air popcorn that doesn't have any kernels. Oh, they're so good. [00:30:43] Speaker A: Pirate booty. That's one of them. Yeah. You had that? Yeah, yeah. [00:30:46] Speaker C: But the almonds and the cashews that are all. [00:30:49] Speaker B: I haven't had that. [00:30:49] Speaker C: Oh, they're warm. Warm nuts. [00:30:52] Speaker B: I have had their warm nuts. [00:30:54] Speaker A: Seems like it's about time for a subject change. [00:30:57] Speaker C: Beaver nuts are amazing. [00:30:59] Speaker B: It might be time for a shot, Chris. [00:31:02] Speaker A: So I heard just a little bit before the call that my man here in the middle, Brian, likes some bourbon and some whiskey. So why don't we go down that path? I hate to mess up your. No, no, no. You sure? [00:31:12] Speaker C: We got a. [00:31:13] Speaker B: He wants me to be a tequila. [00:31:15] Speaker C: We had a Buffalo Trace just in the last show last week. And I'd say anything up there. So what's your eyes go to? [00:31:23] Speaker A: This is going to require some climbing, but you actually turned me on to this a while ago, and I've had, like, three or four bottles of it. [00:31:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:31:29] Speaker A: Over the course of, like, 10 years. Of course. Yeah. Anyways, the Founder's fool, you actually know a little bit of the history, right? [00:31:34] Speaker C: He does. [00:31:35] Speaker B: Fortune's Fool. [00:31:36] Speaker A: Is it Fortunes? [00:31:37] Speaker B: Yes, it is. [00:31:37] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:31:38] Speaker B: I know the owner. [00:31:39] Speaker A: That's amazing. [00:31:40] Speaker B: Yes. You've had that. [00:31:42] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. Literally. He told me about it and I picked up. I've drank four bottles. [00:31:46] Speaker B: We went to college with Julie, who is the master distiller for Fortune's Fool. They're on their second iteration now. Have you had the second one? [00:31:54] Speaker A: I've not. [00:31:55] Speaker B: I have not either. [00:31:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:56] Speaker B: But, yeah, Julie's a wonder. Dr. J. [00:31:59] Speaker C: What's up, Dr. J. Dr. J. So the second release at the Bimber. [00:32:04] Speaker B: I know. They did not. [00:32:05] Speaker C: They did not. [00:32:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:06] Speaker C: The first release was at the Denver. [00:32:07] Speaker A: Correct. Yeah. [00:32:08] Speaker B: That's one and only time I've been there. So. Yeah. Dude, it's awesome. It's happening. [00:32:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Good deal.